A.M. Links: Obama's Odds Up After Second Debate, OIC Condemns Opposition to Bans on Anti-Islamic Speech, Earth-Sized Planet Found Orbiting Alpha Centauri

News from the tube to the stars

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  • how did he know to wear the red tie this time?

    Barack Obama's odds have inched up on online betting sites after last night's debate.

  • The government-run Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas had seven advisors resign last week. They claimed that favoritism and abuse were plaguing the institute. 
  • The Oakland Police Department received more than a thousand complaints about police brutality during Occupy Oakland protests a year ago, and the internal affairs division identified 44 police officers that did something wrong. The police chief recommended two be fired, one demoted, 15 suspended, 23 given "written reprimands" and three sent to counseling.
  • The ACLU warns police may want to turn information they have from license plate readers into easily accessed and searchable databases. For safety.
  • To save its budget, the town of Nickerson, Kansas closed its police department. A vote to ratify the decision will be held in April.
  • The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned Western opposition to bans on hate speech targeting Islam. The OIC wanted the United Nation's support for a ban.
  • An Earth-sized planet has been found orbiting Alpha Centauri, four and a half light years away. It'll have to be moved away from its sun and given time to cool before we can move in.

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Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Barack Obama’s odds have inched up on online betting sites after last night’s debate.

    It’s when he ripped of his shirt and said, “Come at me, bro.”

    1. DJF

      Then he said, “You know who else messed with me, Osama”

    2. The Craig

      I thought it inched down after he admitted to having a small pen…oh, pension.

      1. wareagle

        my wife thought the pension line was the best moment that no one is talking about. How many union pensions are tied in overseas companies?

        1. The Craig

          Me too, sadly overshadowed by “binders full of women.”

          1. Quetzalcoatl

            The womanly binders didn’t even register when I heard it in real time. I had to look it up this morning to see what people were so excited about.

          2. Brett L

            Admittedly, “binders full of women” does sound a little stalkery.

    3. crazyfingers

      AFAIK Americans can’t legally use intrade. It’s hard to believe foreigners by and large have the pulse of the American electorate.

      1. I assume they’re trying to have a pulse on the media narrative.

      2. Masturbatin' Pete

        Intrade’s political prediction markets are the worst. They don’t actually predict anything. They’re entirely reactive to the polls, and they swing way too violently.

        See the spike in May of 2011? That’s OBL getting killed. It instantly came back down. That’s not measured analysis; that’s gambling.

        I wish I could still speculate at Intrade, because all you had to do to make money is figure out where the polls would be heading in a day or two, then wait for the idiots to catch up.

  2. The police chief recommended two be fired, one demoted, 15 suspended, 23 given “written reprimands” and three sent to counseling.

    Union contracts, however, mandate that the chief be sent to counseling.

  3. wareagle

    and BO still has no answer to the Libya questions. Neither do his surrogates. Do they really think we’re swallowing the Hillary-as-Truman meme?

    1. DJF

      He does not need an answer as long as the MSM does not ask the question. After all its old news already.

      1. Rich

        He’ll drone-strike some clowns in Mali just before the election and all will be well.

    2. The Craig

      I thought his answer was “Something, something, I do not play politics”

    3. CNN: The White House, for the first time Thursday, declared the attack that killed Stevens and three other people a terrorist attack.

      1. wareagle

        the same CNN that employs Candy Crowley who had the transcript that she could not correctly read?

        The administration remains unable to explain why, if this was known to be terror, Susan Rice peddled the story she did or why BO gave that speech to the UN.

        1. The President basically lucked out in that he used the word ‘terror’ in a generic 9/11 speech.

          1. Rich

            “Terror” is like “racism” and “taking responsibility” — no longer meaningful.

          2. Tulpa (LAOL-PA)

            The current AP article says that BO’s claim was that he “mentioned terrorism”. Yep, hard to see why Romney has such a hard time beating BO, he only has spin doctors writing copy for every mainstream news agency in America.

    4. Francisco d Anconia

      Missed opportunity. I would have hammered it all night long.,,so to speak.

      1. BigT

        And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.

        No, sir, it is offensive to the American people that its President would consider the killing of an Ambassador and three other Americans as a ‘bump in the road’, and tell an outright lie about a nearly unknown video sparking this attack. Instead the President attacks and arrests Americans for practicing their first amendment rights. THAT is offensive.

        1. bostonaod

          Let me be clear, I do not play politics with national security. By the way, did I mention I got bin Laden?

        2. Sudden

          And then, even if you buy the viral video venom reaction, to not outright condemn the violence itself but to instead condemn the video that led to a bunch of backasswards religious psychos to protest in such a despicable fashion.

          Amatuer hour dude, amatuer.

    5. VG Zaytsev

      Romney fucked up by trying to play a TV lawyer and thinking that Obama’s claim of the rose garden statement was his gotcha moment.

      And actually it was, but not in the way that Romney thought.

      Obama was saying that he knew and called it out as a terrorist attack the next day. Which begs the question:

      “Why then did you spend the next two weeks calling it a demonstration and blaming American’s free speech for the attack then? By your own admission here you knew right away that it was a terrorist attack. So were you lying to the American people for the next two weeks. Why would you do that Barack”

      1. $park?

        Which begs the question

        You’re doing it wrong.

      2. Tulpa (LAOL-PA)

        I suspect Romney was surprised by Crowley’s jumping into the fray. That was totally uncalled for.

        At that point he basically had to tell the moderator she was either lying or didn’t know what she was talking about if he wanted to continue pursuing it. Which would again cause trouble with the wimminz.

  4. sarcasmic

    Britan bans sales of hunting magazines to children under 14.
    http://www.thisiscornwall.co.u…..story.html

  5. sarcasmic

    Kids like Spicy Cheetos! Oh no! Ban them! Test them for addictive chemicals! Save the children!
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..-them.html

    1. heller

      Money quote:

      ‘You can almost equate the craving (for processed food) to that of cocaine,’ Gene-Jack Wang, a researcher in Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, told the Tribune.

      Just like you can almost equate that statement to one that actually means something!

      1. JW

        Gene-Jack Wang

        That’s not a real name. That should be the clue that it’s a hoax.

        1. Isn’t he a friend of good old Jack Burton?

          1. I thought he was a research associate of Dr. Heywood Jblowmi. Or was it Professor Pat McGroin.

            1. Rich

              It might have been Ben Dover and Phil McAvity.

              1. Or John Coctostan.

          2. Ska

            When Jack Burton is driving the ol’ Pork Chop Express, he never lets his supply of coke, Spicy Cheetos, or truck stop hookers dwindle; a corollary to the rules of the road, if you will.

            1. Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!

              1. $park?

                Indeed!

        2. R C Dean

          Sounds like a character in a second-rate cyberpunk novel.

          1. sarcasmic

            There is such a thing as a first-rate cyberpunk novel?

            1. R C Dean

              I think the “classic” Gibson cyberpunk novels are quite good – Count Zero, etc.

            2. I thought Hardwired was quite good.

        3. Rich

          That’s not a real name.

          Actually, you’re right. He had it changed from Hai-Jack Wang.

