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A.M. Links: Russia Sends Warships to Syria, Tax Liens Causing "Second Foreclosure Crisis," Web's First Photo Turning 20

Ed Krayewski | 7.11.2012 8:45 AM

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  • Russia wants the United Nations' mission to continue in Syria. "There is no mention of Chapter 7 [in the Russian draft] and that's a matter of principle for us because we believe the special envoy is doing a commendable job," Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Alexander Pankin said. Chapter 7 would open the possibility of sanctions and military action. Russia holds a veto vote on the Security Council. Eleven Russian warships, meanwhile, are headed to Syria, and some will dock at the Russian naval base there.

  • The city of Fullerton, California won't say whether the now former cop charged with the beating death of Kelly Thomas was fired or resigned; he left the city's employment July 3rd. The other officer charged remains on unpaid leave and four other cops who participated in the beating but remain uncharged are on paid vacation. The city won't talk about the results of an internal investigation either.
  • The National Consumer Law Center says foreclosures caused by tax liens sometimes as low as $400 are causing a "second foreclosure crisis."
  • The comedian Daniel Tosh apologized on Twitter, while disputing the details, to a woman who described getting offended over rape jokes and then being the subject of one before running out on a performance of his at the Laugh Factory. The club manager disputes the account too, saying the woman stayed until the end and misunderstood Tosh's act. Though I imagine lots of women run away from Tosh.
  • Katie Holmes apparently used a burner to get the conversation started with her lawyers about divorcing Tom Cruise without the actor finding out. A divorce settlement was reportedly finalized yesterday, and Holmes is to retain custody of their child, Suri.
  • The National League won last night's all-star game, winning for the 3rd time in the ten years since the game began to determine World Series home field advantage.
  • The story of the World Wide Web's first uploaded photo.

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Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    Katie Holmes apparently used a burner to get the conversation started with her lawyers about divorcing Tom Cruise without the actor finding out.

    The Wire was anti-Scientology.

    1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      Wow, she has a good boy phone and a naughty boy phone.

      1. bostonaod   13 years ago

        lol

    2. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      Oh. That's what they mean by "burner." I had a vision of her holding a holding a Bunsen burner to his sack.

      1. nicole   13 years ago

        Yeah, whereas I was thinking it was a gun. Ha!

      2. Invisible Finger   13 years ago

        Yeah, I was thinking "burner" like on The Shield rather than The Wire.

    3. R C Dean   13 years ago

      I for one am glad for a number of reasons that they got this sorted out with a minimum of publicity, pain, and suffering.

      1. Loki   13 years ago

        If by a "minimum of pain and suffering" you mean for us, who thankfully won't have to hear about it constantly for the next 3-4 months straight, whether we give a shit about it or not, I whole heartedly agree.

        1. wareagle   13 years ago

          nobody wins when these things get nasty. Not the principles, not the child.

          1. Proprietist   13 years ago

            The tabloids win.

            1. Fatty Bolger   13 years ago

              And the lawyers.

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

        People Magazine is crying the blues right about now.

      3. Elspeth Flashman   13 years ago

        My husband and I have decided that if we ever split (not that it's really an issue right now) we'll do it by a consent judgment. I don't want to be one of those people who have to have the court looking over my shoulder all the time.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    The comedian Daniel Tosh apologized on Twitter, while disputing the details, to a woman who described getting offended over rape jokes and then being the subject of one before running out on a performance of his at the Laugh Factory.

    Women and comedy clubs don't mix.

    1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

      Women and Tosh don't mix.

      1. nicole   13 years ago

        I'm always a little surprised from the viewer videos how many seem to watch his show, though. It would appear the college girls think he's HAWT.

        1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

          He's on TV. Even that dude from The Shield got some, and he's (almost) uglier than I am.

          1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

            Michael Chiklis is fucking HOT, dude.

            1. sloopyinca   13 years ago

              Who couldn't see ^^that^^ coming?

              1. nicole   13 years ago

                I know, right. Love you Kristen!

                1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

                  You exhibit elevated taste in men, my good woman. High five!

        2. Atanarjuat   13 years ago

          I know plenty of young women in their 20s* who watch or are familiar with his show. There's probably some overlap with the college Daily Show audience.

          *(I stalk them.)

          1. generic Brand   13 years ago

            Nooooo!!! Stolen thunder. But yeah, I think it is definitely a crossover with Tosh/Daily Show/Colbert among these ladies.

            Surprise, surprise, all of the ones I know who are like this are also very liberal.
            /feigned surprise

        3. generic Brand   13 years ago

          Yeah I know a few girls my age (twenties) who find his show hilarious. I've never gotten into it, but then that's probably because I could just watch YouTube on my own and come up with just as hilarious of material if not funnier.

          1. SugarFree   13 years ago

            because I could just watch YouTube on my own and come up with just as hilarious of material if not funnier

            Exactly. When I watch Tosh, all I feel is lazy.

            1. rac3rx   13 years ago

              And sometimes that's perfectly acceptable.

        4. wareagle   13 years ago

          juvenile humor has a market. That is the only way I've been able to explain the continued existence of Howard Stern.

          1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

            Sounds like you haven't listened to much Howard Stern. He's a brilliant interviewer. He gets people to say shit they would never say on Leno and Letterman.

            1. wareagle   13 years ago

              most of what I heard centered on farts and tits, interspersed by ramblings to nowhere. But that's just me. I don't begrudge the man his audience or his contract.

              1. Mint Berry Crunch   13 years ago

                "most of what I heard centered on farts and tits"

                Based on occasionally watching his show on the E! channel, I had the same impression of his interview technique.

                It seemed like every guest was a pornstar or some other being-hot-is-my-job chick, and the questions were typically

                Nice boobs - are they real or fake?

                Fake? Did the doctor go over the muscle, or under the muscle?

                Do you do anal?

                1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

                  He has a lot of porn stars and chicks wanting to grab 15 nanoseconds of fame, but a lot of legit celebs go on his show. He somehow makes them feel they're in his living room shooting the shit and they are way more open and honest than when they go on those boring-ass scripted brownnose talk shows.

                  1. Bi-Curious George   13 years ago

                    Three words:

                    Anal Ring-toss.

            2. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

              I've never been able to listen to Stern myself, but my wife is a fan too, KK.

        5. Rasilio   13 years ago

          The only people I know who watch his show are women and if it wasn't for a couple of chicks I went to high school with (25 years ago) posting about him on facebook constantly I probably wouldn't even know who he was.

    2. mr simple   13 years ago

      Her tumblr is called Cookies for Breakfast. Anything else you need to know?

      1. dbcooper   13 years ago

        Ha! 🙂

        1. SugarFree   13 years ago

          "Beer For Breakfast"

          1. Bi-Curious George   13 years ago

            I live directly across the street from the drummer's brother.

    3. dbcooper   13 years ago

      Rape jokes are funny. Especially when Neil Hamburger is involved.

      The internet breakdown over this is tedious, typical, and annoying though.

    4. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

      Having been in business 32 years, Masada says audience members have been getting offended by the shows at a surprisingly high rate lately. He's recently deflected complaints from customers offended by comics' jokes about Barack Obama and another customer offended that a comic told him he was "retaining pizza" after he said he was "retaining water.

      Anecdotal evidence of our national descent into huffiness.

      1. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

        Anecdotal evidence of our national descent into huffiness.

        I blame the politically correct crowd. You can't say anything anymore without some retard getting offended.

        1. Atanarjuat   13 years ago

          ^nice.

          1. Byron   13 years ago

            ^yep.

            1. KMA Too   13 years ago

              Well, to be fair, it says on our chart that our shit's all retarded.

              Maybe the blame should be on all that fag talk.

      2. mr simple   13 years ago

        It's the spoiled generation coming into their own. Their parents have been telling them for years that they're special and everyone should cater to them.

      3. R C Dean   13 years ago

        We've been telling people for years they have a special snowflake right not to be offended. Why is anyone surprised that they act like they are special snowflakes with a right not to be offended?

      4. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

        Why would you go to a comedy show and sit close enough to the comic to be spoken to directly if you're fat?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

          Some people like being offended

        2. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

          Cause you got there late. The seats close to the stage always fill up last.

      5. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

        Offensensitivity, as Opus the Penguin called it back in the 80s. Now you kids get the fuck off my lawn.

      6. Fatty Bolger   13 years ago

        They even have their own web site, The Huffiness Post.

    5. Brett L   13 years ago

      The ultimate meltdown on a woman who doesn't get comedy.

    6. Tim   13 years ago

      I miss STEVE SMITH.

      1. Abdul   13 years ago

        STEVE SMITH NEVER MISS! STEVE SMITH IS ANNIE OAKLEY OF RAPE!

      2. Karl Hungus   13 years ago

        I miss STEVE SMITH.

        This would be an opportune time for hime to chime in with a RAPESQUATCH comment, wouldn't it?

      3. Karl Hungus   13 years ago

        I miss STEVE SMITH.

        This would be an opportune time for hime to chime in with a RAPESQUATCH comment, wouldn't it?

        1. The Hammer   13 years ago

          "Hime..."

          Racist?

    7. Loki   13 years ago

      Newslfash lady: you're at a comedy club. It's highly likely that at some point during the night you're going to be offended, especially if you're a special little snowflakes whose agrieved class studies courses in college completely sapped your sense of humor.

      1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

        one of my friends lectures in criminal law. He had a student who complained that he taught the law of sexual assault because she was a rape survivor and found it confronting.

        1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

          Did your friend then skip lectures on the mental competence aspect of mens rea because she would find the lectures confronting?

        2. KMA Too   13 years ago

          Am I reading that right? This student was a victim of a sex-based attack, and was offended to hear about the laws that recognize the wrongness of said actions and the need to punish them?

          My head asplode...

          1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

            I think what she's saying is the student accused the lecturer of deliberately teaching laws about sex and consent as a way of being confrontational and offensive because she was the victim of a sexual assault. As if somehow the lecturer a) knew she was a victim (probably because of Tom Cruise-like OT powerz) and b) had a desire to "confront" her and make her feel bad.

            1. KMA Too   13 years ago

              That makes better sense than my interpretation, but still...damn.

              It's got to be tough to be a constant victim.

      2. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        When I saw George Carlin the ticket actually said "If you are easily offended, please do not attend".

  3. mr simple   13 years ago

    Why Verlander blew the first inning at the All-Star game.

    1. Restoras   13 years ago

      Good reason.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

      So Upton is a pro athlete chaser. Seems to be a common affliction among the model types.

      1. generic Brand   13 years ago

        Why can't she just be an overweight libertarian chaser???

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

          Now we're talking.

      2. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

        Assortative mating. IYKWIM. AITYD.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

          Assortative mating would be Upton with Chris Hemsworth, not Justin Zoolander.

          1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

            I'd watch that porn (Hemsworth Upton). Over over over.

            1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

              I know, I'm straight and I'd watch it for Hemsworth, the Norse God of Make Your Woman Swoon.

            2. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

              Fucking ampersanded again. Goddamn.

    3. ftw   13 years ago

      A perfectly cromulent reason.

  4. sarcasmic   13 years ago

    'Do you want some coffee?' What Bowie's wife asked when she caught him in bed with Jagger
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....raphy.html

    1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      Fake.

