A.M. Links: Newt Gingrich Prepares to be a Romney Surrogate, The Federal Reserve Clears Itself of Allegations, U.S. Troops on Psychotropics

• More than 100,000 active duty U.S. Army troops are currently on some kind of psychotropic medication.

• "No regrets" for Newt Gingrich as he prepares to transition from Mitt Romney alternative to Mitt Romney surrogate.
• The Federal Reserve's OIG "did not find any evidence of undue political interference with Federal Reserve officials  related to the 1972 Watergate burglary or Iraq weapons purchases during the 1980s."
• The family of Trayvon Martin may sue the homeowner's association of the gated community in which the shooting occurred.
• Iran's Foreign Minister rejects setting pre-conditions to the resumption of nuclear talks later this week.
• Stocks across Asia fell today in response to Friday's weak U.S. jobs numbers.

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Comments

[plu1959]

First!

[o3]

no, the Master's was first & the best ive seen...even w/o female membership.

[Suki]

New Black Panthers spread peace and love.

[sarcasmic]

Cop with a habit of driving over 100mph while off duty gets community service, keeps his license, nothing on his record, and keeps his job.

But there's no double standard for cops.

None at all.

That's just nonsense talk from anti-cop bigots.

A regular citizen would have been treated exactly the same. Just ask dunphy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ecord.html

[Suki]

+1

[Brett L]

Well, they're just better trained at driving that fast -- even drunk. /sarc

[Suki]

LOL!

[Karl Hungus]

Cop with a habit of driving over 100mph while off duty gets community service, keeps his license, nothing on his record, and keeps his job.

I've seen lots of dashcam videos, but seeing a cop car pulled over and the uniformed officer arrested is weird. Still slightly delicious, though.

I also noticed that the arresting offcer had a very shrill voice. Being married to an authoritarian woman with a voice like that must be a chore.

[sarcasmic]

All the time you hear that cops have relationship troubles because of "the stress of the job".

More likely they have relationship troubles because they are authoritarian assholes who are accustomed to using violence when they don't get their way.

[Sharon Stone]

More likely they have relationship troubles because they are authoritarian assholes who are accustomed to using violence when they don't get their way.

This is definitely the reason.

[Brett L]

Ooh. This the incident that sparked the Miami Cops v. FL State Troopers shit a couple months ago.

[KDN]

He was driving in excess of 100mph while off duty, something he had done at least 100 times,

I fail to see a problem with this habit. I crack triple digits four times a week; it's not nearly as dangerous as our sclerotic and archaic speed limits would imply.

Driving speed is just another area where the regulation is jaw droppingly behind the realities (including the technology) of the activity it seeks to regulate.

[sarcasmic]

The point is not that the law is dumb, but that some animals are more equal than others.
Namely the pigs.

[KDN]

I understand that, but it should be mentioned every time. Speed limits in this country are as outdated as laws requiring ducks to wear pants.

[sarcasmic]

Speed limit laws in this country have nothing to do with safety.
Their purpose is to generate revenue while giving police an excuse to arbitrarily harass people.

[KDN]

Absolutely, and also as a tool for controlling fuel usage as part of a national industrial policy and to inflate police employment by creating more busywork for our friendly neighborhood paramilitary. But they at least used to be reasonable; a 55 MPH speed limit makes sense if you're driving something made between WWII and the gas crisis, but the equivalent today is probably over 90. Leaving them as they are just makes your comment on their purpose more obvious.

[0x90]

Those are secondary; primary purpose is: OBEY.

[sarcasmic]

I'm not sure who Lauren Stoner is, but DAMN!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-Gain.html

[Brett L]

In a Michael Bay movie with Marky Mark. She's destined to be the slo-mo girl in front of the American flag and/or sun.

[AuH2O]

Michael Bay is also probably the worst Teal and Oranger out there.

http://theabyssgazes.blogspot......-stop.html

[AlmightyJB]

Double DAMN! That is nice. Foreman's dad be checking that out:)

[Anacreon]

Meh. I hate implants.

[Suki]

More than 100,000 active duty U.S. Army troops are currently on some kind of psychotropic medication.

Are cool, free drugs good or bad? Discuss.

[AlmightyJB]

You do know where you are right?

[Suki]

In the sarcasmatron jamming zone, apparently.

[Drake]

I call BULLSHIT.
1. It's in the LA Times.
2. The first half of the article is about an AIR FORCE pilot.
3. No links or reference anywhere in the article a source for the numbers.

[Brandon]

"Psychotropic" does not mean "Cool."

Cool drugs- Weed, Mushrooms, LSD, MDMA, etc.

Psychotropic drugs (that this link refers to) - Sedatives, antidepressants, amphetamines, etc.

One category encourages goodwill, empathy, free thought, and peaceful coexistence. The other does the opposite. If you can't guess which category the government is pushing on its employees, turn in your monocle.

[plu1959]

"The family of Trayvon Martin may sue the homeowner's association of the gated community in which the shooting occurred."

Just to be clear: What the link actually says is that Martins might have a claim against the homeowners' association, not that the Martins are considering such a suit (though they may be, especially after reading this article).

[Suki]

That family seems to be easily led by people who wish to exploit their loss.

[plu1959]

Yup. They're on a runaway train.

[sarcasmic]

Anne Hathaway cuts off her hair. Now she looks like a boy.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-role.html

[plu1959]

She was not much to look at to begin with, IMHO.

[John]

She was always a bit of a butter face. She was never really pretty. But she was young and cute and had a spectacular body. Hollywood's obsession with making actresses look like young boys has taken care of the body. Now she has whacked her hair to take care of the cute part.

[sarcasmic]

That's not a butterface.

This is a butterface.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....dress.html

[John]

That is a butter everything. Her body isn't even that good.

[sarcasmic]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....itics.html

[JW]

She was always a bit of a butter face.

You're nuts, but then, so is Hathaway. Either that or your definition of a butterface is very, very different from mine.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Either that or your definition of a butterface is very, very different from mine.

From what I've seen, John lives in opposite world WRT women.

[mad libertarian guy]

They aren't "obsessed" with anything in this case, John. She's on a very low calorie diet and had her hair cut to fulfill a movie role as Fontaine in a film adaptation of Les Miserables. A role which requires that she have short hair because in the script SHE CUTS IT so she can sell it and eat.

RTFA.

[AlmightyJB]

This version looks a lot different.

http://www.people.com/people/a.....,,,00.html

[sarcasmic]

wow

[robc]

If anyone says she "looks like a boy" in that picture, Im going to mock them relentlessly.

[rac3rx]

They're making ANOTHER movie based on Les Miserables? Does someone already own the rights to Cats?

[Enough About Palin]

Anne Hathaway cuts off her hair. Now she looks like a boy with scalp issues.

[Brandon]

For the last time, "bears a resemblance to Justin Bieber" =/= "Looks like a boy."

[Anacreon]

Must have been because of lice. She is scratching hard in every picture.

[Lord Humungus]

John Derbyshire is fired, er parts ways, with NRO:
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....rich-lowry

because of a racist piece written in Taki magazine.
takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_version_john_derbyshire#axzz1rAwW8l1q

[Suki]

It wasn't racist, it was prudent.

[Lord Humungus]

I should have put racist in quotes - I'll let the reader decide if it is.

[Suki]

+1

[Randian]

If it wasn't out-and-out racist (though one could quibble), it was gross race-baiting. There are ways to talk about race without being a dog-whistler.

[Groovus Maximus]

Where was the dog whistle? I thought many, if not most, of the points made were cogent. And yes, it was uncomfortable to read; discomfort provokes thought.

Provocative =/= Dog Whistle. Or is "race-baiting" a one-way street?

[Randian]

"The DMV lady" is a statistical truth, not a myth.

Also, this is completely made-up:

A small cohort of blacks?in my experience, around five percent?is ferociously hostile to whites and will go to great lengths to inconvenience or harm us. A much larger cohort of blacks?around half?will go along passively if the five percent take leadership in some event. They will do this out of racial solidarity, the natural willingness of most human beings to be led, and a vague feeling that whites have it coming.

Not to invoke the Drinking Game and the name of our hosts, but what is reasonable about making up your own statistics and then launching into additional conclusions based on aforementioned imaginary statistics?

[John]

He didn't make anything up. He said one thing that is obviously true, that a small number of blacks really hate white people, and another based on his experience, that the figure is around 5%. Who is to say that isn't his experience.

And the fact that people like Al Sharpton are considered serious figures proves the second part.

Here is the thing, if Derbyshire were black and had written the same piece about whites, would he have been fired? No way. Indeed, the piece was written in response to a black author writing a piece saying how every black kid has to be told at a certain age that white people hate them and there is always a danger of being killed when dealing with them. No one is wanting to fire that guy and that is a lot more offensive than what Derbyshire wrote.

[Randian]

There are approximately 39 million black people in America. Which means Derbyshire, in his "personal experience" somehow calculated that almost 2 million black people "hate whites".

That's called making up statistics, John.

And the fact that people like Al Sharpton are considered serious figures proves the second part.

Bullshit. Does the existence Pat Robertson prove X and Y about Z% Christians? Fuck no it doesn't.

