1 1st ?

2

Where is everyone....I'm so wonly, I'm Mr. Wonly...

 

3

Standby Morons our wonderful DOJ is screwing up the Wikileak prosecution again

 

U.S. investigators have been unable to uncover evidence that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange induced an Army private to leak government documents to his website, according to officials familiar with the matter.

 

This is a bogus strawman argument. They do NOT need to “prove” that he induced the traitor to divulge secret information. All they have to show is that publishing the secrets caused harm to the national security of the U.S.  THAT was the real outcome of the P.P. case.

 

This article has to be a trial balloon that was Obama-leaked to see what the public reaction would be to the DOJ just ignoring the bastard and letting him get away with it.

4 Oh, come on, Vic. The conspiracy theories get kinda old, y'know? There is no statute that criminalizes "causing harm to the national security of the U.S." as a stand-alone crime and publication of secrets obtained by someone else is not criminal. See, for example, the rather-well publicized case of the Pentagon Papers.

5

Hey everybody, everything's great, come on and join me!

Jump in, the water's nice and warm.

6 The conspiracy theories get kinda old, y'know? There is no statute that criminalizes "causing harm to the national security of the U.S." as a stand-alone crime and publication of secrets obtained by someone else is not criminal.

You need to go read the fine print in the Pentagon papers case.  That was part of the ruling.

7 asl?

8 Actually Gabe,  I thought this was defined in the Constitution.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

9 I doubt they'll find any direct contact between Assange and Manning.  Assange would have to be a complete idiot to get anywhere near an exchange of that magnitude. 

That's the sort of thing you have lackeys for.

10 So the scientifically "average" member of NOW looks like Helen Thomas? Woah.

11 RE: Wilson's Navy Secretary Pacifism is evil. Publicly pushing pacifism should be punishable by death. Humankind's capacity for aggression is a hard fact of life. Anyone who actively seeks to diminish our ability to defend ourselves from aggression by categorically removing force from the response options is a depraved piece of shit.

12

WARNING!

Your GPS can KILL you:

Using GPS Navigation

GPS Navigation to sites to remote locations like Death Valley are notoriously unreliable. Numerous travelers have been directed to the wrong location or even dead-end or closed roads. Travelers should always carry up-to-date road maps to check the accuracy of GPS directions. 
DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON YOUR VEHICLE GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM.

13 "Your GPS can KILL you" Ugly day. I'm an ugly guy. I am the poster child for an ugly mood. Let's strike every law mandating warning labels and see if we can get the 52 down below 20 where it ought to be.

14 Your GPS can KILL you:


It caused me to get into a accident going into Boston.  Just as I got to the intersection to turn on Commonwealth Ave it decided to recalibrate and  left me in the wrong lane then said turn and I turned as someone in that lane wanted to be in mine.. I haven't used one since.

15 Hello, Fort Wayne!11!!111

16

This article from Slate discussed the case against A-Sausage in relation to the PP case

I don't feel like culling through all of the "concurrences" in the PP case and that is where I recall there being the basis for "prosecution after the fact" was located.

As all know, the PP case was about prior restraint and the gov lost. But, there was a lot of stuff covered in the ruling and nearly every justice wrote his own damn opinion.

There IS a federal law on the books for possession and release of classified info that he can be prosecuted under and that conforms to those "concurring opinions".

17 No tolerance for offensive speech at work unless you're denigrating Republicans. And btw, the employer can be as offensive as the employer wants.

Pittsburgh:

Lawsuits were filed against the Centers for Rehab Services by two employees who were fired over an e-mail image of Obama walking along a Gulf beach with the caption, "Another tar ball washed up on the shore" circulated last summer. A spokeswoman for UPMC -- which is affiliated with Centers for Rehab Services -- did not comment on the lawsuit but said that UPMC has a long-standing zero-tolerance policy for e-mails that are offensive.

Vic Walczak, the ACLU's legal director in Pennsylvania, said employees have "very few" rights to sound off at work. Walczak said he had not seen the lawsuits, but he said the Constitutional right to free speech does not apply when someone uses a workplace computer. "They can say, 'We don't want any political discussion, we don't want any religious discussion, we don't want any discussion of Democrats, you're free to talk about Republicans.' Again, while you couldn't do that if you were the government, when you're a private employer, you call the shots," Walczak said. Companies also have the right to control some personal behavior outside the workplace.

18

I really like the Onion News Network that comes on the IFC channel.  It's a spoof of CNN.  They had this one story on ONN about the Annual Valentine's Day Stoning Of Happy Couple.  Jim Aggerty (Live) attends the annual Valentine's Day stoning of a couple that Americans voted as the most intolerable, insufferable, nauseating pair.  The stoning brings comfort and joy to singles everywhere.

ONN- This day in History:  The Invention Of The Handjob.

heh, good stuff

19

IBM- 100 years old.

IBM- Active Nazi collaborators.  The Hollerith punch card computing machines were how everyone was tracked, how the trains were organized, how the factories were managed.

20  

Using GPS Navigation can KILL you.

Given the bad wrap bunk that cost Toyota a massive fortune (brakes didn't work, gas pedal malfunction via lead foot), this morning's talk radio news blurbs regard all the so-called "safety" bells and whistles that governing officials want mandated on every vehicle "to prevent accidents" as if a no tolerance policy for accidents will prevent them through totally mechanized driving, no driver needed in autodrones, just passengers.

21 Today, we were kidnapped by hill folk never to be seen again. It was the best day ever.

You got off easy.

22 Ah, but by the time we get through with mandatory safety add-ons, breathalyzers, insurance card verification slots, you won't be able to afford a car anyhow so you vill haf to use ze HIGH SPEED RAIL!
So its a feature not a bug.

23 Ice pellets can kill you.

Temperatures are falling with windchill to 11 degrees in Texas.

Look out for the black ice tonight.

24 Today, we were kidnapped by hill folk never to be seen again. It was the best day ever.


I figured you referenced The Hill.

25 Plateau Plato,  my daughter's Ford Focus has a "safety feature " designed,  I assume,  to prevent carjackings.

And this safety feature caused her car to lock with the engine running while we were trying to that an inch and a half of ice from it.  An additional safety feature,  the computerized keys that are to prevent copying by criminals,  meant that she only had one key,  so we had to call a locksmith. 

$80.00

26 I never use a GPS when I walk with a woman.

27

Re the sidebar story about the conservative groups split over GOProud, I can say I didn't really have a problem with GOProud until I saw their platforms.  Perhaps if they can lose the liberal identity politics attitude and drop the platforms that revolve around "gettin' breaks for gays", I might be able to stomach them. 

