A.M. Links: No US Troops in Iraq Again, Yet, White House Defends Joe Biden From Bob Gates Criticism, American Military Helicopter Crashes in England

• 

  Defense Dept.

  General Ray Odierno, the army chief of staff, says the U.S. ought to take a "wait and see" approach to sending troops into Iraq, though the time was "certainly" not now.  The U.S. and Iran both denied cooperating on the fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Meanwhile in Syria, rebel commanders warned Al Qaed- linked jihadists that they ought to surrender or face "massacre," giving them 48 hours to make a decision, and non Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamist fighters have reportedly seized an Al Qaeda headquarters in Aleppo.

• Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' new memoirs call into question the competence of several members of the Obama administration, including the president. The White House has responded to Gates' characterization of Vice President Joe Biden—Gates called him a man of integrity who was nevertheless "wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades"—by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.
• An American military helicopter crashed off the coast of North Norfolk in England, killing four.
• The FAA says hobbyists can fly remote controlled aircraft, but when a journalist used a drone to capture footage he wanted, the FAA says that was commercial activity and therefore illegal.
• The "polar vortex" sending cold air across North America can be felt as far south as Atlanta. It's colder than a summer's day on Mars.
• The mayor of Durham, North Carolina announced a report on the November death of a teenager in police custody will be out before Friday. Cops say the teen shot himself in the head while handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser.
• Sony says it's sold more than 4.2 million Playstation 4 units since the console's November release, more than 1 million more units than Microsoft said it's sold.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hi-ya, Rufus! And what a difference seven degrees makes.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seven? You’re lucky! Up one degree here to -13c – which is normal this time of the year.

Hello.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sorry, I was saying hi to another Rufus.

[Steve G]

well dun

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Now don’t I feel like an idiot.

Yeah. And what’s up with that guy using my name and initial?

See the confusion?

[Fist of Etiquette]

He’s still around? Anyway, I just figured that was you in disguise.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No. And people are assuming that.

Which is beginning to annoy me.

[Auric Demonocles]

I assumed you were copying him.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

uh oh….I am in trouble. I get my name from the name of my former band. I always hated pretentious sounding band names like “August Burns Red” or “Forever in Line”….shit like that. So one day my ex bass player was working and one of his coworkers yelled at him for doing something out of line. The coworker said to him, “Who the hell do you think you are, Rufus…..J. …..Fisk!?” at random. It was perfect for the taking, plus easily google-able.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Come to think of it, “Fisk” sounds awfully like part of another popular and beloved user’s name around here.

[Auric Demonocles]

Fist, you are not “beloved”. That’s reserved for… actually I forget who that was for.

[gaijin]

Interesting. ANd now we must here the origin of the name Rufus J Firefly so we can choose who has the best Origin Story??

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I call President!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wow.

What are the odds?

As long as they don’t think this:

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/rev…..ds7172.htm

[Ted S.]

Did you tell him something good? 😉

[Rufus J. Fisk]

ME!!!!?

[Snark Plissken]

+12C here, 50?N latitude, Gulf Stream for the win, biatches.

[Ted S.]

I’ve got an acquaintance who lives in the Finnish town of Kemij?rvi, just north of the Arctic Circle. Yesterday they were 10 Celsius degrees warmer than what I had here in the Catskills.

[Snark Plissken]

Pretty wacky, but I can’t complain.

[GILMORE]

“”Yesterday they were 10 Celsius degrees warmer than what I had here in the Catskills.””

And how much hotter are their chicks?

Lots hotter.

[Lord Humungus]

Let us give homage

This is the 3,000-year-old tomb of Egypt’s chief beer brewer

Egypt’s minister of antiquities says Japanese archeologists have unearthed the tomb of an ancient beer brewer in the city of Luxor that is more than 3,000 years old.

Mohammed Ibrahim said Friday the tomb dates belonged to the chief “maker of beer for gods of the dead” who was also the head of a warehouse.

[Aloysious]

*bows*

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Who made Egypt’s artisanal mayonnaise?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Someone who was rather, retentive about it, perhaps?

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Mmmmm, beer…

[gaijin]

Egyptian Beer tastes like cat piss.

[PD Scott]

Well, they did venerate cats…

[robc]

They used Citra hops?

I love them, but many people think they taste like cat piss, which makes me wonder about their drinking habits in general…but I get where they are coming from, the aroma is…interesting.

[Clich? Bandit]

I can’t quite make out the grain bill in that photo…

[Clich? Bandit]

Ya know what we need? An Emmer Wheat…summer will be here soon if the CAGW nuts are correct, might as well have a beer ready.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ new memoirs call into question the competence of several members of the Obama administration, including the president.

Like the president is a integral part of that administration.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Warmongers gonna warmonger. Biden wanted out of Afghanistan.

The vice president emerged the victor on Afghanistan strategy in 2009, and his formula?avoid costly meddling on the ground, kill terrorists from the air?has guided Obama’s approach to the entire Arab world, says Peter Beinart.

In retrospect, most of what Barack Obama has been doing?and not doing?in response to the Arab Spring was foreshadowed by a debate between Gen. David Petraeus and Joe Biden back in 2009. Petraeus, you’ll remember, wanted to dramatically expand America’s counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan. He didn’t just want 40,000 more troops. In conjunction with Hillary Clinton, he also wanted a vast “civilian surge,” swarms of American agricultural experts, engineers, and diplomats who would fan out into the Afghan countryside and do the hard work of nation building on which the Bush administration had skimped.

Biden pushed back hard. Nation building in a country as destitute and decentralized as Afghanistan, he argued, was hopeless. Besides, the Taliban didn’t threaten America; al Qaeda did. And America could handle al Qaeda with a small number of Special Operations troops on the ground supporting an aggressive, drone-dominated campaign from the air. Biden called it “counterterrorism plus.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a…..roach.html

[BigT]

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

[MJGreen]

It’s always nice when you state something that is explicitly contradicted by what you cite.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You can’t read then. The problem with Iraq wasn’t in killing Saddam – it was the massive occupation and nation-building. Biden opposes such in Afghanistan.

[a better weapon]

You have to wonder if President Obama has CNN on while vacationing and is just now learning who Robert Gates is.

[Drake]

Breaking news – Joe Biden is an idiot.

[Palin's Buttplug]

“Iraq will greet us with flowers!”

(Not Biden)

[some guy]

It is, in fact, possible for more than one person to be an idiot. Multiple people can even be idiots at the same time!

[CampingInYourPark]

Following is an alphabetical listing by state of how each senator voted on President Bush’s Iraq resolution. A “yes” vote was a vote to grant President Bush the power to attack Iraq unilaterally. A “no” vote was a vote to defeat the measure. Voting “yes” were 29 Democrats and 48 Republicans. Voting “no” were 1 Republican, 21 Democrats, and 1 Independent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..101002.htm

[BigT]

Biden, Clinton, Schumer, Feinstein, Reid, Baucus = warmongers!

[Clich? Bandit]

Lincoln Chaffeee….fuck, thank god for Rand now.

[some guy]

Also, there’s these.

Technically true is the best kind of true.

[some guy]

1987 called. It wants its headline back.

[Lord Humungus]

United States sending more troops and tanks to South Korea

The United States said on Tuesday it will send 800 more soldiers and about 40 Abrams main battle tanks and other armored vehicles to South Korea next month as part of a military rebalance to East Asia after more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The battalion of troops and M1A2 tanks and about 40 Bradley fighting vehicles from the 1st U.S. Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, will begin a nine-month deployment in South Korea on February 1.

[DJF]

South Korea compared to North Korea has twice the population, far more then ten times the economy, access to the highest technology and yet the US is borrowing money and risking US lives to defend it.

And even though North Korea is supposed to be a major threat to South Korea the US spends twice the percent of GDP on “defense’ as South Korea.

How about instead the US stops wasting money on the defense of South Korea and instead use the money to try to stave off bankruptcy

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Hahaha good one DJF!

[BardMetal]

Next he’ll be telling us that G8 members like France and Germany should pay for their own defenses.

[Swiss Servator, KALT!]

Unthinkable!

[Rich]

use the money to try to stave off bankruptcy

You obviously know *nothing* of economics.

[Free Society]

use the money to try to stave off bankruptcy

You obviously know *nothing* of economics.

Everyone knows that the economy is only as good as the government’s budget. /progderp

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seriously, not only that, their athletic programs have been on the rise too.

[Bardas Phocas]

How about instead the US stops wasting money on the defense of South Korea and instead use the money to try to stave off bankruptcy.

That’s not the winning attitude of a Glow-ball Leader, son.

[Lady Bertrum]

But spending money (on the defense of SK) is better than saving money because multiplier.

Derp. Derp.

[Bill Dalasio]

I’ll add, what exactly are we getting for all the money we’re spending protecting S. Korea?

[Being Waterboarded]

Bulgogi beef. And Kimchi.

[Agammamon]

This?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

[BFawlty]

and this…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpZhZAr1cQU

[Drake]

Sending a tank battalion back to Korea isn’t a major deployment. I think we still only have a Brigade there and the shell of a Division that can be reinforced pretty quickly.

What you can’t do in a hurry is move 70-ton tanks to the other side of the world.

[BSubversive.com]

Any country that can sell us cars can pay for their own fucking defense.

[CE]

You mean, a mere 28,500 troops, 60 years after hostilities ended?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U…..eployments

[sarcasmic]

That’s got to hurt! Student designs ?85 machine gun that fires 14 RUBBER BANDS a second
The rubber band machine gun is able to fire 672 rubber bands up to 26 feet (eight metres) at a rate of 14 shots a second from its 16 barrels
It was created by an 18-year-old Ukranian design student who was inspired by the working of the Gatling gun – an early rapid-fire weapon
The gun is set to go on sale early this year for around $140 (?85) and comes in three colours

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci…..econd.html
The video is actually pretty cool.

