A.M. Links: American Diplomats Killed in Libya, Germany's Highest Court Rules in Favor of European Bailout Fund, Chicago Teachers' Strike on Day Three, Barroso Wants a Federation, Fire in Karachi Kills Hundreds

• The American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

• The German Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that the European Stability Mechanism is constitutional and that the German parliament must approve any future increases to bailout contributions.

• The teachers' strike in Chicago enters its third day with no sign of a forthcoming deal. Union leaders are meeting this morning to review the most recent offer from the school board.

• President of the European Commission Jose Barroso has called for the European Union to become a "Federation of nation states" in a speech to the European Parliament. 

• The Obama administration is distancing itself from comments that came out of the American embassy in Cairo that apologized for anti-Muslim activity in the U.S. 

• At least 246 are dead after a factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan. 

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Comments

[Lord Humungus]

Fake Indian News: Ward Churchill Loses Again
http://www.insidehighered.com/.....lls-appeal

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal in which Ward Churchill sought to get back his job as a tenured professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

[Bee Tagger]

That's quite a perversion of the Groucho Marx motto. Ward Churchill cares to belong to any club that won't have him as a member.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You wingnuts are still stoking the Ward Churchill spark?

Just because he was an anti-interventionist (like Ron Paul) and opposed the Bush/Cheney doctrines?

[John]

You tell them Shreek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weu-R_bgmU4

[Francisco d Anconia]

Liked the other video better.

[sloopyinca]

Just because he was an anti-interventionist (like Ron Paul) and opposed the Bush/Cheney doctrines?

No, because he was a liar, a cheat and a whack-a-loon that the U of C wanted to terminate for cause.

But you can keep on waving the Blue banner all you want. It suits you.

[Palin's Buttplug]

There are a few of those in most universities.

[Restoras]

Probably, but most of them are smart enough to keep it quiet and enjoy their sinecures.

[Lord Humungus]

says the man who still wanks to pictures of BOOOOSSH.

[sloopyinca]

I call bullshit on this. You can't wank it if you can't find it. Maybe one can feel a tingle up his leg, but still not wankable.

[Mr. FIFY]

No, because Churchill is a racist hatemonger, shrike.

Figures you'd take his side.

[Restoras]

Don't forget a complete fraud, but that's ok for shrike as long as the fraud is Team Blue.

[Mr. FIFY]

Most racists are complete frauds - see Farrakhan, David Duke, any random New Black Panther Patsy...

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Hey Buttplug, try being honest for a change. You know very well that WC was accused of fabricating his resume and plagiarizing his work. In addition, he didn't channel Ron Paul, he declared that every window washer in the Twin Towers was a Nazi who got what he deserved.

WC is a diaper stain. Why do you want to be a diaper stain too?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Obama administration is distancing itself from comments that came out of the American embassy in Cairo that apologized for anti-Muslim activity in the U.S.

If anyone is going to apologize for Americans...

[John]

Would they have if there wasn't an election on? I doubt it.

[VG Zaytsev]

You know Obama's first instinct is too blame America and apologize to the loons.

[Pro Libertate]

I imagine that was aided by our ambassador to another nation getting killed.

[gaijin]

But Libya is free now, so it's ok.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

So glad we bombed Libya and send billions to Egypt every year. That Arab Spring turned out to be every bit as nice as Thomas Friedman said it would.

All that's left is for Obama to put some Imam's balls in his mouth...you know...to make up for the Crusades and all.

[Lord Humungus]

GOP to TSA: Eleven years after 9/11 attacks, it's time to change
http://thehill.com/blogs/trans.....-to-change

"Since TSA's creation after 9/11, the agency has gone down a troubling path of overspending, limiting private sector engagement, and failing to sufficiently protect passenger privacy," he quickly added.

Touting a report produced by the Transportation Security subcommittee, Rogers said it was time for TSA to be "rebuilt" into a "smarter, leaner organization."

just kill it!

[Rich]

"leaner organization."

"Yeah ... the Transportation Security Administration. That's the ticket!"

[WWNGD?]

Can't kill what has been unionized.

[sarcasmic]

It's good to be Leo.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....suits.html

[Heroic Mulatto]

They use the term "curves" but I don't think they know what that means.

[sarcasmic]

Is this more to your liking?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....miere.html

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes, muchly.

I feel the same joy as this man.

[Ice Nine]

I think they're referring to those two little silicon bags tacked to her pecs.

[db]

She's a cyborg?

[Restoras]

That picture toward the bottom, where she is holding a blue bag - how does she keep her labia tucked in to that suit?

[sarcasmic]

Google "maria menounos swimsuit malfunction"

[Ska]

Google it? That shit should be bookmarked.

[SugarFree]

Duct tape. Smooth.

[sarcasmic]

Granny's got a gun!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-side.html

[sarcasmic]

Consensus is science!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-real.html

[Brett L]

Five or more standard deviations? That's pretty fucking certain. Consensus of data IS central to science. If none of the data disagree with your hypothesis, you're right (for now). Consensus of people, not so much.

[Fluffy]

It still seems to me that Occam's Razor would say that it's more likely that our Big Bang took place in a field made up of many universes created by separate Big Bangs, and those universes are exerting gravitational force on our universe and increasing its expansion rate, but they're too far away for light from them to have reached us yet.

The Dark Energy theory requires us to make up new shit to be the Dark Energy, and the Incredibly Distant Gravity Sources theory just uses stuff we already know exists.

[John]

The Dark Energy theory requires us to make up new shit to be the Dark Energy, and the Incredibly Distant Gravity Sources theory just uses stuff we already know exists.

So making up Dark Energy is bad. But making up entire universes for which there is no observational confirmation is ok? Sure.

[Fluffy]

But making up entire universes for which there is no observational confirmation is ok?

You make it up as a hypothesis and then you get some guy smarter than me to devise an experiment that proves the hypothesis.

What would that experiment be? I don't know. But I never would have come up with "prove relativity is true by doing freaky shit during a solar eclipse" either.

[John]

If you can't run an experiment and confirm it through observation, it is not a theory. It is a fairy tale.

[Fluffy]

At the moment before you run the experiment, it's a hypothesis, not a fairy tale.

The point of coming up with a hypothesis is so that you can then devise an experiment to prove it.

What experiment should we devise in this case? I don't know. It would have to be one that didn't rely on electromagnetic radiation we can see. But electromagnetic radiation is not the whole of the universe. You definitely would need a smarter person than me to devise the experiment. But you'd also need a smarter person than me to completely upend the standard model and devise a new force.

And that's what it would take. I don't see any room in the standard model for a new force.

[John]

The point of coming up with a hypothesis is so that you can then devise an experiment to prove it.

If you can't even conceive of an experiment or observation to confirm it, it is a fairy tail.

[Fluffy]

If you can't even conceive of an experiment or observation to confirm it

You mean me, personally?

Then there's nothing but fairy tales possible all around, because I personally am never thinking up an experiment to prove fucking anything.

I noted above that someone better at devising experiments to prove physics hypotheses than me would need to devise the experiment.

