A.M. Links: Republicans Realize Shutdown Distracting From Obamacare Failure, Federal Judges Whine About Sequester, Shutdown, US May Withdraw All Troops From Afghanistan in 2014 After All

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US Air Force Congressional Republicans are increasingly coming to realize that the partial government shutdown is providing a distraction from Obamacare's launch failures.
- Federal judges, who have apparently been complaining that the sequester, a cut in the rate of spending growth, has made operating the judiciary difficult, are now complaining about the partial government shutdown. "It is time to tell Congress to go to hell," one federal judge blogged. He can probably go to hell too.
- Wall Street, meanwhile, may be worried about there not being a deal on the debt ceiling; futures were down overnight Friday. The Senate rejected a Democrat proposal to raise the debt limit on Saturday.
- The US may withdraw all troops from Afghanistan next year after all; President Obama previously set an October 31 deadline for the US to come to an agreement with Afghanistan over the status of forces, something that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
- A third NYPD officer, a member of the Internal Affairs unit, admitted to being part of the motorcycle gang that was involved in a road range incident with an SUV driver in Manhattan.
- The Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to three Americans for their work on asset price analysis.
- An appeals court in Malaysia overturned a lower court's ruling that had permitted non –Muslims to use the word "allah," claiming that doing so would create public disorder.
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Congressional Republicans are increasingly coming to realize that the partial government shutdown is providing a distraction from Obamacare's launch failures.
Website meltdowns weren't going to be Obamacare's undoing.
Why is seemingly everybody at H&R repeating this talking point?
(Well, I presume it has to do with the cocktail parties or something.)
Wishcasting.
Why is seemingly everybody at H&R repeating this talking point?
RINO-list.
John McCain made a point-for-point same statement as several of the recent Suderman columns. I guarantee you the Maverick isn't a fan. They are literally reading off the same page.
Because that's what you do with talking points.
No, but it can exacerbate the already stupid law. If a bad user experience deters the young and healthy from signing up, then the death spiral kicks in even earlier.
Which isn't really dependent on whether the Republicans draw attention away from the bad websites or not, is it?
As one of those "young and healthy" types, I'm wondering if the nonfuctional website is going to disproportionately piss off people in my age group. I mean, I figure creakier people from pre-Internet days are more used to moving at the speed of government, and might see little wrong in a website that operates like that. On the other hand, if you're young and are used to well-designed technology, the Obamacare exchange comes off as unforgiveably awful.
Which hopefully erodes some of that age group's appetite for big, problem solving government.
Anything that erodes the public's faith in government is a win in my book.
Dude, like he just didn't hire the right developers because of the Republican obstructionists who wanted it to fail.
If young uns like you take away the lesson that this is how your government healthcare will be run and provided as well, then you all will have gotten it right. I seriously believe this monster will put a death hold on progressive stupidity amongst the young, but thenagain, maybe that's why the progressives are so reluctant to stop this freak show in its track and try to fic it: if they do and people have cought on how bad this will be, this thing will be DOA.
OMG! The columnists at Slate, WaPo, and HuffPo who happen to vote reliably Democrat are totally telling us how we should be beating up Obamacare because the Shutdown is a loser. Yeah. Color me skeptical.
Yeah, this smells like "please don't throw me into that briar patch"
Joel Chandler Harris?
RACIST!11!!
Concern trolling.
Sadbeard speaks again!
http://www.slate.com/blogs/mon....._coin.html
Reach into your pocket. Find a penny. Find a dime. Observe that the dime is worth ten times as much as the penny, and yet is physically smaller than the penny.
That, my friends, is the magic of fiat money.
The fact that he got compensated for writing that turd sandwich gives me little hope for the future.
My God, this has to be performance art, to see how much idiocy he can get his editors and readers to swallow, he can't be serious.
No discussion of the difference in the metals? Remember when a dime used to be silver and a penny zinc and copper? Is 1965 really that long ago?
I suspect that sadbeard was not alive when the government replaced money (silver coins) with bus tokens (copper-core, nickel-clad coins).
And replaced silver certificates with federal reserve notes
Saw an episode of Pawn Stars where a customer turned over a hundred pounds of silver including a huge bag of pre 64 coins and made 100K. The old man mentioned being a goldbug since Nixon closed the gold window. Rick conducted his own chemical test to prove authenticity on an irregular sized bar. God I love that show, one of the few I still watch regularly.
More fairly, there's no news on the Shutdown, nothing's happening that sells ads. So of course people who sell ads with news are going to say that the politicians should be making news for them.
Website meltdowns weren't going to be Obamacare's undoing.
Nor is the government shutdown. I don't think it will be Republicans' undoing either, but I'm starting to think that strategically it wasn't a good move for them. I think it was a good thing to attempt, and I find it all kind of amusing. But I very much doubt that it will accomplish anything in terms of getting rid of the ACA.
If shutdown and debt ceiling weren't dominating the news, Obamacare would be. Now, maybe they news media would have spun it all to gloss over the failures. But I think it would be difficult to present it as much of a success. At the very least, it was unfortunate timing for a budget and debt battle.
Seriously, no it wouldn't. Computer glitches are not an above-the-fold story in any news cycle, I don't care what's going on.
There is the nuclear talks in Iran. There is still wild violence in Syria (remember Syria?). There are plenty of other A1 above-the-fold stories going on.
I suppose there are a few other things going on. I still say it would be getting more coverage.
Whatever. It's really pretty pointless speculating about what might have happened. It happened the way it did.
I don't think it will be Republicans' undoing either, but I'm starting to think that strategically it wasn't a good move for them.