Unlike Malor, their empy platitudes toward low taxes and the 2nd Ammendment don't really fool me.

28 And then there's another reason to go green and not drill at home:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6dqnjnq

29

From the Healthcare waiver story:

"More seriously, it raises questions about whether we live under a government of laws. Congress can pass statutes that apply to some businesses and not others, but once a law has passed — and therefore is binding — how can the executive branch relieve some Americans of their obligation to obey it?"

This, boys and girls, is what we call fascism. 

Like The Inquisition - it's here and it's here to staaaaaaaay!

30

Suckers!!!:

On Monday, a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee raised the issue at a regular quarterly meeting with officials from the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York... The group consists of 13 senior executives from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, RBS Securities, Bank of America and investment firms active in Treasury trading, including Soros Fund Management, Moore Capital and Tudor Investment Corp.

The TBAC member, who was not identified in minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday, recommended that the Treasury consider ultra-long bond issuance, defined as securities issued with a tenure of 40, 50 or 100 years... Investors would welcome the sale of such ultra-long debt as it would satisfy the long-term investment needs of banks, pension funds, insurers and retail investors.

31

Fox had Always Wrong Morris on this morning talking about this poll

They talked about except they did not give the winners of the poll for the top candidates. What they wanted to stress was that Republicans cared more about beating Obama than they cared about getting a candidate they agreed with elected.  IOW, the BS electability argument.

What they failed to mention was that the top three contenders were Shuckabee, Palin, then Romney. That alone conflicts with the point they were trying to make without even addressing how screwed up the poll is. (note that in the details of the poll when asked for 2nd choice Palin and Shuckabee traded places)

Here is the key to the poll:

Interviews with 1,012 adult Americans, including 479
Republicans and Independents who lean Republican, and 441 Democrats and Independents who lean Democratic, conducted by telephone by Opinion Research Corporation on January 21-23, 2011.

I have maintained for a while now that early polls are almost worthless so as far as this poll is concerned I don't think it has much validity as far as the candidates go.

But what this poll does do is show who CNN is trying to push in the Republican primary. They managed to get the two candidates THEY think would be the easiest for Obama to beat at the top while getting Romney in there to give the poll some validity. 

Now that is based on what the MFM really thinks about the 2012 election based on the "experts consensus". On that score I think they are wrong. The lesson to be learned from this though is that once again the MFM wants to choose out candidate.

DO NOT FALL FOR IT!

In the primary, vote for the person you think represents your views best, and as I said yesterday, temper that with whether or not you can trust those views. IOW, look at their records and base it on what they have DONE more than what they have SAID.

FORGET THE MFM and ELECTABILITY

32 Vikram Pandit on Squawk Box (CNBC)

33 IBM- Active Nazi collaborators.

Mr. Dave,

You're saying that IBM began as a German company, or simply that IBM filled contracts from Germany prior to the outbreak of war, or at least prior to Pearl Harbor and FDR's declaration of war against the Axis?

I'd expect to find that IBM offered the technology first to the US Government but was turned down by self invested nitwits.

Howard Hughs offered his Zero design first to the US Military that turned him down, after which Mitsubishi bought the Zero. And the rest is history.

34 And this safety feature caused her car to lock with the engine running while we were trying to that an inch and a half of ice from it.

Miss Marple, that has been around for a while now. My older brother got hit with that when his daughter locked the keys in the car (Ford Mustang) several years ago. He managed to get the door open though.

My wife's car (Crown Vic) has a number pad on the driver's door that will allow you to open the door w/o a key to prevent this. One wonders if that is still available and why they didn't put it on the smaller cars.

35

Like The Inquisition - it's here and it's here to staaaaaaaay!

Posted by: Burn the Witch at February 09, 2011 07:59 AM (A/oSU)

No, I think it is more like "indulgences", the Inqusition was for the rest of us.

36 Investors would welcome the sale of such ultra-long debt as it would satisfy the long-term investment needs of banks, pension funds, insurers and retail investors increase the distance they're able to help kick the can down the road.

Posted by: Ed Anger at February 09, 2011 08:00 AM (7+pP9)

FIFM

37

Posted by: FRONT TOWARD LEFT at February 09, 2011 07:19 AM (E7F5+)

Exactly.  You've got some good wisdom posted this morning - especially the bit about allowing the 52% to thin themselves out.  Glad to see I'm not the only aggressively bitter one. 

38 A head's up.  CNBC did a story about super sekret swiss bank accounts.  they interviewed a whistle blower from his minimum security jail.  His lawyers are arguing that he deserves a piece of the money gotten from the money they got as a result of the whistle blower.  But, fear not, the government has decided to bring back "swiss bank account amnesty II".  so, if you missed "I" and want to admit your swiss bank account and avoid prosecution, have at it.

CNBC gave a figure of how many people have swiss bank accounts and how much money are in those accounts.  It was a staggeringly small amount of people for a staggeringly large amount of money.

39 36 Investors would welcome the sale of such ultra-long debt as it would satisfy the long-term investment needs of banks, pension funds, insurers and retail investors increase the distance they're able to help kick the can down the road.

Posted by: Ed Anger at February 09, 2011 08:00 AM (7+pP9)

FIFM

Posted by: Burn the Witch at February 09, 2011 08:07 AM (A/oSU)

Hmm 100 year bonds.  Do I get free life extension treatments with that?

40 they are talking about engineering school, training engineers and keeping them here.  Well maybe they should take American kids into engineering school more so that they are born here and will stay here.  They were particularly talking about chemical engineers.

41 Posted by: Hrothgar at February 09, 2011 08:14 AM (DCpHZ)

I remember reading about the hundred ear bond on a message board a while ago.  The commenter said "it's coming" and was severely trounced by the financial people on the board.  there objections were a financial treatise of why it's a bad idea, yet here it is.

Maybe the republicans in congress need to grow a set.

42 But, fear not, the government has decided to bring back "swiss bank account amnesty II".  so, if you missed "I" and want to admit your swiss bank account and avoid prosecution, have at it.

Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 08:12 AM (p302b)

Ha!  If I had money in a Swiss account I sure as heck wouldn't be admitting it.  I'd be transferring those funds to another off shore bank with a better understanding of what privacy means.  And once there was enough cash in it I'd be getting the hell out of here and getting a new identity.

