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A.M. Links: U.S. Wants African Intervention in South Sudan, De Blasio Agrees to Multi-Billion Dollar Contract for Teachers, Suicide Bombing in China

Ed Krayewski | 5.2.2014 9:23 AM

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    The U.S. is pushing for the deployment of African troops in South Sudan, the continent's youngest country, warning of the threat of a genocide there.

  • Fifty-five colleges and universities who say they are cooperating with the Department of Education are being investigated for the way they handle sexual assault complaints.
  • The city government is proposing to turn pay phones in New York City into wi-fi hot spots. Bill de Blasio also agreed on a $5 billion-plus contract with the teachers union.
  • Authorities in China believe suicide bombers were behind a blast at a train station in the Xinjiang region.
  • At least 15 were killed outside of Abuja, Nigeria, when a car bomb exploded.
  • Malaysia released a preliminary report on the disappearance of Flight 370 and said the search might continue for up to a year.

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NEXT: Kurt Loder Reviews The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Malaysia released a preliminary report on the disappearance of Flight 370 and said the search might continue for up to a year.

    Or more if the ratings hold.

    1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

      *perks up and listens attentively*

      /CNN

      1. db   11 years ago

        Returning to the US through Newark yesterday I was greeted in the immigration hall by video monitors strategically placed along the lines leading to the inefficient agents. These.monitors were set to.CNN, and blaring loudly all the best BS that CNN has to offer. Seriously, why do airports have.to ducking broadcast CNN in the waiting areas, the.immigration halls, and basically everywhere else that isn't a shop or restaurant? Fuck, if I.wanted to watch CNN I'd be slitting.my wrists in the bathtub, not going somewhere.interesting on a plane.

        1. KDN   11 years ago

          It's in the shops and restaurants at O'Hare, too. Worst airport ever.

          Me at bar: "Hey buddy, can you put the World Cup on? I'd rather not watch CNN for the next 3 hours."

          Bartender: "No, we don't control the TV's."

          Fuck you, O'Hare.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            I used to go out of my way to fly out of Midway. Pre-9/11, it was practically arrive at the airport, walk fifty feet, and board the plane. Unlike the other airport. Not the one on the lake. The one you can't get to your gate quickly enough.

            1. db   11 years ago

              The one on the lake

              Sadly, that one was destroyed illegally in a.midnight bulldozer orgy orchestrated by Mayor Daley, who.should have been fined.out the ass and locked up by the FAA for shutting down Meigs Field in violation of.several.laws and FARs

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                Yeah, I know. That sucks, because I used to fly my MS Flight Simulator plane out of Meigs. Now it's pure fiction.

            2. KDN   11 years ago

              Yeah, Midway is clearly superior. I was only in O'Hare twice because of layovers; even then it was a clusterfuck.

              I fly out of NY airports though, and they're not much better. Except for Terminal A at Newark which is a fucking breeze.

              1. gimmeasammich   11 years ago

                When I lived closer to the Orange Line, it was a simple $2.25 trip right to Midway. Plus my wife used to fly all over for work and used Southwest, so for a while all we had to pay beyond the CTA fare was the $8 security fee for our tickets.

          2. db   11 years ago

            It's in every major airport. It's so fucking annoying to have to find a quiet place. Ever notice.how if there are any spare.seats.at all in an airport, they are.concentrated around the CNN TV monitors and their.speakers? Take.a.hint, airports: your customers don't like the.noise.

            1. Night Elf Mohawk   11 years ago

              The loss of airport lounge benefits is why I am this || close to canceling my AMEX Platinum. It was worth the money not to have to listen to CNN and, well, other people.

              1. db   11 years ago

                If I had known that was a benefit of AMEX platinum I wouldn't have shredded all those applications they sent me.

          3. Drake   11 years ago

            O'Hare is a dump but it is palatial compared to LaGuardia. The terminals are just dingy hallways.

        2. Jordan   11 years ago

          Yeah that drives me fucking nuts.

      2. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

        They've got Stephen Hawking on black hole standby.

  2. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

    The heavy hand of the IRS seizes innocent Americans' assets
    ...The Internal Revenue Service, a tentacle of a government that spent $3.5 trillion in 2013, tried to steal more than $35,000 from Terry and Sandy that year....

    ...Because 35 percent of Schott's Supermarket's receipts are in cash, Terry and Sandy make frequent trips to the bank to avoid tempting actual criminals by having large sums at the store. Besides, their insurance policy covers no cash loss in excess of $10,000.

    In 2010 and 2012, IRS agents visited the store and examined Terry's and Sandy's conduct. In 2012, the IRS notified them that it identified "no violations" of banking laws. But on Jan. 22, 2013, Terry and Sandy discovered that the IRS had obtained a secret warrant and emptied the store's bank account. Sandy says that if the IRS had acted "the day before, there would have been only about $2,000 in the account." Should we trust that today's IRS was just lucky in its timing?...

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      Man, this pisses me off.

