Unemployment Up to 6.7 Percent, Russia Attacks Ukrainian Base, Florida Woman Suing Over Mug Shot: P.M. Links

• 

  Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department

  Official unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in February.

• Russian forces have reportedly attacked a Ukrainian military base a few miles from the port city of Sevastopol.
• Rand Paul spoke at CPAC, telling attendees to vote for candidates that are friends of liberty, not just who are Republican. He got some of the loudest applause at the conference so far after telling the NSA to mind their own business.  Rick Santorum spoke earlier, slamming politicians like Mitt Romney and John McCain for "apologizing" for conservatism.
• While introducing Aretha Franklin at a "Women of Soul" event at the White House, President Obama told attendees she sang about what "R-S-P-E-C-T" meant to her.
• Newsweek may be backing off its claim that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin, while Bitcoin users are currently raising bitcoins for Nakamoto. They've collected more than 22 for him so far.
• A Florida woman arrested on an alleged DUI in 2010 whose mug shot went viral is now suing a records search website, accusing it of using her mug shot for commercial purposes.
• Fox's reboot of Carl Sagan's PBS series "Cosmos," narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, will premiere Sunday night on most Fox affiliate stations.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Newsweek may be backing off its claim that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin...

Crackerjack reporting, Newsweak.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

They're going to get sued for $1.

[Another David]

But how can they afford to lose all their profits for the year?

[PD Scott]

"We don't have any money, here's a lifetime subscription."

[AlmightyJB]

Subsidies

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Madonna mia! Che pezzi di carni!

Meagan is hot!

[Slammer]

Howdy.

[110 Lean]

Who the fuck is Meagan?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Florida chick.

Is it not her?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Meagan is was hot!

*This is why....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Too late.

Already made a mess on the keyboard.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Official unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in February.

Freedom! Horrible horrible freedom! (from work)

[Auric Demonocles]

Thank God we did the stimulus or we'd be at an awful 5% unemployment!

[MJGreen]

+1 inanimate carbon rod

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rick Santorum spoke earlier, slamming politicians like Mitt Romney and John McCain for "apologizing" for conservatism.

WHY WON'T THESE PEOPLE JUST GO AWAY?

[Restoras]

They won't be ignored...

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I suspect the socons are going to latch onto either Santorum or Huckleberry in the primaries, forcing me to cast yet another write-in vote.

[John]

No. Santorum is dead. Huckleberry maybe. But the SOCON candidate NEVER wins, ever. I suspect the SOCONS are tired of losing and will cast their lot with either Paul or Cruz, depending on which one they think has the best shot.

[Palin's Buttplug]

But the SOCON candidate NEVER wins

Bush beat McCain in 2000 and the clencher was when Dumbya called Jesus his "favorite philosopher" when asked who that person would be.

It was a clever but shallow answer - and an door opened to the nomination.

Of course, ratfucking McCain with the "colored baby" robocalls helped too.

[John]

Bush wasn't a SOCON you half wit. the Bush's hate the SOCONS.

Jesus, go back and reread your talking points this time after you take your meds.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Dumbya is a "born again" idjut and you know it.

At least he pretends to be.

Now if you want to make the case he was the Right-wingnut hand puppet that could easily fly.

[John]

The SOCONS never liked the Bushes and vice versa. God you are a fucking retard.

[Some call me Tim?]

bush sr. was never accepted by the socons, but W certainly was.

I am not really sure what you are remembering here, John.

[Palin's Buttplug]

John is delusional, don't you know?

[Corning]

He is remembering the SOCONS trying to get W to denounce teh gays and Bush chuckling and saying no and the SOCONS recording it and releasing it to the press in hoping to expose Bush as a non-SOCON and the only person who picked it up was John Stewert who actually said he liked W for it.

Also he was pretty pro-amnesty for immigration which SOCON fellow travelers hated.

W got a pass by the SOCONS not an endorsement.

[Some call me Tim?]

Is there any topic that, in your mind, *doesnt* relate back to BUSH?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Is there any topic that, in your mind, *doesnt* relate back to BUSH?

Bush the Lesser is the most important individual in the world for the current generation.

Our current policies were all shaped by him. The silly War on Terror, domestic spying, preventive wars, massive deficits, financial crisis/TARP, energy policy, faith-based policy, Medicare expansion, American "exceptionalism" - the concept law does not apply to the USA, etc.

We live in Bush-World.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

...that Obama could change but didn't.

[Pro Libertate]

It'll depend on the primary elections, of course, but I could see the party throwing a lot behind Cruz. He annoys them, too, but Paul is much scarier to their ambition to maintain the status quo, only for Republicans.

[John]

That is what you guys don't get, the SOCONS hate the status quo as much or more than you do. They have been getting dicked over for 30 years.

[Pro Libertate]

They don't really control the party, though. It's the fuzzy statists that do.

[BakedPenguin]

This. While Paul is deeply religious, I suspect his statements on liberty will drive most of them to Cruz.

[Slammer]

If you type SOCON, he (or Bo) will come.

[carol]

I don't see Huckabee making it very far. He might have a following in some parts of the country but I think that following is fairly limited.

[ace_m82]

Dirty little secret follows...

Many "Conservatives" can't vote for Cruz, because they've already accused Obama of not being a natural-born citizen for not having an American Father. Neither does Cruz... Paul gets the go-ahead by default.

[The Laconic Marc F Cheney]

It's Santorum's turn!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't even joke.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

U.S. Gun Usage & Death Statistics

It may come as a surprise to many, but guns don't cause anywhere near as many deaths as other unnatural causes do, even though the news and other media would have you believe otherwise. The facts speak louder than words, so get your data straight before spreading misinformation. Check out these top U.S. gun and death statistics compiled in this infographic by North American Hunting Club.

[Ted S.]

They could have presented most of that information in non-image form, and if they wanted to use an image, scale down the one you're going to present on the page rather than using the full-size image in a smaller box.

[John]

Alcohol abuse causes 9% of the deaths. Wow.

[carol]

I wonder how they define alcohol deaths. If I have a couple of glasses of wine at lunch and then wreck my car six hours later would my death be considered alcohol related?

[John]

I wondered that too. I was just taking it face value. But even if it is half that, that is still 4.5%.

[PapayaSF]

I think it's startling how few people are killed by rifles of all types.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

According to the CDC, roughly 31% of all automobile deaths are alcohol-related.

[seguin]

Meaning anything from blind drunk driver to having an empty tallboy in the trunk.

[Tonio]

The proggies will remain unswayed by mere bougeois facts. Also, "if it saves even one life..."

[wareagle]

"if it saves even one life..."
---------

the rationale for using the ban hammer on everything. Why do you hate people, Tonio?

[Tonio]

A man's got to have a hobby, dude.

[C. Indica]

La-la-la-la. I can't hear you! Empiricism. Science. Reason. La-la-la-la!

- Hoplophobe

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Dislike music? you have a sickness

[PD Scott]

Good place to link People Under the Stairs "Hang Loose".

[Zeb]

I've always suspected as much. There has to be something broken in your brain if you don't like any music.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I hope this isn't the part where we criticize one another's taste in music which ultimately leads to someone asserting that only the most obscure, never heard of bullshit is real music.

[Restoras]

Can't be as bad as the assinine NY vs. Chicago style pizza arguement...

[Tonio]

Turn in your monocle, Sir!

[sloopyinca]

WTF is "Chicago style pizza"?

[SIV]

A casserole.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

Swords...pistols...cannon, your choice, sirrah! AT DAWN!

[Zeb]

It's worse because most people realize that the pizza argument is a joke.

[Tonio]

Zeb, why do you suck the fun out of everything. I bet we could have gotten him going...

[Slammer]

Joke?

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

WHO? ME?!! MAYBE!!!!!

*slowly regains control, gasping for breath*

[Zeb]

Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine to take the wrong things seriously.

[tarran]

to someone asserting that only the most obscure, never heard of bullshit is real music.

