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College Humor contributors Robert Brown and Andrew Bridgman imagine what the world looks like through the eyes of dogs.




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College Humor

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Have you been chugging Red Bull again? It’s late, and we’re trying to get some sleep.

(Arbroath.)

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Gotcha the Cockatoo

Ask the police and they'll tell you that serial numbers seldom help catch thieves -- dedicated crooks are usually smart enough to file off those digits so that stolen items can't be linked to a crime. Researchers at the National Institute of Standard...

President Obama is poised to make the third veto of his presidency, putting the kibosh on a bill passed by both the House and Senate authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline.

Obama has so far exercised his veto less frequently than other recent presidents. President Bill Clinton vetoed 37 bills in eight years, and President George W. Bush vetoed 12 in his two terms. In President George H.W. Bush’s single term, he vetoed 44 bills.

But because Obama is facing some of the least productive Congresses in recent history, his low veto count may not be entirely of his own making. To compare him with other presidents, it makes more sense to look at the rate at which he has vetoed bills, rather than the overall tally.

To date, according to GovTrack, just shy of 3,000 bills have passed both houses of Congress during Obama’s terms, and he has rejected only 0.1 percent, compared with the average veto rate of 1.9 percent for all other presidents since 1973 (not including Obama).

His sparing use of the veto cannot be explained simply as the result of working with a Democratic-controlled House and Senate for the first two years of his presidency. When Obama’s veto rate is parsed more finely, he has still used the veto less frequently than other presidents facing comparable Congresses.

When facing “friendly” Congresses (president’s party controls both Senate and House):

• Obama’s veto rate: 0.1 percent
• All other presidents (1973-2008): 0.7 percent

When facing split-control Congresses:

• Obama’s veto rate: 0 percent
• All other presidents (1973-2008): 3 percent

When facing opposition-controlled Congresses:

• Obama’s current veto rate: 0 percent
• Obama’s veto rate if he vetoes Keystone: 1.4 percent
• All other presidents (1973-2008): 3 percent

In his final two years in office, Obama’s use of the veto is expected to rise as he confronts a Republican House and Senate. Although George W. Bush had a relatively low veto rate when facing an opposition-controlled Congress (0.5 percent), most recent presidents have resorted to the veto more frequently, with Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Reagan vetoing 2.6 percent, 3.6 percent and 4.7 percent of the bills that crossed their desks, respectively.

	PERCENTAGE OF BILLS VETOED
PRESIDENT	ALL ALLIED	SPLIT CONGRESS	ALL OPPOSED
Obama	0.1%	0.0%	0.0%
Bush, G.W.	0.1	0.0	0.5
Clinton	0.0	—	2.6
Bush, G.H.W.	—	—	3.6
Reagan	—	2.7	4.7
Carter	1.5	—	—
Ford	—	—	2.5
Nixon/Ford	—	—⁠	3.9

However, Donald Ritchie, the historian of the U.S. Senate, cautioned that Obama may not catch up with the average veto rate for presidents facing Congresses controlled by the opposing party. Even when they’re in the minority, Senate Democrats can still play defense for the president, Ritchie pointed out. “You have the president’s party in the Senate blocking cloture votes, so they never get the bill to veto,” Ritchie said.

As the Senate has shifted to requiring supermajorities as a matter of course, it has become a more powerful shield for presidents who wish to avoid using a veto. The Democrats still retain 44 seats in the Senate, which is enough to deny the Republicans a supermajority and to protect Obama from high-profile confrontations not of his choosing.

Last night, Hollywood conducted its annual ritual of worshiping at the altar of self-indulgence and self-love, the Oscars.

As part of this cultish ritual, the event included the traditional parade of political leftist propaganda.  The liberal elites of Hollywood take to the microphone to tout whatever the leftist cause de jour happens to be, as the rest of Hollywood eats it up with standing ovations.

For anyone who has an ounce of critical thinking ability (critical thinking, not PC dogmatic zombism), it’s almost unbearable to watch (it’s like watching sausage being made, with rotten meat, and then watching someone eat it, on prime-time TV).

Hollywood is very skilled at making very entertaining movies that promote its leftist agenda.  It’s even more adept at patting itself on the back for promoting that agenda.

And last night was no exception.

