Obama to Shield Immigrants from Deportation, Pelosi Denies Any Knowledge of This Gruber Character, Planned NSA Reforms Applauded: P.M. Links

• 

  MIT

  President Obama will get right to work cooperating with the new Republican majority—right after he issues an executive order shielding up to five million immigrants from deportation.

• Who is this Jonathan Gruber? asks House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). He certainly had nothing to do with Obamacare! Ummm….Don't you remember citing him over, and over, and over again on the issue in the past?
• The White House is concerned about potential violence after a grand jury releases its decision on whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown, but local officials want the feds to keep their distance.
• ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audiotape in which he basically flips the bird to President Obama and the United States over airstrikes.
• Outgoing Gov. Mike Beebe (D) of Arkansas has a parting gift for his son: a pardon for a decade-old marijuana conviction. That's touching, but share the love, governor.
• Digital rights groups are encouraged by a Senate push to rein in the National Security Agency.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...right after he issues an executive order shielding up to five million immigrants from deportation.

Free at last, free at last?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

What do (illegal) immigrants need shielding from?

[PapayaSF]

Not from welfare, apparently.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

What do (illegal) immigrants need shielding from?

Come down here and find out!

[Florida Man]

Shika haz a sploosh.

[SusanM]

Shikia's screaming because now her domos are now subject to occupational health and safety, wage and overtime laws. Although I'm not sure what news you hear when you're living in a crawlspace so the she's safe for now 😉

[The Laconic]

Good. There, I said it.

Now if he could crank up a pardon mill for up to five million drug offenders, we'd be in business.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Who is this Jonathan Gruber? asks House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Reason made Drudge with that, and SF got the first comment without being disgusting. Good job all around.

[waffles]

Smelling salts disgust me.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Without being disgusting in the comment, you mean, right?

Because, c'mon, it's SF we're talking about.

[Tonio]

But he more than made up for it downthread...

[Ted S.]

I'm not certain if I want to read those comments.

[Warren's Strapon]

It's hilarious. And vomit inducing.

[Old Man With Candy]

You do. Trust me. Priceless.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Do a search for insect wings

[Ska]

Best line I've read in a while. I'm jealous of people who can come up with such creative descriptions.

[Ted S.]

You'll note that Tuccille didn't link to Suderman.

[JEP]

What'd you think Reason is? Some kind of circle jerk?

[flye]

We can't hold Pelosi accountable for simply reading out loud what her aides wrote. Especially when she added, "go fuck yourself, San Diego."

[Fist of Etiquette]

...but local officials want the feds to keep their distance.

Not too distant to issue another no-fly zone around the city, though.

[CE]

You know what other local officials wanted the Feds to keep their distance?

[Terc]

Waco?

[creech]

South Carolina secessionists?

[C. Anacreon]

John Brown?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Outgoing Gov. Mike Beebe (D) of Arkansas has a parting gift for his son: a pardon for a decade-old marijuana conviction.

Having stoner kids making Dem politicians rethink things just like having gay kids makes GOP politicians rethink things? Nah.

[Ted S.]

Of course, the GOP needs to rethink marijuana too.

[Stormy Dragon]

To bad Nativists will never have mexican kids.

[John Thacker]

To be fair, Beebe actually was one of the most pardon-friendly judges in the country. The complaints are a tiny bit unfair; he's not Gov. Walker or O'Malley.

[Fist of Etiquette]

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audiotape in which he basically flips the bird to President Obama and the United States over airstrikes.

He's like the Pele of bird-flipping.

[Riven]

Artist's depiction

[Los Doyers]

Okay, I'm here. I own this thread.

[Steve G]

but did you build it?

[Ted S.]

If you build it, Los Doyers will come.

[Los Doyers]

Phrasing?

[Ted S.]

What is, "If you build it, Los Doyers will come"?

Thanks a lot, Alex.

[jesse.in.mb]

Leave it to the Canadians, Ted.

[Ted S.]

At least Alex has stopped lecturing contestants on the need to know more about Canada.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'll take 'You got a problem with that?' for $200.

[BigT]

Canadda, isn't that in upstate NY somewhere?

[C. Anacreon]

Always easy to know everything when you have the answer cards in your hand.

[Riven]

See, he's fine. What were you even worried about?

[jesse.in.mb]

He's not even pretending to be relentlessly polite now. This can only get worse.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

If you like your thread, you can keep it?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe if you create a time machine and go back in time nine minutes.

[CE]

And just like, Fist pounded the table and Los Doyers' house of cards collapsed.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Where have you been?

