A.M. Links: Two More U.S. Troops Killed in Koran Kerfuffle, Fannie Mae Still Losing Billions, Mitt Romney Wins Wyoming

• "Two American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher."

• Fannie Mae reports a $17 billion loss for 2011. 
• Mitt Romney wins the Wyoming caucuses. 
• Joe Arpaio to make kookie statements about Obama's birth certificate today.
• A federal judge has ordered the Obama administration to release a classified document. 
• Nicholas D. Kristof interviews Lady Gaga. About bullying. 

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New at Reason.tv: "Transplant Denied: How Medical Marijuana Policy Kills Patients" 

Comments

[Allahu Akbar]

Gentlemen, paste your comments!

[Ranger Rick]

You prophet sucks cocks in hell.

[Rick Santorum]

But no comments on pasties!

[db]

I can fit less than char[900] on a pastie.

[Rick Santorum]

I see I must keep abreast of the grammar expertise around here.

[db]

Ok, I can fit fewer than char[900] on a pastie.

[Rick Santorum]

I should have nipped this in the bud.

[Suki]

Was Michelle wearing pasties under her clothes when she said B. Hussein's home country is Kenya?

[The Ghost of Mr. Blackwell]

Just, Wow. Our First Lady is a fashion GENIUS!

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

Meanwhile, on another planet...
So, it turns out that Heartland was behind the Heartland leak after all.
The evidence seems to suggest that Heartland's Joe Bast wrote a memo, then he and/or Heartland-symp blogger Steven Mosher sent it secretly to Peter Gleick. ...

[Brett L]

So... Heartland is either the most ruthlessly brilliant think tank, and should be running all US psyops missions; or this is complete bullshit to try to salvage some shred of credibility from a complete and very public fuckup. Which is more likely?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

So Gleick got Sokal'ed? That's even funnier.

[R C Dean]

A quick read of the j'accuse reveals two weaknesses in the case against Bast.

(1) One of the samples used to run the text analysis was Gleick's denial that he forged it. That was almost certainly heavily edited by his lawyers, and probably reflects their writing as much as his.

(2) Gleick's denial, as pointed out here, actually doesn't deny that he forged the damn memo in the first place. He never quite says there was only one memo (the one he got was the one he published). He only denies forging the one he got.

[Pro Libertate]

My liedar went off as well. We just ran across one of those nondenial denials at work--I can smell the lawyers from here.

[Killazontherun]

Enviros always double down on the dissimulation. Every time. SOP. It is why decent, average joes who fall for their lies look so stupid.

[Robert]

Learn casino blackjack and you'll see why "double down" is not the figure of speech you want when "double up" is available and at least used to be in common use.

[RoboCain]

Contraceptives for 'Women and Girls' Will Reduce Carbon Emissions

http://cnsnews.com/news/articl.....-emissions

[Suki]

Obama Chewables, for the law school student who has trouble swallowing.

[RoboCain]

I see what you did there.

[Suki]

I do even more here, with video.

[RoboCain]

Your pages take forever to load.

[Suki]

I wish I could help you with your AOL dialup, but I can't.

[RoboCain]

No, really, you should fix that.

[Sparky]

Looks like another meeting of Activists for Stupid Shit. I'm willing to bet if we got rid of a few of these ASS members overall carbon emissions would drop even more.

[RoboCain]

But if contraceptives reduce global warming, and global warming increases gun violence, then do contraceptives reduce gun violence?

[Mr. FIFY]

Does gun violence redeuce global warming?

Godesky would say "yes"... and probably so would Tony, given his bigotry against "breeders".

[RoboCain]

"Texas is getting its own navy."

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012.....io-grande/

[Abdul]

Bass boat or pontoon?

[T]

CNN, late as usual. That broke a month ago. We're gonna arm DPS with a boat that has six (6!) 240s on it. For those of you unfamiliar, an M240 is a goddamned bullet hose. Cyclic rate gets up to 900 depending on how you set the regulator. 900 rounds a minute of 7.62, while runs out of steam somewhere around 2 miles. I foresee bad things happening.

[Tim]

At least they can't ram it through your front door and shoot you while you're sleeping.

[NeonCat]

Maybe if you have a houseboat?

[RoboCain]

Kate Upton shoves meat in her mouth:

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

[Mike M.]

What a woman.

[Restoras]

Better hurry up and tap that before she blows up like an inflatable life raft. Just sayin'.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Is there any woman in the world so beautiful that no one is able to go studman69 on her?

[Stedman Graham]

It took me a while to figure out someone wasn't spoofing me with that handle... The Oprah was always tapping her foot and rolling her eyes when I'd ask her about it.

[Killazontherun]

She's eating a burger there, not fries. Even the bun is thin enough to be an acceptable range of daily carb intake.

[Rich]

The second photo is clever.

[Ice Nine]

Would have been even better if she'd been eating a Carl's Fish Sandwich instead of a burger.

[Allahu Akbar]

Robo in the lead...

[RoboCain]

"Just when you thought the government couldn't ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it."

http://rt.com/usa/news/348-act.....dings-437/

[romulus augustus]

It's apparently already a crime in Iran to cause any official to feel anxious.
When that law makes it way to the U.S. all of us posting here will get to finally meet each other...in re-education camp.

