Obama Dodges 'Hard Decisions' on Entitlements, FBI Plays Coy on Surveillance, UN Predicts Higher Unemployment: P.M. Links

• Despite lots of talk of making "hard decisions" about entitlements, President Obama has now committed himself to business as usual with the budget-buster programs.

• The Supreme Court may have revised the rule book on domestic surveillance last year, but the FBI is playing coy on how — or if — it's complying. The feds say their new surveillance policies are "private and confidential."
• Wikileaks is dropping hints that Aaron Swartz was a source, and that's how he really got on the government's bad side.
• At the polls, almost sixty percent of Austrian voters chose to keep conscripting young men into the military and "community service."
• In response to a lawsuit challenging the terms of a California tax break on stock sales by small businesses, the state has retroactively rescinded the tax break for everybody. It now wants five years worth of unexpected capital gains taxes.
• The UN's International Labor Organization has peered into its crystal ball and sees … soaring world unemployment in 2013. These folks must be a blast at parties.
• Now that Washington voters have legalized marijuana, the state plans strict regulatory controls in hopes of keeping the feds happy. Good luck with that.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The UN's International Labor Organization has peered into its crystal ball and sees ... soaring world unemployment in 2013.

Who knew the United Nations had the ability to read the writing on the wall.

[Mike M.]

At least the Keynesians who run western civilization would never do something really stupid, like raise taxes in the middle of a global depression!

[A Serious Man]

Enter that long corridor, past the bolted doors where impossible things may happen that the world's never seen before.

Cartoon Network releases lost episode of Dexter's Laboratory.

[db]

Can't wait to watch that. I loved Dexter's Lab.

[A Serious Man]

Genndy is a genius. I wish they'd restart Samurai Jack.

[NeonCat]

I cursed CN the day I learned they cancelled Symbionic Titan because they didn't think they could sell enough tie-in toys.

[$park?]

Screw that, I want the Powerpuff Girls.

[db]

Another great show. Dr. Girlfriend once went to Dragoncon dressed as a 10-foot high Aku (painter's stilts) while her diminutive friend dressed as Jack. They were a hit.

[Ted S.]

I'd rather they give the rights to the MGM/WB animated shorts back to TCM, since it's all part of Time-Warner-whatever the conglomerate is called these days.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Now that Washington voters have legalized marijuana, the state plans strict regulatory controls in hopes of keeping the feds happy.

So then not a "shall issue" marijuana carry permit state?

[Xenocles]

I still don't regret voting for it. Regulation is better than prohibition, and I don't need a home run on every swing.

[shamalam]

Agreed.

[Enough About Palin]

"Wikileaks is dropping hints that Aaron Swartz was a source, and that's how he really got on the government's bad side."

Dude killed himself. That's a very pussy thing to do.

[crazyfingers]

Actually it is the opposite...

[$park?]

He didn't kill himself?

[Zeb]

I don't know if it is a pussy thing or not. But it is definitely a shitty thing to do if there is anyone who cares about you or will have to clean up after you. And it shows a distinct lack of moral character.

[Enough About Palin]

Yup. That's what I meant.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

If anyone cares about me that's their mistake. Other people's emotions do not obligate me in any way, morally or otherwise.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Depends on the reason. Committing suicide to avoid having the enemy extract information from you may be a heroic act. Committing suicide to avoid a few months in jail, as Swartz appears to have done, is a pusilanimous one.

[$park?]

Committing suicide to avoid a few months in jail, as Swartz appears to have done, is a pusilanimous one.

That isn't even necessarily the cause either. It's entirely possible that he just did it because he was a depressive.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Go fuck yourself and don't talk about things you don't understand.

This is a decent starting point.

[$park?]

Why is suicide hard to understand? People want to kill themselves, let them. Why do we need to feel bad for them afterwards?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Because it's highly abnormal to seriously think about suicide, so actually carrying it out (usually) indicates serious emotional and/or environmental issues.

You don't "have" to feel bad about it. I was responding to EAP, anyway.

[$park?]

I know you were responding to EAP, I was just curious why you felt that way. As far as I'm concerned, and possibly EAP too, anyone who commits suicide deserves to die. Better to let them die than live out a miserable (to them and most likely others) existence.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Did you read the article I linked? It probably won't answer all of your questions but it should probably be a good start.

[$park?]

I've read a number of things that don't agree with my opinion on suicide. I haven't changed my mind and I don't see any way that any argument any person could make would get me to.

[Zeb]

Why feel bad for anyone who is dead? They're dead. I feel bad for the people who care about the person who kills himself. They are the victims, not the selfish asshole who kills himself.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Sparky, if you haven't committed suicide you have no right to an opinion.

[Enough About Palin]

"Go fuck yourself and don't talk about things you don't understand."

Project much?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Sure.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

So now they're going to retroactively claim him as a martyr. Very convenient.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...almost sixty percent of Austrian voters chose to keep conscripting young men into the military and "community service."

Over forty percent of Austrians are young men?

[Tim]

The use of quotes makes it sound kinda like hanky panky.

[Gbob]

You know what other Austrian liked conscripting young men?

[Heroic Mulatto]

You know what other Austrian liked conscripting young men?

