Economy Sputters, No Gag for Zimmerman, Blind Activist Publicizes His Mistreatment: P.M. Links
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No, that's not a two-stroke engine — it's the sound of the U.S. economy sputtering along, delivering slower growth than expected in the first quarter.
- In a new video, the Obama campaign suggests that rival Mitt Romney wouldn't have had the nerve to assassinate bin Laden — with his bare hands, just like the incumbent.
- Florida Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester has refused the prosecution's request and will not issue a gag order on those involved in George Zimmerman's murder trial.
- A day after Standard and Poors downgraded the country's credit, the Spanish government says that almost one in four Spaniards are out of a job.
- A Dutch court upheld a law creating a "weed pass" allowing only citizens to buy marijuana, even as many other countries debate and implement looser drug policies.
- Gary Johnson, said by rivals and party faithful to be a shoo-in for Libertarian presidential nomination, is polling at 15 percent in New Mexico.
- In China, a blind activist's family has been subject to intrusive surveillance, beatings and harassment — a situation he revealed by escaping and releasing a video.
- One North Chicago police officer was fired and another suspended without pay for 30 days after Darrin Hanna died while in their custody.
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That Obama/Bin Laden ad is the latest sign that the political world is topsy turvy from 2008.
so you have doubt who'd win the gladiator fight while mittens hid behind the preatorian guard? >he will bring them death, and they will love him for it!
Shut up Mary.
I could be wrong but, I really don't think Orrin = rectal.
I'm just glad the bitch is gone!
This iteration of Orrin is Mary Stack.
I'm skeptical that Orrin's special view of the world can be adequately simulated by anyone other than a full-time YouTube commenter.
That is gonna leave a mark!
I agree. The new Urine is far more confrontational than the previous one.
OT: Dwight Yoakam created the best film character of the 1990s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....ature=plcp
Surprise!! The New York Times gets it wrong. Again.
First?
That's what you get.
I agree, and pledge to never even try it again.
You really should leave this sort of thing to the professionals.
Licensed professionals, I presume?
Do you have a permit for that remark? 🙂
He's more of a "food truck" kind of commenter.
So, um, I'm supposed to vote for Obama because bin Laden was killed while he was president? Exactly what's the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans again? Seriously, by that token, the Republicans could run as the social welfare party.
It's the weird post-Dukakis psychosis the Democrats have been pulling since 1992 to try to prove that they are just as bloodthirsty as the Republicans...
You know, got to win over the hicks in fly over country, amirite?
Ricky Ray Rector's lobotomized, shell of his former self approves this message.
The whole "getting bin Laden" bragging dance is a pile of hooey.
1) The intelligence that led to them finding where OBL was came as a result of a very longstanding investigation - not one that BHO originated.
2) Any President who, presented with that information, did not try to take out OBL would probably have been impeached.
It's not only nonsense--because you're 100% correct--it's also extra bilgey because it should by all rights offend his base. Which apparently will accept any action whatsoever provided that the action is done by a Democrat.
This is true in the reverse, but not quite to such a blind extent.
I think about this sometimes, in regards to this being true in the reverse.
I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but what would you call the Democratic version of the Tea Party?
The Democratic Party. It's all things to all people.
Occupy Wall Street?
I mean, that's what they are trying to pose as, but to a much shittier degree of success. On the other hand, I would like to see what would happen during a Republican administration.
That was clearly artificial, unlike the Tea Party. In the latter case, mainstream GOPers tried to co-opt the movement, with little success, though I think they've mostly succeeded now. And the Tea Party lost its way, regardless, when it stopped focusing on fiscal issues.
It's funny how the left likes to pretend it's all grassroots, yet virtually every "grassroots" moment seems centrally coordinated and funded. Really sad.
While claiming that actual grassroots movements, like the TP was earlier on in its life, are nothing but Koch funded astroturf activists.
Yeah, whatever its problems, it's pretty obvious the movement was spontaneous in the beginning. The failed attempts initially to co-opt it were pretty good evidence of that, as was the clear concern the mainstream Republicans had about associating with the movement too closely.
It was almost exactly the opposite with the Occupy movement, which had ad agency hands all over it, and, before the movement was laughed at once too often, saw many mainstream Democrats trying to jump in. Along with the media.
In true True Scotsman form, I will claim that the Tea Party never stopped focusing on fiscal issues.
