Poll: 35 Percent Support Obama Impeachment, Rand Paul Blasts Racist Drug Laws, Congress Banned from Editing Wikipedia: P.M. Links

• 

  White House

  In a CNN poll, 35 percent of respondents supported impeaching President Obama. A senior adviser to Obama said that the White House is taking Republican threats of impeachment seriously.

• "Race still plays a role in the enforcement of the law," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a speech in Cincinnati today, decrying bad drug laws and making an appeal to minority voters.
• Wikipedia has banned computers at the House of Representatives from editing articles following "persistent disruptive" behavior that included prank changes like describing Donald Rumsfeld as an "alien lizard."
• As the death toll in Gaza approaches 850 people, Israel rejected a ceasefire plan, saying that Secretary of State John "Kerry's proposal leans (too much) towards Hamas's demands."
• The Pentagon announced that Russia today might be in the process of transfering heavy-caliber multiple-launch rocket systems to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. 
• The trigger-happy Albuquerque Police Department has agreed to a deal with the Department of Justice by which an independent monitor will make sure the cops stop killing so many people.
• The black box of the Air Algeria plane has been found.
• Pope Francis is coming to the U.S. in 2015. 

Comments

[Episiarch]

Wikipedia has banned computers at the House of Representatives from editing articles following "persistent disruptive" behavior that included prank changes like describing Donald Rumsfeld as an "alien lizard."

That's our TOP MEN for you. Good thing they're running things, right?

[Jerry on the sea]

behavior that included prank changes like describing Donald Rumsfeld as an "alien lizard."

Look man, it's just a typo.

[Episiarch]

Are you an alien wizard?

[John]

They are children; spoiled, retarded children.

[John]

They are children; spoiled, retarded children.

[Mad Scientist]

In fairness, they might be right about Rumsfeld.

[Episiarch]

Sure, but if they're not going to use a citation, it's just hearsay.

[Bam!]

30 years from now, there will likely be a History Channel program asserting as much.

[Rich]

That's pretty good!

[LynchPin1477]

You think History Channel lasts for 30 more years?

[Raven Nation]

Nah - alien lizards will have taken over the world by then.

[Mr. Smacky]

Alien Lizards took over the world in 1983.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_(1983_miniseries)

[Raven Nation]

I was thinking of these guys:

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

[Raven Nation]

And, if you want to know more, History2 has the Season Premiere of Ancient Aliens tonight and the subject matter is, ta da! The Reptilians.

[Ted S.]

They'd still be all Nazi, all the time, anyway.

[B.P.]

Nah. History Channel doesn't show history programs anymore.

[gimmeasammich]

They'd still be all Nazi aliens, all the time, anyway.

FTFY

/Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

[Ted S.]

I admit to not watching the "History" Channel.

[Raven Nation]

"Ah, the Luftwaffe - the Washington Generals of the History Channel."

Homer Simpson

[Anonymous Coward]

Our TOP MEN are so good and efficient at running the federal government, that they have time to troll Wikipedia.

Such is their skill.

[Ted S.]

Let them spend 24 hours a day editing Wikipedia. That way, they won't have time to fuck up our lives.

[LynchPin1477]

In reality they'll just hire more interns.

#nothinglefttocut

[Ted S.]

more interns.

More blow jobs for everybody!

[Mad Scientist]

I thought the left hated internships because living wage, unfair, slave labor, etc., etc.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Of course they do, when it's Business that's offering the internship. But when the left does it, it's just peachy. Remember: Principals, not principles.

[Los Doyers]

FOE not first comment?! Dock that chink a day's pay for napping on the job.
/brooks

[Mad Scientist]

Bwa ha ha ha ha!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Racism.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Ted S.]

Nyello.

[Collegiate Inspector]

Pretty good OP-ED in The Army Times:

The second most objectionable category, to my mind, are the folks who think we left Iraq too soon and that more 'MURICA is what that country needs. These folks often have bouts of amnesia where they forget that the withdraw plan followed by our sitting president was approved by his predecessor.

[...]

