A.M. Links: Obama Approval Rating Highest in Year and a Half, Unemployment Down to 7.7 Percent, Snow May Be Delaying North Korea Missile Launch

• 

  At 57 percent, President Obama is enjoying his highest approval ratings since Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden.

• 146,000 new jobs were created in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, moving the unemployment rate down to 7.7 percent, the lowest it's been since 2008.
• Much hullabaloo over the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in New Jersey, three years after a law allowing it was passed. "I've got joint pain!"
• Egyptians are pouring in to Tahrir Square to protest Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the draft constitution that will be voted on next week.
• The battle for Damascus has been taken to the international airport, where rebels warn civilians and airlines to enter only at their own risk.
• North Korea's planned missile launch may be being delayed on account of snow.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

At 57 percent, President Obama is enjoying his highest approval ratings since Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden.

Why would the delusions lift after the election?

[Whiterun Guard]

He wouldn’t have gotten re-elected if he wasn’t the right guy for the job.

[wareagle]

of course, this depends on what you think the job is. Is anyone still under the notion that Obama wants to improve anything as most folks define improvement?

[Jerryskids]

Because he’s the hero we deserve, but not the one we need right now?

[Jerryskids]

(And fuck you, that’s *not* a ‘Darkie Knight’ reference.)

[Lord Humungus]

peak something-or-another?

[Auric Demonocles]

Because now the media will be all tough, so he’ll have to do all those things he’s been putting off till term two?

[Lord Humungus]

about those unemployment numbers:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12…..e-lower-77

Confused why the unemployment rate dropped? The same, favorite BLS adjustment – a drop in the labor force participation rate which declined by 0.2% to 63.6% once again, as the number of people out of the labor increased by over 540K to 88,883,000.

[Rich]

However, the adjustment is less than expected.

/sarc

[gaijin]

yes, and don’t you just love the prior month revisions…subtract 38K jobs from last month’s headline number of 171K…can’t wait to see how many they subtract from this month’s “beat”. The Recovery (TM) continues apace!

[Jerryskids]

Yes, I always like the “unexpectedly” high numbers coming out. Unexpected by who? Some of us fully expect the unexpected and we also fully expect the unexpected downward revision the next month.

I am curious, however, about these ‘experts’ who were expecting lower numbers – were they predicting what the actual numbers would be or what the Labor Department was going to *say* the numbers would be?

[CampingInYourPark]

“Unemployment Plunges to 3.8% for Government Workers; Government Adds 35,000 Jobs in November, 544,000 Since July”

http://cnsnews.com/news/articl…..ber-544000

[Brandon]

How can “government workers” be an employment class? If they’re unemployed, they’re not “government workers,” are they?

[Bee Tagger]

North Korea’s planned missile launch may be being delayed on account of snow.

They have an informer problem? Who, from the 90s, doesn’t?

[Ted S.]

A missile boom boom down.

[Bee Tagger]

Nicely done.

[Whiterun Guard]

+12 inches

[Rhywun]

He said informer, not informah.

[Ted S.]

Or, alternatively, 90s flowchart

[Enough About Palin]

I used to take calls from MC Hammer. He sounds exactly like his rapper voice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The battle for Damascus has been taken to the international airport, where rebels warn civilians and airlines to enter only at their own risk.

Sounds like rebels are auditioning for the TSA.

[LTC(ret) John]

Dammit Fist, isn’t it a bit early to close the damn thread with a WIN?!

[hamilton]

He’s really on a roll today. Must’ve used extra testosterone gel this morning.

[sarcasmic]

How do you maintain a consensus? Kick out anyone who disagrees!
http://www.climatedepot.com/a/…..redentials

[LTC(ret) John]

The SCIENCE! is settled (by force).

[Ted S.]

Climate Despot might be a better name for the site.

[sarcasmic]

They are showing tolerance by not tolerating intolerance.

[Stormy Dragon]

Really? An univited audience member at a meeting sneaks up during a break and begins ranting over a microphone and we’re supposed to be suprised they were told to leave?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yes, because the United Nations is fair and impartial in selecting who is invited to speak.

[Stormy Dragon]

The Book of Mormon isn’t fair and impartial in selecting who’s invited to speak. If Bill Donohue jumps on stage during intermission to decry blasphemy, the fact he’s gonna be thrown out isn’t evidence of some conspiracy against Christians.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You’re really comparing religious debate to scientific debate?

Are you high?

[sarcasmic]

There’s nothing scientific about global warming debate.
Science is based upon skepticism.
Global warming is based upon faith.

[Stormy Dragon]

No, I’m objecting to your assertion that public forums are required to be “fair and impartial”. Even if you don’t think they’re being sufficiently so, you’re not allowed to try and hijack the proceedings.

[Heroic Mulatto]

No, I’m objecting to your assertion that public forums are required to be “fair and impartial”

Well, I would hope when the United Nations convenes to formulate treaties that will impact the global economy, they would at least present the ‘illusion’ of impartiality.

Even if you don’t think they’re being sufficiently so, you’re not allowed to try and hijack the proceedings.

Not allowed by whom?

I’m not ‘surprised’ we was escorted out, and I’m sure Lord Monckton wasn’t either. He was engaging in principled civil disobedience. He was successful in exposing the UNcrats as the venal hypocrites they are.

[Stormy Dragon]

As much as I think the UN is a waste of time and would like to see the US get out of it, that still doesn’t make Mockton a hero for being an asshole.

[Heroic Mulatto]

An asshole?

Were protesters against Jim Crow laws “assholes” when they engaged in lunch counter sit-ins to protest immoral laws?

Only a spineless milquetoast would look down upon Mockton’s actions as not following Robert’s Rules of Order.

[sloopyinca]

Is Climate Change the new Jim Crow? I actually think it is in many ways.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You mean laws that segregate use of fossil fuels by perceived national prosperity, i.e. only cronies of shithole, eternally-aggrieved against Whitey, 3rd World countries can use them, are immoral?

That’s unpossible!

[Stormy Dragon]

Hmmm, good point. I shall have to consider this further.

[Brandon]

The Mormon Church is not a “Public Forum.”

[Stormy Dragon]

I was referring to the Broadway musical, not the actual Mormon church.

[sarcasmic]

‘No more bikinis!’ Megan Fox reveals she plans to cover up in future to spare baby Noah’s blushes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..ushes.html

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[Rich]

Noah does seem rather embarrassed about those tats.

[Way Of The Crane]

Megan Fox reveals she plans to cover up in future to spare baby Noah’s blushes

What does she plan to do when baby Noah discovers the internet?

[Jordan]

Having children seems to turn most people into retards. Eff that.

[Ted S.]

In that case, I’m not looking forward to retard Banjos.

(Sloopy, by virtue of rooting for An Ohio State University, is already a retard. :-p )

[EDG reppin' LBC]

… by virtue of rooting for An Ohio State University, is already a retard.

You sir, can go fuck yourself. And fuck Michigan!

[Citizen Nothing]

O-H…!

[Auscifer]

S-U!

[Ted S.]

Did I say I root for Michigan?

[Brandon]

Sure are a lot of ‘tards in here.

[Whiterun Guard]

Bummer. Now I’ll have to look at one of the thousands of other, equally hot girls in bikinis on the net.

[sarcasmic]

Yeah, but are they as deliciously trashy as Megan?

[Whiterun Guard]

Even better than that. Most of them don’t have their tats removed.

[Redmanfms]

Is she going to start wearing gloves to spare the rest of the world the creeps her toe thumbs give us?

[Lord Humungus]

Beer is good for you: study finds anti-virus powers
http://www.financialexpress.co…..rs/1041419

Consuming large quantities of a key ingredient in beer can protect against winter sniffles and even some serious illnesses in small children, a Japanese brewery said citing a scientific study.

A chemical compound in hops, the plant brewers use to give beer its bitter taste, provides an effective guard against a virus that can cause severe forms of pneumonia and bronchitis in youngsters, Sapporo Breweries said.

[Whiterun Guard]

Well if the brewers say it’s good for you, it must be. Who would know more about beer?

And do they actually put hops in anything Sapporo makes? As far as I can tell, all Japanese beer is as hops free as most American, European and African lagers.

[Restoras]

Hey, Guinness always said Guinness was good for you.

[LTC(ret) John]

It Makes You Strong!

[Bobarian]

Brilliant!

[Pro Libertate]

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called “wheat germ, organic honey and tiger’s milk.”
Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or… hot fudge?
Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy… precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible.

