A.M. Links: Turkish Trade Unions Hold Strike in Wake of Mine Disaster, Pentagon Has Zombie Plan, Edward Norton or Jared Leto Could Play Snowden in Movie

Credit: The Gurch 25/Foter

• Turkish trade unions, who blame privatization for making mine working conditions more dangerous, are holding a one-day strike in the wake of the recent mine explosion in Soma, which resulted in the deaths of 282 people.
• Senate Republicans say that they will pass immigration reform in the next two years if they manage to take back the Senate in November.
• Four crew members, including the captain, of the South Korean ferry that sank last month have been charged with murder. Most of the 284 people killed in the incident were school children.
• The Pentagon has a plan for the zombie apocalypse.
• The latest exit polls from the Indian election suggest that Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi will be India's next prime minister.
• According to Glenn Greenwald both Edward Norton and Jared Leto have been mentioned as actors who may play Edward Snowden in a movie about the NSA whistle-blower. Sony Pictures has bought the rights to Greenwald's latest book No Place to Hide.
• These are my last A.M. links. On Monday I am starting a new job at the Cato Institute. So long Reasonoids, it has been a pleasure. I will be sure to check back in from time to time to read the comments.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

These are my last A.M. links.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[invisible furry hand]

Bye Matt. Have fun sharing the tales of Warty Hugeman with your new cosmotarian friends

[Ted S.]

Will we be getting a new Eurocosmotarian?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I always read his posts in that silly accent of his which I'm pretty sure is made-up.

[invisible furry hand]

Oddly enough I always read your posts in that silly accent of yours which I'm pretty sure is made-up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The phrase "dulcet tones" has been applied to my orations.

[Auric Demonocles]

The only people I assign specific voices to are hamilton and tarran. Tarran always sounds angry now, but hamilton is super excited about everything.

[hamilton]

Wow. "super excited" is a phrase that has been applied to me roughly never plus-or-minus one.

[Auric Demonocles]

What can I say? That's how your voice sounds (not the words or actions that go along with it).

Maybe I'm just biased from your tipsy introduction.

[UnCivilServant]

I will be sure to check back in from time to time to read the comments.

Why would you do that? Stockholm Syndrome?

[Auric Demonocles]

He likes the way I complain about the lack of alt-text.

[WTF]

Cato doesn't expect alt-text.

[hamilton]

Good luck Matt. You probably shouldn't check back in on the comments, though. Move on. Try to forget.

[Matrix]

Well, maybe the new AM Links person will have a cache of alt-text, that Feeney seems to not have.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I mean seriously, his last one and he still couldn't do it?

[Auric Demonocles]

For once I might have something I am as disappointed in as the missing zombie alt-text: Technically the last bullet isn't a Link.

[hamilton]

You are the best kind of correct.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

He is the worst.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Feeney will link his knuckles to your nose.

[Clich? Bandit]

Sooo Feeney is the Browns of Reason Editors?

[Slammer]

Good luck! Now you can just go to the comments, instead of reading the articles!

[An Innocent Man]

There's articles?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Good luck to you sir over at Cato.

Pronounced Cah-toe to me.

[alittlesense]

Vaya con queso, Matt.

[Lord Humungus]

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

[sloopyinca]

Hello! Looking for a job in DC over here!

And I'm a strong adherent to alt-text.

[Clich? Bandit]

I think you have shown your dedication to Reason that is for sure.

I vote for you to be alt-text tsar (czar...take your pick).

[Bobarian]

I prefer tsar...

Tsars are murdered by revolutionaries when they abuse their powers.

Czars are shuffled into high paying consulting jobs and act as "experts" on the news shows.

[Tonio]

Goodbye and good luck, Mr. Feeney.

[Mike Laursen]

It's all good, as long as you continue to serve our Kochtopus masters!

[Elspeth Flashman]

I don't know if I could take being on staff at Reason or anywhere else that's devoted to an idealogy. I am glad there are people who do it, though. Congrats on the move.

[BakedPenguin]

Good luck, Matthew

[Fist of Etiquette]

According to Glenn Greenwald both Edward Norton and Jared Leto have been mentioned as actors who may play Edward Snowden in a movie about the NSA whistle-blower.

But are either of them narcissistic enough?

[Bee Tagger]

I assume that despite being acting school drop-outs, they'll just stumble into these roles out of dumb luck and with a helpful call or two from Putin.

[Snark Plissken]

Worker bees can leave. Even drones can fly away. The Queen is their slave.

[Tonio]

Well, Fist, they are actors, who as a class tend to be very narcissistic.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I want it to be Leto. He's so pretty what movie viewer wouldn't sympathize with the whistleblower perspective?

[Bobarian]

He's too pretty, and besides, Norton kicked his ass...

But we're not supposed to talk about that. First rule.

[Lord Humungus]

Our long national nightmare is finally over:

Police unmask 'mystery pooper' who regularly defecated on Ypsilanti park slides

Council Member Pete Murdock, who is also head of the Friends of Prospect Park, said the suspect is a resident of a nearby halfway house. He said he isn't sure what clients are housed there.

Feces were found on the slide so frequently that police set up a camera in a nearby tree to help catch what some city council members during the investigation dubbed the "mystery pooper."

Council Member Brian Robb said he hopes "we can just put this behind us."

[invisible furry hand]

The Stealth Shitter is a better soubriquet

[Jordan]

I prefer 'Phantom Shitter', even though it lacks alliteration.

[Slammer]

For a second there I thought the shitter was Council Member Pete Murdock

[UnCivilServant]

You mean he isn't?

[WTF]

He only shits metaphorically, on people's rights.

[gaijin]

Did they use DNA testing?

[Elspeth Flashman]

There's no DNA test for vomit. (or poop?)

[invisible furry hand]

Oh Elspeth, you disappoint me... "You can't really dust for vomit" is the appropriate response

[Elspeth Flashman]

I thought that the filmmaker Marti DeBergi says "There's no DNA test for vomit." after Nigel or someone says "you can't dust for vomit."

[invisible furry hand]

Doubt it. DNA testing didn't exist when the film was made.

[sloopyinca]

I think we can all agree that that was a shitty situation all the way around.

[Free Society]

In my neighborhood there is an infamous Sidewalk Shitter, who lets his dog shit on the sidewalks in front of people's house.

Some say, on a full moon night, when the wind blows, you can still hear the whispering of a dog sphincter, pinching one off.

[SRVolunteer]

I had one of those in my neighborhood. Every day I would take my dog for a walk, and would often find dog crap on the sidewalk. It p!ssed me off that someone would let their dog do that, while the rest of us carried bags and picked up after our dogs whenever they would stop to take a dump.

After several weeks of this, I realized that my dog, walking in a good 'heel' position (slightly behind me) was capable of crapping on the move without me even noticing it.

[mr simple]

The poop is coming from inside the dog!

[Ted S.]

Police unmask 'mystery pooper' who regularly defecated on Ypsilanti park slides

It wasn't Najeh Davenport? I'm disappointed.

[Rich]

Council Member Brian Robb said he hopes "we can just put this behind us."

Re-Elect Zany Brian Robb!

[Rich]

Thanks for the links, Matthew! Best @ Cato!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Pentagon has a plan for the zombie apocalypse.

But which type of zombie? Are they covering the slow movers and the runners? Mr. President, we cannot allow an undead gap!

