Possibly some good games this weekend...

Buffalo and New England

Pitt and Indy

Giants and Eagles.

It's too late if you didn't get you picks in for the early games but you can still make 'em for the late ones.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:02 AM | Comments (46)
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Below the fold is a snippet from the documentary Terminator 4: The Art of Martin Laing. In it, art director Martin Laing describes how he designed the robots for the upcoming film Terminator Salvation. This forth installment in the Terminator series takes place before the first three and purports to show John Conner organizing the resistance against Skynet after the nuclear holocaust. The clip shows several new terminators including very fast, motorcycle like robots and a huge metallic beast called "The Harvester" which dispatches smaller robots to capture humans for "processing".

Also below is the teaser trailer for Terminator Salvation set for a summer 2009 release.

HT filmonic.com more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:55 AM | Comments (63)
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Something to soothe the savage moron. Also, if you have meetup pics, feel free to e-mail them to me and IÂ’ll put them in the extended entry. Send them to xgenghisx@earthlink.net so we can properly mock you and add our own captions. Also, so we can identify you when it comes time to round you up for the re-education camps. That is, once the Department of Re-Education is established (Bill Ayers appears to be the front-runner for this new cabinet position.)

Unrelated, there’s a (somewhat) new streaming video site called Hulu that started up last year. Spare me the “it’s old” shit in the comments…it’s not old to everyone and I don’t recall seeing a post or headline mentioning it before. It offers free streaming talkies and teevee shows in a Flash Video format. The catch? You get to watch the occasional commercial.

They’re starting to build up a pretty decent collection there as they make more deals with various networks and studios. It’s a lot better quality than YouTube (and did I mention streaming, not 10 minute clips?) and the screen area is about twice the size…fills up about ¼ of your monitor. I just started watching “The Thing” a little while ago and noticed no glitches, pauses, dropped frames, pixellization etc., though it is late on a Saturday night. It only has 1/100th the number of unique users that YouTube currently has, but YT has certainly taken notice and are going to start offering something similar in the near future.

HereÂ’s the Wikipedia entry on Hulu if you need more info.

Gabe will be pleasedÂ…no, giddy, that they offer full BSG episodes on the site.

UPDATE: There's a button on the right side of the screen which enables full-screen video. You have to disable your "block pop-ups" security in order to watch in that mode. Many thanks to JarvisW, who gets an official AoSHQ "Don't Tread on Me" doormat along with a rainbow. (approx. shipping time: 2-4 weeks)

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:05 AM | Comments (60)
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Bumped [Gabe]:
A lot of folks are writing in with this because it made Drudge this morning (as if we needed all the emails to tell us something on Drudge's front page). Fortunately, Vinnie covered it on Saturday and he's got links to the google caches for the missing agenda items.

Pardon Vinnie's language.

His Post:
Let me clarify something. I don't believe it was my post that prompted the change of Change.

I do think it's quite possible, even probable, that the change is being done as a direct result of the cumulative criticism coming from the right. Original post below

Remember my post from last night?

Look what happened to the change.gov link I put in there. I took a screen shot of the AWB policy listed on that page, it's linked in that post. Also linked in that post is the reason why I decided to take that screen shot of the AWB policy.

Here's the screen shot of how it looks now.

It may be something, it may be nothing. But before, if you moused over "Agenda," you got a laundry list of options. Now, you get nothing but a static page.

I wish I could chalk it up to site maintenance, but, I went through the whole site, and the only thing changed is the "Agenda" part. Besides, we are dealing with a full blown Socialist here.

It will be interesting to see what the "Agenda" says tomorrow.

Morons, I fear our nation is looking at President-elect Flaming Douche. But look on the bright side. If we bloggers keep criticizing The One's Change website, eventually we'll get it Hopefully Changed into a super cool porn site.

So that's something to strive for.

Update: Google cache of the original "Agenda - Urban Policy" page, thanks to Matt.

Google cache of the "Agenda - Education" page, and the "Agenda - Economy" page. The "Agenda - Civil Rights"page, the "Agenda - Defense" page, and the "Agenda - Disabilities" page. Thanks to conservative mommy.

The flaming skull tempts me, but, I shall refrain for now.

