Morning all, last we heard from Sloopy he was fine, but wiped out from voluntarily helping his neighbors deal with a natural disaster that has now reached biblical proportions. There’s some dude in eastern Harris County that thinks he should have listened to that voice in his head last time he went off his meds saying he should build a big-ass boat… and sleep with his daughter.
Sportzball — The Detroit Lions will pay Matthew Stafford a bunch of money to continue to put up huge numbers but never buy him the support to win the big games. Cubbies and Orioles won, Yankees lost. LA and Houston did not play. JJ Watt continues to be a good face for the NFL, and the Rockets and Astros ownership put up some money. Also, some doper is back in women’s tennis and all over the news. And now …the links!
“saves…you…money!” And turns his furniture stores into shelters for people and pets.
Trump gets a qualified okay on hurricane response from a major daily. Meanwhile, Time joins the list of journalistic publications pretending like there’s a city in America that can absorb 30-50 inches of rain in 3-4 days. It must be sprawl and glubal warmink! Dear Houston, you’ve been the fastest growing major city in America in the 21st century for a reason. Don’t listen to the haters.
In much, much lighter news, every punk eventually grows old. (Yes, I saw the date, but I needed the chuckle)
Russkies and Chinese joint naval maneuvers? Don’t they have 1 functional carrier between them? I’m sure the pearl clutching will commence apace for 3-5 more aircraft carriers.
Everyone will be surprised that Marines whose tattoos were fine in Afghanistan and Iraq are being barred from re-enlistment coincidental with a 10% active duty force reduction.
Woman uses experimental method to determine if pistol her son found is real, no one injured. Please teach your children gun safety, if only so they can tell mom what a really bad idea that is.
This one’s for Sloopy.
I keep hearing, “I’ve got Ocean Front property in Western Houston”. So inapropes.
58) I read an article yesterday about the new Tappan-Zee Bridge in New York, and how even though it allegedly came in on budget, it still cost $4 billion. The first phase of the recently-built first phase of the Second Avenue Subway in New York was $4.45 billion, the second phase will be around $6 billion. In the Washington area, the massive Woodrow Wilson Bridge project actually finished in 2013 slightly under projections—a mere $2.357 billion. And the Big Dig in Boston? $24.3 billion.
Even accounting for inflation, the cost of all these projects are all multiples greater than they would have been decades ago. In my mind, I usually attribute that to the costs of union labor, plus a modern tendency for goldbricking projects. We can’t just build a bridge now—we also have tangle the project up with bike trails, river restoration, etc.
But it occurred to me there may be another factor that’s often overlooked. I happened to wonder how many workers died building the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and couldn’t find it in the article. I looked it up online, and found no mention of workers dying, although three people died in a possibly related tugboat accident on the Hudson River a couple years ago.
Now many people died building the Second Avenue Subway? So far as I could tell, none. One World Trade Center (i.e. Freedom Tower, the tallest building in the US)? None. The rebuilt Woodrow Wilson Bridge? None. The Big Dig? None, although a passenger in a car died in a tunnel shortly after the project’s completion.
Compare that to how many people died on large construction projects of the past. 96 workers died building the Hoover Dam. 27 for the Brooklyn Bridge. 28 for the Bay Bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge was a relatively safe project with only 11 deaths. The Empire State Building had 5.
Even into the 1970s, 60 workers died building the original World Trade Center. 5 died building the Sears Tower. And the Trans-Alaska Pipeline had 32 worker deaths.
I’m forced to conclude that some part (probably a large part?) of the huge cost for modern construction projects is due to worker safety. Maybe that’s not a worthwhile trade-off, maybe increased worker risk is worth lower costs. But I think it’s worth pointing out, and it’s an issue I never hear about when I come across various editorials or commentary complaining that America can’t “build big” anymore (usually contrasting us to China).
Only a fraction of the inflation in costs could be attributed to working safer.
A lot came from other sources of waste.
Maybe. Probably. Any idea how much?
*shrug*
I’d have to do research. I’m making a judgement call based upon how I know New York procurement operates. We could buy the exact same stuff for cheaper, but the process is fucked up.
If you look at any of these large construction projects today, i remember reading that something between 50-70 percent of the cost was tied to stupid and useless environmental and other such ludicrous and stupid studies that had to be done to reduce the litigation costs that always come with these projects. Basically there are whole industries of people that ave nothing to do with the actual work being done that account for most of the expense. That is why large projects like the Hoover dam or the interstate system could not be accomplished today. Not only would they cost too much, but they would die in court by the litigators.
Use orphans.
I can tell you for sure that there’s at least a $15/hr flagger added to every piece of heavy equipment, and we always had 2 guys in any of the basket-style lifts. Worker safety doesn’t cost much, though. Less than 10% of the total cost for the seven figure project I was on (not including manpower inflation). That included all the gear at the toolshed, one medic per 200 workers, one safety supervisor, and all of the safety related giveaways, standdowns, etc.
I know at least two other companies who saved money in the early 90s on the first projects they did where they really pushed all of the seemingly Mickey Mouse safety stuff. (Hard hats 100% of the time, tie offs and harnesses, etc)
I think we are approaching the maximum value of safety precaution. More and more rules get added as “safety” but really it’s just the EHS guy thinking up new ways that someone could get injured.
At my job we can not enter a building through an overhead door. We must use the walk through door two feet to the left of the already open overhead door. Fork truck might be coming through, ya know.
We have the same overhead door rule here. But the reasoning we get is that you never know when the door might come down and crush you.
Yes Chicken Little, you are right…you just never know…
Always wondered if that’s why left-handed people supposedly died earlier than righties. “Noooo, not that button.”
Fuck off and go to bed
/Ambi Forever!
I’m a lefty, not tired and have alopecia. How dare you?
Ambi-fa Unite!
Because handism is the last acceptable -ism. Want to talk about an oppressive society? The whole thing is rigged against left handers. Now, where’s my victim check?
Direct safety costs are not that high. Indirect costs in the form of delays are significant. Construction delays are the single most important source of cost overruns on your typical project (ignoring bad estimating).
That said, the new silica rules will have massive effects on construction costs.
My grandfather was a civil engineer. He helped design and build the Jean Lafitte bridge in Lake Charles. No one was killed in the construction of that bridge but one man did fall from it during the construction. He slipped and fell over 100 feet landing flat on his back in 4 feet of water. The entire crew was frozen in horror as they watched him fall. A few seconds later he popped out of the water, waived his arms and yelled to every one “I am OK! I am OK!”
He was fine all day but the next day he was paralyzed with pain. Never the less he recovered just fine.
*My father accompanied his father on that job. He was about 11 years old. The two stories other than that that stuck in my mind are my grandfather giving him exactly 6 .22 bullets each day to shoot crabs off of the bridge pilings with hiis K-22 and at the end of each day the concrete pump had to be cleaned. They would put one bag of concrete in the tube with a bunch of empty bags as wadding, pump it up with compressed air and shoot that through the tube as a swab to clean it out. It sounded like a cannon and would shoot that bag of concrete two miles out. That was his favorite thing to watch.
Watermelons ruined everything great about this country!
You put a watermelon in front of that concrete-bag cannon, now that’d be something. Ghallager would be proud.
Couldn’t he just round up to 7 bullets?
0.22, you round down. Were you the only child left behind?
Spy shot of maneuvers
Even the one carrier the Russians have is a joke. It’s a re-fitted 1980s era carrier, not a US-style super carrier, it breaks down so much it travels with a tug “just in case”, and they can only sortie at about 25% of what the US navy carriers can do. In an actual all-out war with the US the Russian Navy would very quickly cease to exist, along with their air force. Most people really don’t comprehend how great the disparity in power and capability really is.
Huh. I thought the Chinese had a refurbished Russian carrier. So, they have 2 between them?
They said it was joint operation, but it’s really a joint custody situation.
Yes.
Based on this article, the Chinese launched their first home-built carrier in April. I think it’s first mission was a show of force in Hong Kong:
http://www.popsci.com/china-new-aircraft-carrier-type-001a
The problem with the Chinese aircraft carrier is even if it achieves air superiority, an hour later it has to do it again.
What you did there.
It was seen.
Three. The Russians have the aforementioned breakdown prone Admiral Kuznetov, the Chinese have Liaoning (ex-Varyag, Kuznetov-class) and they’ve built a copy of Liaoning which has launched but not yet commissioned from what I can tell expected to be named Shandong.
All smaller, ski-jump style for now. The next-gen chicom carrier (just called “Type 002” for now) is expected to gain catapults, allowing for AEW type aircraft, which would increase their blue-water potential. If the F-35 wasn’t so lousy, I’d say that their capabilities are closer to LHA’s (a lot of folks forget that we have all these Essex sized ships that really match most other countries fleet carriers besides the super carrier groups).
Most people really don’t comprehend how great the disparity in power and capability really is.
They still threw good money at PPV to see the fight.
Not me, I knew damn well what the outcome would be.
Most people I know only cared to see if there was going to be a fix so they could stage a rematch.
It costs a lot of money to maintain a functional carrier group, and then you have to consider that if you don’t have the capability and numbers to win a naval engagement against a likely opponent, i.e. the US, you may as well just set that money on fire.
No, they have no Carriers between them, at least not in the way the US considers ships to be carriers.
In fact no one on the planet operates a “carrier” that could go toe to toe with any of ours as they are all small carriers designed to provide air defense to a surface fleet and not conduct offensive operations. Basically they are equivalent to our Amphibious Assault ships each of which carries a single Marine fighter or Attack Helicopter squadron. Our actual carriers carry 2 full Wings of fighter bombers plus assorted support aircraft.
That said for at least the Russians the Planes they fly from their baby carrier are roughly equal to our F-18’s in air combat making them somewhat of a legitimate threat. My understanding is the Chinese version is weaker because of their inability to build a halfway decent jet engine.
“In much, much lighter news, every punk eventually grows old. (Yes, I saw the date, but I needed the chuckle)”
I see he was doing it in Texas.
True story: When my wife saw the Butthole Surfers in high school, somebody in the audience threw a can or bottle and hit Gibby Haynes. Gibby stopped the show and asked who threw it. Some dude in the audience sheepishly raised his hand. Gibby asked his name, and then dedicated the next song to him.
True story: When I saw Nirvana in concert in college, somebody in the audience threw a can or bottle and hit Kurt Cobain. Cobain stormed off the stage, didn’t reappear for 15 minutes, and proceeded to give a sullen, lifeless show where he didn’t speak or look at the audience. I paid $40 for my ticket, asshole!
Did either bottle thrower comment on their reasons for paying $40 to try to brain a celebrity?
Back in the 80s and 90s you could see those concerts for less than half that?
Could you see Nirvana in any decade but the 90’s?
I saw Nirvana in October 1989. At a coffee shop.
