But designed -- for now -- for rescue operations in dangerous conditions.

The video at the link is pretty awesome. And it is less clunky than you'd think:

It can cope with unexpected trip hazards, survive being knocked off balance by a 20-pound weight, and if the tricks of its developmental predecessor, Petman, are anything to go by, it can climb over obstacles and autonomously navigate to a certain degree.

By which they mean "it can autonomously navigate the extinction of the human race," but at this point, how invested are we in humanity's survival? I mean, really. Would you miss it?

Posted by: Ace at 08:46 AM | Comments (264)
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John Fund writes about the role the Justice Department's community-organizing branch, the CRS, played in whipping on the witch hunt.

Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS) even helped organize a meeting between Sanford, Fla., public officials and the local NAACP. The result was the resignation of police chief Bill Lee over his handling of the Martin case. While his resignation was rescinded after a few weeks by local officials, Chief Lee faced further pressure to leave his job and ultimately quit for good two months later. Valerie Houston, one of the pastors leading the protests against Zimmerman and Lee, praised the Community Relations Service as being “there for us.”

The website for the CRS claims it “does not take sides among disputing parties” and only provides “impartial conciliation and mediation services.” But the evidence of its activities in Sanford shows that it placed a large thumb on the scales of justice in the Zimmerman case. What can providing support for a “March for Trayvon Martin” rally headlined by the rabble-rousing Reverend Al Sharpton have to do with “conciliation and mediation”?

Posted by: Ace at 08:08 AM | Comments (561)
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Unsurprisingly, David Brooks is on Team Amnesty. He lays out his reasons why the GOP should support it and needless to say they are wanting.

After all, the Senate bill fulfills the four biggest conservative objectives. Conservatives say they want economic growth. The Senate immigration bill is the biggest pro-growth item on the agenda today. Based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate bill would increase the gross domestic product by 3.3 percent by 2023 and by 5.4 percent by 2033. A separate study by the American Action Forum found that it would increase per capita income by $1,700 after 10 years.

Ah yes, the CBO. The same people who predicted economic growth thanks to the so-called "stimulus" of 2009. That didn't work out so well. And then there's the CBO and ObamaCare.

If you're going to appeal to authority, try one that hasn't been so wrong recently.

According to government estimates, the Senate bill would reduce federal deficits by up to $850 billion over the next 20 years.

Again, see the problem with relying on the CBO above and this.

Conservatives say they want to reduce illegal immigration. The Senate bill spends huge amounts of money to secure the border. According to the C.B.O., the bill would reduce illegal immigration by somewhere between 33 percent to 50 percent.

Again with the CBO. But look at the underlying assumption in that point...spend lots of government and you'll get the results you expect. That's not something conservatives believe.

But if Team Amnesty is so sure that their "border surge" will work, why not agree to legalization? It's almost as if they know that the money will never be spent and if it is, they don't trust it will actually work. Amnesty supporters have seen this "legalization first, security never" game before. You guys go first this time.

Conservatives say they want to avoid a European-style demographic collapse. But without more immigrants, and the higher fertility rates they bring, that is exactly what the U.S. faces. Plus, this bill radically increases the number of high-skilled immigrants. It takes millions of long-term resident families out of the shadows so they can lead more mainstream lives.

Conservatives also want to avoid a European-style system where immigration overwhelms their country. Even the Europeans are admitting that hasn't worked out so well.

Brooks dismisses concerns that giving Obama the power to implement immigration reform will lead to him waiving security provisions.

Then it gets weird.

The second conservative complaint is that the bill would flood the country with more low-skilled workers, driving down wages. This is an argument borrowed from the reactionary left, and it shows. In the first place, the recent research suggests that increased immigration drives down wages far less than expected. Low-skilled immigrants donÂ’t directly compete with the native-born. They do entry-level work, create wealth and push natives into better jobs.

"Increased immigration drives down wages far less than expected". Wait. He admits it will drive down wages, we're just arguing how much? How is this an acceptable position?

This notion of a perfect labor market with no restrictions or barriers isn't a conservative notion, it's a libertarian one (they also pare it with deconstructing the welfare state). Ace laid out the conservative case for prioritizing Americans over foreigners quite well. David Brooks would do well to read it.

Then comes the cherry on the Sundae of Stupidity.

efore Asians, Hispanics and all the other groups can be won with economic plans, they need to feel respected and understood by the G.O.P. They need to feel that Republicans respect their ethnic and cultural identity. If Republicans reject immigration reform, that will be a giant sign of disrespect, and nothing else Republicans say will even be heard.

