Obama Touts Green Credentials, U.S. and China Squabble Over Activist, Cops Oppose NH Pot Bill: P.M. Links

• With campaign season heating up, the Obama team is touting his administration's support for environmental regulations as a selling point — though unions may not be buying.

• The fate of a blind human rights activist in China has taken on international scope and could have implications for U.S.-Chinese relations.
• Medical marijuana may have won a veto-proof majority in New Hampshire's House and is close to winning in the Senate, but law enforcement is leaning on Governor John Lynch to kill the buzz.
• Should he win the Libertarian presidential nomination, Gary Johnson's pick for running mate is drug-war critic Judge Jim Gray.
• Hankering for paella? Grab it before the europocalypse as Spain slips into recession and continental banks shrivel.
• A man imprisoned since being convicted in 1996 of rape and murder is poised to regain his freedom because of DNA evidence exonerating him.
• Documents reveal that Google's scooping of personal data through open wireless networks was the idea of one engineer, but at least some company officials were aware of the practice.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

While medical marijuana advocates say the bill before the Legislature has been tightened to address concerns about distribution, the changes haven't satisfied law enforcement officials opposed to any measure to legalize marijuana - medical or otherwise.

"The problem with it overall is it's a bad bill, and the only way to make it better is to take marijuana out of it," said Enfield police Chief Richard Crate, a vice president of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.

$$$

[AuH2O]

You know, I am really sick and tired of cops weighing in on legislation. Their job is to enforce the laws, not write them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Stiegler, who has been a police officer for 25 years and used to serve on the attorney general's drug task force, said marijuana is often involved in harder drug cases. He can't remember arresting a person for heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine who didn't also have marijuana, he said.

Most were also wearing pants at the time of the arrest. When are we going to get tough on pants?

[Joe M]

I think my two year old could help these guys with that. I tried to get him into his pajamas the other night. He put on the shirt, but looked at me sternly and said, "No! No pants!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Good for him. He knows his old man is just a tool of the pants industry.

[MP]

All this not two weeks after one cop was killed and three more wounded in an Oxycontin raid gone bad.

And zero self-reflection within the local police community about this. It's amazing how easily they accept the tragic cost of their own failed policies.

[Killazontherun]

It's a testament to their own heroism the sacrifices they are willing to accept to enforce the law.

That is how they really think.

[rts]

New motorcycle helmet laws for BC. One of the comments perfectly displays why socialized medical care is evil:

Proud2BCdn 2012/04/30
at 1:35 PM - This is one of those cases where your right to be an idiot (or be fashionable) is overridden by my right to not pay for your stupidity. As a taxpayer, anything that motivates people to be smart, be safe and stay out of the hospital is welcome.

Christ, I have to share space with these people.

[Hugh Akston]

That's one of the fringe benefits of Socialized Medicine: it empowers nannystaters to frame every intervention in terms of tax savings.

[Episiarch]

Fringe benefits?!? It's kind of the overwhelming feature, isn't it?

[Mad Scientist]

Isn't that unfortunate? The poor politicians who decided how and when everyone should get their healthcare will now have to roll up their sleeves and start passing laws on any behavior that might affect their healthcare.

[Groovus Maximus]

Now you're catching on. Why do you think the TEAMS want ObamneyCare on either the state or the federal (preferably both) level?

[Enough About Palin]

Better to die than to live as a busted-up quad.

[Groovus Maximus]

Kathleen Sebelius agrees.

[Enough About Palin]

That's why I don't get why they'd force helmet use. Fatalities are cheap and they often provide organs and tissue for transplant. A nurse friend of mine tells me the call bikers donorcyclers.

[Enough About Palin]

BTW, I just renewed both bike tabs via the Internet. It's a great age in which to be alive.

[Mad Scientist]

And yet, bathtubs kill more people than motorcycles do. When will they pass the mandatory helmet law for bathtubs?

[Groovus Maximus]

Because you are more statistically likely to receive trauma to the torso than the cranium. It's feel good legislation, not logical. However, avoiding road rash to the face with a full face helmet has its benefits as well.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's not often that you see the Chairman of the Republican National Committee writing in the Huffington Post to express solidarity with the head of an AFL-CIO union.

