A.M. Links: South Korean President Condemns Ferry Crew, Schultz Says Midterms Not Referendum on Obama's Performance, Americans Skeptical of Big Bang

Credit: Gage Skidmore/wikimedia

• South Korean President Park Geun-hye has condemned some of the crew of the ferry that sank off the South Korean coast last week, saying that their actions are "akin to murder." Most of the 238 passengers still missing are school students.
• Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that unless the U.S. and its allies change their approach to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Russia will seize eastern Ukraine.
• Chair of the Democratic National Committee Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) has said that the upcoming midterm elections are not a referendum on President Obama's performance.
• A Yemeni government official told CNN that a "massive and unprecedented" operation targeting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is under way. The news comes days after a video of a large Al Qaeda gathering in Yemen emerged last week.
• An Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans are more skeptical than confident about global warming, evolution, and the Big Bang.
• A 16-year-old boy survived a flight from California to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of the airplane.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A 16-year-old boy survived a flight from California to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of the airplane.

Doing all he can to keep from being TSA groped?

[UnCivilServant]

No cash is more likely.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[UnCivilServant]

You are late.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

/bows head slowly.

[Agammamon]

Don’t take that shit Rufus – tell ‘im that you’re not late, you got here exactly when *you* wanted to be here.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bunch of bossy bullies around here.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Kate Humble: We don’t value food because it’s not expensive enough
“I’m over here!” shouts Kate Humble, and she of Springwatch and Lambing Live gambols towards me, closing the gate on a field of anxious goats and their Disney-cute babies….

[Ted S.]

And when raising the price of food causes some at the bottom to starve to death, oh no that won’t be her fault at all.

[wwhorton]

Kate Humble: “I don’t understand how markets work! Wheee!”

Also, I know actual farmers (and watermen; similar trade) who do that shit for a living. There isn’t gamboling involved, and they take a dim view of these soccer moms and hipsters who suddenly think it’s cute to grow free range broccoli and call themselves farmers.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

“A free range broccoli herder from Connecticut”

[Sevo]

She deserves to be ‘lichen gatherer from Trashcanistan’

[Zeb]

There’s no reason to want to grow your own food besides being cute?

I agree it’s silly to call your half acre of garden a farm, but I don’t think that large scale commercial farmers own the term “farmer”.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

We only use 5 or 6 acres of our farm right now. I don’t care to clear the trees off more than maybe half an acre each year. I be dead before this place is clear and I’m fine with that.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

they take a dim view of these soccer moms and hipsters who suddenly think it’s cute to grow free range broccoli and call themselves farmers.

“Free range broccoli.” Love it!

We keep a little farm, but I’ve never called myself a farmer. I never really thought about why not. Mostly, I raise animals and grow a bunch of low-maintenance fodder for them to graze.
I also fish, and I do call myself a fisherman, though mostly I’m a crabber. It’s easy to toss big, tough chicken legs into a couple crab pots and check them twice a week.

[UnCivilServant]

A 16-year-old boy survived a flight from California to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of the airplane.

Wow, normally you hear about the bodies falling out of the wheel wells because of the low temperatures and air pressures at altitutde.

Think he’ll try it again?

[Mike Laursen]

Maybe not him, but when others hear about his surviving they’ll try it. Of course, the TSA will be there to stop them, right?

[Agammamon]

He’ll probably end up in jail for the next 10 years.

Stowing away in the wheel-well of an airplane is extremely dangerous. So we must ruin the lives of anyone who does it and survives to ensure that no-one does it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Woman births a painting.

Possibly NSFW, the Huffpo video has blackbars.

[gaijin]

she follows in the footsteps of a long line of provocative artists — Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono…

Yoko Ono, provocative artist? uh, ok. Also, she must have used artisanal eggs…for authenticity.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Yeah, I think squeezing paint eggs out of your vagina makes anything Yoko did seem like finger painting.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Art has become so boring. It’s all about the shock now. Skills aren’t valued nearly as much.

[gaijin]

^agree to the extent that art is that whioh gets popularized. Maplethorpe at least was a decent photographer 😉

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Mapplethorpe was a great photographer (and developer). Warhol had skills too. I’m tired of the multitude of performance artists out there where the act of creating the art takes precedence over the result.

[Dweebston]

Can we coin the phrase artism, the artistic equivalent of scientism?

[Zeb]

Not a good parallel since art is whatever anyone says is art.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Someone calling something “art” doesn’t make it good art. I think the whole “performance art” concept became highly derivative long ago.

[Zeb]

That is definitely true. I think you have to define art very broadly. What makes good art is another matter.

[Rich]

Are you claiming *that* doesn’t take SKILL?! I challenge *you* to do it!

[Rod Flash]

I do something fairly similar (different orifice) every morning.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Regularity ti die for.

[UnCivilServant]

On the plus side, this has made actually good art cheap enough that I can commission works. (that plus the advantages of the digital revolution on painting)

[Zeb]

That’s not really a new thing. People of ordinary means commissioned portraits and such all the time before photography got good and cheap enough to largely replace that.

[Zeb]

I agree that contemporary art that manages to get into museums tends to be pretty dull. I actually think that the idea behind post-modern allegorical art is quite interesting, but it’s been done now, time to move on to something else.

The thing is that most of the artists making weird un-aesthetic art today are actually skilled artists. It’s just that there are many thousands of people who are quite good painters or draftsmen or sculptors or whatever who can make a living making things for people to decorate their homes with. But to get noticed on some scene you need to distinguish yourself somehow and do something new. Unfortunately, there haven’t been too many really good new ideas since Modernism.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

‘Provocative art’ is a vapid term.

[Root Boy]

Yes, just means, I have no talent or artistic skill, so let me shit and piss on something and call it art.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

^This^

[Zeb]

The thing is, as I mentioned above, most of these artists do have good technical skills. You just aren’t going to make a name for yourself in the art world by painting things that look like what they look like. I think contemporary art has gone in some stupid directions, but there are good reasons why it doesn’t return to the past.

[Root Boy]

The things I’ve read about in the Tate in London don’t show any skill (one chick just displayed her bed with condoms, needles, and cum stains or something like that).

Hell, Jeff Coons makes schlock, but at least he makes statues and uses some drawing skills in the design (I think other skilled workers actually made the steel bunny balloon)

[Sevo]

How about ‘edgy!’

[gaijin]

the upcoming midterm elections are not a referendum on President Obama’s performance

If she was confident about the outcome you can bet it would be a referendum on O’s performance.

[Rich]

This.

I was a little surprised at how the felon (DG) did not allow her to get away with all of her usual ridiculousness.

[Brett L]

Right, Debbie. How’s that plan for getting Bill Nelson to run for governor so you can have a shot at the Senate coming? Oh, that’s right, nobody took you seriously because — and this is hard to believe — you’re considered a light-weight even in the vast wasteland of centrists and former Republicans that is the Florida Democratic party.

[wwhorton]

My brother-in-law is from the Pensacola area. Carpetbaggers like Debbie are why he left.

[Root Boy]

I’m just unhappy there is no alt-text on that scary picture.

[Brett L]

He left Pensacola because of carpet baggers? Jesus, that’s a true Scotsman.

[Andrew S.]

