A.M. Links: U.N. Syria Report Release Today, Americans Lose Faith in Obamacare, Larry Summers Withdraws from Federal Reserve Consideration

• 

  Credit: Wikicommons, Unknown

  The United Nations is set to release a report today confirming that chemical weapons were used in Syria. However, whether Assad or the rebels are responsible is not known, and may not be determined in the report.

• Only 31 percent of Americans think Obamacare is a good idea, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
• Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration for Federal Reserve chairman.
• A major air rescue operation is being planned for Boulder County, Colorado following serious flooding.
• Yemen's human rights minister wants child marriage outlawed following the death of an 8-year-old girl who reportedly suffered internal injuries on her wedding night.
• Over a dozen Ugandan officers are being charged after allegedly stealing food intended for African Union troops in a U.S.-backed peacekeeping mission.
• North and South Korea have officially reopened a joint industrial project along the border.

Get Reason.com and Reason 24/7 content widgets for your websites.

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.  You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. Have a news tip? Send it to us!

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration for Federal Reserve chairman.

It's not good when the rats won't even get on the ship in the first place.

[Rich]

Nah, it's just because he can't live down saying Valerie Jarrett and her ilk aren't good at math.

[VG Zaytsev]

Lizard people hate teh maths.

[Aloysious]

I hope our mocking laughter had something to do with his decision to quit. I can dream, can't I?

[Lord Humungus]

zoinks!

[Matrix]

Man killed by police while seeking help after a car accident
He was a scary looking black man... OFFICER SAFETY!

[Ted S.]

Did the posters in the weekend threads let you down again?

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

They are the veritable Cleveland Browns of commenting.

[Matrix]

I don't frequent the site on the weekends, especially this weekend given Yom Kippur was Saturday.

[Ted S.]

You mean visiting H&R isn't a mitzvah?

[General Butt Naked]

I DON'T ROLL COMMENT ON SHABBOS!

[R C Dean]

I don't frequent the site on the weekends

But when you do, you're working a case of Dos Equis?

[CE]

Oh, I thought you meant the guy in NY who was hit by a cab and started chasing it, prompting police officers there to shoot two bystanders:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-20.....es-square/

[Matrix]

Florida bouncer can't take a joke. Kills 3 co-workers over a prank

[Snark Plissken]

They aren't going to tell us what the prank was? Must've been a doozy.

[PD Scott]

From http://www.ocala.com/article/2...../130609957

According to Ocala police, Lobban admitted shooting the men because he was upset over a video made during a trip with friends to a local shooting range. The video, which reportedly was made in the past few weeks, reportedly showed Lobban having trouble firing a gun.

I guess he showed them he had resolved his shooting difficulties.

[Ted S.]

Is he on a paid vacation?

[Matrix]

He's not one of the King's Men, so no...

[Jon Lester]

Maybe not technically, but I think his living expenses will be subsidized between now and his eventual execution, which will probably be more than a few years, even in Florida.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Clearly, this was just a carefully-targeted pinpoint strike designed to be just muscular enough to preserve the bouncer's credibility.

[Lord Humungus]

Meanwhile in Sweden...

Beaver butt secretion good for baking: agency

The Swedish National Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) has confirmed that anal secretions from the beaver can be used to provide a taste similar to vanilla in baked goods and sweets.

[Rich]

Moreover, other beaver secretions can be used to provide a taste similar to ... Oh, never mind!

[wwhorton]

Note to self: cancel lunch date at Ikea.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yemen's human rights minister wants child marriage outlawed following the death of an 8-year-old girl who reportedly suffered internal injuries on her wedding night.

I suppose it's at least encouraging to find out there's a straw that will break the camel's back with that.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

I see what you you did there...

[General Butt Naked]

Eight year olds, dude.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Ignorant bastards. Just a kid.

[Zeb]

Seriously. It's disgusting enough when they make girls get married at 12 or 13, but at least most girls that age are physically capable of it.

[Matrix]

Google knows the wifi passwords of all Android users
Darth Obama: Goooood...

[db]

I fucking hate the word "boffin."

[Zakalwe]

Don't get your knickers in a twist over it.

[R C Dean]

Fuck me.

I would be very interested to read the disclosure in their TOS or elsewhere that includes harvesting your home or business wifi password at corporate.

Seriously, I may have to recommend that we ban any android devices from our hospital network because of this.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Yeah, good thing various Gawker Media organs didn't put in some serious fucking overtime shilling for Obama or anything. A tyrannical moron might have gotten elected.

[Matrix]

Who owns the moon?
No one, unless they can occupy, develop and defend it.
But it's the comments that induce vomitting
Miles Teg
"I say the moon belongs to the whole of the human race. It should have the same legal status as Antarctica. And that corporations and other business interests should be barred from touching it. Capitalism should be contained on the earth."

Miles Teg

"Space travel is too important to leave to capitalists. The profit motive will necessitate making things cheap. When you make rockets cheap, they explode. Space travel should be handled by governments, the capitalists can build the equipment on government contracts. Ideally every space agency on the planet should be merged into a single, obscenely well funded space command, under the UN."
In other words... money grows on trees!

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

"When you make rockets cheap, they explode."

That is head exploding level derp, that is.

[Auric Demonocles]

But they won't have any incentive to do things cheaply if they are on a government contract!

[Matrix]

Some people think making things expensive means they are of good quality.

Making something inexpensive doesn't necessarily equate shoddy quality. But these folks aren't that bright. Probably why they subscribe to the TOP MEN theory.

[wareagle]

and some people, like Miles evidently, think companies will build exploding rockets on purpose. Because something.

I am perpetually amazed that people like this are able to breathe on their own.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am perpetually amazed that people like this are able to breathe on their own.

You've got to be pretty sharp to be a mentat. He's probably just been fed bad input.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Wayyyyyy too much Star Trek.

[Zeb]

Which is funny because Miles Teg is a character in one of the later Dune novels.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

These people just can't see through the whole problem. Sure, you could make a couple rockets low quality and under-bid another manufacturer, but then the rockets will have a higher likelihood of exploding, killing passengers and destroying cargo/the spacecraft. They will likely have a lawsuit on their hands following this and contracts for more rockets will dry up rather quickly.

These people can't see this side of the equation. They think that people will just keep buying awful quality equipment because KAPITALIZZMMM BADDD. Fuck I cannot stand it.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Not to mention that the manufacturer and/or launcher of the rockets will have insurance, and their insurance premiums will skyrocket if they even think about using shitty rockets. Nobody in their right mind is going to sell an affordable insurance policy to anyone who launches rockets unless the launcher is using extremely reliable rockets.

[OldMexican]

When you make rockets cheap, they explode.

Unlike the expensive ones, I guess...

[thom]

The profit motive will necessitate making things cheap. When you make rockets cheap, they explode.

Before long the profit motive will drive auto manufacturers to build cars that explode as they roll off the assembly line and ice cream makers to make ice cream that melts in transit to the store.

[Pro Libertate]

Also, what makes government rockets expensive? Is it the high-quality craftsmanship and materials? Or is it something else?

[Hillary's Clitdong]

1. The desire to do something spectacular in order to convince the public that this is a good use of money.

2. The desire of politicians to be seen as "Visionary Great Statesmen".

3. The political need to spread construction out over the largest area and among as many manufacturers as is possible.

4. Bureaucratic infighting means that the rocket must please the widly-differing desires of different agencies.

[Zeb]

And there is no incentive for them to make anything cost less. That would just reduce their budget. The main imperative of any government agency is to keep their budget at big as possible.

[Michael S. Langston]

While government inefficiency certainly has a cost - wrt space travel, it's still very new technology which is only used by entities with very deep pockets (which up until recently was only governments).

Due to that - whether Sir Branson or the US government builds it - it will still be very expensive.

However - what the profit motive does it invite competition - which will lower the prices in the future. A lowering which will allow more people to take advantage of it (assuming it's private enterprise & not government), which will put more emphasis on decreasing costs.

Same as brand new medical technology.

Not that Miles Teg isn't stupid - but cost is likely to be very high for the foreseeable future due to the nature of the technology and its (currently) limited use and client base.

[Raven Nation]

No doubt they're wrong in their viewpoint. BUT, if you are fed a steady diet that emphasizes cheap & shoddy manufacturing, screwing of workers, etc. because everything is about profit, then it's not hard to believe this stuff. Hell, I saw the world that way for almost twenty years b/c I hadn't been exposed to any other way of thinking.

[Jon Lester]

North Korean rockets seem to be the analog to Pintos and Gremlins, but obviously, they're made under the auspices of the total state.

[CE]

Because government rockets never explode, right?

[Rasilio]

""Space travel is too important to leave to capitalists. The profit motive will necessitate making things cheap. When you make rockets cheap, they explode. Space travel should be handled by governments, the capitalists can build the equipment on government contracts. Ideally every space agency on the planet should be merged into a single, obscenely well funded space command, under the UN.""

"Ocean travel is too important to leave to capitalists. The profit motive will necessitate making things cheap. When you make boats cheap, they sink. Ocean travel should be handled by governments, the capitalists can build the equipment on government contracts. Ideally every Navy on the planet should be merged into a single, obscenely well funded Ocean command, under the UN."

