A.M. Links: Republicans Hopeful About Winning Senate, Snowden Reportedly Used "Web Crawler" Software to Scrape NSA Data, Danish Zoo Kills Healthy Giraffe

• 

  CNN

  Republican donors are becoming more optimistic about their party's chances of taking the Senate in November.

• Edward Snowden reportedly used inexpensive and widely available "web crawler" software to easily extract data from the NSA, a federal agency whose tasks include protecting intelligence-related computer systems.
• Two Los Angeles sheriff's deputies were indicted for an alleged jail beating based in part on a complaint by a prison chaplain.
• Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who is expected to be drafted into the NFL, told multiple media outlets this weekend that he had come out as gay to his teammates last year.
• Filmmakers may have to rely on a CGI Phillip Seymour Hoffman to finish the last installment of the Hunger Games trilogy.
• The Copenhagen Zoo dismembered a healthy giraffe in front of an audience that included children and fed it to lions. Zoo officials said the killing made room for more genetically valuable giraffes.

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Comments

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***

Let me be clear. Despite its general high performance, there have been a few glitches on the Healthcare.gov website. Rest assured, my administration is making the improvements necessary for every citizen to have a satisfactory experience. Change isn't easy, but we have hired a highly qualified firm with the breadth of resources and experience necessary to maintain the website's robustness and introduce enhancements.

-click-

[Palin's Buttplug]

(Reuters) - U.S. health insurer WellPoint Inc said on Wednesday the applicants for the new Obamacare health plans are of the age and demographics it had expected, indicating that medical costs will not soar beyond the prices it charges.

WellPoint, which released lower fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, said that based on age, insurance plan selection, income levels, gender and available pharmacy data, it believes it has set the right premium rates for these new customers.

The market is behaving as expected.

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***

Thank you, PBP. I'll send Joe by with your check later.

-click-

[Palin's Buttplug]

You should know that "free phones" are part of the Reagan legacy - not Obama.

But when did reality ever matter to a wingnut?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Sorry, Shreek, tell us where anyone is defending it if Reagan did it.

Fuck you are a one note moron.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"One Note Moron"

I think you have picked out his new name!

[wareagle]

ever mendacious - cell phones did not even exist under Reagan. The original program provided reduced-cost basic landline service, monthly discounts, not direct payments to cellular companies.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So Reagan's program evolved with the phone industry. So what?

As with most wasteful and unnecessary federal programs the first legislation is the camel's nose.

That program should end today. Of course history shows that neither party is concerned about ending wasteful programs.

I don't labor under the myth that the GOP is for small government like many of the Peanuts do.

[Drake]

I love my suitcase cell-phone Ronnie gave me.

[wareagle]

Reagan's program was mostly designed so that the poors would have 9-1-1 and it was paid for through a fee on telecoms that they were free to pass on to consumers or suck up.

If you want to end it, fine. But your side has said zero about that. And again, you mistake this site for a GOP hothouse.

[playa manhattan]

The program evolved on its own!!!

[Snark Plissken]

Hey, it's like the time FDR would get on the TV and reassure everyone...

[Steve G]

Care to revise your statement?

http://www.yeomansmarketing.co.....l-douglas/

[Steve G]

As in "cell phones did not even exist under Reagan"

[So very tired]

Why, that's a radio phone, not a cell phone.

Or do you not know the difference, which is why you piped up?

[Steve G]

I was just playing around, but since you want to take a swipe, go ahead, esplain it to me smart guy...

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

"DynaTAC is a series of cellular telephones manufactured by Motorola, Inc. from 1984 to 1994" Hence 'cell phone' in Reagan era.

[Roger the Shrubber]

When you can't blame Boosh, blame Reagan!

If true, another example of how small entitlement programs designed to benefit the truly needy, when controlled by liberals, become an entitlement program for those who would rather spend their limited discretionary income on cigarettes and booze, yet feel entitled to the luxury items of those who work for a living. Why do they feel entitled to these things, you ask? Because the government is offering, of course!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And when you can't blame either, make sure to cynically invoke Reagan's name where politically expedient like Obama does!

[Palin's Buttplug]

I escaped the GOP Plantation. You can too!

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

plantation

RACIST!

[Anonymous Coward]

You should know that "free phones" are part of the Reagan legacy - not Obama.

If you seek the office, then fail to eliminate the program, you are as much the owner as its creator.

[VG Zaytsev]

Reagan gave out free cell phones?

Did he use the NSAs time machine to bring them back to 1982?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The market behaving as expected? Markets don't 'behave as expected.'

Whatever.

Each time you claim to be a classical liberal I laugh for days. Please stop it's robbing me of my hunger.

Paul Craig Roberts on how Obamacare raids estates and the poor...by design:

http://www.paulcraigroberts.or.....americans/

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tell Wellpoint that them hitting their forecasts was something no one could expect.

[PRX]

The market is behaving as expected.

so true. no one is signing up.

[Juice]

The market is behaving as expected.

I believe it was indeed expected that a lot of the previously insured would be priced out of the market.

[Floridian]

OMG. The obamaphone is calling from inside F.O.E's house. That is how it keeps getting first.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Have you checked the children?

[Snark Plissken]

Republican donors are becoming more optimistic about their party's chances of taking the Senate in November.

Promise you won't move the football out of the way this time?

[Fist of Etiquette]

All it will take is for NBC News to ask one question about rape and the whole drive collapses.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Paul Broun of Georgia is most likely to say something else ridiculously stupid if he wins the primary. There is a sane GOPer (Jack Kingston) running in that race with three other Congressmen.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

The Democrats attacked the middle class's checking accounts. Ma and Pa America won't give two wet shits about rape when they're out their former health insurance and $3k a year.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

If the old axiom 'people vote with their wallets' or when they're perceived to be negatively economically effected holds, I can't see how the Democrats don't get wiped out.

[WTF]

Never underestimate the ability of the Stupid Party to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And the ability of the media to run cover for the democrats.

[Rich]

This and this.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

The media does a better job running interference on the national level than the state. They can control the narrative of a presidential election for the unwashed masses who don't know the Fifth Amendment from the Ninth with much more skill than they can 36 separate state-level elections.

[Nazdrakke]

I can't see how the Democrats don't get wiped out.

Give free shit to 51% stolen from the 49% and you win.

[Palin's Buttplug]

"$3000 a year"? Need cite on that number - no wingnut "news" either.

PriceWaterhouse said ACA premiums would be 20% LOWER (but with 40% higher deductibles).

[Jordan]

PriceWaterhouse did not compare like policies. They compared the cheapest Obamacare policies to the average employer policy.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"$3000 a year"? Need cite on that number - no wingnut "news" either.

This from the dumbass that thinks Bush signed the FY09 budget.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I don't claim that Bush signed the 08/09 budget - Obama did (late).

What is true is that on Jan 9, 2009 the CBO issued a report that federal spending would be $3.52 trillion based on then CURRENT law and the deficit would be $1.2 trillion. Bush was still POTUS.

So when Obama said he would cut the deficit in half those are the numbers he was using.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I don't claim that Bush signed the 08/09 budget - Obama did (late).

You've claimed that Bush is responsible for all of the spending. That implys that he signed an actual budget into law, or at least enough continuing resolutions to account for all spending. You've been earholed on this so many times that you're now basically lying about what you said.

What is true is that on Jan 9, 2009 the CBO issued a report that federal spending would be $3.52 trillion based on then CURRENT law

No, it was based on projected spending, which Obama easily could have promised to reduce once he came into office through the threat of a veto. The second CR wasn't passed until March.

So when Obama said he would cut the deficit in half those are the numbers he was using.

Except the actual deficit for that year was $1.4 trillion ($1.8 trillion if you go by Debt to the Penny), enabled in large part by the $400 billion that Obama tacked on to the March CR--and of course, you conveniently discount the $328 billion that Lew never let on to the final Treasury statements for FY13 or the first month of FY14, which enabled shitlibs to claim that Obama "cut the deficit in half."

[KDN]

Wounded soldier: "I lost my leg to a land mine."