[db]

This one time, at re-education camp...

[Barack the Jaunty Future King]

I like that Iran thing. I think I'll do something just like it.

[sloopyinca]

The only three people to vote against it were Paul, Amash and Broun. Pathetic.

[Mr. FIFY]

How are we supposed to know when government officials are around? They don't wear bells around their necks... or have patches sewn on their clothing, both of which are good ideas.

Here comes "You know who else wanted patches sewn on clothing?", but that's cool... it's a good meme.

Seriously, though... the only way I can tell there's a government goon around, is to look for the cloud of grease vapor and the way they try to lift your wallet by "accidentally" bumping into you.

[sloopyinca]

Didn't the Nazis make the Jews walk around with little yellow stars sewn onto their clothing?

[cynical]

You messed it up, it's "you know who else..."

[Lord Humungus]

Chu: DOE working to wean U.S. off oil, not lower prices
http://www.politico.com/news/s.....z1nlwKN38K

The Energy Department isn't working to lower gasoline prices directly, Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday after a Republican lawmaker scolded him for his now-infamous 2008 comment that gas prices in the U.S. should be as high as in Europe.

Instead, DOE is working to promote alternatives such as biofuels and electric vehicles, Chu told House appropriators during a hearing on DOE's budget.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chu is an idiot for admitting that. Luckily, news of it won't reach most voters, who obviously do not want to hear that their government is throwing them under the biodiesel bus for the sake of the environmental lobby.

[Mr. FIFY]

Higher energy prices = regressive taxes on poor people.

Fair Tax = the exact opposite.

[RoboCain]

Liberals need the poor to stay poor, otherwise they lose the "free shit" vote.

[Mr. FIFY]

Bribery and fear are excellent motivators, Robo. Team Red does it, too, but Team Blue's better at it.

[RoboCain]

"In Washington, D.C., it is illegal to posses ammunition if you don't have a gun registered. It is also unlawful to have ammo that is not in the same caliber or gauge as your legal gun. The penalty for holding a round of the wrong caliber is up to a year in jail -- as stiff as the punishment for illegal gun possession."

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....nition-dc/

[Suki]

Crap! Another place I can't wear these

[Rich]

The penalty for holding a round of the wrong caliber is up to a year in jail

That has great potential.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Looks like the NRA still has some work to do.

Of course, the alternative is to not live in the fucking disgusting shit-hole that is DC.

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

Michael Mann's counterstrike in the climate wars
... "Something is different now," Mann concludes. "The forces of climate change denial have, I believe, awakened a 'sleeping bear.' My fellow scientists will be fighting back, and I look forward to joining them in this battle."

That's something Mann might want to rethink. Peter Gleick, a MacArthur "genius" grant recipient for his work on global freshwater challenges and president of the Pacific Institute, admitted earlier this month to borrowing a page directly from the denialists' playbook. Posing as someone else, he obtained internal documents from the Heartland Institute and distributed them to journalists, a tactic little different from the hack attack at the University of East Anglia that has been decried by environmentalists. ...

[Mike M.]

Mann actually sounds like he's too stupid to realize that his guys have already lost the war. The global climate treaty and Cap and Trade system that the scum were tyranically trying to impose on us all is never going to happen now.

[tarran]

Could some one point out to me where anybody questioning the CAGW cult has forged any documents or engaged in identity theft?

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

The Climategate leak pissed off the left. Pissing off the left is a crime that, of course, morally justifies any response on their part.

Should Global-Warming Activists Lie to Defend Their Cause?
...By this criterion, Gleick's lie was clearly moral, because he was defending a cause that he passionately views as righteous. Gleick, you might say, is a hero comparable to Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who in 1971 stole and released documents that revealed that U.S. officials lied to justify the war in Vietnam.

... Even if Gleick's lie was morally right, it was strategically wrong....

[dunphy]

"truth is a metanarrative"

[Comcast Sucks (Coxswain Hardy)]

I love how the warmists can't decide whether Gleick is a hero or whether he sunk to the level of his evil denialist enemies.

[RoboCain]

Fake but accurate.

[Brett L]

I can point out to you a piece where skeptics passed on an opportunity.

"I (and many other WUWT readers who notified me about it) had full and open access in Dr. Phil Jones Journal of Physical Research (JGR) author account, which showed all of his papers (including some not published yet) plus comments from reviewers."

And sent Dr. Jones an email letting him know that the climategate emails had working links to these documents.

[R C Dean]

a tactic little different from the hack attack at the University of East Anglia

Everyone says East Anglia was hacked, but I don't recall anyone ever actually showing this. I thought the odds always were that it was a leak, not a hack. Did I miss something?

[sloopyinca]

Is it a hack when people go and get the documents they refused to release under legit FOIA requests? Or is it whistleblowing?

Seriously. The UEA e-mail scandal came about because they didn't want to release their documents so people could see their methodology. And people had a right to see them under British law.

[R C Dean]

Its still a hack if someone from outside the organization penetrates their security. Which, as far as I know, has never been shown.

Arguably, a justifiable hack in this case.