    2. BardMetal   11 years ago

      The more stories like this I read the more Bitcoins start to look like a great investment. Maybe it's time that I purchase some.

      1. db   11 years ago

        Says the soon-to-be uninterested party in U.S. v. 0x426678QD6F284FECCAAB551DEADBEEF

        1. Protagoronus   11 years ago

          "DEADBEEF"

          Good name for a band.

    3. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

      Comment from...Voice of Reason?

      What nutcase generalizes from one single case? .... Yes, the correct answer is George Will.

      Is it wrong for the IRS to seize innocent American's assets? Yes. Does this case prove that this is the systematic approach of the IRS? No. (Two sentences, that is how easy it is to debunk this entire article).

      How about he generalizes from the examples of police shooting and killing innocent people? Killing is worse than seizing assets, isn't it? So we should disband all police forces?

      This rubbish is written for an audience that has no ability to think for themselves.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

        Tulpa lives

      2. WTF   11 years ago

        Because that is the only time the IRS has ever behaved as such, and is in no way indicative of general policies, procedures, or attitudes within that bureaucracy. What an idiot.

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

          And the police have only ever shot one, maybe two dogs, plus a handful of people in their entire existence.

          Cut them some slack.

          1. Bobarian   11 years ago

            If their entire existence was started yesterday.

      3. mr simple   11 years ago

        Is it wrong for the IRS to seize innocent American's assets? Yes. Does this case prove that this is the systematic approach of the IRS? No. (Two sentences, that is how easy it is to debunk this entire article).

        Wow, what a brilliant takedown. Yes, him answering his question in the negative thus disproves the entire thesis of the paper. It's so true. All of our beliefs and suspicion of government are based on lies! I feel so disillusioned. QE motherfucking D.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

          Says the person who probably believes every anecdote Al Gore ever spoke.

          1. Suellington   11 years ago

            Al Gore has a disturbing interest in S n' M.

            http://m.youtube.com/index?#/results?q=dee snider vs tipper gore

  3. gaijin   11 years ago

    The Jobs, they are back! (to 1978 levels).

    One Million People Left the Labor Force in The Month of April

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Maybe now that we've returned to single-earner households, prices will fall accordingly?

      1. gaijin   11 years ago

        Maybe now that we've returned to single-earner households, prices will fall accordingly?

        But The Greenspernankeyellen assure me that The Deflation is armageddon?!

        1. Brett L   11 years ago

          Somehow, lower prices are better for everything that you DON'T need, and terrible for everything that you do.

    2. db   11 years ago

      Apple shareholders rejoice?

  4. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

    Thomas Piketty Wants Income Equality -- And the Hell With Growth
    ...The Manhattan Institute's Scott Winship points out that relying, as Piketty does, on tax returns for the U.S. statistics means omitting income from Social Security, food stamps, public housing, Medicare and Medicaid.

    Tax returns count roommates and unmarried partners as separate units when they are part of a larger household.

    They don't include employer-paid health insurance -- an increasing share of employee compensation in recent decades....

    ..."In perhaps the most revealing line of the book," Cowen writes, "the 42-year-old Piketty writes that since the age of 25, he has not left Paris, 'except for brief trips.'"

    France, where a cozy elite runs government and large corporations, has a 75 percent top income tax rate and essentially zero economic growth. Is that the future American liberals want?

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      Yes

    2. gaijin   11 years ago

      means omitting income from Social Security, food stamps, public housing, Medicare and Medicaid.

      If I recall, even the US excludes these real forms of money when calculating levels of poverty in the US. Has anyone seen a good number that includes these things, either in the context of poverty levels or 'equality'?

      1. LynchPin1477   11 years ago

        I'd like to see a progressive argument for why those programs shouldn't be included (I am sure there is one out there). I can see the dissonance from here.

    3. db   11 years ago

      WTF does he think drives business to produce new jobs?

      1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

        The government lash?

        1. gimmeasammich   11 years ago

          The government lash lush?

          This seems just as plausible to me.

          "Hey everybody! Drinks are on me!"

          *rifles through empty wallet*

          "I'll put it on my credit card!"

  5. Auric Demonocles   11 years ago

    While it's technically there, I don't think the alt-text is what caused this delay.

    1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

      Yeah, not for that "effort".

  6. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    55 colleges and universities who say they are cooperating with the Department of Education are being investigated for the way they handle sexual assault complaints.

    How about that they are handling sexual assault complaints?

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      Let's see if I can guess what those fucks at the DOE want.

      Guilty until proven innocent
      No due process
      No legal representation
      Trial by no-one tasked with the preservation of the rights of the defendant.

      1. Jordan   11 years ago

        Nailed it.

      2. WTF   11 years ago

        Yeah, they want certainty of conviction upon any accusation at all, no matter how ridiculous or unfounded. If I were of college age, I wouldn't go anywhere near a university these days as a male when my life could be ruined at the whim of any female.

  7. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    keep it classy -

    Rep. Hulsey to hand out klansmen hoods in Milwaukee

    The Madison representative running for governor got little attention for his plan announced earlier this week to portray Republicans as modern-day secessionists by dressing up as confederate soldiers and parading outside the GOP convention in Milwaukee.

