A.M. Links: Markey Wins Mass. Senate Seat, Russian National Airline Says Snowden Isn't Booked on Any Flights For Next Few Days, Syria Death Toll Passes 100,000

Credit: DreamWorks

• Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ed Markey beat Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez in a special election for a Senate seat that was left vacant after John Kerry became secretary of state.

• Russia's national airline has said that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is not booked on any flights in the next three days. Snowden is currently in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. 

• The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that more than 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict.

• Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has beaten Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a Labor Party leadership vote. Gillard had said before the vote that she would leave politics if she lost to Rudd, who she beat in a party leadership challenge in 2010.

• A homeless and uninsured Polish immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for about 30 years woke up in Poland after suffering a stroke because a New Jersey hospital had him deported.

• Americans are among the least concerned people in the world when it comes to climate change.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ed Markey beat Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez...

Massachusetts, you seldom fail to disappoint.

[LTC(ret) John]

A Donk winning in Massholia, surely you did not expect a different outcome?

[prolefeed]

It was closer than I expected -- the R got 45% of the vote.

[Almanian!]

KOCHTOPUS!!!1!

[Marginal]

Markey is the worst anti-nuclear hack in America. A patron of Jaczko, he's as responsible for increased carbon emissions as anyone on the planet.

If the GOP had any organizational muscle and a bunch of cash, they really could have pushed harder behind this (so-so?) candidate Gomez.

[Auric Demonocles]

Someone on the radio this morning described it as him getting "chewed up and spat out".

Our elections are really messed up when winning with 55% is seen as some kind of amazing landslide.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Eh, you have a point, but I'm more inclined to believe it's more so a case of "must always frame the other team as negatively as possible at all times".

[Binjelli]

But does that percentage give him a mandate?

[mad libertarian guy]

Someone on the radio this morning described it as him getting "chewed up and spat out".

Our elections are really messed up when winning with 55% is seen as some kind of amazing landslide.

MANDATE!!!

[Raven Nation]

Anyone have any thoughts on the difference b/w this race and the one Scott Brown won in 2009?

[Auric Demonocles]

I wasn't in the area for Brown, but the Gomez ads I saw told me literally nothing about him. The Markey attack ads told me a little bit (which actually all sounded good to me: prolife, anti-assault weapons ban, and one other thing I forgot).

The Gomez campaign seemed sort of incompetent to me. However, I usually think campaign ads all suck.

[VG Zaytsev]

Markey's one of those 'pro-life' dems with a 100% rating by NARAL.

[Marginal]

No. AD was saying that Markey was accusing Gomez of being "pro-life" (which he's not).

[Auric Demonocles]

Correct.

[prolefeed]

Scott Brown is better looking and his opponent seemed determined to prove that being a complete a-hole should be no barrier to winning.

[Rasilio]

Sure, Markey was a long time Massachusetts Pol with tons of name recognition running against a nobody who has never even run for public office previously who is actually much closer to a conservative than Brown ever approached being (which would still probably make him a liberal in most other states).

On the flip side Martha Coakley was a somewhat scandal ridden AG who had some weaknesses on her left having personally lead the campaign against Marijuana legalization and an attempted crackdown on porn and showed herself to be politicaly a moron in the way she ran her campaign while Brown was an experienced state level politician and held views which were not terribly different than a middle of the road Democrats.

[DontShootMe]

Conventional wisdom in MA at the time Scott Brown ran was that the Donk would always win, so the effort was in the Democratic Primary. After that Coakley basically took a nap, and was out hustled by Brown. Plus, as unlikable as Markey is, Coakley was much more unlikable. The Democrats have learned, Markey campaigned hard. I'm not sure National Republican money would have done much. And, Gomez's ads were pretty lame, even for political ads

[Marginal]

Markey has to defend the seat in '14.

Gomez should just keep running. He's already "proven" to prospective funders that he can get ~45% in a low-turnout election. Mid-term elections are always lower turnout, older, whiter, more conservative.

If Gomez can overcome some of his personal flaws as a candidate, he could have a shot in '14.

(Even though he is a vapid campaigner.)

[A Frayed Knot]

When Brown was running the fate of Obamacare was still up in the air and he received a lot of outside support for his campaign.

Plus Martha Coakely ran what was possibly the worst campaign in recent memory.

[Lord Humungus]

I gave money to Brown - just as a possible lever against Obamacare.

[Auric Demonocles]

It would have worked, if not for reconciliation.

[Libertymike]

I see your investment has really reaped dividends.

[Lord Humungus]

Police hunt man caught on camera bonking a bike
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho.....-bike.html

Footage of the bizarre bike bonk shows a hooded figure straddling the rear tyre, while clutching a piece of paper.

The man then punctures a tyre and masturbates while it deflates.

Police in the city of Osterlund are probing a possible link to a similar string of crimes that occurred in the area back in 2007.

[Matrix]

STEVE SMITH strikes again!

[Zakalwe]

STEVE SMITH could never ride a bike, though - his pubic hair would always get caught in the chain.

[SugarFree]

STEVE SMITH NO HAIR ANYWHERE! STEVE SMITH MODERN CITY SASQUATCH ON THE GO! STEVE SMITH HAVE NO TIME FOR PUBIC TANGLING!

[invisible furry hand]

I posted this yesterday in AM Links, the same AM Links on which you beat me with the Canadian sasquatch dope story.

We are even.

[Lord Humungus]

bah!

[Ted S.]

You may not want to complain about beating people to a story. People may start making fun of you for doing it.

Trust me.

[mnarayan]

I think you already posted this.

[Raven Nation]

Will the leadership spill in the ALP make any difference in the general election outcome?

[invisible furry hand]

On the polls this week, it will only reduce the size of the loss. Rudd claims he's aiming to win, but it would be stunning if he could turn a 43% vote (2 party preferred) into a majority in the short time he's got. The Opposition knows Rudd is more popular, but it's banking on the ALP disunity to be the trump card. There has been a large chunk of the front bench resigning over the last three hours, and the Libs have already started ads made of clips of consisting of ALP figures bagging Rudd.

[Raven Nation]

Makes sense. The impression I've got from the news is that the ALP has just exuded a general sense of incompetence over the past few years.

[Matrix]

Remember folks, traffic tickets are for your safety
Atlanta police union defends using traffic tickets to fund pay increases

[Acosmist]

Cops have been out in huge force in speed traps here. Never seen anything like it.

[Matrix]

Try NOT speeding in Atlanta and see what happens. A couple of times I did and nearly got ran over, even being in the far right lane. People were flipping me off, honking at me, and all sorts of shit, and I was in the right lane.

It's dangerous to go the speed limit in Atlanta.

[robc]

285 is so named because those are the two speeds you are allowed to drive: 85 and then 2. Because someone cant do bumper to bumper at 85 properly.

[KDN]

I wish they would even approach that here in NJ. Instead, we are so unable to ignore speed limits like God intended and operate cars in the manner for which they were designed that the state is going to double the fines for and start cracking down on left lane hogging.

[mad libertarian guy]

They don't even try and hide the fact that tickets are all about revenue these days. They've completely taken off the mask and masquerade around proud of the fact that they are big revenue bringers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Russia's national airline has said that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is not booked on any flights in the next three days.

Three days worth of flights that can breathe easy. No Reaper drone chase planes.

[Locke]

I keep wondering how far Obama's admin is going to go to get the guy. If he's over international waters in a plane, is it too far fetched to think he'll be intercepted by US F-16s and the plane forced to land on US soil?

