Polar (Vortex) Express in Illinois, Senate Mulls Unemployment Extension, Obama Wants End to Iraq Military Authorization: P.M. Links

• 

  Warner Brothers

  Hundreds of passengers were stranded overnight on three Amtrak trains in Illinois due to snow drifts. They were rescued today and sent to Chicago, which may well be just another form of frozen torture.

• The Senate advanced another extension of unemployment benefits, but even if it passes it has a much tougher challenge in the House, as Republicans want cuts elsewhere to offset the costs and other concessions.
• The Environmental Protection Agency wants to force wood stoves to reduce their emissions by 80 percent by 2019. The rules won't affect existing wood stoves.
• President Barack Obama endorses the repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force that permitted the war in Iraq, a White House official said today. After all, he clearly doesn't believe drones count anyway.
• The former NBA players who have joined Dennis Rodman in North Korea are now expressing a little doubt about their decisions, as Rodman's diplomatic skills with the media are a touch lacking.
• Iran has declined to participate in upcoming Syrian peace talks in Switzerland.

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[William of Purple]

Cold enough for ya?

[gaijin]

Colde enough to turn my Willie Purple!

[anon]

In Philly, we used to say "Willy's willy is chilly tonight."

Yeah, I know, it's weird. People from up north are weird.

[Killaz]

What about 'colder than a bitch's titty in a brass brassiere'?

That was one of my granny's favorites.

[anon]

Yeah, heard that one frequently.

I don't mean like "yeah I've heard it before," I mean I know it's one of the first phrases I learned as a child.

[Killaz]

There's a reason it has been around for so long, because its awesome. However, I wasn't certain of how regional it happened to be, and I've spent a lot of time in Philly.

[kinnath]

Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

[Isaac Bartram]

"Cold as a witch's tit in a cast iron bra" is the version I grew up with. I think that was from my Canadian period.

In Australia it was "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". That includes most summer nights in southern Tasmania.

[Mad Scientist]

My favorite of the "how cold was it" genre is....

It was so cold, the lawyers had their hands in their own pockets.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Updated: It was so cold, the TSA agents had their hands in their own pockets.

[Almanian!]

"Colder than a whore's heart" - from mah olde pal from Windsor, Ontario.

[Heedless]

I always heard it as "so cold the politicians have their hands in their own pockets"

[Live Free or Diet]

Colde enough to turn my Willie Purple!

Cold enough to change your handle to Snowballs!

[Andrew S.]

56 degrees, cloudy, a little rainy, and windy in Fort Lauderdale today. Incredibly weird; even when it gets cold here, it's usually sunny with calm winds.

I didn't move to Florida for this, dangit!

[playa manhattan]

CA is currently warmer than America's penis. 60s and 70's through next week

[Mad Scientist]

This is why we pay the sunshine tax.

[playa manhattan]

This is why we pay evade the sunshine tax.

[Rhywun]

We broke 2 digits in NYC today. Take that, middle America!

[db]

So even the Mob is pretty much taking a day off?

[Austrian Anarchy]

it is much warmer than that inside my underground bunker, but outside it is like 7. And this is East Tennessee.

And Fuck TVA. This heat comes at a higher price than if FDR had never been born.

[The Last American Hero]

FYI - Your mom's basement is not "an underground bunker".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You tell me.

http://www.theweathernetwork.c.....c/montreal

And this is great compared to the last week where wind chill was in the mid -35s.

[waffles]

That looks so cold. and foreign.

[Juice]

That's in Celsius. Switch to Fahrenheit and it looks more like NY right now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Senate advanced another extension of unemployment benefit...

Using future taxpayer dollars to pay for mid-term votes. It's genius!

[paranoid android]

That's why they call it "investing in our future", you know.

[Sevo]

Cheap at twice the price!

[Pro Libertate]

Big surprise, huh? The GOP should say fuck no, but they won't.

[Austrian Anarchy]

They should only say that to those who are getting more return than what was stolen from their paychecks.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, then I should be getting a massive refund, right? The issue is about extending the unemployment funding, isn't it?

[Austrian Anarchy]

No, not in the slightest. If the extending still results in the person who paid into it getting less than what was stolen from them, then the extension is not enough.

It should not be based on time, it should be based on money.

[Pro Libertate]

It still doesn't explain why some people are getting their money back, and others are not.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Good Lord, read.

[Pro Libertate]

Indeed.

[Austrian Anarchy]

JFC, if you can't scroll then here you go again:
If the extending still results in the person who paid into it getting less than what was stolen from them, then the extension is not enough.

And your goofy question It still doesn't explain why some people are getting their money back, and others are not.

First, who is getting his money back? You have to be employed for 18 of the past 24 months to get anything at all Granted, the occasional person who has only 2 years of W2 work history might get paid, the zads of people who worked for decades and never drew a nickel before are a different story.

This Progressive system was designed from the beginning to be a feel good measure, not to solve a damn thing. It was sold to the masses as a tax on their employers, when all the long it was a tax on them.

[SugarFree]

"Look at that low plane!"

[playa manhattan]

Sure, you can get a refund. All you have to do is quit your job.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Quitting results in the government keeping all the money they took from you, except for special circumstances. You need to get fired in just the right way, and then, maybe, you get some of your money back.

[JWatts]

"Big surprise, huh? The GOP should say fuck no, but they won't."

At this point, no, they shouldn't. Democrats are looking at any wedge issue that gets good polling results to take the heat off of Obamacare and the mid-term elections.

If Congress passes another 90 day extension after 5 years of extension, it's not worth fighting over. Reduction or repeal of Obamacare is the real prize.

[Pro Libertate]

They're always not quite ready to roll back welfare spending. . .or any other major spending. When the fuck are they going to take a stand?

[Austrian Anarchy]

isn't unemployment supposed to be paid by the fees sucked out of each worker's paycheck without letting the payee know it is happening? It is not a thing that is supposed to come from general funds, it was keyed to that individual employees identity (SSN) and is only paid out in a measure in relation to what he earned.

What changed? Details please, not feelings.

[JWatts]

Standard unemployment is paid from fees on employers, but the Federal recession extensions (from 26 weeks to 99 weeks, I believe) are paid for with Federal stimulus money.

[Austrian Anarchy]

No it is not at all. It is based on fees on individual employees compensation. The Progressives like to confuse this in exactly the wording that you used, as if it was a tax on their entire payroll. It is about as far from that as you can get. It is a fee assessed on an individual employee, based on that particular employees income of that week. The "account" follows the employee throughout their working career.

The government likes taking in money and blowing it on crap they never told anybody they were going to blow it on, then when the original justification crops up they like to say "oh sorry, we don't have it anymore!"

So, I ask you, what other thing that the government collects can possibly have a more distinct path than unemployment insurance? Every nickel was taken under specific social security numbers, every nickel was sent back the same way. How could there possible be "not enough" if it was already stolen by name and not every name gets to be repaid?

[Isaac Bartram]

IIANM the Federal recession extensions are paid for with "loans" from the federal government which must be paid back by the states when the magical recovery happens.

I'm pretty sure the states must pay the loans back with revenues in the state unemployment fund.

[Enough About Palin]

You know, the House should just say okay and pass it. If they did, that would leave the Dems with a handful of nothing. Compared to $17T, it's not a lot of money.

[VG Zaytsev]

I agree.

The most important thing at this point is winning the Senate to kill Obamacare.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The former NBA players who have joined Dennis Rodman in North Korea are now expressing a little doubt about their decisions...

Sounds like one of the players accidentally turned on the news.

[Brett L]

"Man, this is worse than that time I let Dennis talk me into that threesome with Madonna."

[Killaz]

'Stay the fuck in front of me, Dennis!'

[JWatts]

Now that was frakking funny.

[anon]

The former NBA players who have joined Dennis Rodman in North Korea are now expressing a little doubt about their decisions...

As in, "Holy shit, that place sucked fucking balls. Fuck this shit."

