A.M. Links: Polls Open in Northeast, Superdome Spy Scandal, Democrats Target Wal-Mart

• Republicans in Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island go to the polls to pick a President(ial candidate) today.  Mitt Romney hopes to run the board, Newt Gingrich's latest red line is Delaware, and Ron Paul's in it for the long haul. Rick Santorum, who suspended his campaign sometime before Last Thursday, is on the ballot in all the states, and Buddy Roemer's on the ballot in Rhode Island. Polls close at 9pm in New York and 8pm elsewhere.

• Pennsylvania's down ballot includes three Republicans making a hard push to run against Senator Bob Casey in November. Says a political observer: "There's three things at play: Smith's money versus Welch's endorsement [by establishment Republicans] versus the grassroots activism for Rohrer." Can you guess which of the three didn't use to be a Democrat?
• The New Orleans Saints' general manager Mickey Loomis is alleged to have had his own spy network at the Superdome for most of the 2002 through 2004 season. "This report on ESPN is absolutely false," Loomis said in an e-mail to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer. "To think I am sitting in there listening and actually and/or doing something with the offensive and defensive play calls of the opposing teams… It just didn't happen." The statute of limitations on the crimes involved in using electronic eavesdropping to win a football game is six years in Louisiana.
• House Democrats are investigating Wal-Mart. "The allegations that Wal-Mart officials in Mexico may have broken US laws by bribing officials to get their stores built faster raise serious concerns," the Ranking Member of the House Government Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings, said in a statement. No hookers are involved, yet.
• 101-year-old heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon thought highly of then presidential candidate John Edwards.  "She felt like he was going to be the savior of America," former Edwards aide Andrew Young said in court. Young returns to testify in court again today. Edwards was also Democrats' 2004 VP nominee.
• Meanwhile, the GOP's 2012 VP nominee remains anyone's guess.

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Comments

[Wilt Chamberlain]

http://thehill.com/business-a-.....in-office-

Haley Barbour lobbying for the online sales tax he championed in office

So is Barbour pretty much giving up his political career? I can't imagine an online sales tax plus the million pardons he used in office are earning him many new fans.

[KDN]

He's 65, fat, and didn't sign up for this primary which was the best chance he'd ever get at becoming President. He obviously doesn't have ambition for any higher elected office.

[Groovus Maximus]

Besides, lobbying is much more lucrative.

[sarcasmic]

Coolest tree house EVER!

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

[Ice Nine]

The railing height on that walkway is definitely not up to code.

[Hell's Librarian]

Considering it is built in Canada... looks like it would be pretty darn cold in the winter. I have to admire his moxie, though, and it is quite picturesque and cute.

[sarcasmic]

That's not a drone. THIS is a drone!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....e-gun.html

[Ice Nine]

That guy has to be doing something "wrong". Can't we arrest him or something?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Leave Res Publica Americana alone!

[Rich]

Can't we arrest him or something?

Except he blew up the evidence.

BWAHAHAHAA!!

[Brett L]

Why do we keep building better killing machines for Skynet?

[T]

Because engineers think flying killer robots are cool.

[Brett L]

They are not wrong.

[db]

They're cool as far as neat tech goes. Over time, I have become less enamored of the uses of weaponry while maintaining fascination with the technical achievement in making them. As a shooter and collector I really enjoy small arms. I can't understand the infatuation with the mechanics of warmaking and killing that many gun fans seem to have.

[robc]

killer robots

Its not a robot if it doesnt obey the laws of robotics.

[fried wylie]

Wylie's Deadly Automatons

"Because Fuck Asimov, That's Why."

[Brett L]

+1

[fried wylie]

*investment pitch*

[robc]

Fuck Asimov

Im fine with that sentiment, but just dont call them robots. Deadly Automatons is catchy.

Speaking of which, wouldnt Battle Bots have been about 1 bajillion times better if they hadnt been remote controlled? Making them automations (deadly, even) would have been more entertaining.

[Loki]

The temptation to program them with an HEM (Human Eradication Mode) failover would be too much to resist.

[SKR]

Capek would disagree and he was first.

[Loki]

Flying killer robots are cool. And since most engineers were the geeks who got picked on in school, the ex-jocks should probably start keeping an eye on the skies over their homes. BWAHAHAHAHA

[db]

I saw a prototype of a .22lr belt fed MG set up to fired by solenoid and to be mounted on a UAV. You find the coolest shit at Knob Creek.

[mad libertarian guy]

Along with elements of some of the seediest demographic segments the US has to offer.

[rts]

I'm 99% sure that that's as fake as Kyle's accent.

[sarcasmic]

Mischa Barton could lose a few pounds.

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

[Ice Nine]

No shit! That hog only has three ribs showing.

[Anacreon]

What happened to the super cute jailbait from "Lawn Dogs"?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119506/

[Groovus Maximus]

John...Paging commenter John...please pick up the white courtesy phone...

[$?? ???? Sparky]

Forget it, John has passed from these boards like a burning longship sailing into the sunset.

[Ice Nine]

From half the messages posted to none in a couple days. More like a rock "sailing". I'll probably manage to sleep y'know but I for one am curious as to why.

[Hell's Librarian]

He posted recently (a day or so ago?). But I still think he and MNG are busy in their dungeon doing unspeakable things to each other.

[Ice Nine]

Hey, you're right, MNG's gone too! Now that is very curious. I guess John was his raison d'?tre.

[invisible furry hand]

or his alter ego. Was John just arguing with himself all this time?

[db]

Too much work to switch handles that frequently.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

With registration it's a bit more work now. Without it you could have just had two browser windows open.

[db]

That was my point. Now it is too much work to maintain that volume of posting.

[Ted S.]

I'm always logged in. Use two different browsers, not just two browser windows.

[Ted S.]

