A.M. Links: AP Sues For NYPD Spy-Related Records, Town Sets Up Swear Jar, North Dakota May Abolish Property Taxes

Ed Krayewski | 6.12.2012 8:45 AM

Commerce Secretary John Bryson is taking a medical leave of absence after being involved in two hit and run accidents and suffering a seizure over the weekend.
The Associated Press is suing the New Brunswick Police Department for records related to an incident where police and FBI responded to a 911 call from a building superintendent who found surveillance equipment and terrorist literature in an apartment that was being used by NYPD intelligence officers (and a CIA agent!) as some sort of command center.
The Afghan government condemned a U.S. airstrike last week it says killed 18 civilians. A spokesman for Hamid Karzai said it was a "one-sided decision, and not coordinated with Afghan security forces."
Residents of Middleborough, Massachusetts voted 183-50 to approve a proposal by the police chief to issue fines of $20 for public swearing. Public swearing was actually a crime in the town since 1968, but wasn't prosecuted.
Meanwhile, North Dakota votes today on a proposal to abolish all property taxes. It would be the first state to abolish a major tax since Alaska did away with the income tax in 1980.
The dingo did, indeed, take her baby. A fourth inquest into the 1980 disappearance of an Australian girl that captivated that country found that a dingo took 9-week-old Azaria from a campsite, as the mother, who spent three years in jail before being cleared, had maintained.
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Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Ask a libertarian:

If you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway, does that mean you shouldn't shop at a Safeway?
1. o3 13 years ago
  
  50 Years Later, Mystery Of Alcatraz Escape Endures June 12, 2012
  Laura Sullivan and Ben Bergman
  
  Fifty years ago three men set out into the frigid waters of the San Francisco Bay in a raft made out of raincoats. It was one of the most daring prison escapes in U.S. history from what was billed as the nation's only "escape-proof prison" ? Alcatraz.
  
  Most people assume the men have been at the bottom of the bay or swept out to sea since the night they broke free, tunneling out of their cells in part with spoons from the kitchen and climbing the prisons' plumbing to the roof.
  
  But the legend of their escape has held that the men, Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, would return on the 50th anniversary of their break out. It's an unfounded rumor that drew an unlikely group to the island Monday to mark half a century passed, including many of the Anglin brothers' family.
  http://www.npr.org/2012/06/12/.....pe-endures
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    They would have turned up by now. They got ate by the sharks in the bay. That water is massively cold and the currents really nasty. Pretty unlikely that you could float to Angel Island.
    1. o3 13 years ago
      
      even so, the us marshals send an agent to ck if they'd turn-up.
    2. Anacreon 13 years ago
      
      I thought many of the Alcatraz prisoners from 50 years ago had been turning up in SF recently. Unfortunately, our main defense against their crime spree has been the fat guy from "Lost".
    3. Pro Libertate 13 years ago
      
      I saw a documentary where Clint Eastwood escaped, sticking it to Patrick McGoohan. Who, incidentally, was a fine actor. Wish he'd done more.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        He was great. He was Edward I in Braveheart. And the villain in the original Taking of Pellum 123. And was a great spy in Ice Station Zebra.
        
        Pro Libertate 13 years ago
        
        I read something about him being a big family guy and not wanting to take on a ton of work. He was great on screen.
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Ah, kind of like Rick Moranis? Though I think Moranis also had the special circumstance of his wife dying, and wanting to take care of his kids.
        
        Ted S. 13 years ago
        
        And the villain in the original Taking of Pellum 123.
        
        IMDb begs to differ with you
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Robert Shaw. Damn, how did I confuse those two.
      2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        He could have, and should have, been a Bond.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        There are several should have been Bonds. The other for me is Richard Burton. Watch Where Eagles Dare sometime. Burton is just the ultimate smooth English bad ass in that movie. He would have been a great Bond. So would have David Niven. Flemming wanted Niven for the part but Niven refused to take it.
        
        Brandybuck 13 years ago
        
        He actually turned down the role of Bond
    4. Loki 13 years ago
      
      I know several years ago Mythbusters tested the Alcatraz escape story using a raft and paddles made from the same materials the inmates used. IIRC they made it to shore, but not on Angel Island because instead of fighting the currents they used them to their advantage and landed I forget where exactly. They ruled it "plausible" because they showed that technically you could escape the same way the inmates did and make it to shore.
      
      IMO, since there hasn't been a trace of the 3 inmates in 50 years I think it's probably safe to say they drowned in the bay somewhere, or were eaten by sharks, or drifted out to sea and died. It's really hard to stay sompletely off the radar for 50 days, much less 50 years.
Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago

Re:The Dingo

Isn't this one of those few cases where bite-mark forensics might be truly essential?
1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  No corpse or parts thereof were found. A piece of her clothing was found, torn and damaged.
  1. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
    
    Ah, thanks. I wasn't exactly around in 1980, so I'm not real familiar with the details.
    
    Was it really as big of a deal as people make it seem?
    1. Chloe 13 years ago
      
      I think the issue was about whether a dingo could in fact lift up a 9 week old baby with its mouth.
      1. Bill 13 years ago
        
        Could a dog the size of a pitbull carry a ham? Seems fairly easy.
        
        I saw the Streep movie, but don't know that much more about it. . I thought the issue was no one believed a dingo would or could enter a tent to take a baby and how could it do it that quickly with no one seeing it.
        
        Chloe 13 years ago
        
        I just remember going on a website that had an article about a fourth inquiry being called, and people in Australia that believed that the parents were murders making the argument that a dingo could not do this due to its head and mouth shape. Then someone posting that a dingo expert was being called in for this inquiry to verified whether or not a dingo could in fact do this. To me it seems obvious, but my only issue would be how the baby was not screaming when this happened, unless the dingo grab the head/neck first.
        
        fried wylie 13 years ago
        
        Could a dog the size of a pitbull carry a ham? Seems fairly easy.
        
        Yes, easy. We get our AmStaff these cow leg bones. Nearly the length of the dog, and must weigh over 10lbs. She waggles around with it in her mouth no-prob.
    2. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
      
      Well you can see why the media lapped it up - and the public. Parents takes young family (including 9 week old baby) on camping trip to Uluru. This is not a soft trip BTW. Baby disappears from tent. Add to this the oddity (in Australia) of their being Seventh Day Adventists, and the parents' reactions, and it was a classic whodunnit. Then the parents got fucked over royally by a dodgy so-called forensics expert. Convictions are overturned. Then a torn and bloody piece of baby's clothing is found. Twists and turns abound. It's taken 32 years for finality.
      1. Brian D 13 years ago
        
        Well you can see why the media lapped it up
        
        http://www.threestooges.com/im.....Howard.jpg
        
        Wiseguy, huh?
      2. xenia onatopp 13 years ago
        
        On the bright side, it did give us this comedy classic.
      3. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        Hmmmm... thanks for the primer.
        The only reason I even know about the case is Buffy, probably.
      4. Bill 13 years ago
        
        They were 7th Day Adventists? They probably did it then. Don't they eat babies every 7th day?
  2. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
    
    No corpse or parts thereof were found.
    
    Which pretty conclusively means that it wasn't taken by a wild canine.
    1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
      
      How so?
    2. R C Dean 13 years ago
      
      True story:
      
      I've seen a deer carcass completely disappeared by coyotes in the course of a morning, with the sole exception of a scrap of hide.
      
      I would guess that a pack of dingos could make a nice tender baby completely disappear, no problem.
Spoonman. 13 years ago

I see that, as everyone predicted at the time, Nicole would be happier today had she followed my advice in November.

I'm not trying to be a dick, Nicole, I'm just pointing out that you'll be happier in November 2012 if you follow my advice from last November today.
1. nicole 13 years ago
  
  I was thinking that last night too, Spoonman.
  1. nicole 13 years ago
    
    So I did do an "I can't do this anymore, we have to break up/separate, this is not working for me" thing, on the phone, which was the only way we could talk. I am not sure if it will "stick" or there will be some kind of turnaround; he was really upset and at the end was just like "I don't want to do this on the phone" so we're going to have to hash it out in person either tonight or tomorrow.
    
    He did seem surprised, not that I was upset, but that I would ever leave. Which I suppose was justified.
    1. Spoonman. 13 years ago
      
      Maybe I'm being naive, but what is there to hash out? What shit is whose?
    2. John 13 years ago
      
      think about it for a second. He wanted to move out and yet is shocked that you want to end it as a result. Think he was maybe taking your for granted a bit?
      1. nicole 13 years ago
        
        Yes, yes I do.
        
        I think he may try to walk it back. We will have to see how. But there is a ton of his shit here at my apartment so mostly that.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        And this may wake him up and cause him to grow up and stop taking your for granted. Easy for us to say you should dump this guy. He very well may come back now. Who knows.
        
        T 13 years ago
        
        If you're gonna go through with the dumping, pack the stuff nicely in boxes (or trash bags if that's too much work) so he can come get it all in one trip. Put it by the front door, and don't let him any further in your place than it takes to grab the boxes.
        
        Above all, once you've decided on this course, don't waver. Be polite, be firm, and get him and his crap out of the door. You can melt down and have hysterics after he's gone (give him 20 minutes or so, just in case he comes back for something he'forgot') but don't blink while he's there.
        
        Drake 13 years ago
        
        Then move on to dating adults.
        
        rac3rx 13 years ago
        
        Damn, T...in the thread, stealin' my thunder.
        
        EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
        
        Descendents have a song that may help you.
        
        It's not the end of the world
        Since your baby left you
        It's gonna be okay
        You don't need her anyway
        
        You're looking around for someone to love
        So you don't have to face the world alone
        But give it some time and you might find
        That you're better off on you own
        Cause you could be dead right now
        You could be the stupidest thing in the world
        But you're not, look at what you've got
        And stop thinking about that girl
        
        You deserve the best, but it's up to you to get it
        don't settle for less, you know you're gonna regret it
        
        Watching the tube, moping around
        Might as well be six feet underground
        You're watching the game go by
        Waiting for the final score
        You got the beer commercials memorized
        So you've probably heard this before
        But this ain't the TV talking to you
        It's a friend who's gonna tell you what you can do
        
        You deserve the best...
    3. Double D 13 years ago
      
      As a guy who admittedly takes great pleasure in the game...this guy is an ass. I'm breaking the rules here, but since you're one of my own kind...be aware that acting surprised is a tool in the arsenal. I'm not saying you're being played, since I don't know every little detail, but you need to stick to your guns and forget about any "turnaround."
    4. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
      
      My two cents - Break it off cleanly. By his own admission, he wants to be on his own, so let him be on his own. I would avoid being tempted to read into his actions, it will just prep the stage for more arguing. Set your own standards for what you want from the relationship, inform him of them and since it's obvious that he is not meeting them, end it.
      
