A.M. Links: Former Senator Specter Dead, Americans With Nobel Prize in Economics, Pakistani Girl Shot By Taliban in UK for Treatment, Houston a Cash Cow For Obama and Romney, Endeavor Reaches its Final Destination, Bernanke Defends Easy Money Policy

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  • Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
  • Two Americans, Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley, have won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their "theory of stable allocations and market design".
  • Malala Yousafzai, the-14 year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban, has been flown to the UK for treatment.
  • Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has defended the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures. Brazil has said that American monetary easing has hurt emerging economies. 
  • Houston is proving to be a source of fundraising success for both Obama and Romney. The GOP nominee raised nearly twice as much as the President, who secured more donations in the greater Houston area. 

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Matthew Feeney is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

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  1. Malala Yousafzai, the-14 year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban, has been flown to the UK for treatment.

    Too late to be in the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics.

    1. wareagle

      when the NHS is a step up from your local health care system, that could be a sign.

    2. Rich

      She’s not going to jumping up and down anytime soon. 8-(

  2. Shut up and play nice: How the Western world is limiting free speech
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html

    In the face of the violence that frequently results from anti-religious expression, some world leaders seem to be losing their patience with free speech. After a video called “Innocence of Muslims” appeared on YouTube and sparked violent protests in several Muslim nations last month, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned that “when some people use this freedom of expression to provoke or humiliate some others’ values and beliefs, then this cannot be protected.”

    1. wareagle

      but the UN Sec-Gen never thought it might be worthwhile to say violence is one’s words is simply not acceptable among civilized nations, did he? It’s like people don’t get what free speech means.

    2. The presidential candidates need to tell Ban to go to hell.

      1. wareagle

        even the one who seems to agree with Ban?

        1. Oh, I know neither of the TEAM BE RULED candidates will say it.

    3. Jerry on the road

      Muslims protest ‘age of mockery’ as thousands descend on Google HQ:

      A protest by 10,000 Muslims outside the offices of Google in London today is just the first in an orchestrated attempt to force the company to remove an anti-Islamic film from website YouTube in Britain.

      Thousands had travelled from as far afield as Glasgow to take part in the demonstration, ahead of a planned million-strong march in Hyde Park in coming weeks.

      1. Heroic Mulatto

        All across the Muslim world newspapers daily publish the most vile anti-Semitic editorial cartoons in their Op-Ed sections. Yet, no protests.

        The silence is deafening.

        1. Groovus Maximus

          Yes, where is Tulpy-kins right about now to decry this?

        2. The Hammer

          I don’t get it. Why is Mel Brooks sitting on Joe Biden’s hat? Needs subtitles. And a few labels.

      2. Entropy Void

        Malala Yousafzai, the-14 year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban, has been flown to the UK for treatment.

        Great place for her to be … wonder if the hospital is anywhere near Google’s HQ?

    4. Silver Fox

      Your censorious words offend me, Mr Ki-moon.

      So please shut up and never talk again.

      Thank you.

      1. Zeb

        Mr. Ban. They do it backwards in Korea.

        1. Silver Fox

          Oh right. Silly me.

          Sentiment still stands.

        2. Numeromancer

          I think “Mr Ban” is the best way to address him, whatever his name is.

    5. Rich

      Ironically, while some religious organizations are pushing blasphemy laws, religious individuals are increasingly targeted under anti-discrimination laws for their criticism of homosexuals and other groups.

      “Ironically”?

      1. Me today, you tomorrow.

        Isn’t there a law made out of ytterbium or something about this?

        1. Rich

          Oh, I know the Iron Law.

          This just seems consistent with the whole emerging “Right to not be offended” religion.

    6. Night Elf Mohawk

      When U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dismisses freedom of speech, he is humiliating my values and beliefs.

      1. Killazontherun

        If free speech advocates were as violent as Muslim exclusivity rights advocates, he would be more sensitive to your feelings.

  3. Enough About Palin

    “Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are,” an exuberant Baumgartner told reporters outside mission control after the jump.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s…..4-11-33-29

    1. Matrix

      that dude is awesome.

    2. Quetzalcoatl

      Thanks, I almost lost my coffee.

    3. He should have popped open a Mountain Dew halfway down.

      1. Quetzalcoatl

        It was already sponsored by Red Bull.

        1. Silver Fox

          Red Bull gave this dude wings.

        2. Which would have made it even more badass!

    4. Raven Nation

      I think this was the biggest event of the last week or so. Screw the debates, MLB playoffs etc. This was freaking unbelievable.

      1. Enough About Palin

        ^^THIS^^

      2. I thought it was pretty cool, but I didn’t run to my fridge and grab a bottle of champagne when it happened.

        Seeing Jeter break his ankle after watching A-Roid go down with the bases loaded twice and get pinch-hit for, on the other hand…

        1. Red Rocks Rockin

          Every time the Yank-Mes lose, and angel gets its wings.

          1. If someone were so inclined, this would be the perfect place for a Nick Adenhart joke.

            Good thing I’m not classless enough to make one.

        2. Virginian

          It’s sports balance. See, I must be miserable. If the Redskins win big, RG3 being a beast, then the Yankees must lose all hope of winning the ALCS in the same weekend.

          Cosmic balance.

  4. Enough About Palin

    Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released… and here is the chart to prove it
    The figures reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012 there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures
    This means that the ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci…..z29N97vcRU
    Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

    1. DJF

      Good thing they stopped calling it Global Warming and started calling it Climate Change.

    2. Drax the Destroyer

      BLASPHEMY! KILL THE HERETIC. KILL IT!!!! KILL ITTTTITTTUTOIOUT*(()*U(U(*DKJHSSSSSSSS RARRAGHAGHGHAGHA RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    3. But 2011 was the hottest year ever recorded.

      1. So? I am always told that analyzing GW means you don’t look at the weather for a particular year as evidence.

        1. Ice Nine

          Not if it’s a “cold” one.

          1. Quetzalcoatl

            A one that is not cold is scarcely a one at all.

            1. The Hammer

              *Slow clap*

      2. Restoras

        You doofus, weather isn’t climate. Except when it is.

      3. Silver Fox

        And come 2013 we’ll be told 2012 was the hottest on record.

        And so on and so forth lather rinse repeat.