    So Hulsey said that he sewed a handful of Ku Klux Klan hoods to take with him in an attempt to mock Republicans. Standing in the rain outside the state Capitol Thursday without an aide or other sign of a viable campaign in sight, Hulsey showed off the ragged hood he had made to a reporter.

    ...snip...

    Hulsey was not himself seeking to promote the infamous Ku Klux Klan. He said that the hoods were a way to draw attention to Gov. Scott Walker's "racist record" on issues such as health care for the poor.

    1. Elspeth Flashman   11 years ago

      That's low.

      1. SugarFree   11 years ago

        How else are the progs gonna to claim the GOP is racist if they can hand out hoods and get the media to lie about who was handing them out.

        Look at the hay they made out of the "Keep your hands off my Medicaid" false flag they ran for Obamacare.

        1. WTF   11 years ago

          Never mind that the real secessionists and Klan were actually Democrats.

        2. gaijin   11 years ago

          can hand out hoods and get the media to lie about who was handing them out

          WaSn't there a series of racist signs being held up at Tea Party rallies in Texas around 2012 election that turned out to be lefties too?

          1. SugarFree   11 years ago

            Yup. Here's some photos.

        3. BardMetal   11 years ago

          I can see the headlines now. "Klan hoods handed out at GOP Convention."

    2. Vulgar Madman   11 years ago

      These fuckheads would tell you that Jeff Davis
      was a republican.

  8. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

    Pro-Russian protesters storm prosecutor's office in Ukraine's Donetsk

    Donetsk don't tell.

    1. gaijin   11 years ago

      ^nice

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      Seconded. 😎

  9. Old Man With Candy   11 years ago

    How did Morning Links miss this? Or is it just me being the last to know?

    TSA Fun Toy

    1. Jordan   11 years ago

      The reviews are great.

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        Yep.

        It was deemed a security risk as it is virtually identical to the actual training material used to train TSA agents.

        1. KDN   11 years ago

          This was my favorite: I purchased the UK spec of this toy. It's identical to the USA version but the border agents carry limp celery sticks instead of guns. I was sadly disappointed to find that the first time I combined it with the Calais Illegal Immigrant set, the scanner failed, and I now have 8000 unregistered aliens in my child's toy box, claiming asylum. Please rectify.

      2. A Frayed Knot   11 years ago

        The Q&A section is even better:

        "Q: Can I buy separate figures of various skin color to teach racial profiling?

        A: Luckily, with Playmobil? playsets, all characters from other sets are interchangeable with those of another set. With sets like Liquor Store Robbery and Suicide Bomb Fiasco you can turn your security checkpoint in to a great learning tool for all ages."

  10. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The city government is planning to turn pay phones in New York City into wi-fi hot spots.

    Superman can check his Twitter feed while he dons the cape.

    1. Elspeth Flashman   11 years ago

      There are still public payphones?

      1. Rhywun   11 years ago

        Yup but not the Superman kind.

  11. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    In England, Researchers Investigate Case of the Talking Mongoose

    Frequently irritable and foul-mouthed, Gef nevertheless developed a relationship with the family, who left food out for him. He "eats sausages and kippers and the lean of uncooked bacon. He does not touch eggs," James Irving, father of the family, wrote in one of dozens of letters to various paranormal investigators about Gef.

    The mongoose, Mr. Irving said, would prowl around neighbors' properties, delivering gossip about them back to the Irvings. Occasionally, Gef sounded like a new-age guru or a cult leader, exclaiming: "I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!"

    1. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

      "The whole thing about a talking mongoose is a red herring," he says. Given the Irvings' descriptions, he says Gef was smaller than a mongoose, perhaps a weasel or a squirrel.

      Thanks for posting this - I had read about Gef some years ago and it's nice to see there are some obsessives keeping the flame burning

      1. Brett L   11 years ago

        Obviously neither a weasel nor a mongoose, even the talking type, would have and aversion to eggs. Although, I suppose it is possible he was never offered them raw.

  12. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    We have discovered what pet the cops won't shoot.

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Lizards, dude. They get professional courtesy.

    2. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

      Cold-blooded cousins.

      1. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

        LOL

  13. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

    Why won't doctors speak out on the dangers of butt-sex, asks South Dakota lawmaker

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/l.....uth-dakota

    1. SugarFree   11 years ago

      There is a 0% chance he doesn't have something in his ass right now.

      He's making his own shame at his love for anal pleasure into an argument against what he wants the most in the world.

      1. Brett L   11 years ago

        I agree. I just read all of these as projection cases. Things make so much more sense that way.

      2. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

        There is a 0% chance he doesn't have something in his ass right now.

        His head. That's what he's got in there.

      3. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

        There is a 0% chance he doesn't have something in his ass right now.

        I really should not read H&R at work. Explaining what I was laughing at would be problematic.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      God doesn't want your penis there. Penis. Penis. Penis.

