A.M. Links: PRI Returning to Power in Mexico, No Comment from John Roberts, Spain Wins Euro Cup

• Mohammed Morsi took the oath of office at Egypt's Tahrir Square a day before the military's inaugural ceremony, promising off-handedly to work for the release of Sheik Omar Rahman, convicted in the United States for the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center.

• Enrique Peña Nieto appears to have won the presidential election in Mexico, bringing the PRI, which ruled through much of the 20th century, back to power.
• No comment from John Roberts as criticism continues.
• Power is out in areas in and around DC after a weekend storm. "I will not accept the timetable" provided by the power company, one local county executive said, possibly confusing opinion with fact.
• Apple will pay $60 million to the Chinese company from which it previously bought worldwide rights to the iPad name for the rights to the name in China, clearing the way for the device's sale there.
• Scientists may be announcing they've discovered the so-called God particle.
• Tiger Woods surpassed Jack Nicklaus for second all-time PGA career wins after winning the AT&T National.
• Defending champion Spain defeated Italy in the EUFA Finals to become the first team to win back-to-back Euro Cups, making it their third win in a major tournament. Spain won the World Cup in 2010. 

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Comments

[Timrek]

I find that if make a foolish double post, some idiot will always go out of their way to make fun of you for it.

[Timrek]

Ahh...double post gone, but it's the first version that already had 20 comments that is yanked. Thus leaving my flippant and juvenile comment as first.

All I can add is...painted boob sexy bra Spanish fan is hot.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I thought she was part of the crowd at the Egyptian President's inauguration.

[Whiterun Guard]

I certainly admire her, uh, Euro Cups, if you get my drift.

[Pip from the forge]

She even shaved her pits for the festivities!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I actually don't get your drift. Could you please elaborate?

[Whiterun Guard]

Let's just say I'd like to penalize her for being offsides if you know what I'm saying.

[Restoras]

More like, penalized for drawing you offsides...

[EDG reppin' LBC]

You want to do her in the butt? Whatever, dude.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Not bad, but she's no Lobster Girl. The shaved pits are a surprise.

[Alan Vanneman]

Reason Magazine, because inquiring minds want to know...want to know why a posting about a presidential inauguration in Egypt is illustrated by a shot of the bustiest blonde in all of Spain.

[Citizen Nothing]

Via Alan Vanneman: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Tits of Irian Jaya.

[Randian]

I love Alan Vanneman! I wish he would drop by to give his giant doses of Incredible FAIL more often. They, and the Commentariat's reaction to them, always brighten my day.

[Cdr Lytton]

What? No mention of a misspelled name?

[Fist of Etiquette]

SECOND!

[WTF]

I guess the first set of comments to the A.M. links were lacking and they want us to try harder.
Also, fucking aquirrels.

[Hell's Librarian]

HnR is acting retarded this morning. Quit churning, you stupid hamsters squirrels.

[Whiterun Guard]

NOOOO, all my awesome comments are gone.

[Hell's Librarian]

I know, me too, GDI.

[Pip from the forge]

We should put our collective boots up their collective backsides and force them to do better. I will not accept this timetable.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Grout turns in broken guns to gun buyback program; raises money for a youth shooting camp

http://www.volokh.com/2012/07/.....ting-camp/

[Eduard van Haalen]

(second attempt at posting this link; you're welcome_

[Whiterun Guard]

Petards, hoists.

[WTF]

Grout is sentient?

[Eduard van Haalen]

I couldn't quite recapture the first fine careless rapture from when I posted this the first time.

[SugarFree]

Yes, it is, and it's sick of looking at your jacked-up junk in the shower.

[WTF]

That's not what your mom said.

[Restoras]

HAHA!! Skwerilz!!

[invisible furry hand]

So all our posts get deleted. Fuck you Reason. Fuck you right in the ear.

[Pip from the forge]

It's a blow for narcissism but a boon for schadenfreude!

Ha ha!

[Mike M.]

Nerf our posts all you want squirrels, but Pepco still sucks and the Beltway is still full of tree-obsessed lefty whackadoodles.

[JW]

Trees or above-ground power lines: pick one, but not both.

Anything else a clusterfuck of mammoth retard proportions.

[Brett L]

I've been making this point in Tallahassee since I moved here. You know what doesn't go with trees and regular tropical storms? Above ground power lines.

[Isaac Bartram]

Underground utilities are no guarantee against storm damage. Back in 04 when we got three storms in a month in Central Florida there were a whole bunch of utility breaks due to trees being uprooted and tearing them out of the ground.

The second and third storms were the worst since the ground was already saturated and the the trees ahd been weakened by the buffeting they already gotten.

[Hugeevilrobot]

To be fair, undergrounding is an order of magnitude cheaper/easier with new development- most inside the beltway/ close in suburb construction was either around since the 40's or on former farmland where builders likely didn't expect/care that their subdivision was going to be filled with huge trees in 50 years.

Basically, it's much easier to build a largely underground and resilient system from scratch than to try to retrofit it- underground lines in a developed area run from ~$3-20M/ mile. Even a geographically small utility as is common on the east coast has thousands of miles of line. Further, while undergrounding obviously handles storms much better, when something goes wrong, a simple truck roll turns into digging up a large portion of the line to find where the damage is, which can take days-weeks rather than hours.

[JW]

Oh, I fully acknowledge that burying line is no free lunch, far from it, and it has its own issues, but DC is so thick with trees that keeping them above ground at this point is just monumentally short-sighted.

I wonder if you could convince a jury that lost productivity from repeated tree-induced power outages is a actionable tort?

[Hugeevilrobot]

Given that the cost of undergrounding most of that service territory is publicly estimated to run from ~$4-20 Billion, no, it probably isn't short-sighted. Even if the lines would be undamaged in a storm, you could still have tens to hundreds of thousands out for quite some time if there is damage to the transmission system or hardware like transformers and substations. If a person or business is so vulnerable that a day or two of lost work is catastrophic, I would think they may be better served by buying a generator (plenty of folks I know around here have 2-5 kW ones that were well under $2k). Think of it like hoping the fire dept will help you out, but keeping an extinguisher around just in case.

Either way, pretty sure that that tort is a non-starter, or there wouldn't be a utility in the country that would dare to do business.

[JW]

Either way, pretty sure that that tort is a non-starter, or there wouldn't be a utility in the country that would dare to do business.

This is where a private market in electrical transmission would come in handy, since it would most likely proceed in a manner that best serves for long-term profits. Instead, we've come up with a inefficient, uncompetitive system that prioritizes cost control and from my layperson's perspective, limits proper investment.

My work's voice/data provider will promise 99.99% uptime and rebate our monthly bill if an outage goes over x amount of time in a given period. If they can do it, which done out of competitive pressure and not misguided altruism, so can the electric utils.

