Obama Wants Long-Term Unemployed Hired, Hillary Clinton, Rand Paul Leads Early NH 2016 Polling, Lawmakers Worried About High Propane Prices in Cold Weather: P.M. Links

• 

  "King of the Hill"/FOX

  President Obama said he wants private companies and the federal government to do more for the long-term unemployed. The chair of his Council of Economic Advisors, meanwhile, insisted the anxiety of wealthy Americans over the president's economic policies were mere "hyperventilation."

• A report from the State Department found the environmental impact of the XL Keystone pipeline would be minimal, but did not set a deadline for the White House to approve it.
• Vice Admiral Michael Rogers will be appointed the NSA's new chief, while Richard Ledgett, who previously floated the idea of an amnesty for Edward Snowden, will become the agency's top civilian official.
• Hillary Clinton leads Democrat primary voters in an early poll in New Hampshire, getting 75 percent to Joe Biden's 10 percent. With 16 percent of Republican primary voters, Rand Paul has a slim lead in a crowded field. The state's Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte, came in second at 13 percent.
• Lawmakers in Washingtoon, Republican and Democrat, are pushing the feds to look into why propane prices are getting so high as the country gets so cold.
• Bomb squads were sent out to several hotels near the site of this weekend's Super Bowl in New Jersey after envelopes containing an unknown white powder were found. Preliminary tests indicated the substance, also sent to Rudy Giuliani's office in New York City, was corn starch.
• Jesse Eisenberg was cast in the role of Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman/Batman film.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama said he wants private companies and the federal government to do more for the long-term unemployed.

Give the newly unemployed time to get accustomed to living off benefits.

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, I have an idea. How about we restore the free market and let it make our total economy much bigger? Then, I dunno, maybe more jobs would be available?

Nah, go ahead and keep throttling the Golden Goose. I'm sure it'll keep laying those mysterious golden eggs.

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, you probably think that Washingtoon should be spelled with one o too.

[wareagle]

I'm reasonably sure that if the extensions were ended, this problem might solve itself.

[Pro Libertate]

No, because the new scam is to claim disability and get thousands in support each month for life.

[playa manhattan]

Tax free.

[Pro Libertate]

With free healthcare and other "benefits."

[wareagle]

I forgot about that, the new unemployment. Obama will cover that in the next SOTU.

[Zeb]

As Sir Humphrey Appleby astutely pointed out, we can have as much unemployment as we are willing to pay for.

[Francisco d Anconia]

President Obama said he wants private companies and the federal government to do more for the long-term unemployed.

He's certainly spent enough of his time making them the long term unemployed.

The self licking ice cream cone. Make problems so you can fix them.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Yum!

[Pavlov's Cat]

Give the newly unemployed time to get accustomed to living off benefits.

I was unemployed starting four years ago for almost a year. I took a job as a convenience store cashier. They promoted me to assistant manager, then tried to make me a store manager before I quit to go to what I'm doing now.

Had I sat around on unemployment, I would still be sitting around.

[Brett L]

Show up for your shift, don't steal, and display even the slightest bit of initiative and this can happen to anyone.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Not to take away from Pavsy there but yeah. Those places are always starving for competency.

[Brett L]

Yes. Sorry. That was not to imply those qualities were the only ones that were displayed. Only that it is a low bar to clear.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Had I sat around on unemployment, I would still be sitting around.

I think this is what a lot of people don't realize. If you're out of work for more than a year, the odds are that you're going to be out of work for a long time. Punching register keys and maybe making supervisor within a few months looks a hell of a lot better on a resume than "out of work for 1.5 years".

I've also learned that if you're just looking for something to scrape by or just a part-time job for extra spending money, don't EVER let on that you have anything more than a bachelor's.

[Mokers]

Even if you are working for yourself, it is better than nothing. When I was last unemployed, I continued to do independent consultant work in IT, even if it meant in reality I was nothing more than glorified Geek Squad. I would pick up a decent gig every now and then setting up a small business network or creating a website. Not as much money as I wanted to make, but you make contacts and gain references by doing a good job, no matter how menial other people think the task.

[BakedPenguin]

...if you're just looking for something to scrape by or just a part-time job for extra spending money, don't EVER let on that you have anything more than a bachelor's.

Second.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A report from the State Department found the environmental impact of the XL Keystone pipeline would be minimal...

Secretary Clinton wouldn't have let this happen.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Huffpo right now: OIL WINS AGAIN

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

[Aresen]

I am NOT clicking on that.

I have to preserve my eyes and sanity.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

But there is a lovely photo of Obama that goes with the headline. Don't want to miss that now!

[Francisco d Anconia]

You know you want to...here's some comments:

Doesn't anyone care about the environment anymore? It breaks my heart.

How does Canadian Oil flowing through pipes owned by multinational corporations, destined for foreign soils, benefit The USA??

And yes we continue down the road to extinction believing that fossil fuels are the only alternative. This is not a problem we can drill ourselves out of and the sooner we realize it the better we will be be.

[Aresen]

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!

[Pavlov's Cat]

Aaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!

Or the longer version:
I've been to places where animals are still the primary means of transportation. The "dust" and "mud" makes the air stink and the water putrid. The internal combustion engine was the best thing to ever happen to the environment.

[Pavlov's Cat]

How does Canadian Oil flowing through pipes owned by multinational corporations, destined for foreign soils, benefit The USA??

What does he burn in his car, mulch?

[Brandon]

Come on, man, you should know he has a Volt in his garage. After all, you paid for it.

[Heedless]

So coal, then?

[Killaz]

His idea of a problem being solved is different than that of most people. More gasoline on the market means cheaper transportation expendes and for most of us that is a problem being solved. His problems, however, can only be solved with Final Solutions.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Well it will benefit us Houstonians whether it's exported or not.

[Gordilocks]

Nevermind Houston, this will keep hundreds of thousands in Canada employed for decades.

Oil patch money is the only thing keeping this place going.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Huffpo right now: OIL WINS AGAIN

Water: the Washington Generals of the Oil/Water Conflict.

[Francisco d Anconia]

A report from the State Department found the environmental impact of the XL Keystone pipeline would be minimal

Three words:

Big.
Red.
Truck.

[paranoid android]

Why would State be producing the report, as opposed to, say, the Departments of Energy or the Interior?

[Aresen]

Because it crosses an international boundary.

The radical greens already lost the fight at the DOE.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Because it originates in Canada. So it's got an international flavour. I'm guessing DOE or Interior did do the environmental report, but under the umbrella of the State Dept.

[110 Lean]

I see what you did there.

[Brett L]

My enviro friends are having fits on FB. I may or may not have kicked an already boiling ant hill by putting in a link to the Colorado Dept. of Health pointing out the short comings of a particularly beloved study about the dangers of fracking to pregnant mothers and their unborn children.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Did they actually say "unborn children?"

[GILMORE]

The underlying levels of Retarded is jaw-dropping

fuck Huff-po, this isn't "Keystone being 'blessed'" = its an agency being forced to acknowledge *patently obvious realities* which everyone knew all along.

e.g.

http://www.marketwatch.com/sto.....=afterbell

"The report found that the "approval or denial of any single project is unlikely to significantly affect the rate of extraction of the oil in the oil sands, or the refining of heavy crude on the U.S. gulf coast," a State Department official told reporters Friday.

The conclusion that the heavy crude would be extracted and delivered anyway,--by rail if not pipeline--left environmentalists disappointed"

What they really meant was

"the refusal of government to stand athwart economic development in order to appease Environmentalists sense of righteous self-importance, throwing them a bone, acknowledging that - like public sector unions - from time to time they can flex their muscles over an issue - entirely for the sake of Muscle Flexing, and not any larger social good - and GET THEIR WAY. BECAUSE THEY CAN."