But the Keystone XL pipeline is one issue we can all agree on -- that is, unless you're President Obama in an election year.

The RNC can go ahead and hold its breath waiting for those union endorsements, pipeline or no pipeline.

[PapayaSF]

They won't get official endorsements, but I expect a lot of blue collar Democrats are majorly pissed at Obama and will express that in the voting booth, as they did in 1980.

[rts]

BC minimum wage goes up to $10.25 / hr tomorrow.

British Columbians earning minimum wage are about to get a boost.

Sure, maybe if you still have a job and before the inflation bites.

[Joe M]

What about the British Colombians in South America? Won't someone think of them?

[AuH2O]

You SF'd the link dude.

[rts]

Thanks.

Fixed link.

[Dagny T.]

That is a stupidly high minimum wage. BC is determined to go full retard, isn't it? Let's see, cost of living and especially housing is already out of control, so let's make everything more expensive. Genius.

[rts]

This is the Liberal party (who are usually more business-friendly than the name might suggest) trying to steal some of the NDP's thunder, as they're coming up in the polls. "See! We can implement economically ruinous policy too!", or something like that.

[Dagny T.]

I have a number of acquaintances/relatives who will rejoice over this news. And on a completely unrelated note, will wonder why they can only afford to live in a basement apartment with 3 roommates in a crackhouse in East Van. And their hours just got cut, imagine that.

[Groovus Maximus]

You have to buy votes somehow, Dagster. Consequences? Pshaw! You simply mandate minimum staffing requirements and hours worked. Lots of windows to break and taiga to fill.

[Killazontherun]

Do Rove and Luntz consult for them?

[AuH2O]

So, Quantum Leap came up earlier today.

How about a little Scott Bakula for the ladies?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

After Enterprise, Bakula is dead to me.

[AuH2O]

You shut your mouth!

Enterprise was excellent, and, at the very least, better than Voyager. Seriously, Enterprise was what got me into Star Trek. I never get the hate for it.

[Episiarch]

(starts sharpening knives)

So, Goldwater, tell me about how you could possibly have been drawn to Star Trek by Enterprise and not TOS.

I'm...curious.

[AuH2O]

SciFi Chanel reruns of Enterprise, dude. That's a pretty cool knife, what are you doing with it?

[Episiarch]

Nothing. Pay no attention to it.

So how is it you had never seen TOS or TNG or other Star Trek before? You know, at least enough to determine whether you were interested? Did you buy your first TV three years ago? Were you in a coma from 1965 to 2008? Were you a retard who was given a special serum that made you a genius just recently (by the way, you better check on your mouse if that's the case)?

[AuH2O]

I had flipped past the odd TNG or TOS episode before, but never watched. I always seemed to hit TNG during the talky moments. I like Sci Fi, and LOVE Quantum Leap, so I actually sat through Enterprise because of Bakula.

I just can't stop looking at that knife, man. What's going on with that?

[Pro Libertate]

Are we in the Mirror Universe? Maybe the server had another quantum fluctuation of some sort.

[Mad Scientist]

The Next Generation was pure, unadulterated shit. "Talky moments" (more often preachy moments) made up the whole awful show.

[Episiarch]

So you're telling me that a show that is about as un-Star-Trek as you can get and still have the name on it is the show that drew you in to Star Trek.

(slips knife into position)

So now that you've been drawn into the whole Star Trek thing, what do you think of TOS? Did you go back to see where it all started?

(tenses, gets ready)

[Pro Libertate]

You can watch the whole series for free if you have Amazon Prime. Once I'm done watching some other stuff, I might do that. Haven't watched TOS in some time.

[AuH2O]

Oh, TOS is really good. Although some of the allegories get heavy handed (Yangs and Coms). City on the Edge of Forever is a bit overrated, but Balance of Terror kicks ass.

My favorite character is McCoy, though. I like Kirk and Spock, but I like McCoy the best and feels he gets a short shift among a lot of people.

Oh, I also LOVE J. Michael Strazinksy's idea to reboot Star Trek:
http://bztv.typepad.com/newsvi.....Reboot.pdf

I would, however, add that I think a prominent part of his proposed "mystery" should be the planet eating ships from the episode of TOS. Seriously, for the ramifications of what that was (A giant ass ship that eats planets!) it was never addressed again in any Star Trek, even though it was hinted there were more out there. Shouldn't that have been a bigger thing?