[John]

No one can Fluffy. They admit as much. The best they have is "this is the most elegant solution" whatever that means. Like nature owes them elegance.

[sarcasmic]

If you can't run an experiment and confirm it through observation, it is not a theory.

That's why we have consensus!

[John]

And Occam's Razor is not a law. Just because something is the simplest solution does not mean it is the right solution.

[Fluffy]

You're supposed to work your way through hypotheses that require less invention before you move on to hypotheses that require more invention.

We already know how gravity works.

And we also know that there was a period in the past when observational limits made us underestimate the size of the universe.

So when presented with observations that show the rate of expansion of the visible universe increasing in a way we can't account for, an explanation that relies on those two "knowns" would seem inherently more reasonable than saying, "Maybe there's this unknown force that we can't explain and have never detected any other way, even though we spend all our time looking for forces and shit".

[John]

We already know how gravity works.

No we don't. We can describe how it works. But we have no idea why it works. It just is.

So when presented with observations that show the rate of expansion of the visible universe increasing in a way we can't account for, an explanation that relies on those two "knowns" would seem inherently more reasonable than saying, "Maybe there's this unknown force that we can't explain and have never detected any other way, even though we spend all our time looking for forces and shit".
\
That is what you think. But in the absence of some kind of proof it is just speculation. Who says nature has to work the way you think it should?

[Trespassers W]

No we don't. We can describe how it works. But we have no idea why it works. It just is.

On the one hand, Fluffy clearly didn't write "why gravity works".

On the other hand, to ask "why" is to ask about goal-direction action, so to say "we have no idea why [gravity] works" is to make a categorical error.

Do you know what you're arguing about?

[John]

We don't know "how" it works, we just know that it words and can describe it. Our understanding goes no deeper than observation.

[Lord Humungus]

"Einstein's theory of general relativity doesn't really look at gravity as a force anymore, rather it replaces the concept of force by that of geometry," says Sathyaprakash. According to general relativity, massive objects curve the geometry of space, and the paths that moving objects take through space are a result of this curvature. An analogy often used is that of a bowling ball placed on a trampoline: the ball will create a dip in the trampoline, curving its surface, so a marble placed nearby will roll into the dip towards the ball. The marble's motion isn't a result of some attractive force exerted by the ball, but a result of the curvature of the surface it's moving on. The analogy is slightly wonky, since it is the Earth's gravity, and not that of the bowling ball, which creates the dip in the trampoline as the bowling ball is drawn to the floor. "We should really move out of this analogy and try and picture the full three-dimensional space, as well as time, as being curved," says Sathyaprakash. "It's because of this curvature that planets move along curved orbits, rather than straight lines."

http://plus.maths.org/content/.....avity-work

that pretty much ties in to what I remember from my days of reading Cosmos.

[Brett L]

Uh. Definitional problems: 1)If we could experience these other places they would be part of our universe. 2)The best proof for lack of "other" Big Bangs is that all light that has reached us has been from our Big Bang. Occam's Razor suggests that the odds that we are the latest Big Bang in our light cones is less probable than we are a singleton. 3)Inverse square law - gravity from "outside" should act locally different on us, too. General Relativity space experiments cast doubt on this.

[Fluffy]

The best proof for lack of "other" Big Bangs is that all light that has reached us has been from our Big Bang. Occam's Razor suggests that the odds that we are the latest Big Bang in our light cones is less probable than we are a singleton.

This is pretty much the best objection. But it would depend on the distances between the various Bangs. If we're talking trillions of light years, that creates a lot of elbow room for darkness. You'd think you'd have infinite universe issues that would make the entire sky a light source, but not if no other Bang is closer than us in light years than the age of that universe in years.

Your #1 objection relies on the notion that our Big Bang created all time and space, but our Bang singularity might also have functioned like a kind of reverse black hole in a field containing multiple other reverse black holes.

[Francisco d Anconia]

It still seems to me that Occam's Razor would say that it's more likely that our Big Bang took place in a field made up of many universes created by separate Big Bangs, and those universes are exerting gravitational force on our universe and increasing its expansion rate, but they're too far away for light from them to have reached us yet.

Or M Theory is correct and dark energy is the gravitational force produced by surrounding universes in other dimensions. The speculation that lead to M Theory WAS that gravity was a weak force (compared to the other 3) because it was leaking to and from other dimensions.

[sarcasmic]

A horse is a horse of course of course
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-City.html
And no one can talk to a horse of course
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....users.html

[Restoras]

These are clearly links to pictures of SJP. Consider yourself warned.

[WTF]

Yeah, I'm guessing SJP and therefore not clicking.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Been said many times before...But...

GIVE THAT WOMAN A SAMMICH!

[Proprietist]

Horse? I thought that was a deer?!

[Lord Humungus]

Democrats Split on Wiretap Reauthorization
http://www.rollcall.com/news/d.....?pos=hbtxt

House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said he will vote against the bill, scheduled for a vote Wednesday, because it does not include a resonable sunset provision. At the same time, Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.) ripped the legislation as unconstitutional.

[mad libertarian guy]

Yet somehow the bill will be authorized after having just enough "nay" votes to appear as if Team BLUE really cares about civil liberties.

[robc]

Only 1 Dem has to oppose it, a veto from the White House stops it cold.

[Alack]

Well, who is the President to reject a piece of democratically drafted legislation? That's the court's job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But the teachers Tuesday were lowering expectations for an agreement, buoyed by energetic rallies in which even parents inconvenienced by the strike were waving placards in support.

I'll just bet those placard-holders are representative of Chicago parents as a whole.

[LTC(ret) John]

I got tangled up on the edge of the demonstration yesterday, while trying to get back to Union Station. If the profanities uttered by the METRA commuters are any indication, the CTU made many enemies yesterday.

[sloopyinca]

I hate Illinois Nazis.

/METRA commuter

[nicole]

I am so glad I don't have to commute downtown.

[NebulousFocus]

Of course, Metra commuters live in the suburbs (mostly).

[Rich]

"The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government," an administration official told POLITICO.

I'm gonna have to this ain't gonna help the situation much.

[John Thacker]

Disavowed the statement, yes. But the article about the disavowal contained this statement from the Secretary of State:

"Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a Tuesday statement.

Emphasis mine. I'm not sure that this version is that much better.

[John]

The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

Do they plan to bring Richard Dawkins up on charges now?

[Rich]

That would be awesome.

If the writings of Dawkins are not a hate crime, I don't know what is. /sarc

[Randian]

The writings of Sam Harris.

[Restoras]

Or John Grisham.

[VG Zaytsev]

The producer should have applied for a NEA grant to fund the movie.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Hey, if it means Bill Maher is reduced to providing handjobs for food, it can't be all bad.

[Fist of Etiquette]

At this point can we take religious intolerance off the discussion table? It's a response so disproportionate that one has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

[Rich]

"You just don't get it."

If the US Government can't control the filmmaker, who can't easily be attacked by offended mobs, then any of its facilities ....