Sgt Shriek: "You only lost half your leg, christfag!"

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

I usually have you on ignore, but I'll pop you out of the hole just long enough to inform you that Ma and Pa America aren't real people, you literal-minded idiot.

Now back you go.

[Juice]

If I want to keep my same level of coverage I have to go from paying a little under $1000 a year to over $2700 a year. And I refuse to pay that much so I'll go without.

[VicRattlehead]

I now pay 6500 a year I was paying 6700, this would be great but my old deductible was $20.00 my new deductible is $2600.00 so essentially I am paying slightly less money for almost no coverage when I was formerly covered for everything with only a $20 copay. more like 20% lower with over 700% higher deductible and I hear that I got off the collapse of healthcare at the hands of incompetent government easy

[mad libertarian guy]

There are a number of questions they could ask that would automatically illicit either a truly dumb response or one that can be spun to sound just as stupid without any real effort. The media plays nothing but gotcha journalism with anyone other than statist liberals. See Maddow asking Rand Paul about how he would vote for the CRA, legislation that was passed 50 years ago when he was a small child, or the question asked of the Patriarch of the Duck Dynasty. They purposefully ask meaningless questions fishing for a response that they can take advantage of. It's their trade.

Yes, Team RED is just a handful of answers away from losing any advantage they might have. Policy failures and program disasters on the part of Team BLUE don't matter, it's all about how someone feels about an issue that is practically meaningless in national politics.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Where is everyone?

[Raven Nation]

Waiting for you to show up, sheesh.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_mEYP8N-A

Watching this.

Obama, mother, father...and what the fu...?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I find this youtube video very upsetting!!! Let's storm the Egyptian consulate!!!

[Rich]

"Obamahu Akbar!"

[Snark Plissken]

On the Reason cruise?

[waffles]

It's just you and the Canadiens, hoss.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Those crazy Danes.

[SugarFree]

EMOTIONS! SO MANY FEELS!

[Rich]

he weighed 1 pound, 9 ounces. Her skin was reddish-purple, bloody and bruised all over. One doctor, visibly shaken, described it as "gelatinous." I couldn't hold my daughter or nurse her or hear her cries, which were silenced by the ventilator. Without it, she couldn't breathe.

With all due respect, if that's not "distressed" I don't know what is.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Armstrong in essense distressed that baby retroactively. No wonder Sheryl Crow left him.

[Spoonman.]

The guy seems like he was being an asshole, but on the other hand, everybody would be bitching if he just cut 401k benefits just saying "increased healthcare expenses".

And some of the complaints seem to be focused on the fact that he acknowledged that saving lives consumes resources. Duh?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

He should not have mentioned specifics and just said that increased medical costs have crowded out other benefits. He just gave them grist for their meal.

[Spoonman.]

I'm not sure. My company is huge, but if it (a) weren't and (b) self-insured, my baby born in November would have been a significant portion of costs. I would have no problem saying "yeah, my baby consumed $70,000 of medical care. That is the risk the company set up. Here's a picture of her standing with my hands under her arms and smiling. Deal with it." It isn't shameful to have a baby who needs medical care.

Saying exactly what caused the expense probably wasn't very respectful, but the level of outrage seems excessive.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

but the level of outrage seems excessive.

I wasn't suggesting otherwise. He just fell into the trap of allowing himself to be painted as an unfeeling corporate honcho. Should have known better.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

He should never have called people out, because it's too obviously insensitive, but guess what -- if I were at AOL, I'd be pissed at how much of the company's money was spent like this. At the beginning of this year, our CEO sent around an email about how grateful we should be for our healthcare coverage. Admittedly, my company pays all our premiums. This is great. What's not great is getting the email that outlines how much they pay for singles, marrieds, singles with dependents, and marrieds with dependents. Because that's basically $15k I'm not getting for not getting knocked up. And believe me, getting me to think, "Fuck my fellow (married, childed) employees in the ass" is easy enough to think already.

[pan fried wylie]

And believe me, getting me to think, "Fuck my fellow (married, childed) employees in the ass" is easy enough to think already.

At least they wont get any more dependents that way.

[robc]

if I were at AOL, I'd be pissed at how much of the company's money was spent like this.

His attitude seemed to be the exact opposite..."here is what we spent it on and we will do it again, but because we make that choice, 401k funding gets cut".

[waffles]

So this woman's irresponsible breeding habits are responsible for the savage healthcare cuts AOL had to take to survive? What selfish arrogance that she thinks her genetic material is worth causing so much suffering. I hope she gets shown the door.

[SugarFree]

She doesn't even work there; she's on her husband's insurance. Just another economic disaster created by Opposite Sex Marriage.

[waffles]

Oh in that case, this woman is a victim of circumstances crafted by the old boys club culture propagated in the patriarchal hall of AOL. She is being publicly shamed for prioritizing the health of her child above all else. We should demand caps on all executive salaries at AOL to restore her child's health and ensure it for decades to come.

[SugarFree]

There you go. And you summed up the Slate comments quite nicely.

[A Frayed Knot]

Out of curiosity how were her breeding habits irresponsible? According to here she had no risk factors for a pre-term birth. Do you have information that says otherwise?

And if the CEO had any balls, he would have said that the company had decided it is better served to continue to pay him his 12 figure salary rather than cover the increased healthcare costs. Then he can see how his employees react.

[waffles]

Read both of my comments and then my handle.

[pan fried wylie]

Fucking trillionaries.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Edward Snowden reportedly used inexpensive and widely available "web crawler" software to easily extract data from the NSA...

Oh, Edward. You master spy high school dropout.

[Tim]

Next we'll hear about how he downloaded Angry Birds and Candy Crush all over sensitive servers.

[SweatingGin]

Said it on the 24/7 link. wget or curl. Both included with most linux/unix systems, at least one with all, including Mac.

[The Late P Brooks]

From Cafe Hayek:

I imagine asking the question that is the title of this post to a notable American "Progressive" ? someone such as, say, Paul Krugman ? who is so concerned about what growing income inequality is doing to the psyches of non-rich Americans that he or she never tires of battering the psyches of non-rich Americans with reminders of just how much income rich Americans earn, with assertions of how unfair and harmful it is for rich Americans to have so much monetary wealth, and with pleas that non-rich Americans express with greater force what must surely be seething anger at the fact that a few other people are richer than they are.

What would such a "Progressive" say about the fact that someone who in 1991 wanted to acquire all of the features available in today's iPhone would have had to spend at least $3.56 million? (And even then that very rich denizen of 23 years ago could not, for any sum of money, fit all of his or her devices into the small, lightweight, and convenient form of a 2014 iPhone.) In other words, to acquire iPhone capabilities (if not iPhone convenience) in 1991 would cost then 8,900 times more than it cost today to buy the iPhone 5s 64GB ? today's top-of-the-line iPhone.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

One of the three websites with which I begin my day. Don Boudreaux is a warrior.

And to answer the Krugman claims, when he rolls out of bed, he's not interested in how to increase the well being of the most people in the best way; he's interested in finding novel arguments to support his presuppositions and core values, which are that 1) minarchists, libertarians, and conservatives are all evil and 2) that redistribution and social democracy are the best means of running the world. When you begin with the end in mind, it's not too hard to justify anything your team does.

If Krugman had a iota of self-awareness or generosity toward his political opponents, of course, he wouldn't be Krugman. At least you can sit down and debate Stiglitz; Krugman just pouts like a jilted teenager and calls everyone who opposes him idiots, which is probably why he's much better known than Stiglitz.

[Clich? Bandit]

BROOKS! I posted that last week...the iPhone story not the cafe hayek piece.

[sarcasmic]

That's one way to stay motivated! Krysten Ritter hits the gym in bright purple shirt and patterned leggings

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....gings.html
To whoever suggested Don't trust the bitch in apartment 23, thank you. Started watching it on Netflix and it's fucking hilarious.

[SugarFree]

Google around. June gets out her jubblies in this.

[sarcasmic]

The blonde with the deformed nose doesn't do anything for me.

[SugarFree]

She grew on me as the show progressed.