[Hugeevilrobot]

Believe me, I don't disagree- the regulatory method (at least in the incarnations I've dealt with it in the utility world) really are quite terrible at coming to the "correct" conclusion. What you get is a truly fundamental service in a modern economy having business decisions dictated by political whims rather than engineering and financial truths. The incentives are truly out of whack for most parties at the table, and I really do agree that a more free market approach would yield better long term results.

However, unless it is done systemically (and it wont), the transition period would be brutal, and I sincerely doubt that we will see a major shift in utility regulation any time soon.

[Mike M.]

True. What would really make the most sense would be to just cut down the damn trees that are near the freaking power lines.

But that will never get done because the Beltway region is completely controlled by radical, mentally deranged psychopaths.

[JW]

That would require a helluva tree-break to get this to work as designed, which would denude most roads and neighborhoods.

[Grandpa Whithers]

It's called vegetation management and it is one of the first expenditures to be cut if earnings need improving.

[benji]

http://crookedtimber.org/2012/.....workplace/

Libertarianism is a philosophy of individual freedom. Or so its adherents claim. But with their single-minded defense of the rights of property and contract, libertarians cannot come to grips with the systemic denial of freedom in private regimes of power, particularly the workplace. When they do try to address that unfreedom, as a group of academic libertarians calling themselves "Bleeding Heart Libertarians" have done in recent months, they wind up traveling down one of two paths: Either they give up their exclusive focus on the state and become something like garden-variety liberals or they reveal that they are not the defenders of freedom they claim to be.

[sarcasmic]

libertarians cannot come to grips with the systemic denial of freedom in private regimes of power, particularly the workplace.

Another example of how liberals cannot come to grips with the fact that "private regimes of power" cannot use force or coercion, while government can.

Fucking idiots.

[KDN]

Or that your boss can only "deny your freedom" for whatever amount of time you agree to, while the state can do so for however long they damn well please without any input from you.

[benji]

If you don't do as your boss says and are fired and then starve to death are you truly free???

[sarcasmic]

The stupid is strong in this one.

[Quetzalcoatl]

You are technically even free-er since you no longer have to do what your boss tells you.

You are free to go grow a sustenance farm on your property and hope that none of the neighbors complain, or else it'll get torched by someone who has more real power than any employer.

[benji]

Yeah right, then Monsanto comes along and sues you for copying their method of agriculture.

Which doesn't work, agricultural city states always lead to disease and collapse.

[T]

Which doesn't work, agricultural city states always lead to disease and collapse.

Oh, shit. It's back. Kill it with fire before the infection spreads.

[ant1sthenes]

Oh shit, not you again.

[Anonymous Coward]

Which doesn't work, agricultural city states always lead to disease and collapse.

YOU. Kill it. Kill it now before it fully awakens into GAMBOL, Prince of the 486th Layer and Lord of Dullness.

[invisible furry hand]

You mean like this?

Tulsa Officials Destroy Woman's Survival Garden
http://reason.com/blog/2012/06.....val-garden

[Quetzalcoatl]

That is, in fact, exactly what I meant. 🙂

[Lord Humungus]

keep moving those goalposts. That job is always open.

[KDN]

Yes. What kind of asinine question is that? And let's be honest: if you starve to death in this country then you actively pursued such a cruel fate (barring extreme circumstances, and getting fired is decidedly not an extreme circumstance).

[benji]

Or you've been forced out of your job due to outsourcing and there's no safety net because of massive cuts to basic services.

[Lord Humungus]

and what if the sun exploded?

[Randian]

Then you would not be free from burnination, and that cannot be permitted.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

and what if the sun exploded?

You would get one hell of a sunburn. But not for long.

[JW]

We really need to put an ad on Craigslist for better trolls.

This is just embarrassing.

[KDN]

Sounds like someone's too proud to dumpster dive.

[Rasilio]

There has ALWAYS been a safety net in every society that has ever existed. It's strength has and always will depend on how wealthy that society is and not the manner in which it is provided.

If all government safety net programs were eliminated tomorrow at 9 am then by 9:15 there would be a thousand new charity organizations opened and by friday charitable donations will have at least doubled.

Would a privately operated safety net create some sort of utopia where nothing bad ever happens to anyone? Of course not but it would function at least as well at ensuring that no one actually starved to death as the government operated one and may offer significant other social advantages as well.

The fact you idiot liberals always overlook is that humans are social animals and empathy is genetic, as long as we individually have enough to eat and feed our families we will always forgo some luxuries to ensure our "tribemates" do not starve.

[Spoonman.]

Got a little lost the other day and noticed signs up for a Korean-American Elderly Mutual Aid Society here in Philadelphia.

[ant1sthenes]

This is a country where people will donate nearly a million dollars to an old lady because middle schoolers are bastards. If people have serious problems with deprivation of basic needs, it's because the system fails them, not because the resources aren't available.

[Ice Nine]

You're certainly truly free to starve to death if you choose to not exercise your freedom to find another job. So, yeah.

[Timrek]

Last time I did something my boss didn't like I don't remember him being able to send a SWAT team over to my house to shoot my dog.

[CE]

Or my neighbor's house and my neighbor's dog, and not get arrested for it.

[Hell's Librarian]

Second shot at this (insert no-longer-allowed annoyed-face emoticon here).

Either they give up their exclusive focus on the state and become something like garden-variety liberals or they reveal that they are not the defenders of freedom they claim to be.

I have noticed with these people that there is either black or white, 0 or 1. There's no third (or fourth) option,demonstrating that 1) they don't know what they are talking about; and 2) they don't care to know.

For my own part, if I don't like the culture of a company I work for I have a couple of choices. I can try to change the culture, which is sometimes (almost always) ineffective if the company is a large one; or I can accept that working there isn't for me and get another job. Or I can accept that a regular paycheck is sometimes a decent tradeoff for a lack of personal freedom in a workplace environment. Notice all three of these options are personal choices.

[benji]

You're ignoring that you should be free to do as you want, no matter what your corporate overlord says.

[Hell's Librarian]

If I choose to continue to work somewhere, I am doing what I want.

[db]

You're missing the point that employment is pretty much defined as you trading your time for money, being paid to do and act in ways you wouldn't be doing otherwise.

[benji]

Employment is a right. No one should have the ability to dictate terms after the fact to you about what your employment entails.

[db]

Wow.

[sarcasmic]

Yet another example of how liberal retards do not understand the concept of voluntary exchange.

[Hell's Librarian]

LOL. OK.

[Ice Nine]

Second rate trolling.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

absolutely PEGGED the troll-o-meter

well done

[benji]

Was it the city states?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Yes.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Horrible trolling

[rsi]

Really. Don'talk to it.

[Rasilio]

Ok if employment on my terms doing what I want for work is a right then I demand that you pay me a million dollars a year to sexually pleasure super models.

