No Fly List On Trial, Revenge Porn Versus the FTC, California Could Raise Legal Smoking Age: A.M. Links

• 

  x-ray_delta_one/Flickr

  A judge will hear arguments today on the constitutionality of the federal government's "no fly list." 

• New legislation introduced in California would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. 
• David Frum concern trolls Democrats about political correctness.
• Mitt Romney will supposedly announce this morning whether he plans to run for president again. 
• The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Craig Brittain, the alleged operator of a "revenge porn" website, which requires him to obtain "affirmative express written consent" from anyone "whose intimate parts are exposed in a photograph or video." Lee Rowland of the American Civil Liberties Union called the decision "a mixed bag."
• Is a European-style "right to be forgotten" stealthily creeping into our legal code? 
• Maybe Rand Paul's dream of a libertarian-Democratic alliance on criminal justice reform isn't so crazy after all.
• IBM plans to sequence the microbiomes of food ingredients to help prevent outbreaks of things like listeria and salmonella, with the goal of developing a simple test available for commercial use.

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Comments

[Just a thought not a sermon]

22) At the risk of coming across as one of those Henry George- types nattering on about land taxes, I'm going to take one more stab at inheritance taxes. I've got it that inheritance taxes are a bad idea from several different angles. But there was one point I was making the other day, or trying to make, about inheritance taxes that I don't feel like anybody fully addressed. So let me put it in the form of a thought experiment.
Say over your lifetime you build up an estate worth $10 million. And you have two choices for how that is to be taxed?either it can be taxed throughout your life by a variety of taxes, at a rate that amounts to $5 million by the time you die. Or, you can skip taxation throughout your life and simply have the government take $5 million from your estate at the time you die. So no double taxation, and no net increase in taxes. In this scenario, is an estate tax not preferable, allowing you to grow your estate without taxes throughout your life (rather like a 401K growing without taxes until you take the money out)? Or do the other moral and practical considerations still outweigh the estate tax, even in this case?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

A punctual woman is a turn on.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

Good, I'll try to get their numbers if I meet any.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Start with Elizabeth.

I would but...you know.

[Ted S.]

Elizabeth sensibly doesn't want to sleep with a Canadian?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

She's smart.

We're animals.

[Florida Man]

I gonna guess the crux of the responses will be false dichotomy. It is preferable to not have 1/2 your wealth stolen. It is preferable to not have a massive government. If I grant that the government has the right to take 1/2 my income (in what ever scheme they choose) I might as well give up libertarian ideals all together and admit the only real morality in the world is might makes right.

[Raven Nation]

Estate tax sounds preferable. However, you would have to have some method for the person to change their tax status at some point, right?

[Ska]

If there was any possible way to enact that, it very well could be preferable. For most people it still wouldn't be - they're not being taxed on their income at the higher brackets (say over the 28% bracket, and even in high tax states that between 8-12% in additional local taxes).

For those that do generate high income, the no income tax with a final estate tax would be the preference. The earning potential of the taxes saved until demise would allow even greater income potential.

[Agammamon]

Sure, in *that* scenario.

But we don't have that scenario. Nobody is even suggesting that as a viable course.

What we *have* is lifetime taxation, *followed* by the threat of yet another swipe by the taxman at inheritance time.

[Agammamon]

Its like, socialism is fething *great* - way better than capitalism - in the specific, *theoretical* scenarios where its accepted (for the sake of argument) to work.

Unfortunately, *in the real world* it fails horribly.

Same thing with the estate tax. It *sounds* great on paper - income inequality, those bastards didn't *earn* it, pay your fair share, bla bla bla.

In the *REAL WORLD* the people who this tax is aimed at can afford to forgo income, or otherwise adjust their affairs (including taking their money to a competing jurisdiction) to minimize or eliminate that burden.

The rest of us see that paltry sum we've saved up get eaten to nothingness by the taxman and no legacy for the kids.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The rest of us see that paltry sum we've saved up get eaten to nothingness by the taxman and no legacy for the kids.

Exactly. I've had arguments with ex-girlfriends about saving/making money to pass to onto my kids. I would inevitably be called stupid and boring for not trying to live my life to the fullest, which I took to mean, living paycheck to paycheck. All of these women had $60-100k worth of college debt and dead-end jobs. I realized it's probably for the best that my fuck trophies don't cartwheel out of those snake traps.

[Jerryskids]

you can skip taxation throughout your life and simply have the government take $5 million from your estate at the time you die.

1) How do you know what your estate is going to be worth before you die? I have $10 million and promise the government that, if they forebear taxing me now on the money, when I die they will get half. The last act I accomplish before I die is to go to Vegas and bet it all on Cleveland winning the Superbowl in 2016. How's the IRS going to collect? How would that system work?

2)Whatever the arguments are about what dead people should or shouldn't be able to do with "their" money - since, being dead, it's not "their" money any more - it may not be "their" money, but it sure as hell ain't the IRS's money, either. Admitting that the IRS has an open-ended claim on you and the product of your labor is just forfeiting the game.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"Cleveland winning the Superbowl in 2016. How's the IRS going to collect? How would that system work?"

Especially if you WIN!

[An Innocent Man]

I thought the non-sermon the other day was number 22)? Shouldn't this be number 23)?

[Roger the Shrubber]

Since much of the value of an estate would be non-liquid, you are not avoiding one of the major problems with an IT as it exist today. Liquidation of assets would destroy it's potential value as an ongoing investment to heirs.

Also, false dichotomy.

Also, giving the government incentives in your death would not be a good thing.

[UnCivilServant]

I propose a negative inheritance tax, to incentivise the government not letting people die.

[bendover]

Depends ...

If your $10 million dollar estate consist of a bank account - I can guarantee that every dollar in that account has already been taxed one way or another. So at death, the $10 million dollars would be taxed twice.

If you bought $100 of Apple stock back in the 80s and let it ride for 35 years - then you probably would (in theory) avoided taxation on the appreciation during your lifetime. This is closer to your thought experiment.

Finally - small business or farm are another matter entirely. They are usually not easily liquidated or leveraged to pay off estate taxes.

True story: A client of mine inherited a $14 million company from his dad. He owed $5.4 million in estate taxes. This company's primary source of income was Lucent. Two years after his dad's death, Lucent went out of business, his company lost +80% of his cash flow. The company is now valued at $1.2 million - he still is paying off the estate tax.

[bendover]

Another true story: I was sitting down with a client discussing the various life insurance trusts / GRATs / Dynasty Trusts, when I jokingly told him that to avoid the expected $45 million in estate taxes, he could marry his daughter and she would get the advantage of the 100% spousal exemption for estate taxes. He said he'll get back to me.

Seriously though - I fully expect the IRS to have to deal with this case not too far in the future.

[PBR Streetgang]

Woody Allen?

[bendover]

HA!

[Tak Kak]

This is actually a big problem in Kentucky (probably elsewhere, too) small family farms - many of which have been in the family for generations - are now valued at over a million dollars. So the children basically have to sell the entire farm just to pay the taxes.

There's probably a lesson in there about using taxes to ding only the rich too...

[robc]

Ends never justify means, so morality always outweighs other concerns.

[robc]

Also, when it comes to taxation I'm a Georgist, so I see no problem with nattering. The land tax is the only morally justifiable tax, IMO.

[R C Dean]

So, in a totally different tax universe, could the estate tax be an indifferent alternative to income taxes?

Sure, maybe. So what?

[UnCivilServant]

Deja vu all over again. Well, sort off.

Shadowboy has been made into an audiobook. It has earned such accolades as "It didn't suck" from this very commentariat. Since the narrator did a rather fine job of it and we're on a royalty share agreement, I have to convince people to buy this version so he can get paid.

/end shameless plug.

[R C Dean]

Mad props, UnCivil. I'm envious, as I'd like to write fiction but know from hard experience that I can't hold a fulltime job and write fiction.

And you do nice job with it. Seriously.

[Fist of Etiquette]

New legislation introduced in California would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

Why not 46?

[Just a thought not a sermon]

They apparently want to outlaw vaping as well. 'Cause you'd still be addicted to nicotine, that's why, never mind that vaping eliminates the other health risks associated with smoking.

[Zeb]

But if you turn up your vaporizer all the way so that it tastes horrible and burnt, it might give you cancer. Obviously everyone is going to do that.

