A.M. Links: Rob Ford Reportedly Caught Smoking Crack on Video Again, 2 Killed in Florida Jail Gas Explosion, Gerry Adams Arrested

Credit: The City of Toronto/wikimedia

• The Globe and Mail is reporting that there is footage of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack in his sister's basement on Saturday morning. In the wake of the reporting Ford said that he would take a break from his re-election campaign to seek help for alcohol abuse. Gawker has stills of the footage. 
• At least two people were killed and 100 injured after a gas explosion at the Escambia County jail in Florida.
• A group of conservative lawmakers are on the lookout for any legislation that includes immigration reform measures. The news comes after House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) mocked Republican congressmen for not taking on immigration reform.
• Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who Rep. Peter King (R-IRA) compared to George Washington, was arrested yesterday for questioning about the 1972 abduction and murder of a Belfast widow. Adams says that he will never disassociate himself from the Irish Republican Army but denies he had anything to do with Jean McConville's murder.
• Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has said that he still supports the death penalty despite the recent botched execution of Clayton Lockett.
• The number of jobless claims rose to 344,000 last week.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Let's see how you people like a pre-typed comment up here.

[Lord Humungus]

I love it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

San Jose.

/shakes head.

[Rich]

San Jose pod people.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So.

Shanty town San Jose.

[Andrew S.]

So I went 2/3 on my game 7 predictions.

Unfortunately the one I missed was the friggin Rangers.

Now I'm depressed.

[Injun, as in from India]

I'll bet you some of us here can script up a high-frequency commenting system that can beat you by a few nanoseconds.

[hamilton]

How do you know Fist isn't just a self-aware pre-scripted commenting system?

[SugarFree]

If he was really sentient he wouldn't smell like some fat guy's asshole.

[Rich]

Now, *that* is passing the Turing Test!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'll be a virtual John Henry.

[Tim]

It's pathetic how many people respond to you just to get their names near the top of the page.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Agreed. Working so hard to get one's name at the top of a comments section is just- HEY WAIT A MINUTE

[UnCivilServant]

Nobody reads the top of the page, the discussions are all going on at the middle. (also, no one reads the bottom of the page either)

[Fist of Etiquette]

How utterly provincial.

[Tim]

That's where all the Warty rape jokes are.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm thinking of having a Hunger Games to put the flyover commenters in their place.

[Tim]

Remember if you ever go super villain I want to send in my resume.

[Pope Jimbo]

I think you would find that most commenters would be horrible contestants in any Hunger Games like scenario. 1) The top hat sticks out from the foliage making them terrible at hiding and 2) aiming an arrow with a monocle is a sure fire way to guarantee a miss.

How bout really punishing them and hitting them where it hurts. Kill off their orphans.

The Orphonogon! 8 orphans enter, 1 leaves.

Just keep repeating until you have the baddest ass orphan who has ever toiled in a mine.

[110 Lean]

How is it that Katness had a seemingly unlimited supply of arrows in her quiver?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just like Daryl in TWD, she knows her ammo was reusable.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The number of jobless claims rose to 344,000 last week.

Expectedly.

[WTF]

Recovery Summer V, Stayin' Alive!

[Pope Jimbo]

I thought it was: Any Which Way But Expected

Clint Eastwood reprises his role as Philo Beddoe the underground fighter. In this picture Clint has to learn how to cope with the unexpected death of Clyde.

Most of the film is Philo driving around in his truck talking to the empty seat where Clyde used to sit.

[Auric Demonocles]

Like alt-text, Feeney always forgets the "unexpectedly".

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Globe and Mail is reporting that there is footage of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack in his sister's basement on Saturday morning.

Bitch set him up, eh?

[Rich]

This will Barry any chances he had at a comeback.

[Injun, as in from India]

This will Barry any chances he had at a comeback.

I Roger that.

[gaijin]

Rob Ford smoking crack<?i

and yet he is seeking treatment for alcohol abuse...alcohol, gateway drug to crack...who knew?

[Sudden]

WE MUST BANZZZ IT

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Dude, didn't even have the decency to do it in his own home.

[DJF]

The photos just show him holding a small pipe.

Maybe he is cutting back on tobacco use and is using a smaller pipe now?

[Ted S.]

Why should we give a shit, anyway?

[Rich]

Because it diverts attention from *our* problems!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Wo, wo. Slow down fella. No need to take out your anger and aggression on us because Bayern.

I feel your frustration but Rob Ford is very important. To something.

[Ted S.]

It takes the light off of Montreal's corruptitude?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not really.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Ted?! This gives us yet another thing to hassle Canadians about...and you wonder why we should care????

[Zeb]

I'm a bit jealous myself. Why aren't more American mayors that awesome?

[Warren's Strapon]

I'd give good money for him to be governor of Arkansas. Or anywhere else, I'd move for that.

[Steve G]

If ur not safe in your sister's basement, where are you safe??

[Almanian!]

Hangin' with your golddigger girlfriend...no, wait....hmmm....

[Lord Humungus]

related to the H&R link:

Cruz Hosts Secret Meeting for House Conservatives

Sen. Ted Cruz gathered a group of House conservatives in his office Tuesday night, talking about immigration and House GOP leadership elections slated for after the midterm elections.

As CQ Roll Call first reported last October, Cruz held a secret meeting with members at Tortilla Coast during the height of the government shutdown drama. Many of these same Republicans are the agitators who aren't happy with Speaker John A. Boehner.

is that irony, or more of a bronzey or goldy thing?

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Bronzey.

[Juice]

To be fair, that's the whitest Mexican Restaurant south of Minneapolis. It's a place where Hill staffers congregate.

[gaijin]

Maybe this was flogged yesterday, but it's almost like DC is full of Lannisters, Targarians and Crasters.

The brother of Benghazi Liar Ben Rhodes is David Rhodes, president of CBS News.

Sheryl Attikison's purge makes more sense. Is she 'Sansa'?

[WTF]

I would say she is more like Ned Stark.

[Shriek Moronpants Shit Brain]

C'mon you guys. This is a Foney Scandle!

[Hyperion]

I like your handle.

+ 1 troll head

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Another Journalist Joins the Obama Administration
...With her move, Blumenfeld becomes at least the 16th journalist to join the Obama administration, following shortly after Richard Stengel left his post as managing editor of Time Magazine to become the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy.

Other prominent journalists who have joined Team Obama include White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, formerly of Time, Kerry senior advisor Glen Johnson, who came from the Boston Globe, the State Department's new assistant secretary for legislative affairs Douglas Frantz, who used to be a national security editor for The Washington Post, and Shailagh Murray, the former Post and Wall Street Journal scribe who is now the communications director for Vice President Joe Biden....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Rick Stengel Is at Least the 24th Journalist to Work for the Obama Administration

Media, administration deal with conflicts
...The list of prominent news people with close White House relations includes ABC News President Ben Sherwood, who is the brother of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a top national-security adviser to President Obama. His counterpart at CBS, news division president David Rhodes, is the brother of Benjamin Rhodes, a key foreign-policy specialist. CNN's deputy Washington bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is married to Tom Nides, who until earlier this year was deputy secretary of state under Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Further, White House press secretary Jay Carney's wife is Claire Shipman, a veteran reporter for ABC. And NPR's White House correspondent, Ari Shapiro, is married to a lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, who joined the White House counsel's office in April....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Band of Brothers
...CBS News President David Rhodes and ABC News President Ben Sherwood, both of them have siblings that not only work at the White House, that not only work for President Obama, but they work at the NSC on foreign policy issues directly related to Benghazi. Let's call a spade a spade.

Let's also show you why CNN did not go very far in covering these hearings because the CNN deputy bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is married to Hillary Clinton's deputy, Tom Nides....

[WTF]

But they're completely unbiased and objective. I'm totally serial.

[Injun, as in from India]

Fair and Balanced, to be precise.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Shameless motherfuckers, huh.

[Restoras]

Maybe more like Arya. Plotting revenge and destruction.

[Game of Thrones fan]

Valar morghulis.

[Snark Plissken]

The number of jobless claims rose to 344,000 last week.

But the DOW closed at record high thanks to Bamacare. Damn pessimistic obstructionists.

[gaijin]

stock market = economy!

/PB

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is just an important vital sign of the economy. Back is 2008 the patient almost died and the markets crashed.

The Fed tapered again yesterday too.

[Restoras]

When do we sell?

[Palin's Buttplug]

At the top.

[Restoras]

When will that be?

[Jordan]

Never, obviously! Bubbles are a thing of the past now that the right TOP MEN are running the show!

[WTF]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[Jordan]

The stock market looked incredibly healthy at the top of the housing bubble. Well, it did to clowns like you, anyway.

[Rasilio]

Actually no it is not. The valuation of Stock Markets is at best a trailing indicator however even it's ability to tell you where you have been is murky at best because it is so heavily influenced by monetary policy and not the actually underlying market fundamentals.

Basically there is no way to tell if the market is up becuase the economy has been getting better or because the fed has been printing money that has no where else to go

[Protagoronus]

A group of conservative lawmakers are on the lookout for any legislation that includes immigration reform measures.

They should think about putting up a wall?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The news comes after House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) mocked Republican congressmen for not taking on immigration reform.

Leadership.

[WTF]

The news comes after House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) mocked Republican congressmen for not taking on immigration reform pissing off their conservative base ahead of a mid-term election.

[Lord Humungus]

New Study Says Divorce Can Be Contagious

As CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported, a study from Brown University suggested that divorce is contagious, and the divorce of a friend or loved-one increases your chances of getting divorced too.

The study, conducted in Framingham, Mass., found that 75 percent of participants were more likely to get divorced if a friend was divorced, and 33 percent were more likely to end their marriage even if a friend of a friend got divorced.

Researchers called the phenomenon a "social contagion" ? the spread of information, attitudes and behaviors through friends, family and social networks.

[Protagoronus]

I have definitely heard this by anecdote (divorce wave passing through a close group of friends over a couple years). Interesting there is a study now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just like freshly married idiots try to couple everyone in their sphere, the work equally hard to uncouple their satellites when their own ill-conceived union goes tits-up.

[robc]

Cause or effect?

Do the kind of people who get divorced tend to hand out together?

[Zeb]

How many people don't know someone who is getting divorced or has recently been divorced?

[Rasilio]

I don't

But then I'm anti social and don't really have any friends

[Hawk Spitui]

I think that would be obvious to anyone who attended high school. Remember when all the girls that hung out in same clique would simultaneously dump their boyfriends?

[Stormy Dragon]

and the divorce of a friend or loved-one increases your chances of getting divorced too.

If your wife is getting a divorce, that greatly increases the odds that you're getting divorced as well!

[Injun, as in from India]

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has said that he still supports the death penalty despite the recent botched execution of Clayton Lockett.

