A.M. Links: Obama Still Reaches for Elusive Southern States, Boston PD Gets Secret Police-y, Greek Strikers Demand Somebody Else Pay the Tab

• Obama won't give up on Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, even as those state appear to slip from his grasp into Romney's eager hands.

• Mitt Romney's scheme to cap tax deductions won't offset his proposed cuts, says the Tax Policy Center.
• Achtung! Neo-Nazi groups are now verboten on Twitter in Germany.
• The Boston Police Department denies that it is spying on the peaceful activities of local groups and interrogating activists. The ACLU has a data dump of documents from the local fusion center that say otherwise.
• Woodsman spare that tree! Newsweek won't need it; the magazine publishes its last paper edition on December 31.
• Greek workers are staging a general strike, to demand that taxpayers in other countries pay for their stuff.
• Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, accuses the U.S. of practicing murder and torture under the cover of national security. Ummm … I got nothing.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Achtung! Neo-Nazi groups are now verboten on Twitter in Germany.

Stop the injustice! Nationalize Twitter! Oh, wait...

[Whiterun Guard]

A National Social network?

[db]

Now that...is good.

[NeonCat]

140 characters aren't enough! They need typingsraum!

[Shocked]

It would be a part of the Social Contract we all signed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

At least it's an ethos.

[Francisco d Anconia]

The ultimate blow to fascism...restrict free speech!

[Ted S.]

Neo-Nazis can presumably tweet as individuals.

[Longtorso]

All about libertarians: Group's mystique increases as profile is raised
It's well known that libertarians hold fiscally conservative and socially liberal views. What is less known is that libertarians, in prizing liberty above all else, place less emphasis than others, according to the study, on caring for others, avoiding harm, behaving benevolently and acting altruistically ? values that traditionally have defined virtuous and heroic behavior in nearly all of the moral systems of the world.

...In his bestselling book "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion" (2012), Mr. Haidt, a co-author of the libertarian study, breaks down the foundational moral principles that shape liberal, conservative and libertarian ideology. According to research Mr. Haidt has conducted, liberals rely on three of the six core moral foundations: care, liberty and fairness. Conservatives rely on all six ? the three that liberals favor plus sanctity, loyalty and authority.

[Longtorso]

Libertarians have the narrowest moral sense, relying on only one of the six universal moral foundations ? liberty. Revealingly, they score lower than both conservatives and liberals on measures of care for others and protecting others from harm. What libertarians do care about, almost to the exclusion of all else, is individual rights ? the group's "sacred value," according to the study. Mr. Iyer and his colleagues found that the most prominent feature of libertarians is "self-direction" ? or independence.

"They are less groupish, less likely to coalesce and subject themselves to party discipline," Mr. Haidt says. Libertarians also tend to be less social than most.

The libertarian reliance on liberty and self, however, comes at a social cost. According to the study, libertarians showed lower than other groups on levels of loving feelings toward their families, friends, romantic partners and generic others, which brings to mind another gem from Rand: "To say 'I love you' one must know first know how to say the 'I'."

[$park?]

See, proof that all you libertarians are just unfeeling bastards who care about nobody but yourselves. This confirms EVERYTHING!

[VG Zaytsev]

Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society.

As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.

We disapprove of state education.
Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education.

We object to a state religion.
Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all.

We object to a state-enforced equality.
Then they say that we are against equality.

And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.

[generic Brand]

We disapprove of state education.
Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education.

This is the one I find myself butting heads over time and again. The state is inefficient in so much, and yet millions want to entrust them with educating the next generations?

I was listening to a liberal talk radio guy yesterday who was complaining about some of the charter schools in Florida that are now failing. His argument was that people want to double down on that failure because they see public schools as being horribly run. Meanwhile, he doesn't realize the irony in his and so many others' arguments about throwing more money into public education, i.e., doubling down on failure.

(For the record, I am for shutting down or revamping a failing school whether it be private, charter, public, or anything in between.)

[robc]

Heck, its even possible to support public education without supporting public schools. With vouchers, for example.

Not that that is a libertarian position.

[Atanarjuat]

Judge Jim Gray advocates vouchers. I guess it would probably be better than what we've got.

[robc]

It would be better. I think.

I would prefer separation of school and state, but that is probably a non-starter right now.

[Rasilio]

Actually it is a relatively libertarian position as it moves us in a more libertarian direction than where we are today by giving individuals more choice over where they educate their children and introducing market competition into schools.

It is not hard core anarcho capitalist but compared to where we are it is a very libertarian position.

[Longtorso]

I do love the implication that our wanting a govt as small as it was when the Founders were in charge means the Founders were clearly immoral, and morality didn't come into play until Wilson and/or FDR showed up.

Probably not what a conservative wanted to argue.

[VG Zaytsev]

Conservative is such a broad term that it's effectively meaningless in today's political environment.

Self described conservatives can believe in a small government domestically and in foreign affairs or in a large active government in either or both. They can value our traditional separation of church and state, or completely reject it. They can believe in personal and civil liberties, or not.

And the most small 'c' conservatives (as in resisting change) in the US toady are proglodytes that resist any change to century old government programs.

[Zeb]

"Conservative" can never really have an absolute meaning. It always means something else in a different context.

[VG Zaytsev]

According to the study, libertarians showed lower than other groups on levels of loving feelings toward their families, friends, romantic partners and generic others

Because nothing shows love or caring like throwing your ass in a rape cage if you don't do want I want.

[Groovus Maximus]

Works for T o n y. "Loving feelings" needs to be concretely defined here. If "loving feelings" means "I'll give you whatever you want exactly when you want it on demand and command," then yes, I am something of an emotional Scrooge.

[Brett L]

Well we certainly wouldn't call the police on our friends or families if they were experiencing distress. That's got to count for something, right? Not putting your loved ones in confrontation with someone who can shoot them with impunity sounds like love to me.

[Groovus Maximus]

I'll just leave this here...

[Brett L]

I would definitely call the police on you.

[mr simple]

Fuck the Police.

[Ted S.]

We're not less social; we're less conventional, not socializing in the way the collective thinks we should.

[Spoonman.]

There is a large group of libertarians, who, like Mises, believe as we do because we truly think that's what is best for everybody, that the poorest under our system will be better off than the middle under the statists'.

[Brett L]

Revealingly, they score lower than both conservatives and liberals on measures of care for others and protecting others from harm. What libertarians do care about, almost to the exclusion of all else, is individual rights

Someone doesn't understand the difference between allowing people to be harmed by others against their will and allowing people to make possibly harmful decisions that affect only themselves. The first is right out to libertarians. The second is required by our principles.

[Lisa]

There is a place for protecting people from themselves. It's when you are a parent. I think this study is partially suggesting that a libertarian would let their small child stick their finger in a light socket. If that's true, it's pretty disconcerting.

[robc]

Its not true, of course.

As the parents on here can attest. How many libertarians parents on here have said their household is a dictatorship? Multiple, right?

[Lisa]

Yeah, I have seen that, but I think there could be a difference in the extent a libertarian male values individual rights, at the exclusion of everything else, before and after he has a family.

[Suellington]

Not this libertarian male with kids.

[Brett L]

Yes. But they let me stick my finger in that light socket, or climb the tree, or walk to school, and any number of things that could have "led to harm". If mom and dad cared, we did it their way. If not, I was free to be an idiot as long as I wasn't on track to be fatally stupid.

[Lisa]

But they did draw the line more than you would want government to draw the line, right?

[Brett L]

Lisa:

Exactly. Parents are guardians, children haven't the experience to act in basic ways to protect their own rights. Thus the parent is responsible for acting in their stead to protect these rights. Guardianships, in the parent-child sense, are time limited and even if you have a shitty set of parents, they've only got 18 years to fuck you up. One of the reasons I oppose all people being set up as essentially wards of the state (which is what these "protective" laws do) is that there is no mechanism for exiting the guardianship. It is not limited in scope or duration.

[JW]

I have told my kids on multiple occasions that our household is a benevolent dictatorship.

Of course, this is driven by the notion that a) they're children and don't posses adult faculties and b) I am directly responsible for the their well-being and behavior, both legally and morally and because I love them and care about them.

The state cannot make any such claim.

[The Hammer]

But the state loves you!!! It loves you so much, it just wants you to be happy!! And it knows how to get past that false consciousness that affects you and make you truly happy!

[Lisa]

There are other possibilities, though. Maybe most libertarians don't consider their philosophical views with regard to how they act with their fellow man. Maybe they have more concern than they give themselves credit for. Another possibility is that most libertarians who took the survey were single males and they might feel differently about protecting others if they had kids.

[robc]

Or, more likely, they consider their family to be an extension of themselves and not an "other".

[Lisa]

but the survey explicitly mentioned that libertarians feel less concern toward family members.

[JW]

but the survey explicitly mentioned that libertarians feel less concern toward family members.

Whatever that means.

Devil, details, etc.

[Emmerson Biggins]

This is a scientific survey. Obviously they hooked them up to the concerno-meter, and measured the concerno-flux emitting from their brain as they showed them pictures of their children.

Otherwise the whole notion would be pure horseshit.

[Brett L]

Penny in a lightsocket? Yes (after telling them not to a couple of times). Let them use the hairdryer in the tub? No. Would I stop them from touching the outside of a hot coffee cup? No. Would I stop them from pulling over the coffee cup and pouring hot coffee on them self? Yes. Children must gain experience at some point. As an adult I try to walk the line between keeping them from death and maiming, and allowing them to experientially learn about the world around them. Being able to say, "remember how much that penny in the light socket hurt?" When I am trying to explain why they can't use the hairdryer in the tub helps them to understand that the rules aren't arbitrary and capricious.

[kinnath]

We used to keep cacti in potted plants around the house when the kids were todlers. They only touched them once.

[Rasilio]

Let them? Hell that's my plan to win fame and fortune on America's Funniest Home Videos

[Sudden]

America's Funniest Home Videos

Youtube for old people.

[aelhues]

As a borderline Conservative, Libertarian, I don't necessarily agree with the conclusions here, but do understand where they come from.

One of the things that I struggle with in discussions with Conservative friends is the idea of protecting people from themselves. I'm pretty nearly universally opposed to it, but I see some validity in the arguments for intervention.

It's difficult to watch a loved ones life torn apart by addictions, or poverty. But I always come back around to the idea that both the giver and receiver of charity are better off when it's not separated by the vast gulf that is government.

The reality is that the more we rely on government, the less incentive we have to care for the situations of those around us. Libertarians may be less charitable and caring in the current situation, but would that be the case if government were to butt out?

[Lord Humungus]

Over the years, I've found it nearly impossible to help people from themselves.

