A.M. Links: Taliban Takes Credit for Kabul Attacks, Egyptian Presidential Candidates Disqualified, Arctic Newest Venue for Military Buildups

• The Taliban is taking credit for coordinated attacks across Kabul this weekend.

• Mubarak replacement Omar Suleiman and the Muslim Brotherhood's chief strategist Khairat el-Shater are among 10 presidential candidates disqualified by the election commission in Egypt.
• David Axelrod says President Obama and the First Lady don't plan on sending the U.S. Treasury extra money despite paying a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.
• Man uses physics to get out of $400 ticket.
• The Arctic could be the newest setting for an old-fashioned military build-up.
• Google's co-founder is worried about the future of the Internet, because of Facebook and Apple.

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Comments

[sarcasmic]

The glaciers are growing! The glaciers are growing!

Just don't tell Big Al.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....IGGER.html

[o3]

but not the artic ice caps which continue shrinking
_

As ice cap melts, militaries vie for Arctic edge By ERIC TALMADGE
Associated Press

YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) -- To the world's military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes and a slew of potential conflicts.

Noting that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe, the U.S. Navy in 2009 announced a beefed-up Arctic Roadmap by its own task force on climate change that called for a three-stage strategy to increase readiness, build cooperative relations with Arctic nations and identify areas of potential conflict.

Acknowledging the need to keep apace in the Arctic, the United States is pouring funds into figuring out what climate change will bring, and has been working closely with the scientific community to calibrate its response.

http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/.....6-03-38-52

[wareagle]

love the juxtaposition of the two posts above: glaciers getting larger? Proof of climate change. If glaciers were getting smaller? Still proof. And for some reason, I cannot see the negative in making available new resources and shipping lanes. Then again, the climate change fanatics are always against anything that benefits man.

[sarcasmic]

Heads they win, tails you lose.

[T o n y]

Stabilizing the climate doesn't benefit man? You want to experiment with a climate shift unlike any seen in the history of the human species, just to open up new shipping lanes?

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Stabilizing the climate doesn't benefit man?

So now your argument is that we should start fucking with the planet just for our own benefit?

You want to experiment with a climate shift unlike any seen in the history of the human species

You realize the Earth is 4.6 billion years old and the human species has only been around 200,000 years? Sounds like you're the one wanting to experiment with climate shift just because you don't agree with Mother Earth.

[fried wylie]

Sounds like you're the one wanting to experiment with climate shift just because you don't agree with Mother Earth.

Bitch wont adhere to his Pan-Urban Plans, wtf?!

[T o n y]

I realize it's Monday morning, but could you try being a little coherent?

Yeah what concerns me is the optimal climate for the human species. Particularly when the human species itself is responsible for major alternations, we ought to apply a modicum of precaution, don't you think?

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Yeah what concerns me is the optimal climate for the human species. Particularly when the human species itself is responsible for major alternations, we ought to apply a modicum of precaution, don't you think?

One could only wonder what the not-so-unintended consequences could possibly be.

[T o n y]

Of precaution?

[Soc Indv Sparky]

One more then I'm done with this lunacy.

Of precaution?

Yes Tony. Let's set the climate at exactly what is optimal for humans to survive. What could possibly go wrong?

[T o n y]

Let's continue altering the chemical makeup of the atmosphere unchecked... what could possibly go wrong?

[sarcasmic]

One could only wonder what the not-so-unintended consequences could possibly be.

It's ironic how the precautionary principle ignores it's own consequences.

Just another fallacy for the fool to fellate.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Debating him is an exercise in futility. He won't do it in good faith. He is completely without reasoning abilities. And most importantly, he is a fucking immoral pig who rationalizes theft.

He is not worth more than a couple of keystrokes and two mouse clicks. So tony and I have set up a little code:

$ = FUCK YOU TONY, YOU IMMORAL FUCKING PIG!

Much less time consuming than attempting to reason with a doorknob.

[T o n y]

How am I lacking good faith? By not unquestioningly accepting the idiotic premises you acquired from the only book you ever read?

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[T o n y]

I've read all of Ayn Rand's books and I don't recall them ever advocating being deliberately ignorant of scientific findings or doing unpaid shill work for rent-seeking industries.

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[sarcasmic]

$ = FUCK YOU TONY, YOU IMMORAL FUCKING PIG!

That works.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Agreed, I'm in.

[Mr. FIFY]

Kill yourself, Tony. That way, you can prove you care about Mother Earth.

[Mr. FIFY]

Or... just kill yourself. For the hell of it.

We promise we'd miss you for a handful of seconds.

[John Thacker]

There are better sources for the ice caps shrinking than the military coming up with plans to fight it.

After all, would you believe that cybercrime is a huge deal just because the military has announced expensive plans to fight it?

[T o n y]

"The startling find has baffled scientists and comes at a time when glaciers in other parts of the region, and across the world, are shrinking."

"A study of the neighbouring Himalayas in 2011 found the rate of ice loss in glaciers - which provide fresh water for around 1.3 billion people - has doubled since the 1980s."

But those don't count.

Your article gives a possible explanation (mass gain from avalanches). You're giddy with the possibility that your untenable position on the opposite side of science has merit, all by posting an article that clearly doesn't agree with your stance.

This is confirmation bias. Or what libertarians call studying up.

[wareagle]

no Tony..mostly it means that a lot of us think politicians who think they can control weather/climate are full of shit. Nature is its own entity and operates irrespective of blowhard bureaucrats and paid-for scientists.

[Randian]

Don't talk to it. Do you not see that it only wants responses and attention rather than honest discussion?

[T o n y]

What honest discussion could possibly be had when one interlocutor is a denier of scientific fact and has demonstrated ham-handed confirmation bias in order to maintain that position?

Honest discussion is possible only after everyone agrees to basic precepts of logic and empirical standards.

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[o3]

yes auburn, nature, animals, & the US Navy does operate irrespective of deniers

[sarcasmic]

Please ignore the fallacy fellating master-baiter.

[o3]

stick to dailymail softporn at which ur adequate

[Randian]

Oh snap! Orrin with the sick burn!

[sarcasmic]

Some people consider that a public service.

[T o n y]

But not irrespective of changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

You're too dumb to realize it, but you're on the wrong side here.

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[T o n y]

Read another book.

[Francisco d Anconia]

$

[T o n y]

OO=====D

[Anacreon]

Wait -- if the glaciers don't melt, how can they provide fresh water?

