A.M. Links: Obama Looks to Old Staffers for a Lifeline, Russia Says the Syrian Rebels Did It, Man Rots in Jail for Five Years Awaiting Trial

• 

  Chmee2

  Floundering just a tad in his second term, President Obama asks for help from former staffers who already fled his administration.

• Russia claims the Syrian government has evidence that rebels used chemical weapons. Well, that should settle the matter.
• Republicans debate whether defunding or delaying is the best tactic for confronting Obamacare. How about a stake through the heart?
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) concedes he has insufficient votes for any further attempts to disarm the American people. It was nice playing with ya, Harry.
• A Pirate Party activist buzzed Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel with a drone to protest surveillance. Try that in the U.S.
• Authorities seized a 6-month-old Lansing, Michigan, girl from her medical marijuana-caregiver mom because…pot! Quick. Hide the bourbon.
• Court delays kept Donovan Drayton behind bars for five years awaiting trial in New York City on murder charges. He was acquitted.
• Brazilian hackers may not yet be world-class. Looking to slam the NSA, they hit NASA instead. Really, folks…

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Comments

[Lord Humungus]

yeah...

[AlexInCT]

Lundberg?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Floundering just a tad in his second term, President Obama asks for help from former staffers who already fled his administration.

Yeah, maybe Rahm has one of those neuralyzers from Men in Black to make everyone forget the last five years.

[Brett L]

"Sir, all the smart people (or politicians with survivor instincts) have already left."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Lots of confusion over exactly what guns Wash Navy Yard shooter used. But do you think it matters to the victims? #GunControlNow
? Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 17, 2013

[db]

Lots of confusion over what information is real and what is faked by dishonest or incompetent journalists. But do you think that matters to the readers?

[sarcasmic]

This is why Congress should define what a real journalist is!

[gaijin]

hehe.

Lots of confusion over exactly what guns Wash Navy Yard shooter weapons the Syrian regime used. But do you think it matters to the victims? #Piers'CognitiveDissonance

[Aloysious]

+1

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Oh yeah? I raise you this Piers tweet:

So...the Washington Navy Yard shooter TRIED to buy an AR-15 but was stopped. So he bought a shotgun instead

Gun control works!...I think

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Poor Pier, haz sad:

The sheer utter callousness of the American gun lobby is what sickens me. Their only reaction to any massacre is MORE GUNS! So depressing.

[Rich]

Cheer up, Piers.

That's their only reaction to *anything*!

[Rhywun]

The sheer utter callousness of the American gun lobby is what sickens me. Their only reaction to any massacre is MORE GUNS! So depressing.

Y'know, I am not (yet?) a gun person - but the hyperventilating by the Left is just flat-out mystifying. A reasonably bright five-year-old can counter their thinking. The only explanation I can come up with is that such people have never bothered to venture outside their comfortable bubble of like-minded peers.

[CatoTheElder]

Keep in mind that the Left's arguments are meant to persuade people can't plan in advance to vote (motor voter), can't manage to get a photo id to vote (voter id), and can't figure out how to select their candidate on a "butterfly" ballot (Florida 2000).

Their arguments do not have to be grounded in facts not do they have to employ reason. In fact facts and reason get in the way of a well-constructed appeal to emotion.

[AlexInCT]

Logic, facts, & reasoning have the same effect on a progressive as holy symbols, garlic, and sun light have on vampires....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

See "Retraction: Aaron Alexis Wasn't Blocked by State Law Forbidding Sale of AR-15" below.

[Drake]

I think being completely disarmed mattered to them. Back before Clinton, senior officers could carry sidearms and a base could maintain a reaction force to respond to such an incident.

http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/.....d-told-dad

[NoVAHockey]

That's makes perfect sense. Marines with weapons but no ammo.

[Drake]

That's difference between the Marines and Army (been in both). In the Marines we had weapons without ammo (and yes, we did sometimes stash store-bought stuff when things got crazy stupid).

In the Army, weapons and ammo were always under lock-and-key in separate far away locations.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Not always - we had a squad with plenty of ammo at Ft. Benning in 1985. They were really ready on pay days...when they still could pay you in cash.

[Drake]

It was '93 that Clinton made bases gun-free by Exec Order.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Lots of confusion over exactly what Piers Morgan's immigration status is. But do you think it matters to people who are exposed to critical amounts of Piers Morgan? #PiersControlNow

[Jon Lester]

Piers Morgan only thinks he has a large audience. Has he ever had more than 400k viewers? Likely only a small fraction of those care enough to follow him on Twitter.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The Wall, In Fast Forward

[Lord Humungus]

Police: Eagles tunes lead to bread knife brawl/a

When police talked to the victim, he said he had been listening to The Eagles when Bader told him that she did not want to hear the classic rock band's songs. So the man told her to shut up, the report states.

Bader responded by allegedly getting a 14-inch serrated bread knife and swung it at the man repeatedly, the report states. The victim wrestled the knife away from Bader, but she came back with another knife before the victim could run and lock himself in the bathroom.

[Brett L]

My wife and I have an agreement. She will turn off the Eagles if I appear with a knife. Because we love each other, even if the Eagles make me homicidal.

[Zeb]

OK, dude. We all know you are married now, you don't have to work it into every comment.

[Brett L]

Sorry, the ring still burns me when I have an independent thought.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

You know who else had a ring of power that bound him?

[Aloysious]

Fredo?

[Cdr Lytton]

Let him have his newlywed glow. The apathy will set in soon enough.

[robc]

Joe Walsh is the exception to any Eagles related comment.

[gaijin]

What about this one?

Members of the Eagles were pretty sober.

[robc]

1. I dont think that statement is true.

2. If we go with it, he fits. Im not sure he was ever sober during his Eagles stint.

[gaijin]

regarding point 1, yeah, I was just trying to make it a bit more interesting than something like 'The Eagles were horrible' 😉

My favorite Walsh work was with the James Gang.

[Bobarian]

Joe Walsh has some of the finest singles in rock. A lot of his albums sucked because there was a lot of trash with the diamonds.

Life's been Good
and
The Confessor
are on my top 10 list.

[Killazontherun]

My favorite Walsh work was with the James Gang.

Seems to me, you just turn your pretty head and walk away.

Yeah, the world could've used a few more James Gang albums, far fewer Eagles.

[Killazontherun]

Oh, yeah, and don't forget Schmit. The George Harrison of that band. Got a song or two on any given album, and you wished they could have done that for the entire album.

[John]

Schmit was only there for the last two records. Randy Misner was the original bassist.

[Killazontherun]

Well, that would explain why there are so few Schmit songs when he was the only vocalist who could carry a solo. The others could harmonize though, even Walsh.

[robc]

And just because, my favorite Walsh solo work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvvtD98ItIc

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Who is gonna make it?
We'll find out
In the loooong run
(In the loooong run)

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

I hear the Eagles are helpful if you need to drown out a domestic dispute.

[Snark Plissken]

So she stabbed him with her steely knife, but she couldn't kill the beast?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

+1975

[Loki]

Last think he remembered she was running for the door...

[Elspeth Flashman]

You took it to the limit with that one.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Maybe she tried to live life in the fast lane, when she should have simply given him the best of her love. She could only hide her lying eyes for so long, waking up to a tequila sunrise morning after morning until she realized her life was already gone. Then, with nothing left to lose, this desperado decided to take it to the limit instead of taking it easy.

[Slammer]

Nice. Well done.

[PBR Streetgang]

She is a witchy woman

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Good for her. I would have tried to murder the guy too. Just make the shitty music stop.

[Old Man With Candy]

I'd vote to acquit. Christ, that's shit music.

[mad libertarian guy]

This is a completely legitimate reason for attacking someone with a knife as playing the Eagles, out loud, is a clear violation of the NAP. That motherfucker was begging to be stabbed.

[Loki]

God bless rednecks. They provide the rest of us with so much amusement.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Forgot the clip.

[TANSTaaFL]

Thank You, CEX. Better late than never. I was beginning to lose all faith in the commentariat here as I scrolled down the comments. You have (temporarily) restored my faith.

[TANSTaaFL]

CEX should be "CEX AND FoE". Didn't mean to snub anyone!

[Loki]

I'm a little curious why all The Eagles hate. Granted, there not the best band ever, but there are far worse acts out there than them. For instance I'd take The Eagles over 99.999999% of contemporary pop acts.

I mean, at least he wasn't blasting The Black Eyed Peas. Then he'd deserve to get shot.

[robc]

No radio I listen to inflicts The Black Eyed Peas upon me. Or contemporary pop acts, for that matter.

Personally, I dont agree with the Eagles hate, but I get it. Im tired of hearing some of their shittier stuff too.

[Rasilio]

Mazeltov

[Brett L]

For the same reason I can't listen to Pink Floyd anymore. I've heard it 18000 times. Perhaps literally. It isn't THAT good. Granted, its no worse (and perhaps somewhat better) than other pop. But not 5:1 better. And I say this as someone who has (I figured it out) listened to Lou Reed's Rock'n'Roll Animal EP at least once a day on average since I first heard it at a friend's in 1997. That's more than 6000 times. Maybe more like 10000. I only put that in to explain that I expect that if I play that album more than once a day, I expect most other people subjected to it would have homicidal ideations upon hearing the Sweet Jane intro for the 500th time, even if they respect the guitar work objectively.

[Aloysious]

This thread is probably dead, but since you like Lou Reed, what do you think of his cover of 'See that grave is kept clean'?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu6z4h2VYb4

[Brett L]

Standard Lou. He can play guitar all fucking night, but he is quite possibly the worst lead singer ever signed to a major record label. Thanks, though. Its a good jam.

[RBS]

They suck and classic rock radio plays them constantly.

[Loki]

Maybe that's why I don't find them terribly offensive. I don't listen to classic rock radio, so I haven't been subjected to them over and over again.

