The Off Topic Topic

[Sheilbh]

Malaysia Airlines have lost contact with a plane flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/malaysian-airlines-plane-live

[Jacob]

Malaysia Airlines have lost contact with a plane flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/08/malaysian-airlines-plane-live

[MadImmortalMan]

Vietnamese Navy says they found it in the ocean...

[Caliga]

Vietnamese Navy says they found it in the ocean...

I don't see that on the Google News feed about this.   Last I saw the plane seemed to have disappeared over Vietnamese airspace but it was unclear if it was over land or sea at the time...

[Caliga]

Anyway, the thought crossed my mind that a jet (possibly) disappearing over the South China Sea might have accidentally gotten caught up in a military exercise given the location.

[Ed Anger]

Me in the morning after a night of Neurontin dream weirdness:

[Ideologue]

They closed off all westbound traffic in front of my house this morning for some kind of bullshit run.  I had to drive four miles out of my way so I could be facing the right direction to get home.

[alfred russel]

They closed off all westbound traffic in front of my house this morning for some kind of bullshit run.  I had to drive four miles out of my way so I could be facing the right direction to get home.

The Columbia marathon was today. If that was the race, how horrible for you that you had to drive 4 miles out of your way so people who have been training for the race all winter could run 26. 

[garbon]

They closed off all westbound traffic in front of my house this morning for some kind of bullshit run.  I had to drive four miles out of my way so I could be facing the right direction to get home.

I had a lot of fun when there was a bike tour here which meant many of the main highways/bridges were closed to car traffic.

[Ideologue]

They closed off all westbound traffic in front of my house this morning for some kind of bullshit run.  I had to drive four miles out of my way so I could be facing the right direction to get home.

The Columbia marathon was today. If that was the race, how horrible for you that you had to drive 4 miles out of your way so people who have been training for the race all winter could run 26. 

They forced me to increase my carbon footprint.

[Sheilbh]

I've a lot of admiration for a country far away enough and mad enough to just not care about North Korea

Libya threatens to bomb North Korean oil tanker
Last updated Sun 9 Mar 2014

Libya will bomb a North Korea-flagged oil tanker trying to load crude at an eastern port controlled by armed protesters if the vessel fails to follow orders from the navy, according to Reuters.

"The tanker will be bombed if it doesn't follow orders when leaving (the port). This will be an environmental disaster," Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told reporters, calling the docking of the tanker a criminal act violating Libya's sovereignty.

Authorities had ordered the arrest of the tanker's crew, he said. His comments were the first government reaction since the tanker reached Es Sider port, where protesters earlier said they had started exporting oil, bypassing Tripoli.

[Ed Anger]

I broke out my Challenger out of the garage today.

[DGuller]

I broke out my Challenger out of the garage today.

Whatever you do, don't go throttle up.

[Ed Anger]

I broke out my Challenger out of the garage today.

Whatever you do, don't go throttle up.

Too soon.

[CountDeMoney]

The U.S. economy added 175,000 new jobs in February, beating expectations that bad winter weather would significantly depress job growth. But the ranks of the long-term unemployed also grew last month, helping to nudge the unemployment up from 6.6% to 6.7%.

After many months of gradual decline, the number of long-term unemployed swelled by 203,000 in February, totaling 3.8 million. The change has come as Congress has let federal unemployment benefits expire, cutting off more than 1.7 million Americans who have been looking for work for more than 26 weeks.

The silver lining is that those the government counts as being unemployed are actively seeking work. That's why economists may actually be heartened that the unemployment rate increased slightly in February.

The bigger concern is that the long-term unemployed will be so discouraged that they'll stop looking for work entirely, dropping out of the labor force—a concern that Democrats have voiced in their push to revive unemployment benefits. The labor force participation rate was unchanged in February, at 63%, but it remains at a historic low.

The unemployment insurance debate has returned to the Senate yet again this week, but the primary obstacle remains unchanged. Republicans don't want to extend aid without paying for it, and they've rejected the Democrats' payfors out of hand, including Sen. Jack Reed's latest offer for a six-month extension offset by savings from the recently passed farm bill. But February's concerning numbers about the long-term unemployed could add new urgency to the debate.