On What ISN'T Child Porn

Daily Kos: Republicans accuse anti-coal House committee witness of child pornography: "Ah, but the picture of a little kid sitting in a bathtub full of tea-colored water touched a bigger nerve than that whole "your mountaintop removal is really screwing with our kids' water" thing. Because staffers for Colorado Republican Doug Lamborn said it was probably child pornography, and reported her to the capitol police for such, which got her detained for about an hour by said capitol police to explain that no, the picture of a five year old in a tub was meant to be offensive because the water was brown and gross and possibly health-damaging, not because there was a five year old in a tub and that made Republican committee staffers instinctively think of sex. "

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Slap-happy on Greek TV

And we think politics is heated here in the USA.

via

RIP - Minitel

How France fell out of love with Minitel - Europe - World - The Independent: "At the end of this month, Minitel will finally go offline, ending a brave experiment in French exceptionalism. The surprise is that the network has lasted so long. There are still 810,000 Minitel terminals in France, mostly used by older people who dislike computers. There are still 1,800 services available through Minitel, although most people these days contact them (final indignity) through the internet. "

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And They Can Call It Wingnutopia

Hullabaloo: "It's amazing how seamlessly rightwing rhetoric on healthcare mandates ties in with forcing the troops to pray to Jesus and abolition of public education for these people. Sometimes I wish they could go found their own little country somewhere, fulfill their strange mix of economic libertarian and social theocracy on their own turf and see how well it works out for them. "

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On CNN's Science Reporting

Laser beam may one day replace X-rays – Light Years - CNN.com Blogs: "I fully agree. I read the first four paragraphs and found about fifteen errors in them. The article has way more erros than information. A monkey randomly typing on a keyboard would get more scientific accuracy. Shame on CNN for such poorly informed science coverage. "

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Wonder how long the article that spawned this comment will stay up.

Westray 20 Years Later

Westray remembered: explosion killed 26 N.S. coal miners in 1992 - Nova Scotia - CBC News: ""The Westray story is a complex mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity and neglect," said Mr. Justice Peter Richard in his report on the explosion and fire at the coal mine in Pictou County that day. "

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Inadvertantly Funny Comment of the day - Politico Edition

Florida GOP's Senate primary update - Alex Leary - Tampa Bay Times - POLITICO.com: "We have a very lage Tea Party Patriot contingent, and that keeps the area sane."

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Where I Agree with Big Tobacco

Canada's Quebec sues tobacco giants for $60bn - Americas - Al Jazeera English: ""Governments have licensed us, have taxed us and our consumers, and have regulated us, all in full knowledge of the risks associated with tobacco use," he said."

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I never thought that I would agree with a tobacco industry spokesman on anything but this is one place where I think they might just have a point.

Thanks to Bon Tindle over at Zandar's place for getting me pondering some of the thornier issues around tobacco use in our society.

On Getting Old As A Rock and Roll Fan

Was Ozzy the Devil? What Happened? — The Good Men Project: "I went and saw Van Halen last month and Kool and the Gang opened. Yes, that Kool and the Gang. It was embarrassing. The same crowd that was there in 1983 would have rioted. Turns out they were there in 2012, they were too busy texting the babysitter to care."

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On Football, Concussions and Personal Responsibility

Flag on The Play? Ex-Players Sue NFL over Concussions — The Good Men Project: 

"Clearly, I’m blurring the lines here, and these careers each have their own unique circumstances, but my question is one of accountability: who’s to blame when you’re knowingly entering a career with great physical risks?"

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IMHO, the correct answer is that responsibility is shared. The problem is that only one side suffers the consequences. The lawsuits being filed can make the consequences a little more shared as well.

Doesn't seem  difficult to me.

A tougher question for me, because I am a football fan is ... should I stop watching the games. I think the answer is yes but I know myself well enough to know that I probably won't.

Does that make me complicit? Probably, and that troubles me.

From Coconut & Lime: Rachel's Beet Ketchup

Coconut & Lime: Rachel's Beet Ketchup: "
1 1/2 lb boiled, peeled beets, cooled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
 1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground lemon peel
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper "

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As always, go to Rachel's site for prep instructions.