      1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

        Are you saying that 5 times in a row, in front of a mirror to summon Warty's Doomcock of Doom?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

          I always stop short of five. No need to tempt fate.

          1. Bobarian   11 years ago

            It isn't fate that you are tempting.

    3. Rich   11 years ago

      *slap!*

      1. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

        *slap!*

    4. BardMetal   11 years ago

      Well I suppose he has a point in that there are health risks, but I don't think making fodder for Jon Stewart, and the other progressive "comedians" is really going to help the GOP this November.

      1. Brett L   11 years ago

        As a runner friend says, "people who sit on their asses all day don't get runner's knee or shin splints. This does not contra-indicate running as a more healthful lifestyle than not exercising."

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

          But sprinting is still better than running.

          *Sprints away! Jumps in the air!*

          1. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

            * Lands awkwardly, falls on arse *

  14. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    I thought
    this
    was kind of an interesting read.

    1. gaijin   11 years ago

      How in the world did you find that? I was hoping for a better ending though...someday maybe the Malaysian Airlines flight gets the same treatment?

  15. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    Train carrying crude oil derails in Lynchburg

    Approximately 50,000 gallons of crude oil are gone from three tankers as a result of the train derailment in Lynchburg Wednesday, which sent flames and thick black smoke into the air.

    The CSX train was carrying between 12 and 14 CSX tanker cars when it derailed around 1:45 p.m. at the intersection of Ninth and Jefferson Streets, near Amazement Square. Three tanker cars are in the James River.

    Lynchburg officials told WDBJ7 that one tanker is empty, one is full and one is a third of the way full.

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Man, if only there were some other way to transport this stuff...

      1. gaijin   11 years ago

        Trucks?

        1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

          Mule train.

      2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        You mean a giant network of pneumatic tubes?

        1. Brett L   11 years ago

          Well, I think tubes and pressure differentials might be a large part of the solution, yes.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            No, no, put the oil in sealed containers and shoot them through the pneumatic tubes.

            1. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

              As long as they were powered by windmills.

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                I was thinking about getting vacuum straight from space.

            2. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

              For God's sake, haven't you clowns heard of optic fibre?

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                Where would you put the oil?

                1. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

                  You digitise it. Analog oil is so old-fashioned

                  1. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

                    Analog oil has a warmer, more natural burn than the digital version.

                    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

                      Hipster oil?

    2. BardMetal   11 years ago

      Way to go hippies, just keep opposing those pipelines so that we're forced to transport oil in more dangerous, and less efficient ways.

      I don't get it are they 1. Too stupid to realise that without pipelines you have to use an alternative way to transport oil.

      2. Think that somehow without pipelines the country is just going to stop using oil?

      3. It's not really about the environment at all, but evil CORPORATIONS!! and opposing the GOP?

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

        All of the above

      2. antisocial-ist   11 years ago

        It's because they're watermelons. Green outside, red inside. Anti-capitalism is their only goal, and how they get it is irrelevant.

    3. Raston Bot   11 years ago

      Those fookin goddamn troublesome trucks!

      /Thomas

  16. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. job growth increased at its fastest pace in more than two years in April, suggesting a sharp rebound in economic activity early in the second quarter.

    Nonfarm payrolls surged 288,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. That was the largest gain since January 2012 and beat Wall Street's expectations for only a 210,000 increase. March and February's data was revised to show 36,000 more jobs than previously reported.

    While the unemployment rate dived 0.4 percentage point to a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3 percent, the Labor Department said that was because of a drop in the number of unemployed people reentering the labor market as well as a fall in new entrants into the labor force.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....01083.html

    1. gaijin   11 years ago

      a drop in the number of unemployed people reentering the labor market

      translated into english, "fewer people working". As in one million people left the labor force in April. Recovery Bitches!

      1. Jordan   11 years ago

        S&P 500!!!1

        1. Restoras   11 years ago

          Fewer people working means less operating expense and higher profits!

      2. Red Rocks Rockin   11 years ago

        translated into english, "fewer people working". As in one million people left the labor force in April. Recovery Bitches!

        Yep--labor force participation rate dropped back down to 62.8%.

        But don't expect shrieky to understand this, as he's a dumbass who can't do basic math.

      3. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

        Job lock! Don't forget that people are getting freed from the tyranny of work!

    2. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

      Shreek, if you go to Huffpo and read their article on the unemployment rate falling, I think even you will see the derp in the comments.

      1. tarran   11 years ago

        No, it won't.

        It's not sentient. It literally has no capability to comprehend the concepts being discussed.

        It regurgitates snippets of texts in an attempt to mimic having a conversation with people.

        It writes inflammatory comments because those guarantee a conversation, while its non-inflammatory sallies are ignored because they make little to no sense and aren't interesting to anyone.

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

          Big mistake on my part. He actually quoted

          "the Labor Department said that was because of a drop in the number of unemployed people reentering the labor market as well as a fall in new entrants into the labor force"

          so I thought maybe, just maybe.