[RBS]

I used to work for my dad building houses and classic rock radio is a staple of job sites in the south.

[lap83]

But 95% of classic rock radio sucks, so it fits. Seriously, why single The Eagles out? At least they're not The Doors or Bon Jovi.

[Old Man With Candy]

Because they suck, they've sucked for decades, and you can't escape being assaulted by their suckitude?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

You people are full of shit. There's nothing inherently offensive about the Eagles. They also do a great live show.

I think this is a bit of hipster posturing on all y'alls parts.

[Old Man With Candy]

I am far too old to be a hipster. The music sucks.

[Lord Humungus]

Agreed - the music does suck. It's insipid, lacks any grit, and rocks out as hard as your mom's AM radio.

[Rasilio]

Um, that's because they were essentially a Country band marketed as Rock

[John]

They were not a country band. You only think of them as a country band because they pretty much inspired every country act that came after them to transform country music into what they were.

What they were was a band that managed to make perfectly vanilla music that had an appeal a mile wide and in many places an inch deep. You could play an Eagles song in a country bar and the people wouldn't object. You could also play it in a rock bar and people wouldn't either. That is why they made so much money.

[Old Man With Candy]

No reason a country band can't rock. See: Robert Ellis.

[Bobarian]

Steve Earle?

[Marc F Cheney]

No, it's simply because the Eagles suck.

I recently gave them a second chance while I was on vacation, because the bartender was playing some greatest hits album, and I still concluded that they suck.

Standard Joe Walsh disclaimer applies. In fact, the Eagles are that much worse for being a waste of Joe Walsh.

[Killazontherun]

^this.

And Don Henley's drag ass vocal delivery is not laid back Californian, its a character flaw, lazy, apathetic and not giving a shit. Couldn't keep a beat if it was the only way he could bust a nut. The useless fucker.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I think the Eagles get so much hate because 1) Don Henley and Glenn Frey are assholes (and Henley's particularly insufferable with his special brand of pompous liberalism); and 2) their music has always been accessible to a large swath of the population.

The latter fact tends to drive music snobs absolutely batshit insane, whether it was rock critics in the 70s or hipsters in the 2000s. They see the Eagles' popularity as emblematic of how awful mainstream rock music was in the 1970s.

The libertarian hate for these guys is somewhat ironic considering that the band found a niche in the market, exploited it to the tune of millions, and were a viable stadium rock act for years after they got back together.

[Killazontherun]

WTF! There is no irony in libertarians hating a successfully marketed product. That is aesthetic taste which is not in any way related to a political disposition or desire for political outcome. If I said the Eagles should be banned from the radio, that is political and that contradicts libertarian principles. I don't have to personally approve of every Goddamned thing the market successfully produces, or any Goddamned thing it produces for that matter, to consistently apply the libertarian principle that I'm not going to keep you from freely making the wrong choices. If you torture yourself with Fry and Henly's shit vocals that is your problem. Liberty is the highest political ideal, don't confuse it with anything else.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Geez, that hit a nerve.

The Eagles first Greatest Hits album has sold 42 million copies, 29 million in the US alone. Whether they're "shit" or not is clearly a matter of individual taste.

I suspect it's the Eagles success that drives their critics insane more than anything else. The fact is, if they were a genuinely awful music group, they wouldn't have achieved the success they did, for as long as they did. Whether or not their music should be deemed as "classic" is a purely subjective debate.

[John]

I agree Red Rocks. It is not that the Eagles are the greatest band ever. It is that whatever they are, they don't deserve the level hate directed at them. The hate is driven by envy and anger over their success not any objective view of their music good or bad.

[Killazontherun]

I have no reason to envy anyone. I explained my hate above. Henley sounds like the product of Roger McGuire and several decades of incest.

[Killazontherun]

No, you just got called out on being confused on basic premises. The strong language was only a necessary tool to underline how far you strayed from any semblance of definitional standards when engaging the idea of liberty. I have no emotional investment in this at all. The Eagles are the farthest thing from my mind most years.

[John]

The Eagles biggest sin is the one the music douche bags never mention, they unintentionally ruined country music.

Most of the douche bag hate of the band has to do with the fact that they appealed to so many people. I am not much of an Eagles fan but I also don't have a lot of patience for most music snobs.

Fuck you music geek, the Eagles, whatever their faults, sold more record than all your favorite bands because they were more talented and better than all those shit head bands you like that no one ever has heard of.

[Killazontherun]

Hating the Eagles is a character flaw! Now, that is just . . . precious, Precious.

[Jon Lester]

See? There are serious consequences to media consolidation and demographically-programmed classic rock playlists.

Actually, that's just easy to say. The Eagles got big in the first place because there will always be those with narrow horizons, even when better music is available.

[seguin]

Don Henley Must Die...

[Jon Lester]

I very nearly posted that myself.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Pirate Party activists buzzed Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel with a drone to protest surveillance.

You know who else relied on aerial displays to advance a goal?

[gaijin]

I like the idea of a Pirate Party.

[BardMetal]

More wenches and mead!

Alestorm : True Scottish Pirate Metal

[Slammer]

Check out Alestorm's new tour poster

[mad libertarian guy]

I've been to a Pirate (and Princess) Party at Disney World. It was fucking great. No lines for rides and minimal amounts of children as when they used to have the P&P Parties it was generally a late night ordeal.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Dominique Wilkins?

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

+1 highlight film

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin?

[Jon Lester]

Have you ever seen the Ukrainian show, "Naked & Funny?" It's sort of like "Candid Camera" with nudity. Some of the practical jokes they play on people in city parks would get someone shot in the U.S.

[Rich]

J.D. to the fescue, uh, RESCUE!

[sarcasmic]

Firing mortars at Assad? There's an app for that: Syrian rebels use an iPad to aim

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

[Ted S.]

I'm sure the people at aPple don't approve of weapons apps on their iShit.

[Root Boy]

There's a sniper app for iphones as well. Gives you ballistic data for long range shooting.

[Root Boy]

There's a sniper app for iphones as well. Gives you ballistic data for long range shooting.

[Enough About Palin]

"iShit"

Nice!

[PD Scott]

A few months ago I watched the Frontline episode about the Syrian civil war (I highly recommend watching it). One of the rebels had a smartphone and they were using a map app to plan an attack. They also had what looked like a captured Type 63 rocket launcher they wanted to use but didn't know how to operate - there definitely needs to be an app for using old Russian/Soviet/Chicom artillery.

The other thing was everybody wanted to be a martyr, which perhaps explained the main guy Frontline was following wearing a yellow t-shirt into battle. Also, if government airplanes attack your village, the totally rational response is to go to the loyalist village up the road and try to kill them.

[Bee Tagger]

A Pirate Party

Too soon! They're in a 2 game losing streak thanks to the Padres. Have some decency.

[Snark Plissken]

JD hit the tequila too hard again last night.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Shooter's friend: Aaron Alexis was a liberal, happy with Obama
A friend of Navy Yard shooting suspect Aaron Alexis said on CNN Tuesday that the alleged gunman was "more of a liberal type" who was happier with the Obama administration than with the Bush administration....

[db]

Wait, Shriek was this dude?

[Jordan]

In other words, BOOOOOSH made him do it, right?

[Zeb]

I am quite relieved that this guy seems to be just plain crazy and not ideologically driven, white or "right wing". Should help to keep the stupidity at a more reasonable level.

[Jordan]

I doubt it. Just as any gun is apparently an AR-15 to the media, any shooter is a rightwinger. By the transitive property of BOOOSH or something.

[SugarFree]

Just as any dog is a pit bull.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

PIT BULL???!!! BLAMBLAMBLAM!

/po-po

[wwhorton]

Well, just as any dog that bites is a pit bull, since a.) only pit bulls bite people, and b.) all pit bulls bite people.

[Zeb]

I didn't say it would eliminate stupidity. But you would definitely get a whole other level of stupidity if this were a white tea partier mad about taxes or something. Now we will just have to hear the same old tired crap about mental illness and video games that never goes anywhere.

[Virginian]

Eh, as I've long said, if right wing tea partiers ever decide to stop talking and voting and start shooting, they won't be wandering into government buildings to shoot random federal employees.

[Zeb]

Not the sane ones, no. But there are insane psychos all across the political spectrum.

[Virginian]

Eh, are we talking sane in terms of mental illness or sane in terms of criminal insanity or what?

Say, for example, some old guy with terminal cancer decided that instead of dying in a hospital bed, he was going to head to ATF HQ and kill as many of the bastards as possible before they took him down. Is he insane?

[Zeb]

I think you'd have to judge that on a case by case basis. I'm thinking more of actual insanity, like voices telling you what to do or imagining a conspiracy targeting you personally.

[Virginian]

imagining a conspiracy targeting you personally

*chuckle*

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

BUT IT IS TARGETING ME PERSONALLY!!!11!11!

[mad libertarian guy]

I am quite relieved that this guy seems to be just plain crazy and not ideologically driven, white or "right wing". Should help to keep the stupidity at a more reasonable level.

I wouldn't count on that for a second. Guns really make the derp come alive in lefties, and they're happy to sacrifice a liberal to the cause. The only thing that him being a liberal will accomplish is more focus on how guns themselves are evil, able to corrupt even pure souls. All of the focus will be on the guns, and none on the shooter's ideology (or lack thereof).

[Zeb]

Note that I say "more reasonable". I have no doubt it will be stupid. But it could be a lot worse. The options are limited when there is no race angle, no pile of dead children and no evil right-win militia tie-in.

[SugarFree]

No race angle? Oh, yeah the deafening silence that will occur after we find out that all or most of the victims are white.

[Zeb]

Good enough for me. I'm just fucking sick of hearing everyone going on and on about this sort of shit. If there are fewer opportunities for the usual suspects to bring out their favorite hobby horses, that is good for me.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm just fucking sick of hearing everyone going on and on about this sort of shit.

