Reason Morning Links: Tornadoes, Trump, and the TSA

• The death toll from the week's tornadoes tops 310.
• Rand Paul dings Donald Trump.
• The TSA investigates Miss USA's vagina.
• Russia and Ukraine battle to control the region's fairy tale resources.
• At considerable expense, the U.K. enacts some sort of elaborate premodern ritual.

The latest from Reason.tv: "The War on Walmart."

Comments

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Stuff Gay People Like: The Golden Girls

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

Gahhhhhhh!!! Stop it! I'm starting to have dreams about Bea Arthur!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

It's better when she takes her teeth out, though, isn't it?

[Spoonman.]

"At considerable expensive"??

[Lord Mountaewe]

Look, it's not about the money nor the grammar, you twit!

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Obama's Silence on Boeing Is Unacceptable

[John]

Yes it is. Those unions paid good money for this President.

[OO]

ooh but then it IS acceptable !

[Pip]

Go take a shit.

[OO]

i will in a union made, american standard toilet

[Byron]

That won't flush properly

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Silence is deafening in this case. Remember, this is the same government that screwed GM shareholders when they gave the company over to the union's pension plan.

[Abdul]

The NLRB is the tip of the iceberg. The EEOC, the MSPB, OPM are being run by Unions now. It's the best time ever to be a federal employee who hates taxpayers.

[Restoras]

It's hard to talk when you are swallowing.

[cynical]

Hey, what's the worst that can happen if Washington wages economic war on Southern states?

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Wal-Mart brings guns back

[Brenda Speaks]

Not in my district, they ain't.

Those kids would just steal 'em.

[sage]

Buy one for the next tractor pull?

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

'Blossom' actor Joey Lawrence supports Trump

[Mister DNA]

Whoa!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I keep my political views private; I think that's the best way to do it. But I have no problem calling a spade a spade.

I think I'll just let that hang out there for moment...

Apparently Joey is the Stephen Baldwin of the Lawrence brothers.

[The Reverend Al Sharpton]

I already have my people boycotting "Blossom" reruns.

[The Reverend Al Sharpton]

As soon as they find any I'll let you know.

[Free2Booze]

Joey Lawrence - King maker.

[Donald Trump]

It's all right, Joey. People won't be mocking (how's this sound?) my Secretary of State!

[Abdul]

Can Trump win over the crucial Betty White demographic? What say you, J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]?

[J[o]h[nn]y L[o][n]gt[o]rs[o]]

Trump is just Betty White's [pawn].

[steve]

he's gonna out pander Sarah Palin. just wait. "25% tax on the Chinese!!" blah, blah, blah

[Pip]

Tonight, on a very special Blossom...

[John]

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/i.....subpoenas/

Justice ignores subpoenas relating to BATF gun running.

[Wind Rider]

Tornado outbreak to be blamed on Global Warming Climate Change in 3, 2, 1. . .

[Wind Rider]

And yeah, they missed me by a whole 5 miles.

[NeonCat]

Saw this on the news this morning. A woman from the Nature Conservancy trotted out this bit of prattle. To contrast, they had Bjorn Lomborg saying it wasn't so. To his credit, the local weatherman agreed with Bjorn, saying it was a phenomenon known as "Spring" and that severe weather typically happens then.

[Almanian]

The hell you say! I've lived in the Midwest (MOTTO: Tornado Alley! Catch the Fever!) my entire life, and have never seen anything like this.

Oh, wait....yes I have....

Never mind.

That said, my heart (and a check to the Red Cross) goes out to the South. Finally saw the damage last night - UNbelievable - horrific.

[OO]

a bit simplistic considering lil w & his christian jihadist neocons had a hand in it

[Almanian]

Speaking of "simplistic", hello Urine! Happy Friday!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

So George W. Bush, who was the "village idiot" and a liar, now controls the weather?

Woo hoo!!

[Chupacabra]

Don't be ridiculous. Dick Cheney does.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Wind Rider,

Tornado outbreak to be blamed on Global Warming Climate Change in 3, 2, 1. . .

You should get familiar with the AGW narrative, Wind Rider:

When it supports it, it's Climate Change.
When it doesn't, it's just the weather.

See how the theory is so pliable, the ad hoc explanations so abundant?

[Tony]

You are a tool of big oil.

Global warming is causing global cooling except when its causing the warming, same applies to weather fool.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Tony,

You are a tool of big oil.

This sounds like a spoof.

Global warming is causing global cooling except when its causing the warming, same applies to weather fool.

Definitively a spoof. There's at least some coherence in the rants of the real Tony.

It's getting harder to differentiate between Tony and his spoofs, I have to confess...

[John]

http://www.abajournal.com/news.....rcuit_say/

Courts might actually sanction lawyers in 9-11 troofer lawsuit.

[Abdul]

Sanctions? Why not crash an airplane into their house and claim it was a "terrorist?" That's how the government usually silences people who know too much.

[conspiracy eros]

bldg 7

[TrickyVic]

Come up with a complete line of bullshit against the government and it's worthy of sanction, but not when the government does the same to you.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

Why do Americans care about the British royal family? We fought and won a war some 230 years ago so we didn't have to deal with this silly shit.

[John]

They are a step up from the usual celebrity worship. Better them than Lindsey Lohan.

[Montani Semper Liberi]

I disagree. At least celebrities for the most part earn their money by providing some sort of entertainment. I'd rather people worship that than the British welfare leeches.

