Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Tonight is the first night of the rest of your week so let's get the ONT rolling.

FYI today is National PC Cleanup Day so maybe it's time to cleanup your system or at least organize your pron.

The Crying Wife
The Crying Wife is a husband's attempt to record his wife's crying sessions after nearly any movie they watch whether happy or sad. Here you can see her crying after watching Star Wars Ep. VI. Of course when I first saw it I just wanted to go kick things. And here she is after watching AI.

Anyway according to the FAQ his wife, Hollie, is a good sport about the whole thing and thinks the crying videos are funny too. And he says that other than crying over movies she's a happy, well-adjusted person. So I guess that's fine if it's her only quirk. Also if you're into crying women, then check out this DVD of nothing but crying women from - where else - Japan.

The Toyota Safety Troubles: A crisis made in Japan?
Well I have to admit I was somewhat skeptical of the Toyota accelerator/brake issue when I heard about it since the US government has a vested interest in protecting GM and Chrysler (yet another reason for the government not to own shares in companies). But based on this article and things coming out of Japan, it seems seems to be a legitimate issue that's been hushed up in Japan in the usual Japanese way. And politicized in the US in the new government-as-investment-partner way.
More here suggesting that the sudden urgency is political.

AoSHQ Flashback: The Effing PONCHO!

Chinese Zoo feeds live cows to tigers as visitor attraction
The Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin, China lets visitors choose from a menu what they’d like to see the tigers eat. Chickens cost just $5.50 while a live cow costs $205 and the visitors get to watch from a nearby bus and take pictures. Now I'm against using animal suffering for entertainment, but this seems pretty close to how the food chain normally works anyway. And frankly I'm glad to see the Chinese doing anything to keep tigers alive rather than killing them for their penises so they can get one more erection. With all the spam spewed haven't the Chinese ever heard of viagra?

Another collision between Sea Shepherd and a Japanese whaling ship
It's hard to tell who's at fault from the video. And given that the anti-whaling activists were dazzling with lasers and throwing acid bombs at the Japanese crew, I don't care if it was a deliberate ramming - seems like self-defense to me. Meanwhile the Dutch government is considering a new law that would de-flag the activists' ships for harassing other ships.

Everything You Never Knew About Girl Scout Cookies
Well my favorites have always been thin mints and the peanut butter Tagalongs.

California Legislator Wants to get Rid of Free Parking
CA State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) thinks there is too much free parking and it encourages people to drive instead of taking the bus, walking or riding a bike and that ultimately this contributes to global warming. So he got the CA Senate to approve a measure that will financially reward cities that reduce their amount of free parking. Thanks asshole. Everyone will appreciate you making their lives marginally more difficult for exactly zero benefit.

The group thingy. You can figure out the rest.

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Close it up

Hoo Boy: Red Eye, at 3AM, Tops CNN's Primetime Lineup

—Ace

That's got to sting.

Audi's Very Mixed-Message "Green" Ad

—Ace

Is this pro-green or anti-? Well, it seems pro-green, since it's selling a a "Green" car, and the Green Hero gets to skate past the authoritarian and effeminate Green Police at the end. So... I guess that's supposed to be a good thing, right?

But... so... why is it lampooning green fever?

John Murtha, RIP

—Ace

Just saw it in the comments. Dead at 77.

I am not going to pretend I care much about this guy. Which isn't the same as dancing on his grave. I'm just not going to overcompensate and pretend I'm praying for him or whatnot.

The only reason I'm mentioning this guy is because he occupied a seat I'd like to have.

And that seat is now open.

Murtha's death couldn't come at a worse time for Congressional Democrats.

Or, for that matter, for John Murtha, but I think that's obvious.

To Win the Seat... A Republican will probably have to express a greater interest in earmarks than we'd generally be comfortable with -- Murtha's little fiefdom basically ran on tax money siphoned off from the rest of the country.

This is one of those cases where we might have to bend to local politics on one issue to have a Representative who's with us on most other matters.

But, you know, that will be one guy arguing for earmarks for Allentown, and without Murtha's seniority and heft. (Correction: It's Johnstown, not Allentown.)

William T. Russell, You're Our Only Hope: Will he run again?

Paul Ryan's Freaky-Good Plan for Making America Solvent, Forever

—Ace

The only plan which actually saves our entitlement programs.

To make the economy -- on which all else hinges -- hum, Ryan proposes tax reform. Masochists would be permitted to continue paying income taxes under the current system. Others could use a radically simplified code, filing a form that fits on a postcard. It would have just two rates: 10 percent on incomes up to $100,000 for joint filers and $50,000 for single filers; 25 percent on higher incomes. There would be no deductions, credits or exclusions, other than the health-care tax credit (see below).

The whole thing is good. Entitlements can be saved by acknowledging the obvious -- that people live longer, and have longer productive careers -- than they did in the 30's, when most people would die before or shortly after hitting age 65. The plan keeps entitlements untouched for current retirees, and those retiring over the next ten years, but then slowly escalates the age at which benefits can be taxed over a number of years, until it finally hits 70.

And that right there fixes it all -- politically, there's no fallout, or very little, because current and soon-to-be seniors see absolutely no changes at all, and the rest of us, depending on our age cohort, will get those benefits at 66, or 67, or, for very young people who will probably end up living until 100, age 70.

Since younger people are mostly concerned these benefits won't exist for them at all, so they're basically having money extracted from them only for other people, I think they'd respond well to a system that guaranteed their benefits... just later than age 65. Later than age 65 is better than "never."

My only quibble is with dropping the cap-gains tax to 0%. I know this is something of a conservative Holy Grail, but I disagree with it on policy grounds and political grounds.