[thom]

The fundamental problem is that people in countries like Egypt or Libya can't envision a world in which all authority comes from political power. If an offensive film got made in the USA, they reason, it's because the US Government allowed it to happen. They can't fathom the idea that the US Government has no real control over what people create and distribute. Team Blue suffers from the same problem.

[NoVAHockey]

Except for Catholics. Then we'll denigrate their beliefs in federal law.

[CampingInYourPark]

""While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants," Obama said in the statement."

Obama said the same thing. How can it then be disavowed?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/w.....57752828/1

[Matrix]

You did not quote that!

[Robert S]

How many Tonys did the Book of Mormon win?

[Ramjet]

Lousy world news today. On the other hand, Rockstar is a great song, so lay off Nickelback, alt text.

[SugarFree]

What in the sweet goddamn fuckall is wrong with you?

[generic Brand]

What's with the hostility SF? I have a proposal for you:

If everyone cared and nobody cried; if everyone loved and nobody lied; if everyone shared and swallowed their pride; then we'd see the day when nobody died.

[SugarFree]

Scientifically incoherent soft-rock. Fuck you, Canada. An ocean of poutine won't make up for this garbage.

[JW]

We should attack. NOW.

[SugarFree]

We should have attacked after Anne Murray.

[JW]

That would have given us The Shat, but not have saved us from the horror known as Alan Thicke.

[generic Brand]

Is poutine actually good? I just did a google search for it and it looks like elephant splooge on some fries, covered in cheese. I'm no prude when it comes to food... presentation is far down the totem pole of importance. So is it the gravy or the curds that make it good?

[nicole]

I don't like cheese curds, but the gravy is amazing.

If you like cheese curds, I hear they are amazing too.

And of course, the quality of the whole will be dependent on fry quality.

I think I was the only person I knew who didn't love it, and that was just because of the curd, and I did love frites sauce, the cheese-free variant.

[SugarFree]

Nice thick cut and super-crispy fries, a restrained hand with a think but not gloopy gravy and fresh cheese curds makes some of the best drunk food ever.

It can be made badly and become an abomination of food grossness. But you can do that with anything.

[nicole]

Yes, exactly. Especially the drunk food part.

[RBS]

On the other hand, Rockstar is a great song

The most retarded thing I've read this morning.

[generic Brand]

Look at this photograph... everytime I do it makes me laugh.

[Rich]

Better put extra guards at your embassy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hating Nickelback is the last acceptable prejudice.

[Drake]

I don't like them, but they try. With so few other bands actually trying to play rock these days, I can't bring myself to hate them the way I hated Van Hagar and hair metal bands back in the 80's.

[Brett L]

Try what? To make up new lyrics to the same 3 songs?

[generic Brand]

Maybe this isn't the best place to air my frustrations, but I never made it as a wise man. I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing. Tired of living like a blind man. I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling, and this is how you remind me?

[RBS]

Oh god damnit...

[Randian]

generic Brand is going on the domestic terrorist list.

[Spoonman.]

I actually really like that song.

Besides, Nickelback has at least two songs. One of them is awful, and one of them is generically OK.

[JW]

Nickelback is the 38 Special of the 21st century.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They're Canadian. They should be judged accordingly.

[Restoras]

Oh come on. Ratt was the shit back in the day and you know it!

[db]

These discussions never go anywhere, just 'round and 'round.

[Restoras]

FTW!

[gaijin]

It just goes round and round...what comes around goes around. right? 😉

[gaijin]

crap db. I need to remember to refresh before submitting.

[John]

The weight lifting class I go to uses one of their tracks "Bottoms Up" for the bicep work out. It is absolutely the most unpleasant three minutes of the day. My God do they suck.

[sloopyinca]

What the fuck is a Nickelback?

[John]

Imagine a band that has all the originality and edge of Creed combined with all the of musicality and technical skill of GWAR.

[Citizen Nothing]

Back in my day, the nickels had pictures of bees on 'em. You'd say, "Give me five bees for a quarter."

[Kaptious Kristen]

I think he's asking literally, what is a "nickleback"? In the sense that the name of the band is just as stupid as their songs.

[sloopyinca]

IIRC, the band chose the word "nickelback" as their name about two years after they formed. It is uncertain what the original band name is now, and it is probably lost to the ages.

The rumor goes: when the band forst formed, people would go to their shows and ask to buy a CD beforehand so as to beat the rush to purchase at the end. By the end of the show, however, there was typically a rush by the few remaining souls in the hall to be reimbursed for their purchase. The band thought this a clever marketing scheme and originally named themselves "Give me back my fucking nickel," but at the urging of their producer, who had had success with bands such as Creed, Nelson and Godsmack, they shortened it to "Nickelback".

The rest is history...

[SugarFree]

Creed, Nelson and Godsmack

A roll call of infamy.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

A roll call of infamy.

No kidding--christ, did the 90s suck or what? I still have PTSD flashbacks to Godsmack playing over and over on the Phoenix radio during grad school.

[Butts Wagner]

The truth is worse: One of the band members was working at Starbucks when they formed and the price of the drinks consistently resulted in him giving a nickel back in change.

[sloopyinca]

Does this mean we've reached Peak Faggotry?

[sarcasmic]

I recall one of the band members saying that the people who diss on their music have never seen them put on a show, as if seeing one concert would cause one to convert.

I remain skeptical.

[SugarFree]

I recall one of the band members saying that the people who diss on their music have never seen them put on a show

That's like saying you can't have any opinion on the undesirability of herpes until you catch it. It's a line you don't dare cross. If you go to a Nickelback, the damage is irrecoverable.

[generic Brand]

You know they say that a hero can save us; I'm not gonna stand here and wait.

[Randian]

That technically isn't Nickelback 😛

[generic Brand]

Hey, we all just wanna be big rockstars, and live in hilltop houses, drivin' fifteen cars. The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap. We'll all stay skinny 'cause we just won't eat.

And we'll hang out in the coolest bars, in the VIP with the movie stars. Every good gold digger's gonna wind up there; every Playboy bunny with her bleach blond hair.

And we'll hide out in the private rooms, with the latest dictionary of today's who's who. They'll get you anything with that evil smile. Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial.

Hey, I want to be a rockstar.

[Restoras]

That's being generous, John. You have done your good deed for the day.

[Randian]

The fifth d-back.

Duh.

[Ken Shultz]

Nickelback is to hard rock and metal what the Dave Matthews Band is to hard rock and Progressive.

Their attempts at intensity and originality are so pathetic, they make intensity and originality look bad.

And yet they keep putting out more music! And they keep touring! Nickelback makes rock itself suspect.

[John]

Dave Matthews can at least write a decent pop song with a catchy tune.

[Randian]

Watching commenters defend DMB and Nickelback in the same thread is one nutpunch too many.

[John]

The truth is what it is. DMB's problem is that they never understood what they were, a decent pop band who made catchy songs to be played in college bars and at high school proms. Instead they thought they were some big jam band and possessing of skills they just don't have. They put on some of the worst live shows imaginable. But to say DMB is Nickleback level bad is wrong. They have produced a few fairly well done three chord pop songs.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Instead they thought they were some big jam band and possessing of skills they just don't have. They put on some of the worst live shows imaginable.

