A.M. Links: Romney Makes Up His Mind; It's a Tax, ACTA Rejected by European Parliament, Planet Formation Could Take Years Not Eons

• Mitt Romney's made up his mind, he says the Obamacare penalty is a tax. The presidential candidate overrode a chief advisor who, agreeing in part with the White House, said the penalty was not a tax several days earlier.

• The European Parliament roundly rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an international agreement on internet controls signed by several countries including the United States. Will ACTA pass in the United States? President Obama maintains he doesn't need Congressional approval for the deal.
• A Roman Catholic priest in Peru was arrested at an anti-mining protest for "organizing meetings," which is banned since a state of emergency was put in place to prevent protests at the country's largest mining project. The priest alleged through Twitter that police assaulted him at the station and the government says a prosecutor will investigate.
• No power yesterday? George Washington didn't have air conditioning either.
• Deadline reports a secret deal negotiated by Ari Emanuel (Rahm's brother) for an HBO Roger Ailes movie, based on an upcoming book, that would be produced by the hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Right.
• New observational data suggests a good portion of the process of planet formation might take two years or less.
• Scientists aren't positive the boson they found is a Higgs, but already contentiousness is expected over who might be awarded the Nobel for it. Just give it to Barack Obama.

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Reason.TV: "James V. DeLong on Ending "Big SIS" (The Special Interest State)

Comments

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Higgs!

[Rich]

"I finally found the Higgs boson - it was behind the couch the whole time"

It's bosons all the way down.

[LTC(ret) John]

+ a quantum number

[Karl Hungus]

I could've sworn I saw one the other day. I was at work, and I caught something moving out the corner of my eye over by the printer. It only lasted about one, maybe one and a half attoseconds, so I didn't get a good enough look to be sure, but I can't imagine what else it could've been.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Romney is an idiot. He's passing on the opportunity to assail Obamacare and the court's judgement at the same time. By agreeing with the court, he's shown that he approves of the vast new taxing powers assigned to the federal government. The GOP can go to hell.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Jonah Goldberg to Romney "Run against Bush".

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....g?toggle=y

[Bee Tagger]

This seems so obvious. It could become very clear soon that the GOP establishment considers losing to Obama a better alternative than winning by embracing a tea party message. At least they'll have 4 more years of huge donations with the former, I imagine they think.

[R C Dean]

It could become very clear soon that the GOP establishment considers losing to Obama a better alternative than winning by embracing a tea party message.

My (limited) experience in talking with establishment Repub functionaries is that they do indeed hate the Tea Party more than the Dems.

They were willing to shoot themselves in the foot in not backing Tea Party nominees in various states in 2010, and I don't think that has changed.

[VG Zaytsev]

Funny thing is that we feel the same way.

One of our victories in 2010 was sacking that worthless piece of shit Castle.

[Brett L]

What the fuck is so hard about victory first, then purges?

[ant1sthenes]

I'm pretty sure Romney's a Bush-style Republican, so that will be difficult to do unless he gets more skilled at lying.

[Mr. FIFY]

Why are you quoting Goldberg, shrike? Shouldn't you be quoting, say, Eugene Robinson or Donald Kaul?

You know... columnists who think just like you do?

[Virginian]

I don't think there are any columnists with late stage syphilis.

[JW]

Romney is an idiot. He's passing on the opportunity to assail Obamacare and the court's judgement at the same time.

Not to worry. The Hitandrunpublicans will be along to tell you how wrong you are about His Glory, The Lesser Evil.

[Lord Humungus]

Why your hamburger hates America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....inions_pop

You won't find the word "capitalism" in the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence, but a free and open market economy is at the heart of both.

And the U.S. beef industry is a clear example of a restricted, tightly controlled market ? with the control coming not from the government, but, as in the time of the Boston Tea Party, from private industry's largest players. Every American-raised burger (or steak) comes from cattle on one of about 742,000 ranches across the country. Yet 85 percent of them will be slaughtered by one of just four companies.

[John]

The evil corporations!!

[Bardas Phocas]

I slaughter my own.
Buy it live - load into suv - kill in the backyard.
I will not submit to the Meat Oligoply!

[Jerry on the road]

How do you get the cow to relax before cutting time? Adrenaline affects meat quality negatively you know. Do you have your backyard full with stuffed cows?

[Bobarian]

"Do you have your backyard full with stuffed cows?"

Doesn't everybody?

[MattJ]

You put a live cattlebeast into your SUV? Do you have to pull a couple of seats out or something?

/please tell me you have a trailer...

[Jerry on the road]

It is risky for human health, since centralized processing makes it easy for meat contamination to spread far and wide.

Even though you're more likely to get sick by the lettuce on your hamburger that has been washed with unclean irrigation water.

[gaijin]

exactly. I'd expect to have heard about massive outbreaks of sickness from contaminated meat by now...maybe I'mnot paying enough attention?

[Brett L]

Everyone's read The Jungle. Its just like that, still!

[wareagle]

this sort of thing is always presented as a threat to the republic. I don't hear WaPo bitching that there are only three major domestic car makers.

[Bill]

No, because we need to feel sorry for them because they were poor and had to be bailed out.

[Brett L]

This is only one step below the hystronics of The Atlantic on the subject. I suspect both places just print some Vegan/Locavore organization's distilled screed.

[Bill]

That explains why hamburgers are so expensive no one can afford them.

[MP]

And why the death rate from hamburger consumption keeps soaring.

[Rich]

+ Whopper

[Raston Bot]

That was not a terrible article. It likened modern food regs to the colonial-era Tea Act giving a govt-mandated monopoly to the East India Company. At least that's what I took away from it.

[Mike M.]

Kate Upton, one of the few things we have left to be grateful for in America.

[BakedPenguin]

Dude, get the link right. Thinking "Kate Upton" and seeing Ochocinco is very disturbing.

[Mike M.]

Haha, that's a good point. You have to scroll down a little past Ochocinco to get to the good stuff.

[Warty]

No one does sideboob like the attractive lass.

[BakedPenguin]

Indeed. Her cups runneth over.

[JW]

I have a strong hunch that she is going to balloon in her 30's, but I'm enjoying the hell out of her for the time being.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I wouldn't kick her out of bed.

[Scarcity]

My wife agrees. So now I'm just one serendipitous meeting with Kate away from a threesome.

Because, you know, she would clearly want us too.

[Lord Humungus]

Lamenting The Lost Legacy Of Independence Day
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bi.....dence-day/

Why do we still celebrate Independence Day? Is it a lingering habit, a mindless bit of nostalgia, a time to indulge in fireworks and barbecues, devoid of any deeper meaning? Can anyone honestly argue that our nation still honors the values, or practices the principles, for which our Founders fought?

Today, most Americans have been trained to be embarrassed by the "extremist" individualist ethos that made the protection of liberty the primary purpose of government. They have been taught to apologize for the shortcomings of the "rich white men" who led the revolution. A majority of Americans now subscribe to an expansive view of government as both great provider and beneficent leveler. Its primary purpose is to redress unequal or unhappy outcomes, regardless of their source, through wealth redistribution on a scale so vast that it mocks the concept "private property."

