Reason Morning Links: With Cain Train Off the Rails Gingrich Picks Up Steam, DEA Admits to Laundering Cartel Drug Money, Poll Finds Americans Want Congress to Do More For Less

• NYT: "Upending expectations, Mr. Gingrich has taken a decisive lead in new polls in several early-voting states, benefiting from the drift of Herman Cain supporters even before Mr. Cain suspended his campaign on Saturday." 
• Jon Huntsman, meanwhile, picks up support from conservative thought leader Jim Pethokoukis. (Last week's "case for Huntsman" came from Erick Erickson.) 
• The DEA laundered millions of dollars in cartel drug money as part of its investigations, suggesting yet again that the U.S. can't enforce its drug laws without first breaking them. 
• The Mittness Protection Program continues unabated. 
• Likelihood of Euro zone bailout boosts stocks, Euro bonds. 
• D.C. police take down Occupy D.C. 
• The Hill: "More than two-thirds of likely voters think members of Congress should have their salaries cut and their pensions eliminated, although nearly that many also want them to work longer." 

New at Reason.tv: "Remy: Missing You - The Incandescent Light Bulb Song"

Comments

[Arduin Grimoire]

Climategate 2.0: A Sequel As Ugly As The Original.
...Climategate I, the release of a few thousand emails and documents from the CRU in November 2009, revealed that the united-front clubbiness of the leading climate scientists was just a display for public consumption. The science of climate change was not "settled." There was no consensus about the extent and causes of global warming; in their private emails, the scientists expressed serious doubts and disagreements on some major issues. In particular, the email exchanges showed that they were far from agreement about a key part of the global warming narrative???the famous "hockey stick" graph that purported to demonstrate that the last 30 years were the warmest of the last millennium and which made the "medieval warm period," an especially problematic phenomenon for the climate campaign, simply go away. (See my "Scientists Behaving Badly," The Weekly Standard, December 14, 2009.) Leading scientists in the inner circle expressed significant doubts and uncertainty about the hockey stick and several other global warming claims about which we are repeatedly told there exists an ironclad consensus among scientists. (Many of the new emails make this point even more powerfully.) On the merits, the 2009 emails showed that the case for certainty about climate change was grossly overstated.

More damning than the substantive disagreement was the attitude the CRU circle displayed toward dissenters, skeptics, and science journals that did not strictly adhere to the party line. Dissenting articles were blocked from publication or review by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), requests for raw data were rebuffed, and Freedom of Information Act requests were stonewalled. National science panels were stacked, and qualified dissenters such as NASA prize-winner John Christy were tolerated as "token skeptics." The CRU circle was in high dudgeon over the small handful of skeptics who insisted on looking over their shoulder, revealing the climate science community to be thin-skinned and in-secure about its enterprise???a sign that something is likely amiss. Even if there was no unequivocal "smoking gun" of fraud or wrongdoing, the glimpse deep inside the climate science community was devastating. As I wrote at the time ("In Denial," March 15, 2010), Climategate did for the global warming controversy what the Pentagon Papers did for the Vietnam war 40 years ago: It changed the narrative decisively....

[full retard]

and this has fuck-all to do with the morning links. Fucking retard.

[tarran]

There is nothing so cute as coming into a website, and ignorant of its cultural norms, start yelling at people for violating cultural norms.

Of course, not having a real handle and hence being indistinguishable of Rectal's grieferism, you don't really have a reputation to sully.

[Neu Mejican]

Leading scientists in the inner circle expressed significant doubts and uncertainty about the hockey stick ... which we are repeatedly told there exists an ironclad consensus among scientists.

This would include the authors of the study from which the hockey stick graph comes, methinks...Northern hemisphere temperature during the past millennium: inferences, uncertainties and limitations.

[Neu Mejican]

...there was no unequivocal "smoking gun" of fraud or wrongdoing...

And yet...

[tarran]

Dude,

I strongly encourage you to read Montford's The Hockey Stick Illusion.

Michael Mann, Jones and Trenebeth are guilty of scientific malpractice. Hell, go read all the links on WattsUpWithThat on the subject.

The fact that committees put together for the express purpose of whitewashing the fiasco claimed there was no smoking gun after putting cotton on their noses and putting on welder's helmets makes the excuse that they found no wrongdoing positively anorexic.

They got away with bullying people for a while, but they are done.

[Neu Mejican]

Dude,

I am up on the issues.
The issue that matters is the science. No subsequent analysis has failed to support the general concepts outlined in the original paper. All make note of the uncertainty of the proxies. All make note of the uncertainties in the proxies. Better proxies have reduced that uncertainty somewhat, but they are still there. And they are still noted in all the scientific discussions.

[Azathoth]

Did Bailey ever do 'more on this later...' or is he hoping someone will absolve this latest round before he has to make a comment?

[pagal]

Sometimes you have to wait a long time to see if a prediction will come true. Sometimes you never find out. Then there's this one:

Tulpa|11.14.11 @ 11:25AM|#
Uh, Tebow is going to be lucky to win one of the next 6 games:

Jets, @Chargers, @Vikings, Bears, Patriots, @Bills

[o3]

tebow won ugly at florida too...but win he did. cant explain it & he's sometimes painful to watch. maybe God luvs sum QB's eh ?

[KDN]

2007: 55 TD's, 66.9 Cmp %, 172.5 Passer Rating, +17.0 Point Differential (+10.8 in SEC, vs FSU, and Bowl)
2008: 42 TD's, 64.4 Cmp %, 172.4 Passer Rating, +30.7 Point Differential (+28.2 SEC etc)
2009: 35 TD's, 67.8 Cmp %, 164.2 Passer Rating, +23.5 Point Differential (+14.6 SEC etc)

How is that winning ugly? Tebow was god mode in the NCAA.

Meanwhile, as a starter in the NFL this year: 13 TD's, 47.5 Cmp %, 87.9 PR (measured differently than NCAA), -.8 Point Differential. He's a great runner and he doesn't turn the ball over; he won't lose the game for you but he won't win it either. His style might be the bizzarro Trent Dilfer,but the effect seems to be the same.

In researching this I found out that Tebow was born in the Philippines. I will now refer to him as "Filipino immigrant Tim Tebow."

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Sorry, you have to produce a birth certificate for that.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm surprised that many think he had some crappy rating at Florida. When, of course, it was exactly the opposite. I think he even broke one of Wuerffel's records--rating, TD/interception, something like that.

As I've said many times, I don't like the spread, and I think it only worked for two reasons: UF had a great defense during the national title years (especially the first, which had one of the great D-lines in recent history), and Tebow was a prototypical spread QB.

I could be wrong about this, but I think the offensive production in 2006 (with Leak at the helm) was much greater than in 2008. Whatever that may mean.

[KDN]

2008 blew 2006 out of the water in raw numbers.

http://www.sports-reference.co...../2006.html

http://www.sports-reference.co...../2008.html

[Pro Libertate]

Guess I was mistaken.

[Beloved Rev. Blue Moon]

I am kinda done talking about Tebow. I am still not convinced that this current streak is anything more than luck (while acknowledging the man's talent) and I think that will pan out in the coming seasons.

His childish Jesus-love is extremely annoying. Watching a grown man project his feelings all over national television is uncomfortable for me, and I would feel the same way if he pointed to the stands, or got on his knees every five seconds, and gave thanks to his wife. But I don't care enough to keep listening to sports radio never shut up about the guy.

[Pro Libertate]

He seems decent enough. Nice to have what seems like a good kid rather than the usual brat.

On the other hand, the amount of coverage is shocking. It's definitely news now, given the unorthodox winning, but why so much before?

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Yeah, that didn't work out. I still think he's a mirage though.

Give me a break on the Bears though, I had no idea they'd be without Cutler and Forte at the time.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Give me a break on the Bears though, I had no idea they'd be without Cutler and Forte at the time.

If Ifs and Buts was candies and nuts

[AlmightyJB]

Not to mention the Vikings being without AP and most of their secondary.

[Pope Jimbo]

Our QB threw 2 picks to led to a TD and the game winning FG. Don't downplay his contribution.

[Gray Ghost]

FWIW, I totally agreed with Tulpa's prediction at the time he made it. I find it amazing that NFL defenses still can't squash Tebow like a bug for the entire game.

There's a reason they play the games.

[pagal]

Once you let go of the misconception that "he can't throw at all" and "can't hit the broad side of a barn", it starts to make more sense. Also, defense, McGahee, offensive line had something to do with the wins.

[Pro Libertate]

Seems to me his throwing has been improving. It's not like he couldn't throw at UF.

I'm really enjoying this, because the NFL needs to get its assumptions shaken from time to time. Could a true, old-style single-wing offense win in this league? Maybe Denver hasn't gone far enough!

[KDN]

He can't throw at the level necessary for a traditional NFL offense at this point (not saying it can't change). Can you imagine how out of place he'd be in the Pats' offense?

