Blago Sentenced; Deutsche Bank Bomb; Mumia Lives; New Planet, and More: Reason Evening Links

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crime of speaking openly about the process of filling a vacated Senate seat. The Land of Lincoln's most prominent Hannah Montana fan was caught on tape trying to maximize the advantage conferred by his legal authority to select a person to fill the former seat of Barack Obama.

Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann targeted by a mail bomb discovered at the German bank's Frankfurt headquarters. The package, which carried a return address from the European Central Bank's Frankfurt headquarters, was detected in the Deutsche Bank's mailroom and disposed of without injury.

Raid on Occupy San Francisco nets 70 arrests. Police, sheriff's deputies and other government employees clear out protesters, who had maintained Occupy's record of choosing the least interesting section of every city by setting up camp in Justin Herman Plaza. 

Tennessee fire department lets another house burn down after non-payment of fire fee. South Fulton firefighters reportedly looked on as the house of Vicky Bell, who ignored the city's $75 assessment for firefighting services, burned to the ground.

Mumia execution abandoned. Prosecutors give up 30-year effort to put convicted killer turned death row radio personality Mumia Abu-Jamal to death. Justice still uncertain for death row film critic Ali "Fear" Youssef Chahine. 

We'll always have Kepler 22-B. "Earth-like" planet discovered. Located 600 light years away and not actually earthlike when you read the details, but other than that a real bargain. 

Comments

[John Thacker]

The South Fulton fire department is a government agency. Yet somehow their actions get turned in polemics against privatization and libertarians.

Any private contractor would be glad to take your money in order to put out your house; of course, they’d insist on a lot more than $75 if you hadn’t bought the insurance plan, but they’d have a price.

Only a government agency would totally refuse to bargain with you.

[Aresen]

I couldn’t find the full story in the link, but if the South Fulton FD was a city agency rather than a private contractor, we won’t hear a peep from Olbermann & NPR.

[LarryA]

SFFD is a city fire department established and paid for by the taxpayers of South Fulton. The county residents outside the city voted against having the county government establish even a volunteer county fire service, because they didn’t want to pay taxes to support it. They have the option of paying the city a measly $75/year for protection. Some of them are too cheap to do even that.

Why should the more responsible and enlightened city residents risk having their house burn, because the firefighters and equipment they paid for is busy responding to one of the deadbeat’s homes?

TANSTAAFL

[free2booze]

^^^THIS^^^

[free2booze]

Anyone who lives outside the South Fulton city limits, and didn’t pay for fire service after last years story, is a fucking moron.

[Invisible Finger]

I still don’t see why they can’t be billed for services rendered IF the $75 protection money isn’t paid.

[RoboCain]

True that a private contractor might agree to bill you later. Regardless, people should not be refused emergency services, or die or lose everything due to clerical errors.

[Typical Libertarian]

“Regardless, people should not be refused emergency services, or die or lose everything due to clerical errors.”

Why not? Taxes are theft. Those are part of the risks of living. If you don’t want to voluntarily take those risks, kill yourself. Every moment you don’t kill yourself is a moment you are voluntarily assuming the risk of dying or losing everything due to a clerical error.

[RoboCain]

That’s retarded.

[JW]

In today’s lesson, we teach RoboCain how to recognize trolls and what the proper response should be.

[RoboCain]

A couple of dismissive words seemed a proper response. Or at least way better than these endless arguments with the usual suspects.

[JW]

Incorrect!

The correct answer is: Ignore, Robo, ignore.

[RoboCain]

Sorry, I usually do. Not to make excuses, but what about regularly-scheduled asshats like “old Mexican”? There is often a fine line between trolling and actual stupid.

[JW]

Yeah, we’re still working on Old Mex.

He’s old, so we expect less.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Typical Strawman,

[…] you are voluntarily assuming the risk of dying or losing everything due to a clerical error.

You just described everybody’s relationship with government: The risk of being killed or having everything taken from you by a clerical error.