    4. robc

      Others disagreed. Professor Judith Curry, who is the head of the climate science department at America’s prestigious Georgia Tech university, told The Mail on Sunday that it was clear that the computer models used to predict future warming were ‘deeply flawed’.

      Daily Mail, you just made the list. And you dont want to be on my list.

      1. wareagle

        good thing they didn’t talk to the guy at decidedly unprestigious UA/Huntsville. Maybe both sides should just admit that hyper-reliance on computer models that can only spit out results on the basis of the data fed into them is not exactly empirical evidence of anything.

      2. T

        Look, they called y’all prestigious. Take the win. You can’t expect limeys to understand proper names.

        1. robc

          Speaking of which, we play Boston College this weekend, so Im gonna go ahead and predict the AFLAC trivia question (although we arent playing on a network that does that, but still).

          The answer is 5 — GT, BC, AFA, Army, Navy.

          1. Brett L

            What are “Nation Championship winners without the word ‘University’ in their name”?

            1. robc

              FBS teams without University in their name.

              1. Brett L

                Yeah. I’ll be the AFA never won.

          2. “Name five football programs that are no longer relevant but still get time on TV.”

            1. robc

              Notre Dame, Florida St and Miami werent on that list.

              1. Brett L

                Texas.

            2. Red Rocks Rockin

              AFA might not be relevant on the national scene, but their offense is fun as hell to watch. I like that they use multiple formations for their triple option as opposed to the same old flexbone look all the time.

      3. Brett L

        They just don’t understand our ‘Murcan slang. Now if MIT was referred to as Mass Tech, they’d figure it out.

        1. robc

          To be fair, which I have no interest in being, Virginia Tech, Louisiana Tech and Texas Tech all have University in their name.

          1. Zeb

            Just be glad they didn’t call you a GIT.

        2. Rasilio

          They couldn’t be because there used to actually be a Mass Tech, which later merged with a nursing college down the street to become the University of Lowell and then later got absorbed into the UMASS system and is now UMass Lowell.

          But I didn’t go there or anything 🙂

    5. Numeromancer

      This report cannot be protected as “free speech”.

      — U.N.

  5. Testosterone Increases Honesty, Study Suggests
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/re…..172212.htm

    Testosterone is considered THE male hormone, standing for aggression and posturing. Researchers working with Dr. Armin Falk, an economist from the University of Bonn, have now demonstrated that this sex hormone surprisingly also fosters social behavior. In play situations, subjects who had received testosterone clearly lied less frequently than individuals who had only received a placebo.

    1. So they’re saying women are lying bitches? Didn’t everybody know this already?

      1. WTF

        So they’re saying women are lying bitches? Didn’t everybody know this already?

        But it’s good to have a study to back it up.

        1. Try dialing down the sexism a bit there, Captain Caveman.

          1. Truth is not sexist.

            1. True. Too bad all you’re doing is being a dick.

              1. Heroic Mulatto

                Too bad all you’re doing is being a dick.

                Well, according to the study….

          2. WTF

            Well, that’s the good thing about empirical evidence such as this, it can’t be blithely dismissed as ‘sexist’. Facts are facts, after all.

            1. SCIENCE!

            2. Calling half the population ‘lying bitches’ isn’t science, you brain-dead mouth-breather.

              1. robc

                Is Randian trying to prove that objectivists dont have a sense of humor?

                Dont worry, we already know that.

                1. The Hammer

                  A sense of humor is for the takers!!!!!

                2. Is Randian trying to prove that objectivists dont have a sense of humor?

                  Yes, ‘lying bitches’ is fall down hilarious.

                  1. Francisco d Anconia

                    Are you mad bro?

                3. JW

                  Is Randian trying to prove that objectivists dont have a sense of humor?

                  THAT’S NOT FUNNY!

            3. kbolino

              The funny thing about empirical evidence, though, is that few people actually understand it. In this case, for example, the paper itself is titled “Testosterone Administration Reduces Lying in Men“. Women were not tested, so no statement about women can be made.

              1. Killazontherun

                swoosh

                1. kbolino

                  Eh, hit some, miss some.

          3. Brett L

            Is your girlfriend reading over your shoulder?

    2. Quetzalcoatl

      Funny how, as an athelete’s testosterone increases, their tendency to tell the truth decreases.

    3. Ice Nine

      So testosterone produces horniness and honesty? That’s a really dirty trick by Mother Nature.

      1. Brett L

        And why all the gods of alcohol are male.

        1. +1 amphora of wine, +2 horns of mead.

  6. The space shuttle Endeavor has reached its final destination, the California Science Center.

    I hope its engines have been brought up to the Golden State’s emission control standards.

    1. DJF

      They don’t even get the real engines, NASA has them so they can put them on their new multibillion dollar SLS rocket.

      1. They’re going to be sorry when Endeavor is pressed into emergency service taking Bruce Willis and Liv Tyler’s boyfriend up to space!

        1. Silver Fox

          Naw it’s in the right place for when the Mayan Apocalypse arrives.

  7. What Psychopaths Teach Us about How to Succeed
    http://www.scientificamerican……to-succeed

    Psychopaths are fearless, confident, charismatic, ruthless and focused. Yet, contrary to popular belief, they are not necessarily violent. Far from its being an open-and-shut case?you’re either a psychopath or you’re not?there are, instead, inner and outer zones of the disorder: a bit like the fare zones on a subway map. There is a spectrum of psychopathy along which each of us has our place, with only a small minority of A-listers resident in the “inner city.”

    1. Psychopaths are fearless, confident, charismatic, ruthless and focused. Yet, contrary to popular belief, they are not necessarily violent.

      Such people are called “politicians”.

      1. ant1sthenes

        I wish. Sounds more like heroes. Or anti-heroes, at least.

      2. Raven Nation

        “This, Bart, is a crazy person.”

  8. sarcasmic

    NYPD caught on camera beating the shit out of someone again. Will anything else happen?
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..enter.html

    1. wareagle

      the fact that you pull this from a British paper is a good answer to your question.

  9. Bee Tagger

    Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has defended the Federal Reserve’s stimulus measures. Brazil has said that American monetary easing has hurt emerging economies.

    Then, according to the anti-China presidential ads I’ve been seeing, job well done according to Romeny and Obama.