Could a true, old-style single-wing offense win in this league? Maybe Denver hasn't gone far enough!

I agree, they should build the offense around Tebow rather than try and turn him into something he's not. His decision making is really good though, If Sanchez were as smart as Tebow the Jets would probably win 12 games this year.

[Pro Libertate]

Tebow won me over at Florida, when I was bitching about the spread option--which I still don't like, by the way. Except for his lack of orthodoxy in throwing, he's got lots of assets--very hardworking, natural leader, pretty decent football smarts, and a good ball-carrier. Like I said, his throwing at Florida was good--high QB rating, completion rate, etc.

We'll see how this all unfolds. I'm not sure Fox and Elway are really ready to dive into a Tebow-based system (one good reason for that is that they're in trouble if he gets injured), but it's an intriguing possibility. I'd like to see the run come back in a real way, because it's mostly rule changes that have made passing so successful lately.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

(one good reason for that is that they're in trouble if he gets injured)

Not necessarily. They just get a backup that plays the same way. Hell, they could get somebody like Terelle Pryor from Oakland for next to nothing now that they have Palmer.

[Pro Libertate]

That's the big question--are they willing to double-down and really focus on this offense? I think they should, as it likely will tear apart the many, many defenses that focus on the pass and on smaller, faster defenders. You could get 2-3 years of decent production until defenses started dealing with the offense.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

I'm pretty sure they're going to get blown out by the Pats next week -- Tebow can barely keep up with the AP-less Vikings so there's no way on earth he can keep up with Brady (and the Denver defense was exposed again this week so don't give me that garbage).

The Bears D will obliterate Denver's offense, but it's not at all clear that the Bears offense can score points anymore so it could be another 13-10 victory for Denver, who knows.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Oops, got those reversed, they play the Bears next week and the Pats the week after that.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That's the big question--are they willing to double-down and really focus on this offense? I think they should, as it likely will tear apart the many, many defenses that focus on the pass and on smaller, faster defenders. You could get 2-3 years of decent production until defenses started dealing with the offense.

It would likely depend on 1) whether or not the Broncos stick with that kind of offense down the line; and 2) whether other teams begin copycatting it.

Most defenses are built to put pressure on the quarterback, not stop a run-heavy scheme for 4 quarters. You see this in all of Denver's games--the opposing team does well for most of the game, but by the end they're gassed and as a result don't make the plays they did earlier in the game. If Denver continues having success and other teams copy it, you'll start to see more emphasis being put on getting good run stoppers with stamina, not multiple defensive backs.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

There have been teams with an anemic passing attack and a good running game pretty much constantly over the past few decades. That's not a new thing; NFL defenses are quite adept at stopping that kind of offense when they know it's coming.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Yeah, and there's been teams with an anemic running game and explosive passing attack in that time frame as well. Any NFL defense is going to stop a one-dimensional offense eventually.

The real question is whether Denver can successfully execute a few basic plays time after time after time. Lombardi used to say that every team needs to have one or two plays that it builds the rest of its offense from, and a great team will execute that one or two plays better than any other team possibly could. Every team in the NFL knew that when the Packers lined up in Red Right, they were running the sweep. But because they ran it so well, it opened up the other facets of their offense, including the passing game.

[Gray Ghost]

"...and a great team will execute that one or two plays better than any other team possibly could. Every team in the NFL knew that when the Packers lined up in Red Right, they were running the sweep."

And a little later on, the Joe Gibbs's Redskins with the Counter Gap run. Or Rice's 49ers with that little 7 step- slant in, he used to run. Everyone in the stadium knew it was coming and no one could stop it.

Another interesting run-first team this year, though doing it out of a much more traditional offensive formation, is the Texans. I was very impressed with how they ran it down Atlanta's throat yesterday. It'll be interesting to see if they can do it to either the Steelers or Jets, their likely 1st round playoff opponents. Or Cincy who comes up either next week or the week after.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Another interesting run-first team this year, though doing it out of a much more traditional offensive formation, is the Texans. I was very impressed with how they ran it down Atlanta's throat yesterday. It'll be interesting to see if they can do it to either the Steelers or Jets, their likely 1st round playoff opponents. Or Cincy who comes up either next week or the week after.

They crushed Pittsburgh earlier this year, but the Steelers have been playing a lot better and they always step up their game in the playoffs. I don't think the Jets will be a factor like they've been the last two years--Rex is perpetuating his daddy's head coaching legacy of leading a talented team whose lack of discipline always gets them in the end, and it's been a lot more obvious this year with Sanchez playing so inconsistently.

Cincy is dangerous, and I think them and Denver are going to be the two teams no one really wants to play down the stretch. However, I also thought Buffalo was going to be pretty damn good this year and they've just laid down and died the last few weeks.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

And a little later on, the Joe Gibbs's Redskins with the Counter Gap run. Or Rice's 49ers with that little 7 step- slant in, he used to run. Everyone in the stadium knew it was coming and no one could stop it.

I was reading about some high school coach recently that won a game by running only two plays the whole game--sweep and dive. They started by running the sweep, and when the defense began cheating by placing their ends further out to contain the sweep, the offense would pound them inside with the dive play. When the d-line pinched in again, the offense went back to the sweep. When the coach was asked about it after the game, he said, "Unlike some people, I don't get bored running the same play over and over again if it's working."

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

That's like the old Woody Hayes (I think) answer in a press conference. He ran the same play for an entire drive to start the game and they scored a TD with it. A reporter asked him in the post-game press conference why he kept running the same play. His response was something like: "When they stop that one, I'll run something else."

[Pro Libertate]

Defenses deal with teams that can run, but waste downs with an inept QB. It's different when the QB is running this much on top of the team running the ball effectively with others.

Defenses aren't suited to a truly dedicated running attack like this. To a lesser extent, the Jets initial resurgence was based on this principle. Run the other team into the ground and smack them around on defense.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Trent Dilfer had a very good article on ESPN about how building the offense around Tebow is stunting the growth of the rest of the offensive players around him. If the Tebow experiment doesn't work out, and Denver decides to get a different QB and go back to a regular NFL offense, they're screwed because none of the other players on offense have practiced regular offensive plays for a long time.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree with this completely. If you're going to go Tebow, you have to go full Tebow, including getting and retaining players that can play in this system. They also need a QB understudy in case of injury.

I hope they do it. If they can continue to improve their defense, this offense could work.

Dilfer, by the way, is a little underrated. He wasn't a particularly good QB, but he didn't tend to give the ball to the other team, and he had a nice long ball. The Ravens didn't make it if he hadn't protected the ball so well.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Dilfer and the rest need to get over the fact that Denver's not going to run a Madden 2012 vidya game scheme.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

This brings up a good question: will Madden 2013 give Denver a funky-ass offense that reflects what the Broncos actually run? Or will they leave the same stoopid plays in that they put for everybody and just give all of their receivers and Tebow shitty positional ratings?

Nerds Gamers everywhere want to know!

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Re: that last line, I hope you're better at tagging women than you are at tagging HTML.

[SFC B]

This was the first thing I thought of when I heard people talk about Building to Tebow.

I'm sure part of the reason NFL teams don't run option-heavy offenses is that the players with the skill sets necessary to execute it at the NFL level (for example, guards fast enough and strong enough to play guard in the option aren't guards; they're defensive ends). And then your team is locked into having an offense that needs a player with a fairly unique set of skills to function. If the Tebow Team is assembled what happens when Tebow goes out? The Colts give us an example of what happens when a team tailors itself to the skills of a once-in-a-generation player, and then lose him. Peyton Manning wasn't even a player with unique skills, he was just the absolute best at doing what every other QB does.

[Pro Libertate]

There have been NCAA QBs who could do it who weren't drafted. Maybe that's a possibility?

Tommy Frazier must be throwing stuff at his TV right now, by the way.

[robc]

Running QBs are a dime a dozen. It would be cheaper to assemble an option offense, allowing more money on the defensive side.

[Pro Libertate]

A true option is vulnerable to fast defenses. You see that in college every now and again, but the unbalance in the pros is even worse.

Not everyone could run this at the professional level. Right now, Tebow (for now) and probably Cam Newton. That would be about it, I think.

[Bones]

Yeah, the pro QBs who are gonna run option have to be big and strong like Tebow and Cam because they will take a pounding more than they did even in the SEC. There's a reason Alex Smith hands it off to Frank Gore all day.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Cam definitely could.

[SFC B]

It's not just the QB who needs to be able to run it. If you're going to build your team into a full-time option (which I think you need to do if you intend to have it work for longer than the Wildcat fad did) you're going to need to revamp your entire O-Line and your WRs.

You need guards who can move as quick as the DEs and you need WRs who can block while remaining viable receiving threats. The problem is any guard who can play at that speed in the NFL became a DE back in college. Your blocking WRs became TEs or DB because they couldn't get separation from DBs, or couldn't catch.

