A.M. Links: Bitcoin Exchange Mt. Gox Files For Bankruptcy, Unidentified Armed Men Take Positions at Crimean Airports, Clinton Library To Release Memos

Credit: antanacoins / Foter / CC BY-SA

• The Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has filed for bankruptcy and is blaming hackers for the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the digital currency. Yesterday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said yesterday that the Federal Reserve does not have any authority to regulate Bitcoin.
• Armed men with military uniforms have been stationed at airports in Crimea, a region of Ukraine where there have recently been clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Western groups. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov said, "Terrorists with automatic weapons, judged by our special services to be professional soldiers, tried to take control of the airport in Crimea," and Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has accused Russian forces of occupying the airport in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
• Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie raised $1 million for the Republican Governors Association with Mitt Romney in Boston.
• The Clinton Library is to release the first set of confidential memos from the Clinton White House today.
• The U.S. has cut its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent. 
• According to a United Nations report Syrian authorities claimed there were two attempted attacks on convoys transporting chemical weapons last month.
• President Obama and Vice President Biden have participated in a promotional video for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign. Watch below:

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Armed men with military uniforms have been stationed at airports in Crimea...

Are they making travelers take off their shoes?

[Slammer]

At least they may know where D.C. is

[Rich]

"Please let me speak with your supervisor, you mouth-breathing moron."

[Mainer2]

Remember, you can't professionalize unless you federalize.

[Rhywun]

If only we had a national ID card to make these poor agents' jobs easier.

[UnCivilServant]

"Will you be flying in Armed or Unarmed?"

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***

I was going to reach across the aisle, but I got high
I was going to read the whole healthcare bill, then I got high
I coulda closed down Guantanamo but I got high
Now I'm in my second term and I know why
Yeah, hey, 'cause I got high
'cause I got high
'cause I got high
La dadadadadada

-click-

[Tonio]

+1 Afro Man

Not a big fan of the O'phone schtick, but this is funny.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Doctor Whom]

Dobroye utro.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's not morning everywhere. Don't be so western hemispherecentric.

[wareagle]

hemi-privilege?

[Doctor Whom]

So that's what's in my invisible knapsack? No wonder they wear out so often.

[Steve G]

Sportin' a hemi!

[Slammer]

Howdy!

[UnCivilServant]

SYN

[Jordan]

Ni hao.

[mad libertarian guy]

Bom dia.

[Lord Humungus]

ciao, baby.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Morning, Rufus.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nine hellos! Record!

Give each other a pat on the bum.

[UnCivilServant]

No.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Christie is still a Republican?

[UnCivilServant]

Christie was never a republican.

He is an ambulatory adipose tumor from the jersey wastes.

[Tonio]

He is The Jersey Waist.

[gaijin]

Toxic Waist at that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Toxic Avenger?

http://search.yahoo.com/search.....8&fr=moz35

[Mainer2]

Cult. Classic.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

On the radio the other morning, they were reporting on the Arizona controversy and it was pointed out that Romney had stated he was against the law.

One of the hosts: "Wow, when Romney, one of the far right guys says it's bad, it must be bad."

I managed to somehow not immediately drive my car off a bridge.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

JFC, I heard almost the same thing from someone about a month ago at a party. She said something to the effect of, "why did they have to nominate a right-wing Tea Partier like Romney." I mean, I donkey laughed at that.

[DontShootMe]

According to the left, you're not allowed to *make* your own money. In order to get a lot of money, you have to inherit it, marry it, or be given it by the Federal Govt.

[Zeb]

Or be Warren Buffet or George Soros.

[db]

People are so woefully uninformed. And they vote.
Doom.

DOOM.

DOOOOOM!!!

[Zeb]

It seems "far right" just means not Democrat now.

[Rhywun]

Bingo.

[UnCivilServant]

Armed men with military uniforms have been stationed at airports in Crimea, a region of Ukraine where there have recently been clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Western groups. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov said, "Terrorists with automatic weapons, judged by our special services to be professional soldiers, tried to take control of the airport in Crimea," and Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has accused Russian forces of occupying the airport in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

You meant it's not the light brigade? No wait, it's the Turks. Can't be the French.

[Ken Shultz]

Like the Olympics, this must all be playing for the benefit of Russians back home.

The Crimea was autonomous before they joined Ukraine. They're autonomous in the Ukraine, too, but we're supposed to believe that Ukrainian separatists...um...want to be part of Russia?

Meanwhile, state media in Russia is criticizing the Ukrainian president for abandoning his post. This is all about Putin's image back home--if we lose Ukraine, it's not Putin's fault!

If Putin popularity rests on projecting an image of a newly strong Russia, to be feared and respected, to the outside world--how credible is that respect when it won't even travel as far as Kiev?

Oh well, at least they won the medal count, and isn't that what's really important?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"projecting an image of a newly strong Russia, to be feared and respected, to the outside world."

This has always been a key feature of insecure Russian politics.

[Ken Shultz]

More so since they lost the Cold War, but, yeah, "Three Romes" has been around since half of forever before that:

http://www.jstor.org/discover/.....3552799457

I think one of the reasons they have a visceral reaction to "American Exceptionalism" is because they've got their own sense of Russian Exceptionalism, and it was thoroughly humiliated after the Cold War.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This is true. During my Russian history class - and reading Russian literature - it was interesting to detect the similar trait of 'exceptionalism' among Russian elites.

I can see why, on one side, they think this but for the most part - for me anyway - part of being exceptional is people wanting to be like you. Say what you want, but American culture intoxicates people the world over; not Russian culture.

Moreover, Russians imported cultural know-how (French, German and Italian in particular) to get them modernized with the West.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm by no means an expert on these things, but I've read that Russian culture has always been devoutly religious, and I think their idea of Russian exceptionalism had that religious grounding.

It probably makes it worse that they've always felt like they were behind. First, behind Europe in their development and then the U.S. Their enthusiasm for communism probably had that feel to it, too...

Finally, we've taken our rightful place at the vanguard of history, leading the rest of the world into the bright future of communism!

Oops.

[sarcasmic]

Two teens arrested for animal cruelty over a shocking video showing a pit bull puppy being hurled in the air and repeatedly punched

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....nched.html
Future policemen.

[Ace Sullivan]

ah yes, 'teens'...

[Zeb]

?

[Mercutio]

"The more I learn about people, the better I like my dog." -- Mark Twain

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. has cut its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

UNEXPECTEDLY.

[mad libertarian guy]

When you're only talking about a bit over 3%, the need for a near full percentage point reduction demonstrates a huge fucking miss. They missed their own estimate by 25 fucking percent!

If a comptroller in some company missed their estimate by 25%, he/she'd be fired post haste.

[Jordan]

The whole thing is bullshit. It will vanish instantly when the current asset bubble finally pops. Stocks are way overvalued.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm surprised forecasts even get that high.

[KDN]

Not really. Assuming the previous quarter ended at 4.000t, it's equivalent to projecting 4.128t this quarter but only coming in at 4.096t. The estimate itself is off by only 0.8%.

[mad libertarian guy]

What's a few tens of billions?

[WTF]

Hey, 10 billion here, 10 billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.

[KDN]

A pretty good estimate when you're talking about the sum total of production by hundreds of millions of actors.

Seriously now, if you're projecting total spend for anything over a three month period and you end up being off by less than 1 percent, you're doing pretty good, especially with how many moving parts are involved here. The fact that they constantly need to be revised downwards is something that should be investigated, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's done on purpose in an attempt to subliminally boost consumer confidence.

[UnCivilServant]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's done on purpose in an attempt to subliminally boost consumer confidence

I wouldn't be surprised if they tried that, but I'd be shocked it it actually did anything. The vast majority of consumers never see these projections.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Or care, or understand, if they do.

[gaijin]

Recovery is right around the corner comrades...If we could only get a $300 billion stimulus for roadz....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Soccer alert: Boy oh boy, were Dnipro jobbed against Tottenham.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Soccer alert:

Stop right there.

[Ted S.]

What exactly happened? I didn't watch the match

[Rufus J. Firefly]

In a nutshell? Spurs played like crap, Dnipro were denied a penalty, given an unfair send off, while Tots rewarded one for a dive.

And the English press laud their heroes.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Eh, it was a dive but you don't do headbutts, even small ones if you don't want to get sent off.

I kinda wish they had lost, they need to focus on the league.

[Rhywun]

Except his head didn't touch him. Yeah, it was a douche move but (so far) being a douche is not a sending-off offense.

[Apatheist ?_??]

If the ref catches it even an attempted headbutt is a red card offense.

[Rhywun]

What if he's just faking the other guy out? How is that worth a sending off? And... why is the game all about this shit nowadays? I'm sick of it. At least Australian footy is about to start up again. None of these stupid head games.

[Timon 19]

Don't give the referee the opportunity to make a decision against you like that.

Same thing with diving in with an outstretched leg in the box when the attacker isn't in that dangerous of a position. You may not make contact, but you've put yourself in a position to be judged against.

[Rhywun]

Spurs played like crap

So, the usual.

Yeah, that red card was ridiculous. OWWWW the motion of the air from the movement of your head knocked me down!!

[sarcasmic]

McDonald's sued for $1.5 million by customer after employee called 'Angel' only gave him one NAPKIN with his meal
Webster Lucas claims he was racially abused by a McDonald's manager
He insists 'mental anguish' after the incident has left him unable to work
Alleged row took place at McDonald's in Pacoima, California, on January 29

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....APKIN.html
About the only thing I ever order at McDonald's is a double hamburger, but I quit doing that because they keep putting cheese on the damn things.

[Jordan]

In California. So the lawsuit probably has a chance of success then.

[waffles]

That's brilliant. I would love a Mcdouble sans cheese. I find their cheese to be way too artificial for my tastes.

[sarcasmic]

I further confuse them by requesting they use the fresh slivered onions that they put on quarter pounders instead of the nasty reconstituted ones they put on hamburgers. Guess it's too much for their fragile minimum wage brains to take.

[mad libertarian guy]

Guess it's too much for their fragile minimum wage brains to take.

The reason these disenfranchised fast food workers mess up orders is because they're not getting paid a LIVING WAGE!!! It has nothing to do with them being near useless.