[LTC(ret) John]

Indeed - I live in Illinois - we cannot even celebrate (legally) with fireworks. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go use my flow regulated toilet and shower and replace my no longer available incandecent bulbs.

[wareagle]

the second paragraph is bullshit. Who other than goober at Forbes really thinks "most" Americans are apologizing for their country? Forbes is rapidly becoming a caricature of itself.

The bloom for me left when Stevie's anointed hopeful for the White House decided one of his opponents was a "vulture capitalist." When a business mag takes shots at business people, you can stop taking the mag seriously.

[Brett L]

Please. Forbes thinks getting a broad opinion is asking the rich folks on both sides of Long Island Sound.

[Fluffy]

I would say that the opinion "The Founders were OK guys if you overlook the fact that a lot of them owned slaves," is probably held by 85% + of the eligible population.

I'm excluding from the sample the Jaywalk Allstars out there who think Canada is a state and don't know the first thing about the Founders. You can't really count those folks.

And I would definitely say that "most" Americans do, in fact, subscribe to the opinion that there was "something wrong" with the US before the New Deal. Unfortunately.

[wareagle]

presentist thinking again proves a failure. Some owned slaves because slavery, at the time, was legal. And a good many knew that the institution could not hold in the long run.

We subsequently had a war over which slavery was a large part. Had American troops done to another country what Sherman did to much of the South, the peaceniks would be calling him and Lincoln war criminals, and demanding trials.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well, that's kind of the difference between fighting a foreign enemy and suppressing a rebellion. You need to break the very spirit of the insurgency. If the U.S. adopted Sherman-esque tactics in Afghanistan, and MacArthur-style reconstruction (like banning political Shinto and writing a constitution for the occupied country as we did in Japan) we would be in much better shape.

[wareagle]

please. Razing towns and raping the populace, literally, is not spirit-breaking, especially after surrender has been gained. What we did in Germany and Japan occurred during the war, not after it, and there was no MacArthur-style reconstruction in the South, regardless of what history books want to call it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Razing towns and raping the populace, literally, is not spirit-breaking, especially after surrender has been gained.

*blinks* The Mongols, who built the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world, would disagree with you there.

and there was no MacArthur-style reconstruction in the South, regardless of what history books want to call it.

I agree. We approached Southern reconstruction in a half-assed way, thus rendering it ineffective.

[Spoonman.]

The Mongols couldn't hold their empire together at all. Bad example.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The Mongols couldn't hold their empire together at all. Bad example.

That was due to Mongol in-fighting than any native insurgency.

[Charles William Allbright]

Shorter wareagle:

Slavery is groovy!!!

Owning slaves is so cool!!

The Civil War ended in January of 1862 and those damn yankees just kept attacking the heroic peace loving of the of the free southern republics.

[wareagle]

the thread can always use some idiocy, so thanks Charles for providing that. Good to see that public school education has served you well, particularly the part where you learned it was okay to claim folks said things they did not actually say.

[R C Dean]

Well, that's kind of the difference between fighting a foreign enemy and suppressing a rebellion. You need to break the very spirit of the insurgency.

History provides numerous examples to support the thesis that failure to break the spirit of a foreign enemy means you will be fighting them again soon. One reason WWII put an end to large-scale warfare was the requirement for unconditional surrender, and the willingness to inflict massive damage right up until that point. Contrast this with WWI, where the Germans believed that their army had been stabbed in the back, very little fighting happened in Germany, and they were ready and, more important, willing to go back to war a mere 20 years later.

[wareagle]

the difference remains: most of German and parts of Japan were leveled during actual war fighting. Sherman's stroll through the South came afterward, like some perverse victory lap.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Sherman's stroll through the South came afterward, like some perverse victory lap.

That's neo-Confederate apologia. The Savannah Campaign went from Nov. to Dec. of '64. Savannah didn't surrender until Christmas. Two Confederate Armies were operating in the area during Sherman's march.

The war didn't end until the summer of '65.

[Fluffy]

That's really not true.

Sherman's march cut critical communication lines, scorched the earth of the core of the non-Virginia Confederacy, and destroyed a key Confederate army.

The Army of Northern Virginia and the Richmond government were somewhat able to operate independently, but Sherman (and Grant in the west in 1863) effectively totally denied Richmond the resources of the rest of the Confederacy. Lee's collapse in 1865 was largely logistical. Having your entire country carved up like a Christmas turkey will do that to you.

[wareagle]

I'm just saying there is a difference between how you prosecute a war and how you treat a civilian population you believe is on the wrong side.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Most of what went wrong with Reconstruction was due to the resistance of white southern democrats who could not stand the idea of their social order being destroyed. The stories of abuse by "carpetbaggers" come from the Democtratic Party getting to rewrite history.

Recostruction as planned by the Republicans was quite similar to Macarthur's plan for Japan.

White southerners were not as compliant as the Japanese.

[Restoras]

Funny, I was always under the impression that the Civil War ended about the time of Lee's surrender at Appomatox Courthouse in April 1865, whereas Sherman's March to the Sea occurred in late 1864.

[Tulpa the White]

Contrast this with WWI, where the Germans believed that their army had been stabbed in the back, very little fighting happened in Germany, and they were ready and, more important, willing to go back to war a mere 20 years later.

I thought WW2 was caused by the severity of the Versailles treaty, not being too nice to the Germans.

[R C Dean]

Some of each, I suppose, but if Berlin had been levelled and the Germans had surrendered unconditionally, I doubt WWII would have happened even with the Versailles treaty.

Don't forget, the Germans had to pay reparations after WWII, as well, although it was in the form of asset confiscation and forced labor, rather than cash. Which you would think might be even more provocative.

[Isaac Bartram]

WWII might not have happened if the allies had enforced the Treaty and stopped Hitler from remilitarizing the Rhineland too.

IIRC, according to Shirer the French wanted to but the British and the Americans wouldn't join them. Shirer also believed the French could have done it alone since Hitler was not ready for any kind of conflict in 1937.

Failure to occupy the Rhineland may have exposed Hitler's weaknesses to the German people and raised a political opposition which was still possible in spite of the entrenched position of the Nazi party.

[Tulpa the White]

Don't forget, the Germans had to pay reparations after WWII, as well, although it was in the form of asset confiscation and forced labor, rather than cash.

That's East Germany, which didn't have an independent govt after the war.

[Isaac Bartram]

No, West Germany paid too.

A bunch of German companies were taken over by the US government and sold as American public companies. Others, like IG Faben, that were so completely implicated in the Nazi enterprise were simply liquidated and the assets used to pay reparations. The IG Faben headquarters was used by the US military until 1996 when it was sold. There were other complications since assets of some companies were split between East and West Germany but that's another matter.

One canard has it that when it came to Volkswagen the people in charge of the process decide to let the Germans keep it because none in America would ever want to drive a silly little car like that.

All in all, though, West Germany got treated a lot better than East Germany over payments of reparations.