[John]

I am not sure I would call most of what comes out of Hollywood entertainment. But to each its own. And if the Brits want to provide royal spectacle for the world, that is their business. They are not doing it with my money.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

Oh yeah? You might want to ask Bernanke about that.

[John]

Why ask him? He is busy turning our money into the paseo. You couldn't throw a decent wedding with that.

[OO]

correction - the amero

[Ben Bernanke]

Please, wait your turn.

There may be another press conference.

[hollywood]

and ur no proper audience either

[OO]

Mmmm....slurp, slurp... i need to wyp my chin

[the real OO]

needs work

[DanD]

Yes, you do need a job.

[the real real OO]

my mommy just changed my didey

[Pip]

Those "British welfare leeches" as you call them generate millions and millions of tourist dollars every year. I think anyone who hates on them is sick with envy.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Right; and anyone who criticizes Obama is racist.

[zoltan]

Tourists get to visit the Queen and royal family?

[SIV]

WTF?
LiLo rules.
The Royals should be drawn and quartered.

[dbcooper]

This. Even the bloody Atlantic Monthly is all a twitter with that crap.

[tmp1701]

As far as I can tell, the only reason to have a royal family is to have a scapegoat to decapitate when the shit hits the fan. Now that's something I'd get up at 4AM to see.

[tmp1701]

As far as I can tell, the only reason to have a royal family is to have a scapegoat to decapitate when the shit hits the fan. Now that's something I'd get up at 4AM to see.

[tmp1701]

The only reason to have royals is to have a scapegoat that you can behead when something goes wrong. I would watch that on live television.

[Ben]

Yup. Just pissing on the grave of George Washington and all the other veterans of the Revolutionary War.

Does this make Katie Couric our modern day Jane Fonda?

[John]

http://nymag.com/print/?/news/.....an-2011-5/

Poor little Pauli Krugnuts and his lonely crusade. Barf!!

[Warty]

Read the bit at the end about how his childhood was perfect and he's just trying to bring that to everyone. Barf indeed.

[Restoras]

If everyone had a perfect child we wouldn't have art, rock & roll, and great literature. Wait, and we'd have more Paulie Krugnets'? No thanks.

[Pope Jimbo]

Pity poor little Pauli. The unwashed masses are not paying him his due deference:

Getting laughed out of a town hall meeting

[Janet Napolitano]

Of course, Miss Castillo is well within her rights as an American to speak out about perceived injustice.

However, she may be charged with a felony, and possibly terrorism, for making a video of airport security procedures.

[TSA Screener]

Look, it is just the luck of the draw that we only feel up beauty queens and comely six year old girls. This is a tough job ok.

[Other TSA Screener]

Pssst. Hey you? Lookin for some kiddie porn? I can hook you up with the finest lookin pre-school action you've ever seen. $20.

[Tim]

Excercising your rights get you marked as a trouble maker and possible terrorist.

[Zeb]

This is the part that really gets me. Failing to fully disguise your displeasure with the screening process is grounds for suspicion?

[Tim]

They've taken a fourth ammendment abomination and added in some first ammendment abuse.

[sloopyinca]

You know, I rarely get to see a woman right after she's been sexually assaulted, Miss Castillo still looks pretty hot.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I rarely get to see a woman right after she's been sexually assaulted

Well if you'd hang around for a few minutes after you're done...

[John]

http://nplusonemag.com/bad-education The coming student loan bubble burst.

[nobody]

Thanks John. Good read.

[P Brooks]

"We have reviewed this passenger's screening experience and found that the officer followed proper procedures."

This is the message on John Pistole's answering machine, right?

[John]

I think so. And of course the idea that the procedures might be wrong or in need of change is never to be entertained. The fact that they followed proper procedures makes it worse not better.

[John]

Citizen: "Director Pistole one of your employees sexually assaulted an innocent woman at a security checkpoint in the airport"

Director Pistole: "Well that is just how we roll."

[Tim]

What I'd like to see are the TSA's written instructions for vagina touching. Maybe I can get some pointers.

[fat ass women]

i gots ur pointers

[John Pistole]

Sorry, Tim. You know they're classified.

[Tim]

Well what would a bomb stuffed cooter feel like, as opposed to one with a feminine product?

E.G. For mail they're supposed to flag oily stains, excessive postage and potruding wires.

[Lord Googoo]

In other words, rather's cooter box.

[Nice Pickup Line]

what would a bomb stuffed cooter feel like

[OO=========D]

Alright. Who told you guys my nickname is The Bomb?

[cynical]

That probably explains why no one intervened when the marine was straight up raping that woman in the airport a couple of weeks ago. They were just desensitized to government employees committing sexual assaults by that point, poor bastards.

[West Texas]

Anybody else notice how they have the televisions next to the security line now that are constantly cycling through a recording of El Pistolo telling us how great and necessary TSA is? I think the idea is that it's supposed to be reassuring to us sheep, but it comes across to me almost as taunting or pseudo-Big Brother type thing:

"The nudie scans are necessary and safe and if you don't like it then we're going to stick our hands in your pants like we're doing to this guy here. Now whaddaya want to do?"

[prolefeed]

Well, since I have refused to fly since the TSA started sexually molesting people, I was surprised by the latest Orwellian twist you mentioned.

Though it sounds more like a Half-Life City 17 vibe to me.

[Nick]

Tsunamis, tornadoes, P Brooks falling into a threaded comment (and the wrong one at that)...

I think the Mayans were right!

[Mister DNA]

Here's a little something to prepare you for Balko's upcoming Friday Nutpunch:

Officer John Terry shoots Sang Van Nguyen. Terry is fired and Nguyen sues and gets $40,000.

