College a Bad Deal, Assad Losing His Grip, Another President Bush?: P.M. Links

• Only 39 percent of Americans think higher-ed provides value for money

• Syria's Assad losing control in the north and east of Syria
• After a few glitches in the field, Apple fires the head of the map app development team
• Is the country ready for another President Bush? Get ready for Jeb 2016.
• Julian Assange blames "hard-right" American politicians for blocking donations to Wikileaks. Cuz that's who's in charge right now.
• Federal lawyers are looking to settle lawsuits over Fast and Furious before they get out of hand. Like that little scheme did.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Might as well just label these tomorrow's AM Links, they're so late.

[CE]

Wearing out the refresh button while you waited?

[hamilton]

Now you're just being cocky.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Confucius say, "Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is the country ready for another President Bush? Get ready for Jeb 2016.

I thought Jeb was the Bush everyone wished had run.

[Pro Libertate]

He was. But now we're all bushed out.

[sloopyinca]

Die. In. A. Fire.

[Pro Libertate]

You mean, like a flaming bush?

[sloopyinca]

I hope you drown the next time you set foot in the Gulf, you fucking monster.

[Pro Libertate]

That's The Gulf of Mexico.

[sloopyinca]

Yep, whatever.

And I love how your boy Muschump is bitching about Bama and Georgia being ahead of them. They barely beat Missouri, LA-Lafayette and Bowling Green and have a loss on their record...something The Ohio State University Buckeyes don't have this year.

[MP]

I know something else that the Ohio State doesn't have this year.

[sloopyinca]

I know something else that the Ohio State doesn't have this year.

Yeah, a win over a 1-AA team.

[Calidissident]

Florida has looked extremely inconsistent this year, but they've managed to beat some good competition. The Big Ten is awful this year. Michigan is the third best team (and Ohio State's second best win) and Alabama destroyed them. Nebraska is the second best team and they lost to UCLA. Penn State finished second in their division and lost to Ohio and Virginia. Ohio State's best win OOC was Cal, who they beat by 7 at home. I go to USC. As you all know, we had an extremely disappointing year. We still beat Cal by 18 the week after their game at Ohio State, and our offense played like crap that game (like they did half the season. And when they were playing well, the defense played bad. God I hated this season. I can't wait till Lane Kiffin is gone)

[Pro Libertate]

I have two comments for you: (1) Thanks for nothing in not beating Notre Dame, and (2) I pity you for having to endure the scam that is Lane Kiffin. His dad is one of the great defensive coordinators of all time. Not sure how Lane came from his loins.

[Calidissident]

1) As much as it must have pained you, you can't imagine how awful it was to be at the game and watch us blow that game (my blood is boiling thinking of that goal line series) on our home field against our biggest rivals, the green Irish fairies, who now get to play for a national title. Not to mention how the rest of the year went
2) Tell me about it. Although Monte himself is a huge part of the problem. He was a great NFL defensive coordinator, but he has no clue how to defend modern collegiate offenses and is way over the hill. I'm hearing that he's likely to retire, which is a good thing. If only he took his son with him

[Pro Libertate]

Don't be too harsh on Monte. He did a pretty good job at Tennessee, which had a bad defense before he got there and a bad one after he left. USC isn't typically recruiting great defensive players, after all. It's a very offense-focused program. His system depends on some talent and players playing their gaps.

About Our Mother--they're probably going to get violated by many scores when they play (most likely) Alabama. So at least you'll have that pleasure.

[Calidissident]

I think Monte's scheme works better in the SEC than it does in the Pac 12. He also had Eric Berry that year IIRC.

I respect Monte for his work in the NFL. But you haven't watched these last three years. 2010 and 2012 were two of the worst defensive years in recent USC memory. 2011 was better, but not that much, aside from the Oregon game. Twice in two years have we seen the points record for an opposing team in the Coliseum get broken. We do have more talent on offense, but there is plenty on defense. Literally every starter, and a good number of backups, were 4 or 5 stars coming out of high school. A majority will play in the NFL. No reason to not have at the very least, a good, if not great, defense. Despite returning 7 starters (and adding some good newcomers), the defense got worse this year. It's not primarily talent. Guys are always out of position, take poor angles, etc. We don't tackle in practice, despite doing it last year with more success. We constantly let other teams convert 3rd and 4th and long by giving them way too much space to operate. The defense was incapable of getting stops at the end of close games when we really needed them. All signs of bad coaching. It's not just Monte, but he is a big problem

[Calidissident]

Oh and Roll Tide (or Go Bulldogs)

[Sudden]

As a Chiefs fan, I can tell you the Eric Berry has been a shell of his old self since his torn ACL last season.

[Tybus]

As a Vol fan I can say that UT and USC ignored Al Davis advice to their own peril. Monte was a big downgrade from our previous dc when the Lane train rolled into town.

[Ted S.]

USC isn't typically recruiting great defensive players, after all.

Clay Matthews would like a word with you.

[Stormy Dragon]

Thanks for nothing in not beating Notre Dame

As much as I hate Noter Dame, I was routing for them against USC, because it's still better than another championship game being two SEC teams, one of which didn't even win their division, replaying a game from earlier in the season.

[LTC(ret) John]

Bowl Eligibility?

