A.M. Links: NYC High School Students Appear Semi-Literate in Letter-Writing Campaign, Piers Morgan Losing His Show, Arrest Warrant Issued for Ukrainian President

• 

  CNN

  Susan Rice admitted information she helped disseminate after the Benghazi attacks wasn't "100 percent correct" but that she has no regrets because she's doing her best.

• Students at a high school in Manhattan were encouraged by administrators to write letters defending a "blended learning" program that allowed them to earn full credit without attending a class. Those letters are brimming with not just grammatical errors but signs of illiteracy.
• Piers Morgan is expected to lose his CNN show as early as next month. Ratings have been shot since the British television personality started obsessing over gun control.
• An arrest warrant has been issued for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, the new interior minister announced.
• Egypt's military-backed prime minister and his cabinet have resigned.
• Somali security forces are going door to door in Mogadishu, searching homes for suspected militants.
• Jason Collins was signed by the Nets, making him the first openly gay player in the NBA.

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you--sign up here

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jason Collins was signed by the Nets, making him the first openly gay player in the NBA.

Of the four of them, who predicted the NBA being the first?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Doctor Whom]

Bom dia.

[robc]

Time frame?

As of the summer, it was obvious the NBA was in the lead.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Quick shout out to Team Canada's gold medal in hockey. That was quite possibly the most dominant Team Canada I've seen yet - and there have been many great Canadian sides in the last 40 years but you could have amalgamated all the teams of the world together and no one was getting through that defense they were that invincible.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe Canada can melt those gold medals down into cup form.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And hand them over to Tim Horton's to serve coffee in.

[Pro Libertate]

That's right, America's Canadians are much better than Canada's Canadians.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I was thinking before the recent hubbub over the possibility. I know the NHL started pushing the "You Can Play" campaign a few years ago, but my money was going to be on the NFL for some reason.

[robc]

Counterpoint: Early 80s basketball shorts. Clearly there was an entire league of openly gay men playing in the NBA 30+ years ago.

[Zeb]

If you are going to judge by casual fashions, half of the country was openly gay in the early 80s.

[Brett L]

It is funny how that era ended about the time of the MDMA ban.

[KDN]

I would have suspected the NFL simply due to roster size.

[Matrix]

Special ingredient added to Pizza Hut "the Works" pizza

Good thing I don't eat Pizza Hut. That shit isn't even fit to feed to prisoners. Piss might actually be an improvement.

[waffles]

When it comes to fast food you really do get a huge range of quality for the what is supposed to be an identical product. If I go to the fast food place in the more or less poverty-stricken parts of town I usually get shitty service and product along with a vow to never visit again. If I'm in rural nowhere-ville any sizeable distance from a major interstate I've found exceptional service and a product that rivals the fake food they use in commercials.

It is astounding.

[Rich]

If I go to the fast food place in the more or less poverty-stricken parts of town I usually get shitty service and product along with a vow to never visit again.

This has been my experience as well.

Of course, it could just be RACIST!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Same observation here and of no surprise to me.

[waffles]

Time of day matters too. It really depends on the employees and management. At they pay rate for fast food workers it is a crapshoot. Some minimum wage employees are easily worth double and some half. I'm sure every fast food joint has an "A-team" and a "B-team". The rural areas have the advantage of being one of the few jobs in town while the city places scrape the bottom of the barrel.

[Fluffy]

At rural fast food places you get teenagers who want jobs, college kids home from vacation, retired people who used to hold real jobs, and moms who could get a better job if they could commute 90 minutes away but don't because they need to pick up their elementary-school age kids by 3:30.

At urban fast food places you get otherwise unemployable adults who are demanding that fast food wages be raised to $15 an hour.

Who does you think is going to make a better chalupa?

[waffles]

well said

[mad libertarian guy]

Who does you think is going to make a better chalupa?

well said

Uh . . .

[RightofCenter]

Who does you think is going to make a better chalupa?

well said

Uh . . .

Had he written "well said...well spoken" it would have made all the difference.

[kinnath]

Depends on the time of day. White rural teenagers that work at McD's in Iowa are dumb as a post and addicted to their smart phones. The ambitious rural kids have real jobs that pay over minimum wage.

[robc]

The other day at McDonalds the person packaging orders off the line (putting on tray/bag as needed), was spending 90% of her time texting. It was freaking annoying. Im guessing she wont have that job for long, as its normally a well run McDs.

[thom]

Who does you think is going to make a better chalupa?

If you walk into a Taco Bell and the staff is mostly Mexican, preferably giving off the vibe that their papers might not be completely in order, you're going to have a better than average experience.

[Clich? Bandit]

Taco Bell Manager -
"Why do all you guys have the same SSN? And address?"

[R C Dean]

The other thing about hiring in rural areas is more cultural. [Note; gross generalizations follow]

Those kids have (typically) not been raised with an entitlement mentality, may have been putting in hours a day doing chores, are exposed to people with a work ethic, etc.

I more urban settings, the culture kids are exposed to may not be as work-friendly.

[Rich]

No wonder Pizza Hut pizza is so salty.

[Zeb]

They make pizza in the sink?

[Dweebston]

This. Unhygienic, unprofessional, unwise? Sure. "Unnerving," as the link puts it? That's a bit much.

[waffles]

They don't even really make pizza. The dough comes in presized lumps off a delivery truck, rises in a fridge, then gets flattened, sauces, cheesed, topped, and put into an conveyor belt oven. On the other side it is boxed and delivered. The process is actually pretty cool in its food science efficiency.

Pizza has been nearly inflation-proof.

[Dweebston]

Defective yeast, it sounds like.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The fact is there just isn't enough smart people to go around. You have to fit remedial folks somewhere, right? Look, one even found himself a gig as President.

[Jerryskids]

It's funny that I always preferred Pizza Inn to Pizza Hut and Del Taco to Taco Bell but when Pepsi bought Pizza Hut and Taco Bell they also bought Pizza Inn and Del Taco just to shut them down. Pizza Hut is V-8 juice on Wonder Bread and Taco Bell is garbage. (Seriously, my niece brought home some Taco Bell the other night and left some of it sitting on the counter and within a few hours the smell of that bag was enough to make me gag.) I'm only glad they didn't buy up both Captain D's and Long John Silvers just to shut down Captain D's.

[Jarl ? the booty]

Del Taco still exists

[robc]

All the Pizza Inn's in my area converted to PizzArcades. That will give you the time frame.

PizzArcade was very early into the arcade business. A good business model. Games in the back half, semi-crappy pizza in the front.

[Clich? Bandit]

TRON

[Warty]

Pizza Inn? Keep telling your wacky stories, Grandpa.

[Pro Libertate]

Just a few years ago, there was still a Pizza Inn near the Smoky Mountains--in Cherokee, I think.

[Warty]

*raises hands, slowly backs away*

Ooooookay. Sure thing, buddy. Whatever you say.

[Pro Libertate]

Pizza Inn. Cherokee, North Carolina.

[R C Dean]

Its on the internet! It must be true!

[Pro Libertate]

What, are you suggesting that the website is a fake?

[Pope Jimbo]

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Pizza Hut.

A buddy and I got a 72hour liberty in Seoul during Team Spirit 88 and we ended up at the Pizza Hut in Itaewon for some reason. I swear they had pizza that tasted just like pizza back in the states.

It was heaven after a year of eating what Japanese and Koreans thought pizza was. No corn, no tuna, no soy sauce, just good old fashioned cheese, pepperoni, etc.

[UnCivilServant]

I think it was withdrawl. Being less alien than the rest, it felt more like it should have.

[Evan from Evansville]

Korea pizza blows. Sweet potato crust rings? I believe I'll go vomit now.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Pizza Hut.

Same here--when I was a kid, we didn't have a lot of money, but Mom always saved enough to go to Pizza Hut on payday to get a personal pan with a salad. I understand why a lot of people don't like it, but the smell of their baked crust still makes my mouth water.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The restaurant has been closed permanently."

An action both unnecessary and necessary. Unnecessary because, as people point out, it's the sink. Necessary because the company is going to take a hit from this, and that restaurant in particular. Extreme response to minimize the damage.

But how did company surveillance footage get leaked? And is he wearing a hairnet to do after hours computer work?

[Lord Humungus]

Police: Couple refuses to pay fare after having sex in cab

Police responding to the 15500 block of Sunset Ridge Drive in Orland Park on Feb. 9 said they encountered an exasperated driver, two intoxicated, incoherent passengers and clothing "strewn throughout the taxi."

Prompted by the presence of police, the 27-year-old man used his mother's credit card to pay the debt, leaving the 31-year-old Elgin woman to find her way home, police said. Authorities said they took her to the police station, where she was eventually picked up by her brother.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Great, Elgin finally makes the news...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Leaving the girl and making his mom pay for it? That's alpha.

