A.M. Links: Obama Sort of Digs Nature in a Protective Way, B-2 Bombers to South Korea, Cyprus Banks Kind of Reopen

• 

  Ville Miettinen

  The Obama administration has released its "strategy" for protecting plants and animals from climate change. Actually, it's more of an incredibly vague collection of sentiments, which is probably for the best, considering the possible alternatives. Go, nature!

• U.S. B-2 bombers head to South Korea on the off chance that Noth Korea isn't just screwing with us.
• Banks in Cyprus are open again, with long lines of depositors waiting to withdraw up to the limit of $383 per day. If they're pissed off about having severely restricted access to their own money, they can take no more than $3,831 with them when they leave the country. Big depositors with Cyprus Popular Bank may actually lose 80 percent of their savings.
• India may already have legalized gay marriage — by accident, since its legal definition of the institution contains no gender references. Yeah. Somehow I don't think it will be that easy.
• Ashley Judd will not run for a Kentucky Senate seat. All is well.
• In response to a popular revolt against new gun restrictions, some states are considering legislation that would automatically fire sheriffs and other government officials who refuse to enforce federal laws.
• Saturn's rings have been around for more than four billion years! Now that's good-quality construction.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Obama administration has released its "strategy" for protecting plants and animals from climate change.

How about protecting them from Gabby Giffords' dog first.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Steubenville's NAACP President Says Rape Victim Was Drunk And Willing"

So, not "legitimate" rape

http://www.ibtimes.com/steuben.....ve-1149517

[tarran]

Did he share his opinion on her likelihood of getting pregnant.

[Ice Nine]

The honky bitch had it coming - well, at least from the Black guy.

[Rasilio]

He is not a Republican so this will never see widespread reporting

[John]

No shit. What he said is a thousand times worse than anything Akin said. But this will be quietly ignored.

[wareagle]

and THAT, friends and neighbors, is the takeaway here.

[Stormy Dragon]

I was going to say the NAACP President should be publicly shamed, but then I saw his name is Royal Mayo, so I guess that would be redundant.

[NeonCat]

As long as he isn't an artisanal mayo

[Eduard van Haalen]

"For him, there is enough doubt to question Richmond's conviction and enough evidence to perhaps convict more teens. Mayo acknowledged his ties to the Richmond family, saying he counseled Richmond when news of an alleged sexual assault began circulating in August. Before Richmond's arrest, Mayo spoke to him about the allegations.

""Back in August, when the rumors first started going around, I talked to Ma'lik, and he said, 'No, Mr. Mayo, we didn't do anything to that girl. I don't know what these rumors are; I don't understand it.'""

[Eduard van Haalen]

In addition to saying there was "enough evidence to convict more teens," Mayo says that it may have been consensual.

Reminds me of the joke about the lawyer who says "first, my client was not there; second, it was self-defense, and third, he was insane when he committed the crime."

[CampingInYourPark]

"The classic gym class game has been a rite of passage for years, but dodgeball may have met its match in the form of the Windham School board, which at a recent meeting voted 4-1 to end dodgeball and other so-called 'human target' activities, games with names like bombardment and slaughter."

http://boston.cbslocal.com/201.....h-schools/

[Bam!]

As a child, teachers broke up an innocence Red Rover game at recess (true story).

[Jordan]

What about smeer the queer? Is that still Kosher?

[Rich]

And Call of Duty, and ...?

[Bobarian]

Depends on what you're smearing him with.

[LTC(ret) John]

I have suggestions...

/Ghost of Robert Mapplethorpe

[StinkEye]

"Depends on what you're smearing him with."

Artis anal mayonnaise........

[Ice Nine]

a handful of parents had complained about bullying?that their kids were targeted during dodgeball

I see. Throwing at the slow-moving, easy to hit kids that any dodgeball player will clear off the floor first - the object of the game - is now "bullying". So is the final eliminee bullied by the winner, or what?

[$park?]

It's all because the idiot parents couldn't be bothered to teach their kid how to catch apparently.

[thom]

Or because the kid really is just slow moving, uncoordinated, or un-athletic. While it's wrong to get rid of these games purely out of political correctness, it's no great loss for them to go away.

[CampingInYourPark]

How about let the kid have a choice whether to play or not? It's a stupid game. Sometimes kids play games for fun, not only to "win".

[thom]

Sure. If the kids are doing it by choice that's fine. But as part of PE it's just a weekly ritual of humiliation and shame.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Sure. If the kids are doing it by choice that's fine. But as part of PE it's just a weekly ritual of humiliation and shame."

If getting your slow ass hit by a nerf ball is a "ritual of humiliation and shame" there probably isn't much in life that won't be humiliating to you.

[Joe M]

When I was in school, the game was played with the large red kick balls, and some kids could really sling em. I'd support keeping the game but letting kids opt out.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, we used the red kickballs with kind of a little bird's foot pattern on them. After I got good at throwing basically a slider with them, I could only play if I threw with my offhand.

[Rhywun]

Nerf ball? How about basketball.

[Agammamon]

Sort of lilke PE then.

[Enough About Palin]

When I was in the sixth grade I had a classmate who had been held back a couple of years. When we played dodgeball, he would just nail the opposing team with the most brutal headshots imaginable. What a hoot!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

To be replaced by what other PE activities that won't shame the slow-moving, uncoordinated, or unathletic kids?

[CampingInYourPark]

"To be replaced by what other PE activities that won't shame the slow-moving, uncoordinated, or unathletic kids?"

Potato chip eating races?

[Stormy Dragon]

Maybe I'm weird, but I was one of those un-athletic kids, and I actually preferred games like dodgeball because they didn't put you in situations where you're personally to blame for the entire team's failure.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Dodgeball was awesome. Super easy to get hit and not have to play anymore. Fuck PE!

[some guy]

It's poor strategy, though. Those kids are no threat. You have to go after the good kids first if you want to gain an advantage.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, that's weak. Though to be fair, there's always that one muscle bound jackass who tries to take the head off of the smallest and weakest kid in the class, and that seems like bullying.

On the other hand, getting rid of dodgeball could be ruinous to our future economy. No doubt many a nerd has found his burning desire for business and financial success on the dodgeball field. Without dodgeball spurring them on, where will we find the next Bill Gates, the next Steve Jobs?

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one." - Bill Gates

[Francisco d Anconia]

^THIS^

[Lord Humungus]

NERDS! /Ogre

[Stormy Dragon]

Oh please, Jobs wasn't a nerd. Wozniak was the nerd. Jobs was just a garden variety preppy.

[mr simple]

If we outlaw dodgeball at school who will fill our pro rosters in the future?

[Matrix]

Lawmaker to Sheriffs: Uphold our laws or lose your jobs

'cause the sheriffs are beholden to politicians rather than the voters.

[Fist of Etiquette]

THERE'S ALREADY A LINK FOR THIS. It's like a slap right in Tuccille's face.

[Matrix]

damn. I missed that one. Well, we can discuss it here then. 😛

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't click any link that doesn't go through 24/7 first. But there's no way that law goes anywhere.

[LTC(ret) John]

In IL, at least, Sheriff is an elected position, so I don't see how you could "fire" them via legislation.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think sheriffs are elected officials most states, but the way I read it, they are looking to fire elected or appointed officials who refuse to grab guns at their behest.

[H. ReardEn]

Yeah. Where's the Hat Tip for Tuccille? Or should it go to the ambiguous Reason 27/7?

[Matrix]

Tuccille, I tip my hat to you. You got to it first.

