In case you missed the first democratic debate:

Yes, there is a republican BLR video too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufGlBv8Z3NU

 

Enjoy.

 

 
Carly Fiorina Pegs Ted Cruz in Iowa

DES NOINES: Senator Ted Cruz, seen limping and rubbing his backside, admitted being deeply penetrated by the ambitious woman candidate.  "It was an enormous strap-on," said Cruz.  "I just didn't see it coming."  The pegging comes on the heels of Lyndsey Graham's buggery in South Carolina and Marco Rubio's cornholimg in Florida.  Said Fiorina, "protect your rectums, boys!  I'm on a roll now.  I shall not be stopped."

 

Putin Invades, or Doesn't Invade, Delaware

Gangs of men dressed in green, wearing ski masks and Russian-looking uniforms with no insignia, were recently seen shuffling around Wilmington.  Vladimir Putin denied any knowledge of them.  "Anybody can buy these stuff in costume store," he said disdainfully.  "Who are they? I not know who are they."

An analyst from Fox News observed that many of the green men speak Russian with a true Russian, not Delaware, accent, and thus must be recent arrivals.  The separatist faction in Delaware is still only a minority.  By a poll taken within the last year, 79% of Wilmingtonians said they did not wish to be part of Russia.

Hubit Chekokoff, the self-declared mayor of Wilmington, arrested a small group of the Delaware State Police.  The "mayor" asserted that he had proof that at least one of the officers is a "spy."  Moscow says it has played no role in the uprising, to which Putin added, "these very much correct."

 

What is the Universe? Where did it Come From? How Do We Get Rid of It?

SCIENCE: The Space Administration has served its purpose.  It was entertaining.  But the universe costs too damn much.  Administrators feel it is more important to reserve cost of the stars and asteroids for defense and for bolstering the job creators.

 

Women Can Help -- by Putting Out!

Mass killings occur every two weeks on average, and there appears to be no remedy.  Mental health checks, bans of assault weapons, and closing the gun show loophole, each will only prevent a finite number of shootings.

What do all American mass killers have in common?  They are virgins.  They are young, white, alienated, and unlaid.  Also, they tend to post whining rants on youtube.

Fuck these guys.  Seriously, someone needs to fuck these guys -- problem solved.  This was the thinking that led activist Nataly Loveless to form an organization named Slutbang International.  "We are looking for volunteers to find these guys in youtube and bang them," says Nataly.  "Come on, two or three quick thrusts gets them off.  Think of the lives you will be saving."

 

 
Yeah, I watch a lot of TV.  I'm retired, you know.  It turns out Youtube offers most episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, a police drama that ran from 1993 to 1999.  Wikipedia says:

Homicide's purpose was to provide its viewers with a no-nonsense, police procedural-type glimpse into the lives of a squad of inner-city detectives. As opposed to many television shows and movies involving cops, Homicide initially opted for a bleak sort of realism in its depiction of "The Job", portraying it as repetitive, spiritually draining, an existential threat to one's psyche.

Though it struggled with ratings most of its lifespan, Homicide won a pile of dramatic awards such as the Television Critics Association for Outstanding Achievement in Drama, and Peabodys.  Andre Braugher emerged the series breakout star as Detective Frank Pembleton.  Here Alfre Woodard reprises her role as Dr. Roxanne Turner from the series St. Elsewhere 1985 - 1988.

The theme of "Mercy" (45 min) is euthanasia, and not surprisingly, the issue is not resolved.  But the dramatic depth of the dialog is riveting.  The 1998 episode is entirely brilliant -- the writing, direction, plot, and acting are nearly perfect.  Alfre Woodard and Braugher together are as vivid as a Shakespeare colloquy, particularly in the last fifteen minutes of the video.  I could watch it twenty more times.

 

 

So the Russians have joined the war in Syria.  We are amazed that anyone could side with Bashir al Assad in this dispute, but Putin has never felt constrained to appear reasonable.  The numbers are plainly unfavorable to Assad.