This looks absolutely delicious.

On Why I post Recipes the way I do

Faithful readers will recall that from time to time I post recipes on here. One of the things that I make sure I do is to only post the list of ingredients. This keeps me within copyright law because:

Copyright law does not protect recipes that are mere listings of ingredients. Nor does it protect other mere listings of ingredients such as those found in formulas, compounds, or prescriptions. Copyright protection may, however, extend to substantial literary expression—a description, explanation, or illustration, for example—that accompanies a recipe or formula or to a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook.

And yes, I am planning on posting more recipes because I like eating ... A lot.

Isn't Terry Jones' 15 mins over already?

Zandar Versus The Stupid: America Hangs Its Head: "The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., has hanged an effigy of President Barack Obama from a gallows on its front lawn, a move DWOC pastor Terry Jones said was in response to Obama's recent endorsement of same-sex marriage, as well as his stance on abortion and what Jones called his "appeasing of radical Islam." "

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Kitten Vs Bunny Deathmatch

6 Pitchers - A No Hitter

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Seattle Mariners - Box Score - June 08, 2012 - ESPN:

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By Some Definition of the word Young

Daily Kos: Behold! The 'Young Guns' of the GOP: "David Graham of the Atlantic pored through the list, and found the average age of a Republican "Young Gun" to be ... wait for it ... 52 years old."

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ON Climate Change

NC Senate Committee Approves Sea-Level Rise Bill | TPMMuckraker: "“Science should be based on real hard data,” Rouzer said, according to the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s Kirk Ross. “Just because there is a group of folks that project the sea-level rise does not mean the sea will rise. There was consensus years and years and years ago that the earth was flat; turned out to be round.”"

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Blink

Law School is a racket

Two out of three 2011 law school graduates did not get real legal jobs - Lawyers, Guns & Money : Lawyers, Guns & Money:
"This leaves us with 33.75% of all 2011 ABA law school graduates in real legal jobs nine months after graduation."

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On Reality

INSTAPUTZ: Another example of "I believe it to be true, because it's what I believe.": "For wingnuts, "general impressions" always trump facts."

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Happy Birthday Caspar Wessel, Inventor of the Complex Plane « adafruit industries blog

Happy Birthday Caspar Wessel, Inventor of the Complex Plane « adafruit industries blog: "Today would be the 267th birthday of Danish-Norwegian geographer Caspar Wessel, the inventor of the complex plane."

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No, it doesn't get a lot geekier than that

On Passwords

How to Build Better Passwords Without Losing Your Mind | PCWorld: "Make sure your passphrase is at least eight characters and avoid obviously memorable topics like proper names, birthdays, and hometowns. You should also avoid picking a single word and changing some of its characters to symbols--hacker tools are sophisticated enough to overcome that trick. Go for a passphrase--multiple words strung together--rather than a password; this makes it harder for hackers working to crack your password by trying every word in the dictionary. "

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Extra cool electric Skateboard

This electric skateboard is faster off the line than most cars | DVICE: "Hang on tight! While most electric skateboards aren't exactly drag racing vehicles, this 3,400 watt four wheel drive monster will get you off the line faster than a lot of cars.

The Trail Rider model from Gnarboards has an 850 Watt motor driving each wheel, and this lets it accelerate from 0-28 mph in 1.9 seconds. That's also the top speed, but seeing as you'll be standing up with absolutely zero protection, that sounds like plenty."

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I Want this Bed

Yes, yes a million times: Bed makes itself in 50 seconds | DVICE: "It's here. The self-making bed. Whether it is because you don't have time to make things tidy, or you can't be bothered to do it yourself it doesn't really matter. This bed will make itself in a mere 50 seconds. "

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7Gbps wireless transfers and streaming = Holy Fuck That Is Fast

7Gbps wireless transfers and streaming, no router required | Ars Technica: "The next year and a half will see big advancements in WiFi technology, with much faster routers to replace the ones you use today, and a new class of devices to support an incredible 7Gbps speed and clear a lot of the cable clutter out of your house. "

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Are Overdraft Fees Usury?