[LTC(ret) John]

Damn you - you got in first... I'll have to think of a different job-right to demand.

[db]

Congrats on the (ret)!

[Hell's Librarian]

Congrats!! Any immediate plans for your new status, or just hanging out for now?

[Ed]

I demand he pay me to copulate with his wife. It's my right.

[Suthenboy]

Dude, you dropped your brain on the floor.

[Anonymous Coward]

Employment is a right.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I sue Barry Jug-Ears for denying me my right to be Ambassador to Brazil?

[Bryan C]

Speaking of which, I haven't gotten this month's paycheck from you, benji. And no weak-ass, after-the-fact fascist excuses about me not actually being employed by you. I know my rights! Chop chop!

[Cytotoxic]

You're ignoring that you should be free to do as you want, no matter what your corporate overlord says.

Great so when and where can we meet such that I may punch you in the face? Remember, I should be free to do what I want.

[John]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Obama's money problems becoming real. It is more than a bit ironic that one of his biggest problems is that he has a bloated campaign staff full of youthful idiots doing little beyond drawing a salary. It is the blue model!!

[Warty]

njglea
9:35 AM EDT
Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, who has historically been a donor to the democratic party, is busy having other donors sign his very own Pledge to not donate to any political campaign until Congress gets it's act together. He's doing his very own part to help republicans win, probably to protect his 1% status and offshore business development. Shameful, Mr. Schultz. Tear Up That Pledge!

Hilarious.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Douched with his own latte mocha fuckstickizzle frappe cuntstain.

Bitch.

[Suthenboy]

Golden....just golden

[rac3rx]

FTA: "In 2008 everything was new and exciting about our campaign"...

...and then everybody figured out it was just the same old tired red socialism, Barry and now they're done with your dumb old ass...

[JerseyPatriot]

I think "screw me or lose your job" ought to be illegal. I don't see how that's necessarily antithetical to libertarianism.

[The Hammer]

Unless it is agreed upon at the point of hiring, it's breach of contract.

[Rasilio]

Why should it be illegal? If granting sexual favors to the boss is not a job requirement written into the employment contract and you get fired for that reason then it seems to me that you have a perfectly valid breech of contract lawsuit probably with a nice little harrassment rider thrown in for good measure.

This way no laws are required, if you want to make providing sex on demand from your employees a requirement for their employment spell it out in the contract, if it is not there, well then all we need is for the courts to enforce the employees contractual rights as vigorously as the employers.

[The Hammer]

Well said, Rasilio.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I, once again, protest the number of sport related AM Links.

Hit ampersand Run is not a baseball reference, etc.

Just because some libertarians love to be "citizens of the world" doesn't mean that the rest of us have to like soccer.

[robc]

You dont have to read every link, you know.

[Quetzalcoatl]

But when I come here and see sport links in the AM, I feel othered and unwelcome!

[Timrek]

RACIST!!

[Pip from the forge]

Why not just ignore the links and post your own? Be a rebel!

[Quetzalcoatl]

That puts me on the squirrels' radar as a possible threat.

They are anticompetitive rodents when it comes to alternative sources of linkage.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

SPECIE-IST!!!

[Quetzalcoatl]

The Evil Twin calling the Quettle black...

[Pip from the forge]

Go ahead. Risk it! Nobody reads them anyway.

[robc]

Unwelcomed and othered is what we do best.

[Restoras]

I don't think anyone here relishes being a "citizen of the world" per se, but I think it's good for Americans to realize that our own stupid, indigenous sports aren't the only ones out there worth following, and celebrating.

[T]

We should follow somebody else's stupid, indigenous sports? Why are our indigenous traditions not enough for you? Why do you hate America, you freaking commie?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

USA! USA! USA! USA!

When's the Stupid Bowl?!

[Randian]

Only the Tooliest of Tools call it the "Stupid Bowl" Congrats on your award!

[Randian]

the rest of the world has, effectively, *one* sport that is sort of interesting to follow, and much of that is based on nationalism.

[T]

I still maintain PPV buzkashi every couple of years would clean up.

[JerseyPatriot]

Cricket, rugby league, Aussie rules football, Gaelic football, hurling...

[Mike M.]

The soccer thing was clearly just an excuse to show the picture of the hottie with the painted milkmakers, so stop complaining.

[Auric Demonocles]

That argument is too straightforward and sound. You've got to Roberts that up a little!

[Randian]

I watched swimming and women's gymnastics last night. Would you like to talk about that?

Anyway, it's a pretty slow sports time for anything other than baseball and soccer, and soccer is mildly more 'exciting'.

[T]

While I absolutely don't care about the sports, my wife is contemplating season tickets for women's volleyball and soccer at her alma mater. This meets with my approval, simply because of athletic coeds in volleyball shorts.

It also does something for our season ticket priority in football, which was the motivation.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Hah! So they say "if you want good football tix, you'd better get a season pass for our womens' teams"!

That's pretty funny.

[robc]

20 years ago, Louisville required football season tix as part of the basketball season ticket package.

It actually worked (as did hiring Schnellenberger, were done at same time), many basketball fans got hooked on college football.

[T]

It's all point based. Season tickets for other sports gets you additional points, as does unrestricted cash donations to the athletic foundation. We do pretty good on points (we're in the top 20% of donors, pointswise) but the wife is trying to bump it up in anticipation of the new stadium and the season we'll spend in the local NFL stadium.

Oddly, buying multiple season tickets doesn't get you any additional points.

[Restoras]

Some volleyball chicks can be quite fetching...just don't let her force you to watch womyn's basketball.

[robc]

Did you explain how the women's good fundamentals make up for their inability to dunk?

[Restoras]

I couldn't care less. Too me, basketball is insufferably boring regardless of the participants gender.

I don't watch much tennis but when I do I prefer the women's matches for the reason you describe about basketball.

[Auric Demonocles]

Wooosh!

[robc]

In the pre-registration days, I would have posted that as "Femputer" and maybe it wouldnt have been missed.

[Auric Demonocles]

You still can!

Though it's a hassle.

[seguin]

They laughed?? DOES NOT FEMPUTE!

[T]

Women's soccer and volleyball are the only two that make sense. Every other sport, we're better off making a straight cash contribution.

[Ice Nine]

it's a pretty slow sports time for anything other than baseball and soccer

I see what you did there.

[CE]

I protest the number of sport related AM links too. There should be more.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So there was some kind of world championship game recently?

[Whiterun Guard]

World Champion of Europe

[generic Brand]

It's like being the tallest midget.

[CE]

Again with the micro-aggression!

[Quetzalcoatl]

My Serbian landlord was fixing stuff yesterday, and he was amazed that I don't have a TV and, more specifically, that I didn't have one tuned to the World Cup.