Every year of the conflict has seen an exponential growth in refugees.  In 2012, there were 100,000 refugees.  By April 2013, there were 800,000.  That doubled to 1.6 million in less than four months.  There are now four million Syrians scattered throughout the region, making them the world's largest refugee population under the United Nations' mandate.

At this rate, the U.N. predicts there could be 4.27 million Syrian refugees by the end of 2015 —- the worst exodus since the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago.  SOURCE  And this estimate was made before the present air campaign.

4.27 million is a major portion of Syria's total population.

What proportion is that, we might ask?  The population of Syria in 2007 was 18,881,361  (I retrieved this number from my study of the 2008 olympics.)

So the proportion is 4.27 / 18.88 * 100 = 22.62%, which means about two Syrians in nine are refugees.  For reasons mentioned above, it is a low ball estimate.  In fact, if Russia continues its current trajectory, some EU analysts project, we may see a doubling of the number of refugees within a year.

I rest my case.  We do not have to know which of the 29 different rebel factions support ISIS or Iran or are actual terrorists.  We only have to look at the above proportion to know that Assad is a true Asshat.

 

 

 
Sarah Palin Sept 6, 2015 on CNN:

Let’s speak American, let’s speak English, and that’s a kind of a unifying aspect of the nation is the language that is understood by all.

---

"We believe”? Wait, I thought fast food joints, hurh. Don’t you guys think that they’re like of the Devil or somethin’ I was. Liberals, you want to send those evil employees who would dare work at a fast food joint then ya just don’t believe in, thought you wanted to, I dunno, send them to Purgatory or somethin’ so they all go VEGAN and, uh, wages and picket lines I dunno they’re not often discussed in Purgatory, are they? I dunno why are you even worried about fast food wages because dha.

Says Bill Maher, "If Sarah Palin suffers a stroke, how will we know?"

 

 

I made the mistake of watching this bastard from beginning to end.  It is so stupid it's brilliant.  It is so brilliant that I'll never watch another movie.  I don't want to.  I mean what would be the point?

The End of Cinema
Kung Fury (31:02) has laser raptors, rogue arcade game machines, aryan mustaches, Adolf Hitler, gattling guns, and a TriceraCop.  It has everything.  You will never want to watch any other movie.
(If you don't wish to spend half an hour watching this bastard, you can see the trailer instead.)

 

Statistics on gun deaths are hard to find, often because local jurisdictions report them unreliably, and often because the gun enthusiasts are opposed to anything resembling a national database.

In 2012, USA Today began a multi-month-long investigation into data to discern other deadly patterns, culminating in the publication of “Behind the Bloodshed” in 2013.  It is believed to be the most reliable journalistic resource to date on mass killings in the U.S. -- that is, killings of at least four victims -- and the team updates it regularly.  [ Interview ]

Project manager Jodi Upton, senior database editor at USA Today, led a team of data experts, designers, editors, web developers and others to create an interactive presentation of these results.

It turns out there is no "magic bullet" solution.  Most mass killings are committed:

• with handguns, and not with rifles or automatic weapons.
• with legally owned weapons.
• against family members.
• by a killer their victims knew.
• by males.
• in streaks.

Statistically, mass killings can have a "contagion" effect lasting, on average, about 13 days.  That can happen even when the killer is not directly aware of other incidents, as is often the case for the hundreds of mass killings that do not generate days of national coverage, says Sherry Towers, professor of statistics at Arizona State University’s Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center.  [ Sherry Towers ]

 

What is the correct pronunciation of "didn't?"  It turns out a correct pronunciation does not exist.  But even if it did, it would surely evolve into something else a week from now.  And there will be regional differences, as well as those based on ethnicity and class.  How does a Valley Girl say it?  How will a Valley Girl say it?

Which of the following is correct?

I found these illustrations in google.  There are many more possibilities.  I've heard young people say DI-nawt.  In New York you might hear Di-ont.  How do you say it?