I have no doubt that a team could find a Moneyball-like niche and rack up some wins, but it's not going to be as simple as getting one Tebow-like player.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

In the case of the Jets and Chargers it was just that their own offenses are so anemic and turnover-prone that Tebow didn't have to do much to win.

The Vikings are a bad team all around, especially without AP, but it still was somewhat impressive that TT managed to score that many points. He made some decent throws too.

Hopefully we can put the talk of Denver's defense being "great" to rest after that display, too. No part of that team is great, they've just played inept opponents.

[Gray Ghost]

The thing I take from the 489 that Minny rolled up on Denver is that Von Miller is much more valuable to that D than even I thought. Also, it doesn't help their D when Tebow & Co. turned the ball over twice in their own end.

Still, I am willing to admit that I was wrong in how well the Broncos would do over this stretch of games. I thought the Jets would at least figure him out for the entire game. Tebow's showing that shutting him down for 50 minutes isn't enough.

I still think it's a gimmicky offense, that will be solved once NFL defenses remember how to play a Tebow-like offense, and thence consign Tebow to the same place where Pat White and the Wildcat are now. His teammates certainly play their ass off for him though, and that's fun to see. In the second half, was he making NFL-style timing throws to his receivers, or was it a case where their defenders were biting hard on run fakes?

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Jets lost big to the Pats the week before, and followed the loss to Denver with eked-out wins against the Bills and Redskins (the score against the latter being deceptive -- it was close until late in the 4th quarter).

Meanwhile, the Chargers have lost 6 in a row and the Vikings are 2-9.

[KDN]

Thursday game in Denver following a Sunday night game back east didn't help either for a multitude of reasons. The NFL seems to be doing that a lot this year and it's not really fair; the Thursday games shouldn't involve either team going cross country or playing the night game the week before, imo.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Honestly, the league's not doing the players any favors by having them play on Thursdays--even taking the travel considerations aside, it takes the whole week for your body to heal up from the pounding of the previous game. And don't even get me started on the stupidity of playing in London without scheduling a bye week beforehand.

One of the things I'm glad the players took a hard line on was refusing the 18 game schedule. There's already enough mediocrity in the game with expansion, it doesn't need to be exacerbated by having an extra two games for the best players to have a chance to get injured.

[KDN]

I agree for the most part (also, the Thursday game is an abomination and the less we get of it the better off we are). I think you could get an 18 game schedule to work without too much additional damage to the players if you also tweak the play clock up to 45 secs (it should average out to the same number of snaps over the course of the season). That would also involve making run offenses more attractive and lowering the amount of points scored per game, so there's no way the Goodell NFL would ever get on board with it.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

If they keep winning, they will most likely have a home wild card round match-up with the Steelers or Ravens. We'll see how legit this offense is then.

[Bones]

Denver at home in the playoffs with solid D and running game and Tebow being Tebow? I think the Steelers and Ravens are both better but that's not exactly an easy situation to go into. Against either team, though, Tebow better wear two flak jackets.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Let's revisit what I predicted, shall we?

Red Rocks Rockin|11.14.11 @ 11:43AM|#
I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Denver will do better than 1-6 during that stretch. The Jets have to work on a short week, in Denver, after losing a heartbreaker to New England. The Chargers are playing like shit right now, the Vikings are also starting an inexperienced QB, and the Bills' defense is terrible.

There's still four games left, and lot can happen. Denver's secondary is the walking wounded, and yesterday aside, this isn't the type of team that is built to get into shootouts--even given the personnel, that's not the type of offense that John Fox likes to run. He's always been a conservative, ball-control advocate.

In the case of the Jets and Chargers it was just that their own offenses are so anemic and turnover-prone that Tebow didn't have to do much to win.

Sorry, but at this point, that's just excuse-mongering, and it's been the same after every win this team has had. It's not that the Broncos showed great team character in the face of adversity, it's because the other team screwed up. Well, duh--a good football team takes advantage of the other's mistakes. The Vikings went into Cover 2 and dared Tebow to beat them through the air, and he obliged them by dropping perfect touch passes to wide-open receivers.

Has it been all Tebow? No--the defense has played absolutely out of its head and the special teams have been miles ahead of where they were in past seasons. But to simply dismiss Tebow taking over as the starter as having no significant impact on the emotional makeup of Denver, and thus the effort that they are putting out on the field every week, is sheer stubbornness. It's pretty damn clear by now that his teammates will run through a brick wall for the guy, and no matter how much they might struggle, they don't quit.

Like I said, there's still four games left and a lot can happen in that time. But for now, people need to learn that while pride may be a tough pill to swallow, it goes down a lot easier than continuous helpings of crow.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

This article does a good job of breaking down exactly how well Tebow's been playing:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html

The key section:

There are two underlying reasons why Tebow is so effective, two reasons that explain his impressive Real Quarterback Rating week after week.

1. He gets the ball in the end zone more often than any QB in football today
2. He protects the football better than any QB in football today...But Tebow himself has been deadly with the ball in his hands. He produces touchdowns at an amazing clip, better than any quarterback in football in his brief career. Here's a comparison of Tebow vs. some of the more prolific quarterbacks in recent history.

Career percentage of touches that result in a TD:
Tim Tebow -- 6.0 percent
Aaron Rodgers -- 5.7 percent
Peyton Manning -- 5.5 percent
Tom Brady -- 5.1 percent
Drew Brees -- 4.7 percent
John Elway -- 3.9 percent

Wow. Tebow may not pass the ball effectively. But he's produced an incredible 22 touchdowns (13 passing, nine rushing) in just 368 touches (225 pass attempts, 121 rush attempts, 22 sacks). Nobody in football gets the ball in the end zone more often.

More importantly, Tebow takes incredibly good care of the football. We track something at Cold, Hard Football Facts called the "interception ladder." It shows us that every interception decreases your chances of winning by about 20 percentage points. In other words, interceptions are destructive plays that severely limit a team's ability to win games.

But the Broncos are winning not just because Tebow protects the football, but because he protects it better than any QB in the game today. Here's how he stacks up against some of the more prolific QBs in the game today.

Career interception percentage:
Tim Tebow -- 1.78 percent
Aaron Rodgers -- 1.83 percent
Tom Brady -- 2.2 percent
Drew Brees -- 2.71 percent
Peyton Manning -- 2.75 percent
John Elway -- 3.1 percent

Add in that Tebow has lost just one fumble in his career (with four INT) and his turnover rate is an incredibly miniscule 1.4 percent.

Limiting turnovers. Protecting the football. Scoring when it matters. That's been a winning formula in the league since its inception, and just because Denver's not running a video game offense doesn't mean that those principles still don't apply.

[robc]

Is Baked around? Im thirsty.

[Mokers]

Tim Tebow doesn't throw a lot, so oddly enough, his numbers are going to be inflated because Passer Rating inflates for TDs per attempt, which is Tebow's best number.

It is also impossible to know if Tim Tebow's true talent level is analogous with the numbers you give there. The sample size is just too small compared to the others on the lists. Even putting Aaron Rogers on that list is a little premature.

Tebow has thrown about 160 passes this year. I am sure you can cherry pick a stretch of 4 or 5 games or 160 attempts among Brady, Manning, Brees, etc, where they will obliterate Tebow's current sample. Actually, I am sure you can find a stretch of 160 attempts from a lot of QBs over the last few years that would beat those numbers.

Is it possible that Tebow can win while putting up the numbers that he does? Over the course of a single season, the answer appears to be yes, but anybody can do well within a system over a short period of time. I wouldn't place faith in Tebow being able to reproduce winning results year to year any more than I would Alex Smith.

[Clich? Bandit]

I am not readin' all this spittle below me. I still have my Ceasar's ticket that says Broncs win the superbowl (I know it is a long shot but the odds were good) and I won my other bet made before the season that the Broncs would win at least six, now they are tied for 1st in the div. I never hated Tebow and I never loved him. When he was drafted by Josh DoLittle I (sitting at a poker tourney) was fuming pissed cause we needed D (later analysis showed that Josh did the correct game theroy move by picking Tebow). When I saw him play a few last year I liked him as a franchise but was looking for more for OrtonDouche. When Orton couldnt win a litmus test with a gallon of vinegar I was angry that they wouldnt at least put Tebow in...I mean FUCK it can't get WORSE. Anyway, I think his ugly wins are due in part to the fact he brings the best out in the rest of the team. Elway, Fox, and others have and still do, speak poorly of Tim's ability but I say fuck them (that's right, I said fuck Elway)! He puts Ws up there where Orton put shit. The D, O Line, RBs, and the ever wonderful Champ are all playing better cause of Tim.

And another thing: There is nothing wrong with his skils that isnt a rookie/young guy fixable mistake. Number 1 being he simply refuses to plant his feet before throwing. I see all of these little thigns being corrected by the start of next year.