  10. sarcasmic

    Goldie Hawn is not aging well.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..-site.html

    1. Rich

      “Call me ‘Snake’.”

      1. Francisco d Anconia

        The name’s Plissken.

        1. Trespassers W

          I thought he was dead?!

    2. Groovus Maximus

      Meh. I never thought she was that comely anyway. Besides, Kurt seems pretty happy sleeping with her, and certainly saves me the trouble of doing so.

      1. Francisco d Anconia

        When 61 years you reach, look as good you will not…uhm?

        1. When I reach 61, I don’t think Kurt Russell will want to sleep with me, no.

        2. Groovus Maximus

          Still perturbed about that “mythical Dune theatrical release” crack, eh? -)))

          Besides, she is showing the effects of decreased estrogen and increased testosterone production. Not my fault she is fighting it with some help from the surgeon’s scalpel and it is ultimately making it worse. -)

          1. Numeromancer

            Is she becoming more honest?

        3. MP

          She’s 67. I know that 65 is the new 55, but I’m still impressed by anyone who is active at that age.

          1. Francisco d Anconia

            You are right. The 61 referred to KR.

            1. Groovus Maximus

              Ah, nope, I don’t look nearly as good as KR does now, and I’m quite a few years his junior, and kudos to both of them being as active as they are. But this is Snake Plissken we are talking about here, and I could never aspire to his general level of bad-assery and all-around aweseomness.

  11. sarcasmic

    Bar Refaeli remains the sexiest woman on the fucking planet!
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..ocess.html

    1. DemosTheKnees

      Careful. George Costanza will take your job.

    2. Killazontherun

      Close pals: The former flame of Leonardo DiCaprio also posted a snap of her posing with some of her friends

      Let’s put on some bikinis and go to the beach!

      Bar, I had this form obscuring sun dress in mind. Especially now that I’m going there with you.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    “theory of stable allocations and market design”.

    Top Men?

    1. sarcasmic

      That’s what I was thinking.

    2. Rich

      Wonder if Ben, Tim, or Kruggie’ll have anything to say.

    3. Jerry on the road

      What does “market design” even mean? You don’t design markets, they just are.

      1. Rich

        Well, it’s a good market design to display candy at the checkout.

        1. Silver Fox

          Not if you’re the parent of a five-year-old.

          1. Zeb

            Why wouldn’t the parent of a 5 year old want to sell more candy at their store?

            1. Silver Fox

              Parent buying at the store: source of aggravation.

              Parent who owns the store: source of amusement.

  13. sarcasmic

    Dude turns 727 into home. Word on the street is that he gives everyone a good TSA-style groping before letting them in.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..woods.html

    1. Groovus Maximus

      And the fees for carry-on baggage is positively usurious, not to mention the duty on BYOB…

    2. Quetzalcoatl

      With a name like Bruce Campbell, you have certain expectations to uphold.

    3. Atanarjuat

      That’s definitely set up as a guy’s living area. It would look way different if he were married.

  14. Brazil has said that American monetary easing has hurt emerging economies.

    Also established economies that are on their way down.

    1. “Loose” dollars should be easier to obtain by their twisted logic.

      1. The Hammer

        Bernanke is doing the exact same thing that people like you are accusing China of cheating for doing, you contemptible little taint.

  15. York: GOP hopes soar as Romney rolls in Ohio
    http://washingtonexaminer.com/…..le/2510719

    Danielle Low, a 22 year-old preschool teacher in Lebanon, is the quintessential Romney target voter. “I think President Obama tricked me into voting for him,” Low continued in an impromptu discussion that could have doubled as a Romney ad. “I feel like he lied to me. He made promises he couldn’t keep. He played on my young emotions. He played on me because I was young and na?ve. I didn’t know anything about the world. I believed that he was going to give us a change. I just feel like he made a lot of promises — there’s no way he followed through with them. I haven’t seen any change. I’ve seen change for the worse, not change for the better. So I hope Mitt Romney can carry us through the next four years.”

    1. Drax the Destroyer

      And what? Romney isn’t tricking her into voting for him?

      What a dumb bitch.

      1. As we learned above, women lie like crazy.

        1. The Hammer

          Linking to the same thread. Meta.

      2. Francisco d Anconia

        Perhaps, after getting fucked over by a Republican next time, she’ll actually figure it all out.

        1. Ptah-Hotep

          Perhaps, after getting fucked over by a Republican next time, she’ll actually figure it all out.

          Of course she will. She will vote D to “punish” the Rs. And then R to “punish” the Ds. Ad nauseum.

    2. NoVAHockey

      the story indicates that since 2008 she got married and has a kid now. and wants to buy a house. different perspective.

      1. Brett L

        Exactly. Its okay to vote stupid in your first Presidential election. The nation can absorb that. Persisting in doing so is unforgivable.

        1. T

          3 generations of democrats is enough?

  16. The Late P Brooks

    subjects who had received testosterone clearly lied less frequently than individuals who had only received a placebo.

    “Yes. That dress does make you look fat.”

    1. Bee Tagger

      “But yes, I’ll still have sex with you”

      1. T

        No, dumbass, the followup line is “You’d look a lot better if you took it off.”

  17. The GOP nominee raised nearly twice as much as the President, who secured more donations in the greater Houston area.

    Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.

    1. Obama is picking up big donors in Houston in the natural gas business.

      1. Bee Tagger

        Is that a fart joke?

        1. Its a cronyism joke – on us. Warring on coal has lead some of the gas folks to double down on the competition supressor.

      2. Restoras

        Same people are probably donating to Romney – to hedge their bets.

  18. Groovus Maximus

    Malala Yousafzai, the-14 year-old girl shot in the head by the Taliban, has been flown to the UK for treatment.

    What a diabolical plan: Let the NHS finish the job that at which the Taliban could not succeed!

    Poor girl. Remarkable that she survived.

    1. Drax the Destroyer

      I can’t wait to see what they do to her teeth. You know, because it’s all for “free.”

  19. What phrases commonly used today are derived from obsolete technologies?
    http://vaviper.blogspot.com/20…..y-are.html

    Slush Fund – A slushy slurry of fat was obtained by boiling or scraping the empty salted meat storage barrels. This stuff called “slush” was often sold ashore by the ship’s cook for the benefit of himself or the crew. The money so derived became known as a slush fund.

    etc etc

    1. mr simple

      I would like to see some sources for her postulations. I have heard different origins for some of these terms.