I know, international incident, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think someone at the Pentagon or State would settle the White House down before they went that far off the reservation.

[Gray Ghost]

I think someone at the Pentagon or State would settle the White House down before they went that far off the reservation.

However, it has been done before. Agreeing with T in that I can't see either China or Russia being very happy about us intercepting and forcing down one of their civilian airliners.

[T]

Depends on the flag of the carrier. His best bet is to hop a Chinese carrier to Ecuador, if that's his final destination. The Chicoms won't take us forcing a plane down real well.

[Hyperion]

I don't see Snowden leaving Russia in the near future. Where's he going to go? Even if there is a country that he could hide in and be safe from the US, besides Russia, how is he going to get there without being intercepted by the US?

I was thinking about his situation last night. I mean, he has to be pretty damn scared. Here he is, with Putin as his only real protector right now. I mean, think about it. Putin is former KGB and at heart, he's still KGB, only he's the Prez now also. That has to be pretty scary being bunkered up with a guy like that.

[mr lizard]

I'd take Putin any day. I'd rather take knife in the back from someone I respect, simply for being an annoyance. As opposed to being chained forever by an arrogant Overlord who I have greatly offended.

[invisible furry hand]

Germany motorway shooter 'motivated by bad driving'

[Brett L]

Police in Germany say the man they have arrested over more than 700 motorway shootings fired at other vehicles because of anger over bad driving.

I don't agree with him, but I have great empathy for him. When I win the lottery, I'm getting me an old steel-framed 'murican truck, filling an 8" diameter steel pipe (1/2" walls) with concrete, welding that bitch to the bumper, and self-insuring.

[Lord Humungus]

The Obesity Era
As the American people got fatter, so did marmosets, vervet monkeys and mice. The problem may be bigger than any of us
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/be.....esity-era/

Yet the scientists who study the biochemistry of fat and the epidemiologists who track weight trends are not nearly as unanimous as Bloomberg makes out. In fact, many researchers believe that personal gluttony and laziness cannot be the entire explanation for humanity's global weight gain. Which means, of course, that they think at least some of the official focus on personal conduct is a waste of time and money. As Richard L Atkinson, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin and editor of the International Journal of Obesity, put it in 2005: 'The previous belief of many lay people and health professionals that obesity is simply the result of a lack of willpower and an inability to discipline eating habits is no longer defensible.'

[gaijin]

I've understood that humanity (well, Americans anyway) have grown increasingly taller over the past many generations. In so far as taller generally means heavier, I would be curious to see what data are used by epidemiologists when they track these weighty matters over time.

[sarcasmic]

Frightening wasp nest containing more than a MILLION yellow jackets is discovered in Florida

Bee removal expert Jonathon Simkins was alerted to the ominous mound on a privately-owned hunting ground near Tampa
The nest was six and a half feet tall and eight feet wide and contained more than a million wasps, 1000 times more than the average hive
Simkins filmed the ferocious nest and the video shows them attacking him in his suit
Two days after the extermination the mound is dead

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

You couldn't get me within a mile of that thing.

[John]

Is there any sort of horrible beast that Florida doesn't have?

[LTC(ret) John]

STEVE SMITH.

Oh, and the Jersey Devil.

[Sevo]

Pelosi

[Andrew S.]

We do have Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. That's almost as bad.

[Hyperion]

Isn't there someone who can donate some shampoo to that poor woman. It's apparent that the Dems don't pay her enough to buy it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's a case of conditioner and a six-month ban from the hair salon she needs, not shampoo.

[Brett L]

At least we're not Australia!

[SugarFree]

Visit Florida, at least we aren't Australia!
Visit Florida, lethal giant spider attacks are at an all time low!
Visit Florida, our Meth is all local!
Visit Florida, Medianoches have to count for something, right?
Visit Florida, ProLib has a lavish pool house you can stay in!

[invisible furry hand]

mmmm, artisanal Florida meth...

[Pro Libertate]

Lavish. But filled with snakes and bugs.

[Elspeth Flashman]

What, no maggots?

[Pro Libertate]

Those are just pre-bugs, so yes.

Friend of mine caught a jack when we went fishing back in the 80s. For some reason, he left it in his livewell. A week later, we discovered it. The smell was incredible in its awfulness, and the maggots were prolific.

[generic Brand]

ugh uggh uuugggghhhhh medianoches! So good

[mad libertarian guy]

Visit Florida, Medianoches have to count for something, right?

A good medianoche (which is almost redundant) can really make up for all manner of bullshit. But if yu really want the real deal, you want a medianoche preparada, which is a standard medianoche with the addition of ham croquetas. Because, you know, a regular medianoche didn't already have enough pork.

[BakedPenguin]

This from a guy from Kentucky? Hey Sugarfree, at least our family trees fork down here. Also, you can get an engineering degree in Florida without ever having to wait for the mash to ferment.

[Pro Libertate]

In all seriousness, I've lived in a number of U.S. cities, and Tampa is my favorite so far.

[SugarFree]

I'm not dissing Florida. Those were all positives I mentioned!

[mad libertarian guy]

I am.

I lived in FL from birth to 25 years old. With the exception of two things, FL's proximity to the ocean, and the fact that the northern half of the state is dotted with springs, FL sucks balls.

I like KY better in virtually every category.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Typical Stupid rednecks killing anything they don't like. Pity they didn't sting him to death.

Wasps are charismatic megafauna now, I guess.

[some guy]

Why did that fool destroy the nest killing those poor creatures? They should have been left alone so they could sting those wretched hunters!

- Red Army ICJ , Docklands, United Kingdom, 26/6/2013 13:33

Gotta love the comments.

[Brett L]

Never been swarmed by wasps?

[some guy]

Or seriously hates hunters. Maybe both.

[Binjelli]

But what if a special snowflake was allergic?

[Locke]

Whenever I feel bad about what's going on in the US, I just have to listen to the British speak.

[Irish]

Most of the people in the comments aren't like those two.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Those two sentences put together in a stunning display of irony.

[some guy]

A dozen yellow jackets is enough to make me steer clear. Looks like I'll never be going to Florida again. Can't we just cut the peninsula off, load it up with a bunch of Beleibers and let it capsize?

Seriously, though. FIRE is the only proper way to deal with a hive like that. Lots of fire.

[prolefeed]

I'm in Florida now. The highway patrol cops are more worrisome than a few million yellowjackets.

[some guy]

Keep giving me reasons to sink that state into the Gulf.

[Marginal]

Highway enforcement in Florida is like nowhere else I've ever seen.

[BakedPenguin]

Which highways? I take I-4 from Tampa to Orlando and never have problems.

[Brett L]

I-75 between I-10 and the turnpike only gets enforced on holidays. The rest of the time its an 80 mph minimum. Just take it easy on Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

[Marginal]

I-95

[prolefeed]

Drove from Miami to Key West, caught the sunset there, then a four hour drive until 1 am to a motel room in Fort Lauderdale. Fucking speed limit must have changed 100 times, and cops all along the route. Was concerned I'd miss one of the speed changes and get pulled over despite trying to drive at the speed limit.

[prolefeed]

Thinking of moving to Florida -- which cities are the best ones to live in here? Didn't care for Miami, BTW.

[prolefeed]

Driving to Tampa in a few hours, BTW, in case anyone here lives there and wants to meet in person.