      There is absolutely no shame in ending the relationship. You are under no obligation to be patient with his choices if they do not mesh with your own desires. Believe me when I say that it is best to save those compromises for if and when you are married and the commitment requires a certain level of flexibility.
    5. JW 13 years ago
      
      I'll join the pile-on with "FINISH HIM!"
      
      Seriously, just walk away. Thank him for the good times and the memories and find someone with a better path in life.
      1. Gunboat Diplomacy 13 years ago
        
        Written for an ex
        
        Everything without you is wonderful!
        Everything without you is great!
        Everything without you is fantastic!
        So glad I scraped you off my plate
    6. R C Dean 13 years ago
      
      I am not sure if it will "stick" or there will be some kind of turnaround;
      
      Isn't that entirely up to you? Were you intending to just take a break an give him more chances, or were you intending to break up?
      1. nicole 13 years ago
        
        Isn't that entirely up to you? Were you intending to just take a break an give him more chances, or were you intending to break up?
        
        Yes, of course. I'm just not going to act like it's easy for me to do a "clean break" when, you know, I actually want to spend the rest of my life with this person. Makes shit kinda hard when you're both like "I love you and want to be happy together," it's just that you can't.
    7. Mad Scientist 13 years ago
      
      Good on ya, girl. Life's too short to spend it with someone you're not happy with.
2. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
  
  You've lost me spoony.
  1. Spoonman. 13 years ago
    
    PM links from yesterday, ctrl+f "nicole".
    1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
      
      For the lazy.
    2. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
      
      Your original advice was spot on.
3. hamilton 13 years ago
  
  I'm late to the party on this but completely agree with the thoughts of the herd Nicole. Libertarian women are too precious and rare to be lost to douches.
  
  And Auric I think they were seeking you last night.
  1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
    
    Auric I think they were seeking you last night.
    
    Huh? The subthread is too long for me to go through the whole thing right now...
    1. hamilton 13 years ago
      
      oops. Sorry, it was Goldwater, for a rebound attempt. I get my gold references confused.
      1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
        
        No problem, though my girlfriend probably wouldn't be too happy with me helping anyone rebound (unless it's the Celtics).
        
        Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
        
        unless it's the Celtics
        
        Or anyone playing against Lebron.
  2. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
    
    Libertarian women are too precious and rare to be lost to douches.
    
    So you're saying they shouldn't date Libertarian men?
    1. Brett L 13 years ago
      
      Look at what happened to Banjos.
      1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        Heh heh.
      2. sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        [adds Brett L to list]
    2. hamilton 13 years ago
      
      Well, clearly they aren't dating Libertarian men now, if the current set is characteristic.
    3. Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
      
      I probably would never date a Libertarian, but I find libertarians totally hawt (if they're also bald and beefy).
      1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        K.K. you ol' sweet-talker, you!
      2. nicole 13 years ago
        
        And let's keep in mind I am/was dating a libertarian.
        
        rac3rx 13 years ago
        
        Naw, honey, he's a shitweasel.
        
        Bill 13 years ago
        
        If you break up, you may get back together later. Or you may meet someone and get married in a year, ya never know.
        
        You should think about going on the Reason cruise in August if you need a break. Although that could be like torture, being locked on a ship with 2,000 libertarians quibbling over who owes that last 35 cents on the bill.
        
        The Hammer 13 years ago
        
        Hey, do you know how hard it is to weigh out 35 cents worth of hoarded gold? It's a pain in the ass.
      3. R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Well, hellooooo, Kristen!
        
        How you doin'?
4. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
  
  We need to bring back "Dear Lucy".
invisible furry hand 13 years ago

Peeing Swede filmed in shock bear encounter

http://www.thelocal.se/41394/20120612/
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  "Are you stupid? Run away!"
  
  Wives are always so supportive in a crisis.
2. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
  
  It remains unclear whether the bear was after the elk, or a taste of ?kesson's own Swedish meatballs, yet the Swede says he doesn't care.
  
  That is some beautiful journalism right there
3. mr simple 13 years ago
  
  "This was just a one in a million chance; we doubt it will ever happen again," he said.
  
  And that was the last he was ever heard from again.
Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago

Apple Steps Up Rivalry With Google [or "Apple Veers Away From Google". Pick a headline, WSJ, we're at war.]

Developers, about 5,000 of which paid $1,599 for tickets, said they were excited to try many of the new mobile software features?particularly the new mapping application. The service, which Apple has been developing for years, has a mode for viewing areas in three-dimensions, along with a local search service and turn-by-turn driving directions for in-car use.

Welcome to the '90s, Apple.
Man, this company's in big trouble without Steve Jobs to make people excited about their terrible products.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Since when is turn by turn directions a big deal? Next up, Apple makes a device that allows you to call other people.
  1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
    
    But now you can get turn by turn directions by a product with a lowercase "i" before it!
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      You can't blame them for exploiting the hipster market.
      1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
        
        I blame the hipsters for existing.
    2. sloopyinca 13 years ago
      
      What's next? An iMayo app that tells one where in town to go for the best artisanal mayonnaise store? Complete with directions that are designed for minimal stops for a bike with no brakes and height listings for all overpasses in case the bike saddle is higher than 9 ft off the ground?
      1. T 13 years ago
        
        Really, isn't artisanal mayonnaise something one makes oneself? I mean, it's fucking mayonnaise. It ain't that hard. Egg, oil, acid, additional flavor. Or does that make you a foodie instead of a hipster?
        
        Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        Either and or both?
        
        Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
        
        If you sell it in a brick-and-mortar with god knows whose capital, you're a fucking douchebag foodie hipster asshole.
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        If you want mayonnaise without sugar, don't you just buy Duke's mayo anyway, like any good Southerner?
        
        The Hammer 13 years ago
        
        What Southerner buys mayonnaise? All my family keeps is ketchup, various types of barbecue sauce and worcestershire sauce.
        
        Virginian 13 years ago
        
        How are you supposed to make fantastic chicken salad without Dukes?
      2. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        You're really worked up about this artisanal mayo thing, sloop.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Only because it's one of the first things any cook is taught in a high end kitchen.
        Banjos was laughing at me the other day and told my kids about my near psychosis over the mayo thing. So I took my kids in the kitchen, took six eggs from the fridge (free range from our hens in the yard) and proceeded to make a batch of mayonnaise completely by hand in less than 10 minutes. Now my kids are mocking them as well.
        
        Now, we have the whole rooftop beekeeping bullshit going on there as well, which created awful honey and is a danger to anyone suffering a bee-sting allergy in Brooklyn. All because some guy named Tucker saw a beekeeper outfit while at a Salvation Army Thrift Store while back at mom and dad's house begging for more money to stay and "contribute" to the vibrant ukelele music scene in New York.
        
        I wish George Costanza were real and he was back in New York to experience this. The final episode, instead of being horrible, could have been of him firebombing an entire borough...and America would have cheered him on.
        
        nicole 13 years ago
        
        Serenity now, sloop.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Now, we have the whole rooftop beekeeping bullshit going on there as well, which created awful honey and is a danger to anyone suffering a bee-sting allergy in Brooklyn.
        
        So, plusses and minusses on the whole urban bee-keeping thing.
      3. Brett L 13 years ago
        
        I'm pretty sure this already exists.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Sloopy's starting to get upset!
      4. rac3rx 13 years ago
        
        Dude...close Die Hipster and take a deep breath.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        I wish that were the cause of my disdain. Alas, this is true, heartfelt hatred for these simple-minded fucks.
        
        PaganPriestess 13 years ago
        
        Here sloopy this will make you feel better.
        http://laughingsquid.com/hipster-trap/
  2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
    
    But John! ISI Group Analyst Brian Marshall assures us that:
    
    "it was positive overall," he said, noting that Apple's innovations for both hardware and software still place it above its competitors.
    
    Bold innovations! Such as:
    
    Apple chief Tim Cook and other executives revealed no major surprises to its product line as some attendees had hoped.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      Why spend money on innovations when your cult will buy whatever you produce anyway?
      1. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        And that's worked very well for them, but ONLY when Jobs has involved. Every time he left, or died, the company got shaky really quickly.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        It was the black turtle necks. Hipsters will buy anything if the guy selling it is wearing a black turtle neck. It is like Libertarians and a leather jacket.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        So short AAPL. Go on. I dare you.
        
        Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        I "short" Apple the most meaningful way that I can: not buying their products.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Personally, I'm waiting for a few technical signals, and I will be shorting AAPL. I think their recent runup is very bubbly.
        
        invisible furry hand 13 years ago
        
        I wore a black turtle neck and leather jacket to work today. What does that make me, apart from unfashionable?
        
        Brett L 13 years ago
        
        Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face"?
        
        Restoras 13 years ago
        
        I wore a black turtle neck and leather jacket to work today. What does that make me, apart from unfashionable?
        
        A pedophile?
        
        LTC John 13 years ago
        
        Uncomfortably warm, south of the Artic Circle?
        
        Brett L 13 years ago
        
        She's antipodean, Colonel.
        
        LTC John 13 years ago
        
        OK, comfortably warm then...
        
        Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
        
        Well, it is winter wher eyou are.
        