[GILMORE]

That's hipster class

[sarcasmic]

'I'm back in the saddle!' Paula Deen announces comeback by riding Food Network star Robert Irvine like a pony

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-pony.html

Go Paula you perv!

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

I am so NOT going click that link.

[sarcasmic]

It's kinda funny, actually.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

OK, this did make me laugh:

"Deen mounted Food Network star Robert Irvine at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival to announce her career resurgence"

[BillPrep]

Butter, y'all

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Needs more mayonnaise

[Rasilio]

Isn't that like from 2 years ago?

[hamilton]

Students at a high school in Manhattan were encouraged by administrators to write letters defending a "blended learning" program that allowed them to earn full credit without attending a class.

To be fair, it doesn't appear like the classes are making much of a difference.

[DJF]

But universal pre-K will fix all this

[Matrix]

$300 million dollars of union extortion will go to getting Republicans voted out in the next election

[Brett L]

Better spend it while they can. Scott Walker has pretty much shown the path out of the Public Labor Trap. Personally, I think Walker kills them (again). He's whipped their ass about three times now. Its like watching an enemy force trying to take a hill for the third time. I'm glad they are wasting their resources, but fuck it seems stupid.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Susan Rice admitted information she helped disseminate after the Benghazi attacks wasn't "100 percent correct" but that she has no regrets because she's doing her best.

She was giving the least untrue answer she could.

[wareagle]

so she's going to be moving into Clapper's job? After the movie tour, we know she's pretty good at telling tales.

[Tonio]

Her intentions were good. That's all that matters.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If her intention was to cost herself State then she succeeded.

[Ted S.]

She probably was doing her best. It's just that her best is pretty damn lousy.

[Rich]

This.

[JEP]

The mediocre are always at their best.

[Rich]

That's pretty good, although mediocre at best. 😎

[JEP]

It's a quote from W. Somerset Maugham

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, who knows? I mean, doing her best at...what? She was set up to take the fall.

[sarcasmic]

'What kind of gun blows someone's head completely off? I gotta get me one of those': Kansas Senate hopeful and radiologist exposed for posting photos of real patients' fatal injuries online with jokey descriptions
Dr. Milton Wolf, a radiologist and distant cousin of President Obama, reportedly uploaded the images to Facebook in 2010
He claims they were for 'educational purposes' but he has come under fire for his jokey asides
He referred to one photo of a grisly injury as 'one of my all-time favorites'
Wolf is running against incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) in the Kansas senate
Has implied rival Roberts is behind the release of the photos

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

[pan fried wylie]

exposed for posting photos

Has implied rival Roberts is behind the release of the photos

I'm not clear, is he claiming his facebook was hacked and that it wasn't him posting the photos, or is he pulling from the NSA's playbook re:exposure? Either way, I wouldn't be very confident about the results of my xray/mri....

[playa manhattan]

The only way to be sure is to sleep with his wife and daughter.

[Matrix]

Man turned away from voting booth for wearing a pro-2nd Amendment shirt 'Cause it's political and shit.

[sarcasmic]

I guess freedom of speech doesn't apply when it is in support the constitution.

[Rich]

His T-shirt could be construed as campaigning in support of gun rights under the law.

FTS. A Hello Kitty T-shirt could be "construed" as campaigning in support of gun rights under the law.

Also, suppose he had taped over the gun images and the word "Second" and written in "First". Would they still kick him out?

[Brett L]

WTF? In the Republican primary in Texas? I don't think that's a matter of debated political speech. It would be like wearing an anti-slavery shirt. Ooh.... Now there's an idea.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Having voted in Republican primaries in '08 and '12, first of all they are usually held at the same place as the Democrat primary. Second of all, the election officials/security are your typical morons.

[Brett L]

All good points. I've been unaffiliated since '06, although I still go to the general election to vote against the incumbents.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An arrest warrant has been issued for Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, the new interior minister announced.

Hey, at least they're doing something about the overreach of their executive.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

I seethe with envy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Susan Rice admitted information she helped disseminate after the Benghazi attacks wasn't "100 percent correct" but that she has no regrets because she's doing her best."

You know, I remember a time when doing your best and failing meant dismissal.

Fall of the west.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Not with President Participation Trophy running the Executive Branch.

[robc]

I remember a time when doing your best didnt include lying.

[pan fried wylie]

Yeah, it used to mean lying without getting caught. Noobs.

[gimmeasammich]

"Your 'best?' Losers always whine about doing their 'best,' while the winners go home and fuck the prom queen!"

[Palin's Buttplug]

Still not as bad as another NSA head named Rice who admitted "no one could have predicted terrorists flying hijacked planes into buildings".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Usual tu quoque aside, lemme get this straight. One person logically stipulates it's difficult to predict a low-probability outlier like 'flying a plane into a building' while the other misused intelligence reports and ran with an obviously specious excuse and that's worse?

Right.

[CampingInYourPark]

She should have known the selection of movies available on those flights might provoke such a reaction.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Intentions only count in your favor when the correct principals are involved.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Both are examples of underlings providing political cover for presidents.

The fact is that Condi Rice took the heat for Bush/Cheney ignoring warnings that bin Laden was determined to attack the USA and had Al Qaeda operatives in flight training in Florida.

Very similar - except in scale of destruction and location.

[Drake]

Condi Rice was the head of the FBI?

[a better weapon]

She was also a Secretary of State that had enough strength of character to, you know, actually discuss the matter and defend her department.

Hillary sent out an unknown quantity, holding a position few people knew existed, to vigorously deflect criticism with one of the most preposterous defenses ever, a fucking YouTube video with 13 hits.

Totally the same.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No they are NOT similar.

They may have ignored warnings but had no clue what it entailed.

In Bengahzi, they damn well knew and still ran with bull shit.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Benghazi.

[Bill Dalasio]

For the love of God, Shreiky, even you aren't THAT stupid, are you? "Bin Laden determined to attack the USA" is as completely obvious and as completely unactionable a piece of intelligence as you can imagine. I guy who's attacked your international assets wants to attack your domestic assets doesn't tell you jack shit about what you need to do to respond to his intentions.

And, no, the administration never had a body of evidence that Al Qaeda members were taking flight classes.

[Mike M.]

The Weigelian viewpoint of presidential administrations: Bush gets all of the blame for everything bad that happened during the first several months of his administration; Obama gets absolutely none of the blame whatsoever for anything bad that happened during the first year of his administration.

See how simple this is?

[RightofCenter]

Obama gets absolutely none of the blame whatsoever for anything bad that happened during the first year of his administration.

FTFY

[R C Dean]

Obama gets absolutely none of the blame whatsoever for anything bad that happened during the first five years of his administration.

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, maybe. Her assignment was to go out and deliver the administration's line on the issue. In that regard, she probably did do her best and, honestly, did a pretty good job of it (kept it off the front burner running up to the election). So in that regard, did she fail?

[R C Dean]

Her assignment was to go out and deliver the administration's line on the issue an obvious and known pack of lies.

A decent person, you know, one with a soul, would have refused.

Success in doing something bad is still a failure, in my book.

[Lord Humungus]

One of my superpowers: I don't blackout when I drink. Instead I'm tortured with a crystal clarity that I can revisit the next morning.

Mourner gets drunk at funeral in London ? wakes in Amsterdam

A British mourner got so drunk at a funeral he woke up in a different country.

James O' Kane went to a funeral in south east London but just hours later woke up in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, hundreds of miles away.

The 22-year-old says he had no idea what happened, reported the Mirror.

[waffles]

Is this an old story or is it something that Londoners frequently do? We must stop this scourge of cheap airfare!

[mr simple]

So he had to go to a funeral in London and then a wake in Amsterdam? I'd drink a lot too, if i had so many friends dying at the same time.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

One of my superpowers: I don't blackout when I drink. Instead I'm tortured with a crystal clarity that I can revisit the next morning.

This is a really shitty superpower. I know.

[Drake]

My superpower is knowing when I've had enough.

[Brett L]

Oh, I know, I just don't always stop when I've had enough.

[Raston Bot]

blackout is an ugly term w/ negative connotation.

Dave Attel taught me the term time travel to use in its place.

so this Brit no only time-jumped, he also teleported across the channel!! can you believe it??!!

[Doctor Whom]

Ratings have been shot since people noticed what a maroon the British television personality is.

FTFY.

[Matrix]

Don't mess with Texas!
Texas tells the NFL that their gun rules don't apply in the state

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Eh, it's just for "off-duty" police officers. I'd be more impressed if they did that for all ticket-buyers.

[Apatheist ?_??]

As the stadiums are private property I'm not impressed either way. And for the people who think that because some stadiums are partially publicly funded they are public property, Jerryworld is 100% privately funded.

[R C Dean]

As the stadiums are private property

But, under current doctrine, they are public places, and thus, the owner's rights to restrict service are limited.