They chose the wrong hill to fight on, and it reveals how off-message the party actually is--they went from impotently trying to repeal the damn thing to making a "clean CR" contingent on a one-year delay of the individual mandate. The former was a waste of time, the latter poor tactics, and it goes back to their failure to relentlessly push more free-market solutions to the fucked-up healthcare status quo--because ultimately, people aren't going to give a shit if we had the ability to cure cancer if they're having trouble affording basic insurance plans. It comes down to both quality of care AND cost, and Team Red never understood that.
If they wanted to make political hay out of this, they should have demanded that Obama follow his own law and repeal the one-year delay and ALL waivers, or funding gets cut off. That would have been more than enough to gum up the bureaucracy and make the administration look completely incompetent. (cont)
Given all the exceptions Obama made to the law, they could have proposed further alterations by including HazelMeade's suggestion of allowing catastrophic coverage (or even HSAs), or altering the law in such a way that businesses wouldn't have felt compelled to drop their healthcare plans or reduce employees to part-time status.
You assume that either side is looking to provide a solution to making healthcare more affordable. I don't agree. The Democrats wanted to be seen as the party of Free Shit and the Republicans want to be seen as the party against Free Shit (except for farmers and veterans, etc.). Neither side give a shit about your healthcare and what makes it more affordable.
ObamaCare's undoing will be due to adverse selection.
Young healthy people will not sign up for the opportunity to subsidize geezers and the chronically ill. Geezers and the chronically ill will sign up for subsidies and the positive expected value of insurance.
No Evidence Dems Can Take Back House
This is the best libertarians can hope for- gridlock. Yeah, baby!
it will not be Tea Partiers who are hurt.
Bolded because this has been my fucking point to everyone who has said this is bad strategy.
Bad, for who?
Establishment republicans? Maybe, but fuck them. If they get primaried by more tea partiers, that gets us closer to a real repeal.
and closer to Speaker Amash.
A third NYPD officer, a member of the Internal Affairs unit, admitted to being part of the motorcycle gang that was involved in a road range incident with an SUV driver in Manhattan.
In their defense, the guy clearly failed to stop resisting.
Maybe he was undercover internal affairs.
No longer content with nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-un wants North Korea to be world power in mushrooms
This element of randomness is why I love being on the outside looking into dictatorships.
Technically, Kim Jong-Un is arbitrary or capricious, not random. 😉
Pendatry accepted.
Jong-un really, really likes mushrooms.
I wonder if he was inspired by mushroom clouds?
In a land full of Darkness and Bullshit, mushrooms will thrive
Xkcd gets in on the act.
JPAC admits to phony ceremonies honoring 'returning' remains
BOOOOOSH!
Every swingin' dick remotely associated with this needs to be shitcanned. Now.
Haha, yeah right. Lois Lerner needs to be prosecuted but I'm not holding my breath for that either.
They're returning Heroes from the Malabar Front.
+1 moderately obscure literary reference
Obama should make a Thanksgiving visit to the troops and serve them all plastic turkey.
Or tofurkey.
Or tofurkey.
Monster!!
Yeah, that could spark a mutiny.
Why does Lord Humongous Hate America? Soldiers and Coffins and Parades and Sad Old Men Waving Little Flags needs? = Country Music and Eagles Flying and Little Girls Hugging Mommy and a Chevy Silverado being MAD STRONG. WHO TOLD YOU TO REWRITE THE SCRIPT?? WHAT NEXT, NO SANTA, MR ATHIEST COMMUNIST DICKFUCK?
That is poetry, GILMORE.
Needs more Bald Eagle tears.
The ultimate Florida Halloween yard decoration.
That's awesome. I would buy one except we do friendly Halloween decorations for the kiddies.
Lame. Halloween is for terrifying kiddies.
This is why I have given up on Halloween entirely. Nobody wants to do it right.
""Zeb|10.14.13 @ 9:42AM|#
Lame. Halloween is for terrifying kiddies.""
I thought Halloween was for Kiddies to beat up and abuse Younger Kiddies then steal their shit. While in costume. That's how WE did it.
Well, yeah, sure. But once you are too old for that, you frighten kids.
We used to regularly have kids running away screaming. Even after we developed a reputation for being the scary house.
""we do friendly Halloween decorations for the kiddies.""
Let me guess. A robotic smiling grandma handing out apples? (stuffed with drano and razor blades??)
I mean, seriously. What, you have teletubbies and kittens and unicorns in your yard? Fuck dude = 1) I'd be the first kid in the neighborhood organizing the mass egging/TP'ing/flaming-bag-of-dog-poo'ing your yard and 2) I would expect you to provoke a full-on Amber Alert with your "look, we're Pedophiles!" decorations. I'm calling the Sheriff now in fact.
""we do friendly Halloween decorations for the kiddies.""
How else can you lure waifs to be pressed into service in the monocle mines?
I've got one of those to stick in my yard this year. As well as a companion piece.
Awesome
I was expecting Zombie Trayvon.
I figured the ultimate Florida Halloween decoration would be Zimmerman fucking Trayvon Martin in his sucking chest wound while a jury of 6 David Carusoes scream YEEEEAH!
I have to admit it, I laughed at that one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeeyWvo1rNg
An appeals court in Malaysia overturned a lower court's ruling that had permitted non ?Muslims to use the word "allah," claiming that doing so would create public disorder.
Codifying the heckler's veto? Obama is so jealous right now. BENGHAZI WOULD NEVER HAD HAPPENED!
It makes me want to go to Malaysia and shout out "Allah Allah Allah!"
Blasphemy is a human right.
ALI
Why are you here? Boy!
DOUD
To serve lord Aurens, Sherif.
GASIM
This is true, Aurens. They do wish it.
ALI
You have been tracking us. You were told
to stay.
DOUD
No, Sherif. Our camel strayed; we
followed her.
FERRAJ
She led us here to be lord Aurens'
servants. It is the Will of Allah.
ALI
Blasphemy! [switches Ferraj]
LAWRENCE
Don't do that!
GASIM
No, no! Aurens. These are not servants.
