A.M. Links: FBI to Testify on Mishandling Info on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Chris Christie to Introduce More Gun Control, LA Mayor Wants to Cancel City Pay Raises

• 

  Kaptain Kobold/Foter.com

  The Senate Intelligence Committee will hear from the FBI about whether information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev was mishandled before the Boston bombing. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, meanwhile, has told investigators his brother planned the bombing with no help from any outside terrorist group. His mother believes Tamerlan is still alive.

• Chris Christie is set to introduce even more gun control for New Jersey, whose gun owners already face among the most restrictions in the country.
• General Fang Fenghui, the Chinese army chief of staff, compared cyberattacks to nuclear weapons during a meeting with his American counterpart.
• The Department of Energy has seized $21 million from Fisker, the electric car company that received $192 million in federal loans that were suspended amid problems in 2011.
• Los Angeles' outgoing mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, submitted his last city budget yesterday. He wants to cancel a pay raise for city employees that he previously negotiated with the city council.
• Residents in China compare the lack of coverage of the Boston bombing in their country to the relative transparency of coverage here in the U.S.
• A girls' school in north Afghanistan may have been the target of a poisoning; 74 schoolgirls got sick after smelling some sort of gas.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hear from the FBI about whether information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev was mishandled before the Boston bombing.

A committee hearing? In front of cameras? That will be productive.

[gaijin]

Senate Intelligence Committee will hear from the FBI

Bottom quintile all around.

[lilian321]

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[Virginian]

http://www.breitbart.com/Insta.....ven-Higher

Soccer: Totally Manly and Tough, Just Ask Any Soccer Player.

[sticks]

This really should have linked to the video of Suarez biting a another player.

Also this is false.

" Soccer fans applaud players for "crafty play," by which is meant flouncing oneself to the ground to simulate a phantom trip or push in order to induce a ref to throw a penalty flag."

Most fans and pundits despise diving. Whatever.

[generic Brand]

Not to mention blatantly wrong in terms of soccer lingo. A "throw a penalty flag"? A flop is now "crafty play"??

Soccer can be boring at some times, but if there are sufficient build ups to the goal then that is not the case, even if the score is 0-0 or 1-0 at the end of the game. Most people would not say a pitchers' duel or a defensive struggle was a boring game, yet when soccer ends with a low final score (or worse yet, in a draw (shocked face, horrified face)) everyone denounces the whole game as boring, even though they missed the intricate build up and the spectacular saves that kept the game level.

If you don't like soccer, don't watch. But don't be pissed that your 6-15 year old children enjoy playing it.

[NeonCat]

"If you don't like soccer, don't watch."

Wayyyy ahead of you. And I don't think Americans will ever really love a sport where games can end in a nuthin'-nuthin' tie. We want winners.

[robc]

This really should have linked to the video of Suarez biting a another player.

That was my initial guess.

Any idea of his ban this time around? Didnt he get 7 games or so last time? So maybe 15?

[sticks]

I hadn't realized he did it before. Too funny. I figure maybe a month into next season. Who knows though. Does Liverpool keep him? He's fantastic when not suspended for dumb shit.

[mnarayan]

His last biting incident was in a different league so I don't know that there would be any correlation. I'm also not sure that anything beyond 5ish games is warranted; biting someone is kind of nuts, but it probably didn't even make it into the top 5 in terms of dangerous fouls that game.

[robc]

IIRC, they (England, maybe elsewhere too) add like 3 extra games beyond normal red card ban for spitting. I would think biting would be spitting plus a few more games.

After all, spit is involved, so it cant be less than that.

Of the top of my head, I think the Premier Rules are 3 games for first (violent, as opposed to intentional handball) red of the season, plus 1 additional game for each addition one. Plus the spitting bonus. Plus the biting bonus.

[robc]

"It is alleged that the conduct of Suarez constitutes violent conduct, and it is the FA's contention that the standard punishment of three matches that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient in these circumstances."

What they are saying so far. They can also only fine him a max of 2 weeks pay without going thru the players association first.

"It affects his future in the sense that we have to work with him on his discipline, but Luis is a very important player to the club," Ayre said. "He's a very popular player with his teammates. As we keep saying, he signed a new four-year contract last summer and we'd all love to see him here throughout that contract.

And Liverpool, unsurprisingly, is going to keep him around.

7 games previously for biting.
8 games for racism.

Now more biting.

[Loki]

"He's a very popular player with his teammates."

Duh, I would think it would be preferable to have the psycho nutbar who bites people on your side than the other side.

[mnarayan]

Six games seems reasonable...I would take a bite on the are (at least as Suarez did it) 100 times out of 100 over someone coming in at my knee studs up.

[John]

I have come to the conclusion that women play soccer better than men and certainly in a more manly manner. Watch a US women's team game sometime. Amy Waubach practically takes people's heads off. The women's game seems to have none of the flopping and drama queen behavior that the men's game does. I think that is because the toughest women athletes often play soccer whereas the toughest male athletes rarely do.

[robc]

There are some tough male soccer players, but the rule changes have made it tougher on them.

The old, as long as you get the ball first, any tackle is legal rules were much better.

That said, I wouldnt want to go back to the "foul Pele every time he touches the ball" style either.

Split the difference. Hard tackles are fine if you get the ball, but if you dont, card them up.

[John]

I don't have a problem with calling the game by the rules. The problem is the constant flopping and playing specifically to draw the foul. Women seem not to do that. Men do. And I am not sure how you stop that other than maybe heaping, shame humiliation and scorn on anyone who flops.

[robc]

Post match bans.

Watch the film, give bans for flopping.

BUT, part of the problem is the change in the rules. It encourages flopping to try to make clean tackles look like hard tackles that were legal 30 years ago but arent now.

And the change encourages "soft" players.

[Ted S.]

Mario Mandzukic got suspended from tonight's CL match for picking up one yellow card too many, thanks to a dive from the Italian guy in the last match. 🙁

[Matrix]

don't watch basketball then, where even looking at the ball handler wrong, these days, is a foul.

[robc]

Someone isnt watching much college basketball.

[John]

Not in college. In college they seem to allow wrestling. And the fact is basketball is supposed to be a non contact sport. I hate flopping in basketball. But I would rather watch a game where hand checking and wrestling in the post is not allowed because it makes for a higher scoring better flowing game.

[robc]

There is talk that college is going to try to clean it up this offseason.

It will take a lot of whistles in November and December for the players to get it, but I hope it happens.

[Loki]

don't watch basketball then, where even looking at the ball handler wrong, these days, is a foul.

Depends on who the ball handler is and whether it's a playoff game or not. If it's a playoff and the ball handler is one of the designated league stars like a Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, or Kobe Bryant level "superstar", the refs will give them the benefit of the doubt everytime. Otherwise they'll practically allow wrestling in the low post. That's what's really infuriating about the NBA: the lack of consistency.

[Timon 19]

It's a fallacy that women don't flop.

A complete and utter fallacy.

[Timon 19]

I think one of the better rules innovations is the interpretation against two-footed tackles and the studs coming over the ball. Regardless of timing of contact, both are still fouls. Remember that one of the most talented players of the last 30 years (Marco van Basten) had his career ended prematurely due to cynical challenges that were "legal".

[gaijin]

I think that is because the toughest women athletes often play soccer whereas the toughest male athletes rarely do.

So you would say the same about professional basketball?

[John]

No because basketball is such a part of the culture in many areas of the country, the tougher athletes often play it.

[gaijin]

yes, but flopping is part of the men's game...much more so than the womens. Doesn't that mean that (by the logic you used earlier) the comparison would be equivalent for bball?

[John]

True. But it is really only a big problem in the NBA and mostly due to the infusion of European players. So maybe it is that European men will ruin any sport they touch.

[robc]

If by European, you mean "Duke", then yes, I agree.

[LTC(ret) John]

+1

[Apatheist ?_??]

No because basketball is such a part of the culture in many areas of the country, the tougher athletes often play it.

You don't think this is true in most countries outside the US for soccer? Funnily enough MLS is a lot rougher than most European leagues. The refs just allow a lot more fouling.

[Timon 19]

MLS is quite a bit tougher, which probably comes from the largely NCAA referee pool that they draw from. It really hurts the MLS teams in the Champions League, especially when they go down to Guatemala or whatever and get Caribbean referees.

It probably hurts the National Team as well, but it seems that the latest group of MLS and MLS-grown players handled Azteca pretty well, so...?

[robc]

And dont forget Duncan Ferguson.

He spent time in jail for a foul he committed on the field.

[mr simple]

I have come to the conclusion that women play soccer better than men and certainly in a more manly manner.

I know you're given to hyperbole and confirmation bias, but this is just ridiculous, John. Have you even ever watched a soccer match? I watch women's soccer, but the skill, athleticism and intensity of the men's sides is far greater at every level. I know diving can be a problem in some games, but you don't see it often from the more skilled teams, except maybe France and Italy.

[robc]

There seems to be a strong correlation between diving and romance languages.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Yeah, I was going to say, if you think there's that much diving, you're watching the wrong team(s).

[John]

I have watched a lot. And yes men are much more athletic than women. But you do not see the flopping in the women's game. I am sorry but the men's game is disgraceful at the international level these days.

[generic Brand]

But you do not see the flopping in the women's game.

Then again, it must be said that you do not watch enough soccer. The women's teams, just like the men's teams, flop quite a bit. And there is a strong connection between the sides doing it. Teams like USA and Japan are often adverse to flopping because they think it is a cheap tactic to get ahead... maybe they have some sort of honor code, I don't know. But teams like Brazil, France, Italy... these teams flop like it's their natural state of being, regardless of the sex playing on the pitch.