[Lewisite]

Bashar al-Assad's actions could be construed as attempting to "break the very spirit of the insurgency". The peaceniks ARE calling him a war criminal, as those sorts always seem to be the moral side of any story. I can agree that Sherman-esque tactics in Afghanistan would have sent both the Taliban, as well as Pakistan an un-ambiguous message. Regardless, America would still be tallied with Al-Assad's lot anyway by those same sanctimonious peaceniks.

[John]

There were things wrong with America before the New Deal. What people don't understand is the New Deal did nothing to solve those things and in fact made them worse. Almost all that was wrong with America related to race relations. And that didn't get better until the 1960s.

[robc]

And that didn't get better until the 1960s

And was more the result of Branch Rickey than anything the government did.

[BakedPenguin]

While Robinson surely deserves the credit that he's received, it's criminal that Rickey has been denied any. Of course, he "only" did it for the money, so the fact that he faced years of ostracism among his business associates, his peers, and many of his customers is conveniently ignored.

[Isaac Bartram]

Actually, while race relations were far from good, they took a huge step back with the election of Woodrow Wilson.

Prior to that segregation had been primarily a business of state governments. While the Federal government practised a paternalistic kind of racism it also practised a special kind of patronage where prominent Black Republicans were given key Postmasterships and positions in the Customs service. That ended with Wilson.

[John]

Joe "Romney is only comfortable around white people" Williams apparently a wife beating dead beat dad. And the ex wife comes out of the woodwork to nail him.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fis.....ife_b77836

[Lord Humungus]

Drones decimating Taliban in Pakistan
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/.....?hpt=op_t1

On Sunday a missile launched from a U.S. drone struck a house in Pakistan's remote tribal agency of North Waziristan, killing eight suspected militants, most of whom were loyal to the Pakistani Taliban commander, Hafiz Gul Bahadur. Bahadur has reportedly overseen multiple attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.

While the CIA drone war against al Qaeda in Pakistan is well known and is even, on occasion, publicly acknowledged by senior Obama administration officials, the strike against Bahadur's fighters is part of a lesser-known campaign to target Pakistani militants, who are less able to pose a threat to the U.S. homeland. This represents an expansion of the drone program that was overseen by President Barack Obama's administration.

[John]

If it wasn't effective and were just blowing up wedding parties, the Pakistanis wouldn't be so unhappy about it.

[LTC(ret) John]

Crap. So all that time I spent in the mountains, getting shot at and such was foolish.... I should have just learned to use a remote control set more effectively! Oh well, live and learn.

[Restoras]

Fleet does the flying, MI does the dying!

[wareagle]

John,
think of it is this way - since war is just one more video game, the military should be well set for the future given how many young males are more interested in gaming than girls. Lot of free training going on.

[John]

Reasons why fighter pilots are on their way out. Why spend a million training a fighter pilot, when you can have some 18 year old specialist fly a drone like it is a video game

[wareagle]

just think of the savings to the Pentagon budget. This will go on until gamemakers realize they are part of the evil military-industrial-complex and are shamed by others in the entertainment media.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Unfortunately, the AF is insisting the drone operators be pilots (at least they were before I got out 2 years ago).

That way you can spend all that money training them to do a job any teenager could pick up in a weekend.

[wareagle]

ah...efficiency reigns.

[Francisco d Anconia]

ah...efficiency reigns.

Job security.

The funny part is, NO self respecting pilot wants to fly a drone and would prefer the AF hire geeks to do it. But the all self important Generals (pilots), contend only a pilot has the ability to drop bombs. (Think Ike screaming, I WANT TEST PILOTS, in The Right Stuff.)

[Restoras]

Why do you need to be an officer to fly a plane? Not picking nits, just wondering.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Probably because a warplane is like a billion-kazillion bucks.

[John]

Because the air force says so. That is why. Enlisted and warrants fly helicopters just fine in the Army and Marine Corps. But never the beloved air force.

[Kreel Sarloo]

Warrants fly fixed wings in the Marines too if IIANM.

Also I understand the fixed wing aircraft the Army has are spotters and reconnaisance planes. I'm prety sure Warrant fly them too.

The RAF had NCOs in pilot and copilot positions in WWII bombers but that was mostly because rank was so class driven.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Why do you need to be an officer to fly a plane?

Because the AF says so...that's why!

Honestly, I have no idea. The old adage of, "because that's the way it has always been" is probably most applicable.

[Fluffy]

I think it goes back to the first World War, where a large % of the people with flying experience were aristocrats and academics, and many of the pilots also effectively ran the support groups for their own planes. So you got a culture in the European armies where the pilots were Von's and Herr Doktor's and were all officers, and the US imitated that.

[Isaac Bartram]

I think it also has to do with pay levels and so on.

Military doctors do not all have command responsibility but they are still automatically enlisted at the equivalent of an Army Captain just because that's the minimum pay level that the military can pay to be anywhere near competitive with the private sector.

[0x90]

"the CIA drone war"

The Galactic Empire likes this.

[BakedPenguin]

I hate the prequels.

[Brett L]

1 in 10 is the best we can do?

[Ken Shultz]

Mitt Romney's made up his mind, he says the Obamacare penalty is a tax. The presidential candidate overrode a chief advisor who, agreeing in part with the White House, said the penalty was not a tax several days earlier.

This presumably plays better oin television and web ads, right?

If he assumes it's a tax, then he can claim that the president broke his promise not to raise taxes substantially on the middle class.

...not that anyone on the left cares if Obama is a baldfaced liar. But there are swing voters who might.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Only health care freeloaders pay this "tax". And tanning salons.

That is why no one cares.

[John]

Yes, tax the poor and uninsured the God damned free loaders. Word of advice, just because it is a talking point your handlers feed to you doesn't mean it is not retarded.

[Ken Shultz]

"Let me be clear, if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up."

----Barack Obama

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

The Supreme Court says Barack Obama is a baldfaced liar.

[Rich]

Come on, Ken.

He meant your *existing* taxes.

[BakedPenguin]

We didn't need the SC to tell us that.

[Ken Shultz]

But to some swing voters?

The Supreme Court is impartial.

The SC carefully weighed the evidence, and in their impartial opinion, Barack Obama is a baldfaced liar.

Many of us already knew that, but having the SC weigh in does carry a certain amount of weight with some swing voters.

[Ken Shultz]

They're calling the individual mandate a tax, you dolt.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So am I, idiot.

I am just saying very few care or will be required to pay it.

It is NOT an income tax on working Americans.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Seems like this was a lot of headache for something that will have so little impact.

[Ken Shultz]

Oh, I'm already planning to pay it.

I have a preexisting condition from when I was self-employed, and I have every intention of continuing to self-insure.

[Auric Demonocles]

But others should give you free money without regard for foreseeable expenses!

[Mr. FIFY]

So I am idiot.

FIFY'd to better reflect shrike's true intelligence level.

[Ken Shultz]

From what I can tell, there's nothing in the law that prevents me from paying for myself--in addition to being forced to pay for everyone else, too.

...and believe me, one of the reasons I've worked so hard my life was so that I could avoid ending up on Medicaid or Medicare. I've worked in hospitals; I know the shitty treatment those people receive--and I'd rather pay for myself than be part of ObamaCare in any way.