The one they did in Boulder in 2001 wasn't too bad once the rain stopped, but that might have been the contact high.

[Citizen Nothing]

I think Neil Diamond is a musical genius. There. I said it.

[John]

The Diamond wrote great pop songs. You may not like pop songs. A lot of people don't. But for what they were, yeah, they were pretty good in all their kitschy glory.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm a minor Diamond Fan - would rather listen to Cat Stevens.

[RBS]

Watching commenters defend DMB and Nickelback in the same thread is one nutpunch too many.

Hahahahaha.

[generic Brand]

I submit exhibit A:
He wakes up in the morning. Does his teeth bite to eat and he's rolling; never changes a thing. The week ends the week begins. She thinks, we look at each other, wondering what the other is thinking. But we never say a thing; these crimes between us grow deeper.

[John]

Since when does a pop song have to have sensible lyrics? It is about the swing to it and the catchyness of the tune.

If you want to disqualify any song that has stupid lyrics, you are disqualifying about 90% of rock and roll.

[generic Brand]

Don't get me wrong; I was trying to make your point by posting that.

[Eduard van Haalen]

90% is kind of a conservative estimate.

[sloopyinca]

I will say this about Dave Matthews: he is a decent guy if a little wierd and is a pretty lousy darts player.

A guy who used to work for me in Charlottesville is Stefan Lessard's uncle and he introduced me. I went out to DM's farm in Orange when they were doing the Everyday album and sat around as they put songs together for it, which was pretty cool as they kept asking the few of us there what to tweek and made the changes as we recommended them and tried the songs out that way.

Anyway, I had a bunch of South African friends in Richmond at the time and I mentioned that to DM and we struck up a bit of an acquaintanceship. After a few beers and a few games of darts, I was on my way home. He even came to the RIC and threw darts with me and my buddies one night. Not a single one of them recognized him, which actually made him happy.

Nice fellow.

[Citizen Nothing]

they kept asking the few of us there what to tweek and made the changes as we recommended them and tried the songs out that way.

We finally know who to blame.

[Cdr Lytton]

Wait, is this real sloopy or sloopyindunphy? I can no longer tell. No Morgan Fairchild is the clue?

[generic Brand]

They really do have a lot of lyrics with deep meaning though. Take this one for example:

You're beside me on the seat, got your hand between my knees, and you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze. It's hard to steer when you're breathing in my ear, but I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears.

By now, no doubt that we were heading south. I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth. 'Cause this was it, like flicking on a switch. It felt so good I almost drove into the ditch.

He is using the act of driving a car as a metaphor for the direction our country is going. Obviously, he is Obama and the woman in the passenger seat is Nancy Pelosi. Her mouth is full from botox, and their actions are causing the nation to move to the south and embrace RACISSSSTTT!!! tendencies, but they are still heading into a fiscal ditch.

[Warty]

weight lifting class

Oh, Jesus.

Nickelback

Oh, god, it hurts me. STOP MENTIONING IT.

Ear cleanse: Anti-Nickelback.

[John]

It is the worst Warty. But fuck it. It works and keeps me in shape. My days of worrying about my bench max are long over.

I absolutely hate doing curls. I hate it almost as much as I hate doing triceps. There are few things more unpleasant that doing curls with Nickelback blasting.

[Warty]

Curls are retarded and for the type of gymbros who check their abs in the mirror, but they're still a blast. After you do them and get zee pump, you get to walk around and flex and ask girls if they know which way the gym is.

[John]

In the military you always did pushups. I could always do massive numbers of pushups. But that produced a very strong back and shoulders but these tiny nonexistent biceps. No that I cared, but it was kind of strange. As it is, I just go to the class three times a week, do the work out and don't have to think about it.

[Warty]

Didn't you have to do a shitload of chinups too? If not, that's retarded of them.

[John]

Naw, the Army loves pushups. And yeah, they are retarded. They are last organization on earth who still does situps and things they work your abs rather than your hip flexers.

[Restoras]

Personally, I am going to have to listen to the new Rush album several times to cleanse my ears of all traces of Nickelback.

On another note, anyone have any idea what the Led Zeppelin countdown is all about?

[Warty]

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are out of money again, presumably.

[Restoras]

How is that even possible??

[Warty]

C-c-c-c-c-c-cocaine.

[Atanarjuat]

No idea about the specifics, but I imagine creative types aren't the best at managing money.

[Virginian]

They don't license their songs for commercials as often as other bands do. That's where the money is for classic rock.

[Lord Humungus]

this is a rather funny (local) review of a Nickelback live show:

http://www.mlive.com/entertain....._dumb.html

Of course, this is all at the service of a musical formula that, to be kind, sucks. It's simplistic, watery and artificial. Playing on a stage big enough to fit several focus groups, Nickelback churned through 15 songs from its decade-plus of anthems, which fall into three categories: strained mid-tempo grunge slogs, mindlessly strummed quasi-country rockers and imbecilic caveman sub-metal that sounds like low-IQ "Load"-era Metallica.

[SugarFree]

Playing on a stage big enough to fit several focus groups

FATALITY!

[Lord Humungus]

Sun Times Editorial: Teachers risk losing a lot if strike drags on
http://www.suntimes.com/opinio.....gs-on.html

Public support: A poll released Tuesday says 47 percent of Chicagoans support the strike. Much of that, we suspect, comes from the CTU's very public push for more resources in schools: more social workers, art teachers, air conditioning. Teachers have long complained about these problems, but now they're shouting from a larger stage. The tragedy is that these problems won't be fixed at the bargaining table ? for lack of money, not will ? and the union is legally barred from striking over them anyway. But the union already has ensured that the good fight will continue on these issues long after a contract is signed.

nuke from orbit!

[R C Dean]

A poll released Tuesday says 47 percent of Chicagoans support the strike.

I wonder what the percentage of support is from people who don't have pubsec paychecks themselves.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Much of that, we suspect, comes from the CTU's very public push for more resources in schools: more social workers, art teachers, air conditioning.

If teachers want to know why they aren't paid more, that's a big part of it right there. The last thing schools need is more low-IQ social workers roaming the halls.

It seems like a lot of CPS' problems could be solved by simply de-scaling the district and breaking it up into more manageable parts, but unfortunately these people are so empty inside that their default stance is "MOAR MOAR MOAR!!!"

[Scarcity]

In a city as staunchly Democratic as Chicago, I'm actually pretty optimistic that the support is that low.

[Bee Tagger]

Union leaders are meeting this morning to review the most recent offer from the school board.

I'm concerned that with all of this striking they aren't getting enough fluids. I mean, what if every one of them can't piss all over the offer?

[Brett L]

I'm sure CPD will be happy to turn firehoses on them in another day or so, union brethren or not.

[Drake]

Why do the Germans bother having a Parliament if the courts can decide what they "must approve"?

