A.M. Links: Affleck Won't Run For Senate, Latest Date for First Encounter Predicted, New York Gunman Left Note, Result of Egypt's Constitutional Referendum Announced, Suicide Bomber Kills at Least Three in Afghanistan

• Ben Affleck announed on Facebook that he won't be running for Senate.

• A leading UFO expert believes we can expect first contact with extraterrestrial life by 2024. 

• The gunman who shot four New York firefighters left a note saying that, "I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down, and do what I like doing best -- killing people."

• More FOIA complaints were filed during Obama's first term than were filed in George W. Bush's second term. 

• Egypt's controversial draft constitution was passed with 63.8 percent support, according to the supreme election committee. 

• A suicide bomber in Afghanistan has killed at least three civilians near a military facility. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

More FOIA complaints were filed during Obama's first term than were filed in George W. Bush's second term.

Who are filing these requests? If it's journalists then they must not be finding anything, since not much negative makes it into news reports.

[Auric Demonocles]

Who says the requests are being answered?

[Whiterun Guard]

Those weren't the droids they were looking for.

[Rich]

The White House petition site.

/sarc

[DJF]

"""Who are filing these requests? """

Racists, counterrevolutionaries and wreckers. Don't worry, they will be dealt with. FORWARD!

[Ted S.]

We must move forwards, not backwards; upwards, not fowards; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

[$park?]

Twirling and twirling in a widening gyre?

[sarcasmic]

Baaaaaaarf!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....eason.html

[sarcasmic]

Some things can't be unseen.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....eason.html

[Ted S.]

This one was discussed on one of the threads yesterday. I'm too damn lazy to look up which thread it was.

[sarcasmic]

Mexico City offers gun buyback. Yeah, that'll get guns out of the hands of criminals. I'm sure of it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....lence.html

[LTC(ret) John]

Yes, so they can afford better and newer ones!

[Fatty Bolger]

I'm positive that this is going to work. And wait until the midnight basketball program kicks in!

[AlmightyJB]

Hope they haul Gregory off the show in handcuffs next week. Frackin bootlicker.

http://politics.foxnews.mobi/q.....roteus.fma

[sarcasmic]

Ron Paul not fan of NRA's plan to put armed guards in schools.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....state.html

[Whiterun Guard]

Ron Artest a huge a fan of NBA's plan to put armed guards onto the courts.

[generic Brand]

You don't get World Peace without threats of violence.

[sarcasmic]

There is no cooperation without coercion.

/Tony

[DJF]

"You can't professionalize unless you federalize'

This sounds like a job for the TSA.

[Whiterun Guard]

I never Metta World Peace I didn't like!

/Groucho

[LTC(ret) John]

For that, I'd throw a basketball at you, were I withing range.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ben Affleck announed on Facebook that he won't be running for Senate.

That's too bad. While I didn't know Facebook even had a congress, I think he would have been perfect for it.

[Whiterun Guard]

like

[wareagle]

+1 FB persona for white guard.

[Entropy Void]

I didn't even know they allowed announeding on Facebook ...

[Fist of Etiquette]

A leading UFO expert believes we can expect first contact with extraterrestrial life by 2024.

Conveniently the date was made for after the Mayan apocalypse, when none of us will be around to check his work.

[Whiterun Guard]

Actually if you read the article, he picked 2024 since that will be the year his giant tinfoil hat will be completed.

[$park?]

LOOK OUT, he has a GUN HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINE!

Gregory interviewed Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the National Rifle Association, on Sunday's program. When asking whether high-capacity magazines should be banned, Gregory held an object and said it was a magazine that could hold 30 rounds.

[sarcasmic]

OMG! and empty metal box with a spring in it!

Call the police!

Send in the SWAT team!

[Whiterun Guard]

Actually some of those springs have 'military style' compression.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Douchebag move by the Breitbart people calling the cops on him for violating what is a dipshit law in the first place. But I admit it would be nice if this would show NBC News progressives what it's like to get caught breaking a dipshit law.

[Ted S.]

Me today, you tomorrow?

[Whiterun Guard]

Hopefully the newsprogs put on a big show of contempt of cop. But I suspect the omni-present cameras and tape recorders will result in an 'orderly and uneventful' investigation with no arrest.

[Ted S.]

The law has been enforced politically for decades.

[Ted S.]

Also, I hope David Gregory doesn't have any dogs.

[Entropy Void]

If he does now, he won't soon ...

[SweatingGin]

I read the breitbart note as more of a question of doc police -- that if they weren't going to investigate it, that would be a story.

[sloopyinca]

I disagree, Fist. Gregory will be forced to defend himself in court on this matter, if charged. And his only defense will be to use the 2A. Hell, he may end up being the guy that inadvertently helps to end idiotic restrictions on gun owners in DC.