Overdraft Fees Rising Despite Regulations - Real-Time Advice - SmartMoney: "For consumers, overdraft costs can be astronomical. Fees can be charged anywhere from three to 10 times (or more) a day, according to the CFA. Customers who pay a $100 overdraft after two weeks would incur the equivalent of a 900% to 3,000% annual percentage rate, according to the CFA. “This is the most expensive credit that banks extend to consumers,” says Fox. "

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Comment Of The Day - Balloon Juice Edition - Again

Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Open Thread:

"WARNING: If you see a link that offers you free tracks from Nickelback’s new album DO NOT CLICK ON IT. It goes to a link with free tracks from Nickelback’s new album. "

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Rick Scott - What wrongful Convictions?

Gov. Scott Kills Florida Innocence Commission | Dispatches from the Culture Wars: "It would seem that miscarriages of justice of such a magnitude would lead Florida policy makers and political leaders to take measures to ensure that number declines. Despite this grisly scenario, Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott recently eliminated the funding necessary to keep the Florida Innocence Commission alive. Created by the Florida Supreme Court, the commission is tasked with advocating for reforms after examining wrongful convictions by “studying false eyewitness identifications, interrogation techniques, false confessions, the use of informants, the handling of forensic evidence, attorney competence and conduct, the processing of cases and the administration of the death penalty.” "

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Anonymous does some good

‘Anonymous’ Attacks, Shuts Down Neo-Nazi Web Forum | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center: "So far, Anonymous has disabled sites including Stormfront.org, the first and largest white nationalist site in the world, and two websites belonging to the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for its slogan “God Hate F**s” and whose members frequently picket funerals of soldiers and others to call attention to their harsh, anti-gay views. "

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On Structural Reform of the Eurozone

The German response | Martin Wolf's Exchange: "Moreover, “structural reform” is a woolly term. If by this Mr Schuknecht means that falling prices, induced by ultra-high unemployment, debt deflation and sovereign and banking insolvencies, will ultimately restore competitiveness, he is correct, provided the country is able to stick with such policies, for a very long period indeed (probably a decade, or even far longer). This is what is required if a country with a large private sector debt overhang and a sizable structural current account deficit is to eliminate its fiscal deficit, regain competitiveness and restore growth, particularly in a currency union whose core country has a structural current account surplus and low inflation. The question is whether democratic politics (or the eurozone) will survive the experience. I doubt it."

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Vox Day is an idiot

man boobz:
"[R]aising girls with the expectation that their purpose in life is to bear children allows them to pursue marriage at the age of their peak fertility, increase the wage rates of their prospective marital partners, and live in stable, low-crime, homogenous societies that are not demographically dying. It also grants them privileged status, as they alone are able to ensure the continued survival of the society and the species alike. Women are not needed in any profession or occupation except that of child-bearer and child-rearer, and even in the case of the latter, they are only superior, they are not absolutely required."

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Yes, he really did say that ...

Fuck Republicans

Section 4: Values About Government and the Social Safety Net | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

"Majorities of Republicans now say they disagree that the government should guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep (36% agree, 63% disagree) and take care of people who can’t take care of themselves (40% agree, 54% disagree)."

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Seriously. Fuck them all.

Smarter than the average bear?

Doing Their Best to Destroy Europe - NYTimes.com:

"I don’t think there’s any conceivable economic logic for the ECB’s decision. It can only, I think, be understood as some kind of refusal to admit, even implicitly, that past decisions were wrong. "

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How hard is it to just say "shit! We fucked up! Let's change course"

I make a mistake at least once a day. What I try to do is learn from them. Does that make me smarter than the average central banker?

Scott Walker for VP

Just saying...

Worst Video Of the day?

Just saw this horrible thing on FUSE.

Does it get much worse than this?