[Clich? Bandit]

I meant to say above me.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

You had a lot more faith in them than I did--I figured they'd be lucky to get five wins, even if they put in Tebow, because the defense was so horrible the year before, the receiving corps was nothing special, and the running game had a lot of question marks. To top it off, the schedule just looked brutal--games against the AFC East and NFC North are usually not a recipe for a winning season.

[Clich? Bandit]

faith and math. the odds were 75 to 1. So, lay 10$ for a potential 750$. Considereing the league and the broncs not complete lack of ability I figured the odds were about right. Hell, it makes sense to play the powerball if the pool is big enough.

[Arduin Grimoire]

Wikileaks docs reveal that governments use malware for surveillance
The latest round of documents published by Wikileaks offers a rare glimpse into the world of surveillance products. The collection?which Wikileaks calls the Spy Files?includes confidential brochures and slide presentations that companies use to market intrusive surveillance tools to governments and law enforcement agencies.

A report that Wikileaks published alongside the documents raises concern about the growing use use of mass surveillance tools that indiscriminately monitor and analyze entire populations. The group also points out that some of products described in the documents are sold to authoritarian regimes, which use them to hunt and track political dissidents.

The details revealed by Wikileaks echo a recent report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that discussed the surveillance industry. The publication analyzed approximately 200 documents from 36 separate companies as part of a special investigative project called The Surveillance Catalog. The material released by Wikileaks corroborates much of what the WSJ reported, but includes a broader range of material.

The documents published by Wikileaks include 287 files that describe products from 160 companies. The group says that these files are only the first set of a larger collection and that more will be published in the future. The project is being carried out in collaboration with activist groups such as Privacy International and press organizations such as the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Washington Post....

[Gray Ghost]

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask about the Carrier IQ brouhaha. What do you all who work in IT think about it? Overblown? Giant backdoor? Nasty in theory, but impossible to exploit?

To this non-IT person, it doesn't seem farfetched to write a piece of code that could be sent to someone's phone, retrieve the data cached by Carrier IQ, and send it out.

[Lord Humungus]

Occupier gets an occupation
Wall Street firm hires protester
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l.....60rSMhcEgP

On the front, she wrote, "Ph.D. Biomedical Scientist seeking full time employment," and on the back, "Ask me for my resume."

It caught the eye of Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst for John Thomas Financial Brokerage. The exec wasn't looking to hire, but he took Postert's r?sum? anyway.

and somehow, she looks hotter in the 'after job' picture.

[Suki]

Shared on FB!

[Ice Nine]

Postert has now just completed her third week as a Wall Street geek.
She's already studying for her exams to be a certified financial analyst.

I wish her well but something deep down inside me wants to see her prevented from getting to her job by OWS demonstrators and getting in trouble with her new boss.

[Jerry]

She magically lost 10 pounds.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

If her bosses put their heads together, they'd look like a giant ass.*

*Meaning John would find them attractive.

[Suki]

Obama may have been accused of sexual harassment at Harvard

[RoboCain]

And he's not even black!

[Suki]

Racist! No, wait . . .

[RoboCain]

Anyway, if it isn't a complete joke, I'm sure we'll here more about it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

You mean there are college students who *don't* want Obama to hit on them?

[College Student]

at least two male student editors

No homo!

[cynical]

Good one.

[Bones]

Yeah, when Michelle cuts off an appendage.

[Arduin Grimoire]

Wigley writes to Hulme and Jones: "must get rid of von Storch too"
PS Re CR, I do not know the best way to handle the specifics of the editoring. Hans von Storch is partly to blame -- he encourages the publication of crap science 'in order to stimulate debate'. One approach is to go direct to the publishers and point out the fact that their journal is perceived as being a medium for disseminating misinformation under the guise of refereed work. I use the word 'perceived' here, since whether it is true or not is not what the publishers care about -- it is how the journal is seen by the community that counts.

I think we could get a large group of highly credentialed scientists to sign such a letter -- 50+ people.

Note that I am copying this view only to Mike Hulme and Phil Jones. Mike's idea to get editorial board members to resign will probably not work -- must get rid of von Storch too, otherwise holes will eventually fill up with people like Legates, Balling, Lindzen, Michaels, Singer, etc. I have heard that the publishers are not happy with von Storch, so the above approach might remove that hurdle too.

[Fluffy]

"I use the word 'perceived' here..."

And the Long March of Fulfillment of All Ayn Rand Caricatures continues.

This week, "Cartoon character government scientists make a public relations attack on Rearden Metal" has been brought to you courtesy of our ClimateGate "scientists".

Bravo, gentlemen. Bravo.

[Lord Humungus]

Another view: Gingrich is the president America needs
http://www.usatoday.com/news/o.....51555494/1

In the midst of crisis, we need a knowledgeable president who appreciates America as exceptional, one who has spent most of a lifetime considering the issues the nation faces, mastering their complexity and offering positive conservative solutions for her problems. Newt Gingrich is that man.

[Spoonman.]

Newt Gingrich is also a reprehensible slimeball who can't even bring himself to pay lip service to the Constitution.

[Jerry]

How low do you have to sink as columnist to write this kind of drivel? Sure you have mortgages to pay, but this is almost dehumanizing.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Did the author off himself after writing that article? Because that level of cognitive dissonance suggests a person who has lost touch with reality...

[The Angry RPh]

Damn you for posting the link. That was painful.

[Lord Humungus]

I aim to please!

[sarcasmic]

Breaking News: Kirstin Dunst needs some sun!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....beach.html

[RoboCain]

That's not news.

[Eduard van Haalen]

OK, technically it's stalking, but it's kind of a fine line.

[John]

I don't see anything wrong with pale skin.

[sarcasmic]

Just for you http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....tment.html

[John]

That is what happens to women who starve themselves. They eventually go nuts and become hippos.

[sarcasmic]

Is that Ann Wilson's excuse?

[John]

Yes. That and the fact that her sister was always so much hotter than her. She just couldn't take the stress. So she decided to eat the rest of the band.

[Joe M]

Chubby-chasers, avoid this! NSFW The girl is a stick figure.

[Ice Nine]

What a porker!

[Warty]

"Extra Strength"? Do people have no idea what a woman with some muscle looks like?

[T]

I haven't seen her lately, but Cory Everson in street clothes (i.e. not pumped for competition) used to be smoking hot. That's what a woman with muscle looks like, not stick figure girl.

[Clich? Bandit]

Agreed, had a poster of her when I was in college. She was hot but she also frightened me a litte. I heard she was actually very nice but something about a chick that can not only out lift me but that can double what I could lift on my BEST day...i dunno.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Why do they all look like Chet from Weird Science in the kitchen scene?

[Lord Humungus]

no complaints here - but I love pale skin. My wife is practically an Albino... well, half-Finnish.

[Fluffy]

Aren't Finns kind of like Scots in that they aren't really albino, but have a sort of translucent bluish color?

Mmmmmmm...translucent bluish color...

[Citizen Nothing]

Speaking of which, can someone explain to me the attraction of lutefisk?

[Ice Nine]

An excuse to drink a lot of Akvavit.

[Maxxx]

She looks like she's still drunk from the night before.

[WTF]

Well, she was made a vampire at a very young age.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

In fairness, it does look like she got those canines fixed. Her grill used to be pretty brutal.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

My favorite part of the article:

But while Kirsten's career is going from strength to strength, she revealed in a recent interview that she is concerned she isn't going to find the right man to settle down with.
Kirsten, who turns 30 next year, said: 'I thought when I reached 30 I'd have a lot more figured out. Until you have a kid, you're just looking for your partner.

'And guys have a Peter Pan vibe. They're 35 and they act like they're 25. That's what scares me about being in my 30s - not finding someone to have kids with.'

I'm sure no celebrity who says things like this notices the irony of working in an industry that made the infantilization of men into a cultural norm.

If you pointed out to them that showing men acting like clueless, incompetent yard apes, ever since the dawn of the PC era, isn't the best recipe for encouraging the development of a mature male demographic in society, they probably wouldn't have any idea what you were talking about.

[rac3rx]

So, she doesn't want to look like an 85 year old melanoma patient before her 35th birthday? Why exactly is this news?

[It's All a Lie ! Must be...]

NASA maps Earth's polar ice caps

Mapping exercise will help scientists predict how frozen continent's melting affects global sea levels.
Last Modified: 05 Dec 2011 08:58

A NASA airborne laboratory, flying out of Punta Arenas in southern Chile, is conducting the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice caps.

With plans to map three-dimensional views of the Antarctic region and armed with sophisticated radar and altimeter lasers, "Operation Ice Bridge" will enable scientists ble to compare ice sheets' thickness from one year to the next which will help determining how quickly the ocean may rise.

The study will produce similar data on the Arctic region.