[a better weapon]

I could see this getting the Bucky Ball treatment if it makes its way here.

[Rich]

Also: Why does anyone *need* a rubber band machine gun?

[CE]

Well, clearly there’s a need, but how about some reasonable regulation of these things? 672 rubber bands? No one NEEDS more than 50 rubber bands in a clip.

[gaijin]

The interesting invention to me is the reloading mechanism. Whatever that guy does, he has some good problem solving skills that could be put to marketable use.

[R C Dean]

Same here. I’ve seen other rubber band gatlings, but the apparent tedium of reloading always kept me away.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.

Evidence backs that up.

[Shirley Knott]

Well, half of it anyway.

[Elspeth Flashman]

My version: . . . by claiming Biden is, in theory, competent, and that Obama reliably ignores his counsel every day.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe Biden is competent. You don’t know what his job is.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I said, in theory, which means maybe he is.

[R C Dean]

Good point, Fist. Not sure what his job is either, but I think it involves a bucket of warm spit, no?

[Mainer2]

+ 1 John Nance Garner

[db]

Nobody is attempting to say what Biden’s area of competency is, however.

[Elspeth Flashman]

OK, I meant “in theory, competent” for what (I’d assume) his job would be.

[some guy]

Who’s more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?

[sarcasmic]

Video shows grinning cops smashing suspect into a wall before they pepper spray him
Three officers in Seabrook, New Hampshire have been suspended with pay after video from 2009 of an alleged assault on a suspect was made public
Neither the officers nor the suspect have been identified yet
It is not known what the suspect was arrested for

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..y-him.html

[Mainer2]

This is the sort of isolated incident that may give the appearance that the police mignt not have acted professionally. However, we should withold judgment based merely on what we see in this video. Let’s wait until the full story comes out after a thorough and impartial investigation that will go on long enough for the public to have forgotten this even happened.

[mnarayan]

Also were they trained not to bash people’s heads into walls? If not, then it’s a systematic issue which means no one is to blame.

[Root Boy]

Right on man, should only take a few more years than the 4 years it took to release the video tape.

Officers will probably be retired and on a fat pension by then, but that’s justice.

[R C Dean]

Well, so long as its a paid vacation . . . .

Also, love the “alleged” assault. Its on video for the world to see, but apparently it may or may not have happened?

[Mainer2]

BTW, thank you for answering my question about standing and amicus briefs yesterday. However, my question was more about what qualifies a person or group to file an amicus brief. I mean, can just anyone do it ? (especially given the relatively stringent requirments to have standing in the first place.)

[Elspeth Flashman]

Newspapers have to say “alleged” until there’s a verdict, otherwise, defamation charges. At least that’s what I learned when I worked at newspapers.

[The Last American Hero]

You’re a lawyer, you tell me.

[Root Boy]

An even worse case for you….

http://hotair.com/archives/201…..estrained/

1) don’t call the police on your kids
2) I would murder that detective if this was my kid

[Bill Dalasio]

With pay? So, in other words, they got a vacation.

[Bee Tagger]

It’s colder than a summer’s day on Mars.

It’s even colder than the chemistry between the actors on Life On Mars

[Auric Demonocles]

All I hear from this is that global warming is so bad that it’s heated Mars up a bunch now too.

[CE]

Mars One whittled down their list of 200,000 applicants to 1,058 serious contenders to be the first human on Mars. Provided Mars One can crowd source 6 billion or so in the next 10 years, and the astronauts don’t mind a one-way ticket. Still pretty cool, doing it without taxes.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/s…..ts-010214/

[waffles]

It’s colder than a summer’s day on Mars

How does that compare to a witch’s tit?

[a better weapon]

I watched The Daily Show the other day for the probably the first time since college and he used a similar joke. Stewart has really lost his edge because your delivery was much better (no offense, its just that he gets paid for it).

He relies entirely too much on craftily edited clips and staring into the camera with a befuddled look entirely too much.

Maybe it was my recreational drug use, but I remembered him being funnier.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

When Oprah called him a ‘genius’ was when I bolted.

[Fist of Etiquette]

All Stewart’s time these days is spent looking for ways to blame Fox News and the GOP for things. That doesn’t leave much time left over for honing your skills.

[gaijin]

All Stewart’s time these days is spent looking for ways to blame Fox News and the GOP for things.

The curse of creative in the midst of middle age comfort…he’s milking his schtick cause it’s easier than creating something new.

[BigT]

Most entertainers milk their schtick, and sometimes get criticized when they change their acts.

Stewart’s act is much worse. He is simply a lazy shill. He has hosts of writers who must be able to come up with more than Fox news. But he chooses to use those bits. He doesn’t have the mental acuity to get into much more.

[waffles]

I heard that expression in Bioshock when the game explains why some paths are frozen. It’s such an odd [removed]some kind of faux Irish) that it’s hard to forget.

[Bill Dalasio]

My guess is that it’s a lot harder to be funny when you’re defending the establishment, which is what Stewart is now doing. When you’re challenging authority it’s pretty easy to point out it’s ridiculousness. Now, he’s in the position of trying to say that those questioning authority are the silly ones.

[The Last American Hero]

Stewart is only good when taking shots at those in power. Thus, since 2009, he just hasn’t had his heart into it.

[DontShootMe]

Martian witch, or Earth witch?

[Pro Libertate]

What is the airspeed of an unladen witch?

[Citizen Nothing]

I…I don’t know that! Aaaaaaaaa.aaa.a.a

[Auric Demonocles]

Nimbus or Firebolt?

[Pro Libertate]

Um, no.

[Clich? Bandit]

BAM! You’ve been Pottered.

[Creme Fraiche]

Maybe Hillary could be kind enough to tell us.

[Lord Humungus]

Four bikini-clad bandits grab Christmas lights and run in tiny South Johnstone

The scantily dressed lasses nabbed 30 solar lights, including three candy canes, from two Goroka Close homes before they were disturbed by a neighbour who chased them down the street, police said.

The group then fled across a nearby football oval and vanished.

An Innisfail police spokeswoman said the neighbour had woken up and spotted the four women, wearing only bikinis, skulking around his neighbour’s front lawn late on Sunday night.

[Brett L]

I like how in Australia, nobody needs to write “it is suspected alcohol may have been involved.”

[Palin's Buttplug]

Spring Breakers was surprisingly good if you view it as should be.

[mr simple]

I think I’ve seen that before.

Bikini Bandits

[CE]

Who makes a football field oval? It’s supposed to be rectangular.

[Lord Humungus]

Four bikini-clad bandits grab Christmas lights and run in tiny South Johnstone

The scantily dressed lasses nabbed 30 solar lights, including three candy canes, from two Goroka Close homes before they were disturbed by a neighbour who chased them down the street, police said.

The group then fled across a nearby football oval and vanished.

An Innisfail police spokeswoman said the neighbour had woken up and spotted the four women, wearing only bikinis, skulking around his neighbour’s front lawn late on Sunday night.

[Lord Humungus]

it was so good I had to post it twice… yeah, that’s it.

[sarcasmic]

Don’t try this at home! Epidemic of cold-snap burns as dozens discover throwing boiling water into freezing air isn’t as easy as it sounds
Dozens of people have suffered burns by throwing boiling water into the air to create a snow cloud when it is not cold enough

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..elves.html
Um, actually it is as easy as it sounds. It’s just that some people are, well, stupid.

[waffles]

Yeah, wow. If you are unable to handle hot water then how do you feed yourself?

[Jordan]

They vote for TEAM GIMMEDAT.

[Rich]

Any incidents with liquid nitrogen yet?

[some guy]

LN2 is much safer than boiling water in any given quantity.

[Rich]

Please, just answer the question. 😉

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

There should be a law against that!!!

[Elspeth Flashman]

Staffers of the Detroit Free Press did this for its newsworthiness and then wrote a story about it.

[Zeb]

How easy does it sound?

[sarcasmic]

Bad shot? See the new bullet that expands into four rounds to make any target ‘almost impossible to miss’
New bullet designed by Advanced Ballistics Concepts expands into four connected parts as soon as it is fired
The parts create a diameter of 14 inches when fired from handguns and 24 inches when from shotguns, allowing targets to be hit in four separate areas in one quick round
Cartridges have been created in three different levels of ‘lethal’ – non, semi and fully
Called the Mi-Bullet, it will debut next week at the 2014 SHOT show in Las Vegas

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..-miss.html

[Ted S.]

Ooh, more ammo for the cops to spray and hit more innocent bystanders and bybarkers.

[gaijin]

cops to spray and hit more innocent bystanders and bybarkers.

That’s ok, they can charge the person they were shooting at with attempted murder. draw-win-lose

[thom]

My first thought was that when the thought police finally come for me they’ll be able to one shot me and my dog at the same time.

[SugarFree]

In Borderlands is was called a Double Anarchy. Best gun to take into the zombie DLC.

[Drake]

This stuff was thoroughly laughed at in gun blogs weeks ago. Basically shooting 3 .22 shorts strung together. Try finding any ballistic gel tests on the stuff.

[Juice]

I think it would be much better if those lines were much shorter. You don’t need a 10 inch diameter. 2 or 3 inches would be more than enough.

[DontShootMe]

Ammo designed expressly for the demonstrated marksmanship of NYPD. I guess markets do work.

[BardMetal]

I would love to see them compete in a marksmanship contest with the stormtroopers on the death star.