[Cavpitalist]

Relevance outside of the upper midwest?

No wait, that's not this year, that's every year since 2003.

[Pro Libertate]

And we've beaten how many teams in the Top Ten this year? Are you shitting me? And I've seen the Buckeyes play this year, so I know that you know that they know that they aren't getting robbed this year.

[hamilton]

Bush league response, ProL.

[Pro Libertate]

Head for the mountains.

[Ted S.]

Reggie Bush league?

[Episiarch]

You're just digging your hole deeper, you know.

[CE]

You know who else had a run-in with a flaming bush?

[Randian]

Randy Spears?

[Episiarch]

Your mom?

[Auric Demonocles]

I'll recap my position on flaming bushes: redheads are hot.

[Pound. Head. On. Desk.]

I'll recap my position on flaming bushes: redheads are hot.

Yep! Or at least they can be.

The most beautiful and the worst train wrecks are often redheads. And I've seen it in the same woman in the same evening. I gave her a compliment she didn't feel she lived up to and she broke down crying. I swear her face swelled and her chin and nose grew. I never felt so helpless in all my life.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's quite hard to find a redhead in the middle.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Randy Spears' mom?

[T]

Britney Spears' mom?

[A Serious Man]

The Nazis that opened the lost Ark of the Covenant?

[Brett L]

Let's just make a deal. Two of each name who are in any way related by blood or marriage. So no more Adams, Bushes, or Roosevelts.

[Pro Libertate]

I like Jeb Bush and think he'd have made a decent president, compared to the schleps we usually get, anyway. But I'm opposed to going back to the same wells over and over again. No Bushes, no Clintons, no Obamas, no repeats. Jesus, we have over 300 million people in this country, many tens of millions who are eligible.

[A Serious Man]

Rand vs Jeb might actually be a not-so-terrible GOP primary.

[CE]

Rand Paul 2016!

[Pro Libertate]

Our last, best hope.

[Fist of Etiquette]

No, there is another.

[Pro Libertate]

I was talking about the space station.

[MP]

That's not until 2258.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, you're right. I'm always mixing the timelines.

[JW]

That's because you are the one who was.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm digging that series quite a bit. I'm about to watch season 5.

[JW]

It really sucks you in, doesn't it?

Season 5 isn't the best of seasons, but it does wind up the story.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm emotionally attached to it, that's for sure. What a well-done series!

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Babylon 5 had its flaws, for sure, but its plotting and arc-based storytelling are what BSG should have been aiming for IMO.

[Pro Libertate]

Sure, there are some things I don't like or view as a little hokey, but, overall, the series is quite good and ground-breaking.

It's interesting how they can make characters you don't care much for in the beginning into likeable characters. Like Marcus (who reminds me quite a bit of General Zod).

[AuH2O]

You may be thinking of Babylon 4, but that was several thousand years ago

[buybuydandavis]

For Victory?

[Drake]

Right - except we'll get Jindal, Christie, and a bunch of mediocre Congress critters.

[Randian]

If Christie runs he's even stupider than I thought. He should just preside over that "Garden" State fiefdom of his and be happy about it.

[A Serious Man]

He'll never be more popular and beloved than he is right now.

[Bam!]

"No Bushes, no Clintons, no Obamas..."

Kennedy it is!

[iggy]

And then we can have George P. Bush run in 2024! Who says we don't have hereditary monarchy in this country?

[Stormy Dragon]

George the First was always reckoned
Vile, but viler George the Second;
And what mortal ever heard
Any good of George the Third?
When from earth the Fourth descended
(God be praised!) the Georges ended.

--Walter Savage Landor

[Palin's Buttplug]

Jeb was the "smart one". Then Neil. Coming in last was poor G-Dub.

We elected the dumb one twice.

[iggy]

I'm always surprised that liberals are so quick to call George Bush dumb, considering that Barack Obama continued most of his policies.

[CE]

It helps when they continue to blame him, 5 years later.

[Randian]

BOOOOOSH! BOOOOSH!

[Palin's Buttplug]

If Obama is Bush III why do conservatives hate him so much?

They should salute in adoration instead.

[iggy]

You've effectively explained the stupidity of the Republican Party. Maybe one day you'll realize that we're not the Republican Party and then we can have an actual discussion.

[el esc?ptico]

That would entail shrike actually having a functioning brain capable of reason. Basically, you're dreaming.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Look, an obscure first time poster knows my prior handle.

Chalk one up for Hit and Run.

[el esc?ptico]

I've posted a few times before. Glad to make your acquaintance. Been reading comments for years, though. Long enough to know the score around here and most of the inside jokes, though I'll admit, some of the nerdiest ones still baffle me.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I recognize that the LP is distinct from the GOP -- to my credit.

Many here do not. Should I name them again?

[el esc?ptico]

Must we all belong to a party shrike? Some of us recognize that many, if not a majority, of "libertarians" will have nothing to do with the LP or either of the fascist mainstream parties.

[iggy]

Whenever you 'name them' it's inevitably a group of people who called you out on Obama worship. Calling you out for blowing Obama does not make someone a Republican.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No. I hate all parties. I just hate the GOP most.

[Episiarch]

Only 39 percent of Americans think higher-ed provides value for money

Yet for some reason they all want their children to go to college.