Case in point - a girl I know called me asking for money. It turns out that her boyfriend was taking the money for the house payment and blowing it at the bar. They needed a few thousand dollars or else the house would go into foreclosure.

I turned her down - my reasoning is that the money would only be a temporary reprieve. Without the root cause - the excessive drinking - fixed, the money would just be pissed way and I would never see it repaid.

[Whiterun Guard]

Way to help out the economy jerkwad.

[LTC(ret) John]

No worries, Lord H spent that money on top hats and monocle polish.

[Lord Humungus]

more like records, stereo gear, and strippers.

[mad libertarian guy]

more like records, stereo gear, and strippers.

This is a man I can befriend.

[Rasilio]

Yeah see in this case I would have turned her down as well. I would have offered her a place to stay if she left the jerk. I might have even offered to help cover the costs of rehab for him if he was a good enough guy to be worth the effort. But giving them money to meet their mortgage is just throwing it down a hole.

[Sudden]

But giving them money to meet their mortgage is just throwing it down a hole

AKA: STIMULUS!!!1!!1!1!!

[wareagle]

there is a vast gulf between intervention and protecting people from themselves. The latter almost always assumes it is the role of the state to set up safeguards against self harm. The former typically involves concerned family/friends who come in after the harm has begun and they believe it will end very badly for someone they care about.

[Lisa]

"It's difficult to watch a loved ones life torn apart by addictions, or poverty. But I always come back around to the idea that both the giver and receiver of charity are better off when it's not separated by the vast gulf that is government."

I'm with you there. I'm also borderline libertarian and conservative and it's not valuing individual responsibility above everything else that makes me want government to butt out. It's that government is such a crappy substitute for charity.

"Libertarians may be less charitable and caring in the current situation, but would that be the case if government were to butt out?"
I would hope they don't blame the government for their lack of concern, especially since they value individual responsibility.

[Lisa]

oops, I meant to say individual rights in the first response.

[Whahappan?]

I think you misunderstand. They don't want to protect people from themselves. They want to punish them for doing things they disapprove of.

[Killazontherun]

What fucking century was this study conducted? It makes the classicist mistake of homogenized balance to a glaring fault.

[Proprietist]

So much stupid in this article. I'm a libertarian and think Ayn Rand is as one-dimensional as her characters are.

Libertarians are motivated by many different things - I for one am highly motivated by justice and economic progress for the lower class that has been stifled by government intervention, dependency and inflation.

I used to be a Green and many of my personal values have not changed since then, only my belief that the government could ever be the vehicle for any kind of real progress. In fact, the government is the root of the problem, and won't be fixed with "the right people in charge."

[$park?]

In fact, the government is the root of the problem, and won't be fixed with "the right people in charge."

Just be careful with that. Every political group, Libertarians included" want to get "the right people in charge."

[Proprietist]

The libertarians don't want the "right people in charge" to commandeer government to better run the economy and your life. They want "the right people" to commandeer the government out of the economy and your life. That's a pretty fundamental difference.

[$park?]

That's a pretty fundamental difference.

That's a matter of opinion. Every political group that wants the right men in charge believes that those right men would lead the country to a better place. The fact that conservatives, progressives, and libertarians have different end goals doesn't change the fact that in order to achieve those goals we just need to have the right men in charge. Libertarians don't want there to be no Top Men, they just want a different set of Top Men.

[Calidissident]

Top Men refers to the idea that if we get the right people in charge, government can successfully manage the economy, get rid of drugs in our society, etc. Libertarians don't believe in that. You're misconstruing the whole point behind the Top Men saying

[$park?]

Sorry, but that sounds a bit like you're moving the goalposts now. What would be the goals of a libertarian government?

[Leigh]

To libertarians, if you need a "Top Man" in government, then you shouldn't have that position or responsibility. Government should be as small and scope so that idiots can run it.

[$park?]

If that were the case, libertarians would want the entire government eliminated. All legislators are Top Men who are put in office to make decisions on our behalf. As to the last part, most of them are idiots and are not doing very well at running it right now.

[Trespassers W]

According to the study, libertarians showed lower than other groups on levels of loving feelings toward their families, friends, romantic partners and generic others

So lower levels of "loving feelings" toward a group consisting of... EVERYBODY? WELL YEAH.

[Drax the Destroyer]

So, will they use this as justification to herd us into the salt mines?

[Longtorso]

I don't think that's what "Warty's Salt Mine" was referring to.

[Rich]

LOL

[db]

That article totally leaves out non-agression. How is that not care for others?

[Longtorso]

They only beat us because they love us.

[Whiterun Guard]

Drones are the purest form of care.

[sarcasmic]

It is immoral to not use violence to get your way.

[LTC(ret) John]

STOP RESISTING!

[Killazontherun]

Of course it does. How else are you going to paint a picture of libertarians as evil gangsters who just want the government out of the way so we can exploit you if you include an inconvenient truth like that.

[Lisa]

It depends how you define your non-aggression. I definitely think unintended consequences can apply in that area. Peace treaties are a good example.

[Pro Libertate]

Whatever. I've been a libertarian since I was a kid, and I'm plenty empathic, donate to charity, and not indifferent to risk. I'm also not irrational to the point that I trust the least trustworthy people on the planet with total power over me. Crazy, I know.

[Brett L]

Why wouldn't we want sociopathic liars to rule our lives totally?

[$park?]

Yes, but your entire argument is undone by the fact that you're a lawyer.

[Groovus Maximus]

HA!

[Pro Libertate]

Look, we've passed a bill enslaving your kind, so watch out. Don't hear cries for socialized legalcare, now do you?

[Groovus Maximus]

Just wait, Counselor. -))))

[Pro Libertate]

If it were up to me, doctors would be free like all men and women should be. Sure, they're professionally inferior, but it's the layman's burden to protect them. They shouldn't be exploited.

[Groovus Maximus]

Remember that when Mrs. Pro'L Dib bites down on her tooth and you get a lethal blast of halitosis. -))))

[Pro Libertate]

She's a Bene Gesserit, not a poison-tooth carrier.

[Groovus Maximus]

He who control the spice, controls the universe Pro'L Dib, and Mrs. Pro'L Dib has quite the sweet tooth (ha!)

There's a reason barristers like yourself don't have RX pads...-))))

[Pro Libertate]

I should sue for my right to write scripts.

[sarcasmic]

nice

[Pro Libertate]

Lawyer/politicians rank higher on the scum scale that lawyer/non-politicians.

[$park?]

I like you, you're my kind of scum.

[Pro Libertate]

[Puts away thermal detonator.]

[The Hammer]

The comments to that article are actually wonderful.

[db]

Good morning.

[LTC(ret) John]

And to you too.

[Whiterun Guard]

Cram it with walnuts, jerkwad.

[Rich]

Suki?

[hamilton]

Hey, good morning to you too db. Good idea. Given the conversation upthread we should probably try to become more social and loving around here. Got that, all you assholes?

[Groovus Maximus]

Thank you, and fuck you! Oh, sorry...I meant "Fuck you very much." There, that's better. -)))

[hamilton]

Damn straight. Get with the program, assmaster.

[Proprietist]

My friends, I hope you all burn in hell. Take care!

[Lord Humungus]

The 7-Eleven Presidency
http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....54846.html

In fiscal year 2010 (see table S-1), the federal government acquired $2.163 trillion in tax revenues and other receipts. It spent $3.456 trillion ? 60 percent more than it had available to spend. The resulting deficit was $1.293 trillion.

In fiscal year 2009 ? which was, for the most part, President Bush's fiscal year (his final one) ? Obama's economic "stimulus" added $183 billion (see table 1-2) to the deficit (it would add far more in future years), on top of the deficit that we were already running that year under Bush.

So in all, under Obama, the federal government has acquired $6.846 trillion in tax revenues and other receipts, and it has spent $10.711 trillion ? 56 percent more than it has had available to spend.

[Whiterun Guard]

Bush's fault.

[Sudden]

Surely you can't blame Obama for that one-off $700 billion TARP that Bush signed into law in his last term simply because Obama voted for it, twice.

[Fatty Bolger]

Obama is really going to hammer the incumbent with this.

[Matrix]

What to do if someone fires a gun at work

Does not actually give you any tips on surviving an active shooter incident.

[Groovus Maximus]

Of course not. Th drive of the article is "well, it nobody had guns, this would never have been a problem!"

[Rich]

"Duck ... and cover!"

[Jordan]

Put up a gun-free zone sign. Problem solved.

[db]

Draw; identify threat, cover, backstop; engage?

[Whiterun Guard]

Return fire, put lead down range. Assess situation. More lead. Reassess. Acquire target.

Terminate.

Extreme prejudice available upon request.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Wouldn't you just shoot back?

[Fatty Bolger]

With a GUN?!! EWWWW, how ICKY!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Find out what dog he's shooting and join in. Oh, wait, you mean a civilian workplace.

[Bee Tagger]

I just did a ctrl+f for "serpentine" and found 0 results. This article is a joke.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The solution is shoulder rolls. Nothing but shoulder rolls.

[db]

"Serpentine, SERPENTINE! If I were an enemy you would be dead already!"

[Bee Tagger]

What's that from?

[Whiterun Guard]

The In-Laws?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Venture Brothers. Molotov Cocktease.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Although The In-Laws is what pops into my mind when I hear the word serpentine. He actually goes back and runs serpentine when he's already almost to safety.

[NeonCat]

That's why it's funny. And of course, one must specify the original In-Laws, not the remake from a couple years ago.

[Atanarjuat]

Also in Cars. Lightning McQueen thinks the Sheriff's backfiring engine is the sound of gunshots.

"Serpentine! Serpentine! Why is he shooting at me?"

[mr simple]

Here's the video the article links to. Basically I think it just shows that you should be suspicious of any Terminator look-a-likes.

[Ted S.]

The cops, of course, will just stand back and let the shooter blow his wad.

[Enough About Palin]

My company has locked safe-rooms that are well marked. They also had everyone take a 1-day class on workplace violence and how to see the warning signs well in advance.

[Rasilio]

Wait seriously? Locked safe rooms that are well marked?

I suppose that might protect you from a random psychopath on a shooting spree but if someone wanted to kill people at your company they've just set up kill zones for the guy.

[Enough About Palin]

How so? The doors are locked. from the inside only.

[Rasilio]

As a general rule people would not head for the locked safe room until AFTER the first shots were fired as they would have no reason to. Presumably the shooter has some knowledge of the company as we have already ruled out the random psychopath sort meaning the well marked safe rooms would be known to him. Therefore he knows the routes everyone would be taking to reach said safe rooms and could set himself up in a position to kill as many as possible on the way.

