A.M. Links: Gingrich Allegedly Did Not Love Reagan Enough, Wall Street Owes Taxpayers $132 Billion, K Street Sticks Up for Egypt's Awful Regime

• Reagan-loving Newt Gingrich allegedly insulted the former president back in the day. 

• Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP.
• At the moment, Wall Street is (voluntarily) giving most of its money to Obama. 
• Washington lobbyists defend Egypt's military crackdown. 
• AT&T reels from failed T-Mobile merger. 
• Ahmadinejad is ready for nuke talks. 

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Comments

[RoboCain]

McNugget Addiction?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea.....age-2.html

[o3]

serial link fetish

[Quetzalcoatl]

No, that would be for vienna sausages.

[sloopyinca]

Wouldn't a serial link fetish be more likely to involve some Jimmy Dean product?

[Sparky]

You're thinking cereal link maybe?

[Quetzalcoatl]

I considered that, but most Jimmy Dean products that I've encountered are no longer technically "links" either.

[sloopyinca]

Then I'll go with Johnsonville.

As an aside to Jimmy Dean, my brother got married at his house along the James River.

[Randy Taylor]

I wanna eat gotdammit

[anon]

I doubt her vagina smells very good.

Would hit it, but probably have to take a shower afterwards.

[Connie]

Along these lines, not surprisingly she has never had a bowel movement.

[anonynmously anon]

Duh, women don't poop.

[Karl Hungus]

"I am starting to realise this is really bad for me."

Her only saving grace for the moment is that she's only 17, and has a young person's metabolism. Ten years from now, assuming she's on the same diet, she's going to be fat enough to have her own documentary on TLC.

Also, she has nice teeth for a Brit.

[Zeb]

As long as she doesn't overdo the fries, she might not get too fat. But you still need vegetables.

[Fist of Etiquette]

One of her favourite pastimes is sharing 20 nuggets and a portion of fries with her boyfriend.

Yet, despite a diet that regularly means she eats at least a third more than the 56g of fat recommended by experts, she manages to keep relatively trim.

This may be down to the amount of exercise she does or to her metabolism.

Her boyfriend might want to take heed. That "fast metabolism" and exercising ain't gonna keep up forever.

Anyway, how do these Brit rags get these people to let their children tell the world how stupid they are?

[Bee Tagger]

Well, these people were the stupid kids their parents were telling the Brit rags about a generation ago. And so on. It's stupid parents all the way down.

[poetry]

The inbreeders are all related, so really she's probably just doing the editor ? her uncle on both sides ? a favor.

[PS]

There's nothing wrong with fat, but there's definitely something wrong with the heavily oxidized vegetable oils McD's uses.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Am I the only one who wishes Mickey D's would go back to using beef fat?

[PS]

No! And fuck CSPI.

[Brett L]

I imagine that the fear of dealing with Britain's version of Child Protective Services if sweetums doesn't get her way probably cows many a parent over there.

[Tonio]

Nice choice of verb, there, Brett. LOL.

[Karl Hungus]

One of her favourite pastimes is sharing 20 nuggets and a portion of fries with her boyfriend.

I remember catching one of the daytime talkshows about 10-15 years ago, can't remember which one. The topic that day was super-morbidly obese women and the men who love them. One of the featured couples was a woman who weighed something like 600 pounds and her husband, who was a wee slip of a lad. Sitting at her side on stage, he looked like Io circling Jupiter. Anyhow, their foreplay consisted of them getting naked and him feeding her ice cream in bed.

[Hank]

Is her outfit in the full-body pic ironic? I can't tell anymore.

To me it looks terrible in a regular way.

[Brett L]

She's a Brit. They only come in sensible and WTF modes of dress with very rare exception.

[PS]

The soda she is drinking is much worse than the mcnuggets or even the fries. I'd imagine the high proportion of n-6 oil is also a big problem.

[heller]

Another candidate for the Darwin Awards

[Fatty Bolger]

The article is almost as stupid as she is. OMG FAT! FAT IS EVIL!!!

Yet, despite a diet that regularly means she eats at least a third more than the 56g of fat recommended by experts, she manages to keep relatively trim.
This may be down to the amount of exercise she does or to her metabolism.

Uh, no, idiots. Look at your own chart. Her three nugget meals add up to only 1500 calories. Even the salt amount is not very high. She's clearly suffering from a vitamin deficiency, not a "fat overdose" or some other silly idea.