My father (the one who thought that Krugman would make a good Secretary of the Treasury) donates money to that woman.

I have no clue how I turned out to be sane.

[invisible furry hand]

extended teenage rebellion?

[Andrew S.]

My teenage rebellion was from around ages 16-20 when I turned full-on Neocon. Turned libertarian around the same time as the ’96 election.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Yes. Midterms are always a referendum on the current administration.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

“The United Auto Workers announced Monday it is withdrawing an appeal of the outcome of a union vote at Volkswagen’s assembly plant in Tennessee.”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS…..e-23404363

[UnCivilServant]

YAY! This may be the first time in a long time the UAW has respected the wishes of the workers… unless there’s an ulterior motive to the move.

[Injun, as in from India]

Maybe they’ve realized that they will get more bang for the buck doing propaganda than on a lawsuit?

[UnCivilServant]

I need some glimmer of brightness on this monday, leave me to my delusion.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

Yeah, they would possibly end up having attorney fees assessed against them (and probably heard from their lawyers “we have no chance here”).

[Brett L]

My father, who dealt with faculty unions for most of his career, related to me that his guiding principle in union disputes is to make the union spend actual money on attorneys and see how serious they really are about the given “rule”. It turns out that most “violations” become no big deal once your lawyer has asked their lawyer for a deposition of the aggrieved party.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My father-in-law (may he rest in peace) used to tell me tales of his tribulations in dealing with the unions.

He told the leader of the union (I paraphrase) ‘one day you will be sitting where I sit and you’ll understand everything. I have to look at the big picture, you don’t.’

A couple of years later, the union rep went into business for himself bumped into my FIL where he asked, ‘So. How’s it like dealing with people like you, Artie? Are you sick yet?’

He replied, “Johnny. I understand everything now.”

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It was the grocery industry by the way.

[db]

At a plant I used to work, the contract was written to prevent this until sufficient time had been wasted for the union to wear out the company. There were like four or five levels of grievance hearings at the.plant alone, before it ever.even reached the corporate IR department. That contract was.so.heavily weighted.in favor.of the.union that we ended up retaining an employee who.had.made bona fide death threats.to several members.of.management, causing the.company to.expend several hundred.thousand dollars on security guards at their houses for about two weeks.

[Brett L]

Yeah. The other side isn’t completely stupid.

[R C Dean]

unless there’s an ulterior motive to the move

My guess:

Somebody pointed out to them that VW management’s support of the union side in hopes of installing a Euro-style “worker’s council” union was not entirely kosher, and they decided not to have any actual formal determination of that in hopes of getting VW to unionize another plant for them.

[Mr. Soul]

per Frank Beckman (Detroit) radio show, Management is planning to recognize the union anyway and losing this appeal would torpedo that seizure of power.

[Lord Humungus]

Georgia exchange applications hit 220,000

Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, though, said premiums have been received for only 107,581 of those policies, which cover 149,465 people.

“Many Georgians completed the application process by the deadline, but have yet to pay for the coverage,” Hudgens said in a statement Wednesday.

Damn Christfags!

[wwhorton]

7 MILLION! OBAMA GAVE US HEALTH!!!

[R C Dean]

So, call it 75% or so. About what the insurance companies were projecting.

[Fist of Etiquette]

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans are more skeptical than confident about global warming, evolution, and the Big Bang.

What do all three have in common? THEY ALL SLAP GOD IN THE FACE.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

I thought the dudes who discovered the Big Bang thought it was evidence of “let there be light” all at once? Been a while since I read anything about this, however.

[BardMetal]

The alternative theory was the “steady state” theory which basically said everything has always existed, and thusly no creation. It was favored by atheists at the time.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

Evil: What sort of Supreme Being created such riffraff? Is this not the workings of a complete incompetent?
Baxi Brazilia III: But He created you, Evil One.
Evil: What did you say?
Baxi Brazilia III: Well He created you, so He can’t be entirely…
Evil: [Blows Baxi to bits] Never talk to me like that again! No one created me! I am Evil. Evil existed long before good. I made myself. I cannot be unmade. *I* am all powerful!

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Evolution is simple fact. Biological variability plus things eating each other equals evolution. Live long enough to reproduce, pass go and collect $200. Roll again for the next generation.
Global warming is thoroughly discredited crap.
Big Bang had big problems when I last went to college. A lot of what I’ve seen since looks like ad hoc patching rules. OTOH, is physics reporting anything like dietary science reporting?

[Ted S.]

A lot of what I’ve seen since looks like ad hoc patching rules.
Spheres within spheres for the win!

OTOH, is physics reporting anything like dietary science reporting?
If it’s in the general media, then yeah, it’s probably terrible.

[Rasilio]

It is.

Last week CNN was running an article about the earthlike planet Kepler found. The article was actually written by a science professor (some school in Az iirc) and made the ridiculous claim that Earth is the only planet in our Solar System’s habitable zone.

Something categorically not true since Mars is also in the habitable zone and the only reason it is not capable of supporting life is it is too small. Venus might also be just inside the habitable zone with a different atmospheric composition.

If a science professor can’t even get basic facts like that right their ability to convey the intricacies of modern physics is basically nil

[Brett L]

Big Bang had big problems when I last went to college. A lot of what I’ve seen since looks like ad hoc patching rules.

Expansion does posit that the current laws of physics are only local laws and that a more complex underlying reality that supports other universes must exist. However, expansion is the only thing that explains all of the evidence that we currently have. The explanation, I agree, feels like a patch, because it violates the idea that we *can* observe everything that ever was or will be in our universe. But that’s a reactionary feeling. As a cosmologist recently said, “When expansion was first proposed, other cosmologists said, ‘I hate it and its wrong.’ Now cosmologists mostly say, ‘I hate it and I wish I could find another explanation.'”

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Expansion does posit that the current laws of physics are only local laws

In other words, physics is just like politics

[Rich]

+1 unified field theory

[Rasilio]

In a lot of ways it is. The main difference is most physicists are open to having their opinions changed by actual evidence as opposed to expediency and money

[Zeb]

it violates the idea that we *can* observe everything that ever was or will be in our universe. But that’s a reactionary feeling.

Very much that. When talking about physics of the very small or very large, common sense intuitions are not at all useful.

[Zeb]

I’ve been keeping up with new cosmology stuff as a fairly advanced amateur and while some of it is based on models which are fine tuned to some extent, the things it has been able to predict are fairly impressive and I haven’t heard of any other theory that describes what we see so well. There are a number of big unknowns still with no good explanation, perhaps the biggest being why there is more matter than anti-matter, but it has come a long way since I learned about it in college.
We will probably never be able to see farther than the cosmic microwave background, so the early era of the universe will always be extrapolation based on known high energy physics.
It’s a theory that is still in progress, you never know if someone will come up with something better and less weird. I suspect that most people’s skepticism is because it is all so odd next to ordinary experience. But quantum theory is at least as weird and it is about the most successful and useful physics ever.

[Brett L]

But quantum theory is at least as weird and it is about the most successful and useful physics ever.

I agree. My brain still doesn’t really accept quantum theory.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I always imagine quantum physics as William Burroughs teaching a science class.

[kinnath]

tunneling . . because fuck you that’s why.

