News that makes us laugh, cry, or both

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:29 am

The original server's being Pharyngulated right now - PZ just posted a link. Pharyngulation being the closest thing a webserver can get to being gangraped.

Shortpacked is a quite popular webcomic, it has the infrastructure to handle it.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:30 am

Shortpacked has been steadily declining in quality, too. Ever since, oh, the Leslie Bean introduction. Not her specifically but she's a milestone.

But that's neither here nor there.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:04 pm

Crissa wrote:That's why the Federal Reserve does not serve at the President nor Congress's knee, and is instead independent, tzor.

So no, the 'government' cannot 'just print more money'.

While they are not “controlled” by the federal government they do work with the federal government. Actually the notion “print more money” is kind of silly on my part, only 3% of US Money Supply Actually Exists as Currency. Check out Annual U.S. Money Supply Growth – M3 Estimates by ShadowStats where the estimated M3 money supply (the Feds stopped reporting this number in 2006) rose to its greatest height in 2008 and has been declining ever since.

My point was that the states simply cannot use the ever increasing money supply to provide year after year of deficit spending. Nor will the Fed buy state bonds just to prop up their markets as they did with federal bonds this year ( Federal Reserve buys bonds).

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:39 pm

And you're misreading that graph, tzor. That's a graph of percentage change by year. The amount of M3 is still growing, it's just growing slower. You also mention M3 immediately after a point where you talk about M0, so I suspect attempted shenanigans.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:31 pm

Good point; that's the increase not the absolute numbers and you also have to consider "inflation" as well which is for the period a relatively low valye from 2.27% in 2003 to a max of 3.85 in 2009.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:10 pm

The thread about the "Franken Amendment" led me to this interesting tidbit about a bill to "defund Acorn". Heh.

mean_liar · Post by **mean_liar** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:32 pm

LOL!

That is PURE fucking win. Win and God, together, smiling.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 pm

As much as I hate to write this (because Northrop Grumman is still big around here on Long Island) they have been in hot water for a while because they teamed up with France to big against Boeing for the refueling tankers so the GOP isn’t a friend of this “un-American” corporation.

As for Blackwater USA, let’s just say that justice will never be served there, but any little bit helps.

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:38 am

Edwyn Collins Can't Give Away His Music Thanks To MySpace, Warner Music

This is definitely laugh and cry.

Data Vampire · Post by **Data Vampire** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:50 am

Arr, we be taken this ... Oh. Shit.

Count Arioch the 28th · Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:23 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/0 ... 14907.html

No disrespect meant to the man or his supporters, but what the bloody fuck is going on? He hasn't done anything...

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:05 pm

Count_Arioch_the_28th wrote:No disrespect meant to the man or his supporters, but what the bloody fuck is going on? He hasn't done anything...

That's actually the position of most of his supporters. I mean, I assumed he'd win one at some point, but this year seemed a little premature.

tzor · Post by **tzor** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:15 pm

Lech Walesa On Obama Peace Prize: “Who, What? So Fast?”

“Who? What? So fast?” a shocked Walesa said when reporters told him about the latest Obama win.

“Well, there’s hasn’t been any contribution to peace yet. He’s proposing things, he’s initiating things, but he is yet to deliver,” he said.

WASHINGTON - Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele released the following statement today:

The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?' It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain - President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.

Are you kidding me? Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize? Bobby Eberle - GOPUSA

According to the Nobel committee's own web site, all nominations must be submitted by February 1 of the year awarded. This means Obama's international accomplishments are based on him being president for twelve days! Twelve days!

...

I'm sure the White House will be spinning this like crazy throughout the day, trying to somehow show that Obama, after just twelve days in office, produced enough accomplishments to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Former Congressman Joe Scarborough on his "Morning Joe" show has already received an e-mail from a White House official telling him to stop being such an a****le. Maybe this post will generate a White House message as well, because Obama has NO BUSINESS winning a prize for zero accomplishments, 12 days in office, and policies that take away freedom domestically and make Americans less safe to international threats. That's quite a record.

White House: Scarborough 'A-Hole' For Mocking Nobel - News Busters

What a morning at Morning Joe! First, a "senior White House official" sent an email calling Joe Scarborough an "a-----e" for mocking Pres. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. A bit later, responding to Rush Limbaugh's depiction of Scarborough as a "neutered, chickified moderate," Scarborough repeatedly claimed that Pres. George W. Bush had Rush's "testicles in a blind trust."