43 Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 08:16 AM (p302b)
There is no interest in strengthening the US production and manufacturing base, so why would we need engineers that are also US born?  OTOH, to level the global playing field, we need to ensure that other countries have the best and brightest scientists and engineers to produce the stuff that our clerks, fry cooks, and shoe salespersons will need to buy (assuming that they can find jobs in our post Industrial society).

44 Maybe the republicans in congress need to grow a set.

Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 08:19 AM (p302b)

Surely you jest, sir!

45

Hmm 100 year bonds.  Do I get free life extension treatments with that?

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 09, 2011 08:14 AM (DCpHZ)

From the debtors point of view, the beauty of the 100 year bond would be that it isn't paid until you're dead.  I wish I could sell debt instruments that don't get paid off until I'm in the dirt.  I'd be able to retire right now, and my brain dead creditors would be fleeced to punish them for being idiots.

46 #28

So the Saudis convince everybody they DON'T have the reserves, drive up the price, and sell whatever they do have at bigger profits. I expect it could just as likely be a ruse to keep the oil price high.

47 FORGET THE MFM and ELECTABILITY

Amen to that.

Voters, don't play Charlie Brown to the political establishment Lucy on her terms for the campaign kickoff. Not only is that "game" dysfunctional and disillusioning, it's become the ultimate bore. Give the MFM and Electability the deaf ear. Regardless of propaganda, enjoy the passive aggressive game teasing the establishment bully by not taking the bait.

First Build the Platform and they will come, both voters and candidates, unified on the solid platform of priority.

CUT SPENDING BY CUTTING FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY.

If you want localized governance, trim federal authoritarian wings and cut budgets across the board. I support the alliance to drive home Rand Paul's clarity of purpose. It's the spending, stupid. Walk the walk.

48 Sometimes the "irony" is just too much to handle. SC is now debating an AZ style illegal migrant law. Of course the Sc Democrats are against it, just like the rest of the country's Democrats.  But let's look at one of those "Democrats" words. The most accurate quote comes from an out of State article.

COLUMBIA, S.C.—An African-American lawmaker in South Carolina said Tuesday that stricter illegal immigration laws would hurt the state because blacks and whites don't work as hard as Hispanics.

State Sen. Robert Ford made his remarks during a Senate committee debate over an Arizona-style immigration law, eliciting a smattering of nervous laughter in the chamber after he said "brothers" don't work as hard as Mexicans. He continued that his "blue-eyed brothers" don't either.

Boston.com AP story

The local stories manage to leave some of it out in an effort to clean it up some.

The State version (Dem PR rag)

Post and Courier (Dem PR rag) version

The take-away; apply the standard "what if" here.

49 Note second and third paragraphs are supposed to be italic.

50 Hmm 100 year bonds.  Do I get free life extension treatments with that?

Actually, they're intended as joke bequeathments for those worthless slacking great grand children you'll have to give something to.  More fun willing them worthless bonds than a 25 year old epileptic cat with loose bowels and $1.

51 Posted by: Reactionary at February 09, 2011 08:24 AM (xUM1Q)
can't find the source, but some luminary said that the same skills that make a good banker make a good thief, but one is socially acceptable and invited to the White House.

52

Posted by: Vic at February 09, 2011 08:26 AM (M9Ie6)

Every day it's like we're drifting farther and farther from reality.  First we have elected representatives thinking that pacific islands can flip over if they get too heavy on one side.  Now we have one talking about how lazy native born Americans are, and expressing the need to replace the native population with immigrants.  And in spite of all this, none of these worthless vermin are swinging from lamp posts. 

It's enough to drive one mad.

53 vic, its not as if "brothers" & their blue-eyed cousins don't work as hard as illegal immigrants; its that our native born are saddled with so many payroll taxes, workers comp, EPA regs etc that the cost of everything skyrockets.  Plus, the native born expect the govt to do something for them while the illegals are trying to avoid govt. notice.

54 Posted by: Reactionary at February 09, 2011 08:19 AM (xUM1Q)

I think there is a huge moral component to all of this.  I'm paying taxes, more than my fair share, you're paying taxes, people with those accounts aren't paying taxes.  I mean I get paid, pay taxes on the money then, but, if I save the money, I pay taxes on the money again.  It's a very unfair system.  I wish double taxing was like double jeopardy, you can't do it.  It would definitely encourage more people to save and it would encourage people to keep their money here in the US.  The other part of all of this is people who use only cash.  they don't pay taxes on that only cash income which is why they tax the savings to at least get something out of the cash economy.  but those in the honest middle class, with meager savings, are the one's getting hurt and the ones with tax accountants and attorneys are the ones with the loopholes.

When I watched that segment on the "Swiss bank account amnesty II"  I got the distinct impression that they were giving the people who almost did this the first time a chance to do it now.  I really felt this was kind of a "we know who you are moment, there's not going to be an amnesty III, and you're going to get a knock on your door next" moment.

I think this is a big problem for the government.  the struggling middle class is holding everything up.  they are double taxed on their savings and the wealthy know all the loop holes.  We have a cultural glass ceiling and no one is tepping forward to try to fix it.

55 I wanna go to the crappy town where I'm a hero.

56 Is it true the people of South Carolina elected Lindsey Graham because they thought it would be a hugh joke?

57

They were particularly talking about chemical engineers.

Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 08:16 AM (p302b)

Meh. We already got lots of 'em here in the USA:

HUNLOCK TWP. – A specialized state police hazardous materials unit searched a trailer suspected to be a methamphetamine lab on Old Tavern Road after a man was fatally shot in a reported invasion Tuesday morning.

58 Mooochelle Oblahblah said that I can eat birthday cake just this morning on the Today Show.  So I have that going for me..... which is nice.

59 Sidebar article on BritRail's "Dew Line" is dated today, but the seasonal references indicate it was written six months ago. In its current setting, implying heavy dew in southern England during February, it amounts to global-warming propaganda.

In this country, railroad switches ("points" in English) accumulate packed ice and freeze during winter. Lots of them have propane heaters, which themselves require a lot of supply and maintenance. That exploding ethanol wreck in Ohio was probably ice-related. It once took me 12 hours to cross Michigan on the Amtrak Lake Cities at 10 below zero, because welding crews had to be called out to thaw switches all the way from Dearborn to K'zoo. Cleveland to NYC on the water level route was also a real adventure (5 hours late), although it did get me a free ride on the Metroliner. I made my connection in DC.

Count in epic struggles like bridges, tunnels, and the high passes of the Sierras, and winter rail travel amounts to quite an 'infrastructure'  challenge. You have to wonder if Biden's ever seen that.