[A Serious Man]

It's a combination of mass delusion and peer pressure.

[Episiarch]

You know who else suffered from mass delusion and peer pressure?

[Randian]

Tulpa?

[Episiarch]

Exactly.

[Delroy]

The Heathers?

[VG Zaytsev]

It's a combination of mass delusion and peer pressure.

No it's extortion.

Not going to college today is looked upon the way that dropping out of middle school was thirty years ago.

[el esc?ptico]

It's like congress-persons: We loves us some edumacation for our chirrenz, but not for yours.

[NeonCat]

That's because their children are special and bright and will change the world, unlike all the other knuckle-dragging, feckless youth spawned by their neighbors.

[Pi Guy]

Educate the special children? We're fecked.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hopefully graduates will be applying for jobs from among the other 61 percent.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

They think it will be their kid that wins the BA sweepstakes.

[Episiarch]

More like the "BS" sweepstakes, amirite? Huh? Hi-yo!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

:Ed McMahon:

[CE]

Think of college as a seat license for NFL tickets. You pay just for the chance to pay.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Epi, It's like corruption. Sure you don't have to pay the baksheesh but if you don't you can't do the most basic of things because you lack the right paper.

[Episiarch]

I know, I know. It's still retarded.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

A related story I overheard a high school kid complain he couldn't get a job in anything in the college town wher I was going to college because he wasn't a college student. Makes sense if you're going to pay min wage regardless you might as well have someone with some college education working for you than not.

[JW]

Yet for some reason they all want their children to go to college.

Unfortunately, it's the system for now. I'd rather they save the money, but not having a degree just makes it all the harder to land a decent job, since many businesses use that BA as a proxy for hard worker.

You'd think employers would have wised up to the sharply reduced value of it by now.

[Warty]

Pump your spawn full of steroids, throw a ball at them, and let the state pay for their "education", you idiot. They'll gain connections, which is all most people really get out of college, and get way higher quality ass than they would otherwise.

[Episiarch]

This is definitely the way to do it. Get a free ride and play sports all day. Better than studying something stupid like biology or anthropology. Why was I so stupid again?

[Warty]

Is that a koan or something?

[Episiarch]

IT'S A RHETORICAL QUESTION DUMBASS.

[LTC(ret) John]

I liked it better as a koan.

Show me the degree you had before you graduated.

[JW]

I wish, but the boy just isn't that good of an athelite, in spite of his interest, and the she-spawn, well, let's not even go there.

Still hoping for the academic scholarship. Otherwise, community college and/or trade school.

[Episiarch]

They're your kids, so I have to assume they're ugly enough to go run off and join the circus. Maybe that should be your solution.

[JW]

They're even too ugly for that, you monster! :::sob:::

[Warty]

Did you not listen when I said steroids?

[Episiarch]

"What's the matter, steroids make you deaf?"

[JW]

Not the needle!

[Stormy Dragon]

Depends what your degree is. My engineering degree, as my brother's accounting degree, certianly paid off.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Julian Assange blames "hard-right" American politicians for blocking donations to Wikileaks. Cuz that's who's in charge right now.

Leftists never try to silence dissenters. It's unheard of.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Guess Who Said It?

It's too late for the people involved in this situation, but I wanted to single it out as a good example of why it's important to learn how to spot anti-feminist narratives in the wild, and learn to be skeptical of them. The notion that the police can't be trusted to deal with a straightforward kidnapping case where the boyfriend is innocent of any wrongdoing is exactly the sort of tale MRAs spin.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Based on the "It's a Jungle Out There" imagery, I'd say that was Man-Jaw Marcotte.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Third!

Also, it matters what you major in. Humanities Majors? Fuck'em.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Fuck you.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

No, Fuck you, thats why.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Fried chicken.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

The Chicken is burning

[A Serious Man]

China's Communist Party paper publishes Onion article declaring Kim Jong-Un sexist man alive.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Federal lawyers are looking to settle lawsuits over Fast and Furious before they get out of hand.

With the election behind us, there's not gain in the truth coming out now.

[A Serious Man]

Texas scientist claims to have sequenced the DNA of Sasquatch.

[Episiarch]

STEVE SMITH NOT HAVE DNA, STEVE MADE FROM PURE RAPE!

[Auric Demonocles]

So, just RNA then?

[db]

RAPEONUCLEIC ACID IS BUILDING BLOCK OF STEVE SMITH LIFE!

[Bobarian]

So be careful about getting any of it on you.

[Brandybuck]

In order to sequence the DNA of sasquatch you first have to have the DNA of sasquatch.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And unless that DNA is identical to that of Gigantopithecus, you don't have a sasquatch.

[Episiarch]

STEVE SMITH PERFECTLY WILLING TO GIVE YOU "DNA" SAMPLE! CAN YOU GUESS HOW STEVE GIVE IT TO YOU?

[sloopyinca]

Probably the best news out of the Supreme Court in quite some time.

[JW]

If I could stand the smell, I'd love to see some of the salty, ham tears on PoliceOne.

[LTC(ret) John]

"Meanwhile, several efforts to amend the statute in Springfield have stalled in committee amid heavy lobbying from law enforcement groups in favor of the current law."