[DontShootMe]

I’m certainly not going to attend that event. I guess I could stand in front of the target and be safe…

[The Last American Hero]

Dude, did you see the blast marks on that Sandcrawler? Only imperial troops could be so precise.

[a better weapon]

The FAA says hobbyists can fly remote controlled aircraft, but when a journalist used a drone to capture footage he wanted, the FAA says that was commercial activity and therefore illegal.

Hmmm, so hobbyists can do it, but people using remote aircrafts as part of their job or livelihood can’t? Why, they make it seem like commercial interests and the profit motive encourage activity. Does Obama know about this?

[DJF]

What if my hobby is collecting money from taking photo’s using a drone?

[Matrix]

So those guys who fly RC helicopters at the mall hoping to sell them are breaking the law?

[Aloysious]

?by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.

unpossible.

[Aloysious]

Beat by Fist with the exact same comment. Again.

*rends garments*

[Steve G]

“Hey Joe, what’s the stupidist way I can say this?”

[sarcasmic]

Chicago’s gun ban is unconstitutional, says Obama-appointed federal judge, paving the way for residents to arm themselves
Windy City has defied 2010 Supreme Court ruling that forced state and local governments to observe Second Amendment ‘right to bear arms’
New ruling says Chicago can’t issue a blanket ban on all gun sales that would be legal in other cities
Existing law bans licensed dealers from setting up shop, and forbids citizens from giving guns to family members
City government worries about public safety while the gun lobby hopes to arm more law-abiding Chicagoans ? and see fewer violent crime victims
President Obama appointed Judge Edmond Chang, who issued the ruling

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..elves.html

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nice video on comparing homicide rates between USA/Europe.

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

[Medical Physics Guy]

That’s nice thank you

[Invisible Finger]

A this point the mayor and city council should be held in contempt of court.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…when a journalist used a drone to capture footage he wanted, the FAA says that was commercial activity and therefore illegal.

Ha! So much for your special protections, press.

[Juice]

This story is from October.
http://www.wired.com/threatlev…..rossroads/

But it’s summarized perfectly by the guy getting the shaft.

“How come the flight is less dangerous if you’re not receiving any compensation for it?” Pirker asks.

[CE]

Exactly. Seems like a professional drone pilot would be less risk to the public than an amateur.

[Bee Tagger]

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ new memoirs call into question the competence of several members of the Obama administration, including the president.

It sounds like he’s openly questioning the Rodman gambit.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Did former Bush people go out and write books about how bad he was?

I’m asking because I’m wondering if this is just the beginning when it comes to Obama/Biden. They seem so amateurish they’re ripe for being publicly ripped.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes. Scott McClennan and Paul O’Neil (Treasury) come to mind immediately.

[sarcasmic]

Move over Tracy Anderson! Ajay Rochester offers her diet and fitness tips via Skype for $380 after losing 20kg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..e-380.html
John pron!

[RBS]

At least I found this…

[sarcasmic]

Meet Heath Ledger’s brunette beauty stepsister Nadia Rosa who has become fast friends with bikini babe Lara Bingle

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs…..ingle.html
sarc pron!

[CampingInYourPark]

“Obama To Announce 5 ‘Promise Zones’ In Effort To Focus On Income Inequality”

On Thursday, Obama will announce the first Promise Zone locations. They’re in San Antonio, Texas; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; southeastern Kentucky and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

http://washington.cbslocal.com…..nequality/

[Ted S.]

“Promise Zones”? Why can’t they just get rid of regulations for everybody, and not just in politically-designated zones?

(That’s a rhetorical question, of course.)

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Onward!

/marches forward with serious, determined look swinging elbows. Gets distracted by little birdies in a tree.

[Spoonman.]

Is the San Antonio one so that they can claim success?

[Brett L]

I was thinking the same thing.

[CampingInYourPark]

You need to start thinking like an Obama bureaucrat. What do the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and San Antonio have in common?

[Brett L]

Local elected officials who are democrats in a republican state?

[Drake]

I’m going to guess this is a thinly disguised way to give the local Dems “grants” to throw around like party favors.

[Brett L]

I think the House outlook may be that bad. They have to play defense in one of their two remaining locked up constituencies.

[GILMORE]

”
Drake|1.8.14 @ 10:02AM|#

I’m going to guess this is a thinly disguised way to give the local Dems “grants” to throw around like party favors.”

Remind me again = what Democratic policy ISNT about throwing other people’s money at Dem constituents to throw around like party favors?

[The Last American Hero]

Minimum wage increases, which actually raise unemployment for people who generally would support populist democrats.

[Rich]

Promise Zones are areas where the federal government provides tax incentives and grants to help communities tackle poverty.

Like, for instance, *everywhere*?

[gaijin]

tax incentives

You mean spending in the form of lost revenue?
/derpist

[Bill Dalasio]

In other words, he’s offering them some relief from the very policies he’s looking to enact.

[Shirley Knott]

So he’s given up on Detroit?

[wareagle]

what’s worse: these guys believing govt can do something about income inequality or their supporters?

[CE]

Oh, government can do something about it all right. They can steal from the rich, and make them less rich.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Jack Kemp’s idea. Obama keeps ripping off the old GOP.

[Juice]

I can’t believed they passed on “Zones of Hope”.

[Lord Humungus]

Automakers work with BlackBerry’s QNX to develop synthetic engine sounds

The challenge is that every automaker wants a different sound, and the purr — or roar — of an engine can be as much an act of branding as it’s an exercise in authenticity. Kuhn said one manufacturer was very particular when it asked musicians to enter a recording studio.

“They wanted their car to sound like the cross between a certain brand of bass guitar and a snow leopard,” he said. “Different companies have different opinions. Some of them just want a certain kind of exhaust note.”

[T]

Mazda spent a shitload of time and money on this for the original Miata design, IIRC.

[Michael]

When Honda was developing the CBX superbike back in the late seventies, they sent sound engineers to a Japanese air force base to record fighters taking off. The goal was to duplicate the sound with the bikes exhaust system.

[Snark Plissken]

Sony says it’s sold more than 4.2 million Playstation 4 units since the console’s November release, more than 1 million more units than Microsoft said it’s sold.

That’s a lie. I clearly saw a tatted up Bill Gates win the console wars death match on South Park.

[R C Dean]

Well, that’s what a hideously bad product launch gets you.

“You must keep a camera on, pointed at your living room, and connected to the internet for this device to work.”

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Except you don’t, you don’t, and you don’t.

[KMA Too]

Well, not any more. Not after everyone complained about it being so at the unveiling.

Just sayin’…

[AlexInCT]

BRACK FRIDAY BUNDURU!

[Rich]

The White House has responded to Gates’ characterization of Vice President Joe Biden … by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.

Heckuva job, Joey!

[Invisible Finger]

So even Obama is blaming Biden for everything.

[Gilbert Martin]

“The White House has responded to Gates’ characterization of Vice President Joe Biden?Gates called him a man of integrity who was nevertheless “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades”?by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.”

If Obama relies on his counsel every day, that merely serves as further proof of Obama’s OWN incompetence – not Biden’s comptetence.

[Invisible Finger]

Maybe Obama actually said “console” and the idiot reporter wrote “Counsel”.

It would not surprise me that Obama uses a console television.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meanwhile in Syria, rebel commanders warned Al Qaed- linked jihadists that they ought to surrender or face “massacre,”…

Sorry, that was a typo. That or should have been an and.

[Swiss Servator, KALT!]

“surrender to face massacre”?

[Ted S.]

Winter hits Iceland too, as bus blows off road

There are even photos.

[Lord Humungus]

Former Miss Venezuela shot dead in attempted robbery

Responding to a reporter’s question about the incident, President Nicolas Maduro said he learned from investigators that the victims’ car burst a tire after running over something on the road, apparently placed by robbers to stop traffic.

Maduro said a tow truck arrived to help, but armed robbers also appeared – a common occurrence after dark on roads in one of the world’s most violent nations – and chased away the crew.

“They were inside the car and were riddled (with bullets),” the president said on state TV. “I ask those who assassinated this young person: what explanation do you have?”

[Jordan]

“They were inside the car and were riddled (with bullets),” the president said on state TV. “I ask those who assassinated this young person: what explanation do you have?”

Why would Maduro have anything against robbers? No honor among thieves, I guess.

[waffles]

Venezuela is terrifying. We only hear about this murder because she is somewhat famous, but this is a regular occurrence. So in what ways is the American war on drugs responsible for these murders?

[Redmanfms]

So in what ways is the American war on drugs responsible for these murders?

I’m gonna guess, no ways.

[SugarFree]

You stay classy, Jezebel.

dwaynemcgintyULindy West1L
Its always tragic when a hot person dies. Yesterday 5:32pm

bytchpleezeULindy West11L
Incredible. I always hate hearing about a person of privilige getting killed when thousands of ugly, poor people are being killed every day. like why did they kill her instead of a normal lookin ugly one. like guys come on lol Yesterday 5:35pm

chevron09ULindy West1L
There’s somethings you just don’t do… like traveling on a road after dark in a bad area. Car jackings are a common occurrence in all of Latin America. They lived there, they should have known better than to take that chance.

It’s terrible they were murdered and terrible that those robbers felt compelled to murder them. This is why you don’t flaunt your privilege. If you want to get rid of the violent crimes there has to be economic opportunities for everyone in the country, not just a select few. Yesterday 5:56pm

And, of course, Lindy West refuses to make the connection staring her in the face like an ocean of cupcakes:

Venezuela has been called the most dangerous country in South America, due to government and police corruption, arms proliferation, and its use as a transit nation for the Colombian cocaine trade.

Nothing else at work? Really?

