A.M. Links: U.S. Ambassador Rousted in China, Hospitals Agree: Obamacare is Great — for Other People, Chicago Teachers Back to Work

• It's love a U.S. ambassador in month! An angry mob surrounded Ambassador Gary Locke's car in Beijing, but he wasn't hurt in the melee. Oddly, the U.S. public's opinion of the administration's foreign policy has plummeted. It's not so popular in China, either, where Leon Panetta has promised we mean them no harm.

• Mitt Romney continues to take flak over his "47 percent" comment, while he responds with an old video of Obama endorsing wealth redistribution. Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?
• Muslim leaders in Israel want that anti-Islam video banned, and French authorities prohibited weekend protests in Paris in anticipation of the ususal furor in response to the magazine Charlie Hebdo's publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed.
• The vast majority of hospitals are making no efforts to form the integrated healthcare networks at the core of Obamacare, despite bribes to do exactly that. It seems they're perceived as an expensive pain-in-the-ass.
• Chicago public school teachers will be back educating occupying space in classrooms, having voted to accept the latest offer they extracted from city officials.
• The German government is publicly urging people to ditch Internet Explorer, because it's a piece of crap.
• Riverside County, California, deputies pepper-sprayed and beat-to-death Dennis Katz, who was suspiciously … umm … waiting to pick his grandaughter up from school. His family is suing.

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Comments

[Lord Humungus]

Romney’s Right?Palestinians Have Rejected Peace
http://news.investors.com/ibd-…..-peace.htm

‘I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, ‘There’s just no way.'”

That’s how Romney put it at a donor gathering, surreptitiously recorded for posterity. Some were shocked ? shocked! ? that a U.S. politician would say such a thing.

[sarcasmic]

A politician speaking the truth? No way!

[Fatty Bolger]

Too bad Secret Romney isn’t running. That guy actually has some interesting things to say.

[Lord Humungus]

Double Secret Romney!

[Drake]

I think Clinton aides said exactly the same thing when Arafat turned down that deal and started a war.

[wareagle]

how is this even remotely controversial? The Arabs have turned down every effort to have peace with Israel. It’s almost as shocking as saying a growing part of the population is dependent on govt and liking it.

[RBS]

It’s not, unless you are one of the perpetually offended.

[Bee Tagger]

wareagle just lost the election for himself.

[wareagle]

and I was climbing in the polls, too. Probably for not telling malicious truths.

[Juice]

That’s like saying the Indians turned down every effort at peace with the US government. Every peace offer involves/d peace in exchange for retreating into reservations and slowly dying off.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Absolutely.

Every time Israel has traded land for peace, they lost land but got no peace. As the United States forces Israel to give up more of Judea and Samaria, it condemns Israel to die the death by a thousand cuts.

[Fluffy]

That’s not true.

They gave Egypt back the Sinai, and last time I checked Israel and Egypt have been at peace for decades.

If Israel doesn’t want to trade land for peace, that’s fine by me, too. If they declared the West Bank and Gaza annexed to Israel tomorrow, I’d support them.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That’s true. However, the Sinai was never part of historical “Egypt”. Not to mention that the peace has only really been maintained by a strong U.N. presence on the peninsula. In short, Israel and Egypt have been at ‘peace’ like North and South Korea have been at ‘peace’.

[Gray Ghost]

They gave Egypt back the Sinai, and last time I checked Israel and Egypt have been at peace for decades.

It helps that the U.S. has given both sides over a billion a year since Camp David to, basically, not fight any more.

I agree with your third paragraph—annex both territories and give all Palestinians full Israeli citizenship with expanded seats in the Knesset to accommodate the increased population. If that means, considering the demographics, that Israel might have a Muslim P.M., then that’s what it means.

Consider all land claims pre-1948 in the Arab territories to be extinguished by conquest and clean up any title clouds on the rest of the land. Not sure what you do about the settlers/squatters. And I’m not sure if you allow former residents of pre-1948 Palestine to return to Israel and claim Israeli citizenship. Regardless, Israel isn’t going away and I don’t see a reason why the U.S. needs to be involved with any of it—Egypt, Israel, hopefully the rest of the MidEast—anymore.

I doubt the Palestinians will be satisfied with any of this, of course.

[Fluffy]

I doubt the Palestinians will be satisfied with any of this, of course.

If Israel annexes the West Bank and Gaza and makes the residents of those territories Israeli citizens, if the Palestinians aren’t satisfied with that they can go fuck themselves.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The difference between the West Bank (aka Judea and Samaria) and Gaza is that Gaza was never considered part of ‘historical’ Israel; whereas Israel could make a fairly strong argument for the annexation of the West Bank on the grounds that ‘Jews come from, you know, Judea’ they have no such argument for the Gaza Strip which was always part of Phoenica/Philistina.

[Calidissident]

I don’t think the fact that their ancestors lived there two thousand years ago gives them a right to take property away from the people living there today

[R C Dean]

That’s like saying the Indians turned down every effort at peace with the US government.

So, you agree that the Palis have no interest in peace with Israel. You just disagree on whether they are justified in seeking the elimination of Israel and the Second Diaspora.

[wareagle]

no one told the Indians they could not assimilate. And the most free Arabs on the planet are the ones living in Israel.

[Spoonman.]

Actually, they pretty much did tell the Indians they couldn’t assimilate when they forced the very-assimilated Cherokee out of Georgia.

[Heroic Mulatto]

To be fair, after decades of suffering from guerilla warfare, Israel has told the Palestinians the same thing with Israel’s draconian restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement.

To which the Palestinians have responded with more explosions and more death.

Brilliant!

[sarcasmic]

Kate Moss is still hot (by my low standards anyway)!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..llery.html

[kinnath]

Kate Moss is boring.

[sarcasmic]

Blasphemy!

[kinnath]

She was boring in her prime, and she’s past that now.

[sarcasmic]

Heretic!

[sarcasmic]

Pron 4 John (by his low standards anyway)!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem…..sport.html

[Fluffy]

I think Pron 4 John should consist of hot women with a little flesh on their bones.

Not monsters.

You realize these links are area attacks, right, and that not just John clicks on them? Your link above violates the International Convention Against Land Mines.

[sarcasmic]

If you hover over a link that contains “-Bingo-face-Honey-Boo-Boos-mom” and then click on it anyway, you have no one to blame but yourself.

[RBS]

Some of us can’t resist clicking on Daily Mail links, no matter how horrific.

[Fluffy]

I have no time to hover over links.

[John]

That link is crime against humanity committed against the entire board.

[Restoras]

It’s a Link of Mass Destruction. Where is Hans Blix – doesn’t he need a job?

[LTC(ret) John]

I thought he got ‘et by sharks or something?

[hamilton]

“Ha Ha Ha! F*ck You Hans Brix!”

[RBS]

How does one develop a neck roll on a neck roll?

[gaijin]

Assume leadership of the Chicago Teacher’s Union?

[Gene]

You consume only foods that can be purchased with coupons.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That woman found someone to fuck her and impregnate her, yet I’m still single. FML.

[Atanarjuat]

I’m sure her standards are light-years lower.

[sarcasmic]

Civil War pics, then and now. Pretty cool.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..later.html

[Citizen Nothing]

Nice. I was at Antietam this summer. Definitely worth the trip. My favorite monument is the huge pillar honoring William McKinley’s efforts as a commissary sergeant who brought sandwiches and hot coffee to the troops under fire. Of course, we all know why McKinley actually got his own monument, but if I was one of those guys pinned down for hours, and all of a sudden Sarge Willy Mick came crawling up with a cup of hot joe, I would have loved the guy.

[SugarFree]

Those are some terrible scans. That archivist should know the shame of a thousand crying lovers.

[John]

Yeah. I think he was trying to make it look like the original photo, which is just dumb.

[db]

The headline says “same camera” but I see no other mention of the idea that an attempt was made to use period instruments. Could it just be that a period camera was used by a guy today with little experience with the hardware and poorly made plates?

[SugarFree]

I’m not sure. The are such bad scans it’s hard to tell the quality of the originals.

Wet plate glass negatives are pretty hard to work with, but they can produce very detailed and beautiful images. Since they are “slow” film, they have a high density of grain which translates to “high resolution” images in modern parlance.