If he were really clever however he would plant a booby trap in the safe room prior to starting shooting

[Enough About Palin]

"As a general rule"

Exception: I work in an office tower downtown for a multi-billion dollar Utility. It takes up a block. There are security folks all over. Some carry guns and take target-oractice at the range very seriously. Also, no way anyone can booby-trap shit in advance. And as for planning around safe-room routes, if a guy starts shooting up one of the floors, the folks on the remaining floors will hear an announcement and head for the rooms. Is it perfect? No, but it's very likely there'll be a better outcome than what happened at VA-Tech.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Good fucking riddance to paper Newsweek. Too bad it will continue in some horrific internet form. Either way, I ain't reading it.

[LTC(ret) John]

Dentist and doctors offices will be the better for it, however!

[Drax the Destroyer]

They should be stocking back-issues of Hustler anyway.

[Groovus Maximus]

In my erstwhile clinic, we never carried Newsspeak.

[Rich]

WTF is a "Newsweek"?

/Every young adult in America

[Whiterun Guard]

It's the adult version of Highlights.

[hamilton]

Except that it's still for kids.

[rac3rx]

Communist's kids who (also) can't read.

[Lord Humungus]

urgh - my parents still get Newsweek. Almost every cover seems to be an Obama love-fest. I'll be happy to see it gone.

[Trespassers W]

Amen, amen and AMEN.

[Longtorso]

The New School Nurse Is Nurse Ratched
..."In Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Nurse Ratched maintained order in the mental institution by dispensing antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs to the patients. Fifty years later, the NY Times reports that some physicians are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in schools starved of extra money, not to treat ADHD, necessarily, but to boost their academic performance. 'We as a society have been unwilling to invest in very effective nonpharmaceutical interventions for these children and their families,' said Dr. Ramesh Raghavan, an expert in prescription drug use among low-income children. 'We are effectively forcing local community psychiatrists to use the only tool at their disposal, which is psychotropic medications.'"...

[gaijin]

We are effectively forcing local community psychiatrists...

Force....how does that work?

[Whiterun Guard]

MMmm...the thing I remember most about Nurse Ratched is certainly not her propensity to over-prescribe psychotropic medications.

That's probably not even in the top 5.

[Fatty Bolger]

Louise Fletcher was amazing in that role. I don't think I've ever felt a more visceral hate for any fictional character. And yet her performance wasn't over the top, it was entirely believable. That's what made it so creepy.

For a long time I couldn't figure out why I immediately had such a strong dislike for Kai Winn on Deep Space Nine, until I realized that she was using some of the same mannerisms she did as Nurse Ratched.

[Whiterun Guard]

Yeah she was amazing. The hilarious thing is that apparently she was a huge sweetheart in real life, and had a hard time watching herself in that role. (Didn't regret doing it, mind you, just couldn't stand to see herself act that way).

I think if you can creep yourself out like that then you must have done pretty damn well.

[Whiterun Guard]

Also, I was trying to think of other movie 'villains' that I hated as much as her, and all I can come up with is Khan, Commodus from Gladiator, and of course the asteroid in Armageddon.

[Bobarian]

"the asteroid in Armageddon"?

By the end of that movie, I found myself cheering for the asteroid.

[edcoast]

She recently came to the opening of what, by all reports, is a pretty good museum at the old Oregon State Hospital where the movie was filmed. She said yes she could not watch the movie.

[Spoonman.]

I have never seen that movie, but I also immediately hated Kai Winn. The woman is incredibly skilled at being super creepy.

[Rhywun]

She was great in Brainstorm, too. Between her and Walken chewing up all the scenery it's easy to forget Natalie Wood was in there somewhere too.

[Groovus Maximus]

'We as a society have been unwilling to invest in very effective nonpharmaceutical interventions for these children and their families,'

There's that word "invest" again. Much like that word "access", I do not think that word means what you think it means, Dr. Raghavan.

[Fatty Bolger]

That's just your cold, unloving, libertarian moral foundation talking.

[VG Zaytsev]

some physicians are prescribing stimulants to struggling students in schools starved of extra money

Because it's just impossible to educate kids for only $20,000 a year per pupil.

[Enough About Palin]

Just think about that; a single classroom with twenty kids costs 400K/year.

[Brett L]

I wish I could've picked up an Addy script at age 14 just by being sent to the school nurse. Of course, my parents are sane. They would've told the school to fuck right off and probably browbeat several school board members if the principal had a problem with that.

[Rasilio]

You know, it's funny but reading the effects of Adderall I've often considered getting myself tested for ADHD just to get some and see if it worked for me.

I mean as a practical matter I probably am at least borderline ADHD anyway but a drug that could help me lose weight and possibly improve my focus and productivity at work for little to no side effects? I'm not seeing a downside here.

[BakedPenguin]

Never too early to get those kids on a meth habit.

[Matrix]

Right way to deep fry a turkey

I love me some deep fried turkey.

[Whiterun Guard]

Thanksgiving in Liberia is going to suck.

No turkeys here. And really no oven hot enough to cook one (and I don't even have a place to deep fry one).

My favorite holiday (after St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Cinco de Mayo and Superbowl Sunday) gone, just gone 🙁

Anyway, nerdy way to cook a turkey (assuming it's spherical!):

http://phys.org/news9327.html

[John]

Doesn't every day in a place like Liberia suck?

[Whiterun Guard]

Yep. Less for me than most people here, but yep.

[John]

Look at the bright side. Most people in the US are totally ignorant and have no clue how much the rest of the world sucks and how lucky they are to live in a nice western country. You know are one of the few who know differently.

[Ted S.]

Nobody forced you to move to Liberia.

[Whiterun Guard]

I'm not saying they did! I'll just miss turkey-day. And turkey in general.

[BakedPenguin]

If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing there?

[Whiterun Guard]

Regional security planning for a British firm. It's much less interesting than it sounds.

[T]

Yeah, once you write down 'shoot any unauthorized personnel who come near the facility', what else is there to do?

[BakedPenguin]

Considering the recent civil war in Liberia, I hope it stays really, really boring for you.

[Brett L]

Roast the turkey in the ground like a pig. I'll bet that would be fantastic.

[JW]

Or just roast a pig and have that instead. that sounds infinitely preferable than another round of dry, white meat.

[Atanarjuat]

Roast the turkey guinea fowl in the ground like a pig.

Fixed, he said there are no turkeys in Affika.

[Surly Chef]

It's Liberia. You should be able to hire some child soldiers to hunt down several varieties of wild bird and build you a fire over which to barbecue them for less than the cost of an actual turkey stateside. While there aren't any turkeys per se they are a wide variety of ducks, geese guinea fowl, grouse and quail. Along with the very chicken-like spurfowl and partridge-like francolin. A variety of tubers and root vegetables are available to sub out pumpkin/squash. Don't forget to wear your top hat and monocle.

[Bobarian]

Don't forget to have them render the fat from an endangered species, for the purpose of frying the birds.

A new monocle made from ivory and rhino horn would be good, too.

[Lord Humungus]

That awful moment when you realize he's a?Republican!!!
http://dearwendy.com/forums/to.....epublican/

Guys, this sucks. The cute colleague I've been crushing on/befriending for the last month or so is voting for Romney. I was texting him about an upcoming event at a local bar where I'll have the opportunity to meet Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson. He said he might go but is pretty set on voting for Romney. I'm so sad. I knew at some point I would find out something negative about him but I had hoped it wouldn't be something this bad. Damn it!!

[Drax the Destroyer]

She gets points for being a Libertarian, but ...she'll probably still end up sucking his dick. Just like a republican douche would still fuck a liberal fatty if he was wasted enough. Dicks and pussies don't care about red and blue.

[Rich]

Dicks and pussies don't care about red and blue.

Iron Law? I say ... Probably not.

[Whiterun Guard]

No matter where she falls on the chart, with me, she's going to wind up disgusted with herself and crying.

[LTC(ret) John]

Your honesty is..disturbing.

[Groovus Maximus]

Must be a glut of testosterone.

[Brett L]

Seriously, if you're a libertarian who can't date outside your own political circle, the other side of your bed is always gonna be empty.

[Rich]

Iron ... Never mind.

[Rasilio]

Uh, not if you are a female, In most places that means you can have your own Harem of socially inept computer programmers/call center workers.

[Ted S.]

It's a hoax. Everybody knows there are no female libertarians.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm assuming that half of the (socially awkward) commentators are having wank fantasies trying to email her now.

[$park?]

I'm sure she'd prefer a mentally stable, well-to-do fellow.

[generic Brand]

"I'm assuming that half of the (socially awkward) commentators are having wank fantasies trying to email her now."

Now you're just being redundant.

[Sudden]

Maybe she was intent on protesting against Gary Johnson?

[Longtorso]

Eric Holder in His "Fixer" Role
...During the 1990s, Eric Holder operated as the "fixer" for Attorney General Janet Reno, and from Ruby Ridge to Waco to the Oklahoma City bombing, Holder made sure that the government suppressed information that would have placed the Clinton administration in a bad light. (Murder tends to make one look bad.) Ultimately, Holder was rewarded by being appointed U.S. Attorney General under Barack Obama, and one only can imagine the crimes that Holder now is concealing....

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obama won't give up on Florida, North Carolina and Virginia...

He shall fight on the beaches, he shall fight on the landing grounds, he shall fight in the fields, he shall fight in the courtrooms!

[LTC(ret) John]

The more he tightens his grip, the more states will slip through his fingers.

[Groovus Maximus]

"No! We're a peaceful state! We have no weapons!"

[db]

I always wanted to pat Leia Organa on the head for that little gem. She's so cute and na?ve.

[Jordan]

Not that it even made any sense. An entire planet without weapons? Yeah right.

[NeonCat]

She probably meant "no weapons to fight off an Imperial fleet" (following a ruling by the Imperial Supreme Court to ensure storm trooper safety) since they obviously had blasters.

[Brett L]

And yet she was a better shot than anyone in the professional clone army.

[NoVAHockey]

If this is a consulate, where is the Ambassador? oh.

[Brett L]

I'm with a group trying to start a maker space in Tallahassee. We were trying to set a meeting time for the first week in November and one of the group who is a lawyer says, "Yeah, I can make it that Wednesday, as long as I'm not in court." I estimate the odds being low. Leon County shouldn't be disputed. The supervisor of elections is a standup guy and none of the results are going to be close.