[Sudden]

Rodman apparently said North Korea is "not that bad." Of course, having spent his playing career in Chicago and Detroit, it doesn't sound entirely unreasonable.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ouch.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"The former NBA players who have joined Dennis Rodman in North Korea are now expressing a little doubt about their decisions..."

'If you win and embarrass us, you will be executed.'

Nervous laughs.

'No laugh. Shot, shot. Bang, bang.'

Nervous gulps and groans.

'Next time Dennis Rahman, you bring me Arec Bahwin.'

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Make that, Dehris Rahman.

[JWatts]

Or maybe fed to the dogs?

http://reason.com/blog/2014/01.....ncle-to-st

[PapayaSF]

Supposedly that was debunked.

[Brett L]

I'll miss Red Ligntning when he goes pro next year.

[playa manhattan]

I threw you under the bus in Links After Dark last night. I half-heartedly apologize.
http://reason.com/blog/2014/01.....nt_4227644

[Brett L]

Too much gray in my beard to be Red Lightning these days, I'm afraid. Still, I hope that chubby little ginger has spent the last six weeks balls deep in hot coeds, and continues to do so. I'm insanely jealous.

[playa manhattan]

Is he mentally disabled, or just weird looking? Either way, good for him in pic #4.

[Brett L]

He's just some goober in the sports management program who got made a ball boy and decided to be the most enthusiastic and hard-working ball boy the world has ever seen. Totally normal.

[Killaz]

Damn.

http://msn.foxsports.com/conte.....medium.jpg

My first thought was, Warty Approved! Do I even need to check with him on that call?

[playa manhattan]

I think this is one of those rare times where we can all agree. Even Jesse.

[Warty]

Jesus. Aussie cleavage is always approved.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hundreds of passengers were stranded overnight on three Amtrak trains in Illinois due to snow drifts.

They turned it into a rolling Superdome, no doubt.

[Sevo]

Amtrak was relying on GW to warm things up.

[anon]

Two train enter, one train leave!

Wait, no, that's Thunderdome.

[Pro Libertate]

Thomasdome.

[db]

If I had been drinking anything just then, it would have been all over my monitor. I am totally going to set up Thomasdome next time I go visit my little nephew. He has enough Thomas stuff to set up a scale model of Bartertown.

[Pro Libertate]

I think they should do a whole episode set in Bartertown.

[db]

He also has almost all the "Cars" stuff, and I'm getting him hooked on "Planes" now too.

Eventually I can see him doing a whole Road Warrior setup as well, since his Grandma keeps getting him these big Hess oil tankers for Christmas.

[paranoid android]

Really, can't we just get beyond Thunderdome?

[Andrew S.]

Depends. Who runs Bartertown?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ain't you a pair.

[TANSTaaFL]

Who's the bunny?

[PD Scott]

Riding a train during snow season? Did none of them watch/read Murder on the Orient Express?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I did. Turns out the Donners did it.

[font_of_stupidity]

"Why did Bush knock the vortex down?"

[rts]

Foodcart permits to be frozen by Vancouver

After being flooded with complaints from operators, the City of Vancouver plans to freeze food cart permits.

City staff are looking for a way to stop those who hold existing permits from renting out their spaces at exorbitant rates.

Leaseholders can ask up to $10,000 per year, nearly 10 times the actual cost for a permit from the city.

City spokesperson Karyn Magnusson says that has to stop.

"This was a bit of a gap in the bylaw and that was never the intent to set up this resale opportunity of locations," she said.

TOP MEN.

[Sevo]

""This was a bit of a gap in the bylaw and that was never the intent to set up this resale opportunity of locations," she said."
Translated: 'We meant well!'

[paranoid android]

If they had just one more unnecessary, overweening law, I'm just certain everything would work out perfectly with no problems.

[anon]

Never in a million years will they consider making getting a permit easier.

[Apatheist ?_??]

They should ban market forces, I'm sure that'll work.

[Brett L]

Epi trolls Michael Bay at CES. Apparently, he was there to shill and the teleprompter operator was not a TOTUS candidate.

[Mad Scientist]

That wasn't Epi. Epi is Micheal Bay's greatest fan.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Did Bay direct an episode of Girls?

[Warty]

Sure. You didn't recognize his work in the episode about explosive periods?

[Brett L]

Was that the one where he had Lena Dunham strike a pose in front of the American flag with the sun on her for no apparent reason?

[Killaz]

I should not have read anything about Dunham just before supper. Now I'm feeling a bit nauseous.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How dare you turn my slight against Episiarch back into an indictment of Michael Bay.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Barack Obama endorses the repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force that permitted the war in Iraq...

Why handcuff Hillary like that???

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

How can you all remain calm when we're facing a Velveeta shortage!!

[Brett L]

Switch to queso blanco for your cheese dips and use real cheese for mac'n'cheese. Problem solved!

[Pro Libertate]

Kids often prefer fake mac and cheese to the real thing. Insane, I know.

We've adopted an Emeril recipe for real mac and cheese that is most excellent. And unhealthy.

[playa manhattan]

Cheese diluted with heavy cream and margarine?

[Pro Libertate]

With some other ingredients, pretty much. Really good.

[playa manhattan]

I assume that when you say "We've adopted an Emeril recipe" you mean your wife, otherwise you would have done the polite thing and posted the recipe.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, and I'm not 100% sure which it is.

[SForza]

Why margarine? Bitches be afraid of butter.

[playa manhattan]

I keep sodium citrate around for exactly that reason:
http://modernistcuisine.com/re.....nd-cheese/

[Brett L]

Ah yes. I just saw this in my America's Test Kitchen Science of Good Cooking, which is money. Seriously, this book is awesome for those of us without culinary training. Every recipe I've tried (which is like, 8 since Christmas) has been awesome.

[db]

Thanks for that. Dr. Girlfriend will love it as a gift.

[playa manhattan]

If you don't already have it, "Cooking for Geeks" is pretty good, as is "The Food and Lore of Cooking" (or pretty much anything by Harold McGee). I'll have a look through my google drive and see if I have PDF copies....

I have pretty much every publication by Cook's Illustrated/ATK. I just downloaded 8 seasons of the show from Usenet (it was a pleasant surprise to find it there....)

[playa manhattan]

Just found the "Cooking for Geeks" PDF. If you have an address that can receive a 13.6 MB attachment, I'll send it from my fake email address...

[Brett L]

Does gmail work? I have one set up just for Blogger and junk. I'll wade through it for that. brttlw -at- gmail

[playa manhattan]

I accidentally sent it from my real email. Are you good at keeping secrets?

[Brett L]

Thanks.

[gaijin]

The trade publication Ad Age reported the shortage Tuesday,

"Hurry, Flo, go buy every package of Velveeta at Walmart, there is a shortage! We can sell it on ebay. We'll be rich."

And a viral, free media campaign was conceived for the product that is not cheese that is eaten by those who would not know better.

[Pro Libertate]

True story: You can store Velveeta in a shelter indefinitely, and it can be used as building materials.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think you have a toy idea in there somewhere.

Velveestacks or something.

[Pro Libertate]

I wonder if Velveeta crayons are possible?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Edible after you draw!

[PD Scott]

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to force wood stoves to reduce their emissions by 80 percent by 2019.

So, some crony has a home chimney scrubber kit company and wants to recoup his investment?

[Entropy Void]

Nanny State Bootlicker or Bootlicking Nannystater? You decide.
Not one sentence in this article on e-cigarettes is factual.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/06/.....google_cnn

[paranoid android]

For the makers of electronic cigarettes, today we are living in the Wild West -- a lawless frontier where they can say or do whatever they want, no matter what the consequences.

Nope, can't do it. One sentence in, I've reached my doctor-recommended limit for stupid today.

[PD Scott]

Here, instead of reading, "smoke" an e-stupid instead.

[playa manhattan]

So e-cig companies are running ads like this one?

[Anonymous Coward]

today we are living in the Wild West

This is a blinding neon sign that the person who utters the term "Wild West" likely doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about. People moved West in no small part to escape from the violence of the cities in the "civilized" East.

Dodge City, at its worst, was still safer than New York City at the same time period.