          1. heller

            No, he changed it from Jack-Off Wang

          2. T

            Yeah, good choice, especially if he ever wants to fly again.

            1. Marshall Gill

              My father went to high school with Senator Jim Imhoff. Apparently most of the kids called him Jack.

              1. Groovus Maximus

                Ouch…

        4. Brett L

          I love that someone Anglicized Jean-Jacques and that someone was named Wang.

  6. gaijin

    An Earth-sized planet has been found orbiting Alpha Centauri, four and a half light years away.

    Looking like a better place to move all the time!

    1. DemosTheKnees

      That’s where the Robinson family was headed. And some people still insist that Star Trek was better than Lost In Space.

      1. Restoras

        Nice handle.

        1. heller

          How about Isaac Cox?

          Say it a few times.

          1. sarcasmic

            Mike Hunt?

      2. gaijin

        Space Family Robinson! The robot had the most personality in that cast…well except for Dr. Smith.

    2. John

      It is closer to the sun than Mercury. You better bring some sun screen.

      1. But it’s a rocky world, meaning that there may be other rocky worlds, Mr. Garibaldi.

        1. R C Dean

          Sounds like our seed will find no purchase there.

          1. Which is why the planet has been named “Arizona.”

            1. JW

              The first colony on it shall be named “Nathan.”

  7. sarcasmic

    National Guard recruiters sleep with recruits and hunt homeless people with paintguns. What to they think they are? Cops? Might as well be since nothing else happens.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..iters.html

    1. DJF

      Yes, but the “cuts” to the Pentagon budget meant that he did not have any drones. Just think what he could have accomplished with a few armed drones?

    2. John

      All recruiters sleep with their recruits.

      1. DJF

        My recruiter did not sleep with me. Do you think I have cause to sue?

        1. John

          Depends on how cute you were.

          1. DJF

            Oh well, never mind.

      2. Um, no.

      3. Kaptious Kristen

        You’re saying if I need to get laid, I can just go toa recruiting center?

        1. hamilton

          Um, you’re a woman on a libertarian blog. I’d just try adding an email address to your handle first and see how that works out.

          1. Kaptious Kristen

            Yeah, like I want any of these jerks contacting me – just lookit what happened to poor Banjos.

            1. hamilton

              Good point. I was presuming you were going for speed, not quality, in your copulative explorations. Optimizing around multiple variables makes it a harder problem.

              1. Kaptious Kristen

                Yeah, I’m a typical chick in my bedding habits. Quality over quantity, every day.

                Any enterprising young buck around here can figure out how to contact me if he really wanted to, anyhow. That no one has to this point isn’t keeping me up nights 🙂

                1. hamilton

                  We’re libertarians. To us, stalking is just an extremely coy form of courtship.

        2. Groovus Maximus

          I thought your key arrangement solved that conundrum. And, yes, that is exactly what John is saying (though I tend to think that brush stroke is just a wee bit broad…-))))

          1. $park?

            Are you calling Kristen a broad, you dirty sexist?

            1. Groovus Maximus

              Just because I was MALE GAZE-ing Kristen, does not a sexist make, Sparky.

              And Ke$ha uses Auto-Toons, the talentless hack.

              Take that!

              1. $park?

                Jealousy doesn’t look good on you.

              2. Lisa

                “male gaze”-
                between this term and “other” as a verb, how do the libertarians on here know so much feminist jargon? I never even heard of those terms until I saw them in the Reason comments. Is there a feminist word of the day blog you guys subscribe to or what?

            2. Kaptious Kristen

              Yeah, I prefer “wench”. In some cases “chick” will do.

              1. sarcasmic

                Yeah, I prefer “wench”. In some cases “chick” will do.

                You a fan of the Ting Tings?

                1. Brett L

                  For a Brit, that chick an 11. Which makes her a 6-7 in the Southern US.

                2. Kaptious Kristen

                  That’s a pretty cool song…I’ll have to check out more.

    3. Recruiting Command – where your soul dies (if you want to get bodies in the door).

      1. Without question it was the absolute worst three years of my life.

        And, yeah, AZ Guard sucked. There was a case where Army and Guard recruiters in southern AZ were using their GSA vehicles to transport drugs between the Mexican border and Vegas. The INS and DEA stops between Tucson and Vegas wouldn’t check vehicles w/ gov’t plates.

        1. Recruiting Command could fill “That’s Outrageous!” sections of Reader’s Digest for years.

          I remember when I came back from AIT and I was all proud that I had graduated. I went back to visit my recruiter and discovered that the entire office was in the dock for some shenanigans or another.

          John, did you ever do any JAG inquiries into MEPS stations? I know that my JAG friends tell me that MEPS could keep government attorneys occupied for years.

          1. The DoJ could have filled the docket of entire district courts just from the Chicago and St. Louis MEPS.

            No JAG I knew ever did anything, but the entire IG office of the Army could camp out there and refer hundreds of cases from either recruiting command or any other intake group.

        2. Cdr Lytton

          A good ole boys network in the NG that protected a favored few and put fear into the rest? I’m completely shocked. Must just be AZ.

  8. Rich

    Imagine a searchable database that would enable police or federal agents to instantly track everywhere you’ve ever driven in your car

    Imagine a proliferation of James-Bond-type rotating license plates.

    1. crazyfingers

      In NH license plate scanners and traffic cams are illegal. Go Free State Project!

    2. Brett L

      Yep. Imagine how long it would take for everybody to have the local police chief’s license plate as a sticker.

  9. Matrix

    Obama wants to reintroduce the assault weapons ban

    ‘Cause it was so great the first time. Gun stores must be loving him, because he is driving their sales through the roof.

    1. Rich

      “Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns.”

      Ban ’em all. Let God sort ’em out.

  10. Bee Tagger

    An Earth-sized planet has been found orbiting Alpha Centauri, four and a half light years away.

    Did Brian Regan find it?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?f…..iSA#t=318s

    1. Bee Tagger

      Ugh
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8GMFkc3iSA

      1. gaijin

        better!

      2. I believe this is how it’s done.

    2. gaijin

      dude, your link. it doesn’t do what I think you think it does.

      1. Bee Tagger

        Did it frustrate you?
        Mission accomplished.

        1. gaijin

          yes. but it was funny…even if I did have to wait until the end to get the reference. 🙂

  11. The ACLU warns police may want to turn information they have from license plate readers into easily accessed and searchable databases.

    Why is the ACLU warning police to develop more user friendly database front-ends? SELLOUTS!

    1. DemosTheKnees

      Maybe it’s because they are (ostensibly, at least) concerned with Civil Liberties, which are, in a perfect world with perfect people, protected, in part, by a civil (not military or anarchic or vigilante) police force. Just a guess.

      1. Report for sarcasm meter recalibration.

        1. hamilton

          There seems to be a lot of this on HampersandR the past few days. I blame the earthquake.

          1. $park?

            Given the state of electoral politics these days, the things are burning out faster than they can be replaced.

            1. T

              I swapped a Geiger-Muller tube into mine after it burned out. I don’t think it detects sarcasm anymore, but it’s certainly detecting something.

              1. $park?

                Just don’t put a Giger tube in there, you’d be driven mad before you could shut it off.

