SCOTUS Upholds Michigan Affirmative Action Ban, Sherpas Shun Mt. Everest, Another Police Shooting in Albuquerque: P.M. Links

• 

  Metropolitan Books

  The Supreme Court today upheld, 6-2, Michigan's ban on using affirmative action during the enrollment process for colleges.

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says she's not running for president in 2016, but her new book, A Fighting Chance, seems to read a lot like the kind of books put out by people planning runs for president.
• After an avalanche killed 13 of their peers, sherpas have abandoned this year's climbing season at Mount Everest.
• Russia is applying pressure to Ukraine by demanding the country prepay for Russian gas unless it starts paying down its debt.
• Today marks 10 years since NFL player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire just weeks after arriving in Afghanistan.
• Albuquerque, New Mexico, police officers shot and killed a 19-year-old woman during a chase. She's the third person killed by Albuquerque officers in five weeks. Police claim that she pulled a gun on them during a foot pursuit.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Supreme Court today upheld, 6-2, Michigan's ban on using affirmative action during the enrollment process for colleges.

Laws prohibiting racial discrimination don't pertain to all racial discrimination!

[Adam330]

This is worse- they were claiming laws mandating racial discrimination were constitutionally required!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Albuquerque, New Mexico, police officers shot and killed a 19-year-old woman during a chase. She's the third person killed by Albuquerque officers in five weeks. Police claim that she pulled a gun on them during a foot pursuit.

A lot of furtive movements in the ABQ. Must be all the meth.

[Heroic Mulatto]

With so much drama in the ABQ, it's kinda hard being Bach, P.D.Q.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Sadly the PDQ Bach concert tours are just about defunct. Nobody gets the jokes anymore.

[BakedPenguin]

"Vivaldi didn't write 400 concertos. He wrote one concerto 400 times." - Stravinsky.

[Drake]

Stravinsky just jotted down the notes played while tuning instruments.

[BakedPenguin]

I'd much rather listen to Vivaldi, but there's a fair amount of truth in what ol' Igor said.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says she's not running for president in 2016, but her new book, A Fighting Chance, seems to read a lot like the kind of books put out by people planning runs for president.

She's going to be an Indian giver on that promise.

[Palin's Buttplug]

She shouldn't run since she can't win.

Dukakis, Kerry, Romney, Warren - MA loser's alley.

Jeb Bush vs Hil-Dog it will be.

[wareagle]

so all of America becomes MA.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I like Brian Schweitzer - if I could spell his name.

Pro-US energy, farmer, pro-gun popular state Governor for two terms. He would FUCK UP any Republican.

Democrats are too stupid to demand him though.

[Free Society]

What are you?

[Sevo]

Dumber than that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am independent. Brian S. or Rand Paul? Tough one there. I like them both.

I would NEVER EVER fucking vote for a SoCon (Santorum, Huck, Cruz, Rick W. Perry) nor would I vote for a socialist (Bernie Sanders).

[Sevo]

And a liar, besides.

[waffles]

There's something truly sick in our system if we have to do Bush versus Clinton again. I refuse to believe this is a universe where this can happen.

[Raven Nation]

There's always the possibility that a Clinton/Bush match-up could open a gateway to another universe.

[Drake]

At that point, the other universe could be Hell and I would be relieved.

[Brendan]

2016 and 1992 would become one, sort of a space time continuum human centipede.

[BakedPenguin]

Clinton Jong-il vs. Bush Jong-Un would be a very democratic-type struggle!

[I can't trust my fans]

I want to do ridiculous, unspeakable, amorous things to Elizabeth Warren. We will be forever renowned in the fornication Hall of Fame.

*turns in libertarian decoder ring with nary a hint of regret*

[Robert S.]

Needs more trigger alert.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Russia is applying pressure to Ukraine by demanding the country prepay for Russian gas unless it starts paying down its debt.

Big deal. I have to prepay at the pump all the time.

[Juice]

There's an analogy to Cliven Bundy here somewhere.

[Injun, as in from India]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says she's not running for president in 2016, but her new book, A Fighting Chance, seems to read a lot like the kind of books put out by people planning runs for president.

She should call the book "Fat Chance".

[Rich]

"Trail of Tears"?

[Injun, as in from India]

Faux Chance?

[MJGreen]

Have to hand it to her / her publisher: it's a single title of only 3 words, not a multi-clause title that takes up half the cover. Which means I can't use one of the best Veep quotes to date:

"[This book title] is so full of shit, there's a colon smack dab in the middle."

[Agammamon]

What the hell good is Netflix if every time I want to see something its DVD only?

I'm not going to wait for you to mail one disk to me if I can just torrent all the episodes.

[MJGreen]

HBOGO, bro! That was from this season's premiere episode, so it wouldn't be on DVD anyway.

Torrenting is always the way to go.

[waffles]

After an avalanche killed 13 of their peers, sherpas have abandoned this year's climbing season at Mount Everest.

I've always though hiring sherpas to carry the majority of your camp is a cheesey way to ascend the highest peak on Earth. Good thing they have a union.

[Zeb]

It's pretty much the only way anyone has ever done it, though, isn't it?

[Brett L]

Guns and badges stolen from LAPD v. SDPD football game.

I'm sure they were all coming straight from duty and "had" to have their badges and guns on them. Can't stow them in the car.

[Ted S.]

Fucking headline uses the term "peace officers". Bleah.

[Zeb]

I like "peace officers". It doesn't mean that they are necessarily peaceful people. But it might help to remind them that they are not in fact soldiers in a war. Or at least remind other people that that is supposed to be how it is.

[Free Society]

No, euphemisms only mask power, they don't limit power. Taxation is a euphemism for extortive theft et cetera.

[Injun, as in from India]

This is just bad. People will trust someone who flashes a badge at them. I can foresee crime happening, and it gives me the jitters.

[Andrew S.]

I'm not sure if I feel any less safe with the badges in the hands of non-officers than I would with the badges in the hands of officers.

(Though it's worse because of what the officers will likely be doing to get those badges back....)

[Rich]

People will trust someone who flashes a badge at them.

Exactly. Some yahoo claims to be from some agency because he's got a shiny badge in a leather case, and he's in.

"Pardon me, Agent Batguano, if that's what your real name is. I'll need a few days to check this out."

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The next city over from me used to issue badges to their city council members. They were confiscated after one of the city councilmen flashed his during a road rage incident.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

A semi-professional football team of men from various law enforcement agencies

So that's where the new professionalism went.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The number 1 book on Amazon is a manifesto against capitalism written by a French socialist

Piketty's book, which is also a New York Times best-seller, challenges the conservative economic theory of trickle-down economics, or the belief that a rising tide lifts all boats. In Piketty's view, backed by centuries of data on wealth and economic growth, the typical outcome of unfettered capitalism is rising income inequality. Piketty says the world's biggest economies have to do something, like impose a global tax on capital, to stop it. As Piketty said in an interview with HuffPost Live last week, income inequality is only getting started, and this century could look a lot more like the deeply unequal 18th and 19th centuries than the more-egalitarian 20th.

The New York Times has called the book a "blockbuster." Vox's Matthew Yglesias described it as "the most important economics book of the year." Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman hailed Piketty's work as revolutionary, crediting him and his collaborators with getting us all to care about the rise of the so-called "one percent."

Talking about it damning it with praise. But hey, the man's got numbers and data, which totally means he is telling the truth because left-wingers are all for facts herp derp

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The book is free, right?

[Brett L]

Oh, well if Krugman and Sad Beard like it...

[Square]

I always dreamed of getting rich by writing a book about the wonders of Communism!

[Injun, as in from India]

What irks me is that these mendacious prices use the very platform of capitalism to bash capitalism.

[Injun, as in from India]

^pricks

[Heroic Mulatto]

Prices works too.

[BakedPenguin]

Is there a law about ironic typos?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

John's Law?

[Brett L]

Man, I had something for this. Something about selling the rope they get hung with...

[Agammamon]

The capitalists sold the communist the rope they hung themselves with?

[Tonio]

Would that it were so, Aggie. I'm referring to the ambiguous modifier which leaves it unclear which party hanged themselves.

[Square]

I once read that Paul Weller, when he started the Jam, vocally supported the conservative candidate for PM because he wanted to market himself as different from other punks, who tended to at least pay left wing lip service.

He then discovered that socialism was more marketable, and so started writing catchy pop songs about the impending Revolution.

[jmomls]

Yeah, and then he went on the Red Wedge tour against Thatcher. Real convictions.

[Bam!]