[Doctor Whom]

Like OMG, if California has a higher age than the rest of the country, young adults from CA will stock up whenever they go to other states! We must therefore change it to 21 nationwide! Congress must step in and do something!

[Libertarian]

Won't anyone think of the aged 18-21 children!?

[Agammamon]

Not young adults, *teenagers*.

[Bee Tagger]

47 would be a nice tie-in with the Romney announcement later today.

[Injun, as in from India]

Hey you young kid. You are old enough to volunteer to die in a war, but we wouldn't want you to volunteer to die by possibly smoking.

[Lord Humungus]

You can earn $13,000 a year selling your poop

You can donate blood, plasma, eggs, and sperm. Why not poop? Yes, your feces are perhaps your greatest untapped monetary resource. Thanks to a nonprofit organization called OpenBiome, you can cash in to the tune of $13,000 a year -- and save lives while you're at it.

Since 2013, OpenBiome has been processing and shipping loads of it all over the country. The frozen stool is administered to patients who are very sick with infections of a bacteria called C. difficile. The bacteria can cause extreme gastrointestinal distress, leaving some sufferers housebound. Antibiotics often help, but sometimes the bacteria rears back as soon as treatment stops. That leads to a miserable, continuous course of antibiotics.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hmmm. I'm seeing new viable employment options.

[Rich]

"It's great to have a healthy contingent of regular gym goers right there,"

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

[gaijin]

I guess they all use charmin...and enjoy the go.

[sarcasmic]

I read something a while back about doctors giving people gelcaps with human shit inside to seed the innards of people whose digestive flora wasn't in order. And it supposedly worked.

[sarcasmic]

"Eat shit and live!"

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

*standing ovation*

[FUQ]

*joins Swiss and tries to start the wave

*looks embarassed

*quietly walks away

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Another thing I like about Carr?

His utter disgust and disdain for the Kennedy clan. His comments about them are priceless.

What a sad bunch.

[sarcasmic]

Yeah, he's quite entertaining. I disagree with him a lot, but he's still entertaining.

[Clich? Bandit]

Whats that's saying? It isn't the poison it is the dose?

Sometimes the teenage girl logic actually applies

/ewwww

[Jordan]

You stole my link, you bastard!

Also, ladies, you can make a shit ton of money selling breastmilk. There are women who make tens of thousands selling their leftover milk once their kid moves to solid foods.

[Lord Humungus]

that's Magnificent Bastard to you.

[Bee Tagger]

You can earn $13,000 a year selling your poop

But it costs me $14,000 to create it since I like fancy grocery stores, so this doesn't seem like a good business model.

[sarcasmic]

Write the food off as a business expense.

[Libertarian]

I'd LOVE to get paid for sitting on my ass all day -- and NOT work for the government.

[straffinrun]

Same output

[Rich]

"Going home early. All wiped out."

[Elspeth Flashman]

Eww.

[Free Society]

A poop enema should be paid for by my employer!

[Zeb]

"Fecal transplant" is a hilarious term. But apparently it is quite effective for certain disorders. Having the right sort of bacteria in your gut seems to be a very important thing.

[Clich? Bandit]

watching this Mike Rowe special where he was tested for how dirty he was all throughout the day they stated that once all the water is removed something like 80% of your mass isn't your DNA. wow.

[Zeb]

It's kind of amazing. Apparently there are significantly more cells in your body that aren't yours than that are.

The more we learn about this sort of thing, the less sense it makes to think of life as made up of genetically distinct, discrete organisms.

[Injun, as in from India]

How much time until lots of poop sellers flood the market, and then Congress steps in with a "Poop Price Support Program" to protect the suppliers from the vagaries of the EVUL free market?

[VG Zaytsev]

You can earn $13,000 a year selling your poop

Politicians and journalists make a lot more than selling their shit.

[UnCivilServant]

Mitt Romney will supposedly announce this morning whether he plans to run for president again.

Go away already, Mitt.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Ole Jeb is lining up all the early support from the GOP bigshits who want to clear the path for an "electable" candidate.

[UnCivilServant]

Go away already.

[NebulousFocus]

Nice.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is true. The 2012 Klown Kar was blamed for costing the GOP that election.

Prediction - the GOP will go back to nominating their candidate in a figurative "smoke filled room" just to keep the crazies off the television.

[WTF]

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

[Andrew S.]

Does he want cake? I mean, Michelle wouldn't like that.

[Snark Plissken]

I'd never vote for a candidate that wasn't approved by George "Happiest Time Of My Life" Soros.

[Bam!]

Robots cannot die. He'll be with us forever.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Duchossois and several fellow top Chicago-area Romney supporters met privately with Bush in Chicago in December. After a quick chat about a potential campaign plan, Bush sat for more than an hour of questions. Most, though not all, of the roughly 20 at the meeting walked away Bush supporters.

"It cut the deal for me," Duchossois said.

He is among the donors who will host Bush at a Feb. 18 fundraiser arranged by Lisa Wagner, Romney's 2012 Midwest campaign finance director, who helped raise $25 million for Romney in 2012.

Bush also has claimed Romney's 2012 Texas finance director, Allison McIntosh, and Sondland, who helped raise millions for Romney and the super PAC that supported his candidacy.

The bigshits have decided! Jeb is their boy.

http://news.yahoo.com/romney-w.....ction.html

[WTF]

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

[VG Zaytsev]

A backroom deal set up by a guy named Doucheosis.

Can't
Make
It
Up

[Jerryskids]

Go away already, Mitt? But I thought we were discussing fecal transplants.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A judge will hear arguments today on the constitutionality of the federal government's "no fly list."

And promptly do nothing about it if it isn't.

[WTF]

They will apply the "compelling government interest" exception to the constitution that only they can see with special glasses to read the invisible ink.

[Lord Humungus]

Elizabeth Warren backers fund poll stoking Hillary Clinton doubts

A group of major liberal donors who want Elizabeth Warren to run for president have paid for a poll intended to show that Hillary Clinton does not excite the Democratic base and would be vulnerable in a 2016 general election.

The automated poll of nearly 900 registered voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, found that 48 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, compared to 43 percent who viewed the former secretary of State favorably.

[Tonio]

This is going to be delicious. Not only is she going to lose to Hillary, but cost proggies a lot of dough.

[gaijin]

I originally read that as '...poll stroking hillary clinton...'

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Yeah, I have to admit I did the same....disturbing, really.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And Warren sparks excitement to these people?

They may have to rework a Zevon classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYuRjUO1OcQ

[invisible furry hand]

Why not dress up your penis as French politician Marine Le Pen (NSFW, obviously)

http://marinelepenis.tumblr.com/

[Rich]

I trust you obtained "affirmative express written consent" for that!

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There is no act so ridiculous, so foul, so inane, so bizarre, that it has not been conceived of and filmed for the internet.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

And since life in Australia is so dangerous, ifh has to go to extremes to get a thrill from grotesque or harmful things, etc.

[Crusty Juggler]

If I was going to dress up my wiener like a lady and post it on the internet, I would at least make sure I was well-groomed. Sheesh.

[l0b0t]

Good morning. Hey Crusty Juggler, are you the same person who uses that handle over at [H]ardOCP?

[Crusty Juggler]

No. I thought I was the only one...:(

[l0b0t]

Nope. I was hoping it was you though; it's always fun to run into H&R regulars in unexpected places.

http://hardforum.com/showpost......stcount=13

[Crusty Juggler]

No. I thought I was the only one...:(

[Jerryskids]

Probably as payback for not mentioning that the Rand Paul piece was a Dave Weigel piece.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I've got a few reasons.

For one, I prefer WWE stars to politicians.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I clicked. Lolololololol.

[Free Society]

I thought they would be penis caricatures, but no. They weren't. God damn you.

[Irish]

By the way, has anyone seen Marine Le Pen's niece, Marechal, who is 25 and also a National Front MP?

That's one attractive crypto-racist and virulent homophobe, right there.

She could xenophobically declare me a mongrelized filthy product of miscegnation any time she likes.

[Crusty Juggler]

She is quite the looker! I cannot wait to see clam hammer facsimiles of her!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I've met hard core French nationalist-racists (not the Quebec variety - the French-French ones).