[sarcasmic]

Dude marries woman who can't talk, and she gets her voice back after thirty plus years. What a drag.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-talk.html

[Drax the Destroyer]

So...the first she told him to do was to "Take out the Trash," right?

[Rich]

More probably: "We need to talk". 😉

[fried wylie]

to be fair, in a marriage, you should talk at least once, so your suggestion isn't that farfetched, Rich.

[sarcasmic]

Chelsea Clinton is still a cow (John would fuck her).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....iends.html

[kinnath]

What do you get when you cross a crooked politician with a lying lawyer?

A daughter named.....

[sarcasmic]

Redundancy squared?

[creech]

That's no way to refer to our future kleptocratic president.

[Kaptious Kristen]

All those dudes look like complete tools/boy banders. But I don't expect First Daughter to actually hang out with real men.

[Pip]

Woof, woof!

[rac3rx]

Chip off the old block.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....tclub.html

[sarcasmic]

Before Heelys there were these...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-feet.html

[Elspeth Flashman]

cool!

[sarcasmic]

Youth continues to be wasted on the young.

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

[Ice Nine]

And bikini tops continue to be wasted on Kendall Jenner.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How could you not link to this?

ZILF?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....model.html

[sarcasmic]

easy

[fried wylie]

Hard to believe she's just 16! Kendall Jenner looks older than her years as she shows off her model shape in stunning bikini shoot

In what way, shape, or form is that article acceptable according to societal norms and/or the laws that would slam down on me if I were to offer her a ride?

[sarcasmic]

My work is done.

[Hell's Librarian]

Daily Mail needs pics of some hot guys for the ladeees.

Also, Kendall Jenner isn't bad, but some of those pics were photoshopped in a horrific way.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I agree (about the Daily Mail.)

[sarcasmic]

They usually have something with that Beckham dude in some state of disrobing.

[AuH2O]

Here ya go:

Usher

[invisible furry hand]

thanks but... meh

[AuH2O]

Well, your choice from the first page is Usher, Prince Harry, Marky Mark, or Zac Efron.

...So, slim pickins.

[fried wylie]

Marky Mark, easy.

...erm, No Homo.

[Hell's Librarian]

LOL. I Like how they have him juxtaposed with Justin Bieber further down, for a double dose of teh sexay.

[AuH2O]

Justin Bieber, with his complete lack of physique, is the epitome of Hipster Hot. In a few years, all the girls who like him will be going for dudes with ironic mustaches.

[Ramjet]

Uh, no.

[AuH2O]

Well, it's not my fault that there isn't a law forcing Jon Hamm to appear shirtless at least once a week, okay?

[invisible furry hand]

and that's the problem with libertarianism right there

[Randian]

He'll fix your sink, though.

[Pip]

For some reason I read that as "He'll fix your stink, though."

[fried wylie]

"He'll cure what smells ya."

[Soc Indv Sparky]

France responds to England for locking up Babar.

The source confirmed that if the gun was real, brandishing it in a public place is punishable by up to seven years' jail "for all parties involved." Even if it was fake, the maximum jail term is two years.

"Certainly, if you were in a car and knew somebody was using a gun to warn people off, you'd be liable to arrest," the source said.

[Chupacabra]

Wait, what the fuck?

Brandishing a fake gun can get you up to 2 years in jail?

[mr simple]

I keep thinking I'd like to visit France and then stories like this pop up and I think why would I go to such a high concentration of stupid? So she could be arrested because she was in the vicinity of a gun?

[Lord Humungus]

Corzine Steals Billions Sans Charges, Errant Whale Watcher Faces Prison
http://www.realclearmarkets.co.....99618.html

Justice may be blind, but who works overtime to make it deaf, dumb, and stupid?

Which would you imagine might attract more aggressive enforcement from the Justice Department: the theft of $1.2 billion from supposedly segregated customer brokerage funds, or lying about an alleged incident of whistling to attract the attention of a whale so that whale watchers could get a better peep? If you said the latter, then you appreciate the extent to which federal law enforcement priorities have run off the rails.

[shrike]

Corzine didn't steal a dime, you fucking moron. MFG had a long history of failing audits and losing money before he got there.

[Bee Tagger]

Corzine didn't steal a dime

That's a bizarre thing to be absolutely certain about.

[Citizen Nothing]

Needz moar dymz.

[Rich]

Don't do the dymz if you can't do the tymz.

[shrike]

http://www.securitiestechnolog.....418-1.html

From 2008-2010 they were fined repeated times for the same violations that brought them down. Corzine joined mid 2010. He was the sucker at the table.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

If only Corzine could read, he might have known what was going on before he joined. Fucking MFG took advantage of the poor guy. There's no way he could possibly have joined to get a piece of the pie.

[NotSure]

So Shrike is saying this guy was utterly clueless about the company he joined (as CEO no less), had no idea what was going on when he was running the company and then did not tell the truth to what happened to the money after the bankruptcy.

This would require Corzine to be clueless buffoon, how that makes this guy any more defendable does not work though.

[shrike]

He may be a clueless buffoon. Notice who pleaded the 5th? The longtime Treasurer/Checkwriter did.

[NotSure]

So this clueless buffoon is praised by your master as being such a fiscal wiz, what does that make your master ?

Why you against Bush then, he is also not guilty like Corzine, he simply was a clueless bufoon as well.

[tarran]

Because it's fucking impossible for more than one person to commit fraud when a giant corporation commits fraud.

Dude, you really are the king of non-sequiturs today.

[Chupacabra]

I'm sure shrike feels the same about Ken Lay and the rest of the Enron management team.

[Bee Tagger]

That sounds like a reason to avoid being certain he's a thief not a reason to declare he's not a thief.

[tarran]

John Gotti never extorted anyone, you fucking moron. The Castellano crime family had a history of having their enemies mysteriously end up dead long before he got there.

[plu1959]

++

[o3]

nice conflation, properly cooked.

[Bardas Phocas]

John Wilkes Booth didn't shoot anyone, you fucking moron. Actors have a long history of firing pistols into the audience.

[AuH2O]

Stalin never committed genocide, you idiot. The Soviet Army had a long history of shooting random civilians.

[Francisco d Anconia]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....otout.html

[invisible furry hand]

maybe they were varmints who needed shootin'

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Did he personally steal it? Probably not. Did customer accounts get emptied to fund MF expenses on Corzine's watch? YES. Are you really saying he should not be accountable for this? I'm with Schwab, personally, and if my account was emptied to fund Schwab's proprietary trading I would want to see a perp walk, stat.

