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The December 6, 2013 episode with guest Sean Davis has been posted.

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The movie Galaxy Quest was originally rated R but the adult scenes were cut to give it a PG13 rating. [dri]

Update: Dave's Crap Tree is up. New pics! for those unfamiliar with this horrible yet wonderful tradition, see here

Obamacare and the bifurcated cusp. Using math (well, a few diagrams) to suggest the nature of the abrupt shift in public opinion toward Obamacare (and Obama himself), and why Obama's PR blitz is likely to fail. [Fritzworth]

Science Daily: Study Delivers Protein Across Blood-Brain Barrier to Degrade Alzheimer's Plaques
"The researchers began their work by considering how they might breach the blood-brain barrier. Daniell hypothesized that a molecule might be permitted to cross if it was attached to a carrier that is able to pass over, as a sort of molecular crossing guard.... They next identified a protein that could clear the plaques that are found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients." Via @DoreenHDickson. [rdbrewer]

Accuweather.com: You've Never Seen a Snowflake in This Much Detail
Thanks to krakatoa. [rdbrewer]

RealClearTechnology: Our Final Invention: How the Human Race Goes and Gets Itself Killed
"Barrat argues that the time it will take for ASI to surpass human level intelligence, rendering us ant-like in comparison, could be a matter of days, if not mere hours, after it is created. Worse (it keeps getting worse), human researchers may not even know they have created this potent ASI until it is too late to attempt to contain it. An ASI birthed in a supercomputer may choose, Barrat writes, to hide itself and its capabilities lest the human masters it knows so much about it, attempt to shut it down." [rdbrewer]

Comments 12-6-13

Video Dump [rdbrewer]:
• Oldie but Goodie
• Cats on a Treadmill
• Eagle Thief
• Monkey Wants Leaves Crushed
• Happy Fox
• Mark Twain Juggles Piano
• Russian Icicles
• Russian Tow Truck
• Russian Road
• Aussie Car Commercial

Jonah Goldberg: Get set for the rise of the machines
"People don’t go into business to create jobs; they go into business to make money. Labor is a cost. The more expensive labor is, the more attractive nonhuman replacements for labor become. The minimum wage makes labor more expensive." [rdbrewer]

The Union Jack Was Created to Symbolize the Union of the British and Scottish Thrones, Laying England's Red-Cross-on-White-Field Flag over Scotland's White-Cross-on-Blue-Field Flag. If Scotland Votes to Abandon the UK, What Will the New "Union" Jack Look Like, Absent the Scottish Bits??
Spoiler: Possible designs range from "horrible" to "vomitous"

Can we parody President Ego’s self-parodying Mandela tribute? Yes. We. Can!
Photoshops. [rdbrewer]

Guy Benson: Mark Pryor last year: Politicians shouldn’t rely on the Bible for political decisions, you know
Busted! [rdbrewer]

ObamaCare's next victim - first responders.
If you like your local volunteer fire department, you can keep your local volunteer fire department. [ArthurK]

Getting Mandela Wrong: When A Conservative Juicboxer Attacks. Beware of the "Mandela was a Communist!" trap.

Video: Naki'o, a dog with prosthetic legs
A nice story from a while back. [rdbrewer]

W. James Antle, The National Interest: Watch Out for Rand Paul
Paul made an argument on drones that transcended normal partisan politics, winning plaudits from conscientious liberals and big-L Libertarians. He made opposition to targeted drones strikes the smart position for ambitious Republicans.... Paul also has an almost unique capacity to bring together two warring factions within the Republican Party: religious conservatives and libertarians. Consider his speech at Liberty University." [rdbrewer]


Charles C.W. Cooke: Obama: I’m Not Incompetent, Government Is
"It seems that our progressive president is prepared to defend the many virtues of government right up to the point at which doing so requires admitting that he’s not very good at running things." Also from NRO: Obamacare to screw over young people. [rdbrewer]


Editorial: ObamaCare’s millennial disaster
"According to a Harvard University poll released this week, more than half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 disapprove of ObamaCare. Fewer than a third say they will sign up." [rdbrewer]


Timothy Carney: If you want someone to listen to you on race, you don't start by likening him to a slaveowner
"Liberal writer Jonathan Chait wrote an extended analogy as a blog post today, and it's unambiguous that the analogy is this: Conservative critics today are to President Obama as slaveholders were to slaves who dared speak their mind." Political bigotry. Also from the DC Examiner: Byron York on the absence affordability rhetoric in the Obamacare PR push. [rdbrewer]

Comments 12-5-13

Medical device manufacturer cites Obamacare device tax as contributing to layoffs and restructuring.[Purp]

Mediate: Obama Takes Swipe at the Media on MSNBC: Actively Trying to ‘Divide and Splinter’ Us
That's just weird. [rdbrewer]

Wedding interrupted by ninjas, knights, Ironman, and Batman might be the lamest or the greatest wedding ever. You decide [dri]

ChessBoxing? Apparently its a thing in Russia. Play some chess, beat on each other for a round, repeat until someone is knocked out or checkmated.[Purp]

Korean woman refuses to wear anything but bikinis around the house, upsetting her family. (In Korean but you will grasp what's going on) [dri]