Two separate browsers would do the trick nicely.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

My guess is that he left because he was getting picked on more than ever. Of course, it didn't help that he started going full so-con just before he bailed.

[Ice Nine]

Yeah, maybe. Disagree with his views all you want but beyond all that he was a pretty good thinker. I think his absence is a negative.

[nicole]

Yeah, me too...but I'm not so sure he's gone. I'm not here every day, and we just "saw" him last week.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Are you Ethiopian or something, sarcasmic?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Ethiopians are damn hot, though.

[Apple]

She's been eating her kitfo.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

Her weight isn't really a problem, it's her man jaw that ruins it for me.

[T]

Nice granny panties.

[Jerry]

Paleopanties.

[KDN]

Mischa Barton could lose a few pounds.

Nonsense; the exercise required to tone up those cottage cheese thighs will likely cause her to gain weight.

What's with the high waisted bikini anyway? Not a good look.

[Brett L]

Post-production will take care of it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It is indeed Primary Election Day here in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I am on the edge of my seat.

[db]

Not much to do today as a registered libertarian.

[SIV]

Your comment contains a word that is too long (50 characters).

And Buddy Roemer is still beating Gary Johnson like a rented mule...

[Brandon]

In the Republican primary?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pennsylvania's down ballot includes three Republicans making a hard push to run against Senator Bob Casey in November.

I don't know if I want to see Casey go. He pretty much (as predicted) disappeared since being voted one of my senators six years ago. I don't know if I mind them just collecting a paycheck and not doing shite.

[creech]

He still votes with Obama & the Dem caucus doesn't he? As for the GOP race, rather than have an open primary, the "powers that be" decided to endorse RINO Steve Welch. Fortunately for Welch, there are four conservatives in the race vying for the Tea Party vote. Too bad they couldn't have sat down together, thrown odds/evens and decided on one opponent. I guess that is unrealistic, as one needs a huge ego to run for U.S. Senate.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm going to do what I do every election, write in Lynn Swann's name.

[invisible furry hand]

NSW Police face piracy claims

The fifth largest police force in the world has been pirating software for years. And apparently replaced the pirated software with ... more software pirated from the same company

[Masturbatin' Pete]

Christie is probably the best pick: a Tea Party favorite with executive experience who's not perceived as an anti-government zealot or Bible-thumper. Just ethnic enough (in a Jersey fuggettaboutit sense) to take the edge off Romney's white-bread image. An educated everyman to counter Obama's ivory tower pedigree. Might deliver NJ or help push PA over the top. And politically he's probably dead in his re-election bid, especially if Romney wins. I understand that he may scare some women off, but I assume that Romney will poll that.

Rubio is a decent pick, but I'd rather have him in the Senate for a couple of terms rather than have him end his career in four or eight years.

[DJF]

I think it should be Ronald Reagan. He has experience as President and since Vice Presidents spends most of their time attending funerals, he also has personnel experience with that as well.

It would also show that Republicans were concerned about expanding civil rights. Why should people be held back from participating in the political process just because they are dead.

Reagan would also beat Biden in a debate even if he is dead.

[o3]

facts are stupid things

[Brian D]

Why should people be held back from participating in the political process just because they are dead.

No kidding!

sin,
ACORN

[invisible furry hand]

the brain-dead already vote, so why not?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Just ethnic enough (in a Jersey fuggettaboutit sense)

You still New Jersey Italians 'ethnic'?

I have two questions for you. First, how did you fix your time machine? Second, did you ever bang Weena?

[Heroic Mulatto]

*You still consider....

[robc]

Italian? Jersey is an ethnicity all to itself.

At least, viewing from 3 states away.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

I said "just ethnic enough... to take the edge off Romney's white-bread image." You can't caricature a Jersey eye-talian as a WASP or southern good ol' boy - two of the ways that the left loves to depict Republicans. Bringing a Tony Soprano vibe to the ticket helps to counteract whatever cool factor Obama's negroliciousness brings to his ticket.

[Groovus Maximus]

Bringing a Tony Soprano vibe to the ticket helps to counteract whatever cool factor Obama's negroliciousness brings to his ticket.

More like The Fred Flinstone of NJ. The man is as subtle as the Goodyear Blimp.

[plu1959]

Most voters won't get it, because he doesn't have an ethnic last name.

However, his girth might appeal to Everyman.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

That's fair. I see his ethnicity as more of a defensive thing. Obama can't play the out-of-touch WASP card against Christie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rubio is a decent pick, but I'd rather have him in the Senate for a couple of terms rather than have him end his career in four or eight years.

Try sixteen years. That man is ethnically dreamy!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Susan Sarandon diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

[Masturbatin' Pete]

I'm diagnosing her with old, worn out, saggy tits.

[db]

But they were very perky in RHPS!

[Apple]

She looks better than I will at 65.

[invisible furry hand]

behold the intellectual firepower

[rac3rx]

I became noticeably dumber just looking at that picture.

[Groovus Maximus]

I suspect this is a DX that has been in the works for a long time coming.

[invisible furry hand]

God the Daily Mail has two stories about fucked up leftist actors in one day. This one is funnier:

Riveting, Sean! Renowned statesman Mikhail Gorbachev nods off at Chicago summit after audience with outspoken actor

[Groovus Maximus]

Why is it Sean Penn's countenance looks like he is reading an awful menu 24/7?

Geez! Putting Gorby to sleep with commie psychobabble. Impressive.

[Ice Nine]

Jesus, the notion of Sean Penn in the same room with Lech Walesa and Mikhail Gorbachev - never mind his bothering them with his blather - is appalling.

[LC]

Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn showing up in the same thread reminds me of Dead Man Walking.

Is being a douche punishable by death?