Here is the thing, if Derbyshire were black and had written the same piece about whites, would he have been fired?

Conjecture and Irrelevant.

Indeed, the piece was written in response to a black author writing a piece saying how every black kid has to be told at a certain age that white people hate them and there is always a danger of being killed when dealing with them.

Wrong. So wrong that I assume that, like the Derb, you just pulled that out of your ass.

Cite to the article that says "white people hate [black people]". Find it. What "guy" wrote that? For what paper? What is his name?

[Jeff]

Cite to the article that says "white people hate [black people]". Find it. What "guy" wrote that? For what paper? What is his name?

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.....nage-sons/

[Randian]

KJ Dell'Antonia is a white female. John was complaining that a black "guy" who race-baited in the original (and hence prompted the response from Derb) deserved to be canned as well.

And, again, I see no "white people hate black people" race-baiting sentiments in your linked piece.

You guys are in such a tizzy to defend Derb that you're bum-rushing me with terrible arguments, links that don't say what you say they do, and bad "facts"? Why?

[Jeff]

I'm in no tizzy, dude. I'm just linking you to the article that Derb was responding to.

[Randian]

Which proves John's points not at all.

[Jeff]

It does prove that it's permissible to imply that everyone is out to get blacks and not at all permissible to imply that some blacks are out to get everyone.

[Mo]

So telling your kid, "The talk about standing up straight, dressing the part, keeping your hands in sight at all times and never, ever letting your anger get the best of you," is equivalent to telling them to avoid groupings of a race, mistrust people of that race and never help a person in distress of that particular race?

An equivalent piece would have vignettes like, "White people are statistically more likely to be pedophiles, so never hire one as a babysitter."

[Jeff]

I don't think that was the gist of the article at all. Title aside, she's not even really talking about "the talk", she's just yammering on about racism. Maybe it's the way that she conveniently omitted the fact that an eye witness account had Martin straddling Zimmerman and beating him senseless, but to me Dell'Antonia's entire point is that the Trayvon Martin shooting is just another instance of how racist white people (but I repeat myself) will freak out and shoot you simply because you're black and therefore suspicious.

[Jeff]

And yes, it's funny that John got everything about the author spectacularly wrong. Although the part insinuating that blacks are in danger for merely walking down the street with candy is pretty over the line generally, and has fuck all to do with the Trayvon Martin affair.

[Ice Nine]

Yes, it was indeed very unreasonable of him to make up statistics - most especially to have made them so unreasonably low.

[Randian]

Now you're just making things up to further race-bait.

Your mother must be proud.

[Ice Nine]

You've got your skivvies in quite a twist over this. Derbyshire was merely sarcastically replying in kind; he didn't purport to be submitting a scientific treatise. Nor was I.

Most of us know exactly what he is talking about, know the truth of what he is talking about and have lived the truth of what he is taking about for decades. And few of us are impressed by or give a whit about your self-righteous nitpicking demurrer.

Notwithstanding that, please don't call us racists though; that would be crushing.

[Groovus Maximus]

Most of us know exactly what he is talking about, know the truth of what he is talking about and have lived the truth of what he is taking about for decades. And few of us are impressed by or give a whit about your self-righteous nitpicking demurrer.

This! Ice Nine, that is precisely the point of Derbyshire's article.

What Derbyshire did was simply ask the questions; it was no different than congruent articles and papers written by Cornell West and observations made by Mr. Paul Mooney.

Again, provocative =/= race baiting.

[Randian]

What Derbyshire did was simply ask the questions

There is not ONE single question in there!

[Groovus Maximus]

There is not ONE single question in there!

Agreed. Derb posited assertions. Happy?

[Jennifer]

Oh, marvelous, the old "I'm not saying anything, merely asking questions" gambit. Does Groovus Maximus videotape himself raping toddlers with Tickle Me Elmo dolls so he can masturbate to them later? I'm not SAYING* he does this, mind you; I'm simply asking questions.

*EDIT: I'm lying, of course; in such contexts there's no appreciable difference between making statements and just asking questions.

[Groovus Maximus]

Does Groovus Maximus videotape himself raping toddlers with Tickle Me Elmo dolls so he can masturbate to them later?

No. Question asked and answered. Moreover, why are you asking? (I get you are trying to make larger point). Being provocative? If one cannot ask questions or posit an assertion, then censorship has taken place. Which would limit you in your profession very quickly, Jennifer, and would be morally repugnant.

I'm a bit surprised a professional journalist would have sympathy for the censorship of ideas or even questioning orthodoxy of any stripe.

[Jennifer]

I'm a bit surprised a professional journalist would have sympathy for the censorship of ideas or even questioning orthodoxy of any stripe.

I'm surprised -- well, no, I'm not -- that you'd pretend despising bigotry equates to being some PC parrot.

There was, indeed, a kernel of -- something -- in Derbyshire's piece. Chris Rock, for example, famously pointed out that MLK Blvd. always runs through the bad part of town, and I admit my lily-white self avoids it. So what's the difference between me and Derbyshire? I blame inner-city crime rates on the drug war and perverse incentives of the welfare state -- the end result of two or three generations of appalling government policy wreck our inner cities today. Derbyshire, by contrast, blames it all on black-skin DNA.

I wonder if, when he looks at the similarly appalling crime rates in chav-infested British council estates, he blames it on the innate inferiority of white peasant DNA? Nah; when white welfare families act badly I'm sure Derbyshire can easily identify the problems with multi-generational welfare dependency. Black families, of course, are another matter.

[Groovus Maximus]

I wonder if, when he looks at the similarly appalling crime rates in chav-infested British council estates, he blames it on the innate inferiority of white peasant DNA? Nah; when white welfare families act badly I'm sure Derbyshire can easily identify the problems with multi-generational welfare dependency. Black families, of course, are another matter.

Have you asked him or researched the subject? I'm sure you are aware that elitism runs deep in the UK.

And yes, your average fairly well-to-do Londoner does tend to blame the Chav epidemic on an inherent inferiority, without the perverse incentives, since Council housers do have the option, nay, the imperative, to purchase their dwellings.

I'm not saying it's right or morally correct, since Londoners will do their best to avoid a Mackey D's since the odds of spying, and being accosted by, a mooching, fag bumming, shiv packing Chav is quite high.

Your blame is not misplaced, but your lily white self would not avoid those areas if their was not a kernel of truth in what Derb posits.

[Jennifer]

Your blame is not misplaced, but your lily white self would not avoid those areas if their was not a kernel of truth in what Derb posits.

I already said there was a kernel of "something" in what he wrote; I also said that I blame inner-city crime on stupid government policy, whereas Derbyshire blames it all on the genetics of non-whites. You can't solve a problem unless you first identify the root cause, but Derbyshire's bigoted blatherings only serve to further obscure it.

And yes, your average fairly well-to-do Londoner does tend to blame the Chav epidemic on an inherent inferiority

And do you then twist your mind into whatever Mobius-strip shape is necessary to argue that they're right, that non-aristocrats really are genetically inferior to aristos? "Never go someplace with a large concentration of commoners unless you personally know every one. There are some intelligent well-spoken commoners, of course, and you should try to make friends with one so nobody calls you a snob. But IWSCs are a very rare luxury good, so you might have a hard time finding one."

[Groovus Maximus]

I already said there was a kernel of "something" in what he wrote;

Truth, perhaps, in many of his assertions?

I also said that I blame inner-city crime on stupid government policy, whereas Derbyshire blames it all on the genetics of non-whites.

Aside from his Bell Curve rationale (the veracity is arguble, at best. Superfluous, actually.), what I drew from the article was an indictment of a culture, not a race. That the point of racism is intersected by both race and culture would be a root cause, perhaps?

You can't solve a problem unless you first identify the root cause, but Derbyshire's bigoted blatherings only serve to further obscure it.

Again, an indictment of the entitlement culture not the race. Like in the UK, with the Chafters. Culture. That in the US, both social grouping and cultural identity intersect at the point of racism is no less congruent, and not limited to just Black Americans.

P.S. Not every Chav is a lily white, mumbling, cockneyed Yob. It's not endemic to race; it's culture.

[Jennifer]

P.S. Not every Chav is a lily white, mumbling, cockneyed Yob. It's not endemic to race; it's culture.

Exactly. And I maintain the same holds true for the problems facing black America, whereas Derbyshire blames it all on race rather than entitlement culture.

[Groovus Maximus]

And I maintain the same holds true for the problems facing black America, whereas Derbyshire blames it all on race rather than entitlement culture.

Not all, Jennifer, and you know it. If you choose to see what you submit about Derb and the article in a fit of righteous indignation, be my guest. I, myself, will identify what is useful and cogent and chuck the rest. And, as EDG reppin' LBC summed up succintly, is what I will be taking from the article.

I doubt very seriously that Derb will expect all of his assertions to be accepted and nor should they.

[Jennifer]

Not all, Jennifer, and you know it.

Where did Derbyshire say anything about "entitlement culture" in his piece? Was it in the paragraph where he talked about how black people's intelligence is inherently lower than whites'?