Its a package deal: if you don't have the power to refuse service to gays/blacks/disabled people/whoever, you don't have the power to restrict service to people who aren't breaking the law when they carry a gun, either.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Those letters are brimming with not just grammatical errors but signs of illiteracy."

It's okay. The New York Times sees a bright future in each little special snow flake.

[Lord Humungus]

A bunch of short videos:

The best of the Dalai Lama's visit to AEI

This week, AEI had the privilege of hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He discussed human happiness, economics, and the moral core of free enterprise. The feature video presents four lessons from the Dalai Lama. Here are some of the highlights from his visit.

[sarcasmic]

WATCH: Cops charged with falsifying evidence after dash cam proves man did nothing wrong at traffic stop and actually put his hands up when they say he resisted

Marcus Jeter, 30, was stopped at a traffic stop in New Jersey in 2012
He was charged with eluding police, resisting arrest and assault
Prosecution were pushing for five years jail
Jeter maintained he had done nothing
Dash cam footage shown in court Friday proved Jeter's innocence and all charges dismissed
Two officers arraigned on multiple charges, one of them aggravated assault

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-stop.html

Interestingly, an earlier investigation by Bloomfield Police Department's internal affairs division found no wrongdoing by the officers involved.

Of course not. And as we all know though, charged does not mean convicted. If these cops are smart they'll ask to be tried by a judge instead of a jury. As for Marcus, he'd better find a new place to live. Because the cops will harass him relentlessly until he's out of their jurisdiction.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Isn't the jury easier to intimidate?

Professional courtesy may or may not extend to the cops, depending on the judge. But if the gallery fills up with uniformed cops who growl and glower and take notes, the jury will soil themselves in their haste to acquit.

[sarcasmic]

No need to intimidate a judge. They're all on the same team.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

A few judges remain independent - Is the Blue Wall willing to take that risk? I suppose it depends on the jurisdiction.

[Ted S.]

But if the gallery fills up with uniformed cops who growl and glower and take notes

Why would you accuse our Heroes in Blue of doing such a thing??

[WTF]

I can't believe they were too stupid to have the dashcams 'malfunction'.

[Griffin3]

Fffffuuuuu---

Who would have standing to demand ALL dashcam footage from the Bloomfield police department, and scan through it looking for similar setups? It could even be a paying gig, if you found examples and shopped them out to local civil rights lawyers.

There must be dozen of examples like this caught on tape, pretty much up to the limit of the re-write on the dash-cam video. Even supplying them with a few TB drives would be dirt cheap, these days [3TB external $115, after shipping]

[sarcasmic]

As long as they've got nothing to hide...

[Rasilio]

You know, in cases like this why are the Internal Affairs officers who investigated this case not charged with being accessories to the crime?

I'll bet a few IAD officers going to jail for failing to properly investigate police wrongdoing will go a long way to ending the rubber stamp they put on investigating their fellow officers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Egypt's military-backed prime minister and his cabinet have resigned.

The military resigning to make room for the military?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Shuffling disposable civilians, apparently.

"Abdul, go down to Supply and get an other civilian government."

"Yes, sir!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are you adapting Catch-22 for a Middle East North Africa audience?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Ooooh, I should! If I write it up and strike it rich, you get 5% and a free orphan monocle bearer of your choice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That counts as a contract.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Offer, acceptance, consideration, free orphan... yup, it has everything.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm not taking on any liability from the Heller estate, though.

[Damned Fool]

Gene Healy: House of Cards unbelievable because government is incompetent.

Princeton prof on CNN: House of Cards unbelievable because government is good.

[waffles]

I must say the body count in House of Cards is much higher than I anticipated. I can only imagine season 3 will bring more.

[Zeb]

But they get the general amorality of politics just right. I very much doubt that anyone is as competently evil as Underwood, but there wouldn't be much story without that. People are way too into realism.

[Brett L]

Right. Nobody is interested in the preening little petty revenges that actually happen. Underwood came up with a grand plan to fuck everybody in the entire administration after the shorted him, and nearly brought down the Majority leader also in Season 1. In reality, the petty little vermin would just leak to the reporter, try to lay her without success, and talk a big game about how they run the town.

[Malkavian]

While serving as Senate majority leader, Lyndon Johnson famously relied on his ambition and thirst for power to produce some rather notable legislative accomplishments, such as the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 and the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

I find leftist logic hard to follow. On one hand, ROADZZZ are evil because white people use them to run away from black people, and do so in big, polluting SUVs. On the other hand, ROADZZZ are good because... Government spending? The two sides of the coin don't connect in their heads?

[Doctor Whom]

Never underestimate the power of doublethink. Also, government spending is its own reward.

[Warty]

Above all else, governmentists worship Getting Things Done.

[Bill Dalasio]

And if you listen to this guy, Spacey's character is just honkey-dorey, just so long as he's evil in pursuit of the right things. God, do these people ever read themselves and ask how they're going to sound?

[Matrix]

Piers Morgan is expected to lose his CNN show as early as next month. Ratings have been shot since the British television personality started obsessing over gun control.

Send his ass back to jolly old England, where he won't have to worry about "scary" guns and can get his "free" healthcare.

[Mike M.]

Arec Barrwin is also apparently taking his ball and going home. Too bad home isn't another country for him also.

[robc]

I thought he moved to Canada? Didnt they give him citizenship?

[Brett L]

I am shocked! Shocked! to find out that Piers Morgan didn't pull CNN's prime time show out of their tailspin. Its completely unforeseeable how a preachy foreigner whom only 20% of the adults in this country agree with didn't broaden CNN's audience.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Has anyone told Jeremy Clarkson yet?

[sarcasmic]

Shocking video footage shows how school principal DRAGGED two kindergarten children down a hallway (and was still allowed to return to work)
Carmen Perez-Dickson caught dragging two children along the ground
She is able to return to work in the school following six-month suspension
Mothers of the two children made the video public
Principal's lawyer said she used a 'reasonable amount of force'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....llway.html
I dunno. I mean, when a kid plays the go-limp game, how else do you move them?

[Rich]

when a kid plays the go-limp game, how else do you move them?

Wrap it in duct tape and sling it over your shoulder.

[Pavlov's Cat]

Throwing lit matches is easier.

[Ted S.]

When I was a kid, the school had the movie projectors (yeah, I'm dating myself here) on wheeled carts. Put the kid on one of those and wheel him to the principal's office.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

when a kid plays the go-limp game, how else do you move them?

I have a variety of methods. Some involve water, some involve dragging or carrying.

[R C Dean]

when a kid plays the go-limp game, how else do you move them?

Hot poker?

[Lord Humungus]

Pentagon to propose shrinking Army, scrapping some jets: report

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will propose on Monday a reduction in the size of the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War Two and scrapping a class of Air Force attack jets, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The plans, which the paper said were outlined by several Pentagon officials on condition of anonymity, would be aimed at reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity after a pledge by President Barack Obama to end U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It would leave the military capable of defeating any enemy but too small for long foreign occupations, and would involve greater risk if U.S. forces were asked to carry out two large-scale military actions at the same time.

[Doctor Whom]

"You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war," the Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying.

No large land war? We can fix that. [/politician]

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Keep the cost-overrun, problem filled F-35, but get rid of the effective A-10s. Check.

[Wandering Texan]

Logged in to say this, but you beat me to it. Every news outlet talking about this frames it as a cost reduction, but it is more about keeping their bloated research budget and contracted development cash.

[Cdr Lytton]

Prediction-- when the DOD Green Book comes out, it still won't be near the historic troughs in the inflation adjusted chart.

[Tim]

A-10s are not a profit center like the F-You 35.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

"F-You 35"

I am using that!

[Drake]

The Air Farce has been trying to get rid of the A-10 since the Army shamed them into buying them in the first place. Most have already been pushed to Air Guard units.

[Rasilio]

And the funny thing is the Army would probably mothball 2 Apache squadrons for every A-10 Squadron the Air Force gave them if the Air Force would let them have fixed wing aircraft

[UnCivilServant]

The Air Farce pilots hate the A-10 because it's everything they didn't join the military to do - fly slow and support ground troops. They don't care if it's great at what it does, they hate it.

[Tim]

If the Air Force were Pizza Hut, they'd deliver pizzas in Formula 1 cars.

[Cdr Lytton]

AF supporting ground troops.

[Locke]

And when they blow up an AMTRAK full of Marines they blame the Marines, of course.

Because Iraqi BMPs look exactly like AMTRAKs

[Drake]

I saw the AF blow away a Marine LAV near Kafji in '91. After that, our close-air-support was exclusively from Navy and Marines.

Saw this last week - woops, sorry.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/.....l#comments

[DJF]

But we will not cut the number of countries we have committed to defend and will probably try to add the Ukraine and others to the number.

How about cutting commitments first, then cutting defense budgets becomes much easier.

