White House: Fund Rebels to Fight ISIS, Jay Carney Got a Job, Ray Rice Not Gone for Good: P.M. Links

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  President Barack Obama will lay out his plan to destroy ISIS tonight, but part of his strategy is already apparent: Fund moderate rebels in Syria to fight against ISIS.  The definition of insanity is what, again? And what are those moderate rebels supposed to do about American teens who intend to join ISIS?

• Former Press Secretary and boy wonder Jay Carney will join CNN as a political commentator. Can he top his previous best and dodge 9,487 more questions?
• Attorney General Eric Holder's spokesman has been calling Democrats for help leaking documents relating to the IRS scandal … says a Republican he accidentally called.
• Web-based businesses like Netflix, Kickstarter, and Digg are participating in Internet Slowdown Day to support Net Neutrality.
• James Holmes, who went on killing spree in Aurora, Colorado, is going on trial soon. The media is fighting for a chance to film it.
• The ceasefire is still shaky, but Ukraine says 70 percent of Russia's invading forces have now left the country.
• The clock is ticking down toward the vote on Scottish independence, and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron is pleading that they don't do it. So is BP. If it does break free, what currency will Scotland use?
• Ray Rice, who is indefinitely suspended from the NFL for assaulting his then-fiancée (now wife), just might play ball again, says NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ray Rice, who is indefinitely suspended from the NFL for assaulting his then-fianc?e (now wife), just might play ball again, says NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell.

Any publicity is good publicity?

[PD Scott]

After all, they let that trashy scumbag Michael Vick back in.

[creech]

what’s your evidence that Vick hasn’t turned over a new leaf?

[Agammamon]

Rehabilitation? Hah! Its all about finding acceptable targets to heap opprobrium on. One doesn’t stop a stoning hallway through and say ‘well, he’s learned his lesson’ unless you want to be on the receiving end of the next rock.

[PD Scott]

I don’t know if he has or has not turned over a new leaf. If he has, terrific, I’m glad he’s not choking dogs to death or bankrolling dog fights any more.

But if he weren’t so good a QB, do you think the NFL would have let him back in?

[Agammamon]

If he weren’t a good QB the NFL wouldn’t have had him on the roster even *before* the dogfighting.

[Agammamon]

The league doesn’t care how good of a person you are, any more than *any* employer does.

Nice guy? Who gives a shit? Good Father? Fuck you, stay home and play with your kids. You wanna work here you *close*.

[PD Scott]

So if Jerry Sandusky ever gets out, you’ll try to snag him for your local Pop Warner team, right?

[Gbob]

The Fighting Warty’s would have a good chance that year, then.

[Agammamon]

Nothing to do with me – but *none* of these people were picked for these jobs because they were ‘good people’.

They got the jobs because they were good at them and, as we’ve seen, with the amount of money at stake, as long as they keep their foulness out of the public eye, they’ll keep those jobs.

Sandusky, for example, was covered up for. Not because the people who knew about it thought he was a good but misunderstood person but because he drew a lot of water in that town.

And people in the NFL knew what Vick was doing, they just kept their mouths shut in a ‘I don’t know if I don’t *have* to know’ way to keep the money flowing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

A message to Obama from a former Muslim:

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

Yeah. I think he’d have better success pissing in the wind and drinking it.

[PapayaSF]

how ISIL is imitating the prophet Muhammad in every detail they do

Yup. Quite an awkward situation, that.

[CatoTheElder]

Most Americans think ISIL are bad guys, villains like the characters in a Bond movie. They simply cannot grasp that ISIL is a genuine expression of orthodox Islam.

[CE]

Or understand that all states started as gangs of armed thugs.

[CE]

Yahoo News had a headline earlier today that read: “Obama to Announce Plans for Islamic State”.

They have since re-worded it.

[Brett L]

I don’t think Kurdlahoma is Islamic.

[PapayaSF]

I KNEW IT!!1!

[Sevo]

“There is no liberal bias in higher education”, example #6,084,603
“UC Berkeley team calls for U.S. policies to narrow income gap”
[?]
?.”scholars from the new Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society”?
? “We don’t make any bones about supporting a fair and inclusive society,” Powell said. “If that makes us liberal, so be it. We back up everything we do with a lot of research.”
http://www.sfgate.com/default/…..744695.php

Yep, they’ll ‘research’ something until they can find some cherries worth picking!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

We’ll research ourselves into the ground if we have to!

/Locks jaw. Adjusts ascot.

“Where is Benson? That off-color butler is always late.”

[Knarf Yenrab!]

the new Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society

Well, who could be possibly be opposed to being fair and inclusive?

[Rev-Match]

Me because buzzwords have no effect on me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

…but part of his strategy is already apparent: Fund moderate rebels in Syria to fight against ISIS.

“What? What’s everyone looking at me funny for?”

[Jerry on the sea]

Funding moderate rebels…what could go wrong?

[PapayaSF]

As Iowahawk said, a moderate Islamic rebel is someone who only wants to cut off half your head.

[Sevo]

“Employers must provide sick leave under new California law”
[?]
“California will become the second state in the nation to require paid sick leave, which will benefit approximately 40 percent of the state’s workforce,”?
http://www.sfgate.com/politics…..746196.php

And only harm the remaining 60%…

[Apatheist ?_??]