[RoboCain]

But is it art?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/.....y-dan-lace

[Rich]

Probably. Did the NEA fund it?

[rac3rx]

Almost every single one of those is signed by the same artist.

[Ice Nine]

Love this surrealism stuff - especially the half-size ass in #34.

[Mr. FIFY]

"Pancake Obama" FTW.

[The Pointer-Outer]

Those portraits are "racist" according to the left.

[The Left]

Racism is only okay if WE do it.

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

Da crackaz wuz da ones eatin' da pie!

[Here ya go...]

http://waznmentobe.com/comedy/.....y-pie.html

[crapshoot]

Fun fact: this guy also drew a evangelical Christian webcomic called Faithmouse.

[Allahu Akbar]

Robo pulling away!

[RoboCain]

At least they weren't furries:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/d.....ust-761245

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news.....-to-prison

[RoboCain]

Woman accused of killing son didn't want him to live with his dad

http://www.indystar.com/articl.....ody-change

[RoboCain]

Olivia Wilde: 'I was very sexually mature at a very young age'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....ds-do.html

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

[Bee Tagger]

What age will she reach political maturity, do you think?

[RoboCain]

Who cares?

[Lord Humungus]

Bill Gates: Obama told me energy consumption tax 'makes sense'
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02.....z1npdYlSzG

Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates said that President Barack Obama told him he supports a two percent national energy consumption tax, though the president said it likely could not be implemented because of gridlock in Congress.

[DJF]

How about a 2 percent tax on software companies for every instance of the blue screen of death they cause?

After all just think of how much wasted energy and time is caused by all that rebooting of computers.

[Rich]

American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher

Things are looking up. Now *educated* people are killing us.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nicholas D. Kristof interviews Lady Gaga. About bullying.

I wonder the catalyst for that.

[Allahu Akbar]

Lord well behind as Robo makes a rout of it!

[Lord Humungus]

I go for quality, not quantity 😉

[RoboCain]

I'm more like a trained monkey
(without the training).

[Lord Humungus]

Soft Values and Business Responsibility
http://cafehayek.com/2005/11/soft_values_and.html

It's OK to be charitable with your own money. It's not so virtuous to be generous with other people's money. A publicly traded business should maximize profits and let shareholders be charitable with those returns if they so choose. I also gave the other answer I gave in the book?that there is no such thing as "enough" profit. The world is highly uncertain and sacrificing profits in the name of "soft values" may end up destroying the company and putting everyone out of work.

[MNG]

I think liberals should realize that it is not a bad thing for there to be a strong fiduciary duty for a corporation's management to maximize value for investors. That is what keeps them answerable and serving the latter, and as noted, it helps to some extent to protect the workers there too.

But I submit that this is why everyone else should understand liberals concerns with corporations being too involved in our polity. A single mindd obsession with maximizing your share is hardly a civic virtue to be applauded...

[MNG]

Take Adam Smith. He thought good could come out of greed, but reading TWN without reading TMS leaves a big hole understanding his thought: greed could be played upon for the greater good in part because it would be checked by other moral sentiments in man.

Corporations are not men with those natural moral sentiments Smith counted on to balance that greed. They are legally structured and beholden to be that way, and there are good reasons for that. But in that sense, as "citizens" they are awful.

[R C Dean]

A publicly traded business should maximize profits and let shareholders be charitable with those returns if they so choose.

This used to be pretty much legally required. The thinking was that corporations owed a duty to their shareholders to make money, and had no authority to distribute profits towards any other end.

What "concerned liberals" want is what concerned liberals always want: somebody in a large organization doling out money in ways that liberals approve of, rather than having individuals doing what they want with their own money.

[mad libertarian guy]

What "concerned liberals" want is what concerned liberals always want: somebody in a large organization doling out money in ways that liberals approve of, rather than having individuals doing what they want with their own money.

^^THIS^^

[Elspeth Flashman]

yup. I am not in favor of "third way" businesses, which blur the line between profit and not-for-profit entities.

[Robert]

Tell me more, please.

[Lord Humungus]

Chicago Police Liable for Waitress Assault Coverup
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/29/44295.htm

Anthony Abbate Jr., an off-duty Chicago police officer, brutally attacked Karolina Obrycka in 2007, while she was bartending at Jesse's Shortstop Inn.
After Abbate drank heavily all night, repeatedly flexed his biceps and yelled "Chicago Police Department," Obrycka refused to serve Abbate more alcohol. Abbate then went behind the bar and began punching and kicking her, allegedly telling Obrycka that "nobody tells me what to do."

[Matrix]

To abuse and enslave...

[dunphy]

is there a deep dish tie-in here?

[BakedPenguin]

The judgments for police brutality settlements should come directly from their pension funds. Then there might be a reason for the cop omerta to finally end.

[Brett L]

Oooh. I like this.