[Andrew S.]

Runners are a myth of Hollywood. Read the works of Max Brooks, chronicler of the great Zombie War (and of the guide that saved my life during that war).

[UnCivilServant]

Does is also tie in with the CDC preparedness information? Or were they working at cross purposes/duplicationg efforts like normal?

[Fist of Etiquette]

In this case the competing endeavors works out for the best, since it will no doubt be biological research from either the military or the CDC that creates the zombies in the first place. One organization can be a check on the other's accidental horde release.

[Bobarian]

Or, more likely, one organization can make the other one's screw-up horribly worse.

[some guy]

RTFA. They have them all covered. Even "evil magic zombies". They also mention the CDC's anti-zombie efforts. Really they're just using zombie-preparedness as a stand-in for general apocalypse-preparedness.

In case of existential threat to the human species, break glass.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, I read it yesterday. They claim it's an exercise in plan-making and that they chose zombies so no one would mistake it for a real exercise.

I'm not buying it. They know something's coming.

[some guy]

Or, they're stupid enough to think something is coming...

[Mock-star]

Or the word "zombie" is being used as shorthand for innocent protester. Or Florida man.

[Christophe]

Zombies: Mostly unarmed, easily dispatched, but make up for it in numbers and geographic ubiquitousness.

Sounds like zombies are a half-decent stand in for the US's civilan population.

[Bobarian]

Except for the 'mostly unarmed' part.

[Auric Demonocles]

The real problem tends to be the Abomintation. Walkers, runners, and fatties can usually be handled pretty well unless they get an extra activation.

[Drake]

1. Teach the Army to shoot (maybe assign some Marines)

2. Issue ammo

3. Aim for heads

[Auric Demonocles]

Double tap.

[Don Mynack]

Just drive large vehicles over them, don't make stupid mistakes like getting out of the vehicle or running out of fuel or driving too fast so you get in a wreck or any of the other thousand stupid mistakes people make in zombie movies to give the zombies a chance.

[Drake]

I always laugh at the scenes of disabled tanks and APCs in the zombie movies. Keeping them fueled could be problematic, but otherwise, unarmed human beings (undead or living) can't even scratch them.

[UnCivilServant]

Large animal impacts damage most vehicles. And the entrails don't just disappear. Sure you'd take out a lot, but you're going to clog up the mechanism even if the constant hammering didn't break it first. You need a more specific design than 'large vehicles'

[Bobarian]

A tracked armored vehicle laughs at 'large animal impacts' and looks upon 'entrails' as track grease.

[Andrew S.]

The latest exit polls from the Indian election suggest that Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi will be India's next prime minister.

Everything I've heard about the Indian elections make the US elections look like a polite tea party (no pun intended). Ugly, ugly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Senate Republicans say that they will pass immigration reform in the next two years if they manage to take back the Senate in November.

"So vote for us, Latinos!"

[DJF]

What is "immigration reform", do they have to pass it before we know what is in it?

Are they going to cut half million plus people who get citizenship every year or the million who get legal residency? That would be a reform but I don't think that is what they mean.

[some guy]

"Reform" is any change in current policy. Usually these changes are for the worse. The ghost of Orwell moans in the distance.

[Cytotoxic]

Are they going to cut half million plus people who get citizenship every year or the million who get legal residency? That would be a reform but I don't think that is what they mean.

That would be reform in the same way Obamacare is reform.

[Slammer]

Why in the hell is the Dept. of Agriculture requesting machine guns?

[Matrix]

They all gots ta have guns, now. 'Cause Nazi Zombie Cows and shit...

[Rich]

To mow down crops, DUH!

[gaijin]

+1 Harvester of Sorrow

[invisible furry hand]

Fun fact: On this day in 1718 James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun.

[Jordan]

Based on my experience in playing Empire: Total War, I must conclude that the Puckle Gun was a piece of garbage.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

More and more agencies seem to be getting armed while politicians look to disarm the population.

I'm starting to get the distinct feeling this is all by design.

[some guy]

They saw what happend with that ranched in Nevada and are thinking they could be next!

[Ted S.]

Because fuck you, that's why.

[An Innocent Man]

Really,really mad cows?

[WTF]

How else are they supposed to conduct SWAT raids on farmers selling raw milk?

[Citizen Nothing]

Coincidentally, I just watched the "War of the Coprophages" episode of X-Files on DVD last night. I'd let USDA Agent Bambi carry my machine gun.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So they can shoot seeds into the ground.

[waffles]

The Pentagon has a plan for the zombie apocalypse

Does it go anything like Max Brooks said it will?

[Bobarian]

I hope not, because I found Max Brooks to be a tactical idiot.

[Virginian]

I liked the book a lot, but some of his progtardery was painful. Cuba comes through the Z War with flying colors, basically it's awesome because communism. Seriously.

Oh, and Palestine not only exists, but is a stable and functioning country. Sure. OK.

[Rich]

The latest results from YouGov show that most Americans (55%) think that they are smarter than the average American

And since 50% *are* smarter, this isn't too shocking.

[robc]

With some really dumb outliers, 55% smarter than average is entirely possible.

[Zeb]

Assuming you are talking about mean and not median intelligence.

[robc]

Mean or mode.

[Zeb]

Right.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Well, he was talking about the "average." How would you distinguish mean from average?

[robc]

In math, average refers to all of mean, median, and mode. And possibly other stuff too.

[Zeb]

Several different kinds of mean.

[UnCivilServant]

But the Dunning-Kruger Effect means most of those who think they're smarter are actually in the dumber category.

[BakedPenguin]

Obama and his supporters explained quite simply.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The 'problem' with me is I automatically assume the person next or in front of me is smarter, has more experience, etc. than me.

[some guy]

The fact that you can type a coherent sentence indicates that this is a serious problem for you because you are almost always wrong in that assumption.

[Ted S.]

Especially since they likely wouldn't have interviewed the dumbest 10% or so of the population.

[DontShootMe]

If it's a phone interview, don't only the dumbest 10% answer their phones anymore if the caller ID is unknown to them?

[Auric Demonocles]

If they're comparing themselves to the people they see in media, it's surprising it's not higher than that. 5% off isn't that bad.

[lap83]

I doubt that the full 50 have an accurate gauge of their intelligence.

[lap83]

I wonder what percentage think they're smarter than they really are. 9%?

[Auric Demonocles]

I'd go with 8.

[lap83]

Is that the Tony statistic? I was trying to remember it...

[Auric Demonocles]

It's Buttplug.

Tony's thing is that your wife can get pregnant if you get hit by a bus.

[Lord Humungus]

The 2014 Election Is the Least Important in Years

It's extremely unlikely Democrats will win back the U.S. House in November. The party that's in the White House very rarely gains seats in midterm elections, and Democrats also face headwinds because there are far fewer swing districts than there used to be. It would take a very strong Democratic year for them to win back the House, and the political climate for Democrats appears to be somewhere between fair and middling (with some chance that could turn into an outright poor year for them).

Of course, President Obama will control the White House through 2016. So, there will be a Democratic president and, almost certainly, a Republican check on Obama's power in the Congress. The Senate is very much in play. But a GOP-controlled Senate would be somewhat redundant. Republicans already exercise a "veto" on Obama's power in the House and, with party-line voting and political polarization near their all-time highs, this suffices to make Obama a lame duck except on initiatives he can pass through the executive branch alone.