[Brett L]

I think Tampa-St Pete is the overall best option. Orlando sucks, Miamah sucks, Tallahassee is pretty small, and J-ville is just weird.

Although I love the fact that I can be on the whitest sand and calmest water in the world with maybe 50 people in sight on the 4th of July in 2 hours. And Tallahassee punches above its weight in food (as long as you don't want the "fine dining experience") and craft beer bars. Its just inconvenient to drive 3 hours to an airport that flies somewhere other than Atlanta.

[John]

I am going to Fort Lauderdale in July. I have never been to the east coast of Florida before. I hope I like it.

[Marginal]

Hit up Las Olas.

[John]

That is what I hear Marginal. I hear that is a nice area. Good place to cab too and have a nice evening drinking and dinning and such.

[BakedPenguin]

I would pretty much agree with Brett's assessment, although I don't dislike Orlando. The attractions area / South Orlando do suck, but there are a lot of decent places in central Orlando, as well as North and East of the city.

Tampa is the better choice in the Tampa / St. Pete area. Pinellas is very transient. There are decent spots throughout the county, especially the Belleair area near Clearwater.

[Pro Libertate]

Tampa. Not Pinellas unless it's very north Pinellas. And not even then if you work in South Pinellas.

[Marginal]

Florida seriously sucks at cities.

- Miami is a real city.
- I have heard Tampa described as a "post-apocalyptic shithole."
- Ft. Lauderdale is not a real city.
- Orlando is nauseating.
- Tallahassee is a capital. 'nuff said.
- JAX is the opposite of a real city.
- West Palm Beach is kinda cool if you have $$$.

[Andrew S.]

Fort Lauderdale is a real city! We're the Venice of America!

(yeah, I've got nothing)

[Pro Libertate]

That was for my benefit, I'm sure. Generally speaking, most people like Tampa better than the other Florida cities, unless they're seriously into partying with Cubans. Then it's Miami.

[mad libertarian guy]

Pensacola?

[mad libertarian guy]

It depends how much redneck you can stand.

As a native Floridian, I would never live there again, but if I had to, I would never move anywhere south of Ocala.

[Pro Libertate]

I love the stupid when outsiders say, "Florida is not a Southern state." Not only is that wrong, in sheer numbers, it's probably the biggest Southern state other than the quasi-Southern Texas.

[generic Brand]

North Florida is really South Georgia, and South Florida is really North Cuba.

hth

[Almanian!]

I always thought Ohio was the worst, but maybe PAROCHIALIZM.

[Pro Libertate]

Not on the interstates. Pretty much smooth sailing on 75, 95, and 4. At least as far as the cops are concerned.

It's a different story on some other roads like, say, 301.

[sarcasmic]

The majority of "bad cop" stories on HampR seem to be from Florida.

[Pro Libertate]

All of those reality cop shows that have been on seem to spend a lot of time in Florida. That's mostly because we're a huge, cheap state with outcasts from everywhere else.

[Lord Humungus]

flamethrower!

[Matrix]

Army sends flamethrower to deal with wasp nest

[tarran]

THAT IS INSANE!

I would go into the brig rather than obey an order to act as a bipod for the flame thrower's barrel!

[Gray Ghost]

And those were probably, judging by the video, Asian Giant Hornets, the world's largest. A quote from an entomologist in the wiki described being stung as, "Like having a hot nail being driven into my leg"

Have fun...

[Ted S.]

You couldn't get me within a mile of that thing.

Somebody probably could get you within a mile of such a thing. It's disconcerting how easy it is not to spot a beehive/wasp nest in the wild. Last summer I came within a couple of feet of stepping on a ground wasp nest out on the trails I like to hike.

[sarcasmic]

I did step on a ground nest once. They poured out of the other entrance just like what you see in a cartoon. I ran and ran with this cloud of yellow jackets chasing me. They got into my hair, under my shirt. Got at least a dozen stings. Not a great way to end eight grade.

[Almanian!]

My best friend was hiking the Appalachian Trail (for realz - not like Saanford) right after we graduated from high school. It was something he wanted to do before we headed to college. Yep - rolled out his sleeping bag on a nest.

Said that night was the loneliest and most forelorn he'd ever felt. It was harrowing just listening to it....ugh.

[Ted S.]

I only noticed it because I got one sting on my leg, and tried to figure out what bit me, which is how I spotted the nest, and saw how close I had come to it.

[sarcasmic]

Another time I was walking with a friend and we were tossing rocks into the trees. One made a dull thud instead of the usual crackle of hitting branches. Next thing we knew a cloud of hornets came out of the trees, straight at us. We ran like hell to our bicycles, and must have set a world record for the fastest unlocking from a bike rack ever. Didn't get stung that time.

[Numeromancer]

We were visiting my mom's friends in Tennessee, and found a hornet's nest while hiking with my dad and my mom's friends kids. My father, who has never shown any fear of stinging insects, decided to have fun and bang on it with a stick. Everyone was stung but my dad and me (even our dog), and my mom's friend's boy turned out to be highly allergic and ended up in the hospital.

My father is awesome.

[Matrix]

the only think worse than yellow jackets are gators.

Go Dawgs

[Thane-kin]

boooooooo

[gaijin]

THWG!

[robc]

How bout them Dawgs?

Piss on em.

[Pro Libertate]

You're Tech, right? Or is my mind finally going?

[Ted S.]

When have the Dawgs ever won anything important?

[robc]

When was Herschel still alive?

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, he's not dead.

People forget what an awesome force of nature he was, despite his unfortunate choice of university. His failure to light up the NFL had more to do with the NFL's stupid ways than in anything wrong with him. I

[generic Brand]

He may not have lit up the NFL, but that doesn't change the fact that he crushed me yesterday on Tecmo Bowl.

[Pro Libertate]

Go where? Away? Okay.

[UnCivilServant]

I'd love to see a hive of a million gators swarm someone... That's be awsome 🙂

Shame gators don't form hives.

[Pro Libertate]

You're unfamiliar with the Gatormensch program, I see.

[Brett L]

Shame gators don't form hives.

Really? Try insulting Tebow at a sportsbar in FL when UF is playing.

[Pro Libertate]

I note for the record that FSU has yet to produce a messiah.

[VG Zaytsev]

Team Gaia weighs in:

Typical Stupid rednecks killing anything they don't like. Pity they didn't sting him to death.
- Graham , Woking, 26/6/2013 13:52

Why did that fool destroy the nest killing those poor creatures? They should have been left alone so they could sting those wretched hunters!
- Red Army ICJ , Docklands, United Kingdom, 26/6/2013 13:33

typical there they were minding their own business for however long then comes along man.
- asillybillyfromuk , naples fl, United States, 26/6/2013 13:25

[KMA Too]

Too bad they didn't leave it alone-just to serve as a place to sacrifice all the limey candy-asses.

[Isaac Bartram]

I nearly walked into one about half that size in a swamp near Tampa about twenty years ago. You have no idea how really dense vegetation can get in Florida until you've seen it.

When I saw it, I backed away, very slowly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Americans are among the least concerned people in the world when it comes to climate change.

Having caused it in the first place.

[Lord Humungus]

Banned Cambridge jelly wrestlers replaced with giant bucking penis

Following a petition that attracted more than 1,000 signatures, the Wyverns drinking society agreed to cancel their 'traditional' annual jelly wrestling contest. Its replacement, according to some, isn't much better...
http://www.independent.co.uk/s.....3355.html#

[Ted S.]