[Hell's Librarian]

The White House snub suggests Sarandon's activism - which has spanned four decades - is deemed troubling by the government.

It couldn't possibly be that some of the BS she espouses is frankly embarrassing.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Maybe I'm reading too much into it but I kind of find it significant that she doesn't reveal which White House denied her clearance.

I find it hard to believe that someone like her would forgo an opportunity to expose more of Bushitler's oppression.

[fried wylie]

Wal-Mart officials in Mexico may have broken US laws by bribing officials to get their stores built faster

Because, Fuck Mexico's Sovereignty, that's why.

[KDN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....ctices_Act

This gets drilled into your head twice a year at every multinational. Letting it happen is inexcusable from a corporate governance perspective.

[Emmerson Biggins]

What is the difference between paying taxes and paying bribes?

I'm sure they pretend to have some way you are supposed to differentiate before the the fact. But I suspect the actual differentiation is up to the prosecutor and is basically ex post facto. Kind of funny that bribes campaign contributions to political bosses could have just made this whole thing never show up in the first place. Nice multinational corporation you have there .. shame if anything were to happen to it.

[Mike Laursen]

They bribed officials in Mexico to get things done, huh. That's the biggest yawner of a scandal ever.

[Matrix]

IRS to revoke gun rights and passports.

who cares about due process anyway?

[Groovus Maximus]

Wait till they get full authority to your medical records and medical care payment enforcement. Hospital collections depts. will look like angelic pikers.

[o3]

and eroding the right to privacy will accelerate that.

[Groovus Maximus]

Easy to erode what is freely given up.

FREE HEALTHCARE! MEDICAL CARE IS A RIGHT!

Idiot...

[SugarFree]

Attempting to argue rationally with the irrational is irrational, GM.

[Groovus Maximus]

I know. It's admittedly my berserk button, Saccharine Man.

[o3]

beserk is correct since ur arguing w urself. my comment accentuated urs.

[Groovus Maximus]

hrd 2 tell wif ur commntng styl, ur-in /> u seemd 2 apprv uv it.

[db]

my luv 4 u is lk a trk
BERSERKER!
wud u lk 2 mk sm fk
BESERKER!!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Didn't the EPA just get reamed for something like this? These statist fucks will just keep trying until it sticks.

[Rich]

Your comment contains a word that is too long (50 characters).

I suppose that word was "THISFIFTYCHARACTERWORDBULLSHIT
ISBULLSHITTHROUGHANDTHROUGH".

[DJF]

I don't think they have a real spam program, I think they just randomly select a post and block it and then give a bogus reason.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

There have been many comments throughout all of last week that go into great detail how things work now and what causes that error. Someone who was really bothered by it might do a little digging through last week's AM Links posts and get some answers.

[Ice Nine]

One shouldn't have to for chrissake.

[BakedPenguin]

They're keeping the griefwhore away.

[Warty]

We will pay any price, bear any burden, to keep the griefwhore gone.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

Nobody HAS to. You could spend time figuring it out on your own even though quite a few people already went through that exercise last week. If you want to be frustrated or figure it out on your own then more power to ya.

[Fist of Etiquette]

NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana was told Friday that New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three NFL seasons, "Outside the Lines" has learned.

If only authorities had access to that equipment we might have been able to stop the murder, infanticide, rape and cannibalism that took place in the Superdome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

[o3]

because the evacuees magically used the NFL commo equipment w/o power?! >its a vodoo thang eh?

[$?? ???? Sparky]

SPYYYYYYYYYYGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!!!

Oh wait, it wasn't the Patriots. Nevermind.

[Ken Shultz]

Paying politicians off as part of the price of doing business isn't anything new.

It's just that in Mexico, the politicians are still too ashamed to do their extortion in public.

We don't have that problem here in the U.S.

http://www.opensecrets.org/org.....D000000367

Wal-Mart is a major political player, spending millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions in recent years. Its political action committee gave $3 million to federal campaigns during the 2008 cycle, primarily to Republicans, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The donations included $12,000 to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who is leading health-care reform efforts as head of the Senate Finance Committee.

The company also spent more than $8 million on lobbying from January 2008 through March of this year, including a strong focus on health-care reform, according to Senate disclosure documents.

Wal-Mart's interest in health policy extends beyond employer mandates, including policies that might affect its pharmacy business.

----Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....04092.html

[Ken Shultz]

Incidentally, Elijah Cummings has raised and spent almost $500,000 in the 2012 election cycle, already.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pol.....1&newMem=N

I'm sure the fact that it's mostly union money has nothing to do with him going after Wal-Mart.

You may be able to buy that kind of influence from politicians in Mexico, but not here in the United States--that would be wrong!

[Fatty Bolger]

Mexico is just more egalitarian - everybody gets bribes. In America, bribes are mostly for the 1% (elected officials).

[Rich]

I'll guess Sarah Palin for VP. It *is* the GOP, after all.

[Ken Shultz]

She's certainly been vetted.

[Rich]

You mean, "checked out"?

[Hell's Librarian]

I don't know. A lot of people perceive her as a quitter.

[Ken Shultz]

She has way too much baggage now.

She had more of an advantage when she was unknown.

If you were gonna go for that, I'd still say he would lean toward Nikki Haley.

[Brett L]

Its the future!

Asteroid mining. Srsly. My resume is en route.

[Matrix]

wonder when governments are gonna step in and demand a cut or claim ownership of said asteroids... then some econonuts will start protesting and wondering if we're damaging the solar sytem's environment with our mining

[Brett L]

I fully expect there to be OMG!111!DINOSAUR KILLER ACCIDENT!!1! protestors. Which is why once they hire me, I'll suggest we maneuver the asteroids to a trojan point in Earth's orbit and set up the refineries/smelters there.