If you watched the last women's world cup you would have seen that any team the USA was playing (with exception to Japan, who basically just routed us) was flopping to gain a tactical advantage since they didn't have a physical advantage. Brazil's best female player at the time, Marta, was flopping almost the entire game.

Just know when to give up instead of digging yourself further in, John.

[robc]

US, Japan. No flopping.

Brazil, France, Italy. Romance languages. Flopping.

[Timon 19]

Japan and Korea seem to play it straight up, except for the guys who have seen time in the BPL and other European leagues.

[Timon 19]

I don't see it from France so much as Italy and Argentina these days. Brazil is even getting to be a very tough, defense-first, beat-the-shit-out-of-you team, especially with Hulk out there.

[VG Zaytsev]

I have come to the conclusion that women play soccer better than men...

Well sure, it's a girls game afterall.

[Timon 19]

John, don't be stupid.

What you're seeing is US college athletes (and all that mentality entails) beating up on countries whose concept of womens' sports is, shall we say, a bit less advanced. However, if you had seen Brazil's women play anytime in the last 8 years or so, you'd see the same bullshit flopping that no one likes, just done far less athletically and convincingly.

Abby Wambach is the last of a dying breed (that is if the US wants to maintain its edge). She's bigger and stronger than everyone else and has managed to develop actual skills in the process. Well, the rest of the world is starting with better skills and is now building the athletes to compete. The US women continue to largely come from the NCAA, which is extremely limited in the type of player it can develop.

[invisible furry hand]

OK, let's ask Terry Butcher

[Apatheist ?_??]

Or Vinny Jones.

[Timon 19]

It's been emotional.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Seriously - fully 1/3 of the comments so far are about fucking soccer?? Cancel my subscription! reason was better under Postrel!

[Suthenboy]

I am trying to scroll past it myself. geez....soccer? I am trying to think of something less important.....

[sticks]

I wouldn't have replied but it was like a link to fark or daily kos making fun if libertarians. Hilariously misinformed.

[Loki]

The most irritating thing about soccer to me is the fan bois who get all pissy about other people not likeing their favorite sport. Who the fuck cares?

[Timon 19]

Poor dears!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chris Christie is set to introduce even more gun control for New Jersey...

Oh, that's right, Christie's an asshole. I forgot.

[LTC(ret) John]

I have not forgotten. He makes me think that maybe IL is only the 49th worst state to live in.

[UnCivilServant]

Are you claiming IL is worse than even NY? I find that hard to believe.

[LTC(ret) John]

NY is wallowing in its own mire, of its own volition (OK, maybe not some of the poor souls upstate)- many of us here in IL have had @#$& imposed on us because of Cook County and the leader of the Donkey Party - Mike Madigan. Not that we are much ahead of NY, its kind of like being a slightly thinner obese guy.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Take a look at their income tax rates and you will be happy to be in IL.

[LTC(ret) John]

But we are heading down - maybe NY has already bottomed out..? I just see things slipping into the Slough of Despond here. I am going to tell my kids that they should feel no compunction to stay here, if they get an opportunity elsewhere, go!

[sam the man]

I agree. I go to high school in IL and as soon as I graduate I'm moving to Michigan.

[VG Zaytsev]

Are you claiming IL is worse than even NY? I find that hard to believe.

NY has uncle Ben's counterfitting operation keeping it rich, so yeah it's better than IL.

[WTF]

Because New Jersey's insane gun laws are not restrictive enough. What an asshole. I guess he is determined to completely destroy any chance he may have had in national politics as a Republican.

[a better weapon]

He got tired of all the fat jokes. Now team blue will be nice to him.

Team red will now be dicks to him now, but at least their dogma doesn't guide SNL and late night comedy writing.

[Drake]

I get annoyed when the AM links lead to nowhere. I haven't seen anything about this in the NJ Star Ledger.

Christie would be crazy to touch gun control if he wants the 2016 nomination.

The last bill I saw in the NJ Senate would actually improve the rules for gun buyers - because they don't realize how bad the rules already are.

[Mike M.]

The 24/7 link points to a story on ABC News that seems to indicate the story is legit.

And yes, the endless click-farming is rather annoying, but it's obviously here to stay.

[Suthenboy]

"Christie would be crazy to touch gun control if he wants the 2016 nomination."

I am thinking back on some guy from Mass. that got the nomination in spite of creating the model for obamacare in his state....and railing about global warming while governor.....

The GOP aint called the Stupid Party for nothing.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Ayup!

[Steve G]

oh, he's all right, he just needs a little paleo...

[deified]

And those of us who have a serious self-defense concern? I guess Christie wants us to go fuck ourselves.

God, the sooner the heart attack puts him underground, the better.

[Virginian]

http://gawker.com/circus-goer-.....-477239512

Tiger in the bathroom.

[WTF]

Before I clicked the link I thought 'Tiger in the Bathroom' might be a euphemism for something.

[Rich]

'Goat in the Garden'

[invisible furry hand]

All quail before the mighty Trouser Snake

[LTC(ret) John]

Tiger Wood s was waving his schlong around someone's bathroom?!

[Brett L]

The part where she new how to silently turn around and exit the threatening situation because she's a social worker speaks volumes about our culture.

[Virginian]

Only trained government professionals know to slowly retreat from dangerous predators. A civilian would have just sat there slackjawed and motionless until eaten.

[Suthenboy]

No shit. I was just laughing about that. She was able to walk out because the tiger decided she could. Her 'training' had jack to do with it.

[Generic Stranger]

Yeah...turning your back to a tiger is a bad, bad idea. They like sneak attacks, and presenting your back to them is like saying ringing the dinner bell.

Tiger was probably well fed, and that's the only reason she wasn't lunch.

[a better weapon]

So, this isn't a woefully tardy review on the Hangover?

[mr simple]

I thought it might be some tawdry story from the PGA tour.

[LTC(ret) John]

Jinx!

[Lord Humungus]

In India, 'no frills' hospitals offer $800 heart surgery
http://www.globalpost.com/disp.....rt-surgery

Using pre-fabricated buildings, stripping out air-conditioning and even training visitors to help with post-operative care, the group believes it can cut the cost of heart surgery to an astonishing 800 dollars.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

No, no, no. Only government healthcare can bend the cost curve, Obama told me!

[John]

But we can't let people contract their rights away. Better to die for lack of surgery than get surgery without the ability to sue and without government supervision.

[a better weapon]

"We believe that charity is not scalable. If you give anything free of cost, it is a matter of time before you run out of money, and people are not asking for anything free."

Dr. Shetty obviously hasn't spent enough time in the West.

[T]

I'm not one to comparison shop my medical care on the basis of price. For elective procedures not covered by insurance, I try to go with better doctors, even if I pay more. Strange, I know, but I'm not going to Bob's House of Discount Surgery unless Bob has a track record of being a hell of a surgeon.

[Rasilio]

And you're lucky to be in a position to make that decision. That poor migrant farm worker in India however, not so much. It's either Kumar's discount house of surgery or wait till the ole ticker finally gives out.

Similarly here in the states, when you make $25,000 a year and you are being told that your heart surgery will cost $100,000 and that is just for an average Dr at an average facility, then $1000 for Bobs discount surgery might just be the better option for you

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

It may not affect the discount guy if his prices are cheap enough, but if the guy keeps fucking up, I would have to think the free market will take care of him. He won't be the only guy to try this out if it proves to be profitable. Better talent will come and push him out of the market if he can't up his track record.

[Brett L]

Yeah. I laugh every time someone tries to sell me discount Lasik. I'll pay full price when people are shooting lasers into my eyeballs, thanks.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Same with boob jobs, I'd imagine. If I were ever rich enough to get fakes, I'd go with full price, TYVM.

[Bobarian]

If you're willing to post pictures, we might be willing to chip in?

[Kaptious Kristen]

At this point, you'd need a magnifying glass.

[Fate]

We use monacles.

[T]

That was actually the surgery I was thinking of. I could've gone cheaper, but I don't think I could've gone better.

[Drake]

How about the best doctors, without all the BS and hospital mark-ups?

http://reason.com/reasontv/201.....doctors-fi

[Lord Humungus]

Nigel Farage: "This EU is the New Communism. It is Power without Limits."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....jUJy7kDOM#!

[Virginian]

http://hotair.com/greenroom/ar.....education/

UNDERFUNDED PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!!!! WE NEED MORE INVESTMENT IN OUR CHILDREN!!!

[Live Free or Diet]

Schools where I am are clearly underfunded. Many school administration officials make upwards of half a million a year. They have buildings with 3-story atria with trees growing in them.
But they had to put in a hiring freeze last year, not renew some janitorial contracts, and use some books longer than they planned.

[Marshall Gill]

SOMALIA!!

[Live Free or Diet]

Somalia: sometimes a hellhole is just a hellhole.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Total government spending--fed, state, local--as a percentage of GDP hasn't changed in over 40 years: 5%. And that's a higher figure than in 1950 and 1960, those halcyon high tax days that liberals love to wax nostalgic about.

If schools are "underfunded," it's entirely due to the malfeseance of the school boards and district leaders who can't prioritize their spending. And look at the bullshit these people spend the money on--iPads, smartboards, and other forms of digital crutches for students in order to disguise their shitty curriculums.

[invisible furry hand]

A New Zealand man has been jailed for watching cartoons of elves, pixies and other fantasy creatures having sex

Read more

[LTC(ret) John]

WTF? Most Kiwis I have met seemed sensible enough...what the heck is going on down there?!