I wouldn’t know. I never got the appeal of paying more to get crammed in line a sardine and not hear the music as well as you could from any other source.
Shorter UCS: “I never got the appeal.”
I saw Nirvana in late 1993 or early 1994. I had nosebleed seats in whatever arena the Atlanta Hawks played in. I don’t remember the precise price I paid for the ticket, but it was around $40, and was a huge chunk of money for a college student.
I don’t know what my wife paid for the Butthole Surfers, probably a lot less.
The omni center arena probably. I dont think they built the new one till about 1996.
:puts on old Dominique wilkins jersey, remembers the good ole days:
I saw Nirvana open for Mindfunk. Think about that for a second. I’m old.
I would.
Well, Cobain did seem to suffer from mental illness of some sort.
Yeah, its called milionaire heroin junkyism. Be careful what you wish for, sometimes you get it
Ah. One of those huh.
Good Call
As a total newbie to shooting, I handled my brother-in-law’s handgun and there was no doubt that was a real weapon.
This lady made a mistake and is trying to save face.
Perhaps she’s a staunch empiricist and could only verify that it was real and loaded by firing it.
Well, the number one rule of firearms is that all guns are real and loaded unless personally verified to be otherwise. And not by pulling the trigger like a dumbass.
Looking down the barrel then?
And even after you have verified it to be real and unloaded it is still real and loaded just in case
Or the kid fired the gun and she lied to keep CPS away.
“publications pretending like there’s a city in America that can absorb 30-50 inches of rain in 3-4 days.”
Sounds like a challenge. : Begins drawing up plans for rain absorbing system to sell to mayor’s:
“I know the storm drain system will only be used once a century. Think of it as a homelessness abatement measure.”
Do you want Morlocks? Because this is how you get Morlocks!
I already have Morlocks.
I wonder what became of them after the second book…
“Your homeless can all squat in there, and when the once a century flood comes….well, no flood damage, and no more homeless problem!”
…
“Where do I sign?”
Make sure the pen you’re using is waterproof ink.
Seasteading.
“Our bilge is full”
“How do you know?”
“The main deck is under water.”
“But it’s always under water.”
You know what I love? Whilst listening to an NPR program yesterday morning, how progs are suddenly extremely interested in reducing government waste in terms of not socialising property losses through federal federal flood insurance programmes. I couldn’t agree more….BUUUUT….
This isn’t East Hampton or Cape Cod we’re talking about here, Pomp. This is the Yokel Coast.
Super Storm Sandy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read that as “Pooper Storm Sandi” and wondered if Sandi ever took a shit in Long Island Sound.
Whatever, Chett Belle
Probably.
Two storms, one cup?
Damn you!
*pours bleach in ear, hoping some gets to brain to clean it out of that image*
A demishit in a teacup.
It’s like how progs flipped on immigration when the holy one decided to stop “letting” Cubans stay if they made it.
I wonder if the 20 Texas Representatives and Senators who voted against Sandy relief will flip now that they are on the receiving end?
Will there be an equal proportion of opportunistic pork?
I would be shocked if there wasn’t.
That would be shocking, wouldn’t it?
Well, of course this is totally different.
Jeb Hensarling (R-Katy) is suddenly born again hard about getting the National Flood Insurance Program fully funded.
From what I recall that bill was filled with pet projects that had nothing to do with Sandy.
Just any other government bill.
About 50% of the bill was pork that had nothing to do with Sandy. The Senators/House members involved were likely perfectly willing to sign a clean bill just with the Sandy relief.
This is an important distinction which bears repeating as a lot of Dems have been jumping on the “Cruz et al are hypocrites” bandwagon. They may very well be, but there were legitimate reasons to oppose the Sandy relief bill and it took balls to do so. Linky-poo.
Linky-poop
Where’d my href go? Oh well, your search engine of choice will provide several good resources listing some of the crap in the bill, including money to restore fisheries in Alaska, funding for new vehicle purchases for the DoJ, Community Development Block Grants, new public transportation projects, and even repairs to the roofs of various Smithsonian museums in DC.
The best quote from the Marine Tattoo article:
“Peacetime Marine Corps sucks,”
Amen brother. I was a Marine Reservist called up for the first Gulf War. I already had my Bachelor’s degree and my boss was gung-ho for me to do OCS. I could see where things were going – for wartime meritocracy to peace-time BS and wanted no part.
The article also talks about the Army immediately taking in the tattooed Marines – the Army and National Guard (where I eventually ended up) loves old Marines. My first day in the National Guard, I noticed that there were many old Marines in the unit. My Captain talked about how he loved us because when he gave a Marine an order, he absolutely knew it was going to get done.
Yeah…but the damned old Marines kept calling doors “hatches” and shit like that. Hey, Sea Biscuit, you ain’t on a ship anymore – this is an armory in Champaign, Illinois!
Says the Landlocked one
I used to laugh at the look of the Navy guys, first time they were in a dust storm in Afghanistan or a sandstorm in Kuwait or Iraq.
“Bet you wish you were in a gale at sea right about now, eh?”
As long as we’re talking about stupid policies, let’s talk about the new army policy if deploying guard units specifically because active units are getting tired of deploying too often. Perhaps you ought to think about reducing obligations in foreign countries rather than treat your strategic reserve as an operational reserve.
To be fair to the Army, they don’t set overseas obligations.
The Guard stopped being the Strategic Reserve a long time ago. They became operational reserve after the post-Gulf War I drawdown. Not that your point doesn’t stand, ’cause it does.
-1 “Total Force Concept”
People wanted everyone fromEurope to “come home” so now everyone goes over there on rotation instead of assignment. Getting rid of obligations creates more obligations sometimes.
Perhaps you define “getting rid of obligations” different. Changing the rate at which you switch people out of a place doesn’t lower the obligation. Anyway, it’s not the guard getting sent in rotation to Europe.
We don’t really rotate a lot of people to Europe nowadays.
Well, we’re still doing shitty little jobs in the Balkans, and AFRICOM, and mostly staging for the CENTCOM AOR.
It’s a lot more of a staging area.
Yes, we do rotate a lot of people to Europe.
Not anything at all like we did previously. Pretty close to Korea in demand signal.
The part I really don’t understand about the rotations is that it doesn’t seem to help military families very much. A kid from high school (decent soccer player) was born to a German mother and Army dad, in Germany. Because of that, he was able to attend a German university for very little, even though he had not lived in Germany since he was 12 (Dad was posted to NATO HQ in Belgium for 3 years, then rotated home, where I met the kid). With the new system, as I understand it, it is not likely he would have been able to spend his first 12 years in the same country.
The ridiculous thing is that the tattoo regs just keep fluctuating every few years. You can only have four tats…..no, now you can have more…..but now it’s only four that are visible in uniform…..etc etc.
I tried to join the marines in 2002. The recruiter told me to beat it because of a tat that goes a few inches up my neck. Im still fucking angry to this day. Told me the navy would take me.
“University of Iowa students react to offensive messages popping up across campus
The University of Iowa is trying to figure out who is behind offensive fliers found on campus. The fliers target the Latino, Native American, African American and LGBTQ communities.
The University is urging students and staff to use their new Hawk Watch app to report any suspicious activity.”
http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/University-of-Iowa-students-react-to-hate-messages-popping-up-across-campus-398550831.html
Either the people who “Discovered” them, or the local Social justice pustule are my first suspects.
50/50 it is fake.
So glad my son just started school there.
*facepalm*
No way you h8ters are going to win Floyd of Rosedale when you match up against our righteous Gophers.
Best Trophy ever!
I’m having trouble remembering what it looked like…
A few years ago they were showing the trophy room at the U of Mn during a game and it was completely empty.
I had to explain to my sports nut son that it was supposed to have at least one (maybe two) trophies like Floyd, or the Little Brown Jug or Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
Since he could only remember the Brewster regime, he had no idea that they even existed.
Yep, Wisconsin’s current freshmen were in preschool the last time Minnesota held the Axe. But under Jerry Kill at least one year the Gophers were able to bravely protect one goalpost from being mock-chopped by the Badgers.
Before it mysteriously disappeared in WW2, the trophy for the Wisconsin/Minnesota rivalry was the “Slab of Bacon”. (False advertising, though, as it was just a piece of wood with the word “BACON” on the top and bottom.)
So it’s like the Vikings’ trophy room, then.
Think you have it bad? UVA hasn’t beaten Virginia Tech in football since 2003, and had lost four straight before that. Lost 17 of the last 18.
You h8ters?
I went to U of Illinois.
And the Illibuck is my second favorite rivalry trophy.
Nah, I think the messages are far too subtle to be the work of SJWs; those folks aren’t capable of subtlety.
Like the song says, Let It Go
She says, “You just can’t blame every white person you see from now on. If you want, try to make a social change.”
Especially since it was probably either a POC SJW or a white SJW trying to race bait.
The flyer shown in the picture is…not very offensive?
So Shitlordy. I can’t. Even.
None of the ones they specifically mention are very offensive on their face.
Considering that they are put on HRC signs, who would have access to such signs?
“The University is urging students and staff to use their new Hawk Watch app to report any suspicious activity.”
Or instead of snitching, just throw the flyers in the trash when you come across one?
It shows up on my phone as the Stasi App. Is that the same one?
October 25, 2016 article, O starchy one.
My comment is less relevant now.
Maybe he hasn’t sprouted any eyes yet..
*opera applause*
Woops. Well, maybe by now they found out who did it.
So, opposing anti-white propaganda pushed by colleges is a “hate message”? White people (supposedly) saying they have a right to exist is “hate”?
We really are approaching peak derp.
*sigh* Minecraft creator, Notch, shows he’s on the wrong side of the debate. So sad to see him get such a fundamental issue wrong.
I hate when people signal like this. Just stick to making good games.
Notch didn’t go insane until he sold Minecraft to Microsoft. Then he had all that money and nothing to do, and, well…
(I didn’t click the link. I thought it was about his whole “Pizzagate is real” thing and “Podesta kidnapped Madeline McCann” thing and all his other crazy)
Oh, I didn’t know about all that. I just knew that he apparently posted a lot of anti-SJW stuff. Then I saw that tweet and knew something was wrong with him. Not sure I’ll be able to enjoy Minecraft ever again.
Adults play Minecraft? My son is obsessed with it and I just assumed it was a kids thing.
Adults play it. There are an insane amount of mods and you can almost literally do anything in it.
(but I don’t understand it at all. My daughter’s similarly obsessed with it)
Look, I’ve had and enjoyed so-called “Hawaiian Pizza”, but in my heart I know that it’s no more an actual pizza than a whale shark is a cetacean.
