Overnight Short: The Jockstrap Raiders

Misfits save world
Arts • Views: 34,123

The Jockstrap Raiders is a Student Academy Award winning animated short film about a group of misfits during world war I. It takes place in Leeds, England where our heroes are all excluded from the war due to various abnormalities. Threatened by the invading German Kaiser and his army, they must learn to become a team and overcome their deficiencies in order to save Britain, and the world.

Completed at UCLA, it is Mark Nelson’s MFA thesis project. The short has won many awards, including: Student Academy Award; Best Animation, British Animation Festival; Best Animation Macon Film Festival; Best Narrative Short GI Film Festival; Audience Award Orlando Film Festival.

thejockstrapraiders.com/
facebook.com/pages/The-Jockstrap-Raiders/161759627305816

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311 comments
1 Dark_Falcon  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 8:45:52pm

Looks like a satirical depiction of Manfred von Richthofen in the teaser frame. Not gonna watch, though. In part because I can’t shoehorn that kind of humor into my literal mind when I already know the historical facts.

2 Kragar (Antichrist )  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 8:57:52pm

NOM Spokesperson: All Gay Men Are Ashamed Of Being ‘Deeply Wrong’

Earlier this month, Jennifer Roback Morse of the National Organization for Marriage’s Ruth Institute spoke at a Catholic Women’s Conference in Venice, Florida. Equality Matters noticed some sweeping generalizations about how gay men are all ashamed of their homosexuality because they know that it’s “deeply wrong”:

MORSE: I’ve noticed in my encounters with men who are same-sex attracted particularly that they have a sense of shame. Have any of you ever noticed this? … I’ve noticed that a lot of the people who are very active in the movement to redefine marriage will describe that when they were teenagers that they had a sense of wrongness — of being wrong — and of God thinking they were an abomination, like they all knew that verse. […]

So they have this sense of wrongness and I think that many of them believe that redefining marriage is going to make them feel better. I think they think that if all of us will approve of them that they will feel better… Making yourself feel good about doing something that is deeply wrong for you is not in the end going to work.

3 Targetpractice  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:01:09pm

And it looks like Obama will get another feather in his cap:

BREAKING: House Republicans Backing Down On Violence Against Women Act

4 engineer cat  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:21:04pm

movement to redefine marriage

it’s the Heroic Defense of Lexicography aspect of the argument that amuses me the most

5 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:26:54pm

More fear mongering over genetic data:

The U.S. Is Building Massive DNA Databases [Preview]

6 prairiefire  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:33:01pm

A very good thesis project!

7 engineer cat  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:36:24pm

re: #5 freetoken

More fear mongering over genetic data:

The U.S. Is Building Massive DNA Databases [Preview]

if dna is criminalized, only criminals will evolve

8 prairiefire  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:38:18pm

I enjoy theoretical lexicography very much. It’s why I like to eavesdrop!

9 Kragar (Antichrist )  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:43:27pm

re: #5 freetoken

More fear mongering over genetic data:

The U.S. Is Building Massive DNA Databases [Preview]

The logical response being SO?

10 engineer cat  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:43:31pm

re: #8 prairiefire

I enjoy theoretical lexicography very much. It’s why I like to eavesdrop!

you must come over some time and look at my collection of etchings hypothetical pre indo european substrates

11 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:45:17pm

For those who are not aware, there is a huge imbroglio in the anthropology world over world views and factions - the latest being Chagnon vs. Sahlins, with some trying to morph it into a Diamond+Chagnon vs. Sahlins conflict.

Sahlins himself quit the NAS over what he perceives as the militarization of the NAS, which is strange if one accepts that the NAS was created by the Commander in Chief of US forces on the eve of our nation’s greatest conflict. IMO Sahlin has confused the issue by throwing this anti-war feeling into the anti-Chagnon stance.

Anyway, all the noble savage believers are up in arms about how Chagnon has painted his favorite Amazonian tribe as war-like. I think this is too simplistic a view, as any view of humanity over a long period - say over the past 5000 years - will inevitably lead one to conclude that humans do have an enduring tendency for inter-tribal warfare.

12 darthstar  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:51:55pm

Nice day surfing with the missus and her sister. Shortest board I’ve ridden to date(9’2” soft top - brought my 9’4” board, but they don’t allow fiberglass boards for lessons)…and yes, I was standing by my second wave! Even tried making a couple of turns…that was exciting. Took in a nice wave full of water when I had my mouth open at the wrong time. Turned me into a human water feature.

Still, good times…good times indeed.

13 The Ghost of a Flea  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:58:39pm

re: #11 freetoken

For those who are not aware, there is a huge imbroglio in the anthropology world over world views and factions - the latest being Chagnon vs. Sahlins, with some trying to morph it into a Diamond+Chagnon vs. Sahlins conflict.

Sahlins himself quit the NAS over what he perceives as the militarization of the NAS, which is strange if one accepts that the NAS was created by the Commander in Chief of US forces on the eve of our nation’s greatest conflict. IMO Sahlin has confused the issue by throwing this anti-war feeling into the anti-Chagnon stance.

Anyway, all the noble savage believers are up in arms about how Chagnon has painted his favorite Amazonian tribe as war-like. I think this is too simplistic a view, as any view of humanity over a long period - say over the past 5000 years - will inevitably lead one to conclude that humans do have an enduring tendency for inter-tribal warfare.

Dude, I know Sahlins by way of my dad. His stated objection is that Chagnon has taken his work with the Yanomamo and extrapolated it into a evo psych theory about selection of aggression in males.

Which is a leap from micro to macro, and also problematic because the premise assumes that the Yanomamo represent “primitive” caught-in-amber humanity as opposed to a culture that has experienced adaptive changes. Just because the tech tree doesn’t advance in an isolated community doesn’t mean that they haven’t changed.

14 Mattand  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:06:18pm

re: #11 freetoken

re: #13 The Ghost of a Flea

That’s amazing. I saw this exact same discussion over at Free Republic earlier.

In all seriousness, this kind of discussion is a testament to the knowledge and smart of a good chunk of the LGF readership.

15 Kragar (Antichrist )  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:06:33pm

My daughter wants to start a Thousand Sons army.

I’ve failed.
/

16 Targetpractice  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:08:09pm

re: #15 Kragar (Antichrist )

My daughter wants to start a Thousand Sons army.

I’ve failed.
/

There there, I hear lobotomies are fairly cheap these days.

//

17 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:10:49pm

re: #13 The Ghost of a Flea

Dude, I know Sahlins by way of my dad. His stated objection is that Chagnon has taken his work with the Yanomamo and extrapolated it into a evo psych theory about selection of aggression in males.

Among other things. His statement about leaving the NAS though discussed the militarization of the NAS.

18 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:12:14pm

re: #14 Mattand

re: #13 The Ghost of a Flea

That’s amazing. I saw this exact same discussion over at Free Republic earlier.

In all seriousness, this kind of discussion is a testament to the knowledge and smart of a good chunk of the LGF readership.

There are voices chiming in from the hate-right. They appear to be rallying behind Diamond (which would come to his surprise, I suspect, if he knew what was going on) and perhaps Chagnon (but his anti-war stuff will put off the rwnjs).

19 Gus  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:22:55pm

Babble.

20 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:24:16pm

Not babble:

MP3 Audio
21 Targetpractice  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:24:33pm

re: #19 Gus

Babble.

Babel.

22 Gus  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:27:11pm

re: #20 freetoken

Not babble:

[Embedded content]

I’m waiting for an Elon Musk lecture on Ted Talks.

23 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:28:47pm

re: #21 Targetpractice

Babel.

Image: tumblr_m4x7obngGU1qe0nlvo1_500.jpg

25 prairiefire  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:38:23pm

re: #10 engineer cat

you must come over some time and look at my collection of etchings hypothetical pre indo european substrates

What could they possibly be talking about? The field with the best drainage, or the family with the least amount of small pox scars?

26 Gus  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:42:56pm

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

27 boredtechindenver  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:52:27pm

OMFG. Raylan Givens is the man. That had to be the best scene on Justified in a long time.

28 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 10:56:46pm

LH with “Two Fingered Boogie” circa 1940:

MP3 Audio
29 boredtechindenver  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:03:38pm

RIP, Arlo. You were a mean old bastard to the end.

30 engineer cat  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:25:43pm

re: #11 freetoken

For those who are not aware, there is a huge imbroglio in the anthropology world over world views and factions - the latest being Chagnon vs. Sahlins, with some trying to morph it into a Diamond+Chagnon vs. Sahlins conflict.

Sahlins himself quit the NAS over what he perceives as the militarization of the NAS, which is strange if one accepts that the NAS was created by the Commander in Chief of US forces on the eve of our nation’s greatest conflict. IMO Sahlin has confused the issue by throwing this anti-war feeling into the anti-Chagnon stance.

Anyway, all the noble savage believers are up in arms about how Chagnon has painted his favorite Amazonian tribe as war-like. I think this is too simplistic a view, as any view of humanity over a long period - say over the past 5000 years - will inevitably lead one to conclude that humans do have an enduring tendency for inter-tribal warfare.

napoleon chagnon! i read his monograph when i was taking anthro 101 40 years ago! his description of a naive anthropologist just out of university “expecting to meet a bunch of social facts eager to tell me about their genealogical terminology” but getting let off on a muddy bank deep in the amazon watching his subjects run amok, out of their minds on local hallucinogenics, luminous green snot running out of their noses, and whacking each other over the head with wooden clubs by way of reminding them that they were still located on the earth is priceless

31 freetoken  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:26:42pm
MP3 Audio
32 prairiefire  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:29:32pm

David Bowie’s 2nd release ~ “the Stars (are out Tonight) ” ~[Link: www.pastemagazine.com…]

33 Sol Berdinowitz  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:31:42pm

re: #2 Kragar (Antichrist )

NOM Spokesperson: All Gay Men Are Ashamed Of Being ‘Deeply Wrong’

Your Freedom Of Religion includes the right to think that homosexuality is wrong, your Freedom of Speech includes the right to express that view.

But non-discrimination and equal treatment before the law mean that we cannot deny these people the right to marry, and the basic concept mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, namely the Pursuit of happiness, covers any activity that does not impinge on or endanger the rights of others.

Homosexuality and gay marriage are not a threat to society or your rights, they are just a threat to your narrow, bigoted world view, which is not protected by the Constitution.

34 Kragar (Antichrist )  Tue, Feb 26, 2013 11:47:26pm

As long as marriage grants special benefits in regards to property, taxation, benefits, etc, it cannot be judged on religious criteria.

Sorry haters

35 Single-handed sailor  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 12:04:16am

Megan Mullally And Nick Offerman Perform Riskay’s “Smell Yo Dick”

Youtube Video
36 Single-handed sailor  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 12:04:53am

oh, NSFW language

37 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 12:32:53am

re: #34 Kragar (Antichrist )

As long as marriage grants special benefits in regards to property, taxation, benefits, etc, it cannot be judged on religious criteria.

Sorry haters

A lot of people confuse the legal state of marriage with Holy Matrimony. There was a time when the two were identical. If they still wish to deny gays their sacrament and not see them as married in the eyes of God, then that is their right.

But the law is another matter. Remember guys, not everything you consider immoral is illegal or we would still have Prohibition and divorce would still be illegal.

39 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 2:07:35am

re: #38 Varek Raith

House Republicans Backing Down On Violence Against Women Act

Back when the Onion was still fashionable, they nailed the GOP on this issue

40 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 2:55:44am

In researching my ancestry it is dawning on me just how wide a net will be cast even if one goes back only 10 generations. The scale becomes immense.

One interesting factoid is that by the time one gets 10 generations back one is looking at ancestors from whom one may have indeed received no genetic material! Some calculations have estimated that less than half your ancestors 10 generations back have actually contributed to your genome. This is the great lottery of life.