[gaijin]

what the heck is going on down there?!

Sauron has returned, clearly.

[a better weapon]

Yeah, doesnt NZ always score pretty well on all the freedom index scoring?

[Ted S.]

I think this link is more appropriate.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.c.....or-batman/

Can somebody fill me in on the story about the Rinehart & Rogoff (2010) controversy over the last week or so? Krugman and the like are dancing like it's the death of the austerity movement, so I was just wondering what's gone on?

[Virginian]

Krugman and his fluffers are probably lying.

[Caleb Turberville]

Krugman's claim that austerity economics "rests largely on two papers" is enough to raise my suspicions that he's up to some dishonesty, but I just want to check and be sure.

[Virginian]

Well first of all austerity is mostly in their mind. I mean...what government has actually cut real spending? The US certainly hasn't.

[robc]

Estonia.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Austerity, in the progladytes mind, now means not spending a trillion dollars more than you take in a year, but only 950 billion.

[Caleb Turberville]

Didn't Krugman say something like the stimulus would have worked "if we had only spent even more"? I'm not anywhere near capable of engaging neo-Keynesian macroeconomic theory, but that all sounded an awful like a case of "shifting the goalposts."

[Caleb Turberville]

Of course, the goal posts were pretty much well outside the stadium with the "Obama inherited the Bush economy, which is the worse economy since 1932, so you can't blame him if the 'recovery' is going really, really slowly" excuse.

[robc]

Krugman refuses to acknowledge Estonia too.

[Brett L]

Someone released a study saying that there was a formulaic error in the 2010 study about total debt to GDP and growth. But if you look at the countries that got left out in the errata of the re-analysis -- Australia, Canada, and Denmark IIRC -- well, dropping Oz and Canada will change the shit out of your analysis since they have both hugely drawn down their debts over the past 10 years thanks to the resource booms.

[Caleb Turberville]

So, there was a re-analysis in which the opposing researcher(s) jiggered around with the methodology to get a desired result?

[Brett L]

That is how I understand it, yes.

[VG Zaytsev]

Not exactly,

Apparently R&R used MS excel in their analysis and some of their forumulas inadvertently excluded the first 5 (or something) rows in a column of data.

McCardle explains it pretty well.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....istic.html

[Caleb Turberville]

Oh, I think Brent L is saying that the investigation of the R&R paper yielded it's own faulty methodology.

[Caleb Turberville]

That's for the link, by the way. That McCardle piece is exactly what I've been looking for.

[Brett L]

Ah, I see. Although it turns out that the re-analysis seems to argue from McCardle's reading that high-debt to GDP is EVEN WORSE for growth than previously thought.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Not to be confused with Fiskars, which makes a helluva product.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

We have about 10 various pairs of their implements around here.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I saw Fiskars on How It's Made a few weeks ago. I love that they have someone who listens to the scissors before sending them off to packaging.

[UnCivilServant]

If they don't make that ominous scissors sound, I don't want them. The only thing creepier are the giggles of small children.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I like to sew, my brand of choice is Gingher from Germany.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Can you recommend the best way to learn to sew leather, Elspeth? Should I take a regular sewing class and extrapolate that to leather, or should I look for a class specific to leather? DC is surprisingly lacking in leather classes, unfortunately.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I haven't had a machine that can handle leather. Special needles, super-duty machine, as far as I am aware.

My sister is better equipped to handle that task, so I'd go to her. If you want, I can get some info from her for you, and get the info to you.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That would be awesome - I do know that I need a special machine, but not sure if the pattern-making, etc. is different than sewing with fabric.

[Kaptious Kristen]

If you want, you can send an email to the address in my user name.

[Elspeth Flashman]

done and done. Happy sewing!

[sloopyinca]

Ask Banjos about it. She was a theatre major (useless degree, I know) and did tons of costuming.

She said you need an industrial sewing machine. A Singer 321D or a Techsew is a good entry-level machine.

[Bobarian]

Ooo, ooo, leather and a boob job?

What's going on here?

[Slumbrew]

Some sort of DHS plant, designed to infiltrate libertarian extremist communities, like this one.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nothing zexy, I'm afraid. I see an opening in the concealed carry handbag market. In fact, I'm also considering making cute, girly holsters as well, to go with those stupid pink guns they're selling nowadays. And cute gun cases. There is a decided lack of fashion and femininity in the gun market.

[Gray Ghost]

Kristen is absolutely correct, from listening to the GF. I showed her some of Mitch Rosen's gun bags, and the words, "Butt-ugly" "Um, I like dudes." and "Blah" were used.

Jeez, they weren't that bad. But what do I know?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I have been to two gun shows, and all of the concealed carry handbag vendors had fugly & bugly bags. Ugly colors, ugly hardware, ugly design. The only thing they had going for them were that they were pretty much all genuine leather.

If I could make bags as awesome as Kate Spade, with a concealed carry pocket, I think I could do some bidness!

[Gray Ghost]

I was thinking Judith Leiber---there's something funny to me about a jeweled clutch with room for a .380 or a .22 WMR derringer, not to mention the structure of a clutch helps avoid printing---but the GF has enough Spade that I think you're onto something.

The thing about a CC bag is that it's got to hold the pistol securely, while still allowing you to quickly draw and present the pistol, and seal well enough to make sure nothing gets into the gun pouch or snags the trigger. If it doesn't print the shape and tell everyone, "Hey, I'm carrying!" that's a bonus.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I'd be totally up for something cute & cool to carry with. Great idea!

[Live Free or Diet]

Not to be confused with Fiskars, which makes a helluva product.

I have all sorts of Fiskars yard tools, including the sharpest axe I've ever owned.

[Spoonman.]

I completely busted the head of one of their rakes, took a picture, and they sent me a new one.

Simple as that.

[Lord Humungus]

GOP seeks $4B for ObamaCare program
http://thehill.com/homenews/ho.....e-increase

House Republicans are trying to pump $4 billion into an ObamaCare program.

The Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill Wednesday to beef up funding for the healthcare law's high-risk insurance pools, which have stopped accepting new patients due to a lack of funding.

The additional money for high-risk pools would come out of another part of the healthcare law ? its fund for prevention and public health, which Republicans decry as a "slush fund."

[John]

Morons. Don't seek another dime for Obamacare. The Dems own it. Trying to prop it up will only make it easier for the Dems to blame Republicans.

[Virginian]

That's why the GOP is the Stupid Party. The Dems never go out of their way to fund or support GOP policy. They have to be dragged into it. But the GOP eagerly serves to implement socialism.

Almost like they're just the Goldstein.

[WTF]

They aren't called "The Stupid Party" for nothing.

[Virginian]

http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2.....r-manhunt/

Another convert.

[Live Free or Diet]

"How about a machine gun then?" Feinstein asked. "We did away with machine guns because of how they're used. I think we should do away with assault weapons because of how they're used."

Machine guns were banned for being almost never used in crimes? Or was she worried about how they were used in movies?

[Virginian]

Machine guns were "banned" because of the crime wave caused by Prohibition.

[Fist of Etiquette]

General Fang Fenghui, the Chinese army chief of staff, compared cyberattacks to nuclear weapons during a meeting with his American counterpart.

He then rearranged the furniture for a better flow.

[LTC(ret) John]

*narrows gaze a bit*

Wait, I said I'd let things like this go. Carry on, Fist.

[Bardas Phocas]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l.....SragN801HN

"I will fuck you like a Teacher."

Public education at its best.

[WTF]

That's because we don't pay teachers enough, you know.

[Ted S.]

When you make love to a teacher,
You're bound to have an amazing night;
She'll make you do it again and again,
Until you get it right.

[generic Brand]

He recalled watching the NCAA basketball tournament in the room, where she videotaped their sex acts before driving him home. She later bought him a $300 pair of Nike Pewter sneakers because "she was worried about getting in trouble," the report says.

In May, an employee at another school heard about Driscoll's misconduct from another girl and alerted authorities.

I don't care who you are, "watching the NCAA basketball tournament in the room", "videotaped... sex acts", and "a $300 pair of Nike Pewter sneakers" is not rape, especially for a 16 year old boy.

[invisible furry hand]

Anthony Weiner's new Twitter feed is nowhere near as good as the old one

[Rich]

Weiner spurts: Fighting to keep New York City the Capital of the Middle Class.

[UnCivilServant]

Foul on this Twit.

I challenge the word "keep".

[Zakalwe]

Michael Bay apologizes for Armageddon. Finally.

[robc]

Im still waiting for my personal apology/refund from John Woo for Face/Off.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I'm going to take his face... off

[Fist of Etiquette]

Apologizes that it was so awesome it ruined films for everyone? It's every other "filmmaker" who should apologize for taking our money for their comparatively sorry wares.

[PS]

Needz moar shaky cam!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

THINGS ARE SHAKY ON A METEOR. If you didn't want scientific realism then you should have watched Deep Impact. MOUNTAINS WITHIN DIRT BIKING DISTANCE FROM VIRGINA BEACH? COME ON!

[PS]

Preaching to the choir FoE.

Life is a shaky cam. Future generations will see Michael Bay's great shaky cam contributions to the art of film making for the true innovative genius it deserves!

[UnCivilServant]

Film isn't life, I want steadycam!

[PS]

Shaky cam should be always filmed in steadycam before the wondrous filter is applied.

One day you will understand the beauty and grandeur.

[a better weapon]

Gee, its nice to see someone else here can appreciate the cinematic arts. Thanks, Fist!