[WTF]

reducing defense spending in the face of government austerity

You mean there are significant spending cuts across the board? The federal budget has shrunk significantly?
Oh, that's right, it hasn't.

[Don Mynack]

Meet the A-29 Super Tucano.

http://www.theblaze.com/storie.....in-action/

//Sorry, blaze link was the best I could find on short notice...

[Drake]

People have been asking why we bomb guys in caves with billion-dollar jets since the "War on Terror" began. Instead of saving some cash, and making things safer for our own troops with slower close-air... They went all-in on the F35 boondoggle.

[Lord Humungus]

Man shoots himself in leg after leaving gun safety class

Officers responded to the area of South Congress Avenue and Neptune Drive where a man said he had accidentally shot himself. He was found sitting in the bed of his pickup with a gunshot wound to his right leg. He told police he'd just left a firearms safety class and pulled over to inspect his new Glock 17 handgun. He said he removed the magazine and was manipulating the slide when the gun discharged. He was treated by fire-rescue at the scene, then taken to an area hospital.

derp.

[SIV]

+1 "professional enough"

[Tim]

Glock slide removal is very...Darwinian.

[UnCivilServant]

Given the number of unintentional discharges that involve Glocks, I do not have a very high opinion of their design.

[WTF]

I've owned and used a Glock for many years. They're perfectly safe if you're not an idiot.

[Marc F Cheney]

Or maybe there is a higher number involving Glocks because Glocks are popular.

An AD is not the gun's fault.

[Cdr Lytton]

He said he removed the magazine

but completely forgot about the one in the hole. Dude needs to listen to Nate Dogg.

[UnCivilServant]

Rule 1 - No firearm is ever to be treated as if unloaded.

At least that's what I was taught about firearm safety procedures.

[Mainer2]

I believe Col Cooper stated it this way:

All guns are always loaded.

I like that because there's no "as if" about it. Because if you know the gun's not really loaded, and treat it "as if" loaded....mentally it's not the same as "All guns are always loaded".

[sarcasmic]

Now that's an Awakening! Kate Beckinsale channels her Underworld character as she steps out in sexy all-black ensemble

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....emble.html
Sha-wing! That second picture could put a woody on a statue.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Aye.

[Marc F Cheney]

*gulp*

[sarcasmic]

Michael Rockefeller WAS eaten by cannibals who kept his bones as souvenirs, claims journalist who says his years of research proves that the Dutch covered up 1961 murder in New Guinea

For decades, the world has believed the 23-year-old scion, Nelson Rockefeller's fifth born, drowned when his catamaran capsized during a journey to the heart of New Guinea's Asmat tribal homeland in 1961
An extensive sea, air and land search turned up nothing, and the mystery surrounding his disappearance left millions perplexed
But historian Carl Hoffman set out in 2012 to retrace the steps of the promising young photographer
His new book, 'Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art' suggests the young man met a decidedly more grisly end
Hoffman also claims the Dutch government knew Michael was murdered and eaten by cannibals but hid the evidence, including the remains of his skull, from the US and his family

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....earch.html
Who?

[SusanM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvzePsDYv7k

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Why did the Dutch hide the evidence?

[Tonio]

I presume it was to avoid embarrassment for the Dutch government - both for their failure* to control the tribesmen and not wanting to have to make diplomatic apologies to the US government.

The existence of cannibals would have been an international embarassment and bad for tourism. Duly noted that third-world tourism wasn't as much of a thing then as now, but still.

And I'm using the word "failure" in the sense of judgement by other nations. Dude was off the grid in a third-world hellhole; not the job of the Dutch to babysit him with a military escort (unless he was paying). Ultimately, a lesson about the failures of colonialism.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm of the opinion if someone wants to get off by exploring dangerous and remote places they must accept all the consequences that come with it - especially if the government gives fair warning about certain places.

I don't think we need to risk going to save them because of a vanity project.

I could be wrong on this but there have been cases where people - those imbecile, left-wing human shields who left for Iraq come to mind - knowingly put themselves in danger on a personal journey...too bad.

[Tonio]

But in the bubble of statism government is supposed to be a civilizing influence and actively protect people under their jurisdiction. This incident illustrates failures on both of those prongs.

I agree with you about assumed risk. It is arguably a legitimate function of government to provide such warnings to tourists.

Rockefeller was ill-advised to travel to that area without security. He was wealthy enough to do whatever it took to get security whether private or government. And honestly had his security not been properly permitted he had enough money to buy his way out of trouble.

[BillPrep]

It was 'yummy' and they didn't want to share?

[Tim]

Turns out there is something worse than being voted off the island...

[Rich]

Red-faced administrators encouraged a student letter-writing campaign to attack The Post and defend its "blended learning" program. Eighteen kids e-mailed to argue that their alma mater got a bad rap.
Almost every letter was filled with spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

Probable next revelation: All the letters were ghost-written by the "red-faced administrators".

[Rhywun]

It's hard to get "red-faced" when you have no shame whatsoever.

[Sevo]

"Probable next revelation: All the letters were ghost-written by the "red-faced administrators""

Hey, that's Piers Morgan's script for tonight!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What the FUCK was CNN thinking hiring the utterly insufferable and terrible Piers Morgan?

The guy didn't seem to have the grace to understand he was a Brit and not an American. The way he smugly attacked ideals Americans hold dear was enough for me to spit at the TV. Look, if I were the host of a show you can bet your damn bottom dollar I'd be cognizant of the fact I'm a Canadian on an American TV show and thus proceed accordingly. I'd know when and where to back off.

I think this is why he failed miserably. Americans were like "who is this douche?"

I could be wrong but that was my impression.

[wareagle]

CNN was thinking that a good many Americans (read: progressives) would be in total harmony with someone blasting American values, going on about the gun culture, and generally acting as if this place has so much to learn from the rest of the world.

Piers was being who he is; CNN erred in believing that most of us would agree with him.

[sarcasmic]

Progressives want to progress past traditional American values and get in step with the rest of the statist world.

[Rhywun]

I hope this means he'll keep his pie-hole out of soccer commentary from now on, too. Dude kept showing up at random matches for no reason in the last year bleating about fucking Arsenal.

[Brett L]

Don't blame Arsenal on that fuck. Do we judge the Eagles or Jets by their fans?

Oh. Fuck.

[Lord Humungus]

Warty or STEVE SMITH's hunting ground? Or both?

Bums bared in bid to break world record for the largest nude ocean swim

Hundreds of people stripped off on Sunday to take part in the second annual Sydney Skinny in an attempt to break the world record for the largest nude ocean swim.

Over 700 people took part in last year's inaugural swim, which aims to promote a positive body image.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

We'll have to get our intrepid OZ reporter, ifh, to tell.

[UnCivilServant]

Isn't that home to the box jellyfish?

[WTF]

It's pretty sharky there, too.

[The Late P Brooks]

Ratings have been shot since the British television personality started obsessing over gun control.

You depraved yokels don't deserve Piers Morgan.

Come to think of it, nobody does.

[Damned Fool]

Britain wishes that he had been alive during WW2. Hitler wouldn't have bothered to invade.

[Rich]

Why does anyone *need* a Piers Morgan?

[Brett L]

CNN sure doesn't.

[Lord Humungus]

yay! Snow!

Polar Vortex to Bring More Snow on Return to U.S. This Week

Another blast of freezing air is forecast for the central and eastern U.S. this week as two storms threaten to bring disruptive snow to the Northeast.

"Arctic air looks to make a return to the Northeast and Midwest this week following some of the warmest weather the regions have had so far this year," AccuWeather Inc. said on its website. "Much of the Northeast and Midwest will be dry and noticeably colder on Monday."

[Ted S.]

At least half of it melted over the weekend.

[Wandering Texan]

I looked over the ten-day for MD, and thought to myself, "50! Its getting kinda warm!"

I need to go back home. This is getting ridiculous.

[AuH20]

Reddit shows that libertarianism has a problem with pedophilia because... because Gawker. Fucking Gawker

I'm officially ready to move past the "then they fight you stage" to the "and then you win"

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

its libertarianism is so deeply poisoned by misogyny that freedom from harassment is more urgent for child pornographers than women.

I just can't even

[waffles]

It's a bit insulting how articles like this collective women. Nikki how do you live with yourself being a traitor to your gender?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Pretty comfortably, as it turns out.

[Tonio]

That's because you are a self-loathing tool of The Patriarchy(tm), Nicole. Sheesh.

[Jarl ? the booty]

Reddit is libertarian? News to me.

There are a couple non-retarded comments, e.g., pointing out that Reddit, for all its faults, is not a monolith -- but not many.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Libertarianism ? libertinism

[SugarFree]

Libertinism ? Child pornography

[Tonio]

I hate both of you. How are you making a proper not-equal symbol?

You've also sucked the fun right out of the endless squabbling over "=/=" vs whatever.

[SugarFree]

I just cut and pasted his.

[UnCivilServant]

!=

It's !=

Does noone else program?