Ironically, one may be more likely to inherit the culture of ones ancestor than their genes!

This one goes out to the vast sea of ancestors, of which the importance of their existence spans time more so than molecular biology:

MP3 Audio
41 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 2:59:56am

re: #40 freetoken

And again, that’s not even taking infidelity into account.

I don’t get why it’s ironic to inherit culture rather than genes though.

42 sattv4u2  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 3:25:43am

re: #36 Single-handed sailor

oh, NSFW language

I gathered that by the title

(unless, of course, they were referring to my Uncle Dick, and even at that I wouldn’t recommend smelling him!!)

43 goddamnedfrank  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 3:49:43am

re: #40 freetoken

re: #40 freetoken

In researching my ancestry it is dawning on me just how wide a net will be cast even if one goes back only 10 generations. The scale becomes immense.

One interesting factoid is that by the time one gets 10 generations back one is looking at ancestors from whom one may have indeed received no genetic material!

Huh? On average you’d be looking at 1/2**10 or 1/1024 contribution per ancestor at that point. So yeah, it’s conceivable that one might not share any particular identical genes, with only 20 to 30K in the whole genome, but some of the junk DNA is virtually certain to have made the journey.

Strictly speaking if it was at all common for no genetic material to be received after such a small number of generations then speciation would occur far more frequently.

44 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:15:21am

re: #43 goddamnedfrank

Recombination doesn’t work that way, though. It turns out that chunks of a chromosome travel together. Crossover events, it turns out according to very recent research, varies among populations of humans, but even given that, the crossover method of recombination leads to much longer portions of a chromosome moving together than smaller units of nucleotides.

45 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:32:12am

re: #44 freetoken

I just asked my wife— who’s a cell biologist— and she said that it’s an interesting math question but you’d have to go back much farther than ten generations to have any significant probability of not having inherited genetic material from an ancestor.

46 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:34:19am

re: #45 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

The article I read mentioned something like 45% of the ancestors 10 generations back result in contributing to your DNA. However, like all things probabilistic, what we are really discussing is a distribution, or a probability density function.

47 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:44:30am

re: #46 freetoken

Do you have a reference to that article? My wife obviously isn’t an ultimate authority on this, but she is brilliant and this is her area of study so I’d be surprised if she was wildly off-base.

First of all, are you talking about the contributions to your ‘DNA’ as in which genes you’re expressing, or the gamete DNA— your reproductive DNA?

48 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:44:49am

Speaking of genetics, it seems like everyday now there is stream of wire stories on genetics, sometimes cast as scare-stories, at other times they sound more like sales pitches.

From two days ago, a piece that go lots of attention:

To claim someone has ‘Viking ancestors’ is no better than astrology

I think the author of that piece is painting genetic testing too broadly, but he’s also caught up in a Guardian vs. Telegraph thingy too.

And just over the transom from AP:

At more colleges, classes on genetics get personal
 (and the backgrounder Q&A: THE SCIENCE BEHIND PERSONAL GENETICS TESTING ).

They read like front pieces for 23andMe (which is not inherently a bad thing, just something about which awareness might help frame the article.) The AP writer though throws this out:

The class, taught at Iowa for the first time, is part of a growing movement in higher education to tackle the rapidly advancing field of personal genetics, which is revolutionizing medicine and raising difficult ethical and privacy questions. The classes are forcing students to decide whether it is better to be ignorant or informed about possible health problems — a decision more Americans will confront as the price of genetic testing plummets and it becomes more popular.

That’s always thrown into one of these newswire stories, but really, what are the supposed ethical questions?

Near I can tell, there really are only two. Note that it is already illegal for companies in this country to use your genetic information against you, so that is not one of them.

The two questions are this:

1) Are you able or willing to handle the medical information that is available regarding the implications of genotyping? In other words, are you a hypochondriac or at the other extreme living in denial?

2) If you and a close relative (sibling, parent, grandparent) are both tested, genotyping will reveal if a NPE (non paternity event) has occurred. Are you able to deal with handling this information in your family? Note that this is very similar too (and in some case will be the same) question adoptees and/or adopters already face.

So, that’s it. That is what the “questions”, and IMO in a world that is occupied with killing itself one way or another those questions are not intractable (though they may in individual circumstances seem overwhelming.)

49 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:45:36am

re: #47 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I don’t have the reference off the top of my head. I’ll have to dig for it.

50 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:47:07am

re: #48 freetoken

The paternity stuff is an enormous thorny tangle, I think you’re right.

I (probably) have a very mild form of Ehlers-Danlos, so I’m definitely going to get tested, as is my wife, before we have kids and figure out the probabilities.

51 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 4:57:27am

re: #50 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

This paper seems to get cited by quite a few people:

[Link: www.sciencedirect.com…]

I think it was him, or someone using his data, that got the roughly 45% figure at 10 generations.

Population genetics in general gets real difficult. Here’s a book I have bookmarked intended to read:

[Link: books.google.com…]

Certain cure for insomnia:

[Link: books.google.com…]

52 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:04:52am

re: #51 freetoken

That paper isn’t whether or not you inherited something from an ancestor, it’s the odds that you share any inheritance with another descendant at the same distance from the ancestor.

53 freetoken  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:12:54am

re: #52 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Which, given D descendants from ancestor A at generation G, will tell you how widely A’s DNA has been propagated downstream. Thus one can estimate the probability of the share of overall population have A’s DNA.

54 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:13:23am

The LGF resident terrorist cheerleader gave me a down ding on the DOOFUS thread for posting a clip from Blazing Saddles. That offends his delicate feelings, but firebombing medical research facilities does not.

55 sattv4u2  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:19:10am

re: #54 Vicious Babushka

The LGF resident terrorist cheerleader gave me a down ding on the DOOFUS thread for posting a clip from Blazing Saddles. That offends his delicate feelings, but firebombing medical research facilities does not.

Que the “DOOFUS thread’??

(just want to see the context ,,, oh, and more likely than not express my ,, umm,, displeasure!!)

56 sattv4u2  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:24:45am

re: #54 Vicious Babushka

re: #55 sattv4u2

Que the “DOOFUS thread’??

(just want to see the context ,,, oh, and more likely than not express my ,, umm,, displeasure!!)

found it

reading now

57 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:29:52am

re: #53 freetoken

Which, given D descendants from ancestor A at generation G, will tell you how widely A’s DNA has been propagated downstream. Thus one can estimate the probability of the share of overall population have A’s DNA.

It still doesn’t in the least bit support a contention that after ten generations there’s only a 45% chance of inheriting DNA. It’s not a paper that’s directly relevant, in fact, it just complicates the math.

What we’re asking is what the probability is at generation N that any genes were inherited from an ancestor. The probability of two descendants sharing that exact same gene is mathematical problem that depends on the probability of that, but it doesn’t inform the probability.

In addition, this is even more complicated because I may have gene M and my ancestor may have gene M, but I could have inherited that gene from a different ancestor. What you seem to be asserting is that a random walk of ten generations of crossover means that there’s only a 45% chance that one of the 30,000 genes that we inherit having come from an ancestor ten generations ago. Just a blank look at the math would seem to say that’s wrong.

58 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:53:10am

re: #15 Kragar (Antichrist )

My daughter wants to start a Thousand Sons army.

I’ve failed.
/

Seven Nation Army might be easier to maintain.

Youtube Video
59 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 5:56:09am

re: #57 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

It still doesn’t in the least bit support a contention that after ten generations there’s only a 45% chance of inheriting DNA. It’s not a paper that’s directly relevant, in fact, it just complicates the math.

What we’re asking is what the probability is at generation N that any genes were inherited from an ancestor. The probability of two descendants sharing that exact same gene is mathematical problem that depends on the probability of that, but it doesn’t inform the probability.

In addition, this is even more complicated because I may have gene M and my ancestor may have gene M, but I could have inherited that gene from a different ancestor. What you seem to be asserting is that a random walk of ten generations of crossover means that there’s only a 45% chance that one of the 30,000 genes that we inherit having come from an ancestor ten generations ago. Just a blank look at the math would seem to say that’s wrong.

(prob. challenged)
I thought it was 50/50. You did, or you didn’t!
(/prob. challenged)

;)

60 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:00:09am

re: #59 Feline Fearless Leader

You’d probably like the essay “Should the Numbers Count”, where the author uses that same logic.

61 geoffm33  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:01:02am

Morning all!

Listened to a great piece on RPN about the countries lognest serving state lawmaker, Wisconsin State Senator Fred Risser.

He helped write the bill that Gov Walker shredded in 2011.

He also helped pass a bill to allow public employees to unionize.

“The bill that the governor gutted was one I had helped put through 50 years ago,” he says.

In 2011, Republican Gov. Scott Walker pushed through a bill rescinding most collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin state employees.

…

Risser was one of 14 Wisconsin senators who left the state for three weeks to prevent a vote on the bill. In his district it made him a hero, and he’s instantly recognized as he stands on a balcony overlooking the singers.

Link

62 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:03:40am

CALL THE WAAAAHMBULANCE!

63 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:18:45am

re: #62 Vicious Babushka

Really, how is that true, exactly?

64 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:19:43am

re: #63 wheat-dogghazi

Really, how is that true, exactly?

They said so, that’s all it takes to be true.

65 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:20:36am

re: #63 wheat-dogghazi

Really, how is that true, exactly?

Wingnuts think it is “persecution” if they are OMG FORCED to provide employees with health care that includes contraception and ZOMG abortion.

66 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:21:31am

DERP.

67 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:22:24am

FIRST GODWIN OF THE DAY

68 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:27:03am

It’s shit like that tweet that makes me glad I can’t use Twitter in China.

69 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:27:59am

[Link: worldnews.nbcnews.com…]

Another mass shooting in Switzerland. Suspected assailant among the dead.

70 chadu  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:32:20am

I just wanted to bring more attention to this page I made last night to help a friend:

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com…]

Please take a look.

71 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:32:25am

re: #69 Feline Fearless Leader

[Link: worldnews.nbcnews.com…]

Another mass shooting in Switzerland. Suspected assailant among the dead.

BUT THEIR IS NO GUN CRIME IN SWITZERLAND BECAUSE EVERYONE HAZ GUNZ!!!111!!!

72 kirkspencer  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:36:06am

re: #62 Vicious Babushka

CALL THE WAAAAHMBULANCE!

I decided to chase that claim, and got onto the supportive “200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights because of their religion” (that’s wiki’s variation). It’s got the taste of an urban legend, because almost everybody cites someone who either didn’t say it or who cited someone else. When the pope said it, he didn’t reference any origin for the information. On the other hand he wasn’t the first person to say it.

Adding to the skepticism, Christianity is (probably) still the world’s largest religion (cite, which has referential cites.). Even so, 200 million is pretty close to 10% of that religion’s membership. That is a large enough proportion to make reports common, with very little third-hand evidence necessary. However, the consistent documentation is of a dozen or so individuals over the past twenty years, with the statement “they have seen” used to expand the numbers. Frequently added to the mix is Saudi Arabia where the practice of Christianity is illegal. Unmentioned is that so is any other religion that is not Islam.

fwiw, I have seen the report variously alleged as originating with MI6, the CIA, the Vatican, and Harvard. Needless to say there’s no record in any of their public databases of any such report.

73 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:37:27am

re: #60 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

You’d probably like the essay “Should the Numbers Count”, where the author uses that same logic.

Are you referring to the John Taurek paper?

Aside: A 1977 philosophy paper based around a scenario where there is a limited supply of a drug and you can either save 5 people each getting 1/5 of the drug, or a single patient using all of it. I haven’t found a copy of it to read yet, but I have expectations of where it is going to go. And I also see from a limited googling that there are a lot of responses to it floating about as well, so I expect this one stirred the pot a bit when it came out.