This discussion is from Englishforums.com ( LINK )

I recently noticed marked differences in pronunciation of '"didn't". Monica Goodling says a clear "diddint", and a friend (originally from Utah) says "dint". When I tried to write how I say it (the only correct way , of course!) I realized couldn't see how to phonetically. When I say it, the second 'd' closes the airstream and there is a kind of sounded, plosive gutteral that goes through the nose. How do you say it? How would you transcribe it phonetically? - Richard Yates

/'dId nt/ or /'dId Emotion: catnt/ No more nasality than is usual with the n, which is, after all, classed as a nasal.
I've been noticing a different pronunciation lately, heard mostly on TV, mostly from younger interviewees and actors, mostly female. /'dI d@t/ - Cece

How would you describe your way of saying the first "d"? Some people say "diddent" or "diddunt" and some say that "dd" in a very pronounced manner. Others say "dittent" (unsounded plosive) and even others say the word with a "glottal stop" (di'nt). Most times, I think, I say "dint" with the same sounds as the "dint" (by dint of great effort). - Pat Durkin

Here is an entry in the Urban Dictionary, September 26, 2007, by TopSecret.  The Urban Dictionary is usually a good source for current language usage, but note that this entry is eight years old.

(Pronounced: o no you dit-ten) A colloquial expression of incredulity, voiced upon witnessing another's action or statement, or hearing of it from the actor firsthand.
"Step off, bitch," said Tyrone. "Oh no you dit-ten!" exclaimed Shanna.

Finally, MELANIE-the-American-English-Teacher notes that the "t" in "nt" may often be silent in rapid colloquial speech ( LINK )  "I don't understand" may legitimately be pronounced "I don unnerstan"

Thus "didn't" becomes "din."

How do you say "didn't"?

... homemade minestrone in particular.  It tastes mad nutritious from the first bite.  And why is that?  There is no meat in it.  It's entirely vegetarian.

You see, I get seasonal local vegetables delivered by a co-op to my front door every week.  (You might want to check whether doortodoororganics.com is in your area. If it isn't, there will be an equivalent organization.)  So I noticed I had some onion, carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, potato, celery, parsely, red cabbage, garlic, tomatoes, and scallions.  Now add broth, olive oil, butter, bay leaf, tomato sauce, garbanzos, pepper, and herbs, and -- there is a mystery chemical reaction when you dice and slow cook everything that gives you the feeling of having eaten a full steak dinner.

Peace out.

In a world where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' -- highly-developed robotic servant creepily similar to a real human -- we have the premise of AMC's new TV series HUMANS.

AMC imported the series from BBC in the UK.  I haven't seen it yet.  I assume it will explore the intrusion of technology into our daily life.  And since the new cyborg looks real hot, I assume there will be themes of jealousy within the family.  Anyway, don't miss it.

---

 
By coincidence, I learned about the TV show at about the same time I learned about a Chinese girl in reddit.com with the handle SexyCyborg.  She looks like a robot.  She wants to be a robot.  She is human (mostly).  For more details you can read her FAQ.

Why do you post pictures?

For fun.  We all like to be told we look nice.  I was a late bloomer and am new to the attention so appreciate it all the more.

Yes, she lives in China, in Shenzhen, southeastern China, a modern metropolis bordering Hong Kong.  You will notice that she is very comfortable speaking English, an ability that seems to be rare even among the highly educated.

We study English in school but the quality of instruction is not very good.  I had private tutoring which helped a lot.  Mostly from watching American TV shows and transcribing them for writing practice.  Now I work in English, that helps.

What is your job?

I am a web developer using Ruby on Rails but transitioning to JS.  I work at home doing freelance work for overseas companies.  None of my clients know I am female or what I look like.  This means I have a lot of freedom to look how I like and no interest in being in a situation where I am judged by my appearance and not my work.

Are your boobs real?

No. They are 800cc cohesive gel implants. I have had them a year and a half. I got them in Thailand, the largest size available in China is 600cc. They are soft, skin is still a little tight. I have no pain or problems with them.

Why did you get implants?

I could not get longer legs (height is most important in China) so I decided a big chest was the next best thing for looking better. I have a big interest in any kind of human augmentation. Any robot parts I can get I would- that’s why “Cyborg”.

The synths will be jealous -- would be jealous, I mean, if they had feelings.