The "loss" they feel has nothing to do with the 'environment'. As noted = there IS NO environmental argument at all.

It has everything to do with their personal belief in their own Socially Deserved Influence. They want to Stop Keystone *because they can*.

[R C Dean]

The funny thing is, there have been at least two major train accidents that spilled oil all over the place, caught fire, etc.

Those trains were almost certainly hauling oil that would have been in the pipeline.

We know, now, for a fact that not having the pipeline causes environmental damage. Once again, the eco-nitwits are demanding that the environment be damaged.

[playa manhattan]

The Seahawks' road to the Superbowl began in Hermosa Beach

[playa manhattan]

SF'd.
The Seahawks' road to the Superbowl began in Hermosa Beach

[Episiarch]

This isn't surprising. Wilson is fucking insane, supposedly up at 5AM for work most days and shit like that.

What is also going to be insane is the next few days. This place is already going crazy.

[Virginian]

He's from Richmond, I know a guy who knows him. Says he's exactly like the media persona. Just a genuinely good guy.

I still want Peyton to win another ring, but Wilson is legit.

[Ted S.]

Why can't both teams lose?

[Episiarch]

Because they're not the Packers?

[Clich? Bandit]

And because Denver is going to win. We are awesome. And Seattle sucks mossy, soggy, big foot balls.

STEVE SMITH SECRET BRONCO FAN, CANT WAIT TO RAPE SEATTLE SEA CHICKENS!

[Brandon]

Fuck yeah! The Seahawks have a losing record when Tiny Jesus throws more than 21 times, and he's gonna have to throw a lot more than that Sunday!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Lawmakers in Washingtoon, Republican and Democrat, are pushing the feds to look into why propane prices are getting so high as the country gets so cold.

Why won't Washingtoon do something about supply and demand?

[Aresen]

I saw the item on the Reason 24/7 newsfeed with the headline "Economically Illiterate Lawmakers Want Inquiry into Why Propane Prices are Skyrocketing When It's So Cold Everywhere".

"Economically Illiterate Lawmaker" is redundant.

[Episiarch]

insisted the anxiety of wealthy Americans over the president's economic policies were mere "hyperventilation."

Sure, just like Hollande and France.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The Pope and Mussolini

"It's commonly thought that the Catholic Church fought heroically against the fascists when Benito Mussolini's party ruled over Italy in the 1920s and '30s. But in The Pope and Mussolini, David Kertzer says the historical record and a trove of recently released archives tell a very different story...

In 1933, fascist rallies typically began with a morning mass celebrated by a priest, and churches and cathedrals were important props in the pageantry. Kertzer says Pope Pius XI cooperated closely with Mussolini for more than a decade, lending his regime organizational strength and moral legitimacy."

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/27/.....the-church

[Pro Libertate]

I have this weird buddy cop vision in my head, with Benito and Pius riding around Rome in a motorcycle with a sidecar.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Sure, but which is in the sidecar?

[Pro Libertate]

Mussolini. It's the flowing robes that gets Pius the bike.

[Brett L]

They were Italians. Both would ride together on a single Vespa wearing really great leather shoes.

[Agammamon]

Pius drives the Vespa, Mussolini rides bitch, smashes tourists in the head as they ride by, and then hops off and steals their wallets and purses.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jesse Eisenberg was cast in the role of Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman/Batman film.

Superman and Batman in the same movie is a stupid idea. At least Marvel knows not to mix the races of mutants and superheroes.

[Bam!]

Embrace the stupidity, make it part of the movie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Poor Superman.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I thought they chose Bryan Cranston already?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

May have had conflicting schedules.

Not real fond of the choice either. I liked Michael Shannon's take on Zod as a non-campy, self-righteous eugenicist. But Eisenberg is basically a Michael Cera clone--a pasty, chinless schlep with no charisma. The writers are going to have a hell of a time making him seem even remotely menacing, and my worry is that they'll end up going completely over the top just to compensate for it. Cranston would have been perfect.

[Mokers]

I actually like Eisenberg, but perhaps I am being biased by my love of Zombieland. Yeah, he plays almost the same character in every movie and I don't like him much as Lex, but I still think he is 1000x better than Michael Cera.

[paranoid android]

Any disdain I had for Michael Cera was washed away by This Is the End.

[Agammamon]

My take - Luthor is hard to do. Even Kevin Spacey's Luthor was meh. Hackman just barely got away with it because he played him with just the right 'Saturday morning cartoon villian' campiness.

Of course, it'll help if the writers stop surrounding the smartest human villain with complete muppets.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Hackman just barely got away with it because he played him with just the right 'Saturday morning cartoon villian' campiness.

The Donner Supermans are pretty campy in general, so Hackman's portrayal fit the overall tone pretty well. I concur on his choice of henchmen.

[Episiarch]

So we get Gene Hackman (great), Michael Rosenbaum (great), John Shea (what show was that again?), Kevin Spacey (meh), and now Eisenberg.

Lex portrayals are going downhill.

[Brett L]

Apparently, Gene's curly wig cost too much money, so they'll just shave Eisenberg after they film the wig scenes.

[Episiarch]

Why not shave him first and make the wig out of that? It's cheap!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Kevin Spacey (meh)"

Add this to our pile of disagreement.

[Agammamon]

His problem was that its completely unbelievable that this extremely smart guy with absolutely no moral compass employees barely literate muscle to do everything.

Plus, the whole 'gigolo for old ladies' backstory bit was kinda off-putting.

[Rhywun]

Kid looks about 12 years old. Well, at least I already know the movie will suck so what do I care.

[paranoid android]

This gives me the sinking feeling they're going to write Luthor as some super-young tech prodigy type, like an evil Mark Zuckerberg.

[Episiarch]

Well, that would make sense considering it was Eisenberg who played Zukerberg in The Social Network.

[Agammamon]

SYNDROME!

[Andrew S.]

Happy Transfer Deadline Day, football fans!

As I nervously sit and wait to see whether my favorite team signs a Ukranian player who I had never heard of before a few days ago and whose name I can't begin to pronounce...

[Ted S.]

Meh. There isn't any interesting football until February 19.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

ManU overpaid for Mata.

[Rhywun]

So did Chelsea.

[Brandon]

Don't call that shit football.

[William of Purple]

It's Hand-egg.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hillary Clinton leads Democrat primary voters in an early poll in New Hampshire, getting 75 percent to Joe Biden's 10 percent.

Joe just needs to fire a couple shotgun blasts over voters' heads.

[Pro Libertate]

Such nonsense. I heard something about her out-polling Jeb Bush (who may not even be running) in Florida, which is absurd. He was a popular governor. Who are they polling, Democrats only?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The Clinton's are popular in Florida. Bill won there handily in 1996 and Hillary 'whupped' Obama in the 2008 Primary.

[Pro Libertate]

This is not true in the general election sense. It may be somewhat true for the Democrats in Florida, but they aren't in control.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I would think Florida is an ideal 'purple' state for Hillary. The Democrats seem to win statewide elections there and when the Republicans do it is either by slim margins over poor candidates (Scott over Sink), split elections (the Senate race with Crist as the independent) or a moderate Republican wins (Crist).

[Marshall Gill]

The Democrats seem to win statewide elections there and when the Republicans do it is either by slim margins over poor candidates (Scott over Sink), split elections (the Senate race with Crist as the independent) or a moderate Republican wins (Crist).