Grifters Gotta Grift

New Sarah Palin approach; better results - Maggie Haberman and Emily Schultheis - POLITICO.com: "“There is a vacuum on the right now, and at some point that’s an opportunity for someone, and it won’t be resolved in this summer or this fall,” said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos. “Sarah Palin has as much a claim to that as anyone right now … I think she has settled into her role as the power behind the thousands [of] thrones, instead of sitting on one.” "

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On what constitutes good sex

Is Fellatio Finished? — The Good Men Project: "Can I just point out that non-negotiated and universalizing power dynamics make for shit sex? We’re only going to have good sex when people can choose to have the sex that gets them off– whether that happens to be oral, grinding, manual, anal, PIV intercourse, BDSM, footjobs, or whatever. It’s one thing to authentically like giving oral more than receiving it: lots of people do. It’s quite another to have “fads” in sex acts that are rooted in misogynistic, misandric, sex-negative conceptions of how sex should be."

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On our drama driven society

The Rude Pundit:

"Very few plays deserve standing ovations. Even fewer people have intense drama in their everyday jobs. Not every child deserves a trophy for just showing up and playing a game. And not every soldier is a hero just because they died on or near a battlefield. "

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It seems to me that this is about correct.

Flame away.

On 'This Week,' Paul Krugman Destroys Romney Surrogate, Calls Ryan Plan a 'Fraud' | Crooks and Liars

On 'This Week,' Paul Krugman Destroys Romney Surrogate, Calls Ryan Plan a 'Fraud' | Crooks and Liars:
 "Unfortunately for Eric Ferhnstrom, a senior campaign advisor to the Romney campaign, Paul Krugman (who's been on a tear lately) was on "This Week" Sunday morning to dismantle all of his vapid talking points. "

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On Science

Can We Please Ban the Evolution Article Template? | Dispatches from the Culture Wars: "Science isn’t public relations, for crying out loud."

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Science isn't. Educating the public about science is. We need to have both.

Bon Gets One Wrong

Zandar Versus The Stupid: Smoking Stupidity: 

From a business perspective, I still believe it should come down to choice.  If I paid as much in taxes as the downtown businesses, I'd damn well want control over any legal activities taking place within.  I can absolutely defend forcing businesses to clearly label whether they are a smoking establishment to honor those who want to exercise their right to go elsewhere.  If there really is such a non-smoking following, then those who choose that will reap the benefits.  To tell adults how they can behave in public, when the action being debated is within the boundaries of the law, is wrong.  

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I usually "Heh, indeed" pretty much everything Bon Tindle writes but I think she misses the boat on this one.

Lots of things are legal/accepted in private but not in public. My girlfriend and I can have sex on our dining room table anytime we choose but if we decide to fuck at our booth in our favorite diner we can pretty much count on being arrested or at least thrown out. I can drink Glenlivet until I pass out if I do it in the privacy of my home but if I do it in the corner bar I risk being arrested for public drunkenness or at minimum being tossed out on my ear and invited not to return.

We regulate (make illegal) a lot of public behavior and there is nothing special about smoking that should exempt it.

ON Motorcycles that stand up by themselves

The “C-1″ (Codename) “Rolling Smart Phone” | Lit Motors, Inc.: "ntroducing the C-1, the world’s first gyroscopically stabilized rolling smart phone. This vehicle combines the efficiency and freedom of a motorcycle with the safety and convenience of a car. Offering the alternated to alternatives on an exciting and safe platform, the C-1 transforms your daily commute into something to look forward to."

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On How To Be Awesome

Coding Horror: How to Stop Sucking and Be Awesome Instead: "Mostly, I think it's the fear that gets us, in all its forms. Fear of not achieving. Fear of not keeping up. Fear of looking dumb. Fear of being inadequate. Fear of being exposed. Fear of failure. The only thing preventing us from being awesome is our own fear of sucking. "

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What Music To Listen To On The Job To Stay Focused | The Big Picture

Via Barry Ritholtz:

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Upcoming Walker Indictment

What happens if Scott Walker wins his recall election and then is indicted?

Something to ponder when the good people of Wisconsin go to the polls.