[tarran]

Actually, Corzine ordered the transfer; he was buying government bonds at a discount from their holders betting that - thanks to bailouts - the bonds would be redeemed at full face value.

When the governments announced they would not be paying pennies on the dollar - it became clear that MF had spent a large fortune purchasing a small fortune.

Shrike is just jumping up and down shrieking that people should look elsewhere...

[shrike]

No, MFG's demise had been predicted.

http://www.americanbanker.com/.....623-1.html

Corzine finished them off. He deserves the full penalty which is a lifetime ban from the securities industry.

[Mr. FIFY]

Hmm... shrike, defending criminal-minded Democrat fat-cat businessman.

The sun must have come up this morning.

[Lord Humungus]

The Titanic was a real ship? Women shouldn't be allowed to vote
http://www.fivefeetoffury.com/.....d-to-vote/

[Hell's Librarian]

Now now. Let's be fair here. These particular women shouldn't be allowed to vote.

(GOD the stupid in those comments is just soul-crushing.)

[Ramjet]

Or reproduce.

[fried wylie]

Or let out of the kitchen.

[Abdul]

Okay, Titanic was real, but Schindler's List was still just a movie, right?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Wait until they find out about Apollo 13.

[Bardas Phocas]

Or Road Warrior.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Or The Blair Witch Project.

[Rich]

Or Wag the Dog.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Or Capricorn One

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Or Planet of the Apes.

[Elspeth Flashman]

gaah!

[Brett L]

Facebook is a boundless stupidity reservoir? Who knew?

[PapayaSF]

Those are from Twitter, which makes Facebook look like a Mensa meeting.

[shrike]

Muslim Brotherhood's chief strategist Khairat el-Shater are among 10 presidential candidates disqualified by the election commission in Egypt.

One of the many wingnuts here was just saying how the Muslim Bros were taking over in Egypt.

[Ice Nine]

Oh right, the Election Commission just ended their aspirations. Nothing a few well-placed bombs won't fix.

[wareagle]

oh please. They are the most organized group seeking Parliamentary seats. Not having one guy running for President hardly makes them impotent. After the MB has a a majority, you will look even more foolish. And by teh way, that will be exactly the outcome POTUS expected.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mubarak replacement Omar Suleiman and the Muslim Brotherhood's chief strategist Khairat el-Shater are among 10 presidential candidates disqualified by the election commission in Egypt.

All born in Kenya.

[Suki]

Well, that is pretty close to the way Maobama became a politician. Rezko connections should not be discounted.

[Lord Humungus]

Events do not wait as Obama plays a delay defense
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Barack Obama's foreign policy strategy in this election year might be best summed up by William F. Buckley's famous promise: to "stand athwart history, yelling stop." Wherever war rages, crisis looms, or a truculent strongman glowers, the message from the White House has been the same: "Give me space."

[o3]

what's the message when u hate sum obama for intervening (libya) and NOT intervening? >oops - my bad, its a radio message acourse!

[Ice Nine]

They celebrate Tet in Afghanistan?

[Lord Humungus]

Why Your Highway Has Potholes
Americans don't want to live in Ray LaHood's car-free utopia.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

The current scheme also creates giant inequities. Politically powerful cities get a big chunk of the money, while many Western and Southern states get less back than they pay in. But why should people in Akron, Ohio or Casper, Wyoming have to pay gas taxes to finance the New York subway or light rail in Denver? One reason there is so much overspending on inefficient urban transit is that federal matching dollars require residents in other states to foot up to half the bill.

The best solution would be to return all the gas tax money to the states, roughly in proportion to the money each pays in. This would allow states and localities to determine which roads and transit projects they really need?and are willing to pay for. California could decide for itself if it wants more roads, whether it can afford high-speed rail, and whether it wants to use congestion-pricing on crowded roads. The House Transportation Committee has found that getting a permit for a new road costs twice as much, and takes three times as long, when federal money is included than when financed with private or local dollars.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Of course, the Feds could just stop collecting the gas tax and not involve themselves in the process at all.

[sarcasmic]

But then how could they blackmail states into passing laws if they didn't have federal highway funds to attach conditions to?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I guess they could threaten them with DEA raids, since the roads are used for drug transportation. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Elspeth Flashman]

that'd work, because commerce clause + necessary & proper clause = anything Congress wants!

[sarcasmic]

Don't forget general welfare.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I did forget, thanks for the reminder.

[Quetzalcoatl]

We'll see if political popularity is a necessary part of that equation in June, hopefully.

[Suki]

Of course, the Feds could just stop collecting the gas tax and not involve themselves in the process at all.

Exactly, the best solution that never dawned on that writer.

[Rich]

LaHood has been pushing a strange "livability" agenda, which he defines as "being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get in your car."

What is this "post office" to which LaHood refers?

Also, I think he meant to say "without having to get *out of* your car".

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Maybe he should live somewhere where he can do that and stop trying to foist that crap on everyone else.

[Randian]

Seriously, is America in danger of running out of room? Why the urgency to stack people on top of one another?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Because proper progressive people don't want to live in small western towns where, god forbid, some people might not agree with them on principle.

[Suki]

Until they get upset about "concrete canyons" and switch the whine against suburbs to the whine against cities.

[wareagle]

because people-stacking brings us one step closer to the realization of an American Europe. At least on the Continent, building upward is done by necessity; here it is apparently going to be legislated reality.

[Randian]

It isn't out of necessity that the Continent does it. It's because of the history of the cities, really. In the 1300 and 1400s, you had to have everything close by, and things have just sort of stayed that way. No such historical inertia exists in America, and it seems strange to try to impose history that isn't there in an effort to do some cargo-cult mimicry.

[T o n y]

In terms of how humans live, density = efficiency. Cities use less energy per capita than suburbs.

[Virginian]

So?

[T o n y]

So it's not like suburban sprawl was created by a free and natural market--it was created by government policy (including those evil housing inducements).

I can think of many reasons, apart from energy efficiency, to promote more density, and none of them is a desire to look more like Europe (except insofar as Europe does things better than the US).

[Anonymous Coward]

Tony w/spaces, you're the worst sockpuppet ever.

[Joe M]

So it's not like suburban sprawl was created by a free and natural market--it was created by government policy (including those evil housing inducements).

Government promoted a lifestyle which Tony doesn't like, so it was bad.

I can think of many reasons, apart from energy efficiency, to promote more density, and none of them is a desire to look more like Europe (except insofar as Europe does things better than the US).