[Episiarch]

(sheathes knife, relaxes)

You are misguided (liking McCoy best? Whaaahh?), but not criminally insane. I've decided to not cripple you. In fact, your ideas on planet eating ships intrigue me.

[AuH2O]

I'm just saying that a complete reboot of Star Trek, with Kirk-Spock-McCoy as the core, would be a great idea. I think, in the pilot, Kirk isn't captain- Pike is. They encounter the planet eating ship, and through Kirk's igenuity (maybe some mention of the Maru) they manage to defeat it.

However, there are more out there, and Kirk is given command and tasked to find out who, or what, made these planet eating ships, and figure out a way to stop them. Meanwhile, he is still a natural explorer- going boldly where no man has gone before. Additionally, there will be encounters with Klingons, and the dreaded Romulans.

Seriously, Trek has painted itself into a continuity corner, and I think a reboot is the best way out. The treatment by Strazinski, who worked on Babylon 5 and which I linked to, has some really good ideas to bring Trek to TV (dream up new technology, etc.)

For all that the movie did to get butts back in seats, Trek deserves to be on TV.

[Groovus Maximus]

(liking McCoy best? Whaaahh?)

I'd give real money if he'd shut up...

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I'm with AUH2O on this one: McCoy is the best wet blanket in cinematic history. In fact, I'll go one further and say that he can outham Shat anytime, anywhere.

[SIV]

Spinrad's second greatest work after The Men In The Jungle

[Pro Libertate]

But he's got something in mind for you. Aren't you curious about that? I'm curious. I'm very curious. Are you curious? There's something happening out here, man. You know something, man? I know something you that you don't know. That's right, Jack. The man is clear in his mind, but his soul is mad. Oh, yeah. He's dying, I think. He hates all this. He hates it! But the man's a...He reads poetry out loud, all right. And a voice...he likes you because you're still alive. He's got plans for you. No, I'm not gonna help you. You're gonna help him, man. You're gonna help him. I mean, what are they gonna say when he's gone? 'Cause he dies when it dies, when it dies, he dies! What are they gonna say about him? He was a kind man? He was a wise man? He had plans? He had wisdom? Bullshit, man! And am I gonna be the one that's gonna set them straight? Look at me! Look at me! Wrong! [points to Willard] You!

[Pro Libertate]

I think Enterprise had its moments and actually had begun to turn the corner in its last season, but, granting all of that, you're insane. Report to Disintegration Chamber 12 for processing.

[AuH2O]

I really liked Season 3. Season 1 and 2 have some very Star Trek feeling episodes- I'd recommend the Season 2 episode "Marauders" for a good, fun, Star Trek time.

I will admit that the Temporal Cold War shit did nothing for me, but a lot of episodes don't even address that.

[Pro Libertate]

They killed the Floridian, so fuck them all.

[AuH2O]

Don't even get me started on the Finale. The completely unnecessary integration of TNG into it really fucking annoyed me.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I tried to like Enterprise and to be forgiving of its flaws, I really did. My last straw was broken when they had an entire gorram episode centered around the dog getting sick, then getting better and Bakula being a dick to random people -- that being the entirety of the episode.

Still better than "Threshold", though.

[AuH2O]

Oh, I love "A Night in the Sickbay".

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I don't want to other you or your opinions, so I'll just go ahead and assume that your enjoyment of the episode has something to do with your Phlox fetish.

[Emmerson Biggins]

You never use time travel in the frst season. Everybody knows that. And they baked it right in from the beginning.

[Warty]

Welcome to foot, ball!

[Hell's Librarian]

Thank you! Not bad. Not bad at all.

Watch Deep Space 9, it is tons better than Enterprise.

[AuH2O]

I feel I need to try DS9 because so many people my age were introduced to Star Trek through it. However, I feel I would keep comparing it to Babylon 5, and it is hard to beat Babylon 5 from Seasons 2-4.

[Xenocles]

I'm at the point where I'm starting to notice that people are younger than me. I spent my childhood watching all seven seasons of TNG Saturday nights with my family.