  20. George Will: Too big to maintain?
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html

    There are 6,000 American banks, but “half of the entire banking industry’s assets” are concentrated in five institutions whose combined assets amount to almost 60 percent of the gross domestic product. And “the top 10 banks now account for 61 percent of commercial banking assets, substantially more than the 26 percent of only 20 years ago.” The problems posed by “supersized and hypercomplex banks” may, Fisher says, require anti-obesity policies equivalent to “irreversible lap-band or gastric bypass surgery.” The land of TBTFs is “a perverse financial Lake Wobegon” where all crises are “exceptional,” justifying “unique” solutions that are the same ? meaning bailouts. This incurs “the wrath of ordinary citizens and smaller entities that resent this favorable treatment, and we plant the seeds of social unrest.”

    1. I agree. George Will is too big to maintain.

      And on the plus side, fewer wheezy articles about baseball.

    2. robc

      If we had let them fail, they wouldnt still be that big.

  21. Bardas Phocas

    Latest Obama election video includes a monkey and fisting.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2HSo3yywDU

    …cuz that’s what the kids are into these days.

    1. Francisco d Anconia

      Please…don’t ever post anything like that again. I beg of you.

    2. Atanarjuat

      It also hints at male bisexuality. The banana is obviously a phallic symbol, since there are two nuts sitting by its base. At 2:18 her love interest/Uncle Obama is shown eating the banana.

  22. OT: Driving down 275 on Saturday, I saw this:
    http://imageplay.net/img/tya22288475/miata.jpg

    It’s a physics exam question.

    1. Drax the Destroyer

      The actual physics conundrum is: How can people in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Michigan afford to drive at all? Solve that problem, and we’ll have time-traveling free-hooker technology. As Satan intended.

    2. The car in front was braking hard, resulting in a torque that caused the rear to lift.

      The car in back was going much faster and also started braking. The same torque that lifts the rear causes the nose to dip.

      The result, the nose slides under the rear bumper of the car in front.

      1. well yes – but the timing must have been perfect, especially for two low riding cars.

      2. SugarFree

        Goddamn, that is hot.

    3. BigT

      Ann Arbor loves back-side attack!

    4. Rich

      Good thing the cop didn’t see you taking the photo interfering in police business.

    5. robc

      Its Michigan. Yankees cant drive worth fuck.

      1. Quetzalcoatl

        Hahaha, so is Ohio the Deep South or something?

        1. robc

          Ohio is possibly the worst driving state in the universe.

          WILL YOU FUCKERS GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE LEFT LANE WHILE DRIVING AT THE SPEED LIMIT.

          I dont right side pass, I hate doing it. Out of desperation, I will eventually, but I always give the person more than reasonable time to get over. Exception: I dont even wait on Ohio plates any more, if you are in the left land and I come up behind you, Im passing you on the right and flipping you off*. For existing.

          *okay, I generally dont do this last part. Just once.

          1. Quetzalcoatl

            Yeah. I guess you’re right about Michiganders then, because I generally pass on the right without a second thought. Though driving through Ohio (where the police LOVE to bust a Michigan plate) taught me to get over into the right lane whenever it’s clear.

            1. robc

              I think Ohio police are the problem. Ohio drivers think it works the same way further south.

              All I know is they clog up I-65 driving 65 in the left lane.

          2. Brett L

            Oh, see. In that situation, I like to practice my NASCAR drafting.

            1. db

              High beams blinked sometimes works. I always give them a chance to move over like civilized beings but if they don’t take the hint, I drop a gear or two and burn past them on the right.

      2. Heroic Mulatto

        Yankees cant drive worth fuck.

        Oh please, I’d like to see your hayseed ass take on rush-hour in Hartford, Conn.

        That NASCAR shit doesn’t work in places that are actually populated.

        1. robc

          I didnt say southerners can drive either.

          But my statement stands.

          And Ive seen the NASCAR shit done on Atlanta interstates during rush hour.

          Shall we compare the relative populations of Atlanta to Hartford?

          Hell, the Louisville MSA is slightly larger than Hartford (2010 census: 1,283,566 vs 1,212,381).

          Does Hartford even qualify as a city? Isnt the cutoff 1.25M?

          1. Heroic Mulatto

            You ignore that Hartford is part of the larger NYC metro area and that people commute from Hartford to NYC everyday (which causes said traffic).

            1. robc

              Hartford is its own MSA.

              It isnt part of the NYC CSA either.

              Bridgeport, New Haven and Torrington are part of the NYC CSA, but Hartford has its own CSA (In addition to the Harford MSA, it includes Willimantic).

              So, uhhh, you were saying?

          2. Heroic Mulatto

            I didnt say southerners can drive either.

            By the way, ‘hayseed’ doesn’t mean “Southerner” in my book. It’s about the urban/rural axis.

            1. robc

              Then “your” was misdirected, as Im an urban boy.

          3. Calidissident

            If you guys went abroad, I think you’d realize that Americans are pretty good drivers. I almost got hit by a car more times in a week in Argentina than in my entire life in the US. And from what I remember, drivers in Italy weren’t great either

        2. Marshall Gill

          The question that comes to my mind is why would anyone want to be in Harford, Conn?

          1. Francisco d Anconia

            Or anywhere east of Denver, for that matter?

        3. KDN

          The problem with driving in Hartford is that all the drivers are from Connecticut. Only Virginians are worse, in my experience (out-of-staters only; 95% of the drivers fucking up my commute are New Jerseyans, for obvious reasons).

      3. Zeb

        What do Michigan and Yankees have to do with each other?

    6. Whiterun Guard

      Can we consider it a spherical miata?

  23. Ptah-Hotep

    Awesome Freefall –

    Baumgartner set three records during the jump. The first was the highest jump from a platform, while the second was the longest distance freefall, of 119,846 ft (36.5 km/22.7 miles).

    He also became the first person in recorded history to intentionally break the sound barrier without the aid of a vehicle or motor, reaching a maximum vertical velocity of 833.9 mph (1342 km/hr, or Mach 1.24).

    1. DemosTheKnees

      He also broke the record for highest freefall while wearing a thong after eating a breakfast of Wheaties.

    2. ant1sthenes

      Without the aid of a vehicle or motor? Did he climb up there on a ladder?