Government is promoting a lifestyle which Tony does like, so it's good.

I'm sure you'll find no disagreement from most here that the government shouldn't have promoted sprawl, but it shouldn't be promoting density either. Make up your mind whether the market is good.

[T o n y]

Government is integral to any market. Any social order will be the result of both government policy and market forces. Your premises are faulty.

[Joe M]

So then stop complaining if the government promotes a lifestyle you disagree with, if you think it's allowed to do it.

[rac3rx]

Well except normal people don't want to live like caged rats.

[JerseyPatriot]

The spreading in America is heavily reliant on govenrment regulation and subsidy. Zoning laws, expressways, and interstate highways all encourage spreading, and these don't exactly emerge from bottom-up Hayekian processes.

[Randian]

There is just as much evidence that density is sustained by inefficient government subsidies to transportation networks and other regulations and subsidies.

What evidence do you have that the suburbs are entirely, or even mostly, a creation of government? You have a serious revealed preference problem, regardless of the cost differences.

[Mr. FIFY]

So... should we be FORCED to live in cities?

Sure sounds like it.

[T o n y]

Encouraged. Just as government encouraged people to buy single-family homes and drive cars. The very least we could do is remove the subsidies and other inducements that promote that inefficient lifestyle. You can't disagree about that, except to the extent that (like most libertarians) you assume the status quo is the product of a free market.

[PapayaSF]

If you want more people to move to cities, just get rid of the idiot and corrupt Democrats who govern them.

[T o n y]

People should do whatever they want. Personally, the farther from the city I am the closer to hell I feel.

It would be nice if gun-toting idiots from rural areas stopped having such a disproportionate influence on national policy, though.

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else forced people to live in cities?

[Mr. FIFY]

Yeah... every gun owner is an idiot.

Fuckhead.

Then again, what else would one expect from Team Blue?

[Quetzalcoatl]

It sounds like he wants to go live in a mall, a la Dawn of the Dead.

[Randian]

Those people got to shoot Jay Leno, drink, and hump each other.

Not seeing the downside here.

[Lord Humungus]

oh, the remake was worse than the original.

[Spoonman.]

I'm pretty sure it's less efficient for my wife and I to take the bus to the grocery store several times a week than to take the car once a week.

And I could never go to Costco without a car, and I can't live without Costco.

[Kaptious Kristen]

being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get in your car.

This is the fucking nightmare I live every day. Fuck you, LaHood.

[Brett L]

Keep the peasants in their home villages. Make it harder for them to travel and band together. Standard czarist tactics. Oh, wait, he's not that kind of Czar?

[Rich]

Before others try the "physics defense" in before a judge, Krioukov warned that it took a perfect combination of events for his argument to legitimately hold up.

Don't be like that dude who tried the blueshift argument to get out of running a red light and was slapped with a big speeding ticket.

[Brandon]

It was a stop sign, and it worked.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Man uses physics to get out of $400 ticket.

My high school physics teacher was wrong. It is useful in real life!

[Lord Humungus]

A Veteran's Death, the Nation's Shame
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04.....l?_r=2&hp;

In 1953, Joseph Stalin signed the plans for a top-secret nuclear submarine base that would become the operational home for the fearsome Soviet Black Sea Fleet.

Hidden inside the base of a mountain in the port town of Balaklava on Ukraine's Crimean coast, the 153,000 square-foot facility took nine years to build and its entrance camouflaged from spy planes. It could survive a direct nuclear hit and at maximum capacity could hold 3,000 people with supplies to sustain them for a month. Best of all, the vast subs that slunk in and out of here between tours of duty could enter and leave underwater, keeping them from prying eyes at all times.

Once the most sensitive and secretive of Soviet Cold War hotspots, today it is preserved as a museum. I manage to get special permission to drive into the base during the 8,000-mile Land Rover Journey of Discovery expedition to Beijing. We were the first to do so since the Soviet trucks and trailers that ferried in missiles, supplies and essentials over its 40 years of operation.

[Lord Humungus]

whoops -

veteran suicide story is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04.....l?_r=2&hp;

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Kristof is gunning for the position of National Concern Troll

[mr simple]

Didn't Anthony Bourdain visit that place a couple years back?

[Auric Demonocles]

Man uses physics to get out of $400 ticket.

And I was really eager to hear the science behind it. Not a very detailed article.

[Bee Tagger]

Reporter unable to use lack of physics to get out of article assignment.

[plu1959]

hehehe

[db]

Yeah, that was pretty poorly written.

[kinnath]

There was just enough there to look like total BS.

[Jerry]

He probably applied the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?

[o3]

heisenberg took to cooking meth

[Rich]

I was really eager to hear the science behind it.

To be fair, DHS probably didn't permit such exposition.

[Gray Ghost]

Let's try this again.

Here's the arxiv paper from the physicist, explaining why he was innocent of the 'California stop' ticket.

[Gray Ghost]

And this is a blog post, with the cliff's notes version of the professor's 4 page paper.

[Auric Demonocles]

+1

Though this basically boils down to "there was a car in the way so he couldn't see the actual stop".

[SugarFree]

Acamedia Strikes Again: Do Big-Box Stores Help Create Hate Groups? Study Says Yes

The amount of Wal-Mart stores in a county was more statistically significant than other factors commonly regarded as important to hate group participation, such as the unemployment rate, high crime rates and low education, the research found.

"Wal-Mart has clearly done good things in these communities, especially in terms of lowering prices," said Stephan Goetz, a Penn State University professor who also serves as the director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. "But there may be indirect costs that are not as obvious as other effects."

[tarran]

Don't you see, sugarfree, if Walmart unionized, like Target, then they wouldn't intrinsically promote right wing hate groups!

[Randian]

Target's not union. Did I miss some sarcasm somewhere?

[tarran]

No, for some reason I thought they were unionized. Whoops!

[Suki]

Walmart is from Arkansas founded by a small shopkeeper, Target was founded in Minnesota by a New York banker. It always goes back to jealous northerners upset at uppity Southerners.

[Bee Tagger]

such as the unemployment rate, high crime rates and low education, the research found.

I imagine the good professor thinks Wal-Mart creates these things as well.

[Lord Humungus]

unemployed poor people with high crime rates and low education don't ever need to buy anything - don't you know?

[Soc Indv Sparky]

A key factor is that many local merchants are forced out of business after finding it difficult to compete against large retailers, according to the study.