[T]

I know one of our resident pedants will chime in on this, but doesn't the Outer Space Treaty effectively ban this? Follow along here:

National appropriation is verboten.
Signatory states are responsible for all NGOs operating from their territory.
States are responsible for all damage or contamination.

Thsi strikes me a de facto ban on mining from anybody based in a signatory state. Gievn the US recent claims of universal jurisdiction, it really means a ban on activities by US nationals.

[robc]

Launch from Costa Rica. Problem solved.

[Brett L]

I think it would be more fun to sponsor a revolt in French Guyana, have the new government reject all previous treaties, and then use the existing ESA launch facilities there.

[l0b0t]

French Guiana is part of France, not a sovereign state and the Centre Spatial Guyanais is garrisoned by the 3e REI. They are the unit that also runs the nearby jungle warfare center (CEFE). We did a rotation through there in 1990, those fellows are true meat eaters and not to be underestimated. I have little doubt they would be the victors if push comes to shove with any other military force. I think, given the Legion's history, fomenting another coup would be an easier task.

[Brett L]

Rand Simberg is one of the more knowledgeable bloggers on the subject. He says here that if they move it, they own it under some precedent. He has several more posts detailing space property rights and law at his site.

[Pro Libertate]

I like what he's doing--firing up the debate. We're obviously on the verge of some commercial activity on other planetary bodies (meaning that we're within a decade or two), time to start getting serious about what that means. If we can get general agreement that resources acquired in space or land occupied on celestial bodies is private property, we create an incentive for people to go there as soon as Earth-to-orbit costs get reasonable.

Unsurprisingly, he's been fending off attacks about evil rich people strip mining the Moon and whatever other nonsense the anti-capitalists care to throw at him.

[db]

I agree, but it's going to be a tough sell to politicians. They don't care about getting humanity into space, they care about keeping humanity under the thumb. The paradigm will change inspite of them, not with their help.

[Pro Libertate]

Obviously, the tough part is coming back or doing business with people on Earth. That's when they can get you. We'll need some sort of legal regime to govern that.

In better times, the U.S. would push for freedom of space. Now, we'll probably join in with some sort of communistic barring of private actors in space once private actors actually start going there in force.

[Brett L]

I envision megaton slabs of platinum being dropped on IRS HQ. "We pay in metal!"

[Gray Ghost]

If you have the delta V and energy to do asteroid mining, you pretty much have WMDs by default.

Hard to see governments being comfortable with that degree of power in private hands. Too bad, as asteroid mining (which implicitly means meteoroid/asteroid monitoring and deflection), solar power sats, and microgravity/vacuum manufacturing have the potential to dramatically increase world productivity.

[Pro Libertate]

A valid point and one of the reasons I anticipate massive intervention before things get really fun.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

So renounce citizenship and avoid US income tax in one fell swoop.

[Pro Libertate]

The Outer Space Treaty really just deals with government actors, not private ones. There's really nothing there that would prevent private ownership of property that is actually being occupied and used. But this won't really be settled until we see commerce based in space.

The more problematic Moon Treaty, which tries to treat the entire solar system like Antarctica, hasn't been ratified by any significant space power.

Frankly, I don't see how any nation on Earth or any combination of nations can assert jurisdiction over places they can't even get to. If private individuals start pouring into space, let them decide what government and laws they need.

[T]

I tend to agree as a practical matter, but I'm having visions of that moment in the seminal libertarian text where Manny gets arrested in Kentucky for some bullshit charge. I think once you leave, you've got to either stay gone or have enough money, power and friends to fight the long fight when you hit dirt again.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm worried that the economy-deadening hand of some government or combination of governments will stop the commercialization of space (beyond LEO, that is) in its tracks.

[Ken Shultz]

You're gonna get into problems with protecting those property rights. Frontier people in the west had those problems; gold rush miners had those problems, too.

I still say space colonization has to be a multi-generational thing. You have to sell people on the idea that living their whole lives on a spaceship--so that their great grandchildren can colonize another planet--is better than the life they have now.

Even in colonizing North America, the people who went were religious fanatics, debt criminals (who came against their will), war refugees from the continent, slaves...

You can send people up against their will, but the people who go willingly, will have to be even more desperate than the religious fanatics and refugees.

Indentured servitude doesn't even work if the guy knows he'll never live to see what he's working for.

[Pro Libertate]

We don't need multigenerational ships to move about the solar system. And we don't know of a single Earth-like world orbiting another star, even if we can get there.

[Gray Ghost]

Build a gigantic series of telescopes, and if you're talking about outer space mineral processing, you're talking about building ginormous mirrors, and we might be able to resolve Earth-like worlds around other stars.

Getting there, of course, is another matter.

I like the idea of terra-forming bodies like Venus and Mars, instead of spending the resources on generation ships, but the sheer scale and complexity of those projects would be daunting. Not something we likely have to worry about now.

[Ken Shultz]

That planet's out there.

I just think the finance is the biggest problem. How do you get people to pay to go somewhere they'll never see for themselves?

Third party finance isn't going to work. How's the bank get paid back?

And I think I might rather live in the arctic rather than just confine myself to living on some asteroid in our solar system somewhere.

If Virgin Galactic teams up with the Four Seasons and builds a hotel/spaceship that's way better than the way a lot of people live on earth, then we might entice some people to live their lives out en route somewhere. ...and even if they don't know where they're going, exactly, as long as the spaceship/hotel is better than what they've got on earth, they might sign up for that.

Otherwise, you need something like religious fanaticism. Something like the Hale-Bot, Heaven's Gate cult, but instead of killing themselves to hitch a ride on nonexistent spaceship, they work on financing and building one for themselves.

It would be a multi-generational effort to finance and build something like that, but people give money to Scientology... Hell, Kirsty Alley thinks they can cure psychological problems with a tuning fork--convincing religious people to finance a real spaceship should be easier than that.

