A.M. Links: Rep. Radel Taking Leave From Office After Pleading Guilty to Cocaine Possession, Drone Strike Kills Senior Member of Taliban-Linked Group in Pakistan, Woodward Wishes Snowden Has Come to Him

Credit: U.S. Government/wikimedia

• Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) is taking a leave of absence after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine. He has been sentenced to one year supervised probation.
• The U.S. and Afghanistan have agreed to a post-2014 partnership. The deal will have to be approved by the Afghan parliament, and President Hamid Karzai says he won't sign the agreement without the approval of tribal leaders.
• Bob Woodward has said he wished NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had come to him insteading of other journalists.
• A suspected U.S. drone strike on a seminary in Pakistan has killed Maulvi Ahmad Jan, a senior member of the Islamist Haqqani network.
• An 85-year-old American Korean War veteran has been detained in North Korea while visiting the country as a tourist.
• The fed will require that tour buses and buses that travel between cities built from 2016 onwards be equipped with seatbelts.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The fed will require that tour buses and buses that travel between cities built from 2016 onwards be equipped with seatbelts.

We are expecting turbulence pot holes ahead, so the bus driver captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign...

[Medical Physics Guy]

I remember when a bus to Atlantic City fell off the road. There was a movement to mandate seatbelts. As if it would have helped. But somehow, everyone resisted the instinctive paternalism, and agreed we shouldn't mandate seatbelts for everyone based on a single bus accident.

Or so I thought...

[Medical Physics Guy]

To clarify, there wasn't a movement, but the question was asked.

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, but what if you got hit by a bus?

[font_of_stupidity]

Then you'd get pregnant, of course.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's idiotic. Your wife would get pregnant.

[Marshall Gill]

No, she didn't get hit by a bus to get pregnant, but it must have felt like one!

[GILMORE]

The fed will require that tour buses and buses that travel between cities built from 2016 onwards be equipped with seatbelts.

These future cities... where will we build them? The north pole? The moon? The mid-atlantic rift?...(Roar from sea monster)... OK, not the mid atlantic rift.

[Tonio]

Yet, somehow, there is no seatbelt requirement on schoolbuses. Because something, something, magic, something specially protects schoolbus passengers from the laws of physics.

[Mike Laursen]

Pity the school bus driver who has to get a bus-load of kids to wear their seatbelts.

[Gadianton]

Issue welding kits.

[sarcasmic]

Heartbreaking video of owner comforting her dying dog after pet was beaten with baseball bat by neighbor's friend
Duke, a German Shepherd, was killed on Tuesday after being hit at least 25 times, his owner said
A man told police in White Lake, Michigan that he was bitten by the dog

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

Mrs Lorenzen said her dog was hit around 25 times even after he had been knocked out.
Mrs Lorenzen told Fox 2: 'I was crying and begging him ''Please stop!'' because I could have walked over and pulled him away.
'But he wouldn't stop beating him so I'm not going to go over there and pull my dog away because this man's beating - he has a baseball bat, a metal baseball bat.'
...
The family said that police appeared annoyed when they called to report the attack on their dog.

Annoyed that they didn't get to shoot it.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I wonder if they would have been more annoyed if the call came in that she had shot the asshole.

[Drake]

Exactly what would have happened if it was my dog.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Duke, a German Shepherd, was killed on Tuesday after he jumped a fence and ran towards the neighbor's pitbull, said owner Linda Lorenzen.

So, regardless of whether the guy was right or wrong in whacking the dog that many times, this is also another story of dipshit suburbanites who can't manage to secure a large dog.

[Rich]

"He's just being *friendly*!"

[Zeb]

I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who can't or don't control their dogs. If the dog ends up biting someone, that person gets to so what they feel they need to to make the dog no longer a threat. This case seems rather excessive, but assuming the dog did actually attack someone, I can't get too worked up.

[CatoTheElder]

Agree completely.

I have a large dog and live in the suburbs. I have never let the dog roam. If he were to ever jump my 7' fence, I would tether him, but he can't. This is mainly because it would kill any pooch that happened to be in the vicinity, but also because it might bite a kid.

The guy who killed the pit bull really did have a no-win decision: kill the dog himself or call the cops. Assuming the dog did bite, the socially responsible decision was to kill it himself, because of the dangers attendant to calling cops.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

The guy didn't kill the pit bull; he killed the German Shepard which apparently jumped the fence and charged the pit bull. I wouldn't call the cops if I was the pit bull owner. Considering how the cops freak out about a single, smaller dog, I imagine the police handling of a pitbull/GSD fight would be even more hystrionic and excessive.

[sarcasmic]

From what I gathered from the story, dude continued to beat the dog after he had knocked it out.

I agree that dude had the right to swing at the loose dog to protect his pet, but once the threat was over the beating should have stopped.

[Juice]

Nope. Not watching that. No fucking way. No fucking how.

[Rhywun]

My thoughts exactly.

[sarcasmic]

I'm glad I get along with my neighbors.

[Enough About Palin]

I know myself well enough that if someone was doing that to my GSD, I'd risk getting hit to protect her. I would then kill her attacker.

[sarcasmic]

'That's better than huntin'!' Disturbing video showing Michigan State trooper shooting deer at point-blank range

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....viral.html
Heroes.

[Isaac Bartram]

Can't get too upset about the shooting part. I was probably the most humane part of it.

The lights and siren and bumping the creature, OTOH...

[JW]

I had that happen to me last year. Young deer, not too bright, not moving a fucking muscle in the middle of the road. I got out of my car and smacked it on it's rump. It promptly freaked out trying to get away from me and ran away.

Fucking heroes, these baboons with their guns.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An 85-year-old American Korean War veteran has been detained in North Korea while visiting the country as a tourist.

A country living in the 1950's is obviously going to remember the Korean War like it was yesterday.

[WTF]

Who in their right mind would want to go to North Korea as a tourist destination?

[UnCivilServant]

Denis Ro... oh wait, you said 'right mind'.

[Restoras]

Maybe A-Rod will go next.

[WTF]

We can only hope.

[MOFO.]

I enjoyed it. Its a change from the usual tourist traps.

The threat of arrest and being throw into a death camp adds to the overall experience.

[Zeb]

It would be interesting in a rather disturbing way.
But if I had anything to do with the Korean War, I'd stay the fuck away. Keeping people worked up about how the nasty Americans broke Korea is a big part of their whole thing.

[db]

It's essentially begging to be paraded through Pyongyang as a "war criminal." He'll probably get the full 95-year-old-Nazi-soldier-living-in-Cleveland treatment. Plus a death sentence. Which will be commuted when the U.S. agrees to drop the embargo on Gummi Bears for Kim.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He wanted to finally advance above the 38th Parallel.

[Lord Humungus]

The Evolution of Bitchiness
Women engage in indirect aggression and slut-shaming, even in clinical research studies. Why?

In his research in the 1990s, University of Texas psychologist David Buss found that women were more likely than men to "derogate," or insult, their mating rivals in two ways, as he described to me in an email:

First, the "slut" factor: "spreading gossip that the rival woman is 'easy,' has slept with many partners, and is basically, in my terms, pursuing a short-term mating strategy."

Second, on physical appearance: "Saying the woman is ugly, has fat thighs, and an astonishing variety of other vicious things about a rival's physical appearance and mode of dress, such as wearing revealing clothing, plunging necklines, or short skirts."

[Restoras]

This is a surprise?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Remember. The world would be more humane with women running it.

[waffles]

Does anyone actually believe that?

[wareagle]

my wife sure doesn't. She constantly says there are few things she hates more than working with a bunch of women.

[Medical Physics Guy]

"If women ran the world there would be no wars. Just a bunch of countries not speaking to each other."

Seen in a store window recently

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Or a bunch of countries seeing if they can get a couple of larger countries to start fighting.

[BakedPenguin]

Or a bunch of countries seeing if they can get a couple of larger hotter countries to start fighting.

"There is no way her per capita GDP is over $20k a year"
"That scenic mountain range? Fake."

[Numeromancer]

From Robin Williams:

"If women ran the world, there would be no wars, just intense negotiations every 28 days."

[GILMORE]

Remember. The world would be more humane with women running it.

... in the 30 minutes before one of the women decided to nuke one of the others because she's such a bitch.

[WTF]

I'm sure the womyn are only forced to act that way because of the Patriarchy.

[Rasilio]

The funny thing is that the only reason "slut" shaming even works is because of the Matriarchy.