Nah, it’ll probably harm most of that 40% too.

[Agammamon]

And only harm the remaining 60%…

You mean ‘and only harm the remaining 100%’ when they see their paycheck getting cut again to support something they didn’t want anyway.

[Mad Scientist]

My neighbor works for CalTrans. He has something like 1200 hours of sick time to cash out when he leaves. Shit like this is what’s WRONG with California.

[Rhywun]

Shit like this is what’s WRONG with California all public sector unions.

FTFY

[JW]

Why do you hate pension-padding, parasitical public unions, Mad?

Do you WANT people to be eating dog food out of trash cans in the middle of the street?

[Brett L]

I’m a little pissed I can only carry over 80 hours. I mean, I have an infant and just took a week vacation, and I still have to find 3 more days to burn. Next year will be worse because I was only at about 20 at the end of last year.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

The ceasefire is still shaky, but Ukraine says 70 percent of Russia’s invading forces have now left the country.

The hashtags worked!

[Sudden]

Channeling a technocratic Neville Chamberlain:

#peaceinourtime

[Fist of Etiquette]

And what are those moderate rebels supposed to do about American teens who intend to join ISIS?

Set them up with a GI Bill.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Imma say: Cut off their heads on youtube.

[Rich]

Well, Gooddell can *really* kiss his job goodbye now.

[Bam!]

The clock is ticking down toward the vote on Scottish independence, and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron is pleading that they don’t do it. So is BP. If it does break free, what currency will Scotland use?

I nominate Sean Connery for the face on the new currency.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Ron Swanson, in honor of his love for Lagavulin.

[Almanian!]

Tim the Enchanter…who was a busy man…

[Almanian!]

Younger, James-Bond Sean, or Older, grey-beard Sean?

[Bam!]

Younger on the smaller denominations. As they go up, he ages.

[Almanian!]

This is brilliant – I approve!

[Rhywun]

So, Zed on the 20?

[Ted S.]

Lord Summerisle.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

what currency will Scotland use?

I figured they’d fall back on the auld standard of wool bearing critters.

[Malkavian]

The Highlander Immortal dude. Just don’t let him anywhere near ISIS.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Adam Smith

[Sudden]

Ha! Fat chance those commies put his mug on their currency. Although I did get a photo of the Adam Smith statue in Edinburgh

[CE]

Why not Scotty?

[Headless Body of Agnew]

Because he’s Canadian?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Attorney General Eric Holder’s spokesman has been calling Democrats for help leaking documents relating to the IRS scandal…

Just something chief law enforcement officers do.

[PD Scott]

Clearly his spokesman is out of control, doing things his way instead of the AG’s way. I’m sure Mr. Holder will be very disappointed when he hears about his actions.

[Ted S.]

When he reads about them in the paper.

[Almanian!]

4:30 already? Holy shit, I’ve wasted almost a whole day. I feel like I work for the government…

[trshmnster the terrible]

You sound just like the guy I had to interact with from the government. Doing his job was optional, making my job easier by doing his job well? Forbidden.

[trshmnster the terrible]

(not saying you’re that way, only that I imagine that guy looking up and realizing he didn’t do anything all day)

[Fist of Etiquette]

…but Ukraine says 70 percent of Russia’s invading forces have now left the country.

But they’ve left behind an epic number of upper-deckers.

[Zeb]

I just want to express my approval of and enthusiasm for any upper-decker reference.

I really wish I had know about the upper-decker when I was in school and went to more parties hosted by people I didn’t like very much.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Trigger Warning: Serious Mask Slippage

“Whenever we can, we follow the law,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the House Ways and Means subcommittee on health on Wednesday.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Somebody hook some magnets up to Madison’ grave! I think I’ve got a great new energy source!

[PapayaSF]

Indeed.

[PapayaSF]

Obama’s new renewables plan: tapping Founder rotational energy.

[Brandon]

Did they ask him what situation could arise where they can’t follow the law?

[Headless Body of Agnew]

“Days ending in Y.”

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

A nation of laws and not of men.

[Rich]

“Commissioner Koskinen unfortunately misspoke. He obviously meant to say, ‘We never follow the law unless we are absolutely forced to.'”

[CatoTheElder]

I think he meant to say, “We always follow the law, because we are the law. Everything we do is perfectly legal under the FYTW clause.”

[Slammer]

“Whenever we can fucking feel like it, we follow the law,”

Fixed

[rbenchley]

Reminds me of Mickey Cohen from LA Confidential, “I do not kill innocent bystanders because it’s a mitzvah not to and because I adhere to the Ten Commandments except when it is bad for business.”

[CE]

I told the IRS auditor the same thing. (Whenever I can, I follow the law.) She wasn’t amused.

[Rev-Match]

“Whenever we can, we follow the law,”

I wonder if that excuse would work for speeding.

[Slammer]

Former Press Secretary and boy wonder Jay Carney will join CNN as a political commentator.

CNN can always use one more punchable face.

[Malkavian]

The ceasefire is still shaky, but Ukraine says 70 percent of Russia’s invading forces have now left the country

Russians realized they only needed 30% to destroy UA military?

[JMC1607]

Michael Moore apparently survived the demolition of Team America headquarters, will not be appearing with Michelle Obama at any “Let’s Move!” events.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.a…..0ethe.html

[Los Doyers]

American prosperity was built on slavery and torture.