74 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:38:26am

re: #72 kirkspencer

I decided to chase that claim, and got onto the supportive “200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights because of their religion” (that’s wiki’s variation). It’s got the taste of an urban legend, because almost everybody cites someone who either didn’t say it or who cited someone else. When the pope said it, he didn’t reference any origin for the information. On the other hand he wasn’t the first person to say it.

Adding to the skepticism, Christianity is (probably) still the world’s largest religion (cite, which has referential cites.). Even so, 200 million is pretty close to 10% of that religion’s membership. That is a large enough proportion to make reports common, with very little third-hand evidence necessary. However, the consistent documentation is of a dozen or so individuals over the past twenty years, with the statement “they have seen” used to expand the numbers. Frequently added to the mix is Saudi Arabia where the practice of Christianity is illegal. Unmentioned is that so is any other religion that is not Islam.

fwiw, I have seen the report variously alleged as originating with MI6, the CIA, the Vatican, and Harvard. Needless to say there’s no record in any of their public databases of any such report.

I would not deny that it must suck to be a practicing Christian in someplace like China. However you most commonly hear this complaint of “persecution” by asshats like Bryan Fischer who think they’re being “persecuted” because they can’t bully Teh Ghey.

75 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:39:39am

re: #66 Vicious Babushka

DERP.

From the same towering geniuses who think that addressing deficits of tens of billions of dollars is as simple as cutting a few million by shutting down PBS or Planned Parenthood.

//

76 darthstar  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:41:33am

Mornin’ sports fans.

77 darthstar  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:42:27am

re: #73 Feline Fearless Leader

Are you referring to the John Taurek paper?

Aside: A 1977 philosophy paper based around a scenario where there is a limited supply of a drug and you can either save 5 people each getting 1/5 of the drug, or a single patient using all of it. I haven’t found a copy of it to read yet, but I have expectations of where it is going to go. And I also see from a limited googling that there are a lot of responses to it floating about as well, so I expect this one stirred the pot a bit when it came out.

“You four didn’t miss anything…I did it all and didn’t even get a buzz.”

78 William of Orange  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:45:00am

Today, 19 years ago….

Bill Hicks sted off his mortal coil.

Five of his best rants.

79 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:45:42am

re: #73 Feline Fearless Leader

Are you referring to the John Taurek paper?

Aside: A 1977 philosophy paper based around a scenario where there is a limited supply of a drug and you can either save 5 people each getting 1/5 of the drug, or a single patient using all of it. I haven’t found a copy of it to read yet, but I have expectations of where it is going to go. And I also see from a limited googling that there are a lot of responses to it floating about as well, so I expect this one stirred the pot a bit when it came out.

Yes. It’s a very cool and interesting paper.

80 darthstar  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:46:52am

Image: 581730_545448318810371_665154385_n.png

81 wheat-dogghazi  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:51:34am

re: #74 Vicious Babushka

I’ve been surprised at the number of Christians here in China. But they keep a low profile, with none of the over-the-top born-again shenanigans we have in the States. China recognizes Judaism, Christianity (generic Protestant and Catholic — not sure about Orthodox) and Islam as state-sanctioned religions, but worshiping must be done in officially recognized churches. Most cities with over 1 million people have at least one Christian church, it seems.

Christians run into trouble in China when they establish “home churches” outside the scrutiny of the government, or when they go off into the hinterland to preach the gospel. It should be no surprise that the government in China tries to keep a tight lid on any public expression or organization. Falun Gong is one homegrown religious movement that the Chinese government would just as soon wipe out.

Even so, several Chinese of varying ages, believing that I must be a Christian since I come from America, have told me they are Christian. One student invited me to her home church, which I politely declined. Too risky to my keeping my job, if, on the off chance, the police raid the home church and close it down.

82 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:51:42am

re: #79 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Yes. It’s a very cool and interesting paper.

I will see if I can find a full copy of it on-line. Looks like a start point for a lot of discussion.

One thing I see from the quick summaries of the scenario via Google is that the problem often names the single patient (as “David”), but does not name any of the group of five other patients. That bit, unto itself, is already extending the data set to be used in the decision beyond simple numbers by assigning a degree of familiarity to the single patient.

However, I want to see the whole thing before passing any sort of judgement.

83 kirkspencer  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:55:07am

re: #74 Vicious Babushka

I would not deny that it must suck to be a practicing Christian in someplace like China. However you most commonly hear this complaint of “persecution” by asshats like Bryan Fischer who think they’re being “persecuted” because they can’t bully Teh Ghey.

Yes.

And if you’re using a nation’s treatment of Christianity, you probably have to look at how it treats other religions.

One more addendum about the chase - people have been claiming Christianity is the ‘most persecuted’ since the at least 2004. That is the earliest such claim I found. It stated the info was from another source but that source is no longer around or never existed. But it said the reason for the persecutions was the spread of both communism and islam.

There is one fact, of course, that make it possible the claim is true - but it sticks in the craw of these types of Christians. That is the fact that the largest religion in the world is Christianity. It’s pretty much a given that if more people belong to X that any event will affect more members of X than of any other group. 10% of 2.1 Billion (Christianity) is still almost ten times the total number of Jews in the world (estimated 14 million).

84 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 6:55:49am

re: #72 kirkspencer

I think a bunch of the anecdotal information comes from the Middle East where there are real concerns about minority populations and sectarian conflict and those proffering those figures conflate what’s going on in the Middle East with religious freedoms in the US.

Whether it’s Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, or Tunisia, the failed states or recently toppled regimes, protection of civil and human rights lags and the religious freedoms just aren’t there.

There are scores to settle. There are attempts to assert control over religious sites. There is intimidation.

There is terrorism.

Some of that is directed at Christians. For instance, Coptic Christians in Egypt have been attacked (and on at least one occasion attempted to foment violence through that anti-Islam video to further their own goal for a Coptic Christian nation of Egypt). Christians have been under pressure and have left parts of the region due to violence.

But so too have Muslims. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia has been brought to the forefront once again, and even in places like Pakistan new terror groups (LEJ) are emerging to wage that historical fight for Islamic primacy.

Jews too have been on the guard against attacks, and they’ve been the focus of terrorism, intimidation, and hate crimes all along - whether it was the Mumbai bombings, the Toulouse attacks, or the resurgence of Neo Nazi and far right groups across Europe.

It boils down to religious intolerance - and a general ignorance of human and civil rights.

The general proposition is that religious freedom is under attack around the world is absolutely true. The specific proposition that Christians are threatened is less so, especially when referring to the US. Christians aren’t being persecuted in the US because they’re Christian (despite attempts to cast the ongoing debate about Church v. State and religious input into the democratic process and statutory scheme as one of a war against Christians when that simply isn’t the case).

85 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:02:58am

re: #81 wheat-dogghazi

I did not think there were even any Jews in China, but my son-in-law’s sister and her husband have a Chabad congregation in Beijing. Their members are mainly foreign nationals and tourists. There used to be a thriving Jewish community in Kaifeng, and occasionally a Chinese may come in saying they may be a descendant of this community.

86 geoffm33  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:05:02am

re: #80 darthstar

Image: 581730_545448318810371_665154385_n.png

Well, golly!

[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]

87 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:08:18am

Obama to meet Boehner, Pelosi, Reid, McConnell Friday to discuss sequester.

That’s all well and good, but if Cantor has his way, the GOP in the House will block a deal and claim that it’s for the good of the party (just as he’s done twice before with no benefit inuring to the GOP.

Right now, the GOP owns the sequester, even as they try to claim that it’s all on Obama. Obama has promised that the sequester wouldn’t take effect, but that was wishful thinking that the GOP would come to its senses and stave off the across the board cuts because it would be bad to the nation’s economy. That was a bad bet on his part.

The GOP has multiple personality disorder when it comes to the sequester. I’ve heard variations of the following across Twitter and news reports (sometimes from the same person uttering them):

1) The sequester wont be as bad as Obama and Democrats claim, but Obama owns all that is wrong with the sequester.
2) The sequester fulfills a long term goal of GOPers, so they’re not opposed to having it take effect.
3) The sequester wont have any effect on the provision of services, so why not let them take hold.
4) The sequester must be avoided at all costs - and it’s Obama’s fault for not caving to GOP plans for more cuts.

There are variations on those themes too, but the whole GOP basis for the sequester discussion is to maximize the damage it does to Obama and Democrats, and the economy gets screwed in the process, even as most economists agree that the across the board cuts are the wrong approach to dealing with the deficits (and it’s not like the GOP wasn’t about running up huge deficits just a few years ago when they were in power by pushing tax cuts and spending hikes - in part through the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan).

There was no interest in fiscal responsibility then - and the idea of fiscal responsibility being proffered by GOPers now smacks of hypocrisy.

They’ve pushed tax cuts to the exclusion of all other policy options, even though tax cuts have helped push the nation into the debt mess we have.

But the GOP sees even the 2013 tax deal to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts (2001/2003/2009 Obama extender) as a tax hike because the top earners now have to pay more income tax than under the 2009 rates (which is still lower than the historical top tax rates). They are fighting the tax plan by Democrats in addition to spending cuts because they are now claiming that the 2013 deal covered all the taxes they’re willing to touch, which is just flat out nuts.

And in the end, people understand that the GOP owns this mess (as the polling all indicates).

88 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:09:22am

It appears that Bob Woodward is losing his mind. That’s cool. I needed some company. :D

89 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:10:10am

Good morning lizards!

90 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:10:55am

It appears. Anyway…

91 darthstar  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:12:23am

re: #90 Gus

It appears. Anyway…

Are we at war with Oceania or East Asia?

92 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:13:10am

DERP.

93 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:14:53am

re: #91 darthstar

Are we at war with Oceania or East Asia?

I’m scratching my head here. Bob Woodward has suddenly morphed into a one man Fox News outfit of sorts.

94 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:15:51am

re: #87 lawhawk

The GOP is taking the Romney approach. Claim all positions in order to be able to be able to yell about being right and Obama being wrong regardless of what the actual effects are. And if the conditions change the yelling can continue since they have already claimed that position as well.

A group not truly interested in the nation, just their party and its patrons.

95 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:16:22am

Really? Ya’ think? Too narrowly?

96 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:18:08am

re: #87 lawhawk

Yeah, the GOP and their wingnut base can’t get their story straight, one minute the sequester is a horrible thing that will “hollow out the military” and Obama is to blame for not having bowed to pressure to replace it, while the next they’re downplaying the sequester as a “2.5% cut” that we’ll hardly notice and Obama’s using “scare tactics” to get people hyped up about nothing.

As Greg Sargent and a few others have noted, part of the problem is the media and pundits have allowed this all to go on for so long because they’ve bought into the false narrative that “both sides are to blame” for a failure to work out a deal. Some, like David Brooks, and jumping on the all-too-familiar “Obama needs to be a leader!” bandwagon and trying to assert that he’s to blame for the GOP’s refusal to consider any deal that includes a single cent’s worth of new revenues.

97 BongCrodny  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:18:57am

Morning, all.

Just got wind of a new music festival headed to Boston, it’s called Boston Calling.

There are a lot of music festivals these days, but it seems that very few get up old New England way.

I suspect I’m a bit older than the target audience of most of these bands, but then again, I’m a bit older than the target audience of…well, almost everything.

Fun; The Shins; Marina and the Diamonds; Matt and Kim; Portugal, the Man; Cults; MS MR; Bad Rabbits; St. Lucia; The National; Of Monsters And Men; Young The Giant; Andrew Bird; The Dirty Projectors; Ra Ra Riot; The Walkmen; Youth Lagoon; Caspian.

As a roots rock fan who lost interest in commercial radio years ago, I have to confess that while I’m familiar with at least the names of a lot of these bands, I’m know practically nothing about their music.