Posted by: Open Blog at 09:02 AM | Comments (156)
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This story just gets better and better. In a panic, we gave Treasury $700 billion and broad discretion to use it to keep the financial services industry from crumbling. We thought that money would be spent on the financial services industry, buying up toxic assets and other securities deemed necessary to keep ailing banks in the black. At present, no toxic assets have been purchased, but we have bought $172 billion in equity.

Amusingly, Democrats are now arguing that the aiding the automobile industry is essential to that purpose.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Paulson today saying the rescue bill gives him "broad discretion to purchase, or make commitments to purchase, financial instruments you determine necessary to restore financial-market stability."

Pelosi was among the lawmakers who met two days ago with the chief executives of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. The three companies are seeking $50 billion in federal loans to help them weather the worst auto market in 25 years, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The letter increases pressure on the administration of George W. Bush to take action as he prepares to hand power to president-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Obama said yesterday that policy options to help the industry will be a "high priority" for his transition team.

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce," Pelosi and Reid said in their letter.

Every lobbyist in Washington just sent Pelosi, Reid, and Obama briefs on how "essential" their particular clients are for market stability. Plenty of sectors are experiencing rough times this year; all could make colorable claims to being "too big to let fail." Whoever is owed the most favors and whoever cries the loudest will get the prize: your money.

As if shady government spending weren't enough, this spending will be spent on creeping socialism. We were asked to put up with partial government ownership of banks because (the argument went) their survival was simply too important to long-term capitalism. The socialist policies would be a temporary situation (allegedly). Now Pelosi and Reid are suggesting the government purchase equity shares in American automakers...and as with the bank purchases, the auto equity comes with strings attached.

Government ownership. Government control. That sounds familiar and vaguely alarming, for some reason.

In Related News: AIG is "negotiating" for better terms on its bailout. You will recall that the taxpayers gave AIG an $85 billion loan in September. AIG now says the repayment terms of that loan are too harsh and that it won't be able to pay.

But former AIG chairman Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, a major shareholder, made the case for federal forbearance in an interview yesterday, saying the costs associated with the $85 billion loan pose a potentially crushing burden for the company.

"It's clear that the original terms as the government negotiated with AIG . . . were so draconian that it would be impossible for the taxpayers to be repaid," Greenberg said.

To make payments on the $85 billion credit line, including charges he estimated at $22 billion over two years, AIG would be forced to sell pieces of itself at a fraction of their value, Greenberg said. AIG has been trying to sell assets but has not announced any transactions yet. Market conditions have compounded the challenge, making it harder for prospective buyers to finance deals.

One industry source familiar with the negotiations framed the matter as a question of fairness, too, noting that since the AIG rescue was announced, the government has made funds available to banks on more favorable terms.

This is a shakedown. The taxpayers already own 80% of AIG according to the terms of the loan. We own the company; it has nothing left with which to negotiate except its own survival, which we are now unfortunately very invested in. This is the consequence of acting as if we will do anything to prevent a company from naturally failing. We were believed.

Brace yourselves; AIG will release its second quarter report on Monday. Resist the urge to panic when it does.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:50 PM | Comments (150)
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You can thank Bush and Petraeus for the Iraq turnaround Obama. I don't think you can screw it up.

I might be wrong.

Iraqi troops scored a blow against al Qaeda in Iraq's network during a series of operations in the Tarmiyah region. Iraqi soldiers, backed by the local Sons of Iraq and US troops, killed Abu Ghazwan, a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader, during a shootout.

Ghazwan was killed after the joint forces were sweeping a region near Tarmiyah that was thought to contain weapons caches and was a location of enemy activity. The Iraqi and US forces were attacked with small arms fire and an land mine as they searched a location. Iraq troops returned fire and later found Ghazwan dead.

Nor with your stupid posturing can you take one dime's worth of credit for the win. Nothing. You inherit it, that's all.

via The Jawa Report

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:08 PM | Comments (30)
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Over 20 people have been killed after a firefighting system went off during sea trials of a nuclear submarine in Russia's Pacific Fleet, a senior navy commander was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency.

"During sea trials of a nuclear-powered submarine of the Pacific Fleet the firefighting system went off unsanctioned, killing over 20 people, including servicemen and workers," Igor Dygalo said, without giving any details of the circumstances of the accident.