      She would have said "Tea?".

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        I'm pretty sure she's an American.

        1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

          Then she would have said "Gravy?"

        2. Timon 19   13 years ago

          Iman? Somali.

          ROADZ!!!

          (She'd probably be a coffee person, seeing as Somalia neighbors the place where it was invented, and I'm sure she grew up with it.)

          1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

            wrong wife - this is supposed to have happened 40 years ago so it was Angie

          2. sarcasmic   13 years ago

            Angela. This happened in the early 70s.

    2. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

      This is news?

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        FTA

        A relationship between the two stars has long been rumoured, and now friends and family members of the pair have seemingly confirmed the pair's sexual antics with Andersen.

        1. Mike Laursen   13 years ago

          You'd think a professional writer would be more concerned about the placement of the word, with, in that last sentence.

    3. Bobarian   13 years ago

      What Jagger said when he found Hefner in bed with Dennis Weaver...

      'Hey, Hugh, get off of McCloud'

      1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

        That's the funniest thing I'll read all day.
        Which is very sad, when you think about it.

        1. Bobarian   13 years ago

          Yeah, an old horrible pun, that makes me giggle like a dainty little girl.

  5. sarcasmic   13 years ago

    I can't move much in bed, but I burn 500 calories a session-it's great exercise just jiggling around,' she told Closer Magazine.
    Even though one of Pauline's legs weighs more than Alex does, the couple are able to enjoy sex using different positions.

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

    Paging.... nevermind

    1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      Well, I'm glad they can enjoy it, because I never will again.

      1. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

        Your first mistake was clicking the link. No way in hell I clink any link that has the words "Even though one of Pauline's legs weighs more than Alex does, the couple are able to enjoy sex using different positions." in it.

        1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

          I wonder how he is still alive.
          I mean, you'd think he'd be smothered by now.
          All she has to do is roll over in her sleep and he's a goner.
          She might not even notice until he falls out of one of the folds while she's bathing.

          1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

            She's not going to roll over in her sleep.

            It would take a forklift. Or at least an eccentricity in the moon's orbit.

      2. Elspeth Flashman   13 years ago

        eww!

      3. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

        She told Closer: 'I still eat Big Macs, but I'll choose between fries or nuggets.

        So it can be part of a healthy lifestyle? Choke on that, Morgan Spurlock

        1. mr simple   13 years ago

          Nice.

      4. Pound. Head. On. Desk.   13 years ago

        Memories fade, man. What amazes me? She got him to do it and put it in the paper! That's really blue.

        1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

          Seriously! That is something you do NOT let your friends find out.

          Unless you're trying to end a 10 game hitting slump.

    2. Rich   13 years ago

      Gorging on 10,000 calories each day, Pauline was so fat that her son had to accompany her to the toilet.

      And although Pauline isn't yet confident enough to buy sexy lingerie, she drapes a nice sheet over her to achieve the same effect in the bedroom.

      She doesn't mind that Alex has to wear SCUBA equipment while performing oral sex. "In fact, I quite enjoy the gurgling," she giggled.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

        That gurgling is breakfast coming up in my throat

      2. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

        part of me just died.

        1. T   13 years ago

          See, the commentary is making me LOL, but then there's no way I'm clicking that link. I'll just giggle at the horrified reactions. It's like watching somebody's first goatse.

      3. Pound. Head. On. Desk.   13 years ago

        All kidding aside, the fact she wants 10,000 kilocalories/day shows she has wild hormonal issues. Try to imagine eating 3 pounds of butter plus a basketball-sized serving of broccoli every day.

        A friend who died in May at 500+ pounds (no kidding, we couldn't find a casket for him) told me in March he could never give up bread. Even for a few months. Even if it meant he lost a pound a day.

      4. carol   13 years ago

        Just proves the old adage that where there is a will, there is a way.

    3. Hell's Librarian   13 years ago

      50 stone = 700 pounds, for those of us who need conversions.

      1. SugarFree   13 years ago

        Once again, I am horrified by simple math.

        1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

          I am horrified at base fourteen math.

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

            Base fourteen is for losers. Base thirty seven is the shit.

            1. Restoras   13 years ago

              I love my HP12C for the reverse Polish notation.

              1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

                I'm so accustomed to RPN that I can't use normal calculators anymore.

                1. Warty   13 years ago

                  The best is when normals ask to use my calculator and are completely baffled by it. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

                  1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

                    The HP 42S was the awesome. Mine got stolen years ago.

                  2. sarcasmic   13 years ago

                    The best is when normals ask to use my calculator and are completely baffled by it. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

                    "Where's the equals button?"

              2. EDG reppin' LBC   13 years ago

                I love my HP12C.

          2. Pound. Head. On. Desk.   13 years ago

            How about a 500 Calorie workout versus eating 10,000 Calories? Anybody else see the exercise is insignificant to what her weight does? It still leaves her, according to the Calorie-In-Calorie-Out people, with three pounds a day of weight gain instead of 3.14.

            1. Byron   13 years ago

              Not exactly. Just being alive for a day burns a significant number of calories (for her size, a lot of calories). Nowhere near 10k, but not the zero your comment implies, either.

              1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

                Just being alive for a day burns a significant number of calories

                Something like ten calories per pound of body weight.
                So in her case she needs round seven thousand calories just to maintain her weight.

              2. Pound. Head. On. Desk.   13 years ago

                Not exactly. Just being alive for a day burns a significant number of calories (for her size, a lot of calories). Nowhere near 10k, but not the zero your comment implies, either.

                Ever heard of working up an appetite? Exercise also makes you hungrier. Like she needs that.

            2. Loki   13 years ago

              three pounds a day of weight gain instead of 3.14.

              Fatty: Mmmmm, Pi...

              1. Pound. Head. On. Desk.   13 years ago

                Ha!

  6. sarcasmic   13 years ago

    Al Qaeda terrorists actually 'just want to defend themselves' claims controversial new study
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....study.html

    1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Yeah right, that's when they're not too busy planning ways to destroy us.

    2. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us!

    3. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us!

    4. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us!

    5. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us. How could you feel sorry for those ruthless bastards?

    6. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      just want to defend themselves

      Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us!

    7. wareagle   13 years ago

      of course, they are. You're not a science denier, are you?

      By the way, what does ASU stand for? This is pretty weak journalistic sauce. It takes several paragraphs before something other than "researchers" is used to identify anyone and the institution behind this is never clarified.

    8. R C Dean   13 years ago

      They want to defend themselves against people who won't submit to a totalitarian theocracy. Perfectly understandable.

  7. sarcasmic   13 years ago

    He's out of this world! Church of Scientology believe Tom Cruise has 'telekinetic and telepathic powers'
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....gists.html

    1. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

      Good morning, spamcasmic. Jesus.

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        Fuck you too. Find any goalposts to move? Attacked any men of straw lately?

        1. nicole   13 years ago

          Last night the hip thing was to compare speeders to terrorists, so...

          1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

            Tulpa fellating the police? I never!

            1. SugarFree   13 years ago

              I bet he could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch at this point.

              1. RBS   13 years ago

                Glad to see I didn't miss much the past week.

          2. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

            Not good with analogies, are we nicole?

            Talk about moving goal posts.

          3. The Hammer   13 years ago

            Compare speeders to terrorists? Can I get a link to that thread?

    2. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      Telekinetic powers you say? Maybe there is something to this Scientology after all...

      1. T   13 years ago

        Didn't Fritz Leiber mock the holy hell out of Scientology in one of his short stories? The poor schmuck who thought he was running the fictional Church actually believed and everybody else knew it was a scam and humored him?

    3. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

      Well, all OTs are supposed to have those powers, and Tommy is a VII last I heard. There's a million $ reward for any OT that can demonstrate his or her telekinetic powers. Surprisingly, no one has claimed it yet.

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        Considering how much money it costs to climb that high up the Scientology ladder, anyone who gets that far could wipe their ass with a million bucks.

      2. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

        You'd think that with all the idiot movie stars Scientology has, they could sucker a couple SFX guys, but apparently not.

    4. Hell's Librarian   13 years ago

      Tom Cruise has 'telekinetic and telepathic powers'

      Apparently not telepathic enough.

      1. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

        Tom Cruise finds your lack of faith disturbing.

        1. Loki   13 years ago

          Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerers' ways, Tom Cruise. Your sad devotion to that retarded Hollywood religion has not helped you conjure up Katie's burn phone, or given you clairvoyance enough to find out about her plans to divorce you...

    5. Loki   13 years ago

      "Help me Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me!"

  8. Bee Tagger   13 years ago

    the game began to determine World Series home field advantage.

    With something beginning to resemble a college football playoff system under his belt, will eliminating this absurdity be Obama's next achievement?

    1. Restoras   13 years ago

      If he'd promise to eliminate interleague play I'd probably vote for him.

      1. generic Brand   13 years ago

        Really? I like interleague play for the benefit of the nearby rivalries (Chicago, NY, LA, Florida). I think it's a shame to keep the leagues separated until the World Series.

        1. Restoras   13 years ago

          I like that aspect of it - but I'm not sure the resulting unbalanced schedules are worth it. Just my two cents.

          1. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

            If they get rid of it, at least put the Brewers back in the AL where they belong.

            Also - Move the damn Winnepeg Jets to the Northwest Conference, Minnesota to the Central, and Nashville to the Southeast. Geography ain't that hard, people.

            1. John   13 years ago

              Get Washington out of the Southeast. We never get to play the Flyers or Rangers or teams from cities anyone cares about. Instead we play Florida and Carolina teams.

              1. Andrew S.   13 years ago

                But playing Florida and Carolina all the time was the reason that the Caps managed to impress so much in the regular season before falling apart in the playoffs when they actually played decent teams.

                (Though even that's now going away now that Florida's decent and Carolina's adding so many good pieces)

          2. Bobarian   13 years ago

            As an Angel's fan, I love inter-league play.

            The Angels are like 75-30 and have pretty much owned the Doggers.

          3. robc   13 years ago

            Agreed, unbalanced schedules are the worst part.

            And, the original interleague plan was to rotate play, not set up permanent rivalries.

            I remember the selling point was the Griffey, Jr would play in Cincinnati once every six years!

            Im not sure if Seattle has actually play in Cincy in IL play, although the Reds got way more of Junior that originally promised.

          4. Ska   13 years ago

            Yeah, there are only three teams in the AL with winning percentages under .500. That's sort of a problem...

            1. Auric Demonocles   13 years ago

              That's sort of a problem...

              ...with the quality of teams in the NL.

          5. JerseyPatriot   13 years ago

            I like that aspect of it - but I'm not sure the resulting unbalanced schedules are worth it.

            I have two contradictory thoughts about this:

            1. Considering the playoffs are a crapshoot, it doesn't much matter.

            2. Considering the playoffs are a crapshoot, 1 game could be the difference between champion and not-in-the-playoffs (q.v., St. Louis Cardinals).

  9. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

    The National League won last night's all-star game, winning for the 3rd time in the ten years since the game began to determine World Series home field advantage.

    What the fuck is this, ESPN? It's the third time in a row, bub. I didn't know Reason had a Yankees-Red Sox bias to go along with its anti-camera, anti-Romney, and anti-parking space biases.