And you all should feel terrible about it.

[Ted S.]

More or less terrible than you should feel for SFing the link?

[Ted S.]

More or less terrible than you should feel for SFing the link?

[Ted S.]

Aw, shit, my mouse is acting up again.

[Los Doyers]

He doesn’t like trashtalk.

[Slammer]

Better call the cat.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Definitely more terrible than double posting.

[Brandon]

WTF kind of link is this?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Link 404 error.

Thanks for ruining my moMent.

[Ted S.]

Ruining your Libertarian Moment?

[Los Doyers]

His Zen m o m e nt.

[Los Doyers]

Sorry, first time trying this shit, I probably added an extra space or two.

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/10/6…..in/5495477

[Zeb]

Name one civilization that wasn’t to some degree built on slavery and torture.

Not defending slavery and torture, of course, but I don’t think anyone’s hands are clean by those standards.

[Los Doyers]

The Native Americans, duh. The white man arrived and brought with them warfare and water boarding.

[Restoras]

You sure? Did Native Americans capture and enslave each other, like the Greeks did?

[Los Doyers]

Of course not. That’s just ludicrous. They were a peaceful and fun loving bunch who didn’t even fashion weapons because they didn’t need them.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Duh. Neil Young said so.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And Steven Seagal?

[CE]

Torturing their enemies was one of their top sources of entertainment. They didn’t have TV or football, remember.

[Zeb]

What’s really funny is how quickly the common image of American Indians changed from vicious savages collecting scalps to peaceful noble savages. As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in between, of course.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

As I’ve mentioned in the past, Americans are insufferable when it comes to slavery. They were not the first and last civilization to engage in a practice that’s been going on for thousands and thousands of years. Moreover, jerk-jack offs like Sadbeard completely neglect the other side of the coin: Namely, the role of Europeans and African kingdoms who willingly took part in the trade.

It’s tiresome, boring and narcissistic to listen to this over and over and over and over.

[Los Doyers]

Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery. BOYCOTT CACHACA

[Heroic Mulatto]

Really? Slavery was legal, and practiced, in Saudi Arabia until 1964. When did Brazil get around to it? Yesterday?

[Los Doyers]

Apologies, last country in the Western* world to abolish slavery.

[CatoTheElder]

Back in the 1960s, ARAMCO’s standard contract included language that forbade the use of slave labor by local contractors.

[Slammer]

People need to study what happened to the African slaves that were shipped east to the Middle East, compared to the ones shipped west to the New World. Then when they’re sufficiently outraged they can start harassing the M.E. countries about reparations and shit.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Then when they’re sufficiently outraged they can start harassing the M.E. countries about reparations and shit.

For “reparations”, those Middle Eastern countries would, um, you know, actually stop their de facto slavery first.

[Azathoth!!]

Please justify this comment in light of your previous comment–

Really? Slavery was legal, and practiced, in Saudi Arabia until 1964. When did Brazil get around to it? Yesterday?

[Calidissident]

Yglesias’s article is stupid for many reasons, most of which have already been touched on by others. And the common leftist trope of the US or the West being uniquely evil historically is obviously inaccurate. That said, I think that these arguments, often brought up by people on the right in slavery discussions, about slavery in the Middle East, or ancient Rome, etc. or how African kingdoms sold slaves tho Europeans usually miss the point and don’t have much relevance beyond refuting that the assertion that the US or the West are uniquely evil. The reason that the Arab slave trade, or Roman slavery, or African slavery don’t get the attention in the US that American slavery and the Atlantic slave trade get is that they’re much, much less relevant to American history and modern American society.

I feel like this an area where conservatives can be hypocritical – when leftists argue that it’s unfair that American historical knowledge is tilted toward European history and white American history, conservatives, quite fairly, point out that that makes sense, as the US is a society that was founded as a result of European colonization, and has been mostly white, and until recently almost exclusively controlled by whites, since its founding …

[Calidissident]

… My point is that just as it makes sense that the accomplishments and history of Europeans and Americans are more well-known in the US than the history and accomplishments of other places, it also makes sense than the atrocities committed by those groups are going to be more well-known and talked about more.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

It’s Sadbeard, so Reason defend itself by killing the link.

Too much derp.

[John]

His point is that this system was not an aberration pitted against the rising world of Victorian capitalism. Instead, it was an integral element of the emerging order. Follow the free market thread from the customer to the shop to the factory to the textile supplier and you’d find forced labor on land confiscated violently from its indigenous inhabitants

Slavery was vital to the 19th Century American economy. I guess that is why the Northern economy died after the civil war ended. Right? I mean the late 19th century was a time of economic malaise and national decline, wasn’t it?

Yglesias is so stupid you would feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a horrible person.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

WAGE SLAVERY! EXPLOITATION! ROBBER BARONS!!!!

//prog history 101

[John]

His argument boils down to “Southern whites made a lot of money off of using slaves to grow cotton and therefore ALL American prosperity is based on slavery and torture”

No really, that is what he is claiming.

[MJGreen]

Well of course. The slaveowners made all the money, and their spending it in the late 19th century is what drove demand and thus the prosperity of that age.

[Warty]

Follow the free market thread from the customer to the shop to the factory to the textile supplier and you’d find forced labor on land confiscated violently from its indigenous inhabitants.