Politically, it's awful, especially with the current populist/bash the fat-cats mood of the country. I don't think people like the idea that their busting-my-ass-for-the-man income gets taxed while a wealthy investor's investment income doesn't. You can make a lot of arguments about a 0% tax rate spurring the economy and so on, but I don't think most of the public goes in for such indirect-benefits arguments; I think they focus on the immediate. And in the immediate, their labor is being taxed, and someone's investment income isn't, and they don't like that.

On policy grounds, making such a sharp distinction between cap gains and ordinary income, with huge tax consequences flowing from the act of categorization, will prompt, as it always does, a lot of tax avoidance schemes wherein straight income can be kinda-sorta argued to be some kind of capital gains income. (It's not always clear which is which, or at least it wasn't always clear to me when I took Federal Tax Policy in law school -- but then, maybe I just didn't study that section hard enough.) Which then prompts more and more rules and regulations to properly categorize the two, which is precisely what a system going for streamlined simplicity doesn't need.

I see this more as an initial bargaining position to make the cap gains tax lower, but not actually at 0%.

And then there's all this great stuff:

Universal access to affordable health care would be guaranteed by refundable tax credits ($2,300 for individuals, $5,700 for families) for purchasing portable coverage in any state. As persons younger than 55 became Medicare-eligible, they would receive payments averaging $11,000 a year, indexed to inflation and pegged to income, with low-income people receiving more support.

Ryan's plan would fund medical savings accounts from which low-income people would pay minor out-of-pocket expenses. All Americans, regardless of income, would be allowed to establish MSAs -- tax-preferred accounts for paying such expenses.

Ryan's plan would allow workers younger than 55 the choice of investing more than one-third of their current Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts similar to the Thrift Savings Plan long available to, and immensely popular with, federal employees. This investment would be inheritable property, guaranteeing that individuals will never lose the ability to dispose of every dollar they put into these accounts.

Thanks to Dave @ Garfield Ridge.

Amanda Marcotte: Hey, That Tebow Ad Advocated Violence Against Women!

—Ace

Actually Amanda Marcotte advocates violence against women. Ike Turner just emailed me to say, "Now you get it."

Here's her idiotic tweet.

Ed Morrissey predicted that.

I didn't see the ad until today, myself. I DVR'd the game and then fast forwarded through all in-between-plays stuff and commercials. Apparently either CBS forbade them to offer an anti-abortion message, and they had to cut that, or they chose to have no message in the ad at all, and just let word of mouth let everyone know what they were talking about. If you didn't hear about the controversy, you'd just think Pam Tebow was saying how happy she is since she almost "lost" her son, but didn't.

I suspect the former: CBS forced them to cut anything with a message at all. But, thanks to the controversy, most people know what the message was.

Awesome Picture Slideshow

—Ace

All models... I think.

Some of these have such perfect backgrounds I suspect p-shopping, but in some shots he reveals that how he did it -- basically just a table with the model cars on the model street in foreground, with the real background in background, making it look like real cars before a real background.

Some really cool photography here.

Is it all real single-shot in-camera trickery, or is he faking it with p-shopping or something like that?

Thanks to EdwardR.

Is Europe About to Melt Down?

—Ace

Although we're always told our problems were due to The Fiend Bush, seems that a lot of European countries are similarly situated. A lot of money is tied up in bad Spanish property.

The poorer European countries have a lot of debt they can't pay, and they can't use the typical means to avoid paying (printing money, borrowing even more money they can't pay) because they're in the Euro system, with their finances significantly controlled by German deficit/inflation super-hawks.

So basically they're just being told by Europe's central banks to lay off a significant fraction of government workers, stop safety net payments, etc. Bite the bullet, in other words.

But even if they do -- their situations are becoming more dire.

Flow data shows an abrupt withdrawal of German and Asian capital from Club Med debt markets. The EU's refusal to offer Greece anything beyond stern words and a one-month deadline for harsher austerity – while admirable in one sense – is to misjudge how fast confidence is ebbing. Greece's drama has already metastasised into a wider systemic crisis. The world risks a replay of the Lehman collapse if this runs unchecked, this time involving sovereign dominoes.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff.

Top Headline Comments 2-8-10

—Gabriel Malor

Late start today. Picked up a hella cold in Vegas.

Valentine's Day Is A Week Away.

—LauraW.

Please Share Your Romantic Suggestions Here

It really is a silly idea for a holiday, but no amount of eye-rolling and snark will change it.

Because any day devoted mostly to women getting their asses kissed is permanent. S'truth.
Ah well, why not? Men are more romantic than women, anyway. Less sappy-sentimental, but ultimately more romantic.

There are still six days to get the job done. Maybe you have better than a box of chocolate or flowers up your sleeves.*

Any of you Morons or Moronettes ever do anything totally cool that went over real well on a Valentine's Day? Got some nifty ideas or unusual traditions to share?

Put us some knowledge.

*Yeah, I'm trolling for ideas here, myself. I don't usually observe the day but this is kind of a special one, this year.

Obama's Director Of National Intelligence Deputy National Security Adviser*: A Christmas Night Phone Call Is Like A Wedding, Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace

—DrewM.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan doesn't like that Republicans are attacking the administration for giving the Christmas Day bomber full Miranda rights. Yesterday he pushed back by saying he talked to 4 top congressional Republicans the night of the attack and none of them complained about it.

Problem is (and there's always a problem with the story of this gang) that by Brennan's own admission he didn't say anything about Mirandizing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

"On Christmas night, I called a number of senior members of Congress," Brennan said on NBC, specifically identifying Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, as well as the ranking Republicans on the Senate and House intelligence committees, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich.

"I explained to them that he was in FBI custody, that Mr. Abdulmutallab was, in fact, talking, that he was cooperating at that point," Brennan said. "They knew that 'in FBI custody' means that there's a process then you follow as far as Mirandizing and presenting him in front of a magistrate. None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point. They didn't say, 'Is he going into military custody?' 'Is he going to be Mirandized?'"