[Rich]

Why do the Americans bother having a Congress if the President can ...?

[R C Dean]

Perhaps for the same reason we have a Supreme Court?

[robc]

Our Supreme Court cant demand the congress approve things.

They can shoot down things they do approve, but cant force them to do anything.

That is basic Marbury v Madison.

[Brett L]

Brown v. Board of Ed.? Ike's integration using the Army?

[o3]

The Movie So Offensive That Egyptians Just Stormed the U.S. Embassy Over It By Max Fisher 12Sep 11 2012, 2:22 PM ET 410

Terry Jones, the Florida Koran-burner, is helping to promote a movie vilifying Egypt's Muslims, and the Egyptian media got ahold of some clips.

"Other scenes in the above clip seem to portray Muslim Egyptian characters, who for some reason all have strong New York accents, as immoral and violent, particularly toward the Christians whom they pursue with near-genocidal fervor. A number of Islam's founding figures, including the prophet, are accused of homosexuality and child molestation."

"Update: * - This sentence originally credited Terry Jones with producing the film, as some Egyptian media had suggested. In fact, as the Wall Street Journal now reports, Jones is playing a promotional role, but the film was in fact directed and produced by "an Israeli-American California real-estate developer who called it a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam." Separately, members of a Libyan Islamist extremist group called Ansar al-Sharia attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, over the film, firing at the building with a rocket-propelled grenade."

http://www.theatlantic.com/int.....it/262225/

[o3]

the alQaeda (black) flag was raised over the bengazi us consulate!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/.....?hpt=hp_t1

[B.P.]

There's even a guy in one of those Guy Falkes masks in a crowd shot.

[LTC(ret) John]

And the morons go out and demonstrate that they are indeed, savage.

[LTC(ret) John]

That filmmaker is going to be a bit smug today, I think.

[sloopyinca]

And the morons go out and demonstrate that they are indeed, savage.

Why do I hope the Scientologists show their true colors and do the same thing when The Master hits theaters this month?

[SugarFree]

The Anti-Xenuians are crazy, not stupid. They will snipe and condemn and maybe protest, but ultimately fall short of threatening that precious tax-free status at the heart of their scam.

Given their penetration of Hollywood, they might have even let the movie be made to mute criticism of their penetration of Hollywood.

Today is elaborate conspiracy day.

[Kaptious Kristen]

They're already engaged in a campaign of harassment of film distributors.

[Lord Humungus]

Paul Moreno: How Public Unions Became So Powerful
By 1970, nearly 20% of American workers were employed by government.

Before the 1950s, government-employee unions were almost inconceivable. When the Boston police unionized and went on strike in 1919, the ensuing chaos?rioting and looting?crippled the public-union idea. Massachusetts Gov. Calvin Coolidge became a national hero by breaking the strike, issuing the dictum: "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time." President Woodrow Wilson called the strike "an intolerable crime against civilization."

[KDN]

Your link, she is missing:

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....40874.html

[Lord Humungus]

lack of sleep... not enough coffee... la de da.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The Obama administration is distancing itself from comments that came out of the American embassy in Cairo that apologized for anti-Muslim activity in the U.S.

Color me shocked - The Obama does something right!

[SugarFree]

The day is young. Have faith, dear Kristen.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That's what worries me. Only because whatever this guy and his minions say directly affects my workday.

[SugarFree]

Sick day. Got to the lumberjack museum or something.

[Tim]

I,m thinking that the new number two over at AlQueada is going to have a full plate.

[Ice Nine]

What would Putin do?

[Kaptious Kristen]

He would send Terry Jones to the Gulag, kill all the rioters, then rip his shirt off.

[Bee Tagger]

And if we're very very lucky, he'll do it in that order.

[T]

You left off "and wrestle a bear."

[Kaptious Kristen]

And ride a horse off into the errr...sunset? Does Russia have a sunset this time of year? I think September is the month where they have actual days and nights there.

[Brett L]

I'm guessing he'd poison a whole theater full of hostages to gas a dozen bad guys.

[Brett L]

Hillary's people got another knife in him, though.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President of the European Commission Jose Barroso has called for the European Union to become a "Federation of nation states" in a speech to the European Parliament.

Just call yourselves The United States of Europe, you poseur wannabes.

[Tim]

WHat does that make us? Klingons?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I've never trusted Klingons, and I never will.

[Tim]

You green blooded son of a bitch!

[Fist of Etiquette]

FUCK YOU, SPOCK!

[Tim]

WHich movie was that from?

[Restoras]

All of them, if you read between McCoy's lines.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And the series.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The decision means the eurozone governments finally have two robust financial defenses against the debt crisis in place. The bailout fund will takes its place alongside plans by the European Central Bank to buy unlimited amounts of short-term government bonds issued by troubled countries.

There's LITERALLY no downside!

[T]

Not one, but two, count 'em, two robust defenses! It's as if they built a financial Maginot line, then built another one behind it!

[R C Dean]

Here's the ruling:

Germany's Constitutional court said the European Stability Mechanism could go ahead but with a condition that any German contribution above 190 billion euros would require prior approval by the lower house of parliament.

I'll call yesterday's prediction a win: approval with conditions. Not the conditions I thought, but close enough.

Here's the dirty little secret, though: Where's that E190BB going to come from? That fund is supposed to be paid for, in significant part, by the very countries that are going to be bailed out.

Here's the second dirty little secret: E190BB isn't nearly enough.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm ready for another Everybody Draw Mohammad Day. Should I lead?

[Tim]

I'm thinking that Hollywood is shelving plans for Prophet Mohammed:Vampire Killer.

[Rich]

LOL

Until after the election, anyway.

[Ice Nine]

If this is what it took to prevent a sequel to that piece of shit, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, it will have all been worthwhile.

[Tim]

Oh, the possibilities are endless:
Pope Pius X : Vampire Hunter
Teddy Roosevelt : Bedbug Exterminator

[Randian]

Adolf Hitler:...

Oh no, I'm not falling for that one.

[R C Dean]

AL:VH was actually a prequel, of sorts, to the very entertaining Russian movies Day Watch and Night Watch.

[generic Brand]

mmmmm
8===D ( o O )
( ~ )
\ /

My attempt at Mohammad (Mohammed?)

[generic Brand]

Damnit ASCII!!

[Ice Nine]

Somewhere, Picasso is smiling.

[Ken Shultz]

The American ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

I kinda frowned on that the first time around, but under the circumstances, I think an Everybody Draw Mohammed Day might be exactly what this situation calls for.

[Citizen Nothing]

I kinda frowned on that the first time around

This is why nobody takes libertarians seriously.

[Ken Shultz]

Because some of us kinda frown on some things?

And here I was blaming it all on David Weigel!

[Citizen Nothing]

And as a Christian, I'd even be willing to call it Everybody Draw Mohammad and Jesus Sodomizing a Goat Day. I figure my God would be willing to take one for the team and free expression.