[Los Doyers]

Sneaking into Fist's log shack to steal his time machine blueprints. I've been staking out the place for months, he never leaves.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What an idiot. Those were my doomsday machine blueprints.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Your tax dollars at work: USAF sent C-17 to a Chinese air show (despite concerns about the Chinese gaining intel from it) for only $350,000!

"The decision to send the C-17 to the air show, which begins Tuesday, appeared to originate from U.S. Pacific Air Forces, or PACAF, as a way to engage the Chinese and strengthen the relationship between the two militaries. The idea was said to have been the brainchild of senior Air Force leaders in Washington and Hawaii, but few government officials in Washington knew about it until just weeks ago. One defense official joked that the event was a "GOBI" ? a "General Officer Bright Idea" ? because it went forward despite the mounting concerns with the plan."

[OldMexican]

Look at the big airplane! It is yours?

[Invisible Finger]

Is that a u-boat?

No, Guido, it belongs to the government.

[SusanM]

What the hell, it was probably made there anyway.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Look, all those congresscritters didn't appropriate that money to all those defense contractors all over the US for you to snarkily suggest it was made in China.

[Carl ?s the level]

Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute

B-b-but, how could this happen without the government intervening?

[Ted S.]

We need single-payer e-book!

[JWatts]

Well obviously it's collusion, and we need immediate Congressional hearings on the matter. /derp

[Medical Physics Guy]

The authority of Krugman's Nobel Prize settled matters, of course!

[Andrew S.]

The awesome 90-year-old man in Fort Lauderdale was arrested (excuse me, "cited") again yesterday for feeding the homeless

Protests at the mayor's house too.

[Florida Man]

Go man, go!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I keep waiting for that 'tipping point.'

I'm glad people are hitting back here and in Massachusetts. There's still a pulse for liberty.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Michigan-bred Vatican astronomer and Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno will become the first clergyman awarded one of planetary science's most prestigious awards, when on Thursday in Arizona he receives the Carl Sagan Medal....

"[Consolmagno] has authored or co-authored several books, such as "Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?" and "Turn Left at Orion," has lectured around the world and even has an asteroid named after him.

"The American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences annually honors individuals whose work has made scientific learning understandable and accessible to the public. The medal is named after astronomer Carl Sagan, who explained the heavens via the popular 1980s public TV series "Cosmos.""

http://www.freep.com/story/new...../18774213/

[flye]

I'm not your Brother Guy

[The Laconic]

I'm not your guy, pal.

[Riven]

I'm not your pal, buddy

[Ted S.]

I'm not your buddy, chum.

[Florida Man]

I'm not your chum, amigo!

[The Laconic]

I'm not your amigo, friendo.

[seguin]

I'm not your friendo, homie.

[Rich]

I'm not your chum, shark.

[SusanM]

Oh man, dude, I'm not your brother, Guy.

[C. Anacreon]

I wonder if Guy Consolmagno is any relation to Guy Incognito?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

How about Guy Caballero?

[Ted S.]

Guy Smiley.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Interesting. Good for him. He looks like a character right out of 'Rocket Robin Hood.'

[John Titor]

"The medal is named after astronomer Carl Sagan, who explained the heavens via the popular 1980s public TV series "Cosmos."

I get that Cosmos is what he's most known for, but come on, Sagan did a lot more awesome stuff in his life. He argued against nuking the moon. He made terrible pornography for aliens and stuck it on a probe.

[The Laconic]

Sagan did a lot more awesome stuff in his life despite the fact that he argued against nuking the moon.

[John Titor]

Nuking the moon is unnecessary when we still have whales to nuke.

[BakedPenguin]

Gotta nuke somethin'.

[BakedPenguin]

"Still, it moves!"

[The Late P Brooks]

Don't worry, we'll fill in the blanks later

These two provisions, part of a 900-page statute that was cobbled together without going through the usual House-Senate conference committee in which it might have been cleaned up, are the source of the confusion. The answer to the problem, as the Fourth Circuit panel found unanimously in the King case, is obvious. It's a basic principle of administrative law that when a federal statute is ambiguous, courts defer to the agency's interpretation ? here, the I.R.S. regulation that makes the tax credits available without regard to whether the exchange is state or federal.

The 1984 decision that established this deference principle, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., is so central to the modern understanding of how the government works that it is among the most often invoked Supreme Court decisions of all time, cited in some 13,000 judicial decisions so far, a number that grows at the rate of about 1,000 a year. The tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act fall so naturally onto the "Chevron deference" landscape that it would take an agenda-driven act of judicial will to keep them out and to conclude that Congress enacted a law that contained the seeds of its own destruction.

[Ted S.]

What ambiguity?