[Jordan]

There’s somethings you just don’t do… like traveling on a road after dark in a bad area. Car jackings are a common occurrence in all of Latin America. They lived there, they should have known better than to take that chance.

So she was asking for it?

[waffles]

I guess victim blaming is just fine as long as the aggressor isn’t a drunk frat boy.

[Root Boy]

FIFY

I guess victim blaming is just fine as long as the falsely accused aggressor isn’t a drunk frat boy.

[Snark Plissken]

There’s somethings you just don’t do… like traveling on a road after dark in a bad area. Car jackings are a common occurrence in all of Latin America. They lived there, they should have known better than to take that chance.

Walking around late at night wearing skimpy clothes is an unquestionable right, driving after dark in Venezuela is really stupid and they should’ve known better.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sugarfree is proof that people like to self-torture by reading Jezebel.

I don’t know how you do it. But do it you do and I admire you for it. You.

[SugarFree]

I’ve spent the last few years building up a resistance to iocane powder.

[Clich? Bandit]

And as we all know Australia is entirely populated by thieves which means I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

[MJGreen]

The poor robbers “felt compelled” to murder a bunch of people. If only they had economic opportunities instead!

Also wondering why the president is asking for the murderer’s to explain themselves. Why would that matter?

(I know, Maduro’s a piece of shit, but still)

[Warty]

I just heard on NPR that cities with the highest crime don’t have a poverty problem as much as a wealth inequality one. So sad.

[Jordan]

Habeas corpus Still Dead, NSA Records Now Assist: Obama Signs NDAA 2014

Despite his promises to revoke his total discretionary powers of indefinite detention, President Obama has left them untouched?never know when they may come in handy?and the new and improved NDAA 2014 gives him a neat new added bonus: the ability to use, at will, the Total Information Awareness data being captured and indefinitely stored by NSA and other surveillance agencies.

[…]

In other words, the “Conflict Records Research Center” will share the unconstitutionally obtained information that the NSA has collected with the Department of Defense.

[…]

Since “belligerent” and “hostile” are not defined crimes, there will be no defense. Conveniently, since the president doesn’t have to bring a charge, there’s no need for a defense.

Thus, anytime it pleases him, the president (or any future president) can simply peruse the contents of the ‘Conflict Records Research Center,’ to identify those of us who may be “hostile” towards him.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Katherine Webb: I am not racist, I “accidentally” favorited that tweet.

You’re hot, but so so stupid.

[a better weapon]

And again with the racial coding! Is it racist for an English teacher to give a black or hispanic student anything less than an A-?

I was thrilled for FSU and elated that the SEC got a little bit of comeuppance for once, but I agree, Winston’s interview was pretty cringe-worthy.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Making herself look dumb aside, it is also amusing how she basically threw her boyfriend’s mom under the bus.

[wareagle]

AJ’s mom made herself look like an ass, not that this is new ground for her. And Jameis’ diction is more the rule than the exception among athletes.

[Brett L]

“You just won the biggest game of your life, there are 50000 people screaming your name, your coach is alternating between crying in relief and jerking off at the thought of his recruiting class, right here on TV. Jameis, try to sound like the seasoned pro athletes who have spent years practicing the soundbite.”

[RBS]

Seriously, if anyone would listen to his press conference stuff he’s actually more well spoken than most athletes.

[RBS]

Then there is the question of why are so many Alabama fans talking shit about someone who just beat Auburn?

[wareagle]

I’ll leave that for Caleb. There is no answering for bama fans, most of whom have spent the past several days proving both Sabans right about oversized expectations.

[CampingInYourPark]

Good point, but was it really a surprise that someone might interview him if they won the game?

[Brett L]

Is it really a surprise that his mind might not be 100% focused on the interview?

[CampingInYourPark]

Does your mind have to 100% focused to speak coherently? The guy doesn’t speak well. So what? He’ll be paid well to throw a ball and not for speaking.

[a better weapon]

The White House has responded to Gates’ characterization of Vice President Joe Biden?Gates called him a man of integrity who was nevertheless “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades”

I guess I’d have to know where Bob Gates stands on every major foreign policy issue from the last 4 decades to know if this improves my view of Biden or not.

[sarcasmic]

The FAA says hobbyists can fly remote controlled aircraft, but when a journalist used a drone to capture footage he wanted, the FAA says that was commercial activity and therefore illegal.

COMMERCE CLAUSE SMASH!

[CE]

But even drone hobbyists are committing commerce, since they could be taking pictures and selling them to journalists….

[Longtorso, Johnny]

CNN panel makes up facts to defend Obama from Gates criticism
…”I guess that’s something that struck me about the criticism of Obama for being committed to getting the troops out of Afghanistan,” Toobin, a CNN legal analyst, added. “First of all, Obama ? as Andrew just said ? promised to get us out of Afghanistan.”

In reality, President Obama did not campaign in 2008 on getting out of Afghanistan. He campaigned on getting out of Iraq and increasing troops in Afghanistan to defeat al Qaida and the Taliban….

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Toobin’s liberalism is getting the better of him.

[Fist of Etiquette]

MSNBC staffers are working overtime to come up with a pun on his name. Some combination of Gates and traitor. (Or maybe they’ll just hope someone poops in his mouth.)

[SugarFree]

GATOR!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

GATOR’S BITCHES BETTA BE USING JIMMY’S

[Wandering Texan]

Gator?

I gotta say, I wouldn’t mind that kinda endorsement from the opposition.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Gator 2.

[Rich]

Obligatory.

[Ted S.]

Also obligatory.

[Bardas Phocas]

Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnVoH8rxwfQ

[Ted S.]

Technically, shouldn’t “facts” be in sneer quotes?

[Lord Humungus]

Mark Warshawsky: Millionaires on Medicaid
Got a house worth $802,000, lots of savings and a nice car? You might still qualify for benefits.

We might accept these rising costs if benefits flowed only to the elderly poor, as originally intended. But that is not the case. Significant long-term care benefits flow to individuals in the top 20% of retirement earnings, enabled by Medicaid’s generous asset-exclusion limits.

In many states, an elderly person may own a home valued at $802,000, plus home furnishings, jewelry and an automobile of uncapped value while receiving long-term Medicaid support. In addition, they are allowed to have various life-insurance policies, retirement accounts with unlimited assets, $115,920 in assets for a spouse, income from Social Security, and a defined-benefit pension plan. By most standards, such a household would be considered wealthy.

[Juice]

Is that how Rand Paul’s son qualified?

[Lord Humungus]

Thieves stuff four cows into car boot

Thieves who stuffed four cows into the boot of their Proton Wira were forced to flee after the overloaded car broke down.

A farmer quickly recruited a search party after his cows went missing in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia, at 5am on Sunday.

Police were shocked to discover the abandoned car with the back seats removed – and four cows squeezed into the back.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

John pron?

[some guy]

I assumed they meant calves… not adult cows. Then I clicked the link. I’m surprised the bovines tolerated that.

[Lord Humungus]

China-Japan ‘Voldemort’ attacks up ante in propaganda war

China lambasted Japan on Tuesday for comparing it to Lord Voldemort, the villain in the Harry Potter stories, after both countries used the character to describe each other in a tit-for-tat diplomatic spat.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s December 26 visit to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals are enshrined along with other war dead, infuriated China and South Korea and prompted concern from the United States, a key ally.

[Steve G]

OOOOOOO! Throw some cold water on that burn!!

[Elspeth Flashman]

At least they weren’t comparing each other to Hitler.

[waffles]

Voldemort isn’t really worse than Hitler. If I recall correctly he wasn’t even 5% of a Hitler, couldn’t even kill a baby.

[Juice]

Am I the only one who has never seen a single Harry Potter movie and has no idea what the reference is about?

[The Last American Hero]

Who let the muggle in?

[Lord Humungus]

‘Out-of-control government’ still hitting conservatives

“I said, ‘If you have not been able to grant us a favorable status in two years, how could you grant it to us in two weeks?'” Munyon said. “Their comeback was that they ‘didn’t call to argue. We called you to help you.'”

Munyon said he didn’t want that kind of help from an agency now notorious for targeting conservative groups, flagging and delaying limited government nonprofits applying for tax-exempt status. Munyon, the leader of a small organization with limited resources, didn’t want to sign a document that could unwittingly land him in jail on perjury charges.

[seguin]

Huh. I just got hit by a spurious “Failure to File” fee too. On the very same statement is shows that I paid all the taxes I owe…

They must know I read Reason.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The mayor of Durham, North Carolina announced a report on the November death of a teenager in police custody will be out before Friday.

Friday, eh? I’m sure releasing the report right before the weekend doesn’t at all mean you won’t like its conclusions.

[Auric Demonocles]

Sony says it’s sold more than 4.2 million Playstation 4 units since the console’s November release, more than 1 million more units than Microsoft said it’s sold.

Must be that perfect day ad.

[a better weapon]

I made the switch from Xbox to PS. There was too much focus on the non-gaming aspects in the lead-up to the XB1 release and the fact it is bundled with a motion sensor that I would go out of my way to use made the decision pretty easily, in fact.

[Jeff]

Or the fact that it’s $100 cheaper and Sony didn’t try to fuck everyone up the butt with shitty DRM.

[Jordan]

Yeah, as a PS2 and PS3 owner, I was actually going to switch to the XB1, until all of that unfolded. What the hell was Microsoft thinking?

[Jeff]

I think that going from the abysmal failure of the original Xbox to the success of the 360 made them pretty full of themselves. Gaming companies already seem to regard their customers with a great deal of contempt, anyway, so I can easily see Microsoft banking on the idea that people will bend over and take it just to get their fix of teh Haloz.