[Raven Nation]

Please do not give them ideas!

[Lord Humungus]

did you ever hear of the TITANIC!!?!?!? /derpity-do

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Space travel is too important to leave to capitalists.

The whole thing is an argument for privatized space exploration/colonization. "In space, we can't hear you legislate."

[thom]

"No, we heard you, but we just don't care. What's that? You're going to arrest us? Ok, see you in a few years..."

[Not a Libertarian]

Well what would you expect from someone raised in a coven of those Bene Gesserit witches.

[Fist of Etiquette]

North and South Korea have officially reopened a joint industrial project along the border.

And now off to one of those team building retreats.

[Almanian!]

As the great Laurie Reuttimann says - "Team building is for suckers."

[robc]

Paranoia RPG would be a good team building exercise.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

I am suspicious as to why you suggested that particular game...

[robc]

Because of its "team building" style as compared to other RPGs.

D&D doesnt usually involve shooting your partners in the back, for example.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

So you say... what is your real reason?!

[Rasilio]

You've obviously never played with a Kender who gets his hands on a Wand of Wonder

[Tejicano]

I went to a team building retreat once. It was called "United States Marine corps Recruit Depot, San Diego". Basically they showed us what the team should be and "encouraged" us to join it. The guys who didn't quite jump on board with full enthusiasm got a bit more encouragement. We did build one hell of a team that way.

[Lord Humungus]

Meanwhile in Australia...

Possum infestation keeps (Aussie PM) Tony Abbott out of official residence

Tony Abbott has delayed moving into Australia's official prime ministerial residence because it is run-down and infested by possums but will instead take up digs at the national police academy.

[Ted S.]

Can he blame the previous Government for this?

[db]

Wait, they have fighting kangaroos, lethally poisonous everything, and drop bears, but opossums kick their ass?

[Marshall Gill]

Well, that's no ordinary 'possum. That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on. He's got huge, sharp-- he can leap about-- look at the bones!

[Zeb]

They are actually just possums in that part of the world. Not the same as an opossum.

[Rasilio]

Police Academy XXI Politicians on Patrol

[sarcasmic]

A major air rescue operation is being planned for Boulder County, Colorado following serious flooding.

Finally heard from my father. He's stuck between a washed out canyon and a washed out bridge. At least the electricity is back on.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

My mom lives in Longmont, and she's managed to avoid the flooding so far since her place isn't in the floodplain for the St. Vrain. They've evacuated something like 7,000 people so far, though.

Fortunately, it looks like it's going to be pretty dry this week along the Front Range after today.

[sarcasmic]

His next batch of groceries will likely be coming in on a helicopter.

[Snark Plissken]

North and South Korea have officially reopened a joint industrial project along the border.

As the Kaesongs go rolling along.

[Fist of Etiquette]

However, whether Assad or the rebels are responsible is not known, and may not be determined in the report.

The United Nations, useful as ever.

[Lord Humungus]

Meanwhile in Canada...

Hazardous waste: Rocket launcher dumped in rubbish bin

The military-grade weapon appeared in a recycling bin in Victoria, British Columbia, leaving local residents stumped as to how it got there.

Staff at Hartland recycling landfill called Saanich Police as they were 'concerned it may be usable', Sgt Steve Eassie said.

'At this point it is inert; it is no longer housing what was once a rocket inside the missile launcher,' he added.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

You need the double restricted firearm license to buy one of those.

[Jon Lester]

Why did it end up at the landfill? Is it hard to sell scrap for cash in Canada?

[Rich]

White House infested with vermin

"It was the size of a small drone."

[Slammer]

And the Capitol Building, too, apparently.

[Slammer]

And your local City Council, as well.

[Ted S.]

They're calling Obama vermin now?

That's RACIST!!!111!!!

[tarran]

The notion that Jimmy Carter had to endure the smell of decomposing mice in the Oval Office makes me very, very, happy. It's a small part of the hell those assholes deserve, but it's tprobably the best we are going to get.

[John]

If we would ever have a first cat, rather than always a dog, there wouldn't be a mouse problem.

[Slammer]

Didn't Clinton have a tuxedo named Socks?

[John]

He did. I forgot about that. I bet they didn't have any mice.

[BakedPenguin]

A cat and a terrier, and there will be no animal vermin problem. The WH gardener might get pissed at the holes in the lawn, though.

[R C Dean]

The story about the two squabbling agencies in the Carter Administration is just priceless.

Tells you everything you need to know about federal bureaucracy and Carter, namely, that the bureaucrats don't give a shit, especially when answering to weak leader.

The idea that two departments of a business would engage in fingerpointing and refusing to deal with FUCKING MICE IN THE CEO'S OFFICE is just unthinkable in the private sector.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Also, I understand the guy was the President and all, but even if my time was extremely limited I'd much rather just take the problem into my own hands and set some damned traps rather than put up with the stench of dead mouse and bad excuses for months. Or make an ultimatum earlier, seriously.

[Michael S. Langston]

Agreed - though hopefully if you're a high paid CEO - you can find people to do that for you as I'm assuming the board and shareholders would prefer the salary they pay their CEO to be used on things a tad more critical to business success than mice in the office (assuming the removal of mice isn't critical - say that you're CEO of a restaurant and your office is within the restaurant itself).

[Longtorso, Johnny]

She throws like a girl.

I'll be in your bunk.

[sarcasmic]

The look of love: Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman only have eyes for each other as they step out for groceries

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....eries.html
She's got to be one of the most gorgeous women on the planet. *drool*

[Ted S.]

Better-looking than Lucy? 🙂

[Almanian!]

DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT LUCY

[robc]

And yet she is with that douchey looking guy.

[Palin's Buttplug]

On the Summers news, the Dow and S&P 500 set to open at new records as Yellen is expected to continue Bernanke monetary programs.

[Spoonman.]

Income inequality may be at record highs, but at least the Dow is kicking ass! Yeah! Fuck everybody!

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

At least we have a full employment economy going too!

[Almanian!]

Hey - the unemployed who want a job are looking for one. So - Success!

[Palin's Buttplug]

The skills gap is at a record high.

The Great Recession displaced the general occupation low education crowd. That is where a low of the Bitter Clinger angst come from.

"Hey, Bubba, we don't need you pulling stock anymore."

[John]

The Great Recession displaced the general occupation low education crowd. That is where a low of the Bitter Clinger angst come from.

Shreek, just because are homeless and live in a box, doesn't mean everyone who has a low IQ and low education is unemployable. You are disgusting fascist with mental issues. You are not typical.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bitter Clinger angst is really a worthy topic to discuss. You should not belittle it.

The financial crisis of 2007-08 wiped out $120,000 per household. There is good reason to be bitter.

[John]

The horrible labor force participation rate and Obama's war on full time employment are worthy topics. And last I looked, the people worst hit were young people and black people. They have the two highest rates of unemployment.

Are you telling me black people are bitter clingers? We know you are an old fashioned Dem racist Shreek. But that is bad even for you.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The LFP rate has been in a downward dive since the mid 70s.

[John]

No it hasn't. You just make shit up. You don't even try.

[Palin's Buttplug]

From 2000 then.

I stand corrected.

[#]

Still got that one wrong. It declined slightly starting with the 2001 recession, then took a nose dive and keeps falling starting in late 2008.

[Palin's Buttplug]

nope.

http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet

[BakedPenguin]

For anyone who is not a regular here, the above is a troll who posts bullshit. Here is a graph of the labor participation rate.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I posted the source graph direct from the BLS, you moron.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I posted the source graph direct from the BLS, you moron

After having me shove it in your face repeatedly in response to your bullshit about falling unemployment, I'd hope you remember it, you little canker sore.

[Lord Humungus]

holy shit...

[Rasilio]

"The skills gap is at a record high."

Bullshit, there is no skills gap. To the extent that there is it is more properly called a "management leadership gap".

The problem is not that Americans lack the skills required to do the jobs available, the problem is most managers haven't got the slightest clue what skills are actually needed to do the job and even when they do they fail to build an organization capable of providing them new skilled workers as needed by training them on the job.

Instead they slap up a pie in the sky job req on Monster and forward it to a handful of recruiters who scurry around trying to find someone able to meet that exact list of requirements, and probably someone who already has a job

[Michael S. Langston]

Agree 120% - a lot of businesses today are way too political in their promotions process and it's killing good businesses as part of fielding a winning team (whether business or baseball) is promoting based on meritocracy and removing those who are failing.

Look no further than broader society to see this in process - society continues to promote people with no discernible talent whatsoever (see Kardashians or Paris Hilton for example) - the same idiotic thought process that continues to give these idiots positive feedback for idiotic decisions infests businesses as well.

Making many businesses, even many of the vaunted fortune 500, places where the best employees (those seeking a world-series caliber team) don't want to work.

With deep enough pockets of course, they can pay good people enough to keep working hard, even when they are constantly frustrated at their inability to get things done due to unreasonable barriers set up for no real reasons.

But many people who don't leave frustrating work environments, end up becoming part of the problem as they tire of fighting even good fights.

You've likely heard people at places like this (teachers for example) say things like "yeah, I used to do more, but I learned quickly it doesn't matter".