[hamilton]

except on initiatives he can pass through the executive branch alone.

Meaning, you know, everything.

[Virginian]

except on initiatives he can pass through the executive branch alone.

Or as certain crazy reactionaries call it "dictatorial rule via executive fiat, which is illegal in the American Republic"

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, the Senators that get elected now will have no influence past 2016!

Wait...

[Palin's Buttplug]

Gridlock. The best political atmosphere for libertarians. (not just any gridlock either - a D president and GOP House is best)

[sloopyinca]

No, the best political atmosphere for libertarians involves a bunch of C4 and a SOTU address with lax security.

[Christophe]

🙂 Thank you for making my day.

Let us know if you need us to chip in for bail.

[John]

Nice of retards to want gridlock after you have fucked everything up and it keeps anyone from fixing it. Go od on your meds you disgusting fuck.

[DontShootMe]

Gridlock would be great if so much of the spending wasn't already in Automatic mode. Congress should be forced to vote on every penny, every year.

[invisible furry hand]

I still have a hard time believing that there could be much homophobia in the land of Libert?, Egalit?, Fraternit?.

You silly, silly Slate writer

[WTF]

Wait, does Slate want us to more like the Europeans, or less like the Europeans?

[PD Scott]

More like the imaginary Europeans in their heads, less like actual Europeans in Europe.

[sloopyinca]

Oh, so they're not cool with the rampant homophobia, xenophobia, runaway inflation and neverending double-digit inflation?

Hell, we ought to just build some castles then, because that's about the only other thing as European as what I just listed.

[Brett L]

National Socialism is perfectly okay as long as it has more Socialism this time and the right people go to the camps.

[Lord Humungus]

Honest Work
Why the GOP argument against raising the minimum wage is really an argument against having a minimum wage at all.

All of this doomsaying raises a question: If raising the minimum wage destroys jobs and prevents employment, then lowering it would do the opposite. And if you gain from lowering the minimum wage, then why have one at all?

At least a few Republicans?including two presidential contenders?seem to have wondered as much, and have gone to where that logic leads: Complete opposition to the minimum wage.

Don't read the comments...

[Jordan]

I wonder how many of the economic illiterate retards bitching about that logic realize that Switzerland doesn't have a minimum wage.

[UnCivilServant]

Isn't Germany also min-wage free?

[Juice]

Same with Sweden and the Netherlands, if I recall.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

This reminds me...

Panera to spend $125k per store to add ordering kiosks.

Panera CEO supports raising minimum wage.

[UnCivilServant]

Given how obnoxious it is to figure out where the line is at Panera, I gave up on doing business with their company. It's not as if they had anything worth ordering either. Whenever someone dragged me there it was "what sounds least crappy?"

But of course, the business decision of pre-empting the opposition on self service (which would not be economically wise at normal wage rates) and then undermining them with government regulation is classic.

[Zeb]

Panera seems like it should be good, but the one time I've been there the menu really was quite uninspired.

[UnCivilServant]

I've been to several, that lack of culinary inspiration is not an outlier.

[Lord Humungus]

bland food for bland people

[Lord Humungus]

bland food for bland people

[Ted S.]

Why the GOP argument against raising the minimum wage is really an argument against having a minimum wage at all.

They say this as though it were a bad thing.

[Auric Demonocles]

Have they considered that their argument for raising the minimum wage is really an argument for an infinite wage?

[MJGreen]

Didn't they laugh at Bachmann a few years ago for saying that there would be 'no unemployment' if the minimum wage was abolished? It's not exactly a secret among conservatives, even if plenty don't want it or won't advertise it.

[hamilton]

So I've mourned Feeney for like five or six whole minutes but it's time to move on. Who will be the new LinkBitch, reason? I nominate Sloopy. Or possibly Welch, that'll learn him.

[robc]

Fist? Maybe that will slow him down.

[UnCivilServant]

Naw, I think it means he can post comments before posting the article.

[robc]

So no different than now? Dont see a problem.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It would be unethical. And not very sporting.

[sloopyinca]

We need our own version of the Arab Spring to make it happen for me. Not sure what to call it, but I'd gladly be your Muslim brotherhood.

Wait, does that sound right?

[UnCivilServant]

You mean the guys who are now outlawed and getting hunted down by the Military Government?

[WTF]

We assume Sloopy is outlawed and running from the CA government.

[WTF]

SLOOPY! SLOOPY! SLOOPY!

[hamilton]

Fuck arab spring / popular demonstration / molotov cocktail throwing parties. If we want this to happen we have to bring out the BIG GUNS.

We need to do a Twitter-Hashtag Thing.

#sloopyforlinks

[Auric Demonocles]

I don't think that works here.

[UnCivilServant]

I don't listen to twits, so anyone throwing the pound sign around gets ignored.

[Slammer]

No selfies holding up the sign, people. Please.

[Brett L]

Seriously, get your hottest friend to do it instead.

[alittlesense]

But will you be our Yoko Ono?

[Ted S.]

Zenon.

[Zenon Evans]

Reporting for duty!

[Auric Demonocles]

I have a bold suggestion, but if I say it Fist will yell at me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How little you think of me.

[UnCivilServant]

Since I usually forget you the moment I'm past your comment on the thread, yeah I don't think of you much.

[Auric Demonocles]

You know where this path leads....

[Bee Tagger]

Tell me and I'll say it.

[Elspeth Flashman]

My nominations are Lord H, IFH, Kaptious Kristen, and myself. But I'm too unreliable, so I step down from my own nomination.

[Auric Demonocles]

Anyone who wants this power isn't fit to wield it...

[Elspeth Flashman]

OK, so I'm unfit.

[Rich]

Tyra Banks to Produce Transgender Docuseries

I *knew* it! Something about that forehead ....

[sloopyinca]

In related news, Christina Ricci is opening a drive in theatre that will come to your house and set up in your driveway.

[Lord Humungus]

Guy Has Temporary Tattoo Done by 1,000 Bedbugs Feeding at Once

Don't let the bed bugs bite, is what we've always been told. But Matt Camper, an urban entomologist at Colorado State University, is doing the exact opposite. He's gone and created a unique 'bedbug tattoo gun' ? made of a jar, some wire mesh and thousands of hungry bed bugs. You simply invert the jar onto your skin, let the bed bugs bite, and later admire the pink, temporary tattoo they leave behind.

[Rich]

Well, if they really are harmless, I think these tattoos are a cool idea.

Of course, if they *aren't* harmless, they suck.

[DJF]

999 are harmless, however 1 has a weird tropical disease .

[Zeb]

I'd imagine that he has lab bred bedbugs that aren't carrying any diseases.

[Warty]

This sounds familiar.

. In the dark closet made of wooden planks, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of bedbugs, which had been allowed to multiply. The guards removed the prisoner's jacket or field shirt, and immediately the hungry bedbugs assaulted him, crawling onto him from the walls or falling off the ceiling. At first he waged war with them strenuously, crushing them on his body and on the walls, suffocated by their stink. But after several hours he weakened and let them drink his blood without a murmur.

[Ted S.]

And that's not a Warty story.

[WTF]

I thought that was the closet in Warty's rape dungeon.

