A.M. Links: Terror Warning for Winter Olympics in Russia, Mitt Romney Confident of Chris Christie, Federal Court Rules Federal Crackdown on Medical Marijuana in California Can Continue

• 

  vicepresidents.com

  Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Intelligence committee, suggested Edward Snowden could've been aided by Russia in his disclosures about the NSA.

• Asked about Chris Christie's recent problems, Mitt Romney said the New Jersey governor handled controversy over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge well, and that it wouldn't affect his presidential prospects.
• The Ninth Circuit court ruled that the federal government could continue to crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries in California, despite their legal status under state law.
• A video purporting to show two Russian-speaking Islamist militants who took responsibility for a set of suicide bombings in the country last month promises a "present" for Russia and tourists at the 2014 Winter Olympics being held in Sochi.
• A Taliban attack on a restaurant in Kabul killed twenty-one, mostly foreigners, while more than dozen people were killed in a series of attacks in Baghdad this weekend. At least 26 more people were killed in at least 7 bombings across Baghdad today. 
• The Syrian National Coalition, a major rebel group, voted in favor of attending a peace conference in Geneva, but then threatened to pull out over an invitation extended to Iran.
• Dennis Rodman returned from North Korea and checked himself into alcohol rehab. A statement released by his PR agency while he was in North Korea blamed a media rant on excessive drinking.

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Comments

[Lord Humungus]

'Meggings' company designs leggings for men

Chicago-based Meggings Man Clothing is bringing spandex pants made for males to the masses. 'You see skinny jeans on guys everywhere, and meggings are clearly the next step in that direction.'

[waffles]

Is that macklemore?

[mr simple]

You see skinny jeans on guys everywhere

What is seen cannot be unseen!

[Elspeth Flashman]

What about the Manzierre? I see moobs everywhere.

[MJGreen]

The Bro!!

[alittlesense]

By "everywhere" I think he means certain parts of some very large cities. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've seen guys in skinny jeans.

[mad libertarian guy]

By "everywhere" I think he means certain parts of some very large cities. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've seen guys in skinny jeans.

I supoose it depends on what you mean by "very large." I've seen far too many males with skinny jeans here in Lexington (pop 305k). I've even seen one proudly jeans so tight he probably had to use oil to squeeze in and womens boots. Ironically, of course.

And lexington isn't even close to what I'd call a "very large city."

[Ted S.]

My jeans are unfortunately too tight because I could stand to lose a few pounds, not because they're "skinny jeans". 🙁

[alittlesense]

My sincere condolences. May the good fairy what brings brain bleach visit you.

[Corning]

There was a time in the late 80s when preps and jocks in High school in the west would have the boot of their jeans taken in.

[Marc F Cheney]

I've seen skinny jeans on males, but not on guys.

[Ted S.]

One of the many majesties of the English language is that there's a big difference between a wise man and a wise guy.

[R C Dean]

Nicely played, Marc.

Yeah, if you bought a pair of skinny jeans for yourself, you're not a "guy". Or at least not a "guy-guy".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Good morning.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Happy Monday to all the weekend worries out there in H&R land

[Lord Humungus]

has the power of FoE finally been broken? Are we headed to a new age of goodwill?

Or are dark clouds forming on the horizon?

[GILMORE]

THE END TIMES HAVE COMETH. COME-ETH? FUCK. HITHER? ARE NIGH!? YOU GET THE GODDAMN POINT SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE KIDS, ITS OVER MAN, GAME OVER!@@

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meh.

[sarcasmic]

'Cops started running in from everywhere': Man, 85, left beaten and bloodied 'by New York police for JAYWALKING'

Kang Wong, 84, was arrested after he alleged to jaywalk near a dangerous intersection in the Upper West Side on Sunday
He attempted to walk away after he didn't understand what the officer said
The officer and several colleagues quickly converged on the senior citizen and left him badly beaten and bloodied

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....glish.html
The brave officers went home safely. That's all that matters.

[wareagle]

well, 84. And Asian. Probably a Bruce Lee type. Can't be too careful.

[Rich]

He attempted to walk away after he didn't understand what the officer said

Did they say "Freeze!"? 8-(

[mad libertarian guy]

That jaywalking is even a crime is absurd.

[Steve G]

Thank AAA, or so I vaguely recall reading once.

[R C Dean]

In a sane legal system, jaywalking would be contributory negligence barring you from recovering any damages if you get run over.

AND NOTHING ELSE WOULD HAPPEN.

[db]

In PA, pedestrians outside dedicated crosswalks are considered automatically at fault if they are struck by a motorized vehicle. It's the rule.of the less maneuverable mode of transport having the right of way.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's the rule.of the less maneuverable mode of transport having the right of way.

That doesn't make any sense. Surely pedestrians have the right away in some places, like parking lots, and cars are no more maneuverable than people in parking lots than they are on roads.

[Jon Lester]

That's pretty much how it's treated here in Athens. Just don't get yourself run over and you'll be fine, although you'd be smart not to take a chance, now that teenage driving restrictions in Georgia means the incoming freshmen aren't any good at it yet.

[Lord at War]

I once "jaywalked", and was hit by a Chevette doing 45. I saw him just soon enough to jump, so I went over the top and landed on my head after sliding off the roof of the car.

The cop showed up to the ER while I was getting 7 stitches in my head to write me a ticket "so I couldn't sue the guy".

[CE]

Yeah, he might have been hit by a car. So let's beat him up.

[GILMORE]

"Kang Wong, 84, was arrested after he alleged to jaywalk near a dangerous intersection in the Upper West Side on Sunday"

96th and Broadway?

Yeah, because its 4 lanes wide, and people come flying down it like they're playing GTA4 and they just got their new loft in harlem.

I don't think somehow the streets gotten more dangerouser, just that more idiots live in their iphone bubbles and get tagged by cabs. Its a shame, but goddamnit, look around.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Note the Civil War program names, as if this involves them putting down some sort of rebellion, violently:

N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web
... "In the future, superpowers will be made or broken based on the strength of their cryptanalytic programs," a 2007 document said. "It is the price of admission for the U.S. to maintain unrestricted access to and use of cyberspace."

The full extent of the N.S.A.'s decoding capabilities is known only to a limited group of top analysts from the so-called Five Eyes: the N.S.A. and its counterparts in Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Only they are cleared for the Bullrun program, the successor to one called Manassas ? both names of an American Civil War battle. A parallel GCHQ counterencryption program is called Edgehill, named for the first battle of the English Civil War of the 17th century.

Unlike some classified information that can be parceled out on a strict "need to know" basis, one document makes clear that with Bullrun, "there will be NO 'need to know.' " ...

[CE]

So, they ARE terrified.

[Lord Humungus]

An old Soviet immigrant says:

Forward

And yet the poison of Soviet propaganda seeps through college dorms just as it did in Soviet classrooms.

Stop a random youth on the street and you'll find out what he thinks about capitalism (bad!) and communism/socialism (good!). Their favorite news programs are the "Daily Show" and the "Colbert Report," where comedians reinforce their brainwashing via short, catchy clips.

Walk through Berkeley and you will see wall graffiti of the same hammer and sickle that adorned the big red flags of the Soviet era.

This doesn't extend to just youths. People of all ages, even acquaintances that I otherwise respect and admire, are like this. They support the "progressive" leader Barack Obama, worship the nanny state, and believe in equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Any ideology that tells people they're just so damn superior to everyone else that anything they do to obtain power is justified will always find followers among the worst dregs of humanity, like college students, professors, media people, etc.

[sarcasmic]

Any ideology that tells people they're just so damn superior to everyone else

They call it equality. They are equal to each other, while being superior to everyone who disagrees with them.