[Brett L]

“A photon actually takes all the paths in the now, but will only have taken the fastest path once they are observed. So you get mirages, because it is slightly faster for the photons from the sky to take a detour near the ground. ”

That was when I decided me and quantum theory were never gonna be friends.

[Zeb]

I like that. It’s the cut-up technique for reality.

[gimmeasammich]

I always imagine quantum physics as William Burroughs teaching a science class.

Jesus, that paints quite the strange mental picture.

“So as you can see, Planck didn’t go far enough because his formula did not sufficiently cause him to ejaculate satisfactorily during his fits of self-strangulation.”

[Brett L]

“So as you can see, Planck didn’t go far enough because his formula did not sufficiently cause him to ejaculate satisfactorily during his fits of self-strangulation.”

Now I have to start referring to quanta as Mugwumps?

[Steve G]

I love how they lump AGW with Evolution/Big Bang. My guess is they’d have a different result if they conducted separate polls.

[Zeb]

I can see how evolution and the big bang could go together for some religious people who imagine God who micromanages the universe.
Though I’ve always thought that a God who could just set the universe in motion and have it produce human beings through intelligible physical laws without further interference is much more impressive.

[Root Boy]

That is how I think of it in my beliefs (paragraph two).

[wwhorton]

Yeah, agreed. I’m an atheist, but I’m also a programmer, so I’m way more impressed with an entity that can design a complex system from soup to nuts that produces all desired outcomes, as opposed to an entity which has to roll out hotfixes continually.

[robc]

But what if the “hotfixes” wete planned in advance? Hiw could *we* tell the difference?

Time is a in-universe construct. Imo, God is outside time so concepts like “in advance” dont apply.

[Zeb]

I still think that the god who makes the universe with consistent and comprehensible physical laws is more awesome.

On a casual reading, at least, the Bible sure makes it seem like God is putting out hotfixes in real time.

[robc]

Are our laws of physics consistent and comprehensible?

[Zeb]

That’s the goal, anyway.

[robc]

The Bible was written by people who perceive reality in a linear order.

[db]

I set the wheels in motion
Turn up all the machines
Activate the programs
And run behind the scene
I set the clouds in motion
Turn up light and sound
Activate the window
And watch the world go ’round

[The Last American Hero]

…While our loving watchmaker loves us all till death!

[Steve G]

Yeah, if there’s a higher power, I see evolution/big bang as the “how” he does it, but to the fundies it’s heresy.
AGW on the other hand is a whole different animal. It irks me when I (and a lot of us) get lumped into the ‘anti-science’ crowd by the likes of Nye/Tyson for being skeptical.

[BigT]

“Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans are more skeptical than confident about global warming, evolution, and the Big Bang”

One out of three ain’t bad, given the state of US STEM education.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Kate Humble: We don’t value food because it’s not expensive enough
“I’m over here!” shouts Kate Humble, and she of Springwatch and Lambing Live gambols towards me, closing the gate on a field of anxious goats and their Disney-cute babies….

…But it’s the price of food, the farmer’s end product, that really irks her. “Everyone’s going to hate me and call me a middle-class bitch but I’m past caring because I’m so incensed. Food waste is endemic but we don’t value food because it’s not expensive enough. Four pints of milk for a quid, are you kidding me? ……

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Sorry, Reasonable blocked my earlier post because of the “g-word” and I didn’t see that it went thru.

[Ted S.]

Why would the block the word “going”?

[UnCivilServant]

No it rhymes with gamble.

[Rich]

“Gambol”, I suppose.

[UnCivilServant]

Who said that?

[Rich]

Dammit, now *I’m* blocked!

[Ted S.]

I was wondering why my reply didn’t show up, but apparently it did you the last time you posted this article.

[UnCivilServant]

Riiiight. We have surpluses and enough to feed everyone if the logistics could be worked out, but we waste it because it’s too cheap.

They could always go organic and doom half the populace to starvation.

[db]

The same people who would scold at wasting excess food in this world also advocate using corn for fuel and banning GMOs.

[waffles]

Autobanned for excessive gamboling? So we have millions of “food insecure” people and yet food is too cheap. We can’t have it it both ways. Why give these people a platform?

[UnCivilServant]

Well, traditionally the gallows was raised, unless you want to go back to a horse and tree.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Presumptuous, unsubstantiated line of the day: ‘Rich people buy too much of it and use it frivolously.’

/face palm.

[BigT]

Obesity is inversely correlated with income, IIRC.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Correct. Commodity foodstuffs like alcohol, sugar and white flour are more obesogenic.

[The Late P Brooks]

the upcoming midterm elections are not a referendum on President Obama’s performance.

And we all believe her.

[DontShootMe]

Maybe the election can be considered a referendum on Debbie’s performance as DNC chair.

[Brett L]

In a way, I think you’re probably right.

[The Late P Brooks]

A 16-year-old boy survived a flight from California to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of the airplane.

More comfortable than sitting in coach, I suspect.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

On United….I would agree.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…unless the U.S. and its allies change their approach to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Russia will seize eastern Ukraine.

If history has taught us anything, it’s don’t wait until winter to move on Moscow.

[Palin's Buttplug]

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans are more skeptical than confident about global warming, evolution, and the Big Bang.

But a Jew dead for 2000 years is coming back to grant them eternal life.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

“a Jew”

Gesundheit!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Notable only because supposed “Christians” typically despise Jews.

[UnCivilServant]

Only in your deranged, stereotyping mind.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

…said the guy who used “Jew” as an insult.

[Jordan]

[Citation needed]

[Palin's Buttplug]

You’ve got to be kidding. Here in Dixie the “Jew bankers”, “Hollywood Jews”, and anti-Semitism in general runs rampant.

[Jordan]

I know that you struggle with logic. I asked for a citation that Christians typically despise Jews. Still waiting.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I can’t find a poll of anti-Semites by religious affiliation.

Down here in Klan territory it is strong though.

[Root Boy]

Hang out in Universities in the NE and see if you hear random insults about JAPs from Long Island, much less the BDS crap that is going strong there now.

[BigT]

“Hang out in Universities in the NE and see if you hear random insults about JAPs from Long Island,”

I heard lots of this – from my Jewish friends. I had no idea what they were talking about at the time.

[Root Boy]

Took me a while to figure out what it meant.

I heard it from the WASP kids mostly (interns – I never went to a NE university).

[Steve G]

Project much?
I’ve lived in FL, AL, NC, LA and VA in the past 20 years and have seen none of the “rampant” anti-semitism you’re talking about.

[UnCivilServant]

Like-minded people tend to congregate, so I’m sure he’s heard such commentary from his social circle.

[R C Dean]

Here in Dixie the “Jew bankers”, “Hollywood Jews”, and anti-Semitism in general runs rampant.

That’s funny. When I lived in Richmond for 7 years (3 of them at a deeply conservative “white-shoe” law firm), I detected exactly zero instances of anti-Semitism.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

“Citation needed”

For Palin’s ‘deranged, stereotyping mind’?

[John]

The voices in his head.

[Jordan]

It’s funny how you get so defensive every time someone calls you out for being a collectivist cunt.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

Wait for a rant about how the Bible Humpers go so over the top supporting Israel, then try to reconcile those two…

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Also, with the KKK mention, doesn’t that mean he assumes Christians are white? There are a lot of Black and Asian Christians around here.