[Lord Humungus]

I love his early, funnier movies.

[Pro Libertate]

I use that line pretty much anytime his movies come up in conversation.

[tarran]

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, a recent movie, is really good too.

[Pro Libertate]

I’ve liked some of his later films, but nowhere near as much as his earlier, funnier movies.

[Matrix]

Oh, beer… is there nothing that magical liquid can’t do?

[mad libertarian guy]

Be palatable.

[robc]

You clearly need to try more beers.

[mad libertarian guy]

I don’t like any alcohol except the occasional hard cider, few sips of mead, or moonshine.

I drink less in a whole year than most might in a single night.

[hamilton]

I respect your crazy-ass lifestyle, mlg.

[Jordan]

We’re kindred spirits (no pun intended). Never had a beer that didn’t taste like pisswater, and never had wine/liquour that didn’t taste like gasoline.

When I was in Lexington, I went to a downtown bar and tried some bourbon sampler, because it’s apparently the thing to do. They gave me 4 different shots and went through a laborious description of each. They all tasted the same (terrible).

[Kwanzaa Cake]

Keep trying. For years, I could not stand scotch. Don’t know why. Then one day I gave it another try, and said, hey, this is pretty damn good. Now I am making up for lost time.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Step #1 is to not think of it as a “shot”, but a very small drink. You sip it. If your tongue is wet, you already had enough on that sip. It should take you just as long to drink as a beer.

[Lord Humungus]

As a young man, I hated beer until one hot summer day on a roadtrip with friends. That’s all there was to drink in the cooler.

[LTC(ret) John]

I like beer because it’s good
I drink beer because I should
If there was a song to sing
I’d sing it and beer you bring

I drink beer when I am sad
‘Cause the beer it makes me glad
Now there’s nothing left to sing
So lets go drink beer

Beer is good, beer is good, beer is good
And stuff
Beer is good, beer is good, beer is good

Let’s go drink some
BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER!

When it’s warm, it tastes real crappy
But cold beer will make me happy
When I throw-up on the floor
I get up and drink some more

They say beer will make me dumb
It are go good with pizza
Now that we have drunk some beer
Let’s go drive a car

Beer is good, beer is good, beer is good
And stuff
Beer is good, beer is good, beer is good

Let’s go drink some
BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER, BEER!

Dude, I think you’ve had enough
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Let’s go drink some beer!

I am drunk, drunk is me, I am drunk, WEE
I am drunk, drunk is me, I am drunk, WEE
I am drunk, drunk is me, I am drunk, *BURP*

[Brian D]

The cause of, and solution to, all the world’s problems.

[robc]

A chemical compound in hops

Avoid BMC beers, which barely have any hops.

[sarcasmic]

Woman ‘sent home from waitress training because she is too fat’

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

John would give her a “tip”.

[Way Of The Crane]

John would give her a “tip”.

Is cow tipping still practiced in this country?

[Whiterun Guard]

Allegedly fired for being too fat.

So she got fired. And she is fat, so she makes the conclusion that she got fired for being fat.

More likely she was fired for being ugly, because I mean, come on.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Let’s just say it. Looking at her while eating is not very appetizing.

[sarcasmic]

Nick Nolte in pink pants.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..users.html
NTTAWWT

[LTC(ret) John]

Nice try – I shan’t click THAT one.

[sarcasmic]

It’s pretty funny. Your loss.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nope. That’s nothing compared to Ahnold’s gump cut.

[sarcasmic]

That was good.

[sarcasmic]

Encore!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..ircut.html

[sarcasmic]

That was pretty funny. Let’s see if I can post it again. Last three tries were marked as spam.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..ircut.html

[LTC(ret) John]

OK, that was good. I’ll go look at Nolte…

[LTC(ret) John]

Be damned if that wasn’t funny – half hobo, half…something pink.

[KMA Too]

“Queer as hobo”, maybe?

[LTC(ret) John]

BINGO! I look forward to the premier episode.

[mad libertarian guy]

There’s nothing wrong with wearing pink pants. There is definitely something wrong with that.

[Way Of The Crane]

Did he have to wrestle a homeless guy for that hat?

[Whiterun Guard]

Does Tulpa know Nick Nolte is raiding his wardrobe?

[Killazontherun]

1982’s Sexiest Man Alive!

[Lord Humungus]

Why Obama Can’t Bring Back the 90s Economic Boom
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/…..aspx#page1

These kinds of comparisons to the 1990s annoy economists like Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who has advised GOP presidential campaigns and now runs the American Action Forum. Affluence during the Clinton era derived in large part from forces that had little to do with changing taxes: demographic trends, the rise of the Internet, the tech stock bubble, and phenomena that are divorced from some of the dominant traits in the economy as it is now.

“The free lunches on productivity from then are all gone now,” Holtz-Eakin said. “I understand the politics of it, but it’s shoddy empirical research. I would flunk a freshman who did that.”

[gaijin]

“The free lunches on productivity from then are all gone now,”

I think there are plenty of free lunches being consumed now.

[wareagle]

the title is an epic fail in itself. There is no evidence to show that BO is interested in bringing forth any sort of economic boom.

[R C Dean]

Just to break this down:

demographic trends,

What demo trends in the ’90s that drove productivity are now absent? I’m really curious about that. The Boomers only just started aging out of the workforce, so that doesn’t seem like enough of an explanation.

the rise of the Internet,

OK, I can sort of see this one. But why doesn’t having a fully mature new infrastructure continue to drive productivity? Why is it only the installation of infrastructure that is good?

the tech stock bubble,

Since supplanted by the housing bubble in the 00s, so its not like we’ve lacked a credit-driven bubble until the last few years (leaving aside the argument that the stock market is now in a credit-driven bubble, or that the dollar and Treasuries are currently in a bubble).

Plus, isn’t a bubble when actual productivity doesn’t justify high prices? Doesn’t calling it a bubble mean it didn’t drive that much productivity?

and phenomena that are divorced from some of the dominant traits in the economy as it is now.

Whatever the fuck that means.

[Tulpa Doom]

He may be referring to the fact that the boomers were in their most productive years, while the new senior citizens of that decade were born during the 1930s, when birthrates were at ultra-low levels.

The internet productivity gains are priced in to the economy now, so they’re not causing any growth on their own. The internet innovations we’re seeing now are arguably productivity-decreasing crap like Facebook and Groupon.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Egyptians are pouring in to Tahrir Square to protest Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and the draft constitution that will be voted on next week.

They’re not booing, they’re saying, “Moooooose-limb brotherhooooood.”

[sarcasmic]

“I was saying Boo-urns”

[invisible furry hand]

when will a disappointed Nobel Peace prize nominee sue over Obama’s prize?

A stem cell research pioneer is suing the Swedish assembly that awards the Nobel medicine prize, in a first such lawsuit, over claims it made about this year’s winners, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

Rongxiang Xu, who describes himself as the founder of “human body regenerative restoration science” claims he made a key discovery credited to the Nobel winners a decade before they did.

http://www.thelocal.se/44904/2…..MHW8uSR-So

[Rich]

That’s *really* why they exhumed Arafat.

[invisible furry hand]

Polaks don’t mess about:

A professor at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), south east Poland, could face up to three years in prison after prosecutors launched an investigation into alleged plagiarism.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Arty…..plagiarism

[db]

Kim Jong-un must wait
Snowflakes have postponed his test
Winter drops the bomb

[invisible furry hand]

OK, now do one about Nick Nolte’s pink pants

[db]

Rough Carhartt jacket
Dainty pink below the hem
Thank god not Brit “pants”

[LTC(ret) John]

Nick Nolte’s pink pants
Not That There Is Anything Wrong
With Them. Except wearing

[KDN]

5-7-6? INVALID!

[LTC(ret) John]

Gah, missed the last word. BZZZT!

[generic Brand]

Too many syllables on the last line. And needs to reference a season or time.

Nick Nolte’s pink pants
What was he thinking today?
Past Labor Day, though.

[LTC(ret) John]

Much better – you got the seasonal reference in.

[Fist of Etiquette]

There once was a boy from Pyongyang
who needed to come in with a bang
was kicked in his keister
by a stray nor’easter
so limp went his surrogate wang.

[Whiterun Guard]

alone.

in this world
with nothing but livejournal
and the promise of a
norko utopia
to keep me
alive.
nick
wears some beautiful pants.
and i have hope.

[Generic Stranger]

I’m so ronery…

[Fist of Etiquette]

…moving the unemployment rate down to 7.7 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2008.