Note to Ritter fans, do not--under any circumstances--watch Vamps. It is horrifically bad and Alicia Silverstone looks so hideous any Ritter-based pleasures are completely drained.

[sarcasmic]

I like the character she plays and all that. But that nose is a plastic surgery nightmare.

[Protagoronus]

I think I threw out that suggestion. Glad you like it!

[Doctor Whom]

The Copenhagen Zoo dismembered a healthy giraffe in front of an audience that included children and fed it to lions. Zoo officials said the killing made room for more genetically valuable giraffes.

It couldn't happen in sophisticated Europe.

[SForza]

I assume it was no longer healthy by the time they dismembered it.

[mad libertarian guy]

Actually it was perfectly healthy. Many zoos offered to take the animal, but the zoo confederation they belong to is part of a giraffe breeding program. Because of the bullshit regulatory regime governing these zoos, they couldn't send the giraffe to a zoo not in the same breeding program, and they couldn't send the giraffe to a zoo within the program because his genes were already represented.

[SForza]

Sorry, I was being technical. They killed it before dismembering it, so it was no longer healthy by the time they dismembered it. Had it still been healthy, it would have still been alive, and dismembering a live giraffe in front of an audience of kids would have been a whole other level of freak show.

Instead, just another death caused by the regulatory state. Just another harm people will fail to consider the next time they call for more regulations.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know who else wanted to make way for more genetically valuable giraffes?

[Rich]

Noah?

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

+1 low ceilinged ark

[Tim]

Tarzan?

[pan fried wylie]

Tarzan, King of the Savanna.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Mutual of Omaha guy?

[Rich]

Sheesh, Rufus -- just how old *are* you?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ageless.

[Rich]

Aapparently your Timex took a licking but keeps on ticking!

[SForza]

Why do people lick Timex watches?

[Agammamon]

If you were truly ageless you would remember the name Lorne Greene.

Otherwise known as Commander Adama.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Of course I remember Lorne fucking Greene.

Greatest Canadian EVAH!

[R C Dean]

A Mr. Shatner would like a word.

[mad libertarian guy]

He'll have to wait in line behind the distinguished Misters Lee, Peart, and Lifeson.

[GILMORE]

FUCK THAT SHIT. BONANZA, BITCH

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"Here we see Jim engaged in a death struggle with the giraffe..."

/Marlin Perkin's Ghost

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Obligatory

[GILMORE]

what, Merlin Olson?.. no, Marlin Perkins! WILD AMERICA! NO IM NOT FUCKING OLD! JESUS. Reruns people!

[gaijin]

If they can do it with humans, why not zoo animals?

I'd like to know why they couldn't let the lions kill the giraffe. Seems nanny-ish to have to prepare a meal for them that way.

[Zeb]

Too much danger to the lions, I think.

[Ebriosa]

This, probably. I know people with predator pets who won't feed their snakes live mice because the mouse might hurt the snake, so I can imagine a well-placed giraffe kick would tear up a lion accustomed to dead meat.

[db]

Maybe that would free up space for genetically superior lions.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

+1 survival of the fittest.

[Ebriosa]

This is a slippery slope of genetically superior animals. What would they feed the lions to?

[waffles]

ME!

[wareagle]

What would they feed the lions to?

the zoo's cafeteria gets supplies from somewhere, you know.

[Ebriosa]

This would justify every single instance of MAN being #1 on most dangerous animals lists.

[Zeb]

The Most Dangerous Animal Is Me

[mad libertarian guy]

Giraffes are more than capable of defending themselves from lions.

My guess is that all of the animals would be put in danger because of the limited space available in a zoo enclosure.

[db]

Improperly butchered giraffe is haraam.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

You know who else wanted to make room for more genetically valuable species?

[Rich]

Noah's wife?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Giraffe Hitler.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

^THIS!^

[Rich]

Nice band name.

[Nazdrakke]

Margret Sanger?

[Zeb]

Well, it gives those kids a little taste of what nature is all about, I guess.

[Rich]

Spoken like "Old Man with Candy". 😉

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

For the full effect, they would have had to let the lions do the killing too!

[Zeb]

I imagine the lions were also more genetically valuable and giraffes can kick the shit out of lions.

Though I would go to zoos more if that sort of thing were happening.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Hobble the giraffe - kind of like a Elizabethan bear baiting?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y21bhg80Hkw

The killing of that giraffe is all made okay if they were playing Jerome in the background on a screen...

[Nazdrakke]

You mean those with power feeding those without to the demographic they wish to ingratiate themselves to? Yeah, I see it.

[Zeb]

Hadn't thought of it that way.

The bloody gruesomeness what more what I had in mind.

[Bam!]

They didn't have the lions kill it? They did it for them? Stop coddling your lions. Not everyone should get a giraffe.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Filmmakers may have to rely on a CGI Phillip Seymour Hoffman to finish the last installment of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Just take him out and add Jar-Jar.

[gaijin]

My question is why they didn't just start with a CGI version of PSH? and all the other actors for that matter.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"Just take him out and add Jar-Jar."

For that, you must pay a severe penalty.... Anyone know where STEVE SMITH is lurking lately?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It will be interesting to see what they do with this. Apparently he only had a few days left of filming, but there's no telling how complex the scenes were going to be.

I remember when they added a CGI version of Oliver Reed for "Gladiator," but that was just a few quick clips that didn't require much interaction. The tech has advanced a lot since then, but one of the weaknesses of relying on so much CGI is that the acting can become stilted. It's one of the reasons I like the GoT series so much--the actors are working, for the most part, in honest-to-goodness sets and environments, not something put up on a green screen, and the show benefits from having that real-time interaction.

[sarcasmic]

Look out for the bear! Yogurt firm lets loose robotic animal on the streets of NYC

Bear was part of Chobani's #howmatters campaign
Robotic bear seen growling and throwing tantrum looking for food with natural ingredients
Many passerby were shocked and ran away...while others captured the action on their cell phones

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-NYC.html

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Robots? Is Schumer aware?

[WTF]

Getting between Schumer and a TV camera is far more dangerous than any bear.

[GILMORE]

"Robotic bear seen growling and throwing tantrum looking for food with natural ingredients
Many passerby were ..."

...what, not 'natural enough' for the goddamn bear? I'm perfectly happy with a robot bear murdering 100 or so pedestrians as part of a Greek Yogurt marketing campaign. I'm sure they can spin it as 'environmentally friendly' since the bear was solar powered, and those people had really disproportionate carbon footprints.

[GILMORE]

actually, I looked at the video... most of the bear clips are shot within 1-2 blocks of my last office on park ave, between 28th-32st sts. If I still worked there, it would have been just another one of those things. I'd probably have gagged with it myself. Like get a cab and offered to share with the bear. Or gotten it to hand out Flashdancers cards.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Filmmakers may have to rely on a CGI Phillip Seymour Hoffman to finish the last installment of the Hunger Games trilogy."

Hope they don't fuck up Hoffman like they did the O'care website! Whoa!

[UnCivilServant]

Don't worry, there's a profit motive here instead of a no-bid contract.

[Snark Plissken]

Filmmakers may have to rely on a CGI Phillip Seymour Hoffman to finish the last installment of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Come to think of it, he did sort of look like a fat Max Headroom.

[sarcasmic]

Now that's a thrilling finish: Russian speed skater risks Olympic fallout by unzipping her racing suit after forgetting she wasn't wearing anything underneath

Delighted Olga Graf, 30 had just won Russia's first medal at the Sochi games

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

[gaijin]

Why does that boy have such narrow shoulders?

[Floridian]

I think she is cute. Now the girl on the far left in the group photo is just tragic.

[Zeb]

And enormous thighs.

I dig it. I like athletic women.

[waffles]

Mmmnnn, forget the thigh gap, give me some quadriceps!

[Agammamon]

I doubt she 'forgot'.

[Clich? Bandit]

I love Russian Women.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who is expected to be drafted into the NFL, told multiple media outlets this weekend that he had come out as gay to his teammates last year.