That execution was cruel. Sorry Tom. The judiciary has a poor record when it comes to convicting the innocent, and the botched execution is a horrible icing on the incompetence cake.

[robc]

Its possible to support the death penalty and still oppose any of the current 57 state governments doing it.

[invisible furry hand]

Plainclothes police film people in nightclub.

[Ted S.]

Of course they defend it. They think all surveillance, other than surveilling the cops, is OK.

[NoVAHockey]

Ha. Flyers suck. But not as bad as the Sharks, I suppose.

[Ted S.]

You like having New York advance in the playoffs? Bleah.

[NoVAHockey]

Anytime the Flyers lose is a good day.

[Fist of Etiquette]

TRUER WORDS HAVE NEVER BEEN TYPED.

[Restoras]

Occasionally, I fell bad for the fans of teams in certain cities.

Philadelphia is not one of them.

[Hyperion]

This is nuts:

PA, no search warrant needed, officer gets to decide if there is probable cause

[Injun, as in from India]

-1 4th amendment

[Rich]

"This case gives the police simpler guidelines to follow."

Yeah: "SEARCH IT!" 8-(

[Ted S.]

I thought the guideline they followed was "Fuck you, that's why".

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, they took the diligently-researched warrant-issuing step out of the equation.

[Hyperion]

I hope the citizens of PA are beginning their bending over exercises.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They're just coming into line with the federal stance on the matter, unfortunately.

[gaijin]

the federal stance on the matter

nice!

[Jordan]

I used to work with a guy who said he left PA because it was a police state.

Under prior law, an officer who smells marijuana inside a car, for example, could only search the car with the driver's consent ? or if illegal substances were in plain view.
(Federal officers, like FBI or ATF agents, can search, regardless.)

What the fucking fuck?

[Snark Plissken]

The Globe and Mail is reporting that there is footage of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack in his sister's basement on Saturday morning.

Smoke with the masses, dine with the classes.

[Lord Humungus]

Criminal Charges Against Banks Risk Sparking Crisis

Stung by lawmakers' criticism that multi-billion-dollar settlements have done too little to punish Wall Street in the wake of the financial crisis, prosecutors are considering indictments in probes of Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and BNP Paribas SA (BNP), a person familiar with the matter said. Even after talking with financial regulators about ways to mitigate damage -- such as ensuring banks keep charters -- prosecutors might not fully understand consequences for the market, according to industry lawyers and bankers who are following the case.

Bank clients -- including trustees, fiduciaries and pension funds -- could be forced to cut ties with a financial institution labeled a criminal enterprise, the lawyers and bankers said, asking not to be named because they weren't authorized to talk publicly. Counterparties also might think twice before entering into billion-dollar transactions with such firms. Damaging a bank's business could lead to broader fallout across the financial industry, just as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s collapse in 2008 prompted investors to withdraw from other firms on concern its exit would set off a wave of losses.

[Protagoronus]

Too big to jail!

[gaijin]

IF they are not going after specific individuals within the banks, real people, then any criminal charges against the banks seems silly. Hell, they've already settled for billions with many of these banks. Holding individual officers accountable--where there is evidence to do so--is the only way this makes sense to me. e.g. Jon Corzine.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Corzine is off the hook. They found the "missing" $600 million.

[sloopyinca]

They "found" the missing crab legs at Jameis Winston's apartment. Doesn't mean that he didn't still break the law in acquiring them.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The money was at JPM. OF course Corzine still violated securities protocol by mixing funds. The penalty for that is losing your securities license. It is not criminal.

[WTF]

PHONEY SKANDALZ!!!!

[DesigNate]

There really isn't a Dem cock you won't suck, is there demfag?

[Restoras]

When you don't send criminals to jail - they continue to behave like criminals? How shocking.

Newsflash: when you levy a fine on a bank, the bank doesn't pay it, and the bank employees don't pay it. The bank's customers pay it. Just like taxes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Banks were illicitly selling shit non-conforming mortgages to Fannie/Freddie. By the millions.

Now you might say the two GSE's should not exist and I would agree. The Obama administration is working on a plan to dissolve them now. Unfortunately the best plan (Crapo/Johnson) the Senate can come up with does not completely dissolve them.

[Restoras]

So, Fannie/Freddie are too stupid to know what they are buying? Well in a free market, that's their problem - except that it's our problem.

The 'fines' and even the bullshit that Spitzer did accomplished nothing except make politicians look like they were 'doing something'. The behavior continues because individuals within the banks are a) rewarded for it, and b) not punished when caught. The 'bank' doesn't suffer, and will never suffer, from engaging in any illegal or quasi-illegal activity.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They weren't too stupid. They knew exactly what they were doing. Franklin Raines lowered the standards for mortgage purchases in '99. That is not to say the Goldman et al didn't fuck the Saudis and Chinese with a bunch of bad securities as well. But in that case, the buyers weren't backed by an implied government guarantee.

[Palin's Buttplug]

If Franklin Raines lowered the standards in 1999 why are the banks paying billions in fines?

Of course you reflexively find a black/Dem to blame. FR was part of the problem but he did not lower standards unilaterally. Funny how 2001-2008 FR and Barney Frank ran Congress and the White House.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You know what? Fuck you for bringing skin color into it you racist piece of shit.

[Restoras]

Come now scruffy! It is a classical liberal and we all know classical liberals resort to mindless tactcis becasue they are...mindless!

[WTF]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[Roger the Shrubber]

If Franklin Raines lowered the standards in 1999 why are the banks paying billions in fines?

Do I really have to say it? FYTW!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Although under Raines, Fannie Mae invested in some securities backed by subprime loans, it didn't start buying subprime and Alt-A loans directly (and bundling them into securities) until 2006 after Raines had left Fannie Mae. Purchasing of subprime and alt-A mortgages expanded under the guidance of Raines's successor Daniel H. Mudd.[18][19

Wikipedia (with notes)

[fuck you tulpa]

under Raines, Fannie Mae invested in some securities backed by subprime loans

We know fuckboy, that's exactly what Scruffy said.

[DesigNate]

slurp slurp demfag

[invisible furry hand]

Sorry if already posted:

Canadian town in fear of dead exploding whale; local and Federal governments squabble over responsibility

Next stop: Somalia

[Ted S.]

As opposed to a living exploding whale?

[BakedPenguin]

Assault Cetaceans!

[UnCivilServant]

Don't be silly Cetaceans don't suicide bomb, they get enviro-monkeys to do it for them.

[Lord Humungus]

Syria Airstrike Kills Schoolchildren

A Syrian government fighter jet fired a missile at a school in the northern city of Aleppo that killed as many as 47 people, mainly children, as students were preparing an art exhibition to depict the horrors of Syria's civil war, activists said.

Antigovernment activists in Aleppo posted photos showing blood splattered across the school's concrete walls and staining a remnant of the art exhibition: a drawing of soldiers and rebels beheading or shooting children and throwing their corpses in a pit of skeletons. Later footage showed a makeshift morgue, children laid out in brown and blue body bags on a tile floor as women wailed and screamed in the background.

[hamilton]

Meh. The American public is way too sophisticated to be upset by children being killed by planes shooting at them, apparently.

However, I am interested in seeing if the administration tries to make any political hay by pointing out how evil this act of bombing children is. That might require setting new records for hypocrisy.

[WTF]

It's okay when Obama does it, because he has the super double-secret decision matrix.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

No words. The Middle East is a fucked up place.

[gaijin]

Antigovernment activists in Aleppo posted photos showing blood splattered across the school's concrete walls and staining a remnant of the art exhibition

Is it too cynical to wonder if the story is propaganda on the part of the antigovernment activists?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who Rep. Peter King (R-IRA) compared to George Washington, was arrested yesterday for questioning about the 1972 abduction and murder of a Belfast widow.

And George Washington killed foreigners in the middle of the night on Christmas.

[sloopyinca]

Were they technically foreigners?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Hessians?

[sloopyinca]

Oh yeah. Forgot about those slippery Krauts.

[Restoras]

Screw them. They took the King's shilling.

[WTF]

America, we will kill you in your sleep on Christmas.

[robc]

It was after the Declaration.

They were invaders in a foreign country.

[sloopyinca]

If only all wartime Christmases were like this one.

[sloopyinca]

Hey, I mentioned this last night, but Banjos and I will be in DC this coming Monday through Wednesday or Thursday in case any of you want to grab a few drinks.

We both have job interviews slated.

[Rich]

Good luck to you both!

Bringing the offspring?

[sloopyinca]

The little ones are going to Hilton Head for a few days to spend time with their grandparents.

[Protagoronus]

Just did Hilton Head last weekend. I would say you are on the losing end of the deal (but good luck with the interviews!).

"Table" is a pretty solid reservation if you can get in. Boozy milkshakes at Ted's Bulletin if you are into that sort of thing.

[Protagoronus]

*restaurant

[sloopyinca]

Meh, I'm not bringing my sticks anyway. SO HH wouldn't do me much good.

I don't know where we're staying in the area yet, so not sure where we'll try to get in. May actually use airbnb to find a cheaper room in the city.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

NO ORGIES! ESPECIALLY NOT ONES WITH THE OBESE!!!!!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

If I didn't have a trade show to do next week, I would take you up on it. Let me know if you come back again.

[sloopyinca]

In all likelihood, we'll be back for good in a few weeks. Somewhere in the area anyway. We'd prefer somewhere down the Potomac or even in the northern neck, but commutes may dictate where we end up.

[RBS]

When I was younger and more singler I lived in Eastern Market. I had a great time.

[robc]

CA-DC?

Frying pan to fire?

[sloopyinca]

Money talks. Kara's area of expertise is highly represented there (legal secretary for IP firms) and the job market down here is just dead for me, and I quit over a month ago now. All of my leads are far away. And I would like to get at least close to my old home (Richmond) again.

[Tonio]

Do holler if you ever come near Richmond again. We have good beer.

[Sudden]

But Jerry Brown says the California economy is teh boomin'!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Looking Over the Wreckage of Obama's Year and a Half of Benghazi Lies
@PressSec says @rhodes44 email not released bc "explicitly not about Benghazi." It has section entitled "Benghazi" pic.twitter.com/SP3c5MynS6

? Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) April 30, 2014

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...Morell, you'll remember, had previously not told anyone that he himself had edited the talking points and made various edits.

In fact, at one point, he claimed he "believed" the FBI had done so.

Morell stated that he believed it was the FBI that removed the references "to prevent compromising an ongoing criminal investigation."

? Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

He would later claim his "belief" that the FBI had made these edits, when he himself had done so, was an "error."...

[Palin's Buttplug]

You mean Susan Rice fed the media some lame talking points?

WHEN WILL THIS NATIONAL TRAGEDY END??