You're offended by what we're doing? Fine, we won't do that anymore; we'll just do something different that offends you!

At least, I hope that was their intention.

[Locke]

ok, maybe there is hope for the Limeys after all

[sarcasmic]

Economy class: The remarkable ramshackle aircraft made by Africa's DIY aviators

Unusual looking planes are the creations of amateur engineers in Africa
Aviation-enthusiasts built the crafts despite lack of material, funds or training

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

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They lack the necessary regulatory state, we must help them by sending our regulators to them.

[UnCivilServant]

Those aircraft look terrifying. I'd never climb into one. In fact, if they took off in my vicinity, I'd run as fast as I can out of it's potential crash path.

[Azathoth!!]

So, there are still Cargo Cults.

[Zakalwe]

Drone strike? That wasn't me!

A parody video has been launched in which "President Obama" adopts the so-called Shaggy Defence ? just say it wasn't you - against charges he has killed thousands of people in illegal drone strikes around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URDuFM_-MT8

[a better weapon]

A parody video that isn't Remy... how refreshing.

[Marginal]

Remy is ubiquitous. He is also awesome.

[gaijin]

hah! That's some BigBalls? alright!

[Hyperion]

Funny as hell. Would have been better if they would have gave the prez a big set of dumbo ears.

[Lord Humungus]

Will America's Afghanistan policy end up stoking jihad in Kashmir?
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/.....n-kashmir/

Over the past decade, one of the benefits of the US presence in Afghanistan to South Asia has been a sharp reduction of violence in Indian Kashmir. Since 2002, terrorism has declined year-on-year, in part because US and NATO forces have kept up pressure on the Taliban and its affiliates. Should America be seen as cutting and running from the battlefield, violence will almost certainly flare up across the subcontinent. Just as the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan in 1989 gave jihadists a jolt of self-belief, so too will an unseemly American rush to the exits.

The first signs of things to come may already be visible. This year, Indian security forces have suffered more casualties in Kashmir than in either of the past two years.

[LTC(ret) John]

I don't think Kashmiri violence has ever needed any "stoking" from anyone, unfortunately.

[Tim]

Exactly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A homeless and uninsured Polish immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for about 30 years woke up in Poland after suffering a stroke because a New Jersey hospital had him deported.

But he has to be half glad to be out of New Jersey.

[John]

I thought it was a crime for hospitals to ask someone's immigration status. How did the subject even come up?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe they deduced he was from Poland because his submarine had screen doors to keep the fish out.

[Almanian!]

...I think it more likely because he was carrying around a car door...so he could ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW WHEN IT GOT TOO WARM.

[Sevo]

Naah. They got him when he tried to open the wrong end of a soda bottle.

[Raven Nation]

Interesting cultural tidbit: we told exactly the same jokes when I was growing up in Australia but the ethnic group was Irish.

[Almanian!]

In Canada (Ontario, anyway), it's Newfies.

[The Dan]

in Vermont it was the Canuks

[Brett L]

In Texas, they are Aggie jokes.

[invisible furry hand]

where did you live?

[Raven Nation]

All over: born in NZ. Moved to Oz when I was 7 (dad's a Kiwi, mum's Australian). Lived on the Gold Coast (twice), northern NSW, Brisbane (twice), Darwin. My family was in Brisbane until a week ago when they moved to Tasmania.

[Isaac Bartram]

I grew up in Tasmania. I found out much later that apparently mainlanders apparently make jokes about Tasmanians.

[sarcasmic]

America branded: States mapped out showing which product it is most famous for

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-for.html

[Almanian!]

I can't believe Michigan didn't have "US Department of Health and Human Services" on it...

Fucking parasitic shithole...

[John]

Ever watch Hard Core Pawn on TruTV? It is a reality show about the largest pawn shop in Detroit. Trainwreck doesn't even begin to describe it.

[Almanian!]

No, I hve not.

[John]

It is so bad. Don't watch it unless you feel like losing complete faith in all humanity or need some confirmation for why you have already lost such faith.

[Almanian!]

I'm in Labor Relations, and have been for almost 20 years. I lost all faith in humanity approximately 20 years ago...:)

[John]

LOL. One of my best friends is a labor law plaintiffs attorney. He is a good guy but a real doo gooder. Really believes in sticking up for the little guy. But even he admits that half of his clients are insane, although nearly all of the employers he sues are dicks in some capacity or another.

[Almanian!]

Yeah, funny - guy I grew up with now teaches Labor Law at U Toledo. Total hippy left winger parents (one of whom was my advisor at collegE). We have....divergent views on unions, NLRB and related subjects 🙂

[John]

I have to admit Fred is coming around a bit. He is a total lefty. But even he has lost a lot of faith after Obama. He is becoming more of a "both sides suck" kind of guy, which is good. I have to give him credit, he is open minded enough to see how liberal policies and liberal politicians often really screw the little guy, which is very rare in a lefty.

[KMA Too]

John, with all due respect to you, I cannot bring myself to believe that HCP is anything but staged, and that Les and the crew, while actual pawn people, are earning some acting chops.

The "customers" on that show simply cannot really believe even a fraction of the crap they say/do.

[John]

Of course it is staged. But at the same time, it is sadly a pretty accurate depiction of what actually happens.

[sarcasmic]

I've seen it enough times to never ever want to visit that city.

[Rasilio]

Lol I actually had a recruiter call me about a job in Detroit yesterday, I told him that they'd have to offer me $150 an hour to get me to even think about it just because it was in Detroit

[Thane-kin]

I can't watch it. I want to slap the daughter/sister across the face too much.

I mean, they're all dicks, but she's the most annoyingly dickish.

[John]

She is such a bitch. If I were the father, I would kick her fat ass out on the street. Both kids are whinny little shits. The old man built the business and they act like they own it and the old man doesn't know anything. Yeah, he has no idea how to do anything, he just built the whole fucking business while your dumb asses were diapers. Talk about two people who do not deserve the family business.

[LTC(ret) John]

VA - AOL... HAHAHAHAHAHA

[SugarFree]

Fucking Lexmark? How about KFC?

[mad libertarian guy]

It really is amazing how few people understand that the K in KFC stands for KENTUCKY.

[SugarFree]

Long John Silver's started here as well. There are also the big bourbon brands to choose from. Kentucky might not be awesome all the time, but it's certainly known for more than a line of broke-ass printers.

[mad libertarian guy]

Ditto Fazolis.

[UnCivilServant]

LIES! Conn. is Colt, and don't you dare blame us for Verizon just because NYNEX joined the conglomeration. Our true product is corruption. What was the logo of Tammany Hall?

[KDN]

The criteria for each brand were that it is still based in the state of origin and that of course is still in business as of 2012.

Verizon's HQ is in New Jersey. Has been since about 2006, but the company was formed in NY when BA merged with GTE and headquartered there (in two separate buildings, which I always found odd) until they merged with MCI.

[seguin]

I'm surprised Texas wasn't famous for calculators. I was sure everyone owned a TI-85 at at least one point in their lives.

[Lord Humungus]

The Insiders: What Edward Snowden teaches us about Obama's climate change policy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ge-policy/

What does the Snowden episode say about our diplomatic relationships? And by extension, what does it say about President Obama's ability to forge international consensus on climate change policy? It says something important that President Obama cannot rely on other world leaders to cooperate with him in a situation even where they have no strategic interest. Snowden doesn't mean anything to any of these countries. He is a criminal who has done what he can for America's enemies. These countries are not protecting one of their agents. They are doing this because they can, and because they believe what they are doing is preferable to working with this president. If we can't get them to give up Snowden, there is no way the president is going to get them to join him in his global warming crusade. I hope Republicans in Congress do everything they can to stop the unilateral plan on climate change that the president announced today.