They call themselves tolerant by virtue of the fact that they do not tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. Tolerant people do not tolerate intolerance.

Then they call themselves inclusive. They will exclude anyone who disagrees with them because disagreement is not inclusive, and inclusive people must not include those who are not inclusive.

Doublethink on steroids.

[mad libertarian guy]

Doublethink on steroids.

No. It's just plain doublethink. To think it's somehow beyond doublethink disregards what actual doublethink is. It's obvious doublethink, or plain doublethink, but not anything beyond regular old pathetic doublethink.

[Steve G]

Triplethink?

[Mercutio]

They call it equality. They are equal to each other, while being superior to everyone who disagrees with them.

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The problem is contemporary minds are spewing out the same leftist crap from that period without realizing it. They don't seem to recognize what they're saying has already played out with disastrous results and consequences. Whenever you point this out they claim you're a 'right-wing extremist' or some shit. They think they're independent thinkers when in fact, they're collective communistic sheep.

[Fluffy]

Fear and envy are human constants.

There is no amount of historical evidence that can be amassed that will defeat them.

There is no level of human affluence that will lay them to rest.

Ever.

As long as fear and envy exist, the left will be with us. Forever. And they will invent new ways to say the same old things. As rapidly as one argument is discredited, a new one will rise to take its place.

[Mokers]

Note, when he says walk through Berkeley to see the hammer and sickly, he does not mean the UC Berkeley Campus, but the actual city of Berkeley. And I wouldn't call it so much graffiti as sponsored art murals.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ninth Circuit to Hear Challenge to Obamacare's "Platonic Guardians" January 28
...IPAB is an agency created by Obamacare to regulate Medicare reimbursement rates. This group of bureaucrats is required by the statute to promulgate "recommendations" as to how to reduce Medicare costs?except that those "recommendations" go into effect automatically, without Congressional or Presidential approval. On the contrary, the law specifically forbids Congress or the President from altering these "recommendations" (except in one limited sense: Congress can replace those "recommendations" with new ones, so long as they achieve the same reductions as the originals.) And Obamacare even attempts to make IPAB immune to repeal. It allows Congress to abolish the agency only by passing a joint resolution during a narrow one-month window in 2017?and that resolution must receive the most extreme supermajority ever required in American law. Courts are prohibited from reviewing IPAB's actions, also. In short, IPAB is an autonomous lawmaking body that operates without Presidential, Congressional, or Judicial checks or balances....

[Ted S.]

Single-payer legal care, with an IPAB-equivalent setting rates for every type of legal procedure. Hell, just pay lawyers minimum wage, since they're not worth any more than that.

Oh, and I don't see how you can bind future Congresses the way the "you can't repeal IPAB" legislation attempts to.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Trial lawyer money goes to Dem campaign coffers, and thus is good and just and right. This is despite the desperation/ignorance applied to the cattle concerning healthcare applies just as much to legal care.

[WTF]

IPAB is an autonomous lawmaking body that operates without Presidential, Congressional, or Judicial checks or balances....

Authorized by the Constitution under the FYTW clause.

[R C Dean]

On the contrary, the law specifically forbids Congress or the President from altering these "recommendations"

And Obamacare even attempts to make IPAB immune to repeal. It allows Congress to abolish the agency only by passing a joint resolution during a narrow one-month window in 2017

Both of those provisions can be repealed with a simple majority vote (and Prez sig, natch) at any time.

It would be an interesting amendment or bill to put out there: just repeal those two provisions. Period. Nothing else.

[sarcasmic]

Rare Ferrari set to sell for record ?10m: 375 Plus model from 1950s that was one of just five ever made goes under the hammer

Ferrari 375 Plus among the quickest racing cars of its time
Only four racing versions of the car were ever made
Boasts a 4.9-litre 330bhp V12 engine and a top speed of 175mph

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

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wicked.

[R C Dean]

Any gearhead who isn't watching Barrett Jackson in their odd moments, well, I just don't understand.

You have never seen such a parade of sweet, sweet rides. The early days of the auction have a number of surprisingly affordable garage queen/daily drivers. Thank Yahweh Mrs. Dean is tied up in Texas on business this week.

[PD Scott]

The Mecum auction has also been on and continues the rest of the week starting tomorrow. When I was watching they had a few super sweet cars and a lot of nice increasingly rare (because many of them are terrible) 70s-80s cars. But to each their own.

I think the B-J coverage/team is better than Mecum's.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Every city needs its own minimum wage."

Got that?

http://www.theatlanticcities.c.....wage/7801/

[Andrew S.]

Now, I'm against government force in all its forms. But if somebody wanted to kidnap this guy, tie him up, and force him to take a class in basic economics, I wouldn't be complaining.

[Ted S.]

If they want to fuck themsslves over by setting absurdly high minimum wages, let them.

I presume the article isn't suggesting that cities be allowed to set minimum wages below federal legislation, of course.

[Andrew S.]

You know, to the extent that you're going to have a minimum wage, it makes sense that it should be based on cost of living/location. Same thing should happen with federal tax rates.

But the people who would be paid less aren't on the coasts. And the proggies never seem to care much about the people in the flyover states.

[Rich]

And the proggies never seem to care much about the people in the flyover states.

Well, those people can grow their own food!

[R C Dean]

Why should you get favorable economic treatment because you choose to live in an expensive city?

[Some call me Tim?]

Exactly, choosing to live in Manhattan is a consumption expense, and people who make that choice are in no way "deserving" of a subsidy.

[CE]

But people on the coasts do get larger tax breaks, because they're paying more in mortgage interest.

[mad libertarian guy]

And Riggs works for this rag now? Yikes!

[Ted S.]

I don't know if this got posted in the late-night thread last night:

Oh, snap!

Though you can use SNAP dollars at some upscale markets, your dollar wouldn't go far. Forget broad choices; forget organic; forget cage-free; forget cold-pressed juice; forget artisanal coffee beans; forget locally made cheese.

[wareagle]

haven't read the article and not sure I want to, but looks like a glaring lack of self-awareness. The recipient is on the public dole and rather than be grateful, he's whining about having to buy what common folks eat?

[Ted S.]

The opening would explain the lack of self-awareness: somebody's writing a story obviously with a preconceived agenda.

What I didn't explain to that English dad was that, as part of the story I was writing, I had decided to experience for myself what it's like to survive on money from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistant Program (SNAP), better known to most as "food stamps." To apply, one must go to one of 16 food-stamp centers for an application and interview. I wondered how many of the 1.8 million people in the city who are on SNAP ? including a full third of Brooklynites ? felt as sheepish as I did at being pegged needing what that dad had called "welfare."

[WTF]

felt as sheepish as I did at being pegged needing what that dad had called "welfare."

It is welfare, you jackass.

[mad libertarian guy]

It is welfare, you jackass.

No. It's government assistance. It's totally different.

[wareagle]

and she fucked up from the start since, technically, SNAP isn't food stamps, the EBT program is. And I am relatively sure that very few people on SNAP feel "sheepish" about it. That is the perverse nature of these benefits; over time, they become entitlements and eventually, part of a lifestyle.

[Some call me Tim?]

EBT (electronic benefit transfer) is just the way the benefits are delivered. You can get both your food stamp (SNAP) benefit and your welfare (TANF) benefit auto loaded onto your EBT card.

[mad libertarian guy]

including a full third of Brooklynites

Wait a minute. The average rent in Brooklyn (as of Dec 2013) is almost $2600, and you're complaining that you need to be on fucking food stamps? It seems you need to find a cheaper place to live. The apartment I rented when I first moved to Lexington now goes for less than $800 a month (it was $622 when I moved a decade ago), and it was a huge apartment (almost 1200 ft2) with a private lake, walking trails, clubhouse with pool tables, poker room, pool, and gym. I was making less than $12k per year at the time, and I didn't need fucking food stamps.

