Transcending Even The Hip Flask

The future is coming at us like a freight train:

At a recent Seahawks football game in Seattle, Shy Sadis, 41, took a drag on a slim vapor pen that looked like a jet black Marlboro. The tip glowed red as he inhaled.

But the pen contained no nicotine. Instead, it held 250 milligrams of cannabis oil loaded with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

“Nobody noticed,” said Mr. Sadis, who owns several marijuana dispensaries in Washington State. “You pull it out of your pocket, take a hit like a cigarette, put it back, and you’re done. It’s so discreet.”

The device, called a JuJu Joint, heralds a union that seems all but inevitable: marijuana and the e-cigarette, together at last in an e-joint. For years, people have been stuffing marijuana in various forms into portable vaporizers and into the cartridges of e-cigarettes. But the JuJu Joint is disposable, requires no charging of batteries or loading of cartridges, and comes filled with 150 hits. You take it out of the package and put it to your lips — that’s it. There is no smoke and no smell.

Sure, its illegal in most states (now!), but good luck enforcing laws against it.

Comments

[henry]

So that's what the "vape" thing is all about.

[Theo]

Second!

Cool idea that.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

That's how I picture all Seahawks fans.

[Threadkiller]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSDI9Gg63I

[Threadkiller]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSDI9Gg63I

[Beasts of England]

They've been vaping hash oil for quite a while.

[Jane]

I wish I cared...

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Watching the Bojangles Wednesday night game I see Syracuse has their obligatory annoying pale white player. Boeheim must have dumbassdave on retainer.

[Steve]

Guaranteed Laughter:

Mean Tweets - CFP Edition (Jimmy Kimmel Live)

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2015/01/mean-tweets-cfp-edition.html

[Eric in Boise]

Hmph. In my day, we used to have to walk uphill six miles both ways to get stoned on crappy stuff we grew in our backyard. We burned holes in our clothes, ruined our lungs, and reeked into the bargain.

Kids these days.

[Danube on iPad]

I love the way a free and inventive people will always get around stupid government laws.

[Threadkiller]

The Natural Born Citizen requirement is a stupid government law.

[narciso]

I was concerned they would play poorly, my mistake,

[Mitt Romney]

You know you love me, and I'm baaaack!

[narciso]

Huckabee's statement now, makes me considering stocking up on the IPAs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/mike-huckabee-sarah-palin-michelle-obama_n_800130.html

[Miss Marple]

narciso,

He is either a complete moron or a democrat plant, long undercover.

I imagine we will get a quote a week until the primaries.

Think I will go to bed.

Nytol.

[Jim Eagle]

This is great news. Pot heads when completely unengaged do not vote. I figure that is 25% of the 47% who are entitlement goobers.

[Eric in Boise]

From a link on Drudge:

FBI says John Boehner's West Chester bartender planned to poison him

Wonder if he was going to slip Evian into his Maker's Mark.

[Iggy]

So is there some reason this should be illegal?

[Iggy]

It does kinda solve all of Barry's problems in one fell swoop.

[Danube on iPad]

"The Natural Born Citizen requirement is a stupid government law."

Would anyone be interested to know why it is no such thing when properly understood?

[Eric in Boise]

Would anyone be interested to know why it is no such thing when properly understood?

I would, DoT, but if you'd rather sip another Tito's I'm perfectly content to take your word for it :)

[Threadkiller]

You will be rewarded, Eric.

:-)

[Danube on iPad]

You get it, Eric. Gracias.

At the present juncture, it would appear that the once-proud Blue Demons are absorbing a savage drubbing on the Cameron Indoor hardwood. Tut tut.

[narciso]

I think she needs something stronger:

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2015/01/13/damn-it-who-talked/

[daddy]

On the plus side MarkO, at least you didn't have to listen to Dick Vitale doing play by play.

[Captain Hate]

That dimwit advised another mental case.

[Captain Hate]

Yes I heard a huge hurricane hit Durham tonight.