[wareagle]

He is a criminal who has done what he can for America's enemies.

this keeps being repeated as though it's fact. What did America's enemies learn from the Snowden caper, that the US spies on everyone living here? Except, evidently, for those inside mosques.

The lesson, if there is one, is that moral high ground we used to claim no longer exists. Maybe climate change eroded it.

[Almanian!]

I blame Bush

[Hyperion]

If we can't get them to give up Snowden, there is no way the president is going to get them to join him in his global warming crusade

Awww, isn't that so cute.

[Almanian!]

100,000 killed in Syria?

Pssssh! Pikers!

Let me know when they get closer to US Civil War death levels. WE know how to kill some motherfuckin' friends, neighbors and former countreymen!

And that was 150 years ago....I bet we would kill WAY more nowadays.

[invisible furry hand]

But most of those were disease, so you had an unfair advantage

[Almanian!]

Whatever it takes - no quarter, no mercy

[Rasilio]

Not to mention that in the Civil War armies were still standing in dense lines to shoot at the enemy line as opposed to hiding behind rocks and shooting from cover and even when one side did have defensive cover the other side idiotically lined up in a nice line to be shot

[Tejicano]

True to a large extent. They stood in mass up close because smooth-barreled muskets were so innaccurate that there was a good chance they would miss. Unfortunately, both sides were using rifled long arms with Minnie balls which were accurate at two to three times the distance so they cut each other to shreds.

Technology had leapfrogged tactics - just like it did again in WWI with even worse (numerically) results.

[tarran]

America: We will kill you in your sleep, on Christmas!

[Almanian!]

This was my Cover photo on Facebook for quite some time. Love it!

[T]

I have the t-shirt. I like to wear it on Independence Day.

[sarcasmic]

Fed up gorilla gives taunting kids at the zoo a scare they won't soon forget

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....orget.html
Check out the video! It's fucking hilarious!

[Marginal]

Tyler Cowen: Krugnuts and I were both wrong about Fed and Interest Rates

http://marginalrevolution.com/.....rates.html

Why Are So Many College Graduates Driving Taxis?

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

[Sevo]

"Why Are So Many College Graduates Driving Taxis?"

'Cause they couldn't get in to the good burger-flipping schools?

[Thane-kin]

One of the few times I've ridden a taxi the driver was a civil engineer.

That's a bit different though, because he was in his 60s and just abating the boredom of retirement.

[Binjelli]

Well they can't all be baristas.

[VG Zaytsev]

In 2011 Krugman wrote (and here)

Like Bernanke, I don't believe that the flow of Fed purchases has been an important factor holding bond rates down, and hence don't believe that they will jump when the purchases end.

I don't think I ever wrote this view up, but I was of the same opinion nonetheless

Evidence that professional economists are dumbfucks?

[Don Mynack]

Naw. Evidence that most Macroeconomics is a bunch of speculation.

[invisible furry hand]

The Long Lost "Minnesota Iceman" Resurfaces? in Austin, Texas

http://www.museumoftheweird.co.....tin-texas/

[Raven Nation]

Weird: this was on "Shipping Wars" last night on A&E.

[Lord Humungus]

Naked man on revving motorcycle shut down in Vero Beach
http://blogs.tcpalm.com/off_th.....ed-of.html

blair_mug_side.jpg

Blair closed the door in the deputy's face, and eventually locked it. Deputies left, with the decision being made to get a warrant for Blair and return at another time.

About two hours later, however, dispatchers again were called by the victim, who said Blair was on his motorcycle in the front yard revving the engine.

When investigators arrived, Blair was sitting naked on his motorcycle. No word on a helmet.

[Brett L]

Florida Man! My favorite part of this article is translating the slurs into printable quotations.

"(Sexual intercourse) you! . . . You're a (gay male)!" Blair is quoted as starting to scream.

As the victim explained the situation to the deputy, Blair stepped through his front door.

"(Sexual intercourse) him! He is an (anus)!"

[T]

Motorcycles emit sounds akin to "Vrooooom! Vrooooom! Vrooom!" when revved.

That was the best line in the article. That's some quality journalism there, Lou.

[sarcasmic]

Asian superpowers driving 'explosion' in global arms trade with the East set to outspend US by 2021

Weapons systems built in the East could rival Western-made devices within 10 years, experts believe

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2021.html
Just what we need. Another arms-race. Only this time we'll be the ones who go bankrupt.

[Thane-kin]

"best tumblr 10/10"

here's a good little example of why it's important to say what we mean. when we say 'nobody' should 'be' ridiculed (by who???) it leaves us open to this male-defending anti-feminist crap
MEN AND BOYS should not ridicule WOMEN AND GIRLS for what they look like. MEN AND BOYS have no right to tell WOMEN AND GIRLS that they aren't worth anything based on their appearance.

It's "by whom", moron

[Ted S.]

Translation: We explicity want to be able to bully you, but you shouldn't be able to bully us.

[gaijin]

hah!

wouldn't a single, neutral form be best to address all manner of gender, race, sexual offenses?

"Noone has a right to tell anyone else that they aren't worth anything based on their appearance".

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

tumblr is the refuge of some feminist thought that makes jezebel look intelligent and nuanced

[Binjelli]

Such a thing can't be possible... Can it?

[Thane-kin]

Yes, unfortunately.

[Auric Demonocles]

Hernadez taken into custody.

This is not a good couple of days to be a Boston sports fan.

[Lord Humungus]

The Carbonated President
Obama unveils a war on fossil fuels he never disclosed as a candidate.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

So instead Mr. Obama will impose these inherently political policy choices via unaccountable bureaucracies, with little or no debate. Mr. Obama might have at least announced his war on carbon before the election and let voters have a say. Instead he posed as the John the Baptist of fossil fuels in locales such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia?taking credit for the shale fracking boom he had nothing to do with and running ads attacking Mitt Romney as anticoal.

Now safely re-elected, Mr. Obama figures he can do what he pleases. The Americans who will be harmed will have to console themselves with 99 weeks of jobless benefits, food stamps and ObamaCare.

[John]

We have a President who is now willing to destroy the energy supply based on totally unscientific superstition. Even if you believe in AGW, no one believes the US cutting its emissions will make a dime's worth of difference.

This is exactly like having a Christian President who made penance to God the basis of his foreign policy.

[VG Zaytsev]

Excellent analogy.

[califernian]

This is exactly like having a Christian President who made penance to God the basis of his foreign policy.

Didn't we basically have that before Obama?

[John]

No. Last I looked George Bush was an evil Neocon bent on taking over the world not paying penance to God. You need to get your talking points straight.

[wareagle]

Obama unveils a war on fossil fuels he never disclosed as a candidate

of course, he disclosed it. Obama was the candidate who said energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket" under his prescription. That people either ignored it or didn't care enough to learn it is on them, not him.

[John]

He totally disclosed it. Wareagle is right. It was in the San Fransisco interview the media pretended didn't exist.

[sarcasmic]

Teenager charged with killing caged animals on cell phone video after over 13,000 people demand an arrest

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rrest.html
Who does he think he is? A cop?