      2. WTF   11 years ago

        No, shreek is the derp.

      3. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

        Is that not asking the fish to notice the water all around it?

        1. tarran   11 years ago

          If it hung out at Huffington post, it would start posting Objectivist bullshit, because its neural net would rapidly figure out that those snippets of text elicited the more satisfying responses.

          I figure it would take 6 months for it to completely alter its neural net.

      4. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

        I prefer the derp here.

        We had a crushing contraction and $14 trillion loss in the economy in 2008. That is no fucking ordinary 1981 or 2001 style recession.

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

          Oh Shreek, you disappoint me. You're stupidity is limitless.

          I still like you better than Bo though.

          1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

            Your*

            Oh God, I have gotten too close.

        2. Jordan   11 years ago

          Didn't you say you made an A in informal logic? Were you in the top 8% of your class? Perhaps you'd like to try and defend this report on its merits. Please tell us why the ever shrinking labor force is an indicator of recovery and why the administration's economic policy is blameless.

          1. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

            Yeah, but I made a C in informal logic. I knew what modus tollens is for about two days maximum.

  17. Rhywun   11 years ago

    Bill de Blasio also agreed on a $5 billion-plus contract with the teachers union.

    Finally the media have something "positive" to trumpet about His Nibs. Not a question about how the hell we are going to pay for it or the 100-odd other contracts that are ready and waiting to suck all the dollars out of my wallet.

    1. KDN   11 years ago

      At this point you should look into Hoboken. The state pays for their schools so you don't have to!

      1. Rhywun   11 years ago

        Gee, that sounds swell! Actually Hoboken is nice - and therefore unaffordable unless you're a college student willing to live with five other strangers.

        1. Restoras   11 years ago

          You don't want to send you kids to the Hoboken public school unless you want them prepped for juvie.

          Hoboken is nice - rent is cheaper than Manhattan but close enough to easily take advantage of it, you can own (and drive!) a car, decent restaurants.

          Downside: it's New Jersey. The state is in a race to the bottom with NY, CA, and IL.

        2. KDN   11 years ago

          Yeah, I know. My sister and her boyfriend have real life grown-up jobs and couldn't swing a place up there for the two of them that wasn't falling apart, instead settling on Jersey City.

          It just never ceases to amuse me that Hoboken is one of the 5 or 10 richest cities in the state and I have to pay for their schools.

          1. Rhywun   11 years ago

            The state pays for their schools so you don't have to!

            I assumed this was a joke? Because I already work in NJ and am quite familiar with their high income taxes. So yeah, I'm already paying for those schools and I don't even live in the state.

            1. KDN   11 years ago

              Yeah, it was a joke. I worked for years in Manhattan, I sympathize.

              1. Rhywun   11 years ago

                Another thing that sucks about programming (see below) is that such jobs are no longer worthy of being hosted in Manhattan. We got shipped off to JC a couple years ago.

  18. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The U.S. is pushing for the deployment of African troops in South Sudan, the continent's youngest country, warning of the threat of a genocide there.

    Clinton can tell Obama about the dangers of throwing around the word genocide with regard to Africa.

  19. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    Programming Isn't Manual Labor, But It Still Sucks

    Every friend I have with a job that involves picking up something heavier than a laptop more than twice a week eventually finds a way to slip something like this into conversation: "Bro, you don't work hard. I just worked a 4700-hour week digging a tunnel under Mordor with a screwdriver."

    They have a point. Mordor sucks, and it's certainly more physically taxing to dig a tunnel than poke at a keyboard unless you're an ant. But, for the sake of the argument, can we agree that stress and insanity are bad things? Awesome. Welcome to programming.

    1. Jordan   11 years ago

      That's an interesting link (sorry Ted).

      1. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

        dammit
        http://mashable.com/2014/04/30.....-main-link

        1. kinnath   11 years ago

          Take this guy's life and add the knowledge that you might kill someone if your code fails.

    2. robc   11 years ago

      Programming is fun. Being a code monkey would suck, I guess.

      1. kinnath   11 years ago

        Writing cod is fun. Fixing other people's code sucks.

        1. robc   11 years ago

          Actually, i enjoy debugging.

          1. kinnath   11 years ago

            My kids always like Where's Waldo too.

            1. robc   11 years ago

              If its well written to begin with, that is. Hack code sucks to modify.

              1. kinnath   11 years ago

                My first job was maintaining real-time aircraft simulations written by electrical engineers in Fortran IV and assembly. Not exactly well written code.

                1. gimmeasammich   11 years ago

                  As an electrical engineer I can tell you that we write code noticeably different that those with CS backgrounds. It's more of an, "OK, I got it done. What else do you want from me?" and less of a, "Look at this beautiful algorithm that I spent weeks developing that does the same thing as that EE's, only mine uses half of the subroutines as that guy's!"

                  The reason for me is that I have other things to worry about, like the hardware design, working with the ME for the PCB layout, etc. All of these have to be done quickly and it isn't always pretty.