[Groovus Maximus]

(12) There is a magnifying effect here, too, caused by affirmative action. In a pure meritocracy there would be very low proportions of blacks in cognitively demanding jobs. Because of affirmative action, the proportions are higher. In government work, they are very high. (Emphasis mine.)

What I reject is that the thinking is endemic to just Black Americans. However, preferential treatment, particularly based on race, breeds an entitlement mindset. Just because he did not specify social welfare programs, does not mean an entitlement mindset was not addressed. You did mention something about a root cause...

Was it in the paragraph where he talked about how black people's intelligence is inherently lower than whites'?

Yes, he did mention that within the paragraph, which I reject. I'm free to do so.

Riddle me this, Jennifer: I'm in medicine, and there is a low proportion of Black Americans in medicine v. Asian (of all flavors), Sikhs, Semitic peoples (including Arabic lineage), Persian, Latino, and other non-Anglicized demographies? I refuse to chalk it up to just "racism."

Why is that?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Nah; when white welfare families act badly I'm sure Derbyshire can easily identify the problems with multi-generational welfare dependency.

I grew up in a small city in east-central Indiana. There were three black families in town, one Vietnamese family, and the rest were white. There were some rough neighborhoods in my city, that I would not walk through, on fear of "getting jumped". As I read the Derbyshire article, I compared his advice to his children regarding blacks with my experience with poor whites in my hometown. I found the advice applied fairly equally. 90% of the advice would be useful for dealing with any person, regardless of race.

Also, I'm not gonna' be butthurt even if Derbyshire is a big fat racist. He's allowed to have his opinions, and to express them as he sees fit. No where in the article did he suggest infringing the rights of blacks, or using government coercion to control blacks. So, no big deal.

[Jennifer]

Also, I'm not gonna' be butthurt even if Derbyshire is a big fat racist. He's allowed to have his opinions, and to express them as he sees fit.

Yes, just as I'm allowed to have and express my opinions, including the opinions "I have utter contempt for a bigot who believes the majority of black people are stupid quasi-feral creatures" and "I have similar contempt for those who try justifying such bigotry as 'Just keeping it real, yo'."

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, just as I'm allowed to have and express my opinions

Please do. Often.

[Randian]

So, Derb is just kidding, except when it serves to confirm your own biases, then it's Super Serial Real Life stuff.

That's a neat trick.

Few of "us" give a whit at your thoughtless, blase endorsement of gross distortions of sociology and biology. "Self-righteous" is a better place to be than pig-ignorant and troglodytic.

[Groovus Maximus]

Assuming your comment @ 10:14 was directed at me.

So, Derb is just kidding, except when it serves to confirm your own biases, then it's Super Serial Real Life stuff.

Show me one person, one, who does not fall victim to confirmation and representational bias at some point, whether economically or otherwise.

[Enough About Palin]

Dear Randian,

I live in the ghetto. You are a fucking idiot. On more than one occasion I have had neighbors move onto my block. I always introduce myself, welcome them to the block, adding that if there's anything I can do for them just let me know. Twice, I have been met with the Coolio blank stare. Both times they were African-American. Never happened with Asian, North Africans or Latinos.

http://www.michaelshouse.com/b....._large.jpg

[Groovus Maximus]

Anecdotal, but the first quote I experienced first hand (thought it was a DMV guy, not lady)

The second assertion, though anecdotal, is not without merit; however, confirmation via a scientific poll would be next to impossible. And can also be attributed to other racial demographics as well. Because he pointed out "black" doesn't make his initial assertion wrong. Just unsubstantiated. If people agree racism still exists (and most do), where is it? And who defines it? Moreover, who is qualified to identify it?

See also: Implicit Association Test.

[Randian]

stereotypes exist for a reason and we should be aware of that, but where the race-baiters and the racists go wrong is that they think stereotypes are a good substitute for intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, and judgment.

When, in fact, it's just laziness and a desire to bolster yourself through irrelevant superficial features.

[John]

So Randian you are saying that the black on black and black on white crime statistics don't exist?

[Randian]

So Randian you are saying that the black on black and black on white crime statistics don't exist?

Yep, John, I said just that very thing. Man, you got me.

[John]

Ok, Randian, you are saying we should pretend the don't exist and act like they are totally equal in order to prove we are not racist.

[Randian]

Never said that either. I said that using stereotypes as a proxy for knowledge is sheer laziness.

Racism claims that the content of a man's mind (not his cognitive apparatus, but its content) is inherited; that a man's convictions, values and character are determined before he is born, by physical factors beyond his control. This is the caveman's version of the doctrine of innate ideas?or of inherited knowledge?which has been thoroughly refuted by philosophy and science. Racism is a doctrine of, by and for brutes. It is a barnyard or stock-farm version of collectivism, appropriate to a mentality that differentiates between various breeds of animals, but not between animals and men.

Ayn Rand

[Lord Humungus]

two anecdotes from my college years:

the only time I've seen completely unprovoked violence was black on white assault.

When visiting an out-of-the-way all night hamburger place in Kalamazoo, I had an ex-roommate of mind cold-cocked in the side of the face by a black teenager. His only apparent crime was looking terribly preppy. My other friend and I were dressed like bummy factory workers - which we were at the time - and were ignored.

The second time, a college radio DJ that I knew came out of a party with a small group of friends. They were attacked by a mob of young black kids while returning to their cars. DJ ended up having his jaw broken. As far as I know, they assault was unprovoked.

But Kalamazoo - especially in the 90s - was a hotbed of race issues. Throw in a poverty-stricken city filled with unemployed, add some college kids with mom and dad money, and there was a whole bunch of resentment going on.

[Anacreon]

Hmm -- my little sister was going to Western there in the early 90's. I need to ask her about that.

[Mo]

I agree, there was no dog whistle. A dog whistle is intended to be something that only fellow travelers are supposed to understand. Derb was pretty upfront and it was flat out racist.

[Mo]

I'm genuinely curious what one would consider racist if people don't consider that piece of garbage racist?

[n8]

It was not really racist until he gets to the 10 a-i. Especially the "do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress."

[Killazontherun]

We never would have published it, but the main reason that people noticed it is that it is by a National Review writer. Derb is effectively using our name to get more oxygen for views with which we'd never associate ourselves otherwise.

You're a dwarf Lowry. Plenty of people bought the physical edition of the mag to read what Derbyshire had to say, but no one has ever cared a whit what you think. In the land of the midgets the used up Mencken wannabe is Elvis.

[Killazontherun]

Used up Mencken wannabe better describes Mark Steyn than Derbyshire.

[John]

I don't like Steyn very much. It just seems like everything he writes is another variation on him crying because westerners don't have enough kids. God is he a tiresome one trick pony.

[bostonaod]

Krikorian and Lopez are the true one-trick ponies of that outfit, Steyn will at least harp on free-speech issues as well

[Killazontherun]

I still read him as he still has an occasional moment of brilliant insight. I was taken back by Lowry here. He may have a case for firing Derbyshire, but the 'trading on the good name of NR is wishful thinking on his part.

[Skip]

Derb was the funniest writer at NRO. I guess Steyn better make sure he only insults light skinned Muslims from now on.

[Skip]

Derb was the funniest writer at NRO. I guess Steyn better make sure he only insults light skinned Muslims from now on.

[West Texas]

It wasn't racist, it was prudent.

I had the same reaction when I read it and saw it all as good advice. Does it hurt some feelings? Sure, but that doesn't make every single one of those things he mentioned true and fairly observed according to my own experience.

[Drake]

I thought it was 75% prudence, 25% career death wish.

[plu1959]

I wonder why they decided to can him now? I think he's been writing this sort of thing for a while.

[Suki]

Maybe that invisible "too soon" clock that ran out after the death of Buckley?

[Brett L]

Cleaning up their image in an election year. Now that the Buckleys are gone (well, Chris voted for Obama, so he doesn't count), its time to go all the way down on the establishment republican cock. Telling statistical truths about the black population in America does not help that cause.

[Randian]

What is "statistically true" about racially adjudging a politician?

[Brett L]

See additional comments below.

[Randian]

??? Not seeing what you are talking about.

[Brett L]

"Brett L|4.9.12 @ 9:17AM|#

Certain parts of paragraph 10 were outside the bounds of statistical truth and over my personal line to the side of racism. (10f thru 10i for sure, although I would be uncomfortable with 10a thru 10e if we're just talking about the South.)"

[Skip]

He said he was a "mild" racist 8 years ago. Its so ridiculous for NRO to pretend they just noticed now.

[John]

What is interesting is that in the NRO statement about firing him they never said the piece was untrue. Only mean spirited, whatever that means.

[plu1959]

It's interesting that the piece was written by a Brit. He missed the most important lesson of all: You don't say stuff like this, unless you want your career to be ruined.

[John]

Derbyshire has always spoke his mind. But you would think that NRO would owe its readers an explanation of why the piece was not up to their standards and justified firing one of their most popular writers beyond "you can't say that".

[Randian]

Does that really need to be said?

