A.M. Links: House Passes No Strings Attached Debt Limit Bill, Rand Paul Joins Lawsuit Against NSA, Entertainment Reporter Mistakes Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne

• 

  David Sifry/flickr

  The House passed a bill that suspends the debt ceiling until March 2015. Twenty-eight Republicans and all but two voting Democrats supported the measure.

• Rand Paul is joining a lawsuit by FreedomWorks, for which Ken Cuccinelli is serving as lead counsel, against the Obama administration over the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.
• A House Armed Services Committee report blames the White House for not providing sufficient security for the U.S. compound in Benghazi, while debunking the claim that a rapid response team was ordered to stand down and pointing out that such a force would not have been able to arrive in Benghazi in time.
• A new study finds death row inmates who maintain their innocence are nearly 3 times more likely to reject a last meal.
• The Raelian UFO cult will open the first clitoral restoration hospital in Africa in Burkina Faso next month.
• An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne in a live interview. Jackson told the reporter he was "as crazy as the people on Twitter."

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rand Paul is joining a lawsuit by FreedomWorks, for which Ken Cuccinelli is serving as lead counsel, against the Obama administration over the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.

The must like hearing the phrases executive privilege and national security.

[UnCivilServant]

It also helps establish cred for future campaigns for office.

[Rich]

Already people are calling him "uppity" and worse.

Should get "interesting", especially when it makes it to the Supremes.

[Brett L]

Wait. Uppity? Is that like a real criticism adults use against other adults?

[Rich]

Well, not exactly, since "uppity" is a racial slur.

[Free Society]

It's often in that context. But is not a slur unto itself. It can be used describe any time someone supposedly violates some superior-inferior relationship norms.

[Michael S. Langston]

"uppity"?

In a sane world, a president who openly flouts the law, actively subverts and ignores the Constitution, and claims the right to select others to be murderdroned - impeachment would've started long ago.

Today - a mere challenge to the King's power is seen as offensive.

How I hate it soooo much... but weren't things better 20 - 30 years ago?

Not crime, not racism, not for gays... but wow. How far we've gone how quickly.

Or maybe it's just me - turning into a grumpy-old-cynic... but it sure seems bad.

[Tonio]

Not the best choice, IMO.

[The Other Kevin]

Mr. Paul, it says here that only 30% of citizens are monitored. Can you prove that you are one of the 30%? No? Case dismissed.

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***

You say your mom ain't home
Let me be clear: It ain't my concern
Just vote for me
And my third term
I have only one itching desire
raising the minimum wage higher

-click-

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[waffles]

He'll keep calling me, he'll keep calling me until I come over. He'll make me feel guilty. This is uh... This is ridiculous, ok I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go, I'll go. What - I'LL GO. Shit

[MJGreen]

Mr. Waffles, you're my hero.

[UnCivilServant]

*adds to block list*.

There it will stop ringing.

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***

I told you not to hang up on me, Sidney.

-click-

[Jon Lester]

They keep calling me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Seems like Obamaphone links have been disconnected.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He didn't pay his bill on time.

[invisible furry hand]

But they said if he liked his phone plan he could keep it

[Fist of Etiquette]

An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne in a live interview.

He took the green pill.

[invisible furry hand]

well, to be fair all Hollywood liberals look alike

[Floridian]

And reason uses a picture of Morgan freeman. Racist!

[Rich]

Dark humor!

[Agammamon]

THAT'S RACISTS!

[Floridian]

They should have used a picture of that monster tard from the green mile. You know "take my hands boss".

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm pretty sure that's Forest Whitaker.

[Lord Humungus]

Diabeeetus!! Oh wait...

[JW]

It's sad that you don't know Danny Devito when you seem him.

[Old Man With Candy]

Denzel Washington has not aged well.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Prison sure aged Wesley Snipes.

[a better weapon]

Wasn't there a Robocop commercial on during the super bowl?

Not only did he make the mistake, but he had a very obvious escape from his blunder, especially considering Robocop was his next topic anyway.

Maybe I'm just a better bullshitter than most, but as soon as I heard the clip on the radio, I thought he could have gotten out of that before anyone could have labeled him a racist.

[Michael S. Langston]

Yeah - it could be he's normally good at that kind of stuff too - but lack of sleep of other stress made him miss the mark.

For most of us in real life when that happens, we can always back it up later or generally ignore it and it will go away.

Most of are mistakes however aren't this public nor do those mistakes deal in self-made-societal-controversial-issues.

Then again - maybe that's just projection, being one prone to stupid mistakes under the right/wrong circumstance.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...pointing out that such a force would not have been able to arrive in Benghazi in time.

So they knew at the time the response team wouldn't have made it?

[Rich]

See what good stewards of the taxpayers' money they are?

[Drake]

I still don't believe it. It just doesn't take 8 hours to get from bases in Italy or Spain to Libya.

I also don't believe Carter Ham just up and decided to retire - while an embassy in his area of command was under attack.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Seriously, how did they know at the time how long the siege was going to last? What, were they worried about the carbon footprint of the trip? At least set things in motion.

Were they instead spending all their time working out reelection-saving YouTube talking points? If they were even interested at all.

[tarran]

In their defense, mobilizing a military unit and putting it on a vehicle with weapons, ammo and a plan takes time.

Six hours is not an unreasonable time... it can take three - four hours just to recall everyone and get them into their formations.

[Drake]

"The Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) is capable of rapidly deploying to immediately improve security at United States Government installations worldwide."

They actually did send a FAST unit to Benghazi - the next day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.....e_Regiment

[WTF]

What about the Marine units on aircraft carriers? They could be put on choppers and get there pretty quickly. What about the Marine FAST unit in Spain? They are designed for rapid response work.

[Drake]

Almost forgot - the Navy decided to relieve the commander (Rear Adm. Charles Gaouette) of a carrier strike force during the Benghazi attack also.

Pure coincidence. No need to insult the Administration with questions.

[tarran]

They were phasing out the marine detatchments on aircraft carriers when I was in the Navy in the mid 90's.

The marines were there to guard nuclear weapons (the Navy at the time had nukes that might or might not be put in the magazines of aircraft carriers). IIRC in the early 90's the Navy decided to stop deploying nukes on carriers, and the detachments were withdrawn.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

The area QRF would not take hours - this whole thing stinks. Everywhere I went as a Soldier, we made sure that nobody we sent out would not have soemone, somewhere ready to help - Medivac, QRF, whatever. This is beyond disgust - "you get in trouble, just try to die heroically - we will NOT come to help you. At all."

[Root Boy]

Also, those were SF bubbas. They would not take six hours to load out and they didn't have vehicles as far as I heard.

They just had to get to the airport and load up. C130 would have taken longer to get ready.

That said, telling them to stay in Tripoli makes some sense, but only if you believe this was an AQ attack and they were going to do a double tap -- not a protest.

[Clich? Bandit]

I don't understand why, if they were just doing a little arms trading, that they wouldn't risk the bad PR with a rescue mission over the horrific PR of a dead "Ambassador". I hate to be all tin foil hat like but whatever they were up to in that country MUST have been worse than the PR for a dead Embassy team. I can't even begin to imagine...well i can...but you all would lose even more respect for me.

Perhaps they were training strike teams and cells to hit the US in false flag style and Stevens was going to blow the cover or something...

[Clich? Bandit]

OR, they really are stupid enough to think we would swallow the "video" story hook line and sinker and thus get away with it...hmmm...that is rather plausible too.

[Root Boy]

Obama admin has a history of telling stories and counting on the press to tamp down on the truth/true reasons until the story is old enough not to matter (past elections).

I am sure the stories about shipping Libyan weapons out of Benghazi to Syria are true (SOP for the CIA), but it was just straight incompetence that caused them to leave an unguarded ambassador and facility in the middle of a terrorist haven on 9/11/

[WTF]

Since the link to the article is dead, I can't read the details. But I find it hard to believe that with all the assets the military has in the Mediterranean that no force could have gotten there in the six hours the attack lasted.

[Drake]

The FAST unit in Rota could have swam there in 6 hours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.....e_Regiment

[Michael S. Langston]

In the Army anywhere - there are two basic classes of deployable troops - those able to be anywhere in 48 hours (rapid reaction force), and all the others.

In the rapid reaction force are include mechanics to fix the tanks and helicopters, as well as infantry and artillery. Additionally, it includes all large equipment types and the logistical force to make the move happen. And while I have no clue the total number of units under that banner (and it's likely classified anyway), it's likely much closer to 20% or 10% of total forces than to 1%.

Outside of normal units of course you also have very specialized forces, such as the seals, rangers, and others, who, depending upon actual unit posted to, can be under orders to be able to leave to go anywhere in the world, in only a matter of hours - leaving the total time from A to B simply being travel time + 2 hours.

Given the scope of the needs in Bengahzi, it seems like they could've used SF well enough (IE used them but still able to send enough quickly to be able to present overwhelming force) and gotten there very quickly.

But really, we shouldn't be talking about this - and if the FCC has their way, it never would have been mentioned on TV at all - as our upcoming presidential contender told us all (IIRC) "At this point, what does it matter?"

The fact you even know an Ambassador died and where just shows you are nothing more than a Fox New Watching teabagger.

[Jerms]

Yeah- I dont understand how they knew how long the fight was going to last. What if the fight lasted a few days?

[WTF]

They still wouldn't have been able to act in time. Why would you ever question the wisdom of Obama(PBUH)?
This is just another fake scandal, like the IRS/NSA/Obamacare/etc. and anyway BOOOSHH!!111!!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh.

Have you checked the children?

[UnCivilServant]

No, my lease application got denied, no orphan workers for me.

[Ted S.]

TV announcer: It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?

Homer Simpson: I told you last night, NO!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That announcer has a name and it's Kent Brockman!

[Michael S. Langston]

Brockman rules (paraphrased):

"Did you know, just miles away from where you live the government is actively training young people to kill. Sure, some people call it the Army, but a more alarmist name would be the Kill-Bot Factory. Tune in tonight for more details."

"Sometimes reporters make mistakes and maybe this announcer was a little too quick to welcome our new Ant overlords. Let me apologize and reaffirm my belief in this country's human leadership. For now."

[Fist of Etiquette]

A new study finds death row inmates who maintain their innocence are nearly 3 times more likely to reject a last meal.

Technically they do have a last meal.