Thank you for making the case for us, even if unwittingly, you witless.

[RoboCain]

Another troll? Because that’s also retarded.

[free2booze]

From the story:

Bell admitted that she was aware of the fee, but never thought it would happen to them.

You get what you pay for. Why should the South Fulton FD show more concern for a piece of property, than a property owner who does not live in SFFD’s jurisdiction?

Personal responsibility can be a real bitch.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Robocain,

Regardless, people should not be refused emergency services, or die or lose everything due to clerical errors.

Firemen are slaves. Got it.

[cynical]

True, the city should cut off services to the county altogether. They can get their own fire department, or recognize that freedom and responsibility go together.

[Brendan]

they do. The city is doing this to make some small amount of money or offset costs.

There’s nothing with a nearby city contracting it’s services to residents of neighboring county.

Sheriffs departments do this all the time. Cities that don’t have or can’t afford their own police departments contract with the Sheriff’s department for police services.

[juris imprudent]

The likely irony is that now that Mumia won’t be killed, he will be forgotten. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

[Aresen]

I guess I’ll have to disband my Fry Mumia organization now.

[Paul]

They gave up trying to kill Mumia because he’s already been forgotten.

[James Ard]

Evening links? Isn’t this going to make Riggs’ job even harder?

[Clich? Bandit]

He is the Alpha and Omega of links.

[On Doner, On Blitzen]

Evening links?

The fund-raiser is coming to fruition.

[-]

Yes. Links are a zero-sum game.

[Disagreeable]

Isn’t this going to make Riggs’ job even harder?

No. Riggs could post links from ten years ago and the narcissists commentators would still ignore them, go off-topic and post their own.

[DesigNate]

get the sand out of your vagina nancy, that’s what morning links is for.

[Binky]

Good Evening, Suki.

[Suki]

Hi.

[jb]

When the South Fulton fire department fucks up (and they will) by failing to put out a fire because of a mix-up in the paperwork I’m certain restitution will be swift: in the form of a cheerful refund of $75.

[Old Soldier]

Perhaps more than that.

[SFFD]

We’ll just put out every fire, then ascertain payment. If you’re not paid up, we’ll cheerfully restart the fire.

[wef]

Tennessee fire department lets another house burn down after non-payment of fire fee.

Time-consistent credible commitments are a bitch.

(And such an irony that civilization rests on coming to accept such coldness.)

[Juice]

Sounds like this little town in Tennessee has a real fire problem. How many fires does this town have and how many are houses of people who didn’t pay the fee? Seems a bit suspicious.

[robc]

The town does seem to be having fire problems. Its the county around the town that has a problem.

[robc]

DOESNT…argh

[GW]

Rural residents who want fire protection can get service from the nearby town of South Fulton, but they must pay a $75 a year fee. South Fulton Mayor David Crocker said that if the city’s firefighters responded to people who didn’t pay there would be no incentive for anyone to subscribe. He said firefighters will help when people are in danger, regardless of whether they have paid.

So they weren’t residents of the town that provides the fire service. In other words, she just chose not to buy fire insurance, more or less. Sounds reasonable to me.

[Joe M]

Tim is such an overachiever.

[Binky]

Hsst. Mike is his ghostwriter.

[Joe M]

“Earth-like” planet discovered. Located 600 light years away and not actually earthlike when you read the details, but other than that a real bargain.

Who gives a shit about these planets way the fuck out there? Gimme the goods on the local neighborhood, say, within maybe 50 light years, where it’s conceivable they could’ve picked up our radio signals and sent a return message.

[A Serious Man]

I refuse to believe that a species so advanced as to have interstellar travel would be interested in a planet populated by a species as screwed up as ours.

I always thought the Predator movies offerred the most reasonable scenario for an alien visit: they’re bored and they just want to have fun hunting us.

[Joe M]

Oh please. There’s no reason to suspect that any other species is going to be any better than us. Assuming social skills are a key to evolutionary success, there’s no way to get where we are now without a ton of bizarre biological and sociological baggage.