So according to Brennan, a courtesy call on Christmas night is the one and only chance these four had to speak up. It was incumbent upon them to realize that 'FBI custody' meant 'Full legal rights' and that since they didn't instantly make that connection, they just need to shut the hell up now and forever.

Aside from the ridiculousness of that theory, it's just plain wrong. Writing at The Corner, Marc Thiessen demonstrates there was no reason for anyone to believe "FBI custody" automatically meant full Miranda rights because the Obama administration said it wouldn't.

just a few months earlier, the Obama administration announced that its new FBI-led “High-Value Interrogation Group” (HIG) would not necessarily Mirandize suspects it was questioning.

In its story on the announcement, the Washington Post reported:

Interrogators will not necessarily read detainees their rights before questioning, instead making that decision on a case-by-case basis, officials said. . . . "It’s not going to, certainly, be automatic in any regard that they are going to be Mirandized," one official said, referring to the practice of reading defendants their rights. "Nor will it be automatic that they are not Mirandized."

In other words, Republicans were assured by the Obama administration that the decision on reading Miranda rights to captured terrorists would be made a on “case-by-case” basis.

You remember the HIG, don't you? First Director of National Intelligence Blair told a Senate panel that it should have been activated in this case but then later that night he had to release a statement admitting the team was not operational.

I'd love to ask Brennan that even if we took his reasoning as sound (which no one possibly can) what difference would it have made if they complained then? It's not like you can un-Mirandize a suspect. The criticisms of the law enforcement approach came out in the course of oversight hearings and a national debate on this administration's approach to these matters. The idea that 4 congressional leaders not bringing this up on the spot somehow preempts this debate for everyone else is simply idiotic.

I just wanted to get that on the record lest Brennan tell me I had my chance and by passing it up, I forfeited any right to ever critique him again.

CORRECTION:
*I confused Brennan with DNI Blair in the original post. I've changed the headline and the references from Blair to Brennan in the body. I also removed a paragraph about Blair and his Navy service since it's no longer applicable.

Thanks to notropis for spotting the error. My apologies to all for the mistake.

Dem Candidate for IL Lt. Gov Drops Out

—Dave In Texas

Doesn't want to jeopardize (however that's spelled) the Dem ticket.

Announcing his decision at a Chicago bar packed with patrons watching the Super Bowl, a tearful Scott Lee Cohen said the Democrats were not certain they could win with him on the ticket. He said he was stepping down because he did not want to jeopardize the Democratic Party ticket.

It's that middle name thing. Just tweaks you wrong.

via HotAirpundit via comment by newser

Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Alrighty let's get the post-SB ONT party started.

Best game snark - DrewM on twitter: "I stand by my prediction from October...Obama will be named MVP of this game."

And how about that Census commercial?
I'm an optimist so when I see the government waste $2.5 million on a crappy useless commercial, I just tell myself well at least it didn't go directly to the SIEU.

From the Know-Your-Correctional-Facilities Dept: Inside a Scandi Prison
Well damn I've lived in school dorms that were more prison-like than this. An acquaintance of mine who lived for a couple of years in Scandinavia tells me that the scandis are very naive about crime which is why you're always hearing about capers like this and this and this. So maybe it's time to gather up some morons and go do some crimes in scandi-land.

The Peace Blimp and Pudding
I know you guys have been having fun with suggestions for what to print on the side of the Peace Blimp. Well your efforts have not gone unnoticed. So who was the worthy moron responsible for "You Cannot Resist the Pudding"? Cause that was...awesome. (thanks to johnston45)

Don't click this link

Five Once Great Directors Who've Lost Their Mojo
I have to agree with all of these - Spielberg is still pretty good but he's no longer the genius of 10-20 years ago.
5. Barry Levinson
4. Lawrence Kasdan
3. Martin Scorsese
2. Steven Spielberg
1. Oliver Stone

The Smiling Dog
And don't forget about the PuppehCam.

Victoria Beckham still not willing to give up her heels
Despite the pain and bunions.

I can’t concentrate in flats. I could go to the gym if I wore flats. I’d love to go to the gym but I just can’t get my head around the footwear. I beyond hate ballerina flats. I can’t walk in them. Unless they’re on a ballet dancer doing ballet, I just don’t get it. I love heels.

Weekly AoSHQ Commenter Standings
Top 10 commenters:
1 [690 comments] 'wherestherum' [98.56 posts/day]
2 [618 comments] 'Holger'
3 [578 comments] 'may'
4 [470 comments] 'curious'
5 [422 comments] 'laceyunderalls'
6 [412 comments] ''Nam Grunt'
7 [316 comments] 'Dang Straights'
8 [308 comments] 'Vic'
9 [308 comments] 'fashion news'
10 [265 comments] 'runningrn'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [78 names] 'fluffy' [11.14 unique names/day]
2 [75 names] '18-1'
3 [60 names] 'conscious, but incoherent'
4 [47 names] 'kbdabear'
5 [47 names] 'Leo (July-August)'
6 [31 names] 'andycanuck'
7 [28 names] 'Mallamutt'
8 [25 names] 'Editor'
9 [24 names] 'Rewrite!'
10 [23 names] 'runningrn'

The group. Yeah.

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Close it up

Second Half!

—Dave In Texas

Game Thread

—Dave In Texas

Pregame stuff is done, let's get to it.

Here's my pick. I might have beaten Lauraw on picks with this one. She's a closet Manning fan.

Superbowl Sunday Open Thread UPDATED and BUMPED

—Dave In Texas

Football, commercials, food, whatever's on your mind today.

Manning or Brees? Offense or defense?

Yes, you can haz cheerleader.

UPDATE: THE MOST HORRIFYING SUPERBOWL AD EVER! ELEVENTY!11!!

This is what pro-choice groups threw a goddamned hissy fit over?

Courage!

video tip via HotAir and Slublog the dad.

What's the dumbest pregame story so far? Plaxico?