Local business owners are typically members of community and civic groups, such as the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, which help establish programs promoting civic engagement and fostering community values. Goetz said losing members of such groups may cause a drop in community cohesion.

Don't you see? You just CAN'T compete with Wal-Mart, it's utterly impossible. Wal-Mart is eating away the fabric of America the goddamn commies.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Then again, online retailers like Amazon are getting ready to rape Walmart (and the like) Guangzhou Gangbang style. Competition is possible, you just have to cut costs by getting rid of the unnecessary chaff that will eventually be maintaining the sex-robots of the future. What would you rather do? Greet people at Walmart and change out used-up robot vaginas? I think the choice is clear.

[Suki]

Still can't walk into Amazon and open a bank account, then walk down the aisle and buy fresh produce and shotgun shells.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Wal-Mart's earnings and stock price have done next to nothing for about a decade. It seems to me that just maybe, it is not the invincible juggernaut some people think it is.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Fucking correlation /= causation, How does it work?

[Abdul]

Where else do you find "White Power" t-shirts in XXXXL?

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Right next to the XXXXL Daisy Dukes.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Didn't need that image in my head

[Abdul]

Racism is seXXXXy!

[plu1959]

Then you will probably want to avoid this website.

[DJF]

""""The researchers suggest Wal-Mart use the study's data to determine strategies for supporting local groups that can foster stronger social and economic community ties.""'

And I bet if Wal-Mart supports with large amounts of money, the correct local groups such as the SPLC, they will not be associated with racists or haters. No money, no peace.

[Suki]

They already support "green" projects all over the place and you see where that is getting them. Just a waste of money and messing up the bottom line.

[SIV]

I can see it sparking "xenophobia".

WalMart on a weekend will give you a good idea of how many Mexicans live in your community. Go to the super mercado, flea market or taqueria and you'll think they've taken over.

[T]

Me and the wife used to refer to one of the local WalMarts as WallyMundo, because if we went in there on a Saturday, we were the only anglos in the joint.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

At least you didn't have to drive your family cross country in a beat-up station wagon just to have it be closed when you got there.

[Brian D]

According to the study by professors at Penn State University, New Mexico State University and Michigan State University, the number of Wal-Mart stores in a county correlates significantly with the number of hate groups in the area.

...

While the study only specifically examined the correlation between hate groups and Wal-Mart stores, the researchers feel the presence of Wal-Mart in an area generally indicates the establishment of other types of big-box retailers, such as Home Depot and Target.

"We're not trying to pick on Wal-Mart," Goetz said. "In this study, Wal-Mart is really serving as a proxy for any type of large retailer."

We're not trying to pick on Wal-Mart, but by using only them as a proxy for all large retailers (as opposed to actually using all retailers) the conclusion we want people to come to is more plausible.

[Suki]

Maybe they missed a few "hate groups" in their research? Places that work their asses off to keep Walmart out are full of the most hateful people around. See Penn & Teller's "Bullshit!" episode about Walmart.

[Brett L]

Of course they do. Look at the raving loonies who turn up whenever they try to build a Walmart in NYC or Chicago.

[wareagle]

on occasion, the loonies are outnumbered by the number who want to apply for work at Wal-Mart. Probably hoping to start local chapters of various hate groups.

[fried wylie]

this just reaffirms my belief that the entire field of statistics is bullshit.

[Pip]

Whatever conclusion Stephan wants, Stephan Goetz.

[Anonymous Coward]

"We're not trying to pick on Wal-Mart," Goetz said. "In this study, Wal-Mart is really serving as a proxy for any type of large retailer."

The researchers suggest Wal-Mart use the study's data to determine strategies for supporting local groups that can foster stronger social and economic community ties.

Buy our dataset! Do it! Do it now!

[Emmerson Biggins]

And this was not written by the SPLC? I'm a little surprised.

[PapayaSF]

They used the SPLC for the list of hate groups. Did you know Chick Publications is a hate group? And that every local chapter of Nation of Islam (and many other national groups) counts as a separate group?

[nicole]

It's not about volunteerism.

Thanks for the reminder, Axelrod. Puke.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Facebook, Apple threat to online freedom: Google's Sergey Brin

For tonight's performance, the part of Online Freedom will be played by Google's market share.

[Kwanzaa Cake]

So says the guy who is about the dilute the shit out of his shareholders to tighten his grip on what is supposed to be a public company.

[Randian]

Are they? I hadn't heard about a stock dilution. Are they going to issue a ton of new shares? Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[rac3rx]

Yeah I thought this was rich coming from the company that self-censors to stay in China.

[Lord Humungus]

20 US agents could be involved in Colombian hooker woe
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/n.....KVhkhNDObJ

The Secret Service's seamy hooker scandal may have involved as many as 20 elite US agents ? who are specifically trained to avoid such security-breach pitfalls, officials and sources said yesterday.

[Abdul]

20 US agents could be involved in Colombian hooker woe

That's one hard working girl.

[Suki]

Not to mention the donkey.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I envision Clint Eastwood's next film ...

[SugarFree]

My favorite part of the story is that they were only caught because one of them refused to pay his sex worker. How much could a Columbian hooker have cost in the first place?

[Citizen Nothing]

But's he's trying to survive on a public servant's salary.

[Abdul]

It costs more when you have to screw away the memories of seeing Michelle Obama skinny-dipping in the White House pool.

[fried wylie]

ah, "The Eraser" package.

[Pip]

*barf*

[KMA Too]

Isn't that Barfman's thing?

Where the hell is he???

[SugarFree]

In the future, everyone with be barfman for 15 minutes.

[invisible furry hand]

$47 apparently. I'm not au fait with Colombian (or other) sex tariffs but this does not seem worth arguing over. But I am not a low-paid worker who nobly sacrificed a hooker 'n' blow salary for the unspeakable nobility of public service. Raise their pay now! Not only is it fair, it's a stimulus measure

[Elspeth Flashman]

stimulus measure - tee hee.

[kinnath]

47 dollars

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I want my 47 dollars!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOsr.....llars.jpeg

[AuH2O]

Don't give no damn Colombian Hooker tree fifty!

[plu1959]

How much could a Columbian hooker have cost in the first place?

Have you any idea what tuition is these days? That kind scratch doesn't grow on trees, y'know.

[SugarFree]

Should have called up an NYU girl, they just give it away.

[plu1959]

They take pity on a poor feller.

[Rich]

Secret Service regulations do not bar its agents and uniformed officers from drinking or patronizing prostitutes ? because the agency assumed it wouldn't need to spell out such a rule, one source said.