For most guys, sure they wouldn't want their wives to be sluts but then most guys would probably be just as happy sleeping around with a bunch of slutty women who are probably a hell of a lot more fun than their wives who actually expect them to do things. They are certainly not going to look down on a woman for being a slut.

[Restoras]

Well men may be looking down on them but certainly never look down on them...

[gaijin]

even works is because of the Matriarchy.

It all sounds like the typical leftist approach to arguing: focus on the outward appearance, call names, spread rumors. Maybe the leftist mindset is female? Or maybe the female mindset leans left?

[Rasilio]

Well given that they both prefer security to liberty you may be on to something

[waffles]

Having dated a few girls going to an all-women college I can safely say they still act in the same way in the absence of men. Perhaps patriarchy is so pervasive that no place is without it's presence.

[Fluffy]

The argument goes:

Men have things like money and social status.

Women want those things.

They can get them by getting attention from men.

That leads them to compete with each other to get men's attention.

Therefore, PATRIARCHY.

Of course, Admiral Akbar looks at this argument and realizes that, by implication, this means that we will never be free of patriarchy until men either have nothing, or men are not free to choose who they are attracted to.

So that means, by logical necessity, that women who talk about ending patriarchy can never be satisfied or achieve their goals until men have nothing, or until men do not possess the right to make associational choices, particularly sexually.

[WTF]

So that means, by logical necessity, that women who talk about ending patriarchy can never be satisfied or achieve their goals until men have nothing, or until men do not possess the right to make associational choices, particularly sexually.

And that right there is the basis for feminist fat-acceptance and demanding that men ought to be attracted to 'strong' women and fatties, rather than being attracted to just hot women.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

And that right there is the basis for feminist fat-acceptance and demanding that men ought to be attracted to 'strong' women and fatties, rather than being attracted to just hot women.

I don't remember who said it, but their thesis boiled down to, "Feminism is how ugly women attempt to make themselves socially desireable."

[wareagle]

I think it was Rush, though it may be have phrased a little differently.

[Rasilio]

So that's what "The Trees" was about.

All the uglies and fatties cutting down the hotties so they could have their share of the the guys

[RBS]

Better head back to the drawing board then...

[Kaptious Kristen]

How much taxpayer money went into doing this study of the the fucking obvious?

[GILMORE]

Fully accounting for the budget allocation of the Fucking Obvious Research Administration would require a comprehensive audit by the Department of Completely Unnecessary, which has not been itemized in this years appropriations by the Senate FYTW Subcommittee

[GILMORE]

"Women engage in indirect aggression and slut-shaming, even in clinical research studies. Why?

Because you're ugly, nothing you say is interesting and you have no friends, that's why.

[sarcasmic]

'I just kept pressing play!' Obese fast food fanatic drops nine dress sizes and 211lbs with the help of fitness DVDs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....-DVDs.html
John has a sad.

[UnCivilServant]

You mean increased exersize helps weight loss... who knew!

[Hillary's Clitdong]

This has to be a lie. People are obese because they have a medical condition, not because they eat shitty food and refuse to exercise.

[gaijin]

Obesity is a DISEASE!

[sarcasmic]

And here I thought obesity was caused by evil corporations forcing crappy food onto poor people in food deserts.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

It's the GMO foods!

[fish]

And here I thought obesity was caused by evil corporations forcing crappy food onto poor people in food deserts.

Oh it is.....and beer....lots of beer!

[GILMORE]

DONT BLAME THE BEER! BEER DID NOTHING! NOTHING! IT IS PURE AND INNOCENT AND DESIRES ONLY GOOD FOR ALL MANKIND

[waffles]

Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) is taking a leave of absence after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine. He has been sentenced to one year supervised probation.

Is that the mandatory minimum? Now we now why he was pushing for reform. At least now he can be governor of Pennsylvania.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, he's too high class to be mayor of Toronto.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's too bad this happened now instead of when he was in college, or he could have run for President.

[thom]

Isn't he immune from arrest while he is in Washington being a Congressman? I thought that was in the Constitution.

[Tonio]

IIRC he is immune from arrest while travelling to (and perhaps from) sessions of congress. Also, while on the House floor.

The first is pretty much a holdover from the era before air travel; they were afraid of (for example) Maryland arresting a Pennsylvania congressman to prevent him voting on a bill which would negatively affect Maryland.

[Bee Tagger]

Bob Woodward has said he wished NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had come to him insteading of other journalists.

Youngsters today just don't know the value of a good trench coat.

[CatoTheElder]

Snowden didn't go to The Guardian; he went to Glen Greenwald.

Snowden went to Glen Greenwald because he knew that Greenwald, even though he is a lefty, was genuinely interested in reporting on USG's all-out war on individual liberty.

Every other progressive "journalist" was suspect because they were overwhelmingly Obama sycophants. Conservative journalists, if there are any, were suspect because most were cool with a total surveillance state.

[Lord Humungus]

Starling Dung Rains Down on Rome

When in Rome, carry an umbrella, say locals. The city is currently at war with an annual migration of starlings that shower the streets with feces ? and the humans are losing.

In a recent report by Italian newspaper La Stampa, Lipu, the Bird Protection League, stated that the city council funds that are traditionally designated for discouraging the birds were delayed this year. As a result, fewer resources have been available to combat the starlings, and areas such as Campo and along the River Tiber have suffered from the deluge.

"The sidewalks are a torture, some impassable except by fisherman boots," wrote Mattia Felts in La Stampa.

[Rich]

Obligatory.

[Ted S.]

Also obligatory

[BigT]

In the OT this was called manna from heaven. NT types are spoiled.

[Snark Plissken]

Bob Woodward has said he wished NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had come to him insteading[sic] of other journalists.

Especially if Snowden lurked in the shadows of a carpark and spoke in a hoarse voice.

[Lord Humungus]

Alcoholics in Amsterdam receive beer to clean streets

A few resident alcoholics are being offered 10 euros a day, a half packet of rolling tobacco, and five cans of beer per day. The men are allowed to drink two in the morning, one at lunch, and another two after work.

"This group of chronic alcoholics was causing a nuisance in Amsterdam's Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women," Gerrie Holterman, head of the Rainbow Foundation told AFP. She added that the goal was to keep the men occupied and away from trouble.

[waffles]

If we did the same thing with methamphetamine we could have the cleanest cities known to man. It's like the best worst idea ever.

[Fluffy]

We have dirty streets.

We have hobos.

We have beer.

These social problems solve each other.

[GILMORE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUVwR0rw5fk

[Warty]

Here's a good petty outrage: having a hidden compartment in your car is now illegal in Ohio.

[DJF]

But if the police find it, then its not hidden, so its not against the law, right?

[Bee Tagger]

"I was looking everywhere for that compartment! Thank you, officers!"

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I was just about to post this article. I saw this and was beyond words.

[Warty]

"Without the hidden compartment law, we would not have had any charges on the suspect," says Combs.

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!

Beyond words is right.

[DJF]

So its illegal to have hidden compartments even if nothing is hidden.

[thom]

What a horrible, horrible person.

[Bee Tagger]

"We apparently caught them between runs, so to speak, so this takes away one tool they have in their illegal trade. The law does help us and is on our side," says Combs

Combs says the "hide" in Gurley's car was big enough to carry several pounds of drugs.

Sounds like we're getting closer to arresting someone for having several pounds of drugs because they have the capacity to carry several pounds of drugs.

[Rich]

Everyone is a potential terrorist and a potential drug dealer and a potential .... 8-(

[BardMetal]

What? Fuck that. I never really wanted a hidden compartment before, but now I do.

[BardMetal]

Which also reminds me that there is a website that sells lockpicks. I need to buy some before some jackass makes those illegal too.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Too late:

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-.....tools.html

[db]

Just make your own. Bicycle spokes work great for the raw.materials.

[Rasilio]

Um, by definition doesn't EVERY car have hidden "compartments". You know between the interior and the door frame, underneath the hood, Under the seat. They are kind of built into the car as a side effect of it's design. Sure some are easier to access than others but they are there just the same.

[Lord Humungus]

My departed Grand Marquis had some handy front seat pockets that would be handy for stashing a small pistol. And my current Toyota truck has several interior compartments in the king cab section made for storing tools. And they go deep, so hiding something inside would be pretty easy.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

The law states that a compartment is illegal if it is accessed through some sort of electronic means... You know, like a trunk.