Oh, the irony would be so sweet and delicious.

[Groovus Maximus]

I like the way you think, sloop!

[Bones]

Nah, he'll use 1A, freedom of the press. Without any irony at all.

[sloopyinca]

That freedom of the press gives them a right to print what they want, I sincerely doubt a bit of performance art like holding up an illegal 30 round magazine is covered.

Besides, if the 2A was not meant for guns beyond 18th Century technology, the 1A doesn't cover what Gregory does on TV. Nope his only defense will be the 2A protections offered citizens. Hell he may even be the case that expands the Heller ruling. Oh, that would be so lulzy.

[Entropy Void]

+ .223

[Kaptious Kristen]

The [some long ass German word] would be sweet & delicious.

It would also be sweet & delicious if the cops refused to investigate, proving some animals are more equal than others.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Are you kidding? That was an awesome troll.

[Mike M.]

Only six more days until most people who work will be suffering under the highest tax burden of their lives.

[DJF]

There is a way to avoid income tax if you are a doctor or lawyer.

The government now allows government and private institution to hire doctors and lawyers and not pay minimum wage or any wage at all. No income, no income tax.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/541.304

No word on if you can lock them in your basement at night so they don't escape.

[$park?]

Just like our heroic teachers, policemen, and firemen, doctors and lawyers aren't in it for the money anyway. They just want to help people. Right?

[wareagle]

can we add "heroes" to the list of words that no longer mean what most rational people think they mean.

[LTC(ret) John]

That should have been done days after 9/11/01.

[$park?]

These heroic heroes take on the jobs that nobody else has the courage to do! HEROES!

[generic Brand]

^THIS!

If you're doing your job, you aren't a hero. The teachers from Sandy Hook who escorted the children into the parking lot are not heroes. If a teacher dove in front of bullets to save a child, or had managed to take down the shooter himself, then that person is a hero. Simply "being" does not a hero make.

[Whiterun Guard]

For that, you need a cape!

[AlmightyJB]

All you need is a union card.

[Groovus Maximus]

doctors and lawyers aren't in it for the money anyway. They just want to help people. Right?

Yes, Sparky, for many of us, while money is of course a consideration, personally, I do give a rat's ass about my patients and their well-being.

I also am allergic to going hungry and my malpractice insurance doesn't pay for itself. Neither does Pro'L Dib's, RC Dean's, or TAO's...all barristers of note around these here parts.-)

[$park?]

You'll always be my hero, doc.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

You are the wind beneath my wings.

[Hollywood]

Though I think lawyers have certainly lost their "noble profession" label, I am inclined to think doctors have retained it. So hates off to you, Dr. Goovus, I for one see and appreciate the value of your work (and the free insights you dish out now and then).

[Hollywood]

hats* dammit, not a Freudian slip I promise.

[Ted S.]

Single-payer law care. Since no lawyer does anything worth more than minimum wage.

[Auric Demonocles]

Sometimes Pro Lib makes me laugh. I'd pay more than minimum wage for that, if he wasn't such a sucker as to do it for free.

[LTC(ret) John]

He probably counts that as his pro bono hours.

[Ted S.]

RC Dean also gave us the Iron Laws, but those clearly belong in the public domain.

[$park?]

Those Iron Laws, he didn't make those.

[Groovus Maximus]

Phew! At least the Ukrainians believe in paying their doctors, although the State-employed ones make a pittance of what would laughingly be called a salary. Private medicine FTW!

Dodged a bullet there!-D

[Kaptious Kristen]

Well, I feel bad for the charities that I will now not be able to give any money to.

[$park?]

So are you greedy or just a heartless monster?

[Ted S.]

Why can't Kristen be both?

[Kaptious Kristen]

All that and more, baby.

[LTC(ret) John]

Now you are just trying to steam up Sparky's monocle.

[$park?]

I always kinda liked Kathleen Turner.

[wareagle]

how long before the charities' lobbyists march into Congress, if they haven't already.

[Whiterun Guard]

Pfft, what are they going to bribe congress with? Good intentions?

[wareagle]

they can bribe Congress with the campaign contributions some charitable donors may withhold. All those foundations and such didn't amass a pile of hundreds of billions by rolling over.

[nicole]

I don't know, but I made sure to tell everyone who's been calling me for the past month or so looking for donations that I was deferring all giving to 2013 because of the possible tax increase.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And it doesn't even have anything to do with the possibility of the charitable giving deduction going away - I never used itemized deductions anyways. It's that if I'm going to have to give an extra $1000+ to Uncle Sam, that's way more than I give to all the charities I support combined. It's simply cash in - cash out.

[wareagle]

It's simply cash in - cash out.

sorry; never heard of that before. What does it mean. *

*arbitrary member of Congress

[LTC(ret) John]

"arbitrary"

Did you not mean "totality of members of Congress"?