    1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      YEAH! WTF Reason? Why bother posting links to articles people might be interested in?

      1. mr simple   13 years ago

        Pretty sure he meant it should be listed a 3 times in a row, not 3 times in ten years, to accurately portray the dominance of the NL lately.

    2. Atanarjuat   13 years ago

      Matt Welch and maybe some others are baseball fans. I'm more offended by the celebrity gossip.

      1. T   13 years ago

        Yeah, Matt's twitter feed is full of baseball. I understand none of it, so I skip right past.

    3. SugarFree   13 years ago

      I didn't know Reason had a Yankees-Red Sox bias to go along with its anti-camera, anti-Romney, and anti-parking space biases.

      Don't like it? Start your own blog, asshole.

      1. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

        Scrolling past a line item is too hard. As is refraining from making pointless, contrarian statements.

        1. Ska   13 years ago

          Responding to pointless statements is our modern national pastime.

      2. RBS   13 years ago

        Anti-camera?

        1. SugarFree   13 years ago

          We don't like red-light cameras, so the terrorists have won.

        2. nicole   13 years ago

          Anti-surveillance-camera. But what's the parking space thing?

          1. RBS   13 years ago

            I forgot how much Tulpa loves authority, then I remembered the IP Address SWAT raid from a couple of weeks ago.

            1. Warty   13 years ago

              There's no evil Tulpa doesn't love. You're really better off just filtering him at this point.

            2. SugarFree   13 years ago

              They needed to be taught a lesson.

            3. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

              Ah yes. The "summarize Tulpa's position out of context" gambit. Another H+R staple.

              If you lend your car to bank robbers, don't be surprised when the cops treat you as a bank robber when you're driving it around later.

              1. SugarFree   13 years ago

                So they knowing lent their internet to the neighbor? Oh, that's right, they didn't.

          2. SugarFree   13 years ago

            Food trucks. Because in a parking space is the only place a food truck could possibly be. And the city owns the parking spaces so they can be a tyrannical and corrupt as possible toward food trucks because they own them.

            The law is the law and the state is supreme. Don't question the law. Follow the law. Do as you betters tell you. Or you're a terrorist.

            1. nicole   13 years ago

              Ahh, yes, thank you SF.

              1. SugarFree   13 years ago

                I'm not the archivist this board needs, but I am the one it deserves.

            2. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

              I have no issues with food trucks on private property...and I'm not sure what public property they could operate on besides a parking space, unless their customers are riding bikes at the same speed while they drive.

      3. Warty   13 years ago

        Why start a blog when one can ruin an existing blog?

  10. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

    OT, but asshat government officials being asshat government officials.

    Lennox

    1. mr simple   13 years ago

      Is everyone on the Belfast City Council drunk or just full retard?

      Also, nothing is OT in Morning Links.

      1. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

        Is everyone on the Belfast City Council drunk or just full retard?

        Considering it is belfast, probably both.

  11. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    Ramos and a second officer charged in the case, Cpl. Jay Cicinelli, had been on unpaid leave since October. Cicinelli, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive force, remains on unpaid leave, Stuart said.

    Officers Joseph Wolfe, Kenton Hampton, James Blatney and Kevin Craig, who also were involved in the incident but have not been charged, remain on paid administrative leave. The officers have been on leave since August.

    With the paid leave plus the impending lawsuit from Thomas' dad, Fullerton is really getting bang for its buck from their police department.

    1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

      paying them to sit in their arses on leave probably works out cheaper than the civil claims arising from the next time they beat an unarmed man to death

      1. Restoras   13 years ago

        Not too mention the public is probably safer.

  12. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

    Kim Jong-Un's pop star girlfriend's hits include 'Excellent Horse-like Lady', 'I Love Pyongyang', 'Footsteps of Soldiers' and 'We are Troops of the Party'

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....z20Jmx9D9j

    1. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

      Wouldn't women want to stay clear of someone like this? When he tires of her, well, it might not be pretty; say Henry VIII ugly.

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        Refuse him and be executed, or be his pet for a while before being executed.

        Tough call.

      2. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

        Yeah, things might come to a head.

      3. Tim   13 years ago

        (shrugs) At least she's not married to Tom Cruise.

      4. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

        Henry VIII was stuck with monogamy (don't get me wrong, he could screw around all he wanted, but those children would have lesser social status). If Kim Jong-Un can produce an heir from any fertile womb in the country and have it treated the same legally, then she isn't dealing with the same social dynamics.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

      'Excellent Horse-like Lady'

      I need a translation of the lyrics, stat.

      1. Fluffy   13 years ago

        I believe the chorus is about Sex and the City.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

          Zing!

        2. Bardas Phocas   13 years ago

          Korean cover of 'Mustang Sally'

      2. Rich   13 years ago

        The music video. Just Korean, sorry.

        1. SugarFree   13 years ago

          Kerchief: The Hijab of Communism

          1. Hell's Librarian   13 years ago

            I thought she was working in a toilet paper factory at first, but I think those are supposed to be rolls of thread.

            1. Abdul   13 years ago

              Rolls of thread? so it's a korean blindfold factory.

        2. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

          They sure do love their gaudy candy colors over there.

    3. Brett L   13 years ago

      Where were you yesterday?

      1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

        is that directed to me? I went to bed early

        1. Brett L   13 years ago

          I posted it in a mid-day story as an off-topic. I'm just having a bit of fun is all.

          1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

            damn you and your wafting yak vomit aroma - DAMN YOU!!

            BTW Brett, can you rate Hyon Song-Wol - hot or not?

            1. Brett L   13 years ago

              For a North Korean, she's got a lot of curves. For a human woman, she's middle of the pack.

  13. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    The ballot box is not the only way to stop Obamacare
    http://dailycaller.com/2012/07.....obamacare/

    But according to explicit wording in the Affordable Care Act, if the states let the federal government create the exchanges, then residents of those states will not be able to receive federal subsidies to help them purchase the super-expensive, government-designed, government-mandated health insurance. Without those subsidies, few people would want to purchase these expensive policies.

    What's more, if instead of the states, the federal government creates the exchanges, small businesses are exempt from the onerous employer mandates. This rescues small businesses from the huge financial burden Obamacare places upon them. It will enable them to expand and add jobs without fear of financial insolvency from health insurance mandates.

    In short, if the states don't create their own exchanges, Obamacare won't work.

    So the cloud of the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision indeed comes with a silver lining. It leaves the states holding all the cards. The future of Obamacare is in their hands.

    1. generic Brand   13 years ago

      if the states let the federal government create the exchanges, then residents of those states will not be able to receive federal subsidies to help them purchase the... government-mandated health insurance.
      What's more, if instead of the states, the federal government creates the exchanges, small businesses are exempt from the onerous employer mandates.

      It seems like what this is saying is that if the federal government creates the exchanges, the plans will be subsidized and businesses can be exempt. Then the article makes the point of saying the states have all the power? I am not seeing the connection here.

      1. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

        No, the plans will not be subsidized. They save the money and hassle, their businesses get a competitive advantage over other states, and the feds take away their residents' lube when it fucks them (while the insurance companies watch and jerk off). You might think the latter would be a downside, but since it will mainly piss people off more at the feds, the PPACA, and the Democrats, it's probably a political win.

      2. R C Dean   13 years ago

        What an astonishingly shitty piece of drafting that is. Almost as if they were building as many ways as humanly possible into this bill so it would fail.

        This:

        if the states let the federal government create the exchanges, then residents of those states will not be able to receive federal subsidies to help them purchase the super-expensive, government-designed, government-mandated health insurance.

        was intended to incentivize states to set up the exchanges, I suppose. But this:

        What's more, if instead of the states, the federal government creates the exchanges, small businesses are exempt from the onerous employer mandates. This rescues small businesses from the huge financial burden Obamacare places upon them.

        Creates a countervailing incentive to not set up the exchanges.

        And consider that any significant change to the penaltaxes (which would be necessary to straighten this out) guarantees a new challenge to see if the revised penaltax passes muster under Roberts incoherent and internally contradictory opinion.

        1. Invisible Finger   13 years ago

          If only there were a way to come up with a 2,000 page law that would have to be interpreted as lethally injecting Nancy Pelosi first and sunsetting the law after said injection...

          I wonder if she'd read it.

  14. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    On Obama Adviser's Disclosure Form: 'Bermuda'
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po.....m-bermuda/

    A lot of attention has been focused lately on Mitt Romney's offshore finances in places like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. But the word Bermuda pops up on the financial disclosure forms of one of President Obama's top advisers too.

    Valerie Jarrett's financial disclosure form filed May 4 lists a line of credit from a Bermuda insurance company valued between $100,000 and $250,000.

    1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      OOOH I got one:

      How many [JOBS] did that create?

      :rolleyes:

    2. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

      A line of credit?

      Really? by a staffer? Yeah, that is just like parking a hundred million offshore to hide income.

      1. John   13 years ago

        It is not like the Democrats' biggest financial backer is a convicted insider trader or anything.

        http://dealbook.nytimes.com/20.....onviction/

      2. John   13 years ago

        Or the DNC Chair doesn't have millions in Switzerland.

        http://dailycaller.com/2012/07.....itzerland/

        1. Ice Nine   13 years ago

          Or that Romney is hiding any income offshore, let alone a hundred million.

          1. John   13 years ago

            Well according to Robert Gates, we don't know he is not. And that is apparently good enough. Just like we don't know that Gates wasn't helping Jerry Sandusky butt fuck little boys.

      3. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

        And $3 million is just like $100 million and disclosing is just like hiding.

        1. wareagle   13 years ago

          that's the left in action...living examples of the Charles Durning character in Best Little Whorehouse.

      4. Fluffy   13 years ago

        No, dude.

        If you have a line of credit from an offshore institution, it often is a sign that you are hiding assets there and doing a "Dutch sandwich".

        Basically you receive pay through a shell corporation, and never declare it on your income tax. You then use the line of credit to buy stuff. You don't actually pay the line of credit off - the bank takes money from the shell corporation to pay off your balances.

        You thereby disguise income as debt, avoiding taxes.

        1. John   13 years ago

          Shreek claims to be in finance. Something tells me he knows that quite well and just spit out the talking point his handlers gave him.

          1. Fatty Bolger   13 years ago

            Shreek claims to be in finance

            I.e., has an E*TRADE account.

        2. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

          What patents does Jarrett own and why are they worth only a $100,000 credit line with an insurer?

          1. John   13 years ago

            Because she may not have taken a loan out for the entire value of the collateral. In fact, she would probably want to avoid getting it all at once. Better to only get it in 100K chunks. It is a line of credit. How many times has she used it.

            Face it dickhead, your talking point won't hunt. Go back to KOS or Balloon juice and get another one.

            1. Restoras   13 years ago

              A+

      5. wareagle   13 years ago

        why is it any of your business or the DNC's where any American chooses to legally keep some of the money s/he has earned? Answer: it's not, but this is the DNC we're talking about, and it must have an apathetic/stupid population to pander to or it cannot win.

      6. sloopyinca   13 years ago

        Why would a WH Staffer need a personal line of credit to the tune of a quarter-million dollars? Was there any tit-for-tat going on? Buying of access perhaps?