[UnCivilServant]

So the hidden mechanical latch is just fine?

[WTF]

They pulled over the driver for speeding, but then troopers noticed several wires running to the back of the car.

So, it sounds like they searched the car on a speeding ticket. I doubt the wiring was noticeable from just standing outside the car, unless it was an unbelievably sloppy job.

[Warty]

NEVER give consent. I hope everyone who has kids drills that into their heads constantly.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It will soon be illegal to have a rectal cavity as well.

[Rich]

*** clears throat ***

A *hidden* rectal cavity.

[pan fried wylie]

Prolapsed anuses for all!

[Rasilio]

Well it is already illegal to open carry your rectal cavity

[Metazoan]

But because of this law, one more "trap car" is now off Northeast Ohio roads.

The sycophants in the media can never get enough authority

[Scott S.]

Hat tip for Warty incoming. I'll blog about this. I figured I'd warn you all.

[SugarFree]

I suggest you give him some appropriately fawning adjective unless you want trouble. He's basically a giant, dangerous toddler.

[Warty]

Giant??? I prefer "larditudinous".

[SugarFree]

Stuponderous?

[sarcasmic]

Jumbo jet mistakenly lands at tiny Kansas airport - and now its stuck there

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....there.html
JATO!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That happened back in the 70's at a small Ohio airport. As I recall, they had to strip the plane of seats and anything else non-essential and bring in test pilots to get it off the ground on a short runway.

[Timon 19]

Ooops! I bet the pilot puckered pretty hard when he first saw the distance markers and was confronted with a '5' instead of something more like an '8', '9', or higher.

Using the Googles, I see the Fail has said the plane landed at two different airports. Jabara airport is most definitely in the approach path of McConnel, but the runway is 18 rather than the AFB's 17 (this should be a pretty obvious difference to someone piloting an aircraft for Boeing). Meanwhile, the Beech Factory Airport runway is also 18, but is not in the approach path and should not be confused with the AFB.

Boeing...

[Timon 19]

Err...Beech is 17, not 18.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And I'll bet he puckered up real good when he realized his career was probably over too.

[Lord Humungus]

Any landing is good, provided you can walk out of the airplane.

[tarran]

Actually, it appears that they landed at Jabara, thought they had landed at Beech Factory, which is closer to the Air Force base.

They landed nearly 8 nm short, but thought they had landed 5nm short.

Yes, this is a big mistake. For one thing the number of runways is wrong.

[db]

If ever there was a good time to go around, this would have been it. Wow.

[Kaptious Kristen]

ATC recording (you need a free LiveATC account to download)

[Kaptious Kristen]

Pilot sounds discombobulated. ATC sounds like he's about to lose his shit (laughing).

[PD Scott]

Literally "Great Landing, Wrong Airport".

[Lord Humungus]

Doctors Complain They Will Be Paid Less By Exchange Plans

Many doctors are disturbed they will be paid less -- often a lot less -- to care for the millions of patients projected to buy coverage through the health law's new insurance marketplaces.

Some have complained to medical associations, including those in New York, California, Connecticut, Texas and Georgia, saying the discounted rates could lead to a two-tiered system in which fewer doctors participate, potentially making it harder for consumers to get the care they need.

[Restoras]

I wonder what percentage voted for Obama. All of the doctors I know in my area voted for The LightBringer.

[mad_hominist]

Dogs. Fleas.

[Elspeth Flashman]

But the pre-ACA claim that doctors would end up being indentured servants was dismissed as so much right-wing tinfoil-hat claptrap.

[Rasilio]

Well of course it is. There is still the possibility that we'll end up with a 2 tiered system where a relatively small number of below average doctors service Meedicare/the exchanges and any doctor worth seeing refuses to accept them and only takes cash/concierge members/some corporate policies.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

There is still the possibility that we'll end up with a 2 tiered system where a relatively small number of below average doctors service Meedicare/the exchanges and any doctor worth seeing refuses to accept them

You think so small! How about a 2-tier system where a large number of med-school D students service Medicare and the exchanges?

[Ice Nine]

That would work if there were such a thing as a med-school D student but there isn't.

[GILMORE]

Hi Everybody!

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

[BakedPenguin]

"Holy smokes! You need booze!"

[Rasilio]

Well it will be a large number of doctors but I meant relatively small compared to the number of patients. So if the rich peoples doctors each have 500 patients and on average get 3 - 4 visits a day the average medicare/exchange doctor will have 4000 and only room for 12 - 15 visits a day

[CatoTheElder]

I'm sure that OC customers on the Congressional Gold Plan can see any doctor they want, when they want.

[Ted S.]

Single-payer legal care. Because lawyers do nothing that's worth more than minimum wage.

[CatoTheElder]

Is anybody surprised?

Of course this was going to be the next shoe to drop. Before it's over with, there are going to be enough Obamacare shoes to fill Imelda Marcos' closet.

Unintended consequences, I'm sure.

[Snark Plissken]

22 year old Magnus Carlsen now 1/2 point away from being world chess champion.

[robc]

1 draw in 3 matches with 2 as white should be a no-brainer.

I think Anand is going to have to be hyper aggressive.

[Snark Plissken]

He's going to have his goalie skate out the next game.

[Lord Humungus]

Man who 'exposed himself' tells police: 'I was just airing out my penis'

A homeless man accused of exposing himself outside a shop told police: 'I was just airing out my penis.'

William Gibson, 50, attracted attention after apparently pulling down his jeans and underwear before 'fluffing' his genitals

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I use that line all the time.

[Restoras]

Does it work?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No.

/lowers head.

[Snark Plissken]

I guess the Neuromancer royalties have run dry.

[SugarFree]

Your minute advantage! Curses!

[SugarFree]

He's fallen on hard times since Neuromancer.

[Rich]

"Airy, ain't it?"

"What the 'ell did you expect, feathers?!"

[Ted S.]

Wasn't this what men did in 18th century seaports when they were looking for homosexual hookups? I seem to recall reading somebody here posting that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So. A politician gets probation for cocaine possession while private lives are destroyed rotting in prison for marijuana possession?

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

I rather imagine this is not surprising to you...

[Lord Humungus]

French weather girl keeps to her word and presents her forecast in the nude

Millions of viewers were on edge as they tuned in to see whether Doria Tillier presented her Canal+ weather forecast NAKED on Wednesday evening, as she promised.

The French stunner vowed to take her clothes off should France pull off a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down against Ukraine in their play-off match on Tuesday.

They did that - winning 3-0 at the Stade de France - and Tillier didn't disappoint, giving a bare, yet professional performance in front of the television cameras.

not worth watching.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No kidding.

But for what it's worth, I did watch the game.

[Ted S.]

Meanwhile, 24/7 has a 30-hour old post about Mexico qualifying as one of the breaking news stories....

[Juice]

So running around screaming like a moron is how they do the weather over there?

[Lord Humungus]

it is France.

[WTF]

So running around screaming like a moron is how they do the weather over there?

Well, they're French.

[lafe.long]

Doria Tillier presented her Canal

heh.

[The Late P Brooks]

Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) is taking a leave of absence after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine. He has been sentenced to one year supervised probation.

Presidential pardon in 3... 2... 1...

[BardMetal]

Well he's a Republican so I'm not sure if he'll be getting a pardon from our current president.

[Lord Humungus]

Indian state to require politicians to have in-home toilets

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's government in Bihar announced politicians will not be allowed to seek office with village administrative bodies and urban bodies unless their homes contain toilets, Gulf News reported Wednesday.

Officials said the rules are aimed at promoting healthy sanitation habits and helping Bihar reach its goal of becoming an "open-defecation free" state by 2022.

[UnCivilServant]

Lies, it's just designed to keep the poor out of office.

/rabidIdon'tknowwhat

[KDN]

It's northeast India, so probably Communist.

[Tonio]

Actually, yes.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Hm, Open-defecation free. That's a good goal to have.

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

an "open-defecation free" state

This is so wide open for jokes that I am at a complete loss to make one.

[Rich]

New York: The Empire Open-Defecation Free State

[WTF]

Not if you've ever been in the subways.

[Juice]

I've been told by someone who lived in India for a few months that you could walk out and take a shit right in the middle of the street and no one would bat an eye.

[pan fried wylie]

India, the new SOMALIA!111oneoneone

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Dana Milbank: These Dirty Republicans Are Attempting to Scare Young People Away From Obamacare Exchanges By Telling Them Facts About Obamacare
...Progressives view the public as three things:

1, stupid and incapable of making the "right" political choices.