You rang? 🙂

[cryptArchy]

Not obscure enough. Their brand of synth pop sucks

[flye]

"Obscure, Never Heard Of Bullshit" was one of the greatest albums of the early 90s.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

That was the self-titled album of my band.

[Max Power]

I like "Obscure, Never Heard Of Bullshit" before it was cool. They sold out, man.

[Rasilio]

Yeah cause we all know this is the only real music...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QbAXXXOJF8

[sloopyinca]

Oh, I won't criticize you as long as you don't say something stupid like Country is good music.

[Zeb]

No, my tastes and preferences are the correct ones!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Why not? They have a black guy now.

[Bobarian]

Charlie Pride, Mother-fucker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRIRTQ_k-Sg

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Sorry, my apologies.

[Bobarian]

Darius Rucker is the new Nashville Token.

[PD Scott]

It depends.

[Zeb]

That won't be me. I'll argue with you about the quality of some particular music, but I am very broad minded about what can properly be called music. And I am willing to accept that even things that I don't personally enjoy might still be good in some more objective sense.

[Corning]

If we want an entirely pointless argument about something with no stakes I vote for debating where consciousness is and if it even exists.

That or talking about the big bang.

My preference is the big bang if only because Zeb is part of the discussion.

[Zeb]

I've decided to give up banging my head against that particular wall.

[Corning]

Lets be honest.

Aside from dishing out hyperbole at me you really didn't do anything.

[Tonio]

I've always suspected as much. There has to be something broken in your brain if you don't like any music.

Or profound deafness.

And why does it have to be broken, not just "different"?

[Zeb]

OK, deafness. But that usually means something is broken too, though perhaps not always in your brain.

Music seems like something so basic and fundamental to all human culture that an inability to appreciate it at all must be some sort of defficiency. There are certainly neurological conditions that have their upsides, but I can't think of any for inability to enjoy music.
Maybe broken is the wrong word. That assumes that there is a way that people should be, which I don't really believe.

[sloopyinca]

He's right, broken. Music is a part of our DNA. It's been around since the dawn of man.

[Corning]

Lucus ripped off ringo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-0hhCEIgrk

[Auric Demonocles]

I've got this, though I've always felt that it's all of you with the brain condition. You like random noise, even without any words to portray a story, and I'm the one who is off?

[Zeb]

So, can you just not distinguish different tones and rhythms, or what?

[Auric Demonocles]

No, there's just no reason to like it.

[lap83]

There's no reason to like anything.

[Max Power]

I know a guy who claims to not like music. "What kind of music do you like?" "I don't really like music."
Also, my wife's friend only owns 1 CD, and it's "Jesse's Girl".

[paranoid android]

Well, really, what else do you need?

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

A bottle of whisky and a revolver and a room to be alone in?

[Slammer]

A lover that won't drive you crazy?

[lap83]

"It's sort of socially odd, right? Everyone wants to fit in and if they went to a party and there was music blaring, they would kind of go along with it and try to pretend that they liked it as much as everyone else did."

Could it be that their friends only play Black Eyed Peas and Nickelback?

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

Hmmm...you may have found the flaw in their results!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

The new GDP methodology: What you need to know: U.S. economy over $500 billion larger due to new definitions

The Commerce Department has made changes to how it calculates gross domestic product, designed to have the data better reflect the so-called knowledge economy.

What's the upshot? The rate of growth hasn't changed all that much, though there are big shifts in a few time periods. But the level of output is higher ? $559.8 billion larger, with $526 billion of that amount due to definitional changes.

[John]

It looks like tractor production will meet the five year goal after all.

What would America do without Comrade Obama?

[DJF]

And the big lie is pretending that GDP = wealth. Breaking windows or cash for clunkers increases GDP when the windows or cars are replaced but does not mean that we are wealthier.

[John]

It doesn't equal wealth, but it does equal production, which is a good if imperfect indicator of wealth.

[Brett L]

Meh. It equals domestic spending. Whether you can put a production per dollar average on these various sectors is something I disagree with. Clearly, something needs to be done to note that debt issued (by any entity) is not always productive.

[John]

It equals domestic spending.

No it doesn't. It doesn't include the trade deficit. Spending has nothing to do with it. It is about "domestic product" meaning production, not spending.

[Brett L]

All government spending produces? For that matter all capital outlays are equally productive? I'm not all right, but I'm not all wrong.

[Restoras]

GDP=C+G+I+(X-M). C and G are spending metrics.

[Rasilio]

Except it includes LOTS of things which are completely non productive.

This new chance for example counts royalty payments as "production". Nothing new was produced money merely exchanged hands.

[Some call me Tim?]

The problem is that there are a lot of things that improve life greatly that don't count for much in GDP.

Take anesthesia, it's will make nary a blip on the GDP charts but would you not say that every nation that has widespread use of anesthesia is wealthier than those that don't?

[Zeb]

That probably correlates pretty well with GDP numbers. Absent any weird cultural restrictions, a sufficiently wealthy society is going to have both anaesthesia and a high GDP. It's certainly not an accurate measure of anything,but it does correlate pretty well with wealth and standard of living for the most part, I think.

[Rasilio]

Meet it? They even exceeded it after the party increased the quote from 300,000 tractors a year to 200,000 tractors a year

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Can You Spot the Snipers Hidden in These Photos?

[Brett L]

Monty Python did it.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Wow. A Python skit I don't remember.

[Tonio]

"How to Not Be Seen"

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, and it's a most excellent one. Both humorous and informative.

[PD Scott]

Not really an "optical illusion".

[Brett L]

Florida woman arrested on an alleged DUI in 2010 whose mug shot went viral is now suing a records search website, accusing it of using her mug shot for commercial purposes.

Florida man soon to sue for being the archetype dog-fucker.. (repost)

[Zeb]

She's probably one of those people who looks good in their driver's license photos too.

[110 Lean]

My dog is in day 18 of her heat cycle and surprisingly, she's much more difficult to penetrate.

[Pro Libertate]

I've seen photos of her before (aside from the mugshot). She's attractive, but that mugshot is the best photo I've seen of her. Odd.

[PapayaSF]

My vote for the cute-but-crazy award.

[Corning]

Isn't this a major plot point in this season's Justified?

[PapayaSF]

No idea. But I am always amazed at people who think they can get away with murder. Unless you are offing a total stranger at random, you are going to be a suspect, and constructing an alibi is hard. It's even more foolish to drag in an old acquaintance and offer them money.

[sloopyinca]

The state's gonna have a hard time wining that unless she made a move to withdraw the money or had already paid him.

No overt act, no conviction.

[Bobarian]

I always Florida Woman having the cold reptilian eyes, but thought she'd be heavier (by a factor of 3)

[Bobarian]

I always 'pictured'

[Pro Libertate]

No, this is wrong. Really, the poster child for Florida Woman is Casey Anthony. Attractive, crazy, dangerous.

[Bobarian]

But you know that in 10 years Casey Anthony will weigh 300 lbs.

[Pro Libertate]

Maybe. But that doesn't always happen with Florida Woman. She's different from other Southern women.

[Sevo]

And Putin is ignoring Obo's empty threats:
"Obama's warnings brushed aside by Russia's Putin"
He's too far a way to get a wedgie and Obo (thankfully) doesn't have much more to offer.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....296240.php
Maybe Putin won't have to save his sorry ass this time.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He got some of the loudest applause at the conference so far after telling the NSA to mind their own business.

Let's wonder how many of those people would put their hands together for that after another terrorist attack.

[Slammer]

*one-handed golf clap*

swish swish swish

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Monocles have gone to the hipsters

[hamilton]

I hear the Cleveland Browns will be wearing them next season.

[Auric Demonocles]

Correction: Not till 2015.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I feel let down.

[Auric Demonocles]

You should have known there would have to be a delay before it got to the Browns. The Hipsters will try to do it before it gets cool, and the Browns will try to do it after it's no longer cool, so they're going to be a couple years behind the hipsters on everything.

[Tonio]

This was covered the other day, Your Grace.