                  Also I'm not bashing you CS guys, I just have to approach the problem from a different angle. If I had more time to devote to each part the I most definitely would.

        2. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

          the majority of my coding is modifying, er improving, existing code.

          My previous job was fixing other idiot's code that wasn't working in the real world. Of course this was doing "customer support" and somehow we got paid less than the staff programmers.

      2. Brett L   11 years ago

        It depends. After a decade of it, I find that having new problems to solve is extremely fun. Solving the same problem with the same boilerplate over and over sucks. I tried to show my boss at an old job how I could do about 200 hours worth of work and save them literally thousands of hours of useless work. Being mostly a staff augmentation shop, they weren't interested. Which, I don't fucking get. Why NOT do more for your customer? Why NOT deliver them more value than they expected? At least in the shop I'm in now, they've got patterns in place to solve the same problem I wanted to solve. That's when I knew it will probably not suck here.

        1. Restoras   11 years ago

          That and you can post freely on this board, amiright?

          1. Brett L   11 years ago

            That too.

        2. Rhywun   11 years ago

          In the financial world, it's all about throwing together something that sort of works as fast as possible. The other 90% of the time is putting out the fires caused during the initial 10%.

    3. Auric Demonocles   11 years ago

      We had a conversation about this yesterday. Very relevant timing.

  20. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

    Actress and homicidal maniac. Whattagal.

    Angelina Jolie obsessed killer on the loose

  21. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    Fuck you, reason.

    You slap me in the face like this, but I just can't quit you.

    *runs off sobbing*

  22. Rich   11 years ago

    Everyone be sure to check out Kurt Loder's review of the latest Spiderman offering.

    1. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

      Especially be sure not to miss my Homeric reference.

  23. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

    Dead New Orleans socialite dressed with cigarette, champagne flute at her wake

    http://www.deathandtaxesmag.co.....-her-wake/

  24. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    After yesterday's nutpunchocalypse, I have come to the only reasonable conclusion:

    The Reason Foundation is actually a statist front group seeking to make libertarians off themselves.

  25. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Mohammed al Aryan (whatever0 is on Bloomberg right now, saying raising nthe minimum wage by nearly fifty per cent won't cause job losses.
    Also, AGGREGATE DEMAND!

    Tell me again why people think this guy is a genius.

    1. Rich   11 years ago

      "Mohammed al Aryan"?

      LOL!

    2. Drake   11 years ago

      The rope-a-dope?

  26. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    Mayweather: Abortion Caused Breakup, 'I'm Totally Against Killing Babies'

    The publicizing of such private information, and the pro-life pronouncement, quickly elicited online outrage.

    "Mayweather posting that announcement (basically called her a baby killer) plus ultrasound photos on FB is abusive behavior," Sports on Earth writer Jessica Luther tweeted. She labeled Money Mayweather and his online followers "anti-choicers." Another writer sees the Tweet as a potential disqualification for buying the Clippers, an idea the sports world's highest-paid athlete floated earlier this week. "Reminder that Floyd Mayweather is interested in owning the Los Angeles Clippers," Michael Katz wrote at SB Nation. "That seems like a bad idea."

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Wow. These people are fucking crazy.

    2. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

      She labeled Money Mayweather and his online followers "anti-choicers."

      Oh no she didn't.

    3. Apple   11 years ago

      "Reminder that Floyd Mayweather is interested in owning the Los Angeles Clippers," Michael Katz wrote at SB Nation. "That seems like a bad idea."

      Pro-life: the new "racist".

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   11 years ago

        Those witches aren't going to hunt themselves, you know.

    4. mr simple   11 years ago

      Is there no area of life these brain dead leftists can't ruin?

  27. SugarFree   11 years ago

    The Secret Confessions of a Libertarian

    1. invisible furry hand   11 years ago

      Jonathan Chait's brain just exploded

  28. Rich   11 years ago

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the emails were a distraction from real issues. "Diversion, subterfuge, Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi," Pelosi said, according to CBS News. "Why aren't we talking about something else?"

    Starting to panic a bit, Senator?

    1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

      I would panic to, if I was randomly promoted to the upper house.

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        Well, I call *you* "Doctor", don't I?

    2. Snark Plissken   11 years ago

      I agree with the illustrious congresswoman, Fast and Furious is a much more important issue.

    3. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Out, damned spot! out, I say!?One: two: why,
      then, 'tis time to do't.?Hell is murky!?Fie, my
      lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
      fear who knows it, when none can call our power
      to account??Yet who would have thought the old
      man to have had so much blood in him?

      1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

        Dude, that was like, 500 years ago.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Oh, I thought I was quoting Pelosi.

          1. robc   11 years ago

            I fail to see the problem. She has been around at least that long.

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              Lady MacPelosi.

              1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

                +1 is this a dagger I see before me?

    4. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

      You have to read the email to find out what's in it. Right, Nancy?

  29. Dweebston   11 years ago

    55 colleges and universities who say they are cooperating with the Department of Education are being investigated for the way they handle sexual assault complaints

    Due process means rape culture.