Home improvements - tankless hot water heater project

—Purple Avenger

Its still the WEEKEND! And what do manly morons and adventurous wimmens do on weekends if they're not being couch potatoes or out shopping for shoes? They're hacking their their cribs, that's what they're doing.

Greenpeace UK call for Pachauri resignation, then retracts/clarifies/says it was "out of context"/whateveh

—Purple Avenger

Then

"The IPCC needs to regain credibility. Is that going to happen with Pachauri? I don't think so. We need someone held in high regard who has extremely good judgment and is seen by the global public as someone on their side."

Greenpeace is not calling for the resignation of the IPCC Chair nor do we believe that there are fundamental issues with the way the IPCC conducts its business.

"Greenpeace is not calling for Pachauri's resignation. We believe the
IPCC is an open and transparent organization, and we trust it to
manage itself."

Q. Was John Sauven / Greenpeace UK calling for Dr Pachauri to resign?

A. John's remarks were made at a reception and were part of a much
longer conversation. What was reported in the Times does not reflect
the totality of the conversation. The IPCC is an open and transparent
organization and Greenpeace trusts it to resolve these issues itself.

Overnight Open Thread - Saturday Edition

—Maetenloch

Hello, hello all M&Ms. Welcome to your weekly Saturday night ONT.

Oh and kudos to holger for bringing a little old english poetry to the ONT last night. He gets 2 MaetPoints for that. Collect enough and you can get the steak knife set!

The hottest women of Super Bowl media
Okay and based on this sampling I'm thinking the best way to watch the game is on a spanish channel with english audio.

So who's up for some socialism?
Well according to this Gallup poll 53% of Democrats and 61% of liberals have a "positive image of socialism". That's a disturbingly high number given all the socialist republics that have been founded and collapsed over the years. And what's up with the 20% of conservatives who also had positive view of socialism?!? Could poor reading comprehension and/or head injuries really be that common on the right?

Why Oscar is really a grouch
Sometimes people have reasons for their hatin'.

Sex as explained by pens
NSFW if you work at a pen factory.

Capt. Phil Harris now breathing on his own
And regaining feeling on his left side. All good but a long way from full recovery.

Microsoft to patch 17-year-old computer bug
It first appeared in Windows NT 3.1 and involves a utility for running older DOS apps. Here are the details.

The Yahoo AoSHQ group. Bla bla bla.

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Close it up

Palin At Tea Party Convention

—DrewM.

Started a bit ago and it's on Fox now.

She's making fun of Sheriff Joe and Hope & Change. That's kind of fun.

Reagan's Birthday

—Dave In Texas

I am remiss in remembering this day.

Here's his first inaugural address, as a commemoration.

"We are too great a nation, to limit ourselves to small dreams."

Goddamn right.

The man could deliver a speech, couldn't he?

thanks for the reminder beedubya. And the vid tip via H2.

More: A compilation of his humor. Laughter is sweet, isn't it?

My personal fav though was this

How Much of the Deficit Did Obama Inherit?

—Dave In Texas

An analysis by the numbers.

What's wrong with this picture?

Largely that it is politically motivated to provide cover for Capn Wonderful through year one.

What the CBPP did was take their least-favorite policies and add the the costs of those policies up until they matched the 2009 deficit. That’s not a proper way to compute a deficit, as it will only be accurate for the calibration year: 2009.

The nugget in the story (read it all please) is that discouraging business growth exacerbates the problem. Business and industry react to conditions just like people do, i.e. self-preservation. They tighten their belts when the waves come crashing, to weather the storm. Anecdotally, my own company started reading the tea leaves in the early summer of 2008, and we adjusted our plan accordingly.

And by that I mean "down". Way down. We're sucking it up to ride it out.

This is why "job incentives" can't work. No fool is going to throw good money into the maw. We cannot take on long term obligations in the present situation, apart from funded initiatives. Cause we're not dumb.

Most people who manage the balance sheet are not fools.

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

—DrewM.

I hear it's snowing in parts of the country. Hope that's working out for everyone.

Consider this a Pre-Super Bowl thread. Make your predictions and talk smack if you got a dog in this fight.

Below the fold, something to balance the photos posted earlier by my esteemed colleague LauraW.

Close it up

Yet Another Military Stud For US Congress

—LauraW.

Don't you just love how this year is going?

Adam Kinzinger for Illinois' 11th District.

UPDATE: Whups, forgot the link to his website. Here it is.

Kinzinger represents the same brand of Baldermann Republican who will appeal to independent and swing voters. Not only is Kinzinger a member of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command with five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, he saved the life of a Milwaukee woman in 2006 by pinning to the ground her knife-wielding attacker and restraining him until police arrived.

....................

Two years later, he was airlifting injured soldiers from battle zones in Afghanistan.

Kinzinger is Tea Party and RedState endorsed.

Dear Sweet Jesus.

Much thanks again to awesome tipster Krukke1.

UPDATE II: The Moronettes are flushed and breathless. Bonus pic from extremely helpful commenter 'Peaches,' below the fold.

Meteorologist Loses His Shit

—LauraW.

Only Death's frigid embrace can release you from this torment. And Death has come. Today.

Stolen Valor Update

—LauraW.

Starfleet Commander Harry Lipmerkin has been apprehended.

Michael Patrick McManus was arrested Friday night after a federal judge signed a warrant for his arrest. The FBI says he was arrested without incident.

Also, an Out Of Control Newstalk Alert:

The pictures ignited a flurry of bloggers attempting to figure out who was parading around town as this highly-decorated war hero.

Ouch! Hate it when that happens. That's why I never travel in flurries anymore. Somebody whips out an incendiary photo and before you know it, you're going foooom like a Q-tip soaked in kerosene. Fortunately they make a cream for that now.

Video at the CDR Salamander link.

Overnight Open Thread

—Maetenloch

Friday, Friday, Friday and Saturday morning too.