It actually seems like a common pattern with these companies. The third console curse is no joke!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

The price point of the XB1 has kept me from being interested from day 1. And the DRM stuff sealed the deal. Once the consoles have their first price drop I will most likely get the PS4.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

What shitty DRM having buttsechs with me am I missing?

[Jeff]

They backed down from it after the internet went nuclear on them, but their original intent was to make you be online at all times to play your games. If you were disconnected you would have had, like, 5 minutes to reconnect before your game halted. Later this was changed to just having to check in every 24 hours, and finally dropped altogether.

You would also have had to trade in your games through approved retailers who would transfer the license for you, and each copy could only have been traded in once.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, I knew about that stuff. I was just wondering if there was something, you know, actually implemented that I should be upset about.

The always-on requirement would have been horseshit if for no other reason than I couldn’t play the freaking console if my cable modem went down.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Hell, I got both. They’re both cool, but the Xbox One is much more popular in this house because of the interface, running DirecTV through it, controlling the home theater system and TV, and the facial recognition login works better.

[T]

How do you have the time to game, what with supervising the orphans polishing your monocles and all?

[Auric Demonocles]

He’s got slightly older orphans for supervising.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

The trustee orphans handle most of the time-consuming tasks.

[Agammamon]

Dude, that’s why its so important to train your subordinates to be able to do your job – then you can spend all day in the mess drinking coffee and only come out two hours before knock-off with a ‘quick’ four hour job that suddenly needs to be done *right now* – its the military way.

[Lord Humungus]

Police: Women shoot fireworks at NYE reveler, steal his shoes

He said the women started shoving him then shot firework “poppers” at him, causing him to fall and injure his hip. According to the police report for the incident, one of the women stole the victim’s pair of Nikes after he went to the ground.

The victim told officers he had cold feet because the women took his shoes and he spent the night in the park. According to the report, he was unable to explain why he didn’t return to his apartment, which was less than a block away.

[The Late P Brooks]

Today on Morning Joke, we learned about marijuana. It makes us dumber, according to Scarboro (Mika was nowhere to be seen; most likely in the ladies’ room, curled into a ball hyperventilating). And then they mused about whether it would be worse for their children to smoke evil poisonous legal cigarettes, or the debbil weed. Nowhere, in their frantic worries about adverse health effects, did the topic of SWAT raids come up, or the possibility of a bundle of joy being shot to death in his (her) off campus apartment.

[Bill Dalasio]

“It makes us dumber, according to Scarboro”

I guess it’s not like alcohol kills brain cells or anything.

[Bill Dalasio]

“It makes us dumber, according to Scarboro”

I guess it’s not like alcohol kills brain cells or anything.

[GILMORE]

Have another drink

[Clich? Bandit]

Alcohol doesn’t kill brain cells.

[KMA Too]

I see what you did there, Bill.

[Ted S.]

Hockey player gets slashed in stomach, keeps on playing

There’s video in that article.

Soccer players would have been on the ground for an hour and a half.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hockey players are not normal. Toughest athletes in da wirld.

[NoVAHockey]

I’ve got a game at 11 tonight. not normal is right.

[Timon 19]

Indoor soccer is pretty much the same way.

[GILMORE]

“”Rufus J. Firefly|1.8.14 @ 9:19AM|#

Hockey players are not normal. Toughest athletes in da wirld.”

Said the Canadian

I guess you’ve never seen rugby. particularly the kind played by southern-hemisphere teams.

They think ‘time out’ is when you die.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Heh.

But being Canadian has little to do with it. Just because I am so doesn’t mean it can’t be accurate. Though it was tongue in cheek.

But rugby players – God bless ’em – don’t play on a sheet of ice, with blades, titanium sticks and a hard piece of rubber at high speeds.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A literal slash. You know what other Canadian got slashed in the stomach but kept on doing his job?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh, wait. It might have been his chest.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wolverine?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hitler.

[Agammamon]

Knife-slashed or Slash-shlashed?

http://themetapicture.com/slashed-tires/

[The Last American Hero]

And back in action moments after the penalty was called.

[SugarFree]

How long can they dance around a simple and very obvious three-letter word?

So? Of all the main castmembers, liking Lena Dunham’s dress the least. Sparkly and fun and yet! Something is off. Neckline too high? Armholes weirdly scooped? Unsure. The hair and makeup are fab, however.

oldenough2byourmamaUDodai Stewart191L
I think the waist and neckline are both too high on Lena’s dress. Love the dress in theory but the fit seems off.

LaGiuliaUDodai Stewart181L
Lena Dunham needs to fire her sylist, or get one. Whoever picks her dresses has no idea how to dress her shape and always, always makes her look awkward and almost cylindric.

iolarahUDodai Stewart191L
I want to like this dress, it seems fun, but there really is something off about it. Cap sleeves, slightly lower neckline, and maybe a knee-length hem, or below-the-knee with a light crinoline.

I think the armholes create too narrow a shoulder on the dress, and make Dunham’s broad shoulders and upper arms look even more so. That, along with a too-high waist on the dress and Dunham’s usual lack of a good bra, create an unflattering look for her.

From the neck up, she looks really good. Her hair and makeup are nicely done.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Ha, this one:

I very strongly believe that she wears unflattering things intentionally to reinforce her brand (“Atypical Actress”).

[Zeb]

That was actually my first thought. Isn’t her whole thing being kind of awkward and unattractive? She’s not morbidly obese, she could find clothes that look OK on her.

[Lord Humungus]

and the last comment is the most honest.

[Jordan]

Isn’t it othering or some other stupid shit for them to even discuss her appearance? Isn’t it a microaggression to notice that photons bounce off of women?

[SugarFree]

No. You can talk about clothes all you want. But you have to only talk about clothes. It’s like pretending to be confused that a white tee-shirt is turning red because you refuse to acknowledge that the person wearing it has been stabbed.

[waffles]

Yellow teeth too apparently.

[John]

I have to give Dunham credit, she at least bothered to bathe and put on some makeup. That is more than she usually does.

[SugarFree]

Her eyes are her only good feature. I love the brown-red-gold.

Hopefully the show continues to be a tragicomic trainwreck.

[John]

I actually watched it. And I hate to face the horror that Episiarch is right about anything, but parts of it were funny. But what was funny to me at least is how pathetic everyone on the show is.

The show really is a case of who owns the meaning of art, the creator or the viewer. Maybe Dunham intends for the show to celebrate the characters. I don’t know. Certainly a lot of the show’s critics think so. But I see it totally differently. If I were talented enough to write a show making people like Dunham look as stupid and worthy of scorn and ridicule as possible and to as much as I could discredit women under 30, it would look a lot like that show. By any objective standard, the show is horribly misogynistic.

[Zeb]

who owns the meaning of art

Definitely the viewer. Most artists are idiots in one way or another. Yet many produce good stuff despite their ridiculous ideas. The best art always is more than the creator intended.

[Redmanfms]

Both seasons were up OnDemand and I watched both of them. I have to say, I find the show hilarious, mainly because Dunham is so utterly lacking in self-awareness that she actually “explains” what is funny about the episode.

Hint deary, if you have to explain the “joke” it isn’t fucking funny, at least not for the reason you think it is.

I do have to admit though, watching a bunch of self-absorbed spoiled shitheads whine about the fact that the upper middle class success of their parents isn’t just magically happening for them is a whole lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. Especially Hannah and her “writing.”

[SugarFree]

Epi likes it, and for the same reason you do.

My favorite mental game is attempting to figure out who the protagonist of the show is supposed to be. The closet thing to one I can spot is Zosia Mamet’s character, and yet 99% of time I would be content to spend the rest of my life punching her in the face.

[John]

So what do you think Sugar Free, does Dunham intend the show to do what Episiarch and I think it does or is she really such a half wit that she doesn’t realize how insulting and misogynistic her show actually is?

[SugarFree]

I think to that anyone that could talk their way into an HBO series at 25 can’t be stupid, so either the show is a rather brutal takedown of her shallow cohort or she is making a realistic show inside a very thick bubble and can’t understand how pathetic is all seems from the outside.

There is ample evidence to argue both viewpoints and I’m fairly torn.

One thing that is a interesting point is that Marnie (Alison Williams) is reportedly modeled on her best friend (she was actually on show — playing the girl who made the headbands that dated Charlie.) So Dunham either hates her best friend or doesn’t realize that Marnie is the fucking worst creature alive. I just can’t decide.

[John]

I think it is made in the thick bubble. There is a long history of writers modeling horrible characters after their friends and the result of that has always been the friends feeling betrayed and angry.

A good example of that is Truman Capote’s unfinished last novel “Prayers Answered”. It was based on his high society friends and the excerpt that was published in the mid 70s was devistating to all of them. After that Capote was persona nongrata in all of his old circles.

What seems to be happening here is that Dunham and her cohort live in such a think self reinforcing bubble that Dunham has written what amounts to a “Prayers Answered” and none of them, including the author herself, is self aware enough to know what has happened.

[Redmanfms]

I think to that anyone that could talk their way into an HBO series at 25 can’t be stupid, so either the show is a rather brutal takedown of her shallow cohort or she is making a realistic show inside a very thick bubble and can’t understand how pathetic is all seems from the outside.

My understanding of the back story on her getting a show, namely the people she and her parents know and the funding she got for her first film implies that her getting an audience with HBO execs had more to do with who she knew and less than how smart she is. But she might also be brilliant, I don’t begrudge anybody using their social connections to get work either way.

Based on her after episode segments I’m under the impression that she (and her friends) live in an impenetrable bubble of conceit and self-absorption and simply don’t understand what incredibly repellent unsympathetic people they really are.