Those whose focus drifted were never tea partiers to begin with.
So then the TP has about 8 or 9 members nationwide then?
In the beginning...
The Tea Party was about 3 things (and I fully supported it):
1. Fiscal Responsibility
2. Individual responsibility
3. Adherence to the Constitution
Once the mainstream politician saw the the TP was actually a real political force, it was hijacked by the Socons like Palin. At which point it became the "radical" wing of the GOP.
I don't think killing OBL really would offend anyone* on either side of the sports bar no matter what team was in the oval office.
*(OK, possibly Michael Moore, but let's talk about real people.)
No, of course not. Still, in theory, the left is supposed to be all peace and light, and you'd think an attempt to capture him would've been ordered by a kinder, gentler Democratic administration with a Nobel Peace Prize.
Also, you'd think the internationally sensitive Democrats would have an issue launching an offensive in a nominal ally's territory, which could've been viewed as an act of war.
I think the key words are "nominal ally". Pakistans definitely in the totally fucked nation class and we have no idea which way it is going to go next.
Depending on such an 'ally' for your supply route and back base is suicidal strategically. This is another reason to get out of Karzai's Kabul Klusterfuck as soon as possible.
(Although, even in Pakistan, the "outrage" died out pretty quickly - probably before OBL's corpse reached the bottom of the Indian Ocean and poisoned some innocent bottomfeeder.)
Standard libertarian disclaimers aside, I'm not too bent out of shape about the bin Laden assassination.
It seems today that the only qualifications for being a democrat is a gullibility for talking points and readily accepting sound bites.
Shouldn't it be obvious that bin Laden was never shit in a hat box in the first place? A symbol to rally the troops on both sides but otherwise insignificant in comparison to the real decision makers like Pakistan's intelligence services. The fact they kept him close by, in a shithole, should bust anyone's bubble in that regard.
The support Obama has given to Islamist in North Africa is far more destructive to our interest than the little good bin Laden's assassination does on balance (that being shit not coming back to bite us on the ass).
Not sure about (2)...impeachment is a tough process. I certainly think the proper thing to do would have been to attempt to take him alive, and not tell anyone about it until he was in a federal civilian prison so there wouldn't be any Congressional chicanery about withholding funding for a transfer.
And if they tried to de-fund his trial, I would tell them aw shucks, I guess we have to let him go then.
I think the outrage when the word leaked out would have been enough to get an impeachment. (and how long would something like that stayed a secret inside the beltway?)
Wrong. The massive piles of free and very cheap cash in the form of guaranteed government loans for the purpose of getting an education is what made tuition costs rise. It's basic fucking economics, and the NYT is either economically retarded or willfully ignorant.
Fucking squirrels!! This was supposed to be in response to my original comment at 4:32 PM
Oh good, I was hoping you would point out what was wrong so I wouldn't have to actually read the article. It's funny I was just reading a piece from Peter Schiff about Obama getting his causal directions wrong on other economic issues, or saying that wet sidewalks cause rain, as he puts it. It is a common theme for economically-illiterate leftists.
You're smoking crack if you think the availability of federal student loans is the "what made tuition costs rise." Federal student loans are subject to annual and total lending caps that have both increased slower than the average rate of tuition increases for many years. That's why it used to be common for students to complete college using nothing but federal loans, but in the past few years it's become routine for students even at state schools to need private loans as well. The 2011 lending caps are listed here: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTA.....tloans.jsp Please tell me what schools you can complete a 4 year degree at for $31,000, because that's the TOTAL cap on direct federal loans to a dependent undergraduate student.
Read and learn.
Or remain economically retarded. Your choice.
Is that the same Virginia Postrel that HnR was so much better under?
Nice try, but it is the expansion of the "guarantees" not direct federal loans (although you could make the case that they are gvt loans since they back them) that is putting so much cash out there and allows for tuition rises.
Way to argue against something that wasn't even said a-hole. Let me guess - academic?
The in-state cost for 4 years at my school is under $25K if you do not count room and board. A student living 'at home" could easily finish a degree for less than your 31K.
Since I started this, I should also point out that at my college, general revenue (state funding + tuition) per full time student has decreased by more than 20% in the past 5 years. So, the rise in cost is not uniformly distributed.
the U.S. economy ... delivering slower growth than expected
Translation: So-called economic "experts" predict incorrectly *again*.