The much more difficult part would have been if he was attempting to print the negatives on period papers. Either salt prints or–more likely–albumen. They are “printing-out” papers and take 8 to 10 hours of full sunlight to contact print. And he would have had to make the albumen paper, which is simple chemistry but labor intensive and easy to screw up.

Assuming they didn’t mess with the colors, those are either scans of the negative or fresh albumen prints, which are not yellow-brown (sepia-tone was an attempt to look like aged albumen prints), but purple.

[sarcasmic]

I heard a pretty long blurb about this on NPR while driving home the other day. It was quite interesting. The photographer seemed to know what he was talking about, which leads me to believe the scans are bad, not the pics.

[SugarFree]

There was a local guy a few years ago who consulted with me. He was going up in hot air balloons with a tintype camera at Civil War re-enactments to create aerial battlefield photos. He was creating some great images. He wanted to try to use a wet plate glass negative camera, but any sort of breeze makes pouring a wet plate very difficult, the surface ripples and it can dry too fast.

[Mensan]

“The headline says “same camera” but I see no other mention of the idea that an attempt was made to use period instruments.”

It usually helps if you RTFA:

To make the photographs as authentic as possible, Harrington used the same type of equipment that Gardner had used 150 years ago, a stereo wet plate camera and glass plates.

[Warty]

Tell tale signs that this is a modern photograph include the vehicle at the bottom right of the screen and a portable toilet on the other side of the bridge

…sigh.

[invisible furry hand]

… the time-stamp in the lower-right corner, the Kardashian in the background, the empty Krispy Kreme box…

[sarcasmic]

Obama views government as a tool to redistribute wealth! Who knew? OMFG! Stop the presses!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..ution.html

[Bardas Phocas]

You know he’s a keynesian – from keynia!

[sarcasmic]

+6

[Lord Humungus]

Taranto: 47 Skidoo
Uh-oh, Romney’s lost the election again.
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..TopOpinion

Anyway, if you believe the mainstream media, Romney has lost the election again. That’s the third time in as many weeks, notwithstanding that the election won’t actually happen until 47 days after the day after tomorrow. Last week it was his statement criticizing the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and we forget what it was the week before. This week’s fatal kerfuffle is all about–you guessed it–the number 47.

[Randian]

I made a Chris Stevens joke yesterday and my in-the-know intelligent friends all stared at me and said “who”?

Hey, anybody remember Todd Akin?

[Rich]

Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?

Who?

/Three-fourths of America

[LTC(ret) John]

Make that 95%

[sarcasmic]

You might be a point or two too generous.

[Rich]

Come on. A *lot* of people know he’s that guy from Diff’rent Strokes.

[sarcasmic]

“What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”

[sloopyinca]

Needs more Bain. Conrad Bain, that is.

[LTC(ret) John]

+ beat of just one drum

[Restoras]

DooooomDoooomDoooom

[Bee Tagger]

The German government is publicly urging people to ditch Internet Explorer, because it’s a piece of crap.

What browser, eventually, isn’t?

[Lord Humungus]

Kessler: The U.S. Needs More i-Side Economics
The misallocation of capital is one reason the recovery is stuck between lack and luster.
http://online.wsj.com/article/…..on_LEADTop

And last month in Leesburg, Va., the president said, “When we’ve got new teachers doing great work with our kids, then you know what, they go to a restaurant and spend that money. And so suddenly businesses are doing well, the economy is doing well, and we get into a virtuous cycle. And we go up.”

This myth?that you can just give money to the middle class and good things happen?is widely shared and is at the basis of a lot of government policy. And it is why the recovery is stuck between lack and luster.

[Lord Humungus]

Romney: I’ll deliver recovery, not dependency
http://www.usatoday.com/news/o…..57804214/1

Government has a role to play here. Right now, our nation’s citizens do need help from government. But it is a very different kind of help than what President Obama wants to provide.

My experience has taught me that government works best when it creates the space for individuals and families to pursue success and achieve great things. Economic freedom is the only force that has consistently succeeded in creating sustained prosperity and lifting people out of poverty. It is why our economy rose to rival those of the world’s leading powers — and has long since surpassed them all.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So he says but won’t say how.

Tax cuts don’t create jobs – like Bush proved they just create huge deficits.

[wareagle]

the Bush years also had 52 straight months of job growth. Correlation or causation, it’s still a fact. And, history also shows that tax cuts INCREASE revenue to the Treasury every time they are tried, from JFK through Reagan to Bush. However, it is law that there is no amount of money that Congress cannot spent.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Obama has had 43 straight months of job creation.

And we had a steadily growing workforce 1950-2008. Revenue increased as a result of that more than anything.

Tax cuts are fine to reduce tax burdens – they do nothing else. Clinton raised taxes and the economy boomed (although the two had nothing to do with each other).

[John]

Obama has had more months of unemployment above 8% than the past eleven Presidents combined. This includes Presidents like Reagan and Truman and Carter who faced real recessions during their tenure. Creating government jobs and fewer jobs than the population growth doesn’t really count as “job creation” you lying sack of puss.

[sarcasmic]

Obama has had 43 straight months of job creation.

Say that to someone who is looking for a job and they’ll likely laugh in your face before falling to the ground and rolling around in a fit laughter, eventually turning blue and losing consciousness.

[John]

Sarcasmic,

Creating a single job in a month counts as “a month of job creation”.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I found this interesting. Counters the “43 straight months of job creation” argument when you point out you need 150k job/mo to keep up with population growth. Of the last 25 months, only 8 have come in above that number.

[wareagle]

Clinton raised income taxes for a small minority, and he also lowered cap gains rates. It’s okay to tell the truth.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Capital gains taxes are lowest in modern history at 15%.

We should be booming by that logic.

Instead, Romney is hiding his money offshore while a true job creator like Buffett is investing his ass off in the USA.

[T]

Funny, but the companies I’m familiar with that Buffet bought have moved production to China. How’s that investing in America?

[wareagle]

Romney is hiding his money offshore

that explains the millions he pays every year in taxes, unlike the dishonest Buffet who 1) purposely distorts his tax rate vs his secretary’s and 2) runs a company that’s been battling the IRS for how long?

[Restoras]

Buffet as a job creator? How do you arrive at that logic? I mean, sure, if you count the rent-seeking jobs he has created but the guy has only ever bought companies, not built them. And by investing his “ass off” (whatever that means) what you actually means he is buying low and/or transferring risk away from other riskier places then how does that make him anything but a smart investor?

[VG Zaytsev]

Buffet as a job creator? How do you arrive at that logic?

He does employ a lot of lobbyists, tax attorneys and public relations consultants.

[LTC(ret) John]

Ask anyone in the insurance industry how many jobs ol’ WB has eliminated. CNA and AIG/Chartis Insurance could probably give a good sized body count just by themselves.

[Loki]

Romney is hiding his money offshore while a true job creator like Buffett is investing his ass off in the USA.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[inhales deeply] BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

I haven’t laughed that hard since the last time shriek tried to publicly fellate Warren Buffett.

[robc]

Small minority?

Looking at the historical charts, the middle, 4th, and highest quintiles all went up.

The middle very slightly, so probably right around 50% of households went up. Maybe slightly less, but not a “small” minority.

I used 1993 as baseline:
Top payed 15.0% in incomes taxes, it was up to 17.6% by 2000.
4th payed 7.8%, it was up to 8.1% in 2000.
Middle payed 5.3%, it peaked at 5.4% in 1997.

All 3 went up during Clinton era.

And for completion:
2nd was 2.2% in 1993, never hit over 2.0%, was 1.5% in 2000.
Bottom was -1.7% in 1993, hit -4.6% in 1998.

[CampingInYourPark]

“In February 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 141.7 million people were employed. By the end of May 2011 ? the last month for which data are available ? that number had fallen to 139.8 million, a difference of 1.9 million.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/articl…..d-stimulus

1.9 million less people working and someone is supposed to believe “43 straight months of job creation”.

[Restoras]

Dude, come on. You know as well as anyone here that the “job creation” Obama is touting is insufficient to keep pace with even the rate of population growth.

[Palin's Buttplug]

True. Job gains are lackluster but better than the -750,000 per month he inherited.

[Restoras]

Hey, if he didn’t want the job he shouldn’t have interviewed for it. Just like everyone lese in the world, the mess you inherit is your mess. Fix it, or don’t and lose your job.