And yeah, Marnie really is the worst character in the show.

[John]

Redmanfms,

It is clearly a bubble. If it wasn’t, Dunham’s friends would hate her for basing such horrible characters on them. Instead, they think it is great because they see nothing wrong with the way they are. They are so depraved even holding up a mirror in front of them doesn’t phase them.

[Brett L]

M-A-N?

[a better weapon]

Eww?

[waffles]

Is it weird that I don’t know who these people are? Also when did fat become a pejorative rather than a description? People get tweaked about the strangest things.

[Lady Bertrum]

It’s telling that the most tastefully dressed women among the photos are Amy Schumer and Nicky Hilton.

[SugarFree]

Gaby Hoffman looks like she just realized it was the full moon and she is moments away from transforming into a werewolf.

[John]

That is kind of Gaby’s look. When she was a child actor she looked like she had potential to grow up into a decent looking woman. It didn’t work out that way.

[SugarFree]

On her best days she looks merely insane.

[John]

But crazy does have its charms.

[Bill Dalasio]

Nice to know the feminists at Jezebel are working double-time to break down those stereotypes about women only being capable of thinking about clothes and fashion.

[mr simple]

a bosom-revealing Tracy Anderson.

Is that slut shaming?

[Rich]

Mr. Draper’s proposed six states are called, from north to south: Jefferson, North California, Silicon Valley, Central California, West California, and South California.

So, when Texas secedes, we’ll have *63* states!

[Zeb]

I think that that joke just might be played out at this point.

[seguin]

You kidding? If Will Ferrell has shown us anything, it’s that ripping on presidents up to 5-6 years after their two terms is over apparently isn’t enough to play a joke out.

[The Last American Hero]

Are you kidding? I heard a Dan Quayle potato joke the other day.

[seguin]

You joking? Gerald-Ford-falling jokes are still being swapped at cocktail parties.

[CE]

57 – 1 (Texas) – 1 (California) + 6 (mini-Californias) = 61.

But I’m still voting for it.

[Ted S.]

For the cosmotarians:

Retired German national team midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger comes out of closet

Soccer and homosexuality….

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Natural fit?

[BSubversive.com]

Well duh, soccer is soo gay.

[Brett L]

Lots of guys get hard when they dive on top of the pile after a goal.

[Andrew S.]

This is actually a pretty big deal. He’s the biggest star in any sport I can think of that’s come out of the closet.

[Timon 19]

To be perfectly honest, this probably wouldn’t have happened (or would have happened much later in his life) if Robbie Rogers (L.A. Galaxy) had not come out earlier this year.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Maybe Rugby doesn’t count but Gareth Thomas is definitely a bigger star in the context of the sport and he actually played while out.

[Timon 19]

I hear you on that, but it seems that Rugby doesn’t translate as broadly, which is sort of weird, because even the BBC made a big deal out of Robbie Rogers, and the Beeb scarcely knows that MLS even exists.

Then there was Justin Fashanu well before any of these guys, but he came out after ending his career, then hung (or asphyxiated?) himself.

[robc]

Greg Louganis?

Every male figure skater?

[Clich? Bandit]

Every male figure skater?

Not all the Russian ones but yes all the others.

[Timon 19]

You seem awfully fascinated by the idea.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

80 retired cops and firemen arrested in NYC over social security fraud.

I was listening on the radio the problem is way deeper than this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01…..d=all&_r=0

Oh, look. My surprised and shocked face. See?

http://www.themainewire.com/20…..are-abuse/

Kudos to Maine for actually investigating EBT and welfare abuse. I can just imagine how bad it is in Massachusetts and here in Quebec where we probably have more welfare cases.

[sarcasmic]

Kudos to Maine for actually investigating EBT and welfare abuse.

It’s only because of our Republican governor, LePage. The legislature is up in arms about this, saying that merely investigating is an attack on the poor. After all, these programs operate with the best of intentions, so any criticism of the results is an attack on those good intentions.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I know. But still. He did call for the investigation. Someone has to stand up to those fools.

Attack on the poor. Please.

[Mainer2]

My last act before moving to NH was to vote for LePage.

[Ted S.]

It’ll be more surprising if they find 80 who are honest.

[Citizen Nothing]

The only ones still on the job are those too dumb to game the system.

[Ken Shultz]

“Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ new memoirs call into question the competence of several members of the Obama administration, including the president.”

When are you people going to learn?

Of course Obama is competent–he’s the president! If he was incompetent, how could he be the president?

And also, he’s on the news a lot. If he’s incompetent, then how come he’s always on TV?

P.S. Palin thinks she can see Alaska through witchcraft.

[Numeromancer]

And also, he’s on the news a lot. If he’s incompetent, then how come he’s always on TV?

He’s not only competent; Obama is Lucy-great: he has his picture on bubble-gum cards

[Rich]

Holder’s New School Discipline Guidelines: Stop Targeting Minorities

The recommendations are nonbinding, but, in essence, the federal government is telling the school districts around the country that they should adhere to the principles of fairness and equity in student discipline or face strong action if they don’t.

IOW, we’re “a nation of cowards”.

[wareagle]

well, wait a minute – first it was zero tolerance, now it’s affirmative action-based rules?

[waffles]

it’s an evolving policy

[Rich]

Holder said the problem often stems from well intentioned “zero-tolerance” policies that too often inject the criminal justice system into the resolution of problems. “Ordinary troublemaking can sometimes provoke responses that are overly severe …,” Holder said.

Let’s see, Eric … In what *other* war realm does similar stuff happen?

[a better weapon]

Why is the DoJ involved in this at all? I’d like to see bureaucracies have the same animosity and turf-guarding that law enforcement have for each other.

Sowing the seeds that would make the Dept of Education go ape-shit over these “recommendations” would do a lot to stem government bloat.

[Mike M.]

Why is the DoJ involved in this at all?

Because hatin’ on Whitey is Eric Holder’s sole mission in life.

[Lord Humungus]

The schools were shut down for two days, but thing are finally back to normal. I did, however, get stuck with the Honda while the wife drove my truck to work.

Regarding her new family law practice: On the Google Ads front, the first 6 weeks only netted one phone call. We made multiple changes to her website and keywords. Some additional investigation by the SEO salesperson shows that it’s taking more and more money to get the results that they initially promised. So after some adjustments – and using $$ amounts that were unspent from the previous month, she is now getting many more hits. Four phone calls in the past four days.

Of course clients being clients, many people balk at spending money for legal services – at least when you ask for a few hundred down. So far there seems to be a 50% “sign-up” rate.

[Ted S.]

“Works on contingency? No, money down!”

[Spoonman.]

Another path you could look into is doing demographic advertising – based on cookies they claim to be able to determine people who are looking for certain services. Of course the easiest thing to do is to take an existing client list and look for people who act like your clients.

[BakedPenguin]

You should be able to drill down fairly specifically. Also, if you’re just using search ads, you can specify terms and location of the searcher. So Google gets a search query for “family law” and the cookie says it’s from MI, and a text ad pops up for “Law Offices of Mrs. Humungous – specializing in family law – Wasteland, MI”

LH, if you don’t mind saying, what was the cost to get the one client? Also, are you using banner ads (display network), or just search ads?

[Lord Humungus]

banner ads, I do believe. I’ve been sort on the outside on all of this. I help out where I can but this is pretty much her show (negotiating with the sales guy, etc).

Cost is roughly $725/mo

[BakedPenguin]

You (or she) might think about some simple text search ads. If so, limit the search terms severely at first – the law firm name, “family law”, maybe “divorce law”. Slightly high-ish bids (bid per view) will ensure it gets in front of a lot of eyeballs, and it can be tweaked to deliver the best mix of views / cost. You just need to have daily total spend caps so you stay on budget.

I believe they can also restrict by cookie location. (The company I work for gets phone orders from across the country, so it’s not applicable to us).

Sorry if this is a bit much, but I never get a chance to talk shop. For whatever reason, either the people who hang out here aren’t SEMs, or don’t like talking about work. (Note, I actually do the sales reports, but I deal directly with the SEM, and you pick up things.)

[Agammamon]

If she hasn’t already – direct her to Popehat.

He has some good advice regarding SEO and marketing – if you outsource your marketing you outsource your ethics.

[Tonio]

Best of luck to your missus. Suggest that she also market to people searching for terms like “divorce law(yer)” since many consumers understand the term family law but don’t use it.

May hit you up for tube amp advice in the coming year.

[Rich]

One of the biggest questions around electronic health records is whether doctors and hospitals are using the technology to “upcode,” or charge for services that were not provided.

There’s no sugarcoating it — the Healthcare.gov developers upcoded.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Has Florida Man been replaced by Michigan Man?

A man accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend and partially stuffing her into a Christmas bag in the basement of her suburban Detroit home has entered pleas in the case.

http://www.freep.com/article/2…..istmas-bag

He tied her with electrical cord, and then tried to fit her inside a Christmas tree bag.

[Brett L]

See, this guy is smart. He fitted her for the bag before killing her, so he’s down for a plea with no prison time, and he knows he needs a bigger bag. Probably a budding serial killer.

[Elspeth Flashman]

The Christmas tree bag would have worked, too, if she’d have been unconscious or drugged when he put her in there. But she could make noise, so his plan didn’t work.

[Lord Humungus]

saw this on Drudge:

Alfred Hitchcock’s unseen Holocaust documentary to be screened

In the 1980s, the footage was discovered in a rusty can in the museum by an American researcher. It was eventually shown in an incomplete version at the Berlin Film Festival in 1984 and then broadcast on American PBS in 1985 under the title Memory of the Camps but in poor quality and without the missing sixth reel. The original narration, thought to have been written by future Labour Cabinet Minister Richard Crossman in collaboration with Australian journalist Colin Wills, was read by actor Trevor Howard.