The effects of melting ice caps are one of the issues being highlighted at the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference under way in South Africa.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/.....48832.html

[Bones]

What if the planet is too cold and our emissions are bringing it closer to where it should be. Hooray for technology!

[Lord Humungus]

Eurozone crisis: the US has to ride to the rescue once again
Meanwhile, the politicians of Europe seem determined to make themselves irrelevant.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fin.....again.html

So, once again, the United States has intervened to save Europe from itself. And there we were thinking that the old 20th-century pattern had been eradicated. The Federal Reserve Bank made floods of cheap dollars available last week, having come to the blood-curdling conclusion that the global banking system could only be saved from catastrophic collapse by sending in the American cavalry ? Europe's own governing class being apparently incapable of effective action.

[mad libertarian guy]

Yeah. Us sending in dollars to hold up a failed system without them making the appropriate changes will DEFINITELY work this time.

[Ice Nine]

D.C. police take down Occupy D.C.

Now, remind me what Occupy D.C. is, please.

[Suki]

The commie slime in Freedom Park or in the Capitol, or both.

[o3]

now are they chinese communists, korean, cuban, or say albanian ?

[Ice Nine]

Jeez, Suki, you need to tweak your sardonimeter.

[Lord Humungus]

China is heading for Stagflation
http://www.forbes.com/sites/pa.....agflation/

Statistics coming out of China recently confirm that the country may be heading to some sort of stagflation. Economic growth is slowing down, while inflation remains high. Last Saturday, The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) announced that nonmanufacturing sector slowed down sharply, with the non-service Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) dropped from 57.7 in October to 49.7 in November.

[Jerry]

If they want less inflation they need to start floating the renminbi. Of course this will mean more inflation for the US.

[o3]

u mean the yuan

[LC]

No, you douche, he means the renminbi.

Renminbi = currency
Yuan = denomination of currency

[o3]

The Times stylebook recommends ? evasion ? try to avoid using either term, and just talk about "Chinese currency."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/.....-says-yuan

[Arduin Grimoire]

Climategate II: An Open Letter to the Director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research
...Everyone agrees that the tone and content of many of them is a bit shrill and occasionally intolerant (kind of like University faculty meetings), but there is one repeating thread, by one of your most prestigious employees, Dr. Tom Wigley, that is far beyond the pale of most academic backbiting.

The revoking of my doctorate, the clear objective of Tom's email, is the professional equivalent of the death penalty. I think it needs to be brought to your attention, because the basic premise underlying his machinations is patently and completely false. Dr Wigley is known as a careful scientist, but he certainly was careless here....

[Raston Bot]

Seems easy enough to refute. Just cc all the emails on Wigley's email with the dissertation disproving Wigley, very publicly denounce Wigley as a spineless pussy, and call it a day. This open-letter snitching stuff is weak.

[Lord Humungus]

Ch?vez's 40-Year Plan to Conquer Vice
'Socialism, socialism and more socialism.'

Venezuela's Hugo Ch?vez says his Bolivarian Revolution needs more time to produce its utopian fruits. "We barely have 10 years here," he told a crowd of supporters in Caracas last week. "We will take it to 10 more and 10 more and 10 more to construct the new social virtues."

In that time, Mr. Ch?vez pledged, "we will deepen the socialist revolution: socialism, socialism and more socialism. We have to deepen the struggle and defeat the vices of the past that still persists among us: violence, insecurity, corruption, selfishness, individualism."

and this is why I loathe Socialists and do-gooder Nanny-staters.

[Lord Humungus]

forgot the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

[Tsunami Tulpa]

That must be why he made his generals pledge to disobey the orders of any post-Chavez regime.

But remember, he's just another democratically elected leader.

[Jerry]

Chavez and his cronies make big $$$ in the black market that is the result of his socialist policies.

[DJF]

The problems with utopias is that it needs utopian people to create it and we in the real world are stuck with just normal people. The Soviets tried to create the "New Soviet Man" but found out that it was just the regular man who was trained to spout slogans on cue. The same with any other system which requires that the people involved fundamentally change their behavior, its doomed to failure.

[Ray]

I remember Sean Penn on Bill Maher singing chavez's praises, and saying people in America ought to go to jail for calling him a dictator. And I was like holy fuxking cheeseburger, man, could there be any more clear an argument made against Chavez and his minions?

[o3]

More Allege Botched Buttocks Surgery by Fake Doc
By KELLI KENNEDY Associated Press
MIAMI November 22, 2011 (AP)

Several possible victims have come forward alleging a woman posing as a Florida doctor and promising buttocks enhancement pumped their behinds with a toxic concoction of cement, superglue and flat-tire sealant, state health officials said Tuesday.

Oneal Ron Morris ? who police say was born a man and identifies as a woman ? was arrested Friday after nearly a year of being sought and charged with practicing medicine without a license with serious bodily injury. Authorities say a victim who was looking to get a job at a nightclub and wanted a curvier figure paid Morris $700 for the injections in 2010. Morris allegedly used some type of tubing and inserted the toxic chemicals into her backside during a painful procedure.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS.....c-15007986

_

one cannot make this up...unlike climate change for example, or fake carbon dating.

[Spoonman.]

How freaking stupid do you have to be to do that?

[o3]

seven hundred dollars worth of stupid evidently

["Doctor"]

Hey, if you want the lard injection it'll be $50 extra.

[Devil's Advocate]

What I don't get is why, when they see the "Doctor's" own mis-shapen and malformed ass, they would subject themselves to any procedures from her.

[Ice Nine]

a woman posing as a Florida doctor and promising buttocks enhancement pumped their behinds with a toxic concoction of cement, superglue and flat-tire sealant... Oneal Ron Morris ? who police say was born a man and identifies as a woman ? was arrested Friday after nearly a year of being sought and charged with practicing medicine without a license

Poor patients! If they'd only known this person didn't have a medical license they could have known not to do this.

[Citizen Nothing]

It's because Bush deregulated medicine.

[Trespassers W]

*spit take*

[Lord Humungus]

meanwhile in the "well, duh" category:
Study: More exercise could make for better sleep
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/h.....51580450/1

[R C Dean]

Does jogging around Skyrim count?

[Pro Libertate]

I've climbed mountains. In fact, since I know from Oblivion that I kill horses too easily, I do everything on foot.

[Jack the Reaper]

Horses seem hardier in the climbing mountains role. Mine has done some pretty amazing rock climbing.

[Lord Humungus]

and for the historians:

Five myths about Pearl Harbor
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....s_carousel

President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy." And that day, when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, has lived in infamy for 70 years. Yet even as the memory of the attack has lasted, so have the misperceptions surrounding it. On this anniversary, here are a few myths worth dispelling.... etc etc

[Ice Nine]

Ah man, you made me get up from my comfortable chair and go look at my calender.

[DJF]

Myth 6 that most of the ships crew were not on board when the attack started.

Commanding Officers of Battleships 5 out of 8
Commanding Officers of Cruisers 6 out of 7
Commanding Officers of Destroyers 63%
Damage Control Officers of Battleships 6 out of 8
Average percentage of officers:
Battleships (approximately) 60-70%
Cruisers, Battle Force " 65%
Destroyers, Battle Force " 50%
Average percentage of men:
Battleships 95%
Cruisers, Battle Force 98%
Destroyers, Battle Force 85%

http://www.history.navy.mil/do.....inCPac.htm

[John]

Clearly, the crews were on board or so many people wouldn't have died.

[Mike M.]

What a friggin' piece of work this Jon Corzine is. First he damn near bankrupts the state of New Jersey and leaves Christie to try and clean up the mess. Then for good measure, he bankrupts M.F. Global and makes off with a big old pile of loot, some of which is no doubt going into Obama's reelection campaign.

Too bad nothing is likely to happen to the guy. In our rotten crony socialist system, it's pretty good to be one of the cronies.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sixty-four percent of respondents said Congress should work more days than it does now to pass legislation, suggesting the public perceives that it is not getting enough done under its current calendar.

Yeah, that's a problem. Not enough legislation.

[Half of America]

Congress should work together to do something.

[John]

http://taxprof.typepad.com/tax.....ayer-.html

Note to self; don't demand bribes from snake charmers.

[Ice Nine]

Any Snakes on a Jain?

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Fortunately there is no double standard when cops catch one of their own.

FTA: "The NPD is a professional law enforcement agency and integrity is one of our main, core values," DeMaio said. "We will investigate any officer who violates the law he or she is sworn to uphold just as vigorously as we do any common criminal who preys on our city."

Investigate? Yes.
Charge? Um, hell no.

[Eduard van Haalen]

From the article:

"On Friday, Gonzalez was charged with criminal mischief and receiving stolen property, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, which is aiding in the investigation. Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 15."