[dunphy]

THIS is a pretty damning stat. not dispositive, but DAMNING as fuck

" Dr. Steven Whitman, opined that the percentage of excessive-force complaints upheld in Chicago are "statistically significantly lower than the national average sustained rates reported in the Bureau of Justice Statistics 2006 Citizens Complaints About Police Use of Force Report for the national average for all departments (8 percent) or the national average for larger departments like Chicago (6 percent)."
Whitman found that "the average sustained rate within the Chicago Police Department was as low as 0.5 percent in 2004." In 25th District of Chicago, where the incident occurred, "from January 2005 through February 2007, not one of the 147 excessive force complaints was sustained, and in the 11th and 20th Districts, the sustained rate was only 1.2 percent," according to a summary of Whitman's testimony."

[BakedPenguin]

Well dunphy, if you haven't done anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about, right?

[dunphy]

rubbish. as you well know, people get arrested all the time, who have done nothing wrong, and sometimes convicted when entirely innocent.

that aside, these stats are very suggestive that their IIU is not doing their job, and that there is a culture of corruption in CPD

as i have repeatedly shown, it is actually quite common IN GENERAL for officers to turn bad officers in, to testify against same, etc.

i've given plenty of examples.

these stats from CPD strongly suggest that they both do not investigate complaints vigorously enough and that there is probably some sort of culture of coverup

and again, this is why i support videotaping

protect the public from bad cops. protect good cops from false complaints

win/win

[Abdul]

I think this was the case where the beatdown was captured on by a security camera, and that was the only thing that kept the scumbag from getting away with it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

When will the people of Chicago get rid of their Republican government and put the Democrats in charge of their city? I understand that Democrats lean libertarian on social issues like police brutality.

[EscapedWestOfTheBigMuddy]

Chicago does not have to indemnify Obrycka with regard to her due-process claim because "Abbate was not acting within the scope of his employment when he attacked her," the ruling states.

Say what?

Surely the claim is about the cover up, right? So the decision should turn on the cover-up exploiting or not exploiting police powers and resources, right?

[tarran]

The Epic Live-Tweeting Of Last Night's Park Slope Coop Meeting

Last night Park Slope Food Coop held its monthly members meeting. At 7:26 p.m., senior Reuters Opinion editor Chadwick Matlin began live-tweeting the proceedings; two hours and 14 minutes later, "meeting is adjourned." It's difficult to pick a favorite here but "In europe I have been using the biodegradable, and they degrade so fast by the time you're at checkout you don't know where the bag is," "'but my collards won't fit!' ? one of the actresses in the silent film PSA," and ""My name is Robert Dow. No relation to Dow Chemical." have to be contenders.

[RoboCain]

Weren't they discussing whether they should ban food from Israel?

[tarran]

Some people were trying to discuss it, but weren't supposed to: it was on the next meeting's agenda.

Just say no to conflict humus...

Park Slope Food Coop

Enough with the Linsanity already!

[MNG]

Is it me, or is Mitt really benefiting from the line up of states contests? I mean, the only two states where I would really expect a so-con to do well were Iowa and SC, and he lost there. He's won more states, but the states so far have been tilte towards the more moderate side (NH, Florida, Michigan). I think the news is not that he's won what he has given that line up, but actually that it's remarkable he hasn't been winning more handily...

[rac3rx]

No it isn't just you. Mittens generally can't win in primary states where actual Republicans vote. The only state that has held a primary that went republican in 2008 is S. Carolina.

[Matrix]

AG Holder loses cool during Hearing. Yeah, I'm sure you REALLY did all you could to stop it right after you heard about it.

DC to ease some gun laws

[Contempta Congress]

A visibly frustrated Attorney General Eric Holder slammed the table

He'd be invisibly frustrated in the slammer.

[RoboCain]

That's where he belongs.

[Contempta Congress]

When will someone (Issa, I'm looking at you) make the move?

[Fatty Bolger]

You know he must be on his knees every night, praying that Obama is re-elected.

[An unnamed source]

Lame Duck Obama: "That is why on this, my last, Christmas in the White House, I issue this blanket pardon to all members of my administration for all crimes known and unknown. God bless us everyone. Bak. Derk-derk-Allah. Derka derka, Mohammed Jihad. Haka sherpa-sherpa. Abaka-la. "

[Mr. FIFY]

Holder would be on his knees a lot in prison...

[RoboCain]

"Earlier this year, the Washington Times published a series detailing a cumbersome set of regulations that often meant a months-long process for a resident to legally acquire a handgun in the District."

[Restoras]

Sarcasmic, this is for you...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....azine.html

[BakedPenguin]

I don't get the to-do over Moss (even when she was younger). To me, her eyes look like a chameleon's.

[The Ghost of Marty Feldman]

HEY!!

[rac3rx]

Mosquito bites aren't big enough to defy gravity.

[RoboCain]

Nipples FTW!

[Francisco d Anconia]

Okay, the auto-play commercials on this site is really fucking annoying.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'm trying to concentrate!

[P Brooks]

House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it."

Will they impose the death penalty on open carriers?

[Now]

"Gun!" BAM!BAM!BAM!

[Allahu Akbar]

And down the stretch they come! It's Robo with a commanding lead, Lord and Tarran eating his dust!

[tarran]

Dude, it never was a contest: I'm the Jamaican Bobsled team of morning links...

[Jerry]

I do hope RoboCain is pasting as many Reason links at The Daily Mail as he is posting Daily Mail links here at Reason.