        I saw a woman today in a grey wool turtleneck, charcoal grey pinstripe blazer, charcoal grey pinstrip knee-length skirt, black tights and black pumps. In June. In Washington, DC. I think I'm starting to realize people here don't dress for the season...
        
        mr simple 13 years ago
        
        I'm not saying I invented the turtleneck. But I was the first person to realize its potential as a tactical garment. The tactical turtleneck! The... tactleneck!
    2. Brett L 13 years ago
      
      Well, I can finally get that bitch Siri on my iPhone 4. Which is good, because I'm not buying another iPhone until this one dies. Maybe not even then.
      1. Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
        
        I'd give it another few months, then. My iPhone's ringer died after a little over a year and unless I had the fucking thing in my pocket (i.e. never), I missed every single call. That was the second, and last, time Apple screwed me over with one of its shitass products.
        
        mr simple 13 years ago
        
        I've never had any problems with my iPhone, except for the time when I dropped it and the touchscreen, and thus the phone, became unusable. But I don't use my ringer or care if I miss calls. In other phone news, I hear the new Nokia Windows phone is the best thing since wireless.
        
        Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
        
        For me, it's critical I answer calls on my telework day. We almost had all of our telework "privileges" cancelled after just one guy was lax at answering his phone.
      2. Ted S. 13 years ago
        
        IpHone user: I'd like to learn about cults.
        Siri: There are eight Apple Stores within a 10-mile radius of your location.
2. fried wylie 13 years ago
  
  has a mode for viewing areas in three-dimensions
  
  Which, as a being confined to the ground (aka, an essentially 2d realm) is vital to my navigation efforts.
John 13 years ago

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

What a surprise, All Of the President's Men is probably an embellished work of fiction.
1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
  
  Duh.
John 13 years ago

http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-.....versation/

I have no idea who Brian Priestly is. But the day I can't enjoy getting drunk and flirting with an attractive women, is the day I probably need to be euthanized. I also have no idea who Melissa Statton is. But what a bitch.
1. Tim 13 years ago
  
  "attractive", whoa, don't set the bar too high.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    That bar raises and lowers depending upon how much you have had to drink and how late it is.
    1. Tim 13 years ago
      
      Your many crimes against nature are common knowledge here John.
      1. Brett L 13 years ago
        
        I'm going out on a limb here and saying that if John thinks a model is attractive, she probably is.
        
        Tim 13 years ago
        
        It's the "MNG rule". Ever since MNG was eaten by sharks off Key West the rest of us have taken turns keeping John taunted. But you're not a team player, are you?
        
        Brett L 13 years ago
        
        Dude, I hang out here. My "plays well with others" grade was always "needs improvement".
        
        Tim 13 years ago
        
        OK Frank Sinatra, have it your way.
        
        T 13 years ago
        
        Pussy. 'Unsatisfactory' is the mark of true libertarian.
        
        Restoras 13 years ago
        
        'Unsatisfactory' is the mark of true libertarian
        
        I would think it is "Incomplete"?
2. Butts Wagner 13 years ago
  
  Is he trying to cheat on his wife with Stetten? Nope, not that I can tell. Worst case scenario he's flirting with her, but since when did flirting equal cheating?
  
  It's called an emotional affair!
3. xenia onatopp 13 years ago
  
  Shit, my husband flirts with every woman he meets, whether I'm there or not. I find it charming-- he really does brighten up the day for some women. Flirting and cheating are two entirely different things.
  1. Restoras 13 years ago
    
    Not to some women. Just sayin'.
  2. John 13 years ago
    
    I do it without even realizing it. I just like women. I generally enjoy their company and that often means I flirt without even knowing it.
    1. Mo' $parky 13 years ago
      
      I suspect you flirt without the women knowing it more often than not.
    2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
      
      I've only had one friend who honestly had no idea that he was flirting with women and leading them on.
      
      And, yes: as gay as the day is long.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        Perhaps I have more of an idea than I let on.
    3. mr simple 13 years ago
      
      I am a friendly person and will talk to people in appropriate situations, like a party, especially if I've had a couple drinks. Usually it goes well; I've met a lot of people, made some friends, and had adventures because of this. Some women, though, seem to think the only reason a man would talk to her is because he wants to get into her pants, even when his wife is sitting on the other side of him (like I'm not going to talk to the person in my group that I'm sitting next to at dinner.) I feel sorry for these women. I just say "Have a good night." and ignore them for the rest of the event.
      1. AlmightyJB 13 years ago
        
        I'm a friendly person as well. If I'm passing by someone at work (I'm in a large facility) I will smile at them just to be friendly. What's funny is that pretty girls will always smile back. But some girls will give you that dirty look like your checking them out. They're always sixes and under. It's like don't flatter yourself, I wouldn't screw you with Warty's dick. I don't get that.
  3. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
    
    You can look at the menu all you want. You just can't order anything!
  4. AlmightyJB 13 years ago
    
    I do the same thing. My wife thinks it's funny. Most of the time anyways.
invisible furry hand 13 years ago

Alec Baldwin: once again proving hotness is no guarantee of smartness
1. John 13 years ago
  
  The sad fact is that he is actually a good actor. But he ruined his career by being such an insufferable ass no one wants to work with him.
  1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
    
    "No one wants to work with him"?
    
    Baldwin gets plenty of work. Talk about insufferable.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      He gets work on TV. When is the last time he was the lead in a major movie? He was a major leading man in the 1980s. And he pissed it away because he was such an asshole. He lost the Jack Ryan franchise to Harrison Ford because no one could stand him. He should be a leading man instead of a character actor on sitcoms.
      1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
        
        He got fat and old.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        He lost those parts before he got fat and old. And getting old doesn't stop Liam Neison or Harrison Ford. It is not about him being a liberal. Hell they are all liberals. It is about him being known to be impossible to work with.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        Third prize is you're fired.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        As I said, he is a good actor. It is a shame he pissed it away and now does credit card commercials and third rate sitcoms.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        I don't care for 30 Rock myself, but many people love it. There's no shame in starring in a long-running, highly acclaimed TV sitcom.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        No. But that is still not as good as being in the movies. You go from TV to the movies not the other way if you can avoid it.
        
        Mike M. 13 years ago
        
        Yeah, he's kind of like the Keith Olbermann of the movies, an insufferable prick that even most of his fellow lefties can't stand.
        
        Brett L 13 years ago
        
        Val Kilmer is insulted that you'd give this honor to Alec Baldwin.
        
        The Rantin Arkansan 13 years ago
        
        That might be the case, if the case is making more money while working less.
        
        But if you act for the art of acting, TV is kicking movies asses all over the place.
        
        Of course this doesn't invalidate the fact that guys like Alec Baldwin and Chevy Chase aren't notorious douche nozzles no one wants to work with, because they are.
        
        Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        I don't care for 30 Rock myself, but many people love it. There's no shame in starring in a long-running, highly acclaimed TV sitcom.
        
        I suspect 30 Rock's longevity is probably due more to Tina Fey's stroke with the execs at NBC than anything else, because the audience tends to be limited to the same SWPL hipsters that drooled over Arrested Development. Has there ever been a lower-rated sitcom that lasted this long?
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        I suspect 30 Rock's longevity is probably due more to Tina Fey's stroke with the execs at NBC than anything else, because the audience tends to be limited to the same SWPL hipsters that drooled over Arrested Development.
        
        I never got the Arrested Development thing. It was okay, but not that big a deal. But 30 Rock is funny, and I don't care if SWPL hipsters love it also. Fuck them. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to purchase a ukelele and some PBR.
        
        Gunboat Diplomacy 13 years ago
        
        "but many people love it."
        
        And yet Swamp People gets twice the viewers.
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        I don't get the 30 Rock hate. I guess a lot of people prefer dramas. I prefer comedy, and good comedy is much more difficult to write than good drama.
        
        30 Rock and Parks and Rec are two of my favorites at the moment. And Baldwin makes that show great. He's the classic liberal playing a conservative who ends up being the best character on the show (see Denny Crane).
        
        invisible furry hand 13 years ago
        
        I love 30 Rock too.
        
        "Oh Jack, what's the matter? Business got you down?"
        
        "Business doesn't get me down Lemon - business gets me off"
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        Not to mention this.
        
        Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
        
        Count me in on the 30 Rock love. I identify strongly with Liz Lemon, and Jack Donaghy is a Hall of Fame level character. Baldwin is very well suited to comedy and I think his career is much better off now that he's no longer doing leading man stuff. His timing and delivery are spot-on.
        
        But nobody beats Ron Swanson. Not even Archie Bunker.
        
        EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
        
        Donaghy is a classic TV character. Like Lou Grant, but evil and wealthy. Baldwin was too pretty in his youth, so he couldn't hold down those leading man roles. He's much better looking now in his 50's, and can finally play a leading man.
        
        30 Rock parallels Mary Tyler Moore Show
        Liz=Mary
        Jack=Lou
        Jenna/Tracy=Ted
        Pete=Murray
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        See - In my mind, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec are at two end of the sit-com scale. 30 Rock seems totally predictable and, at times, absolutely cringe-worthy. But as I said (and you confirm) a lot of people seem to love it.
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        Perhaps 30 Rock is predictable plotwise, I dunno, I just like the dialog, and I suppose the characters.
        
        I also agree with Arkansan that TV is kicking Hollywood's ass these days. I can't think of the last film I saw that could hold a candle something like Game of Thrones. And this is especially true when it comes to comedy.
        
        Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        I'll chime in with the "liking 30 Rock" choir.
        
        Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        Though I'll also admit to preferring Parks ampersand Rec between the two.
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        Ron Swanson is another parody who ended up being the best character on the show.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        30 Rock and Parks and Rec have something most sitcoms don't have:
        
        Good writing. They're clever, not broad, and that's how I like my humor.
  2. xenia onatopp 13 years ago
    
    Agreed. He's a truly great comic actor, who seems to have only gotten better since he's gotten old and puffy. Sadly, that greatness is mainly on display in credit card commercials. I will say that the only thing that has induced me to watch any episodes of Saturday Night Live over the last 20 years have been guest hosting stints by him and by Christopher Walken.
    1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
      
      I watched that movie about a "kiss" with him and Meg Ryan simply because they were in it.
      
      It was a vapid little movie but they made it worth watching.
    2. PS 13 years ago
      
      I had to respect Baldwin for being able to laugh at himself in Team America. He may be a vapid liberal, and a prick but at least he's got a sense of humor, and that goes a long way in my book.
      1. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
        
        he's got a sense of humor
        
        Or at least his writers do.
        