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Yeah, that's my point. He was charged with receiving stolen property and criminal mischief. Seems to me if he was he one stealing it, GTA would be appropriate. As would felony Hit & Run, filing a false police report, perjury, misallocation of funds, reckless endangerment, etc. Oh, and if he had his sidearm on when he pulled the guy over, the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime.

Don't tell me for a second he got charged the way a "civilian" would have.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Ah, I get it, pardon me.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

plus you get some kind of obstruction and conspiracy charges thrown in for free don't you, unless you bow down and plead guilty right away?

[mad libertarian guy]

False arrest has to be in there somewhere too.

[Gray Ghost]

From the article:

Meanwhile, Gonzalez took the Ford F-450, DeMaio said, and went to pay his estranged wife's car a visit when he was pulled over by Elmwood Park police for erratic driving.
"He said he was late for work, he apologizes, and they let him go," DeMaio said.

How'd he explain driving some other guy's car to the Elmwood Park cops? How does that work for the rest of us? "No, Officer, this is my buddy's truck. He's cool with me driving it." "O.K., Carry on."

And yeah, from the article, he does look a little undercharged.

[pagal]

Nothing about Joe Arpaio ?

[Fist of Etiquette]

U.S. Park Police arrested dozens of Occupy D.C. protesters who refused to dismantle an unfinished wooden structure they built in a park overnight.

On Sunday morning, police told them they'd need a permit and gave them an hour to disassemble it.

More bad news for the President. Housing starts are in the negative for December.

[RoboCain]

LOL

[Tsunami Tulpa]

an unfinished wooden structure they built in a park overnight.

If it's unfinished, you can't really say they built it overnight.

[Rich]

I suppose it's "finished" now.

[Lost_In_Translation]

maybe they just hadn't painted it and put in the landscaping?

[RoboCain]

It's what happens when you don't allow Mexicans.

[Zeb]

Unfinished things still have to be built some time. Or they would be unstarted.

[Pro Libertate]

Was it build in the shape of a large rabbit?

[Nipplemancer]

No, it was in the shape of a pentagon so they could "reclaim the geometry".

[Pro Libertate]

This is how Idiocracy gets started.

[Lord Humungus]

completely 100% OT:

What I did over the weekend...

I modified my Yaqin MC-10T, replacing the coupling capacitors and also did some tube swapping.
http://6streetbridge.blogspot......ifier.html

and then I bi-amped my Magnepans, using a big solid-state amplifier to drive the bass, and the tube amp to drive the treble. Mucho improvements. Mucho happiness.
http://6streetbridge.blogspot......akers.html

[Citizen Nothing]

You made up all those words, didn't you?

[Lord Humungus]

yes.

[RoboCain]

Imho, the best thing you can do to improve the sound of a tube amp is band limit the input....

[SugarFree]

then I bi-amped my Magnepans

No homo.

[Pro Libertate]

On the radio this morning, they were talking about the Rays' recent acquisition of Jos? Molina. Maddon used to coach on his former team and apparently refers to him as J-Mo or JoMo. The radio guys rightly pointed out that in the latter case, it's not "Jo", it's "Ho."

[Lord Humungus]

what a man does with his Magnepans behind close doors is his business.

[mad libertarian guy]

Nice job.

Tube amps are the best shit ever.

I have a Jolida 202BRC that I could scarcely be happier with.

It's part of an all analog system.

Project Speed Box II > Project RPM 1.3 > Project Tube Box SE II > Firestone Audio Little Country III Headphone/Pre Amp > Jolida 202BRC > Mordaunt Short Mezzo 6 and Mezzo 9 (subwoofer).

Fucking phenomenal.

[Lord Humungus]

very nice - I've been playing with tube amps since the tender age of 19. There is something hypnotic about 'em.

[John]

Still nothing on the Friday document dump on Fast and Furious.

http://www.rollcall.com/news/j.....742-1.html

[Rich]

Holder has since admitted contained false information

When is Eric "Nation of Cowards" Holder going to spend more time with his family already?

[John]

When is he going to spend time in the bar hotel. He is the worst cabinet member of my life time.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

He needs to spend some time in a courtroom as many times as he perjured himself to Congress. But we'll reserve that for hardened criminals that need to be used as an example, like Roger Clemens.

[John]

Hey lying about using steroids ten years ago is lying about something important. Lying about an operation that allowed guns to go to Mexican drug gangs that were used to kill hundreds of people is just mox nix. Like lying about your golf score.

[P Brooks]

These are sophisticated, international operations that practice very tight security. And as far as the Mexican cartels go, they operate in a corrupt country, from cities that the cops can't even go into.

Nice.

Why hasn't the Mexican government just thrown all of these bozos out?

[RoboCain]

Drug money?

[rather]

The Caining of Cane

[P Brooks]

Mucho happiness.

I'll wait to hear what the neighbors say.

[rather]

Who's Your daddy?

[Lord Humungus]

The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2011
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538.....d&z=2NNLJ6

[Tsunami Tulpa]

I see they have the discredited "pepper spraying teh innocent children" photo there.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Better get used to it - that image will be in future school textbooks (or digital equivalent), with a one-sentence disclaimer like "Right-wingers claim the police acted properly," etc.

[RoboCain]

Was it shopped?

[Tsunami Tulpa]

No, just taken out of context.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Let's leave that one in yesterday's thread, huh?

I'm still sure they used the right level of force, but on the wrong people.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Do you agree to forget about every police abuse story from before today also?

[Tsunami Tulpa]

See, I don't get how the images can be considered "powerful" if they need captions to understand the significance.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

And they even side with the Vancouver rioters! What the fuck.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Looks like they got pretty desperate toward the end: the photo of the guy who predicted the end of the world just sitting there, and "A phone at Wall Street hanging off the hook" (??!)

[P Brooks]

It is not clear whether such operations are worth the risks. So far there are few signs that following the money has disrupted the cartels' operations, and little evidence that Mexican drug traffickers are feeling any serious financial pain.

No kidding.

[Jozef]

So if I understand it right, the DEA has decided to become its own cartel and deal with Mexican cartels as competition rather than combat enemy. I hope the DEA will be able to offer me better deals on pot...

[Jerry SeinFelt]

Kindca makes me wonder who comes up with all that stuff.

http://www.surf-anon.tk

[Joe M]

Jim Pethokoukis isn't the only newly minted conservative supporter of Huntsman:

Conservatives embracing Huntsman

I actually respect George Will as a pretty level-headed thinker too.

[Leslie Moore]

Romney/Huntsman 2012 will clinch the Mormon vote.

[John]

Huntsman's position are not bad. He is a lot better than Gingrich or Romney. But he is such a smug asshole. He really should be a threat. But isn't because he campaign theme seems to be "vote for me because it is good for you you dumb hillbillies."

[Joe M]

Yeah it's his personality that grates on my nerves. He actually supports things like science, rare for a Republican. The GOP could definitely do worse than picking him.

[John]

Republicans support plenty of science. That is bullshit. If anything it is rare for a Democrat to support any science. Go talk to a Dem about the science behind environmental regs sometime. Yeah they are real pro science.

[Joe M]

I'm talking about Creationism.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree. This is another foolish meme. I wouldn't say that either party is "pro-science" in the sense that they take it seriously or understand how it works, but both fund quite a bit of science and technology R&D. Of course, a lot of that is for political rather than scientific reasons, but that's what happens when you let people spend money without limit.

[RoboCain]

More of a smug asshole than Gingrich?

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Huntsman will never have a chance because he was an ambassador for Obama, which makes him unclean in the eyes of Team Red mouthbreathers.

[John]

If you worked for Obama that either means you are craven or stupid. With Huntsman it seems to be the former. If he wanted to run for President he should have known better than to take the job. It just shows he is arrogant and lacks judgment.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

I don't understand this kind of thinking. If Huntsman thought he could use the position to try and influence policy with China in a positive way, he should turn the job down just because of the guy who made the offer? If he said no, Obama would probably appoint someone with views closer to his own. At least Huntsman was a very small conservative voice in the administration instead of more of the same liberal echo chamber. Also, anyone who gets searches for his name censored by the Great Firewall is doing something right.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Bakersfield cop gets book thrown at him for driving his cruiser all hopped up on pills. Check that, he gets a slap on he wrist, paid administrative leave and is allowed to change clothes before being booked Because: Police Chief Greg Williamson has said it wouldn't have been safe to book Stringer while he was in his police uniform.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Wow, you're already in reruns? That happened quicker than Cop Rock.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

I didn't want to deny the weekday-only contingent.

[Citizen Nothing]

The weekend board must have been a doozy.

[SugarFree]

doozy

Odd way to spell "trollicious ultraclustermegafuck."

[R C Dean]

I just looked at the number of comments, and went back to killing dragons.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm starting to encounter bugs in the game (PS3). It hung after killing the same dragon (in different locations) twice, and it hung when I was loading last night. The prior couple of weeks of play, I think I had one glitch.