[rts]

It's official, *everything* causes climate change, including wind farms.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Round and round and round we go. Where we stop is population control.

[Matrix]

I earnestly believe that everyone who says that the Earth is overpopulated should kill themselves. Why? Because they are hypocrites if they don't.

[Proprietist]

Sorry, vasectomies and/or mass corpse burnings cause climate change.

[Matrix]

I'm sure we can find plenty of bridges for them to jump off of.

[Proprietist]

Decomposing bodies emit carbon, you Gaia-hating fool!

[rts]

I read that in Mr T's voice.

[Matrix]

damn! beat me to it. I was gonna post the Fox News link.

I will anyway! http://www.foxnews.com/scitech.....chers-say/

hahah! awesome. Guess the only thing the econuts can do is kill themselves.

[JW]

Add it to the list.

[Fist of Etiquette]

There are two basic options; Chen could be allowed to remain in China with the government guaranteeing his safety and the safety of his family, or an agreement could be reached for him to leave China - likely for the United States.

America should buy Chen. China can just put it on our tab.

[mad libertarian guy]

A clinic on how to properly perform a live exercise in Confirmation Bias.

Are Republicans Really the Problem?

[mad libertarian guy]

Because the problem is with the slogan, not the policy, right?

What's in a slogan? A campaign by any other name would smell as much like skunk cabbage.

"Hope" was inspiring. "Yes We Can" at least wasn't an order. "Change we can believe in" was vague, but it got the job done.

"Forward is the store-brand version of the political slogan. At best, it's a slightly politer "Let Well Enough Alone." At worst, it's simply generic. You find it in the platitudes aisle in vague red-white-and-blue packaging, next to "In Your Heart, You Know He's Right." Forward says, "Hey, you know what, I'd like to be president again! Let's find a generic word that means that."

A generic word for an equally generic man.

[Bardas Phocas]

Ask a drone.
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tum.....o1_500.jpg

[rac3rx]

It's like a junior high school student souncil campaign, isn't it? It's all logos and slogans, and everybody knows its complete nonsense, and yet it's covered so breathlessly.

UGH...just UGH.

[Killazontherun]

My ideal campaign slogan this year: Fuck the Guilt Trip; Let's Get Rich Again

[Brandon]

"Forward" makes me think of Obama saying "and always twirling, twirling towards freedom!"

[mad libertarian guy]

Massive government and welfare and rural employment programs have helped drive down poverty levels, the Gallup survey found.

Yet . . .

The number of Indians who rated their lives poorly enough to be considered "suffering" rose this year to 31 percent, equivalent to 240 million people, a dramatic rise from just 7 percent n 2008, Gallop's survey showed.

The Doublethink is strong at Gallup.

[mad libertarian guy]

Linky for above.

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

[Old Mexican]

Massive government welfare and rural employment programs have helped drive down poverty levels, the Gallup survey found. The share of people saying they did not have enough money for food dropped to 13 percent in 2012 from 35 percent in 2006.

But high levels of inflation have helped depress Indians' sense of financial well-being.

And of course the Indians find no direct correlation between the "massive government programs" and inflation. Will wonders never cease.

[robc]

I posted this last night, but at the end of a thread, so not sure it was seen by many.

Death Tax strikes again

[robc]

"If it was just a family business, there would be legal maneuvers we could make that would facilitate that kind of transfer across generations. With its current structure, I'm not able to do those sorts of things. It would basically leave us in the position of selling the company upon my death."

[T]

Seems to me Larry wants to buy out his shareholders. What he's saying doesn't pass my immediate smell test based on the Trust being the majority owner.

[robc]

Apparently one of the disgruntled minority owners is his ex-wife.

Considering he has control, however, if there wasnt a tax issue, what would it matter? He can continue on with minority shareholders otherwise. His children could take over and still retain control.

BTW, apparently a lot of the disgruntlement came from the expansion. The minority shareholders wanted that money paid out instead of being held to fund the expansion.

Not knowing what the exact form of company Bell's is, Im guessing its some sort of pass-thru entity (probably S Corp), so they had to pay taxes on that profit, even though the company retained it.