/derp

[sarcasmic]

Good point! I forgot! Giving someone a raise magically transforms them into a more productive worker! Only a hater would say that workers must be more productive before getting a raise!

[Jordan]

Remember: green squares of paper are wealth!

[UnCivilServant]

What about my green rectangles?

[Jordan]

Chop 'em up.

[Rasilio]

Actually it can, but generally only if they were capable of doing significantly above minimum wage work to begin with.

There have been several times where I had to take jobs for which I was being under compensated and yes, dialed my productivity down to match the level of compensation

[gaijin]

Have you been offended in a drive thru incident?
Get the compensation you deserve!
Call the law offices of McDonald and McDonald.
And yes. If you don't collect, are services are free!

[gaijin]

*our services, of course.

[PM]

Complaining about the taste of the cheese on a McDonald's burger is like sending back your shit salad because the lettuce was wilted.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

McDonald's isn't that bad, O Foodie Snob.

[PM]

It's relative. I mean, I'd eat it if I was dying, and I'd take it over a tofu burger, but I'd rather walk the 60 miles to the nearest In-N-Out burger than ever eat at McDonald's again.

[sarcasmic]

Do you have obsessive compulsive disorder or something? It's like you can't post a comment without some sort of personal attack. WTF?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Been meaning to ask. What's the skinny on Sonic?

Thoughts?

[PM]

Sonic is alright. Better than, say, Burger King or McDonald's.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

I really like their onion rings, and they're the only fast food place where you can get a decent chili dog.

I find that their customer service is pretty good, although their speaker system sucks ass, and it makes ordering a painful process at times.

[Wandering Texan]

Get tater tots, not fries, and try the fucking' chili dog.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I like you Wandering Texan. Our food preferences have aligned perfectly on this thread.

[Stormy Dragon]

Sonic also serves breakfast all day, which is awesome.

[Steve G]

I'm a two hamburger meal kinda guy, but alas I always have to order their two cheeseburger meal w/o cheese. They get it right...most of the time, but they act like I'm really customizing the menu.

[Jordan]

I eat my sandwiches plain. That used to really throw fast food workers for a loop, but now they seem to handle it okay.

What really pisses me off though is when restaurants list ingredients next to an item, but the list is incomplete. So I order it and it shows up lathered in some disgusting sauce that wasn't listed.

[mad libertarian guy]

See the Arby's Brisket Sandwich covered up is nasty ass mayonnaise.

Seriously, Arby's: you don't need fuckig mayo on a brisket sandwich, nor fucking cheese. Just meat and the bread is fine. I'll add my own Arby's sauce.

[Zeb]

"You people" just might mean customers, not black people.
If that causes unbearable mental anguish, you're never going to make it in the world and you might as well become a monk or shoot yourself.

[Gene]

cheese

Is that what that stuff is?

[Zeb]

Pasteurized process cheese food.

[Firework Surprise]

I always love it when the word food is found at the end of a description. If the word food is necessary, don't believe it.

[sarcasmic]

The greatest underwater photographs from around the world: Winning entries selected from thousands of amazing aquatic images

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....mages.html
Pretty cool.

[sarcasmic]

The shocking gallery of guns, drugs and money posted online by boy, THIRTEEN, just hours before he was accidentally shot dead by his best friend as they played with the weapons he showed off

Police shocked by gallery of guns on Facebook page of Memphis teen who was accidentally shot dead by his friend
Cartrail Robertson, 13, was struck down on Tuesday by his friend Darrin Wilson, 15
Robertson uploaded a picture of himself with two handguns just hours before he died
Friends of the two have posted disturbing images of other teenagers brandishing weapons, money and drugs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....riend.html
As expected, some of the comments are weapons-grade derp.

[UnCivilServant]

We clearly need firearms safety courses in middle school.

[Tonio]

We clearly need firearms safety courses in middle elementary school.

Srsly. SLD's about mandatory, taxpayer-funded edumucation, but if we're going to have this let's teach practical life skills like that and CPR. Also, will piss off proggies.

[Rich]

This.

Those children are the future well-regulated militia.

[Ted S.]

The principal ought to make the morning class change one of the tires on his car putting on the spare, and the afternoon class take off the spare and put the regular tire back on. There's a practical life skill. Students will be graded on whether the principal has to go to a tire store to get the car rebalanced afterwards.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

How about teaching them how to change the oil?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Changing your own oil is a rather silly hobby, cost-wise.

[Zeb]

Yeah, I'm quite happy to pay someone $25 and not spend time lying in my driveway and figuring out where to dump the old oil.

[Don Mynack]

Unless you can stand out there and watch them do it, they are giving you the cheapest grade shit oil and filter they have, over-tourquing your drain bolt and filter by about 50 pounds, over-filling (they always overfill so you won't show up and get a re-top), and checking nothing they claim to be checking when you look at their "check list".

I use a full-synth oil change once-a-year, with filter changes every 5K miles, and never had an engine problem. I use an oil extractor and take the oil straight out of the fill tube, and never remove the drain plug.

[R C Dean]

figuring out where to dump the old oil.

What, the nearest storm drain isn't good enough for you?

[Zeb]

That's several miles away, so not too practical. And I have a shallow groundwater well, so my property isn't a good option. The local dump (sorry, recycling center) takes it for free, but I think I still have a few jugs of dirty oil in the darker corner of my garage.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I wish that had been in my curriculum. I'm 27 and I've never had to change a tire on my car. I'll be screwed when I finally have to.

[mad libertarian guy]

I wish that had been in my curriculum. I'm 27 and I've never had to change a tire on my car. I'll be screwed when I finally have to.

Parental FAIL.

I was made to learn how to change the tire before I was ever able to drive a car. Oil too, but the cost differential between just bringing it somewhere and doing it yourself isn't very good. It's oftentimes CHEAPER to pay someone else to do it.

[Citizen Nothing]

When I was 16, my dad gave me his old car that wasn't running. That was great incentive to learn about working on cars.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Absolutely. I see my neighbours changing the tires every year. It take one hour or more - without the option of balancing them. I don't get that at all given it costs a lousy $40 to have pro do it.

I get the thing about doing things yourself but sometimes it goes over board and my neighbors - God bless them because they're good folk - sometimes do.

Not only that, a couple of my buddies are mechanics and my brother-in-law (a contractor and maven who can fix and build literally anything) point out that, particularly with high-end cars, tension for the bolts have to be at the correct torque or else the wheels can fall out.

I'm one of those guys who can do the basics myself but like MLG, it's not worth it (unless you love doing stuff like that). I just pay thus freeing up time for myself.

Washing and cleaning the car same thing. Once in a blue moon I'll take it to a pro shop for detailing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Quick story. A couple of years ago my tire blew on the way back from Plattsburgh in the dead of winter. It was already dark on a pretty dangerous part of the highway. The lane was too close to the highway and contemplated doing the change myself but I calculated and felt it was too dangerous. Plus it was -15 and the bolts were probably too frozen.

So we called CAA. When they arrived the guy told me he had to tow me to a safer place. I asked him about procedures and he told me I did the right thing because you're not allowed to change tires on the side of the road.

In other words, I had no choice but to call CAA. The bolt were, as I suspected, frozen. It took both of us to get them loosened. What should have been a quick job took about 30 minutes.

Anyway. When I got back home my wife told the story to my sister-in-law and she smugly said 'couldn't you have done it yourself?'

Punch in the face I wanted to give her.

I explained to her the circumstances and context and suggested it would have been irresponsible with a child in the car.

Some people...

[John]

Rufus,

The problem with working on cars or your house or much of anything is that you tend to only have a problem once. So as an amateur doing something the first time is hard. There are usually little tricks and ways of doing things that you don't realize until you have done it. This is one of the reasons why professionals are so fast at what they do. They have done nay particular job more than once and know the ins and outs.

So what happens with your car is you do job like say replacing a water pump and you struggle and go through all sorts of aggravation as you figure out what the tools work the best and the quirks about your car and such. But then you never use that knowledge again because your car is not likely to have that problem again. Next time it will be something new and you will go through the whole process again. Unless you just like figuring things out, it gets very aggravating very quickly.

Really, other than changing your oil or spark plugs or fixing small things, it is usually not worth it.

[gaijin]

The problem with working on cars or your house or much of anything is that you tend to only have a problem once. So as an amateur doing something the first time is hard.

Exactly this. see: Drywall.

[mad libertarian guy]

Exactly this. see: Drywall.

Drywall is deceptively difficult to do well. I did the basement in my old house in drywall, and what would have taken a professional one full day took me months (of course I wasn't working on it full time either, but an hour here or there), and it still wasn't done to the proficiency that a professional could have done.

[Zeb]

Really, other than changing your oil or spark plugs or fixing small things, it is usually not worth it.

Unless you buy lots of crappy used cars. Then you can get the practice you need.

[Zeb]

I bet you could figure it out. I don't think anyone ever told me how to change a wheel on a car, but somehow I figured it out.

[SweatingGin]

I just had to offer to help an adult (mid-twenties) co-worker change a tire this morning, so I'm getting a kick out of this.

[Zeb]

The lack of mechanical sympathy that some people have is amazing.

Drivers' Ed classes should probably spend more time on things like emergency roadside repairs than on stupid questions about whether or not it is a good idea to drink and drive.

[KDN]

I'm the strange one across my extended family because I'll actually entertain the thought of going to the mechanic for anything more complicated than a brake job.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

The only thing I do to my car is pump gas. Otherwise it's AAA and mechanics.

[Cdr Lytton]

Eh. You'll be fine. Just make sure you have your car manual, jack and the security adapter if your wheels require it. Especially the last one.

I never changed one until a couple years ago when my wife's car went flat at home. Looked at procedure for a couple of minutes and then got to work. No trouble once I got the bolts started. And put air in the spare.

[John]

The thing about changing a tire on the side of the road is that if the ground is soft, the small jacks that come in most cars won't work. They just push into the ground. You have to have a hard surface for them to work properly since their footprint is so narrow. So if the road you are stuck on has a bad shoulder, you may not get the car to jack. I had this happen to me once and had to call AAA. The AAA guy had a floor jack and made quick work of it. But where I was, there was no way I was going to get my car to jack up without parking out in the oncoming traffic or turning my car around and fixing the tire on the road side, not very safe options.