        I could care less where Mitt Romney parks his money, but I'd be interested in knowing what the WH staffer is doing with a personal line this size and what access or special treatment, if any, it may have purchased someone.

      7. R C Dean   13 years ago

        I personally cannot imagine why anyone would need a Bermuda-based line of credit, unless it is intended to be used launder bribes. She draws on the line of credit, and someone else pays it off (under the shield of bank secrecy) type of thing.

        If we're entitled to an explanation of why someone who hasn't held public office for years has a Swiss bank account, I think we are extra-entitled to know why a top White House staffer has something as . . . odd as a six-figure Bermuda line of credit. And how much has been drawn on it, and who was paying it off.

      8. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

        I knew there awas at least one Democrat with offshore money stashes.

        Let's see the *rest* of them.

        And watch shrike apologize because it's okay when Democrats have foreign bank accounts.

    3. Rhywun   13 years ago

      JFC this is so stupid. Lots of *American* companies have branches/offshoots/subsidiaries/whatever in Bermuda and the like. And it lets them hire *more* Americans.

  15. sloopyinca   13 years ago

    San Jose principal arrested for not turning in potential pederast.

    FTA: Filo said the charge is related

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      "8 year olds, Dude."

      1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

        That creep can roll.

        1. Ed   13 years ago

          Jesus.

  16. Bee Tagger   13 years ago

    the point i was making before i was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them. #deadbabies

    Understanding this should probably be a prerequisite for watching a comedian, especially away from the comforts of a cable tv special.

    1. Elspeth Flashman   13 years ago

      I agree, you can't laugh if you're too sensitive. And who wants to live life without laughing once in a while?

      1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

        I know some people who want to live without laughing.

        1. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

          That's not funny!

      2. Ice Nine   13 years ago

        People who are easily offended need to be offended more often. One of my abiding principles.

        1. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

          ^this^

        2. T   13 years ago

          "And if I offended you, oh I'm sorry
          But maybe you need to be offended
          But here's my apology and one more thing...fuck you!"

          1. Brett L   13 years ago

            Nice. Now I shall have to dig out my old Suicidal Tendencies albums.

            1. T   13 years ago

              I find that bit way too relevant most days.

  17. sloopyinca   13 years ago

    Stop the presses!!!!! San Fran Board of Supervisors does something good.

    1. mr simple   13 years ago

      Resume the presses. People complain in comments.

  18. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

    Penguins get stressed by humans: Swiss study

    On behalf of my species, sorry Baked Penguin

    1. Bee Tagger   13 years ago

      Must be all the yinzers screaming "SHOOT THE PUCK!" during power plays.

      1. Montani Semper Liberi   13 years ago

        These days it's more like "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHORTHANDED GOAL!"

        1. NoVAHockey   13 years ago

          Seriously. I wanted them to start declining penalties.

      2. Restoras   13 years ago

        That is the thing I miss least about not going to NHL games anymore.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

          It used to be terrible at the Civic Arena, but things have toned down at Consol. I don't hear that much anymore. They might have installed yinzer sound dampers.

          1. Restoras   13 years ago

            Rangers fans are a special breed of idiot. Though, in thier defense, it's hard to understand the game if you've never laced 'em up - even if it's just youth or even pick-up hockey.

          2. Montani Semper Liberi   13 years ago

            Consol is too quiet, though. There is no home ice advantage as evidenced by the complete ownage of the Pens by the Flyers since they moved there. Yinzers can be annoying, but at least they do more than sit on their hands.

            1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

              They did put on that bear suit to make fun of Bryzgalov's friend getting mauled to death. So, there's that.

              1. db   13 years ago

                That was classic.

      3. robc   13 years ago

        One hockey rule I never understood ... why are shorthanded teams allowed to ice the puck?

        They are serving a fucking penalty, why should they get a rule adjustment that helps them kill it off?

    2. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

      Thanks, ifh, but did you really think I could be a King penguin? They're obviously complete statists.

      1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

        My mistake - I had thought it came from each penguin claiming to be a king, autonomous in their own personal kingdom and second to none. As opposed to Serf Penguins, who cluster together waiting for one walrus to rule them all

  19. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    The other foreclosure crisis: Losing a home for $400 in back taxes
    http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/1...../index.htm

    When homeowners don't pay property taxes or other municipal bills, like water or sewer fees, local governments have less money to maintain services like schools, police and fire departments and road maintenance. By selling tax liens, those governments can collect on what it is owed.

    Investors, in return, effectively own a claim against the property until the homeowner pays the county or municipality back or until they default on the debt entirely. The investor can either collect interest on the taxes owed from the homeowner. Or, if the homeowner fails to pay up, the investor can take possession, or foreclose, on the home.

  20. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

    Oh, fuck you and the horse you rode in on you asshole server squirrels.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

      The squirrel cavalry

  21. Rich   13 years ago

    The city of Fullerton, California won't say

    Since "civil servants" "work for the citizens", the city's employers should simply demand that the facts be made public within, say, 30 minutes or employees will be fired for insubordination.

    1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

      Public servants work for everyone except whomever they are dealing with at any one time.

      The term "the public" means everyone but you.

      Fuck you, that's why.

    2. wareagle   13 years ago

      the City won't say because it can hide behind the "personnel" exemption. It's like places that won't comment on pending legal cases.

  22. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    Holder's Jim Crow Politics
    The AG says Voter ID laws are 'poll taxes.'
    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

    1. DJF   13 years ago

      Is it also Jim Crow when I can't visit Holder at his office without showing my ID?

    2. wareagle   13 years ago

      you need ID to cash checks, buy booze, board a plane, and to do a thousand other things, but voting is so much less important. When do black people recognize that they are being condescended to and patronized? And by one of theirs.

      1. generic Brand   13 years ago

        From the outrage that I have seen, black people mostly don't even realize this "affects" them (not even sure it actually does). It's mostly white liberals with their slave history guilt and progressive/regressive politics who are fighting this tooth and nail.

    3. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

      If they don't provide a free form of voter ID, it's a legitimate argument. If they do, through normal channels, it isn't.

      1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

        Can failure to provide transportation to the polls also be argued legitimately as a poll tax?

        1. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

          The requirement for transportation isn't something the state imposes or controls, it's just a practical necessity of the world we live in (and states have absentee ballot programs, at any rate).

          The requirement for an ID and the cost of ID are under the control of the state directly, and if the cheapest voting-quality ID was $200, I can't see how that isn't a poll tax masquerading as a fraud prevention measure.

          1. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

            A practical necessity for the world we live in. That sounds very similar to, oh, I don't know, a picture ID.

            The requirement for an ID and the cost of ID are under the control of the state directly, and if the cheapest voting-quality ID was $200...Yeah, if. But they aren't. My understanding is that they are even potentially free in some states. I think my DL comes out to $6 a year.

  23. generic Brand   13 years ago

    The comedian Daniel Tosh apologized on Twitter

    I have never been so ashamed to have graduated from the same high school as Daniel Tosh than right now. A comedian apologizing for their act should never take place, unless it is truly unfunny and a waste of people's time. If other people laughed, this lady just doesn't have the same sense of humor... that happens; get over it.

    1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

      Or at least fake apologize. I mean it's easy, you just make a really sincere one, and then put 'psyche' at the end.

      1. T   13 years ago

        "I'm sorry you got offended" is still my favorite fake apology.

        1. generic Brand   13 years ago

          "I'm sorry you are over-sensitive" was basically what I used when my family freaked out on me for posting "Cops are nothing but whores, and the state is their pimp, telling them who to fuck" on Facebook.

          That was one of the best times in my life.

          1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

            A cop acquaintance of mine tried to start a boycott of some retro clothing company after they made some mildly disparaging remark about cops (I mean, really mild). I immediately "Liked" the company on Facebook.

            1. generic Brand   13 years ago

              Ahh, Facebook. Where one can be an ass and others can "like" it. Sometimes I get carried away and get political on very non-political items, but for the most part I think it's open to debate if the person who originally posted something did so for political reasons.

              But then, Facebook is maybe just a step above Digg when it comes to a good forum for political debate (and probably lower than Twitter).

  24. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

    Al Qaeda terrorists actually 'just want to defend themselves' claims controversial new study

    Sure, when they're not busy planning ways to destroy us!

  25. MOFO.   13 years ago

    http://www.latimes.com/news/lo.....full.story

    California HSR officials reject offer from SNCF to build cheaper HSR along the I5.

    1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

      They're so poor they can only afford acronyms

      1. MOFO.   13 years ago

        FU, IFH.

        1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

          LOL

  26. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    Conservatives make it rough for business
    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....SS?SITE=AP

    Republicans like to tout themselves as the best friends of business, and the rhetoric only grows louder in an election year. They talk forcefully about their job-creation agenda and determination to undo the burdensome regulations they say arise out of President Barack Obama's policies.

    Yet when it comes to many of industry's top legislative priorities, conservative Republican lawmakers and like-minded groups including the Club for Growth and Heritage Action have thrown up roadblocks to tasks that had been easy before the 2010 elections sent a large class of conservative tea party insurgents to Congress.

    They and their ideological leaders argue that the marketplace should dictate what businesses thrive and falter, not Washington.

    1. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

      Shorter version:

      Corporatists hate the idea of free markets.

  27. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    Obama is wrong, Bush was outspent by Democrats in 2004
    http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2501839

    But Mike Allen notes in today's Playbook, that President George W. Bush was outspent by Democrats in 2004 by $114,078,751 according to OpenSecrets.org. Bush and the RNC spent $727,891,693 and Kerry, the DNC, plus the funds spent by America Coming Together ? the PAC funded by George Soros ? spent $841,970,444.

    1. sloopyinca   13 years ago

      I got the "We're being outspent" e-mail from Obama yesterday.

      Here it is:
      Friend --

      We're getting outraised -- a first for a sitting president, if this continues. Not just by the super PACs and outside groups that are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into misleading ads, but by our opponent and the Republican Party, which just outraised us for the second month in a row.

      We can win a race in which the other side spends more than we do. But not this much more.

      So I need your help. If you believe that regular people should decide elections, then please chip in $3 or more today.

      This isn't about me or the outcome of one election.

      This election will be a test of the model that got us here. We'll learn whether it's still true that a grassroots campaign can elect a president -- whether ordinary Americans are in control of our democracy in the face of massive spending.

      I believe we can do this. When all of us chip in what we can, when we can, we are the most powerful force in politics.

      But today is the day to prove it. Donate now:

      https://donate.barackobama.com/Outraised

      Thank you -- for everything you've done before and everything you're doing now. It matters.

      Barack

      1. sloopyinca   13 years ago

        My reply:
        Kenneth Spicer
        8:51 AM (21 hours ago)

        to info
        I'm glad to see that you are being outraised, and I genuinely hope that you lose this election. Unfortunately, the person I want to see win is Gary Johnson, not Mitt Romney, who is but the other side of your coin.

        I really hope a scandal engulfs your administration and the criminal running the DOJ ends up in prison, and I hope you end up there as well for waging an illegal, immoral and wholly evil war overseas.

        Go to hell, asshole.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

          Attack Watch has been notified.