Move to someplace affordable and stop bitching that you can't buy upscale food with my fucking money, asshole.

[WTF]

The fucking idiot also complains about not be able to make the food last, but does stupid shit like buying chicken tenders and Green Giant prepared stir-fry instead of going the cheaper route of buying a whole chicken and breaking it down and buying bulk vegetables at a farmer's market and preparing it himself.

[Pope Jimbo]

Or if you want to really make it last, buy a sack of beans, a sack of rice. A big pot of red beans and rice lasts a long time and costs almost nothing.

My old roommates and I did that all the time. We also got up early and hit the local baker for day old bread (that we bought for almost nothing).

We also watched the local Krogers like hawks for any "reduced for quick sale" meats.

[VG Zaytsev]

I got a 12lb bone-in pork shoulder in one of those quick sales saturday for $4.59.

That'll make enough pulled pork to feed the family for 3 solid meals. Cheap and delicious.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Jimmy John's will sell their sammich loaves the next day for less than a buck, around here.

[wareagle]

you realize that you are asking what is likely a pampered princess to shop responsibly and, ewww, actually prepare things pretty much from scratch? This is the same author who felt compelled to list all the organic things NOT included on her shopping list. I doubt she would have a clue what to do with something that required prep time.

[CE]

Just check the expiration date on those meats.

[Fluffy]

Here's what I don't get about the SNAP cuts debate:

The program rules the GOP wants to implement are still more generous than the rules in place before 2008.

That means that Paul Ryan is advocating SNAP benefits that are more generous than every SNAP package that Ted Kennedy ever voted for.

Wouldn't that logically mean that Paul Ryan is therefore legislatively more generous to the poor on this issue than Ted Kennedy ever was?

[WTF]

It's not about logic. It's about the feels.

[waffles]

And I feel hungry.

[mad libertarian guy]

I agree with the sentiment completely, but it would be remiss to leave out that food is a lot more expensive than it was in 08. That food isn't calculated in inflation is a fucking sham.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That's simply not true. I listen to Boston radio and the list of business owners who call in to tell stories of people buying high-end foods with EBT cards is now stuff of legend.

[wareagle]

walk around any grocery store, particularly the deli/prepared food section. Take not of how many items say "EBT approved."

Upshot? The grocery store version of college tuition. When govt subsidizes something, the price of it tends to go up.

[Zeb]

SNAP is vitally important to 47 million Americans

How does he know that? I assume that 47 million is how many people receive SNAP in total.

That's one thing that I find absolutely absurd about a lot of people's defense of the welfare state. They pretend that every single person who receives assistance really needs it and that they are all honest and hard working and would never take it if they didn't absolutely have to.
Even if you think that extensive welfare is a good idea, it is just idiotic to pretend that no one works less hard than they could because they can get free shit.

[wareagle]

incentives only work on profit chasers. Every other aspect of life is immune to them.

/proggie

[Zeb]

It's just so stupid. Maybe they think that the poor are only poor because they are honest or something. But if you listen to all the progressive paternalistic bullshit, that can't be what they believe.

[mad libertarian guy]

SNAP is vitally important to 47 million Americans

How does he know that? I assume that 47 million is how many people receive SNAP in total.

That attitude also ignores that welfare doesn't subsidize what it's meant to subsidize, but something else said welfare recipient receives. Food stamps don't subsidize someone's food, but their cigarettes. Their Obamaphone doesn't subsidize their need for a cell phone, but their beer. Rental assistance doesn't subsidize their housing but their cable or satellite.

[SIV]

I like the tone of "who knew food cost so much?" from the socialist 1%er

[mad libertarian guy]

People who buy food, asshole.

[mr simple]

"I mean, it's one banana, Michael. What could it cost, ten dollars?"

[waffles]

Dennis Rodman returned from North Korea and checked himself into alcohol rehab.

This story just got extremely awesome. That's got to be the most epic bender ever. Unless it's a lie, he is an alcoholic idol.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Some people break chairs and beat other people up when drunk. Rodman goes on a diplomatic junket for world peace.

[Austrian Anarchy]

That's what he gets for drinking North Korean commie booze.

[Zeb]

I'm pretty sure Kim gets the good stuff.

[RBS]

Like father like son?

[SweatingGin]

Remember the saturday night live sketch where a guy went on a bender and woke up to find out he had been elected president? Like that, except waking up in North Korea.

[db]

The perfect emissary to an insane military dictator.

[CE]

It would be so cool if Rodman got Korea to reunite peacefully, and the crackpot dictator to abdicate so he could hang with Dennis.

[Lord Humungus]

UKIP: the most popular party in Britain

The UK Independence Party is the most favourably regarded of all the main parties, according to a ComRes opinion poll exclusive to tomorrow's Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror.

Although 19 per cent of voters say they would vote for UKIP in a general election, 27 per cent said that they had a "favourable view" of the party ? just ahead of the 26 per cent who are favourable to the Labour Party, 25 per cent to the Conservative Party and 14 per cent to the Liberal Democrats.

[CampingInYourPark]

"SINGLE TEEN MOM? TEXAS'S WENDY DAVIS LIED ABOUT LIFE STORY"

Davis may even have lied under oath, testifying in a federal lawsuit over redistricting that "I got divorced by the time I was 19 years old," when in fact she was divorced at age 21.

Other missing details have included: her second husband paid her way through law school and she divorced him the day after the last payment was made; her ex-husband accused her in initial court filings of adultery, and was awarded custody of their two daughters; and she first ran for city council in Fort Worth as a Republican.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....osite-Life

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Wendy Davis's Thin Skin
...Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Fort Worth city council in 1996, Davis sued the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, along with parent companies ABC and Disney, for libel, alleging that the paper's coverage of her campaign had been biased and "demonizing," caused harm to her physical and mental health, and infringed on her "right to pursue public offices in the past and in the future." Davis demanded "significant exemplary damages" in return. ...

[Ted S.]

She didn't get SLAPPed for this?

[GILMORE]

" ...infringed on her "right to pursue public offices in the past and in the future."

BECAUSE I WANTS TO BE QUEEN OF SHEBA, *AND* GALACTIC EMPERORS!

[Rich]

TEXAS'S WENDY DAVIS LIED ABOUT LIFE STORY

And your point is ...?

/The Rev. Al Sharpton

[Certified Public Asskicker]

So, she is a good politician?

[mad libertarian guy]

her second husband paid her way through law school and she divorced him the day after the last payment was made

That's a sure sign that this lady is a fucking cunt.

[R C Dean]

Whew, the nasty campaign ads write themselves, don't they?

"She dumped her husband as soon as he wasn't any use to her. Why won't she do the same to you?"

[Lord Humungus]

Mostly False: Rachel Maddow claims Florida group that backs drug-testing welfare recipients is affiliated with Koch brothers

During her show, Maddow didn't explain how she determined that the Foundation for Government Accountability is a "Koch brothers affiliated group."

Lauren Skowronski, an MSNBC spokeswoman, told us the crux of Maddow's argument relates not to the Foundation for Government Accountability but to another group called the State Policy Network.

Maddow says the State Policy Network received money from Koch, and in turn the State Policy Network gave money to the Foundation for Government Accountability. Ergo Koch money went to the Foundation for Government Accountability. Ergo the Foundation for Government Accountability is a Koch affiliate.

[Snark Plissken]

Without FoE jockeying for first, the MLs just feel empty and pointless.