“It is an impeachable offense precisely because it involves the exercise of a constitutionally created presidential power.”
https://impeachableoffenses.net/2017/08/26/pardoning-arpaio-the-first-verifiable-impeachable-offense/
“It’s a-okay to pardon terrorists and traitors, but one pardoning an old guy of a misdemeanor means IMPEACHMENT!”
Whether or not Joe should have been pardoned, issuing a pardon for a contempt charge is not grounds for impeachment.
Especially since Arpaio’s rights were violated when he was denied the right to a jury trial.
My wife, no Trump fan, pointed out that accepting the pardon implies the waiving of right to a trial, a sort-of de facto nolo plea, which would then open him up to civil suits. I don’t know diddly about fancy lawyerin’, but it sounds legit.
Except now the civil suits cannot use the guilty finding against him. And he will end up with the tax cattle of Maricopa County being milked to defend and indemnify him…
So when will progressives start claiming that Harvey was
God’sGaia’s way of punishing those evil Republicans in Texas?Several days ago.
Already had a Facebook friend post a stupid meme about “Texans asking for thoughts and prayers, but remembering they voted for Trump.” *eyeroll*
I’m honestly surprised that they haven’t blamed the flooding on Houston’s lack of zoning laws. We all know that every time there’s a catastrophe, “progressives” are desperate to find one little libertarian policy that they can blame for everything wrong.
They have.
You didn’t click the TIME article, did you?
They have.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/houston-drowning-freedom-regulations-193813435.html
Police say a boy found a gun in a dressing room at an Atlanta mall and it fired when the mother pulled the trigger to see if it was real.
You should see what she did when she wandered into a glory hole.
Oh, very nice.
Did they default to passive voice simply because “Police” is the first word in the sentence?
Mothers are like cops. Guns just go off in their hands. Like the wife of that preacher in TN or KY who was arguing with her husband and the gun she was pointing at him as bluff, that she didn’t know was loaded, just “went off” when his back was turned. She loaded up her kids and fled across state lines. She got her charge reduced from capital murder to voluntary manslaughter.
Remember though, women are the ones who are oppressed in this country.
Do you have some kind of “Glory Hole” algorithm running?
You don’t? Dilettante.
A name I’ve never been called before! Yeah.
Stick with me kid and I’ll insult you in ways undreamt.
I would figure all your glory hole work was analog.
euphasis on the log, ammirite
She couldn’t resist stroking the gun.
SAVE THE AMAZON Miss BumBum contestants in the Amazon tie their bikini-clad bodies to trees and tape their mouths shut in campaign to protect rainforest
I thought the rain forest was going to be gone by the 90s.
What happened?
Full bush made a comeback?
Yes. Growing up in the 80’s this was taught to children as being as factually accurate as the sun will come up in the east and Global Cooling
Unless Nuclear war.
Just duck and cover. You’ll be fine
Make sure to take a lead pill everyday to build up radiation resistance.
Wood, wood, woodn’t, wood.
And since I didn’t scroll far enough, wood to the rest of them just because.
Wouldn’t on the chubby blonde? She’s the cutest of the bunch! (Though they’re all rather cute)
He didn’t like her because she didn’t have her mouth covered.
They’ve got velodrome sprinter thighs.
THIS MAKE THINGS TOO EASY FOR STEVE SMITH.
I’m off to sell a movie…
“When corporations thought they could rape the forest, the forest decided to fight back”
Change “fight” to “rape” and you got something, kid.
^THIS^
So….got an agent?
That’s a lot of thicc.
Those trees aren’t technically in the rainforest. Lazy Activism.
I’m not sure what these young women are trying to accomplish, but I like where they’re going with this…
Indeed. Just looking at those pics, I can feel my awareness raising.
Today, I found my new fetish.
“Lesbian fantasist invented 15 rapes and sexual assaults which saw man jailed to get sympathy from girlfriends, court hears ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/24/woman-falsely-accused-15-men-rape-sexual-assault-jailed-ten/
I guess it’s just the Patriarchy and Male Privilege that allows men to be convicted without evidence merely on the say-so of a woman.
Why the hell would it prevent real victims from reporting real crimes? Does the fact that insurance fraud exists prevent people from filing real claims? This never made any sense.
It’s the out they use to refrain from significantly punishing the frauds. The claim is that if you punish frauds, real claims will not be made. It’s bullshit. But, it accomplishes their goal of not punishing false accusations.
Hey, at least she was jailed for 10 years. Just took one man going to prison for 7 years and a bunch of others having to face trial, but it’s still better than what happens with false accusers here in the US.
While that’s a huge step up from having nothing happen to them, just 10 years? Really? When those guys she accused would’ve faced decades each? She should be in prison for the rest of her life, breaking rocks and making license plates for the remainder of her days.
I still believe her.
If you don’t you’re a shitlord.
Well, most of the men she accused did have those funny Ay-rab sounding names.
Women never lie about rape!
Given all of the high-profile evidence to the contrary over the past few years, it’s amazing that there are people who still actually believe that.
Mike S, please leave your kids at home when you visit. Or bring a receipt to prove that they really are your kids.
I say this because you NoDaks seem to have a loose definition of who owns a kid.
Maybe an auxiliary of “Don’t stick it in crazy” is “But if you must make sure she gets knocked up so she doesn’t kill your pregnant neighbor to steal a kid while you are at work.”
Yeah. This whole thing is just sick. For an idea of just how crazy this chick is: (As if murder and baby stealing wasn’t enough)
‘She was fixated on my daughter’: Mother recalls bizarre encounter with woman accused in Fargo kidnapping
Oh, and apparently the state is little better than the crazy woman:
The fuck?! Um, no. The second the DNA tests come back, that kid goes to it’s father.
Animal activists jump into arena and are attacked by bull.
I hate bullfights, but this reminded me of the little German girls that went to join ISIS.
It’s a bullfight. The bull is actively trained and encouraged to attack… and they leap into the arena with it?
Should I be alarmed if I found that video a little satisfying?
No. That was poetic.
Nice to see stupidity rewarded…
They probably thought the bull would welcome them as liberators.
Straffin, you want to explain this?
They got all sort of weird ones. Haven’t seen that on though. You don’t have specialty flavor Kit Kats in Minnesoda? Lake water, for example.
FYI, Kit Kat sounds like “Kitto Katsu” (you’re gonna win!) , so the kids eat them during college entrance exam season.
They should make loon flavored Kit Kats for Minisoda. Or walleye.
Lutefisk flavored Kit Kats for the win!
They would come in a gelatinous blob and small children would cry and throw them away.
And crazy old swedes and norskis would say “Uffda, didja see what dat little whipper-snapper did with dat Kit Kat? Dat was a lutefisk Kit Kat. Dat’s da best kind of Kit Kat, doncha know.”
Viking fan tears.
Too early in the year for that yet. Right now, it would be a Vikings branded bag of Skittles.
Unicorns, rainbows and Vikings success.
The Kit Kat Tears will come in late December when we lose the last tie breaker and are eliminated from the playoffs (except that one special Blair Walsh edition)
Season will come down to the Vikings needing the Seahawks to lose their final game of the season to make the playoffs. Blair Walsh will kick a 57 yard FG in OT for the win to eliminate the Vikings.
You understand! But, no, the Vikings will be eliminated well before that. Sam Bradford is going to be dertyed and retired by week 8.
You forgot to add that the FG will also get the Packers into the playoffs (Detroit will win the division) and the Pack will end up winning another Super Bowl in our new stadium.
Also, the Seahawks will already have been out of the playoffs so the whole thing was meaningless for them.
Thanks for that first round pick for Bradford, by the way. Really appreciated. *Looks longingly at Derek Barnett*
Season will come down to the Vikings needing the Seahawks to lose their final game of the season to make the playoffs.
The Seahawks final game of the season this year is against the Cardinals, who have managed to win–in Seattle three of the last four seasons. It could happen.
I’m figuring production time and distribution to all the Holiday stores. I’m guessing in about 6 weeks the reality will strike.
Don’t worry; they’ll be eliminated long before the end of December.
My kids giggle at Pocari Sweat every time we visit.
The chips are what make me insane. There isn’t one “normal” brand of chips. Shrimp flavored is about the most palatable that I can find.
Dude, I grew up going to potlucks at the church where people would serve stuff like Frito casserole. I think I can handle a bag of takoyaki flavored potato chips. God, even remembering casserole makes me a little uneasy.
The fuck is a “casserole?” Do you mean “hotdish?”
Oh, and Tator-Tot hotdish is one of the most delicious things in the world.
FUCK YEAH!
Mike just got a free beer from me when he visits.
Jello with chunks of oranges. Kool Ade without sugar. Hamburger Helper. I really don’t miss my childhood.
The fuck?
My mom is Italian, so I never had to eat that shit.
My daughter’s wife is Japanese, so she won’t have to either.
Straffin, did you also have Sloppy Joe’s that were nothing but fried hamburger mixed with ketchup and served on the whitest hamburger buns that could be purchased?
And don’t forget gourmets love Hamburger Helper.
Sloppy Joe’s? No, but I had Manwiches. Catholic school.
JFC, did I just make my kid a lesbian? *My daughter’s mother*
Pope Jimbo:
The region specific terms for food can lead to great entertainment. Several years ago, the girlfriend and I were driving through Wisconsin as part of Mini Takes the States (Mini drivers from all over the country go on a road trip across the country). They had a suggested stop at an ice cream place in the middle of no where. We stop there, and there’s a church selling BBQ sandwiches, chips, and pop. A man from Texas walked up to the stand, and asked the poor church ladies and kids what kind of barbecue it was. The people running the booth just blinked, and said, “It’s barbecue. That’s all.”
The Texas man then started asking, “Is it pork, brisket, ribs? What kind of meat is it?”
At this point the light bulb went off over the church lady’s head. “Oh! You probably would call this Sloppy Joe’s where you’re from.”
Did the Texan stroke out? I can’t imagine how my FIL would react in that situation, but I’m sure medicinal whiskey would be required. Possibly smelling salts.
I’m not from the south, but since when is Sloppy Joe’s BBQ? There’s nothing BBQ about it.
The spicier ones have BBQ sauce in with the ground hamburger. Tamer versions just use ketchup (castup) and some salt.
The Texan calmly put his wallet back into his pocket and walked away, while I chuckled.
As to why the people of Wisconsin refer to Sloppy Joe’s as BBQ, I have no idea. However, I did find evidence.
I’m always fascinated how our country is so huge, that we can share a language, but the regional differences still stick out. Biscuits, corn bread, tea, barbecue, and pizza all can be a completely different food a couple of hours drive away.
Biscuits, corn bread, tea, barbecue, and pizza all can be a completely different food a couple of hours drive away.
Very true. The first time I had ‘sweet tea’ in NC I couldn’t even finish it. I think it must have been 2 parts sugar to one part tea.