[rac3rx]

Laura Bell sure is a lumpy little ham, isn't she?

[mad libertarian guy]

It's the US' fault that Syria is fucked up and has slid in to civil war!

[Brandon]

Because we didn't invade them?

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Via Arnold Kling

"I am afraid that there is an iron law which says that politicians will betray whatever libertarian allies they attract."

[Old Mexican]

Paul vs. Paul, the video

By the way, Krugman has to have the most punchable face anyone could have the misfortune of possessing.

[Old Mexican]

Paul Krugman: "We're not quite sure where the line between money and non-money is"

And this guy pretends to be an economist? He's a charlatan!

[Brandon]

We all knew that.

[Coeus]

Lindsay Lohan finally does something smart. She'd rather sleep in then meet Obama. Good girl.

[Groovus Maximus]

And who says drugs don't have demonstrable benefit?

[mad libertarian guy]

The Extreme Right is what is tearing Europe apart. It doesn't have anything at all to do with the failure of the Eurozone and its resulting currency. Never mind that the appearance of the extreme right is a response to Europe starting to fall apart.

[T]

Troubled economic times and the rise of extermist politics in Europe do go hand-in-hand. What was that one guy's name?

[Episiarch]

Charlemagne?

[Bardas Phocas]

Angela Merkel

[Ice Nine]

Can't remember but he was one of the great extermists in history.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Napoleon?

[Groovus Maximus]

Lenin?

[Episiarch]

Lenin wasn't European, dumbass. Of course, you're the guy who thinks Aristotle was Belgian.

[Groovus Maximus]

You mean he wasn't? I thought Aristotle invented waffles.

[Groovus Maximus]

Oh, and Epi: ASSHOLE!!!!

[Episiarch]

Aren't you the guy that told me the central tenet of Buddhism is "every man for himself"?

[Groovus Maximus]

Oh no, I, err, uh... SHUT UP! Goodbye Epi.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

He was born in Simbirsk on the River Volga. That's in Europe. I'll allow it.

[Pro Libertate]

Failing to define Russia out of Europe is why so many have died and/or suffered over the years.

[mad libertarian guy]

WaPO makes it official.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

[Brandon]

"TOM MANN :
I don't see the inexorable growth of socialist policies that you describe. In the pantheon of democracies around the globe, ours has one of the smallest public sectors. Discretionary domestic programs at the federal level now absorb about the same share of GDP as they did before the Great Society. Social security and Medicare are a big part of government but they are almost universally applauded by the public."

Tom Mann is hopelessly partisan, a liar, and an idiot.

[rts]

It's tax deadline day (in Canada), but what if you don't file a return?

The answer is akin to heads on a pike:

A recent news release, for example, highlights the case of a Manitoba chiropractor who was fined $162,513 and sentenced to six months in jail for tax evasion. The CRA [Canadian IRS equivalent] says it releases such information to the media to seek "publicity on conviction in the case of tax evasion" in order to "increase compliance with the law through the deterrent effect of such publicity." The website also serves as a reminder and warning to Canadians that jail is an option for those thinking of not paying.

But taxation isn't theft, oh, no sir.

And this story, on a website for a news organization that is funded by taxes, isn't naked propaganda, oh, no sir.

[Harry Reid]

Taxes are voluntary!

[The Immaculate Trouser]

AVClub hipsters investigate: Is "white people problems" really code for othering of people of color/the differently wealthy/women/the young? (Spoilers: it totally is, and if you don't like HBO's "Girls", you're a sexist.)

http://www.avclub.com/articles.....-to,72974/

[Joe M]

My first reaction was knee-jerk irritation, because that's probably the hundredth time this year alone that I've read the words "for white people" or "that looks very white" or "white people problems" tossed around smugly and reductively, as a way of summarizing the essence of a situation or a piece of art.

I'm so glad I don't hang out with or read people who say things like that in the first place. Being a misanthrope has its perks.

[Episiarch]

You don't need to be a misanthrope, just don't hang out with morons, whiners, and passive aggressive idiots. It's actually pretty easy.

[Killazontherun]

I've never liked anything on MTV that wasn't named Kurt Loder even when they were trying to appease my metalhead ass in the 80's.