Officer Terry then sues over his termination and is awarded...

$173,704

[Nipplemancer]

so, crime does pay

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Isn't someone here affiliated with John Hopkins somehow? I'm touring some of APL today.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

Alma mater for me. Even worked as a grad student at APL for a little while.

Make sure to ask about APL conspiracy theories concerning SeaSat.

[Pip]

Feds crack down on Amish farmers -- for selling milk

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....k-locally/

[Pip]

From the comments:

Hmmmmm, the government allows cigarettes which KILL hundreds of thousands of people each year to be sold but crack down on raw milk? I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that the farmer doesn't give money to the Democrat party and the cigarette makers do?

[TSA Scanner Manufacturers]

Nope. No connection at all.

[John]

That is awesome.

[Pip]

Yes it is, John.

[Almanian]

Milk is a gateway food. Next they'll get the kids hooked on cottage cheese, then it's sour cream, curds and whey....Jesus, the horror.

[BlueBook]

Interesting stuff about the fairy tale dispute, but they leave out some of the best Russian characters, like Baba Yaga, Rasputin, and Rasputin's humongous, severed, mummified schlong.

[Wind Rider]

You know who else wants to investigate Miss USA's vagina. . .

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I do!

[Abdul]

Hitler?

[hollywood]

elen degenerates

[STEVE SMITH]

ARRROOOOO!!!!!

[TrickyVic]

Pretty much everyone.

[Choveka K]

On March 29th, was created site for the counting of Bulgarians abroad. SSL certificate is installed and your data will be protected. Only safe link is Bulgarians

[John]

Do you get a return on your deposit if you return your Bulgarian?

[Wind Rider]

Nope. Only Ukraine has a 'no questions asked' returns policy. Just have to include most of the original parts.

[John]

Yeah, a lot of people got stuck with defective Bulgarians they couldn't return back in the 70s. I guess they haven't changed their return policy.

[Fluffy]

Ukrainian parts is good eatin'! (/Kulak)

[Almanian]

In Soviet Union, Bulgarians count YOU!

/what?

[Rich]

"Well honey, you know what, I'd rather go through the scanner or get a pat-down than, you know, be blown up killed in a crash due to a sleeping air traffic controller."

Many variations on the "comforting" are possible.

[John]

Maybe if we would let the controllers feel up the female passengers they would be more alert and both problems would be solved.

[Air Traffic Controller]

I like the cut of your jib and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Female Passenger]

I know I would certainly be more alert!

[Tim]

This would result in mid air vagina collisions, with horrifying loss of life.

[The Other Kevin]

That part bothered me, because most Americans go right along with that line of thinking. In other words, "Don't question our policies because they are the only effective way to keep you safe." Even when they're not.

[kda]

South Carolinians are pissed at Tea Party for not bowing to Amazon. Maybe SC politicians have learned they should make the state friendly to all businesses, not just big businesses promising jobs created?

[Not Sure]

You mean blowing Amazon.

[Mike M.]

It looks like Mike Huckabee has decided not to run for president again.

This really clears the way for Romney. He's going to be the nominee barring some miracle.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

And I was hoping John Edwards would make a run for it again. Just for shits and giggles.

[John Edwards]

Hey, don't count me out.

The American People have real short memories are very forgiving.

[ghost of mrs edwards]

maybe but im not

[Ice Nine]

BTW, J'ou ever read (in "Game Change") about the real Saint Elizabeth? She was actually a pretty nasty piece of work.

[Mike M.]

Say John, aren't you about to be indicted by a grand jury for illegal use of campaign funds?

[American People]

Who were you again?

[John]

No way. The evangelicals will never vote for a heretic. And no one is going to forgive him for Romneycare. Actually, it opens the door for she who shall not be named.

[Fluffy]

As long as she can avoid having any spells put on her she does have kind of a clear path now. If she wants it.

[Mike M.]

You have a good point, but I really don't think she's running.

It's true that much of the republican base doesn't really like Romney (for good reason), but they didn't really like McCain very much either. As in '08, they are going to once again hold their noses with some disgust and vote for the most electable person in a weak field.

[John]

This isn't 08. I still think someone who hasn't declared yet is going to win. The field is there to be taken. Palin will be the kingmaker. I don't think she will run. But she will decide who wins.

[Cytotoxic]

In what twisted sense is Romney most electable?

[Rich]

it opens the door for she who shall not be named.

You mean, A***** A*** ****?!

No way!!

[Fluffy]

No, he means Voldewhore.

[John]

You the know "dangerous psychopath" that by your account ought to be locked up along with her family and supporters.

[Fluffy]

Who said she should be locked up?

Why not just hunt her from a helicopter?

[Almanian]

Anne Archer? No...

Armand Assante? No, he's not a she...

Ummm....

[cynical]

What if Romney drops out?

[Zeb]

Hillary? I think Urkobold is on to something there.

[robc]

Romney has no chance.

After all the Johnson or Paul talk, it could end up being Johnson v Paul.

Still seems unlikely, but that would be an awesome GOP convention.

[John]

There is one thing that is kind of funny about the Royal wedding. When Diana married Charles she was 18 and a confirmed virgin. Kate Middleton is in her 20s and no doubt anything but. That means there are at least a few old college chums of hers that can say they banged the future Queen of England. Now that is a war story.

[Skip]

The same way Michelle's old bfs have been so silent?

[John]

What kind of a sicko would take pride in that?

[Pig Party Participants]

Us!