[Ted S.]

I posted this last week in the PM links, but you had gone to bed by then, I think.

[Snark Plissken]

He he, classic panelok schlagr.

[Lord Humungus]

Herbert Hoover's Crusade Against Collectivism

On March 4, 1933, he left office a virtual pariah, maligned and hated like no other American in his lifetime.

And then, astonishingly, like a phoenix, he slowly rose from the ashes of his political immolation. Now came the final phase of Hoover's career: his remarkable ex-presidency. For the next thirty-one and one-half years, in fair political weather and foul, the former chief executive became, in his self-image, a crusader?a tireless and very visible castigator of the dominant political trends of his day. He behaved as a committed ideological warrior more persistently and more fervently than any other former president in our history.

Why? Most of all, it was because Hoover perceived in the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt not a moderate and pragmatic response to economic distress but something more sinister: a revolutionary transformation in America's political economy and constitutional order. Having espied the unpalatable future, Hoover could not bring himself to acquiesce.

[waffles]

"Bad times are still Hoover-ing over us."

I guess it's just the "BOOOOSSHH" of a bygone era.

[MP]

tldr;

But curious how this reconciles with Hoover's actual technocratic actions during his presidency. He had definitely bought into the Progressive idea of Top Men, at least according to Shlaes.

[tarran]

I suspect what made the New Deal unpalatable for Hoover was that he was its originator, but FDR was getting all the credit.

For six years that man has given me unsolicited advice?all of it bad.
? Calvin Coolidge

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I love Coolidge.

[Rich]

"You lose." 😉

[Raven Nation]

My fave Coolidge quote:

Social climber: Mr. President, I just bet a friend of mine that I can get you to say more than three words.

Coolidge: you lose.

[Corning]

Having espied the unpalatable future, Hoover could not bring himself to acquiesce.

Fuck Hoover. He was nearly as big of statist as FDR was and he paved the way that allowed FDR to do much of bullshit that FDR did.

This is like Bush suddenly seeing the light about government spending and then going on a crusade against Obama.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's this recent habit of progressives using Adam Smith as if he espoused their economic theories?

[Snark Plissken]

Labor Theory of Value, motherfucker, have you heard of it?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah but what do "they" (the dark side) mean by it?

[tarran]

They don't do logic... they emote.

They assume that since Adam Smith said some stuff that persuaded us, we must worship him, ergo any of his pronouncements we must also worship, and thus they can use his bad ideas as a talisman to shut down disagreement.

Yes... they literally are that stupid.

[Snark Plissken]

They mean, nya nya nya, Adam Smith invented the Labor Theory of Value therefore libertarians are stupid cause Marx.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh, stupid right-wingers don't even understand their own heroes because, you know, Krugman.

[Snark Plissken]

Heh heh. It's Team Red summed up in a single sentence.

[Snark Plissken]

I mean Blue. Up is down, slavery is freedom, etc.

[Ted S.]

TEAM BE RULED.

[VG Zaytsev]

In defense of Adam Smith. His labor theory of value was a great improvement over the zero-sum economic view of his times. And it was not the same kind of labor theory of value embraced by Marx but a groping towards subjective valuation.

[Snark Plissken]

Plus, at that time, the Craftsman class was still quite prevalent which made the LTV seem very plausible.

[Corning]

Adam Smith thought trade between countries was a zero sum game. this despite the fact that he very much understood the wealth creation of trade between people.

Anyway the left are trade protectionists. That is why they like Smith. Never mind that they like him for the one thing he got wrong.

[Ted S.]

I wonder if this is a hoax, but:

How not to rob a taxi

A taxi driver in Reykjav?k has used unconventional means to try to recover un unpaid fare of ISK 5,000 (USD 43, EUR 32). The passenger - a young man - had used the driver's phone to go on Facebook but forgot to log out so the taxi driver posted a message on his account.

Click the link for a translation of the Facebook post.

[Not an Economist]

I read a story a couple of days ago about somebody who carjacked somebody who was on the side of the road in their car. The only problem was the the victim was on the side of the road because they had run out of gas. The carjacker didn't get far for some strange reason.

[GILMORE]

THIS IS JUST A TRICK INTENDED TO SUCK YOU INTO THE DARK MORASS OF HOT-ASS ICELANDIC REDHEADS IN HANDKNIT SWEATERS-ADS-PORN

IM NEVER COMING BACK AND YOU CANT MAKE ME

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Gun activists have a new craze ? and it's more dangerous than you think
...The debate over open carry is the new front line in the battle over gun rights and public safety in American culture. In Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, gun rights activists have been staging protests, demanding broader liberty to display their guns in public rather than keep them concealed under clothing. Major candidates in statewide elections have voiced support for open carry, asserting that the conspicuous display of firepower will deter crime. For decades, though, social scientists have studied the way people behave around guns, and they've found that all of us ? not just criminals ? will be affected by seeing guns in our everyday environment....

[Andrew S.]

Shouldn't the gun grabbers prefer open carry to closed carry? I mean, if they're so scared of guns, then they'd know where/who to avoid.

[Rich]

Why not give 'em both?

Conceal a pistol in the stock of your rifle.

[Marc F Cheney]

I predict mass vomiting.

[Marshall Gill]

Just reading about a *gun*, I think I am going to vomit.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I am "affected" by a lot of things I see in my day-to-day life.. why didn't I realize I can just petition government to ban all of these things?

[MP]

they've found that all of us ? not just criminals ? will be affected by seeing guns in our everyday environment

This is an incredibly important point. It's fundamental to how the populace reacts to Gun Control issue. A vast majority of us are conditioned to see guns only on uniformed individuals. Like it or not, it is highly unusual to see a citizen who is openly carrying, even in open carry states like NH. Just take this open carry incident as an example. The police behaved appropriately. It was the general public that freaked.

I'm not sure what it would really take to cause a cultural shift here.

[Rich]

I'm not sure what it would really take to cause a cultural shift here.

Perhaps "seeing guns in our everyday environment"?

[MP]

That couldn't happen overnight. Any gradual progression will lead to an escalation of Gun Control fear mongering.

So I'm not sure there is a workable pathway to a relaxed open carry society.

[Fluffy]

Any gradual progression will lead to an escalation of Gun Control fear mongering.

But that escalation would fail.

So fuck 'em, let 'em complain.

[Cdr Lytton]

I'm not sure what it would really take to cause a cultural shift here.

Universal conscription? National Greatness FTW!

/David Brooks

[Ted S.]

Gun Gay activists have a new craze ? and it's more dangerous than you think

...The debate over open carry gayness is the new front line in the battle over gun gay rights and public safety in American culture. In Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, gun gay rights activists have been staging protests, demanding broader liberty to display their guns gayness in public rather than keep them concealed under clothing. Major candidates in statewide elections have voiced support for open carry gayness, asserting that the conspicuous display of firepower gayness will deter hate crime. For decades, though, social scientists have studied the way people behave around guns gayes, and they've found that all of us ? not just criminals ? will be affected by seeing guns gays in our everyday environment....

Now how does the story read?

[Rich]

Well done.

"We all know someone who has a family member who is a gun owner."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well done indeed.

[robc]

Open carry is constitutionally protected in KY (state con).

And the state supremes enforce it.

Big city cops harass open carriers, but not too much, as there is a limit to what they can do.

[mad libertarian guy]

will be affected

The fuck does this even mean?

[R C Dean]

Open carry is just flat prohibited in Texas(!), and has been for quite some time. I've always been curious as to how that happened.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Sabotage May Have Started Three Mile Island Accident - Part 1

It's important to understand that the feed water valves did not shut by magic. The reason the feed water valves slammed shut was that the instrument air system holding them open had been contaminated with water. The water entered the instrument air system because that system had been improperly connected with a temporary hose to a higher pressure water system.