[wareagle]

everybody inherits something. Reagan inherited a pile of shit. Four years later, he won in a landslide. Ironically, he did the opposite of what Obama is doing. You don’t suppose that’s a clue?

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, both Reagan and Obama cut taxes and used fiscal stimulus to turn GDP up.

[wareagle]

because the pandering cut of FICA is the same as lowering income tax rates. And while Reagan loaned Chrysler some money, I don’t recall govt buying a stake in the company and trying to manage it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Obama has had 43 straight months of job creation.

This bullshit from you again?

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000/

The truth is, neither Bush nor President Not My Fault can take credit for job growth.

[sarcasmic]

Taxing the rich is a moral matter. It has nothing to do with economics.
It simply is not fair that some are rich while others are not, so the government has a moral duty to rob from the rich and give to the poor.
Even if it hurts the economy as a whole.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Why doesn’t a GOP president try cutting spending for once?

Clinton and Obama have produced the two largest cuts in spending growth since 1950.

[sarcasmic]

Why doesn’t a GOP president try cutting spending for once?

For the same reason why no Democrat president has tried to cut spending.

Spending cuts mean someone loses their job or their check, which means the president and his party loses their vote.

Duh!

Rush 2112!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Clinton and Obama have produced the two largest cuts in spending growth since 1950.

That’s because Obama’s been running trillion+ dollar deficits and can’t run it any higher, or he might actually be held accountable by his own base.

The fact that Obama inherited, added on to, and then stabilized a vastly increased budget doesn’t make him a fiscal hawk, you dummy.

[LTC(ret) John]

Tax increases clearly create jobs, weath and opportunity for all!

Why would people having less of their money taken from them ever help an economy?

[Palin's Buttplug]

The US economy was much more deeply cyclical 1870-1917 before income taxes existed.

[Fluffy]

But had a higher mean rate of growth.

If you flipped a switch and increased the historical mean rate of growth from 1919 to now to 19th century levels, it would look like the frickin’ Jetsons world around here.

[Drake]

We were much freer too. Your point?

[Citizen Nothing]

And by “we,” I assume you mean white males.

[Drake]

I mean everyone before the Wilson Administration.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Well, yes. There is that.

[Restoras]

So what?

[Restoras]

So, spending has nothing to do with…deficit spending?

It tryze moar hardurrdurrdurr.

[Drake]

Of course it doesn’t you idiot. Haven’t you been listening to the talking points?

[invisible furry hand]

Lindsay Lohan hits pedestrian while sober. How did that happen?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l…..a5TXmsAkcK

[LTC(ret) John]

She is not used to driving while not under the influence?

[wareagle]

and circle gets the square.

[Bee Tagger]

Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?

Can someone draw one of those intersecting circles thing the Internet used to love to show the overlap of people who respond to polls and people who have heard of Gary Johnson?

[LTC(ret) John]

A Venn Diagram with non-intersecting circles?

[Bee Tagger]

Perfect.

[Joe R.]

OO

[Bobarian]

To be fair, they’re both really small circles on a big white back ground so more like:

o ____________ o

[WWNGD?]

Can someone draw one of those intersecting circles thing the Internet used to love to show the overlap of people who respond to polls and people who have heard of Gary Johnson?

Probably, I am sure someone can. /sarcasm

Do it yourself you lazy hippie.
http://memebase.cheezburger.com/graphjam /conservative

[Lord Humungus]

EPA’s four-gallon minimum mandate
http://thehill.com/blogs/congr…..um-mandate

The latest mandate handed down from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is so ridiculous, even I was shocked. The EPA has now mandated how much gasoline you must buy at certain gas stations. Say hello to the Obama Administration’s four gallon minimum.

This unprecedented EPA overreach applies when filling up at a gas station that provides both E15 and E10, gasoline with 15 or 10 percent of ethanol, respectively, from the same hose.

PENALTAX!

[Rich]

If the government has the power to mandate a minimum amount of gas we can buy, what else can they mandate?

A mininum of four heads of broccoli, natch.

[John]

Most gas cans for lawn mowers and stuff are two gallons. A four gallon can is quite big and much more than your typical lawn mower will hold. So thanks to the EPA people will be buying and storing gasoline now. What could possibly go wrong?

[Rich]

The government has this under control, John. Any gasoline container less than four gallons will be illegal.

[Ptah-Hotep]

The government has this under control, John. Any gasoline container less than four gallons will be illegal.

They will simply outlaw gas powered mowers. Cuts down on green house gases at the same time.

[Fluffy]

Yeah, I definitely think the end game here is to ban all engines that won’t burn E15.

Then everyone has to buy new shit.

It’s like cash for clunkers meets Krugman’s alien invasion.

[John]

You are probably correct. But remember they are friends of the poor and middle class.

[Fluffy]

The last people in the world Obama’s EPA appointees care about are people who own snowmobiles and ride-on mowers.

They would happily put into place policies that would make all of those assets total losses. They’d pop champagne corks if every ATV in the country simultaneously had their engines burned out by E15.

[John]

Yes they would. They honestly hate about 45% of the country. I mean actively loath them.

[Citizen Nothing]

So the 45 percent and the 47 percent hate each other, and they all hate libertarians. Sounds about right.

[Bardas Phocas]

Since I’m not going to be hauling around a 4-5 gallon jug of gasoline – that’s really heavy – and I won’t pump gas into the interior of my car — the solution is to fill the 2 gallon jug then pump a couple of gallons gas into the garbage can next to the pump.
That works for me.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I’m going to force illegally imported children to collect your discarded gasoline, and sell it on the black market.

[db]

Plus the higher ethanol content of newer gasoline causes it to absorb lots of water from the atmosphere. Keeping that much gas around for your lawnmower makes it go bad unless you use it all quickly. My lawn tractor runs horribly near the end of a 5 gallon can. Luckily there is Sea Foam, but that stuff is not cheap.

[Atanarjuat]

More gasoline stored in gas cans means more gas lost to evaporation and spills, and for most homeowners, I suspect will lead to gas that has decayed in quality for sitting too long damaging their mowers’ engines.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Is it okay to just pump the additional 2 gallons on the ground?

[ant1sthenes]

Makes more sense to save it for EPA employee’s houses and persons.

[Cdr Lytton]

Luckily clear premium is available relatively close by. I’d never stick E anything in a lawn mower or any other small engine. Just asking for trouble.

[Cdr Lytton]

Still available for now, I should add.

[Restoras]

This is several shades dumber than that fuckstick Bloomberg’s soda ban.

So now, because larger cans are heavier, more people will fill them while the cans are in the trunk or back of the truck instead of filling them properly, when placed on the ground. This will lead to more fires caused by static electricity.

Brilliant! Seriously, how fucking stupid do you have to be to work for the government??

[wareagle]

Seriously, how fucking stupid do you have to be to work for the government??

there is no finite answer to that.

[R C Dean]

I’m still trying to figure out how they will enforce that minimum.

Will the pumps not shut off until at least 4 gallons have been dispensed? That’ll end well.

Or will they go through the station’s records to see if anyone bought less than 4 gallons? How the fuck is the station supposed to prevent that?

Will they trace the credit cards on the sub-4 gallon purchases and fine the buyer?

Or are they just going to do away with self-service gas altogether? Even then, what happens when somebody just doesn’t have the capacity or the willingness to take 4 gallons?

Seriously, how will this be enforced?

[SugarFree]

Or are they just going to do away with self-service gas altogether?

Job creator!

[edcoast]

What is this self service gas of which you speak? – Oregon

[tarran]

What they will do is audit the books of gas stations for sub $4.00 sales, and fine them for each instance.

The owners of the gas stations will then become enforcers of the rule.

[tarran]

I mean sales under 4.00 gallons.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

just take it out of the attendants wages

[R C Dean]

So they will be fining gas stations for something the station’s can’t control.

Of course.

[Spoonman.]

Wait, what? Every time I go to Costco I fill up my tank, because it’s the cheapest place to buy gas and I’m already there.

I own a Honda Fit, which has a 10-gallon tank, and since I take the train in it’s just my wife who drives it 15 minutes to and from work each day.

So sometimes I put 2 gallons in the tank. I figure, since on average gas prices go up and sometimes it’s a while before I go to Costco again, that way I get the cheapest gas.

That is super annoying.

[RBS]

What about all the people that purchase gas in $5-10 increments?

[Restoras]

You mean, people who are on a tight budget and can’t dump $80 into their empty tanks? People who are…poor??? Oh, we don’t really care about them.