[John]

Yes it does. Read the article. It certainly touches on a lot of controversial things. But I think NRO owed its readers a detailed explanation of why they thought it justified firing. Remember, it wasn't in their publication. Why is that piece so bad that the person who wrote it can no longer work for them?

[Randian]

Because it's race-baiting, if not racist? I mean, are you not seeing that?

This is like asking why that NBC editor got fired: it's bleeding obvious why.

[John]

Then why isn't the black person who wrote the article that the piece was written in response to being fired? Why are only white people fired for race bating? Nothing in that article is any worse than about a hundred thumb sucking "white people hate us this is the reality of black America" pieces that get written every year by black authors.

[Randian]

Cite to that article, John. Find it.

[John]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2.....after.html

There you go. Read it. It is about how every black parent has to tell their sons how society hates them. It is just as offensive as anything Derbyshire wrote.

[Randian]

From the article:

As young African-American men, she told them, even owning a water gun could make them an easy target for police.

I hear this every day, from YOU, on Hit and Run John!

"I don't want to scare him or have him paint people with a broad brush, but, historically, we black males have been stigmatized as the purveyors of crime and wherever we are, we're suspect," Brown said.

Black parents who don't make that fact clear, he and others said, do it at their sons' peril.

"Any African-American parent not having that conversation is being irresponsible," Brown said. "I see this whole thing as an opportunity for us to speak frankly, openly and honestly about race relations."

Wow, yeah, she's practically Stokley fucking Carmichael. Look out for her.

If that's "just as offensive", then you're at best a pussy and at worse don't like it when the black folk get uppity. Jesus Christ.

[John]

So white people are never victimized by police. Good thing to know.

And "we black males have been stigmatized as the purveyors of crime and wherever we are, we're suspect," is just saying all white people hate us and think we are criminals.

If that is not race bating what is?

[Randian]

So white people are never victimized by police. Good thing to know.

No one ever said that.

And "we black males have been stigmatized as the purveyors of crime and wherever we are, we're suspect," is just saying all white people hate us and think we are criminals.

No it is not the same thing at all. It's dealing with reality and history and advising children to be careful. OTOH, Derb is saying "black people are dumb animals. Avoid them at all costs."

How in the world is the original article "just as offensive"? There's no race-baiting there.

[Enough About Palin]

"If that is not race bating what is?"

Derbyshire took the bait.

QED

[Mo]

Doesn't the Derb article and everyone in the comments section agreeing with it essentially prove her point right?

[Groovus Maximus]

Doesn't the Derb article and everyone in the comments section agreeing with it essentially prove her point right?

Chicken, meet egg. Egg, Chicken.

[Mo]

Chicken, meet egg. Egg, Chicken.

The beliefs and views expressed by Derb are completely unrelated to whether or not parents warn their kids about them.

[Groovus Maximus]

The beliefs and views expressed by Derb are completely unrelated to whether or not parents warn their kids about them.

The views and beliefs Derb has posited may be held by parents and children independently of Derb, and may have/do held/hold before even hearing the name John Derbyshire and reading his article.

Furthermore, they may have not held those beliefs discretely, read the article and found enough grains of truth to agree.

If Derb had written an article about warning children to avoid talking to strangers, does that mean parents don't warn their children to avoid talking to strangers, since a certain percentage of strangers are dangerous, even though we know (or believe to know) most strangers are bereft of nefarious motive?

Egg. Chicken. Chicken. Egg.

[Killazontherun]

(10g) Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

Seriously? There is a 99 percent chance anyone running for office is a scumbag, therefore racial differentiation cannot possibly be a significant percentage.

[Zeb]

Probably because he doesn't work for the National Review.

[Suki]

+100

[Randian]

TagliaferroBot "contributes" with more "substance".

[Zeb]

++

[Zeb]

Stupid limited indentation. That was not meant to indicate approval of Suki,

[Ex Nihilo]

Only mean spirited, whatever that means.

The mean man hurt somebodys feelings.

[Solanum]

Taki magazine

All Sulu, All the Time.

[Brett L]

Certain parts of paragraph 10 were outside the bounds of statistical truth and over my personal line to the side of racism. (10f thru 10i for sure, although I would be uncomfortable with 10a thru 10e if we're just talking about the South.)

[plu1959]

I had the same reaction. It surprised me, because I think he's trained as a mathematician.

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, factual though much of it may well be, writing an article describing a "safety" talk you should have with your teenager and then only describing situations involving black people is at best race-baiting. The line about getting an intelligent black "friend" to avoid being labeled a racist by others shows flat out no class. At the extremes, it's difficult to tell the difference between the elitist left and elitist right when it comes to race.

[AlmightyJB]

As far as his firing goes, if you're going to write an article calling most black people stupid animals, you would think you would run it by your bosses first.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I agree that the whole find a "good" black friend for selfish reasons is the mark of a dick, but not IMO, on-face racist.

[Eduard van Haalen]

His "solution", of, eg, never being a Good Samaritan is awful - as if there's a way for a Good Samaritan to avoid risks.

NR could choose to be on the receiving end of controversy of the "Obama's opponents are racists" variety, or they could cut their losses and get rid of Derbyshire. Why would they hand the Dems a gift-wrapped issue?

[Randian]

I am not a Good Samaritan in certain neighborhoods because the "breakdown" scam is in full effect.

What irks me is that the proper advice is to stay out of poor neighborhoods, and avoid destitute neighborhoods. That includes some black neighborhoods, but it also means you avoid PWT and trailer parks.

That would be the correct advice.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I said it was risky. They original Good Samaritan (if he was real instead of a parable) would have had to worry about whether the injured guy was faking and in league with bandits to rob those who stopped.

That may be why the priest and Levite just moved on without stopping.

Also, I think the modern management of NR is embarrassed for their articles during Jim Crow and now wants to stay away from that live wire.

[AlmightyJB]

That was my main point. I know a number of mainly white areas and bars that Derbyshire Jr would get beaten and robbed in before he could say God Bless the Queen. Also, I would avoid a skinhead rally way before I would avoid a mostly black gospel or cultural event. Any situation where there are a large number of aggressive young males regardless of race is probably a high risk situation to avoid. That seems like it would be more prudent advice. Also, if you meet certain people like the "DMV lady" expecting a certain behavior, they'll probably sense your distain so you may well get what you expect. This whole article is just ignorent bullshit written by someone who obviously needs to spend some more time around black people. He fears what he does not understand. I was born and raised around poor white trash. I have no illusions about white supremacy. I've been stolen from and had to defend myself from plenty of white a**holes. It's not the color of the skin.

[Clich? Bandit]

side note: I don't smoke weed, never have, but here is an observation I have noticed...Gather many young males, add young females, add alcohol, add loud music, stir well. Now, if we are talking something like Warped Tour you have a potential for violence. If we are talking reggae concert or phish concert, little violence. Methinks weed solves this race problem.

[Skip]

Derb had been threading the needle for years. I guess he finally stopped caring.

[Lord Humungus]

James Bovard: The Wrong Way to Help the Disabled
A 7% hiring quota for government contractors is unfair and unwise.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

[BakedPenguin]

They should have a 100% quota for federal contractors hiring the disabled. We'd see a lot less federal contractors.

[BakedPenguin]

Actually, this would be a great way to cut government - have every agency adhere to strict racial / gender / ability hiring standards. If you made them strict enough, they would spend all their time trying to come into compliance instead of messing everything up for productive Americans.

[Brett L]

Only persons with more than 3 representative and different minority grandparents currently living may bid on government contracts.

[mad libertarian guy]

I was thinking that the BEST way to cut government was to fire everyone on the .gov payroll, and have those who wish to receive welfare payments perform those jobs.

[Suki]

No, we would just see (more) shoddy work in areas that require certain skills that a person with an approved disability does not have.

[Zeb]

What percentage is required to be mentally retarded?

[BakedPenguin]

It's the government, I'm sure their standard hiring policies would match any number I could give.

I was thinking more about slicing up the demographic categories. "You don't have a half black, half American Indian lesbian on staff! All projects are on hold until you get one!"

[Lord Humungus]

much like the "rent-a-vet", companies now can have "rent-a-disabled" to meet their quota.

[rac3rx]

Apparently 75-99%.

[Lord Humungus]

Walter Russell Mead: The Myth of America's Decline
Washington now has added China, India, Brazil and Turkey to its speed-dial, along with Europe and Japan. But it will remain the chairman of a larger board.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

For American foreign policy, the key now is to enter deep strategic conversations with our new partners?without forgetting or neglecting the old. The U.S. needs to build a similar network of relationships and institutional linkages that we built in postwar Europe and Japan and deepened in the trilateral years. Think tanks, scholars, students, artists, bankers, diplomats and military officers need to engage their counterparts in each of these countries as we work out a vision for shared prosperity in the new century.

The American world vision isn't powerful because it is American; it is powerful because it is, for all its limits and faults, the best way forward. This is why the original trilateral partners joined the U.S. in promoting it a generation ago, and why the world's rising powers will rally to the cause today.

[Warty]

When steel and bone meet

[Ex Nihilo]

Thanks. Good way to start the day.

[Lord Humungus]

Identification, please
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o.....RT0l0bBHLM

Why does Attorney General Eric Holder hate minorities?