Temporary hoses do not connect themselves between fittings; someone installed the hose without making sure that higher pressure water would not flow into the lower pressure air.

In another improbable coincidence, those two, normally open, isolation valves for the emergency feed water system were already shut at the time that the feed water system flow stopped. For the first eight minutes of the TMI accident, control room operators assumed that emergency feed was flowing because the pumps were running, but the closed EFW-12A and EFW-12B prevented any water from getting to the steam generators. The position indication for at least one of the improperly shut valves was obscured in the control room by a maintenance tag on an unrelated switch that coincidentally covered the indicator light.

Interesting read. The Author is not a conspiracy theorist, normally. I mostly trust his expertise. This is part 1 of 3 parts written.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I don't really believe in the malice angle, but there are more than a few coincidences that make it interesting to investigate the story.

I always thought it was very coincidental that the China Syndrome movie came out about 2 weeks before TMI which almost exactly depicted the initial stages of the accident and used an almost identical type of reactor in the movie as what TMI unit 2 was. Another interesting coincidence is that the TMI accident took place to the minute exactly a year after it first reached criticality. TMI Unit-2 started operating at 4:00 a.m. March 28th, 1978. The transient initiating the accident took place at 4:00 a.m. March 28th, 1979.

[Dead or In Jail]

Joe Fission,

You should look up the speeches by Galen Winsor. They're on the YouTube channel of "LIBERTYINOURTIME"

Winsor has a provocative idea that Three Mile Island was cross-marketing for the film "The China Syndrome."

Winsor is super-smart but that idea might be a bridge too far.

Rod Adams is, technically, a conspiracy theorist. He believes that the "renewable energy" and "environmentalist" movements are funded by Hydrocarbon manufacturers who are trying to retain market share. (Renewabes = Unreliables).

He also think that the price of natural gas is being artificially depressed in order to smother any nuclear renaissance in its crib.

Just because these theories are true doesn't mean they aren't conspiracies!

[Lord Humungus]

Mickey Kaus: The Coming GOP Amnesty Sellout Push

It takes some chutzpah for Boehner to make his amnesty push now, given the sour jobs news, falling measured support for amnesty, and the need for party unity in the coming midterm elections. You'd think the employment news alone?almost 3 unemployed Americans for every available job?would cause savvy lobbyists to postpone any attempt to push for a massive addition to the unskilled and skilled workforce. (The Senate's bill would add about 6 million extra immigrant workers by 2023 ? in addition to the current illegals who'd be legalized.) Maybe that could fly in a boom. But now?

Democrats used to push for tighter labor markets?they're the best proven way to lower poverty, boost wages and curb income inequality. Today, the job of pointing that out has fallen to Republican Jeff Sessions, who has been fighting the battle Democras like Byron Dorgan and Barbara Jordan used to fight. Do we want to give less skilled Americans millions of new competitors, inevitably bidding down wages at the bottom? ("Did they repeal the law of supply and demand and not tell me about it?" asks Jim Cramer.) The groups most marginally connected to the labor market?e.g, teenage African Americans?would be the biggest losers. Democrats used to understand this.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'There oughta be a law."

http://www.quebecoislibre.org/14/140115-10.html

"There oughta be a law" is not something you're likely to hear coming out of the mouth of a libertarian, however, except as sarcasm. Most libertarians believe that government legislation leads to bad outcomes for all kinds of reasons, from warped incentives to unintended consequences. More fundamentally, libertarians are against government legislation because we believe that it is inherently wrong to initiate coercion against other human beings. Now, that is a decidedly minority view; most people believe the state should adopt rules that govern our conduct in order to (presumably) make the world a better place. So why the disagreement on such a basic question?

In my view, the reason that non-libertarians are so comfortable with government action is that they have not thought through what exactly it means to say, "There oughta be a law." Of course, they know that it means that something should be mandatory or illegal?but they haven't taken a step back to think about what exactly that means in practice."

[sarcasmic]

Most people don't understand that the only tool government has is organized violence. That's it. Nothing more.

They never bother to wonder what the consequences are of inviting violence into situations that do not warrant it.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I like this article. He is very correct that people don't realize that when you outlaw something, the only real way to enforce that law is through the threat of physical violence. There is a real disconnect here since most people are not directly exposed to the force necessary to truly enforce any law on the books.

[hamilton]

That's a great article and an argument I've tried to make a gazillion times. I can testify to the complete uselessness of trying to make people understand that every time they push for legislation, they are really pushing for putting people in cages or killing them if they don't do as they are told.

[Steve G]

Let's not forget about the revenue generation possibilities...

[Ted S.]

In my view, the reason that non-libertarians are so comfortable with government action is that they have not thought through what exactly it means to say,

In my view, the reason that non-libertarians are so comfortable with government action is that they get their rocks off on controlling others. It makes them feel oh so morally superior.

[hamilton]

I think it's more out of a desire for a cocoon of security. I had the standard Facebook argument with an ACA supporter about the "for your own good" thing where their first thing out of their mouths was the some people are too stupid to make good decisions argument. I don't think it's moral superiority (that is a nice little cherry on top for them), but a galling fear of the Other - people who might think differently or act differently from them. And different MUST mean irrational, or dangerous, right?

They always use words like treason, sedition, crazy, institutionalize, nutjob. Minds, words, and ideas that are out of the comfortable mainstream are dangerous and must be caged or beaten.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"some people are too stupid to make good decisions."

When you finally get them to follow you down their own logical path, this is what it ends with I've learned.

I did this exercise with a liberal friend and he (proudly) admitted it.

[R C Dean]

You aren't free unless you are free to be wrong.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There's some truth in that.

I'm convinced that was the case with Bloomberg based on what I've observed and read about his nannyitis disease.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Let's nationalize Fox News: Imagining a very different media
...A democratic, accessible-to-all media will move to center stage in a socialist USA. In some ways this democratization of the media is already happening on the Internet. But the government's ability to spy on and even turn off the Internet belies any real democracy. In a socialist democracy, working people will control the political process, the way in which they make a living, and collectively and individually, they will influence mass culture. The Internet will be a powerful and democratizing tool in this effort....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Evil.

[hamilton]

If corporate media disappeared, and the people had their voices heard, here's what it might look like

...ummm, it might look sort of like what they decide to pay for with their own money. Meaning, sort of like now.

[Juice]

So everything would look like Democracy Now! ?

[Lord Humungus]

Beeeezzz!

Australia Is Outfitting Thousands of Bees With Tiny Tracking Backpacks

Bees populations are mysteriously dying worldwide, and that's a problem: one-third of the world's crops are pollinated by the black and yellow fellows. To try and figure out what's causing the bee decline, Australia's national science agency is strapping RFID tags on bees' backs to detect changes in their movement. It's the beenternet!

The tiny (0.1 inch square) trackers are being affixed to 5,000 bees in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart. Researchers gather the bees, anesthetize them with a blast in a refrigerator, then affix the tags with adhesive. Recorders placed around hives and food sources will track the bees' daily movements. Bee-GPS in itself won't solve the population mystery, but any unusual changes in the swarm's behavior will alert researchers to investigate and see whether it's parasites, pesticides, or pollution that's confusing the colony.

[Rich]

Flash mob!

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Tasmanian Bees - sound deadly to me...

[Ted S.]

Mutant bees! I hope IFH is OK.

[mr simple]

Asked about Chris Christie's recent problems, Mitt Romney said the New Jersey governor handled controversy over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge well, and that it wouldn't affect his presidential prospects.