And boy, are they, erm, nationalisticky. Enough to want to get into the sack with them.

"Sure baby. I'm a low-life, second-rate, hick from Montreal. SAY IT AGAIN but say it while doing that thingy-swirly-rig-a-maroo!"

[R C Dean]

Funny thing is, gays and Jews are drifting into the nationalist parties, as those are the ones who promise relief from the Islamist nutters. Who love to target gays and Jews.

[Free Society]

Crypto-racist? A great euphemism for use by self-loathing whites.

[invisible furry hand]

Do you really want a crypto marrying your daughter?

[Free Society]

At least it'd mean my grand kids would be white too 😉

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's totally crypto-fascist. I loathe money, I hate dosh! /teenage Lister

[Snark Plissken]

Mitt Romney will supposedly announce this morning whether he plans to run for president again.

I wish Tulpa were here to explain why I should vote for him.

[Tonio]

Now, now, Snark, their are plenty of others here who transparently shill for the GOP.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

But he did it so earnestly!

[invisible furry hand]

Jeff Bridges' Sleeping Tapes are on sale here

[Crusty Juggler]

This really is fantastic.

[gaijin]

which requires him to obtain "affirmative express written consent" from anyone "whose intimate parts are exposed in a photograph or video."

So, this will make it more difficult for doctors to share pictures of surgery at medical conferences?

[Rich]

AND, who knows where those *fingers* have been?

[Zeb]

I would imagine they get consent to show those pictures already.

[R C Dean]

Yeah, they do. Even though technically they don't need to under HIPAA, since you can't really identify anyone from close-up pictures of their viscera.

[Fist of Etiquette]

IBM plans to sequence the microbiomes of food ingredients to help prevent outbreaks of things like listeria and salmonella...

More GMO???

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

IBMO

[FUQ]

I see what you did there.

Well played

[Slammer]

"affirmative express written consent" from anyone "whose intimate parts are exposed in a photograph or video."

Have fun with defining "intimate"!

[Bam!]

Use the Ralph Wiggum definition.

[Lord Humungus]

Are Republicans Ready for a Post-Obamacare World?

evin and Capretta have concluded, however, that the best response by Congress to a decision striking down the subsidies would be something a bit less ambitious. They think that Congress should advance legislation to allow states to opt out of Obamacare and into something better. Those states would then be exempt from the law's regulations and mandates. People already on the federal exchanges in those states would keep getting their subsidies for some limited time. Going forward, though, people in those states with no access to employer coverage would get tax credits they could use to buy any state-approved coverage -- whether or not it meets Obamacare's requirements or is bought on any government-run exchange.

[Jordan]

Repeal the goddamn individual mandate.

[Drax the Destroyer]

That's a good first step. 10,000 more to go.

[Free Society]

Repeal every single scrap of healthcare regulation and legislation.

[Juice]

I wish it were struck down by a court instead of being legitimized by being repealed by legislation, but that ship has sailed.

[John]

Maybe I am missing something but that sounds like a good idea. Let states start opting out. If the blue states want to stay with it, good luck. I suspect that wouldn't last very long though.

[R C Dean]

You still have a problem with federal taxes, collected from everyone, subsidizing the OCare welfare queens.

[Raven Nation]

Apologies if already covered. I posted this last night but it was late on a thread.

One hostage in Sydney cafe stand-off killed by ricocheting and/or fragmenting police bullet:

http://tinyurl.com/pv34awd

According to witnesses, the gunman executed the store manager which precipitated the police entrance.

[Tonio]

That was from Dec 15...

[Raven Nation]

Ima confused: the story I'm linking to is from the coronial inquest in Sydney which opened Thursday morning, Australian time.

[Tonio]

OK, I didn't follow your link since a tinyurl link could be to anything. I googled it and and saw the date the incident happened. Sorry.

Moar better linkage, use angle brackets instead of curly ones, of course.

{a href="www.linkyaddress.com"}this text will be highlighted as the link{/a}

[Raven Nation]

Thanks for the response. I usually use better linkage but am feeling especially lazy this morning.

[invisible furry hand]

Chrome and Reasonable mean you can be even lazier

[Raven Nation]

Thanks. I've stayed away from Chrome because some of the web pages I use at work do not run at all well on Chrome. Perhaps time to diversify.

[invisible furry hand]

Are you also following the Lindt gunman's girlfriend's trial for killing his ex-wife?

[Raven Nation]

I'd forgotten about that. What a bizarre story all around.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Lazy is good.

I'm feeling lazy just as I'm about to go for a quick excursion on my cross-country skiis.

[Bee Tagger]

IBM plans to sequence the microbiomes of food ingredients to help prevent outbreaks of things like listeria and salmonella

Nothing makes food sound better than an acronym that starts with IB.

[Tonio]

I BM,
You BM,
We all BM for IBM!

[gaijin]

and according to the story above, you can make good money for a BM

[Ted S.]

I thought the Blow Monkeys didn't make good money, being a one-hit wonder and all.

[invisible furry hand]

Honduras is the new Somalia, says Salon

[Jordan]

According to that article, libertarians are to blame for police militarization and a black market created by government policies. Derp.

[Doctor Whom]

IOW, typical Salon. Even by journalistic standards, those people have a gift for being wrong. Once, Salon referred to Mormonism as the most typical form of Bible-based Christianity.

[Tonio]

There are forms that aren't bible-based?

[KDN]

Jews for Jesus?

[Free Society]

There are forms that aren't bible-based?

The ones that say killing children and raping women is wrong under any circumstances at all, are not being very Biblical in their moral outlook.

[Free Society]

The comments section is almost as excruciating as the article.

[Timon 19]

I skipped all the non sequiturs and strawmen. It was a very light read.

[Irish]

What's especially awesome is what becomes obvious if you look at the actual Honduras murder rate over time:

Here.

Notice how the explosion in the homicide rate begins in 2006 and has actually declined recently?

They blame Honduras' high homicide rate on a coup that occurred in 2009, even though the actual increase in homicides began 3 years earlier.

Libertarianism is so evil we can travel back in time and make people murder each other.

[Mike Laursen]

I can't count the number of times the Honduran government has called me up asking how to run things in a libertarian way. Unfortunately, my Dpanish isn't so good, so I may have given them some bad advice.

[Mike Laursen]

See?! I can't even spell Dpanish!

[invisible furry hand]

Synchronised mooning won the maiden fair

[Elspeth Flashman]

I clicked. Ah yeah.

[Free Society]

With kankles like that, he was smart to get those chubby tits on lock down.

[Lord Humungus]

Why Mitt Romney Thinks He Can Win (and Jeb Bush Can't)

Also pressing Romney forward: the sense that he can perform better in 2016 than he did in 2008 and 2012. Romney believes that if he can convince just a few more voters that he "cares about people" like them he will hold the electoral votes he won last time, while capturing additional states such as Florida, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, and perhaps others. Some members of his 2012 inner circle criticized his decision to remain modest about his decades of work as a lay minister in the Mormon Church, brushing aside scads of earnest testimony from those whose lives he improved through service and charity. In the last campaign, that portrait was briefly sketched on the final day of the nominating convention in Tampa, only to be overwhelmed by the madcap appearance of Clint Eastwood, and further scarred by relentless efforts of the Obama team and its allies to portray Romney as heartless and out of touch with ordinary Americans. This cycle, Romney's history of ardent community service would be placed front and center.

[Jordan]

How can one person be this dumb? Fuck off, Mitt.

[Tonio]

Not dumb, obsessed. Remember his father was also a perennial candidate for president. The mormons really, really want one of their own as president so they'll feel all mainstream and accepted and stuff.

[UnCivilServant]

They think devine revalation came out of the ground in New York of all places. Seriously, the only less credible source would be New Jersey.

[Zeb]

The Lord works in mysterious ways to confound the wise.

[Libertarian]

Makes me wonder how these "exploratory" operations work. If Mitt is getting advice from people who will be filling positions with 6-figure incomes, do you think they may be a teensy bit biased about what he should do? Add the fact that if by some miracle he does win, and you can expect another 4 or 8 years in a very sweet job.

[R C Dean]

Whenever we hire a consultant to evaluate a proposal, I always have language in the contract disqualifying them from working on the project if it gets the green light.