    1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

      I still wonder why the DoE and universities are handling felonies as some sort of administrative matter.

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

        Because rape culture and FYTW

        1. WTF   11 years ago

          And because no actual crimes have been committed. Then they would need actual evidence and shit.

  30. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    IMPERIAL UNITS, BEOTCHES!

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Fuck those pussies. I taught myself to think in metric time.

    2. Redmanfms   11 years ago

      I love that the metric 'tards think that the basis for metric measurements are any less arbitrary. The division system is more consistent, but measurement by its very nature is arbitrary.

      And Celsius sucks. The difference between needing a light jacket and hot as fuck is like 10 degrees.

    3. KDN   11 years ago

      The clearly correct answer for time accounting is YYYY-MM-DD so your files easily sort themselves in chronological order. The US, while imperfect, is clearly superior in this regard whereas the Euros are simply ass-backwards.

  31. The Last American Hero   11 years ago

    OT, but apparently Rand Paul was onto something:

    http://online.wsj.com/news/art.....itorsPicks

    Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds
    Nearly Half Surveyed in WSJ/NBC Poll Back Anti?Interventionist Stance That Sweeps Across Party Lines

    1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

      Nah, the Kochtopus just gave him a heads up on what they were going to make the American people think.

    2. gaijin   11 years ago

      OT, but apparently Rand Paul was onto something

      Certainly explains the republican rumblings about running Jeb Bush in 2016!

      1. BardMetal   11 years ago

        The Republicans would rather lose with an establishment guy then win someone who might actually make a difference.

        1. Restoras   11 years ago

          Gerry Ford agrees!

  32. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    Mark Pryor's challenge: Will Arkansas keep a Democratic senator with no big crusades?

    "I don't really have that one issue, or one cause that has gotten me involved in this," he said. "I just believe in good government, and working hard."

    Pryor (D-Ark.) has been in the Senate for 11 years, holding the seat his father once held for 18. In Washington, Pryor has portrayed himself as a kind of extreme moderate ? an almost neutral figure who solves constituents' problems and helps broker compromises but tries to stay out of big ideological debates.

    But this year, he can't be neutral.

  33. Rich   11 years ago

    Ex-White House Official On Benghazi: 'Dude, This Was Like Two Years Ago'

    "We're still talking about the most mundane process ... we're talking about the process of editing talking points. That's what bureaucrats do all day long."

    Exactly, dude.

    1. gaijin   11 years ago

      "dude".

      The country is in the best (teenage) hands.

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        These clowns have no shame at all.

    2. Brett L   11 years ago

      Maybe we find your explanations wanting, dude. Maybe we don't see them as mere talking points but symptomatic of a deeper problem, bro. I hope you get the near-sighted firing squad when the distrust you've sown comes home to reap, you toady piece of shit.

    3. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

      Yeah! Take that Susan Rice!

    4. Restoras   11 years ago

      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal

      A newly-released government email indicates that within hours of the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya; the State Department had already concluded with certainty that the Islamic militia terrorist group Ansar al Sharia was to blame. The private, internal communication directly contradicts the message that President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and White House press secretary Jay Carney repeated publicly over the course of the next several weeks.

      http://www.sharylattkisson.com.....-2014.html

    5. MJGreen   11 years ago

      Two years old, Dude.

  34. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Oh, good. Now the White House "economist" is nattering about how the unemployment rate is going down, and prosperity is just around the corners.

    1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

      Trend out what is happening and we will have .03% unemployment and a total of 417 employed people in the US.

    2. Almanian!   11 years ago

      Summer of Recovery?, Part Deux!

      1. VG Zaytsev   11 years ago

        Deux deux!

      2. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

        Better than the alternative Bush Depression.

        1. Jordan   11 years ago

          Tu quoque really is all you've got, isn't it?

          1. Restoras   11 years ago

            As tarran so eloquently pointed out above, it isn't sentient.

      3. robc   11 years ago

        I refer to my posts from summer of 08. I Argues with joe and said that if stimulus passed, we would not have real recovery until after 2020.

        What we needed was a good 2 year depression to clear out the chaff.

        1. KDN   11 years ago

          So much this.

  35. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    Brazilians welcome genetically-modified mosquito to help fight dengue fever

    1. db   11 years ago

      NO TO GMOs!

  36. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    PROSPERITY IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

    Unfortunately, those evil Congressional Rethuglitards won't let us get there.

    Bring back the Works Progress Administration.

  37. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    I got a call from one of my good friends since I've known since age ten. We normally talk about once a week - records, stereo gear - but I hadn't heard from him for awhile.

    It turns out that he had been in the hospital. His appendix had burst... which also created an abscess. He had to go under the knife for over three hours to get it all cleaned up... and then a cocktail of drugs.

    1. Jordan   11 years ago

      If it wasn't for Obamacare, your friend would have died in a gutter after being kicked around by the hospital's Pinkerton guards.