That's easy, Empress Maria Theresa.

[John]

Mrs. Suderman takes apart the immorality of colleges and college faculty.

The belief that education is both good in and of itself, and also, is practically a guarantee of a good job, was never entirely true. But now it's clearly false in many fields, and insiders who blind themselves to this reality are doing naive kids a great wrong. Increasingly, getting the extra degree may actually decrease peoples' chances of finding jobs, partners, and satisfying lives, because of the debt and time that are poured into them. Bottom-tier law schools are the perhaps the most flamboyent offenders, but they are far from the only ones.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....-jobs.html

[Fist of Etiquette]

How dare she try to prematurely pop that bubble.

[John]

This is probably her best and most brutal point

Why do tenure track faculty, a left-leaning group that presumably does not approve of this sort of injustice, perpetuate the enormous oversupply of graduate students? Because they don't want to grade, or teach intro classes, or sacrifice valuable research time (research that, not incidentally, makes the professors more attractive on the external job market, hopefully enabling them to leave said third tier program for somewhere more prestigious and conveniently located).

[SugarFree]

It's not just laziness or even the gain of research time. The whole thing is a Ponzi scheme. You keep bringing in undergrads to keep the graduate assistants employed, you keep getting GAs with the idea that they might be able to get the few adjunct teaching gigs, and the adjuncts work for a pittance in order to be positioned for the precious few spots of tenure track that open up (because teaching isn't like breaking rocks in a quarry; you can do it until you keel over at a desk). Astride them all are the tenured faculty, well-paid for their relative economic contribution and who wind up with so much time on their hands they have to invent work for themselves to look busy, like publishing redundant nonsense and engaging in increasingly histrionic office politics during endless meetings about absolutely nothing.

And the only thing that supports the whole scheme is making sure that more and more students go to college, devaluing the degrees of everyone in the process.

[Thane of Whiterun]

University administrators control how many tenure track jobs there are, but the faculty controls how many new graduate students there are. Faculty decisions about how many grad students to admit are usually based not on how many new PhDs they can place in jobs, but how many graduate assistants the faculty feel they need.

'Tis one of the things that has cooled me considerably on the thought of entering academia.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Faculty doesn't place new PhDs in jobs. The new PhDs place themselves in jobs, via this thing called a market system that some libertarians may have heard of. Plenty of PhD's do not go into academia, anyway.

Obviously this person has not the slightest idea how academia actually works, or she's blatantly lying because inveighing against academia is always popular in conservative/libertarian circles.

[Heroic Mulatto]

At least McArdle's article isn't as stupid as KMW's constant refrain of "ROBOTS! In the future, teachers will be ROBOTS!"

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

I'm having trouble directing hate at anyone besides McArdle right now. She's basically harping on how morally corrupt the left wing humanities professor in her head is, because he allows people to pursue degrees they want but (from her POV) don't need.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Faculty doesn't place new PhDs in jobs. The new PhDs place themselves in jobs, via this thing called a market system that some libertarians may have heard of. Plenty of PhD's do not go into academia, anyway.

My complaint is just that the fact of the matter is that in many fields, including, AFAICT, the one(s) I might like to enter, there are more PhDs (who are seeking to be tenured professors) looking for those positions than actually exist, especially when you narrow that down to good departments.

I don't think it's a grand injustice. It just sucks.

But, yeah, faculty don't place PhDs in jobs, but I think the writer (McSuderman was quoting a comment from a previous piece) meant something more like "how many PhDs their field can place in jobs".

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

OK, but the onus is on the people entering grad school to determine the likelihood of getting a good job. Not on the university.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Of course

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Oh come on. It's not like we go to senior undergraduates' homes and tie them up in duct tape and drag them into teaching assistant slavery. They apply by the hundreds and we accept 10-20 of them a year. Funny to see libertarians who (rightly) critique lefist economic ignorance when it comes to sweatshop labor throw their brains out the window and whine about "injustice" when it comes to TAships at a university. People WANT those positions. Who are you to say they shouldn't have them?

And having an experienced and successful researcher spend 10 hours a week grading would be a total misallocation of resources. Does Mrs Suderman wonder why the CEO of Wal Mart isn't stocking shelves?

[Thane of Whiterun]

I haven't seen many complaints of injustice. Though I have seen complaints of it being a "scam", which I guess is pretty close -- but usually the alleged "victims" are the undergrads.

The shtick seems to be that, allegedly, the professors aren't providing much or any educational value. Which sometimes is true but has nothing to do with TAs.

I do agree that professors at a research university shouldn't spend much, if any, time grading, and I am sick of people I normally agree with ranting about it.

[Killazontherun]

Damn. That was a seriously good article.

[John]

That is why she is so annoying sometimes. She actually can be a really smart good writer. That makes it all the more disappointing when she turns into a stupid little Beltwayite.

[Killazontherun]

I've had to pick up quite a bit of new and unfamiliar material in my field over the last few years. It's always been an ongoing thing, but more intensely so of late. I couldn't have possibly absorbed it through the educational system process of class structure as it relies on a social dynamic that wastes too much valuable time. Schools are an antiquated institution and need to be replaced for the sake of the species.

