News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:27 am

Here's a better chart:

Notice how long the last one was, and how deep the current is. I personally experienced the '74 and '81; I know the former led to my parents moving out of the city and '81 killed my home town(s).

-Crissa

ckafrica · Post by **ckafrica** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:17 am

Senator calls for commission into Bush administration

angelfromanotherpin · Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:45 pm

Obama continues Bush administation's secrecy bullshit. Fuck!

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:25 pm

“Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:35 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:“Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

Fucking bullshit.

You can't ever buy your way to heaven. Even good deeds don't qualify.

Something to do with the pride of humans, and YHWH not wanting people to enter unless they completely surrender/submit to YHWH.

Which leads to weird situations, like a bloodthirsty warlord who would (in theory) get to heaven, while a member of doctors without borders could burn in hellfire.

Purgatory is also a more modern invention.

Anyway, it's just a mental easing service, it doesn't do what they think it does.

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:43 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:“Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

Did the catholic church just get *more* retarded? Seriously, I'm glad I never got confirmed. Fuck that shit.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:53 pm

angelfromanotherpin wrote:Obama continues Bush administation's secrecy bullshit. Fuck!

That's... upsetting. I wonder who got the kick back for that one?

Makes me glad I live in Europe these days. The US is not on the right side of anything any more. Obama's "less bad" policies are frankly, still bad.

-Username17

Count Arioch the 28th · Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:14 pm

It's a shame, but the fact is politicians are loathe to give up any power, regardless of the source.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:50 pm

I don't think the secret policy has anything to do with torture in this case. Opening these books would reveal all of the CIA's secret flights, whether used for torture or not.

The case itself may no longer be needed to force the administration's hand.

-Crissa

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:13 am

Crissa wrote:I don't think the secret policy has anything to do with torture in this case. Opening these books would reveal all of the CIA's secret flights, whether used for torture or not.

The case itself may no longer be needed to force the administration's hand.

-Crissa

Once the case goes to trial, they could invoke 'state secrets' to avoid revealing all of the illegal abductions that they've been making.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:01 am

Bright spot in the tanking economy {Ok}

linked wrote:
(quoted for folks who find their login requirement as odd and annoying as I do - you can read any article unless a friend linked you to it - then you need an account - and they wonder why their business model is struggling)

Muzak Files Chapter 11 to Refinance Debt

Article Tools Sponsored By
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 10, 2009

Muzak Holdings, the maker of background music heard in elevators, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

The company had a heavy debt load, and it filed to try to refinance some of its debt. In a court filing, the company listed its total debt at $100 million to $500 million.

The filing listed assets of less than $50,000, but a company spokeswoman, Meaghan Repko, said total assets were about $320 million. That included the Muzak operating company, she said, which also filed for bankruptcy. She declined to provide a more exact figure for the company’s total debt.

Many of Muzak’s biggest creditors are music companies that license songs for use on Muzak playlists. While the company is known as the creator of elevator music, its business is now more focused on creating playlists for use in retail stores, installing professional sound systems and providing other services.

Muzak, which is based in Fort Mill, S.C., filed for protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware in Wilmington.

The company expects to continue to operate. A statement said it had “sufficient means” to support itself through a bankruptcy reorganization.

Among its biggest unsecured creditors is U.S. Bank, which is owed $371 million according to a court filing.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is owed $213,020, the filing said.

Other top unsecured creditors include vendors like Universal Music Enterprises, owed $349,321; EMI Capital Records, $320,323; AT&T, $257,384; and Dish Network, $251,276.

Sony Music, BMG Film and Television Music, United Parcel Service and Virgin Records were also listed among the unsecured creditors.

Kirkland & Ellis was hired as the company’s bankruptcy law firm. Moelis & Company will serve as the financial adviser.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:21 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:Once the case goes to trial, they could invoke 'state secrets' to avoid revealing all of the illegal abductions that they've been making.

The point, however, is that the airplanes are used for all sorts of black ops, not just rendition to torture.

And Obama was never against extraordinary rendition - just against torture. So, why is this a surprise?

This case was an end-run around the Bush administration which would not admit that these activities even went on, or any culpability in torture. The case is about torture, not airplanes, and yet they're suing a government contractor for providing airplanes to the government. This was the best they could do at the time.