For that matter, why are liberal groups like the Center for American Progress, the Advancement Project and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law all so fiendishly bigoted?

Those groups and the Justice Department all require photo ID to access their Washington offices, as a report from Pajamas Media pointed out last week.

So, by the warped logic deployed against state voter-ID laws, they must have some ulterior motive ? presumably to keep out blacks and Hispanics, who are less likely to have government-issued ID.

[Lord Humungus]

Crovitz: Complexity Is Bad for Your Health
If even Supreme Court justices can't fathom ObamaCare, where does that leave the rest of us?
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

Perhaps ObamaCare will be remembered as the breaking point for top-down planning. There is not enough information available for the government to micromanage a system as complex as health care, which represents more than 15% of the economy. Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek wrote some 50 years ago about the "pretence of knowledge," meaning the conceit that planners could know enough about complex markets to dictate how they operate. He warned against "the belief that we possess the knowledge and the power which enable us to shape the processes of society entirely to our liking, knowledge which in fact we do not possess."

[db]

I thought the fall of the USSR was supposed to be the breaking point for top down planning. No, sadly there will always be that kind of person who believes they can make people...better.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Shit science. Shit article. These AGWers are really getting desperate. No warming in a decade and a warm March is a precursor to global Armageddon.

http://www.foxnews.com/weather.....latestnews

[o3]

faux "news"?!
thx for the am laughs

[Francisco d Anconia]

AP

[Francisco d Anconia]

Was in my local paper today as well.

[Brandon]

If you have absolutely no answer to the message, attack the messenger!

[Brett L]

I'm really interested by this week's current temperature trends locally. Yesterday's high was 2 degrees warmer than average. Yesterday's low was 2 degrees cooler on average. So we're having unseasonably warm (and cool!) weather. (10 degrees off the high doesn't seem unseasonably warm to me.)

[JerseyPatriot]

2010 was the warmest year El Nino year on record. 2011 was the warmest La Nina year on record (something like 11th overall). The warming hasn't stopped.

[Francisco d Anconia]

.12 deg C over the last decade.

Predictions from the 90s said Florida should be under 3 feet of water by now. How long do I need to wait for the disaster to happen?

[Kwanzaa Cake]

The left's pretense of knowledge has gone off the deep end -- they continue to believe (despite all evidence) that they know how to regulate/stimulate the economy, and have now moved on to a belief that they understand and can "save" the entire climate. The notion that these things are far too complex for us to understand, let alone manage, doesn't seem to cross their self-centered minds.

[Fist of Etiquette]

More than 100,000 active duty U.S. Army troops are currently on some kind of psychotropic medication.

When their Vorta remembers to distribute it.

[nicole]

So you're saying the problem is that, like, Weyoun-10 is running Afghanistan even though we know Weyouns become significantly less awesome after number 5 or so?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Overconfidence. The hallmark of the Weyouns.

[nicole]

Demar is wise to blame the Founders. Top. Entities.

[Randian]

"Victory is Life!"

[Auric Demonocles]

Maybe they're actually out of the white and the Vorta are just pretending to have some?

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Quick review of The Hunger Games for anyone interested:

I took the family out to see it this weekend. The wife and I enjoyed it, though it is obviously geared towards a younger crowd. I think it had the right mix of action and plot development to make the 2:22 go by a lot faster than you would expect. My 11 year old son's best comment was "too much drama", he wanted MOAR ACTION!!! My 16 year old daughter, who actually read the book, thought it was very good. She said that the movie stayed pretty true to the book and only some minor plot points were left out. Overall, I would recommend it as a decent date night movie for the 20 somethings out there.

Also, one of the previews before the show started was for this abomination.

[AuH2O]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was actually a solid book. Looking forward to the movie.

[John]

Go on youtube and look up "Hipster Games". Someone has made an hysterical movie trailer.

[Groovus Maximus]

Is this the time to buy stock in PBR and other commercially available hipster gear?

[John]

Maybe. You would think that becoming the butt of jokes would make people avoid doing obviously hipster things. But they seem intent on being the most laughable group of people on earth. Nothing seems to stop them.

[AuH2O]

So they're the Borg?

[Brett L]

I think we've missed it. I was at a local show last week where they were selling buckets of beer, with a $2 deposit for the buckets (which featured a random giant domestic beer logo on each). There was a dude offering $5 for PBR buckets.

[Lord Humungus]

I've seen PBR merch recently. I went to a local hipster bar to see some music, and there was a guy handing our free PBR stuff. Okay, I got a hat. But I actually enjoy PBR and have for years.

It's a good - though somethimes too sweet - beer for hot days when you want something 'refreshing'. It doesn't have good body or depth, but it's cheap and (to my taste buds) better than Budweiser.

[Brett L]

Oh yeah. My only problem with PBR for yardwork or fishin' beer is that the hipsters like it.

[Zeb]

Yeah, when you want something cheap and watery, but doesn't taste like it's already been used for an ashtray, PBR is a good choice. Schaeffer is pretty good too.

[robc]

You know what makes a good "lawnmower" beer?

Saison.

Hennepin Saison (by Ommegang) might be my favorite when it is hot and I need something refreshing.

[JW]

Are saisons supposed to be sour and unappealling? I've only had one and almost spit it out.

[robc]

No. Lambics are sour. And awesome.

There probably are sour/funky saisons too, but most arent.

From the bjcp description:

A refreshing, medium to strong fruity/spicy ale with a distinctive yellow-orange color, highly carbonated, well hopped, and dry with a quenching acidity.

[robc]

Full bjcp description of the style

[JW]

Saisons sound pretty damn nice from that description. Almost the perfect summer beer.

Yeah, Lambics, I no likee.

[Zeb]

There are definitely good beers that fit the bill on a hot day, but sometimes you (well maybe not you) just want a cheap can of beer.

[robc]

Im all in favor of cheap, I dont want to spend money.

But I want quality inside said can.

I never want cheap-tasting.

[Trespassers W]

@robc

Saison is great lawnmower beer. However, while I generally like Ommegang, I am underwhelmed by Hennepin.

I'd rather pay the couple of extra bucks (?) for Saison Dupont.

[robc]

Sitting in a bar, sipping on a saison, yeah, I will go for Dupont.

But on my deck on a hot summer day, I really like the citrusy crispness of the Hennepin.

Im the reverse of you on Ommegang. I like most of their stuff, but am generally, at best, whelmed.

But Hennepin is truly fine, probably my favorite of theirs. But, yeah, in a different class from Saison Dupont or Fantome.

[Sudden]

Weihenstephaner Original.

Damn, those German made helles lagers put to shame anything in the American lagersphere. I am starting to dive full in to lager styles and really enjoying it.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Coldest PBR in the USA. Plus, pickled eggs!

[Clich? Bandit]

Fuck cheap, the best damn beer in the whole fucking world is Westvleteren 12. Period. Full Stop. Good for every occasion. Only drawback is obviously obtaining it.

I have drank of the teat of God, and it is Westvleteren 12

[Kaptious Kristen]

What, no link for the motivationally impaired?

[Lord Humungus]

NBC Fires Producer of Misleading Zimmerman Tape
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nyti.....rman-tape/

"We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers," the network said.

It did not specify what steps it would take. But one day later it dismissed a Miami-based producer who had worked at NBC for several years.

The people with direct knowledge of the firing characterized the misleading edit as a mistake, not a purposeful act.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The people with direct knowledge of the firing characterized the misleading edit as a mistake, not a purposeful act.

He accidentally edited the recording?

[John]

A mistake would be your forget the last thirty seconds or cut off a sentence. How do you mistakenly edit a tape so that it still makes sense and just happens to make the guy sound like a racist?

Odd how the "mistakes" they are caught doing always cut towards one side. But remember liberal media bias is just a rightwing meme.

[Bee Tagger]

Correction: The recording was accidentally edited.

[Zeb]

I'm not buying it either than the editing didn't intentionally mislead. But in NBC's defense, everything always gets edited. It is possible that only the one editor is at fault. BUt some editor, at least, really needs to take responsibility.

[0x90]

It's entirely plausible that there was no purposeful, conscious intention involved.

Here is the scenario: a low-level tech drone in the cutting room receives the original; his job today is to clean it up for broadcast. He mistakenly cuts the portion in question; this is perfectly possible, technically speaking. That he does is not the problem -- the problem is this: as his edit makes its way up the editorial chain, not once does it occur to a listener that the recording is potentially incendiary, and that s/he should request that the technician triple-check its accuracy. This did not happen, because everyone along the line heard exactly what they expected to hear.

[R C Dean]

Since they don't tell us who was fired, we have no way to verify that they fired anyone.

If they're not willing to name the individual involved, they obviously don't think it was all that bad a deal, so why should we believe them when they claim to have fired someone.

Trust, but verify? Hell, I don't even trust them.

[John]

They probably paid the offender a huge settlement to leave and had him sign a non disclosure agreement. Better to keep him from turning on them in the defamation suit.

[R C Dean]

That non-disclosure agreement won't stand up to a subpoena.