2, ethically foul (bitter clingers, racist) and therefore not only deserving of, but requiring, manipulation and deceit from their intellectual and moral betters to induce them to make the "right" political choices. The truth won't work with people who are both intellectually and morally retarded; like children being told to be good or else Santa Claus won't give them gifts, they have to be manipulated into the right decision by childish fictions.

3, tax-generating worker drones whose only real value is not in the fullness of their own lives (they're essentially zombies, monsters, beasts of the field) but whose labor can be expropriated to improve more worthy lives. ...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"I know you told me it was a bad idea and you were right but are you gonna sit around like an angry old man telling 'I told you so' or are you gonna be constructive and sink with me?"

The comments in the thread are depressing. There's no more semblance of logic with progs.

[Raston Bot]

Do Milbank... really think they're going to enlist the GOP in their lies... to save Obama, Obamacare, Reid and Pelosi from the consequences of their awful, harmful policy preferences?

I fail to see the consequences. With the exception of the term-limited president, everyone of those shmucks will win re-election.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Grosse Pointe, MI police under investigation after video comes to light of resident being made to sing in the squad car.

http://www.freep.com/article/2.....e-officers

From the article:
Scipio, 55, said he lived in a Detroit boarding home near the Grosse Pointe Park border and often came in contact with Grosse Pointe Park officers. Sometimes, he said, they'd give him rides to various places, including St. John Hospital, if they saw him out walking. He didn't say when the request for songs began.
(edit) "I knew they had it in their heart to humiliate me."

[Rich]

A father didn't want to wait to pick his kids up from school, and now the dad's facing charges.

"You don't need a reason as a parent to go get your children."

You do for *our* children.

/Melitha Harrith-Perry

[Rasilio]

Pretty sure this was completely intentional on his part.

Of course he's probably got a nice 5 figure settlement coming from the county in the next couple of years so I can't really say I blame him.

[Lord Humungus]

Implanting platinum jewelry in eye

"So now I'm going to put in a speculum, just to kind of keep your eyes open," he says. Then Dr. Chynn makes a small incision where the jewelry will eventually be placed.

"I'm going to take scissors and make a little incision and try to divide a pocket in between the sclera - the white part of your eye - and conjunctiva clear part of your eye, and it just sits there," he says.

The procedure costs about $3,000. And though it may sound scary, Dr. Chynn says he believes it's actually pretty safe.

[DJF]

Pretty safe, I don't think I want to hear my doctor say that.

[Rich]

The *procedure* is pretty safe, but the first time you rub your eye will just about set you free.

[The DerpRider]

No shit. That was the first thing I thought when I read that quote.

[Brett L]

Depends. For Stage III or IV cancer or an aneurism repair, I'm good on "pretty" safe. For cosmetic surgery? Get the fuck away from me.

[Lord Humungus]

Big trucks still rule Detroit in energy-conscious era

Five years into a remarkable rebound from near-disaster, the Detroit 3 automakers still count on sales of pickup trucks and SUVs in the North American market for the bulk of their global profits, despite efforts to shift buyers into smaller, greener vehicles as part of a broader move to remake the Motor City.

Promotion of green technologies, notably hybrid and electric vehicles, has been a signature policy of the Obama administration, which oversaw the $80 billion taxpayer-funded bailout in 2009 of General Motors and Chrysler.

Those same U.S. taxpayers, however, have shown a marked preference for big trucks such as the best-selling Ford F-150 over cleaner, more economical "electrified" vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt.

[DJF]

Yeah but they go rid of smaller trucks like the Ford Ranger because of corporate fuel economy standards and profit margins, they make more money on large truck while they get the best fuel economy by selling smaller cars not smaller trucks.

They did not get rid of the Ranger because it was not selling it just did not fit well in the fuel economy mandate/profit profile

[Lord Humungus]

I'll add that I'm not a fan of big trucks. They're just too damn big (for my tastes) when driving & parking in the city. Now the old Tundra and the earlier T100, plus the current Tacoma and ahem, the Dodge Dakota are about the right size for me.

[Brett L]

Yes, I love my Mazda-badged Ford Ranger.

[Enough About Palin]

Woodward Wishes Snowden Has Come to Him

I can has cheeseburger?

[Lord Humungus]

Study ties nuts to lower cancer, heart death risk

Help yourself to some nuts this holiday season: Regular nut eaters were less likely to die of cancer or heart disease ? in fact, were less likely to die of any cause ? during a 30-year Harvard study.

Nuts have long been called heart-healthy, and the study is the largest ever done on whether eating them affects mortality.

Researchers tracked 119,000 men and women and found that those who ate nuts roughly every day were 20 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who never ate nuts. Eating nuts less often also appeared to lower the death risk, in direct proportion to consumption.

[Lady Bertrum]

Another shitty study: correlation vs. causation.

[CatoTheElder]

Astrologers have more credibility than most dietary studies.

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

The key to squirrelz immortality?

[PD Scott]

If it weren't for cats, cars and .22LR, they'd live forever.

[fish]

Help yourself to some nuts this holiday season:

Yeah...I tell my wife this all the time.

[SugarFree]

Because "nuts" also means "testicles."

[EDG reppin' LBC]

And "holiday" means "penis".

[SugarFree]

And "wife" means "cantaloupe heated up in a microwave."

[GILMORE]

holy shit it can't go lower than that

or can it?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

And "I" means "Warty".

[Longtorso, Johnny]

WSJ: ObamaCare was a losing ideological bet.
...But on the point we were writing about yesterday, Klein turns out to be just as mindless, not to mention a few days late. The headline of his post yesterday--three days after Yglesias's and Walsh's posts: "Hurricane Katrina Killed More Than 1,800. Obamacare's Web Site Doesn't Work Yet. Stop Comparing Them."...

...The deaths of hundreds of thousands of people! Wow, what's that about? By way of an explanation, Klein linked to an Urban Institute study purporting to find that "137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006."

Yet suddenly, when a law Klein vigorously supports is forcing the cancellation of millions of insurance policies, he no longer regards medical insurance as a matter of life or death. How convenient!...

[CatoTheElder]

Also, Bush did not ramrod legislation mandating Hurricane Katrina through Congress in a straight partisan vote.

It is unfair to Bush to compare ObamaCare to the FEMA response to Katrina. Benghazi, maybe, but not ObamaCare.

ObamaCare is more analogous to Medicare Part D which, stupid as that was, was implemented smoothly.

Bush was absolutely lousy on foreign affairs and individual liberty, but his administration wasn't nearly as incompetent as Obama's. Not even close.

[Bardas Phocas]

The last week or so, I've become a connoisseur of Obamacare Deadenders. I imagine them as starving, ragged Japanese soldiers, screaming "Banzai" in the back of cave as they wait for the flamethrower to open up.

This mornings bite includes a little conspiracy.
Last night, while flipping through channels on the demon box, I experienced Larry Kudlow on CNBC railing against Obamacare, Erin Burnette on CNN running with the "young people have opted out of Obamacare" meme and faux news running their "damning" story of ignored Obamacare problems prior to its launch.

You will never convince me that these attacks are not coordinated. They are and they began the day after the gop was exposed as radicals through their shutdown/default debacle. The media immediately downshifted into carrying water for the anti-Obamacare gop playbook. Its blatantly obvious.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/l.....-obamacare

[Warty]

You will never convince me

"I am not interested in rational thought."

[Brett L]

Let's just start referring to them as denialists.

[BakedPenguin]

This. "The economics is settled."

[CatoTheElder]

Wow!

Opponents of the Obama Administration have also argued that high-profile "jounalists" were providing spin for Obama in a coordinated fashion. However, they actually had evidence of their suspicions. Remember Journolist?

[GILMORE]

"Obamacare Deadenders = I imagine them as starving, ragged Japanese soldiers, screaming "Banzai" in the back of cave as they wait for the flamethrower to open up.

+1 Hand-grenade Appendectomy

The below needs to be re-subtitled, where the note handed to the commander is the # of enrollees on Healthcare.gov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l2NeCiP8b8

I'm guessing the soldiers are the liberal op-ed columnists

[Lord Humungus]

Experiences of Uninsured With Exchanges Mostly Negative
Overall, 21% of uninsured have visited a government health exchange website

Uninsured Americans who have visited a federal or state health insurance exchange website generally have been unhappy with their experience. Sixty-three percent of those who have visited say their experience using the health exchange was negative, including 30% who say it was "very negative." About a third, 34% say their experience was positive, with 5% rating it as "very positive."