[Fluffy]

They haven't been silent - it's just that none of us speak sasquatch.

[Marshall Gill]

STEVE SMITH NOT ADMIT TO HITTING THAT! STEVE SMITH WILL RAPE ANYTHING REMOTELY HUMAN BUT DRAWS THE LINE AT RAPING HORSEWOMEN!

[Almanian]

RACIST!!

[Skip]

Just to be fair, none of Laura Bush's old boyfriends came out of the woodwork either. And no one would ever admit to being Hillary's first.

[John]

Laura was cute in her younger days. Not something to brag about. But not something to be ashamed of either. And how do you come out of the woodwork on these things? I can see "I banged Kate Middleton at Cambridge" as just a great drunken war story and nothing more. Not like you could get on Jay Leno with it.

[Pip]

"I banged Kate Middleton at Cambridge"

I'd buy a tee-shirt that said that.

[Jerry]

I'd wear it watching the guards change at Buckingham Palace, but they'll probably arrest me for insulting the Royal Family.

[sloopyinca]

You would be if it had a picture of her with slanty eyes and buck teeth.

[Hillary's First]

IIRC, technically there were three of us.

[Nipplemancer]

not even Bill

[Nipplemancer]

she is also hotter than Princess Die(d)

[John]

Yes she is. And her sister is even hotter than her.

[Fluffy]

The sister's bridesmaid dress basically upstaged the whole wedding.

If she keeps stealing scenes like that she's going to have to change her name to Christoph Walz.

[Restoras]

I concur.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

A "confirmed" virgin??

[Fluffy]

Three words: TSA Time Travel.

[John]

Yes. They had their ways back then.

[cynical]

What, the Saudis wouldn't give their blessing unless they confirmed it?

[Isaac Bartram]

Yes, that was a stated requirement at the time. It was given some coverage in the press.

Apparently they've dropped that one.

Still not OK to be a Catholic though.

[robc]

Oh, he can marry a catholic, it just drops him out of the line of succession. Depends on what your definition of okay is.

[Skip]

Just go to the Daily Kostards and they are still whining about the indignity of President Hussain having to prove his citizenship for the most important job in the country. And they are OUTRAGED that there are a few cranks on the interweb still saying it is a forgery. Its like they won't be happy until everyone bows down to their master.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

That's some easy trollin' over there. Drop a line about how Bush stole the 2000 election in there and watch 'em fire it up another notch.

[Brett L]

Dan Rather calling on line 1 about some TANG memos...

[P Brooks]

"The serious part of what I was saying was that it's going to be hard for him to explain giving $4,800 to Harry Reid in the last cycle and giving $24,000 to Charlie Rangel," Mr. Paul said, referring to the longtime New York Democratic congressman. He said Mr. Trump's appeal to the Tea Party movement would erode once those contributions become well known.

I think this just shores up Trump's crony capitalist credentials. And his willingness to be "bipartisan".

And bringing Rangel into it is plainly racist.

[Fluffy]

I like the fact that Rand decided to kick Trump in the balls, but I winced just a little bit about the "registered Republican" thing, considering the fact that his dad was once the libertarian nominee for President.

But the whole "What economic theory is it when the President can yell at people to lower prices?" part was simply priceless.

[rather]

I'm starting to think Trump is a serious candidate since he got into Obama's and Paul's radar.

[John]

Trump is a serious candidate and that is not a good thing. He is just a national version of Jessee Ventura and Arnold. When the political class becomes completely bankrupt, people will go for celebrity and brashness out of desperation.

[Mister DNA]

Hey, now! He plays a successful businessman on a hit TV show. He's just the person to represent the Party of Fiscal Responsibility. If only Hank Hill could be his running mate and lock up the NASCAR dad vote.

[OO]

plus trump's very experienced w bankruptcy

[Old Mexican]

Re: OO,

plus trump's very experienced w bankruptcy

Which is where the US is headed thanks to the "greatest literary genius of all time."

[Restoras]

That's some funny shit right there.

[Sal]

You know who else people went for out of desperation?

[lil w]

no who?

[WTF]

Obama?

[Sal]

Bingo.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

When the political arena is populated by nothing but clowns, the biggest clown will get the most attention.

If nothing else, Trump would be the lulziest candidate ever because he doesn't give a shit about hurting anyone's feelings.

That's actually the best way to go about dinging the notoriously thin-skinned Barry-- just troll the shit out of him, because he can't take being taunted in an arena where he can't control the message.

[xenia onatopp]

Speaking of short-fingered vulgarians, I hope the wronged party in this story decides to haunt that cretinous dickweed til the story sticks to him like glue, til it's impossible for even the pond scum who encourage him to think "Trump" without thinking "advocated death penalty for a 14-year-old boy wrongfully charged with and convicted of a non-capital offense.

Man Cleared In Central Park Jogging Case Demands Apology From Trump

[Mister DNA]

Yay for Spy magazine references!

[xenia onatopp]

I have been unable to think of Trump otherwise since the mid-nineties; Graydon Carter and crew should have won a Pulitzer just for that description. I mean, there's a reason it stuck.

[OO=========D]

You're not free unles.s you're free to be wrong.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

If you decide to stand on a plank and go paddling out to sea, make sure you have your whistle with you. The United States Coast Guard has determined that it has the authority to board (pun noted) your "vessel".

It is, of course, as so many things are these days, for your own safety.