        2. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

          aaah, poetry... let us know when you're put on the No Fly list so we can have a whiparound and buy you a Gulfstream IV

          1. sloopyinca   13 years ago

            I respond to about half of the e-mails they send me. And they're all profanity-laced tirades. I especially like that they're all addressed to the name I first used to send them a scathing e-mail, "Gofuck Yourself."

            I really would like them to send the Secret Service out here, seeing as I've never once threatened violence, and it's against the law for the campaign to use the Secret Service. I'd have a field day.

            1. wareagle   13 years ago

              you act as though this administration cares what the law says.

              1. Tim   13 years ago

                ...and with that, Sloopy was never heard from again.

                1. Bobarian   13 years ago

                  My response always starts off with

                  'I'm not your friend, Buddy!'

                  1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

                    "I'm not your buddy, guy!"

        3. 0x90   13 years ago

          "Unfortunately, the person I want to see win is Gary Johnson, not Mitt Romney, who is but the other side of your coin."

          Politics, to me: picture a coin, one side of which is printed with a red and blue taijitu. The other side reads: "LIBERTY."

      2. generic Brand   13 years ago

        We'll learn whether it's still true that a grassroots campaign can elect a president

        What the hell is he talking about? Has Ron Paul been president for the last 3 and a half years???

    2. R C Dean   13 years ago

      So when Obama says that the incumbent will be outspent for the first time in history, he's lying?

      Imagine my shock.

      1. JerseyPatriot   13 years ago

        People spend money on politics? Imagine my apathy.

  28. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

    This just in, construction workers volunteer to do something for free.

    Executives with Pulte Homes of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., say its workers and partners are volunteering to construct the two-story 1,956-square-feet addition to Copeland's suburban Atlanta home at no charge to the family.

    Don't worry, government mandates should put an end to this nasty practice any day now.

    1. Ice Nine   13 years ago

      The construction workers' union needs to put a prompt stop to this below-scale outrage.

    2. generic Brand   13 years ago

      They must have been un-unionized construction workers.

      1. T   13 years ago

        If Pulte in Atlanta works like Pulte does in Houston, I'd guarantee they're not unionized.

    3. sloopyinca   13 years ago

      Don't worry, government mandates should put an end to this nasty practice any day now.

      Probably not, but the increased value of the house will be noted on the next property assessment, which will be reflected in her property taxes.

  29. sloopyinca   13 years ago

    Your tax dollars at work.

  30. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    Strange Vortex Discovered on Saturn Moon Titan
    http://www.space.com/16526-sat.....ortex.html

    A NASA spacecraft has spied a vortex swirling in the atmosphere high above the south pole of the Saturn moon Titan, hinting that winter may be coming to the huge body's southern reaches.

    NASA's Cassini probe photographed the polar vortex ? or mass of swirling gas ? during a flyby of Titan on June 27. The vortex appears to complete one full rotation in nine hours, while it takes Titan about 16 days to spin once around its axis.

    1. DJF   13 years ago

      I for one welcome our Titan Squiggly Looking Thing Overlords

    2. db   13 years ago

      If you look at it really closely, there are millions of little tiny rectangles at the center of that vortex.

  31. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

    The city has also declined to comment on the findings of an internal affairs investigation conducted by consultant Michael Gennaco.

    Consultant? He's an attorney hired by the city. That report isn't going to be made public.

  32. John   13 years ago

    I made the mistake of flipping by the TODAY show this morning. They had a piece on the Mayor in Scranton, PA paying all of his workers minimum wage. Never in the entire close to five minute segment did they ever mention the problem of public sector employee pay and pensions. If you didn't know any better, you would think this crazy mayor in Pennsylvania decided to cut people's pay for no reason. They even pointed out that cities in California have voted to (gasp) cut city employee pensions never mentioning or discussing why they did this. No wonder people think the stupid things they do. If I only got my news from NBC I would think stupid things too.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

      That's what you get for watching anything produced by NBC News.

      1. John   13 years ago

        The even more stupid thing about it was that they took a story that really should interest people and made it completely meaningless for anyone living outside of Scranton PA. And they wonder they their ratings are so bad.

        1. wareagle   13 years ago

          you sound surprised. The crux of the story does not fit the NBC narrative, and as previously stated, liberalism cannot survive without a massively uninformed populace.

    2. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      The only people who get all their news from NBC (and ABC, CBS, etc.) are stupid all on their own. A hundred hours of Reason TV would not make their opinions any better.

      1. Restoras   13 years ago

        Not even in a Clockwork Orange-esque rehabilitation program?

        1. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

          I would like to see that - afterwards, every time Tom Brokaw spoke, the rehab subject would vomit.

        2. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

          I would donate to such a cause.

      2. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

        NBC is the worst of the bunch, though. ABC occasionally does some decent reporting (it has Jake Tapper, for instance). CBS was covering Fast and Furious over the entire course of the scandal. NBC is just worthless.

    3. generic Brand   13 years ago

      It's funny that you mention this, because yesterday quite a few of my friends on Facebook (who live in central Florida) said that our local NBC affiliate got blocked and it was showing local news from Scranton.

    4. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

      If I only got my news from NBC I would think stupid things too.

      Oh John, you don't need any help from NBC...

      1. John   13 years ago

        True. But fortunately you put out such an astounding amount of stupid on this board that few if anyone notices any of the rest of our stupid. Since MNG left, you are really kind of sole source provider.

        1. T   13 years ago

          Palin's Buttplug will be crushed you don't notice it.

        2. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

          Heh, I feel strangely honored to take MNG's place. At least in your eyes.

          Nah, no I don't. He was just as fucked up as you are. I suppose that's why you two always butted heads so much. It was like one fucked up train leaving DC heading west at 80 mph and another fucked up train leaving SF heading east at 100 mph. There was always some train wreck coming.

          1. John   13 years ago

            You should be flattered. MNG was a lot smarter and actually marginally more honest than you are.

            1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

              I understand MNG's PhD is what made him smarter than everyone, even you. I know it's probably hard to imagine there are people that are smarter than you, John, but if you leave your office you might run into several thousand.

              1. Cytotoxic   13 years ago

                You totally don't sound like an immature MNG redux Mo. Not one bit.

                1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

                  Coming from you Cyto, that means nothing to me.

  33. John   13 years ago

    In advance of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's speech Wednesday to the NAACP, a liberal group headed by a former New York Times reporter and ex-Media Matters executive have produced a video "satire" that claims blacks don't like Romney, who they dub so white he makes "Wonder Bread look like pumpernickel."

    http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2501754

    Remember liberals are all about racial understanding.

    1. Bee Tagger   13 years ago

      "Wonder Bread look like pumpernickel."

      I see they made sure to include a reference to food oases.

    2. Bitter Taxpayer   13 years ago

      "It's OK when our team does it."

    3. Loki   13 years ago

      Like an average urban black person even knows what pumpernickel bread looks like. /no racism

      Psst: your rich white guilt ridden liberalness is showing.

  34. John   13 years ago

    Amid lingering differences with the House over government spending, Senate Democrats may not pass any appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

    http://www.rollcall.com/news/s.....os=htmbtxt

    Better to not do anything than have Red State Dems admit who they work for and what they actually support.

  35. John   13 years ago

    If we ask fathers to support a pregnancy, aren't we admitting that the fetus is a child?

    http://www.slate.com/articles/.....ment_.html

    Well Katie only if you expect rationality from feminists.

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      I love this. "Pregimony is a stalking horse for foetal personhood and fathers having a say in abortions!"

      Suck it bitches. You want our money, we get a say.

      1. John   13 years ago

        It is almost as if feminism is about creating a privileged class of women or something.

        1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

          Oh, man this article is the gift that keeps giving to pro-lifers:

          "The interests of protecting expectant mothers do not necessarily coincide with the interest of protecting abortion rights."

          Prolifers have only been emphasizing this since, like forever! See also the story below about requiring Mississippi abortionists to be more qualified.

          "I don't actually think it is in the interests of feminism or the pro-choice movement to cling so rigidly to outdated notions of 'life.' It no longer helps our cause to try to argue that the fetus is not "life." The reason for this, as people have noted, is that technological advances, like sonograms, where you can see feet on a fetus in the first trimester, have made those claims clearly and patently hollow to even ardently pro-choice people who have seen the black and white staticky fuzziness take shape into human form. How can we possibly claim that the moving creature, with feet and toes that we can see, is not 'life'?"

          It's quite the dilemma - continue using the dehumanizing rhetoric which is obviously contrary to reality, or acknowledge highly inconvenient facts about the humanity of the fetus.

      2. wareagle   13 years ago

        Brett hits it. It's the wanting it both ways crowd cast beneath a harsh light.

      3. R C Dean   13 years ago

        So, if some hapless sap shells out pregimony, and then the breeder changes her mind and aborts anyway, does the sap get a refund?

        1. Brett L   13 years ago

          This is why it is a stalking horse for fathers' rights.

      4. tarran   13 years ago

        You want our money, we get a say.

        I can't tell you how many times I argued this back during my teaching days in the faculty lounge.

        Watching their eyes, you could actually see the cognitive dissonance envelop and neutralize the argument they didn't want to hear.

    2. mr simple   13 years ago

      Why do I insist on reading comments? So much twisted logic. It amazes me the people think "Uhm, no" and "Because" are reasoned retorts.

    3. Ed   13 years ago

      this seems appropriate: http://www.theonion.com/articl.....age,11020/

  36. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

    Texas Named Top US State for Business 2012

    1. T   13 years ago

      If anyone would like to relocate to Texas based on this news, I have a house for sale you may be interested in.

      1. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

        They had several categories. This one stood out to me:

        Business Friendliness
        1. South Dakota
        2. New Hampshire
        3. Virginia
        4. North Dakota
        5. Indiana

        1. robc   13 years ago

          What I cant figure out is the extreme difference between "cost of doing business" and "business friendliness". While they arent the exact same things, I would think low cost is pretty damn friendly.

          But KY is #1 in cost and #41 in friendliness.

          1. Brett L   13 years ago

            Permits may be cheap, getting them may take forever. Now I know this usually makes things expensive, carrying costs and whatnot, but there may be some reason for separating one from the other.

          2. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

            According to the source, cost included income taxes, utilities, wages and real estate. Business friendliness included regulation and litigation.

            1. Invisible Finger   13 years ago

              There is essentially no difference between taxation and regulation.

      2. Brett L   13 years ago

        If you'll buy mine in FL...

        1. T   13 years ago

          I'm moving into town, so a house in FL won't really work.

    2. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

      CA we're number 40!
      We're number 40!!

      1. robc   13 years ago

        KY is 36! We are better than California!

        #1 in Cost of Doing Business though, so thats nice.

        1. mr simple   13 years ago

          Also #4 in cost of living, but 45th in quality of life. I never realized I lived so terribly.

          1. BakedPenguin   13 years ago

            Well, just go out back to the still and have a few sips of shine. You'll feel better soon.

  37. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

    Federal judge to determine Constitutionality of Mississippi Aborto-Freaks power grab today

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/11/.....index.html

    1. John   13 years ago

      The law, which took effect July 1, requires all abortion providers in Mississippi to be certified obstetrician/gynecologists with privileges at local hospitals.