[Rich]

the president's re-election campaign has poked fun at it, selling coffee cups with a picture of the president's birth record

I suspect those cups don't hold water.

[sloopyinca]

::wiggles fingers::

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just more than 2,100 people voted in the straw poll portion of the caucuses, which has no direct bearing on how the state's 29 delegates will be awarded. (The same was the case in other caucus states like Iowa, Colorado and Minnesota, it should be noted.)

Which is why we are putting so very much weight on these wins.

[Thom]

Someday the media will figure out how caucuses work. Someday.

[RoboCain]

Kate Moss topless:

http://www.ftape.com/media/?p=35084

[Rich]

Fannie Mae reports a $17 billion loss for 2011.

Sheesh, can't GMAC bail Fannie Mae out?

[Mike M.]

Creative gas thieves giving new meaning to "drill baby drill".

[Allahu Akbar]

It's Robo with an 18-length victory over his hapless rivals, setting a new blog record of 15 links in 10 minutes!

[RoboCain]

Kim Kardashian: ""I want to start a bible study group with my friends!"

http://thegloss.com/culture/ki.....asons-497/

[Lord Humungus]

completely OT: Since my Audio Research D-52B power amplifier has started to distort in one channel, I've been looking to buy something else. Repair of this thing would cost more than it cost me to buy - since it uses lots of proprietary parts.

I've seen that the market in used upscale stereo gear - especially vintage tube stuff - has pretty much exploded. Back when I first got into this hobby, getting a cheap 1960s Dynaco 70 EL34 amp set me back $125. The same amp now rolls for over $600. Even the same is true with the more upscale solid-state pieces. Vintage McIntosh gear like the MC250 and MC2100 have gone way up too.

Not that anyone cares...

[Allahu Akbar]

I care, Lord. I care.

[RoboCain]

My ST70 is worth $600? What about PAS pre-amps? I have like five of those.

Anyway, I doubt Audio Research makes their own electronic parts. What does the distortion sound like? Does it use the same PS for both channels?

[Lord Humungus]

The PAS is selling for $300-$400ish, depending on condition. The last one I bought three years ago, a late production, set me back $275.

The D-52B: It's probably the damn "analog modules" - which is their discrete version of an op-amp. They are black encased bits. It is apparently possible to replace them, but getting to them would require much disassembly.

pictures:
http://6streetbridge.blogspot......power.html

[Lord Humungus]

btw, the distortion sounds like clipping. Like the channel can only produce a 1/2W before breaking up. The other channel sounds normal. I know the power transformer is shared with two sets of capacitors per channel. Not sure if transformer uses a split secondary. PS Caps were replaced by ARC at some time.

My tube repair knowledge is vast, my SS - not so good.

[RoboCain]

I've never seen an amp using a split secondary to power channels separately (and at first glance it would seem like a bad idea). Regardless, transformers rarely go. While I doubt it's those potted modules (unless they have sockets), you could test that by swapping them.

Even though they were replaced, I would still suspect the cans. Electrolytics are prone to failure.

[Lord Humungus]

the major cans have been replaced - originally they were all large blue caps. Now they are newer Nichicons.

The problem with working on this amp is the tight construction. Getting to the parts to replace probably isn't worth the effort.

[RoboCain]

It still could be the cans. I've seen them go in less than a year.

[Lord Humungus]

I'll give it a shot...

[Troy]

You are right. I don't care.

[Lord Humungus]

told ya.

[P Brooks]

Peter Gleick, a MacArthur "genius" grant recipient for his work on global freshwater challenges and president of the Pacific Institute

This is extremely interesting. In my view, much of what is being sold as the adverse effects of "global warming" is really just terrible water policy.

[Al from somewhere]

Queen Liz, still hot?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....ement.html

[rac3rx]

No, but a snappy dresser indeed.

[RoboCain]

Lady Gaga used to look human:

http://flisted.com/137438/lady.....o-makeup1/

[Allahu Akbar]

Dude, the race is over. You won!

[Bet on Lord Humungus]

This was like the worst race ever.

[Rich]

RAAACIST!!

[Warty]

Whoever Jordan Carver is, she has quite a pair of tigs and no knowledge whatsoever of what to do with weights.

[Al from somewhere]

Is she sleeping?

[Translucent Chum]

http://www.detroitnews.com/art...../203010385

Call for banning headphones in 3..2..1...

[RoboCain]

That's my first now whenever anything bad happens.

[Rich]

Please relay my sympathy to the engineer.

[Joe M]

That's ridiculous. You ban earphones, and it'll be something else the next time. No, it's time to get serious, and ban trains.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'm for banning "stupid."

[invisible furry hand]

hell's bells, Breitbart's dead http://biggovernment.com/lsolov/2012/03/01/draft/#

[Al from somewhere]

Anonymous hacked them

[invisible furry hand]

Ben Howe says he has personal confirmation https://twitter.com/#!/Ben_Howe

Unless he's been hacked... damn the paranoia engendered by anonymous!

[Reason Subscriber]

I can't tell what's real any more.

[Mike M.]

Wow, that just absolutely sucks. I can't believe it.