And Mitt Romney knows what it takes to become President.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

He has definitely figured out 2 ways not to become President.

[CampingInYourPark]

His presidential prospects were low to begin with.

[Lord Humungus]

Historic Law to Un-insure People, Then Insure Some of Them and Claim a Victory for Social Justice

The Wall Street Journal had a devastating report this weekend on how most, and perhaps the overwhelming majority, of people enrolled on the Obamacare exchanges were previously insured:

Early signals suggest the majority of the 2.2 million people who sought to enroll in private insurance through new marketplaces through Dec. 28 were previously covered elsewhere, raising questions about how swiftly this part of the health overhaul will be able to make a significant dent in the number of uninsured.

Insurers, brokers and consultants estimate at least two-thirds of those consumers previously bought their own coverage or were enrolled in employer-backed plans.

[Lord Humungus]

Sheriff: Pulaski man threw skunk into a river before kicking woman's sunglasses off a bridge

Glenn Peschler, 46, of Riverview Road, was charged with two counts of fourth-degree criminal mischief and one count of false written statement, both misdemeanors. He was also charged with a violation of navigation law for depositing refuse in a navigation waterway and a violation of fish and wildlife law for trapping an animal out of season.

On Sept. 3, Peschler attempted to catch a skunk with a towel while on River Street in Pulaski, according to the sheriff's office. He then dropped the towel over the skunk, picked up the skunk and threw it into the river.

The skunk swam across the river and died next to the rocks on the River Street side of the river. Peschler then scooped the skunk out of the water with a net, the sheriff's office said.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Pulaski? Yeah, this makes sense.

[Rich]

Asked if [Snowden] was aided by the Russians, Feinstein said: "He may well have. We don't know at this stage."

Too bad Dianne wasn't asked if he was aided by space aliens.

[Andrew S.]

One of the more evil thoughts in my head is wondering if things would be better if she'd been killed instead of Moscone/Milk

[Ted S.]

Scooping up zillions of bits of information, and too incompetent to know whether Snowden was helped by anybody else.

And we need to give these fucking bastards more money and power?

[Fluffy]

Snowden beat them. (So far.)

It's inconceivable to them that a lone individual could possibly beat them, just by thinking the situation through and observing the weak points in their system.

Therefore, it must be that he had outside help. Must.

Statists can emotionally accept being beaten by another state. But by an individual? Never.

[mad libertarian guy]

Statists can emotionally accept being beaten by another state. But by an individual? Never.

Nail, head, etc.

[Rich]

"We need a bigger haystack!"

[mad libertarian guy]

Mike Rogers, the chair of the House Intelligence committee, suggested Edward Snowden could've been aided by Russia in his disclosures about the NSA.

So that's why he went to Hong Kong first. Because he was helping Russia, and only went to and stay in Russia out of necessity brought about by the US looking to throw him in jail and refusing to allow him travel anywhere.

/Derp

[Lord Humungus]

oh mama!

Washington state museum installing in 'tank arena'

A Washington state museum said it is putting together a 26,000-square-foot "tank arena" to show the capabilities of World War II-era tanks in its collection.

Adrian Hunt, executive director of Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, said the museum owns a U.S. M4A1 Sherman, a Soviet T-34 and a German Jagdpanzer 38(T) Hetzer tank destroyer, but the vehicles have only been able to give public demonstrations on mats in the parking lot, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Friday.

"That really limits the kind of show we can put on and it limits how much we can exercise them for maintenance purposes," Hunt said. "So what we need is basically a dirt pit where tanks can do what they do best, which is drive around in the mud."

[Elspeth Flashman]

Will they do an hour rental? I'd be willing to pony up to drive one for an hour.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Being the TC is better - driving is hard and you are too low down for seeing much fun stuff.

[Cdr Lytton]

Plus you get to look cool like this guy.

[mad libertarian guy]

The Ninth Circuit court ruled that the federal government could continue to crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries in California, despite their legal status under state law.

This is exactly why Obama strategy of "we'll let them be if they act according to state law" decrees about both medpot and recpot are fucking useless. Change the fucking law.

[mad libertarian guy]

At least 26 more people were killed in at least 7 bombings across Baghdad today.

Mission. Accomplished.

[robc]

If the mission was to overthrow the Baathist government, it was.

If the mission was to capture Hussein, it was.

If the mission was to build a democratic ally in the middle east, that was fucking stupid.

[GILMORE]

"If the mission was to build a democratic ally in the middle east, that was fucking stupid"

I in no way want to detract from your otherwise succinct and accurate summary of the situation.

However, I'd probably rephrase the above thusly =

if our mission was to =

- Successfully end a nearly 20yr long conflict in a region where we'd been bankrolling detante for our main ally (Saudi Arabia)

- create a regional bulwark against our main antagonist in the region (Iran)

- provide major ally #2 (Israel) a reduced-threat environment

- demonstrate to the world our readiness and competence in utilizing military force for whatever means, and doing so without any international support or cooperation...

...yeah, we monkey-fucked a bowling ball.

[Snark Plissken]

alt-text's off today

Double cheeseburgers and double microphones, that's how he rolls.

[CE]

Looked like Laurel and Hardy to me.

[mad libertarian guy]

A statement released by his PR agency while he was in North Korea blamed a media rant on excessive drinking.

yeah. It can't be because he's a clueless idiot who chooses to hang out with psychopathic tyrants for kicks, it's because he drinks too much.

[Aloysious]

Reposted from the weekend.

So a buddy of mine insisted that I watch this dude on the youtubes named STEVE SHIVES who has made a video and titled it 'Five Stupid Things About Libertarianism'.

SFW, but not safe for your brain cells. This STEVE SHIVES constructs one of the largest strawmen I have ever seen.

[Andrew S.]

Someone give me a tl;dw if you don't mind. It's too early to get drunk.

[Aloysious]

Ask and ye shall receive, or something.

His five main points are:
1. Selfish
2. It alienates people from the gov.
3. It's anachronistic
4. It puts on airs
5. It's naive

Seriously, those are his 'points'.

[BakedPenguin]

You forgot the one on his head.

[Andrew S.]

Reason never does MLs on holidays. Except on MLK Day.

Ergo, I think the most obvious takeaway is that Reason is racist.

[robc]

Also St Patty's Day, so they are anti-Irish.

Also Columbus Day, so they are anti-Italian.

Also Presidents Day, so they are anti-WASP.

[robc]

Also Patriots day, so they are anti-anti-tea.

[Rich]

Rosetta, Europe's decade-long quest to put a robotic lander on a comet, has reached a key milestone.

Cool! Something to look forward to in November besides the midterms.

[The Late P Brooks]

It started out pretty well, especially for the NYT, but then they get down to business:

In total, 54,000 Americans die every year due to work-related illnesses and accidents. This is the equivalent of 148 deaths each day; in terms of fatalities it is roughly a Boston Marathon bombing every half hour of every day.

But while we spend more than 7 billion dollars a year on the T.S.A.'s national security theater in which over 58,000 T.S.A. employees make sure we are not carrying too much toothpaste or shampoo onto airplanes, the budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is under $600,000 per year. It seems that our threat assessments are flawed.

We are conditioned to fear persons in caves in Pakistan but not the destruction of our water supply by frackers, massive industrial accidents, climate change or the work-related deaths of 54,000 American workers every year. Fear of outside threats has led us to ignore the more real dangers from within.

NEEDZ MOAR REGGALATERZ!!!!!!

[tarran]

the destruction of our water supply by frackers, massive industrial accidents, climate change or the work-related deaths of 54,000 American workers every year.