Paying severance to someone fired for cause would be . . . odd. The sort of thing Zimmerman's lawyer would have a field day with.

I'm not saying they didn't do any of that. Just that it would be pretty stupid.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The family of Trayvon Martin may sue the homeowner's association of the gated community in which the shooting occurred.

For Trayvon.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that'll help make him not dead.

[Lord Humungus]

White House has diverted $500M to IRS to implement healthcare law
http://thehill.com/blogs/healt.....health-law

The Obama administration is quietly diverting roughly $500 million to the IRS to help implement the president's healthcare law.

The money is only part of the IRS's total implementation spending, and it is being provided outside the normal appropriations process. The tax agency is responsible for several key provisions of the new law, including the unpopular individual mandate.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Let me guess -- this $500 million was never part of the original CBO score of Obamacare, was it? If not, the lie that Obamacare was a deficit reduction bill has been further revealed. Suderman, this is right up your alley.

[AuH2O]

Is there any way, short of buying a new air bed, to get the massive bulge out of my current one?

[Lord Humungus]

is this a sexual issue?

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Tell Enrique to go home?

[AuH2O]

No, the middle of my air bed has this massive bump. And if it were on one side, I could sleep around it, but if I try to sleep on either side, I feel like I'm falling off.

[AuH2O]

But seriously, I am debating spending 55 bucks on Amazon here.

[Brett L]

Can you flip it over?

[AuH2O]

Maybe, although one side is kind of designed to be the UP side.

[AuH2O]

Just tried it- the experience would be akin to sleeping on a balance board.

Looks like its off to Amazon for me.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Sounds like the material that it's made out of got a bit stretched, possibly by something fairly heavy and small being placed on it. I can't imagine there's any way to fix that.

[PaganPriestess]

That'll teach you to leave your teaspoon of matter from a neutron star in the middle of your bed.

[Bee Tagger]

Newt Gingrich acknowledged Sunday that his campaign is "operating on a shoestring," as he signaled he is preparing to transition from candidate to surrogate in anticipation of Mitt Romney winning the nomination.

There's a legitimate chance Rick Santorum murders him, right?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The term is smite.

[AuH2O]

Yes. If you remove the word Rick from your sentence.

[John]

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....elous.html

Most effeminate President in history calls out opponent for being effeminate.

[AuH2O]

Dude, the most effiminate president ever was clearly Millard Fillmore.

[Lord Humungus]

oh, c'mon - George Washington wore a wig, man! A WIG!!!

[AuH2O]

Dude, Washington made love like an eagle falling out of the sky AND once killed his sensei in a duel without ever saying why.

[Randian]

"He'll save children
But not the British children"

[BakedPenguin]

Gay does not necessarily mean effeminate, but if you believe the gossip about Lincoln, you might have an answer.

[Proprietist]

My ancestor James Buchanan is hands down, unequivocally the most effeminate president ever. NTTAWWT.

"I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them."

[Elspeth Flashman]

I lol'd. 🙂

[Auric Demonocles]

I don't even want to guess the number of times I watched that video drunk in college.

[Brett L]

Let me lay it on the line, he had 4 on the vine.

[John]

Millard was a Mexican war veteran. He had more masculinity in one of is sideburns than Obama has in his whole body.

[AuH2O]

Guy was a dick- he joined the Know-Nothings after his Presidency AND signed the Fugitive Slave Act.

[John]

Being a dick doesn't make you effeminate.

[BakedPenguin]

As Teddy Roosevelt would attest.

[Joe M]

In fact, you could say they're really mutually exclusive, technically.

[shrike]

You twinks tend to obsess on such matters as manliness.

[John]

That is just because we don't have voices in our head to obsess over like you do, you nasty little fuck.

[shrike]

Now I get your whole political philosophy. You want a big strapping macho president. I bet Al Haig moistened your butt cheeks whenever you dreamt of him.

[John]

That is apparently what Obama thinks he is. No wonder you like him so much you little pervert.

[Brandon]

"Moistened your butt cheeks?"

Your understanding of human anatomy seems...off.

[R C Dean]

Smells like gay-baiting to me.

C'mon, we know the man is opposed to gay marriage, so he's obviously not a gay rightser. By the rules of the PC game, doesn't this mean he is denied the benefit of the doubt?

[John]

He is also a devout Christian who compares his suffering to Christ on the cross. I am sure Shreek will be right on this as soon as he drops Obama's cock out of his mouth.

[Gray Ghost]

I don't know about effeminate, but isn't James Buchanan the clasical answer for 'closeted gay (or probably, bi-) president'?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Gingrich spoke openly about his campaign's money troubles. He said the campaign has had to dip into personal funds -- "a little bit, but not dramatically" -- and that the campaign is "slightly less" than $4.5 million in debt.

"We owe much more than we wanted to," Gingrich said. He explained that the Florida primary in late January "got to be a real brawl" and that his campaign "tried to match Romney."

And the country needed someone with experience dealing with deficit spending.

[Lord Humungus]

'Scalding' reply at JFK
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l.....UzbYoH5HGP

A TSA screener was arrested at JFK Airport for hurling a cup of hot coffee at an American Airlines pilot who told her and some colleagues to tone down a profanity- laced conversation in a terminal, sources said yesterday.

The dust-up occurred at about 5 a.m. on March 28, when airman Steven Trivett, 54, who was off-duty, was exiting Terminal 8 and overheard the banter, according to Port Authority police sources.

Trivett, of Butler, Tenn., told them they should "conduct themselves more professionally in uniform and not use profanity or the n-word," a source explained.

[Bee Tagger]

The n-word isn't profanity? Sounds like this racist had it coming. I hope the coffee was big and black.

[Karl Hungus]

I hope the coffee was big and black.

+437

[R C Dean]

The n-word?

Nihilist?

Necrophiliac?

Little help here, please?

[Groovus Maximus]

It's obviously "nebulous". Pick up a book, will ya RC?

[Zeb]

"Niggardly."

[Ska]

See, that's why you just use "Jew." Gets that whole "you sound like a racist" shit out of the way.

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, that's much better. Has Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on this?

[Ska]

Regarding how Jew is not a race-race?

[Enough About Palin]

"A TSA screener was arrested at JFK Airport for hurling a cup of hot coffee at an American Airlines pilot"

http://www.google.com/imgres?q.....x=72&ty=91

[shrike]

The Federal Reserve's OIG "did not find any evidence of undue political interference with Federal Reserve officials related to the 1972 Watergate burglary or Iraq weapons purchases during the 1980s."

And thus Ron Paul's reign of nuttiness as House Chair of Monetary Policy comes to an end. He was embarrassed in his FOMC investigative committee meetings and now his pet conspiracy theories have been discredited.

I'm glad Boehner gave him that long sought Chair.

[tarran]

Yep, Ron Paul sure is nutty:

After the Board's initial responses to congressional members and staff that it would cooperate
with their information request, the Board subsequently decided that it should not provide the
requested information. Based on our review of available documentation, the Board's decision
not to provide the information was consistent with the Board being advised by the U.S.
Attorney's Office to not disclose it

Basically, the U.S. Attorney told the Feds to not answer any questions until the investigation and prosecutions were over. No statement is given when that stricture against speaking to Cognress was acutally lifted.

But totally not stonewalling which is defined as

stone?wall (stnw?l)
v. stone?walled, stone?wall?ing, stone?walls
v.intr.
1. Informal
a. To engage in delaying tactics; stall: "stonewalling for time in order to close the missile gap" (James Reston).
b. To refuse to answer or cooperate.
2. Sports To play defensively rather than trying to score in cricket.
v.tr. Informal
To refuse to answer or cooperate with; resist or rebuff: "I want you to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment" (Richard M. Nixon).

.

So, to sum up, according to the Federal Reserve IG's rationale, if my friend tells me to shoot someone in cold blood and I do it, I didn't murder the victim.

[shrike]

RP accused the Fed of funding Saddam's Iraqi weapon's purchases during Bernanke's testimony. Barney Frank agreed to co-sponsor this paranoid investigation because it would only make Reagan look bad if they found anything.

How in the hell would the Fed run weapons to Iraq? There was no evidence for this craziness other than that idiot book 'Creature from Jekyll Island' and its quack author.

[tarran]

If I have time tonight I'll read the part about Iraq.

I must say, though, the bit I did read - the part about the Watergate scandal - was wonderfully brazen. They actually admit stonewalling Congress, but then say it wasn't stonewalling because if the U.S. attorney tells you to stonewall, it ain't stonewalling.

If that's the sort of 'investigating' they bring to the Iraq stuff, it's going to be a funny read.

[John]

http://thehill.com/blogs/healt.....r-on-women

Black caucus chairman condemns Democratic claim that Republicans are waging war on women.

That is interesting.

[shrike]

Look at the recent polls. PigBoy helped open up an 18 point gender gap with his attack on Fluke.

[John]

Get back in your hole you little weirdo. Look at the gender gap among men. And further, take it up with this guy. He seems to know something you don't.

Can you please promise us to kill yourself when Obama loses in November?

[John]

Abuja: At least 50 people were killed when explosives concealed in two cars went off near a church during Easter Sunday services in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, eye-witnesses said.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/.....68956.html

But Islam is the religion of peace.