[Lord Humungus]

Once again, Obama's record wins it for Romney
http://www.humanevents.com/201.....or-romney/

And when the candidates were asked by one of those committed undecideds to dispel any myths about themselves, Obama used it to lay out one of the least convincing arguments of the night. "I believe," he explained, "that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world's ever known.

Yet, if a person had listened to the preceding hour (the preceding four years, actually), they would have learned that the free enterprise system wasn't "great" enough for the health care insurance industry, retirement funds, auto and banking industries, housing markets, education, green energy, or basically any other area that his administration's policies have touched on in four years. It would be interesting if someone ? perhaps at the next Townhall debate ?would ask Obama to define what the free enterprise means to him.

[Rich]

ask Obama to define what the free enterprise means to him.

"Uh ...."

[The Hammer]

"I believe," he explained, "that the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world's ever known."

Obama: Better than Tony.

[sarcasmic]

Cop caught on video killing dog for no good reason. Nothing else happens.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....video.html

[Drax the Destroyer]

One day I just want to read a headline that says "Hordes of zombified dogs kill Swat Team that entered an apartment that allegedly had 1 box of Sudafed." Is that too much to ask, sarc, is that too much to ask?

[sarcasmic]

I'd settle for a dog owner blowing a cop's head off with a shotgun after the fucker shoots his dog, and the dog survives.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Ten bucks the owner doesn't survive that situation though...

[sarcasmic]

True...

[Matrix]

Does the article ever say why the police officer was in the family's yard at all?

[sarcasmic]

"Fuck you, that's why"

[Ted S.]

Lights the dunphy signal

[Fatty Bolger]

DemosTheKnees is filling in.

[Fatty Bolger]

That's awful. You can see in the video that the dog was absolutely no threat. He was spinning and moving away from the cop. Both are non-aggressive behaviors. What a fucking pussy.

[Ice Nine]

If the cop was in fear of the dog hurting him why did he move closer to the dog to get a better shot?

[sarcasmic]

"Fuck you, that's why"

[Fatty Bolger]

Exactly. The dog is giving ground. That is submissive behavior.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Boston Police Department denies that it is spying on the peaceful activities of local groups and interrogating activists.

"No, we're not spying on anyone. Hey, that camera better not be on, punk!"

[Lord Humungus]

'The Election Is Over'
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....williamson

The Left wishes this election already were over, and is hoping that Republicans can be convinced they've already lost despite all the evidence that they are winning. My own suspicion is that President Obama's partisans understand at some inadmissible level that he deserves to lose, given the incompetence of his administration, the stagnant economy, and our serial humiliations abroad. The media cocoon enfolding the president is thick, but not so thick as to protect him from all that. If the Democrats lose, it will be hard for them, but it will be harder still knowing that they deserved to lose.

Winning will be no bed of roses, either: The economic growth rate in January 2013 probably will be approaching zero, our international standing has been diminished by Obama's clumsiness and timidity, and our fiscal position is untenable. Romney is working very hard to secure for himself a big box of insoluble problems.

[mad libertarian guy]

Romney is working very hard to secure for himself a big box of insoluble problems.

Next year at this time, "BOOOOOOOOOOOSCH!" will be replaced with "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

We've now entered a cycle in which all failure of the present will be blamed on the past.

[sarcasmic]

Life without capitalism (featuring Dunphy heroically enforcing Rule Of Law).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....e=youtu.be

[Mark]

love this

[Bardas Phocas]

One thing I'm looking forward to in the OUR coming fiscal-monetary meltdown: the three corner battle royal between grasping old people, the public sector workers and the military-industrial complex and their imperialist fluffers. Think the scene in 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' with the taxpayers as the surronding dead being robbed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0BrdMi-oyc

The old people have votes and have years of experience of grifting the dole. Don't underestimate them - they're wile.

The public sector workers are toast. Most of them are employed by broke ass states and local governments. They have a some guns but I'm betting most will walk when the paychecks bounce and they don't have experience in hardwork that is required for sustained looting.

The Imperial Military-Industrial Complex has an edge - guns, money, votes and nearly a hundred years of pro-military propaganda. But will they drive over grandma with their tanks?

[LTC(ret) John]

But will they drive over grandma with their tanks?

And throw a track, are you nuts?!

DoD is going to downsize and not drive over anyone - their 14% of the budget can be cut down some without a coup - take deep breath and relax.

[LTC(ret) John]

Oh, "and nearly a hundred years of pro-military propaganda"...

Does that include "Platoon", "In the Valley of Elah", "Full Metal Jacket", "Jarhead", "Dr. Strangelove", Apocalypse Now", "Paths of Glory", "All Quiet on the Western Front", "Redacted", "Slaughterhouse Five", "Lions for Lambs", "King Rat", "Jacobs Ladder", "Born on the Fourth of July", etc.
Music too numerous to list (start 1967 or so forward, especially).
Outlets such as NYT, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, WaPo?

[John]

Yeah pro military propaganda my ass.

[Bardas Phocas]

Yes, you can put up lots of examples of anti-military propaganda over the last 40 years. But on the other hand we "support the troops". And there is endless material of the multitudes of threats we told we face. It's suprising how little impact all the anti material has had.
http://www.library.georgetown......post03.jpg
I don't really expect a 'coup' but note the hysterics in some of the more military-industrial complex dependent regions over the possible sequestration cuts. Also, what would be the opinions (and actions) of our military if their paychecks lose 10-20% of their value a month? Oaths and honor are hard to keep when you kids are hungry.

[John]

So maybe it is a wash?

[John]

And yes, government workers get apoplectic when they are facing losing there jobs. This is new?

[LTC(ret) John]

Nobody is going to go hungry if you are a field grade officer and your pay gets trimmed - the lower enlisted, I'd rather the O-4 and up crowd take a hit to spare them. I fully expect my tiny Reserve pension to be nibbled away somewhat - and if that is what it takes to restore the public fisc, so be it. I didn't soldier just for a pension and a check - those folks would be properly called mercinaries.

[Whiterun Guard]

You say that like it's a bad thing...

[LTC(ret) John]

Mercs have their place in the world - oveturning the government of the Maldives or Seycelles or whatever, wasn't it?

[NeonCat]

If it was a female merc artillery officer, you could try saying "She shells Seychelles from the seashore" six times fast.

[LTC(ret) John]

I'd like to hate you for that, but it was kind of funny.

[LTC(ret) John]

"note the hysterics in some of the more military-industrial complex dependent regions over the possible sequestration cuts."

Probably will be similar to small towns here in IL when the State mentions they want to close some 60 year old hell hole prison and the locals go into hysterics, yes.

[tarran]

John,

You must not go to any sporting events...

[John]

Yeah because a flyover is so disturbing.

[tarran]

It's not disturbing, but it is propaganda. Currently in the U.S. there is almost a groupthink enforcement mechanism insisting that servicemen are heroes who should be thanked for their service.

Even here in the People's Republic of Cambridge, I am often the recipient of people thanking me for my service - something that would never have happened 30 years ago.

The propaganda is so pervasive that we swim like fish in it.

Mind you, I don't care too much about it - I think these things come and go in waves. Post Vietnam the group-think in MA was to hate everything about the military - which was really painful to the WW-II vets that were getting ready to retire.

[tarran]

Wow, somehow I deleted a paragraph of about the vets that taught in my high school. Fuck it, I got to get to work.

[LTC(ret) John]

I had a HS Chemistry teacher who fought in New Guinea in WWII - he had a bit of a hard time holding back when letting a disruptive student have a piece of his mind. While he was older, balding and a bit round, there was just something that kind of said "don't mess with this guy" about him. I kept my trap shut and tried to memorize Avagadro's Number in peace.

[John]

So being polite to service people is a bad thing? I think Libertarians should start spitting on them and berating them. That ought really help the cause.

[tarran]

Dude, there is miles of difference between being polite and fucking hero worship.... and you know it.

If I had been the EOW of the Princeton when it struck that mine, one could make the case that I was some kind of hero.

But there was nothing heroic about the mundane shit I did in the Navy, and when people call it heroic, after I tell them what I actually did, it's pretty nuts.

[mad libertarian guy]

If you can't see that virtually anything service related is raised to the level of religious doctrine in American society, with few exceptions, you cannot be helped, John.

The only thing that service members should be thanked for is having the will to not kill our leaders for forcing them in to wars in which we don't fucking belong.

[generic Brand]

So being polite to service people is a bad thing? I think Libertarians should start spitting on them and berating them. That ought really help the cause.

My buddy at work was in the President's Honor Guard or something (basically held the flag or something at all ceremonies) and was injured in some training exercise and is now permanently disabled. So he gets endless treatment at the VA and although he wouldn't call himself a hero, he has a bit of cognitive dissonance when it comes to saying "he served his country". Dude, you held a flag at ceremonial events.

[LTC(ret) John]

See my comment below on the cringe-worthy use of "hero" - I think a fair amount of the 'service thanking' is Boomer guilt about 'Nam vets and some politics - nobody wants to be painted as "against the troops" and such. Also, its a volunteer force, so there may be some bit of "better you than me being forced to do it".

[Whiterun Guard]

I don't think that is a product of propaganda.

[Lord Humungus]

yeah, after watching Apocalypse Now, I was just rarin' to join the army and do some killing.

[Brett L]

Well if I could use all the drugs along the way...

[Lord Humungus]

...Deep into the heart of Warty's darkness...

[Brett L]

I actually missed the sarcasm until King Rat. Moar coffee!

[Lord Humungus]

Heh - I watched that movie for the first time just a few months ago.

...sweaty...

[Zeb]

He didn't say that there was only pro-military propaganda. You could also come up with a list of movies and media outlets that are clearly pro-military.

[LTC(ret) John]

Movies? In the past 10 years?

Toby Keith doesn't outweigh the rest of the music establishment.

Mind you, I cringe when I hear reflexive, overgeneralized "Support the Heroes/Troops" stuff - I, personally, know exactly one hero from the US Armed Forces of the past 11 years (and it sure as shit ain't me). The blanket statements of "hero" are as bad as the ones ones made about cops or firefighters.

[Whiterun Guard]

And don't forget the real heroes, our public school teachers.

[tarran]

Dang, I should have kept my mouth shut and let you make my argument for me. You said what I was trying to say, better. 🙂

[Zeb]

Sure, I'm not trying to say that pro-military dominates the culture, just that there is a good amount of pro-military propaganda as well. No value judgement. Propaganda isn't necessarily lies and deception.

[mad libertarian guy]

The Military Channel is one big recruitment video.

[Whiterun Guard]

Now that's just crap. How many 16-25 year olds do you know that watch that channel? I mean look at the ads and it tells you everything.

The DOD isn't recruiting people that are buying Medalert bracelets and monthly catheter deliveries.