And Jeb?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Jeb's last statewide win was in 2002.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I would look for her to run a 'moderate Democrat, defender of social security, staunch friend of Israel, proponent of immigration, elect the first woman campaign' that would be stronger than Obama's (who won the state twice) runs there.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, the Republicans control the legislature and have held the governor's mansion for most of the last couple of decades. Florida also usually goes Republican for president (Obama being the glaring exception, though he barely won last time).

There are a good number of Democrats here, but a large percentage of them are retirees and the like who are fiscally conservative. That makes the state lean to the right most of the time.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Florida also usually goes Republican for president"

Didn't they lose three of the last five?

"but a large percentage of them are retirees and the like who are fiscally conservative"

That is the kind of demographic Hillary wants in a purple state.

[Pro Libertate]

She is not winning Florida in a general election. You can post this comment on the wall.

[BakedPenguin]

My ultra-liberal mother grudgingly admitted that Jeb Bush was not a bad governor.

I agree, although we've had all the Bushes we need in the WH.

[playa manhattan]

We've had all the Clintons we need in the WH.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, let's move on to one of the 314 million other people not closely related to a preceding president.

[Brett L]

Wendy Davis is obviously on board.

I think she'll need some rock salt loads to get through her next presser. I read that she's managed to piss off a number of the state political press.

[Brett L]

Caption: "Fetus skeet at the Governor's Mansion if I win"

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Davis reportedly promised to "kick some ass with it."

Fuckin LOL at this if it's true--this is probably the first time she's ever held a gun, and she's talking like the dumbass police chief on Die Hard. Funny how when a right-winger talks like this, it's STUPID HICK COWBOYS DERPITY DOO!

[Steve G]

The fact that Biden is even entertained seriously as an heir just boggles my mind. I'd venture Dan Quayle was taken more seriously than this used car salesman.

[Episiarch]

Come on, Biden would be the most hilarious president ever. Frankly, I'd rather see an incompetent boob there as opposed to the incompetent megalomaniac we have now.

[Brett L]

Its really too bad Leslie Nielson is dead. He would have made the perfect Biden on SNL.

[Killaz]

Richard Mulligan, I picture, would have been the perfect choice.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Frankly, I'd rather see an incompetent boob there as opposed to the incompetent megalomaniac we have now.

The problem with Biden is that he's both. An incompetent megabooblomaniac, if you will.

[Tonio]

Epi, are you old enough to remember Gerald Ford's Presidency?

[Episiarch]

Mostly only Chevy Chase imitating him.

[Killaz]

and him getting shot at a lot. I even remember Ford being sworn in. It was a festive atmosphere in my home when Nixon resigned. Parents just hated him.

[Bobarian]

Don't sell Joe's megalomania short.

[Coeus]

Man survives '18 months adrift' on Pacific by catching sea turtles barehanded

An emaciated man whose boat washed up on a remote Pacific atoll this week claims he survived 16 months adrift on the Pacific, floating more than 8,000 miles from Mexico, a researcher said Friday.

The man, with long hair and beard, was discovered Thursday when his 24-foot fiberglass boat with propellerless engines floated onto the reef at Ebon Atoll and he was spotted by two locals.

"His condition isn't good, but he's getting better," Ola Fjeldstad, a Norwegian anthropology student doing research on Ebon, the southern most outpost of the Marshalls, told AFP by telephone.

Fjeldstad said the man, dressed only in a pair of ragged underpants, claims he left Mexico for El Salvador in September 2012 with a companion who died at sea several months ago.

Hmmmm.

[rts]

He was delicious.

[The DerpRider]

Bison Dele?

[playa manhattan]

The article says both 16 and 18 months, so there's that.

[paranoid android]

If you want people to believe your unbelievably far-fetched survivor story, try to make sure it's not cribbed from Pirates of the Caribbean.

[Corning]

or life of Pi

[Aresen]

Who are you going to believe: Jay Carney or Jack Sparrow?

[Virginian]

Actually there was a family that spent like 80 days adrift in a raft. Turtle blood and meat was what kept them alive.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Sounds like a sure-fire weight loss plan.

[Coeus]

Definitely for the guy he ate.

[db]

Anything about South Pacific islands with strange geometry, because the whole time dilation/compression thing is there.

[playa manhattan]

Lost?

[Steve G]

Obama wants long-term unemployed hired

Oh well, in that case, let's just get on it. Wish he woulda told us earlier.

[Brett L]

This is Slate, so even when the prescription is right, its written by a gigantic asshole who reminds everyone why nobody like adjunct faculty.

Here's the cold, hard truth every prospective student, and every parent, should know: In the vast majority of subjects, when you have an adjunct professor instead of a full-timer, you are getting a substandard education. To say this, I am admitting that I myself provide subpar service to my students. But I do.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That's bullshit. Most of the adjuncts I know are better teachers than many full-timers in that they don't view teaching as a "distraction" from their real work, i.e. research.

[Brett L]

Huh. My experience tracks more closely with this guy. That said, I think I had maybe four adjuncts in my entire experience. I just didn't do that many low-level courses in college.

[Brett L]

Although I would like to clarify that full-time professors often provide sub-standard education as well.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Although I would like to clarify that full-time professors often provide sub-standard education as well.

Indeed. Just because someone is really knowledgeable or skilled at something doesn't mean they know how to explain it well to others.

The bitch in the article whines that she can't "teach" well because she doesn't have an office of her own. I am at a loss to figure out how an office would affect the quality of her teaching.

[Heroic Mulatto]

That said, I think I had maybe four adjuncts in my entire experience.

How long ago did you go to school, if I may ask? As an undergrad, I had only a handful of adjuncts myself, and that was more than 20 years ago. Nowadays, in my professional life, almost all I see are adjuncts. Most of them are ABDs or newly-minted PhDs who have found a job yet.

[R C Dean]

Call it 30 years ago, at a small liberal arts school, I had not one single adjunct professor.

Most of my profs were either tenured or tenure track, and were pretty good teachers.

Good enough that I honestly didn't think law school was all that hard.

[Brett L]

One stint in the late 90s, another in the late 00s. The second one in the engineering tract, where even at community college, the calc, physics and organic instructors were full-time professors. I think I had a couple of lab adjuncts, one of whom was a disaster, but I don't even count him.

Almost all of them were in the liberal arts in low level intro classes.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Almost all of them were in the liberal arts in low level intro classes.

Makes sense. The idea is that if all you're there to do is teach, why pay you for anything more? Higher up the food chain, the university is investing in you to produce research that will being prestige and money back into your institution. That's what publish or perish is all about. I believe as of 2013, something like 73 percent of universities faculty are adjunct. I don't see this trend going away anytime soon.

Again, with that context, in my experience the adjuncts tend to be better instructors in that by earning their pay solely through teaching, as opposed to research, they learn to get good at it...or the department head doesn't invite them back next term. But for those of us safely on the train to tenureville and beyond, that economic pressure to improve our teaching quality doesn't exist.

[Clich? Bandit]

My absolute favorite prof was an adjunct who taught International Violence, my all time favorite class. It was even more interesting than physics.

[Heroic Mulatto]

What do you do in "International Violence"? Or is that what they're calling ROTC these days?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

United Arab Emirates says you must breastfeed your children with new law.

The lulz are in the comments:

For health reasons, I've decided I won't breastfeed when I have children. I refuse to have my reproductive rights infringed upon.

[wareagle]

did I miss something or is a baby breastfeeding somehow stopping this woman from further breeding? Seems if she has a young 'un, reproductive rights have been exercised.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I picture her with a baby that is lying on the floor screaming, and her yelling at it that she will not have her reproductive rights infringed upon!

[Robert S.]

The toothless predator.