[Lord Humungus]

Baby's Latest: Going Diaperless
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04.....-park.html

When Jada Shapiro decided to raise her daughter from birth without diapers, for the most part, not everyone was amused. Ms. Shapiro scattered little bowls around the house to catch her daughter's offerings, and her sister insisted that she use a big, dark marker to mark the bowls so that they could never find their way back to the kitchen.

"My sister wasn't a huge fan," she said on Thursday.

But "elimination communication," as the diaper-free method of child-rearing is called, is finding an audience in the hipper precincts of New York City.

[invisible furry hand]

oh goody, this again

[Bam!]

But "elimination communication," as the diaper-free method of child-rearing is called...

This isn't child-rearing: It's neglect.

[Zeb]

Not if you clean up after them. I think it sounds pretty silly, but as long as they don't let their baby shit in my house, I don't see a problem.

[Live Free or Diet]

As someone who is just finishing up raising 4 kids, I'm going to take a lot of convincing on this.

[Zeb]

What, that it's not neglect? Having babies shit their pants doesn't seem much better (provided the pantsless babies are properly cleaned up after).

[Elspeth Flashman]

Eww! I can imagine the people who are into this. . . I imagine they also let children breastfeed until the child is ready to give up the breast.

[Matrix]

It was a drizzly Tuesday...

[LTC(ret) John]

Every time I think hipsters cannot sink any lower, they prove me wrong. I guess Peak Hipster is like Peak Derp - approachable, but never attained.

[PS]

Actually there is some validity in this. Here in Eastern Europe kids were typically toilet trained starting at 6 months. Not to save the environment or anything, but because there were no disposable diapers or cloth diaper service.

[mad libertarian guy]

There is a reason that much of eastern Europe is a shithole.

[db]

I don't know; as I said yesterday, it seems kind of barbaric to wrap a shitcatcher around a human child and basically tell them "let me know when you fill that mother up--Mommy's got something important to do."

Plus it seems like it might shorten the toilet training time. The downside is the level of attention it would require.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It seems to me that there's something barbaric about a kid shitting all over the floor or crib.

You're going to be cleaning the kid either way. The way that reduces the shit in the carpet and on the hardwood floors seems preferable. If you're watching the kid so closely that you think you can catch it all, you're watching closely enough that the kid wouldn't be walking around with a pantload.

If the parents don't want diapers on their kids in their houses, that's fine. Don't bring that approach out to the sidewalks, playgrounds, and restaurants.

[db]

By all means, use a diaper when you're in public with your kid. I just think there has to be a way to get children trained earlier. As with most things, kids learn way faster than their parents can imagine. We don't introduce kids to complex math and science anywhere near as early as we could. It seems they could learn toilet training much earlier too.

[mad libertarian guy]

If you're watching the kid so closely that you think you can catch it all, you're watching closely enough that the kid wouldn't be walking around with a pantload you're watching too goddamn closely.

The last thing a child needs is to have their parent following them around so closely that they can legitimately catch every piece of shit that falls out said kid's ass.

Don't be fucking nasty. That kid is going to shit his bed. Is it more cruel to confine dookie to the diaper, or let him roll around with a log for 6 or 7 hours at night.

[Michael]

They usually put them on at night and for trips to stores, restaurants and the like, though not necessarily for naps or going to the park, where it is easier to go on the ground or behind a tree.

I guess it might shorten training time as long as the goal is to have your kid eventually become a dumpster diving crust punk that shits in public.

[mad libertarian guy]

where it is easier to go on the ground or behind a tree.

Seriously? There are people that are okay with kids shitting on the ground in a park? GTFO. If I ever saw a kid shitting behind a tree in public, that parent would get the cussing of their life.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

My sister was toilet trained really early too. She wore diapers, but my mom would watch her like a hawk and any time it looked like she had to go, mom would grab her and whisk her to the bathroom and hold her over the (real) toilet. She was pretty much toilet trained before she could walk, which would have been a problem if my mom hadn't been around all the time, but it actually worked pretty well.

[Tejicano]

This is pretty much the way most Chinese do it. I'm not sure at what age they start but when it is time the mother keeps an eye on the baby to get a feel for when it is about to "go" and then takes it to the toilet. Supposedly in short order the kid is potty trained.

On my first trip to China in 1988 all the babies wore a kind of "onesie" which had an open slit at the crotch - no diapers anywhere in the country back then.

[Rich]

General Fang Fenghui, the Chinese army chief of staff, compared cyberattacks to nuclear weapons during a meeting with his American counterpart.

IIRC, the US has made more-or-less the same comparison.

Let the shooting war over hacking begin.

[NeonCat]

From the Defense Industry Daily summary of Verizon's Data Breach Investigations Report (emphasis mine):

"For the majority (75%) of breaches in our dataset, the threat actor's country of origin was discoverable, and these were distributed across 40 different nations. It's fascinatingly apparent that motive correlates very highly with country of origin. The majority of financially motivated incidents involved actors in either the U.S. or Eastern European countries (e.g., Romania, Bulgaria, and the Russian Federation). 96% of espionage cases were attributed to threat actors in China and the remaining 4% were unknown."

http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2013/

[Lord Humungus]

Toomey vs. the NRA
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....mey-vs-nra

Senator Pat Toomey defended his push for stricter gun legislation on Friday, but admitted, "I lost." In remarks to grassroots activists who came together at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, Toomey said, "Really, I'm not trying to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong, but I do want you to understand why I did what I did."

Acknowledging that the background-check provisions he was championing would not have made a difference in the Newtown massacre, the Pennsylvania lawmaker argued that they were valuable nonetheless, and might have prevented other mass shootings we have witnessed in recent years, like the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Senator Pat Toomey defended his push for stricter gun legislation on Friday, but admitted, "I lost."

Not yet, but it's coming.

[LTC(ret) John]

One can hope. Pour encourager les autres.

[Fist of Etiquette]

As a PA voter, I'll do my part. I don't care for the French there, though.

[LTC(ret) John]

OK - Yah, rip his nuts off dere - then others won't do it!

[db]

He won't get my vote. Never did, in fact.

[Stormy Dragon]

And who is the GOP gonna put up in his place? Another Santorum knock off like Tom Smith or Sam Rohrer?

[gaijin]

and might have prevented other mass shootings we have witnessed in recent years, like the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus.

Except for the fact that they wouldn't have done that either, Toomey is spot on!

[John]

Of course the guy at UVA had nothing in his background that would have prevented him from buying a weapon and he didn't as I remember use one of the evil assault rifles. But you keep telling yourself that Pat. It will give you comfort during your upcoming retirement.

[Virginian]

At Tech. Not UVA, at Tech. No one would kill himself at UVA, for their are many lovely girls.

Tech not so much.

[John]

Yeah. I mistyped it. And having lived in Charlotesville for a year, you are correct. That is probably my favorite small city in America.

[Virginian]

University towns usually are pretty nice. All that sweet government money, and even sweeter young things.

[John]

Yes they are. But C'Ville is nice even for a university town. It is just so damn pretty out there and a great climate too, mild winters and mild summers.

[Sheriff Bart]

For those of you not from Virginia, let me clarify a horrible misconception being promulgated in this thread.

Charlottesville is a great city, I will admit, but it looks drab and drear compared to Blacksburg. And the coeds are MUCH prettier at VT- just check out the cheerleaders when VT and UVA play this fall.

Cheers!

[John]

In fairness Bart, COEDS are beautiful everywhere and especially south of the Mason Dixon line. But sorry, no way is C'ville drap compared to Blacksburg.

[Live Free or Diet]

As a Virginia Tech alum, I might agree about the coeds, but Charlottesville itself is a better-looking town than Blacksburg.

[deified]

You can spend one fun weekend in Charlottesville. One.

[Virginian]

VT girls are more fun in general, because there are less stuck up bitches and more country girls who like to shoot guns and know that whiskey is a perfectly acceptable drink.

But UVA has a more diverse population of women, and they're in general sexually looser. Plus Cville is 1.5 hours from Richmond, and Blacksburg is twice that.

I has a sad though, the last of my good friends are leaving school this year, so no more crashing on their couches and indulging in debauchery with the coeds.

[John]

I was too old to be chasing COEDs when I lived there. But I could see UVA COEDs being high maintenance. Caitlyn Flannagan is a UVA alum. If you don't know who she is, she wrote a column in the WSJ a few years ago saying that fraternities ought to be banned. In it she talks about being a UVA Freshman and walking down fraternity row and being scared by all of the big fraternity houses. I kid you not. She also wrote a book called "To Hell With That" which is basically a 300 page meditation on how tough it is to be a rich bitch at UVA who went on to marry a rich husband and live as a housewife in West LA.

[deified]

Cville to Richmond is exactly one hour going East on I-64.

[deified]

Virginian: with all due respect, you crazy.

If there are loose women in Charlottesville, they eluded me. And dammit, son, I was looking.

The downtown mall is OK and I was fond of the farmers' market. Foxfields is a good time.

[sloopyinca]

There's so much ignorance in this thread, I'm about to lose my fucking shit. If you want pound-for-pound chick hotness and a beautiful place to live in the Commonwealth, look no further than Roanoke. Hell, the Roanoke College girls are more than on par with their UVa and Tech counterparts, and they've got money to boot. And the fact that B-burg is only an hour away (and so are the Mattressbacks at Radford) makes it all the better.

At least, all of what I said was true 17 years ago when I left for Puerto Rico.

[John]

Yeah but Roanoke sucks though. There is nothing there.