      1. Brett L

        It wasn’t motorized. He rode a balloon. and he didn’t ride it down. He went from zero to 833 mph without any surrounding capsule.

        1. Enough About Palin

          I would contend that he was in a micro-capsule.

      2. Atanarjuat

        People who are hit by fast-moving air in front of an avalanche might break the sound barrier, so they added the qualifier “intentionally”.

    3. Warty

      He also became the first person in recorded history

      What, were the Babylonians into breaking the sound barrier or something?

      1. Quetzalcoatl

        Yes, if you’re talking about whips.

      2. it takes a good running start when you’re cliff jumping.

      3. T

        Them ziggurats were tall, Warty, what with their towers that reach to the heavens and all. Of course, they didn’t have parachutes, so the ending was a little different…

        1. Dr. Frankenstein

          So long as the gods were pleased.

      4. Phaethon, dude.

    4. Intentionally? I’m trying to figure out how anyone could’ve done it unintentionally. You have to get very high to go that fast, as terminal velocity within the lower atmosphere will prevent a fall at anywhere near that speed, or you have to be propelled in some way, like by cannon. Has someone been fired at supersonic speeds by cannon?

      1. If I remember correctly, there was a Russian fighter pilot whose air-craft disintergrated while going supersonic over siberia.

        He holds the record for the highest survived descent without a parachute; He was knocked unconscious and the ejection sequence was never triggered. He stayed strapped in his seat and had the good fortune to hit a snow-covered mountain that was sloping nearly parallel to his trajectory and tobogganed down to the bottom of the mountain with minor injuries. Dude woke up at the bottom of a mountain strapped to his seat with no idea what had happened.

        1. I have this weird “Dave’s not here” vision of that pilot.

        2. Spoonman.

          Reminds me of this guy:

          Though not wearing a pressure suit, at 6:00 pm he ejected into the ?50 ?C (?58 ?F) air.[1] He suffered immediate frostbite, and decompression caused his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to bleed. His abdomen swelled severely. He managed to make use of his emergency oxygen supply.[1] Five minutes after he abandoned the plane, his parachute hadn’t opened. While in the upper regions of the thunderstorm, with near-zero visibility, the parachute opened. After ten minutes, Rankin was still aloft, carried by updrafts and getting hit by hailstones. Violent spinning and pounding caused him to vomit. Lightning appeared, which he described as blue blades several feet thick, and thunder that he could feel. The rain forced him to hold his breath to keep from drowning. One lightning bolt lit up the parachute, making Rankin believe he had died.

          1. db

            Why the hell did he not attempt to glide to a safer altitude before ejecting?

            1. Because his engine was on fire. And he was in clear, smooth air.

      2. Ptah-Hotep

        Intentionally? I’m trying to figure out how anyone could’ve done it unintentionally.

        Think SS Columbia. I am sure the crew broke the sound barrier, but not intentionally.

        1. I think they were dead.

          1. Not from the accounts I read.

          2. They were dead.

            The crew didn’t survive the breakup of the capsule.

            During the descent none of them had sealed their pressure suits. The commander and pilot were wearing their pressure suits but hadn’t pressurized them (except for a brief check during the early stages of the deorbit)

            Most of the crew didn’t have their pressure suits completely on: they were missing gloves and I believe in one case a helmet. They also were not strapped in tightly.

            When the crew compartment depressurized, they all instantly lost consciousness. The compartment was tumbling experiencing G loading of 2 G’s that was varying wildly in direction. The crew were all killed by having their skulls battered in by the repeated blows from their helmets, seats and bulkheads.

            By the time the crew compartment disintegrated, all were dead.

            1. Francisco d Anconia

              Cameras or speculation?

              Two Gs isn’t that much and I suspect there was very little (if any)unsecured equipment in a crew area during reentry. Can’t say about NASA, but the military is big on not having anything unsecured in a cockpit during critical phases of flight. I also doubt that they weren’t strapped in tightly.

              1. Autopsies. It’s in the accident report put out by NASA.

                1. Basically, a conscious person should have no trouble keeping their heads from getting smacked around in 2 G’s.

                  But these guys were unconscious and essentially wearing lap belts (except for one poor soul who was busy down below stowing stuff for landing and only managed to get shoulder restraints on before he lost consciousness.

                  So they were pivoting around their waists and smacking their heads hard against everything around them.

                  1. Francisco d Anconia

                    Fair enough. Kinda surprised they weren’t required to be fully strapped in during the reentry phase.

                    1. I was shocked when I read the accident report.

                      Essentially, the crew doesn’t have enough time to complete thefucking checklist.

                      And NASA thought it was A-OK.

                      The fact that one guy was still moving around stowing stuff as they were flying over New Mexico left me aghast.

                    2. db

                      Procedures did require them to be; but they knew the futility of it and elected comfort.

      3. sarcasmic

        I recall stories of WWII dive bombers flirting with the sound barrier.

        1. the sound barrier is a cockblocker.

          1. Francisco d Anconia

            It’s a farm you can buy in the sky.

  24. Note to SugarFree: Stay away from New Jersey cops.

    1. sarcasmic

      Always comes down to training, doesn’t it.

      1. Whiterun Guard

        It’s diabeetus, not Die and Beat Us.

      2. Brett L

        I think someone should propose that cops get no more raises until their training budget is fully funded. ie – no “inadequate training” excuses for 365 days in a row.

        1. db

          Probably half the training budget goes to the overtime they pay other officers while some are “away” at training.

    2. SugarFree

      “Hey you know what bud, if this is all about ? the sugar you may have needed or something like that, this could have all been avoided by you just saying ‘I’m diabetic, I need sugar,’?” said Tetzlaff, who also had two years on the force at the time.

      Yeah, because you are so lucid and rational when your sugar is bottomed out.

      And, of course, the nasty suggestion all through the article that it would have been OK to rough this guy up if he was high or drunk or just not a diabetic.

    3. NoVAHockey

      I’ve seen this more than once in my volunteer EMT work. tip – public drunks typically have booze with them. diabetics do not.

    4. ? 7:20 p.m.: Fried continuously asks trooper Tetzlaff what happened and is told he will be charged. Fried pleads with him to talk. The trooper responds, “What happened was you caused mine and two other troopers uniforms to get dirty, that’s what happened tonight, all right?”