[Rich]

Romney believes that if he can convince just a few more voters that he "cares about people" like them

"Why, I'll bet $10,000 I can do that convincing!"

[Bam!]

Mitt, you lost when the economy was worse than shit and the voters disliked your opponent. You're a loser. Understand that and you'll grow as a person.

[Injun, as in from India]

I think both Mitt and Bush won't fare well in the general. The Bush brand is tarnished thanks to his brother, and Mitt is of course, Mitt.

Unless a really compelling GOP candidate is nominated, I will either stay home or vote LP.

[Bee Tagger]

Is a European-style "right to be forgotten" stealthily creeping into our legal code?

Eternal Sunshine of the European Union.

[Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

Oh, that's good. I may steal that sometime. =)

[Lord Humungus]

SEE IT: What we get from a good night's hustle: Texas crooks film themselves and video goes to victim's iCloud account

"Hello America. This is Dorian from the money team," one of the alleged thieves, identified as Dorian Walker-Gaines, said in a hilarious video that has since been shared on YouTube.

"This, my good people, is what we get from a good night's hustle," he continued, grinning and mugging for the camera as he waved a wad of cash for good measure.

The clip was inadvertently sent to the victim whose car was broken into by the pair of criminal masterminds when the iPad they were using to make the selfie-incriminating video automatically uploaded the 52-second reveal to the real owner's iCloud account.

[Officer Jim Lahey]

Shot in portrait mode, no less. As if being thieves didn't make them reprehensible enough!

[R C Dean]

If that isn't a penalty enhancement, I don't know what would be.

[Bee Tagger]

New legislation introduced in California would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

Will there be any problems left to solve after this?

[straffinrun]

Eventually that "raise" will be changed to "limit".

[Rhywun]

I'm sure there are other low-class behaviors that the betters of California want to smash.

[Lord Humungus]

Woman blows up toilet trying to kill cockroach

First, she squashed the bug with a swift thwack of her shoe. Next, she wrapped the cockroach in tissue paper and crushed it. Then she set it on fire.

Just to make sure it was gone for good, she then tossed the cockroach into the toilet ? forgetting that she'd just cleaned it.

The result of the flaming cockroach and the cocktail of detergents in the toilet bowl was an extremely potent homemade explosive, which promptly went off a bang ? blowing the toilet apart and stunning an office full of employees next outside.

[UnCivilServant]

The Roach, however, was able to walk away without serious injury

/end joke.

[Rich]

the flaming cockroach

Nice band cannabis lounge name.

[Zeb]

What the hell was she using to clean the toilet?

[Lord Humungus]

Ancient Chinese secret!

*dodges sticks and stones*

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Incindigel

[Elspeth Flashman]

I can totally see this happening . . . at my house.

[Rich]

Microsoft's co-founder and former CEO is the latest luminary from the world of technology and science to warn against the threat of smart machines.

A not-too-subtle ploy to get Microsoft's crashing/freezing components into *everything*.

[Clich? Bandit]

nothing quite like being chased by a T1000 when his eyes glaze over with the BSoD.

[Lord Humungus]

Gwyneth Paltrow scorned for suggesting women steam-clean their vaginas

She may have gained fans for promoting the health benefits of yoga and detox juice-diets, but Oscar-winning actress and long-term kale obsessive Gwyneth Paltrow has been mocked by doctors for her latest word of advice to women.

In a recent post on Ms Paltrow's popular lifestyle website, GOOP, the health guru recommended that women steam out their vaginas in order to deliver an energy boost and powerful internal cleanse.

Far from suggesting that Hollywood A-listers start squatting over kettles, Ms Paltrow proposed that women seek out a special herbal steam-treatment service available at the Tikkun Spa in Santa Monica.

[UnCivilServant]

Wouldn't that scald some very sensitive tissues? Do you really want burns up in there?

[Zeb]

I'm thinking she doesn't mean actual steam. That would mean some serious burns.

[sarcasmic]

So she's saying she's got an incurable case of swamp pussy?

[sarcasmic]

I had already heard that Gwen sported a 70s style bush, so it wouldn't surprise me if she stank as well.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Where do you hear these things?

[sarcasmic]

Daily Mail. Duh.

[sarcasmic]

Apparently she was hanging out with her pal Cameron Diaz (who shuns deodorant *blech*) who saw her naked (coming out of the shower or something) and noticed her wet bush waving around or something. So Diaz and another friend held Paltrow down and gave her a trim. You can't make that shit up.

[Slammer]

Is there video of this? I'd like to confirm if it's true.

[sarcasmic]

Apparently when she wore this dress she had to scramble for a razor at the last minute.

[Drax the Destroyer]

(((Gets out vasleine)))

((Slits eyes))

Go on.

[Libertarian]

"Oscar-winning actress and long-term kale obsessive"

But which of these is more impressive?

[Monty Crisco]

Goddamn, to hear Gwen tell it, her body is nothing but a toxic waste dump in constant need of a superfund-style cleanup... what the fuck is wrong with that woman?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

There shouldn't be a "right to be forgotten" but if a media outlet keeps your arrest record on its Web site but fails to update with a note that "this guy was later acquitted," that could be seen as defamatory. It omits a key piece of context and leaves a false impresssion.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

could be seen should be "should" be seen.

[Lord Humungus]

One Woman's Story of Islamic State Captivity

Of all the horrors of daily life in the custody of the jihadists, Najat recalled, the worst came in the early evenings. That's when a commander would call out the names of a few captive women and girls, saying the list was approved by special order of the governor of Mosul, or the caliph himself.

"They would scream when their name was called," she said. "Sometimes they would begin to pull their hair out and beat their face" to make themselves appear uglier. She said they knew they would be taken away, and would never be seen again.

At no point in our talk did Najat mention the word "rape." This is not unusual. Pakhshan Zangana, the secretary general of the Kurdistan Regional Government's council on women's affairs, told me that when these women return to their communities, most refuse to talk about their experiences.

[Tonio]

Subhuman scum.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Stay classy, Middle East

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes. It's all because of American imperialism that make them do that to their own people.

Motherfucken barbarians.

[R C Dean]

Honestly, shit like this makes me wobble on my belief that we should only go to war when our national interest is at stake.

[Jordan]

Chris Christie's Presidential PAC is appropriately acronymed "LMFAO"

So TEAM RED has Romney, Bush, and Christie. Stellar.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The F stands for fat right?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Hopefully they make Paul look better by comparison.

[Rich]

Meh. Remember "Win The Future"?

[SusanM]

Let My Fatass Attain Office?

[Elspeth Flashman]

+1 cinnamon-sugar donut hand clap.

[Juice]

He's sexy and he knows it.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Chris Christie loves it
When O pours shots
He needs an excuse
To suck his cock

[Lord Humungus]

Jonah Goldberg: Why Obama and the Saudis Like Low Gas Prices
His political interests align with their economic interests.

Obama is paying back the Saudis by permanently taking the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve's billions of barrels of oil off the table for all time. By doing so, he also puts the entire Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) on a starvation diet. North Slope oil production is half of what it once was, and if it falls below 350,000 barrels per day, the TAPS itself will start to become economically and technically unfeasible. In other words, Saudi Arabia's short-term economic hit is an investment in future dependence on Saudi oil.

Of course, there need not be a conspiracy, just a convergence of economic and political interests. But the fact remains that Obama could never have gotten away with restricting energy development in ANWR before an election or when gas prices were high. This is Obama's window, and it appears the Saudis are holding it open for him for as long as he needs.

[WTF]

But, shreek told us Obama created low gas prices for us because he loves us!

[Ted S.]

From New Zealand: Botched circumcisions cause complications

Up to 10 adolescent boys have suffered bleeding and infections from circumcisions that have gone wrong.

A spokeswoman for Middlemore Hospital in south Auckland says they've been sent to Starship children's hospital for treatment.

I guess nothing's gonna stop them now.

[Clich? Bandit]

Starship, damnit I knew the Kiwis were colonizing space but I didn't realize it was with cut dudes and deepdish.

[Lord Humungus]

Michael Moore on Eastwood threat, "Sniper": "American Sniper is a mess of a film"
In a new Facebook post tonight, Moore confirms Eastwood's "I'll shoot you" threat, calls extremists "American ISIS"

In his post, the director of "Fahrenheit 911? and "Bowling for Columbine" confirmed the story about Eastwood telling the crowd that he would kill Moore if he ever came to his house with a camera for an interview, and writes about how anxious the threat made him.