[Ted S.]

As long as the laws aren't unconstitutional (I haven't read the link), aren't the sheriffs supposed to uphold them?

[Matrix]

She's targetting those who said they won't uphold new gun laws.

[WTF]

I believe the thinking is that the laws in question are unconstitutional per the Second Amendment.

[CampingInYourPark]

"As long as the laws aren't unconstitutional (I haven't read the link), aren't the sheriffs supposed to uphold them?"

The sheriffs are saying the laws are not constitutional and is the reason they won't enforce them

[Chris Mallory]

A local sheriff is not paid to enforce Federal law.

[VG Zaytsev]

The first effort emerged in Texas. Legislation proposed by Dallas Democratic Rep. Yvonne Davis would remove any sheriff or law enforcement officer who refuses to enforce state or federal laws.

What's more, it would remove any elected or appointed law enforcement officer

[VG Zaytsev]

for simply stating or signing any document stating that they will not obey federal orders.

But democrats oppose making employment conditional on loyalty oaths, don't they?

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

That depends. Loyal to what?

[PRX]

somehow I doubt Dallas Democrat Sheriff Lupe Valdez will be enforcing federal immigration law, so it looks like we'll be getting a new sheriff.

[Rhywun]

Considering that half the laws on the books were only meant to be enforced selectively, it's hard to imagine how this could be put into practice.

[Atanarjuat]

Selectively.

[Lord Humungus]

7 Most Bizarre Types of Cheese
http://www.oddee.com/item_98537.aspx?

Stilton cheese (made of real gold)
Pule (world's most expensive cheese)

etc etc...

[Fist of Etiquette]

So the cheese made of gold isn't the most expensive.

[Ice Nine]

Not for long. You obviously haven't been keeping up on Bitcoin cheese.

[LTC(ret) John]

Curdency?

[Jerry on the boat]

Didn't Djokovic buy up the world supply for pule?

[SugarFree]

Halloumi is not exactly bizarre.

[T]

I don't think your opinions on what is not bizarre are dispositive. You've spent too long on the other side of that line to know where it is anymore.

[SugarFree]

If I can buy it in Kentucky, it's not bizarre. QED, B.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

You might want to amend your rule to "If I can buy it in Kentucky and also in a normal state, it's not bizarre." I mean that's like saying sister-cousin-wives are totally normal just because you guys have them.

[Bobarian]

Nichole, you sexist othering pig, why can't it be brother-cousin-husbands, huh?

[mr simple]

You're just upset because our government still recognizes a few of our right and Rand Paul.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Jobless Claims in U.S. Increase More Than Forecast"

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....-week.html

[mad libertarian guy]

Unexpectedly . . .

[Rasilio]

I would still love to see someone do an analysis of economists projections for economic indicators compared to the actual numbers correlated with the party of the President.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Saturn's rings have been around for more than four billion years!

Space Whisk would have taken care of those millennia ago.

[Wind Rider]

Good construction, JD? CREATIONIST!

[Tim]

Almost as long as the rings around Uranus.

[Bobarian]

Those aren't rings, they're stretch marks.

[NoVAHockey]

Iginla to Pitt for basically a bag of pucks.
http://tinyurl.com/cc4vswx

[Fist of Etiquette]

WRONG. Calgary wasn't going anywhere near the Cup this year so they had to look to the future, and Iginla is literally a thousand years old and needs to make his run now. The teams had two different goals in mind.

[NoVAHockey]

sure. but that did pitt give up. not much.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What are the Pens going to have next year or year after when Iginla is retired or dead? Nothing. NOTHING.

[NoVAHockey]

another cup banner?

[Sy]

As much as I hate the Pens, I'll be rooting for 'em now. They desperately needed some good scrappers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

PENGUINS FEEL GOOD STORY.

[LTC(ret) John]

They'll have to go through the Blackhawks to get it.

[The DerpRider]

Look to the future with two middling college prospects? In hockey? If you're not an OHL star or European you're a grinder in the bigs.

[Sy]

they took Morrow AND Iginla? Pittsburgh's farm system must consist of trolling Dallas Stars scouts.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

YAY!

[sarcasmic]

A baby seal walks into a club. BAM!

[Ted S.]

This (SFW) is a classic.

[mr simple]

Stop clubbing baby seals.

[Enough About Palin]

Baby Seal Pinata

[AlmightyJB]

I have a feeling that sarcasmic realy hates that seal.

[CampingInYourPark]

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy grew at a slightly faster but still anemic rate at the end of last year. However, there is hope..."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....8-08-33-49

[Bam!]

Hope was voted in. Didn't work. Change was tried as well, with terrible results.

[DontShootMe]

+1

[Lord Humungus]

Green Shoots!

[LTC(ret) John]

Those aren't green shoots, they are the tips of Warty's tentacles, wriggling out of the earth beneath you! RUN!

[sarcasmic]

If you are bothered by heights, do not click this link.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-yet.html

[robc]

I see a Darwin Award in his future.

Unless he has already procreated.

[Rich]

At least he'll die doing something he loves.

[Matrix]

'shopped.... totally 'shopped

[sarcasmic]

I dunno.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MustangWanted

[Matrix]

I was being facetious.

[some guy]

He's a chump compared to this guy:

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

[mr simple]

Pics or it didn't happen.

[some guy]

Done.

[sarcasmic]

Vigilantes take over Mexican town.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....treet.html

[Jordan]

SOMALIA!!1

I love how the article tries to paint them as nuts because they've had one accidental shooting, as if the Mexican police are paragons of professionalism.

[LTC(ret) John]

Profesionalidad Nuevo!

[sarcasmic]

Kim Basinger's daughter is still hot.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....gency.html
Too bad she's a Baldwin.

[Jerry on the boat]

She has the nose of a Depardieu.

[John]

And she still isn't as hot as her mother was.

[sarcasmic]

Give her a few years.

[John]

She is 17. She is about as hot as she is ever going to be. She will fill out a bit and be a bit less gawky. But she won't be that much better. And her mother was just a classic beauty. She will be plenty hot. But there is hot and then there is Kim Bassinger hot. And that is a different breed of hot.

[sarcasmic]

Dude, you're like some old person who insists that no good music has been recorded since you turned 30, not realizing that older people said the same thing about the music that you like.

[$park?]

Come on, man. You know he's trolling you.

[John]

Some women are just hot. Bassinger is one of them. She is not hot because she came of age in the 80s. Hell, the 80s wasn't even that good of a decade for women. She is hot because she is just one of those once in a generation beauties who come around. Her daughter needs a nose job. She only got half of Bassinger's genes. The other half came from Baldwin. A hundred years from now when people talk about great Hollywood beauties, they will still be talking about Basssinger. Her daughter, not so much.

[sarcasmic]

Her name only has on 's' in it. She's not a fish.

[Francisco d Anconia]

ANYONE who would procreate with a Baldwin (the hero of Canton excepted) is NOT hot.

[LTC(ret) John]

They might be hot, not smart, but hot.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Stupid is ugly.

[Lord Humungus]

Outdated Laws Drive Stupid Government Spending
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/.....aspx#page1

There are crucial programs and there are many examples of waste. The latter often spring from laws and regulations written to address past problems but which remain on the books far beyond their useful lives. A recent Wall Street Journal editorial said that the Supreme Court is reviewing a Great Depression program aimed at stabilizing raisin prices. The law mandates that regulators set prices by governing supply, forcing growers to sell to the government at a steep discount ? even today. How much are we spending to maintain the Raisin Administrative Committee? Do growers need price supports? Nobody knows; that's the point.