[Twitter]

We have confirmed that it's either true or false.

[Abdul]

I don't mean to speak ill about someone recently deceased, but I always suspected he had a coke habit. I just can't figure out if he was awesome despite that, or because of that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The most notable case involving a court's order to disclose a purportedly classified document in a FOIA case stemmed from a 1998 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, rejecting a claim of classification for a letter the British government provided to the U.S. in connection with an alleged murder plot. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, but while the case was pending the British abandoned their claim of secrecy and authorized the U.S. to release the document. However, the U.S. government was so troubled by the Ninth Circuit ruling that it asked the Supreme Court to vacate the decision. The Supreme Court never ruled on the merits of the dispute, but did order the Ninth Circuit to effectively wipe its earlier ruling from the books.

No precedent, no problem.

[Matrix]

Feds unlock laptop of the woman who refused to unlock it herself under court order

[P Brooks]

the market in used upscale stereo gear - especially vintage tube stuff - has pretty much exploded.

At one time, I thought it would be cool to get a tube amp. I started looking around, and even a "reproduction" of what once would have been a basic low-end amp was more than a thousand bucks, as I recall.

So I got a T-amp; dead simple, excellent sound, for about seventy bucks.

[dunphy]

i've got a tube (guitar) amp.

i love the hi-tech stuff too, but there is something about the warmth of a tube amp.

[Lord Humungus]

I used to be solidly in the "tubez 4-ever" camp, but now I like t-amps, chip amps, SS amps, and tube amps. I've heard good stuff out of all topologies.

The best part about tube gear is they are so electronically simple that I can repair 'em.

[Dude!]

I listen to stolen, lossy MP3s on my iPod.

[mad libertarian guy]

Jolida.

Enough said. You can get them at needledoctor.com

[Al from somewhere]

Democracy doesn't work
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ad-us.html

[Matrix]

because we need someone to lead us...

We're too stupid to realize we DON'T need a leader.

[Sparky]

I wonder if they started with the assumption that 50% of people are below average intelligence.

[WTF]

A federal judge has ordered the Obama administration to release a classified document.

Just a little curious as to where in the Constitution the judicial branch is given authority to order about the executive branch.

[Zeb]

Laws apply to the executive branch too.

[Andrew Jackson]

Well, he's made his decision, now let him enforce it.

[Executive Branch]

Who's going to enforce it?

[Fatty Bolger]

Easter must be coming: New find revives 'Jesus Tomb' flap

[SugarFree]

Is the me'd link supposed to be an empty tomb joke?

[SIV]

SF'd link

[Fatty Bolger]

Doh! New find revives 'Jesus Tomb' flap

[Fatty Bolger]

Fixed link: New find revives 'Jesus Tomb' flap

[Fatty Bolger]

Fixed link

[Fatty Bolger]

Strange, spam filter wouldn't let me post a corrected link.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com.....-tomb-flap

[Fatty Bolger]

The spam filter won't let me post a corrected link. WTF?

[Pip (posted last night too)]

Does Al Franken Irony Much?

PETITION: MY BOSS IS NOT MY DOCTOR

DEAR REPUBLICANS:

My boss is not my doctor. My health care choices are none of my boss's business -- and none of yours, either.

Seriously -- what's wrong with you guys?

Signed
Al Franken
&
YOUR NAME + 769OTHERS HERE

Republicans want to put your boss in charge of your health care.

Is your boss a doctor? Probably not. And even if your boss IS a doctor, do you really want your boss deciding what kind of health care you're able to get?

If Republicans get their way, you could be denied coverage for contraception or any other treatment your boss doesn't feel like you should have.

Don't let Republicans turn your boss into your doctor -- sign this petition now!

http://alfranken.com/index.php.....KFMN62MO03

[Matrix]

Pip, don't want your boss making decisions you don't like? GET ANOTHER JOB!

[RoboCain]

Wow, that is some serious lack of self-awareness.

[Abdul]

What if you work for a doctor? Or, what if every single financial aspect of health care--including the decision not to get any--were controlled by the government?

[Sparky]

Come on, government controlling healthcare? Like that will ever happen.

[Fatty Bolger]

But it's OK for the government to tell the doctor what kind of medicine he is allowed to give you. Right, Al?

[bosty]

Do you want Al Franken to be your doctor?

[Matrix]

Alabama law maker wants to ban guns on school grounds ass

[WTF]

Because the same law in Ohio worked so well, oh, wait...

[RoboCain]

Isn't that already federal law?

[RoboCain]

"The Gun Free School Zones Act states:[6]

(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.....ct_of_1990

[Pope Jimbo]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.co.....bit-1.html

CA Museum uses $10M to move 340 ton rock, er, I mean art piece 106 miles in 11 days.

Only good news is that the money is via private donations.

[T]

I have a friend in Cali who's involved in the filming of the move. I think it's somewhat retarded from an art perspective. However, as a guy who's had to arrange for way too much heavy lift, I'm impressed with the work. They've done an excellent job. Moving 340 tons ain't easy.

[Pope Jimbo]

I agree that as an engineering feat, it is pretty cool.

The reason is why I'm mocking it. Couldn't you have built a fiberglass replica of the rock for way cheaper?