[generic Brand]

^This. I always laugh at people who get so offended by someone baiting them and insulting their god (or mine). If you believe that God is all-powerful and created the universe and this and that, why would you think someone using his name in vain or making a joke in poor taste is going to rile him up? He's either omnipotent or he's not; it doesn't make any sense to get your panties in a wad for a perceived offense.

[SugarFree]

"If God needs me to defend him, then I can't be as insignificant as I feel."

[John]

"If you plan to destroy test fields to prevent responsible testing and development of Golden Rice for humanitarian purposes, you will be accused of contributing to a crime against humanity. Your actions will be carefully registered and you will, hopefully, have the opportunity to defend your illegal and immoral actions in front of an international court." -- Dr. Ingo Potrykus to Greenpeace, February 2001

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines "crimes against humanity" as acts that are "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack - intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health."

According to the World Health Organization between 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind every year due to vitamin A deficiency, half of whom die within a year of becoming blind. Millions of other people suffer from various debilitating conditions due to the lack of this essential nutrient.

http://www.climatedepot.com/a/.....deficiency

[JW]

We've become too civilized. How about "If you attempt to destroy the test fields, our heavily armed guards will shoot you dead where you stand."

[Lord Humungus]

Four Geeky Laws That Rule Our World
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/.....Our-World/

1. Amara's Law: "We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run"

2. Brooks' Law: "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later"

3. Thackara's Laws: "If you put smart technology into a pointless product, the result will be a stupid product"

4. Reed's Law: "The Value of a Network Increases Dramatically When People Form Subgroups for Collaborations and Sharing"

more geekness in the link

[Brett L]

Brett's Law: Project managers who speak in jargon are incompetent. If you find yourself in a project meeting playing buzzword bingo, your project has already failed.

[Lord Humungus]

I've been in those meetings...

[robc]

Project Death Spiral is awesome!

[Restoras]

My wife does that at home and in the company of friends. Completely retarded.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Especially if it's a government project. We have one guy who loves to make himself sound knowledgeable and important by speaking almost entirely in acronyms.

[sarcasmic]

Especially if it's a government project. We have one guy who loves to make himself sound knowledgeable and important by speaking almost entirely in acronyms.

I've got a manager in DC that does that.

I tried to start a drinking game where when we're on conference calls we all take a shot when he says "reach out".

My idea got shot down since eight shots at nine in the morning is a bit excessive.

[Brett L]

A programmer friend who has recently joined the dark side floated the suggestion of a beer after work Monday about noon and told me he'd "reach out about 3:30 to confirm". I mocked him mercilessly.

[sarcasmic]

What about a cop who can't form a sentence without at least three acronyms?

[sloopyinca]

atfpapic, you get a score on the troll-o-meter=.001

hth

[Kaptious Kristen]

ICTOWYMBTA

[Lord Humungus]

Peek inside the anatomies of Gremlins, Predators, and Martian Invaders
http://io9.com/5941628/peek-in.....n-invaders

We've already fallen for Brad McGinty's kaiju Santa cross-sections and xenomorph anatomy t-shirt. Fortunately, McGinty has continued to work with these fantastical physiologies, turning his x-ray vision on a range of movie monsters and aliens.

[John]

More of the new professionalism

Only one has a gun, or both?" the 911 operator asked.

"Both of them," the caller replied. "They have the owner inside at gunpoint."

When the police arrived, the robbers abandoned their two hostages and headed for the rear. The boss, Felix Mora, followed by Mr. Cuevas, got up from the floor and ran for the door. First out was Mr. Mora, hands in the air.

A police officer at the door, his gun trained, watched him.

A moment later, Mr. Cuevas ran out, head down, as if he were expecting gunfire from inside the store. He crashed into the police officer, their legs got tangled, and at some instant, the gun went off.

So a claim against the city? Not yet, Mr. Rubenstein said, but he asked, "How do you accidentally pull a trigger?" with a heavy inflection on "accidentally."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09.....l?_r=1hp;

[Matrix]

Well, I haven't seen the videos, but if the story is to be believed, then it just seems like an unfortunate accident that neither Mr. Cuevas nor the officer should be to blame. The guy ran for fear of his life and basically tackled the police officer who was holding a gun at a robbery. I really can't fault the officer for an accidental discharge if that's what really happened.

[T]

I can. Keep your booger hook off the bang switch.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I am a complete gun ignoramus and even I know you don't put your finger inside the trigger guard unless and until you're ready to fire.

[SugarFree]

fbi says cops are 110 iq

whats your iq tra-la-la?
bigorati

[WTF]

their legs got tangled, and at some instant, the gun went off.

Guns don't 'go off' - you have to pull the fucking trigger.

[sloopyinca]

Bad Boys, Bad Boys! What you gonna do? What you gonna do when they come for you?

Bad boys! Bad Boys! They're all wearing blue. They're all wearing blue and they'll beat on you.

[mad libertarian guy]

the gun went off.

Things happened. Policies were observed.

[Lord Humungus]

Anger at Thatcher death T-shirts on sale at TUC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19560284

T-shirts celebrating the eventual death of Margaret Thatcher - on sale at the TUC conference - have been condemned.

Tory MPs called the garments "beyond the pale" and "sickening". TUC general secretary Brendan Barber called them "tasteless and inappropriate".

The T-shirts were proving "very popular" with trade unionists, stall holder Colin Hampton said.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Because I kind of vaguely, somewhat admire Thatcher as a successful woman, I think we should all storm the British Embassy.

[nicole]

We could raise the Gadsden flag.

[JW]

Start with grapeshot over the embassy walls, just to soften them up.

[John]

Campaigning in 2007, he (Obama) said, "I truly believe that the day I'm inaugurated . . . not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. . . . The world will have confidence that I am listening to them, and that our future and our security is tied up with our ability to work with other countries in the world."

America has ever elected a more shallow and stupid President. He is just an national embarrassment.

[R C Dean]

The world will have confidence that I am listening to them,

Obama's problem is that the world is listening to him.

[John]

My God what a clown. Just pathetic.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep.

And the sycophantic media keeps fellating him and blow smoke up the public's ass.

[Solanum]

Don't Ban Big Gulps - Tax them instead.

[Bee Tagger]

How about they just eliminate sugar subsidies? I mean, if higher prices is truly what they're after.

[Warty]

That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. That's the stupidest thing anyone's ever said.

[Bee Tagger]

I shouldn't have said it out loud as I typed it, then I could call you a liar.

[T]

I have some transcripts of presidential press briefings that I'd like to show you before you get so emphatic about 'the stupidest thing anyone's ever said'.

[Rich]

If "we" "must" go down such routes, the fairest and easiest solution is to directly tax a person's excess weight.

[Ken Shultz]

"I do condemn the cowardly act of attacking the US consulate and the killing of Mr Stevens and the other diplomats," Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur said on his Twitter account. "Amb. Stevens was a friend of Libya and we are shocked at the attacks on the U.S. consulate."

While tweeting is a profoundly important act from a diplomatic perspective, I'm sure, what efforts are being made to identify the culprits and bring them to justice?