[Jordan]

Do growers need price supports? Nobody knows; that's the point.

False. Anybody who's not functionally retarded knows: No.

[Rasilio]

Well no, growers may need the price supports but the economy as a whole sure as hell does not need them.

Worst case scenario if the supports were removed is grape farmers would make a little less money and some of them would go out of business, all of which would be bad for those individual farmers but the price of raisins would also fall and resources would be more efficiently allocated which would be good for everyone else.

[sarcasmic]

You're making the mistake of looking at how the policy will affect everyone and the economy as a whole. That is the unseen. The unseen doesn't matter because it is unseen. It is to be willfully ignored.
You're supposed to focus on the farmers because that is what is seen.
What kind of Keynesian are you?

[sarcasmic]

Dude beats the hell out of roommate for drawing a penis on his face while passed out.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-face.html
Personally, if I was on that jury, I'd vote to acquit.

[robc]

"He had it comin'" is a legit defense in many places.

[H. ReardEn]

If if was flaccid, no foul.

[sarcasmic]

Black student union is OK. White student union is racist.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/.....e-problem/
Remember that it's not what a person does that is important, it's who the person is.

[Zeb]

But white privilege!

[robc]

Ashley Judd will not run for a Kentucky Senate seat.

I told you so.

[John]

It takes a lot of work to run for Senate. It is one thing for a has been like Al Franken to do it. What else did he have to do? But Judd still has a bit of a career and her race car driver husband and millions of dollars to spend and enjoy. I am sure once she realized how much work it was, it lost its luster real quick.

[robc]

I believe they recently got divorced.

[John]

Really? I would imagine he got tired of her fairly quickly. And she is not as thin as she used to be. And race car drivers never lack for hot women.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And the fact that she is batshit crazy...

[VG Zaytsev]

So you're saying that Jim Carey might run?

[Bobarian]

'has been' like Al Franken

Isn't he more of a 'never was'?

[Joe M]

Hey, he was good enough, he was smart enough, and doggone it, people liked him.

[DJF]

""B2 Bombers head to South Korea."''

I am no military genius but since these are long range bombers shouldn't they be kept out of range of North Korean artillery and rockets. Not put into South Korea where the North Koreans have everything targeted? We still own Guam.

[Flatulent Monkey]

I was thinking the same thing. Except I was thinking we could park them at Misawa or Kadena.

[Bam!]

But if North Korea can't see them, how would they possibly know we have them?

You gotta think like the military.

[John]

They are not there I bet. They flew over and flew back. It is a way of showing that the NORKS are not out of our reach.

[Matrix]

Do the NORKs even have guided rockets? I, somehow, doubt it.

You're right. It is a show of force. A full scale invasion cannot be stopped, but the NORKs know China won't back them if they invade the South. They are hoping we'll breach the 'peace' and cross the line.

[John]

They have a few million SAMS. As far as surface to surface, probably long range scuds.

[LTC(ret) John]

"We still own Guam"

But it might tip over, with all that extra weight!

/Congressional Donkey

[Lord Humungus]

Cyprus's Imminent Collapse
http://www.american.com/archiv.....t-collapse

One has to pity Cyprus. It is all but certain to experience an economic collapse over the next year or two at least on the scale of that recently experienced in Greece. Cyprus is being subjected by its European partners to the same recipe of severe fiscal austerity within a euro straitjacket that produced an economic depression in Greece. It cannot devalue its currency as a means to boost its tourist sector, and must also cope with the imminent collapse of its financial sector, which is overly dependent on catering to Russian depositors.

[Flatulent Monkey]

Facepalm.

Austerity, I do not think that word means what progressives think it means.

[sarcasmic]

This is what happens when you live next to an ocean cliff.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....sland.html
Seriously, why would someone build a house there? That's just asking for it.

[John]

They were on NBC this morning whining about these poor people. And (gasp) it wasn't covered by their insurance. You would think that when the insurance company says they won't cover the risk, that might be your first clue you don't want to build there.

[DJF]

What we need is a taxpayer funded "Build your house in a stupid place" insurance. Preferably a public/private partnership modeled on the Federal Prescription Drug program and Obama Care which takes the worse features of both private and public.

That way people can build houses in flood zones, on beaches two feet above high tide, on unstable cliffs, in fire prone forests.

[Jerry on the boat]

For sure we won't be -that- stupid.

[wareagle]

we already are that stupid. The federal flood insurance program often pays to people who have second homes in hurricane-prone areas. There are quite a few folks who have dipped into that pool more than once. Some people on Dauphin Island near Mobile AL come to mind. There are others. Stossel has admitted to being one of them.

[Andrew S.]

Within the next 5 years there's going to be national disaster insurance similar to the national flood program. Guaranteed. The polticians in Florida and all up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are begging for it. If they get the rest of Texas and California to join in, it will happen.

I live in South Florida, about as far inland as you can get without being in the Everglades. In a modern construction house in a neighborhood that saw very little damage in Hurricane Wilma. I'm guessing at least 50% of my homeowners insurance is to subsidize the people who live on the beach.

[Brett L]

Actually, you're wrong about subsidizing the beach people. That's what your sales tax does. After getting fucked in '05 and '06, pretty much everyone who can see the beach is insured by Citizens (ie, the State of Florida). And yes, if we have another year like 2005, there will have to be a federal bailout, because Citizens has something like $1T in insured assets, and maybe $50B in cash to pay on those insured assets.

[Andrew S.]

What pisses me off is that the state's idiocy has had me on and off of Citizens since I bought this house. None of the big insurance companies will write new policies in Florida any longer. I've so far had two different small insurance companies go belly up and push me back onto Citizens. Maybe the third time's the charm with the company I have now.

[Brett L]

Well, it think with 6 years without a landfall, things should start getting more competitive in the private insurance market. Granted, if they have to replace every third structure in FL every 25 years, you should be paying 1/75th of your replacement value, and I'm not. Well, with the way prices are in freefall I might be. But my folks sure aren't on their beach house out by Cape San Blas. Although it did survive Dennis just fine.

[The DerpRider]

Inside baseball info: Let your policy lapse. You will get lender placed coverage that includes windstorm/hurricane and is probably cheaper than Citizen's. Purchase a separate contents policy. You can also purchase (very cheaply) hurricane deductible coverage and only have it active during the season. No % deductible...

[Whahappan?]

Whoosh!

[T]

I thought we already had flood insurance so people can build on coastal barrier islands. Just expand that program to cover earthquakes, landslides, and forest fires.

[John]

I saw this morning where they are expecting another huge flood along the Red River in North Dakota when the snow melts. This will be the third time in 20 years. Once I can forgive. Black Swans do happen. But three times in less than 20 years? Stop fucking building there

[Enough About Palin]

To be true to the facts, John, there are many, many blocks in Grand Forks that were flooded in '97, which were not permitted to have the homes and business replaced. Part of that abandoned land was a cool part of the city.

[WTF]

Resident said he knew the area was prone to movement but it was a price to pay 'for marvelous views'

So don't come crying to the taxpayers to bail you out, dumbass.

[NeonCat]

Maybe he posted pictures so us land-bound peons can share the great views. That'll totally be worth a bailout, right?

[Virginian]

When he says price to pay, he means price for someone else to pay.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I blame climate change.

[JD the elder]

But don't you know that insurance companies are greedy heartless corporations that are only in it for the profits? That's why they won't let you have the stuff you want. At least that's what my acquaintances of the left tell me.