[Coeus]

I love that. I've been seeing something similar a lot around the liberal blogosphere lately. Apparently using "white" as a pejorative is racist to minorities.

[AuH2O]

The comments feature a long discussion about feminism. It's lovely.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

If a posse of feminists argue in the AVClub comments section and Warty beats them to death with a kitten, do they make a sound?

[Killazontherun]

The sound of cat gut being spread with gnashing fingers, and the sputtering of moistly wet quiffs.

[Warty]

I would never waste a perfectly good kitten on feminists.

[Coeus]

This exchange was pretty funny:

Blarghgh
Collapse
seriously, fuck white people. shit's not complicated.

04/25/2012 12:23 PM 4 LIKES FLAG

MB Drapier
I pretty much fuck white people exclusively. My dick is like David Duke.

04/25/2012 06:06 PM 5 LIKES

[Xenocles]

Federal judge: withholding state tax money from an organization violates the organization's freedom of speech.

Seriously, is this guy unable to see the unintended consequences? If this holds I plan to sue for free money. (Standard libertarian disclaimer applies.)

[Brandon]

What's the standard libertarian disclaimer?

[BakedPenguin]

A disclaimer to the effect: 'I am discussing the aforementioned in a light that could be seen as endorsing a statist position. My comment was meant rhetorically, and should not be construed as an abandonment of my libertarian beliefs.'

See also: avoiding "Fuck off, slaver" comments.

[Xenocles]

Thanks, I couldn't have put it better.

[Mickey Rat]

What we have learned this week is that providing abortions is protected speech but a Facebook "like" is not.

The courts have gone nuts.

[Mike M.]

So the guy who did Breitbart's autopsy is now dead himself under mysterious circumstances? Seriously? On the same day that the "official" report of his death was made public?

You have absolutely got to be fucking kidding me. I'm starting to think we're far closer to being a Banana Republic than almost anyone suspects.

[Killazontherun]

Often some asshole, or that blackguard Tulpa, likes to complain about Sugarfree and Epi diverting the subject matter to geek pop culture or not so well known science fiction authors, or slash fiction, but all this time they have been saving our asses. Every time the political death panels observe our musings, they decide that we don't pose a threat. Unfortunately for Breitbart he was as humorless as they are, and thus was assumed a threat.

[Mike M.]

All I know is that it's getting to the point now where I honestly can't believe the country that I'm living in, where shit like this can actually happen right out in the happen, and apparently nobody will even bat an eyelash.

I've always thought of myself as being patriotic, but for the first time ever I'm seriously starting to wonder if I can spend the rest of my life living in a country that's going down this road.

[Episiarch]

They're on to me!

[Proprietist]

Interesting story about an upstart libertarian party in Alberta that got shafted when some of their candidates were smeared in the media as homophobes/racists.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04.....n-alberta/

[Brandon]

Seems to happen to libertarian parties in general. I blame Root.

[sticks]

A SC teacher thinks a good way to teach students about the Nazis is to treat a student like the Nazis would or something.

The 12-year-old student said he got up to sharpen a pencil at Bluffton Middle School on Wednesday when Mulholland grabbed him by his collar and said, "come here, Jew," police said. The teacher then dragged him 10 feet under a table and made the comment about Nazis, according to police.

[Warty]

Someone already tried this.

[Brandon]

Love that book, and the accompanying documentary. It goes a long way toward explaining the current state of politics in this country.

[sticks]

"What was a demonstrative attempt to teach about World War II and the Holocaust has been taken to mean an anti-Semitic rant and it was nothing like that," said her attorney, Robert Ferguson.

I don't know. My complaint would be that the teacher grabbed my kid by the collar and dragged him under a table. That is why she was arrested I hope.

[Xenocles]

Thankfully the lesson was stopped before gym class - no word on when the showers will be restored to their proper configuration.

[Killazontherun]

She looks like Martha Plimpton.

Looks like they are throwing the book at her. Really, they shouldn't. She got too emotionally attached to the curriculum, as happens from time to time. At worse, she should be made to pay for the guy to get a back alley blowjob from the one methhead in town still cute enough not to gross him out. He'll come back in better form, less scarred then when she pushed him and yelled in his face.