It of course has nothing to do with simply expanding its control or anything. Nope, the last thing any government agency would ever do is seek to broaden the scope of its powers to further justify its own existence.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

If you're down in the Caribbean, the damn US Navy will board you or scare the living shit out of you with low altitude (think 150 feet) and low speed jet fly-bys in the middle of the night.

[Tim]

It was dark, it could have been Cubans.
No you're right. Only Americans are assholeish enough to do that.

[rather]

Here's a clue: Former Miss USA.

The TSA touched my vagina has become the new 15 minutes portal

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Jealous because the TSA screeners just wave you through?

[rather]

I've had the full treatment and with a woman-and I liked it

[Nipplemancer]

thank you, I have now for the first time sympathy for TSA employees. I didn't think that was possible

[rather]

she slipped her soft hand into my underwear and exhaled...I shivered

[George]

You are truly a stupid cunt.

[rather]

I've always wondered if one could be a smart cunt?

[dbcooper]

No, but one can be a clever cunt.

[rather]

LOL

[Old Mexican]

Re: rather,

Here's a clue: Former Miss USA.

That justifies everything, then: she's a mere mortal.

"When in doubt, dehumanize."

Old Statist proverb.

[P Brooks]

I have detected an interesting phenomenon above. "Someone" disappeared John's double reply to my not-threaded comment about Pistole's answering machine, and indented my comment, making it appear as if I had used the "reply to this" button.

Well, I didn't.

And I won't. Fuck you, squirrels!

I shall endeavor to persevere.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I noted that as well. I smell a rat.

[capitol l]

I smell a rat squirrel.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Don't be an idiot. They've been planting this idea of server "squirrels" in our heads for years now, laying the groundwork for this moment, when they could hack into Hit and Run and make it seem that Brooksy used threaded commenting.

Look, maybe more than anyone, I have been a cheerleader for threaded comments, but I don't want it like this. I don't want trickery and treachery employed to make it seem that everyone is on board. Staff, we need to convince, not connive.

[robc]

Im going to repeat. Slowly this time, so maybe you will understand.

Threaded comments are ONLY acceptable when there is a mechanism for marking comments as read/new. Which requires logins.

Threading and anonymous posting are contradictory.

We need both threaded comments and logins. Or neither. Im okay either way, but the current system doesnt work.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Anonymous threading is the law of the land. Fight it and we will bury you. In threads.

[webtard]

Which requires logins.

Nope. Just a cookie.

[robc]

How big is that fucking cookie going to be?

Well, okay, I guess you only need to store the last access time for each article, so either one cookie per article or a hell of a lot of data per cookie.

[Just another ...]

... glitch in the Matrix.

[Tim]

WE'VE TRACED IT AND IT CAME FROM UPSTAIRS! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

[rather]

Jesus, I hope he isn't black 😉

[hollywood]

i gots ur pointers

[West Texas Boy]

"The other line was empty, it seems like nobody wants to use that scanner or go through it," Castillo recalled. She was then approached by a Dallas Fort Worth TSA agent who tried to get her to go through the scanner, at which point she says she refused.

This would piss me off to no end - I'd probably finally get arrested if this happened to me.

I travel a lot and if you pay attention, you can usually tell which line is getting scanned and which line is just walking through. No rhyme or reason, they just scan whoever unwittingly walks up usually. So I try to take care not to get into that line if I don't have to.

What I'm saying is, if they're going to give me a choice (and sometimes they don't) and THEN they just randomly say, "I'm randomly picking you to get out of this line and go over here anyway,"... and then said I had to be patted down because I technically refused to go into the scanner, HOLY FUCKING SHIT I would go so ballistic. I can't even begin to convey how crazy I would go on those WalMart losers if they did that to me. You'd be reading about me on H&R.

It's one thing if they direct you to the scanner initially, it's entirely another to just arbitrarily start picking people because the agents are bored.

[TSA Agent]

it's entirely another to just arbitrarily start picking people because the agents are bored.

Honey, who could be bored looking at you?

[P Brooks]

it opens the door for she who shall not be named.

Hillary?

[John]

Pro Liberate and I have a theory that the Republican ticket in 2012 will be Hillary/Palin. It is too insidious and insane not to happen. And the entertainment value of watching liberal women's heads explode all over America would be priceless.

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

I'm not up to date on my EOTW prophecy stuff, but isn't there something about a woman riding a multi-headed beast or something like that?

[cynical]

Keep your fetishes to yourself.

[Gregory Smith]

I like Walmart, but I prefer buying my guns at Academy Sports, their prices are lower and there's always someone at the counter.

MISS USA MOLESTED BY TSA.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....y-tsa.html

[krds]

Derby student says cops used Taser, broke his arm because of sagging pants
http://bit.ly/kZ58s4

Favorite comment:

Pants low and disrespectful? - he deserves being tased. Next time, shoot him.

[prison lowrider]

dressing like a prison whore causes suspicion

[Nipplemancer]

Dress code violations lead to murders, rapings, and burglaries. That kid deserved to be tazed and have his arm broken. Think of the children.... oh.. wait a minute.

[Mister DNA]

Christ, there's some Olympic-caliber badgelicking going on in that thread.

[Abdul]

Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground...

[Mainer]

"told him to stop resisting arrest"

Right out of the script.

[P Brooks]

Do you remember, back in the olden days, when people would say, "If I had a million dollars, I'd just put it in the bank and live off the interest"?

One of these days, it will be, "If I had a million dollars, I'd buy a carton of cigarettes and a case of Pabst."

[John]

You couldn't retire on a million these days. I couldn't quit my job. 5% a year (and good luck getting that in this market) is only 50K a year before taxes. That is barely a middle class existence.