I’d really be interested in what folks here have to say. I’ve always wanted to hit one of the big shows like Bonnaroo or the Austin City Limits Festival, but travel and cost consideration make either of those festivals unlikely.

So while I plan to do my homework by searching out YouTube videos, maybe check out samples at Pandora or ITunes, I’d really be interested in what folks here have to say.

98 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:19:16am

re: #94 Feline Fearless Leader

The GOP is taking the Romney approach. Claim all positions in order to be able to be able to yell about being right and Obama being wrong regardless of what the actual effects are. And if the conditions change the yelling can continue since they have already claimed that position as well.

A group not truly interested in the nation, just their party and its patrons.

One that, according to recent polls, is going to bite them in the ass as we roll into March. Doubly so if they push it to the end of the month, when the continuing resolution expires, and we have a government shutdown.

99 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:22:26am

re: #90 Gus

It appears. Anyway…

Hmmm…I usually skip over that sort of thing these days but after watching the clip, he does have a point.Yes, Obama did say that….
[Link: www.latimes.com…]

Only days before the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman was due to leave Norfolk, Va., for the Persian Gulf this month, the Pentagon abruptly canceled the deployment, pleading poverty.

With cuts in the federal budget scheduled to take effect Friday, Pentagon officials said they feared that sending the carrier on a six-month cruise to the Middle East would empty their operations accounts.

President Obama on Tuesday alluded to the decision to hold back the Truman. “The threat of these cuts has forced the Navy to cancel the deployment,” he said in a speech in southeastern Virginia, a few miles from the Norfolk naval base. He sought to lay the responsibility for the imminent cuts on Congress, adding that “only Congress has the power to pass a law that stops these damaging cuts and replaces them” with more sensible alternatives.

I assume the deployment was for a serious reason, the cancellation is over petty nonsense. I don’t like politicians playing games with this stuff, it really pisses me off.

100 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:23:22am

re: #90 Gus

As of the end of January, this was the disposition of the US carrier task forces and amphibious warfare ships.

The Stennis was in the Indian Ocean and could respond to the Persian Gulf within hours. LHA 5 was near the Red Sea. The Eisenhower and Lincoln were in Norfolk and the Washington was in Japan. Four of the carriers were in port for repairs, periodic maintenance, or long term upgrades.

If a crisis erupted, those available ships, plus the LHDs could surge to the region, but there’s no immediate crisis requiring their usage. Iran’s up to their usual tricks, but nothing has changed on that front (except the possibility that Iran may open dialogue with the West over its nuclear program).

It seems that Bob’s just stewing over his long term disagreements with the Administration.

101 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:23:47am

re: #99 Killgore Trout

Since the sequester and lack of funding isn’t Obama’s doing, no, he doesn’t have a point.

102 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:24:11am

re: #99 Killgore Trout

Hmmm…I usually skip over that sort of thing these days but after watching the clip, he does have a point.Yes, Obama did say that….
[Link: www.latimes.com…]

I assume the deployment was for a serious reason, the cancellation is over petty nonsense. I don’t like politicians playing games with this stuff, it really pisses me off.

See #100.

103 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:25:23am

And I’m sure Obama called up the Pentagon and told them to cancel in order to make a political point.
///

104 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:27:06am

re: #103 Feline Fearless Leader

And I’m sure Obama called up the Pentagon and told them to cancel in order to make a political point.
///

If he had chosen to suspend the littoral ship program instead, that’d be what people were freaking out about. The sequester means less money. That means doing fewer things. If the GOP wants to solve that, they can agree to the totally reasonable proposal of having a 2:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases.

105 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:27:29am

re: #103 Feline Fearless Leader

And I’m sure Obama called up the Pentagon and told them to cancel in order to make a political point.
///

Don’t laugh, that’s the GOP’s response to any publicized consequence of the sequester, “Obama did this!” See also their response to yesterday’s report by ICE that it would have to release thousands of non-felon illegals from incarceration into monitoring programs that cost far less. The usual suspects are accusing him of “amnesty,” that this is a move to win over Latino voters.

106 makeitstop  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:28:45am

re: #90 Gus

It appears. Anyway…

Time for Woodward to retire. He’s barely making sense at all.

107 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:29:04am

And yeah, Obama has a lot of say in directing where the money is going to be used, because he’s the goddamn president who was just elected to make exactly these sorts of decisions.

108 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:29:37am

re: #106 makeitstop

Time for Woodward to retire. He’s barely making sense at all.

His basic point is “Can you imagine a US president saying we can’t afford to take military action?” and my response is “Yes, I can, and it’s a nice thing to imagine.”

109 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:29:55am

re: #99 Killgore Trout

The Navy has to project out their budget and operational needs for a deployment since they need to requisition and provide material support for overseas missions away from home port; there are actual costs associated with any deployment and the Navy can budget this out. They know the cost of deployment versus keeping the ship at port; that cost savings can help with more urgent deployments later in the fiscal year. Thus, the Navy, like other branches, have to consider the law as written and taking effect even if the effects aren’t immediate and will only hit a fraction of a percentage at the outset.

So, if the budget is going to see a 10% hit, the Navy has to consider it four and five months down the road because they can’t assume that Congress will fix it.

And yes, they can still surge ships as the need arises (like say due to outbreak of hostilities or a natural disaster).

110 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:30:06am

re: #106 makeitstop

Time for Woodward to retire. He’s barely making sense at all.

I was giving him the benefit of the doubt until this. Kind of weird.

111 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:31:08am

re: #107 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

And yeah, Obama has a lot of say in directing where the money is going to be used, because he’s the goddamn president who was just elected to make exactly these sorts of decisions.

But one can only do so much when a department’s budget is cut 5%-10% before you start eating into major programs. If there truly was 5%-10% of “waste” and “mismanagement” that the GOP thinks could be cut without adverse effects, then they should have spent the time narrowing down the cuts to those instead of taking an axe to the federal budget.

112 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:31:23am

Great now that new Robur freak is trolling my Harlem Shake page. Is nothing sacred?

113 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:31:28am

Oh look. Alternate universe.

114 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:31:44am

Canadian missing in Golan Heights

The United Nations has confirmed that one its staff members, believed to be Canadian, is missing along the Syrian-Israeli border.

Eduardo Del Buey, deputy spokesman for the secretary general, told a media briefing in New York that an employee working with the peacekeeping mission along the Golan Heights is unaccounted for in the region.

He would not confirm a name or nationality, but media reports in Israel identify the man as Carl Campeau, a Canadian legal adviser.

Del Buey refused all other comment.

115 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:31:54am

re: #104 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

If he had chosen to suspend the littoral ship program instead, that’d be what people were freaking out about. The sequester means less money. That means doing fewer things. If the GOP wants to solve that, they can agree to the totally reasonable proposal of having a 2:1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases.

My point was more that I expect that the decision to cancel the Truman deployment was a bottom-up decision within the Pentagon’s logistics and operations staff analyzing the use of the budgets and making recommendations up the chain of command; e.g. doing their job. And that recommendation came up the chain up to whoever normally gets the responsibility to make the decision.

I expect that Obama (or SecDef, etc.) could complain about that and try to get it overridden - but that also at that point assumes that Obama et. al. will micromanage in order to make political points in this case. Which also serves as tossing some fresh meat to the “Obama is trying to stop up from defending Israel crowd”.

116 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:32:40am

re: #112 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Great now that new Robur freak is trolling my Harlem Shake page. Is nothing sacred?

Trolls gotta troll.

117 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:33:01am

re: #115 Feline Fearless Leader

You’re right, I’m sure Obama has some part in these decisions but in general they’re being made by the Joint Chiefs et al.

118 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:33:53am

re: #117 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

You’re right, I’m sure Obama has some part in these decisions but in general they’re being made by the Joint Chiefs et al.

Yep. And I guess I owe the GOP an apology for understanding what nuance is.

:p

119 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:34:06am

re: #113 Gus

Oh look. Alternate universe.

re: #113 Gus

Oh look. Alternate universe.

Twice in the last two years alone, Obama has spent weeks sitting down with Republican leaders to work out deals to handle major crises. And both times, the GOP ended up walking out on the talks and instead pushing things down to the wire before accepting deals that were worked out in the backrooms of the House and the Senate. The man has more important things to do with his time than waste it negotiating deals that have no future.

120 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:38:04am

Deranged fucktard Orly Taitz got smacked down for the Birfer shit, so now she’s spamming some other insane scheme of “stolen SSNs.”

121 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:38:20am

re: #102 Gus

See #100.

But Obama’s statement wasn’t that the carrier deployment wasn’t necessary, his statement that the deployment wasn’t possible because of funding. One could make the reasonable assumption that Obama’s statement isn’t entirely true and he’s using it as leverage to pass a budget deal. That’s a possibility, I don’t know of that can be fact checked or not.

122 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:38:28am

re: #113 Gus

That comes out within minutes of a planned confab at the WH with Congressional leaders. Yeah, nothing like a bit more projection from Boehner.

The GOP is stuck on stupid with its no tax pledge; among their other asinine claims is that they’ve done all the tax adjustments needed when they agreed to the tax hikes in the 2013 tax act (that permanently cut taxes for 90% of Americans). They’re also stuck on stupid when it comes to a ratio of cuts to taxes.

A ratio makes no sense in and of itself and doesn’t reflect anything other than a talking point (which is why the GOP is keen to use it). The budget simply can’t get balanced on the back of spending cuts alone - and it would damage the economy all at once. Balanced approach of cuts and tax hikes could allow growth to proceed (albeit at a slower pace) but the deficit could see meaningful reductions without seriously damaging the economy or harming national defense.

123 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:40:17am

[Link: www.nbcnews.com…]

*This* is something the various industrial leaders should be paying attention to. Crushing the middle-class and mobility of the upper lower-class in order to protect profits is self-destructive if you destroy the market for your products at the same time.

Also a critique on the design decisions made by the auto-makers as well. If the average new car price is headed above $30K the per unit profitability is going to lose out if sales are so low that the economics of scale fail.

124 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:40:53am

Morning all! The People’s Republic of Austinistan is sunny and windy today. Nice day to navigate all the derp and idiocy on the right.

For example:

125 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:41:01am

re: #121 Killgore Trout

One could make the reasonable assumption that Obama’s statement isn’t entirely true

What are you even arguing at this point? That the sequester doesn’t actually involve taking money out of the military budget? ‘cuz lemme fact-check that for you real quick, broheim: It does.

You’re not making any sense at all.

126 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:41:38am

re: #124 Lidane

By that logic, working 12 hours for a dollar is better than not having to work for 12 hours and not getting a dollar.

127 Targetpractice  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:42:12am

re: #121 Killgore Trout

But Obama’s statement wasn’t that the carrier deployment wasn’t necessary, his statement that the deployment wasn’t possible because of funding. One could make the reasonable assumption that Obama’s statement isn’t entirely true and he’s using it as leverage to pass a budget deal. That’s a possibility, I don’t know of that can be fact checked or not.

So you’re accusing Obama of ordering the Navy to cancel a carrier deployment, despite no pressing need for one and a very real 10% budget cut slamming down on their heads as of Friday, to score political points towards a sequester deal?

128 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:44:16am
129 geoffm33  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:45:19am

re: #124 Lidane

My god that guy is a f*cking idiot.

130 BongCrodny  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:46:24am

re: #124 Lidane

Minimum wage for the self-employed: Zero! Your only guarantee comes from the value you deliver

Coincidentally, that’s the same value as a Godfather’s Pizza.

131 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:46:36am

re: #120 Vicious Babushka

Deranged fucktard Orly Taitz got smacked down for the Birfer shit, so now she’s spamming some other insane scheme of “stolen SSNs.”