[Rich]

They're also 3 times more likely to link to the wrong article.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Get a load of Mr. Link Clicker over here.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

What is the polar opposite of SF'ing a link? Following one that works, and that nobody else clciks?

[Rich]

Clickphobe!

[GILMORE]

I think the Penultimate Snack is often more profound and signifying of what we cherish most life.

The Last Meal? Well, it can be confusing, really. See =

http://www.famouslastmeals.com/

" Barfield became known as the "Death Row Granny," and was the first woman to be executed in the United States since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty, and the first woman to be executed by lethal injection. Like Karla Faye Tucker and many other death row inmates, Barfield seemed to have found God during her imprisonment, though later claimed she was only pretending. She declined a formal last meal, choosing instead a bag of Cheez Doodles and a can of Coca-Cola for a final meal that seems more like a convenience store snack"

The other ones aren't much better. There's another one who 'found god' and then insisted on only a salad and a banana. That's fucking pathetic.

Also, there's the one who people debated might have been mentally retarded, but was finally determined by the state to be 'fit for execution'.

Well, this Mr "mentally aware enough to die" decided to save his pecan pie dessert for "later"

Case closed.

[Michael S. Langston]

In most cases your last meal is very limited in either money (and usually a very minimal amount) and by where you can order food from.

Though for those who are innocent - it does make sense to deny the "last meal" if only as a final protest.

Not that I think the 1/3 or whatever who maintained innocence and skipped that meal are all innocent; but I could see an innocent person behaving that way that on purpose.

[Snark Plissken]

The Raelian UFO cult will open the first clitoral restoration hospital in Africa in Burkina Faso next month.

I, uh, ... hmmm

[Tonio]

So, Krayewski, what makes these people a "cult" and other religious groups not a cult?

[Snark Plissken]

The Raelian sect believes that humans were created by extraterrestrials to experience joy. It promotes world peace, democracy ? and sexual satisfaction.

Hey more power to them, but my impression is that this is medically impossible.

[Agammamon]

Uh, dude, aren't these the guys who claimed to have cloned a human?

[Snark Plissken]

Aha, I thought they rang a bell.

[Tonio]

No less believable than the claims advanced by other religious groups who are respectably mainstream. The only difference is those other groups generally claim that all those miraculous things occurred millenia ago, which makes it different because...something.

[Michael S. Langston]

Sorry - while I do agree religions make wild claims - I don't know of any religion making claims of specific scientific advancement in cloning or otherwise.

& the real difference in cults and religions should be how they operate - cults do specific things like isolation which religions do not do (I do not know if this UFO "cult" falls under religion or cult - I think more likely cult here was used as a catch-all insult where "stupid" would've worked better and been more accurate).

[Citizen Nothing]

Wait. You're saying "world peace, democracy -- and sexual satisfaction" is medically impossible? That would explain a lot.

[Jon Lester]

Here's an account by a couple who infiltrated the cult a few years ago. Sure enough, the sexuality angle brings out more middle-aged fugly people than young and nubile, and they're fixated on anal to the point of dedicated workshops. Much like any other swinger scene.

[waffles]

On the radio (NPR of course) they had an extensive segment on such a clinic in Germany targeting African immigrants. They had spent tons of public and donated money on the project and had a beautiful modern clinic. The problem was African women were too shy, embarrassed, or pressured to avoid such restorative services. One was interviewed saying she would have her daughters mutilated like her. I think these clinics are symbolic of a cultural impasse.

We can judge other cultures. Genital mutilation in our culture is relatively benign. Still, I think the demand to stop clitorectomy is coming from the West, not from within Africa.

[waffles]

Okay, the UFO cult angle is interesting, but don't think their culture can overpower the African unkindest cut of all.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Still, I think the demand to stop clitorectomy is coming from the West, not from within Africa.

- 1 Ayaan Hirsi Ali

[waffles]

Yeah, I guess that statement is awkward and wrong. There is no good reason to support harmful genital mutilation. It's fucking bizarre that it persists.

[Root Boy]

True dat - a good cause stopping it.

But then you have all the vaginal plastic surgery in the West, and my TV is full of adds for some drug so MILFs can fix their schmoonies for some reason.

Any way we can get these two together and get some synergies (Milfs with bad jay jays and islamic fundamentalists)?

[Zeb]

People should mutilate their own genitals in whatever way they want to. Mutilating children so that they can never really enjoy sex is a bit different.

[Root Boy]

I agree. Just adding some (maybe inappropriate) snark to the story.

Unfortunately this is one war on women (and children as you say) that flies under the radar due to multi-culti crap.

[Zeb]

Perhaps it deserves more attention, but it is hardly an ignored issue. I hear about it pretty often, and often from people who would otherwise be all about multiculturalism.

[Michael S. Langston]

Agreed - 10, 15 years ago, even those people who thought themselves committed to women's issues didn't know about this practice.

& I too think it should go away, but I don't believe at all it's ignored.

& as to whether it's talked about enough or not, who knows really - what we do know, is for all the bad things tons of other societies do all over the world, this one is known above almost all others, yet affects very few in the US.

To me that's all evidence it is widely known, but until such practices are mostly gone from the entire world, I guess one can always say "haven't done enough".

[Snark Plissken]

I don't understand how this could work. Donor clitorises? Aren't nerve cells impossible to regenerate?

Other than having a clean amputation and having it quickly reattached at the hospital I thought one was SOL.

[invisible furry hand]

I'm too squeamish to read this, but this probably has the answer

http://www.smartplanet.com/blo.....-pleasure/

[Snark Plissken]

Aha, had to go to the original Lancet article but apparently the extend and reconstruct the amputated clitoris which makes more sense.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Didn't they all waste themselves when Comet Hale-Bopp passed by?

[SugarFree]

That was the other UFO cult. They are hard to keep up with.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Indeed - Imma have to go look up which one that was that did that.

[invisible furry hand]

It was Heaven's Gate and I didn't need to look that one up

[SugarFree]

I wonder how many other cults are named after Warren Beatty flops...

[gaijin]

I wonder how many other cults are named after Warren Beatty flops...

There's could be a cult named Annette Benning?

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

ZING!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I was working down the street from the San Diego coroner's office when the Heaven's Gate astral mass transit occurred. Talk about a complete and total madhouse, it was swarming with every news agency known to man.

[Rich]

Of course. They ride *comets*, DUH.

[Azathoth!!]

No. Their ship was hiding in the comet's tail.

[BakedPenguin]

Yeah, the one that stole the Green Bay Packers' logo.

[tarran]

Karmic justice?

Cop accidentally shoots 19 year old in face, killing him....

A few decades later, his wife tries to murder him by injecting feces into his IV.

Hospital staff said they found Rose Mary Vogel tampering with the IV line and saw a brown substance blocking the tube attached to the body of the woman's husband, 66-year-old Philip Vogel, a retired police officer from Lexington, Kentucky.
When it was searched in the hospital, Vogel's purse contained a total of three syringes, including two with a clear liquid, police said.
Police documents said Vogel is a retired registered nurse who formerly worked at the Chandler hospital.

[Brett L]

She was a nurse? So she didn't know to blend that shit with some water to get the right consistency?

[invisible furry hand]

You haven't eaten much hospital food, have you

[Brett L]

I attribute my good health to avoiding it.

[Zeb]

Nurses make hospital food? No wonder everything is so expensive.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Perhaps the issue hadn't come up during her career?

[Brett L]

They must have some experience with liquids of different viscosities in IVs.

[Michael S. Langston]

Many nurses these days seem to be the types, who after the barely graduated the lowest level school they could find, they still firmly believe they know more than every doctor "because".

I'm assuming one stupid enough to attempt falls into that category - and since almost everyone who claims they're smarter than all doctors "because" are by definition stupid.

But all we know is that while her training and job duties should have educated her on viscosity, it did not. And her overall intellect is likely the problem.

Though tangentially this amazes me - humans have this great ability to learn things just by paying attention to the same thing over time. IE - repeating a skill set/job/etc humans will get better overtime almost without trying.

& since most humans actively try to get better at what they do over time - many humans become experts in their sphere of knowledge over time.

Yet somehow, some people, can work in an environment constantly for decades and learn almost nothing.

& given human's built-in propensity to learn through patterns - it's almost as if these people had to actively prevent themselves from learning.

Of course that's exactly what happens when they're already smarter than everyone else around.

[gaijin]

Nurses save lives! They are not so well trained to take them.

[Ted S.]

Except in Belgium.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Or the Netherlands

*looks for "life passport"*

[SugarFree]

I remember that shooting. The cops went through a number of stories before settling on:

In October 1994, Phil Vogel and other officers were trying to arrest Tony Sullivan, 18, on three felony warrants when Vogel shot Sullivan in the head. Vogel told investigators he was manually decocking his gun when it accidentally discharged, hitting and killing Sullivan.

IIRC, the first version was that the guy was hiding in a closet waiting to ambush the police. When they could find a weapon in the house, it was changed to "jumped out of the closet" thinking his friend were playing a prank and the startled cops shot him. Then they settled on deliciously passive "accidental shooting after gun discharged" before letting him retire with full benefits.

Sounds like a shit IV couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[Agammamon]

Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne in a live interview. Jackson told the reporter he was "as crazy as the people on Twitter."

Which one is Token, Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington again?

Crazy as twitter, huh Sammy? Aren't you the one who made that equally crazy 'wake the fuck up' video in support of Obama?

[Rich]

It's Magic Negroes all the way down.

[UnCivilServant]

Since they're magic, can't they fly, thus invalidating the need to stack them?

[Ted S.]

Since they're magic, can't they fly,

I think you got the wrong Magical Negro.

[gaijin]

It's Magic Negroes all the way down.

Magic Johnsons?

[RightofCenter]

My wife and I still laugh about an article we read years ago, defining the MAAF--Magical African American Friend. They were talking about Bagger Vance but referenced several other movies where the stupid white guy was saved by the MAAF.

[Bee Tagger]

Rand Paul is joining a lawsuit by FreedomWorks, for which Ken Cuccinelli is serving as lead counsel, against the Obama administration over the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.

Loser gets surveilled.

[Rich]

Loser Everyone gets surveilled.

FTFY

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Christian health plans offer alternative to Obamacare.

Heard this on the radio yesterday. It comes, however, with all sorts of conditions.

http://carijean.hubpages.com/h.....-Insurance

[Palin's Buttplug]

Prayer never works. Find a good doc instead.

