Overnight Open Thread (12-16-2013)

Woo Hoo - We're Number 8!!

In John Hawkin's annual ranking of the top 40 conservative web sites of 2013. No one knows exactly how they're calculated but I can definitely state that after viewing the ever paltry AoSHQ coffers that no graft or payola was involved on our part. :-(

Now #7 Instapundit is not going to an easy target to take down for next year - he is a freakin' juggernaut of blogging. But as fearsome as he can seem we do know that he has a few weaknesses - primarily an inordinate fondness for gadgets, chocolate, and Ann Althouse. Come on people - let's use this knowledge and our animal cunning to claw our way up to #7 in 2014.

Remember - in the end there can only be one!

              40) The Black Sphere
              39) The Campaign Spot
              38) Clash Daily
              37) Rare
              36) Moonbattery
              35) Liberal Logic 101
              34) Joe For America
              33) Pat Dollard
              32) Althouse
              31) Naked DC
              30) The Tea Party News Network
              29) Jammie Wearing Fools
              28) Lucianne
              27) Life News
              26) Legal Insurrection
              25) Cybercast News Service
              24) Redstate
              23) The Washington Examiner
              22) Newsmax
              21) Front Page Magazine
              20) Michelle Malkin
              19) The American Spectator
              18) PJ Media
              17) Newsbusters
              16) National Review
              15) Twitchy
              14) Mr. Conservative
              13) The Corner
              12) BizPac Review
              11) Weasel Zippers
              10) The Daily Caller
              9) Breitbart
              8) Ace of Spades HQ
              7) Instapundit (soon my friend, soon)
              6) Fox News
              5) Real Clear Politics
              4) The Blaze
              3) Hot Air
              2) The Gateway Pundit
              1) The Drudge Report

 The Turtle-Lies of Obamacare

'Obamacare was sold on a trinity of lies."

That ornate phrase, more suitable for the Book of Revelations or perhaps the next installment of Game of Thrones, comes from my National Review colleague Rich Lowry. But I like it. Most people know the first deception in the triumvirate of deceit: "If you like your health insurance you can keep it, period." The second leg in the tripod of deception was "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."

But the third plank in the triad of disinformation hasn't gotten much attention: Obamacare will save you, me, and the country a lot of money. This lie took several forms.

...Obamacare may have been sold on a trinity of lies, but it turns out it's also lies all the way down.

Columnist: Hey Let's Give Marijuana to Young People Who Sign Up For Obamacare

Among other prizes and major awards.

First, announce and advertise that everyone between the ages of 18 and 34 who enrolls on the health-care exchanges by the end of the year is automatically entered in a lottery. Winners will receive everything from a free iPhone or iPad to a full-year of health-care underwritten by Uncle Sam. Refer a friend and get a discount. Buy one (year), get one free. In states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use - Colorado and Washington - by all means, throw in a bag of cannabis.

But here's why they ultimately won't - pot or no pot:

Average premiums for young people will range from $157 to $201 a month, which comes out to $1,884 to $2,412 per year. (This doesn't account for deductibles, copays, etc.) Most uninsured young people don't have that extra cash lying around - or if they do, they would prefer to spend it elsewhere.

To Question the Existence of 'Rape Culture' Is Rape Culture

Much has been said about the campus "war on rape" and the way it imperils students' due process rights, but there is another casualty as well: the free exchange of ideas on college campuses when it comes to the subject of sexual offenses.

A particularly revealing recent example comes from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  On November 5, Katherine Krueger, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Badger Herald, ran a long piece explaining why the previous day's edition had featured a letter to the editor from a student named David Hookstead questioning the existence of "rape culture." Krueger wrote that she had made the decision to run the letter "after careful deliberation and debate with our managing editor and opinion editors."

The fact that Krueger felt the need to justify the letter's publication is remarkable enough; but the reason she gave for publishing it was even more striking.  Hookstead's letter, you see, was an object lesson in "what rape culture looks like," since it expressed "morally repugnant, patriarchal and offensive" views that are "an embodiment of rape culture" itself.