Tundra, I feel you. The people we used to rent from for vacations (now my parents’ neighbors) live in Georgia, but the Matriarch grew up in NC. She served me sweet tea when I was like 9, and my parents literally had to have me run wind sprints up and down the relatively steep driveway to get me tired enough to sleep that night. Luckily my brother was picky, because he was even more impacted by sugar than I was.
I find it interesting how much food is the same from region to region. When I was in the Marines one of my roommates was from Southern Ohio Appalachians. He made tuna hotdish exactly like my family did. Things like Thanksgiving dinner is pretty universal too. How many jokes are made about the canned cranberries?
My theory is magazines like Good Housekeeping had a huge influence on the diet of Americans in the 50s/60s
There is no scientific evidence that any humans, children or adults, respond to sugar intake by becoming hyperactive.
There is lots of evidence that there is no such link.
Please stop repeating this old wives’ tale?
Since you called it a casserole we have some wiggle room in remaining friends.
If you had made fun of hot dish the feud would be on. I’d go full Eddie on you and demand that the editors ban you from the site.
Hot dish is the greatest food on the face of the earth. (I also like having all 4 seasons here in Minnesoda, so maybe my tastes are not that discriminating).
4 seasons?
Ice fishing, Ice Fishing, Mosquito, and Ice Fishing?
I find something just so horrible about those Canadian ketchup-flavored chips.
Agreed.
They were interesting to try once, but never again.
Full dressed, however, are delicious.
Bought some of these cookies. They had them packed in real tight.
Thicc cookies?
“A man allegedly stabbed by a neo-Nazi in Sheridan was arrested after admitting he made up the story. The story gained international attention in the wake of the Charlottesville riots.”
denver.cbslocal.com/2017/08/28/faked-neo-nazi-attack/
TW: Autoplay
Imagine my shock!!!!
So your more likely to get arrested faking being attacked by Neo-Nazis than if you attack Neo-Nazis.
The lede I pulled makes it sound backwards.
“Last week, 26-year-old Joshua Witt claimed he had been stabbed while getting out of his car in the parking lot of a Steak ‘n Shake in Sheridan.
steak n shake stabbing vo frame 366 Neo Nazi Attack At Steak n Shake? It Was A Twisted Lie
Thursday Witt admitted to Valenzuela he had made the story up.
“In his words, it was just a twisted lie that simply spiraled out of control,” said Valenzuela.
Witt, a former Navy sailor, had said an African American man had approached him, saw his military haircut and asked if he was a neo-Nazi. The man then stabbed him and took off.
Surveillance video shows Witt buying a knife at the nearby Sportman’s Warehouse. Cameras at the Steak ‘n Shake showed only Witt by his car.
Witt admitted he accidently cut himself and made up the story so the military would pay for his recovery.
A Mexican with a knife would’ve been more believable.
*rolls knife between fingers*
*hands ms some Band-aids*
Somebody on this here board predicted this.
“Obama, Hitler, And Exploding The Biggest Lie In History
While he feinted right, Hitler and Stalin were natural bedfellows. Hitler mimicked Lenin’s path to totalitarian tyranny, parlaying crises into power. Nazis despised Marxists not over ideology, but because they had betrayed Germany in World War I and Nazis found it unconscionable that German communists yielded fealty to Slavs in Moscow.
The National Socialist German Workers Party staged elaborate marches with uniformed workers calling one another “comrade” while toting tools the way soldiers shoulder rifles. The bright red Nazi flag symbolized socialism in a “classless, casteless” Germany (white represents Aryanism). Fascist central planning was not egalitarian, but it divvied up economic rewards very similarly to communism: party membership and partnering with the state.
Where communists generally focused on class, Nazis fixated on race. Communists view life through the prism of a perpetual workers’ revolution. National Socialists used race as a metaphor to justify their nation’s engagement in an existential struggle.
As many have observed, substituting “Jews” for “capitalists” exposes strikingly similar thinking. But communists frequently hated Jews too and Hitler also abhorred capitalists, or “plutocrats” in Nazi speak. From afar, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany each reeked of plutocratic oligarchy. Both were false utilitarian Utopias that in practice merely empowered dictators.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billflax/2011/09/01/obama-hitler-and-exploding-the-biggest-lie-in-history/amp/
An old article, but currently relevant.
And it continues to be true today, if you look at the preferred policies of Richard Spencer and his ilk.
Richard Who? since Someone needed a boogie Man?
/I need a new life
Did you see what video YouTube decided would be the first video put into it’s new Limited Space?
This one?
That is my younger brother.
My nephew is on social media and runs into Antifa people from time to time. One girl said, ‘If you defend the Constitution you’re the enemy’.
There you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuRNXFkQZkk
Apparently, if you’re bald you’re neo-Nazi. It’s not whether you exhibit or express Nazi views, the left can ‘size you up’ and if you *lool* like one they will pounce.
And the kid in the video? I bet he’s the norm and not the exception of the profound ignorance in the ranks. You can’t be well-read and know history and be such a fool; not to mention given to violence as Antifa are. Amazing how the media DOES NOT report on it. If they do, they ‘frame’ it as though Antifa are the *good guys*.
I think progressives want to replace the rule of law with mob rule.
“JJ Watt continues to be a good face for the NFL,”
Not Kaepernik?
Racist!!
“Video Shows Man Shooting At Crowd During Charlottesville Rally, With No Police Response
The ACLU documented the incident two weeks ago, and the man has now been arrested in connection with it.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/richard-preston-arrested-shooting-gun-charlottesville-rally_us_59a20a39e4b06d67e3380e37
TW: Huffpo
Looks like he was shooting at a guy who was attacking people with a homemade flamethrower. Would I be a terrible person if I said that it looks like both sides were violent and despicable?
He didn’t hit anyone? I guess he really was a Stormtrooper.
*prolonged applause*
Anyone else listen to this week’s econtalk?
I thought the guest was overoptimistic and as a Brit, overly excepting of the surveillance state, but I still found it interesting.
And I figure any discussion of self driving vehicles sends some glibs into a tizzy. Is John here?
I liked the 5 stages of autonomous vehicles:
1. 1950s era cruise control.
2. Accident avoidance/break assistance stuff we have in certain cars today.
3. Self driving car with driver actively at the wheel – what google and others are testing today.
—
4. Autonomous car with passive driver. He can read or whatever, but there is a wheel for him to takeover if the car gets “stuck”.
5. No steering wheel at all.
s/excepting/accepting/
Also, the — between 3 and 4 is to indicate when we are at autonomous vehicles.
They have 4 in prototypes but they have not been put into production because of unresolved legal questions.
From a technology standpoint we could probably build 5 if not today, certainly within the next decade but the regulatory and legal environment, not to mention the public acceptance and trust of the technology will likely take far longer.
My feelings on autonomous driving cars are mixed between my absolute hatred of commuting to work every day and the knowledge that autonomous driving cars will be an absolute boon for the surveillance state.
They don’t have to be. Self driving cars absolutely require a network to communicate with each other and most people envision that as a centralized network where each car reports to transponders along the road and the transponders report the status of the other cars back to them. That is the surveillance states dream as it allows centralized control of traffic flows and centralized control over individual vehicles. If the cops wanted they could simply take control over your vehicle and force it to drive to the nearest police station to arrest you.
There is another way that network could work however, and there are even benefits to doing it this way (albeit not for the cops).
rather than a centralized network where each vehicle is a client of a master traffic control server you could have the network be a decentralized peer to peer network where each vehicle transmits in a short field communication not just data about itself but what it knows about cars around it (thereby transferring info from cars further away to your car). Your car uses an algorithm to build a model of both near and far traffic patterns and adjusts it’s course accordingly and very quickly forgets the identity of any car which it is no longer receiving transmissions from.
Because the peer to peer communication is short range, temporary, and information rather than directive based it cannot be used as either a tool for surveillance or a method to hack and take control over vehicles (the worst you could do is give a car information which conflicts with the data it is receiving from other cars and possibly confuse it into making a bad choice.
Now of course cops, governments, and other control freaks would hate and likely work to outlaw the second model but it would be by far the more robust and hack proof one.
“There was a… slight bug that went out with the latest update.”
“How slight?”
“Only three millions crashes.”
“Put out a patch.”
So you didnt listen to the podcast?
I can safely say I’ve never listened to a “podcast”.
“Safely” is fine. “Proudly”? No.
Do they even have Cars in Japan? or do they just build em for export?
What’s the point? As far as anyone can explain to me, it’s just talk radio moved to a different distribution method.
In many cases, yes.
I don’t know of any talk radio shows even remotely like EconTalk. Or Hardcore History.
Your radio has a million stations?
Straffin, how does more of a format I have no interest in make any difference?
People talking may not interest you, but if you find a good podcast you can learn a ton of stuff. The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan (?) was my commute podcast for two months. It was excellent.
Considering some of the questions you ask around here sometimes, I can think of a few podcasts that would fill in some of your knowledge gaps.
Would they be cooking podcasts, to learn how to make flavorful food?
Wouldn’t be a bad start.
You laugh, but you haven’t actually tried my cooking.
And besides, you don’t learn to cook by listening to people drone on. You learn by trying (and failing) until you get it right.
As for knowledge gaps – listening to people drone on for hours about things I either already know or don’t related to the topic to find that one nugget of information that may not actually be there doesn’t strike me as the most efficient way of spackling over holes in my understanding.
I will agree with UCS, podcasts drone on for great lengths of time. Get to your point. Don’t go down a 5 minute rabbit hole about your daughters love for play-doh when you are talking about economic theory.
EconTalk is a great one to start with. There are plenty where I think, “This topic doesnt interest me” and 1/2 way thru the podcast I am engrossed.
Literally like 2-3 per year I dont listen to the whole thing, they are that good.
Most recent topics just to show variety:
Benedict Evans on the Future of Cars
John McWhorter on the Evolution of Language and Words on the Move
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on Work, Slavery, the Minority Rule, and Skin in the Game
Tyler Cowen on Stubborn Attachments, Prosperity, and the Good Society
Alex Guarnaschelli on Food
Sally Satel on Organ Donation
However, my comment was a joke regarding the quality assurance flippancy of software companies.
Given what the centrally managed updates fuck up on my phone (the only thing that does work right after a patch are the 3rd party apps), I wouldn’t want a car running on that sort of software.
Also given the routing my GPS tries to give, I wouldn’t want that algorithm trying to route me. (It literally told me to drive down an alley too narrow for my car in Wilmington).
I work for a large company that has a lot of ties to the automotive industry. I personally don’t do anything with cars, but I have seen a lot of the self-driving car technology demos that we are working on.
There is a shit ton of very, very cool shit out there. Mesh networking with cars around you so that if you hit some black ice, you can warn cars behind you to adjust the traction control. You can do the same with approaching vehicles or objects. If you spot something moving toward the road like a deer, you can warn cars behind you.