[Pro Libertate]

That's about right. Scientology will establish the first moonbase.

[Gray Ghost]

I think you have a point, Ken, with religious fanaticism underpinning a project like a generation ship. Something akin to the migration of the Mormons to Utah, or hell, the flight of the Puritans from England.

Borrowing the phrase from something I read in Asimov's mag in the early 80s, the problem is that we don't have a Conestoga wagon or a Union suit for space. Space makes the South Pole look inviting and hospitable. There aren't trade winds in space. Well, not until we can build solar sails anyway. Everything you need, you have to bring. It's just really, really daunting, and any mistake you make is likely to be fatal

[Brandon]

Shit, you know James Cameron will pony up for it. Hell, once Avatar 3 is released internationally he'll be able to pay it all up front.

[Loki]

we don't know of a single Earth-like world orbiting another star, even if we can get there.

Not so fast

While it's true we don't "know" that Kepler 22b is Earth-like, it's relatively low mass and location within the habitable zone of its star suggests a strong possibility that it is.

[R C Dean]

I know one of our resident pedants will chime in on this, but doesn't the Outer Space Treaty effectively ban this?

I don't think so. Those asteroids don't belong to anybody, so nobody can complain if you melt one down.

What you are shipping to earth would be, presumably, high grade ore or finished materials. I don't think the treaty bans importing anything from space.

For a purely private operation, I don't know that the treaty would really be a factor. If anything, the fact that nobody else has a claim to asteroids means you don't have to pay anybody before you start mining.

And I don't think they will need to worry about anybody stealing an asteroid from them for a good long while, so they don't really need a "property" interest in the asteroid, either.

[Brandon]

How would the importing stuff back work? Would everything have to be processed up there? Wouldn't it be expensive to get finished material back down here without destroying it?

[db]

Come and take them.

[Ken Shultz]

There's a reason why bored billionaires finance stuff.

Space mining is a lot more exciting than buying yet another ranch.

I should send them a proposal for a space elevator this afternoon.

[fried wylie]

My bet is on the launch loop concept working out instead of the space elevator.

[Brett L]

Get them before they get us!

[$?? ???? Sparky]

So how much time before the Union Aerospace Corporation is formed, mining is moved to Mars, and the gates to Hell start opening?

[fried wylie]

soon as this load-screen completes.

[R C Dean]

So, it'll be awhile.

[db]

Maybe we can be office neighbors!

[Loki]

A newly unveiled company with some high-profile backers - including filmmaker James Cameron

At the very least the special effects should be great.

[SugarFree]

Guys don't liked being called creepy because it's accurate, so it's OK, but calling a woman a crazy is never accurate, so that's out of bounds. Double standard? What's that?

[Brett L]

Just like when men obsessively try to get a woman's attention, they're stalkers. When a woman does it to a man, they're just trying too hard. Leading to the sub-question: Is Fatal Attraction a misogynistic and unfair portrayal of a betrayed woman or just a standard telling of what happens when a man misjudges which side of the hot/crazy line a woman is on?

[Groovus Maximus]

The comments...words, I am a loss.

PATRIARCHY!

Also, "Bitch". When women use it, it's a badge of honor. Guys, one step of above "cunt".

[Hell's Librarian]

Also, "Bitch". When women use it, it's a badge of honor. Guys, one step of above "cunt".

This is an in-group/ out-group word usage thing.

[Groovus Maximus]

I see. Do you have The Rulebook handy? I hope it's not The Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood or some other Amy Tan novel.

[Hell's Librarian]

My own personal rulebook is to not call people things that are probably offensive. I can't think of any circumstances where I'd find it OK to be called a nigger, or a slut, or a bitch or whatever, so I don't call people those things-- unless I am deliberately trying to antagonize them. However I don't think it is some dark secret that friends and/or in-groups members can get away with behavior that out-groups or non-familiar people can't. That's life.

[T]

unless I am deliberately trying to antagonize them

Aaaand that's how we know you're a libertarian, right there.

[Groovus Maximus]

Agreed. I was asking jovially. You are, of course, right.

[T]

Which leads me to one of my few iron-clad observations about women: the phrase "shut up, cunt" never has the intended effect, and usually has the exact opposite effect.

[nicole]

Totally read this as "slut up, cunt" which, while amusing-sounding, did seem pretty racy.

[db]

LOL.

[nicole]

Speaking of inaccurate, did you actually read the dude's account of Crazy D vs. Jezebel's summary of it? Just a little bit different...and a little bit...you know...crazy...

The comments made me cry too, Groovus. And I was still depressed about the Tiger Beatdown thing from last night.

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, I did. I can't write that kind of fiction. I don't know how that's possible.

And I was still depressed about the Tiger Beatdown thing from last night.

Time for a precision strike MALE GAZE!!!

There, all better.

[nicole]

Whew. Thanks.

[Hell's Librarian]

Time for a precision strike MALE GAZE!!!

I am EMPOWERED!!!

[JW]

Hey baby, wanna get empowered?

[Kaptious Kristen]

You would believe the Male Gaze I saw yesterday on the train. This boy, perhaps a year old, was totally craning his neck and turning around in his stroller, starting at this little 2-year-old girl, and, like, totally wouldn't stop!

[JW]

We're born ready.

[Kaptious Kristen]

*starting = staring

[JW]

Double standard? What's that?

Doesn't there need to be a standard in use before you can double it? Those gals seem standards challenged, other than the standard of Manichean gender utilitarianism.

[Groovus Maximus]

They are a study in dichotomy, JW. I blame PATRIARCHY!

[JW]

I blame myself, really.

[Ice Nine]

101-year-old heiress Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon thought highly of then presidential candidate John Edwards. 'She felt like he was going to be the savior of America,'
'She said she was close personal friends with Senators John and Bobby Kennedy and felt like Edwards was the best combination of them,' Young testified.