[Eric in Boise]

Kinda quiet out here tonight, Tex.

Yeah. A little too quiet.

Nytol.

[Dave (in MA)]

Choom-Whiz.

[daddy]

Dave's TM's not here, man.

[daddy]

Adding insult to injury:

Muslim call to prayer to sound at Duke University

[Carol_Herman]

What's the big deal? How many people were drinking the over-priced beers, and really getting a buzz on. JuJu seems a lot easier!

[wodun]

"This is great news. Pot heads when completely unengaged do not vote."

Sounds good but they showed up to vote at least once :)

[daddy]

Local story tells us that for the year 2014 Alaska had 40,686 Earthquakes.

Apparently a lot of that is due to more in-state earthquake sensors and more sensitive earthquake sensors, but they say they think there really were a lot more quakes than the previous high of 32,000 in 2003. Last year was only a paltry 28,000 Alaskan quakes.

Usually I enjoy being number 1, but California, please feel free to have more than us:)

[Extraneus]

So that's what that thing is in my son's room.

[clarice]

Very funny, Eric.

[Miss Marple]

Good morning all.

If you follow a link from narciso's link at 10:50, you will get a story about interviews with young Muslim guys in those "no go" zones around Paris.

They sound much like the Ferguson peoplle. Totally irrational and using their "cause" as an exuse to commit crime and terror.

To save time, I am posting the link I followed:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/13/jihad-fanboys-in-the-paris-burbs.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

[Miss Marple]

http://www.nbc29.com/story/27841233/fraternities-refusing-to-sign-on-to-new-uva-rules#.VLZdC-N73dM.twitter

[Miss Marple]

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/nyc-mayor-id-cards-illegals-don-t-want-them-feel-second-class-citizens

No, we sure don't want non-citizens here illegally to feel like second-class citizens.

And it will make it easier for them to borrow library books!

[Miss Marple]

http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/musician-kurt-buschs-ex-girlfriend-was-out-for-revenge-011315?cmpid=tsmfb:fscom:nascaronfox

The NASCAR driver known as "The Outlaw" testified Tuesday he believes his ex-girlfriend is a trained assassin dispatched on covert missions around the world who once returned home in a blood-splattered gown.

Kurt Busch, appearing in court again over Patricia Driscoll's request for a no-contact order, continued the push of his legal team to discredit his ex as a scorned woman out to destroy his career, portraying her as a character fit for a screenplay.

Busch said Driscoll repeatedly asserted her assassin status and claimed the work took her on missions across Central and South America and Africa. She once left in camouflage only to return wearing a trench coat over the blood-flecked evening gown, he said. The testimony came a day after the driver said his ex-girlfriend told him she was a mercenary who killed people for a living and that she showed him pictures of bodies with gunshot wounds.

[Marlene]

I watched local (CBS) news this morning to confirm the minus double digit temps. CBS Morning News reported from Paris and the reporter held up the cover of Charlie Hebdo. Maybe some reporters and news organizations are going to show some backbone.

[Buckeye]

About 25 years ago, I was with French business associates leaving Paris for Lyon in a car.

The guy driving accidentially drove through a "no go" zone. If looks could kill, we would have been dead many times over. Lots of muzzie youth hanging out on the street corners.

The French guys described it as their "Algerian" problem. By virtue of the numbers I saw, this shit had been brewing for a long time. Some JOMer described it as colonization,which I think is absolutely right.

Same thing is going on here, just in earlier stage. Criteria for entering as an immigrant should include likelyhood of assimilation.

"Multiculturalism" is going to get a lot of people killed.

[Janet]

Good for the fraternities that won't sign!

If the "activists" that vandalized the frat. house don't get prosecuted...then maybe the "activists" that hacked Centcom shouldn't be bothered either.
I believe some MFMers are calling the Islamic murderers, "activists" now. Christiane Amanpour called them "activists".