[LTC(ret) John]

Oh heck yes, I only work for an insurance company so I can feast on the souls of the poor....wait, did I just type that out loud?!

[sarcasmic]

SpaceX Dragon returns with cargo from International Space Station.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ation.html
Proving once again that if government can do something, the private sector can do it for less money.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Proving once again that if government can do something, the private sector can do it for less money.

BUt...but...that's wrong...because... I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!! - Progtard

[sarcasmic]

It's wrong because rich investors are making money. The space program is for the public good. Can't allow people to be getting rich off of that. That's immoral. Better to have government do a worse job for more money, because at least that way no capitalists get rich.

[Bam!]

Actually, you could argue these is something immoral about rich investors making money off of an otherwise pointless government agency (NASA).

It's not like the country would be worse off without access to the space station.

[sarcasmic]

Welfare for physicists.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Eh, some people, the types that love that national greatness bullshit (I'm looking at you Maddow, you disingenuous quim), will say that giving up the "noble cause" of space exploration for the sake of it, is akin to letting old people die in the street.

[Bam!]

How is resupplying the worlds most expensive hotel "exploration"?

If NASA is welfare for Ph.D's, then the space station is their Section 8 housing.

[NeonCat]

They have a Vostok sitting on cinder-blocks beside the station?

[sarcasmic]

Tourists have fun with curious whales in Mexican waters.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ubles.html
Had this happened in the land of the free, they likely would have been charged with multiple felonies for harassing marine mammals.

[John]

Yup.

[DJF]

Don't be surprised if they are charged, there lots of international laws dealing with endangered species and lots of bureaucrats who have nothing better to do.

[Matrix]

of course! That ginger just sucked the soul right out of that poor creature!

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'd let her suck the soul outta me.

[Bardas Phocas]

Another man having fun with a large mammal.
http://gawker.com/5992697/man-.....ound-bison

Best comment: "A Native American would have taunted every part of the buffalo."

[Rich]

Park officials decided not to cite the man, saying it would "add insult to injury."

Oh, go ahead -- the park needs the money.

[LTC(ret) John]

I liked "Humans are still winning in the species-killing competition by like 20 to 30 million points. "

[Randian]

Tourists have fun with curious whales in Mexican waters.

I am disappoint. No pr0n for John cracks?

[sarcasmic]

I at least give him credit for sticking to his own species, and for knowing the difference between a clip and a magazine. So he's got two things on you.

[MJGreen]

Ugh, some of the comments... what is it with people and whales? I always see these "humans are the worst creatures ever" comments when it's about whales.

[John]

http://captaincapitalism.blogs.....women.html

The Potemkin woman. This is a bit brutal, but largely true. Of course there are Potemkin men too. But let Jezebel write about them.

[CampingInYourPark]

"A few months later, I expected things to die down and be over with; it wasn't. Almost four months after Walker's budget was passed, I walked into choir to find a substitute teacher showing us a 5 minute video about how great unions were and then she talked for an additional 10 minutes about how bad she believed Scott Walker to be."

http://www.freedomworks.org/bl.....s-bullying

[John]

The schools are nothing but liberal monasteries dispensing dogma. At least the monasteries ran profitable businesses and left us with some fabulous manuscripts. What do the schools have to show for themselves?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Some monasteries made some great beer as well. Despite the religious claptrap, they should be more respected than 99% of public schools.

[John]

Yup. For all of their faults, the monasteries really did produce a few things of value. Schools, not so much.

[Ted S.]

I only skimmed the article. Is he getting any of this stuff on video?

[Virginian]

I took notes of stupid things one of my professor's said.

One thing Google Glass will be good for is taping lectures...including the dumb shit that gets said.

[Rich]

Legislation proposed by Dallas Democratic Rep. Yvonne Davis would remove any sheriff or law enforcement officer who refuses to enforce state or federal laws.

Yes! Good-bye Eric Holder!

[Eduard van Haalen]

I'm sure the Texas legislature will pass her bill any day now.

[Lord Humungus]

Juan Williams: Race and the Gun Debate

[Lord Humungus]

The statistics are staggering. In 2009, for example, the Centers for Disease Control reported that 54% of all murders committed, overwhelmingly with guns, are murders of black people. Black people are about 13% of the population.

The Justice Department reports that between 1980 and 2008, "blacks were six times more likely than whites to be homicide victims and seven times more likely than whites to commit homicide."

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I didn't see any mention of the race of those doing the killings of these black people.

[Lord Humungus]

obviously white hispanics.

[robc]

"blacks were six times more likely than whites to be homicide victims and seven times more likely than whites to commit homicide."

I think that is pretty clear.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

OK, 54% of murder victims are black. What percentage of their murderers are black?

[Chris Mallory]

If my math is right, less than 8%, in 2011.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cj.....ta-table-6

[Chris Mallory]

oops 92%
damn lack of edit

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Using that link (which wasn't in the article according to my quick CTRL+F), my math says about 91% of black murder victims were killed by blacks.

2,695 black murder victims, 2,447 black offenders.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Hit submit before I meant to.

That stat doesn't break down black-on-black murder at all, does it?

[Chris Mallory]

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cj.....ta-table-6

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, I get that the stats exist. It's just that Williams wanted to paint blacks as the disproportionate victims of gun murders without mentioning that blacks are also disproportionately murderers and are almost completely responsible for the murders of blacks. It may be that there's something at play here other than guns.

[BakedPenguin]

"...seven times more likely than whites to commit homicide."

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Maybe I'm just missing something. How does that fact give insight into who's killing the black murder victims?

[BakedPenguin]

I admit, not specifically. However, since they are both an order of magnitude more likely to either kill or be killed, it's a pretty easy inference.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

They could be more likely to kill and be killed by whites/Asians/whatever and never kill each other, couldn't they? I see no way to determine the distribution given only the frequency but, again, I might just not be thinking through this clearly.

Can you walk me through your inference?

[BakedPenguin]

Perhaps I over stated the case because I know the end numbers. I suppose it's possible that they could, out of racial fraternity, decide to only kill other races. In turn, other races could seek them out as victims.

In general though, crime victims are usually the same race as (and often known by) the perpetrator.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

In general though, crime victims are usually the same race as (and often known by) the perpetrator.

That's totally fair.

My ultimate issue about the "blacks are 54% of murder victims but only 13% of the population" thing is that he knows almost all of those murder victims were killed by other blacks -- it turns out that more than 9 out of 10 were -- but he wants to ignore that and blame guns, with a not so subtle implication of racism, rather than write about the cultural pathologies that drive the problem.

[BakedPenguin]

Fair opint. My initial reply was more pedantic than I originally thought.

[mad libertarian guy]

The Justice Department reports that between 1980 and 2008, "blacks were six times more likely than whites to be homicide victims and seven times more likely than whites to commit homicide.

Which is exactly why the liberal elite and their media lackeys only care about gun control when a mass shooting happens and white people are killed. They need more than children to stand on and wave their bloody shirts: they need a pile of white children.

So not only are the gun control advocates anti 2A, they're also racist as fuck.

[sarcasmic]

I hate to say it, but it's not so much the liberal elite as the general public.

What will outrage the general public more? Dead black gangstas or dead white school children?

[Loki]

I'm not sure its racism per se, but more a perception of the relative innocence of the victims.

Most people are going to get much more upset over children sitting in class minding their own business and getting blown away by some deranged nutbar than by a gansta getting shot by another gangsta while doing gangsta shit.