[Invisible Finger]

People in the EAST called it the Wild West, no one in the West did.

Ian Hunter sang Wild East though.

[Coeus]

Now there's reaching, and then there's reaching.

So why is Sonnen here?again? For starters, Jones is black. Sonnen has called him a "little, entitled, bratty kid," and accused him of "treason" against the UFC for refusing to fight Sonnen in a match the UFC attempted to force on him with just a few days notice. The overall message: Jones does not deserve what he has and should do as he's told.

According to Ayesha A. Siddiqi, a writer specializing in how race and gender play out in pop culture, understanding how this brand of racial coding works "requires recognizing that such language would never be applied to white people."

???

[Brett L]

I don't get it, Jones is going to get a chance to punch the dude's head off if he can. What's the problem?

[Andrew S.]

Racism is everywhere*, dont'chaknow.

* Only against PoC. You can't be racist against white people.

(And Jon Jones is spectacularly great)

[PD Scott]

I know I've *never* heard a white person referred to as little, entitled or bratty, much less kid. Which is weird, considering all the little, entitled bratty white kids I've known.

[Juice]

This writer is obviously not at all familiar with Chael Sonnen. btw, he and Jones are good friends.

The writer thinks that Sonnen "rose through the ranks of the UFC" by trash talking Jon Jones? He was in the UFC before Jones was born (not really but he's been in and out for a long time).

[a better weapon]

According to Ayesha A. Siddiqi, a writer specializing in how race and gender play out in pop culture, understanding how this brand of racial coding works...

Ah Christ, here we go again *throws up hands and rolls eyes in exacerbation*

[Killaz]

So, uhm, my memories of two white guys, Dusty Roads and Rick Flair putting the other guys legitimacy at holding the title back in the 80s in question with similar language must be faulty then, huh?

[The Last American Hero]

if you want to be the man, you gotta beat the man! Woooo!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"The man of the hour, the man with the power. I am the hit-maker, the record-breaker. I got style and grace, a pretty face. I'll make your back crack, your liver quiver. If you ain't into this match, you're at the wrong address. Superstar, when the other wrestlers are smilin' and jokin, The Dream be, WOO!, cookin' and smokin'."

[Anonymous Coward]

If Phael Sonnen were half as good at fighting as he is at hype, he'd have beaten Anderson Silva instead of Chris Weidman having to do it.

Speaking of which, I think we need to have a serious dialogue about how racist it is for Weidman (a white guy) to break Silva's (a black guy) leg. Clearly, Weidman intended to treat Silva like his slave, breaking his leg so that he could not run away to freedom and escape Dana White's UFC plantation.

[Brett L]

Yes, how dare he leave himself there to be kicked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Weidman, in a clear demonstration of White Privilege, hoarded all of the 2% milk, leaving none for Silva, so that his bones would be deprived of the calcium they needed. When it was time for Silva to throw that low kick, Weidman's evil plan came to fruition.

[anon]

2% milk should be called water with milk flavoring.

[Anonymous Coward]

If 2% is water with milk flavoring, what is skim milk?

[anon]

Water.

[a better weapon]

Brat or little isn't a word I've ever heard used in a racist manner. When I hear entitled, I think of predominantly white, hipster, OWS pieces of shit.

[MP]

I swear that racism is more prevalent in those who perceive it vs. reality.

[Warty]

Chael Sonnen is a grade-A heel and is just doing his job, which is to piss people off and talk his way into matches he doesn't deserve. The UFC has a lot more pro wrestling in it than its fans would like to admit, and Ayesha here has no idea of how necessary heels are.

[MP]

The context is not relevant to racists like her who only look at skin color and perceive anything negative as a racist attack.

Chael is awesome. Not a good enough fighter to be the champ (lord knows he tried) but good enough to be legit MMA and still put on the sideshow act that makes for great TV.

[Warty]

By far my favorite UFC fighter, not that I'm a huge UFC fan. Anyone who's that good at getting into people's heads is awesome.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

What is a "heel"?

[Warty]

A bad guy, more or less. Someone whose job is to make the audience hate him and cheer when the good guy wins. See the Iron Sheik.

[Calidissident]

Didn't Sonnen already get his ass kicked by Jones?

[MP]

Yeah. This is an old blog rant.

[MP]

BTW, if you want a true sense of the Jones/Sonnen relationship, watch the season of the Ultimate Fighter when the both coached. The most congenial pair of coaches ever to be on the show. But Sonnen was still great at giving Jones a good-natured ribbing. Especially during the coaches challenge with the payloaders.

[Brett L]

Florida Man uses AK to defend self, National news takes no notice.

[Pro Libertate]

It's part of our plot to lure America into a sense of complacency.

[John]

How does it feel now that the yoke of the SEC has been lifted from America?

Really, it was just a matter of time before one of FSU, Miami, Nebraska or USC, the four teams that owned the SEC in the 80s 90s and early 00s, finally got good again and ended this nonsense.

[anon]

I might need to start paying attention to sports so I don't feel so othered, cause my first thought was "What the fuck happened to the securities & exchange commission?"

[Old Man With Candy]

Nah, don't worry, they're just talking about kids' sports, not the real ones played by adults. Might as well get excited about Pop Warner.

[gaijin]

FSU, Miami, Nebraska or USC

One of these things is not like the others,
one of these things does not belong.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Nebraska? I remember when they were "good" again. Then my Badgers rolled them in Lincoln.

[John]

I am pretty sure Nebraska has more bowl trophies in their utility closet than Wisconsin has in their entire trophy case.

But I guess when you have never even played for a national title much less won one, you have a bit more room.

[gaijin]

History is great! But with Bo Pellini at the helm, it's all the corn shuckers are gonna have for awhile I think.

[Pro Libertate]

No one is even close to the number of national titles held by Princeton.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I don't deny that they were once a great program, and Wisconsin is not likely to ever win a title. But Nebraska hasn't been good for a long time, and hasn't shown the ability to succeed against even the top tier teams of the Big Ten (OSU, MSU and UW) let alone compete for a national title.

[John]

That is what bad coaching will do for you. I think they might be very good next year again. But if they are not, that should finally be it for Pellini. Then we will see what happens with the next coach. There is no reason why they won't be great again. You just have to hire the right coach.

[a better weapon]

Nice to see another Badger fan around here.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I am hoping that Kafentzis kid is as good as advertised. Wisconsin is always a good QB away from being a nationally relevant team. (See Wilson, Russell) They seem to have more trouble recruiting QBs than similar programs, hopefully that continues to change under Anderson.

[John]

I thought the Wisconsin team with Monte Ball and Russell Wilson was an outstanding team. If they had had just a bit better defense, that team could have won the national title. Really, 2011 was a great year for college football. Oregon, Wisconsin, Stanford and Oklahoma State were all four great teams. It is too bad there wasn't a playoff and the country was forced to watch Alabama and LSU set football back 70 years in the BCS title game.

[mr simple]

If they had had just a bit better defense
That's the thing isn't it. Stanford is the only team that you mentioned that had a decent defense that year and none of those teams would have won against either LSU or Alabama. None of those high powered offenses played against a solid defense like many SEC teams have had recently up until this year and would be shocked when they got slapped in the mouth. This year was kind of a terrible year for defense in the SEC (and in general in NCAA). I don't think Alabama even took their corners with them to face Oklahoma. Auburns defense was pretty good for much of the game. They were mostly killed by three huge penalties and a bad decision not to double cover Benjamin on the touchdown, though FSU were probably getting in anyway. I think the better team won, but it might have ended up differently if the refs had called any holding on FSU.

[John]

All of those teams would have won against either LSU that year. Had the SEC not screwed them, Alabama would have never had a shot. So LSU is all that matters.

And Stanford had a very solid defense. Both Oklahoma State and Oregon put up points against it though.

[mr simple]

All of those teams would have won against either LSU that year.

I don't think you watched much football and definitely not any SEC games that year if you think that is true. LSU beat Oregon that year. They scored at least 35 points in all of their games except those against Alabama and Miss St. They only gave up more than 20 pts in three of their games and faced ranked opponents in 8/13 games in the regular season, winning all of them. None of those teams would have beat LSU.