I refrained from making a snide remark about soccer being unAmerican because he's pretty ripped.

[Randian]

Give him a couple of bottles of cheap vodka and he'll be preoccupied for at least 30 minutes.

[Abdul]

Even more intimidating than being ripped--he's Serbian.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Having been to Serbia, I agree with this. Fervently aggressive nationalism is alive and well in that part of the world.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nobody had their TVs tuned to the World Cup this weekend, unless it was a recording from 2010.

I had my teevee tuned to the Tour day France. It's gonna be a Wiggo-Evans battle.

[edcoast]

Thank you. I know it's not popular in the US, but TdF is what gets me through the summer.

[invisible furry hand]

And I'm just going to repost this:

A Polish pop star is taking her case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, after losing an appeal last month against charges of insulting the religious feelings of two fellow Poles.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Arty.....cking-case

[Quetzalcoatl]

I admire your dedication.

Much like HampR's Jezebelles, you trawl murky swamps (by appearances, every country-specific news site) to bring us the otherwise missable morsels.

[BakedPenguin]

...insulting the religious feelings of two fellow Poles.

So there are no heavy metal bands in Poland?

[invisible furry hand]

Funnily enough, this woman's ex-boyfriend is the lead singer of Behemoth, and he got charged for tearing up a Bible on stage

[BakedPenguin]

Perhaps I should RTFA before commenting.

[sarcasmic]

Florida's finest!

He has been investigated by police 40 times; has been accused of battery, car theft, boarding a plane with a loaded gun, and carrying drugs.

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

[SugarFree]

God Bless that Union. God Bless each and every one of them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

German Bosque is likely one of the worst repeat offenders in Opa-Locka, Florida - and he's a police officer.

He's a Florida cop. How is this news?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Opa-Locka Locka-Dee-Doo...

[Timrek]

If these comments are trying harder...we suck, harder.

[db]

Wtf?

[Fist of Etiquette]

DO-OVER!

[db]

Evidently Reason is another client of Amazon EC2.

[generic Brand]

John and his crazy theories about John Roberts's end game.

[Palin's Buttplug]

John is John Yoo?

That explains a lot.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Yeah, that confused me too. Doesn't Great Value know that, unless otherwise specified, there is only one John in this chatroom?

[Timrek]

I wonder if Obama didn't pull a James Buchanan (ala Dredd Scott, 1857) and give ol'Johnny Roberts a last minute call. Roberts reminds me of Santorum as a big government conservative and a bit skeevy. Scalia seems to have written the dissent in way that makes it clear that he too was very surprised at the final outcome and that it changed at the last minute. I mean if their willing to ignore every other part of the Constitution what's the difference if that whole "separation of powers" thing just goes away too.

[Mike M.]

It's pretty clear that almost everyone was caught off guard by the outcome. When Drudge, Fox, and CNN all initially report that the mandate is struck down, you know something weird is up. It does look a lot like a switcheroo that was done at practically the last minute.

[Mike Rotchisari]

Their?

[robc]

Seems appropriate

[sarcasmic]

One of my coworkers has that one on his wall.

[robc]

A large percent of IT workers do.

[robc]

Also this one, but its not fitting for this thread.

[kinnath]

I enjoyed today's even though it has nothing to do with IT.

http://xkcd.com/

[robc]

Yep, I accept it.

Bill Murray fucked us into existence.

[Quetzalcoatl]

"Nobody will ever believe you"

[MattJ]

wiki says that Phil and Rita wake up in the clothes they were wearing the day before, which is supposed to clue us in to the fact that, while they slept together, they did not have sex.

So, an infinity of no sex.

[Restoras]

Dorks.

[invisible furry hand]

All vehicles travelling on French roads must carry a chemical or electronic breathalyzer test from Sunday, under new rules aimed at reducing alcohol-driven accidents.

http://www.thelocal.fr/3653/20120702/

[xenia onatopp]

Trying again. How's this for a story? Judge grants harassment order against blogger, orders blog redacted, based solely on his reporting of this case. Yup, that's how it's done where I live.

I emailed this story to Balko on Thursday, who mentioned it in his links (also emailed it to Riggs, who didn't run it, but no hard feelings). From there, Ken at Popehat picked it up, and Patterico, and a bunch of other bloggers. I mention this not to get credit, but because I'm extremely gratified to see the story generate some national interest; the knowledge that the outside world is watching is the only thing that's going to keep the hearing on July 9 from being handled as business as usual, so the more people who know, the better.

[db]

Still hosed the links.

[xenia onatopp]

Squirrels. They're working fine for me now, although they weren't a minute ago.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I'm amazed at the number of salient comments on the article. Much better than the authority sucking, tortured English writing gorks who comment on my local media websites.

[JW]

There seem to be an alarming number of judges whose familiarity with technology begins and ends with a Victrola.

Still, the special kind of unbridled arrogance that comes from being a judge doesn't stop them from ruling on cases involving tech from *this* century.

[Brett L]

The squirrels were just deleting all the comments coming from Bronycon. You're all busted.

[Timrek]

Hey, I may fantasize about Kim Possible, but animated beastiality is not on my to do list.

[robc]

I confused Kim Possible with Kim Dotcom for a second there and was really, really grossed out.

[KDN]

animated beastiality,/i

That is the bulk of the Brony experience. My sister used to send me some of the highlights from the MLP Facebook page when she was moderating it; those guys have issues. I wonder if they were also into animated pedophilia when the Powerpuff Girls was all the rage or if that was a different set of weirdos.

[Randian]

we need some links on that one.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

No we don't, please, really, we don't

[KDN]

Now I wish I still had them. Unfortunately I don't see the need to archive screenshots of the internet being the internet.

[robc]

OT: (wait, its morning links, never mind the OT)

I read The Unincorporated Man this weekend.

Its been discussed here before, but now I can participate! So, any thoughts (other than the book is a bit preachy, but not in a Rand kind of way).

[SugarFree]

The problems in pacing and characterization only get worse in the 2nd book--so bad, in fact, that I haven't found the energy to read the 3rd.

[robc]

Yeah, I really dont see a need for a sequeal.

I watched The Matrix again this weekend. I never saw 2 and 3. Its still a great movie and has no need for follow-ups.

[Whiterun Guard]

Unlike Major League, where the sequels just keep adding layers and layers of subtext and insight to the original.

[T]

Just like Butt Sluts 2 through 12!

[robc]

Also, needless to say, my views on fractional slavery are well known.

However, I could see some voluntary uses for some of what was going on, but in a contractual, not incorporated, kind of way.

A church that wanted to make the tithe mandatory, for example. But they wouldnt own 10% of you, they would have a contractual 10% claim on your income.

But the education one is interesting...think of someplace like an Ivy, that doesnt really need to charge tuition anyway. Make Princeton free, but you agree to pay 5% of future income back to Princeton. They have no control over how or where you live, or what you do, but get a cut of your income.