[Virginian]

My dad is from Roanoke. Roanoke is nice. Never been to Roanoke College though.

I do know Radford girls though. When all else fails....they'll be there.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And the Charlottesville area feature some of the yummiest wines in the United States. Might I recommend Barboursville 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve? I'll sell it to you for $500.

[sloopyinca]

Meh, having experienced VA wine country and the CA wine countries, I'm sad to say the wines out here are far, far superior.

It pains me to say that, but it's just the truth.

[John]

I am with sloopy. VA wine is drinkable. There are some nice wines to be had. But it doesn't have the depth of flavor California wine does. Not sure if it is the soil or maybe the age of the vines. But no way is VA as good as California.

[Sheriff Bart]

sloopy-

Have any recommmendations? My wife and I prefer reds like Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc and Chambourcin.

[sloopyinca]

Cabernets:
Cakebread.
Caymus Special
Corley Reserve

I'm really a Pinot fan, so:
Hug Rancho Ontiveros Cellars
Ghostwriter
Twomey Anderson Valley

Watch to make sure you get the right vineyard from a winery. For instance, there's a big difference in the Twomey Anderson Valley and their Russian River Valley Pinots. One is average and the other is brilliant.

[Stormy Dragon]

My favorite wine right now is Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet.

[Gray Ghost]

Ooh, a wine sub-thread.

For Bart, what styles of Cabs do you like? More extract and oak? Leaner? Ready to drink now or needs 10 years? Fruitier? Also, how much $$$ do you want to spend?

Caymus SS is really good in the full oak, fruity, ashy-oak style. At ~$160, it's a bit pricey for me. I really like Karl Lawrence, which is kinda in the same style, but cheaper and better.

Chateau Montelena makes some of the best Cab Sauvignon going. Beringer's various PRs, Bancroft Ranch Merlot, PR Cab are excellent examples of the type, for again, not an insane amount of money (though they ain't cheap). If you like Meritage-style blends, I love Joseph Phelps' Insignia, but again be prepared to spend ~$175/btl. White Cottage Lane is probably the apotheosis of the jammy style of cab. Won't age, but who cares? If you like brooding, dark Cab that needs 10 years and will reward you for doing so, hard to do better than Ridge Monte Bello.

[Gray Ghost]

Re. Pinot, it really depends again, on what style you like. Cotton-candy strawberry flavors? Find one from Carneros. I like Saintsbury, especially their Brown Ranch. Tea and tomato? Something from Anderson valley. Navarro is well worth your time, and stupid affordable. Bit more complexity, with raspberry flavors and other herbs, then something from Russian River Valley. Flowers and Failla are good starters, and then Kistler if you're really spendy (though I think they're a better Chard house). Rochioli and Williams Selyem too. Joseph Swan makes excellent, age-worthy Pinot for moderate amounts of money. So too, does Mt. Eden Vineyards down in the Santa Cruz mtns. Lastly, there are a bunch of great producers in the Santa Barbara area, Sanford and Au Bon Climat probably the easiest to find. Talley is worth your time too.

Probably forgetting a bunch of producers, but that should get you started. Oregon PN is fantastic too, but we were talking about CA.

I really want to get out to VA and go tasting. Horton makes probably the best Viognier in the U.S, and I've heard good things about Barboursville and Oasis too.

[Sheriff Bart]

Kristen-

You are a woman with great taste.

Just bought a 2010 Keswick Cab Sauv Reserve that I am going to cellar for at least 10 years. It is awesome now (I had a glass at the winery), so I can't wait to open it in 2021.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I've been waiting for a super-special occasion to drink my wine, and nothing has come up. I think I may just drink it for the hell of it now.

[sloopyinca]

Banjos and I are going to change half of our beer-making gear to winemaking. I've got some wineries for customers, and a couple of them are top-notch. I've been promised some good grapes this harvest to make our own...and I could get some juice any time I want.

By the late fall, I would expect us to have quite a few excess bottles with the "Banjoopy" label.

[John]

Sloopy,

I found home wine making to be easier than home brewing. I stopped doing it because while I could make better beer cheaper than I could buy, there are so many good cheap wines available, making it at home wasn't that much of a benefit. But if you can do it for profit, it is I think a better business than brewing.

[Gray Ghost]

Which ones, sloopy, if you don't mind me asking?

[sloopyinca]

J Lohr for starters. I've got a big customer that grows for them in Paso Robles who is also a good friend. Berardo as well down there. Up north, I can get them from CSJ.

I wish I could get a connection at Schug.

[Gray Ghost]

Amazing how the quality's gone up in Paso over the years, especially on the East Side. I remember when it was Wild Horse and then...nobody really; all of the interesting stuff was West: Justin, HMR, Ridge's Dusi Ranch Zin.

Chateau St. Jean can have some fantastic fruit; I've really liked Cab Francs I've had from them, and their Etoile Sav. Blanc is pretty good too. Pity they don't do the LH Riesling thing anymore.

[deified]

I thought it was Mayo-making?

[deified]

Okay, I lived in Charlottesville for many years and I really wonder: what you like about it so much?

[a better weapon]

UVA is where that lacrosse player murdered his lacrosse girlfriend. No longer the sport's power couple.

Wasn't that around the same time as the Tech shooting?

[John]

A bit after. What a piece of shit that guy is. Beat the hell out of her for years and then when she finally dumped him he beat her to death. Just absolutely pathetic and sad.

[Virginian]

How come you only get 20 years for murder? Especially in VA. What the fuck?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I think they couldn't prove premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt. They claimed it was a "heat of passion" type thing.

[John]

That is what they claimed. But mostly it was because he was a rich college white kid. And don't think for a moment juries don't take that into account. He should never see the light of day again. But sadly he will.

[Zeb]

Probably because it wasn't premeditated or something. Sometimes I wonder if premeditation should really be the deciding factor in how seriously to treat a murder. Seems like someone who would beat someone to death in a fit of rage is more dangerous (or at least as dangerous) to society in general than someone who does a deliberate murder for a specific reason. I guess it depends a lot on whether you think that prison is more for retribution based on moral culpability, or to keep dangerous people away from everyone else.

[John]

Zeb,

I remember reading a case in law school about mens rea. It involved a guy who stabbed his girlfriend a hundred times killing her. The ruling was that since he didn't intend to kill her with any individual stab, he was not guilty of premeditated murder. I always found the concepts of premeditation and mens rea troubling in many cases.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Unless the things that drive them to a fit of rage are all over the place, I don't see how that's the case.

[deified]

Good thing he didn't have a pound of cannabis. He'd never again see the sun!

#WTFprioritiesVirginia?!?

[Bee Tagger]

Chris Christie is set to introduce even more gun control for New Jersey, whose gun owners already face among the most restrictions in the country.

He also supports the "Marketplace Fairness Act":
The proposal has the support of a host of governors, including Republicans Chris Christie of New Jersey...

[John]

If he wasn't dead as a R Presidential Candidate before, he is dead now.

[Drake]

I need a real link on the gun control story.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I'm just looking forward to the Equalization of Opportunity Act and Directive 10-289. Then we can finally stabilize the nation in these times of crisis.

[robc]

And people say Rand's characters are 1-dimensional. Maybe they are, but thats because we keep electing real life 1D people.

[db]

That's a good way of putting it.

[Live Free or Diet]

I laughed so hard the cats are checking on me.

[LTC(ret) John]

They were hoping you would expire so they could eat your face, or they were concerned the one who opens the cans and cleans the litterbox was in danger?

[$park?]

Yes.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Art, in this case, seems to be a reflection of reality.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I am sad to say, Virginia's Bob McDonnell is on that list of governors supporting the online tax act.

I consider that a "fuck you, we cut our deal with Amazon, you're just a penny-ante bullshit company that has been collecting taxes for us for 30 goddamn years"

Fuck McDonnell. He'll never get my vote again.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He wants to cancel a pay raise for city employees that he previously negotiated with the city council.

Did these negotiations by any chance happen before his last re-election?

[Lord Humungus]

Being Black in China
http://intelligenttravel.natio.....-in-china/

My husband would be right behind me and then disappear into a crowd of elderly women intent on rubbing his bald head and pinching his black skin. Or my kids would suddenly go missing, pulled by some mother who was determined to have them pose with their son or daughter.

It was amusing at first. And then it wasn't. We couldn't concentrate on tours because of all the cameras pointed at us. We couldn't walk quickly due to the crowds swarming us. We were grumpy. What we looked like was ruining our chance to enjoy where we were.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I once saw a group of American basketball players in a McD's in Nanjing. There was a crowd around the windows on the street, looking in. Like a Macy's Christmas window display.

[Brett L]

When we went in 1991, my brother was still really blonde. We experience this at about 1/10th the intensity.

[Spoonman.]

My sister (white) went into rural Korea to visit some of her husband's relatives and got proposed to by about 100 random dudes.

[Jordan]

I'm not black, but even I drew some attention walking around China when I visited for 3 weeks. Furriners are still a bit of a novelty.

[PS]

A Swedish friend of mine was there in the early 80s. Said people would pull the hair on his arms. He does have rather hairy arms, actually.

[db]

I'm Swedish and have long blond hair and hairy arms. I got plenty of stares but the giant I was traveling with absorbed a lot of attention.

[a better weapon]

I'm 6'2" and white and I was still an appeal for people at Tiananmen square and in some of the slightly more rural places.

Shanghai, nobody gave a fuck.

Also, on a similar not, don't have a beard when you visit. My friend was refused service nearly everywhere we went (especially in Wuxi and Suzhou). Their depiction of devils or demons have full beards.