[WTF]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[sloopyinca]

Why is it whenever I see that blog all I can think about is the Ultimart shootout scene in Grosse Pointe Blank?

[invisible furry hand]

because you need to go to your happy place?

[Jordan]

Popcorn!

[sloopyinca]

Dare I say that movie approaches almost Jaws-like levels of perfection. I can't think of a scene, actor or character I'd change off the top of my head.

[Aloysious]

I almost wounded myself last night when Garrison Kiellor's wretched voice came on the radio. I stubbed my toe on the door jam rushing to shut the radio off. Not sure which hurt worse, my ears or my toe.

[invisible furry hand]

Shooting the radio is too hard?

[Aloysious]

I like my radio. Normally, shutting off the radio is an activity that I can perform in a competent manner. Last night, not so much.

[Snark Plissken]

Normally all your radio shutting off is above average?

[Aloysious]

Normally. Garrison Kiellor unhinges my cherubic like demeanor.

[invisible furry hand]

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who Rep. Peter King (R-IRA) compared to George Washington, was arrested yesterday for questioning about the 1972 abduction and murder of a Belfast widow.

Finally. Hurrah!

[Raven Nation]

After finally checking the world time clock, I am now thoroughly impressed with your willingness to be up this late just to engage with us fools over here.

[invisible furry hand]

I'm thoroughly impressed with your willingness to engage with this fool over here, so it all evens out

[Rich]

*slap!* (in advance)

[Ted S.]

The time stamps here are UTC-4; IFH should be UTC+10 -- Australia is off daylight savings time by now, right? That's only 11PM local time for IFH.

[Raven Nation]

True, but she's usually here for a couple of hours at least. So, staying up past midnight to listen to the, umm, wisdom of the Reason commentariat seems commendable.

[Lord Humungus]

The problem isn't Ukip, it is Europe
David Cameron has fallen into the same trap as John Major. Now the politics of citizen identity lurks everywhere

The point at this moment in time is not Farage; it is Europe. It is not Ukip, but Europe. It is not racism, but Europe. For a quarter of a century, calling any critic of the evolving architecture of the EU "anti-European" was not just inaccurate but stupid. It played into the hands of the rejectionists. The chickens are now coming home to roost.

Polls everywhere indicate rising disillusion with European union. One survey recently for Open Europe , an independent thinktank, was unequivocal. Majorities of 73% in Britain and 58% in Germany want their parliaments free to block new EU laws. A mere 8% of Britons and 21% of Germans support the legal sovereignty of the European parliament. A BBC poll this month showed British support for our continued membership down to little more than a third. While opinion is evenly divided on actual withdrawal, such uncertainty is hardly a sound basis for a referendum in the next parliament. Consent to the union is collapsing.

[Restoras]

Sure sure, but how does UKIP fare on the Purity Test? Hmmm?

[Ted S.]

That's an interesting link.

[Lord Humungus]

recursive logic? I'm getting some weird computer lag - time for a reboot.

let's try this:
http://www.theguardian.com/com.....id-cameron

[WTF]

I wonder if they'll have a war if some of the states try to secede from the union.

[UnCivilServant]

What's the NATO obligation if one member attacks another?

[invisible furry hand]

That would still trigger the Article 5 obligation on all parties to defend the victim of the attack. Nothing in it saying that the rules are different for party-on-party attacks.

[sloopyinca]

I think it becomes the obligation of all other NATO signatories to get the popcorn and pull up their collective chairs.*

*Except for if John Kerry is still the SoS. He will be required to pick the wrong side and disparage the will of the people.

[Raven Nation]

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who Rep. Peter King (R-IRA) compared to George Washington, was arrested yesterday for questioning about the 1972 abduction and murder of a Belfast widow

I'm no fan of the IRA but two things occur to me here:

i) I would imagine Adams would have some kind of connection (no matter how distant) to every IRA act.

ii) Unless he personally ordered the killing or carried it out, it's hard to see how this arrest is helpful to anyone.

[invisible furry hand]

Dolours Price admitted involvement and said he personally ordered it

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

[Raven Nation]

Price said Adams personally ordered it? Well, if that's the case then the arrest seems fair enough.

As I said, I'm not a fan of the IRA. But I know people who have been involved in the reconciliation process there and, while they support specific justice (like this), they get worried about more vague paybacks. But, if there is testimony that he ordered it then the arrest makes sense.

Although, I am interested to see what's happened since she testified in 2010 to cause the arrest now.

[Don Mynack]

That link is very illuminating. Apparently, she gave a ton of dirt on the IRA in a taped interview to Boston College. Both the UK and the US has tried to subpoena that material. Apparently, one of them has succeeded, and some other corroborating evidence linking Adams to the killing must have been found.

[Tonio]

Unless [Gerry Adams] personally ordered the killing or carried it out, it's hard to see how this arrest is helpful to anyone.

Persons hoping for an unseat of Rep. Peter King beg to differ. Even if King didn't know about Adams, that George Washington quote will hang over King for the rest of his career.

[Rich]

Science: Straight Athletes Love a Same-Sex Snuggle

You can't fool *me*, vocativ. That's from The Onion.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That makes that post-nap boner harder to explain.

[Rich]

"Harder"?

[Aloysious]

It's not my fault I have a condition.

[Ted S.]

I misread the headline the first time, and thought it said straight atheists love a same-sex snuggle.

[Matrix]

Straight women, maybe.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"We don't give anyone shit anymore," said Stephen, another interviewee, who added that any joking is light-hearted. "Sometimes you grab his cock, sort of as a joke, particularly if he's got a semi going. ?It just relieves the tension. It's not like you're going to wank him."

[Roger the Shrubber]

It's not like you're going to wank him.
'Unless, you know, he was into that sort of thing...whatever.'

[sloopyinca]

FTA: This is John, a self-identified straight guy who took part in a study investigating attitudes toward same-sex cuddling at a university in the U.K.

Wait, there are enough completely straight men in the UK to perform a study? I thought they were all closeted poofters once they got through boarding school.

[mr simple]

in the U.K.

Enough said.

[John]

Maybe I am just a homophobe, but I am not volunteering for a same sex cuddling study. That is just not how I roll, NTTAWW the people who do roll that way.

Just a guess, but I think there is some selection bias going on in this study.

[Bardas Phocas]

Tankers carrying oil derail, catch fire in Va.
http://www.washingtontimes.com.....medium=RSS
I just wish they (the smart people) would find a better way to transport tons of crude oil.

Ah well, burn baby burn.

[Injun, as in from India]

Lookit, all CO2 is not equal. The CO2 from tar sands oil extraction is evil CO2, but the CO2 from burning tankers is less evil because the tankers are there to prevent a pipeline from transporting said tar sands dirty oil.

Likewise, the CO2 from globe-trotting climate negotiators is good CO2, but the CO2 from the cars of the unwashed masses is evil CO2.

[Restoras]

Maybe...now, hear me out, this may sound crazy...maybe we could build a dedicated system of large scale, above ground plumbing - call it a 'pipeline' - that could performa such a task? Do we have that capability?

[gaijin]

That's crazy talk man! You need to see a specialist

[Bardas Phocas]

You should probably ask our government agency in charge of dealing with dirty foriegners for advice on that.
Or maybe the Department of Education.

[Lord Humungus]

Just 67 percent of federal ObamaCare enrollees have paid premiums

Just 67 percent of Americans who purchased insurance through federal ObamaCare exchanges have paid their premiums, according to information insurers participating in the program gave to Congress.

The information was compiled by the GOP-led House Committee on Energy and Commerce, as Americans wait to learn enrollment details from the Obama administration, weeks after the enrollment deadline.

However, Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, disputed the new numbers. "These claims are based on only about half of the approximately 300 issuers in the federally-facilitated marketplace and they do not match up with public comments from insurance companies themselves, most of which indicate that 80 to 90 percent of enrollees have paid their premium," he said.

[NoVAHockey]

"they do not match up with public comments from insurance companies themselves"

well, clearly talking points data.

[NoVAHockey]

"they do not match up with public comments from insurance companies themselves"

well, clearly talking points data.

[NoVAHockey]

insert "greater than"

[Ted S.]

Doing things clearly and well is greater than talking points data. 🙂

[gaijin]

The fact that the administration won;t say how many people have paid is probably the best indicator of the truth...if it was 90% wouldn't they be touting that?

[Acosmist]

If it was above 25% they would be touting it. I know that's their bar because they touted 7 million out of 30 million uninsured as a rousing success. So 25% is good enough.

Whenever they don't trumpet a number, that number is below 25%.

[Ted S.]

I'm surprised it's that high.

[Lord Humungus]

Why Piketty's Book Is a Bigger Deal in America Than in France

First, Mr. Piketty has been on the intellectual scene, and the darling of the French Socialist party and intellectuals, for some time already. An early appointment as an economic adviser to S?gol?ne Royale, the Socialist presidential candidate in 2007, gave him a platform to present his ideas to the news media. He also has had access to President Fran?ois Hollande and many other leaders for a while, so Mr. Piketty is older news to the French political elite and journalists alike.

Besides, in France, unlike in the United States, most people take for granted the notion that income inequality is growing and destructive. A book that tells people what they already believe may receive approval without generating adulation.

[Injun, as in from India]

The French apparently like their cuisine fried in snake oil.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh, the irony of Senegale Royale's name.

[The Late P Brooks]

Why should we give a shit, anyway?

THIS IS WHY VIRGINIA POSTREL HATES US, AND WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

[The Late P Brooks]

At least two people were killed and 100 injured after a gas explosion at the Escambia County jail in Florida.

[insert botched death sentence reference]

[Lord Humungus]

The Coming Two-Tier Health System
ObamaCare is already creating one class of care for the poor and middle class and another for the affluent.

With the unveiling of the Affordable Care Act's website, the public experienced a painful reminder of the consequences of the government's new authority over health care. While millions signed up for insurance, millions of others abruptly lost their existing coverage and access to their doctors because that coverage didn't fit new ObamaCare definitions.

The health-care law was generated by an administration promoting government as the solution to inequality, yet the greatest irony of ObamaCare is what will undoubtedly follow as a long-term, unintended consequence of the law: a decidedly unequal, two-tiered health system. One will be for the poor and middle class, and a separate system will be for those with the money or power to circumvent ObamaCare.

[John]

Funny how every single thing the Progs do results in a two tiered system of the really haves and the really have nots.

[NoVAHockey]

They think the aristocracy they long for will protect them.

[Restoras]

Kinda like that great Socialist Achievment, Communism. Communism has a two-tier system that lefties are perfectly happy to endorse since they will be the 'haves'.

[John]

One of my earliest memories about politics was having my father explain to me as a small child how the USSR was not a classless society and had elites who lived as well as most rich people in the US. I had been watching the news and got the impression no one was rich there.