[Episiarch]

In fact, they might be worse.

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, the whole business about societies with advanced technologies somehow having to be superior to us morally and ethically, well, I don’t see why that has to be true.

In fact, if they go to the trouble of coming here, they may be more likely than not here for a reason other than to say, “Hello.”

[Gray Ghost]

I’ve thought that Alastair Reynolds’s Inhibitors were an interesting answer to the Drake Equation and to the question of what interstellar life might be like. It’s funny; I love his Revelation Space stuff, and cannot get into any of his other books (House of Suns, Century Rain) at all.

Charlie Stross’s Missile Gap is another worthwhile look at aliens that really act in an alien manner. Plus one of the more interesting Sci-Fi settings in awhile.

[Episiarch]

Agreed on Reynolds, though I felt that Absolution Gap fell apart as it progressed. I fucking loved Chasm City, though.

I’ve always felt that it was entirely likely that any aliens out there could run the gamut from thinking quite similarly to us, to something so fucking alien as to be incomprehensible.

[Gojira]

run the gamut from thinking quite similarly to us, to something so fucking alien as to be incomprehensible.

For instance, some of those civilizations fucking love Michael Bay.

[Episiarch]

Which is why we must build fleets of AI warships to send out with orders to destroy all life they encounter in the galaxy. They’ll make the Inhibitors look like creampuffs.

[Gojira]

What’s funny is, in that wiki article, it says that one of the books is a take off of the Battle of Lepanto, with the Berserkers in the role of the Ottoman Turks.

So, to recap, Turks = soulless killing machines attempting to destroy all civilization.

But a bunch of their chicks are hot.

[robc]

I liked The Forge of God version better.

Same idea though…the universe is quiet because their are wolves out there. Dont draw attention to youself, by say, spamming space with radio waves.

[Paul]

In fact, they might be worse.

Did anyone connect with Rob Lowe’s character in Contact when he chided Jodie Foster’s character for always assuming that Aliens would be a superior, benevolent and wiser race?

[Episiarch]

I was too busy hating that movie to care.

[Paul]

You’re too young for that level of cynicism.

[Pro Libertate]

I was okay with the book. The movie had some serious divergences, especially Matthew McConaughey, who I simply cannot abide. And that character was actually mildly interesting in the book, rather than completely fucking annoying.

[Paul]

I too read the book, first and really enjoyed it. I did really enjoy John Hurt’s portrayal of S.R. Hadden. He kind of stole the movie.

[BigT]

Sagan was a great ambassador for science, and a rational humanist. But he was also a sanctimonious liberal. Contact well displayed both sides.

[JW]

That’s Reaver territory.

[Xenocles]

600 light years is way too close for me. If I’m going to emigrate I don’t want to be anywhere near this planet.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Sounds like you’ll be a Lonely Planet Boy.

[Xenocles]

Well I assumed there would be other colonists to oppress with freedom. I just figured that if I don’t want to live on this planet anymore I had may as well really GTFO.

[Joe M]

The firehouse link seems to be broken. Here is a working link.

[Joe M]

Oh, and…

Tennessee fire department lets another house burn down after non-payment of fire fee.

See what libertarianism leads to???

[Brendan Perez]

Personal responsibility?

They chose to live in that area and damn well should have known that they don’t have their own fire department. It’s undoubtedly cheaper to VOLUNTARILY pay the city next door for fire protection then it is for everyone to fund their own fire department, especially if their area is small.

It’s not easy for 50 or 60 households to fund a full fledged fire department and maintain it. Even a volunteer fire department with one engine isn’t cheap.

[Joe M]

I was only kidding. We had this entire argument last year.

[free2booze]

Bell admitted that she was aware of the fee, but never thought it would happen to them.

[Brendan]

That should be the end of it. She knew, she chose to avoid a $75/yr fee because she didn’t think anything would happen.

She’s an idiot. I pay about $220/yr. for Renter’s Insurance and I’m pretty sure that nothing’s going to happen. BUT, $220/yr is a small price to pay if the unexpected happens.

