The Morning Blog

Obama's War Day "Definitely More Than a Week": The see-saw continues: 

The rebels have now lost the key oil port of Ras Lanuf and the nearby town of Bin Jawad, and are also in full retreat from Brega.

In the west, the rebel-held town of Misrata is still coming under attack from pro-Gaddafi troops, reports say.

Both Prime Minister Cameron of Britain and Obama are now disussing the possibility of arming the rebels. Historically, things have turned out less than satisfactory when we've armed insurgent groups. Anyone know anybody serving in Afghanistan right now? How about Bosnia?

Frankly, the only NATO country that clearly has national interests at stake due to the revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa is Italy. Berlusconi has visited the island of Lampedusa which has been flooded by migrants seeking safety from the conflicts. Given his dalliance with Ruby the Heartbreaker, I can't help but wonder if he's not looking for a new girlfriend.

Just a PR note to Sarkozy: If you're planning on pushing for military intervention in a Muslim country, it probably isn't going to make you many friends there if you sponsor a debate at home about whether or not Islam belongs in France.

Kacee Bait: In the (probable) event that Libya does become partitioned, perhaps the conflicting sides might someday find peace through cricket?

Good news! Provided you stay away from the fugu, your sushi is probably safe.

Perhaps there's simply an error with the translation but it appears as though Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez has been awarded by Argentina for promoting freedom of the press. After actively working to shut down any voice of opposition, this has somehow worked out to be an "effort to break 'media monopolies'". I sincerely hope that the people at the BBC just need to brush up on their Spanish. We are after all, talking about this guy.

I think that this deserves some explaining: Defenders of small government and minimal interference that they are, why precisely is the Republican party demanding that emails written by college professors be made public? One would think that would qualify as a fairly egregious example of government intrusiveness.

I'm also a bit confused by record companies opposition to various company's plans to make it possible for you to upload music to the web and listen to it from any computer or phone. I certainly understand that the labels would prefer that customers buy a new copy of a song for every device they'd like to play it on. However, the logical conclusion of this is that you shouldn't be able to play a cd on more than one stereo. Clearly, that's not acceptable to consumers. I think this is a pretty clear example of record company business models facing an evolutionary challenge. The technology has changed and they're (I think rather foolishly), insisting that everything remains the same.

One thing the Amish of Pennsylvania are known for (beyond their awful ability at playing video games), is that they will shun members of their community who perform transgressions against the common decency. Borrowing from the playbook of our Dutch neighbors I would like to SHUN! SHUN! SHUN!

And then shun some more!

Speaking of Pennsylvania...Yeah, yeah. We launched the career of former Senator and current theocrat Rick Santorum. Sorry America. Mea culpa. Anyways, now's your chance to get in on the fun Kansas! Surely something equally interesting can be down with Gov. Sam Brownback!

I'm sorry NBC? Could you speak up? I couldn't hear what you were saying about your parent company, GE paying no taxes.

An argument in this article concerning a bill in Texas that would place a moratorium on executions jumped out at me:

If the death penalty is abolished or suspended, Maura Irby said Tuesday, "what kind of message does that send to our law enforcement if we're not making it safe for them to do their jobs?"

I have to question the logic of this. Do executions actually make anyone safer? Besides the insane, has anyone ever committed a crime under the assumption that they would be caught and prosecuted, much less executed? I think that there may be arguments for capital punishment as...well, punishment. But I can't help but feel that arguments that it serves as some sort of deterrent to crime are a bit flawed.

Don't even get me started on the Supreme Court ruling that innocence is insufficient grounds for a death penalty appeal...

Fun Science: Going to parties!

Not at all Fun Science: Masturbating the snot otter.

Oh!

Dad Bait: Better learn to use your computer. It'll make stalking snow simple.

Good news for employment! Here's one sector that's experiencing an uptick. It'll make your head spin.

In other employment news, the management of Starbucks are a bunch of jerks.

Sigh. The Smoking Gun has published a humorous piece on Donald Trumps new-found birtherism and his difficulties in producing his own actual birth certificate. And sadly...so sadly... commentators go berserk.

After Newt Gingrich warned of a coming "Secular atheist America dominated by radical Islamists", Vanity Fair asks for his position on a few other pressing matters, including the terrible threat posed by "Heterosexuals wanting to enter into gay marriage".

Certainly an interesting idea for a sales promotion... I guess giving away free toasters was out of the question?