[Injun, as in from India]

Aah. the more equal, and slightly less equal classes. It was the same way in India too to some extent. We had the well-fed bureaucrats, the well-protected business owners shielded from competition, and the starving dirty proles. Socialism is just f-ing awesome isn't it?

[gaijin]

Funny how every single thing the Progs do results in a two tiered system of the really haves and the really have nots.

Simple minds can deal with "two" of everything much more easily than they can with more than two of anything.

[Palin's Buttplug]

That is a feature in my opinion. Single payer is the only one tier system.

The Buffetts of the world can hire their own personal MD to follow them around. Choice is preserved.

[Ted S.]

Canadians who could went into exile to get healthcare outside the government system.

(I'll let the Canadians explain, but it was more or less illegal for decades to offer medical services outside the government system. If you wanted to avoid the lines, you had to go into temporary exile in the US or elsewhere to get your health care.)

[Palin's Buttplug]

Right. Canada is single-payer (which is what the progs want here but no one else).

Obamacare is for only about 10% of the USA. We still have Medicare and a healthy private system.

[Lord Humungus]

That what my (now Canadian) brother did when he needed a very specialized surgery for his daughter. He went to the U.S. and paid $40k in cash.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sometimes the province will pay for surgeries not performed in Canada.

[Lord Humungus]

not this one... there was someone in Canada who "could do it," but my brother opted for a surgeon in NY who had done this particular procedure many times before. It was to correct a particularly bad birth defect so there were some quality of life considerations too.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Canada, according to the OECD a couple of years ago, had the most restrictive health care system after North Korea and Cuba.

Nice.

As for this notion 'no one jumps the queue' in our system - that's pure, bull shit mythology. I have some contacts and just jumped three appointments. One of them was to see a GI with a three-year waiting list. They gave me one inside a month because a contact.

Palin's an idiot and has no idea what's coming to America.

[Ted S.]

I like to use "single-payer law" as something I don't really want, but to try to make the point about how awful single-payer healthcare is going to be.

But more and more I'm beginning to wonder whether we should just fuck over all the lawyers, break up all the law firms, decide who can practice what type of law, and all that stuff. Just because these are the assholes who want to foist single-payer on the doctors.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am opposed to single-payer, you moron. How many times do I have to say it?

Obamacare entrenches multi-payer private insurance and throws some scraps to the indigent.

[Rasilio]

Actually I suspect it will be a 3 tier system.

The poor and middle class will get shit health care, the upper middle class will deal with the shit health care for mundane things but medical tourism will be a major deal for them with anything serious, and then the rich will have expensive concierge doctors and private clinics

[Lord Humungus]

Obama at a 'Dead Point'

The March Obamacare enrollment surge hasn't brought springtime for President Barack Obama, just the soggy reality that he looks to be about as much of a drag on his party in November as anyone would have expected a few months ago. He ticked up 3 percentage points to a 44 percent job approval rating in The Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, while he is at 41 percent, his lowest showing ever, in the Post-ABC News survey.

According to every indicator, the public is sour, the economy lackluster and Republicans much more motivated to vote than Democrats. The general environment looks to be November 2010 all over again, except it hasn't been preceded by an interlude of historic Democratic accomplishments.

[Rich]

Globe audience faints at 'grotesquely violent' Titus Andronicus

I *knew* Quentin Tarantino wrote Shakespeare's stuff!

[Snark Plissken]

Say 'methinks' again. Say 'methinks' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say methinks one more goddamn time!

[Rich]

"Olde English, Motherfucker! Do you speake it?"

[invisible furry hand]

"I'ma get medieval on your ass, forsooth!"

[Snark Plissken]

+100 Chaucers

[Rich]

The Miller's Tale FTW.

[Tonio]

Old English is Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf is the best literary example of this.

Chaucer wrote in Middle English.

Shakespeare is Early Modern English.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I recently read this(year old) Ssmithsonian article about a 17th century forger who tried to make it look like he'd discovered a huge cache of Shakepeare's writings. Made for a cool story. The forger was a disappointed writer who wanted to impress his dad with how good of a writer he actually was. He had some believers, but then he came clean, and tried writing on his own.

[sarcasmic]

Professional musicians are almost FOUR times more likely to lose their hearing

Musicians are also 57% more likely to develop tinnitus - ringing in the ears
Experts are now urging musicians to wear earplugs while playing

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea.....aring.html
Paging Captain Obvious to the white courtesy phone! Captain Obvious!

[gaijin]

Paging Captain Obvious

"All you can eat is a hotel policy that allows you to eat...all you can"

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Can they expand that groundbreaking research to field artillery units too????!!!!!

[Ivan Pike]

Can they expand that groundbreaking research to field artillery units too????!!!!!

WHAT??!!

[Homple]

In the artillery, the phrase is "say again". not "what".

Civilians, harumpf.

[Restoras]

I see what you did there, LTC...well played, sir. Well played.

[Lord Humungus]

Back in the day when I used to do sound for bands... holy shit drums are fucking loud when you're standing right next to them.

When the band was playing I made sure to head to the back of the hall or way off to the side.

[PD Scott]

If everyone would just sit down, shut up and listen to the music they wouldn't have to play so damn loud.

Now get off my lawn.

[Elspeth Flashman]

OT: I was scheduled to have my first criminal trial this week but it was snatched away, and became a plea agreement instead. I was disappoint since this was my chance to make some cops squirm on the witness stand. But I will save that for another day (maybe next week! when I have another bench trial scheduled).

[sloopyinca]

Are bench trials a better way to go for a truly innocent defendant? I'd expect they would be. Juries sure can be stupid and are more prone to accept the word of a cop, any cop, as the gospel truth even if there is a load of contradictory evidence.

[tarran]

According to my lawyer, bench trials are a double edged sword. Judges tend to be less swayed by emotion. Also, a judge can have an agenda that a jury can check.

With that having been said, the one criminal case she participated in (her client had been in jail for months on a false allegation of child abuse) was a bench trial, and the judge saw through the bullshit the cops and the ex tried to weave. Immediately after the prosecutor completed his rebuttal, the judge loudly declared "Not Guilty" and pounded the gavel. No histrionics. No arguments with the "if he's charged he must have done something" crowd.

[gaijin]

a judge can have an agenda that a jury can check

like running for re-election?

[John]

I think that depends on the judge. My attorney friends say that there are some judges that are very fair and exactly what you want for a trial if you have a good case. Some are just asshole government hacks.

Reasons why if you ever have to have to hire a criminal attorney, hire one who practices in and is familiar with the local courts. Your high paid out of town guy probably won't know that the judge you have is a pro police asshole until it is too late.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I have two of them before the same judge (who I only just started appearing in front of). And I thought delaying would be good (since the jury trials were scheduled sooner). But I heard from another attorney who has clerked with that judge that he has no mercy for defendants when he's trying the case w/o a jury. So I learned a lesson. Luckily the highest sentence he'd have gotten was 93 days. Hopefully for my case next week the witness doesn't show.

[sloopyinca]

Hopefully for my case next week the witness doesn't show.

Why don't you have your client's co-workers stop and harass all of the witnesses family and friends and tell them to have him not take the stand. You could even have them threaten those people with beatings. Ooh, you could also have them wear weapons and paramilitary uniforms and show up together to the trial.

Well, you could do those things if your client was a cop.

[Jordan]

Excellent. Kick some ass!

[John]

Sorry to hear that. IMHO outside of being a professional athlete there are few things more fun than trying a criminal case. If you have the knack for it, it makes for one hell of a day at work. That is pretty bad in some ways since what you find fabulous is actually the most serious of things affecting people's lives in the most dramatic of ways. I always kind of felt guilty for liking it so much but couldn't help it.

And cross is great once you realize the whole point is to just restate what you think are the important parts of their testimony with your spin on it. When I first tried to do it I fucked up royally because I thought the point was to have and win an argument with the witness. That, of course, is idiotic. The point is to restate what the witness says in a way that is both objectively true and brings facts about it that are harmful to the other side. There may only be two or three things like that. And that is fine since there is nothing wrong with a short cross and few things worse than a long poorly done one.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I thought before I got into this that I didn't want to do trial work, but now I am champing at the bit to go at it. And It's those little inconsistencies that make a difference (what the police report says versus what the victim says) for questioning.

[John]

Yup. And SOPs. Every police department has SOPs and cops almost never know them or follow them. There is so much mileage to be made by going through an SOP and pointing out where the cop didn't follow it.

It doesn't directly reflect on the case, but it makes them look sloppy and stupid and the entire case look weaker.

[Lord Humungus]

Brown Case Before Maine Supreme Court

In April of last year, Hancock County Superior Court Judge Ann Murray found Brown guilty of selling raw milk without a license, selling raw milk without labeling it as such, and operating a retail food establishment without a license. Brown and his wife, Judy, sold raw dairy products and other foods at the couple's farm stand. In 2011 the town of Blue Hill passed a food sovereignty ordinance allowing the direct sale of food from producer to consumer without licensing or inspection requirements. Later that year, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) filed suit against Brown in a challenge to the food sovereignty ordinance seeking an injunction against the farmer as well as fines for violations of the state food and dairy code. In her decision, Judge Murray fined Brown $1,000 and enjoined him from further violations of the laws she found him guilty of breaking.

[sloopyinca]

I don't think the recent USSC ruling on the EPA case bodes well for Farmer Brown.

[John]

I am on Brown's side but I would very surprised if he won. State law is going to trump a city ordinance in most cases.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Mom exercising with son, loses gym membership because she was acting as a trainer.

What's with all of these mom/gym stories recently?

Also, if my mom looked like her I would never work out with her. If my friend's mom looked like her, I would work out with her everyday.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Billy, why are you crossing your legs?

[sloopyinca]

She's a trainer for a living. Why not take her son to the gym she works at or use the gear they have at the house.

Also, she's not ugly.

[John]

Wow. If I were single, I think she would be worth putting up with the teenage son baggage for. Damn. I would imagine pretty much every one of that kid's friends is very interested in doing some training with her.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Isn't that the real tragedy? That poor kid has a super hot mom.

[John]

She seems single. My parents never divorced. It would have been really weird to have a super hot mom and know all of these men were out trying and no doubt in some cases succeeding in banging her.

I feel bad for sons of hot single moms. Your dad out doing that stuff just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I don't think I could ever get used to the thought of my mom doing that.

That is totally irrational I know. I doubt I am alone in that weird feeling.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Sterling!!!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Not at all. My parents are together and my mom, I love her, isn't much of a looker.

But I do think being the son of a hot single mom would be tough.

[John]

I couldn't tell you if my mom was a looker. I am told she was by other people. She didn't have a horn on her head and didn't weigh 300 lbs but I was never able to ring myself to render an opinion.