One of the reasons they don’t demo more of this stuff on YouTube is because it only works like 99.99% of the time. That isn’t nearly the level of reliability they feel they need to release in a commercial product.
The level of paranoia and testing is off the charts at my company. They completely get how reliable it has to be before they can win over critics like yourself.
Interesting. The other challenge, though, is aging. You can buy a 10 year old S-Class Benz for basically nothing, but trying to fix all the whiz-bang technology will break you. Technology is great in a controlled environment, but cars take an amazing beating and complexity is never, ever your friend.
Completely agree with you on the complexity.
I am very mechanically declined, but I could work on a lot of my cars in the old days to do simple shit.
My current car is the first one that has power locks and power windows. I like keeping things as simple as possible because it is my only chance to be able to fix it on my own.
The whole networking of cars really opens them up to hacking and cyber-attack.
You want to talk about an effective form of terrorism?
So there is a big push to make self-driving cars completely autonomous, which precludes a lot of the advantages that could come.
Also, some people like driving and want to be in control of their car. I have no interest in a self-driving automobile.
Plus, your GPS doesn’t know to avoid shitty neighborhoods. It’ll just send you through the hood if that’s the shortest route.
A quality GPS system would allow that as an option.
Racist!!!!
It’s already been patented. And other searches show that Waze offers the feature under a real time “high crime area” avoidance.
It’s already been patented.
Yeah, but companies like Garmin are not offering it. Because racism.
Actually it very easily could know that.
I work for a company who has a cell phone based app that tells you precisely that information and while we have not integrated that data with our externally facing API’s there is absolutely no reason why we couldn’t.
I agree with the Russ and the guest, the most likely flaw would be some sort of Mexican standoff at an intersection, where the cars are all yielding to each other.
Tizzy?
Just because I think it’s the worst fucking one in a long, long, long line of centrally-controlled cluster fucks?
Pass. Don’t want to drive? Hire a driver, take a bus, take a train or take a damn boat.
But must my driver be human?
If your robot driver can operate completely autonomously among stupid humans, then sure.
That is the goal.
A sanctioned Mutant or Alien is acceptable.
A computer is not.
Luddite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPAOxrH7Ro
This is the first time I have posted that video at glibertarians.com.
The privately owned vehicle represents the greatest expansion of human freedom in all of history. The personal car allowed people to travel thousands of miles at a moment’s notice for a reasonable price and on their own schedule. For all of human history before the car, people either moved at the same speed the Pharaohs moved or with trains moved fast but only on the train schedule. Cars ended that and granted people virtual complete freedom of movement.
Come on Tundra, you don’t want to give up all that in exchange for a centrally controlled fleet of robot cars? What kind of a Luddite are you?
What kind of a Luddite are you?
The fast kind!
John, I couldn’t have put it any better. Freedom is more important than efficiency.
But we can have both.
And it isn’t about efficiency, its about eliminating a tedious task.
Or maybe you use a washboard.
Do you even drive? Tedious? no Frustrating, sometimes(traffic)
/Drives a washboard 5 speed Real Transmission
I would say 95% of my driving is tedious and 5% is fun.
I am fine with letting a robot take over the 95%.
And, as pointed out in the podcast, it probably eliminates a lot of trips anyway, as why would I even go to the store. Just order at Amazon Foods and let some car deliver.
You need to buy a different car. Seriously, a fun car can make any trip a pleasure.
Nothing is free. The price of any connected technology is a loss of privacy and a loss of ultimate control to the powers that be. Think about something like electronic banking. Electronic banking was, without doubt, a huge improvement in economic efficiency. It also came at the price of identity theft, the government has the ability to track and ultimately prevent any financial transaction they don’t like. And what is on the agenda next? They want to get rid of paper money entirely. See that way the Keynesian planners can eliminate the problem of pesky savers and just force people to spend money by treating to confiscate it if they don’t.
That doesn’t mean electronic banking wasn’t worth it. But pretending technology has no downside is no better than being the worst Luddite and pretending it has no upside.
I fully acknowledge the downside, did you not read my original post, and I quote,
And the guest actually doesn’t think it will be connected technology. He thinks it makes more sense for each vehicle to truly be autonomous as opposed to networked.
1. Because initially it would have to be that way to interact with human drivers.
and
b. Because the technology just probably works better that way.
Go up and read my comment on the 2 ways to network cars.
You are assuming the second option does not exist.
True the political powers that be are likely to force the first model but that is not an indictment of the concept because the second model exists and could be what comes about.
The freedom of the open road is a largely American conceit.
As in it’s more theory than reality?
That is true. And that conceit is one of the reasons why this country is so great. And I would say it is a German conceit too. They still don’t have speed limits on some of their freeways. God love them for it.
Strawmen, as usual.
Nothing would stop you from owning your autonomous vehicle if you so wanted.
the people making these things have made it clear that their goal is to eliminate human operated cars. And every central planner and government tyrant are slobbering all over themselves at the prospect. These things are going to come at a tremendous cost to privacy and freedom. If you think that is a price worth paying, fine. But don’t kid yourself about what it is going to cost.
The key is people like you and me supporting it from the beginning, so that the tyrants arent the ones defining the rules from the beginning.
I think you should be free to drive whatever car you want, robot or non robot. On that we can agree.
Good, then we can stop fighting over cars, and start fighting together over government.
Now flying cars, I will take. The thing with robot cars is that they are not giving me anything I can’t do now. Flying cars, however, would give me a whole lot I don’t have now. That is something I would be willing to give up some privacy and autonomy to obtain.
You realize that the only reason we don’t have flying cars right now is because you need to get a pilots license right? Until they get rid of that requirement we will only ever have driving airplanes. Problem is the only way to get rid of that requirement is for the flying car controlled by a robot and not a human occupant. Self driving cars are a literal necessary requirement to have flying cars.
Rasillio,
An auto piloted air plane is a much easier technical problem than a car. There is just more space in the air and less interaction with other vehicles. Beyond that, i realize that a flying car creates the same problems as a robotic car. But a flying car actually delivers benefits where the robot car doesn’t, despite the claims of their backers.
We have flying cars today, they are called helicopters. And people do not want the tradeoffs that exist with that mode of transportation. Physics is a bitch and VTOL personal aircraft aren’t worth the tradeoffs, scale up a “drone” and the noise goes from an annoying buzz to the roar of a helo.
Once you skip VTOL, there is no advantage to a mixed mode ground/air transport unit. A good plane doesn’t make a good car, and a good car doesn’t fly well. trying to save capital by combining them makes little sense.
The logic needed for flying cars is different from ground cars.. Currently my autopilot will fly me across the country, and put me 200′ above the runway, but I have to do the takeoff and landing.
Similarly, give me an advanced cruise control on the interstates and that will be 80% of the automated driving I need. I can handle the start and end of the trip.
The same guy who first jailbroke the iphone, George Hotz, was working on a system that would turn any car into a self-driving car that didn’t rely on a central control system (i.e. only using sensors and stuff). But then the NHTSA sent a C&D and he basically gave up. I think there is a technical solution for autonomous cars that still keep the cars independent and not centrally managed, but, of course, the Feds prefer the centrally controlled solutions for the sake
of controlling the massessafety.I think I’ve had this argument with you guys before, but a lot of the autonomous stuff isn’t centrally controlled. It is going to be more of mesh networked cars talking to each other.
Yes, you could report on where you are going/been, but you can create a system where your car uses GPS for its locations and then navigates using sensors and to talk to cars around you, but not with any central coordinator.
Yes, you could put in controls to allow a central coordinator to stop you from going somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
The market could create a system that allowed for a mostly autonomous system that doesn’t have any central control at all. The govt could also step in and fuck all that up and require autonomous cars to be controlled from a central authority.
Like any tool/technology it can be used for good or evil.
The govt could also step in and fuck all that up and require autonomous cars to be controlled from a central authority.
I’m sure this would never happen.
Yes, you could report on where you are going/been, but you can create a system where your car uses GPS for its locations and then navigates using sensors and to talk to cars around you, but not with any central coordinator.
Yes, you could put in controls to allow a central coordinator to stop you from going somewhere, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
It doesn’t have to be a lot of ways. Yet, somehow it always is the way that gives the government the most control and power.
I always look at this topic from a simple point of view – either I control my car, and thus my movements, or someone else does. I’d rather not cede that control.
Besides, companies and governments who spend billions on IT security still get hacked all the time – you think I trust a carmaker to build a secure autonomous vehicle that I can afford?
As John said, the people developing (or subsidizing) the technology make no secret that the goal is to remove the human driver from the roads. I don’t and won’t trust any of those fuckers.
Yes, exactly. A while back I sat in on a panel discussion that Gov. Oily Terry convened on autonomous vehicles. There were representatives from the auto industry, the tech industry, etc. Several of them talked about how their ultimate aim was to create a driving network in which all of the cars and the roads themselves are connected to each other, at which point human driving would be a thing of the past. Which sounds swell in theory, until you realize that means that every single car can be centrally controlled. “Greetings, citizen! You have exceeded your allotted miles for this month, and your car will therefore be disabled until September 1 in the interests of resource conservation”
In 50 years you and John will be limited to driving in a single “special” lane that is dedicated to people who still want to drive their own cars. You will be segregated to your carpool lane because you will be too dangerous to let in the other lanes for computer driven cars.
Seriously. In the short term, they will start adding dedicated lanes for autonomous drivers (especially long haul freight). Then as technology gets better, they will gradually flip to more lanes for autonomous cars and their safety records will be much better than the human driven ones.
I wouldn’t hold my breath. The network security and liability problems associated with automating an 80,000 truck are formidable. At what point do you think people will be willing to let trucks operate without any driver? I think that is at least 15 or 20 years away. And having a driver there to step in defeats the entire purpose of an automated truch.
It’s the Tesla ones that make me giggle. WTF is the purpose of a truck that has to stop all the time to charge or swap batteries? And what happens in the frozen wasteland?
So silly.
Honestly, I don’t understand long haul trucking.
How is trains and local/regional trucking not cheaper?
Because you can’t pull the train up next to the grocery store. What kills trains is the loading and unloading onto trucks to get them the last few miles to the destination.
You can save up to 20% in fuel if you create truck platoons.
So even if you have a driver in the cab for emergencies, you can a) save fuel and b) drive much faster in most cases.
It’s like you haven’t even seen the documentary film Logan.
Besides, companies and governments who spend billions on IT security still get hacked all the time – you think I trust a carmaker to build a secure autonomous vehicle that I can afford?
The question I always ask people is would you bet your life and safety on your network security on your work or home computer? If not, and only a nut would be willing to, then you don’t want an autonomous car.