"Too Late to Apologize": The American Revolution as a Music Video
And hey it's better than most hit songs these days plus the Founders look good on stage. Be sure and check out BF shredding. Too bad the rest of history hasn't been covered the same way.

Prince Harry unhappy with official portrait because he looks too GINGER
Well being a prince is somewhat of a consolation for having no soul.

Mini Movie Review: Fish Story
Fish Story is a Japanese movie that came out last year that I happened to watch last weekend knowing almost nothing about it. And I was very pleasantly surprised. The movie takes place in 2012 with a comet about to hit the earth and tells the story of how a punk rock song from 1975 ends up saving the world. And yeah that's as far-fetched as it sounds. But ultimately it does connect all the threads in a satisfying way without demanding much suspension of disbelief.

The movie begins in 2012 but tells the rest of the story in flashbacks following a failed punk band in 1975, a geeky college student in the early 80's, a doomsday cult in 1999, a ferry hijacking in 2009, and even a scene from just after WWII. Each of mini-stories could have been a decent movie in their own right. And by the end you're starting to wonder how these stories and characters could possibly all fit together to save the world, yet in the last 15 minutes everything converges and yes ultimately the Earth is saved in a shaggy dog kind of way. It has English subtitles which I know a lot of people don't like but it's a fun, interesting movie with clever ideas that you'll never see from Hollywood and that makes any extra effort worthwhile.

Is Lindsay Lohan a hoarder?

James Cameron may lose Oscar prize to ex-wife
Cameron's Avatar was the favorite to win Best Picture but recently the momentum has shifted to Kathryn Bigelow who directed The Hurt Locker. Bigelow and Cameron were married from 1989 to 1991.
And Linda Hamilton, his wife from 1997 to 1999, also dishes a little.

Yahoo AoSHQ group. You can figure out the rest.

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Close it up

"Dr." Pachauri: Hey, Those Who Claim I Profited From IPCC Decisions Should Rub Asbestos on Their Faces (And Die of Cancer)

—Ace

I'm adding in the (And Die of Cancer) but that's obviously what he's saying.

Rajendra Pachauri, the besieged head of the U.N.'s International Panel on Climate Change, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that he is the victim of a "carefully orchestrated" campaign to block climate change legislation.

"I would say [there are] nefarious designs behind people trying to attack me with lies, falsehoods," he told the paper, swatting away allegations that his India-based climate institute, TERI, has benefited from decisions made by the IPCC, which he also chairs.

Climate change skeptics "are people who deny the link between smoking and cancer; they are people who say that asbestos is as good as talcum powder," he said.

"I hope that they apply it (asbestos) to their faces every day."

Pachauri's remarks came as pressure and scrutiny are mounting against the IPCC's hallmark Fourth Assessment Report, which laid out the case for man-made climate change over a thousand sprawling pages.

The report contained misleading data about the melting rate of glaciers in the Himalayas and is riddled with citations to data furnished by activist groups, non-scientific journals and material that was never peer-reviewed.

Pachauri called the furor over errors in the assessment report "a blip that is going to pass," and reiterated his intention to remain in place as the chief of the world's most powerful climate body.

"I'm not a quitter. Some people would want me to be; some people would probably say that I should go, but I am not going to oblige them. I have no desire to leave at all," he said.

You can't spell "unaccountable" without UN.

Wow, this thing is coming apart at the seams.

Thanks to Lord Raiden.

Blindsided: Freaky Deaky Sex-Scandal Bombshell Coming for Dead-Man-Walking Governor Paterson?

—Ace

A new raft of stuff has come out since I posted this in the sidebar and Allah has the links.

I'll go straight to the most salacious rumor:

The New York Daily News' Liz Benjamin points to a weird letter to the editor of the Post from the State Superintendent, who flatly denies the recent Page Six story on Paterson dining (and nuzzling) with a lady who is not his wife. And supposedly the bombshell story will make the earlier adultery revelations look tame in comparison.

For what it's worth, there is a rumor that the governor and his wife are swingers.

But that's from Gawker, which is apparently libel-proof or something, so take that as the rumor it is.

None of this really matters, of course.

No one takes the job of Lieutenant Governor seriously, do they?

Improved Headline... Thanks to Uncle Facts, Summoner of Meteors.

Steyn: Glaciers Aren't Melting. The IPCC's Credibility Is.

—Ace

The IPCC made the "Himalayan glaciers melted by 2030" claim in a footnote in their 2007 report.

Their source? A 2005 World Wildlife Fund (an advocacy organization) report which mentioned the claim.

And their source? A 1999 article in pop-science magazine.

And that guy's source? A scientist who now admits he was merely "idly speculating" and had done absolutely no research whatsoever on the topic whatsoever.

So this went from a 1999 "helper quote" -- look, the guy just said this to give the writer something juicy for a nothing little article -- to accepted IPCC fact in less than ten years, with absolutely no science whatsoever supporting it.

And the IPCC now admits there was never any science behind it, but it was just the sort of thing they thought they should put in:

Dr. Murari Lal, the “scientist” who included the 2035 glacier apocalypse in the IPCC report, told Britain’s Mail on Sunday that he knew it wasn’t based on “peer-reviewed science” but “we thought we should put it in”—for political reasons.

Ah. We thought we should put it in. The alternate step three in the scientific process. Experiment, and/or just "put it in" if you feel like it.

Now, Dr. Pachauri is the railroad engineer (yes, really) heading the IPCC. He at first rejected the trashing of this ridiculous claim (which should have been obvious as crank, based simply on visual inspection and common sense) as "voodoo science." He has since been forced to retract this stupidity.

The scientist, or whatever he is, who first "idly speculated" about the Himalayan apocalypse on the telly with a journalist in 1999 is named Syed Hasnain.

Check this shit out -- and know ye how the science gets "settled."