[$park?]

it relies on a social dynamic that wastes too much valuable time

You can say that again. When I take a class I want to learn the subject matter without being subjected to forced grouping with fellow students. Especially the ones who just want to skate through the class.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Great! One-on-one instruction has great benefits. Now, pay me an hourly rate that would make up for the lost income of having the other students in class.

[$park?]

Are you saying that because I take a class that has more than just me in it I should be forced to work with any or all of the other students? I can't just do the work on my own? If I accept college then I have to accept being forced to work with other students who don't have the same desire to get a good grade that I do?

That's kinda bizarre.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Are you saying that because I take a class that has more than just me in it I should be forced to work with any or all of the other students?

If I, as the instructor, feel that collaborative work is necessary to teach a certain concept, then yes. If you don't like a professor's instructional method, you are free to enroll in another section (if open) or find another school that is more conducive to your educational wants and needs. That's why I don't support one-size-fits-all education.

If I accept college then I have to accept being forced to work with other students who don't have the same desire to get a good grade that I do?

Well, a good instructor, in my opinion, allows individual students in a group project to submit a self-assessment where they are instructed to outline who contributed what to the project. I've found that this is a good way to prevent slackers from riding on coattails.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe that group work/collaborative education is a valid and useful instructional method when employed correctly. Furthermore, it is a more authentic assessment in that in the "real world" you're more likely to work in a team setting.

[$park?]

Well, a good instructor, in my opinion, allows individual students in a group project to submit a self-assessment where they are instructed to outline who contributed what to the project. I've found that this is a good way to prevent slackers from riding on coattails.

This in particular is what pisses me off the most. Forced grouping and then a group grade regardless of who contributes what. Then the rest of the group is forced to make up for the slacker in order to receive a good grade.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Forced grouping and then a group grade regardless of who contributes what.

I agree that is lazy teaching.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Are you saying that because I take a bus I should be forced to sit next to another person who doesn't have the same taste in music or deodorant, and have to endure stopping at places where I didn't get on or get off, just because other people are?

[$park?]

Too bad that's not really an equivalent argument, Tulpa.

[VG Zaytsev]

Are you saying that because I take a bus I should be forced to sit next to another person who doesn't have the same taste in ...

I find it interesting (and accurate) that you describe higher education as equivalent to taking a bus.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

It's an analogy, not an equation.

red:firetruck :: green:broccoli

doesn't require that red be green and firetrucks be broccoli.

[Anonymous Coward]

Group projects should be banned, unless the university is willing to lower tuition proportionate to the size of the group and the percentage that group project counts towards the final grade. My grades shouldn't be dependent on the activity (or inactivity) of other students.

[NeonCat]

I took a class in technical writing in college. I worked on a project by myself and came up with a good guide on how to use FTP (it was a long time ago). Got an A on the paper, got a C in the class because I "didn't work with a group".

Goddamn group work.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life who decided to give you a C for being an anti-social motherfucker.

[Canned applause]

[Stormy Dragon]

Group work isn't a problem if you're full time student who lives on or near campus. It's a pain in the ass if you're a part time commuter student. The problem isn't the group work for say, but organizing the logistics of trying to get a group of people with full schedules who live hours apart together on a frequent basis.

[HellsBells]

This.

Plus I got additionally screwed when they only sold a finite number of commuter student parking passes (despite no assigned slots) and ran out. So I was issued a tag that cut my parking ticket in half. My choice was to park off campus or pay $12 every day I parked. And believe me, in that area a girl didn't park off campus so it wasn't much of a choice.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

There's this thing called e-mail and Skype you may have heard of.

Most group projects do not require physically getting together that much. And keep in mind you're all in the same class so it's likely you have some commonality in your schedule.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Oh look, market losers are out to ban things the market has chosen again.

[A Serious Man]

Ireland: Councillors in County Kerry back plan to allow 'moderate' drunk driving.

[Rich]

"A lot of these people are living in isolated rural areas where there's no public transport of any kind, and they end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don't want to take the risk of losing their licence,"

"Sleep-over at Patty's bungalow!"

[Xenocles]

Can we take his wagon?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wikileaks is dropping hints that Aaron Swartz was a source, and that's how he really got on the government's bad side.

Plausible, but I'm going to stick with business-as-usual prosecutor r?sum?-padding.

[Tim]

Wikileakleaks?

[John]

Howard Stern remarks on the fact that Lena Dunham is a short, fat homely girl. Feminists outraged.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....s-ass.html

[HellsBells]

I don't like Stern, but he's right. She's short, dumpy and what little I saw of the show was awful. The sex scenes just seemed pathetic.

[John]

She is short and dumpy and completely unattractive physically. I understand that you shouldn't judge people based on their looks. But when someone creates a cable show and spends every episode parading around naked, they really can't complain when people remark on how fat and unattractive they are.

[MJGreen]

Her schtick is based on how frumpy and unappealing she is. But you're not allowed to find it offputting rather than 'funny.'

It makes talking about her and her show very frustrating.

[Warty]

All I got from that is that she did a nude scene. Now I'm definitely not going to find out if Epi is right about that show.