[RBS]

It sucks, all through HS and undergrad all I heard was how much my friends wanted to bang my mom. The only thing close to payback I got was when I real life banged my my friend's sister.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I raise my glass, err, cup of coffee, to you RBS.

[John]

RBS,

Way to go. Banging your friend's hot sister is one of those bucket list things I likely will never get to live out. Good for you getting to do so.

[Warty]

The last thing that a commercial gym wants its members to do is improve themselves. Her garage gym looks far better than any shitty LA Fitness. That said, I'm surprised that it wasn't a Planet Fitness.

[John]

That is really true isn't it. I have looked into joining some commercial gyms. I never do because the equipment is always shitty, even if it is an expensive gym.

I end up just keeping my YMCA membership. It has the crappiest gym imaginable but it at least has a really kick ass out door pool for the summer. And a treadmill is a treadmill for the most part.

[Warty]

Ys tend to have decent weight rooms full of rusty 50-year-old York plates and bent bars, which is suboptimal but extremely adequate. But you know what's better than any treadmill? A hill.

[John]

I know that. I run on treadmills because I like to listen to music and treadmills allow me to just zone out in a way running outside doesn't.

If I were serious about conditioning, I would stop running distance altogether and do sprints and hills. Unless you want to run a marathon or half marathon, which I don't, distance running is a waste of time that breaks down your joints. Middle distance runners (mile to 10K) don't train running long distance. They do endless sets of sprints from 100 meters up to 800 meters. They seem to manage to be in pretty good shape without running distance.

[Warty]

Mike Webster, the Steelers center, used to shitloads of stair sprints and 100 and 440 meter sprints as well as his weight room work. Walter Payton did endless sprints up a levee at home in Mississippi. Those guys knew a thing or two about getting in OK shape.

[John]

Football is all about explosion over short distances Warty. Most plays take place over a distance of less than ten yards. If you ever notice even the fastest football players are generally not track stars. The reason for that is that in football your explosiveness over ten yards is much more important than your ability to cover longer distances. Sprinters have incredible explosiveness but what they really have is the ability to lose momentum much more slowly than everyone else (when you sprint you hit your top speed in about two steps and slow down from there).

Since the dawn of time coaches made football players do distance work. I grew up playing football doing nine and twelve minute conditioning runs. Right about the late 80s when I got out of high school they were finally starting to admit that those were a waste of time and energy.

[Warty]

Right, and I think there's an excellent argument to me made that explosiveness over short distances is what humans evolved to do. I don't think it's any coincidence that most people think a sprinter's physique is more aesthetically pleasing than a distance runner's. I think we evolved to like the people who looked like they'd be good ambush hunters.

[Zeb]

I've also heard convincing arguments that people evolved for endurance as well to chase down animals until they wear out. Most animals can do sprints, humans move so much more efficiently that we can do both, which is probably a lot of our advantage. Africans who live where people evolved tend to be and look like distance runners. That probably means something.
If I had to come up with an answer right now, I'd say that our efficiency in movement both in short sprints and over long distances is our biggest physical advantage.

[Warty]

Persistence hunting is mostly done as a ceremonial thing or a test of manhood. Which makes sense, because it takes more energy than the food value of the animal is worth.

[John]

Good point Warty. That is why we have dogs.

[John]

That is true Zeb. But those hunters don't run when they hunt. They walk. Kenyans are such great runners not because their ancestors were runners. It is because they have the right physique, grow up at altitude and in the late 20the Century running became part of the culture. You end up with a bunch of long legged thing guys growing up at 6000 feet running from early childhood because distance runners were national heroes. That is a recipe for getting some pretty fast dudes.

[John]

Explosiveness over short distances and long distance walking not running. Aboriginal hunters hunt either by stalking, which involves a short explosive burst or arrow shot on an unsuspecting animal or pursuit. But humans have never pursued by jogging or running. Prey animals are evolved to sprint away from a predator. They are not evolved to run long distance. You can run a deer to exhaustion by simply walking. The deer will run when you get close to it, but if you track it and find it again and again it will quickly tire and no longer be able to run. The ability to do that is really one of man's unique abilities.

[tarran]

It's our ankles.

Once we get going, each stride recycles something like 80% of the energy of the previous stride. With other animals, it's something like 30%. As a result, we use far less muscle power to locomote and produce far less waste heat.

In Africa, there are guys who hunt by following an animal until it drops from heatstroke, while the human stays nice and cool thanks to sweat pores and that unique ankle design.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Since the dawn of time coaches made football players do distance work. I grew up playing football doing nine and twelve minute conditioning runs. Right about the late 80s when I got out of high school they were finally starting to admit that those were a waste of time and energy.

Right. That kind of conditioning is fine for basketball and soccer when you're spending most of your time running around the playing field. It's pointless in football because the whole game is nothing more than a series of short sprints. By the time I started playing, the coaches had dropped those in favor of 10 and 40-yard wind sprints.

Oddly enough, the coaches at the school I transferred to did conditioning at the end of practice all of twice the whole season, but we still made the state finals. I think if you run your practices well enough, you don't need to do conditioning because the players are getting all they need during drills and scrimmages.

[John]

I think if you run your practices well enough, you don't need to do conditioning because the players are getting all they need during drills and scrimmages.

Exactly. I don't know but I think most coaches at about every level have figured that out. No one does the old nine to twelve and three to six two a days during August like they used to. There is no need to. Better to have one two hour, well planned and very intense practice.

[RBS]

When I lived in DC I was a member at the Gold's by Federal Center, it wasn't awful.

[Steve G]

Speaking of the most retarded gym in the world:

http://gma.yahoo.com/pregnant-.....ories.html

[Raven Nation]

In something of a parallel, SkiCo, the Company that runs all the mountains up in Aspen will revoke your season pass if they find you teaching-for-hire on the slopes without one of their permits.

[Zeb]

I can understand that and the gym's policy as well. Part of the business is selling training. But a mother working with her son is rather different.

[Raven Nation]

True.

[Hyperion]

I triple dog dare anyone to read this entire fluff piece:

Hillary the Great

[Rich]

her ambivalence about the race, they told us, reflects her distaste for and apprehension of a rapacious, shallow and sometimes outright sexist national political press corps acting as enablers for her enemies on the right.

Full stop right there.

[Hyperion]

You're a brave man, I couldn't make it past this:

here's no part of her 5-foot-7-inch body that hasn't come under microscopic scrutiny, from her ankles to her neckline to her myopic blue eyes?not to mention the ever-changing parade of hairstyles that friends say reflects creative restlessness and enemies read as a symbol of somebody who doesn't stand for anything.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's a typo, should have been cankles.

[Atanarjuat]

no part of her 5-foot-7-inch body that hasn't come under microscopic scrutiny

No one has ever, to my knowledge, (until now) mentioned her boobs.

[Lord Humungus]

Will: 'Global Warming is Socialism By the Back Door'

George Will said recently "global warming is socialism by the back door."

In an interview with The Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein, Will points out that progressives use warming to rationalize "more and more power in Washington" to "micromanage the lives of the American people?our shower heads, our toilets, our bathtubs, our garden hoses."

You know who else like to jam things through the back door?

[Snark Plissken]

People who use the word buttplug in their handle?

[Injun, as in from India]

Zed in Pulp Fiction?

[sarcasmic]

Jim Morrison?

[invisible furry hand]

Warty?

[John]

Nice of George to notice what various right wing cranks, knuckle draggers and Libertarians have been noticing for about the last 20 years.

[Restoras]

Better late than never. I'm happy we have a quasi-convert with national recognition.

[Raven Nation]

On that topic, I was listening to an older podcast of one of my preferred skeptic programs and once again experienced frustration with the "skeptical community." They referred to the global warming guy (can't remember his name) who broke into the Heartland Institute a couple of years back.

The report noted that he "infiltrated" the Institute as if it were some mega-corporation, did not note his production of fake documents, and basically said that denying AGW was akin to being a young earth creationist.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You know who else like to jam things through the back door?

Cato and Reason Foundation patron John Stagliano?

[Lord Humungus]

The correct answer is: Two Men and a Truck

[Lord Humungus]

which sounds like a gay pron movie. NTTAWWT

[Notorious G.K.C.]

As I understand it, this is Troll Appreciation Thursday.

So let's start off right away...

Guardian writer is confused by the "counterintuitive" results of a UK poll. Women want to restrict abortion more than men do.

"That raises some pretty big implications, the most obvious being that if it were left to women to vote on the issue, with men out of the picture, there's a good chance that the result would be in favour of restricting abortion. On the flip side, if only men voted, they'd almost certainly vote in favour of women's reproductive rights....

"Where prior to the 1960s men would have felt culturally bound to "do the right thing" by sexual partners who became pregnant, medicine now provided them with a convenient get-out clause. It is therefore not that surprising that they'd resist any changes that would threaten that.

"As for women, there's the heavy weight of centuries of cultural baggage and social expectation. Women today are still defined in terms of sex and motherhood, and "radicals" who reject that ideal are dismissed as unfeminine, cruel or somehow defective. "I don't want to have a baby" remains a significant statement, liable to invite scrutiny."

http://www.theguardian.com/sci.....o-abortion

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

False consciousness and patriarchical brain-washing FTW

[John]

What is funny about this is that the party line is always that "only women are entitled to have an opinion".

Okay, I can see how women would have an insight on the issue that men don't. I guess maybe the experience of having a child produced and grow inside their bodies makes women more skeptical that it is a meaningless clump of cells. Who am I to argue with that?

Somehow I don't think the feminist abortion cult thinks women's special insight is so special there.

[John]

Abortion is all about women. No single guy would ever have any interest in having the woman he just knocked up get an abortion.

[lap83]

I would wager that a sizable proportion of the women who get abortions had the man encouraging her to do it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

What makes you say that?

[John]

Anecdotally, I find that to be true. And the poll would support that too. Women seem to be more hesitant about abortions. Yet, millions of them get them. It stands to reason that a good portion of those are doing so because their deadbeat b/f wants them to.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I get than women would be more hesitant, as they are the one's getting the instruments shoved up their nethers, but I fail to follow that it must be the boyfriend. Isn't "What will Sally down the street think of me" just as valid of an explanation? Or family members? etc. etc.

Your hypothesis might well be true, but I think more research is needed to confirm it.

[John]

I am not saying it is dead on certain. I do however think it is a pretty good guess.

[lap83]

There's usually a hierarchy of opinion that matters to her. Often the bf #1, but it can vary.

My religious pro-life mom told me once in my mid-20s or so, although she'd rather I have a baby when I was married...she'd miss the opportunity to known and love her grandchild if I had an abortion because I wasn't. That kind of support can make a big difference in what the girl does. When she said that I knew I could never have an abortion even if I had a bf who encouraged me otherwise.