Too bad it appears this trend towards political instead of merit promotions is increasing, not decreasing...

[CE]

This is how smug self-important liberals view Red Staters, and conservatives in general. Even though it's mostly the young liberals who are back at home, living with mom and dad.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

the Dow and S&P 500 set to open at new records as Yellen is expected to continue Bernanke monetary programs.

We're printing money! ?
We're printing money! ?
Because prosperity
comes from the end of the printing press! ?

[robc]

Yep.

What is the S&P/M0 ratio?

I bet that isnt at a record high.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Who cares? That money is in US Treasuries and can be sold (removed) from the money supply anytime.

[CampingInYourPark]

"That money...can be sold from the money supply..."

And in other news:
Derpdy derp derpity derp

[Palin's Buttplug]

You have nothing.

Selling Treasuries is easy to do. It is the most liquid market in the world.

[#]

Massively selling the Fed's holdings of treasuries would also cause the stock market, which you think is driven by fundamentals to crash and for the housing recovery that you think is driven by fundamentals to crash when bond yields spike.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Can you back this claim up?

[Michael S. Langston]

Can you back this claim up?

Answer: yes, but I think you can look up the definition of and problems due to inflation all by yourself.

Or at least I would've thought so before you asked such a stupid question.

So just for you google search for 'define: inflation'

[Enigma]

How many do you own?

[R C Dean]

Sure, the Fed can dump a trillion in Treasuries without affecting interest rates or the larger economy at all!

A big upward stab in interest, and the corresponding downward spike in portfolio value, easy-peasy!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Over a dozen Ugandan officers are being charged after allegedly stealing food intended for African Union troops in a U.S.-backed peacekeeping mission.

Do they ever charge the ones who steal food relief meant for the people?

[Michael S. Langston]

I don't think so, but isn't that generally because those stealing international aid are part of the government receiving the aid?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

How to Turn Your Favorite Fruit Juice into Cheap Homemade Booze

[OldMexican]

You just want your face in yet another Discovery Channel reality show about outlaws.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Don't even need to buy yeast, just put some cloth or a coffee filter over the top to keep solids out and the airborne yeasts will start it off. Airlock it after a couple days.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Damn - you win the "Desperate Alcoholic of the Morning" award.

Just the morning tho.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

I assumed that anyone using Welch's juice for their hooch isn't too concerned about the subtleties that cultivated wine yeasts would bring to the table.

Although my first mead was made with wild yeasts - we used raw honey mixed with cold water. It's a hassle though because you need to boil tap water first to release the chlorine, then let it cool down so you don't kill the yeast in the honey.

You also need to drink these things young, unless you want concord grape vinegar.

[robc]

Its how lambics are made, roughly.

Cantillon puts the wort in shallow coolships in their attic. The ceiling has vents that direct windflow down onto the wort. Plus there is a cat roaming around. They also dont really clean the attic.

So somehow the beer gets yeast in it.

They they put it in the wooden barrels that they have been using for 100 years that have some interesting bugs living in the wood.

Eventual result: awesome.

[CatoTheElder]

In addition to fermentation by yeast, lambics are also infected by Brettanomyces bruxellensis and other bacteria.

[robc]

Brett is a yeast. Not one you normally want in beer, unless you are going for that flavor.

Lactobacillus gives lambic its typical sourness.

[Clich? Bandit]

And lactobacillus live in every human being. Primarily in saliva.

Don't hock a lugie into your beer unless you want a sour.

[CatoTheElder]

You are correct. Lactobacillus is the bacteria ... it's been a while since I made lambic. My bad.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Recommended.

[thom]

You can use more or less [yeast], depending on how high a percentage of alcohol you want.

wat?

[kinnath]

Another case of the blind leading the deaf.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Unless she added a ton of sugar, the type of yeast used won't affect ABV either. Champagne yeast will take you up to ~18% (IIRC), but only if your original gravity was high enough. If the yeast poisons itself with alcohol before consuming the sugar you just wind up with sweet wine - which I'm sure isn't a problem for these people.

[Zeb]

You might get there faster, but it sure won't be stronger.

[Lord Humungus]

heh - I once found an ancient company cookbook made with employee recipes.

One of the entries was for homemade wine, suggesting that you hang the bottle of grape juice in a warm place, like a radiator.

I won't go into the horrors of the "tater-tot casserole".

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Don't be talkin' down tater-tot casserole. I can have you smothered in Velveeta...I know people!

[Lord Humungus]

The end of global population growth may be almost here ? and a lot sooner than the UN thinks

Make room! The current world population of roughly 7.2 billion will rise to 9.6 billion by 2050 and then to 10.9 billion in 2100, according to the most recent United Nations projections.

Wait, don't make room. Demographer Sanjeev Sanyal of Deutsche Bank thinks the UN is way off. His calculations find the world's overall fertility rate falling to the replacement rate in 2025, although global population will continue to expand thanks in part to rising longevity, for another few decades. Then comes the Big Shrink.

[Mike M.]

Another thing that the "scientific experts" got completely wrong? The science isn't settled, bitches!

[Michael S. Langston]

As the biologist said in the NYT (another H&R post) - the issue is their (the predictors) inability to stop looking at just the numbers and start contemplating that humans adjust their behavior depending upon all things around them.

Just as tribal "societies" thousands of years ago controlled population growth by say refusing to allow new marriages or sending old people into the cold to die - today's humans can do this also (and are already doing it as birth rates in western society declines naturally).

[Zeb]

Who could ever imagine that people would change their behavior as conditions change?

[Michael S. Langston]

Not anyone who believes you can raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour without any consequences at all.

[sarcasmic]

Someone had a good night! Kate Moss cements her status as the hardest-partying supermodel as she leaves LFW bash looking worse for wear

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-wear.html
Kate Moss drunk? I never!

[Jon Lester]

Someone's being very subjective. She doesn't look so obviously drunk to me. I'm just glad to see she's finally filled out some in her prime.

[Matrix]

Bieber may be Batman's sidekick in new movie
Okay, I was going to at least give Affleck a shot. But fuck it...

[DontShootMe]

Ok, at this point, they might as well make it a musical...

[Almanian!]

I see a future full of.... TONY AWAARRRRRDS!!

[Rich]

Batman. Batman. Batman .... Dadadadadada, BATMAN!!

[Steve G]

If there's anything good left in the world, this will be a hoax

[Michael S. Langston]

lol - I always wonder how decisions like this are even contemplated.

Scene - executive meeting discussing upcoming flik - all "decision makers" present.

One person starts the conversation with this question: "What's the easiest way we can make this new movie automatically distasteful to the vast majority of people inclined to watch it?"

Another person: Michael Moore?

Another: Isn't he dead?

....
& you just know - because the idea is just blazingly stupid - it wasn't a one person decision - this was definitely a committee... as if there's anything dumber than decisions made by individuals, it's decisions made by committee.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

'Quota for women the only way to achieve equality', says Alice Arnold
..."Without a directive of a quota from above, the figure of 50 per cent will simply never be achieved. Not because there are not good women out there, there are plenty, but they have to be sought out and given the opportunity," Miss Arnold said. ...

...She said that many of the male voices on the radio were an "assault on the ears". ...

[Auric Demonocles]

And why should it be exactly 50%? Does this mean we need quotas in nursing?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

No - quotas are only to bring female representation up to fight patriarchy.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

And teaching.

[Almanian!]

And Hooters girls

[Auric Demonocles]

That one can stay just the way it is.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...Look at education in the USA. Women make up 82 percent of the public school teachers and 58 percent of all college attendees. And yet, we are informed that the problem with the educational system is that there are still too few female athletes and scientists, so Title IX is required in order to rectify the balance....

[Michael S. Langston]

The irony for someone to say "just like we needed title IX" in order to sell the idea of more government involvement.

I suppose that's because title IX, put into place in 1972, has worked out so well?

& of course - there's no better way to fix (perceived) discrimination by more discrimination 🙂 two wrongs always make a left I suppose..

[Lord Humungus]

IBD: It's Democrats Who Are Out to Lunch On ObamaCare

The administration has amended or delayed ObamaCare 19 times. Unions are screaming about the harm it will cause. The exchanges are in disarray. Yet it's Republicans who are out of touch for wanting to stop it?

Recently, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., accused the GOP of having "a fetish about trying to kill ObamaCare."

[Palin's Buttplug]

Real desperation on the part of IBD.

The exchanges are in disarray.

Total hearsay. Why not wait until Oct. 1 and bombard the exchanges when they open to see?

I plan on doing it.

[DontShootMe]

Let us know what it's like to be a victim of identity theft.

[Auric Demonocles]

We've got to pass them to find out what's in them!

[Lord Humungus]

from the editorial (for those who read and just don't spout talking points):

The CRS also found that the administration missed half of the deadlines set in the law. And an inspector general report found it well behind schedule ensuring the ObamaCare data hub is secure.

Then there's the fact that, just weeks before the exchanges are supposed to open, "not a single state appears to be completely ready." That's what Leavitt Partners' W. Brett Graham told a congressional panel this week, adding that many states have "only recently begun to test their systems" to verify eligibility and subsidy requests.

have at it, sucker.

[Palin's Buttplug]

If it is the disaster that IBC claims Dems will get slaughtered in the 2014 election.