Those who say they're sick of hearing about the gay agenda in sports media should be thrilled. This is the first step to it no longer being a story.

[Drake]

Will quarterbacks afraid of being sacked by Sam be considered homophobic?

[WTF]

Depends what you mean by "sacked".

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

*narrows gaze*

[Rich]

Or "in the pocket".

[R C Dean]

I expect we'll be cutting away to commercials whenever he gets deep penetration in the backfield, too.

[Nazdrakke]

Will they be wary of lining him up over the tight end?

[WTF]

By now he's probably more of a wide receiver.

[Raven Nation]

It's been the lead story at ESPN.com since yesterday afternoon. More important than anything happening at the Winter Olympics, Wisconsin's upset over Michigan State, the Spanish soccer huge weekend, Durant's 41 points, etc., etc.

What's especially hysterical is that the bullet points on the story assure us that it's really not a big deal - but it is a BFD.

[wareagle]

you can't say something is not a big deal without making it a big deal. Gays in the NFL aren't new and even a piece on a 90s-era Oilers team revealed that.

[DrZaius]

There's nothing the sports media is more desperate to do than opine on anything non-sports related.

Peter King's dear diary column has to be unreadable today.

[Nazdrakke]

Yet another reason to never watch ESPN. I'm sure First Take is going to be even worse than normal today.

[Agammamon]

Is he going to make the guy who snaps the ball to him uncomfortable, what with needing to reach up all under there.

[prolefeed]

He's a defensive lineman. If the team on offensive snaps the ball to him, they're doing it totally wrong.

[sarcasmic]

The great white... with a bit less bite: Shark snaps off one of its teeth as it launches surprise attack on a seal

Great white was pictured in the waters off of Cape Town, South Africa
Photographer David Jenkins, 41, captured the moment
But he only noticed the flying tooth when he checked again later

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-seal.html
That's one big fish.

[SugarFree]

Seals are mammals, dumbass. Sheesh.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Fish, mammals, who cares?

They all look like one thing to me after I bludgeon them to death with my reliable satan club (L'il Clubber): Blood.

[robc]

Considering under modern cladistics, "fish" is an entirely outdated concept, using the term for things that swim seems okay to me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But he only noticed the flying tooth when he checked again later...

You mean when he photoshopped it in later.

[UnCivilServant]

Sharks lose teeth all of the time, that's why they're constantly growing new ones. It was only a matter of time before it was caught on camera now that cameras are in everything.

[sarcasmic]

That was my thought.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

UnCivilServant is in your head?!

[Jordan]

Up to 30,000 teeth over their lifetime. Alligators can regrow their teeth too. Why the hell can't humans?

[Agammamon]

We evolved toothbrushes and hygiene instead.

[tarran]

Actually, we probably could;

In Dead Men Do Tell Tales, Dr Maples, a forensic anthropologist, told the case of a skeleton he examined where the teeth were those of a young man, and everything else said 60+ years old.

In the end, he identified the guy, and it turned out he had died at a ripe old age, but his teeth kept growing more enamel.

What a great mutation that would be to have!

[PD Scott]

Nature is in the pay of Big Dentist.

[Slammer]

Crack Pipe Vending Machine

[Ted S.]

Don't they have their own crack pipes already?

[SugarFree]

Maybe they would like a fresh pipe. Don't get so judgey.

[Rich]

Why don't they just rinse off the old one with ether?

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Mayor Ford ran off with it?

[SugarFree]

Burnt lips are very sensitive to ether. Your years on the street should have taught you that.

[Rich]

I ... FORGOT!!

[Nazdrakke]

Used pipes can spread diseases like Hepatitis. This is all about public safety. Honest.

[Agammamon]

Poor people can only afford cheap pipes that become useless too quickly. Only the rich can afford quality pipes that last for generations.

[db]

Feeling "leashed" to your job?

The Wapo, long known for its power fluffing hard investigative reporting, discusses people who are being "unleashed" from their jobs, "thanks to" Obamacare.

Interesting that they would use the imagery of leashes and tethers and liberation to describe people choosing unemployment over employment, especially when the dirty underside of the deal is that they are tethering and leashing others to the cart of the State in order to finance their own newfound "freedom."

Newspeak will triumph, evidently.

[Doctor Whom]

+1 Newspeak usage of "free."

[gaijin]

at least they didn't use 'lash'.

[Bam!]

But, but, I was told now that Bezo bought WaPo it was a Libertarian megaphone.

[Clich? Bandit]

A. The damn proggies forget that the tethering of healthcare was a direct result of FDR wage control policies.
B. The leash concept made me think of the Wheel of Time series for some reason and now I think Obama is some weird trolloc.

[Don Mynack]

Will people really give up salary, you know, like, money, that gives you the freedom to do whatever you want to do on your own time (within reason, of course), for better health insurance, something you hope you never have to use, and won't be able to afford anyway because you make less money? This is the dumbest meme from the dems in a long time, and that's saying something.

[sarcasmic]

Lauren Conrad gives witty retort to potentially embarrassing question about her 'favourite position' on radio interview show

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-show.html

'What is your favourite position,' she read. After a beat, she replied: 'CEO,' eliciting laughter and a high-five from the show's host.

Clever. Now who the fuck is Lauren Conrad?

[Dweebston]

She's the one in the photos. Duh. Did you even look at the pictures or were you too busy reading the article?

[sarcasmic]

Maybe I saw the pictures and didn't recognize her. Ever think of that smartypants?

[Dweebston]

All beautiful women look the same: distant.

[sarcasmic]

To you maybe. I happened to marry one. Ha!

[John]

Of course he was reading the article. As soon as he saw the pictures, he stopped looking because that woman is a fat pig.

[sarcasmic]

Sorry, but there isn't any John pron on the DM for you =-(

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

A woman who successfully launched an acting gig on The Hills to become a multi-fashion-house business. I think she's written or co-written several NYT bestsellers and also has a fashion website.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Received a job offer Friday for the local nuclear utility as Station Engineer. So I will now be attempting working full time and working on my PhD part-time. Not sure how that will go.

Job starts February 27th so not much time to find a place to live and move. I won't be able to get to any AM links after starting though, which is the biggest con to taking the job, obviously.

I'm excited though. Finally going to be getting paid a decent wage.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Well, I guess I am glad for your improved circumstances, but sad for the Mourning Lynx losing ye... maybe you can pop up in the PM Linx?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

From what I understand I will be off around 3:30 every day, so PM links will definitely be in the cards. Maybe some late night Independent links too if I'm feeling saucy.

[Ted S.]

You could call yourself Homer Simpson and hang out in the AM Links, too. 😉

[gaijin]

Sounds like you will be Smilin' Joe Frisson starting on the 27th. 🙂

[Rich]

Congrats, Joe! Show up when ya can.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Thank you sir.

[Clich? Bandit]

Thanks for the J-Sub check in info too. With you missing we might expect to see mushroom clouds on the news.

(I know not really, as a meltdown is unlikely and an explosive one it not likely to "mushroom" blah blah go get your damn Piled Higher and Deeper already)

[Snark Plissken]

You chose a good job over Morning Links? What kind of monster are you?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

It was a tough decision, I tossed and turned over it all weekend. But, I have submitted that I will be a PM links only guy. And we all know those types....

[Snark Plissken]

Well, good luck, hopefully you can add a little class to that group of wastrels and layabouts.

[Ted S.]

They're freaks who live on the west coast?

[Raven Nation]

Congrats! You've probably had no life while working on the diss. Just remind yourself that, even though you have a job, you'll really have no life until the diss is done.

[sarcasmic]

Someday I hope to have a real job and not have time to post on the HyR anymore.

[db]

Congrats! Beware, however, that the Ph.D. will slow down quite a bit if.you. don't absolutely force yourself to.work.on.it. I assume.you are.ABD. From the.example of.other.ABDs I know who.went.to work full time, you.need dedication to.really.finish it.

Good luck!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Congrats!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes. But how will this effect your duties here?

[DEG]

Congratulations!