[Rich]

While introducing Aretha Franklin at a "Women of Soul" event at the White House, President Obama told attendees she sang about what "R-S-P-E-C-T" meant to her.

R-C-I-S-T-!

[C. Indica]

P-B-L-I-K E-D-U-K-S-H-U-N.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's funny. Just today I heard Jay Thomas saying George Bush wasn't a bright guy.

Which is fascinating because to me, Obama is actually less bright. Not only that, the guy thinks he's clever.

But you will NEVER hear this be said publicly outside of con/lib circles.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Progs are smarter than you because they understand they're smarter than you due to being Progs.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

F-R-W-R-D!

[sloopyinca]

Sorry, but this is much ado about nothing. If any of you have ever spoken into a microphone at an event without the proper settings on your playback amp, it's pretty easy to get a bit tangled up.

Obama's a fucking moron, but I'm not gonna give him shit over this. And I doubt there are many people in all 57 states that would either.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree completely, because I could see anyone slipping up this way, but, for once, "But Bush!" is the right answer. Just fascinating the pass after pass after pass after pass the media gives Obama for his many, many gaffes.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's with phrasing the title in the form of a question?

Shit, I thought he settled that he's on par or below Quayle a long time ago.

[Rich]

"That's one small step for [a] man ...."

[Pro Libertate]

There's at least a possibility that he said it right, since it's not entirely clear. And even if he got it wrong, it's possibly due to trauma from a certain incident (which would make sloopy a moment of history).

Not to mention that being president at some award thingee isn't quite as awe-inspiring as being the first human being to step on the Moon.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Do you think that when you die, everything you ever wanted to know will be revealed to you?

Now what happened to that mailbox?- NA

He knows...he knows.

[Pro Libertate]

Sloopy is so fucked if there's a Neil Armstrong ghost hanging out on Earth.

[SugarFree]

I think the real issue is that if had been Rand Paul, Maddow would lead with it for a week and Jon Stewart would be snickering at it for six weeks.

Jezebel made a "binders full of women" joke a few weeks ago.

But Obama and Biden glide on past.

[Pro Libertate]

It's so easy to have different standards when you have none at all, isn't it?

I can see letting some little shit go because of your love for a candidate, but I can't see lowering your standards so much that you'll allow virtually anything to pass. Yet the left does this continuously.

[sloopyinca]

I suppose if you paid attention to the imbeciles in the media then I could see you getting worked up. Me? I've got more important shit to get worked up over, like the Red Wings maybe not making the playoffs.

[Pro Libertate]

The Lightning are sliding right now, too, though I think with Stamkos back they'll get it back in gear.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What a story about St. Louis.

[sloopyinca]

Fuck the Blues. As a Red Wings fan, I hate when teams try to buy a Stanley Cup like the Blues are trying to do this season.

The right thing to do is buy several Cups at once.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I meant Martin St. Louis.

[Pro Libertate]

Of course, I knew what you meant right away. I'm not happy about that, of course, and it's hard not to be annoyed at Marty. Maybe there's more to it, but it all seems like a tantrum from here.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Perhaps, but I think in this instance he has a point.

What the fuck was that leaving him off the team?

Nash, Kunitz, Carter and Sharp? Please.

I would be just as pissed if my GM didn't stick up for me.

They wanted 'duos' but don't take one of the best in St.Louis/Stamkos?

Get real.

They wanted 'loyalty?' He always served Team Canada when asked.

They wanted 'champions?' He has a cup plus a Hart and Two Art Ross trophies.

If I'm having a great year and have proven the critics wrong repeatedly and I see Nash being chosen over me, I'm getting upset. He's human.

More than the aforementioned.

They slipped.

He's pissed.

Don't blame him.

Clearly Yzerman was affected because he stepped down from his duties with Team Canada.

[Pro Libertate]

Pissed, I get. But St. Louis might be overreacting a tad.

I have a feeling he and Yzerman have bad blood beyond this, but given how long St. Louis had been with the Lightning, not to mention the Cup he won there and the playoffs coming up, it's a little weird.

[sloopyinca]

Maybe Stevie Y just can't abide someone being a petulant little bitch. IRC, he and Federov were never that close for just that reason.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, well, it's done. Marty can't have that many years in the tank, anyway. Still a heck of a player/scorer, though.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'll be waiting to hear Don Cherry on this.

[PapayaSF]

Indeed. I think Biden has stuck his foot in his mouth as many times as Dan Quayle ever did.

[creech]

Didn't Quayle screw up because the spelling bee people gave him a card with the word misspelled? Jeez, every night one of the anchornewsreaders slips up or uses poor grammar.

[sloopyinca]

There's only one member of the news media who is perfect.

Dallas fucking Raines.

[PapayaSF]

Yes, the flashcard at the school was wrong.

And that supermarket scanner that Bush 41 was amazed about was a new kind that could read damaged barcodes.

[Whahappan?]

And it could also weigh items, a new thing at the time.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

+ O-H-O-I

[Slammer]

Boyfriend-sharing twins get identical $200K plastic surgery

Hideous.

[Brett L]

Swear to God this is right out of a novel. Carl Hiaason maybe?

[Brandon]

Lovecraft, based on the picture.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

+1 Charles Dexter Ward

[tarran]

In ten years one of those girls is going to murder the other.

That's my prediction.

[sloopyinca]

Maybe, but it'l be after their lesbo-identical twin sex tape hits the shelves.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Shelves? What is this, the 80's?

[sloopyinca]

Didn't we clarify the other day that I was stuck in the 80's by making a reference to "The Mall"?

Merry-Go-Round 4eva, motherfuckers!

[Zeb]

Why do people think shit like that looks good. I can't imagine that they didn't look better before the surgery, fake eyebrows and stupid makeup.

[Auric Demonocles]

They should have spent that money trying to look like the Florida DUI chick.

[Rich]

Beauty school dropouts, the DeCinque sisters now share a job serving meals to the elderly, splitting the shifts and a paycheck. The money goes to their shared beauty obsession, body-hugging mini-skirts and matching stilettos.

LOL

[Brett L]

Beauty school dropouts

Do you advise they go back to high school?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The twin fantasy is over.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

come on man, are you really saying you'd turn that down?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I am married now, but I guess if I had a horrible divorce where my wife took everything and I became a miserable drunk, then ok.

[Sudden]

Trust me, having lived that scenario almost to a T, I have discovered new lows I never knew existed.

But I'm two days sober now! Yay lent!

[PD Scott]

Beauty school dropouts?!

[Slammer]

Their dad in photo 4 reminds you of...?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

The Hedgehog!

[Pro Libertate]

Dinsdale?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Sorry, linky.

[Spoonman.]

GAH

[C. Indica]

Rand Paul spoke at CPAC, telling attendees to vote for candidates that are friends of liberty, not just who are Republican. He got some of the loudest applause at the conference so far after telling the NSA to mind their own business. Rick Santorum spoke earlier, slamming politicians like Mitt Romney and John McCain for "apologizing" for conservatism.

As Santorum spoke, his mouth foamed with a frothy mix of fecal matter and lubricant.

[Zeb]

And semen. Don't forget the semen.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Afternoon! I'm at adventureplex and my 2 year old just peed all over the ball pit. I should probably notify somebody .

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Bazinga!

[hamilton]

Ah, I remember those days.

[Brett L]

Don't worry, urine is sterile.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It is more the volume aspect that I am worried about. He helicoptered all over the place, and I didn't catch it until the very end.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

OK, I have to admit laughing rather a lot at that .... "helicoptered".

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's just like lawn sprinklering, but with 360 degrees of motion.

[Rich]

"9-1-1. What is your emergency?"

[Ted S.]

He's not in Florida.

[C. Indica]

Call Mr. Lebowski and tell him about how someone peed all over your rug, and it's his wife's fault.

[Sudden]

That ball pit really tied the room together, Dude

[Ted S.]

You notified us.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I feel like that is enough.

[Sudden]

You should probably tell them the Chinaman did it.

[sloopyinca]

He's in LA, not San Francisco.