I agree wholeheartedly which is why I don't watch ANY news shows that aren't on NFL Network, or click on links unless I'm specifically seeking out the derp.

The most I've heard about the shooting is here in the links, and I like it that way.

There are ways to minimize The Great and Mighty Derp in your life. Use the tools at your disposal and all will be well.

[wwhorton]

Yeah, the usual suspects in the WaPo forums and their counterparts in media and politics have already decided that the prime cause of this was the availability of firearms not even present at the scene. They've even come out and said that they're not arguing from rationality or facts. They're almost explicitly admitting that they're using this event to push gun "control" leading to a total ban. Because, logically, since a crazy person shot up a military base the problem is that there are guns anywhere. If there were no guns whatsoever held by private citizens, then he wouldn't have been able to kill anyone.

That's what we're working with. The argument is guns afford the capability for bad people to kill good people, so making all guns illegal will eliminate the presence of guns and, by proxy, bad people.

[Loki]

Exactly, because black left wingers are never ideologically driven. Only those EVUL TEABAGERTHUGLICANZ!!11!!! /prog-derp

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Hmm, so if he wasn't a Tea Party rethuglican racist...then it must be the video games and access to guns.

[Root Boy]

Also PTSD, so he's the victim in some peoples minds.

[Mike M.]

He appears to be another paranoid schizophrenic who was on some kind of serotonin inhibiting drug, like so many of these mass shooters. Clearly we need more drug control in America!

[kinnath]

Did you mean an SSRI? which inhibits the re-uptake of serotonin resulting in higher serotonin levels in the brain.

[Mike M.]

Yes, that's what I meant.

The use of those drugs in conjunction with schizophrenia is the major factor that most of these mass shooters in recent history have in common.

[Zeb]

I think we need to know how common the use of those drugs is among schizophrenics in general to know if that is interesting or not.

[kinnath]

http://www.webmd.com/schizophr.....izophrenia

Schizophrenia and depression commonly occur together, and antidepressants may be prescribed in combination with antipsychotics to treat both conditions.

I hope you are not implying that SSRIs cause mass shootings.

[Mike M.]

It's obviously not the use of SSRIs alone. It's probably some combination of factors that includes the use of SSRIs.

News flash for you: contrary to what they like everyone to believe, scientists don't really know or understand everything, especially when we're talking about something as incredibly complex as the human brain.

[kinnath]

Well, no one gets crazier by having more serotonin in their brains. It's lack of serotonin that causes all the problems.

The issue is Schizophrenia which I don't believe anyone has really figured out how to treat.

[jesse.in.mb]

Weren't anti-depressants linked to teen suicide recently? I think it was a "big story" a year ago or so.

[kinnath]

yes, but the topic here is mass murder.

[kinnath]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/.....3722.story

WASHINGTON ? Six weeks ago, Aaron Alexis told people someone had threatened him at an airport in Virginia. A few days later, in Rhode Island, he heard voices. He thought people were speaking to him through "the walls, floor and ceiling" of the Navy base there, where he was working.

This is not depression. SSRIs are not relevant.

This is Schizophrenia which is scary shit that may or may not actually be controllable with anti-psychotic drugs.

[kinnath]

Roughly 1 in 10 people are on SSRIs. Given 320 million people live in the US, that puts 32 million people on SSRIs. So a handful of people out of 32 million commit mass murder. No cause and effect there dude.

[CatoTheElder]

Roughly 1 in 3 Americans own a firearm. So, about 100 million people own firearms. No cause and effect there, either. That doesn't stop the gun grabbers from concluding that they should all register and eventually surrender their firearms.

Same argument applies to violent video games.

But, what about people who take SSRIs, obsess on violent video games, and own firearms? Maybe that would narrow it down, but to identify who such people are would require totalitarian police state ... which seems to be what most politicians and many Americans want.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's obviously not the use of SSRIs alone. It's probably some combination of factors that includes the use of SSRIs.

I had lots of problems when I was younger and was on all kinds of SSRIs. The only thing they were good for was the fact that I could fuck for days as "Sexual Side Effects" are one of the side effects.

Rubbing one out was an exercise in frustration, however. I could see how that might drive a man to do some crazy stuff, but the SSRIs themselves are pretty benign.

The underlying condition that necessitates SSRIs is the problem, not the SSRIs themselves.

[kinnath]

SSRIs are notorious for destroying sexual desire. They tend to make people asexual.

[Drake]

Just wondering...

Did he shoot anyone not White?

[Mike M.]

Yes. He definitely wasn't targeting people based on race.

[Steve G]

oooo, that, my friend, is the third rail. Stay away!

[Loki]

Even if he didn't, black on white crime is NEVER motivated by racism on the part of the black person. Because blacks are physiologically incapable of racial hatred. /derpity derpty doo

[Zeb]

I think they are capable of it. It's just not bad when they do it. Or something.

[Don Mynack]

He was also on, guess what? Anti-depressants. Once again the crazy pills amp up the crazy to 11.

Bring back the nuthouse, please. People who hear voices telling them to kill people need a rubber room, not a prescription.

[Mike M.]

Bring back the nuthouse, please.

I'm starting to think more and more that closing the nuthouses down was a big mistake. We need schizo control a lot more than we need gun control.

[mad libertarian guy]

And of course anti-depressants are used for depression, not anything that requires a rubber room.

Unless you've actually been to and seen a mental hospital and the types of people there, you need to shut the fuck up.

[sarcasmic]

The school where you can become The Little Mermaid: Academy transforms people into mythical creature and teaches them how to swim underwater with a tail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....ature.html

[Apatheist ?_??]

I don't see any readheads in those pictures.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Auric wept.

[Apatheist ?_??]

And rightfully so in this case, you can't be Ariel without red hair.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am recently single...

[sarcasmic]

What do you mean? There's one at the end!

[Marc F Cheney]

I don't see any readheads in those pictures.

Their doughy flesh makes it hard for them to get underwater.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Hey Auric, I'll be your second, when you challenge him to a duel.

[Auric Demonocles]

If he wants to forgo redheads, that's more for me. It's also why I support gays.

[Marc F Cheney]

Don't get me wrong: if you prefer to writhe around on a pudgy pile of pasty, mottled flesh uninhabited by a human soul, I'm not going to judge you.

[Auric Demonocles]

I guess sarc was right about the 9:30 links.

[sarcasmic]

I learned my lesson after impatiently posting at like 9:25, only to have the links show up five minutes later. Twice.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Chris Dodd is going to tell you how search engines are the devil
Hollywood is going to explain how it thinks search engines enable copyright infringement that hurt its businesses.

Former Connecticut Sen.-turned-Hollywood-lobbyist Chris Dodd will unveil at a press conference on Wednesday morning the results of a recent study examining the "role of search engines in introducing audiences to infringing content," according to a media advisory....

...Dodd and the MPAA's allies ? including the Recording Industry Association of America ? have been at odds with Google and the Internet community in the regulatory realm over the enforcement of intellectual property laws in cyberspace for several years....

[Jordan]

Nice to know that Dodd is still a piece of shit.

[Rich]

How that guy has evaded a prison term is beyond me.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

He's a Democrat.

[mad libertarian guy]

When you're one of the Top. Men. prison sentences aren't really a thing.

[jesse.in.mb]

A friend of mine works for the MPAA, whenever she mentions her boss, former senator Chris Dodd, I start reeling off quotes about revolving doors and her story cannot continue until I finish. She finds this annoying but knows it is the only way for her to finish her story.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Court delays kept Donovan Drayton behind bars for five years awaiting trial in New York City on murder charges.

The important thing is no one was accountable.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

IRS list reveals concerns over Tea Party 'propaganda'
WASHINGTON ? Newly uncovered IRS documents show the agency flagged political groups based on the content of their literature, raising concerns specifically about "anti-Obama rhetoric," inflammatory language and "emotional" statements made by non-profits seeking tax-exempt status....

...Five groups were flagged as having "anti-Obama" materials in their applications or on their websites.

[Ted S.]

Why are you making up scandals? 😉

[sarcasmic]

'My body type would have worked well in the '70s,' says leather-clad Olivia Wilde as she poses with a sports car in a tight catsuit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....tsuit.html
Yeah, your body type would work well in my bed!

[gaijin]

Fixed for practicality:

Yeah, your body type would work well in my bed head!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

If we all chip in and get you a hooker, do you think that would help your obvious blue-balls problem?

[sarcasmic]

Personal attacks from Randian! How cute!

[mr simple]

She looks uncomfortable in that first picture.

[PD Scott]

I'm disappointed, I'd have liked to see more of the car. But for that I guess I'd have to look at Harrison Ford and his son in his XK140.

[PD Scott]

For classic car pics, that is.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Holder, IRS officials spoke at political training session for black ministers that detailed 'right-wing conspiracy'
..."We're going to, first of all, equip them with the information they need to know about what they can say and what they cannot say in the church that would violate their 501(c)(3) status with the IRS," said CBC chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat.

This helpful training session for black ministers was convened while Shulman's IRS was improperly scrutinizing the tax-exempt status of conservative and tea party groups and delaying conservative groups' tax-exempt applications with costly investigations.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat from North Carolina and member of the CBC, used openly partisan rhetoric in his remarks before the convened black ministers, discussing a "right-wing conspiracy" and condemning voter ID laws that he claimed could have jeopardized Obama's election to the White House.

[gaijin]

But was it a 'vast' white wing conspiracy?

[CatoTheElder]

This situation is even worse than most people understand.

Here we have an official coaching progressives on how to get and maintain 501(c)(3) status.

Above we have a story about officials denying or delaying 501(c)(4) status to their opponents.

501(c)(3) status allows contributors to deduct contributions on 1040 Schedule A.