[Calidissident]

USC was also really good at the end of that year, although we were still on sanctions. Then Kiffin fucked every thing up in 2012.

[John]

Between them they won 8 national titles in the 15 years between 1990 and 2004. They pretty much owned college football those years.

[Pro Libertate]

Pretty sad when FSU is your poster child for "non-SEC", isn't it?

[John]

Not really. The SEC wouldn't have them.

[Pro Libertate]

I thought FSU should've joined the SEC in the first place, before USC and Arkansas did. I thought they were a much better fit than Miami, which was considered at one point. They're more SEC-like than Miami, for sure.

Doesn't matter so much now, as the conferences continue to be diluted. I expect the SEC to continue to dominate for a good while yet, especially with a playoff system, but even that will end.

I have a feeling that playoffs, which I crave as much as most people, will run off players at top schools to the NFL earlier than today. The extended season might be too much for the agents they don't have to tolerate.

[John]

It is my understanding Florida and Georgia threw a fit and wouldn't let them in.

I don't think the SEC will dominate a playoff. College football is about coaching more than anything. And really the SEC doesn't have the collection of coaches it once had. It still has Saban. But I don't think anyone is very afraid of Less Miles anymore. And who else is there? Malzon maybe. But lets be honest, Auburn got incredibly lucky this year. FSU played a terrible game and still won. Auburn wasn't that good. But I can't see anyone outside of Alabama really having a shot over the next few years. Maybe Florida if they get a new coach.

[Sidd Finch]

The SEC didn't want Florida State because they have a small fanbase that's already inside the footprint.

[Pro Libertate]

It's not like the SEC doesn't keep winning, over and over again. And it's not just the national title game.

I'm not saying the SEC will win every year, but for the next decade, I suspect some SEC team will be winning most years. It's a better league.

UF should be thrilled to have FSU in the conference, as that would free it up to having that game covered by its conference schedule. The teams are required to play each other every year by law, which is stupid (though I do think they should play every year).

[John]

Other than Alabama who seems to have hit the same kind of wall USC, Nebraska and Miami hit after having a dominant three or four year run, who is going to win one from the SEC? I don't see LSU or Florida doing it. And frankly the rest of the conference are pretty mediocre. Don't tell me Georgia and Tennessee are any good. They are not.

[Sidd Finch]

USCe, UGA, UF, AU, UA, LSU, and aTm currently have the recruiting base and facilities to make a run any given year. All those except UF have the coach to do it.

[John]

Really sidd? UGA hasn't made a run in 30 years. USC and aTm have never made a run.

There is no reason to think any of them will beyond "well they are in the SEC". And A&M is going to have real issues next year. They were the closest thing to a one man team in college football.

And UF just lost to a 1AA team this year. Hard to see them making a run any time soon.

[Sidd Finch]

UGA hasn't made a run in 30 years.

They were a couple seconds from going to the championship game last year.

And A&M is going to have real issues next year.

No kidding. But they're recruiting well and there's no reason to think that will stop. Being the Texas team in the SEC is a huge step up from being another Texas team that isn't Texas in the Big 12.

And UF just lost to a 1AA team this year. Hard to see them making a run any time soon.

"All those except UF have the coach to do it."

[Calidissident]

UGA is always on the verge of making a run, and then they inevitably screw the pooch. The clock management at the end of last year's SEC title game was atrocious.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, and I have a sad face about that, let me tell you.

It's a little sad to see Charlie going to Texas, rather than bringing him back to UF. For example.

[Sidd Finch]

Strong going back to UF to be the HFC was a story everybody outside the SECW was rooting for.

[mr simple]

Strong going back to UF to be the HFC was a story everybody outside the SECW was rooting for.

Well, except Louisville. He made them relevant again. This would happen right before they get into the ACC.

[Sidd Finch]

Louisville's AD is some kind of sorcerer. They'll be alright.

[Andrew S.]

Saw several people facepalming at ESPN's "FSU is an SEC team!" bullcrap. Especially since the SEC is more or less made up like late 90s/early 00s FSU/Miami.

[Brett L]

Hell, even Bob Stoops figured out how to win a bowl game against the SEC. Not the BCS Championship, to be sure, but...

Ugh. As a Texas Ex it sucked cheering for OU, but so worth it not to hear the Alabamy goobers spend a year talking about how Auburn stole a win and they shoulda, woulda, coulda if they had played FSU.

[John]

SEC doesn't handle passing quick strike offenses very well. That is why A&M and Missouri have done so well despite being middling teams in the Big 12.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, please.

[John]

It is true. A&M was a .500 team in the Big 12. I know Manziel is really good. But they had Tannyhill their last year in the Big 12 and he is last I looked a pretty good player.

Did you see the way Oklahoma lit up the Alabama secondary? Alabama didn't have a defense built to stop that kind of an offense, too many big slower DBs there to stop power offenses and not enough ones who could cover.

[Pro Libertate]

Whatever. A bowl loss doesn't erase how dominant that team has been. They're obviously not as good as last season, but what college team stays on top year in, year out?

And A&M is all about Johnny Football. They'd have won their old conference pretty easily. . .but not the SEC, strangely. Florida, which wasn't great in 2012, either, beat them.

[John]

But Alabama won their last two titles by playing LSU and Notre Dame, neither one of which deserved to be there and neither one had any kind of offense.

And A&M would not have won the Big 12 in either of the last two years. Their defense has been horrible. They were able to cover up for their horrible defense in the SEC because the SEC offenses were generally too inept to take too much advantage of it and the SEC defenses were not ready for their style of offense. Put them in the Big 12 and they would have lost five or six games in score fests.

[Pro Libertate]

The Big 12, at the top, used to be a good conference. But that ship has sailed. I think you need to let go, man!

I still have cognitive dissonance over Nebraska being in the Big Ten.

[Ted S.]

Obviously, college football needs a league coefficient system. 😉

[John]

The Big 12, at the top, used to be a good conference. But that ship has sailed. I think you need to let go, man!

I bet Alabama would say otherwise.

[Pro Libertate]

You've lost your mind if you think that game somehow undoes how dominant a team Alabama has been. It's not like they're as good this year--otherwise, Auburn would've never beaten them.

[John]

It wasn't just that game. Go back and rewatch the VATech game.

[Sidd Finch]

Put them in the Big 12 and they would have lost five or six games in score fests.

I'm regretting leaving that last comment. Clearly this man is delusional.

[Reverend Jim Jones]

In 2011 LSU beat Alabama, won the SEC and was ranked # 1???

[Sidd Finch]

Alabama doesn't handle mobile quarterbacks well because they don't recruit fast DEs.

Their secondary is currently a problem because the corners aren't very good. It's not a systemic issue.

Did you see the way Oklahoma lit up the Alabama secondary?

And yet, OU still finished with 100 yards fewer yards.

[Pro Libertate]

And, of course, a not-very-good Auburn team came quite close to winning the national title.

[John]

So what? That just means Alabama had a good offense. That says nothing about Alabama's defense. Alabama's defense was not ready for Oklahoma just like they were not ready for A&M. A&M lit them up both times they have played them.

In addition, Alabama played two games against nonconference opponents of any stature. They looked horrible against VaTech and they got their asses handed to them by OU. They simply were not very good. Yet, they were a returned field goal away from playing Missouri for the SEC title. That tells you all you need to know about the SEC this year.

LSU getting outplayed by Iowa and Nebraska beating Georgia says a lot too. The SEC was just down this year. It was not a very good conference.

[Sidd Finch]

Yes, the SEC was down. And half the league won bowl games.

[John]

Yes, the SEC was down. And half the league won bowl games.

So what? How many of those wins came against the Big 10?

[mr simple]

How many of those wins came against the Big 10?

Just 2, the same amount the big 10 won overall. They also had 1 against the Big 12, the same as the Big 12 had over the SEC, and 2 over the ACC, one more than the ACC had over the SEC.