Jesus Christ, Matty. Of course you will. It’s like he’s never read a book in his life and neither has his audience.

“There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed.”

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He sounds exactly like my lost, left-wing, brother. And I’m being charitable to both.

[John]

Its like he has no idea that there is this whole school of history that claims that the North launched the civil war over economic differences and wanted to kill slavery to keep it from competing with Northern labor. If American prosperity was based on slavery, why was the North so keen on killing it?

He writes on the intellectual level of an earnest and slightly autistic 8th grader.

[Brandon]

He thinks on the intellectual level of an earnest and slightly autistic 8th grader.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I’m not familiar with the Howard Zinn version of history, but I reckon they feel the North was just as guilty of colonial rapacity. Industrial might kill the innocent Indian just like video killed the radio star – in their minds.

[Zeb]

And somehow we are supposed to think less of industrial capitalism because of what happened in the past, rather than judging it on its own merits. Even if the arguments weren’t pretty silly, it shouldn’t matter. Way too many people, left and right are fixated on the past. You can’t fix the past, nor can you bring it back. The past sucks. Now lets move on.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Zeb, by staying fixated on the past you get to demand things in the present. You never move on and stay in perpetual victim mode. Quebec’s motto is ‘Je me souviens’ I remember. And boy do they ever. It plays awfully well politically against Ottawa.

Long memories, leave for short futures.

[Agammamon]

He who controls the past controls the future.

[CE]

Bring me John Connor.

[Zeb]

And that’s probably the cause of half of the war in the world.

I think studying and remembering history is a wonderful and useful thing. But don’t take it personally. It doesn’t fucking matter who your ancestors were or who they got fucked over by.

[Brett L]

And somehow we are supposed to think less of industrial capitalism because of what happened in the past,

You mean like ending slavery and child labor?

[Mad Scientist]

What difference, at this point, does it make?

[ant1sthenes]

I do feel terrible about it. Really, could we actually have or afford the massive government that we have now without our legacy of slavery and imperialism? Of course not. Supporting libertarianism and trying to slash government is just my way of working toward reparations.

[ant1sthenes]

Also, steadfastly hating on the party of the Confederacy.

[tarran]

Over at Climate Audit, Steven McIntyre has been exposing the manifold untrue statements Michael Mann and his legal team has been making to the court.

The latest: Michael Mann claims he had nothing to do with a figure which appears on his CV as something he coaauthored.

The Muir Russell panel had conceded that the WMO 1999 diagram and related IPCC 2001 diagrams (the two most discussed hide-the-decline diagrams) were “misleading”. CEI reported this in their original Memorandum in December 2012…

Nonetheless, in Mann’s current Reply Memorandum (using identical wording to the January 2013 memorandum), Mann accused CEI of trying to “obfuscate”, claiming that the “misleading” comment had “absolutely nothing to do with Dr. Mann, or with any graph prepared by him”, that the “misleading” comment was directed only to the WMO 1999 graphic, in which Mann had no involvement:

But Jean S has found something even more damning. In Mann’s own CV, Mann lists himself as a coauthor of the WMO 1999 diagram

It’s actually kind of pitiable. The guys giving Mann money to wage his legal battles have been doing him no favors.

[John]

I bet the defendants laughed their ass off when that idiot filed that suit. I would have.

[Ted S.]

The problem is that they have to pay legal fees, even if they are later able to recover them, which is no sure thing.

[Marshall Gill]

While the people here at “Free Minds and Markets” have failed to spend an electron on it, one of the defendants counter-sued.

Mark Steyn is taking on Mann alone. He says that he is going to insist on getting Mann on the stand. Instead of cowering in legal silence, he trashes Mann as a serial liar at every opportunity.

I disagree with Steyn on a couple of areas but he is second to none except Balko when it comes to holding police and courts to task for their actions. He and Ezra Levant bent over the Canadian Human Rights Commissions.

While I wouldn’t call Steyn a Libertarian, he is ten times the libertarian that Steven Chapman is and worth reading for his writing alone even if you disagree with his premises.

[CatoTheElder]

His writing on the “Human Rights Commission” and the Mann case is very much worthwhile, and entertaining.

[Brett L]

I think the materials gleaned from discovery will be valuable enough to pay the fees.

[CatoTheElder]

Here is a fairly objective presentation on ClimateGate, the source of the quote “Mike’s trick to hide the decline.”

ClimateGate

The whole thing is worthwhile, but the ClimateGate topic starts at 30:00.

What makes this presentation particularly good is that it is made by an AGW-believer, Berkeley physics prof Richard Muller. Nobody can argue that he’s unreliable because he’s a “denier”. He’s an unreliable AGW cheerleader, though, because he seems to have some intellectual integrity.

[John]

It is my understand that Scotland leaving the UK would have approximately the same effect on the Labor Party as California leaving the US would have on the Democratic Party in that it would pretty much doom labor’s chances of ever winning another national election. This is why so many people are panicked at the prospect of Scottish independence.

[Warty]

The SNP is quite socialist. I don’t like the idea of Scotland becoming a cold Venezuela, but maybe another object lesson would be a good thing for the world.

[Medical Physics Guy]

They dream of being a boutique oil-powered Socialist country like their Scandinavian almost-neighbours. Whether they can get there is debatable.