[UnCivilServant]

Are you sure they didn't say "I'm positive it didn't work" or "I've very positive it gave my computer a virus" or are they ideologues?

[OldMexican]

or are they ideologues?

Or liars.

[CatoTheElder]

103 attempts and no success.

[Lord Humungus]

Won't Be Fooled Again?

The Who's Roger Daltrey slams Britain immigration policy: 'I will never forgive them'

"I will never, ever forgive the Labor Party for allowing this mass immigration with no demands put on what people should be paid when they come to this country," Mr. Daltrey told The Sunday Times.

Specifically, he faulted British Labor Party leaders for the economy that has wrecked job opportunities for legal residents.

"I will never forgive them for destroying the hobs of my mates, because they allowed their jobs to be undercut with stupid thinking on Europe, letting them all in, so they can live 10 to a room, working for Polish wages," he said.

Mr. Daltrey also faulted European Union policy for its "detrimental" policy and bureaucracy.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Labour's 'secret plan' to lure migrants
The release of a previously unseen document suggested that Labour's migration policy over the past decade had been aimed not just at meeting the country's economic needs, but also the Government's "social objectives".

The paper said migration would "enhance economic growth" and made clear that trying to halt or reverse it could be "economically damaging". But it also stated that immigration had general "benefits" and that a new policy framework was needed to "maximise" the contribution of migration to the Government's wider social aims. ...

[BardMetal]

With all the difficulty many European countries have been having with Islamic immigrants I'm surprised any party can get elected on a pro-immigration ticket.

[Atanarjuat]

So the residents of Europe's Earth's least attractive country are mad about immigration of Polish workers*?

*Who I assume all look like Katarina Vasilissa. NSFW image search warning!

[UnCivilServant]

By Empirical evident (I visited there recently) Your claim about the people who live there is false. They are no worse than the average American.

[BardMetal]

Is that the average American you meet on the street, or the average American you meet at Walmart?

[UnCivilServant]

Street.

I can't go near a WalMart

[Citizen Nothing]

I hate shopping at WalMart but I do it. I can put up with a lot of ugly/craziness to save money. (Which also explains why I stayed with my first wife so long. Ba-da-bing!)

[Ted S.]

Is Walmart really that bad compared to other low-price department stores like Target?

I don't go to the local Walmart only because it's in an inconvenient location on an uphill access road -- in fact, I tend to avoid all the stuff on that side of the hill.

[Citizen Nothing]

WalMart really does seem to go out of their way to hire the differently motivated. We have Meijer's stores here, which I prefer. The prices are just as good for most things, and the employees are a lot friendlier and more helpful.

[Lord Humungus]

ditto on the Meijer's, though I hit Walmart up for household items and Sugar Free (no not our commenter) cookies.

[UnCivilServant]

I've found that with the materials sold at these places, they are made to a lower quality standard to fit the price point, so they fail sooner and I end up spending more in the long run, so I hunt down thosemade to proper standards (mostly online) and pay the premium so that they last me. I can't tell you the difference between any two members of that category.

[Tonio]

In my experience, yes.

[trshmnstr]

Is Walmart really that bad compared to other low-price department stores like Target?

Depends. I have a Walmart and a Target one block apart from one another, and I only go to Walmart if it's absolutely necessary (All other stores are closed). It's faster to drive the extra mile round trip to Target than wait in line at WalMart. Also, the clientele is very different (lot's more SNAP cards being used at WalMart). The quality of the produce isn't even comparable.

If I go in the other direction, there are a WalMart Neighborhood Market and a Kroger that are a block apart from one another. The quality and experience are almost identical between the two. WalMart is marginally cheaper, but a little bit out of my way, so I go to the Kroger more often.

[Ted S.]

In today's edition of IFH Laughs at Kiwis:

Idiot tries to bike across Cook Strait

A man who was attempting to bike across the Cook Strait on a paddle cycle pontoon craft has been criticised by police after sparking a massive rescue operation.

Adventurer Rick Matenga left Wellington early yesterday morning to cross the strait on his converted water cycle.

He was supported by a 16-foot support craft, but ran in trouble 12 hours into the crossing when they were still 5km from Tory Channel.

With the support vessel running low on fuel, the skipper left the cyclist and motored into Tory Channel where he arranged to get fuel from a local resident.

When he returned, he couldn't find Mr Matenga, who was not carrying any survival equipment, lights or flares.

[Lord Humungus]

Wash. man ignores shotgun plea deal, sticks with 'Joe Biden defense'

A Washington state man who fired a shotgun in the air to scare off car prowlers has refused a plea deal and says he's sticking with what's become known as the "Joe Biden defense."

Jeffrey C. Barton of Vancouver told The Columbian he will not admit any wrongdoing for the incident last July because he was protecting his family, within his Second Amendment right, and following advice from the vice president.

[gaijin]

Speaking of Joe Biden, where the heck has he been these last weeks?

[WTF]

"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking."

--Joe Biden, in a private remark to an Indian-American man caught on C-SPAN, June, 2006

[tarran]

Speaking of Joe Biden, where the heck has he been these last weeks?

He's been taking classes on PHP and MYSQL

[BakedPenguin]

This would have been good joke tarran, if anyone thought it was even remotely possible he could learn them.

[tarran]

Anyone can *take* a class. I didn't say nothin' about him larnin'.

[fish]

Speaking of Joe Biden, where the heck has he been these last weeks?

They only take him out of his box during the administrations darkest times as a distraction.

I wouldn't worry....he'll turn up again soon....I'm quite sure.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

I'm sorry sir, but advice taken from the village idiot is immaterial for purposes of a legal defense.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

robc: I objected with Longtorso was pushing his Golden Girls bullshit day after day too.

Dear robc,

Fuck you

Love,
Johnny Longtorso

[robc]

You are welcome.

[Tonio]

So, robc, are you now or have you ever been state married (gotten a marriage license from government), and if so have you and your missus ever filed taxes jointly, owned property jointly (without forming a corp), made medical decisions or gotten medical info for the other (without having to fill out special paperwork)?

[Enough About Palin]

Three "Knockout" Attacks Reported In Philadelphia Area

The solution is to counter with the headshot game.

[Rich]

Could "Knockout Game" be spreading to DC?

The public is being urged to be aware of their surroundings and to report suspicious people and behavior to police.

RACIST!

[Drake]

How many points for a Congressman?

[Brett L]

We need a bitcoin fund.

[fish]

Depends on the condition and quality of the pelt. They're not for eating though!

[waffles]

I installed reasonable and while it is quite a better experience I would prefer if it did not embed youtube videos in comments. Is there any way to prevent this from happening?

[SugarFree]

It's an option on the extension's main page. Click the orange tophat logo in the address bar.

[waffles]

Thanks, didn't realize it was more than a troll-list. I am extremely impressed with how slick it makes reading the comments here. I guess I can never go back to the old way. Stay strong P brooks!

[Auric Demonocles]

I tried it for a couple of days and didn't like it. It may just be adjusting to a different interface. I'd probably like it more if I could use it in Firefox.

[trshmnstr]

I just switched over right now. Big thing keeping me from switching was no Firefox support. However, firefox has pissed me off for the last couple weeks, so back to chrome with me!

[Warty]

Is there a more worthless poster than Longtorso? Show your work.

[UnCivilServant]

Me. My absense is never noted, and I fails as a troll.

[VG Zaytsev]

Just throw around the word "Cosmo". The retards lose all control at the sight of it.

[Citizen Nothing]

Or "Paultard." Amirite?

[RBS]

Newsletters!!! Footnotes!!! SOCON!!!

[robc]

MNG?

Does he still count?

[Enough About Palin]

Did he ever?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Shriek. He'll post my evidence for me later today.

[robc]

I figured people whose posts I dont see dont count, so Shreek, Tony and Mary werent eligible.

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

Shriek, Tony, Tulpa, Blue Tulpa, Alcie Bowie....is that enough?

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

Alice Bowie.

great, if typos count agin' me, I suppose I will just shuffle off to exile now.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm glad I'm not in that group.

My life is semi-complete.

[Auric Demonocles]

If typos were that big of a problem John would have been exiled years ago.

[trshmnstr]

I'm still not convinced those are all unintentional typos.