Pentagon Labels YouTube/Twitter Hacking 'Cyber Vandalism'

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/pentagon-labels-youtubetwitter-hacking-cyber-vandalism_823725.html

If "activists" are committing vandalism then WHO CARES! Right?

[Janet]

Yes Marlene...CBS is showing the cartoon.
Here a link that lists some - http://www.buzzfeed.com/austinhunt/heres-who-is-and-isnt-publishing-the-new-charlie-hebdo-cover#.yfk0W7pYX

Some that will NOT show a cartoon of mohammad -
CNN, NYT, NBC, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, BBC, the Telegraph (UK), Daily Mail (UK),...

[Captain Hate]

Good for the two Hoo fraternities for saying Hell No about being strongarmed by a barely more feminine Brodhead into signing some dipshit agreement that's too insulting to even be contemplated. Unlike Duke, which daddy's link further indicates is completely hopeless, maybe they can force the witch Sullivan out.

[Jane]

Current issue of Charlie Hebdo (released today, sold out immediately) is on ebay for $110,000.

[Miss Marple]

Jane,

Either there are fools or this is a clever method of money laundering, something I have wondered about for a while on both eBay and Amazon.

[Miss Marple]

Jane,

Been running a search on sold issues, most seem to be around the $50 mark with some going for $500.

Other issues are bringing a pretty high price.

What I find interesting is that while eBay has a prohibition on selling Nazi memorabilia, the sale of a magazine with a listing title describing it as "Anti-semitic" and describing a vulgar body part of a "Jewess" along with a semi-pornographic cover is ok.

[Janet]

Yes, Captain...good for them! It really is lawless that after being slandered, vandalized, & suspended...all based on LIES...that fraternities are the ones being punished.
How about some "new rules" for UVA's administration, & for students that make FALSE rape allegations, & for student "activists" that vandalize property? Where are those "new rules"????
From MM's link - "Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha Order say the university violated the original fraternity operating agreement (FOA), going as far as accusing UVA of strong-arming fraternities by suspending them.

Both fraternities also say the new agreement creates unique legal burdens on students.

"I think the fraternities want to understand why it is the university took action against 25 percent of the student body and suspended them without any thought to due process," said KevinO'Neilll, member of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee."

[Miss Marple]

Janet,

In the comments at the bottom of that article one person says that the university wants the fraternity property.

If I were those fraternity attorneys I would be filing FOIA to see if that university president had colluded with the Rolling Stone reporter, and if there were any internal discussions about acquiring fraternity houses and repurposing the properties.

In my observations over the years, leftists always have a greed motive hiding behind their "noble" causes.

[Captain Hate]

Yes, Janet, it is really Kafkaesque what's going on there. That's a state school, no? If so maybe the state legislators can bypass that idiot crook McAwful and rein Sullivan and her goons in. Forcing Sullivan out would be the best thing but the NAGS are probably waiting to support their sister in cooterhood.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Eric:
In my day, we used to have to walk uphill six miles both ways to get stoned on crappy stuff we grew in our backyard.

Now that is a really big back yard.

[NKvirusedand back]

When I was invited to shut up yesterday I politely responded that publicly and privately conservatives ought to emphasize big picture issue which are easy to summarize; once we win over LiVs/apolitical on those big picture issues, many smaller, but important issues will follow. Here's a very important big picture issue, gas prices. Since 2008 conservatives have demanded 'all of the above' and drill baby; the Obummer bitch mocked that as no solution. He was effin wrong and proven so (more complicated than US production, i.e. QE ending , but hey, all's fair) by today's $2 gas. Gas pricees, the debt, ObummerCare as jobs killer, Open Border EOs.. we should talk about those in a daily conversations and demand conservative public figures push those agendas in words and deeds: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/13/dems-change-tune-after-mocking-gop-for-drill-baby-drill/

[NKvirusedand back]

From Insty: Maybe history will repeat and Christianity can again save the world -- go you Venezuelan Bishops: http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/011215-734288-venezuelan-archbishops-have-a-message-for-pope-francis-on-communism.htm

[Captain Hate]

No NK, you were invited to shut up after suggesting conservatives do the same about that dogshit spending bill that Boehner rammed through that funded 404Care through the fiscal year among other anti small government things.