Contributions to a 501(c)(4) are not deductible. 501(c)(4) status only allows the recipient organization to receive contributions without characterizing such a taxable income to the recipient.

[sarcasmic]

Monasteries, lamas and a convoy of mules: Fascinating glimpse inside the mysterious Forbidden City of Tibet through the eyes of British soldiers over a hundred years ago

Photographs taken by troops during a British expedition in 1904
Showed westerners landscape of Tibet's capital city Lhasa for the first time
Expedition initiated by the Viceroy of India Lord Curzo, who was obsessed with stopping Russia's influence in the area
Tibetan government signed Treaty declaring it was British protectorate
Lhasa often called the Forbidden City due to its remoteness and long-standing clergy hostility towards outsiders

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

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

That is freakin' cool. I wonder if 110 years from now, some greatgrandson of mine will sell off my pics and "artifacts" like that. I hope he does and buys a cellar full of single malt Scotch with the proceeds.

[Enough About Palin]

Woman Stabs Roommate Because He Wouldn't Stop Listening To The Eagles

http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/.....ock-music/

[Bee Tagger]

Oh, she's a witch-ay woman?

[Jordan]

Does the roommate want the Cleveland Browns at his funeral?

[sarcasmic]

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Other stab-worthy acts would include Bob Seger, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, and of course Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Up yours - Skynyrd rules!

[Eduard van Haalen]

Sweet blog H&R
Where there aren't any rules
'Cept that if you dis Skynyrd
You're gonna get schooled

[sarcasmic]

*dusts off the meat cleaver*

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

I was trying to find something in that list I would disagree with...couldn't do it. Stab away!

[robc]

One of those things is not like the others, one of those things doesnt belong.

And EvH already nailed it.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

I blame the overplay effect.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Republicans debate whether defunding or delaying is the best tactic for confronting Obamacare.

reason informs me it can't possibly be defunded.

[Bee Tagger]

Russia claims the Syrian government has evidence that rebels used chemical weapons. Well, that should settle the matter.

Obama already fixed this situation with no thanks to the obstructionist Republicans. Next story, please.

[Slammer]

Biden's niece arrested in New York over rent dispute. Doesn't receive beatdown from cops, even after 'flailing arms'

[Rich]

"Flailing arms"? You mean nunchucks?

[Ted S.]

I had more of an image of the robot from Lost in Space.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

+1 DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

[Steve G]

Good thing she kept the "jimmy legs" in check though

[Loki]

Too bad she didn't take uncle Joe's advice and fire a shotgun blast.

[mr simple]

Biden threw one punch at the female officer, and missed. A male officer intervened, and the pol's niece started striking him with numerous small, slap-like hits on his arm and chest, sources said.
As the cops subdued her, she "flailed her arms frantically" to resist being handcuffed, cops said.
She was finally taken to the First Precinct station house, where she resisted going into a holding cell "by grabbing a police officer's arm," cops said.

If she were anyone unkown, she would be dead right now.

[BuSab Agent]

How can this be? I was under the impression that the proper procedures for this type of behavior were to be tasered 13 or 14 times, then thrown headfirst onto concrete, followed by five or six 400 lb cops kneeling on the face down suspect.

[db]

I am disappointed in Starbucks right now. Need recommendations on good pro-gun sources of bean coffee.

[Zeb]

Find an independent place that roasts their own beans. They are usually the best.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Does the coffee need to taste like burnt ass?

[Ted S.]

You have experience of what burnt ass tastes like? :-p

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

He was "Warty'd" one weekend...

[Zeb]

Well, any burnt organic material tastes about the same if you burn it enough.

[Adam.]

i approve of this comment.

[Stormy Dragon]

I'm disappointed with certain parts of the gun-rights community. Starbucks tried to accommodate us, but they couldn't just go there. Nah, they had organize huge victory celebrations in the middle of the store to flaunt their superiority.

Not surprisingly, a company that just wants to sell coffee, not spearhead a political movement, isn't happy with having one set of customers constantly creating problems for other sets of customers and now just wants everyone on both sides to go away.

So now a company that was on our side has been alienated because a bunch of idiots deciding that winning was less important than making sure the other side was seen to lose.

[Virginian]

Yep, I knew when people started organizing meetups at Starbucks with slung long guns, that this would happen. If you're going to open carry, you should be dressed nicely, you should be polite, and you should stick to a sidearm.

Loudly pontificating wearing a Sic Semper Tyrannis t-shirt with an AR15 slung on your back is not helpful at this point in time.

[Don Mynack]

Well said. Starbucks has to do what is best for their business. Many gun rights people can't seem to accept victory - they have to rub it in.

[mad libertarian guy]

Many gun rights people can't seem to accept victory - they have to rub it in.

FIFY

Though your point is well taken, this isn't confined to gun rights folks.

[Virginian]

Now I wouldn't say many. Not at all. It's just that one asshole who knows he has the right to sling his tacticool AR and sit in front of Starbucks pontificating to all the passerby about his rights. Except now he can find the other ten assholes in a one hour drive of his location, and they can all go be assholes together.

I mean, last I checked something like 1 in 50 people have a CCW. So if you're at a decently busy Starbucks, and you're not armed, chances are someone there is. They just aren't being a dick about it.

[db]

This is a valid criticism, however the same could be said of the very visible gay pride events.

I have always been of the opinion that it pays more to quietly convince people of your position rather than scream and yell. Interviewing people with a dildo microphone and making people uncomfortable is counter to the goals of improving relations with the general public.

While there may be satisfaction in shouting "we're here, we're queer armed, get used to it!" It's probably not as helpful to the general movement as you may think.

[Stormy Dragon]

I'm bisexual myself, but I've never been to a gay pride parade for exactly the reasons you mention. Letting your freak flag fly is great, but some people don't get that there's places where that's appropriate and places where it's not and just don't know how to dial it down when it's not. And being around people like that makes me really uncomfortable, even when they're supposedly on my side.

Likewise I own an "assault rifle" myself, but if I was at a Starbucks and someone came in with one slung on their back, I'd be kinda nervous. Not because I think they're going to shoot anyone, but just because they're the type of person who's likely to cause a scene, and I don't enjoy being around when that happens.

[Rhywun]

My god, after one or two Pride parades it gets really boring. It's all glistening torsos and leftist politics - yawn. But they do have the difference of being scheduled events in a specific spot, unlike carrying in a Starbucks.

[Raven Nation]

Try Montana Coffee Traders. I lived up there for a few years, and have been mail ordering from them since I left in the mid-90s.

[db]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[Enough About Palin]

9:30? FOE must have a mighty sore mouse clicking finger.

[Rich]

Ha! EAP thinks FOE uses his *finger*.

[Lord Humungus]

look, ma, I can type without using my hands!

[db]

Multiply-bifurcated Penis Syndrome: Handicap or Evolutionary Advantage?

[PD Scott]

If the woman runs away screaming, it's awfully difficult to reproduce.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Republicans debate whether defunding or delaying is the best tactic for confronting Obamacare. How about a stake through the heart?

Delay Vs. Defund Fight Isn't Just A Disagreement About Tactics, It's About A Lack Of Trust
...One of my problems with the "delay" types is they act as if there's is a perfectly reasonable strategy that will obviously work where the crazy defund types are living in a fantasy world. As Ben Howe put it on Twitter yesterday, the delay types assume all their projections about the future are facts and the defund types are dealing in unprovable guesses that have no chance of happening. ...

...So what then? We're supposed to believe that they along with Boehner and Cantor weren't willing to go over the fiscal cliff, they aren't willing to deal with a government shutdown but they are TOTALLY committed to not raising the debt ceiling and seeing the government "default" (not be able to pay some bills) unless Obama caves on delay? Really? You guys have avoided every fight and punted at every chance but you are totally going to the mattresses on the thing that might have huge fiscal repercussions for the world economy?

Let's just say I have my doubts. ...

[Rich]

Brazil may opt out of internet

*That'll* learn the NSA to spy on other countries!

[A Frayed Knot]

Much either for them to spy on their own citizens that way, isn't it?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Retraction: Aaron Alexis Wasn't Blocked by State Law Forbidding Sale of AR-15
When I linked that NYT piece I wondered if they were going for the spin that Serious You Guys gun laws prevented an AR-15 from getting into this guy's hands.

Well, it turns out they sort of just made up the predicate fact in the first place. Out-of-state buyers can buy an AR-15 (they need additional forms of ID but there is no ban on it) and Aaron Alexis, having never been formally dinged by the system, passed a background check.

Apparently he just didn't want an AR-15....

[np]

Lingerie Models Exposed in Interview Magazine

[Rich]

NSFW

[mad libertarian guy]

The chick in pic 2 needs to eat a sammich. I wouldn't kick her out of bed, but she needs some meat on them bones.

[mr simple]

I bet Miranda Kerr thinks she's doing ok as it is.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm sure she does. But in the modeling world it doesn't matter what you think of yourself, but what others think of you. It just so happens that the people who view her work thinks she's doing just fine.

None of that changes the fact that she needs to eat a sammich.

[SugarFree]

Another long one, so hit the link?

Warty Hugeman and The Flames of Funtown: A Warty Hugeman Time Travel Adventure

Funtown was burning. As flames consumed the time-worn wood and fading paint, he felt a crushing sense of loss. Warty Hugeman was born in Funtown, after a fashion and died there too. He rolled over onto his back, his dorsal fin digging into the sand under him, and watched the smoke rise into the sky.

Wartimus Riesigmann and The Phantom Recursion: A Wartimus Riesigmann Teenage Adventure

Wartimus Riesigmann cut through the chain link fence as quietly as he could, but each time the bolt cutters snapped through aluminum wire it sounded like a rifle shot in the night. The others crowded behind him, whispering about what they would find once inside. He turned back to glare at them. Andrea put her hand on his back, her small, delicate hand, and his anger ebbed away. She had been his whole world since the kiln explosion that killed his father. He knew they would be together forever.