[Coeus]

Since "reproductive rights" now means abortion, free shit, and male economic slavery, it's understandable that she takes it to mean "whatever the fuck I want it to mean".

[Tonio]

Not so fast, Coeus. I can fix that real quick. [Raises hypodermic]

/Dr. Krieger

[Coeus]

If the FDA would get off their ass and approve RISUG already, I'd quit bitching. I assume Krieger got the drug from India. Or maybe an ally behind a bar.

[Ted S.]

Our bodies our choices.

Of course, I'm biologically incapabaly of breastfeeding should I ever become a parent.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

If you want to breastfeed Warty, it is your reproductive right Ted.

[Corning]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I don't think I want to click.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Just a Life of Brian clip.

[Corning]

I'm biologically incapabaly of breastfeeding

Not so fast. With the right hormone therapy you probably could.

[Tonio]

Blast you, Josh. Plus, Squirrels!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Preliminary tests indicated the substance, also sent to Rudy Giuliani's office in New York City, was corn starch.

THE TERRORISTS ARE WINNING THE WAR ON OBESITY.

[playa manhattan]

The good news re: Sandra Fluke running in my district- There's no way she'll win. Wendy Gruel and Ted Lieu are also running for Waxman's seat so far...

[Pro Libertate]

Fluke. . .is running? Holy shit, that's even hollower than Obama! What's her platform, free fucking for everyone?

[playa manhattan]

http://swampland.time.com/2014.....-congress/

"I'm flattered that I'm being discussed as a potential candidate, especially for Rep. Waxman's seat, considering his incredible legacy,"

Except nobody was discussing her. SHE called the press conference.

[Brett L]

(I) Fuck you, pay (for) me.

[110 Lean]

I love the picture of her someone posted yesterday with the inscription "My Body. My Choice. Your Money."

[110 Lean]

I love the picture of her someone posted yesterday with the inscription "My Body. My Choice. Your Money."

[Juice]

The Democrat blogs are loving it.

[Pro Libertate]

Of course they are. This whole "success" with Obama has them convinced that idiots with no experience and nothing but some stupid moment in the limelight is all you need for public office. While that can and has worked, it's not a good long-term strategy.

[Episiarch]

What success?!? Everything Obama has done has been a disaster, a lie, or an unfulfilled promise. I mean, I know they're idiots who cultishly worship candidates (like any partisan moron), but man, they need to step back and think a little.

[Corning]

He used scare quotes.

Can't eclectic anarchists read scare quotes?

[Episiarch]

I refuse to recognize the legitimacy of scare quotes.

[Pro Libertate]

It's funny because I was thinking as I typed that something more sarcastic than scare quotes is needed here.

[Pro Libertate]

You'd think they'd see how big a disaster both the man and their utter refusal to judge him may end up being, but no, they just seem to want to keep doubling down on stupid.

I think November is going to shock the crap out of the faithful. Too bad the Republicans aren't more deserving beneficiaries.

[Aresen]

It really depends how many 'open' races their are in 'purple' states.

Waxman, for example, is going, but given his district, does anyone expect it to go to Team Red.

Remember the high percentage of incumbent victories.

[playa manhattan]

Waxman's seat will stay blue. I didn't even bother to see if there was a Republican candidate.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

"Success" means "gets elected". They don't give a shit about anything other than that.

[Marc F Cheney]

If she won, that would be a... Never mind.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://m.rollingstone.com/poli.....n-20140128

We need a $21.72 minimum wage!

[db]

Can we agree on $21.12?

[Mokers]

I like how one of the reasons they came up with $10.10 is that it is easy to remember. Not because it made more economic sense than $10.09, $10.11 or $.00, but because it was easy to remember. And they seemed proud of that explanation!

[Coeus]

Progtard economic genius alive and well in the comments of an article about walmart.

Walmart Friday said bad weather and cuts in food stamp support for the poor weighed on US sales and would hit earnings for its November-January fourth quarter.

Nikko212 ? 26 minutes ago ?
Wal-Mart to the government: "hey, you've finally stripped so much from the people who work here and shop here that they can't even afford our cheap crap...no fair!" How about you stop paying people so little that they HAVE to use these programs and live with what would STILL be astronomical profit margins?!
?Reply?Share ?
Avatar
Rider3 ? 36 minutes ago
Well, let's see...Walmart keeps their employees at a below-living wage so that they are foced to rely on food stamps, which will now be taken away from these citizens (thank you GOP), so now Walmart won't be able to get those food stamp profits back into their cash tils. Vicious circle, isn't it? Too bad the employees are the ones truly suffering -- not the mega-corporation.

[paranoid android]

The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is that if food stamps were cut, Wal-Mart's entire work force would starve to death. I wonder how that would affect business?

[Coeus]

It appears that they assume that everyone on food stamps also works for walmart.

[Bobarian]

Also, it appears that Wal-Mart actually forces people to work there.

[Marc F Cheney]

So, if I understand correctly, Wal-Mart should lobby for increased food stamps, and then hire those people that use food stamps.

[Lady Bertrum]

What? No link about Christie knowing about the lane closures yet? You guys disappoint.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02......html?_r=1

[Lady Bertrum]

Fatso's done for.

[110 Lean]

Saying "evidence exists" is not evidence.

[110 Lean]

FTR, I'm not a Christy supporter.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Jerry Springer sucks off Obama:

"Why would you ever hate Barack Obama?," Springer asked. "You may not like his policies. You may say 'respectfully sir, I disagree. I'm going to vote this way or I want that.' But is there a human being on the planet Earth that wouldn't want Barack Obama as a son? I mean look at what this young man has achieved, and what he's done on his own, and how he's become this great leader."

[Pro Libertate]

Um, I kind of care about the character of my children, to be honest. But Jerry's not familiar with that concept anymore than the president is.

[Paul.]

Jesus, how dumb. Uhh, the same reason people didn't just disagree with Reagan, but hated the man?

[playa manhattan]

I wouldn't want him as a son. Mainly because he behaves as though he were raised without a father, and that would reflect poorly on me.

[Winston]

Jeez a former mayor is a statist fuck. Who woulda thunk?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

You read my mind.

[wareagle]

what has he achieved, exactly, aside from taking advantage of liberal white guilt and winning a couple of elections? Did he build some great company, invent something that improved quality of life, discover a life-saving drug, create a life-altering technology? No. He demagogued.

[Mickey Rat]

So, of course, Springer admires him.

[Aresen]

Jerry Springer sucks off Obama:

Emergency Room Doctor: I'm sorry, Ms Springer, but your husband seems to have drowned in - ah, er, hum - 'post-orgasmic material.

[Brandon]

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

[Robert S.]

Didn't both his parents abandon him at some point in his life?

[DEG]

Transportation Stupidity Agency loosens rules on booze purchased at duty free shops:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/.....?hpt=hp_t2

[Paul.]

Serial question, who would you rather have as your next president, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden? Because you will be getting one of the two of them.

[playa manhattan]

There are no winners in the game of "Who would you rather".

[Juice]

Got news for you. Biden has zero chance.

[Pro Libertate]

I think she's got little chance, too. I mean, yeah, Biden's a moron. But what has she ever achieved? Getting elected because your husband was president isn't really very impressive, and she's known for accomplishing exactly nothing since then beyond getting elected.

It's a true testament to how bad the Democrats are now that she's considered a frontrunner for their nomination. That should be a complete joke--as big as the idea that Biden could win.

[Cytotoxic]

Obama won because he was a blank slate with a silver tongue and bad opponents. Hillary was the toughest challenge he saw off. Hillary is the opposite of this. Her GOP opponent can dump everything hated about this admin on her and they will. Anyone playing the 'this person WILL win' game now is a fool.