Notice how I didn't even bring the race of the victims into it. Right ot wrong, most people will feel far more sympathy for children getting shot than someone who's probably a criminal getting clipped by another criminal.

[sarcasmic]

Yet no one seems to make the connection between gangster crime caused by alcohol prohibition and gangsta crime caused by drug prohibition.

Dead black kids are a small price to pay to keep white snowflakes from trying legal marijuana.

[Rhywun]

It also seems like mass school shootings happen in (white) suburbia. "Urban" school shootings tend to occur one at a time and are therefore less covered.

[Rich]

This seems appropriate:

Alabama lawmaker's email: 'Slave-holding, murdering, adulterous, baby-raping, snaggle-toothed kin folk'

[Wind Rider]

And you thought Alabama only had ignorant and stupid white people running around. We broke down that racial barrier a long time ago!

[Brett L]

No. I've known ignorance and stupidity definitely live on a different chromosome than skin color for a long time.

[tarran]

So a black lawmaker, in the name of fighting past racism, promotes the very disarmament measures that were used to victimize his ancestors?

I suspect Politicans are dumber than turkeys.

[LTC(ret) John]

"I suspect Politicans are dumber than turkeys."

I believe your hypothesis has been proved roughly 230 + years and running (in this country at least).

[Bobarian]

It's true. Secret Service agents are specifically tasked with keeping Joe Biden out of the rain so he doesn't drown.

[SugarFree]

TRIGGER WARNING: The Grinding Oppression of Un-Feminist Nail Polish Names

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHFHAHHFAHHHAHAHHAHAA

FWIW I am wearing "Paisley Attention to Me" right now. That one's not on her hate list.

[SugarFree]

You'll always be "Glitter Tramp" to me.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Well when they make a nail polish called "herringbone tramp" I'm going to be petitioning for an official change.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Hmmm... I'm wearing "Peachy" and "Gumdrop." I guess those names are OK.

[T]

Work has finally blocked Jezebel. I suppose I shoudl thank my IT department for once.

[Enough About Palin]

Mine just started blocking Althouse. I has a sad.

[Brett L]

Honey, nobody wants to wear something called Red46829, so they call it Jail Bait. It doesn't mean anything except to help you find it in the store next time.

[wingnutx]

"Are men's grooming products named equally?"

Let's name some:

-Recoil
-Rape Cave
-Stripper Tears
-Highschool Football

[CampingInYourPark]

"Factoring in the six stops in the Seattle to Portland route, $800 million has raised the average speed from 45 mph all the way to 47 mph. According to Google Maps, driving your car will get you to Portland an hour earlier. Talk about a Great Train Robbery."

http://connect.freedomworks.or.....ode/359818

[Lord Humungus]

The Truth about Bob Woodward
Forty years after Watergate, the myth is unraveling.
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....nrad-black

It is too late to redress the unjust fates of those who gained and those who lost, including among the disserved the whole nation, in the Watergate debacle and its sequels, but not too late to welcome the miraculous emergence of a balanced treatment of a cautionary and tragic episode, and to reassess blame and credit accordingly. Richard Nixon did not live to see his comeback, but it is no less real and just and astonishing for that, and he was confident it would come. And Woodward and Bernstein will, with the luck of a few more years, see themselves, figuratively, shorn like harlots in olden time. The political system and the media failed, with unseemly self-celebration, but history will not.

[John]

Sure it is a myth. But it would have been nice if someone would have bothered to notice this sometime in the last 40 years instead of conveniently waiting for Woodward to rightly question the chosen one.

[Jordan]

An excellent article from Detlev Schlicter about the moral hazards of deposit insurance and fictional reserve lending:

Insurance companies calculate and calibrate risks, charge the insured party and set aside capital for when the insured event occurs. A state deposit 'guarantee', by contrast, is simply another unfunded government promise, extended in the hope that things won't get that bad. When they finally do the state does what it always does: it will take from Peter to pay Paul. Cyprus is a case in point: Private insurance companies would have pulled the plug on a ballooning banking sector long ago while the Cypriot state, still the local monopolist of bank licensing and bank regulation, evidently looked on as the banks amassed deposits of four times GDP. In the end Cyprus' government ran out of 'Pauls' to stick the bill to ? and 'Hans' in Germany refused to get 'bailed in' completely (although he is still providing the lion's share of the bailout).

[BakedPenguin]

"...fictional reserve lending"

Well played.

[Rasilio]

Wait we're sending B2 bombers to South Korea just in case the Norks get a little too frisky?

WTF are we doing placing one some of our most valuable and expensive assets within range of enemy intermediate range rocket fire? The closest they should be getting based is in Okinawa which would still be less than a 2 hour flight to North Korea.

[Bam!]

If we don't play with the toys, why bother buying them?

[mad libertarian guy]

Dogmatic as he is, Chomsky really has a good point with the military industrial complex.

We have unending war because we spend so much and need to justify that spending, and we have record levels of spending because of unending war.

It's a beautiful circular logic pattern where the only winners are pols and their military contractors.

[Rasilio]

Oh I wasn't saying we shouldn't be playing with them (that is a separate issue), I was saying that we might want to keep the good ones far away from that kid prone to throwing temper tantrums and breaking things.

[AlmightyJB]

Still beats paying them off which is what they want.

[DontShootMe]

I haven't seen any articles that state we are basing the B-2s in Korea, just flying them over there and flying them back. I'm sure they don't even land. The Air Force is very protective of that bird.

[Bobarian]

^^This.

During the Kosovo 'Pay no attention to the girl in the stained blue dress affair', B2 missions flew out of Missouri.

[Agammamon]

Keep in mind that this is retorting from *journalists*. "Being sent to South Korea" probably really means being moved to a base close to Korea so that they are in quick response range rather than actually moved to SK.

On the other hand - the SCUD versions NK use have an approximately 300 km range and shitty accuracy. Yeah most of SK is in range, they'd still be lucky to purposely hit anything smaller than a city.

[John]

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/.....e-problem/

Expect more of this as things get worse. You can have a color blind society or you can have a balkanized society. But you can't have both where every group but one is allowed a practice racial identity politics. Eventually that one group will tire of being bullied and respond in kind. And God help us when they do.

[sarcasmic]

Beat you to it.
http://reason.com/blog/2013/03.....nt_3638072

[Bobarian]

Simpsons did it!

[Lord Humungus]

New experiments on Shroud show it's not medieval
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.....one-23579/

Professor Giulio Fanti and journalist Saverio Gaeta have published a book with the results of some chemical and mechanical tests which confirm that the Shroud dates back to the 1st century.

[John]

That is one of the strangest things on the face of the earth. Even if it were proven to be medieval it would still be one of the most inexplicable hoaxes ever done.

Not only can they not explain how the image got there, the nature of the image and its sense of perspective is something that was just not done in ancient and medieval art and wasn't done until hundreds of years after the latest possible date for the shroud. From an art history perspective, that thing is like finding the remains of a 747 in Aztec burial mound.

[mad libertarian guy]

Not only can they not explain how the image got there, the nature of the image and its sense of perspective is something that was just not done in ancient and medieval art and wasn't done until hundreds of years after the latest possible date for the shroud. From an art history perspective, that thing is like finding the remains of a 747 in Aztec burial mound.

This.

[tarran]

The shroud is very interesting, and I would really love to see a systematic analysis of it conducted by objective people with no axe to grind.