[Snark Plissken]

Like those Jews who prayed not to be turned in to the Nazis by Georgie. Fuck 'em.

soros.org

[Tonio]

Apparently PB didn't read the article. LOLtastic.

[seguin]

PB can't read. He just bangs on the keyboard until sequences of letters the right size appear.

[Tonio]

Health care sharing simply means that a certain group of members share in one another's health care costs. Christians especially are drawn to these types of co-ops because they believe it is biblical. According to Galatians 6:2, part of obeying the law of Christ is to bear one another's burdens.

[...]

Like health insurance, potential members must go through an application process. Applicants can be denied because of certain medical conditions, such as congenital defects, obesity and other pre-existing conditions.

Applicants must agree to live a life that is based on biblical principles and must agree to not smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs. Members must also attend church regularly and part of the application process could require information from the member's pastor.

Congenital defects...that just totally floors me. I consider those with birth defects to be the most deserving of charity from others because it's totally not their fault.

Alcohol...uh, wedding feast of Canaan anyone?

[robc]

That was a **jewish** wedding.

And, yeah, duh.

And who says those with congenital defects arent handled via charity? That would just be a different process than what is effectively a group insurance plan.

[Tonio]

Don't stretch too hard, robc, you might pull something.

[robc]

???

[Michael S. Langston]

Tonio -

Are you discounting the idea they may have an insurance policy which has constraints to help save it's members money, while simultaneously offering charitable donations to help pay for the direct healthcare costs of the congenitally disabled?

I mean seriusly dude - what's the problem here? As there are many good reasons to bash religions, but being charitable to anyone is need is not one of them.

In fact, it's one of their selling points.

Or have you not noticed almost every single US hospital is a non-profit run by openly religious groups?

Which tangentially belies all the idiots on the left talking about all the profits of those in healthcare.

Sure, individual jobs, which takes years and tons of money to qualify for, as well as executives, have nice salaries. Some even get sort of "rich", but if there were true profits just flowing from healthcare you'd see many more hospitals with GE's name than Sisters of ________.

& as a last note - I like Hitchens idea that religions poisons everything, so please don't assume my feelings about g-d or any afterlife, it's just you, and some strain of libertarians, that end up pushing the "religion sucks" meme to its breaking point.

Then I end up doing crap I hate, namely defending religion.

But just like I think the Dems shouldn't lie - I think it does libertarians a disservice to exaggerate any other groups' negatives.

Besides, what's the point when the truth works so well?

[The Original Jason]

The anti-alcohol Christians say that word translated as "wine" in the bible is actually generally grape juice and that, when being specific, "old wine" is what we call wine and "new wine" is what we call grape juice and that the context of "putting new wine into old wineskins" was that if you put "new wine" or grape juice into old wineskins, it would ferment and turn into "old wine" or wine and the CO2 released during fermentation would cause the wineskin to burst.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

When can Catholics be an "exempt religious sect?"

[Agammamon]

I don't know, but going to mass this Saturday is starting look better and better.

[NoVAHockey]

My mother swears to this day that Saturday afternoon Mass doesn't count.

[Bee Tagger]

An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne in a live interview. Jackson told the reporter he was "as crazy as the people on Twitter."

Which the reporter mistook as facebook.

[invisible furry hand]

Supporters of progressive journalism are probably drunker than us:

Introducing The Nation Wine Club

Included in each shipment will be two hand-selected wines with a progressive nature, such as an organic or sustainable wine, a wine produced at a winery that employs union workers or cooperative, wines produced with special effort to care for the environment or a wine from a developing nation.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure all that union labor makes it taste better.

[UnCivilServant]

Takes so long to process, that every barrel is aged more than traditional output. Sure it's technically vinegar now...

[UnCivilServant]

"Look, all we know is how to rot grapes in a barrel. So what if there are better ways to improve flavor and quality, they're not traditional. One of these days we're going to find a way to ahve slaves foot-tred the grapes again for the authentic fungal taste."

Wine is a lazy nation's booze.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I thought it was beer. Without wine (and maple syrup), there is no civilization.

[UnCivilServant]

You barbarian!

[Ted S.]

He's a heathen who likes to cut people's hair?

[UnCivilServant]

+1 barberian.

[Ted S.]

Ack, I misread this and might have made a dumb comment. 🙁

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

I dunno - I kind of liked it.

[Agammamon]

Would've been better if UCS had actually misspelled the word.

[Ted S.]

Yeah, that's what I was getting at with my suggesting it was dumb because I misread it.

[gaijin]

Single malt whiskey you heathens

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

And wine too. And beer.

"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!"

[gaijin]

+1 double shot

[Griffin3]

And this thermos. And that's all I need.

[seguin]

And this lamp.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I've gotten into bourbon these past couple of years. Any suggestions?

[SugarFree]

Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, Willet's

[gaijin]

To each his own, of course, but I am a fan of Scotch over bourbon. I will second SF's Willet's as a bourbon option however.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Larceny.

[Redmanfms]

Blanton's.

Eagle Rare.

William Larue Weller.

[hamilton]

Rye.

[B.P.]

Old Pogue.

[UnCivilServant]

Besides, Beer takes more components to make, meaning it requires more planning and organization than wine.

Besides, I've seen what your idea of 'civilization' brings. It's barbaric. Pretty soon you're pouring your tree sap on pork bellies and then where are we? complete moral degeneration, that's where.

[robc]

Its not just the number of components, there is much more science to beer making too.

Wine is ready to go. Crush the groups and barrel them up, you might even already have enough yeast on the skins to handle the fermentation.

Getting the sugars out of barley requires some coaxing. Fortunately, the enzymes are there, but it still requires proper temperature.

[Clich? Bandit]

Yup and mead is even easier but takes longer. I am looking forward to my annual bottle of mead I made for our child when she was born. It is getting very tasty.

As for beer:

3rd week in secondary for my Belgian Trip

1st week in secondary for my NAHA Comp beer (they haven't responded yet if I am in).

Final week in conditioning before bottling my Valpolicella.

and NOTHING in the keg/cellar at the moment...the suspense is killing me (that and too much blood in my alcohol).

[Clich? Bandit]

I MADE IT INTO THE COMP! WOOT!
(just got the e-mail)

Now to win.

What are we doing today Brain?

[robc]

Italy/France/Spain -- wine
Germany/Czech/Belgium -- beer

Which is the lazy nation group?

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

ifh is going to throw a bottle of shiraz at you.

[Ted S.]

"Foster's -- Australian for 'piss'."

[invisible furry hand]

urgh, shiraz and fucking Foster's... anyway the Krauts do grow grapes

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

My ample time in Trier allows me to confirm that, most happily.

[Clich? Bandit]

In Napa you pay $15 for a taste of 3-5 wines.

On the Rhine you pay 5 euros for 15-17 wines.

We stayed in a castle. Overlooking the river. It was a magical place.

Fun Fact: Even my drunk ass learned something, they make dry rose Rieslings and they are goooooooodddd.

[kinnath]

Germany/Czech/Belgium

Too fucking cold to grow grapes like civilized men. So they got desperate and figured out how to spoil grain in just the right way.

[robc]

Desperate is the opposite of lazy.

[kinnath]

It seems pretty obvious how primitive men figured out how to make wine (figuring out how to stop grapes from fermenting is the real problem). But I can't imagine how the first guy decided it was a good idea to soak grain in hot water, drain off the water, and then boil bitter herbs in the water before dumping it into a barrel.

[robc]

But I can't imagine how the first guy decided it was a good idea to soak grain in hot water, drain off the water, and then boil bitter herbs in the water before dumping it into a barrel.

It probably came from the bread making process. Grain get wet and sat for a few days and, voila, boooze!

The bitter herbs was a much, much, much later addition.

Peruvians figured it out with corn and chicha beer too. And that required women chewing and spitting to get the necessary enzymes.

[kinnath]

It probably came from the bread making process.

Good point.

Even alcohol spoils. The Romans put all sort of stuff into wine to keep it from spoiling (tree sap, salt, etc). I imagine there was a long history of trial and error putting whatever was available into the brew pot to see what happens. Lots of bittering herbs went into gruits.

[Snark Plissken]

Actually there's some pretty damn decent Moravian wine around if you know where to find it, but it's mostly crap and doesn't really hold a candle to Czech beer.

[kinnath]

And the Germans make some damn fine wine too, but only in the southernmost parts of the country.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

The Moselle and Rhine valleys beg to differ.

[kinnath]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.....egions.jpg

Not the furthest southern part of Germany I suppose, but definitely in the southwest quadrant of the country. And even here, most of the grapes don't ripen properly which is why Germany has such a complex labeling scheme to identify which wines are produced using chaptalization and which one aren't.

[robc]

I imagine there was a long history of trial and error putting whatever was available into the brew pot to see what happens. Lots of bittering herbs went into gruits.

Exactly. Once they stumbled upon hops, the others were quickly forgotten about. Its only been recently that people have started to make "historical" beers again, using things other than hops (although I guess gruit never entirely went away).

[Clich? Bandit]

I had heard the likely origin of "Ale" (previously non-hopped beer as "Beer" is derived from the German word and they were the ones to add hops as a preservative, only after the Brits lost the beer wars did Ales become beers) was ancient grain storage where the bottom of the pit would get a little damp and voila, fermentation. After playing with that concept for a few centuries I am sure it became passable. Wasn't it Avery that brewed that ancient Egyptian recipe...and it was NASTY!

[robc]

Dogfish Head.

They brew a lot of historical beers.

[robc]

Brits lost the beer wars

???

I have no clue what that phrase means.

Brits at one time distinguished between beer, which had hops, and ale, which didnt. They still distinguish beteen ale and stout.

[Clich? Bandit]

That was what I was referencing, trying to make light of the fact that in the late 18th early 19 cent. the Brits HATED that the Germans put flowers in their beer.

I was making light of an obscure historical quirk of language...lighten up Francis.

P.S. I made it into the NAHA comp. So I am rather excitable today.

[Clich? Bandit]

And now of course the word Ale more commonly references a top fermenting strain of yeast. But what is the English language but ambiguity.

[robc]

trying to make light of the fact that in the late 18th early 19 cent. the Brits HATED that the Germans put flowers in their beer.

You are a couple of centuries off here.

By that point, ales were hopped in England.