The line where it goes from contractual obligation to slavery is interesting to me (and it had clearly crossed it in the book).

[SugarFree]

Future income claim would devastate huge portions of higher education in extremely useful and hilarious ways.

[robc]

I see certain majors being dropped as an option...fast.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I would see them being priced by actuaries so that a law degree a couple decades ago would cost you much more than a law degree today.

For the student, it would be all about risk and selecting a major that was currently undervalued.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Would the percent claimed be lower for majors with low earning potential (since they're likely to be hand-to-mouth anyways), or would it be higher to insure that the school gets a similar payout?

[T]

C'mon, Q. This is basic demand curve stuff here. You'd have to drop the price to attract students and make it up on volume.

Well, that's what economically literate people would do, anyway. I have faith the academy could screw up.

[SugarFree]

Well, considering that the incidence of suing colleges for lack of job opportunities would skyrocket, I imagine it would be a mix of dropping majors, risk pricing, and some ironclad contracting work to make it possible. Just for a start, the obligation would have to be unbankruptable, like fed student loans are now.

Although, given my knowledge of academia, I can't see them having the business savvy to forego short-term gains for long-term profits.

[robc]

I think the ivies could do it now. Not contractually, but with a strong pressure of post-graduate donation. Free education, but this is what we expect in return, kind of thing.

[robc]

Do you want your kids to be get advantageous admission...better keep those donations coming in.

[Spoonman.]

The thing is, Cornell is getting so expensive and spending money so ludicrously (I got an email last week from my old department requesting that alumni donate $14,000 to renovate a display case - seriously, no typos) that I'm not sure my kids will be going there. That name has helped me and my wife some, but I don't think it would be worth going into serious-ass debt for.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm dating a fellow Cornellian currently. If it got that far, I'd think there's a good chance our kids would go there.

[The Hammer]

What about serious ass-debt?

[Brett L]

Like not being able to discharge loans through bankruptcy disrupt or the ones who pay more on their MSW than they pay in rent and car note?

[Auric Demonocles]

My sister is getting her MSW. It makes me cringe. At least she's got the military paying for some of it, and she should be able to get a VA position due to her deployment.

[robc]

And back to the novel, I dont understand how so many people ended up with majority.

5% to Gmen.
20% to parents.
15% [high end according to novel] to university.

That is still another 10% before dropping below 50%. How much did primary education cost, and shouldnt the parents being paying that out of your 20% and/or with cash, hence the reason they get the 20%?

I get the self-perpetuating cycle of the pennies, but other than that, it seems most middle class types should be able to stay majority, not just the rich.

The math just didnt add up for me. Part of it, of course, was cultural, in that the culture expected to go minority early on. And that is the difference, drop my family into that world, and even if Im a slight minority, at age 21 I would get a 20% gift from my parents and be back up to 65% or something.

At the end, it finally explains a bit, as the minimum had slowly dropped from 45 to 25. But I still dont buy the premise.

[SugarFree]

I had come to the conclusion that stock was pretty much the only security for loans for people who hold no property. So, like credit card debt, the pennies were racking up debt in the form stock pay-offs.

And while most parents give you your 20% as a graduation present, it was really meant as an incentive to raise your kids with work ethic and a way to pay the parents back for the direct cost of raising them.

And anyway, I'm not sure the society was really set up to encourage majority self-ownership. That everyone was "owned" by everyone else, and therefore self-interest dictated a more direct form of being interested in everyone else. It was social engineering for societal cohesion. Nannyism as enlightened self-interest.

[Brett L]

You'll notice that there was one and only one person who managed to get 94+% of his stock back. And he happened to be the most driven human in the solar system.

Also, It seems strange that there was never any talk of death benefit distribution. When people die, wouldn't their chattel, property, and assets all have to be sold and divided equally among their stock-holders? What about debts, would stock-holders have to settle debts outstanding or did it just get written off upon death?

[robc]

They didnt cover this, but Im assuming there was some form of limited liability, so stock-holders wouldnt have to take on any debts exceeding assets.

[Brett L]

The 3rd does absolutely nothing to advance the libertarian argument, other than introduce some, uh, moral flexibility after the [spoiler redacted] regime change. Much better pacing and flow. Its like they decided to emulate Rand less and sci-fi more.

[SugarFree]

The somewhat related news, I finished Ready Player One this weekend. Very entertaining, if light read. But any book that makes the broken final maze of Pacman into a plot-point is good by me.

Also, The Apocalypse Codex, the 4th Laundry novel, comes out Tuesday.

[Brett L]

Yes. You should not expect to see me here tomorrow or wednesday. I will be reading Bob Howard's newest memoir.

[ant1sthenes]

Generally, books with evil corporashunz as antagonists irritate me. But with telcos, I can kind of buy it.

[ant1sthenes]

Although I think sarcasmic would have something to say about the author's taste in women.

[Phrygian]

I hope this one is as good as the first. last two havent had the same oomph to me.

[Ken Shultz]

Mohammed Morsi took the oath of office at Egypt's Tahrir Square a day before the military's inaugural ceremony, promising off-handedly to work for the release of Sheik Omar Rahman, convicted in the United States for the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center.

This looks like when Obama promised to close Guantanamo or Romney promises to repeal ObamaCare...

Don't electees always say stuff they never intend to do--just to assuage their base?

Works the same way here in the U.S.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's not good either way, whether he wants it or his constituents want it.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, his base doesn't want what I wish they wanted.

Pretty soon his base is gonna figure out that the reason they can't get what they want has nothing to do with not being able to elect their own leaders.

I mean, the smart ones will. The rest of them will keep voting for whatever Egyptian version of the Republicans or Democrats--as if that were somehow the solution.

Yeah, the MB's base doesn't want what I wish they wanted, but no elected official in Egypt has the power to make a U.S. president pardon a convicted terrorist who bombed the World Trade Center.

He can't do that. But that's never stopped any American presidential candidates from promising to do whatever their base wanted--regardless of whether they actually planned to do it.

Works the same way in Egypt, I'm sure.

[invisible furry hand]

Another repost, just to show I can't be pushed around by no bastard

Cops taser polite drunk, get arse handed to them in court

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/tase.....219m3.html

[Brett L]

I see they've got some sort of officer training exchange program with FL.

[invisible furry hand]

Final repost

Britain's fattest teenager loses weight in hospital, dreams of going to Tokyo to eat

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

[Fist of Etiquette]

How do you know this wasn't the comment that sparked the A.M. links reboot in the first place?