[Sudden]

sloopy my good man, maybe the next offiicially unsanctioned southern california reason commenter brunch should take place at a dim sum spot in San Gabriel/Alhambra/Arcadia.

Just be very careful driving there...

[sloopyinca]

I'm game for that. Anything to get out of the IE.

[a better weapon]

No, like I said, Wu peed on my rug

[Tonio]

Nothing to worry about at that age, Playa. If he's still doing that at five you're into Thomas Kinkade territory.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I was still doing that at 19.

[sloopyinca]

Apparently, I pooped in the pool of the Spyglass Inn in Clearwater, Florida when I was 3. As relayed by my father, I kept asking for someone to take me to the room to go but nobody would so I got in the pool and decided to take care of business while in there.

[Pro Libertate]

"Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir, and I never slice."

[sloopyinca]

Hey, do they still have the mural painted on the side of the building?

[Pro Libertate]

I don't think I've even heard of that hotel. Is it on the beach?

[sloopyinca]

Across he street on Gulfview. Had a huge mural of hot air balloons painted on the side of it.

[Pro Libertate]

I have bad news for you.

[PD Scott]

It sounds like Jeremy Clarkson named it: the Nanoflowcell Quant e-Sportlimousine
FTA (and I'm not an engineer so I don't know how much of this is vaporware/BS):
Nanoflowcell explains that its technology boasts five to six times the storage capacity of other flow cell designs or lithium-ion batteries, making it primed for vehicular use. It credits that superior energy density to "an extremely high concentration of ionic charge carriers in the cell system's electrolyte" and translates it into a 249- to 373-mile (400- to 600-km) driving range estimate.
Nanoflowcell lists a 2.8-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time and a potential 236 mph (380 km/h) top speed. Those numbers come thanks in part to the gobs of torque being cranked at each wheel. The car weighs 5,070 lb (2,300 kg).

[Brett L]

Nanoflowcell explains that its technology boasts five to six times the storage capacity of other flow cell designs or lithium-ion batteries,

Now with hotter fires and bigger explosions!

[John]

The instant torque of an electric motor is astounding. It is why trains are diesel electric. The diesel engines just run a generator which powers electric motors. No steam or diesel engine could produce the kind of torque a large electric motor can.

The problem is not "electric cars" it is "battery powered" cars. But if they have solved the battery issue, electric motors kick ass.

[Sidd Finch]

No steam or diesel engine could produce the kind of torque a large electric motor can.

LOLWUT. What do you think is powering the electric motors?

[John]

The generator.

[Sidd Finch]

And what do you think is powering the generator?

[db]

Torque and power are different things. The Diesels are good at producing constant power at a certa8n range of speeds. The electric motors are better at torque.

[Sidd Finch]

The electric motors are better at torque.

No, the electic motors are less complicated than a gigantic gearbox.

[Bobarian]

The electric motors produce maximum torque at nearly zero RPM. Even a Diesel needs at least 1000 RPM to produce usable torque.

[Sidd Finch]

Even a Diesel needs at least 1000 RPM to produce usable torque.

Torque is a function of the gearing. Ever ride a 10-speed?

[John]

The diesel engine. You know, the one that can't produce enough torque to run the train so instead runs a generator that powers electric motors that can.

[Sidd Finch]

So the diesel motor can withstand more torque when connected to a generator than a transmission?

[db]

Again, torque and power are two different things.

[Sidd Finch]

Yes, torque is a function of power and rpm. Electric motors naturally have a lot of torque and power at low rpm. There's another way to have high power at low rpm - a fucking gear.

[Sevo]

Sidd Finch|3.7.14 @ 6:18PM|#
"Yes, torque is a function of power and rpm."

Wrong.
Torque is independent of time.

[Sidd Finch]

Divide power by rpm. Where's the time?

[Bobarian]

rpM?

What does the M stand for?

[Sidd Finch]

(J/s)/(r/m)

time disappers

[Rasilio]

Yeah nice, even if everything works the way they claim there is one issue that every EV entheusiast ignores.

Recharge time is about 50x more important to the overwhelming majority of drivers than driving range is. Nobody cares if you have a car that will drive 300 miles if it takes you 8 hours to recharge the thing enough to get you back home.

Until they get batteries that can be charged fully in under 15 minutes there really isn't much of a market for EV's with a range much over 100 miles (which is enough for commuting back and forth and running about town on a normal day for most people)

[Brett L]

RTFA, buddy. This is an electrolyte flowcell. Pumpable liquids, not sealed battery.

[db]

The question is how the fluid gets recharged or replenished and how long it takes, IMO. The energy density of the "fuel" is.important, too, if it is to be a real thing for cars and planes.

So far, almost nothing rivals the energy density of good old liquid hydrocarbons.

[db]

And then I saw the *5070 lb* mass of the car. Yikes.

[PD Scott]

If I read the article right, about 1000 lbs of that is their gen-u-ine electrificated water.

[db]

Yeah, and that is a deal breaker for aircraft. And most c9nsumer grade cars.

[PapayaSF]

Two 200 liter tanks for the salt water = about 105 gallons.

[db]

105 gallons at what specific gravity? If it's even as light as seawater (unlikely) at 1.028 s.g., the 105 gal weighs 900 lb.

That eats up almost all the.useful load of.most light planes, and is a much much lower energy density than liquid hydrocarbons. Even.light trainer aircraft carry only about 50 gal of fuel, and get 5 hours of endurance at cruise power.

[db]

Even if only one tank is.full at a time (one tank to receive the spent fluid), the energy density is.a problem. 450 lb is still a lot of weight.

[Rasilio]

I did.

I still see problems with refuel times.

if everything works as they claim you are looking at needing to pump out 200 gallons of liquid then pump another 200 gallons back in. That is going to take an amount of time that is measured in minutes instead of hours but could still easily be 20 to 30 minutes depending on how fast the pumps can be safely run

[db]

Man if that is for real the.implications for general aviation aircraft are very good. I will be researching this. I have done some work on ultracapacitors and wonder about the structure of the electrolyte matrix.

[John]

http://www.techdirt.com/articl.....ible.shtml

further proof the DMCA is evil and is destroying our civilization. The DMCA is now being used to take the famous Feynman lectures on physics off of the internet.

[Zeb]

Take away the ability to get them on your Kindle, anyway. Sounds like they will still be available from caltech online.

You are completely right about the DMCA.

[Pro Libertate]

What? I call on the ghost of Feynman to play bongos on their heads.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Jon Stewart Skewers Conservatives' Massive Crush On Vladimir Putin

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/l.....r-putin--3

[John]

But I thought conservatives were idiots because they thought Putin was a threat to US interests?

Oh that was last year's party narrative. The facts must always fit the the party narrative.

[Ted S.]

As I said this morning, I suddenly discovered that it's the antianticommunists who are gleefully perving on Putin, giddy about how this shows the weakness of the West.

Somehow, I don't think the antianticommunists are conservatives.

[Corning]

Oh that was last year's party narrative.

And a few years before that was how dreamy Putin is.

Conservatives have not been very consistent about Putin...the left have been even less so.

[Specail Sauce]

For some reason I could only digest 8% of this link.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

John Stewart skewers 8% of conservatives.

[Slammer]

Crazy 8s in da house.

[Palin's Buttplug]

GO TEAM RED! GO GO GO!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

That's why I like Reason. It's all red n' shit.

[PD Scott]

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!! Let's all be offended!

[Winston]

So who do we ask to get the licence to engage in cultural appropriation?

[Carl the Jarl]

AHHH I'M LIKE TOTES INSULTED

[Rasilio]

Yeah, that Yo Yo Ma guy is so racist...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....beethoven/

[GILMORE]

A comment on that piece

'Gingerland62 wrote:

2:53 PM EST
I read the article too. I can't agree more with this editorial as a woman and a feminist"

For the record, part of the point of the piece was that *we don't have to ONLY view the world through the lenses of our own cultural/political identities*

Whoops.