[BigT]

"Obama won because he was a blank slate with a silver teleprompter and bad opponents. "

[Bobarian]

The only thing Hillary has going for her is 'bad opponents'.

So at this point, what difference does it make?

[Paul.]

Anyone playing the 'this person WILL win' game now is a fool.

I hope you're right. I really do. But it's not like we haven't been through this before.

I still say that 'Candidate X vs. Cardboard cutout, cardboard cutout wins' type polls are pointless.

Eventually cardboard cutout becomes Candidate Y that actually has opinions and a personality.

Remember in the pre 2012 election days when people posted poll after poll saying Obama loses against non-existent candidate? Yeah, so the GOP brought Romney into existence. You think they can't go full stupid twice in a row?

[Cytotoxic]

The GOP went stupid in...well every election since 1988. They still managed to win some of them. The Donks have had a lot of luck in 2008 and the worst GOP nom since Dewey in 2012. You don't know what's going to happen anymore than my dog.

[Paul.]

I'm liking this dog of yours.

[wareagle]

you could probably make a case that she has achieved more than Obama, a low bar but there it is. Being the governor's wife got her a gig at a prestigious law firm where she surely had to do more than say 'present' at the staff meetings. And she knew enough to make money in cattle futures, or some futures.

[Episiarch]

What had Obama ever achieved?

I'm pretty sure the TEAM BLUE gestalt is going to subconsciouly run like this: they elected the first black man, and it felt really good. He may have shafted them, but they don't care about actions anyway, only words. Electing the first woman would also feel really good; it would be sort of like keeping the high going from the last election.

I see TEAM BLUE as an addict that is addicted to OUTRAGE and KULTUR WAR and a bunch of other shit, and the entire Obama presidency has been something of a bender. They don't want it to end.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, it seems to be their new thing. Clinton/Fluke?

[Paul.]

I think she's got little chance, too. I mean, yeah, Biden's a moron.

Given my track record on predicting the next president, you'd do well to listen to me. And yes, do note that it's yet another of my predictions that I hope goes horribly wrong.

You're getting one of them. Remember, Clinton gave Obama a real run for his money in that first election.

and she's known for accomplishing exactly nothing since then beyond getting elected.

Given Obama's accomplishments before running for office, I'd say her chances, by sheer volume should be greater than Obama's should have been.

[Cytotoxic]

Given my track record on predicting the next president

Oh puh-leez. How early have your previous accurate predictions been?

Given Obama's accomplishments before running for office, I'd say her chances, by sheer volume should be greater than Obama's should have been.

Obama = blank slate

Hillary =/= blank slate

[Paul.]

Oh puh-leez. How early have your previous accurate predictions been?

Well before Romney was even picked by the GOP. Well... before. You're not one of those still-pissed off Romney fans, are you?

[Cytotoxic]

Nope. N=1 is not that impressive either, especially when the 'N' is an election where the GOP sent in its C-team.

[Paul.]

Nope. N=1 is not that impressive either, especially when the 'N' is an election where the GOP sent in its C-team.

That's my point. Do you have any evidence that the GOP isn't sending in it's D-team?

I predicted a second Obama term just after his first term started just on the utterly starry-eyed display from Democrats. I knew there was no way a single Democrat was going to switch teams before he 'fulfilled his two-term destiny'.

Don't get caught up in low Obama polling numbers. Right now, I estimate the GOPs's hope (and I don't even know why I'm talking about the GOP as a party) is to increase majorities in the house and take the senate. I think the presidency is a Democratic lock for at least the next election cycle.

[Aresen]

Pro Lib:

I really have no dog in the Blue-Red fight south of the 49th parallel, but I still think it will boil down to how the economy is doing.

Unemployment rate + inflation less than 9% (aka 'the misery index'), the incumbent party wins.

Over 11%, the out of office party wins.

Between the two numbers, it depends on the nominees.

[Pro Libertate]

I'll be shocked if the Republicans don't win the Senate and retain the House. The question is whether they get significant majorities in each. The economy remains in neutral or worse and won't improve this year, and, of course, Ofuckyoucare.

No idea what will happen in 2016,

[Paul.]

Funny thing, I may be enrolling on Obfuckyoucare in a few months. I'll let everyone know how my experience goes.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Because you will be getting one of the two of them.

If that's all they've got, it's a pretty safe bet the next president won't have a (D) behind their name.

Why would you even think such a thing?

[Cytotoxic]

Paul will have you know he has a TRACK RECORD!

[Francisco d Anconia]

How old is Paul?

[Killaz]

Joe. I think he wouldn't be that bad. Everyone who has ever worked with him says he has a talent for negotiation and reconciliation with others. Obama hasn't been able to take advantage of having a politically talented backroom kind of guy like Joe because he is a myopic shit for brains who intentionally poisons the well whenever possible.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And one more Huffpo link: 5 Things You're Probably Doing Wrong In The Shower

1. You're taking long, hot showers.
2. You're using shower gels and body washes with excessive lather.
3. You're not rinsing soap completely off of your body.
4. You're applying deep pore facial masks after showering.
5. You're rough towel-drying instead of doing a gentle pat-dry.

Are Huffpo readers so stupid they cannot even shower correctly?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Next up: 5 Ways your breathing technique could be improved.

[Jordan]

Remind's me of Brian Regan's routine about how Pop Tarts have directions on the package. I would link it, but Youtube is blocked at work.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Brian Regan on Pop Tarts.

[Paul.]

Brian Regan. One of the funniest 'clean' comedians out there.

I walked ON THE MOON!

[Bobarian]

Are Huffpo readers so stupid they cannot even shower correctly?

Huffpo had to publish this warning, they were losing too many readers to drowning in the shower. While it is only a false rumor that turkeys are so dumb they will drown in a rainstorm, it does appear that some creatures are actually that stupid.

[Jordan]

1. You're taking long, hot showers.

If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. And I don't see "pissing in the shower" on the list. George Costanza approves.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

pissing in the shower was touted a few weeks back as a water-saving technique

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Yeah; you can take my long, hot showers from my cold dead hands.

[Paul.]

If it weren't for long, hot showers, I'd be dead by now. Put that in your organic pipe and smoke it, Huffpo.

[Zeb]

What if I like having dry and scaly skin?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

If you like your dry and scaly skin, you can...no, I don't know if you can keep it anymore.

[Auric Demonocles]

You're allowed not to use the preventative skin care measures in Obamacare (though why anyone wouldn't want free moisturizers I will never understand), but if you don't buy it you will get penalized taxed.

[110 Lean]

Meet the gal with the longest legs in NYC

[Paul.]

Meh.

[playa manhattan]

That's putting it charitably.

[Episiarch]

The Russian chick is light years hotter. They should have gone with her.

[110 Lean]

She's why I posted the link. Whoa!

[Coeus]

I have never understood why that's a thing.

[Episiarch]

Long legs are quite nice, but it can't be the whole package.

[The Late P Brooks]

Richard Ledgett, who previously floated the idea of an amnesty for Edward Snowden, will become the agency's top civilian official.

Presumably he renounced his heresy and embraced the doctrine of Hate Everlasting.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Happy Friday, motherfuckers. Guess what. I'm engaged!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Who's the poor lucky bastard?

[Episiarch]

nicole's Realdoll.

[Paul.]

Please don't remind me of HBO's Real Sex. I've just eaten.

[Lady Bertrum]

Congratulations!!

Get a pre-nup. Just kidding, Congrats, again.

[Paul.]

So nothing I've said over the years has sunk in... at all.

Hopefully you're marrying up. Community property state?

Oh, and congrats.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Well, Paul, I'm not marrying a woman, so I guess there's that.