Don't try to act otherwise.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Janet:
If the "activists" that vandalized the frat. house don't get prosecuted...
...
It really is lawless that after being slandered, vandalized, & suspended...all based on LIES...that fraternities are the ones being punished.

The UVA administration gave the vandals "Free To Be Lawless" tokens.

[NKvirusedand back]

Before Charlie H. personally I would not have published the image of Muhammad. I object to Islam and Jihad profoundly, but I have to accept that almost 20% of the World's population see the Koran as their way to connect with the God of Abraham, and their book tells them that any image of their prophet is profane. So I believe myself obligated to not gratuitously publicly mock their beliefs. Since Charlie H I'd probably have to change my opinion; the Jihadis have murderously mocked Islam, and have forfeited the right for their beliefs to be respected.

[NKvirusedand back]

CH, your posts are your record. deal with it.

[henry]

NK, the GOPe is right on the lower gas prices with a desire to increase the federal gas tax. We have to upgrade from pikes to cattle prods with this congress.

[Marlene]

Driving around Bangor yesterday,I noticed that the gas stations are having a price war. The posted prices are between $2.28 and $2.20.The $2.20 price was at Irving,the Canadian company.

[Janet]

The UVA administration gave the vandals "Free To Be Lawless" tokens.

That is true, hit. Leftist organizations & individuals get to be lawless. They are admired & celebrated for being lawless.

Conservative or old traditional groups & organizations are weighed down with thousands of rules & regulations - if not outright banned. Then they can be endlessly harassed with lawsuits for breaking some obscure rule or regulation that the leftists wrote for them.

Maybe destroying them that way allows the left to suck money out of the targets before the target goes under.

[Ben]

Vapes keep the toxins from the burn to a bare minimum. Even organic growers recommend their use. But if you want to eliminate altogether as well as keep your flask, the easiest extraction of THC is filling a mason jar with vodka distilled at least 5x after loading with ground buds. Green Dragon has a distinct chlorophyl flavor but mixes well with juices to get you juiced, or just relieve the pain from those HS football injuries that you thought were healed until age brings back the chronic ailments.

[Janet]

Allah is NOT the God of Abraham.

Allah is a made up god with characteristics & attributes that are NOT THE SAME AT ALL with Almighty God.

[NKvirusedand back]

McConnell so far is sticking to big picture things and refusing to give the feral journos juicy sound bites to run with under the "Repubs starve the children' or 'Repubs hate the black man' headlines. I don't need repub politicians to stick their tongue in my ear and publicly tell me they love conservatives, I want to see their budget, I want to see the EPA knocked down in the budget, I want to see EOs revoked in the budget, I want to see bogus 'green' energy defunded, I want to see national bankruptcy avoided. If they do all that, they can have their little perks of Kentucky and southern Ohio project funding and have their little public/private 'job training' partnerships. The Legacy Media will be all over them, so those little perks will never amount to much, and are not a threat to the Republic. Have we forgotten the orgy of disaster 09-10 so quickly? I never want to see that again in my lifetime.

[Jeff Dobbs]

(Editor's Note: after writing this up, I see it came out longer than originally intended. Fair Warning. SOB, just a stupid story)

Speaking of pot...I went to my pool hall Friday night. Many nights I play by myself - practicing. But if anyone wants to play, I'm game.

Lady comes up and asks to play. She's probably late 50s early 60s. We play one game and as I go to rack the balls, she leans in and says, "you have any weed?"

I say no, with a little chuckle.

She cocks her head to one side, looking a little sad and confused.

She then asks if I want to go outside for a cigarette. I politely decline the offer. I don't smoke, and I was wearing short sleeves and it was in the 20s outside.