[John]

He is probably in some kind of youth future cop training program.

[Brett L]

Anyone else seen the Australian flick Children of the Revolution?

[Ted S.]

People watch Australian movies?

[Brett L]

And yet everyone knows Mad Max...

This is also an excellent movie.

[Thane-kin]

I got this at Redbox without realizing it was Australian.

I felt duped.

...I also ended up turning on subtitles.

[invisible furry hand]

Do yourself a favour and watch Chopper (you will need the subtitles, but it's worth it)

[Brett L]

Chopper is the HTFU guy? Mustache and sunglasses and funny as shit?

[invisible furry hand]

Kinda.

There is a real career criminal turned author called Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read.

A black comedy biopic, "Chopper", was made, starring Eric Bana.

Then a comedian created a parody Chopper, ie. the HTFU guy.

[Brett L]

Wow. All sorts of fun new things to read and watch.

[invisible furry hand]

well in a few months you'll be up in the middle of the night contemplating a tiny precious poop machine, so you'll need some light entertainment. And I do love quoting the movie: "I'm just a bloody normal bloke. A normal bloke who likes a bit of torture."

[Ted S.]

Chopper is the HTFU guy?

Hat-tip fuck-up?

[invisible furry hand]

Harden the fuck up

[Brett L]

Here. HTFU. Somehow it became the thing a group of us would say to each other during workouts when we needed a laugh.

[Thane-kin]

Does Chopper refer to chopping or to motorcycles?

[invisible furry hand]

It's a biopic of a famous criminal turned author who acquired the nickname in childhood, although it's popularly believed to relate to the fact he had his own ears cut off to get himself transferred into the psych wing at Pentridge Prison

[Rasilio]

I watched a Hugh Jackman movie from before he was in X-Men where he was a tough guy outback trucker who secretly wrote romance novels in his spare time and hid his identity by having his bff galpal truckstop waitress submit them to publishing houses for him

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

I love that movie.

[SugarFree]

You won't fool the children of the revolution.

[SIV]

link

[John]

http://bostonherald.com/news_o.....e_prevails

Dems bitch and moan about the SCOTUS affirmative action decision and then proceed to slander an Hispanic for the benefit of an old white guy.

[sarcasmic]

Bar Rafaeli is bewitching as a gyspy fortune teller in new lingerie campaign

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....paign.html
I'll be in my bunk.

[John]

She really is in a league of her own.

[Marginal]

Your objectification of Hebrew ladies as swarthy, large-nosed, possessing extra body hair, is deeply resented by all members of the world's oldest monotheistic faith.

I command you to stop masturbating to Refaeli this instant. This is your only warning; next time it happens, my tribesmen will silently drain your bank account.

[Thane-kin]

Isn't Zoroastrianism older?

[John]

They are not sure. But probably it is. It depends on when you date Abraham. They are sure Zoroaster lived between 2500 and 2000 BC. Abraham is probably younger, but could have lived as late as 2200 or 2300 BC.

[Fluffy]

There's also the question of whether Manichean systems qualify as monotheistic.

[T]

Yeah, judging by the Old Testament, the old school folks didn't disavow the existence of other gods. They just thought theirs was better.

[SugarFree]

It depends on when you want to say that Judaism switched from monolatrism (acknowledging the existence of other gods, but saying only one god is to be worshiped) to monotheism (denying the existence of any other gods but the one to be worshiped.)

[Thane-kin]

The "our God is better than the other gods" parts of the Old Testament have always confused me.

[John]

It was the Jews slowly figuring out and not understanding the nature of their God. At first they thought their God was just a really bad ass God among the Gods. Basically they thought they had made a deal with the toughest kid in school to take care of them. Only later did they begin to understand that their God was THE GOD and the only one.

From the very beginning, Judaism was always different in that their God was not tied to any place or natural phenomenon. But the idea of an all knowing all encompassing God took a while to develop.

[Rasilio]

"Basically they thought they had made a deal with the toughest kid in school to take care of them."

Given the history of the Jewish people I'm guessing they got a raw deal out of that bargain

[John]

Given the history of the Jewish people I'm guessing they got a raw deal out of that bargain

Not when you consider the history of their enemies. Things didn't work out so well for the Canaanites or the Egyptians. The problem was the Jews kept fucking up their end of the bargain. The touch kid only helps you if you remember to give him your lunch money every day.

[sarcasmic]

If you kill or convert everyone who worships are particular god, does that god cease to exist? Did it exist in the first place?

[SugarFree]

If you kill or convert everyone who worships are particular god, does that god cease to exist?

Darwinism applies to gods as well. If you were able to kill or convert all the worshipers of a god, he or she must not even been real god in the first place; or a really shitty god no one should have been worshiping.

[Rasilio]

I rather like Neil Gaiman's take on the idea in American Gods

[seguin]

I prefer Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.

[VG Zaytsev]

Darwinism applies to gods as well.

Gods reproduce?

[SugarFree]

The sexy ones do.

[John]

That is a good point. Judaism wasn't truly monotheistic until the time of Moses which was probably around 1300 BC.

[Azathoth!!]

Moses?

"I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Still seem to be in "made a deal with the toughest kid in school" mode.

[LTC(ret) John]

Wow...just...wow.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

bewitching as a gyspy [sic] fortune teller

Um, is the Mail suggesting that Bar Rafaeli is secretly Mr. Rochester?

[hamilton]

Damn.

[Aloysious]

[comment redacted by the NSA due to excessive fapping.]

[Lord Humungus]

Man with No Pants Says He Wanted To Ride Horse Nude
The man, 29, was arrested in a Cartersville pasture Saturday morning on public indecency and other charges.
http://cartersville.patch.com/.....horse-nude

Handcuffed and placed in the nearest police car due to onlookers, Said allegedly first identified himself as "Kayla Horse," and later said his name was "K. Horsetail," according to the report.

When asked how he got to the pasture, Said allegedly told police he "drove his gold Honda and parked it down the street because he wanted to ride the horse nude," the report says.

You know who else wanted to ride a horse nude?

[Almanian!]

Vladimir Putin?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

What did the horse say?

[Brett L]

That dude who wanted to make a centaur?

[LTC(ret) John]

Kennedy?

[Binjelli]

But did he bust a nut in it?

[SIV]

Barack Obama?

[Marginal]

Libertarian Feminist Christina Hoff Sommers: How to Reform Feminism

http://www.theatlantic.com/sex.....ts/277179/

NYTimes: The Chief Justice Roberts's Long Game

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06.....-game.html

[sarcasmic]

Two LAPD detectives ambushed in 'blatant attempt to assassinate cops' as they drove into police station

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ation.html
Assassinate? WTF? They're just fucking cops!

[WTF]

They are The KING'S MEN!!!11!!!

[Brett L]

Quick poll: Who is less competent? The guy who shot two cops without killing either or the 200 cops who rolled out and managed to NOT catch the guy?

[Lord Humungus]

US First-Quarter GDP Gets a Haircut, Rises 1.8%
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100845284

U.S. economic growth was more tepid than previously estimated in the first quarter, held back by a moderate pace of consumer spending, weak business investment and declining exports.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said in its final estimate on Wednesday. Output was previously reported to have risen at a 2.4 percent pace after a 0.4 percent stall speed in the fourth quarter.

[John]

Let me guess, the adjustment came UNEXPECTEDLY

[seguin]

At first the UNEXPECTEDLY thing was cute...then it got exasperating - not because of Glenn Reynolds, but because various organizations continued overestimating their projections. Now it's just surreal.