We will know by XMas.

[Lord Humungus]

slaughter or not, your support for a morally bankrupt president is revolting.

[Michael S. Langston]

lol - sure they will. Because if there's one thing the US voters are good at - is punishing failure.

& you can prove voters are good at punishing failure just by looking at all the failures in government not being re-elected.

You're too funny

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Benefit of the doubt to the Lightworker! Oh, and if it doesn't work...

1) Rethuglican obsctructionismz

2) BOOOOSH!!!

3) SEKWESTERIZ!!!!

[R C Dean]

The OCare hub is inherently insecure, because of the vast number of agencies and people who will have access to it.

[Michael S. Langston]

Exactly - as proof - consider government data which has many fewer people accessing it, yet it's still insecure, like IRS data, DMV data, sealed divorce court records, and even NSA data.

[sarcasmic]

Tame deer famed for nuzzling teenage boy is shot dead by conservationists for becoming TOO FRIENDLY

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

[Slammer]

They're still wild animals. All it had to do was catch a child under the arm or caught in a backpack, or bumped up against someone. It could have done some serious damage.

It POSSIBLY may have hurt someone, somewhere, sometime. The solution is to violently destroy things which may have a potentiality for violence.

[DJF]

Friendly deer are dangerous, that is why we need a deer breeding program to turn them into vicious man killers with fangs

[Zeb]

There are certainly good arguments for trying not to make wild animals lose their fear of humans. But it seems like they could have come up with something else to do with this one. Maybe capture it and put it in a petting zoo or something.
I hope they at least ate it.

[sarcasmic]

Probably not. To be eaten the animal must be killed by a licensed hunter during hunting season.

Round here there was a deer problem on one of the islands, so they hired a professional to cull the herd. The meat had to be destroyed because it was taken out of season. Something like forty animals, and all of it went to waste.

[Zeb]

Well, that's dumb. I suppose the reasoning is to discourage people hunting out of season and lying about having to kill it for some legitimate reason, but in these cases, that wouldn't be much of an issue.

[sarcasmic]

Teacher, 28, charged 'after she had sex with 17-year-old male student'

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

Comments say it all.

At 17 I was proud to have an older woman I never considered it abuse nor rape.

i never had that luck !

[Auric Demonocles]

You know, I've still never slept with a 28 year old, let alone someone 11 years older than me. How was this kid harmed again?

[Snark Plissken]

So you trade 'em in for a younger model at 27?

[Auric Demonocles]

25, actually.

[Snark Plissken]

She has been accused of having sexual relations with a 17-year-old from the Union Academy Charter School in Monroe.

Obviously they need to ban charter schools.

[John]

The age of consent should be no older than 16. Unless you are somehow mentally handicapped, anyone man or woman is competent to consent to sex at 17. The 18 year old age of consent is a joke. You cannot call that statutory rape and lump it in with having sex with a 12 year old child.

[robc]

The 18 year old age of consent is a joke.

Which is why it is rare.

[robc]

Twelve states have AoC of 18. Others are either 16 or 17.

Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin.

[Acosmist]

? Pa is 16, dude.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

The age of consent should be no older than 16

You mean no younger than 16, no?

The 18 year old age of consent is a joke.

I wanted to screw Samantha Fox when I was 17!

Ok, she's only 2 years older than me, but still - age of consent and the all-important threshold!

[robc]

You mean no younger than 16, no?

He means older.

He is saying the law shouldnt be 17 or 18. But 16 at the highest.

[Apatheist ?_??]

It is 16 in North Carolina, this falls under the teacher exception, which is bull shit.

[robc]

I can see it as a valid reason to fire the teacher, but the law is bullshit.

[Zeb]

I would bet that most of the people responsible for the law are men with daughters.

[R C Dean]

There's that projection again.

[The Late P Brooks]

Did the posters in the weekend threads let you down again?

It was like the world championship of hare splitting.

[Lord Humungus]

A recovery without a home

Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the onset of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the U.S. housing market is at last starting to thrive. It has, in fact, been steadily improving over the past years, and that trend has only accelerated of late. Housing is widely perceived as a key ingredient to a healthy economy, and so the revival in the housing market has been heralded as a positive step for an American system that has been sluggish at best. Similar trends in the United Kingdom and parts of the EU are greeted as positives as well.

But is it? Housing is a key aspect of economic activity in most countries, but that doesn't mean that we should welcome a return to housing as a perceived pillar of national strength. And we should be very wary of any return to an ethos that sees either home ownership or housing prices as a barometer of individual and collective success. Those attitudes very nearly imploded the modern financial system, and they could imperil it again.

friends of my wife are trying to sell their rather modestly sized house (but nice neighborhood) for $379K. I believe it to be overpriced by... oh... $80-100K! Surprising they haven't had any takers yet.

[Auric Demonocles]

Zenon, I thought you were going to be a superhero with a name like that, but now I realize you're actually a supervillian, here to hold the world's alt-text for hostage.

[sarcasmic]

HOMELESS man finds $41,900 in backpack, TURNS IT IN to Boston police

Contained $2,400 in cash and WHOPPING $39,500 in AmEx Travelers Cheques
Good Samaritan only gave police his name, address of homeless shelter where he lives

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

Says the cops gave the money back. I'm confused. I thought that when cops found that much money they charged the money with a crime and forced the owner to prove it innocent.

[Don Mynack]

Makes sense. If the guy valued money, he probably wouldn't be homeless.

[Lord Humungus]

From Yosemite to Colorado, our approach to wildfires is all wrong

What we need as much as money is consensus about how we live in that countryside, or at least agreement about how to decide. This year's blazes also show why the National Cohesive Strategy for fighting fires ? a project set in motion by Congress to protect against bad fires, promote good ones, and assemble a workforce and the resources to do so ? is both necessary and tricky. The strategy is a bold attempt to gather the federal government and volunteer fire departments, states and counties, public agencies and private landowners around the fire they all share. But they need to face one another across that fire, not stand with their backs to the flames and use them to animate some other message to special interest audiences. And then Congress needs to join them. The legislation that mandated the national strategy has already stumbled because of underfunding.

It's probably too late to do more than flee skillfully from the fires we face today. But we can begin positioning ourselves for the ones to come.

[John]

Environmentalism is a religion. They don't view man as a steward of the environment the way the old conservationists used to. They view man as an alien being separate from the environment. The environmentalist heaven is a pristine world untouched by the influence of man. So they will object to any intervention by man, even if doing so makes things worse.

[sarcasmic]

Mussolini's magic motor sells for ?6million: Legendary Alfa Romeo which was built to beat Hitler can still do top speed of 165mph

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-deal.html
Does it make the trains run on time?

[OldMexican]

Running it will make your head look big.

[Slammer]

Chinese hospital seeks female virgins blood

[Snark Plissken]

They are doing a remake of Blood for Dracula?

[Jon Lester]

I want to see a remake of The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, preferably scene-for-scene.

[Rich]

Congress exempt from Obamacare

The reason why

[John]

The picture drudge ran this morning about the sex life question was just classic. And anyone who answers such questions is nuts. Fuck the government. And here is hoping doctors just check the box without actually asking them. This is one place were mass civil disobedience can be effective.

[Lady Bertrum]

Just wait until they start requiring docs to screen for and submit data for mental health issues.

[John]

Oh yes. So Ms, Bertrum, have you been having angry and paranoid feelings against the government? You know "mental health" will mean "wrong politics".

[thom]

Even now, it seems like a person would be crazy for discussing any mental health issues with a health care provider, given the recent rhetoric (usually about guns, but not exclusively) that government is not only justified, but has a responsibility, to deny those with "mental health issues" their fundamental rights.

[Rich]

This.

'Are you sexually active?'

Not at this particular moment.

Ask [looks around] her!

I don't understand.

I must be, because the government keeps fucking me.

Etc.

[Tim]

Are you sexually active?'

No, I'm married.

[Slammer]

Every single question should be turned around on the doctor:

"Are you sexually active?"

"Are you?"

[Rich]

I suspect any lawyer could *easily* make this into both a sexual harassment and a hostile work environment lawsuit.

[Lord Humungus]

heh - I recently had a nurse ask:

"Do you smoke?"

My reply: "No. Should I start?"

She didn't like that reply and got testy after that.

Actually I do smoke, but only once in awhile. I can go for weeks months without a cigarette. But once I'm at a bar and have a drink or two...

[robc]

But once I'm at a bar and have a drink or two...

I know this is common, but I dont get it. [to be fair, I dont get smoking in general, as Ive never smoked ANYTHING] I want to enjoy the taste of my drinks, why would I want to kill that off?

[KDN]

I think it's the speedball effect. Mixing alcohol and a stimulant can enhance the effects of both. I've never gotten the draw of smoking, but I've been known to wake up with a tin of Skoal in my pocket after a long night.

[VG Zaytsev]

Whatever happened to the penumbra of privacy protection in the constitution?

[Marshall Gill]

No, that was an emanation!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Everyone with health insurance is exempt from Obamacare.

[John]

Not from the electronic records requirement, which is where the sex question requirement comes from, you half wit

[Lady Bertrum]

Everyone with employer provided health insurance is exempt from Obamacare - if their employers continue to offer it after implementation, that is. FIFY.