You know just like computer code.

Also: Can a Drunken Male and Female Student 'Rape Each Other'?

Bogus Interpreter Also A Fan of 'Necklacing'

20% of All British C-130s Taken Out by Hail

The Many Benefits of Owning a Sailboat

As described in an ad for a 27 foot sailboat ($5000 or best offer). Remember a boat isn't just a cash-hungry declining asset - it's also a bank account-draining lifestyle.

What does captian kurt [sic], popeye, captain hook and tommy lee have in common? They are all bad ass people. Why? Because they were all in command of ships. You should be in command of a ship. You should buy my boat. I can offer you the opportunity to be in command of this Catalina 27 sailing ship for about the cost of a lot of the stupid stuff you bought, buy or are thinking about buying.

...I understand you have many options on how to spend your free time. How you choose to recreate says a lot about a human being. What I am offering you is the open Pacific Ocean, fishing, going to islands, breathing salty air at sea, breathing atomic four gas powered exhaust fumes, drinking rum, drinking whiskey, drinking cheap beer, drinking expensive beer, drinking the dead sea monkeys floating in the drink that your friend backwashed, spear fishing anything that moves, endless supply of gold colored fish to make into tacos, trapping crabs, getting crabs, free membership to hbyc, a money pit, a fist pumping teeth grinding laser eating dance platform, a new kitchen, a boom that might hit you in the head, a $270 slip fee, the ability to t-bone a stand up paddle boarder, the ability to bbq a t-bone steak, the ability to bone in the v-birth, the chance to see whales, the improved chance to bring a whale out of najas and tying knots. These are fine things. These are gentlemanly things. They certainly beat sitting in car traffic towing your sand rail or three wheeler past a bunch of meth labs to glamis or driving a boat in circles in the std filled cess pool commonly referred to as "the river" or any other so called lake. Does a real man or woman want to recreate in a standing pool of "fresh water" or in a hot desert with a bunch of drunk yahoos with engines strapped to their backs?

And you know what's better than buying a boat? Getting a friend to buy a boat - so be sure and pass this ad on to him.

George Takei, Top Amazon Reviewer

Apparently George Takei spends a lot of his time tweeting and the rest reviewing products on Amazon, making himself a Top-1000-Reviewer and probably the Top-50-Funniest-Reviewers. Here is his review of the inflatable human hamster ball:

When Brad asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said "jet pack," just like I have for the past four years. Now, Brad thinks I'm too far into my "Golden Years" to strap on any kind of propulsion unit, so each year his gifts have been disappointing: A bow-tie. A snuggie. Gel insoles.

Imagine my delight when I came home to the ZORB HUMAN HAMSTER BALL in our back yard. "Not as good a jet pack," Brad noted, shrugging. "But safer."

Brad was a bit winded after blowing it up for six hours (I recommend an air pump), so we left it inflated. We strapped it to our car roof using the 120 left-over bungee cords from our home bungee jumping kit (I would NOT recommend this product). We then drove up to the Hollywood Hills sign for a test roll.

A Cop Does Good

The Baltimore Humane Society honored Officer Dan for compassionate service this week for his actions in rescuing a Pit bull after responding to a call about a "vicious" dog on the loose this past May.

For those that don't know his story, Officer Dan arrived on the scene and and saw a Pit bull being chased by kids who were throwing glass bottles at him. He called the dog over to him, and the Pit bull came over, sat next to him and began licking him affectionately. After taking the dog to the Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS), he ended up adopting the dog a few days later and named him Bo.

Finally: A Phased Laser Rifle in the 7 Watt Range

Forget it kid - you'll just shoot your eye out.

Do Not Want For Xmas

The Yahoo AoSHQ group. Bla bla bla.

And my twitter thang.

Tonight's post brought to you by 1976:

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:12 PM

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