[Auric Demonocles]

He's probably going to keep putting out after the wedding.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

He'd better.

[Paul.]

I... I don't get it.

Oh wait, bravo, you mean the act of marrying a man is by definition marrying down? Well played. And according to the most recent statistics, it'd likely be true.

But on a serial note, if you are actually marrying up, don't listen to anyone on the prenup. But if you are marrying down... a prenup is something you should consider.

If you're marrying laterally, just keep separate bank accounts.

[110 Lean]

Well, Paul, I'm not marrying a woman, so I guess there's that.

Well my fantasy life just went into the dumpster.

[Zeb]

Finally wore him down?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Evidently. Thanks everyone! This fall.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

No dancing at the wedding.

Congrats!

[BakedPenguin]

Congrats

[Paul.]

Not so fast. If he's marrying up, he wore her down.

[Zeb]

Jesus, do you ever pay attention?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Congratulations.

[PD Scott]

Congratulations. May your marriage be long, happy and prosperous.

[DEG]

Congratulations!

[playa manhattan]

Congrats. Now you can finally let yourself go.

[Auric Demonocles]

She's still got a few months to keep up the illusion.

[Auric Demonocles]

Congrats! This is the same guy that there was the big thing about him not wanting to like a year ago, right?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Yeah

[Auric Demonocles]

Double congrats then!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Landed a man; every girl's dream. WAY TO BE A CLICHE.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I mean, CONGRATULATIONS!

[Brett L]

Congratulations! When does the breeding start?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

TBD

[playa manhattan]

She can't tell you because it's before the end of the 3rd month.

[hamilton]

Wow! Congrats,that is awesome!

Will you stay libertarian or is a slow move to soccer mom mandated?

[Paul.]

It's a move that happens more quickly than you'd think.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

I think I get to stay an anarchist unless I have kids. That's the rule, right?

[Zeb]

And if libertarians have to become soccer moms, you'd probably only have to become a minarchist libertarian, which isn't so bad.

[Paul.]

Uhh no. I was libertarian before I had kids, having kids turned me into a rabid, raging libertarian minarchist/anarcho-capitalist.

When you have kids, you realize how much the state wants to get their paws on them, and your instinct becomes to protect them. More libertarianism post-kids is the only intelligent pathway.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Congratulations, girl!

[Corning]

gratz.

Did he ask you or did you ask him?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

He asked

[Coeus]

Guess the squats are working.

[Coeus]

congrats

[Zeb]

Hopefully better than my "well, I guess we should probably get married".

[Brett L]

"Oh fuck, you're pregnant?!"

I mean, by the time I got the ring and shit, I did a little better for the formal proposal, but...

[Ted S.]

It's your fault you knocked her up. At least, I presume it's your fault.

[Bobarian]

paternity test?

Warty DNA is, like, an 85% match to any mammal.

[Dry_Gin_Wet_Farts]

What's with all the Warty hate, lately? I've been away for a while. I must have missed something.

[Bobarian]

There is no hate, just fear and respect.

Mostly fear, though.

[Paul.]

You did what any self-respecting man does, he surrenders, he doesn't go enthusiastically.

"Ok, I'll marry your ass, just tell me the day before and I'll be there!" --Chris Rock.

[Jerryskids]

Damn.

I misread that as "Guess what I'm engaged in".

Unfortunately, my thoughts turned to Warty and I really didn't want to guess.

[Pro Libertate]

Does he know that you comment here?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Course

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Course

[Pro Libertate]

Well, until you bring him here for us to meet, how can we approve?

[Auric Demonocles]

I thought we were going to disapprove not matter what he did upon arriving?

[Pro Libertate]

It depends on what he brings us as an offering.

[Paul.]

It depends on what he brings us as an offering

A social contract?

[Auric Demonocles]

Does he have a sister?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

A brother!

[Paul.]

Well, until you bring him here for us to meet, how can we approve?

You mean how can we disapprove?

[Pro Libertate]

Exercise our approval rights, which may be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or delayed.

[Christophe]

"unreasonably or arbitrarily"

Gotta cover all the bases.

[Coeus]

Guess what. I'm engaged!

Engaged in what? My vote is an international criminal enterprise.

[Auric Demonocles]

Buttsex.

[Tonio]

Congratulations! Squee!

[Marc F Cheney]

That better be an ironic squee. Or else, I don't know what.

[db]

Congratulations!

[BigT]

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

Congratulations!!

[Francisco d Anconia]

All you insensitive politically incorrect halfwits. You don't congratulate the bride. You make her sound like some tramp, only out to capture a man so she can bleed him dry. Fucking Neanderthals!

Best wishes Nikki

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Aw Francisco, you're the only one who's not a pig!

[Francisco d Anconia]

Aw shucks.

*turns red, kicks the dirt with toe*

[Francisco d Anconia]

Why?

You know we are all pigs, right?

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Congratulations! How does that saying go? "We're not losing a libertarian, we're gaining a statist."

[Bobarian]

That, Sir, is a horrible thing to say.

You are to be shunned!

Good day to you, Sir!

And Nikki, congratulate your fianc? for me.

That is the proper thing to do, you bunch of uncouth pigs!

[grrizzly]

Awesome, Nikki! So, you'll have to get a new handle.

[Marc F Cheney]

From now on, she's just "The Frau".

[The Bearded Hobbit]

Congratulations!

Don't listen to the naysayers; Mrs. Hobbit and I have been in wedded bliss for over 41 years, now. Even with a joint checking account!

Check my website for the story.

http://www.netznet.net/

... Hobbit

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I didn't check, but I'm sure someone posted this in AM Links already, but since I don't recognize AM links,

Back to the Future musical announced

[paranoid android]

I've been making jokes for years about how nobody has any ideas for musicals anymore beyond "Stupid 80s Movie: The Musical", but they just keep managing to make themselves look more ridiculous.

[Episiarch]

Once The Planet of the Apes musical got made, they should have just packed it in. Nothing can top that.

[Ted S.]

Ooh, rock me Dr. Zaius!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

You gotta' link to that. Dr. Zaius.

[playa manhattan]

Refresh fail. You found the dub step mix too, huh?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Yep. It's not a bad little beat.

[playa manhattan]

Obligatory

[Ted S.]

So obligatory somebody else already posted it.

[Winston]

I always found the trend of during movies into stage musicals funny since it seems by the 1960s movie musicals were all adaptations of Broadway musicals. And within a few years the movie musical was dead.

[Ted S.]

They were turning stage musicals into movies at the beginning of the sound era. The Gershwins' Girl Crazy was turned into a movie in 1932, a decade before the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland version.

Even earlier is Rodgers/Hart's Spring is Here, which was turned into a (lousy) movie in 1930.

[Winston]

I said they were "all" adaptations since there used to be a lot of original musicals in Hollywood.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Too much Vodka may kill you, still no cure for cancer.

[Zeb]

I thought everyone already knew that that was why there are so many Russian widows.

[Brett L]

I thought being married to Russian women is what caused so many Russian widows.

[Zeb]

The two may be related.

[Tonio]

Sturdy ankles. 'Nuff said.

[Andrew S.]

Kansas: Municipalities should not fund private business' build-out of broadband internet, except for unserved areas.

Daily Kos headline: Kansas moves to stop broadband internet to residents

Derp.

[Winston]

So I guess corporate welfare is good now?

[Juice]

I think Andrew might be invoking that passage from Bastiat about the state not doing things = things not being done.

[Winston]

I was mocking the Koskids. And yes I knew the Bastiat quote would come up.

[Juice]

I think it says they're also preventing a telcom from laying cable, so it does appear that Kansas is preventing broadband access to its residents.