These are outcasts. Parentless!
ALI
Be warned! They are not suitable.
LAWRENCE
They sound very suitable. You can ride
with the baggage.
ALI
These are not servants. These are
worshippers!
"Look, I'd had a lovely supper, and all I said to my wife was: "That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah Allah."
"Blasphemy! He said it again!"
The thing is that "Allah" is like "God" in English, not "Jehovah". It's not the proper name of the deity. I suppose it's not so relevant in Malaysia, but I believe it is also the word that Arab Christians use for "God".
Apparently Christians in Malaysia and Indonesia also use "Allah" to refer to God as well. I'm thinking that might have something to do with the motivation.
London firefighters beg men: Stop putting privates in machinery
The London Fire Brigade has launched a public campaign dubbed "Fifty Shades of Red," theorizing that an increase in such randy rescue calls in that city is perhaps propelled by the popularity of the erotic romance novel "Fifty Shades of Grey."
The campaign simply urges people in London ? especially guys ? to exercise more common sense before inserting their manhood into gadgets made for cooking or cleaning. The brigade reports that it responded to 416 stuck-body-part calls in 2010-11, another 441 in 2011-12 and 453 in 2012-13. Among those emergency requests for assistance, 79 people were wearing handcuffs they could not remove.
To help fuel the agency's gentle request to just stop doing these things, the brigade has added a dose of public shaming, often taking to Twitter to share some of these ambulance requests from people who have become oddly entangled....
Maybe if British women weren't so ugly, sticking your dick in a toaster wouldn't seem like a good idea.
The most beautiful woman in the world is the first woman you see after leaving England.
Generally true; one of the exceptions that proves the rule is a redhead with the classic peaches-and-cream complexion on met there on one trip.
I've got a toaster oven. I wouldn't even think to stick my dick in it. Besides, it's too small for my massive member.
So now we know where the toppings for toaster Streudal comes from.
Ew
"Toaster Straddle"
Everyone The U.S. Government Owes Money To, In One Graph
graphic in link.
Not going to bother looking at the link after that.
If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling soon, the U.S. government won't be able to pay its debts.
Which is a total lie, of course.
No, fuck you cut spending.
Better refer their case to Internal Internal Affairs.
Internal Internal Affairs Affairs?
They're cutting your Social Security benefits by only raising them by the consumer price index!
The chocolate ration has been decreased to 550 lbs!
Is there anyone left, other than gov't flacks, who believes that the consumer price index isn't relentlessly gamed to show favorable numbers?
Inflation is already relentless and ruinous, but the 'market basket' used for the price index keeps changing to hold items with lower price changes.
Well, if gas prices stay down by 10% for the year, it would be a definite plus for my wallet. If only food were getting cheaper, too.
Buying food for a family of 4 is insanely expensive. Even sticking to the store brands on virtually everything is ridiculous.
You're not substituting enough.
/ Bernanke
wasn't there a time when benefits were increased by the consumer wage index, rather than price index, because it created bigger increases? Now that wages are stagnant, they move to prices?
I just answered my own question: "Currently, adjustments to social security benefits are based on the CPI-W, a measure that captures price changes in the average set of goods purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers. "
Which of course may not have anything to do with what a retiree buys.
Of course, there is no way they are going to use the change in M2 or some other real measure of inflation.
Is that a tacit agreement that the CPI is bunk?
Bill Maher: Fear of assassination drives Obama's policies
HBO's Bill Maher suggested during his show Friday that President Obama is leading as a "centrist" out of fear of being assassinated like John F. Kennedy.
The "Real Time" host said that leaders such as JFK always "get cut out of the picture, violently or otherwise, and maybe that is why Barack Obama is a little more of the centrist than we want him to be."
MSNBC host Chris Matthews, appearing as a guest on the show, said he was surprised by the "extraordinary statement."
"I'm amazed. I'm impressed you think that," Mr. Matthews said.
Mr. Maher explained that assassination is probably something that President Obama thinks about at night.
"He has to change his policies for that reason?" Mr. Matthews asked.
"I don't think that is an insult to say to somebody that he may modulate his policies because he is afraid of all the hate that he sees," Mr. Maher replied....
The world according to Alec Baldwin exposed on MSNBC: Police are 'lazy,' God picks my women
Is this why Obama hides out on golf courses
He's just helping OJ look for the real killer.
Who, if he had been a golfer, would be behind bars by now.
Ya know, DJF, I bet these golfing outings are pure hell for his security team.
"Let's walk around in the open, but only if there is lots of cover within rifle range!"
"HBO's Bill Maher suggested during his show Friday that President Obama is leading as a "centrist" out of fear of being assassinated like John F. Kennedy."
JFK was practically a Republican compared to modern Democrats. Wanted to cut taxes and take on the commies.
Yeah, the real JFK but he is talking about the mythical JFK who was really just about to change all his policies to ones that Maher approves of.
Bill Maher goes DERP, Chris Matthews gets a tingle. Film at 11.
Why would Matthews be surprised? After all, the media have pretty much taken it as an article of faith that the only reason anybody would oppose Obama is extreme racism.
But now it's extreme violent racism.
Bill Maher: Proof pot can lead to deleterious mental effects.
I think it's some venereal disease that's he's picked up from his hookers or some congenital brain dysfunction.
Pot isn't THAT bad.
This is great:
"I have no evidence for this whatsoever, but I'm sure it must be the case"
Do these people have any idea how ridiculous they are?
Nope. They live in an echo chamber, and anything that isn't a leftist talking point is filtered out as racist noise. I guarantee you that everyone this lady associates with has this exact same opinion.
"I'm amazed. I'm impressed you think that," Mr. Matthews said.
I suddenly got an image of William H. Macy's character in "Thank You For Not Smoking," doing his concern-troll nodding on the smoking pack labels he was pushing.