Two of those things are illusory, one rarely happens, and the other is a problem that was getting better until OSHA was created where suddenly it ceased to get better as fast as it had been.

[Zeb]

And since when are people not conditioned to fear climate change? I run into a lot more people talking about climate change worries than I do who are seriously concerned about terrorists in caves in Pakistan.

[mad libertarian guy]

And since when are people not conditioned to fear climate change?

Our unwillingness to bankrupt everyone for Gaia is a sure indicator that we have not been conditioned well enough.

[PD Scott]

Tell them the terrorists are fracking in their caves, then they can worry about both at the same time.

[Irish]

I run into a lot more people talking about climate change worries than I do who are seriously concerned about terrorists in caves in Pakistan.

Yeah, but Mother Jones tells me denial is at a six year high!

[R C Dean]

the budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is under $600,000 per year.

Somebody's hiding some spending, then, because there's no way OSHA only has a dozen employees with fully loaded costs of $50K each. And gets its rent, supplies, etc. for free.

[MJGreen]

Nothing in the federal govt costs under $600,000 a year. Ad campaigns for govt programs cost more than that.

[Lord Humungus]

I went here: http://downtownmarketgr.com/ for my sister-in-laws birthday lunch.

Hipster heaven. $12 bags of artisanal popcorn! $2.50 cupcakes! An olive oil store.... hopefully I will never have to visit the place again, but it certainly was busy.

[waffles]

2.50 for a dozen cupcakes isn't too bad. But they usually have the icky frosting.

[Lord Humungus]

For one.

[Rich]

Yes, usually one person eats the entire dozen.

[waffles]

Isn't that a recurring scene in HBO's Girls?

[RBS]

I thought those were sex scenes?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

TV always told me you can eat an entire jar of peanut butter and bucket of ice cream - spoon optional.

[RBS]

We have an olive oil store in the trendy new shopping/dining/living development in town. It's actually kind of fun to go in a try the different oils and vinegar they have.

[Rich]

I must confess -- The first time I saw an olive bar I LOLed.

[robc]

I love olives. Olive bars are great.

But it was weird the first time I saw one.

[mad libertarian guy]

The best part about olive bars is that they have things other than nasty ass olives.

[Snark Plissken]

I hope you stopped off at Food'n stuff afterwards to cleanse your mental palate.

[Lord Humungus]

No, I went home and drank some artisanal handcrafted beer.

[Juice]

A cupcake for under $4? That would be quite a bargain around here.

[waffles]

The NPR journalists are really riled up about the bombing/attack on the Lebanese expat restaurant in Kabul. I guess it hits close to home as many of them had eaten or know someone who had eaten there. Whatever your opinion on the safety of world travel, Afghanistan is fucked. It's so good to live in a country where getting shot up is a rarity.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, two Canadians from Gatineau were in the restaurant located in a highly-fortified area. The fuckers can slip in anywhere.

[The Late P Brooks]

More:

Fear is a primal human state. From childhood on, we fear the monsters of our imaginations, lurking in dark closets, under beds, in deserted alleyways, but we also now fear monsters in the deserts of Yemen and the mountains of Pakistan. But perhaps it is possible to pause and subdue our fears by carefully observing reality ? just as we might advise for trying to calm and comfort a fear-stricken child. We might find that, in reality, the more immediate danger to our democratic society comes from those who lurk in the halls of power in Washington and other national capitols and manipulate our fears to their own ends.

What are these ends? They are typically the protection of moneyed interests. In 1990, the Secretary of State James Baker tried to make the case for the first Gulf War on economic grounds. "The economic lifeline of the industrial world," he said, "runs from the gulf and we cannot permit a dictator such as this to sit astride that economic lifeline."

The guy is right on the money on the Total Terror State, but mostly because it diverts resources from the loving and gentle hand of the Welfare State, and its administration of the social contract.

[CE]

When I was a kid we feared the USSR was going to nuke us, just because they hated our freedom. Duck and cover! Stock up that fallout shelter! And watch out for Russian paratroopers. Jeez, what a waste.

[Libertymike]

AFC Championship Games between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady?

Manning 2, Brady 1.

How many words have been spoken by New Englanders regarding the injuries which the Broncos sustained this season? How about Manning losing the services of his Pro-Bowl center, Dan Koppen (former center for the Patriots), in training camp and his left tackle and best lineman, the Boise State product, Ryan Clady, in week 2? How about no Champ Bailey for almost the entire year? How about having Vaughn Miller for only half the season?

What happened to the Peyton Manning pooping in his playoff pants narrative?

[Ted S.]

Dear God, not two weeks of a Peyton Manning tounge bath.

[RBS]

That and two weeks of Old School QB vs New School QB.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

New discussion then, orange or action green?

[Ted S.]

Or a tongue bath; I need more caffeine.

[hamilton]

Argh. I'm not going to continue the Manning Brady thing. Manning won, that sucks, oh well. Tom's performance in big games of late is a concern. Sigh.

In any case during the game (in between cursing) I was thinking "boy either of these teams is going to get crushed by the NFC in the SB".

[mr simple]

Really? I was thinking the opposite watching the NFC championship.

[Juice]

I like seeing certain NFL teams lose. There is no time that I don't like seeing them lose. They are, in order of loss-created happiness:

1. Atlanta Falcons
2. Dallas Cowboys
3. SF 49ers
4. NE Patriots

It's been that way for quite some time, but I especially like seeing NE lose with Belichick and Brady. So these last two games were quite pleasing to me.

[CE]

How can the Patriots not be No. 1 for loss-induced happiness? And who cares either way about the Falcons?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Selecting stats. In the playoffs it's 2-2. All-time it's 10-5 Brady. Brady has three rings and five SB appearances to Manning's one and three.

And for the record, Manning has always had a more stable and even better receiving corps than Brady ever had.

Just saying.

[Libertymike]

Well, Manning is 6-4 in his last 10 games against the Pats.

How about the fact that Manning is only the second QB to win a conference championship game, since the merger, for two different teams?

How about Manning being a guy who has won a conference championship game being down 21-3 (against the Pats)? Brady has never done such a thing.

Does Brady have 50 career fourth quarter or OT game winning drives like Manning?

Has Brady ever had a perfect QB rating in a playoff game like Manning had against the Chiefs in 2003?

Keep in mind that the Pats, with the best defensive passer rating in history in 2003, had to grab, hold and pass interfere against the Colts, on virtually every play, in the 2003 championship game. New Englanders, of course, remember Bill Polian and the Colts "whining" about "changing the rules" when, in fact, the rules were already in place and that the refs had allowed the Patriots to openly break them.

[Fluffy]

Unless Peyton wins in two weeks, he still has fewer Super Bowl rings THAN HIS LITTLE BROTHER.

Eli is the only reason we're even having this conversation. If Eli doesn't pull out a miracle not once but twice, Brady has five rings and Brady/Manning isn't even up for discussion.

[wareagle]

I find it curious that SB wins has become the metric, yet Terry Bradshaw's name almost never comes up. And spare me the business about the Steelers' defense.

No team wins multiple Super Bowls just because of one great player. They all have either multiple Hall of Famers or guys almost at that level.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It shouldn't be the metric. By that logic, Eli is better than Marino. And we all know that's plain absurd.

[RBS]

There is no logic in sports talk/writing.

[Libertymike]

That is the point I have been making since I was a kid.

It is the same point I have been trying to make to John, for years.

Should we think that Ted Williams pooped in his pants because he hit just 200 in the 46 World Series?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's a point I've also made about Bond's playoff stats. Mays and Williams didn't exactly have great playoff stats either. In fact, Bonds I think is better. The playoffs are waaayyy too small a sample size (too volatile) when it comes to baseball stats.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Eli is proof sports are unfair and unjust.