[John]

Any question that Epi is one sick fuck ended with him admitting he watches that show. I can forgive a lot of kinks. To each his own. But watching a show with her naked? That is a bit much even for me.

[JW]

And they'll blur Jennifer Love Hewitt when she gets neekid.

If you ever needed proof that there is no god, there you have it.

[Warty]

Jennifer Love Hewitt is very easy to masturbate to.

[Dagny T.]

Not to be a bitch, but is she a bit of a butter face? Just curious. Something always looked off in the nose/mouth region.

[JW]

Bitch.

Nope, she's still cute. Of course, this may all be connected to my Mary Louise Parker fetish.

[Dagny T.]

On second thought maybe it is the squinty eyes.

[JW]

I usually don't go for the squinty look, but it works on Hewitt.

[Killazontherun]

However, I have noticed that women tend to be critical of women for having eyes that are set close together, and men don't consider it an aesthetic flaw.

[HellsBells]

Dagny, I always thought her face was odd looking too. Maybe it is a female thing.

[Killazontherun]

Nope. Cute face.

[Warty]

Adorable but nonstandard face. Not buttery.

[el esc?ptico]

I live in Utah and ran into her on a street in Park City a few years back. Very pretty and in a girl next door sort of way. Actually prettier in real life than on camera.

[John]

The actress has long touted her ample curves as an asset for her career.

"It's horrible to say, but I like my boobs. They've always served me well. They're good," she told Maxim magazine.

I don't want to live in a world where liking her boobs is wrong.

[Warty]

Cellulite is very difficult to masturbate to.

[Bobarian]

But I doubt it has ever stopped you.

[Episiarch]

I've never claimed not to be a sick fuck. For example, I came across Big Money Rustlas and couldn't stop watching.

[Mint Berry Crunch]

You have to admit, the masturbation / butter churning gag was fairly well executed.

I think Shaggy 2 Dope has a promising career as a leading man.

[Episiarch]

I've actually started to entertain the idea that those two guys are comic geniuses pulling an Andy Kaufman-level prank on everyone, especially juggalos.

[Heroic Mulatto]

pulling an Andy Kaufman-level prank on everyone

The Pro Wrestling "career" didn't tip you off?

[Episiarch]

I needed more proof that they weren't just being retarded.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I saw that on Showtime(?) last summer. It was amusing. Glad I saw it.

[Thane of Whiterun]

It's a little fat girl who looks like Jonah Hill

That's giving Dunham too much credit. He's lost a lot of weight recently.

[Enough About Palin]

I think she looks a lot like Ezra Klein.

[Greg]

I thought I saw that he'd gained a bunch of it back?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Eh, it appears so.

[John]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2.....criticism/

US giving F 16s to crazy Islamic fucks who are turning Egypt into Haiti. What could possibly go wrong?

[Tim]

Are these old worn out hand me downs, or welfare for General Dynamics?

[John]

They are new. Ordered in 2010 from Lockheed Martin as part of an aid package.

[Tim]

And tanks too. Great. Where will Obama be when they are grinding up protestors in the streets?

[NeonCat]

He'll feel TERRIBLE. Sad face and everything.

Then he'll go golf.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Do the American aviators come with them?

Anyway, a contract is a contract. You want Lockheed to eat the cost of four fighters? Oh, wait, we bought them. You want America to eat the cost of four fighters? Oh, wait...

[John]

And mechanics and spare parts. It really isn't a threat to us. The F 16 is an obsolete fighter and it is only good if you can fix it and fly it. The US could cut off parts and ground the fleet at a moments notice.

But, they will be using those things to go after protestors. And that sucks.

[Brett L]

The F 16 is an obsolete fighter

Although it has one engine too few, it is in no way obsolete. Given that our current "next generation" fighters aren't flying, the F-16 is probably still one of the best air-to-air platforms around.

[John]

The F 22 is flying. And the F 16 is not stealth. That makes it damn near worthless against fighters that are.

[Brett L]

The F-22 is grounded. It gives its pilots hypoxia. And IIRC, the F-22 is the only fielded stealth airplane right now. Unless the Iranians have some surprises for us. I don't think the Su-29 ever had a production run.

[Killazontherun]

And, besides, it is sexy as hell. I want one.

[Heroic Mulatto]

But, they will be using those things to go after protestors. And that sucks.

It's more likely that they'll be using them against Israel's F-15's and 16's. An F-16 on protesters is overkill, no?

[Virginian]

There's no kill like overkill. The people who swept into power based on massive demonstrations will not allow themselves to be removed the same way. If Egyptians take to the streets like they did to topple Mubarak, Morsi will show everyone what cluster bombs do to civilians in the open.

[Tim]

More, like; " Are any Egyptians involved in this program at all?"

Cordesman argued that the F-16 fighter jets are unlikely to be turned against us or our allies, as they are too complex to be used effectively without U.S. maintenance.

[JW]

as part of an aid package.

Those poor, impoverished generals and majors.

[Tim]

"what do you expect us to repress them with? Sticks and Camels?"

[JW]

Swing and a miss.

[Tim]

Camel attack on Tahrir Square:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTnhgN-cvU8

[NeonCat]

Assault sticks and assault camels, silly.