[cynical]

There are apparently memory leak issues that accumulate over the course of a playthrough, and which impact PS3 worst of all platforms. Just FYI. I think it's their highest priority in terms of patching, though, so there's that.

[Ska]

There was a patch last week that probably screwed up more than it fixed. It's the Bethesda way.

[Fluffy]

Actually, it's true that booking him in a police uniform wouldn't really be safe.

A prisoner wearing a police uniform might make a break for it, or might confuse other officers about who is and who isn't a prisoner.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

He would have been going into the drunk tank at worst or straight to a bond hearing and release at best. It's not like they were gonna stick him in county.

[SFC B]

Clearly there is no way the new professional police could ever have a policy in place to account for one handling one of their own after an arrest. Really, the arresting officer's only choice was between letting him change or not arresting him at all.

We should be glad, nay thankful, that the police gave one of their own breaks that one of us teeming masses would never get. They're the professionals afterall.

[P Brooks]

Of course, conservatives would sure like more details about Huntsman's views on dealing with climate change. And just how would he match defense cuts that might reduce spending to Clinton-era levels with superpower America's global commitments and power-projection capabilities? A lot more clarity is needed there.

Fuck you, AEI neocon warmonger scumbags.

[P Brooks]

Police Chief Greg Williamson has said it wouldn't have been safe to book Stringer while he was in his police uniform.

They might have put the wrong cop in the drunk tank; what a laff riot!

[Res Publica Americana]

http://news.yahoo.com/postwar-.....41513.html

Postwar Marines: smaller, less focused on land war

"WASHINGTON (AP) ? With the Iraq war ending and an Afghanistan exit in sight, the Marine Corps is beginning a historic shift ? a return to its roots as a seafaring force that will get smaller, lighter and, it hopes, less bogged down in land wars.

This moment of change happens to coincide with a reorienting of American security priorities to the Asia-Pacific region, where China has been building military muscle during a decade of U.S. preoccupation in the greater Middle East. That suits the Marines, who see the Pacific as a home away from home.

After two turns at combat in Iraq ? first as invaders in the 2003 march to Baghdad and later as occupiers of landlocked Anbar province ? the Marines left the country in early 2010 to reinforce the fight in southern Afghanistan. Over that stretch the Marines became what the former Joint Chiefs chairman, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, has called their own "worst nightmare:" a second American land army, a static, ground-pounding auxiliary force.

That's scary for the Marines because for some in Congress it raises this question: Does a nation drowning in debt really need two armies?"

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That's scary for the Marines because for some in Congress it raises this question: Does a nation drowning in debt really need two armies?"

The Marines' worst nightmare for years has been the possibility of getting rolled into the Navy, and in truth, the only reason they're still kept around as a separate service is because of their history and tradition.

[P Brooks]

When Holder resigns, the Constitutional-Scholar-in-Chief will probably appoint Dennis Burke, in recognition to his devoted service to America and the rule of law.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://news.yahoo.com/postal-c.....23847.html

Postal cuts to slow delivery of first-class mail

"WASHINGTON (AP) ? Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.

The estimated $3 billion in reductions, to be announced in broader detail on Monday, are part of a wide-ranging effort by the cash-strapped Postal Service to quickly trim costs, seeing no immediate help from Congress.

The changes would provide short-term relief, but ultimately could prove counterproductive, pushing more of America's business onto the Internet. They could slow everything from check payments to Netflix's DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities."

ALL HAIL GOVERNMENT MONOPOLIES -- TOTALLY IMMORAL AND ENTIRELY UNJUSTIFIABLE BY EVERY PRACTICAL MEASURE EVER, BUT WE LOVE THEM ANYWAY

[Mike M.]

That's fine. I don't need six day a week mail service, nor next day letter delivery.

About 95% of the fucking mail I get is garbage that I don't want, don't need, and never asked for in the first place. The current USPS has what is probably the most absurd business model on the entire planet.

[Res Publica Americana]

Why doesn't Congress annihilate the USPS completely? Within a fucking year after they do, somebody's going to found a company with the we-re-America's-de-facto-national-mail-service shtick, called something like the United States Mail and Packed Company, followed by other companies taking on the scheme, and you'll get a competitive, high-quality delivery network. Fucking fuck, how fucking stupid can government officials get?

[Mike M.]

Get rid of all of the unsolicited spam garbage that makes up so much of the current mail system (or at least charge sensible market rates for it), and FedEx could probably handle it right now.

[Res Publica Americana]

Don't be silly -- FedEx is a private company, and only governmental entities are efficient and ethical with stuff like mail.

What are you, some sort of... *GULP*... NEO-CONFEDERATE?

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

But FedEx would most likely pass. Too few hubs for them to hit every street every day and maintain profitability.*

*Unless they eliminated all daily home pickup service, but I bet they couldn't because some adult-baby shut in or other whack-job would sue under the ADA and force them to resume it.

[PapayaSF]

Get rid of all of the unsolicited spam garbage that makes up so much of the current mail system (or at least charge sensible market rates for it)

Um, no. "Junk mail" is profitable for the USPS and helps subsidize first class, which is a money-loser. They can charge less for junk mail because most of the sorting is done by the mailer.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Actually the business model is fine: (1) Require everybody to sign up at least on the receiving end, and (2) shoot anybody else who tries to make the same deliveries as you.

What's amazing is that they still can't make money.

[P Brooks]

to of

[Res Publica Americana]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....erica.html

The 10 Most Charitable Companies in America

Of the many chants and slogans that have defined the frustrations of the past months' Occupy Wall Street protests, one recurring theme has focused on the idea that greedy corporations do whatever they can to avoid sharing the wealth. But a look at the numbers tells more of a nuanced story.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a magazine that monitors the charitable giving industry, tracks donations from the largest corporations in the United States from the annual Fortune 500 list. The magazine's 2011 Survey of Corporate Giving includes data on 2010 donations for 180 of those top companies.

To get down to the best of the best, MainStreet looks first at the five most generous corporations ? those that gave more than 5% of their 2009 profits to charity in 2010. We then round up the five biggest donors ? those corporations that gave the absolute most money to philanthropic causes last year. Read on to see if your favorite brand made the cut.

The Most Generous: Kroger

2010 Giving: $64,000,000

Percentage of 2009 Profits: 10.9%

Kroger, the largest grocery store chain in America, was the only corporation to give more that 10% of its previous year's profits to charity in 2010. While its charitable giving efforts target the communities in which its stores operate through volunteering and donations, the Kroger Foundation supports national initiatives that go far beyond the company's home base of Cincinnati.

At $64 million, the company's significant giving in 2010 shows no signs of slowing down this year, as it has been an active participant in the Food 4 Less program to feed the hungry, and has also raised $1.5 million for military families and welcomed Salvation Army donation kettles into its stores this holiday season.

2nd Most Generous: Macy's ...

-------------------------------

EVUL CAPUTALISM! THE RED BANNER WAVES PROUDLY IN MY BACK YARD

[Res Publica Americana]

"The Biggest Donor: Wal-Mart

2010 Giving: $319,454,996

2009 Giving: $288,091,839

Change: 10.9%

Topping the list for the overall biggest corporate donor in 2010 is Wal-Mart, which has claimed that distinction for three years running. With more than $300 million given to local and national initiatives to combat hunger and promote local economic development in the communities in which it operates, the retail giant has worked hard to overcome the image of an uncaring company that mistreats workers and puts mom-and-pop shops out of business.

===== But a massive company should be capable of making massive contributions to the lives of struggling Americans, and the company's philanthropy serves that purpose. ======"

Should it now? Who the fuck do you think you are?

[R C Dean]

Back in the day, charitable contributions were ultra vires for corporations, absent approval by the stockholders. On the theory that corporations existed in order to make profits for their owners, not fund the hobbies of their managers.

[Pro Libertate]

It's as legitimate as running ads about how much your company cares about the environment. Just another form of marketing, though I daresay that there are executives who push cause marketing because they actually think it's the right thing to do.

[RoboCain]

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....more-84607

[Res Publica Americana]

That article's full of facts and unequivocal proof of the author's point, which means no progressive is ever going to read it or listen to it.

[RoboCain]

I'm still surprised how little anti-gun advocates know about guns. If I were against something, I would try to learn as much as I could about it. Yet, we still hear about "cop-killer bullets" and "plastic handguns".

[Res Publica Americana]

Being full of shit means not having to know much.

[RoboCain]

It just demonstrates they are acting in bad faith.

[G Willikers]

If I were against something, I would try to learn as much as I could about it.

That is simply crazy talk. Why would I waste any time on learning about something I oppose?

** shudder **

[Res Publica Americana]

Also, one of my friends is an FFL and owns two machine guns, and has plenty of ammo for them -- and he's black. So Obama's a half-white black-hating racist for wanting to ban that shit!