I don’t care if I have a cement house, sprinklers, etc., $75/yr. for the fire department to come put out a fire that hurt my house of property is nothing.

[Marty Feldman's Eyes]

I don’t see how this is evening links, when it’s 3pm.

[PantsFan]

notsureifserious.jpg

[Res Publica Americana]

In other news: Google is celebrating some commie Mexican artist in its logo! FUUU!!!!@@

[PantsFan]

I’m not seeing it?

[Ken Shultz]

“Tennessee fire department lets another house burn down after non-payment of fire fee. South Fulton firefighters reportedly looked on as the house of Vicky Bell, who ignored the city’s $75 assessment for firefighting services, burned to the ground.”

I’m all for private fire departments in Libetopia and everything, but until we get there?

Surely there must have been something else they could have cut without resorting to standing by and watching someone’s house burn to the ground.

If they’re gonna privatize the fire department, then privatize it! If they’re not? That’s just woefully neglectful behavior.

By the way, last time I checked? (I think it was a story Cavanaugh linked a while back), private fire departments were sighted putting out house fires for people who weren’t even their customers…just because doing so made their customers’ homes that much safer.

Chalk this up as another big-hearted win for capitalism.

[Aresen]

?

My read on the story was that this was a City Fire Department, not a private contractor.

[Pro Libertate]

Zing!

[Ken Shultz]

That’s what I’m saying!

I can’t find the link right now, but Cavanaugh (or somebody) had a story up–was it last summer? About a private fire department that was putting out fires at the homes of people weren’t even their customers–pro bono.

Contrast that with a city that stood by and watched someone’s house burn down–because they didn’t cough up the cash?

And capitalism wins the warm-heart contest again.

I’ll see if I can dig that other link up.

[Ken Shultz]

I remember a more detailed account with more free beneficiaries…

But I’m having a hard time digging up that story–just a fleeting reference to the same sort of thing here…

“Then the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News revealed the shocking news that the American International Group (AIG), an insurance company, had been adding a very modest supplement to the firefighting effort?six trucks?on behalf of its clients. For premiums averaging a hefty $19,000 a year, AIG policyholders in the fire-vulnerable “wildland-urban interface” have their homes assessed for vulnerability, kitted with sprinkler systems, and doused with fire retardant. When wildfires rage within three miles of a covered house, AIG-contracted teams come out to lay down a fresh perimeter of retardant and check the roof and nearby brush for stray embers (the cause of most housing tract losses during an inferno). According to Bloomberg, AIG firefighters saved at least six houses, including one lucky enough to be next door to an AIG client.”

https://reason.com/archives/200…..n-the-rich

This wasn’t the thread I was talking about though.

Anyway, point is that it’s a big contrast–if a city fire department will stand by and watch your house burn because you didn’t pay a $75 fee? And a private insurer’s fire fighters will save someone’s house from burning down even if they’re not a customer.

The thread I was talking about was mostly about the private fire department dropping retardant on people’s houses from a helicopter–people who weren’t even customers.

[Brendan Perez]

Yep. If I don’t pay Progressive, they’ll stand by while my car is towed away and not pay a dime to get it fixed.

The pay-only-after-you-have-a-fire system will not work.

The people in the area chose a voluntary pay-the-city-next-door system for fire protection.

[Juice]

They could be billed for the full cost (plus profit) of putting out the fire. Sounds crazy but it might just work.

[free2booze]

Nothing wrong with that option, but that doesn’t change the fact that the home owner was aware of the fee, but chose not to pay for fire service. After last years story got so much attention, anyone who lives in that county, and hasn’t paid for fire service, isn’t deserving of sympathy.

[Brendan]

What happens when 5 or 6 homeowners don’t pay and the fees go into collections?

The fire department is still out the money. Then no one pays and the service stops.

This is the way to preserve this arrangement-the people who pay are serviced, those who don’t are not. Cutting off services effectively punishes those who did by basically forcing them to pay more to build and maintain a fire department.