P.S. I owe you nothing.

[Bee Tagger]

What about the insured who had insurance that didn't measure up to the government's standards for what counts as insurance?

[Auric Demonocles]

It's not insurance if it only covers risky, unforeseen expenses!

[Bardas Phocas]

So another one of those non-issues being hammered on by conspiracy-nut rightees?
That's a relief.

[wareagle]

if folks have the means to pay their medical bills as they go instead of having insurance, are they still free loaders?

[Palin's Buttplug]

No. Admittingly, that is the most offensive part of the bill. I am not defending the bill but as far as taxes go it is the least burdensome of the modern tax increases (including Reagan's five tax increases).

[wareagle]

and yet, your guy refuses to call it a tax increase. Never before have we had a tax on inactivity; even you know that. And the Reagan did is irrelevant unless you want to take in the full picture: yes, some taxes went up in his 8 years, but rates on income went down and the rest took care of itself.

In other words, he inherited circumstances at least as bad as Obama, did the opposite of what the campaigner in chief is doing, and predictably, got opposite results. Plus, what taxes he raised had to do with folks actually doing something.

[Ken Shultz]

Really?

What about the prohibitive tax in ObamaCare on hospitals that purchase new technology?

What about the prohibitive tax in ObamaCare on companies that offer their employees insurance benefits--that are too good?

Least burdensome? Least burdensome for whom? You don't mean least burdensome for middle-class sick people, do you?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, a tax on cadillac health plans is far less burdensome than a general earned income tax increase.

[wareagle]

ironic that the left is concerned about these "cadillac" plans when nothing is more caddy-like than federal Blue Cross, followed closely by the state version. Besides, the tax applies to folks who don't even have a Yugo plan; they have no plan at all.

[Ken Shultz]

No. Admittingly, that is the most offensive part of the bill. I am not defending the bill but as far as taxes go it is the least burdensome of the modern tax increases (including Reagan's five tax increases).

Collectively?

I'd have rather have had a modest increase in income taxes than all of the burdensome taxes and disincentives that collectively make up ObamaCare.

Jesus, the spending alone is gonna have to paid for someday by taxpayers--you do realize that's the where the money ObamaCare costs ultimately comes from, right?

And as far as Reagan is concerned? a) Sounds like another regurgitated talking point and b) WTF does Reagan have to do with this?

You think Obama is running against Ronald Reagan?!

[Mr. FIFY]

"a tax on cadillac health plans"

Barry Goldwater would never have engaged in such wealth-envy, shrike. You do his memory a huge disservice by claiming to be his biggest fan.

[0x90]

Well, obviously. If they have that dough, it should clearly be freed up to help people NOW. Later on, after we've finished bankrupting these would-be hoarders, they're sure going to need that helping hand.

[CampingInYourPark]

The whole concept is plain BULLSHIT. I pay for insurance and haven't been to a doctor in 20 years. I've never had anything more than a simple physical even before that. Does that mean everyone seeing a doctor is freeloading off of me? NO

[Rich]

"Clearly, Romney's made up his mind now, and that's a good thing. It is a tax, and it's the clearest way for Republicans to differ-- entiate themselves in this race," said Michael Dennehy, a New Hampshire-based Republican consultant.

Well said, Mr. Dennehy--hee, hee, hee!

Seriously, it's not called The Stupid Party for nothing.

[Drake]

As if any tax isn't a penalty. Tax away a third of my income, and suddenly I'm not so enthusiastic about busting my ass. Slap another 7% on top of the price of a new car, and I lose interest. Tax American businesses at the highest rate in the world, and investors look at it as a penalty and incorporate elsewhere.

Tax / penalty - same thing.

[Bee Tagger]

For crying out loud, can't we just create a Taxalty and let any government official create and collect them?

[Karl Hungus]

For crying out loud, can't we just create a Taxalty and let any government official create and collect them?

I like this idea. In fact, instead of the IRS having the bulk of its agents sequestered in some building in DC or in field offices, they should be assigned "zones" which they would actively patrol in cruisers, complete with sirens and red/blue lights. Think how much more efficient the collection of taxes would be if we empowered the hardworking people of the IRS to assess and collect, on site, all in one transaction. Talk about streamlining government!

[sloopyinca]

This comes immediately to mind.

[db]

I've been thinking about this guy a lot recently.

[Bill]

I think a penax sounds better.

[Jerry on the road]

The German word Leibzoll has a nice ring to it. "Pay your Leibzoll, now!"

[Palin's Buttplug]

Nice.

[R C Dean]

C'mon, BT. The word is "penaltax". Tow the lion, dude.

[Bee Tagger]

This is what I get for going somewhere without a good wireless signal for a few days.

[Karl Hungus]

Lifeguard fired for leaving his assigned area to assist a swimmer in distress. He worked for a private company that contracts lifeguard services out to municipalities.

[JW]

I read that this morning.

The story only showed that the pernicious and rampant idiocy of people in large, organized groups isn't solely restricted to the public sector.

[The Hammer]

Seems like it'd be pretty easy for him to get another job after that.

[Lord Humungus]

Dante's Circles of Hell Created in LEGO
http://popcurious.com/dantes-c.....ed-in-lego

Famous Pictures Recreated With Star Wars Figures
http://io9.com/5923423/famous-.....rs-figures

[Mike M.]

In Dante's vision, the ninth circle of Hell (the worst) was reserved for traitors and those who commit great betrayals of trust.

The thought of John Roberts spending the rest of eternity encased up to his neck in ice certainly brings a little smile to my face.

[Lord Humungus]

btw, I loved Pournelle and Niven's "Inferno"

[Bitter Taxpayer]

Dante in LEGOs was pretty cool. Thanks for something cheering.

[Ice Nine]

Jayz, that "Lust" one didn't exactly leave a a lot to the imagination!

[Bill]

2nd link did not work for me.

[JW]

Dante's Circles of Hell Created in LEGO

Which one is HHS?

[DJF]

When it comes to Air Conditioning in Washington DC I am a believer in original intent. Washington when originally founded was a hot sweaty swamp during the summer, which meant that many in the government left if they could which prevented them from coming up with more ideas to ever expand government power. Once air conditioning was installed they stayed all year and the government expansion has not stopped.

So lets ban the use of air conditioning in all government offices and see if government expansion slows or even stops..

[LTC(ret) John]

The federal courthouse in Baton Rouge didn't get AC until 1984 - they used to just shut down for the summer. I like your idea - lets close for June, July and August. DoD can stay on, however, and let all those paperpushers sweat a little.

[Rich]

ban the use of air conditioning in all government offices

But, the COMPUTERS!!

[generic Brand]

I actually had a similar discussion with my friend when Rand Paul "blocked" the DC sovereignty bill. I had stated that Washington DC was never intended to be a city where people live regularly, but now it has expanded into one of the larger cities in the country, and with it a ton of voters and an administration that want to hand its own budget.

My thoughts more and more these days make me think the founders would weep at some of the things that became of this country.