Someone disagrees! they think the rule if something is "racist" or not is whether 'the originating culture *approves*

"If it wouldn't hold up in front of people whose culture it's supposed to represent, there is something wrong with it. "

Then again, this same person by the end of their comment suggests everything is fucked up because everything is racist. Haters gonna hate, boo.

[GILMORE]

It gets better =

A person points out the retarded double-standard of "Cultural Appropriation"

"When some individual from Western culture appropriates something from another culture it's a racist form of cultural imperialism. When people in non-Western cultures appropriate things from Western culture, it's also cultural imperialism...by the West"

Then, some wise young humorless proggie *corrects them* =

"The correct term is *colonialism*"

[Sudden]

I like how in Amsterdam, they think we all wear a fez.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

Fezzes are cool...

[Winston]

So White People should only engage in White People stuff? I thought the Progs used to think that that attitude is racist.

[Sudden]

I think it was black people that invented the #SWAG hat.

Heroic Mulatto, as a member of both groups, we'll need you to provide the ruling...

[BakedPenguin]

That is awesome. Solo cups FTW.

[GILMORE]

That's hilarious

Its like one European guy was once at a frat party sometime in the late 1990s, and his superficial impressions have spread to inform millions around the globe as to what constitutes clich? 'Americana'.

I think that's sweet.

When I was in England, a routine subject of amusement was sharing respective 'mis-impressions' of what was particularly "American" versus "British"

For instance, they'd make fun of our "TV Advert Announcers"-voice... the "A One-Time Presidents Day Weekend Event! No Interest Payments for 18 Months! Toyota-Thon!" They thought it especially garish and gross.

I'd laugh my ass off. When I pointed out that The Sun or the Mirror were about 5X more obnoxious than the very worst of American tabloid journalism, they'd sort of shrug and say, "Oh, but that's our 'rubbish' stuff, whereas your things are 'mainstream'... like Jerry Springer..." There was an insistence that their "best" was "normal", while our "worst" was "normal".

It says much more about how people perceive themselves, if anything at all.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Gil, I used to visit often and I can only concur. They have a superficial view of Americans not realizing the depth of the culture.

Shit, American liberals align their thoughts with Europe. It's sad.

Moreover, Canadians (who should know better) are just as shallow.

[GILMORE]

A comment pointed out that one of the parties (removed?) was actually of kids in LA

It was unironic. Hence, uninteresting

[Sidd Finch]

My new life mission is to go to one of these with a bunch bros, dominate at beer pong and chant USA!USA!USA! right in their smarmy Eurotrash faces.

[GILMORE]

(Smile)

I was once around a bunch of hipsters at a bar in Williamsburg* and they were all doing the "America is so fucked up because X"-thing that college kids do to feel as though they are now adults and enlightened and informed and shit.... because they know about like, United Fruit Company in Latin America, or pollution, or phrenology, or the Teflon in McDonalds fry oil, or like smallpox blankets and Indians...etc. The "American Self-Flagellation" which constitutes being an 'intellectual' for people fresh out of highschool. Maybe they read some Zinn or something...

...anyway, I put on a French accent, and join in...

"yes, this culture you have? Movies and Hollywood? is so crap, all over world, everyone knows this...your Michael Bay, is like JOKE to everyone!? Like GAP clothing...You know?..."

And they're nodding and agreeing, and one girl is like, "see, in France? you GET IT! because you still have like, real food, and real art and music" and I'm nodding, "Of course?? How would YOU know it is all shit? you are the pigs living in it? it is like a fish not seeing ze water..."

I'm getting them totally worked up in a frenzy when my buddy is like, "dude, its your pool shot" and I give up the French pose and wander off and they suddenly realize I was making fun of them the whole time.

One came up to me later and said, "Hey man, that's not cool". I explained = *it was funny for ME*, which is what mattered.

[GILMORE]

Oh, the asterisk*

saying, "I was around hipsters in a bar in Williamsburg"...

*Redundant.

[db]

That's pretty funny...I mean INSULTING!!!

[Warty]

Hannah Montana does the African savannah

[Max Power]

Did you like the latest album? It seemed a little sleepy to me and I never bought it. I really liked Dig Lazarus Dig and both Grinderman albums, though.

[Warty]

It's very laid back and not what I expected, but it's enjoyable enough once you accept it on its own terms. Kind of like The Boatman's Call in that respect.

[C. Indica]

Drafting Ben Carson for 2016?

Is that even going to work?

[Rich]

Carson looks OK on paper, but he needs a clever slogan.

Perhaps "America's First Black Surgeon General President"?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

America's First Black President with actual accomplishments.

[PapayaSF]

Zing!

[Winston]

How about Johnny Carson's corpse?

[BigT]

Neil deGrasse Tyson - giant douche or turd sandwich?

[Palin's Buttplug]

What do you have against Tyson?

[Rasilio]

Like Sagan before him he is more interested in pushing a political agenda than doing real science

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh, I get it. He is an empiricist.

[Corning]

No he actively disparages private investment into space exploration while whining about how little money NASA gets.

Ass licking bureaucrat of the worst kind.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No he actively disparages private investment into space exploration

I wasn't aware of this.

If Richard Branson wants to send daily flights to the Moon why should Tyson care?

[Corning]

why should Tyson care?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQd7zqyd_EM

Cuz private industry has never taken on large dangerous projects.

I guess Native American never left Asia. And Netscape only existed in some scifi novel in the 80s.

[BakedPenguin]

He's part of the 8%

[BigT]

Not true about Sagan. Read his books. Only a bit of political agenda. He was a great teacher and did not push an agenda - and this was at ultra-liberal Cornell in the early 70's when other profs were all crazy over Vietnam/Nixon.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree. There was some political nonsense with Sagan, but it was much, much less than what you see now. He's from an era where the scientist who put politics ahead of science was frowned upon.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

-1 "nuclear winter"

[Pro Libertate]

That was the "some political nonsense" I was thinking about. As such things go, it was rather benign. I mean, what, we'd otherwise want a nuclear war?

[Corning]

Socialist and he buys into the whole big bang bullshit.

[BigT]

Big Bang may or may not be true, but it is the best explanation we have for the situation of the universe if you run the clock backwards about 14 billion years - everything goes back to a single point.

[Corning]

it is the best explanation we have

WRONG!!

The best explanation is that we have no explanation.

Digging in and wedging in one is no different then what religions do.

if you run the clock backwards about 14 billion years - everything goes back to a single point.

Not true. If a bunch of objects are all floating around at random velocities and vectors giving sufficient enough time they would all appear to be moving away from each other and it would not be difficult to make up a point from which they originated from.

[So very tired]

The best explanation is that we have no explanation.

Moronic.

Digging in and wedging in one is no different then what religions do.

Also moronic.

So, you're a moron who doesn't understand science, choosing to talk about problems with the bag bang.

Yeah, don't do that. Ever.

[The Laconic Marc F Cheney]

Off the top of my head: if a bunch of objects were all floating around at random velocities, they wouldn't be redshifted more the farther away they are.

[Juice]

But they would be more redshifted if they were moving faster, which is the case with the universe. Farther away means moving away faster.

[Corning]

they wouldn't be redshifted more the farther away they are.

Thusly why I said:

"sufficient enough time they would all appear to be moving away from each other"

After the initial pass by they would all be red shifted.

When you stand next to the train tracks a train approaching will give off blue shifted sound and red shifted sound after it passes.

You don't actually have to stand on the tracks and be hit by the train for this to work.

[BigT]

In order for all the objects to be red-shifted they all must be moving away from us, regardless of the direction. We are like the middle of a balloon that is being inflated, or a loaf of bread that is rising - everything is moving away. Thus, if you turn the clock back they are all right here about 14 billion years ago. Hence, the big bang (or whatever you want to call the singularity)

Morons with no background in simple physics should keep their comment on scientific subjects to themselves.

[BigT]

I heard him interviewed on NPR, and he came across as a died-in-the-wool, big government progressive. Of course, that was playing to his audience - which is also a fault.

[Bam!]

Ignoring his political biases, I just find the man himself annoying.