Shit, that is, "Thank You For Smoking"
The launch was a week ago but still a cool video
Space X grasshopper vertical takeoff and landing test. 744 meter altitude. 1 minute 37 sec long. If they can get this to work with the first stage of their rocket they can save a lot of money and lower the cost to orbit
http://youtu.be/9ZDkItO-0a4
Yeah, Its interesting but it does take about 30% off the lift-to-orbit weight of the F9. Of course, if it took 50% off the price...
This almost makes up for all of Musk's smug douchiness with Tesla.
"It is time to tell Congress to go to hell," one federal judge blogged. He can probably go to hell too.
And now a third branch joins in getting pissy.
Oh noes, our cushy benefits are being held up! Don't they know who I am?!
We do, judge. Go fuck yourself.
I suspect he will be facing a whole bunch of SOJs when it comes to litigation involving the Constitutionality of Congressional actions.
Browns vs. Lions: Brandon Weeden Lets Cleveland Down By Throwing Horrendous Interception
Heh heh. This game was delicious.
Although, as a Lions "fan", I know better than to get excited.
It's been since 1957 that we've had a championship. Of course, that was over the BROWNS, so....sucks even worse for Cleveland.
This is the Lions year! I predict a super bowl run!
ha! Just kidding.
Man grabs bear's tongue during attack near Grand Falls
back when giants roamed the world...
"Cyr said that a warden told him he has permission to track down the bear and kill it as a nuisance animal ? however an official with Natural Resources said Cyr may require a permit."
How would he know if it was the same bear?
Bruised tongue.
You probably think that all Asians look the same too.
I guess that guy's giant balls got in the way of his escape?
That guy is a fucking American Hero. God bless him and his giant balls.
He's a Canuckistanian.
and?
STILL AN AMERICAN HERO. RACIST MUCH, WTF?
/derp
Black bear. Interesting. You don't usually hear about them attacking people very often.
And "Gilles Cyr" is an awesome name.
That poor bear.
It's never gonna live down the Human got your tongue jokes
+1
Edward Snowden's secrets may be dangerous. I would not have published them
If MI5 warns that this is not in the public interest who am I to disbelieve them?
...In which case, guys, uncurl your lips and explain what it is, exactly, that the NSA and GCHQ, are doing that is so profoundly terrible? What justifies all the posturing we've been subjected to these past months? I watched The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, who obtained the Snowden scoop, on Newsnight the other evening and was nonplussed. I wanted him to say what the real scandal was that he had uncovered. But he did not....
...Which leads on to the second issue. If the security services insist something is contrary to the public interest, and might harm their operations, who am I (despite my grounding from Watergate onwards) to disbelieve them? ...
Somebody likes his chains.
Translation, the NSA already has video of the author's 13 year old Thailand ladyboy
"I'm torn between my self-image as a truth-seeking rebel and my actual life as someone who toadys to anyone in a snappy uniform."
"Would you have a problem with an American person saying 'Thank God? Thank God?' ... That's what they're saying. Come on! Of course they're Muslims, but they're moderates and I guarantee you they are moderates."
Meanwhile in Australia...
Kangaroo keeps cops on the hop in Gin Gin house invasion
Also, fried dingo.
In Soviet Russie, dingo fry YOU!
The kangaroo will be tried in a special court, get it?
"Gin Gin"? "Moolboolaman"? "Graham Bub"?
Surely those are all made-up names. What kind of a freak would you have to be to have names like that? 😉
Illiterate Cockneys drinking high methanol white lightning?
Maybe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin_Gin,_Queensland
Located on the Bruce Highway? Which Bruce?
New Bruce.
Australian politician Henry Bruce (reason won't let me paste the Wikipedia link.
Not a pooftah was he?
No mistreating the abbos!
Not even if it's funny?
EPA facing fire for armed raid on mine in Chicken, Alaska: Population, 7
..."[A]n EPA SWAT team of heavily armed and armored agents conducted 'paperwork' inspections on small mining operations in what attempts to be nothing more than an effort to intimidate and scare hardworking Americans," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Republican, who heads the House Resources Committee's subcommittee on energy and mineral resources....
EPA SWAT team - Remember there is nothing in the budget that can be cut.
If you can't rally your troops to the king's banner you aren't a real fiefdom, don't cha' know.
WTF
If the EPA agents actually ever did face fire, maybe it would make sense to arm them.
A third NYPD officer, a member of the Internal Affairs unit, admitted to being part of the motorcycle gang that was involved in a road range incident with an SUV driver in Manhattan.
This biker gang seems to be the modern equivalent of a student revolutionary cell in the late 60's:
There was nobody in it but undercover cops keeping each other under surveillance.
The onion should do an article about the one remaining motorcycle member who isnt a cop or govt informant.
Flow My Tears, Said The Scanner Darkly
excellent! It was like PKD channeled Kafka.
worth it for the gasoline pump handle pic...
The changing face of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival
PHUKET: Phuket's Vegetarian Festival is now in full swing, with lively street processions held this week around the island.
does this mean he has another mouth to feed?
No, it's already filled up.
An inspiring story on public radio yesterday about a poor vietnamese refugee who worked her way up to being a tech entrepreneur. Of course the narrator couldnt bring himself to say the family fled the communists in the 1970s, but said they fled "the aftermath of the vietnam war."
A park ranger writes, Please, don't blame me
Is he talking about President Stompyfeet closing thing National Parks because he's not getting what he wants?
Managing the people requires people: people to remove trash, prevent or repair vandalism, maintain trails, explain why the rules are the rules (there's always a reason, and it's usually a very good one)
THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR THIS!
Since the National Parks actually generate revenue (though not enough to covee all their costs, why not just keep them open.
It probably costs the same as the normal deficit to close them given that, as many have pointed out, some personnel have to be kept on to police and maintain them.