[Restoras]

Some??

[sloopyinca]

Yes, some.

Would the founders be mad about this coming out of Washington, DC? I think not.*

*Maybe Alexander Hamilton wouldn't have liked it, but I doubt he'd have been mad about it.

[Hell's Librarian]

Washington when originally founded was a hot sweaty swamp during the summer,

While doing some research for a paper I was writing, I came across the interesting tidbit that when the colonists first came to Maryland (where I live) they were assailed by some sort of malaria-like illness that wiped out vast swathes of settlers. Maryland, temperate and tamed as it is now, apparently was not a very nice place back in the day.

[wareagle]

Maryland, temperate and tamed as it is now, apparently was not a very nice place back in the day.

but, wait; that can't be. Everyone knows that sweltering temperatures never happened before now. What you read must have been authored by a pre-AGW denier.

[Hell's Librarian]

Indeed. Those ancient AGW heretics called it "the seasoning," because if you survived the raft of diseases plus heat and humidity, you were good to go in MD (at least until you croaked from premature aging or malnutrition).

[Fluffy]

This book wouldn't happen to be 1491, would it?

1493 is better. And less pseudoscientific gibberish.

[Hell's Librarian]

Nah, it was some papers I read about the colonial experience in Maryland, which I don't have with me right now. I haven't read either of those books; looks interesting.

[Isaac Bartram]

The entire Gulf and East Coasts are Yellow Fever and Malaria zones all the way to New York City.

Outbreaks of both diseases were widespread until into the beginning of the 20th century and the diseases are only prevented from occuring today by mosquito eradication programs that have been in effect primarily since the beginning of WWII.

It's not the climate of the region that's changed, it's the makeup of the insect population such that even if infected people make it through immigration they are unlikely to pass it on.

Before the twentieth century every ship that berth at an East or Gulf Coast port in the summer time carried a threat of a new epidemic.

[Restoras]

DDT and other insecticides are our friends.

[wareagle]

except in those third-world countries that could really use them. For those, we have ads asking you to send $10 for a mosquito net. Because that's what Rachel Carson would have wanted.

[Brett L]

May her afterlife be a succession of plagues and suffering.

[BakedPenguin]

Very few people have caused more human misery.

[BakedPenguin]

Maryland, temperate and tamed as it is now...

Wait - Maryland is the place where Baltimore is, right?

[Hell's Librarian]

OK, I laughed. Stupid Baltimore (I live in the county, so I have a dog in that particular fight, dammit).

[Warty]

some sort of malaria-like illness that wiped out vast swathes of settlers.

It was just plain malaria. It's no coincidence that they imported slaves who were adapted to survive malaria.

[sage]

6nd!

[Longtorso]

Ben Bernanke Is Bankrupting The Social Security Trust Fund

[Palin's Buttplug]

Ahhh, now they are complaining interest rates (therefore inflation) are too low. Bernanke can't even win by doing his job well.

[MP]

Interest rates are too low. The money supply is way too high.

But it's still a stupid complaint. "Look, our accounting gimmick has less gimmick!" Bah.

[R C Dean]

Well, Bernanke has been printing hundreds of billions, probably over a trillion, to clear Treasury auctions and suppress interest rates.

This is known as "financial repression", because it guts the income of bondholders, and wrecks the financials of pension plans and others who traditionally hold large allotments of bonds.

Now, if that's Bernanke's job, then maybe we need to rethink what the Fed is for.

[The Hammer]

Therefore inflation? Well, at least you're an original idiot.

[Mike M.]

This P.O.S. really should go back to waiting tables at South of the Border. He is the absolute worst.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's Super-PAC Advantage
So far, Obama's super PAC is outspending all super-PAC efforts opposing him combined.
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....m-geraghty

"With every passing week, Democratic insiders are becoming more and more panicked that, by November, their Republican opponents will have buried them under a mountain of money," reports The New Republic. "The GOP money machine ? that is, American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove; Americans for Prosperity, the group backed by the billionaire Koch brothers; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ? has vowed to spend $1 billion combined before Election Day."

The only catch is that the actual spending by super PACs so far this year tells a quite different story. The truth is that the super PAC founded by top Obama staffers and its aligned "independent" groups are outspending groups that oppose the president by roughly two to one.

[LTC(ret) John]

It is early in the Narrative Construction season - they have to have the handy "scott Walker" defense in hand, should O! lose.

[The Hammer]

So his campaign is losing cash, which means the greedy 1%ers are buying the election, but his Super PAC is getting all kinds of money, which means he has massive popular support. Oh, I think I just wrote an upcoming HuffPo article.

[Longtorso]

Houston Police Department goes retro: Now about those Crown Victorias . . .
...During the transition process, some of blue and white patrol cars will still be in use. The new paint jobs are being paid for by forfeiture assets, so don't worry taxpayers.

[Brett L]

The new paint jobs are being paid for by forfeiture assets, so don't worry taxpayers.

Unless you have assets.

[Jam]

most HPD cops have their own squad cars. all they do now is run around and stick guns in people's faces and take their money. and then get rewarded with a pay raise at retirement
http://www.chron.com/news/hous.....629017.php

[mr simple]

San Diego blows its load early.

[mr simple]

Try again.

[Brett L]

"This has never happened to me before"

[Longtorso]

All three of these articles have been discussed at Reason, but I thought I'd put them all together for your post Independence Day trifecta of state worship.

[ant1sthenes]

Say what you will about Golden Dawn, at least they're upfront about what they are. Also, they sound like they should be a faction in The Elder Scrolls.

[Ska]

Golden Dawn...Dawnguard... pretty close.

[generic Brand]

So I didn't make it out to see Gary Johnson yesterday, but I did make a burger stuffed with bacon mac cheese, so I consider it a win.

[Lord Humungus]

America, fuck yeah!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/catesi.....lociraptor

[John]

A lot better than riding a unicorn.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Coming soon to theaters near you, no doubt.

[sarcasmic]

Mischa Barton is still hot!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....aunch.html

[The Hammer]

She looks like she's been sick. Her cheeks are actually sunken.

[sarcasmic]

Youth continues to be wasted on the young.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....kinis.html

[Night Elf Mohawk]

WTF. You could walk through any mall in Texas on a random Saturday and find dozens of girls that age who look far better even without professional makeup and photography.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure youth is wasted on them as well.

[Ice Nine]

Of course but dozens of girls in TX malls don't have a multi-million dollar promotion-of-nothing machine promoting them.

[gaijin]

14 and 16 years old people.

[Brett L]

So you think they'll be late bloomers?

[gaijin]

lol!

daily fail link + reason commentariat + 14 year old = -? 😉

[Phrygian]

yep...god bless texas

[mr simple]

Whatever whore school the Kardashians/Jenners send their kids to must be highly ranked.

[sarcasmic]

Candice Swanepoel is still hot!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....water.html

[sage]

Are you finished?

[Restoras]

I just need a few more seconds...

[sarcasmic]

Man beaten to a pulp by state police. Nothing else happens.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....uTube.html

[SugarFree]

One of the officers reportedly broke his hand while inflicting blows on Mr Leone's head. The victim also claims he was kicked and Tased repeatedly.