[Jordan]

List of ethanol-free gas stations.

[Jordan]

Here’s a list of ethanol-free gas stations.

[Jordan]

Grr, the damn spam filter won’t let me post the link, but just google “ethanol free gas stations” to find places to fill up without dealing with this bullshit.

[Atanarjuat]

There’s one less than a mile from my house, but they only allow you to put ethanol-free gas in a can, because they couldn’t get a straight answer on the legality of selling it for automobile use from anyone in our helpful state government.

[Jack the Reaper]

My motorcycle has less than a 4 gallon tank.

*breathes in*

FUCK OFF, SLAVERS!!!!!!

[Lord Humungus]

When is it OK to ask a woman if she’s pregnant?
http://vaviper.blogspot.com/20…..um=twitter

[Zeb]

If you aren’t sure, keep your mouth shut.

[Fluffy]

I say it’s always OK.

What’s your downside if you’re wrong?

[John]

You just pointed out that she has a fat gut and has recently gained weight.

[Fluffy]

So in other words a fat person won’t want to talk to you any more.

Sounds to me like your downside is hedged pretty well here.

[LTC(ret) John]

You are cold…but quite rational. I think I like your approach.

[T]

Okay, office etiquette question. We have a new engineer here at work. His first name is Newt. Is it appropriate to ask him if that’s short for ‘Newcular Titties’ or does that get me another visit from HR?

[db]

Make sure to ask if he’s pregnant.

[Restoras]

Did he get better?

[mr simple]

Does he say things like: “They mostly come at night… mostly,” and “My mommy always said there were no monsters, no real ones, but there are.”

[invisible furry hand]

No, no – offer him live invertebrates, and make sure his aquarium is clean and moist

[invisible furry hand]

No, no – offer him live invertebrates, and make sure his aquarium is clean and moist

[Bobarian]

It was funnier the first time.

[Spoonman.]

Never.

Unless you’re my father-in-law, and then the answer is “whenever, because you have no social abilities whatsoever”.

[Bobarian]

This made me giggle

[sticks]

No more page 3!!!

[sticks]

George Alagiah doesn’t say, ‘And now let’s look at Courtney, 21, from Warrington’s bare breasts,’ in the middle of the 6 O’ Clock News, does he, Dominic?

He should

[LTC(ret) John]

Their ratings would go up, to be sure.

[Ptah-Hotep]

Mexican weather girls, FTW

[LTC(ret) John]

Thanks for that. Would Almighty God that the Weather Channel did that…I mean, Paul Goodloe is a nice guy and all, but still.

[John]

They have Maria Villarosa. She is quite cute. Improving the quality of the Weather Channel girls has been one of the few American success stories over the last ten years.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I love how she’s constantly bent over. I think her director said: “Your dress isn’t low-cut enough. You’re gonna need to bend over a lot during this newscast so we can see your cleavage more clearly. Next time wear more appropriate clothing so you won’t have to hunch!”

[Calidissident]

Yes. That is all

[Fluffy]

That reminds me to go to the Sun’s website, thanks

[CampingInYourPark]

“Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?”

Probably the same reason he got .005% of the vote in the GOP primary.

[LTC(ret) John]

“French authorities prohibited weekend protests in Paris in anticipation of the ususal furor in response to the magazine Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed.”

Oh, they’ll still have #Muslimrage and car bar-b-ques in the banlieus

[T]

The preferred portmanteau is ‘car-b-ques’.

[LTC(ret) John]

barbecue voiture?

[db]

I think you can be arrested in France for that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mitt Romney continues to take flack over his “47 percent” comment…

I’m pretty sure we’ve all declared this his Waterloo. Until the next shiny object.

[sarcasmic]

Look! Squirrel!

[Lord Humungus]

How the French Revolution Gave Birth to the Restaurant Business
http://www.neatorama.com/2012/…..-Business/

Aristocrats fled to the countryside, leaving behind their highly skilled chefs and the fine wines from their cellars. Suddenly, unemployed cooks and abandoned bottles found their way to the city’s eateries, and within a year, nearly 50 elegant restaurants had popped up in Paris. These epicurean temples catered to the new class of French deputies and businessmen and were featured in travelogues throughout Europe. As word of their deliciousness spread, Parisian restaurants became tourist attractions on par with Notre Dame.

[LTC(ret) John]

And the servers exacted their revenge for having to be all meek and such for the nobility, with unreserved hostility for those they waited on!

[Ptah-Hotep]

And the servers exacted their revenge for having to be all meek and such for the nobility, with unreserved hostility for those they waited on!

Just order in German.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

And the servers exacted their revenge for having to be all meek and such for the nobility, with unreserved hostility for those they waited on!

I spit coffee. Thanks.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…having voted to accept the latest offer they extracted from city officials.

The shifting winds in the Windy City finally hit the rank and file.

[John]

http://cnsnews.com/news/articl…..st-turmoil

Obama foreign policy approval rating drops. It is not really news that the media tried to spin the attacks on the embassies as good for Obama. They are basically Democratic operatives at this point. What is interesting is that they honestly seem to believe their own bullshit. They honestly seemed to think that mobs attacking US embassies and murdering a US Ambassador would be a good thing for the President. Hell, by that logic they should be hoping that every US embassy in the world is blown up. Then Obama will win in a landslide.

[Bardas Phocas]

In other foriegn policy news, Putin throws USAID (forgien aid agency) out of Russia. He didn’t like them funding the various election monitoring orgs and Pussy Riots.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html

But my reaction is kind of “please, Brer Putin, please don’t refuse our money.”

[LTC(ret) John]

Now if we could get Eygpt and Pakistan to do the same… winning!

[Fatty Bolger]

Speaking of that tape…

Selective Edit? Mother Jones Admits Romney Tape Missing ‘One to two minutes’

Mother Jones, the left-wing magazine that released a controversial video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s remarks to a fundraiser in May, now admits that it has no full tape of what Romney said, and that its video is missing “one to two minutes” at the most important moment.

[John]

Why am I not surprised.

[wareagle]

meanwhile the new Tapegate involves Obama from ’98 declaring his love for redistribution. Not much editing but hard to tell since there was no Prompter and he has that chopped cadence.

[Lord Humungus]

The (Court-Ordered) Unmasking of the Lone Ranger
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/141864

But Moore’s career hit a speed bump in 1978, when Jack Wrather, who still owned the rights to the character, obtained a court order barring him from appearing in public as the Lone Ranger. The suit came because Universal Pictures felt it was time for a new take on the legendary masked man. The reboot was going to be a younger, hipper, more modern cowboy, so the last thing they wanted was a 64-year-old man traveling around the country yelling “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” Aside from the intellectual property issues, Wrather pointed out that Moore’s original contract contained a clause saying that he could not present himself as The Lone Ranger without written consent from Wrather, which Moore had never received.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He was also unmasked in the whole Commando Cody deal. And played a bad guy. MST3K was so epic.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Did not know this. I was a HUGE Lone Ranger fan when I was a kid. We moved from Chapel Hill, NC to Killeen, TX in 1975. I saw him at a fair in Austin summer of ’75 and I was hooked. I dressed like the Lone Ranger (sans mask) for the next 2 years. Then we moved to Indiana, and the whole Western/cowboy look just didn’t work anymore.

[SugarFree]

Way to go, Florida…

SEPTEMBER 18–A Florida farmhand arrested for having sexual contact with a miniature donkey explained to cops that the Sunshine State was “backwards” since its residents “frown on zoophilia,” according to a police report.
–
He began by saying that he “uses his fingers and saliva to clean the donkey’s clitoris and check for wood shavings and debris,” adding that he “gets aroused” by seeing an animal in heat.

Romero reported that he “stands behind the donkey, scratches her withers and masturbates.” He revealed that he “likes the way the fur feels on his testicles,” and that his penis “may have come in contact with the donkey’s vagina by accident and his semen may have splattered inside the donkey by accident.”

[T]

The donkey was not unresponsive.

[invisible furry hand]

Because masturbating near a donkey’s hoo-ha is so much more acceptable than inside it

[Rich]

near a donkey’s hoo-ha

Nice band name.

[Restoras]

I think we need to seriously consider kicking Florida out of the Union. It’s either that or nuke it from orbit.