I told you, I have people skills, goddammit! What the hell is wrong with you people?!?!?!
Sheesh, talk about whining.
10 American companies cutting the most jobs
10. United Technologies
9. Blockbuster
8. MetLife Inc.
7. Cisco Systems
6. Wells Fargo & Co.
5. American Express Co.
4. Boeing Co.
3. International Business Machines Corp.
2. J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
1. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Blockbuster is still around?
I know there's one in South Park, CO.
http://www.blockbuster.com/
They're following the Red Box kiosk model
not one pharma company! there is hope!
"Walmart shelves in Springhill, Mansfield, cleared in EBT glitch"
http://www.ksla.com/story/2367.....ebt-glitch
Oh yeah. These people would totally work if they had to. This story made me despair of my nation and its people more than anything I can think of in recent memory.
nothing gets my bride's blood pressure spiking like EBT. Her remedy is to confine use to items that require actual preparation.
Mine is to confine all food-aid to the WIC list. (I understand that isn't the most efficient solution.) If its good enough for pregnant/nursing mothers and their infant children, its good enough for everyone.
A true libertarian would confine all food-aid to Purina and Friskys.
A WIC based solution is my compromise on this issue as well. I know it's not the most efficient for consumer or retailer, but that's kind of the point.
I've taken a completely opposite stance. If welfare is ostensibly for helping grown-ups get through though times, then welfare should treat people like grown-ups. Telling poor people that you'll help, but they can only eat what you tell them and spend their money in ways you find appropriate just further reinforces the paternalistic welfare state.
I think welfare, food stamps, etc should all just be combined into a cash redistribution program. Will a small number of participants abuse the system? Of course. But I'd bet that a greater number of people would be able to wean themselves off the system than are able to now just by reducing the parent child relationship involved.
Thom,
These people went out and got 5 carts of food each. More than they could transport, store, or eat. They are not adults. They have no intention of transitioning off this way of life. I say keep them alive but let them be so tired of eating beans, rice, and cornbread that they'd rather work any job than eat that one more day.
And I say give them some money and then let them keep themselves alive. I'm not interested in the details of these people's lives, and I think a simple cash redistribution is a good compromise.
how about we give them cash, but they have to do volunteer hours each week for it? They can clean parks and monuments, mow yards, wash windows, etc. It's a win-win, we cut government costs in hiring janitors, park rangers, and other personnel, and we incentivize getting a damn jerb.
how about we give them cash, but they have to do volunteer hours each week for it?
how about we just give them cash and resist setting up some big new government program that forces poor people to go out in public and do government make-work instead of looking for work, or taking care of their kids, or doing whatever the hell else they need to be doing to get their life back on track?
there are actually additional reasons to just give people cash instead of offering them services or giving them vouchers redeemable for goods or services. the biggest benefit is that they would be price conscious.
as a practical matter, government assistance to the poor is a reality that is going to be a reality for the near future. i think that making it as unobtrusive and as simple to administer as possible are important goals.
the biggest benefit is that they would be price conscious.
That's a pretty big assumption.
That's a pretty big assumption.
Why?
Here's $1,000 to buy food and pay your rent. If you can do it for less, go ahead and keep the difference and spend it on whatever you want.
All of sudden, prices matter.
I'm with thom. Give 'em cash (if you give them anything). If they blow it on beer and cigarettes and have to eat out of dumpsters, well, that's their choice.
We can offer an alternative for people who can't manage to feed themselves on a fistful of cash: work crews paid with room and board.
"I'm with thom. Give 'em cash (if you give them anything). If they blow it on beer and cigarettes and have to eat out of dumpsters, well, that's their choice."
When they blow the cash we all will be told they need more...
But really, these people were buying more food than they could possibly eat before it went bad because it was free and they were getting over on someone. I have nothing in common with those people.
Free shit!
I hope Walmart was able to resuscitate all the abandoned lobsters.
*80's Movie Slow Clap*
Sir Lobster, Duke of Atlantis, thanks you for your concern.
http://www.picgifs.com/fish-gr.....678404.gif
Meet the Beer Fridge That Opens Only for Canadians
Molson? ugh...
I'm a Labatt guy, myself.
so you are fine cheating yourself of one-half ounce on each bottle, eh?
I don't drink beer very often, but when I do, it's proletarian, shite lagers.
Personal faves - Tennents when in Glasgow (or here, on those rare occasions I can find it), McEwens when in Edinburgh. Labatt when in Michigan, other midwest states, or the Northern US Territories.
Al, could you PLEEEEEEZE brong in some McEwens's Scotch Ale? They were supposed to start up distribution again in the U.S. earlier this year, but so far, nada.
*bring
I like Molson Canadian. What do they call that in Canada?
urine?
Moose cock?
Molson Canadian.
I wasn't sure if that was a US specific branding or not.
Congressional Republicans are increasingly coming to realize that the partial government shutdown is providing a distraction from Obamacare's launch failures.
Congressional Democrats are increasingly coming to realize that Obamacare's launch failures are providing a distraction from the partial government shutdown.
There is a Women's Hall of Fame, and Nancy Pelosi has been inducted.
Let me guess, they left out margaret thatcher?
Wow, they had room for winona laduke but not ayn rand, isabel patterson or rose wilder lane.
Winona LaDuke, but not Winona Ryder? FOR SHAME.
Winona Ryder's statue was in there but she stole it the first time she visited.
Ayn Rand? This isn't the terrorist hall of fame. Ho ho ho!
Well, most people think Rand is evil and have never heard of the other two.
The whole idea of a women's hall of fame seems rather patronizing (or maybe matronizing) and insulting to women.
SERIOUSLY?
Obamacare enrollees become urban legend
Gotta wait in line behind all of the Democrats' imaginary voters.
