For your non-astro needs, here's another open thread for ya, brought to you by 1 out of every 3 Twitter disagreements: more...

Posted by: CAC at 05:10 PM | Comments (87)
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• HSBC Wants Customers To Justify Large Cash Withdrawals Before Allowing Them
  
• HSBC: On Second Thought...
  
• Rand Paul's Excellent Response to David Gregory Concerning The War On Women
  
• New Fiscal showdown Over Debt Limit
  
• Abortion Fees Buried In Obamacare Premiums
  
• SOTU Set To Be Democratic Campaign Speech
  
• The Most Dangerous Years Of Obama's Presidency Are Upon Us
  
• Republicans Tired Of People Talking About Them Winning In 2014, Put Forth Plan To Lose
  
• China-Japan Conflict Could Lead To War
  
• The 49 Cent Stamp Won't Save The USPS
  
• Introducing Washington D.C.'s Hottest New Toys: The Kronies
  
• West Virginia House Race Could Be Bellwhether
  
• I Thought This Was America
  
• The New Face Of Food Stamps, Working Age Americans
  
• What Drives Success?
  
• When Asked About This Column, The Writer Chased Away Reporters While Throwing Cats At Them
  
• Video Of Aforementioned Incident
  

A compilation of nip slips from yesterday's Grammy Awards.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:03 AM | Comments (471)
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Well there is NFL football of a sort going on, the Pro Bowl.

It's not much football, as football goes but it is a game and all so what the heck.

I like Tampa Bay cheerleaders. They are the best.

Superbowl next Sunday.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:10 PM | Comments (141)
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[We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Open Thread down page, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic. Enjoy!]

Welcome again to the Spaced-Out Challenge! Whether you have a question about equipment, a new astronomical discovery you want to expand on, or just want to kick back and enjoy the cosmos above, come one come all on our weekly astronomical journey.

This week, we'll aim our eyes and instruments at the closest supernova in decades, review the planetary positions for the week, discuss some positive news in the fight against light pollution, a crowd-sourcing project you can participate in to track it's spread (the Globe At Night), and rdbrewer briefly reviews and discusses Hawking's latest brain-burner on black holes. So, step outside, turn off the lights, and let me guide you through space and time. more...

Posted by: CAC at 05:13 PM | Comments (33)
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We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

C. S. Lewis

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:10 PM | Comments (137)
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We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

photo courtesy of tommy:eats

There are innumerable recipes for Buffalo Hot Wings, and most of them are good. It's difficult to ruin a combination of chicken skin, hot oil, hot sauce and butter. But I think the best fried versions are executed in commercial kitchens, where the copious amounts of aerosolized and splattered fat gets cleaned up by someone else. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:10 PM | Comments (252)
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Fundamentals

Reader 'cowboyup' sent in the following photo and commentary:

I recently bought a Savage Mark II .22 on a hunting trip for various reasons (hunting, plinking, etc.). After getting back to camp and setting up the gun, I sighted in at 25 yards. I was really impressed with the shot group that a .22 straight out of the box had. In no time I had a group of 5-6 shots inside of a dime. Mind you, i did have to dial the scope in, it was only bore sighted from the factory. I am not bragging over 25 yards by no means, if I can't hold a good group at that range, I have serious shooting issues. The purpose of this e-mail is to see what others have experienced with their rifles and how good of a group they hold and what other types to look at. One thing I do like is a good shooting gun, whether it be low range to high range on the price scale. (emphasis added)

We talk a lot in these posts about various makes and models of firearms, and the big manufacturers .. Ruger, S&W, Remington, etc. ... always get a lot of attention. But there are many, many manufacturers out there like Savage that don't get the headlines but continue to churn out quality firearms year after year.

The best shooting gun I have, bar none, is a little Savage M72 falling block single shot .22. If I had to pick "just one gun" out of the safe, it'd probably be that one, as it's deadly accurate and its simple mechanism will last forever with little to no maintenance required.

And it's probably also the cheapest gun in that safe. At the end of the day, quality isn't judged by what you paid ... it's judged by targets like the one above.

As Goes California ...

A new gun law proponents say helps law enforcement has driven Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger out of California, and affirmed the suspicions of firearms rights advocates that the measure is really about making handguns obsolete.

You mean requiring manufacturers to do something patently ridiculous causes them to choose to abandon a market? Shocking.

Also, c'mon Fox News ...

... a law that requires some handguns to have technology that imprints a tiny stamp on the bullet so it can be traced back to the gun ...

The microstamp doesn't go on the bullet, it goes on the primer and/or cartridge case.

In related news, sales of brass catchers are soaring (not to mention revolvers, which are exempt from this idiocy).

Gun Of The Week

(answer below) more...

Posted by: andy at 09:55 AM | Comments (233)
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After hating on hockey in yesterday's gardening thread, I feel I must atone. Here's a thread for our hockey lovers. There is a game being played this afternoon (12:30 pm) at Yankee Stadium.

Below the jump, some hockey babes: more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:02 AM | Comments (163)
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You think the GOP can't get any dumber but they manage to surprise you.

Bill Kristol announces on FTN that Coburn, Hatch and Burr will unveil a comprehensive GOP alternative to ObamaCare tomorrow.

— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) January 26, 2014

Here's what's wrong with this approach without knowing a damn thing about it (beyond the fact that Orin Hatch is involved).

Right now the focus is on ObamaCare and undoing the harm it's doing to individuals and the country as a whole. At this moment people identify as "ObamaCare opponents" and see other opponents as allies in the fight. This is the maximum number of people you will ever have united against ObamaCare. Once you start saying "not only are we against ObamaCare, we are for A, B and C" you start to fracture the anti-ObamaCare coalition and weaken it. You are taking a binary choice..supporters here, opoenents there and making it supporters vs. people who like the Senate GOP plan vs. people who don't like ObamaCare or the Senate GOP plan.

And once some GOP Senators release a plan, that makes it more likely that the House will release a plan so you will further fracture the unity of ObamaCare opponents. And best of all you'll fracture the GOP unity (such as it is).

Right now the media and Democrats have limited choices in covering ObamaCare...ignore it, pretend it isn't as bad as people know it is or complain that the GOP doesn't have a plan. Now the GOP will give them a new and exciting set of options...attacking the GOP plan (while pointing out how in some narrow areas ObamaCare might be better) and the differences in opinion among Republicans about what to do next. Which option do you think the media and Democrats will pick?

Republicans still hang on to this quaint idea that voters are moved by policy positions and white papers. Worst of all they think the media will accurately and fairly cover their policy positions and white papers. Neither is true.

And don't tell me the GOP has to run on something because Team GOP has spent the last year telling me you can't do anything affirmative with just the House (which will be amended to "you can't do anything affirmative with Obama in the White House" if the GOP gets the Senate).

There's zero upside to splitting the anti-ObamaCare coalition to push plans that will never become law while Obama is in the White House. Once again, the GOP is too stupid to understand reality.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:28 AM | Comments (243)
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This thread sponsored by your TSA.

“It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure!”

What are the best ways to hop a moving railcar without spilling your Val-U-Rite? Which YMCAs have the comfiest cots? Which South of the Border clinics are best for infections “south of the border”? These and other pressing questions may – or may not – be addressed in future posts.

To get us started, I thought it might be fun to have the morons and moronettes share their recommended itinerary for a weekend visit to their hometown. If you were trying to impress someone visiting for a couple of days, where would you take him? And when would you recommend he visit your area?

Below the jump I present mine for my current home, Utah. (I tried not to cheat too much although it would require long days and a lot of driving.)
more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:00 PM | Comments (261)
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