[AuH2O]

Honestly, want to know what pisses me off most about cop shows nowadays? It's never a Muslim dude who's the terrorist.

Hell, Castle had this whole big plot about how a bunch of white dudes were trying to make it LOOK like it was a Muslim dude comitting terrorism, when really it was whitey all along.

24 did this a lot too.

[John]

When they made the movie version of The Sum of All Fears they made the terrorists into evil Russian right wingers instead of Muslims. It is just pathetic.

And how long before Christians in Africa get tired of being blown up and decide to bust a cap in a few Mosques?

[sarcasmic]

That wouldn't be very Christian, now would it?

Something about turning the other cheek...

[John]

True. But Christians have spent most of the last 700 years handing Muslims their asses on the battlefield. So I don't think that seems to stop them.

[sarcasmic]

The battlefield is organized violence.

Busting a cap in a mosque is a not.

That's like equating courts with vigilante justice.

[John]

Yeah because only Muslims are capable of blowing shit up and killing civilians by the score. That has never happened in Christian countries.

[sarcasmic]

False equivalency.

[John]

No it is not. Every action causes a reaction. If Muslims continue to terrorize those around them, it is only a matter of time before people start to terrorize them. If they can car bomb a church, Christians can do the same to a mosque. The idea that African Christians are going to willingly die at Islamic hands is nutty.

[sarcasmic]

The whole concept of turning the other cheek is nutty. But that's what many who follow the teachings of Jesus do.
Unlike the religion of peace, Christianity doesn't teach that violence is the answer.
That hasn't stopped popes and kings from raising armies in Christ's name, but it remains true.
My point is that popping caps or blowing up bombs in mosques in retaliation would be a very un-Christian thing to do.

[tarran]

African Christians, in my experience, are pretty hard-core followers of the commandment to follow the dictates of their religion regardless of the consequences.

[BakedPenguin]

This. Although I'm still unsure about General Butt Naked.

[R C Dean]

There's also some smiting hip and thigh in there, too.

[SugarFree]

Hell, Castle had this whole big plot about how a bunch of white dudes were trying to make it LOOK like it was a Muslim dude comitting terrorism, when really it was whitey all along.

Leave Castle alone, at least they made the bomber a member of the OWS movement trying to drum up sympathy for the OWSers. Something that they would do if any of them had any sort of work ethic.

[Groovus Maximus]

Eh, Ayers & Dohrn screwed up on that one. They were pretty hands on back in the day, but since they advocate the wealth redistribution thing, it has made the effort of bomb building counter productive, since it involves sweat labour.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran would not agree to world powers imposing preconditions ahead of the resumption of nuclear talks later this week, Iranian media reported on Monday.

It's a trap! The Iranian delegation wants to show up pantsless.

[Ex Nihilo]

If the point is to negotiate, why would you put preconditions on the talks? You are painting yourself into a corner before you even start the process.

[o3]

because the iranians have previously used negoiations to delay & obsfucate. we're not starting from square one

[Ex Nihilo]

We also started the process with preconditions. If you truely want to negotiate, you state that, and go from there. Yes, the Iranians delay and obsfucate, but so what.

[o3]

me thinks the israelis dont feel like "so what".

[Ex Nihilo]

Then let the Israelis deal with it, why is it our business? This idea that the U.S. has to get involved with every issue on the planet is crazy. As a wise man said once, we "don't need to go abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

[o3]

well someone had better tell the 5th fleet to open the gulf airspace then. damn strategic posture

[Brett L]

Hackers steal over 25000 Medicaid/CHiP SSNs.

So, standard IT professional disclaimer about how security should have been better, but why would you steal the SSNs of indigent people?

[tarran]

To facilitate money laundering?

If I open 50,000 bank accounts and structure money transfers in groups of $100 - $5000 that mimic normal usage patterns, I could launder quite a bit of money.

[Brett L]

Ah, good point. I was thinking of credit scams.

[Fluffy]

Also, there was that recent scam where people were filing tax returns using the SSN's of Puerto Ricans, and getting all the unclaimed EITC's sent to them.

[R C Dean]

To cook up fake IDs?

To sell to hackers in job lots?

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT - This week's exams are the last time I will sit for a law school exam. Next term should be all "paper" classes. . . As long as I don't have to retake anything, that is.

[Tim]

If there's one thing we need, its more lawyers.

[R C Dean]

What's the job market looking like, Elspeth?

I came up during the fat years of poshy summer clerk programs. When I talk to law students these days, it seems pretty grim.

[Randian]

It, to put it delicately, blows dead goats out there. We could put a moratorium on graduating lawyers for the next three years and the market may balance out.

[Groovus Maximus]

We could put a moratorium on graduating lawyers for the next three years and the market may balance out.

I, for one, would not mind seeing this happen.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Hard to say. I have some pals who have graduated. Took them a bit to find jobs, but it is being done. Another good pal got offered a place at the firm she clerked for. I worked this term at a clerkship - hoping that this will help set me apart from the rest. But the judge I clerked for was a mentor at an orientation for new lawyers and said it was 1/3 had jobs, 1/3 were going solo and 1/3 were still looking.

I am hoping there's a new inhabitant of the Oval Office and the economy improves, but even if not I have to imagine the baby boomers will retire soon, right?

[Kwanzaa Cake]

I can tell you that from 2005-2007 we generally hired about 80 2Ls as summer associates in our main office. Last two years, the number's been 12. I actually think we have enough work to hire more but the financial crisis put the fear of God into law firms, which are, generally speaking, pretty risk-averse to begin with.

Not to mention that if Obama gets his way, after-tax partner comp is going to decline by at least 5% in 2013, assuming all else is equal. There is no way that's good for hiring.

[R C Dean]

1/3 had jobs, 1/3 were going solo and 1/3 and 2/3 were still looking.

[Elspeth Flashman]

pretty much.

[Gray Ghost]

There's always doc. review. For now...

[Longtorso]

For John:

Florida prostitute requests McDonald's as payment for her services

[Fluffy]

In the Derbyshire incident, I think it's telling that it's not even #10 that has most liberals bent out of shape.

It's #11.

The mean intelligence of blacks is much lower than for whites. The least intelligent ten percent of whites have IQs below 81; forty percent of blacks have IQs that low. Only one black in six is more intelligent than the average white; five whites out of six are more intelligent than the average black. These differences show in every test of general cognitive ability that anyone, of any race or nationality, has yet been able to devise. They are reflected in countless everyday situations. "Life is an IQ test."

The Atrios contingent becomes apoplectic when any discussion of IQ is raised, because they hold the following points to be unconditionally true:

1. We don't know what intelligence is.
2. Even if we could know what intelligence is, IQ tests don't measure it.
3. Even if IQ tests are measuring something, any differences in that something are the result of poverty and racism, and not biological differences.

But the striking thing to me is how little these points matter. Even if all three of them are true, they're true as a matter of academic interest only and have no real import in how we live our lives.

[o3]

and yet there's many types of "intelligence". teh blacks, most likely, would score higher on musical intelligence.

[WTF]

Right, orrin, I bet you think they have more rhythm, too.

[o3]

yep higher kinesiology quotient

[WTF]

So you admit you're a racist.

[o3]

no im an athlete

[WTF]

You're certainly the king of non sequiturs.

[John]

Which points Atrios' or Debryshire's?

[sarcasmic]

If intelligence is viewed as an unfavorable quality in a slave, you might think that over time slaves might be bred to be stupid. And their descendants, while no longer slaves, might be stupid.

Just a thought.

[Tim]

YOU'RE FIRED!

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Liberals definitely believe that we know what intelligence is because they are convinced, above all else, that they are the most intelligent people alive.

I'm not even sure about the biological differences issue, either. They will never admit it, of course, but liberals deeply believe in the inferiority of blacks. That's why (as one example) the rationale for affirmative action has morphed over time from remedying actual discrimination to "diversity." In the end, the left has concluded that we have to give blacks preferences because they're too stupid to advance without them.

[Fluffy]

In the real world:

1. We do know what intelligence is.
2. IQ tests may be flawed, but someone who scores very low on an IQ test given in his native language is likely to have extraordinary difficulty functioning in the society we have built. Maybe our society unfairly advantages people with verbal and symbolic intelligence, but that's the society we've currently got.
3. It doesn't matter if low IQ is the result of biology or of poverty. If you walk up to me as a formed adult and have a low IQ, you are of very little use to me. Whether that happened to you because of your genes or because of your rough childhood means nothing to me. I can't fix either one.

[John]

Which points? Atroios' or Derbyshire?

[Fluffy]

Those three points are the general claims made in response to anyone pointing to statistical evidence that some groups score higher on IQ tests than other groups.

They got trotted out in response to Derbyshire's point #11 from the Taki article.

[John]

People with low IQs can be intelligent in other areas. And of course they are just as entitled to fair treatment and justice as anyone else.

But that said, no we can't get around the fact that they have low IQs by pretending it is not true.

[Fluffy]

I mean, let's say I conceded that low IQ was a result of poverty and racism.