[invisible furry hand]

It's flattering to think I could have broken HandR, but it's unlikely, considering some of the material that's appeared here over the years with no ill effect

[db]

(Corporate health walking initiative) + (high fraction of attractive women at office) + (office overlooking walking path) = (all day pleasant distractions)

[dbcooper]

Profile of a woman who makes fart fetish videos:

http://sf.untappedcities.com/2.....he-camera/

"All farts are not created equal. Some men like farting girls in underwear, some men only like white underwear farts, some like thongs, some hate thongs, some like farts through jeans, some like bare-bottom farts, some like women farting on furniture, like chairs, or couches or mattresses."

[Matrix]

wait... women fart?

[Hell's Librarian]

No, no we don't. LIES.

[dbcooper]

Also from the article:

"Female farting is the final frontier of morality."

[Whiterun Guard]

Myth, Busted.

[Restoras]

Men fart. Women toot.

[Hell's Librarian]

No, we "pass gas." Sometimes we "flatulate."

[invisible furry hand]

Or "bottom breathe"

[Restoras]

Well my wife passes lots of gas - as in, passes gas stations despite the fuel gauge reading "E".

[Hell's Librarian]

My mother does that too. God it's annoying.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

While the gluteal outgassing of the human female is a humorous topic, keep that shit off the furniture.

And that's probably about as much info as I need on that particular fetish. People are infinitely strange creatures.

[Zeb]

Cake farts?

[Matrix]

Allen West compares healthcare mandate to forcing people to buy guns.

I'm sure the leftists will say it's a false analogy.

[ant1sthenes]

I really think the NRA needs to get on that. Make sure it's just a tax on people that don't have guns, obviously.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Old hat. Basil Marceaux proposed that way back in '10.

[Cdr Lytton]

West is way off base. No way they should be required to buy a foreign made Glock. Now a good ole made in MA SW...

[rac3rx]

Hey at least gun ownership is a constitutional right...as opposed to the right to enslave a doctor...

[Lord Humungus]

meh, I'm too lazy to repost my stuff. Have a good holiday week/extended weekend, whatever.

[Brett L]

Ethanol refineries continue to go/stay offline. I wonder how this is going to affect the E10/E15 rules. Next month's futures are at $2.28/gal ethanol and rising. Gasoline is at $2.59/gal and falling. Can't wait to pay more for lower energy density.

[db]

I've been looking for real gasoline around here. There's only one place within about 25 miles of where I live that sells it. I really don't feel like buying it in 55gallon drums.

[Brett L]

I usually tank up on places that have "marine gas" when I can get down to the coast.

[Cytotoxic]

Whoah won't that dye your tank blue?

[Brett L]

Shit, I hope not. My understanding was that it was 100% hydrocarbons, with no added ethanol or detergents. Am I poisoning my engine?

[JW]

The market really needs to come out with a product that you can add to your gas tank and it neutralizes ethanol, or at least converts it to something useful.

[Zeb]

There are some things that I have used in my boat which seem to help a bit. Can't remember what it is called now.

The only place I can find no alcohol gas anywhere nearby is on the lake where it costs like a dollar more (even without the road tax). Very aggravating.

[Emmerson Biggins]

http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-treatment.html

[Quetzalcoatl]

I've heard the 10% ethanol is good for engine longevity or something though.

[invisible furry hand]

how about cocktails?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

It's pretty much shitty for everything, At best, less power per unit than good ole petrol. At worst, it can eat up parts not made to run with alcohol.

/make engines for a living

[Brett L]

Well, you can run it at higher compression ratios if it is pure.

[Zeb]

It can also absorb water, which means you have to be really careful to empty the tank on anything that gets stored for a long time. I know you shouldn't burn old gas, but at least it wouldn't break your engine in the past.

[Randian]

Power is out in areas in and around DC after a weekend storm. "I will not accept the timetable" provided by the power company, one local county executive said, possibly confusing opinion with fact.

"We command you think! We command you to save us!"

[Bitter Taxpayer]

When they come after you with the torture machine, you have to help them fix it when it breaks, you know.

[robc]

Okay, so Im using chrome and reasonable and liking it. Building up my filter list.

However, is there anyway to make filtered comments extend to replies? If a troll comments I dont want to see the responses to him either. That was what made incif both good and slow, but it turned MNG/John snits into a giant wall of blank, which I liked.

[John]

MNG is dead.

[Randian]

What?

[John]

Not literally. but he doesn't come here anymore. So there are no more threads with him.

[T]

You realize you knowing this makes you a suspect, right?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

*wipes off knife, drops it in pond, and stands behind John*

[JW]

However, is there anyway to make filtered comments extend to replies?

I wish. Amakuduri? (Or however you spell that, which I can never remember)

[Lord Humungus]

ah!!!one! which is the real comments?

[db]

The scary part is that the universe reached a cusp and branched just then. So Lord Humungus' and db' and all the other commenter primes are off talking about something else. Probably slightly better commenting over in that 'verse.

[CE]

I think it has something to do with physicists finding the God particle. The universe branched off just then, and they're trying to blame it on power outages and the leap second as part of the cover-up.

[generic Brand]

D.J. #1: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today.
D.J. #2: It's coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
D.J. #1: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
D.J. #2: [mockingly] That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing!"
D.J. #1: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
D.J. #2: Especially cold!
D.J. #1: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...
D.J. #2: - On their chapped lips...
D.J. #1: - On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
D.J. #2: Punxsutawney Phil!
D.J. #1: That's right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's...
D.J. #1, D.J. #2: [in unison] GROUNDHOG DAY!

[John]

http://nalert.blogspot.com/201.....-eric.html

Notorious hack Eric Alterman says no one but liberals can be journalists because only liberals are professional enough and have the proper integrity. In other news peak irony has been reached.

[Restoras]

Funnily enough, I read "In other news peak..." as "In other newspeak..."

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

spooky!

[WTF]

To the extent that conservatives face any difficulty achieving a hearing for their views in journalism (or in academia, for that matter), the phenomenon is less the result of purposeful exclusion than a function of a commitment to maintaining professional standards. To be a good journalist or scholar, one must be willing to follow one's research wherever it may lead.

The lack of self-awareness is jaw-dropping.

[KDN]

I think he cribbed this statement from our very own Tony. It's an argument he advanced like two weeks ago.

[T]

Eric Alterman: Dunning-Kruger example or exemplar?

[Brett L]

Inhabitant of an irony-free universe.

[Bitter Taxpayer]

New York Times makes with the stupid:

Big corporations, small-time businesses, rogues, scoundrels and worse - all have turned up at Delaware addresses in hopes of minimizing taxes, skirting regulations, plying friendly courts or, when needed, covering their tracks. Federal authorities worry that, in addition to the legitimate businesses flocking here, drug traffickers, embezzlers and money launderers are increasingly heading to Delaware, too. It's easy to set up shell companies here, no questions asked.

[John]

Clearly a wall needs to be erected around Delaware. Or maybe the feds should just invade. It is clearly a rogue state.