      Stupid backwards fucks actually expect a doctor to perform these things. Don't they understand that it is a woman's duty to the cause to be butchered while having abortion?

      1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

        The choicers know that even the mildest regulations of their behavior will limit abortions, so they use the only vocabulary they know - every single regulation of abortion ever is "extreme" and probably fascist.

        If only physicians had the same scruples about performing abortions that they do about performing executions on convicted criminals. Then we'd have the situation we have in some death-penalty states: "We need a physician to preside at the killing, but they have these silly hangups. I guess we have to stop killing, then!"

        1. John   13 years ago

          A lot of them do have scruples. And that is a real problem. A lot of women are harmed every year by quack abortionists. Think about it, morality aside, why would any doctor do abortions unless he had no other choice?

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

            Perhaps there are those who believe that if someone does not provide the service, women will go back to using the coat hangers.

            1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

              and we all know that would be bad

          2. ?Ex Nihilo?   13 years ago

            ...why would any doctor do abortions unless he had no other choice?

            Supply/Demand.

          3. R C Dean   13 years ago

            Money, that's why, John. A doctor can make a crapload of coin doing abortions.

            1. John   13 years ago

              A good doctor can make a crap load of coin doing other things. That is my point, only a shitty doctor who couldn't make a crap load doing something else would do it.

              1. R C Dean   13 years ago

                Sure, sure. But shitty docs gotta make their crapload somehow, amirite?

                And you probably have a few decent docs who go into the abortion business because they are hardcore lefty fem-symps who think making the service available is a public good.

                And even some decent docs who, for whatever reason, see a financial gain in having an abortion practice. Cash business, low risk of malpractice, can be managed by midlevels, that kind of thing.

              2. carol   13 years ago

                Crappy doctors can still make a crap load of money by doing abortions or setting up pill mills.

        2. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

          The choicers know that even the mildest regulations of their behavior will limit abortions, so they use the only vocabulary they know - every single regulation of abortion ever is "extreme" and probably fascist.

          Thanks for clearing that up for me. I'm glad someone could tell me my position so I don't have to think about it anymore.

          1. John   13 years ago

            It is okay Sparky. It is not like you ever do any thinking in the first place.

            1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

              Nice. Snappy comeback, John. I didn't think you had it in you. You can go back to raging about dead babies now.

              1. John   13 years ago

                Poor Spraky. If you weren't such a baby, I wouldn't pick on you so much.

                1. Mo' $parky   13 years ago

                  I'm no ordinary baby, I'm the only baby that can spell. You can keep your excuse that you don't really try because it's just a message board on the Internet.

        3. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

          - every single regulation of abortion ever is "extreme" and probably fascist.

          We should start using that rhetoric for regulations in general.

          Regulations against restaurants are extreme, fascist like and seek to deny people their basic human right to eating!

      2. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

        with privileges at local hospitals

        That's a swipe at the out-of-state providers who travel in-state to perform the service. It's not a good-intentioned effort to ensure safe services.

        1. John   13 years ago

          So what? How many other things have such requirements? It is pretty hard to practice medicine in a state without a license in that state.

          1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

            My point is that the law is designed to make abortions next to impossible to get in-state. It has nada to do with safe practices. In that sense, I actually agree with shriek on this one. Now whether or not abortions should be legal at all is another question, but not one that Mississippi gets to decide on under Roe v Wade as it stands.

            1. wareagle   13 years ago

              MS action serves to underscore the folly of SCOTUS ruling on what should be a state by state decision.

              1. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

                True

        2. Palin's Buttplug   13 years ago

          That means that OB/GYNers must admit 10 patients a month to a hospital which few do.

          Its a law designed to outlaw a Constitutionally protected action.

          As LPers (snicker) you fuckers should care.

          1. generic Brand   13 years ago

            What's an LPer? "Least Popular"?

            1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

              One who still buys music on vinyl

              1. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

                Hnads off my "45s"!

              2. Restoras   13 years ago

                music...vinyl...does not compute.

          2. John   13 years ago

            I didn't know there was a constitutionally protected right to be butchered by a quack.

            1. tarran   13 years ago

              Yet the law tries to encourage butchery by quacks. see my comment below, John.

              1. John   13 years ago

                No it doesn't. You assume that anyone who doesn't have an overall practice is a quack. There is no evidence of that. If anything, the quacks would be the people who only do abortions.

          3. Mr. FIFY   13 years ago

            You still claiming to be a Goldwater fan, shrike?

        3. Brett L   13 years ago

          Mississippi is a small state. Its a 40 minute drive from anywhere in the state to Alabama or Louisiana. BFD.

        4. R C Dean   13 years ago

          That's a swipe at the out-of-state providers who travel in-state to perform the service.

          Maybe. Hard to say. You have to have an in-state license to do them anyway. Most hospitals won't deny privileges to someone who can tick the boxes (licensed, clean history as far as discipline/malpractice, etc.).

          And I'm not aware of any ob/gyns who aren't on staff at a hospital. Because the ob bit means delivering babies, and its really hard to have a baby-catching practice without access to a hospital.

          Plus, deliveries are profitable for hospitals, so hospitals are unlikely to turn down any qualified ob/gyn who asks for privileges.

      3. Brett L   13 years ago

        Apparently, its okay to do abortions in back alleys with coat hangers as long as its legal and there's no stigma attached to the woman for deciding to have one.

      4. tarran   13 years ago

        John,

        To have admitting priviledges to a hospital, you have to admit n patients a year into the hospital for treatment.

        None of the doctors doing abortions are admitting that number of patients, because they aren't butchers - they'd have to injure the mother for a hospital admittance to be appropriate.

        To the countrary, is this law is enacted, abortions will become more dangerous since rather than being done by specialists it will be done by people for who it is a small part of their practice - novices, if you will.

        The purpose of this law is to create a set of hoops that are impossible to jump through - like Washington DC's gun regulations.

        1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

          -or like the obstacles to the death penalty erected in various states. Kind of appropriate since in each case these obstacles are intended to save human life.

          1. tarran   13 years ago

            Nope. States aren't permitted to outlaw abortions. They are allowed to stop executing people - or set whateve rules they want to limit their actions.

            This is a backdoor attempt to outlaw something by people who are too chickenshit to ban it outright.

            They can try to get the U.S. Constitution amended... or they can secede. If a state wants to be part of the United States, those are its two options.

            1. John   13 years ago

              They can try to get the U.S. Constitution amended

              If only we could just get that abortion clause taken out of Article II.

              No one even believes that shit anymore. It is only a "right" because the court said so not because it is actually in the document. A amendment is not needed. Just a better court.

            2. tarran   13 years ago

              Editing fail:

              If a state wants to be part of the United States, those are its two options.

              Should be

              If a state wants to ban abortions those are its two options. If it wants to be part of the United States it can't ban them currently

              1. wareagle   13 years ago

                revisit the original Roe v Wade decision. It was not a declaration that any and all abortions were cool regardless of the stage of pregnancy. There were some limitations involved.

            3. wareagle   13 years ago

              this sounds like selective Constitution interpreting then. The same SCOTUS that manufactured a right to abortion also upheld use of the death penalty. By the way, at least a couple of states have banned capital punishment on their own. Should they secede now? Or does your outrage only apply to specific issues.

              1. tarran   13 years ago

                By the way, at least a couple of states have banned capital punishment on their own. Should they secede now?

                Actually, I am a big fan os secession for any reason, inlcuding the fact that Thursday was sunny.

                The same SCOTUS that manufactured a right to abortion also upheld use of the death penalty.

                States aren't required to have penalty. They're allowed to kill people - but they can be as merciful as they like.

                That's the difference here. Like it or not, the current legal regime we find ourselves in - and like Lysander Spooner, I think it's a regime utterly illegitimate one - states can't ban abortions.

                Trying to ban them by setting up a set of regulations that are essentially impossible to meet remains a ban.

                This move is not done for the safety of anyone: abortions will become more dangerous under this system.

            4. VG Zaytsev   13 years ago

              This is a backdoor attempt to outlaw something by people who are too chickenshit to ban it outright.

              They can try to get the U.S. Constitution amended... or they can secede.

              Or they can use the Roberts Solution and tax the hell out of them.

        2. John   13 years ago

          Bullshit. It just means you have to go to a local doctor. States restrict the rights of out of state doctors to practice within their states all of the time. There is nothing that says Mississippi much admit doctors from other states to practice in their states.

          1. tarran   13 years ago

            No. If it wwere merely a local doctor, they could pass a law saying local doctor.

            The requirement for admitting privileges at a local hospital is the dead give away. A accomplished abortionist isn't admitting patients into a hospital anymore than a good plumber is setting houses on fire.

            1. John   13 years ago

              Just means you can't specialize in abortion. Perhaps there is professional value in doing something in addition to abortion. That is up the state of Mississippi to determine.

              What you are saying is that a state can't mandate that abortionists have other areas of practice. And I don't see why they can't.

              1. tarran   13 years ago

                What you are saying is that a state can't mandate that abortionists have other areas of practice. And I don't see why they can't.

                If they had a basis for the requirement, you'd be right.

                They don't. This is an attempt at a back-door ban... precisely the same way the impossible hoops in Heller were a violation of the second amendment.

                States are permitted to regulate "constitutionally protected" activities but not out of existence.

                1. SugarFree   13 years ago

                  States are permitted to regulate "constitutionally protected" activities but not out of existence.

                  They aren't banning abortion. Don't get all hysterical. They just want sensible regulation of abortion. The 108-day waiting period for an abortion is just that sort of sensible regulation.

                  1. tarran   13 years ago

                    😀

              2. Fluffy   13 years ago

                That is up the state of Mississippi to determine.

                Actually, it's not.

                This is the end game of professional licensing schemes.

                Every last one of them - every one - is created using the claim that they're a public safety measure, and it's always a lie. Always.

                This isn't unconstitutional because of the abortion penumbra. It's unconstitutional because every state professional licensing statute in existence violates the Titles of Nobility clause.

                1. tarran   13 years ago

                  It's unconstitutional because every state professional licensing statute in existence violates the Titles of Nobility clause.

                  I love this argument. Of course, it has 0 chance of flying in any court in the land. 🙁

                  1. Fluffy   13 years ago

                    I believe there's even an existing precedent where some 1803 (or similarly ancient year) law was struck down by the SCOTUS using Article I.

                    But I can't remember the case name and Google is unhelpful.

                    1. robc   13 years ago

                      Google is unhelpful.

                      I verified this. All the 1-10-1 cases that pop up are contract clause cases (back when the Supremes took contracts seriously).

                2. John   13 years ago

                  This isn't unconstitutional because of the abortion penumbra. It's unconstitutional because every state professional licensing statute in existence violates the Titles of Nobility clause.

                  I won't argue with you there. If getting rid of this was part of getting rid of licensing in general, I would be right there to kill it.

        3. Brett L   13 years ago

          Or they could just do n live birth deliveries a year at hospitals.

          1. tarran   13 years ago

            So basically, you want either non-specialists delivering live babies - thereby putting moms babies at risk, or non-specialists performing abortions - thereby putting moms at risk.

            I see where you are going...