[Brett L]

Looks like I’m going to end up working the oilpatch for huge money after all!

[Winston]

If you take away Scotland than the Tories have a majority in Parliament.

[Invisible Finger]

You’d think there would be some parties that would be saying “Please leave you Scots gits.”

I mean, I would like California to leave the US so there has to be some similar thinking in the UK.

[tarran]

I think the English who support scottish independence are wisely staying quiet in hopes that it actually happens. If the tories spoke out in favor of it, the Scots would probably vote for union.

[CE]

A true Scotsman wouldn’t vote to remain subject to the whims of London.

[Almanian!]

Does Goodell have to choke a bitch to show how much he cares about the league?

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

yeah, Tim Tebow.

[Rich]

Apparently thinking he had reached the office of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), Fallon said the department wanted congressional staffers to get documents to selected reporters so that officials could comment on them “before the majority” did.

After Issa spokesman Frederick Hill replied that Oversight Committee staffers would have to examine those documents first, the line went silent, and Fallon placed the call on hold for three minutes.

When he returned to the line, Fallon was “audibly shaken,”

Unfortunately, the hard drive the NSA had stored this conversation on has been recycled.

[PD Scott]

Map of the US, Alaska style.

Alaska mapmakers revenge! This Alaska map alludes tongue-in-cheek to the afterthought treatment of Alaska by many map publishers in placing Alaska in a small box off the coast of California on maps of the “United States of America.”

[PapayaSF]

That is funny. Similar to this.

[Malkavian]

And what are those moderate rebels supposed to do about American teens who intend to join ISIS?

Cut off their heads? For educational purposes.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

“James Holmes, who went on killing spree in Aurora, Colorado, is going on trial soon.”

Remind me – when did this shooting happen?

[Los Doyers]

When The Dark Knight Rises was released, so July 20th, 2012.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Wow, and they’re already getting around to trying him!

We have like the best judicial system *ever!*

[Rich]

Speedy. It’s *guaranteed*.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

WHY HASN’T THE NFL BANNED HIM YET!?

[pan fried wylie]

Web-based businesses like Netflix, Kickstarter, and Digg are participating in Internet Slowdown Day to support Net Neutrality.

So, I guess Netflix isn’t satisfied with their Comcast deal that was the last example of why we need NN.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

RE Rice and the NFL. The question is…

What would Pete Rozelle have done?!

[Invisible Finger]

Distracted the populace with talk of expansion?

[PD Scott]

Xenon gas could provide protection for the brain after a blow to the head.
The team started by anesthetizing mice before applying a controlled mechanical force to the brain. They then treated some of the mice with different concentrations of xenon at different times after the injury. In tests to assess their neurological deficits, such as movement and balance problems, the mice treated with xenon performed much better in the days and month after the injury than those that weren’t. Even if treatment was delayed for up to three hours after the injury, the mice treated with xenon had less brain damage.

[Florida Man]

The problem with xenon is it is too rare. It would be a fantastic anesthetic but the cost are astronomical. With a closed loop circuit and a scavenger you could theoretically recover the xenon, but it would require a redesign of anesthesia machines.

[Medical Physics Guy]

There’s a lot of interesting MRI lung research involving Xenon, hopefully it’s not too rare for that sort of application.

[Florida Man]

It cost about 120 dollars a liter. Not too expensive for research but too expensive to be used as an anesthetic, considering there are millions of cases done per year.

[Agammamon]

OK

1. How does an *inert* gas do this any better than any other gas?

2. Do these guys think of this shit while smoking PCP? ‘Well, our grant is almost up, what should we do next?’ ‘I dunno man, how about we bop some mice on the head and force feed ’em inert gases?’ ‘Cool, let’s find an application and get a writeup going.’

[PD Scott]

I’m given to understand Little Bunny Foo-Foo designed the experiment.

[PapayaSF]

Well, inert is better because it’s not going to react with anything, but my question is: why xenon and not some other inert gas, like argon?

[PD Scott]

According to this, xenon is active at atmospheric pressure but argon is active only at high pressure, like more than 10 ATM high.

[BigT]

Xe is about 6x the density of Ar, so that’s probably the reason it is used.

[CE]

So the NFL is now giving canisters of Xenon gas to NFL rookies, for when they’re with their girlfriends?

[Coeus]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ladies and gentlemen:

“A man named Stephen Wiesenfeld was happily married. She [his wife] was the earner and he was a homemaker. After she tragically died in childbirth, he was told he could not receive her social security benefits. In this case, the plaintiff happened to be a man. But we understand where this discrimination began: with the woman. She paid the same taxes but doesn’t get the same protection. This is a good example of how gender discrimination is bad for everyone. It also ends the stereotype of women as givers of child care and men as solely breadwinners. [We need to] tear down those barriers so a woman or a man could pursue whatever path in life they had the G-d given talent to pursue. That was the project. The court was catching up to a change that had already taken place.”

Someone should tell N.O.W. that, as they’ve spent millions of dollars fighting legal presumption of that very type.

[Brandon]

And she wants to make up for gender discrimination with…more gender discrimination.

[perlhaqr]

It’s inexplicable to me for the court to say if a woman can afford abortion she can have choice, but that if she can’t afford it she doesn’t have that choice.

“Inexplicable”. Seriously, is this woman actually retarded?