[Clich? Bandit]

You are right, it was 15-16th. I should have remembered that India colonization was early 17th. They were shipping over hoppped beer at that time. I think I confused that with the invention of champagne which was 18-19. I killed off most of the weaker brain cells holding onto that sort of info.

[Tonio]

The German wine industry would beg to differ.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

+1 Weinstrasse

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Wines with a progressive nature"

Pretentious, overpriced, foul and disgusting?

[UnCivilServant]

Isn't that redundant when talking wine?

[Ted S.]

Only if you're talking about wines Robert Parker likes.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is all this barbarian speak?

Not familiar with it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://www.thebeveragepeople.c.....o_Make.pdf

[a better weapon]

But nothing else screams 'Limousine Liberal' quite like it!

[The Late P Brooks]

Rape culture!

A leading drug candidate for low sexual desire in women hasn't gotten approved for use in the United States, but the company backing it isn't giving up.

Sprout Pharmaceuticals announced Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the company "clear guidance" on "the path forward" for its drug to treat low libido in women, called flibanserin. The FDA had rejected an application to approve the drug last year, which Sprout appealed.

----------

The drug is designed for the treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in women. That's the technical term for when women have a distressing lack or absence of sexual desire or fantasy. Up to one-third of adult women may experience it, according to a 2002 study.

Don't drink the water, Mandrake.

[invisible furry hand]

called flibanserin

I'm hot already

[Floridian]

That's because you live in the desert wastelands of Australia.

[PRX]

hmm. a serin is a bird, that can fly, native to Europe, including Spain.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Laden or unladen?

[hamilton]

Up to one-third of adult women may experience it...

What percent of adult women are married?

[UnCivilServant]

And how many are past menopause?

[Floridian]

Hi-yo!

[Clich? Bandit]

This company seems like the most sound investment right next to selling air on the moon.

[Jordan]

Why is it news that a reporter misidentified someone? Oh right: TEH RACISM!!1

Christ.

[UnCivilServant]

I recall an incident where my local newscaster accused James Earl Jones of having shot the Reverend King. (Instead of James Earl Ray).

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You have *got* to be kidding.

[UnCivilServant]

Nope, I saw it live. They did a correction at the end of the show, in a quite meek and red-faced manner.

[GILMORE]

"Join me, King, and together we will Rule The Galaxy!

Never! Obi Wan told me what you did!..."

[gaijin]

The Raelian UFO cult will open the first clitoral restoration hospital in Africa in Burkina Faso next month.

I read all these words and still don;t understand how they could find themselves all in the same sentence.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, unlike some other alien worshippers, Raelians actually think medicine is a good idea.

[Tonio]

Zing!

[Dead or In Jail]

Untold thousands flout gun registration law:

http://articles.courant.com/20.....ration-law

[PowerBottom]

Will be interesting to see if the authorities try to start enforcing the law. In my opinion, the only way to would be to tack on the charge after a search or some other non related crime brings LE into contact with the rifles classified under the law.

[Warty]

Good.

"Like anything else, people who violate the law face consequences. ? that's their decision. The consequences are pretty clear. ?There's nothing unique about this," Lawlor said. "The goal is to have fewer of these types of weapons in circulation."

Hey. You. Fuck you.

[The Late P Brooks]

An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne in a live interview. Jackson told the reporter he was "as crazy as the people on Twitter."

At least the reporter didn't get him confused with the radical anarchist tax cheat vampire hunter; that would have been an intolerable slur.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Horace Greeley once got confused and quoted Frederick Douglass as deploring the presence of snakes on a plane. Which is funny because there weren't any planes in the 19th century.

[110 Lean]

Yes there were.

[Brett L]

Tamany Hall still runs NYC under a different name.

A politically connected Brooklyn pastor was arrested for a pair of open warrants ? but was spared a night in jail after Mayor de Blasio called an NYPD boss to inquire about his close pal .

Hours later, Bishop Orlando Findlayter was yukking it up with Hizzoner at the head table at a Bed-Stuy breakfast Tuesday with guest speaker Rev. Al Sharpton and 200 other pastors.

[WTF]

Here's my shocked face.

[Root Boy]

A tale of two cities?

[Rich]

Michelle's state dinner dress: "It's got that sort of poof at the bottom that's very sort of billowy at the same time."

IOW, this.

[invisible furry hand]

Homophobe!

[Aloysious]

I'm not clicking that... I'm not clicking that... MY EYES!!!

[Rich]

Bootyphobe!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

12k, huh?

Remember when el derpo Lawrence O'Donnell went all derp about some right-winger who wore an expense dress and considered it 'insensitive' or something like that?

[invisible furry hand]

Does she actually buy them or do designers lend them to her as they to to other celebrities?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Hand Me Down First Lady.

[Root Boy]

Come on man, she is of the people, I see her at Target all the time.

[Warty]

Once she saw the ruffles, she couldn't pass it up.

[Brett L]

"Nobody should have to choose their job over their son." Woman fired from Chicago Whole Foods -- her side is that she stayed home in a snow storm to care for her special needs son. I'm sure she called the manager the moment she knew that she might not have care to tell him or her about the situation, right?

Making the right decision for your family does not absolve you of the consequences

[Ted S.]

One wonders what the reaction would be if she chose taking care of her child over paying her taxes.

[Rich]

Excellent.

[0x90]

Don't be such a pessimist -- there may well be two or three people wondering that.

[Rhywun]

No links, no dates... but lots of EMOTION and RAGE. At least if she "wins", now I know all I have to do to get a random day off is pretend to be a "mom with a special needs son".

[Palin's Buttplug]

for not providing sufficient security for the U.S.

Same could be said about Pearl Harbor or the WTC attack on 9/11. Not that they compare in scope a bit to Benghazi.

Also the US Embassy attack in Beirut. Why aren't the wingnuts all ablather about that one?

Time to move on to a new fake scandal.

[Jordan]

Same could be said about Pearl Harbor or the WTC attack on 9/11.

And?

Also the US Embassy attack in Beirut. Why aren't the wingnuts all ablather about that one?

Probably because it happened 30 years ago.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is obvious that security was insufficient.

How does that make Bengahzi into a scandal though?

[Jordan]

It is obvious that security was insufficient.

In other words, it's worth investigating and holding someone accountable.

[WTF]

And never mind the fact that the Obama administration flat out lied about it being due to a spontaneous demonstration over an obscure video for weeks.

[Jordan]

Yes, someone should be held accountable for that shit too.

[PowerBottom]

The only thing I got riled up about with regards to Benghazi was the deliberate misleading about the cause, i.e., a YT video. I think Hilary's "What difference does it make!" outburst was disgraceful as well. As far as the reports about their being some secret CIA operation, I'll wait for some better or more substantiated reporting.

[Mock-star]

The thing that gets me really riled up is we helped to cause the instability that allowed for the Benghazi attack in the first place. Al-Quedia or not, people generally dont like being kinetic humanitarian actioned.

[Citizen Nothing]

It's always the cover up, as someone once said.

[Agammamon]

It could be that there's no evidence that the administrations in power at the time withheld support for Pearl Harbor or Beruit during the time of the actual attacks.

[GILMORE]

"
Palin's Buttplug|2.12.14 @ 9:24AM|#

How does that make Bengahzi into a scandal though?"

The "lying about the details because telling the truth might hurt your re-election chances"-part

[WTF]

First off, the retarded don't rule the night. They don't rule it. Nobody does. And they don't run in packs. And while they may not be as strong as apes, don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[Don Mynack]

U.S Forces responded within minutes to the Beirut bombing. There was a freaking Marine barracks blocks away. No one was ordered to "stand-down". No local security was relied upon, particularly a group of jihadi knuckleheads. What are you talking about?

[Palin's Buttplug]

The "stand down" nonsense has been debunked.

[PM]

The "stand down" nonsense has been debunked.

Only in the extremely narrow sense that "stay in place and do not engage" is a functionally different command than "stand down"; for the purposes of Benghazi, it was not.

[GILMORE]

"Palin's Buttplug|2.12.14 @ 10:03AM|#

The "stand down" nonsense has been debunked."

Oh really?

Can you explain why a team of 7+ JSOC/CIA and former SEAL were able to get to Benghazi from Tripoli (by bribing a private pilot) in time to help (despite being delayed repeatedly by authorities), yet various other security elements present in Tripoli (and elsewhere) were specifically ordered NOT to go?

Do you have any idea what you're talking about, or are you just reading from the memo?

What about Greg Hick's testimony do you think was *incorrect*?

http://www.slate.com/blogs/wei....._true.html

""
Major Robert Firman, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the military's account that was first issued weeks after the attacks hasn't changed. "There was never any kind of stand-down order to anybody." Now, that's a pretty broad statement, "anybody." What's your reaction to the quote by Mr. Firman?

Hicks: I can only again repeat that Lieutenant Colonel Gibson said he was not to proceed to board the airplane"

Watch the testimony, jackass.

[Nazdrakke]

What are you talking about?

Basically it's just making shit up to serve the Cause like a good little drone. Ya know, the usual.

[PM]

Same could be said about Pearl Harbor or the WTC attack on 9/11.

Notably, both of those were on domestic soil where there is presumably less risk of attack (since those two comprise an exhaustive list since the war of 1812). Failing to provide adequate security to shoot down planes flying into a commercial building in the middle of Manhattan is slightly more understandable than failing to provide adequate security to an embassy in a country that recently experienced a political revolution in which the at least some of the participants were associated with terrorist groups.

[Roger the Shrubber]

US Embassy attack in Beirut. Why aren't the wingnuts all ablather about that one?

I recall an Oval Office speech by Reagan where he took full responsibility for placing servicemen in a dangerous and hopeless situation and announcing an immediate withdraw.

[Dead or In Jail]

Applebaum: And so I don't have a lot of hope about the US reining in the intelligence community in this regard. In fact, I have almost no belief that the president has control over these things.

[Tonio]

Annie "No Air on Mars" Applebaum strikes again.

[Dead or In Jail]

sorry, that's Jacob Appelbaum. I effed up the spelling. 🙁

[Rich]

Pretty sure it was Eddie Murphy. Dammit! I mean, *Will Smith*!

[Tonio]

And I didn't click through. My bad.

[WTF]

I have almost no belief that the president has control over these things.

If only Stalin knew! I know he would stop this if he could!