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

The more John talks about football, the more irrelevant his opinions on football become. He's Tony-like in his confident ignorance.

[Sidd Finch]

430 total yards isn't all that much, John.

[John]

It could be 1400 Sid and that doesn't say anything about Alabama's offense.

[Sidd Finch]

1400 would certainly say something about Alabama's defense. Giving up 430 to OU in a game with questionable motivation one time is awfully flimsy evidence that the Big 12 has solved Saban defenses.

[Calidissident]

It wasn't just Oklahoma. Alabama's defense didn't look good against any of the three best offenses they played this year (A&M, Auburn, and OU). SEC defenses were not nearly as good this year as they've been in the past. I think the SEC championship game should have made that pretty obvious.

[mr simple]

SEC defenses were not nearly as good this year as they've been in the past.

No kidding. I was watching the LSU/UGA game in the Atlanta airport. At about 30-30 I said, "I thought this was supposed to be an SEC game," and the bartender and other patrons agreed in amazement. Scores across the conference were about triple what they've been in years past.

[Sidd Finch]

The defense was certainly down this year, but this was also a banner year for offense. Manziel, Mettenberger, Murray, McCarron, Franklin, Shaw, and Malzahn's mutant wing T is pretty crazy.

[Pro Libertate]

No kidding--look at Florida. Still makes me ill, this season.

[mr simple]

LSU beat Iowa.

[anon]

I guess today wasn't a good day.

[db]

Nice.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

When will law enforcement decide to arrest him? It's what they do in civilized, jolly England - and Canada.

[Corning]

If he had used a shotgun I don't think the other guys would have made it out alive.

[andarm16]

"Hundreds of passengers were stranded overnight on three Amtrak trains in Illinois due to snow drifts. They were rescued today and sent to Chicago, which may well be just another form of frozen torture"

This isn't the first time this has happened. If any airline had this happen, you'd have wall to wall national coverage on CNN, MSNBC, and every other news outlet. But because its the government, no one cares.

[rts]

Get the EU to consider unconditional basic income, an income of a set amount for all, working or not.

Get the EU to consider unconditional basic income, an income of a set amount for all, working or not.
If the EU states give a basic income to all it will free the labour force to choose what field they want to work in as they can take off time to get an education if it's needed. It also provide economic benefit to all because people have the purchasing power with a basic income.

[Sevo]

And I'm sure it will lower prices and improve the UE rate, too.

[anon]

Oh sure, that couldn't possibly have any unintended consequences.

[gaijin]

What is, the logic of a three year old?

Do I win, do i win?

[Andrew S.]

If ever there was evidence that children should be required to learn basic economics in school, that's it.

[PH2050]

These clowns don't understand that Basic Income can't be a reality until mature molecular nanotechnology makes providing for basic needs so cheap it's absurd.

Until then, it's too much of a drain on economies.

[Coeus]

Talk about proving his point...

So if feminists shut up about it, it will go away! He says so.

From the article quoted:

When feminists give us that many eyeballs, we are definitely going to post that again. Feminists, and no one else, empowered it.

There are other tricks to making content go viral, and I'll use this article as an example. The headline to this piece is very inflammatory. "Feminists Need to Shut Up." Are you kidding me? Feminists are fighting for a cause that amounts to equality for all. The LAST thing feminists need to do is shut up. What they need to do is hold in their opinions from time to time. But guess what? That doesn't make for a viral headline, over-the-top sensationalism does.

Bolding was his.

[OldMexican]

"free thought" must mean making shit up, in their mind.

[Corning]

He starts with a picture of a not-hot woman saying women are not for decoration, while hot women laugh at her. Geddit? Feminists ugly, hot women not feminists. Ugly women feminists because ugly, hot women not feminists because not ugly.

I don't know. Among the Jezebel feminists they all seem to be single childless women in their 20s and complain about men making passes at them. "Men think they own women" or some bullshit. Older, married or mothers women are pretty much non-existent among the Jezebels.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...as Republicans want cuts elsewhere to offset the costs and other concessions.

Defense spending?

[Juice]

I'll bet he wouldn't support repeal of the AUMF for the WOT since it's what they use to justify every extra-constitutional thing they've done for the past 12 years. That thing will never be repealed.

[John]

Why is the 911/996 the unloved Porsche? 415 turbo charged HP in an all wheel drive ass engined Nazi slot car can be yours for just 40K..

[Warty]

just 40K

There's your answer. Snobs don't want a car that an ordinary guy can have.

[John]

The 996 was the first water cooled 911. So a lot of snobs hate it for that. Porsche people can be as bad as Harley owners. God forbid you put a radiator on a car.

The thing about the Turbos was it used a totally different engine than the normally aspirated ones. The normally aspirated ones had this asinine intermediate drive shaft running the came that would occasionally blow apart its bearings and ruin the engine. The Turbos were the exact same engine they used in the Le Mans cars just detuned and with emission control. The engines are indestructible. You can get one with around 50K millage for less than 40 thousand dollars. And they go from zero to 60 in less than four seconds and have AWD so you can drive them every day. I mean, why not?

[anon]

Also the turbo engines have lower compression ratios which increase their lifespan; but, you have to rebuild turbos fairly often.

Another thing, the watercooled porsches have (what feels like) miles of plumbing, which adds a significant amount of weight. I know it doesn't matter IRL, but for someone that might be interested in racing, it does make a difference.

[John]

If you are going to race, you probably want a mid engined Cayman anyway. I test drove a Cayman a while back. It is a fabulous car. It is like a beautiful Arabian polo pony; incredibly nimble, fast, but very tame and the kind of animal you would let your kids ride.

A 911 Turbo in contrast feels heavier and much more powerful and is more like one of those race horses that occasionally stomp a groom to death for fun. You really have the feeling that car would, if you screwed with it, run you into a telephone poll and laugh while it did it.

[anon]

I agree with you on the Cayman. Perfect autocrossing car. Not so much power that you need hundreds of hours behind the wheel to use it effectively, but still plenty of power to toss around and have fun.

In comparison, a 911 turbo is a highly specialized vehicle that takes a -lot- of time to get used to enough that you don't spin out in every turn. I'm scared to drive my customers' 911 turbos, just because I don't really like how rear-heavy they are.

[John]

I don't care hpow great the traction management is, you can feel how ass heavy those cars are. A 911 turbo is almost as fast as a decent motorcycle. The acceleration is both terrifying and intoxicating. If am really torn between picking up a used Cayman or a 996 Turbo. As dumb as it sounds, there is something really appealing about owning a car that you can terrify your friends when you floor it and feels a bit crazy.

[Mad Scientist]

You can't get a Cayman with crazy power?

[anon]

yeah they make a turbocharged cayman, and it suffers similarly.

[John]

If you can afford a new one, it is close. But Porsche and its customers are a bit nuts. They are totally wedded to the 911. It is a real hard headed German thing.

Any sane company would admit the truth that a mid engined car works better than a rear engined one and put an insane engine in the Cayman. But not a good German company like Porsche. The 911 is the top model. That is the rule and Germans like rules. So they detune and won't turbo charge the Cayman engines to ensure they are never as fast as the top 911.

[anon]

John's actually right, it's an aftermarket addon for the cayman s that makes it turbocharged.

[Mad Scientist]

My advice is that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. The 911 turbo would just be frustrating.

[John]

That is a good point MS.

[Tejicano]

Yeah - I agree totally. I see dozens of exotics here in Tokyo - Ferraris, Lamborghinis, etc - and it makes me scratch my head. I loved driving a Porsche back in AZ where I had miles and miles of open road but to have something so fast in this concrete jungle would feel like being the best hung guy in San Quentin - nothin' to do with it worth thinking about.

[anon]

As dumb as it sounds, there is something really appealing about owning a car that you can terrify your friends when you floor it and feels a bit crazy.

Like you said, it can be terrifying. DSC or not, it's fucking absurd the power:weight ratio a 911 turbo has. The ass -always- feels like it's just about to give way.

[db]

I'm afraid to test drive a 911 when I go to the dealership that services my BMW. I'm afraid I might go home in one. And that is an expense I don't need right now.