        PS 13 years ago
        
        Naw, check this out (about halfway in). He's joking about his daughter's friends quoting Team America. That's a sense of humor. Imagine Sean Penn being asked the same question.
        
        Slumbrew 13 years ago
        
        His Tracy Morgan impression in that clip is excellent.
      2. Chloe 13 years ago
        
        It was better than that "cry baby meltdown" Sean Penn had, but not nearly as funny as that "cry baby meltdown" Sean Penn had.
Auric Demonocles 13 years ago

Residents of Middleborough, Massachusetts voted 183-50 to approve a proposal by the police chief to issue fines of $20 for public swearing.

I heard about that this morning on the Boston sports radio I listen to. Even those guys (who give good sports talk but are pretty big statists) thought this was dumb as fuck. Maybe I should drive over after work and do a drive by swearing.
1. hamilton 13 years ago
  
  Toucher and Rich seem kinda libertarian at times. I hope you weren't listening to the other two.
  
  And I too was tempted to drive over there and start it up. Middleborough has always been a bit slow.
  1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
    
    Actually, that's true. TnR aren't that bad. I'm letting my annoyance with Felger (and Mazz when he gets off of sports topics) bleed over to the rest of the station.
    1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
      
      I've noticed the texts I send to the morning show or DA are positive and contribute and sometimes get read on air. That doesn't happen much for the afternoon show.
    2. hamilton 13 years ago
      
      Yeah, Felger is goddam atrocious. And the rants over Schilling (who is a douche) were just irritating. I actually sent them a text for that one.
  2. xenia onatopp 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, I'm not going to drive clear across the state to show off my vocabulary, but only because I'm waiting for FedEx to arrive with my new phone.
2. CampingInYourPark 13 years ago
  
  Those damn southerners and their culture wars
  1. # 13 years ago
    
    Middleborough though is about as close to the south as MA can get. Its mostly trees and cranberry farms. The town actually votes republican most of the time.
    1. Emmerson Biggins 13 years ago
      
      so fucking what. You don't get to blame anything in MA on "the south".
3. John Thacker 13 years ago
  
  Even those guys (who give good sports talk but are pretty big statists) thought this was dumb as fuck.
  
  Well, duh, it's government going after something that they do, instead of going after those other people.
  
  That's how most people work. Freedom for what they do, keep other people from doing things that they don't do.
4. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
  
  Massachusetts - that's one of those Southern culture war hell holes that Ken was raging against last night, right?
  1. DesigNate 13 years ago
    
    The fuck?
Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago

US personal net worth fell 40% to 1990 levels in the 2007-09 Financial Crash.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics.....2007-2010/
1. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
  
  But the 1990's were the Clinton Era of Golden Happy Sunshine Prosperity!
2. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
  
  Don't be an ass, shrike. The private sector is doing fine.
  1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, corporate profits are at an all time high.
    
    http://www.businessinsider.com.....n-higher-1
    1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
      
      And 54% of Americans have stock market investments.
3. Restoras 13 years ago
  
  Paper profits, how do they work?
4. Trespassers W 13 years ago
  
  Based on past experience, I'd take any statistics quoted by shriek with a grain of salt.
  1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, stats don't conform to wingnut fantasy.
    1. Trespassers W 13 years ago
      
      Remind me again how GDP "was -8.9%" in 2008Q4.
      
      You habitually throw around statistics without any context or comprehension.
      1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
        
        http://www.treasury.gov/resour.....alEcon.PDF
        
        top right chart.
        
        I am correct as always.
        
        dieinafiredunphy 13 years ago
        
        top right chart.
        
        So you're saying you're too stupid to tell the difference between "change in GDP" and "GDP".
        
        Trespassers W 13 years ago
        
        Thank you, anti-dunphy.
        
        Trespassers W 13 years ago
        
        That's ANNUALIZED GDP GROWTH, you scoundrel. You don't grasp that it's a rate of change in GDP, not GDP itself, nor do you question why on earth you would annualize a quarterly change in GDP.
        
        So thank you for perfectly illustrating my point. Which you have also aptly illustrated downthread.
        
        Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
        
        Bullshit. Its q4 2008 only as the label on the chart says.
        
        dieinafiredunphy 13 years ago
        
        Its q4 2008 only as the label on the chart says
        
        So you're saying you're still too stupid to tell the difference between "change in GDP" and "GDP".
        
        Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
        
        Fuck off. No one attempted to count the trillions in GDP each quarter and neither does the chart.
        
        You tried to change the metric.
        
        dieinafiredunphy 13 years ago
        
        You tried to change the metric.
        
        So you're saying you're still too stupid to tell the difference between "change in GDP" and "GDP".
        
        Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        I lol'd
        
        Shr?ke 13 years ago
        
        Fuck off. No one attempted to count the trillions in GDP each quarter and neither does the chart.
        
        You tried to change the metric.
        
        DERP I MORONICALLY MISSTATED WHAT MY CHART SAID AND MADE A FOOL OF MYSELF AND NOW I'M IDIOTICALLY ACCUSING OTHER PEOPLE OF CHANGING MY METRIC DERP!
        
        Trespassers W 13 years ago
        
        Bullshit. Its q4 2008 only as the label on the chart says.
        
        That's true, but it's annualized for no apparent reason, genius.
        
        No one attempted to count the trillions in GDP each quarter and neither does the chart.
        
        I tried to count the trillions in GDP each quarter, using numbers from an admittedly shady source. This so-called "Federal Reserve" reports a GDP of $14,395T in 2008Q3, and $14082T in 2008 Q4.
        
        GDP dropped by 2.2% from Q3 to Q4.
        
        If you multiply it by four for some reason (that reason being to inflate the number), you get an 8.8% drop.
        
        fried wylie 13 years ago
        
        You don't grasp that it's a rate of change in GDP, not GDP itself
        
        Public school doesn't even try to teach calculus except to all the overachievers who complete all the math homework from 6th-grade onwards.
        
        Calculus For Dummies is a cheap and effective starting point though.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        I've lost count of the times shrike/PB has made some sort of assertion of fact that was either (a) false or (b) ludicrously cherry-picked.
        
        Shr?ke 13 years ago
        
        But but but, I tried to turn it around and accuse you of "tr{ying} to change the metric!"
        
        You mean that didn't work because I'm obviously an imbecile and never understood the metric in the first place?
        
        dieinafiredunphy 13 years ago
        
        I've lost count of the times shrike/PB has made some sort of assertion of fact that was either (a) false or (b) ludicrously cherry-picked.
        
        I particularly like how he leaves a big steaming pile of stupid in a thread and then runs once he realizes he's wrong. Then he pretends he never heard the criticism and wasn't corrected, because he hid from the people who were correcting him.
        
        Psycopathy.
        
        Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        I am correct as always.
        
        hahhaahahahahahahahaha
    2. The Rantin Arkansan 13 years ago
      
      There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
      
      When it comes to stats, I'm assuming Krugman is Hillary's Strapon's role model.
5. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
  
  That's actually worse than it seems, because $77K in 2012 is about $48K in 1992 dollars.
  
  However, this is also probably to be expected when two credit-driven bubbles in 20 years burst--monetary worth ends up going back to the mean.
  
  Which is why Bernanke's attempts to keep interest rates low and inflation in place are so disastrous. People who are trying to save and pay down debt will have exponentially less discretionary income and people on limited incomes and rely on savings will be increasingly squeezed. The whole economy actually needs to deflate and interest rates need to go up, not the other way around.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Kate Moss is still hot!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....-roll.html
1. John 13 years ago
  
  She looks like she is going to heroin rehab. Forget the skinniness. Her face and eyes just look dead. She makes Anna Nicole Smith look sentient.
  1. Brett L 13 years ago
    
    Maybe she just superglued her hand to her hair, John. Didja ever think of that?
2. hamilton 13 years ago
  
  Eek. Like the dress but she looks perhaps 0.005 seconds away from starting to decompose here.
  1. Kant feel Pietzsche 13 years ago
    
    Slap some sunglasses on her, and you have Weekend at Bernie's III.
3. Restoras 13 years ago
  
  Thanks, man. You brighten my day.
4. Azathoth!! 13 years ago
  
  Looks a lot closer to ambient temp.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Mailman thinks he's a cop.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....TIMES.html
1. Tim 13 years ago
  
  "According to Hamm, it became instantly clear that it was no accident because the mail truck was rocking back and forth, its tires spinning, as it struggled to go over the animal's body."
  
  More than a whiff of Steven King to that.
2. edcoast 13 years ago
  
  Maybe I have too big of a soft spot for dogs, but this just made me physically ill. As a commenter once said "fucking fuckity fucking fuck."
3. WTF 13 years ago
  
  While the agency is investigating the dog's death, it is not clear what will be done if it turns out that a mail carrier had indeed deliberately run over the pet because the Postal Service is unionized, making it difficult to discipline an employee.
  
  Hey, they really are like cops.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Tripple barrelled shotgun. Pretty nifty. And pricy.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....ammer.html
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Does it go to 11?
2. T 13 years ago
  
  The triple barrel I want is the Russian one they used to put in the Soyuz capsules. Some archaic 16 gauge? Meh.
  1. Brett L 13 years ago
    
    I can only imagine how that went down in the first Soyuz briefing. "Well, the good news is that the parachutes work consistently enough that you'll probably survive the landing. The bad news is that the wolves may get to you before we do, so we've designed a shotgun..."
3. Francisco d Anconia 13 years ago
  
  I want the quad...
  
  ...the over-under, side-by-side.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Joan Rivers is an incoherent idiot.
http://www.politico.com/news/s.....77287.html
1. rac3rx 13 years ago
  
  Yeah, but that bitch is stretched tight.
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Commerce Secretary John Bryson is taking a medical leave of absence after being involved in two hit and run accidents...

The Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution clearly states that the Commerce Secretary is allowed to ram your car. I don't know why they're bothering to make up a seizure story.
1. Tim 13 years ago
  
  You've been involved in several hit run accidents, how come you're not Commerce Secretary?
  1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
    
    Why do people continue to try to use the ampersand when it's clearly been outlawed here at Hit AND Run?
    1. Tim 13 years ago
      
      Learned something new
2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
  
  I think technically it's only legal if he rams it so hard it crosses state boundaries.
  1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
    
    You wish.
  2. SFC B 13 years ago
    
    The repair parts are hauled via interstate transport. Voila! Commerce Clause!
  3. Tim 13 years ago
    
    I miss STEVE SMITH.
3. Xenocles 13 years ago
  
  He's just drumming up business for auto body shops, which clearly counts as regulation.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

It's good to be a Rolling Stone.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....hotos.html
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Even Keith has a gorgeous wife. It pays to be really rich and famous.
2. Anacreon 13 years ago
  
  I'm sure this 23-year-old gal and her 200-year-old husband Ronnie have a deep personal relationship based upon mutual interest and respect.
  1. Restoras 13 years ago
    
    I doubt it but if they're both happy who cares?
  2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    Bill Wyman already beat him on the "inappropriate age difference" front back in the 80s.
Scotticus Finch 13 years ago

The 68-year-old former utility executive struck a car stopped for a train ? twice ? on Saturday afternoon and then rammed into another vehicle with his car a few minutes later. He was found unconscious in his vehicle, and government officials said Monday he had had a seizure, which could play a role in whether he's charged with felony hit-and-run.

It wasn't clear whether the medical episode preceded or followed the collisions, but Bryson hasn't suffered a seizure before, said a department official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the secretary's medical history. Bryson has a "limited recall of the events," the official said.

Is this seizure story supposed to be just accepted as completely factual already? Have we heard from the guys he allegedly spoke to after he hit them the first time?

Move along, nothing to see here...
1. John 13 years ago
  
  If he had a seizure why did he leave the scene? There is nothing criminal about a seizure. In fact, if you have just had a seizure, you would want to wait for the cops so you could get medical care. And the last thing you would want to do would be to drive more and risk more seizures and turn an accident and medical problem into a felony leaving the scene of the accident. Do they really expect anyone besides retards like Skreek to believe this?
  1. tarran 13 years ago
    
    Honestly, I think he was disoriented. Some seizures don't engulf the whole brain but only incapacitate a bit of it. I have a friend who has temporal lobe epilepsy, and during a seizure, she, a MENSA level genius, becomes a passive imbecille.
    
    It could be that he was high on something, but given his cooperative nature, I wouldn't be surprised if the tox screen on his blood sample comes up negative, and we're left with some neurological disorder.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      Maybe so. But that is one hell of a seizure.
      1. Tim 13 years ago
        
        First comes the search, THEN the seizure. It's in the Constitution.
      2. tarran 13 years ago
        
        Not really.
        
        IF his hear had started fibrillating and he had rearended those guys, nobody would bat an eye. It's common enough that you can find automatic defibrilators sowed in every major building in a city.
        
        The brain has disorders that can similarly affect it.
        
        It's just that so many people cry wolf (I killed the bitch who was cheating on me while a blacked out and so I am not responsible) that we assume people who do bad things in the midst of a seizure are lying.
        
        And, it's quite possible he was high on something. But this has all the marks of a seizure: loss of control, bizarre behavior, no attempt to cover it up.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Interesting. thanks.
        
        SugarFree 13 years ago
        
        But this has all the marks of a seizure: loss of control, bizarre behavior, no attempt to cover it up.
        
        My whole life until now has been a seizure?
        
        Anacreon 13 years ago
        
        You failed to mention the complete loss of bowel and bladder control that comes with a true grand mal seizure. Tough to fake that unless you know enough to piss and crap yourself before the paramedics get there.
        
        Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        True - if it was a GM.
        
        John Thacker 13 years ago
        
        Does no one remember the whole thing with Bob Novak a few years ago, shortly before he died? He hit a pedestrian, claimed he never saw the pedestrian.
        
        All the partisan long knives came out; then it was discovered that actually, yeah, this was the first hint of the brain tumor that killed him.
        
        EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
        
        And, it's quite possible he was high on something. But this has all the marks of a seizure: loss of control, bizarre behavior, no attempt to cover it up.
        
        I call that, "Friday night."
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Banjos and I can confirm ^^this.^^
      3. Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        But that is one hell of a seizure
        
        Why? A mild ten-second seizure could have done the trick.
        
        VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
        
        He hit one car twice and then drove off to hit another car several minutes later.
        
        Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        OK, two ten-second seizures several minutes apart. Or, one ten-second seizure with a post ictal period lasting, as would be expected, beyond the time of the second collision. Take your pick, though number two is the more likely.
  2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
    
    If he had a seizure why did he leave the scene?
    
    Seizures are always followed by a period of confusion. I'm not saying that's what happened but that's an easy answer to your question.
  3. Chloe 13 years ago
    
    Of course, there is that whole issue of being postictal after a seizure.
  4. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
    
    I don't know, my first thought on hearing about the accidents (particularly given that he left and then got into a second accident) was that he was either having a medical problem or was highly intoxicated.
  5. Chris Mallory 13 years ago
    
    "In fact, if you have just had a seizure, you would want to wait for the cops so you could get medical care."
    
    Do they treat seizures with electroshock now?
    1. LTC John 13 years ago
      
      This "treatment" brought to you by the fine folks at Taser?
      1. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
        
        Don't forget the pepper spray first.
    2. Francisco d Anconia 13 years ago
      
      Perhaps he didn't"t want his dog shot.
2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  If he in fact had seizures, he didn't speak to anybody after the first one as he would have been in a post-ictal state that would have precluded that. Also, FWIW, if he in fact had seizures for the first time, he has a brain tumor until proven otherwise.
  Now, the question is whether or not he actually had seizures. The second one at least should have been witnessed, though there might well not have been anything to see since you don't necessarily jerk around when you have a seizure. But the paramedics should have been able to make some determination on the question.
  According to the story the guy blew clean on the breathalyzer. My guess is that he either actually had seizures or there are drugs involved.
  1. John Thacker 13 years ago
    
    He could have a brain tumor, like Bob Novak.
    1. Restoras 13 years ago
      
      I was at a triathlon over the weekend and the announcer introduced a female participant, 50, with an active, malignant brain tumor. Makes me want to get off my lazy ass and do one of those events.
      1. Xenocles 13 years ago
        
        Maybe she was just trying to commit suicide.
    2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
      
      He could have a brain tumor, like Bob Novak.
      
      Yes - as I suggested.
Brett L 13 years ago

Lungs. There's just no good way to season them.
1. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
  
  The Scotts disagree.
CampingInYourPark 13 years ago

When it Comes to Politics, Are We More Racist Than We Think?
"The results imply that, relative to the most racially tolerant areas in the United States, prejudice cost Obama between 3.1 percentage points and 5.0 percentage points of the national popular vote," Stephens-Davidowitz points out in his study.
http://shine.yahoo.com/work-mo.....00847.html
1. John 13 years ago
  
  So that would imply that those 5% would vote for Obama if he were white. Since, Obama gets almost no votes from Republicans, that means a good portion of those must be Democrats. What does the Democratic Party plan to do about the pretty rampant racism within it?
  1. Double D 13 years ago
    
    There you go, John, with the false Dem/Rep dichotomy.
  2. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
    
    Democratic strongholds in Appalachia turned against Obama the most but he still won Ohio and Pennsylvania. West Virginia and Kentucky are lost causes without major cities in them.
    
    Its a major reason he is still a favorite on Intrade (OH and PA).
    
    Ironically, the big African-American states Obama is a sure loser in (GA, AL, MS, SC)
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      West Virginia turned against him because he is destroying their economy. And Intrade is the ultimate lagging indicator.
    2. Tim 13 years ago
      
      I am outraged over your obvious contempt for the greatest American living today.
  3. CampingInYourPark 13 years ago
    
    Point is the ignorant methodology used to create a Democrat talking point...google searches? lmfao
  4. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
    
    Well, they already "took care" of Strom Thurmond
2. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Any word on how many votes, say, Kerry lost in 2004 for not being black?
3. sloopyinca 13 years ago
  
  So since Obama got 95% of a certain racial demographic that generally only skews about 80% for Team Blue, how does this study play out for McCain? Did his whiteness cost him a few % points overall?
  
  These studies are bullshit.
4. John Thacker 13 years ago
  
  Equivalently, the results imply that a bunch of people in racially tolerant areas in the United States voted for Barack Obama despite him being unqualified, just to feel good about themselves.
5. Emmerson Biggins 13 years ago
  
  Do they net out the people who only vote for him because of statistically inferred racism?
Raston Bot 13 years ago

Will Bob Marshall and Jamie Radtke split the vote and allow for a suckass George Allen to take the GOP senatorial primary?
1. NoVAHockey 13 years ago
  
  there was a another name on the ballot this morning -- a minister I think.
  1. Raston Bot 13 years ago
    
    Right, EW Jackson.
    
    I'd just be siked if Kwiatkowski beat Goodlatte.
2. Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
  
  Some "analyst" on WTOP this morning seemed to think so. He said this primary was somewhere between "insignificant" and "very insignificant" and that GA had it in the bag.
  
  I could not possibly care less.
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

North Dakota voters will decide Tuesday on the ultimate tax revolt: abolishing the property tax altogether.

They plan to dump their real estate into the harbor.
1. T 13 years ago
  
  They plan to dump their real estate into the harbor Red River.
  
  Or they'll just wait a few years and the river will take some of it again.
2. The Rantin Arkansan 13 years ago
  
  Why is it always places like Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota where it gets chop-off-limbs cold during the winter who implement measures that I really want to see happen? Why can't the Carolinas do something like this?
  
  I hate winter.
  1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
    
    Winter is coming.
    1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
      
      Just finished A Dance with Dragons and thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't understand all the bitchy reviews.
  2. Quetzalcoatl 13 years ago
    
    The Market. They're competing for residents.
  3. Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
    
    It should be noted that the measure doesn't cut spending; it requires the state to replace the lost revenue from some unspecified source (the magical money tree behind the capitol building, no doubt). If the measure does happen, it should be a hilarious train wreck.
    1. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
      
      They're swimming in oil money right now. So they should cut some taxes to prevent Government Union goons from grabbing it. But the sales and income taxes are better choices.
      1. Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
        
        Not necessarily, there's a similar debate in PA. But where as property taxes are spent locally (so that I know property taxes are going to my school district, police, fire, etc.), income and sales taxes are spent state-wide and end up disproportionately going to the major cities. So as much as I'd like to eliminate the property tax, replacing it with a situation where I have the same overall tax burden, but now my money is being funneled away to buy votes in Philadelphia while my local community whithers is not an improvement.
        
        Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        So as much as I'd like to eliminate the property tax, replacing it with a situation where I have the same overall tax burden, but now my money is being funneled away to buy votes in Philadelphia while my local community whithers is not an improvement.
        
        I tend to agree with this view. I'd rather have a situation like Texas or Montana, where there are no income/sales taxes, but property taxes are higher, than one where there's little or no property tax but higher sales and income taxes. As you pointed out, at least with the property taxes those revenues are largely being funneled into the local community.
        
        The flip side is that county assessors can be dicks about your property's value and really fuck you over if they get the urge.
        
        Spoonman. 13 years ago
        
        It's complete crap that I pay 3.5% of my income to the city of Philadelphia.
        
        Now, Cheltenham Township's ludicrous property taxes don't make me happy either, but its house prices sure do.
        
        Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
        
        Should come out to Limerick. My 1200 sq. ft. condo was $170k, assessed $90k, $2200/year property taxes.
        
        DEG 13 years ago
        
        You didn't tell him about the bad side of going out to Limerick. Traffic on 422 if you have to head to the Philly area. Every time I go back down there to visit relatives, I think "Holy fuck what happened to this road! You used to be able to do 80 on it!"
        
        Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
        
        422 has actually been pretty good since they finished doing the 422/202/76 interchange in King of Prussia. And personally I consider not being able to get into Philadelphia to be a feature rather than a bug.
        
        Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
        
        The real problem is that they built the Schuylkill Expressway on the wrong side of the river in 1949, preventing it from being expanded beyond four lanes due to the cliff face it runs along.
        
        DEG 13 years ago
        
        Your tax dollars at work.
        
        Stormy Dragon 13 years ago
        
        The road was designed and built by private contractors, so in this case I think it was more an issue of highways being so new at that point (the design phase began in 1932) that no one knew what they were doing yet. There was also supposed to be a highway on the other side of the river (The Manayunk Expressway), but it fell victim to NIMBY problems.
        
        DEG 13 years ago
        
        Ahh... interesting, thanks!
        
        DEG 13 years ago
        
        Ugh... I guess I missed out on the worst of it. The only time I can get close to driving it the way I did before I moved away was to drive it in the middle of the night. I probably could have driven faster while at night, but I've heard there are more speed traps on 422 than there used to be.
        
        I understand about not getting into Philly being a feature, but I know folks that look that way for jobs.
        
        DEG 13 years ago
        
        PA allows local income and sales tax, though I think only Philly and Pittsburgh have a local sales tax.
  4. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
    
    Because when you live through a real winter, you see how fecking useless government employees really are.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Laffer and Moore: Obama's Real Spending Record
There's no way around the facts. Under Presidents Bush and Obama, government exploded as a share of the economy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

Today's economy is again decelerating in no small part because on Jan. 1, 2012 we face Taxmageddon?the largest automatic tax increase on investment and businesses in generations, including the end of the Bush tax cuts and the more recent payroll tax cut. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this would drain $607 billion out of the economy next year, pushing us back into recession.

Keynesians, of course, are advising more deficit spending and easy money. But the most amazing feature of the nearby chart, which is rarely ever noted, is that when spending declined sharply the economy boomed under President Clinton, and when spending soared under Presidents Bush and Obama, the economy tanked.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  How is this not a giant scandal?
2. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
  
  Bullshit. Here is the chart for govt employment:
  
  http://www.businessinsider.com.....d-office-9
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    Some hints to making an argument:
    
    1) What part are you protesting? be specific. For example, what does gov't employment have to do with the article above?
    
    2) One piece of information - chart, etc - does not make an argument or necessarily nullify an entire thesis. A point-by-point method is usually the preferred method when try to disprove something.
    
    3) Laffer knows more about the economy than you know about giving blow-jobs to Team Blue. Well, maybe.
    1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
      
      Your italics - "under Bush AND Obama government spending has exploded".
      
      No, it was just under Bush. Government workforce is DOWN since Jan 09 by 500,000.
      
      Federal spending is up just 1.4% annualized.
      
      LAffer and Morreon are wrong.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        God you are a lying sack of shit. Your 500,000 figure includes state and local government workers which neither Bush nor Obama have any control over.
      2. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
        
        so you're not disagreeing about part 3 - that's good to know. Acceptance is part of the healing process.
      3. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        Federal spending is up just 1.4% annualized.
        
        Which is even worse. Obama kept the current structural spending in place because initially, the feds were propping up local and state governments. That money isn't being allocated anymore, so those governments are laying off workers left and right--but federal spending is still going up anway.
        
        You might ask yourself where all that money is going to.
      4. R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Umm, PB, government spending can explode even with a declining government workforce.
        
        And, if we're really interested in looking at how the pubsec is doing relative to the private sector, then you might want to look into the relevant unemployment rates for workers in both.
        
        Apparently, pubsec unemployment is around 4%, and the various private sectors broken out by DOL stats are between 150 - 300% and more of that rate.
      5. R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Federal spending is up just 1.4% annualized.
        
        Another cherry-picked number, as that assigns all the increases in spending in 2009 after Obama was inaugurated (including the stimulus) to Bush.
        
        Shr?ke 13 years ago
        
        But but but I SAID "Government workforce is DOWN since Jan 09 by 500,000" even though we were discussing Federal spending and I'm obviously not able to come up with a number to prove me right so I used that instead!!! DERP!
        
        Why won't you let me get away with using proxy statistics that don't in any way address the argument we're having!!!
        
        DERP...
  2. # 13 years ago
    
    Local governments have started to lay off workers. Federal government spending and employment have exploded.
  3. CampingInYourPark 13 years ago
    
    The article is about spending...so how is this relevant?
  4. Trespassers W 13 years ago
    
    Shriek has demonstrated a tenuous grasp on statistics and interpreting graphs. Just saying.
  5. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
    
    Wow
    
    Total government employment dropped by 2% during this depression.
    
    - OMG,tThe horror.
  6. DesigNate 13 years ago
    
    $
3. Mike M. 13 years ago
  
  My opinion is that whatever he may be saying, Obama doesn't have the balls to let the tax cuts expire. Even guys like Bill Clinton and Larry Summers are on record saying that not renewing them would be nuts.
  
  Plus, he's running for reelection. I predict they get extended in late October.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    His own party will turn against him. The extension of the Bush tax cuts will come out of Congress with significant Democratic support. Once that happens, he really can't veto it without looking like a partisan out of touch ass.
    1. CampingInYourPark 13 years ago
      
      He'll veto any tax cuts for the "rich" and double down on his class division rhetoric. It's too late in the game to change stripes now.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        But that will be political suicide. Romney will be able to point to the Dem support in Congress and say that even his own side thinks he is nuts.
  2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    Ultimately, he'll probably cave on it. He and other Dems running for election will turn it into a class war issue--"tax cuts for the rich" and all that bullshit--but the bottom line is that ALL the current tax rates are set to expire at the end of the year. The Republicans are smelling blood right now and won't be in any mood to give him what he wants, which is the expiration of just the top rates. They'll tell him, "Either the rates ALL change or they ALL stay the same" and he'll blink because he doesn't want to be the one who oversaw a general tax increase during an election year. Dude was fucking retarded not to get those rates repealed when his party had control.
Underpants Gnome 13 years ago

Indiana passes new law affirming the right to defend yourself against cops.

Courageous public servants across the state predict armageddeon at every traffic stop.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....olice.html
1. Brian D 13 years ago
  
  "If I pull over a car and I walk up to it and the guy shoots me, he's going to say, 'Well, he was trying to illegally enter my property,'" said Hubbard, 40, who is president of Jeffersonville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 100 in the running for Indiana's Fearmonger of the Year. "Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law."
  
  Yeah, because everyone knows when cops pull people over for traffic stops they immediately try to enter the vehicle as opposed to having the person exit it.
  1. Anonymous Coward 13 years ago
    
    "Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law."
    
    I thought cops were brave and wonderful people because they were willing to die to protect the people. You mean they are actually cowards with guns and badges protected by law?
    
    I R SHOCKED.
    1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
      
      "Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law."
      
      Ooh, are they giving the rest of us qualified immunity as well now?
  2. R C Dean 13 years ago
    
    "Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law."
    
    Well, I hope so. If the cop needed killing, anyway.
  3. Zeb 13 years ago
    
    "Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law."
    
    Good. Cops get away with killing people all the time. Only seems fair.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

ObamaCare's Secret History
How a Pfizer CEO and Big Pharma colluded with the White House at the public's expense.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

The warning to business is also fundamental. Crony capitalism undermines public trust in capitalism itself and risks blowback that erodes the free market that private companies need to prosper and that underlies the productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. economy. The political benefits of cronyism are inherently temporary, but the damage it does is far more lasting.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  This I mean. How is this not a huge deal?
  1. Chloe 13 years ago
    
    Because, Obama would never lower himself to work with the corporations, at least thats what the media tells me.
    1. NoVAHockey 13 years ago
      
      what a joke. somewhat related, there were a more than a few people at my old firm that either received waivers or quit a month before they they took posts with the obama administration. but they weren't lobbyists, because they quit.
2. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
  
  Ahhhh, finally some criticism of Obama with validity. He is a crony capitalist and not a socialist.
  1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
    
    He's a nationalistic, militarily aggressive corporatist who supports stronger government control of all personal decisions. If only there was a name for that sort of ideology.
    1. The Rantin Arkansan 13 years ago
      
      If Mussolini had only sided with correct fascists in WWII, he'd be a hero instead of vilified.
      1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
        
        Hell, if Hitler had refrained from turning on Stalin, he'd be on more left douchebag T-shirts than Che.
        