Ignoring, for a moment, the blatant amorality of this concept, let's look at the historical record. How did we do in Vietnam? What about Iraq when Hussein rose to power? How about Afghanistan, in the midst of yet another massively corrupt election sequence staged by a government that is completely ineffectual at the business of governing (kind of answered it, sorry)? The U.S. has no real demonstrated capacity for playing the long game ? establishing a legitimate and capable government abroad.

http://www.armytimes.com/artic.....ay-done-us

[ant1sthenes]

Going all the way back to Reconstruction.

[Swiss Servator, Alles Klar]

-1 Japan, post-MacArthur?
-1 Conrad Adenauer?

[Cdr Lytton]

What, no P.I. love?

[Jerryskids]

The district attorney's office cleared Magee of any wrongdoing and he remains on the force.

[Ted S.]

Alt-text: What, me worry?

[Brandon]

We may have to keep the drone operators on overtime.

[db]

The black box of the Air Algeria plane has been found.

For the sake of my sanity, please refer to them as "flight recorders." They are neither black, nor boxes. Oh, and which one? Generally there are at least two, including a Flight Data Recorder and a Cockpit Voice Recorder.

Anyway, on an MD83, there is likely to be installed a FDR that has very limited capabilities. Especially in the service it was in (leased operations in Africa) it is probably likely to.be in not-so-great condition.

[Rich]

For the sake of my sanity, please do not refer to it as an "FDR".

[db]

OK. "Flight Data Recorder (FDR)" it is.

[Rich]

*** shakes hand ***

[db]

*conceals joke buzzer, extends hand*

[Rich]

*** recoils ***

Fucking Degenerate Retard!

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

What, do you have something against Franklin Delano Romanowski?

[db]

No, it's a Food Detonation Roadster (AKA Philly Food Truck).

[Ted S.]

Always with the racist boxes.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Guess what, soy milk isn't milk.

[db]

That's why I use scare quotes when I say it. I fucking hate that stuff.

[KDN]

Milk-like soy beverage?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Soy juice.

[db]

Hola, Juice. ?Que tal?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Low ridin', homie.

[Idaho Bob]

There's no soy tittie, there's no soy milk!

[Dweebston]

Next you'll tell me rice milk isn't milk, but you'll have to pry the horchata from my dead, cold hands.

[Brandon]

Horchata! I love that stuff. I had some asshole I don't talk to any more tell me Rumchata tastes just like horchata. He's lucky I let him live.

[Rich]

*** rising intonation ***

What about the milk of human kindness?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Malk?

It comes Vitamin R you know.

[cavalier973]

Someone once offered me a "hamburger" made entirely from plant matter. Reality manifested itself and slapped him silly before I could react.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Pope Francis is coming to the U.S. in 2015.

Blessed week ever!

[John]

Nuns are standing bye to take your ticket order. Limit four per customer.

[SusanM]

Only four nuns? Yeesh what a rip-off.

[Mad Scientist]

Are these nuns wall to wall?

(Asking for a friend)

[Los Doyers]

Hehe

[Duke]

"A senior adviser to Obama said that the White House is taking Republican threats of impeachment seriously."

Obama is taking it so seriously that he's limiting his fundraisers to only two a day.

[John]

How about he take it seriously by finally doing his job and obeying the fucking law?

[Duke]

But if he did that, how could he squeeze in 18 holes at Palm Springs?

[cavalier973]

I'd rather him golf than "do his job".

[LynchPin1477]

What they mean is that they are seriously working on new ways to call Republicans racist.

[Rich]

organizers have built their plans around the assumption that Francis would attend

"The Church of the Presumptuous Assumption"

[db]

heavy-caliber multiple-launch rocket systems

What is this I don't even

[Duke]

This is the Magnum Force rocket system.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

"Like I said. A man's got to know his limitations."

[Duke]

SIMON: I hold ten men's lives in my hand.

MARCUS: It's a nine millimeter. It doesn't have stopping power.

SIMON: Right. For that you'd need Magnum Force.

[Bam!]

The trigger-happy Albuquerque Police Department has agreed to a deal with the Department of Justice by which an independent monitor will make sure the cops stop killing so many people.