[ant1sthenes]

She still has the choice whether to get an abortion, she just doesn’t have the ability to take away someone else’s choice not to fund an abortion, or to force a doctor to perform labor against his will.

[Agammamon]

Web-based businesses like Netflix, Kickstarter, and Digg are participating in Internet Slowdown Day to support Net Neutrality.

Netflix wants to slow my shit down to what? Teach me a lesson? The only lesson I got is – fuck you, cancel my subscription.

These people have no fucking idea the harm a ‘net neutrality’ policy will cause. No one is going to deliberately slow down you connection, their simply going to have a large financial incentive to create a parallel, *faster*, connection and charge people extra for using it.

Then competitors create an *even faster* pipe. And when the do that the previous *fast-lane* becomes the new baseline – *everyone* get richer.

Fuck the equality meme – what is it with people insisting that its all good as long as we are all equally miserable?

[Ted S.]

People still use Digg?

[trshmnster the terrible]

When you’ve been trained since age 3 that liberty and equality are co-equal noble principles, and that equality means equality of outcome, then it infiltrates every nook and cranny of life.

[Jordan]

Net neutrality is just welfare for bandwidth hogs like Netflix.

[Coeus]

These people have no fucking idea the harm a ‘net neutrality’ policy will cause.

Actually, what they’re really protesting is the new fed takover and their new fast lane rules. I saw an honest article about keeping the gov out of packet scheduling on gizmodo the other day.

Never seen anything like it. Apparently, as we get closer to go time, people are waking up. Those who advocated for the fed to take over are starting to realize just what it is they’ve done. Hopefully it’s not too late.

[Agammamon]

No, these people are protesting because they *want* a fed takeover and mandate that their *is no* fast lane – because they know they’ll be charged more to use it and that they’ll have to pay up to remain competitive.

[Coeus]

Well, they’re getting their fed takover, along with their crony capitalism, just as we said. All I’m saying is that some of the writeups I’ve read lately advocate no fed at all, and some of these are from websites participating today.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Netflix wants to slow my shit down to what? Teach me a lesson? The only lesson I got is – fuck you, cancel my subscription.

They’re not actually slowing anything down. They’re putting animated GIFs on their sites.

[Agammamon]

So, instead of just cancelling my subscription, they want me to actually come over there and start killing people?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

I read a pro-NN article on CNN today. Successfully, all the way through, without vomiting.

The arguments for state regulation for the sake of “fairness” are economically illiterate in the same fundamental way as neo-Malthusian arguments, but even worse. In an era with the promise of Google Fiber, the idea that the amount of bandwidth available has a natural cap is absurd, as is the idea that successful providers might throttle down their advertised service speeds without suffering lost business or, in the case of contracts, lawsuits. The existence of a fast lane doesn’t make my slow lane any slower, any more than the existence of a 200-ft yacht makes my bass boat any less wonderful. Some people are consumed with envy.

The hilarious thing about this is that Netflix is smart enough to know not to *actually* slow down their service, as that would lead to people cancelling their subscriptions, which would–get this–hurt their bottom line. Instead, they’re just displaying the loading icon to make people aware of the “threat” that parallel high-speed services would pose to their bandwidth.

Next up, Ron Bailey covers the Peak Bandwidth movement.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

In an era with the promise of Google Fiber, the idea that the amount of bandwidth available has a natural cap is absurd

It does have a natural cap; the question is if/when we will reach it.

The existence of a fast lane doesn’t make my slow lane any slower

Maybe (err, probably) the CNN article you just sucked, but that’s not the typical argument. The (misguided, IMO) argument is that the ability to pay end-users’ ISPs for “fast lanes” will make it hard for new entrants in bandwidth-intense industries to unseat incumbents, and easier for the ISPs, most of which are in the business of offering pay TV and phone service, to privilege their own offerings.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

privilege their own offerings

Recognizing that we’re in fundamental agreement, my response is “And?” If new entrants into the discount grocery/consumer goods industry have a difficult time unseating Wal-Mart due to economies of scale, how does this harm the consumer, much less merit state action?

It does have a natural cap; the question is if/when we will reach it.

Don’t get technical, now.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

I mostly agree, though the more apt analogy is to WalMart’s in-house brands and exclusive SKUs.

[ant1sthenes]

“Recognizing that we’re in fundamental agreement, my response is “And?” ”

Competition and economic dynamism is good? Letting a near-monopoly destroy a competitive market by taking control of a common need is bad for people, and each member of those oligopolies is a heavily rent-seeking shitlord to begin with?

[kbolino]

Competition and economic dynamism is good?

And the government is the enemy of both those things.

Letting a near-monopoly …

Perhaps you should take that up with the consumers?

… destroy a competitive market by taking control of a common need is bad for people …

Yet that is precisely what the government does when it “regulates” utilities; it establishes a monopoly then manipulates appearances (setting prices, limiting investment, restricting usage, etc.) so as to hide the consequences.

and each member of those oligopolies is a heavily rent-seeking shitlord to begin with

True, and the only solution is to deny them any further opportunities to seek rents. The feds can reign in the states to a limited extent, and the states can reign in the localities to a greater extent, but they should only intervene to prevent the impediment of innovation and competition.