It's assault all the way down.

[Pro Libertate]

I have a cunning plan for the Egyptian government: Hold the pyramids hostage. Wire them with massive explosives (or say you did), then demand $100 billion not to blow them up. When the rest of the world eventually accedes to your demand, do it again. Keep doing it until they say no and really mean it, then say you've decided not to blow up the pyramids.

Wait ten years, then do it again.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Isn't that what much of the Muslim world already does? (e.g. replace "Egypt" with "Pakistan" and "holding the pyramids hostage" with "holding India hostage with the threat of nuclear annihilation")

[Pro Libertate]

That's different. Pakistan can't safely nuke India without getting nuked back. And I'll bet that India's got more and better nukes, too.

With my Egyptian scheme, it's not like someone can nuke Egypt to save the pyramids.

Iraq should've tried this gambit.

[HellsBells]

So it's the ultimate pyramid scheme? (Groan)

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, thank you for perfecting my plan, which was already terribly cunning.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Supreme Court may have revised the rule book on domestic surveillance last year, but the FBI is playing coy on how ? or if ? it's complying.

Who enforces the rules on the enforcers?

[Rich]

the FBI is playing coy on how ? or if ? it's complying.

Well, at least Holder is consistent.

[A Serious Man]

Bootlickers: Wolf Blitzer waved to Obama on the air during his coverage of the inaugural.

Journalistic integrity right there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...President Obama has now committed himself to business as usual with the budget-buster programs.

They really just need to last another four years.

[A Serious Man]

US company announces plan to develop private space fleet to harvest asteroids.

[Brett L]

Resume sent!

[A Serious Man]

I love how the company is named Deep Space.

I'll apply to work for ninth Deep Space facility.

[Episiarch]

Fry: That clover helped my ratfink brother steal my dream of going into space. Now I'll never get there.

Leela: You went there this morning for doughnuts.

[Killazontherun]

That is the greatest episode of any show in the history of cinema. I can't believe the ending caught me totally by surprise, but it did. Good writing.

[Episiarch]

It's a great episode, but my favorite is "That's Lobstertainment", because Calculon is one of my favorite characters of all time.

Coilette (Bender): But you always said you'd rather burn down a convent than give up show business.

Calculon: I always said many things.

[Warty]

The episode with Seymour Butts is the best episode, you morons. If you didn't tear up at the end, I will hunt you down and rape you to death.

[Episiarch]

That episode is way too sad for a comedy show. It's like getting mugged by the writers.

[Zeb]

I don't know if I'd go that far, but it was a very good episode.

[Warty]

The one with the robot devil is also an acceptable answer to the question.

Bender: Isn't it time you gave up all hope of ever improving yourself in any way?
Fry: I know I should, but I just can't.

[Generic Stranger]

Er...which one? The final episode of the original series, or the one where Bender goes to Robot Hell?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is that the dog episode? I refuse to watch that one ever again.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You can be Quark.

[Episiarch]

You can be Janeway.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I WILL, SMART GUY.

[Gladstone]

So who will be Paris in Salamander form?

[Episiarch]

That has Hugh written all over it.

[Gladstone]

Before or after his Sex Change?

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the state has retroactively rescinded the tax break for everybody.

That's why I don't do any tax planning.

[A Serious Man]

Owner of wildlife park teaches 3 year old son to wrangle snakes and alligators.

[John]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....l-her.html

Kardashian look alike who broke the Broadwell story breaks silence.

[Rich]

Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.): "some of the southern areas have cultures that we have to overcome"

I assume by those areas he means the Dominican Republic.

[JW]

No, he means Staten Island.

[Episiarch]

No, he means Coney Island.

[JW]

DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT CONEY ISLAND.

[Episiarch]

Go Whitefish!

[HellsBells]

But we do have a model set of what Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals have come together and put the party labels behind them and come forward with something that says 'Hey, we may disagree, but one thing is clear that we have to do something' and that's exactly what they've done."

IOW Nike's slogan of "Just Do It" is now a legitimate political response.

[Rich]

This.

Shit, carpet-bombing Detroit is "doing something". IRTW, anyone uttering "We have to do something" or "nothing is off the table" would immediately be ousted.

[Rich]

or "IRTW"!

[Gladstone]

What does that stand for?

[Killazontherun]

Let's see. I copied it. opening up another instance, pasting it into the Google bar --

Infrared Surveillance and Threat Warning System!

[Gladstone]

Oops I now assume this is a typo for "ITRW" for the "In the Real World."

[BakedPenguin]

I think it was "If I ran the world", missing an "I".

[Anonymous Coward]

New York is a little different and more progressive in a lot of areas than some other states and some of the southern areas have cultures that we have to overcome.

Yeah. We all need to jump on board the progressive positions of disarmament and stop and frisk and eminent domain abuse and downgrading crimes to make the stats look better.

[Brett L]

Sarkosy to London... Does anyone else smell brimstone?

A cloud of harmless gas smelling of sweat and rotten eggs leaked out of a chemicals factory in northwest France and wafted across the English Channel as far as London on Tuesday.