      ? 7:30 p.m.: Fried pleads for juice he keeps in his van, but troopers refuse to get it and Fried is told to keep his mouth shut. Fried asks for them to listen to him. “Same way I asked you to listen to me before, right?” Tetzlaff said. “I was in shock!” Fried replies.

      Professionalism!

    5. $park?

      In the recordings obtained by The Star-Ledger, Brown’s uniform microphone was not working, making it impossible to know exactly what was said between him and Fried. None of the interactions between troopers and Fried were captured on video because his van blocked the camera’s view.

      How … convenient.

  25. Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

    Mario Lemieux dominated the NHL with that and back problems. Come on, Arlen!

    1. BigT

      Sen Sphincter finally shut up.

    2. DJF

      Breaking news, in a classic Spector flip/flop it has been announced that he has now died of Hodgkins lymphoma instead of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

      1. T

        As I said over the weekend, he probably tried a deathbed conversion to postpone the inevitable or get a better afterlife assignment.

      2. Ice Nine

        +1

    3. Whiterun Guard

      I thought that was the good lymphoma?

      1. Trespassers W

        +1 (but it’s “the good Hodgkins“).

      2. Groovus Maximus

        It’s complicated. -)

  26. Dammit, everybody knows, repaet knows there is no double standard.

    IOW, anybody else who negligently killed a police dog K9 officer would probably just get sent home from work for three days.

    1. DemosTheKnees

      I agree. And what’s up with these soldiers walking around and killing people like they’re special or something? Why can’t I kill foreigners? I’m an American too. It isn’t fair.

      1. Sign on up – although the time commitment is a bit much for most folks – and the foreigners usually shoot at you. Well, unless you get into the Air Force and become a drone operator.

        1. Heroic Mulatto

          But what if I’m an American who wants to kill other (infidel) Americans? What does the military have to offer to me?

          –Maj. Nidal Hassan

        2. Francisco d Anconia

          Hey, hey, hey. Last I checked, the Army had just as many drones as the Air Force. Just not as lethal.

  27. Rhode Island goes to station after he calls police. Refuses to go into interview room and gets arrested (for resisting arrest, naturally). Hijinks ensue.

    1. I know Rhode Island is a small state, but could it really fit inside of a police station?

      1. Whiterun Guard

        With Jenny Craig, you could too.

  28. Silver Fox

    “Reapply to do the job I’ve been doing for 30 years now that there’s a new boss? That’s so unfair!

    “Our workers are devastated. They have committed their entire lives to one company and then, bang, suddenly it means nothing,” said Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 401.

    Lisa Gibson, spokeswoman for Target Canada, said Target will provide former employees with initial interviews, but that no one’s job is guaranteed.

    1. wareagle

      of course, Target could say ‘screw it’, let the two stores shut down, and move along. And what would the union hack do then?

      1. Silver Fox

        And what would the union hack do then?

        I’ll bet the employees who work at the Brantford Zellers can tell them, seeing as Target’s not moving in after it closes.

    2. Groovus Maximus

      But, but…”free” medical care!

    3. Matrix

      If I were the new owners, I would find everyone who was at the protest and forbid them employment. Target doesn’t owe any of them jobs. If they want to be mad, be mad at Zellers for selling out. Target can hire and fire whom they choose.

      1. Silver Fox

        That Earth logic won’t work on union employees. They’re entitled, after all.

  29. Brett L

    Really surprised Gen. Yeager didn’t just steal the plane and fly it himself.

    NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. ? Sixty-five years after becoming the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager flew in the back seat Sunday of an F-15 Eagle as it broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet above California’s Mojave Desert

    1. Tim

      The left turn signal was on for the entire flight.

    2. Rasilio

      Honestly give the godlike reverence he is held in by most of the Air Foce I’m pretty sure he could have shown up on any Air Force base he liked and the’d have just handed him any plane he wanted to fly that day.

      1. Red Rocks Rockin

        Yeah, it’s not like he has to jump through a bunch of hoops as long as he can pass a flight physical. A quick call from base PA to the wing commander is probably all he needs.

        1. db

          He’s probably not type-certified in the F15.

  30. Brett L

    Reposted from yesterday: Gee, what should we name this supercomputer on the moon? Anyone who answers wrong needs to turn in his or her monocle.

    1. Rich

      “Newt”?

      *** clutches monocle ***

      1. Brett L

        Really, Rick. It says “reposted from Sunday”. If you don’t know, cheat. I know the dunphy shit smells, but suck it up, tiger.

        1. Rich

          “Obama”?

        2. Didn’t we agree to call it the HAL-9000?

          1. Tim

            “Shovel ready”?

            1. Mike, the Dinkum Thinkum?

              1. NebulousFocus

                Strange coincidence, I just finished this book yesterday.

          2. Brett L

            **Breaks Randian’s monocle**

    2. Quetzalcoatl

      How about Wintermute?

    3. Rasilio

      High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor, Mark IV

    4. generic Brand

      Mike

  31. generic Brand

    Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has died from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

    Good fucking riddance. While I never wish a violent death on anyone (i.e. murder), it is not difficult to see that the world is better without some people.

  32. Cop gets 14 year old girl (a relative as well) drunk and then has sex with her. Gets a shorter probation period than the Bengals cheerleader that had sex with a 17 year old student. But do not let this be an example of there being a double standard. I’m sure having sex with your 14 year old relatives after plying them with alcohol usually only results in probation.

    1. wareagle

      and a 14-year old drunk girl is just the same as a 17-year old sober boy. Nothing to see here.

    2. Groovus Maximus

      Odd. I was under the impression “keeping it in the family” was a distinctly Southern and Central state phenomenon. Care to weigh in, Saccharin Man?

      1. SugarFree

        I don’t a have a sister or a first cousin. I didn’t think I’d ever get married. 🙁

      2. Enough About Palin

        Quick Question Groovus about the human nipple. You know how the areola often have little bumps? Do those little bumps have a medical name in Latin or anything? I have always wondered.

        1. Groovus Maximus

          Yep, they are pronounced eccrine and apocrine glands (sweat glands) made more pronounced by lots of keratinised tissue, necessary for for retention of the shape of the nipple during breast feeding.