Woo-hoo. Four years later we’re at 7.7 percent unemployed. (These numbers are the final revisions, right?)

[db]

Labor force -= 540000

[Lord Humungus]

Why the Monopoly Player Pieces (Thimble, Top Hat, Etc.) are What They Are
http://www.todayifoundout.com/…..ly-pieces/

John even has a theory why the specific player tokens were chosen:

I think they chose Cracker Jack prizes that symbolize wealth and poverty. The car, top hat, and dog (especially a little terrier like Asta, then famous from “The Thin Man” movie series) were all possessions of the wealthy. The thimble, wheelbarrow, old shoe, and iron were possessions or tools of the poor.

[invisible furry hand]

Not only were the gay incestuous twins real, says Prudie, but the lesbian incestuous twins are too (SFW)

[generic Brand]

Pics or it didn’t happen, Prudence!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Here ya go, generic

[generic Brand]

Why? WHY do I bring such pain and misery upon myself?! Mine eyes cannot unsee that which has been seen!!!

[.Rob]

Cue Barfman in 3,2,1…

[Groovus Maximus]

Odd. I was expecting a photo of Jedward.

[LTC(ret) John]

Well played, doctor. Well played.

[mad libertarian guy]

Now that was just fucking mean. DC has warped you.

[Kaptious Kristen]

More than you know, dude.

[Whiterun Guard]

She didn’t answer my question of who would win in a fight between Science Cat and season 3 of Northern Exposure.

[mad libertarian guy]

Is it bad that the only thing that I found noteworthy in this blog post about a guy who found a duffel bag full of weed stashed in his back yard is that I’m paying for his goddamn solar panels?

I already did the full Tex-Avery-wolf AOOOOGAH! upon discovering the mammoth sackful of dope – estimated to be worth somewhere north of $175,000. My jaw already dropped. My eyes already bugged out. Now my heart is thumping my gullet. Breathing is getting iffy.

I try to speak. I think my exact words to the solar-panel technician standing equally open-mouthed next to me are something to the effect of “Holy. Fucking. SHIT!”

[. . .]

But I’m getting ahead of myself ?

Last June, we signed a contract to have solar panels installed on our house in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles.

We have a big, flat, south-facing roof, and we’ve been wanting to shrink our carbon load on the planet’s fucked-up atmosphere, so we looked into and found a good deal:

Thanks to federal and state rebates and a clever leasing scheme, Sungevity offered to install the system at a net cost to us of Absolutely Free.

Yeah. “Free.” That’s it.

Because if we didn’t offer taxpayer funded incentives to guys who own their own home and want to make hugely expensive renovations, we’d be just like Somalia.

Buy your own peace of fucking mind, asshole.

[JW]

I’ve told the story before, about one of my staffers and his solar installation, so I’ll skip to the juicy bits.

Household income = North of $350,000/year
House = $1,000,000 (near-constant high-end renovating going on inside)
Household = No kids
Solar panel install value – $40,000
Cost to homeowner = $0
Benefit re electric bill = 99.99% to the homeowner

And we get stuck with the bill.

[JW]

Buy your own peace of fucking mind, asshole.

I use my Nelson laugh, every time I read a story about one of these monorail solar companies going tits up and the parasites waiting for their shiny new panels losing their deposits.

[Rich]

Artist uses ashes of Holocaust victims to make painting

*** rising intonation ***

Should have used elephant dung ….

[Way Of The Crane]

I’m so sick and tired of people painting squares and calling it art! Make a smiley face or something and show us you have some skill beyond drawing the same basic shapes you learned in preschool.

[Zeb]

Then don’t look at it. Anyone can make a picture that looks like something. You are confusing art with craft.

[Way Of The Crane]

You are confusing art with craft.

And you’re confusing sarcasm with serious commentary. The story was a piece about using the ashes of Holocaust victims to make a painting and I chose to complain about the fact that he painted a square. Thanks for playing. Pick up your sense of humor at the door.

[Rich]

It’s sarcasm all the way down.

[Whiterun Guard]

Please. I’m just so sure there’s sarcasm below this level.

[Rich]

I never meta-sarcasm. I didn’t like.

[Zeb]

Poe’s law, or something. I’ve run into enough people who seriously make that argument that I can’t be sure.

[Way Of The Crane]

I forgive you. As a Newbie to H + R I should probably point out that I should never be taken seriously.

[Way Of The Crane]

And sorry about the whole “sense of humor” crack … I think I’m starting my period.

[Tonio]

Don’t worry, Stork, you’re showing great promise. Keep it up and I’ll personally sponsor you.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Never apologize on HyR – it will be seen as weakness and STEVE SMITH will rape you and Warty will slowly devour you.

[LTC(ret) John]

Slowly?

[hamilton]

Though to be fair they are both likely to do that to you anyway.

[Way Of The Crane]

Never apologize on HyR – it will be seen as weakness and STEVE SMITH will rape you and Warty will slowly devour you.

It will take some time before I learn what feathers deserve to be ruffled. Until then, I’ll play nice.

[Zeb]

No worries.

[Hell's Librarian]

Gallery owner Martin Bryder told Swedish radio that he sees no “moral flaws” in displaying the piece.

WTF

[LTC(ret) John]

When you have no morals, how could they be flawed?

[Lord Humungus]

The 23 Most Ridiculous Deaths of 2012
http://www.ranker.com/list/the-27-mos…..dauenhauer

Three People Fight to the Death in Karaoke Dispute

Man Cooked to Death at Bumble Bee Tuna Factory

Man Shot Dead Trying to Cure Hiccups

etc etc…

note: 5 pages, not a slideshow

[Ted S.]

note: 5 pages, not a slideshow

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Joint Pain would actually be a great name for a medical marijuana dispensary.

[Bee Tagger]

House of Joint Pain if it also rents out bouncy castles on the side.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Which enterprise would get them raided first?

[Tim]

NCC 1701 D

[Fist of Etiquette]

I knew I should have said venture or endavour. No one even knows those ships’ registry numbers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Endeavour, that is.

[db]

OV-105

[LTC(ret) John]

Got pain from using the bouncy castle? Ameliorate it with our medical MJ!

[Quetzalcoatl]

Their motto: “Jump around”.

[fish]

Waffle Haus of Joint Pain

(my kingdom for an umlaut)

[hamilton]

..

[Rhywun]

Where would you put it? Unless you’re an 80s metal band, none of those words takes one.

[Bobarian]

You’d obviously put it everywhere.

[Pi Guy]

Hell, even over the consonants

[R C Dean]

See, I would probably go with Joint Venture. Maybe Pot Holder, for a three-fer with bonus AG taunt.

[The Late P Brooks]

These kinds of comparisons to the 1990s annoy economists like Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who has advised GOP presidential campaigns and now runs the American Action Forum.

How can anybody accept this idiocy at face value?

[Kaptious Kristen]

From today’s Washington Post Express crossword – 46 Down: “Twirls, as one’s hair”.

Anyone care to guess the answer? Six letters, begins with T, ends with S. Only super-smarty-pantsed people will get it.

[invisible furry hand]

Hmmm… tough… maybe you can help me with my crossword. I’m stuck on 10 down.

“Young gay men, chained in Warty’s basement. Six letters, begins with T, ends with S”

[Kaptious Kristen]

Better would be “Twinks chained in Warty’s basement”. Six letters, begins with T and ends with S.

[Bee Tagger]

Your last sentence makes me think you may be being sarcastic, but my ego requires me to venture a guess: teases

[Kaptious Kristen]

Incorrect. You are the weakest smarty pants. Goodbye.

[mad libertarian guy]

Twirls

[Kaptious Kristen]

mlg got it

[db]

They used the actual word in the clue?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Well I guess that’s why it’s the Express crossword…

[Ska]

Nice 😀

[Randian]

Isn’t it “twists”?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nope – all the other answers around it spell “twirls”

[Randian]

Pfft. Isn’t this the vaunted xword puzzle that my dreamy lover Rachel Maddow can finish in 14 minutes?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I doubt Ms. Maddcow does the Express xword. It’s for people who – *gasp* – take public transport.

[Way Of The Crane]

Isn’t the WAPO xpress a free paper? Since when does Maddow not like handouts?

[WTF]

Well, now we know why.

[generic Brand]

From today’s Washington Post Express crossword – 46 Down: “Twirls, as one’s hair”.

Anyone care to guess the answer? Six letters, begins with T, ends with S.