'In two months of EU membership, exports fell by 11%'
Man, its almost like the French and the Germans are the only ones benefiting... Who saw that coming?
Probably the French and the Germans.
You know what else benefited only the French and Germans?
NATO?
your grandma, back when she worked the streets of Paris?
The protrait of the Fallen Madonna with the big boobies by van Klompf?
I'm not sure that being forced to bail out Greece et al is a benefit of some kind.
Patrick Kennedy Slams 'Bible Belt' Lawmakers, Stumps For Obamacare in College Speech
Is patrick the dui guy, or is that another kennedy? Icant keep track.
I thought that was all of them.
I think he's the one who sleep-drove because of some prescription medication he was on. Or at least I think that's what he claimed. I'm too fucking lazy too look it up on Google right now.
How was he supposed to know what "do not combine with alcohol" meant? That usually means "works better with alcohol" doesn't it?
He took the "sleepy-eye" alcohol warning to be a "winking-eye" alcohol suggestion?
"I attended Kennedy's speech. He is full of shite. The End."
+F. You did not comply with the assignment.
/leftist professor
"I was told I was going to hear a discussion of the country's problems from a respected statesman, but I must have gone to the wrong room because all I saw was some political hack giving us his party's talking points. In future I will read my campus map more carefully and go the right event."
"What a beautiful campus you guys have," he said. "Protecting endangered species? That conflicted with my general view of Texas."
"What an oppressive state you guys live in. Secular puritanism? That's exactly what I expected of Massachusetts."
I have insurance, but I decided to test out Vermont's Obamacare exchange, just to see exactly how bad the technology and the plans on offer are.
It did in fact crash for me twice, while connecting to SSA for identity verification. (But hey, at least Vermont got that built and running - the federal exchange hasn't even accomplished that much.)
But here's the hilarious part. It told me that I was approved to buy plans through the exchange...but that I'd have to "Accept" one of the offered plans before it would tell me the premium or deductible!
That's one way to solve your enrollment problem!
You have to buy it to find out what's in it.
here's the hilarious part.
I hope someone is constructing a website/blog documenting misadventures of people trying to use the exchanges. I have read a few *truly outrageous* anecdotes, without even trying to search them out. It is obvious that "overloading" is only one of *many* problems with the system(s).
Long story made short: Tried about 40 times before getting UserID and password. Tried another 40 times before I was able to complete forms. After about 40 screens of forms of info on me, wife, and kids, finally, it was time for electronic signature. Then the site advised that it was unable to verify my identity, and that I had to print out a notification and send it with copies of drivers license, passport, etc. to an address in Kentucky before I can find out what a policy costs.
RE: Afghan withdrawal - So is it the evil teabaggers in the Karzai administration refusing to work things out with Obama or is he just inept at negotiations?
He's brilliantly failing at the negotiations so that he can get out of the country, which is obviously his real goal all along.
It worked so well in Iraq, why not try it again here?
Exactly.
Obama doesn't negotiate, he dictates.
Crew members: 'Captain Phillips' is one big lie
I may be wrong about this, but a boss seen as a demanding asshole by his employees is not always a bad thing.
Not to disagree with your statement in principle, but another article I read on this guy / incident stated that one of the reasons the ship was captured was that he sailed the ship too close to the coast.
Sometimes a dick is just a dick.
Sure, but that wasn't the problem. He ignored the pirate threat despite many warnings and a chart one of the crew put together showing the high number of attacks in the area, ignored the 7 warning emails that suggested staying at least 600 miles from shore due to pirate activity, took the ship 235 miles off the Somali coast with the stern light on AFTER they had already been chased by pirates earlier in the day, had no plan for when they were finally attacked, and ignored SOP, which is for the crew to cut lights and power and to lock themselves below deck before being boarded, and instead let himself be captured.
demanding asshole? not always a bad thing.
stupid asshole? almost always a bad thing.
Hamilton, I trust you stayed to the end yesterday?
That was out of control. I almost shut it off in disgust but remembered...it's baseball.
I actually was referring to the Patriots game, as I know he's a season ticket holder...
I hate Tom Brady. Fucking hate him, and I have made it no secret on here. But as soon as I knew his TD pass had resulted in Rob Ryan having an absolute meltdown on the Saints sideline, I put my hate aside for a moment.
Good job, Brady.
Context.
Awesome.
Agreed. Anything that makes a Ryan brother look like an asshole is a plus.
Ah...well, that's good too!
Federal judges, who have apparently been complaining that the sequester, a cut in the rate of spending growth, has made operating the judiciary difficult, are now complaining about the partial government shutdown
In their defense, being a rubber stamp is hard work.
"If we are prohibited from using the word Allah then we have to re-translate the whole Bible, if it comes to that," Ester Moiji from Sabah state told the BBC.
"Allah is not a Malay word. If they [non-Muslims] say they want to use a Malay word they should use Tuhan instead of Allah," Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, a lawyer representing the government, told the BBC.
1) Just refer to Allah as "[insert arbitrary Name here]" and be done with it.
2) Get everyone concerned together, and earnestly ask iaNh for a sign.
"Get everyone concerned together"
This sounds a lot like moral equivalence. One side is "guilty" of using words others don't like, and the other side is using govt force to censor them. Sounds like the wrong is all on one side here.
That's why you get iaNh to decide.
Perhaps with an asteroid strike.
Dear Allah, if you think bans on blasphemy should all be repealed and the people responsible should be horsewhipped, please send me absolutely no sign.
Ok I need some direction here. I debating whether scientific research is better funded through government or through private industry, and my friends are choosing a reason for government that I don't agree with.
"This is the entire purpose of a government: to provide services that are not profitable for the private sector."
Is there such thing as work that needs to be done for the good of the population but may not be profitable.
This is a pretty self serving definition, in that it can be used to justify anything and everything as long as the service is "good" for society.
Any ideas to counter that?