She cocks her head to one side, looking a little sad and confused.

She goes out.

I go to the bar to get a beer - and the bartender asks if she's bothering me. And it hits me. This lady was at one of our Monday night league matches. She was watching - drunk (high?) off her ass being very disruptive.

When someone asked her to refrain from interfering, she got upset and launched into a "this is 'Murica and I got free speech and you can't silence me!!!"

Bartender had to remove her.

Anyway, back to Friday . . . she comes back in and we play a game. Then she leans in and ask me to buy her shot. I politely decline and...

She cocks her head to one side, looking a little sad and confused.

I then tell her that I will buy her a beer if that game we just played is the last one we play.

She cocks her head to one side, looking a little sad and confused.

Had to tell her that she was playing without paying the bar - and that the bartender told me that she'd have to go get right with them before playing any more.

I bought her the beer, and she sat and watched me play a couple more games. I made no more conversation and avoided eye contact. I felt bad because when I glanced over...

She cocks her head to one side, looking a little sad and confused.

She left after a few more minutes.

#StoriesFromTheBar
#PoolPlayersLife

[NKvirusedand back]

henry, I'll make a friendly wager (small and friendly) that this Congress does not raise gas taxes in order to increase road spending. That's an easy one for me to make, because if they do, we have have much bigger problems than the value of a little wager.

[James D.]

NK, the problem as I see it is that those "little public/private job training partnerships" and the "little perks" are toxic seeds that grow into the larger problems that are leading us to national bankruptcy.

And, what's worse, they help to create LIVs and foster beliefs that we have to fight against, in the first place.

[Ben]

"NK, the problem as I see it is that those "little public/private job training partnerships" and the "little perks" are toxic seeds that grow into the larger problems that are leading us to national bankruptcy."

You mean gubmint projects like 'Big Dig'? Feeding at the trough is as good for the goose as for the gander.

[henry]

NK, this congress will raise gas taxes to "maintain road spending." Because anything else and the journo's will go full "R's hate children" on them (if they paid attention they would realize this will happen even if they banned gas and forced us all on trolleys). The usual one beer for the wager. ;)

[rse]

James-those are symptoms. There is a Gigabyt City North America conference going on right now in Kansas City that tells the whole wicked story just by reading the bios of the speakers and their specialties and previous causes.

One is the developer of Catalist although it is described rather than named. The combo of education, the MPOs originally created for federal transportation dollars, and Broadband as a human right needs to be appreciated.

[Captain Hate]

The GOP should be making the point that the "gas tax" just goes into the trough for spending on every damn thing other than highways and infrastructure. Or will they break out the "lockbox" argument that ManBearPig was banging about social security? That worked well for him.

[NKvirusedand back]

JamesD-- all true. But you've got to pick your fights, because we have the politcal class we have, not the one we want. So the choice is stark-- Schumer/Pelosi and ObummerCare, CapTrade, EPA uber alles and $300B higher baseline budget or a federal budget without those that spends and taxes more more than 19% GDP, not great, but not a existential threat to the Republic. Given that choice obviously I'd opt for the second and push to reform that Congress to be more fiscally conservative and less corrupt. That's the fight I'd pick.

[rse]

CH-the local entities charged with highways and infrastructure have expanded into economic development and now workforce development to literally plan area economies, land use, a skills/values focus in all schools, and a cronyistic board with the Chamber and all major sector employers. Plus higher ed as both employer , indoctrinator, and provider of magic credentials that must not be questioned or ridiculed.

[NKvirusedand back]

henry-- the beer is on me, especially if there is no gas tax hike. BTW, it is a lock the Repub budget will spend MOAR on highway construction, Ben is right about one thing, family owned road pavers are a Repub constituency, but thae added $$$s will be shifted fro Green budget items.

[NKvirusedand back]

sean penn WAS the owner of 65 firearms? who knew? He had them destroyed and turned into a sculpture by the SA trollop: http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/celebrity/sean-penn-i-dont-miss-my-gun-collection/ar-AA88gWX?ocid=iehp

[Captain Hate]

rse, bureaucracies which expand waaaaay beyond their original purpose; there's a new concept!