[SugarFree]

Every barrel needs a bottom. If we kick them out, we just get a new “Florida” anyway. And they perform the much needed service of drawing attention away from Kentucky.

[wareagle]

and spring break. Thanks for sending us your spoiled, entitled youth so they can get drunk and trash hotel rooms.

[SugarFree]

They bring much needed tourist dollars to the vomit clean-up and balcony railing repair industries.

[RBS]

I remember one summer when I worked the front desk of a hotel. Some guy managed to blow the railing off his balcony when security went up to inform him that shooting fireworks off the balcony was against hotel policy.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Florida: America’s wang? Or prolapsed colon?

[Loki]

America’s wang. The prolapsed colon would be Baja.

[carol]

Not everyone here in Florida has an unnatural attraction to farm animals. Granted, many do, but still…

[Rich]

… most Floridians are *naturally* attracted to farm animals.

[Joe Pile]

Florida here I come!!!

[Heroic Mulatto]

IT’S DONKEY TIME!

[invisible furry hand]

appropriately enough, you SF’d the link

[Heroic Mulatto]

Tell the truth, did you really want to see it?

[RBS]

I kinda do.

[Heroic Mulatto]

RBS is my kind of scum: fearless and inventive.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Go on

[Ice Nine]

OK, SF, enough! With that second paragraph you have far exceeded the limit on words that should never be seen in the same sentence.

[Auric Demonocles]

I slipped on a puddle and fell and it just “accidentally” slid in!

[Rich]

“Checking for wood shavings”, my ass!

[LTC(ret) John]

No, he was checking on a different ass.

[Auric Demonocles]

“Honey, I wasn’t trying to screw that redhead. I just accidentally fell into bed and my pants got stuck on the bedpost and came off, then she accidentally fell on top of me in that commando skirt, and it just so happened that she landed on my penis. I tried to get up, but that just sort of jiggled her back and forth, then she started trying to get up, but slipped a couple of times, causing her to move up and down. Then I thought of you and that made me finish. So see, it was all just an accident!”

[Ptah-Hotep]

Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes.

/Richard Pryor

[Skomoroh]

“She got to where she was tripping me and beating me to the floor.”

[Lord Humungus]

A million to one, doctor, a million to one!

[CampingInYourPark]

“The median income of American households decreased by as much in the two years after the official end of the Great Recession as it did during the recession itself.”

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org…..recession/

[John]

The Justice Department has been caught colluding with left-wing media “watchdog” Media Matters to suppress critics who’ve embarrassed the Obama administration. What is this, Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela?

Based on a cache of internal Justice Department e-mails obtained by the Daily Caller, Attorney Gen. Eric Holder’s press staff has been collaborating all along with left-wing media “watchdog” Media Matters to smear any reporter asking uncomfortable questions, to discourage whistle-blowers, to discredit political watchdogs and to suppress damaging news about what’s going on in the Obama administration.

http://news.investors.com/ibd-…..ritics.htm\

That is called fascism.

[Restoras]

Not to split hairs but fascism isn’t the only left-wing totalitarian philosophy that advocates state control of the media.

[John]

True. But since they haven’t banned money and trade (yet), I think this is more of the fascism variety.

[ant1sthenes]

Plus, it means you fucks will finally accept my habit of calling Barack “Il Douchey”.

That said, the old school Wilsonian form of progressivism was basically a precursor to fascism. When people stopped being ashamed of using that label, it was only a matter of time.

[LTC(ret) John]

You know who else advocated state control of the media?

[sloopyinca]

Adolph Hitler?

[invisible furry hand]

The Australian Government?

[Brian D]

Most Transparent Administration EVAR!

[OldMexican]

Mitt Romney continues to take flack over his “47 percent” comment, while he responds with an old video of Obama endorsing wealth redistribution. Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?

Because he’s neither black nor looks like a middle-aged Ken doll.

[John]

Because very few people are actually Libertarians?

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

Because very few people are actually Libertarians?

You mean most are actually fascists? I cannot entertain that thought, John. I simply can’t.

[John]

There are things besides Libertarians and fascists.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

There are things besides Libertarians and fascists.

Like puppies and little girls with ponytails.

But there are only freedom lovers and freedom haters, John. You cannot be both at the same time.

[John]

But you do not have to be a doctrinaire Libertarian to be a freedom lover. You can still believe in things like national sovereignty or local autonomy.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

You can still believe in things like national sovereignty or local autonomy.

You can have all of those things and still be free – sivereignty just means not being beholden to some extranational rule. That’s not what government is about, though. Even at the local level, it is nothing more than an agency for exchanging favors.

[John]

You can have all of those things and still be free

True. But you can’t have all of those things and be a strict Libertarian.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

True. But you can’t have all of those things and be a strict Libertarian.

That’s not true, unless you’re changing what you meant in the middle of the game. You said: national sovereignty or local autonomy. One is nothing more than a shared sentiment. The other means what it means: self-rule. You can always rule yourself and you can always share with your neighbors the sentiment that you’re not going to obey a foreign rule or ruler. How would any of those be inconsistent with libertarianism?

[aelhues]

People don’t consider themselves fascist of course, but in practice, many are. The belief that, left more or less on their own, corporations will run rampant and in a sense enslave us all, is pretty embeded in modern liberal thought. As such, Libertarians are an abomination, because of the support for free enterprise.

[LTC(ret) John]

Excellent – I can be an abomination now! I need to get a T-shirt made that says “Abomination” on the front and “Warning: Libertarian” on the back.

[Restoras]

I’d be willing to bet that if Hitler hadn’t gone all expansionist and exterminationist Germany would still be a fascist country. Snappy uniforms, well ordered and efficient, lots of rules and procedures to follow…

[Spoonman.]

Horribly inefficient, actually.

[Restoras]

Well, yes, but we aren’t talking about the efficient distribution of wealth, we’re talking about the trains running on time! That’s what fascinated and enthralled the first Progressives, the ones that T o n y and Shreek pine away for on a daily basis.

[aelhues]

On the other side, a lot of conservatives are afraid that libertarian rule would allow/encourage rampant social degredation. The streets would flow with drugs and sex. I think the vast majority of the moral right, believe in original sin, or the inherant evilness of the human condition, and left alone, we’d all run towards destruction.

[sarcasmic]

Yet at the same time these same people seem to believe that joining the gang called government somehow elevates one above original sin, and gives them the ability to shepherd the masses without giving in to corruption or lust for power.

[OldMexican]

Re: aelhues,

On the other side, a lot of conservatives are afraid that libertarian rule would allow/encourage rampant social degredation.

That is, they’re facists. Because if their true worry was that more freedom leads to debauchery, then one concludes that they want the government to govern our lives.

[aelhues]

I agree, to some extent with you, and my conservative friends. The difference between me and them, is I don’t think it’s any of the governments business if people want to do a lot of the types of things I find immoral. I believe that it is the role of the church, and the community to positively influence the social moral structure, not to mandate good behavior through law.

“They’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people… better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin’. I aim to misbehave.” CPT Mal Reynolds, Serenity.

[wareagle]

the moral right believes alcoholism and prohibition are the only options, which makes them no different in that respect from the totalitarian left – people are too stupid to decide for themselves and govt must step in.

[aelhues]

I have actually run into a surprising number of pastors, and christians that drink. It’s not nearly as monolithic, as portrayed. Of course I’ve also been scolded for my attitude, because as a christian, I should avoid behavior that causes a brother to stumble. With alcoholism being considered a disease these days, if I drink, I would obviously be causing some hapless person to revert to his sinful ways.

[Jack the Reaper]

Score one for the drinking Christians. After my class at church last night, I barely made it to the liquor store.

I think for most Christians, since we are talking in generalizations, it comes down to the addiction. I can do anything, but not all things are good for me. I can do anything, but I will let nothing master me.

But, like aelhues said, I wouldn’t invite my friend who just got out of rehab over for a drink. It comes down to respecting others. And I don’t think you have to be a Christian to simply not be a dick by tempting someone back into something that you know destroys them.

[VG Zaytsev]

I think the vast majority of the moral right, believe in original sin, or the inherant evilness of the human condition, and left alone, we’d all run towards destruction.

So does the socialist left.

[CampingInYourPark]

“Because very few people are actually Libertarians?”

But they could be, just this one time.

[OldMexican]

Riverside County, Calif., Sheriff’s deputies pepper sprayed and beat a grandfather to death as he waited to pick up his granddaughter from Norco High School, the family claims in court.