Do you understand that the case isn't really about torture, but merely a civil liability case, 'you lent this airplane and crew and it was used to violate the law, therefore you share in the liability'. But they lend planes to the government all the time.

Either you believe we need to be able to work when local governments can't or won't, and we need extraordinary rendition, spies, and these airplanes; or you don't believe the CIA and covert ops shouldn't exist and we have no use for these airplanes.

The case really has nothing to do with the legality of torture or covering torture up any longer.

-Crissa

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 6:27 pm

Via [url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_02/016847.php wrote:Washington Monthly[/url]]Republicans answer a pro-stimulus union ad released this week with a re-dubbed 1979 union ad found on You Tube. (NSFW!)

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:32 pm

Josh_Kablack wrote:Bright spot in the tanking economy {Ok}

Hey! That is good news!

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:08 am

Bar owner will loose license if he refuses to serve pot smokers; will also loose it if he serves pot smokers.

P.S.
The pot smoker is an asshole.

shau · Post by **shau** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 1:49 am

potsmoker wrote:“But I don’t like a lot of smells either,” he said. “I can’t bare to stand near some chicks, they’ve got so much perfume on, let alone some ethnics that I don’t like the smell of that much.”

This is the line that makes the article.

Bigode · Post by **Bigode** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:22 pm

A new low in pollution.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:37 am

shau wrote:
potsmoker wrote:“But I don’t like a lot of smells either,” he said. “I can’t bare to stand near some chicks, they’ve got so much perfume on, let alone some ethnics that I don’t like the smell of that much.”
This is the line that makes the article.

Speaking of which, on the first day (and only that day, I assure you) an Iranian student came in to my Chem 111 class and sat down next to me.
It was faint at first but by the very end of an hour and a half I was struggling to keep from gagging.
He smelled like a corpse. Literally.
I had thought steamed 60-year-old church school carpet or a newborn's first shit was bad, but no. This... this was bad.

Not to say that Iranians = smell, since the one and only Magic draft I attended taught me that 50-count nervous neckbeards are FAR SMELLIER than any isolated stench therein, due to some odd cross-multiplication factor of stinkometry or whatever, but quantitatively this dude won the award for Most In Need Of A Decontaminating Scrub.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:45 pm

I've met a few Iranians, all of whom were non-stinky. Humans are built to draw stereotypes from small sample sizes, so I've developed a non-stinky stereotype for Iranians. I'm not sure how I'm going to integrate your data.

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Feb 13, 2009 5:50 pm

The only Iranian I've ever met was literally the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I don't know how that incorporates into anyone's data either.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:34 pm

One of my Afghan friends says that men speaking Iranian dialect Persian makes them sound gay. She talks to a lot more Iranian men than I do, but certainly none of the Iranians I've talked to have sounded particularly gay.

Maybe it's because they are loathe to tear the head off a goat with their teeth. Perhaps that qualifies as "gay" in Afghanistan.

-Username17

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:14 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:Bar owner will loose license if he refuses to serve pot smokers; will also loose it if he serves pot smokers.

P.S.
The pot smoker is an asshole.

Uh.... I've been to that place, once. The food...I forget how it was, probably middle of the road, not good, but not disgusting.

It's in the northern part of my home city.
====================

Napalm Grenades.

Everything is more fun with them, even shopping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBL644CP8IE

Also... i found out how easy messing around with guns is. I think that I'm gonna make a bolter, or at least try to.[/img]

Sir Neil · Post by **Sir Neil** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:07 pm

Count_Arioch_the_28th wrote:The only Iranian I've ever met was literally the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

Pictures please.

****
As I recall, JE, we had bolters in Vietnam. Gyrojet weapons didn't work all that well.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:27 pm

Fine, explosive shells then. I'll just call it a 22mm gun.

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 11:45 pm

Sir_Neil wrote:As I recall, JE, we had bolters in Vietnam. Gyrojet weapons didn't work all that well.

Bolters appear to work on a hybrid gyrojet-conventional system. And the explosive aspects, too. There's a reason they're expensive weapons to build and maintain.