[John]

I wouldn't blame the organizations. I think it is just style now. All journalists put in the word whenever there is economic bad news.

[some guy]

How many times do they have to revise the quarterly numbers down before they realize something is wrong with how they do their initial calculations?

[LTC(ret) John]

You just want the headline when it first comes out....who cares about revisions?!

[gaijin]

something is wrong with how they do their initial calculations

well, the Gov is on the case. IN july, I believe, they will begin using their new way. And surprise, surprise, the number will be larger than under the current way:

US Invents New Way to Calculate GDP

[gaijin]

U.S. economic growth was more tepid

so, naturally, stocks are up!

[Thane-kin]

Wasting time on the AM links? Waste time rooting on algorithmically generated cars instead!

[John]

That is way cool.

[Clich? Bandit]

You just cost my company HOURS of productivity.

I hope you are proud.

[Lord Humungus]

Getting Men to Want to Use Condoms
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/.....ience&_r=0

Flavors like island punch, banana split and bubble gum. Vibrating condom rings with batteries that last up to 20 minutes. Glow-in-the-dark condoms promising "30 minutes of glowing fun."

And under the category "Celebrity Condoms," there is the "Obama Condoms Stimulus Package," each condom embossed with an image of the president giving two thumbs up.

But even if that presidential seal of approval were real, it would not overcome a chronic and serious public health obstacle: Most men do not like condoms.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

In my experience plenty of women don't like them either.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I think they're OK until the condom comes off, then I know what I was missing, plus there is actually too much friction with one on.

[Tim]

Most men do not like Obama.

[Warty]

The fundamental problem is that I don't want my dick to fuck a banana-flavored rubber tube, I want it to fuck a woman.

[John]

That and you don't want to stop in the middle of sex and fuck with the wrapper and putting it on. I really think the people who seem to believe they can get everyone to use condoms have never actually had sex.

[Warty]

Plus, if you've been drinking and you wear a condom? Sorry, baby, but I'm gonna have to pretend that I came.

[John]

Or sorry baby, you are going to have to pretend this thing works.

[KMA Too]

The fundamental problem is that I don't want my dick to fuck a banana-flavored rubber tube, I want it to fuck a woman.

[KMA Too]

Dammit, squirrels!!

Something amusing for Warty, but never mind.

[Binjelli]

Who wants an image of Obama on their cock?

Actually nevermind...

[John]

I can see that as performance art. Here honey, lets do a metaphorical re-enactment of what Obama is doing to the country.

[NoVAHockey]

eewww

[Lord Humungus]

I lol'd

[gaijin]

Who wants an image of Obama on their cock?

well, it would certainly be most appropriately worn during an@l

[Rasilio]

Can someone please explain this glow in the dark condom thing to me? I mean if I have a condom on I fully expect it to be buried inside of something where nobody can see it within seconds

[mad libertarian guy]

Not all men are so small that they can go balls deep.

[Rasilio]

Even if you can't the positioning of things makes it kinda hard to see the point of contact without perfect washboard abs, not to mention that there are probably better things to be looking at in most positions

[invisible furry hand]

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has beaten Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a Labor Party leadership vote.

Some people here have been worrying this makes us look crazy to the rest of the world. I had assumed no-one really would take notice (apart from NZ and the UK), so I was slightly surprised to see this here. Not that being posted in AM Links really counts as being noticed, of course

[Ted S.]

Have the Aussie lefties started bitching yet about how the new PM doesn't have a vulva?

[invisible furry hand]

nah, they hate Abbott so much that you could put the proverbial drover's dog in charge of the ALP and they'd still happily vote for it over Abbott

[LTC(ret) John]

The Return of KRUDDY!

[Warty]

Aussies spell labor correctly? Huh.

[Brett L]

Only for politics. Work still has that extra 'u' in it.

[Pro Libertate]

Wourk?

[Isaac Bartram]

The spelling has been credited to King O'Malley, who was an American, although he claimed he was born in Canada.

O'Malley's other legacy was the spelling of "Labor" in the Australian Labor Party's title in the American style. He was a spelling reform enthusiast and persuaded the party that "Labor" was a more "modern" spelling than "Labour". Although the American spelling has not become established in Australia, the Labor Party has preserved the spelling.

[Warty]

Mmmmm, cheese.

[Teenage Girl]

Eewww!!

[Binjelli]

Well at least it didn't pop rolling over in bed.

[Enough About Palin]

I used to date a chick who had bad health habits. Like making sushi and lancing her brother's cyst with the same knife. At the same time.

True story.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Somebody, somewhere, gets their jollies from watching that. Blech.....

[Rich]

IRS conference included a video of agency employees dressed as Olympic athletes with makeshift torches.

Obviously, if "we" can afford this, taxes can be decreased.

[Almanian!]

President Obama is "willing to work with ANYONE" on climate change legislation. Unless you have your "head in the sand." Which is everyone who doesn't agree with what he wants to do.

SCIENCE

[The Late P Brooks]

So which other views about the current macroeconomy will we need to revise? That's what I've been thinking about for most of today. The major possibilities are not comforting. I can't be talked into them by a day or two of market data, but we do need to look more seriously at:

1. The low rates really have been an artifact of Fed policy, at least to a much higher degree than many of us had thought.

The Federal Reserve buying up all the "excess supply" in the bond market doesn't have an effect on interest rates?

Tell me again why I'm supposed to take Tyler Cowen seriously.

[Brett L]

The low rates really have been an artifact of Fed policy, at least to a much higher degree than many of us had thought.

What? You mean when you give money to banks on top of short term zero percent loans at discount windows, rates are going to be below what the market would actually set? Jesus. How can this be?

[Jordan]

The Law of Supply and Demand is like a hundred years old, maaaaan.

/Keynesian clown

[John]

Some day we will get a real prog Congress that will repeal that dumb law.

[VG Zaytsev]

Tell me again why I'm supposed to take Tyler Cowen seriously.

Because he's a top man.

[Rich]

Mexican Amusement Park Offers Fake Border Crossing Attraction

"Our objective is to stop the immigration that exists amongst our citizens, principally from the state of Mexico to the U.S." The H?aH?u community has lost about 80 percent of its population to the U.S.

Entrepreneurship in real life.

[Clich? Bandit]

wouldn't it be emigration for them?

[Bardas Phocas]

Barack (which means 'shack' in Wolof) "should have lodged in a shack to show solidarity with the majority shack dwellers here", leading comedian "Kutia" insistently jokes on television about Obama, who he calls the "White House rent payer".
http://www.africareview.com/Ne.....index.html
Those Africans aren't showing enough respect for the King of America.

[The Late P Brooks]

Two LAPD detectives ambushed in 'blatant attempt to assassinate cops' as they drove into police station

Was that Shackford's lockdown?

[LTC(ret) John]

I believe it was.

[sarcasmic]

Yes.

[John]

Funny how when people in Afghanistan ambush soldiers, the question always is "what did we do to make them hate us". Yet, that question is never asked when people ambush cops in the US.

Maybe the news is giving a deceiving picture and these things have always gone on and we are just hearing about them more now. But it sure seems that more people just want to shoot cops than there used to be. Maybe there is a reason for that?

[sarcasmic]

On the one hand I cheer whenever I hear about a cop getting what they deserve, but on the other hand I don't look forward to the coming police state that will be the inevitable result of peasants rebelling against the king's men.