Ah, the sound of police exceptionalism *FOPFOPFOPFOPFOPFOP*

Piss on 'em.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

And the Grand Jury Prize For Most Obvious Example That Obama's Attempts To Get All Of Us To Love And Respect Each Other Is Succeeding In Tapping That Vein Of True Progressive Love And Respect We've All Come To Love And Respect goes to...

Hobby Lobby lost another round today in the litigation over offering contraception coverage to its 13,000 employees that are eligible for health insurance coverage. Once again, it was found that secular businesses cannot put religious restrictions on their employees, which has long been held to be a right that only explicitly religious institutions like churches have. Make no mistake about this: If businesses like Hobby Lobby successfully litigate this, it opens up a whole new door in allowing private businesses to opt out of all sorts of regulations on the grounds of religion, including anti-discrimination laws. They're basically saying they should be able to pay you less in benefits than everyone else is because they think sex is icky cuz Jesus.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

And for another steaming pile of that same Love and Respect We've All Come To Love And Respect:

if you'll recall, the initial objections to classifying contraception as preventive medicine, qualifying it as one of the many services that insurance plans must cover without a copay, were framed as religious objections. Religion, after all, is the go-to excuse conservatives whip out when they know they don't actually have an argument. Well, while the conservative media has dropped that somewhat in favor of just whipping up hysteria about those sexy young single women that you, the Fox viewer, will never get to fuck, the lawsuits trying to block the mandate are still being argued about on religious grounds.

[iggy]

Not giving people free shit: It's like discrimination!

That could be the Dems slogan in 2016 and no one would be able to tell the difference.

[Bobarian]

Wasn't the O's campaign - Not giving people free shit: It's a war on wimminz!

[iggy]

No, it was 'Not coercing religious individuals to break their own morals! It's a war on women!'

It's a subtle distinction, but it's there.

[Bobarian]

+1

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Well, if it's "preventative medicine," (ew! icky babies!) then it stands to reason that EVERY woman should be forced to take birth control pills.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I really hope Hobby Lobby decides to go Galt and close.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

It's a distinct possibility; same with the Catholic hospitals that are litigating this issue.

[Heroic Mulatto]

It would suck. I go to Hobby Lobby regularly for some of my wargaming and modeling stuff.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Off-topic question, Mulatto: IIRC, you're Buddhist, right? What sect of Buddhism do you adhere to?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ch'an.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Interesting. I assumed that since you lived in Thailand, you would have belonged to the Theravada branch of Buddhism.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well, I converted to Buddhism about 4 years before I moved to Thailand. The most common sects of Buddhism that an American would come into contact with in the States are Ch'an/Zen or Tibetan. I just managed to stumble onto Ch'an during my crisis of faith.

My wife belongs to Theravada and the temple we attend from time to time is a Thai Theravadan temple. However, my beliefs and methods of meditation are strictly Linji Ch'an

[The Immaculate Trouser]

That makes sense. Had my own crisis of faith in which I looked into a series of dharmic religion; can't say that I embrace any of them but I came away very impressed by Buddhist ethics and certain aspects of Daoism, as well.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

(Not that Daoism is a dharmic religion. Just wanted to make that clear to anyone else reading.)

[JW]

They could just nix the health coverage altogether and take the penaltax hit.

[Stormy Dragon]

Oh no, what will we ever do without the Catholic Charities siphoning billions of taxpayer dollars into their church!

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I'm far from being Catholic, but it's an absolute fact that many of the charitable efforts in this country when it comes to provision of healthcare and education were the result of Catholic societies and private groups associated with Catholicism. This was true before they were offered preferential tax treatment by the government, and would continue to be true if government changed its tax incentives.

At any rate, religious freedom should not hinge on a perceived benefit -- and as far as I'm concerned, any charity or business which closes on account of this impingement on religious freedoms is squarely on the heads of the Obama administration.

[Stormy Dragon]

That may have been true at one time, but nowadays, The Catholic Charities get $2.9 billion a year in government funding, a full 62% of their budget.

Their whole religious freedom argument is a lot less compelling when they're happy to take taxpayer money, but then want to bitch that the taxpayers are telling them what to do with it, because it's apparently transubstantiated into "their" money.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

"Their whole religious freedom argument is a lot less compelling when they're happy to take taxpayer money[...]"

No, it really isn't.

We don't deprive people on welfare to act according to conscience.

Be a little more principled about this.

[Stormy Dragon]

No, but we deprive people who work the right to act according to conscience by forcing them to donate to the operations of the Catholic Church.

[Randian]

Cite to a study that proves your assertion, Stormy.

[Stormy Dragon]

Catholic Charities is one of the nation's most extensive social service networks, serving more than 10 million poor adults and children of many faiths across the country. It is made up of local affiliates that answer to local bishops and dioceses, but much of its revenue comes from the government. Catholic Charities affiliates received a total of nearly $2.9 billion a year from the government in 2010, about 62 percent of its annual revenue of $4.67 billion. Only 3 percent came from churches in the diocese (the rest came from in-kind contributions, investments, program fees and community donations).

[Stormy Dragon]

SF'd the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12.....d=all&_r=0

[Virginian]

How are they siphoning taxpayer dollars?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Presumably Stormy is referring to preferential tax treatment of charities or "faith-based initiatives".