[wylie]

throwing my weight in with Fatty here, 20 nuggets is barely a snack.

fucking Chik-fil-a, making me order like 3 boxes of nuggets to make a whole meal, wtf.

[RoboCain]

"Commission Michael Williams said it was an incident at a local Walmart that offended him and some elderly customers that spurred him to push for an ordinance that would prohibit wearing pajama pants in public."

http://www.shreveporttimes.com.....rohibition

[Brett L]

Shorter article: "People of Walmart, get off my lawn!"

[Rich]

"I pay my own bills, so I can wear my clothes the way I want."

** wrestles with implications of the logic **

[Brett L]

If your mistress won't dress the way you tell her, you're getting a raw deal.

[poetry]

what's wrong with a raw deal?

[Brett L]

I like saran wrap and cowboy boots on a mistress.

[wylie]

we have a winner.

Euphemism Of The Day is awarded to: "a raw deal"

[Tonio]

Commissioner Williams is either an idiot or a spineless panderer. I'm sure they'll pass a vaguely-worded ordinance which will eventually be struck down by a court thus costing the taxpayers big bucks in a futile attempt to solve a non-problem. Also, Wal*Mart is private property. Ugh.

I hope the first enforcement of this is against some senior out shopping in her nightgown.

[wylie]

I wear nothing BUT pajama pants around the house.

I still have enough sense of decorum to toss on a pair of jeans when I go to the store though.

No, fuck decorum, let's get practical: what if I had to run from a mugger or something? Doing it in pajama pants would just be too humiliating.

[Tulpa]

You don't have to run if you're packing, as you should be in Walmart environs.

[Tulpa]

Oh, hey spoofer, my turn now I guess.

[wylie]

fair enough, but how is the elastic on my pajama pants supposed to securely hold the gun, huh smart guy?

[The Dan]

Fanny Pack or thunderwear

[Fatty Bolger]

Reminds me of this.

[RoboCain]

Why You Should Spend a $2 Bill at Starbucks on Feb. 14

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.c.....on-feb-14/

[wylie]

Now I need special money? Showing my support for causes is too complicated these days.

[RoboCain]

Ron Paul inspires talking, 12? action figure!

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01.....on-figure/

[Hank]

It's being advertised in my sidebar now. Well done.

[poetry]

i'll inspire your action figure

[Chaos theory o3]

i want my 12" of inspiration now damit

[heller]

I already broke this story days ago

[heller]

I also don't understand the joke and spend 3 hours proving it.

[heller]

Like that means anything, you stupid cunt.

[wylie]

I already broke my 12" Ron Paul two days ago.

[RoboCain]

Sarcasmic finds the perfect woman:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea.....ition.html

[sarcasmic]

Yes. Yes I have.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....paign.html

[Abdul]

What's she cooking in the countryside? A crouton?

[poetry]

an ice cube

[sloopyinca]

Based on her physical appearance, she's cooking up a load of smack.

[Kate Moss]

Oh, my, a whole crouton? I wish! I'll just have half now and save the rest for dinner.

[Pip]

Sarah's prettier.

[DesigNate]

To each his own. That leaves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U62stubaal4 for me.

[PS]

Why the long face?

[Troy]

Does her vagina work?

[Joe M]

She believes she will not be able to find love unless she becomes a 'real' woman, she told Irish Independent.

Isn't puberty what makes you want love in the first place? This is like a eunuch pining for a harem girl.

[RoboCain]

You made Tori sad!

http://www.tmz.com/2012/01/24/.....las-vegas/

http://news.avn.com/articles/T.....61845.html

[Fluffy]

If I saw just the mugshot without the headline you could convince me that Alexis Bledel had somehow gotten herself arrested.

Which would be very hot.

[sloopyinca]

I so wanted that to lead to a horse-faced mugshot of Tori Spelling.

[heller]

That would make a good prison porn background story.

[Tulpa]

She's a MILF? I'm glad I didn't invest in her personalized fleshlight after all.

[Tulpa]

Spoofer.

[RoboCain]

Lea Michelle is still hot:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....paign.html

[sarcasmic]

She's got one of those faces that says she'll put on 100lbs within six months after the wedding.

[John]

She could benefit from a nose job. But I don't see that at all.

[Restoras]

I agree. She's a liferaft waiting for someone to pull the inflate cord.

[sarcasmic]

That's funny.

[sloopyinca]

If the bra on the hanger is hers, she's got the rack of a 12-year old.

[sarcasmic]

17yr old taps his English teacher.