If a single provider dominates an area through the consent of the local consumers, that is not a suboptimal result and certainly not a case for government intervention. Should this monopoly cease to be the superior option, the government should not stand in the way of entrepreneurs and competitors, but nor should it try to “help”.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The NYT issues a correction:

(from Twitter)

http://bit.ly/1lUmgti

[PD Scott]

Activating gene in key organ systems slows aging processes throughout the body.
AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase) is an enzyme that acts as a metabolic master switch and is activated in response to low cellular energy levels. It has previously been shown to activate a cellular process known as autophagy, which protects against aging by enabling cells to degrade and discard old, damaged “cellular garbage” before it damages cells.
The UCLA research team found that increasing the amount of AMPK in the intestines of common fruit flies increased their lifespan by around 30 percent, up from the typical six weeks to around eight weeks. Importantly, the fruit flies stayed healthier for longer as well, with the beneficial effects not restricted to the organ where it was activated. “Activating AMPK in the intestine produced increased levels of autophagy in the brain ? and perhaps elsewhere, too.”

[Brandon]

Does it work better than Charger?

[Warty]

So this* happened just a mile down the street from my place. Carry a gun, girls.

*NO WARTY JOKES YOU IDIOTS

[Warty]

I should have included the description.

Published on Sep 8, 2014
Sex Crimes Detectives Seek the Public’s Help in Identifying Rape Suspect

The Cleveland Division of Police Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit is currently investigating a rape which occurred on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 at approximately 5:25 on West 104th Street near Lake Avenue. The victim, a 46 year old female, was jogging on West 104th street when a male ran up and attacked her from behind, knocking her to the ground in the street. The suspect punched the victim several times in her face and body and pistol whipped her before dragging her behind a building and raping her. The suspect then fled the area on foot.

The suspect is described as a black male, 5’6 ? 5’7 in height. The video being released in connection with this incident shows the initial attack. Anyone with information regarding the identification of the suspect is asked to contact the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit at 216-623-5154.

[Slammer]

*NO WARTY JOKES YOU IDIOTS

Blood for sharks

[trshmnster the terrible]

We had a similar one happen on campus the other day, replace pistol whipped with “at knife point” and it reads almost exactly the same. The buddy system, self defense tools (including guns), situational awareness, and common sense about times and places you go are all invaluable, especially when you are a college girl.

[Coeus]

I don’t know about the buddy system. It’s too limiting. All the others I do all the time, and I’m a guy.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Buddy system isn’t a catch all, but it’s a little added safety if you’re going somewhere where there’s not a bunch of people. The case here is a girl who was jogging around in the neighborhood next to campus at 11:30pm. It’s a very wealthy and nice neighborhood, but it’s right next to the train station, so it’s deceptively dangerous to be out there alone after dark (I walk to and from the train for classes each evening ).

[Restoras]

These suggestions reek of personal responsibility. How dare you!

[Warty]

TEACH MEN NOT TO RAPE!!!

[Seamus]

THIS IS OFFENSIVE. INSTEAD OF TELLING COLLEGE WYMYN HOW TO AVOID BEING RAPED, WE SHOULD BE TELLING MEN NOT TO RAPE.

[Brandon]

Somebody should catch that man and teach him not to rape.

[Coeus]

Cathy Young is wrong about online harassment, because we’re moving the goalposts now.

Recent arguments have suggested that men get harassed more than women on the Internet, but this ignores the violent reality

First, as Young points out, women’s harassment is more likely to be gender-based and that has specific, discriminatory harms rooted in our history. The study pointed out that the harassment targeted at men is not because they are men, as is clearly more frequently the case with women. It’s defining because a lot of harassment is an effort to put women, because they are women, back in their “place.”

Second, online comparisons like this decontextualize the problem of harassment, as though a connection to what happens offline is trivial or inconsequential.

For girls and women, harassment is not just about “un-pleasantries.” It’s often about men asserting dominance, silencing, and frequently, scaring and punishing them.

And then they throw out the long debunked stats.

Cathy has been eating their lunch lately.

[Coeus]

Oh yeah:

Women take online harassment more seriously not because we are hysterics, but because we reasonably have to.

In terms of gender, males were more likely to become crime victims than were females, with 79% percent of all murder victims being male. Males were twice as likely to be carjacked as females.

[John]

Shorter response

“women are delicate flowers and harassment of them is worse than even a larger amount of harassment of men”.

Feminists are all about equality you know.

[Sevo]

“It’s often about men asserting dominance, silencing, and frequently, scaring and punishing them.”

So somebody said “phooey!” and you whine? Have I got it?

[Trouser-Pod]

“It’s different for us ’cause IDENTITY POLITICKZ!!1!

[Slammer]

A Devil Statue With Huge Boner Appeared In Vancouver (NSFW)

Possibly NSFW, a weiner is visible

[rts]

Sugar ‘not addictive’ says Edinburgh University study

People can become addicted to eating for its own sake but not to consuming specific foods such as those high in sugar or fat, new research suggests.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Bloomberg has a sad.