[The Late P Brooks]

Unlikely

National Republicans, alarmed by the rising influence of activist liberals in government and eager to paint the Democratic Party as captive to its left wing, seem to have settled on an unlikely new nemesis: Mayor Bill de Blasio.

It is a startling turn for a municipal leader who was virtually unknown, even in New York, just a year ago, but now finds himself on the same conservative dartboard as far better established figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and the occupant of the Oval Office.

But in the actions and policies of Mr. de Blasio's young administration, Republican leaders see the embodiment of their fears about an empowered New Left: a populist disdain for the rich, open sympathies for organized labor and a relentless focus on income inequality.

A room full of rich Republicans complaining about De Blasio's policies is unseemly. A room full of rich Democrats licking Obama's butt is awesome. Best Journalism Ever.

[John]

a populist disdain for the rich, open sympathies for organized labor and a relentless focus on income inequality.

Name me one rich guy not named Koch whose ass the Democrats don't kiss? Democrats disdain one group of people; poor and middle class white people.

[sloopyinca]

Donald Sterling?

[VG Zaytsev]

The Los Angeles chapter of the NCAA was going to give him a second humanitarian of the year award but pulled the plug after the tapes were released.

So yes, they kissed Sterlings ass too.

[sloopyinca]

Yeah but that was like, weeks ago and stuff.

[Tonio]

NCAA or NAACP?

[UnCivilServant]

NAACP

[grrizzly]

You cannot exclude even Kochs.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....t-them.php

when KochPAC, Koch Industries' political action committee, donated money to Schumer's 2010 Senatorial campaign, Schumer thought the Kochs were wonderful. Here is the letter of appreciation he wrote, dated October 28,2009.

Schumer couldn't have been more grateful to the Kochs: "Thank you so much for the generous KOCHPAC contribution to my 2010 campaign?." "Your early financial help keeps me strong in my campaign." "Again, I can't thank you enough?.I look forward to working with you throughout this election."

[Idle Hands]

Rogue Agents!!!

dicial Watch today released a new batch of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents revealing that its handling of Tea Party applications was directed out of the agency's headquarters in Washington, DC. The documents also show extensive pressure on the IRS by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) to shut down conservative-leaning tax-exempt organizations. The IRS' emails by Lois Lerner detail her misleading explanations to investigators about the targeting of Tea Party organizations.

Fake Scandal!!!!

[Idle Hands]

Sorry, *Judicial Watch or is it JEWdicial Watch, I report you decide.

[Jordan]

Can we please stop with the zombie apocalypse shit? It's become more played out than Nazis at this point.

[UnCivilServant]

Not until we have more Nazi Zombies!

[Lord Humungus]

Last night I watched Outpost: Dark Sun - blargh is the sum of my review.

[Jordan]

Oh, it's been done. Probably multiple times.

[UnCivilServant]

I want it done well, damnit

[Free Society]

I love the zombie genre. It's too bad the Walking Dead has burned everyone out for a generation. The concept of the vast majority of society being unthinking, merciless monsters who are restlessly consuming all rational human beings in their midst, just strikes a libertarian chord with me. We're living the zombie apocalypse.

[Zeb]

I enjoy a good zombie movie from time to time, but I was burned out on the whole thing well before Walking Dead was on TV.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Dead Snow, Zombie Lake. Zombie Oasis...

[Slammer]

Dead Snow is great. I heard they're making a sequel.

[gaijin]

What about Nazi Zombies?

[gaijin]

arghh!! PReeevvviiieeewww!

[BardMetal]

I'm also really sick of the zombie fad.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We'll see how sick you are of it when they're eating your brains and you're defenseless because you tuned out of all the popular culture training we've been getting.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Too bad - it perpetuates and replicates itself like...like *something.*

[Ted S.]

I wish TCM would run Zombies on Broadway again soon.

[sarcasmic]

Parents' fury as Kindergarten teacher who was caught on tape lifting their son, 6, off the floor by his NECK is suspended for just ten days... and school refuses to change his class
Nelson family are calling for school to fire Barb Williams
Footage appears to show the Nelsons' son, Ian, being lifted by his throat
Six-year-old is terrified of returning to school and seeing Williams after the summer vacation, parents say
Sheriff's department is now investigating the incident

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-neck.html
If a parent did that to their own child they'd be charged with a crime, but when a government employee does it they get a vacation.

[some guy]

Barb Williams is also a part-time chiropractor, so it's okay.

[Lord Humungus]

Teen charged in bong attack
Charges: Girls trying to steal whisky attacked Safeway guard

The guard grabbed the girl, who then tried unsuccessfully to shock him with a stun gun, a King County Sheriff's Office detective said in charging papers. Haile is alleged to have then hit the man in the head with a blue glass bong she'd been carrying in her purse.

Overcome by the head injury and the pepper spray, the guard released the young women. When deputies arrived, the man was bleeding from a cut to his head that took three staples to close.

[Brett L]

Reminds me of Florida.

[sarcasmic]

Who says clowns are creepy? Blood-soaked Bozos fool passers-by into believing they are beating up and murdering strangers in gory prank
Italian duo have become online sensation with their clown prank video
Film shows a creepy clown hammering people to death with an iron weapon
He waits for the perfect moment to shock strangers into thinking it is real
The film was made by Matteo and Diego from DM Pranks Productions

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ngers.html
Hilarious!

[sloopyinca]

I take it they paid their protection money to the local mafia/police force before doing this? Or are dago cops just lazy when it comes to shooting first and asking questions later?

Had they tried that in an American city, the headline likely would have been: "Performance Artists Shot To Death Bu Police In Bizarre Incident: Unnamed Officers Involved On Extended Vacation".

[WTF]

How quickly would they get shot if they did that in some place like Texas or Florida?

[sloopyinca]

So quick those cops would have been on vacation by now!

[R C Dean]

The guy at the gas station is getting something out of his car partway through. Gun? Knife? Who knows? But it wasn't nothing.

That is seriously creepy, though.

[sarcasmic]

Shell-shocked! Catfish angler catches 'dinosaur' turtle weighing 100LBS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....00LBS.html
Good thing he wasn't noodling. That thing would have taken his hand off.

[UnCivilServant]

I would have thought it'd be bigger. From the picture (I din't read the article) it looks like an alligator snapping turtle, which routinely gets to the size depicted there. (Admittedly it does take a while).

[Zeb]

I've seen a couple at least that size sitting in the middle of the road. Pretty amazing creatures.

[Steve G]

Got a baby one once in a shipment of live crawfish from LA once; almost cooked it, but someone with keen eyes spotted it. We kept it around a couple years. Were wondering why it wouldn't eat the dry turtle food from the pet store until we realized he loved dead goldfish by "accident". That became his staple from then on.

[Virginian]

In a post that accompanied the jaw-dropping picture, Mr Harrell explained that he and a friend, Audey Clark, were catfishing in Mill Creek at Eufaula Lake when they came upon something really big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBpD87_w4Sg

[John]

That brings us to the group-insurance market, where most Americans get their health insurance. Shortly after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Department of Health and Human Services produced an analysis that predicted the employer mandates and increased costs would force "66 percent of small employer plans and 45 percent of large employer plans" to be canceled. That was the "mid-range" estimate, one that went unnoticed until the mass cancellations of plans in the individual market.