They never predicted anything to begin with. The actually believe in the economic voodoo put forth by Team BLUE and essentially put out rewordings of press releases.
Definition of economics.
Bin Laden got what he deserved, but has anything really changed because he's dead?
Team Blue gets to do the macho dance.
yep, a lotta his buddies got kilt all dead too
Maybe you haven't been paying attention dude. The War on Terror is over. They got the terrorist.
That's why they dismantled the TSA, repealed the PATRIOT ACT, initiated trial proceedings for some of the Gitmo prisoners and released the ones they had no evidence on, closed the prison at Gitmo, pulled out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, and Libya, and stopped playing tuff gai with Syria and Iran.
In the next few months we'll see the end of warrantless wiretaps altogether and the prosecution of intelligence agents who performed them and the telecoms who abetted them.
It's peacetime ASM, VT day was almost a year ago now!
Okay, I'm totally stealing this.
How did this get left out?
House GOP leaders said Friday they are pursuing a plan to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the Justice Department in contempt for "stonewalling" them over information regarding the administration's failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program.
With all due respect, they've been threatening this for quite some time.
Sounds like the ol' Mexican standoff to me.
Remember when everyone thought John Ashcroft was a prick? What does that make Holder?
Until they send the Seargent At Arms out to arrest Holder, it's all empty talk.
A certain part of me wants to see a Capitol Police vs. US Marshals battle.
Capitol Police and the Secret Service, more likely. The Secret Service--the uniformed variety--holds the White House side of the Mall.
The DOJ is somewhere else in Washington, no? IIRC their building is to the northwest of the White House.
But if it is the SS, all the SAA has to do is ask all those dirty shopkeepers in Marion Barry's ward where the good prostitutes hang out. That there would be exactly the kind of di-version they could use.
I was just kidding, but I suppose the detail around the White House and the other EOP offices is probably pretty big. Not sure how many troop types are around DoJ.
When I worked there (in the NEOB), I was secretly amused to walk by Secret Service guys in uniform every morning. Meaning guys in cop-like uniforms, not suits.
There's no way the Secret Service doesn't annihilate them.
That's what I'm thinking, though the uniformed Secret Service weren't all that tough-looking to me.
They'll just borrow from the arsenal. Don't they stock Stingers and SMGs?
I worked there right after Oklahoma City (I mean, within weeks), and they also had that guy who shot at the White House around the same time. Pretty sure they had automatic weapons and rockets on the rooftops (not that I saw anything or heard anything about it). Definitely had guys walking around on the roof.
Literally all I know on the subject comes from Tom Clancy novels.
And drones. DRONES OVER DC.
Weren't all that Secret either.
I don't know about this contempt of Congress, but my contempt for Congress is second to none!
lol, so Barry is playing the decider-in-chief card now?
Does that do it for you? If not, I have other cards...you racist! Did that one work?
BC mayors' coalition argues current drug laws have failed.
BC schools could adopt year-round schedule.
About time.
Isn't there a British Columbia blog you can post these on?
Keeping the Reason community abreast of libertarian-ish issues in western Canada is all I got, man.
And keep it coming. H&R shouldn't succumb to provincialism.
I thought BC was the least libertarian province west of Ottawa?
Well... for things that the province actually controls, it's not *too* bad at the moment. Things like drug policy are controlled at the federal level but the public here are more sensible on the issue than most places in Canada, I think. The government is currently in quite a showdown with the teacher's union. And provincial taxes are better than what I remember them being before I moved away 8 years ago.
However, the electorate seem to be on a path to elect the NDP in the next elections, which would set us back quite a bit.
Forgot to add that in the last general election, in BC the Libertarian Party of Canada got more votes than the Marxist-Leninists and Communists combined, despite running fewer candidates.
Still only amounted to ~2600 votes, though.
Isn't there a British Columbia blog you can post these on?
Isn't there a douche bag blog you can post these on?
As a matter of fact...
Those look more like Darwin Awards than douches.
Either that or some of my Bethany neighbors.
Bethany? Jeepers.
Methany? I make me some decent rent money off of them Nazarines I tell ya.
Don't worry, Doc, I don't live there....anymore. Still own a couple of rent houses that have produced around a 10% return per year for over a decade though.
As a matter of fact...
DOA (from Vancouver, British Columbia) rock The Prisoner.
Spain hits record unemployment.