[UnCivilServant]

Okay, but just so long as it starts with theory and doesn't let them near live ammunition until they've mastered that.

[Wandering Texan]

The story is weapons-grade derp.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

And pictures like those are also one of the reasons that those mean ol' middle-aged white guys refuse to give up their own guns.

[Steve G]

2 f'ing guns?!?! When I read "shocking gallery of guns..." I'm expecting a bit more. But then again, my dad had a gun room when I was kid. Room, w/ walls covered in them.

[UnCivilServant]

Two?

A "Shocking Gallery" to me is "Enough guns to equip a mechanized infantry division"

[Rasilio]

And then it's only shocking cause you're trying to figure out how the hell anyone could afford such an arsenal

[sarcasmic]

When Zimmerman got his guns back he had about a hundred rounds of ammo. They called that an arsenal. So in their honor I picked up two boxes of fifty on my way home from work that day. Fucking limies.

[UnCivilServant]

That all? That's not even a day on the range. We burn a box of fifty in a single match.

[sarcasmic]

All I've got is a six shot revolver. Takes a little longer to burn through a box, only because I've got to stop and reload more often.

[UnCivilServant]

Really? Because we use bolt-action rifles with relatively short magazines. (Internal, integrated) I think A six shooter would at least be as quick to reload unless it's a black powder cap and ball model.

[sarcasmic]

My fault for making assumptions.

[mad libertarian guy]

Really? Because we use bolt-action rifles with relatively short magazines.

This.

Going through 60 or 80 rounds at the range with a bolt action is a good afternoon. Expensive (which is why I reload), but a good time.

[Zeb]

It's in the Daily Mail. To people who read the Mail for other than comedy reasons, one handgun is enough to bring on the vapors.

[SRVolunteer]

shocking gallery of guns, drugs and money...

Daily Fail is full of derp, but they're talking about a photo gallery.

[Juice]

I Obama had a son...

[Juice]

Of course I fucked it up.

[Rich]

"Bitcoin is a payment innovation that's taking place outside the banking industry. To the best of my knowledge there's no intersection at all, in any way, between Bitcoin and banks that the Federal Reserve has the ability to supervise and regulate. So the Fed doesn't have authority to supervise or regulate Bitcoin in anyway," said Yellen.

Right, Janet.

Clearly the Secret Service, the FBI, and the DEA are the agencies with authority to supervise or regulate Bitcoin.

[Ted S.]

I thought intersectionality was evil.

[sarcasmic]

Roll up, roll up: Tourists flock to Cuba to take part in Havana's annual cigar festival as hundreds compete to create the longest ash

More than 450 cigar lovers took part in an unusual contest at Havana's annual marquee Cigar Festival yesterday
The main event saw contestants compete to create the longest ash with a 7-inch H. Upmann Sir Winston cigar
The production of Cuban cigars saw an 8% growth in 2013 adding $447million to the island nation's economy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....t-ash.html
Notice the picture of Che at one of the work stations.

[Ted S.]

Michael Totten pointed out that he saw more glorification of Ernesto than of the Castros when he was in Cuba.

Unsurprisingly, his posts on Cuba brought out the derp.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Surprising given even Castro thought Che was a whacko.

It never ceases to amaze me how progressives (even mild-mannered people) latch on to murderers.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Because they're all about choices, the ISIS armed group in Raqqa, Syria, has offered Christians three options:

hand over 14 grams of pure gold AND submit to Jim Crow style "dhimmi" status,

convert to Islam

or they can go behind door #3 and choose to be "subject to being legitimate targets" and killed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26366197

[Jordan]

hand over 14 grams of pure gold AND submit to Jim Crow style "dhimmi" status,

"Gimme your Jew gold, Kyle!"

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

My favorite part is that Kyle actually has it.

[waffles]

Are these the good guys or the bad guys? All this middle east shit makes me pin for Nazis. At least fighting Nazis is unambiguous.

[PM]

At least it's an ethos.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Even fighting Nazis might be a bit ambiguous if the Nazis were fighting ISIS, al-Qaeda, or the latest group of angry, sexless, bearded men that the Middle East has produced.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Look, there are many groups opposing the Assad regime. These guys are the Syrian People's front. America is helping the People's Front of Syria, which is totally a separate group which won't let its arms get into the hands of the Syrian People's Front.

Don't get me started on the Syrian Popular Front.

[sarcasmic]

Former cop, 45, breaks down in tears as he is sentenced to three years for high-speed crash that killed fellow officer
Former New Jersey police lieutenant Keith Buckley will serve 2 years before being eligible for parole after striking a plea deal
He was behind the wheel of a Dodge Viper that he borrowed from his brother when he lost control while speeding and hit a utility pole
His passenger Christopher Zerby, a father-of-two, was killed in the crash
In court on Thursday, Zerby's mother, sister and mother spoke of their grief
Buckley: 'I will never be the same and my reputation is destroyed'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ficer.html
Would there have even been charges if the passenger was a prole instead of a fellow officer?

[UnCivilServant]

No. Did you ahve to ask?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Never get in the passenger seat of a fast car with someone who thinks his "training" makes him an expert at driving.

[R C Dean]

3 years sounds about right for wrecking a Viper. I would have thought the additional fatality would be worth something more, even if it was just a cop.

[sarcasmic]

She wears them well! Elizabeth Hurley throws on a little black dress to join Henry Cole at a British design private view

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-view.html
Hugh Grant is an idiot.

[wareagle]

and if the tabloids are correct, Bill Clinton was not.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Hugh Grant is the alpha of alphas and moved on to show he could do so.

[Doctor Whom]

The U.S. has cut its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

I blame it on (circle all that apply: Bush, obstructionist teathuglicans, market failure, the bossa nova with its magic spell). But the credit for the S&P totally goes to Obama.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

You just saved shriek about three posts - bless you.

[Lord Humungus]

Talking Dog Device Ready to Hit Market Soon

The cat version will just say: fuck you

[Ska]

It occasionally says "feed me, manservant."

[Ted S.]

Dogs have owners; cats have staff.

[wareagle]

someone actually spent time and money on two guys with ties jogging. We have lost our minds.

[Ted S.]

Run, Rich, run!

[Steve G]

don't forget the cherry on top: "see you next week" For a slow job round the bldg, wow

[Steve G]

*jog

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Dashboard cam catches cops in unbelievable series of lies that led to man's false arrest
Police charged a New Jersey man with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer, but recently revealed footage from a dashboard camera told a different story: Not only did the officers start beating the man for no apparent reason, but they actually crashed one of their vehicles into the man's car.

Then they allegedly lied about what transpired and suppressed the evidence, but were somehow found innocent during an internal investigation....

[Ted S.]

Take out ads with this video, naming the police officers in question.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well, TDC is conservative and cons usually don't miss a chance to call cops 'heroes.' But it's nice to see this isn't the case as much anymore.

The memory of 9/11 is fading but its initial impact was to hype up the police force. This too is hopefully fading.

[Rhywun]

The memory of 9/11 is fading but its initial impact was to hype up the police force. This too is hopefully fading.

Its long-term impact was to turn the USA into a police state and I don't see that fading one bit.

[Auric Demonocles]

After the Happy Hour on Wednesday, I was literally going to stop being a freeloader today and get a subscription... And now I find an AM Links without alt-text. Get your shit together Reason!

[hamilton]

That being said, Nick is putting pictures of bikini babes in his posts. I ascribe this completely to the Happy Hour.

[WTF]

He's grateful you didn't kick him in the balls.

[Lord Humungus]

Tegu lizard beginning to overrun parts of Florida

They're big and they're hungry.

Now, the tegu lizard is becoming a problem for Hillsborough County, Florida.

The tegu lizard was first spotted in rural Hillsborough County nine years ago. But since then reports have become more frequent.

The South American invader can grow up to four-and-a-half feet long and lays up to fifty eggs at a time.

[UnCivilServant]

I think they need the fifty eggs because that small is still gator feed (unless they're poisonous)

[Doctor Whom]

The answer to the exotic species overrunning Florida is to convince trendy people that tegu lizards, Burmese pythons, and the like are the latest gourmet delicacies.

[Tonio]

Why does anyone need fifty eggs

[UnCivilServant]

Ever try to make an omlette for twenty people?

[Ted S.]

Fifty eggs isn't much if you're talking caviar. And since you're a libertarian, you're obviously not talking anything lower-class than caviar.

[Auric Demonocles]

Release the pythons!

[Ted S.]

The monkeys will freeze in the winter.

Oh wait, this is Florida.

[Steve G]

How many shoes will one make? It's market time!

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, ha, menu diversity!

[SIV]

Do an image search on Tegu lizards. There are pics of little kids playing with them, people kissing them, a hot chick walking one on a leash and Tegus wearing clothes.They may be one of the most harmless and cute animals on Earth.

[UnCivilServant]

Okay, you convinced me, they can stay.

[Jgalt1975]

You can make shoes out of tegu lizard skin, so it seems like there should be a market for hunting them.

[sarcasmic]

Prosecutors refuse to reduce charges against undercover officer in New York City biker melee because tech entrepreneur victim is permanently disfigured
Alexian Lien was horrifically beaten in front of his wife and daughter after getting into an altercation with a biker gang in September
Lien ran over a biker after he became boxed in on the West Side Highway in Manhattan

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....melee.html
They throw us a bone once in a while.

[Tonio]

Now, Sarc, you know that charges are different from convictions are different from sentences. Also, botched prosecutions.

I predict that they will put on a good show of "throwing the book" at him, but he'll get a slap on the wrist and an early retirement at taxpayer expense.

[sarcasmic]

Very true. Once the theater is over he'll probably get time served before quietly being rehired with back pay.

[Hawk Spitui]

The Economist: What's gone wrong with democracy?

[Steve G]

This a trick question?

[Juice]

I like the chart that conflates freedom with democracy.