[db]

I traveled to China with a guy who is 6'9" and about 350 lb. The folks over there couldn't take their eyes off him. He got so much attention I was a little embarrassed for him.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Is your friend single.....? 😛

[db]

Well, he's not exactly a friend, but he could probably be single, given proper motivation.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Stuff like this happened to me all the time when I went to Mexico as a kid. I had nearly white blond hair and when we'd go into the towns, all the residents wanted to rub my head because they thought it was good luck.

[sloopyinca]

73 DUI convictions based on bullshit evidence. 73 lives partially ruined. 73 jobs affected and insurance rates jacked. What does it cost a crooked cop? One year of his life after a judge reduced the 5 years in prison to 1 year in jail.

[sloopyinca]

FTA (emphasis mine): Mullock's lawyers argued that their client didn't act with malice. They said his intentions were good: he wanted drunken drivers off the streets. Mullock, they noted, was remorseful for his actions

Um, I can think of few things more malicious than falsifying records and lying under oath to get innocent people convicted of a crime they didn't commit.

[Kaptious Kristen]

he wanted drunken drivers off the streets.

Then he should have been going after drunk drivers, non?

[gaijin]

Then he should have been going after drunk drivers, non?

When everyone is a potential drunk driver, he was just preventing crime.

/Copologist

[db]

As law enforcement officials and legislators everywhere know, it's easier and safer to create criminals out of thin air than to go after the real ones.

[thom]

The absurd part is that there are plenty of drunk drivers out there. Drive after 10PM on a Friday or Saturday night and you can easily pick out the drunks, weaving their way down the road. I've never understood why cops insist on busting sober people for DUI when there are plenty of drunks out there ripe for the picking.

[Rich]

Mullock, they noted, was remorseful for his actions

And this so-called "remorse" kicked in *when*, exactly?

[sloopyinca]

Probably when they were cuffing him so they could take him to spend five years in prison one year in jail.

[invisible furry hand]

Italian politician asks Germans to invade

[LTC(ret) John]

You know who else asked the Germans to invade?

[Brett L]

Not the Russians.

[Steve G]

Pearl Harbor?

[$park?]

The American Medical Association?

[a better weapon]

Mark Cuban?

[PS]

Sheriff Bart?

[Sheriff Bart]

Yes?

[sloopyinca]

Officer given 20 years 7 years for selling seized guns to known criminals in Maryland. One of them was used in the shooting of an off-duty cop.

I wonder if the ATF will petition for his early release and offer him a job in the southwest?

[Ted S.]

If that gun hadn't been used to shoot an off-duty cop, the guy would probably only have been given probation.

[I Dug It]

The Department of Energy has seized $21 million from Fisker

The WSJ headline this morning used the same phrasing, but from the story, it sounds like the DOE was just taking from a reserve account money that Fisker would not get if didn't meet certain benchmarks.

Just sayin'.

[John]

Giving 10K in tax credits to rich people to buy hundred thousand dollar golf carts was just a great use of taxpayer money.

[Rich]

The text of this legislation, which would fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the Library of Congress website over the weekend. And you thought ObamaCare was jammed through Nancy Pelosi's Democratic House in a hurry.

"Hey, look at Boston!"

[invisible furry hand]

Lego is opening its own school

more

[sloopyinca]

Those poor police officers in Beaverton, Oregon are so undercompensated that one of them had to resort to falsifying paperwork so he could get food stamps.

FTA: The Beaverton Police Department confirmed that an officer has been on administrative leave since Thursday or Friday but declined to give a name. The department also said the sheriff's office is investigating.

I hope that vacation he's been given makes him feel better about getting arrested.

[LTC(ret) John]

You monster! That should be a paid vacation. The poor guy...

[sloopyinca]

Oh, I'm sure it is. When they get it without pay, it's usually referred to as a suspension.

Of course, we'll never know if it's even him since in this day of transparency, they never release the names of officers put on leave because they're under criminal investigation.

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: waiting for Bar exam results here.

[invisible furry hand]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. Which Bar and when do you find out?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thanks, it was Michigan, and it should be any day now. I babysit the mail's arrival. Though, supposedly it could be somewhere in May that results are released.

[I Dug It]

Break a leg. Or find someone who's broken a leg on someone else's property. 😉

[Elspeth Flashman]

lulz.

[Spoonman.]

Greg Abbott, the Texas AG, sued somebody for that - he was jogging and somebody's tree fell on his legs, putting him in a wheelchair for life.

[T]

I would think being crippled for life is worth a few bucks if there's any negligence.

Also, Greg Abbott will be the next governor of Texas. Place your bets now if you think I'm wrong.

[Gray Ghost]

I think he's the frontrunner, T, but I don't think we've seen the last of Dewhurst. All this is moot though, if and when George P. Bush gets his political sea legs.

Isn't there a lady RxR Commissioner who's supposed to be among the up and coming too?

[db]

At Penn State in the early 1990s, a tree limb fell during the class change and crushed a student to death. It was a completely freak accident but it resulted in the university cutting down a number of American Elms around campus. It was a tragic flyuke that resulted in not only the death of a student but the destruction of several examples of an endangered species at the insistence of an insurance company.

I'm not one of those folks who think that peopleshould be sacrificed for the sake if an endangered species, but the situation could have been handled much better.

[Stormy Dragon]

They cut down the elm trees because they have the oldest surviving stand of them in the country and the only way to keep them from getting wiped out by dutch elm disease is by cutting down any that start to show symptoms of it.

[db]

That's not the only reason they cut down a bunch of trees. I am fully aware of the Dutch Elm disease problem. The cutting down of many uninfected trees in the '90s was due to insurance concerns brought on by the incident I cited.

[Stormy Dragon]

That incident may have resulted in a particular tree getting cut down, but they'e not cutting trees down willy nilly for liability reasons as you suggest. The vast majority of the fellings are disease related.

[Lord Humungus]

how many drinks does it take to complete the bar exam?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I did not drink _during_ the bar exam.

[$park?]

Is this the bar you walked into? Was there a priest and a rabbi with you? A piece of string?

[Lord Humungus]

a 6 and 1/2" pianist?

[db]

An engineer and a union mechanic walk into a bar.

The mechanic gets disbility for life and the engineer gets fired for not redesigning the bar higher.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Good luck!!

[Elspeth Flashman]

Thanks!

[sloopyinca]

This is not a reprint from yesterday. That case of a cop getting ten years after picking a woman up in his cruiser and sexually assaulting her was from Alabama. This one is from Louisiana.

[Virginian]

I'm continuing my Law and Order SVU binge. Last night I watched an episode where the cops sodomized a guy to death with a plunger, based on true events if I recall.

The hilarious part was how the cops were working diligently to uncover the dirty cop and bring him to justice. Wouldn't that be great if it were true?

[LTC(ret) John]

Isn't fiction grand?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Yes, it was based on true events, from Detroit's finest, IIRC.

[invisible furry hand]

Yup, it's a real case. In the Abner Louima case the main perp got 30 years, but nothing/slaps on the wrist for the guys who helped cover it up

[Elspeth Flashman]

Ok, not Detroit, thanks for the link.

[John]

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....st-go-away

NYC wants to make you be 21 to buy cigarettes. But you can of course get an abortion at 14.

[Rich]

Well, to be fair, can't you buy candy cigarettes at 14?

[sarcasmic]

I thought candy cigs were illegal.

[Rich]

They jolly well ought to be.

They drip all over your shirt when you try to light them.

[Zeb]

They're called candy sticks now and don't have the orange end anymore.

[B.P.]

I gave out gum cigarettes to trick-or-treaters last Holloween. Some of the parental expressions I received were priceless.

[Lord Humungus]

what's the age for candy abortions?

[$park?]

I think they'll let anyone eat carob.

[Elspeth Flashman]

*gagging sound*

[gaijin]

NYC wants to make you be 21 to buy cigarettes. But you can of course get an abortion at 14.

yeah but cigarettes kill people!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Yeah, I see what you did there.

[sloopyinca]

Nice little repo outfit you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.

[SugarFree]

Does Your Vagina Even Lift, Bro?

"Vagina weightlifting" was started by Russian gymnast Tatyana Kozhevnikovam ? a woman who, unsurprisingly, holds the Guinness World Record for vagina weightlifting and can lift a 30-pound kettlebell with her vag. G'damn. Tatyana calls it "Intimate Gymnastics" (seems like a real wasted opportunity to use "gymnasty" here) and you'll have to go to Russia to learn from the best/only/why?

[sloopyinca]

Why?

[John]

It is like some kind of bizarre Olympic event for Tijuana strippers.

[Lord Humungus]

what happens in Tijuana, stays in Tijuana.

[sloopyinca]

what happens in Tijuana, stays in Tijuana.

...thanks to penicillin.

[Rich]

How?

[gaijin]

Does Your Vagina Even Lift, Bro?

haha. Yeah, looks like you have a little chicken wing vagina.

[sarcasmic]

I don't care how thin the Ke$ha creature gets, it's still gross.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....nline.html

[sarcasmic]

Caught a couple minutes of 'Shake it Up' yesterday.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....miere.html
I want those minutes back.

[sarcasmic]

What happens in a free country when you yell 'Fuck the police!'?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....olice.html
Jail.

[WTF]

In a free country? Nothing.

Here, on the other hand....

[a better weapon]

Haven't there been numerous federal court rulings that protect that kind of language directed at an LEO?

[sarcasmic]

Since when did police have to care what the courts say about their conduct?