In Piketty's view, backed by centuries of data on wealth and economic growth, the typical outcome of unfettered capitalism is rising income inequality.

So? Rising inequality doesn't mean the poor are worse off.

[B.P.]

Right. Perhaps Mr. Piketty can explain how, in this wicked land of unjust income distribution, every damn last person owns cell phone technology that was only dreamed of a dozen years ago.

[Square]

That always bugs me too - the rich may get richer, but the poor just stay poor. At a certain point, you actually can't get "poorer."

[B.P.]

I assume Mr. Krugman will be voluntarily exiting that 1 percent. That's a lot of house, Paul...

http://www.celebrityhousepictu.....rugman.php

[wareagle]

this century could look a lot more like the deeply unequal 18th and 19th centuries than the more-egalitarian 20th.

so capitalism had nothing to do with all that wonderful egalitarianism of the 20th century?

[Square]

I thought the 20th century saw consistently rising and terrible "inequality" due to the evils of rampant capitalism? When did it become the model for economic justice?

[Raven Nation]

When people like Mr. Krugman discovered that post-WWII American prosperity was due to unions and government management of the marketplace.

[PapayaSF]

You wrote "discovered" when you meant "imagined," right?

[MJGreen]

The 1950-1980 period. That was the ideal egalitarian system.

For some Americans, anyway. Who cares about a few billion people in Asia?

[Sudden]

Piketty's book... challenges ... belief that a rising tide lifts all boats. ...data on wealth and economic growth, the typical outcome of unfettered capitalism is rising income inequality.

If a large wave comes and lifts my boat 5 feet but due to where you are on the wave, it lifts your boat 25 feet, did said wave not still lift my boat?

It amazing the complete and total abuse of the English language by the HuffPo reviewer.

[Rhywun]

Krugman hailed Piketty's work as revolutionary

You know who else put out a revolutionary book?

[Injun, as in from India]

Ron Paul?

[Rich]

Johannes Gutenberg?

[Medical Physics Guy]

Charman Mao's Little Red Book?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Abbie Hoffman?

[BakedPenguin]

Isaac Newton?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Thomas Paine?

[Sevo]

Karl Marx!

[Jerryskids]

Adam Smith?

(Amazing how a few centuries of unfettered capitalism has managed to destroy the utopia created by the preceding millenia of non-capitalism.)

[KDN]

Also reviewed in the Journal today.

An 80% tax rate on incomes above $500,000 is not meant to bring in money for education or benefits, but 'to put an end to such incomes.'

While America's corporate executives are his special b?te noire, Mr. Piketty is also deeply troubled by the tens of millions of working people?a group he disparagingly calls "petits rentiers"?whose income puts them nowhere near the "one percent" but who still have savings, retirement accounts and other assets. That this very large demographic group will get larger, grow wealthier and pass on assets via inheritance is "a fairly disturbing form of inequality." He laments that it is difficult to "correct" because it involves a broad segment of the population, not a small elite that is easily demonized.

[Brett L]

Why do they routinely refer to these as "incomes". They aren't fucking salaries. The value of someone's assets have increased by a certain amount. If there IS a problem, it is that consumerism has been so efficient that people "need" all that a middle-class family can reasonably purchase, thus taking the middle-class (voluntarily) out of the class which can acquire assets that accrue in value faster than inflation. Also, both the value of money and the inflation adjustments are so ludicrous it is difficult to tell whether that wealth is really accelerating away or not. Although some of the inflation, cheap-money wealth is being converted to real wealth. I'd hesitate to estimate the discount however.

[PapayaSF]

Very few people who make $500,000 in a year make that much for years in a row. However, San Francisco Bay's 58 bar pilots each make $429,155 per year.

[B.P.]

Genius economist hailed by all the right people really believes that economics is a zero-sum game.

[Medical Physics Guy]

"Vox's Matthew Yglesias"? Ezra Klein recruited Yglesias? It's like a murderer's row of talentless hacks.

[MJGreen]

From the quotes and reviews I've read, Piketty sounds like a loathsome person. Maybe he provides a moral case somewhere in the book as to why an honestly gained income should not be respected, but I doubt it. The government can just take whatever it wants.

[PapayaSF]

I long to hear what lefty Hollywood actors and pro sports types think about the idea that nobody should make more than $500K/year.

[MJGreen]

Sure Piketty doesn't mean them!

[Cytotoxic]

the typical outcome of unfettered capitalism is rising income inequality.

Oh my God!

this century could look a lot more like the deeply unequal 18th and 19th centuries than the more-egalitarian 20th.

OH MY GOD.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"After an avalanche killed 13 of their peers, sherpas have abandoned this year's climbing season at Mount Everest."

I have a lot less respect for people who climb Everest ever since Into Thin Air.

It seems like having $100K in disposable cash is one of the more important requirements for making it to the top.

[rts]

Bolivia raises minimum wage by 20%

The minimum salary for public and private sector workers will go up from 1,200 bolivianos ($175; ?100) to 1,488 bolivianos.

"There has been economic growth, and that's why we have decided to raise the minimum salary by 20%," President Morales said.

[OldMexican]

"There has been economic growth,[...]" President Morales said.

"And we can't have that."

[Injun, as in from India]

Soon the economy will slow down and the government, taking a cue from Soviet vodka payments, will pay in Coca leaves.

[Sevo]

"There has been economic growth, and that's why we have decided to raise the minimum salary by 20%," President Morales said.

Well, that won't last long!

[Brett L]

Average Federal Bank regulator makes double the salary of the average banker. Because the problem is the rich, evil banksters!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Shhh, our very own "John" says the banksters stole billions from debtors!

[John]

So the fact that we over pay regulators is relevant to the issue of bankers being crooks how?

Come on shreek. Try just being retarded instead of batshit insane once in a while.

[rts]

Austerity kills

According to the research, every one per cent fall in government spending in Greece leads to a 0.43 per cent rise in suicides among men. Put simply, 551 men committed suicide between 2009 and 2010 in Greece solely due to fiscal austerity.

[paranoid android]

Gotta love the "solely due to fiscal austerity". These guys were just rolling along, having the time of their lives, then offed themselves the moment they heard about minor cuts to public spending.

The utter illogic of this can be discarded, of course; I'm sure we will almost immediately see a new talking point from HuffPo writers and Kos Kids about how libertarians literally want people dying in the streets because reducing spending causes people to kill themselves.

[Brandon]

If you can't support an economic argument, go for a bullshit "sociology" supported one.

[Sudden]

Because n=2 is an adequate number of periods to extrapolate a trend.

[PapayaSF]

This is sort of like blaming dentists for mouth pain, and not lack of brushing and flossing.

[MJGreen]

See? The problem takes care of itself. Nature finds a way.

[Drake]

So its a healthcare and retirement save too?

[Rich]

Suspect uses potato in attempted robberies

The first attempted robbery happened at a gas station where the man demanded money, but the cashier only handed over a fake $20 bill. At the suspect's next stop, a dry cleaner, he did not get away with any cash either.

I'm thinking the perp is a known village idiot.

[Ted S.]

Isn't everybody in Providence RI a criminal?

[PD Scott]

Idiot! You're supposed to use a Pop Tart eaten to look like a gun, not some damn spud.

[Snark Plissken]

Was there any mention of him shouting "Bushpigs!"?

[Sevo]

THAT was funny!

[Brett L]

Charlie Strong probably just pissed off half of the UT fans, who think they can play for a championship every year.

"We have everything available, and I don't know why we can't be successful," Strong said. "There's no reason for us not to be. Now, I can't tell you how soon it's going to be. Don't hold me to that. Don't say, 'Ooh, coach said next year we'll be in the national?' We will not be in the national championship game."

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Ouch. I'm sure he'll clarify that shortly. And really, there is no reason UT shouldn't be in the Nat Champ game next year. They should be in the NC discussion every year.

[Brett L]

If you could buy a winning team, they would. I was on campus for the Mackovic booting and the start of the Brown era. I happen to believe Coach Strong is right. And fervently hope that his team has the toughness that most of Mack's teams couldn't find.

[Ted S.]

If you could buy a winning team, they would.

You mean like they do in the SEC? 😉

[Brandon]

I'm ok giving him one year. But if we're not there in 2016, I want Saban or one of the Harbaughs.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Saban. Charlie Strong will have three years to get UT in position to win a Nat Champ. If he can't deliver they'll bring in Saban. I'm guessing it will take at least $9 million/year.

[John]

I have a feeling Strong is going to be a fraud and fall on his ass. He just seems like too much of a blowhard.