[Slammer]

Suffolk County, N.Y. has a budget deficit, but still increases pay for cops. NYCPBA boss: "I don't begrudge Suffolk cops," said Ed Mullins, president of New York City's Sergeants Benevolent Association. "It's a pretty nice atmosphere. But in New York City, there's crime all over the place. In so many ways, we're a small army, and we're not compensated for that."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

"?the person who was allowed to ultimately control the father's reproductive freedom was the mother."
...Although not the subject of the Utah lawsuit, at the other end of the spectrum, many are surprised to learn that the law also permits a nonmarital mother to force fatherhood on men who never even consented to the sexual act that produced the child. Male victims of statutory rape, for example, in every case to consider the issue, have been ordered to pay child support for children that were a product of the rape. Likewise, adult men who are victims of sexual assault as well as men whose sperm was taken without their consent (and subsequently used to artificially inseminate a female) have also been consistently ordered to pay child support for the resulting child. In all of these cases, the mother's wrongdoing has been ruled irrelevant....

[PM]

Her body her choice, right?

[WTF]

And also his body, her choice.

[sarcasmic]

The forgotten fortress of Alcatraz: Labyrinth of underground civil war military tunnels and buildings discovered beneath the infamous prison island
Radar scanning has revealed parts of a fortress that occupied Alcatraz are intact beneath the prison
Researchers from Texas A&M University found an underground tunnel system and other buildings
The military fort was built in 1850 and troops were stationed there during the Civil War
No shots were fired and it was converted into a prison in 1934
It ran as a prison for 29 years, and was home to some of U.S. history's most notorious criminals
Archaeologists hope to begin excavations on part of the prison soon

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....atraz.html
I wonder who is paying for this.

[SIV]

NPS, so YOU

[KDN]

Haven't seen this one around, but it's a week old and I apologize if it's been posted before.

Cops hit my car, then arrested me

New York's Finest living up to their nickname.

Robert Jackson, 31, told The Post his nightmare began when a police car heading the wrong way on one-way Watkins Street in Brownsville scraped against a parked Ford Explorer, which belongs to his girlfriend.

"I was smiling, like, 'How'd you run into me?'?" he recalled. "Then the cop said, 'Dude, you ran into me.'?"

"I just wanted them to fix the damage and apologize, but it didn't turn out that way," Jackson said. "They were trying to cover it up."

At that point, things got even more surreal.

The two cops checked the block for surveillance cameras before arresting him for destruction of city property, according to the lawsuit filed by Jackson in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
"When they thought no cameras were on. I saw their gloves go on, and that's when I was arrested," Jackson said.

[sarcasmic]

And of course the cops, even though they are proven liars, still have their jobs.

[sarcasmic]

Bringing the Bugatti 100P back to life: Bid to rebuild incredible 500mph WW2 plane that could have won Germany the war
Near completion in 1940, Bugatti was forced to conceal the aircraft
The plane survived the war hidden from the enemy but never flew
Now Scottish engineer John Lawson, 59, is developing a working replica
Original Bugatti 100P would have been fitted with two 450 horsepower engines and had a wingspan of nearly 27 ft (8.2m)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....skies.html

[John]

As manufacturing technology gets cheaper and cheaper, I would think that we are going to see the day of even amateur hobbyists building your own car in your garage. I don't mean building hot rod. I mean 3d printing your own restomod Bugatti Atlantic or Ferrari 250 Luso.

[sarcasmic]

Just because you can make the parts doesn't mean you can put them all together.

[waffles]

There's an app for that.

[John]

True. But you can always rent a robot to help you. I don't think we are far off from that either.

[Lord Humungus]

many years ago I had a friend who bought a barn-find '68 Camaro - the interior was all mold but the body was in good condition.

I drive over to his house and he's dismantling the car. He removes the fender and then just throws the bolts into a box... that's filled with other bolts. Wtf? Good luck putting that car back together... as far as I know he never did.

When I did my engine swap, I had every bolt/set marked and inside a plastic baggie. Putting everything back together again was easy as pie.

[John]

Yeah. One of my guilty pleasures is watching car restoration and reality shows. One of my favorites is the Discovery Channel show Fast and Loud. It is a fun show and the lead is a total flake but entertaining. The build some good cars. But I swear every time they redo a car the whole crew attacks it like a bunch of angry monkeys and tears it apart without noting how anything goes back together. And every time they get the car back from paint and start putting it back together they spend hours figuring it out again. You would think they would learn but they never seem to.

There is another show from the BBC that is on Velocity called Wheeler Dealers. There these two Brits buy and fix up various used cars and sell them. The mechanic on the show Ed China is fucking amazing. That guy is the low key Brit. He will spend eight hours putting a convertible top on and remark without any irony "well it is a bit fidly of a job." But in contrast to the red necks on Fast and Loud, Ed always meticulously disassembles the car and marks what each nut and bolt and part is and where it goes. You can actually learn a lot about good practices watching Ed.

[sarcasmic]

I like Wheeler Dealers. Chasing Classic Cars is a good show as well.

[John]

I like Chasing Classic Cars too. Damn, I want Wayne Carrini's job.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You would have loved hanging out with a couple of my buddies who all they did was rebuild American hot rods.

[John]

Rufus.

I wish I had a garage and could do some of that. I just don't have one and to get one would require moving out of the city and suffering a commute that would kill me in five years.

The older I get the more I find machines fascinating and the less interested I am in the life of the mind like I was when I was young. I have enough of the life of the mind. I want to fiddle with something real.

[tarran]

Here in Boston, we have these guys:

Artisan's Asylum

Here at Artisan's Asylum, we have equipment available for woodworking, machining, welding, electronics assembly, screen printing, lampworking, jewelry-scale metalsmithing, sewing, and bicycle repair, as well as a 3D printer, and a computer lab. For a full inventory of our available equipment, check out our Shops & Tools page.

There are two components to getting access to Asylum equipment: interested users must both sign up for membership AND be trained and tested on equipment before they start work at the Asylum for the first time. Check out the linked pages for more information about membership and about tool training and testing.

Studio & Storage Space
We also provide a limited amount of individual studio workspaces and shelf and pallet storage units. See this page for more details.

Perhaps there is something like that close by DC?

[John]

I bet we do. And I need to look into it. I have plenty of toys to fiddle with.

[Mainer2]

John, i want to make you jealous. I'm restoring an early 911 right now.

[John]

You are. That is great Mainer. My wife's Honda Civic just died this week. And after much whining and pleading she is going to take our sedan as her daily driver and let me by my 911. I think I have found a 996 Turbo that is a steal, assuming it passes the PPI.

Yeah, I know, it is the unloved Porsche. But the Turbos don't have the exploding bearings the NA ones do. I just can't afford a 09 or later 997 that doesn't have the bearing issue and I want something newer than the old 993.

I don't think the headlights are that bad. And the 996 Turbo is the last true race engine Porsche put in a car. Even the new ones are not the same blocks as they put into their LeMans cars and such.

I am going to go for it. Us it as a daily driver and if I get tired of it or the maintenance gets too much, stick it on the old interwebs and sell it and buy something else. Someone will always want a well cared for turbo even if it is a 996.,

[Mainer2]

Honestly I don't know much about the newer 911's, other than they are insanely complex and expensive to maintain. My knowledge is a mile deep in the narrow 1969 to 1973 range. Back when 911's were relatively simple. The amazing thing is how much support there is for those cars. Almost anything you need to maintain an early 911 is still readily available.

[John]

They were so simple and so German. Totally engineered to last. Porsche almost went bankrupt in the early 1990s. They were building cars to such a high standard that they didn't make any money on them.

They had to change their business model and make higher profit margin cars. They started with the Boxter which made them a fortune. In 1999, they went full heretic and made the 911 water cooled. The real 911 nuts won't have them. They also changed the headlight from being round to being Q shaped like the boxter. The 911 heads really hated that.

The NA 911s made from 99 to 09 as well as the Boxters and Caymans had an engine that contained a fatal flaw; an intermediate shaft that connected the drive shaft to the cam that would on about 5% of the cars have its bearing explode and ruin the engine.

The Turbos in contrast didn't use that engine. They used the old G96 Metzger engine block that the 993s used and the water cooled set up that came straight off the Porsche LeMans cars. They are basically a 700 HP engine that was detuned and had emission controls put on it to reduce it to 415. They can easily be tuned back to 700 if you are a real nut. The lack of a bearing issue and the bullet proof nature of the engine is why I decided on the Turbo.

[Mainer2]

You know your Porsches. Interesting cars and an interesting business case study. The 911 they were making aroudn the time the Boxster was introduced was on of the shortest life cycles ever for a 911. When asked how they could afford to change afte such a short few years, the answer was they couldn't afford NOT to change...the cost of production was just too high, and they had to take what they'd learned with the boxster and apply it to the 911.

As for the exploding IM bearings, there are lots of aftermarket solutions to avoid that, but why buy an expensive car and then have to spend bucks "fixing" it.

[John]

And even if you don't upgrade the IMS Mainer, they don't know but the evidence seems to be that they only went bad on garage queens. There are tons of NA 996s that have over 100K with their original bearings. But those cars were driven daily and hard. The theory seems to be that when the cars sat a long time or were only driven around town the oil collected around the bearings and ate through the seals.

None of the people who tracked their cars ever seemed to have the issue. It was nearly always the guys who bought their cars and then put 500 miles a year on them.

[Lord Humungus]

Wheeler Dealers is a great show - saw the mechanic pull out a dent and refinish it. My job would look like shit in comparison. God I loathe bodywork.

[John]

Lord Humungus,

If I ever won one of those 500 million dollar mega millions things, I would put Ed China on retainer and spend about a year having him teach me all the shit he knows.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Also a fan of Wheeler Dealers. I love the stuff they find. It's like the car version of Bargain Hunt, which I love to watch just for the classic euro-mullet of the host.

[John]

That is what I like about it too Elspeth. They don't just do these hugely expensive cars most people will never own. They do affordable but quirky or cool cars average people can own.

[Mainer2]

I think that's a British thing; they don't understand American garage queens. If you have an interesting car, you drive it.

[John]

It is a European thing Mainer or at least a Northern European thing. The Germans drive their Porsches and high end BMWs and Mercedes into the ground. The Germans take care of things like no one's business. But they use their vehicles in all weathers.

I really love that. There are two things I don't like about American car culture. One of them is the garage queen culture. I get it that a really old car maybe shouldn't be a daily driver. But every car should be driven and driven well, not just cruised to the tennis club and back. It is a machine and it will die if you don't use it.