However, the steep price increases coming in this market already have businesses looking at bailing out of health coverage for their employees, NPR reported this week, with the impossibly sunny spin that employers had begun considering plans to "give workers a chunk of cash" to get pushed into the individual markets.

- See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/.....g08le.dpuf

I really don't think people appreciate how horrible it is going to be when the employer mandate hits. Most of the country is going to lose its health insurance and be unable to buy their own and will be fined because of it.

[John]

Bonus derp in the comments

Fatvito ? 2 hours ago
I have been buying insurance for over 25 years. It always goes up, sometimes a lot sometimes a little. What brilliant prediction. What does one expect in a free market economy, business passes costs on to consumer. What is the solution? Not just health care, everything that goes up in price. Electricity, water, food, medicines, clothing, eating out, fuel of all types, into infinity and beyond.

It is just the market that causes all of this inflation!!

[BardMetal]

Thats why everyone owned TVs in the 50s when they first came out, and now nobody can afford one.

When left alone things tend to get cheaper, and better, only government, and natural disasters seem to be able to completely derail that trend.

[UnCivilServant]

I used to own a TV when I was poor back in the 90s. Now I'm 'middle class' and I don't have one anymore.

[DontShootMe]

Therefore, TV causes poverty.

[Griffin3]

But how can you watch your FreeV?

[R C Dean]

It always goes up, sometimes a lot sometimes a little. What brilliant prediction.

Conveniently forgetting that the entire point of ObamaCare is to reduce the price of insurance.

[Ted S.]

I really don't think people appreciate how horrible it is going to be when the employer mandate hits. Most of the country is going to lose its health insurance and be unable to buy their own and will be fined because of it.

That of course is the point.

[John]

If it wasn't it might as well have been. Either through stupidity or malice, the Progs are making war on the American public.

[Rich]

In related Democratcare non-news:

Cost of hospital services is up more than three times inflation over the last 12 months.

[sarcasmic]

Fancy a pint of squid? Beer festival showcases craft brews made from seafood, anchovies, chocolate and wasabi
South Australian beer festival showcasing unique flavours
Featuring craft brewers from Europe, US and New Zealand
Workshops include the 'The Art of Spooning' and 'Skunkhour'

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

[invisible furry hand]

Underneath the pics of wasabi and gin it says "Write caption here". So, over to you guys...

[UnCivilServant]

Epicac for the new generation.

[Ted S.]

Is "Epicac" when Episiarch makes you vomit? 😉

[UnCivilServant]

No.

Epicac or EPICAC may refer to:

EPICAC (short story), by Kurt Vonnegut
Syrup of ipecac, emetic substance often used to induce vomiting

[Ted S.]

Fancy a pint of squid?

It's been done

[RBS]

I had an oyster stout a few years ago at a festival. I can't say I would drink another one.

[califernian]

That is a traditional style actually

[Zeb]

Why?

[sarcasmic]

Pictured: 'Creepy' Michigan hipster, 63, who called himself 'techno boy' online arrested on child pornography charges

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....arges.html
Isn't 'creepy' hipster a bit redundant?

[Andrew S.]

That's one of the most disturbing pictures I've seen in my life.

[fish]

He looks like Howard from the Big Bang Theory!

[Soros' Wank-noose]

If he were played by Iggy.

[gaijin]

63 year old referring to himself as 'boy' is the tell.

[Zeb]

Isn't 'creepy' hipster a bit redundant?

I don't know. I see most hipster types as just goofy doofuses.

I think "creepy" gets overused, but that guy is definitely a creep.

[sarcasmic]

Teenage girl accused of shooting dead a friend after he asked her to try out his bulletproof vest and she MISSED
Taylor Kelly, 18, charged with involuntary manslaughter in shooting death of 26-year-old Blake Wardell
Deputies in Grenville, South Carolina, say a round from Kelly's gun went through the lining on Wardell's flak jacket and struck him in the heart

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

[Idle Hands]

Question do you think the actors involved are smarter or dumber than average?

[gaijin]

If you asked them, they would probably say smarter. Anyone who says out loud they are smart, usually isn't

[Jordan]

How exactly did she miss? Sounds like she nailed it, but the vest failed.

[DJF]

And there are all sorts of 'bullet proof" vests and most won't stop any bullet at close range unless they have hard plates in them. If you miss the plate the rest of the jacket won't stop the bullet.

[WTF]

Yeah, there is no such thing as "bullet-proof", they are bullet-resistant, and typically need a hard trauma plate to have a chance at stopping a more powerful round.

[UnCivilServant]

Why would you test a vest that way? Stopping a round damages the fibers, you have to repair or replace the damn thing after it saves you. (usually costs less than the alternatives).

[Warty]

Flak jackets are not bulletproof vests. At least he learned something from this.

[John]

Exactly. You need an insert to make it a bullet proof vest.

[Drake]

Even then it is a very relative term.

[John]

Yeah. but if you have a ballistic insert it will stop about anything up to a .50 caliber. Now, what they don't tell you is even though it stops the bullet, it doesn't stop the kinetic energy. People shot in the chest with a ballistic insert don't die, but it leaves a hell of a bruise and often internal injuries.

[UnCivilServant]

The point is to make the hit survivable, but you can't defy Newtonian Physics with human scale objects.

[Drake]

I would absolutely have to see one stop a .50 before I believed it. I've punched through steel plates and old M113s at 500 meters at the range with the M2. Saw the tracers smash right through.

The plate will stop a couple of AK rounds - then the ceramic shatters - at which point you are wearing a bag of sand.

[John]

I meant that it wouldn't stop a .50 but it will stop a .303 and other high powered rifle rounds. It is just going to hurt like hell and maybe put you in the hospital. But it beats a sucking chest wound.

[Zeb]

SO anything under .50.

It's impressive enough that it will stop a .303, .308, etc.

[R C Dean]

You need to seriously max out the armor to stop any rifle round, and even then I'll bet on the .308 over the armor.

Live test:

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot24_3.htm

[Ted S.]

Blake Wardell wins the Darwin Award!

[Lord Humungus]

Segregation gains ground 60 years after Brown

Progress toward integrated classrooms has largely been rolled back since the Supreme Court issued its landmark Brown v. Topeka Board of Education decision 60 years ago, according to a report released Thursday by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. Blacks are now seeing more school segregation than they have in decades, and more than half of Latino students are now attending schools that are majority Latino.

In New York, California and Texas, more than half of Latino students are enrolled in schools that are 90 percent minority or more, the report found. In New York, Illinois, Maryland and Michigan, more than half of black students attend schools where 90 percent or more are minority.

[DJF]

Goverment forcing people to live together fails once again. Goverment responce, more force.

[robc]

In Louisville, the biggest opponents of the school integration plans have been the black parents.

[#]

How much of this trend is just that minorities disproportionally make up children? And that trend has been increasing. It's easier to have majority minority schools when there are more minorities.

But either way, this is an angle that i alwasy find ironic with lefties resistance to charter schools and vouchers. In doing so, they support more segregated schools.

[Zeb]

If urban blacks and Latinos tend to live in areas with lots of people of the same race/ethnic backgournd, of course there will be schools with mostly members of those groups.

I think it is dumb to equate that with segregation which was a legal requirement that they must be separate in most places.