[Drake]

We aren't exempt from the massive price increases caused by Obamacare.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You won't see any price change due to Obamacare until it is implemented. 2014 will be the first full year of data.

[Drake]

Good one! I'm just imagining things.

[R C Dean]

No, everyone with health insurance is subject to OCare. They are merely complying with the individual mandate portion of it.

And that compliance likely requires them to buy insurance they don't want (under the minimum benefits rules), and have their information shared freely among federal agencies, etc.

[John]

A shooter is lose at the Navy Yard in Washington. Several people hurt at least. Disgruntled employee? Crazy Muslim?

[Almanian!]

Whoever it is, Jethro and NCIS will be ALL over it.

[Mike M.]

We'll know fairly quickly, because if it's a white guy the media will report that immediately as soon as he's caught, and if he's not, they won't.

[Tim]

"The Navy said on its Twitter feed that three shots were fired at 8:20 a.m. ETat the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command. "

The Navy said on its Twitter feed that Japanese planes were sighted at 7:55 a.m. at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

[Almanian!]

*whispers*

it was an inside job

*slinks out of room*

[Slammer]

Jason Bourne?

[Lady Bertrum]

Aaron Cross?

[Auric Demonocles]

No need to speculate yet.

[Rich]

How about *now*?

[DJF]

What's the point in having instantaneous incomplete news reports if its not to speculate?

[Slammer]

Well, it's also a chance to see 5000 fucking cops and firefighters milling around for hours on end.

[VG Zaytsev]

Obviously a crazed tea bagging libertarian nihilist.

[BakedPenguin]

...a demented knife-wielding escaped lunatic libertarian zombie mutant...

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Unpossible. The Navy Yard is in Washington DC, where it is impossible to have a gun.

[Kaptious Kristen]

All I know is that the term "massive overreaction" comes to mind. Shutting down departures from DCA? Seriously?

[Mike M.]

Some media outlets now reporting that the shooter is a "black male with a dark complexion, approximately 5'10" to 6 feet tall, 170 pound with a black shirt and black hat."

[Kaptious Kristen]

Is there any more disgusting and ignorant a creature than a local news "reporter"? Some things I've heard:

"We were told to say this"
"Police told us not to release X, Y or Z"

[Michael S. Langston]

I heard on CNBC thru Sirius this morning them talking about it and the guy "on location" saying things such as "We really don't know much yet, just that there is a shooting and we think the shooter might be dead. OH an look - there goes a swat vehicle, seems to be full of people, speeding by . So again, there appears to have been a shoot... Oh - look, there's another police vehicle heading that way . As I was saying, there appears to be..."

Seriously? Updates about police vehicles driving by?

I get the whole "we want to be first" but isn't there some middle ground?

I mean does the average individual actually change their news source simply because another source got to it first?

Especially in this day and age when first can only be first by minutes (because as soon as it's reported somewhere, all other news shows will say 'This just in FYTW News is reporting....'.

[The Late P Brooks]

Ideally every space agency on the planet should be merged into a single, obscenely well funded space command, under the UN.

That should work.

[Tim]

"Ugandan Astronauts sell space suits meant for colonists."

[Almanian!]

"It has been brought to our attention that a distant relative living in Nigeria - who recently passed away - left you the proceeds from the sale of a Nigerian space shuttle.

As this person's last living kin, the proceeds from the sale are rightfully yours.

If you could please provide your bank account and routing numbers, we will transfer the funds from the sale to you..."

[Auric Demonocles]

I think the United Nations Space Command sounds like a really good idea. But, of course, they'll need soldiers to have any real authority.

[Pro Libertate]

And a greatly enhanced office of SecGen. How about Emperor of the Earth?

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm sure that some will resist this consolidation of power. These rebels must be dealt with using extreme firepower. We'll need to develop some sort of super soldier, probably using a sort of spartan style training regimen.

[Pro Libertate]

I think we also need an orbital battlestation of some sort.

[Auric Demonocles]

Of course. There should be a whole array of them spread out around the planet. And with giant kinetic weapons, using magnetic accelerators.

[Pro Libertate]

The nice part is that the ARM will become a reality.

[Almanian!]

Summers withdrew from consideration.

This day is looking brighter already!

[Auric Demonocles]

This happens every year at this time. It's called fall.

[Eduard van Haalen]

On the anniversary of the Moon landing, PolitiFact confirms that Buzz Aldrin took Presbyterian communion wine on the Moon - the first food any human had on on the lunar surface.

http://www.politifact.com/geor.....pace-fact/

Aldrin describes this in a 1970 *Guideposts* article:

http://www.ericmetaxas.com/wri.....full-text/

[Tim]

He was operating under the influence? Also a moon first.

[Loki]

Uh-oh, a government employee performed a religious act while on duty! On the taxpayer dime! Oh, science damn him! /retard

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Time mag hides Putin's success from U.S. voters
Time Magazine's cover for its September 16 issue features a picture of contented-looking Russian president Vladimir Putin, complete with a black background and a damning caption that declares "America's weak and waffling, Russia's rich and resurgent."

But Time's editors are shielding Americans from the demoralizing picture, putting a cheerful, sky-blue photo on the covers of magazines distributed in the United States.

"It's time to pay college athletes," says the chirpy, non-political U.S. cover, which shows a ball-carrying football player with arm outstretched....

[Palin's Buttplug]

IOW, Americans buy magazines with atheletes on the cover.

[Tim]

In other words Time is kissing Barack's ass.

[Loki]

In other news, the sky is blue and in a shocking development, it turns out water is wet.

[Michael S. Langston]

Come on - you can tell me - I'll keep it a secret, I promise.

PB is just performance art, right?

[Spoonman.]

Nothing Putin does matters because unless the administration shoots itself in the dick by not allowing LNG exports and continued fracking, Russia is facing a future without power.

[John]

Don't kid yourself, they are aiming for the dick. Obama would love to kill the gas industry. He hasn't been able to do it yet. The problem is that gas doesn't produce a lot of CO2, so it makes it difficult for EPA to just shut it down the way they are coal in the name of the global warminz!!

[Tim]

Burning Natural gas produces CO2 and H2O-plant food. Kinda hard to demonize the stuff.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It's happening: Here comes the EPA's de facto ban on new coal plants
...Coal-fired plants may be allowed to emit up to 1,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, but that threshold is probably still too high for coal to meet without adding very expensive carbon-capture technology ? meaning that the construction of new coal plants will no longer be a cost-effective endeavor in many cases.

Coal plants have already begun shutting down in anticipation of the new regulations, and get ready to see a lot more of that...

[John]

They are making them add expensive equipment, closing down our most abundant and cheapest source of fuel all in the name of a fucking bullshit theory. Obama is actively going to make everyone's life worse. He is literally going to turn out the lights and leave us in the dark and cold. Fuck everyone who voted for him or tries to defend him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're an idiot. Obama is a big supporter of natgas. The "King of Natural Gas" - John Arnold is a big fundraiser for Obama.

[John]

You are a lying sack of puss who repeats the same lies over and over again. No one pays any attention. Everyone knows you are a piece of shit sock puppet sent here to ruin the board. Your handlers need to send you somewhere else.

[Palin's Buttplug]

http://www.freerepublic.com/fo.....7661/posts

Your sides link too.

[John]

Yes shreek. Obama takes money from useful idiots on Wall Street. His is their President after all. God you are a fucking moron.

[Andrew S.]

I love that your reasoning behind Obama's support for something is that one of his major campaign contributors supports it. Just love it.

[Lord Humungus]

and that's just one example of how a dishonest POS debates.

[tarran]

He's not dishonest; his brain is pudding like a homeless guy whose only nourishment for the past few years have been the alcohol he imbibes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bullshit! Natural gas is a necessity to get rid of coal.

That is the goal.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The idea is to FUCK COAL.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

And conversely consumers of electricity - we get that something, something necessarily skyrocket something.

[R C Dean]

That, of course, assumes that Obama is one of the rare breed of politicians who stays bought.

Apparently, asserting that he does stay bought is the best that shreek can say of him.

Personally, though, I doubt it.

[DJF]

""""Russia is facing a future without power."""

So the US having oil and gas is power but Russia having oil and gas is not power?

[VG Zaytsev]

Bread and circuses.

[Lord Humungus]

not sure this has been covered:

Inside Gen. Keith Alexander's all-out, barely-legal drive to build the ultimate spy machine.

"When he was running the Army's Intelligence and Security Command, Alexander brought many of his future allies down to Fort Belvoir for a tour of his base of operations, a facility known as the Information Dominance Center. It had been designed by a Hollywood set designer to mimic the bridge of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek, complete with chrome panels, computer stations, a huge TV monitor on the forward wall, and doors that made a 'whoosh' sound when they slid open and closed. Lawmakers and other important officials took turns sitting in a leather 'captain's chair' in the center of the room and watched as Alexander, a lover of science-fiction movies, showed off his data tools on the big screen.

[Steve G]

Yeah, showed up sometime last week, but worth a repost..

[Tim]

At least he wasn't trying to command the war in Afghanistan while writing thounsands of emails to a Florida debutante.
He also wasn't trying to command a war while boning his biographer.