The other thing I hate is the new fetish for "unrestored" cars. They will find a car that has been sitting in a barn and never fix it and leave it as some kind of garage art. I understand the reaction against over restoring cars. But the other extreme of valuing the dirt that collected on the car while it was sitting in a barn for 40 years (and I am not kidding some collectors are into that, provided of course it is the original owner's dirt) is even more idiotic than over restoring it. Bring the car back to life and use it for God's sake.

[Mainer2]

There is a line somewhere in the unrestored cars. I go to Monterey every August for car week, and the last few years you will see some old cars from the 30's that are in unrestored, yet well kept and drivable condition...and that's kind of cool. There are already plenty of Duesenbergs and Packards and Lincolns restored to a meticulous standard of perfection. But the phenomenom of not even cleaning a barn find, valuing the dirt as you say, is kinda crazy.

[John]

I am fine with unrestored cars as long as they are still drivable. I have an old Mustang and I have decided to leave the patina on the chrome and the dash and engine bay and such as it is. I had it painted because it was a rustang that was going to fall apart if I didn't. It isn't valuable enough to justify the money of putting new chrome and a dash and such on it. But I like it that it shows its age and shows that it has been used and has a history.

I need to go to Monterey some day. My wife and I have always talked about it. If you go every year, we should hook up.

[Mainer2]

Monterey and Pebble Beach should be on every car guy's bucket list. And part of the fun is that you will see the entire gamut of cars, from interesting drivers in the 10 to 20k range at a Mecum auction to multi million dollar Ferrari's just cruising on Ocean Boulevard.

I made a point of attending the RM auction when McQueen's 911 sold. My wife agressively got us seats in the front row...we were sitting about 3 seats away from Carrol Shelby.

So yeah....go to Monterey.

[John]

I would love to have met Shelby. I have met a couple of people who met him. He was by every account I have ever heard just a wonderful down to earth guy. The two people I know that met him were just fan boys who walked up and started talking to him. Said he took five minutes and talked to them and was a complete gentleman when he could have easily been an ass or just unfriendly or curt.

Carol Shelby was a great American.

[Mainer2]

Did you note my post above just to make you green ? I'm restoring an early 911 right now.

[John]

Yes I did. And I responded with the fact that I am hopefully buying a newer, if unloved version now.

[John]

And if I get mine Mainer, mine will be faster and have traction control so it doesn't try to murder me. But yours will be much cooler and give you a thousand times more street creed.

[Mainer2]

As long as I don't spin it, which it WILL do, as I've come close to finding out.

[John]

Top Gear described owning a 996 Turbo as like owning a serial killer. Where Ferraris and Lambos constantly tell you how they want to kill you, the 996 Turbo is quiet and inviting and friendly right up until it laughs and spins you into a telephone poll.

As long as you don't turn the traction control off and are not too much of an ass, they are pretty tame. Turning the traction control off is like giving water to a Gremlin.

[db]

I like the idea of driving them. I collect high end.firearms and I have a hard time.understanding the concept.of a "safe queen."

I knew a guy who.had a Ford GT (not Mustang, just GT) that he easily had put a quarter million into. It was his daily driver until he.passed away. The exhaust showed its use, the brake.dust on the wheels told the story of a loved and relied upon companion, not.merely a curiousity on a shelf.

[db]

Very cool, but I don't see how it could.be turned.into a fighter. That's a race plane.

[tarran]

I wouldn't want to fly it in combat.

The engines have to sit behind the pilot, with the shafts going through the cockpit. The result is that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to armor the area behind the cockpit.

Also, the visibility doesn't seem so good. The pilot can't see behind him very well. As the Germans found out, the fastest jets can still be ambushed while landing.

[db]

You lose one engine in that at full power, the torquee will put you.into a roll so fast, you might.never recover. The short wingspan might not.give enough aileron authority to.overcome the rolling moment. At low altitudde you'd be toast. Up high enough, you.might.be able to.feather.the props and reduce power.in.time to recover.

[Lord Humungus]

U.S. Retail Chains See First Profit Decline Since Recession

U.S. retailers last quarter suffered their darkest days since the recession.

With results in from 62 of 122 retail chains, the industry has posted its first profit quarterly drop since the economic contraction that ended in 2009, according to Retail Metrics Inc. Revenue also rose at the lowest rate since that year, the research firm found.

The results paint a grim picture of an industry hit hard by the sluggish job recovery and slow wage growth, which have turned U.S. consumers into a nation of penny pinchers. Earnings are expected to drop 6.1 percent on average during the holiday quarter, according to Retail Metrics data. The broader pool of Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies, meanwhile, are estimated to see profit rise 8.5 percent.

luckily the stock market is booming...

[Palin's Buttplug]

The broader pool of Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies, meanwhile, are estimated to see profit rise 8.5 percent.

Key point above. S&P will cross 2000 this year. It was 806 when Obama was sworn in.

[Mike M.]

Kako: "Number eight."
Barney: "BUUUUURP!"
Kako: "Number eight."
Barney: "BUUUUURP!"
Kako: "Number eight."
Barney: "BUUUUURP!"

[BigT]

Key point above. S&P will cross 2000 this year. It was 806 when Obama was sworn in.

So Obama is to blame for enriching the 1%. Got it. That's crony capitalism at its finest.

[Lord Humungus]

The S&P is your key point? Jeezus, you're a retard. If people aren't buying, then where is the future profit going to come from? More corporate debt and stock buybacks?

[DontShootMe]

So, Obama is responsible for the current stock market bubble? Will he be responsible when it pops? Or will that be Bush's fault?

[Rasilio]

Um, you do realize that the stock market is a trailing and not a leading indicator right? It is also highly subject to asset bubbles.

Combine those 2 facts and what does the stock markets being at or near record highs in the face of ongoing economic stagnation tell us?

It might have something to do with a huge influx of inflationary money being pumped into the financial markets 4 years ago.

[wareagle]

that increase in the minimum will help, I'm sure. Multiplier effect and all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has accused Russian forces of occupying the airport in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

In Soviet Crimea, Russia occupy you.

[The Late P Brooks]

The U.S. has cut its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

Success!

[Lord Humungus]

Because we don't already have enough fried foods..

A new fast food is making its debut at U.S. fairs this fall -- fried Coke.

Abel Gonzales, 36, a computer analyst from Dallas, tried about 15 different varieties before coming up with his perfect recipe -- a batter mix made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Balls of the batter are then deep-fried, ending up like ping-pong ball sized doughnuts which are then served in a cup, topped with Coca-Cola syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry on the top.

gag.

[UnCivilServant]

Just the description induces nausea.

[Slammer]

Christie Christie is interested.

[Slammer]

Chris Christie, dammit!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Fried food is what makes America 'Merica. USA! USA! USA!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Sounds delicious.

[Wandering Texan]

That sounds delicious.

[mr simple]

This is from 2006. They fry even weirder things now.

[Ted S.]

Ground wasps redux

I came within a few feet of stepping on a ground wasp nest a couple of summers ago. I only noticed it after I got stung by something on my lower leg, and looked around to see what it was. Yikes.

[sarcasmic]

In eight grade I stepped on an entrance to a yellow jacket nest on school grounds. Damn things chased me for a mile. Got under my shirt, in my hair, stinging me over and over (wasps, unlike honey bees, do not lose their stingers) while taking a bite of flesh each time for good measure. Fucking things are evil.

[sarcasmic]

*eighth*

[gaijin]

Indeed. They are mean when provoked. I was mowing a neighbor's lawn around an old tree. I turned the mower and noticed all these yellow jackets swarming around the mower, then me....next thing I know, I'm laying in bed with 27 stings, a belly full of antihistamine and baking soda 'clay' all over.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ha, ha. Funny!

/wipes tear.

[Zeb]

I had something very similar happen once when I was in the woods knocking down dead trees. And while mowing the lawn. Fortunately, I don't seem to be terribly sensitive to bee/wasp stings.

[sarcasmic]

Lucky you. A mosquito gives me a half-dollar sized welt. Bee/wasp stings swell up like half a grapefruit.

[Zeb]

Yeah. I take like 4 Benadryl and I'm only slightly itchy even after being stung a good number of times.

[Injun Joe]

Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie raised $1 million for the Republican Governors Association with Mitt Romney in Boston

If I were to buy a donut for Chris Christie, would that be considered an in-kind contribution?

[John]

Yes.

[Lord Humungus]

It was fun while it lasted...

Two dogs take a joyride and crash truck into river

"I got around to the front of the house where the truck was, and it's like not there," he said. "And I was like 'did I get towed?' and I just thought no it didn't."

One of the dogs put the car into gear and they took off.

"Approximately three blocks down a hill," Tulsa firefighter Clay Ayers said.

The dogs missed drivers on Riverside Drive, runners on the trail and narrowly missed landing in the Arkansas River.

[ey215]

True story, I did this when I was a toddler. Somehow got my grandfather's truck in neutral and ended up hitting a parked car at the bottom of his big hill.

If it was today he'd be locked up for child abuse.

[John]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2544838

Peter Orzag tries to keep the millions he makes at Citi from public view. God what a weaselly looking little bastard he is. He is right out of central casting as the chickenshit Washington villain.

Who knows what the truth about his divorce is. But you would think him and his wife could manage to work something out and share his millions to take care of his kids without going to court. Funny how so many of these people are in their private lives total trash.

[Ted S.]

Who knows what the truth about his divorce is. But you would think him and his wife could manage to work something out and share his millions to take care of his kids without going to court.

As opposed to Raymond Felton, who deserves to have his life turned into a public hell because his divorce is involving a gun.

[John]

Yeah, this week has been an orgy of jackass white Prog sports writers and talking heads getting the "oh my God a black man had a gun!!" on.

I really wish I owned the Knicks for a lot reasons. But in particular right now because I would hold a press conference saying that until someone shows me evidence Felton ever threatened or in any way misused those guns, I stand 100% behind him and consider him a political prisoner being punished by New York's unconstitutional, racist and barbaric gun laws.

God that would be great.