Wartimus finished cutting through the fence and crawled in first to help the others. Andrea came after him, her eyes filled with excitement. She was one of those mad, wonderful people who thought the world was filled with delight. Even in filthy utility overalls and a burglar's black sock cap she was devastatingly beautiful.

Continue...

[db]

Can't wait to read.

[db]

If the link worked, that is.

[sarcasmic]

You SugarFree'd the, oh, never mind.

[Loki]

BWAHAHAHA!!!!! You you'd the link.

Classic.

[SugarFree]

Ah, fuck. That's what I get for doing mark-up in a Word doc.

Heir

[Longtorso, Johnny]

If SugarFree SugarFree'ed a link about Nazis in a Mike Godwin thread, would we reach Peak Internet Cliche?

[Loki]

That might just cause the entire internet to melt down and collapse in on itself like a digital black hole.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

SugarFree, get on that.

If he SFs a link to a Kitler on a Godwin thread, what parallel dimension would we be pulled into?

[Loki]

Probably one in which all of his slashfics are made real. Think of R'lyeh only about 100x worse.

Either that or one in which everyone is a Bronie. Either way, I think it's best not to find out. Besides, I'm pretty sure all the porn on the internet would be destroyed in the process and converted into gamma rays.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

"The Journey of a Brony to R'lyeh, in the 8th Dimension"

[Clich? Bandit]

HEY!!!

[Tim]

Can't you just stick to drawing beloved cartoon characters having sex? words are so... wordy.

[SugarFree]

Word-to-text. Have it read to you by a stilted, emotionless robot. That's how it was written, after all.

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, the origin story. Much less rapey than I expected.

It's horripilation, by the way.

[SugarFree]

Maybe you need to check your spelling properly privilege.

[Pro Libertate]

Horripliation is a different word altogether. It's the horror felt when you realize that the public restroom you're using only has one-ply toilet paper.

[SugarFree]

Neoliberal Kochtopus vs The Toilet Paper of the Blind: A Hit & Run Men's Adventure

[Pro Libertate]

Neoliberal Kochtopus vs The Toilet Paper of the Blind: A Hit & Run Men's Adventure in Horripliation.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Much less rapey than I expected.

The Cleveland Browns were not unresponsive.

[SweatingGin]

If I didn't know better, I'd think SugarFree is taking Warty Hugeman Time Travel Adventures legit. Or going soft.

[Pro Libertate]

He's been asked for a treatment by HBO.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Or going soft.

The diabeetus will do that to a man.

[jesse.in.mb]

I felt less violated than I expected. The deaths were well executed.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Scroll down a bit:

State Run Media's Guide to Firearms

[Loki]

Authorities seized a 6-month-old Lansing, Michigan, girl from her medical marijuana-caregiver mom because...pot!

And to think, I actually wasn't hating humanity quite as much as normal this morning... and then I come here and see this.

Thanks for reminding me that people, especially CPS shitstacks, are a bunch of craven assholes.

[np]

Can we consider this a case of kidnapping and child endangerment that would justify a rescue operation and arrest these government officials?

/dreamer

[Art Vandelay]

Sure, give it a try.

It's been nice knowing you, np.

[Jordan]

The Most Pro-Gun President Evar(TM)* is already talking about how magical background checks would have prevented this shooting. He sees a pile of corpses and just can't keep it in his pants.

* Don't even bother bringing up that CARD Act bullshit, shreeeek. It was a rider attached to Obama's signature credit card bill by Republicans. Obama opposed it but wouldn't veto the legislation that he lobbied so hard for. It was attached in response to a court ruling banning weapons in national parks. A ruling that the Obama Admin refused to challenge.

[Rich]

Linky?

[Jordan]

President Obama today suggested that a better background check system for American gun sales might have prevented Monday's mass shooting at Navy Yard that left 13 people, including the gunman, dead.

I don't have the CARD Act links handy atm, but just look for the CARD Act Coburn Amendment.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The shooter had a fucking security clearance. Go to hell, Barry.

[Clich? Bandit]

In all fairness, it seems rather common that a security clearance in the Obama administrations doesn't really hold much weight. Perhaps we need tougher background checks and people who run for office and who run regulatory agencies.

[Rich]

Thanks, Jordan.

Isn't it simple common sense that, since anyone with a Secret clearance is already trusted with the ability to inflict grave damage on the US, anyone with a Secret clearance should be able to purchase all the weapons they want, no questions asked?

[Hyperion]

Hackers have hit back in retaliation for US cyber-spying on Brazil but mistook the US space agency NASA for the National Security Agency (NSA), a news website reported here Tuesday. "They hacked NASA's web page and left the message: Stop spying on us," it said

The message should have said 'Get out of low orbit, you worthless bureaucracy!'

[Slammer]

Crazies, Creeps, and Criminals : Our government threatens public safety by letting the violent and unbalanced walk the streets.
By Michelle Malkin

I can't quite figure out what she's arguing. The gov't is totally incompetent, but it should be given more power and control?

[Virginian]

Only for the right reasons though. Remember, it's Michelle Malkin, who once wrote a book called In Defense of Internment.

[Jordan]

Bastard.

[Jordan]

Well, she also wrote a book defending Japanese Interment, IIRC...

[Brett L]

That's usually the gist of the argument.

[aelhues]

It's not that hard to figure out. She's arguing that maybe the governments hiring practices are a bit out of whack. Nothing in that anywhere said anything about giving the feds more power.

Learn to read.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Gun Control's Dead End
...Indeed, in preparing for his spree, Aaron Alexis quite literally followed Joe Biden's advice: He went out and bought an uncontroversial shotgun from a reputable, licensed dealer and subjected himself successfully to a federal background check. So routine was this purchase, it should be noted, that it could have been made legally in England or in France....

...None of the usual political language applies here. Alexis, who killed twelve people, did not buy a weapon "from a friend" or "over the Internet" or in the "parking lot of a gun show"; he did not have a "high capacity" magazine from which to "spray" bullets around; he did not buy a "military style" "assault weapon" ? nor even use one; he did not deploy "armor-piercing bullets." Instead, he bought a shotgun, which almost nobody is openly suggesting should be banned or controlled. Politicians and public figures who call for new laws in the wake of this shooting will thus need nailing to the wall with a simple and reliable question: "What exactly do you propose doing, and how specifically would it have changed what happened at the Navy Yard?" When I have asked this question of non-journalists on Twitter, I have received a common ? refreshingly honest ? answer: "A gun ban."...

[Tim]

The shooting occurred in Washing DC, inside a (supposedly) secure military facility. The shooter had a security clearance. Every concievable anti-gun measure was in place, layers of them. Still, he just walked right in and started shooting.

[Hyperion]

From the way it sounds, anyone who had clearance and was a physically strong individual, could have walked in there with a sword and done nearly as much damage.

[sarcasmic]

We need to make the place a sword-free zone!

[Atreides]

+There Can Be Only One

[John]

Or just built a bomb and set it off.

[Root Boy]

One article I saw (NYT?) called his weapon a Law Enforcement Shotgun, so soon Feinstein will want to ban full length tubular magazines and ghost ring sights.

[Don Mynack]

Haven't seen much analysis of how he accomplished this - I am guessing that the entrance he went through is pretty wide open, with no barriers to be "buzzed in", and probably a single guard who may not even be armed - given the fact that dude walked through with a shotgun rather easily.

[Virginian]

I heard he had it broken down in a bag, and just went into the bathroom and assembled it. Then came out shooting.

[sarcasmic]

The next Playboy bunny: It's confirmed Kate Moss WILL celebrate her 40th birthday with a nude photo shoot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....thday.html
I hope they got the extended warranty for their airbrush. They're gonna need it.

[John]

They got lots of practice on Jenny McCarthy.

[Lord Humungus]

and Nancy Sinatra *shudder*

[Auric Demonocles]

Authorities seized a 6-month-old Lansing, Michigan, girl from her medical marijuana-caregiver mom because...pot! Quick. Hide the bourbon.

To be fair, that really is not a safe environment for a child. To be even more fair, the reason it's not a safe environment for a child is because the feds are going to bust in unaccounced in SWAT gear, shoot the dog, and probably miss.

[John]

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....antipathy/

IRS employees were "acutely" aware in 2010 that President Obama wanted to crack down on conservative organizations and were egged into targeting tea party groups by press reports mocking the emerging movement, according to an interim report being circulated Tuesday by House investigators.

The report, by staffers for Rep. Darrell E. Issa, California Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, quoted two Internal Revenue Service officials saying the tea party applications were singled out in the targeting program that has the agency under investigation because "they were likely to attract media attention."

In the report, the investigators do not find evidence that IRS employees received orders from politicians to target the tea party, and agency officials deny overt bias or political motives.

[VG Zaytsev]

Hmm, using state run media to orchestrate attacks on official enemies. Sounds vaguely familiar.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

"and agency officials deny overt bias or political motives."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Raven Nation]

Kind of what I figured with the IRS/Tea Party thing. Not an obvious directive coming from the top, but more of the "Who shall rid me of this turbulent priest?" kind of thing.

[Hyperion]

I have a brilliant idea. Let's disarm everyone on military bases, disarm all US citizens, and arm some terrorists.

If only we had a president as smart as me, all our problems would soon be over.

[Mike M.]

You should send Obama your resume immediately. He might make you a czar!

[Hyperion]

I want to be the gun czar.

What, I wasn't supposed to hand out all of those guns purchased by DHS and other government agencies to ordinary American citizens that I met at gun shows?

Ooops, I have failed. Looks like time for a different high paying appointment for me!

Can I be Secretary of State now? Hey better yet, what about head of the DEA?

[PD Scott]

It would be really cool if the head of BATFE handed out handguns as his/her business card.