I don't think Saban will ever leave Alabama. If he was going to leave, why didn't he leave this year? What will be different in three years?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

What will be different in three years?

$9-$10 million per year.

[John]

They could have offered that to him this year.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I think they were offering $7 million. He wanted more.

[Brandon]

I think Strong will actually be great. He's got a good track record and seems to be doing the right things. And his coordinators are good, though Watson has had some down years.

[Brandon]

I don't see Saban coaching more than 3 more years.

[Brandon]

I'm ok giving him one year. But if we're not there in 2016, I want Saban or one of the Harbaughs.

[paranoid android]

James Taranto has a pretty lengthy and interesting analysis of the multitude of opinions the Court wrote on the affirmative action case. It's too good to quote, do read the whole thing:

Linky

[OldMexican]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) says she's not running for president in 2016, but her new book, A Fighting Chance, seems to read a lot like the kind of books put out by people planning runs for president.

And especially the sort of book one would have ghost-written.

[Brett L]

I'm sure the best idiot sons of the Democratic party helped.

[Bam!]

A Veep quote seems like it would be appropriate but I can't seem to find any from "Some New Beginnings."

[MJGreen]

To go along with Gilmore's point below, I think there was a line about how no one other than a few journalists will ever read her book.

[GILMORE]

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren ...new book"

Who, aside from a small group of partisan political hacks, reads this kind of drivel?

Quick show of hands = who here has read *either* of Obama's tomes? Or any book ostensibly "by" a politician. (I note: Obama was lauded for actually *having written his* - whereas the standard practice is for the crap to be 99% ghostwritten by staff)

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The last politician's book I read was Jesse Ventura's. He was only a little bit crazy back then.

[GILMORE]

That doesn't count = he's *crazy*

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He's asterisk crazy now, but he seemed OK before 9/11.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

He was already a big JFK Conspiracy nut before 9/11

[Sevo]

..."Obama was lauded for actually *having written his*"...

Well, there's reason to ignore it right there!

[Rich]

I have tried to read Dreams but cannot manage more than a few pages.

[Free Society]

..."Obama was lauded for actually *having written his*"...

I thought that was proven false. Some literary big-whigs found the unmistakable diction of William Ayers.

[GILMORE]

yes, vague recollection of that as well.

I think that was the pre-election gloss given to his books at least.

[Free Society]

Well it was fairly recently, like some years after the electoral importance of the book had faded, that they uncovered what is said to be evidence of Ayers' authorship.

[PapayaSF]

Well, not "literary big-wigs," but Jack Cashill did some good work that strongly indicates Ayers did a lot of the work on Obama's first book.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Slate: Why this small-business owner wants to raise the minimum wage

Make the wage $15 an hour. Make it $20. Make it high enough that dishwashers get paid like office workers.

Here's why. A higher minimum wage helps reduce the structural advantages large corporations have over small businesses, and that in turn helps create a context where high-quality independent businesses can thrive by overdelivering compared to our better-capitalized, but mediocre, big competitors.

When individuals like me start businesses in our communities with the intent of selling quality goods and services, we quickly find that our biggest obstacle is the low prices offered by large corporations. The issue isn't that those companies are selling the same things we are for less. The issue is that the low-priced commodities sold by superstores, warehouse clubs, and restaurant chains influence our customers' understanding of what everything costs.

Holy shit, the mask just came flying off. It's not about justice, it's about imposing costs on corporations that utilize the economies of scale to out-compete smaller businesses.

It's tantamount to admitting that you want a Bic Mac to cost $10 so you'll go to the local cafe instead. And it is all wrapped up in the rhetoric of altruism and justice.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What wages is that "small business owner"* paying right now?

*I do not believe that he owns a small business.

[John]

I do not believe that Sad Beard is qualified to clean the toilet of a small business.

[Sevo]

"*I do not believe that he owns a small business."

Or if he does, he won't own it long.

[Sudden]

The funny thing is that if you equalize or near equalize my income with someone who has fuckall education, sense, or ambition, you know what I'll do? Quit my stressful, 50-60 plus hour a week job and become a blissful dishwasher.

As will 75% of the people that do what I do.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

There would certainly be a rise in demand for jobs you can do while drunk.

[Sudden]

But in a twist of irony, the brain drain from my career would result in my career having to pay even more, which would then result in a corrollary rush back into it and a legislation to further increase the wages of dishwashers.

One giant feedback loop until collapse.

[IDPNDNT]

What do you mean you don't want to do more work for the same money as Joe Frycook?

Honestly, the whole minimum wage thing comes off as an alternative way to make the "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" happen.

I'm not sure if these people are just willfully ignorant or just really that stupid to think cranking up minimum wage isn't going to put min wage workers back where they started in 2 years.

[Drake]

And massive inflation to pay for it all and set us back where we began.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Working while drunk just gets grueling. Working while stoned on the other hand...

[John]

That is the dumbest thing I have ever read. He really is fucking retarded. The advantage corporations have is in economies of scale. They can buy in bulk and sell in bulk and therefore can afford to run on a very small margin. If I am Wall Mart, I can afford to make two cents for every widget I sell because I sell millions of them. If I am a mom and pop store and sell only a few hundred, I can't. Raising the minimum wage would do nothing to change that.

It is amazing how stupid these people are. They really have never had a job or so much as properly balanced a check book. Anyone as stupid as sad beard is a fucking menace who needs to be institutionalized for his and the world at large's own good.

[Injun, as in from India]

When individuals like me start businesses in our communities with the intent of selling quality goods and services, we quickly find that our biggest obstacle is the low prices offered by large corporations.

Damn them low prices! Those b-stard customers should pay more.

[John]

I don't think those "low prices" are the result of corporations paying lower wages.

[Brett L]

Why, its almost like there are set of emergent principles by which people attempt to maximize the value they receive in transactions. If only someone could explain it.

[PD Scott]

Hmm, maybe before starting your business you should, I don't know, think rationally about the existing market conditions, your competitors, etc.

[Free Society]

that's crazy talk. political patronage is all that you need to consider.

[Sevo]

Or maybe you shouldn't lie so transparently about being a bizz owner.

[Mad Scientist]

Won't someone think of the mayonnaise artists?

[GILMORE]

"Low priced commodities"

So the "businessperson" here never really believed in the whole "adding value" concept to begin with.

I was doing some consulting work for Dunkin Brands in the mid-90s, fresh out of college; i mentioned to them the rapid growth of then-recently-public 'Starbucks Coffee'; i received a derisive laugh in return.

"Son, there's only a very small number of people in the world who are ever going to spend *$2* on a cup of coffee...."

That was the CEO at the time. He lost his job not very long thereafter. And I started doing more business with SBUX. Shocker.

[Ted S.]

"Son, there's only a very small number of people in the world who are ever going to spend *$2* on a cup of coffee...."

Never underestimate the stupidity of the public.

[GILMORE]

"Never underestimate the stupidity of the public."

No! Its not the "stupidity of the public" so much - its the stupidity of the Business Leaders who think that the 'status quo' reflects 'laws of the universe' that are immutable and unaffected by the *wisdom of the consumer*

See = IBM in the mid 80s, deciding that 'software' was a waste of time and that the real business of computing was going to be building mainframes for corporations, because *what use* would an average person ever have for a computer??

Or, following the evolution = when Microsoft "won" the 'browser war' with Netscape, and decided at that moment that they have forever crushed the competition on "who would control how you get to the Internet"... and decided that things like, 'Search Engines' were just a silly commodity service that provided no value and should be entirely ignored as an actual *business model*...

Or = When all the format battles were being waged by the leading Music companies and tech firms, believing that the future of "Digital Music" would be won by the person with the best DRM, and that actual *devices* were mere 'commodities' that no one would pay more than $100 for...

This "high wage" shithead fails in his very conception of what *business is*, reducing it to price competition of undifferentiated pulp instead of an opportunity to add value.

[John C. Randolph]

A higher minimum wage helps reduce the structural advantages large corporations have over small businesses,

Bullshit. Any measure that increases the cost of labor benefits larger organizations over smaller ones.

-jcr

[Sevo]

"Bullshit. Any measure that increases the cost of labor benefits larger organizations over smaller ones."

The reason to suspect the claim of business ownership is an outright lie.

[Rhywun]

I think I'll go around and ask some Middle Eastern immigrants that run a lot of the mom 'n' pops in my area what they feel about raising the minimum wage to $15.