[Rich]

harmless gas

Right. It didn't hurt *me* at all.

[Brett L]

Nurse implements California's philosophy of governance on former patient, gets arrested.

A male nurse at the Sherman Oaks Hospital has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a corpse.

[$park?]

Love the comments.

[Rich]

"No respect at all!" 😎

[A Serious Man]

Pictures show that Betelgeuse is on a collision course with a giant wall of space dust.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

I was expecting a kaboom! An earth-shattering kaboom!

[JW]

"We may experience some turbulence and then, explode."

[NeonCat]

Yes, but pre-existing conditions are covered now, so at least Betelgeuse will be able to get insurance.

[gaijin]

Please...just don't say Betelgeuse three times, ok?

[Brett L]

Juneau, Wis., the only place worse than Cafe Risque on I-75 in FL.

Two dancers at an exotic club in Juneau have been cited after they allegedly brawled over a dollar bill.

[Enough About Palin]

Nope. The Congo room in Aberdeen, SD. The strippers look like Cadillacs and march to the music instead of dancing whore-like.

[Pro Libertate]

Man, does that place have a lot of billboards. I guess they need them, since everyone knows all the good strip clubs are in Tampa, with a few in Orlando.

[Ted S.]

A customer was trying to give a dollar to one of the dancers, but the other dancer took it, according to the report.

Both women fell to the floor, pulled each other's hair and punched and slapped each other. Other dancers and customers separated the women.

Sounds like the guy got his money's worth.

[A Serious Man]

GQ's hottest women of the 21st century list comes under fire for having ethnic designations, such as listing Frieda Pinto as the "hottest Indian woman".

[Brett L]

One of each please.

[Episiarch]

I can't tell if the endless utterly fruitless attempts to shame (straight) men into not liking attractive women are hilarious or just pathetic. It can be both, right?

[Pro Libertate]

See, they want us all to become gay, then stop breeding so that humanity dies off in a generation.

[HellsBells]

You would all be gay and yet we would still have to pay for wymnz birth control.

[Heroic Mulatto]

As it should. Frieda Pinto? Are they gay? Are they blind? Are they gay and blind? Any one of these women are much stronger contenders for "hottest Indian woman".

[JW]

I dunno about you, but I'd happily lower myself to Freida Pinto standards.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The Fredia of 5 years ago or the skeletal Lich-Queen that she has become?

[JW]

That, I couldn't answer. I googled her pics and liked what I saw.

[BakedPenguin]

I kind of agree with both of you, since Frieda is fine, but any list of hot Indian women that doesn't have Aishwara Rai at #1 is just wrong.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I love Indian women. Those big noses... There was a little Indian/Pakistani cutie at Starbucks this morning...

But, alas, I am happily married.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Say what you want about the Caste system, but it was a successful 4000 year eugenics experiment in producing a population of 500,000,000 buxom women with thin waists. Which is pretty much what the lyrics of this song are about.

[JW]

And square butts. Seriously.

[Thane of Whiterun]

And there is basically no good Indian porn. Which, even for Indian-Americans, isn't culturally surprising, but it's still irritating.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Really? You need to google up some Priya Rai, son.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Her boobs are disgustingly huge.

Madhuri Patel is good, but she hardly ever actually fucks.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Her boobs are disgustingly huge.

Sarc is that you?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Nope but my understanding from a thread a week or two ago is that he's competing with me for the hot A- and B-cup chicks.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

I'm with the Thane on this one. If her bosmos are bigger than her head, they're too big.

Depending on which latitudes of India you're into, Destiny Deville and Leah Jaye (pre-augmentation) are options.

[Heroic Mulatto]

If her bosmos are bigger than her head, they're too big.

I can't help it if I like women with small heads!

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

My mom always said "more than a handful is just a waste"

[Episiarch]

She was just trying to console you about your wang?

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

My mom has no idea about my virile dimensions, you sick fuck.

[Episiarch]

The more important question is why you were getting tit advice from your mom.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Believe me I wasn't asking my mom for tit advice, or anything tit-related for that matter. Well, at least after I turned 5.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I did a quick search for Leah Jaye and thought "how the fuck is this better?"

Then I remembered your pre-augmentation qualifier...

Anyway, yuck (post-augmentation)

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Yes, but if you stick with the pre she's bonk bonk on the head hot.

You can't let the later appearance of a pron star interfere with your appreciation of their former selves. Heck, Haley Paige and Lea DeMae are mostly decomposed now and that doesn't stop me from doing what I do.

[Heroic Mulatto]

How do you stand the smell of their decomposed corpses?

[Warty]

Sunny Leone, you idiot.

[Heroic Mulatto]

She's an official White person. She don't count.

[Thane of Whiterun]

The breasts are a step in the right direction, but still too much for my tastes.

This is part of why I usually stick with East Asians.

[Heroic Mulatto]

DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT ADA LIU YAN!

[Thane of Whiterun]

blech

[Thane of Whiterun]

Funny, I was thinking "wonder if Aishwarya Rai is on that list"

I'm not a huge fan of Indian women but even I knew that

[Zeb]

So, it's segregation to try to be more inclusive of all of the varying appearances that human females can have? What do they think about having separate sports leagues for women?