        Chloe 13 years ago
        
        How did a gay killing, art and music hating, mass killer become such an icon to these guys?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        He was good looking and took a great photo. That is really all there was to it. It is not like they know anything about him. They just know he was on their team and looked good in a photo.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        And there wouldn't be as much conflict in the middle east. Double win!
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Yeah but the few Jews in Eastern Europe in France who survived the holocaust and went on to start Israel would be dead. Had Hitler not attacked Russia and then made peace with Britain and America after conquering France and Poland, no Jew outside of the US or Russia would have survived.
        
        Restoras 13 years ago
        
        Ah, the What If game - well, the whole point of attacking the west first was to facilitate conquest of Russia and the creation of lebensraum.
        
        Of coruse, if Hitler had waited until 1942 or thereabouts the UK would have been knocked out of the war with just all the additional u-boats. Not sure Germany could ever have taken out Russia - all that space, and all that cannon fodder really would have made it challenging.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        The better what if is if France and the UK hadn't been complete cowards and declared war when Hitler went into the Rhineland or Austria. The German military was a paper tiger really right up until the invasion of Poland. They would have been crushed before that.
        
        And even after the invasion of Poland, France had a huge army sitting on the German border and the Germans had nothing but third rate troops to stop them. Had France launched an offensive in the fall of 1939, they could have taken the Rhine and Ruhr valleys and crippled Germany's ability to wage war. Instead that sat in their trenches and gave Hitler time to move his army back from Poland. It was just disgraceful.
        
        Restoras 13 years ago
        
        Hitler correctly calculated/gambled that those populaces had no stomach for war, and hence the politicians in power would not use the forces at their disposal to counter him and thus preserve their positions of power for a little while longer. Is this the very definition of craven?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Hitler had one great skill, he could correctly size up his enemies like no one else. Only when that skill failed him with Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, did things go wrong.
        
        Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        Hitler had one great skill, he could correctly size up his enemies like no one else.
        
        I don't know about this. Hitler's career, particularly in the late 30s up until his death, is exemplified by a series of massive gambles. Sure, when the gamble works it looks like the person has great ability, but it's a mirage. It just means he got lucky. When the gamble doesn't pay off, it can have increasingly devastating consequences over time, until a last "throw of the dice" is implemented which finally breaks the enterprise.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Hitler is possibly the world's biggest example of "the house always wins."
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Eggs. Omelets.
        
        /Che t-shirt wearer
  2. The Rantin Arkansan 13 years ago
    
    Only statist slaver fucks try to distinguish between their personal brands of tyranny.
    
    They're all the same to those for liberty.
    1. Shr?ke 13 years ago
      
      Well I can't even distinguish between GDP and a change in GDP so don't ask me! DERP!
invisible furry hand 13 years ago

Oh wow, Elinor Ostrom just died

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom
1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
  
  They haven't even had time to past tense her page.
2. EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
  
  Interesting wikipedia entry. I'm not familiar with her work, IFH. Can you recommend a good starting point for reading her?
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Six Myths About the Wisconsin Election
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....ction.html

Elections may not change everything, but they certainly can change the way partisans spin. We've all seen it: Before the vote, both sides agree on its crucial importance. Afterward, the losing side declares it's no big deal.

Last week, Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, beat back an attempt to remove him from office in the middle of his term. The political struggle since then has concerned the meaning of that vote -- and enveloped it in a series of myths.

Here are six of them:
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

"My Girlfriend Found Raunchy Messages I Sent to Another Woman"
http://dearwendy.com/my-girlfr.....her-woman/

I have a best female friend who recently got out of an engagement, whom I talk to occasionally, and for a long time, we have traded semi-raunchy sexual comments. It has ceased in recent years, but has re-surfaced, mostly by my doing, as I feel bad that she lost her engagement and I am trying to make her feel better about herself. My girlfriend saw the messages and needless to say, she was not happy, but indicated that she trusted me, loved me, and knew I would never cheat on her. I confirmed the same and told her that I did it to make my friend feel better. I told her that I would stop it altogether because nothing to me is worth losing her.

My questions are: (1) what can I do to approach her about her temper and her acting out without her freaking out; (2) although she says it is OK, do you think there is anything more I can do to repair the damage done by the texts she saw? ? Tired and Stressed Lover
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Dear asshole,
  Quit pretending you're not trying to fuck your friend on the side.
  1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
    
    His last question fell off
    
    (3) Does this mean I can't suggest a threesome?
  2. Tim 13 years ago
    
    Excellent, succinct, to the point.
  3. Double D 13 years ago
    
    Good call.
  4. Spoonman. 13 years ago
    
    THIS
2. Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
  
  What kind of fuckface can't even be truthful when anonymously writing to an advice columnist?
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    The same kind of fuckface who sends raunchy texts to another women even though he has a g/f.
    1. Kaptious Kristen 13 years ago
      
      It's pretty clear all he knows how to do is lie, and is more comfortable lying than telling the truth. He probably even lies about the most innocuous things, like what he had for lunch. I've know a few people like that.
      1. VG Zaytsev 13 years ago
        
        You mean he's Barack Obama?
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        I was thinking dunphy.
hamilton 13 years ago

Thru Tyler Cowen's blog, what it's like to be shot in the head: http://mindhacks.com/2012/06/0.....-the-head/

"There is one rare effect, called the Kr?nlein shot, where a high powered shot messily opens the skull but neatly ejects the whole brain on the ground. You can find pictures on the web from pathology articles but, I warn you, they're neither child friendly nor particularly good tea-time viewing."
1. Chloe 13 years ago
  
  I've seen worse.
Matrix 13 years ago

double barrelled AR-15
You know you want it...
1. Tim 13 years ago
  
  Double Double taps.
2. Scruffy Nerfherder 13 years ago
  
  As short as those barrels are, I would want industrial ear protection for fear of losing my hearing after one (or is that two) magazine(s).
  1. LTC John 13 years ago
    
    More like a double M-4. Yes, hearing protection is a +.
    
    I must admit, I would want one.
3. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
  
  Vera?
Pip 13 years ago

Rahm Emanuel on Morning Joe:

"The only solution to the financial crisis is another stimulus"
1. LTC John 13 years ago
  
  Indeed, Mr. Mayor - so you can stick your hand out for a great flipping wad of taxpayer cash to bail out your Daley corruption ruined, unionized hellhole.
2. Anacreon 13 years ago
  
  Our new Northwestern alumni magazine arrived with Rahm on the cover, wearing his tie far too long (its tip well past his crotch). I had no idea he was an alum -- and in having him and afellow alum, disgraced former Ill. governor Rod Blagojevich, it might be time to keep my school history a bit more private.
  1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
    
    Wear it as a mark of pride. My parents scrimped and save to send us to private schools, and then university. I cheered them up no end by pointing out that at every stage I knew someone who went on to a criminal conviction*.
    
    * forgery, drug dealer, embezzler respectively. There was also a guy I knew at uni who was arrested for a stock scam in the Philippines, but I don't think he was tried. Pity - his arse in jail would have been a good-news story
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

one of my fave "new synth" movement groups has a new single out:

Mirrors - Hourglass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoA_9atm1I0

For fans of New Order and ilk.
1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  Oooh, that's smashing! Thanks!
CampingInYourPark 13 years ago

"When asked to craft a headline about her tenure at the EPA, chief administrator Lisa Jackson questioned the American public's ability to read at a fifth-grade level in an interview..."
http://freebeacon.com/epa-admi.....h-graders/
Citizen Nothing 13 years ago

Lindsay Graham says "no" to "No New Taxes."
Mike M. 13 years ago

The Jerry Sandusky trial is officially underway.

Man, what a disgusting creep this guy is. What scares me is that these Penn State lovers are truly some of the biggest brain-dead yahoos in the country. It wouldn't surprise me too much if they actually let the guy off.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  This morning they were saying that he threatened to send the kid back to his horrible home if he didn't give up some sex. Made me want to vomit a little.
2. John 13 years ago
  
  And Penn State people should hate him more than anyone. I had a friend a few years back who had played DB in the mid 80s at Penn State for Sandusky. At the time it was something to be really proud of. He played on a national championship team in 82 and a team that played for another in 85. That is a big deal. And certainly something his grand children will talk about with pride. Now thanks to this fucking deviated prevert his and hundreds of other players' experiences are now the punch line to a joke. In addition to victimizing all of those kids, he pissed all over something that took 40+ years to build. And the same people who built it are defending him. Unbelievable.
  1. R C Dean 13 years ago
    
    And Penn State people should hate him more than anyone.
    
    I'm shocked they aren't baying for his blood, and the defense wasn't begging for a change of venue.
    
    The fact that they aren't makes me think maybe the whole Penn State mystique was just fraud, down to the bone.
3. Drake 13 years ago
  
  I'm not too far from there. I've heard lots of Penn State people defending Paterno - never heard one stick up for Sandusky.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    I will never for the life of me understand how Paterno did what he did. It puts lie to everything he ever said and did during is career.
    1. Pip 13 years ago
      
      Paterno notified the Penn State administration. Why should he have done more than that?
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        Call the cops. And perhaps wonder why Sandusky is still walking around campus after a credible claim that he was ass raping a 12 year old in a university shower. He should have called the police. And don't give me the "I just told my superior" bullshit. Paterno was the superior. He was the most important man on campus. Don't think for a moment the decision of how to handle the allegation didn't involve Paterno.
4. EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
  
  What scares me is that these Penn State lovers are truly some of the biggest brain-dead yahoos in the country.
  
  No, that award goes to Michigan Wolverine fans. Fuck Michigan.
  1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
    
    Yeah! Fuck Michigan!
TangoDing 13 years ago

Well it seems like they are going to have to do something!

http://www.Anon-Geeks.tk
JW 13 years ago

PROMETHEUS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS

You have been warned.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  I doubt if it totally sucks. To me totally sucks is a movie like Avatar. A movie so bad and so insulting that it is not worth going to see in the theater even though visually it is unbelievable. Prometheus looks like it is just bearable enough to make it worth to go see just to look at it.
  1. JW 13 years ago
    
    Read the review. It's spot-on.
    