[OldMexican]

Here's why. A higher minimum wage helps reduce the structural advantages large corporations have over small businesses,

That's a lie. The guy is not spewing ignorance - nobody can be that clueless. He's lying through his teeth.

When individuals like me start businesses in our communities with the intent of selling quality goods and services, we quickly find that our biggest obstacle is the low prices offered by large corporations.

Those same corporations will still sell at lower prices than YOU because a minimum wage is a price FLOOR for everybody, not just corporations.

Again, no businessman can be that clueless. I smell a hoax.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Lots of repetition in that comment section of the meme I've seen a lot lately: that government welfare programs to individuals are corporate subsidies to the big corporations (Walmart is usually the example) which is why minimum wage needs to be raised.

Absolutely retarded, and even if true that would be an argument to end all those welfare programs to even the playing field.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

He completely misses the real advantage large corporations have. The ability to lawyer up and deal with the regulatory regimes at a cost per unit delivered that is much lower than you can get as a small business owner.

That and preferential relations with government in general.

[MJGreen]

Jesus. This is only a bit subtler than the petition of the candlemakers.

[MJGreen]

The issue is that the low-priced commodities sold by superstores, warehouse clubs, and restaurant chains influence our customers' understanding of what everything costs.

Translation: they have lower costs than me. And that must be wrong!

[Austrian Anarchy]

After an avalanche killed 13 of their peers, sherpas have abandoned this year's climbing season at Mount Everest.

Sounds like a perfect vacuum for that 24Ahead clown to fill.

[John]

Would you want to take on Everest with Lonewacko, Tony and Shreek as your porters?

[Rich]

I think we have the next hit sitcom!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

"My Sherpas are crazy"

[Rich]

"Because Bush Said It Was There"

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Where can we find three men willing to guide us up the mountain?"

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Where can we find three men willing to guide us up the mountain?"

[Austrian Anarchy]

No, but I am willing to watch through a telephoto lens.

[gimmeasammich]

No, but I am willing to watch through a telephoto lens telescopic sight.

I think that's what you really meant.

[Austrian Anarchy]

This would have to go on YouTube, and ending the fun too early would be no fun for the audience.

[gimmeasammich]

So basically it would be like the Running Man?

[Swiss Servator, K?se, K?se!]

"The Derping Sherpas"?

[John]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.c.....ree-697972

Jeff Herman, the lawyer representing the man accusing Bryan Singer of sexual abuse, announced Monday that he has filed three additional sex abuse lawsuits against prolific TV exec Garth Ancier, former Disney TV president David Neuman and Broadway producer Gary Goddard.

It is going to be fun watching the major media try and ignore this story. Is there anyone who doubts that sex with minors isn't rampant in Hollywood? I mean, child actors surely get their parts based on ability. It is not like there are not a million cute kids out there or that people who liked this sort of thing wouldn't work in the entertainment industry as a way to get close to kids. Who is that cynical?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'll reserve judgment -

"After last week's press conference, Singer's lawyer, Marty Singer (no relation), said that he had credit card receipts, telephone records and production schedules, along with more than 100 witnesses, proving that Singer was not in Hawaii -- and was mostly in Toronto working on the first X-Men movie -- when the parties attended by then 17-year-old Egan took place."

[John]

The lawyer says they have eye witnesses that say he was. And he says he has those things, why hasn't he released them to the media? I don't know about you, but if someone accused me of cornholing some kid and I had receipts that proved I wasn't there, there would be a PDF file going to every media outlet my agent could think of sending it too.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I don't know, but could it be that he's waiting for the accuser's story to get as detailed as possible, so there are more points to rebut? If it's a false accuser, I would think coughing up all your evidence immediately to the media gives the accuser pointers about how to format his story.

I'm thinking about the Lacrosse players and their so-called suspicious silence.

Not to mention that it's probably tough to stand up for an alleged sex criminal in public.

Of course, these guys could very well be guilty and they could very well have a sex ring, but an accusation by itself isn't going to persuade me.

[John]

Time will tell. Maybe this guy is really innocent. Even if he is, a lot of other people out there are not. This story is just going to get bigger. You watch.

[Austrian Anarchy]

The good lawyer and client keep their mouths shut until they are before the judge. That is why you see government lawyers out there in front of cameras all the time.

[John]

Yes and no. You never want your client to say shit. You in contrast, get paid to talk for him. And that means getting out in front of things before the public makes up its mind on something.

If you have something that makes the accuser look like a liar, you release it early. The quicker you discredit him the easier things will be. The longer you don't do that, the more people will start to believe him.

[Austrian Anarchy]

If you have something that makes the accuser look like a liar, you release it early.

As long as "early" is in front of the judge during proceedings, then I might agree. Otherwise, no way.

[John]

As long as "early" is in front of the judge during proceedings, then I might agree. Otherwise, no way.

Not with a public figure as a client you don't. This case really is tried in public.

[Austrian Anarchy]

I heard about a "Marine to Marine" conversation in the OJ trial, straight from the lips of F. Lee Bailey. That one didn't pan out so hot.

[tarran]

Some things take time to arrange.

Also the media is not the court room. If he shows receipts, what's to keep the accuser from changing his story to fit the new evidence?

My ex is the master of this sort of public false accusation. And, in my experience, it is important to keep the exculpatory evidence private until we depose her ass and get her to make her assertions under oath. *Then* you reveal the exculpatory evidence that shows the accuser to be a lying bearer of false witness.

(and yes, I believe that the greater the media circus, the more bullshit the allegations are likely to be).

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Sorry to hear about that situation, and, yes, if an accuser is just making stuff up, (s)he will be like, "OK, he has proof he was in Ohio on the 14th, so I won't say he was in California then. There's some days in the following month where he doesn't have so much record of his movements, I'll say he molested me during that time..."

[John]

After you show the accuser to be a liar, it will be much harder for him to suddenly "change his story" and claim a new date. For that moment on you will be able to say "he lied about this once and he is lying about it now". Producing such evidence directly contradicting an accuser would be devastating to credibility before the public. You have him and his attorney on record saying this happened on this date. If you can show that to be a lie, you do it. No amount of "but I really meant this date" will save him.

And you are talking about a court battle. This is as much of a public relations battle as a court battle. This guy has to save his reputation or winning in court won't do him any good.

[tarran]

True.

I'm not a public figure, so all that matters is the court battle.

A media personality's situation *is* different.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I didn't read the coverage except the link you gave, so maybe the accusations are detailed enough at this point that the accuser is stuck with the initial story. I suppose if you have a receipt or a witness that your client was in Miami when he was supposedly fondling the accuser in a bathtub in Las Vegas, then you release that info at once.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If it was me, I'd leak a key couple pieces of information on the points where the accuser was already committed to his story, calling his claims into question. I'd add, "now who will be gullible enough to believe anything *else* this guy says?"

Then as he makes up more details, I'd release the info I have rebutting *those* details, and then I guess I'd make it about the media. But what do I know, I'm not a PR guy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The accuser has painted himself into quite a corner. And his mom was with him at a press conference, which was stupid (I assume she owns a house that can be taken from her after a defamation judgement).

If this guy isn't telling the truth, he's absolutely fucked. And his lawyer will probably never work again either.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

He could be making true accusations. The article doesn't really give me the tools I need to evaluate his claims, but that's OK because I don't remember any of their names, so I won't be biased one way or the other.

[Rhywun]

I'll reserve judgment

Yeah, at this point I don't see why this is newsworthy at all. He said, he said - well, OK, that's interesting.

[PapayaSF]

It is going to be fun watching the major media try and ignore this story. Is there anyone who doubts that sex with minors isn't rampant in Hollywood?

They have an extra reason to ignore it, because it's about gay men abusing minors.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The media doesn't always ignore these.

[PapayaSF]

Not always, but it's a negative in their eyes these days. Don't want to reinforce stereotypes, you know.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

As a general rule, I agree.

[jesse.in.mb]

I was rather impressed that when this came up at our family Easter brunch everyone was talking about it in terms of how out of touch and sick Hollywood types were in general, and immediately started comparing it to Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. A cousin tried to redirect it to gays are bad, but it didn't gain nearly as much traction as the Hollyweird Decadence aspect. Sign of the times, I guess.

[Virginian]

Well, I thought there was a thing in the gay community of young men, some under 18, having relationships with older men. There was a word for it and everything.

Although it's probably not significantly more than the number of high school aged girls dating older guys.