I know… I need to quit the bad habit of trying make sense of BP’s claims.

[VoluntaryBeatdown]

Doesn’t the entire Middle East prove you wrong? God damn when a fucking continent of evidence is roght in front of your face and you choose to ignore it, no wonder everyone thinks you are a colossal pile of dog shit.

[wwhorton]

He/she isn’t a very happy person, I think. Tends to be a common feature among the bitter.

[WTF]

CHRISTFAGS!!11!!!BUSHPIGS!!11!!!

[wwhorton]

Do what? I know a lot of actual church-every-Sunday Christians, and none of them have an opinion on Jews or Judaism one way or the other, beyond the obvious doctrinal issues.

[invisible furry hand]

Catholics are taught that anti-semitism is a sin, at least in my neck of the woods.

[Brett L]

In fact, its been official doctrine for Catholics since Vatican II, in 1965.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Joel Kotkin: Stop favoring investors, speculators over middle class
…Clearly, something needs to change, and, ironically, one wonders where the class warriors of the Left are on this. They have become increasingly bold (or honest) in stating that we should continue raising taxes on the middle and upper-middle classes, as a recent New Republic piece suggests, but seem less than vehement about equalizing taxes on capital gains and other income.

This may have something to do with the shift in backing for “progressive” causes coming from the very people ? Wall Street traders, venture capitalists and tech executives ? who benefit most from the capital gains scam. The confluence of big money and populist rhetoric is epitomized by New York’s powerful senior senator, Charles Schumer, who has made a career of both raising money from Wall Street financiers and defending preferential treatment for their outsized profits. Their growing power over the party of ever-expanding government leaves only one place to finance Democrats’ ambitious plans ? the middle and upper-middle classes….

[Root Boy]

I don’t like the class warfare train, but he is right about the Bernanke-Obama recovery and who it helps.

Kotkin always has interesting things to say.

[wwhorton]

Interesting, but I’d still say that if you’re going to take money from the middle class and just give it right back in the form of refunds and credits and so forth, maybe the better idea is just to not take it in the first place. Also, is it too true to type to say that the issue should be that income tax a.) exists at all, and b.) is too high, not that capital gains tax is too low?

[Root Boy]

Yes, cycling money through the gov (which results in 50% return according to some idiots) is not a solution.

If Cap gains is low, make income taxes low or lower – tax all income at the same rate if you are going to tax it. Gas tax should have been returned to the states long time ago, like when the InterState HWYs were done. It’s just Congresses corrupt slush fund now.

The larger point is about QE pumping up the banks and their investor/owners, which he doesn’t spend enough time on. Kotkin is best talking about life in CA.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

“Suppose a scientific conference on cancer prevention never addressed smoking, on the grounds that in a free society you can’t change private behavior, and anyway, maybe the statistical relationships between smoking and cancer are really caused by some other third variable. Wouldn’t some suspect that the scientists who raised these claims were driven by something?ideology, tobacco money?other than science?

“Yet in the current discussions about increased inequality, few researchers, fewer reporters, and no one in the executive branch of government directly addresses what seems to be the strongest statistical correlate of inequality in the United States: the rise of single-parent families during the past half century.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/art…..24266.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

“…quite simply, very few professors or journalists, and fewer still who want foundation grants, want to be seen as siding with social conservatives, even if the evidence leads that way.

“Second, family breakup has hit minority communities the hardest. So even bringing up the issue risks being charged with racism, a potential career-killer.”

[gaijin]

the rise of single-parent families during the past half century.”

According to Cokie Roberts yesterday on This Week, this is because we need better men.

“ROBERTS: ? the reason the numbers have changed so dramatically on this, first of all, that ideal isn’t true in all kinds of families that (INAUDIBLE) being what it is and the abandoned mothers. But it is also true ? I mean, if we got ? if we got better men, we’d be in better shape.”

[Notorious G.K.C.]

So…Roberts is saying that men were better in the age of patriarchal households and more two-parent families?

[gaijin]

So…Roberts is saying that men were better in the age of patriarchal households and more two-parent families?

That would imply that she thought through her comment. More likely, the depth of her comment is simply ‘it is all men’s fault’.

[Pathogen]

No… just that we need a New Man?

[Root Boy]

Yes, that will be their solution – some gov program to take boys away from their families and train them in government approved maleness and parenting.

[Pathogen]

They’ll call it.. Project: BETA

[wareagle]

that’s the beauty of being a prog – intellectual consistency is never required.

[BigT]

Kookie Roberts should look at the correlation between single moms and ADC, which penalized moms for having a man in their household. The out of wedlock birth rate soared from 25 to 65% in just 10 years among poor inner city families.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The Black Book of Tom Steyer
Allegations of fraud plague hedge fund of Democratic super-donor

The former hedge fund of one of the Democratic Party’s most important donors was allegedly involved in a scheme to defraud foreign investors out of tens of millions of dollars, according to documents filed in a Texas court….

…The case, which was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds?the court agreed with Farallon that it didn’t operate in Texas and hence could not be sued there?is being re-examined by the Republican politicians and activists scrutinizing the record of the billionaire and controversial environmentalist, who has pledged $100 million to help Democrats in this year’s midterm elections….

[Ted S.]

Technically, the government is involved in schemes to defraud all of us out of billions of dollars.

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

And they do not want amateurs horning in on their action!

[Injun, as in from India]

A 16-year-old boy survived a flight from California to Hawaii hidden in the wheel well of the airplane.

Clearly, what we need is more funding for the TSA.

[Rich]

How about positioning TSA agents in the wheel wells of every flight?

[Pathogen]

Your idea intrigues me..

[Rich]

“If it helps save just one life ….”

[Pathogen]

But, can we bring it in under budget?

[UnCivilServant]

The long term savings in payroll will make up for it if we don’t backfill.

[Pathogen]

Well, I’m sold on it… Let’s do this!

[UnCivilServant]

Only if there’s no backfill for attrition.

[Injun, as in from India]

You mean federal flight marshals, right? The people who cost taxpayers about $200 million per arrest made?

[Lord Humungus]

Liberals now love Barry Goldwater, but his 1964 loss won the GOP’s future

In 1964, Goldwater appalled the political establishment. Though the blunt-spoken Arizonan’s bestseller, “The Conscience of a Conservative,” had made him a hero on the right even before his White House run, liberal commentators seemed shocked to discover that his conservatism was for real. When he declared, in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” they were aghast. And they went after him in one of the most ruthless campaigns of invective in US political history. Goldwater and his conservative supporters were repeatedly likened to Nazis, madmen, and warmongers. Jackie Robinson said he knew “how it felt to be a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.” Lyndon Johnson’s notorious “daisy” commercial showed a little girl picking flower petals, until she is overwhelmed by the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. A month before the election, the cover of Fact magazine blared: “1,189 Psychiatrists Say Goldwater is Unfit to be President!”

[gaijin]

the cover of Fact magazine

haha! I guess the facts were not enough to keep that magazine alive.

[Raven Nation]

Apparently Goldwater sued and won. The decision led to APA issuing a “Goldwater Rule”:

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

[Root Boy]

So, was this the beginning of the media and leftists claiming a constitutional mindset was crazy? They did it with Reagan as well and its par for the course of any political smear campaign these days (against the right and libertarians).