Moore writes:

The crowd laughed nervously. As for me, having just experienced a half-dozen assaults in the previous year from crazies upset at 'Fahrenheit 9/11? and my anti-war Oscar speech, plus the attempt by a right wing extremist to blow up my house (he was caught in time and went to prison), I was a bit stunned to hear Eastwood, out of the blue, make such a violent statement. But I instantly decided he was just trying to be funny, so I laughed the same nervous laugh everyone else did. Clint, though, didn't seem to like all that laughter.

"I mean it," he barked, and the audience grew more quiet. "I'll shoot you."

[sarcasmic]

I hope Moore tests the threat.

[Tonio]

No, he won't. Because he's a pussy. And because he can get more mileage out of whining about it.

[John]

Me too. He really owes it to Eastwood to give the old guy the opportunity to do the world such a favor.

[WTF]

"Well if he didn't wanna get shot, he shoulda armed himself."

[Monty Crisco]

I believe the line was, "Well, he shoulda armed himself... before he decided to decorate his place with my friend."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is there a bigger lying, sack of shit than that fat, stupid fuck?

[Libertarian]

Has anyone ever actually seen Cartman and Moore in the same room at the same time?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Most of Congress? Dick Cheney? Obama? Pelosi?

Say what you will, but Moore's lies have not directly led, as far as I know, to heaps of corpses and trillions of wasted money.

That said, Moore can go back to the gluttony circle of hell post-haste.

[UnCivilServant]

I'd bet if it did happen, no jury in the world would convict.

[R C Dean]

As for me, having just experienced a half-dozen assaults in the previous year

If only.

[Slammer]

Alternative Bowls to Sunday's big football game

Puppy Bowl (awesome), Kitten Bowl (awesome), Fish Bowl (uh...), Toddler Bowl (WTF?)

[Lord Humungus]

The real cost of cheap meat: Factory farms could be lowering our resistance to disease

Researchers from Texas Tech University analyzed the air surrounding 10 cattle feedlots that housed between 10,000 and 50,000 cows. They found that air samples taken downwind contained traces of antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant gene strains and bacteria from the cows' fecal matter.

One of the most startling findings was that the air samples taken some 60 feet away from the feedlot had the same level of Monensin, an antibiotic given to cows to increase their rate of weight gain and help stave off disease, that was seen inside "large scale swine production houses."

Even worse, the study authors write that the "feedyard pen floor material, which consists primarily of urine and fecal material, becomes dry and brittle, thus becoming source material for fugitive dust." When the dust rises up into the air, it carries with it antibiotic genes, antibiotics and fecal microbes.

[gaijin]

farms could be lowering our resistance

or not...maybe.

[Steve G]

Yeah, but remember chosing grass-fed, pastured sources, albeit a little more expensive, is only for yuppie suckers who've bought into pseudo-science.

There was a professor a while back from the midwest who was fired for essentially saying, 'cows eat grass'. This amounts to heresy for the grain-fed cattle industrial complex.

[Juice]

albeit a little more expensive

Only if you consider 2-3x the price to be "a little" more expensive.

[Steve G]

If you're paying 2-3x the price, you're not looking beyond the grocery store...

http://www.eatwild.com/index.html

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

"fugitive dust"

Cops chase with vacuum cleaners?

[Officer Jim Lahey]

It was the three-legged cow!

[Clich? Bandit]

"I don't care!"

[Zeb]

This sounds a lot like worrying about radioactivity from Fukushima coming to the west coast of North America. The fact that you can detect the antibiotics in the air probably says more about the abilities of the detectors than about the dangers posed.

That said, overuse of antibiotics is a legitimate concern. I'm not so sure that this is an example of why, though.

[R C Dean]

Are airborne antibiotics even absorbed into your body?

[Mickey Rat]

"Antibiotic genes"? What do they think the threat of that is? Are they going to invade your cells and give you immunity to infection?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Eugene de Kock, South African Death-Squad Leader, Is Granted Parole...

"His crimes became emblematic of some of the worst abuses in the apartheid era, including the torture of black activists. One of the trademarks of the Vlakplaas unit was to bind a man with rope, place him over explosives and then blow him up, a technique that killed the victim and destroyed the evidence.

"South African news reports quoted Justice Minister Michael Masutha as saying that Mr. de Kock was to be freed "in the interests of nation-building," and because he had shown remorse for his crimes. Mr. Masutha also said that Mr. de Kock had helped the authorities recover the remains of some of his victims."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01......html?_r=0

[Jordan]

The KOCKTOPUS strikes again.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You can correct me, but I don't think LWOP is even an option in the SA system.

This is why so many support the death penalty - "if we spare his life, you will just let him go later."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

LWOP - life without parole

[Monty Crisco]

As a government employee, I read that as "Leave Without Pay".... HILARIOUS!!!

[UnCivilServant]

Mr. Masutha also said that Mr. de Kock had helped the authorities recover the remains of some of his victims.

"There's a shard over here, an another over there, there's half a thumb in that tree..."

[Rich]

Justice Department's IG report disputes Attkisson's computer-intrusion allegations

The report knocks down a finding by the technician reviewing Attkisson's computer that unauthorized intrusions came from a certain Internet Protocol (IP) address. Though this portion of the report is redacted, it notes that IP addresses found on Attkisson's machine track back to "common, non-suspicious sources such as internet cookies, Google searches, and web access to the [redacted] shipping web site."

Emphasis added. Alrighty, then.

[John]

The report claims the "hack" was just Atkinsson's delete button getting stuck. No shit. And the Post just mindlessly repeats the claim and dismisses the whole thing as being solved.

[WTF]

Hey, why wouldn't you believe "we investigated, and we determined it wasn't us"?

[Palin's Buttplug]

A Cobb County girl walking her dog before school Thursday was nearly abducted by a man, according to police. And she has her family's 4-year-old rat terrier mix to thank for helping her escape.

The dog bit the man's ankle, and he let go of the girl's wrist, police said. Thursday night, the girl's mom told Channel 2 Action News she was thankful the dog bit the man.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/c.....tio/njzcN/

[Brian D]

Later, the police came and shot the dog, right?

[Ted S.]

Happier news from New Zealand:

75-year=old man saves woman from being swept out to sea

When 75-year-old Ian Waterson saw a mother and her child being swept out to sea he knew he had to act fast - so he ran outside, jumped onto his 4WD farmbike and drove straight into the ocean.

"In a situation like that you just grab whatever you can," the retiree said last night after helping save a 35-year-old woman at Mangakuri Beach in Hawkes Bay.

Mr Waterson was looking out the window of his beachfront home at the bay in Havelock North yesterday evening when he noticed a 10-year-old boy struggling in the surf. The boy's mother was also in the water but closer to the beach than him.

There's also an audio interview with Waterson from Radio New Zealand (audio file about 3:20 and 1.2 MB)

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Would never happen in America. Cops would have tased him for running toward the danger.

[Ted S.]

He was there before the pigs could get there.

[WTF]

Yeah, cops would prevent anyone from intervening. For 'safety'.

[Mickey Rat]

Er...what did he grab her by that led to that explanation?

[Lord Humungus]

Greece Shuns EU Bailout Cash Before Dijsselbloem Visit

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he's not interested in persuading Greece's official creditors to release the final 7 billion euros ($8 billion) of bailout funds as Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem headed to Athens for talks on Friday.

Greece wants to agree a new plan shifting from spending cuts to combating corruption and boosting public investment. The proposal hinges on the euro area and the European Central Bank agreeing to write down Greece's public debt, a suggestion that has been met with skepticism by officials across the rest of Europe.

"We don't want the 7 billion euros," Varoufakis said in an interview with the New York Times published late on Thursday. "We want to sit down and rethink the whole program."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"We want to sit down and rethink the whole program....over some Ouzo!"

Opa!

/crashes plates like Larry from Three's Company.

[straffinrun]

Greece, "If you don't give me more crack, I'm not gonna let you Germans suck my cock anymore."

[Clich? Bandit]

Greece is gunna pull out and issue their own currency...this may very well be the beginning of the end of the euro (which I predicted 5 years ago but clearly underestimated the patience of the krauts).