Socialism doesn't work?
Of course.
Maybe they could, you know, let the private markets work out suitable pensions and salaries.
Yeah, yeah, crazy talk.
Its the austerity budget.
It's Friday afternoon. Aren't we due for the White House to announce some bad news they hope you won't notice?
I'm sure they would like the press to get nothing out about the clusterfuck that is their prosecution.
Seriously, what is that request but an admission the prosecution has nothing? They need to demonstrate some amazing as-yet-unseen evidence before they can get more than a manslaughter conviction. Are they counting on the world ending before they have to present their case?
amadou diallo all over again
I heard on the radio that the judge was considering raising his bail since he had a robust legal fund donated. Can they do that - just raise the bail after it's paid without any indication of flight or danger?
I asked the same thing. They means test bail amounts? For what reason?
Bail is all about flight risk. Sensitivity to losing the bond has to play into it, no?
I guess. It still seems sketchy as hell, though.
Political trials always are.
"What did you see, old man?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....ature=fvst
USA! USA! USA!
...the Spanish government says that almost one in four Spaniards are out of a job.
In actuality, we're not too far behind, are we?
If you consider our prison population, no, not at all.
Mr. Yost can look forward to two years back pay when they eventually reinstate him in 2014.
DARN THAT DUE PROCESS!!!
derp
Wow. Weren't we making jokes at the time about Obama running on his record of killing Osama bin Laden?
Nobody was joking.
In a new video, the Obama campaign suggests that rival Mitt Romney wouldn't have had the nerve to assassinate bin Laden - with his bare hands, just like the incumbent.
Suggested sarcastic response: "pics and/or video or it didn't happen."
I LOLed.
+1
We are? Quick, someone tell Obama!
This is the single funniest thing I've seen in weeks.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/si.....24912.html
Great picture.
Nice, here's an inline image for reasonable.
I saw that earlier. He looks like he's having a great time on that trampoline.
This site was created by feminists to show that they have a sense of humor. As you might have guessed, it does no such thing.
I'm sure the puns are funny to feminists. It's like an entire page of inside jokes.
Not inside jokes. Most are just puns on their names, with no further depth.
I just meant that I don't recognize half of the names.
That's because you hate women.
I know, right?
Soooo much second-hand embarrassment.
Ha. HL, I swear I am just a bad refresher. We definitely had the exact same reaction.
Wow. That is so embarrassing it made me physically uncomfortable. I think some of them weren't of feminist writers, but of the contributors themselves? But I really hope not because that would be a new level of sad.
But Toni The Tiger Morrison! LOL!
Ok, Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret Atwood made me snicker, mainly at the thought of Atwood deigning to ask a deity for advice.
Thog: This our comedy club. Humour here funny in different way.
Ornik: It not reinforce stereotypes.
Kug: Comedy come from character, real situations. Not abstract craziness.
Bender: Translation: Boring!
What? Did you explain how the women's good fundamentals make up for their inability to dunk?
Misogynist pig, there have been 6 dunks in WNBA history.
He wasn't including the female clowns jumping on trampolines.
I look forward to the abrupt change of mind on "aggressive" foreign policy from the Democratic Party during the Romney Administration.
Rare photos from the set of the original Star Wars movies. Number 19 shows what a deviant Leia was.
#26 is rather unsettling.
I like #39. Funny.
Hit an Run and The Chive must have the same webmasters. Both sites take fucking forever to load.
Say no to crack, say yes to rollerskating!
Trying again for inline on reasonable.
dammit
In yet another frightening development from our psychotic government, Egan-Jones, by far the most honest of the big credit raters, is apparently now going to be punished for having the audacity to tell the truth about the fraudulent debt-based economies of the west.
The world-class lying lickspittles, like Moody's for example, are of course going to continue to skate on in the everything-is-wonderful fantasyland that the so-called elites now inhabit.
In a new video, the Obama campaign suggests that rival Mitt Romney wouldn't have had the nerve to assassinate bin Laden--with his bare hands, just like the incumbent.
Why are Obama's fans so full of hate?
Yeah OK that makes a lot of sense dude.
http://www.Gotta-Be-Anon.tk
He was doing better in December:
Barack Obama 44%
Mitt Romney 27%
Gary Johnson 23%
Haha. Check out this epic rap battle.
One of their best. Hulk v. Kim Jong Il is better.