[RoboCain]

Then what if there are no fires? Equipment costs are massive.

What’s stupid about this is that firemen are paid by the hour. Having them put out a fire costs has the same labor cost as paying them to watch it burn. They don’t pay for water, the amount of diesel is about the same, so I don’t see how they save a significant amount of money here.

[RoboCain]

Then what if there are no fires? Equipment costs are massive.

What’s stupid about this is that firemen are paid by the hour. Having them put out a fire costs has the same labor cost as paying them to watch it burn. They don’t pay for water, the amount of diesel is about the same, so I don’t see how they save a significant amount of money here.

[GW]

They save a significant amount of money because if they put out fires for anyone, then NO ONE would pay the $75 fee, which is exactly what the town’s mayor said. At least this way, people have incentive to cough up the cash for the coverage.

[PantsFan]

Put out the fire and then send a bill for the full cost of service?

[LarryA]

“Poor family looses home; heartless city government sends them a bill.”

PR FAIL.

[RoboCain]

And “heartless city government watches children burn” is good PR?

[capitol l]

All it will take is one photo of a child with a tear in her eye clutching a cinder covered teddy bear whilst heartless firefighters look on and this shit will end.

Oh god, that sounds crappy enough to win a Pulitzer. Quick, light this bear on fire.

[Xenocles]

That would be a concern if they let someone get hurt or if their policy were something other than to intervene to save lives. Neither is the case.

[Brendan]

No child or any other living thing was reported to have burned.

[cynical]

“I’m all for private fire departments in Libetopia and everything, but until we get there?

Surely there must have been something else they could have cut without resorting to standing by and watching someone’s house burn to the ground.”

The idiots who let their house burn down because they couldn’t be bothered to pay $75 were living in “libertopia”, in terms of trading taxes for lack of services. They chose freedom, they couldn’t handle it, and they got burned.

The fact of the matter is that the fire department was a tax-funded government agency. It has no authority to levy fees or taxes on people outside of its jurisdiction (I would imagine that even means for services rendered, barring an explicit agreement with the fee-payer). That means it either gets them to pay a risk-normalized premium beforehand, it gets them to agree to pay a non-risk-normalized premium during an emergency (and risk being accused of extortion), or provide services either gratis or risk-normalized during the emergency — in which case, free riding will increase to the point the city ends the program altogether.

The cost of the intervention is much more than $75. If there is a 1% chance of your house burning down each year, and it costs $7500 to put out a fire, then it makes sense to charge $75 beforehand (if you’re trying to break even). But once a fire happens, that 1% goes out the window. Now if you want to make a deal, it still costs $7500, and there’s a 100% chance your house is on fire, so you need to pay the full fee for the system to be fair. But if the fire department actually charged the full fee, people would say they were taking advantage of people in an emergency.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, I always liked The Little Prince. That makes me some sort of dirty commie, doesn’t it?

[Episiarch]

No, it makes you an idiot.

[Pro Libertate]

You just hate French things that aren’t food and boa constrictors.

[Episiarch]

I like Eva Green too, dope.

[Pro Libertate]

You just hate French things that aren’t food and Eva Green, and you hate boa constrictors.

[Episiarch]

Wrong again! I dislike feather boas. Way to screw up again, dude.

[Pro Libertate]

You remind me of that guy who lights streetlights.

[RoboCain]

Boa constrictors?

[Pro Libertate]

There’s some reference to boa constrictors in The Little Prince. And hats.

[RoboCain]

Sorry, I never read/watched it. I just knew that boa constrictors weren’t from France.

[Pro Libertate]

It’s a ten minute read.

[Aresen]

It’s a leading indicator.

But the real telling point was your shatobsession.

[Pro Libertate]

The Shat isn’t a commie! You take that back! And he’s American, you Canadian bastard, American!

Jesus, why didn’t we conquer you 200 years ago? Why?