[Tim]

Sir Alexander Dane: You're just going to have to figure out what it wants. What is its motivation?
Jason Nesmith: It's a rock monster. It doesn't have motivation.
Sir Alexander Dane: See, that's your problem, Jason. You were never serious about the craft.

[R C Dean]

Seeing as the people who killed our ambassador are the very ones who put him into power, I doubt that efforts were made to prevent the attack, or will be made to track down and punish the killers.

[Ken Shultz]

I think this is one of those situations where there isn't any action that can be taken by our government that could possibly be effective.

We don't have any troops in Libya. Can't withdraw them! If the American people start picketing the Libyan embassy, maybe that's something--but Obama can't do anything about this.

If the American people hold the biggest Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, then maybe that's the mostest, bestest thing we can do. But there isn't anything effective either the Libyan government or the U.S. government can do in response to this.

[RBS]

Racist PB and Js

Gutierrez completed a week-long seminar called "Coaching for Educational Equity," a program the Tribune says focuses "on race and how it affects life." She also serves on an administrative committee that focuses on systematic racism.

[Bee Tagger]

This is why I started making a Pb-ony and Ivory sandwich. Whole wheat bread on one side and white bread on the other. Flip the sandwich between each bite.

[sarcasmic]

Nutella and Fluff?

[Bee Tagger]

Hold on while I update my patent.

[Restoras]

That. That right there. Pure genius.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Sweet jeebus. Next time I get stoned....

[Kaptious Kristen]

Is it called a Fluffertella? Cause that sounds mildly pornish. Which is neat.

[sarcasmic]

I dunno. My wife calls it "midnight snack".

[Ice Nine]

This is why I started making a Pb-ony and Ivory sandwich. Whole wheat bread on one side and white bread on the other. Flip the sandwich between each bite.

Unwieldy with all that weight, I'd think.

[Rich]

The Protocols of Courageous Conversations

[SugarFree]

Speak your truth

This invalidates 5 of the 6 conditions.

[Citizen Nothing]

Sounds like you haven't fully examined the presence and role of "Whiteness", SF.

[SugarFree]

I've tried to speak my truth, CN.

[JW]

3. Experience discomfort

Can it be gastric? Does that still count?

[R C Dean]

Not to be confused, of course, with speaking the truth.

[Citizen Nothing]

"We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?"

[Lord Humungus]

There's the truth, and then there's the truth. /Lionel Hutz

[nicole]

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

[Warty]

Look at this utter fucking scumbag. UBS whistleblower nets $104 million reward

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A former UBS banker who provided information on the firm's vast business of helping wealthy Americans hide their assets from the Internal Revenue Service has received a $104 million whistleblower reward, which his lawyers said was the largest in U.S. history.

[SugarFree]

At least he served four years in prison.

[R C Dean]

If someone offered me $104MM in exchange for four years in prison, I would very seriously consider it.

[SugarFree]

Me too. I'm pretty sure he was in Federal minimum security. I'd lift weights all day and work on my erotic memoirs.

[Warty]

its WEIGHTLIFTING, not lifting weights

cant' even get the name right

typical chilish bigorati

[SugarFree]

well i spent 20 years in prison

with the czarina of russia and she wuz so much hotter than any skank you sleep with

i have to go heal the sick and blind and infirm and never arrest people for drugs unless its meth and they have it coming because of statistics

[Warty]

me beating the shit out of you on camera was the bst thing that ever happened to you

[Lord Humungus]

diaries of a DERPhy?

[Warty]

It depends on the prison, doesn't it?

[John]

I would do it in a heartbeat as long as it was one of the minimum security ones.

[Gray Ghost]

40 months, with who knows how much of that he was allowed to serve in home confinement.

Plus he's seeking a pardon. (protip: Better plan on donating some of that 104MM. You didn't make that.)

Life is often solely about who can cut the best deal.

[SugarFree]

He is getting taxed on the 104M. Oh, the irony.

[Brett L]

So I watched OSS 117 on Netflix the other day. I must say it is a fucking tone perfect French parody of Connery's Bond. Subtitled, yes. But still really funny. My only complaint is that some of the gags go on a bit too long.

[Tim]

How many times did you gag?

[sloopyinca]

Needs moar "No Homo"?

[Brett L]

Um. There actually is some homo. Although the best part is that the main character doesn't speak English (naturally), so his American counterpart (Bill Trumendous) keeps cursing him in English and the Frog laughs along with him. Very strange.

[Cdr Lytton]

Link doesn't seem to be working for me. Is that the first one or the second OSS 117?

[NotSure]

I would not be surprised if that ambassador was attack with weapons that USA supplied in the first place.

[T]

Not if they used RPGs. Them's furrin weapons, not good god fearing American weapons.

[Brett L]

Gimme $350 to let your kids play unsupervised in Central Park. This lady is a fucking genius.

Parents in New York are raising their eyebrows at the latest after-school activity offered for their children: unsupervised play time in Central Park for $350.

Lenore Skenazy, a former journalist who has championed the "free play" movement, cheekily launched the after-school program to try and encourage parents to let their children to play without structure or supervision.

[John]

Sometimes I think I am just too smart to get rich. If you had pitched that idea to me, I would have said "that is crazy, no one is that stupid". A lot I know.

[Ice Nine]

Am I missing something here? What do these parents get from this woman for paying her $350??

[nicole]

I think the $350 is sort of a joke--what New Yorker parent would send their kid to a free after-school program? That would be for poor people.

[Jerry on the road]

Why don't they just drop them in central Harlem and see if they can make it back to lower Manhattan.

[Brett L]

I'll say one thing for NYC's difference over my lifetime. I have no problem dropping an 8 year old off on Amsterdam and 145th with a subway card and believing they'd get home intact. (Unless they get stopped by NYPD.)

[mnarayan]

Or the NYPD happens to see a dog in the general vicinity.

[sloopyinca]

Parents in New York are raising their eyebrows at the latest after-school activity offered for their children: unsupervised play time in Central Park for $350.

Lenore Skenazy, a former journalist who has championed the "free play" movement, cheekily launched the after-school program to try and encourage parents to let their children to play without structure or supervision.

You see, if the people in Benghazi and Cairo had said this is why they are attacking our embassies, I would understand.

I fucking hate New York City.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Lenore is awesome - she guest blogged for Balko over the summer.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Some of Lenore's Agitator blogs:

What is Free Range Kids?

Microchipping

[Kaptious Kristen]

A Boy Named Hunter (I believe we discussed this here)

I don't get why you people wouldn't like Lenore's ideas, being that they're fairly consistent with libertarian ideoloy. And I don't get why you wouldn't see she's be completely facetious with the Central Park thing.

[Brett L]

I'm not laughing at her. Her ideas are good. I'm laughing at stupid Newyawkers who would pay to make this happen. I hope she makes a billion dollars on this idea.

[Ice Nine]

This assumes of course that one is familiar with Lenore's ideas.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I dunno..usually when I se someone's name associated with something weird or controversial, I'll go and Google them to see who the fuck they are and why they'resuch a freak. A google of Lenore would show you the $350 playtime thing was tongue-in-cheek. And the word "cheekily" used in the original article, of course.