60

Bill up for debate today in SC to cap punitive damages in SC

Trial Layers hardest hit! 

This was passed in the House last session but died in the FDR Senate. Interestingly enough in an effort to find why it died last time and what the current limits are (none) I found that mostly Dems opposed it (no surprise) and they most often quoted the runaway Toyotas and "bad doctors" as calling for the need to award billions in claims.

61

Temperatures are falling with windchill to 11 degrees in Texas.

Look out for the black ice tonight.

Yeh, every school in the Ark-La-Tex is closed for another round of group panicing.

Since they won't do anything to the roads, the "wintery mix" followed by 2-4 inches of snow (6-8 just north of us), it will be dangerous to drive until Friday!

 

62 can't find the source, but some luminary said that the same skills that make a good banker make a good thief, but one is socially acceptable and invited to the White House.

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 09, 2011 08:28 AM (DCpHZ)

Ha!  No doubt.  I often lament that I didn't know much about investment banking when I was a lad - I would be far more prosperous if I had joined in with the new robber barons.  It makes me upset sometimes, thinking about the way the people are being sold out by our rulers, until I remember that the US is being hollowed out by the Left and culturally destroyed.  May as well join in the sacking, because there's no fixing the damage that the Left is doing to America.  Maybe if things fall down good and hard it will starve enough of the Leftists that we can make a fresh start.

63 There is no interest in strengthening the US production and manufacturing base

Au contraire, there is yet the interest at least in Texas, the Gulf States and Alaska.

why would we need engineers that are also US born? 

Not only are US citizen engineers needed, they are wanted stateside. At bare minimum, consider vested Alumni interests.

Globalists have not universally converted the world to group think as dhimmis. It isn't merely the American willpower that stands yet as reference. International tumults provide evidence of regional desires for opportunity and autonomy, though regional revolts may play into the hands of the globalist financiers. The financiers will have their hands full keeping everyone in line, unable to control everything despite their best laid plans.

64 Posted by: kelley in virginia at February 09, 2011 08:30 AM

People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test
b) show up for work on a consistent basis
Make of that what you will.

65 I guess when you're down to just bumming ciggies from everyone else, you can say you've stopped smoking.

Good work, Mr. President.  Setting your standard high is the best way to accomplish all of your objectives.

66

Count in epic struggles like bridges, tunnels, and the high passes of the Sierras, and winter rail travel amounts to quite an 'infrastructure'  challenge.

Took the train once from Oakland to Salt Lake City and laughed at all the cars stopping to put chains on down on I-80 heading into the Sierras...we seemed to be making much better time than they were.

67 And in spite of all this, none of these worthless vermin are swinging from lamp posts.

Yeah, but how the press would cry and scream if that happened in this case wouldn't they?

Note that I had to go all the way to Boston to get the most accurate quote. Both of the local papers tried to cover over it and lesson the impact. We will probably NEVER know all that this guy said.

BTW, when interviewed the NAACP said they were disappointed but offered no criticism of him.

68 People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test
b) show up for work on a consistent basis
Make of that what you will.

I could tell you some real horror stories about that at the old place I used to work.

69 I don't hate my banker as much as some of you, but the source you're looking for is Bertolt Brecht's Three-Penny Opera, which asks the (not-really-rhetorical) question, "Why rob a bank when you can found one?" Not to be the first one to point this out, but he was a communist. And the original was written by a Gay.

Howard Hughes did not design the Zero. That is total bullshit. That Hollywood plot line is a riff on Deming, of whom much was made after he was able to peddle his dog & pony show in Japan after GM passed.

70

We have a problem at the local middle school with something called "cell phone soccer". It involves 50 or so hispanic men with families and food trucks in tow plus a PA system showing up at local fields and using them without a permit. You end up with 200 completely unauthorized people squatting on a field for the day, parking illegally, etc. The city is a "sanctuary city" and it has refused to even come over and ticket the cars because they're fearful. They can't get a permit without a city address on a driver's license but since the city won't check id once there this all turns into a cluster fuck. BTW, for me to reserve 2 picnic tables in the park for a kindergarten picnic, I had to present my license and fill out forms in triplicate in person on the other side of town between the hours of 10 and 2.

Turns out that the park and rec people know that if they put a spanish speaking employee there early in the morning  and ask for a permit, the guys will call each other and go somewhere else for the day. However, once they get started, they are afraid to do anything.

Now they want the neighborhood to agree to lights on the field. Sorry but if they can't police it during daylight hours, how can they police it at night? I'm interested to see what happens here to see how far gone these lib idiots are.

 

71 So read someone' twitter that the brotherhood in Egypt isn't going to field a presidential candidate.   I guess they don't see "president" as a power position?

72 People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will...

Ummm, that afflicts pretty much any business these days.  Manufacturing, retail, services, etc. 

73 its not as if "brothers" & their blue-eyed cousins don't work as hard as illegal immigrants; its that our native born are saddled with so many payroll taxes, workers comp, EPA regs etc that the cost of everything skyrockets.

I'd say these things are not mutually exclusive.

That inspid "Obama get these kids educated" BS at the Super Bowl the other day reminded me of the great hopes of some professional urban "educators" about three years ago--that if he was elected, with his Harvard degree and bookish demeanor, the black kids would stop sneering at literacy as "acting white" and actually put a little effort into it.

Then he got elected and started talking about all the free stuff the federal gov't was going to give out. In Milwaukee, the number of black kids who could and do math at grade level fell.

74 I think this is a big problem for the government.  the struggling middle class is holding everything up.  they are double taxed on their savings and the wealthy know all the loop holes.  We have a cultural glass ceiling and no one is tepping forward to try to fix it.

Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 08:31 AM (p302b)

Yep - you got it.  I think some of the "loopholes" for the rich are a bit overstated - they still pay the bulk of the taxes - but concering the penalty for savings you're dead on.  In my view a person should be allowed to earn a living from his investments that is large enough to get out of the work force before he has to start paying taxes on the gains - I figure that the first $40K or so per year should be tax free.  That makes retirement feasible for more people, and helps clear room for younger people to get work.  It would encourage a higher savings rate, since there would be an actual light at the end of the tunnel.  Right now I shudder every time I think about the horrific capital gains taxes that lay ahead (assuming my investments don't all to T.U.).  It makes me wonder why I put off the new plasma TV and having a car newer than 7 years old.  I should probably just hope to die young and spend my wealth now.