[PowerBottom]

I know there was an article here yesterday about child pornography and sentencing for those caught viewing it, with the jist being the law was too harsh for simply having it, etc. However, though hesitant to share too much detail, when I was a child, I was used for child pornography in some of the most heinous ways possible that still have ramifications on my life as an adult. I am entirely un-libertarian on the issue. There is no hole dark enough, no punishment cruel enough, for anyone involved in the willful, purposeful production, reception, or viewing of such material. The man mentioned in the article killed himself and I am happy he did so.

[invisible furry hand]

Mate, I am so sorry to read this. [virtual hug, Or virtual drink. As you please].

But I'm not sure your position is entirely unlibertarian.

[PowerBottom]

Well, I read the article and comments, and I do at least understand where those that disagree with me are coming from. It's one of those things that's almost impossible to explain unless you've been involved in it. I was drugged, abused, filmed, etc, over the course of a year and a half. The people doing it were part of a circle of people doing it and dispersing it. Those who it was dispersed to are in my eyes just as guilty as those who did it to me.

[Tonio]

Sorry, dude.

You are only human; I would doubt that anyone here is perfectly libertarian.

This is one of those issues where libertarian principals, carried to their logical extreme, yield a conclusion which is unpalatable to the general public and therefore damaging to libertarianism as a cause.

Our strength is that we reason from first principles, rather than retconing our principles until they comport with our desired results. This is also our weakness as some of those principles lead to untenable conclusions.

Wishing you strength.

[Heroic Mulatto]

This is one of those issues where libertarian principals, carried to their logical extreme

I strongly disagree. Despite the sophistry of Ploppy et al. the NAP implies that exploitation of those physically, mentally, or emotionally unable to give consent is aggression and thus, ethically wrong. Likewise, it carries with it the corollary that when observing this aggression, one has the moral right to intervene to protect the aggressed upon if one believes it is in one's self-interest to do so.

[Tonio]

Thanks, HM. I was just reporting what seemed to be the prevailing view here; I didn't wade into the threads yesterday.

How do you address the works themselves once they have left the control of the criminals who produce them?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Perhaps we should be looking at it from a different angle. Assuming that the images are the property of the exploited, then possession without permission becomes a property rights issue. I see problems with treating the possession with the same or even more harsh penalties than the production of the material. At the same time, I do recognize the need to suppress the market for kiddie porn and disincentivize it.

My thoughts aren't complete on this and continue to evolve, so I'm just throwing this out there.

/glances around and ducks

[PM]

Assuming that the images are the property of the exploited, then possession without permission becomes a property rights issue.

That's the underlying right being violated even if you completely disregard any other implications of an inability to give consent. I was just making that point to the kiddie fucker apologist in chief Plopper earlier. His reasoning isn't libertarian even IF you accept his premise that all children are capable of giving consent.

[Plopper]

When did I say all children are capable of giving consent?

[Tonio]

That would create some truly bizarre incentives.

[Floridian]

I think of it in terms of contract killing. The killer and the person that offered the contract are both guilty and should be charged equally. As far as consumers getting harsher sentences than producers, the producers should be getting harsher sentences. If the government would stop wasting resources on victimless crimes they could focus more on the crimes like this with actual victims.

[Floridian]

Also cartoon depictions should not be prosecuted because there is not an actual victim and it might give pedophiles an outlet without harming a real child.

[Tonio]

A practical, though distasteful, solution. I don't see prosecutors letting go of that, though.

[Floridian]

A practical, though distasteful, solution. I don't see prosecutors letting go of that, though.

The government will never back down on this but my best guess is that like the the decline in violence and rape with the increased availability FPS and porn , that less children would be harmed if there was a legal and safe alternative to child pornography.

[Plopper]

HM, is it now your new hobby to attack strawmen arguments I supposedly pushed?

[Heroic Mulatto]

My thoughts are with you. I hope you find healing and justice toward those who did that to you.

[PowerBottom]

The couple most responsible have been in jail for almost twenty years, so there's that. I was saved when I heard the mailman outside and I started screaming inside for help, and the guy broke out his pepper spray and got me and another child out of the house.

[WTF]

Wow, that mailman really is a fucking hero, he had no idea what he was walking into. Sorry to hear what happened to you.

[Floridian]

Do you still keep in touch with the mail carrier? I have no idea how to thank someone who did something so selfless.

[Bones]

I don't know if it's entirely unlibertarian to want severe punishment for the viewers. They created the market for the vile acts. I've been blaming viewers for the scourge of Honey Boo Boo for years now.

If libertarians are going to celebrate the markets that solve problems, we may also have to punish the markets that cause or contribute blatantly to problems. I didn't read the other articles on the subject because it's disturbing so I don't know what anyone who wrote them was considering appropriate punishment if anything.

[Tonio]

^This.

[Michael S. Langston]

Pedantically...

Distributing pictures/videos/etc of underage non-consenters (or above age non-consenters) is not a real market by any definition.

I do get what you're saying and it is a market in some sense, but using language like "punish the market" concerns me with its anti-capitalist tone and I think libertarians can make an active distinction between consensual economic transactions of the market as different from those other "markets" which form only through violation(s) of NAP.

Just like "markets" today where one can buy stolen credit card numbers and other PII data - they exist, but one doesn't use language like "punishing the market" to talk about solutions.

If this is a market - then me selling property I don't own will soon make me a business success, rich beyond my wildest dreams, all of which is capped off by book deals and speaking engagements while everyone everywhere proclaims me as a revolutionary genius for my innovative and groundbreaking idea.

In reality though - I don't think there's an strong libertarian argument that child porn should not be illegal, but a logical argument that 5 pictures should not equate to more time than 5 counts of sexual assault on a minor.

I think there is an argument against it; where having the porn helps create the market, so unlike assaulting one child directly, using this porn actively contributes to more children being abused, but I thought most libertarian arguments here were only about comparative penalties.

[Lord Humungus]

Good morning, reasonites. I thought I would check in and see how you wankers are doing.

Me? 42K words so far on my novel, up to my eyeballs in ice & snow, and I'm the new proud owner of 20 acres of land that's loaded with oak and cherry trees.

Honestly taking a break from politics and such has been a breath of fresh air, reducing my daily stress levels - and I certainly don't miss the deluded ramblings of the trolls.

Carry on!

[hamilton]

Hey, congrats. Be sure to have the orphans use sustainable forestry techniques on the cherry trees.

[Lord Humungus]

A couple years down the line and I'll probably make it into multiple lots - road down one side, power, etc... it's pretty close to a big resort town so there should be some real estate interest in the future.

[Floridian]

Congratulations on your purchase and good luck with the novel.

[Brett L]

Nice. Trying to convince the wife that the L family needs a compound of something about that size. Maybe a couple of 4-legged lawnmowers that turn into tasty steaks...

[gaijin]

42,000 words! That was quick. Looking forward to your next novel.

[Rich]

Well, to be fair, most of them are "All work and no play makes Lord Humungus a dull boy."

[Ted S.]

It's a western, and the characters are terrible shots: half the words are "Bang!"

[UnCivilServant]

Charlie fanned the hammer on his forty-four, sending lead flying down the street. Slugs slammed into everything save for what he meant to hit. Puffs of dirt rose from the ground. Splinters sprayed from a wooden post. A terra-cotta pot shattered, and the sign above the assay office started to swing.

The black-clad gunman in Charlie's sights sighed, shook his head, turned and walked away.

[Ted S.]

At least he made it home safe to his family that night.

[UnCivilServant]

Actually, he got kicked by a horse on his way out of town.

If I'm trying to demonstrate writing ability, I should probably spend more than ten seconds mentally composing a vinette - and perhaps use a spellchecker.

[gaijin]

ten seconds mentally composing a vinette - and perhaps use a spellchecker.

I just figured you were going for authenticity of tone. 🙂

[UnCivilServant]

I felt compelled to write something for the 'bad shots' western and didn't spend enough time contemplating things like tone or structure to be actively going for any in particular. I'm an inconsistant writer. Some months I can churn out 100k words, others I'm lucky to get 1k in the whole month. (yes, I have drafted a whole novel in the span of a month. It's not ready for release yet due to the proofing and editing process being incomplete)

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"sending lead flying down the street. Slugs slammed into everything save for what he meant to hit."

Iraqi Death Blossom!

[Lord Humungus]

I usually start strong and then get weaker as the weeks go on.

[SugarFree]

I hate you. But not really. I can't write at all in the winter. Some sort of bad-wiring.

[invisible furry hand]

You work to the seasons' rhythms like a medieval peasant

[SugarFree]

Basically. I mostly want to hibernate all winter.

[Ted S.]

I'm not a very good writer in the other three seasons, either. 🙁

[SugarFree]

Write something about having writer's block.

[UnCivilServant]

I read a story like that once - it was rather short.

[Ted S.]

I did that back in March, 2008.

At least I've been able to post something every day except for the week when my modem was out of service.

[Tonio]

Needs moar tube amp pr0n.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm contemplating a linestage project - using some bits that I have left in my junk drawer. Other than that, I've been tube rolling in the new amplifier.

Also thinking of redoing the upstairs stereo, replacing the Rotel integrated with some vintage McIntosh solid-state gear. Something like this:

http://www.audioscope.net/images/Mcintosh250-2.jpg

and

http://i178.photobucket.com/al.....opwiz/Sept 2012/mcintoshmx11302.jpg

[Lord Humungus]

ah, another good link of the MX-113
http://www.classicaudio.com/forsale/mac/MX113a.jpg

[Tonio]

Oooooh...thanks.

Someday I will get myself a proper amp.

Right now my current thing is holding on to my phonograph albums for the day when I will again have a proper phonograph. I have some friends who just got a USB phonograph and have been hinting that I should give them my albums. I haven't had the heart to tell them how pitiful that is.

[Dead or In Jail]

Me? 42K words so far on my novel, up to my eyeballs in ice & snow, and I'm the new proud owner of 20 acres of land that's loaded with oak and cherry trees.

Can I come over? We'll shoot stuff.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Good luck, Dick Loudon!

[SForza]

20 acres? I'm jealous. We just have 4 so far.

[hamilton]

A pretty decent article from Conor Friedersdorf on Rand Paul's attempt to blunt the Democratic War on Women rhetoric with his Clinton references.

[Root Boy]

CF is defending a (libertarian) Republican? What is the world coming to.

I will have to read it and the comments later.

[Rich]

Two teenage boys were hoping to make a deal with the devil when they sexually assaulted and killed a 15-year-old suburban Houston girl in a satanic ritual

Well, at least the Devil didn't *make* them do it.