[LTC(ret) John]

I prefer to think of that channel as "Milpr0n".

[Rasilio]

Top Gun, Iron Eagle, Independence Day, Battle Los Angeles, Battleship, Transformers, JAG, NCIS, That SEAL movie they made last year that I can't remember the name of, Oh and the old Navy Seals movie with Charlie Sheen too, Stargate SG1, etc.

Overall I'd say that my movie list resonates far more with todays voters than yours does.

[LTC(ret) John]

JAG? NCIS? - crime dramas?!
Transformers, Battle Los Angeles, Battleship, Independence Day, Stargate SG1? - Science fiction?!

The SEAL movie was a quick attempt to cash in on UBL getting made into Purina Grouperchow. But it probably should be counted as one in your favor.

Top Gun was pre-9/11 fantasy. Any except that SEAL get made since 9/11/01?

[Rasilio]

The movies may be Sci Fi but all portray the US military as being essentially unbeatable badasses whose sole motivation is to save the world from the big bad guys and while the crime drama's lack the flash bang they show that the US military is, a few bad apples aside, the paragon of honor and virtue in a violent world.

[Ted S.]

I prefer the term "government sector workers.

[alittlesense]

Dammit I wanted to get my chance to grift the dole....now I probably won't.....

[Whiterun Guard]

Wasn't Grifting the Dole a Christian Slater movie?

[Sudden]

I don't think so, but it may be his career now.

[SFC B]

You kind of answer your own question. In The Good, The Bad, The Ugly only Angel Eyes is killed. Blondie and Chico live and each make off with their share of the loot.

The PUBSEC guys are toast. When having to choose between our Noble Service Men and Women, Grandma, and the DMV the latter one will find itself shot.

Now, whether Granny or the NSMW are Blondie or Chico is is an interesting discussion.

[LTC(ret) John]

"You see in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig."

Isn't it Tuco, not Chico?

[mr simple]

"If you're going to shoot someone, shoot, don't talk."

Yes, it's Tuco.

[SFC B]

Damnit!

I think that was raycess of me.

[Longtorso]

Surprise! Another Obama bundler benefits from "green-tech" subsidies
...Johnson headed Obama's vice presidential selection committee in 2008 and is the former chairman of housing mortgage giant Fannie Mae. He was listed as a campaign fundraising bundler for Obama in the 2008 race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and committed to raising $200,000 to $500,000 for the upcoming presidential race. ?

Johnson had supported Obama as a young senator and, later, was briefly part of a three-member team leading his vice presidential search committee. But Johnson resigned in June 2008 amid revelations that he had received $7 million in deeply discounted mortgage loans from the chief executive of Countrywide, a company that had helped fuel the rise of subprime home mortgages. He said the controversy was a distraction for Obama's campaign.

[Longtorso]

I'm so going to bundle all my Johnson stuff into a blog post called "Meet Mr. Johnson, who will fuck you".

[Translucent Chum]

Non rain-out rain-out. It didn't start raining until sometime after 10:30 which would have been more than two hours after the scheduled start and likely into the 8th inning with the way both teams are hitting. A-Rod was also robbed of valuable time flirting with the paying customers.

[Bee Tagger]

In other words, don't turn on ESPN today. Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith will be blowing out speakers.

[Ted S.]

Why turn on ESPN at all?

[LTC(ret) John]

Well, um, you see....I mean... OK, I got nothing.

[Translucent Chum]

And it's pouring rain today. No way they get the game in.

[sarcasmic]

FBI foils another terrorist attack finds another sucker!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-bomb.html

[Matrix]

Why is it that during all these plots, an FBI agent is the key person involved in the planning the attacks and making the bombs?

Seems like, often, the people arrested are too incompetant to do the actual work, so the FBI does all the work for them and then arrests them before executing the planned attacks.

[Rasilio]

Well at least in this case it looks like the guy came here with the actual intent of bombing something and they found him through an informant, rather than their planning the whole operation in advance and then convincing some dumbass farmer with islamist beliefs to carry it out like they have a few times in the past.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mitt Romney's scheme to cap tax deductions won't offset his proposed cuts, says the Tax Policy Center.

If only there was some other way to make up that difference.

[mr simple]

They can just count on a growing economy to make up for that.

[NeonCat]

Hey! It's only magic when libertarians promote the market! It's a sane and obvious solution if it comes from a Demopublican.

[LTC(ret) John]

Moar investments in eduction?!

[Lord Humungus]

Gas Prices Doubled, Obama Locks Up National Reserve
http://news.investors.com/ibd-.....eserve.htm

Few Americans have heard of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA), and those who have might get it confused with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or even the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to the east. The NPRA, 23 million acres of North Slope wilderness, was established in 1923 by President Harding to ensure a reserve of oil for the U.S. Navy.

..snip...

Now his administration has walled off the most productive areas of NPRA in a little-noticed Interior Department decision in August closing off drilling on nearly half of NPRA's 23.5 million acres of desolate, frozen wilderness. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his plan "will help the industry bring energy safely to market from this remote location, while also protecting wildlife and subsistence rights of Alaska natives."

[Rasilio]

Honestly I think issues like this are seriously overblown because even though they don't realize it or understand why locking up our oil and buying it from overseas now is a SMART long term idea.

Sure, we could cut $0.20 or so a gallon off the price of gas by opening up some of those drilling grounds and producing more locally, but really that 5% cut in the price of gas is relatively meaningless.

So instead we cause everyone else in the world to use up more of their oil reserves filling our tanks up with gas, then in 50 or 100 years when Oil actually starts getting scarce and REALLY expenseive we still have our untouched reserves for our own use.

[Whiterun Guard]

Flavor Flav arrested. For talking loud and practising his new juggling act.

[Whiterun Guard]

http://news.yahoo.com/flavor-f.....43334.html

[BakedPenguin]

He shouldn't have moved to a town where 911 isn't a joke.

[NeonCat]

+Get up, get up and get down

[Lord Humungus]

A President Without a Plan
A more spirited Obama, but he still has no agenda for the next four years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

The paucity of this promise, the difference between now and four years ago, was never clearer than in the President's response to the young man who said he'd voted for Mr. Obama in 2008 but is less optimistic now. Mr. Obama responded by reciting his achievements?ending the Iraq war, "health-care reform to make sure insurance companies can't jerk you around," more Wall Street regulation, the auto bailout and more jobs.

As for the next four years: He said he has a plan "for manufacturing and education and reducing our deficit in a sensible way, using the savings from ending wars to rebuild America" and pursuing "the energy of the future." Then he attacked Mr. Romney again.

[John]

He has a plan. He just can't say what it is. His re-election is like Obamacare. We have to re-elect him to find out what he is going to do.

[Whiterun Guard]

The plan is irrelevant. Who wrote the plan is the only thing that matters.

[Groovus Maximus]

Oddly, Flopney's is exactly like Romneycare's in that aspect, he's just slightly evermore so specific, and a wee bit more bi-partisan-y.

They are both walking Rorshach tests.

[John]

I don't get why people say that. Romney is a straight up Kennedy Democrat running as a Republican. There may be good reasons to dislike what he wants to do, but it is pretty clear what it is.

[sarcasmic]

And Matt hates him. Hates his guts. Hate, hate, hate!

[Groovus Maximus]

Yes, a watered down version of Obummer's "vision". Oh joy! Oh rapture! Oh verisimilitude!

[John]

Again. You may not like what he will do. But calling him a Rorschach test makes about as much sense as calling him a Jew.

[Groovus Maximus]

John, I normally nod my head in agreement when you call Reason to task for an implied Obummer bias because of the social issue-y crap, and I personally feel they would have little problem with a second Obummer term should The Zero implement all that stuff he has promised with which they agree, figuring the economic arguments have already been lost with the Entitled Masses, i.e. "Yes, we will trade economic liberty for social liberty", but don't give me that nonsense that Flopney is not a "conservative" Rorshach Test either.

Jebus, have you listened to your average "conservative" talking head these days? ANN FUCKING COULTER has defended RomneyCare!!!! And look at it now, after Devil Patrick has loaded it up with the gimmes and goodies that The Flopster "in a bi-partisan fashion" negotiated out of it in the first place.

And this worthless sack of shit PROMISES on DAY ONE, he will get rid of it.

Except the stuff that he and the Entitled Masses want, and not coincidentally, the most expensive and anti-economic liberty parts of the law.

His words, John.

[sarcasmic]

Looks like Demi Moore if over Ashton enough to eat something.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....tcher.html

[John]

It is better to be Orlando Bloom than Ashton.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....gerie.html

[sarcasmic]

You kidding? I'd take Kunis over Kerr any day of the week!

[John]

I would take Kerr. Kerr is amazing. She is way too fat for you. But not for me.

[sarcasmic]

Whatever.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....shoot.html

[sarcasmic]

Sure John. Whatever you say.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....shoot.html

[John]

I think Kerr is better looking. Kunis has a great body, but she looks cheap. Her lips are too big. Kerr has a much better face and almost as good of a body and most importantly doesn't look cheap.

[sarcasmic]

I don't like Kerr's face. Can't specify why. She looks alien or something.

What's wrong with cheap?

[John]

I hate cheap. Can't say why. But I just hate it.

[LTC(ret) John]

OK, I'll settle this for you two - I'll take them both!

[Whiterun Guard]

You'd take Ashton and Orlando? Eww.

[Delroy]

Hey, Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed. Leave him alone!

[Whiterun Guard]

Not eww because of their sex. Eww because it's freaking Ashton and Orlando.

[BakedPenguin]

Wait, Orlando Bloom has a girlfriend?

[LTC(ret) John]

And I am retired so...hey, wait a minute?!

[generic Brand]

Why are Ashton and Mila wearing New York City (NYC) shirts where the "C" is a Chicago Bears "C"? That's stupid. Either you represent your city and team or you don't.

[Spoonman.]

My county has a site where you can look up your voter registration.

Your party registration is an acronym to the left. Mine is "LN", which is pretty straightforward, but some of the others available were pretty amusing:

AD - ADARIAN
FAS - FASCIST
FAC - FACIST
PA - PA FOR PEROT

[Drax the Destroyer]

KAKO - Kang or Kodos

[Jordan]

Facist? Are they pro-facial? That's a platform I could get behind... er, in front of.

[BakedPenguin]

It's not as good as it sounds. They just believe women have a right to get these free. (SFW)

[db]

Is that statewide in PA?

[LTC(ret) John]

ADARIAN?!

[Whiterun Guard]

ROCKY!

[LTC(ret) John]

+1 cut me!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Greek workers are staging a general strike, to demand that taxpayers in other countries pay for their stuff.

