News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

Data Vampire · Post by **Data Vampire** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:40 pm

White House Grants Ethics Waiver To John Brennan
Sam Raimi to direct Warcraft film

Ganbare Gincun · Post by **Ganbare Gincun** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:37 am

You can actually read the text of the ethics waiver here. They apparently want Brennan on board to assist with their investigation of the attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253. He apparently has some fairly impressive credentials.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:07 am

Right-winger accidentally makes cogent argument about why the Right-wing doesn't actually care about reducing terrorist acts, while insulting the Left for having other motives than 'reduce number of terrorist acts' in related to reducing terrorism.

-Crissa

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:34 am

Christopher Lee is fucking metal.

Only man in the world, who can put three or four syllables into the word "EVIL".

-Username17

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:22 am

Only man in the world, who can put three or four syllables into the word "EVIL".

I think Richard Burton may have come close to matching that feat a couple of times.

erik · Post by **erik** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:51 pm

Straight from slashdot (a couple from a few days ago)

The good
CIA sharing data with climate scientists

The bad
Slovakian police plant explosives on innocent air traveler.

The think of the children
New scanners violate child pornography laws

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:07 pm

The new scanners won't even detect the type of bombs that have been attempted lately. And the guys on the news from the previous administration hawking the scanners are actually in the employ of the scanner manufacturers.

-Crissa

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 8:05 am

Scientists solve the wrong problem... 40% of the target group their miracle drug worked. Half of them then worsened their behavior while the other half were helped, because the drug did not actually curb addictive behavior or physical addiction.

Also, Britain's top doc sacked for telling the truth about the studied results of various currently illicit substances.

-Crissa

Data Vampire · Post by **Data Vampire** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:14 am

California Bars Restaurant Use of Trans Fats

Government Bill To Regulate Football Playoff System

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:24 am

Data Vampire wrote:
Government Bill To Regulate Football Playoff System

Just...wow.

I mean, I can actually understand both sides a bit.

There are more important things to work on than stuff so petty.

On the other hand, Congress is pretty big, and trying to get every member working on the same few major issues is grossly inefficient. So I guess it's best to just divvy them up and get a lot of things going at once. Plus, having some members of Congress working on such little pissant little things does seem to be a good way of putting the more limited members on something within their abilities.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:11 am

Weirdly, I'm actually in favor of that. Congress is very large and while the commerce committee does have shit to do right now, passing simple legislation like this to cover minor problems does not have to eat up a large amount of congress' total time. Seriously, while really long negotiations are ongoing, the legislature can address minor problems right and left. The executive branch does not stop writing parking tickets or delivering mail just because it is at war. Why should the legislature?

-Username17

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:32 am

And besides, it's become obvious that the larger colleges will not deal fairly with the smaller ones unless they are made to. This has been something that has been negotiated and tried, and the biggest college markets have no reason to lower themselves by getting a chance to be beaten by smaller, less valuable tv markets.

---

Republican Rep. says DEA documents link between Al Qaeda and Venezuela. Actually, what it shows was that DEA agents posed as Venezuelan leftists and arrested three African guys who said they had connections to Al Qaeda.

So... Pretend FARC guys arrested pretend Al Qaeda agents and... It proves FARC and Al Qaeda are working together?

-Crissa

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:36 am

Conservative accidentally makes the argument for Social Democracy.

-Username17

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:50 pm

South Carolina Judge Undermines Convicting of Shoplifters

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:01 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:South Carolina Judge Undermines Convicting of Shoplifters

Well, in Czechia, stealing is not even a crime.

-Username17

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:00 am

Catharz, the article has been changed from when you linked to it. It now just says the first half dozen paragraphs twice.

-Crissa

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:49 am

Total side note to the Football story:

I'm glad my team won.

I'm an Alabama fan mostly because I like the crimson color on the shirts (and my family is also made entirely of Alabama fans. This become relevant at family gatherings when food is being served), but everyone at work seems to pull for other teams and kept predicting Alabama's crushing defeat week after week...

So now Alabama won the BCS Championship and I don't have to take flack for wearing a crimson shirt which says "BAMA" on it. For another year, anyway...

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:40 am

What's known about the underpants bomber? Well, less than Jon Stewart seemed to think.

-Crissa

cthulhu · Post by **cthulhu** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:20 am

http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/ ... ay_alabama

EVERY politician says something he has to walk back once in a while. In the case of Bradley Byrne, a Republican candidate for governor of Alabama, it was

I think there are parts of the Bible that are meant to be literally true and parts that are not.

Mr Byrne was battered by so much criticism that he quickly trudged to a Piggly Wiggly grocery store to hold a press conference and recant. Claiming he had been misquoted, he said

I believe the Bible is true. Every word of it.

Mr Byrne's momentary hesitation about the literal truth of every word of the Bible makes him the religious hippie in the Republican field. James Potts, another runner, thinks that public property should be allowed to display monuments to every faith—except Islam: "Either you accept our way of life or you go back to another country that is Muslim." All supported voluntary school prayer. All but one thought that public-school teachers should be allowed to teach from the Bible.

The one dissenter on that last question? Roy Moore, the judge famously stripped of his job as the state's chief justice for installing, then refusing to remove, a 5,200-pound granite monument to the Ten Commandments in his courthouse. Yes, nearly all of Republican candidates are running to Mr Moore's right on the role of Christianity in public life. Mr Moore's reason for not wanting to teach from the Bible in school was not, of course, because the Bible isn't perfect. He argued that was that government teaching of Scripture could ruin it. Good to see that anti-government orthodoxy can still, sometimes, trump religious orthodoxy, in today's GOP.

That is fucking retarded.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:26 am

cthulhu wrote:
That is fucking retarded.

You have no idea.

What's bad is, the religious nutcases are a minority...but they're super vocal. And religion is prevalent enough that trying to ARGUE with a nutcase is really, really risky. You might say something wrong and then have it all over the news.

Fuckers.

Ganbare Gincun · Post by **Ganbare Gincun** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:26 am

I sure hope you like Sarah Palin, because there's gonna be a LOT more of her on TV real soon!

Guyr Adamantine · Post by **Guyr Adamantine** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:19 am

Ganbare Gincun wrote:I sure hope you like Sarah Palin, because there's gonna be a LOT more of her on TV real soon!

Goddoamn Article wrote:"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News. It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news," Palin said in a written release.

Nuff' said.

Cielingcat · Post by **Cielingcat** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 11:50 am

I think that she should stick to commenting on things she's experienced with. Things like lying, or pandering to your base, or exalting herself for having made the choice to keep her disabled baby even when she works to make sure no one can ever make a choice about that again.

You know, on second thought, this sounds like the perfect place for her.

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:18 pm

Guyr Adamantine wrote:
Ganbare Gincun wrote:I sure hope you like Sarah Palin, because there's gonna be a LOT more of her on TV real soon!

Goddoamn Article wrote:"I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News. It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news," Palin said in a written release.
Nuff' said.

Hey, she fits the profile of Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Rielly.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 2:26 pm

Ganbare Gincun wrote:I sure hope you like Sarah Palin, because there's gonna be a LOT more of her on TV real soon!

Yea, but it's Fox News, which the PTOUS has stated is not a news organization. I mean who the fuck is going to watch Fox News?

(Is my scarcasm over the line here? That was basically the closing jab from the NPR Morning Edition report as I pulled into work today. Only without the f-bomb.)

Did you know that former and still possible presidental candidate Mike Huckabee as been on Fox News for a while? Heck the first Republican Primary of 2012 might be a ratings war between them in 2010. Stay tuned.