Heck. I would too!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....nt-17.html

[John]

She is fat by your standards, a regular whale.

And the kid was 17. If that is not the age of consent it should be. Don't tell me for a minute that kid was victimized. 17 is a senior in high school.

[anon]

She will definitely turn into a balloon half year after wedding, though definitely not fat.

Then again, 90lbs is a little on the heavy side for sarcasmic.

[sarcasmic]

Don't tell me what my standards are. If I say I'd tap that teacher then that means I'd tap that teacher.
Doesn't mean I'd take her for a walk in the park. Just means I'd fuck her silly.

[Land Whale]

But I like walks in the park and stargazing!

[wylie]

star-grazing, maybe.

[poetry]

If I say I'd tap that teacher then that means I'd tap that teacher.

Goddammit take the man seriously! He's bound to do something ... irrational!

[Koch Family Foundations]

We want our money back.

[Nancy Pelosi]

Are you serious?

[David Carradine]

I don't think I'm getting all of these references.

[Producers of The Muppets]

THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE

[Karl Hungus]

Investigators said the boy admitted to the affair and said it had become with flirting but ended up with him sleeping with his teacher.

I'd have kept my mouth shut and kept a good thing going.

[Sparky]

What good is nailing your hot teacher if you can't brag about it?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Reagan-loving Newt Gingrich allegedly insulted the former president back in the day.

Newt Gingrich, as I said yesterday, has no doubt spoken every possible word combination possible. A few of the random utterances were bound to string together to make an attack on the conservative icon.

[Chaos theory o3]

und occasionally mein studentia, heer newt's random word generation coalesce into beautiful zounds...den de decay vill cum. fineto

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Newt is the human equivalent of a thousand monkeys banging on typewriters.

[Tulpa]

It doesn't work if you stay finite.

[Tulpa]

Spoofer.

[Suki]

Newt still wants a moon base
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-50.....moon-base/

[RoboCain]

It's the anti-gravity sex.

[Quetzalcoatl]

He wants to slip the surly bonds of Callista.

[R C Dean]

I can totally see her as a dominatrix.

And Newcular T as her sub. With nipple clamps.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Please stop

[Marshall Gill]

RC, if your comment inspires Nutra Sweet, everything that happens afterward is your fault!

[Rich]

+1/d^2

[Rev. Blue Moon]

NYC Public Health Campaign Photoshops out a man's limb.

[Sparky]

Is Photoshopically really going to be a word now?

[wylie]

without following the link for some context, I can't make sense of what "Photoshopically" is supposed to mean, or how the word would even be used.

[sarcasmic]

65yer old man shoots two attempted robbers, one of them dead.

Go Gramps!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....cycle.html

[Abdul]

Shooting a dead man is just gratutitous.

[Chaos theory o3]

at least he's not engorging himself on their flesh...und other stuff

[R C Dean]

He must have taken the cure at Ysgramor's tomb.

[Lost_In_Translation]

2nd rule of zombieland: double tap

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Or just fun, take your pick.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP.

And Wall Street will repay the American people every cent in the form of campaign donations to Barack Obama.

[Fist of Etiquette]

At the moment, Wall Street is (voluntarily) giving most of its money to Obama.

If I had only kept reading.

[Ken Shultz]

Great minds think alike!

[Fist of Etiquette]

And so do I!

[Ken Shultz]

Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP.

I think that headline is a little misleading.

Wall Street may still owe the government $132 billion from TARP, but the government still owes "the taxpayers" $700 billion from TARP.

Wall Street may have paid most of the money back to the government, but the government hasn't returned ANY of that money to the taxpayers yet.

Believe me, if there had been a $700 billion tax cut? I'd have heard about it. If the government had retired $700 billion in outstanding debt? I'd have heard about that too.

[Harry Reid]

Silence Peasant!

[poetry]

i'll silence your peasant

[Ken Shultz]

But it bothers me, Harry!

Everybody on your side of the aisle keeps talking about TARP as if it's been paid back--but it hasn't.

It's a big part of what makes politicians on your side of the aisle America's most horrible people.

You talk about the government's money as if it were mine, and you talk about my money as if it were yours! If Wall Street paid you the money back, when do I get my money back?

2/3rds of the people in this country aren't even worried about getting their money back--because you and others on your side of the aisle keep saying that the government got its money back!

People who claim to be representing hard working Americans, out of one side of their mouths, but refuse to give hard working Americans their money back--even after the government's got its TARP money back?

Really are America's most horrible people.