The late Dennis Katz’s widow, Ester Katz, and his daughter Tracey Katz sued Riverside County, its Sheriff’s Department, sheriff’s Officer T. Warburg and other unidentified officers, in Superior Court.

The Katzes claim Warburg and others pepper-sprayed and beat Dennis Katz to death on Sept. 22, 2011. He died early the next day. He was 68.

And nothing else happened. Sadly.

[sarcasmic]

Did they get their paid vacations?

Cops gotta get their paid vacations after killing someone!

Did they party in Mexico or Jamaica? Perhaps the Dominican?

[LTC(ret) John]

I wonder, honestly, no snark, how people live with themselves after doing something like this. I know they get told “good shoot” and patted on the back, and the culture of the police is one of ‘us vs. them’ that they can rely on for positive reinforcement…but still.

I know Soldiers who have killed people who were shooting at them, actively trying to kill them, and they still are troubled about it. If you killed Grampa, would you be able to just finish your paid leave and go back to the job without remorse? I just couldn’t.

[sarcasmic]

What is there to be remorseful about? The person obviously brought it upon themselves.

All the person had to do was submit to the officer’s every demand and they would have been fine. Any violence that an officer commits is a result of someone failing to show sufficient respect, failing to obey, or failing to submit. In short, it is always deserved.

It’s not the officers’ fault.

If anything, the officers are the victims here, because of what this grandfather forced them to do.

STOP RESISTING!

[sloopyinca]

That story is horribly scant on details. Apparently, he was parked in the faculty lot to pick up his granddaughter at 7:30 am. The school called 911 because the vehicle was suspicious and the man in it looked like he needed medical assistance. Te paramedics showed up and administered aid to the man, and when they left, the deputies detained him to ask him why he was there. According to the cpos, he exited the vehicle and assaulted the cops, which led them to pepper-spraying him. They took him to the hospital, where he died the next day.

According to the police account, the paramedics would have administered aid to him without getting him out of the car. And nobody asked him who he was or what he was doing there while administering aid, which is a big no-no for paramedics.

This smells pretty fishy.

[Robert]

Thanks for that link. Between it and the one provided by Jerry (from the suit), I’m thoroughly perplexed. Who picks up someone from school at 7:30 AM? Who else witnessed the events? How could the vehicle have been suspicious? At least the AV Times story cleared up how fire dept. personnel were said to have “returned” to the scene in the suit-filing-derived story.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

There is a word for it.

[OldMexican]

Microsoft said on Monday that attackers can exploit the bug in its Internet Explorer, used on hundreds of millions of computers, to infect the PC of somebody who visits a malicious website and then take control of the victim’s computer.

“Don’t let a hacker take control of your computer, and switch to Direct TV”

[SugarFree]

Funniest Human In The World…

Fat girl who lives in a city says rural fat people should live in a city so they will be thinner… asking the questions: How much fucking bigger would she be if she didn’t live in a city and when was it that irony died?

[Auric Demonocles]

On a related note: how fat would you be if you weren’t scared of candy?

[SugarFree]

Since I was a late developing Type I, probably not very fat. I was skinny until my pancreas gave out.

[invisible furry hand]

“Fat people don’t want to feed kids garbage and cut P.E.?that’s our shitty government and taxpayers who care more about war than education.”

My brain hurts from reading that

[John]

That is the great thing about being a 21st Century scold. In the past you couldn’t be a scold unless you actually tried to live as you preached. But that wasn’t fair. Now we allow anyone to be a scold. Sugar Free, she has a right to live in a small apartment with five cats doing nothing but eating bon bons all day. You shouldn’t other her by pretending that this somehow keeps her from being able to look down at the lower races.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Let me be clear, this is Lindy West.

[invisible furry hand]

awww, that’s cute – a special needs columnist

[SugarFree]

They all love cake, but some of them love it more than others.

[RBS]

That’s way worse than the donkey link.

[Fluffy]

That picture was taken by a pizza delivery guy, I bet.

[SugarFree]

Her only friend in the real world.

[LTC(ret) John]

Geez, talk about “physician, heal thyself”…

[Auric Demonocles]

My girlfriend has a business trip to San Antonio next month and I’m tagging along to mooch off the hotel. Any suggestions for things I can do on a Monday-Wednesday there?

[Citizen Nothing]

Remember the Alamo!

[John]

Go up to Gruene Hall. Great Texas beer joint about 30 miles outside the city. If you like old things, do the mission trail. The old missions are pretty cool. The Alamo is actually worth seeing as well. Go have a drink in the Teddy Roosevelt bar at the Menger Hotel. Roosevelt stayed at the hotel while training with the Rough Riders at Fort Sam and used to drink there a lot. It is a really cool bar. If you like amusement parks Six Flags is quite nice and the weather should be good.

And lastly get out of town a bit to either Austin or Lockheart and have real Texas barbeque. You won’t regret it.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

[OldMexican]

Ugh, those pesky tags…

“The Alamo is actually worth seeing as well.”

Yes, but they don’t let you take pics, so forget about taking one of th cool musket they have in exhibition. The bastards!

[Joe Pile]

“Yes, but they don’t let you take pics”

So one has to rely on one’s memory?

[mr simple]

Do they take you to see the basement?

[Emmerson Biggins]

Yes, but they don’t let you take pics

challenge accepted!

looks like you have to get a spy-cam and take pictures without their permission. now you’ve got something to do.

[Auric Demonocles]

So it sounds like I should rent a car?

[John]

Definitely. IT is a car city. If you don’t rent a car you will be stuck at the hotel or whatever is walking distance.

Also check out the King William District. It is an historic district just south of downtown with lots of old houses and fun places.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

First time to Texas?

[Auric Demonocles]

I was briefly in Houston to get on a cruise ship and just took a bus from the airport to the boat.

[Spoonman.]

Beat me to it.

The Riverwalk is very touristy, but as that goes it’s a pretty nice thing.

October is a very nice time in Texas, so outside things like the Mission Trail (which is pretty cool) are a good idea.

[Auric Demonocles]

If you like amusement parks Six Flags is quite nice and the weather should be good.

I do enjoy them, but I’m doubtful that it would be different enough from Six Flags New England to justify using one of my days to do it, when I should probably be doing more Texan things.

[RBS]

I’m sure they have different coasters if you’re into it.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

BBQ and tequila it is, then. Maybe a trip to Shiner.

[Auric Demonocles]

I also enjoy both of those things.

[Gray Ghost]

Shiner is fun for the sheer kitsch of the tour. The giant copper brew kettles are gorgeous. The beer varies from shite to not-very-good. YMMV. It is also a bit of a drive from, well, anywhere really. Google Maps has it at 1’40” from S.A. One way.

If you find yourself out in Luling (you have to go through it to get to Shiner, essentially) or in New Braunfels (ditto for Austin) you owe it to yourself to check out one of the giant Buc-ee’s. To use the bathroom if nothing else.

[T]

A Buc-ee’s is something you should see at least once.

[Kaptious Kristen]

If you go the amusement park route, why not Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels? They invented the master blaster.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Highs are in the upper 90s and lows are in the 50s now. Probably way too cold to keep a water park open.

[Apple]

San Antonio to Lockhart is a bit of a drive for a buisiness trip, at least two hours round trip. But Black’s is great Texas BBQ if you do go. Haven’t tried the others in town yet.

[John]

Kreitz baby Kreitz.

[Gray Ghost]

IMHO, if only Lockhart, then Kreuz for sausage and fatty brisket, Smittys for everything else, Black’s cause they’re just so nice.

Luling City Market is essentially just down the street, and is good too. Decent outlet shopping at the giant complex near San Marcos. (about 45 minutes-ish north of S.A.)

If you’re going to Austin, Franklin BBQ is a must. Try to go during the week. Artz Rib House is good. Ironworks isn’t bad. Uncle Billy’s is worth going to solely for the house-brewed beer (won a Gold at GABF, IIRC). You go to Stubb’s for the concerts, not the food. The drive to the Salt Lick is fun and the chicken is the best thing on the menu. Still BYOB, I think.

As far as beer, I want to say that the Austin breweries (Jester King, Hops and Grain, Circle) only do tours/tastings on Saturday. The Whip In, the Whole Foods flagship, and either of the Central Markets aren’t bad for retail selection. The Draught House, Uncle Billy’s Brew n Que, and Black Star are o.k. to decent for house-brewed beer.