What fucking difference would that make in my day-to-day life?

It might make me favor anti-poverty measures (if I wasn't a libertarian), or anti-racism measures.

But those types of remedies would take decades to work. DECADES. What do we do with the stupid people we've already got, in the meantime?

It's as if we were on a boat, and the boat was shoddily built of flammable materials, and the boat is on fire.

And on one side we'd have liberals saying that this proves we need better regulations controlling boat builders.

And on the other side we'd have conservatives saying we need to let civil litigation and the free market punish bad boat builders.

And then we'd have Derbyshire off to one side, yelling, "Yeah, yell, the FIRST thing we have to do is get the fuck off this boat!"

(And then the liberals start screaming, "RACIST!" and the conservatives point at Derbyshire and say, "You're fired!")

[sarcasmic]

Perhaps people live in poverty because their low IQ limits them in how they can contribute to society.

[Fluffy]

What I'm saying is that in the context of Derbyshire's article, the true cause-and-effect nature of the relationship between IQ and poverty and race doesn't matter.

Let's say I stipulated that any and all differences in IQ score (and let's go beyond that, and include "antisocial behavior" like crime statistics) between blacks and whites was the result of poverty and racism.

Baltimore's ghetto would still be fucking dangerous.

It doesn't matter, at the moment you get out of a taxi in the bad part of Baltimore, if poverty and racism produced the conditions there or if low IQ did. It just doesn't matter. That's a question to discuss over mint juleps, after you get the fuck out of there and go back to the Inner Harbor.

[sarcasmic]

What do we do with the stupid people we've already got, in the meantime?

A hundred years ago it was fashionable to respond with "Euthanize them. Or at the least sterilize them."

But then some German dude took the idea a bit too far.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Now the answer is apparently "give them government hand-outs so they can thrive and multiply."

[Fluffy]

Derbyshire appears to have gotten in trouble just for saying, "Run away!"

Because apparently the politically correct answer is, "Correct all problems of poverty right there on the spot, in the next 30 seconds, and retroactively make all the people harmed by poverty whole again using your magical time machine powers."

[Soc Indv Sparky]

I would just like to say, excellent points Fluffy. Well done.

[Mr. FIFY]

+2 internetz for Fluffy.

[Groovus Maximus]

A hundred years ago it was fashionable to respond with "Euthanize them. Or at the least sterilize them."

It still is. Eugenics and the Spectre of Sanger is still quite strong in medicine. It's jsut presented differently and with a more palatable, hip Utilitarian bent.

[kinnath]

It's not "stupid" that is the real problem.

"I divide officers into four classes -- the clever, the lazy, the stupid and the industrious. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the high staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy is fit for the very highest commands. He has the temperament and the requisite nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be removed immediately."

[tarran]

People with low IQs can be intelligent in other areas. And of course they are just as entitled to fair treatment and justice as anyone else.

I think that's what bothers the Atrios contingent.

Let's face it, they don't believe in a society where all people have their rights respected. They believe in a society where the state picks winners and losers in order to perfect and strengthen society.

So, for example, many of them feel that if eggs make people have more heart-disease, egg consumption should be discouraged via taxes, penalties, regs, etc.

I think they fear that if race does play a role in ability, or tendency towards anti-social behavior, or other social problems, their own political philosophy will require them to racially discriminate, which makes them recoil.

To a libertarian like me, the answer is so what? A libertarian political order doesn't care what the IQ of a person is, or even the distribution of IQ's in a population an individual happens to be a part of (keeping in mind we are in many populations simultaneously).

[Lord Humungus]

the world needs ditch diggers too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRGRvE_Wqg

[Zeb]

IQ test do test for a lot of skills that have to be learned. So culture and education have a lot to do with doing well on a lot of them. But I agree that that doesn't make it a useless or meaningless measure. You need to have those skills and abilities to function well and be useful.
The problem is that idiots tend to assume that saying something general about a racial group means that you can conclude something about individual members of the group, which of course is not the case. It may well be true that on average, even after correcting for all cultural and environmental factors, that black people are less intelligent than whites or Asians or whatever. But that is really not useful information unless you want to sow racial divisiveness.

[JerseyPatriot]

The dialects spoken by most poor people tend to be less like the standard dialect than the dialects spoken by the rich. The further your dialect from the testing standard, the more difficult the test is, regardless of your intelligence. Consider that "I ain't got nuttin'" and "I don't have anything" mean the same thing, but one is standard and the other is not. Give me an IQ test written in the dialect of working-class Glasgow, Scotland, and my IQ score drops considerably, even though it's technically the same language.

If IQ is a result of poverty, we can't say the poor "deserve" their poverty for being stupid, which underlies a lot of right-wing thought. We have to start looking at the inequality and dysfunction built into institutions. Just as a reminder: North v. South Korea, East v. West Germany, Jamaica v. Barbados, Zimbabwe v. Botswana. Institutions matter.

[Citizen Nothing]

Registration? What the hell? I leave for a week and everything goes to shit.
Cancel my subscription!

[R C Dean]

Yeah, they would have never had registration if Postel was still here.

[sloopyinca]

Ooh, thanks. I was thirsty.

[Warty]

You say that without having yet seen how fun it is to watch Mary Stack try to get around registration.

[Warty]

The Strange Maps blog did an entry today on the metal density map, and it links to the incredible Map of Metal. Awesome.

[AlmightyJB]

Go Vikings!

[AlmightyJB]

Best links of the day

[Ex Nihilo]

On behalf of myself and my metal-loving daughters, THANK YOU.

[Warty]

Daughters, huh?

[Joe M]

That reminded me of this map I wanted to post for you.

[Joe M]

Oh, duh, it's the same map. I thought you were posting an actual mineral density map.

[kinnath]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....bled=false

"Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence," Grassley wrote, apparently abbreviating his words to fit into Twitter's 140 character limit. "Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law."

At least Chuckles provides some occasional comic relief for us.

[sloopyinca]

Thank God we're pulling all of our soldiers out of Iraq. At least one good thing is happening in the world.
[gets call from brother-in-law--talks for 5 minutes]
My brother-in-law (Army) just got his orders. He's going to Iraq for a year in June.

What the fuck?

[WTF]

We're removing all the combat troops, don't you know?
The remaining troops are not combat troops, because now we're just calling them something else, see?

[sloopyinca]

Well, he's a Major (just promoted) in Military Police. And while not a combat branch, his last tour was entirely spent in the shit. He has no idea what this one will entail, but it looks like he's being issued a rifle in addition to his sidearm. So I doubt he'll be spending it playing bridge at the embassy in Baghdad.

[T]

I noticed this last year. Everybody was pulling out, and my old unit (an armored cavalry regiment) was redeploying. But since they weren't being deployed as combat troops, they didn't count. But all the pictures I saw from that deployemnt had lots of guns everywhere.

[John]

It must not be Iraq Iraq.

[Enough About Palin]

"The family of Trayvon Martin may sue the homeowner's association of the gated community in which the shooting occurred."

Here is why they will lose. Zimmerman WAS NOT ON DUTY IN HIS CAPACITY AS A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PERSON when the altercation / shooting occurred.

[R C Dean]

Facts are generally not of too much concern when playing the grievance/litigation lottery.

[Apostate Jew]

At least registration has let some of the commentators express their true selves. The defense of Derbyshire is very revealing.

[Mr. FIFY]

Not just here, AJ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9HdvBb8HBk

Just one slice of nasty. MUCH nastier.

[Apostate Jew]

What has some jackass named Shabaz got to do with Derbyshire and his defenders? What Shabaz says is irrelevant to what Derbyshire wrote and how you are defending him.

[Mr. FIFY]

I didn't defend Derbyshire.

I was pointing out racism from more than one source, and how some of it is far fucking nastier than anything Derbyshire said.

But go ahead with your weak-sauce premise. It's amusing.

Using your premise, I could accuse you of defending the New Black Panther Party... but I'm a better person than that.

[Mr. FIFY]

Will you be in favor of this, then?

http://news.gather.com/viewArt.....4981251099

[Mr. FIFY]

Well, shit... the next time I get a traffic ticket, I'll just clear myself of wrongdoing.

Wait... I can't do that! I'm not a Federal department!

Just damn.

[GILMORE]

Bloomberg shitting on California extra-hard today =

California Teacher Pension Unfunded Gap Widens to 31%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....o-31-.html

High-Speed Rail Takes Californians for a Ride

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-ride.html

""The high-speed option suffers from the same delusions common in most rail designs: They are not viewed primarily as a transportation system, but as something that will transform society....""

[Mr. FIFY]

"Lives touched" by the stimolous plan.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

The high-speed option suffers from the same delusions common in most rail designs: They are not viewed primarily as a transportation system, but as something that will transform society.

I was reading the introduction to a book on commercial real estate development, written in the early 1980's by a prudent/conservative developer. About the third line of the introduction, he warned that each development should be based solely on its financial plausibility. Any attempt to make the project "transformative", or to incorporate different government programs into the project would result in the project failing.

Obviously if a project does transform a person, neighborhood, or society for the better, that is a happy if unforeseeable consequence. But it should never be the focus of any project.