The linty of liberal propaganda at the Oscars was on full display.  For example, consider that American Sniper, based on the life story of American war hero Chris Kyle, was almost completely snubbed (winning only an award for sound editing after being nominated for many of the top honors).  Juxtapose that to the Oscar for Best Documentary being gleefully handed out to Citizenfour, which glorifies the life of American traitor Edward Snowden.

But it was more than the pacifistic, anti-war, America is bad mantra; it was the bizarre fabrication of cultural problems and obsession with reliving the problems of the past.

Imagine if instead of creating a strawman of a liberal cause, what if Hollywood used its stage to give voice to a real issue.

What if Hollywood stunned the world by going on a rant about how Christians are being exterminated throughout the Middle East?  What if an actress said this award wouldn’t have been possible if my mother chose to abort me?  What if the Academy chose to award a movie that promoted family values?  What if it chose to reward a movie that elevated an American hero instead of a traitor as the centerpiece of a movie?  What if an actor called on President Obama to do more for persecuted Christians like American Pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran?

Hollywood is so self-indulged, such an echo chamber of liberal, leftist, elitist groupthink, that it makes a caricature of itself.  It misses real problems.  If it wants to use its voice to help the defenseless and downtrodden, it can.  But it doesn’t.

It is so focused on the propaganda of political correctness, that it misses an opportunity to bring America – not a room full of smug ego-crazed professional fakers – to their feet, to touch the soul of the nation, to inspire real change.

They should try it sometime.  They are, after all, actors; I’m sure they could pull it off.

Follow @_MatthewClark

Matthew Clark is Associate Counsel for Government Affairs and Media Advocacy with the ACLJ. A lifelong citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, he lives with his wife and three boys in Northern Virginia. Follow Matthew Clark: @_MatthewClark.

The post Hollywood’s Self-Indulgent Delusional Demagoguery appeared first on RedState.

No matter how many times the big banks are caught red-handed manipulating precious metals, some failed former Deutsche Bank prop-trader (you know who you are) will take a vociferous stand based on ad hominem attacks and zero facts that no, what you see in front of you is not precious metal rigging at all but a one-off event that has nothing to do with a criminal banking syndicate hell bent on taking advantage of anyone who is naive and dumb enough to still believe in fair and efficient markets.

The last time this happened was in November when we learned that "UBS Settles Over Gold Rigging, Many More Banks To Follow", and sure enough many more banks did follow, because in Europe, where the stench of gold market manipulation stretches far beyond merely commercial banks, and rises through the central banks, namely the BOE and ECB, culminating with the Head of Foreign Exchange & Gold at the BIS itself, all such allegations have to be promptly settled or else the discovery that the manipulation cartel in Europe involves absolutely everybody will shock and stun the world, which heretofore was led to believe that such things as gold market (not to be confused with Libor or FX) manipulation only exist in the paranoid delusions of a few tinfoil fringe-blogging lunatics.

However, as usually happens, someone always fails to read the memo that when it comes to gold-market manipulation one must i) find nothing at all incriminating if one is a paid spokesman for the entities doing the manipulation such as former CFTC-sellout Bart Chilton or ii) if one can't cover it, then one must settle immediately or else the chain of revelations will implication everyone.

This time, that someone is the US Department of Justice, which as the WSJ just reported, is investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets. The DOJ is shockingly doing so "even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries." Of course, the reason why said probe was dropped in Europe is because it would have implicated virtually the entire trading desk at the biggest and most important European bank: Deustche Bank, as well as the biggest bank in Switzerland, UBS and UK's own Barclays, reveal a manipulation cartel rivaling even that of Libor. And once traders at the commercial banks turned sides and squealed for the prosection, well then it would be the central banks' turn next. Which is why it was imperative to bring this investigation to a quiet end.

But not in the US.

According to the WSJ, "prosecutors in the Justice Department’s antitrust division are scrutinizing the price-setting process for gold, silver, platinum and palladium in London, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a civil investigation, these people said. The agencies have made initial requests for information, including a subpoena from the CFTC to HSBC Holdings PLC related to precious-metals trading, the bank said in its annual report Monday.

HSBC also said the Justice Department sought documents related to the antitrust investigation in November. The two probes “are at an early stage,” the bank added, saying it is cooperating with U.S. regulators.

Who is involved in this latest gold-rigging scandal? Why everyone! ... which makes it immediately obvious why the European regulator had to promptly cover up the whole affair. Under scrutiny are Bank of Nova Scotia , Barclays PLC, Credit Suisse Group AG , Deutsche Bank AG , Goldman Sachs Group Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Société Générale SA, Standard Bank Group Ltd. and UBS AG , according to one of the people close to the investigation.

Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell University, said it is “not particularly surprising” that the Justice Department is plowing ahead despite the decision by European regulators. Recent scrutiny of big banks’ operations in the physical commodities markets and criticism of the Justice Department’s financial-crisis track record make it “quite understandable” that the agency would investigate allegations of precious metals price-rigging.

 

Last year, the FCA fined Barclays £26 million ($40.2 million) for lax controls after one of its traders allegedly manipulated the gold fix at the expense of a client.

 

Swiss regulator Finma settled last year allegations of foreign-currency manipulation with UBS. The regulator said it found “serious misconduct” among precious-metals traders at UBS, including “front running,” or trading ahead of, the silver-fix orders of one client. A spokeswoman for UBS, which said at the time that it “instituted significant cultural and compliance changes,” declined further comment.

You mean to say that the banks that were for decades rigging Libor... and FX... and bonds... and stocks... oh, and gold, were let go with a slap on the wrist and a promise to "change their ways" and not to do it again?  Yup, that's exactly right.

So what happens next? Well, we finally will find just how much of a banker-controlled muppet the so-called US attorney general truly is. Recall that a week ago he gave his subordinates 90 days to being cases against individuals for their role in the financial crisis.

Well here is the perfect opportunity.  Should Holder let this latest mass criminal ring go without any incarecration, one can officially stick a fork in the US justice system, which is meant for everyone, but the rule-flouting bankers who can clearly get away with absolutely anything.

As for the rigging in the gold market, rigging which begins with the lowliest prop-traders at Deutsche Bank and involves every single central bank and High Frequency trading outfit and is now a proven fact, we have explained over the years and thousands of times just how to end it all, so instead of wasting readers' time on this topic yet again, here are just two very simple solutions how to fix this one particular market:

all trading in "paper" gold should cease immediately and all contracts be settled in physical for true price discovery

— StockCats (@StockCats) February 24, 2015

audit Fort Knox

— StockCats (@StockCats) February 24, 2015

So simple, even the most corrupt US Attorney General caveman can do it.

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Republican FCC Commissioners Ask Wheeler To Delay Net Neutrality Vote, Release Proposal. Good luck getting the most transparent administration in history to do anything but conceal the fustercluck they have in store for us.

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One of my favorite ads. Click it for a full size!

Submitted by Ethan Rosen via BellingCat.com,

The South China Sea contains some of the planet’s most disputed territory. Six countries - China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei - are squaring off as they compete over the rights to the sea.

The dispute centers on the contested Spratly Island Chain, a hodgepodge of small islands and submerged reefs which lie near the center of the South China Sea. All but Brunei have built military outposts in the Spratlys, and all of these countries minus China have built military airstrips on the islands. China, which arrived late to the Spratly land-grab, was left to occupy eight fully and semi-submerged reefs. With such little land to build upon, China has been playing catch up ever since.

Over the past year, China’s Spratly outposts have been systematically undergoing a process known as “land reclamation,” where dedicated dredging vessels dig up sediment from the sea and dump it on top of submerged reefs to make islands. China has already built five islands through reclamation, and at least two additional islands are in the early stages of development. China is not the first claimant to reclaim land – Malaysia’s Swallow Reef and several Vietnamese islands have been artificially built or extended – but China’s reclamation efforts are operating at a larger scale than any previous project. Already, the artificial island built on Fiery Cross Reef has eclipsed Taiwan’s Taiping Island as the largest in the Spratly Chain, and buildings are under development on several other Chinese reefs. As their new military outposts become operational, it is imperative that we understand just what China is building in the South China Sea.

 

Fiery Cross Reef

Fiery Cross Reef (also known as Yongshu Island) was completely underwater until August 2014, when Chinese dredgers began to dig up the surrounding sediment. Before construction began, the Chinese presence consisted of a single concrete bunker on the reef’s southwest end, but this island has since become the largest in the Spratly chain, measuring nearly 2.3 km². The new island includes a nearly two-mile long strip of land that appears to be the future site of an airfield.

Between November 2014 and January 2015, the southwest of the reef was reclaimed, connecting the airfield with the original concrete structure and enlarging the total land mass of the reef. Dredging activity has not ceased, and land is still being reclaimed. Recent photographs released by Philippine media show that foundations in development for a large scale construction project on the northeast of the island.