Now, finally, the film is set to be seen in a version that Hitchcock, Bernstein and the other collaborators intended. The Imperial War Museum has painstakingly restored it using digital technology and has pieced together the extra material from the missing sixth reel.

the original version is viewable on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vYJ2rh53BQ

[John]

Why was it not seen in the first place?

And you have to love the Imperial War Museum. The Brits really do know how to run first rate museums.

[Citizen Nothing]

The Brits really do know how to run first rate museums.

This. We should probably just give them France and Greece.

[John]

Pretty much. The Greeks endlessly bitch about the British Museum having the Acropolis statues never mentioning that the are only there because a British colonial officer saved them from the Greeks, who were grinding them into mortar.

[Zeb]

And they would be in a lot worse shape had they been left in the pollution of Athens for all these years.

The British Museum is amazing. You could spend a week in there and not see everything.

[SugarFree]

I’ve held a piece of the Acropolis that was donated to our collections. We have one because Greeks were chipping off big chunks and selling them to tourists in the 1920s.

Victorians did the same thing to Stonehenge. After a tour all the gentlemen and ladies were given rock hammers in order to get themselves a souvenir.

[SugarFree]

Get ready to bark more than you ever thought you could barf. Seriously, this is worse that the pic of that guy with two penises.

[SugarFree]

*barf* Stupid autocorrect.

[Ted S.]

Shouldn’t there be a trigger warning about linking to Jezebel? 😉

[Jeff]

Meh. Obama’s droned cuter kids than that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ouch.

[RBS]

I think we have a winner.

[Root Boy]

we’re going to have to moderate you

[seguin]

I don’t know how you do it. I tried reading one thread…ONE THREAD, and I nearly vomited in rage at the generous slurping of authoricock.

[Palin's Buttplug]

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) – U.S. private employers added a bigger-than-expected 238,000 jobs in December, the strongest increase in 13 months, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 200,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from a low of 170,000 to a high of 240,000.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/…..08909.html

[Ken Shultz]

Jobs, like all good things, spring naturally from Obama’s love for us.

He is the provider and the decider.
He makes all green things grow.

[CampingInYourPark]

Recovery Winter!

[wareagle]

hmmmm…what happens in December that might prompt hiring?

[Sevo]

Well, we all have to help moving the stones so we can locate the winter solstice with accuracy.
Is that what you meant? Or did you mean shreek is a mendacious shit pile?

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin’s Buttwipe,

NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) – U.S. private employers added a bigger-than-expected 238,000 jobs in December.

Meanwhile, back in the land of Oz, Obama just told us that “we” need to extend unemployment benefits for 1.8 million couch potatoes because they can’t find jobs and because those benefits create jobs.

[Mike M.]

Really great pot story by the way, dude. It would have been absolutely perfect though if that stupid fucking head of yours had fatally slammed into a sharp corner or a cast iron table leg or something, but of course we’ll never be that lucky.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Apparently, it is hot in Qatar:

2022 World Cup to be Delayed?

[Brett L]

The selection committee can’t hear you because they are buried in piles of bribe money.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Giving the WC to Qatar was just about the dumbest thing FIFA under Shlepp Blatter has done – and there have been many.

There’s talk of moving it to the winter.

What a mess corruption makes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Like playing the Super Bowl in New Jersey?

[KDN]

Yes, because how could we ever expect NFL teams to play when it’s 40 degrees out? It’s madness.

[Andrew S.]

I actually agree with the troll this time. One thing about the Super Bowl is that it’s supposed to be about the best teams, minimizing or eliminating the effect of weather. Having a northern Super Bowl is dumb. I hope there’s a blizzard.

The Super Bowl should rotate between Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix and San Diego.

[CampingInYourPark]

One thing about the Super Bowl is that it’s supposed to be about the best teams, minimizing or eliminating the effect of weather.

Both teams in the Super Bowl will play in the same weather.

[wareagle]

and usually, that weather is about as controlled as every other aspect of an NFL game. This time, weather is a wild card.

[RBS]

Because playing in blizzard conditions is the same as playing when it’s 70 and calm.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Accurate, but meaningless. Unless, I suppose, you believe that, say, wind has the same impact on a running team as a passing team.

[CampingInYourPark]

Accurate, but meaningless. Unless, I suppose, you believe that, say, wind has the same impact on a running team as a passing team.

I guess the only way to really be fair is to play the game in a vacuum.

[CampingInYourPark]

And each blade of grass should be inspected to insure the absolute best running conditions. The same brand of shoes need to be worn by both teams with the same length spikes. Maybe they should share coaches too.

[seguin]

And each blade of grass should be inspected to insure the absolute best running conditions. The same brand of shoes need to be worn by both teams with the same length spikes. Maybe they should share coaches too.

This is starting to sound like NASCAR.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

You can’t make it perfectly fair, but you can try to reduce the unfairness as much as possible. Playing 18 or 19 games just to have the last one be disproportionately a function of the weather as opposed to the skill of the players doesn’t seem like a good approach to me. I’d rather see the players able to play at peak efficiency, not have to adjust to crappy conditions.

[Invisible Finger]

You can’t make it perfectly fair, but you can try to reduce the unfairness as much as possible.

Then we should rename it the Obama Bowl.

[KDN]

I hope there’s a blizzard for the opposite reason. Football’s an all-weather sport and dome games are boring. Also, all the bitching from the sanctimonious and coddled sportswriters would be so delicious.

If the goal of the NFL’s championship was was simply about settling who is the best team without extraneous factors coming into play they would play the entire playoffs on neutral fields in domes and warm climes. The goal isn’t neutrality, it’s eyes on the set; the assumption is that good weather games are more entertaining and provide a better showcase for the sport’s marquee game.

I’d contend the opposite, considering as how the best-remembered playoff games (tuck rule, ice bowl, fog bowl) are so memorable because of the weather’s impact. Playing in a northern environment gives a better opportunity for the game to be worth remembering instead of just another forgettable romp at the Superdome.

[db]

If that is true then all the playoff games should be held in Southern cities during nice weather.

[The Last American Hero]

No love for St. Louis or Detroit?

[Brett L]

Eh. The Super Bowl is about selling high priced tickets to a game in a place people want to go in early February. I guess its a good excuse to go to NYC.

[Timon 19]

They seriously fucked themselves. That’s a hell of an accomplishment, too, since usually they get away with outright graft.

[The Late P Brooks]

Regarding her new family law practice: On the Google Ads front, the first 6 weeks only netted one phone call. We made multiple changes to her website and keywords.

Get her a faster car. The ambulances are obviously leaving that Honda in the dust.

[seguin]

A G8 GXP should do it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://www.mercurynews.com/cri…..ense-state

What do libertarians think of this?

[Ken Shultz]

My take?

The ABA may be America’s most powerful labor union, since most of our lawmakers belong to it, but I believe they’re technically a private professional association, even if the government requires something like membership in order to practice.

I’d like the government to let me hire whomever I please for legal advice, and if I want to hire an illegal alien to represent me, then why should the state bar or the government get in my way?

Now, if they’d just drop the rest of their arbitrary barriers to getting a license… I mean, if they have to license these people and forbid me from hiring them, then I’d like their licensing process to leave me as many options as possible.

[Ken Shultz]

If I think I should be free to hire whomever I please to mow my lawn, why would it be any different for hiring a lawyer?

[Auric Demonocles]

Because Somalia.

[seguin]

Because lawyers have the best setup possible, not only are they customers of K Street, they’re the president (and senators, and congressmen)

[Apatheist ?_??]

The ABA isn’t really at issue here, the state bar is. Admission to the bar in this case just means access to the profession really from the state court system. The state bar association there is also mandatory so it is a government enforced monopoly. So in either meaning of the word bar its not a private association at all.

I don’t have a problem with this though.

[The Late P Brooks]

“Ordinary troublemaking can sometimes provoke responses that are overly severe …,” Holder said.

Scamps and scallywags.

Now, visual representations of gunz, that’s serious.

[The Late P Brooks]

What do libertarians think of this?

Work? I’m for it.

Especially if somebody else is doing it.

[Kaptious Kristen]

San Francisco, beacon of freedom and privacy!

[John]

But Kristen you can have gay sex and an abortion in your garage. What else do you want?

[Kaptious Kristen]

NOt sure what gay sex and abortions have to do with this…I don’t have a problem with either.

[John]

Because in San Fransisco, privacy only applies to those. Everything else you do, including what you store in your garage is subject to government oversight.

[Sevo]

“San Francisco, beacon of freedom and privacy!”

Taking bets that this law does not get repealed, but amended to allow only certain other things to be stored in a garage.

[SugarFree]

I wonder if this law is really intended to keep people from renting out their garages as bed-sits.

[The Late P Brooks]

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ new memoirs call into question the competence of several members of the Obama administration, including the president.

Verminous little toady Ratner is outraged that Gates would write a tattletale memoir showing the Ascended One in anything other than beatific perfection.

[John]

Just ignore the fact that Obama choose to keep Gates on and that all of the little Toadies spent three years telling us how brilliant that was and how Gates was so awesome.

[The Last American Hero]

What happened to the Team of Rivals?

[John]

At Democrats’ Request, Even Mike Bloomberg Is Giving up on Gun Control

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/at-…..n-control/

But all those dead kids in Newtown. This time it was going to be different. Not so much.