  12. They claimed that favoritism and abuse were plaguing the institute.

    The nepotism, it’s like a cancer.

  13. John

    I don’t get the media. You would think they would be doing some contingency planning for the possibility of Romney winning and trying to be a bit for objective for the last few weeks so they have at least a fig leaf of credibility if they have to deal with a President Romney. Instead, we have Candy sticking her big fat ass into the debate on the Libya question. It didn’t Obama much good. And even if it had, it wouldn’t have been enough to really affect the election. So she pissed away more media credibility gave every conservative ammunition on their claims of media bias to do Obama little if any good. It is like its pathological with these people. Like they wake up every day and go “please God just let Obama be happy with my performance today”.

    1. DJF

      They don’t care about credibility with the public. The public does not pay them nor hire them. The people who do either just want to sell advertising or put forward their agenda or preferably both.

    2. wareagle

      what don’t you get? Partisans have no interests in objectivity.

    3. generic Brand

      They have a contingency plan for Romney winning. It’s called “Challenge Everything Romney Says Now That A Republican Is In Office”, or CERSNTARIIO for short.

      1. Rich

        “Candy, what generic Brand said just isn’t true.”

        1. Groovus Maximus

          I’ll just leave this here…

          1. Don’t you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!

      2. Cyto

        Exactly so. It is as if John missed the last 40 years. (ok, not really)

        When a Republican is in the White House, everyone wants to be a hard-hitting investigative journalist and break the next Watergate. A Democrat? Not so much.

        Even with all of the Clinton scandals, the reporting was mostly of the variety: “Republicans allege”, “Right-wing allegations”, “Stephanapolis countered republican charges”…. I think they really enjoyed the salaciousness of covering a scandal, but didn’t want their own fingerprints on the coverage.

        With Bush we got 8 months of “he’s an idiot puppet of the evil VP” followed by a year of patriotic if reserved war coverage, followed by 6 years of mea-culpas for not being harder on that idiot Bush who caused all the evil in the world. By the midway point we even had open collusion among various news outlets to cover Bush’s “Vietnam problem” in coordination with advertising from the Kerry campaign (Drudge had the schedule for the week of planned daily coverage 2 weeks ahead of the event). Fortunately/unfortunately the issue got completely obliterated by the forged Dan Rather story.

        Now we are back to softball, cheerleading political coverage. Don’t worry, that’ll switch as soon as a different letter comes after the President’s name.

  14. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned Western opposition to bans on hate speech targeting Islam.

    I condemn Islamists spelling that word without a z.

    1. Rich

      “Izlam”?

      1. It just looks weird the other way.

        1. Rich

          Blazphemy!

      2. Quetzalcoatl

        Weztern.

    2. Heroic Mulatto

      YOU CAN’T SAY THAT BECAUSE DRONES!

      1. Groovus Maximus

        It’s “dronez” or “dronz”, HM. Do keep up. -))))

        1. Ska

          GM – what is that ASCII art supposed to represent? A spool of wire? Wolverine’s claw? A horribly disfigured man winking?

          1. Groovus Maximus

            Oh, they’re smileys/emoticons of the Russkij variety. I have been talking a lot with my soon-be-colleagues overseas for the past coupla few months, and the habit has stuck.

            1. Ska

              Ah. In Russia, only the cyclops smiles.

              Wait, that sounds like a porn show.

              1. One eyed Willy, the Smilin’ Cyclops?

  15. Bee Tagger

    The ACLU warns police may want to turn information they have from license plate readers into easily accessed and searchable databases. For safety.

    And people laughed when I Said i’d be a civil rights hero one day with my vanity plate: ‘; delete from plates

    1. db

      Nice.

    2. robc

      http://xkcd.com/327/

      I think you are stealing jokes now.

      1. He has xkcd bedsheets.

        1. robc

          That would be awesome, as long as it had my favorite:

          http://xkcd.com/123/

          1. And a Dead or Alive reference to boot! That is a good one.

            1. robc

              I like it because Ive made the same argument as the bad guy for years.

              Centrifugal force absolutely fucking exists (in the correct reference frame).

        2. Entropy Void

          Ahem …

          How does the alt-text show up on the bedsheets?

          1. Does no one watch Seinfeld reruns?

      2. Bee Tagger

        Can I get that accusation upgraded to a “repurposing”?

        1. robc

          Stealing jokes is an accepted practice, so not really an accusation.

      3. Bee Tagger

        But yes, I stole the joke. Thanks for the appropriate credit.

    3. Rich

      I knew a guy whose vanity plate was “WHAT”.

      1. Quetzalcoatl

        You know Lil Jon?!

        1. Rich

          Nope. It’s probably a common ploy.

  16. John

    The Oakland Police Department received more than a thousand complaints about police brutality during Occupy Oakland protests a year ago, and the internal affairs division identified 44 police officers that did something wrong. The police chief recommended two be fired, one demoted, 15 suspended, 23 given “written reprimands” and three sent to counseling.

    I would be really curious to know what you have to do to be fired from a California police department.

    1. Anally rape the mayor’s mother while pouring sugar in his gas tank.

      1. DJF

        That will only get them a months paid leave.

        1. sarcasmic

          Randolph the bowlegged cowboy…

        2. Rich

          LOL, sad to say.

          1. DJF

            Government, the only place where sending you home with full pay for a month is considered to be a punishment.

      2. Kaptious Kristen

        Anally rape the mayor’s FOP President’s mother while pouring sugar in his gas tank.

        FIFY.

      3. R C Dean

        Anally rape the mayor’s mother while pouring sugar in his gas tank.

        You’d have to check the union contract first. If it doesn’t specifically mention that as a firing offense . . . .

    2. kinnath

      Failing to delete the video tape after beating a homeless man into a coma.

    3. Art Vandelay

      The same thing that will get a cop fired from every other police dept in the country: blow the whistle on your co-workers’ criminal activity.

      Kill, rape and steal from innocent people, however, will only get you a vacation, and often times, a promotion.

    4. But proceduers were followed!

  17. Matrix

    Texas landownders opposing TransCanada pipeline

    1. Rich

      Nearly half the steel TransCanada is using is not American-made and the company won’t promise to use local workers exclusively

      They’re takin’ ER JERBZ!

      1. DJF

        Actually it looks like TransCanada is using Eminent Domain to steal their land.

        1. Rich

          Then feck ’em!

        2. Francisco d Anconia

          So, what solution do you propose?

          1. DJF

            They could buy the land without using the government eminent domain.

            1. Francisco d Anconia

              Until the land owner realizes he’s the last piece of property and decides he doesn’t want to sell or that his land is worth…*places pinky at corner of mouth*…One trillion dollars. And there is always the environmentalist who won’t sell for any amount.

              Then you can go back to the drawing board and start over.

              Lather, rinse, repeat. In the end you get to build a 1000 mile pipeline with 50,000 miles of pipe.

              I, of course, place a high value on private property rights, but I honestly don’t have an answer for this one.

              1. Francisco…

                This problem has actually been solved. You send salesmen down the routes selling option contracts. The contracts bind the property owner to sell at an agreed price in return for a small amount of money.

                It changes the holdout dynamic completely.