The brutality allegedly continues after Mr Leone is pulled off-camera, with audible screams being heard as one of the troopers claims Mr Leone spit on him.

'F***ing pull over means be pulled the f*** over. You're going to be somebody's f***ing butt f*** inside.'

I hope someone got disciplined for not turning off their dashcam.

[wareagle]

can't wait for the lawsuit against the guy who broke the cop's hand with his head.

[SugarFree]

Well, you can be charged with murder if a doughnut barge drops dead of fatheart while chasing you, so I don't see how this isn't assault.

[sarcasmic]

John, this is for you!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....beach.html

[Brett L]

I really want to know how this squares with Teh Patriarchy forcing skinniness on women. Preferrably at Jezebel. "Its all men's fault that we got fat trying to meet their unfair body standards!" is my guess.

[Longtorso]

Plastic fantastic! Real life Barbie girls arrive at their prom in life-sized doll boxes

A formidable 42K: It's the world's biggest strapless bra

[Rich]

At a prodigious size 42K ? the equivalent of a dress size 26 ? the bra, described by its makers as a 'triumph of textile engineering', claims to accommodate the bosoms of some of Britain's bustiest women.

Ah, but will it accommodate the *Higgs* bosom?

[Ice Nine]

So they show it on a 32B model? WTF?

[SugarFree]

That's the photo of the bra supplied by the company. They aren't going to find the bra and a someone to model it and take a picture of same. That smacks of work, which it antithetical to the Mail's aesthetic.

[ant1sthenes]

Joe Biden the mastermind behind MegaUpload shutdown?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-po.....dens-idea/

[SugarFree]

Biden couldn't mastermind a trip to a urinal.

[Rich]

How about to a bidet?

[SugarFree]

He thinks those are water fountains for cripples. (His word, not mine.)

[Rich]

"God love ya, SF!"

[Brett L]

Considering what a clusterfuck the MegaUpload shutdown attempt was, I think they're using the word "mastermind" loosely.

[ant1sthenes]

Which is why the FBI metaphorically has piss on its shoes now.

[SugarFree]

Joke's on you. Biden only takes dumps in urinals.

[Ska]

Ah, we are in agreement.

***fucking refresh***

[Ska]

Maybe if he had to shit really bad he could.

[benji]

This quiz thing has been updated this with more/nominated candidates (Jill Stein who was missing before and they also added the Constitution Party) and they changed some of the answers, especially the "more answers" options, along with a new "processing" screen rather than instant display of the results:
http://www.isidewith.com/presi.....ction-quiz

I set everything to MAXIMUM IMPORTANCE to increase the standard deviations:

96% Gary Johnson
95% Ron Paul
43% Virgil Goode
27% Mitt Romney
21% Kent Mesplay
13% Jimmy McMillan
12% Jill Stein
9% Barack Obama
7% Fred Karger

96% Libertarian
43% Constitution
17% Republican
9% Democratic

http://www.isidewith.com/results/10899087

If you still have a prior link or can hunt it down, you can see it "updated" to match the new candidates and stuff. But it doesn't account for any new/changed answers. (Some of them got rid of old answers.)

[benji]

Here's a patriotic American: http://www.isidewith.com/results/10899552
Here's Jonh: http://www.isidewith.com/results/10899705

[robc]

Looking at details, apparently things I consider to be functionally equivalent answers the system considers to be different and things I consider to be radically different, the system considers to be the similar.

In other words, like all political poll thingies, its bullshit.

It did get Johnson at 89 and Paul at 88 as my top two. I would prefer Paul to Johnson, but I didnt try to properly weight questions, pushed them all to most like you suggested.

9% with Obama? I got 5%. But I somehow got 67% with Mitt.

[Scarcity]

Yeah, I was 44% with Mitt, mostly on "agreements" like this:

Should Congress raise the debt ceiling?
Mitt Romney: No
Your similar answer: No, cut spending

So Mitt, you're not going to raise taxes or cut spending in any meaningful way, but you're against raising the debt ceiling too?

6% with BO makes me happy.

[The Hammer]

Brandon sides with candidates...
98%
Gary Johnson
on domestic policy, foreign policy, economic, healthcare, immigration, and social issues.
98%
Ron Paul
on domestic policy, healthcare, foreign policy, economic, and social issues.
55%
Virgil Goode
on foreign policy issues.
44%
Mitt Romney
on economic issues.
37%
Kent Mesplay
on immigration issues.
30%
Jill Stein
on immigration issues.
24%
Jimmy McMillan
no major issues.
19%
Fred Karger
on immigration issues.
6%
Barack Obama
no major issues.

[The Hammer]

No major changes from last time for me.

[Bitter Taxpayer]

A.M. Links: Romney Makes Up His Mind; It's a Tax, ACTA Rejected by European Parliament, Planet Formation Could Take Years Not Eons

Punctuation fail, Ed. The semicolon should be a dash, and the commas should be semicolons.

[R C Dean]

I like the colon there. You're right about the commas.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Agreed.

[Lord Humungus]

I stayed up north for the 4th. On the way back home this morning, I got pulled over by the po-po for an pretty obvious ticket.

So the cop is telling me what I did was illegal - worth a citation, er whatever then pauses to stare at me. I kind of give him the "yeaaahhhhh?" quizzical look since I just wanted him to write the ticket so I could keep going.

and then he proceeds to just give me a warning. And tells me I could have *gasp* paid a $100 fine and get two points. I really had to stop myself from saying "sooo?" since that's nothing but a trifle - and the way I have my insurance setup - mafia style - points don't hurt the premium. But I just smiled, said thank you, and took off.

[CampingInYourPark]

Can I borrow $100?

[Lord Humungus]

at a decent interest rate, yes.

[Rich]

Zero, that is.

/ The Bernank

[generic Brand]

This right here pisses me off. I get pulled over and am "graciously" given a citation. But he could have written me up for 15 over; he just was in a good mood so he'd write me up for 9 over. What a fucking prick! That is not being generous. Generous would have been not pulling me over in the first place. Gracious would have been letting me off with a warning.

Cops are assholes who arbitrarily enforce the law as it suits them. They see my car and figure they can take me for a quick buck-fifty. God, I hate cops.

[The Hammer]

You can't really blame the cops for the arbitrariness, since the laws themselves, at least in regards to speed limits, are completely arbitrary at best.

[James Otis]

A secret deal for an HBO Roger Ailes movie that would be produced by the hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, are set to produce.

Sense makes it doesn't even.

[John]

What is the point? Do they really think they are going to change anyone's opinion? It is just a fucking leftist circle jerk with leftist filmakers making films to make other leftists feel better about themselves.

[James Otis]

As HBO goes, so goes the world.

[John]

Not really.

[James Otis]

Cinemax?

[Bobarian]

Only if they play it late on Friday.

[LTC(ret) John]

Skinemax.

[ant1sthenes]

It doesn't even really have to be viewed from a left/right angle. They're MSNBC personalities, he's a Fox exec. It has all the credibility of a movie funded by Pepsi executives trying to expose the evils of Coca Cola.