[robc]

Only six more days until most people who work will be suffering under the highest tax burden of their lives.

You are assuming that people working today werent working in the 50s/60s and in that top 90% bracket?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Egypt's controversial draft constitution was passed with 63.8 percent support, according to the supreme election committee.

The other 36.2 percent didn't care for all the typos.

[generic Brand]

A leading UFO expert believes we can expect first contact with extraterrestrial life by 2024.

Because now that the "World has ended"?, we need another fake date to worry about/look forward to!

[Auric Demonocles]

A leading UFO expert believes we can expect first contact with extraterrestrial life by 2024.

I think that might be about right, though that time-frame makes it unlikely we'll be able to discover it on one of the moons of the gas giants.

[DJF]

So being kidnapped and probed by aliens does not count as contact?

[$park?]

Some coworkers and I were discussing the necessity of anal probes a couple weeks ago. We can to the conclusion that aliens performing anal probes is like people who go out cow-tipping. That led us into discussion on redneck aliens and things went downhill from there.

[$park?]

We can came to the conclusion that aliens performing anal probes is are like people who go out cow-tipping.

[Auric Demonocles]

EDIT BUTTON!

[Whiterun Guard]

I always figured that the anal-probing of non warp-tech cultures was an alien make-work social program rather than a redneck hobby.

[$park?]

Hmmm, that's an interesting perspective.

[Brett L]

I give you Bill Hicks' take on aliens.

[robc]

Thanks for reminding me why Im not a Hicks fan.

[Ted S.]

Obviously, Afghanistan needs to ban assult weapons and that will solve their violence problem.

[wareagle]

for some reason, this story has been left out the "ban the gunz" hysteria:
http://reason.com/24-7/2012/12.....-left-note

Hmmm: ex-con, which I believe means he cannot legally own a firearm anyway; a guy who got a pretty light sentence for killing his 90-some granny with a hammer, and a few other malicious truths that fly in the face of liberal dogma re: crime and criminals.

[Whiterun Guard]

So we should ban hammers?

[$park?]

If you're not careful, you might get the ban hammer.

[Whiterun Guard]

Who bans the ban hammer?

[$park?]

Jan Hammer. Obviously!

[Whiterun Guard]

Please, Jan Hammer, don't hurt them.

[Groovus Maximus]

+1 Miami Vice pastel Hammer pants

[Karl Hungus]

So we should ban hammers?

That was the takeaway for me too.

[wareagle]

I blame Craftsman.

[Karl Hungus]

So we should ban hammers?

That was the takeaway for me too.

[sarcasmic]

Dah da da dum... dah dum... dah dum.. Can't touch this!

[generic Brand]

Shhhh! Don't use the h-word around here!

[Ted S.]

What do you have against a hammer?

[$park?]

If I had a hammer...

[mr lizard]

The intelegista does not want to touch this story because an armed citizen, in this case a cop, managed to thwart a mass murder ( 4 deaths). In fact the narrative fits right in with the NRA's proposal. Although I don't think the NRA is really serious about their own ideas. But they know they have to say something, and simply allowing teachers to carry is too radical an idea.

[wareagle]

I just find it interesting that a story that blows all sorts of holes in the gun banning approach to crime is conveniently left out of the equation. Kinda like the NY newspaper that thought it sharp to print the names and addresses of registered gun owners, so that crooks now know where they can 1) perhaps steal a weapon and 2) be able to do their business with limited resistance.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Another federal Christmas holiday is over despite the evil secularists 'War on Christmas'.

Back to Benghazi for Fox News! Or the latest made up scandal!

[$park?]

Faux News is teh wingneck liarz!!

/o3

[wareagle]

speaking of, the latest news says that the four State Dept folks who were so brutally punished were not, in fact, punished at all. One gave up the voluntary part of his job description, and the other four will soon return to collect their sinecures. Nothing to see here, folks; move along now.

[LTC(ret) John]

New Year's resolution folks - stop feeding attention desiring troll.

[Restoras]

^Yes.

[The Late P Brooks]

how long before the charities' lobbyists march into Congress, if they haven't already.

You don't actually believe the Red Cross spends your donations on disaster victims, do you?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Who in their right mind would give to the Red Cross?!?!

[$park?]

I give blood, but I would never give them money.

[Ted S.]

How bad was the American Red Cross in the tainted blood scandals of the 1980s? I know the Red Cross in some other countries was awful.

[wingnutx]

Tainted blood, whoa-Ah-oh, tainted blood...

[John]

Never give them money. There are actual charities that help people. But the red cross is not one of them sadly.