  38. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    The CSX train was carrying between 12 and 14 CSX tanker cars when it derailed around 1:45 p.m. at the intersection of Ninth and Jefferson Streets, near Amazement Square. Three tanker cars are in the James River.

    Too bad they're not in the Potomac.

    1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

      Too bad they're not in the Potomac.

      And on fire.

      1. Restoras   11 years ago

        Hold on there, hoss. Don't be usurping Cleveland and the Cuyahoga for that prize!

  39. Warty   11 years ago

    Pity the poor robber

    Nineteen-year-old Dante Williams' family said there is no doubt he entered the Waffle House in Chesnee back in January of 2012 intent on robbing it, but they say he didn't have to die.

    1. tarran   11 years ago

      More training is needed?!?

      Honey, your cousin was an armed robber who pointed guns at people and threatened to kill them.

      Protecting his worthless ass was not their responsibility.

      1. Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!   11 years ago

        Indeed - I think it is clear the CC permit holder showed he was correctly trained and did not hurt anyone other than the intended and proper target. If he was some sort of psycho murder - he would not have tried to keep the second guy there, he would have just blasted him too.

      2. Warty   11 years ago

        I was a little disappointed that this story didn't have the almost-obligatory "He could have shot him in the leg!" quote.

        1. Tim   11 years ago

          The shooter didn't waffle.

          1. gimmeasammich   11 years ago

            "You're in MY house!"

    2. Tim   11 years ago

      Here's some training: Don't rob people.

      1. WTF   11 years ago

        If Obama had a son, he'd look like Dante Williams.

    3. Drake   11 years ago

      The shocking part of the story was that there was only one CCW carrier in a SC Waffle House.

      1. Bobarian   11 years ago

        The morning rush was over.

  40. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    (Climeate Change) Skeptical Arguments that Don't Hold Water
    http://www.drroyspencer.com/20.....old-water/

    There are some very good arguments for being skeptical of global warming predictions. But the proliferation of bad arguments is becoming almost dizzying.

    I understand and appreciate that many of the things we think we know in science end up being wrong. I get that. But some of the alternative explanations I'm seeing border on the ludicrous.

    So, here's my Top 10 list of stupid skeptic arguments. I'm sure there are more, and maybe I missed a couple important ones. Oh well.

    1. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

      *Climate

  41. Lord Humungus   11 years ago

    related to my previous post:

    Top Ten Good Skeptical Arguments
    http://www.drroyspencer.com/20.....arguments/

    These ten were just off the top of my head?.there's no telling what might be lingering deeper in my brain.

    I have avoided specific alternative causal mechanisms of natural climate change, because I view them individually as speculative. But taken as a whole, they represent a class of unknowns that can't be just swept under the rug just because we don't understand them.

  42. Restoras   11 years ago

    Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
    Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
    Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
    Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal

    A newly-released government email indicates that within hours of the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya; the State Department had already concluded with certainty that the Islamic militia terrorist group Ansar al Sharia was to blame. The private, internal communication directly contradicts the message that President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and White House press secretary Jay Carney repeated publicly over the course of the next several weeks.

    http://www.sharylattkisson.com.....-2014.html

    1. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

      Except that Obama immediately called it a "terrorist attack".

      Are you after Susan Rice?

      What do you people want out of this? Because hardly anyone else cares.

      1. Jordan   11 years ago

        He immediately called it a terrorist attack sparked by a Youtube video. And then persisted with that narrative for weeks, even after it was confirmed that the attack was retaliation for a U.S. dronestrike, and even pressured Google to take the video down from Youtube.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          I love this shit. Like there's not mountains of evidence about how the administration characterized the attack.

        2. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

          So?

          Maybe the perps have been droned. It is not like we are on their side.

          1. Jordan   11 years ago

            So he lied and pressured a company to take down a video. No big deal for the Most Transparent Administration in history, right?

            1. Auric Demonocles   11 years ago

              What could he do? Be honest? His chance at reelection was at stake!

    2. Restoras   11 years ago

      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal
      Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal Fake Scandal

      A newly-released government email indicates that within hours of the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya; the State Department had already concluded with certainty that the Islamic militia terrorist group Ansar al Sharia was to blame. The private, internal communication directly contradicts the message that President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and White House press secretary Jay Carney repeated publicly over the course of the next several weeks.

      http://www.sharylattkisson.com.....-2014.html

  43. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

    And now, to keep it light around here:

    NFL Pokemon

  44. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Nineteen-year-old Dante Williams' family said there is no doubt he entered the Waffle House in Chesnee back in January of 2012 intent on robbing it, but they say he didn't have to die.

    Fucking honkies.

    WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST HAND OVER THE DAMN MONEY?

    1. Tim   11 years ago

      Why didn't he just rob a waffle house in New Jersey?

  45. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

    What Epi did last night.

  46. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

    Rob Zombie covers Enter Sandman.

    1. Aloysious   11 years ago

      Just watched Metallica's Through the Never on Netflix last night. Not bad. Reminiscent of Cunning Stunts. Good concert to drink and play pool whilst watching.

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