Dogs still fair game.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

"Race still plays a role in the enforcement of the law," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in a speech in Cincinnati today, decrying bad drug laws and making an appeal to minority voters.

Exactly what a secret, closet racist would say!

[John]

He is just trying to throw us off the scent.

[Rich]

He doesn't have to, John -- He's *white*.

[antisocial-ist]

So this is where salon gets their headlines.

[kinnath]

http://www.salon.com/2014/07/2.....d_poverty/

The right's pathetically low curve: How it got a pass on race and poverty

[Ted S.]

That's an actual article and not from the parody Twitter account?!

[kinnath]

yup

[Trouser-Pod]

Gee, I wonder what steps the Dems will take to combat their racial sins?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Everyone knows that it's the GOP's fault that Democrats who can't stand up to them hate KKK roots.

Bad food ideas:

Krispy Kreme Kernels!

[db]

Obama should totally be removed from office. Except his replacement would be Joe Biden. Either way, odds of either stumbling or bumbling into WWIII are pretty high.

[Bam!]

Do you honestly think that Obama wants to be president anymore? If he could somehow leave the office right now without looking like a failure, I'd bet he'd take it.

[db]

If I were he I'd just resign and move into that sweet soCal pad he's reportedly buying.

[Los Doyers]

SoCal pad? Don't ruin my day.

[db]

I don't know if Rancho Mirage technically qualifies as SoCal.

[db]

derp

[Los Doyers]

Well it's definitely SoCal, just not LA county. It's farther east in Riverside county.

[Ted S.]

Maybe he could move to the eastern end of Riverside County?

And where's the damn river, anyway?

[Ted S.]

Maybe he could move to the eastern end of Riverside County?

And where's the damn river, anyway?

[Ted S.]

Oh, shit.

[Los Doyers]

The city is named for its proximity to the Santa Ana River. The county....well, they got lazy with their name.

[Raven Nation]

Since denied:

http://www.myfoxla.com/story/2.....california

Although with these guys, a denial is like an admission.

[db]

Interesting so many articles just say the Obamas are "not the direct buyers" of the.property. no.one can say for sure who will end up living there.

[Brandon]

I think if you resign from the office you only get 300K a speech instead of 400.

[db]

Dude, think of the potential for speeches about how he was driven from office and opposed at every turn, finally deciding that What Was Best For The Country was for him to step aside...he'd be lionized and compensated tremendously.

[Atanarjuat]

At some point, I think you've made enough money.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Here are some inequalities "male privilege" buys you.

[LynchPin1477]

Inez Fetcher. Nice.

[PapayaSF]

In several ways.

[cavalier973]

These are all problems one must expect from the Patriarchy.

[Sevo]

(repeat, but worth it)
How about those Fed IT managers?!

"Social Security's $300M IT project doesn't work"
[...]
"Social Security brought in the outside consultants from McKinsey to figure out what went wrong.
They found a massive technology initiative with no one in charge ? no single person responsible for completing the project."
http://www.sfgate.com/news/pol.....643072.php

Maybe that's where the IRS emails went to hide!

[Ted S.]

Nothing that can't be solved with a massive infusion of money.

[Sevo]

The second one, that is.

[PapayaSF]

About 50% of large IT projects fail.

[Sevo]

Yeah, and I don't care about the ones that don't use tax money.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

I thought Mark Cuban was kinda cool during his fight with the SEC.

Alas, it turns out he's a moron: MARK CUBAN: If Your Company Is Moving For Tax Reasons, I'm Selling Your Stock

[entropy_factor]

KAPITAL KONTROLZ KWEER!!

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, he was also the guy who was "surprised" that Obama didn't have any entrepreneurs on his economic growth task force.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Eat shit Cuban. You lucked out. Now have the decency to stop being such a derpy fucktwad.

[Rich]

A senior adviser to Obama said that the White House is taking Republican threats of impeachment seriously.

Meaning, I suppose, that the threateners are being moved to the top of The List.

[PapayaSF]

I think it also means: "Let's play this up and the media with run with it as a crazy idea from those racist Republicans and then our base will show up in November."