[Why]

Why are you asking us?

[Zeb]

Sounds like the final installation could be pretty cool. Seems like all good news to me if it is privately funded.

[P Brooks]

My boss is not my doctor. My health care choices are none of my boss's business -- and none of yours, either.

So you're okay with not making your boss pay your medical bills? Welcome aboard, Al!

[Davis]

I don't think he can hear you.

[John]

Who makes your boss pay anything? Your boss hired you and part of the inducement was him agreeing to pay your medical bills. Him ruling your entire life is not necessarily part of the bargain.

[kilroy]

So if I tell my boss to give me his cost for my healthcare and I'll go get my own, do I get the tax break too?

[MJ]

"Your boss hired you and part of the inducement was him agreeing to pay your medical bills."

Except for those expenses he did not agree to pay for. Remember, John, this is a Leftist talking point, so "not paying for" equals "controlling".

[P Brooks]

McCutcheon is in the process of drafting the yet-to-be named legislation, and told WHNT News 19 that Alabama's concealed carry laws should not extend to school property for the sake of safety.

"The law enforcement community approached me about this issue," said McCutcheon.

That can't be right. The cops never actively lobby for more laws. Evil power-mad legislators just jam those laws right up their asses!

[RoboCain]

""IF YOUR minicab's not booked, it's just a stranger's car." So reads a poster plastered across London's tube stations and bus stops, part of campaign to encourage Londoners to avoid unlicensed taxis and minicabs."

http://www.economist.com/blogs.....ing-cabs-0

[PS]

Wow, a classical liberal article in the Economist, reminds me of the good old days when they were the best magazine around.

[Troy]

I got to go home early today because I ripped the ass out of my pants. I squat a lot. But I am a skinny guy. Anyway, it felt fun running around the bible belt with my ass hanging out.

I went to a pentecostel service with this hot chick. OMFuckingG they were doing the "laying hands" shit and this dude behind me started, toward the end of the service, to speak in tounges. So I asked the hottie if the god dude would faith heal problems with your heath. She said, "yes." So I am going in there next week to see if this dude will lay hands on my erectile dysfunction.

[RoboCain]

Cool story, bro?

[Troy]

Well, god damn it. Where is you ripping your ass story?

[RoboCain]

What?

[SugarFree]

You should see if they can faith heal your pants.

[Warty]

Maybe if you slip the preacher a hundred, he'll faith-heal you into that chick's pants. "Demons of chastity that infest this righteous babe's cooch, I cast thee OUT!!"

[RoboCain]

Internet Killed The Fellatio Star?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....ssion.html

[John]

The porn industry is sort of like the illegal drug industry. The more something is taboo and illegal, the more it is worth. Once porn wasn't illegal and people lost all of their modesty such that a decent percentage of people were willing to make their own tapes for the sheer perverse joy of it, they were done. It would be as if cocaine became legal and technology allowed everyone to make the stuff in their basement. The Mexican drug cartels would be out of business.

[Matrix]

Well, the cartels are not exactly behind the idea of legalizing drugs. They know it would completely destroy their business.

[John]

And I am quite sure the porn industry would get behind indecency laws that kept people from posting homemade porn on the internet.

[Warty]

There's always going to be hot chicks willing to do whatever someone with a camera wants. It's a wonderful thing.

[Troy]

Chicks like Aurora Snow, Trinity Post, Bobbi Starr, Alicia Alighatti, Renee Pornero, and God fucking bless them.

[Troy]

You know what I like about Lady Gaga. At least so far. She hasn't gotten that schnoz fixed. I think she looks hotter she was just a burnette. But that schnoz. They could use it in the Olympics for the ski jumping competition.

[kinnath]

I assume she won't for the same reason Babs wouldn't. They won't risk any impact to the tone of their voices.

[R C Dean]

I doubt anyone really knows what Gaga's singing voice actually sounds like, given the level of electronic "treatment" in her songs.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

It sounds pretty much the same. Pull her Cherrytree piano solos or listen to her in concert.

[RoboCain]

That, and Streisand would need a complete face transplant like that Cage/Travolta movie.

[kinnath]

Regardless, she did answer the direct question once of why she didn't get her nose fixed after she became rich. The answer was that the doctor's could not guarentee there would be no change to her singing voice.

[Zeb]

Same with Freddie Mercury's teeth.

[Ice Nine]

Bullying isn't, of course, just physical violence. Lady Gaga's mother...says that one of the most hurtful episodes in her daughter's childhood came when schoolmates organized a party and deliberately excluded Lady Gaga.

It's idiotic statements like this that make me ignore all the current "bullying" hysteria. When everything is "bullying" what is true harassment and intimidation? The word has joined "racism" and "fascism" in the ranks of meaningless terms.

[BakedPenguin]

Defining deviancy down. Or, when everything is 'wrong', nothing is.

[Killazontherun]

In the eighth grade the dorks formed a club based on antagonizing me. One of the best things that ever happened to me because the jocks took me in, and I began to get involved in athletics.

[Ice Nine]

Terrorized by dorks; rescued by benevolent, loving jocks. You broke some new ground there, my friend.