[PapayaSF]

The ambiguity between the words of the law and what the law's supporters wished were the words of the law.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If Chevron applies, so much the worse for Chevron, but as this guy admits, the Chevron decision comes into play only where the statute is ambiguous.

What, exactly, is ambiguous about this part of the statute?

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

I guess it's a good thing the Congress hasn't yet just passed a budget bill that says "Here's some money. Do whatever."

[PapayaSF]

As someone once said, why bother with all these laws? Just have one law making all crimes illegal.

[Rich]

It's a basic principle of administrative law that when a federal statute is ambiguous, courts defer to the agency's interpretation

I think we found the problem ?.

[Invisible Finger]

The 1984 decision that established this deference principleis so central to the modern understanding of how the government works...

Yeah, because the country is only 30 years old. It's a like a millennial living in mom's basement.

[Riven]

Oh god... don't touch anything until you wipe it down first.

[Aloysious]

Put that picture of that fool Gruber right at the top of the list of pictures that make me throw up in my mouth.

[Andrew S.]

Better than the pic for the AM links. :shudder:

[Ted S.]

You didn't like the photoshopping of Gruber's ass?

[Aloysious]

Gruber, Pelosi, Obama, Boehner, Reid, McCain...

Kardashian Butt...

All these things traumatize my eye holes.

[PapayaSF]

Kardashian butt isn't all that special. What's special is the difference between her waist and her butt.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Hobbits are built that way.

[flye]

Hobbits are less naturally hairy

[PapayaSF]

"That's not a Hobbit. That's a Hobo and a Rabbit. But they're making a Hobbit."

[JEP]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wasn't impressed. It's so large it's almost like it's not even a butt anymore.

Is there such a thing as peak ass?

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

The Elephant Butt

At least, that's what it looks like to me.

[Riesen]

Cop dressed as Donald Duck fucks with citizens

[Riven]

Thin blue line!

Seriously, this is a perfect example of how cops waste their time generating revenue when they could actually be out shooting do--I mean, helping someone.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Guess it was a good thing it wasn't duck season.

[Ted S.]

I hope Disney sue the shit out of the town for copyright infringement.

[Carl ?s the level]

But it scared me. I'm a woman. This huge duck scared me.

What?/giggles

[Wasteland Wanderer]

To be fair, ducks do have a legit rape culture...

[Banjos]

This is very true. When sloop and I had a farm, we named one of our ducks Mr. Rapey. He harassed one of our females so much that she was completely missing feathers in the back of her head from where he held her down with his beak. We eventually ate him.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Reminded of a joke:

Walt - Mickey, you can't leave Minnie because you think she's crazy. This is a family joint.

Mickey - I didn't say I wanted to leave her cause she's crazy, I wanna leave he cause she's fuckin' Goofy!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ha. Remember that one.

[Riven]

Theory: I've heard that women either lose it or start to lose it when they turn 30.

Any anecdotal evidence to support?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You're not yet 30?

[Riven]

Nope. I'm only 26.

I have high hopes for 30, though; might go see a donkey show in Mexico or something. I'll just take a few shots of tequila and see where the night takes me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah.

Um.

After 30 just make sure you stick to your choices of either being in the game with a mortgage or out.

[Riven]

Heavy sarc on that second paragraph, by the way. ._.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I don't understand that emoticon.

I'm essentially retarded that way.

[Riven]

It's sort of like a "Oh jeeze, I hope you don't think I was serious, and now I kind of feel like a jackass" emoticon.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ah. I thought you meant my second paragraph.

Whatever.

I find it's best to always feel like a jackass when you post here.

[Riven]

I'll try to remember that!

[paranoid android]

Well, you do have a lot of time between now and 30 to go crazy...

[Riven]

Four more years!

[seguin]

Sure there is. Just like SF's stories about Warty are fictional.

*narrows eyes*

[Aloysious]

Depends on what you mean by 'lose it'.

[Riven]

It's not my theory, so I can't extrapolate on what that exactly means. Any time I asked the guy to be more specific, he'd just insist that women go crazy when they turn 30.

[JEP]

I've always heard that around 30, women realize that their dream of marrying a European soccer star isn't going to come true and they aren't going to stay hot forever, so they lower their expectations.

[BakedPenguin]

29/31.

[C. Anacreon]

IIRC that was the age my wife changed personalities from "sometimes fun" to "mostly bitchy".

[Aloysious]

...women go crazy...

Anecdotally speaking, having a wide range of female acquaintances and co-workers, haven't noticed a difference in crazy due to age.