Those other countries probably aren't as affected by a Greek strike as the Greek strikers think they are.

[some guy]

Greece is that drunken, abusive, impotent Uncle that would be homeless or dead if not for the grudging aid of inexplicably guilt-ridden family members.

[Rasilio]

Um, the only issue I see with this is how do they know the workers are on a strike when there is no change to national productivity?

[Lord Humungus]

old, but still worth a watch/laugh:

Charlie Brooker - How To Report The News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4

[LTC(ret) John]

I read the PM links from yesterday - I think that T o n y might have hit the ever illusive Peak Derp. You folks were quite patient and thorough - moreso than I would have been.

[db]

I think he's still busy compiling his Top 20 romneylies from the debate that he promised.

[Lord Humungus]

wait, I thought that was shreeek

[db]

Oh yeah. That's right.

[db]

I probably owe Tony an apology for that. Sorry, Tony.

[Groovus Maximus]

If T o n y really cared about the environment and all his other pet causes, he would freely volunteer all that potential energy to society for the collective and common good.

Peak Derp has been overlooked in the race for energy independence.

[hamilton]

Actually after reading the links I finally moved to the side that argues for T o n y being a fake sockpuppet.

[VG Zaytsev]

Nah.

He's a real sock puppet.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ummm ... I got nothing.

Nothing, eh? Maybe this will get you talking... [Turns thumbscrews]

[CampingInYourPark]

"Eric Holder, attorney general under President Barack Obama, has prosecuted more government officials for alleged leaks under the World War I-era Espionage Act than all his predecessors combined, including law-and-order Republicans John Mitchell, Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....owers.html

[John]

Most transparent administration ever. My liberal friends all assure me they are really upset about Obama doing this. They are going to vote for him but they don't like this.

[Rich]

They are going to vote for him but they don't like this.

So, they're going to hold their nose for a Black man?

RACIST!

[Rasilio]

Yes it is the most transparent ever, they are removing all doubt that if you leak information or blow the whistle on government abuse you WILL be prosecuted beyond the full extent of the law.

See, perfectly transparent.

[CampingInYourPark]

"The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone ? a price tag that makes welfare that year the government's largest expenditure, according to new data released by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee."

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10.....z29ejcI95L

[Whiterun Guard]

That's a whole lot of austerity.

[John]

http://twitchy.com/2012/10/17/.....gn=twitter

Post debate Obama supporters renew vow to murder Romney. It is the new civility.

[Whiterun Guard]

There is nothing funnier than a liberal tough guy. It's just hilarious.

[mr simple]

I don't think we're talking smart mouthed hippies. Who do you think inner-city gang members are rooting for?

[Whiterun Guard]

I don't think they care enough to murder someone. Also they're probably savvy enough not to threaten someone with SS protection.

[Zeb]

I don't think that inner city gang members care much one way or the other. Neither candidate is going to change much that pertains to their lives.

[mr simple]

Did either of you actually read the tweets? Also, I don't think it's Obama's politics that they care about.

[tarran]

These people aren't liberals. They are clearly people pissed off that the man is going to stop giving them free shit.

[JW]

They are clearly people pissed off that the man is going to stop giving them free shit.

They actually think this is going to happen under a Romniac administration?

They're far stupider than we ever gave them credit for.

[$park?]

I'm sure the Secret Service is knocking on a lot of doors.

[Brett L]

What are they gonna do? Borrow a gun from an NRA coworker?

[Sudden]

Something tells me these twats don't work...

[Fatty Bolger]

Obama, slow talker?

[CNN Managing Editor] Whitaker on the dramatic time imbalance in favor of Obama: "On why Obama got more time to speak, it should be noted that Candy and her commission producers tried to keep it even but that Obama went on longer largely because he speaks more slowly. We're going to do a word count to see whether, as in Denver, Romney actually got more words in even if he talked for a shorter period of time."

[Rich]

Obama went on longer largely because he speaks more slowly.

"Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit."

[sarcasmic]

"Mufukah!"

[Ted S.]

It could be worse. He could be a close talker.

[Auric Demonocles]

So they're rewarding Obama's inefficiency?

Also, yes folks I'm back (from the Alamo). And yes, I got my ass handed to me in picks last week. In my defense, more underdogs than favorites won.

[mr simple]

Did you visit the basement? (That never gets old.)

[$park?]

"What's your name?"
"I can't remember."
"Where are you from?"
"I can't remember."
"Can you remember anything?"
"I remember ... The Alamo."
*CHEERS*

[John]

http://ricochet.com/main-feed/What-About-Michigan

Interesting post on the insanity that is Michigan. The problem socialist states have is that unlike socialist nations they can't seal the borders. So more and more people keep leaving places like Michigan and California. At some point there will only be the parasites left but no one to pay them.

[Lord Humungus]

I fear the coming Michigan-lypse...

which is one reason (among many) of why I sold my house and instead rent. TN or the Carolinas are looking awfully tempting.

[Whiterun Guard]

Columbia, SC. All the good parts of a college town, very few of the bad parts.

Food scene isn't great, but otherwise it's near perfect. Don't get the stifling summers of Florida, get just enough winter to know there is one. Cheap as hell (or expensive as hell if you prefer it). Close enough to good beaches to still make it a day trip.

[Lord Humungus]

I loved my trip to Charleston last April - will be heading there again next year. Will try to stop at Columbia too.

[Whiterun Guard]

I lived in Charleston from '95-'98, it's pretty OK, but you definitely get the stifling summers there. Also with the bases, it seems more of a military industrial town than a college town.

Columbia has a good amount of industry too, but it still has that college town vibe. Liked them both, but I miss Columbia a hell of a lot more.

[Randian]

I am pretty sure the military population is higher in Columbia than it is in Charleston.

[John]

Columbia has Fort Jackson. I am pretty sure they closed the Charleston naval yard.

[Lord Humungus]

Charleston: except for the retired Yorktown (CV-10, not the real one), I didn't see much of military presence. Just a few kids from the academy in uniform...

[Whiterun Guard]

Charleston AFB was there when I was there, and seemed like it permeated everything. Pretty sure it's still there, but it's been what, 15 years, so the town may have spread out some.

Just like going to the waterfront in Charleston, all you saw was military dudes.

But going to 5 points in Columbia, you hardly see any.

[Whiterun Guard]

And that's the Citadel. Don't let them fool you, they are paying to get treated like that!

[Pro Libertate]

One of my best friends went there. He looked like a concentration camp survivor after his freshman year, and I'm barely exaggerating.

[Whiterun Guard]

Like I said, was from '95-'98. I think the Naval yard had just closed when I moved there. And it's not just about numbers, it's just the way the places feel. Visit them both and see what you think.

[Jordan]

Naval Weapon Station Charleston is still around, as is the Air Force base. If you live or work in North Charleston (aka the shitty part of Charleston), you will see tons of people in uniform. I recommend living in Mt. Pleasant. It's relatively wealthy and has good access to Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms.

[Lord Humungus]

thanks, will keep that in mind. I loved Isle of Palms.

[BakedPenguin]

Florida definitely has heat, but the Gulf limits it to an extent. The record high temperature for St. Pete is 99. In Orlando, it's 101.

[Pro Libertate]

And that record was a fluke and might even have been an error. It's extremely rare that it ever exceeds 94. On the other hand, there's no limit on our humidity.

I'm with the Penguin on Central Florida--it's brutal during the summer. I attended a couple of summer sessions at UF, and Gainesville is far worse than Tampa in the summer (and it gets colder in the winter).

[generic Brand]

I'm with the Penguin on Central Florida--it's brutal during the summer.

Second.

/Scruffy's voice.

[Entropy Void]

We also have A/C, swimming pools and convertibles, all of which are necessary to really enjoy a Florida summer.

[Brett L]

But you have to be in the same town as Spurrier and all those Cocks fans. Pass.

[Whiterun Guard]

Good point.

[Pro Libertate]

He tasks you, doesn't he?

[mad libertarian guy]

Kentucky's nice too.

[Pro Libertate]

How about Asheville? Or, for the small college-town experience, Boone? Right in the mountains.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

And then they move to less socialist states and vote for the policies that caused the problems that forced them to leave in the first place.

[Loki]

^THIS^ I think I'd prefer it if they could close the borders. Let the fuckers stew in their own shit.

[Sudden]

Here in California, I continue hoping that the stupid just self deport. Let Colorado have em.

[sloopyinca]

Princeton, WV police officer found guilty of bribery. He had told a 17-year old boy he would not charge him if he performed oral sex on him. Conviction carries potential penalty of 10 years in prison.

Now for the fun part. FTA: As part of the plea deal, Winkler will be permanently disqualified from holding any office or position of honor, trust or profit of government in the state. The prosecution also recommended probation and suspended sentence, Sitler said. Circuit Judge William Sadler set a sentencing hearing for Dec. 10.

Yeah, because this isn't the kind of person prisons were built for, right? Fucking double-standard.

[John]

Come on sloopy, they ruined his career. Hasn't he suffered enough?

[Whiterun Guard]

Come on, the kid was 17, and the cop wasn't in any position of authority, unlike a female teacher would be.

[VG Zaytsev]

As part of the plea deal, Winkler will be permanently disqualified from holding any office or position of honor, trust or profit of government in the state.

At least he can remain a cop.

[R C Dean]

That would be attempted rape in Texas.

Attempted rape of a minor nearly always pulls probation, no jail time, right? I mean, otherwise, there would have to be some kind of double standard. And we know that's not the case.

[Matrix]

So, does he have to register as a sex offender?

[R C Dean]

Nope. He plead to bribery, not a sexual assault.

Even though that's exactly what he did (well, attempted, anyway).

[sloopyinca]

Maryland Deputy Sheriff, bored with goings-on at courthouse, decides he'll just go ahead and rape a woman waiting to go into court. The woman has now filed a $15M suit in addition to the criminal charges levied against this fine officer.

[Whiterun Guard]

Dumb ass didn't know what the Noctae in Prima Noctae meant.

[BakedPenguin]

Jesus. They could just lock up the entire Prince George's county police force. They're worse than MS-13.

[db]

Try to wrap your head around the term "Anti-Austerity Shutdown."

[sloopyinca]

Assault trial starts today for two Maryland officers who decided to treat a U of Md student like Neal Armstrong's mailbox.

FTA: Attorneys for the officers called the gathering an unruly riot that threatened to get out of control and characterized McKenna, then a 21-year-old student, as an aggressor who ran toward police with fists clenched, ignoring warnings to stand back.