Might not work for DEA. "Uh, yeah, I had your contact info but then I smoked it."

[Jordan]

Funny how he trusts radical Islamists with weapons but not American citizens.

[John]

Shame on Bush for not revoking that idiotic Clinton era order.

[Virginian]

Bush was CT Yankee who managed to affect a TX accent. Even though he got elected to governor of TX by promising to sign a shall issue bill into law, he was never a real friend of gun owners. Presidents never are.

[Clich? Bandit]

George Washington was.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I think we should amend the 2A to say American citizens can have any guns our govt hands out to foreigners like candy.

[Auric Demonocles]

Then liberals would soon be saying that since none of the guns we are handing out to foreigners include nutrition facts, American citizens can have no guns at all.

[Irish]

Cory Booker supporters heckle his opponent, tell him to 'go back where he came from,' and drown him out so he can't give his speech.

Remember. When a Hispanic rodeo clown wears an Obama mask, that's racism. When a crowd of African Americans demand that a white man leave their neighborhood, that's not racism.

One of the comments mentions that these are the exact same tactics Sharp James used against Cory Booker in 2002, which Booker complained about at the time.

What a scummy asshole of a state New Jersey is.

[VG Zaytsev]

I thought Booker was the long sought, mythical libertarian democrat.

[Irish]

Well, he's the best the New Jersey Democrats are ever going to do.

[Hyperion]

When a crowd of African Americans demand that a white man leave their neighborhood

Although, that is probably a very rare event.

[Irish]

I guarantee you it's a rare event. Of course, it's also rare for rodeo clowns to wear Obama masks, and that didn't stop them from crying racism over that one.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Gentrification!

[sarcasmic]

Who says sex sells? Publisher of Penthouse magazine files for bankruptcy with debts of ?200million

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

Besides publishing Penthouse, FriendFinder Networks operates a number of adult-oriented social networking sites including AdultFriendFinder.com, Amigos.com, AsiaFriendFinder.com and SeniorFriendFinder.com.

Did people finally wise up to the fact that there are no women at all on those sites?

[robc]

Sounds like someone learned that the hard way?

[sarcasmic]

You're just pissed that I dissed a crappy southern rock band.

[sarcasmic]

And yes, I know that crappy southern rock is redundant.

[robc]

Im sure there are some crappy southern rock bands, but I cant think of one off the top of my head.

[sarcasmic]

To each their own.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Izard Mountain Daredevils?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Izard = Ozark on iPhone autocorrect.

[Brett L]

Drive By Truckers proves you wrong.

[Virginian]

Well, old DBTs does.

[Pro Libertate]

De gustibus non est disputandum.

[Jordan]

I've often wondered how many people fall for those fake chat ads where the girl acts pissed if you don't respond.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What normal person pays for dirty pictures and dates anymore?

[robc]

Elliot Spitzer.

[Loki]

He asked what normal person pays for dirty pictures and dates anymore.

[robc]

Good point.

[Rasilio]

Oh there are women on them, most just expect either a green card or cash up front. The rest are 45 year old housewives (and they look every bit the role) looking for some excitement on the side, or 250 lbs+.

[Irish]

The Economist Exposes Public Pension Illusion

Unfortunately for pensioners, reports of their retirement security have been greatly exaggerated. The Economist calculates the 10-year return on an average diversified portfolio to be a mere 2.7 percent. That's the fourth-lowest level since 1871. This estimation comes to the chagrin of any investor, but for government pension-holders and fund managers it is much grimmer.

Shockingly enough, when the government has control of your retirement fund, things tend to go a little sideways.

[Stormy Dragon]

2.7% per year or 2.7% for the whole 10 years. Because if you're only getting a 0.27% annual return on your investments, you're doing something horribly horribly wrong.

[Old Man With Candy]

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

[Auric Demonocles]

That URL makes it seem like that could be a slightly risky click.

[Old Man With Candy]

What, you don't trust good ol' Mel?

[SugarFree]

I find it hard to believe she's a soldier's wife as she appears to weigh less than 250 lbs.

[sarcasmic]

Seems a lot of soldiers like this song.

[Virginian]

It's older than that.

Now, if you must marry, take care she is old --
A troop-sergeant's widow's the nicest I'm told
For beauty won't help if your rations is cold
Nor love ain't enough for a soldier
'Nough, 'nough, 'nough for a soldier

[sarcasmic]

Thing is, attractiveness is not an indicator of faithfulness.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

That reminds me of the first Gulf War - they would interview some 300lbs enlisted Army dude's wife (with some sloppy looking kids misbehaving in the background) and her complain about how he ain't around to work his second job delivering pizzas at night. Then they have some former Miss Alabama 1983 or so, gently dabbing a tear and worrying for her brave Air Force pilot husband....

[sarcasmic]

That's funny. I work with quite a few retired military, and at a banquet or bbq it's really easy to tell who was enlisted and who was an officer. Just look at their wife.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Exactly. By the way, I was an O-5 .... muhuhuhuwha.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Is this SFW?

[John]

Yes. But you don't want to go there.

[Irish]

Serious crime: Amber Fox, 23, who most recently worked as a medical lab technician for the Army, also faces a charge of soliciting a crime against nature

That's the greatest charge of all time.

[Rasilio]

Without knowing what specific sex acts they engaged in with their dogs I gotta say that I almost feel sorry for these two.

I mean the stupidity of posting pictures of themselves committing a crime online makes it a bit difficult to feel sorry for them but I just can't see why beastiality is a crime, especially not a "serious felony".

Sure, it's icky and maybe depending on exactly what your doing somewhat harmful to the animals but I just can't see where it rises to the level of any sort of crime.

Now these two not only get to go to jail, but they get that charge to follow them around everywhere they go for the rest of their lives and they's never going to live it down.

[Virginian]

An American was backpacking across the highlands, when he came across a small village where he decided to spend the night.

Upon entering the local pub that evening for some drinks with the locals, he found himself in a conversation with one particularly drunk and indignant individual.

"Ya see that fence out there?" The old man asked the backpacker. "I built that fence with me own hands. But ya think they call me MacGregor the fence builder? No!"

"And that church out there. I hoisted the bell up to the top with me own hands. But ya think they call me MacGregor the church builder? No!"

And that bridge. I put it together stone by stone. But ya think they call me MacGregor the bridge builder? No!"

"But ya screw one goat..."

[jesse.in.mb]

Why does he wear his jeans like he's an old man, with the waist band above his navel? If he's going to do porn the band should be low slung off his hips hinting at his nether regions.

[Virginian]

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=44964

Anonymous Cop Pens Bizarre Editorial Calling for 'End of Anonymity on the Internet,' Says All Internet Posters Should be Forced to Register with the Government for 'Public Safety'

Is this satire?

[Apatheist ?_??]

I've often thought about how awesome it would be if Anonymous or somebody identified the posters on PoliceOne and somebody used their comments against them in court.

[John]

No. A former NSA director is calling for the same thing.

http://www.infowars.com/former.....-internet/

They are always talking about criminals and how dangerous the internet is. I am old enough to remember the world before the internet. I don't see how any of the people I know are more or less likely to be victimized by crime than they were before. If the internet was so dangerous, I doubt it would be very popular. Sort of like high crime neighborhoods don't get a lot of foot traffic.

[Irish]

From the Post article Infowars links to:

"We have a very difficult time with this," Hayden said. He then asked, "is our vision of the World Wide Web the global digital commons -- at this point you should see butterflies flying here and soft background meadow-like music -- or a global free fire zone?" Given that Hayden also compared the Internet to the wild west and Somalia, Hayden clearly leans toward the "global free fire zone" vision of the Internet.

SOMALIA!

[Mike M.]

How would Krugman and Weigel be able to endlessly troll us without anonymity on the Internet?

[Winston]

You think Tony is Krugman? Has he been known to troll the comment boards of his opponents?

[Hyperion]

Sounds like some meanie probably called this officer 'poopey head', on the intertoobs, and the officer has a sad that he can't shoot their dog over it. See if he knew the person and where they lived, he could drive right over and shoot that dog. Maybe rough up the family and terrorize them for a while, just for extra.

But, I bet that if we polled congress critters, more than 90% of them would agree with him.

[Fluffy]

I don't really believe in the existence of trolls, as this article defines them.

Nobody makes up stuff they don't believe to enrage people.

I think that what happens is that people deliberately go to places where they know they will find people they hate, and deliberately post things that will freak those people out.

But that's different.

[Loki]

Is this satire?

No, this is a complete dipshit who has no clue what the fuck he's talking about. He has no idea how difficult ir would be to maintain a database of the real identity of every poster on every website on the internet (although it's probable that the NSA already has that information) and clearly hasn't thought through how having a record of every boneheaded comment he and every other LEO makes on PoliceOne could come back and bite him in the ass (See Apatheist's comment).

In short, it's a stupid dumbfuck pulling ignorant shit out of his ass.

[NSA Corey]

As if there isn't a database already.

[mad libertarian guy]

GOAT CAM!!!!!!

[Slammer]

needs more Bathory 😉

[anomdebus]

Hyperion,
Kratom question...
This was brought up a couple months ago and you made a statement like good kratom was only sometimes available locally (MD). Where do you get it and how do you distinguish whether it is good.
Thanks.

[Hyperion]

Never bought any locally.

I think I might have said that good Kratom only seems to be available from vendors at certain times. Not sure why that is, maybe it's a seasonal thing? I think something to do with freshness

Google it, there are some good online vendors. I haven't had Kratom for about a year. Better yet, go to the site Kratom Connoisseurs. A lot of the good vendors hang out on that site.

Oh, and you distinguish that it is good when you consume it and it does what you expect, which is for me a nice energizing lift which is more smoother and pleasant than caffeine. But on the site that I mentioned, there will be reviews about what the vendors have at the time.

Not sure where you live, but it's illegal in a few states.