Sounds like fun.

[Gray Ghost]

Oh, and Casino el Camino (sort of goth-themed bar) on 6th Street in Austin used to make one of the best hamburgers in America.

There’s lots to do.

[John]

The brisket at Kreitz is to die for. I hear Franklin is really good. But I haven’t been. I miss Texas. But I don’t think I could take the summers there anymore. God do I hate the heat as I get older.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Artz rib house has/had gone down hill big time, and it is either closed or closing. Don’t go there.

[Gray Ghost]

Did not know that. It had been about 5 years + since I had been there. Kept meaning to go when I visited Austin, but the ice chest was usually filled at the point with stuff from Lockhart, Luling, or Louie Mueller’s in Taylor.

Shame to hear that.

Chowhound’s boards have been decent resources in the past for new restaurants to visit. Is there a link or page, listing the absolutely gargantuan number of food trucks that have sprung up in Austin in the last 4 years? The doughnut trailer on S. Lamar is a personal fave.

[Auric Demonocles]

I’m not on the trip, she is. I’ll have all the free time during the days too.

[John]

Go to the Josephine street grill. My favorite restaurant in San Antonio. Very causal and really good down home food, steaks and such.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, I’d give Austin a shot if you have a big block of time to kill.

[Gray Ghost]

The McNay Museum and the San Antonio Museum of Art aren’t bad. The Mexican food is very good. The RiverWalk is an overpriced ditch. FreeTail Brewing makes some very interesting, weird microbrews.

What John said about the BBQ. Gruene Hall is more of a dancehall joint, but you should still go.

Definitely rent a car.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ass to mouth.

[wareagle]

I hear there is a river.

[R C Dean]

I would suggest avoiding the Riverwalk.

Texas Monthly’s restaurant reviews are actually pretty good, if you’re researching places to eat.

Visit some of the old Spanish missions outside of SA. Very interesting stuff.

And, yes, you should visit the Alamo, just so you can say you did. You will be astonished at how tiny it is.

[Auric Demonocles]

I would suggest avoiding the Riverwalk.

Why is that?

[T]

It’s a tourist trap. Think outdoor mall.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I’d suggest going. You’re not going to find the best restaurants or bars there, but it’s a reasonable way to kill some time and has a lot of shade.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am currently peeling from a sunburn from the Pats game this weekend.

[db]

You might accidentally stumble upon a convention of nurses from Wisconsin bent on showing their tits in a bar to anyone. True story.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Conversely, you might run into a convention of teachers from Chicago bent on showing their tits in a bar to anyone. Be warned.

[R C Dean]

Go once, I suppose, but there are a lot more interesting things to do around San Antonio.

[Emmerson Biggins]

It is definitely a 100% tourist trap. But, as long as you can enjoy wandering around and drinking a few over priced ritas, I’d still say you should do it. Then the next day you might feel like driving somewhere.

[Spoonman.]

Nobody’s suggested New Braunfels yet, which if you’re into German food apparently has some pretty good stuff.

Again, you need a car for all of this stuff, and for doing basically anything in Texas.

[Auric Demonocles]

Again, you need a car for all of this stuff

For once I’m disappointed about still being under 25.

[Spoonman.]

It is very annoying on business trips when I can’t drive the car we rent.

[Auric Demonocles]

I haven’t run into being unable to rent yet, I’ve just had to pay a young driver fee.

[generic Brand]

So the young libertarians DO exist! Here I thought I was the only one 25 and under on this site. Are you both fortunate enough to be dating like-minded women, or are you too forced into avoiding conversations that have any substance because your girlfriend is a nurse and thinks the drug war is perfectly okay and libertarian ideas are impractical (hypothetically speaking, of course)?

[Auric Demonocles]

I avoid conversations about politics as a matter of course.

It’s well established that spoony and I are young. I believe AuH20 is as well.

[Spoonman.]

My wife is a congenital but not at all enthusiastic Democrat.

We passed by somebody with pictures of Barry in the windows of their home a few months ago and she said “Why?”.

[sloopyinca]

Spoonman, why is your wife a racist?

[Auric Demonocles]

He hasn’t beat it out of her yet.

[Virginian]

23. Let’s laugh at the old people.

Actually my car was in the shop last year about this time, and they gave me a Dodge Challenger to drive. Didn’t even ask how old I was.

[Lord Humungus]

Bernanke: A Reverse Robin Hood in Middle Class Clothing
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/…..aspx#page1

Who is expected to gain confidence from rising share prices? Presumably the dreaded one-percenters — the most likely group to personally own stocks. Or maybe we should expand that to the ten-percenters, who, according to the Economic Policy Institute, own 81 percent of our stock market. If we are counting on those folks to hike outlays for homes and automobiles ? wouldn’t it also argue against whacking that same group with higher taxes? Moreover, isn’t this the same “trickle-down” theory that the Left has so categorically rejected?

No one knows how the gigantic explosion in the Fed’s balance sheet will be unwound. Bernanke hasn’t explained how he will extricate the bank from its outsized presence in the financial markets, perhaps because he has no idea. A report just out from Bank of America predicts the Fed will own more than one third of the entire mortgage market and two thirds of all long-term government bonds by the end of 2014. That’s one heck of a lot of unwinding.

[R C Dean]

No one knows how the gigantic explosion in the Fed’s balance sheet will be unwound.

It won’t be. Its currency debasement, straight up. No exit.

Scary fact: The various QE programs have (or will, in short order) actually moved entire asset classes into the Fed’s balance sheet. For example, there is actually relatively little short term Treasury debt still out there for the Fed to convert to long-term debt under QE2 (“Twist”), which, by the way, is still going on and will until there is literally none (other than newly issued debt, which the Fed will probably hoover up in its ongoing debt monetization program).

QE3, BTW, involves mostly purchases of CMOs from the “primary dealer” banks who attend Treasury auctions. The cash they get from QE3 will be recycled into Treasuries, making this little more than an amateurish money laundering operation in the service of debt monetization. The total of QE2 and QE3, by an amazing coincidence, just happens to equal the projected deficit. Debt monetization, straight up.

[Lord Humungus]

you always cheer me up, RC Dean.

*fumbles for noose*
*looks for rafter*

[Restoras]

No no, you just need to stock up on ammo for your .44 Magnum. I’d ditch the fancy case though.

[Spoonman.]

I own stocks, but only as a way to keep up with inflation while building up the cushion my wife and I decided we want before having kids.

In other words, higher stock prices aren’t going to make us replace our car earlier or something like that.

[OldMexican]

Re: Spoonman,

I own stocks, but only as a way to keep up with inflation while building up the cushion my wife and I decided we want before having kids.

That would mean this world will never get to hear the pitter-patter of little Spoonmans…

Not unless your plan B reads like The Grapes of Wrath…

[Spoonman.]

Nah, my entire salary goes into savings while we run off of my wife’s, so we’re getting there pretty fast.

[sloopyinca]

Anything goes when it comes to ho’s
Because pimpin’ ain’t easy!

-BDK

[Loki]

Really, why is Gary Johnson not soaring in the polls?

Something somethig… two party system… mumble mumble… throw your vote away… [indistinct]… don’t vote for someone who can’t win…

Short version: because 99% of the electorate are dipshits.

[sloopyinca]

If you get caught stealing things, I guess you can avoid prosecution if you just quit your job.*

Of course, this doesn’t apply to you peons; only to the ruling class.

[generic Brand]

How drunk do you have to be to search these stories out? I tried reading the comments on the “professional courtesy” post yesterday and couldn’t work the rest of the day because I was too depressed.

[sloopyinca]

I guess I figure somebody has to do it or it will be forgotten.

I just hope one person a day shares one of these stories on FB or e-mails it to a friend. It’s honestly the only way there will ever be a change in the neverending march toward a police state.

[John]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/…..FnKqKDdkVh

Comparing Obama to Roosevelt. I love this part

The second Roosevelt term was so dismal that many New Deal historians glossed over it or avoided it altogether.

Schlesinger’s first three volumes of “The Age of Roosevelt” were best-sellers. The third, running up to the 1936 election, was published in 1960. Schlesinger lived 47 more years, active to the end. In that time he wrote numerous books and probably millions of words of beautiful prose.