[tarran]

The USPCA. The Red Cross. The WWF (wildlife fund, not the wrestlers). UNICEF. All groups that do very uncool things with the money they bilk out of people.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Susan G. Komen, NRA, ACLU, United Way. Money-grubbing assholes all.

[robc]

SPLC

[$park?]

Uh, that's what I said. I would never give them money.

[Groovus Maximus]

Also, if you are going to donate blood, Sparky, either donating directly to the hospital's blood bank or investigating another blood bank may be to your liking if you don't want to support the Red Cross with any type of donation.

[$park?]

I don't hate the Red Cross the way some people might. I know they are irresponsible with money so I don't give them any. They have regular blood drives at my workplace so I don't mind stopping by to drop a pint. If I come across a preponderance of evidence that says they are more irresponsible with my blood than my local hospital would be, then I might change my mind.

[Kaptious Kristen]

They do make it very convenient for lots of people to donate blood, who otherwise wouldn't take the time to drive to their local hospital/blood bank.

[Groovus Maximus]

True dat, Kristen. In Oklahoma, for example, OK Blood Institute is dedicated to strictly hematological stuff, and does pay donors if they happen to have a blood type that is chronically in need (such as Type O+/-) or rare blood types (like AB-, which happens to be mine), and does lots of hematological studies the Red Cross may not do and also arranges blood drives.

Point is, Red Cross doesn't own the marker on hematology and blood products, and I for one am not a fan of the Red Cross for a variety of reasons, both monetarily and medically speaking.

[$park?]

I do my best to keep my giving local. I give money mainly to local food banks. I'm fairly certain (I'm pretty sure I read it in their handouts) that the blood collected by the Red Cross where I work goes either to the local hospital or one in Boston. Where I live in western Mass, you either give blood to the Red Cross or Baystate Medical. Those are the only two options that I'm aware of around here.

[Brett L]

Glad to see H&R didn't burn down while I was gone. How's things, kids? Did I miss any good link threads?

[LTC(ret) John]

Lets see....Fist continued to be first, WG continues the funny and the trolls continue to be trolls.

[Brett L]

Cool. Shit, I'm just happy to be back at work where I have time to play on H&R. Time off from work != vacation this time.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hey, wait a minute. You make it seem as though being first is my only thing, that I can't also be funny. Or a troll, for that matter.

[$park?]

Stick with what you're good at I always say.

[Brett L]

Giant frickin lasers.

The tests set the laser against three different targets. The first was a 15 mm-thick (0.59 in) steel girder that was cut through at a distance of 1,000 meters (3,281 ft). The second was a group of nose-diving target drones flying at 50 meters per second (164 ft/s) that were detected at a range of three kilometers (1.86 mi) and shot down at two kilometers (1.24 mi) within a few seconds. The third test was a simulated mortar attack using a steel ball 82 mm (3.22 in) in diameter moving at 50 meters per second. The 30 kW laser unit immediately tracked it before locking on and destroying the target. According to Rheinmetall, the time needed to knock out the "mortar" was fast enough to engage and destroy mortars at long range even in bad weather.

The company noted that it also works on humans. For all your evil overlord needs.

[tarran]

This is going to do to warfare what the machine gun did 110 years ago.

[Brett L]

Get millions of teenaged boys killed by idiot generals?

[Kaptious Kristen]

And now, in addition to killing millions of boys, they can now kill millions of girls, too! EQUALITIEZ! Take that, patriarchy!

[nicole]

Ladies, Kristen. We are called ladies now.

[Brett L]

When they're dead they're just girls, nicole!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Oops! Or chicks, too, rights?

[nicole]

Under the exclusive meaning of "or," perhaps yes. It's the new "madonna/whore" -- lady or chick?

[Whiterun Guard]

When we want your opinion we'll shoot you with a giant laser.

[Auric Demonocles]

I wonder if we can just shoot our birds with giant lasers, cooking them at the same time as we kill them, thus making women obsolete.

[Brett L]

^Chickenfucker?

[Bobarian]

Tarran, I think you may be underselling the potential impact of this. This could be gunpowder, or the aircraft.

This has the potential to take aircraft and rockets/missiles out of potential impact in modern war.

[waaminn]

Sounds like one heck of a plan to me dude. Wowe

http://www.Anon-is.tk

[sloopyinca]

Armed homeowner kills one intruder and wounds second when they break into his house to rob and possibly kill him. He sustained non-life threatening injuries.

He would have been a statistic instead of a survivor if the gun grabbers had their way.

[sloopyinca]

I thought there was a thing called "Badge Bunnies." I guess they don't have them in Sacramento, because this cop had to get his sex by repeatedly sexually assaulting a 78 year old woman.

I wonder if he was specifically trained not to do that?

[Auric Demonocles]

Well obviously Sacramento is just too close to Washington State for anyone else to compete for the badge bunnies.