[John]

Me either. But for some reason I have gone nuts lately and really want one.

[Pro Libertate]

I would like a 911. I deem it a good commuting car. I'd look good driving it across the bay. Will Obama give me one to buy my vote?

[PD Scott]

If by 911 you mean Chevy Volt, then maybe, but first you have to sit through this compendium of all of Obama's speeches.

[Pro Libertate]

I would not look good in a Volt.

[db]

So you're basically human? Who would have guessed?

[PD Scott]

Your bourgeois looksism has been noted, citizen. Expect some UAW workers to pay some homeless people to picket you soon.

[Sevo]

"Why is the 911/996 the unloved Porsche?"
Because the ratio between Fe and Fe(n)O(n) begins to change before it even leaves the factory.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

How to wreck a 911

[anon]

Damn, I thought that was going to be a vid of Paul Walker eating shit.

[Briggie]

My favorite is the one with the Toyota truck. He crashes it into a wall and even lets the tide come in and bury it, and miraculously it still worked.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Everybody Talks About the Weather, But Nobody Does Anything About It.

[PD Scott]

According to climate alarmists, yes, we all are.

[waffles]

I'm trying to warm this planet, honest!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Speak for yourself...wait a sec. I don't even recycle.

You were saying?

[Coeus]

"skeptic" angry at well-adjusted person for telling them to quit fucking whining about twitter already.

It's that last one that's truly infuriating. This isn't a matter of some random person at the supermarket or the bus stop or walking down the street saying something rude. If the someone who "said it to your face" is a co-worker or a neighbor or a fellow volunteer or any other category of person you encounter every day, and the someone "said it to your face" many times every day ? no you would not fucking laugh at them or ignore them.

[PD Scott]

I avoid social media like the plague, but don't you have to "follow" people to read their tweets? Or is this person complaining about responses to their tweets?

[A wild THANE appeared!]

No, if someone includes your username preceded by an @, you get notified.

[PD Scott]

Howdy THANE,

Seems like a good reason not to be a Twitter, then. Or just accept that some people out there are jerks who will say things you don't like and move on but I understand that's not the way things work nowadays.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to yell at some kids to get off my tundra.

[John]

If you don't like people saying mean shit to you, how about stop using Twitter?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you're forgetting something important: Everybody has a right to not be offended. So when someone says something you don't like on the Twitter-machine, or Faceypage, or Insta-Tits, or whatever the fuck, then they are bullying/othering you and you should whine until somebody does something about it.

[Mad Scientist]

you should whine until somebody does something about it.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

[John]

Chinese man meets internet crush and it is his daughter in law

http://www.dailydot.com/lifest.....mpaign=FTW

[Pro Libertate]

Isn't that some song?

[db]

+1 pina colada

[Ted S.]

Or if they hated each other beforehand, it could be The Shop Around the Corner or an inferior remake.

[Mad Scientist]

They'd better be careful. You can't even get away with that in W. Virginia any more.

[Brett L]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie before...

[A wild THANE appeared!]

When Wang asked to see a picture of Lili, she sent a photo of her friend. Finding her friend to be quite beautiful, he sent her a photo as well, not of himself but of a friend taken back in his military days.

[PD Scott]

If only people were honest with their profile pictures...

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Gym Stereotypes

[Warty]

I would eat each and every one of those skinny dudes for their protein content.

[Corning]

The naked old guy is my idle.

[The Other Kevin]

Mrs. the Other Kevin's sanity is slipping as winter vacation is extended for a third day due to the weather. She swears the superintendent was holding back a laugh on the voice message this time.

[The DerpRider]

Ugh. We just received the notice as well. It's like Thunderdome here. Need to get the damn kids back to school.

[Anonymous Coward]

Send the little crumb-snatchers out to shovel snow. That usually slows'em down a bit.

[db]

CPS may be off for the cold weather, but nebby neighbors never nap.

[Ted S.]

Home-school the bastards.

[The Other Kevin]

Unfortunately you can't just send them outside to play. They might actually die or something.

[Matrix]

Not content on how fucked up healthcare has become because of government intervention Vermont is trying to set up a single-payer system.

Well, New Hampshire, prepare for your state to be flooded with medical tourists.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Damn, where will Quebecers go now?

[OldMexican]

The former NBA players who have joined Dennis Rodman in North Korea are now expressing a little doubt about their decisions,

"The prospect of being given to the dogs will quickly make them forget their misgivings and improve their morale! Let's see some basketball!!"
"Yes, oh dear and wise leader!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Run Run Shaw, Legendary Hong Kong Media Mogul and Creator of the Kung Fu film Dies at 106

Pai Mei was unavailable for comment.

[db]

"That's right! I KILLED your MASTER!"

[A wild THANE appeared!]

http://reason.com/blog/2014/01.....u-genre-de

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course Krayewski would post this story at 7 in the morning when I'm busy trying to sleep and stay warm.

[Anonymous Coward]

Obama Is Shocked, Shocked, That Anyone Would Live on the Dole

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, two weeks ago Congress went home for the holidays and let this lifeline expire for 1.3 million Americans. If this doesn't get fixed, it will hurt about 14 million Americans over the course of this year -- 5 million workers along with 9 million of their family members, their spouses, their kids.

Now, I've heard the argument that says extending unemployment insurance will somehow hurt the unemployed because it saps their motivation to get a new job. I -- I really want to -- I want to go at this for a second. (Audience murmurs.) I -- you know, I -- (applause) -- that really sells the American people short. I meet a lot of people as president of the United States and as a candidate for president of the United States and as a U.S. senator and as a state senator. I -- I meet a lot of people. And I can't -- I can't name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. (Applause.)

The long-term unemployed are not lazy. They're not lacking in motivation. They're coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations. In some cases, they may have a skills mismatch, right? They may have been doing a certain job for 20 years. Suddenly they lose that job.

[Pro Libertate]

Incentives, how do they work?

[Apatheist ?_??]

5 million workers along with 9 million of their family members, their spouses, their kids.

No they aren't, that's the problem.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Off topic just came back from buying stamps. I normally don't give a shit about what's on them but for some reason I asked for another pack when I saw the royal couple - whathisname and the Canadian chick.

That's all they had left.

Oh well.

As you were.

[MP]

Stamps? What are you, a caveman?

[db]

She's Canadian? Shows how much I know about that Royal crap.

[db]

Also, how are you coping with the ongoing Canadian national tragedy?

[MP]

I though the tragedy was the Martin St. Louis snub?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I like Rick Nash - awesome specimen - but he should not have been included. I know, I get Babcock likes versatile players but he's not having a good year and he's not magically gonna pop goals in. I also find Marleau over Couture and Thornton suspect. Bouwmeester over Seabrook? Hm.

And the goaltending is just "o-kay."

I don't think Canada will repeat.

[Invisible Finger]

Couture is out with surgery.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It wasn't the reason he was left off.

He was interviewed and was told by Yzerman even if he was healthy he was out.

Like Tom Hagen.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh, whatever will I...do?

[Ted S.]

I thought you were talking about the Hosers not winning the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, that's the "other" national tragedy.

Irksome to lose to those Russian punks twice in a row like that though.

[The Late P Brooks]

I meet a lot of people as president of the United States and as a candidate for president of the United States and as a U.S. senator and as a state senator. I -- I meet a lot of people. And I can't -- I can't name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. (Applause.)

Mind boggled.

[db]

Just shows how out of touch he is. Of course, most people when in contact with others they don't know will say they just want an honest living, but there can't be many actual Americans who haven't met at least one person who lives on the dole and is smug about gaming the system.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Out of touch, or just a liar.

[Ted S.]

Why not both?

[John]

He is not a secret Muslim or some communist Manchurian candidate. Obama is a typical brain dead upper middle class lefty. He is totally out of touch with reality. Go on any college campus or to any big non profit and you will find thousands of Obamas.