"The submarine is not damaged, its reactor works as normal and radiation levels on the submarine are normal," Captain Dygalo said.

Reuters is also reporting that 21 were injured during the mishap.

According to a web site investigating the sinking of the Russian Submarine "Kursk" in 2000, there are four methods used to extinguish fires on Russian naval vessels:

"The first is to vacuumize the compartment, then the oxygen burns away and the fire ceases. The second is to use the fire-extinguishing foam, which cuts access for oxygen into the fire zone. The third is to supply a chemical noble gas into the compartment. And, finally, the fourth is to flood the compartment with water. The fourth method is rarely used in submarines..."

Via commenter deadline527 at abovetopsecret.com

Posted by: Open Blog at 04:26 PM | Comments (56)
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I consider this kinda innocuous, if stupid.

But isn't this Drama Queen the first to freak out if you suggest that he "wants to have Obama's baby" or has crushes on his current political faves?

No link for trashy tabloid The Atlantic.

I'm still bemused by the drop in gay support for Obama after Kerry. I'd put it down primarily to the fact that the gay political establishment, with its usual brilliance, fused itself with the Clinton campaign very early on, and there was a real slice of Clintonian anti-Obama hate that wouldn't go away. For much of the campaign, I expressed surprise at how so many gay men and lesbians were indifferent or hostile to Obama. Maybe there was a particular lesbian bond with Clinton, which may have led some lesbians to pick McCain (they're susceptible to a little Alaskan boobage as well). Maybe that goes for some diva-worshipping gay men as well, men who so identified with Hillary that they couldn't reconcile themselves to Obama.

So, lesbians vote for whoever has the nicest tits.

This is, I remind you, the most important one-man blog on the internet

Posted by: Ace at 03:57 PM | Comments (137)
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Hi, Ohio! I committed a crime so now you all get to pay
for my unscheduled vacation!

Justice under President Barack Hussein Obama will be swift, relentless -- and fully comped.

Note that she is not being put on leave due to her criminal dirt-digging on Joe the Plumber.

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and former head of that department in Montgomery County, has been placed on paid administrative leave by Gov. Ted Strickland.

Strickland said on Friday, Nov. 7, that he took the action "due to the possibility, as yet unconfirmed, that a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fund raising."

"I have asked Inspector General Tom Charles to include this matter in his current, ongoing investigation," Strickland said in a press release.

Strickland said he has asked Jan Allen, his cabinet secretary, to serve as acting director of the agency.

Charles already was investigating reports that a department computer was used to gather personal information about "Joe the Plumber" — Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher of suburban Toledo — after Wurzelbacher emerged as a key figure in the presidential race in Ohio.

Anyone suspect they're planning to ask for her resignation over this other offense so they can then close the books on the truly serious investigation, claiming it's moot?

Posted by: Ace at 02:57 PM | Comments (71)
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As the Dixie Chicks said, Not ready to make up yet.

I'm sure some of the head-tilties pictured were appalled at the treatment of the conservatives at the hands of the minority (but vocal) radicalised elements of their pseudo-religion, and in the last 8 years raised their voices again and again in protest at such unprovoked and vicious assaults on the character and person of their political opponents, all the while gently counselling their wayward brethren to focus on critiquing ideas, and having genuine debates rather than resorting to name-calling.

And I know, some conservative once called you a name so we are just as bad. Boo hoo. Go cry in your victory herbal tea, winner, and try to figure out just how to run something and lead something for once, instead of making dopey-hopey-changey noises and singing "How many times must a man blah blah" while wearing your "Abort Sarah Palin" button on your "Sarah Palin is a C***" t-shirt while waving your "GWB is not my President" banner and throwing a molotov cocktail at the McDonald's on the corner. Oh, and did I forget to mention the "No War for Oil" hat on your head?

This makes me sound unhappy, doesnÂ’t it? But the above is what the left actually DID. It's so bitter, angry, twisted, and unhinged that merely stating the fact makes me sound bitter, angry, twisted, and unhinged. So sad. (head tilt) But I weally, weally wuv you guys and want to make it work so your heads don't explode. M'kay?(/head tilt)

Posted by: Ace at 02:10 PM | Comments (132)
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