[sarcasmic]

US college students who found $41,000 in cash hidden in an old thrift-store couch track down previous owner to RETURN the money
Roommates Reese Werkhoven, Cally Guasti and Lara Russo bought the couch for $20 from their local chariy store
But not long after they got it back to their New Paltz home they discovered envelopes of cash - $41,000 worth - were stashed in every conceivable crevice of the pre-loved couch
However, the students' excitement turned to moral dilemma when they found that one of the envelopes had a woman's name on it
Finally, Werkhoven's mother found the owner in a phone book and they returned it

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rn-it.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

News flash: people decide not to be thieves. Film at 11.

[Zeb]

It was a nice thing to do, but I wouldn't have considered them bad people had they kept it. Presumably when you give away a couch, the contents are included.

[UnCivilServant]

"Oh, the cash. It was just the loose change that fell out of my pockets. Thanks"

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I actually don't know the legal details in New York, but if someone's name is on the money, the least you can do is contact the person and say "did you mean to sell off the money in the couch?"

[Notorious G.K.C.]

or "donate the money in the couch"?

[UnCivilServant]

Knowing New York it's probably "You have to turn over found money to the cops, who will promptly steal it" so most people deny the existance of found funds.

[Zeb]

Yeah, the name on the envelope generally does complicate things. And given what the actual situation was, it would have really sucked for the old lady who's children got rid of the couch.
But generally with found cash I say finders keepers.

[sarcasmic]

From camisole cross-body holsters to easy-access zip dresses: The rise of women's fashion designed to conceal GUNS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....-GUNS.html

[Lord Humungus]

Ohio College Considering Mandatory Transgender Sensitivity Training For Athletics Department

The "Guidelines for Inclusion and Respectful Treatment of Intercollegiate Transgender Student Athletes" was developed for the college by the school's Transgender Participation Advisory Committee, Campus Reform reported.

"It is basically intended to sort of be a 101," Emily Clarke, a junior and member of the committee, told Campus Reform. "We also talk about choice, privilege and agency in presentation of gender and pronouns and ends with trans-allyship dos and don'ts. It's basically like, don't question people about their transitioning processes, respect pronouns and names, don't use 'ladies' or 'gentlemen' when addressing a group of people."

The new guidelines would replace pronouns "he/him/his/she/her/hers" with "they/them/theirs."

[Warty]

Fucking Oberlin.

*clicks link*

Yup. Fucking Oberlin.

[John]

Do they even have any useful degrees or is it always 50K a year for a degree in hate studies?

[Warty]

I suppose they must offer some science degrees, but I've never heard of any useful person ever coming out of Oberlin. I was really embarrassed for them when the school shut down down for a couple days a while ago because somebody spray-painted "nigger" on a wall on campus. Way to teach proportional response.

[John]

I was embarrassed for them when the Obamacare pajama boy picture became a "How did you guess I went to Oberlin" meme something like 30 seconds after it went public.

There had to have been normal people who went there back in the day and are now stuck telling people they went to Oberlin. Those are the people I feel sorry for.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

A neighbor of mine went to Oberlin. She was a little cutie. The summer after we graduated from high school, we pretty much just fucked each other all day. Good times.

[sloopyinca]

Ed Helms went there.

Here's a list of famous alumni.

TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!!!! The list starts with Sinclair Lewis and #4 is Liz Phair.

[sloopyinca]

So did the dude that played Sisko on DS9. I guess if you like your Star Trek captains to never go anywhere, that's a good alum.

[Brett L]

I have a cousin who graduated from there. He married a smoking hot yoga instructor with a trust-fund and a degree from Wellesley. So I'm sure, in a sense, his degree was useful.

[Auric Demonocles]

I do respect pronouns. They're the ones who don't.

[Warty]

don't use 'ladies' or 'gentlemen' when addressing a group of people

Aren't ladies who are transitioning now gentlemen? And aren't gentlemen who are transitioning now ladies? I'm confused. Or, wait, maybe that's offensive to people who don't want to be any gender?

[RBS]

Gentlemen!

[Auric Demonocles]

I think "people" is offensive to entities that don't want to be any species.

[Lord Humungus]

Free the Furries!

[Zeb]

Just call them all "motherfuckers".

[lap83]

what about ladies and germs?

[wareagle]

are we suddenly awash in trannies? What. The Fuck.

[Lord Humungus]

Awash in Trannies

Nice band name

[sloopyinca]

The Killers should go ahead and change to that on their next album.

NTTAWWT

[PD Scott]

Awash in Trannies new album, "Whatever Floats Your Boat"

[sarcasmic]

Is that a tourist attraction or are you just pleased to see me? Visitors flock to Turkey's Love Valley to see some erotic erosion
Unusual shaped pillars are attracting tourists to Turkey's Cappadocia region
The phallic shaped features are in an area dubbed the Love Valley
Rocks have been formed this way due to erosion of volcanic rock

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tra.....osion.html
I want one of those for my tombstone.

[Ted S.]

How about this instead? 🙂

[Rich]

+1 Holden Caulfield

[sarcasmic]

Nice.

[Lord Humungus]

Is China No. 1?

Unlike the United States, China does not seek to remake the world in its own image. China wants a global system that supports its strong domestic economic growth, which is viewed as crucial to maintaining the Communist Party's grip on power. Export markets should remain open; China should have easy access to the oil, grains and minerals its economy needs. "Beijing still sees its actions and policies from the narrow perspective of national self-interest rather than its role as a leader," writes Cornell University economist Eswar Prasad in the Wall Street Journal. For example, the United States hasn't won much Chinese support in its efforts to curb North Korea's and Iran's nuclear programs.

These two worldviews have coexisted uneasily, but as China becomes more prosperous, the competition is bound to intensify. Economic power ? the ability to confer advantages or disfundadvantages on other countries and to influence global markets and investment flows ? is slowly shifting in China's favor. Conflicts seem inevitable.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

China is not #1.

Next.

[Pro Libertate]

Such nonsense. China is a convenient place for western companies to make stuff. Cheap labor, hardly any regulatory compliance to deal with, etc.

China is facing several problems, like a labor force that will get less cheap at some point (and a growing affluent class that may start making political noises), and a total dependence on the health of western economies. Not to mention that there are other countries where we can have cheap shit made.

[db]

The labor force.is already getting less cheap. Visiting Chinese factories and talking with managers and employees, they all are expecting and beginning to see rising wages. It won't be too long until Chinese skilled labor.is.on par with some western countries. That is partly why China is beginning to move manufacturing to Africa.

[Pro Libertate]

If China moves factories to cheaper countries, there's a middleman the rest of the world doesn't need and can't afford.

[db]

Yup. But China has been "investing" heavily in African infrastructure. Specifically in countries that are ruled by strongmen and juntas that give Chinese companies favored or.exclusive access to low cost African labor.

[Pro Libertate]

Just buy other countries.

[Ted S.]

China just wants a bunch of vassal states serving it.

[UnCivilServant]

Aka, a return to the classic Empire. If you used to be great, wouldn't you yearn for a return to the good old days too?

[Lord Humungus]

Mellman: Turnout alone won't mean a win

Last week I began discussing, some might say attacking, a meme heard with increasing frequency: Persuasion is a waste, it's all about turnout. The latest entrant in this vein was a New Republic piece last week that confidently, but inaccurately, asserted, "Mobilization is the only proven way for a campaign to close that gap [between the number of supporters it has and the number it needs to win]."