There is a specific subset of ladies that seemingly get more intelligent [or maybe I'm wising up 😉 ]and more beautiful the older they get. I absolutely adore them.

[lap83]

"so I can't extrapolate on what that exactly means."

It means he's been with every woman who has ever turned 30 and has objectively observed the pattern using rigorous scientific methods

[Riven]

I'm surprised he had time with his busy raiding schedule on WoW!

I didn't put much stock in it because he was basically just a pile, but I was curious if anyone here had experienced something like it.

[lap83]

On a serious note, I did read a study that said that women who were unattached in their 30s were more likely to have emotional problems and commitment issues. (can't recall the link) So maybe most of the non-crazy 30 year old women are already taken and not encountered by guys who are just dating.

[Riven]

Interesting!

I had always assumed his theory was a result of his ex-wife, but I suppose it could just as easily have been the females he was dating after the divorce.

[PapayaSF]

The White House is concerned about potential violence after a grand jury releases its decision on whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown

1) Whip up outrage.
2) Discover position is untenable and dangerous once the evidence shows there's no justification for the outrage.
3) ...?
4) Profit.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Man, I'm so glad there's nothing else going on in the world for the White House to be concerned about. Has the President given his opinion of Kim K's ass yet?

[PapayaSF]

The White House feels the need to protect the rights of black men who attack Asian shopkeepers and cops. And I wonder if that didn't help increase the Asian vote for the GOP this time. Wasn't the last time Asians went GOP after the Rodney King riots? Maybe it's not coincidental.

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

I'm sure it doesn't help that in college admissions, asians are screwed over so black and brown folk can take their places.

[lap83]

They may not whip up outrage if there aren't presently any scandals to distract the media from. I mean there are plenty, but they've sort of all reached an equilibrium and turned into white noise and static.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Catholic priest in Central African Republic sticks his neck out to save Muslims threatened by murderous sectarian violence.

http://www.theguardian.com/glo.....nard-kinvi

[PapayaSF]

The Muslims will show their gratitude by killing him last.

[jesse.in.mb]

The Seleka terrorised the country's majority Christian population, killing men, women and children until they were forced from power in January. Their fall was swiftly followed by the rise of the predominantly Christian anti-balaka (anti-machete) militia, whose campaign of vengeance has resulted in the murder of thousands of Muslims and forced hundreds of thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

That'll be after the Christians stop slaughtering them in retaliation, no?

[John Titor]

Two religions enter, one religion leaves!

[OldMexican]

ISIS unveils their gold and silver-backed coinage to remove itself from the "Oppressor's money system"

The Islamic State is set to become the only 'state' to back its currency with gold (silver and copper) . ISIS says the new currency will take the group out of "the oppressors' money system."

[Ted S.]

Libertopia!!!11!!!

[Aloysious]

From the comments:

BretigneNovember 13, 2014 at 3:15 PM
Wow. Now anyone advocating for sound currency can almost credibly be lined to terrorism. How very convenient

[Riven]

Oh, so that's how that works.

[John Titor]

Dammit, conspiracy theorists beat me to the punch!

[OldMexican]

Also from the comments:

Now they have guaranteed a 2nd U.S. Invasion of Iraq.

WH: We're way ahead of you.

[John Titor]

Cue any attempts at pushing a gold standard being linked with terrorism.

[DK]

And the resultant asset forfeiture.

[Anonymous Coward]

Goldbugs = TERRORISTS!

Just remember that Reason called it first.

[Aloysious]

If only there was someone, someone who regularly posts here, who was extremely knowledgeable on the subject of gold...

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

Maybe Shrike is Glen Beck, who just came out saying he was not right in the hread.

[Invisible Finger]

The good part is when ISIS starts chiseling.

[Free Society]

Twas a simpler time when rulers had to directly extort their subjects to finance their 'charitable' largess and foreign excursions. But if ISIS could have a central bank issuing fiat, they certainly would.

[Paul.]

Ok NOW we must bomb them!

[The Late P Brooks]

The 1984 decision that established this deference principle, Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., is so central to the modern understanding of how the government works that it is among the most often invoked Supreme Court decisions of all time

aka Fuck You, That's Why v. the American People?

[Rich]

"The USA Freedom Act ... offers greater transparency"

By golly, that sounds like a swell bill!

[Free Society]

The American Applepie Liberty Act

[Rich]

Just a doggone sec, there. Exactly what does *that* offer?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nancy: I don't remember you!

Gruber: Bend over. Remember me now?

Bends over.

Nancy (Edith Bunker impression): Oh. Oh.