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the self-aggrandizing old bruiser and former railroad engineer who serves as head honcho of the IPCC jet set, dismissed Mr. Raina’s research as “voodoo science.” He’s now been obliged to admit the voodoo was all on his side. But don’t worry. By 2008, Syed Hasnain’s decade-old casual chit-chat over the phone to a London journalist had become “settled science,” so Dr. Pachauri’s company TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute) approached the Carnegie Corporation for a grant to research “challenges to South Asia posed by melting Himalayan glaciers,” and was rewarded with half a million bucks. Which they promptly used to hire Syed Hasnain. In other words, professor Hasnain has landed a cushy gig researching solutions to an entirely non-existent global crisis he accidentally invented over a 15-minute phone call 10 years earlier. As they say in the glacier business, ice work if you can get it.

Well. Isn't that special.

Mexican TV Continues Being Pure Awesome (Except for All the Damn Mexicans)

—Ace

What if you're really into LARPing (live action role playing -- sort of like taking D&D to the next level by throwing in some sexual asphyxia while you're rolling dice) but aren't really active or athletic enough to wield a foam-rubber sword and scamper around someone's patio doing bad British accents?

How about we take all social activity and physical activity out of the whole thing, too, so you can watch it on TV? Alone, in the darkness, with no friend in the world but your lonely morbidity?

Sounds great. So here's a Mexican TV show which has turned LARPing into a game show, where you collect (and this part, I admit, gives me a throbbing nerd-on) real silver pieces as your prizes.

Asgaard. I wonder if that's how the Mexicans really spell Asgard, or if the habit of tasteless vowel-mutations to indicate fantasy (or heavy metal album titles) is now a Mexican practice as well.

Also, Scandis invent the worst music form in the world, some kind of fusion of Eurobubble synthpop and Insane Clown Posse.

Both thanks to MattM.

Austraila Hates A-Cups Story Not Really True

—Ace

Apparently it got exaggerated. And/or just made up.

The quote claiming that small-breasted women were banned from porn came from someone in the "Australia Sex Party," a, uhh, political party I guess.

The Australian censorship board says it's not true, and that they'll continue banning films that depict, pervishly, anyone who's under 18 or who appears under 18, per their longstanding practice.

Eh. I kinda knew it was bullshit.

But I had nothing to post. So, like just as with Big Media, I posted it anyway.

Blanche Lincoln: Please Moderate Your Course So You Don't Get Endangered Democrats Like Me Booted Out of Office
Obama: FYNQ

—Ace

Even a Washington Post blogger is taken aback by this.

Click the link for the back and forth. Here's the analysis.

Two things struck me as extraordinary about Obama’s reply.

The first was the ease with which he cast Lincoln’s plea for a bit more centrism as a call for a return to Bushism -- the “exact same proposals that were in place for the last eight years.” That’s not what she was advocating; it’s not what any Democrat who’s questioning his approach is advocating. But the president set up this strawman, and he pummeled it, rather than engaging Lincoln’s valid concerns.

The second striking thing was how easily he appeared to write off Lincoln politically. Conceding nothing, he implied that her defeat was not only a foregone conclusion, but also an acceptable price to pay for staying the course on policy.

...
Obama’s answer to Lincoln suggests that he fully embraces the Plouffe strategy [which is "Pass the Bill No Matter What Because Republicans Are Going to Attack Us For It Either Way" -- ace]. I don’t understand it. Independently of what anyone might think of the health-care bill’s merits, the public’s attitude is hardening against it; it is politically toxic, period. If Virginia and New Jersey didn’t prove that, Massachusetts did. And November could prove it again. If the Dems tip-toe away from health care now, it would be embarrassing, but they would at least give the electorate time to forget the issue and focus on the Democrats’ other accomplishments -- if they can come up with some between now and November.

Still, give the president credit: No one can accuse him of bending his principles to politics. Of course, if there’s a price to be paid for that this year, he won’t be the one paying it. Blanche Lincoln, among others, will get to do that.

He's the only important one on that stage.

Obama's position is curious, in terms of politics. As Allah keeps noting, he seems determined to threaten Democrats with the political consequences of not passing a massively unpopular bill, which is like me telling you to hit the tip-jar or else I won't permit JackM. to write any more epic poems.

I don't know if he's living in a fantasy world, or he thinks that simply by repeating something enough times he can make it true (or at least true in other people's minds), or what's going on.

Either way, he's throwing people like Lincoln under that wonderful bus of his with the big wheels and and the tall clearance between undercarriage and street.

I wonder at what point office-holders in Lincoln's situation simply repudiate him.

Probably never. No one can afford to just write off half of their base.

Via Hot Air's Headlines.

Obama: A Wonderful, Spirited Woman Died of Breast Cancer, and, While I Don't Recall Her Name, I Am Proud to Report She'll Be Buried in an Obama T-Shirt

—Ace

What a lovely, lovely self-serving anecdote.

I hope this guy can attend my funeral and give a terrific eulogy about what a great guy he is. And then maybe gesture vaguely at my coffin and say, "And then there's this guy in the box, too."

Everyone is the hero of their own life-story, as they say.

President Obama is proud to steal scenes in everyone else's life-movie too.

Yes, those are the words of the president, last night at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington. After listing his administration's accomplishments and vowing that "our most urgent task is job creation," Obama pledged to keep fighting for a national health care system. "We knew this was hard," Obama said. And then he described a letter he received from a campaign worker who suffered from breast cancer and has since died:

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt.

Many observers have noted that the president often seems extraordinarily self-referential. It's all about him, they say. But even those critics might be a little taken aback by the "buried in an Obama t-shirt" remark. Is it really that much about him?

Yup. Well, look: There's obviously a difference between Stars and Extras, dude.

Cop Number 3's death scene in Lethal Weapon 2 isn't about Cop Number 3, of course. It's in the movie to provide emotional heft for the stars.