          The are called “pilosebaceaous units” in pathology-speak, and look that way because of the piloerector muscle, the same that gives “goosbumps” the same appearance in addition to the type tissue they contain.

          1. Enough About Palin

            Thanks doc.

            1. Enough About Palin

              Is it also the piloerector muscle that causes super-puffy nipples on hot young chicks or is that caused by something else?

              1. Groovus Maximus

                Nope, super puffy nipples are from both lots of fluid in the breast area and lots of smooth muscle in the areola and nipple proper, and much more pronounced when hot young chicks have perky boobs (and women who have had breast augmentation). The more flaccid variety are found in wimmins (and some men) with larger breasts with lots o’ adipose tissue and of the more saggy variety.

                Piloerector muscle is associated with hair. -)

                1. Enough About Palin

                  Thanks! You have made my day!

        2. SugarFree

          The Glands of Montgomery.

    3. Brett L

      My favorite part: Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, said today that the victim, who was a relative of Otero-Ortiz, did not want to pursue prosecution of the sexual assault allegations.

      Oh, well we’ll just let all minors decide when to pursue this sort of stuff, right?

    4. Don’t you know he was following procedure?

  33. Karl Hungus

    I don’t know nothin’ about birthin’ no babies, but I’m pretty sure the head isn’t supposed to come off. Hands down the awfullest story you will ever read:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..ction.html

    1. Brett L

      No thanks. Link text is enough.

      1. Karl Hungus

        Yep, pretty much. Though it does get horribler than is alluded to in the link text.

        Funny thing, when you read about stories like this where a doctor’s abject incompetence will at the very least cost him his medical license, you wonder why we can’t have a similar standard for botched police raids. That is, shouldn’t a no-knock raid on the wrong house mean an automatic end to someone’s career in law enforcement?

        1. Matrix

          Well, if the police can’t occasionally bust down the wrong house, shoot a family dog and once in a while kill a child… then the terrorist will win!

        2. Rich

          shouldn’t a no-knock raid on the wrong house mean an automatic end to someone’s career in law enforcement?

          Sure — it ends the career of the homeowner/dog who got shot.

        3. sarcasmic

          That is, shouldn’t a no-knock raid on the wrong house mean an automatic end to someone’s career in law enforcement?

          What else are they going to do?

          Once a person is conditioned to react to most any stimuli with violence, they’re pretty well ruined as anything but a cop.
          They couldn’t even hack it at McDonalds.
          “What’s your order? I said what’s your fucking order! I gave you a lawful command, now what’s your fucking order! Don’t use that tone of voice with me!”
          *wham wham wham wham*

      2. Groovus Maximus

        I followed up on this, as The Daily FAIL is notoriously suspect on these types of cases, and even though the obstetrician(s) will no doubt receive heaping helpings of well-deserved disciplinary action, the claimant’s accusations are somewhat suspect, notably because only the physicians are named in any legal action.

        The institution itself has not been named, so I find the claim that “the physician refused to allow the patient to go to another hospital (paraphrased)” suspect here.

        So, I suggest this link which was referenced in the story to get the full monty.

        This:

        “Defendant Webb applied sufficient traction to the axilla and head of decedent Kaden Travis Ammonette during Webb’s attempt to deliver decedent vaginally that defendant Webb separated decedent Kaden Travis Ammonette’s head from his cervical spine,” the complaint states.

        does not jive with this:

        “During the course of the cesarean section, defendant Webb surgically and completely removed decedent Kaden Travis Ammonette’s head from his neck and torso.”

        Either the lethal trauma happened to the baby during the attempted vaginal delivery, or it happened during the botched C-Sec. Not both.

        1. Ptah-Hotep

          Either the lethal trauma happened to the baby during the attempted vaginal delivery, or it happened during the botched C-Sec. Not both.

          Well, right there is the problem. You can not pull from both ends without something bad happening.

      3. Groovus Maximus

        Basically, what the plaintiff’s are claiming is that Webb both pulled off the baby’s cranium whilst trying to extricate the baby from being lodged in the birth canal and severing the cranium during the C-sec, and both are simply not possible.

        I find the latter much more plausible than the former, which is likely why Dr. Webb was hesitant to perform the C-sec in primarily, and that is where in my estimation, he screwed up.

        He should have followed Dr. Moore’s initial DX and work-up, but for some reason, opted not to do so.

        1. Kaptious Kristen

          Holy fuck – when did Groovus get back here? See what happens when one goes on vacation?

          1. db

            Things have been looking up recently. It’s good to have him back.

  34. Death Rock and Skull

    All three of them blonde bitches on Fox News right now look the same. I can’t even recognize which one is the bitch prosecutor. I would fuck her sideways and then knock the teeth out of that cunt.

    1. Ice Nine

      Jesus, man, shooting up that much testosterone in the morning and that honesty thing is a real bad combo.

    2. Dude, go away.

    3. Enough About Palin

      “then knock the teeth out of that cunt”

      Dentata?

    4. Jordan

      What the hell is wrong with you?

  35. Rich

    I saw Atlas Shrugged Part II Saturday. Similar quality to Part I. Small audience applauded.

    1. sarcasmic

      What’s the point of applauding after a movie? It’s not like they can hear you.

      1. Rich

        It gets back to the producer and alleviates sorrow at the poor box office showing.

      2. Whiterun Guard

        When I saw South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut at the theater, I applauded at the end.

        It was a PACKED theater, and just a really good atmosphere (and this from a guy that will usually see movies at 10 AM on a Tuesday just to be the only guy in the theater (except now since there are no freaking theaters in Liberia)). Everyone just started clapping at the end, and I kind of reactively just started clapping too.

        Then when I left the theater, I was all like WTF did I just do? That was wierd.

        1. sarcasmic

          When I saw that movie I was in too much pain from laughing to bother clapping.

        2. It was a PACKED theater,

          When I saw it, it started out that way. But when the uncle fucker part came on, and they showed everyone walking out of the theater, I looked around. Sure enough, people all around were getting up and leaving. There was like less than a third left after they finished that song.

          1. sarcasmic

            When I went the major exodus happened when Saddam whipped out the dildo.

    2. Matrix

      I saw it Friday in the middle of the day. I was surprised there were that many there on a Friday in the middle of the day. At least 30 or more, and I sometimes go to movies where I am the only person watching at the time.