I do know it’s common on the right to claim liberalism is a disease, but that is more comment board stuff than in the right media (I mostly chalk it up to emotional thinking).

[SlV]

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that Americans are more skeptical than confident about global warming, evolution, and the Big Bang.

Self-described “skeptics” condemn this heretical skepticism.

[gaijin]

skepticism is the new denialism.

[BardMetal]

In other news Americans don’t know much about any of these topics. Especially evolution.

[BigT]

Get in touch with your Inner Fish, Inner Reptile, Inner monkey.

[Rich]

Watch Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal narrowly avoid a train during a railway safety press conference

“Safety, as you know, is paramount. WHOA!”

[gaijin]

uh, I think your link is busted.

[Ted S.]

The link was hit by a train.

[Rich]

Hier. Sorry.

*** gets more coffee for squirrels ***

[SlV]

Blumenthal’s Vietnam-honed combat instincts saved him.

[Root Boy]

Zing! Good one.

[AlexInCT]

I cried.. I was rooting for he train. Would have been a day to celebrate in the People’s Republlic of Connecticut.

[Pathogen]

TOP. MEN.

[Injun, as in from India]

If it was a gun safety press conference and blumenthal had a near-miss, the left would have been all over the place screaming about how even trained men can’t be safe near guns.

[Lord Humungus]

George Will: ‘The Debate Is Over’ Is Obama’s Mantra

Will noted that the president is making “a fairly minimal claim” when he asserts that the Affordable Care Act is working. “I mean, the farm subsidies in this country are working; whether or not they are doing good work is another matter.”

Also dragging out the debate, Will said, is the lack of data on new health-insurance enrollees and whether the Affordable Care Act’s mechanism ? in which forcing Americans to buy insurance creates a large enough base of healthier, lower-cost members to balance out an influx of less healthy members with higher costs ? will actually work. But the real debate, he said, is over first principles.

[Palin's Buttplug]

And who is debating farm subsidies now, Will?

A few straggler libertarians? Don’t make me laugh.

[Jordan]

Which has nothing to do with his point, now does it?

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is right on point. There is no meaningful debate on farm subsidies whether they do harm or not.

The same has become true of Obamacare – harmful or not.

[Jordan]

In other words, you don’t actually understand his point. Big surprise.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I accept the fact that Obamacare subsidies will no doubt “not work” just like farm subsidies don’t.

You don’t get my point. That debate is over except for a few stragglers.

[Jordan]

That’s an awful lot of words to just concede his point.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sooo.

The subsidies will not work (as they usually don’t since they’re inherently unjust and unfair) but the debate is over?

Seems to me that it’s just the beginning.

From what I’ve been reading there have been cases where a family earning a certain amounts, say $50 302 get a subsidy, but a family earning $50 412 don’t get one.

A $110 dollar difference leads one getting a break while the other seeing their premiums sky rocket?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Same way with tax brackets.

[Lord Humungus]

which also are unfair. Hmm… imagine something like a flat tax.

[Root Boy]

Wrong.

[Isaac Bartram]

No it’s nothing like tax brackets.

The amount of tax you pay on your lower bracket income doesn’t change.

[The Last American Hero]

Except the higher bracket only applies to the additional income.

[John]

Shorter shreek,

Of course Obamacare is a disaster but it is the law so it can never change.

I think fixing Obama’s fucking up millions of people’s healthcare is going to be a bit higher on the priority list than stopping the pay offs off various rich farmers.

You might be right though, this thing is going to be such an albatross for the retarded party, the stupid party might not want to repeal it.

[wwhorton]

It’s funny, because if a debate is really over you’d expect that one side wouldn’t have to keep telling the other side — over and over and over again — that the debate is over. Sort of like if you have to explain why a joke is funny, it isn’t.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Perhaps in 2017 you can attempt to rekindle it. It won’t work though.

2017 – maybe.

[Ted S.]

This is why nobody takes you seriously.

[John]

That and a lot of other reasons. Funny how he points to corporate welfare for big food as the example of success analogous to Obamacare.

[Ted S.]

He also claims to be libertarian, and supports the thing that only we “straggler libertarians” oppose.

[Pathogen]

Come on in to the big tent, Ted… leave all those flat-earthers and Boooooosh!pigs behind.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I oppose farm subsidies, you dipshit.

The topic was about how there is no real debate on them. They keep living and growing.

[John]

You don’t oppose anything. You would have to be sentient to do that.

Beyond that, thanks for admitting that Obamacare is a fucking disaster. We will be putting this up every time you claim otherwise.

How long before you get on here and tell us you never supported or defended Obama? I guess the talking points they are giving you are finally telling you “stop pretending that Obamacare works”.

[SugarFree]

A boy asked out someone famous?!? Unleash hell!

[UnCivilServant]

If you don’t ask they’ll never say yes.

I’m not following that link by policy, so I can’t even begin to contemplate the school’s reaction.

[SugarFree]

Three days of in-house suspension.

[UnCivilServant]

So what was her response?

[SugarFree]

She politely turned him down citing her travel schedule.

And, of course, Jezebel had no problem when Justin Timberlake was ambushed with an invitation to a dance.

[Brett L]

Chicks love bad boys.

[The Last American Hero]

Technically, they love faux-bad boys.

[Rich]

The kid obviously should have asked out Michelle Obama.

[John]

In fairness, they did tell him “please don’t ask the guest out” and he did it anyway. I could how Miss America might ask the various high schools she visits to tell the kids “no I am not going out with you” upfront.

Three days is a bit much though.

[Brett L]

I don’t think the school was necessarily wrong in its response. Young men will do juvenile things, and they were prepared for it. The Jezzies acting like it is just so goddamned evil that young men would ask out the certified most beautiful woman in the US is what is baffling. Its like they want to pretend that its her status that gets her asked out, and that Lindy West doesn’t get besieged with prom invites from young men because she’s too… complex for their anti-feminist minds.

[invisible furry hand]

Obviously she’s Miss America because of her grasp of Luce Irigaray, but he only wanted her for her looks or something

[Brett L]

Yeah. That’s what I would guess from reading Jezebel’s coverage of pageants.

[SugarFree]

The suspension is not what bothers me (although it is excessive), but rather the freak-out that a boy would dare ask out Miss America.

[John]

It is what they do.

[Zeb]

It’s not as if teenage girls never get all gooey over sexy celebrities.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The chock should say yes.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

chick

[Lord Humungus]

PollZ!

Broken Obamacare State Exchanges Poll Better Than Federal

We separated states into three different groups to do this analysis. The “broken” state exchange group included Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Vermont. (While it is an inexact measurement, we put states where healthcare officials struggled throughout the enrollment period to fully launch their exchanges into the “broken” category.) The second group of states?those with relatively well running exchanges?included Washington, Rhode Island, New York, Kentucky, Colorado, Connecticut, California and the District of Columbia. All other states where included in our third group, as they used the federal exchange website to enroll customers.

Among these groups, you might expect the states with barely (or not-at-all) functioning exchanges to rank last when it comes to users’ experiences. But the federal exchanges took that spot in almost every measure. The poll has a margin of error of two percentage points, and approximately 2,000 interviews were conducted in each poll from November through April.