[John]

lap83,

I have only known a few women who have had abortions. Every one of them seemed to pretty deeply scared by the experience. I don't think any of them were happy they did it or would do it again if they could go back and do it over.

My small sample for sure and just an anecdote but abortion didn't seem to have worked out well for them.

[lap83]

I've found that to be the case, too.
A young woman who finds out she's got an unwanted pregnancy is basically an emotional wreck and pretty vulnerable to other people influencing her decision. She might have previously been against abortion, but if her bf makes her think he's not going to stay with her if she keeps it, the prospect of being alone in the situation tends to outweigh the moral implications for her. That kind of thing is why parents can be so strict with what kind of guy their daughter dates.

[Heroic Mulatto]

What you said may have been true in a pre-WIC world.

Wake up, wake up, wake up it's the 1st of tha month To get up, get up, get up so cash your checks and get up!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Are you nuts? The threat of 18 years of child support has made millions of men pro-abortion.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

That raises some pretty big implications, the most obvious being that if it were left to women to vote on the issue, with men out of the picture, there's a good chance that the result would be in favour of restricting abortion. On the flip side, if only men voted, they'd almost certainly vote in favour of women's reproductive rights....

How hard would it have been both to keep the parallel construction and not inject opinion into the motherfucking article?

"On the flip side, if only men voted, they'd almost certainly vote in favour of not restricting abortion...."

[John]

The idea that maybe women, as child bearers, have some special insight into the issue and maybe have rational reasons for their opinions that we ought to consider is just not possible.

Women are special but only when it fits the narrative.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Now in honor of Troll Appreciation Thursday, we move right along, to circumcision.

"Male circumcision is legal in Norway, but it is not available on the national health service. Now the centre-right government has presented a white paper to allow public hospitals to perform the procedure....

""We have seen in the last years that there have been some cases with serious complications because children have been circumcized outside the health system," [the health minister] said....

""I think it's a fundamental error to bring this procedure into the national health service. Children should have the right to be protected from such surgery," said Jenny Klinge from the opposition Centre Party. She wants a ban on male circumcision, similar to the existing ban on female genital mutilation."

http://www.dw.de/male-circumci.....a-17601519

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This Troll Appreciation Thursday, we celebrate the glories of deep dish pizza.

"Denver Deep Dish seeks stomachs of steel for Kentucky Derby pizza challenge...

""We did it last year for the first time, and no one finished their pizza, but one guy came close, eating seven of the eight slices," says [owner Jason] McGovern. It's a timed event -- you have exactly one hour to polish off a four-pound, deep-dish pizza topped with three ingredients of your choice -- and if you manage to stuff it all down your throat before the buzzer goes off, you'll wobble away with a trophy and bragging rights."

http://blogs.westword.com/cafe.....ar_car.php

[Zeb]

Now you've gone too far.

[Lord Humungus]

Kevin Williamson: The Mapmakers' Dilemma
The mistake our policymakers always stumble into is mistaking the map for the territory.

In politics (and in political journalism), the raw material is words about words, an intellectual exercise in what J. Frank Dobie described as "nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another," generally operating at a great remove from anything concrete. And it is easy for those of us with some rhetorical fluency to mistake in ourselves, and to cause others to mistake in us, levels of knowledge that are relatively high but absolutely trivial for genuine understanding. (If you're really good at presenting trivial understanding as authoritative, a position at Vox awaits you.) If the business of creating agricultural policy is unmoored from the business of raising crops or tending cattle, and it inevitably is, then it will end up being words about words and little more, and the regulations and transfers associated with it will have largely unpredictable effects.

The same is true for national economic policy.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

So Paul Mecurio on The Independents...

He was promoting a comedy gig on a local radio show about three months ago. The show was broadcasting from a local ski resort and the show brought along a five pound gummy bear that they had listeners eat from. That is pretty gross itself. But, someone had taken a bite and then spit it into a urinal.

The show then called out the guy who did it and jokingly hassled him to go get it and finish it. He of course refused, so Paul went, pulled it out of the urinal, and licked it.

Paul Mecurio everybody.

[invisible furry hand]

Why try to convince other people when you can smell your own farts?

Labor calls for donations to set up party news service

"You've told us that you can see the Labor message isn't making it through the mainstream media and we have to produce our own news service," he wrote.

Promising "handy facts, interesting articles and video" the new Labor news aims to be "no nonsense" and without the "filter" of the mainstream media.

[Ted S.]

So the ABC is outside the mainstream!

[gaijin]

echoechoecho?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

We conclude Troll Appreciation Thursday with this article on Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln College has just opens its new, improved, bigger Lincoln museum.

"On the second floor, visitors walk through a review of Lincoln's life, as if he is seeing it pass by after being shot.

"During this "life review," a clock ticks in the background. "It is a reminder of our own mortality," [Museum director Rob] Keller said."

http://www.pantagraph.com/news.....d4abe.html

[Rich]

"visitors walk through a review of Lincoln's life, as if he is seeing it pass by after being shot."

Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the museum?

[SugarFree]

Have you been recently electrocuted or ravaged by a tornado? Are you a retarded elf? If your answers to these question are "no" then you have no excuse for this haircut.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's just her morning-after look.

[Lord Humungus]

aww... I think it's kinda cute in an 80s kind of way.

[Rich]

I like how she worked a tribute to Animal into the front.

[RBS]

I really need to stop listening to Feinstein on the way to work. This morning: Jameis Winston stealing crab legs is evidence that he is a terrible person and probably did sexually assault that girl...and the Duke Lacrosse guys were obviously guilty of something, even though we know no rape occurred, because they were acting like douche bags.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Feinstein?

[RBS]

John Feinstein

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

whew, that we were going to have to have an intervention for a sec there

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

thought that...

[John]

And Feinstein is a big time liberal. God I wish someone would play the race card on his fat ass and accuse him of automatically assuming Winston is guilty because he is black.

Feinstein just can't handle a strong black man.

[Rasilio]

I think the evidence in the sexual assault case was sufficient to determine that he probably did sexually assault her, nowhere near enough to convict him anywhere but the court of public opinion thanks to the dumbass cops covering for him but the fact that he was a no name redshirt freshman at the time and she went to the police within hours of the incident not days later speak pretty damn loudly that she wasn't looking for a fat paycheck and didn't work a drunken hookup into more than it was over the course of a few months.

That said his petty theft has no bearing on the assault case but it does show that he is an entitled little twit with massive maturity issues

[Certified Public Asskicker]

WE HOOKED ANOTHER RACIST EVERYBODY!

Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear

[Lord Humungus]

On one episode he was wearing a Che shirt. And his bashing of the Ford Lightning made me grind my teeth - but he's generally good with car reviews.

[SugarFree]

Che?

[John]

He is an arrogant British nationalist. I can forgive that because I am an arrogant American nationalist. If I ever met him I would give as good as I got and I think he would be fine with that. He and the entire show does seem to want to do something about the wussification of Britain and I have to respect him for that.

[Lord Humungus]

TG's (now fairly old) review of the Mustang where they bitched about the live axle. I know a live axle isn't the best, but the non-Cobra 'stangs at the time were built to a price point - plus the drag racers, which is bit of an American past time, like 'em.

[John]

His constant bitching and moaning about Porsches gets on my nerves too.

What pisses me off most though is how he will jump through his ass to forgive some completely idiotic fault in an Alpha or an Aston but then totally dismiss a great car like a Shelby because it doesn't have a limited slip or what he considers a good enough interior. BFD. The solid axel isn't going to make a damn bit of difference 99% of the time.

[tarran]

OH MY GOD!

Clarkson isn't a racist! He's an asshole who gets off pushing people's buttons!!!!!!

Anyone who doesn't see that is a fucking moron.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Or, ALSO A RACIST!

[tarran]

Pushing buttons.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Last week, Twitter called him out for naming his dog Didier Dogba, after the Ivory Coast footballer Didier Drogba, a former star with Chelsea.

Hah! Wait, what's inappropriate about that (assuming he's a Chelsea fan)?

[Zeb]

Why would anyone be surprised by any of that from Clarkson? He's old enough that "catch a nigger by the toe" may well be how he learned that rhyme. ANd Gordon Brown is a one eyed Scottish idiot. Trying to draw the equivalence with Sterling is just silly. Saying certain magic words is quite different from expressing actual racist sentiment.
Clarkson is an asshole and has a pretty stupid view of the US, but I think he's awesome.

[Don Mynack]

He's also a climate change denialist, which makes him even more awesome.

[Loki]

Clarkson, one of the world's most-watched TV celebrities, was caught using the n-word during the filming of "Top Gear." He was reciting a racist version of a children's rhyme: "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe ? (in a mumble) catch a n**** by his toe."

Really? I can picture him doing that and I'm betting he did it to:

1) Be deliberately provocative. He does that. Actually they all do to some extent. Hammond got in trouble for something he said about the Mexican company that tried to make a supercar a couple of years ago.

2) The fact that he mumbled the "offensive" part indicates that he knew full well that it's not a PC thing to say, but did it anyway to, as I said, be provovative, as well as to possibly make a meta statement about the nature of free speech by highlighting the fact that he has to mumble through an old nursery rhyme or face the wrath of the PC police.

In short, I've never seen or heard him say anything that makes me think he's an actual racist. The fucking PC speech police douchebags need to chill the fuck out.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The fucking PC speech police douchebags need to chill the fuck out.

At some point, witch hunts get so overbearing that the accused end up simply shrugging their shoulders and saying, "Yeah, so?"

[John]

If everyone is a racist, no one is.

I think we are close to the point of one of the victims of these things doing just that and getting away with it. Once that happens, that is what everyone will do.

[The Late P Brooks]

Are bench trials a better way to go for a truly innocent defendant? I'd expect they would be. Juries sure can be stupid and are more prone to accept the word of a cop, any cop, as the gospel truth even if there is a load of contradictory evidence.

My sole experience was a speeding ticket, but it was immediately obvious the judge would have accepted at face value testimony from the cop that I had been travelling at 250mph while steering with my feet as I guzzled whiskey and tossed handfuls of asbestos out the sunroof on my way to the White Slavers' convention.

[Andrew S.]

Isn't that how all libertarians drive?

[RBS]

I think I would take my chances with a judge but there is always the chance you get some curmudgeonly old fucker that absolutely hates criminals and won't even listen to your side.

[sarcasmic]

Last time I went to contest a speeding ticket, that's basically what happened. The judge opened by saying that according to state law the radar is always right, even if it can be proven wrong. Then he spent what seemed like a very long time listing off defenses that he would not accept. He followed that by pronouncing everyone guilty, then invited people to waste his time.

[robc]

I literally got a "you didnt run the stop sign on the ticket, but you ran one somewhere, so guilty."