[jesse.in.mb]

Like in ancient Greece? I dunno. I didn't lose my v-card until I was 20 and that was with someone who was 19 and also a virgin, so I might have been out of the loop with the whole thing. I have two friends who lied to guys twice their age, but the relationships seem to have been largely driven by the younger guys with the older guy being ambivalent about their age once they eventually found out how far away from legal they actually were.

[PapayaSF]

I think Virginian means NAMBLA. But back in the '60s, there was a stereotype/prejudice that gays were disproportionately likely to be child molesters.

[jesse.in.mb]

HAHA. The only context I've ever encountered references to NAMBLA was from Christian conservative newsletters and Southpark.

The '60s thing was probably a byproduct of 1950s era PSAs like "Boys Beware," and a sense that if you're willing to violate social norms in one area you will in others. There was an interesting article on how Egypt has been cracking down on homosexuality (which is technically legal in Egypt), but one of the guys was saying that some women were unwilling to be alone in a room with him because they figured if he was gay he was probably also a rapist.

[Virginian]

No I don't mean NAMBLA, I mean like 16-17 year old gay boys hooking up with older gay men. Apparently many gay men's first sexual partners were older gay men.

But again, I think that the percentage breakdown is probably about the same as it is for heterosexual people. Plenty of high school girls who have sex with college aged guys.

[jesse.in.mb]

That's probably pretty true, and is (was?) exacerbated by the fact that you might not know any other gays to fuck around with when you're in your teens. But I don't know numbers on that vs girls with college boys (I do know there was a hell of a lot of that going on at my HS).

[Virginian]

Yeah I doubt there's any good numbers on it. It makes a lot of sense as well, especially when it comes to things like having a private place to spend time together, that you'd see a lot of those kind of pairings.

I graduated high school in 07, and there were plenty of gay students dating without any issues. But I also attended a public magnet school, so my experience is atypical in many ways, both good and bad.

[jesse.in.mb]

I graduated in '01. I was the only openly gay kid at my uppity secular humanist school for the time I was there and that was only JR and SR year. The change over the 10 years after I graduated HS was absolutely shocking.

[Virginian]

The SnoCones are nuts, but one thing they have absolutely right is in the influence of popular culture. It's cool to be gay. Particularly if you're in the art/theater clique or the literary magazine/school newspaper/yearbook group. Plus my school had a Gay-Straight Alliance with around 50 members (or 1/12th of the school). Day of Silence every year. All good things.

The PC thought police crap they got up to not so cool. I spent some time in grievance counseling for making a joke about Roman era chattel slavery.

[PD Scott]

"Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff": Agents find marijuana, firearms and exotic animals in Woodstock.

Cherokee County authorities arrested 2 people after finding drugs, firearms, and exotic animals in their home. According a press release, agents of the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (or CMANS) conducted a search of a residence in Woodstock on Friday.
Agents say they conducted the search after tracking a shipment of 10 pounds of marijuana to the residence. Once inside, the agents say they found marijuana, firearms, hashish, Xanax, psilocybin mushrooms and a variety of exotic animals. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources was called in to assist with the exotic wildlife. One of the exotic animals was a rare animal called a Tegu.

[OldMexican]

After an avalanche killed 13 of their peers, sherpas have abandoned this year's climbing season at Mount Everest.

Especially when something like half their number died. Those are odds that would instill fear in the bravest among us. Even me.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Surgeons in India discover 12 gold bars while performing surgery on man

The patient, whose name was not released, was hiding 12 gold bars in his belly. He apparently smuggled them into India to evade import duty, police and doctors said Tuesday.

Each bar weighed 33 grams, said C.S. Ramachandran, who conducted the surgery at a hospital in New Delhi on April 9.

The 63-year-old patient, an Indian citizen, visited the hospital a day before with severe stomach pain and nausea.

"He told us he had accidentally swallowed the cap of a plastic bottle," Ramachandran said.

Investigations could not confirm his claim.

"We couldn't (either) make out they were gold bars," the doctor said. "But yes, X-Rays showed there was intestinal blockage, which required surgery."

On the day of surgery, stunned doctors pulled out the yellow metal from his stomach. "It was unexpected," Ramachandran said.

The hospital handed over the precious extraction to local police.

The bars have since been sent to customs, which is conducting a probe, said Alok Kumar, a deputy commissioner of police.

He didn't disclose the name of the patient. Nor did he reveal which country he smuggled the gold from.

The patient was discharged after the surgery, and is doing fine.

Must have been a Lannister.

[paranoid android]

The patient was discharged after the surgery, and is doing fine.

I'm guessing they mean medically fine, since he would appear to be one fortune poorer now.

[PD Scott]

Should have been honest and just cut a deal. "Everybody in the operating room gets a gold bar, nobody talks."

[Ted S.]

I wish I could remember where I came across it, but one of my favorite stories of attempting to smuggle gold into India involved a guy buying a flat-screen TV someplace else that was cheaper, and then melting down gold and forming it into staples to replace the original staples.

[PapayaSF]

How many staples are there in a TV?

My favorite story is a woman I knew who would simply by a nice gold necklace in Thailand, wear it into India, and sell it there. Not enough quantity to raise suspicions, but it would pay for her trip.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Rawstory headline: Fox analyst: Letting voters 'harm' minorities is the 'beauty' of affirmative action ban

Hmm, what did he actually say?

Now the electorate knows that once it puts a clause in the constitution forbidding the government from making a decision based on race ? you know, that thing that the Civil War was supposed to have resolved ? that even the elites in the public universities would have to comply with it. That's the beauty of this decision today, it really lets the voters go either way. It doesn't say the voters must, it says the voters may. But if the voters do prohibit the government in their states from taking race into account for say, college and law school admissions, the government in that state must comply.

[Sevo]

"Rawstory headline: Fox analyst: Letting voters 'harm' minorities is the 'beauty' of affirmative action ban"

That could have easily been written by one of the three or four brain-deads who frequent this site.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Hmm, it does sound like the plug.

[Coeus]

This means white people count as a minority in Berkeley?

[PapayaSF]

Rawstory point of view: to combat racial discrimination, we must racially discriminate. If you don't agree, you're a racist.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

"Am I going to be an outcast?" A friend, who recently moved to an upscale neighborhood in Madison, Wis., called me last week to ask if she would be able to make mommy friends if she continued feeding her children ? gasp! ? non-organic food.

[Ted S.]

Lie and say it's organic when it isn't.

[Mad Scientist]

If it's carbon based, it's organic.

[Square]

Aren't most of your more seriously poisonous chemicals organic?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Benzene - totally organic

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

You put what in your mouth?

[Rich]

And we laugh at the Romans for drinking from lead vessels.

[Brett L]

Just because it smells like old fish...

[Jerryskids]

These are the kinds of 'news articles' that irritate the shit out of me. It's some kind of press release by some dental group or dental supply sales group, advertising disguised as reporting.

How do I know that? Do a google search for that setence about the U of M study and you'll see this same info on CNN from last October and on WebMD from 2012 and on medicinenet.com from August, 2011 and on tribe.net from July, 2009 and The Daily Mail from May, 2006.

You linked to some 8 year old (at least) ad copy designed to make you run out and buy a six pack of new toothbrushes every week. And some 'reporter' got paid to pass this stuff off as their own idea.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Scum.

[Ted S.]

As long as they continue to fail it's fine by me.

[BakedPenguin]

OY! UP MILLWALL!!! (throws punch at Pantsfan).

[Rhywun]

Well, the spoiled brat players got their wish. Let's see how that works out for them.

[jesse.in.mb]

I would like to suggest that we hate the Poles because of their freedom.

(And their hand-held cannons)

[Sevo]

Money comment:
"blow stuff up celebrating a zombie that rose from death while a bunny shits eggs in baskets."

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I love explosions as much as the next guy, but what is the point of blowing garbage everywhere?

I had a potato gun that ran on starter fluid/ether, and it could send a full size spud about 300 yards...

[Jerryskids]

That always reminds me of a house we were working at where the parents had left their teen-sge son at home with a couple of friends while we were there. These kids had a potato gun they were trying to shoot into a little lake behind the house but couldn't figure out the problem with the gun - the potatoes appeared to fire out but they never saw the splash from the potato hitting the lake so they figured the potatoes were exploding. An hour or so after they gave up on the potato gun, the cops showed up. Said some people a couple of blocks the other side of the lake were complaining about somebody shooting potatoes at their house. The kids didn't figure on the potato gun shooting a potato a thousand feet instead of a hundred.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Here kitty, kitty, kitty

[John]

Cats are such ingrates. He got a better offer and now comes crawling back when he needs a new home again.