Maybe Oily needs to sit in a cell until she comes clean on who STOLE the presidents SSN that all these wingnuts seem to have access to.

132 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:47:56am

re: #127 Targetpractice

So you’re accusing Obama of ordering the Navy to cancel a carrier deployment, despite no pressing need for one and a very real 10% budget cut slamming down on their heads as of Friday, to score political points towards a sequester deal?

Uh, no. I’m saying that the deployment may not be needed right now and was cancelled as being unnecessary, Obama’s statement about it being cancelled due to budget cuts might be to increase political pressure. Don’t let that get in the way of your drama and outrageous outrage. Carry on.

133 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:47:59am

We need to have a naval strike force in case of a sudden attack on Israel by Iranian speed boats!

//

134 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:48:00am

re: #131 Eventual Carrion

Maybe Oily needs to sit in a cell until she comes clean on who STOLE the presidents SSN that all these wingnuts seem to have access to.

This fucktard keeps spamming the same Orlycrap every 30 seconds. I reported it for spam but it keeps on spamming.

135 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:48:29am

Of course that would be the Mediterranean.

136 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:48:38am

At least this fucktard admits that OBAMA PAYS TAXES.

137 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:48:41am

re: #124 Lidane

Morning all! The People’s Republic of Austinistan is sunny and windy today. Nice day to navigate all the derp and idiocy on the right.

For example:

Wow, what an insight. Labor-value = money.

Now, where have I heard that one before…

138 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:49:29am

re: #132 Killgore Trout

Uh, no. I’m saying that the deployment may not be needed right now and was cancelled as being unnecessary, Obama’s statement about it being cancelled due to budget cuts might be to increase political pressure. Don’t let that get in the way of your drama and outrageous outrage. Carry on.

Then how does Bob Woodward, who is insisting the deployment is crucial and cancelling it is madness, have a point?

When you argue, you often wind up very quickly arguing against yourself. Have you noticed that?

139 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:49:53am

And we all know that Bernanke is a commie soshulist libtard:

140 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:50:55am

I get that federal agencies have leeway and discretion on how to address the coming sequester. Some may opt to push the cuts to the forefront by choosing policies that show just how important those agencies/departments/programs are.

Some agencies, like the NPS have indicated that they’re going to be forced to keep some areas of major national parks shuttered (not plowing open areas or opening campgrounds because they wont have staff to do the work - much of which is a seasonal variation).

Others, like the FAA will shift personnel and furlough those who aren’t in mission critical positions to keep the control towers and inspectors on the job.

Still others will reduce personnel available to keep overall agency/mission/program operating.

Some will reduce personnel because they have no other choice - like say PTO office staff to handle filings.

Others will attempt to continue with current staffing levels, but would face hard choices as sequester drags on, drastically reducing staffing or programs later.

The GOP is attempting to capitalize on the different approaches by different agencies as proof that this isn’t as bad as the WH is saying it would be, or that the cuts aren’t that bad, but any problems are Obama’s fault.

Yet, the longer it drags out, the more those cuts will hit home, and the more people will be affected.

141 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:50:57am

Someone with a Christian avatar Tweeting Ayn Randy slogans:

142 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:52:47am

re: #141 Vicious Babushka

That bot keeps spamming the wingnut Thomas More Law Center, which boasts Allen West, Michele Bachmann, and Alan Keyes as advisors.

143 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:53:23am

re: #132 Killgore Trout

Uh, no. I’m saying that the deployment may not be needed right now and was cancelled as being unnecessary […]

Do you have any evidence at all that this is the case? Because it seems pretty clear that the Defense Department is explaining this as a consequence of budget cuts, not as a strategic reassessment of priorities.

144 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:53:42am

re: #142 Lidane

That bot keeps spamming the wingnut Thomas More Law Center, which boasts Allen West, Michele Bachmann, and Alan Keyes as advisors.

Don’t they claim to be the “Christian equivalent” of the ACLU or something?

145 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:53:43am

With all due respect for worries about the economy, we have a rather unfortunate SCOTUS decision that has legalized warrantless surveillance.
[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com…]

146 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:54:20am

re: #139 Lidane

Sequester is another form of austerity, and we’ve seen just how hard it is for countries like Spain and Greece to deal with their debt loads through cuts (and tax hikes). Spending ground to a halt, unemployment has risen, and the hoped for debt reduction hasn’t materialized.

Sequester will achieve cuts in spending, but it wont goose private sector spending or create jobs because the cut in federal spending affects private sector spending - jobs that are cut or lost due to all the contracts that government has with the private sector to do various tasks (build/maintain roads, school services, prisons, etc.)

147 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:55:17am

I hadn’t realized that Bob Woodward was now a military adviser.

148 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:55:43am

re: #144 Vicious Babushka

Don’t they claim to be the “Christian equivalent” of the ACLU or something?

I thought that was the ACLJ, but I could be wrong. All these wingnut groups start to blend together after a while.

149 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:56:08am

re: #142 Lidane

That bot keeps spamming the wingnut Thomas More Law Center, which boasts Allen West, Michele Bachmann, and Alan Keyes as advisors.

The TMLC is fairly well known in the evolution-intelligent design discussion circles. (I won’t call it a “debate” since that sort of implies that both sides have a logical basis to stand on.)

150 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:56:08am

re: #143 iossarian

Do you have any evidence at all that this is the case? Because it seems pretty clear that the Defense Department is explaining this as a consequence of budget cuts, not as a strategic reassessment of priorities.

No just speculating. If indeed Obama’s statement is true then Woodward’s point still stands: Necessary military deployments are being cancelled because we can’t afford it. That’s not good.

151 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:56:32am

re: #145 Political Atheist

With all due respect for worries about the economy, we have a rather unfortunate conservative-led SCOTUS decision that has legalized warrantless surveillance.
[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com…]

Fixed that for ya! If only we’d had some more Democratic presidents appointing liberal justices recently - this could all have been avoided.

152 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:57:34am

re: #150 Killgore Trout

No just speculating.

So you have evidence for A, no evidence for not-A, but are speculating that, in fact, not-A is true?

153 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:58:09am

re: #150 Killgore Trout

No just speculating. If indeed Obama’s statement is true then Woodward’s point still stands: Necessary military deployments are being cancelled because we can’t afford it. That’s not good.

That’s a bit nuance free since not all military deployments are necessarily equal. In terms of cost, ability to put off, or even necessity.

154 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 7:59:50am

re: #150 Killgore Trout

No just speculating. If indeed Obama’s statement is true then Woodward’s point still stands: Necessary military deployments are being cancelled because we can’t afford it. That’s not good.

I don’t see the Japanese with a strike group there. What about the UK? What about France? Better yet, what about Saudi Arabia? We have the 5th Fleet currently deployed in the Indian Ocean. Are we to expect the USA is going to be pulling the weight in the Persian Gulf while other nations just sit around and pick lint out of their belly buttons?

155 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:00:35am

And against what threat? A couple of Iranian cruisers that could easily be knocked out by cruise missiles?

156 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:01:06am

Erick, Son of Erick states the obvious:

157 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:02:03am

re: #150 Killgore Trout

No just speculating. If indeed Obama’s statement is true then Woodward’s point still stands: Necessary military deployments are being cancelled because we can’t afford it. That’s not good.

That’s not Woodward’s point, though. He’s saying that it’s madness for Obama to actually follow the sequester agreement. This is in the context of him blaming Obama for the sequester.

Maybe read the articles a few more times?

158 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:02:03am

The Stennis also has these things called airplanes. A Persian Gulf response if needed could be easily accomplished. The strike group also includes missile cruisers. STFU already.

159 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:02:11am

What right-wing racism?

160 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:03:10am

re: #159 Vicious Babushka

The right wing patriots make me feel bad for eagles, always getting harassed by flags and shit.

161 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:03:35am

re: #156 Lidane

Oh, they’re advancing stories and ideas alright. Just blatantly bogus ones.

They aren’t actually breaking news or highlighting ideas that have merit.

162 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:03:52am

re: #157 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Maybe read the articles a few more times?

That would require actual effort.

163 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:04:53am

ChristiChat is the most retarded wingnut of tgdn. That takes some really awesome negative talent.

164 William Barnett-Lewis  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:05:07am

re: #150 Killgore Trout

What “necessary” cruises?

I’ve said it before - the defense budget needs to be cut by 25 ~40% and taxes need to go up. This little 7% isn’t doing anywhere near what needs to happen except make chicken hawks whine.

165 BongCrodny  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:05:56am

re: #159 Vicious Babushka

What right-wing racism?

“Clericil”

Damn, those guys are f’n morons.

166 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:08:49am

re: #151 iossarian

Fixed that for ya! If only we’d had some more Democratic presidents appointing liberal justices recently - this could all have been avoided.

I find that possible if bit doubtful, as the administration was so strongly supporting this. That is the responsible person(s) in the most direct sense. What might be we can not really know, but what is shows an administration making a long term mistake that goes far beyond his terms. Pending some momentous change, this is permanent.

167 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:10:34am

The nutters on Twitter are reacting exactly the way you think they are.

168 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:10:45am

re: #166 Political Atheist

The cool thing about that is that the justices are not just robots. Sotomayor, for example, has already criticized the administration on a number of occasions.

You’re right that executive power isn’t a right-left divide; it’s separate.

169 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:10:58am

re: #163 Vicious Babushka

Yeah, guns, and the foreigners to train our minutemen like Pulaski and Kosciuszko and the French Navy to thwart reinforcements for the British.

And ignore that there were plenty of Colonial loyalists who had guns and fought along with the Brits.

170 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:11:40am

re: #169 lawhawk

Shit, Maine practically revolted against the US during the War of 1812.

171 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:12:19am

re: #169 lawhawk

Yeah, guns, and the foreigners to train our minutemen like Pulaski and Kosciuszko and the French Navy to thwart reinforcements for the British.

And ignore that there were plenty of Colonial loyalists who had guns and fought along with the Brits.

It’s funny how they love to compare themselves to the patriots (winners) of 1776 but not to the secessionists (losers) of 1861.

172 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:12:56am

re: #167 Lidane

The Senate GOP recognizes the real problem along with the rest of the nation and Democrats. The House GOP. Is. Nuts. and can’t be bargained with. They don’t understand basic governance and the art of compromise. They’ve forced us into a huge fiscal mess and their only option is to accept their terms or watch the economy burn.

173 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:13:20am

Fuck this guy.

174 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:13:20am

Wait, what? I can’t even…

175 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:14:03am

I didn’t click the link. Does Fracking cause miscarriages?

176 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:14:19am

re: #154 Gus

I don’t see the Japanese with a strike group there. What about the UK? What about France? Better yet, what about Saudi Arabia? We have the 5th Fleet currently deployed in the Indian Ocean. Are we to expect the USA is going to be pulling the weight in the Persian Gulf while other nations just sit around and pick lint out of their belly buttons?

this is where the Paulians and moonbats converge. As other people are arguing on this thread that the lack of funding for military deployments overseas is a good thing. Many people see this as a positive development.

177 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:16:08am

re: #176 Killgore Trout

As other people are arguing on this thread that the lack of funding for military deployments overseas is a good thing. Many people see this as a positive development.

Who are these people, Killgore?

178 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:16:28am

re: #176 Killgore Trout

this is where the Paulians and moonbats converge. As other people are arguing on this thread that the lack of funding for military deployments overseas is a good thing. Many people see this as a positive development.

Show me where in the Constitution that the USA is responsible for global security. Yeah, it’s pretty neat when we can freaking afford it. If it’s about Israel then Israel can build their own aircraft carrier. Not doing the guilt by association thing this morning either. IOW, you argument seems to be, “you’re a PAULIAN, ha, ha.” Not gonna work.