He was right, but that is equivalent to saying "you didnt murder the guy you are charged with, as he is standing right there, alive, but you must have murdered someone."

[RBS]

Traffic court sucks. I cringe every time I get a call and they want me to take care of their tickets.

[robc]

At least I got the judge to slow talk the cop.

Actual quote, "Ans ... wer ... THE ... ques ... tion ... as ... it ... was ... asked."

[Zeb]

The only ticket I ever got was after an accident where I got rear ended while looking for a place to turn left. I got "illegal left turn". I went to contest it and told the prosecutor guy that I hadn't in fact turned left. He looked at the police report, which agreed with what I had said and said I could go and that was it.

[robc]

My experience says that the judge didnt believe a damn thing that the cop said, thought he was a moron, and still found me guilty because that is the way traffic court works.

[RBS]

Yeah, traffic court might be a example to use for choosing a bench trial over a jury trial since it's just a money making scheme for the state/county/city.

[RBS]

*might not be a good example

[Lord Humungus]

In my book the whole "lower burden of proof" = "house wins"

[John]

Traffic court judges are the Shreeks of the judge world. You really can't get much lower and any judge who didn't just fuck anyone coming before him will be out of a job pretty quickly. We can't have all this justice and fairness stuff getting in the way of revenue collection.

[alittlesense]

You can get lower. See the Pennsylvania Magisterial Court system. Former local Magistrate/Justice of the Peace was a drunk. Present one is a moron.

[tarran]

I think this is the one time we all sympathise with Sheldon Cooper

[robc]

When I went to traffic court, above, I took a friend with me whose whole job was to tackle me before I could say "I have nothing but contempt for this court."

[RBS]

You're out of order! This whole trial is out of order!

[The Late P Brooks]

her ambivalence about the race, they told us, reflects her distaste for and apprehension of a rapacious, shallow and sometimes outright sexist national political press corps acting as enablers for her enemies on the right.

The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy never sleeps.

[Warty]

The war on butter is over. Butter won.

I'm a little upset that even regular dipshits are coming around to the fact that fat is good, but I suppose if it means I have to look at fewer fatties, then I can deal with it. I hope I still can get horrified looks at parties when I tell regular dipshits that I eat at least 6 eggs a day, though.

[Drake]

Sure it isn't your sulfur farts that horrifies them?

[John]

Eggs are one of the best sources of nutrition there is. Predators don't steal eggs out of bird nests because God decreed that the bird population not get too large.

If there is a single thing the "diet experts" have told the public in the last 40 years that wasn't false or at least half false, I can't think of it.

[Warty]

It's all

[Warty]

Dammit. I don't even remember what I was trying to link here.

[Warty]

Oh, right. It's all George McGovern's fault.

I also don't think it's any coincidence that these people told us the way to optimal health is to eat like a penniless Indian peasant.

[Loki]

I also don't think it's any coincidence that these people told us the way to optimal health is to eat like a penniless Indian peasant.

Have you ever seen a fat penniless Indian? No? BOOM! You just got lit up cuz!

[John]

True story, the British health nannies were against Britain ending war rationing of food because people had gotten so thin on on rationing and ending it would just cause them to start eating bad things.

I am not kidding. Those assholes wanted to keep the population on a forced slightly above starvation diet for their own good. I really hate public health people.

[robc]

I think their advice on soft drinks was probably dead on accurate.

But that might be it.

[lap83]

Eggs are amazing. I eat them every morning and I even add eggshells to my coffee before brewing to make it taste better.

[Atanarjuat]

I even add eggshells to my coffee before brewing to make it taste better

whaa???

[alittlesense]

I've even heard of people adding a whole egg to the coffee as it brewed. These were Mid-Western Lutherans, though.

[Restoras]

Years ago I started looking at the food labels to compare the fat/calorie content and when I compared butter to the abomination called margarine was shocked to see virtually no difference.

Why would I put something that tastes like shit on or in my food?

Never looked back.

[John]

If I really want to lose weight, I just go to a low carb variation on the South Beach Diet. South Beach says you can eat beans but that you should only eat really lean meat. I take the beans but don't worry about if the meat is that lean. I just can't do super lean meat and no carbs. I loose tons of weight none the less. I just can't sustain that diet for more than a couple of weeks before I go berserk and end up at a Mexican restaurant eating chips and salsa and drinking beer.

I am convinced of two things, science doesn't really know much about proper diet beyond obvious things like if you don't eat any vitamin C you will get scurvy and that processed foods and grains are probably what is making so many people fat. The processed grain thing is just a SWAG on my part. But it seems to be true for me.

[robc]

Im not sure its just processed grain.

I think the unprocessed grains are only marginally better.

[John]

Man has been eating grain to live since forever. There is a theory that the geneticlly altered grain they started using in the 1970s is such that our bodies can't handle it well and that is why everyone got so fat.

I don't know if it is true but it makes sense. I you see pictures from the 1970s everyone was much thinner. Whatever reason that is it wasn't because they were more weight conscious or exercised more while we all sit in front of computers. There were plenty of couch potatoes then too. I think something changed about the food we eat and the grain is a good suspect.

[Heroic Mulatto]

you see pictures from the 1970s everyone was much thinner.

That was Twiggy's fault.

And cocaine.

[robc]

The whole paleo diet (which I dont buy into) is to eat stuff that pre-settled man ate. Grain is the result of agriculture, and didnt really exist for early man.

But, of course, man didnt settle down and start farming for bread. It was beer. And I aint giving that up.

[John]

I think the paleo diet is idiotic. Even if it were healthy, fuck it I am going to die one day anyway and eating that shit would definitely reduce the quality of the time I have. I have never seen any science to back it up. I think it is just poser bullshit.

That said, thinking that food has changed in some way over the last 40 years isn't endorsing a paleo diet. It just means that maybe you should try to avoid some of the foods that have changed. I am pretty sure beer and Jack Danials, and Scotch are made the same way. Maybe the grain they used is genetically modified but surely the distilling blunts some of the effect of that.

[robc]

Every food is genetically modified.

Genetic modification has been going on for millenia.

[Restoras]

^^^OMG THIS!!!!

[John]

For sure Rob. It is possible that maybe we accidentally stumbled on a modification that caused the food to make us fat.

[Zeb]

It is dumb to assume that one is better or worse, but there is a meaningful distinction to be made between artificial selection for natural, random mutations that are useful and deliberate manipulation of specific, known genes in a organism.

[Zeb]

I suspect bread and beer started out as the same thing.

[Acosmist]

We aren't early man, as agriculture accelerated evolution. So looking back that far is silly.

[Rhywun]

Food was relatively more expensive in the 70s.

[jmomls]

*I you see pictures from the 1970s everyone was much thinner*

That's because everyone smoked 2 packs a day. Hard to stuff your face full of cinnabons and frappucinos when you're too busy sucking down Marlboro's.

[Restoras]

I've been struggling with weight a bit lately. Mostly the problem is that late at night I end up up to my elbows in whatever is around - and even if it healthy stuff when you run a calorie surplus it ends up getting stored.

[Ivan Pike]

They have known for years what to eat to lose weight. This guy did it in 1863

[invisible furry hand]

"Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public"

Delightful word, and much better than overweight or obesity. Bring back corpulence!

[Almanian!]

Get me a bucket - I'm gonna puke...

/The Corpulent M. Creosote

[Heroic Mulatto]

In 1863, Banting wrote a booklet called Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public

That is the best title for a diet book ever. Done. One need not write any more.

[Warty]

For years, when one wanted to lose weight, one didn't diet, one banted.

[Warty]

I just can't do super lean meat and no carbs.

No one can, except maybe for the superhumanly motivated and/or the chemically aided. You need some source of energy.

[John]

I have a source of energy, fat. Regardless, I will take losing a little less weight as a price for keeping my sanity.

[Warty]

I've done well with the old technique of eating almost no carbs except for one or two cheat meals each week.

[John]

I think the cheat meals are important. Again, this is just my experience and crack pot theory based on it. I find that I can lose weight on a lot of diets, low fat, low cal, low carb but that I only lose weight for a few weeks. Eventually my body seems to adjust and figure out how to live on whatever I am giving it without burning fat. If I have a cheat meal once in a while and shock it a bit, that seems to be less true.

My wife lost a ton of weight before I met her. The entire time she would go out every Friday and just eat whatever the hell she wanted. She did this for psychological purposes to make it easier to diet. I think it helped her physically by not allowing her body to ever get too used to the diet she was on.

[Warty]

That's pretty much exactly it. Look up Dr. Mauro DiPasquale's work if you're interested.

[Brett L]

Probably the most sensible diet I've seen is the "equal portion" diet. Eat approximately 1/3rd of your calories fat, 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbs. So you take in a little under half as much fat by mass. You can still avoid gout, eat carbs, and its easy to find things to eat. Obviously, quality counts. Eating real food rather than separated and re-combined is also a good rule of thumb.

[Hyperion]

The Zone works very well, but it's a little less carbs than that.

[RBS]

I eat a lot of eggs too. I think my family/co-workers are just waiting for my heart explode or something. Meanwhile, I'm walking around much leaner and stronger than all of them.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I had lunch with a friend the other day and he told me his vegetarian girlfriend was going back to school to follow her passion of becoming a dietitian.

I laughed in his face, before I quickly recovered and basically said "sorry, I was thinking of something else."

[SugarFree]

So... you were into butter way before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon?

Butter hipster.

[Warty]

I was eating butter before butter was cool. Fuck this. I'm switching to artisanal brown sugar made by monks or something.

[invisible furry hand]

No-one's ever accused the Rolling Stones of being monks before

[Heroic Mulatto]

to artisanal brown sugar made by monks

So Golden Triangle heroin it is!

[Warty]

Heroin is making a comeback. Does that make it cool or uncool? I can never figure this shit out.

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's cool until it's mentioned in someplace like the Huffington Post's lifestyle section, which is a pool of sharks for one to jump over.

[Ivan Pike]

that I eat at least 6 eggs a day, though.

4 egg omelet w/everything. Great way to start the day.

[Lord Humungus]

I look for the fattiest cut of beef - sirloin, at least for hamburger, is too damn dry.

[Almanian!]

+80/20

[BakedPenguin]

Eggs!

[Aloysious]

WTF|5.1.14 @ 9:03AM|#

Recovery Summer V, Stayin' Alive!

Did somebody say Stayin Alive?

[Loki]

In case it hasn't already been posted, here's a nutpunch from the Denver, CO neck of the woods:

Looks like the Commerce City PD is up to their old dog shooting tricks again.

According to 9News, two Commerce City officers were responding to a call when they saw a woman with a small dog near East 60th Avenue and Newport Street being attacked by two larger dogs -- one a Rottweiler, the other described as mixed breed.