                1. Francisco d Anconia

                  And what do you do about the folks that just don’t want a highway on their land? (read everybody)

  18. generic Brand

    An Earth-sized planet has been found orbiting Alpha Centauri, four and a half light years away. It’ll have to be moved away from its sun and given time to cool before we can move in.

    Why are we always looking for “Earth-sized planets”? We wouldn’t be displacing all 7 billion people and shipping them out there, so couldn’t we get by with a smaller planet that has a similar gravitational pull?

    1. John

      How would a smaller planet have a similar gravitational pull?

      1. sarcasmic

        Gravity is a function of mass, not size.

        1. Tim

          Gravity is a function of sugary drinks intake in New York, dumbass.

        2. Restoras

          sarcasmic| 10.17.12 @ 9:15AM |#

          Gravity is a function of mass, not size.

          Ok, so I think I may have stumbled upon the reason for the curvy/svelte debate you two are endlessy engaged in.

          John is attracted to curvier women. Curvier women have greater mass and therefore a strong gravitational pull. In order for the universe to remain in balance, John must be an Olympic marathoner.

          Sarcasmic is attracted to slender women. Slender women have lesser mass and therefore a weaker gravitational pull. In order for the universe to remain in balance, Sarcasmic must be an Olympic weightlifter.

          Close?

          1. Bobarian

            I’m thinking more like John is a 98 lb pencil neck and Sarcasmic needs to have a wall removed to leave his house.

        3. So you are saying size doesn’t matter?

      2. Density. A larger iron core, or even better, a Uranium one (mwa ha ha ha)

      3. Restoras

        Denser? Maybe its made entire of gold?

      4. WTF

        Well, it could be made of denser material, but since the earth has an iron-nickel core and is mostly rock in its crust, a smaller planet just as dense would have to be mostly metals, little soil and water, so maybe not too good to live on.

      5. Tonio

        Epic fail, John.

    2. They’re not looking for earth-sized planets. They’re looking for planets, period. When they find one that’s a gas giant, they say gas giant; when it’s earth sized, they say earth-sized; etc.

      1. Bee Tagger

        It’s always last call for astronomers. No need to be picky.

      2. generic Brand

        True. I guess I took the statement as meaning we have to find an exact duplicate for future inhabitance. My assumption was also based on Ed’s snide remark, so I guess it wasn’t very logical.

      3. Why Earth-sized? Why not Venus-sized? Earth shows its planetary bias yet again.

        1. Quetzalcoatl

          Venus only receives 77% of the research attention that Mars gets!

          1. JW

            And it uses too much makeup.

            1. Entropy Void

              … and puts the makeup on while it’s driving around the Sun.

        2. Quite so – planetary patriarchy to compare to Earth and not the Womyn planet!

          1. Heroic Mulatto

            ???

            In Old English, “earth” is a feminine noun. I would suspect that such gender would follow it all the way to its proto-Indo-European roots.

            Jus’ sayin’

        3. Tonio

          Remember, this is astronomers filtered through journalists. Journalists love to dumb things down and use ludicrous examples, ie “enough water to fill railroad tank cars stretching from Paducah to Piscataway.”

          1. Don’t cover for the astronomers. I bet they used Earth-sized in their description, too.

            Venus’ lawyers will be calling on Earth’s lawyers.

          2. Tonio

            Well, if they did it was because they knew the journos would dumb it down (and probably fuck it up), so they did their own dumbing-down.

            1. Earthism is rampant among the scientific community.

  19. Haryana khap blames consumption of chowmein for rapes
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes…..829882.cms

    “To my understanding, consumption of fast food contributes to such incidents. Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance evoking an urge to indulge in such acts,” said Jitender Chhatar, a resident of Jind’s Chhatar village and thua khap panchayat leader.

    “You also know the impact of chowmein, which is a spicy food, on our body. Hence, our elders also advised to consume light and nutritious food,” Chhatar added.

    1. db

      Quick! Kellogg’s cornflakes to the rescue!

      1. And Graham Crackers.

        1. Groovus Maximus

          With milk. -))))

          1. JW

            How many chins do the Russkies normally have?

            1. Groovus Maximus

              Heh, depends on whether or not The Babooshka Gene has expressed. -)

    2. Groovus Maximus

      Have these people not heard of “curry”? Indian cuisine is (in)famous for “Ghandi’s Revenge.”

    3. So I should feed women chow mein and they’ll be horny for sex (preferably with me)?

      1. Elspeth Flashman

        Spicy food isn’t the ticket. Trust me.

        1. Atanarjuat

          Especially if you’re wanting to do anal.

  20. Jerry on the road

    What’s up with the China bashing during the debate?

    1. Restoras

      China is the source of all our problems, and they don’t vote, so whynot?

      1. Rich

        and they don’t vote

        Are you certain? I’ve been hearing a lot about their cyber-prowess.

    2. DJF

      It might have a little to do with China being a brutal corrupt communist dictatorship with crony state owned and so-called capitalist business which does not even allow private ownership of land.

      1. Jerry on the road

        So they’re not a threat. It’s like attacking your mentally retarded cousin.

      2. T

        Yeah, too bad nobody made that criticism during the debate.

      3. Rasilio

        SO your saying they are just like us

    3. Tonio

      Because talking about those evil chinese avoids any substantive debate about foreign policy. Duh.

  21. Bee Tagger

    It’ll have to be moved away from its sun and given time to cool before we can move in.

    Didn’t you hear? House Hunters Interstellar is totally fake.

    1. robc

      A friend of mine’s sister was on House Hunters.

      Its totally fake. Once you realize they have already purchased one of the houses before the filming, its easy to guess which one they are gonna choose.

      1. VG Zaytsev

        TV shows are fake — say it ain’t so.

      2. Kaptious Kristen

        So how do they get the before afters?

        I recall reading one couple saying they didn’t even buy one of the three houses on the show – they bought a completely different place that was never shown at all. The house that was shown as the one they bought was furnished staged by production.

        1. robc

          The “after” was with furniture they rented to fill the place to make it look nice.

          She got to keep the furniture for about 2 months, due to weird filming things. Also, and offer to buy the furniture discounted, but it was still too pricey for her.

          Not sure how they did the “before”, whether it was her stuff or they moved her stuff out or what. This also payed to store her stuff for the two months.

      3. Red Rocks Rockin

        This popped up on “Shipping Wars,” recently as well. On some of the episodes, it shows the shipper getting one or two stars, the customer is pissed to hell, etc. But when you go on uShip, it lists the item that was shown on the episode and it lists a good review for the shipment.

  22. Earth-sized planet found just outside solar system
    http://news.yahoo.com/earth-si…..32222.html

    European astronomers say that just outside our solar system they’ve found a planet that’s the closest you can get to Earth in location and size.

    It is the type of planet they’ve been searching for across the Milky Way galaxy and they found it circling a star right next door ? 25 trillion miles away. But the Earth-like planet is so hot its surface may be like molten lava. Life cannot survive the 2,200 degree heat of the planet, so close to its star that it circles it every few days.

    1. #postfail

    2. generic Brand

      What? No hat-tip to Ed?