[flye]

Exactly. He sounds like he's doing an impression of George Takei talking to an elementary school.

[JW]

This.

Now, Amy Mainzer, on the other hand, I could happily watch her read a box of cereal.

[Raven Nation]

She's probably the first astrophysicist with groupies.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Has he actually published anything in recent years other than relentlessly updating his Twitter feed?

[MJGreen]

He seems like an OK guy, he just tries too hard.

[PD Scott]

I tend to agree with this.

[Pro Libertate]

That's been my perspective. There's something over the top about him that can put me off. But I also like him well enough in some of the TV stuff he's done.

[Corning]

Science is hard and explaining it point by point in simple terms is great.

Using the same style and being absolutist when he describes his political agenda is what pisses me off.

"never !!!NEVER!!! by private enterprise"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQd7zqyd_EM

Tyson can go fuck himself.

[Bam!]

Private enterprise, in the history of civilization, has never led large, dangerous projects with unknown risks.

What? He actually said that.

[Raven Nation]

Here's where I have sympathy for someone like Tyson. Let's say he was interested in science from high school (I think in his case this is true). So, he goes to college to study science. Along the way he takes a bunch of liberal arts courses where all the profs regurgitate the liberal party line.

So, little Neil - who only cares about science - just sucks up the undisputed "truth" about big government. He's not right but I get how he gets there. I listen to a bunch of science podcasts and every time it gets to public policy it is all about how the government NEEDS to spend on science and any spending cut is anti-science. And, for most of the scientists, they really have no clue that demanding massive government spending on science is a political position.

[Pro Libertate]

I have exactly that feeling about him. He spends all his thinking time on science and just accepts someone else's opinions on politics. I've encountered that a number of times before.

[Raven Nation]

Listen to Big Picture Science (Seth Shostak), Skepticality, Skeptics Guide to the Universe when you have a chance (all free downloads on iTunes or via their websites).

REALLY good science and rational thinking EXCEPT when it gets to politics. Shostak for example, during a show on nutrition made up a little verse that basically said, "Your diet should be what the FDA says it should be."

[Corning]

it is all about how the government NEEDS to spend on science and any spending cut is anti-science

I am pretty sure he did not get that from the liberal arts department. liberal arts departments don't want money spent on science they want it spent on liberal arts.

[Raven Nation]

Agree. But it's the generic idea that only government can do a lot of things. Read a freshman history text and the basic thrust is ONLY govt. can do X where X = any major American accomplishment of the 20th century. So, for example, only govt. could have put a man on the moon.

[BigT]

Private industry has never led large, expensive projects with unknown risks

Apparently all those oil wells were drilled by government lackeys.

Outside of his field Tyson is clueless. And no apologies, he is a smart guy, he should be able to figure it out for himself. So more shame on him.

[Winston]

I just noticed that Ginger Rogers wears a monocle at the beginning of 42nd Street. Does that make her that rare libertarian woman?

[Winston]

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

She even has replacments. Even better.

[hamilton]

Balko's latest nutpunch: Judge says Prosecutors should begin acting in accordance with the law. Prosecutors quite naturally seek to have judge recuse himself from all cases due to bias.

[Brett L]

What happens when he says no? These guys are fucking themselves. The only thing keeping them from being disbarred en masse is the judges don't want to make the state look bad. But just go piss off a judge and see how fast they start raising the stakes.

[Floridian]

Thanks everybody who responded to my IRA question earlier. I got the link CPA, thanks.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Cool. I listen to his podcast from time to time too. He can be a little cheesy, but still gives pretty good advice overall.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I think I missed it. Was there some good info?

[Floridian]

Playa,
It was under the apple chipotle article. I need to role a 401k into an IRA. CPA suggest vanguard for low fees, RC Dean said watch out for banks that can tap IRAs to cover losses, FdA said buy land, Brandon said buy international currency funds, PB said SP 500 index is good for low management, and Epi said it doesn't matter because the government is going to steal my wealth no matter what.

[Sudden]

I think Epi wins.

[Pro Libertate]

Diversify. A lot. A whole lot.

[PD Scott]

Diversify always reminds me of this.

[Floridian]

I miss the chapelle show.

[Pro Libertate]

Charley Murphy!

[Floridian]

I will have a 401k with my new job. Basically I'm trying to figure out what to do with 70000 I have to role into a traditional IRA. I don't know if that is enough money to diversify with and I'm not financially literate. I'm going to check out the website CPA suggested and try to get more educated.

[Winston]

traditional IRA

Damn traitor that Mick Collins.

[Floridian]

Every time I read your handle I hear Vigo from ghost busters 2 saying Wiiiinnnnnssstttooooonnnn!

[JW]

FWIW, I have a Fidelity IRA that I've rolled everything into since the 90's. No complaints.

My tolerance for risk is moderately high, but I tend to focus on very low fee index funds, less than .1%, and they give good returns, as long as the market behaves. I play a little with sector funds, but they tend to be volatile. I'm probably not as diversified as I should be, but I hit all the major sectors.

Mostly, just pick solid funds with low fees and decent returns. Keep an eye on it, but don't sweat dips in value too much.

[Pro Libertate]

Used to be that a broad market index would get you around 10% (annualized over time--obviously, some years are better, some are worse). Not looking like that's the case right now, the last year notwithstanding.

[JW]

If our masters would stop fucking with market by misallocating resources, they would be solid picks.

But now, it's all about bubbles that will last to the next election.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I have a vanguard IRA. No way I'm letting some other assholes steal 2% of my IRA a year in fees.

Epi is probably right, though.

[Winston]

I have a vanguard IRA

So how's Sean Bean and Patrick Bergin?

[Floridian]

What do you have in your vanguard if you don't mind me asking?

[Pro Libertate]

If it's no fees, it's likely an index-based fund.

[Floridian]

I'm thinking vanguard IRA with SP500 index. I'll have to do more research though.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

I have a couple of Vanguard Target 20XX funds and will branch out in a bit. If you end up thinking you want to take a crack at any individual stocks, USAA is reasonable to use.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Its a Vanguard Admiral Growth something something. I'll look at the statement and get you the exact name. My brother is a CFA/Trader and he manages most of my stuff for me.

[Floridian]

That would be tremendous

[Sudden]

A Florida woman arrested on an alleged DUI in 2010 whose mug shot went viral is now suing a records search website, accusing it of using her mug shot for commercial purposes.

I'd make her face viral anytime*

*this is why there are no female libertarians

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

2010 her? Yeah. 2014 her? Not so much.

[Sudden]

Still would, albeit with slightly less zeal.

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

Official unemployment rose to 6.7 percent in February.

Labor force participation was unchanged at 63.0%.

Which is to say, the lowest labor-force participation rate since women entered the employment market in droves. Employment- and economy-wise, Obama is the anti-Reagan.

[The DerpRider]

Friday Afternoon Nut Punch. Detroit's finest...

[C. Indica]

Shh! If you are under threat, do NOT use a gun. Call 911. That's what cops are for.

[GILMORE]

"He got some of the loudest applause at the conference so far after telling the NSA to mind their own business. "

(NSA quickly rechecks their Mission Statement = "Spy on Everyone". Shrugs.)

[GILMORE]

"Fox's reboot of Carl Sagan's PBS series "Cosmos," narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, will premiere Sunday night on most Fox affiliate stations"

Finally! A show about *us*.

uhm. Who's Carl whatshisnamez?

[Pro Libertate]

I don't see the point of doing it over. Cosmos was great, but it's been done. Why not something original?

[GILMORE]

The Universe is so yesterday.

I'm thinking something fresh, edgy, up to the moment...

...I got it! How about a series about spoiled girls in Williamsburg!

[Pro Libertate]

I'd love to see a big space documentary that isn't so dumbed down, cliche-ridden, etc. that I can actually sit and watch the whole thing. The problem with most of those shows these days is that the reduce the actual content delivered to about a page/hour.

[John]

Yeah. And you know they will dumb it down and politicize the hell out of it. Sagan did that a bit with his concerns over nuclear war, but not too much.

