Overnight Open Thread (3-13-2016)

Quote of the Day I

When the Insta-Daughter was a freshman at Georgia Tech, I wrote Peterson personally because armed gangs were staging "dorm invasions," breaking into dorms and robbing students at gunpoint. I was concerned about her safety, but I didn't even get a reply. That makes me wonder if one reason why the Tech administration is targeting its own students is its inability to deal with the actual, serious crime on and around its campus. I also felt that they really lied to us about the campus security situation when we were looking at the place, and would advise future applicants - and parents of applicants - to take whatever they say with a grain of salt.

-- Glenn Reynolds in Georgia lawmaker calls on Georgia Tech president to resign.

Quote of the Day II

"We are not exactly redesigning how to go to the moon, right? This is a pistol. ...And arguably, it is the least lethal and important weapon system in the Department of Defense inventory."

"[A] 367-page requirement document. Why? Well, a lawyer says this, and a lawyer says that, and you have to go through this process and that process and you have to have oversight from this that and the other."

"The testing - I got a briefing the other day - the testing for this pistol is two years. Two years to test technology that we know exists. You give me $17 million on the credit card, I'll call Cabela's tonight, and I'll outfit every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine with a pistol and I'll get a discount on it for bulk buys."

-- Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley on the joint service XM17 Modular Handgun program boondoggle

Guinness: The Oldest Living Man in the World is a 112 Year Old Survivor of Auschwitz

Born in Poland, near the town of Zarnow on 15 September, 1903 to parents Moszek-Dawid and Brucha Krystztal, Mr Kristal has lived through both World Wars and survived Nazi war camp Auschwitz in the 1940s before relocating to Israel.

Kristal claims the title at the age of 112 years and 178 days as of 11 March 2016, and was awarded his certificate at his home in Haifa, by Guinness World Records' Head of Records Marco Frigatti.

Upon being confirmed as the world's Oldest living man and receiving his Guinness World Records certificate, Mr Kristal said: "I don't know the secret for long life. I believe that everything is determined from above and we shall never know the reasons why. There have been smarter, stronger and better looking men then me who are no longer alive. All that is left for us to do is to keep on working as hard as we can and rebuild what is lost."

Best of Hands: Obama's CIA Director Is Opposed to Actual Spying

In what was otherwise a thoughtful interview with National Public Radio last week, CIA Director John Brennan expressed his personal view that the CIA should be not be viewed as a spy agency. In the 24 February interview he said, "I don't support government spying.. We don't steal secrets. We uncover, we discover, we reveal, we obtain, we elicit, we solicit. All of that." What? We don't steal secrets? Is he joking? Brennan has reportedly also made clear to the officers under his charge that he eschews the term espionage, and does not view the CIA as an espionage service.

The Wages of Unrestrained Campus Craziness: Mizzou Now Struggling Financially

Fewer students are applying and many alumni are declining to donate resulting in a $32 million deficit for the university next year. No raises or hiring for now and cuts are expected.

Federal Court: Bans on Bondage and Spanking During Sex Could Be OK

Thank you college campuses.

In this respect, the conclusion . that there is no deeply rooted history or tradition of BDSM sexual activity remains relevant and important to the analysis. Also relevant and important to the analysis is the absence of a history of impermissible animus as the basis for the restriction at issue here. Sexual activity that involves binding and gagging or the use of physical force such as spanking or choking poses certain inherent risks to personal safety not present in more traditional types of sexual activity. Thus, as in Cruzan and Glucksberg, a legislative restriction on BDSM activity is justifiable by reference to the state's interest in the protection of vulnerable persons, i.e. sexual partners placed in situations with an elevated risk of physical harm.

Accordingly, consistent with the logic of Lawrence, plaintiff has no constitutionally protected and judicially enforceable fundamental liberty interest under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to engage in BDSM sexual activity.

Only Yes Means Yes Coming to the Constitution State

Also thank you college campuses.

Moe Lane: Kipling vs. Breitbart.com

Advantage: Kipling.

It was weeks ere we could see the wood for the trees, but so soon as the staff [of a newspaper] realised that they had proprietors who backed them right or wrong, and specially when they were wrong (which is the sole secret of journalism), and that their fate did not hang on any passing owner's passing mood, they did miracles.

- Rudyard Kipling, "The Village That Voted The Earth Was Flat."

Breitbart senior editor-at-large Joel Pollak ordered the conservative website's staffers to stop defending their colleague Michelle Fields after she was allegedly manhandled by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Internal Breitbart newsroom chats, obtained by BuzzFeed News, show Pollak telling concerned reporters to "STOP tweeting about the story. Stop speculating about the story." In another message, he reminded them that "you were given explicit instructions."

- The Daily Beast.  More here.

Just take the poor man's name off of the mast please.

Heh.

One protester, 64-year-old Dede Rottman of Chicago, carried a placard that read: "Build a Wall Around Trump. I'll Pay for it."

However, 19-year-old Rusty Shackleford of Lombard, in line to attend the Trump rally, said he was there to "support the man who wants to make America great again."

SJWs Try to Ban £180-a-ticket Orient Express-themed Ball at Cambridge

The very word 'orient' is now considered racist and must be suppressed.

Randomly Discovered Word of the Day: Cartesian Diver

17 Year Old Primary Voters in Ohio? Why Not "14 or Fight"?

The country's got a whole new bag now. Time to get on board the youth express.