Precisely. Talk about a ransomware bonanza. Pay us ten grand or your car will drive into a wall.
Just park your car while the monthly software critical security patch downloads and installs and hope it’s less hosed than the previous one.
Are the Girl Scouts gonna get themselves in some hot water?
They are complaining that the Boy Scouts are too woke and are trying to poach girls to join up with them instead of the Girl Scouts.
Maybe they are just appealing to the fucked up little girls who think they are boys?
Re Trump and Harvey.
The media is dying to pin something on him.
Wasn’t Obama’s response to Sandy sub par according to a couple of stories? I forget.
No no no… Obama was a bipartisan hero, remember? He walked along that beach with Chris Christie.
I was involved in the response to both Sandy and Katrina. In many ways the response to Sandy was worse. New Jersey and New York cocked it up from the start and unlike NOLA and Lousiana who at least got their act together after the disaster, New Jersey and New York never did. There were entire sections of Rockaway Beach that were still without power with people living in high rise buildings that were by any reasonable measure uninhabitable months after the storm.
Separate but equal or something like that?
Maybe they are just trying to help the scout masters from going catholic priest on the boys while on a camping trip?
Behold, the secret plans to recruit girls, where secret is defined as “broadly covered by traditional print and television and internet news media.”
BSA has been thinking about this for about a year as far as I understand it. It actually has more to do with the preponderance of families with a single parent and kids of both genders. A part of it has to do with Millennial parents really disliking separate gender roles in anything, but I don’t think that’s the biggest part (scout families are self-selected and far more traditionalist and conservative than the general population). Its really, really hard to get a single parent interested in an activity where 50% of their kids can’t participate if their kids are k-5th grade age.
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/348336-peter-thiel-funds-herpes-vaccine-testing-avoiding-us-safety-rules
Peter Theil continues to be perhaps my favorite public figure. It wasn’t enough that he sued Gawker out of existence. Now he is sticking it to the FDA and hopefully will help develop a herpes vaccine in the process.
He is someone straight out of Atlas Shrugged and I love him.
Except he hasn’t shrugged.
Boom. Rational.
SLUTS
If the vaccine is successful, I hope that he refuses to sell it to FDA employees.
My guess is that each and every FDA employee would be unethical enough to check the “I am not an employee of the FDA” box on the vaccine form.
Don’t read the comments.
Yeah, I know better.
The anti-s really only have one note: thalidomide.
When all you have is a flipper, everything looks like thalidomide.
Here’s some Flipper https://youtu.be/mDzB-Eu8YeQ
And I say, hah hah hah hah hah hah hah, ho ho ho ho ho ho ho, hee hee hee hee hee hee hee
Please go fuck yourself with a deep sea fishhook, Jonathan Zenilman, chief of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center’s Infectious Diseases Division.
A look at antifa tactics from somebody on the far left. If you ignore the TDS at the bottom, it’s a good look.
The revulsion to violence on the part of most people on the left, from liberal to radical, is not born of naïveté over the scale of the right-wing threat. It’s the expression of basic moral principle, as well as a pragmatic political understanding that random mob violence by masked vigilates on the left isn’t going to defeat the Alt Right.
That principle? Having people who call themselves government doing the violence for you.
Some of the few remaining leftists who are still sentient are figuring out that Antifa can’t be controlled and won’t stop. They may not care about Antifa terrorizing the right, but a few of them are smart enough to realize Antifa will end up terrorizing everyone if they are not stopped.
I don’t think they care so much about the terrorizing per se, as they care that the terrorizing will not result in electoral victories. The ends justify the means right? Terrorism is perfectly acceptable to them as long as it accomplishes the desired result. However, Antifa is rapidly turning persuadable voters away from the Dems so now they must be disavowed.
There is that too. The whole point of leftist violence is plausible deniability. The leftist mobs terrorize political opponents while giving leftist politicians the ability to not be associated with the violence. That is why leftists love race riots so much. It allows them to blame leftist violence on racism while still getting the benefits of terrorizing their opponents. Antifa is too crude and too stupid for that. They are making it impossible for leftist politicians to avoid being associated with the violence. And that defeats the entire purpose.
Leftists are all about control and power? NO FUCKING WAY!!!!!
They aren’t anarchists. They are communists. They aren’t anti-authoritarian or anti-government. They are for authoritarian government.
Well, yeah, that was my point – there’s no such thing as anarchocommunism, no matter how fervently some people like to pretend that there is. All of it is always predicated on control and power. It’s the only unifying element of leftism of all stripes.
Hillary Clinton is finally going to Wisconsin!
The comments are great.
Good lord, that chick tweets like every 5 minutes or so
Houston just needs boobs. That will solve everything.
http://archive.is/zbEmF
Wish I could see 11’s face, but absent that I’ll go with 40.
WTF would you want to see her face for perv?
17 reminds me of a party I was at where I said “What’s up freckles?” only to look up and realize she didn’t have a single freckle on her face.
Lucky 13!
Uffda. She sure is shiny, but she looks like she’d also be high maintenance. I bet she’d make you hold her purse at the mall while she tried on lingerie (and make you tell her if you liked each outfit).
I can think of worse ways to spend an afternoon than having to watch that chick try on lingerie.
Sign me up.
I was just thinking the same thing; especially if you can help her out of the one she ultimately chooses.
It’s funny – my wife works part-time at Victoria’s Secret, just a few hours here and there to make some extra money. One of the biggest reasons she keeps the job is to keep her employee discount. She loves buying lingerie, so she has a bunch of very appealing items at this point…..but she hardly ever wants to wear it because “it’s more trouble than it’s worth. I have to put that stuff on just so I can take it off after a few minutes.”
I have to put that stuff on just so I can take it off after a few minutes.
And?
And it’s uncomfortable to wear and time consuming so she usually doesn’t bother putting it on in the first place. It’s not a big deal, but I wonder why then she spends hundreds of dollars in that place every year.
It’s not for you…
I wonder why then she spends hundreds of dollars in that place every year.
*Glances at gun, ammo, and knife collection*
Its a mystery.
#9
48
Gotta be 21 (it’s the birds on the bat!).
It’s one thing to go after monuments. It’s another thing entirely to attack Dolly Parton.
DOLLY IS A NATIONAL TREASURE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co2Nzo7bSMI
As I mentioned above:
https://www.philadelinquency.com/2017/08/29/enjoy-protests-going-get-awkward-soon/
The dem-op-media complex has pivoted against Antifa because they finally figured out it’s a losing electoral strategy.
*It’s happening gif*
That was a delightful read.
I dunno. 1 unequivocal WaPo headline doesn’t equal a sea-change in my mind.
there have still been a half dozen editorials in the NYT and elsewhere writing apologias for them in just the last 2-3 days. there are still people tweeting, “Antifa is anti-fascist; if you’re against them, you’re a fascist” and getting thousands of likes/retweets
So much the better. The fact remains that as long as Antifa keeps operating, the Dems will keep racking up losses. The so-called silent majority does not like this and the media is failing at covering it up/twisting the facts.
The fact that these assaults were swept under the rug for so long is one of the most disgusting examples of how politically correct multiculty groupthink is toxic to a functioning mind.
https://ombreolivier.liberty.me/the-white-girls-burden/
England is a goner.
I simply cannot understand anyone who wouldn’t fly into a homicidal rage on learning that there is an organized group of pedophiles pimping out girls in their town. If I was on a jury trying a parent, or even just an ordinary person, who gunned down some of the pedophiles in the street, I think I’d probably vote to acquit.
It is very simple. Flying into a rage would mean giving up their sense of moral superiority and tolerance. These people are complete moral narcissists and would rather rationalize and ignore the rape of young girls than give up their sense of moral superiority by attacking a designated victim group. It is really that simple and it is disgusting.
Its not just the bureaucrats that I don’t understand. Its the rest of the people living there. This couldn’t have been that much of a secret.
Saying something gets you called a racist, which can land you in jail in the UK. And knowing Muslims saying something might get you killed. People looked the other way because it wasn’t happening to them and it was easy.
Airstrip One is a reality.
I’ve never been to England, and my exposure to the English has been almost entirely through popular culture, documentaries, and the occasional interview in the news, but it seems very, very out of character. There’s this popular image of the English working class, especially in the North, as being hard as nails, bluff, speak-as-they-find types. And then you’ve got this type of thing that, honestly, seems to differ in Rotherham compared to other places more in scale than in kind. Can you imagine this kind of thing happening in, say, Boston? Philadelphia? Anywhere in Texas? Anywhere in the South at all?
Granted, it’s California, but I’d say it already has happened. The San Berdo terrorists were suspected by neighbors for a long time leading up to the attack, but were never reported for fear of the neighbors being labeled “racist”. And we don’t even have anti-hate speech legislation like the UK does… yet.
A think a lot of it is the people of the UK being disarmed. In the cities you mention, people can own guns. And someone could have gone down and shot some of those animals and put a stop to it or one of the girls might have done it themselves. In the UK they can’t. So what were they going to do? The authorities didn’t care and were likely to prosecute anyone who did for hate speech. And it is illegal to so much as carry a knife in the UK. So what could they do?
Rotherham is an example of a lot of bad things. But one of the bad things that never gets mentioned is how it is the wages of a disarmed and defenseless public. Without guns to protect themselves, the public always loses to the thugs.
I think the weapons bans are a symptom of something more fundamental. Recall the two guys in Detroit in the 80s who burnt down a notorious crack house, and then the numerous copycats who followed suit since then. We’ve got a rich history of vigilante justice in this country, much of which could be accomplished with or without firearms or knives, or at least not dependent on legally-obtained ones.
Odd, but I had no problems with young British guys when I was in London. In Germany, The Netherlands and France I had physical run ins with groups of young British guys. Not one of them did I even remotely start. I don’t know why, but it seems they’ll drop the gloves and fight over anything, except for when it comes to their own country. Crazy, given their history.
Philadelphia? Possibly if it were somewhere like Fishtown or Kensington.
You can’t understand? Let me give you a hint. Those girls getting raped? They’re not our sort. They’re chavs. They don’t really matter. What? You’re going to risk looking unenlightened on multi-culturalism for the sake of some deplorable? This kind of thing isn’t happening at uni. It’s happening in places like Rotherham or Newcastle that don’t really matter. What are you getting all upset about?
/insane that a Labor party would think this way
today in TDS
4 Essential Parenting Tips to Avoid Raising a Kid with Trumpian Qualities
Don’t just shield your kids from Donald Trump; use him as a teaching tool.