[robc]

I think about 1/2 of us do.

The other 1/2 need to be sent to the bottom of the ocean as a good start.

[robc]

SugarFree is the outlier. Which he is used to.

[SugarFree]

I started out at the bottom of the ocean.

[Pro Libertate]

That would never work, because we'd use our wealth and political clout to build domed cities.

[Warty]

Unless you're cursed with having to work in MATLAB sometimes, and then it's ~=.

[robc]

Ugh.

So what do you use for "approximately equal to" in MATLAB?

[Warty]

Good point. On the other hand, in a mathematical sense, "~=" == "!=", so maybe the MATLAB retards were on to something. No, wait. No they weren't.

[SugarFree]

So what do you use for "approximately equal to" in MATLAB?

(V)(;,,;)(V)

[Warty]

8======~~~

[Warty]

GODDAMMIT SHITTY FUCKING COMMENT SANITIZER

[SugarFree]

Anyone else bothered by the fact that Warty's idea of a penis is missing a head? It's just balls and a smooth and hideous shaft spewing infected jism.

[mr simple]

Why do you other uncut ascii penises? Don't push your circumcision-normative propaganda on us!

[Brett L]

How many programming languages have "approximately equal to" built in?

[Rich]

At least one: Whatever the Obamacare sites are written in.

[Rhywun]

WTF does "approximately equal to" even mean?

[robc]

How many programming languages have "approximately equal to" built in?

I think some of the ones for doing fuzzy logic have something similar.

I was wondering who would call me out for that.

[Brett L]

think some of the ones for doing fuzzy logic have something similar.

I was trying to think of how they did that, too. Also, of course, any computation of definite integrals or derivatives are only approximations. Usually to more accuracy than you care to, but still not exactly equal to the input. Floating point decimals usually round by dropping the least significant bit, too.

[datcv]

Or excel, where it's

[datcv]

Ugh, should have predicted that HTML wouldn't allow my <

[Tonio]

Also, different programming languages use different operator-symbols for not equal. The one with the angle brackets is obviously a non-starter here.

I favor .NE. (FORTRAN, bitches).

[Warty]

FORTRAN? What are you, a weatherman?

[Homple]

Praise FORTRAN, the great cruncher of numbers.

[Tonio]

No, not in either sense of the word. But at least someone has heard of this.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

This

[Sevo]

"Does noone else program?"

Some of us work for a living.

[Fluffy]

What's wrong with ?

Or Not?

[Fluffy]

Ah, I see. I guess THAT'S what's wrong with ''

[Fluffy]

Holy shit they're really determined to bogart my comment aren't they?

Fucking squirrels.

[SugarFree]

Interestingly, squirrels forget where they bury many comments, which allows those lost comments to grow into completely new threads next summer.

[Tonio]

If you're trying to use angle brackets they're being interpreted as HTML tag delimeters so not showing up in the comments.

[Juice]

Way back in the day when I learned Pascal, does not equal was , as in less than or greater than.

[The Late P Brooks]

Susan Rice admitted information she helped disseminate after the Benghazi attacks wasn't "100 percent correct" but that she has no regrets because she's doing her best.

Let's face it; there is no higher calling than covering the Campaigner-in-Chief's ass.

[Snark Plissken]

Susan Rice admitted information she helped disseminate after the Benghazi attacks wasn't "100 percent correct" but that she has no regrets because she's doing her best.

Just like Soros rounding up the Jews.

[Matrix]

John Paul Stevens thinks the 2nd Amendment should have 5 additional words placed in it
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed."

[Damned Fool]

Judge Kelo favors a restriction on liberty? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!

[sarcasmic]

So the purpose of the 2A is to allow the military to be armed. That doesn't even pass the straight face test. Then again, anyone who proposes something like that is a shameless liar.

[Tim]

No, the Bill of Rights was drafted to protect the Government from the people. I looked it up.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Actually he is telling the truth. He is saying, as CURRENTLY WORDED, the 2A applies to all and not just those serving in the militia.

[wareagle]

and he evidently has a problem with the "all" part, yet somehow a legal mind like his served on SCOTUS. IF he didn't take issue with it, then Stevens wouldn't be trying to change the wording.

[Rabban]

Dear Lord, I hope that is the booze, but Shrike actually is making a valid (seeming) point.

[Drake]

Think how easy we could win a war against a country without a second amendment.

[bostonaod]

you just won the internet

[BardMetal]

The funny thing is those extra 5 words really help illustrate how absurd the "Well are you in an organized militia?" argument really is.

[Drake]

I was in the Marine Reserves, then the National Guard. Off-duty I don't remember having any gun rights beyond a normal civilian. What a rip-off.

[Cdr Lytton]

the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed

So no more restrictions on possession by 17-21 year olds and since it's clearly tied to militia, no more NFA restrictions either, right? Sucks if your over 45 though.

[Tonio]

Sucks if your over 45 though.

Yeah, that's a big hole in their argument, or would be if their goal wasn't effectively banning guns. However, it will be interesting to see how they deal with that issue if we ever get to that point.

Just as the Sno Conez are conspicuously lacking in their efforts to disentangle the state from marriage, so are the Proggiez conspicuously lacking in their efforts to form government militias which any adult in any physical condition can join.

[Cdr Lytton]

You don't even have to join. All males between 17 & 45 are automatically part of the militia of the United States. If they aren't part of the organized militia (National Guard or Naval militia), they're in the unorganized militia.

[Cdr Lytton]

Throw this in here

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/311

10 U.S. Code ? 311 - Militia: composition and classes

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.

(b) The classes of the militia are?
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

[Brett L]

Would it then be explicitly Constitutional to form extra-governmental militias? Because I would read it that way.

[Tonio]

Those have a branding problem because of the explicitly anti-government militias of the eighties.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I was my old high school yesterday attending a writer's contest my daughter entered. Interesting flood of memories. One of the judges was my grade six teacher - she hated me and vice-versa. My kid never had a chance. Karma. Bitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8OU-7JDFA

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"at my old high school."

[robc]

I liked the original better. Thought it was a continued discussion of superpowers. Yours was pretty neat.

[mr simple]

Egypt's military-backed prime minister and his cabinet have resigned.

Just when you thought spring had finally arrived.

[A Frayed Knot]

Maybe it's springtime for Sisi.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Springtime for Morsi and Brotherhood!
Winter for Freedom and Copts...

[Tonio]

+1 Mel Brooks

[DJF]

No change, they have been a military dictatorship since 1952, even when Morsi was President the military ran most things

[Lord Humungus]

Whole Foods: America's Temple of Pseudoscience

If you want to write about spiritually-motivated pseudoscience in America, you head to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. It's like a Law of Journalism. The museum has inspired hundreds of book chapters and articles (some of them, admittedly, mine) since it opened up in 2007. The place is like media magnet. And our nation's liberal, coastal journalists are so many piles of iron fillings.

But you don't have to schlep all the way to Kentucky in order to visit America's greatest shrine to pseudoscience. In fact, that shrine is a 15-minute trip away from most American urbanites.

I'm talking, of course, about Whole Foods Market. From the probiotics aisle to the vaguely ridiculous Organic Integrity outreach effort (more on that later), Whole Foods has all the ingredients necessary to give Richard Dawkins nightmares. And if you want a sense of how weird, and how fraught, the relationship between science, politics, and commerce is in our modern world, then there's really no better place to go. Because anti-science isn't just a religious, conservative phenomenon?and the way in which it crosses cultural lines can tell us a lot about why places like the Creation Museum inspire so much rage, while places like Whole Foods don't.

[AuH20]

Psuedoscience AND really good premade pesto!

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Is it artisanal pesudoscience?

[Tonio]

Where do you want your internets delivered?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Please have FoE hold it in trust...thanks.

[GILMORE]

It tastes better

[waffles]

Some supplements actually do something useful but they are the minority on the shelf. Most of them of them just make your pee more expensive. Every supplement has some true believer who will go to the grave swearing the benefits of this or that.

[Dweebston]

Maybe it's because Whole Foods itself is agnostic with respect to probiotics, organic foods, and supplements, but is will to sell those things because there's demand for them. And Whole Foods is under no obligation not to.

[robc]

Speaking of the creation museum, I am still up for a Hit&Run; gathering in northern KY: Creation Museum followed by Hofbrauhaus.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'd make the drive. Pick a date. I need to do a northern KY bourbon run, anyway.

[Citizen Nothing]

Hey. The Jacket lives near there, right? Get this thing rolling, Gillespie.

[robc]

Im kinda busy the next few months.

BTW, if you want to tried for a victimless crime in Jefferson County, KY, mid-March is the time to do it. I have jury duty for two weeks next month.

I can piss off Tulpa and be a nullifier.

[Citizen Nothing]

I've always wanted to park perpendicular to traffic in Newport.