[sarcasmic]

Tried this "age test" and said I'm 8yrs younger than I really am.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-time.html

[Lord at War]

Sweet! I tested as 31- (I'm actually 48).

[sarcasmic]

Think you don't live in a police state? Think again.
http://www.infowars.com/shocki.....wat-teams/

[Ted S.]

I don't think I've seen Sarcasmic yet, so for all of you who haven't gotten your softcore fix yet:

1970s miniskirts, courtesy of The Price Is Right

[Bam!]

It's amazing how ugly the 70s were.

[WTF]

The 70s in general were ugly. Miniskirts, however, were awesome.

[Ted S.]

I should point out that Sarcasmic only showed up while I was writing my previous post, which now looks silly since it's below a whole host of his Daily Fail links.

[Tim]

He's a fuckin' scourge he is.

[Lord Humungus]

ah, the 1970s: when there was a collective what the fuck? moment in fashion, cars, and society.

I blame the rampant cocaine use.

[John]

But the women were thinner and had better legs.

[Lord Humungus]

hey, I sorta-kinda love the 70s. Sure, the pubic hair were like wide untamed forests, but there was a sort of party/freedom vibe going on back then.

[John]

Absolutely. My siblings all came of age in the 70s. Things were a bit fucked up. For example, I didn't have a single high school classmate commit suicide or die of a drug overdose. My siblings had several. And we all went to pretty much identical schools. The drugs really were out of control and that took some people to a very dark place.

But life with no AIDs and only treatable STDs, sans herpes, would have been great. A lot better than the 80s. And I don't mind pubic hair.

[invisible furry hand]

And I don't mind pubic hair.

Great, just what we needed - you and sarcasmic to argue about correct crotch grooming

[sarcasmic]

He likes hairy fatties. I don't. What's to argue about?

[John]

And you like hairless masculine types.

[Tim]

Really it's an environmental issue. An intact mature forest sequesters a lot more carbon than an area that's been clear cut. Then you have the run off pollution...

[John]

Here is the thing, any man who says he would kick an otherwise attractive woman out of bed over this issue is either lying some kind of serious weirdo. So, while it might be a preference for some, it is not a very important preference.

[sarcasmic]

Here is the thing, any man who says he would kick an otherwise attractive woman out of bed over this issue is either lying some kind of serious weirdo.

Ever gotten a rash from vag stubble?

Or have I said too much...

[John]

Small price to pay.

[Zeb]

"Ever gotten a rash from vag stubble?"

Well, yes. But that is only a problem with people who remove their pubic hair. I think trimmed close is the way to go.

[Brett L]

I've given enough beard burn to be okay with getting some once in a while.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

I've given enough beard burn to be okay with getting some once in a while.

I'm glad someone is man enough to admit this.

Also, in future, you should tell her you're just trying to help her exfoliate.

[Brett L]

in future, you should tell her you're just trying to help her exfoliate.

I wear the full beard now, which means that the gf doesn't have to worry about unplanned exfoliation.

[sarcasmic]

I've given enough beard burn to be okay with getting some once in a while.

"Honey.... I just shaved.... You know what that means..."

[Tim]

People took Hugh Hefner seriously back then.

[kinnath]

I got married in '76.

[John]

I bet your wedding pictures are groovtacular.

[Kaptious Kristen]

OMG....kinnath must post the pics ASAP. I bet they're almost as good as ghetto prom.

[John]

Kristin,

My inlaws got married in 1972 in a North Shore Boston, Irish, Italian wedding. Their pictures are just awesome. My father in laws side burns and mustache were forces of nature.

[kinnath]

I was feeling old as it was, then John lets me know I am almost old enough to be his father-in-law.

[John]

My wife is a bit younger than me Kinnath. So you are not quite that old.

[kinnath]

I am relieved. Now git off my fucking lawn 😉

[kinnath]

They've all been lost or something or other.

[Kaptious Kristen]

My parents got married in '63, which was kind of that in-beween time form the crinolines of the 50's and the polyester of the late 60's & 70's. Their wedding pics never looked cheesy or dated, consequently, which is too bad.

[John]

Kristin,

I think fashion really kind of peaked in the late 50s and early 60s. People just looked stylish. My wife and I had a wedding right out of the late 50s. And it looked great.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

"There we were in the middle of a sexual revolution wearing clothes that guaranteed we wouldn't get laid." - Denis Leary

[sloopyinca]

The only black lady in those pics is wearing a Muumuu. That's some racist-ass shit right there.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Actually I used to think the 70s were barf-tastic, but now I love the styles.

[Ted S.]

I was born in 1972. I remember when I was a kid I tried to color people in my coloring books as wearing plaid pants. 🙂

[Elspeth Flashman]

holy almost-muff shots.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

That is no joke!

[kinnath]

mini-skirts, short-shorts, and halter tops. The 70's were a good time to be a young male.

[Ted S.]

And no tramp stamps.

[Elspeth Flashman]

bonus.

[Lord Humungus]

and dig the Vega.

[kinnath]

I had a Vega for a while.

Have you ever read about the development of the Vega? It was a true cluster fuck.

[Zeb]

And Bob Barker fucked all of them.

[sloopyinca]

Didn't I see this in a movie involving the Three Stooges?

Super-badass FBI agent scales unlocked gate in high-intensity raid.

Sorry, but this just made me laugh.

[Virginian]

Yeah I saw that the other day. Also made me laugh a lot.

[Jerry on the boat]

Next time he will confiscate the news team's video footage...

[sloopyinca]

FTA: A blood-pumping raid by the FBI on a New Jersey home turned into the butt of hundreds of online jokes when an agent's dramatic climb over a gate proved far more embarrassing than necessary.

Look at the first few seconds of the video and see if you can spot what doesn't belong.

[John]

http://www.getonhand.com/blogs.....t-pictures

Pictures from the giant cockup that was the Boston marathon bomber shootout. Look how narrow the street is. The cops have tanks now. How the hell did they not block off both ends of the street so the guy couldn't drive away?

[tarran]

Because it wasn't a planned operation.

Here's the thing:

1) Watertown PD are essentially a street gang that makes money off of traffic stops and 'guarding' work crews. It's a protection racket that occasionally stops or solves crimes.

2) The Town of Watertown is a long and narrow town with roads running along the long axis connected primarily by small streets. Most roads are narrow enough that one is slaloming parked cars driving down them.

3) In my experience, Watertown cops are extremely belligerent and contemptuous of the citizenry - very much the 'Respect mah authoritah; types. They tend to aggressively take charge and can be very reckless or demonstrating poor situational awareness.

With this background, the contact was initiated by a single police officer who observed the vehicle being sought. He immediately tried to stop the vehicle. This has a very high risk of a violent outcome, but is actually quite defensible since it disrupts their plans and can pin them in a spot.

But, because it was hastily done, and the dispatchers were throwing reinforcements into the mix with only generalized guidance, it was the football equivalent of an audible rather than a set play. And, of course things went wrong.

And, one can argue that it didn't go too wrong; the shootout achieved a mission kill. But one can see that their aim completely sucked, and it posed a pretty great danger to the unfortunates living there.

[John]

They knew who these guys were. Didn't they find them outside their apartment? How is it that one local flatfoot is the guy who found them?

[tarran]

They weren't near their apartment. They were in the next town over. The cops knew roughly where they were from SIGINT, basically the driver's cell phone's emissions.

The cops had a description of one, possibly both vehicles, and were searching the neighborhood. One cop hit the jackpot and drove down the right street at the right time.

[John]

Well, that does excuse the cops to some degree. And I have to give the first cop credit. Going after them like that took a lot of balls and is the kind of thing we pay cops for.

[sarcasmic]

It's a protection racket that occasionally stops or solves crimes.

How is that any different from any other police department?

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Well, police departments in big cities actually do have to go around doing something other than traffic stops all day. Sadly, despite our homicide count, the CPD does do some actual crime-fighting on a normal basis.

[John]

yeah. As bad as big city cops can be, they generally do have things to do and can be easier to deal with than suburban cops who have nothing better to do than fuck with people.

[sloopyinca]

the CPD does do some actual crime-fighting on a normal basis.

And in the interests of equal time, they commit felonies at the same rate they solve them at.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Presumably. But they may have built up a nice backlog of corruption with the whole Burge torture business.

[Stormy Dragon]

And, one can argue that it didn't go too wrong; the shootout achieved a mission kill.

Only because Harold decided to turn Kumar into a road pizza.

[sloopyinca]

So I'm on vacation this week and we're staying at my sister's house. Her husband is the last MP officer in Iraq and he just got his orders for his next gig. Looks like he's going to be commanding the police forces at West Point starting late this summer and will be there for three years.

Needless to say, they're all pretty stoked since it was his first choice.

[John]

That is awesome. Congratulations to him. Being the PMO at West Point would be a totally sweet job. That is about as quiet as it gets. He should have two or three years of lousy football, great scenery and nine to five hours. Good for him.

[sloopyinca]

I guess the OSC-I in Iraq, General Caslen, told him to put it at the top of his list. He's going to be the new superintendent there.

[John]

That is how it works. Get a general to say he wants you to work for him and you are in.

[$park?]

So what kind of fucked up dirtbag is your sister's husband?

[sloopyinca]

He's the best kind. Enlisted and went through OCS, which is what men do.*

My dad went through OCS after being drafted in 1968. He still gives my b-i-l shit for how soft it's become. I guess they don't have to dig 6x6x6 holes with spades and do a funeral with full honors for a donut dropped on the mess hall floor anymore...on the first weekend they were supposed to get to see their spouses/girlfriends.