75 Posted by: dagny at February 09, 2011 08:45 AM (HLFbQ)

It is long past due for "sanctuary cities" to be eliminated. The problem in the past has been BOTH Parties want full bore amnesty. I am praying that the Republican Party may have seen the writing on the wall but I am not counting on it.

76 comatus, the designer of the Ju-87 Stuka did offer the plane to the US government. After being turned down, he then sold it to Junkers in Germany. Saw that on the Military Channel, Great Planes or something. FWIW.

77 It makes me wonder why I put off the new plasma TV and having a car newer than 7 years old.  I should probably just hope to die young and spend my wealth now.

Plasma TVs are cheap right now (at WalMart) if you don't live in CA.  They are actually better looking TVs as well. Their drawback is that they are heavier and draw more power.

78 68 People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test
b) show up for work on a consistent basis
Make of that what you will.

Don't forget all of the yahoos who seem to believe that a medical marijuana card is a 'get out of jail free' card.

79 Plus, the native born expect the govt to do something for them while the illegals are trying to avoid govt. notice. Posted by: kelley in virginia

If you're referencing unions, say so. Not every native born highly skilled American journeyman laborer and craftsman is union.

Speaking as native born in the Great American Southwest, we do expect governments to conduct their constitutional duties for us. That's the something we expect of government, secure our borders and enforce our laws -- no amnesty for illegal invaders. As per "giving" us something, in our "pursuit of happiness," we expect our government officials to give us back what the authoritarians usurped, our American opportunity to conduct free enterprise without socialist-defeatist mandates that close shop stateside while favoring the cruelest slave labor by China that completely disregards intellectual property as well as all human rights.

80 People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test
b) show up for work on a consistent basis
Make of that what you will.

Posted by: Hatchet Five at February 09, 2011 08:41 AM (ofEJm)

This is true.  But it's true because we don't allow people to starve.  We need to make the hard choices - and be willing to let people die for their laziness and stupidity.  It's amazing how quickly a person will straighten up and fly right when faced with hunger and utter destitution.

By the same token, we also need to provide an environment that maximizes employment opportunity.  We're not doing much to make that happen, unfortunately.

81 Seven degrees again this morning in Fort Davis, TX; ten below with the wind chill. I don't even want to know what it is up the mountain at the ol' homestead.

82 71 So read someone' twitter that the brotherhood in Egypt isn't going to field a presidential candidate.   I guess they don't see "president" as a power position?

They don't want a "President", they want an Ayatollah.

/Tactically, this is a smart play by the Brotherhood.  Better to remain an amorphous, face-less organization for now.  If they field a candidate, most likely it'll be a hard-core Islamist and he'll be the public face for the Brotherhood. 

83 People in manufacturing tell me that in some parts of the country it's a bit difficult to find entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test
b) show up for work on a consistent basis
Make of that what you will.

That problem applies to illegal immigrant laborers as much as to anyone else, as with white collar employees' and our governing officials' ability to pass a drug test.

84 Howard Hughes did not design the Zero. That is total bullshit.

Not specifically.  The Zero bears more than a passing resemblance to the record breaking H-1 racer though.  Aircraft designers of that era routinely lifted the ideas of successful prior designs.

Materials availability and cost forced concessions on the designers that a one-off racing plane wouldn't have to worry about.

85

Plateau Plato- Re: IRM

Sorry, I had to go into a meeting and just now back to the thread.  The Hollerith punch card system was a German invention that IBM bought well before the war.  After sanctions on trading with the German government were instituted (over IBM's strenous objections) they continued to sell new machinery and support the existing systems through their "neutral" Swiss offices.

86 Their drawback is that they are heavier and draw more power.

The plasma screen pixels only have a design lifetime of about 3 years too.  After that, they start wearing out and dead spots will start to appear. 

87 Mama AJ

Power outages would be criminal.

Blankets over drapes. 

88 entry-level employees who will:
a) pass a drug test

If I gotta pass a drug test to pay income taxes, peeps should really have to pass a drug test to get food stamps or any other aid.

The idea gets dismissed as cost-prohibitive, but I'm pretty sure after the first month applications would fall sharply as word got around.

89 I was told not to get a plasma screen with 3 boys in the house. I don't know if that's true but they said that if got bumped, it would have permanent damage.

90 Posted by: Mr. Dave at February 09, 2011 08:57 AM

Sounds familiar. Thanks.

91 Plasma TVs are cheap right now (at WalMart) if you don't live in CA.  They are actually better looking TVs as well. Their drawback is that they are heavier and draw more power.

Posted by: Vic at February 09, 2011 08:52 AM (M9Ie6)

Good to know.  I was already leaning toward plasma for the picture quality.  However, every time I think about making the purchase I think about how many extra days I'll have to delay retirement.  Pretty much anything costing over $50 makes me think that thought these days, now that all the comfortable old theories about investing have been thrown out the window.  I think about that damn 401k and all the money I plowed into it over the years - now it's waiting there like a ripe piece of fruit for the government to steal in exchange for an empty promise.  And if I try to get at it now (or any time before 60) it will be taxed at at least 38% by the Feds, and more by the state and local governments.  Never again will one dime go into that black hole. 

92 The plasma screen pixels only have a design lifetime of about 3 years too.  After that, they start wearing out and dead spots will start to appear.

So what is the lifetime of the LCDs?

93 Posted by: HeatherRadish at February 09, 2011 09:01 AM

I'm all for that, as well.

There's got to be a pee-on-site drug test that's as cheap as testing for pregnancy.

94 Mama AJ, I wish you could see the railroad snowplows they use to keep those passes open. They're really cool, but they aren't free. Amtrak still strands a train once a season, but the deusy was the SP City of San Francisco, stuck for a week at Emigrant Pass, when I was a month old (no, I wasn't on it).

I watched a medium-city engineering college "go Arab" throughout the 60's. The native-son contingent were home-dwelling commuters, constantly trying to keep tuition down, and about half were marginal students at the entry level. Foreign students were lavishly financed by their governments, paid cash, partied lavishly and expensively, and generally greased the wheels and palms of the booming new administrative class. I knew several of them rather well: the Fivers and Seveners did not get along. The bottom line made the admissions decisions.

Very few conservatives at the time wondered aloud why "we" were teaching our engineering kinks and devices, and the secrets, as they were then, of the atom to these skulking, mercurial  foreigners. There was an underlying sense of unbounded growth, the brotherhood of man, and them calling your sister a whore being just a cultural misunderstanding. Most were pleased when they finished (or quit) and went home. Only the medical students stayed.