[robc]

Unfortunately, Newport is in Campbell Co.

Jefferson Co is Louisville.

[Citizen Nothing]

Great! The potential for interesting victimless crime is much better in Louisville.

[robc]

Hurry up, you will have to request that speedy trial thing if you havent committed the "crime" yet.

[Bronwyn]

Yeah, I'm probably too late. It would take me too long to figure out what victimless crime to commit in the first place.

[Citizen Nothing]

Some tourism entrepreneur down there should set up a H.S.T. Decadent and Depraved Tour.

[Brett L]

If I don't make eye contact while jerking it around the coeds, does that count?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not sure I follow the hatred of Whole Foods by the left.

[Tonio]

It's because their CEO has libertarian sympathies. Also, it's like a Corporation and stuff.

They far prefer coops and locally-owned stores.

[Marc F Cheney]

Is this really that difficult to understand?

(1) Whole Foods isn't trying to force any pseudoscience on me or my children.

(2) Whole Foods mostly sells great, non-pseudo-scientific products.

[Rasilio]

Interesting thing about whole foods is how far their local store management can be from the companies supposed core values.

My wife has been working there to bring in some extra money and some of their rules are astoundingly stupid.

Like it is better for us that she not work afternoon shifts so she can handle getting the kids to their various after school activities but she can open and close without any problems. There are other people there who cannot open or close but need to work in the middle of the day. Rather than have a system where they are scheduled the shifts that accomodate their lifes the best management goes out of their way to make sure that everyone works the same number of opening, closing, and mid shifts and then won't even let the employees balance things out themselves by trading those shifts among themselves.

That kind of petty 2 bit control freak power trip on the part of the local store managers goes against everything Mackie stands for but it goes on anyway because the company is too large to actually be managed.

That said their food really is better than 95% of the stuff at other grocery stores around here (especially the fish, I won't buy fish at the local Grocery Chains, which given that I live in Boston should as fresh as it gets but isn't) and the 20% employee discount actually makes them cost competitive.

[tarran]

Actually, the rule is probably due to your state labor laws.

Here in MA, the labor law is pretty nasty, and having everything be 'fair' on paper is pretty much the only defense against the Lilly Ledbetters of the world.

[Rasilio]

It is in Mass so that could be it, still it is stupid as their are other ways of achieving the same fairness that does not screw people over forcing them to work inconvenient shifts when it is not necessary.

Hell it would be trivially easy to design a scheduling website where every employee could bid on their shifts and the results were managed by a defined arbitrary process and not a managers decision. That way no one could argue it was unfair and while it wouldn't guarantee that no one would ever have to work an inconvenient shift it would minimize the occurrence of it and lead to happier more productive employees.

[AuH20]

Venezuela has lost the Guardian

Of course, they also demoted it to "quasi-socialism". Not the wrong ideology after all.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Not pure enough. Next time, we'll see the right Top. Men.

[Doctor Whom]

They weren't true Scotsmen Christians Klein bottles socialists.

[GILMORE]

"'AuH20|2.24.14 @ 9:12AM|#

Venezuela has lost the Guardian"

Jesus, 3 months ago they were running editorials on how freaking awesome the socialist regime is and how all this whining is just first-world-privilege...

http://www.theguardian.com/com.....il-poverty

The comments, if not the editorials, are thankfully still full of loyal chavistas who see this betrayal as yet more evidence of the omnipotent power of the Right-Wing corporatist conspiracy to bend reality to fit their pro capitalist narrative.

My particular favorite remark was a loyal Maduro supporter who pointed to "Detroit" as an example of the inevitable failures of Capitalism

No shit.

[Rich]

Bill Would Impose 20-Year Prison Sentence On People Who Commit Crimes With Drones

1) Too late!

2) Bill Would Impose 20-Year Prison Sentence On People Who Commit Crimes With Simple Household Objects

3) Bill Would Impose 20-Year Prison Sentence On People Who Commit Crimes With Robots

[Andrew S.]

I'm totally in favor of this. It will keep police on their toes and make sure they don't misuse their pow... oh, dammit, I couldn't say the whole sentence without laughing.

[Tonio]

This would also apply to government employees, right? Right?

Hey, why is everyone looking at me like that?

[Matrix]

Columnist has a sad that Florida law makers are pushing a bill to forbid schools from disciplining students for eating their Pop Tarts into the shape of a gun

She thinks that expelling students for completely innocent behavior is perfectly acceptable, apparently.

GUNZ!!!!!!11!!!1!! EVERYBODY LOSE YOUR FUCKING MINDS!

[Brett L]

In other news, the FL legislature looks to once again be killing the restitution bill regarding this lawsuit. The State has basically promised to make good on liabilities over $100k for municipalities, and refuses to do so.

[Tonio]

Link requires registration, Brett.

[Lord Humungus]

Federal Open Markets Committee Was Clueless to Financial Crisis

If you didn't read through the Federal Open Markets Committee transcripts released last week, I beg you to go take at least a cursory look. Unless you have a weak heart.

Mine, I can tell you, almost shot right out of my chest when I read these passages in Binyamin Applebaum's New York Times write-up on Saturday morning:

As Fed officials gathered on Sept. 16 [2008] at their marble headquarters in Washington for a previously scheduled meeting, stock markets were in free fall. Housing prices had been collapsing for two years, and unemployment was climbing.

Yet most officials did not see clear evidence of a broad crisis. They expected the economy to grow slowly in 2008 and then more quickly in 2009.

The transcript for that meeting contains 129 mentions of "inflation" and five of "recession."

[Jordan]

Hilarious, but not surprising in the least.

[Rasilio]

Well now we know why the economic indicators are always doing "unexpected" things

[The Late P Brooks]

pulled over to inspect his new Glock 17 handgun.

There's your trouble.

[Ted S.]

From the "IFH gets to make fun of Kiwis" file:

Distances wrong in Round The Bays

Organisers of yesterday's big running and walking event that attracted 14,000 competitoirs have apologised on Facebook today, admitting that those who participated in the half marathon actually ran 600 metres further than the regulation 21.1km.

[...]

Some also questioned the distance of the 10km run, claiming it was about 300m too long.

[UnCivilServant]

We have reduced the margin of error as redifining a kilometer as 1024 meters.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Needz moar GPS?

[Ted S.]

I first saw the story as a report on Radio New Zealand, and they interviewed a runner who was using GPS and figured out that something had to be up.

NB: That link is to a ~1.0MB, 3 minute MP3 file.

[DJF]

So they got more then advertized and they complain?

[Jerryskids]

The debate libertarians have been having for years.

My sense on this is that 'pragmatists' are willing to soft-peddle their wares (or soft-pedal their tune if you prefer) in order to get elected and then be in a position to achieve their real goals - in other words, run a bait-and-switch campaign, AKA lie - because it's 'for the greater good'.

As much as I support libertarian ideals, I accept that most people really don't want to be free. You can do whatever you can to persuade them that vinegar in freedom is sweeter than honey in slavery but if they prefer slavery you have to let them be free to be slaves. (Just keep your guns handy in case they refuse to accept that just because they prefer to be slaves doesn't give them the right to enslave everybody else.)

But in my book, if you're willing to support LINOs, you are willing to compromise your principles and compromised principles are no principles at all. Once you start selling your principles you find that the market is heavily saturated and the price of a principle is shockingly low.

[robc]

Isnt Paul the counterpoint to his Senate argument?

[sarcasmic]

For many people freedom means asking permission and obeying orders. This is because, in theory, you're free from responsibility.

[Homple]

"Few men desire liberty. Most men wish only for a just master."
~Sallust

[Tonio]

I accept that most people really don't want to be free.

True. But many people want to be more free than they already are. Ridiculous rules, and their draconian enforcement, are our wedge strategy. Every childrens' lemonade that is shut down, every person arrested for jaywalking or "failure to ID" is a teachable moment.

Learn and use this phrase: "That would never happen if libertarians were in charge."

We are used to establishing first principles and then going forward from there; for most people that's a TLDR, we need to master the sound bite.

[The Late P Brooks]

Keep the cost-overrun, problem filled F-35, but get rid of the effective A-10s. Check.

Those A-10s aren't SEXXXY like an F35.

[Tim]

A-10s are long paid for, the F-35 will suck new dollars into Lockheed Martins coffers for a generation.

[Wandering Texan]

Its Mariliy Monroe versus Miley Cyrus. Oversized external jet engines and a main gun that just won't quit, against a flat exterior without a personality and excessive lines around each joint and junction.

[Wandering Texan]

I corrected "Marilyn Monroe" four times while typing that and still fucked it away.

[mr simple]

said JFK.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

good one

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

I dunno, I sure was getting a warm feeling when I would see a pair of A-10s in the area. Maybe that was safety and security, rather than a spending rush...

[Rasilio]

Hey, Ariel Striker needs a new pair of shoes so why don't you get connected and stfu

[The Late P Brooks]

Some also questioned the distance of the 10km run, claiming it was about 300m too long.