[Nipplemancer]

you're lucky if you get 2%. The wife works at a bank and i think the highest rates are for custodial accounts at 2.3% Five year CDs don't even earn as much.

[John]

That is about right. You need a minimum of five million to live comfortably without working.

[Zeb]

If you had a million dollars you could get 5% reasonably safely somewhere. And where I live $50k/year provides a very comfortable middle class existence. I think I could retire now with a million (after tax).

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Plus, only the first $250K is insured. So you'd have to split it up between several accounts, reducing the aggregate.

[Nipplemancer]

you're lucky if you get 2%. The wife works at a bank and i think the highest rates are for custodial accounts at 2.3% Five year CDs don't even earn as much.

[Nipplemancer]

i only hit submit once. fucking squirrels

[capitol l]

As I have been so rudely informed upthread, they aren't squirrels. Supposedly they're rats, according to Fist.

The same Fist whose posts will probably start mysteriously disappearing. At least until he tows the party lion.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They can take our comments, but they can never take our freedom.

[CrackertyAssCracker]

You don't need a milion dollars to do nothing. I've got a cousin who broke, and he doesn't do shit.

[Citizen Nothing]

If I had a million dollars I'd buy you a green dress, but not a real green dress -- that's cruel.

[~A]

heh...+1...and we wouldn't have to eat kraft dinner.

[Tim]

I'd like to see that porn guy who donates to Reason make a TSA themed porno. Vagina Touchers: By the Book!

[P Brooks]

a TSA themed porno

Only if it's a snuff flick.

[Tim]

The gubmint already tried to jail him. Why not hit back?

[Number 2]

Off topic, but here is the latest headline from New Jersey on the banning of "bath salts" and the seizures of same throughout the state, complete with the requisite sanctimonious public statement about how the Law has saved us all from imminent death, doom and destruction.

http://www.app.com/article/201.....dyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

[Number 2]

Sorry, did not mean for this to be a reply to Tim.

[Tim]

[shakes fist]

[Nipplemancer]

here's the money quote:
"These patients are the sickest patients that we've seen in probably 25 to 30 years, since the beginning of the crack epidemic in the late '80s," said Dr. Steven Marcus, the poison system's medical and executive director.

[Number 2]

I thought the money quote was from the mother of the man who murdered his girlfriend and now blames the murder on her son's use of bath salts.

[Old Mexican]

Young Republican Student from the Univertisy of Iowa received a taste of the Left's "Civility."

University of Iowa student and Iowa Federation of College Republicans chair Natalie Ginty was shocked when a tenured professor at her school sent her an email reading "FUCK YOU, REPUBLICANS." It was a response to a campus-wide email the College Republicans sent out promoting their "Conservative Coming Out Week."

But what's even more shocking to Ginty is that her university has neither fired Professor Ellen Lewin, the author of the email, nor taken any disciplinary action against her. Ginty filed a formal complaint Tuesday and the school's investigators scheduled a formal meeting with Ginty next week.

If the situation was reversed and it was a conservative professor ridiculing a liberal student, Ginty is sure university officials would have already acted to discipline the professor and that more media would have focused on the story.

You should see one of the comments:

"The professor was way off base. At the same time, I must say those young Republicans are sure a snotty, snarky bunch with their 'coming out' and 'animal rights bbq' references."

Something like: "Yeah, the assailant is a scumbag but that gay man had it coming for being so flamboyant!"

[John]

Only those with the proper political conscience have a right speak.

[Scooby]

Who is it that has the "proper political conscience"? Team RED or Team BLUE?

It seems the only ones calling for restriction on speech are the ones calling for disciplinary action for one of these two partisans.

[Tim]

She should have touched her vagina, there's acceptable procedures for that.

[Team Blue]

It's okay when our side does it!

[the real OO]

how do u know the professor is on team blue? maybe he's libertarian

[capitol l]

True.

[Team Blue]

Whatever it takes to maintain your warped world view, moron.

[WTF]

the real OO|4.29.11 @ 10:47AM|#
how do u know the professor is on team blue? maybe he's libertarian

Maybe, but I would be willing to bet a lot on the prof being a leftist/statist/democrat.

[Old Mexican]

Re: The real OO (which makes it no better),

how do u know the professor is on team blue? maybe he's libertarian

It was a her, dolt, and she was not a libertarian.

[OO]

how do u know?

[Old Mexican]

Re: OO,

"is that her university has neither fired Professor Ellen Lewin, the author of the email, nor taken any disciplinary action against her."

Among your other talents, besides writing skills that would make a monkey blush in shame, is reading incomprehension.

[OO]

nice sidestep. so how do you know she's a dem & not libertarian?

[cynical]

I just went through the list of female libertarians, and none of the five had that name.

[johnl]

Because her name isn't Virginia or Katie.

[Mainer]

Doesn't the professors Republican-bashing play right into the "coming out" theme ?

Do liberals have any sense of irony ?

[oncogenesis]

The first Google result for "professor ellen lewin university of iowa" in the news category: Ellen Lewin tells it like it is.

Check that link: scienceblogs.com. Then check the comments.

I ... I'm not feeling particularly optimistic about humanity right now.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That Lewin bitch is a real piece of work. One of her academic shitpiles made the argument that single and lesbian mothers are more capable of being good parents because they "don't need no man to raise no child" (Just plenty of government welfare, of course!). Her argument is that more straight mothers should be divorcing their husbands in order to "assert their independence."