Respect? What exactly is respectful about people who come here illegally? Embracing amnesty means embracing policies that hurt Americans in order to provide benefits to people from other countries who have broken our laws.

Amnesty is bad policy and politics but worst of all, it's immoral.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:23 AM | Comments (295)
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Bye-bye Big Sister.

Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, is being named as the next president of the University of California system, in an unusual choice that brings a national-level politician to a position usually held by an academic. Her appointment also means the 10-campus system will be headed by a woman for the first time in its 145-year history.

NapolitanoÂ’s nomination by a committee of UC regents came after a secretive process that insiders said focused on her early as a high-profile, although untraditional, candidate who has led large public agencies and shown a strong interest in improving education.

UC officials believe that her Cabinet experiences –- which include helping to lead responses to hurricanes and tornadoes and overseeing some anti-terrorism measures -- will help UC administer its federal energy and nuclear weapons labs and aid its federally funded research in medicine and other areas.

On one hand, it's good to be rid of her. On the other, it's not like Obama is going to replace her with someone better.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:10 AM | Comments (297)
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• 7 Amazing Scenes From Sharknado
  
• Buzzfeed's Race Baiting
  
• This Is One Of The Reasons I Haven't Watched Cable News In Eight Months
  
• App Encourages Outing of Gun Owners' Addresses
  
• Sowell: Polling Shows Sources Of Racism Are Now Reversed
  
• 59 Percent Support 20 Week Abortion Ban
  
• Indiana School Loses 300k Because Kids Won't Eat Michelle's Meals
  
• House Republicans Crafting GOP Version Of Dream Act
  
• Federal Government Now Endorses Soft Bigotry Of Low Expectations
  
• Rand Paul Introduced Legislation To End Aid To Egypt
  
• Syrian Rebels Now Fighting Each Other
  
• You Can Now Bear Arms In A Post Office Parking Lot
  
• Islam's Civil War Moves To Egypt
  
• Americans On Food Stamps
  
• Zimmerman Trial: Defense Closing Arguments Live
  
• Documents Reveal That Mircrosoft Let The NSA Bypass Customers' Encryption
  
• Egypt's Deep State Dilemma
  
• NJ Transit Drive Caught Masturbating While Driving Through The Lincoln Tunnel
  
• Someone Made A Documentary About Nintendo's Power Glove
  
• Rick Perry To Visit Israel
  
• Minor League Bat Dog Of 11 Years Dies
  

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Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:28 AM | Comments (222)
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Confirmed. USA general knowledge is changing, and not for the better. I would love to see the questions pertaining to government and the Constitution.

Some things have been forgotten, however. That Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth (it is) was #50 on the 1980 knowledge charts. Now itÂ’s down to #249. That Franklin discovered lightning to be a form of electricity, and that Paris is the capital of France, have also slipped down the list.

The wrong answers were also quite fun. 30% of people thought Baghdad was the capital of Afghanistan (wonder why?), while 21% believed Budapest to be the capital of India (maybe they thought ‘Buddhist’?). 12% thought Mount Everest was in the Appalachians.

11% thought dynamite is called dynamite because it was invented by a Mr Dynamite, and my favourite, 7% said that the layer of fat that whales have is called “flubber”.

Posted by: CDR M at 05:59 PM | Comments (741)
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Friday, woooooooo!

Check out this perfect follow-up to Sharknado. The video is something else.

Officials at Death Valley ask that you please stop frying eggs on the pavement. It's making a mess.

Rep. Pelosi gets three Pinocchios for claiming that the Obamacare employer mandate is not being delayed. Fact Checker editorializes: "one can see why most Americans hate politics."

Can't get this freakin song out of my head: more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:49 AM | Comments (410)
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Well since it's Sharknado night and I've been reliably informed that no one reads the links anyway, I'm gonna give you what you crave - nothing.

Quote of the Day

This impulse toward the state as über-parent is based on a profound fallacy and a profound truth. The fallacy is that anyone can care about someone else's children as much as his own. The former Texas Republican senator Phil Gramm liked to illustrate the hollowness of professions to the contrary with a story. He told a woman, "My educational policies are based on the fact that I care more about my children than you do." She said, "No, you don't." Gramm replied, "Okay: What are their names?"