[Heedless]

You're giving him too much credit - I pretty much fit into that demographic (minus the lefty part), and it took me less than a week working mental health outreach in Chicago to meet someone who was gaming the welfare system. Obama spent years working as a community organizer here. He is lying his ass off, pure and simple.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I hear this a lot from leftists. They don't understand incentives or the economic way of thinking.

Also, if they admit that government programs encourage dependency, they'll be forced to acknowledge that their programs aren't as beneficial as they tell themselves they are. That would hurt their feelings.

[John]

If you ever notice, lefties are always solid upper middle class and have little experience in the world outside of their own class. They have no clue how poor people actually think.

[Tejicano]

Yup. They have read studies about the "chronic poor" and the "psychology of poverty" but if you've never shared your sack lunch with a buddy in 6th grade because he hasn't eaten since yesterday morning (or something similar) - and never known anybody like that - it might just not sink in.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So that's what it has come to, America?

This sort of sad, pathetic rhetoric?

This is the great orator?

Fall of the West for real.

[BigT]

I meet a lot of people

...on the golf course, on the beach in Hawaii, at Mandela's funeral, and at state dinners.

I can't name a time where I met an American who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job

Surprise!!

[The Late P Brooks]

The long-term unemployed are not lazy. They're not lacking in motivation. They're coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations.

Here's a suggestion: STOP MAKING THINGS WORSE.

[Coeus]

We need to replace finical literacy training with propaganda.

Trying to take some of these realities into account, a small group of educators is fundamentally rethinking the concept of financial literacy. Chris Arthur is an eighth grade teacher and a Ph.D. candidate in education at York University in Toronto. When he taught the subject in the past, he exposed his students to the Great Piggy Bank Adventure, a traditional financial literacy game produced by T. Rowe Price and Disney, and introduced them to the business concepts promoted by Junior Achievement, the children's entrepreneurship organization. But last year he also made them play an online game called Spent, which is not a financial literacy product at all.

Spent was designed a few years ago for the North Carolina charity Urban Ministries of Durham. The concept is simple. The gamer assumes the role of a low-wage worker?like, say, someone at McDonald's?attempting to get by until the end of the month. Players are faced with a relentless series of decisions and tradeoffs, and almost anything?a gift for a child's birthday ?can send them into a financial downward spiral.

Needless to say, it's just about impossible to achieve anything resembling financial success in the game of Spent. And that's the point.

[John]

Tell kids that working hard will never get them anywhere. That is a great message to send. Go die in a fire Chris Arthur.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Anything that encourages individuals to succeed must be stomped out.

What is wrong with these people?

[Ted S.]

Then stop spending tax dollars to educate them, too. 😉

[Invisible Finger]

You call it educating, I call it brainwashing.

[KWebb]

My high school econ class followed the JA curriculum, and part of it was starting and running a business. Everyone in the class was supposed to buy shares in the enterprise on the day we started, but most of the class wasn't paying attention. I ended up owning about a third of the business for $6. I sat on my ass and did nothing for the rest of the year and ended up with $150 when everything was liquidated.

That turned me in to the heartless libertarian capitalist I am today.

[VG Zaytsev]

The concept is simple. The gamer assumes the role of a low-wage worker?like, say, someone at McDonald's?attempting to get by until the end of the month. Players are faced with a relentless series of decisions and tradeoffs, and almost anything?a gift for a child's birthday ?can send them into a financial downward spiral.

I'm guessing that getting a 2nd job is not an option in the game.

[The Late P Brooks]

My advice is that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. The 911 turbo would just be frustrating.

Bingo. Old, light cars with skinny tires are fun to drive.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

VORTEX THIS: Iqaluit has had 5 hours of 80mph winds.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That reminds me.

Where can we watch 'North of 60' reruns?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Whistleblower says UK hospital locks some elderly (and child?) patients in their rooms - some of tge security guards were upset.

http://www.bit.ly/19QRiwi

[Eduard van Haalen]

Source: LifeNews quoting the Telegraph

[Ken Shultz]

"The Environmental Protection Agency wants to force wood stoves to reduce their emissions by 80 percent by 2019. The rules won't affect existing wood stoves."

My understanding is that wood stoves are practically carbon neutral.

[db]

It's not that; it's the EPA getting back to its roots of regulating emissions that matter. A lot of wood stoves emit considerable amounts of particulate matter. I don't agree with them getting involved in people's home heating decisions, but wood smoke, when emitted by large numbers of people, can create serious respiratory hazards.

[Ted S.]

I live in the middle of nowhere. My particulate emmissions aren't going to affect anybody else, thank you very much.

[db]

Yes, and I said I don't like the EPA being involved. But in a libertarian contract-related emission control regime, if you lived in a more densely populated area, you could probably expect to pay some restitution or be required to put in a low-emission unit.

[Corning]

My understanding is that wood stoves are practically carbon neutral.

Every stove I have ever seen has a bunch of ash in it.

They are carbon sinks.

[db]

The ash is just that, "ash." Meaning it is made of non-carbonaceous mineral material.

[Corning]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonate

[BigT]

There is some CaCO3, but most ash has K2O, MgO, SiO2, Fe2O3, and a host of other trace minerals. The Carbon content is pretty low. And since the wood normally contains ~45% carbon, at least 98% of the carbon is combusted to CO2. The combustion itself is not carbon neutral.

Of course all that carbon came from CO2 during the growth of the tree. Whether something is considered carbon neutral depends on where you draw the boundaries of the calculation.

But really, WTF difference does it make. With either wood or coal you are releasing CO2 to generate energy. Coal combustion is usually more efficient due to economies of scale, whereas your wood stove is sending a large part of its heat up the stack.

Burn, baby, burn!! We need more CO2 to keep the planet from falling into another ice age.

[db]

During combustion at high enough temperatures, CaCO3 decomposes and evolves CO2. The Ca then combines with water (a combustion product) and forms Ca(OH)2

[db]

Or, the CaCO3 burns to CaO.

If Ca(OH)2 is formed, the extra H burns to more H2O.

[Ken Shultz]

The point is that wood as a fuel source is supposed to close to carbon neutral because the carbon you release when you burn it was carbon that was already in the atmosphere anyway.

This is in contrast to digging or drilling something out of the ground and burning it--which releases CO2 that was NOT already in the atmosphere. (Or hasn't been for a million years, anyway).

That's what I meant by carbon neutral. Yeah, you're releasing CO2, but you're not really changing the net CO2 in the atmosphere--that CO2 would have been released as the tree rotted anyway. With the fossil fuels we dig out of the ground, it isn't like that.

Now, I'm not saying burning wood is a sustainable solution for everybody, but there are areas of the country where wood is plentiful and regrows quickly. If you're using a wood stove, a geothermal heat pump, and a couple of solar panels, you can finance yourself to comfortable sustainability pretty cheap.

If you're so inclined.

I'm interested in it as more of an off-grid solution. I may never find a nice, sophisticated girl that wants to go live in the woods, but I'd like to keep the dream alive--damn EPA.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Montgomery v. Commonwealth (Va. Ct. App. Dec. 20, 2013) sets aside a man's rape conviction, because the supposed victim had come forward (several years after the conviction) to say she made up the story and her admission led her to be convicted of perjury

Besides Coast [the faux-victim], no other witnesses to the incident testified at Montgomery's trial. Neither was any corroborating physical evidence that an assault occurred ever presented. The trial judge categorized this case as a "word against word situation." In reaching his verdict, the trial judge concluded that Coast was more credible then Montgomery because she had "no motive whatsoever" to lie. The trial court then found Montgomery guilty of forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and object sexual penetration.

[Warty]

What are you, a MRA? BURN HIM

[Coeus]

Well, when you look at the number of convicted rapists and compare it to the number of women who've been asked more than once for sex, it's obvious that so many rapists get away with this that he's only bringing this to our attention in order to make it even harder. He's obviously a rapist himself.

[Killaz]

I'm sure the judge in that case being a man of integrity, serious disposition and ably bearing the gravitas of one with the responsibility of high office will now do what is appropriate of someone who made such a grievous error in judgement severely effecting the lives of others and kill himself.*

* can't find a reference to this person's name or gender in the entire article, that's odd.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

* can't find a reference to this person's name or gender in the entire article, that's odd.