95 I thought I'd get an LCD monitor because the prices were dropping like a stone...then I looked at the power consumption specs.  This old CRT I'm using draws less than half the power.

96 I think about that damn 401k and all the money I plowed into it over the years - now it's waiting there like a ripe piece of fruit for the government to steal in exchange for an empty promise.

I think the scares of the government stealing 401Ks are way overblown. It is not going to happen in our lifetimes.

97 PA, I don't know about the design lifetime of the plasma displays on a TV, but we used to have a system in the control room that used an early plasma screen display.

That plasma display lasted at least 15 years before it had to be replaced. (cost a damn fortune too)

98 So what is the lifetime of the LCDs?

If the display doesn't get damaged and nothing in the support circuitry goes bad, the actual liquid crystal itself can last for many decades.

I'd guess the most likely failure modes on an LCD will be the cheap-ass power supplies and component drift causing things to go out of spec.  They aren't exactly building this junk out of 1% tolerance mil-spec parts that'll work forever on a 5% tolerance design.

You're probably getting 20% tolerance parts on a 20% tolerance design where everything is living on the ragged edge of failure where a bit of age drift causes failures a couple of years down the road. 

99 comatus

That Hollywood plot line -- No, I reference the American aerospace common repute, not some recent Hollywood scripted source of information.

Regarding founding a bank, it's actually what every sovereign US State should individually do to provide its citizens financial security out from under the Federal Reserve monopoly.

100 The plasma displays run hot, very hot.  If a design included good integral cooling, that can extend their life considerably.  Most consumer grade junk with a year or two warranty ain't gonna have that sort of cooling package.

101 Vic, old farts like us probably don't have to worry. When I lost my job last year and turned 59 1/2, I rolled my 401k into a plan at my bank. The investment counselor told me it was now a personal investment and not a 401 so not subject to gov. messing around with 401s.

102 I watched a medium-city engineering college "go Arab" throughout the 60's.

Yes, and that institutional transformation that I saw occur was accompanied by the university opening the Office of Continuing Education that rather than catering to the community at large, centered on "orienting" the Muslim foreign students who all were majoring in engineering. Money talks.

103
Good to know.  I was already leaning toward plasma for the picture quality.

You better have a dedicated entertainment room. With a plasma you get reflections from every light in the room. Like from a freaking mirror.

104 Samsung advertised a 60,000 hour life on their display panel. That is about 7 years of continuous run. Searching the innertubes I find that the average TV is on about 6.5 hours per day in the US. that gives 9231 days, or 25 years.

CRTs lasted no longer than that.

According to this article from CNET CRT power usage would have been more than LCD except that CRTs were smaller.

105 bigred, it was Germany that passed on the Stuka, since it was made in Sweden and had an English engine. You may be thinking of Udets' fancy for the Curtiss Hawk. But Curtiss was not involved in the Stuka.

Any good stories of Axis spies being the reason Allison could never get their supercharger right?

I want a cite for "aerospace common repute." This is barbershop talk.

106 Maybe it was just me, but I could *swear* that Dana Perino kept sneaking peeks at Hemmer's chest while she was talking. Probably trying to intimidate him ala yesterday's titties thread.

107 Heh.

108

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A freshman Tennessee legislator credits her success in politics and business to the time she spent working at a restaurant chain known for buxom waitresses in tank tops and short shorts.

Republican state Rep. Julia Hurley, 29, won her November election by knocking off the Democratic incumbent in a conservative district west of Knoxville, but she says it was while working as a "Hooter's Girl" that she began honing her business sense and networking skills.

 

Outstanding

109

Just check the cheap tv you buy carefully. We had ours hooked up for years, but then I got hubby a Blu-Ray player and he tried to hook it up a different way (the acronyms are not coming up for me this morning) and found that there was an empty hole where the plug was supposed to go on the tv.

110 I am finding it impossible to find any real info on the internet comparing CRT and LCD computer monitors of the same size. This is surprising. I do have an old Dell 21" CRT upstairs and I'll check it to see if it has nameplate data.

111 I thought I'd get an LCD monitor because the prices were dropping like a stone...then I looked at the power consumption specs.  This old CRT I'm using draws less than half the power. And how much power are your eyes consuming, straining to read it? My company just retired the last of its CRTs. What pieces os shit. The displays are now crisp, there's no annoying high-frequency whine, and they take up ONE-FIFTH of the desk space compared to the old monitors. You're comparing apples and shitty CRT monitors. At some point, you have to put down the slide rule and grant yourself the simple enjoyment of products that are just more pleasing. And since when is using more power a bug? Fuck this planet.

112

comatus, could be. Just what I heard on TV. Grain of salt, etc....

A friend's son spent a couple years in Saudi Arabia teaching English. To say his students thought highly of themselves would be putting it mildly. The kids he taught in Japan were nicer.

113 One nice thing about LCDs', they sure are easy to move. Compared to a CRT which can pretty much cause an accident or hernia.

114 Posted by: Reactionary at February 09, 2011 08:49 AM (xUM1Q)

My parents saved for college for us.  It still wasn't enough, even though they saved three times as much as the advisor's computer program told them to save.  Anyway, my friends parents, similar circumstances financially, except his dad was/is a wall street guy, didn't save a penny.  They had their kids go to state schools and get grants.  We all went to high end universities and my parents still have loans, we weren't eligible for financial aid.  My friend's parents are enjoying their yearly vacations to Europe, my parents are struggling to pay off the student loans they took for us.   My mom says if she had it to do over again, she wouldn't have saved a penny and gone the route of my friend's parents.  They are having a good ol time and my parents can't retire as they have our loans to pay off and they can't sell their house, it's underwater.  

115 Posted by: Mama AJ at February 09, 2011 09:24 AM (XdlcF)

My older HD Projection TV would only accept the old analog 3 connector RCA jack inputs for HD. That was OK from my HD cable box. That is probably what you had. By the time BluRay came out those old analog connections had become obsolete.

You may be able to find a converter at Tiger Direct.

116 "...just in the nick of time! What does that make us?"

"Big damned heroes, sir."

I love Firefly. Thank you for the morning dose.

And my favorite, "You've been dogging this township a while now. They wouldn't mind a corpse of you. Now, you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear, by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you."

117

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy will create 2 million jobs in 2011, twice as many as last year, said Scott Brown, the most accurate forecaster of the jobless rate over the past two years according to Bloomberg News calculations.

Unemployment will end the year at 8.6 percent, projected Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc.