[Ranger Rick]

That's how I feel about Anne Hathaway. Why be like Muriel Hemmingway ruined who her natual beauty.

[RoboCain]

Why, what's wrong with Anne Hathaway?

[Ranger Rick]

Not a god damned thing.

[Davy Jones]

? Then I saw her face,
Now I'm a cadaver. ?

[Matrix]

Word to the wise: Remove your dentures before engaging in sexual activities

[RoboCain]

Gumjob?

[Matrix]

It's bad to bring a knife to a gunfight, but officials in Illinois think you'll be okay bringing hair burshes and pens and pencils to a gunfight. You can't make this stuff up.

[RoboCain]

Feminists -- who dominate the discourse on rape -- are liberals, So they are scared of guns. And penises. Although I'm surprised this advice isn't "victim blaming":

"Women who log onto an Illinois State Police Web page will find they are advised to protect themselves [in case of sexual assault] with a 'rat tail comb, keys, pens and pencils' against an assailant armed with a gun or knife. As a last resort, women are told put their fingers into their throats and to make themselves vomit, apparently to make themselves less attractive."

[SugarFree]

As a last resort, women are told put their fingers into their throats and to make themselves vomit, apparently to make themselves less attractive.

Better not try that shit with STEVE SMITH. He will claw new holes into you because raping the existing ones won't be enough.

[Brett L]

This is actually part of my bear survival strategy. Well, actually to shit myself and hope the bear thinks I'm too spoiled to eat.

[John]

All those things are going to do is piss the guy off and make the rape less violent. For anything but a female MMA fighter, a gun is the only answer against an aggressive male bent on doing her harm.

[John]

more violent.

[Tim]

Lets see, you're too civilized or compassionate to carry or use a gun but you're going to stick a pen in a man's eyeball? Good luck.

[Troy]

I have instructed my daughter to shoot him in the fucking thigh. Savor the moment for a couple of minutes then shoot one of his feet. Make him beg, then put him out of his misery.

[Matrix]

In Illinois, she would be considered worse than the rapist.

[RoboCain]

"A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?'" the email joke reads. "His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"

http://thinkprogress.org/justi.....estiality/

[John]

Liberals have really lost the ability to understand humor. The joke is funny because of the contrast between sex and bestiality. It is not saying one is equal to the other. It is saying that Obama's mother was so drunk she couldn't tell the difference.

That is a terrible think to say about his mother. But it is no comparing interracial sex to bestiality. Liberals seem to have lost the ability to think abstractly.

[Ice Nine]

Seriously, why is this joke racist? Because the set-up mentions the fact that Obama is black?

[John]

It is not. The joke is sexist. It is a horrible insult to Obama's mother. But it is not racist. They only think it is because they apparently have lost the ability to see and understand humor.

[RoboCain]

I don't think insulting one woman qualifies as sexism. Unless you're a liberal, then everything is sexist and racist.

[Liberals]

It's only okay when WE do it.

For the children.

[Anonymous Coward]

Implying that a woman is a drunken slut isn't sexist, it's humorous. All good humor requires that some party be insulted for their appearance, actions, or thoughts.

[P Brooks]

As a last resort, women are told put their fingers into their throats and to make themselves vomit, apparently to make themselves less attractive.

"Ewww."

"Seriously?"

"That is so gross."

[R C Dean]

Still funny.

[Ranger Rick]

The "That's so gross" girl sure is a cutie.

[RoboCain]

"I openly acknowledge that Bridesmaids made a political statement when it threw one of its characters up on a bathroom counter and had her shit in a sink."

http://feministing.com/2012/02.....-the-mark/

[BakedPenguin]

I'd have to agree. That's the exact mental picture I get whenever some feministinger makes a political statement.

[RoboCain]

Selling drugs is the same thing as wanting to "access public education", apparently.

http://feministing.com/2012/02.....more-44975

[affenkopf]

Koch brothers sue Cato.

Rothbard was right, etc.

[Matrix]

Billionaires Charles and David Koch have filed a lawsuit against the Cato Institute, which Charles Koch founded in 1974, in a fight for control of the influential conservative think tank.

Hmmm....

[Pro Libertate]

"Conservative" is just a synonym for "icky."

[kilroy]

They corrected it.

[JoeInDenver]

So if I take a digital copy of the Koran and delete or otherwise adulterate the copy have I committed a sin punishable by death? What if I hit the "undo" button right after the act of alteration? Where's the guidance on Holy Books in the digital age?

[AuH20]

Robocain, it is on tomorrow. I used to be the king of excessive linking.

Let's do this bitch!

[RoboCain]

You may have noticed I usually don't post much on Friday AM.

[AuH20]

Well, I want you! I want the Robot!

/Apollo Creed

[Joey Johns]

I really do think we should have "Burn a Koran day" Make it a national holiday. burn baby burn!

http://www.Went-Anon.tk

[Eduard van Haalen]

Senate to conscientious objectors: Drop dead

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....1-11-33-40

[Numeromancer]

... invited Lady Gaga because they had been searching for ways to address bullying as a neglected area of education...

And you (yes, YOU) voted against that school levy---shame on you.