[Rabban]

Decent wage? In my, admittedly limited, experience commercial nuclear personnel are pretty well compensated long before station engineer. But perhaps that is why my monocle is a dingy generic and I no longer retain a serving staff.

[The Late P Brooks]

"It's my party giraffe, and I'll do what I want!"

[Slammer]

Hillary Clinton: "Monica Lewinsky is a narcissistic loony toon"

[gaijin]

Hillary Clinton: "Monica Lewinsky is a narcissistic loony toon"

Which was preceded by 'Mirror, mirror on the wall...whose the most narcissistic loony toon of all?"

[VG Zaytsev]

"HRC insists, no matter what people say, it was gross inappropriate behavior but it was consensual (was not a power relationship) and was not sex within any real meaning (standup, liedown, oral, etc.) of the term," Blair wrote in her journal.

Huh, what??

[tarran]

(was not a power relationship)

Is Hillary Clinton on crack?!?

Oh wait, she's a serial liar who has gotten away with blatant whoppers in the past.... when she isn't dodging Bosnian sniper fire.

[SugarFree]

Maybe Monica suffers from Transvaginal Nicotine Poisoning.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

I think that disease deserves a follow up study - get back to us with the results. Here is $10,000,000

/NIH

[SugarFree]

I already have the cigars, now I just need to figure out how many fat girls I can get with the money. And how many assistants with strong stomachs?

[Rich]

he tried to break it off

It depends on what the meaning of "it" is.

[Steve G]

Pot, kettle; kettle, pot

[kinnath]

Blue dress

[BakedPenguin]

So you're saying Hillary Clinton is actually Mitch Ryder?

[Bardas Phocas]

... and that's the kind of women your husband likes.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

She's soooo presidential.

[Fluffy]

How can Hilary possibly fucking claim it was not a "power relationship"?

Holy shit, boys, alert your friends who are college professors and mental health practitioners that they can fuck whoever they want, because if the President and a fucking White House intern aren't in a "power relationship" nobody is. The concept was just obliterated by Hilary and doesn't exist any more.

[John]

This is why Paul is so smart to bring this up.

[Dweebston]

Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who is expected to be drafted into the NFL, told multiple media outlets this weekend that he had come out as gay to his teammates last year.

Real equality is when coming out is as gauche as straight people describing their sexual forays to coworkers.

[John]

I would say with anyone outside of the media, we live in that reality. All this is is an excuse for various dimwitted sports media people to get their tolerant on. No one else cares.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

There will be furious slaying of strawmen and thundering proclamations on the PM sports radio around here.

Sigh.

[John]

Every NFL player will now be asked to affirm his commitment to tolerance. The idea that you should leave your personal life at home and that people will respect you in your work for the work you do is just not acceptable.

[waffles]

As a transgendered invertebrate moth larvae I have to agree. As a black woman I find you racist and insulting. As a nymphomaniac latex toy distributor I see you as a potential customer.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Wow! A rare Black Hermaphroditic Dildo Moth is posting on HnR. We are so lucky!

[Gene]

for more genetically valuable giraffes.

I'm sure they have good reasons for saying this, but it still sounds fucked-up.

[UnCivilServant]

It was related to too many of their other giraffes, and they were trying to keep the population from getting too inbred.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Now if we could do the same with political families.

[Ted S.]

Google Street View car caught "speeding" in Iceland

The pavement clearly shows a 50 km/h limit; one of those radar things that displays your speed on a sign for you shows 69 km/h. I don't what what the actual safe speed is for the road in question.

[Dweebston]

The unsmiley face makes it.

[sarcasmic]

Shia LaBeouf storms out of Nymphomaniac press conference after quoting Eric Cantona... then arrives at premiere under a paper bag

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ntona.html
Dude is having a meltdown.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The pants and shoes clinch it.

[Tim]

To think he was almost the next Indiana Jones.

[Ted S.]

If he was quoting Eric Cantona, shouldn't he have jumped into the audience of reporters?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Cantona?

Did he go into the stands and punch someone?

Another talented soccer player consumed by anger and rage. Guy was nuts. Like Paolo di Canio and Paul Gascoigne.

[Marc F Cheney]

He's fat
He's round
He's bouncing up and down
Paul Gascoigne

[The Late P Brooks]

News from the It's a Tough Life desk:

Former Formula One racing driver Eddie Irvine has described how he faced the chase of his life after he fought off a 7ft (2.1m) shark with a spear.

The retired racing star from Northern Ireland was swimming and spear fishing for dinner near his Bahamas home.

Suddenly, the 48-year-old came face to face with the shark.

"I hit a big snapper, but the spear went right through it. A big ray came past me and behind it was a 7ft lemon shark," he said.

"It was swimming more aggressively than I had seen before.

"My island is surrounded by them, but normally they are just three or four footers.

Being a retired F1 driver would be, like, the worst job in the world. At least he didn't hit his head.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"My island..."

Sounds like he would have a good second career as a super villain. He already has the island lair.

[Floridian]

I wonder if he was inspired by the crazy Irish guy from brave heart that claimed Ireland was his island. "It's MY ISLAND!"

[Ska]

"The Almighty says he can get me out of this mess, but you're fucked!! HahahahHAHAHHAHAA"

Guy is great.

[db]

I actually own two islands. They are in the.middle of.my.pond. One.is.about 20' around, the other, 3'. I.am totally going to name the big.one s9mething ominous and build a "secret lair" on it.

[UnCivilServant]

Careful, the feds might declare your pond a 'navigable waterway'...

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

WETLAND HABITAT!!!!!

/EPA

[WTF]

That's something we can thank Bush the Elder for.

[Snark Plissken]

Earlier this month, Irvine, 48, faced trouble of a different kind when he was sentenced to six months in jail by an Italian court.

He was convicted after a brawl with an Italian man in a Milan nightclub.

Irvine, and Gabriele Moratti, the son of a former Milan mayor, were found guilty of "mutual injury".

Oh Italy, your ridiculous court system is so cute.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

We agree!

/jailed seismologists

[John]

My island is surrounded by them,

I am not sure there is a sentence I would rather truthfully utter than that one. Maybe "my girlfriend Kate Upton". But with the island, I think a lot of other very good sentences would follow.

[Ebriosa]

I'd imagine that would depend a lot on what "them" referred to. Sharks, yeah, that's awesome. Bronies, paper factories, landmines, or spiders, though?

[John]

True.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

I'd think the mines were a requirement?

/Spoken through armored door

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I stood next to Irvine at one of those Euro-trash wine thingy's in the 90s.

He's a smurf.

[John]

F1 drivers always are. They are a bit like jockeys. Weight matters a lot. And you have to be able to fit in the car. I would be surprised that anyone over 5'8" could fit into an F1 car.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I know.

[John]

Except for Dan Gurney who is like 6 feet four. But he was never much of an F1 driver and made his name more in sports care racing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Heh. Remember that guy.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Former F1 driver Justin Wilson

6'4"

[John]

Wow. I find it interesting that F1 builders will spend millions trying to engineer a car just a few pounds lighter but then don't seem very concerned about the weight of the driver.

[Fluffy]

If they start worrying about the weight of the driver, that ends with women drivers being the rule and not the exception.

Scouts would be casing women's crew tournaments and trying to get the coxswains to sign up for driving lessons.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Indycar ended up making a minimum driver weight requirement because of Danica. She to carry ballast to get up to some minimum weight.

F1 has a similar rule

[John]

It takes a tremendous amount of strength to endure the g forces of driving an F1 car. Doubt many women could do it. Also, it takes one in a million hand eye coordination to drive at that level.

[tarran]

"It's not the crate but the man that matters."
- Rittmeister Manfred von Richthoffen.

[Rich]

Iraq militants 'killed by own bomb while filming video'

That would have been an awesome propaganda video for someone.

[SugarFree]

Jihad's Funniest Home Videos

Up next, Achmed gets a nut shot from a halal whiffleball bat.

[Rich]

"That falafel you just ate -- contained *bacon*!"

[SugarFree]

"Merciful Allah, I have been pranqued!"