            1. Brett L   13 years ago

              Right. Abortion "specialists" who work in PP clinics for the big bucks. I've been party to an abortion, I detested everything about it. I don't particularly care about how hard it is to get access. As a libertarian I don't think it should be illegal at the Federal level. Everything short of that is fine with me.

              Permissive laws didn't do shit to keep my then-gf from being treated like cattle and being given damaging psychological advice. I hate the whole current system. I think it would be an improvement if OB/GYNs who did live deliveries were more involved in the process.

              1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

                As a libertarian you don't see this as rent-seeking? If it was anything other than abortion, it would be railed against here.

                Oh a pot clinic has to belong to the local Medical Consortium to stay in business. That'd fly.

              2. tarran   13 years ago

                Well, Brett, let me tell you the libertarian way to deal with this problem.

                Start your own version of planned parenthood that doesn't give damaging psychological advice and doesn't treat customers like cattle.

                You can even hire Obgyns and make it a one stop shop for reproductive maintenance.

                Don't try to force planned parenthood to change its poor customer service by sending the cops after them.

            2. Scruffy Nerfherder   13 years ago

              Where they are going is straight into all of the professional licensing and regulatory practice requirements that they supposedly oppose in just about every other situation. Admittedly, abortion is unique, however the discussion should be about the morality and legality of the practice instead of a government regulatory framework that is designed to exert the influence of the current party in power, not to improve actual public safety when obtaining what is currently a legal service.

              1. Brett L   13 years ago

                You're all probably right. I just hate the fuck out of those people and it probably clouds my principles. Having them put out of business by shifty regulation is probably not the libertarian optimum. I still wouldn't cross the street to piss on them if they were on fire.

                1. tarran   13 years ago

                  I just hate the fuck out of those people and it probably clouds my principles

                  Let he who is without that sin cast the first stone. 😉

                  Relax, we all are guilty of that some time.

        4. Ice Nine   13 years ago

          To have admitting priviledges to a hospital, you have to admit n patients a year into the hospital for treatment.

          That's not true, incidentally.

        5. R C Dean   13 years ago

          To have admitting priviledges to a hospital, you have to admit n patients a year into the hospital for treatment.

          That's true for admitting privileges, but there are other levels of privileges that don't have these kinds of minimums. Not sure what the law requires, but if its just "privileges", its probably not much of a barrier.

          1. tarran   13 years ago

            Here is the actual law:

            Bill 1390:

            All physicians associated with the abortion facility must have admitting privileges at a local hospital and staff privileges to replace local hospital on-staff physicians. All physicians associated with an abortion facility must be board certified or eligible in obstetrics and gynecology, and a staff member trained in CPR shall always be present at the abortion facility when it is open.

            .

            RC, would you care to translate what this means?

            1. R C Dean   13 years ago

              Sure

              "Admitting privileges" means the ability to admit patients to the hospital. This is the "standard" level of privileges, and usually requires a certain level of admissions to maintain. Essentially, its means the doc has to have some kind of established local practice. There is also a level of privileges that goes by various names that doesn't have volume requirements, so docs can be on staff for purposes of consulting and the like.

              Depending on the hospital, it can be hard for an out-of-state doc to have admitting privileges.

              That language on "staff privileges to replace local hospital on-staff physicians" is kind of a mystery to me. I haven't really run across it before, it may be a Mississippi thing. Generally, privileges are a list of what you are allowed to do at the hospital; if you have privileges to do X, then you can do X for any patient, even if they were admitted by someone else, so any privilege would seem to be one to replace local physicians for purposes of doing what you're privileged to do.

              The fact that they used the "board eligible" language tells me they aren't necessarily terribly current on how boarding works these days. We dropped that language from our contracts and bylaws because some of the specialties don't really use the concept anymore.

            2. R C Dean   13 years ago

              One more thing:

              Admitting privileges typically require that you take ER call, which is typically a 24/7 shift that is rotated among your specialty. Also a problem for out-of-state docs.

              1. tarran   13 years ago

                Reading this further - and I am going to stop at this point because it's all slimy.

                Apparently the local docs refuse to do abortions because they are threatened with violence once it gets out that they are doing abortions.

                So, once again, the state government is the big cat keeping the mousy from escaping so its kittens can kill it. And then they say - no, we didn't kill the mouse - we never hurt it at all! blink... blink

                1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

                  So killing a *mouse* is wrong...

          2. Ice Nine   13 years ago

            Was never true for me. That's all I can say about it.

    2. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

      Seems ridiculous and quaint now. Congress can just a levy a large tax on everyone, with an equal-sized tax credit for people that don't get abortions.

      1. nicole   13 years ago

        I thought we were already doing that.

      2. Night Elf Mohawk   13 years ago

        It can't be too large, otherwise it is a penalty and not a tax.

        1. Eduard van Haalen   13 years ago

          As I was going up the stair
          I met a social issue that wasn't there
          It wasn't there again today
          How I wish it would go away!

    3. Loki   13 years ago

      You mean they actually want real doctors to perform the procedure in a medical facility as opposed to in the back of some dude from Craig's List's van with a wire coat hanger? The nerve of some people!

  38. Ice Nine   13 years ago

    It was the glitter era, and everybody wanted to be part of the bisexual revolution,

    I can tell you categorically that that is not true. Though if I had been married to Bowie's wife then I might have considered it.

  39. Restoras   13 years ago

    Russia Sends Warships To Syria

    Does anyone have a copy of Sixth Fleet and want to game this out?

    1. John   13 years ago

      If the Chinese' cruise missiles can get the US Navy's attention, I am thinking the US Cruise missiles and stealth bombers could make target practice of the Russian Navy.

      1. Tim   13 years ago

        In response, the US is sending a carrier battle group, the British a submarine and the rest of Europe two rowboats crewed by rapists.

        1. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

          Two?! Huh, must mean they had an uptick in defense spending.

          1. Brett L   13 years ago

            Nah, they just nationalized a couple of boats and put all the UN rapists they had in them.

            1. R C Dean   13 years ago

              They're gonna need bigger boats.

    2. Tim   13 years ago

      Are they going to put tank treads on those boats and drive them through town?

      1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

        In Soviet Russia, town drives through you.

    3. Rich   13 years ago

      Are those warships going to do something about al-Assad's mustache?

      1. Restoras   13 years ago

        We can write our own rules and create a scenario for this.

        1. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

          SSM fired at Mustache of al-Assad!

    4. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

      Heh. I hadn't thought of that game in...decades. Makes me want to look for my old PC version of "Harpoon".

      1. Restoras   13 years ago

        Just bought a pristine copy of Second Fleet over eBay. Can't wait to play.

        By chance a local friend was an avid wargamer back in the day. We've been playing Squad Leader lately - great fun.

  40. rac3rx   13 years ago

    Government worker breaks into a woman's house to demand she cut her grass.

    1. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

      "It was a violation of policy as it relates to entering a house without permission and making a false statement to a supervisor"

      Does that mean there's a policy on how to enter houses without permission and make false statements in the approved manner, and this guy just didn't follow it?

      1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

        Does that mean there's a policy on how to enter houses without permission and make false statements in the approved manner, and this guy just didn't follow it?

        Yes. It involves flash-bangs and killing family pets.

        1. LTC(ret) John   13 years ago

          But we don't know if there are any pre-teen girls to handcuff and pin on the floor?

          1. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

            You just had to throw the "pre-" in there and ruin it for everyone, didn't you.

    2. SugarFree   13 years ago

      Whatever. If he didn't break into her house, then all the other houseowners might have gotten the idea that they didn't have to mow their grass either. Also: terrorism.

    3. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

      I smell BTK 2.0

  41. Excellent Horse-like Lady   13 years ago

    Anders Breivik's Closing Statement

  42. kinnath   13 years ago

    You say you love me but you never beep me
    You always promise but you never date me
    I try to fax but it's busy, always
    I try the network but you crash the gateways
    You never spend your nights with me
    You don't go out with other girls either
    You only love your collider

    I can't believe they didn't get a Grammy for this.

  43. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

    So a friend of mine invited me to a bar in Arlington that has a DJ once a week that plays music from the 80's on cassette.

    Several hipster alarms are now blaring my head - Arlington, 80's music, cassette tapes.

    I could be wrong, though. It could be a bunch of Capitol Hill interns and lowly LAs unwinding after a hard week of being screamed at by the Chief of Staff for fucking up politico telephone etiquette.

    1. Brett L   13 years ago

      Any DJ who plays music on cassette is more interested in image that sound quality. Its even worse than the kids who put up a whole set in Fruity Loops, plug in their laptop, then hit play. But you should still go and mock as long as they serve something besides PBR.

    2. John   13 years ago

      Only a sock head would be stupid enough to play cassettes. LPs really do sound different and to some ears better than digital music. But cassettes have no advantage whatsoever other than they typical hipster "look at me being a dumb ass" value. Don't go Kristen. You will regret it.

      1. mr simple   13 years ago

        Seriously. You can make a case for using LPs, CDs, or a laptop, but cassettes? That's just stupid.

      2. Whiterun Guard   13 years ago

        The only proper way to listen to black metal is on cassette.

      3. tarran   13 years ago

        John is absolutely right, Kristen.

        Don't go.

        1. SugarFree   13 years ago

          Don't listen to them, Kristen. You must go. For the lulz.

          1. John   13 years ago

            If you live in a hipster enclave like DC, the LULZ factor fades pretty quickly.

            1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

              See, I think DC is pretty light on hipster culture. There are some wandering around Mt Pleasant and Columbia Heights, and they succeeded in turning Wilson Blvd into a gentrified Satarbucks-riddled hellhole, but DC has nothing on NYC, San Fran and all of the PC NW.

              1. John   13 years ago

                I would call all of Capitol Hill and Eastern Market a hipster enclave. It is nothing but a bunch of sock headed Calebs and Meagans living on their parents' dime trying to change the world.

                1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

                  Even including Eastern Market, we still have nothing on those other cities.

                  It's too bad EM is overrun with those fuckheads - the actual market is one of the only places in the area to get high-quality meats and cheeses from sellers who know their shit. And also "fell off the truck" Kate Spade handbags.

                  1. John   13 years ago

                    Eastern Market is great.

      4. T   13 years ago

        The only advantage cassettes ever had was portability. Given the advent of MP3 players and portable CD players that actually work worth a shit, that's gone. Sound quality was never really a selling point.

        1. John   13 years ago

          No. It never was. IT was always grossly inferior to LPs.

          1. Invisible Finger   13 years ago

            Now reel-to-reel on the other hand...

      5. Lord Humungus   13 years ago

        yeah, I'm no fan of the digital medium, but even a big time record collector like myself uses MP3s for his car stereo and desktop listening.

    3. wareagle   13 years ago

      nothing like Big Hair Wednesday to liven up the work week. Some radio stations make a living exclusively from that format.

    4. NoVAHockey   13 years ago

      what bar?

      1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        Jesse's...never heard of it.

        I will go, if only for the mocking.

        1. NoVAHockey   13 years ago

          don't know that one. but it's been years since i went out in Arlington.

    5. RBS   13 years ago

      How does that even work? What's the point of having a DJ that doesn't spin actual records?

      1. John   13 years ago

        It is more convenient to have an I-pod. But with an IPOD you don't get the "look at me" factor. So they use cassettes.