She's as deviant and malicious as Barbara Ehrenreich, just with a less prominent soapbox. A beating with a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat would be too good for her.

[Scooby]

If Ms. Ginty is truly "shocked" (a verb used repeatedly to describe her state of mind) by a hostile partisan response to her snarky partisan "coming out" event, then she really deserves a refund for any tuition she's paid to this university.

[P Brooks]

But what's even more shocking to Ginty is that her university has neither fired Professor Ellen Lewin, the author of the email, nor taken any disciplinary action against her.

Free speech.

Suck it up, Miss Prissy.

[John]

Bullshit. You don't have free speech on your work email when talking to your customers. She wants to say "fuck Republicans" use her own damned e-mail address and don't work for an institution that serves said Republicans and takes their tax money.

[capitol l]

You never post here from work?

[Old Mexican]

Re: capitol l,

You never post here from work?

Do you send insults to your coworkers or clients using the company's e-mail server?

I can get fired for that.

[capitol l]

John, as far as I know, works for the federal government. It would be hypocritical for him to criticize the professor for making partisan comments on the taxpayers dime if he does the same. If he doesn't do that, then I apologize for the insinuation.

[John]

Posting on here is different than using an official email. If I start sending e-mails from my work accout telling people they such, they have a right to tell me knock it off. Indeed, they could block reason from the server and I could hardly complain.

[Ice Nine]

Not that it matters greatly in this circumstance - though there is a huge difference in degree of invasiveness - but it's pretty hard to casually touch a vagina through clothing. I'm thinking that Miss USA doesn't quite know the difference between a vagina and a vulva.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Ice Nine,

I'm thinking that Miss USA doesn't quite know the difference between a vagina and a vulva.

Well, maybe she figured that to say "She touched my junk!" would sound too unlady-like.

[Miss USA]

OMG! She touched my Volvo!

[P Brooks]

Miss Prissy should just call the professoress a fucking union parasite and a tenured hack, and move forward.

[WTF]

Miss Prissy should just call the professoress a fucking union parasite and a tenured hack, and move forward.

I wonder if she would be subject to university discipline for that?

[Mainer]

Do you ? Do you really wonder if she'd be disciplined for that ? Cause I don't.

[WTF]

Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

[P Brooks]

Lewin also complained about Ginty calling her 'Ellen,' instead of referring to her as professor.

Holy fuck, it's like an I have more sand in my vagina than YOU! contest over there.

Maybe the TSA can bring in somebody to referee.

[Zeb]

OK, this may be too picky, but did they really touch her vagina, or just her outer labia? In either case it sucks, but there is quite some difference between getting finger banged by the TSA and getting a pat on the muff.
Again, perhaps I'm too picky, but I am annoyed by the imprecise way many people use the word "vagina". Vagina is just the hole, not the whole apparatus.

[Stinky Fingered Doctor]

Technically it's a tube.

But your point is actually right on. It's highly unlikely she was penetrated.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Stinky Fingered Doctor,

But your point is actually right on. It's highly unlikely she was penetrated.

She never said she was.

[Stinky Fingered Doctor]

Uhh... that would be the only way that her "vagina" could have been touched, dude.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Stinky Fingered Doctor,

Uhh... that would be the only way that her "vagina" could have been touched, dude.

You're being obnoxious, SFD.

[Stinky Fingered Doctor]

Oh, I'm just playing along.

As noted below, "Cooter" or "Pooter" would have been more effective at enlightening all of non-frequent flying middle America as to the scourge of TSA.

And those are both technical terms I use in my job every day.

[Zeb]

If it's obnoxious to expect people to use the right words to accurately describe a situation, then call me obnoxious.

[Mainer]

Can I call you pedantic ?

[Stinky Fingered Doctor]

I'll just call him Cooter.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Zeb,

If it's obnoxious to expect people to use the right words to accurately describe a situation, then call me obnoxious.
Your wish is granted: You're being obnoxious.

And a bore.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Zeb,
[Use the "preview" button, use the "preview" button, use the...]

If it's obnoxious to expect people to use the right words to accurately describe a situation, then call me obnoxious.

Your wish is granted: You're being obnoxious.

And a bore.

[Zeb]

Ice Nine started it. Neener!

[Comment Tater]

She's a former Miss USA, not a gynecologist.

[Ice Nine]

Yeah, and she probably doesn't know her ass from a hole in her pudendum.

[Walter]

A series of tubes.

[Tim]

Maude Lebowski: Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski?
The Dude: Uh, is that what this is a picture of?
Maude Lebowski: In a sense, yes. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina.
The Dude: Oh yeah?
Maude Lebowski: Yes, they don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.
The Dude: Johnson?

[sloopyinca]

I think most laymen refer to the whole apparatus, as you put it, as the vagina. If she'd said, "TSA touched my labia," morons all across the country (read: 70% of Americans) would have been scratching their noggins. She probably should have said her pussy, pooter, cooter, snatch, taco (she is espanish), twat, quim, furburger, minge, box, beaver, honey pot, camel toe, wizard's sleeve, juice box or hot pocket.

Either way, I want to see the aftermath and determine for myself what physical damage may have been done. You know, for research's sake.

[Mainer]

Did you ever read about a quim that wasn't quivering ?

[Miss Vagina USA]

TSA fingered my cooter! [/sobbing]

[Zeb]

Well fuck most laymen. When they use "vagina" that way, they think that they are being precise or proper or technical or something and they are just being ignorant and wrong. I find that to be the most annoying way of misusing words.