I doubt that's going to happen in my lifetime, it attracts people with huge agendas like television cameras attract Chuck Schumer

[John]

The other problem is that it is hard to do analysis without damaging it. Maybe as technology improves they can do better analysis without touching it. Whatever the hell it is, it is amazing.

[Agammamon]

Uh, bullshit John. Its already been shown to be midievel, painted on, and used in church pageantry in France.

A 14th century bishop, Pierre d'Arcis, who wrote in a memorandum of a painter confessing to painting the Shroud's images.

Carbon 14 dating

In his treatise, Calvin (1509?1564) disparaged the proliferating alleged shrouds of Christ, mentioning a few by location, including one at Nice, another at Aix-la-Chapelle, and still another at Besan??on (Calvin 1543, 237).

Even if you accept that the shroud is *real* (in that it is a real burial shroud and that the image was produced by proximity ot a dead man) AND its from the first century - that still doesn't mean its Christ on the thing.

[BigT]

Sounds like BS. C-14 is very easy to measure and not open to interpretation. FT-IR relies on comparison to known samples, and is very much an interpretation of fit, not a clear measure.

[Agammamon]

Uh, how does that square with all the tests that show pretty damn conculusivelty that its from the 13ish century and is a fake.

A fake that was admitted by the church itself.

[Lord Humungus]

Can the Ice Wall in Game of Thrones Survive Science?
http://www.wired.com/wiredscie.....l-science/

A massive wall of ice protects the Seven Kingdoms from the dangers of the wintry north in HBO's hit series Game of Thrones. But in the real world, an ice structure standing at half the height of the Empire State Building would face more problems from physics than any wildlings or White Walkers lurking in the lands Beyond the Wall.

The mighty Wall has little to fear from science in the medieval fantasy world of Game of Thrones ? human hands got some help from magic to build the icy barrier up to its massive height of 700 feet across a distance of 300 miles. A similar touch of magic would be needed to keep the Wall standing in real life, scientists say. Otherwise gravity's irresistible force would eventually bring it down.

[SugarFree]

Science Fact: The Ice Planet of Hoth has never been located.

[John]

Movies are not real. Who could have thought such a thing?

And BTW, read the Potemkin Women article above. You will love it.

[SugarFree]

I did. The schadenfreudeliciousness was almost too rich to bear this early. A fine turn of phrase.

[NoVAHockey]

it's all my wife's DC friends that we hardly ever see.

[John]

I divide the women I know into two categories, adults and children. Some women I know are serious people. Most but not all have husbands and children. They have jobs, lives and a sense of themselves. The other group never got out of 8th grade.

[NoVAHockey]

what's weird is her college friends, who are all over the country, are mostly single, but well adjusted and happy people. here, however, is the exact opposite.

[John]

DC is full of really hot women who were too snotty to settle before their sell by date.

[tarran]

Now that I am dating, I am struck by how many children there are!

The majority of women I've dated in the 35+ age & childless set talk about wanting to start a family and have children of their own, but they're clearly not enthusiastic about it. They get real animated when they talk about their annual skiing vacations and two week long vacations to Machu Picchu and it becomes really apparent that they want to continue to live like they are in their 20's.

I get the sense that having children or being a mom is a ticket these 20's-wanna-bees think they have to punch at some point in their lives, and they are conscious that their biological clock it ticking, but their hearts aren't in it.

[John]

Yeah. And their kids pay for it. You would think it would make them back off and kind of leave the kids alone. But instead it does the opposite. It makes them hyper controlling helicopter parents. That is what happens when your kid is just a trophy rather than a person.

[NoVAHockey]

"but they're clearly not enthusiastic about it"

fantastic.

[Kaptious Kristen]

My ski trip to VT this year sucked ass. It only got in two days, one of which was kind of icy. The rest of the time it rained like cats and dogs. In January!

(you people confuse me - you're contemptuous of educated, single, professional, independent women who don't have kids and who are enjoying the lifestyle they have chosen, and contemptuous of women who you perceive want kids for the wrong reasons because they're older and haven't found someone with worthwhile genes?)

[NoVAHockey]

we're just full of contempt for everyone

[Tim]

Ha-Ha.

[John]

No Kristen, We are just contemptuous of women who spend their teens and twenties pretending they are just too hot for any normal guy only to end up old, alone and bitter in their late 30s and 40s.

[tarran]

Kristen, I should explain myself... I am not contemtuous of people who wish to be single or not have kids etc.

However, as a single dad, I am baffled by women who know that I have kids at home, know up front(!) that I am looking for not just romantic partner but also a step-mom for the kids, who nevertheless are deep down really interested in maintaining their single, child-less lifestyle.

I'm bemused that they are wasting time agreeing to go out on a date when I would think they would know they are doomed to be disappointed.

[SugarFree]

I'm bemused that they are wasting time agreeing to go out on a date when I would think they would know they are doomed to be disappointed.

They hope they are that special, once-in-a-lifetime woman that will convince you that they are more important to you than your kids. That's what love is to some deeply deluded people.

[Virginian]

We're as contemptuous of them as we are of anyone else who does not understand the concept of tradeoffs and consequences.

[Agammamon]

That's why there are no libertarian women!

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I get the sense that having children or being a mom is a ticket these 20's-wanna-bees think they have to punch at some point in their lives, and they are conscious that their biological clock it ticking, but their hearts aren't in it.

Funny, I'm talking about exactly this with my bff a lot lately. She is really into families and being in a family and having a family, but doesn't actually have any real desire to have kids or be a mom. I've talked to a few people like this who see it as kind of "it's part of life's journey and I have to do it," I guess because they think they need to have the experience rather than not have it. I don't know, I don't really get it, but I'm pretty autistic about families in general.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

She is really into families and being in a family and having a family, but doesn't actually have any real desire to have kids or be a mom.

This shit drives me crazy and shows how shallow our age has become. Having a family isn't full of wacky adventures like we see on teevee and it's certainly not something that should be put on some stupid SWPL's bucket list--it's a serious responsibility and a day-to-day grind more often than not. People have no idea what "stress" really entails until they have kids and need to figure out how to keep them clothed, fed, housed, and raised in a manner that doesn't turn them into little sociopaths as they get older.

I love my wife and kid more than anything on this earth. But I knew going in that the carefree days of my single life were over the minute I decided to start building a family.

[Loki]

The majority of women I've dated in the 35+ age & childless set talk about wanting to start a family and have children of their own, but they're clearly not enthusiastic about it. ... it becomes really apparent that they want to continue to live like they are in their 20's.

They don't really want a kid, they want another status symbol. Basically they want to wear the "mom" badge like some kind of brownie/ girl scout achievement badge. Because basically they never grew out of that phase. And they'll be horrible parents if they ever do get knocked up. These kinds of people (there are plently of men who fit the potempkin description too - I'm looking at you hipsters) have no concept of what it means to not have everything be all about them. They're going to end up with very fucked up children if they ever do.

[GozWa]

Because people who flat out say "I don't want any damn brats around" are considered to be soulless monsters by those that have kids. So the single women (and others) claim they want kids so they can avoid the ridicule/arguments even though they don't want them.

I distinctly remember this discussion taking place here not long ago.

[Jordan]

FACTPWNED

[Archduke Pantsfan]

You've never been to Saskatchewan in January.

[tarran]

It's a fun exercise that occasionally results in interesting improvements:

For example, all the people who bitched that the Ringworld was unstable set the stage for Niven to write Ringworld Engineers.

[robc]

Which allowed him to face the truth about who built the Ringworld.

[Tim]

But the fire breathing dragons are totally legit.