[John]

Muhammad should not have mixed smoking with smuggling detonators.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Trust me, Task Force Troy (or whatever name they go by now) will have that included in every training presentation they give for the next 18 months.

[Tim]

"This button unlocks the doors, this button locks them, this button detonates the car. Have you got that Achmed?"

"Yes it is clear"

"Then we must go now. ( Door won't open ) Hit the unlock button."

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"Stay here and make sure he doesn't leave"

[Rich]

😎

[WTF]

"Right. We stay here until he leaves, then we come to get you."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

A crisis of competence at Univ. of Calif. due to political activism:

http://www.nas.org/images/docu.....etence.pdf

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

When individual faculty members and sometimes even whole departments decide that their aim is to advance social justice as they understand it rather than to teach the subject that they were hired to teach with all the analytical skill that they can muster, the quality of teaching and research is compromised. This is an inevitable result because, as we shall show, these two aims are incompatible with each other, so that the one must undermine the other

Wow Somebody in the system finally gets it.

[John]

Progressives are like vampires. They kill anything they touch turning it into the undead.

[Cyto]

Interestingly I don't think you'd have trouble convincing them of the same conclusion if you were to use the example of Bob Jones University or Liberty University.

Creationists are like Dr. Jekyll's drink to progressives - a single whiff sends them into an apoplectic fit. I'm sure that the major reason for the vehement opposition to school choice on the left is the fear that someone, somewhere might be told that evolution is an unholy abomination.

Somehow they don't seem to have the ability to see the parallel to their own efforts at indoctrination. I suppose it comes under the heading of: "But they are wrong! We are right!"

[Clich? Bandit]

JEEBUS FLYING MUHAMMAD! Did you read that? Somebody is going to be drawn and quartered over this. That report is AWESOME!

Rationale:
We set out and explain the reasons why the university must never be used for political
purposes, or as an instrument of social change or social justice as defined by particular social and
political philosophies. These reasons are of two kinds. The first are akin to moral objections, an
example being that the very idea of a democracy is injured when public funds are used for partisan
political purposes. The second set of considerations concern the quality of teaching and research.
Political purposes are so radically different from academic ones that the former will always corrupt
the latter.

[GILMORE]

Signs of PEAK RETARD?

I read the preamble/intro, and it read just like the intro of "The Closing of the American Mind"

Oh well, only 30 years late.

[GILMORE]

to wit =

"In recent years, study after study has found that a college education no longer does what it should do and once did.1 Whether these studies look directly at the capabilities of graduates, or instead at what employers find their capabilities to be, the result is the same: far too many college graduates have not learned to write effectively, they can not read and comprehend any reasonably complex book, they have not learned to reason, and their basic knowledge of the history and institutions of the society in which they live is lamentably poor. "An astounding proportion of students are progressing through higher education today without measurable gains in general skills" is the anguished conclusion of a respected national study, entitled appropriately 'Academically Adrift'.

2 Further, students now spend on average little time studying outside the classroom, and the demands made of them by their faculty teachers have been correspondingly reduced."

re: the bolded bits =

Ergo = OWS

[The Late P Brooks]

Hillary Clinton: "Monica Lewinsky is a narcissistic loony toon"

I just got my irony meter back from the shop, and now look at it.

[Tim]

You should file a claim.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Which reminded me of Prof. Martin Kramer and his battle against intolerant academia and the dangers of groupthink that settles in:

http://www.martinkramer.org/sa.....me-please/

[Kaptious Kristen]

Utah was awesome

[Rich]

Nice pants! Glad you had fun!

[John]

Wow. Beautiful. And the pants are awesome!!

[db]

Sweet! I was actually wondering how.it.went when I was wishing I.was skiing.instead of.driving.to.work.this.morning!

[db]

Never skied Park Cirlty, but I.assume.that was the Bonanza lift?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Ayup

[Rich]

I thought it was a Space Shuttle.

[db]

The U.S.S. Danza?

[Steve G]

sorta related: stumbled onto a good site for ski conditions plus 5 day forecast...
http://freshymap.com/

[Clich? Bandit]

Right On! It is dumping on the hills here...and I sit at my desk talking to you folks. The snow in the Rockies is the best I have seen it in 10 years. AND I CAN'T GO!

Probably a good thing, cause I have a sudden urge to pull a backside 1260 Japan off the 40' kicker at Copper's Woodward. Usually though, facing the drop in my "don't be a dumb shit" instinct kicks in but with the Olympics on I am compromised.

[The Late P Brooks]

When individual faculty members and sometimes even whole departments decide that their aim is to advance social justice as they understand it rather than to teach the subject that they were hired to teach with all the analytical skill that they can muster, the quality of teaching and research is compromised.

Wait, whut?

[Rich]

Sheesh, P, where do you think future NASA chiefs come from?

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Don't worry, they've already figured out how to kill those two birds with one stone around here.

I love it when idiots both local and out of state pretend Arizona is some Republican right-wing stronghold. And, shit, U of A is even worse.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

whoops, I wish preview worked

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I bet you do.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

I guess Reason doesn't like URLs with % in them.

[SugarFree]

That's three in a row. I think you have beaten my record.

[Ska]

You're on crack if you think people are going to start posting that a link was Somalian Road Corporationed.

[SugarFree]

I'm comfortable with my infamy.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

never give up, never surrender

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The MA in Social Justice and Human Rights (SJHR) is a theoretically and methodologically rigorous program

First sentence made me laugh.

[John]

The sad fact is that the study of things like genocide and the reasons behind it and totalitarianism and such can be a rigorous field of study. Hannah Arrendt made a whole career out of it. I think there is also a place for people who study specific conflicts. I could totally see making an academic career out of why the Serbs continue to hate the Croats or the dynamics of the Shia Sunni conflict.

But I am going to go out on a limb here and say these people are not doing the kind of work I am talking about.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

But I am going to go out on a limb here and say these people are not doing the kind of work I am talking about.

That's a pretty stout limb.

[John]

More like a trunk.

[Rich]

It goes on ....

Social Justice and Human Rights Research Track: The research track will prepare students for work in governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies

[John]

The scary part is, these people probably get jobs. And they will out working for an NGO or worse the State Department convincing those in the less developed world all Americans are actually morons.

[mr simple]

I like this part:
Often NGO Coordinators are passionate about social justice and human rights, but they lack essential management skills. NGO Management track students will be required to take two courses in non-profit management such as Fiscal Management in Nonprofit Organizations, Program Evaluation and Information Management, and Leadership and Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector.

Two whole classes on management! They'll be experts!

[Ted S.]

Yes, never surrender.

[Zeb]

I have no idea whether or not Arizona is a right wing stronghold. But the fact that the university has silly left wing indoctrination classes doesn't do much to convince me one way or another. You find that shit at just about any non-religious school.

[The Late P Brooks]

Nice, Kristen.

[John]

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....sible.html

Why does Rand Paul keep going after Clinton? Althouse realizes that Paul might be a pretty smart guy.

[Rich]

I'm sure you can help me lengthen this list.

5. He's trying to get Hillary to "come out".

[John]

I think Hillary would have a better shot running as the first lesbian candidate than with the "its a woman's turn" angle.

[Rich]

Do you think that all those lesbians in the Obama administration helps or hurts her chances?

[John]

Since apparently Hillary hates anyone who is associated with Obama and is looking for revenge when she takes over the party, I think it might hurt her.

[Bam!]

Hmm... That sounds like it might be fun to watch.

[Bam!]

6: He wants to show the GOP establishment he can take on Hillary.

[John]

It took them a while to get around to destroying the 3rd Amendment. But they have gotten to it.

Deborah Franz feels violated. She claims the SWAT team went into her southside home without her permission during a standoff involving her neighbor Sunday afternoon.

Franz said it all started shortly after overhearing a fight at her neighbor's house across the street Sunday. A short time later, the SWAT team swarmed her neighborhood.

"The cop goes 'You all need to leave, you can't be in your house,'" said Franz.

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.c.....oSmM5Cw.99

[robc]

FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK.