Seriously, fry these guys.

[gaijin]

All you used to have to do to make that deal was play the fiddle. My how times have changed.

[WTF]

But since the devil lost that one, he doesn't offer it anymore.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, he no longer has a golden fiddle to wager.

[Drake]

I thought that was a wager?

[gaijin]

Yes, but a deal too:

The Devil went down to Georgia.
He was lookin' for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind.
He was willing to make a deal

[invisible furry hand]

Jordan said Reyes' family went to authorities after the teenager made "some admissions" to them about what had happened.

Good for them.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I suppose "go to your room and think about what you did" just wouldn't cut it.

[invisible furry hand]

Naughty step!

[John]

Since few people under 40 listen to heavy metal anymore, what will the concerned parents blame this on?

[WTF]

The internets, of course. That's why the internets must be regulated - it's for the children.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

"violent video games"

[UnCivilServant]

"A vid'ya game attacked my cat last week"

[PM]

The internet is so 2002. It's the vidya games!

[PM]

Goddammit

[Agammamon]

Dubstep.

[The Late P Brooks]

Speaking of union representation and the continuing oppression of teh Worker:

MSNBC Business Channel did a story about an impending union vote at a South Carolina VW plant, this morning. The sole "expert witness" was that Shaiker(?) guy, professor of Labor Studies. Surprise! The UAW will fix the horribly inefficient and cruel working conditions in the factory. Also, public unions are an unalloyed benefit to the nation and the localities which they serve loot.

Look for the union label, and buy something else.

[sarcasmic]

I've owned only one vehicle with the UAW sticker on it. Thing was a money pit. Never again.

[Lord Humungus]

My interest in VW dropped like a rock once I tried to replace a starter on my then GF's VW Rabbit. Hmm... it requires a gigantic hex/allen key wrench....

that - and the constant electrical issues, including the sparking dashboard and no brake lights - made me wary of them ever since.

[Rich]

the sparking dashboard

Details?

[Lord Humungus]

some kind of loose wiring behind the dash. My GF would turn the corner and I would see blue sparks popping. I eventually fixed it - hello black tape! - looks like someone did a terrible wiring job on a stereo. Not really VWs fault, but the brake lights going out all the time was.

[Rich]

My GF would turn the corner and I would see blue sparks popping. I eventually fixed it - hello black tape! - looks like someone did a terrible wiring job

I had a similar experience. However, it was in the third world with some horribly abused British vehicle.

Just curious: Anyone (else) have electrical problems with Subaru?

[tarran]

Yes!!!!!

Our family car when I was a kid.

We got hit by a drunk driver who put us into a guardrail. After that, the car would occasionally refuse to start.

[Tonio]

Subies are not particularly known for electrical problems, unlike, say any car (mostly British Leylands from the seventies) equipped with Lucas electrics.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

VW's are notorious for electrical issues.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

A few years ago, I considered purchasing a Jetta TDI, but VW's reputation for maintenance finally led me to look elsewhere.

German cars can be fantastic, but everywhere I read said that if you don't baby them and maintain strict discipline on even minor, seemingly innocuous maintenance issues, they can be a real pain in the ass. I'd rather have a vehicle that can take some abuse and still operate reliably.

This isn't becoming limited to VWs and Volvos and such, though--the more electronics, safety features, and various goldplating gets put in vehicles these days, the more opportunities there are for stuff to break, and the harder it is for even trained mechanics to troubleshoot and fix problems.

[John]

I own a 2006 Mec C Class. Once a year I have to take it to get its oil changed and get robbed by the local dealer for maintenance. It costs me 300 or 600 on even and odd years. But otherwise, I never touch the car and like every care I have ever owned, drive the hell out of it.

It has been pretty maintence free. I have replaced my break pads, which is true of every car. At 60,000 miles they stuck me for a transmission and transcase (its an AWD) and main belt service that was like $700. But that is it. Had a sensor go out under warranty.

The only real breakdown I have had in 81K on that car is a front wheel bearing. But in fairness the roads around here are horrible. So I blame the roads more than the car.

My experience is that the maintenance isn't any more frequent than any other car, but it is a bit more expensive. But not outrageous.

[Tonio]

German...strict discipline on even minor...issues

Nice.

[John]

It is true. My car goes fucking insane when it goes beyond its recommended mileage between maintenance. It beeps at you every time you turn on the ignition and the digital consul where the trip mileage and time and temp and such flashes at you. You have to push a button to get it to go back to the normal clock, mileage. It does this every time you turn on the ignition until you take it to the shop for maintenance.

You can't install an I-pod jack on the stereo unless you go to a Merc Dealership and have them tell the computer it is okay. The thing won't accept the jack without authorization from higher Mercedes headquarters.

Yeah, she's German. All German.

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

Alles muss in ordnung sein.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"This is why we have the safe word"

[Ted S.]

I was going to ask if you meant Al Shanker, but he's been dead for over 15 years.

[Rich]

Pretty sure you mean Al *Sharpton*.

[Nazdrakke]

While I appreciate the updates from the madness of MSNBC, I am constitutionally incapable of understanding how you can endure it day after day.

[Drake]

I had to find MSNBC on my channel guide when I realized they might be showing live Olympic events, not the per-recorded show.

[Drake]

So the UAW wants to represent a bunch of people who will never, ever, pay their union dues? Bad business model.

[UnCivilServant]

They'll 'negotiate' wage garnishments for dues to get around it.

[General Butt Naked]

Is that even legal in S. Carolina?

[Agammamon]

Give it a year or two. Takes time to buy off the legislature.

[John]

Because nothing says quality like British Layland.

[tarran]

British Leyland Challenge highlights from Top Gear

[John]

There was one where they had a early 80s British Layland Jag in a challenge. It may be that one. But they had it on a test track and it leaked unimaginable amounts of oil. Watching the Stig drive it through a alpine test track was hysterical.

[Rich]

I want to now present the coup-de-grace aimed straight at the jugular of the post-secondary educational "industry."

The analysis is a bit long, but produces gems like:
that brings the minimum first-year salary requirement to....$261,044.

[Floridian]

I always imagine coup-de-grace as being hit in the head with a rock instead of going for the juggler. I don't know why.

[invisible furry hand]

You should always go for the juggalo

[Floridian]

Oops! Nice catch. Hey, where is crusty juggler today. I expected we would be up to our balls with him by now.

[UnCivilServant]

He slipped in some dog muck and crashed into the living statue, they're currently waiting for the local NHS outpost to get around to seeing them.

[Floridian]

Lol.

[Brett L]

Jesus Christ. That site is horrible. Why is that guy randomly shouting at me?

[UnCivilServant]

He has no inside voice?

[John]

Let me guess this is some unemployed yob with a PHD in gender transformation issues with a specialization in pre colonial Africa who is angry that he and his wife who has a masters in puppetry can't get jobs. Right?

[General Butt Naked]

Nope. The opposite actually.

He argues that you'd have to make over a $100k your first year working to make college a good investment.

[John]

Oh. I wouldn't go that far. I guess if you are a full pay to Harvard or something. But I think if you are smart and go to a school that is affordable you don't need to make that much money.

Also, if you can go at night and work while you are doing it, that helps. I really think the days of hanging out for four years and going to college full time are largely coming to an end for most people.

[General Butt Naked]

Oh, I agree. What an engineer will make over a lifetime will more than just pay the investment they made in schooling. Besides, if you wanna be an engineer you have to go to school. There are no places that will hire self-taught geniuses, even if it were legal to do so.

A lot of these comparisons that make college look bad are ones that compare the worst education with the best trades. Sure, a plumber or mechanic will make more than a gender studies grad, but not everybody can be a mechanic.

[John]

Yes. And what I think is going to happen is students are going to get smart and stop going to high priced schools. The higher priced schools are going to have to lower their tuition and do things cheaper or lose out on the best students.

Right now, if you were a really top student coming out of high school and your choices were going to MIT and accumulating a ton of debt or going to your local state school on a full ride, which would you choose? I am taking state every time.

I can't be alone in that assessment. And that is going to start affecting the top schools. If they don't cut costs, they are going to end up with student bodies that are a few very top students who get full rides and a bunch of foreign and idiot son full pays for whom money is not an object.

[Rasilio]

"Oh, I agree. What an engineer will make over a lifetime will more than just pay the investment they made in schooling. "

I don't know that this can be shown to be true any longer.

Engineers are certainly well paid but degrees are by no means required in the IT field and that pays just as well.

One can graduate high school, get a job at geek squad while studying in their own free time to get certified as a DBA or Network Engineer at a total cost of only a few thousand dollars, then go get a job as an entry level DBA. And be making north of $60,000 a year by the time someone who went to school for Chemical Engineering (pretty much the highest paying Engineering field) graduates.

The Chemical Engineering grad may make slightly more than the DBA over the course of their careers but it is hardly a guarantee that he will and there is no chance in hell that he makes enough more to cover the difference between $3000 in study materials and testing costs and $180,000 in principal and interest on student loans.

Hell if they were smart and motivated enough to get a degree in engineering you could have a kid who worked at McDonalds starting when they were 16 be a store manager making north of $50k a year by the time he was 23 and be ready to own his own franchise by the time he was 28 and he would have a very good chance of out earning all but a very small handful of MBA's who went on to be CEO's of major corporations.

[robc]

He used NC State.

Part of the deal is accounting for the odds of not graduating. He is treating it as a pure statistical situation. 30% (or whatever) dont graduate in 6 years, so you have to include a 30% chance of waste of money in the calculation. Etc, etc. Only 60% end up with a job that requires a degree to begin with, etc, etc.

[John]

But that is a pretty useless analysis. If you are not in the 30% who either won't work hard enough or isn't smart enough to graduate and you don't waste your time getting a degree that doesn't prepare you for a job, that calculation doesn't apply to you. And even if you are in the 30% or getting a unmarketable degree, it still doesn't apply since your situation is much worse than even this.

[robc]

Its a financial risk calculation. It assumes that those things are randomly occurring events.

Of course, they arent, but it is the proper way to calculate the risk.

I do think there are some mistakes he made in the calculation. For example, many of the people who dont finish, drop out after 1 year, so they dont run up 4 or 6 years worth of debt. You need to know the distribution of time spent as well as the completion rate.