[Ted S.]

The bad state exchanges are mostly in states that are derp blue.

[Rich]

‘world’s most Christian nation’

“If everyone in China believed in Jesus then we would have no more need for police stations.”

[UnCivilServant]

Doesn’t “Be fruitful and multiply” clash with the one-child policy?

[Rich]

Did *Jesus* say that?

[gaijin]

how do you say ‘Jesus’ in Chinese?

[WTF]

how do you say ‘Jesus’ in Chinese?

“Bountiful angelic ascending God-lotus person”.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I was gonna go with ‘Jong’.

[Steve G]

If everyone in China believed in Jesus, what would they be asking for forgiveness for every Sunday?
I’ll take my police stations, thank you very much.

[Lord Humungus]

Armed hostage taker in southwest Russian bank peacefully surrenders

The general added that the man was acting out of desperation caused by his failure to withdraw his money shortly before the bank lost its license. The authorities may not prosecute him for the serious crime of hostage-taking, considering the circumstances, he said.

The armed man went into the bank on Monday morning and demanded a certain sum of money, police said earlier. Media said the man was armed with a Saiga hunting carbine and was demanding a ransom of 25 million rubles ($700,000).

[UnCivilServant]

Saiga hunting carbine

I didn’t realize they made those. I have a Saiga in .308, but it doesn’t come close to being a carbine. Huh, learn something new every day.

Also, if no one was actually hurt, russian prisons are excessive punishment.

[BardMetal]

I should have bought a Saiga 12 back when they were still cheap…

[Warty]

You can also get Saigas in 7.62×39, 5.56, and I believe 5.45×39, as well as 12 gauge. It could have been any of those.

[gimmeasammich]

And .410, 20 gauge (I think), and even .30-06.

[Steve G]

unless the U.S. and its allies change their approach to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Russia will seize eastern Ukraine

So???

[BardMetal]

Well I suppose Russia will need to stockpile ammo for the invasion, so it it’s going to become more expensive to shoot my CZ-82, or Tokarev for awhile, but other then that I don’t see how this effects me.

[Lord Humungus]

Japan expands army footprint for first time in 40 years, risks angering China

The 30 sq km (11 sq mile) Yonanguni is home to 1,500 people and known for strong rice liquor, cattle, sugar cane and scuba diving. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to put troops there shows Japan’s concerns about the vulnerability of its thousands of islands and the perceived threat from China.

The new base “should give Japan the ability to expand surveillance to near the Chinese mainland,” said Heigo Sato, a professor at Takushoku University and a former researcher at the Defense Ministry’s National Institute for Defense Studies.

“It will allow early warning of missiles and supplement the monitoring of Chinese military movements.”

[Swiss Servator, Versicherung!]

“risks angering China”

I suspect they don’t care how angry China gets….

/A ghost of nanjing

[The Late P Brooks]

“If everyone in China believed in Jesus then we would have no more need for police stations.”

“NOBODY expects the Chinese Inquisition!”

[Lord Humungus]

The Democrats have a mega-donor problem
And no, we’re not talking about the Kochs

Reducing gun violence and curbing global warming are high priorities for most Democrats. So theoretically, they should be thrilled about plans by like-minded billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer to pour money into this year’s midterm elections.

But there’s a huge catch: The uber-rich pair could help Democrats lose the Senate and do worse than expected in the House.

Call it the luck of the Democrats. They get a couple of rich guys willing to target both Republicans and moderate Democrats who oppose their liberal agendas. The GOP gets the Kochs ? a couple of hard-headed brothers who just want their side to win.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

They get a couple of rich guys willing to target both Republicans and moderate Democrats who oppose their liberal agendas.

Isn’t this one of the hallmarks of TEH EVUL NRA?

The GOP gets the Kochs ? a couple of hard-headed brothers who just want their side to win.

That, err, isn’t true.

[Root Boy]

Can’t expect much accuracy from the media when it comes to the Kochs. And yes, they are too ideological to see the Koch side is freedom, not Republicans.

[The Late P Brooks]

Nothing about the new ethanol study? There was a pretty good piece at Forbes (I read yesterday). I generally refrain from reading comments, but there were a couple of deeply butthurt True Believers, flinging poop and screeching in outrage.

[gaijin]

deeply butthurt True Believers, flinging poop and screeching in outrage.

Farmers or enviros?

[Brett L]

As someone who got a chemical engineering degree because I thought there was a future in alt-fuels, well… I am completely unsurprised. We’ve had the corn-to-ethanol thing down in this nation since before the Revolution. If it were efficient to power engines on ethanol, we’d have run our tractors off it long ago.

[John]

But Brett, big oil and the Kochs conspired to kill ethanol. Didn’t you get the memo?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

As someone who owns hundreds of small engines, ethanol sucks Major Harry Balls.

[Brett L]

Just because it absorbs water and is more corrosive! You and your small engine privilege. I was disappointed when they stopped selling toluene as a common painting solvent. That shit could dry out fuel enough to run an engine if you pumped your tank a quarter full of water*.

*Slight exaggeration

[Ted S.]

I could use some ethanol of the sort produced by grapes, right about now. 😉

[kinnath]

Armagnac perhaps

[Lord Humungus]

Fred Hiatt: Obama needs to lead, not follow polls

Imagine instead that Obama had embraced the bipartisanship of Simpson-Bowles and tried to steer through Congress a package that made the tax system fairer and solved the nation’s long-term debt problem.

He might have empowered Republicans in Congress ? the Roy Blunts and Bob Corkers ? who want to work with Democrats and get things done.

The effect on the Democratic Party would have been even more liberating. Instead of chaining themselves to 20th-century arguments and interest groups, Democrats could have begun to shape ? and realistically promise to pay for ? a 21st-century progressive program focusing on early education and other avenues to opportunity. They could have resources for family policies that really would help address the wage gap.

Instead of a partisan president on the defensive with slipping poll numbers, Obama could have been, as he had once promised, the president of both red and blue America.

[UnCivilServant]

A petulent community organizer isn’t going to do something smart. He’s going to throw blame and temper tantrums when not outright denying the truth.

[Rich]

Imagine instead that Obama had … tried to steer through Congress a package that made the tax system fairer and solved the nation’s long-term debt problem.

I did make an attempt to imagine this, Fred — but it’s just too far out.

[John]

Instead of a partisan president on the defensive with slipping poll numbers, Obama could have been, as he had once promised, the president of both red and blue America.

If only Obama tried harder or something. God forbid we admit he is a crooked Chicago machine politician whose political philosophy consists of letting his supporters steal as much as possible while telling his opponents to go fuck themselves.

Of all the lies the Obama cult tell themselves the whole “he wanted to be post ideological but the racist Republicans wouldn’t let him” has to be the most pathetic.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Simpson-Bowles sadly got slapped down in committee in a bi-partisan way.

Too bad too. Now we won’t get meaningful tax reform.

[John]

It is not like Obama didn’t have 60 votes in the Senate and a huge majority in the House and pissed it away continuing TARP, a 900 billion dollar stimulus, and the biggest domestic policy disaster since the New Deal.