[entropy_factor]

AUSTIN REASONOID MEETUP

Labor Day weekend. Who's in?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Half of us are in Houston. Why not do one here?

[entropy_factor]

cuz we posted first lol come to Austin!

[Ted S.]

They're waiting for the humidity to go down.

[entropy_factor]

waiting for Houston humidity to go down.. right.... so Reasonoid meetup in Houstin in 2099?

[Ted S.]

I think you're being a bit optimistic there.

[KDN]

I doubt it. Global warming will boil off most of the humidity by then.

[Ted S.]

Phoenix, AZ may be 450 degrees, but it's a dry heat.

[Brett L]

Because Negroni Please brought it up and the wife and I are gonna be in Austin anyways for Labor Day weekend (well, watching FSU-OSU Saturday, driving to Austin as hangover permits on Sunday). Also, does anyone know if the pastry shops in West are still kicking and open on Sunday?

[Horatio]

I'm in, but will be in D-town for the ritual execution, er, game.

[entropy_factor]

Czech Stop? Should be. They opened a second one, one the other side of 35 too

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Chinese Searchers Are Rallied After Giant Yellow Duck Goes Missing

[Sevo]

..."one local radio station urging people on Weibo to step up the hunt, saying, "If you live along the river and see an 18-meter tall big yellow duck, please call 5961027.""

Do you really think you have to tell someone to call if they find a 60' duck?!

[Ted S.]

They should have said to call 8675309.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

eight srix srevren nine tree oh nine?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"No, false alarm, it's only 17 meters, it's a different giant duck."

Alternate joke: Has a giant vat of cream sauce gone mysteriously missing around the same time?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ha ha, I totally knew it wasn't a live duck.

[Rich]

A back-up duck order from an authorized Taiwan maker is on the way

"Back-up Duck" is a nice band name.

[db]

I'm picturing a Parliament-influenced group.

1st album:

Quack Attack

Album cover: several ducks dressed in scrubs and doctor get-up surrounding some sweet booty in an exam room.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lenore Skenazy, you're up to bat:

WICHITA, Kan. -
Wichita police say a 10-month-old baby was left alone in a hot car for two to two and a half hours Thursday afternoon. The girl was found dead at around 6:40 pm in the 1500 block of S. Topeka.

Police say the girl's 29-year-old foster father picked her up from a babysitter at around 4:00 in the afternoon. They returned to the home along with a five-year-old child. Police say, somehow, the child was left behind in the car as the 29-year-old and the 5-year-old went inside.

The foster father's partner, a 26-year-old man who is also a foster parent, was in the backyard when they came home and didn't realize the young girl was not inside.

http://www.kwch.com/news/local.....a/27139842

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's so sad and tragic.

[Rich]

Given the epidemic of car-related child deaths, isn't it time for common-sense car control legislation?

[Coeus]

Fool. This was obviously caused by global warming. We need common-sense carbon legislation.

[Anonymous Coward]

Shadow parents are the key to untangling this puzzle.

[Rich]

Ah, but who will shadow-parent the shadow parents?

[PapayaSF]

Duh, the government.

[lap83]

"Police say, somehow, the child was left behind in the car as the 29-year-old and the 5-year-old went inside."

I'm guessing another foster child isn't in this man's future.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Question for progs: if Rand Paul really is a racist like his father and only wants to dismantle the racial injustices in our drug and gun laws to cover up for that, at what point does his racism-dodging become a net-positive for black people and thus the only rational choice for them in a contest with a standard Dem that doesn't care about drug or police abuse issues?

[LynchPin1477]

Never because INTENTIONZ.

And that is a serious answer.

[drugwarisevil]

"The Pentagon announced that Russia today ..." Please in the future, do not use today right behind Russia in sentences unless you are referring to "Russia Today". Thanks.

[Ted S.]

And one of the 24/7 stories has Russia claiming that the US is engaging in a smear campaign. Gotta love the projection.

[Aloysious]

Syria conflict: Isis 'overruns' Raqqa military base

[Rich]

In Soviet Russia today gets up *you*!