[Brett L]

Mine has been gone for almost a year. He's welcome back at any time.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Marcotte writes about student loans, but the action is in the comments.

One guy has the gall to suggest: If people would just make better choices in their educations this would all go away; if you're dumb enough to pay 100,000 for a degree in interpretive dance poetry then you deserve what happens when you can't find a job outside of serving coffee. And why do people go into debt in the first place? Who takes on a loan they can't pay back? Wouldn't it be more prudent to forgo expensive private colleges in favor of a community college or vocational school? And whatever happened to getting a job after high school for a few years and saving up money to pay for college down the road? I know people keep saying that's impossible but I know several people who accomplished just that. Young folks just aren't frugal enough these days!

Then, the pitchforks come out.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Hmm, apparently the above was supposed to be sarcasm (Rawstory sarcasm, who knew?)

[Sevo]

Well, when the sarcasm is better than the content, it's telling you something.

[paranoid android]

Appeals to reason are no match for someone in the thrall of their own self-righteousness. I've talked to an alarming number of people who believe they have a fundamental right to be guaranteed a full ride to college to study whatever they want, regardless of whether there are any marketable skills associated with that study, and a sizable income when they finish whether they actually can find a job or not.

Whenever I ask where all the money to pay for all of this is supposed to come from, I think you can guess the answer I invariably get:

"More taxes on rich people."

[Sudden]

I also love how someone who has a masters in fine arts thinks theyre infinitely smarter than someone who holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering because HIGHER DEGREE!

[Heroic Mulatto]

thinks theyre infinitely smarter

You think they teach about intervals and ratios in MFA programs

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Daniel Seitz was at home on his family's farm in southeastern Saskatchewan, watching a TV agriculture report, when an ad popped up on the screen and tugged at his lonely heart.

An online dating site called FarmersOnly promised to steer him clear of city slicker singles and hook him up with potential partners looking for a man just like him, one comfortable in cowboy boots and living life on the land.

Two years later, the 27-year-old electrician and cattle farmer is newly married to a horse-riding farm girl who won him over with her smile, with a four-year-old step-daughter and a new baby on the way.

[jesse.in.mb]

Huh, somebody here was incredulous that anyone needed anything other than OKCupid.

[Ted S.]

This, I think, is the ad in question.

And why is it OK to make fun of certain niche dating sites? Could you imagine if anybody tried to make fun of Black People Meet?

[Heroic Mulatto]

If the Black People Meet commercial also had badly dubbed horses and cows talking, then yes.

[Ted S.]

I think it's charming in its amateurishness.

Of course, there's something about the Tennis Express commercials that I like too for the same reason.

[jesse.in.mb]

I dunno. I make fun of Christian Mingle all the time, but it's mostly because the women on there seem especially prone to Nigerian romance scams, not because I have a problem with Christians trying to meet other Christians for romantic relationships (although I think eHarmony would be a better choice).

Ashley Madison is also ok to make fun of.

[PapayaSF]

About five years ago I went through eHarmony's interminable qualification test (about 45 minutes), said I wanted someone within 50 miles of SF, and they said "Sorry, nobody compatible with you in that area, goodbye." No chance to choose a larger search area. Bummer. But I did meet someone through OkCupid.

[jesse.in.mb]

I don't think I've ever signed up for a dating service that matches you. Just simple ones where you throw up a profile and see what sticks.

I have a few friends who have had success with Geek 2 Geek, one married a great guy off of eHarmony and several who have met folks with OkC.

Oh and one coworker is marrying a Nigerian off of Christian Mingle.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Is the guy for real, or does he want all wedding gifts sent to his safety deposit box in his home country?

[jesse.in.mb]

I think he mostly just wants a ticket out of Nigeria. She's spending quite a bit on getting paperwork prepared to get him a green card and ship him over. Quite a bit of money she doesn't really have.

She went to Nigeria to meet him (she'd never been anywhere except getting off a cruise ship in Mexico), so her going to Africa was cray-cray to the max.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Well, it doesn't sound very propitious. But I'll pray something good comes out of it.

[kmc212]

Elizabeth Warren is just another scumbag lawyer. What else is there to know about her?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Alabama Congresscritter wants voters to know how pro-gun rights he is

The District 35 Republican from Talladega gets his message across at parades in a very unmistakable way: He uses a giant revolver as a parade float. (And a barbecue. The gun is actually not a balloon but a large barbecue shaped like a handgun.)

A picture of the large revolver has drawn notice on social media.

Hurst said the parade float has two purposes: For one, it reminds people Hurst is a small business owner. He owns a fencing company and also Haynes Street Pawn and Gun Shop. He sells guns with his business partner.

And two, the gun-shaped barbecue, often attached to his truck, reminds people he supports gun rights. Hurst pushed for and won a change in Alabama law that no longer requires homeowners to flee from an intruder. Now Alabamians can shoot an intruder, a right often referred to as the "castle" doctrine.

The only way that could get more awesome is if it shot rib bullets.

[Brett L]

Ugh. The Florida House of Representatives "protected" my 2A rights by forbidding home insurance policies from charging gun owners more. Okay, first, my insurer never asked me if I owned guns, although it is possible he reviewed my possessions manifest. Also, thanks you fucks, now they're going to raise prices on everyone.

[Free Society]

The popularity of Elizabeth Warren is directly to proportional to the public's tendency to swallow logical fallacies without a second a thought. Every time I see her face, I despair of the condition of humanity.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Those wanting to watch Champions league later : don't.

/no spoiler

[Ted S.]

It could have been worse. Imagine if Chelsea won 9-0 or something and not only made the second leg pointless, but made it obvious they were advancing to the final.

Now, if Atletico could the return leg 9-0 I'd be perfectly happy....

[Andrew S.]

It works perfectly well for me, in that Chelsea is going to have to think about sitting some players against Liverpool this weekend to keep them fresh for the second leg.

[Sudden]

YNWA

[Apatheist ?_??]

I will be more proactive about setting up reasonable filters tomorrow.

[Rich]

Owners say Angus's story should encourage owners to put microchips in their pets

What are their children, chopped liver?

[Rich]

Need uchips in comment threads, too, apparently. 8-(

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Kevin Durant!

[Brett L]

I firmly believe he could play blindfold and have 26 points a game.

[John]

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

Obama celebrates Earth Day by burning 35,000 gallons of fuel and emitting 375 tons of CO2.

[Bam!]

If I could, that's how I'd celebrate. Maybe some nuclear emissions as well.

[John]

Me too. I have to admit, it makes me think better of the dumb bastard.

[Sevo]

Damn! And all I did was burn 4 or 5 tires in the backyard!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Tires make a lot more pollution than jet exhaust. You win.

[gimmeasammich]

So it's OK to do that on days other than March 31 (Al Gore's birthday)?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

I converted my Olds 88 to run on Whale Oil.
Where's my Peace Prize?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

13 Things You Won't Believe The Man Who Could Be North Carolina's Next Senator Said

[rac3rx]

This guy sounds awesome.

[Cytotoxic]

Abortion and SCOTUS and hysterics aside, this guy sounds awesome.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Founder's Truth's now-shuttered website often posted conspiracy theories with blog posts that made claims like the Boston Marathon bombing was a false flag, the TSA might use electric shock bracelets, and that there is fluoridate in the water supply."

That last one seems to refer to water fluoridation. Are they suggesting that the *existence* of flouride in the water is a myth?

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

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Study: Women can put on a sexy, seductive voice, but men can't

Woman can intentionally modulate their voices to be sexier but according to new research, published yesterday in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, dudes don't have the same gift. When ladies were instructed to "speak as if they were trying to impress someone with whom they were romantically interested" ? to flirt, as we call it in the wild ? they had no problem sexing up their voices to be more appealing to male subjects. Almost uniformly, they got low and husky. Almost uniformly, it worked: women's ability to manipulate their voices to seduce potential mates seems to cut "across cultures and time," says Susan Hughes, Albright College psychology professor and lead author of the study.

When men tried to dial up their vocal charms to impress the ladies, though, things didn't go so well. If anything, dudes' conscious attempts to enhance their vocal sex appeal made them less alluring to female subjects. "It got a bit worse," Hughes says, tactfully. Sorry, gentlemen.

Or maybe not so sorry, because the study suggests that men have other vocal tactics to woo potential mates. While women are better at making their voices sound attractive, guys are better able to make their voices sound "confident" ? at least, to female listeners. And according to Hughes, that might fill the same evolutionary niche.