What is the over under on how many minutes into the show it is before the first bit of global warming propaganda? Ten? Five?

[Pro Libertate]

I could tolerate Sagan's occasional political stuff, because he didn't bury things like Cosmos with it. I get the impression Tyson is much less constrained in that regard.

I like Tyson okay as a popularizer of science, but he's no Sagan.

[PD Scott]

Better graphics?

Which reminds me, H2 (History channel 2) has a new series, Rise of the Machines. The first ep was about the Dragon Dream airship. It was very interesting but I felt they used the sound effects too much and the exploding part view over and over got old fast. It was like a NOVA episode if Michael Bay directed it: the helium tank could leak - leading to DISASTER!!! The airship could hit a fence - leading to DISASTER!!!

[Pro Libertate]

They could just edit the original to do that. With maybe Tyson or someone doing an extra episode that covers stuff we've learned since the original series.

[The Laconic Marc F Cheney]

"Marvels of the Science" is 10 x better than "Cosmos" anyway.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Socially liberal NARAL president deplores the fact that prolifers aren't middle-of-the-road moderates like her:

"Because what they really care about is telling women and all people for that matter, that it's their way or the highway, that there's only one 'right way' for us to live our lives, and that they get to decide what that is. And that, my friends, is un-American. But we know, and guess what, they know too, that the American people are on our side....

"America thrives when no one is allowed to impose their personal morality on others. That is the essence of the religious liberty that we prize."

http://bit.ly/1f8gmzo

The same lady explains how our prized religious liberty doesn't protect icky craft companies:

http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/.....4958915610

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Caution re the second link: Video starts automatically

[GILMORE]

"Newsweek may be backing off its claim "

You know, I'm not sure you really "back off" from a *cover story*?

Its sort of one of those 'you can't be 'half-pregnant' situations'. Either they're with it, or not.

I personally don't give a shit about the accuracy of the story - whether true or false, the way the story was done in the first place was horrible and they deserve to burn for it.

[Ted S.]

Technically, I don't think it's a cover story: aren't they online only now?

[GILMORE]

You're asking the wrong person, but it was referenced repeatedly as a 'cover story'...

yeah
it was the cover of their 'relaunch'

http://www.adweek.com/news/pre.....oup-156112

Wow, do they *really* suck

[SIV]

Rand Paul spoke at CPAC, telling attendees to vote for candidates that are friends of liberty,

Fucking SoCon!

[Bam!]

Writing Mean, Anonymous Comments Online Unhealthy, Done By 'Angrier' People...

[hamilton]

I think she meant done by emotionally stunted, misanthropic, comically impotent narcissists.

I mean, really. I just can't get it out of my head, it's like music or something.

[paranoid android]

Novelist Anne Rice, best known for her books about vampires, has signed onto a petition asking Amazon.com to stop allowing people to post anonymous reviews. In an interview with the Guardian, Rice says the "anti-author gangsters" make her a victim of bullying.

I wonder if these bullies are Christians upset about that her vampire books don't have enough Jesus, or Goths upset that her Jesus books don't have enough vampires...

[PD Scott]

It's Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, who had such high hopes for Le Comte de Saint-Germaine, but noooo, Anne Freakin' Rice comes along with goddamn Lestadt and everyone's all wowwww.

[MJGreen]

Fuck off!

[lap83]

Is it wrong that I'm happy whenever a sheltered famous person complains about being bullied online?

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

That makes two of us.

[Corning]

While introducing Aretha Franklin at a "Women of Soul" event at the White House, President Obama told attendees she sang about what "R-S-P-E-C-T" meant to her.

I would not read too much into this.

I get song lyrics wrong all the time and more often then not they make no logical sense.

"Why the fuck would you think he said midnight sun and not blackhole sun? There is no sun at midnight!"

"I....don't....know....."

[Warty]

Awoooooooo, where was the thunder?

[Pro Libertate]

If Penn Jillette were here--and he may very well be--he'd start going off on America songs, like "A Horse with No Name."

[Sudden]

My favorite song mix-up is the one when I thought Jimmy Hendrix was a homersexual.

[Pro Libertate]

I never heard it that way, but I can see how you could.

"Blinded by the Light" was the one I had trouble with--pretty much everything you could hear wrong, I did.

[BakedPenguin]

"wrapped up like a douche,
another run her in the light."

[Coeus]

The first line is what I heard, but the second I heard "another mother in the night"

[Dr. Frankenstien]

Hendrix,

Business man drink my wine the ploughman taste my herb.

Well it was Hendrix and it fits.

[PapayaSF]

'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

AAARRGH!

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

My VFW Post canteen has a jukebox (or whatever they are called these days) and this one Vietnam era dude comes in and plays "Horse with no Name" EVERY GOD DAMNED DAY. And asks the barkeep to put "Wheel of Fortune" on one of the TVs...with the sound up".

I never ever thought of fragging anyone while serving...but I am tempted now.

[PapayaSF]

I feel your pain, dude.

[sloopyinca]

"A gay pair of guys put up a parking lot."

[paranoid android]

Dirty deeds, THUNDER CHIEF!

[Pro Libertate]

Huh? It's "dirty deeds, done with sheep."

[Slammer]

Lit up like a douche

[Coeus]

Hold me closer, Tony Danza

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

WIN.

[Coeus]

Fuck this shit.

Both a daughter and his aid witnessed sided with Grayson yet:

An Orange County circuit judge on Monday granted Carson-Grayson temporary custody of their children and possession of the home, and ordered the congressman not to contact her.

Although he did vote for VAWA...

[Winston]

So was Ginger Rogers a libertarian woman? She wore a monocle in 42nd Street, supported Barry Goldwater, was raised by a single mom, starred in musicals and was divorced five times.

[BakedPenguin]

Where's Ted S.? Damn it, a question on Ginger Rogers and our classic movie expert is nowhere to be found.

[Coeus]

In just 3 days, Massachusetts manages to pass a law to allow women to sit splay legged on a train in a miniskirt without fear of documentation.

Tell me again about how women don't get their interests represented.

[Bobarian]

Excuse me, WTF are you complaining about?

The next law will require women to sit splay legged on a train.

[Coeus]

All a cop has to do to not get filmed in Massachusetts now is to show some whale tail. I predict they'll start putting high waisted thongs in the cars next to the shotgun.

[Coeus]

Feminist take on the law, where they feel that we need to throw out the whole constitution because an unattractive man might be masturbating to their photos in his home.

[paranoid android]

Before long they'll have undercover vice cops offering beaver shots to the whole train car and swiftly cuffing anyone who pulls out their phone.

[Coeus]

Coates disables comments because he knows he's gone full retard.

The effort to ban the word "nigger" from the NFL is not just, as Richard Sherman smartly points out, borderline racist but actually racist. Any effort to raise a standard for African-American humans that does not exist for non-African-American humans is racist.

Pretty sure the ban would apply to everyone, not just the Black players.

It does not matter that black people of a certain persuasion are making this charge.

Not if you don't care what "racist" actually means.

[sloopyinca]

I have to agree with Sherman. The word is used colloquially by black men, but a white player would almost never utter it unless it was meant to disparage (Incognito excepted apparently). Thus, it unfairly targets a word black players are much more likely to use without any ill intent.

A better solution would be to tell the audio guys to be quick with their finger on the censor button and to let the players talk like normal people do.*

*And it's pretty normal for black men in their 20's to use the word "nigger" without any ill intent.

[Coeus]

You feel that this indicates that someone is viewed as inferior because of their race?

[sloopyinca]

No, but they're saying it is a "bad" word because they're all white. Nevermind the fact that a very large percentage of their players, and the ones most likely to use the word, are black and it has no negative connotations to them.

Jesus, doesn't intent mean anything anymore? This is every bit as fucking retarded as zero-tolerance policies that don't take into account the "why" somehing was said/done.

[Pro Libertate]

I used the word in a comment a few days ago to make a sarcastic joke about how awful Mark Twain was in writing that horribly racist Huck Finn, and I felt a little weird typing it. How fucked is that?