Well, she had the second part right anyway.

[invisible furry hand]

She said she was close personal friends with Senators John and Bobby Kennedy and felt like Edwards was the best combination of them

What a disgusting slur. The Kennedys never let their girlfriends go to full term for a start

[Ice Nine]

Good one.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...attorney Marc Scaringi and Dave Christian, a Vietnam War representative, are also seeking the Republican nomination.

Perhaps I am too young to know this, but what is a Vietnam War representative?

[Rich]

I asked my mother, and she said it was better if I didn't know.

[o3]

Obscura Day illuminates the worlds lesser known treasures

On 28 April, the whole world will open its cabinet of curiosities. Obscura Day, now in its third year of existence, encourages tourists and locals to seek out the stranger (and lesser known) sides of cities and small towns.

Sponsored by Atlas Obscura, an online project profiling offbeat and unusual locations across the globe, Obscura Day started as a way to universally celebrate these spots and encourage lectures, tours and outings around them. Over the past two years, the events have attracted more than 10,000 people on every continent. This year, nearly 100 events have been organized in cities from Wellington, New Zealand to Kyonan, Japan, each with its own strange story to tell.

Source: BBC Travel

[rac3rx]

So, basically this is like hipster day, or some shit.

[Trespassers W]

Pfft. I was into all this stuff back when it was obscure.

[DesigNate]

Who Dat?

Also, this is the first time in like ever that I've been in the first 100 comments of morning links. Yay waking up super early.

[SugarFree]

Jezebel's Two-Minutes Hate on Game of Thrones.

The article is little more than than their usual "men like it, it must be bad" shtick, but the comments really clutch the pearls and gnash the teeth.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I never understand how people can get worked up over the depiction of nudity or sex in fiction. You're adults, for fuck sake. You don't have to show it to your kids if you don't want to. And you don't have to find it titillating.

And as far as I can tell (having not read the books), much of it has purpose to the storytelling. Joffrey's a prick, and now I know just how much of a sick bastard he is.

[T]

I'll make it easier. If you find the sex scenes detract from your enjoyment of the show, quit watching. I mean, for fuck's sake, this is HBO. You have to pay them before they'll show it to you. If you're truly distressed about it, go reread the books.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's amazing. Everyone who has ever told me they have a problem with the sexual content of Game of Thrones was not a prude. Every one. They told me so.

[Groovus Maximus]

Jane, you ignorant slut. (Adah) @Nezrite
Word. I'm becoming more and more disappointed at how unfriendly Jez commenters are towards nerdy women in this post...

heheheheheheh...The Irony. IT BURNS!

[Brett L]

This from the crowd that gets moist at the mere mention of True Blood. Its different when its gratuitous sex in a genre they like.

[Warty]

It always amazes me how, for all their loud shrieking about abortions and vibrators, feminists are the most gigantic bunch of prudes you'll ever find.

ennepemoiomusa Mon 23 Apr 2012 10:41 PM
I'm most shocked by the absolutely gratuitous rape of the books. Non. stop. rape. In the second book it was an average of every 5 pages that someone mentioned rape or was raped. I couldn't stand exploring George R. R. Martin's rape fantasy anymore and I got tired of watching brothers and sisters screw each other, so I gave up.

...

Get a life, George R. R.

Yeah! Get a life, you fabulously successful man oppressor artist!

[tarran]

The books were inspired by the War of the Roses in England. Much of the fucked up shit is based on stuff that actually happened.

What a bunch of ignorant timorous morons.

[Fatty Bolger]

I wonder what this shrinking violet would think of the female authored Kushiel's Legacy series.

[Brett L]

Mommy porn. Or at least, the first third of the first book struck me that way. I lost interest and put it down.

[Fatty Bolger]

LOL, no. No, no, no. Definitely not mommy porn.

[Brett L]

What? It had all the aspects of Fifty Shades of Gray. Prostitution in an honorable sense, BDSM as fun for her and him -- with her being the submissive one. Not much plot beyond that I could discern before I got bored.

[Hell's Librarian]

What's interesting to me about Jezebel is that they're all about reclaiming words like "slut" and "bitch" and so on, opposed to "slut-shaming" and pro slut-walk and such. You'd think they'd be some of the biggest sex-positive bloggers on the face of the earth. But in reality, they are some of the most prudish, old-womanish (and I mean that in pretty much all senses of that phrase) writers around: some of the most sex-negative I have come across. For them, sex isn't empowering or enjoyable on it's own terms (which is precisely why a lot of people like to read it or watch it-- "Why so much humping," indeed?). The only way sex is worthwhile is to make a political statement. It's disgusting.

[SugarFree]

Bingo. And they have the social crusader's viewpoint that depicting an act is the same as approving of the act.

[T]

What did Larry Niven once say? Authors have a word for people who think authors are the same as their charcters. We call them 'idiots'.

[robc]

"There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot.'"

In case you want the exact quote. And, look, I copy pastad from a site that doesnt use smart quotes (wikipedia) and it all transferred a-okay.

[T]

That's the one! Thanks, rob.

[Warty]

JuliaStepchild Mon 23 Apr 2012 9:36 PM
I don't have HBO anymore, so haven't seen GoT. But it seems to me that since the show has so many female fans, the sex scenes should be a lot less "male gaze-y". Is there even a modicum of male nudity in this show?

Ah, so that's the problem. Those fucking men like it.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It seems to me that if the show has "so many female fans" it seems like the sex scenes aren't too male gazey.

[Hell's Librarian]

FFS: I don't have HBO anymore, so haven't seen GoT.

She hasn't seen it, but of course that isn't going to prevent her from commenting on it and offering her opinion that it is too "male gaze-y."