The baton blows to McKenna were "lawful, justified and were not police brutality," said William C. Brennan, an attorney for Baker.

Defense attorneys also characterized the officers as "foot soldiers" who were following orders from their supervisors. Their unit's commander, Brennan said, made the decision to deploy horses and police in riot gear and made it clear to officers that there would be "zero tolerance" for lawlessness.

The age-old "just following orders" defense. Well according to our resident cop, that's good enough for him. Training being paramount to whether or not an "officer" can be held accountable for his own actions and all that.

[sarcasmic]

You know who else was "just following orders"?

[Lord Humungus]

your mom?

[Whiterun Guard]

Mel?

[LTC(ret) John]

The short order cook at IHOP?

[NoVAHockey]

this is local one for me and it's actually getting coverage. probably because there's video.

[John]

http://opinionator.blogs.nytim.....whirlwind/

Linda Greenhouse on how the Supreme Court was just a bunch of big meanies about a affirmative action. Her tears are just wonderful. Watch as she obfuscates and changes the subject to voter ID and how Scalia is just mean or anything she can think of to avoid talking about the central fact that the UT affirmative action is designed to admit rich black kids at the expense of middle class and poor whites and Asians.

[sloopyinca]

Mississippi officer beats the shit out of a woman in 2007. State ignores it for seven years, but feds bring case when they investigate. The local and state authorities never even took the woman's claims to the local DA to investigate.

And here's the inherent problem with letting police investigate police. They simply cover up the bad behavior and either threaten (by intimidation and overcharging) their victims or manipulate the evidence through intentionally shoddy investigations, destruction of evidence or outright falsification that the case never moves forward. That and the fact that they work hand in hand with the people who would be responsible for taking their case to trial.

Somehiw, though, once the feds get involved, these cases tend to end up in a courtroom, albeit for the much less serious charge of "civil rights violations" than the murders and assaults they should be charged with.

[sarcasmic]

That is simply not true. Dunphy said so.

[Ted S.]

Mississippi officer beats the shit out of a woman in 2007. State ignores it for seven years

2007 + 7 = ??

[sloopyinca]

Didn't you know I'm from the future, Ted? I was sent back to protect some chick from a Terminator and knock her up so her child could save the human race, but I got sidetracked when I found this blog.

[Auric Demonocles]

sloopy, all your posts are now invalid, as youve PROVEN to be a liar. atfpapic you cant know the cops ignored it for SEVEN years, thus showing how you are just a bigoted troll

hth

[sloopyinca]

And just in case anybody wants to say I'm full of shit when I claim they destroy evidence, read this fucking story where the Maricopa County, AZ sheriffs destroyed key evidence when they were being investigated for the death of a woman in their custody. Officers will pay nothing, but the taxpayers are on the hook for a cool $3.25M, not to mention a woman's death will go unpunished because of the deliberate destruction of evidence.

Not a single one of the animals responsible was charged in her death. I guess they weren't specifically trained not to destroy evidence or to give insulin to a known diabetic patient in their care, were they?

[Ted S.]

They were following procedure, sloopyinca.

[LTC(ret) John]

That should be "procedures were followed"

[Brett L]

Saw this through a friend.

If the cigarette tax discourages smoking, and the ammo tax discourages shooting in the progressive mind, what do they think the income tax does?

[sarcasmic]

what do they think the income tax does?

It encourages people to work longer and harder!

Tony said so!

[Killazontherun]

When your average economics professor wants to make a point about what an overrated ass John Galbraith was, that's the theory of his they typically use.

[BakedPenguin]

At least - in his last book - he admitted that free trade was one of the most powerful method for achieving peace. But still, yeah.

[VG Zaytsev]

what do they think the income tax does

Punishes evil rich people.

[Groovus Maximus]

You're friend must be very transparent.

[Groovus Maximus]

*Your* Dammit.

[sloopyinca]

North Dakota sheriff's deputy resigns.

I guess his busy upcoming court schedule was going to be a conflict with his duties as an officer of the law.

...of course, if he wasn't specifically trained not to rob convenience stores while wearing his badge, then he may have a good chance at walking.

[John]

Can you please stop kicking everyone in the nuts?

[tarran]

Actually, this one doesn't bother me.

He graduated college, was hired by his first police force, committed a crime and is on his way to being bounced out of the profession on his ass.

If he were in the Chicago PD, it would have been a different story.

[LTC(ret) John]

Yeah, in the CPD, if it isn't on film and shown on TV, it didn't happen.

[CampingInYourPark]

"First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week to the highest level in four months despite a large drop the previous week.

The number of those applying jumped 46,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, up from the revised 342,000 the previous week, with both reports showing large shifts because of technical issues in California, the Labor Department reported on Thursday."

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-th.....p-by-46000

[R C Dean]

I look forward to the drop in the unemployment rate announced on the Friday before the election.

We should start a pool. Since they're going to lie anyway, I'm betting they'll lie big.

[John]

They will. I bet it they drop it a half a point knowing they will be able to adjust it back up to the real number after the election.

[Lord Humungus]

it's the obvious move.

[Groovus Maximus]

There are so many potential October Suprises for this election, they might as well move Christmas to October this year.

[Brett L]

Well, California finally got its reports in, so I think the number has to go up for October.

[Brett L]

You know who still can afford to sponsor a Greek soccer team? A brothel.

[LTC(ret) John]

I found a futbol team to cheer for!

[John]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49460659

Jobs claims unexpectedly rise.

[Lord Humungus]

of course California not reporting last week had just a 'slight' impact on the numbers.

Heh, anyone remember Shriek jumping up and down about this? lol.

[John]

Obama has created five million jobs!!!

[Auric Demonocles]

It's just because all those evil employers waited to fire people all at once to make it look worse for Obama right before the election. That's why it was down last week and up this week. Except that it was down last week because Obama is great and fixed the economy.

[NeonCat]

Obviously we need to hire more government workers to survey the populace and determine the true rate of unemployment.

[Auric Demonocles]

Greek workers are staging a general strike, to demand that taxpayers in other countries pay for their stuff.

I'm confused. Are these Greeks working in Germany? Otherwise, why the hell would the Germans care if the Greeks' trash is piling up?

[Zeb]

No one said that it makes sense. They are having a general strike because that is what they do when things don't go their way in Greece.

[Killazontherun]

Romney v. Obama Was a Nauseating Draw, and Both Deserve to Lose

Starved for a good overview of the debate? This should satisfy.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Pretty good stuff. Never heard of that guy, but I like him now.

[The Late P Brooks]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says his plan "will help the industry bring energy safely to market from this remote location, while also protecting wildlife and subsistence rights of Alaska natives."

I knew Ken Salazar was a useless idiot in 1975.

What do I win?

[LTC(ret) John]

The Order of the Golden Monocle, with Top Hat device.

[sloopyinca]

I know a lot of cops are pissed that their brothers across the pond in Limey-land aren't allowed to carry guns, but instead of issuing them firearms, perhaps they should have whatever weapons they were issued taken away. Or perhaps they need to revamp the eyecare provisions for officers under the NHS, because they aren't working out too well.

[Matrix]

How the fuck could you EVER confuse a walking cane for a samurai sword?

[Groovus Maximus]

You have never seen Rutger Hauer in Blind Fury? Excellent flick, for those who have not seen (ha!)

[tarran]

"Get me Bruce Lee!"

"Bruce Lee is dead!"

"... then get me his brother!"

[tarran]

[Driver who just got sideswiped] "What's the matter, asshole! You blind?!?"

[Rutger Hauer driving the van] "Yes! What's your excuse?"

... much later

"I guess [driving's] like riding a bicycle; you never forget... I think I'm going to try to get my license back."

[Entropy Void]

Can't be any better than Hobo With A Shotgun ...

[Loki]

Especially considering that most blind people's white canes are a lot thinner than the scabbard for a sword. I mean, the only type of sword that could possibly be hidden in a blind man's cane is maybe a fencing foil. Then there's the fact that a katana has a curved blade, etc. etc.

I think the cop was just eager to taser someone, and who better than a blind guy? He won't even see it coming.

[LTC(ret) John]

RIDE THE LIGHTNING!

[Lord Humungus]

OT:

Amplifier update - I have the schematic nailed down and finished (and ordered) the metalwork yesterday. Building will commence once all the parts are in.

Also, some newish synth songs:

http://soundcloud.com/projectc.....e-i-got-my

http://soundcloud.com/projectc.....ue-the-elm

I'm starting work on a new album that may include vox (not my own) which would require some more actual, er structure. But we shall see...

[Groovus Maximus]

YAY!!!! More of that synth goodness from the Metal Masked One!

[Whiterun Guard]

Did you ever pick a name for the amp?

[Lord Humungus]

no - though 'Command' is high on the list. The 1625 tube - which I'm using for the output device - was used in the ARC-5/AN Command Radio which was quite popular in WW2 planes.

[tagtann]

Dude that loosk like its gonna be good!
For sure!

http://www.Anon.at.tc

[tagtann]

Sounds like a pretty crazy plan to me dude. Wow.
http://www.private-at.tk

[The Late P Brooks]

How the fuck could you EVER confuse a walking cane for a samurai sword?

You've never heard of Zatoichi?

Philistine.

[Don Mynack]

Ahmadinejad's been reading Ron Paul: ""How long can a government with a $16 trillion foreign debt remain a world power?" he asked at a press conference with Kuwaiti media personnel. "The Americans have injected their paper wealth into the world economy and today the aftermaths and negative effects of their pseudo-wealth have plagued them."

http://www.jpost.com/IranianTh.....?id=288322

[BakedPenguin]

Given the inflation in Iran, I think he knows about the process.

[Ken Shultz]

"Obama won't give up on Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, even as those state appear to slip from his grasp into Romney's eager hands."

I think that's mostly wasted effort.

I think the undecideds are breaking, regionally, for whatever political party has dominated the historical trend...

Just like you see Warren surging in Taxachusetts (despite the disgusting homophobic slurs put on display by her union thug supporters)...

http://boston.cbslocal.com/201.....rown-aide/

...you'll see people in Virginia and North Carolina break for Romney. Florida may still be an open question, but anybody that thinks North Carolina is breaking for Obama is probably focusing their survey too heavily on Ashville.

[sloopyinca]

RCP still has Obama winning VA on their no toss up map. There's just no way that's gonna happen.

Based on that turning for Romneybot, he would just need 13 more electoral votes to win (if the rest of the map is correct). The question really does come down to Ohio, I guess. Romney could take Iowa and New Hampshire and come up 3 EV's short.

Any chance he pulls Nevada? They have a huge Mormon population there. I find it hard to believe Obama is a lock there.

