I really think the government should get the hell out of peoples private lives. If two people wish to get married, then go to a church that allows it, if two, (what is the word of the week, gay, homosexual?), people wish to get married, go to the Episcopalian church. If two, (what's the word of the week, straight, heterosexual?) people whom happen to believe that homosexuality is a sin can go to the Catholic church.

#7 - He does support Obama, or at least Maria does.

What is this, 1984?

I really hate organized crime groups, for the lack of better words. I also hate the way that they are glorified to some people, i.e. the little idiots that think it's cool to impersonate Tony Montana, the Corleones, the Yakuza, or crips and bloods. A life like that brings nothing but pain, for the organized crime member and the family of the organized crime member.

Ah, chauvinism, thy name is late 60's early 70's advertising.

F'in Benny Hill music. I love it.

Unfortunately, those clowns in the car are breaking the law. It is obvious that they are illegals.

We can't ship all 12 to 15 million of them back to their home countries, and we can't arrest them all, so what do we do?

Good for him, I wonder if a under inflated balloon bounced from the ceiling?

Does this mean that a blind man can bowl better than the two democratic candidates?

"But doctor, he only drinks 16 Red Bull's a day."

Pardon my stupidity, but is there a freedom of information act in Great Britain? I'd have to say that 35% of the video was shot using CCTV cams, the rest though looks like a camera crew and an editor had the rest of the video edited to look like CCTV.

It is still an interesting concept though the song is a little emo.

Geez, what next a metal vibrating miniature football field?

Nice pic, imagine the poor bastard(s) that had to unwrap and lay that out just so.

Who the hell made up this terror watch list?

The U.S. Terror watch list.

1. Anybody with Abdul, Muhammad, el, al, or bin in their names.
2. Anyone else.

I remember in college there was an old typewriter that sat in the corner of the college radio station. It was annoying, it was in constant movement, from the air studio, to the recording booth, to another room, needless to say, it was annoying. "Someone" had the idea to take a sludge hammer to it. That "someone" said that it was exhilarating. So I can see that someone could have a good time destroying things, and this is even better because this creating something kind of useful, rather than having the GHJFDTB keys and the space bar flying by "someone's" face. To sell it for 5,914 dollars only shows what people will spend their money on.

I say rather than spend roughly 6000 bucks on a cube of steel that you will beat the shit out of so that you can sit uncomfortably, give that 6000 bucks to the charity of your choice, or wisely invest it in the stock market and, 10 years from now give 12,000 to the charity of your choice.

btw my new sphere of steel sells for 500 bucks, it isn't easy to form a sphere out of steel.

So for a little over 5000 bucks you get a hammer, a cube of steal, and the realization that you have absolutely no common sense.

Mean while, a person can go to their local Home Depot and buy a sledge hammer for 45 bucks, a pack of 12 sheets on galvanized steel for 70 bucks, and with the knowledge of welding, I could build two of these lovely chairs for 115 bucks, plus shipping and handling. Any takers?

So, you pay 6,718 dollars to hit a metal cube with a sledgehammer in order to make a chair?

God, I love capitalism.

It is regrettable, but understandable. Imagine if Mazda had sold the 4000 cars, and then something happened to them, if the chassis had bent, if the engine had been water logged, if the interior of the car had black mold growing on it. The 4000 people that bought those 4000 cars would have an excellent chance at collecting on a lawsuit, Mazda would be put out of business.

Those 4000 cars were not wasted, I can imagine that the metal was melted down and used again, the plastic too. The rubber could be sent to dealerships to be used as replacement parts. The other parts that were removed, i.e. radio, gauges, glass, lights, tires, etc, are also used as replacement parts. The folks at Mazda are no fools, if any business can make a buck off of a minor accident like this, they will.

I love open doors, it does look newly abandoned.

These sites are some of my favorites for the urban explorer...

http://www.vanishingpoint.ca/

http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/

I like the new Mini Clubman, it a cool looking little car.

Cool Ads too.

Who the hell is Luc Tuymans? Only snooty people wearing a coat with a crest on the pocket know who Luc Tuymans is, and even then they only buy his art because they figure he'll be dead soon.