[Lord Humungus]

multi-tasking!!!

[Fluffy]

Not a Petraeus fan, but surely most competent managers can manage a war and ONE mistress at the same time.

Genghis Khan conquered most of Eurasia while boning the population of a small town.

[Steve G]

Perhaps a medium town since I hear his genes are some of the most prevalent on earth.

[R C Dean]

I believe you are thinking of Tamerlane, but the point stands.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

As is
Cleveland Browns fan requests pallbearers from team

[Lord Humungus]

a classic that will never, ever die.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

And if it does, it can have the Browns as its pall bearers.

[Lord Humungus]

may the circle be unbroken.

[Mike M.]

Can't wait until 0-11 Cleveland plays 0-11 Jacksonville in this year's toilet bowl.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It will be the singularity of suck.

[Loki]

This is what happens when nerds are placed in a position of power and given lots of taxpayer money to waste.

[Outlaw]

When I clicked that link, Chrome immediately wanted to print it. WAT DO?

[Lord Humungus]

don't click the link!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Paul Kengor calls out mainstream journalists as dupes
In an interview with The Daily Caller, author and academic Paul Kengor said establishment media reporters are "dupes" who spout Obama administration propaganda.

Dr. Kengor says that if President Obama were a Republican "he wouldn't have been re-elected because of Benghazi."

He also compared the criticism that President Reagan received on the issue of homelessness with the lack of criticism that Obama has received, even though there are twice as many estimated homeless in the country today than during the Reagan administration.

"I have never seen one single news report ? print media, TV, or anything, or NPR ? on the homeless under Obama," he said. "If this was a Republican, that would be used to paint the most dire scenario of the U.S. economy since the Great Depression."...

[John]

The media and homelessness would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. Homelessness was a huge national issue clear through the 1980s and right up until Clinton was elected. Then the homeless were not so interesting anymore.

There are a million examples of that kind of thing. The trade deficit is a good one. Economists are pretty split on whether a trade deficit is good or bad. So you can pretty much always find an expert who will tell you how bad things are. The media pushed that story hard under Reagan. Sure the economy was good, but look at the trade deficit. Then in the 1990s when it was even larger but Clinton was in the White House, those stories just didn't get run.

[VG Zaytsev]

Same thing with Bush and the anti-war movement.

[wareagle]

plenty of liberal activist groups go into hiatus when a Dem is in the White House. The peaceniks are another example.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's not quite fair. There are still a good 2-3% of antiwar protesters who object to Obama's.

[Loki]

Not to worry, as soon as an "EVUL Rethuglican" gets elected all of a sudden they'll start to feign interest in the homeless again. Especially if it's a Teabagging libertarian Rethuglican like Rand Paul or Ted Cruz.

[Zeb]

It seems like there have been plenty of stories about the homeless. It all ties in nicely with the recession stuff and growing inequality and the need for more free stuff.

[Lord Humungus]

The Bros Of Lehman Brothers: Where Are They Now?

[The Late P Brooks]

Everyone knows we need a wise and empathetic woman to keep shoveling money into the furnace.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Top Men at work:

Joseph McMoneagle
Joseph McMoneagle (born January 10, 1946, in Miami, Florida) was involved in remote viewing experiments conducted by U.S. Army Intelligence and the Stanford Research Institute. He was one of the original officers recruited for the top-secret program now known as the Stargate Project. Along with Ingo Swann, McMoneagle is best known for claims surrounding the investigation of remote viewing and the use of paranormal abilities for military intelligence gathering.

McMoneagle was known as "Remote Viewer No. 1" in the US Army's psychic intelligence unit at Fort Meade, Maryland.[1] At his retirement McMoneagle earned his Legion of Merit for his last 10 years of service, including 5 years of work in SIGINT, SIGnals INTelligence, and 5 years in the RV program....

Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued both to United States military personnel and to military and political figures of foreign governments....

[John]

Isn't that the men who stare at goats?

[Tim]

There are worse things to do with goats.

[Snark Plissken]

Shriek claims it was really dark and he was really drunk...

[Steve G]

LOM is fairly routine for O-6 and above for changing jobs/retirement...

[Lord Humungus]

oh, I was hoping for a new Men at Work album.

[Loki]

This year's ig-nobel prizes have been announced.

PEACE PRIZE: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding.

...still more deserving of an actual Nobel piece prize than Barack Obama.

[Loki]

Florida: come for the invaseive pythons and the mosquitos the size of hummingbirds, stay for the herpes infected monkeys.

[Outlaw]

So I marathoned Ray Donovan over the weekend and got all caught up. I like this show. Does anyone else watch it?

Also, this season of Dexter is complete shit.

[Lord Humungus]

I've just started season 3 of Dexter and feel the sharks circling... is it worth continuing?

[Snark Plissken]

It gets really bad the season he gets married--amazing how fast a battered ex-wife of a drug dealer turns into a whiny entitled princess. The following season picks up, then it starts to get bad again, that's where I stopped.

[kinnath]

This season is the last season. The writers are clearly having problems with how to end the show.

[Outlaw]

Yeah, it certainly seems that way. Highlights from this season:

http://i.minus.com/i5RYOCS7SyIRn.gif

http://abload.de/img/0532_jekdm.gif

[kinnath]

This season is the last season. The writers are clearly having problems with how to end the show.

[Outlaw]

Dexter seasons 1, 2, 4, and 7 are the best.

I'd finish 3 and then skip 5, 6, and 8 if I were you.

[Lord Humungus]

thanks for the tip! (no, just the tip)

[Outlaw]

Just read the wiki to find out what happened in 5 and 6. Five is completely skippable without hurting the story. Only the finale of season 6 is relevant.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

I haven't kept up on the latest but the writing for the show gets really schizophrenic at times--the "Dexter does stuff while delivering monologue" tends to be alright but the cop shop soap opera is garbage, and his sister's character just isn't believable to me.

[kinnath]

yes, and I like the show

[R C Dean]

I am still in the delightful position of having nearly half of the entire run of Breaking Bad in front of me. Its new to me!

[Ken Shultz]

"Only 31 percent of Americans think Obamacare is a good idea, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll."

I'd be interested to see how closely approval of ObamaCare tracks the president's personal approval ratings.

[John]

You really have to be an Obama deadender to think Obamacare is a good idea. How many of that 31% can read or feed themselves? How many are currently in some kind of state institution?

[Ken Shultz]

Tracking approval of ObamaCare may be a better leading indicator of Obama's real popularity than the president's personal approval ratings.

Ed Eisner says that the reason Hollywood didn't criticize Obama's warmongering on Syria was because they didn't want to feel "anti-black".

http://www.hollywoodreporter.c.....war-623326

I bet there's a lot of that goin' around, and if there is? We're not getting a clear picture of what people think of Obama's stance on any given policy by looking at his approval ratings.

What do people think of ObamaCare? Maybe that's getting closer to the truth.

[John]

I think there is a lot of that. People are afraid to go after Obama with the kind of viceral hatred they normally go after Presidents because he is black.

Basically white America, and liberal white America in particular was not ready for a black President. They are just not mature enough to handle it. You can't have a President that 60% of the country is afraid to criticize.

[Ken Shultz]

That bias would even show up in simple approval ratings, phone surveys:

Somebody calls you up and says, "Do you approve of the job the president is doing?", and they think, "Well, I'm not a racist, so of course I approve of the job he's doing".

...it's just that they hate his domestic policy, ObamaCare, they're freaked out by revelations about what the NSA is doing under his watch; they hate his warmongering--they oppose giving him the authority to do what he wants in Syria, etc., etc., but other than that? Well of course they approve of the job the president is doing--'cause they're not racists!

[John]

And it is not going to show up in the general opinion of the Democratic party. People may be afraid to be honest and blame Obama, but the next white Democrat who comes along won't be so lucky. This is why I don't think Hillary has a chance. People won't be afraid to criticize a woman like they are a black man. And all of the animosity that can't come out against Obama is going to come out against the next Dem.

[BakedPenguin]

Be fair, there are a LOT of low information people out there who don't even watch the MSM "news", let alone dig stuff out. The people who frequent boards like this one are the exception, not the rule.

That said, I'm in general agreement with you and John.

[John]

BP,

Even the lowest information voter knows things are bad and is going to want to blame someone. At this point everything the Dems are doing is trying to figure out someway to blame this mess on the Republicans. This is one time where the cult of the Presidency might be a good thing. It is virtually impossible for the party holding the White House not to get the blame for the state of the country.

[#]

What is amazing are polls that ask his approval rating on handling different areas. Economy, budget, healthcare, foreigh policy etc. Basically no sub area gets an approval rating above the upper 30s, but his overall is still in the mid to upper 40s in a lot of polls.

So there is a large chunk of people who dodn't approve of anything hes done but still give him a positive overall approval rating.

[CatoTheElder]

Basically white America, and liberal white America in particular was not ready for a PROGRESSIVE black President. You can't have a President that 60% of the country is afraid to criticize.

You know very well that if, say, Alan West or Thomas Sowell or Herman Cain or Clarence Thomas were president, it would be open season to criticize the oreo Uncle Tom house n****r.

[Andrew S.]