    And yes, it's as insulting as Avatar and Crystal Skull put together. It's so bad you want to cry when it's over, for all of the squandered talent and what could have been.
  2. Professor Booty 13 years ago
    
    He's right. It's garbage. It's "Phantom Menace" bad. It's "Crystal Skull" bad.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      Wow. What a shame.
2. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  Thankyou for taking one for the team. Your courage and selflessness will be rewarded, if not in this world then in the next
  1. JW 13 years ago
    
    But I want my reward now!
    1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
      
      Oh OK then
      1. JW 13 years ago
        
        An unavailable video?
        
        Your Rick-rolling attempt has failed!
        
        invisible furry hand 13 years ago
        
        Sorry, didn't mean to do that to you. I'll try again
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Yay! Boobies!
3. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
  
  It wasn't that bad. Maybe my threshold for suckiness has been lowered by watching too many B movies in my quest to discover the worst movie evah, but it was watchable. The plot wasn't terribly original, and there were some serious WTF plot holes, but I didn't expect much to begin with.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    In other words just good enough to justify paying to see the visuals. Sad because it could have been great.
    1. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
      
      Exactly. It could have been a great movie, but it shot itself in the foot (several times).
    2. JW 13 years ago
      
      Nope. Not even for the visuals.
      
      Watch the trailers if all you want are the visuals. The trailers are a hundred times better and more satisfying.
  2. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
    
    Current nominee for Worst Movie Evah:
    
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279688/
  3. JW 13 years ago
    
    A fiend of mine put it this way: "Let's Send 17 of the Stupidest People on Earth 500 Billion Miles from Earth to Die Stupidly"
    
    And yes, it's supposed to be much further away than that, since that's about Saturn's orbit, but that's the absurdly low number they throw out in the film. They couldn't even bother to try and do the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      Do they really make it "inter galactic" travel? Even Star Trek understood that you can't travel between galaxies. And if you could, your technology would be so advanced I doubt any alien would have a chance against you. That is Arther C. Clark black monolith territory.
      1. JW 13 years ago
        
        It's not clear how far they went, but they indicate that the first target star is "too far away." They stop trying after that.
        
        And believe me when I say I wanted to LOVE this flick, it had such incredible potential, but it was too busy stabbing me in the heart with raging imbecility to even be mediocre.
      2. Emmerson Biggins 13 years ago
        
        sort of off topic:
        
        anybody read/like Ian M Banks "Culture" stuff?
        
        I think I do. But everytime I read one I also wonder to myself if I just let a bunch of political propaganda get past by cynicism-shields.
    2. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
      
      Dude, don't you know to disengage your scientific knowledge circuit when watching mainstream Sci-Fi movies? If you don't, there's no way to watch 90% of what passes for SF without your head exploding.
      1. JW 13 years ago
        
        I can disengage plenty, but when they make a lame 4th-grade level screw up like that, it kinda stands out.
        
        Seriously, at least fucking try. "500 light years" is too hard? Or 50? It's fewer syllables than "500 billion miles."
        
        PaganPriestess 13 years ago
        
        LOL. But, but math is hard! Truthfully I ignored that, just like I ignore space ship engine noise, and I mostly ignored the theoretical reason the atmosphere was "poisonous" was because it had 3% carbon dioxide. Really!?
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Truthfully I ignored that, just like I ignore space ship engine noise
        
        Yeah, I get that and I agree completely. Those are conventions that makes the movie far more interesting than without. 2001 was oone of the few films that did without the sound and that worked for the type of film it was. It would have wrecked Star Wars.
        
        Like I said, I can disengage plenty, but when the film makers are repeatedly clubbing you over the head with their lumbering idiocy, it gets old pretty quickly. Damon Lindelof should be avoided as a screenwriter as much as Orci and Kurtzman. Run, do not walk, away.
        
        PaganPriestess 13 years ago
        
        I can understand this. I can't watch most period pieces for the same reason. I do historical re-enactment as a hobby, and costuming gaffs make me batshit crazy.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I can't watch courtroom dramas for the same reason.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Same here, John.
        
        Or hospital dramas. Its gotten to the point that Mrs. Dean makes me leave the room.
        
        DesigNate 13 years ago
        
        Orci and Kurtzman are good tv writers. They did a show with Bruce Campbell that was decent. And their work on Transformers: Prime has been pretty good. But damn their movies suck.
      2. Restoras 13 years ago
        
        Do you mean to tell me there is no sound in space?
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Only when you scream.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Don't even tell me there are no shock waves in space JW. Your killing my dreams here.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        Don't be absurd. Your dreams died long ago.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        Do you mean to tell me there is no sound in space?
        
        Then we should send Neil Armstrong back immediately.
        
        JW 13 years ago
        
        He's taking you with him.
        
        sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        He couldn't catch me in the late 80's. He ain't catching me now.
4. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
  
  I never planned on seeing it. Science fiction movies, for the most part, are pretentious enough to believe they are saying something signficant without really offering up anything of substance. Call it the Star Wars/STar Trek effect.
  
  Science fiction has almost always been a pulp enterprise in storytelling--that's why the Starship Troopers movie was actually a great satire in its own right, even though it completely departed in tone from the book. Scott is trying to follow in the footsteps of guys like Asimov, Bradbury, and Wells, but the talents of those writers were incidental to their field. They would have been great regardless of the genre they chose to write in. Scott doesn't seem to understand this, and the result is this mess of a movie. It doesn't help that the people associated with "Lost" were involved with it, either, as that is guaranteed to make your end-product suck.
  1. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    Scott doesn't appear to understand that what made Alien great wasn't the science fiction setting--you could have placed the story in the context of a clan of goatherders in ancient Mesopotamia and it would have worked just as well. What made it an enduring classic were the themes of isolation and resourcefulness in the face of adversity, which are universal to the human condition. Trying to get into an "origin" story for that universe is nothing more than a naked attempt to pander to a niche market of hopeless geeks that obsess over these things. You might get an intial boost from this market, but if you can't place the story in a greater context beyond what a bunch of aspies have been posting on internet message boards for the last 15 years, you're not going to have an appealing product.
5. Gladstone 13 years ago
  
  Damn so Armond White has actually correctly predicted the views of the Internet fanboys? So is he going to start loving Prometheus now?
Pip 13 years ago

Maria Menounos lip-slip:

http://digcms.com/2012/02/07/b.....lfunction/
1. Gunboat Diplomacy 13 years ago
  
  No shrinkage there.
Warty 13 years ago

For his part, Gov. Jack Dalrymple, a Republican, said he opposed the property tax ban. "It's mind-boggling, really," he said, in an interview, of the effects of such a ban. "We'd be changing everything, frankly."

Aw, poor guy. He'd have to do some work.
1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
  
  I'll make it easy for him. Just replace the word "changing" with "cutting" and everything will be just fine.
sloopyinca 13 years ago

As a rule, when you breach conditions of your bail, they revoke it and toss you in the slammer. Not necessarily so if you're a Broward County cop.*

*Looks like he had it temporarily revoked for taking off his ankle bracelet and going to a strip club. Oddly enough, texting witnesses and a hit and run weren't quite bad enough for the judge.
1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
  
  As an added bonus, his bond was set at $2,000 for the following: In addition to the grand theft and official misconduct charges, Woddell is accused of tampering with evidence, falsifying records and delivery of steroids. If convicted of all charges, he faces more than 30 years in prison.
  
  But they'll lock Zimmerman back up because he has a legal defense fund set up that his wife didn't fully disclose. Right?
  
  No double standard here, nosiree.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    $2000 bond? It takes more than that to get out on an aggravated DUI charge. And let me guess, he is on paid administrative leave while he fights the charges?
    1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
      
      No, it's unpaid in this case. I guess his union let him down in the latest round of CBA negotiations.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        The man is just being oppressed.
        
        PaganPriestess 13 years ago
        
        He might get fired. Losing his job is just TOO harsh. /rolls eyes
    2. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
      
      No, this time they actually put him on "unpaid" vacation.
sloopyinca 13 years ago

Looks like the EU is setting up contingency plans to go on lockdown. For peoples' own good of course.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  I said on another thread, during crises government officials always lie. They will tell you there will be no freeze on withdrawals right up until the moment they freeze your assets.
sloopyinca 13 years ago

St Louis jury awards $3.1M in police chase gone bad case after it appears cops tried to change their stories after witnesses surfaced.

But get this bullshit FTA: Each award came in near or above what the plaintiffs were seeking. But because of a state law that caps what municipalities are liable for, attorneys for Uplands Park are expected to file a motion to reduce the judgment to $378,000 for each claim.

If a state can just arbitrarily cap the limits of a municipality's liability, why even have a jury?

Here's another nugget of info FTA: Aikens, who was driving the police car, was a volunteer without police certification. According to testimony, the department hired him about two months before the chase, knowing he had a history of 18 arrests ? including two felonies.
A year after the crash, as part of a St. Louis County police crackdown on unlicensed officers, Aikens and Kenneth Minner, a code enforcement officer who joined the chase, were charged with holding a police commission without a license, a misdemeanor. Lt. Henry Smith, acting chief at the time, was charged with granting the commission. Those cases are pending.
1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
  
  So not only do we have unlicensed cops with 18 arrests (2 felonies) in on the chase, we have code enforcement officers jumping in as well.
  
  SLPD sounds like a pretty loose work environment.
  
  BTW, if the above link doesn't work, try this one: http://www.stltoday.com/news/l.....z1xatGK5Fs
  1. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
    
    The horrible unforgivable crime that started this off: when he clocked at 46 mph in a 30 zone.
2. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
  
  Needs moar training!
Leonard Rockstein 13 years ago

Demolition Man right again.
1. Voros McCracken 13 years ago
  
  You have been fined 20 credits for a violation of the verbal morality code.
sloopyinca 13 years ago

Here's a new one: My client should be released from jail because confinement is damaging his physique.

The client is in jail for physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend while their children watched.

In the oh-so-appropriate words of Don King: Only In America!
1. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
  
  Can he not do pushups,squats and planks?
  1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
    
    What's the point in planks if there's not somebody there with a flip camera?
    1. PaganPriestess 13 years ago
      
      true dat

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