Of course if I said this to one of those elitists they'd say things like "but he has such a quiet gravitas." No wonder you need a masters degree to work as a curator in some of these places.

What happens if, while wearing these snappy slacks, you wet your pants?

I could become an ID'er and say that God had a hand in the evolution of this species of lizard.

What probably happen was a larger look-a-like lizard ate the newly introduced lizard, or something new that they ate caused the evolution. Of course it could also be that these lizards had the genetic markers for the changes that occurred and that the new environment was optimal for these changes, or maybe the Croats had a chemical dump on the island, thus creating a race of super hungry, super smart lizards that will take over the world.

Who knows.

Fantastic!

One thing, she isn't a cop, she is a meter maid (was that politically incorrect? good.) She has no power to arrest, if she notices a crime taking place, she has to call the real police, she can't investigate herself. And apparently they feel above the law.

Here is the info from the NYPD's own website, it is under civilian opportunities....

Traffic Enforcement Agent

Traffic Enforcement Agents perform work of varying degrees of difficulty in traffic enforcement areas. When required, an agent issues summonses to illegally parked vehicles, directs traffic at an intersection, testifies at administrative hearing offices and court, prepares required reports, and may operate a motor vehicle. Traffic Enforcement Agents at assignment level III are required to operate a tow truck. At all assignment levels, personnel may be required to work nights, weekends, and holidays.

Qualifications:

A 4 year high school diploma or its equivalent.
Candidates must successfully complete a psychological, medical and drug screening, and a background investigation.
Candidates must possess a Driver’s License valid in the State of New York. Candidates for assignment level III must possess a towing endorsement in addition to their regular license.
Candidates must be NYC residents within 90 days of appointment.
Salaries: Level I $27,013 ($31,065 after 2 yrs)
Level II $33,478
Level III $36,900
Level IV $38,764

Base salaries are increased by overtime, night shift differential, uniform allowance, and holiday pay. Benefits include paid sick and annual leave, medical, dental and optical insurance, pension, and deferred compensation, 401K and IRA options.
Advancement opportunities exist both within the Traffic Enforcement title series and through promotion to Police Officer, if you meet the educational and citizenship requirements.

To apply, please send your resume with a cover letter to:
New York City Police Department
Employment Section - Selection and Processing Unit
1 Police Plaza, Rm. 1014
New York, NY 10038
Att: TEA Position
You can also email you resume and cover letter to:
empsec@nypd.org
Filing will be open for the civil service examination for this title from January 2 - February 26 , 2008. The examination will be given on May 3, 2008. You can file by mail or online through the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. For more information, please visit their website at: www.nyc.gov/dcas.

#222 MORDION

I couldn't agree with you more, that was well thought out and researched. A lot better than I could have done.

Guns are always the weapon of last resort, I don't want to shoot anybody, but it is nice to know that I can defend myself until the police arrive. There is no feeling worse than helplessness.

The place where I go is an indoor range, they only allow handguns, no rifles or shotguns. They've also got an armorer on duty to make sure the guns are in good working order. If after three shots the sights are off you can adjust the way that you are shooting, and no, you cannot take the gun outside of the range.

#61

I was trying to state that the areas of the country that have strict gun laws are not any safer that areas that believe in the 2nd amendment. Nice try.

By the way I am not a gun nut, I rent a gun at a pistol range, a .45 1911 rents for 5 bucks and ammunition costs 11 bucks for 100 rounds. You can have a nice relaxing hour for under 20 bucks.

Ha ha, gun owners are happier because we know that we can take care of ourselves. I have never fired my gun at anything with a heart beat, but I was trained in the use of a gun. I am not a member of the NRA, but I am glad that they are out there fighting for the right to keep and bare arms. I do not ever want to shoot anyone, in fact if a dangerous situation should present itself I hope and pray that I never have to fire my gun.

The thing is that places like New York, D.C. and Chicago have some of the toughest gun laws on the books, yet they also have some of worst gun violence. Chicago reported 26 shootings in one weekend, six are dead with 20 wounded.