[sarcasmic]

Ringless Elizabeth Hurley says alleged split is 'too raw to talk about' as HE claims they 'haven't thrown in the towel yet'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....l-yet.html

Why does it appear that she can't keep a man, and why did Hugh Grant cheat on her with a hooker? Is she a bitch? Does he withhold sex?

[Virginian]

No matter how beautiful she is, there's someone tired of putting up with her shit.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Is she a bitch?

Was it Thomas Sowell who said he didn't trust a beautiful woman, because he knows she's been getting away with murder all her life?

[sarcasmic]

The trick is to find a beautiful woman with a low self esteem.

[Art Vandelay]

This. Especially a hot woman who was fat when she was young.

[John]

Remember Hugh Grant wasn't with any hooker, he was with a tranny hooker. Look at the guy she is divorcing now. I think the problem is she has a thing for gay or bisexual guys.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Bye bye says bi?

[Lord Humungus]

and now I'm back from my meeting...

if repeated, I'm too lazy to check:

Report: NH complained most about Miley Cyrus twerking at VMAs

NH residents sent FCC most letters per capita, data shows

[Lord Humungus]

Dog accidentally shoots owner, 78, in Fort Worth, Texas

"The victim advised it was an accident and the dog was not to blame," said officer Sharron Neal, a police spokeswoman.

Police did not identify the breed of the dog.

"He has the right to remain silent," Neal said.

[Loki]

And we wonder why cops shoot dogs... Because that dog my be packing heat. OFFICER SAFETY!!!

[Lord Humungus]

The Obituary of William McCullough

William Freddie McCullough - BLOOMINGDALE - The man. The myth. The legend. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him. William Freddie McCullough died on September 11, 2013. Freddie loved deep fried Southern food smothered in Cane Syrup, fishing at Santee Cooper Lake, Little Debbie Cakes, Two and a Half Men, beautiful women, Reeses Cups and Jim Beam. Not necessarily in that order. He hated vegetables and hypocrites. Not necessarily in that order. He was a master craftsman who single -handedly built his beautiful house from the ground up. Freddie was also great at growing fruit trees, grilling chicken and ribs, popping wheelies on his Harley at 50 mph, making everyone feel appreciated and hitting Coke bottles at thirty yards with his 45. ........ and it goes on

[John]

The picture of him says it all.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Cleveland Browns....pallbearers....etc.

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

Down, let, etc.

[PD Scott]

I'm sure the Falcons could let him down.

[Jordan]

He liked Two and a Half Men? That completely cancels out everything awesome about this guy. Have some self-respect!

[Cdr Lytton]

Thats the part that puts his awesomeness to 11. Clearly a guy who knew what he liked and didn't give a damn what anyone else thought about it.

[Loki]

THIS. ISN'T. FUNNY!!!

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's style on Syria needs refashioning

Style points? Seriously? Style points? That's what President Obama thinks the criticism of his zigzag Syria policy amounts to?

As presidential spin, this is insulting. As presidential conviction ? if this is what he really believes ? it's scary.

Obama's dismissive remarks came in response to a question from ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who asked the president about criticisms of his approach as ad hoc, improvised and unsteady.

[Lord Humungus]

Republicans are not gaining from Democrats' weaknesses on key issues

Late into a year that has seen tough political battles over gun control, immigration, potential military action in Syria, and still-in-progress debates over the budget and federal debt limit, the Democratic Party is clearly showing bruises after its 2012 electoral triumph. However, the Democrats' loss is not necessarily the Republicans' gain -- the GOP is performing no better than last year with the public on these issues. Indeed, in several areas, more Americans than in recent years see neither party as the obvious choice to address the nation's problems, perhaps another example of their growing frustration with the nation's political system.

I've noticed an uptick in "I hate both parties" feeling.

[John]

Two things. First people want their pony and are mad neither party can magically give it to them. Second, people don't trust the Republicans not to sell out.

I would like to hope that it is more of the latter than the former. But I doubt it. I think a lot of it is that Americans refuse to understand that while the government can print money, it can't print wealth.

[Virginian]

Decades of public school. People know, not think, not believe, but know that there is a pony, and that someone else can be forced to pay for it. The rich, or the corporations, or just cut the foreign aid budget, and voila the pony will be here.

[sarcasmic]

Well, like, duh! I mean, like, the rich don't pay their fair share! Like, how could they pay their fair share and still be all rich and stuff? Like, totally!

[Hyperion]

Two things. First people want their pony and are mad neither party can magically give it to them.

I dunno, with 23 million American families on food stamps, and seemingly all of them running around bragging out eating filet and lobster every meal and having so much food that they have to feed it to their dogs and still throw some out, I think the pony has arrived.

[John]

There is never enough pony. Nothing is more addictive than free shit. So it doesn't matter how much free shit you give someone, they will always think they are entitled to more.

[sarcasmic]

"Once the government becomes the supplier of people's needs, there is no limit to the needs that will be claimed as a basic right." ?Lawrence Auster

[Hyperion]

All I have perceived about free shit, is that it seems to be a total and permanent cure for the desire to seek employment.

[John]

Of course it is. We base unemployment on your last salary. So lets say you get laid off from a job making $3000 a month. If you go and take that job making $1500 a month and then get laid off there, you are back on unemployment making less money.

So people make the rational choice and don't look for work unless it pays as much as the job they lost. Also, if I am making $1000 for free on UE, that $1500 a month job effectively only pays me $500 a month. A thousand for free is better than $1500 you have to work for.

[Auric Demonocles]

Or you get a job under the table, and keep taking that free $1000 while bringing in some tax free cash and only working sporadic hours.

[Irish]

I dunno, with 23 million American families on food stamps, and seemingly all of them running around bragging out eating filet and lobster every meal and having so much food that they have to feed it to their dogs and still throw some out

This is just not true. There are tons of reasons to be opposed to the welfare state, but the idea that people on food stamps are all eating lobster is ludicrous.

[Virginian]

Some are for sure though. Last I checked, in VA a single mom with two kids gets over 900 a month in on her EBT.

Now, I'm not saying that's an enormous amount of money, but it sure as hell ain't scanty rations.

[John]

If you get off your ass and cook, that is a lot of money. That is 300 per person. And kids generally like cheap food anyway.

[Lord Humungus]

$900? $900?!?!?!

I spend ~$320 a month on food for a family of three. Of course we're mostly buying meat, cheese, and vegetables, but we're not exactly starving. Steak, homemade enchiladas, chicken stir-fry, etc.

Just no bread, pop, cereal, or other sugary shit.

[Irish]

I spend ~$320 a month on food for a family of three. Of course we're mostly buying meat, cheese, and vegetables, but we're not exactly starving. Steak, homemade enchiladas, chicken stir-fry, etc.

Yeah, left wing defenses of the food stamp program are pretty much total bullshit. A huge percentage of that money goes to junk food and it's far more than you need to eat.

I've seen liberals wondering how you can eat on $12 a day, which makes me seriously wonder what the fuck liberals are eating. That's $84 a week for one person. If you go to the grocery store, you can feed yourself for a week on far less than that. The left's basic argument is that people not only need to be able to feed themselves, but that it's some sort of human rights violation if they also don't get to eat out two times a week.

[jesse.in.mb]

The left's basic argument is that people not only need to be able to feed themselves, but that it's some sort of human rights violation if they also don't get to eat out two times a week.

This only works if people know how to cook though. A surprising number of people I know are completely fucking mystified when I prepare a simple meal. No shit you don't have enough money when you're eating out constantly or only buying premade frozen meals. If liberals were serious about helping out poor people they'd drop the Home Ec is sexist bit and just force everyone to take at least a year.

[Rasilio]

Actually they very well may be. Not sure if you noticed but the price of lobster has plummeted in the last couple of years.

Up here in New England Lobster is cheaper per serving than pretty much any kind of seafood and any beef short of cheap ground beef. It is comparable in price to boneless skinless chicken breast.

Sure Lobster in a Restaurant is expensive but live lobsters are running under $4/lb right now

[Hyperion]

That's on the east coast dude. It's only like $4 a lb here in Maryland also. But in the Midwest, it is many times that price.

[Hyperion]

Sorry dude, but your statement that is is not true, is indeed, not true.

It may not be true for everyone receiving food stamps, but it is most definitely true for some.

The people that I actually talk to that receive government assistance, all tell me that. And their ticket to more free stuff, is just have more kids.

[mad libertarian guy]

I dunno, with 23 million American families on food stamps, and seemingly all of them running around bragging out eating filet and lobster every meal and having so much food that they have to feed it to their dogs and still throw some out [. . .]

I'm as against the welfare state as anyone else here, but I'd bet that this isn't the case for the vast majority of those who receive food stamps.

[sarcasmic]

I think a lot of it is that Americans refuse to understand that while the government can print money, it can't print wealth.

Most people are terribly ignorant of basic economics. They don't understand that money is not wealth, or that income is not necessarily an indicator of how much wealth a person has. And so many are too envious to care.

[Hyperion]

Is America they only country in the world where the poor are severely obese?

[sarcasmic]

But that's only because the corporations are pushing unhealthy packaged food onto the poor ignorant bastards!

Uh, I mean yes. I believe so.

[jesse.in.mb]

Americans are fat because many have no idea how to cook and because 50 years of nutrition advice was more a handout to American grain farmers than it was good nutrition advice.

[Irish]

Mexico has the same problem. They actually surpassed us in obesity.

[Clich? Bandit]

***pssst*** whispers carbs

[Tim]

How they gonna gain with McCain out there screaming for war?

[Lord Humungus]

Fed likely to reduce bond buying, pass policy milestone

Most economists expect the Fed to scale back its monthly purchases by a modest $10 billion, taking them to $75 billion and signaling the beginning of the end to an unprecedented episode of monetary expansion that has been felt worldwide.