[T]

The difficulty involved in setting up a corporation in any state is vastly overrated. If it takes you more than about an hour of paperwork and a check, you're doing it wrong. Hell, I think I can do most of it online in TX.

Picking the right juridiction to incorporate in is an entirely different question. I hear Nevada has some advantages in the way they've written their laws, but Delaware has a much more robust set of precedents.

[Bitter Taxpayer]

Exactly. This is all about other states not wanting corporations to be able to escape their unnecessarily expensive, time-consuming, and incompetent regimes.

[KDN]

I've been told that NV has gotten significantly worse over the last few years by a friend of mine with a lot of skin in the incorporation game. Apparently all the CA refugees are really fucking things up.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

The company for which I am employed is headquartered in Delaware. Perhaps I should call the Whistleblower Hotline and turn us in? For - something?

[invisible furry hand]

Well you're guilty of being libertarian in a public place, so you should be arrested. For teh childrenz.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

I know you're a libertarian, but what am I??!!!

/missing PeeWee's Playhouse

[John]

http://potluckbloggers.wordpre.....campaigns/

Romney reaction to the big DC storm, an appeal for relief supplies. Obama reaction, a not on Twitter reminding people that

Keep cool while you're canvassing this summer, Our Vote Obama Tank Top is a stylish and fun way to show your support

No class

http://potluckbloggers.wordpre.....campaigns/

[NoVAHockey]

you make it through okay? we got power back last night. minimal damage, but some of the neighbors not so lucky. trees through roofs/cars, etc.

[John]

I only went without power until last night. The only problem was my moocher self absorbed inlaws and their two kids were in town. You would think that when you are visiting a place and there is a natural disaster and your hosts lose power, you would, I don't know, go the fuck home. Oh no, they didn't sleep well enough to make the trip and of coursed stayed one more day and ended up stiffing me on their half of the hotel suite that I ended up renting. Other than that, it wasn't too bad.

[NoVAHockey]

i shouldn't laugh at a that, but i can picture my in-laws doing the same thing.

[John]

I look back at the way my parents acted growing up and really think they are a dying breed. My father would have been on the road that morning. And all of our plans for the day would have been canceled. And as a kid I would have whined about it but my father wouldn't have cared. He would not have wanted to spend the money on a hotel if he didn't have to and would have never dreamed of sticking someone else with the bill or being a burden on someone who just lost their power.

Modern parents can never tell the little darlings that they will have to do things next trip and think nothing of manipulating and stiffing someone they think has more money than they do.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

Modern parents...

How old are your inlaws? One of the things that amazes me when I notice people acting like asswipes is that it is not only the younger people (20ish) but people of all ages. Common courtesy has completely disappeared in this country. Makes a person wonder why.

[John]

It was my wife's sister and brother in law. My actual mother and father in law are great people and would never do something like that.

[NoVAHockey]

I think people are just absorbed in their own world. i had food on ice, but i got my power back. so i loaded up my kid's wagon and took the ice to the side of the neighborhood that's still without. my idiot neighbor was dumping his ice in the street until i told him to stop. he absolutely thought "power is back, emergency situation is over"

stores all over are posting "no ice" and he's throwing it away

[JW]

Just to rub salt in the wound, but we never lost power. If you look at the maps on Pepco's site, my neighborhood is like little bald spot in a sea of outage icons.

The storm was bad here, one of the worst I can recall, but we obviously got off incredibly easy.

[Ted S.]

I didn't lose power, but then, I'm in the Catskill Mountains of New York and we didn't have any storms.

When hurricane Irene hit last year I lost power for 46 hours but a lot of people had it worse.

[JW]

He would not have wanted to spend the money on a hotel if he didn't have to and would have never dreamed of sticking someone else with the bill or being a burden on someone who just lost their power.

Were I, you, they would never be welcomed back into my house ever again.

[Pip from the forge]

my moocher self-absorbed inlaws

I'm assuming they don't read Hit und Run?

[rac3rx]

Meh, fuck 'em if they do...assholes.

[Randian]

This kind of campaign is exactly what would win it for Romney. Too bad Mormons are probably too thoroughly, creepily decent to use it.

Does Romney have any attack dogs on his campaign? He needs them, desperately.

[John]

He needs one for a VP. My fear is he will take some boring safe choice like Pawlenty. Obama can't take criticism. They need someone to go after him.

[BakedPenguin]

He's a politician. The word will get out.

[Bitter Taxpayer]

Please tell me this is a joke.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I never lost power, but I did lose cable, after the storm had been over for hours. Losing cable on opening day of the Tour dee France makes me more kaptious, kranky, krotchety and kunty than usual.

[WTF]

How about krapulent?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I always krapulent, no matter what. And kromulent.

[Matrix]

More citizens defending themselves, their homes, and others by using guns in Athens, GA.

Good for them.

[John]

Burglary should be a contact sport.

[robc]

Im contractually obligated to never say anything good about Athens, so here is my comment:

[T]

Just because you hate UGA doesn't mean you have to hate on Athens, rob.

[robc]

All of Clarke County.

Its indistinguishable.

I pretty much hate on all the state outside a few blocks in midtown Atlanta.

[John]

I found it to be highly overrated. It is like it wants to be Austin, but it just isn't cool enough. Other than the bucket loads of unbelievably hot chicks that every big Southern State university has, I didn't find it all that great. And Rob went to Georgia Tech, which while a great school, is kind of nerd U and lacks in the female department compared to other southern schools. Tech is way too technical and way too rigorous to attract the numbers and kind of dumb hot chicks that UGA attracts. And Tech tends to be a bit bitter about that.

[robc]

Its in Atlanta...if you are a Tech student and cant get laid, you have other problems.

Like being a dork who couldnt get laid if he was at FSU.

But thats a personal problem, we arent bitter about that.

And there is always Agnes Scott College. Their motto: Keeping Techies laid since 1889.

The Ratio [Warning: white guys rapping]

[John]

But aren't most of the chicks who go to women colleges all gay? My wife worked for one of them. They call it LUGing. Lesbian until graduation.

[Zeb]

I think a lot are LUGs or gay, but from what I have heard it is still pretty good odds for a visiting guy at an all women's school.

[rac3rx]

If it's overrated, then it's just like Austin, which is a fucking hole.

[The Hammer]

If you don't like Austin, you're not doing something right.

[Abdul]

Time to change the name to Spartaaaaaa, GA.

[Cytotoxic]

Athens-Clarke police would prefer that people call 911 if they or someone else is in danger.

Please stop breathing.