Want a perfect storm? Romney wins VA, NV and IA but loses NH, putting them both at 269...except a ME delegate gives him an electoral vote since they aren't a winner-take-all state (IIRC).

[Ken Shultz]

Romney could take Nevada.

The thing to remember about Nevada is...

There are a lot of Mormons, but there are a lot of unions in Vegas, too. It's the unions that are keeping Obama afloat here.

But Vegas lost a nice chunk of its population. Unemployment is still higher than anywhere else in the country, and when the people who moved here for casino jobs lost those jobs and lost their homes? They didn't move to somewhere else in Vegas--they left the state.

Those people who left the state? Weren't the Mormons. The other thing that augers well for Romney in Nevada is that Shelley Berkley brings out a lot of bad feeling in people, and that race is really ugly. I think a lot of Republicans are going to come out just to vote against her for Senator.

She's like a cross between Bernard Madoff and Imelda Marcos--it's just the unions that are behind her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL3ilXwUwCw

They say she's in a tie at the moment, though. But if you see her numbers start to dip, then chances are that Romney will win Nevada.

[sloopyinca]

That woman is ugly as fuck.

UGLY.

AS.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!

[Ken Shultz]

They make her look better in that ad than in real life.

And she's like one of the wealthiest people in Congress.

Just, one of the most despicable people imaginable.

[R C Dean]

There's also a lot of Hispanics in Nevada. That's why the Dems are competitive there: apparently, Hispanics are all in favor of Obama's increased deportation rate and splitting up of families.

[Gray Ghost]

Judging by my relatives, there are a ton of ex-Californians in Nevada, which is my explanation for Nevada's slide to the left.

A better perfect storm (though not for us), sloopy, is for your 269-269 to set up, but have one or more of the NV electors defect for Ron Paul. Wasn't there some controversy about one of them threatening to do just that?

With 269-268-1, does it get kicked to the House to pick the winner?

[Ken Shultz]

I've been spending a lot of time in Vegas, lately. With great distress comes lots of opportunities!

Anyway, if Nevada is to the left, it's because of unions and because Nevadans are typically more to the left on culture war issues.

Nevada's unionization rate is typically 150-200% of the national average.

http://www.bls.gov/ro9/unionnv.pdf

If it's fallen in recent years, it's only because the casinos and convention industries have been laying people off left and right.

Couple the fact that the local economy is made up disproportionately of union members and that the local economy is dependent on people being free to do things cultural conservatives hate--and nothing else really matters.

P.S. Harry Reid keeping the state from becoming a nuclear waste dump for the rest of the country doesn't hurt much either.

[Ken Shultz]

Oh, Obama trying to keep deadbeats in their homes probably hasn't hurt the Democrat cause.

[Brett L]

At least somebody is taking the opportunity to relive the best parts of Apocalypse Now.

The video shows the security manager for the company staggering about the operations center late one evening after taking large gulps of vodka and then engaging another employee in a half-naked wrestling match.

"It was like a frat house for adults," said Melson. "Some of them to the point where they were passing out, there's firearms laying around, some of them still carrying the firearms on them."

Another portion of the video shows the company's medical officer with glassy eyes and unable to respond to a request for help after shooting up with a prescription anesthetic, Ketamine.

No video exists of drunken tai chi as of yet.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If Planned Parenthood performed mammograms (as Obama erroneously claims), they would be in violation of federal law, because no Planned Parenthood facility has an FDA license to do mammograms.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/1.....g-the-law/

[Lisa]

It's just as well, since mammograms don't really work.
http://naturalhealthdossier.co.....-of-women/

[Eduard van Haalen]

But...but...War on Women!

[Killazontherun]

Just like you see Warren surging in Taxachusetts

I have to say, that pains me most of all. They already have one doofus lefty who is national joke while the liberal senator she is running against doesn't create much embarrassment for the state while pretty much voting their preferred patterns. Why would they replace him with someone they will have to apologize to the rest of us for day after day? And, yes, Massachusetts, if you elect this moralist straight out of a kindergarten sandbox as your senator, I do expect apologies.

[Pro Libertate]

If they elect her, with her bullshit politics and her history of getting caught lying about all sorts of things, they should lose the right to vote in national elections for ten years. I propose an amendment making that so.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'll second the motion, as a Mass resident.

[John]

And the Kostards love her. If she wins, she will be the face of the Left for the next 20 years.

[Pro Libertate]

If she gets elected, that might be a bonus for those of us not living in Massachusetts.

Just wait until Fluke gets elected to Congress. Yes, the party is that far gone.

[Groovus Maximus]

Fluke I don't think has congressional aspirations, the real power is heading up a bureaucracy, where nuttiness is a pre-req and accountability is less even that of congress, being the Fourth Branch of government and all that.

Besides, it saves her the trouble of an actual election.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, she is a law student who purportedly went to Georgetown just to make political waves about contraception that costs $1 billion/year or something.

The fact that the Democrats featured her during the convention speaks volumes about how they view her, versus how sane people view her. And, no, I'm not suggesting all Democrats are nuts and all Republicans are sane. Just anyone who sees her without laughing their ass off.

[Killazontherun]

That first day of the convention was weird and with its focus on gay marriage abortion about as relevant to life in modern America as the ritualistic practices of worshiping gods in ancient Sumeria. I had hoped the rest of the week played out like the first one.

[Killazontherun]

Well, at least that face will match what they are on the inside.

[NoVAHockey]

I don't think she wins. Cook's still got it a toss up.

[Pro Libertate]

I don't either--I think she's been busted several times too many, even for Massachusetts--but you never know. They're a special kind of stupid up there.

[Killazontherun]

There is no easy way to put it. They kept electing a man who in his quest to be the ultimate philanderer killed a woman and raped at least a few on the basis of name recognition alone. His name is still the gold standard of how a statesman* should comport themselves amongst proglodytes.

* a mythical creature with more bleefers than all the unicorns and skydaddies combined.

[Killazontherun]

should comport themselves himself amongst proglodytes.

[$park?]

If you go out into the 'burbs there are Scott Brown signs up everywhere. The opposite is true in the cities. I think it really comes down to voter apathy being the thing that takes out Brown.

[Ken Shultz]

"Why would they replace him with someone they will have to apologize to the rest of us for day after day?"

To stick it to Romney?

You'd think Romney was the governor of Alabama the way they're enshrining Warren.

[Ken Shultz]

It's really about supporting Obama.

All politics is national!

If you want to show support for Obama--against the hated national Republican menace--you support Warren locally.

Think globally. Act locally.

[The Late P Brooks]

Any chance he pulls Nevada?

This induced a horrifying thought.

I have heard a lot of outlandish claims about Romney around here, like he's going to do away with the V A, or raise the Social Security age to 106, or turn medicare into a privately run HMO, et c....

But one thing I have not heard, which would send shock waves all over the West, would be to claim he plans to raise BLM grazing fees to market rates, and open them to bidding by anybody.

That would turn a lot of those staunchly self sufficient government-off-our-backs ranchers into Obama voters in a hurry.

[sloopyinca]

If he raises BLM grazing fees, he deserves to fucking lose. That's Sheriff of Nottingham-type shit right there.

[The Late P Brooks]

The fact that the Democrats featured her during the convention speaks volumes about how they view her, versus how sane people view her.

It's a wild, crazy dream but I would like to believe there were actual registered Democrats sitting in their living rooms who, when they saw her as a featured speaker, actually clutched their heads in amazement and yelled, "Are you shitting me?"

Not many, I know, but maybe one or two?

[NoVAHockey]

sure -- Catholics. telling the Bishops to cram it is our job. not hers.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, sure. There are plenty of people who vote Democrat who think the hard left of the party are nuts.

[Killazontherun]

I use to compartmentalize like that when I was one. 'Oh, that is just Jesse Jackson. He's just a loud mouthed lefty out of step with the party!' Never mind he and the rest of the left get everything they want this side of nationalized medicine.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

i think they'd disagree with you. have you ever read mother jones? or the nation? they pretty much define what the hard left wants and their sites comprise a litany of complaints. they are the type that describe obama in many respects as a centrist or even as a prez with some right wing tendencies.

they are the types that want more bernie sanders, not clintons . they are the type that consider clinton - the best republican president we ever had. i think from a NONlefty perspective it's easy to say they get everything they want, but i think if you step outside and look objectively, you realize the left hasn;'t gotten jackshit... and they are pissed off.

and btw, the left wants SINGLE payer, NOT obamacare.

heck, *i*'d prefer single payer to obamacare. they both suck but obamacare is actually worse imo.

[Proprietist]

NY Appeals court strikes down DOMA.

[Proprietist]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/.....?hpt=hp_t1

[Dunphy (the real one)]

if you look over this thread and others, notice how many posts involve sarcasmic referencing me, parodying me, etc. heck, if you do a text search for "dunphy" you often will find my name in his posts more than total posts made by me. i don't do this to him (this is a rare exception) because i am not a troll. trolls are as trolls do. note, JUST in this thread and in others.

iow, sarcasmic, get a life. i'll continue to post , not troll. you can continue to troll, but it just makes you look like an obsessed ridiculous shadow of a person

trolling is lame. get over it

[Dunphy (the real one)]

if you look over this thread and others, notice how many posts involve sarcasmic referencing me, parodying me, etc. heck, if you do a text search for "dunphy" you often will find my name in his posts more than total posts made by me. i don't do this to him (this is a rare exception) because i am not a troll. trolls are as trolls do. note, JUST in this thread and in others.

iow, sarcasmic, get a life. i'll continue to post , not troll. you can continue to troll, but it just makes you look like an obsessed ridiculous shadow of a person

trolling is lame. get over it

[nipplemancer]

You brought it upon yourself by defending your fellow scumbags in blue. You're not a troll and neither is Sarcasmic. The difference though is that you are a cop and deserve all the scorn we heap upon you.

[protefeed]

According to the study, libertarians showed lower than other groups on levels of loving feelings toward their families, friends, romantic partners and generic others

Because nothing shows love or caring like throwing your ass in a rape cage if you don't do want I want.

The other groups may or may not have more loving "feelings" -- doubt it, but dunno, depends on how you define the term. Their RESULTS can be pretty horrific, since intentions =/= outcomes.

I mean, I heard my wife talk about killing our dorg the other day, because it would be "cruel" to move the blind and deaf old dorg to a new home where the owner wouldn't want to off it for being kind of inconveniently old. She seemed resistant to the notion that killing the dorg was a lot crueler than letting it adapt to a new house and owners.

I think she thought she had good feelings and was being compassionate, because thinking you are a hard bitch is a downer.