"Face it. You just didn't run very fast, today. TRAIN HARDER."

[Rich]

China's Naval Chief Says Smog is Best Defence Against US Laser Weapons

Zhang Zhaozhong [said] that lasers were "most afraid of smog".

I blame it on Google Translate.

(Warning: Self-playing video in site)

[Tim]

Also useful for protecting a mountain full of gold.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Now that is a politician in training.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Nice retroactive justification for a bad situation, like the liberating job liss under Obamacare.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Loss

[Ted S.]

I thought you meant liberating job lies. As in, they're lying about jobs, and it's liberating for them.

[Tonio]

Beyong!

[mr simple]

bigger

[waffles]

The generation coming of age in China seems determined to ignore the problem of the absurdly high pollution levels in the burgeoning urban centers. There will come a point where it will need to be dealt with, but today it is a laser defense system.

[Rasilio]

well depending on the frequency we used he might be right. Course since we're nowhere near deploying offensive laser weapons into urban combat zones I'm not sure what he's worried about.

The only offensive laser weapon near deployment is a naval system effective against small craft only and the rest of the lasers we have near ready are all anti missile systems

[GILMORE]

SMOG IS POWER

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

I have that one on DVD. Its disgusting.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You want corruption? I'll give you corruption.

http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/4m-.....-1.1689978

Hydro-Quebec is a nationalized entity that regularly squanders money. But in this case it's a new low for any publicly owned institution. Pay out $4 million in salaries for doing NOTHING? All because the local, ignorant yokels had a sad that the Germans spoke only English? Back when Bay James was built they used Italian dam engineers and don't recall Quebec being this insidious. Of course, I could be wrong it was long ago. My bet there was nonsense going on back then too.

[Rich]

It's nonsense all the way down!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hydro said a $4 million LOSS was 'negligible.'

Could you believe that shit? What more do you need to delve into the minds of bureaucrats about how they view tax dollars?

[Ted S.]

Yes. I'd guess they're corrupt to the tune of tens of billions. In that light, $4 million is negligible.

[Juice]

Good to know that if I ever "owe" $4 million in back taxes they'll leave me alone because it's so negligible.

[Tonio]

It's the TVA of Canuckistan.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

^Oui^

[Jerryskids]

Look into some of the minority set-aside programs and see how many minority business owners have businesses that consist of PO boxes and the phone number of a non-minority-owned subcontractor. And how many of them have last names that are the same as the last names of various local government officials.

[Lord Humungus]

Former NRA president Charlton Heston to get US Post Office stamp

The United States Postal Service has announced that former NRA President Charlton Heston will be honored with his own stamp. The stamp is part of their "Legends of Hollywood" series, and while the specific issue date has not yet been determined, it will be issued sometime in 2014.

Heston was a five term president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003. He was a tireless advocate for Second Amendment rights and will always be remembered by the NRA faithful for his "cold, dead hands" speech delivered at the 2000 NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[Tim]

What exactly is this "stamp" you speak of?

[robc]

They are the things you have to buy in order to send out wedding invitations.

I think that is their entire purpose.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

And Christmas Cards.

[robc]

As I dont send out Christmas Cards, but sent out wedding invitations recently, I disagree.

[Ted S.]

Fick Dich bitte!

[Ted S.]

You forgot Christmas cards.

[robc]

Ted S, perpetually 1 minute late.

[Ted S.]

I look forward to the day when somebody else posts a minute late and they're told that the Ted S.ed their response.

[Lord Humungus]

Garry Kasparov: I'd Still Be a Soviet Citizen if Obama Had Been President Instead of Reagan

[robc]

I think he is wrong, but it might have delayed things.

Then again, it might have delayed things long enough for Putin to have replaced Gorbachev, and he would have tried to force the "union" to stay together.

[John]

When you consider how feckless Obama is and how generally unsure he is of western values, I think Kasparov is probably right. What brought down the Soviet Union as much as anything was Reagan and the Pope's constant insistence on its evil. People don't think that matters but it does. What keeps totalitarian regimes in power is making sure the people in the regime think they are alone in despising it. Everyone in such a regime hates it. But they remain because each individual thinks he is alone in hating it and will be crushed if he doesn't go along. The moment where you hit a critical mass of people realizing how much everyone else hates the regime, the regime is done. That is why it is so important for world leaders to condemn these regimes. If they don't, the regime then uses their silence or worse support as evidence to its people that they are alone in hating it.

[robc]

I think you are right.

Economics matter too, eventually a collapse was going to happen. But North Korea shows you can keep the regime going well past the collapse point if the people dont revolt over it.

[John]

And what does North Korea do more than anything? Obsessively keeps its people isolated from the outside world.

[WTF]

Kasparov is clearly a BUSHPIG!!CHRISTFAG!!11!!!

[John]

He is just an ignorant tea bagger racist. Just because he is the greatest chess player of the last 100 years and maybe ever doesn't mean he isn't a stupid tea bagger.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

and maybe ever

The hell you say. Top 5.

[John]

I said maybe. It is like debating sports figures. At his peak, Fisher is probably the best of my lifetime. But he went insane and was only at his peak for a few years. Kasparov dominated for well over a decade.

Was Kasparov as innovative as someone like Morphy? No. But in fairness it is a lot harder to innovate now since so much of the possible innovations have been discovered since Morphy's time.

There is no one answer. But if someone answered Kasparov to the question of "who is the greatest chess player of all time", they would be giving a debatable answer but not an unreasonable one.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Kasparov is the best ever at opening preparation for my money, but Fischer and Capablanca are players that come right to mind as better pure chess players.

There is no one answer. But if someone answered Kasparov to the question of "who is the greatest chess player of all time", they would be giving a debatable answer but not an unreasonable one

Better to talk about favorites. Tal in my case.

[John]

My favorite is Fischer. But my favorite baseball player is Mickey Mantle. I am a sucker for fantastic if flawed or short lived talent. If you had one player at his peak who had to play one match for your life, I would take Fisher to play for me.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I would take Fisher to play for me.

Agreed.

[Marc F Cheney]

NERDS?!?

/ogre

[John]

Beyond that, is I have no doubt there are liberals who will tell themselves they are really smarter than a chess grand master because they unlike him hold the proper politics.

[mad libertarian guy]

Paging Smilin' Joe Fission, Smilin' Joe Fission, could you please answer the courtesy phone.

Joe:

A friend who is generally open to real science (with the exception of global warming which he insists is going to destroy the world in our lifetime) is under the mistaken impression that Fukushima was some sort of disaster that actually warrants the moratorium on nuclear that we've seen in the US. He's open to the possibility that it wasn't but hasn't been exposed to any real science on the matter. The only exposure he has is his envirotard friends in California who are true luddites.

You got link to anything that explains the science showing Fukushima to be basically harmless in laymans terms?

The best I have is http://www.cfact.org/2013/10/1.....-disaster/

You got anything else, particularly a source that doesn't advertise their skepticism in AGW so openly (as it's likely that he would dismiss the source completely - he's a true believer in AGW)?

[sarcasmic]

Facts and evidence cannot change opinions that are arrived at through emotion.

Your friend will embrace nuclear energy when the cool kids do, and not a minute earlier.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

When Di Caprio goes on Ellen to declare 'nookaleer' is good, will they join the ranks.

[mad libertarian guy]

Like I said, he's generally open to rethinking what environmental "disaster" means when he's exposed to evidence. It isn't as if he was exposed to the real facts of the science behind Fukushima and radiation and simply decided to ignore it; his only exposure is the anti-nuclear war drums of the envirotarded left. His only real blind spot in that arena is AGW. He asked specifically for evidence to support my claim that Fukushima isn't anything even close to a disaster, and I have some, but am looking for more.

[Sevo]

Here's some from CA where the tin-hat team has been telling everyone to stay away from the water:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/R.....S2011.aspx
"Q. What's everyday level of radiation we receive?
A. The typical North American exposure from natural background radiation is 2.0 millirem per day. A chest x-ray would expose an individual to 10 millirems. Radiation from Japan is expected to be thousands of times less than daily background radiation from natural and man-made sources?like the sun, air, soil, medical imaging, and life-saving therapies."

[Homple]

"You do not reason a man out of something he was not reasoned in to."
~Jonathan Swift

[Eric Johnson]

There's some good videos on YouTube by "thunderf00t" debunking a lot of Fukushima myths.

http://www.youtube.com/playlis.....0Zg8YDkRPL

[SugarFree]

How Retiring Members of Congress Can Help Fight Climate Change

I'm pretty sure Waxman could inhale it all through his giant nostrils.

Trigger Warning: Photo of Waxman.

[UnCivilServant]

OR thay can suicide bomb the AGW proponents. Problem solved.