I can't find it in the first few pages of the decision, either. Maybe it's because Montgomery was a minor (17) at the time of conviction?

[Killaz]

That would be a reason to withhold the name of an accuser, but I don't see why the judge would be anonymous. Other than there are people out there like myself who think he ought to commit seppuku.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Coast confessed to lying under oath at Montgomery's trial knowing that she faced criminal charges. She also knew that she would lose her job with the Hampton Police Department. On November 9, 2012, Coast was arrested for perjury and immediately fired from her job.

Emphasis mine

[The Late P Brooks]

Iqaluit has had 5 hours of 80mph winds.

That sounds like my house, last night.

I think I'll go see if I can make it through the drifts.

[Warty]

Because we all want to listen to a guy talk in Scots about Scots.

[Pro Libertate]

That fucking bitch in the second comment--she needs to be hung from her balls.

[PD Scott]

"If it's not Scottish, it's crap!"

[Corning]

"ef in note scots eit crep"

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Tiger Mom: Some cultural groups are superior

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese Chua and the Jewish Rubenfeld belong to two of the eight groups they deem exceptional. In no seeming order of importance, they are:

Jewish
Indian
Chinese
Iranian
Lebanese-Americans
Nigerians
Cuban exiles
Mormons

These groups ? "cultural," mind you, never "ethnic" or "racial" or "religious" ? all possess, in the authors' estimation, three qualities that they've identified as guarantors of wealth and power: superiority, insecurity and impulse control.

[Heroic Mulatto]

More importantly, Chua and Rubenfeld are married, thus their children are ubermenschen.

[Killaz]

Funny, no mention of German, Scottish or Japanese. I guess inventiveness is less important than an oppressive family structure in her scheme of things.

[Killaz]

Addendum: looks more like a list of what other parent nationalities I'll see at my kid's violin recital than anything else.

[Heroic Mulatto]

looks more like a list of what other parent nationalities I'll see at my kid's violin recital than anything else.

Well, that's not surprising considering it was composed by the Queen of the Tiger Moms.

[Killaz]

Exactly. I've read this status oriented drivel for decades now. There is much in the way of human activity which advanced the interest, prosperity and happiness of the people engaged in them Tiger Mom types have no clue about.

[Heroic Mulatto]

To be fair to Chua and Rubenfeld, their argument, as I understand it from the reviews I have read so far, is specifically limited to the present-day cultural context of America.

[Corning]

As well all know German Americans clog the gutters.

[Sidd Finch]

AFAICT it's groups that are recent enough immigrants to have a distinct culture, and Jews.

[Killaz]

Recent enough not to have rebellious kids who tell them to 'fuck off, but thanks for paying for all of those lessons. The Paganini arpeggios are going to land me a studio gig in LA where I'll be balls deep in pussy and snorting blow on the bellies of nubile teen runaways.'

[Killaz]

Unfortunately for me, I have a very cool mom. Making a Tiger Mom's life a living hell sounds like a lot of fun.

[db]

I know you're being facetious, but it's not odd at all that a Chinese would not include Japanese in a "favored races" list. Every time I have been to either country, I have met people who have quite publicly talked about how the other race is inferior.

[Corning]

Meanwhile everyone else on the planet can't tell the difference.

I think it is standard nature of man to hate his neighbor more then anyone else.

Just look at Britain. It is standard protocol to classify and hate people who live only an afternoon's drive away.

[Killaz]

I have no dog in that fight, but on the average, I do find Japanese women to be more to my liking both in personality and beauty. I can usually differentiate between the two, correct that, my dick can. Chinese and Japanese guys all look alike though.

[Tejicano]

The largest cultural gap I can point to between Japanese and Chinese (generalizing, of course) is that a Japanese would rather work his way up in a large organization while a Chinese would rather work for his own small/medium-sized company.

Japan has legions of huge corporate conglomerates while Taiwan and Hong Kong (PRC is a bit young to use as an example just yet) only have a few ranks of large companies.

[Corning]

Germans snubbed again!!!

[db]

As a person of northern European/Scandinavian/German heritage, I don't get worked up about that...my ancestors have basically fucked their way across the Northern Hemisphere.

[Corning]

I was being sarcastic.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Has anyone blamed the polar vortex on Bush yet?

[Coeus]

I just realized that Connor is a genetic dead end.

Now, I'm a 6-foot-2, 195-pound man. I've never worried about my physical safety on the street

???

[Warty]

He's a twig.

[MP]

Yeah, well speaking of MMA, when I see a guy like Nate Diaz, who's 6', cut down to 155, boy does it make me feel like a fat fuck. And I'm 5'11" 169.

[Pro Libertate]

Hey now!

[Coeus]

And unless he lives in a retirement community, probably a short-lived twig. Though I'm 6'2 200. I might not be a rape juggernaut like yourself, but I'm shaped more like a triangle than a twig.

[Corning]

Warty relaxing in his back yard:

http://www.barbariankeep.com/barbar.jpg

[Heroic Mulatto]

Why Melissa Harris-Perry is America's foremost public intellectual, and what she means

I...well,...mm...Y...no....

[Sudden]

That is because the conservative movement does not believe that racism is an actual issue to be grappled with, but sees it instead as a hand grenade to be lobbed into an enemy camp.

The projection is strong with this one.

[paranoid android]

Why Melissa Harris-Perry is America's foremost public intellectual, and what she means

I was was not surprised to find that Coates had difficulty developing an entire article based on this premise, and instead had to devote more than half of it explaining what a bunch of racists Mormons are.

Honestly, with Milton Friedman gone, I seriously have trouble naming anybody generally considered a "public intellectual" that I don't think is an absolute fool and/or charlatan.

When people think "public intellectual" in our age, they think of Melissa Harris-Perry and Thomas Friedman.

Think about that. But don't think about that if you're close to any sharp objects or high ledges at the time.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Thomas Sowell?

[Heedless]

Stephen Hawking

Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Jared Diamond

Camille Paglia

Doris Kearns Goodwin

None of them make me ashamed to share a subspecies with them.

[PH2050]

Hawking claimed that a civilization capable of interstellar travel would most likely be hostile as it would seek the resources of Earth for its own use. A ridiculous claim to make as such a group would have mastered matter at the atomic and possibly subatomic scale.

Much of Diamond's book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" has been soundly refuted and he has even admitted such.

[VG Zaytsev]

TNC is a thin skinned pussy and professional race baiter.

[PapayaSF]

So Democrats are simultaneously telling us that the recession ended years ago, thanks to Obama, but we need to keep extending unemployment benefits?

[Elspeth Flashman]

They can have their cake and eat it too, b/c of the water carriers in the press.

[Dave Krueger]

The Senate advanced another extension of unemployment benefits, but even if it passes it has a much tougher challenge in the House, as Republicans want cuts elsewhere to offset the costs and other concessions.

I don't get it. Can't the president just decree an extension to unemployment benefits? He decrees a lot of other shit. Oh, wait. He's probably afraid he will awaken the sleeping giant, Congress.

[Dave Krueger]

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to force wood stoves to reduce their emissions by 80 percent by 2019. The rules won't affect existing wood stoves.

Why not just demand that cleaner trees be grown?

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Meanwhile, in Canuckistan

Scientists say the closure of some of the world's finest fishery, ocean and environmental libraries by the Harper government has been so chaotic that irreplaceable collections of intellectual capital built by Canadian taxpayers for future generations has been lost forever.

Many collections such as the Maurice Lamontagne Institute Library in Mont-Joli, Quebec ended up in dumpsters while others such as Winnipeg's historic Freshwater Institute library were scavenged by citizens, scientists and local environmental consultants. Others were burned or went to landfills, say scientists.

Furthermore, the government is falsely claiming that vital content is being retained by extensively digitizing material from nine regional libraries that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) whittled down to two.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My native land (true north north strong and free my ass) has done enough damage on the world stage given we had an influential role to play in the global warming issue going back to the early 70s.