[GILMORE]

"Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?|11.21.13 @ 9:35AM|#

Shriek, Tony, Tulpa, Blue Tulpa, Alcie Bowie....is that enough?

I think that is only 2 people.

[Auric Demonocles]

Anonbot.

[Lord Humungus]

Sounds like a solid plan to me dude.

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

Soemtimes you jsut have to roll with it!

[Auric Demonocles]

That totally makese sense when you think about it. lol

[sarcasmic]

Stupid sarcasmic with his Daily Fails.

[fish]

+1 multiple personality disorder

[Suthenboy]

I have laid off the booze, but when I start again we will get back to you on that.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I wondered why the price of vodka suddenly dipped. Now I know. Demand dropped significantly.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

They're Desperate Now
..."The Affordable Care Act can be construed as a transfer of benefits from Medicare, which serves an overwhelmingly white population of the elderly--77 percent of recipients are white--to Obamacare, which will serve a population that is 54.7 percent minority," Edsall writes.

Hmmm, if the ObamaCare population is 54.7% minority, that would make it 45.3% majority. Math is hard.

Predictably, Edsall goes on to blame opposition to ObamaCare on "a critical mass of white voters" who have not "moved past [their] resistance to programs shifting tax dollars and other resources from the middle class to poorer minorities." If you don't want the government to redistribute your wealth to somebody else, you must be racist....

[Brett L]

I agree with Glenn Reynolds on this. When progressives scream racism, you know you're hurting them.

[The Late P Brooks]

From warty's link:

Troopers arrested 30-year-old Norman Gurley, who didn't even have any drugs on him, but it didn't matter, because in Ohio, just driving a "trap" car is now a felony.

"Without the hidden compartment law, we would not have had any charges on the suspect," says Combs.

Because our job is to round up as many civilians as possible and lock them in cages!

Tell me again why I should shed a single fucking tear when one of these fucking fascist totalitarian monsters gets croaked.

[SugarFree]

Another suicide of a politician's son (well, Judge, but close enough).

[Warty]

vcakeordeathvUTaylor Berman11L
What I don't understand is why didn't his magic underwear save him by stopping the bullet? Yesterday 8:51pm

Gawker: even worse than here.

[DJF]

Notice they never talk about Harry Reids magic undewear.

[Enough About Palin]

Harry goes commando.

[The Late P Brooks]

Is there a more worthless poster than Longtorso?

Tough call.

It's like the Troll Olympiad in here, some days.

[The Late P Brooks]

The fed will require that tour buses and buses that travel between cities built from 2016 onwards be equipped with seatbelts.

No airbags? Why does the fed hates teh poor peoples?

[UnCivilServant]

They stink up their districts.

[The Late P Brooks]

The solution is to counter with the headshot game.

Ray Kelly says take your medicine like a good little civilian.

[SugarFree]

"Yay! Plus-sized models!" [on to comments] "Boo! Plus-sized models aren't fat enough!"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My eyes will never forgive you for that.

[Swiss Servator, kirsch anyone?]

Thanks for martyring yourself. I shan't click now.

[Rich]

"Sexy. As. HELL!"

[WTF]

I guess the Jezzies find them sexy, because normal men sure as hell don't.

[Lord Humungus]

taking one for the team.

[Lord Humungus]

and by team, I mean people I despise slightly less than the pestilence called humanity.

[Drake]

Bastard.

[sarcasmic]

I.
Will.
Not.
Click.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Click it. You know you want to. Come on. Do it. Have sex. Do drugs. Click the link.

CLICK. IT.

[sarcasmic]

I'll do the sex. I'll do the drugs. But the fatties? No. Way.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Maybe it's viewer-specific advertising, but right above that article I see an ad for an article about "Sexy Men" doing stuff. Since Jezebel is an open-minded website that doesn't embrace a blatant double standard, the "Sexy Men" include normal-looking guys with overweight bodies. Guys like Eric Bana, John Stamos, Adam Levine, and Chris Pine.

[Warty]

LemonadeeeULaura Beck331L
Fit and average bodied girls aren't regular now, eh? :/ Yesterday 9:48pm

CBGULemonadeee1061L
Yes, that's exactly what she was saying.

Um...it wasn't?

I appreciate what is being done here, but why can't we just stop evaluating women with these terms ("beautiful" and "stunning" and "sexy") altogether? Why does a woman need to feel beautiful in order to feel good about herself? I don't know about y'all, but I feel great about myself with no makeup in my pajamas, but I certainly recognize that I'm no beauty when I look like this.

Of course you do.

Also, what is with these Gawker people and their forced use of "y'all", while they simultaneously hate everything about the South?

[trshmnstr]

Also, what is with these Gawker people and their forced use of "y'all", while they simultaneously hate everything about the South?

Same thing that's always with them. They're self-loathing.

[Ted S.]

Martha Stewart has nothing on the Swedes

Kids TV show faces backlash over doll stabbing

Producers of the popular Swedish children's television show Philofix have apologised to parents who were up in arms over a clip in which the show's presenter stabbed and cut up a plastic doll.

Parents said the clip frightened many kids and demanded to know what producers of the TV show were thinking.

Philofix encourages kids to be crafty, taking everyday household items and turning them into fun, creative activities. But parents said the show's most recent arts-and-crafts segment went too far.

In it, host Rakel W?rml?nder sets about making a lamp out of a plastic baby doll. She does so by stabbing and cutting the doll with a pair of scissors. W?rml?nder then pokes the doll's eyes out and pokes holes in its belly so that pink LED lights could can shine through.

"Take a doll you don't play with much anymore," she tells viewers, "because... the end is nigh." And with that, she plunges the scissors in the back of the doll's head.

[UnCivilServant]

That's one disturbing lamp, just from the description. I don't want to see any pics.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Kind of like the goth Hello Kitty. But creepy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

With that look in her eye, I'd do her.

[PD Scott]

"She smiled at me hungrily. 'Undress. I want to put these on you.' They looked like restraints, but weren't like any I'd seen before. 'I knitted them myself.' I nervously smiled and hoped she didn't think of the glue gun as just another kinky toy."

[GILMORE]

Shit man, I want to party in Sweden - SHIT IS REAL!

Second story after babydoll stabbings =

""It kicked me in the back"
Moose family attack schoolboy going home

A nine-year-old boy got the fright of his young life when he was surrounded by a family of angry moose. August Anderud was on his way home from school in Halmstad when a whole family of moose, or elks....

...Wait wait wait, hold the fuck up = which is it? MOOSE OR ELK? I mean you're a fucking Swedish journalist - do you also say, "Woman was raped by Japanese, OR Mexicans"? Elk are nothing like Moose. And its not like you swedes have the most diverse fauna on the planet; if you can't tell a fucking moose when you see it, you've got problems.

surprised him and went to attack. First the mother, who was with two calves, stood in the way of the boy's bike and then the bull came along.

"The mother and calves ran away. Then the bull with its antlers hit my right shoulder and went on its hind legs and began to beat its hooves on my back, " August Anderus told Sveriges Radio's local channel in Halland.

The schoolboy fortunately escaped without injury. The bull however paid for the incident with its life as the police gave permission for it to be shot.

WTF.

1) "A (1000+lb) moose stepped on (9yr old) me repeatedly but I was uninjured"

Well then what the fuck are you complaining about?

2) Police 'give permission'?

No one in Sweden gets shot without permission.

[Citizen Nothing]

Funny. You're like the MST3K of Nordic journalism.

[Auric Demonocles]

I don't sign agreements without the approval of the alt-text.

[Libertymike]

Are you preparing for your debate with Tom Woods?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Suddenly the political blogosphere thinks a change to filibuster rules for all federal judicial offices other than Supreme Court may be a real possibility . . .

http://sbmblog.typepad.com/sbm.....ster-.html

[Elspeth Flashman]

From the Hill article:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Tuesday that he is considering changing Senate rules to prevent Republicans from filibustering President Obama's judicial nominees.

"I'm at the point where we need to do something to allow government to function," Reid said when asked if he would consider using the nuclear option, a controversial procedural tactic for changing Senate rules.

http://thehill.com/homenews/se.....go-nuclear

[UnCivilServant]

I'm at the point where we need to do something to allow government to function

...Except perhaps actually negotiate.

[Drake]

I seem to remember old Harry being vehemently against the exact same rules when he was Minority Leader. I know politicians don't think past the next election, but there is an excellent chance he'll be back in the minority in a year.