By Alfie Kohn / Salon
http://www.alternet.org/four-tips-raising-untrump
***
1. To avoid his neediness and nastiness, help kids be at peace with themselves
When asked after last summer’s Republican National Convention what people should take away from the event, the party’s nominee offered a single, unintentionally poignant response: “The fact that I’m very well liked.” Later, he explained his affinity for Vladmir Putin by noting that “many years ago, he said something very nice about me.” Trump’s desperate need for approval and attention is closely related to his tendency to be petulant — indeed, vicious and vindictive — when criticized. He personifies the dark side of extreme neediness.
***
and now, the opposing view on Peter Thiel’s vaccine project
Libertarian billionaire Peter Thiel funds “unethical” offshore human test of herpes vaccine, skirting FDA rules
“There’s a reason why researchers rely on these protections. People can die.”
Marisa Taylor, Kaiser Health News
http://www.salon.com/2017/08/28/libertarian-billionaire-peter-thiel-funds-unethical-offshore-human-testing-of-herpes-vaccine-skirting-fda-rules_partner/
***
American researchers are increasingly going offshore to developing countries to conduct clinical trials, citing rising domestic costs. But in order to approve the drug for the U.S. market, the FDA requires that clinical trials involving human participants be reviewed and approved by an IRB or an international equivalent. The IRB can reject research based on safety concerns.
Robert Califf, who served as FDA commissioner in the Obama administration until January, said he couldn’t think of a prior instance in which American researchers did not set up an IRB abroad.
“There’s a tradition of having oversight of human experimentation, and it exists for good reasons,” he said. “It may be legal to be doing it without oversight, but it’s wrong.”
***
What a ridiculous article. Professional medical researcher here and I can’t even begin to follow it.
This study has nothing to do with FDA approval. A 20 patient case series is not even on the radar for drug approval. The unethical scare mongering is also absurd. A 20 person case series usually doesn’t need IRB approval unless there’s special circumstances. Finally, IRB approval doesn’t mean much except it’s a box that needs to be checked. It’s not difficult, just another drawn out bureaucratic process that lines the pockets of interested parties.
Wait, what?
That doesn’t sound right to me either, HM. I’ve never heard of an upper limit on the number of “human subjects” that you can do research on that doesn’t require IRB approval.
RC, you work in a hospital right? I’m sure your hospital would never allow any study without IRB approval.
Any doctor can write up a case series about their patients an submit to a peer reviewed journal without IRB approval. Most case series aren’t going to be about an approved product. It’s going to be about a doctor’s experience with product X or the use of approved product X in a novel way.
**Most case series aren’t going to be about an unapproved product. Big typo there.
And this may be one of those special circumstances due to being about an unapproved product. I read medical journals every single day as part of my job and very rarely have come across a case study or case series that has had IRB approval. I personally have published several in different journals without IRB approval.
I’ve never heard that a20 person study doesn’t need an IRB. Even studies using historical admin records or other personally identifiable information require IRBs.
Shouldn’t need any PHI to write up a case study, especially if it’s the doctor’s own patients. Once other groups become involved, like a CRO, it would need IRB approval even if it’s a single person case study.
My issue is that they are somehow equating a case series with FDA approval of a new drug. And they are tying IRB approval with this. These are two separate things.
A doctor can write up their own case series and submit for publication without usually needing IRB approval. It is not clear to me at all that this is an actual trial based on the information provided in the article. For all purposes, it looks like a case series.
I work in a hospital, and there is no research done here without IRB approval. We don’t host much research, though.
The IRB definition of research is quite broad, though, and encompasses more than clinical trials. It also includes case studies, where the IRB role is mostly limited to ensuring patient privacy. You can’t do a case study without PHI – even if its your own patient, its still PHI.
Caveat: I’m not an IRB expert, since its been 10 years since I worked at a hospital with much research. I do recall being astonished that a simple pass through some of our patient files for an article that would disclose no PHI still required IRB approval. This is a current statement of when IRB approval is required:
I dislike making all of these posts but think I just made it even more confusing so let me just make one more that clarifies my position for anyone reading this thread later. I wish I had seen this sooner.
There’s two issues here:
1) The FDA is never going to approve this drug based on a 20 person study. It doesn’t matter if it had IRB approval or not. Thus there’s no need for the article to state that the FDA won’t approve it without IRB approval because Thiel isn’t seeking FDA approval with this study. If this is encouraging, then I have no doubt that Thiel will plan an actual trial with IRB approval.
2) Terms like series, study, trial, etc. are ambiguous. You can usually publish case studies or series in peer-reviewed medical journals without IRB approval. I don’t know where the dividing line is between a large case series and a small single cohort. It may be the use of an approved product pushes it over the line. Publishing the results is still a separate from point 1 above.
GET BACK ON THE PLANTATION AND STOP BEING SO UPPITY
https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/36048/
In an absolute shocker, a police officer is actually convicted of on-duty excessive force. Though the article is still rage-inducing for the summaries of all the other excessive force cases summarily dismissed by judges.
The union, of course, is unhappy, and is talking nonsense.
Huh. It seems the criminal element was held accountable in this story.
Yes, the people authorized to detain their fellow citizens at will and shoot them if they resist are subject to heightened scrutiny. Cry me a river.
Liberal Media Finally Discovers Antifa and One Professor Defends Their Violence
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2017/08/28/the-liberal-media-discovers-antifa-n2374156
***
Just a week ago, the same newspaper published an op-ed under the headline “Why the American left gave up on political violence.” CNN ran with “[Antifa] Activists seek peace through violence,” and then quietly changed the headline after backlash.
Over the weekend, Dartmouth University Professor Mark Bray defended Antifa’s violence as justified. His argument? They claim to fight white supremacy and therefore their cause is just.
***
The goals of social justice are noble, as ENB said.
I “claim” to fight against Magneto and Doctor Octopus; does that give me license to go and start beating random ideological opponents up while occupying moral high ground?
Why do you hate Jews?
Asians don’t count as minorities, unless they do.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/35187/
pure awesome from Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe Goes Off When Someone Accuses Him of Catering to ‘Anti-Intellectual’ GOP, White Nationalists
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2017/08/28/mike-rowe-goes-off-on-dude-who-accuses-him-of-being-a-white-nationalist-n2374191
***
Since we’re being candid, allow me to say how much I dislike your post. Everything about it annoys me – your smug and snarky tone, your appalling grammar, your complete lack of evidence to support your claims, and of course, the overarching logical fallacy that informs your entire position. What really bugs me though, is the fact that you’re not entirely wrong. It’s true; I haven’t shared any political opinions this week, in part anyway, because doing so might very well be “bad for business.” What can I say? I work for half-a-dozen different companies, none of whom pay me to share my political opinions. I run a non-partisan foundation, I’m about to launch a new show on Facebook, and I’m very aware that celebrities pay a price for opening their big fat gobs. Gilbert Gottfried, Kathy Griffin, Colin Kaepernick, Milo Yiannopoulos…even that guy from Google who just got himself fired for mouthing off. There’s no getting around it – the first amendment does not guarantee the freedom to speak without consequences. And really, that’s fine by me. So no – I’m not going to share my personal feelings about Charlottesville, President Trump, or the current effort to remove thousands of statues of long dead soldiers from the public square. Not just because it’s “bad for business,” but because it’s annoying. I can’t think of a single celebrity whose political opinion I value, and I’m not going to assume the country feels any differently about mine
***
I love that guy.
ditto
Yeah, making sure everyone knows their political opinion is the job of journalists.
It’s hilarious how bitter the guy gets. He posted another bit on Mike’s wall about how he’s being attacked (on Facebook, mind you) and he’s doubling down on the trolling. Mike’s rebuttal is pitch-perfect. I’ll miss him the most when I disengage from the Facebooks, I think.
I find it bizarre how leftists now equate any kind of blue collar job with being white. They seem to honestly think no black person has ever or does work in a factory or do any sort of blue collar job. Apparently, all black people who are not white collar are either in jail or on welfare. But remember, everyone but them is a racist.
No. Black guys have cool jobs like the “rapping teacher” guy I saw in the Dell commercial. Also, blacks can be record company magnates, wide receivers in the NFL, or host talk shows.
“They call it the remainder ‘cuz it’s the number that remains” is the wackest bar in all of hip-hop history.
The crazy part is that if you look at South Korea’s education system, a guy like that, who could appeal to many children as a teacher, could earn millions in private education through videos and classes, whereas here, he just earns a normal union based salary. And it’s not like the unions do a good job for the good teachers either.
a guy like that, who could appeal to many children as a teacher, could earn millions in private education through videos and classes
I have made that point over and over to people. Our best educators, the ones who are truly gifted, should be millionaires teaching many thousands of people at once.
Whilst on vacation, I read Flash for Freedom, where our cowardly ‘hero’ ‘rescues’ a slave girl by ‘conducting’ her to Ohio.
The Flashman books are great. The audio versions are just excellent, as well.
Homeboy makes the argument that a college education is necessary to prevent racism. That people who go to college are not racist, because they’re smarter, while people who do not are racist, because they’re stupid. Just like that. No nuance. He goes on to say that Mike Rowe appeals to stupid, racist, white hillbillies. I’d say that an obvious troll is obvious except that I know a lot of people who believe just that.
The Chicago Reader has a fun piece on the Democratic Socialists of America this week:
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/socialism-democratic-socialists-of-america-convention-millennials-carlos-ramirez-rosa/Content?oid=29358708
It seems that younger, self-styled “socialists” are enraptured by the idea of breaking the taboo of wearing the label as if it’s some mark of bravery. What they don’t seem to grasp is that there are still a significant number of immigrants and their descendants living in the US for whom the actual, real-deal jackboot of socialism is still bitterly fresh in their memory. I’ll venture a guess that when confronted by this, they’ll offer the canned Marxsplaining responses about how that “wasn’t real socialism” and “this time it would be different” like petulant children are wont to do.
That and children get everything given to them and generally don’t have to be responsible for their own actions. All they’ve ever know is socialism, except that the socialism of a family unit doesn’t translate to larger society.
Brian Davenport was barred from re-enlistment in 2015 because two of his tattoos were so close together that they were considered to be one tattoo that was too big under the Marine Corps’ tattoo policy at the time, he said.
You really do have to be kidding me. Trannies and women are A-Okay. But, don’t have a big tattoo? Let me guess. Next year we’ll hear about how we need to make an exception for tramp stamps.
That’s a great point. I would venture a guess that the tattoo policy arose out of the idea that ink is disrespectful of one’s own body and an indicator of one’s personal character as attention seeking. It may seem like an archaic sentiment, but I can understand how the military would cast doubt on an individual’s capacity to support their unit when enlistment can only be practically determined by a superficial assessment. I can also see a transgender ban as a logical extension of this.
Pretty much every top-notch Marine I ever served with had a bunch of tattoos, full sleeves in a few instances.
In anthropology, they taught us about the differences in the aftermath of natural disasters between the developed world and the developing world. Most of the death typically comes from the aftermath, and the reason people fare better in the developed world is because of their wealth.