In either case it's a non-sequitur.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Off Topic: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorec.....wsc#page-1

"While I personally don't agree with many things they post (some are unreasonable), the comments can often contain adult content (mostly bad language). Many commenters don't participate in serious conversations but off-topic amusing/rude rabbit trails."

"I left hundreds of comments at Reason from about 2003 to 2010 or so. Almost all pointed out how they were wrong: they ignored material information, failed to acknowledge the downsides of what they promote, etc. etc. Instead of trying to present a counterargument, their visitors viciously smeared me. In a couple of cases, their contributors encouraged that. For more see: 24ahead.com/s/reason-magazine"

The DERP is strong.

[sloopyinca]

I know. I know. The double-standard is just a myth created by the bigorati because we're just jealous of police officers and their super sex lives.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

OT: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorec.....wsc#page-1

The DERP is strong...

"I left hundreds of comments at Reason from about 2003 to 2010 or so. Almost all pointed out how they were wrong: they ignored material information, failed to acknowledge the downsides of what they promote, etc. etc. Instead of trying to present a counterargument, their visitors viciously smeared me. In a couple of cases, their contributors encouraged that"

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Probably the worst list of top 100 global thinkers you will see this side of Pravda.

[el esc?ptico]

It would make more sense had the Onion published that list.

[Killazontherun]

It's pretty bad that if Lex Luthor bombed Devos and wiped out that list in the process, the mean IQ of the species would only increase as a result.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I wouldn't wish a terrorist attack on anyone, but if Al-Qaeda puts a gun to my head and asks for input on what their next hundred targets should be... well, let's just say that this list is a pretty handy reference.

[Heroic Mulatto]

No love for No. 71?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

#71 and #43 are OK. The rest...

[Doktor Kapitalism]

#30 is nice too.

[Killazontherun]

I'm just saying in the aggregate. Sure there would be losses if Davos went down. Hell, Bono alone is a decent human being, but in the aggregate it's the ultimate tragedy of the bus of drowned members of x group with one empty seat.

[Redmanfms]

Hell, Bono alone is a decent human being

You take that back you son of a bitch!

[Killazontherun]

Really, I'm not a fan of the group, and I think their sound is simplistic (but not a fun simplistic like ACDC or Nazareth), and his singing is overly emotive, but the guy seems to be a swell individual for an Irishman.

[Heedless]

I mean, i wouldn't invite him into my home or anything, but the man is a credit to his species.

[Belgian]

Bernanke, a trophy wife and Krugman all made the list.

[VG Zaytsev]

So did Buffet's secretary.

[Jerry on the road]

What are they thinking about? Really, hardly anyone on that list has produced a single original idea.

[Episiarch]

Probably how to expand the state, which makes them "top thinkers" to the statists in the media.

[Bobarian]

Global thinking?

Is that thinking in 3 dimensional circles?

[Episiarch]

Most of them seem experienced, but not intelligent. Their patterns indicate one-dimensional thinking.

[Bobarian]

In some cases they're very, very small circles...

[Randian]

Rand Paul is on there.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Yeah, in the tail end of the list right behind a Russian envirobimbo, who is in turn preceded by a Chinese environmentalist.

[Belgian]

So is Barack Obama...

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Bill Gates is definitely a global thinker. Whether you like him or not--that's a different story.

[Killazontherun]

You're buying into an irrelevant sentiment built upon media generated notions of importance with celbrity being the defining criteria of most importance. Is Gates really a greater visionary than the person who invented 3d printing? Or, is he just far better known?

[Killazontherun]

celbrity -- er, mangled after I corrected an autofilled 'celebration.' A Randy 'gaaa!'

[Belgian]

What about Bill Gates' wife?

[sloopyinca]

Question: When is breaking and entering, assault and battery, kidnapping, brandishing a firearm, trespassing, and countless other crimes just a misdemeanor?

Answer: When you're a San Francisco Deputy Sheriff.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Naked protesters hop on Boehner:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201.....dget-cuts/

Yes, there is a semi-attractive female in the lot.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If any of them was flashing orange skin, maybe the speaker would have found some kinship with their cause. Whatever that was.

[Whiterun Guard]

Wow, they sure showed that Obama-kow-towing guy something.

Or other.

[iggy]

Unfortunately "Budget cuts are really rude, that is why we are all nude" is probably as high quality as liberal economic discourse is likely to get.

[Bobarian]

And the nobel prize for economics goes to...

[iggy]

Ew, was naked Krugman in there?

[sloopyinca]

If any of them was flashing orange skin, maybe the speaker would have found some kinship with their cause.

Funny that he's supposedly a different person when he's at home in the Wonka factory.

[Jerry on the road]

How about they pay for their own condoms if they don't wanna catch AIDS.

[Randian]

War on Women! War on Gays!

[A Serious Man]

You know who else had AIDS?

[Episiarch]

Jared from Subway?

[LTC(ret) John]

Yasir Arafat?

[Ted S.]

Isaac Asimov?

[Cavpitalist]

Willie Nelson?

[ant1sthenes]

After several warnings from Capital Police the protesters agreed to get dressed and leave the building. But after media left, activists said at least three of the women who had been nude were arrested on charges of lewd conduct and indecent exposure. No male protesters were reportedly arrested.