[Coeus]

Or maybe not so sorry, because the study suggests that men have other vocal tactics to woo potential mates. While women are better at making their voices sound attractive, guys are better able to make their voices sound "confident" ? at least, to female listeners. And according to Hughes, that might fill the same evolutionary niche.

That's gonna piss off feminists.

[PapayaSF]

Bah, everything pisses off feminists.

[Reverend Mayhem]

"How YOU doin'?"

[PapayaSF]

One thing I find fascinating is that sexy voices are far more common among women than sexy appearances. Very few women have unattractive voices.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-c1Yy9dRlU

[PapayaSF]

Ha! I always thought the nasal thing was her real voice.

[Sevo]

"Woman can intentionally modulate their voices to be sexier but according to new research, published yesterday in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior,"

So do they publish notes about booty-shaking in the Journal of Verbal Behavior?

[jesse.in.mb]

Gizmodo is having a run on Eastern European videos today: 77yo Czech man almost gets hit by train because he's in too much of a hurry to wait for it to pass.

Watch for the shoe flying across the screen.

[Bam!]

Seems like he wasn't in a big enough hurry. If he had crossed earlier instead of standing there, no video.

[PD Scott]

That's fast: Nanoelectronic circuits reach speeds of 245 THz.
Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have designed and manufactured circuits that can reach speeds of up to 245 THz, tens of thousands of times faster than contemporary microprocessors. The results open up possible new design routes for plasmonic-electronics, that combine nano-electronics with the fast operating speed of optics.
When light interacts with some metals, it can be captured in the form of collective, extremely fast oscillations of electrons called plasmons. If harnessed, the interaction of photons and electrons could be used to build ultra-fast computers (among other things). But these phenomena occur at a scale so small that we don't yet have the tools to investigate them, let alone harness them.
Assistant Professor Christian A. Nijhuis and his team have now found a way to harness quantum-plasmonic effects even with the current generation of electronics, using a process called "quantum plasmonic tunneling."

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

What's with Asian kids and Pen spinning?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

That's a sport, just like table tennis.

[gimmeasammich]

Holy shit. I thought it was just me who thought that. A friend of mine from college moved to the US from Beijing when he was 18 and was one of two people in several of my classes who would spin his pen. The other? An American-born kid whose parents emigrated from Korea.

[Rhywun]

Maybe they couldn't cut it at Dance Dance Revolution.

[Sevo]

"Russia is applying pressure to Ukraine by demanding the country prepay for Russian gas unless it starts paying down its debt."

Russia's really in no position to bitch about defaulting on debts, but I don't think this part of the Ukraine 'situation' has gotten proper airing.
Pretty sure the gov't had been pulling a Greek; free-shit-forever until the well ran dry and then it was beg to whichever government would offer the best deal.
So the Euros (meaning Germany) got what they paid for, and Russia re-po'd some real estate.
For all the 'appeasement' noise about Nazi Germany, we'd have been far better off making them pay their bills; they wouldn't have had the hard currency to build the Werhmacht.

[Coeus]

White Male Privilege Squandered On Job At Best Buy

HAMILTON, OH?Despite being the beneficiary of numerous societal advantages and having faced little to no major adversity throughout his life, local man Travis Benton has spent the last four years squandering his white male privilege on a sales floor job at Best Buy, sources confirmed Tuesday. "You can get by with a regular HDMI cable, but if you're looking at a length longer than 10 feet, I'd go with a gold-tipped one," said the man dressed in a bright blue polo shirt and pin-on name tag as he continued to fritter away such innate life advantages as greater access to higher education, leniency from the justice system, and favorable treatment from other white males who lead and make hiring decisions at a disproportionately high number of American companies. "The AudioQuest gold-tip is actually the cable I use in my own home entertainment center and it provides excellent audio and video clarity, plus it comes with a full five-year warranty, unlike the 90-day warranty of a bargain brand. For your money, you're not going to find a better cable."

[Coeus]

At press time, the man born into the world's most affluent and privileged socioeconomic group was spending his 15-minute break silently consuming a sleeve of Donettes purchased out of a vending machine.

[waffles]

The onion is best when scathingly honest.

[PapayaSF]

And when not being PC.

[Rhywun]

I had to hover over the link to see it was the Onion - I would not have guessed.

[Coeus]

The pushback has begun. Even Marcotte has been walking back some of the batshit crazy. These people reached a critical mass, and now everyone else is tired of the bullshit.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

WHERE IS LIVEBLOG

NFL Schedule will be released tomorrow 8 pm ET on @nflnetwork and http://NFL.com .

[Sudden]

Can't wait. I'll be flying into KC to catch the Jets at Chiefs game with a buddy from New Jersey (who lives in California now, because Jersey is so fucking bad, they come here

[Coeus]

Hot Dog Vendor Describes Incident that Led to Former Officer's Death

LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Little Rock Police Department (LRPD) says Todd Payne died after he was tackled in the middle of the street after trying to set a hot dog cart on fire.

The owner of the hot dog cart, Ean Bordeaux happens to be a local blog writer that's written articles on alleged corruption and included Payne, a former officer who had been fired for policy violation according to LRPD.

The two men knew each other and their feud ended Friday (4/18) morning.

Bordeaux says he didn't mean to kill the man that he says tried to destroy his livelihood and possibly his home too.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm picturing a stainless steel hotdog cart. How would one set that on fire, exactly?

[Coeus]

Probably with a flammable liquid.

[PD Scott]

Thermite.

[Coeus]

Not if he put it out with his hands, like he said in the article.

[Sevo]

"How would one set that on fire, exactly?"

Methane. Did you ever eat one of his dogs?!

[Coeus]

Brooklyn teen, 15, shot after cutting Foot Locker line filled with Nike 'Yeezy' customers

All he wanted was a new pair of kicks. Instead, a 15-year-old Brooklyn boy got a bullet in his foot.
The victim, identified by friends as Isaiah Martinez, was shot early Saturday as he tried to buy a pair of Kanye West-designed sneakers from a Brooklyn Foot Locker, cops and witnesses said.
Martinez apparently cut a long line of eager customers looking to buy the new Nike Air Foamposite Pro "Yeezy" sneakers moments before the 6 a.m. shooting outside the Knickerbocker Ave. store, near Stanhope St., in Bushwick.
"There were people camped out for the sneakers and Isaiah tried to cut the line," said Edison Cartagena, 21, who described himself as a Martinez pal.
Those patiently waiting for their chance to buy the $250 sneakers at 8 a.m. were outraged by Martinez's move and demanded he go to the back of the line, said Cartagena, who works at a nearby clothing store.
"They get into a scuffle and one of the guys on line left and told Isaiah he was coming back with a gun," Cartagena said. "He came back and just fired off four shots."
"He probably shot him in the foot just to scare him off," he said. "You know, send a message.'

[Mad Scientist]

Too bad they weren't arguing about hats.

[Coeus]

Yeah, it's kinda hard to get worked up over someone getting shot who skipped a long line, then attacked the people who called him on it.

And was then warned that he was gonna get shot.

[Sevo]

"Too bad they weren't arguing about hats."
I laughed.

[Sudden]

Did he get a free pair of Plaxico Burress' then?

[PapayaSF]

Thank heavens all that welfare spending is going to a good use.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Men are failing their female partners in the bedroom

It's true that for both sexes, the "ideal" length of both foreplay and intercourse was much longer than the actual. But the New Brunswick results at least suggest that the men are not happy with this status quo.

Fisch also points out that two minutes is "way too speedy for the average woman to be able to have an orgasm through vaginal penetration alone." But an even older piece of research suggests that link might not be quite so clear. In a 1951 paper in the Journal of Psychology,

"Correlates of orgasm adequacy in a group of 556 wives," psychologist Lewis Terman found no significant correlation between intercourse duration and female "orgasm adequacy." Alas, the concept of speed has not fared as well in more recent research. In a 2009 paper in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Czech psychologists Petr Weiss and Stuart Brody found, based on surveys with 2,360 Czech women, that women's chance of having an orgasm was much more highly correlated with duration of sex than of foreplay.

The good news here is that, according to Fisch, the average duration is 7.3 minutes?only 4 minutes less than women's "ideal."

[kibby]

I hope you're taking notes, kid.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

zing!

[Coeus]

Does this count as grooming behavior?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I hope you're taking notes, kid.

Um, phrasing? Given the subject matter, definitely phrasing.

[kibby]

Yeah I need to watch that, I guess. Awkward.

[PapayaSF]

Sotomayor's dissent in the affirmative action case is amazing. She wrote that there might be some "racism" behind a law that requires people to be treated without regard to race. As Orwell said, there are some ideas so stupid that only intellectuals will believe them.