Twirls? Or is the meta-answer an impossibility in crossword puzzles?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Maybe I’m missing something, but is it “twists”?

[Tonio]

Dammit, KK, you’re such a tease.

[The Late P Brooks]

We have a big, flat, south-facing roof, and we’ve been wanting to shrink our carbon load on the planet’s fucked-up atmosphere, so we looked into and found a good deal:

Thanks to federal and state rebates and a clever leasing scheme, Sungevity offered to install the system at a net cost to us of Absolutely Free.

I have a suggestion for how you can reduce your effect on the planet: hang yourself, you fucking parasite.

[mad libertarian guy]

How people can feel so fucking self righteous about retaining peace of mind via other people’s money, I don’t know.

America used to be a land where getting government cash was shameful. I guess government schooling has beat that shame out of most.

[wareagle]

and thusly, mad guy, you have answered the question of how someone like Obama can win re-election.

[Zeb]

Or sell some of that fucking weed and pay for it yourself. Isn’t there a dispensary nearby?

[mad libertarian guy]

That was EXACTLY my take on it yesterday when I blogged about it.

It would have been more honest of him to sell the weed and buy his own peace of mind.

[Ted S.]

Stakeout on Dope Street

(Unfortunately, not on DVD.)

[Lord Humungus]

Memo To Strikers: You Could Have Killed Your Own Job
http://news.investors.com/ibd-…..abroad.htm

The clerical workers unit of the longshoremen’s union at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach went on strike for a week, shutting down 10 of the harbor’s 14 container terminals, idling thousands of dockworkers and truckers and costing the local economy an estimated $1 billion a day in lost wages and sales. And for what? To protect jobs, the union said.

In fact, the strike was more like a case of attempted job suicide. As of Tuesday, just before the strike was called off in a tentative deal, 17 giant container ships that would have unloaded at the harbor had been rerouted. Nine went to Oakland, which at least kept them in the state. But some left for foreign ports, including Ensenada and Manzanillo in Mexico.

[Don Mynack]

No worries. With the Panama Canal expansion, these ships will soon go directly to Houston or New Orleans and bypass the LA terminal chokepoint.

[NoVAHockey]

I’ve figured out why I arrive so pissed off at work everyday. WTOP is basically cycling Bob Schieffer , Candy Crowley, and David Gregory on to discuss the fiscal cliff crisis and how awful this is.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I only tune to WTOP on the 8s, 15s and 45s. It has kept me sane on many a drive.

[Ted S.]

I figured you’re just pissed off by nature. 🙂

[NoVAHockey]

that too.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Me too. I mean, you’re handle indicates you’re a hockey fan. We always thought you were just throwing off the gloves.

[Ted S.]

He is handle does indeed indicate he’s a hockey fan, which, considering how Gary Bettman has fucked up hockey, is enough reason to be mad.

[JW]

You listen to TOP? Now, you’re just being a glutton.

I haven’t really listened to terrestrial radio since 2007 and then usually only to WBAL’s Ron Smith or WTMD on the web. After Ron died, I haven’t bothered.

[Don Mynack]

“Willis and Vivian Bramstaedt planned to live out their days on a farm in rural Beecher, Illinois. But two years ago, they got a disturbing letter from the Illinois Department of Transportation: the state, using its eminent-domain powers, would seize their land to provide space for a brand-new airport?intended to relieve congestion at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, some 60 miles north. Critics of the proposed new airport note that O’Hare is expanding, nationwide air traffic is flat, and Illinois is almost broke. Nonetheless, the state has spent about $33 million gobbling up land for the new airport, even though the project has yet to win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Bramstaedts have become resigned to losing their farm, they told the Chicago Tribune.”

http://www.city-journal.org/20…..ports.html

Here’s The One supporting this boondoggle in 2004 “State Senator Barack Obama’s Springfield Report, Have it both ways: Expand O’hare, build Peotone”

http://www.hydepark.org/transit/Peotone.htm#obama

If only the journalists knew how to use google!

[LTC(ret) John]

Every dirt slurper politician (but I repeat myself) in IL somehow managed to get an interest in, or a piece of land outright in that area – And look, here comes the State to “seize” it and “pay fair market value”… to the politicos. The normal humans can just bend over and take it hard.

I often want to vomit in rage, when I read the news of this state.

[tarran]

It’s how they roll in Illionis.

In the case of Abraham Lincoln it was land along the path of the railroads he planned on having the Fed Gov subsidize.

[R C Dean]

And now that the Illinois crony machine has captured DC, that’s how they roll in DC, too.

[LTC(ret) John]

I’d rather the politicos here were just plain thieves and bribe takers -but nooooo, they have to crush the average Joe and Jane on their sleazy path to riches. #$%&*!

[sloopyinca]

Baby update (if anybody cares): they got her moved to Children’s Hospital yesterday. Monday and Tuesday went really well, but Wednesday and yesterday were a lot rougher on her. She’s not holding any food down at all (they have had her on an IV because they kinda expected this all along), which is causing her a lot of stomach pain and agitation, not to mention all the additional pressure being put on it to begin with. On the good news front, she’s stable and we’re meeting the surgeons this morning. Hopefully they’ll tell us they want to go ahead with the surgery earlier since it’s already receded more than they had initially planned.

That will cause a dilemma, though: when they complete the surgery, they’ll reconstruct her abdominal skin and give her a fake belly button and she’ll barely have a noticeable scar when she starts growing. The dilemma is that I’d rather them not give her a fake belly button. That way, when she grows up, she’ll always be “that girl without a belly button”, and will always be mysterious and have a conversation starter. Kara thinks I’m an idiot.

[AuH2O]

Like Kyle XY?

[invisible furry hand]

Sorry to hear that, but I’m impressed she still managed to get herself a credit card and donate to Reason. That’s a work ethic!

Re your idiocy, I’m with Kara. She will be embarrassed by the lack of it, sick of hearing the question, or both. Poor little bugger is having a tough enough start without that. Let her mystery and conversation-starters come from her compelling personality, startling good looks, and shooting skills

[sarcasmic]

She will be embarrassed by the lack of it, sick of hearing the question, or both.

Aye.

[sloopyinca]

See, I disagree. In this day and age, a compelling personality is frowned upon and one’s acumen in social media is probably more important anyway.

I’m for her creating some narrative that perhaps she was cloned and perhaps she was sent directly from God. Either way, she’ll hold sway over every simple-minded peer of hers, of which I expect there to be many. And when she gets older and wears a bikini, everybody will be all “I am not going to try and go after that girl,” which makes a dad feel a lot better.

[SugarFree]

“Where’s your belly button? Ew.”

“It’s on my fist.” [sucker punch]

[sarcasmic]

Kids are cruel. Don’t make it easier for them.

[sloopyinca]

The best way to make sure your kid isn’t the target of the cruel kids is to make sure they are one of the cruel kids. (Just kidding)

[sarcasmic]

Just sayin. I remember back in middle school the grief that the uncircumcised kid got in the showers. I can only imagine the torture that would have been lobbed at a kid without a belly button.

[sloopyinca]

First of all, they don’t shower at schools anymore except maybe here. Second of all, uncircumcised penises are disgusting. No wonder they gave him shit.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Second of all, uncircumcised penises are disgusting.

Oh dear Lord, here we go.

[Ted S.]

Just because your uncircumcised penis is disgusting doesn’t mean all uncircumcised penises are disgusting.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The best way to make sure your kid isn’t the target of the cruel kids is to make sure they are one of the cruel kids. (Just kidding)

Actually, I kind of agree with that.

[JW]

How are you guys missing the obvious answer?

Give her a double belly button. One inny, one outy.

[mad libertarian guy]

And when she gets older and wears a bikini, everybody will be all “I am not going to try and go after that girl,”

Guys will say that, but not for the reasons you would hope for.

[Zeb]

Yeah, dad will be standing there with a giant knife and a shotgun.

[Zeb]

Stick to your guns Sloopy. Having awseome hardcore individualist parents, and being home-schooled, she’ll be a fine and confident person, I am sure. And will always be a weirdo anyway, so fuck it.

Kids are only as horrible as everyone thinks if you let them get to you. If you are confident and don’t care what they say, they will soon tire of commenting on one, really minor, physical abnormality.

[gaijin]

She can always choose to remove it herself later in life…much harder on her to have to get it ‘re-installed’ I’d say.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

You can disagree all you want, but you’ll be fucking her over in favor of your own warped view of the world. Granted, that’s a parent’s prerogative, but this would be an epic mistake.