Obama just never had a chance. Go fuck yourself you little retard.

[Palin's Buttplug]

S-B was released Dec 2010. Too late to use a Senate majority to save. But Baucus was against it.

Still trying to foist TARP on Obama?

[John]

Yes retard, Obama voted for it in the Senate and continued it when President. And Obama has never repudiated TARP. Yeah, he fucking owns it.

And December of 2010 was the same Congress as 09. It is called lame duck, you idiot.

[wwhorton]

The ACA passed, a bill which you admit is an unmitigated disaster. Simpson-Bowles, while ironically being too important to bother reading before passing ACTUALLY WAS read. If your boy and the party had given two actual shits about economic reform or the fate of the middle and lower classes of this country they’d have thrown their weight behind it the way they did with that godawful piece of shit Obamacare.

[R C Dean]

Simpson-Bowles sadly got slapped down in committee in a bi-partisan way.

You don’t suppose Obama’s support would have made a difference?

Damning, PB. Damning.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That he’s not a leader or good speaker should be fairly evident by now to people who possess a brain cell.

For some of us (raises hand), I felt this way as early as the Democratic debates.

I never saw anything in this guy. His Justin Trudeau – only darker.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

‘He’s.’

They’re good at passionate yapping.

[The Late P Brooks]

The Loved One was on (TCM) Saturday morning.
To those of you who missed it, I say, “Nyaaaah, nyaaaah.”

[invisible furry hand]

when i was contemplating a user name here, Mr Joyboy was one of the contenders

[Ted S.]

You might like The Big Trail on TCM this evening. Widescreen in 1930, more than 20 years before Cinemascope!

[Sevo]

Sir Walter Hinsley, I heard you’d been hung, ung, ung/
With red protruding eyeballs and black protruding tongue, ung, ung…
Close?

[Lord Humungus]

Ignoring an Inequality Culprit: Single-Parent Families
Intellectuals fretting about income disparity are oddly silent regarding the decline of the two-parent family.

Suppose a scientific conference on cancer prevention never addressed smoking, on the grounds that in a free society you can’t change private behavior, and anyway, maybe the statistical relationships between smoking and cancer are really caused by some other third variable. Wouldn’t some suspect that the scientists who raised these claims were driven by something?ideology, tobacco money?other than science?

Yet in the current discussions about increased inequality, few researchers, fewer reporters, and no one in the executive branch of government directly addresses what seems to be the strongest statistical correlate of inequality in the United States: the rise of single-parent families during the past half century.

The two-parent family has declined rapidly in recent decades. In 1960, more than 76% of African-Americans and nearly 97% of whites were born to married couples.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Wow, that sounds familiar!

http://reason.com/blog/2014/04…..nt_4459553

[Lord Humungus]

it’s just your imagination. Now look into my eyes…

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Only because I saw it posted on FB (really, I swear!):

How This 39-Year-Old Mom Has Orgasms From Anal Sex

Use so much lube. As much as you think you need and then more. I only like water-based brands. Vaseline is a petroleum product, and I do not want THAT in my ass. I also spread a towel, because lube stains. And use condoms. [My husband and I] have been married a lot of years, and there is no chance for disease. And still, condoms. Because really, does he want to get a little piece of shit into his urethra? Hello infection.

[Jordan]

That is barftastic.

[Andrew S.]

Who the fuck are you friends with on FB?

I’ve never even had one accidentally hit “like” on Pornhub.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Girl from high school, she doesn’t seem like much of a freak but clearly I am wrong about everything.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They should start posting pictures to go along with these sort of stories or else I’m not reading, hmpf.

[Lord Humungus]

I was reading up on how aspirin works and saw this:

As part of war reparations specified in the 1919 Treaty of Versailles following Germany’s surrender after World War I, Aspirin (along with heroin) lost its status as a registered trademark in France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where it became a generic name

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

[Isaac Bartram]

Unlike Canada where Aspirin is still a Bayer trademark and you have to ask for ASA if you want to get the generic version.

It my have changed in the last thirtyfive years very few Canadians use “Aspirin” to describe the generic. They actually use “ASA”.

If you ask if they have Aspirin they will actually say, “No, but I have ASA.”

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Really? We still say ‘take an aspirin’ around my parts just like we say take a ‘tylenol.’

[The Late P Brooks]

If it were efficient to power engines on ethanol, we’d have run our tractors off it long ago.

Which was one of his major points. Petroleum based fuels blew organic crop-based fuels out of the market long ago for a reason; multiple reasons, actually. Corn has a much higher utility end use as food.

*I’m still too lazy to go back and find the direct link.

[The Late P Brooks]

I was disappointed when they stopped selling toluene as a common painting solvent. That shit could dry out fuel enough to run an engine if you pumped your tank a quarter full of water*.

A long time ago, I saw an in-depth article about the Mercedes W-125 GP cars. They included the recipe for the fuel used in the car which was roughly 86% methanol, tuned up with toluene, benzene, acetone, and a few other highly aromatic/toxic solvents. I bet it smelled awesome, nosebleeds and blurry vision notwithstanding.

[Andrew S.]

They should make engines like that for consumer cars, just so we could play “How many people are going to kill themselves trying to mix fuel?”

[Brett L]

I know its fun to pour it on your sleeves and then tie your shirt around your face, but resist the urge.

[UnCivilServant]

What’s the dosage of aromatic hydrocarbons required to induce syesthesia?

[Brett L]

About the same as required to induce permanent brain damage. But varnish a boat in a closed garage with the old-style aromatics, and you’ll get there.

[John]

Here you go

the engine, which had arrived at a capacity of 5660 cc in the meantime, devoured one litre per kilometre, an aggressive special mixture made up of 88 percent methanol, 8.8 percent acetone and traces of other substances.
Read more at http://www.supercars.net/cars/…..Ufu6u5j.99

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That had to burn hot as hell. How often did the pistons get holes in them?

[John]

Those cars won damn near every race they were ever entered. And the races were long then on giant tracks like Spa and the Numbering. Their machining was just that good.

[Lord Humungus]

Run ’em… rebuild ’em

[Juice]

?? Methanol and acetone would burn much cooler than octane.

[Sevo]

Gotta point out that modern drag cars wouldn’t deign to run such a mess.
Nitro it is!

[vazhzsh]

Gotta point out that modern drag cars wouldn’t deign to run such a mess.

Cool. Obviously, I gotta point out that really has nothing to do with distance racing, but um, fun story?

[Soros' Wank-noose]

This is about all I know of such musings…

[Lord Humungus]

Jesus, Blunt & Burger

[Andrew S.]

Terrible news out of Manchester, UK. David Moyes is going to be sacked.

It was so fun while it lasted.

[invisible furry hand]

He’s not being sacked, he’s being euthanised.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It’s looking like at the moment soccer tournaments with be without AC Milan and Manchester United next year.

Two mighty clubs and still can’t crack top five or six in their respective leagues.

[Rhywun]

I’m torn between blaming lousy managers vs lazy spoiled players. I do think the revolving-door-ization of management is getting a little ridiculous now – some teams are burning through three a season.

That said, good riddance to both clubs.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That’s true.

I get the hate for Man Utd. But why Milan? What did they ever do to you!