[SugarFree]

I can't wait until I can 3-D print my own dragons and get around all these silly registration of destructive magical animals laws.

[Tim]

Ok, but be careful with the tribbles.

[Lord Humungus]

OT: I finished the 6CB5A amplifier last night and managed to fire it up without any explosions or smoke. I only got a few minutes of listening in before turning in. Pictures, etc later.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

kewl!

[LTC(ret) John]

"managed to fire it up without any explosions or smoke"

Aww, its not fun until something explodes/burns...

[itsnotmeitsyou]

LH, you should do things more like the Mythbusters. If it doesn't blow up, find out how much C4 you need to MAKE SURE it blows up.

[Virginian]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cul.....scene.html

[Jordan]

Leave the sex scenes to the professionals at FX, HBO, and Brazzers. Hollywood is terrible at it.

...and sex scenes necessitate months of training, given that most Hollywood actors prefer men and most Hollywood actresses haven't done the horizontal tango since circa 1987 (it's just never worth risking stubble rash).

Um, is this entire passage a joke?

[Virginian]

Yeah it's just no a funny one.

[Lord Humungus]

I recently watched "Body Heat" which is supposed to be all hot 'n' steamy sex wise. I guess it could be, if you enjoy a naked Kathleen Turner resting on top of William Hurt in such a way that there isn't much to see.

Still, a nice noir film.

[John]

Good movie but wildly disappointing to my 12 year old self hoping to see some action.

[The Late P Brooks]

I haven't RTFA, but I'll go out on a limb and assume the B2s still come home to Missouri at the end of their flights.

Maybe the pilots can just throw their McDonalds wrappers out the window of their stealth bombers to let Senor Kim know they dropped by.

[Rich]

Amazing 3D body paintings

One could have some real fun out in public with some of these.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Thousands of armed vigilantes takeover Mexican town..."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....treet.html

[sarcasmic]

You're a day late and a dollar short.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/03.....nt_3638064

[John]

But it is illegal to own a gun in Mexico. How could this happen?

[tarran]

I had a lovely argument with someone where they pointed out that Mexico was awash in illegally owned guns originally manufactured in the U.S.

I thanked the person for making my case (I was arguing that if a weapon was to be outlawed for private ownership, the govt should not be permitted to possess it either), seeing as most of those weapons had been sold on to the black market by Mexican soldiers and the weapons in question had been purchased by the Mexican government with the approval of the U.S. government.

What was comical was their sputtering outrage; they seriously thought that the Mexican black market was entirely supplied by United Statesians buying weapons at gun shows and selling them south of the border.

[sarcasmic]

Don't worry. Once the person returns to the hive they'll forget everything they learned from you and go back to insisting all Mexican guns come from bitter clingers.

Good proggies never let the truth get in the way of the narrative.

[T]

The article I read on the Mexican gun trade suggested that if you wanted a gun in Mexico, you should talk to a cop. The cops are apparently the prime source of handguns for citizens.

[Virginian]

The police in a country south of the border are fantastically corrupt? Wow who would have thunk it.

[Agammamon]

I wonder if Canadians say that too.

[StinkEye]

"...they seriously thought that the Mexican black market was entirely supplied by United Statesians buying weapons at gun shows and selling them south of the border."

All but about ~2000 if them...amirite?

/hillary

[Jordan]

Reading the article, what they're doing is actually reasonable (by Mexican standards). The headline is just sensationalism. They certainly don't seem worse than the government thugs.

[some guy]

http://www.tmz.com/2013/03/26/.....adid=hero4

Apparently Sean Penn's son is a racist. Wonder where he picked that up...

[Francisco d Anconia]

Mel Gibson?

[some guy]

http://www.ibtimes.com/so-long.....it-1153415

China and Brazil have agreed to trade in their own currencies, rather than the US dollar. Who's next?

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Good the sooner the US dollar is no longer the reserve currency of the world the better off we'll be.

[Loki]

STDs growing faster than jobs or number of college grads.

Not that suprising. It's not like people have jobs to go to so might as well lay around and fuck.

[Loki]

Should have read the article first. That's for 2008. Way to stay current, CDC.

[sarcasmic]

Good enough for government work.

[John]

I have a hard time believing that. A 110 million? There are only three hundred million people in the country. And a lot of them are children, in jail, don't have sex or married and have little chance of getting an STD. For that figure to be true, 2/3s or more of the single sexually active people out there have the clap. I don't believe that.

I have only known three people in my life who ever had the clap. And two of them got it from hookers in SE Asia and the third was a musician who slept with God knows what.

[Andrew S.]

Most of it is HPV and herpes. And I don't have any trouble believing it at all.

[sarcasmic]

Condoms don't do much good against those. They're transmitted by skin contact, not fluid.

[John]

HPV is pretty rampant. But that is deceiving as hell. Not all STDs are created equal.

[sarcasmic]

Counting infections instead of infected people is deceiving? Wow! It's almost as if the study came from a government agency!

[sarcasmic]

I can tell you didn't read much more than the headline.

They counted infections. Not infected people. Also, the number one infection was HPV.

[Tonio]

But that's SOP for John. Then he gets all pissy when people call him on the facts. He's all about the narrative.

[Rasilio]

It looks like they are counting individual incidence of infection.

So if you have sex once and pick up 3 different STI's that counts as 3 incidence, if you get an STI 3 different times within the same year, that also counts as 3 different infections.

So really this obscures and blows totally out of proportion the actual risk of getting an STI on any given sexual encounter

[sarcasmic]

You mean a government report designed to justify certain policies is intentionally misleading?

No way!

[Scooby]

There are other STDs than the clap, and one person can get more than one, including the same one more than once (for those bacterial infections that can be cleared up with antibiotics). Someone that acquires Hep C, HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and HPV counts as five infections. If they get their penicillin shots and go back to reacquire gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia, they would count as 3 more infections.

A few careless people can drive those statistics way up, kinda like a group including Wilt Chamberlin and two nuns will have a mean number of sex partners in the 4 to 5 digits, but a median number of zero.

[Enough About Palin]

49% of black women between the ages of 14 and 49 have herpes according to the CDC.

[Fatty Bolger]

Janet Napolitano explains how she dodges responsibility

Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano does not use email, she told reporters, saying it is a time suck and can create legal or other problems.

"I also don't like the process where people could send you an email, then say, see, you were told, or you know this. And then it comes back two years later to say, hey, you got this email ? among the thousands you get every day.

Yes, it's better that she just never knows.

[sarcasmic]

Know who else didn't like to leave a paper trail?

[Rich]

That bear in the Charmin commercial?

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

Paper tiger?

[LTC(ret) John]

Ninjas?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Someone who can't even manage to prioritize her own inbox would make a great president.

[some guy]

And how many aides does she have? What the hell are we paying them for?

[Jerry on the boat]

I'll bet she reads all those 90 page documents as well from subordinates before siging off on them.

[T]

I bet Eirc Holder is slapping himself on the forehead right about now.

[The Late P Brooks]

Last evening, I looked out my window just in time to see one of my cats terrorizing some young mule deer. They deer were munching away near the corner of the building, and the she charged out from behind some rocks at them. They scattered.

The cat, who weighs all of about seven pounds, was quite pleased with herself; she stood there in "pounce" pose flicking her tail and mocking them for a while.

If she catches one, I'll be conflicted about whether or not to let her bring it inside.

[Brett L]

If your 7lb cat brings down an adult mule deer, I think its your duty to gut it and feed her the liver.