[Captain Hate]

Welp, I guess I owe Johnny B some thanks for this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/01/13/irs-fewer-audits-budget-cuts/21708815/

[Miss Marple]

Review of Governor Pence's State of the State speech from Tony Katz, our morning show host:

"Meh."

"Some portions sounded dour."

"Quoted Reagan twice but says he doesn't know if he's running."

"Run of the mill."

So, there you go. Don't say I didn't warn you!

[jimmyk on iPad]

NK, didn't you assure us that the CR funding though the fiscal year was no big deal because the new Repub Congress would undo it and make cuts? Is that happening now? Or is the funding just continuing on autopilot, as some of us said it would?

[Captain Hate]

Seriously, what is wrong with the people of Richmond:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/01/13/jailed-virginia-lawmaker-seeks-to-regain-seat/

I'm guessing this is a big McAuliffe area too.

[Captain Hate]

Idiot #1 on idiot #2:

http://weaselzippers.us/210924-jimmy-carter-cut-obama-some-slack-for-not-going-to-paris-he-just-came-back-from-vacation/

[Captain Hate]

I don't think even Orwell anticipated this level of ignorance:

http://weaselzippers.us/210938-oxford-university-press-bans-mention-of-pork-and-pigs-in-their-books-to-avoid-offending-muslims/

[Janet]

I'm guessing this is a big McAuliffe area too.

Yes. The leftists at that Blue Virginia site I look at sometimes were mad at the guy. It is a safe seat for Dems so they're mad this guy is tarnishing their image for nothing.

I guess they'd be okay with fighting like rabid dogs for him if they thought they'd lose the seat.

[Ben]

I never cared much for Chipotle (what's up with the white rice in the burrito?) but they claim their pork suppliers aren't using humane methods in their slaughterhouses so Carnitas is off the menu until further notice. Temple Grandin, the autistic genius is not a PETA nut and she says animals were purposed as food, otherwise we would only see cows in a zoo. But treating them humanely before they are prepared for market is a human responsibility.

[Jane]

This is excellent:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/obamas-legacy-caldwell.html

History
Will
Eviscerate
Him

Obama will go down as America’s Gorbachev.

[GMax]

An analysis I have seen nowhere else, (I got this from a Wells Fargo Advisors investment memo) but it interprets good news on the lawsuit King V Burwell and therefore a dagger is aimed at the heart of Zerocare:

We believe two Supreme Court (SCO
TUS) decisions yesterday (1/13)
could have important read-through’s for the
King vs. Burwell
case
challenging the Affordable Care Act
(ACA) and support our thesis that
the case will likely remain an ov
erhang on the hospital group until
June 2015
; oral arguments begin March 4.
In the cases decided on Tuesday,
January 13 the court voted unanimously to
interpret statutory
language literally.
What stands out is not only Justice Sc
alia’s opinion arguing for the literal
interpretation of the statute, but also the unanimous agreement of the other
Justices with that view. The key issue in the
King vs. Burwell
case is the
interpretation of the term “through an
Exchange established by the State under
section 1311.” King argues that a literal in
terpretation of that language means that
subsidies currently available on federally
facilitated healthcare exchanges should
not be available. Currently 37 states or 68% of individuals enrolled in exchange
based healthcare plans do so
through the federal exchange.

[jimmyk]

Today's WSJ has a story about Coulibaly's "Path to Terror":

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paris-attackers-path-to-terror-1421204761

The striking thing is the ridiculously short prison sentences he'd had, with the result that jail becomes a terrorist recruitment center. Some excerpts, since it's behind the paywall:

"In 2004, a French court convicted Mr. Coulibaly of armed bank robbery, sentencing him to six years in prison....There, Mr. Coulibaly met Djamel Beghal, an al Qaeda recruiter convicted of plotting to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Paris." He also met Kouachi there.