[Ted S.]

You know the asshole greens would say it eventually:

Global warming may cause volcanic eruptions

"As the glaciers melt, the pressure on the underlying rocks decreases," Kathleen Compton of the University of Arizona, a geoscientist and one of the paper's co-authors, explained to TIME. "Rocks at very high temperatures may stay in their solid phase if the pressure is high enough. As you reduce the pressure, you effectively lower the melting temperature."

It's causing the flipping of the magnetic poles, and keeping Voyager from leaving the solar system, too.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's a race to see who can come up with the worst Hollywood plot.

[Tonio]

Actually, you're on to something, Scruff. The best thing would be for Hollywood to make a series of really, really bad disaster movies with CAGW as the cause.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's a tough competition, given that we already have Volcano, The Day After Tomorrow, The Core, 2012...

[Andrew S.]

Volcano didn't have a CAGW reasoning behind it, did it?

(that's still one of my favorite terrible movies of all time)

[KDN]

If you like terrible movies, Battleship is on FX like once a week. It's brilliantly stupid.

[UnCivilServant]

How stupid is this guy? The weight of the ice is infitescimal versus the weight of the rock itself, and given that the outer core is itself liquid (not to mention the mantle elements) the fact that there's a fraction more weight on the upper crust isn't going to force a phase change through pressure. This isn't a sealed pressure vessel, it's a magma balloon.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

DENIER!!! SHUN!!!

Think of all the funding this guy could get if you weren't such a science denier. Jesus. I thought you peanuts were for economic growth.

[Rich]

Well, he *did* say "may".

[John]

It may be the result of underground Gnomes too.

[straffinrun]

Or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGIohRT698s

[Tonio]

Ima guess that Kathleen Compton is a "she".

Straight outa Compton, yo.

[Rich]

Kathleen *may* be a "she".

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Yeah, after seeing guys named Christine and Danielle get drafted into the NFL the last couple of years, a dude named Kathleen wouldn't surprise me

[tarran]

He's not being totally stupid.

The North American crust is rising a few milimeters a year in some spots as the crust rebounds from the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age.

However, the bigger issue isn't a phase change because the pressure decreased by a MPa or so but the tectonic activity that occurs as the changes in the pressure equalize out.

Basically, the loss of glaciers means that some bits of crust are under less pressure than other bits. The mass that that is under high pressure one side and under lower pressure on the other side will experience a force towards the lower pressure region and will move in that direction.

The result is earthquakes - most of which are imperceptible microtremors - and uneven movement of the ground. It won't cause big earthquakes where none would other-wise occur. But it can hasten a big earthquake that is waiting to happen a little, I suppose.

In theory, this could result in more vulcanism than otherwise would occur as the shifts in the Earth open up new fissures for upwelling magma.

[KDN]

In theory, this could result in more vulcanism than otherwise would occur as the shifts in the Earth open up new fissures for upwelling magma.

And wouldn't the increased vulcanism have a cooling effect on global temperatures, potentially negating the effects of AGW?

[John]

Of course Vulcanism cools the planet like crazy. Even if he is right, he is just pointing out how the earth has a self adjusting mechanism.

[tarran]

It's not much of a self adjusting mechanism.

It's not like glaciacion stops volcanos. When Yellowstone next blows, the Earth is going to cool. IT could cool for a few years and return back to the pre-eruption climate, or you could get an ice age.

Who knows?

I think the water cycle is what controls the Earth's climate. It has three or four stable modes - ice free Earth; what we have now; the partial glaciation that are the more recent ice ages; and the snowball Earth. And close to one of those stable modes, and perturbation away from the equilibrium results in a feedback that returns the climate to the equilibrium.

Volcanoes are not a feedback system but sources of perturbation.

[Zeb]

I'm not about to believe the volcano thing. But the weight of ice sheets does have a significant geological effect and actually does push the crust down. If, say, Greenland lost its ice sheet, the land would start to slowly rebound once the weight was removed. The effect can be observed in far northern places that were under a lot of ice in the last major glaciation. Scandanavian countries gain a measurable amount of land area every year. Of course it happens very slowly. Even if the theory has anything to it, it would probably take thousands of years to happen.

[R C Dean]

Are we seeing any uptick in volcanos in glaciated, or recently glaciated areas?

I haven't heard of any.

[Coeus]

Chief sorry cops unleashed police dogs to maul woman's leg while officers held her down

"Her and her friends continued to walk, and she said that she definitely continued to be loud, however they were walking away," Dunn said. "The two other police officers approached her ? asked her to stop. Whatever the case may be, they had her down on the ground when the dog came. Two of the police officers restrained her on the ground, and then they allowed the dogs to attack her."

Colvin was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for multiple dog bites.

"The force was unnecessary," Dunn pointed out to WVEC. "She has 40 stitches she got from the dog bites. The one big wound can't be closed because too much meat is missing and that will need plastic surgery," said Dunn.

Colvin provided disturbing uncensored photos to Potomac Local which showed at least one large piece of flesh missing from her leg.

[sarcasmic]

I'm sure the police department will pay her hospital bill. Right?

Haaaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!

[Rich]

"The dog alerted."

[Jordan]

Jesus christ.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

For fun, check the comments at the local paper. Most are reasonable, but there are some definite cop fellators in there.

Way to Go Chief - The chief of police just threw his officer under the bus

[Tonio]

There are always going to be apologists. But the fact that more rational comments are prevailing is comforting.

[sarcasmic]

That commenter has a point. The chief's job is to cover for the officers, not matter what. So in this case the chief it's doing is job.

[sarcasmic]

it's *isn't*

[Hamster of Doom]

I see they believe the police dogs involved will be put down for having eaten a suspect.

Not sure why they believe this. I don't quite see police agreeing that having flesh-eating attack animals is Going Too Far.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And while the chief is taking a somewhat reasonable line here. The policies are not the problem. You don't need a policy to tell you that holding someone down while you let your dog eat their leg is wrong.

We're through the looking glass here.

[sarcasmic]

You don't need a policy to tell you that holding someone down while you let your dog eat their leg is wrong.

Cops do. Remember that government (cops) have unlimited powers while we have enumerated rights. If the right to not have a police dog eat your leg while the cops hold you down is not explicitly spelled out, then it doesn't exist. Duh.

[Free Society]

And everyone (who mattered) went home in one piece. The End.

[R C Dean]

Whatever the case may be, they had her down on the ground when the dog came.

Err, back up a little there. What the case actually is matters, quite a lot.

[Lord Humungus]

Following last quarter's upward revised 5.0% GDP, driven higher mostly as a result of even more mandatory Obamacare taxation, Q4 GDP had nowhere else to go but down, the only question was how much. Wall Street estimated 3.0%. Moments ago we got the first estimate for Q4 GDP and it was a miss, printing at 2.6%, and nearly 50% below the Q3 annualized number. This also means that the final 2014 GDP is 2.4%, higher than the 2.2% in 2013 as well as the 2.3% in 2012.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....-forward-2

[Mike M.]

2.4 absolutely sucks, especially six years into the so-called "recovery".

[Lord Humungus]

something, something stocks booming, peanuts.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Better than the -8.9% of late 2008.

[WTF]

BUSHPIGS!!!!!11111!!CHRISTFAGS!!11!!!

[Mike M.]

That's the best you could come up with Weigel?

Pretty lame, even by your low standards.

[l0b0t]

Have you finished that book yet? If not, you should go ahead and change your handle to Brian the dog.

[FUQ]

Hmmmm...8%. Where have I heard that before?

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

Better than the -8.9% of late 2008.

Corrections are usually painful, Peter. What should have been quicker is the recovery.

2.4 GDP is very feeble and probably a lie, anyway. The US has been contracting since 2001.

http://www.shadowstats.com/alt.....uct-charts

[Lord Humungus]

U.S. homeownership hits 20-year low, but new households growing

U.S. homeownership fell to a 20-year low in the fourth quarter, but a sharp rebound in the rate at which Americans are setting up home is expected to help drive a pick-up in housing.

The seasonally adjusted home ownership rate slipped to 63.9 percent, the lowest level since the third quarter of 1994, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. The rate, which peaked at 69.4 percent in 2004, was 64.3 percent in the third quarter.