[Duke]

It's almost 4 but is it too early for a family man to knock off and start drinking? By "drinking" I mean drop acid.

[Coeus]

Unless you've got a court date, child birth or weapons training in a few hours, it's never too early to drop acid. Daytime tripping is the best. Sunlight is awesome.

[Ted S.]

It's always happy hour somewhere.

[Ted S.]

Legend has it that Groucho Marx and Otto Preminger both dropped acid to prepare for the making of the movie Skidoo.

[PapayaSF]

I recently watched that. Gads, it's as bizarre and bad as the legend says. I can imagine it as a weird and funny pitch and script, but it came off like a bunch of old squares pretending to be hip. Which describes most of the "hip" Hollywood movies of that era.

[Aloysious]

McDonald's in Russian court case over standards

Russia's main consumer watchdog has filed a lawsuit in Moscow against McDonald's, urging the restaurant chain to withdraw certain products.

[PapayaSF]

Lawfare by Putin.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fapping material for Shrieky:

Fox News Weekend Anchor Pleads Guilty to Disorderly Conduct

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? A Fox News weekend anchor pleaded guilty Friday to disorderly conduct following after a May arrest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in which a police video showed he struggled with officers.

Gregg Jarrett, 59, entered his plea by petition and didn't appear in Hennepin County District Court. His attorney didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

[OldMexican]

I once caught Gregg Jarrett looking at Julie Bandera's tits (and generally checking her out) during a news show they had on a Saturday, like 3 years ago. I would've done the same thing, though, so I can't blame the guy.

[Coeus]

I am loving Dallas's D.A.

DALLAS (Reuters) ? A 57-year-old Texas man who spent 12 years in prison for rape was exonerated on Friday, with legal experts saying his case marked the first time someone has been cleared of a crime by DNA testing that was not requested by the convicted person.

Michael Phillips was released from prison in 2002 and prosecutors said his innocence was proven through a new program by the Dallas County district attorney's office to analyze untested rape kits, even if the defendant does not make a request.

"Untested rape kits should not just sit on a shelf and collect dust. The exoneration continues to expose the past weakness in our criminal justice system," Dallas County prosecutor Craig Watkins said in a statement.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Phillips' case marks the first time in the United States an exoneration of this nature has occurred. The group said the case became the 34th exoneration by the Dallas District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit.

[Cytotoxic]

A great man, and apparently one of the very few prosecutors who understands what a 'false positive' is and what 'experimental controls' are.

[Ted S.]

How much will the police union spend campaigning for his opponent?

[PapayaSF]

Great, but why would an innocent man sit in prison for 12 years and not make a request that the rape kit be processed? I don't get it.

[Coeus]

Philips was identified in a lineup by the victim and said his attorney urged him to accept a plea deal because a jury likely would not side with a black man accused of raping a white teenage girl, the National Registry of Exonerations said.

After his release in 2002, he spent an additional six months in jail for failing to register as a sex offender. During that time, Philips challenged his conviction in court but when that failed, he gave up trying to clear his name.

No faith in the justice system. Seems perfectly understandable to me.

[PapayaSF]

I think it's stupid to plead guilty to things you didn't do, especially if there's a rape kit that can prove your innocence.

[Redmanfms]

You might think it stupid, but when it's X years versus 2X, 3X, or life and you only have a pubic offender whose sole job is apparently to hard sell plea deals the choice gets a lot harder.

Especially dealing with juries. People on juries are usually (always?) mouth-breathing morons. I certainly wouldn't trust a jury.

[Aloysious]

Global decline of wildlife linked to child slavery

New research suggests the global decline in wildlife is connected to an increase in human trafficking and child slavery.

Ecologists say the shortage of wild animals means that in many countries more labour is now needed to find food.

Children are often used to fill this need for cheap workers, especially in the fishing industry.

The decline in species is also helping the proliferation of terrorism and the destabilisation of regions.

[Aloysious]

There's a direct link between the scarcity of wildlife, the labour demands of harvests and this dramatic increase in child slavery"

Prof Justin Brashares University of California, Berkeley

[LynchPin1477]

This really makes my head hurt. Is there a scarcity of work animals?