        1. RBS   13 years ago

          Damn, I'm so uncool. I actually got rid of my old tapes and just downloaded those shows off the internet.

      2. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        It's not house music - it's 80's songs. "Spin" doesn't really apply when you're just racking songs from The Bangles and Wham!.

    6. Fist of Etiquette   13 years ago

      People weren't meant to hear digital music.

    7. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

      OK, now my friend assures me it's a "total dive" and "off the beaten path" (after I expressed reservations about hipsters). That all sounds like hipster-magnet to me. To me, a "total dive" is where construction workers and auto mechanics go after work and where fan clubs of non-local football teams go to watch the game on Sundays. HHhmmm....I wonder where the Vikings group is meeting this upcoming season?

      1. Brett L   13 years ago

        AA meetings? 2 birds, one stone.

  44. Bi-Curious George   13 years ago

    Scientists reconstruct 2,000 years of climate in Europe, find cooling, not warming...

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....l-age.html

    1. NoVAHockey   13 years ago

      Nice handle -- my kid's bedtime stories just got a lot more interesting.

    2. Bi-Curious George   13 years ago

      Tree-rings prove climate was WARMER in Roman and Medieval times than it is now - and world has been cooling for 2,000 years
      Tree ring study gives first accurate climate reading back to 138BC
      World has been slowly cooling for 2,000 years
      World was warmer in Roman and Medieval times than it is now
      Study of semi-fossilised trees in Finland

      1. Brett L   13 years ago

        I have a really hard time with tree ring proxies in general. There's too much warm v. wet from what I understand of it. Hot dry years and cold average years look similar. The error bars let you "prove" anything given the right sample. I would prefer vegetation specie analysis. (If you could grow grapes in Britain during the Roman era, the climate was probably more like grape cultivating regions of today, for example.)

        1. tarran   13 years ago

          Tree ring proxies are horrible for doing temperature reconstructions. Only in very particular conditions does a tree ring thickness correlate with temperature. Interestingly in those case it correlates with the difference in temperature from some optimal level - meaning that as it gets hotter, the tree rings get thicker and then after some peak thickness start getting thinner again.

          That's what the whole "hide the decline" in Climategate was pointing to. The temperature proxy they developed stopped tracking temperature in the 1960's. Obviously, this could be happening in other time periods where there were no thermometers to check against, and none would be the wiser.

          Also, the way the top climatologists select with tree ring sequences are good proxies for temps is fundamentally flawed in that rather than selecting them based on properties independent of temperature and then verifying that the selection criteria results in a good proxy for temperature, they basically pick the ones that most closely track temperature.

          This is akin to picking a stock-broker based on the following process: Ask 1,000 people whether apple will go up or down in the next six months. Of the half that get it right - mostly due to dumb luck - ask them to make the same prediction for Exxon - ask the 250 who get that right to make the same prediction for PG, etc. The handful of guys who have perfect records still have a 50/50 shot of screwing up the next question.

        2. kinnath   13 years ago

          As an amateur winemaker with an interest in historical winemaking. I know that the Romans introduced grapes as far north as Germany and Britain. Then the climate cooled in the 400 to 600 AD time frame, so grape cultivation pulled back well into southern France. But by the 800s grapes were being grown in Burgandy and Champagne. By the 1000s, grapes were grown in Northern France and Southern Germany (think Rhine valley and Mosel valley). Also the Vikings were settling in Greenland at this time. By the 1300's the Little Ice Age was setting in and there were major crop failures and starvation in northern Europe. The Thames river froze over for the only time in recorded history in the middle 1600s. Then it started to warm up.

          So we have a peak temps around year 0 (Roman period) and 1000 (Medieval Warm Period) and now. With low temps in between.

          The infamous hockey stick starts at 1000 BC (the peak of MWP) drops through the little ice age, and then peaks back up to now.

        3. kinnath   13 years ago

          There are 8 or 10 differnt data sets out there besides the tree ring data. They all show the same general trend. Hot at year 0, Cool at year 600, Hot at year 1000, Cool at year 1600, and Hot at year 2000. The argument made by the chicken-littles is that 2000 is way hotter than 0 and 1000 based upon heavily edited and massaged data that has been destroyed so that no one else can look at it -- but hey that doesn't mean they lied about it.

    3. ant1sthenes   13 years ago

      One thing I've never understood is why people give so much of a shit about average temperatures. From the human perspective, deviation from the mean is a more relevant indicator of livability than the mean itself. No one ever says "God, this year, on average is 1 degree above normal. I'm sweltering, statistically speaking."

      A planet with a mean temperature of 80 degrees F, that tends to stay between 75 and 85, would be awesome. A planet with a mean temperature around 80 that tends to range from 300 to -100 wouldn't support life as we know it.

      Is it just that the numbers for variance are less reliable than temperatures (which is to say, of absolutely no predictive value), or do they think they're harder to explain to the public?

  45. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

    There was a story in the DC news a couple weeks ago (right after our famed Derecho) about the fire dept filling up a private pool. It is, of course, "under investigation". How the fuck long does it take to figure out who said "Sure, we'll stop by and fill up your pool!"?

    Anyways, it appears to still be "under investigation" and most of the local media has dropped it from their lineups. I guess we can add this to the "and nothing else happened" files.

    (local Fox station is the only one I could find with a recent story about it, and it's only tangential to a new story)

    1. NoVAHockey   13 years ago

      well, to be fair, they do seem to be covering the "mayor runs an illegal campaign" story.

      1. Kaptious Kristen   13 years ago

        I wonder why they're pussyfooting around accusing the guy in charge. You know - the Mayor? It seems like it's always some "campaign worker" or "staffer". Whatever happened to The Buck Stops Here?

        Anyways, I do get some sweet, sweet schadenfreude watching this unfold. Fenty was a douche, but I don't think he was old-school DC corrupt like "Vince" Grey. And anyone with half a brain could see Grey was dirty from a mile away. I hope the voters in DC are enjoying their totally competent and ethical government!

  46. SugarFree   13 years ago

    Why didn't the Scientiologists think of this? Does anyone know if Katie Holmes has a kitten?

    Sick fuckers.

    1. sarcasmic   13 years ago

      When he reported the apparent abuse to a Colorado City sheriff who is allegedly a member of the FLDS, he received little help.

      'He kind of chuckled and laughed a little bit and then he said that if it was up to him, he'd just throw dirt on it,' Mr Chatwin told Right This Minute.

      What else would you expect from a cop?

      1. SugarFree   13 years ago

        Frankly, I figured Sheriff Roundass would have given him a ticket for running an unlicensed animal shelter.

    2. nicole   13 years ago

      That was so awful, wasn't it? I couldn't even show anyone, it was so bad.

      1. John   13 years ago

        Kitten torturer who is a member of polygamous cult. Honestly, is there anyone out there who needs killing more than that guy?

        1. tarran   13 years ago

          Kitten torturer

          Among the numerous disgusting angles to this incident is the angle that the POS who did this thinks of himself as a Christian and that he is defending his religion by doing this.

          1. Ice Nine   13 years ago

            Yep. Been happening for centuries.

        2. db   13 years ago

          People who take advantage of domesticated animals' generally trusting nature to engage in their torture are nearly as low as it gets. I think only child abusers rank lower.

        3. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

          I'm against kitten torturing, but have no issue with polygamous cults.
          Just for the record.

          1. tarran   13 years ago

            I don't have a problem with polygamy. I do have a problem with polygamous cults that force young children into "marriages" for life.

            1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

              Ok. Let me revise my remarks. I'm against kitten torturing and forcing young children into "marriages" for life, but have no issues with non-child abusing polygamous cults.
              Just for the record.

          2. John   13 years ago

            I don't care about polygomists. But anyone who joins a cult, meaning they go after anyone who tries to leave, needs killing.

            1. tarran   13 years ago

              meaning they go after anyone who tries to leave, needs killing.

              Like Abraham Lincoln? 😉 ducks and runs

            2. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

              Whew. Tough crowd. Ok. Let me rerevise my remarks. I'm against kitten torturing and forcing young children into "marriages" for life and attacking apostates, but have no issues with non-child abusing, non-apostate abducting polygamous cults.
              Just for the record.

              1. Ice Nine   13 years ago

                So, you're for dog torturing? I knew it!

                1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

                  It's a fair cop.

              2. tarran   13 years ago

                You didn't say anything about Hitler.

          3. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

            "My opponent, on the other hand..."

            Vote Citizen Nothing. Fewer tortured kittens, more wives. For a better America

            1. Citizen Nothing   13 years ago

              You got that right, sister.

      2. SugarFree   13 years ago

        And the guy reported a steady stream of dead animals left on his property over the years. So this is some new bright idea these vile fucks thought up.

        1. R C Dean   13 years ago

          He should invest in some of those hunting cameras with night vision. Gets some pix of the perps, and even if the local po po is too corrupt to do anything with them, well, that's what social media and shaming are for.

          1. db   13 years ago

            Bingo.

    3. Ice Nine   13 years ago

      Jesus! I warn people to not look at this.

      1. db   13 years ago

        Yeah, not going to. I am very protective of my pets and don't want to be angered this morning.

    4. invisible furry hand   13 years ago

      Wow. I'm not into cats, but that is so enraging I'd happily take a hammer to the fuckers

    5. Loki   13 years ago

      Is there anyplace I can volunteer to have 5 minutes in a room alone with the asshole who did this? I need a new punching bag, and allowing me the honor of beating this piece of shit to death would save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  47. Mike M.   13 years ago

    Higher taxes chasing out the wealthy in Maryland.

    It's true; I'm even hearing people in the ultra liberal Montgomery County starting to grumble about their ever-increasing tax burden. It's even worse when you consider just how crappy their services are. There are still areas that don't have power restored from the storm almost two weeks later, if you can believe it.

    1. John   13 years ago

      They grumble. But they will mindlessly vote for O'Mally again in two years. Fuck them. They are getting just the government they deserve.

      1. tarran   13 years ago

        They are getting just the government they deserve.

        Wouldn't it be nice if, just this once, we didn't have to share in their misfortune?

        1. John   13 years ago

          I know. But I do take perverse pleasure in rich Maryland liberals taking it up the ass.

  48. Stormy Dragon   13 years ago

    Now that's chutzpah:

    http://www.wusa9.com/news/arti.....e-Revenue-

    1. tarran   13 years ago

      WTF!

      We failed to deliver a service, so you owe us money to cover our losses?!?

      WTF!

      1. Mike M.   13 years ago

        I know, people couldn't come up with stuff this absurd if they tried.

        1. John   13 years ago

          Pays to own the state government. People hat PEPCO. I don't hate Pepco. Sure they are ripping off the state. Who wouldn't in their position? It is the state government that is the problem.

    2. John   13 years ago

      Hainey asked whether this reporter was capable of understanding the online explanation at Pepco.com of the Bill Stabilization Adjustment and declined to comment when he realized he was on the record.

      "I'm not talking anymore," Hainey said. "I hear you typing."

      Everyone associated with Maryland state government needs to be shot.

      1. Tulpa the White   13 years ago

        What can you say about a state with an office called "People's Chief". Good Lord.

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