Household formation, however, more than quadrupled to 1.7 million in the fourth quarter from only 356,000 in the same period in 2013. While the gains were driven by renter households, that should provide a boost to home building.

[The Other Kevin]

Has anyone seen American Sniper? I heard some people don't consider Chris Kyle to be a hero. I wonder if anyone at Reason has an opinion on this.

[invisible furry hand]

Not yet. Last film I watched was Foxcatcher

[db]

Last film I watched was Nolan's "Star Trek." Turned me off of Hollywood for good.

[Crusty Juggler]

I really enjoyed Interstellar; why didn't you like it? I mean it was long, and short-haired Anne Hathaway is exactly boneriffic, but what else was wrong with it?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yeah I heard that "love" can defy physics or some such bullshit in Nolan's wankfest. PASS.

[Clich? Bandit]

I wouldn't say that since Kip Thorne was the primary consultant. The CGI of the wormhole was actually made from his equations of what it would look like. And the time dilation is an awesome theme that is explored in the most realistic way possible considering the format.

[Lord Humungus]

*kaff* last film I saw in the theater was Miracle. Looked it up - that was 11 years ago!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0349825/

[Crusty Juggler]

My conservative parents have not gone to the theater in a decade and they went to see American Sniper mostly because of the cultural significance. I mean, I am sure the movie is good enough (Eastwood does not really make stinkers), but I am fascinated by how so many people will like, or dislike something, based purely upon politics.

[Irish]

"(Eastwood does not really make stinkers),"

I'm a huge Eastwood fan (I especially love Letters from Iwo Jima) but he's made a lot of bad movies.

It's just that he makes movies so quickly that people forget how many bad ones he sandwiches in between Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima, and American Sniper.

[John]

He hasn't made many bad ones. Even something like Trouble with The Curve isn't a bad movie. It is just bad compared to his great ones.

[Crusty Juggler]

I agree with John. He really has not made many "bad" movies. I guess J Edgar was not so great, but movies like Space Cowboy are certainly good enough in a TNT on a Saturday afternoon hungover sort of film.

And really, have you seen The Gauntlet? Eastwood and hot Sandra Locke, in the bus, vs the mob and dirty cops? C'mon!

[John]

+1 "And this is my gun Clyde"

[Juice]

My mom never ate at Chik-Fil-A before the whole stupid gay marriage thing. Now she eats it, um, religiously.

[Juice]

Oh, and she also boycotts Starbucks.

[OldMexican]

Hey! I also boycott Starbucks!

I go to McDonald's because they sell the same shit for less, but that doesn't make my boycott less sincere!

[BuSab Agent]

I boycott Starbucks too! Burnt beans is their "signature" taste and it's just nasty.

[Rich]

IMO, you probably did hear some people don't consider Chris Kyle to be a hero.

[WTF]

You know who some people compared Chris Kyle to?

[Rich]

Less snarkily -- Yes, I saw it. IMO, most people would consider him -- especially by today's standards -- a hero.

[Crusty Juggler]

HERO! YOU THINK HE IS A HERO! YOU WAR-MONGERING CONSERVATARD! GAHHH! GAHHH!

[WTF]

CHRIS KYLE WAS JUST LIKE ADAM LANZA!!11!!!ONLY A NAZI!!111!!!RHHARGHGGG GARBLE GRABBLE ARGH!!!1111!!!

[Crusty Juggler]

I was wondering the same thing last night!

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

There may have been a very low comment post this week.

[The Other Kevin]

Good thing I wasn't in the midst of drinking something when I read this.

[Officer Jim Lahey]

Saw it a week ago. Was good, but I preferred Nightcrawler to it. Even though the latter had nothing to do with a blue-skinned teleporting mutant.

[OldMexican]

Re: The Other Kevin,

Has anyone seen American Sniper?

I have. It's good. You get a lot of good pointers for Call of Duty.

[Mike M.]

No mention of the fact that one of the Taliban Islamonazi scumbags our idiot president swapped for Bowe Berghdal is already re-engaging in terrorist activity despite the assurances of our friends in Qatar?

[WTF]

*Ahem* "He is not a terrorist. He is an armed insurgent."
- White House press secretary Josh Earnest

[Pope Jimbo]

Having to team up with a jackass like Keith Ellison is why I could never be a politician. Kudos to Rand Paul though for sucking it up and doing the right thing.

[Lord Humungus]

Venezuela Vows Private Currency Market to Fix Dollar Drought

Venezuela will create its fifth parallel currency market in 12 years to boost U.S. dollar supplies as plunging oil revenue worsens food and medicine shortages and pushes the nation deeper into recession.

The new market will allow private companies and individuals to trade the greenback through brokerages, President Nicolas Maduro told Congress in a televised address Wednesday night. The government will continue importing essential products at the primary exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars a dollar, while combining two other existing currency auctions into one, he said.

"This is the decision I have taken: a system of three markets," he told lawmakers after being welcomed by live salsa, ceremonial cannon shots and chanting supporters. "This exchange system is a transitory system to attend the country's development needs" while oil prices stabilize, he said.

[Jordan]

"This is the decision I have taken: a system of three markets," he told lawmakers after being welcomed by live salsa, ceremonial cannon shots and chanting supporters. "This exchange system is a transitory system to attend the country's development needs" while oil prices stabilize, he said.

Somewhere in Venezuela, there is a shriek lauding Maduro for his love of "markets".

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, idiot. Maduro makes me thankful we have an independent central bank.

[WTF]

I bet you're the kind of guy who would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you.

[Free Society]

No, idiot. Maduro makes me thankful we have an independent central bank

You think Maduro's problem is that he doesn't have enough of the right kind of central planning? Good fucking god.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

No, idiot. Maduro makes me thankful we have an independent central bank.

How Independent Is My Bank?

It is SO Independent, The Chairman Is Chosen By The President Himself!

Ba-rum-bum-pshhh!

[Brian D]

Nicolas Maduro: Three marketeer

[Auric Demonocles]

Crap. Twisted my ankle playing racquetball last night. And they said exercise was good for you!

On the plus side, it's a great excuse to work from home today.

[invisible furry hand]

Wearing Jimmy Choo's for racquetball is a rookie mistake

[Auric Demonocles]

I was trying to give my friend a handicap!

[Rich]

Wishing you a quick recovery. I broke a big toe once playing Rball.

[Drax the Destroyer]

That's what's you get for trying to move.

[Lord Humungus]

Exactly. An true (Bo approved) Libertarian has any work done by orphans.

[Drax the Destroyer]

... by starving orphans.

FTFY

[Brett L]

Happy Friday, you libertarian monsters. What's good todat?

[Brett L]

Today. You go away for a while and the squirrels shit all over you.

[Ted S.]

Sell that shit for $13K!

[Brett L]

Happy Friday, you libertarian monsters. What's good todat?

[Rich]

Dis n dat.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

2 days till Vegas. That's good.

[Protagoronus]

World of Concrete?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yep

[Protagoronus]

Maybe there is a reasonable case for a Libertarian meetup. I am there tuesday night - thursday.

[Protagoronus]

Or maybe just a libertarian meetup.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I leave out first thing Wednesday morning and am booked Tuesday night unfortunately. Giving a class on Monday.

[Protagoronus]

Ah, cool, enjoy.

[db]

What's *todat,* period?

[Jordan]

My SSD should come in today, so I'll get to replace my ailing hard drive this weekend. Blazing fast speeds incoming!

On the other hand, that means reinstalling Windows.

[Timon 19]

You care enough to get an SSD, but not enough to ditch that POS OS?

[Free Society]

I got my SSD a couple weeks ago. I have yet to install it because of the pain in my dick associated with reinstalling all of my software shit.

[Timon 19]

You didn't take an image of your previous installation?

[Free Society]

I suppose I could, but I had a bad experience with that method in the past when something went wrong in the install and I had already (stupidly) formatted the old drive by the time I discovered it.

[Timon 19]

Something went wrong in the restoration of the image to the new media, or something else?

I've found it pretty rare for images to get fucked up.

[Free Society]

Some system 32 files were corrupted and/or missing. I didn't lose many personal files but I had to do a fresh reinstall to get windows functioning at it's typically shit level.

[Timon 19]

Ouch.