[jesse.in.mb]

North Korea has beer!

I don't trust the South Koreans to make decent beer, why would I trust the DPRK to do it?. Why do communists feel the need to numerate their beers instead of labeling them by style? Shouldn't they bee turning these grains into bread or gruel or something rather than making beer?

These questions and more will not be answered in this video!

[PapayaSF]

I like reposting this when she comes up. The best I saw, from Twitter, arranged Letterman-style, with a new addition.

Top Eleven Elizabeth Warren Indian Names

11. Princess Passingwater

10. Little Pantsonfire

9. Woman Who Loves Eater of Dogs

8. Lie-a-watha

7. Hoarder of Feathers Who Hates Feather Hoarders

6. Sitting Bullshit

5. Hunts at Whole Foods

4. Running Joke

3. Taxagawea

2. Dances With Occupiers

And the number one Elizabeth Warren Indian name:

1. Fauxcahontas

[Notorious G.K.C.]

A libertarian-ish doctor getting into politics? What *will* they think of next?

"Though he does not identify with a political party?he says parties should be dissolved?[neurosurgeon Ben] Carson has spent months speaking to largely GOP audiences, elucidating a deeply Christian, libertarian vision of what the Founding Fathers had in mind."

http://www.politico.com/magazi.....1bc8vldVUA

[BiMonSciFiCon]

deeply Christian, libertarian

I know there are plenty of religious libertarians, but I don't think many of them think America's government should be "deeply Christian."

[Juice]

Ben Carson libertarian? HA HA HA HA HA! As if.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I scarcely know anything about him, but I thought it looked like an interesting story.

What anti-liberty things has he done, just out of curiosity?

[Coeus]

The rational behind every SJW videogame, comic and movie article ever made.

[PapayaSF]

That's great. Where's it from?

[Coeus]

saw it on an online forum. not sure where it originated.

[Cytotoxic]

I want to get tested for Lyme disease. I can't get this test in Alberta without a special doctor's note (I think) and it is hard to get. Where can I get tested? PCR or immunoblot only?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You need a note to get the test?

Try your local vet.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Oh, and I'm sorry to hear that. Lyme disease sucks. My wife got it last year.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

There's a deadly kind, though I don't know how common the deadly kind is in Canada.

[Cytotoxic]

I am looking at the Wikipedia entry and there's no mention of deadly Lyme disease.

[paranoid android]

They mostly have to worry about Dire Lyme disease. You know what Dire Lyme disease is, don't you? It's like Lyme disease, only dire.

[Cytotoxic]

I do not know if I have it. The bullseye rash only occurs at most in 80% of the infected. Other symptoms are vague and can resemble a mild flu without nausea. Then it goes 'incognito' and causes a slow worsening of everything. I have lived and hiked in semi-rural areas for large chunks of my life, so it is entirely possible I have it and that would explain my poor dexterity and strength and bad motor skills. That or I have muscular dyspraxia.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You might try these guys and forge a doctor's order.

http://www.mdlab.com/

[Sudden]

Like every other Canadian, south of the border.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

George R.R. Martin Addresses 'Game of Thrones' Rape Scene

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Spoiler alert, you mean!

What if I gave away the ending of the Return of the King?

[BakedPenguin]

Which one?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I deserved that comeback

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Sauron is Frodo's father.

[Drake]

They should have asked him why the show is fucking up every story line this season.

[Stormy Dragon]

NYPD's attempt at viral marketing backfires hilariously:

http://betabeat.com/2014/04/my.....brutality/

[BoscoH]

Maybe Elizabeth Warren can play this song at all her events.

Cherokee by Europe.

[Virginian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvrevbVA0Ec

[Michael Ejercito]

I note that the Court restricted the Hunter/Seattle doctrine to laws that prohibit or discourage racial discrimination. Expanding Hunter/Seattle to laws against racial discrimination would yield results that would actually embed discrimination. For example, if a state were to pass laws forbidding racial segregation in public transportation, it would restructure the political process against those who favor racial segregation in public transportation (Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) does not generally apply to public transportation, so the federal constitutionality of racially segregated public transportation is controlled by Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)) Thus, segregationists must appeal to the state legislature, or even the state's constitutional amendment process, to enact racial segregation in public transportation. (This is likely the case in Michigan, as its constitution's equal protection clause post-dates Brown.) Under the Sixth Circuit's application of Hunter/Seattle, such a law violates the equal protection guarantees of segregationists. today's ruling forecloses such a challenge.

[Sevo]

And how!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

She should have titled the book Fight Like a Brave.

I also like the cover photo of her book. It looks like she's taking a dump in her drawers and she's trying to cover it up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Alternate Title: Bury My Heart at Wounded Elbow

[Austrian Anarchy]

Translated by Sequoyah himself! Look for the torrent for a free copy.

[Pro Libertate]

Jesus. I just realized something. She's in the U.S. Senate. Holy shit.

[Tony]

You guys always think all you need is a magic bullet instead of a political plan. And that bullet is always fucking racist. Good luck with that. She even has a presidential name. I'm willing to dump my beloved Hillary into retirement if Sen. Warren jumps in.

But only because I'm confident no Republican can win.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The life insurance isn't great either.

They do all of the rigging in advance, and the climbers basically get to go up ladders for some of the more dangerous parts.

[Tim]

Ugg.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Epi just got a boner.

[Ted S.]

What the fuck is with that article hiding the money quote in a photo?

Seriously. And the alt-text doesn't help.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You know, I sort of got that impression too. She projects senility, and at times doesn't even come across as sentient.

[MJGreen]

She looks like an alien design from a certain movie or TV show, but I can't recall which. It's mostly that hideous smile.

[Zeb]

I bet it was some dumb photographer telling her to smile with more teeth.

She looks to me like some batty aging teachers I had in middle school.

[Square]

A very Chauncey Gardiner sort of expression.

[Free Society]

I doubt that she is a conscious being capable of independent thought. I think she is a constituent part of some borg collective dedicated to spouting off logical fallacies and conventional wisdom.

[gimmeasammich]

Hey, have *you* ever climbed a ladder on Everest? Didn't think so...

[waffles]

Climbing a ladder several miles above sea level is strenuous for sure, but it's still kind of a Disney-fied mountaineering experience.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

A couple of my dad's co-workers did after retiring. None of them were in what I would consider good shape, but they did have the cash.

[Sudden]

Gary Johnson has.

[gimmeasammich]

Still, it's crazy to do. Though I can think of lots of other things I'd rather blow $100k on, that is still one of those things that people look at in awe. Still, attaining personal glory isn't high on my list of things to do. Maybe that's why I'm a lowly engineer and not a CTO or something.

[John]

See my post below. You are never going to compete dollar for dollar with big corporations because of they will always be able to operate at a lower margin than you. Small businesses make it because they provide something other than just the lowest price on this or that item. If you want to sell shit at a high margin, sell shit that can't be sold in bulk like jewelry or provide some kind of personal service that justifies the higher margin.

[gimmeasammich]

Also I just realized that I had two different thoughts going on in my comment as it was typed over like a five minute period in between working. I should have sprinkled a few more "stills" in there.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It is certainly very dangerous.

It takes a certain personality type to do that sort of thing. I would blow $100k on almost anything interesting, but not faux mountaineering.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's great until it backfires. Sandy Pitmann had no business being on Everest, and got a bunch of people killed. Evidently , she is a "mountaineer" now, having paid people to carry her up all seven peaks.

[Free Society]

Nah. Just get some regulations passed or some subsidies or something.

[waffles]

I like Krakauer.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Ditto. I read that book while I was on a glacier in Alaska. One of the best reads I can recall.

[Ted S.]

I thought he came across as a prick in Into the Wild.

I preferred Anatoly Boukreev's account.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Pantsed the link, bro

[PapayaSF]

They Live (1988)?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

OBEY

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Coincidentally, I am out of gum.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

She didn't write that.

[Drake]

She isn't sentient - she is the ultimate liberal. Ask her any question and you'll get the perfect leftist answer. Point our her hypocrisy and her expression won't even change. She's incapable of embarrassment or self-examination.

[Tonio]

Dude, that's why we're so upset about her. She's not just some peevish schoolmarm.

[Muzzle of Bees]

Tony always thinks all he needs is a magic bullet instead of an actual cogent point of rebuttal. And that bullet is always, "FUCKING RACIST!!1!"

[Pro Libertate]

There's a small possibility that I may have been joking.