[Aloysious]

I would suggest that Hairy Reed resign. That would go a long way to getting gov. to work again.

[Fatty Bolger]

GOP May Target Use of Filibuster

Republicans say that Democrats have abused the filibuster by blocking 10 of the president's 229 judicial nominees in his first term -- although confirmation of Bush nominees exceeds in most cases the first-term experience of presidents dating to Ronald Reagan. Describing the filibusters as intolerable, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has hinted he may resort to an unusual parliamentary maneuver, dubbed the "nuclear option," to thwart such filibusters.
...
"If they, for whatever reason, decide to do this, it's not only wrong, they will rue the day they did it, because we will do whatever we can do to strike back," incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) said last week. "I know procedures around here. And I know that there will still be Senate business conducted. But I will, for lack of a better word, screw things up

[Fatty Bolger]

Reid Floor Speech on Use of Filibuster

Mr. President, yesterday morning I spoke here about a statement the Majority Leader issued calling the filibuster a "procedural gimmick."

The Websters dictionary defines "gimmick" as ? - "an ingenious new scheme or angle." No Mr. President, the filibuster is not a scheme. And it is not new.

The filibuster is far from a "procedural gimmick." It is part of the fabric of this institution. It was well known in colonial legislatures, and it is an integral part of our country's 217 years of history.
...
America does not work the way the radical right-wing dictates to President Bush and the Republican Senate Leaders. And Mr. President, that is not how the United States Senate works either.

For 200 years, we've had the right to extended debate. It's not some "procedural gimmick."

It's within the vision of the Founding Fathers of our country. They established a government so that no one person ? and no single party ? could have total control.

Some in this Chamber want to throw out 217 years of Senate history in the quest for absolute power.

They want to do away with Mr. Smith coming to Washington.

They want to do away with the filibuster.

They think they are wiser than our Founding Fathers.

I doubt that's true.

[Eduard van Haalen]

To save their speechwriters time, each side should read the old speeches of the other.

[Brett L]

This is totally Republicans baiting Reid to make a change they'll be happy to exploit.

[The Late P Brooks]

"Take a doll you don't play with much anymore," she tells viewers, "because... the end is nigh." And with that, she plunges the scissors in the back of the doll's head.

Excellent.

This story reminds me of a friend in college who had baby dolls tied to the front bumper of his Toyota Land Cruiser. Just because.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My sister once shaved the hair off her Sindy doll and drew Swastikas all over her head. My mother tried to ignore it but my older sister suggesting perhaps they explore the roots of this action.

I still laugh at that.

[Snark Plissken]

Had a friend who had steer horns on his hood. Cop gave him a ticket for endangering pedestrians and he had to take them off.

[Kid Xenocles]

How would the horns be dangerous if he were not already driving in a manner dangerous to pedestrians?

[Snark Plissken]

Apparently there's an old law on the books about dangerous radiators. So if he were to hit a ped then it would be dangerous, and FYTW.

[Fatty Bolger]

Without NFL lead-in, 'Almost Human' slips in second night

It's still doing well, though, with almost 7 million viewers, and didn't drop viewers after the first half hour. I watched the first two episodes, and while the first one was just OK, the second was excellent.

Also, check out the comment on the article.

[waffles]

Are there good guys in that show that aren't cops? I found myself unable to sit through the first episode because the premise read as if the whole world is full of bad guys and police need to shoot people all the time to have a semblance of peace.

[Redmanfms]

I watched both episodes and in both I had myself wondering what a TV show about this future from the perspective of the citizenry would be like.

Cops think the whole world is evil and they are frantically sticking fingers in the dam to hold back the inevitable flood of disorder and chaos in this series.

The alternate perspective would be a downtrodden populace desperately trying to make their way in a Kafkaesque nightmare where even the slightest infraction warranted a mechanized death squad at your door.

[Redmanfms]

Which leads to an idea for two TV shows.

Keep the Almost Human and then add a second show that has occasional cameos from the cast of AH except the show is written from the perspective of some other group (not necessarily adversarial) in the city. Call it Almost Hell or Almost Dystopia.

Occasionally some Karl Urban's character comes blasting through fucking everything up and being a giant dickhead to the central characters. We get the backstory on how his human partner was actually killed on a botched wrong-house raid on a rightfully paranoid heavily-armed neighbor/friend to the central cast and that neighbor/friend is ruthlessly slaughtered and then labelled a terrorist.

I think the dual series could have real legs, but it would require actual talent and imaginative writing so that the two series have interweaving story lines.

You could do the same thing with Law and Order too.

[Suthenboy]

"Are there good guys in that show that aren't cops?...the premise read as if the whole world is full of bad guys and police need to shoot people all the time to have a semblance of peace."

That is every goddamn fucking TV drama ever. It is one long sickening parade of jackbooted statist propaganda.

[SugarFree]

I watch cop shows like they are fantasy series. Complaining that all cops are good on those shows is like complaining that there's not such thing as dragons while watching Game of Thrones.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm watching The X-Files from the beginning on DVD. Chris Carter must have been a big-time racist, what with all the anti-government paranoia/propaganda in that show.

[SugarFree]

Yes, back in the 90s when it was OK to mistrust the government and the basic assumption is that they are all liars. The shift in the last 20 years has been quite dramatic.

[Brett L]

The weird thing about GoT is that it starts as sword and sorcery fantasy and then essentially puts down the sorcery for two books and then, oh, you know what would further fracture these story lines? MAGIC!! All sorts of fucking magic.

[SugarFree]

[raises one eyebrow]

The dragons? The Undying Ones? The Red Witch and her smoke assassins? Wolflepathy?

The magic was always there, but it increasing as the dragons grow.

I'm not defending Martin as a writer, the books are a mess, but he wove magic all the way through.

[Redmanfms]

The weird thing about GoT is that it starts as sword and sorcery fantasy and then essentially puts down the sorcery for two books and then, oh, you know what would further fracture these story lines? MAGIC!! All sorts of fucking magic.

IOW, the series (of books) is just as badly written and poorly thought-out as I have expected from watching the TV show?

[Long Range Boredom]

Eh. Better than the show, but Martin really needs a better editor (if he even has one, judging by the last two books).

[Auric Demonocles]

Wasn't the premier just earlier this week? I would have watched the second if it was on at the same time. If they are moving it around in the first week that's bad planning.

[Fatty Bolger]

They aren't moving it around, it premiered after NFL football, which gives the pilot a big lead in audience. The second episode was shown the next day in its regular Monday time slot.

[Auric Demonocles]

So then they moved the pilot around.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also, check out the comment on the article.

Truly, we are in the future. Robots are among us, and complaining on internet boards.

[Fatty Bolger]

WATCH Kathleen Sebelius As Obamacare Website Crashes In Front Of Her: 'Uh Oh!'

The perpetually annoyed Health and Human Services overlord Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had an embarrassing moment in Florida yesterday as she was touring Miami.

She was meeting with Obamacare Navigators when the HealthCare.Gov website crashed right in front of her. This must happen a lot because she took it in stride, saying cheerfully, "Uh oh!" while her host said, "Oh, that happens every day!"

Yeah, that's helpful. Even worse, as the local news reports, all the time Kathleen was there, only two people signed up. Two. (Here's more of the video.) What a completely embarrassing disaster.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

This must happen a lot because she took it in stride, saying cheerfully, "Uh oh!" while her host said, "Oh, that happens every day!"

Oh, how I wish to have a job where that level of public incompetence goes unpunished.

[Brett L]

My friend has been trying to sign up every day for the last ten here in FL, and continues to have no plans available to him. Nor are the phone or chat people able to supply him with any. Luckily, he has the gold package as a state employee.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Bob Woodward has said he wished NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had come to him

Just cause.

[The Late P Brooks]

"I'm at the point where we need to do something to allow government to function," Reid said

as Capitol Police officers herded a group of manacled Tea Party members into a Paddy Wagon behind him.

[DJF]

Government is functioning, much of what is in the Constitution is about what the government should not be doing.

If we are just suppose to "do something" then might I suggest slapping Harry Reid up side the head since that would be doing something.

[sarcasmic]

The whole point of the Constitution is to make it difficult for government to function.

[RBS]

Autism Cause by Vaccines

[Spoonman.]

No it isn't.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No it isn't.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I concur with Spoonman.

[RBS]

Oh, I know. I left out part of my post. The argument being made is basically that court awarded damages/settlement agreements means that, obviously, vaccines cause autism.