[sloopyinca]

What does putting or not putting a fake belly button on a child after major abdominal surgery have to do with a warped worldview? Seriously?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

What premises lead you to consider the possibility of not giving your daughter the chance to avoid stares, comments, and derision when doing so is apparently well within your ability?

Look, it’s your (y’all’s) decision but I wouldn’t want to be in the position of explaining to my daughter that I made the decision that led to every-fucking-body at the water park staring and pointing when she wears a bikini.

It seems like there’s plenty of downside and no real upside and I’d definitely have gone the fake belly button route with my daughters, but I’ve already imposed the freakishly tall genes on them so maybe that colors my view.

[sloopyinca]

I just disagree. And I’m sure we’ll do the button. I just wanted to have a little fun on here and also at home messing with the wife. But really, we’re talking something smaller than a dime that is visible to others maybe 2% of her life. Do you really see how I might view it as absurd that people would judge her in any way because of it? Not to mention it will be fake…created solely for cosmetic purposes because people are shallow idiots by nature.

What if she had a misshapen nose? Should I have it “fixed” to avoid her getting shit down the road?

[Groovus Maximus]

What if she had a misshapen nose? Should I have it “fixed” to avoid her getting shit down the road?

16 year old girls the world over say, “YES!”, “DA!”, “YA!”, “SI!”, “OUI!” and every other affirmative.

Like or not, sloop: Appearance matters.

[R C Dean]

I’m with sloop on this one.

Not having a bellybutton will draw out the scum who will self-identify by giving her shit. The kids who think its cool are the ones she will want to chill with, anyway.

You’d be giving her a huge leg up on sorting through the scrum to discard the morons and identify the good ones.

[Groovus Maximus]

As I have found, much to my chagrin in my fortyish years of confirmed bachelorhood, RC, all the good ones are taken. Or they live too far away, like AUS, for example.

Call it an Iron Law…

[mad libertarian guy]

Agreed.

In school, she’ll be known as the freak with no belly button. Don’t hang that anchor on her neck.

[SugarFree]

Well, she is already going to be the girl with the really old dad… maybe a state of bellybuttonlessness would be welcome distraction.

[sloopyinca]

School? Sorry, but I’m not going to abuse my child and send them to a public school.

[mad libertarian guy]

Revision: In school everything in life she ever does, she’ll be known as the freak with no belly button. Don’t hang that anchor on her neck.

Also, all public government schools are (technically) schools, but not all schools are public.

[Auric Demonocles]

They’re planning on homeschooling…

[sarcasmic]

“Everything I know, I learned from my mom!”

[invisible furry hand]

cue the male commentaters around here pointing out that they learnt a lot from your mom too

[robc]

Not just the male commentators.

[sarcasmic]

Some days I feel like I’m trapped inside an episode of The Regular Show.

[LTC(ret) John]

You know who else feels trapped?

My Mom!

[Auric Demonocles]

Then maybe you should get off of her.

[Ted S.]

You know who else feels trapped?

R. Kelly?

[generic Brand]

they’ll reconstruct her abdominal skin and give her a fake belly button and she’ll barely have a noticeable scar when she starts growing.

Like Friday Jones? She can have a smuggling flap where her belly button should be!

[generic Brand]

Fuck! Friday Baldwin, although I could’ve swore she used the surname Jones as an alias at some point in the book.

[Ted S.]

Better than confusing it with Rebecca Black’s “Friday”.

[invisible furry hand]

you evil bastard. Now the brain infection is flaring up again. “Gotta get down on Friday…”

[Groovus Maximus]

The Groovy One to the Rescue!

[invisible furry hand]

smooooooth

[JW]

I always hated that video, but I didn’t mind looking at Lady Miss Kier bust her moves.

[SugarFree]

“Time, time, time,
See what’s become of me.”

[invisible furry hand]

sweet Jesus. If only that were decently obscured by a hazy shade of winter

[Heroic Mulatto]

Wow, she shouldn’t have stopped dancing/snorting coke.

[JW]

Yeah, I didn’t say now.

[Ted S.]

Groovus may be the doctor, but I’m the one with the cure.

[Tonio]

Thanks, gB, I was wondering when someone would get to that.

[LTC(ret) John]

Idiocy judgment aside (leaving that to banjos) I think that is kind of cool. At least worth contemplating. Might be a bit of a problem as a little kid, however.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I’d go with fake button.

Much love & luck to all of you.

[alittlesense]

And she’ll be able to mess with her friends’ heads by letting it slip that she might not be from this planet….

[Zeb]

Or she hatched from an egg. Or grew fully formed from her father’s forehead. But the latter would sell Banjos’ contribution rather short, I guess.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Where would she store her lint?

[Ska]

Meh, pockets are still the best for that.

[Pro Libertate]

Hadn’t heard about this, Ken–hope everything goes well.

I’d allow the belly button. She’s already named Reason and is being raised by militia members or something.

[JW]

I’d allow the belly button. She’s already named Reason and is being raised by militia members or something.

No, no, they’re an artisanal organic collective or some such.

I knew, but can never remember what exactly the disorder is hat lil’ Reason has. Best of luck, you three.

[SugarFree]

Belly buttons are over-rated. They are little more than cycloptic lint-trapping reverse-nipples.

Tell Banjos that belly-buttons are for the weak!

So glad to hear that things are going as well as they are.

[Pro Libertate]

Come now, admit that you use yours for storage.

[SugarFree]

My high school girlfriend was a squirter. I had to clean my belly button out a lot.

[Pro Libertate]

They should sell belly button plugs. With customizable designs.

[SugarFree]

Flaming tiger skulls, just like my jimmie hats.

[Tonio]

They do, sorta. Belly dancers have long placed jewels in their navels. (OK, more often it’s colored glass, but still.)

[gaijin]

a squirter?

[SugarFree]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_ejaculation

[SugarFree]

Female ejaculation

Female ejaculation (also known colloquially as gushing or squirting,[1] although these are considered different phenomena in some research publications[2]) refers to the expulsion of fluid by human females from the paraurethral ducts through and around the urethra during or before an orgasm. The exact source and nature of the fluid continues to be a topic of debate among medical professionals and is related to doubts over the existence of the G-Spot.

[SugarFree]

Female ejaculation (also known colloquially as gushing or squirting,[1] although these are considered different phenomena in some research publications[2]) refers to the expulsion of fluid by human females from the paraurethral ducts through and around the urethra during or before an orgasm. The exact source and nature of the fluid continues to be a topic of debate among medical professionals and is related to doubts over the existence of the G-Spot.

Spam filter won’t let me post the wiki-link.

[sloopyinca]

Spam filter won’t let me post the wiki-link.

I bet he’ll get the point if he does a google image search with SafeSearch Off.

[gaijin]

ok, so having read your post and looked about, it seems you’re saying your gf peed on you. Makes sense 😉

[SugarFree]

No, no. It was clearly not pee-like in consistency. And it wasn’t some firehouse of goo. Maybe a half-teaspoon.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Are you sure “she” just wasn’t a hermaphrodite giving you the money shot with “her” ciltorial-looking micropenis?

[SugarFree]

No, that was a girl my friend Chris dated. It’s a quite sordid story.

[Bobarian]

What do you mean ‘micropenis’?

Her ‘clit’ was 9 inches long.

[KMA Too]

C’mon…certainly someone else was intrigued when they read that.

Right?

[SugarFree]

I have desensentized them.

[Jordan]

I think most of us have already done, uh, extensive research on the subject.

[Big 'Orra]

I think most of us have already done, uh, extensive research on the subject.

Blessed with a wife with this … um … skill — LOVE it!

[invisible furry hand]

They are for the strong! Only a true man can deal with an itty-bitty tummy vajajay.

BTW, where is the fevered discussion on inny vs outty bellybuttons?

[SugarFree]

It’s either a useless faux-gina or a miniature replic-nis. Either way: not interested.

[sloopyinca]

Only a true man can deal with an itty-bitty tummy vajajay.

You must date a lot of Asians.

[Groovus Maximus]

What did the blonde girl say when she had sex with the blonde guy?

“OW! My belly button hurts!”

[sarcasmic]

Q: How did the blonde get pregnant?

A: And you say we’re stupid?