    3. Tonio

      Yeah, that “just outside” is slippery. The boundary of the solar system is in the low tens of billions of miles away, the distance to AC is 25 trillion.

      1. Marshall Gill

        True, but 4.5 light years seems much closer than 25,000,000,000,000 miles.

    4. Trespassers W

      Life cannot survive the 2,200 degree heat of the planet, so close to its star that it circles it every few days.

      Plus, the humidity is like 95%.

  23. Driving Over the Cliff Could Save the Economy
    http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/…..aspx#page1

    While many both inside and outside Washington are focusing on how best to avert a year-end economic train wreck of big tax increases and spending cuts, some experts are claiming the best solution could be no solution at all. Fortune’s John Cassidy takes the unorthodox position that, “crazy as it might sound, the expiration of the tax cuts could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.”

    Cassidy argues that allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to expire at the end of the year could be the answer. “If the lame-duck Congress does nothing at all when it meets after the election, the tax increases and spending cuts will go into effect on Jan. 1 ? The long-term fiscal outlook would be transformed, and the threat of a recession would be greatly reduced. In a dysfunctional political system such as ours, it sometimes takes unorthodox tactics to get important things done. This is one of those times. Bring on the fiscal cliff!”

    1. John

      The problem is not tax rates. The problem is constantly fucking with the tax rates so businesses can’t plan. Putting a sunset provision on the Bush tax cuts was gold plated stupidity. It is great for Congress creatures because they get to extort businesses every few years on the threat of higher taxes. But it is horrible for the economy. Figure out what you want the tax rates to be and set the damned things.

      1. Rich

        Figure out what you want the tax rates to be and set the damned things.

        Careful what you ask for.

      2. robc

        Putting a sunset provision on the Bush tax cuts was gold plated stupidity.

        This.

        And it was only done due to senate budgeting rules that they totally ignore anyway.

    2. Art Vandelay

      Well, if “some experts” claim that, it must be true.

      1. mr simple

        He’s not just some expert. He’s a journalist.

    3. It might be the least bad thing, but that’s not saying much.

    4. R C Dean

      The long-term fiscal outlook would be transformed, and the threat of a recession would be greatly reduced.

      If we’re thinking long-term for a change, I’m not so sure that a recession isn’t what we need, long-term, to flush out misallocated capital.

      1. mr simple

        It’s absolutely what we need. There is no long term solution that doesn’t involve pain and then building a real economy rather than just re-inflating the bubble.

        1. Spoonman.

          But you know Washington won’t allow the flush-out to happen. “Osama bin Laden is Dead and General Motors is Alive” is a bumper sticker one of my neighbors has now.

          It is a strange day when liberals are celebrating the continued existence of one of the country’s largest corporations, but there you go.

          1. JW

            I look at that as only a 50% success rate.

  24. The Solyndra Memorial Tax Break
    How Energy passed out tax-loss credits that mean taxpayers will pay twice for failure.
    http://online.wsj.com/article/…..on_LEADTop

    Perhaps you thought the Solyndra scandal amounted to a $535 million government loan that will never be repaid. No such luck. In the latest twist, Solyndra’s investors could be rewarded for their failure, thanks to a tax benefit the Administration handed out in a bid to evade political accountability.

    The Internal Revenue Service exposed this double Solyndra debacle last week in the U.S. bankruptcy court for the district of Delaware, which is unwinding the defunct solar-panel maker. The IRS formally objected to Solyndra’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan, claiming its “principal purpose is tax avoidance.”

  25. Tim

    “Though the newly discovered planet has about the same mass as our own, its orbit is 25 times smaller, so a year on this planet passes in just 3.2 days. This means the planet is sitting up against its star, roasting at perhaps 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit with a surface likely composed of molten lava.”

    Something about global warming.

  26. Dunphy (the real one)

    in Medina, WA the city has been reading and logging license plates that enter the city for years

    http://seattletimes.com/html/l…..na16m.html

    once the plate is recorded, they can run the plate for NCIC/WACIC hits (warrants for RO etc.), which requires no reasonable suspicion. iow, if i see license plate, i can run to see if there are any associated warrants, if it’s stolen, etc. without cause. the difference with medina is they LOG every vehicle that enters the city and automatically run checks (refer to the article).

    this produces both specific and general deterrence. iow, felons, burglars, etc prefer not to go there, because if entry/egress is logged, etc.

    it’s pretty big brother’ish. i’ve never been to medina, and that’s part of the reason why.

    medina also provides police services for hunt’s point and provides video surveillance for same. and criminals KNOW this. it is well known (just ask them) amongst burglars, auto thieves, etc. that medina and hunt’s point are video monitored. i’ve had several tell me they concentrate on bellevue and redmond and kirkland but stay out of medina and hunts point because of the cameras. criminals aren’t stupid (well, not THAT stupid). after the first few got busted, it became common knowledge about the cameras

    1. Francisco d Anconia

      See? There’d be NO crime if we just put up cameras everywhere.

  27. Matrix

    15 Sequels better than the originals.

    I agree with most of the ones on here, but I was surprised to see that Godfather Part II was not. Most people seem to like it more than the original. Though I disagree, it is still a fantastic movie.

    1. sarcasmic

      Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

    2. John

      Terminator 2 was not better than the original.

      1. Matrix

        Hasta la vista, Johnny! *BOOM*

      2. I don’t know; they’re two somewhat different movies. Judgement Day was great as a big budget movie, but the original was great for its category (whatever you call it). Almost apples and oranges.

        1. Was Aliens on that list? Because, similar deal.

          1. Groovus Maximus

            Was Aliens on that list? Because, similar deal.

            Wrong, FOE. Aliens was an action movie with grunts and a Rescue the W00bie. Alien was a gritty, dark, industrial slasher movie set in space.

            Two completely different movies, with the coincidence of the same heroine.

            1. John

              Alien is one of the best Sci Fi movies ever made. Aliens was totally forgettable.

              1. I wouldn’t go that far about the sequel, but I agree on the order. Aliens was a good movie.

                1. DJF

                  And then they made Prometheus, where they replaced crews of competent but out of their depth people with idiots who should never have been in space and want to pet alien snakes.

                  1. Tonio

                    Sorta…freighter crew vs (possibly) hand-picked subject-matter experts.

                    And don’t get me started on the reptile thing. A real biologist would have said “sea snake [analog]” or “amphibian [analog]”.

                  2. Groovus Maximus

                    PROMETHEUS DOES NOT EXIST!!!!!!!!!

                    Just like VOYAGER DOES NOT EXIST!!!!!!!

                    SOD-damn, I hated that thick steaming pile of freshly shat thumbtacks masquerading as an alleged movie.

                    1. Tonio

                      But, but…Sean Harris. (I’ll be in my bunk)

                    2. Francisco d Anconia

                      Of course, no movie compares to the cinematic tour de force that is Dune.

                    3. Groovus Maximus

                      FdA, there is no Dune movie; it’s a figment of your imagination. Like leprechauns, domovoi, and the tooth fairy.

                    4. Francisco d Anconia

                      I think there is a movie AND an exquisite mini-series. 🙂

                    5. I had a dream once that there was a movie like that, but I woke up shaking.

                    6. JW

                      I hated that thick steaming pile of freshly shat thumbtacks masquerading as an alleged movie.