[PapayaSF]

Harnessing a tiger to a plow is notoriously difficult.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And getting good catherders is really difficult.

[Brett L]

This is patently untrue unless diversity has exponentially increased since about 1800.

[Heroic Mulatto]

The study says there are some approaches that can work. They argue that when local governments give fishers and hunters exclusive rights to harvest some areas, social tensions can be reduced.

There's a phrase for that, how does it go? 'Property Nights'? No... 'Roperty Pights'? No, that's not it either...

[Aloysious]

While in the US the decline was cushioned by federal subsidies to retrain fishermen...

MOAR FREE SHIT

I just threw up in my mouth.

[LynchPin1477]

Don't forget rape culture. Cuz, you know, without as many animals "available"...

[PH2050]

I prefer my slaves to have opposable thumbs so I fail to see the connection.

[Stormy Dragon]

Orlando represses Christian tow truck driver by arresting him for freely exercising his religion by stealing gay people's cars:

Tow company appeared to target Gay Days participants, Orange deputies say

[Heroic Mulatto]

I see nothing in the article about Christianity. Some people are just homophobes, no religious belief necessary.

[PapayaSF]

And I see nothing to support the claim that he "appeared" to target gay people's cars.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

His pastor obviously put him up to it. I know this because I am a critical thinker -- by which I mean that I have pre-assigned roles to the participants in this story based on what I would like to be critical of, and then thought real hard about something else.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

This sounds smart and like it could have no easily foreseeable unintended consequences whatsoever (emphasis mine):

Sound corporate tax reform would generate federal revenue to boost domestic investments and reduce deficits. And by raising U.S. taxes on foreign profits and cutting them on domestic profits ? it can level the playing field between the Pfizers and Walgreens ? and between companies that use international tax avoidance as a business strategy and those that don't.

How do we solve the problem created by an internationally atypical worldwide taxation regime? DOUBLE DOWN!

[LynchPin1477]

Whoever said prosperity makes people stupid in the other thread was right. Because if the rest of the world didn't need access to our consumer market so badly, this would be a great way to cut off access to foreign products and services.

[Cytotoxic]

*Easy*/unearned prosperity makes people stupid. It's the government.

[Brandon]

Stop. Government makes people stupid. Nothing else.

[PH2050]

Holy shit.

We will never reach Peak Stupid.

[Aloysious]

A country where liberal journalists risk death

The life of a liberal journalist in Pakistan is not an easy one. Write about someone fighting a blasphemy case, or someone whose faith is considered heresy, and you may very soon find yourself in deep trouble.

Shoaib Adil, a 49-year-old magazine editor and publisher in Lahore, has many well-wishers and they all want him to disappear from public life or, even better, leave the country.

[Aloysious]

California manhunt for tuberculosis-positive patient

Authorities in California are searching for a fugitive homeless man who has refused treatment for tuberculosis and may be contagious.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Eduardo Rosas Cruz, 25, of Mexico.

[Cytotoxic]

This is why we need government.

[Rich]

And so it begins ....

[Cytotoxic]

This is why we need to ungrid the electricity system and almost every thing else. Apparently, in 2012, there was a CME equal to the one that caused the Carrington Event of 1859 and it nearly hit Earth. Had it done so, every transformer would have caught fire. The grid would be toast. We'd be toast. CME: a legitimate threat.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2.....nasa-says/

[Heroic Mulatto]

I agree wholeheartedly. There was a group attempting to do that a few years ago. Tim Cavanaugh wrote an obnoxious, utterly stupid H&R post mocking them.

[Cytotoxic]

Perhaps by meditation you could channel your hatred of Cavanaugh into a Chi blast and use it to deflect the CME, much like so: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdh1u66wrXk

[Heroic Mulatto]

Knowing that Cavanaugh has been reduced to writing D-list reboots of The Bad News bears, I don't think I could get my hatred of him up to 9000 these days.

[Cytotoxic]

...really? That's what he's doing?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Behold.

If you look up his last posts on HnR, he mentions his work on the movie.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Is that still a profitable property?