[PD Scott]

Don't know if this was discussed here: Man uses first-class ticket to get free meals and drinks for almost a year.

The entire article:
A MAN bought a first-class ticket and used it to have free meals and drinks at the airport's VIP lounge almost every day for nearly a year, Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported.

The itinerary for the ticket was found to have been changed more than 300 times within a year, and the owner of the ticket used it to enjoy the facilities at the airport's VIP lounge in Xi'an in Shaanxi, China.

The rare case was discovered by a China Eastern Airlines staff member, who then decided to investigate.

When the ticket's validity was almost up, the passenger cancelled it for a refund.

An airlines spokesman said there were no means to stop this act, even if it was done on purpose. However, many netizens lauded the passenger for being smart, rather than condemning him.

[PD Scott]

Also at the link: Somali pirates prefer Korean jail

The daily also reported that five Somali pirates, who were jailed after hijacking the MV Samho Jewelry, a South Korean-operated chemical tanker, preferred life in Korean jails than to return to Somalia. They also reportedly put on some 10kg of weight since they were brought into jail in 2011.

Quoting South Korean media reports, it said that the prisoners had expressed willingness to stay in the country, even if it is done through the refugee application process.

A prisoner, who used to be a warder back in Somali, said prisoners back there were prohibited from washing and trimming their nails in the cell. "The facilities and treatment in Korean jails are really good," he said.

Another prisoner said that he enjoyed prison meals, and would cry every meal time when he thought about his starving children back in Somalia.

[Paul.]

I'd be curious to know if he actually saved... oh shit, refund. Never mind.

Ok, high five to him.

[playa manhattan]

They must not have TSA there.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4683075

Wait a second, Michael Moore says we need a $15 minimum wage. But Rolling Stone said we needed a $22 minimum wage?!

[Andrew S.]

We need a $37 minimum wage, obviously.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

That's too hard to remember.

$37.37. There we go.

[PD Scott]

Clearly a $37 minimum wage is required to satisfy both.

[wareagle]

the bidding war is on.

[Marshall Gill]

Since money is wealth, the government should simply write every single person in the country a check for a trillion dollars!

Multiplistimulas!!!

[Michael S. Langston]

That's because Michael Moore is a third less moral that the Rolling Stones.

Must be that gluttony is still a sin....

[Zeb]

Propane, propane.

Anyone know if there is any technical reason why they don't deliver natural gas on trucks like they do with propane?

[PD Scott]

Natural gas is in a series of tubes?

[Jordan]

Are you saying the internet runs on natural gas?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

It runs on farts, so yes.

[Zeb]

Tubes that go nowhere near my house.

I probably just need to burn more wood.

[Winston]

I probably just need to burn more wood.

Isn't that what Epi and Warty do all the time?

[playa manhattan]

Propane has higher energy density and is easier to liquify.

[playa manhattan]

I found this out the hard way when I converted my grill to natural gas from propane. I lost a lost of BTUs, and had to drill out the orfices to make up for it. Of course, I drilled too much, and now my grill can get above 800 in about 3 minutes...

[Zeb]

My kitchen stove came with two sets of orifices so you8 could use it with either (but I only have access to propane). Interestingly, the BTU rating was higher with nat. gas (obviously with the bigger orifices).

[Zeb]

Thanks for a real answer. I thought it might be something like that.

[Brett L]

I would think there would be a pressure-temperature point reachable for a natgas storage tank that could go boom on a hot day in direct sun. Its probably more of a safety issue than anything else. That and it takes a lot of infrastructure to liquefy natgas compared to propane. I believe my professor in thermo illustrated what happens if you don't cool natgas as you compress it to liquefy it with a line labeled "Tboom!"

[The Late P Brooks]

Lawmakers in Washingtoon, Republican and Democrat, are pushing the feds to look into why propane prices are getting so high as the country gets so cold.

Global warming.

duh.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

nothing happened, so the OPP are investigating.

[Andrew S.]

You down with OPP?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Yeah, you know me.

[Jordan]

$350 million NASA project completed, then mothballed because of lack of need

Nothing left to cut! And this was foisted on NASA by a Republican Congressman, lest anyone think the Stupid Party was in any way principled.

[The Late P Brooks]

Anyone know if there is any technical reason why they don't deliver natural gas on trucks like they do with propane?

They apparently burn differently; appliances use different jetting, based on propane vs NatGas. I don't know the specific details, but switching back and forth does not seem to be an option.

[Zeb]

I know that. I just wonder if there is a reason why people use propane compressed in tanks and natural gas in pipelines besides that just being the way the infrastructure is.
The only thing I can think of is that since natural gas is mostly methane, perhaps it is more difficult to compress or more dangerous to store compressed.

[Bobarian]

It is more difficult to compress and more dangerous to store compressed.

One of the most expensive components of converting an auto to run CNG is the fuel tank. A proper, certified fuel tank can run well over a grand.

[110 Lean]

With 16 percent of Republican primary voters, Rand Paul has a slim lead in a crowded field.

When I'm not home, I leave turn on MSNBC and crank the volume up to 80. Of all the cable news networks, they are by far the loudest and I want to give the impression that someone is home.

When I came home last night I wondered why Chris Matthews was just ripping the shit out of Rand Paul. Now I see why.

[playa manhattan]

Good idea. If you have on MSNBC, burglars will assume that you have nothing worth stealing.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

They may also start bleeding from the ears if they linger too long, which is also a plus.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Everyday we learn more and more about Warty's species

[Corning]

The rare and majestic Raping Chupacabra.

[PD Scott]

A little afternoon music with CGI and cool martial arts movie footage.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

'Seinfeld' reunion will happen 'very, very soon,' Jerry Seinfeld confirms

[paranoid android]

So soon, it actually happened several years ago, on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Seriously, if you're going to do a reunion thing at all, the way they handled it on CYE was brilliant and they should really just leave it at that.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Did anyone else noticed last night's Community was taking shots at Game of Thrones? The worst parts of the episode.

[Episiarch]

Uh...they take shots at pop culture stuff all the time.

What I found interesting was how the episode seemed to be a pretty strong indictment of the back-scratching in politics. When Robert Patrick admitted "where his power came from", I thought that was pretty explicit, while still being funny.

And if you're going to have Nathan Fillion on, give him more screen time.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I know they do, but the GoT references were stretched.

[Episiarch]

And the Dr. Who ones aren't? Of course, Dr. Who deserves all the mockery possible.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Dr. Who is a mockery of Inspector Spacetime

[Episiarch]

This is a valid point.

Last season felt off because of no Dan Harmon. Now this season also feels off, but Harmon is back. I can't believe that Pierce not being there could affect it this much, though Troy leaving does sting.

[NoVAHockey]

huh, there are others beside Allison brie on that show?

[Episiarch]

This is also a valid point. Yes, there are others. Her name is Gillian Jacobs.

Also, last night's episode was very Annie-heavy.

[The Late P Brooks]

I know that. I just wonder if there is a reason why people use propane compressed in tanks and natural gas in pipelines besides that just being the way the infrastructure is.

I thought you were suggesting natgas as a short term substitute for scarce propane.

I do not know the answer to your question.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

This dog loves Tennis

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

The EPA has recently banned the production and sale of 80 percent of America's current wood-burning stoves, the oldest heating method known to mankind and mainstay of rural homes and many of our nation's poorest residents.

[paranoid android]

"Abraham Lincoln was born in a log-environmental disaster..."

[Zeb]

Again? So now they'll start putting catalytic converters on stoves again so they all cost $600 more.

Fortunately, if you can weld or know someone who can, you can make your own stove pretty easily.