To make it even worse, a Windows install still takes approximately forever (ok, less than forever with decent hardware, but if you're going from an optical drive, yeah...).

I am so glad I barely have to deal with that shit on personal machines anymore (except the one I HAVE to keep Windows because of the online work my wife does - speaking of which, I spent most of Tuesday evening/night hunting down a nasty little rootkit that was disguising itself as a second instance of explorer.exe and sucking down about 80% of RAM, randomly spiking the 2 CPU cores for extended periods, and hitting the HDD continuously - fucking Windows).

[Free Society]

(except the one I HAVE to keep Windows because of the online work my wife does - speaking of which, I spent most of Tuesday evening/night hunting down a nasty little rootkit that was disguising itself as a second instance of explorer.exe and sucking down about 80% of RAM, randomly spiking the 2 CPU cores for extended periods, and hitting the HDD continuously - fucking Windows).

Shit. Are you saying that was a Microsoft rootkit turned evil or a trojan?

[Timon 19]

I still don't know how she got it on there, but it appears to be a rootkit, given that the only thing that found it was Norton Power Eraser, and even then it was ambiguous as to what it actually was...so far, normal service has been restored.

Google showed that it's been around in various forms for a long time in one form or another (at least since 2009), but there's less about eradicating it than I expected. Microsoft's own technical forums are absolutely USELESS in giving advice for getting rid of it. I mean, it's almost as if MS is actively unhelpful regarding this one.

Still a bit of a mystery, to be honest.

[Free Society]

Microsoft's tech forums are a poorly indexed abomination to the internet. Like most Microsoft products of late. You're better off at Tom's Hardware and I'm not being facetious when I say YahooAnswers has been better to me on fixing microsoft issues than microsoft has.

[Timon 19]

Tom's Hardware and BleepingComputer had the best, quickest-to-find advice on this issue, and YahooAnswers didn't suck either (I almost didn't click on it because it used to be a terrible place for actual information on anything, yet in this case, it was fine).

MS' advice seems to consist of "did you reboot in Safe Mode? You really should reboot in Safe Mode. Then run SFC \SCANNOW." (fucking default case insensitivity!)

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hookers. Blackjack. The usual.

[Swiss Servator, ... Switzy!]

Are the hookers good blackjack players? Or do you beat the hookers with a blackjack? Both?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's a new type of blackjack where you get rolled after every fifth hand.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Everybody WINS!

[straffinrun]

Just remember to never to split 6s.

[Lord Humungus]

todat? Is this some hip street libertarian talk?

lemme see - got a new (used) Adcom tuner, bought back a pair of single-ended monoblocks that I made in 2008 and sold to a friend. Made an attempt to fix the brake lights of my BMW - but when I took the assembly out I saw the repair was already done. I'll have to trace down a grounding issue.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

HI-FI NERD

/hisses, points finger

[sarcasmic]

Snow storm means I'm working from home.

[invisible furry hand]

The last few weeks have been a bit social, so the weekend will be spent on housework and a few errands. Oh, and lying around reading. Can't forget that.

[Andrew S.]

One week until vacation. I really need a vacation. Have a fairly big deal closing the day before I leave for vacation, which means I'll *really* need vacation at that point.

[Coeus]

Duke's Belle Knox trades on porn fame to promote libertarians Ayn Rand and Rand Paul

One of the first comments:

DriveBy ? an hour ago
She's seems misguided. If the porn star considers herself "conservative", "very socially liberal" and "very economically conservative", she'd be better suited in the Democratic Party rather than in the vagina-phobic Teabagger Party who have no respect even for the women who do not fuck on camera for money.
3 ? Reply?Share ?
Avatar

xboxershorts DriveBy ? an hour ago
More precisely, the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

Trouble is, 40 years of conservative media demagoguery of all things first, liberal, then democratic and now progressive, has convinced millions of people that "those people" are the enemy of the nation...
1 ? Reply?Share ?

[Andrew S.]

I'd say "never read the comments", but I can't help myself either

[Drax the Destroyer]

...vagina-phobic Teabagger Party...

What the hell does this even mean? Just because they don't want to pay for your birth control, it doesn't mean they are afraid of vaginas. Unless it's Ms. Paltrow's fish swamp.

[Zeb]

They have just decided that the only motivations that "teabaggers" can have are racism and misogyny. So they will go to great lengths to make everything fit, no matter how absurd it sounds.

[Irish]

Raw Story is the greatest website of all time.

There is no one crazier than a Raw Story commenter. Someone here said Gawker was like Stormfront for progressives, but Raw Story is probably even worse.

[Zeb]

Oh, my. Progressives aren't and never have been socially liberal. They are the socons of the left and have been since day one.

I encounter a good number of moderate lefties who think they are socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Most are pretty good on the social part, but don't seem to understand what the latter actually entails.

[Coeus]

Hot wheels: Leilani M?nter's fight for 100 percent renewable energy by 2050

Leilani M?nter is a professional race car driver, but her self-proclaimed slogan "a vegan hippie chick with a racecar" proves there is more to her than most competitors in the male-dominated sport.

M?nter, who competes in the ARCA series, is on a mission to raise awareness about the environment in ways few players in her industry have dared to go. After all, one of the biggest villains in her carbon-free
movement is the fossil fuel, the very lifeblood of her sport.

In the days leading up to a recent race, Leilani embarked on a road trip in an electric car from her home in Charlotte, North Carolina to Chicagoland Speedway, becoming the first ARCA or NASCAR driver to travel to a race completely oil free.

[John]

The barbarians are at the gates.

[Injun, as in from India]

The barbarians are at the gates.

Holier-than-thou puritan is perhaps a better description?

Seriously, I dare her to not just drive to the race carbon-free, but to live her life carbon-free. That means no plastic tooth brush, no modern clothes, no food from industrial agricultural sources, no dishwasher, no laundry, NOTHING.

[Injun, as in from India]

The only other girl named Leilani that I know of is really hot.

[invisible furry hand]

The only other girl named Leilani that I know of is a song

[The Laconic]

Funny, I was just thinking "wasn't there a page 3 girl named Leilani?"

[Zeb]

Isn't race fuel mostly alcohol?

And why do people say "carbon" when they mean "carbon dioxide"?

[R C Dean]

You're thinking of some of the dragster classes, I think.

[OldMexican]

And Indy cars.

[Unreconstructed]

The really fast ones run nitromethane. There are alcohol-fueled drag races, but IIRC it's a narrowish band between gasoline and nitro.

[Andrew S.]

I'm going to the Formula E race in Miami in March. Will be interesting at the very least.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

I thought NASCAR used mainly ethanol but turns out I was mistaken.
"Sunoco provides all NASCAR? teams with Sunoco Green E15 ? a 98 octane fuel blend specifically engineered for high-performance engines. We call it Green E15 because the fuel is actually green in color. This specialized NASCAR? fuel also contains 15% ethanol by weight"
The fuel cans hold 12 gallons.
"A full dump can weighs about 94 lbs and empties in 10 seconds or less."

[db]

That makes absolutely no sense. For that to be true *and* for the fuel to have a density anywhere near gasoline, the empty can would have to weigh at least 12 pounds.

[Moe19]

"A full dump can weigh about 94 lbs and empties in 10 seconds or less."

Brought to you by Taco Bell

[straffinrun]

the first ARCA or NASCAR driver to travel to a race completely oil free.

Her rims must be shot.

[John]

BURN!!!

[Injun, as in from India]

becoming the first ARCA or NASCAR driver to travel to a race completely oil free,

...whereupon she made up for her oil-free commute by burning up a sh1t-ton of gasoline driving around meaninglessly in circles.

[John]

And flying back to Charlotte.

[Zeb]

She could be using natural rubber tires. The carbon black probably still comes from petroleum, though.

[John]

Even if it were natural, which I find very unlikely, I doubt the vulcanized the rubber using solar power.

[Zeb]

Of course, the whole thing is very silly. A lot of natural rubber does get used in tires, though.

[SharonDCollins]

my roomate's mother makes $63 /hr on the internet . She has been unemployed for 10 months but last month her check was $18498 just working on the internet for a few hours. read the full info here...............
????? http://www.cashbuzz80.com

[GILMORE]

"New legislation introduced in California would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. "

because there aren't enough Criminals in california yet.