 

And I'm sure that every time unemployment goes up Scott is one of those 'experts' who finds it unexpected

118 And since when is using more power a bug? Fuck this planet.

THIS; LOL I don't live in CA anymore so all those eco-tards can bite me.

119

I think it was that when he plugged in the HDMI (??) cable, he got video but no audio. Tried to use an audio cable and the "plug" on the tv was a hole.

I'd ask him about it, but he's running around outside in the cold of New Jersey to prepare for a summer in the Mideast.

120

Thanks for the ACDC vid in the sidebar - bloody fantastic! 

I'm so proud of our Aussie rockers!

Julian Assange, also an Aussie........

121 For those of you not familiar with the aims of the Muslim Brotherhood:

Muslim Brotherhood text reveals scope of radical creed

122 Yeah, Vic. I live in a "Idle-Free Community", meaning you're not supposed to idle your car in the driveway to let it warm up. It's almost 0 degrees, so fuck you, hippy. I let the Death Star run for about twenty minutes before I leave. Why scrape ice when you can wait for it to melt?

123

Posted by: curious at February 09, 2011 09:30 AM (p302b)

Ouch - that sucks.  And it illustrates just how f-ed up the whole education market place is, thaks to the government.  If not for goverment subsidies I suspect that college administrators would NOT be making the 6 and 7 figure salaries so many of them currently enjoy.  Here's the killer - if your folks had saved that money under the mattress, so it didn't show up on the books, they probably could have got you a bunch of government cash. 

I don't oppose the idea of government assured loans for the gifted poor, so long as they study something real, and get a degree in something not ending in "studies."  It would be wasteful to throw aside good brains - but this absurd idea that everyone has to go to college, and do so on the government's dime, is absurd. 

I'm glad I don't have kids - no such worries.  Heck - if I had kids, retirement truly would be a pointless pipe dream.  I'm often surprised that people who work for a living are willing to have more than 1. 

124

I love Firefly.

I'm finally watching it. Half way through and already pissed that there aren't more episodes.

125 I live in a "Idle-Free Community", meaning you're not supposed to idle your car in the driveway to let it warm up.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at February 09, 2011 09:38 AM (MdmMg)

Good lord - what is this, Russia?!?  That is supreme BS.  And one of the multitudinous reasons I will never ever under any circumstances live in a place with a home owners association or any similar Nazi-like construct. 

126

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at February 09, 2011 09:38 AM (MdmMg)

"Idle-Free Community"? Never heard of that. At least in this country.

This morning as I got out of work, had to go out to my car, start it, and then begin getting the snow brushed off. No Ice, thank god, but if there had been, I would, and have, let it run for a while to warm up the interior in order to make it easier to get the ice off.

And the commute home this morning was crap. I think all they did was sand the roads, not plow, so it was a slippery ride home.

127 Fortunately for my clients, my injections have never caused death:  fear, revulsion and remorse, yes, but never death.

128 So, AMTRAK steps in on that bridge Gov. Christie killed at the state level.  In keeping with the dominant level of grumpiness, I'm forced to note two things.  One, the AMTRAK estimate is about 50% higher than when the state of New Jersey was the venue.  (It will go higher.)  Two, since it's a publicly funded corporation, the costs are not to be shouldered by all 50 states, including 48 who will gain, let me do the math...jack squat from the project.

Yeah.

129 I'm glad I don't have kids - no such worries.  Heck - if I had kids, retirement truly would be a pointless pipe dream.  I'm often surprised that people who work for a living are willing to have more than 1. You'd feel different if you had them. Or maybe you wouldn't. But, they are their own reward. I have four and would probably have more if we could. You might surprise yourself. Take, for example, Kratos and his crusade against "decadence", which I think means "titties." We need to get that boy down to Jerry McNasty's and sit him in front of the stage with a fistful of greasy one-dollar bills.

130 And since when is using more power a bug?

You have a right to use as much power as you can afford. Since Toonces campaigned on curtailing existing sources of electrical generation, to raise the price of electricity, that's not very much for some of us who have to pay for our own electricity. ("Heat assistance"? Just huddle your family around your 48" plasma, they can't legally turn your electricity off until June.)

Reason #12876 to hate CFLs: running the heat and the lights is not as cheap as running just the lights.

131
Today, we were kidnapped by hill folk never to be seen again. It was the best day ever.

Y'all see the man hangin' out of the spaceship with the really big gun? I'm not saying you weren't easy to find, but it was kind of out of our way and he didn't wanna come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really it's his will y'all should worry about thwarting.

132 "Idle-Free Community"? Never heard of that. At least in this country. Good catch. I'm not in this country right now. I'm in Canada.

133

Okay, I laughed at Cap'n Ed's headline re Obama and Egypt: "Speak Loudly and carry no stick at all".

Tho' I think of the Admin. more as waving sticks wildly. You may get hurt, but not because they are talented.

134 Update from nameplate data

my old Dell 21" CRT monitor = 140 watts

New 20.5" LCD Dell monitor = 1 amp = 120 watts (assuming 120V ac current)

I would say from that data that an LCD uses less power than the old CRT monitors

135 "Little Sasha had a "genuinely healthy" cup of Cake Batter Oreo."

136 Bloomberg Market Minute:

Investors are waiting for Bernanke to make a statement not only about the health of the economy but also the follow up [QE3] to QE2.

137

A good article from today's Australian re Muslim Brotherhood

I can just see it now - your President declaring the Brotherhood are wonderful, don't mean any harm etc etc

Until they close the Suez Canal

 

138 Jeff, Kratos waving a handful of dollar bills in a titty bar is one of the signs of the endtimes. I read that somewhere in Revelations, I think.

139 111 And how much power are your eyes consuming, straining to read it? My company just retired the last of its CRTs. What pieces os shit.
-----------
My old CRT monitor had a Trinitron in it. Beautiful picture. I resisted LCDs until it didn't come up right after a power outage. Still miss the thing.

140

I would say from that data that an LCD uses less power than the old CRT monitors

And Pong is ever so much better...

141 Heather, I can't believe how tone-deaf she is. Well, okay, I can. I just find it amusing that she's shooting herself in the foot er, dropping 20 pounds of kielbasa on her foot by sooo publicly doing the opposite of what she says.

142 140 Jeff, Kratos waving a handful of dollar bills in a titty bar is one of the signs of the endtimes. I read that somewhere in Revelations, I think.

You're just trying to bait me into visiting a strip-club.  No thanks.  I have better things to do with near-worthless paper than stick it near sheaths of flesh and fat, coupled to a mammary gland, affixed on Geysers of Decadence. 