[mr simple]

Sports reporters are all proggie simpletons, too, so none of them see any problem with the law and can't understand why anyone would stand with Felton. They've been all over ESPN pushing the NFL to take the Superbowl out of Arizona for them daring to allow people to decide to whom to sell their goods or services.

[mad libertarian guy]

The uneven application of Zero Tolerance laws helped kill Trayvon Martin.

As the foundations identify factors that either create or destroy opportunity for young men of color, Obama has pledged to adjust federal policy accordingly. One example is the disparity in school suspensions. The Education Department recently issued new guidelines for enforcing "zero tolerance" school disciplinary policies after studies found that minorities were more likely than whites to be suspended for infractions. Students who miss class time due to suspensions are less likely to graduate. And in the case of far too many young men of color, during the suspensions ? when they're not in the relative sanctuary of school ? they are more likely to find themselves in potentially dangerous situations.

As Montgomery Tabron reminded me, Trayvon Martin's home was in Miami, far from the central Florida town where he died. At the time of his fatal encounter with George Zimmerman, Martin was staying with his father for a few days because he had been suspended from school. Authorities had found what they said was marijuana residue in his backpack.

He was just an innocent boy caught up in a racist system; he had nothing at all to do with his own death.

[UnCivilServant]

They have also said that it doesn't matter if the reason minorities have more suspensions is because of a higher incidence of offending among that population, they'll attack for any disparity in ratios.

[John]

Yeah because he would have been so much safer living in inner city Miami. I mean nothing ever happens to young black men who live in the inner city.

And this clown almost gets it right. I think the fact that no one had ever really come down on Martin for his various misbehavior is why he felt it was a good idea to circle back and attack Zimmerman rather than walking away.

They never consider the counter factual of Zimmerman either not having a gun or not using the one he had. Had that happened, Zimmerman would have probably been tried as an adult for a felony assault and either be in prison or on probation right now. No matter what, that confrontation was not going to end well for Martin. It is a shame no one ever taught him to avoid such things and hold his manhood in a little higher esteem than that.

[wareagle]

when Bill Cosby said much the same thing but used different words, the backlash from people like the writer of the article was harsh.

[mad libertarian guy]

That's because Bill Cosby is an Uncle Tom/house nigger/lawn jockey (user's choice).

/liberal plantation master

[Zeb]

He may well have been alive today if not for the suspension. But so what? There are several things that could have easily happened differently in my life that would have left me dead.

[CampingInYourPark]

(Reuters) - Unusually harsh winter weather appears to be behind recent signs of weakness in the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday, suggesting the central bank was poised to press forward in ratcheting back its stimulus.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....ector.html

Climate is bent on our ruin!

[mad libertarian guy]

CLYMITT CHANJJJJ!

[DontShootMe]

climate changed the GDP.

[PD Scott]

Recession 2:Gaia's Revenge

[Lord Humungus]

Bradley A. Smith: Connecting the Dots in the IRS Scandal
The 'smoking gun' in the targeting of conservative groups has been hiding in plain sight.

First, some background: On Jan. 21, 2010, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Citizens United v. FEC upholding the right of corporations and unions to make independent expenditures in political races. Then, on March 26, relying on Citizens United, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the rights of persons (including corporations) to pool resources for political purposes. This allowed the creation of "super PACs" as well as corporate contributions to groups organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that spend in political races.

The reaction to Citizens United was no secret. Various news outlets such as CNN noted that "Democrats fear the decision has given the traditionally pro-business GOP a powerful new advantage."

...snip...

Now consider the following events, all of which were either widely reported, publicly released by officeholders or revealed later in testimony to Congress. These are the dots the media refuse to connect:

[John]

Democrats like Schummer basically demanded the IRS do exactly what the did after Citizens' United. I really wish Lerner had just been an ordinary hack instead of a fanatic. Had she not been a fanatic she would have got up in front of Congress and said "of course we did this. We were just doing what we thought these Senators wanted us to do."

[Rich]

"Part of the challenge is to clear away all the smoke and try to figure out what is working and what isn't. I would be the first to say if things aren't working, then we need people of good faith to come together and make evidence-based changes."

Why Hillary deserves to be our next President.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Get this.

My ENT doctor suggested I get an MRI for my ear. He gave me a referral to a public hospital. When I saw the hospital on the paper I said, 'public, really?' He looked at me puzzled. 'Can I go private?' He answered yes but seemed perplexed I would go for the private option. For the fun of it, I called the hospital (I had no intentions of going. I read the news). Before anything, a message telling people wait times to see a doctor in the emergency ward was 15 hours. I then got to the MRI department and was told it was a SIX MONTH wait for an MRI. Yes, I want this problem lingering for six bloody months.

Mental. But hey, not American. You know?

I can get a private MRI inside two weeks covered by insurance.

I also got a referral to go see a GI. My buddy knows the doctor so I got an appointment in April. If I had no 'connection' the wait time is...three years.

This is the system progressives LOVE.

[Ken Shultz]

"Before anything, a message telling people wait times to see a doctor in the emergency ward was 15 hours. I then got to the MRI department and was told it was a SIX MONTH wait for an MRI."

Progressives call that "access".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Access and enough modern equipment is the key problem with Canadian universal care. Once in the system it's okay.

But with well over 40% of Canadians having no GP, they can't get access.

We have a shortage of doctors particularly in Quebec.

[Ted S.]

Just pass a law forcing people to be doctors. Problem solved!

[Ebriosa]

I'm in Ontario. Moved up here 8 years ago to steal your country's men. We finally got a GP last year. This week we got a letter saying he was closing his practice with no hand-off to another doctor, just a note saying we can continue to go to the clinic in our neighborhood. The one that when I was on bc I had to go to every month just to get a prescription then wait at the pharmacy for something I used to order online for $10/month back in the states. Hours out of my day for a really simple thing I needed monthly.

But ooooh, it's paid for. Birth control is a right or something!

[Ken Shultz]

Sounds like it's easier for Americans to get prescriptions filled online in Canadian pharmacies than it is for Canadians to get prescriptions filled in Canadian pharmacies.

Oh well, that's in Americans' immediate future, now, too, I'm sure.

[MJGreen]

He answered yes but seemed perplexed I would go for the private option.

Do you WANT to be exploited!? Why not go for your 'free' MRI?

I assume your ENT guy knows there's such a long wait for an MRI; even a dirty Yank like me knows about the wait. Your money guy or friend or anyone else, I could understand the puzzlement, but I'd think doctors of all people would want you to get these procedures done asap.

[UnCivilServant]

A wait for imaging services? I can get same-day service if I want it just by paying out of pocket (and it's not all that expensive either).

What sort of messed up... oh wait it's Canukistan.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

$600 here for an MRI.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Actually prices vary. But it's in the hundreds.

[UnCivilServant]

That's not too bad for an MRI, even if they are Canadian dollars.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes. It's exactly what went through my mind. I will bring it up with him that's for sure. 'Wtf?' I'm tell him. I'm at the point in my life where I just call things out.

[John]

And notice you got around the system because you had connections. This is why Progressives love these kinds of systems. In a capitalist system those who are willing to pay get priority. In a socialist system, those who have political connections get priority. When you realize Progs view the world in entirely political terms and are often disgruntled intellectuals angry over not getting their due because the evil working people have all the money, you can see why such a system appeals to them so much.

Remember, in any system this big, someone is always going to get the best care. The issue is who is that and how do we determine that. Progressives want that decision based on politics and connects instead of money.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Our politicians bolt for the USA for care.

[Lord Humungus]

Even stateside isn't that great. I had to see a specialist last year. And the wait time was almost eight weeks.

[Tonio]

Wishing you a good outcome with your ear condition.

Thank you for sharing that. Whenever we mention stories like yours to proggies we are met with shrieks of disbelief and accusations that we are cherry-picking extremely isolated incidents or that we are outright lying.

[Ebriosa]

Two ways I used to use to try to tell progressive how bad Canada was:
- talk about how terrible health care is in big cities with high costs of living where there just simply aren't enough doctors
- tell them how it's still technically a monarchy and I'm going to have to swear loyalty to the queen to get my citizenship

And then punch them in the face when they don't think the second is a big deal. Monarchies are not cool.

Points I knew weren't worth trying:
- lack of freedom of speech

Only thing that works:
- shitty treatment of aboriginal people in a very progressive "throw money at them and tell them what to do" way.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Thanks. It's Meniere's. Looking to confirm it.

Bitch of a condition that leads to vertigo. Wreaks havoc on my exercise plans. Haven't done any in three months trying to figure things out.

[SugarFree]

I really hope you don't have Meniere's. Have they ruled out that you have a blocked Eustachian tube? I have that and the symptoms are similar.

I saw a couple of doctors before one finally had me take the maximum dose of pseudoephedrine for a few days and the tube cleared. (That was an unpleasant experience.)

[SugarFree]

My ENT doctor suggested I get an MRI for my ear.

I told you not to listen to Warty's self-titled debut album, but you had to go and be a big man.

[Lord Humungus]

Butt rock? Or Cock Rock?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Cloaca Rock!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It does have a poetic ring to it, huh?

[Warty]

I really had to fight the record label to get them to include the acid-spraying headphones with the album. But art makes no sacrifices, you know?

[DontShootMe]

Don't look now, but Senator Harry Reid just called you a liar. Govt healthcare is wonderful.

[Ken Shultz]

"Before anything, a message telling people wait times to see a doctor in the emergency ward was 15 hours. I then got to the MRI department and was told it was a SIX MONTH wait for an MRI."

You know what this is like?

This is like just before the Soviet Union collapsed, and you would see Russians queuing up in the snow to get into a grocery, and then when they got inside, there wasn't anything on the shelves to buy. No inventory!

Even if free markets made things permanently more expensive, it is far better to be able to get something at a high price, than it is to not be able to get it at any price--because it's being given away for free.

[MJGreen]

Caleb Turberville asked about Hannibal (the TV show) last night. Watch the first season! It's a great, beautiful show. Each episode has some horrifying, artful gore, and the toll it takes on Will Graham develops very well over the 13 episodes. It's really not like anything else on television.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Strong As I Am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFw7djyELc

[EDG reppin' LBC]

President Obama and Vice President Biden have participated in a promotional video for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign. Watch below:

Wow that sucked. POTUS has women's hips.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Thank God we have a President brave enough to tell us to exercise and drink water.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It was so stupid not even USA Today readers would like it, right?