[Warty]

Girl makes youtube video showing how to hide her horrible acne with slabs of makeup, becomes sensation. Fails to make the connection.

[John]

You would think she could cure that. She is gorgeous with it covered up.

[Brett L]

99.95% great genes, and that one flaw that you can't see with the lights out. She's a keeper.

[sloopyinca]

That's all fine and good, but how would you feel waking up in the morning and seeing all that pus on the pillowcase next to you and her face washed down the drain?

Can you have someone charged with rape if you consented to sex with someone wearing a mask that turned out to be a different person? If Revenge Of The Nerds had lasted 15 more minutes, we could have found out I guess. This girl may as well.

[Brett L]

Wouldn't be the worst sight I've awakened next to after a long night of drinking. And that's just counting the women.

[sloopyinca]

The closet? You just exited it.

NTTAWWT

[Brett L]

What that goat and I had was special, and I won't apologize to anyone for it.

[Matrix]

I'm betting you can, actually. Imagine identical twin brothers. One is married. The other pretends to be the husband and has sex with the wife. She later finds out. Yes, it probably is rape through fraud.

[sloopyinca]

So if you went to bed with this chick and woke up next to Rocky Dennis in the morning, you'd have standing? Is that what you're saying?

[sloopyinca]

This is the dunphy badger. Watch it run in slow motion.

It's pretty badass. Look. It runs all over the place. "Whoa! Watch out!" says that civilian.

Eew, it's got a junkie! Oh! It's chasing a skateboarder! Oh my gosh!

Oh, the dunphy badger is just crazy!

The dunphy badger has been referred to by the Guiness Book of World Records as the most fearless policeman in the Seattle area. It really doesn't give a shit. If it's hungry, it's hungry.

Eew! What's that in its mouth? Oh, it's got a perp? Oh, it runs backwards? Now watch this: look a suspect's up in the tree. Honey badger don't care. It just takes what it wants. Whenever it's angry it just -- Eew, and it eats, snakes... Watch it lift! Look at that powerlifting.

The dunphy badger is really pretty badass. It has no regard for any other human whatsoever. Look at him, he's just grunting, and beating perps. Eew! What's that? A punk kid? Oh that's nasty. They're so nasty. Oh look it's chasing things and beating them.

The dunphy badgers have a fairly long body, but a distinctly thickset broad shoulders, and, you know, their skin is loose, allowing them to move about freely, and they twist around.

[sloopyinca]

Now look: Here's a house full of civilians. Do you think the dunphy badger cares? It doesn't give a shit, it goes right into the house of civilians to get some revenue. How disgusting is that? It creates revenue. Eew, that's so nasty.

But look! The dunphy badger doesn't care! It's getting yelled at like a thousand times. It doesn't give a shit. It's just hungry. It doesn't care about being yelled at by scumbags. Nothing can stop the dunphy badger when it's trying to make its quota. What a crazy fuck! Look, it's eating tax revenue, that's disgusting.

It's running in slow-motion again. See?

Now, what's interesting is that other leeches like these SWAT badgers here, they just wait around until the dunphy badger is done beating, and then it swoops in to pick up the scraps. It says, "You do all the work for us, dunphy badger, and we'll just beat whatever you find, how's that? What'daya say, stupid?"

Look at this goon: "Thanks for the treat, stupid!"

"Hey, come back here," says the dunphy badger.

SWAT don't care, and you know what? The DARE boys do it too. Look at these little dogs. They're like "Thanks stupid! Thanks for the collar! See you later." The dunphy badger does all the work and all these other animals just pick up the scraps.

At nightime the dunphy badger goes hunting, because it's got a quota. Look! Here comes a fierce battle between a pot smoker and a dunphy badger. I wonder what will happen?

[sloopyinca]

Look at this, there's the dunphy badger just beating a punk, and then look, "Get away from me!" says the pot smoker, "Get away from me!" Dunphy badger don't care. Dunphy badger smacks the shit out of it. And the doper comes back and it lashes at the dunphy badger.

Oh, little does the dunphy badger know, FYI: it's been recorded! It's been recorded by the doper, so while it's beating the doper -- eew, that's disgusting -- all the poisonous venom is seeping through the dunphy badger's body, and it passes out. Look at that sleepy fuck.

Now the dunphy badger is going to pass out for a few minutes, and then it's going to get right back up and start beating all over again, because it's an evil little bastard.

Look at this! Like nothing happened! The dunphy badger gets right back up and continues beating the doper.

How disgusting.

And of course, what does the dunphy badger have to beat for the next two weeks?

Dopers.

The dunphy badger.

[T]

You need a hobby, sloop.

[Citizen Nothing]

Looks like he has one.

[SugarFree]

He's doing fine. Needs more badger sex, tho.

[Ramjet]

Holy crap. I'm also a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and The Byrds and Renee Fleming and Bizet. Haters gonna hate.

/bemused

[sloopyinca]

That's like saying "Don't hate me because I think Andy Dick's a great actor. I'm also a big fan of Steve McQueen, Donald Pleasence, Robert DeNiro and Buster Keaton."

[Matrix]

Jupiter is looking out for us!

Thanks, Jupiter!

[Atanarjuat]

Cool. Pretty awesome that it was caught on video.

[Sevo]

Annals of Gov't social engineering, part X ^n
So the SF city gov't decides the citizens *need* 'green' power. In its wisdom, it decides that rather than simply let citizens buy it, the gov't will contract with someone to supply it.
Well, to the intense displeasure of the gov't, the only bidder is Shell. But they'll take it anyhow.
It gets worse; by some brain-dead guess, the 'green' power is supposed to be cheaper than PGE (which shouldn't be hard; PGE is one of the most expensive utility suppliers in the country). Surprise! It's 23% more expensive!
And to top it off, the contract is such that Shell is made whole from any losses; a possible loss to the city of $15M or so!
There's one born every minute, and every one of them votes for the progs in San Francisco.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....857981.php

[Gray Ghost]

Not sure if this got mentioned yet: Russian ships displayed at DNC tribute to vets.

FTA:

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.

While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America's best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above.

These were the very Soviet-era combatants that Nathman and Cold Warriors like him had once squared off against.

"The ships are definitely Russian," said noted naval author Norman Polmar after reviewing hi-resolution photos from the event. "There's no question of that in my mind."

Naval experts concluded the background was a photo composite of Russian ships that were overflown by what appear to be U.S. trainer jets. It remains unclear how or why the Democratic Party used what's believed to be images of the Russian Black Sea Fleet at their convention.

If they aren't the most incompetent Administration in history, they're close.

[John]

They are literally too stupid to know how to use google.

[ant1sthenes]

No, it was a dog whistle. Hope everyone has taught their kids how to run an insurgency.

[The Late P Brooks]

Needs more badger sex, tho.

ROUGH badger sex. With electro-stimulus.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

It's one band: "Theory of a Nickel Creed"