143 Talks between North and South Korea 'collapse,' South official says - Reuters

144 I just find it amusing that she's shooting herself in the foot er, dropping 20 pounds of kielbasa on her foot by sooo publicly doing the opposite of what she says.

She knows the only people who are ever going to call her out on it are us 'racist reichwing teabagger fascists'. :/ Everyone else is begging for more mommy gov't.

145 Feds Spy On Citizens Based on Religion, politics.
http://tinyurl.com/4toonwx

Yeah, we need to revisit the Patriot Act.

146 Via Weasel Zippers to the CS Monitor an online quiz for 'are you smarter than a U.S. diplomat?'

20 questions including a couple of math-related ones; several U.S. government questions; several general history questions; a geography question; a logic question or two. You should only take 15-20 minutes to complete it as there's a time limit on the full quiz.

I got 70% with 14 out of 20.

And while I donÂ’t disagree with any of the answers I got wrong, two ticked me off in particular because I didnÂ’t catch the trick that I should have seen or it was something I knew I had read about in the past at conservative U.S. blogs but didnÂ’t think it through enough. And for two I got wrong, my second choice was the correct one. Boy, I hate that! ;^)

There's some debate in the comments about the 'supply and demand' question so if you got the 'wrong' answer the way I did, you might take solace in others thinking the same way; or that maybe you were right after all.

[P.S. last night at least, the "How does your score compare?" link does nothing but go to the comments section; and, as a commenter rightly complains, they don't tell you anywhere what score is needed to pass the test to become a diplomat or what the diplomats' average is so you really don't discover if you are, indeed, smarter than a U.S. diplomat.]

147

Total coincidence, no doubt, but one of AOL's top news headlines this AM is a FanHouse editorial advocating dumping the "empty tradition" of the Star Spangled Banner before sporting events. The warlike tone of the anthem apparently is a real problem. The conclusion was this:

"Otherwise, "The Banner" has had no real reason in sports, unless you account for it being based on an old English song about boozing, which, of course, is another mindless ritual of the games we watch."

Nice, huh?

148 To see the proposed cuts by Obama, you have to look closely.

149

Bobby Jindal wants to merge two under-used state colleges with horrible graduation rates, to save money. But...one is "historically black." Reaction in the New Age of Liberal Civility?:

Jindal’s suggestion has sparked a fierce controversy in New Orleans, particularly because the historically black Southern University would be folded into the much larger University of New Orleans. State Representative Austin Badon, a graduate of UNO and an employee of SUNO who chairs the Education Committee in the Louisiana House, says the proposal struck many African-American residents like him as “an attack on our very well-being.”

http://tinyurl.com/5tmj6rs

That kind of rhetoric is so common among black and Hispanic Democrats that it doesn't even get attention. Until they address those appeals to racial politics, they can shove their phony civility up their ass.

150 151 To see the proposed cuts by Obama, you have to look closely.

0.05% - that is the percentage of the budget Obama proposes to cut.  Not even a flippin' rounding error in the overall budget numbers. 

151

MFM Washington Times is really pushing a CPAC fallout over GOPproud

Now they are touting a memo supposedly from board members for CPAC. Only two of these people in this supposed memo are people I have ever heard of.

Keep in mind people, the MFM is NOT our friend here.

152

[P.S. last night at least, the "How does your score compare?" link does nothing but go to the comments section; and, as a commenter rightly complains, they don't tell you anywhere what score is needed to pass the test to become a diplomat or what the diplomats' average is so you really don't discover if you are, indeed, smarter than a U.S. diplomat.]

Posted by: andycanuck hey-ho hey-ho free the nickless and logprof two at February 09, 2011 10:17 AM (2rOwc)

I quit after getting the first 12 right. The questions are stupid and the pages take too long to load.

153 "... not only about the health of the economy but also the follow up [QE3] to QE2." QE3: The Printening

154

There's an interesting article on Seeking Alpha regarding the Egyptian food problem.  (I tried to include a link using the tiny url, but the comment got rejected for strings of text)  Seems their population grows at 2% per year.  3% of their land can be useful for growing food.  Makes the math pretty simple. Looks like some of the other Muz nations are in the same boat.  There's nothing US monetary policy can do to alleviate that problem. 

I saw we stand back and let their overpopulation self-regulate.  It's not our problem to be worried about. 

155

I saw say we stand back and let their overpopulation self-regulate.  It's not our problem to be worried about. 

Posted by: Reactionary at February 09, 2011 11:05 AM (xUM1Q)

FIFM

156 Webb won't seek reelection

Warning:  Politico

Virginia Senator Jim Webb plans to announce today that he won't seek reelection, a senior Senate source said.

157 Orwell would be all up in their nostrils.

Yes he would be...if GOProud were indeed a conservative group. Tell me something. Why are the Log Cabin Republicans NOT considered a conservative group by anybody and GOProud is, despite the fact that they have virtually the same Mission and Goals? Is a matter of style or attiude really all that allows someone to claim they are conservative?

158 Butt Injection Women

[ducks-and-weaves]
Really.  If all she wants was a bigger butt, she just needs to get married.
[/ducks-and-weaves]

159

The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.

The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%.

The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and tensions in the Middle East. Many analysts expect that the Saudis and their Opec cartel partners would pump more oil if rising prices threatened to choke off demand.

This may go a long way to explain the administration wide effort on pushing the disputed AGW hypothesis.

Perhaps they should try a dose of the truth

160 136Update from nameplate data

my old Dell 21" CRT monitor = 140 watts

New 20.5" LCD Dell monitor = 1 amp = 120 watts (assuming 120V ac current)

I would say from that data that an LCD uses less power than the old CRT monitors

Posted by: Vic at February 09, 2011 09:51 AM (M9Ie6)

The nameplate tells you the maximum, not continuous usage.

LCDs use far, far less power than CRTs.

It varies based on the design but a well-designed LCD may use less than 30% of the power over a given time period.

161 Well, for once that was a fortuitous sock failure.

162 ∙·Ö

163

I love Firefly.

I'm finally watching it. Half way through and already pissed that there aren't more episodes.

Mama AJ @125: If you need another fix--and you will--you can watch the movie Serenity, which wraps up the series, and there's even a fan-made movie called Browncoats: Redemption that you can order online. All the proceeds go to charity. If you're on facebook, that's the easiest way to find it. It's really quite good.

"Because we have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

Firefly: most conservative show since Firing Line, IMHO.

164 altın çilek - fx15 - leke kremi - yudali - maurers - ozon yağı