[Cytotoxic]

This is the future.

[Bobarian]

What about a fireplace?

[Zeb]

Fireplaces generally burn cleaner because they get basically unlimited air supply. Not sure about particulates from fireplaces, though.

[Corning]

How hard is it to cast the iron of a cast iron Franklin stove?

[Zeb]

Melting a few hundred pounds of iron is the tricky part. If you want to make your own, plate steel is probably the way to go.

[Coeus]

I really hope this jackass comes with the courage of his convictions and freezes to death in his home this winter.

The United States has gone fracking mad ? Obama even made a point of mentioning that we've become a net oil exporter in his state of the union address, without bothering to say how that happened ? but we ought to be concerned. It's easy to ignore the fact that parts of North Dakota and Canada are being shredded and poisoned and torn apart because nobody lives there (well, nearly: low population density rural areas are fair game for exploitation, because biomes don't sue), but then they run poorly regulated and maintained pipelines straight to our homes.

[paranoid android]

I like how he extrapolates a single incident in Winnipeg into "OIL COMPANIES WILL BLOW UP ALL OF OUR HOMES IF WE DON'T STOP THIS NOW"

[Coeus]

He's a "rational skeptic". Apparently that's how they think.

[waffles]

Serious question here, is it worth it to go to Gobbler's Knob on Groundhog Day? I'm within 100 miles and it is one of my favorite movies. I do realize it was filmed in Illinois, but that doesn't let me down. Thoughts?

[Zeb]

Knob Gobbler.

[110 Lean]

I remember The Gobbler.

[Pro Libertate]

Here's what I recommend. Call Bill Murray and say you'll go if he'll go with you. There's a nonzero chance that he'll accept. Much more nonzero than for almost any other celebrity.

[playa manhattan]

I do not know the answer to your question, but Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have friends who used to go there every year. I have no further information for you.

[Pro Libertate]

I've been commenting from there for 40,000 years. However, I did learn how to play the piano.

[Coeus]

I would have thought that was fist. After a year and a half, he got every first comment.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's how he finally broke the cycle.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And got Andie MacDowell not to think I'm a tool.

[paranoid android]

Do you really want a girl who makes toasts to "peace on Earth", though?

[Corning]

So basically tomorrow when you post you will have just been released from your 10s of thousands of years of imprisonment.

[Pro Libertate]

You said that last time.

[Auric Demonocles]

Is that the secret to your agelessness?

[William of Purple]

also he's an Aes Sedai.

[Auric Demonocles]

All this time I've been calling him an old man, but really I should have been calling him an old woman? The answer is so simple, why couldn't I see it!?

[Pro Libertate]

Woman? Excuse me while I whip this out.

[Episiarch]

No, the secret to that is that he's really fucking old.

[Pro Libertate]

You said that last time, too.

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, but he's not dying or getting all weird looking like the Face of Boe.

[Episiarch]

Yeah, but go look at the portrait of him. It looks like Pelosi.

[Auric Demonocles]

He's looked like that since life crawled out of the water up onto the land.

[Bobarian]

"I have friends who..."

Wait, what?

Am I supposed to totally suspend my disbelief?

[Apatheist ?_??]

Smack MacDougal is probably the most insufferable troll we've had in a while.

[Pro Libertate]

Wasn't she a centerfold or something?

[Coeus]

What the fuck?

Everything about this is retarded. Finding the stupid shit is like one of those pictures in Highlights Magazine.

[Heroic Mulatto]

"Anthony" put up a valiant effort in the comments, but the golden horde of stupidity eventually overran his redoubt.

[Cytotoxic]

I got as far as the title and that tripped my emergency-shutdown subroutines.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Still no Amanda Knox? Can't you at least get a few posts out of the double jeopardy issue?

[Pro Libertate]

There's no double jeopardy in lovely Italy?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Here is the legal analysis at Hollywood Life, quoting actual attorney Mychal Wilson:

"Under the Fifth Amendment of U.S. Constitution, and known as Double Jeopardy clause, a person cannot be tried on the same charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction. Accordingly, the U.S. will most certainly deny any extradition request of Knox by Italy under the 2010 Bilateral Treaty. However, Amanda Knox may not be able to travel freely outside the United States if Italy issues an international warrant for her arrest because Italy has legal extradition treaties with most countries. So, if the Italian high court affirms her conviction, then Amanda Knox is basically a prisoner in her own country which is not so bad considering the alternative."

http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/.....-jeopardy/

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Socially liberals say Little Sisters of the Poor should just lie down and enjoy the HHS contraceptive mandate.

A prochoice physician says nuns should submit because, in certain circumstances, contraceptive pills can be used to reduce the risk of cancer, and after all cancer is what this whole debate has been about all along. Plus the Church is wrong about birth control, another reason for the nuns to give in to the feds.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion.....z2ruXJdfMP

Robin Abcarian of the LA Times supports the class-action workers' rights lawsuit on behalf of Oakland cheerleaders, but she's not down with the nuns' suit against the mandate. To Abcarian, the nuns' (for now) win in the US Supreme Court is "a victory for the nuns, sure, but a loss for their female employees ... and for science."

Science!

http://www.latimes.com/local/a.....z2s1MoB6k5

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Abcarian cheerleads (sorry) the workers' rights lawsuit brought on behalf of the Oakland Raiderettes:

http://www.latimes.com/local/a.....z2rdcMUxAD

[Coeus]

Policeone on marijuana legalization.

Question becomes, in what way is the law enforcement profession talking about it? We can stand around and grouse all we like, but if we fail to offer some actionable recommendations on the issue, we'll be doomed to have our fates determined by others. Some of the issues law enforcement officers can address are as follows:

? Nature Hates a Vacuum: When pot is legal, what will all the pot dealers do instead of dealing pot? Will they enroll in college and start a new career, or shift their criminal enterprise to pushing another drug?
? Laws of Unintended Consequences: At some point this year ? probably in Colorado or Washington ? someone high on marijuana will kill or maim an innocent person on the highway. What then?
? Dumbification of America: Will legalization lead to abuse (cigarettes and alcohol, both legal, are probably the most-abused substances in the country) by a large enough segment of the population to have an adverse effect on our collective cognitive capability? What about our productivity?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"doomed to have our fates determined by others."

Yeah, don't you hate it when people try to boss you around and determine your fate?

Um, and what was it you guys used to say about your job? Oh, yes, "Don't bitch to me about the laws, if you don't like the laws then take it up with the legislators," remember? Well, many Americans have taken your advice and complained to their legislators, or in these cases gone directly to their fellow-voters. legalization is the law in some jurisdictions, but don't worry, I certainly won't blame *you* for it!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"At some point this year ? probably in Colorado or Washington ? someone high on marijuana will kill or maim an innocent person on the highway. What then?"

And when, at some point in the year, some cop high on adrenaline kills or maims an innocent person, what then? I guess you'll want cops abolished!

[Zeb]

Shut the fuck up and do your job. Police are there to enforce the laws that are, not decide what they should be.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

But think of their budgets! They won't be able to confiscate drug-dealers' mansions, bean-bag chairs, and lava lamps!

[Michael S. Langston]

Police are there to enforce the laws that are, not decide what they should be.

Exactly - LEO's in recent years have taken to military lingo such as calling non-LEOs civilians - well, here's another one they can steal form the military:

You're not paid to decide policy, but to enforce it. If you want to decide policy, quit and run for election. Otherwise, STFU and accomplish the mission given.

[DesigNate]

Fuck those cocksuckers.

Aargh!

[RishJoMo]

Whoa no way man is that Hank Hill? Too cool!

http://www.Anon-VPN.com