But of course I'm bitter, and I cling to my guns, religion, and intolerance. *sarcasm off

Well you can take what these gentlemen say with a grain of salt, or you you can drink the kool-aid. The difference between now and the past fifty years is that it's a republican manipulating the news rather than a leftist.

Unfortunately the coffee was cold when the printer was done.

I don't think that Wallace and Gromit's "Wrong Trousers" could be considered a robot.

So knowing that Mr. Berry has past on, what happened to the "Beast in the Basement"?

If they have psychological services for those that wish to switch from male to female, and vise versa, why the hell don't they do the same for perfectly good people that wish for bigger tits, or a smaller nose. No matter what type of elective surgery people have, they still won't be happy with themselves for a simple reason, the doctor worked on the body and not the mind.

I think that plastic surgery has a place in the medical services, for burn victims, for breast cancer survivors, for amputees, that is fine. When I see a perfectly good teenager on Dr. 90210 going in for a breast enhancement, it makes me sad really.

That is a shame, Rest in Peace....

Honor payment systems are good hearted ideas, but they do not work in the real world, people like free stuff.

I had heard of a honor payment restaurant, you would order, a member of the wait staff would bring it out, and then you'd pay what you thought it was worth. The restaurant was o&o'ed by a very nice Christian family, well the place went out of business in three months. The reason was that not everybody is a good soul and some wouldn't pay at all. It's a great idea and anyone who wants to try it is a really trying experience.

Over a loud speaker:

"Hello, everybody, uh, yeah, uh you are going to want to stay away from the brown X, that's the brown X, thank you."

So if they did it secretly anyway, who would know?

Those are some amazing photos, but coming from Nat'l Geo, that not unusual.

I loathe the Chinese government, and really have a strong hatred for communism. I think that if Tibet wants to be free, they should be allowed. That being said what happened in Britain and now France is bad for the cause. The flame is not the Chinese governments tradition, it is an Olympic tradition. This type of action allows the Chinese government to say, "See, see, this is the type of savages we are dealing with." A better way to protest would be to stand on the sidelines wrists and knees bound blindfolded and gaged. Have a banner flying overhead that states "Free Tibet". Try to get to the front of the line, naturally, the more people that are doing this the better. It always helps the cause if the participants are respectful rather than disrespectful.

I'm no lawyer, you can tell by the time stamp, but, this is a tricky situation. Do the law's of this nation end at the waters edge? Do we, as a nation project our laws on those that live in another land? If the latter is true then are we nation building? Should our troops try to live like the people of whatever land they are in at the moment?

Japan and, to a lesser extent Germany, were brought fully into the twentieth century in the aftermath of WWII. Should we have a one world government, with all of the countries having the exact same laws? What about the customs of these countries, should they be considered equal? We've got children being disfigured in some countries, we've got children being raped in order to "cure" HIV in other countries. We've got Muslim women being raped and then being stoned to death because they showed an ankle. Is that equal to our putting a murderer to death for killing others?

This is great, better than any Government program, one person helping another who really needs it. Mr. Diaz should feel good, I hope he continues. It's a great lesson for all of us, whether you are religious or not, all it is is compassion for our fellow humans.

I didn't check out the link but....

"Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants.
"The problem [of hospitals going broke] is hugely exaggerated by illegal aliens who aren’t going to pay for anything anyway," Niven said.”

isn't this one of the things that the Palestinians say about the Israelis?

I believe the only thing that you could hear over the malay was....

"Och, Me lunch!!!"

Did the robot speak with an Austrian accent? Was his last name Conner?

Please leave the GDP alone. It's never hurt anyone. People can be running a great business, in multiple countries, with over a million employees, with the best healthcare, 16 weeks vacation time, and the strongest 401K out there, and still be miserable or have a horrible home life, divorce, suicide, death in the family, it really doesn't matter. My question is when are these statisticians going to ask the question of whether or not I'm happy? Early Monday morning, Friday night? You are either happy, pissed, or somewhere in between. The quality of life can change in a moments notice, it seems to me that this is a lot of happy horse shit.