Maybe the progs can get working on making things right.

[wareagle]

and Brady has usually had the more reliable running game and defense. And? I'd take either guy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

wareagle, my point is give Brady those receivers and he'd have even bigger numbers. I don't know who is 'better' of the two, they're both great. The body of work for each is astounding.

[wareagle]

I'm with you. If those are the two guys I can choose from, it's hard to see a down side.

[Fluffy]

Honestly, I didn't think the Patriots were that good this year BEFORE the injuries.

I think that's the difference.

I went into this season expecting a 9-7 team that only made the playoffs because their division is weak.

When the injuries started and Hernandez got arrested, I expected less than that.

When they won games early, I believed it was just weak opponents.

Nobody was more surprised than me when they went 13-3. Had they managed to beat frickin' Miami, or not got rooked in the Carolina game, they would have won the conference. That was just inconceivable to me.

The Broncos had injuries too, sure. But they started the year as the prohibitive favorite.

Two Boston teams weren't going to win it all in the face of much better teams this year. That just wasn't going to happen. When the Red Sox beat Detroit, that was it for Boston miracles for the year.

[wareagle]

all around, a hell of a job by the NE staff and players. Every week, it seemed the cast changed due to some injury or other.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, despite it all, AFC championship game. Not bad. Denver and Seattle were consistently the two best teams all year. They belong in the SB.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

How about no Champ Bailey for almost the entire year?

Losing a 35 year old corner? Devastating!

[Don Mynack]

Vaughn Miller? Who is that? You mean Von Miller?

[Lord Humungus]

Nasa says Mars mystery rock that 'appeared' from nowhere is 'like nothing we've seen before'

"We've taken pictures of both the doughnut and jelly parts, and the got the first data on the composition of the jelly yesterday.

"It's like nothing we've ever seen before," he said. "It's very high in sulphur, it's very high in magnesium, it's got twice as much manganese as we've ever seen in anything on Mars.

"I don't know what any of this means. We're completely confused, and everyone in the team is arguing and fighting (over what it means).

[Rich]

Obviously some Martian kid is fucking with us.

[Aloysious]

no no... it's Zecharia Sitchins Anunaki. They are stealing our Martian gold.

[Corning]

Maybe the rock just walked to where it is....

Also why are they fighting?

NASA should just be shut down if this is the quality of people it hires.

[CE]

NASA doesn't give stock options.

[RBS]

Football time...

via FB:

I'm seriously so glad that a female was interviewing him. Only a girl would ask, "Who was talking about you?" And his answer showed was a jerk (I'm censoring myself) he is!

The massive amount of butthurt over Richard Sherman is hilarious.

[Rich]

Only a girl would ask, "Who was talking about you?"

SEXIST!

At least she waited until off camera to cry.

[RBS]

One of the other ones I saw was along the lines of Erin Andrews is so awesome and proved she belongs on the sidelines by asking that. Actually, if she was worth a shit as a reporter she'd already know.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The only value/talent sideline reporters have is to be able to flag down a person to interview. If you can wave down a cab you can do that job. After that, it's all useless 'how does it feel' questioning.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ah, man. I was going to link to him on a video with the caption: This man should be the spokesperson for libertarians!

[BigT]

He should debate Dennis Rodman on the merits of capitalism vs socialism at halftime of the Pro Bowl.

[Max Power]

You guys keep talking about Richard Sherman, even after he specifically told you not to!

[Libertymike]

Since losing to the Patriots in the 2004 divisional playoff, Manning has gone 9-7 and Brady has gone 8-8 in playoff games.

Of course, in my view, the best way to measure players is to evaluate comprehensively. This means, necessarily, that regular season performances count more. More games, more plays, more situations and therefore more data from which to do one's evaluating.

Playoffs, in American team sports, amount, at least to some degree, to a do-over. The two teams with the best records should square off for the championship without the endless rounds of playoffs.

[Rich]

But -- aren't you ready for some football?

[Libertymike]

Always.

In his last 10 games against the Pats, Manning is 6-4. What does that say about the hoodie being in his head?

How about Manning joining Craig Morton as the only two QBs to win a conference championship with two different teams?

[Shpip]

Kurt Warner would like a word...

[Ted S.]

The Bundesliga resumes this weekend.

Of course, what's more important for Bayern M?nchen is the Champions League, since they've already got a big lead in the Bundesliga.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You, you did see the stats from last week, right?

Cough.

Bayern is strong. They can repeat. Although, Atletico look mighty interesting as a dark horse. I hope Seedorf is a capable manager. Maybe Milan can surprise them.

Bah.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Tell that to a hockey fan.

The Stanley cup chase may be the most gruelling championship in sports though. Those guys are beaten up by the end of that 2 month run.

[wareagle]

now THAT, for my money at least, is the biggest transformation in intensity from regular season to playoffs that exists in team sports.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I agree. The intensity is taken up incredibly when it comes to playoffs in hockey. Unless they literally cannot physically play, injuries are ignored. NHL players really do put it all on the line to win that cup.

[RBS]

I really enjoyed the HBO series about the Leafs/Wings leading up to the Winter Classic. It would be cool if they did something like that for the playoffs.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Absolutely.

The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in all of pro sports bar none.

Anyone who has played even remedial hockey knows this.

[GILMORE]

Canadian Loves Hockey

Film at 11

[CE]

so take away their spying, and it turns out the Pats are just average?

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Says Racial Animus Blunts Approval, New Yorker Reports

There's no doubt that there's some folks who just really dislike me because they don't like the idea of a black president," Obama said in the article by David Remnick, appearing in the magazine's Jan. 27 edition.

"Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I'm a black president," Obama said in his most direct comments on how race has affected his political standing since he's been in office.

[wareagle]

re: second part - Obama realizes what his dogwashers ignore though there's no "maybe" about it. At least as many voted FOR Obama because of race than against him.

[Elspeth Flashman]

It was (I suspect) the guilt factor on the part of white voters.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nothing screams leadership like talking about race.

[MP]

+1 MLK

The thing is, I think he's correct. The issue is the degree to which that applies to the population. Additionally, whenever you accent race, you perpetuate racism. I just don't see how it helps.

[Zeb]

At this point, I think it really does a lot more harm than good. People getting all worked up about casual or perceived racism only makes things worse. The only way to get rid of racism is to ignore it or laugh at it so that eventually people will forget that it was a real thing.

[Snark Plissken]

Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I'm a black president

There are those who say Barack Obama can't do ironic understatement.

[The Late P Brooks]

Since I know absolutely nothing about this Erin Andrews person, i did a quick Google Image search.

Obviously, she was hired for her encyclopedic knowledge and incisive analysis of the game of football. No other explanations is possible.

[robc]

I thought she was hired for her naked, hair curling ability.

Or so I have "heard".

[SIV]

She irons well too.

[SIV]

She irons well too.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

The quality of sideline reporters has gotten better over the years. They're generally pretty knowledgeable and aren't just pretty faces (though they are usually those as well).

Erin Andrews is one of the better ones.

[110 Lean]

Someone made a PSA to discuss Tom Brady's lack of high fives

[RBS]

Girls high school field hockey?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I classify remedial hockey as non-contact or non-organized, spontaneous shinny.

Remedial.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I remember when a girl's field hockey team challenged us to a game to see who got to play on the field we were playing soccer on. They claimed they reserved the field but we were there first and weren't prepared to give it up. So the challenge.

They supplied the sticks. What happens next is classic. We proceed to basically play hockey on grass. Apparently there are all sorts of rules specific to field hockey we were breaking.

I think the score was 20-0 or something before they simply left.