[PantsFan]

You may not have the Shat. You can however take Bieber.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, we have the Shat. Don’t kid yourself. We take whatever we want from Canada.

[Aresen]

Bieber may have an anchor baby.

If so, they’re stuck with him.

And they can keep Shatner. As long as they can make him shut up.

[Pro Libertate]

No force in the universe can do that.

[Xenocles]

It wasn’t for lack of trying. We invaded in 1775 and 1812. Benedict Arnold helped lead the first one, which I mention because his expedition’s brief stop in my hometown led the creation of what I believe is the only monument in the country to bear his name.

[Pro Libertate]

We were just kidding around then. Now we have nukes and they don’t. Move the borders up 100 miles, and we win!

All because of Aresen, which seems right and just to me.

[Aresen]

Careful. Justin Bieber has a brother or two.

[Pro Libertate]

. . .but I’ve always been a man of peace, loving my brothers and sisters to the north.

[Xenocles]

Only if we can raze Montreal in the process.

[capitol l]

Wait ’til the habs get bumped* from the playoffs; they’ll destroy it themselves.

*…or they win in the playoffs, or tie, or if they get a bad call, etc, etc

[Xenocles]

It’s never enough.

[sage]

You know who else liked to watch shit burn?

[Pro Libertate]

If you say William Shatner, I’m going to reach through this monitor and strangle you with my invisible arm.

[sage]

No, the correct answer is “incineration commode manufacturers.”

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, okay. We’re good then. Sorry about the threat of psychic violence and everything. It’s those damned Canadians setting me off with their damned superior, monarchist, hockey-playing ways.

[PantsFan]

You are free to claim Alan Thicke.

[sage]

I used to be a shat fan like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee…

[Res Publica Americana]

Does the radiant quest thing really suck as many balls as people say?

[sage]

A tally I’ve never played. I’m just trying to throw out a bunch of stupid memes before my ferry docks. And gotta go.

[sage]

“actually”

[dunphy]

in skyrim? not imo

[cynical]

Do people say that? I mean, it’s mostly used to generate a little “quest” to direct you to a dungeon you haven’t cleared yet. It’s helpful for people that would start to lose direction if it was just left up to them to explore, plus if you want to join one of the guilds and stick to it, you never really get to a point where you say “welp, all out of thief quests, guess I’ll become a mage.”

I mean, it has a few bugs (as any complex system might), but I could only see someone getting disappointed if they had highly unrealistic expectations for the system.

[dunphy]

yea, some people be a wankin’ about it on the skyrim forums. skyrim is a very very good game. imo, the best i’ve played in a very long time.

given more powerful computers, etc. i could see a game like skyrim with better AI for the NPC’s. compared to most stuff out there, it’s pretty good, but i could a version years in the future where the NPC’s really have a neural net type thang going where they develop as much as your character, based on all their day ot day interactions that happen outside your view as well.

in that respect, every time you played would be very different. your character would have a butterfly effect, as would other stuff that happened quasi randomly e.g. weather, etc. and each individual choice they made would cascade into others and it would truly be a “world”

they could also add sex with the characters, etc. and ‘adult’ up the game.

mebbe the fact that the player can’t have sex when he gets married is supposed to be some kind of comment about amrriage 🙂 but the single players aint gettin any either in skyrim

[cynical]

“given more powerful computers, etc. i could see a game like skyrim with better AI for the NPC’s. compared to most stuff out there, it’s pretty good, but i could a version years in the future where the NPC’s really have a neural net type thang going where they develop as much as your character, based on all their day ot day interactions that happen outside your view as well.”

The main problem right now is the need to target the consoles, which are horribly outdated in terms of power. Either the consoles have to release a new generation of hardware with beefy capabilities, or else they have to become so obsolete that gamers and developers abandon them and they become a non-issue.

I think it would be great if they took a concept like the director for Left 4 Dead, added that to an advanced Radiant Story, and used it to create a system that would try to maintain a more cohesive narrative that would still vary greatly for each character — basically, you’d get tossed into a time of history being made, of war and politics and upheaval, and choose whether you wanted to get involved and influence the flow of events (Serenity style), or just keep your head down and try to survive and experience a personal tale (Firefly style).