Confessions Of A Former Mafia Boss

Michael Franzese is a former member of the Columbo crime family and at one time was listed as the 18th most powerful mob boss in the US - just five spots behind John Gotti. Then he walked away from all of it and without entering a witness protection program.

What is the process of becoming a "Made Man" like?

Very intense. very solemn, very serious. I took an oath with a picture of a saint burning in my hands. My thumb was cut with a knife and blood dropped on the floor. The oath is never to violate the brotherhood of La Cosa Nostra.

Is it generally harder for someone outside of the family to become a made man?

It is harder. you must be "proposed" by another made man. he vouches for you. my father did for me. the mob wants to know your background, where you came from. then you go through a pledge period where you must prove yourself.

Any fears about your safety today?

I can't go back to brooklyn to live, or in NY in general. wouldn't last. but i don't live in fear. i am a person of strong faith now. God has had my back. remember, i am the only made man, a caporegime, that i know of who has walked away from the life, publicly, not entered a witness protection program and lived. it's a God thing, my friend. not coincidence.

How much are you worth and have you really quit the mob or is this just deep cover?

I'm out. 15 years straight proves it. at one time, I was bringing $8-$10 million a week into my operation. had a jet, a helicopter - all the toys. today, I work for a living. for myself but I work.

How accurate are most mob movies/television shows? If you could recommend one to watch for authenticity, which would it be?

Most authentic - Goodfellas and Donnie Brasco. They mention my name in Good fellas. The bar scene. I knew those guys very well. My era. saved Henry Hill's life 2 x. I knew Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke well, also. And Left Guns Ruggerio was a good friend. Those two are the most accurate depiction of that part of the life.

Where's Hoffa at?

They will NEVER find Hoffa's body. trust me on that one.

The Force Awakens Was Certified as Culturally British, Received £31 Million in UK Tax Credits

Sippican Cottage and the Archaeological Tampons

I was no longer speaking to my son.

We hadn't had any sort of disagreement or anything. I like him a lot. If I didn't know he was my son, and I met him, I'd probably like him even more than I do. Because I know he's my son, I can espy resemblances to me, and that makes me discount his good nature a little, I'm afraid. I don't like myself as much as I like him.

No, it was simple weariness that had set in. It gets boring saying, "Go. Stop. Go. Stop." It's tiresome to say. It's tiresome to consider how tiresome it must be to hear. I slowly began to simply grunt, and after a while I just jerked my thumb this way and that to get the message across. He's perceptive, and he anticipated things once we got going, so even my thumb got a rest.

...I quickly realized I wasn't playing Current Events. The little pillows were ancient history. They didn't say Johnson and Johnson on them. They just said Johnson, talk to the Old Man. These were bungs from the Baroque, Always from the Jazz Age, postwar Playtex, Tampax from the Tang Dynasty, Ottoman Empire occlusions, Seleucid sanitary napkins, and stopples from the Silurian. This was a museum, not a sewer system. I wondered if I could get some kind of grant to look them over and catalog them.

I began to suspect that hunter-gatherer societies had been flushing these things down my toilet. The former residents of my house must have invited people over to join in the fun. They probably ran ads in the Grover Cleveland Craiglist to come on over and flush your troubles away. It seemed like a determined effort to my eye.

My son and I went back and forth, fifty to sixty feet of cable at a stretch. I don't remember how many times it took. When we were properly lulled by exhaustion and repetition, it finally came. The magic sound. It was the sound a nurse hears while walking down the hall in the nursing home late at night. A horrible gurgle, as the whole organism lets go and slides away to a better world. The poop in the pipe was gone.

Meet Dr. Pimple Popper

Dr. Sandra Lee is a dermatologist in Southern California who started posting videos of some of her daily dermatological work two years ago including removing blackheads, whiteheads and other skin occlusions. And since then she's become a YouTube star with devoted fans following all her zit-popping videos.

You can watch some here and here. I can tell you that they're both disgusting yet also intensely satisfying to watch. Dr. Lee has a very calming bedside manner and makes this seem like the most normal thing in the world. It's also funny to watch her working on her own kids in this video.

Weekly Commenter Standings

Top 10 commenters:
1 [718 comments] 'Christopher Taylor' [101.41 posts/day]
2 [518 comments] 'Tammy al-Thor'
3 [514 comments] 'AlaBAMA'
4 [483 comments] 'redbanzai'
5 [463 comments] 'Skip'
6 [439 comments] 'Mike Hammer, etc., etc.'
7 [386 comments] 'Ricardo Kill'
8 [375 comments] 'Ghost of kari - certified inane'
9 [355 comments] 'Slapweasel, (Cold1), (T)'
10 [335 comments] 'J.J. Sefton'

Honorable Mention:

15 [299 comments] 'ace'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [110 names] 'D. Trump' [15.54 unique names/day]
2 [85 names] 'Mimzey'
3 [67 names] 'The Political Hat'
4 [51 names] 'Hillary 2016'
5 [48 names] 'Sir Isaac Newton'
6 [34 names] 'Cicero (@cicero)'
7 [34 names] 'andycanuck>'
8 [33 names] 'Bertram Cabot Jr.'
9 [31 names] 'Christopher Taylor'
10 [25 names] 'Ready For Hillary!!11!!'

The group. Banned on 12 universities.

Tonight's post brought to you by covering the bases:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to the usual non-caring suspects. The ladies bathroom is now open again. No more defilement please.

posted by Maetenloch at 10:14 PM

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