Plus the 1/10 of income figure* may be a good rule of thumb, but its isnt sacrosanct. Im not sure it should be a part of the calculation.

*college debt payment shouldnt be greater than 10% of your gross salary.

[robc]

Another way to look at it: its a calculation across the entire body of students, not the calculation for the individual student.

[John]

Another way to look at it: its a calculation across the entire body of students, not the calculation for the individual student.

That was my point. And that makes the $200K number or whatever a worthless number since it doesn't actually apply to anyone.

[robc]

Do you really have that much of a hard time with the concept of averages?

He makes the analogy to calculating pot odds in poker. Do you not understand that and how it wont work for the individual hand?

[John]

Do you really have that much of a hard time with the concept of averages?

I fully understand averages Rob. I unlike you apparently, understand that the average, depending on the data, sometimes doesn't mean anything.

It is why there are things like mode and median. You know, the times when a straight average or mean doesn't reflect what is going on.

[robc]

Technically, mode and median are also "averages". 🙂

Average != mean, in math circles.

His point isnt about the individual, but the entire field and how its costs are out of whack. That, yes, it doesnt apply to guy X, going into field Y, may be true.

In fact, if you read the article, that seems to be his point, as its the debt that matters, if you pay for it yourself, the calculation changes and is more forgiving.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Also, if you can go at night and work while you are doing it, that helps. I really think the days of hanging out for four years and going to college full time are largely coming to an end for most people.

Even at that, it can be pretty difficult to pay for school these days. Even community colleges seem to cost more than what I paid for my BA 15 years ago on an inflation-adjusted basis. Working can cut those costs down, but it's probably better that some of these kids work for 3-4 years first, live at home and save up, THEN go to school if they still want to get a degree.

Also, not everyone is going to have the aptitude to become an engineer, and god forbid that a bunch of people flood those career fields anyway--we'd just end up with the same labor supply/demand issues that MBAs and law school grads are facing.

Honestly, I think the biggest issue in regards to college in this country is that we still have a hard time accepting that blue-collar work can be both rewarding and well-paying. The 1960s dream of putting everyone behind a desk while robots do all the work and everyone will still be able to make a good living was always the dream of managerialists, not realists.

[John]

Honestly, I think the biggest issue in regards to college in this country is that we still have a hard time accepting that blue-collar work can be both rewarding and well-paying.

That is absolutely the biggest problem, along with the ridiculous costs. I was talking to a bar tender a while back. She was a very good bar tender and loved her job and wants to stay and make a career out of the restaurant and bar industry. From my impressions of her, she is smart and likes her job and should have a good career. But she had gone to college for four years and got some totally inapplicable degree. What a waste of money and time. She should have been able to go to work right out of high school and have her career. But we have this culture that says anyone who didn't go to college is somehow less than human. That needs to stop.

[robc]

But she had gone to college for four years and got some totally inapplicable degree. What a waste of money and time.

That is part of the calculation above that you criticized. When the number of college grads who get jobs that require a college degree goes from 60% to 98%, the calculation will change.

[John]

No rob. The calculation will remain the same and different for each people. The aggregate will change, but not because any individual calculation changed. The aggregate will change because the people who shouldn't go to college will wise up and stop doing it.

[robc]

THATS THE FUCKING POINT.

ITS ABOUT THE FUCKING AGGREGATE.

[DEG]

From Sheila to Sexy in Ohio

[invisible furry hand]

The 41-year-old former photographer legally changed her name to Sexy Ranea (pronounced Renee) Crabtree Tuesday morning at the Licking County courthouse... Crabtree says her husband loves her new name, which she chose over Sparkle and Sinder, because Sexy "suited (her) personality."

Where to start?

[UnCivilServant]

Licking County?

[invisible furry hand]

That would make you very popular with the ladies

[Tonio]

There is a Lickinghole Creek in Virginia. I know this because the LC Farm Brewery is having regulatory trouble with the ABC board because the board just can't get their heads around a brewery on a farm where people actually live and stuff.

[robc]

Its common in Vermont.

But some states are weird.

[Tonio]

Farm breweries or placenames beginning with "licking"?

[robc]

Farm breweries.

Probably the latter too, but I dont know. I still giggle over Big Bone Lick State Park in KY.

[Rasilio]

Lets not leave out Beaver Ruin Road in Atlanta

[Rasilio]

Not quite as funny as Big Bone Lick state park in Kentucky

[Citizen Nothing]

Photos suggest that this story would a good pedagogic tool to teach the difference between "de facto" and "de jure."

[John]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....mg00000067

My ex husband wanted to have sex just as much after a few years of marriage as he did when we were first married. He was a "sex addict".

I know we make fun of SOCONS and for good reason a lot of the time. But who would you rather be married to some SOCON chick who talked about God all of the time, wouldn't put out until marriage but viewed screwing like a rabbit as her Biblical duty once she was married or this women?

Freminist Progs are insane. They really are nuts.

[Outlaw]

They are completely unhinged.

We went to couples therapy and the therapist wanted to put me on anti-depressants. I didn't have the fortitude at that point to try another therapist. Meanwhile, I had started individual counseling and was slowly re-establishing my own self-worth.

So she didn't want to have sex because she was an emotional wreck yet somehow him being horny was the problem.

Then all hell broke loose, because all of a sudden I was the heartless bitch that left her devoted, loyal husband without just cause. I've been called a whore to my face. I've lost friends, and acquaintances look at me with pity reserved for those that are making major mistakes. I've been told I'm ruining my kids' lives, but the truth is that they're doing better than ever.

So she destroyed her family because..she didn't want to have sex with her devoted husband.

I'm sure I never have to tell anyone here this, but never date a leftist girl. And sure as shit never marry one.

As for your question, John, I'd prefer the SOCON. I could ignore the god talk.

[John]

The SOCON would probably object to porn. But I doubt this chick is too wild about it either.

The problem with feminism is that it is nothing but a giant "I Want". This woman's sense of entitlement is epic. The idea that she should ever be expected to compromise or do anything that doesn't suit her for the good of her marriage, family or husband never occurs to her.

Men and women used to have a sense of duty to each other (some still do). Marriage was a mutual obligation and duty. But feminists still view it that way with regard to men. But they think that the entire world should cater to their whims. It is the worst expression of our self esteem driven narcissistic culture.

[Outlaw]

They are complete narcissists and their bullshit has spread so far and so deep that it's hard to find sane women under 30.

There seem to be only two types now: religious traditional girls and various degrees of narcissistic feminists.

The first kind's fine for relationships but I'm not religious. The second kind's fine for sex and that's it.

Being an atheist libertarian restricts your dating pool.

[sarcasmic]

Being an atheist libertarian restricts your dating pool.

Being an asshole restricts your dating pool. I'm an atheist, but I'm not a condescending prick to religious people. In a way I respect them because they have faith and I do not. It's just not in me. But I don't look down on them for it. That would make me an asshole.

[Floridian]

Easy baby. I don't see where outlaw said he hated the religious. He just may want a guy or girl that shares the same belief system. Kind of how baptist prefer to date baptist.

[sarcasmic]

I don't see where outlaw said he hated the religious.

I didn't say he did. My point was that it's possible to date people with religion. Granted it takes two. Many religious people feel the need to try to convert atheists.
However it's possible for a non-condescending atheist and a non-proselytizing religious person to date. Or in my case marry.

[Outlaw]

I'm not a condescending atheist. Believe me, I know the type and I don't like them.

The issue I have with dating Christians is that if they really do believe, they think I'm going to go to hell when I die.

I've been in their shoes before, so it's a bit dismaying to think someone you like (or love) is going to suffer eternally when finally shuffle off their mortal coil. You'd feel compelled to save them from that fate.

And that's when the problems start.

[sarcasmic]

My mom is like that. My wife is not. Guess I got lucky.

[Floridian]

Me too, my wife is catholic but believes god will save all humans because he loves all of us.

[Don Mynack]

In the Catholic church, this is a valid reason to have the marriage annulled.

[John]

As it should be. Maybe this woman is just gay and won't admit it.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

No, you may be thinking of sexual incapacity or failure to consummate?

[invisible furry hand]

Having sex and then declining to do so again isn't a valid reason for annulment by itself

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Good luck Mr Gorsky.

[Warty]

Then all hell broke loose, because all of a sudden I was the heartless bitch that left her devoted, loyal husband without just cause.

Yeah, sounds that way.

[Outlaw]

http://touch.courant.com/#sect.....-79243214/

Thousands of gun owners in CT aren't complying with the new registration laws.

Suck it, Malloy.

[John]

I never would. Fuck them. Why would you do such a thing? They just want to make you a criminal. Why help them do that?

[sarcasmic]

When anyone who failed to register is caught, they become a felon and can no longer legally own any firearm of any kind. Nor can they vote.

Looks like it's working out exactly as planned.

[robc]

My new hometown is scary

I dont want to be swallowed up by the Earth.

[invisible furry hand]

Perhaps you will be the only righteous man to escape the Lord's wrath

[Citizen Nothing]

I hear there's a great new "drive a Corvette through Mammoth Cave" attraction, though.

[SugarFree]

As long as the Post-Modern Chicken Beak is fine, they can re-build.

[SIV]

I hope it only ate post-72 C3s and up.

[Brett L]

Woohoo! Suck it America! This isn't just a FL problem. (Sorry, rob)

[GILMORE]

As long as no split-window '63's were hurt, everything is fine = its just proof God Cares.

[John]

http://news.yahoo.com/republic.....src=rogers

Had this gone the other way, it would be a big story. But as it is the media will ignore it. Republican wins San Diego Mayor election yesterday by nine points, despite his opponent receiving the full might of the Obama money and turnout machine.

The other interesting thing is that the weekend polls had the race tied. But the Republican won by nine points. That tells you Democratic supporters are pretty demoralized. This should send a shiver through any Democrat up for re-election in November.

[NoVAHockey]

We're making PAC decisions at the firm. I'll just say, we're not in the habit of funding losers. It's token respect money at this point.

[John]

The last poll I saw was Sunday and it had the Republican up by one point. When your guy under performs by six points, you have a problem.

[John]

Progs always willing to accept beatings from Obama are unsure if they can endure four more years of beatings from Hillary.

MSNBC host Krystal Ball told her audience on Tuesday
that she admires former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and she would support her over any Republican and most Democrats to replace President Barack Obama. However, she said that America's present "existential crisis" requires a candidate that is not as "anti-union" and friendly to Wall Street as Clinton. For that reason, Ball urged Clinton not to run and for freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to get in the race.