                      You too? Transformers had a better story and more coherent plot.

                    7. Groovus Maximus

                      Yes, JW. You warned me, but I didn’t listen. Gawd it was horrible!

                    8. JW

                      Some horrors you must experience personally to fully grasp its depth.

              2. Francisco d Anconia

                Nope. Aliens was far better for pure entertainment value.

            2. Two completely different movies, with the coincidence of the same heroine.

              THAT WAS MORE OR LESS MY POINT ABOUT THE TERMINATOR MOVIES. Gah.

              I liked Aliens better but certainly didn’t dislike the first. The subsequent movies, on the other hand…

            3. db

              Both are great films for different reasons. The ambience of the first film is nearly unmatched in the genre of sci fi. The interior detail of Nostromo combined with the aural ambience create an extremely believable environment.

              “Aliens” is great because of its depiction of man’s bold quest into unknown circumstances tragically complicated by treachery and bravado.

              1. No! You have to pick one. You’re either with us in the Aliens camp or you’re with the Alien terrorists.

        2. John

          I thought Judgement Day was preachy and ridiculous. And I hated that little bastard kid. I found myself hoping John Conner got killed he was so annoying.

          To me the first one was much better because it was a cleaner storyline and took an interesting idea and told a good story about it. Judgement Day was pretty much every thing I hate about big budget Hollywood movies, too big and too incoherent

          1. Tim

            Admit it, you cried at the end when they melted down old yeller.

            1. John

              +1

            2. Good. Good.

            3. Trespassers W

              Dude, spoiler alert…

          2. JW

            Fuck that. I’m not clicking through 15 pages to find out what their shit-addled editors thought was “better.”

            1. I’m glad I’m not the only person who hates slideshow lists.

              It was nice, however, to see that the first page had Bride of Frankenstein and that they might actually be recognizing some of Hollywood history.

            2. Put me down as against that format as well.

              1. Francisco d Anconia

                Me 2.

          3. Quetzalcoatl

            I didn’t like the orange-mulleted friend.

  28. Atanarjuat

    I went to a speech by Judge Jim Gray last night at FSU. He’s Gary Johnson’s VP.

    -He said “we’re campaigning to win”, and used rhetoric like “when I’m in office, I’ll do this”, although later he admitted “we won’t win if we’re not in the debates” and “it will be historic if we get 5%”.

    -He’s not as libertarian as I myself and probably the majority of the commenters here at HyR. He’s a longtime anti-WOD advocate and generally sides with libertarians on major issues but does not argue from principles of liberty and is really more of a pragmatic, balance the budget, stop the government from doing stupid shit guy. Eh, close enough. They’ve got my vote.

    -He doesn’t like the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

    -There were a surprising amount of hawt chicks there for a libertarian event. But then it is FSU.

    1. Bee Tagger

      There were a surprising amount of hawt chicks there for a libertarian event. But then it is FSU.

      Was the title of the event a pun on 50 shades of gray? That could explain it.

    2. generic Brand

      Florida State or Fresno State?

      1. Free Shoes.

        1. generic Brand

          That explains the high number of female attendees.

          1. My thoughts, exactly.

            Florida and Florida State are both good campuses for young men seeking hot dates.

            1. generic Brand

              Has your kid decided on a school yet? I remember you asking about UCF a few months ago.

              1. USF, just to piss me off. Kids live for that. I should’ve pretended that I wanted him to dig ditches.

                1. generic Brand

                  Haha. Are you gonna charge rent to live at home or is he planning on moving out anyway?

                  1. He claims the latter, but I’ll believe it when I see it. We have a firm rule post-18–full-time college, you can stay home, if that’s what you want, but you’re out otherwise. And I think we’re not hosting any grad students, either.

                    I’m still encouraging him to go to UF, given his major. But UCF would be acceptable. USF is okay, but why go there when you can go to a better school?

                    1. Brett L

                      Is it safe to assume there’s a girl in all this?

                    2. No! That’s the funny part. He’s got slacker friends he can’t abandon.

                    3. Brett L

                      You need someone to explain to him how much better ages 19-22 will be if he and his friends have outposts in multiple cities for chasing tail.

                    4. I have this vision of my wife not liking that explanation.

                    5. Red Rocks Rockin

                      No! That’s the funny part. He’s got slacker friends he can’t abandon.

                      Don’t be shocked if he’s running with a whole different crowd in about two years, save for one or two of his best buddies.

      2. Atanarjuat

        Florida State.

    3. Brett L

      The girl who chairs the FSU No Labels group, which I believe is a centrist stalking horse that Crist and some other centrist losers set up in 2010, is unbelievably hot. I tried to convince her to drop the Republican lite and join the libertarian crew. Apparently 30something dudes are not the prime recruiter for 21 year old hotties.

  29. Restoras

    -There were a surprising amount of hawt chicks there for a libertarian event. But then it is FSU.

    The Libertarian Party probably hawked the event as a Hooters Recruitment event. Kinda brilliant, actually…

  30. Matrix

    I found the source of the squirrels

    Senator Coburn is on the case and wants to eliminate them!

    1. Caleb Turberville

      The squirrels are busy fixing their hyperdrive with all of those stolen ampersands.

    2. The Craig

      The robot squirrel was used to study how squirrels interact with rattlesnakes?

      This sounds too important to only fund with 300k.

      1. Rich

        Indeed. Video of snake vs robosquirrel

        1. Marshall Gill

          Please tell me that they did not spend 300K on that! It looks like a stuffed squirrel with a couple of robotic parts that I would assume you could build for a few hundred bucks.

  31. Caleb Turberville

    I’m seeing some updates on the Lance Armstrong case. Anybody keeping up with this? Is the Anti-Doping agency correct?

    1. John

      It appears all of Amrstong’s teammates sold him out and admitted that the whole team was doping. Of course every professional cyclist in the world was doping as well. So I can’t see why he should lose his titles. If everyone is doping, how did he have an unfair advantage?

      1. generic Brand

        He’s double doping!

      2. Rich

        If everyone is doping, how did he have an unfair advantage?

        Because he didn’t come clean.

        1. John

          No one else did either.

          1. Rich

            Sorry. Poor attempt at humor.

        2. Tulpa (LAOL-PA)

          Sometimes you need to cream a whore after biking all day.

      3. VG Zaytsev

        So I can’t see why he should lose his titles.

        He must lose his titles because admitting that doping is no big deal undermines the idea that busybodies can bully the public on things like mj and big gulp sodas.

        1. Brett L

          So, if you get caught, its a six month suspension. If you don’t, its a lifetime ban. Makes perfect sense.

  32. Matrix

    Another lameass halftime show for the Super Bowl.

    Dammit…

    1. John

      She will be worse than the Black Eyed Peas. I understand you can’t just have old guys. But if you are going to take someone young, take someone who has talent and can actually perform and is not a product of the studio.

      1. Groovus Maximus

        Auto-Toons is worse that heroin to most “performers” these days. You just try to get most alleged singers to perform without it.

        Motown didn’t need Auto-Toons, and neither did Joe Strummer. Feh. Lawn, off, my, get, etc.