[John]

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry. They honestly seem to think they can sell this pig to the public if only they had more hearings about it.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Yet another messaging problem. Seems to be an epidemic that keeps us from fully grasping the brilliance of our Top Men.

[mr simple]

It's obviously because we don't pay teachers enough.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If you want action on freaky weather, organize a field hearing with your local retiring member of Congress for some time in March through June?which are the typical months for investigations and oversight in the legislative calendar.

Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Twain

[Brett L]

In this case, I support the Watermelon's solution of having them die as immediately as possible.

[The Late P Brooks]

Hydro said a $4 million LOSS was 'negligible.'

"We're not broke. We still have checks taxpayers."

[SugarFree]

Oh noes! The Terror has returned!

Gawker flips out over Ukrainian customs official saranwrapped to a pole.

[John]

Wasn't it just a year ago that the various OWS people were talking about fighting the power? I thought Gawker was down with fighting the man?

And isn't the guy they Ukrainians just ran out of power big buddies with Putin? I thought Putin was Dr. Evil because of the gays and stuff?

[SugarFree]

Their hatred of Putin is outweighed by their love for authority at all levels.

[John]

Very true, which is why if I were gay, I wouldn't really want the support of the people at Gawker. They are not saying something about gays in Russia because they give a shit about gays or would ever do anything to help gays if doing so didn't push their ideology.

[Warty]

Telling comment:

I mean, who is really "in control" of the protestors? They booed their leader on stage the other night.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Principals not principles

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

That's a good one. I thought Gawker looked down on Astroturf?

[John]

Nikki,

You can't have a grassroots people's protest movement if no one is in control. I mean the last thing we want is anyone out there doing stuff without being under the strict control of their betters.

That is actually the way the people at Gawker think. They would form a "people's revolutionary movement" and have strict entrance requirements and top down control to such a degree that the members couldn't so much as print up a sign without approval from the party (lest there be any signs that might make someone uncomfortable).

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

I like these:

Bribes and graft is a normal state of business ... As someone else said, it's like shooting the mail carrier over the price of a postage stamp.

The poor guy. I'm horrified for him and his family.

I hadn't thought of this as a reason to not work a shit job for the government (as opposed to running it at the top, where the risk seems obvious)

[John]

I do kind of feel bad for the guy. He is just some drone. But he should have figured out which way the wind was blowing and not come to work that morning. And they didn't kill him or hurt him really did they?

[Homple]

He might have been just a drone, but he likely spent his working days effing people over and now the effed-over have a chance to get back at him.

How many brutal cops saran wrapped to poles would we regard as "only drones"?

[John]

All true.

[Homple]

These pictures will encourage IRS, TSA, FBI, EPA, DEA and NSA employees to fight our domestic dissidents even harder. It will be no surprise if the images show up on motivational posters in lots of government offices.

Local cops might be mulling over them, too.

[Tonio]

I'm with Gawker on this; the Pole has rights, too.

[John]

http://nypost.com/2014/02/22/c.....f-the-irs/

Kristin O'Donnell talks about how the IRS victimized her. Political hacks working in the Delaware Department of Revenue and the IRS illegally accessed and leaked her tax information to other political hacks pretending to be journalists. Worse, still the information wasn't even correct. They altered the leaked information to make it look like O'Donnell had an unpaid tax lien on her property. When O"Donnell truthfully denied it, they just said "but the records (which we illegally obtained)say otherwise. The Democrats used the power of the state and federal IRS to slander a candidate and tamper with a Senate election. Combine this with the DOJ misconduct in Alaska, and you have two different Senate elections the Democrats have misused government power to influence.

It would be nice if Reason would maybe mix in a post or some coverage about this. You guys wonder why I constantly bitch about Reason's hipster beltway cultural sensibilities. This is an example of why I hate that so much. O'Donnell doesn't fit their culture sensibilities so they don't fell covering her abuse at the hands of the IRS. O'Donnell just isn't cool so who cares if they did it. I don't care what O'Donnell is. She could be a communist for all I care. This is outrageous.

[Warty]

Seriously. Heads should roll over this. But they won't, because she believes in witchcraft. Or something.

[John]

The bastard at the state IRS says he accessed her records just out of curiosity. It is just an odd coincidence they were later leaked and he is the only person who is known to have accessed them.

[Wandering Texan]

When the fuck is "Curiosity" a valid reason to open a specific persons records?

[John]

Good question. And the guy still has a job.

[Brett L]

It is specifically NOT for private companies. Remember when the Verizon guys got fired for pulling Obama's phone records in 2008?

[John]

Didn't that Dem idiot son in Tennessee go to jail for hacking Sarah Palin's email?

[Brett L]

Right. But I guess I was talking about people who have access to a system for valid customer service or job functions but use their access outside their remit. Anyone outside a Federal agency who does so with HIPAA information risks being crushed like a bug.

I just did a job for an ACO hospital who wanted to know who searched on what terms and what dataset was returned every time, in addition to single patient records being viewed or changed. It is the most conservative reading of HIPAA/HI-TECH I've been a party to, but I don't think they are being paranoid.

[Raston Bot]

Does she have recourse for slander?

[John]

The problem is that she is a public official. That means that the journalist trash that did this is probably off the hook. You would have to prove a reckless disregard on their part. The IRS and state hacks who forged the information would be on the hook. But she says in the article neither the IRS nor the state will give her the results of their internal investigation so she can know who actually did it. She could sue the journalist, but the journalist would just claim "I must keep my source confidential" and unless the judge was willing to enter a default judgement, would get away with it.

They really fucked her.

[Mike M.]

Political hacks working in the Delaware Department of Revenue and the IRS illegally accessed and leaked her tax information to other political hacks pretending to be journalists.

Golly gee, and I thought all this stuff was limited to a few rotten apples in Ohio.

[Lord Humungus]

How to Care for a Newborn, 1254

"After the woman has delivered the child, you should know how to take care of the child. Know that as soon as the child is born, it should be wrapped in crushed roses mixed with fine salt? And when one wishes to swaddle [the baby], the members should be gently couched and arranged so as to give them a good shape, and this is easy for a wise nurse; for just as wax when it is soft takes whatever form one wishes to give to it, so also the child takes the form which its nurses give to it. And for this reason, you should know that beauty and ugliness are due in large measure to nurses. And when its arms are swaddled, and the hands over the knees, and the head lightly swaddled and covered, let it sleep in the cradle."

[Raston Bot]

Who's read/reading Human Action? I'm jumping around sections b/c about half of it is too esoteric for me.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I have the full set of four staring at me, taunting me with their big words and heavy topics. I am yet to succumb and start reading them. With any luck, I will continue to resist them.

[JEP]

My sister gave to me for Christmas last year, but I haven't started reading it yet.

I'm temporarily putting my libertarian education on hold in order to teach myself new skills to switch careers.

[Matrix]

Concealed carry permits could kill more Californians

Yeah, I'm sure society is going to miss some dead thieves and violent criminals.

[Pro Libertate]

Is there some sort of recall on the paper the permits were printed on? Is it infected somehow?

[John]

Yes. It is unclean. Contact with one makes you a heretic.

[tarran]

Third hand gun violence: you talk with someone who saw a third party carrying a gun once.

[Pro Libertate]

I wonder how many crimes are committed with registered guns used by their owners?

[John]

Knowing that people carry guns causes non gun owners to experience anxiety and stress which leads to all sorts of health effects.

What do you want to bet I could troll the Slate or Salon comment boards with that argument and make them all believers?

[tarran]

Why aim so low?

I'm sure the lancet would happily publish your 'study'.

[John]

True. I am sensing a PHD and tenure in my future.

[Pro Libertate]

Go straight to emeritus.

[The Late P Brooks]

I wonder how many crimes are committed with registered guns used by their owners?

There was that guy in the movie theater, who forgot he was an EX-cop.

[Pro Libertate]

Can cops or ex-cops really ever be said to commit "crimes?"

[The Late P Brooks]

Does a Pope (or a living ex-Pope) sin?

Is such a thing even conceivable?

[John]

Yes. The Pope is only "infallible" with regards to his declarations of church doctrine. He is a flawed person and sins just like everyone else. Indeed, he sits on the thrown of St. Peter, the guy who denied knowing Christ when the Romans had him and did a few other less than admirable things.

[Pro Libertate]

Just like when a cop is wearing a badge. Which, curiously, was also designed by Bernini.

[Mainer2]

thrown of St. Peter

Hit and Run. Come for the philosophical discussions, stay for the typos.

[Pro Libertate]

To be sure, I've coined some neologisms from John's typos, so I'm a fan.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hm. More tenacious I reckon. It would have been tight but Canada would have taken it. They were on a mission.

Sweden were without three key players. Zetterberg and H. Sedin in particular were a big loss, but again, that defense.

Monstrous.

[Brett L]

Interesting, long article about the Fin who trained all of the NHL Finnish goalies, and Finnish hockey in general.