[Snark Plissken]

The science is settled!

[Citizen Nothing]

Ah! Vaccines cause lawsuits. See. They are bad!

[Suthenboy]

Uh, courts confirm scientific theories?

Suthenboy confirms that it does not.

[The Late P Brooks]

From the Doll vivisection" link:

One mother wrote: "This is insane. My seven-year-old daughter sat quite upset and asked me to change the channel." A father asked: "What'll happen when little Olle tries to do the same with his newborn baby sister?"

I'm sorry your child is so fucking dumb he cannot differentiate between living things and plastic replicas. Your best bet would be to chain him to a milling wheel for the rest of his life.

[BardMetal]

I could make some sort of joke about abortion but it seems like it would be poor taste.

[UnCivilServant]

Also, if you think your kid might be that stupid, have one of those condescending parental talks about differentiation.

[PD Scott]

"Check for a pulse. No pulse, it's okay to stab it with scissors." "Like Grandma?" "Now I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

[Eduard van Haalen]

Former AP reporter lets Lee Harvey Oswald down - though it would be far from the last time.

"With no mourners around to serve as pallbearers, it was a task that fell to me and a few other reporters covering the funeral of John F. Kennedy's assassin."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

[Lord Humungus]

My grandfather was a bit of a letter writer, shooting off curt messages to President Truman, among many others.

Sorting through some of his papers, I found a Thank You card from Lee Harvey Oswald's wife, Marina.

So, at least for a brief moment, my grandfather apparently thought Oswald was framed.... or ???

[Eduard van Haalen]

interesting...

[Eduard van Haalen]

I realize now I should have said: "Former AP reporter lets Lee Harvey Oswald down, but can't let him go"

[mr simple]

Has this been discussed:

Monty Python reunited: Comedy legends pictured together as they reveal plans to appear live on stage for the first time in more than 30 years

I've got to start planning to for this now. Even their comments to the journalists are still hilarious. I really hope they tour. I usually hate reunion tours because they are never the same, especially so long after, but this I gotta see.

[The Late P Brooks]

Shit. I just missed a chance to bump off a coyote. I looked out the window and the little bastard was close enough to shoot. I was so surprised, by the time I got the .45 and relocated him, he was trotting away, well out of range. Perhaps he sensed my ill will.

[PD Scott]

Apparently coyotes require some type of Zen targeting without targeting, where the bullet flies of its own accord.

Or something.

[Eduard van Haalen]

So the Pope was with his friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, and the rabbi realized that he needed kosher wine. So they...

http://www.therepublic.com/vie.....opes-Rabbi

[Eduard van Haalen]

Do I need to give y'all more prompting? OK,

"Skorka had a friend [the Pope] with the run of a hotel who arranged for kosher meals...the hotel was inside the Vatican"

[Eduard van Haalen]

Come on, it's the perfect set-up! Are you simply above that sort of humor?

[Eduard van Haalen]

With all due respect, what is wrong with everyone? The set-up has everything except the Protestant minister.

[trshmnstr]

Do you know who else arranged for "kosher meals" and set up everything except the Protestant minister?

[Eduard van Haalen]

It's like you're not even trying.

[BakedPenguin]

Hey Ed, on a different subject - one with no humor. My Uncle Phil is dying of cancer. He is deeply Catholic, so I thought I'd ask you to keep him in your prayers. I know it would mean a lot to him, and I'd appreciate it.

Also - if anyone else who prays wishes to do so as well, thank you too.

[GILMORE]

Wait, but what did the Irish guy do? I know this joke, but forget all the details...

[Enough About Palin]

The fed will require that tour buses and buses that travel between cities built from 2016 onwards be equipped with seatbelts.

[OldMexican]

Ok, when people start building cities after 2016, then the buses will have seatbelts installed.

[GILMORE]

FUTURE-BUSSES WILL FLY IS WHY

[Fatty Bolger]

Worse Than ObamaCare

A U.S. president, faced with such devastating labor-market problems and persistently weak growth, should do anything?anything?that will give the American workplace more lift. Instead, he's willing to entertain just one idea: more federal spending.

You know the theory here: Spend a public dollar and you get $1.50 of economic output. It hasn't happened, but Barack Obama is gonna crank his old Keynesian Multiplier, created during the 1930s in the era of the Hupmobile, until it sputters to life.

Ponder, though, a partial list of the public-policy decisions that have flowed steadily out of the Obama administration and directly into a job-starved U.S. economy:

The no-decision on the Keystone XL pipeline and its union jobs; the 2,000-page regulatory law draped in 2010 across the entire financial sector; the shutdown in 2010 and then the slow-walking of offshore oil drilling; siccing the EPA on the utilities industry and the National Labor Relations Board on all industry; a 2010 FCC decision to regulate Internet growth; a significant tax increase this year; support this month for jacking up the federal minimum wage to over $10, certain to smother new jobs; the Justice Department's $13 billion looting of J.P. Morgan JPM +1.35% bank; and of course Hurricane ObamaCare.

[GILMORE]

DERP THE CORPORASHUNS NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT TO HELP THE FREEDOMS OF THE WORKERS AND END THE INEQUALITIES AND SOMETHING

[The Late P Brooks]

Speaking of government job-creation incentives...

A friend was just saying last night he wanted to hire some kid part time for a project he's working on; until he found out Workman's Comp requires an up front payment significantly greater than what having the kid there could possibly be worth.

Created or Saved, motherfuckers.

[BakedPenguin]

Is it a state fund or private insurance?

[The Late P Brooks]

state fund or private insurance?

I believe he was talking about State of Montana workman's comp.

[GILMORE]

MOAR FUCKED UP SWEDISH NEWS =

Protection for children in school is unequal
NANNY STATE BEGINS TO CONSUME ITSELF WHOLE IN PAROXYSM OF "EQUALITY" TROLLING

"The authority told Swedish Radio News that the Education Act is not equal for all and the government must solve the problem."

"The possibility of obtaining redress and financial compensation is greater when someone is called "fatty" at school than if a person is insulted for being gay. This is because the first case would be investigated by the Schools Inspectorate while the other would be reviewed by the Equality Ombudsman which has fewer powers to sanction"

Because this is what our future looks like. Different bureaucrats assigned to regulate whether children taunt each other as "fat" or "gay".

And decently independent-minded swede should be teaching their children 100 new ways to fucking confuse these idiots, such as making up new words that mean, "FATGAYFASCIST"

[GILMORE]

MORE = How Awesome is Sweden-News?

EXPLODING VOMIT-AND-SHIT AWESOME!!

Experts predict winter vomiting bug outbreak
many to be struck down this winter

The winter vomiting bug is set to explode in Sweden, according to some health experts. After relatively few cases of the highly contagious norovirus last winter, the nasty bug, which causes projectile vomiting and diarrhoea, is expected to return with a vengeance this season.

"I think it will explode now the cold is coming," said norovirus expert and food hygienist Marie-Louise Danielsson-Tham at the Grythytte Institute in Orebro.

Thousands of people in Sweden could become ill from the norovirus, which fortunately only stays in the body for a maximum of two days. The vomiting bug can actually flare up at any time of the year but is more predominant in the winter when cold weather forces people indoors

[GILMORE]

Don't worry though = if the exploding shit and vomit is ruining Sweden for you, just go and enjoy their racist and sexist media so you can watch it then get censored and fretted over, or learn how their public transport system has gone completely to shit, or laugh at yet another swede being mauled by nature's bounty, or how winter tires and/or Cheese may be bad for the environment...

e.g.

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/d.....ramid=2054

"Department store apologises for racist stereotype in Christmas catalogue"

"Hedenh?s book pulled due to "outdated" values

"Lack of maintenance behind several train accidents "

Wild boar pack mounts road-rage attack"

"Statoil sued for racist discrimination "

"Eat less cheese - it's good for the environment "

Seriously, its like traveling in time to REGULATIONS LAND, where progressive liberalism has finally achieved total social domination, yet none of the underlying issues have changed in the slightest. The news is a nonstop array of racism, sexism, environmental blight, failed bureaucracy, and wild animals ripping formerly-robust-and-hearty but now helpless Swedes to bits.

Suddenly I feel a lot less interested in visiting. As lou reed says = I feel comfortable in NY. Sweden? "Its empty, they're all drunk, everything works... you turn on the TV and its an ear operation...."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xduERw9BSns