[Kaptious Kristen]

West Point is beautiful. Too bad NY and CT (which is an easy commute) both suck ass.

[Fluffy]

http://www.thestar.com/news/ca.....p_cbc.html

Canadian bomb plotters were turned in by their imam.

[John]

Well apparently the RCMP actually knows what to do when they get a tip about dangerous people. Maybe we should contract them to replace the FBI.

That said, that is funny. Good for the Imam. These clowns' sense of betrayal must be priceless.

[Fluffy]

I'm not 100% sure I will unhesitatingly applaud when a religious leader turns in a member of their congregation for something, but in this case I wanted to point this news story out for the benefit of the Pam Gellers of the world who keep demanding that the Muslim community police itself even though it kinda sorta already does.

[John]

In this case it certainly did. And they have every reason to. The last thing you want if you are a Muslim is other Muslim blowing shit up. It would be like if you stumbled on a Libertarian terror plot. You would sure as hell turn them in out of both a sense of morality and out of political self interest.

[Fluffy]

Well...I need more details on this libertarian terror plot first.

Is Bloomberg involved?

I might have to pull a Sergeant Shultz on that one.

[John]

Well if it is Bloomberg or Fats Christie...

[Fluffy]

I kid, I kid. OF COURSE I would immediately turn the plotters in.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

DHS has been notified.

[nipplemancer]

Pressure Cookers! #1

Pressure Cookers! #2

[T]

I have been toying with getting a pressure cooker, since several of my cookbooks say you can get good results in less time, which is always a plus. I think if I do, I'm going to pay cash.

[$park?]

Untraceable transaction, eh? Just the sort of thing a terrorist would do.

[Jerry on the boat]

Being a molecular gastronomist these days means you end up on every watch list out there.

[Gray Ghost]

Cook's Illustrated had a great article in either the last issue or the one before, on pressure cookers and good recipes for them. Supposed to be the best way of making really rich chicken stock.

I'm not sure if it'd be more alarming paying cash for one or not.

[Slumbrew]

It'd certainly be funnier. The reactions would be... interesting.

[John]

http://m.guardiannews.com/comm.....-home-moms

Female Ivy league graduates have a duty to stay in the workforce!! So much for feminism being about freedom and choice.

[Virginian]

How many Ivy League graduates are actually employed in productive jobs? I mean...leaving aside all the government employees, people who work for government funded organizations, and lawyers who only have work because of the huge amount of laws....who does that leave?

[John]

Surprisingly few. The Ivy league dominates finance, government and the media. It doesn't dominate much else. Most CEOs graduated from state universities.

[John]

It is also worth noting that finance, law, government and media are the most backward, provincial, and dogmatic fields in America. The Ivy league seems to be very adept at producing clever boot lickers and group thinkers.

[Zeb]

They're providing what the market demands.

[sarcasmic]

The point of going to an Ivy League school is to make connections, not to get an education.

[John]

Here is the thing, the people who make those connections already have them. If you are Mitt Romney or John Kerry or George Bush, you make a lot of connections at an Ivy League school. If you are Joe Schmoe you don't really make that many connections. I know plenty of people who went to Ivy League schools who are working similar or worse jobs than I have. But they were middle class kids who were not a part of the club no matter what school they went to.

[sarcasmic]

I know plenty of people who went to Ivy League schools who are working similar or worse jobs than I have. But they were middle class kids who were not a part of the club no matter what school they went to.

That's why you join a fraternity.

[Zeb]

Let's see. Of the Ivy grads I know, one weaves basket bottoms. One is president of a small SUNY college. One is an alcoholic weirdo hippy plumber and one is a musician and inventor with a very interesting life, but little to show for it.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

While most sane and fair people can agree that any woman has the right to make whatever choice she believes is best for her family ? whether that is choosing to stay home full-time or work outside of the home ? there is far less consensus on whether women have a definite responsibility to make choices for the good of all women, such as putting an elite degree to use outside of the home.

And now I am going to go eat my feelings.

[John]

As a white male, I get one great privilege. I can do whatever the hell I want and I will never be told that I have a duty to do anything for my sex or race. But feminists and race hustlers ensure that no one else ever gets that privilege. They wish to forever enslave you to your sex.

Talk about fuck off slaver.

[Fluffy]

What always strikes me about discussions of this kind is that these two principles are utterly mutually exclusive.

It is simply impossible for a woman to both have the right to make whatever choice she believes is best for her family, AND a definite responsibility to make a choice based on the good of all women.

It has to be either one or the other. If you have a responsibility to make your choice based on the good of all women, you emphatically do NOT have a right to make your choice based on what you believe is good for your family.

But my insistence that people acknowledge this or be labelled intellectually dishonest is no doubt a symptom of the fact that I'm a mentally defective post-Objectivist who hates complexity and refuses to see shades of grey.

[John]

What is going on here is that they know exactly what choice they expect women to make. But they are too dishonest to say so. So they throw out some cliche about the right to choose and then proceed to explain why women really don't have a choice here. It is the equivalent of saying "with all due respect" or "while I understand people have a right to own a gun" followed then by a long explanation why you don't have any respect for the position or don't think anyone has a right to own a gun.

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Yes John, that's true. And notice that they have to have enough cognitive dissonance to basically say they are not, in fact, "sane" or "fair."

[Fluffy]

Right, that's the best part!

[Nikki makes the sign of a tsp]

Nah, it's just that you are a man trying to use logic to mansplain things to women who understand with their tummies. Or something.

[Kaptious Kristen]

My Ma has a BS in speech pathology/speech therapy from Northwestern. High class. She used it for a few years until us kids came along.

Then she used it to teach us kids proper English, which is way more important than teaching other people's brats how to speak.

[Zeb]

"High class."

Sentence fragment.

[Kaptious Kristen]

You missed the most glaring mistake, Zeb, which I did twice. I am disappoint.

[Fluffy]

Is "us kids" actually a usage error?

It's bad prose, but "teach us" is grammatically correct, and "kids" is just an extension of "us" as the object, right?

[Fluffy]

Oh sorry, that would apply to the second instance of "us kids".

The first instance is, naturally, atrocious.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yep...should be "we kids". If you remove the word "kids", you'll see that "we" is the proper word. And you're right - in the second instance "us" is correct.

[Kaptious Kristen]

One great thing I learned from my Ma, BTW, was the ability to switch effortlessly between folksy vernacular and formal English. I can talk like a redneck one minute, and go into a job interview with an English major the next. It's served me well.

[sloopyinca]

She's your ma. Unless her parents named her Ma.

Jesus, Kristen. You're like worse than Epi and Nicole's love child.

[jesse.in.mb]

You're like worse than Epi and Nicole's love child.

Irish?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Don't care. My Ma deserves a capital M, godammit.

[Zeb]

I did see that, actually, but decided to go with the concise and ironic comment that was itself a sentence fragment.

[sloopyinca]

"High class." would have worked on its own if it were an exclamation. Change the period for an exclamation mark and you're good to go.

That's right, right?

[Zeb]

Yeah, I guess that would work. Proper use of exclamation points is something that has really been largely forgotten. Most people seem to think that it just means you are yelling.

[db]

"We"

[John]

How did raising children become some second class job? Isn't raising children pretty much the most important thing most of us can do? I don't know about you, but even if my career turns out great, I seriously doubt I will have as much real affect on the world that someone like your mother or my mother did in raising their children.

The devaluing of motherhood is one of the worth things feminists did to women.

[Fatty Bolger]

But was it deep dish? The Chicago Tribune Delivered Pizzas to The Boston Globe

The Chicago Tribune sent many boxes of pizza to the newsroom of The Boston Globe today in a move of great journalistic camaraderie in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.

[sloopyinca]

But was it deep dish?

Not sure. If so, we'll hear of the Globe returning a load of casserole dishes any day now.

[WTF]

Well, if it was deep dish it wasn't actually pizza then, was it?

[Generic Stranger]

Can you even buy deep dish in Boston?

[Slumbrew]

In general, only at 'Uno', so no, not really. Thank god.

[Mike M.]

It turns out that there's evidence that consuming large amounts of news is really bad for a person's brain. And this isn't a conservative ratfucker making this claim, it's a guy in the Guardian.

[John]

Not surprising an lefty would be making this argument. If we are as he says "not rational enough to be exposed to the press", then the government is perfectly justified in restricting the press.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Consuming large amounts of news generally pisses me off.

[John]

http://m.washingtontimes.com/n.....-nra-shir/

Somewhere Tulpa is crying over this.

[Fluffy]

We all should hail that story, because it's the one that made Tulpa flee H ampersand R like a little girl.

[John]

And it even has a happy ending. The kids and parents revolted and the kid ended up back in school, wearing his NRA shirt and enjoying his new found folk hero status.

[Kaptious Kristen]

BTW, thanks to Gray Ghost giving a link yesterday, I was able to purchase 350 rounds of 45 long colt ammo. The squeeze practically creamed his jeans and wants to buy some from me. The dilemma is whether to sell to him at cost, or jack up the price a bit 🙂

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Always mark it up unless you are using it as a loss leader for follow-on business.

[Kaptious Kristen]

loss leader for follow-on business

That's quite a euphemism!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My wife loves it when I talk dirty like that.

[db]

Don't forget to save your brass!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Will do!

[Bobarian]

Guns, leather and boob jobs?

You're just trolling for attention, now.

I'll be in my bunk.

[Gray Ghost]

Glad to help. Great to hear that they're legit, now if they'd only start stocking .45ACP and .380 again...

You too, Underwood, you hear me?