At the end of Bush II's term, there was lots, and lots, of talk in the media about his low approval rating (which, he obviously deserved), and insulting of those who still approved of him (which, they obviously deserved).

Will that happen again this ti.... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[Snark Plissken]

Russian MP's Obama with banana picture sparks racism debate

The subject of racism has become the focus of a public discussion in Russia after an MP from the Duma caused outrage by posting an image of Barack Obama on Twitter that was photoshopped to include a banana.

Irina Rodnina, an MP from Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and a triple Olympic champion figure-skater, posted the picture on her personal Twitter account.

The image features Obama chewing, while a hand in the foreground waves a banana at him.

[WTF]

I guess I'm a bad person because that photo made me laugh.

[KMA Too]

Nonsense! That pic is hilarious, and would be if anyone else were in it sporting that face.

You'd trully have to be orally attached to his schlong to be offended by that.

[Slammer]

Whoa. Here's her daughter. Works at RT and Huffpo.

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: Tomorrow is Constitution Day. I'm going to a 5th grade classroom to talk about separation of powers.

[Snark Plissken]

"Power is separated into three powers, the President, the President's chief adviser, and the Media whose job it is to make the President feel good about himself."

[Lord Humungus]

"separation of powers"

...historically speaking...

[Elspeth Flashman]

Right. So it falls to me to try to reverse-indoctrinate some 11 year olds. I promise not to wear a top hat, monocle, or carry a diamond-encrusted walking stick.

[Tim]

Power is also given to the First Lady, who is responsible for replacing your juice boxes with water, pizza day with Spinach-Arugula day and replacing your Halloween candy with fortune cookies with quotes such as : "let's move" and "girls love math".

[Snark Plissken]

and replacing your Halloween candy with fortune cookies with quotes such as : "let's move" and "girls love math".

...in bed.

[Dweebston]

It doesn't require much in the way of math to count to five. Er, seven. I meant seven.

[Snark Plissken]

"Except in bed"

[Fluffy]

The kids at my son's school HATE Michelle Obama. They're second graders, so many of them have no idea who the President is or what he does, but they whisper among themselves of the hated Michelle, who ruined Happy Meals with apple slices and took away the chocolate milk from their school lunches.

Seriously, if there was one of those sci-fi plagues that kills all adults and leaves children to build a new world right now, in the new society the evil destroyer goddess would be named Fursladee.

[wareagle]

but since they are 11-year olds, sounds like a prime recruiting ground for the child labor needed to polish your monocles and work in the mine. At least you are offering a job.

[sarcasmic]

So quaint. I mean, that was like before color television and stuff, you know?

[Rich]

"So, children, what should happen to people who disobey The Supreme Law of The Land?"

[Elspeth Flashman]

Actually I chose separation of powers as the topic: we were given pretty free reign as to topics, it just has to relate to the constitution.

[sarcasmic]

You didn't choose the FYTW clause?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I was thinking about 4th amendment . . . how to talk to the cops . . . or why the president can't ban guns (even if they are used in school shootings) . . . I only have a short period of time though.

[Pro Libertate]

It'll be Constitution Day and virtually no one will know it is.

[CatoTheElder]

At the conclusion of your talk, which properly should extol the merits of the Constitution, you should inform your students that it was murdered by the Living Constitution and became a dead letter.

[Ken Shultz]

"Over a dozen Ugandan officers are being charged after allegedly stealing food intended for African Union troops in a U.S.-backed peacekeeping mission."

Cultural anthropologists will cite this as further evidence of America's ethnocentrism, I'm sure. Imposing our values on other people--will we ever learn?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Wife Test: Red Pill Alerts
...Women who talk about what they deserve -- in work, in life, in romance, and especially in a man -- are best avoided as poor wife material. Feminine entitlement is frequently a problem in a relationship, as women rationalize just what they "deserve", usually without much in the way of supporting data....

...Women who use this term almost uniformly DON'T deserve whatever it is they think they do. A lot of the dichotomy between male and female ideas on the subject of entitlement are due, I believe, to the fact that women get handed the bulk of their sexual capital early, while men must earn theirs slowly and painfully. That gives women an incentive to indulge in this kind of entitlement. If you encounter a woman who uses "I deserve . . ." you can bet that she's going to deserve a second husband someday. Avoid....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...That stumps a lot of women who just don't get this subtle fact of male sexual psychology: the vast majority of men don't want to fight with their wives for the rest of their lives, and a woman who is willing to argue about stupid stuff to demonstrate her intellectual superiority to the man in her life is ultimately going to shit test her way out of a relationship. Not because her dude feels "threatened". Because her dude feels marginalized and diminished for being forced to compete with the woman who is supposed to be a loving support....

[John]

Very true. It is the reason that a lot of very attractive women end up bitter in their old age. They spend their entire lives capitalizing on and manipulating men with their looks. When those looks go, they are left unprepared to deal with life without them.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...As Vox has recently stated, "The fact that a man is capable of having a substantive intellectual discussion with a woman doesn't mean he wants to do so every time he makes a simple observation." Intelligence is a valued factor in a wife . . . but so is the social understanding to know when displaying that intelligence will be seen in a negative light. Thinking that the dude who you just crushed in the monthly sales contest is going to like and respect you for your victory is foolishly ignorant of a woman: she simply cannot earn the same kind of masculine respect a man's male peers would, in the same situation.

And even if he does show that he respects your intelligence and your acumen, your drive and ambition . . . that doesn't mean he wants to have to face that challenge every day for the rest of his life. A man wants to come home to comfort and security after a hard day's struggle, not face an even fiercer competition that he cannot hope to win at home. So when a woman mentions that men seem intimidated by her, and she's not drop-dead gorgeous, pay the bar tab and move on. This one is trouble. She's not threatening, she's just really obnoxious and annoying . . . and doesn't have the sense to recognize it...

[John]

One of my favorite books is an historic novel about the English Civil war of the 12th Century called when Christ and his Saints Slept. In it there is this great scene where Queen Maud has just captured her rival for the throne King Steven after the battle of Lincoln. Steven was a lousy king but a very good warrior and fought a noble fight before being captured. So here is Maud thinking this is her moment of triumph and all any of her nobles can talk about is how amazing Steven was in battle. She couldn't understand it. It infuriated her that her triumph wouldn't be what people remembered. But as a woman, she was never in a martial society get respect for her enforcing her will the way a man would. It is just now how people looked at women. She could not get ahead or win people over by sheer force of will the way a man could.

The same is still true today just with different more metaphorical fields of battle.

[John]

make that "Marshal Society".

[Fluffy]

?

I would have gone with the first one.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It's not an admission of incompetence to admit you need a man in your life, ladies. It's an expression of general desire that men find hopeful. "I don't need a man" is essentially your declaration that your heart is closed to the prospect of a real union, in favor of the roommates-with-slowly-decreasing-benefits model that feminists are trying to pass off as happy marriages these days. Feminists see any other admission than "I don't need a man" as a capitulation to the stereotype of feminine weakness, and have spent the last 40 years attempting to ensure that their daughters, indeed, won't need a man when they grow up.

[John]

But of course they do. And when they don't get one, they end up bitter and sad about it.

[Fluffy]

Thinking that the dude who you just crushed in the monthly sales contest is going to like and respect you for your victory is foolishly ignorant of a woman: she simply cannot earn the same kind of masculine respect a man's male peers would, in the same situation.

I don't agree with this.

I think it's perfectly possible to "respect" a woman's accomplishments on the same terms as a man's.

I just don't think it necessarily translates into sexual and emotional attraction.

If I naturally became attracted to people who impress me intellectually or by their accomplishments, I'd go gay and fuck my male friends.

I don't think it's helpful for either sex to demand that the set of personal traits that are admirable = the set of personal traits that are attractive. It just doesn't work like that.

[R C Dean]

Yeah, I honestly don't think the vast majority of men would respect a male who beat them in a sales contest but not a woman.

Of course (generalizing grossly here), men are better socialized for "friendly" competition than women. My experience is that women are more prone to taking every single thing personally, and this can make it hard to do the friendly competition, everyone-goes-out-for-a-beer thing with women.

[John]

http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_mor.....st_13.html

This is why people like Christie should never receive Republican support. Christie is a big government idiot who has made all of the insane policies in New Jersey even worse. And sure enough the state continues to be a complete disaster and national embarrassment. But since Christie has an "R" behind his name, the media will be able to blame his failures on the fact that he is a small government nihilist or some such.

If Christie is the best the Republicans can hope to elect in New Jersey, then let the Democrats win. Nothing will be any different except that the public will know who to blame for the resulting disaster.

[Dweebston]

Just like the media give Democrats their fair share of blame now that Bush has been out of office for close to six years, right?

[John]

True. But it makes it harder. What is the point of electing a guy like Christie?

[OldMexican]

This is why people like Christie should never receive Republican support. Christie is a big government idiot who has made all of the insane policies in New Jersey even worse.

Which is why he WILL receive the Republican support.

[John]

Really? Every Republican I know hates his guts.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Just like how libertarianism is so popular where I hang out.

[Fluffy]

Drudge hates him.

You can usually look at Drudge's coverage and get a good picture of where the bulk of the conservative element in the GOP will go.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Let me know when we poll primary voters and convention goers, that's all.

