Keep reading the news!

[Fetch()tirade]

I don't know what to say to this other than I hope that Gaddafi (or however you spell his name) is stopped soon.

And just a side note: House Republicans seek to eliminate Planned Parenthood.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7779058/house_passes_amendment_that_strips.html?cat=5

[helvetica]

Honestly my first thought was "Who has their colonels flying around?  They should be at their desks."   :V

Really though, having two colonels defect is a good thing, and hopefully more members of Libya's military follow their lead.

Not everyone has the wonderful Chair Force we do.

[Tengukami]

And just a side note: House Republicans seek to eliminate Planned Parenthood.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7779058/house_passes_amendment_that_strips.html?cat=5

Oh look, another money-wasting, time-killing, futile "we're making a point!" initiative from the GOP that will never get passed.

[Edible]

Honestly my first thought was "Who has their colonels flying around?  They should be at their desks."   :V

US colonels are equivalent in rank to navy/air force captains, and the USAF has more captains airborne than any other rank.

[Fetch()tirade]

Oh look, another money-wasting, time-killing, futile "we're making a point!" initiative from the GOP that will never get passed.

I like the way this article from Time puts it:

Leaders on both sides know that real deficit reduction will mean cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the Pentagon. Honest Republicans understand that tax increases will also be required (but they can?t say so out loud). Democrats worry that Medicare and Medicaid reductions could involve revisions in their brand-new health care law (but they can?t acknowledge that as they fend off conservative repeal efforts). Any agreement that can pass Congress will require each side to speak hard truths. But nobody wants to cry uncle first.

[Huckebein]

US colonels are equivalent in rank to navy/air force captains, and the USAF has more captains airborne than any other rank.

It was partly a joke, but I'm going off of what I remember when my uncle was in the Air Force.  Once he became a Lt. Colonel they put him behind a desk, and he hastened to retire after that because they wouldn't let him fly.

Anyway, more on Libya: some video from the protests.  It's a bit violent, so proceed with caution.  In the vid there's also a currently-unconfirmed claim that protesters recovered the body of a contracted soldier.  It wouldn't surprise me if that was true.

[helvetica]

US colonels are equivalent in rank to navy/air force captains, and the USAF has more captains airborne than any other rank.

Yeah but in Libya colonel is the highest rank you can obtain in the Libyan Air Force.

[E-Nazrin]

Hod Lipson, director of the Computational Synthesis Laboratory at Cornell University, brought a 3D printer to the conference, to demonstrate how his well-established project, named Lab@Home, is branching out into bioprinting - by creating an ear.

And thusly, science marches on.

Oh man. I can't wait to see what sort of crazy shit this could produce alongside biocomputer designs.....

[MayKissingDoveWyks]

something unrelated to the Middle East nonsense

Excavation of Medical school in Japan may hold secrets about human experiments in WWII:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41689993

Hod Lipson, director of the Computational Synthesis Laboratory at Cornell University, brought a 3D printer to the conference, to demonstrate how his well-established project, named Lab@Home, is branching out into bioprinting - by creating an ear.

And thusly, science marches on.

Oh man. I can't wait to see what sort of crazy shit this could produce alongside biocomputer designs.....

And eventually, we'll no longer need bodies, nor will we have to work for a living.

[Quad City QBs]

Homeowner, fucked by Wells Fargo, sues in small claims and wins default judgment, which he then uses to get a sheriff's levy on the local Wells Fargo branch

So good to see small claims court being used by the little guy like it was originally meant to.

[Tengukami]

Not to beat the Libya drum too much here, but this article is a great round-up of the country and the region.

Libya's ambassador to the U.S., Ali Aujali, formally broke with Col. Gadhafi on Monday and called for him to step down. The deputy head of Libya's delegation to the United Nations, meanwhile, said he had stopped taking orders from the government and is asking the international community to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya's airspace so it couldn't bring in more mercenaries.

Can you imagine the US Ambassador to the UN announcing that he wasn't taking orders from the government anymore, and then encouraging foreign military forces to create a no-fly zone around the country? Khaddafi has like, zero credibility within his own government anymore. Police have ceded entire cities to protesters, at one point got in a gun fight with the army while defending protesters, chunks of the military have flipped, and his top brass just disregard him. Is it just me, or does it seem like he's pretty much irrelevant already? How much longer could he possibly stay in power?

[Edible]

Not to beat the Libya drum too much here, but this article is a great round-up of the country and the region. Can you imagine the US Ambassador to the UN announcing that he wasn't taking orders from the government anymore, and then encouraging foreign military forces to create a no-fly zone around the country? Khaddafi has like, zero credibility within his own government anymore. Police have ceded entire cities to protesters, at one point got in a gun fight with the army while defending protesters, chunks of the military have flipped, and his top brass just disregard him. Is it just me, or does it seem like he's pretty much irrelevant already? How much longer could he possibly stay in power?