[dunphy]

yea, i totally agree about console port-itis. it’s just a terrible problem right now, because pC games are such a NICHE little market, compared to console games, that it doesn’t behoove developers to spend a lot of time/$$$ on the PC version (or god forbid develop a game solely for the PC) when they know PC’ers will still buy a port IF it’s good, that to some extent mod’ers can take up the slack, etc.

it costs SO much to develop a good game these days, and if it was marketed solely to PC’s or developed for same, it would be much more difficult to develop a fully immersive game like skyrim and get the kind of return you get when you target consoles.

xbox 360 is ancient technology, and some gamer boxes are phenomenally more powerful.

it’s nice to up frame rate, textures, etc. but ultimately the games should be about the experience and playability and developers are not writing the code to take advantage of it

from what they say, crysis was the last game to really PUSH the PC (of the time)

[Coeus]

I’m almost positive that the monsters in Resistance: Fall of Man were learning my moves. And that was on the PS3.

[Pro Libertate]

Fan is too tepid a word.

[Xenocles]

Alfred’s war buddy?

[The Joker]

Right you are.

This website deserves a better class of commenter, and we’re gonna give it to them!

[Xenocles]

I do hope that evening links become a thing. I usually miss out on the morning threads because of work.

[PantsFan]

I miss out on morning links because of sleep.

[yogi]

I blame the Earth’s rotation. The Morning Links have been polluted by East coast elitists by the time 7 am rolls around here in California, before I have my 64oz bottle of diet cola in hand and my computer turned on.

[Zuo]

They are very East-centric.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Reality is very East-centric. Deal with it, losers.

[Xenocles]

Sorry, I meant to say “enslaving the taxpayers.” Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

[Murtaugh]

I am TOO old for this SHIT!

[Joshua]

I thought for a second that said Mumra lives.

[Joshua]

I thought for a second that said Mumra lives.

[Coeus]

Autistic man believes feminist proclamations on what they find attractive. Feminists then ruthlessly mock him for being so gullible.

http://jezebel.com/5865985/inv…..ore-crappy

[capitol l]

I don’t know, dude just seemed like a giant light-bending anus to me.

Did it say he was autistic, or are you just fucking around? I got kinda lost in the middle of that 2000 word of whine email.

[Coeus]

Doesn’t say. The detail obsession and taking people at their word both seem to indicate it, however. As does the googling of “signals”. But given that he’s rich, she finds him physically attractive, and they share the same interests…

In other words, he’s baffled by the “x” factor which used to be common knowledge but has been denied to the latest generation. Basically, I feel bad for him. A poster on the site actually gets it correct (first time for everything, I guess):

clearsite

I frequently get into disagreements on this website regarding my belief that women have become too picky when it comes to dating. Things like this make me wonder why so many people disagree with me. This guy clearly doesn’t have too many dating opportunities. Every date for him is a potential big break. He can’t just shrug off a failed romance since he doesn’t have many chances.

I get this sense from men I briefly date after I reply “I’m just not feeling it, good luck,” after they try to ask me out again. It sometimes makes me not want to take a chance on accepting a date from a guy if I sense that he doesn’t get too many dates. And with that attitude, I am basically perpetuating that the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

And unfortunately, I suspect that there will be much more of this in the future, because as I have said before, we have become too picky.

The attitude he has isn’t something he was born with. It’s how he adapted to constant rejection despite doing everything “right” according to predominate PC theory. A little education at the right time in his life, and he would be a very different person right now.

[capitol l]

Thing is, nobody wants a whiny bitch and that’s how he comes off in the email. As to whether she finds him attractive or he just believes that because he got more ecpms* during this date than he’s ever gotten before is beyond our ken.

Reread that email and tell me if that is an individual that you would like to hang out with. Now imagine a woman making a decision as to whether or not this person is going to stick his penis in her.