179 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:17:31am

re: #174 Vicious Babushka

Statistics. How do they work.

ND has a relatively low rate, but MA, PA, MN, and RI have lower.

FWIW, that link takes you to a CDC report on teen pregnancies.

180 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:17:40am

re: #175 Vicious Babushka

I didn’t click the link. Does Fracking cause miscarriages?

No. Basically, the oil boom has caused a big downswing in unemployment, and when things are economically good women are less likely to have teen pregnancies. That’s the analysis from the Slate article.

[Link: www.slate.com…]

181 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:18:07am

re: #166 Political Atheist

I find that possible if bit doubtful, as the administration was so strongly supporting this.

And yet, the 5-4 vote was clearly on the usual partisan lines.

That is the responsible person(s) in the most direct sense.

The president is now responsible for supreme court decisions? Ones his own appointees oppose? Who knew?

What might be we can not really know, but what is shows an administration making a long term mistake that goes far beyond his terms. Pending some momentous change, this is permanent.

Sure. But if you think that this hasn’t come about in large part because of Republican judicial appointments in the past decade, you’re not thinking about it very carefully.

182 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:20:26am

re: #180 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

No. Basically, the oil boom has caused a big downswing in unemployment, and when things are economically good women are less likely to have teen pregnancies. That’s the analysis from the Slate article.

[Link: www.slate.com…]

Not for the reasons that the wingnuts assume, but rather in spite of them.

183 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:21:20am

re: #182 Vicious Babushka

Not for the reasons that the wingnuts assume, but rather in spite of them.

Well, the article acknowledges that cultural pressure is part of the reason, but that it’s not really transportable unless we want to make the rest of the country demographically resemble North Dakota.

184 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:21:32am

re: #168 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I think that many that lean left ( a little or a lot) have given the Obama admin a full pass on domestic surveillance, yet show up in the anti drone argument. Across the spectrum people fail to see the link. Technology from the past like phones got full protection. The internet and “e sphere” we have around us like our tablets and computers are not getting the same level of protection from intrusion. To me that’s a sea change in policy.

185 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:21:53am

You want to be Superman? Worried about not having a strike group in the Persian Gulf? Meanwhile Assad is still slaughtering his people. Turns out we’re selective Supermen. Over 60K killed thus far.

186 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:22:29am

re: #181 iossarian

And yet, the 5-4 vote was clearly on the usual partisan lines.

The president is now responsible for supreme court decisions? Ones his own appointees oppose? Who knew?

Sure. But if you think that this hasn’t come about in large part because of Republican judicial appointments in the past decade, you’re not thinking about it very carefully.

To what degree are you willing to hold the President accountable for policy he and his admin pushes? At all?

187 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:23:11am

re: #169 lawhawk

Yeah, guns, and the foreigners to train our minutemen like Pulaski and Kosciuszko and the French Navy to thwart reinforcements for the British.

And ignore that there were plenty of Colonial loyalists who had guns and fought along with the Brits.

A lot of them moved to Canada after the rebels won too.

188 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:24:05am

re: #174 Vicious Babushka

Wait, what? I can’t even…

Maybe the kids live so far apart they have trouble getting together?

:p

189 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:25:23am

Do wingnuts realize that Duffelblog is a parody site, like The Onion?

190 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:25:38am

re: #154 Gus

I don’t see the Japanese with a strike group there. What about the UK? What about France? Better yet, what about Saudi Arabia? We have the 5th Fleet currently deployed in the Indian Ocean. Are we to expect the USA is going to be pulling the weight in the Persian Gulf while other nations just sit around and pick lint out of their belly buttons?

The Japanese are good at “losing” strike groups behind weather fronts. So they might not be where you think they are.

;)

Though, in this case, I think it would be a stealth group since the Japanese seem to have a lack of constructed CVs at this point in history.

191 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:26:09am

re: #184 Political Atheist

I think that many that lean left ( a little or a lot) have given the Obama admin a full pass on domestic surveillance, yet show up in the anti drone argument. Across the spectrum people fail to see the link. Technology from the past like phones got full protection. The internet and “e sphere” we have around us like our tablets and computers are not getting the same level of protection from intrusion. To me that’s a sea change in policy.

I do think that the domestic surveillance argument largely got dropped by the left, and that this is to some extent hypocritical. However, one of the main arguments against the expansion of powers was “Once expanded, these will be very hard to get rid of.” I certainly blame Obama for making the problem somewhat worse, but I really doubt he would have come up with any of this on his own.

192 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:27:16am

More right-wing FLOTUS derangement.

How many photos of FLOTUS did they have to go through before they found one that is unflattering?

193 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:32:02am

re: #186 Political Atheist

To what degree are you willing to hold the President accountable for policy he and his admin pushes? At all?

If I’ve made this point on LGF, I’ve made it a hundred times. There are plenty of places where I disagree with Obama and his administration on policy. I work in the education sphere, and “Race to the Top” is fucked-up dogballs.

But how do you “hold him accountable”? Voting Republican just gets you Justices Alito, Thomas, and the other fuckers who just voted for this bullshit. Did you vote for dubya? If so, your outrage at this SCOTUS decision looks pretty damn chumpish to me - your boys enabled it.

At this stage in America, any vote at any level for any Republican is a shit decision. You want me to “hold Obama accountable”? Start by destroying the festering manure heap that is the GOP. Then we’ll talk. Until then I’m going to vote Democratic down the line every. single. time. And advise anyone who asks to do exactly the same, unless they want to live in a Somalia/Iran hybrid without the cool millennia of actual culture.

194 Eventual Carrion  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:32:37am

re: #174 Vicious Babushka

Wait, what? I can’t even…

Fracking causes sterilization? Or is fracking legitimate rape so you don’t get pregnant? Or … hell I don’t know

195 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:33:09am

re: #192 Vicious Babushka

More right-wing FLOTUS derangement.

How many photos of FLOTUS did they have to go through before they found one that is unflattering?

196 makeitstop  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:33:18am

In other news, the GOP seems to be poised to take a beating on immigration and VAWA.

Boehner is looking more incompetent by the hour.

197 geoffm33  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:33:41am

re: #192 Vicious Babushka

More right-wing FLOTUS derangement.

How many photos of FLOTUS did they have to go through before they found one that is unflattering?

It’s easy to do!

Image: 2248494060_36e3384360.jpg

198 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:35:20am

re: #197 geoffm33

It’s easy to do!

Image: 2248494060_36e3384360.jpg

What a wookie.//

199 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:36:01am

Manning defense seeks to block bin Laden emails

FORT MEADE, Md., Feb. 27 (UPI) — Defense attorneys at the WikiLeaks trial of U.S Army Pfc. Bradley Manning have asked a military judge to block emails found on Osama bin Laden’s hard drives.

The prosecution wants to use the emails found at the bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan as evidence that Manning “aided the enemy,” a charge that carries a potential life sentence, Courthouse News Service reported.

…Prosecutors said they want to call nine witnesses to testify to the chain of custody from bin Laden’s hard drive to an FBI agent to a Quantico, Va., laboratory for forensic analysis.

Those emails have not been made public, and the defense is expected to challenge their authenticity.

Defense attorney David Coombs said the government must prove that Manning knew that the files he reportedly leaked could potentially have fallen into the hands of an “enemy.”

So in Manning’s mind it OK to steal and leak sensitive documents to WikiLeaks but when it comes to the govt prosecution bringing out emails from OBL he’s all against it.

200 Killgore Trout  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:37:52am

re: #199 NJDhockeyfan

Manning defense seeks to block bin Laden emails

So in Manning’s mind it OK to steal and leak sensitive documents to WikiLeaks but when it comes to the govt prosecution bringing out emails from OBL he’s all against it.

Wow, that’s kind of a big deal. Could also be used against Assange if he’s ever brought to trial as well.

201 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:37:59am

re: #199 NJDhockeyfan

Manning defense seeks to block bin Laden emails

So in Manning’s mind it OK to steal and leak sensitive documents to WikiLeaks but when it comes to the govt prosecution bringing out emails from OBL he’s all against it.

Weird, that.

202 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:39:00am

re: #193 iossarian

At this stage in America, any vote at any level for any Republican is a shit decision. You want me to “hold Obama accountable”? Start by destroying the festering manure heap that is the GOP. Then we’ll talk. Until then I’m going to vote Democratic down the line every. single. time. And advise anyone who asks to do exactly the same, unless they want to live in a Somalia/Iran hybrid without the cool millennia of actual culture.

A+ post, would quote and upding again.

203 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:40:04am

re: #191 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I do think that the domestic surveillance argument largely got dropped by the left, and that this is to some extent hypocritical.

I’m not sure that’s entirely true - to the extent that “the left” exists in America it seems fairly clear that they oppose the decision and indeed the Obama administration’s policy here. For example:

[Link: www.dailykos.com…]

[Link: www.motherjones.com…]

However, one of the main arguments against the expansion of powers was “Once expanded, these will be very hard to get rid of.” I certainly blame Obama for making the problem somewhat worse, but I really doubt he would have come up with any of this on his own.

Pretty much how I feel about it.

204 wrenchwench  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:40:41am

re: #202 Lidane

A+ post, would quote and upding again.

You quoted it, which gave me the opportunity to upding it again.

205 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:41:51am

re: #202 Lidane

A+ post, would quote and upding again.

It was as if some other being took control of the keyboard. Rant over.

206 Ghost of Tom Joad  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:41:57am

re: #175 Vicious Babushka

I didn’t click the link. Does Fracking cause miscarriages?

The theory is presented that North Dakota — with all that fracking — has a booming economy and females delay pregnancy when economic prospects are high (and when there’s a plentiful supply of men to choose from).

Plus the usual abstinence only bullshit, with, get this

“No—North Dakota has one Planned Parenthood in a 700,000 square-mile state. Seventy-five percent of North Dakotans live in counties with no abortion provider. State law mandates abstinence-only education in its schools….”

Let that one sink in a bit.

207 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:41:59am

It’s pretty hilarious to see casino owning sleaze bags moralizing and pontificating.

208 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:43:09am
209 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:43:09am

re: #191 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Right, we got this over a long period of time. I think FISA first came to life under Carter via Ted Kennedy, but got expanded after the illegal searches of the home of a mole during the Clinton admin. Then of course all else was post 9/11.

210 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:43:52am

re: #208 Gus

Sigh.

211 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:44:05am

re: #208 Gus

I blame Obama for appointing these racist conservative justices.

212 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:44:27am

re: #210 HappyWarrior

Sigh.

I’ll say. What the fuck is wrong with people these days?

213 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:44:47am

re: #211 iossarian

I blame Obama for appointing these racist conservative justices.

I still can’t believe Scalia was unanimous.

214 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:44:53am

re: #206 Ghost of Tom Joad

Plus the usual abstinence only bullshit, with, get this

Let that one sink in a bit.

Outside of the context of the original article how does the ND data track with the general trend in fewer teenage pregnancies nation-wide?

215 makeitstop  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:45:08am

re: #204 wrenchwench

You quoted it, which gave me the opportunity to upding it again.

Me, too. Updinged yours, too. :)

216 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:45:25am

re: #212 Gus

I’ll say. What the fuck is wrong with people these days?

I don’t know. Some of them get to get jobs in the highest court in the land and get repeatedly called model Supreme Court justices.

217 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:45:32am

re: #200 Killgore Trout

Wow, that’s kind of a big deal. Could also be used against Assange if he’s ever brought to trial as well.

I went ahead and paged that.

218 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:46:01am

re: #208 Gus

I hope that the GOP realize that how SCOTUS votes on the Voting Rights Act will affect them for years to come. A bunch of conservative Republican justices voting to strike down the VRA will pretty much ensure that the GOP keeps losing the minority vote for at least a generation.

219 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:46:20am

re: #213 HappyWarrior

I still can’t believe Scalia was unanimous.