Sounds like the po-po wanted a little more ogling time with the hot ones.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

OT: The DERP is very strong

[Paleo-ConAvenger]

OT: OT: The DERP is very strong

[Paleo-ConAvenger]

OT: The DERP is very strong

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Dickhead Durbin: leave entitlements out of fiscal cliff talks.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po.....liff-deal/

Is there any point in continuing to negotiate with these guys?

[Killazontherun]

They'll blame you in the media when the day traders start responding to the hype over stalled negotiations with a market pull out?

[Killazontherun]

And hype that road bump while doing so.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Somebody needs to tell this moron that you could cut the entire defense budget and you'd still have a deficit.

If he's that concerned about SS and Medicare and doesn't want to make cuts, he needs to get on board with raising the payroll tax back to its former levels.

[Auric Demonocles]

Vermont has spent the last few years building up an immunity to climate change.

Full article (including a reference to the mountain that casts a shadow on my parents farm) here.

[A Serious Man]

Drunken lawyer nearly loses arm after she locks herself out of her apartment and then attempted to enter via a garbage chute.

[Randian]

This is like a month old, dude.

[A Serious Man]

Hmm, it appeared on my Google News feed so I assumed it was current.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, you just made an ass out of u and Randian.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

US Cairo Embassy Calls Spade A Spade; Obama Administration Likens Spade To Digging Apparatus With Many Positive Uses

The embassy's reference to "dictatorship" seemed much stronger than the State Department's carefully worded statement reacting to Morsy's decree, in which Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "One of the aspirations of the revolution was to ensure that power would not be overly concentrated in the hands of any one person or institution."

The Cable asked Edgar Vasquez, spokesperson for the State Department's Near Eastern Affairs bureau, whether the Cairo embassy's tweet reflected administration policy.

"Let's not take too much liberty with this tweet," he said.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Obama would rather commit seppuku with a rusty can-opener than admit that his 'light unto the Muslim nations' foreign policy was misguided.

But hey, another mass demonstration, another festival of gang rape, it must give the Woodstock generation warm fuzzies with all the parallels.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Quite disturbing, indeed.

There's a certain paternalism inherent in assuming that ignorance and poverty are what prevent a large cross-section of the Middle East from behaving in a civilized fashion. (That is as far as I can tell the prevailing assumption in our nation-building efforts.) 19th-century Ashkenazi Jews living in Eastern Europe were plenty ignorant and poor; they were also civilized. For that matter, there are plenty of erudite and wealthy individuals teaching barbarism at Al-Azhir University. A lack of education does not preclude one from having respect and dignity for oneself and others.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Aspiring Norwegian politician Khalid Haji Ahmed said he was only joking when he wished "best of luck eight times over" to activists who wrote on Facebook that they wished Adolf Hitler could kill more Jews.

Screen shots made by Hamar Arbeiderblad, a local newspaper, show Ahmed responding on Facebook to a post that read "Damn Jew whores, wish Hitler could come back and shower you some more."

The Facebook conversation took place last week between members of the Workers' Youth League, Norway's largest youth movement, which is affiliated with the country's ruling Labor Party.

...

Ahmed, whose family came to Norway from Yemen, is quoted as telling the New York Times last year that he decided to join the youth movement and become politically active to "fight racism" after his brother, also a member of the youth movement, was killed in 2011 by Anders Behring Breivik on the island of Utoya.

I have no comment. It speaks for itself.

[Redmanfms]

Being a Jew-hater in Norway isn't going to be an impediment to any public career whatsoever.

[Chris Mallory]

He isn't Norwegian. He is a Yemeni who just happens to be living in Norway.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Hi

[CE]

Wrong place to bring up ROADZ.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

OT: The DERP is very strong

[A Serious Man]

It has apparently taken divine intervention for Angus T. Jones--the Half-Man on Two and a Half Men--to realize that his show is 'filth'.

I thought having to work with Ashton Kutcher would be a big enough clue.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

Charlie Sheen was Charlie Sheen.

[Jerry on the road]

The show only became filthy when they invited Miley Cyrus over.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Hardly surprising that this is what pushed him over the edge.

[Killazontherun]

This anti-smut campaign makes me suspicious. I have my suspicions of its origins due to some things reported back from an Obama fund raiser in Hollywood last summer, but I would have to hunt them down, and I'm not in the mood at the moment.

Anyway, amongst lefty political activist there is a belief that nineties style narcissism that persist to this day (their pov expressed here, not mine) was fueled by comedies like Seinfeld, and in order to get the populace to be more 'civic-minded' Hollywood needs to clean up.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

So basically, it's the equivalent of a general lamenting the destruction his own army caused.

[ant1sthenes]

What anti-smut campaign? It's just one kid trying to escape the horrible fate that awaits the souls of innocents in Hollywood by openly claiming to be one of the things they abhor in hopes that the beast will spit him out in disgust.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

The DERP is very strong

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....98289.html

Radley Balko laments the cancellation of Boss. The HuffPo commentariat can't seem to look passed Kelsey Grammar's politics to watch the show.

[A Serious Man]

SantaMonican says:

He's a good actor,

but he supports a party that thinks women aren't smart enough to make their own reproductive decisions, and don't deserve equal pay.