I would substitute the word “capitalism” for “wealth”, since the more prosperous you are, the more likely you are to survive, and the more capitalist you are, the more likely you are to be wealthy. Even among our poor, the poor in America have different kinds of problems–like obesity. A place where the poor are too fat? This must be utopia.
What tends to kill you in Haiti after a disaster are things like poorly built structures failing and exposing people to the elements, sewage systems failing and exposing people to cholera, potable water delivery systems being non-existent even before a disaster, but those aren’t problems for poor people in America. The other advantage poor people in America have is that they’re often wealthy enough to own cars and leave a disaster area. In the developing world, that isn’t so.
Oh, and, yeah, when you live in an affluent capitalist country, people who care have the time, money, and resources available to help those who are in trouble–of their own free will.
Even introductory anthropology courses–even introductory anthropology courses!–teach that affluence is more important than anything else in upping the survival rates of natural disasters. Their solution to this problem typically involves transfer payments from wealthy nations to poor, which just underscores that they fail in figuring out why some nations are more affluent than others.
The GDP per capita in the U.S. was $57,300 in 2016. In the UK, it was $42,500. I suspect one of the reasons that the drinking age in the UK is 16 and it’s 21 in the U.S. is because the typical 16 year-old in the UK probably can’t afford to drive his own car. Part of that is the lower GDP per capita, maybe. Maybe part is the lack of youth employment.
The GDP per capita in Haiti is $1,800 per year. That’s why an earthquake that would merely cause damage in the U.S. kills thousands in Haiti.
Their lack of infrastructure is merely a symptom of their disease, not its cause. Treat their sniffles, but they’re still dying from the infection.
Stossel had a great special where he talked about the most dangerous things. Turns out that poverty is responsible for more death than anything by a wide margin. So if you really care about saving lives, your priority should be reducing poverty by lowering taxes and implementing other free market principles.
***
To demonstrate the gap between actual and popularly perceived risk, Stossel ranks various dangers according to actuarial estimates of the number of days each would be likely to reduce an average life. Surprise, surprise, the things people most fear (e.g., crime, industrial chemicals, flying) are actually far less dangerous to human life than more mundane dangers (e.g., smoking).
Most interesting is his observation that simple poverty is the biggest killer of all. This ties in with his skepticism of risk-eliminating regulation, because regulation is expensive, destroys jobs and thereby increases poverty. It is therefore likely, he argues, that some of the very regulations intended to save lives are in fact among the biggest killers. Of course, economists have made this point before, but never has it been presented by the mainstream press in such a persuasive and well-organized way.
***
http://missliberty.com/are-we-scaring-ourselves-to-death-1994/
When you’re poor the UN shows up to “help”, that only adds to the trouble.
You mean raping civilians and spreading cholera isn’t helpful?
Do the raping and cholera happen concurrently? Cause then you’ve got yourself a party.
This site is an entertaining mix of Old Man Yells at Cloud, insight, and Authentic Frontier Gibberish
http://www.combatreform.org/hmmwv.htm
Operation Elusive Concept- I larfed
Operation Enduring Geocities.
The formatting really sells it
OT
I just learned that there is a Harbor Freight coming to the town I work in. This is figuratively the happiest day of my life. Until grand opening day, that is.
What is that, and why do I need one?
Chinese tools for dirt cheap. Many of surprisingly good quality.
Many more of junk. But they are cheap.
True. If I were a contractor, mechanic, etc. I wouldn’t dream of shopping there. But for a guy who will use these tools very sparingly, it’s a great place to get specialized (or just cool) tools at affordable prices.
It is useful. The company I work for goes there now for some of the smaller tools we need. Most of the tools don’t hold up but there are some gems.
I bought an angle grinder for $10 once. It lasted about 10 years of light-medium use. Money well spent.
Huh. There appears to be one nearby.
I need to get in on the “ridiculously low prices”.
Hmmm…. What would I do with a 2 HP Gasoline Auger?
Drill holes, of course.
…for fence posts, trees and such. Not that I think you would try to drill a hole in plywood with that.
That sounds like a dare.
Well, a couple until it blew up, anyway.
Actually, I bought a hammerdrill for a nasty project I didn’t want to subject the Milwaukee to. I ended up giving it to my brother and the damn thing still works ten years later.
So, Harbor Freight is a mixed bag.
My boss calls it the Chinese toy store.
It is one of the stores I meant to visit (but forgot) while driving through the south.
There are plenty of Harbor Freight stores in New England and upstate NY.
Shit load of bar clamp. Watch people making stuff on the You Tubes. 6k jointers. 4K cabinet saws. Endangered Conflict Hardwood. Big-ass pile of $3 bar clamps from Harbor Freight.
That’s funny.
They are opening a Harbor Freight in the town where my family lives (Mountain Home, AR). I was excited when I saw it while visiting.
Reports of the Cajun Navy being shot at by looters.
I would expect the Navy will start going armed (at least, I hope so). A Texas DA would have to have a career death wish to bring any charges against them if they shoot back.
Just now stepping back in here from watching a documentary on the L.A. riots that followed the Rodney King verdict. Talk about timing.
And now you know what “rooftop Korean” means.
Think we may be seeing some “rooftop rebels” if they don’t cut off AntiFa soon.
I’m surprised they didn’t have a rifle slung to begin with.
The story was a little fishy, and they took the Facebook post down.
I wondered about taking the post down. Could be nothing, but there are gangs of looters roaming the area already, so I find it plausible. Remembering the stream of lies and misinformation out of NOLA following Katrina, though, probably best to remain unconvinced until corroboration.
Oh, I don’t doubt that there are looters.
Something about that guy’s mannerisms made me suspect that he was a liar, though.
He said “the most important thing is that nobody got hurt” at least a dozen times on the video, which leads me to believe that there’s something more important that he’s not telling us.
there’s something more important that he’s not telling us
Hmm. Perhaps that there was returned fire, and the rednecks in the boats didn’t miss?
How is “Injun” (Indian) racist but “Cajun” (Acadian) isn’t?
No idea but me make big heap gumbo now.
Cajuns are white. See, easy?
Cajun absolutely is.
The proper term for those people is “coonass”. Hey, don’t blame me, it was a guy from Lafitte LA who told me that.
Speaking of assholes, why don’t the feds cut off all money including loans and grants to the university and it’s students. Starve the beast.
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/08/29/berkeley-mayor-school-doesnt-shut-right-wing-speakers-next-month-antifa-will-riot/
Just now stepping back in here from watching a documentary on the L.A. riots that followed the Rodney King verdict. Talk about timing.
*I’m just going to keep posting this until it doesn’t fit*
Or, why doesn’t the DOJ bring conspiracy to violate civil rights charges against the university administrators and the shot-callers in the city who order the police to stand back and let the antifa goons riot?
They’ve been very careful to do all of this stuff several blocks off of campus. The original Milo incident was on campus, but everything since then has been on city property.
The UC Police Department knows that they fucked up, and they won’t let it happen again. If there is a problem on campus, they’ll fly in officers from Irvine, UCLA, and San Diego, and they’ll crack some heads. Remember the famous pepper spray to the face video? UCPD.
Berkeley PD is under control of the mayor, and they’ll allow this in perpetuity. I hope the feds step in and give them a nice, friendly audit. While they’re at it, they should also look into why the Berkeley City Council is trying to conduct foreign policy.
Berkeley PD is under control of the mayor, and they’ll allow this in perpetuity.
And those are the people who should be indicted.
This is no different than the locals in the Deep South setting back and letting the KKK beat up civil rights activists. Which is, as John notes, exactly what the law was written to prevent.
There’s plenty of reason to open an investigation into Antifa and its affiliates and supporters. The fact that, as far as I know, no such investigation has been opened by the FBI only contributes to my paranoia about government and law enforcement collusion with Antifa.
Police refusing to ensure the safety of peaceful demonstrators or anyone being attacked for exercising a constitutional right is pretty much a textbook example of what 42 USC 1983 was written to prevent. The entire leadership of the Berkely PD and anyone in the city or state that had anything to do with them standing down, needs to be up on federal charges.
I sure hope so. I’m loving the idea that these assholes pretending to fight “white supremacy” (i.e. capitalism and liberal democracy) are going to be fucked with the same laws used to fight the KKK and their white supremacist bedfellows in local Southern governments.
You can actually wind up with a situation where Berkeley gets run by a Sessions appointee
AAAAHHHHAHAHAHA!!
Like I said on yesterday’s links, go for Antifa, OFA and Open Societies Foundation under RICO. Yeah, you probably won’t get any convictions, but you can find out all kinds of stuff during discovery and tie them up in court forever.
“I wonder if, when this guy first ran for public office, he imagined himself one day serving as a de facto mouthpiece for violent fascist anti-fascists. (He’s the mayor of Berkeley, so — yes, probably.) “
Only in his wildest dreams, I’m sure. Berkeley, as you say.
He is associated with the group By Any Means Necessary and named his car Che. I think his sympathies should be obvious
I’m watching the Houston Mayor and Chief of Police press conference live and LMAO – the guy signing in the back is making crazy facial expressions throughout the whole thing.
Was it fake sign language guy?
Razorfist on the Arapio Pardon
I had no idea he had another gear to reach for. That was a blast to watch. I’ll have to watch again to follow whatever the fuck he was going on about.
Damn. That was a righteous rant.
Interesting, too. Thanks, G.
I feel like he’d be fun to drink with.
If McCain and Ryan are against it then I have a hard time not supporting it.
Arpaio was an authoritarian a-hole, no question.
I think he defied a court order, which sets him up for contempt of court.
Denying him a jury trial was wrong.
I can’t work up a sweat one way or the other on Trump’s pardon. Will watch Razorfist, though. He’s frickin’ hilarious when he gets rolling.
What’s really sad, is the only time McCain ever agreed with Trump is when he bombed some Syrian airfield to smithereens.
I’m conflicted on this one. I agree that the charges against Arpaio in this case are contrived, and that the contempt charge is just something that will stick, sort of like Martha Stewart going to prison for a year for perjury (she deleted a single subpoenaed email, IIRC) rather than insider trading.
Razor’s take seems like a defense of the indefensible by pointing out the other side are just as indefensible? That’s a given. But if what Joe was doing was supposedly racial profiling, what makes it any different than what I experience from Customs at the Mexican border, and about 30 miles north from the Border Patrol?
Joe’s an asshole, and I’m happy he is not longer in office but if what he did was obviously so bad they should have something on him that will hold up in court. Being they don’t, it is just another scalp the left can claim they took. I am still free to think of Joe as I will.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/28/trump-tweets-hoax-louise-mensch-claude-taylor
Louse Mensch defines crazy sexy for 2017. Good lord what a nutcase. But she isn’t bad for a British bird.