Quote of the Day II

Simply put, the purpose of child support is to replace marriage.  Discussing how it should be implemented is discussing how to replace marriage.  Some might argue that this is a good thing, either as a rare exception (say for a husband who abandons his family) or as a rule (as practiced in the western world).  But this doesn't change the fact that child support is working exactly as designed, and exactly as should be expected.  Child support crowds out marriage, and even in cases where weddings still technically occur the option for the wife to unilaterally convert the family from a marriage based family to a child support based family always exists.  This is part of the threatpoint designed to empower wives and dis-empower husbands.  Men simply don't have the option to choose the marriage based model over the child support model.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:32 PM | Comments (735)
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One of the more blatant race-appeals I've heard: the prosecutors have apparently given up most hope of a conviction, and now are hoping for a racially split jury (and thus a mistrial), and laid out a lot of toxic race-baiting today.

Bernie De La Rionda's summary was chiefly designed to make black people angry about profiling and "assuming" people are criminals. Over and over again he talked about these things. What they have to do with a Murder 2 charge is quite beyond me -- which is why he also urged jurors to just "use common sense," rather than close reading of the law and close examination of the facts, to find their verdict.

But it was his attempt to rehabilitate his stupid, dishonest Star Witness Rachel Jenteal that was the most blatantly racial. There, he actually invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. as a reason to find her words credible.

He kept referring to her language as "colorful" before he got to his quote. I didn't know why he kept saying that. It was the wrong word.

He kept saying "colorful" because he wanted to get to capital-C Color. And here's what he told the jury about Jenteal:

“I had a dream that today a witness would be judged not on the color of her personality but the content of her testimony,” de la Rionda said.

Incredible. He did everything except play Malcolm X for the jury.

He Mentioned Hurricane Katrina, For God's Sakes: John Ekdahl and @@Jenny_IDLYITW inform me that he also name-checked Hurricane Katrina for no good reason. Apparently he said, "It wasn't raining like Hurricane Katrina out there."

Posted by: Ace at 01:53 PM | Comments (515)
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As with the Super Bowl, our coverage begins early.

First, of course, let's check the weather on the field of play.

Well that's some classic sharknado weather. Crisp, with just a brisk snap of shark in the air.

And your five day forecast looks good too.

Next, we have to talk about the ads for the Sharknado Bowl. Did you know that advertisers will be paying as much as four hundred and twenty five dollars for each half minute of advertising time during Sharknado?

All the biggest companies will be vying for eyeballs during Sharknado. Mostly third-tier videogame companies and people selling Fringe DVD sets.

Next, all those crazy Sharknado bets you always hear about! Here are some
proposition bets about what will happen in Sharknado. Of course you can offer your own prop bets.

Someone in #Sharknado says, "It's an F5... with TEETH."

Someone in #sharknado uses a big steel fisherman's hook to stab into the back of a shark and then ride it for some reason.

Under/Over on how many times Global Warming or Climate Change is offered as explanation: 6

Someone in #sharknado says, "We've been intruding in their territory for centuries... Did we think they'd never intrude back?!

Someone says "Apex predator" and someone else says something like "The apex just got higher"

TV weather report on radio warns of "Gale force sharks"

The Sharknado sharks are all killed at the end by Ian Ziering electrifying all the flood water.

The Book of Jonah gets name-checked.

At some point, someone says, "Just like in Mexico when it rained frogs that time."

The movie's Shark Expert, Dr. Carcarion or whatever, says that sharks' aquadynamic streamlining makes them the perfect flying predators, too.

Obviously someone will say to a a shark he's about to kill: "You're *sushi*." But who? Ian Ziering or Tara Reid?

Four part Prop Bet:

1. Ian Ziering must rescue his adorable 7 year old daughter.

2. Who is trapped at an aquarium.

3. Which is flooded and has sharks swimming through the corridors.

4. And ziering and daughter must swim INTO one of the aquarium tanks to take shelter from the sharks OUTSIDE the tanks. And the shark noses up to the glass, and tries to break through, but can't. #worldturnedupsidedown

Back to the single-proposition bets:

A shark sideswipes a car in a flooded street, and the driver says "I just got hit by a... shark."

A TV weatherman advises "There's a 70% chance of sharks."

At some point someone says "Let's get into the basement, maybe it's not as 'sharky' down there."

Tara Reid says, "We're up to our assh*les in sharks here!"

A scientist-type blathers, "It's classic shark pack-hunting behavior."

Two words: Toilet shark

Foreshadowing: First, remoras start falling from the sky. And someone says, "Well, that's the weirdest thing I'll see today."

A TV Weatherman calls it the storm cell "A high-thresher system" in background noise that you can only barely hear.

Guaranteed: Ian Ziering punches a shark.

At some point, a Russian tourist says "In America, shark jumps YOU." (I stole this from someone, forget who.)

Posted by: Ace at 03:08 PM | Comments (640)
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