[Charlotte Sometimes]

Back when we were dating, I remarked to my then-boyfriend/now-husband that I thought my his belly-button lint was really weird (girls do not accumulate a lint ball throughout the day). Ever since then, he has intermittently left that stupid fuzz in places I am sure to find it. Like on the steering wheel of my car, on my toothbrush, on the conditioner in the shower, on my PS3 controller, on my lipstick, etc. Good times.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

Oops. Just pretend that second “my” is not in the first sentence.

[SugarFree]

Excellent. Tell me someone on the internet he’s never heard of approves.

[Charlotte Sometimes]

It always makes me smirk. And he’s heard of you. Who do you think he curses (in jest) when I play my latest music downloads?

[SugarFree]

My work here is complete.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Glad to hear she’s stable and doing well.

I fully support the button-less cause. That would be awesome.

[Ken Shultz]

“That way, when she grows up, she’ll always be “that girl without a belly button”, and will always be mysterious and have a conversation starter.”

She could really freak the creationists out. Claim she was created and start a new religion. Tell them God wants them to start thinking for themselves.

Call it Reasonism.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Centered around the teachings of the Prophet Postrelus?

[LTC(ret) John]

Today’s reading, from the Book of Lucy.

[sloopyinca]

Will there be typos?

[LTC(ret) John]

“Will there be typos?”

If I am involved at all…many!

[Generic Stranger]

Many, and they will all be treated as the Word of Ogd.

[Quetzalcoatl]

“And then the Apostle Balko kissed The Jacket on it’s holy lapel, and left to work for Huffington Pilate.”

[Zeb]

I say no belly button. That would be awesome.

Interesting that women seem to favor the fake button and men are neutral or like the no button. Personally I think it would be great to have some odd physical trait like that. With the parents she has, I can only imagine that she will have the confidence to deal with it. Would little kids even notice anyway? Or care?

[Hell's Librarian]

Would little kids even notice anyway? Or care?

Yes.

[Zeb]

I don’t buy it. And I bet they would think it was cool if they even did notice.

[wareagle]

and being little kids, they will likely notice in a way that paints the girl as a freak. Do the belly button.

[Hell's Librarian]

^^ This.

[SugarFree]

Someone is getting paid off by Big Belly Button.

[Hell's Librarian]

Innies 4 LYF!!!!

[Hell's Librarian]

Glad to hear the little one is recouping, and I hope her surgery goes well.

Re the bellybutton: Other kids are malicious little shits who latch onto something and ding it to death. I wouldn’t subject her to that.

[Groovus Maximus]

1) Thank you for the update, and yes I do care. I told you this is why when omphaloceles are present, surgery is delayed in favour of a “wait and see” approach (barring extreme cases where the intestines are affected d/t the likelihood of stricture and strangulation). I will be surprised if they go ahead now, instead of opting for delaying the surgery for another week. As far as the feeding goes, she will be in IV until then, most likely, or possibly an NG tube.

2) Banjos is absolutely correct. If Baby Reason had a tail, would you keep it for msytery, creepy conversation starters, and general shits n’ giggles?

[Pro Libertate]

I have to admit that I am surprised that they tested her with the gom jabbar this early.

Ken, when lawyers and doctors agree, take their advice. It only happens like once a decade.

[Zeb]

I don’t know. I think that no belly button would be a whole different category from extra appendages. The latter look weird and generally get in the way. Something subtle like no belly button would be interesting, but not uncomfortable or limiting in any way.

But maybe I’m weird. I’ve never really been terribly concerned with body image or what other people think. And I never felt like kids were as horrible as everyone else seems to think they are.

[Ted S.]

If Baby Reason had a tail, would you keep it for msytery, creepy conversation starters, and general shits n’ giggles?

Sloopy probably would.

[sloopyinca]

1. I may have misled you the way I wrote that. It looks like they may now do it within the next few weeks, when the original plan was to wrap it in a fake skin-like membrane which the skin would gradually grow over and then they’d do the surgery…probably in 6 months or so. The first doc said they do that for giant Omphaloceles and ones that are generally large. With small ones, they play wait and see, allowing the membrane to shrink on its own and go in and perform the surgery after a couple of weeks. The size of hers is borderline where the doc might go either way.

2. That’s not really the same, is it? I’d have to buy her all special pants with a tail. With no belly button, she’ll still dress normally, except of course I’ll have all her t-shirts custom made with the words, “I have no belly button” embroidered on them.

[Pro Libertate]

Do the belly button but reserve the right to have it removed later.

[Groovus Maximus]

1) Told ya so! Since I didn’t have a photo of 3D ultrasound or relevant radiology, I only had to go on your second-hand account and dispense opinion accordingly.

2) Yes, when dealing with the possibly of altered or distorted body image, especially with women, it is totally congruent. Never underestimate the value of appearing “normal” and Demonica Archiva hits the nail on the head. Women who have radical mastectomies, burn patients, and others who have open procedures performed, even women who have C-Secs (which is why women who have C-Secs opt for a Pfannenstiel incision over a medial, the Pfan heals much better with little complication, and much less noticeable) all can and do suffer from distorted body image at various levels. Men do as well, but not quite as common.

Trust me on this one, sloop. Majority of my female patients were more concerned about post-op scarring than the actual procedure itself. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “You are a great doctor! There’s hardly any scar!”, nevermind that I did the equivalent of playing MIS Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots in their viscerae.

(I was dragged into court once over a complaint about post-op scarring. Won the case with flying colours and it was dismissed without prejudice.)

[sloopyinca]

flying colours

You’ve really gone over to the dark side, haven’t you?

[Pro Libertate]

He’s been spelling that way all along. That’s why he’s a secret Canadian.

[Kaptious Kristen]

He’s always used those goddamn British U’s. It’s why I’ve frequently accused him of being a Canuckistanian.

J’accue, docteur!

[SugarFree]

Maybe the Doc is just all class, unlike you inbred hillbillies.

[Pro Libertate]

Class increases geometrically the further you get away from French. Which is why the Germans fight them so much–to protect the sanctity of their language.

[invisible furry hand]

so i spell funny and i’m a braindead marsupial. Groovus does it and he’s all classy. There truly are different spanks for different ranks

[Pro Libertate]

Exactly. Ostracize all aliens or none at all.

[Groovus Maximus]

so i spell funny

You spell your posts correctly, lass. It makes you incredibly spunky! Oxford Dictionary FTW!

There’s not too many people on this big blue marble deserving of Russian furs. -D (Here, you need them. It’s fucking COLD!)

Also, the fastest way to tell if Eastern Euros (or non-English speaking Euros who have learnt English as a second language) is by their spelling. Most signs here in English opt for Commonwealth spellings, but American English is gaining popularity. I do say “queue” now with regularity, and “cheque” has slipped in as well.

I still haven’t adopted “Zed”, but I am starting say “Null” for “Zero”, since the Russian word for counting “zero” is “Nul'” (Pronounced “Null”.)

[invisible furry hand]

how’s your Ukrainian/Russian? Do you pun in it?

[Groovus Maximus]

Russian accent is improving and I am becoming much more relaxed with it (particularly when I get angry), though I still make occasional gaffes and mistakes, but my accent is very rapidly improving, especially with palatised consonants. Ukrainian is passable, and the language snobbery is pretty…blatant.

Russian humour depends highly on puns and rhymes that make sense, since the languange and Russian culture is pretty literal. Also, some old-timey Russian words are now used as colloquial slang and led to a Joe Biden level gaffe the last time I was here.

[R C Dean]

Russian accent is improving and I am becoming much more relaxed with it (particularly when I get angry),

I’ve always thought Russian sounded like a good language for dishing an ass-chewing.

[Groovus Maximus]

I’ve always thought Russian sounded like a good language for dishing an ass-chewing.

It is. -)))) Part of the culture also depends on profanity, and one MUST have a working fluency with MAT. It’s not uncommon to have one’s masculinity challenged by the level profanity fluency.

Kind of like, well, H&R.

[Heroic Mulatto]

t’s not uncommon to have one’s masculinity challenged by the level profanity fluency.

The correct term is mu’qaD veS

[Ted S.]

Surely you realize the palatalized L isn’t pronounced like anything we’ve got in English.

I presume you enjoy the Russian R as well. 🙂

[Groovus Maximus]

Surely you realize the palatalized L isn’t pronounced like anything we’ve got in English.

Konechno, moi drug! I can finally (after quite a few years of practice) properly ask for salt. -D I rely on the akanie and ikanija rules of pronunciation. UKR’s do not sound like Muskovites.