        1. John

          Hell B.B King is 87 and I bet he could put on a better show than Beyonce. I honestly can’t think of someone who is in their prime right now and famous enough to get the gig.

          All of the really good Super Bowl performances have been from people who peaked no later than the late 80s. U2 was excellent. Prince was outstanding. Tom Petty was good and even at their age the Rolling Stones were quite good. Contrast that to the car wrecks that were the Black Eyed Peas and Janet Jackson.

          I don’t know who you pick. We just can’t produce really popular good music anymore. Maybe bring in a country artist. Taylor Swift can at least sing.

          1. Has Rihanna done the Super Bowl? I am not a huge fan, but she’s definitely in her prime and famous enough.

            1. John

              No she hasn’t. The other person who can actually sing is Christina Aquilara. She was in the Scorcazi Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light back in 2006. She did a duet with Jagger on Live with Me and she sounded really good. I was surprised she could actually perform.

              1. generic Brand

                But she’s too fat for a national performance like that, and I tend to like her.

                1. John

                  That is why God made diet pills and control top pantyhose Generic.

                  1. Tim

                    They could go low budget spectacle by inviting Courtney Love to go out and sell two dollar blow jobs on the fifty yard line for twenty minutes.

                    1. T

                      Yeah, but who wants to watch that?

                      Yes, rule 34, I know. Some deve wants to see it, but not enough to draw the ratings.

          2. Rasilio

            How about Lady Antebellum? Good mix of pop, rock, and country, huge following and damn good musicians.

            Course another one that would probably kick ass given their dynamic together would be if you got Blake Shelton and Adam Levine to do it together.

            Evanescence wouldn’t be bad but I’m not sure they have a wide enough following to really get the gig.

            Of course I’m just dreaming here but Metallica or Linkin Park would rock but I’m just thinking the very corporate NFl would not approve of the image those bands project.

            1. John

              I was thinking Foo Fighters, John Legend, Ben Harper or Kings of Leon would all be good.

            2. Spoonman.

              Why wouldn’t they like Linkin Park? Their music is enjoyable without being particularly content-rich.

            3. How about Lady Antebellum? Good mix of pop, rock, and country, huge following and damn good musicians.

              *barf*

          3. Kaptious Kristen

            I wouldn’t mind seeing something like Outkast. Or The Go! Team – they are tailor-made for the SB.

            1. Outkast I could see, but they haven’t been relevant for a few years now.

      2. Groovus Maximus

        Also, David Bowie and Annie Lennox, two of the most awesome performers in the known universe, never needed Auto-Toons. Sheesh.

        1. Ptah-Hotep

          Auto-Tune was initially created by Andy Hildebrand, an engineer working for Exxon. Hildebrand developed methods for interpreting seismic data and subsequently realized that the technology could be used to detect, analyze, and modify the pitch in audio files.

          Big Oil strikes again.

        2. Where is Bowie? You see Iman all over, but he’s nowhere to be seen.

          1. db

            Running the Guild of Calamitous Intent, of course.

          2. H. Reardon

            He’s in deep hiding. He refused to participate in the Olympic closing ceremony.

          3. Rasilio

            I heard he went back to the Goblin city to entice more plucky teenaged girls by kidnapping their baby brothers.

    2. WTF

      Beyonce!? Jesus fucking Christ…..
      At least it will be a good opportunity to replenish the snacks and booze without missing anything.

      1. Matrix

        I’m convinced they have halftime shows that will bring in people who don’t give a shit about football just to increase the ratings. Most of the football demographic has no interest in most of the halftime performers they have had for the past several years.

        1. Tulpa (LAOL-PA)

          Tom Petty was good.

          1. He’s one of the most consistent performers in rock.

            1. T

              Yup, always mediocre. Tom never excites or disappoints.

              1. Oh, please.

      2. JW

        Exactly. Who the fuck watches a half-time show, except to mock it?

    3. generic Brand

      I’m not too happy with this, but realistically what sort of act could even be done that wouldn’t piss off a third of the population? Last year Madonna was the headliner and while I think she’s a washed up has-been hag, most people I know thought she killed it. Same thing with Prince a few years ago. When they try to go younger audience (BEP), everything is auto-tuned and they sound like shit, or they run the risk of giving one of the biggest moments on TV to someone who is just riding 15 minutes of fame. When they go old-school, the Rolling Stones and The Who remind you why you like them better on the radio.

      1. John

        The Stones were very good. Prince killed it. Madonna was a joke. The Who definitely had an off night. But I thought U2 and Tom Petty were both very good. Of course both of them are old.

        1. generic Brand

          You’re making my point for me, John. You say the Stones and Prince killed it; I thought both of those shows either sucked or were forgettable. Black Eyed Peas were horrible; that can be agreed on.

          I think the answer is to just have a monster truck rally at half time.

          1. John

            You didn’t like Prince? I don’t even like his music that much. But he is a tremendous performer. I can’t see how you can say he sucked or was forgettable.

            It is interesting that people always rip on the Stones. Take the music out of it. There is no accounting for taste in music. But the fact is that they are very tight band and tremendous musicians. The show sounded good and the music was great if you liked it. And that is really all you can expect from a performer.

            I can say Madonna was a disaster not because of the music she played but because she sounded terrible.

            1. Rich

              I cranked up the volume on Prince’s guitar work while I was getting food in the kitchen. Nice.

              1. He’s very underrated as a guitarist. And as a basketball player.

      2. robc

        Bring back Up With People!

        1. John

          Or the case of Glee. Lets have the gayest Super Bowl ever!!

          1. robc

            case?

            There are 24 of them now?

            Gah!

        2. generic Brand

          Snipers… where are you???

      3. I’d have Yo-Yo Ma do Bach’s cello suite #1, but then I don’t give a shit about the Super Bowl halftime show and think they should do away with it.

        The use of pyrotechnics in a dome ruins the third quarter of the game, too.

    4. Why not AC/DC or the Oz? The NFL stadiums play clips from their songs all the time.

      1. robc

        Ozzie reunited with Black Sabbath.

        Or Megadeth/Metallica with Mustaine rejoining Metallica for a song.

        1. Brett L

          You know that sober Hetfield and Mustaine would be a fistfight a minute. No way they get through the practice sessions.

          1. Marshall Gill

            Keep them fucked up then. That would be an awesome reunion.

            Also +1 for an Ozzy/Black Sabbath reunion.

            1. Brett L

              Drunk Hetfield and Mustaine also results in fistfights. There’s a very carefully calibrated amount of heroin that they have to use to be on the same stage, and now that both are old, they can’t take that amount and survive.

      2. John

        ACDC is a great idea. They would put on a tremendous show. You need a band that swings and has three or four three minute songs that people know and love. ACDC fits that description perfectly.

      3. WTF

        AC/DC doing ‘Big Balls’ at halftime? I’m on board.

        1. Did the Who do “Squeeze Box”?

          1. Ska

            I couldn’t get past the old lesbian singing for Roger Daltry, and changed the channel.

            1. He was in a video my younger daughter watched when she was a toddler. Some “Wheels on the Bus” thing. He played a bus driver who was, I think, a dragon. Anyhow, he sang some songs. It was weird.