[John]

No one who is anything but an MSNBC groupie already is going to care about or watch the movie.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Roger Ailes and Joe Scab are fellow wingnuts of yours. And Meeka is their pet liberal.

[Mr. FIFY]

Put another Obama/Biden sticker on your car lately, shrike?

[Solanum]

Long Beach police raid pot shop, rough up employees, smash surveillance cameras

A raid on a marijuana dispensary in Long Beach was caught on video showing officers smashing surveillance cameras and stepping on a suspect, moves that prompted accusations against the officers of excessive force.

One of the officers is seen stepping on volunteer employee Dorian Brooks' back with both feet before stepping on his neck, with what Brooks described as 300 pounds of pressure.

The video, which was being recorded at an off-site location, then cuts to an officer pointing at the recording camera before another looks up and smashes the lens.

[John]

Old article. But Steve Buscemi is a really great guy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film.....lmfestival

[Elspeth Flashman]

Agreed.

[SugarFree]

Kentucky Lawmaker Thinks 2013 is the Year Medical Marijuana Will Pass Legislature

I wish I didn't have to laugh at this idea.

[robc]

Hit up Country Boy yesterday.

Went 1 for 2.

And on topic, the state could be rolling in dough if we just made pot legal. I know some pro-legalization folks hate the "treat it like alcohol" idea, and I dont disagree, in that I dont like excise taxes on booze either, but its seriously counterproductive to oppose legalization for that reason.

[R C Dean]

I think "Treat pot just like hard liquor" is a winning formula, and would be a vast improvement on the current situation.

We'll all be dead before we get a better offer, so if anyone makes this one, we should take it.

[Auric Demonocles]

You bastard, not making the perfect the enemy of the good. You must be excommunicated for being an untrue libertarian!

[Brett L]

Also, it may work to roll back some of the limitations on liquor if the world doesn't end.

[SugarFree]

What did you try?

[robc]

One of their IPAs (not their regular one), which I score a 4 (on a 1-5) scale, which is really good, as I judge them harshly. So many small breweries and brewpubs make a mediocre one, theirs was good.

Then I had the alt. I score it a 2. And it only avoids a 1 because I was able to finish it. Its a hard style to get right. And they missed.

I also took a sip of their Heifer-weizen, which just made me angry, as american wheat beers do (especially when the name implies its a hefeweizen). And a sip of the Brown Chicken Brown Cow, which was okay, but didnt blow me away.

[R C Dean]

Americans can make a decent wit, but I too have been angried by purported "hefe" weizen.

Here's a tip, brewdudes: If its not cloudy, if it doesn't have yeast at the bottow of the bottle, it ain't a hefty weizen.

[SugarFree]

I think a lot of the mis-use of hefe/wit is due to the fact that there aren't many good one or two word ways to describe an ale as "A beer we didn't hop the living fuck out of."

I prefer the cloudy European style to most American attempts (Widmer [shudder]), but the prevalence of heavily hopped beer has left a market and marketing gap for American micro-brews in the people like me department.

[robc]

Im working on it...

Hefeweizen and Schwarzbier will be my first two flagships. Not much in the way of hops necessary.

Although Im not afraid to use ludicrous amounts of hops, when necessary.

[robc]

And their are plenty of terms...mild, bitter (amusingly, bitters arent necessarily all that bitter - more of a midway point), some others too, but yeah, okay, not really plenty.

[R C Dean]

Let's see: mild, porter, stout, bitter, brown, scotch, and, of course, the myriad of belgians.

[SugarFree]

But the majority of American Wheat Ales aren't porters, stouts, browns or bitters. They are closer to lagers than anything else, tastewise.

It's almost as if the difficult of micro-brewing lagers has lead to a new style of beer, and they are stuck with clumsily applying European style-names.

[robc]

The original American wheat is Widmer. They didnt have access to hefeweizen yeast so used an alt yeast.

While a B for ingenuity, the fact that they stuck with it when better yeasts became available is nuts. And then, to call your abomination a "hefeweizen" makes it even worse.

If I had a beer genocide spell, which would remove one style from existence for all eternity, it would be American Wheat. Yes, some might consider it a waste not to use it on pale adjunct lagers, but Im sticking with my call.

Also, I would say they are closer to cream ales, tastewise, than to lagers.

[SugarFree]

I'd like to have a side-by-side on that, but you're probably right.

[SugarFree]

I really like the Heiferweizen, not being wedded to the style question as you are. I haven't had the alt, and defer to your opinion on the IPAs, not being a fan of that entire style.

I mostly drink Brown Chicken, Brown Cow. Their nitro porter is good, if a bit generic. The Ni-ban (Japanese-style "small beer") is very good, but I haven't tried a new batch and have nothing to compare it to. I've only had a few Japanese beers that aren't the mass marketed types.

I do like that they are still experimenting and haven't settled on an exact recipe for each "brand."

West Sixth Brewery is another one that is doing well here. The space they have is far beer than the beer, which shoots for offending no one with wide-appeal blandness.

[robc]

I really like the Heiferweizen, not being wedded to the style question as you are

My hefeweizen is going to be one of my flagship beers. The difference between a hefeweizen and an american wheat is stunning. And, unlike, RC's comment above, it isnt due to cloudiness, plenty of american wheats are cloudy (although, there is something to it, as american ale yeasts drop clear faster). But the use of chico yeast, or equivalent, instead of hefeweizen yeast is a world of difference. American Ale yeasts are noted for their cleanliness, they dont provide much, if any, flavor, leaving space for the malt and hops to shine. And that is great for an APA or IPA or etc. But its the flavors that a real hefeweizen yeast add, the banana and clove and bubblegum, that make the beer. And the ability to fine tune to bring the flavor you want to the front is the brewers art on hefeweizens (I lean to strong banana).

[SugarFree]

If you are interested, West Sixth has started canning their IPA. You might be able to find it at The Beer Store. There are some relationship-level links between W6th and Holy Grale, IIRC.

[robc]

Ive tried it. Its okay, but fits what I said earlier. I preferred Country Boys.

But I havent had a whole W6 IPA yet, so cant fairly compare.

[Lord Humungus]

Carney: Obama's subsidies: Private profit, public risk
http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2501309

Obama plans to use the Export-Import Bank -- a federal agency that gives taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign buyers who buy American goods -- to subsidize U.S. manufacturers even when they are selling to other American companies.

This would be a significant step in the federal government's transformation into a venture capital firm and investment bank involved in all corners of the economy. It's private profit and public risk. Conservative Sen. Jim DeMint calls it "venture socialism."

[Palin's Buttplug]

Just what we need - a Fannie Mae for capital equipment finance.

[ant1sthenes]

Senator DeMint: The word is "fascism". Stop pretending Obama is some far-left radical. Maybe he was in his younger days. So was Mussolini. Just starting calling him Il Douchey, that's what he is.

[VG Zaytsev]

Not sure which is better

Dear Reader or ill Douchy

[John]

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

Liberals ignore Obama's Guantanamos. Color me surprised. It is almost as if they are partisan hacks or something.