My knowledge of Libyan history is lacking, but isn't Gaddafi notorious for placing members of his family in high-ranking political (and military) positions?  I'd imagine as a whole, he still has enough clout to be a nuisance (and enough wealth to buy mercenaries).

[Conqueror]

Is it just me, or does it seem like he's pretty much irrelevant already? How much longer could he possibly stay in power?

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has vowed to fight on and die a "martyr", calling on his supporters to take back the streets from protesters demanding his ouster, shouting and pounding his fist in a furious speech on state TV.

...

"Muammar Gaddafi is the leader of the revolution, I am not a president to step down ... This is my country. Muammar is not a president to leave his post."

"I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired ... when I do, everything will burn."

He called on supporters to take to the streets to attack protesters. "You men and women who love Gaddafi ...get out of your homes and fill the streets," he said. "Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs ... Starting tomorrow the cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them."

...

Shouting in the rambling speech, Gaddafi declared himself "a warrior" and proclaimed: "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world".

This is how.

[Tengukami]

This is how.

He's vowed to die as a martyr. Seems he already knows his number's up.

[ふねん1]

In other news, a 6.3 quake struck near the city of Christchurch in New Zealand. Casualty figures seem to keep increasing, and structural damage is quite extensive despite the quake not being especially strong, most likely because the quake occurred very close to the surface and thus close to the city.

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

The Defense of Marriage Act has been deemed unconstitutional, or at least a fair bit of it.

Yeah!!!!!!!!

[Edible]

More acts by rationally-thinking people.

Instead of bombing their own countrymen, the pilots and crew of a bomber sent to raze Benghazi (a city recently freed from Gaddafi's control), they took off of the runway and then just parachuted out of the plane mid-flight, letting it crash somewhere outside of town.

[Tengukami]

That ... is probably the best troll I have ever seen.

[Reddyne]

The Defense of Marriage Act has been deemed unconstitutional, or at least a fair bit of it.

Yeah!!!!!!!!

More acts by rationally-thinking people.

Instead of bombing their own countrymen, the pilots and crew of a bomber sent to raze Benghazi (a city recently freed from Gaddafi's control), they took off of the runway and then just parachuted out of the plane mid-flight, letting it crash somewhere outside of town.

It's rare that I come here as I seldom has anything worthwhile to contribute, let alone have the stomach for political nonsense anymore, but stuff like this always makes me smile.

[E-Nazrin]

That ... is probably the best troll I have ever seen.

Would've been better if they bombed Gaddafi!

Finally a liberal US sting op: Impersonating a billionaire while calling a Republican!

Not-Koch: We?ll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers.

Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that ?because we thought about that. The problem?the, my only gut reaction to that is right now the lawmakers I?ve talked to have just completely had it with them, the public is not really fond of this?[explains that planting troublemakers may not work.] My only fear would be if there?s a ruckus caused is that maybe the governor has to settle to solve all these problems?[something about '60s liberals.]?Let ?em protest all they want?Sooner or later the media stops finding it interesting.

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

It's rare that I come here as I seldom has anything worthwhile to contribute, let alone have the stomach for political nonsense anymore, but stuff like this always makes me smile.

Yes, it made me giggle. Like a schoolgirl.

Finally a liberal US sting op: Impersonating a billionaire while calling a Republican!

picard-facepalm.jpg

[Edible]

Finally a liberal US sting op: Impersonating a billionaire while calling a Republican!

ahaha oh man

[Tengukami]

That is truly brilliant.

Is the Palin thing they're referencing in the beginning of the article that revelation that she's a fan of Blue Oyster Cult?

[Edible]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12556005

"Quryna reported that a Libyan fighter plane had crashed near Ajdabiya after the two pilots refused to bomb Benghazi and ejected."

IT KEEPS HAPPENING

[Nietz]

The only way these Libyan pilots could be more awesome is if they were playing Rock the Casbah as they crash their planes or fly away with them.

[Edible]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/23/iran.mideast.unrest/index.html?eref=edition

The hypocrisy here is brain-numbing.  I feel so bad for the gigantic pile of perfectly normal Iranians that are forced to live under this fuck and the old men with their hands up his ass.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

I didn't know about this!

I happened to catch the final launch of the Discovery space shuttle right when I got home today.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

Just watched the launch live on the stream. Pretty amazing 

[Tengukami]

Well this explains all the Touhou fans in the NASA Ustream channel.

And in celebration ... NEET off!

[Huckebein]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/23/iran.mideast.unrest/index.html?eref=edition

The hypocrisy here is brain-numbing.  I feel so bad for the gigantic pile of perfectly normal Iranians that are forced to live under this fuck and the old men with their hands up his ass.

"Let them express their opinions, because you can crush them later anyway."