[Raven Nation]

For the technologically challenged among us, can you provide a brief explanation of "ungrid the electricity system and almost everything else"?

[Cytotoxic]

There was a Forbes article a few weeks ago about a guy who claims that he's made a Stirling motor (external combustion engine) that can use natgas to supply your business with electricity and it can be scaled down to your home. His previous accomplishments include...The Segway.

Basically, decentralized power production = no more or less of dependence on a grid.

[Redmanfms]

Of course, a CME would also likely destroy all of the electronics that need electricity, so ungriding would be pretty pointless.

The real problem with Stirling engines and why they have basically fallen to internal combustion is their cost. The initial cost isn't offset by the marginal back-end efficiency gains compared to how much cheaper a dual fuel diesel, or the even cheaper gasoline generators, can be acquired.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Of course, a CME would also likely destroy all of the electronics that need electricity, so ungriding would be pretty pointless.

Ungriding alone, yes. However, certain aspects of the grid have gone without hardening since the end of the Cold War for no good reason.

[Redmanfms]

Even if you harden the grid, there is some question as to whether the electronics we use would be able to survive. Solid state boards are used in practically everything today. That you might have lighting is nice, but your fridge, A/C, obviously your computer, and even your car might not work at all.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Oh, no doubt an EMP will fuck up things royally. You're talking to a prepper here. 🙂 Still, hardening certain aspects of the grid might allow the government to continue long enough to keep complete chaos from setting in. Of course, their plan for that is for FEMA to load us all into stadiums...but still.

[Redmanfms]

You're talking to a prepper here.

No offense, but after having spent years on prep/survival related discussion boards I've come to the conclusion that most people who self-identify as "preppers" use these massive civilization-ending low-possibility events as an excuse to buy patently absurd shit. I decided that "prepping" is a hobby that the people engaging in it refuse to accept is really just a hobby. Nothing wrong with that really, just saying.

Kinda like "self-defense" types and their constant "training" (usually with "real-deal" guys like Haley and Vickers) and absolute refusal to test their skills in any measurable way through competition (TRAINING SCARS!!11!!11!).

[Raven Nation]

Thanks all!

[PapayaSF]

Read theWikipedia article on the Carrington Event: telegraph wires gave off sparks, telegraph offices burned down, etc. Today, it could (among other things) fry satellites and disable the electrical grid by destroying giant transformers that are built to order with lead times in months or years. And it would fry countless individual electronic devices.

Imagine large parts of the country or the world without power for months. Mass starvation is a distinct possibility.

And, of course, Iran or Al Qaeda or whoever could do a version of this by launching a medium-range rocket from a ship off the coast and exploding a nuke a few hundred miles up. You'd have this result in a large chunk of the country.

[Cytotoxic]

Starfish Prime!

[Brandon]

Meh. I have a reel mower. My lawn will still be nice and tidy.

[NotAnotherSkippy]

Translation: use the most expensive possible solution to the problem. A Carrington event stands a decent chance of severely disrupting communications in addition to the loss of critical substations. No communications means a modern day economy ceases to exist as well, and that ultimately means the natural gas grid that toxic thinks he can rely upon.

The real answer as HM points out below is hardening the grid, not getting rid of it. There are simply too many cost and efficiency benefits to the load balancing that a grid provides to want to throw it away. If our government truly wanted to plan for legitimate disasters it would be stockpiling and staging replacement transformers with their 6-18mo lead times to quickly recover from an extreme X-class event. The ~$10BB we waste annually trying to scare everyone about global warming would go a long way to answering that problem.

Or if you want another analogy, destroying the grid is akin to making everyone only eat food that comes from the surround 100miles.

[paranoid android]

In 2012, Earth narrowly escaped solar blast so powerful it could 'knock civilization back to 18th century'

But on the plus side, we'd get the return of those sweet tri-corner hats!

[Aloysious]

Cheering robots replace real fans at Korean baseball

A struggling Korean baseball team have invented a novel way to improve atmosphere at their matches - by bringing in a crowd of robot fans.

A good idea for the WNBA?