Ball began by saying that she supported Clinton in 2008 over Obama. She said she longed for the competence and respect in government that George W. Bush failed to deliver over his eight years. "But that moment has passed," she said. "We are now in a moment of existential crisis as a country."

"In a time when corporations have hijacked our politics," she continued, "is someone who sat on the rabidly anti-union board of Walmart the right person to restore workers' rights?"

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/don.....s-on-2016/

[invisible furry hand]

Krystal Ball? Someone actually is called Krystal Ball? Oh FFS...

[John]

And just think, either she is single and her parents chose to name their daughter "Krystal" even though her last name was Ball or she is married and she took her husband's name.

I am all for the tradition of women taking their husband's name if they choose to do so. But I think if your name is Krystal and your husband's last name is Ball, you get a pass and can keep your maiden name.

WTF goes through people's heads?

[invisible furry hand]

A friend of a friend has named her baby Otto George. It's a girl.

[John]

That is just mean. That little girl is going to be an adult some day and will spend her whole life feeling different and explaining her name to people.

Sorry but your friend is a self centered fuck. You don't use your kid as a tool in your crusade against gender stereotyping or whatever.

[invisible furry hand]

Friend of a friend, and of course I think it's insane

[John]

I didn't mean to implicate you by association. I just don't get people.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Warren will take her tomahwk to the capitalist oppressors.

[John]

Someone Prog back bencher is going to pick up the mantle. What is going to be funny is watching the Hillary sycophants claim a woman who has lived in Washington since January of 1993 and has spent by 2016 24 years in the highest circles of Washington power is really an "outsider who is going to change things". That is going to be both pathetic and funny.

[Root Boy]

I'm living for that day. Would love Warren in the running and the cat fights and backstabbing with Hillary!

[John]

A Warren Hillary cat fight would be epic. And I am not sure the butt hurt from the two sides' supporters could get over it and come together to defeat the evil Rethuglicans so easy. That might really split the party.

[General Butt Naked]

Does anyone else hate it how the term "existential crisis" is thrown around without regards to its meaning?

Is this lady saying that America is wondering what it's all about, and what's the point of life, and how did it get here, and does any of it really matter?

[invisible furry hand]

Yes. Didn't you spot the black turtleneck and the smoke rising from her Gauloises?

[John]

Or that it is is fighting for its existence like there is an invading army advancing out of Canada or something.

It is a word stupid people use to sound smart.

[Pro Libertate]

The Democrats can do much, much better than Hillary Clinton as a candidate. Even from their perspective. Come, let us be reasonable--there are thousands of potential candidates, and at least a hundred with the experience (or "experience") and clean (or covered up) backgrounds necessary to run for high office.

Thinking as a Democratic operative for a moment, I just had a vision of Obama running again. . .as his own twin brother, Brak "Huggy Bear" Obama. More streetwise and less academic than his brother, Brak will appeal much more to the common man with his straight talk.

[John]

Hillary is the Dem's John McCain. And when you think of Obama as being their George W. Bush, the similarities are eery.

[Pro Libertate]

I can only hope that America will wise up to this scam and be a little more careful about who gets elected. It's a faint hope, but even lower-order animals can be conditioned if you shock them enough.

[The Late P Brooks]

I dont want to be swallowed up by the Earth.

Stay out of Corvettes.

----------

Also, apropos of nothing (except that his new song just came on)

Paul McCartney sucks.

[robc]

The problem is the entire underbelly of BG is karst topography.

Its caves all the way down. And sometimes they open up.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Scotsman fails to appear in court on bestiality charge, gives new meaning to the term "on the lam."

thatsajokeAFAIK.com

[sarcasmic]

A midget psychic escapes from jail. Headline reads: Small Medium at Large!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

A sobering thought - my joke was dirtier than sarcasmic's.

[sarcasmic]

Q: How do you get a sweet little old lady to drop the f-bomb?

A: Get another sweet little old lady to yell "Bingo!"

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Did you see the new Ray Charles movie?

That's all right, he didn't either.

[Floridian]

Because he is dead.

[invisible furry hand]

A woman walks into a bar and asks for a double entendre, so the bartender gives her one

[Notorious G.K.C.]

How do you keep a moron in suspense?

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

*applause*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

OK smart guy, he did some movies before he died.

[Clich? Bandit]

A hydrogen ion walks into a bar and says I think I lost my electron. The bartender says are you sure? And the ion say I am positive.

[GILMORE]

"An entertainment reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles mistook Samuel Jackson for Laurence Fishburne"

Ok.

I saw the AM links notice, clicked on it, and saw the picture, and thought,

"that's morgan freeman."

Then I started looking for some separate mention of morgan freeman.

After like 2 seconds I comprehended the meta joke, and had a very very long and deep belly laugh.

My brother asked what the hell was so funny. I told him. He said, "That makes absolutely no sense."

I started laughing again, even harder, nodding and crying. I nearly fell out of my chair.

Thank you, morning links.

[Pro Libertate]

When I was younger, I used to have the worst time not confusing Brian Dennehy and Charles Durning. I'd know which is which when I saw one of them in a film, but in remembering the film, I'd confuse them. Not sure why, as they're not really that similar, but there it is.

[GILMORE]

For years as a young child (up until about 13-15), Dabney Coleman and Gene Hackman were interchangeable for me. As were Nick Nolte and Gary Busey. It wasn't that I actually confused them for each other = its that I just used the wrong names for the different guys. Gary was Nick, etc.

[Pro Libertate]

I could see the Nolte-Busey confusion, especially since both were just a razor's edge from crazy at any given time during the height of their careers.

[robc]

For years as a young child (up until about 13-15), Dabney Coleman and Gene Hackman were interchangeable for me.

I still struggle with this.

[GILMORE]

We Shall Overcome

[Agammamon]

Well, to be fair - Notle and Busey *are* interchangeable nutbags.

[Pro Libertate]

Now, yes. But back when both were still getting decent jobs, I'd say Nolte was the superior actor.

[GILMORE]

Oh, hell yes. As with Hackman. I mean, Hackman is probably *the greatest*...Dabney WHAT? The reason for the confusion I think has to do with phonetic memory. HackMAN, ColeMAN...nolTI, BuSI ... combined with the fact that the first two were "balding guys who frequently played roles as 'experts'", and the latter two were "blond alcoholic burnouts" who played roles as.... well, typecast.

[John]

How many places in this country do you think Freeman could go and get away with claiming he was Nelson Mandella? I bet more than you would think.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"You know, I never got free beer on Robben Island when I was suffering for my people..."

"OK, OK, another drink on the house"

[invisible furry hand]

As long as Idris Elba isn't also there claiming the same thing, he would get away with it

[GILMORE]

I think the more interesting question is if Zombie Nelson Mandela attacked Hollywood would they still shoot him?

This is how WW-Z gets started.

[Agammamon]

I think the only thing that could have made it better would have been alt-text talking about Nelson Mandela.

[GILMORE]

As a side thought = it could also have been possible to make the Alt-Text, "Nelson Mandela". It works on various levels.

[The Late P Brooks]

"We are now in a moment of existential crisis as a country."

That train has sailed, babe, and your hero was driving the bus.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And you're sitting in the back.

[The Late P Brooks]

As a side thought = it could also have been possible to make the Alt-Text, "Nelson Mandela". It works on various levels.

"Actors: they all look alike, to me."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

It's a long fall from that pedestal: Wendy Davis publicly supports 20 week abortion ban

Wendy Davis said Tuesday that she would have supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, if the law adequately deferred to a woman and her doctor.
Davis, a Fort Worth senator and the likely Democratic nominee for governor, told The Dallas Morning News' editorial board that less than one-half of 1 percent of Texas abortions occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Most of those were in cases where fetal abnormalities were evident or there were grave risks to the health of the woman.
"I would line up with most people in Texas who would prefer that that's not something that happens outside of those two arenas," Davis said.
But the Democrat said the state's new abortion law didn't give priority to women in those circumstances. The law allows for exceptions for fetal abnormalities and a threat to the woman's life, but Davis said those didn't go far enough.
"My concern, even in the way the 20-week ban was written in this particular bill, was that it didn't give enough deference between a woman and her doctor making this difficult decision, and instead tried to legislatively define what it was," Davis said.

Someone values power over principle.

[John]

That is the funniest thing I have read all week. But you watch, that won't stop her feminist supporters from thinking she is the greatest. She is just saying this stuff because the racist womyn hating Republicans are forcing her to.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I don't know, abortion is absolutely 100% non-negotiable for the feminists.

Giving ground like this might be enough to break their support of her. But wow, she just committed political suicide. She was going to lose anyway, the best thing she could have done was go down an unapologetic proggie, that would have guaranteed her any job she wanted at MSNBC or with the DNC.

[Tonio]

It will be interesting to see if this sticks, or gets walked back.

While your characterization has been historically correct since Roe v. Wade, we might be seeing a shift. Not counting on it, but shifts do happen.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

It doesn't seem her concession is more than rhetorical. She wants a late-term abortion ban with the abortionist deciding if he's complying.

[Brett L]

This is what good politicians do. To take Ms. Davis' side for fun, 20 years ago GWB was in the same situation. Good name recognition, thought of as the b-team, up against a famous governor with national aspirations. My advice to the TX GOP is: don't brush her off. This is exactly the kind of qualified walk-back that Clinton was a pro at.

[Mike M.]

How's that global warming working out for the south these days?

[Tonio]

I dunno, let's ask IFH...[ducks]

[Old Man With Candy]

Funny, I was listening to that great scientific thinker Thom Hartmann yesterday on the drive home. He pointed out that all of the cold weather we're having is a result of global warming breaking down the barrier that kept arctic air up north, causing massive cold and snow in the US.

Commercial break.

Returns with a guest from an organization called Save Our Winters, whose scientific qualifications consisted of being an athlete. They discussed the grave certainty that our winters would henceforth be snow-free.

Apparently, the memory and attention span of radio listeners is under 2 minutes.

[Old Man With Candy]

Sorry, "Protect Our Winters."

[Mike M.]

Peak Retard is kind of like Zeno's Paradox, you never quite reach the ultimate endpoint.

[The Late P Brooks]

THATS THE FUCKING POINT.

When you reach this point, the briar patch is your only hope.