[Anonymous Coward]

One look at the rosters of talent agencies can confirm this. Factor Women is one of the top modeling agencies in Atlanta, where 54 percent of the total population is black as of the 2010 census. Interestingly, of the 48 female models the agency has listed on its site, only 10 of them appear to be black. In other words, less than 21 percent are black in a city where black is the majority.

Has it occurred to the author that maybe its because the majority of the women in Atlanta look like dogs?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Has it occurred to them that the agency's models aren't posing solely for products marketed in Atlanta, so it's irrelevant what Atlanta's demographics are?

Has it occurred to them that it's an agency and not some kind of barn where they keep teh wimminz, so it doesn't really matter where they're located?

Has it occurred to them that brands that cater specifically to black people probably have agencies they can go to that have a bunch of black chicks?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Speaking of marketing to black people, this is a witty video that skews the "urban demographic".

[Thane of Whiterun]

The commercial at the start does seem to be about where McD's is right now.

Protip: don't go to a McDonald's in east(ish) Cleveland.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I've always noticed that McD's and Coca-Cola, for whatever product, always seem to have two clearly separate ad campaigns: one "urban" and one "not urban".

And "I Got a Burger in This Muthafucka" was White Castle's slogan for a while, if I recall.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Brought to you by Carl's Jr. "FUCK YOU, I'M EATING!"

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

I bet the vast majority of street hookers in Atlanta are black, so it balances out.

[Thane of Whiterun]

For your consideration, this appears to be the author, Yoonj Kim:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AwDh.....09-101.jpg

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Schwinnnggg!!!

[Thane of Whiterun]

They should be shaming the list for including Sarah Silverman.

Sarah Silverman
Officially killed off the moronic "Can Hot Women Be Funny?" debate. (Yes. Christ.)

And no, she isn't funny.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Travel tales of vegetarian woe around the world

Here is a selection of tales from our vegetarian readers trying to find meat-free options when far from home.

[John]

That really makes me happy.

[SugarFree]

I endured a 20 minute extended whine about the lack of vegetarian food in Prague in the mid-90s. I told her I won't know; I had to work all fucking summer to pay my rent.

Despite the lack of food, she still managed to put on 25 pounds.

[Episiarch]

Nothing packs on the pounds like a vegetarian diet.

[SugarFree]

I'm thinking there was a lot of crying and peanut butter involved.

[Episiarch]

No one wants to hear about your Friday nights, NutraSweet.

[SweatingGin]

"But you cannot be a vegetarian - you're not skinny!"

MICROAGRESSION!

[Zeb]

Maybe if you are so particular about your diet, you should just stay at home.

[Heroic Mulatto]

11. Kedaar Raman, Troy, New York: I have travelled far and wide. My family raised me as a traditional Hindu Brahmin vegetarian. I have found it hardest to find vegetarian food in Malaysia, China and Vermont

Are you fucking kidding me? You found it hard to be a vegetarian in Malaysia? A country that has a whole chain of "we use tofu in meat dishes because much of our Chinese population are devotees of Guan Yin and don't eat meat" restaurants? And China for the exact same fucking reason? And Vermont? Home of Ben 'n Jerry's-type hippieism?

Did you also want people to chew your fucking food for you, Kedaar?

[Brandon]

Yeah, about half of those were pretty clearly made up.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can't find "vegetarian" food in China, you aren't trying hard enough.

[BakedPenguin]

A lot of the cheaper dishes are all veggie.

[Pro Libertate]

Malaysia has a substantial Indian minority, a decent number of which are likely vegetarians.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Indeed. If you can't find vegetarian food in S.E. Asia, you meet the clinical definition of mental retardation. In Thailand, vegetarian restaurants even fly a special yellow flag outside their shops so you know where to find them.

BTW: Vermont...Norwich U....this might be the "genius" who can't find vegetarian food in fuckin' Asia.

[Pro Libertate]

I really liked the food in Malaysia. Then again, I'm an omnivore.

[Brandon]

Every single one of those boils down to "I am worldly and open-minded, therefore anywhere I travel people should be happy to cater to my wants without inconveniencing me or making me feel uncomfortable in any way."

[Archduke Pantsfan]

'That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer.' New Zealand activist wants to rid country of cats

[Brett L]

In other non-surprising news, Kiwis are known to fuck sheep.

[Enough About Palin]

Paging Joe Pile. Please pick up the white courtesy phone. Mister Joe Pile.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

After enduring hours of derision and mockery by the panelists at a Chicago-area guns "forum" Sunday, one man in the audience stood up and addressed the crowd, identified himself as a veteran, and proceeded to give a straightforward but passionate defense of his support for the First and Second Amendments.

[John]

Good for him.

[gaijin]

What's most interesting to me in that story is that the gun grabber says the second isn't relevant anymore. And yet, the way to address this "irrelevance" never involves attempting to pass a constitutional amendment according to the mechanism provided in the constitution. It always involves some legal end around.

[Apatheist ?_??]

That part isn't relevant anymore either.

[Anonymous Coward]

So long as a man can be murdered, and so long as tyranny is possible, then the right to self-defense and subsequent right to weaponry is relevant.