I haven't broken out a counter definition of government yet: to protect the individual's rights. I want to discredit their argument first...
You can't protect rights when you're funded by violating rights.
I'd avoid encounters with "friends" like that. They might get their stupid on you.
But, if you must...
The entire purpose of the US government (assuming that's the argument), is the provide THE ENUMERATED TASK LISTED IN THE CONSTITUTION. That's it. Everything else is overreach. Assuming other "services" are "not profitable" is...stupid. ANYTHING will be provided by the private sector...at the right price. Which requires a "free market".
Which we don't have.
So...enjoy your conversation, and I hope you aren't showered with too much derp.
As usual, the debate boils down to someone saying "I have this idea of what should be done, but the majority of the population isn't capable of understanding why it's important. Therefore we need government(full of smart people)to make those decisions that us peons aren't capable of."
Typical statist nonsense, but I'm trying to convince they're wrong, not just piss them off.
But, somebody IS profiting, just not on a voluntary basis
Are you doing the Lord's Work? or a Fool's Errand??
You decide 🙂 Good luck!
It's greed, pure and simple. They want to get their greedy little hands on someone else's money, to do important things with it. Important according to them.
Your friends are of course free to donate their money to the research scientists of their choice. If other people don't want to, who are they to force them?
Because the private sector has never financed anything that is unprofitable.
You can always restrict your definition of the private sector to exclude charities and nonprofits!
Set aside charities and non-profits. Bell Labs and Xerox PARC conducted who knows how many billions of dollars in research without the intent of profit.
Well, that's not true the way you phrased it. Because Bell Labs didn't give away the modem or switching technologies and PARC did lots of things besides the GUI and mouse that eventually made money for Xerox. Better to say that these companies understood the inherent risk that no single technology researched might be profitable, but it was on balance a profitable undertaking to do such research.
I don't see anything wrong with the way I phrased it: Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, and many other companies finance billions of dollars of research without the intent of making profit. The fact that they sometimes end up profiting from their discoveries and inventions doesn't disqualify this.
This is in contradiction to the original poster's friend who asserted that the private sector would find the unprofitability of research a non-starter.
They intended to make a profit in the examples you gave.
They hoped to make big profits on some discoveries, but didn't mind if others didn't pan out.
To clarify, Bam, Bell Labs and PARC are the R&D wings of technology companies, who hope to make enough on their successes to cover the cost of their failures and turn a profit. It would be like saying Pharma companies don't intend to make a profit because their R&D arms toss aside thousands of drugs after spending millions of dollars.
Jesus, Xerox was stupid about PARC, though. They should have just handed Steve Jobs a billion dollars, they would have come out ahead.
Yes. Thankfully, the argument is not about how well these for-profit research facilities did in maximizing return on their inventions.
Well, I'm convinced. Anything the public needs can be done by the government for free, and that's the entire purpose of it!
I had a similar debate once. I was beaten over the head with social contract nonsense.
Also, the internetz!
So, not only do you not get to choose whether to be bound by the social contract, the terms can also be changed on you without notice?
Yes. It is the worst contract ever and it only gets worse apparently.
Any ideas to counter that?
Every private donation to universities devoted solely to research.
Make sure they search up Andrew Carnegie.
Yeah, but what good are all those libraries now?
I debating whether scientific research is better funded through government or through private industry
Its a moral issue not a pragmatic one.
Its better thru private industry because it is immoral to take someone's money to fund something they have no interest in funding.
Of course, the prog argument to that is "but, the common good! It's ok to ask people to sacrifice a little of their money to make everybody's lives better! Look at NASA!"
Shelves in Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, LA were reportedly cleared Saturday night, when the stores allowed purchases on EBT cards even though they were not showing limits. The chaos that followed ultimately required intervention from local police
A small taste of things to come. 8-(
Sometimes I wonder if America's future looks like a hybrid of Rand's concept of Galt's Gulch, Heinlein's gated, armored enclaves as in I Will Fear no Evil, and the corporate citizenship of Gibson's Snow Crash surrounded by a wasteland of EBT dependents.
Stephenson wrote Snow Crash, but that's an easy mistake.
Tattoo "POOR MEMORY FOR AUTHORS" on my forehead. Wow.
Nah. I think that one was written explicitly in the cyberpunk style of Gibson's early successes. Although, Gibson would never stoop to naming the main character Hiro Protagonist. That's vintage Stephenson getting caught up on something too cute.
My bet is the Dystopia will be a cross between Brazil, Brave New World, and Idiocracy
White Dog - starring Burl Ives:
'Racist' LA police dogs only bite Latinos and African-Americans
Maybe white people aren't committing crimes?
*** rising intonation ***
What about Bernie Madoff?
Were the people who were bit by the dogs committing crimes and were there good reasons to use the dogs? If so, I think a little more data is needed before drawing any conclusions about bias.
Perhaps, but I would honestly be shocked if it turned out the LAPD had some way of causing people pain and didn't turn out to be using it on innocent people just for shits and giggles.
Business question:
My wife's new lawyer business: She has had a few clients, but not the amount to support the payment of her monthly rent + student loan payments.
She met with a salesman from Gannet, who owns one of the local TV stations among many others businesses. They have a system to jack up her google search ranking for anyone looking for a local lawyer. He included documentation showing the success of the program: over 100 calls/mo, etc.
Cost is ~$720/mo. But they want a three month advance.
Should she do it or not?
Does she have $2500 and does she plan to stick with it for at least 3 months? I think you have to spend some money to get out there.
We can spend the money... guess I'm hoping to see some real return on the investment, not salesmen pie-in-the-sky talk.
I have a relative who sells for a firm that offers services to tweak and enhance AdWords positioning for web sites.
The whole thing sounds like a scam.
That's steep. Avvo does it cheaper. Also, ask the local bar association if they have a referral program.