The baby step would begin to provide a bookend of sorts to the central bank's response to the global financial crisis that reached fever pitch five years ago this week with the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

[Outlaw]

Is the economy going to take a giant shit when they stop buying bonds? Will there be hyperinflation?

[Hyperion]

Inflation is a myth invented by rethuglicans.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Hyperinflation is a Peanut Gallery myth.

Tightening will be negligibly deflationary. Gold will fall further.

[Drake]

A myth? So it's never happened anywhere?

[Palin's Buttplug]

It won't happen in the US.

[Drake]

Ah, just because we are special...

[Swiss Servator, Spare a Franc?]

'Murican Exceptionalism!

[John]

Because the laws of mathematics don't apply here or something. Can you just die? Seriously, just die. You owe to the rest of the human race.

[Tybus]

It's happened here before so I don't see why
it can't happen again.

[John]

It is a total myth. I mean it is not like it happen in places like Germany and Argentina or anything. God you are a fucking embarrassment to humanity.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You fucking idiot. The Peanuts have already admitted they were wrong about their predictions of hyperinflation back in 2009.

The QE program barely moved the money supply on a % basis.

[John]

Sometimes I think you are just a hack. But then you say things like this and I realize that you really are that fucking stupid. You are just fucking brain dead.

Yes, you can print money, provided you have a functionally retarded President who does everything in his power to depress economic activity. But at some point that has to end and economic activity will come back. And when it does, all that money sloshing around out there is going to start to move.

The predictions of inflation were wrong because no one believed that Obama would actually be this bad of a president and create so much unemployment and do so much to destroy confidence causing business to save rather than invest and spend. People actually assumed that economy was so strong even Obama couldn't fuck it up. They were wrong. At some point the great damn of Obama incompetence holding all of that money the fed printed back will break.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You should not comment on economics.

Stick to what you know - guns, religion, and race baiting.

[John]

Retard,

I have forgotten more about economics than you will ever know. You literally know nothing. You know idiotic talking points your handlers feed you and manage to fuck those up most of the time. I actually feel sorry for your handlers sometimes. You are so stupid you can't even properly cut and paste the talking points or remember what talking point applies to which issue. I bet they hate you more than we do.

[Hyperion]

Well, John, why did you go and predict hyperinflation would happen in 2009? See what you did there? Just when I was getting used to being a rethuglican, now I have to be a peanut. And it's all your fault.

[Hyperion]

Also, stop the constant bible thumping and race baiting, please.

[John]

I have never predicted hyper inflation. What I have always said is that any recovery is going to be shot in the craddle as the fed raises interest rates to bring the resulting inflation under control. At some point we are going to have to face the consequences of all of this printing of money. We have only avoided inflation because the economy is so bad. But when the economy turns around, the bill will come due and we will have to go through another nasty recession similar to the 1982 to get out of the stagflation cycle we have created. This is just a worse replay of what happened in the 1970s.

[Marc F Cheney]

WHY DO YOU ENGAGE IT?

[Mike M.]

Does this mean that Yellen has no chance of becoming the Fed chair? From what I read, she sounds like a Krugnut who thinks that the problem with Bernananke is that he hasn't gone far enough.

[Hyperion]

She's another ugly butch dyke. Obama luvs him some ugly butch dyke. All you need to qualify for an Obama appointment is if Austin Powers would look at you and say 'That's not a woman, that's a man, baby!'

[Root Boy]

I thought the market thinks Yellin will turn it up to 11. She's no Dick Fisher, you know.

[Hyperion]

But she probably has a dick.

[Lord Humungus]

and last, but not least, a review of the amplifier I fixed: The Sony TA-3120A

http://6streetbridge.blogspot......3120a.html

includes lots of geek-tech photographs including a pile of old capacitors. Oh yay!

[Jon Lester]

I should have been following your blog much sooner.

Are you familiar with Mahalo? Good friend of mine builds those, and even lent a couple for a big show I did last year.

[Lord Humungus]

not a guitar guy... so no. I've had people asking for tube & guitar tube gear, but I don't have the equipment or ear for playing guitar.... so...

[Jon Lester]

Just wondered. I found some useful info from searching your blog. I'm looking for a good phono preamp for my archiving service, and I had been considering the Yaqin MS-22B, though I know the soldering isn't very good on those, and I'll want to get US-made tubes for it. After reading some of your other entries for phono preamps, I found a guy on eBay who has a cleaned and serviced Dynaco PAS 3 for $345 delivered; he says he cleaned everything, but he didn't say if he replaced any caps, so I'll need to ask about that.

[Old Man With Candy]

Dynaco sucks- high output impedance, terrible overload recovery, poor RIAA conformance, poor noise, high input capacitance. The Yaqin is just... horrible.

Really, unless you're ready to drop some major bucks or can design/build yourself, stick with solid state. (I design and build my own tube gear, so it's not an issue for me)

[Lord Humungus]

what OMWC sez:

but I will say that the Dynaco PAS is a good learning platform. I've owned about three of them in the past. New power supply helps, along with some mods to help the RIAA. Of course I've always wanted to stick a mosfet follower on the output...

The Yaqin is also problematic - hum issues which may or may not be a problem depending on the amplifier/speaker combo (read high gain or efficient)

[Old Man With Candy]

You need some sort of follower on the output to drive the RIAA network at HF. That's one reason that the Dynaco's HF distortion is so pitiful.

[Jon Lester]

I don't really need anything crazy nice for those customers who are just average people wanting their records on CD's, but I don't want to be too cheap, either, and the archiving station really needs to be separate from my own listening setup. I have some time to think about it. Thanks for that.

[Snark Plissken]

Interesting. But why mess with an old solid state?

[Lord Humungus]

just historical fun... they're dirt cheap compared to tube gear. I also get a perverse pleasure out of hotrodding them with new parts (and possible mods) to see how good they can sound.

[Snark Plissken]

Cool. I don't think I'd have the patience.

[Lord Humungus]

it's in the "shit I do because I get bored easily" category. I'll sell it a few weeks and buy something else to fix up.

[Snark Plissken]

I thought it was because you didn't have cable.

[Lord Humungus]

and that... if I let myself, I would just sit around and watch documentaries all day.

[Old Man With Candy]

http://www.diyaudio.com is the motherlode.

[Jon Lester]

Just registered. Thanks for the reference.

[Jon Lester]

Kind of how I am with older computers. I like to max them out and see what they can do, even if it falls well short of what most people take for granted.

[neoteny]

DoJ trolls, sockpuppets blow NOPD convictions

[John]

Disgraceful.

[sarcasmic]

From the comments:

i've been under surveillance for 15 years because i caught our county DA [ a neighbor] in NC in a crime. The whole sheriff's dept came after me for attacking him. They've got me fired from jobs, interfered with my refi of my property ,killed my pets,vandalized my property and tried to confiscate my home. I've had cops cover every square inch of my property and they can't even get a warrant. At least I haven't seen one for the B & E of my cars and buildings, searches i interrupted in the dark, the many k-9s circling my property. They are extremely proficient at hitting my home in the dark and escaping down the sewer lines on quads. It's like they done it many times before they met me. A gang of badges with the power of gov't practicing guerrilla tactics in the suburbs. It's cowardly and insane.

Wow.

[sarcasmic]

Shocked students discover the 'ghost' haunting their house is actually a stranger living in a secret room in their basement

Ohio students spooked by strange noises and mysterious happenings
Discovered secret room which they'd thought was a maintenance cupboard
Inside was a double bed, framed photographs and student textbooks
Mystery man later contacted them to say he was collecting his belongings

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

[Outlaw]

This was posted yesterday in the PM links.

I'm having a hard time believing that they didn't know he was down there.

[sarcasmic]

I never look at the PM links.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

sarcasmic, you let me down, just like the Cleveland Browns.

[Rasilio]

Lazlo!!!!!!!

[Clich? Bandit]

My first thought!

[bostonaod]

The most Friedman paragraph ever?

I was at a conference in Bern, Switzerland, last week and struggling with my column. News of Russia's proposal for Syria to surrender its poison gas was just breaking and changing every hour, forcing me to rewrite my column every hour. To clear my head, I went for a walk along the Aare River, on Schifflaube Street. Along the way, I found a small grocery shop and stopped to buy some nectarines. As I went to pay, I was looking down, fishing for my Swiss francs, and when I looked up at the cashier, I was taken aback: He had pink hair. A huge shock of neon pink hair ? very Euro-punk from the '90s. While he was ringing me up, a young woman walked by, and he blew her a kiss through the window ? not a care in the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09.....ef=opinion

[John]

You can't parody Friedman. God what a half wit.

[Cdr Lytton]

No Magical Cabdriver this week?

[Marc F Cheney]

Is he now using the random Thomas Friedman paragraph generator himself?

[Gilbert Martin]

"Floundering just a tad in his second term, President Obama...."

Floundering "just a tad", eh?

Yeah.

In the same way that the Titanic was dinged "just a tad" by the iceberg it ran into.

[PD Scott]

"'Tis only a flesh wound."

[Root Boy]

Reposted from the fake AM link on Pot.

Caution, Obama fluffing in progress:

http://www.politico.com/story/.....ml?hp=t2_s

For balance they have a What's Wrong article, but its more of a "He's just too darn reasonable" fluff.

[db]

Floundering just a tad in his second term, President Obama asks for help from former staffers who already fled his administration.

Almost noon and this hasn't generated a single Top Men response.

[Kaptious Kristen]

How long does it take to blow up a 3'x4' inflatable A380? More than 15 minutes, so far.

[db]

You should use compressed hydrogen instead.

[Old Man With Candy]

Oh, the humanity!

[Brett L]

I can just see one of the retarded flavors of Lab (they seem to come in either "smarter than your teenage kids" or "dumber than your lead-paint eating cousin") with that "happy to get attention" grin while she cussed him a blue streak.