[SugarFree]

BronyCon 2012

I just keep flashing back to this image while reading the article.

[John]

That is the most fucked up thing I have ever seen. Those people make jugaloos seem normal.

[Rich]

I don't know about "the most", but ... wow.

[John]

At some level I get jugaloos. What do you do when you are a white trash loser with no money, no intelligence and no prospects? You go be a jugaloo and at least fit in there.

But I can't explain this

[VG Zaytsev]

And Jugaloos get laid, what do Bronies get?

[Brett L]

MLP fleshlights?

[Alack]

Still laid.

[Warty]

As long as you don't inflict Jezebel on us, I think I can tolerate Bronies.

[John]

The my pussy smells article last week was a new low even for him.

[VG Zaytsev]

Aw come on.
That was some funny shit.

BronyCon is just pathetic.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Gaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Self-emasculation is not to be admired

[Solanum]

A hand-held bowel disruptor set to 'Fatal Intestinal Maelstrom' would work even better.

[Alack]

The people who dress up like the characters I don't really get (except that one guy in the article, who has a sweet mustache), but I see no reason to hate on the people who enjoy the show. Yeah, it's stupid, juvenile escapism, but at least it's not destructive, stupid, juvenile escapism. Times are shitty; maybe they're just subconsciously longing for the simpler, better times of their youth.

[Alack]

Also, you know things are bad when you're playing Brony's Advocate.

[Brett L]

We may judge you, but we won't other you.

[GettiYetti]

Well now that jsut makes a ll kind of sense lol.

http://www.Privacy-Ways.tk

[Solanum]

A Steve Smith rape-bot?

[Auric Demonocles]

New observational data suggests a good portion of the process of planet formation might take two years or less.

Man, this place has really gone downhill in the last few years.

[SugarFree]

Michigan to use talking urinal cakes to help curb drunk driving

Imagine Joe Biden's surprise.

[Tim]

Talking urinal cakes.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Mary's secret weapon

they have invented a system that translates thoughts into letters.

[Warty]

I've used these before. They're much shittier than you think.

[SugarFree]

I've used these before.

Finally an explanation for Wesley Crusher: Teenage Fuck Machine.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How does it handle the average male's every fifteen second thought about sex?

[Warty]

It uses the special Unicode boner character, of course. You just do a replace-all after you're done to get rid of them.

[R C Dean]

Hey, I've got one o' them turn-thougths-into-letters systems!

Mine's called a keyboard.

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe this infinite power through the tax clause means the car repossession tax could now become a reality.

I bet there are Democrats running around crediting Obama for the Higgs boson. So another Nobel probably is in the works.

[ant1sthenes]

Well, the Higgs boson is his father. Who else deserves it more?

[Auric Demonocles]

Release the long form birth certificate!

[Auric Demonocles]

He's done as much for that discovery as he did for peace. Actually more, since as far as I know he wasn't out there actively hiding it.

[Pro Libertate]

His transparency now extends to the forces of nature!

[Auric Demonocles]

He better give a speech that alludes to putting effort into discovering it, just to be safe.

[Pro Libertate]

He already did--two years ago. A transcript of his speech will be forthcoming.

[Auric Demonocles]

Then he's a lock, unless Gore beats him out for it by making a video about it.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Deadline reports a secret deal negotiated by Ari Emanuel (Rahm's brother) for an HBO Roger Ailes movie, based on an upcoming book, that would be produced by the hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Right.

Sounds completely ridiculous and unwatchable. I bet ratings in the DC area will be through the roof. These people love this shit. I regularly see people at the State Dept glued to the hallway TVs watching some droning speech by some deputy assistant under secretary for pencil sharpening. They are riveted.

[John]

This place is so fucked up.

[Kaptious Kristen]

They recently put up a bunch of photos along a hallway of middle-management muckety-mucks doing shit like cutting ribbons and dogging holes with sterling silver shovels. Every day I see people staring at these photos as if they're the Mona Lisa. What is wrong with these people?

[Kaptious Kristen]

*digging holes, although dogging may work in certain circumstances.

[wareagle]

there's probably a deputy assistant undersecretary for dogging, too.

[sarcasmic]

Power worshipers worship power.

[John]

I think the biggest thing that holds me back in government service is my inability to act like I care who someone is. I am just not intimidated by anyone because of their position. And God do people hate that in Washington.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure SF could come up with some positions that would make you scared.

[Kaptious Kristen]

We have a guy here that you would get a kick out of. Biggest toady I have ever seen, and I've lived here 22 years. He will laugh out loud at lame jokes made by management types, when everyone else just cracks a semi-smile. He's always literally running around, chasing after upper management. They keep him around because they know they can use and abuse him and he'll say "thank you sir, may I have another?"

[Kaptious Kristen]

We had an "all hands" meeting recently and one of the bureaucrats here called herself a "public diplomacy practitioner". As if she's some kind of doctor or nurse.

I really need to get the fuck out of here ASAP.

[R C Dean]

a "public diplomacy practitioner".

Sounds so much better that PR hack or "flack", as they used to be known.

[John]

So do I. I had a friend who left my office after about six months. During her performance review our boss asked her why she hadn't completed her projects. She said with a straight face "because all of our projects are ridiculous". I swear if I hadn't already been married, I would have proposed to that women when she told me that story.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm lucky in that I work in a somewhat technical field with a bunch of techies. And I really lucked out in that at least 2 of my co-workers have strong libertarian leanings.

[Archduke PantsFan]

Who wrote this shit?

[MP]

The irony of Herr Banberg speaking before a MLE event was apparently lost on the crowd.

[Archduke PantsFan]

myth, not truth

[ant1sthenes]

Let's have an "Everyone Draw Obama Day", and see how many progressives make terrorist threats...

[Karl Hungus]

New observational data suggests a good portion of the process of planet formation might take two years or less.

So that scene in Total Recall where Arnold Schwarzenegger and what's-her-name were able to hold their breath until Mars' atmosphere became breatheable . . . that wasn't bullshit after all?

[Auric Demonocles]

Planet formation is a pretty distinct step from establishing habitability.

[Karl Hungus]

Planet formation is a pretty distinct step from establishing habitability.

Right, but if it only takes two years to make all the rocks and dirt stick together in a round ball, then it stands to reason that making a bunch of air would take a much shorter time. Not saying you could hold your breath while waiting for it to happen, but definitely a scuba tank would be enough to tide you over.

I'm sorry, but the science is settled.

[Auric Demonocles]

You didn't say making a bunch of air. That of course, can be completed during a commercial intermission. You said making the air breathable. That relies on lazy old union organisms. They're on break.

[Proprietist]

Finally, Japan's government is frank about how their own corruption, corporatism and suppression of information caused and magnified the Fukushima disaster.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/.....?hpt=hp_c1

[The Hammer]

Too late, the narrative has already been created.

[Gindjurra]

If Obama wants to be able to enforce ACTA, then he needs Senate ratification. He can agree to all the non-binding agreements he likes otherwise.