[Lord Humungus]

Uruguay:
http://www.johnderbyshire.com/.....06-29.html

I've been promoting Uruguay for some years as our hemisphere's best-kept secret: Small and mostly-homogenous population, cheap food and housing, 98 percent literacy, unspoiled back-country, excellent schools, low crime, life expectancy 76? years (ours is 78?) ? a nice little country, doing well. Well, now they're legalizing marijuana. Total legalization, though with a state monopoly on sales. So if you're looking for a bolthole and can't afford Monaco, there it is, under the Southern Cross: Uruguay. You heard it here first.

[robc]

Vs Costa Rica?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Vs Ukraine?

[robc]

I was sticking to this hemisphere.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Your thread, your rules.

[Ice Nine]

Costa Rica is so last decade's news. Government size, taxes and crime have been burgeoning there for years. CR ex-pats were flooding into Panama for those reasons when I first moved to Panama six years ago. Nice enough place to visit - if you don't get ripped off - but forget living in CR.

[R C Dean]

I've heard good things about Uruguay as an expat destination.

[Ice Nine]

It is - until you start having grandchildren and your wife notices it. You'll love the FF miles but you'll hate your credit card bill. Trust me on this.

[Abdul]

mostly-homogenous population

Oh, Derb! Will you ever learn?

[JerseyPatriot]

I doubt the little creep is touting Malawi's homogeneity.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

May have to look into it; we have been looking at Ecuador.

[Cytotoxic]

Oh goodness why? That's a Chavez satellite state.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Mrs. Almanian and I are looking at Wyoming. Between the shitty winters and vast, open spaces, we figger by the time the Feds figure out where we are, we'll be dead and the coyotes will have eaten us.

Till then, EPIC dirt bike riding and snowmobiling!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I hear it's also the preferred destination for fascist dentists.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

"They Expunged All 'Unwanteds' - AND GINGIVITUS!"

[Matrix]

Leap second causes servers to go down

Y2K did nothing, but a damned leap second nearly sent us into Armageddon!... well not really.

[robc]

Amusing thing is that it was the warning about the leap second that caused some of the servers to crash, not the leap second itself.

[benji]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....er-screens

The French government is considering extending the television licence fee to include computer screen owners to boost revenues for public-sector broadcasting operations, the culture minister said on Saturday.

President Fran?ois Hollande's Socialist government aims to raise an extra ?7.5bn (?6bn) this year through tax rises included in an amended budget bill to be unveiled next week.

"Is it necessary to extend the fee to [computer] screens when you do not have a television? It is a question we're asking ourselves, but obviously it would be a fee per household and you would not have to pay an [additional] fee if you have a computer and a television," Aur?lie Filippetti said on RTL radio.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

cool story, bro

[benji]

So you agree then that the government should tax you for each screen in your home, to pay for PBS. The Supreme Court says it's okay, so pay up you leecher scum!

Finally, democracy.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

'nother cool story, bro

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

So, Mrs. Almanian and I watched some of Teh Olimpix Qualifying TEAM USA! USA! USA! last night.

So now I'm ready for the 'lympics to be over. Boooooooring.

R U ready for some fuh'bah? I am. Bring on the NFL, bitches!!!

[R C Dean]

I figured the qualifying was perfect for your USA! USA! crowd.

An American wins every event, after all.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

I like that two former-Russian imports are parents of "our" gymnastics champ from the last 'lympics. It warms my ice-cold, capitalist heart. USA! USA! USA!

[Randian]

I took a perverse pleasure in watching Nastia Liukin completely fuck up yesterday. I mean, wow.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Her face plant was EPIC. We did enjoy that.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I love how the commentators were saying that the uneven bars would be her chance at redemption after fucking up all the other events. Then 1 seconds later - *POW*, right in the kisser. Twas beauteous.

[Pip from the forge]

I took a perverse pleasure in watching Nastia Liukin completely fuck up yesterday.

Why?

[sarcasmic]

I'd rather watch American Ninja Warrior.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I watched that too. Eye candy for me time.

[robc]

N...F...L?

Oh, that sport in January after college football finishes up, gotcha.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

College Football? Ohhh - the Professional JV League? Yeah, if you like watching the little kids learn the game. Good for you!

[Randian]

oh yeah well My Sport is Awesome and Your Sport Sucks!

There, can we dispense with that conversation now?

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

Uh, no, YOU are.

[Mike M.]

I'm not a fan of the Olympics either. To me, it's mostly an excuse for America-hating judges and referees to screw us over at every opportunity they get. To hell with that garbage.

[Randian]

It lets me get a big hate-on for Russia every two years, so that's something.

[Zeb]

I love the Olympics, though I think I like winter better. It gets boring only ever seeing the same 4 or 5 sports being played.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Only the obscure events are interesting in any way whatsoever.

Ping pong for the win.

[The Hammer]

Does Almanian know you're hanging out with his wife?

[Jerry on the road]

Today in Tour de France a 207.5 km leg from Vis? to Tournai. Expect a sprint finish 🙂

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm DVR-ing for tonight, so not another word outta you!!

[Randian]

Spoiler Alert: no matter who wins, they're all losers.

[Brett L]

Or dopers, at the very least. They've been trying to pin one on Armstrong so that he isn't the only clean champ of the 21st century.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

Or dopers, at the very least. They've been trying to pin one on Armstrong so that he isn't the only clean champ of the 21st century.

They are just pissed that an american could dare win 7 in a row. They are seriously butt-hurt and will not stop until he is stripped of his wins.

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

I like the gapped-tooth commentator who constantly calls it the "Tour DAY France". Clearly took Spanish in high school...

[R C Dean]

Bob Rolle. He's a funny guy.

Yes, I DVR the Tour. Mrs. Dean is a fan.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Bob Roll.

He has been pronouncing it properly for 3 or 4 years now, unfortunately.

BUt he's still awesome and picked the winner of Sunday's stage.

[Kaptious Kristen]

GAH! Spoiled by the official TdF Facebook page their enormous image of today's winner in my newsfeed.

I'm blocking those French fuckfaces.

[CampingInYourPark]

Europeans killing their economy with austerity:
"NHS staff drive fleet of taxpayer-funded luxury cars
An NHS quango has provided its staff with a ?1 million fleet of luxury cars, including a BMW convertible, an Audi TT and three Range Rover Evoques."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/hea.....-cars.html

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That would never happen here

[Almanian's Evil Twin]

What?! No Bugattis??! No Maybachs???!!!

This IS austerity.

[I, Kahn OClast]

The new President of Mexico's last name is Pe?a Nieto not just Nieto. If anything, since Pe?a is his father's surname his last name would more usually be Pe?a over Nieto. He uses Pe?a Nieto (Nieto is his mother's surname) to honor both sides of his family lineage.

[Warty]

You all have realized by now that Pip from the forge is Mary, right? If not, you're morons.

[tarran]

No, she's not Mary, but Mary's identical twin sister, Dingo.

[Elspeth Flashman]

not enough cra- cray, but it is a backbiting type of person.