Ha. If Obama had appointed him, the Republicans would have voted against.

220 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:46:36am

re: #211 iossarian

I blame Obama for appointing not declaring himself a tyrant and replacing these racist conservative true American justices with proper Sharia-enforcing puppets.

FTFY. ;)

221 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:46:40am
222 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:47:01am

re: #203 iossarian

I’m not sure that’s entirely true - to the extent that “the left” exists in America it seems fairly clear that they oppose the decision and indeed the Obama administration’s policy here. For example:

I just mean that this was a big, mainstream issue under Bush, and now it’s been regulated more to the side.

223 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:47:44am

re: #219 iossarian

Ha. If Obama had appointed him, the Republicans would have voted against.

No kidding. Egads can you imagine a court that had Bork and Scalia and Alito and Thomas? Because remember the USSC chair that Bork was going to get ended up going to Kennedy?

224 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:47:52am

This is why we need the 2nd Amendment. Back at ya’ conservatives.

225 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:48:56am

I think the conservatives justices views on the VRA are symbolic of everything wrong with modern conservatism.

226 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:49:40am

re: #222 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

I just mean that this was a big, mainstream issue under Bush, and now it’s been regulated more to the side.

Sure, that’s definitely true. It’s an agonizing decision for people on the left - whether to actually oppose Obama on these kinds of grounds, knowing that if you do, you’re just making it more likely that the bigots pile in and fuck everything up even more.

I made my decision a while ago (to suck it up and vote the only way that makes sense) but I can’t pretend it doesn’t suck.

227 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:50:15am
228 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:50:51am

What a scumbucket.

229 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:51:26am

Minority outreach, the GOP way!

230 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:52:58am

‘Bank of America secrets’ leak in Anonymous revenge-hack

Miscreants affiliated with hacking collective Anonymous have dumped online a huge cache of data supposedly lifted from insecure systems at a Bank of America contractor.

The self-styled Anonymous Intelligence Agency (Par:AnoIA) leaked 320MB of emails and other information that suggests the banking giant is running an online intelligence gathering operation against hacktivists.

The cache includes memos from IT contractor TEKsystems to the bank’s security staff, reporting chat room and social network reconnaissance. The data dump also supposedly includes the source code for OneCalais - a natural language processing (NLP) text analytics and data mining package from Thomson Reuters subsidiary ClearForest. The story goes that the software was used to make sense of data harvested from chat rooms.

…The released archives, totalling well over 6GB, apparently also include salary and bonus details on hundred of thousands of executives and employees from various corporations all around the world, including Google supremo Eric Schmidt - although his income is publicly known.

The Anonymous Intelligence Agency claimed the swiped records were lifted from a “misconfigured server” hosted in Israel that was “basically open for grabs” rather than seized using security exploits and conventional hacking. Par:AnoIA claimed it received the info wad via an unnamed source. How this handler got hold of the data - especially the salary information - remains unclear.

231 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:54:51am

WTF Scalia is a piece of shit.

233 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:55:45am
234 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:56:21am

re: #233 Gus

Remind me again why this guy is a model justice, conservatives.

235 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:59:11am

re: #234 HappyWarrior

Remind me again why this guy is a model justice, conservatives.

He’s got the wrong colored robe on. Should be white instead of black.

236 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 8:59:17am

Remember when then candidate Obama got criticized for saying he wanted judges with empathy. He was referring to those like Scalia who clearly lack it.

237 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:00:08am

re: #235 Gus

He’s got the wrong colored robe on. Should be white instead of black.

Yeah, I mean damn.

238 Ghost of Tom Joad  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:00:13am

re: #235 Gus

He’s got the wrong colored robe on. Should be white instead of black.

Broke my finger on the upding button for that^

239 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:00:46am
240 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:02:00am

re: #239 Gus

Honestly, and I say this as a southerner, yes. If the Feds had never acted on Civil Rights in the first place, we may still be looking at Jim Crow in many aprts of the South today. And I should clarify that conservatism ideology in this country accepts that because American conservatives value states rights over human rights.

241 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:04:45am

Guess again, wingnuts.

242 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:06:26am

re: #241 Vicious Babushka

Guess again, wingnuts.

Really Rosa Parks who worked for John Conyers and MLK who was a bonafide socialist would be upset? No, if anything, they’d probably want him to be more to the left. But this is typical of right wing idiots. They try to claim people like Parks and MLK as their own whilst their model judges spit on the things that King and Parks fought hard for.

243 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:07:08am


244 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:08:29am

I really really hope Obama gets one or even two more Supreme Court judge picks. We need to build a bulwark against Roberts-Scalia-Thomas-Alito. Yes, I appreciate Roberts’ making the right decision on ACA but he’s still bad news more often than not.

245 wrenchwench  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:08:50am

re: #215 makeitstop

Me, too. Updinged yours, too. :)

And I updinged yours! WHERE WILL IT END???!?

246 iossarian  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:11:11am

Out for now.

247 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:12:20am

It’s morning, I have coffee.

you?

248 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:13:54am

re: #247 FemNaziBitch

It’s morning, I have coffee.

you?

Yes, but not nearly enough to deal with Scalia’s VRA fail.

I keep looking out the window at the Starbucks across the street. I might just walk over there for more caffeine.

249 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:14:40am
250 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:14:41am

Voting rights… “racial entitlement.”

Republicans own it.

251 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:15:23am

re: #248 Lidane

Yes, but not nearly enough to deal with Scalia’s VRA fail.

I keep looking out the window at the Starbucks across the street. I might just walk over there for more caffeine.

Starbucks is overrated IMO. My wife makes a better cup of coffee.

252 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:18:16am

Ya think?

253 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:19:50am

Will the court really have the cojones to strike down a major part of the Act??

That would be a huuuuge national setback if that were to happen.

254 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:20:50am

re: #248 Lidane

Yes, but not nearly enough to deal with Scalia’s VRA fail.

I keep looking out the window at the Starbucks across the street. I might just walk over there for more caffeine.

I don’t blame you. The VRA is a disturbing development. I was reading about Section 5 the other day. The only states it applies to right now are the usual suspects. I might have a Pages Post about it. I do, I do!

255 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:21:37am

This is an Alabama case too. What a freaking surprise aye? Alabama. Fucking aye.

256 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:22:18am

Shelby County, Alabama.

257 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:22:20am

re: #251 NJDhockeyfan

Starbucks is overrated IMO. My wife makes a better cup of coffee.

Starbucks is absolutely overrated and overpriced. I get a better cup of cofee from my French press and a bag of ground coffee at home.

Still, they’re right there. And we’re out of coffee in the office. *sigh*

258 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:23:35am

re: #257 Lidane

Starbucks is absolutely overrated and overpriced. I get a better cup of cofee from my French press and a bag of ground coffee at home.

Still, they’re right there. And we’re out of coffee in the office. *sigh*

And they make it for you, and they have drive-thru …

259 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:24:03am

Banjo music.

260 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:24:13am

Dobro slide.

261 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:27:59am

re: #239 Gus

The Hate Map

262 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:28:07am

re: #257 Lidane

Starbucks is absolutely overrated and overpriced. I get a better cup of cofee from my French press and a bag of ground coffee at home.

Still, they’re right there. And we’re out of coffee in the office. *sigh*

The first time I ordered coffee at a Starbucks I had a hard time. All I wanted was a small cup of coffee. The guy working there couldn’t understand that. I think the nose rings were too tight.

263 makeitstop  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:29:13am

re: #256 Gus

Shelby County, Alabama.

Why does that county ring a bell?

264 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:30:19am

re: #263 makeitstop

Why does that county ring a bell?

Birmingham. Home of Bull Connor.

265 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:30:25am

You know it’s a bad sign when the Chief Justice starts asking idiotic rhetorical questions.

266 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:31:27am

re: #262 NJDhockeyfan

The first time I ordered coffee at a Starbucks I had a hard time. All I wanted was a small cup of coffee. The guy working there couldn’t understand that. I think the nose rings were too tight.

I have a general rule that the more complicated and obnoxious someone’s Starbucks order is, the less I want to know them.

Personally, I either order whatever brewed medium or dark roast they have, or I get an Americano with vanilla added. I figure if you have to add all sorts of ingredients and steps to your order, it defeats the purpose of drinking coffee.

267 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:31:27am

re: #262 NJDhockeyfan

The first time I ordered coffee at a Starbucks I had a hard time. All I wanted was a small cup of coffee. The guy working there couldn’t understand that. I think the nose rings were too tight.

He could understand you fine. At certain periods, Starbucks corporate policy was to pretend not to understand ‘small, medium, or large’ in order to promote the ‘branding’ of their stupid-ass names.

It was corporate policy, coming from a guy probably wearing a tie.

268 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:32:39am

re: #266 Lidane

I have a general rule that the more complicated and obnoxious someone’s Starbucks order is, the less I want to know them.

Personally, I either order whatever brewed medium or dark roast they have, or I get an Americano with vanilla added. I figure if you have to add all sorts of ingredients and steps to your order, it defeats the purpose of drinking coffee.

Venti Mocha or NOTHING!!!

269 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:33:14am

re: #267 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

He could understand you fine. At certain periods, Starbucks corporate policy was to pretend not to understand ‘small, medium, or large’ in order to promote the ‘branding’ of their stupid-ass names.

It was corporate policy, coming from a guy probably wearing a tie.

What, what? How freaking stupid is that? It frustrates the customer and holds up the line.

What “special words” are people supposed to use instead of “small, medium & large”?

270 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:33:43am

re: #266 Lidane

I am lucky to have an awesome Vietnamese— and the Vietnamese really know good coffee— place down below me where if I’m craving a cappuccino or something I can get one.

In fact…

271 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:35:06am

re: #269 Vicious Babushka

“Tall, grande, venti”. Now their policy is just to ‘correct’ you by saying their version of it back to you. So if you go in and order a ‘small’ they say ‘tall’, and you have to stop yourself from saying ‘no, I said small’.

I have never understood the success of starbucks. I look for entirely different things in my coffee-getting experience.

272 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:35:22am

re: #261 dragonath

The Hate Map

Hmm, I detect a pattern.

273 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:36:07am

re: #272 Gus

Hmm, I detect a pattern.

Kind of blows Roberts silly argument out of the water if you ask me.

274 Flounder  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:36:33am

Tanning mom is going abroad:

NUTLEY, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey woman widely known as “the tanning mom” is celebrating a grand jury’s refusal to indict her on a charge she unlawfully let her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth.

She says her life has been “a living hell” and she plans to move to London for a year to decompress while her husband and kids stay in New Jersey.

My favorite quote:

People suck

[Link: www.timesunion.com…]

275 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:37:16am

re: #271 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

“Tall, grande, venti”. Now their policy is just to ‘correct’ you by saying their version of it back to you. So if you go in and order a ‘small’ they say ‘tall’, and you have to stop yourself from saying ‘no, I said small’.

I have never understood the success of starbucks. I look for entirely different things in my coffee-getting experience.

It’s much easier to stop in a Dunkin Donuts and grab a cup. The price is cheaper and the taste is better.

276 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:37:19am

I’m indifferent to Starbucks. If there’s a coffee place close and it happens ot be it, so be it. I won’t lie though. Sometimes the gas stations have some surprisingly good cappuccino flavors. And yeah “Tall, grande, and venti” is silly. I didn’t know they wouldn’t accept orders if you asked for small, medium, or large. That’s stupid.

277 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:38:16am

re: #272 Gus

Hmm, I detect a pattern.

The SPLC… is biased against hate!

Bigots.

278 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:38:43am

re: #274 Flounder

Tanning mom is going abroad:

My favorite quote:

[Link: www.timesunion.com…]

London eh? That will bring her complexion back to earth.