      I thought the quality was a bit lacking, moreso than the last movie. And they practically had a whole new cast. What’s up with that?

      1. robc

        They didnt know if they were going to be making 2 after 1, so they couldnt lock up the cast.

        By the time two got a green light, they couldnt get them (or didnt want to).

    3. Tim

      Was Atlas in this one?

      1. Rich

        Sort of. At least the title was explicitly explained.

  36. USBP Agent apparently shoots teenager to death across border because rocks were being thrown at them. PoliceOne applauds and calls for escalation of cross-border violence by Americans. No word on whether or not the DoJ plans on selling arms to the Mexicans to make the fight more even.

    1. Almanian's Evil Twin

      Rocks were thrown, shots were fired, heartbeats were stopped.

      AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED.

    2. Whiterun Guard

      Well it does save on drone fuel.

  37. In an unsurprising string of comments, it becomes apparent that Police officers have absolutely no idea whatsoever how marijuana (or “demon-weed,” as some have called it) effects the human mind or body. Hell, some go so far as to inadvertently call for alcohol prohibition to be reinstated.

    These are our heroes, people. Risking life and limb everyday* to bring their city’s revenues up to a reasonable level.

    *Except they don’t.

    1. Matrix

      It’s PoliceOne. Remember, police don’t want people with higher than average IQs serving on the force. Makes them easier to control and get in with the groupthink.

    2. Kaptious Kristen

      More prohibition = more JERBZ for cops!

  38. Apparently the Philly police union is going to double down on defending the indefensible. PoliceOne predictably follows suit with their support of cop who brutally punched woman in the face after not seeing her do anything wrong.

    Note how they crucify any cop not going along with the narrative that she had it coming? Classy.

    1. sarcasmic

      I don’t know how you can read that stuff. Is it some form of masochism?

    2. Enough with the ball kicking! One more of these and I am going to drown myself in the coffee pot…. gah!

    3. Karl Hungus

      Note how they crucify any cop not going along with the narrative that she had it coming? Classy.

      Mostly, yes – but there’s also a lot more dissent than I expected before I started reading. But my understanding is that you have to a be a sworn LEO (which they verify) before you’re allowed to sign up and post. So for the most part, it’s just going to be a great, big circle-jerk.

  39. The Late P Brooks

    “Our workers are devastated. They have committed their entire lives to one company and then, bang, suddenly it means nothing,” said Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 401.

    “Ownership” is a complex and mystical concept.

    Also, were these people in some concrete and legally verifiable/enforceable way led to believe part of their compensation was deferred? Because otherwise, they were paid in full for their “years of faithful service”. In the same way that I don’t get to keep driving “my” car after I sell it to you, those morons don’t have a continuing claim on anything.

    STFU

    1. Almanian's Evil Twin

      Fuck ’em.

      I do so love the salty ham tears of the laid off/fired union worker.

      1. Marshall Gill

        And when it is the salty ham tears of a laid off/fired public sector union worker they are even better.

  40. The Late P Brooks

    Apparently the Philly police union is going to double down on defending the indefensible. PoliceOne predictably follows suit with their support of cop who brutally punched woman in the face after not seeing her do anything wrong.

    Strike, you worthless fucks.

    Go ahead and show us your respect for the rule of law.

  41. Tonio

    A court in Ghana has upheld the decision to detain an Argentinian naval vessel seized under a court order by creditors pursuing the South American country over a 2002 debt default.

    Suspect that the ship will be released once Argentina pays off the right Ghanaians, but this offer some novel possibilities for pursuing rights abuses torts cases against governments.

  42. The Late P Brooks

    some go so far as to inadvertently call for alcohol prohibition to be reinstated.

    “Inadvertently”?

    Those guys probably decided to become cops while they were jacking off to The Untouchables.

  43. Spartacus

    I don’t know why we are hearing so much about Arlen Specter when a truly great American also passed away this weekend. I am referring, of course, to Beano Cook.

  44. Kaptious Kristen

    Based on rave reviews from just about everybody I know, I picked up a copy of Bossypants. I really can’t figure out what all the fuss is about. While I do identify with Tiny Fey as a nerd and an outcast, the book just ain’t that funny. But her dad sounds fucking awesome.

    1. Red Rocks Rockin

      I really can’t figure out what all the fuss is about.

      High school-type bandwagon hopping–in a sane world, no one would be interested in the life story of a two-bit SNL hack who has Sarah Palin and Alec Baldwin to thank for making her relevant.

  45. Can’t believe this many comments in that I’m the first to note it’s spelled Endeavour.

    1. Fucking French.

  46. Killazontherun

    Latest Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic winners are worse than you imagined:

    Academically speaking, Roth is a pioneer of so-called market design: finding situations where a market is failing ? often, a place that most people wouldn’t even recognize as a market ? and making it work better. Roth has influenced a cadre of young, energetic market designers, many of whom have taken up prominent positions at top universities. Inspired by Roth’s work, these rising economists are also setting their sights on real-world problems. Some are looking at dating websites; others are interested in how universities could do better at scheduling their students’ classes. Like Roth, all of them envision a world in which economists, as unlikely as it may seem, are recognized as society’s mechanics.

    Sitting in his office last week, Roth talked about how it was time for economics, as a field, to turn a corner ? how merely describing markets as they naturally occur was no longer enough. Instead, he said, economists have to make themselves useful by fixing broken systems in which people aren’t getting what they want.

    “We’re starting to know enough about how some of these things work,” Roth said, “that in some cases, when you’ve got a market in trouble, and you think, ‘Who’re you gonna call?’ you could call an economist.”

    No, the world has never gone down this road before.

    1. Killazontherun

      I told myself I would bravely add the word ‘science’ there after ‘economic’ in the official prize name, but apparently, without even realizing it, my fingers revolted.

  47. The Late P Brooks

    finding situations where a market is failing ? often, a place that most people wouldn’t even recognize as a market ? and making it work better.

    Like when young healthy people make a completely rational decision to forego health insurance and pay for treatment out of pocket? That kind of “failure”?

    Or the kind of “market failure” in which people buy and consume things Top Men find repugnant?

  48. ElCiD

    Obama (intentionally/maliciously/spitefully) screwed Houston out of a Space Shuttle and Romney has twice the fundraising from Houston. Hmmmmmm?

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