The misuse of the word really makes the story ambiguous. If they just patted her crotch through clothing, then it is ridiculous hyperbole to say she was sexually assaulted. I don't think it is good policy, but assuming that the random pat-downs are necessary (which I do not), you can't avoid certain areas of the body just because it makes people uncomfortable.

[sloopyinca]

If they just patted her crotch through clothing, then it is ridiculous hyperbole to say she was sexually assaulted.

Let me get this straight. A person feels your crotch through clothing against your wishes multiple times and that is not in some way sexual assault? What is the threshold for you, penetration? What if they fondled her breasts?

I think I'll go up to Fresno State and walk around the women's studies department patting women in the crotch and see how long I go without being arrested for....sexual assault.

Wow. I hope you reread your post and rethink what sexual assault entails.

[Ice Nine]

Let me get this straight. A person feels your crotch through clothing against your wishes multiple times and that is not in some way sexual assault?

Miss U might reasonably make that claim if the person doing that touching were a certifiable male heterosexual or a certifiable female homosexual, it seems to me. Otherwise how can it reasonably be called anything beyond a simple assault?

[Stinky Fingered Doctor]

If they just patted her crotch through clothing, then it is ridiculous hyperbole to say she was sexually assaulted.

I was with you until this. That's like saying it's not assault unless you actually get knocked out by the guy punching you.

[Mainer]

I used to work with a lady who never failed to correct usage that was technically incorrect. You could never say "I could care less" around her. We hated her. Just so you know.

[Zeb]

That's just obnoxious, because the meaning is still clear. In this case, if the word was used incorrectly, the meaning is obscured and ambiguous.

[Mainer]

not sure why, but here goes..

Miss Logan's meaning was clear. No one reading her account would infer that she was literally vaginally penetrated through her clothes. When you point out that she said vagina when she really meant vulva, then you're being like my former co-worker. And we hated her.

[Fluffy]

Zeb: "Lara Logan was not sexually assaulted and should stop complaining"

[Zeb]

Look, I said, hypothetically, that if you grant that the patdowns are necessary (which I do not), then they can't just not check a certain part of the body because people don't like it. Just because the contact was with a sexual part of the body doesn't make the touching sexual automatically. I've been stripsearched before and had my junk handled in the process. I didn't like it and I was in some sense violated, but I did not and do not consider it in any way sexual.
In my book, an act must have a sexual motive in order to be considered a sexual assault.
To compare what happened here to what happened to Lara Logan is just stupid and is an insult to Logan.
Again, I do not approve of these TSA policies and I think that she is right to feel violated. But that doesn't make it sexual assault. The screener was doing what she believed to be her job. Find me any evidence that she had any sexual intentions and I will agree.

[Clich? Bandit]

they chose MIss USA and not the fat ugly broad with two ar-15s and hand grenade behind her.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Zeb,'

In my book, an act must have a sexual motive in order to be considered a sexual assault.

I am sure the victim of the sexual assault will appreciate the difference.

[Zeb]

Yes, I think that the woman in this story would have appreciated the difference very much if she had actually been sexually assaulted rather than being questionably patted down. You are absolutely correct.

[Zeb]

You don't think mens rea should be necessary to convict someone of a crime?

[Old Mexican]

Re: Zeb,

You don't think mens rea should be necessary to convict someone of a crime?

I prefer to judge crimes on a "malum in se" basis, and touching someone's private parts under direct threat looks downright bad in itself.

[West Texas]

Speaking of vaginas, Mark Steyn was guest hosting for Limbaugh yesterday and spent a lot of time talking about this story.

Basically, doctor observes that unprotected heterosexual sex may be shown to be objectively good for a woman's health and gets attacked for being insensitive towards lesbians and the military-prophylactic complex.

[Old Mexican]

Re: West Texas,

Basically, doctor observes that unprotected heterosexual sex may be shown to be objectively good for a woman's health[...]

I also heard that unprotected sex is the best way to keep your girl off your case. I saw that one in MANswers.

[cynical]

So semen is a proven anti-depressant for women. Does the doctor recommend that it be taken orally?

[right hand]

Dunno about semen's benefit for women, but it works for me.

[P Brooks]

If they just patted her crotch through clothing, then it is ridiculous hyperbole to say she was sexually assaulted.

I hope you were on your knees when you hit "submit".

[P Brooks]

Doesn't the professors Republican-bashing play right into the "coming out" theme ?

Those ratbagging teafuckers have improperly used the trademarked verbiage of LBGT-land! It's thievery, and the Honor Council will mete out the appropriate expulsions.

[Mainer]

and the irony ? what about the sweet sweet irony ?

[P Brooks]

Those Campus Republithugs should print and sell tee shirts with that "Fuck you, Republicans!" quote (properly attributed, of course) and a NOOOOOOOOOOSE! on them.

[Cytotoxic]

I posted this yesterday and didn't get much response. I am skeptical of WS but (unlike so many here) also skeptical of the MSM narrative on Iraq. Thought?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....tml?page=1

[Cytotoxic]

Should've elaborated" concerns AQ-Iraq coop before the war.

[onitsuka tiger mexico 66]

She's onitsuka tiger sale

[TalkingWith]

Here's an interview with University of Iowa Professors Timothy Hagle (the University of Iowa College Republicans faculty advisor) and Kembrew McLeod, Matt Sowada, the conservative co-host of the political talk radio show American Reason on KRUI, and Rod Sullivan from the Johnson County Board of Supervisors about Professor Ellen Lewin's "F? You, Republicans!" email.

http://patv.tv/blog/2011/04/27.....publicans/