What's magic about the Secret Service in making such assumptions? I dare say regs for all government agencies specify sanctions for, say, sleeping on the job.

"Common sense of what a Secret Service agent does dictates you be in complete appropriate physical condition."

Alrighty, then!

[Quetzalcoatl]

They're just trying to protect the agents' essence. These women are, apparently, always trying to steal it.

[AuH2O]

George Washington: Britain's greatest foe

HE'S COMING!

[AuH2O]

Also: Eat it, Gandhi!

[Brett L]

Interesting. I guess the generational hatred of Bonaparte has died down since the world wars. In 1912, Bonaparte would've won hands down. Also, Washington won in the end, so that probably gave him the edge. (And the fact that he was Brit trained.)

[Auric Demonocles]

And in the meantime, the US came to dominate the world and overshadow GB, and France.... became France.

[Brett L]

Good point.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Washington, Washington.
12 stories tall, made of radiation.

[Randian]

He once held an opponent's wife's hand...in a jar of acid...at a party.

[Quetzalcoatl]

He saves the children, but not the British children!

[Fist of Etiquette]

By Arctic standards, the region is already buzzing with military activity, and experts believe that will increase significantly in the years ahead.

I thought things would have quieted down after Penny found Desmond.

[Citizen Nothing]

Not Penny's boats

[Joe M]

Just to highlight the pure disingenuous bullshit spewing from Axelrod's mouth:

Axelrod rejected the idea that Obama could just donate some of his extra income to the Treasury absent such a rule.

"That's not the way we operate our tax system, okay?" he said on "Fox News Sunday." "We don't run bake sales. It's not about volunteerism. We all kick in according to the system."[...]

Axelrod explained that the reason the president's tax rate was so low was because he donated 22 percent of his income to charity.

Sickening.

[Joe M]

And of course, the secondary thread here is that we would be better off if the government got more money, and charities less.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It's not about volunteerism? Harry Reid is going terribly surprised.

[Randian]

Beat me to it!

[Bardas Phocas]

...because he felt he was a better judge of where his money should go rather than the corrupt and venal politicians.

What a racist tea bagger.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm betting that if he had to pay for the many, many lavish vacations that his wife and children take with his own money, you know, like everyone else in America, that "donation" figure would drop quite a bit.

[wareagle]

so it's guilt money? The whole story is just too damn funny - don't watch what I do, voters, listen instead to my words of how the rich do not pay a thing. Out of curiosity, I wonder what charities would lose if tax rates were raised on their primary benefactors.

[Elspeth Flashman]

trust me, charities are worried about that very thing. I worked for a church for nearly 3 years. Back in 2008, a big drop in donations when the "cap" on charitable donations was being discussed. Certain big year end donors were slow, late, or non-existent.

[SugarFree]

The scourge of cheap natural gas!

Also, read a few of the comments by George Tazberik. Has an old "friend" of ours moved on to greener pastures, or do they just all read off the same script?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Ugh. What a shithead.

"You're just not being serious! Therefore what you have to say is not important."

[shrike]

Wow, that crazy hyperinflation the wingnuttery keeps talking about has NatGas at $2 -- less than 15% of 2005 highs.

Coal is falling too.

DAMNED HYPERIFLASHUNS!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I don't recall anyone ever saying the the rules of supply and demand were being suspended.

[shrike]

That is my line.

The wingnutterry says that QE is causing hyperinflation. Except prices keep falling for nearly everything. Even US Treasury yields.

Of course gold is in a fear-based bubble - for now.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Not for my fucking bread, milk and eggs. I can't eat gas asshole.

[Quetzalcoatl]

In Ronald Bailey's future you will be able to.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

"I am become death, consumer of worlds."

[Randian]

Inflation or Japanese-style miasma of lost decades.

You decide - it's one or the other. Would you like to make a bet on it?

Of course, no one said anything about "hyperinflation", did they?

[Spoonman.]

Dude, two years ago a loaf of bread was 78 cents. Now it's $1.67.

Anecdotal, sure, but WTF?

[Hell's Librarian]

Apparently Shrike shops in the only grocery store in the US where the prices have remained stable. I wish I knew where that was; mine have gone up between 30-50%.

[shrike]

Yeah, every single item I buy has fallen since 2008 when "QE" began.

There is no relationship with prices and bond buying (QE). This is not M2 we are talking about (although that is up too).

[Randian]

Yeah, every single item I buy has fallen since 2008 when "QE" began.

This isn't even possible.

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, every single item I buy has fallen since 2008 when "QE" began.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Kwanzaa Cake]

No one has said IS causing, and hyperinflationis also hyperbole. The argument is that QE will cause inflation down the line. You could try being at least minimally honest here, Shrike. Not to mention that one commodity is down to a shift inthe supply curve (nat gas) while others are quite expensive. Or perhaps you have no need to fill your gas tank and therefore haven't noticed the price of oil.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

You could try being at least minimally honest here, Shrike.

HAHAHAHA, good one.

[Mr. FIFY]

shrike should spend more time servicing Soros' cock than typing his inane bullshit on here.

Amazing how he finds time to do both.

[invisible furry hand]

you don't need your mouth to type

[Mr. FIFY]

It's the multitasking that amazes me. Tony and shrike getting DP'ed and taking a choad to the tonsils, AND all while typing their pro-statist/pro-socialist bullshit? Fuckin' amazing.

Hell, I can't walk and think about chewing gun at the same time.

[Warty]

roger
A Manhattan project for energy should include banning coal, likewise oil... with that being gone, we could get something done- project wise...
12 Hours Ago from slate.com

George Tazberik
Well roger, unfortunately, due to those who came before, we can't just ban it overnight.
10 Hours Ago from slate.com

BIG. THINKS.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

I wonder how they'd power their little project.

[Brett L]

Hope and burning denialists.

[Warty]

burning denialists

For the future is dark and full of terrors.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Burning denialists? So they'll be working in Germany? I hear there are a few good spots that just need a little renovation.

[AuH2O]

So, how long till a porno with some play on Secret Service, such as sexual service, comes out?

[Ken Shultz]

I'm sure they're shooting right now.

No pun intended.

[Ken Shultz]

On the other hand, a Barack Obama look-alike might be hard to find.

[SugarFree]

Barack Obama look-alike might be hard to find

Trayvon Martin is dead, after all.

[AuH2O]

That's the true tragedy of this story: One of our nation's greatest potential pornography actors lies dead.