I feel stupider knowing that that person lives within 40 miles of me.

[Episiarch]

It's telling about how insanely stupid the TEAMs are and how actually truly similar they really are when the defining definition of one TEAM by the other is a completely made up "reproductive decisions" mantra. And that's all they have.

I have to wonder if deep down the sheep are starting to panic as their various "reasons" to hate the other TEAM are slipping away and now they're just going to hate them because...they're the other TEAM.

I mean, TEAM BLUE is BLUE on the right side, right?

[A Serious Man]

FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAAAADDDD!

[Pro Libertate]

People have had contraception and abortion for decades, regardless of which political party is in power. Yet it's an "issue."

This is rational how, exactly?

[Randian]

Even the so-called "libertarians" among us went full retard about The Wars on Womens, Gays, and Blacks this year.

[Killazontherun]

That particular 'libertarian' was full of some serious shit when a congresscritter loss brain mass in Arizona. Went nuke with the dumb on these threads.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, she's wrong to fear the bogeyman. These are non-issue issues. Like many that are considered critical by voters.

We're on a ship that's sinking, debating over the wallpaper used in one of the bathrooms.

[Episiarch]

It's perfectly rational if you realize that the two TEAMs have almost no distinction between them, so they have to magnify one issue where they differ slightly as much as possible to keep the sheep bleating against the other TEAM.

It's rational, and it's also pathetically stupid and tribal.

[JW]

Without the KULTUR WAR, they might have to actually face and think about some of the monstrous acts their messiah has committed in their name.

[Episiarch]

To be honest, dude, I don't think they give a shit. If they did they wouldn't be partisans. It's kind of a chicken and egg deal: people with integrity don't become partisans or remain one for long. So is it lack of integrity that causes you to become a partisan, or becoming a partisan that causes the loss of integrity?

[Heroic Mulatto]

I bet you crack open your eggs on the little side, you piece of shit!

[Killazontherun]

Ignatius Reilly and Myrna Minkoff would have never hit it off in 2012 America.

[A Serious Man]

+1, that made me laugh. I loved that book.

[Killazontherun]

Thanks. I consider that my best quip of the past month.

[Dagny T.]

I am glad I late-read the PM links for this line alone. Well played, sir.

"Once a person was asked to step into this brutal century, anything could happen."

[Jerry on the road]

Woot, they cancelled the show?!

[Caleb Turberville]

Does Balko really believe Frasier was better in its "later seasons"? If by "later", he means 1997-2000, I can see his point. I'm more a fan of the early 1993-1996 seasons, myself. But the show was running on fumes 2000-2004. The Emmys Grammer and Pierce won in 2004 should have gone to the actors on Arrested Development.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.....mmy_Awards

My bad. Only Jeffery Tambor was nominated that year. Jason Bateman got robbed.

[MJGreen]

True that. Bateman is a regular Brad Garrett.

[Caleb Turberville]

I mean honor Grammer and Pierce with nominations, but there's absolutely no reason to have ever nominated LeBlanc or Ritter.

[Invisible Finger]

WTF is wrong with Balko? That show was written by stupid 8th graders. Putting Grammar's politics into the show might have been a better idea than the drivel that actually aired.

[A Serious Man]

I just hope Veep stays on the air for a 3 or 4 seasons. It's like the antidote to all things Sorkin.

[Caleb Turberville]

Is Veep really good?

There's seems to be a mixed reaction to Boss here. I haven't seen it, but I trust Balko's opinion, and if it's half as cynical of government as he says it is, it would make a good edition to my DVD shelf beside the first two season of The Wire.

[Caleb Turberville]

...which stand beside the first 8 season of The Simpsons. Amazing that that show was as anti-government as it was back in the day, considering the lefty mouth piece later seasons made Lisa.

[Killazontherun]

A lefty friend asked me who was my least favorite character on the Simpsons. I said, 'Marge.' Show would be a magnitude better without her. He was shocked. 'Not Lisa?' I told him that everything was not about politics and besides she was just naive much like I was at her age. He couldn't grasp the idea someone would not be bothered by a character with a different set of beliefs than their own.

[Caleb Turberville]

Here's what's amazing about The Simpsons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....a_Manicure

They did an episode where they did a little vignette based on The Fountainhead. Initially, when I heard Lisa say "Isn't that the Bible for right-wing losers?", I almost changed the channel.

But, amazingly, they did a fairly good job making the Howard/Maggie Roark character come to life, and it's possibly one of the few instances where Ayn Rand has gotten a fair shake in popular culture.

[Caleb Turberville]

By, the way, we've been led throughout the series to believe that Maggie might be the smartest one in the family. So, it says something about the writers to make her the stand-in for Roark instead of Homer.

[Killazontherun]

Oh, she is. Like Ike in South Park. Who cried both in '08 and this year at Obama's victories. He knows its the salt mines for his future.

[Killazontherun]

I recall that episode. Her quip was in character so I didn't ding the episode for it. Besides, it seems a bit of a karmic foreshadowing given she grows up to be a loser.

[Killazontherun]

Lisa, that is.

[Caleb Turberville]

When I say I almost changed the channel, I don't mean to imply that I was apopletic about Lisa's quip. I just thought I knew where the humor was heading. But, the writers (in a rare event these days) went with the unexpected, and despite what the AVClub review says, I think it's one of the stand out episodes of the last 10 seasons.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

despite what the AVClub review says

I take just about anything those nerds say as a good reverse barometer.

