lookin

Perhaps we should punch up our avatars.

Perhaps you missed the bit about Lawrence Welk. We liberals were occupied elsewhere.

From the Manitoba Herald: The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The Republicans winning the Senate is prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and live according to the Constitution. Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, global warming activists, and "green" energy proponents crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Southern Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota . "The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?" In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields, but they just keep coming. Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into electric cars and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves after the battery dies. "A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a single bottle of Perrier drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though, and some kale chips." When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and study the Constitution. In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half- dozen young vegans in blue-hair wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the '50s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age," an official said. Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage, buying up all the Barbara Streisand c.d.'s, and renting all the Michael Moore movies. "I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?"

What does he mean by that? He means we're not interesting. That's interesting.

Just in time for the holidays, Kohler has introduced a new toilet seat that promises to get to the bottom of unpleasant bathroom odors. MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blow out the candle and ditch the aerosol can. Kohler Co. has introduced a deodorizing toilet seat that it says eliminates embarrassing bathroom odors and the need for candles and sprays to cover them up. A fan hidden in the battery-operated seat sucks in air and pushes it through an odor-eating carbon filter, followed by an optional scent pack. Product manager Jerry Bougher said the idea is to attack smells "where the action is." Apparently, the whole shebang is powered by two "D" cells. At a bargain price of ninety dollars, it sounds like something the entire household would enjoy. Assuming, of course, the batteries don't somehow get shoved in backwards.

Well that was kind of underwhelming BY DAVE ROSS on November 21, 2014 @ 6:04 am (Updated: 10:29 am - 11/21/14 ) As I understand it, the immigration policy announced by President Obama - or as I assume the Republican leadership will now address him, His Magnificence Emperor Barack The First - is that since we can't afford to deport all of the 11 million people who are here without papers, we'll concentrate on deporting the undocumented terrorists, felons, and gang bangers who no one likes. For the approximately 4 million undocumented-but-otherwise-law-abiding parents who have been here for at least five years and whose children were born here as of Thursday, and who agree to pay all taxes, and who make it through a background check, we'll sell them some valid documents for a fee. So the government is telling these 5 million people, register yourselves, pay us and you won't be any closer to citizenship, but we will agree not to rip your family apart. Which I have to say is certainly very nice of the government. In fact I'm sure these 4 million people are right now composing thank you notes. THANK YOU government for letting us pay you not to rip our families apart... But I admit that what I don't get is how that could be called amnesty. After all the warnings this past week, I was envisioning some sweeping Imperial Directive saying the borders are open! Free Obamacare and medicinal pot for everybody who speaks Spanish. Instead, it's basically a memo saying we're clamping down on the border - which everybody wants, we're kicking out criminals - which everybody wants, and those of you with families who pay us a little protection money we'll sell you an immunity necklace that expires in three years. Merry Christmas. Dave Ross

Boehner: 'We will not stand idle' on immigration - Friday, November 21, 2014 'Well, there's nothing we can do,'" said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who was among a small group of conservatives arguing impeachment should be on the table as a last resort. Conservative lawmakers are pushing to insert language in upcoming must-pass spending bills to block Obama's order. Party leaders warn that could lead to a government shutdown. House Speaker John Boehner said Friday that President Barack Obama was "damaging the presidency" with his unilateral action on immigration. He said the Republican-run House will not stand by, but gave no hint of what the response would be. The "new" legal workforce is identical to the "old" illegal workforce. Same jobs, same workers. The only thing that's changed is that they won't be under threat of deportation. Of course, as it always has, the ag industry still has the option to hire U. S. citizens to pick our produce and pay them what it takes to make the jobs attractive. Just as we still have the option to pay the resulting higher prices. Those options were open to us yesterday, and they are open to us today. The President said nothing to change that. They won't get any additional benefits, they'll just pay taxes. So, I believe the answer is "Yes". As I understand it, these immigrants will be able to buy health insurance under Obamacare, but they will not be eligible for the subsidies that U. S. citizens are. Those immigrants who choose to enter the system under the President's program will have health insurance that they pay for and will not have to utilize emergency rooms that they don't pay for. So, as far as I can tell, the balance between taxes, payments, and benefits should improve. Will the GOP come forward with better legislation? The betting window is open.

Totally agree! It was an amazing address. I could not disagree with a single thing he said. And yet, tomorrow, the anti-Obamans will spin it as an impeachable offense and some will threaten to shut down the government. The statistics he gave are irrefutable: illegal immigration is down under his watch, deportation of criminals is up, illegal immigrants do pick our produce, and it would be impractical to deport all those who are in the country illegally. Yet these facts won't be addressed directly by the Grand Greedy Old Party. If I hear even one factual rebuttal tomorrow, or a workable alternative, I'll be amazed. The other thing I like about Obama's speeches is that he never fails to acknowledge our shared humanity. He focuses on how we can be an inclusive society, and not on how we can make life miserable for those around us. Our local CBS affiliate broadcast the speech live, even delaying their coverage of Thursday Night Football for a half hour.

Really good article, AdamSmith! Thanks.