[Atanarjuat]

The Daily Show sent a reporter to mock OWS. Video embedded in this page. The right-tard writer reads it as the media abandoning the OWS movement because it has become unpopular and not helpful to left-tard politics. Either way it's a good takedown and has some funny moments, like when an occutard advocates the sharing of private property but won't let others use his Ipad II.

[RoboCain]

That Daily Show segment was carved from a solid block of pure win.

[P Brooks]

If you worked for Obama that either means you are craven or stupid. With Huntsman it seems to be the former. If he wanted to run for President he should have known better than to take the job. It just shows he is arrogant and lacks judgment.

Good grief.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://blogs.dailymail.com/don.....ives/47313

WA: Homeowner does what a taser can't

A homeowner in Port Orchard, Washington, did what the police could not do: He shot and stopped a bad guy. Two police officers tried to stop the man with a taser. He managed to escape and they will spend 1-to-3 days off-duty recovering.

The 47-year-old man then entered the home of a man in his 20s, who fired one shot into the suspect's belly and that ended that. The suspect was sent to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tacoma, where he is listed in stable condition.

-------------

Yeah, who the fuck needs guns? JUST TASE THAT FUCKER AND HOPE HE DOESN'T MURDER YOU IN YOUR OWN HOME

[R C Dean]

Two police officers tried to stop the man with a taser. He managed to escape and they will spend 1-to-3 days off-duty recovering.

Wait, what? Botch an arrest, and get a paid vacation?

[Res Publica Americana]

He probably pinched them and made them scream for mommy, since standards are so fucking low for hiring law enforcement nowadays.

[Gray Ghost]

From the Kitsap Sun newspaper article:

"The suspect and officer struggled for control of the Taser and the officer was hit with the Taser briefly...The two officers sustained minor injuries and will be off work one to 3 days."

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

Port Orchard, Washington
Police Officers...1-to-3 days off-duty recovering

I guess dunphy will be spending some extra time on here. Unless he decides to go on tour with his band. Or enter a big wave surf championship. Or spend it quietly at home with his wife...Morgan Fairchild.

[Monty]

I like dunphy most times but, that was funny PLS.

[Pip]

I belive he is currently training the US womens beach volley ball team.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/015165.html

WA: No Moral Core

President Obama's people are out attacking Mitt Romney, saying that because he changes on the issues, he has no "moral core." So I guess that means if you say you will pull out of Iraq within a year and three years later we're still there; if you say we will close Gitmo and there's no plans to do so; if you say a health insurance mandate is wrong and then you make it the keystone of your plan; if you say you will end warrantless wiretapping, but then keep using it; if you say you believe the Second Amendment provides for an individual right, then support a ban on individuals owning guns in DC;

-----------

Ron Paul should go full steam ahead with this shit -- make Obama have to explain himself to every interviewer, every contributor

[Res Publica Americana]

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....29b41.html

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced Sunday that she's backing a bill that aims to crack down on corrupt gun dealers as well as eliminate the flow of illegal guns into New York.

Almost 90 percent of the firearms used in New York City gun crimes come from out of state, and most of those guns are illegal, according to the Democratic senator, who plans to introduce the Gun Trafficking Prevention Act this week.

-------------

Because anybody with an IQ beyond single digits is going to listen to anything a New York politician tells them -- roflmfao

[Tsunami Tulpa]

This is a big deal because she was a supposedly pro-Second Amendment upstate legislator when she replaced Hillary in 2009.

Looks like she dropped that disguise after she won the special election.

[Res Publica Americana]

And should be kneecapped for lying to acquire public office.

[Bones]

She became Schumer's bitch the second she was appointed to the Senate, and then promptly campaigned just like him on every issue to win the special election.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://townhall.com/columnists.....an_history

The Next Decisive Date in American History

Already, Obama has begun to stack our federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, with anti-Second Amendment judges who will advance his gun-ban agenda. If he wins reelection, Obama could have the opportunity to tip the fragile balance of the Supreme Court to an anti-gun majority that will reverse the recent Heller and McDonald decisions that affirmed the Second Amendment as an individual right.

--------------

At which point the legitimacy of the federal government will have been wholly obliterated, annulling its jurisdiction over the states and the territories, and any attempts to prevent secession by force should be met with multilateral declarations of independence and war against the federales and fed-loyal jurisdictions.

/I wish

[Res Publica Americana]

"http://gawker.com/5864886/why-so-many-people-bought-guns-on-black-friday"

Why So Many People Bought Guns on Black Friday

According to America's official gun-counting officials, prospective gun buyers registered 129,166 background check requests on Black Friday 2011?more than on any other Black Friday in American history, and a 32 percent increase from the last all-time high. What provoked all these gun sales?

------------------

The realization, of some semblance of one, that individuals are sovereign and should rightfully possess the means to enforce their independence and be units of power unto themselves, subject only to the rules of just government?

Or maybe they're all proto-KKK and hate Obama because he's the black messiah -- take your pick!

[RoboCain]

http://www.shotgunnews.com/201.....-firearms/

[Res Publica Americana]

Nancy Pelosi is shaking in fear.

[P Brooks]

On the theory that corporations existed in order to make profits for their owners, not fund the hobbies of their managers.

In America, shareholders work for management.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://www.news.com.au/nationa.....6213861403

Australia: Nerfs trigger warning shot

Hobart ophthalmologist Nitin Verma said people should be aware that if the darts struck an eye damage could be done.

"There is nothing that is soft enough for the eye," Dr Verma said. "Anything that hits the eye can cause a problem."

Kidsafe Tasmania executive officer Jenny Branch said there had been cases of eye damage from rubber dart guns.

"Parents really do need to think about what they buy their children at Christmas time. You might be buying something for a 10-year-old but if there's a four and six and seven-year-old in the house that could be a recipe for disaster," Ms Branch said.

-------

The pussification of the human race continues -- dress your children in Kevlar for playground time at a rubberized playground, never touch anything sharp without ten government permits stating your cock is long enough to operate a Space Shuttle with a collectible Pokemon card, and teach your kids the right political ideology, or we'll confiscate them.

A lot of sense is made by these policies, eh?

[T]

never touch anything sharp without ten government permits stating your cock is long enough to operate a Space Shuttle with a collectible Pokemon card

Wait, what?

[Res Publica Americana]

It was an illustration of how asinine these assumptions and the laws and regulations that stem from them are.

[plutosdad]

Money, they said, poses far less of a threat to public safety.
Yeah, you can't do anything with money. Markets don't spread influence farther than guns, despite all of history saying the opposite.

You can't buy people or influence. How utterly ridiculous, money buys far more power and influence than guns, and in that respect is far more powerful. The old adage the pen is mightier than the sword is certainly true.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

A good reason to weep

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

*That was harder to come up with than the obvious "Japanese driver" joke.

[Atanarjuat]

It's a reason for some auto insurance people to weep. I just smirked.

[Tsunami Tulpa]

Ron Santo elected to Hall of Fame.

I hope his widow spits in the Veterans' Committee member faces for waiting until after he died.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

I think it had more to do with the rules of the Veterans Committee before, didn't it?

Either way, it's good to see him get in.

[John]

Really? Baseball loves to fuck, nice deserving guys. Look at what they did to Roger Maris. They never put him in the hall of fame. And then refused to test for steroids and let a bunch of roided out freaks steal his record.

And yeah, if you are a baseball writer and vote for the hall of fame, the chances are good you are a bozo. This is the same bunch who never makes anyone, no matter how deserving, a unanimous selection. There were eight losers out there who didn't put Hank Aaron on their ballot. Hank fucking Aaron of the 755 homeruns, 3000+hits and God knows how many RBIs. A bunch of them left Steve Carlton off their ballots. Greatest left hander not named Sandy Kolfax or Warren Spahn of the 20th Century and these fuckwads left him off their ballots because he was mean to them when he was a player.

There are few forms of life lower than a baseball hall of fame writer. It pretty much is them, cockroaches, Congress creatures, and money ball degenerates.

[RoboCain]

Does the Surge of Gun Sales on Black Friday Signal Class Warfare?

http://www.topsecretwriters.co.....s-warfare/

Is Holiday Shopping Our Descent Into Ape Law?

[AuH20]

The Marlins landed Reyes.

Whelp.

Time to start drinking heavily.

[o3]

that contract is like 1/4 of the marlins payroll

[AuH20]

Teams in Miami, right?

Honestly, o3, for all the crap you get, I take you as legitimately good person and veteran who is way better than the rectal style trolls. I just wish that you would do things like capitalize your sentences and stop adding z to things. It makes you like a youtube commenter.

[TeamBarstool]

The DEA laundering money.
ATF with Fast and Furious.

Has anyone else noticed that our Governments blueprint for the war on drugs is a Warren Zevon song?

[Atanarjuat]

Shit's fucked up?

[TeamBarstool]

That works too. I was thinking "Lawyers,Guns and Money"...