/runs out crying.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

By the way, I know Ted supports Bayern, I’ve stated I lean Milan mostly because of those teams from the late 80s and early 90s, so who do you support?

[Rhywun]

What did they ever do to you!

I can’t stand many of the players on that team – it’s like a vortex for douchebags. See: Chelsea.

I am a Liverpool supporter. Yeah, Suarez but he has really cleaned up his act this year since biting that guy.

[robc]

Fuck Liverpool.

That is all.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Which players? The current batch?

[Rhywun]

I only know the current squad. Balotelli, de Jong, Mexes – I don’t like their attitudes. And el Sharawhi – FFS that dopey hair.

[robc]

Mighty? ManU was relegated as recently as 1974. You arent mighty if relegated in my lifetime.

[Brett L]

Some of us apply that standard and find them qualirying as “mighty”. Of course, we also refer to Jesus as old because we couldn’t have known him personally.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Same with Milan having been relegated in the 80s and then rising.

But I think in terms of winning trophies, Milan is ‘mightier’ I guess.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

robc, even the Yankees or Habs didn’t win every title in their peak dominance years. Since the 1990s Man Utd has been pretty powerful as is Milan.

[robc]

He took ManU to the same position he took Everton every year.

I supported him at Everton, but I think I was wrong.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Nokia phones to be renamed Microsoft Mobile

Apparently the purchase only included temporary rights to the Nokia name

[SlV]

I look forward to the day I can ditch my company-supplied Windows phone. Dear God those things suck.

[Root Boy]

Hmm. I kind of like the tiles design on the phone (hate it on a laptop). I don’t own one, but a friend works for MS and is always trying to get me to buy one.

Nokia is probably a better brand in the rest of the world – MS needs to sell a $50 smart phone for the 1 billion people that will upgrade from their old nokias.

[Lord Humungus]

NBC Hired ‘Psychological Consultant’ to Assess ‘Meet the Press’ Host

NBC has been so alarmed at Meet the Press’s decline, the network hired a “psychological consultant” to assess the host, David Gregory. The Washington Post reports:

Last year, the network undertook an unusual assessment of the 43-year-old journalist, commissioning a psychological consultant to interview his friends and even his wife. The idea, according to a network spokeswoman, Meghan Pianta, was “to get perspective and insight from people who know him best.” But the research project struck some at NBC as odd, given that Gregory has been employed there for nearly 20 years.

[Steve G]

Wow, the dude’s only a year older than me? I woulda guessed a few yrs older than that.

[The Late P Brooks]

NBC has been so alarmed at Meet the Press’s decline, the network hired a “psychological consultant” to assess the host, David Gregory.

“Fruity as a nutcake.”

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Just a guess on my part but can it be, just can it be, that perhaps the reason networks fail is because they take side that most Americans don’t agree with?

And when they don’t agree with their journo-masters, are called out as being ‘ignorant’ or ‘extremist’ or whatever.

[Zeb]

I think that the biggest reason they fail is because there are so many other, better options for TV programming.
If you take any too specific political or ideological position at all, most Americans will probably disagree with you.

[Lord Humungus]

for the derps:

The Conservative Case Against Obamacare: A Restatement

short version:

Objection #1: Obamacare has no legitimate funding mechanism.

objection #2: Obamacare has created a socially perverse array of winners and losers.

objection #3: Obamacare restricts choices and increases costs.

objection #4: Obamacare hurts businesses.

Objection #5: Obamacare is probably unsustainable … in the long run.

more details in the link

[Sevo]

#6 It didn’t do one thing it was passed to do.

[Brett L]

I wouldn’t order them that way, but its not wrong. Of course, I am not a Conservative, so…

[Juice]

#6 – The individual mandate is unconstitutional (despite what John Roberts says) and if it becomes precedent would lead to the government becoming even more totalitarian.

[The Late P Brooks]

Imagine instead that Obama had embraced the bipartisanship of Simpson-Bowles and tried to steer through Congress a package that made the tax system fairer and solved the nation’s long-term debt problem.

Sorry, I can only imagine the impossible; not the utterly preposterous.

[Aloysious]

Sorry, I can only imagine the impossible; not the utterly preposterous.

Made me laugh.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I kinda get the professor’s irritation here.

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/bl…..ips-poison

[Sevo]

“In other words, because it is hard for law students to get a job after they graduate, the faculty wanted to help them out.”

And giving them scholarships helps?
I’d say it’d be better to tell them the chances of getting employed and let ’em risk their own money.

[invisible furry hand]

As do I, even more so. There are people at my firm who advocate that all employees should have a set percentage deducted from their wages and “donated” to the firm’s charitable foundation.

[Sevo]

It’s more about the Chron than the guy; the Chron used a quarter of the front page for a guy who has pecker replacement surgery:
“Man may be 1st to father child with reconstructed penis”
http://www.sfgate.com/health/a…..416853.php

[The Late P Brooks]

The Boston Marathon is today?

I assume everybody at Big Nooze is furtively hoping for explosions.

[Brett L]

As my mom will be at the finish line approximately 4 hours after the trotters start to cheer my dad, I hope the Big Nooze people that feel that way die in a fire.

[The Late P Brooks]

There are people at my firm who advocate that all employees should have a set percentage deducted from their wages and “donated” to the firm’s charitable foundation.

Nothing says “charity” like money forcibly extracted.

[Pathogen]

Give till it hurts..

[Root Boy]

They want to help you be altruistic.

[GILMORE]

I have created my own Obamacare meme

https://imgflip.com/i/8a982

Thank you

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oooo.

Scary.

I will have nightmares.

[Saneman]

Could someone address this point please? I am not trying to troll, just looking for an explanation. This from someone who is not versed in economics (at all).

Over the course of the past 50 years the corporate tax rate (as a percentage of GDP) has decreased by around 4.5%. Over about that same time period, the top 10% wealthiest Americans have increased their wealth at a rate about 10 times that of the bottom 90% (their percentage of wealth has remained stagnant). Doesn’t this suggest that tax freedom only leads to the wealthy continuing to exploit the lower classes? Someone please give me the 101 Econ explanation here in layman’s terms.

[GILMORE]

‘. Doesn’t this suggest that tax freedom only leads to the wealthy continuing to exploit the lower classes?’

No.

Because the facts you cite – marginal declines in corporate tax rates, growth in the # and level of wealthiest americans – don’t necessarily have any connection to each other, or to the status of poorer americans *at all*.

You compound the problem by then referring to a) “tax freedom” as though the status quo were some unregulated free-for-all rather than the hyper-taxed and regulated world we live in, and b) suggesting that gains for some come at the expense of others,relying on a Zero-Sum concept of economics which is the source of most misconceptions fostered by the left.

Go back to the start and assume that none of the things you’ve mentioned have any causal relation. (corporate taxes vs individual wealth increases)

What the single most important fact is would be hard to pin down, but i could offer a few simple ones =

in the last 50 years, only the wealthier americans have had their wealth *invested*, and consequently grew like gangbusters, while lower-middle class americans who relied on pensions funded by the state and or their crony industrial bosses vanished into thin air as their industries collapsed.

This fact has nothing to do with taxes, and nothing to do with exploitation, yet could pretty much explain the majority of the disparity you identify.

And that’s just one detail.