I presume you enjoy the Russian R as well. 🙂

It’s my FAVOURITE! Especially words with “Er”, “Oo”, “Sh”, or “Shh” in succession, such as “IGRRRUSHKA”.

I can trill the fuck out of my R’s, and have received compliments for it. -)))

[Heroic Mulatto]

If Baby Reason had a tail, would you keep it for msytery, creepy conversation starters, and general shits n’ giggles?

Are you kidding? YES!

[Ted S.]

Isn’t she a little young for food?

Oh, and you are an idiot, but not because of your thoughts about your daughter’s ersatz navel. :-p

(Get well soon, Little Miss Reason!)

[sloopyinca]

Food = breast milk

[db]

What would the Jezzies say, with you starting your daughter off with plastic surgery and body image issues so early?

[sloopyinca]

^^Threadwinner^^

That’s my first real belly laugh in a while…and I needed one. Thank you.

[sloopyinca]

belly laugh

No pun intended.

OK, I’ll probably succumb to the pressure being exerted by the Big Belly Button shills on here. But can I at least get some support for having them put it a couple of inches off-center and/or really high up like maybe 6 inches below her sternum when she’s grown?

[SugarFree]

If you going to give in, have them make it in the normal place, but you make sure those doctors give that baby girl the most beautiful goddamn belly button anyone’s ever seen.

[R C Dean]

Since they’re sculpting it anyway, have ’em make it look like a smiley face or a yin-yang or something.

[Randian]

Count me on Team No Button!

[Ted S.]

Tell them to make it look like a third nipple.

[hamilton]

Thinking of the baby and you both; stay stong. I’d be a total wreck if it were one of my kids.

(And banjos is right about your being an idiot, although I do think you have a point on the coolness factor. Say she’s just like Eve).

[hamilton]

Stay strong, too. Can I send you guys a present of some kind? I bought some condiments recently during a trip to NYC…

[sloopyinca]

[spit take]

[Kaptious Kristen]

Babies can’t have honey, and nobody should ever have rooftop garbage-scavenger-bee honey from Brooklyn*

*(I know you’re talking about the mayo, but the NYC hipsters make honey, too)

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Awwww snap!

[Trespassers W]

I knew I should have bid on “Eve”.

[Enough About Palin]

WHERE WILL SHE ATTACH HER BELLY-BUTTON RINGS????!!!!????

[invisible furry hand]

A robber in Texas hid in a car and called the police when a home owner confronted him before coming after him with a gun.

more

[.Rob]

It’s just one more place for TSA to search. No belly button.

[Matrix]

I posted this yesterday.

[invisible furry hand]

Matrix FTW 🙂

[Lord Humungus]

George Will: Bewitched by Obama
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html

What is to blame for today’s huge imbalance? The George W. Bush tax cuts? The recession? Obama’s spending? Dorfman answers yes, yes and yes ? but that “spending is the main culprit” because: Today federal revenue is $2.67 trillion (slightly less than “the Clinton equivalent”) and spending is $3.76 trillion, so we are spending $987 billion more than we would be if we had just increased Bill Clinton’s last budget for inflation and population growth.

[mad libertarian guy]

But if only we got rid of the BOOOOOOOOOSH Tax Cuts? to enable us to bring in an extra $70B over the next 10 years, we would have no . . .
Uh, nevermind.

[AuH2O]

So, ladies… did you enjoy your taste of Duke Silver last night on parks and rec?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Last night’s ep was awesome, as was 30 Rock (which I know you all hate).

But I’m not liking the Lucy Lawless thing. I don’t like Ron in a relationship. I do like when he goes to war with his exes, though.

[invisible furry hand]

as was 30 Rock (which I know you all hate).

You and me against the world, mate. Still guffawing over Black Dennis?

[SugarFree]

“Black Dennis, start the car!”

[Kaptious Kristen]

I love that the whole Colleen dying thing was treated the same way as when Colleen was alive – bitterness, recrimination, guilt, with just a pinch of grudging love.

[generic Brand]

Lucy Lawless is only good for being naked in Spartacus, now, it seems. I watched the first four episodes last night after picking up Season 1 on Black Friday. That show is pretty awesome.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I’ve laughed more at Parks & Rec than any other sitcom ever, so it’s way up there on my list. Season 1 was a bit rough. It actually got better after introducing Rob Lowe and Adam Scott, which almost never happens in TV land. Usually bringing in a big name shows desperation and ruins a show, but it’s been solid since they came on board.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I think it found itself even before Lowe & Scott showed up. And as funny as Adam Scott is on that show, it was a crime for him to (effectively) kill Pary Down.

[Kaptious Kristen]

It also has the advantage of Chris Pratt, who only gets funnier, IMO. And Aubrey Plaza. And Retta.

Damn, it’s just a fantastic cast.

[KMA Too]

Hell, I had to record the episode just so I could watch Ron run like a little boy at the awards ceremony.

It’s not a great shot, but I wonder if anyone will be able to gif it.

[Kaptious Kristen]

How about this Swanson classic?

[Zeb]

I like 30 Rock too, for what it’s worth.

[robc]

I dont regularly watch 30 Rock, but, at least the earlier episodes, are really only funny if you know enough about insider GE culture.

And I do, so they are.

How many vections does it have?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I got the “vections” joke, and I don’t know nothin’ ’bout GE corporate culture (trivection oven, annat).

[robc]

Well yeah, that one. But there was something about it that was so GE thats hard to explain if you havent interacted with them.

Back in the 90s, I worked for a company that was originally a part of GE appliances, but the whole group got laid off. They formed a company, and then did the same service for GE that they were doing before, only for more money and could also grow and do the same for others. I got to interact with GE people (and this company had a bit of GE culture too). I have a number of friends who work for them also.

Every big company does stupid things, but I get to hear about all the GE ones, and they keep popping up in the show.

Some of them, like 6 sigma, arent just GE, but its obvious the writers are GE employees.

[Lord Humungus]

China bids today on yet another failed Obama energy loan recipient
http://news.investors.com/poli…..-loans.htm

But wait! There’s more! A leading suitor for A123’s remaining assets is Wanxiang Group Corp., a $13 billion firm that’s China’s largest automotive components maker.

So, let’s get this straight: Obama bashes Romney for being a successful (and, whispering, wealthy) venture capitalist so successfully picking so many corporate winners. But Obama gives away money to an American company to develop American battery technology and manufacturing on American soil for American workers. A123 flops financially, as have almost three dozen other hand-picked Obama greenies receiving financial food-stamps from that wheeling-dealing Chicago crowd.

And a private Chinese company comes along to buy up the pieces.

[Ken Shultz]

A few quick points about the unemployment rate:

1) The lower unemployment rate is also about people permanently exiting the workforce.

2) If unemployment is improving so dramatically, then the Fed must be abandoning its monetary stimulus program, right?

http://professional.wsj.com/ar…..38694.html

3) If unemployment is improving so dramatically, then there’s no need for the additional stimulus program that Obama asked for as part of his fiscal cliff avoiding budget proposal, is there?

[Pro Libertate]

On the positive side, all of these dropouts should mean the return of the hobo.

[Lord Humungus]

more fodder for the Hobo Boxing franchise.

[Ken Shultz]

My grandmother explained to me the difference between a hobo and a bum, once. But she was old enough to remember the Golden Age of Hobos.

Apparently, hobos wanted to work for a living. They’d come up to your house and ask you for work, like chopping wood or something. And, in return, they got something to eat for dinner and they could sleep in your barn for the night.

So, when my 90-something year old grandmother would see someone on the side of the street holding a sign that said “Will work for food”, she always assumed they really meant it! She was driving well into her 90s, too. She’d pull over and do her Christian duty to offer to feed them in exchange for yard work. …a suggestion which was often only met with…profanity.

She’d tell them they really shouldn’t hold signs like that if they didn’t mean it, and I had to agree. It was false advertising. Gave real hobos a bad name.

So, I got nothin’ against real hobos. I’d like to see the 90s Hobo Chic thing come back, too. It saved a lot of hipsters money on clothes.

[db]

Heinlein made the clear distinction in Sixth Column?

[R C Dean]

Well, its not like the sign said “Will do hard work for food.”

[Citizen Nothing]

A hobo travels around looking for work, a tramp travels around not looking for work, and a bum doesn’t travel and doesn’t look for work.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Thank you Citizen Nil. But by these definitions, wouldn’t you be classified as a hobo?

[Mike M.]

It’s Christmas, unemployment always goes down in November and December, and then goes back up again in January.