After failing to separate the dogs, an officer used his firearm to shoot and kill the two attacking dogs.

Considering the CCPD's history (mentioned in the linked article), you'll excuse me if I take their story about the 2 dogs "attacking" a woman with a small dog with a huge grain of salt.

Nonetheless, Elena Nunez, the dog's owner, remains "upset, angry," ... "There was no need for that," she added. "Why couldn't they use a Taser or something? Why couldn't they use mace? Why'd they have to shoot them?"

Because shooting things is the only way they can get hard, and shooting people involves too much red tape.

[Loki]

Also from Denver:

DEA raids four Denver marijuana sites

... the indictment contains no charges directly related to drug crimes. Instead, the most serious charges in the case so far allege money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Another charge accuses Furtado of attempting an illegal financial transaction by trying to deposit proceeds from a medical marijuana dispensary in a bank account.

I thought there was a memo or something from Holder pinky swearing that they weren't going to go after people for depositing money from pot businesses into bank accounts? Or did that only apply to the banks themselves, not the individuals making the deposits? Or did the DEA not get that memo?

[John]

They just won't enforce the marijuana laws. They didn't say they wouldn't use other laws to achieve the same end.

[Loki]

They didn't say they wouldn't use other laws to achieve the same end.

Well they certainly have plenty to choose from.

[Sevo]

CO^2 climbs to record (temps stay flat):

"High carbon dioxide levels set a record"
[...]
"(world coming to the end; we're all gonna DIE!)"
http://www.sfgate.com/default/.....443592.php

[UnCivilServant]

There's an interesting minor fact I found out. In testing IR band for communication back in the 50s, the Navy did tests on the atmospheric absorbtion of infrared wavelengths over distance. For those wavelengths that CO2 absorbs and traps within the atmosphere, it was 100% over less than a mile at 1950s atmospheric carbon levels. So increasing the amount of carbon has failed to capture more than 100% of the radiant heat that it was capable of absorbing in the 1950s. We'd have to start putting out more heat for the carbon to trap it better.

[Juice]

"The rise of carbon dioxide levels above 400 parts per million is an indicator that the problem of global warming is getting worse, not better,"

CO2 emission is really bad. How do we know? Look at all the CO2 we're emitting!

[BakedPenguin]

The whole discussion about income inequality is so moronic. What incentive will there be for people to take hard jobs if everyone is paid the same? A 5-year old should be able to see through the BS surrounding that subject,.

[Heroic Mulatto]

What incentive will there be for people to take hard jobs if everyone is paid the same?

All pigs are equal, just some more than others. And the advocates of distributive justice always imagine themselves to be alpha pigs.

[Zeb]

Or they just want to half-ass it and get paid anyway.

[Almanian!]

But FEEEELZ!111!!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

No, you see, being a rich CEO is easy. You talk on the phone, bang on a keyboard, and get driven around in a limo all day.

Flipping burgers in comparison, is much more difficult. See?

[Almanian!]

I'm generally immune to chippyness, but I can get a bit riled about the "desk jobs are so easy, and managers, and blah blah blah..."

So, when I take the bait, I just start listing the decisions I have to make, because someone else can't or won't. THAT - and developing people - is what I get paid for. Making fucking difficult decisions that other people can't or won't.

Most CEO's earn their fucking pay. You don't like it? Well - tough.

[Auric Demonocles]

"Sure, Mr. Landscaper, let's switch jobs and see how many millions of dollars you cost the company in slow/wrong code."

[Loki]

I'm generally immune to chippyness, but I can get a bit riled about the "desk jobs are so easy, and managers, and blah blah blah..."

Most people who say that shit have never actually had to work hard a day in their lives. They've never had to make any decision more complicated than "which pair of socks whould I wear today?" and have never been responsible for anything or been held accountable, ever. Basically, they're still mentally children.

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, they might work hard... physically.

[Stormy Dragon]

The problem is that there's tons of crappy managers and executives out there who don't make the hard decisions and who cost the company tons of money, yet get paid just as much as the good managers and executives.

Some CEO's earn their pay. Some just get paid because they have the right friends. I'm not sure what the ratio between the two groups is, but my intuition is that it favors the later group much more than your intuition is.

[Stormy Dragon]

Far too many of that managers I've had to work with, their response to a hard decision is to delay doing anything until circumstances result in their being only one viable option left. If you want them to make a decision before that, you basically have to present the issue in a way that makes the decision for them, with the result that it will be your fault if things go bad. So I end up being the one actually making the hard decisions without getting paid for it.

[John]

I agree. Most people suck at managing. Worse still, the people who suck the most seem to be the ones the other managers want to make managers.

[John]

What incentive will there be for people to take hard jobs if everyone is paid the same?

Because they should want to work for the common good and the collective.

Progs actually believe that. The hundred year history of murder and enslavement under Communism that shows otherwise doesn't matter. This time it will be different. And even if it is not "it is still the right thing to do"

When these motherfuckers have turned this country into a prison state and after the entire thing collapses, they will still be telling themselves and everyone that will listen "sure things got a little out of hand and didn't work out like we had hoped, but it was still the right thing to do".

The Left is just a religion. No amount of evidence or reasoned argument or real life harm and failure is going to get them to change. It is real life invasion of the body snatchers.

[Almanian!]

You're only saying this because your a teafuckin', rat baggin' one percenter who hates The Common Man?, John.

So nananana boo, boo!

[Hyperion]

Is there anyone here who doesn't fit that description? I mean, it's a libertarian blog controlled by teh Kochtopus!

[Restoras]

Wow, a 400+ comment thread without the help of Bo. What's going on here???

[Auric Demonocles]

Only a socon would make note of the number of comments in a thread.

[Lord Humungus]

SO-CON!

[UnCivilServant]

I have no idea. Very few of the comments are my blather.

[Spoonman.]

Choosing a listing agent is not the most fun thing, but I think we have found the right one. Not the most fun to send out rejection emails, but it's got to be done.

We got over 100k in difference between agents' planned prices.

[Auric Demonocles]

Moving?

[Spoonman.]

Yes. Not far, just to Emmaus, PA from closer in to Philadelphia. My company has me working from home full-time, and my wife cut back her hours by...nearly all of them and does most of the rest from home after the baby came, so we're going closer to her family where there is help anytime we want it.

We're also moving to a smaller house because it turned out we had no interest in the amount of space we have. So we'll be in a 1910 townhouse that somebody completely gutted, re-plumbed, and re-wired a few years ago, and have a big pile of money on the side from selling our current house.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Being close to my parents is one of the main reasons I am still in CA. I have another kid on the way, and I ain't going at it alone.

[waffles]

I grew up near there. The Lehigh Valley looks more metropolitan and Jersey-esque each time I visit. For some this is a good thing.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Holy shit that's the little town I grew up in.

[Warty]

George Will speech

Depressing.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I ain't got time for that! Where should I fast forward to?

[Warty]

Just get in a warm bath and open your wrists. The entire thing is a eulogy.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hilarious swipe at McCain at 15:40

[End Child Unemployment]

http://thinkprogress.org/econo.....imum-wage/

I think this is worthy of a PM link. Hat tip please!

[Andrew S.]

Yes, but they'll get destroyed by the Penguins. I'm a Flyers fan. The only way that series goes well for me is if a meteor hits the arena.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That former destruction depends on which Penguins show up.

[NoVAHockey]

The Game 6 penguins, minus the last 5 minutes which was unbelievable.

[invisible furry hand]

They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"

John Cusack's politics are really simpleminded, but props to him for making a great movie about a guy resisting coercion from his competitors in the market. He salves his conscience by making his hero a hitman, but still...

[Restoras]

It's been years since I saw that movie but remember thinking it was fantastically well written.

What other movies could we put on a lost of comparables? Clerks? Mean Girls? Trainspotting?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I believed it. If Game 5 Penguin play was sustainable, it would be difficult to stop them, but plenty of teams match up too well. Boston is one of those teams, should it go that far for either team.

[John]

And I bet you fit into those sparkly costumes better too. ;-0

[sloopyinca]

What other movies could we put on a lost of comparables? Clerks? Mean Girls? Trainspotting?

I thought for it to hit that list, the acting, direction and editing had to also be perfect. It's hard to put "Clerks" into that category because a few scenes were just so poorly acted (I immediately recall the departure of the Chewelies gum rep and aftermath). "Mean Girls" was also so poorly acted. "Trainspotting" will require a few more viewings, but I always thought it was a brilliant film so it may make the cut.

On that note, are they gona do a movie version of "Porno"?

[invisible furry hand]

Fight Club. Can't think of a scene, actor or character I'd change in that

[Lord Humungus]

I have an aunt who is a dietitian - she's fat.

And is shocked! Shocked! That I'm even standing and walking with a low carb diet.

[Restoras]

It's almost as if what we have been told by the governemnt for the last 50 years was driven by the special interest of...someone...something...

But that's crazytalk, amiright?

[sloopyinca]

DeNiro and Grodin in a buddy pic was pure genius.

[Auric Demonocles]

I was friends with/dated several dietitians/nutrition majors. Every single one whom I got to know closely turned out to have had an eating disorder at some point. Another one I didn't know that well was a "vegan" (which I discovered was only mostly true), and she ate a couple pieces of fruit and a ton of alcohol over the 3 day weekend we spent together.

I've come to the conclusion that what draws a lot of people to the field is their own inability to handle it personally.

[RBS]

refuses to comment further

[Heroic Mulatto]

I've come to the conclusion that what draws a lot of people to the field is their own inability to handle it personally.

You ever spend time with any psychologists?

[tarran]

Gorram it!

I can't find a video of Jane's infamous bi-vegetarianism in Coupling. So you guys will just have to imagine.

Jane: Hello Steve. How are you?
Steve: Fine! Great. Absolutely.
Jane: Could you remind lovely Susan that Jill and I are vegetarians?
Steve: You're what?!?
Jill: You're not a vegetarian!
Jane: I'm Bi-Vegetarian.
Jill: What? That doesn't exist! It's not possible!
Jane: No; I'm an emotional vegetarian, Jill. ... I know a lot of vegetarians and we tend to like the same films. Do you have a problem with that?
Jill: You could never finish your greens and could suck a pig through a straw!
Jane: I'm not exclusively vegetarian, Jill, if that's what you're saying. Vegetarianism to me is about saying yes to things, even meat!
Jill: No it isn't!!!!
Steve: Look, I'll tell Susan about the vegetable thing

[Restoras]

Great call on Fight Club, could not agree more.

I don't disagree on Clerks but overall, I loved it b/c of the dialogue, and maybe becasue the movie is a caracature of my high school years

I do think Trainspotting makes the cut

[Auric Demonocles]

It wasn't meat that she occasionally consumed...