I argued that while mobilization remains vitally important, putting all of one's chips on that number would mean certain defeat for Democrats. In competitive states and districts there just aren't enough Democrats. This week, I'm delving more deeply into exactly why a turnout-only strategy is doomed.

[gaijin]

This week, I'm delving more deeply into exactly why a turnout-only strategy is doomed.

Because it wouldn't write as many checks to the chattering class and the ad agencies who think they mold the sheep's perceptions?

[Pro Libertate]

Larry "Bud"?

[Lord Humungus]

Why Sasse Won

Sasse established his identity as a fierce opponent of Obamacare early on, and ? in a strategic risk ? went up with TV advertising very early. The campaign did this even though it knew it didn't have the funds to stay up on TV and would have go dark for a long stretch during the heart of the campaign.

The advertising drove attendance at town-hall meetings, which were basically the only campaign events Sasse did. He was doing them all around the state when he was no longer up on TV, driving his message and establishing personal contact with a big swath of the primary electorate. His campaign robo-called local Republicans to get them attend, and even if they didn't show up, they heard a brief version of Sasse's campaign pitch on the phone. Sasse brought a 9.5-foot tall stack of Obamacare regulations to every town hall, almost guaranteeing a picture of him and the stack in every local paper.

[John]

Be nice if Lowry followed some basic journalistic rules and explained who the hell Sasse is and what he won in the first rather than the last paragraph.

[RBS]

That seems to be the new thing. I can't tell you how many articles I've read the last few years where I have no idea who or what the author is writing about because they either randomly placed someone in the article with no explanation or waited until the end to explain.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Who. What. Where. When. Why. How. is for old dead white men. This is the new way to journalism!

[Brett L]

You'd think an editor for a publication devoted to, "standing athwart history and yelling 'STOP!'" Would be all over that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Sasse is a fundie nutjob. He said that Biblical law is higher than Constitutional/US law.

[John]

CHRISTFAG!!!

Looks someone didn't take their meds this morning.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is true. Sasse supports Christian Sharia.

He is your kind of man.

[John]

CHRISTFAG!!!

[fish]

CHRISTFAG!!!

Sorry John, needs still moar CHRISTFAG. You can never have to much when shreeky is around!

[John]

The ticks are really hitting him hard today.

[Homple]

...the times have been
That, when the brains were out, the man would die
And there be an end; but now they rise again,
To comment on Hit and Run

[Don Mynack]

He used to be part of the Bush administration. He's an establishment Repub, pretty much.

[Lord Humungus]

Harry Reid Backs Constitutional Amendment To Limit Koch Brothers' Influence

"When I came to Congress, when you got money you had to list who you got it from, what their occupation was, address, and phone numbers if you had it. Then I saw things change. In 1998, [former Sen.] John Ensign and I ran against one another and we spent about $10 million in Nevada," Reid told BuzzFeed during an interview in his Capitol office.

"Neither one of us outspent the other, but most of the money we spent was corporate money because there was a loophole where corporate money could flow through the state party. That was an election that was awful. I won it, but just barely. I felt it was corrupting, all this corporate money," Reid added.

Things had changed for the good, he said, by 2004. "I felt so clean and pure with McCain-Feingold, which had come into being, it was wonderful. We were back where we should have been," he said.

[Andrew S.]

Only the Koch Brothers though. Sheldon Adelson's money is totally fine. So is George Soros' money.

[Slammer]

"I took the money to win, then felt horrible. Then I make it so others can't do that."

Sociopathic scum.

[fish]

Harry is feeling the cold grasp of time closing around that bony sunken chest of his?..time remaining to channel graft to his family is running out!

Tick tock Harry!

[Sevo]

..."I felt it was corrupting, all this corporate money," Reid added."....

Which didn't affect his behavior one bit. I think the correct term is "hypocrite", right?

[robc]

I think proper analyis is that Reid afmits to being corrupt.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Maybe he could give *examples* of how he was corrupted by the money?

"Yeah, that bill I sponsored was against the public interest, but I pushed it as a favor to my big-money donors."

[Rich]

Police Search for Suspects in String of Streeterville Carjackings

"You always hear of things in other areas, but not around here. It's getting closer and closer to home so it's very frightening."

Clockwork Orange in Chicago.

[Lord Humungus]

Business Execs: Amnesty Legislation Will Be Last Act of Lame-Duck Session

At a panel on the economy and infrastructure investment at the Newseum on Monday, Jay Timmons, the CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which has lobbied extensively for amnesty legislation, and Tom Donohue, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, agreed that amnesty legislation could pass even after the November elections despite the August deadline that is being floated.

"I think it'll happen in the lame-duck session as the final piece of legislation," Timmons said.

[UnCivilServant]

We need an ammendment allowing the hunting of the Washington Lame Duck. People try to claim that they're an endangered species, but they keep coming back after being declared extinct.

[Lord Humungus]

The conspiracy theories can still live on:

Flight 370 Searchers Suspect Black Box 'Pings' Weren't From The Plane

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 search teams in the Indian Ocean are beginning to fear electronic pings thought to be coming from the plane's black box weren't originating from the missing plane.

Senior Australian naval Commander James Lybrand said this week that he "increasingly suspects" the series of signals detected to the west of Australia last month had nothing to do with the plane, and that two of them picked up by the U.S. Navy's Bluefin-21 underwater drone were too weak to have originated from a man-made device.

[UnCivilServant]

Too weak? A man-made device can always put out a weaker signal or have interference that lowered the signal strength. "Too strong for a black box" has some scientific merit, but there's no such thing as "too weak to be man-made" when it comes to transmitters after a catastrophe.

[WTF]

...too weak to have originated from a man-made device.

Maybe the dolphins were fucking with them.

[RBS]

Greg Hardy allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident and OMG!!! GUNS!!!!

Seriously, the biggest issue being discussed on the local news/sports talk shows this morning were the guns.

[db]

According to Glenn Greenwald both Edward Norton and Jared Leto have been mentioned as actors who may play Edward Snowden

Any actor with half a brain would run screaming from this.role. Once the autonomous killbots are set loose, that actor's face being associated.with Snowden in every Google.image search for his.name will be a death sentence.

On the plus.side, we may have discovered a new.way.of discouraging the use.of killbots: swamp Google images with portraits of politicians mislabeled as wanted terrorists.

[invisible furry hand]

Michael Sams' boyfriend is the grandson of Mafia don "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, who used to kill people and put them in the sewers for the rats to eat

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....riend.html

[John]

I guess we know who the pitcher in that relationship is.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Now he is getting a show on the Oprah network because he always just wanted to play football, and him being gay is none of our business, except when we didn't even ask if he was gay he felt it necessary to tell us.

[John]

Look CPA, he just wants to be treated like any other draft pick. He just wants his privacy okay.

[WTF]

"Coming out" seems to have become a good career move in professional sports.

[Virginian]

"Coming out" seems to have become a good career move in professional sports.

If you're a marginal talent it sure as hell is. Jason Collins would not be on a roster this year if he hadn't come out. Sam would have been a UDFA if he hadn't come out.

[some guy]

I accidently got on a /r/politics thread a few nights ago regarding Net Neutrality and Al Franken. The third highest post was from a guy who thought that the USPS has an obligation to provide access to information to every American and therefore should become an ISP to the entire country.