And as you imply, with women, as in life, there is no check list that you complete to guarantee success. Sometimes people just don’t like you.

*eye contacts per minute

[Coeus]

Thing is, nobody wants a whiny bitch and that’s how he comes off in the email.

I know hence my comment:

The attitude he has isn’t something he was born with. It’s how he adapted to constant rejection despite doing everything “right” according to predominate PC theory. A little education at the right time in his life, and he would be a very different person right now.

This didn’t happen in 2 years or in 5. This is the result of a specific personality type who has decades of following a script preached in every major college in the country. And you’re right. It ain’t pretty.

As to whether she finds him attractive or he just believes that because he got more ecpms* during this date than he’s ever gotten before is beyond our ken.

I said physically attractive. Attraction is what he’s not getting. She obviously does find him physically attractive, since she found him on a dating website with pictures.

And as you imply, with women, as in life, there is no check list that you complete to guarantee success.

No, but in life, as well as with women, there is a checklist which can improve your odds. In our current culture, nobody tells you not to save for retirement, because saving for retirement is one of those things that you do put on a mental checklist for life. But they will tell you to do 9,000 things which work against a man attracting a woman. If you don’t believe that, google “enthusiastic consent”.

This guy is of a type to take that bad advice that is spewed at him from every direction as fact, and feel angry and betrayed when it doesn’t work.

Reread that email and tell me if that is an individual that you would like to hang out with.

I do hang out with people like that (I work in I.T. for chrissakes), and they generally only react that way about women and only as it relates to dating said women. They don’t act like that in other circumstances, largely because there is no other aspect in their life where they get demonstrably bad advice from people who they otherwise trust (example: your mom telling you to buy flowers on a second date or your sister who tells you to quit teasing the girl you’re on the phone with).

[Xenocles]

It’s never enough.

[Xenocles]

Whoops, that was not where that comment was supposed to go.

[R C Dean]

I think that comment can go just about wherever it wants.

[Sparky]

Evening links? Well then, here’s a Christmas song I can finally relate to.

[PantsFan]

Best Christmas Lights

[robc]

What the hell are evening links?

[PantsFan]

Awesome.

[Coeus]

A response to our crapping out the threads that appear later in the day with tons of random links. I like it.

[PantsFan]

How not to handle first-date rejection: A 1,600 word e-mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com…..le2263723/

[Coeus]

check upthread

[PantsFan]

Nuts

[skonk eye]

You guys spend a lot of time of internet dating sites.

[Poet Laureate sloopyinca]

According to the Obama administration, one cannot be denied insurance for a pre-exiting condition.

Shouldn’t that homeowner be able to buy his fire protection from the firemen when they are on their way? After all, personal responsibility is a foreign concept in America these days.

[skonk eye]

Car insurance and too. Why should I have to pay these big companies for things that aren’t my fault?

And don’t forget unemployment insurance. We should all be pre-insured.

[PantsFan]

An Open letter to Pixar

[rsi]

“My partner and I mentioned both a jackalope and a delay fish in our wedding vows. We are fans.”

This has got to be spoof.

[Nike Dunk Shoes]

thanks

[Monster Beats By Dre Headphone]

Monster Beats Studio
Monster Beats Solo HD
Monster Beats Pro
Monster Beats Diamond
Monster Beat Ferrari
Monster Just Beats
Monster Beats Kobe Bryant
Monster Beats Lebron James
Monster Beats Lamborghini
Monster Beats Michael Jackson
Monster Beats NFL Teams
Monster Beats NBA Teams
Monster Beats NHL Teams
Monster Beats MLB Teams
Monster Diddy Beats
Monster Beats Lady Gaga
Monster Power Beats
Monster Butterfly Vivienne
Monster Tour Beats
Monster IBeats
Monster Yao Ming Beats
Monster Beats Turbine
Monster Miles Davis
V-MODA Crossfade LP

[NBA Snapback hats]

Wow nice!!!!!!!!!!!!