I thought we had ONE left.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Associates defend man who had gun in school
Say he made honest mistake in incident prompting school lockdown"

He was a well-known face in the movement for the SAFE Act, the state law that made carrying a gun on school property a felony.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cit.....l-20140207

[John]

This is straight up Marxism. People with the right political consciousness cannot commit crimes, only those with the wrong consciousness can commit crimes.

[tarran]

There is more to this story.

It sounds like there were two 911 calls, plus one call to a non-emergency number.

My guess is that someone knew he was carrying and decided to drop the dime on him.

And of course he didn't say "I have a gun"; they were looking for a bad man, not a cuddly good guy like him!

I think it highly likely that he had been routinely carrying a gun for a long time, and somebody who either didn't like that fact or didn't like him decided to do something about it.

Of course, we should be supporting him; the guy didn't hurt anyone, and the SAFE act, the law which he is accused of violating, is a law that criminalizes non-violent peaceable behavior and should be repealed. Guys like this guy are great examples to throw in proggy faces when they argue in defense of the law.

[John]

We should be objecting to the law. But we should also object to the unequal application of it. A bad law is made even worse when it is not enforced when the government thinks the person is "one of the good guys".

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"Guys like this guy are great examples to throw in proggy faces when they argue in defense of the law."

A thousand times, this.

[WTF]

He was a supporter of the SAFE act. Therefore I rather enjoy this example of "hoist by his own petard".

[Rich]

Fuck this guy. He should be in prison with that other felon David Gregory.

[db]

Absolutely right. But I.bet he'll get off due to prosecutorial discretion and his fucking "good.intentions."

[John]

Guy takes his 1000 HP Porsche 917 race car out on the street. A hundred shades of awesome ensues. I would love to do this once just so I could see the look on some Yob in a souped up civic's face when I rolled up next to him at a stop light.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/go.....n-the-wild

[sarcasmic]

Va va voom! Julia Stiles glams it up at the Art Directors Guild Awards... as she is joined on red carpet by Leonardo DiCaprio

http://reason.com/blog/2014/02.....nt_4301595
She has not aged well. Went from super-honey to... I dunno. Chubbo face.

[sarcasmic]

That was supposed to be a stand alone comment. Don't know how it got here.

[John]

You SFed the link too.

[sarcasmic]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....aprio.html

[John]

She is not aging well. But she still has a great body.

[sarcasmic]

meh

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Mark my words--in about 15-20 years, she's going to be the next Bea Arthur.

[sarcasmic]

'The general consensus is you are absolutely smoking hot': Adult entertainment company asks Amanda Knox to star in a PORN movie for $20,000 'to help cover her legal costs'

Monarchy Distribution has a history of publicity stunts
Last year the company offered shamed former PR executive Justine Sacco $10,00 to appear in a porn film
The company claimed it was donating part of the proceeds from an adult film spoofing the Anthony Weiner downfall to the former candidate's campaign for mayor
Knox was again found guilty of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....costs.html
Way to fat for John.

[John]

Knox is hot as hell. There is no sexy like crazy sexy.

[John]

Dare you to let her tie you up though.

[db]

She is absolutely smoking hot. And I think she didn't kill that guy, but I would.be a little careful around her just in case. Maybe I would insist on making sure we had a third person to, ah, witness.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

db, next fleeting star of Snuff Films Inc.

[John]

Like I said DB, as hot as she is, I am not sure I have the courage to let her tie me up. I top my hat to the man who does though.

[db]

She could become the.most highly compensated dominatrix in.history by playing off her reputation. I'm not really into that, but.I.imagine the.psychic power of being dominate by a.woman twice convicted of.murder (even though.likely innocent) would.be a.big.selling.point.

[John]

I bet it would be. You should be her agent.

[tarran]

Maybe I would insist on making sure we had a third person to, ah, witness.

I was going to blast you for doubting her innocence, and then I realized where you were going... 😉

[db]

A nod's as good as a wink to.a.blind.bat.

[Anonymous Coward]

Black Community Activist Kill Trader Joe Deal; Don't Like Whites in Their Neighborhood

The Trader Joe's grocery chain has withdrawn plans to build a store in the heart of a predominantly black neighborhood after a black leadership group fought the move.

The Portland Development Commission was set to give the grocer a large discount on property that had been vacant for years, pricing it at just over $500,000, down from an appraised value of $2.9 million, according to The Oregonian.

The Portland African American Leadership Forum sent a scathing letter in December to city leaders, saying the plan would price residents out of the area and the group"remains opposed to any development in North/Northeast Portland that does not primarily benefit the black community."

Trader Joe's would increase displacement of low-income residents and "increase the desirability of the neighborhood," for "non-oppressed populations," PAALF wrote.

I'm confused. When the white people leave the neighborhood, "black activists" complain about White Flight. When white people move into the neighborhood, Gentrification is the battlecry.

Please make up your minds, kthxbai.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Professional bitchers. Why can't blacks like Trader Joe's anyway?

[sarcasmic]

They don't take EBT cards.

*ducks*

[UnCivilServant]

I'm still trying to think of a reason to like them - but then again I've never even seen one of their stores, so I'm not sure what they sell, making it hard to judge the company.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Generally higher quality food at a lower price than Whole Foods or Fresh Market. They can be price competitive with most of the major supermarket chains out there.

[Nazdrakke]

Think Safeway with it's nose in the air.

[R C Dean]

I like 'em because they are small, and you can stock up for the week in about 1/3 the time of the usual big box grocery store. Which is about 2/3 not-groceries, anyway.

[John]

Even that is not accurate. The "activists" don't live in the neighborhood. The actual black people in the neighborhood wanted the store.

I bet you anything the activists live in good neighborhoods full of white people. The activists don't like white people moving into what they see as "black neighborhoods", the neighborhoods they won't live in.

The root of this is a deep seated sense of class superiority. The activists and their white Prog fellow travelers view poor black people as basically animals and the ghettos they live in as a form of habitat. Trader Joe's might as well have been cutting down a forest where spotted owls nested.

[waffles]

So it's like the worst nature preserve ever? They really want people to be jobless and destitute because it's some kind of natural state? Projection projection?

[John]

The progs do this with people in other countries all of the time. People in Africa or in the Arctic, should be despoiled by modern technology. They should be left to live their traditional lifestyles whether they like it or not.

They do the same thing here.

[sarcasmic]

But it's natural! Natural, John! Natural!

[Zeb]

They seem to want the world (or at least the world's poor people) to be a museum.

[sarcasmic]

Why do you hate nature!

[Clich? Bandit]

"Be careful Jim, Thats a big one."

TWO PERKINS REFERENCES IN ONE ML THREAD!

Toady is a good day.

[Zeb]

Either that or they didn't grease the right palms.

[John]

That too. The activists are always looking for a handout. And they just over played their hand here. You can only push a mark so far before you have to take your winnings and go home.

[Ebriosa]

Something about food deserts.

What gets me about stuff like this isn't that people sometimes have bizarre likes and dislikes and will protest on behalf of them, but that there is something called the Portland Development Commission that owns a vacant lot and it can decide to sell it for 75% off. If the area has local stores, why not protest that one of them should get the same price? Or just sell the darn thing because a vacant lot isn't doing anything useful?

[sarcasmic]

Was listening to some nonsense on NPR this morning about food deserts.

Turns out that when well intentioned progressives go and open stores within those deserts that sell the food that these poor people are supposed to buy, they don't buy it.

It's almost as if the reason stores in these food deserts don't sell fresh produce is because no one buys it.

As if these people buy crappy food not because evil businesses refuse to sell them good food, but because they make a choice to buy crappy food.

Needless to say, everyone was totally confused.

[John]

And maybe poor people are poor because they have poor decision making skills about a lot of things including the food they eat.

[sarcasmic]

You can't say it's their own fault! Corporations! Rich people! Inequality! It's not their fault!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Why do poor people walk in front of my car as I'm travelling at 30 MPH down their street? In my neighborhood (affluent beach neighborhood) no one just wanders into traffic. However, I can drive two miles into a marginal, lower class neighborhood, and people just kind of randomly walk into traffic. It's fucking bizarre.