[Coeus]

Men arrested over same-sex wedding test negative for homosexuality

Seven men were arrested over the weekend, over a video showing an unofficial same-sex wedding ceremony on a riverboat in the Nile.
The video was posted in April, but had gone viral in Egypt this month, with many calling for the men to be identified and put to death.
However, Ahram Online reports that ‘doctors’ who subjected the arrested men to intrusive tests for homosexuality have found that they are not gay.
Forensic authority spokesperson Hisham Abdel-Hamid said: “According to inspection, the seven suspects have never had sex with other men.”
Tests frequently used to determine sexuality in Egypt entail an examination of the man’s anus, though the ‘tests’ have no basis in science and have been condemned by global health authorities.
The public prosecutor’s office said previously that the wedding constituted a criminal act because the images were “humiliating, regrettable and would anger God”.
The men will face charges for inciting debauchery and spreading images that ‘violate public decency’, though passing the arbitrary test may see the charges against them dropped.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Since it would anger God. Shouldn’t you let an omnipotent creator of all deal with the issue.

[Trouser-Pod]

So, will the doctor now be investigated for looking into men’s anuses?

Or, does he have to remove the eye that did it?

[PapayaSF]

About the US and other Westerners who have gone to fight with ISIS, two thoughts.

1) Some of them must be double agents, right? I sure hope so.

2) Many aren’t, and for them, I’d do what Hitler’s spies did to Stalin’s army officers: plant a bunch of faked evidence that they are working for the CIA etc. Give a nice new car to their girlfriend back home. Send mysterious, seemingly encoded emails and texts. “Lose” a laptop with a list of “agents.” Etc. Then let ISIS do the rest.

[Warty]

They’re gingers, dude. Gingers.

[Drake]

I would never stop laughing if I saw one of these Howdy Doody Hajis.

[Brandon]

Of course, this is according to Breitbart, who is currently being audited by the IRS and is therefore suspect.

[SusanM]

Nazi laptop?

[Warty]

DELICIOUS

A law enforcement official sent a copy of the Ray Rice tape to the NFL back in April, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Fuck the NFL.

[Drake]

Watching ESPN right. They are just breathless over this crap.

[Brandon]

TMZSPN?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The who is more outraged contests are exhausting.

[Drake]

By their tone, you would think we just had a terrorist attack.

[Brandon]

As usual, Jason Whitlock trumps all in outrage. He’s even outraged that people didn’t stop looking at the tape after he was outraged about the contents of the tape.

[Brett L]

Just pull their tax exempt status.

[SusanM]

I sense a disturbance in the Derp

http://thinkprogress.org/clima…..e-history/

[Coeus]

“As in all instances, I first had to consider the people of Bristol county,” Sutter told ThinkProgress on Tuesday. “In addition to that, I had to give strong consideration to the cause that led to the act of civil disobedience. And I agree that climate change is one of the greatest crisis the planet has ever faced and that we have to act more boldly now.”

It’s not in their interest to have electricity? So if I go to his house and cut his powerlines in the name of raising awareness for climate change, he’ll be good with that?

[Coeus]

However the DA’s handling of the matter is a sure victory for the climate movement in Hamilton’s view.
“The DA could have dropped the charges and walked away,” he said. “Instead, he all but said that their criminal conduct was justified ? which was precisely the point of their defense. This fact will certainly factor into future cases in some way, either in how prosecutors strategize or how judges view the viability of the defense.”
[This was] precisely what the blockaders were aiming for in using the court system.
But really, notes Hamilton, the purpose of the climate necessity defense is not to get defendants off the hook, but to raise awareness. People who undertake direct action are generally willing to suffer certain legal repercussions, and the charges involved are usually minor and could be resolved more efficiently without preparing an elaborate defense.

[Marshall Gill]

People who undertake direct action are generally willing to suffer certain legal repercussions

Propaganda of the Deed!

[tarran]

It’s Massachusetts.

The voters keep electing the most knuckle-dragging superstitious morons imaginable. If you told them that Republicans believed in evolution, they would immediately mandate teaching intelligent design in schools.

They… are…. that…. stupid.

[perlhaqr]

Sounds reasonable.

“Better buy a windmill pronto, asshole.”

[ant1sthenes]

Would be a nice false flag attack — cut the lines to the town, make up a fake group claiming that a lot of the electricity coming in was still from coal plants and they were fighting for the planet, see how much butthurt you generate.

[Coeus]

Alright, which chemical company has been bribing again?

And it also pointed to man-made nitrous oxide (N2O) ? a precursor of an ozone-gobbling gas, nitric oxide (NO) ? which is not covered by the Protocol.

N2O emissions mainly result from natural activity by soil bacteria, but around a third come from human activity, such as fertilisers, fossil fuels, livestock manure and industry.

Tackling these emissions “will become more important” as CFC levels decline, the report said.

– Heat-trapping substitutes-

Many CFCs are also greenhouse gases …

The problem is that industries have substituted CFCs for hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which do not attack the ozone layer but can also be powerful trappers of solar heat.

At present, HFC emissions are the equivalent of about 500 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide.

But they are rising at a rate of about seven percent per year, and could reach up to 8.8 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent annually by 2050, close to that of the peak of 9.5 billion tonnes reached by CFCs in the late 1980s.

Safer substitutes that are less effective greenhouse gases do exist. Bringing these into production would “essentially” wipe out HFC’s contribution to climate change, the UN experts said.

[Brett L]

Curious from the mid 80s until the mid 2010s is just about the lifespan of a patent.

[pan fried wylie]

Safer substitutes that are less effective greenhouse gases do exist

Like…..wait for it…..CARBON DIOXIDE