[John]

I hate to see some random person just get shot. I am not going to condone that. But when the police manages to become so hated by the populous that people just start randomly shooting them, that is a problem. And it is a problem with the cops. This is not Afghanistan. This country is not some lawless state. This country is generally hard working and law abiding. If it is not anymore or as much as it once was, I blame the government and the cops for making it so.

[sarcasmic]

I blame the drug war.
For laws to be respected, then they must be respectable.
When laws are not respectable, then that breeds contempt even for laws that are worthy of respect.
Add onto that zealous enforcement of laws that are not worthy of respect, and you get contempt not just for the law, but for those tasked with enforcing it.

[John]

Yup. The drug war and the DUI war. The DUI crusade has really had a detrimental effect on people's respect for the law. It has affected a lot of people who don't use and never would use drugs and thus are untouched by the drug war. There are millions of people who had their average Saturday night activity turned into a life altering crime thanks the DUI crusade. And I am not talking about people who were irresponsible dangerous drunks. I am talking about people who chances are never would have harmed anyone, yet found themselves branded as criminals by the state.

[sarcasmic]

As you know, one of my first experiences with law enforcement was being charged with DUI on a bicycle after getting hit by a car that ran a red light.
I blew a 0.08 and was charged with DUI, though the threshold at the time was 0.10, and there was no mention in the report about the running of the red light.
I ended up having to pay for fixing the car that hit me.
So yeah, I've got more than a little contempt for the law and for those who choose to enforce it.

[Locke]

Americans are among the least concerned people in the world when it comes to climate change.

"Let's beat this dead horse more so that my base will forget about my egregious abuse of power like the idiots they are"-
Obama

[John]

Yup. I am sorry but he didn't wait until the end of June to roll this thing out because he thought it was the right time. This is totally the result of some of his base turning on him over the NSA thing. He is going to have to go full prog retard for the next three years to get the left to save his sorry ass.

He reminds me of Kobe Bryant buying his wife the gazilion carat diamond after he got caught banging that college girl in Colorado.

[Almanian!]

Except Kobe's jump shot is WAY better.

*clanks another one off the rim*

/President

[John]

And Kobe is really good at something. Obama, not so much.

[Auric Demonocles]

He's really good at making people that already agree with him think he's a good speaker.

[John]

He is really good at getting dumb white people to think he is smart and cool. So yeah, he is good at that.

[NoVAHockey]

I'll never understand that. they guy just screams huge dork. I should know.

[Binjelli]

Mom jeans are cool and you know it.

[SugarFree]

It's also hot in June/July. Despite their full-throated warble during the winter months, the warmists will play on "weather is climate change OMG" when it suits them.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

And yet that also means they are doing it right when everyone is cranking up the A/C.

[SugarFree]

I refuse to recognize the Evil God Freon and all His foul works.

[T]

Stand downwind, please.

[UnCivilServant]

I have no such qualms.

All hail Freon and his agents, the Chlorofluorocarbons!

[Brett L]

What's really fun as a Southerner is being told by some Masshole that his mother's heat in the winter is necessary but my mother's A/C in the summer is a luxury. Guess which one uses more energy?

[T]

Your mom.

First time that's been appropriate, I think.

(Yes, I know it's wrong, Brett)

[Brett L]

Well played, sir.

[Pro Libertate]

Who needs heat, anyway? Just bundle up. We're already practically naked here, so our options are fewer. Other than our global cooling program.

[Gray Ghost]

"We huddle all winter, deputy."

[Thane-kin]

Still a bit fuzzy, but there are allegations that the makers of AdBlock Plus are colluding with advertisers and rewriting affiliate links.

[Fluffy]

Whoa.

That's some major league clever evil right there.

[The Late P Brooks]

Last night, for some unknown reason (463 channels, AND THERE'S NOTHING ON!) I watched a PBS "biography" of Henry Ford. Holy, shit, what a hit job. I had no idea Ford was like Attila the Hun and Satan rolled into one. Of course, the usual cast of highly respected historians concern trolls was on hand to explain why Ford's attempts to steer his employees' behavior onto the straight and narrow was the ultimate inhuman oppression of the human spirit because he was an evil profiteering industrialist, when the same policies carried out by government employees from HHS is the pinnacle of compassion. And he taught his immigrant employees English, for crying out loud.

Also, Ford was a ridiculous and pathetic buffoon because he was a self-taught idiot savant farm boy tinkerer who just happened to build one of the largest and most successful industrial enterprises ever to despoil the land, but he wasn't a highly respected historian from The Kennedy School of Government.

This is why we need PBS. Those evil mind controlling bastards at the Kochtopus would never tell you these things.

[Brett L]

Thank God his foundation was taken over by right-thinking Progressives before it could do even MORE damage.

[John]

I caught one on John D. Rockefeller Jr. the other day. The whole thing was about the noble idiot son doing all of these great things to pay penance for his evil robber baron father. The idea that the old man, by building the modern oil industry, did more for civilization and the world than the idiot son could have done in a thousand years never was considered. It was all about the good son shunning commerce and productivity and doing the right thing.

It was vomit inducing.

[sarcasmic]

I saw some of that. It was like a Communist documentary on the evils of capitalism.

[mad libertarian guy]

Worst PBS special I ever saw was a special on how government saved KY time and again from evil capitalists. They spoke of the Tennessee Valley Authority as if it were populated by gods. Nevermind the Kentuckians who had their land taken and property destroyed; those fucking rednecks deserved what they got.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

An interesting take on the 6-year-old transgender kid:

http://fourtimesthefun.blogspo.....in-on.html

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that a woman who always wanted to work with special needs kids but never had the chance ends up with two kids with autism, another one with severe brain damage after a bout with RSV, and another who's supposedly transgender. Sounds more like a situation of Munchausen-by-proxy.

This is basically the SWPL version of "Here Comes Honey-Boo-Boo."

[Binjelli]

That's the kind of coincidence that one could really play up the victim status with.

[mad libertarian guy]

Stranger in a foreign land!

Jorn Lande, from the Dio school, on vocals. Masterplan is an epic German Power Metal band with many progressive tendencies. They're awesome, so I'm not sure that I Germans talking about some kind of Masterplan is a great thing.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

DOMA ruled unconstitutional, 5-4

[Andrew S.]

Regardless of what I or anyone thinks of gay marriage, that's the correct decision on a Constitutional basis. Of course, the justices who profess to be originalists dissented, and the justices who generally couldn't care less about the Constitution said it was unconstitutional.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Yes, agreed on all points. I'm pleased and disappointed, but unsurprised.

[SugarFree]

Gentleman, start your butthurt...

[Andrew S.]

Pun intended?

[SugarFree]

Foreseeable puns are not unintended.

[Pro Libertate]

I wasn't sure what I thought about this one, as a big part of the challenge is about getting money from the federal government. But it's not significant money in the great scheme of things, and a lot of it deals with inheritance and other things that should be the decision of the people involved, anyway.

So I don't give a fuck.

[The Late P Brooks]

when the police manages to become so hated by the populous that people just start randomly shooting them

Why assume it was random?

[JEP]

I'm just going to put this riiight here...

Michael Shannon reads a letter from a sorority president to her sorority chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dngOH9G4UPw

You're welcome.

[Brett L]

Hey, welcome to 2013. Glad you finally caught up.

[Andrew S.]

The Patriots just released Aaron Hernandez. Damn. That escalated quickly.