279 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:38:53am

re: #275 NJDhockeyfan

It’s much easier to stop in a Dunkin Donuts and grab a cup. The price is cheaper and the taste is better.

I can’t freaking stand Dunkin Donuts coffee either. It smells like plastic to me.

I don’t know of any chain coffee I really like aside from Peets. And when I grew up they weren’t a chain. And they’ve done asshole corporate stuff now too.

280 Gus  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:39:30am
281 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:39:51am

re: #277 dragonath

The SPLC… is biased against hate!

Bigots.

It’s funny. I was hearing about the new black panthers from the SPLC before Glenn Beck decided to make them the right wing boogeyman du jour.

282 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:39:57am

re: #275 NJDhockeyfan

It’s much easier to stop in a Dunkin Donuts and grab a cup. The price is cheaper and the taste is better.

Around here they are not consistent. And they usually have one person working the whole store so it takes forever to get a cuppa. Last time I was there, they were out of Large cups. Time before, they were out of chocolate.

Starbucks never fails.

283 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:41:19am

re: #280 Gus

In a way, it really wasn’t much of a stretch that we went from Rehnquist as CJ to Roberts in this way. Really, if anyone wants to get angry, read about Rehnquist and Civil Rights. It’s not a pretty history.

284 NJDhockeyfan  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:43:15am

re: #274 Flounder

Tanning mom is going abroad:

My favorite quote:

[Link: www.timesunion.com…]

Hey Patricia, what are you going to do next?

“I’m going to probably go to London and get a flat, because I have a lot of modeling jobs,” she said.

Heh.

285 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:43:55am

Pssst ggt/feminazibitch per your story about Keith Ellison schooling Hannity, I want to clarify to you that there is a Conservative Party of New York but they’re pretty much Republicans anyhow. Republicans run on the Conservative Party line there unless they’re deemed “not conservative” enough. There’s also a Liberal party of New York too that works the same way with the Dems.

286 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:44:05am

re: #275 NJDhockeyfan

It’s much easier to stop in a Dunkin Donuts and grab a cup. The price is cheaper and the taste is better.

The only Dunkin Donuts I know of in Austin is on the other side of town from me. Starbucks is across the street from my office.

I may have to start bringing my French press to work along with a decent bag of coffee. Hmm.

287 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:44:16am

I want to go to London.

288 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:45:35am

re: #285 HappyWarrior

Pssst ggt/feminazibitch per your story about Keith Ellison schooling Hannity, I want to clarify to you that there is a Conservative Party of New York but they’re pretty much Republicans anyhow. Republicans run on the Conservative Party line there unless they’re deemed “not conservative” enough.

Really. Have to wonder about that, huh?

289 Lidane  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:45:46am
290 Flounder  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:46:11am

re: #287 HappyWarrior

I won’t, don’t speak the language.


Anyhew, Cumbies coffee for me, $1.00 plus tax any size.

291 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:46:13am

re: #283 HappyWarrior

In a way, it really wasn’t much of a stretch that we went from Rehnquist as CJ to Roberts in this way. Really, if anyone wants to get angry, read about Rehnquist and Civil Rights. It’s not a pretty history.

Rehnquist was a “poll worker” in Arizona, and not the good kind.

292 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:46:48am

re: #289 Lidane

Oh, and Cruz worked for Rehnquist.

293 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:47:56am

Well, I have to say my view of the Federal Government over the past few years has gone from bad to much, much better. Having been a Federalist for many years, I am glad to see my change of thinking has been reinforced by the many, many court cases in federal court upholding civil rights.

Roberts caved on Obamacare, I think the court will do the right thing with VRA.

294 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:48:01am

And Cruz considers Roberts “a mentor”.

Yep.

295 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:48:03am

re: #288 FemNaziBitch

Really. Have to wonder about that, huh?

[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]
Check it out. But really, they really are just Republicans who didn’t like the state that the then NY Republican Party was socially liberal.

296 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:49:05am

re: #291 dragonath

Rehnquist was a “poll worker” in Arizona, and not the good kind.

No doubt you also know that he advised Justice Jackson to vote against Brown in Brown vs the Board of Education.

297 makeitstop  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:49:34am

re: #269 Vicious Babushka

What “special words” are people supposed to use instead of “small, medium & large”?

Veni, vidi, vici’ or whatever the hell they call it. I’ve only been to Stabucks maybe twice, and refused to play along either time. Just repeated ‘large’ until they got it.

298 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:49:48am

Considering that the VRA was wholeheartedly reauthorized for 25 years by what is tantamount to unanimous support by Congress in 2006 (98-0 in Senate; 390-33 in House), that the Court is now looking to gut Section 5 looks a whole lot like legislating from the bench.

However, the current composition of Congress makes reauthorization or fixing the VRA a remote possibility because of GOP obstinacy.

Section 5 is designed to thwart the reemergence of the very problems that required the VRA in the first place. Preclearance helps prevent jurisdictions from imposing onerous requirements and thwart minority voting.

But the GOP has been trying to get rid of preclearance for a while, and their voter ID requirements have gained traction in much of the country.

So, what would happen if the preclearance provisions were eliminated? For starters, these jurisdictions would be able to impose various restrictions and theoretically limit voter access to the polls - and the only recourse would be after the fact - after they’ve been disenfranchised. While those who are disenfranchised have recourse, it’s only after they’ve had the rights trampled.

Thing is that these states and jurisdictions can bail out of the preclearance if they can show that they’ve remedied the issues and complied with the VRA for the preceding 10 years.

In other words, if those jurisdictions adhered to the law and didn’t engage in discriminatory actions, they could essentially come out from under Section 5 review. Some jurisdictions have done just that, so it shows that it can be done. Those states that continue to see it applied haven’t.

299 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:50:03am

re: #290 Flounder

I won’t, don’t speak the language.

Anyhew, Cumbies coffee for me, $1.00 plus tax any size.

I have a cousin who lives there. She can translate for me.

300 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:52:01am

re: #295 HappyWarrior

[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]
Check it out. But really, they really are just Republicans who didn’t like the state that the then NY Republican Party was socially liberal.

Yeah, I’m remembering that New York has had some history of extreme conservatism. Tammany Hall was backlash to all that. hmmm …

301 lawhawk  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:52:59am

re: #279 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Peet’s is good. Tully’s was good (West Coast). Dunkin Donuts is decent value, and McDonalds and Burger King have surprisingly good coffee for a fraction of the Starbucks “experience”.

Tim Hortons’ is also pretty good.

But when looking for a good cup of coffee, I’ll try to find an independent coffee house that roasts its own coffee.

302 Political Atheist  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:53:43am

re: #193 iossarian

If I’ve made this point on LGF, I’ve made it a hundred times. There are plenty of places where I disagree with Obama and his administration on policy. I work in the education sphere, and “Race to the Top” is fucked-up dogballs.

But how do you “hold him accountable”? Voting Republican just gets you Justices Alito, Thomas, and the other fuckers who just voted for this bullshit. Did you vote for dubya? If so, your outrage at this SCOTUS decision looks pretty damn chumpish to me - your boys enabled it.

At this stage in America, any vote at any level for any Republican is a shit decision. You want me to “hold Obama accountable”? Start by destroying the festering manure heap that is the GOP. Then we’ll talk. Until then I’m going to vote Democratic down the line every. single. time. And advise anyone who asks to do exactly the same, unless they want to live in a Somalia/Iran hybrid without the cool millennia of actual culture.

Interesting you say you disagree with the admin a lot but stay silent on this in particular. Am I to assume you agree this is an error and the President shares it ? Yet again you shift the blame to the GOP as if the admin or the Dems (like Clinton, read the FISA history sometime) bear no burden of responsibility at all pending a big change in Congress.

I agree with you the Congress and the GOP have been no help at all on this. They have made the expected mistake. Ordinarily one can find some help from the left on an issue like this. I’m a little surprised at the pass Obama gets on this from the left. But then as a non partisan mindset kinda guy I’m often surprised or a little disappointed.

A public outcry is one way to hold the President accountable. Straight party line voting is not going to change this decision is it? I get that most here support the Pres. and have nothing but disdain for the GOP.

OTOH you are maneuvering very hard here to avoid the salient point-Obama is in fact responsible for the policy that SCOTUS upheld.
I’m left with the impression you too give the President a full pass on this policy. In effect you are in disagreement with the ACLU on this I think.

I do not.

303 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:54:51am

re: #300 FemNaziBitch

Yeah, I’m remembering that New York has had some history of extreme conservatism. Tammany Hall was backlash to all that. hmmm …

My understanding of Tammany Hall was that it was Burr’s response to Hamilton and the Federalists. It later became the defacto political representative of the Irish immigrants in NYC later in the 19th century under Tweed.

304 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:57:16am

re: #303 HappyWarrior

My understanding of Tammany Hall was that it was Burr’s response to Hamilton and the Federalists. It later became the defacto political representative of the Irish immigrants in NYC later in the 19th century under Tweed.

yes. I was thinking of the era that Robert Caro wrote about in The Power Broker.

305 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 9:59:30am

re: #304 FemNaziBitch

yes. I was thinking of the era that Robert Caro wrote about in The Power Broker.

Ah I heard that was good. I actually first heard about that book and Moses watching ESPN saying that Moses was the reason why one can’t blame Walter O’Malley for moving the Dodgers out of Brooklyn and into LA. But yeah New York despite its ultra liberal image now does have a fairly conservative history. New York had a large amount of Tories during the Revolution for example.

306 dragonath  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:03:54am

Elanor Roosevelt had a big hand in bringing down Tammany Hall.

307 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:06:58am

re: #247 FemNaziBitch

It’s morning, I have coffee.

you?

Afternoon here. But I did have coffee this morning.

308 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:08:47am

re: #266 Lidane

I have a general rule that the more complicated and obnoxious someone’s Starbucks order is, the less I want to know them.

Personally, I either order whatever brewed medium or dark roast they have, or I get an Americano with vanilla added. I figure if you have to add all sorts of ingredients and steps to your order, it defeats the purpose of drinking coffee.

Hmm. Eggnog latte’ — maybe I should just start buying eggnog and working out a way to caffeinate it.

309 HappyWarrior  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:10:53am

I should clarify here that my username is more a tribute to Hubert Humphrey than Al Smith, the 1928 Dem nominee who was linked to Tammany Hall. Although, I like Smith’s wetness. He also was very much anti New Deal but some of that may be attributed to his personal bitterness with FDR though not Eleanor interestingly.

310 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:13:41am

re: #309 HappyWarrior

I should clarify here that my username is more a tribute to Hubert Humphrey than Al Smith, the 1928 Dem nominee who was linked to Tammany Hall. Although, I like Smith’s wetness. He also was very much anti New Deal but some of that may be attributed to his personal bitterness with FDR though not Eleanor interestingly.

What the Power Broker taught me is that it is a strange combination of talents that are necessary to keep a big city up and running. Gave me a new appreciation for Dick Daley’s motto “Chicago, the City that Works”

311 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Feb 27, 2013 10:13:56am

re: #271 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

“Tall, grande, venti”. Now their policy is just to ‘correct’ you by saying their version of it back to you. So if you go in and order a ‘small’ they say ‘tall’, and you have to stop yourself from saying ‘no, I said small’.

I have never understood the success of starbucks. I look for entirely different things in my coffee-getting experience.

Zedushka and I drove from Detroit to Brooklyn, sampling coffee at rest stops all along the way. We stopped at a Starbucks on the Ohio Turnpike and ordered mediums, which they filled without correcting, apparently they did not get the memo.

BEST COFFEE EVER: WaWa
SECOND BEST COFFEE: Tim Horton’s
THIRD BEST COFFEE: Dunkin’ Donuts

Starbucks did not even rate. Their coffee sucks.


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