[some guy]

Hell, freeze the meat and feed her for the rest of her life.

[some guy]

And my 60-pound dog can't even scare off a squirrel...

[sarcasmic]

One time our two dogs, an Aussie and a malamute/german mix, treed a bobcat. Boy oh boy were they happy with themselves. Until it had had enough. It walked down the tree trunk head first, and the dogs wisely backed off. Then it casually strolled into the woods without even a backward glance.

[John]

Pound for pound cats are amazing. A 30 lb bobcat will tear a 100 lb dog up. And an 80 lb cougar will eat even the largest dog literally for dinner.

[JeremyR]

I had a cat that would do that. She's creep up on them and then pounce, scaring them off.

Damnedest thing in the world I've seen.

[sloopyinca]

Fellow Reasonoids from the LA area: EDG and I will be going to the Sweet 16 games tonight at Staples Center to watch the Buckeyes (hopefully) put a beatdown on Arizona. I'm sure there will be moderate to heavy drinking involved, but no face-painting.

Anyway, Banjos and the baby are coming as well and we're going to be in the LBC at least through Saturday. If any of you would like to meet up and plan the revolution or just get drunk, let me know. We will likely be doing both.

E-mail: [e-mail]

[Randian]

I am not going to say I am envious...but I am envious.

[RG]

Cheer for LaSalle in the late game.

[T]

They're playing the Dallas regionals in fucking Jerryworld. Who's brilliant fucking idea was that? Talk about a shit venue for basketball.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Also a shit venue for college football.

[Loki]

And pro football...

Actually I think you can stop after "shit venue". Except maybe for concerts thanks to the gigantic screen that's almost as large as Jerry's ego.

[Tim]

Tomorrow's Links:

Man beaten, tased and shot outside LA's Staples Center. LAPD spokesman says "procedures were followed".

[sloopyinca]

Couldn't that be a headline the morning after any event at Staples Center? Granted, my attendance might goose the odds a few %age points, but that just moves the odds of a police BTS (Beat Tazer Shoot) from 95% to 98%.

[Tim]

Stop resisting

[LTC(ret) John]

"BTS (Beat Tazer Shoot)"

Huh, I thought it was Tazer, Beat, Berate, Shoot. I have a hard time keeping up with this New Professionalism.

[Rasilio]

Why are you going to an office supply store for some teenage girls birthday party?

[sloopyinca]

Ooh, it's also or first Anniversary. So it looks like the Reason Super-libertarian Breeding Experiment has been a success so far.

[The Late P Brooks]

they seriously thought that the Mexican black market was entirely supplied by United Statesians buying weapons at gun shows and selling them south of the border.

I quit going to the gun shows, because of all the guys pestering me to buy full auto AKs and M16s by the case.

[John]

They didn't offer you any RPGs or Bazookas? They must have thought you were a fed Brooks.

[sloopyinca]

We all know Brooksie is a Fed. The feds train all their agents to never, ever make threaded replies. It's one of their tells.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Squatters, Looters Overrun Sandy-Ravaged Staten Island Communities"

"When asked if the weapons work, Sumner said they usually do not.

'They usually run away from the big rake, but the baseball bat, they look at you and it's like, 'What are you doing? Are you kidding?' he said."

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/20.....mmunities/

[Brett L]

Have you tried firearms?

[John]

And Staten Island was a very nice middle class community. And something tells me this wouldn't be a problem in a civilized state with high percentage of gun ownership and the castle doctrine.

[Matrix]

you monster!

[Brett L]

You don't remember all the looting along the Gulf Coast in '05 and '06? Me neither.

[Andrew S.]

Aw, c'mon. Who could forget the New Orleans looter guy?

[John]

Rita hammered East Texas and Western Louisiana. But strangely looting was never a problem. Somehow the thought of running into the guys from Duck Dynasty or some facsimile thereof seemed to discourage that sort of thing.

[T]

When everybody from the 80 year olds down to the teenagers has shotguns, it's generally a dumb idea.

[Capt Ace Rimmer]

down to the six year old.

[JD the elder]

Actually, Staten Island has the highest rate of gun ownership of anywhere in NYC, although it's probably still pretty low by the standards of anywhere else.

[Tonio]

But at least they're being protected from exploitation at the hands of unlicensed contractors.

[sloopyinca]

U.S. B-2 bombers head to South Korea on the off chance that Noth Korea isn't just screwing with us.

You mean we're able to deploy assets from America to other places on short notice as needed? Sounds good to me. Let's go ahead and shut down the bases all over the world then and bring the soldiers back home.

Oh wait, the reason we're sending the bombers in the first place is because we have troops massed on the international border between North Korea and South Korea. And if we up and left years ago, they wouldn't have even mentioned us. So........, we should leave anyway.

[LTC(ret) John]

C'mon sloopy - its not like Germany and South Korea have any ability to defend themselves! The NORKS are so much richer than the ROKS and the Germans haven't two pfennig to rub together - look how they have to keep going to the other EU countries, hat in hand for bailouts!

[sloopyinca]

New Mexico Police Officer charged with vehicular manslaughter given a vacation. His own department has alse decided to launch an internal investigation now, which any sane person would have probably done immediately after the "accident".

[sloopyinca]

Nawlins area officers arrested for using excessive force in a November arrest. The charges are simple battery and "malfeasance".

FTA: Although the incident happened in November, the Covington Police Department's internal affairs office did not began investigating until January, Capt. Jack West said.

Palmisano said it takes time for the department to process and review those forms, which is why the investigation into the incident did not begin until two months after it occurred.

Nothing sets an investigation up to fail like waiting two months to start it. I wonder if that's their policy on investigating crimes committed by "civilians"? My money is on no.

[sarcasmic]

Depends on the crime. If the crime involved a victim, then it can wait. Fucker probably deserved it anyway.
Now if it was a victimless crime where someone disobeyed arbitrary orders from the state, or did something without first asking permission, they'll be all over that shit!

[sloopyinca]

You're OK in my book, sarcasmic.

[sarcasmic]

I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay
(He's a lumberjack and he's okay)
I sleep all night and I work all day
(He sleeps all night and he works all day)

I cut down trees,
I wear high heels
Suspenders and a bra
I wish I'd been a girlie
Just like my dear papa...

[CampingInYourPark]

"Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) visited a hops yard yesterday to raise the profile of, and inevitably seek federal support for, what he hopes will be New York's first commercial hops yard."

http://www.cato.org/blog/boomi.....apparently

[The Late P Brooks]

seek federal support for, what he hopes will be New York's first commercial hops yard.

State supported artisanal hops. Yay!

[Bobarian]

Artisnal hops?

Would that be support by the USDA or the NEA?

[LTC(ret) John]

Both!

[Enough About Palin]

Fuck off, you fucking hop-heads.

[prolefeed]

Laughed so hard I cried at this overpaid empty suit's stream of consciousness filibustering, especially the "feel good" snippet:

Said David Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior: "Fish and wildlife or plants, our land, our habitat, is not just something we feel good about because we like nature, but in fact they're providing a lot of services to us - jobs, recreational opportunities, we're seeing that they provide wonderful protection from storm surges, that the wetlands are filtering our water, providing clean water."

[LTC(ret) John]

"but in fact they're providing a lot of services to us - jobs"

Hey, he's partly right - the prairie grassland plants around these parts hire upwards of 10% of the construction workforce every year... and the Canadian Geese probably account for 5 or 6 % of our sales taxes, as they spend so much in our stores and restaurants.