[Hell's Librarian]

That would be pretty funny. A Secret Service agent (and he MUST be dressed as a spook, complete with polarized sunglasses) shows up unexpectedly at some woman's home, cash in hand. She answers the door in the nude. Hijinks ensue.

[invisible furry hand]

What about the other way around? She has come to interrogate him, and she has ways of making him talk

[Hell's Librarian]

Relevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1sf2CzEq0w

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My favorite Golden Earring track.

[Hell's Librarian]

It has a little something for everyone. 😉

(One of my faves also.)

[BakedPenguin]

"Secretly Serviced" - one Columbian girl takes on 20 SS agents. She thinks she's done, but little does she know the President is coming for some service of his own.

[AuH2O]

"Secretly Serviced" - one Columbian girl takes on 20 SS agents. She thinks she's done, but little does she know the President is coming for some service of his own.

FIFY

[AuH2O]

GODDAMNIT! I meant to write in cumming

/Goldwater FAIL

[Hell's Librarian]

I thought you were going for a gay porn thing, like then the President comes ahem and takes on 20 SS agents. That would be pretty funny too.

[Lord Humungus]

+100 internetz

[Abdul]

In my screenplay, it's just like a regular old porno, but a guy in a black suit with an earpiece jumps in and takes the moneyshot for the president.

[AuH2O]

So, gay porn?

[AuH2O]

Should Iowa child support recipients prove they don't do drugs?

As tempting as it is to say yes, I am getting awfully tired of our culture of drug testing, especially when it never applies to Congress or the President, and ends up being more of a test for pot than for cocaine.

[Ken Shultz]

If drug tests become mandatory for receiving welfare from the government, it might make sense to do the same thing...

You should still have to pay child support into some kind of escrow, and when the test comes back negative,...

I don't see why demanding a drug test with good cause would be so wrong. The state making a man pay for his baby mama's meth habit, especially if she's neglecting his kids, amounts to cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me.

[AuH2O]

I understand that, but we always talk about welfare recipients, when I feel the first people that should be tested are lawmakers and executives. And, funny story: A lot of staffers, at least, would probably fail if they are truly random because hoo boy do a lot do coke.

The other reason I like that is because it forces legislators to live with the consequences of the drug war they impose.

[Ken Shultz]

I like it!

I want breathalyzers in all their cars, too.

Hey, if they don't have anything to hide, then they don't have anything to worry about!

[AuH2O]

Y'know, I tried to make that argument once, and some person bitched me out because, "Civil service people are working for a living, welfare recipients are just sponging off the system" sort of shit.

Clearly, they were a civil servant, and clearly, they were deaf, dumb, and blind.

[Rich]

This.

Further, all congresscreatures and administration weenies should have to state for public record under oath every mind-altering substance they have ever ingested or witnessed being ingested.

[Brett L]

Unfortunately, the elected officials have a Constitutional argument. Using or not using drugs isn't a Constitutional test for office disqualification. (I'm thinking of proposing an amendment to the FL constitution that says that if the State requires any of its employees to pass drug tests, all elected officials must also.)

[AuH2O]

Well, we wouldn't fire them for it then. We would just know how big of shitbag hypocrites they were.

[Brett L]

Oh, that's a good point. No consequences except publicity.

[AuH2O]

Also, and I understand that politicians as a general rule lack the capacity to feel this emotion, but it might shame some of them out of office or at least into a token stint in rehab.

[Soc Indv Sparky]

Come on, if they had a sense of shame they wouldn't have made it into office. Such an emotion can only have a negative impact on a political career.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Fine, just don't pay them. If highway dollars can be used like a club, so can their salaries.

[T]

We have to give them something, as ascertained by law. We have to compensate them for their services, so I guess a slap in the head with a brick and a lovely parting gift qualifies. No mention is made of filthy money.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

$0.01 per term.

[wareagle]

then test anyone getting money from the govt. It is accepted that govt money comes with strings; why are salaries or welfare checks exempt from that? Anyone unhappy with the rule is free to pursue a life that does not involve the acceptance of govt paychecks or welfare checks.

[T]

They drug test buck privates who have no responsibility at all. But the guy with his finger on the button and the command codes get a pass, as do the collection of morons that can actually declare war.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

and they can't drug test in our dept. without sufficient cause.

it's the law!!! (THE LAW(tm))

[Fist of Etiquette]

"That's not the way we operate our tax system, okay?" he said on "Fox News Sunday." "We don't run bake sales. It's not about volunteerism. We all kick in according to the system."

It's a fascinating mindset. So concerned are they with what others do, it doesn't even cross their minds that they could take it upon themselves to act on their supposed beliefs regardless of everyone else. "If no one else is paying the rate I think they and I should pay, I'm not either."

[Rich]

In the immoral words of Joe Biden: "It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."

[Dunphy (the real one)]

immoral... lol

[Auric Demonocles]

I'd like to do my part to give back.

...Then go ahead and give it.

[Brett L]

They always pull this shit. The address for Gifts to the Treasury is in Google. Right next to directions to the Cape. Have one of your assistants look it up.

[darius404]

U.S. judge finds for MegaUpload, orders DOJ to cooperate on user files

[Hell's Librarian]

I LOL'd: Security footage of that raid has since mysteriously disappeared while in police custody.

But it is good to know that this particular case is unfolding in a manner perhaps unanticipated by the DOJ. They could use a good kick or three in the crotch.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The circle jerk didn't look as good on video as they anticipated.

[mr simple]

At least six movie studios have argued that MegaUpload was growing an illegal operation that, at its core, was just designed to facilitate piracy.

A movie studio said it? Then it must be true! This is the primary function of a movie studio, right?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Who the heck is this Ed kid and what did he do with Riggsy?!

In other news: anyone else see Cabin in the Woods?

[AuH2O]

Riggs got too old for this shit.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Maybe he finally donated that kidney and is in recovery.

[Trespassers W]

anyone else see Cabin in the Woods?

Yes. But not me.

[Pip]

Dead rappers never die:

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=551&sid=2828862

[invisible furry hand]

hope it ended appropriately with a drive-by shooting out the screen

[AuH2O]

Is there Australian based rap? And if so, which historically disenfranchised group dominates it- aboriginals?

And yes, I realize on my Australia questions I sound super ignorant. But you toilets flush in a different direction, so who knows what goes on down under!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Ooooo... I would love to hear rap with an Australian accent!
Spittin' verses about drop-bears and the appropriate size for knives, etc.