And, no, Mark Twain wasn't a racist.

[Sidd Finch]

Nevermind the fact that a very large percentage of their players, and the ones most likely to use the word, are black and it has no negative connotations to them.

The NFL is concerned about the much larger pool of black folks who don't like the word in any context.

[sloopyinca]

"much larger pool"

[citation required]

[Sidd Finch]

comparing the population in general to football players

[Coeus]

and the ones most likely to use the word, are black and it has no negative connotations to them.

I'm sure no black player ever uses the word in anger.

It's not that I like the rule, I just don't agree that it's racist.

[Sidd Finch]

It's not that I like the rule, I just don't agree that it's racist.

At this point, does "racist" have a definition more specific than "J'accuse!"

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Put him on the brunch list.

[sloopyinca]

That fucker is insane.

[grrizzly]

White people would be severely punished if they used the word "nigger" in any context. I find it silly to treat people who use this word so differently just because of the color of their skin. In my eyes African-Americans have no right to complain if whites use the word "nigger" if they use it themselves. Of course, the "n-word" police are mostly whites.

[PapayaSF]

I hate double standards. Either ban it or not, but not for some and not for others.

[grrizzly]

Exactly. When I bought GTA 5 for my xbox I had to endure the word "nigger" like 100 times. As a (very) lousy player I couldn't finish one of the very first missions. So, I went back to the mission introduction where two black characters couldn't stop repeating this word. I find the word very offensive, but I would have to resort to a euphemism, "n-word", to even complain about it in public.

[Sudden]

Not to mention that the only reason the league is introducing this is because of the hazing incident in which Richie Incognito, noted white man, was calling another player who was black the n word.

[Sidd Finch]

Any effort to raise a standard for African-American humans that does not exist for non-African-American humans is racist.

The rest of the post isn't batshit crazy, but I have no idea what he's saying here. There's other banned slurs, right? I'm pretty sure the NFL doesn't take too kindly to calling people faggots and whatnot.

[sloopyinca]

I've never seen a flag thrown for anything like this. And the whole issue has focused on the word nigger alone.

[Sidd Finch]

If they do throw flags for that, it'd be for "unsportsmanlike conduct", not "called 82 a motherfucking cocksucker."

And the whole issue has focused on the word nigger alone.

There isn't much of a "ass pirate is a term of endearment" constituency.

[Coeus]

I've never seen a flag thrown for anything like this. And the whole issue has focused on the word nigger alone.

Actually, it's for both faggot an nigger. But no one's bitching about faggot.

[sloopyinca]

That's because it was an afterthought to the original word ban. It was thrown in as a sop to the people concerned that Sam will be "othered" while on the field as well as a way to say to black players that they weren't being singled out.

The whole thing is an ourobouros of PC stupidity.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

"The whole thing is an ourobouros of PC stupidity."

OK lads, careful crating that line up, the Hall Of Fame doesn't want it damaged!

*applause*

[sloopyinca]

Florida woman

You know the thing about Florida Woman, she's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When she comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'.

[The Laconic Marc F Cheney]

Well done, sloopy.

[Corning]

They look sky blue and dreamy to me.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Just watched the Duke girl talking to Piers.

She says that people find porn shameful because of thousands of years of patriarchy.

She then says when she is out and about that men are nice to her but women are very hostile.

Can someone explain?

[Coeus]

She's taking women studies. 'Nuff said

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I guess that really is all you need to know.

But fuck her (ha!) for saying she is libertarian.

[paranoid android]

My completely uninformed opinion on the matter is that she strikes me as one of those Bill Maher "libertarians"--types who want the government out of very specific pet issues that directly affect them (pot for Maher, porn for Knox), but are fine with it having a free hand to suppress anything they personally find distasteful. Mostly it's an exercise in self-branding to convince themselves that they're free-thinkers among mindless sheep.

[Corning]

But fuck her (ha!) for saying she is libertarian.

meh.

Dipping into the jezabel feminism fad while picking up some libertarian cred does not bother me so much.

I hardly think being a jezabel for a few years until one outgrows it prohibits one from entering the libertarian tent.

[lap83]

She's a walking gimmick.

[PapayaSF]

Men like hot chicks, but women don't, and it has nothing to do with "patriarchy."

[lap83]

The first part of that is right, obviously, but the idea that women don't like her simply because she's hot is ridiculous. So hot women don't have female friends? More likely they don't like her because either A. they know she does porn and so they don't trust her, or B. they don't like her personality.

[lap83]

Another possibility is that this girl is perceiving hostility where there isn't any. I've known a few like that. They are preoccupied with their sexuality and appearance so they believe every other girl is a jealous rival.

[sloopyinca]

Another possibility still is that she thinks everybody suspects her of being the girl in the porn videos and her paranoia is causing her to read into shit.

[PapayaSF]

Friends or no, women are notoriously competitive towards other women. So yes, other women might well not like her because she's hot (and single and a slut).

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The patriarchy has convinced women to slut shame it seems.

[Corning]

In comments on Kotaku it has been my experience that it is the most frothing at the mouth feminist commenters who really do not like prostitutes and strippers and porn actresses.

They always use the most pejorative language to describe them and actually use their profession as a pejorative in and of itself.

"Men think women are hookers who exist for their sexual needs"

Wait who is dehumanizing who here? Isn't a hooker a human being that needs respect?

[Pro Libertate]

I think she and Sandra Fluke should (1) date, and (2) run for governor/Lt. governor somewhere.

[paranoid android]

I think she and Sandra Fluke should (1) date, and (2) run for governor/Lt. governor somewhere.

They'd save a bundle on birth control!

[Pro Libertate]

Win/win/win. And that would also lower the risk that either enters the gene pool.

[Corning]

Can someone explain?

People have a hard time understanding how shitty mother in laws can really be and how their individual interests often ran counter to "womenkind's" interests....and even when they do they don't understand they have always been shitty through out time.

[Slammer]

Student who outed Duke porn star spends $1K a month on porn

[Coeus]

Obligatory:

Who pays for porn?

[Bam!]

Duke students, apparently.

[PapayaSF]

Seriously. Countless free video sites and Tumblr blogs should be enough for anyone.

[Coeus]

about tumblr...

[Corning]

Same idiot who would think he needs to "out" a porn star.

[GILMORE]

"Big-mouthed frat boy Thomas Bagley shells out $1,000 a month as a subscriber to hard-core porn site FacialAbuse.com, according to Mike Kulich, CEO of Monarchy Distribution.

"I would like to thank you for being such a fan of our business," Kulich wrote in an open letter on the Internet to Bagley...

In his missive to Bagley, Kulich offered the freckle-faced freshman $10,000 to star in a Facial Abuse scene with the actress of his choice.

"I want to give you the opportunity to live out all your fantasies," Kulich wrote.

"Get your ass out and come shoot for us! We will make you a celebrity because it is apparent how much you love porn and attention. 10 grand is a lot of money for a kid like you. Do you know how many porn memberships you could buy with that?"
"

I do not know exactly what to be aghast at in this entire sequence of events. Where to start.

No, I will not start at all. The world, full of retards it is.

[Sidd Finch]

I need a shower.

[Swiss Servator, alles klar?]

Gah!

[Coeus]

Why are you people so down on such a wonderful example of the free market meeting consumer's needs?

[Steve G]

Do you know how many porn memberships you could buy with that?

Uh.... 7 ?

[Corning]

Do you know how many porn memberships you could buy with that?

If he is dishing out $1k a month why isn't there the mention of the obvious question of why isn't he spending it on prostitutes or hell $1k a month worth of gifts could easily get you a nice girlfriend.

Then again i have no idea who this guy is. he could already be doing that and is simply made of money.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Before or after relaxing

[John]

I think electric motorcycles and scooters are a much cooler idea than electric cars. A trail bike with that kind of torque that doesn't make any noise would be a lot of fun.

[Ted S.]

I'd like to hear the people illegally coming up behind me, thank you very much.