[sarcasmic]

They want to get hit in hopes that the resulting lawsuit will be their winning lottery ticket?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Then at least get run over by a Mercedes or Audi. My 2006 Toyota Corolla doesn't quite project "Payday".

[waffles]

I too have noticed this behavior. It's fairly rage-inducing. Some also walk slowly, slowly across the middle of the street while I'll I can do is wait and watch their waddle.

[Fluffy]

I think very little of the decision making skills of poor people, but this may have a lot to do with the amount of time one spends as a pedestrian.

When I don't live in a city, and get really used to driving all the time, pedestrian behavior seems crazy.

When I spend a lot of time in Boston, I develop a "Fuck you, I've got the right of way," attitude as a pedestrian in, say, parking lots (where state law always gives me the right of way) or at mid-block crosswalks (where fuck you, you get to stop, I don't care how fast you're going).

I guess if poor people spend more time walking than rich people, it's only natural that you'll see a lot more assertiveness from them.

[SugarFree]

It's how they fight against your car privilege.

[thom]

And maybe poor people are poor because they have poor decision making skills about a lot of things including the food they eat.

Isn't this essentially the guiding principle of progressives? Poor people are unable to make their own decisions, so it is necessary to construct a massive state filled with well-meaning case workers to manage their lives for them?

[Spoonman.]

They are doing a huge disservice to their constituents. If you own a $50,000 home and the land under it suddenly becomes worth $300,000, you've just become rich. Maybe you have to move out of the neighborhood, but your circumstances have improved considerably.

[wareagle]

so the black community is not big on overpriced organic crunchy goodness?

[waffles]

If you shop intelligently, Trader Joe's is not overpriced. If you buy meat or junk food there, sure.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

This. They're actually quite competitive or certain things.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

or on certain things.

[Nazdrakke]

They have snobbery on lock down. It's social signaling in Portland to say you shop there.

[waffles]

That has to be in your head. The trader joe's in California and Pennsylvania seem like just another place to shop. And the cheapest Ak-mak around!

[Nazdrakke]

Maybe not in PA or CA but in Portland it's kinda a thing.

[Zeb]

Occasionally the things that snobs and hipsters like are actually good things that everyone can like.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

*flings bottle of Two Buck Chuck at wareagle*

[wareagle]

yes, god forbid minorities find themselves in desirable neighborhoods. Then what would the activist do for a living?

[Agammamon]

If this is the story I think it is - the hilarious part is that the black 'community' activists aren't actually from that community and the local residents are pissed.

[Steve G]

and I think I read a story that said the neighborhood demographics aren't as 'dark' as the activists would have us believe

[The Late P Brooks]

the group"remains opposed to any development in North/Northeast Portland that does not primarily benefit the black community."

[insert racist watermelon patch reference]

[Brian D]

http://www.bizpacreview.com/wp.....r-joes.pdf

According to their letter, the Portland African American Leadership Forum wants the land to be used for "family appropriate affordable housing."

You know, a ghetto.

[waffles]

The projects, section 8, where hope comes to die. These people would rather lord over the slums as the voice of a desperate constituency than see that desperation ended by someone else. Monsters.

[Nazdrakke]

How else are they going to make a buck? It's not like they have marketable skills.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

In case you haven't seen it from last week, Dismantling the stigma of guns via the Chicago Reader.

TThe first lesson Gerald Vernon shared with his conceal-and-carry class is, to him, the most fundamental: "The only thing that stops bad people with guns is good people with guns."

His ten students?eight men and two women, all African-Americans?were listening intently. They had gathered in a meeting room at a south-side social service center to learn about gun ownership and self-defense from Vernon, a veteran firearms instructor who was seated at the front of the room next to a table set with an array of revolvers and semiautomatic handguns from his collection.

The students didn't appear to need any convincing. "I'm interested in protection," explained Thomas Brandon, 57, when it was his turn to introduce himself. The others said they were there for the same reason.
...
"Over the last 20 years, I've been places I don't think a lot of other black people have been," he told the class. "I've spent a lot of time and a lot of money traveling the country and getting this training so I could bring it back to the community."

He added: "Most of what Americans know about guns they learned from TV and the movies, and 99 percent of it is wrong."

[John]

I know it is a meme. But that guy really is doing God's work in some of America's toughest neighborhoods.

Fuck you Joe from Lowell.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

John, you are 100% right. He really is.

[Sevo]

The Chron finds "it's hard to reconcile his [Obo's] words with the law".
Notice they avoided saying he's a lying bastard.

"Obama resists using his power to ease marijuana laws"
(most behind a pay wall for now)
http://www.sfchronicle.com/pol.....219705.php

[John]

He must have a good reason for it. He is Obama after all. But it may appear that his is lying if you are some kind of racist tea bagging nihilist. But we know better.

[db]

This just in: "SF Chronicle Resists Using Its Power to Properly Investigate and Hold Accountable a Politician it Supports for Violating the Law."

[db]

"Violating the Law" s/b "Lying Outright to His Constituents."

[Sevo]

"Support" is a bit mild; the Chron's tongue is coated with his shoe polish.
At least I think that's what it is.

[John]

I wasn't watching it but apparently during the open ceremonies, there was a point where a red balloon floated towards the sky as a symbol of the end of the USSR which Meredith Viara called "a bitter sweet moment".

Remember how in the 1990s the progs rewrote history to pretend that they really were not on the wrong side in the Cold War? Well, that lie is no longer useful. Enough time has passed they can now be honest and admit that yes, they really were on the Communists' side. Pathetic.

[Sevo]

Clinton hopes misdirection and a bit of hypocrisy might help:

"A fresh start for Hillary Clinton and liberals?"
[...]
"We're going to see income inequality play the same role that the war in Iraq played in 2008," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group. "This is less about what she did before."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....220352.php

[John]

We're going to see income inequality play the same role that the war in Iraq played in 2008," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group. "This is less about what she did before."

And just like 2008, we are going to talk about how that racist rat bastard in the White House has caused it. The damned Republican put us in this ditch and now they won't even let us get out of it.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

We're going to see income inequality play the same role that the war in Iraq played in 2008

Keep playing the class-war card and see how it goes, socialists. Americans don't get so upset about fiscal and monetary policy as they do the idea of neighborhood kids dying thousands of miles away from home. Or the federal government directly destroying their insurance after lying about the self-evident effects of market distortions. Or taxing them out the wazoo. Or promising job creation and then delivering 70s-style economic disaster.

Between the class-war meme and the truly hopeless Hillary fetish, the tone-deaf idiots have taken over the Democratic Party, which has been propped up and buoyed by a charismatic empty suit who's had one foot out the door since his second term began.

[JW]

Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam, who is expected to be drafted into the NFL, told multiple media outlets this weekend that he had come out as gay to his teammates last year.

Dear Michael,

I don't care who you are fucking as long as it isn't me.

Dear Media,

STFU.

Sincerely,

JW

[waffles]

Scruffy'ed

[SugarFree]

Eh. If he didn't come out, then everyone would bitch once some reporter figured it out. It's really a no win situation.

Even just quietly living his life would work, because then it would be a Jodie Foster situation where every year or so someone "discovers" that he's gay and the story starts all over again.

[John]

I don't blame him. I blame t he media. It is his life. He has every right to live it as he sees fit. It is the media that is making this a big deal. Not him.

[Clich? Bandit]

Foster...I always thought she was hot for some reason. And Helen Hunt too.

[John]

I like them both. And if Foster plays on both teams once in a while, double bonus.

[The Late P Brooks]

a symbol of the end of the USSR which Meredith Viara called "a bitter sweet moment".

These are people who viscerally fear and despise change.

They see chaos and destruction, not opportunity, not rebirth. They're pathetic.

Given the opportunity, they would burn Joseph Schumpeter at the stake.

[Marc F Cheney]

I bet they accepted the introduction of threaded comments, though.

[The Late P Brooks]

I gladly accept and embrace those things I deem to be actual improvements.

[Clich? Bandit]

FIGHT THE POWER BROOKS!