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's called "motif," a literary technique that seems to be too sophisticated for your pea-brain to comprehend, Ms. Anderson.

[Warty]

Excuse me, who has the M.A. in Post-Colonial Marxist Feminist Creative Writing here? You shut up and let the experts speak.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Sorry, my M.A. is in Pre-Colonial Neo-Marxist Queer Studies, so my ideological paradigm is superior.

[Heroic Mulatto]

We cut to a charming, Zagat-rated seaside brothel, owned by Littlefinger, one of the King's councilmen...

For whatever reason, Reason won't let me post the rest of the quote I was responding too.

[robc]

sounds like a quote was about to start there.

Smart quotes people. Learn what they are and then stop fucking using them.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Is that why Reason pulls it's "Your word is too long (50 characters)" bullshit when there is no such thing?

[Heroic Mulatto]

*its

[robc]

The error messages appear to have nothing to do with the error.

One of the big things people have been having trouble with is copy/pasting smart quotes, which are being rejected. Stick to fucking ascii.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Man, I hope Mary Stack dies a long, agonizingly painful death from ovarian cancer.

[tarran]

Dude, she is dying a long agonizingly painful death from mental illness. Her problem is she blames us for her pain.

[Hell's Librarian]

Yeah, very careful parsing of copy-pasta for quotes and apostrophes seems to do the trick. Apostrophes in particular are easy to overlook.

[JW]

The irony here is that copying from Reason's own blog post can trigger this.

I tried for 10 minutes yesterday, trying to quote their own fucking text, even pasting as plain text, and finally gave up.

[Hell's Librarian]

Yeah, I also tried cut and pasting from Notepad, thinking that it would strip off any weird characters, but it didn't cure the Smart Quote issue. They're the devil.

I wish Reason would revert whatever change they made in the last few days. It's really annoying. I assume it adds some sort of functionality, but, if so, it isn't apparent from an end-user perspective.

[R C Dean]

The error messages appear to have nothing to do with the error.

A good tactic for preventing the greifers from figuring out how to work around your blocks.

[nicole]

I am depressed the poster lives in Reno. This is not the shit that Reno 911 has led me to expect of the biggest little city in the world.

[KDN]

Did anyone else see this bit of weapons grade stupid from French labor leader Paul Fournier on Sunday?

My favorite bit:

Far from reducing the purchasing power of workers and retirees by undermining the pension and social-welfare systems, we need to boost these as a way of supporting internal growth that is much less dependent on external markets.

[SugarFree]

If he was smart or honest he wouldn't be a socialist.

[Warty]

It was possible to be honest, smart and a socialist as late as...oh, maybe 1920. Anyone who hung onto it after Bertrand Russell abandoned it is either stupid or evil.

[Groovus Maximus]

The last two are not mutually exclusive.

[Warty]

I didn't say xor, did I, smartgai? Stick to your butchery.

[Groovus Maximus]

Why aren't you posting more metal links?! Damn, you're next to useless. One of the few talents you have...wasted. Disgraceful.

[Warty]

Fine, fine.

[Warty]

Priority has to be given to growth and employment, rather than pleasing the markets.

Amazing. They think of markets as some sort of evil god, apparently.

[invisible furry hand]

They think of markets as some sort of evil god, apparently.

They're not? So I've been wasting my time with the burnt sacrifices every morning, and prayers in a tongue not my own?

[SugarFree]

"Moloch whose love is endless oil and stone! Moloch whose soul is electricity and banks! Moloch whose poverty is the specter of genius! Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen! Moloch whose name is the Mind!"

[Brett L]

I'm getting a sidebar ad for Occupy t-shirts. Who's been trolling for hippie sex?

[T]

All the single males here?

[plu1959]

I much prefer the hippie chick fantasy to anything approaching reality. Susan Dey as Laurie Partridge, e.g.

[Groovus Maximus]

Hi! I'm Cindy. I'm the perfect female type.

[Groovus Maximus]

Ewww. Not me. I have read that there has been in increase in requests for worming meds and distemper shots for those involved with the hippies. Scabies have been on the rise too.

[Brett L]

Tell the truth, doc. Can I catch patchouli from a hippie chick?

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes. Yes you can. It's terminal. I'm...I'm sorry. I'll need to notify your next of kin.

Got a Bucket List going?

[Brett L]

It mostly involves driving a firetruck with a water cannon and a reservoir filled with soapy water through an Occupy gathering.

[Groovus Maximus]

Don't forget the Death Metal...Hippies HATE Death Metal!

(cue Warty)

[Warty]

You lazy fuck, maybe you could try doing your own work.

[Groovus Maximus]

Excellent choice, vaginal blood fart. Ever heard of division of labour?

[Ice Nine]

Incredible, that's the same as mine! Well, without the cannon and soapy water thing.

[sarcasmic]

I prefer women who aren't allergic to deodorant.

[plu1959]

The Secret Life of a Society Maven

... he enlisted in the Air Force. He was stationed in England, and when he returned, in 1968, he was - to his family's astonishment - transformed.

"He had turned into a kind of English fop," Mr. Teicher said. "He had that accent, and was wearing an ascot and carrying a walking stick."

[Story is three days old, but still worth a read. Click hier.]

[Heroic Mulatto]

You killed the link!

[plu1959]

How about this.

[Pro Libertate]

So I'm watching one of the last couple of episodes of the seventh season of House, and they have a patient who builds bombs. She is played by Linda Park, one of the crew on Star Trek: Enterprise, and her boyfriend is our good friend Jubal Early. Not the Confederate general, mind you, the bounty hunter from Firefly.

[robc]

Not the Confederate general

🙁

I thought maybe there was a time travel episode.

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe in the third season.

