More information is coming out on this, but so far I honestly can't find anything that gets me bent out of shape about it.

William Lynn comes with a lot of recommendations from both Democrats and Republicans. If he is nominated then he has vowed to sell off all of his Raytheon stock and all of his decisions would be subject to an ethics review (for one year at least). He also happens to be highly qualified for the position, but that isn't what people are upset about.

The problem is Obama's campaign promise to keep lobbyists out of his administration. He's trying to avoid a conflict of interest, but it also made him more popular because many people believe "lobbyist = dishonest." I don't believe in the inherent dishonesty of lobbyists, but the conflict of interest issue is valid.

If Lynns actions are as tightly monitored as he and members of congress are proposing then I can't bring myself to be all that upset about it. Even McCain is withholding judgment until certain questions are answered about Lynn's intentions and how much oversight he will have.

As far as Obama "lying" (or u-turning) about this, I'm not completely comfortable with it but I'm not completely against it. I feel the same way about politicians who claim to be religious to get elected... lots of people think atheists are bad people, just like they automatically think that lobbyists are bad people. I don't think Obama should have made such a strict statement, but he's still pushing for more ethical oversight rather than saying "our administration doesn't have to tell you what we're doing."

Hate me for not "holding Obama accountable" if you want, but this is how I feel about the situation based on all of the information I could find around the internet. If Obama were instead doing something like reversing his position on waterboarding or rights of detainees then that is something I would definitely get upset about. This misstep is annoying, but I can't get angry about it from the available information.

So per Obama's new rules he shouldn't hire William Lynn as deputy defense secretary because he lobbied in the defense industry within the past two years. This makes sense because William Lynn could favor his previous employer (Raytheon) during his work as deputy defense secretary and then as soon as his job is done he could potentially go back to Raytheon and presumably be "rewarded" with a much higher salary. The point of the two years is to help safe guard against that type of behavior, because presumably one would have to work somewhere else during that two year period.

So how does this waiver thing work? Who approves it? I don't mind exceptions to rules like this so long as there are checks and balances in place.

If it's the case that Obama is just allowed to make an exception to his own rule without any third party approval, that would definitely lower my opinion of him.

Here's Lynn's biography:

"Lynn previously served as the director for Program Analysis and Evaluation in the office of the secretary of Defense, a position he had held since April 1993, and earlier as assistant to the secretary of Defense for Budget.

From 1987 until 1993, Lynn served on the staff of Senator Edward Kennedy as the legislative counsel for defense and arms control matters and his staff representative on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to 1987, he was a senior fellow in the Strategic Concepts Development Center at National Defense University, where he specialized in strategic nuclear forces and arms control issues. He was also on the professional staff of the Institute of Defense Analyses. From 1982 to 1985, he served as the executive director of the Defense Organization Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Lynn is a graduate of Dartmouth College (1976). He has a juris doctorate from Cornell Law School and a master's in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University (1982). His publications include "Toward a More Effective Defense" (1985) as well as articles in various newspapers and professional journals."


Given this guy's CV, especially with nuclear proliferation on the verge of spinning out of control, I'd give this guy a big fucking waiver, too.

Here is a more in depth article on the subject. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/william-lynn-obamas-first_n_160512.html

Everyone here seems to think that Fahrenheit 451 is a book about censorship, and that's a reasonable interpretation, but somewhat disappointingly it's not what Bradbury intended. Quoth Wikipedia:

"Over the years, the novel has been subject to various interpretations, primarily focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. Bradbury has stated that the novel is not about censorship; he states that Fahrenheit 451 is a story about how television destroys interest in reading literature, which leads to a perception of knowledge as being composed of "factoids", partial information devoid of context, e.g., Napoleon's birth date alone, without an indication of who he was."

Somewhat contradicting this stance is the fact that Bradbury later added an introduction to the book which specifically addressed censorship, and does indeed make this video seem ironic:

"There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. Every minority, be it Baptist / Unitarian, Irish / Italian / Octogenarian / Zen Buddhist / Zionist / Seventh-day Adventist / Women's Lib / Republican / Mattachine / FourSquareGospel feel it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse….Fire-Captain Beatty, in my novel Fahrenheit 451, described how the books were burned first by the minorities, each ripping a page or a paragraph from this book, then that, until the day came when the books were empty and the minds shut and the library closed forever. ... Only six weeks ago, I discovered that, over the years, some cubby-hole editors at Ballantine Books, fearful of contaminating the young, had, bit by bit, censored some 75 separate sections from the novel. Students, reading the novel which, after all, deals with the censorship and book-burning in the future, wrote to tell me of this exquisite irony. Judy-Lynn del Rey, one of the new Ballantine editors, is having the entire book reset and republished this summer with all the damns and hells back in place."

Man, I avoided that for ages because I thought it was actually something with Jamie Lynn Spears in it.

When in fact it has a bit of actual info for those not in the know about sexual reproduction.

Oh lawd that's funny.

If nothing else, Danielle Fenech is waaaaaay hotter than Jamie Lynn Spears ever was.

Is this vid dead? I'm not sure, I can't play it, but if it is dead here's the YouTube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7sT1HRV2qU

In reply to this comment by LadyBug:
"In 2004 George Harrison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" was played in tribute by fellow inductee Prince, along with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Dhani Harrison."

(source)

I suppose you're right.

Mostly was thinking how nutso everyone went over Jamie Lynn Spears' teenage pregnancy, and I'm thinking "daughter of VP" is probably higher social status than the Spears family.

In reply to this comment by bamdrew:
In reply to this comment by NetRunner:
... kind of example this sets for the first family, and...

Aren't they, like, the 'second' family... potentially?

I've never been to Victoria, but I'm going to visit in a few weeks. I can tell you that there is PLENTY to do in Vancouver.

The Aquarium is a must. Granville Island, as mentioned several times. Somebody mentioned the capilano suspension bridge, but I say avoid that, and go to the Lynn Valley Suspension bridge instead. Less touristy, no admission charge, amazingly beautiful.

Shabusen is quite good for all-you-can-eat sushi, also a place a bit further south and east is called Toshi, very favoured by locals.

As discussed, we'll have the sift up at Fiddlehead Joe's.

Do you know where you'll be staying?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Melissa Lynn Miller, playboy, playmate, 55th anniversary' to 'Banned, redacted' - edited by arsenault185

Lynn Minmay?

Now i know where Jeff Lynne got his inspiration for that 'fro of his.

Thank you Jamie Lynn Spears

I love this song. Lynne Ramsey puts it to marvelous use in her film Morvern Callar.