I'll disarm when the government does.

[Coeus]

Schumer found a camera:

Chuck Schumer photobombs Obama's Oath of Office.

[Brett L]

Luckily, no one was injured.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

I prefer Bubba's photobomb

[BakedPenguin]

"He gets this way around meaty women."

[Killazontherun]

Coming from the state that elected Edwards for a term as senator, I don't feel comfortable razzing others about their politicians, but what the fuck, New York? What the fuck? Not just this worm, but they are all monstrosities that pervert the human condition. You haven't produced a tolerable one since Danial Patrick M-somethingIrish.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Governor Pataki was all right.

But the GOP is mostly rank neocons like Giuliani and Peter King and the Dems, well you know the Dems. So it is a primordial swamp.

[BakedPenguin]

He was just hitting on the Obama girls.

[JW]

Schumer found a camera

Otherwise known as a day of the week ending in 'y'.

[Brandon]

Malia: Who the hell is pushing those boobs into my back?

[Brandon]

Senator Schumer can be seen smiling behind Malia Obama and then tried to hide behind her when he realized he had been caught

If this is true, it may be a new low for Bitchtits.

[Anonymous Coward]

New York, aren't you just so proud of Senator?

Democracy works!

[Archduke Pantsfan]

People v Winter

[Paul.]

Interesting how so many of those shots were Seattle.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

the libs in seattle REFUSED to use salt because it would "harm the environment"

god forbid some salty water filter down into the puget sound. it could damage the fragile fresh water of the sound :l

the mayor of seattle infamously rated his response a "b", when most people gave the city an "F" for creating sheets of ice (failure to act and just pushing the slush around instead of using salt and effective chemicals to melt) that resulted in injuries to pedestrians and whole blocks that were literally impassable for a week without spikes on your shoes.

[Paul.]

the mayor of seattle infamously rated his response a "b",

That's why the Incumbent Nickels couldn't get re-elected on what should have been a cake walk.

Even the national mayors' group was shocked when Nickels lost. They confused the fawning of the national press with what the locals driving on the roads felt.

Sure, he's a leader on Global Warming, but I can't get to work because the streets are blocked.

[Coeus]

Finally a country pushes back against the ridiculous ever-stricter DUI laws. Of course, it had to be Ireland.

[Coeus]

Dammit, serious beat me to the punch on that one.

[Paul.]

In response to a lawsuit challenging the terms of a California tax break on stock sales by small businesses, the state has retroactively rescinded the tax break for everybody. It now wants five years worth of unexpected capital gains taxes.

California... knows how to partay... Califorrrna, knows how to partaaaay.

[Paul.]

Now that Washington voters have legalized marijuana, the state plans strict regulatory controls in hopes of keeping the feds happy. Good luck with that.

What, no hat tip?

The stingy credit around here got really stingy when Cavanaugh left.

[Dunphy (the real one)]

they are putting the liquor control board in charge of it. i work with these guys sometimes. they are bureaucrats with a capital "B". it's going to be interesting. they took a huge power/income hit with the loss of state liquor store monopoly, and this is a huge source of power for them.

i am really excited to see this play out. so far, legalization has turned out exactly as expected iow great - we are even cancelling police calls for actual still illegal behavior (like kids smoking out in cars), in a fit of laissez-faireism. even i didn't think we would go this far...

dispatch: need a unit to check for a vehicle, occupied three times by juveniles reported to be smoking marijuana adjacent to the park at X st and y Lane. two reporting parties on this.

Sgt: "If the reporting parties aren't demanding contact (they weren't), CANCEL THAT CALL"

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

You only get a hat tip if it's a story they wouldn't have found otherwise.

[Paul.]

A likely excuse.

[Paul.]

And besides, de Soto gets credit for discovering the Mississippi... like they wouldn't have found that anyway.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

SCIENCE! Lack of sleep may make people less appreciative towards their significant other

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Red pen is bad for children's development

[Coeus]

No, you can't take what you want. Think about the children. No, really, that's the argument. God I hate people:

Libertarians of the sport world who say athletes should be free to do what they want to their bodies neglect an aspect of PEDs' health risks: The effect on young athletes when doping pervades a sport. Alex Hutchinson, who ran for Canada in the world cross country championships and writes a column about science and fitness for The Globe and Mail, puts it this way: "If you allow doping, then there's a trickle-down effect. You'll have to dope just to get to the professional level, at which point you'll have doctors supervising your red blood cell count and so on. So it's the kids who will be most at risk, forced to dope just to reach the level where doping can be done 'safely.'"

[Dunphy (the real one)]

it really has been about the children. i've read the congressional testimony that resulted in the scheduling of AAS subsequent to ben jonson getting popped for winstrol.

BOTH the DEA and the AMA testified ******against****** scheduling AAS. yes, you read that right. the DEA did not think these drugs warranted scheduling.

the testimony pretty much bioled down to 'high school kids will emulate their heroes and use AAS if we don't schedule these drugs right away.'

that was pretty much the entire "argument"/rationale.

[waaminn]

Dude is jsut not making a lot of sense dude.

http://www.PrivoWeb.tk