[invisible furry hand]

don't apologise, many Australians are super ignorant about ... well, everything, actually

Re rap, there is Australian rap but it's not very popular, and Aborigines do not dominate it. Seems to be a bit more of a suburban wog and white kid thing. But on this I am no expert - my favourite Australian group is The Necks, now that TISM have split - and I am a bit detached from teh kidz and their concerns

[db]

One of the greatest albums ever recorded was made in Australia.

[invisible furry hand]

nice call!

[Ed]

I'm a fan of this guy I heard on Aussie radio: http://vimeo.com/29304503

[DengFing]

Sounds to me like they might jsut be onto something dude.

http://www.Gettin-Anon.tk

[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]

Roger Gary 2012

http://rvgary2012.com/

[robc]

Lessons apparently not learned from the Soviets or Steve McNair:

Dont stick it in crazy

[Warty]

Virgil against Empire

[Brett L]

The Aeneid was derivative and far less exciting to me than the original.

[Lord Humungus]

The Truth About Benny Hill
http://www.sabotagetimes.com/f.....enny-hill/

[invisible furry hand]

his penchant for prostitutes, addiction to amphetamines and reluctance to spend a penny of his ?7.5million fortune.

He'd fit right in around here

[Lord Humungus]

we are all Benny Hill

[Pip]

I AM BENNY HILL.

[Pro Libertate]

I don't know why, but I'm picturing him as his character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

[Joe M]

Yeah, remember all those scenes that looked like they were on fast forward? That was just the meth.

[PapayaSF]

Interesting article. I love it that the BBC had (has?) a Head of Light Entertainment.

My favorite Benny Hill story is that he went to visit Charlie Chaplin's home in Switzerland, and saw that Chaplin had a collection of Benny Hill videotapes. What a thrill that must have been.

[R C Dean]

How can you have a meth addiction and be that fat?

[Joe M]

It's kinda like the stimulus. Things would've been even worse with it!

[invisible furry hand]

Watch out Samantha Brick, you have a rival

'I can concentrate on being the person I want to be': Former millionaire businessman sets aside ?120,000 to become a woman

[Brett L]

Don't worry, Timmy, this is how New Yorkers show their love.

"NEW YORK (AP) ? Tim Tebow has work to do if he's going to win over New York sports fans.

The new backup quarterback for the Jets was booed at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night when he was shown on the giant video board ? even though he was wearing a Yankees cap."

[Auric Demonocles]

I heard they were actually booing Dwayne Wade, who was sitting next to him.

[SugarFree]

I was saying "Boo-urns."

[Brett L]

I like my version better.

[Auric Demonocles]

I understand. I had to give a presentation to try to transfer departments in January, and I had to lead it off with "I'll do my best, but my voice is a little lost from going to the game on Saturday." I was yelling Teeee-bow for about 2 hours.

[Brett L]

You're a sick, sick man.

[Auric Demonocles]

What is sick about taunting Tebow for having fewer completions than his opponent has TD's?

[Brett L]

As long as you were taunting him. Although rooting for Brady... I couldn't do that, either.

[Auric Demonocles]

There were about 70000 people chanting his name the entire second half. I'm pretty sure it wasn't praise for his 3 first half completions.

[Pope Jimbo]

Dangerous dogs are a quandary for police

Chasing a fugitive sex offender out of a north Minneapolis house on a March evening, police found two threatening pit bulls coming at them. A Minneapolis officer opened fire, and a bullet hit another officer in the leg by mistake.

The wounded officer was not seriously injured. Yet the shooting became the latest example of what can go wrong when officers shoot at dogs. The tactic has led to lawsuits, a melee and unintended injuries in recent years.

Minneapolis police shot and killed 12 dogs last year, and park police shot and killed one, Sgt. William Palmer said. Minneapolis police say it's an appropriate response to an unpredictable threat.

I'm worried that our cops have only managed to cap 12 dogs. Don't they have enough firepower? How will Minneapolis ever be taken seriously as a metropolitan area if we are only offing one dog a month?

[invisible furry hand]

imagine what will happen when the dogs start buying guns on the black market and shooting cops, rather than relying on the cops to do it themselves

[db]

A fair weather friend of Mali hightails it out when the going gets tough. I can't decide whether her naivete or her, to be blunt, cowardice is worse. There are so many things wrong witg what she thought she was doing in Mali but alas, that's the trouble with the white man's burden. I can understand leaving to protect her child, but her decision process in going there and what she thought she could accomplish is questionable.

[invisible furry hand]

I think our ardent desire to believe in the symbol of Malian democracy kept us from dealing with deeper issues.

Sound familiar?

[Joe M]

Ron Paul supporters are Nazis.

There were going to be 3 candidates allowed to speak. I was told a couple of days before [...] that I would be allowed an unlimited amount of time to speak. The first candidate allowed to speak, Chris Fields, a Libertarian, was allowed an unlimited amount of time. [...] I had prepared a 30 minute speech. I told Chris the length of time I expected my speech to take. They knew that I was going to criticize the Libertarian platform, and expose that Chris Fields is actually a Libertarian, and expose his positions, etc. [...] Juliette Jordahl, a Libertarian, then quickly brought a motion to limit my speech to 10 minutes. It passed. I am currently reading a book, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. One of the first things the Nazis did was to outlaw speech criticizing the Nazis.

So there you have it. Those nasty Libertarians using established rules and procedures to act like Nazis. Never mind that Nazis suppressed speech violently.

[Brett L]

Holy Jesus. A 30 minute speech? For Congressperson? Uh, also, "Wikipedia states" is only acceptable proof for bar bets. Also, conveniently, no mention of how long her opponents spoke. Just. Wow. I can't imagine how this wonderful lady wouldn't have won the nomination at any other GOP gathering.

[Joe M]

Yes, the whole letter is a gem, and music to my ears. Her tears are delicious.

[invisible furry hand]

I am currently reading a book, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. One of the first things the Nazis did was to outlaw speech criticizing the Nazis.

But did Dietrich get the girl in the end? And is it being made into a movie?

[Warty]

Hitler was the sexiest teen vampire, dude. Sorry to spoil it for you.

[Brandon]

"They began the Convention. There was no opening prayer. Not even a mention of it.

There was also no Pledge of Allegiance to the US flag."

The Horror!

[Brandon]

" I mentioned that President and General George Washington did not advocate pot smoking and that if he did, we probably would not have won the American Revolutionary War."

What is...I don't even...