[John]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G…..discipline

This story about Holder telling schools they can no longer discipline blacks and this

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/…..en-killed/

story about a former Miss Venezuela being murdered are very much related. This is how leftists work now. They don’t set up camps and murder people. Instead, they destroy people’s ability to defend themselves and the government’s ability to prosecute crime allowing criminals to terrorize the population rather than the NKVD.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Attorney General Eric Holder said the problem often stems from well intentioned “zero-tolerance” policies that too often inject the criminal justice system into the resolution of problems.

Any shot at zero tolerance, I’m for.

[John]

Not this one. What will happen is schools will ignore no kidding criminal behavior on the part of blacks and continue zero tolerance against whites so their numbers come out even.

[wareagle]

pretty much what they already do.

[sarcasmic]

Are you implying that blacks commit more criminal acts than whites, and that’s why more blacks are punished than whites?

Racist!

[Invisible Finger]

So the result of Holder’s decision will be segregated schools.

[OldMexican]

The White House has responded to Gates’ characterization of Vice President Joe Biden ? Gates called him a man of integrity who was nevertheless “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades” ? by claiming Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.

Oh, God. If I was worried before, the above gives me the heebie jeebies!

[John]

If it worries you, just imagine how the typical Democrat in Congress feels. The White House is now reduced to arguing that Biden is the competent one. And worse still, relatively speaking, they are probably right.

[wareagle]

and you thought what came out of the WH was bugs. Nope; features all the way down. “This is what we meant to do.”

[Invisible Finger]

It’s like the POTUS is Pee Wee Herman.

[Sevo]

Most of it is hidden by a pay wall, but the Chron is *shocked* to find that transporting food doesn’t cost much, but labor, real-estate and regulations add a lot to the cost!
“Why groceries cost more in the Bay Area”
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bay…..122461.php

[John]

Why doesn’t the Chronicle want its readers to pay for their externalities?

I read somewhere it costs a hundred dollars for a semi truck to go one way across the GW Bridge, which is the only way for such trucks to get into Manhattan. Of course that Bridge has been paid for a very long time ago and the money just goes to the Port Authority who then wastes it and steals it. Poor people in Harlem pay more for groceries so retired transit workers in Jersey can live the good life.

[MP]

then wastes it and steals it

That’s a wee bit rhetorical. The real truth is that it’s the primary source of funding for the subsidization of public transportation.

Yes, that’s still completely divergent from the original promises made when the tolls were established. But it’s not a waste/fraud issue. It’s more a leviathan issue.

[John]

But isn’t waste and fraud the reason why public transit needs to be subsidized? NYC is the one place that public transit should not just break even but make a lot of money.

So again, poor people pay more for groceries so transit workers can live a life of leisure.

[MP]

NYC is the one place that public transit should not just break even but make a lot of money.

You’d think. But IIRC, they’d have to QUADRUPLE the Subway and Bus fares to make it break even. And then, OMGZ DA POOR!!

[GILMORE]

No = John is pretty much right

The finances of the various NYC ‘shadow authorities’ (triboro, port authority, MTA, etc) are such that they could run the system for close to ‘free’…if they weren’t by their very nature schemes designed for the express purpose of creating as many ‘do nothing’ jobs as possible, and inflating costs to the point where screwing in a light bulb literally requires 6 people.

And I’m NOT kidding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK3VWSufZMA

I’ve seen 5 guys standing around while one changed a light bulb.

Ask what their roles were? Safety inspector; supervisor; emergency backup; licensed electrician; sanitation (for proper disposal of dead bulb), etc.

There are hundreds of subway booths staffed with MTA employees who literally *do nothing*. So they sleep. I’d guess 30-50% of the workforce of the authorities is doing absolutely nothing but cashing a check. Billions in the toilet. They maintain the system to a level of ‘almost broken’ so that ‘work projects’ become bottomless pits. It used to be a joke in the city about how the BQE was having an extra lane added. I believe that project took *30 years*. Check out the awesome JFK monorail for laughs too.

[GILMORE]

Oh, BTW – the punch-line to the “5 MTA guys watching a guy change a lightbulb joke”?.. priceless.

I am not fucking kidding; I walked up to these guys and was like, “for fuck’s sake dudes, you’re destroying a classic joke here; what the fuck = 6 of you?? I hope this isn’t so you make a polish guy feel better?”

they laughed too, being aware there was something patently ridiculous about a gang of people watching 1 guy do a basic menial task.

I asked their various job titles, and they rattled them off, with the laughs getting better with each one (again = the ‘sanitation’ guy was not a joke – he was in fact there to dispose of the light bulbs “properly”)…

Finally we get to the guy actually *doing the fucking work*, and I can tell this is going to be good… so I’m like, “So… this guy obviously didn’t score the highest on the aptitude test…what, did you fuck the bosses daughter or something buddy? What crimes against humanity relegated you to this life of manual labor and misery while your peers get to exercise their higher-order mental functions…”

Oh, no = Him? He’s “IN TRAINING”

Big laugh.

I don’t think he was even getting paid *rate*. Meaning = the only people who actually do any fucking real work in the MTA are the people *trying to get into the MTA*.

I think it works that way in the mafia too.

[Sevo]

Oops: they blew it an left it on the free site also. Note the scare-mongering over the farm bill:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/…..122461.php

[John]

The reality based community knows full well that price supports for farmers is the only thing that keeps groceries from being even more expensive.

How can you not see that? You racist tea bagger!!

[seguin]

The comments are an awesome example of how progs desperately try to avoid unpleasant information.

[The Late P Brooks]

“Why groceries cost more in the Bay Area”

It’s a mystery.

[The Late P Brooks]

Biden is, in fact, competent, and that Obama relies on his counsel every day.

What’ll it be today, Joe? Onion bagel, or cinnamon raisin? Or should I throw caution to the winds and have sesame? It’s not like anybody’s going to drug test ME, right?

[The Late P Brooks]

sesame, poppyseed, whatever.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Any word on the black market in incandescent bulbs? I forgot to stock up before Jan 1. But I do have a goodly supply I built up in the years since they came out with that ridiculous law. Maybe I can make some scratch?

[John]

I am pretty sure you can still get them on Amazon. Beyond that, do they still make them overseas? I keep getting the impression that they don’t and thus are going to disappear. If you can get them overseas, I see no reason why you can’t just order them online. You can get antibiotics and viagra without a proscription that way, why not bulbs? It is not like the CPB drug dogs are going to sniff them out.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I did find some on Amazon and the price per bulb wasn’t too bad. Maybe I’ll hold onto a couple packs, like gold.

[Zeb]

Maybe they will do what someone did in Germany (if I recall correctly) and just change the name from 100W lightbulb to “heatbulb”. 100 W bulbs are quite useful as small heaters sometimes.

[Agammamon]

IIRC that got shot down by the EU ‘courts’.

[Root Boy]

I kept thinking this would be repealed even though the guy who pushed it through is Republican Fred Upton (fun fact – Kate’s uncle).

Maybe I should say in spite of him being a Rep. Continuing to prove they are small s statists.

[PD Scott]

You can buy perfectly legal (and relatively expensive) Newcandescents from Emery 5 & 10. Newcandescents are vibration resistant, IIRC, and therefore legal despite their horrendous waste of electricity, warming our poor planet unnecessarily.

[Kaptious Kristen]

From the files of cops think we’re as dumb as they are.

If you say “give me the phone“, how can you later claim you thought it was a gun? Because you think everyone is a retard, is how.

Via PINAC

[OldMexican]

Jezebel gems

Lena Dunham needs to fire her sylist, or get one. Whoever picks her dresses has no idea how to dress her shape

I don’t believe anybody alive today is capable of dressing Lena Dunham’s shape.

[Kaptious Kristen]

It can be done, but it ain’t easy. She has narrow, drooping shoulders and huge hips/ass. One of the Jezzies was on the money when they said cap sleeve s- that makes the shoulders appear wider, which would balance better with her hips.

The fact is Lena Dunham doesn’t want to look “better”, so it’s pointless for anyone to discuss it. It’s part of her schtick to look dumpy and plain.

[John]

It isn’t even that hard. It is called a skirt. Just wear something besides a pencil skirt that flairs out so it hides her hips. Or wear pants but put a long jacket on her so it hides her ass.

[Kaptious Kristen]

This dress is much more flattering. The off-the-shoulder widens her at the top, and the seaming narrows her hips. But the color id dreadful. Just, gawdaful. Makes her look more washed-out and smelly than she already is.

[John]

It is a bad color but a great dress. It hides her weight really well. Of course the nasty tattoo makes her look like a skank even if the color were right.

[Juice]

She’s got the arms of an offensive lineman.

[John]

The comment is right. Dunham is fat but no so fat that she couldn’t hide it pretty effectively or at least make it a lot less noticeable.

[Root Boy]

I used to think the football threads on here were pretty boring, and less entertaining than the fish-barrel jezzie threads, but now you guys/gals have started a dress fatties for success thread.

I should go back to work now.

[GILMORE]

butter, parsley, white whine, garlic, some chopped scallions…. and just remember to baste it.

What?

[Sevo]

…”Drudge is full of fun SF stories this morning!”

The SF city gov’t does its best to keep the yucks right on coming!

[Kaptious Kristen]

The cool thing about LED is you can configure your lighting however you want – you’re not limited to a screw-in bulb in a lamp.

[Zeb]

I still think the color is wrong, but they are getting a lot better.

[Tonio]

The longevity on LED “bulbs” is real. Nothing to burn out.

[John]

A lot of women use that ploy. Some of women you see in public are not as thin as they appear. Sadly a lot of them are either in denial of their weight or have bought into the “I need a positive body image and that means I can dress just like my size 4 friend and look great” BS. But a few of them are smarter than that.