[Anonymous Coward]

A Heartwarming Story of How a Small-Town Sheriff Learned to Love Ransomeware

The Dickson County Sheriff's Office in Middle Tennessee ended up paying a ransom after a malicious computer program blocked access to their files.

Detective Jeff McCliss told WTVF-TV that malware on a computer locked the agency's case files, which included autopsy reports, witness statements and crime scene photos. He says the malware, called "Cryptowall," doesn't tamper with files on a computer, but keeps them locked until a ransom is paid.

After consulting with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI, McCliss said the agency determined the only way to get their files back was to pay the asking price: $500 in bitcoins.

Officials think the malware came from an ad someone in the department clicked on. McCliss says it doesn't appear that the office was targeted.

[John Titor]

Bitcoin now linked to terrorist activity.

[Invisible Finger]

Dickson County Sheriff's Office now linked to terrorist activity.

[Riven]

This is opposed to the Lord's work they were doing before?

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

Bitcoin now linked to terrorist activity.

What today is not linked to terrorism?

[John Titor]

Judging by recent speeches, radical Islam?

[Free Society]

Just call it Islam. All of it is extremist. But then again, maybe we should argue that it's unfair to castigate Nazism because there do exist "moderate" Nazis.

A Muslim is only as moderate as he is un-Islamic.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Wow, that totally isn't a wrongheaded and dangerous idea!

So you're in agreement with the fanatics who say *true* Muslims have to kill Americans?

[Free Society]

Wow, that totally isn't a wrongheaded and dangerous idea!

So you're in agreement with the fanatics who say *true* Muslims have to kill Americans?

Islam is wrongheaded and dangerous and not worth defending. I didn't say true Muslims have to kill Americans. Last I checked, the Koran and Hadiths had precisely nothing to say about Americans. But true Muslims honor kill their wives and daughters, own women like chattel, execute blasphemers, oppress the non-Muslims and all around shit on individual liberty. Fuck Islam and as for it's adherants... fuck them insofar as they are faithful to Islamic beliefs.

As for it's Western defenders, fuck them too.

[JEP]

Isn't it possible for someone to be a Nazi and an advocate for fascism, but against genocide?

In other words, was the Holocaust an unavoidable result of nationalistic socialism? I don't remember the fascists in Spain being anti-semitic, but I could be wrong.

[GILMORE]

"was the Holocaust an unavoidable result of nationalistic socialism?"

That's an interesting question.

I think as time passes people will better understand that the holocaust - the genocide of european jews - is better understood as part of a series of European/Russian/Turkish efforts to exterminate minority groups in their respective spheres of control, rather than a unique instance specific to Nazism only.

(despite the fact that their particular 'industrial' perpetration of it will forever be remembered for its scientific barbarism)

I'm just thinking that the treatment of the jews was not necessarily historically unprecedented at the time. And i don't think genocide has any particular necessary connection to 'national socialism'. I think it was something someone like Sam Huntington would have ascribed to intra-cultural conflict rather than political/ideological conflict.

[Free Society]

Isn't it possible for someone to be a Nazi and an advocate for fascism, but against genocide?

Thus the difference between Italian fascists and their ideological cousins from Germany, the Nazis. Racialism was a central tenet of German Nazism.

In other words, was the Holocaust an unavoidable result of nationalistic socialism?

Absolutely not. The Holocaust was an irrational policy of last resort. They'd first tried to deport the Jews en masse as well as resettle them outside of Europe, but the war imposed limitations upon those more moderate criminal goals.

I don't remember the fascists in Spain being anti-semitic, but I could be wrong.

Nazism is a species of fascism, fascism is not a species of Nazism. The Nazis added a racial component to fascism that was lacking elsewhere.

[JEP]

U.S. Foreign Policy?

[Paul.]

Many have pointed out since then that Pelosi's office has cited Gruber's work in the past. That's notable, but it's very unlikely Pelosi herself wrote those press releases herself or even participated in their drafting.

Well then *bowing and scraping backwards, out of room* then all is well. Pelosi can hardly be expected to get her hands dirty with such trivia as a press release out of her own office.

[Paul.]

Make sure you watch the linked video in the WaPo article:

Washington Post reporter helpfully explains Gruber's comments as a wise, broader commentary about the political process.

Thanks, WaPo, without your helpful editorial fill, I would have thought that Gruber is just a mendacious sack of shit.

[BigT]

Here Gruber says Obama was in the room when the Cadillac tax was hatched, and asked for them to obfuscate it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_e00NjQvFM

[Trouser-Pod]

And here I thought that Cookie Monster only wanted to run a train on Mrs. Fields*...

*as I have been lead to believe, she'd be up for it.

[JEP]

Mr. Fields is always at work.