[Belgian]

She grows up to be a loser? I haven't seen that episode, but she usually grows up to be President or some such.

[Killazontherun]

There is a strong undertow that that is the actual case and the president stuff is just a flight of fancy. It's one of the things I like about the show. The characters are well developed to allow for that kind of tragic underpinning.

[A Serious Man]

Veep is great mainly because it depicts the people in positions of power in Washington as severely narcisistic and amoral rather than corrupt, and the staffers that run the office as self-aggrandizing backstabbers trying to claw their way up.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veep_(TV_series)

Wikipedia says its basically an American version of The Thick of It, so should I just watch that.

I have mixed feelings toward Anglo TV. I like the British version of The Office more, but I also prefer the American version of All in the Family.

[MJGreen]

Veep is very, very funny, though I honestly don't appreciate any episode until I rewatch it. There are a lot of jokes and moments packed in. For some reason I've heard people complain that there's not much depth and the story doesn't go very far, but that's largely the point. It's a joke machine about politics, which means little room for change or "growth." It's mostly about the Veep's office trying not to get buried in DC shit.

[Invisible Finger]

Avoid Boss at all costs. In order to do cynicism, you have to have characters that would actually behave believably in their positions. The Wire created believable characters, Boss did nothing but set up straw men; there is NOT ONE marginally believable character in Boss.

Let me put it this way, the political characters in the The Wire were believable because they were full of shit almost all the time - they were full of shit often when the didn't even know they were full of shit. In Boss, the characters know 100% of the time they are full of shit, which is completely unrealistic.

IOW, The Wire knows there is no way in hell McNulty has any chance of political office, whereas Boss makes every single character McNulty - it may sound like a good idea but after 40 minutes you realize it's an extremely stupid idea.

[np]

Bid Farewell to Pennies and Nickels!

The Mint currently spends about 4.8 cents per penny due to the rising costs of zinc and copper. A nickel valued at five cents now costs approximately 16.2 cents to make due to inflated nickel prices.
...
The year 2011 marked the sixth consecutive year that pennies and nickels cost more to produce than they were worth in the market. In fact, the Mint posted a loss of $187.7 million last year ? more than triple the losses recorded associated with coin minting in 2010.

The only goods the US mint actually makes profit on are gold and silver coins, and their sales have soared (relatively speaking)

[np]

Bid Farewell to Pennies and Nickels!

The Mint currently spends about 4.8 cents per penny due to the rising costs of zinc and copper. A nickel valued at five cents now costs approximately 16.2 cents to make due to inflated nickel prices.
...
The year 2011 marked the sixth consecutive year that pennies and nickels cost more to produce than they were worth in the market. In fact, the Mint posted a loss of $187.7 million last year ? more than triple the losses recorded associated with coin minting in 2010.

I believe the only things actually making money for the US Mint(s) are gold and silver coins, and those sales have also increased recently

[Pro Libertate]

How about some sort of polymer that we can fabricate at home as we need it? Why not?

[Warty]

Good point. As long as all our debts are denominated in plastic pennies, there's no harm in making as many plastic pennies as we like.

[Pro Libertate]

It's not like the government is more responsible than I am. In fact, I think it's rather clear that the reverse is true.

I'll commit here and now to only fabricating currency as necessary for the good of my family, if the government will lift its pesky laws against such things. And provide the data for producing accurate coinage.

[Auric Demonocles]

You fools. It's obviously latinum. We just need to fine the best way to store it.

[Pro Libertate]

Aluminum-press it?

[Episiarch]

Are you some kind of Space Jew?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

It's just a coincidence that all the actors hired to play recurring Ferengi characters were Jewish!

[np]

Silly ProL, only the government is allowed to counterfeit.

[Pro Libertate]

But, you know, "We the People."

[CE]

3D printing of coins... sounds good -- cut out the middle man, and distribute the presses to the people, like with stamps dot com.

[CE]

I've often thought that fast food joints should round all their prices to the nearest 25 cents, and include the sales taxes, like movie theaters do. It would speed up the lines, and be less taxing on the minds of their cashiers.

[Atanarjuat]

Yeah. If dollar menu stuff was an even dollar, that would be an appealing bonus. No more annoying change.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

NYT has a new blog on the federal debt.

If you made a drinking game out of references to Grover Norquist and "tax absolutism", you'd be dead from alcohol poisoning within a week.

[The Late P Brooks]

The Federal Reserve(do they do the coins as well as their "notes"?) should, instead of making new coins from scratch, attempt to call coins now sitting idle back into circulation. They could "encourage" banks to accept bulk coins instead of making it a giant pain in the ass to deposit a coffee can full of random pocket change into your account.

[Zeb]

I think that the Treasury still makes coins.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Germany to ban sex with animals, faces protest from "zoophiles".

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Bestiality was legalised in Germany in 1969, the same year that gay sex was also removed from the criminal code.

Uh... WTF?!

[Alack]

Just like the SoCons warned us! What else were they right about?

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Our long national nightmare is over!

[Hell's Librarian]

I took a -3 hit to my INT from reading that.