Just start a law blog and do videos on YouTube and link to them. Since Google owns YouTube they bump up your stats automatically.
When my FIL started his one-man lawyer business he didn't make money for a year, and he was expecting it to take three.
I wouldn't. I'd spend the money on Google AdWords.
In my opinion, SEO contracts are only about what you pay and short on guarantees of what you get.
She did have a $250 Google Adwords coupon. That got blown through in three weeks with only minor returns.
I guess I'll find out the hard way - she apparently went and agreed to the contract.
Whoops, so much for hashing this out.
Let us know the results. Just to close the loop.
There are tricks. Clicks from iPhones are stupid expensive, (I've seen individual clicks that cost $15. That's one person, clicking an iPhone ad once) and should be avoided until the business is established. I'll presume you & Mrs. Humungus were saavy enough to limit your ads by location and keywords.
I hope the SEO works out. If you ever decide to try Adwords again, let us know.
Does she have an established specialty?
Because without one, paying an SEO firm to make you pop up in generic searches might not help a lot.
Family Law, Child Custody, Special Needs trusts - that sort of thing. At least according to the salesman, cranking up SEO for criminal defense is a whole 'nother jump in $$$.
Some of those would lead to search term keywords that are very specific. Also, Adwords allows you to advertize locally, which will limit pointless clicks.
Most people still check the phone book.
I think Biden's Scrote & Fluffy are right. I work for a company that does a lot of advertising through Google AdWords, and even with a full time person monitoring keywords and placements for campaigns, our goal for a sale is around $100. I don't think paying lots of money to increase visibility to indifferent people is the way to go. Focus your marketing money as tightly as possible.
There's just no way that taking away one of the very few stress releases from soldiers in a war zone could have any unintended consequences.
My first combat jack...
What is "RC (SW)"?
Regional Command - Southwest.
AF is split into regional commands. I was in RC East, for example.
Thank you!
I hope you incurred no body-fluid-related illnesses in RC(E).
Fortunately I did not.
If you are in a port-a-can in AF and you can pull one off, you might not have a sense of smell...
But seriously, go right ahead, just take the happy sock somewhere besides the shitter.
ha! That's not the first one I've seen. I remember an official memo about it in Iraq. I think it was the contractor or something and they were saying it was clogging the drains.
"Desert Jellyfish" in the shower!! *think about it for sec
Found it:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albu.....74dd48.jpg
When jerking off is outlawed, only outlaws will be relaxed.
This is my rifle, this is my gun...
A third NYPD officer, a member of the Internal Affairs unit, admitted to being part of the motorcycle gang that was involved in a road range incident with an SUV driver in Manhattan.
An Internal Affairs officer? Was he there to keep tabs on the other undercover cops? Was someone from Super Internal Affairs watching him? This is getting to be a Coen brothers movie.
"Is anyone here not a cop!?"
BTW:
Tom Brady, baby!
David Ortiz, bitchez!
I had endzone seats yesterday, which I typically don't like. There's a lot of risk of just having to watch the big screen while everything happens on the far end of the field. I got lucky with the side of the field it came down to.
My experience with endzone seats is that the people there tend to be just a little bit crazy, in a good way. Lousy seats, but great fans.
It seemed like the crowd there was louder than usual. I'm not sure if that was because of the game or the seats though.
You've just zoomed past nicole for Worst Person Ever.
BC gave away the game to Clemson.
Cop thinks it's funny to falsify official documents and basically not do his job. He is, of course, given a vacation although it was not paid.
He seems to think the community contact forms he's obliged to fill out are some kind of joke - so he listed his contacts as celebrities.
Why are there such problems with cop/"civilian" relations?
Shia LaBeouf is a weird fucking guy...and a douchebag.
It's pretty funny how he's always getting his ass kicked in public.
In which Conor Friedersdorf bashes Republicans for scoring cheap points by rallying vets on the mall. Its a Tea Party hit-piece. How dare those mouth-breathers be successful!
But part of me can't help but read about the rally at the World War II Memorial and think, "To hell with you, conservative activists. This perfectly illustrates your uselessness." I don't just mean that, but for the useless government shutdown that Tea Party Republicans provoked, the World War II Memorial would be open.
What actually bothers me most about this little rally is what it says about the priorities of Tea Party leaders like Senator Cruz and Sarah Palin, and the rank-and-file conservative activists who trudged out to the World War II Memorial to protest its closure. They speak the language of liberty in expressing outrage at the metal barricades, insisting that it's an insult to soldiers who risked their lives to beat the fascists. Meanwhile, the Veterans Affairs Department has furloughed almost 8,000 employees (half are veterans). Its backlog of disability applications has been increasing for the duration.
The projection in that piece is great.
So basically he's upset because his guy's publicity stunt is being upstaged?
And he entirely fails to mention that the Republicans already passed a bill to restore VA funding, which the Democrats rejected. What does that say about the priorities of leaders like Harry Reid and Barack Obama, and the rank-and-file liberal pundits who support them?
Yeah. I like Friedersdorf generally as an ambassador to libertarianish thought at The Atlantic, but I definitely think he's subject to principals instead of principles on issues. Palin Derangement Syndrome may be incubating at The Atlantic even after Andrew Sullivan moved on.
Every passing day I hate Harry Reid more and more.
"I'm willing to negotiate, as soon as you agree to give me everything I want."
Makes sense coming from the party that said:
"We have to pass it to see what's in it"
By Reid's logic the Republicans should just pass a clean CR for two weeks and then go through the piecemeal funding route. But in order for this to be at all successful, you have to ignore just how much of a mendacious piece of shit Reid is.
The US may withdraw all troops from Afghanistan next year after all; President Obama previously set an October 31 deadline...
Can you win the Nobel Peace Prize twice?
"For not droning people in over 100 countries, Barack Obama receives the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize!"