          2. generic Brand

            Unfortunately no.

            1. Old Who would’ve played the song and had a woman demonstrating its meaning. Then they would’ve broken some instruments.

    5. Francisco d Anconia

      Never heard of her.

    6. Francisco d Anconia

      Never heard of her.

    7. Francisco d Anconia

      So who is this “Bounce” person?

  33. A great fact check from the Denver Post on the debates.

    I liked this one because I didn’t know the numbers before now:

    OBAMA: “And what I want to do is build on the 5 million jobs that we’ve created over the last 30 months in the private sector alone.”

    THE FACTS: As he has done before, Obama is cherry-picking his numbers to make them sound better than they really are. He ignores the fact that public-sector job losses have dragged down overall job creation. Also, he chooses just to mention the past 30 months. That ignores job losses during his presidency up until that point. According to the Labor Department, about 4.5 million total jobs have been created over the past 30 months. But some 4.3 million jobs were lost during the earlier months of his administration. At this point, Obama is a net job creator, but only marginally.

    1. See, Randian, it’s because he’s a fucking liar. Even beyond the mandatory dishonesty of the political class.

    2. wareagle

      and one other point, albeit minor: the story you cite has 4-point-something jobs. In the first debate, BO was claiming 5-mil; last night, that jumped to 5.2-mil.

    3. T o n y

      And since presidents are the main engines of job creation in our economy, it’s Obama’s fault for all those job losses traditionally attributed to the Bush Great Recession.

      1. generic Brand

        And since presidents are the main engines of job creation in our economy

        [citation needed]

        1. T o n y

          [sarcasm detector needed]

          1. WTF

            So ‘Tony’ therefore thinks the job losses had nothing to do with Bush.

            1. Fatty Bolger

              So ‘Tony’ therefore thinks the job losses had nothing to do with Bush.

              Whoa, there. That’s different. Somehow.

              1. Marshall Gill

                Exactly. Bush caused all of those job losses but the President doesn’t affect job losses.

                Welcome to Tony world!

                1. Restoras

                  This is about right.

    4. generic Brand

      This is definitely damning (should anyone besides us care enough to look it up), but Romney actually called Obama out by saying “government doesn’t create jobs!” The only downside? He has made a point in numerous ads and past speeches on how he plans to create ______ jobs as president.

      1. John

        Romney will often say the right things. And then follow it up by saying something that is just liberal nonsense. They are still working out the bugs on the Mittens 2000.

      2. Of course, the right way to do that is to say you’ll scale down government to create an environment where business and trade can prosper.

        1. Azathoth!!

          I think, if you listen to him, that’s kinda what he’s saying.

          I mean, he does know how to create jobs, he’s created jobs.

          And a lot of his rhetoric seems aimed at making the US an evvironment where business and trade can prosper.

    5. John

      http://news.investors.com/phot…..caption;=

      This chart pretty much says it all. Worst “recovery” in living memory.

      1. Francisco d Anconia

        So how do I get to this alleged chart? All I got was a notice.

        1. John

          http://news.investors.com/ibd-…..overy-.htm

          1. Francisco d Anconia

            Thanks.

            I’d love to see the Boosh recovery comparison. Everyone selectively forgets that the economy went into the shitter after Clinton and 911. I’d particularly like to see a comparison of job recovery numbers of Bush v Obama. As I recall, the Dubya admin was gaining 300-500k jobs per month in the 03 time frame.

            1. John

              He did. And the media called it a “jobless recovery”.

          2. Francisco d Anconia

            Good article John. I’m saving it as ammo.

    6. Tim asked me to recomment from a dead thread. Seems relevant here, so I will:

      Obama is running against the incumbent. Understand this, and you’ll understand him.

      1. Spoonman.

        I have been saying this for weeks. Obama is running against his own policies. He’s running for higher taxes, less war, etc.

        1. Not an original idea, to be sure. I just added some pith.

  34. Jam

    Am I the only paranoid one withdrawing cash from my bank account?
    http://www.slate.com/blogs/mon…..bably.html
    i fear deflation/stagnation, neg interest rates, tyrannical lock down on cash withdraws, and money rotting in the bank account.

    1. gaijin

      nope

  35. Kaptious Kristen

    So I saw most of Miller’s Crossing a couple weeks ago…..

    1. Ska

      Most of?? You givin’ it the high hat?!

      1. Kaptious Kristen

        Yeah, I made it through to about 10-15 minutes after whatisface let Joey Knish go in the woods. I just couldn’t get into it. The squeeze assures me the ending is badass, but I couldn’t make it that far. I hated all of the characters.

        1. JW

          Look in to your heart and you will love that film.

          1. Kaptious Kristen

            I will give it another shot when it comes on Netflix streaming. The DVD belonged to the squeeze and he wanted to get it in the mail so he could get his next movie, otherwise I would have tried again right away.

            1. JW

              The hit scene on Albert Finney’s character, set to Danny Boy, almost makes the entire film.

              1. Kaptious Kristen

                I got to that scene – it was pretty badass, with him defending himself against a bunch of dudes with tommy guns with just a revolver and his brains.

                I just found it slow and I generally dislike dark, moody protagonists. I found the main character to be very one-dimensional and boring.

              2. I hate hate hate the song Danny Boy.

            2. EDG reppin' LBC

              I liked it the first time I saw it at the theater. I like it more with every subsequent viewing. Close to a perfect movie in my opinion. In my top 5, for sure.

              Give it another try.

    2. Fatty Bolger

      I love that movie. It’s basically an adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Glass Key, my favorite Hammett novel.

      1. Kaptious Kristen

        Most of the dudes (maybe a chick or two) here love Miller’s Crossing. That’s why I brought it up – I mentioned yesterday how much I love to get people’s dander up 😉

        1. Marshall Gill

          Post some picks and you might get my “dander” up!

          1. Kaptious Kristen

            Believe me when I tell you I ain’t hot.

  36. Fatty Bolger

    A Clockwork Orange: The Musical

    Billed as a play with music, Burgess adapted his 1962 novella into something closer to his original vision, as a sort of belated response to Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation in 1971.

    1. A little of the old ultraviolins.

      1. Groovus Maximus

        With my old friend, Ludwig Von…

        1. They do have a musical bit from the film they could use–“Singin’ in the Rain.”

      2. hamilton

        That pun, sir, was a crime against humanity.

      3. Tim

        You are on fire today. I don’t care what Episiarch says.

        1. Not caring what Episiarch says is the first step on the path to enlightenment and better sex.

          1. Groovus Maximus

            Now if you could just quit the sexual part with him, that would do wonders for you.

            You know he’s just not that into you, Pro’L Dib.

            1. Eeeewwwww.

    2. db

      Silence! the musical

      1. It’s been done

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder

          Unfortunately. Cage is a pompous ass, or a genius at marketing to idiots, I can’t decide which.

          1. db

            Yeah, I long ago had a friend who saw a “performance” of 4’33”. He talked halfheartedly about how you’re supposed to listen to the sounds you normally ignore, experiencing the ambience of a hall in new ways. Like all the coughs, snorts, and farts that normally get (mostly) obscured by music are all that. At least he didn’t pay to get in.

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