Memo to Obama: If you're going to traffic in this sort of crap, at least memorize her name, so her existence as a mere prop in your movie isn't quite as obvious.

Thanks to Slublog.

Oh: Is she now a corspe-woman?

Oh, Dear: Australian Censorship Board Demands Porn Contain Only Large-Breasted Women

—Ace

I actually got this tip a while back, but I didn't really believe it. Then I checked, and it seemed real enough, but I still didn't really believe it.

The theory? That small-breasted women tend to be used for supposed "underage" porn and so "encourage" pedophilia.

So women with A-cups aren't to appear in porn.

The Board has also started to ban depictions of small-breasted women in adult publications and films. This is in response to a campaign led by Kids Free 2 B Kids and promoted by Barnaby Joyce and Guy Barnett in Senate Estimates late last year. Mainstream companies such as Larry Flint's Hustler produce some of the publications that have been banned. These companies are regulated by the FBI to ensure that only adult performers are featured in their publications. "We are starting to see depictions of women in their late 20s being banned because they have an A cup size", she said. "It may be an unintended consequence of the Senator's actions but they are largely responsible for the sharp increase in breast size in Australian adult magazines of late".

Well, thank goodness that large-breasted women will finally start getting their proper due in pornography.

Notice we get ever further away from the thing that we started out prohibiting. First, obviously, sex with kids was illegal -- no objections on that score.

Then pornography featuring kids was illegal -- still no objections on that score.

Then... Okay, they started banning porn featuring adult-but-youngish women pretending to be underage. Okay... yeah, I kinda see what you're doing there, but you're now making it illegal to do legal things on the ground that it "encourages" something illegal. With this step we've now moved from protecting genuine direct victims to speculative indirect victims. Those victims probably exist, true, but we really don't know how many or how strong the "encouragement" is.

And now... adult women with A-cup breasts just flat-out can't be in porn.

It's not like anyone can really throw a big-ass objection to this, because, like, who cares? It affects like 100-200 women, tops, and it doesn't affect them much; women in specialty fetish type videos don't make a lot of videos and don't get paid much so really the porn is just to supplement their actual bills-paying profession of prostitution. This is not a big enough of sympathetic enough group to get some kind of lobby behind them.

But little by little, just because they know no one's going to object, they continue gnawing at the edges of freedom, or, if that seems too lofty a word for this shabby situation, fine -- they gnaw at the limits of legal human action.

And there's a good reason to limit human action, but then, they always have a good reason to limit human action. They have all the time in the world to think of good reasons to limit human action; that's what they're paid to do, in fact. If they're not in some way restricting someone's freedom, they're not doing their jobs, now are they?

But again, you can't really make a big thing of it, because really, who wants to go on record as having a big emotional attachment to kinda-sorta pedophile-ish porn?

But one day, they will come for the Busty Lesbians; and as the old poem goes, when they come for the Busty Lesbians, no one will cry out, because there was no one left.

Thanks to Matt, via The Galley Slaves.

Stimulizing: Ohio Spending $1 Million of Stimulus Money on Road Signs to Inform Public They're Spending Stimulus Money

—Ace

Hey, all churches have tithing, don't they?

state senator from Ohio says his state is spending $1 million on road signs to advertise the use of stimulus money for road projects. In other words, the state is using your money to tell you it's spending your money.

State Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Ohio, calls it a waste of taxpayer dollars. The road signs he's concerned about display words such as "Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" Some road projects have two signs, and some don't have any at all, but the signs aren't cheap.

The bigger signs can cost as much as $3,000 each, according to Grendell, who says this is just a big "thank you" to the Obama Administration.

He told CNN, "Send a fruit basket if you want to say 'thank you.' Don't waste a million dollars saying 'thank' you to Washington for giving us back our tax money."

Grendell says the message here is that stimulus dollars are "being spent stupidly."

Ohio's Department of Transportation says that criticism misses the point -- that this is all about transparency.

Uh-huh. Transparently obvious politicking for The One on the taxpayer's dime.

Thanks to ArthurK.

Mini-Bounce Gone; Three New Polls Show Obama Back Under 50

—Ace

O! Sweet nectar of life for the lazy blogger. Cheap polling posts, where would I be without you?

Why, I'd probably still be right here, but posting something else from Feministing right now.

Gallup: 49/50.

Rasmusen, aka R-Square Hitler: 46-53. Strong disapproval over strong approval (the passion index) back down to -12, not quite up to the -19 or so it had climbed up to.

The Economist, AKA The Magazine People Subscribe To and Leave Out on their Coffee Tables But Don't Actually Read: 46-48.

And Obama's highest point recently is a mere 50%, coming from media (suspect) polls like CBS, NBC, and Ipsos/McClactchey.

What do these polls tell us? Well, um... that Obama is just as unpopular as we thought he was.

Honestly, I think I have to revise a prediction I made some time ago. I thought public opinion would start to break against Obama after six to nine months of his term; that part I got right.

But I really thought it would break harder, and more dramatically; the preference cascade effect I keep talking about but am only now relinking.

Instead of the cascade, we're seeing consistent and slow erosion. I don't know anymore if we're going to have a big 6-8 point drop over the course of a couple of weeks like I once thought. Obama's support is firmer than I expected; I thought at least twenty points of it was faddish stupidity, and those twenty points would suddenly disappear as people finally realized the Boy Emperor Has No Clothes. (We saw that happen with Martha/Marcia Coakley.

Or, maybe it's just going to take a bit longer than I thought.

No one wants to admit that they were wrong. People will do almost anything to avoid this. Generally, the template people prefer is that their opinions have changed because of new information or changing conditions; that way, they were right then, but are also right now. (See Sullivan, Andrew, for the most pathetic documented case of this on the internet.)

But no one wants to admit they made a wrong choice based on always-existing information.