I guess I was picturing a farewell quickie in the elevator. But you're right. Tomcal would have come prepared.

Am I just dreaming, or is that a cum stain on his tie?

So what's with you and the seal?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . He promised me a fur coat.

I couldn't find this on Snopes but something tells me it should be. Unless this guy has a very flat ass, how could he get a vacuum seal good enough to rip out his insides? Maybe he used a silicone rub, but that stuff doesn't exactly smell like roses either. In all honesty though, I personally brought the other end of my alimentary canal to grief when I was a kid alone one day with our new Lewyt. I damn near pulled my tongue out of its socket.

I'm watching the CBS Evening News with preliminary results looking good for Republicans. Their exit polls are showing that the economy was the number one issue for voters, even with employment up along with the stock market. Voters said the economy was their biggest concern because their wages weren't any better than before the recession. Folks don't seem to understand that their wages are staying the same not because the economy is weak, but because all the growth is going into the pockets of the 1%. I don't know whether I'm more distressed by the dimness of the electorate or by the Democrats for not shining a light on it.

Not at all. I can go all dreamy listening to Elizabeth Warren f'rinstance. Bernie Sanders, Henry Waxman, my local Rep, the Rep before him, and a bunch of others have their hearts in the right place. I like Obama too. Of course, I'm not lockstep with any politician. There's always some disagreement. But politicians with compassion (Democrat, Independent, or Republican, should one come forward) who turn their ideals into policy get my chad. If I didn't think there were good politicians out there, believe me, I wouldn't spend so much time bitching about the bad ones.

Just back from the voting booth myself. With people, propositions, and measures, there were thirty-six boxes to check this time. Most were easy, but some had layers upon layers. Can't recall ever spending so much time researching a ballot as this one. The money spent on some of these issues was obscene. For weeks, every other TV ad was for something the insurance companies or the soda manufacturers hated. I wonder if all these ads may backfire on them one day, as I for one am immediately skeptical of anything these guys are willing to spend millions of dollars on. And the glossy ads in my mailbox every day have been a real pain. I always check to see who's backing a candidate or an issue and rarely vote for someone or something important to the money guys. We had an even dozen (!) judicial appointments on the ballot this time. I hadn't heard of any of these folks, and trying to research every one of them was far too tedious. I used to leave those lines blank. Then, for a while, I figured I might as well vote for all of them, as they'd get in anyway. Of course, both methods led to wasted votes. Now, I just go to the local Republican voter guide, see who they support, and vote the other way. A blunt instrument, no doubt, but the best I have to hand. Just yesterday I was wondering what Nate Silver was up to these days and am grateful for MsGuy's timely post. Not happy with the forecast, but it's of a piece with what seems to be the U. S. electorate's desire to march themselves off a cliff. Do they really think the Republicans will stand by them when they need it most? Perhaps by the time we realize what we've lost, we'll be able to vote out the Citizens United crowd. Assuming, of course, we can still get to the polls.

Perish the thought! But reading about risk and actually eliminating it are different things, no? All too true. I think in the case of rockets, though, the goal is to design them so that the explosion happens at the propulsion end, and not elsewhere in the works. No doubt your confidence will be amply rewarded. Though they may have to up their their game a bit and show that not only didn't they completely disregard the danger but that they regarded it highly enough. The bits that AdamSmith quoted from his linked article caught my eye also. I'm sure the company will have plenty of opportunity to defend its design choices, but I doubt they'll get by with just telling folks to trust them. The other thing that caught my eye in that blurb I quoted earlier on 'Blowback' was the danger of nitrous oxide in the presence of 'unstable combustion'. I know rockets have been around for a long time but I still don't think of them as cocoons of stable combustion. May be just an error on my part. Still, there will be lots of new info as the weeks go by and we can continue to reconnoiter as it rolls in. In the meantime, let's just hope Justin Bieber doesn't come asking for his money back.

Found this in a safety discussion at Wikipedia: Blow back - For oxidizers that decompose exothermically such as nitrous oxide or hydrogen peroxide, flame or hot gasses from the combustion chamber can propagate back through the injector, igniting the oxidizer and leading to a tank explosion. Blow-back requires gases to flow back through the injector due to insufficient pressure drop which can occur during periods of unstable combustion. Blow back is inherent to specific oxidizers and is not possible with oxidizers such as oxygen or nitrogen tetroxide unless fuel is present in the oxidizer tank. As Virgin Galactic is using nitrous oxide, this might be behind the 'warnings' sounded by some of the experts. If Branson can prove that his engineers were aware of the danger, had been diligent in designing around it, and that safer alternative oxidizers were not workable, he should be able to eventually get something in space. It's sad that someone died and even more so if engineering errors were made.

Perhaps we could get him to post here.

I think she underestimates us.

A turd burglar? Oh, my! Only thing lower in the pokey is a stool pigeon.

"Blue Boy" ∙ Well Hung in LA ∙ Incalls Only "Pinky" ∙ also available for voyeurs

Cut! I'm getting sound bleed from the howitzers.

So I guess all payments are for rhyme only?