Seriously, say what you want about HuffPo, Slate or Salon. They got nothin' on /r/politics.

[Warty]

Reddit is useful for the attention whores on gonewild, and...um...uh...probably some other things. Not so much for sane discussion.

[Auric Demonocles]

The sports subs tend to be pretty great, and some for specific TV shows/book series are good.

[some guy]

Most of the subs are pretty good, if you are interested in the subject or just want to kill time. It's a great place to find others who share your passion for something. It just happens that /r/politics was mislabeled from /r/progressiveidiocy.

[Andrew S.]

The good thing about reddit is that it's easy to ignore that stuff if you sign up. First thing I did after making an acocunt was unsubscribe from /r/politics (and /r/atheism).

[Auric Demonocles]

That's a bigger reason to subscribe than the ability to comment.

[some guy]

Agreed. I spend half my time on the science subs and the other half on "entertainment" subs.

[sloopyinca]

Then how did you find the time to come on here?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Is the New York Times sexist?

Abramson had recently complained to her bosses after finding out that she was being paid "considerably less" than her male predecessor, Bill Keller

The Times soon struck back, telling Politico, "Jill's total compensation as executive editor was not less than Bill Keller's, so that is just incorrect. Her pension benefit, like all Times employees, is based on her years of service and compensation. The pension benefit was frozen in 2009.

[John]

Is it possible to hit peak schadenfreude?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

In this case, I hope not. I want it to get better.

[John]

Me too. Is there any way Donald Sterling can get involved?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

DONALD STERLING AND MICHAEL SAM PAID MORE THAN JILL ABRAMSON. REPUBLICANS AT NYT TO BLAME.

[R C Dean]

When she asked "Why aren't I getting paid as much as the guy I replaced?"

Why wasn't the answer, "Oh, you mean the guy we fired because he wouldn't take a pay cut?"

[The Late P Brooks]

What difference, at this point, blah blah blah

Democrats are still weighing whether to take part in the new investigative committee, with some arguing that if they boycott altogether, it would leave Ms. Rice or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton open to having to testify before an all-GOP committee, with no defenders on the panel.

For her part, Ms. Rice said Wednesday it would be better if lawmakers spent less time on Benghazi and more time on approving administration requests for more funds to beef up security at other U.S. diplomatic sites in dangerous spots around the globe.

[John]

Look Brooks, it would be nice if you would stop bitching and moaning about how I wrecked your car and start working on how you are going to pay for it.

[Auric Demonocles]

There's no sugarcoating it: the executive branch is entirely blameless in Benghazi.

[DJF]

Not entirely blameless, they failed to order a drone strike against the producer of that internet video. But they have learned their lesson.

[WhatAboutBob]

Here's a big surprise: Obamacare Exchanges Squander Taxpayer Dollars By The Boatload

[WhatAboutBob]

Bending the cost curve down up: First Obamacare Premium Notices For 2015 Show Double Digit Increases

[Sevo]

"Hazardous flame retardants ubiquitous in preschools"
[...]
"The chemicals, which have been linked to hormone disruption and lowered IQs in children, were found in 100 percent of the dust samples collected"

Well, that's no great surprise; the government regulations *required* flame retardants until it outlawed them. What is surprising is the idiots who presumed they would magically and instantly disappear.

But then:
"The study's authors acknowledged the results were fairly typical of what's found in most people's homes and other environments"

So the government required the universal application of chemicals now found to be dangerous, but don't worry, they'll get it right THIS time! And the free market and the Kock bros are to blame!
http://www.sfgate.com/health/a.....479328.php

[John]

Maybe the danger from a fire is greater than the danger from the flame retardants? Trade offs, how do they work?

[Brett L]

I'm not sure about the dangers, but I sure as hell don't trust the government to make that choice for me.

[Rich]

MoD's 'quantum compass' offers potential to replace GPS

Scientists at Porton Down and the National Physical Laboratory believe they are three to five years away from developing a "quantum compass" that would be able to locate itself based on the subatomic effects of the earth's magnetic field.

Just in time for the field's slow reversal!

[The Late P Brooks]

What do you mean, you won't just take our word for it?

A recently proposed deal would allow the city of Detroit to "sell" the art it owns and houses at the Detroit Institute of Arts to a trust that would be required to keep the art in the city. The money raised would go toward funding the city's $3.5 billion pension deficit.

Detroit's creditors had asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes to allow interested buyers to look through the DIA's collection in order to allow them to make their own estimation of the worth of the collection. They believe that it is worth more than the $816 million being offered by the potential trust. In an appraisal conducted in 2013, the city's art collection was valued at between $454 million and $867 million.

Allow a bunch of vultures to paw through our art, just to pay some old bills? How could you?

[Citizen Nothing]

I guarantee the DIA collection would raise more than $816 mill at auction.

[Sevo]

Can't tell 'em apart!

"an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said on Wednesday."
That would be the PRC; the ChiComs.

So, naturally:
"The brunt of Tuesday's anti-China violence appears to have been borne by Taiwanese companies"

Do you get the feeling that the issue might be more along the lines of 'those darn Chinese are bringing us out jobs!'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....22165.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Happy Birthday, L. Frank Baum! Flights of Munchkins sing thee to the rest!

http://www.biography.com/peopl.....enG88fimsO

Also:

"SYRACUSE, N.Y. - City officials plan to seize the tax-delinquent house where "Wizard of Oz'' author L. Frank Baum met his future wife, fueling hopes among Oz-lovers that the once-stately West Onondaga Street property could become a tourist attraction honoring the author.

"The Greater Syracuse Land Bank plans to acquire the historic house after the city completes its tax foreclosure. Then the land bank will work with a private foundation dedicated to Baum to assess the feasibility of renovating the structure as a museum-like home for the foundation, said Katelyn Wright, executive director of the land bank....

"In 2010, at Discenna's urging, the city's Landmark Preservation Board designated the house a protected historic site. Wright, the land bank director, said it has been vacant for several years."

http://www.syracuse.com/news/i....._baum.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

sing thee to *thy* rest

[UnCivilServant]

I thought we burned that place down. Hmph.

[DEG]

Barak Obama lectures Republicans on infrastructure spending using the Tappen Zee Bridge as a backdrop. Hmm.... I thought it was environmentalists that held up rebuilding that bridge?

[John]

Yes. it would be better for the environment if the entire thing collapsed into the Hudson.

And Obama had control of Congress and spent $900 billion on his hopey changey stimulus. How did that bridge miss the list?

[Auric Demonocles]

It didn't have "green jobs" or "campaign donor" associated with it.

[WTF]

The fucker was actually bragging that it only took a year and a half to get the new bridge permitted. Because it usually takes 4 to 5 years.

[110 Lean]

These are my last A.M. links. On Monday I am starting a new job at the Cato Institute. So long Reasonoids, it has been a pleasure. I will be sure to check back in from time to time to read the comments.

Self-absorb much?

[John]

It is funny how they recycle these guys. Maybe they should think about hiring people who have actually done something? Nah, no one like that would take the job.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The 2nd Amendment's true purpose.

[Virginian]

While I wouldn't call for a life sentence, what these girls committed is armed robbery. It stops being shoplifting when you use a weapon to attack someone.

I also think there's something to be said for prosecuting the parents of juvenile criminals. But I'm a big Heinlein fan.