[KDN]

Did you even read the article? He's being criticized for not giving everyone their free pony:

Crime is spiking in several of New Jersey's hard-pressed cities, where loss of state aid has forced massive police layoffs. The state's home foreclosure rate is the second highest in the nation and Christie fumbled a federal aid program intended to soften the blow. Yet he tried to raid a fund earmarked for affordable housing until the courts stopped him.

The list goes on. The state's open space program is essentially dead, with no money and no ideas from the governor on how to fix it. The transportation trust fund is broke as well, so the governor has financed projects mostly by borrowing and by scavenging money that former Gov. Jon Corzine had set aside for the Hudson River tunnel project, which Christie canceled.

...

He rejected sensible gun control legislation, slow-footed the medical marijuana program, and is sticking to his vetoes of the minimum wage hike and the millionaires tax. The standoff on gay marriage continues. And he is stuck in Washington-style gridlock over the state Supreme Court, unable to fill two vacant seats and unwilling to strike a deal.

[CatoTheElder]

If Christie is the best the Republicans can hope to elect in New Jersey, then let the Democrats win.

The sole purpose of the two major parties is to get their candidates elected. Sure, each party differentiates itself in peculiar ways to attract voters, but neither has nonnegotiable principles that trump that purpose. Republicans will run anybody between libertarian Ron Paul and fascists Michael Bloomberg and John McCain if the candidate can win an election. Democrats will run anybody between socialist Bernie Sanders and fascist Joe Lieberman subject, of course, to an abortion litmus test.

[Mike M.]

ROFL, Krugman today sanctimoniously declares "Give Jobs a Chance". Not jobs related to that gosh darn last section of the evil Keystone pipeline though!

A far more accurate Krugscum headline would read "Give jobs a chance, unless we say 'no, because fuck you, that's why'".

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm going to a 5th grade classroom to talk about separation of powers.

I hope you'll be wearing a black arm band.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I should. I have a sixth grader, and I know what kind of BS that comes home in the backpacks that's passing for civic education right now.

[Ken Shultz]

I imagine it would be hard to criticize paternalism when sixth graders really do need to do what their parents tell them, but why do they have to sell paternalism so hard to these kids?

If a child's resentment against parental authority is the beginning of all libertarianism, I guess that's another good reason to be a strict parent.

[Lord Humungus]

OT: I've fixed the (relatively) ancient Sony TA-3120A amplifier by replacing all the electrolytic capacitors on the PCBs. The fragile copper traces made it a major pain, requiring some reconstruction using wire. That's when I wish I had some orphan workers to do the worst work.

[Tim]

Did you remember to googolate the framistan?

[Lord Humungus]

nope, I just turned it on and ran for cover!

[OldMexican]

Blame the computer! Global warming is only HALF of what was reported for the last... oh, two decades!

A leaked copy of the world's most authoritative climate study reveals scientific forecasts of imminent doom were drastically wrong.

Oh, those pesky leaks...

Despite the many scientific uncertainties disclosed by the leaked report, it nonetheless draws familiar, apocalyptic conclusions ? insisting that the IPCC is more confident than ever that global warming is mainly humans' fault.

It says the world will continue to warm catastrophically unless there is drastic action to curb greenhouse gases ? with big [sic] rises in sea level, floods, droughts and the disappearance of the Arctic icecap.

"But only HALF of what we reported before..."

[Lord Humungus]

Not having cable (philistine!) or any video streaming, I still watch DVDs via Netflix. This way I can live many months in the cultural past.

Right now I'm watching The Walking Dead, Season 3. Got to episode eight... so far a much needed improvement over the "Actor's Guild Theater" of Season 2:

Rick and Lori talk in separate scene. Rick walks somewhere else. Has a heart to heart with Dale. Dale walks over and talks to Andrea... *snore*

[Outlaw]

I found the end of season 3 completely unsatisfying.

[Slammer]

^This^.

Still love the show, thpugh.

[Outlaw]

My friend calls them The Brotherhood of Evil Woodburians.

[Lord Humungus]

so far I've found the comics to be superior. The show uses character names and some of the plot - obviously - but butchers some of the darker elements.

[Outlaw]

Oh yeah! The comic kicks ass in every way.

One of the things that pisses me off about the show is the way they changed Andrea from young competent ass-kicker into an old incompetent retard.

[Lord Humungus]

agreed! ^2

I love Andrea in the comic... in the TV show? derp!

[Outlaw]

When she accidentally shot one of the characters in the head (trying to avoid spoilers) and no one even yelled at her, I was like "WTF?"

That kind of incompetence calls for a severe beating.

[Don Mynack]

Why did the FBI suddenly get so stupid and blow their cover on CIPAV?

"Court documents and FBI files released under the FOIA have described the CIPAV as software the FBI can deliver through a browser exploit to gather information from the target's machine and send it to an FBI server in Virginia. The FBI has been using the CIPAV since 2002 against hackers, online sexual predators, extortionists, and others, primarily to identify suspects who are disguising their location using proxy servers or anonymity services, like Tor.

Prior to the Freedom Hosting attack, the code had been used sparingly, which kept it from leaking out and being analyzed."

http://www.wired.com/threatlev.....sting-fbi/

[John]

This is a big deal. They took over a server that they knew people were trading child porn on and let it keep running for something like a year. The FBI went into the child porn business. And for every person they caught hundreds got away and benefited from the FBI's server.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports
Here's one of the latest tidbits on the NSA surveillance scandal (which seems to be generating nearly as many blog items as there are phone numbers in the spy agency's data banks).

Earlier this week, Techdirt picked up on a passing mention in a Brazilian news story and a Slate article to point out that the US National Security Agency had apparently impersonated Google on at least one occasion to gather data on people. (Mother Jones subsequently pointed out Techdirt's point-out.)

Brazilian site Fantastico obtained and published a document leaked by Edward Snowden, which diagrams how a "man in the middle attack" involving Google was apparently carried out.

A technique commonly used by hackers, a MITM attack involves using a fake security certificate to pose as a legitimate Web service, bypass browser security settings, and then intercept data that an unsuspecting person is sending to that service. Hackers could, for example, pose as a banking Web site and steal passwords....

[OldMexican]

NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports

That's clear evidence of market failure! If only the market came up with snoopy spy agencies by itself, the government wouldn't have to step in to do it!

Pass it on.

[Derpetologist]

Gradjits of Harderp show off their lernding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0wk4qG2mIg

[Fluffy]

Yikes, it sounds like there are a lot of people dead at the Navy Yard.

I always get these wrong nowadays, but I'm going with "Another Hasan" for the shooter.

[db]

Washpost says three shooters.

[Fluffy]

Whoa.

Three guys starts to sound like "Al Qaeda attack".

But that's a fucked-up unproductive use of personnel on Al Qaeda's part if that's the case.

[db]

You know how these go...cops say there may be multiple shooters and it gets turned into "three shooters." However the report in this case is that cops are still looking for two shooters and they say they are "hiding between floors."

[db]

See? Now it's down to "two shooters."

[Fluffy]

Yeah, you're right.

And usually that then turns out to be one shooter reported by two people.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Why? That is the asymmetric part of terrorism. They have millions of recruits and we have only so much in people, resource, and persistence.

[Fluffy]

If they had successfully placed three guys inside the US, and they had access to arms, sending them at a military facility is a waste of personnel.

If they want terror, have them attack a nuclear power plant. Or an oil refinery. Or an elementary school.

It's got to be difficult enough now to get guys into the US, or recruit Americans without being detected, that burning 3 guys to kill 4 and wound 10 is a really shitty exchange for them.

[Palin's Buttplug]

OK, it was a low body count target compared to say - a subway system. Point made.

[John]

You don't understand fluffy. There is no big organization designed to get guys into the US or anywhere. There is the banner of Al Quada and any moron can pick it up like the clowns in Boston did. I bet these guys are US citizens or LPRs.

[Mike M.]

Yep, they're probably converts to the "Religion of Peace" just like the Tsarnaev brothers. Hell, they may possibly even be American born.

[Marshall Gill]

Exactly. Compare the body counts of Ft. Hood and Beslan.

[Lord Humungus]

4 dead - but story appears to be evolving
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_new.....s-say?lite

A naval security guard was among those shot and was hit in both legs, U.S. military officials said. Washington city police told WRC, the NBC affiliate in Washington, that one of their officers was also among those shot. It was not clear how many of the others shot were civilian and how many were military.

The Navy said on its Twitter feed that three shots were fired at 8:20 a.m. ET at the Sea Systems Command headquarters. Almost an hour later, the Navy still characterized the shooter as "active." The military officials said that the gunman may have been armed with an AR-15, a military-style assault rifle.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

The military officials said that the gunman may have been armed with an AR-15, a military-style assault rifle.

Impossible. Those are banned in D.C.

[Palin's Buttplug]

10 shot, 3 dead, "dark complected man" suspect.

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm sure he'll be okay, as long as remembers to use the "They were coming right at me!" defense.

[William of Purple]

Comedian and actor Billy Connolly has surgery for prostate cancer and has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

[Sevo]

"Only 31 percent of Americans think Obamacare is a good idea,"

I was hoping for fewer idiots.