Let’s see what happens early next year when these loons raise taxes in the middle of a global depression.

[Ken Shultz]

The last two reports on job gains were revised down, too.

I have no doubt that things will improve eventually. Even when they do really improve to normal, though, I’ll still be asking why it took so long. We should already be much further out of this than we are.

[Don Mynack]

Yes, according to Lord Keynes, we should be cutting gov’t spending now, since we are in a prosperous time. Unless the Dems are now classical economists. Not sure what philosophy they are following, really.

[Ken Shultz]

It’s a philosophy of “Let’s do whatever Obama says”.

And Obama’s philosophy doesn’t have anything to do with any philosophy, really.

It’s a philosophy of grand gestures without any understanding of or consideration for the consequences.

[R C Dean]

I think their philosophy is: How do we cook the numbers so they support whatever crony/redistributionist scheme we want to implement now?

[SugarFree]

Was that the last great episodes of The Simpsons?

[NoVAHockey]

“You Only Move Twice” — season 8, and is featured in the picture above.

full list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…..s_episodes

there are good episodes beyond that, but great?

[SugarFree]

*last great episode*

I really wish I could type and proofread.

[NoVAHockey]

i misread what you wrote. I think it is the last great episode. in scrolling through the list, it was the first one that i can quote in everyday conversation. regularly

[AuH2O]

No one ever says Italy

[robc]

There were great ones after that.

I agree above that Season 8 might be the point for the last great one. I have up to season 10 on DVD and Ive stopped buying them.

Season 4-5 is the clear peak. Jam packed with great episodes.

[Lord Humungus]

and Right-to-work bills pass in Lansing
http://www.detroitnews.com/art…..ss-Lansing

The birthplace of the nation’s modern-day labor movement moved closer to becoming the nation’s 24th right-to-work state after bills Gov. Rick Snyder vowed to sign into law passed their first hurdles in the Republican-controlled Legislature on Thursday.

The House and Senate each passed bills on the same day they were introduced that give private and public sector workers the right to avoid paying union dues in an organized workplace. Only police officers and firefighters would be exempt.

[Lord Humungus]

related: Michigan GOP approves right to work amid union protests
http://www.chicagotribune.com/…..1751.story

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley repeatedly gaveled for order during the Senate debate as Democrats attacked the legislation to applause from protesters in the galley. At one point, a man shouted, “Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! That’s what you people are.” He was quickly escorted out. Another later yelled, “We will remember in November.”

Eight people were arrested for resisting and obstructing when they tried to push past two troopers guarding the Senate door, state police Inspector Gene Adamczyk said.

[.Rob]

Parasates are always happy until they become the host.

[mad libertarian guy]

The frame of thought that would lead one to believe that not being forced to ay union dues if you don’t want to be part of a union is somehow nazi-esque is fucking baffling.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It’s the Hitler Quoque fallacy. i.e. Hitler hated unions, therefore anyone who doesn’t love unions is Hitler.

[The Late P Brooks]

A leading suitor for A123’s remaining assets is Wanxiang Group Corp., a $13 billion firm that’s China’s largest automotive components maker.

Chinese vulture capitalists!

[Tim]

Headed by Mitt Lomney?

[The Late P Brooks]

all of these dropouts should mean the return of the hobo.

Just don’t get caught hiring one to do odd jobs around the yard.

[Pro Libertate]

No, that’s right out.

[Tim]

Just don’t get caught burying one in the back yard. AKA “The Warty option”.

[SugarFree]

Bah. Warty uses every part of the hobo.

[Tim]

Even the head cheese?

[SugarFree]

Especially the head cheese. It’s the perfect bait to attract more hobo. For fuck’s sake, Tim… it’s like you know nothing about hobo harvesting.

[LTC(ret) John]

“hobo harvesting”

That is a great name for…something.

[Auric Demonocles]

Neither do I. I’ve got a hobo harvesting guy for that.

[Brett L]

When they’re dead, they’re just bums.

[Tulpa Doom]

NO HOBO

[The Late P Brooks]

Headed by Mitt Lomney?

That would be fucking awesome.

[Kaptious Kristen]

So my colleague that was given the lead developer job says he’s thinking of talking to our project manager about going back to being a regular ol’ in-the-trenches-grunt. Now that he says that, I’m worried they might actually give it to me. That’s because there are a couple of clusterfucky hot potato projects going on right now that I’d rather avoid heading up.

[LTC(ret) John]

Still better than your original thought that this was your replacement in waiting, yes?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Oh, that’s a totally different situation that still sucks, and will continue to suck for the life of that person’s contract (another 10 months). The shit is just raining down at my job the last couple months, I tells ya.

[LTC(ret) John]

Ouch, best buy an umbrella.

[Brett L]

Sounds about right. “Here, the ship’s breaking up. Take the wheel.”

[SugarFree]

You can literally go fuck yourself.

[invisible furry hand]

while singing this

[Brett L]

I see 3D printing is bringing Rule 34 into the physical world. So, is this for the narcissists who always wanted to fuck themselves, or can I be just self-absorbed enough to think my girlfriend my want an plastic me for the nights I’m not there?

[SugarFree]

Why not both. You could make a Fleshlight of your own asshole, as well. See what it’s like to live as Keith Olbermann.

[fish]

Wasn’t that done already by the “Plaster Casters”? Really derivative work….pffff!

[db]

Clone-a-Willy is fun to do. But they need to find a way to make it out of a slightly more flexible material. Or so I’m told.

[The Late P Brooks]

there are a couple of clusterfucky hot potato projects going on right now that I’d rather avoid heading up.

Dive on the grenade, Kristen!

[Tonio]

Sloopy, glad to hear the good news about little Sophia. Wishing the best for you, Banjos and the baby. (repost due to squirrel issues)

[Kaptious Kristen]

Tell me about in-car satellite radio. I don’t drive that much during the week (about an hour’s total driving on Saturdays, and maybe another hour total on Sundays and weekdays), but I do take road trips 2-3 times a year. Should I get a sat radio + subscription for $18/month? I gotta say, it could be interesting listening to porn on the radio (I assume the Spice channel is at least somewhat pornish). Then I could switch to Martha Stewart. Then Howard Stern. It would make the 10 hour drive to Vermont go by in a flash!

[R C Dean]

Probably not worth it, for just a few long drives a year. I have both, but I live in a radio desert and drive at least an hour a day.

For long drives, I do books on tape. Audible.com lets you download it onto your music player of choice, so you have it permanently and don’t have to fuss with discs or tapes.

[R C Dean]

Oops. “Both” being satellite radio and an Audible.com subscription.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Gotchya. I like books on tape, but I find I get bored with them after about 30 minutes. Talk radio is what makes a drive go by really quickly for me (especially Car Talk).

BTW, is Dean really your last name? I have Deans in my family tree – originally from Dorchester County, MD, then on to Kentucky and Indiana (we’re talking 18th and 19th centuries)

[R C Dean]

is Dean really your last name

No, my nom du comment is taken from the protagonists name in Enemy of the State.

I’m not really related to anybody. You can tell, because I don’t have a belly button.

[Kaptious Kristen]

No belly button? Where does Warty stick it, then?

[Heroic Mulatto]

The pooper.

And yes, Warty insists that “you gotta lick it, before you stick it.”

[edcoast]

Dunno if you’ll check back this late, Kaptious, but I’m like you and figured it wouldn’t be worth it. When we bought our new car, though, it came with a three month free subscription. That hooked me and I’ve kept it. Even driving a few times a week to the store and back, I like to get a good dose of Rawdog Comedy. I figure I spend $18 a week at Starbucks for less return.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The chair of University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies advocates bombing the fuck out of Syria, in the name of peace, of course.

[Redmanfms]

One wonders if the same recommendation would have been made during the tenure of anyone other than the One?

Quickly goes and checks the interwebs……

[Redmanfms]

And the answer is:

Nope.

[sloopyinca]

Well, looks like we’re heading out the door to see our little baby and the surgeon. I suppose we’ll stop by the belly-button emporium on the way home.

By the way, Victoria’s Secret supermodel Karolina Kurkova has no belly button. I wonder how many kids make fun of her?

[Kaptious Kristen]

If most models are to be believed, their childhoods consisted of daily beatings and insults from their classmates because most of them were gawky, tall, angular and zit-faced.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse at the hospital which treated the Duchess of Cambridge, has been found dead in a suspected suicide after she was duped by a hoax caller from an Australian radio station.

[??? ??????]

thank you