Great message for the country especially our kids!

FUCK.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm not a big fan of capping on the First Lady for no reason, but I find her choice of...um...charity is a front.

She'd use the law to screw with our diets. That's worse than her extravagant vacations. I wish her efforts were limited to just encouraging kids to exercise.

[Tonio]

Ken, Ken, Ken...it's about control. Every time. They really do believe that the vast majority of people "need" guidance from top men and women.

[Ken Shultz]

They're treating us all like children.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....-1.1701140

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sc.....and-diets/

[Ted S.]

When she went off on Gabby Douglas for going to McDonalds after winning the gold medal, I pointed out that here you have a woman whose claim to fame is sleeping with a prominent elected official bullying a teenager over the teen's choice of what to eat. And people think this is virtuous?

People reacted as though I were some sort of freak.

[Wandering Texan]

I'm certain the thought has been posted here before, and that I am just parroting, but who the fuck elected her?

[Ken Shultz]

She's fighting for the people and their fat ass children.

Why can't you understand that?

Now, go eat some broccoli and do ten jumping jacks--like Michelle told you to--and be glad she doesn't send the feds after your lard ass, you ungrateful bastard!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm not 100% sure what this means, but it sounds familiar

"PFT Whiparound: Steve Smith 'not happy'

"The ProFootballTalk crew gets you informed with the latest news and notes from around the league including the latest on the situation involving Panthers' WR Steve Smith."

http://www.nbcsports.com/footb.....-not-happy

[Notorious G.K.C.]

video starts automatically

[Ted S.]

Fuck Mike Florio, the self-righteous bastard.

[Rich]

D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Thursday announced that the city will recognize gender dysphoria as a medical condition, forcing insurance companies to cover treatments such as gender-reassignment surgery

A survey last year of more than 600 transgender people from the D.C. area indicated that 46 percent living in the area earn less than $10,000 a year

Sheesh, no wonder they can't pay for their own surgeries.

[John]

So we can all have longer waits and higher insurance premiums and cancer patients and diabetics can face rationing. But some fucking transvestite can get his sex change for free.

Giving a transvestite a free sex change at the expense of someone with a life threatening illness is what Progressives call social justice.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I envision myself as a handsome, slim, well-equipped Lothario. Where's *my* surgery to bring my body in line with what it should be?

[Rich]

*** clears throat ***

Well, do you live in DC?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I think of myself as a DC resident. I want free relocation.

[Rich]

Beautiful.

[Steve G]

"600 transgender people" and "earn less than $10,000 a year". I'm picking up on a possible cause/effect there.

[Palin's Buttplug]

After telling Valerie Jarrett he doesn't think the President understands the "urgency" of the situation on the streets, he says the First Lady needs to come on The Factor and tell teenage girls "You stop having sex. You stop getting pregnant. This is wrong." And the President needs to "get people like Jay Z, Kanye West, all these gangsta rappers to knock it off."

What a douchebag.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/e.....os-in-line

[John]

He is just not part of the enlightened 8%

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're no doubt a dead ringer for Bill O'Reilly. Smug, authoritarian, conservative, controlling, and wrong most of the time.

[John]

I am just not part of the 8%.

[Mike M.]

Eight is enough.

[Stimpy's Invention]

Getting John to defend Bill O'Reilly...not exactly the most demanding of tasks. I'll throw you a B- on that one. And I'll give you the last word.

[John]

I never defend O'Reilly. I think he is a fake populist hack. O"Reilly is just one of shreek's buzzwords. He can't help himself. It is a form of Turret's

[wareagle]

and yet, he's right on this one. Long as the left keeps subsidizing bad decisions, there will be more bad decisions.

[John]

But Shrek is is a racist and thinks black people are incapable of doing any better. Thus, anyone who says they should be is just being mean.

[wareagle]

progressive 101, right? From eugenics to condescension and paternalism.

[Mike M.]

O'Reilly is even dumber than I think he is if he believes Valerie Jarrett has any interest whatsoever in these problems. She and her friends love having the black underclass stay exactly the way they are.

[OldMexican]

What a douchebag.

This from the same idiot that said the market only decides the value of money but not the supply.

"The market decides the VALUE of money and not the supply."

[kbolino]

The derptastic comment in all its glory. But remember, he knows how the economy works unlike all us rubes who are relics of the past.

[Rich]

Substitute teacher, 72, arrested for furiously masturbating in high school hallway

There's nothing particularly special about the incident per se, but the article is just *so well written*.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"school officials as well as local police are working to identify the teenagers to see if they need counseling"

Counseling so they can stop laughing?

[Jordan]

I didn't know Shriek was that old.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I think he claimed the other day he graduated from college in '81.

He is obviously senile, we know that at least.

[Slammer]

72? I'm impressed.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What wonder 'furiously' looks like.

[wareagle]

his other hand was turning his cane into sawdust.

[DontShootMe]

maybe he was using both hands?

[The Late P Brooks]

I also got a referral to go see a GI. My buddy knows the doctor so I got an appointment in April. If I had no 'connection' the wait time is...three years.

This is the system progressives LOVE.

They have bent the cost curve.

[SugarFree]

Jezebel writer and mother of small children, Tracy Moore, continues to unwittingly document her crumbling marriage through articles obviously based on desperate projection and passive-aggressive "journalism."

The Truth About How Much a Happy Couple Should Have Sex

(Hint: Nowhere near twice a week like a marital therapist recommended.)

Past article titles:

Eight Reasons to Spank Your Kid
Ladies Aren't the Ones Letting Themselves Go After Marriage
How Often Do You Really Need to Shower?
For the Love of Shallow: Yes, Women Are Attracted to Hotties
Thelma and Louise Is Even More Awesome Than I Remembered
Everyone Knows Heartbreak. That Doesn't Make It Any Less Devastating.
Any Man Who Won't Clean Is a Terrible Asshole
What Does It Even Mean to Be a 'Needy' Girl?
How to Survive Holiday Breakup Season
Are You Sure You Want an Orgasm EVERY Time?
If Yelling at Kids Is as Harmful as Spanking, What the Hell Is Left?

[John]

Great so her husband has a wife that rarely has sex with him and ensures the kids are undisciplined and unbearable to be around. I am sure he will want to hang around for the long term.

You put all of those headlines together and you have the picture of the narcissistic feminist wife. Her husband is supposed to clean, can't do anything to discipline the kids, is selfish for expecting regular sex or even sex that involves and orgasm, is expected to clean and cook while she is free to lust after other men.

And various media hags wonder why men don't seem to want to get married and be responsible husbands anymore.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He chose her.

So...

[John]

Sure. But I bet he regrets the decision. And I bet she wasn't like this when he did.

[Drake]

I like his blog - "How to Get Side Pussy"

[John]

Great so her husband has a wife that rarely has sex with him and ensures the kids are undisciplined and unbearable to be around. I am sure he will want to hang around for the long term.

You put all of those headlines together and you have the picture of the narcissistic feminist wife. Her husband is supposed to clean, can't do anything to discipline the kids, is selfish for expecting regular sex or even sex that involves and orgasm, is expected to clean and cook while she is free to lust after other men.

And various media hags wonder why men don't seem to want to get married and be responsible husbands anymore.

[Rich]

Cool illustration of the Happy Couple, though.

[Warty]

I'm not sure who I feel more sorry for here. Oh, no, wait, no one. Fuck this harpy and the poor dumb bastard who bought her.

[John]

In fairness to the poor bastard, what do you want to bet that she was a lot nicer and put out more before she got him to marry her and had a couple of kids so she was assured of robbing him if he left?

Yeah, he was stupid not to have seen through it. But I would be surprised if she was very upfront about all of this from the beginning.

[wareagle]

there are a lot more women who think after getting married "great, I don't have to do ___ anymore" and then they're shocked when hubby reacts badly.

[John]

And when their husband finds a woman who says "I will do ___ or anything else you want, you are a great guy", these women conclude all men are liars and evil after their husband cheats or leaves them.

These feminists sites set their readers up for divorce. Not every woman is a feminist harpy. And men take sex very personally and view it as part of their self worth.

The other stupid thing is that men are so easy. Women have tremendous power because of sex. They just have to know how to use it without abusing it. A woman who is willing to put out for her husband can, unless he is just a Bill Clinton like horn dog, get pretty much guaranteed loyalty and commitment from him.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

An interview with The Kochtopus, in the Wichita Business Journal.

Do those type of allegations in the media get frustrating?

When you start attacking cronyism and people's political interests, it gets nasty. We've been called every name under the sun. And some of this stuff is ridiculous. One of them said that the reason we supported a number of governors in the upper Midwest was because we had a secret plan to control all the water in the Great Lakes. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it all, other than go drown in it. That's about the only thing I can come up with. The one that takes the cake, this individual said that the reason David gave $100 million to New York Presbyterian Hospital is to enable us to take over the medical care industry. You cannot have a conversation with people like that. Either they're just intent on anything to demonize us and destroy us and discredit us, or they're just in outer space.

[Wandering Texan]

As much as a laugh at the proggie mating call of "KOOOOOOCH", I never actually considered it from their end.

I think would be pretty kick-ass to be considered the villian of most modern conspiracy stories.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And they're still insanely rich, so I guess it slides off pretty quickly.

[Slammer]

Richie Incognito damages his own Ferrari with a baseball bat

"This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass!"

[Rich]

The man has an awesome name.

[John]

He really does. Too bad he is a complete lunatic.

[Pro Libertate]

He's just auditioning for the Raiders.

[wareagle]

on the Raiders of old, he would be a character expected to play at a high level. On this bunch, one more guy on the way out of the league.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

God, the Raiders suck. 🙁

[Zeb]

"This is what happens when you fuck yourself in the ass"?

[The Late P Brooks]

Are You Sure You Want an Orgasm EVERY Time?

Yep.

[Rich]

Finest, now be kindest: NYPD respect push

Listen attentively to people you encounter, be patient, and end all interactions on a positive note.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy your time in the slammer, Mr. Mofo."

[Jordan]

"It has been my pleasure kicking the shit out of you. Have a pleasant day."