 

Johnson South Reef

Johnson South Reef has undergone one of the most extraordinary transformations of any Spratly feature. Photographs released by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs show that land reclamation began in early 2014, and new photographs indicate that reclamation is still ongoing.

In early September 2014, nearly simultaneous reports released by IHS Janes and the BBC revealed the beginnings of a large construction project. It is unclear exactly when this construction began, but photographs taken in early December of 2014 clearly show a sizable building, possibly as high as ten stories, under construction on the newly developed island.

The photographs taken and released by Vietnam’s Thanh Nien News agency show a number of construction sites under development, including what may be an air traffic control center. Philippine media has claimed that Johnson South Reef will one day contain an airstrip, but current photographs fail to backup this claim.The reef’s area is roughly 6 km², and the island itself is approximately .16 km², which leaves ample room for further reclamation.

 

Cuarteron Reef

Cuarteron Reef is both China’s southernmost and westernmost outpost in the Spratly chain. Land reclamation on the reef appears to have started in March 2014. As of January 2015, China has built between .3 and .4 km² of new land. The newly built island is home to a seawall, a small military outpost, a helicopter pad, an artificial harbor, and a dock. Satellite photographs show ongoing construction projects, however photographs are not clear enough to make out what is being built.

 

Gaven Reefs

The Gaven Reefs are home to a mid-scale land reclamation project that has produced an artificial island approximately .08 km². Between June and August 2014, this island expanded from one small outpost into the buttressed island that exists today. Photos show that the new island contains barracks for construction workers and military personnel, shipping containers used as temporary shelters, an artificial harbor, and anti-aircraft weaponry. A report from IHS Janes indicates that this island contains both radar equipment and anti-ship missiles.

 

Hughes Reef

Land reclamation on Hughes Reef appears to have begun in March 2014. Satellite photographs suggest that construction is ongoing on the newly built island. Reports indicate that the new island is home to a lighthouse and a military outpost.

 

Subi Reef

Subi Reef, China’s northernmost outpost in the South China Sea, is the most recent subject of land reclamation. Satellite photographs from early February, 2015 show a significant presence of dredgers working two separate points on the southeast and the southwest of the reef. Dredging at Subi Reef first appeared in satellite photographs taken on January 26, 2015, which showed that two dredging ships had begun work on Subi Reef’s southwest end. Prior to the start of land reclamation, Subi reef contained a helicopter pad and a small concrete outpost used to house visiting troops.

 

Mischief Reef

Mischief Reef is China’s easternmost outpost in the Spratly chain. Satellite photographs from the end of January indicate that land reclamation has just begun. These photographs show a presence of dredging vessels on the southern end of the island, as well as the addition of new land separate from an existing concrete structure. Mischief Reef is less than 200 miles from the Philippine island of Palawan (less than 150 miles from some points), thus putting the reef well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Predictably, the start of reclamation at Mischief Reef has been met with significant protest from the Philippines.

 

Eldad Reef

Eldad Reef is home to a naturally occurring teardrop-shaped sandbar on its north end. The sandbar’s size and shape remained consistent in photographs taken between January 2012 and November 2013. More recent photographs, show a slight increase in size of the sandbar, indicating that there may be a low-level reclamation project underway on Eldad reef. These photographs fail to capture dredging vessels and may simply be showing naturally occurring changes, however Philippine intelligence and media claim that Eldad Reef is in fact a current target of Chinese land reclamation. The situation on Eldad is ambiguous, and we should continue to watch the reef for signs of reclamation.

Based on satellite photographs and intelligence reports, it is clear that China is currently reclaiming land on at least seven of its eight reefs — Fiery Cross, Johnson South, Gaven, Hughes, Cuarteron, Subi, and Mischief — and that reclamation may have also begun on Eldad Reef. Reclamation on Johnson South, Gaven, Hughes, and Cuarteron Reefs started in early 2014, reclamation of Fiery Cross Reef began in August 2014, and reclamation on Subi and Mischief Reefs started in late January 2015. Land reclamation on Eldad reef may have started in December 2014.

*  *  *

Photographs indicate that massive construction projects are underway on the newly build islands at Fiery Cross and Johnson South Reefs, while less extensive but still serious construction is ondoing at Hughes, Gaven, and Cuarteron Reefs. Given the extent to which future control over the shipping lanes of the South China Sea will impact the global balance of power, China’s island construction is worthy of our attention.

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