Coulibaly was released after three years. Beghal also got out within a few years. Then in 2010:

Police found documents describing suicide attacks in Mr. Kouachi’s computer while a search of Mr. Coulibaly’s apartment in a southern Paris suburb revealed a stash of AK-47 ammunition stored in a paint bucket, a judge familiar with the probe said. A French court sentenced Mr. Coulibaly to five years.... He was released in March 2014 for time served.

So the French had been giving these Muslims slaps on the wrist for violent crimes and planning terrorist attacks.

[henry]

Daddy, our friend in Chicago asks if you are happy with the two new ferries Alaska is buying to replace the one they can't sell to anybody.

[Jane]

Excellent! GMax

[Ben]

Glenn Beck says every Constitutionalist should see Selma.

[Jane]

What is the solution to all the al Qaeda recruitment in prison?

[NKvirusedand back]

JimmyK, actually I didn't say that on 2 explicit and clear levels. 1. the CR except for immigration EO allows the $1.1 Trillion spending through the end of FY '15, so other than repealing Obumer EOs that FY '15 budget is done because it was still a Senate Dem controlled budget; 2. I have repeatedly commented that the point of '14 elections was to get a Repub Senate and see what they do with the budget they control. The first opportunity for the Repubs to do that is the February DHS budget EO repeal, and the next is the March Debt Limit, and then the April Budget deadline for FY '16. As to what they do with the budget power I made no 'assurances'-- how could I these are politicians. I have repeatedly said there is no way to know that a Repub Congress would screw the budget pooch until there is a Repub Congress elected to test the premise. Now there is one, now the premise can be tested. As I gave no assurances I can never say 'I told you so' if the Repubs come through and repeal EOs, repeal ObummerCare, cut bogus spending and force Obummer to veto everything, all I can ever say is we've seen the test results and assess what they mean.

[Ben]

Sanctions against Saddam didn't reach the intended targets, but many families with children were hit hard. The West's attempt to undermine Putin with sanctions targeting the oligarchs will be the same smell. It already smells...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/putins-way/whats-been-the-effect-of-western-sanctions-on-russia/

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

I don't think there is a solution, Jane; it's part of the Faustian bargain of freedom of worship.

[Jane]

al Qaeda isn't a religion. it's an organization, right? Of course then we get a freedom of association problem. But we do have restrictions for felons, like voting.

[Soylent Red]

sean penn WAS the owner of 65 firearms?

Dollars to doughnuts he still keeps at least one piece in his house. He strikes me as the type of guy who would make a big show out of rendering all of his guns, but quietly kept one or two to make sure he had one when he needed it.

Obama will go down as America’s Gorbachev.

No comparison at all. Gorbie was somewhat competent and loved his country.

In my day, we used to have to walk uphill six miles both ways to get stoned on crappy stuff we grew in our backyard.

OnT, this vaping in public thing reminds me of a little doodad I once owned saw back in high school called a Sneak-A-Toke. You still had to fire it with a lighter, but the only smoke or odor came from what you exhaled. Looked like an automobile lighter. Anyone remember those things?

Ben's recipe for THC oil should serve as a reminder that the most clever chemists and inventors are stoners.

Also, hit hearts barflies. Don't let him tell you any different.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Islam is the driving force behind AQ.

[MarkO]

My Duke basketball team seems to have the best players in the country. They flow through to the NBA, many of them as 1st pick in the draft.

In the last three years of those superstars, Duke went out in the round of 64 twice and managed to slide into the elite 8 once.

After these two beat downs, particularly the one at home, were the couch someone other than the redoubtable K, there would be mumblings of mutiny.

No Vitale and no vitality.

[jimmyk]

What is the solution to all the al Qaeda recruitment in prison?

For starters, keeping people in prison much longer. Keeping them in genuine isolation. (The article said that Beghal was in "isolation," but it was easy for him to communicate.) I'd rather they