[sticks]

Fuck her. If she can't teach students about the Holocaust without dragging them around by the collar she should not be teaching.

[Joe M]

A witty comment from the Village Voice article dissing Lucy linked this morning:

Yeah, Reason is so mavericky and independent on the 2 or 3 things on which they mildly differ with Republicans. /Yawn.

I bet you guys didn't know we only mildly disagree with Republicans on 2 or 3 things, did you?

[Killazontherun]

I just assumed it. Go. Romney. Go.

You can see my enthusiasm for the Republicans right there.

I'm a Republican who smokes pot, I've been told. Or, I'm a Republican who loves capitalist oligarch's more than I love Jesus.

Oligarchs are just all right with me. Oligarchs are just all right, oh yeah!

You would think I would have a history of voting for Republicans if I were a Republican, but they have a different meaning of the word than the rest of us do. I bathe, I use deodorant, and I have a steady job. Most of all, I despise the state. That pretty much makes me a Republican.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I'm simultaneously a Republican who likes pot, and a Democrat who likes guns -- despite not owning a gun or smoking pot, and despite having never registered as either a Democrat or a Republican. I'm special that way, I guess.

[Killazontherun]

Also, duly note, I didn't say where I want Romney to go. To be that frank, and this applies even more to his democratic opponent, I would most likely get a knock from the Secret Service on the door.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Let's hope they don't find that folder titled "Operation: Red Wedding" on your desk.

[GILMORE]

it's not like whores are right wing or left wing, they are simply whores. Well, except for Reason, they are a right-wing whore that every once in a while criticizes the police state. Except when they celebrate it

As a regular Reason reader, I've said it before and I'll say it again: Libertarians are conservatives with social anxieties.

Libertarians... they come in many variations, all myopic, but the prominent american ones seem to be basically about: cut all taxes and let business run wild, underage porn is okay, but let gays marry (maybe... at some point) and let me smoke weed (right now!) . Oh... and let us not forget the gold standard of idiocy: the... well, The Gold Standard

Look who's paying their bills. Good old Granpa Koch.

Yeah, dumbass, Reason is totally right wing. The Libertarians' allies will always be the Religious Right and the Neoconservatives and the Libertarians for their part seem to be perfectly aware of this fact.

by contrast? The Village Voice is like, totally *reasonable* and moderate.... and their readership? *Informed*. Yup.

[Killazontherun]

To quote Anthony Gregory:

In the deficit madness and the midst of the downgrade we see in all its glory the progressives nearly invincible faith in the state the only problem they identify being the state s detractors. There is no slump that more deficit spending cant fix. There is no deficit crisis that more taxing cant remedy. Bailouts are to be blamed on those being bailed out never the looters and distributors. If a rating agency downgrades the US this is a problem with the agency not the politicians. If the economy is not recovering it is to be blamed on the people who hate the president s domestic policies not those policies themselves. If the president does have any fault it is that he has been insufficiently active has not bullied business nearly enough or spent enough trillions we dont have to get the economy rolling. If all the social democratic plots to protect the economy have been a flop surely the adversaries of social democracy are at fault.

cont.

[Killazontherun]

Some might find it ironic for Moore s love of the democratic state to be so all consuming that he will actually petition the president to unilaterally jail a CEO for no clearly defined crime in particular. After all the president he wishes would bring his hammer down on the heretic is overseeing a set of war policies that Moore very sensibly condemned when they were conducted by President Bush. Obama has not only continued the rampage in Iraq and Afghanistan spread the war to Pakistan and Yemen and bombarded Libya he has also covered up torturers spied on the American people without warrants escalated the drug war in Mexico where tens of thousands have been slaughtered on his watch and claimed purely tyrannical powers to detain and kill people without due process. Add all this to Obama s dozens of other similarities to the Bush regime and it may seem odd indeed that a progressive would so shamelessly defer to the chief executive with the blood of thousands on his hands much less call on him to convene an inquisition for enemies of the state.

The left, they avoid mirrors, and it shows.

[Joe M]

Kinda reminds me of Wheatley in Portal 2, when the facility is crumbling apart. He thinks there is a problem with the warning system going off accidentally. Solution: don't fix the problem, destroy the warning system.