I suppose people aren't changing their opinions because of residual goodwill, residual pride they overcame prejudices they didn't have to vote in favor a black guy they never hated, wanting to give the "funny looking kid with the weird" name a chance, and all of that.

And also because there hasn't been one big crystallizing event that forces them to reconsider their views. So far it's been very drip-drip-drip; no one thing has arrested the public's attention, all at once, and prodded them into considering whether they still support this jugeared jackass with the lovely trouser-creases.

The Panty Bomber seems to have been the closest thing we've seen on that score.

Thanks to AHFF Geoff.

Feministing Like Totally Psyched That Superstar Athlete Who Likely Has Sex With Dozens of Women a Year Somehow Has Wound Up on the Pro-Choice Side of the Issue

—Ace

Gee, I wonder if he's pro-blowjob, too.

Meet my new boyfriend, Scott Fujita. This week, the New Orleans Saints linebacker was featured in the New York Times talking about why he's pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights. This is not only regarding the anti-choice ad that's scheduled to air during the Superbowl on Sunday, but also the gay dating site ad that was submitted to CBS - and rejected.

As covered by Jos yesterday, Sean James and Al Joyner were featured in a new Planned Parenthood ad talking about the decisions they want the women in their lives to have.

No shit really? Guys who've seen more sex than Boy George's Dungeon Wall are in favor of women having easy access to abortions?

Ah, well, that's not quite fair with regard to these two; Planned Parenthood wisely solicited older guys for the ad, and at least one of them has a daughter, and he frames it as being a choice he'd like his daughter to have.

Which takes them a bit out of the Well-Of-Course-You'd-Say-That-Ladykiller category.

On the other hand, there's super-stupd Fujita. Guy's so good-looking even I might let him buy me a drink and a diaphragm.

...

"It's just me standing up for equal rights. It's not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it's the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly."

Oh, I know you believe it wholeheartedly, Vaiszh Hunter. Anyone with a dick like the booster stage of a Saturn V rocket, a million dollars in the bank, and an NFL-issued gen-u-ine Panty Inspector #69 laminate would believe that wholeheartedly.

Fujita "respects" Tim Tebow for voicing his opinion, incidentally. So did the other two guys; that seems to be message here.

To be honest, I am Fujita's side here (as most of you know), and I can't really kick up too much of a fuss about this, really. Mercenary, tangible self-interest decides most questions for most people, doesn't it? There is little question that there is a substantial split on this issue between the younger, unattached, and less sexually monogamous and the older, married, and monogamously stable.

Still, I do find it a little goofy that Feminsting is so surprised to find pro-choice sentiments in a guy who likely scatters more DNA around than OJ Simpson caught in a bad case of full moon fever.

Next scoop from Feministing: Eighth grade boys believe that age restrictions on alcohol, cigarette, and fireworks purchases are unfair and anti-freedom.

(I told you was desperate, didn't I?)

There is No News Today. Like, None.

—Ace

I'm really not taking the day off. I woke up late, yeah, but I've been reading for the last three hours and I'm finding bubkis.

Ugghhh... Okay, time to do some kind of post about sex/the differences between men and women/naughty parts.

It's a slow news day when I resort to reading the feminist blogs and doing Google news searches for Penis, Vagina, and Breasts. I haven't had do that in while, thankfully.

Okay, time to manufacture a post.

Oh: Please consider this me pushing the panic button and asking for anything you have, tip-wise.

1 Billion Plus Anti-Science Nuts! India Pulls Out Of IPCC

—DrewM.

ManBearPig hit hardest.

The Indian government has established its own body to monitor the effects of global warming because it “cannot rely” on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the group headed by its own leading scientist Dr R.K Pachauri.

The move is a significant snub to both the IPCC and Dr Pachauri as he battles to defend his reputation following the revelation that his most recent climate change report included false claims that most of the Himalayan glaciers would melt away by 2035. Scientists believe it could take more than 300 years for the glaciers to disappear.

... (India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh) announced the Indian government will established a separate National Institute of Himalayan Glaciology to monitor the effects of climate change on the world’s ‘third ice cap’, and an ‘Indian IPCC’ to use ‘climate science’ to assess the impact of global warming throughout the country.

“There is a fine line between climate science and climate evangelism. I am for climate science. I think people misused [the] IPCC report, [the] IPCC doesn’t do the original research which is one of the weaknesses… they just take published literature and then they derive assessments, so we had goof-ups on Amazon forest, glaciers, snow peaks.

The new group is going to do it's own study and who knows, it may come back with findings that support the claims of global warming supporters. My guess is they will be a lot more open with their data than previous studies have been and then the debate can be had. You know, like science is supposed to work.

Either way, the fact that a country as important as India has bailed on the IPCC makes it a lot harder for the Gaia worshipers to paint anyone who dares question the group as nuts. No doubt they will continue to but they'll sound even more defensive and out of touch in the process.

The crazy cult of Global Warming wasn't built overnight and it will take a while to get back to real science but the speed at which the taboos have been broken following ClimateGate is impressive.

Unemployment Rate Report: Drops to 9.7%

—Dave In Texas

I don't even want to put a question mark on it because a) you are all smart enough to ask the questions that we'll ask and b) I ain't gonna be a hacky cheerleader for more job pain.

We are in a brutal unemployment cycle. Predictions of a "decade-long jobs recovery" used to sound like hyperbole, not so much when you're sitting in the bottom of the well.

Geoff over at IB is crunching some numbers. He even noted an uptick in the numbers of jobs. He's asking some pertinent questions about increases in both farm and non-farm jobs.

I don't think this story is complete, I don't think there's anything this administration is doing that's positive (hell they only started talking about job recovery a couple of weeks ago), if this is just some indication that the problem is bottoming I'll be happy that's the case.

UPDATE: This post saved or created thirty seven jobs. Thanks KeithA for the reminder!

UPDATE2: 136 MM jobs available down to 129 MM? Let's see the revisions.