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:32 pm

Count_Arioch_the_28th wrote:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/0 ... 14907.html

No disrespect meant to the man or his supporters, but what the bloody fuck is going on? He hasn't done anything...

Seriously he did. He ended the cold war build-up in Eastern Europe and got Russia back to the table on nuclear deproliferation. The missiles are out of Kaliningrad.

But yeah, seriously, what the fuck? Most of his proposals are on a 12, 20, or even 36 month timetable. He has been president for 8 months. The war drums in Eastern Europe were kind of scary, and now they are gone, but everything he's doing in the Middle East is still in "chalk marks on the board" stage.

I honestly think it's because the Nobel Peace Prize is handed out by the Norwegian Parliament, and one of his concrete successes was getting the Russian nuclear missiles pointed at the Norwegian Parliament taken down. They probably rate that achievement much higher than people elsewhere in the world do.

-Username17

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:07 pm

Washington Monthly has a good bit about how sometimes the NPP is used to encourage worthwhile yet incomplete endeavors.

Greenwald has a fine criticism of Obama being given this award while engaged in profoundly non-peaceful activities.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:09 pm

Well and the real fucking insanity is that the nominations had to be in by February. So the man had been president for about a month when he got nominated. He was still fucking moving in!

People are fucking insane, I've had more viable plans for world peace than "Get rid of some nukes."
Problem is, my plan would not leave a NPP commitee to give me the prize, nor me to accept it...

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 8:12 pm

But didn't Obama respond by saying he didn't feel he deserved it?

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:09 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:People are fucking insane, I've had more viable plans for world peace than "Get rid of some nukes."
Problem is, my plan would not leave a NPP commitee to give me the prize, nor me to accept it...

So your plan involves getting rid of some nukes?

violence in the media · Fri Oct 09, 2009 10:44 pm

Kaelik wrote:
Prak_Anima wrote:People are fucking insane, I've had more viable plans for world peace than "Get rid of some nukes."
Problem is, my plan would not leave a NPP commitee to give me the prize, nor me to accept it...
So your plan involves getting rid of some nukes?

Probably more like gifting them.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:27 pm

pretty much.

And Maj, yes, he did admit he didn't deserve it, he's still going to accept it however.

Ganbare Gincun · Post by **Ganbare Gincun** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 2:52 am

Prak_Anima wrote:pretty much.

And Crissa, yes, he did admit he didn't deserve it, he's still going to accept it however.

Of course he's going to accept it. What would be the alternative? Snubbing the Nobel Community?

The funny thing is that just last week, the MSM was crowing about how Obama had been "rejected by the world" because Chicago wasn't selected to host the Olympic Games. I can't help but think that this is "the world's" way of telling American Neo-Conservatives to fuck off. But as usual, the Neo-Cons and the Teabaggers have completely missed the point and are now crowing about how Obama is an uppity [EDITED] narcissist, despite the fact that he's been nothing but genteel and humble throughout his political career - quite unlike our last President.

Heath Robinson · Post by **Heath Robinson** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:35 am

By now, GG, you should be familiar with the fact that the Republican party, in general, acts like an emotionally insecure, myopic, inconsiderate, sexually-repressed homosexual. It is projecting.

Ganbare Gincun · Post by **Ganbare Gincun** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:14 am

Heath Robinson wrote:By now, GG, you should be familiar with the fact that the Republican party, in general, acts like an emotionally insecure, myopic, inconsiderate, sexually-repressed homosexual. It is projecting.

Believe me - I am painfully aware of this. The amount of cognitive dissonance going on in the mind of the average Republican is staggering, but - as Darth Cheney would say - it is what it is.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:46 am

Obama's a weasel. Look at his speech on the matter of the NPP, on the actual white house blog even.

Obama wrote:I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

So he gets to have a nice humble face for the cameras, praise the (practically non-existant for the last ten years) American Leadership, and accept a prize he neither earned nor deserves, supposedly on behalf of American Leaders.

It's a fucking farce, and an embarrassment.

PhoneLobster · Post by **PhoneLobster** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:09 am

Oh who cares. "Boo hoo Obama got a meaningless award".

KISSINGER got the prize.

You could justify giving Obama the prize based on "Relief that Bush was finally out" and that would be infinitely better than giving the prize to fucking Henry "Satan" Kissinger.