[Warty]

Jubal's generally early

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ms. Park was the only reason to watch Enterprise, and, even then, with the sound off.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Did someone say Firefly?

Gratuitous Adam Baldwin pic!!

[SugarFree]

If The Avengers Were 10 Times Manlier

"Hulk Jump. Hulk Like Jump."

[Ken Shultz]

Oh, yeah...

The Avengers were awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecX1PzNLNk

[Kaptious Kristen]

195 days until this dog-forsaken election. I don't know if I can stand it that long. And it's only gonna get worse.

[Groovus Maximus]

I thought you were in your bunk?

ADAM BALDWIN!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Tsk tsk...7 minutes too late!

[Brett L]

Words, words, what do they mean? The Atlantic writes an article about American Francophobia, cites no examples where Americans are afraid of the French. Just ones where we don't like them. I take back my compliment from yesterday on their talent.

[SugarFree]

Describing hatred of homosexuals as homophobia has degraded the suffix.

And of course the Donnie Darko-esque delusion that the opposite of love (-philia) is fear (-phobia).

[Groovus Maximus]

And of course the Donnie Darko-esque delusion that the opposite of love (-philia) is fear (-phobia).

Yet more proof that STEM based curricula is sorely lacking in the this country.

[Brett L]

You mean haemophiliacs don't love bleeding?

[Loki]

haemophiliacs don't love bleeding

No wonder they get so pissy when I stab them. I though I was doing them a favor.

[Groovus Maximus]

NEEDZ MOAR LIGATURE!

[SugarFree]

If they don't love bleeding, then why do they do it so much, smart guy?

[Brett L]

Dammit Jim, I'm an engineer not a doctor!

[Groovus Maximus]

Fun med fact: Only males are haemopheliacs. It should be apparently obvious why this would be lethal if females expressed the phenotype. (Think menarche.)

[Warty]

So why don't they express the phenotype? Is it something like why calico cats are only female?

[Groovus Maximus]

Haemophelia is a recessive sex-linked trait. I should re-state that females can express the phenotype, but it is very, very rare. And dangerous.

[Warty]

Yeah, I can see why it's dangerous. You'd be getting yelled at 24/7 if you married one.

[Warty]

Today's fucked-up fact:

It is estimated that more than 50% of the haemophilia population, over 10,000 people, contracted HIV from the tainted blood supply in the United States alone.[35]

Fuck.

[DangoRoRo]

Sounds like a rock solid plan to me dude.

http://www.Net-Anon.tk

[Warty]

For those of you who know the whole griefwhore story, this is unspeakably hilarious.

[$?? ???? Sparky]

So that site has become a sort of dreamcatcher except it caught the former H&R troll. Interesting.

[Loki]

Be glad you don't live next to this guy

[Brett L]

Creator of Gaia hypothesis joins denialists.

[Brett L]

Creator of Gaia hypothesis is now a denialist

[Brett L]

I swear there was a link there. trying again.

[Brett L]

Fucking squirrels. In plaintext then? http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com.....hange?lite

[Brett L]

Not Spam Dammit! Trying again.

[Warty]

Gun pants! Awesome!

Plus bonus Szaszian fun in the comments.

LaurenAtlanta
Future Zimmermans of America.

Also, the guy carrying a gun, two knives and two extra magazines in his pants needs some serious psychiatric help.
April 24, 2012 at 10:58 a.m.

[JW]

Also, the guy carrying a gun, two knives and two extra magazines in his pants needs some serious psychiatric help.

Projekshun is fun!

Only 2 knives? Pussy.

[Warty]

You know how often I get asked why I carry a knife when I use my pocketknife to do something? It's disgraceful. "Why do I carry a knife? Because I don't want to risk becoming you, you pussy."

[JW]

Even Bart Simpson knows the value of a good knife.

[Gray Ghost]

Not sure how many Woolrich is going sell, if they list for 150% of the price of 5.11's. I guess they're more polished looking than Teddy Tactical's line.

She probably wouldn't like the guy who carries two guns and one knife. It's weird, media reports of womens' antipathy to firearms and weapons in general. You'd think, being physically weaker than men, that women would cherish the opportunity to even the playing field. I'm not Warty-sized but I'm large enough that I'd think your run-of-the-mill violent felon is going to want to choose a softer target. (That and I try to pay attention in public, which is probably much more useful.) Your average woman is much smaller, probably weaker, and would look more inviting to rob. You'd think they'd want to carry, just out of self-preservation?

[R C Dean]

You can mansplain it all you want, but you aren't going to get them to change their minds.

[JW]

You'd think they'd want to carry, just out of self-preservation?

What? And have their Perpetual Victym card revoked? Not happening.

Mind you, this seems to be limited just to city womenfolk. Those safely outside the confines of population centers generally have a modicum of common sense in these matters and can pick up a gun without getting visibly nauseous.

[Warty]

nauseous

Nauseated. You buffoon.

[Warty]

Although that sort of broad is definitely nauseous.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I would carry, 'cept those concealed carry handbags I saw that the gun show were so goddamn ugly.

(my next life plan is to design attractive, fashionable concealed carry purses)

[Gray Ghost]

My GF says the same thing, FWIW. I showed her the ones from Mitch Rosen (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, to the VIC), and the upturned nose, snort of derision was like when I tried to get my toddler cousin to eat his green beans. I didn't think it was that ugly.

Now, if the same bag had a Lanvin or Prada badge on it, she'd have been all over it.

[protefeed]

"The allegations that Wal-Mart officials in Mexico may have broken US laws by bribing officials to get their stores built faster raise serious concerns,"

It's illegal under U.S. law for foreign subsidiaries to make bribes in foreign countries? WTF?

[Virginian]

Yep. Bill sponsored by Proxmire. Because don't you know, the whole world works the same as Wisconsin.