But he never got around to Roosevelt’s second term. The reason, I suspect, is that he found the subject depressing, at least up until 1940 when Roosevelt rallied to aid Churchill’s Britain at a time of world crisis

[Red Rocks Rockin]

As I’ve pointed out before, Schlesinger is the most overrated “historian” of the 20th Century. He’s basically a Democrat version of Goebbels without the Jew-killing.

[Loki]

Remember, womyn never lie about rape, all hetersexual sex is rape, yadda, yadda.

[OldMexican]

One of the comments:

She was a women [sic] of her time, encouraged by society to behave in the way she did with the three men, when she looked back at her behaviour, did she not feel ashamed knowing it had demeaned her, or that it was just plainly wrong. Had the people who encouraged,[sic] formed this society the liberal/left/feminists been in that dock, that young woman would never have been in this situation.
– Jack , Westmorland, 19/9/2012 10:53

Yeah, I didn’t get his point either.

[Loki]

“Now who can argue with that? I think we’re all indebted to [Jack from Westmorland] for clearly stating what needed to be said. I’m particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic frontier gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age.”

[Matrix]

Two years is not enough. She should get the same penalty those three men would have gotten if they were convicted of her rape.

[Randian]

I think that our charge of “Obstruction of Justice” needs to be changed to the British version (“Perverting the Course of Justice”). Sounds much better.

[Michael]

The German government is publicly urging people to ditch Internet Explorer, because it’s a piece of crap.

I don’t get this. The article linked clearly states that the warning was issued in response to a known bug which a patch is currently in the works for. All software is subject to bugs throughout its life cycle. IE is by no means the best browser available in terms of cool features like Chrome or Opera, but I’ve found it to be one of the most stable since version 8. The Microsoft derision seems to be going full throttle lately. Is this due to the nineties being back and whatnot?

[sloopyinca]

OK, I have to laugh at this one. The DA is lamenting the fact that defendants in drug possession cases are going to want new trials and or their cases to be thrown out because the custodian of the evidence room, a cop, had been stealing it because he was a drug addict.

FTA (emphasis mine): “Because of his problem, every defense counsel wants to say, ‘Oh, everything is tainted. Everything has got to go. I need either a new trial or I need a plea far below what your guidelines would ordinarily give me,'” Clark said.

Clark added that he believes the revelation will lead only to a few, if any, reversals of a conviction. He added that, to the extent any evidence may have been tainted, the district attorney’s office often can secure convictions without the evidence.

Soooo, the cop has a “problem,” but those defendants are criminals. And they can get convictions without evidence of the crime being committed? What the fuck?

The officer resigned but has not been charged in the crime he has already confessed to.

[Fatty Bolger]

We can’t let all those druggies be as free as the druggie cop who used all their drugs! That would be ANARCHY!

[LTC(ret) John]

That DA should be horsewhipped, naked through the streets, alongside the cop.

I am glad I worked for a State’s Attorney that has some f%$#ing integrity.

[R C Dean]

How the fuck do they get convictions for possession without being able to produce that which they claim was possessed?

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we accuse the defendant of possessing 2 kilos of cocaine. We don’t actually have the alleged cocaine, but that shouldn’t create reasonable doubt in your minds. Trust us!”

[sarcasmic]

He wouldn’t have been an addict if not for all the drug users getting busted and putting evidence where he could be tempted to take it.

If anything those drug users who provided the temptation should be further punished for the hardship they have caused this poor officer.

Oh, and STOP RESISTING!

[Auric Demonocles]

Drug use can harm your body. Therefore it was assault on a police officer. See, they are violent offenders!

[np]

Yes to EU and/or Shengen, No to Euro:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49060078

[The Late P Brooks]

But there are only freedom lovers and freedom haters, John. You cannot be both at the same time.

Nonsense. There are plenty of people out there in the “Freedom for me, slavery for thee” camp.

[OldMexican]

Mom pictured in a Time Magazine cover breastfeeding her toddler is angry at Time for trivializing her parenting choices

Jamie Lynne Grumet, who posed on the cover of TIME breastfeeding her three-and-a-half-year-old son has slammed the magazine for its portrayal of her, and attachment parenting.

The mother of two, 26, from Los Angeles, told ABC News: ‘My intentions were to help relieve the stigma attached to breast feeding past infancy, but the photo I saw wasn’t the one that we were trying to pose for. It made me really, really sad’.
Mrs Grumet explained that the cover image was an ‘outtake’ from the shoot, which when placed alongside the words ‘Are You Mom Enough?’ looked ‘confrontational and detached.’

That’s the exact feeling I had when I was looking at the magazine in the can… I, I mean, at Barnes and Noble.

[DEG]

Kim Jong Il’s chef returns to North Korea.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/19/…..?hpt=hp_c2

[OldMexican]

Nobody else wanted to taste his food.

[The Late P Brooks]

to the extent any evidence may have been tainted, the district attorney’s office often can secure convictions without the evidence.

It’s easy, when the testimony of the arresting officer is treated exactly as if the Burning Bush is on the witness stand.

[Auric Demonocles]

Just made me think of the second to last episode of Arrested Development, which I watched last night.

[Alack]

Too lazy to see if it’s been posted yet, but here is U Didn’t Build That by MC ‘Bama.

[invisible furry hand]

Good news for many of the more, er, unusual HyR commentators

Sexual Arousal May Help Women Ignore the Yuck Factor

[Alack]

So the more turned on you are, the more likely you are to do something you’ll regret when looking at it coolly and rationally. Doesn’t that mean that getting a girl in the mood actually increases the chance of a statutory rape accusation?

[Fluffy]

Kind of a random post here, but over the last couple of nights a mystery has been cleared up for me.

I’ve been wondering for a while, “Why don’t I like any TV now? Why are there these series that lots of people love, but they just bore me and I can’t get into them?”

I don’t wonder that now, because this week Encore is showing the 1980 Shogun miniseries, 90 minutes a night.

And the answer to my question is, “You like TV less now because writers, directors, actors, and casting directors all suck now, and they used to be much better at their jobs.”

The answer is always obvious once you see it.

[John]

Watch a show like The Big Bang Theory, which is actually pretty good by today’s standards, and then watch a classic like Mary Tyler Moore or Mash immediately after. Your brain will cramp from how much smarter and more adult the old dialog is.

[Fluffy]

Even a seemingly minor thing like the casting director makes a huge difference.

Somewhere along the line TV execs became convinced that people will only watch their shows if everyone on them looks like an Abercrombie and Fitch model.

But I hate those shows because I can’t tell the characters apart. Or, more precisely, it takes too long for me to learn the minor differences that are supposed to let me tell the characters apart, and I get bored long before I watch that long.

The Shogun casting director employed some ugly people. That makes it easy to start watching and say, “OK, the really good looking guy is Richard Chamberlain. And, and here’s that ugly guy who’s part of his crew. Oh, and there’s that old and ugly guy who’s the priest he meets in Japanese Hell Jail. Oh, and there’s John Rhys Davies, he’s ugly so I can recognize him, too!” I can tell the characters apart because they don’t all look exactly the same! What a concept!

[John]

That is a good point. A few years ago a good friend of mine and I were watching the old 80s movie “My Body Guard” on cable. It was made in like 80 or 81 and is about the kid who is getting beat up all of the time hires the big scary kid to protect him. And we noticed that other than Matt Dylan, who had obvious movie star good looks, all of the kids in that movie looked like average kids. There were homely ones and fat ones and plain ones. It made the movie believable. You felt like you were watching a real high school class. Now they would all look like JCrew or A and F models. And it makes the shows much less believable or compelling.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Absolutely! Give me the Jeffersons or Sanford and Son any day…(unfortunately, networks censor them in syndication nowadays, so the humor is not as transgressive and thus not as funny.)

[RBS]

Get off my lawn!

[John]

What is funny about those shows is how fearless and subversive they were by today’s standards.

[sarcasmic]

Tolerant people do not tolerate intolerance, therefore those shows should be banned in the name of tolerance!

[Cdr Lytton]

Even the trashy shows show the difference. Take the original Dallas and the remake/continuation/next generation/whatever. 80’s Dallas had adults acting like adults (as much as any did in a soap). The new one is all about the pretty twenty year olds acting like kids. Terrible.

[edcoast]

Trite, full of cliches, and overacted, but I’ve been watching old Miami Vices on Hulu lately and remembering what a breathtaking breakthrough that show was.