[Trouser-Pod]

Boy, you just really want to hasten that whole Skynet/Rise of the Machines thing, don't you?

[Aloysious]

Brazilian central bank frees up $13bn to boost economy

Brazil's central bank has announced plans to reduce the amount of money commercial banks keep in reserve, in a bid to boost economic growth.

What Brazil needs is a stiff dose of Quantative Easing. They can have mine, I don't want anymore.

[Aloysious]

Lan Lan's comment got deleted. This makes for a very awkward thread...

[Heroic Mulatto]

What? You're telling me that they don't have Jews in Brazil?

[Aloysious]

Why did Lan Lan's comment get deleted? It was a retarded, pointless, completely inaccurate characterization of Libertarians worthy of Mary Stack...

...

oh.

[Marshall Gill]

She is definitely still around. Her youtube channel has nothing but stupid criticisms of Reason posts and videos, nothing else. She is, without doubt, a very mentally disturbed person.

[Free Society]

The Pentagon announced that Russia today might be in the process of transfering heavy-caliber multiple-launch rocket systems to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

No wonder so many journalists are leaving RT.

[Aloysious]

Simas Ignores Subpoena Again as White House Defies Issa

Top White House political adviser David Simas refused again Friday to honor a congressional subpoena, prompting Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to vote to rebuke the administration.

Time for duels. I'll put $5 on the dumb one.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Time for duels. I'll put $5 on the dumb one.

Which one would that be?

[Aloysious]

Eleanor Holmes Norton says 'you don't have a right to know' what's going on in government

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting congressional representative for the District of Columbia, angrily sputtered during a congressional hearing Friday that the White House should not be held up to scrutiny, saying that there was no right to know what it was doing behind closed doors.

"You don't have a right to know everything in a separation-of-powers government, my friend. That is the difference between a parliamentary government and a separation-of-powers government," Norton said during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing.

[Raven Nation]

Already covered?

AmCon denounces libertarian interpretation of Gruber:

http://www.theamericanconserva.....hat-wasnt/

[grrizzly]

Why is it called the American Conservative? Is it along the lines of saying that Obama is a moderate Republican?

[RishJoMo]

Dude seems to know what time it is.

http://www.AnonToolz.tk

[The Late P Brooks]

The black box of the Air Algeria plane has been found.

"Here. Hold my beer, and watch this!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ah. Finally, a civilized language.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bella.

Mi piace tante.

[Los Doyers]

Get a room.

[Heroic Mulatto]

This entire exchange needs more wild gesticulations.

[Los Doyers]

Terroni

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Che scrova!

[Heroic Mulatto]

JOOZ!

[paranoid android]

I must have missed the last big libertarian conference where we all decided the one uniform position on Israel that all libertarians must adhere to under penalty of expulsion. Unless you're just talking out of your ass, that is.

[PapayaSF]

Clearly, Israel should never have denied people the right to self-government in 1948. Oh wait, it was the "Palestinians" who tried that! Never mind.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Heh.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He who fucks nuns...

Death or glory!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Actually, funny you bring The Clash up. Was wondering what libertarians thought of them given their socialist leanings. Like Billy Bragg. I know par for the course, but still...

[Los Doyers]

I've an uncle from Calabria, so I'm well versed on the north/south hate that's prevalent in those parts.

[Los Doyers]

They can hate, but their cuisine and wine more than makes up for that.

[Redmanfms]

With Rage I just assume that every song logically applied would be a screed against the very things I hate about government.

That Morello and de la Rocha are idiotic Commies with truly adolescent and contradictory political views I can mostly ignore.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Is probably a renegade priest and the founder of Protestantism?

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

(but, like the Clash, his music is good)

[Los Doyers]

I have a preference for Italian women north of the Po, because then they're mixed with desirable German qualities.

[jmomls]

RATM are a perfect example of "I hear the rock, but where's the roll?" [Keith Richards]

They played a bunch of stupid grinding noise and the college kids ate it up for a couple years. Yawn.

[BigT]

"The foster father's partner, a 26-year-old man who is also a foster parent,"

This is why there should be no gay adoptions.

[BigT]

/sarc