"I'm profoundly sorry that your chihuahua forced me to riddle it with bullets."

[Lord Humungus]

Legal Kidnapping
Taking a child away from loving parents for ideological reasons is simply totalitarian.

One Friday morning, emotionally confused and angry after a romantic breakup, Tom called his guidance counselor, who illegally picked him up at his home ? again without his parents' knowledge ? and drove him to school. Mrs. Jones eventually found Tom in the school's guidance office, where the counselor refused to allow her to take her son home, threatening to place him in the custody of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) unless she allowed him to spend the weekend at a friend's home and agreed to seek family counseling from DCF ? all this despite the fact that school officials had previously acknowledged that the Joneses were exceptionally loving and responsible parents, and that they already had a team of therapists working with Tom.

The following Monday, a social worker from DCF visited the Joneses, and, although they had explained the background issues and emphasized how much they loved their son, the social worker branded them "unaccepting parents" in their son's presence. She told them that Tom could not go home with them and instead took him back to stay with the friend with whom he had spent the weekend, despite well-founded protests from his parents that the environment was unhealthy.

[John]

But Tonio assures me that there is no danger of the government ever making objecting to homosexuality a crime.

Sure, it will just get you fired from your job and your business shut down and your kids taken from you. But it won't be a crime.

[Zeb]

I'll reserve judgement until I see more on whether or not this is really a trend (and until I can get the stupid link to work, do you need a subscription or something?) THE CPS/DCF people are petty tyrants who can get away with just about anything for a while.

[Zeb]

Having now read the article, I have a few thoughts.
Never get involved with state child protective services voluntarily. Once they are in your life, the will never leave.
Parental rights were violated and several people acted in ways that should have lost them their jobs, but I don't think kidnapping is quite the right word for what happened.
Public schools (if they are to exist) need to focus on education and stop trying to run the lives of their students. That's the parents' job.

[The Late P Brooks]

I've got Bloomberg on in the background. They are already starting to panic about the so-called "taper".

The economy is stalling! Shovel more money into the furnace!

[The Late P Brooks]

Listen attentively to people you encounter, be patient, and end all interactions on a positive note.

STOP RESISTING

[Lord Humungus]

China issues report on U.S. human rights

The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2013 was released by the Information Office of China's State Council, or the Cabinet, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013 issued by the U.S. State Department on Thursday.

China said in the report that there were still serious human rights problems in the U.S in 2013, with the situation in many fields even deteriorating.

Posing as "the world judge of human rights," the U.S. government "made arbitrary attacks and irresponsible remarks" on the human rights situation in almost 200 countries and regions again in its just-released reports, the report says.

[gaijin]

Posing as "the world judge of human rights,"

You know I am proud to be American...but part of me also says good for China if this reminds us that our actions around the world have to be based on the higher standards by which we stake the claim to judge other nations.

[Wandering Texan]

Their higher standards include criticizing us for allowing the proles to own firearms.

[Outlaw]

We're either about to see a shooting war between Russia, Ukraine and some of its former satellites or some Georgian-style shit pulled a few months down the road.

Russia steals part of the country, granting it "independence" while issuing tons of passports to Eastern pro-Russian Ukranians (they're already doing this), and moving tons of troops into the "independent" region for "peacekeeping" purposes.

If Ukraine tries to take it back by force the Russians will cry and whine about how Ukraine is killing their innocent civilians, then respond with force.

Since Putin hates the gayz and Obama's in power I'm not sure the left in America will buy it, if they even care anymore.

[John]

You have to remember Russia is facing a demographic implosion. They are terrified they are going to end up a third rate power with no population base. That is why they have gone anti-gay. They want breeders.

They are also trying to rebuild their empire, but not like you would think. They don't want all of the old USSR back. They just want the ethnic Russian enclaves in these countries because they need the population. They don't want all of Georgia or the Ukraine, they just want the Russian parts.

I don't know why Americans can't seem to understand this.

[Outlaw]

Very logical and you're probably right. Problem is, they are stealing parts of sovereign countries in order to get their way.

Hopefully the former satellites that aren't particularly fond of them band together.

[John]

I am not defending it. I am just saying that is where they are coming from. The US seems to either not realize it or not care. So we are constantly poking them in the eye and making them even more paranoid causing them to think we are trying to destroy them, which we are not. We are just stupid.

[BigT]

You know who else stole parts of neighboring countries to boost his nation's population.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Right now, our kids are being evicted. Evicted out of their [charter] school. It's wrong and we need an explanation. You're going to have to ask Mayor de?Blasio what the motivations are for a decision that will hurt so many children now and, frankly, forever."

http://nypost.com/2014/02/27/d.....SocialFlow

[John]

But he cares about the children. De Blasio might actually be the most repulsive and evil politician in America. I know it is early, but he seems really intent on getting the title.

He has it all, total disregard for the law and total unwillingness apply any rules he wants to apply to other people to himself, fanatical commitment to graft and corruption while claiming to care about the poor. He is making Fauxcohontas seem like an honest Senator.

[Andrew S.]

De Blasio is on the verge of doing something I never thought possible: Being worse than Bloomberg.

[John]

Everyone I know in New York said he would be. And these people hated Bloomberg. But they always said that Bloomberg was about as good as you could do and that the people below him were unimaginably bad. De Blasio is proving them right. Amazing.

[NebulousFocus]

Hannibal seems intent on becoming TV's best show

[Outlaw]

I can't wait to see how Mads Mikkelsen will play crazy incarcerated Hannibal.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There are quite a few good shows on TV.

[Outlaw]

There are. I'm watching True Detective, Walking Dead, Vikings, the Americans, now Hannibal and in a month or so, Game of Thrones.

The Americans season two premiere was really, really good, btw.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I'm still trying to finish Breaking Bad. At least all of season 5 is now on Netflix.

[Outlaw]

That was a really great show too. A week or so after the finale I downloaded the entire series and marathoned it. I'd watch about six episodes a day when I got home from work.

Speaking of, I heard Better Call Saul will be on in November.

[mad libertarian guy]

Having watched the premier of Vikings last night, I feel cheated that I can't wear my deer hide without 1) inviting laughter by the fashion police, and 2) inviting ridicule and possibly assault from crazies.

[John]

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

Winona Ryder is still hot. I always had a thing for her. She is 44 I think and still looks great.

[R C Dean]

You and me both, John.

[OldMexican]

The Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has filed for bankruptcy and is blaming hackers for the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the digital currency.

Yes, blame the hackers. Or the Internet gremlins. Or pixies. Not the business model, no. Never!

[Rasilio]

Anyone want to lay odds that the hackers responsible were government agents such as the NSA?

[The Late P Brooks]

Is it just my imagination, or is this the textbook definition of prior restraint?

A California school that stopped students from wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo didn't violate their constitutional rights, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

The school's approach, according to the appeals court, kept students safe in a climate of racial tension.

"The controversy and tension remained," a panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in their opinion, "but the school's actions presciently avoided an altercation."

School officials were worried about violence and disruption of school activities "and their response was tailored to the circumstance," the opinion said.

I also liked the headline, which makes reference to the school's RIGHT to gag their students.

[John]

And they don't mention no one told the Mexicans they couldn't bring their flag.

It is not so much prior restraint as outright discrimination. If kids wearing national flags is starting riots, I can see how a school should be able to tell students to stop wearing them. But that should mean no one wears a national flag. Instead, they told the white kids to knock it off while allowing the Mexicans to wear theirs.

Imagine if a school told its black students they couldn't wear Malcome X t-shirts because their presence causes fights but the white kids could wear their confederate flag shirts? That is exactly what is going on here.

Basically, at least according to this court, white students are no longer entitled to equal protection.

[Pope Jimbo]

So no white t-shirts for the french kids. Got it.

[OldMexican]

The U.S. has cut its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

We had a Summer of Recovery Revision!

[110 Lean]

MN Dealership Offers Free Shotgun With Each Pickup

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Is the police officer your friend?

[The Late P Brooks]

Tea Party! CNN weeps

Five years ago, not many people knew of Ted Cruz or sequestration or had seen a tricorne hat.

Today, all are familiar in the political arena because of the tea party movement that emerged in 2009.

For better or worse, the coming together of frustrated conservatives fearing American ruin due to rising debt has altered the national discussion to raise the profile of people and policies previously relegated to the right-wing fringe.

Thus begins today's alternate history lesson.

[John]

Worrying about the national debt exceeding GDP and still rising with no end in sight, is just something someone from the right wing fringe would do.

[Drake]

The shocking part of the story was CNN acknowledging that national debt is rising.

[Whahappan?]

And that that was the reason the Tea Party formed, not as a racist reaction to the first black president.

[The Late P Brooks]

ABRACADABRA!

The argument that a higher minimum wage would hurt business is old and tired. There is clear and compelling evidence that the economy and companies enjoy real benefits when workers are paid more.

"Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outta muh hat!"

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

One man's old and tired is another man's tried and true.

[R C Dean]

I'm sure workers getting paid more, because they are more productive and worth more, is beneficial.

Workers getting paid more even though they aren't more productive, not so much.

[sarcasmic]

Workers getting paid more even though they aren't more productive, not so much.

Those people don't get raises. They get pink slips. Or are never hired.

That's what's so evil about minimum wage. It stops those who need experience the most from ever being hired in the first place.

[sarcasmic]

Scholarly studies and the experience of businesses themselves show that what companies lose when they pay more is often offset by lower turnover and increased productivity.

Well, yeah. The higher minimum wage gives businesses an incentive to pass over young and inexperienced workers, and instead hire people with maturity and experience. Obviously those people will stay longer and be more productive.

What about the young and low skilled workers who are never hired? Well, they are the unseen. When all you are capable of seeing is the seen, then the unseen doesn't exist.

[110 Lean]

President Obama and Vice President Biden have participated in a promotional video for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign. Watch below:

I'm gonna take Nancy Reagan's advice and just say no.

[Drake]

I'm going to watch it. I'm looking for a place to move with far less government and lower taxes where I can still own guns.

[Rasilio]

The U.S. has cut increased its fourth quarter GDP growth estimate from 3.2 percent to 2.4 percent.

This is the correct way to phrase this headline now please report to the reeducation center