That would make a used car salesman blush--but not Harry Reid.

[Harry Reid]

I have re-invested that cash in bureaucrats, regulators, and union paybacks. I promise a threefold return on these wise investments.

[Terr]

Anyone else's hit and run going to the mobile version before 8 AM? For a magazine called reason....

[Jordan]

There's a mobile version? It doesn't even go to the mobile version on my phone.

[Terr]

During the last two days every blog post has been going to the mobile version prior to the morning links post. For a magazine blah blah blah...

[John]

"For a magazine blah blah blah..."

The website should never bork? That makes sense to you?

[John]

This is a spoof. I guess our griefer troll is off his meds again.

[John]

BY the way, Islam is thousands of years old.

Yes, I actually am stupid enough to think that then expect people not to ignore my idiotic opinion.

[Suki]

Spoofer, Islam is almost 1,000 years old.

[Fluffy]

"Spoofer, Islam is almost 1,000 years old."

Sucky, John claimed that, not the spoofer.

[Pro Libertate]

What? No, it's a little older than that. Early 7th century.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It goes to mobile on my tablet which really pisses me off. No comment access.

[-]

Maybe that's one of the "enhancements" you paid for during the last money-grubbing drive.

[poetry]

For a magazine called reason...

DRINK

[Fatty Bolger]

We're all out of booze after the SOTU address.

[Ted S.]

I wish it would go to a less memory-intensive version. 🙁

[Trespassers W]

Yes, it was most annoying. I try to avoid the mobile version, and then I got smacked in the face with it anyway.

[DesigNate]

Ditto.

[Jerry]

So will the DNC refund the money the Podesta's have donated to them since they are thwarting efforts to create civil society in Egypt?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Mr. Ahmadinejad told students in the southern city of Kerman that he is ready for new talks, The Associated Press reported. But he added that the new sanctions, which target its oil industry, would not force Iran to give in to demands by the Western powers to end its nuclear enrichment program, The A.P. said.

Well, it looks like each of the four remaining Republican primary candidates can variably claim vindication.

[Bee Tagger]

If Gingrich has his way, the crowd tonight will acknowledge three of those vindications voraciously.

[John]

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/.....ntPage=all

This is the best article on prisons I have read in maybe forever. It is long but it worth the read. It includes a rather chilling description of the private prison industry including this nugget from an annual report of Corrections Corporation of America,

Our growth is generally dependent upon our ability to obtain new contracts to develop and manage new correctional and detention facilities. . . . The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them.

It goes on to talk about the incarceration problem and the ending of the great crime wave of the 1970s. It turns out incarceration is not what caused crime to stop. We really don't know why crime went down, although better policing seems to have played a big role. It finally contains this absolute truth about dealing with social problems.

Epidemics seldom end with miracle cures. Most of the time in the history of medicine, the best way to end disease was to build a better sewer and get people to wash their hands. "Merely chipping away at the problem around the edges" is usually the very best thing to do with a problem; keep chipping away patiently and, eventually, you get to its heart. To read the literature on crime before it dropped is to see the same kind of dystopian despair we find in the new literature of punishment: we'd have to end poverty, or eradicate the ghettos, or declare war on the broken family, or the like, in order to end the crime wave. The truth is, a series of small actions and events ended up eliminating a problem that seemed to hang over everything. There was no miracle cure, just the intercession of a thousand smaller sanities.

It also makes a great case for the decriminalization of marijuana. It is just a great article. Sometimes the New Yorker lives up to its reputation.

[Jerry]

We really don't know why crime went down.

We aborted all the would-be criminals.

[John]

That is bunk. We may have aborted a bunch of young people. But we also imported a bunch of young people via immigration. So it is really a wash.

[John]

"But we also imported a bunch of young people via immigration. So it is really a wash."

In case anyone hadn't noticed I'm a Xenophobic racist.

[John]

Someone must have forgot their meds yesterday too. At some point doesn't the institution control web access?

[John]

And I am still a Xenophobic racist.

[Pip]

If by Xenophobic racist you mean someone who hangs out at the bus station mens room licking assholes clean in exchange for crack, then yes, you are a Xenophobic racist.

[Jerry]

So what if you look at the crime rate for people born in the US? You cannot explain that drop by referring to lower crime rates amongst immigrants.

[John]

But the legalized abortion reduced the number of young people we would have had but not the number of young people overall. We still had more young people in 2000 than we did in 1975. Yet, we had many fewer crimes even in absolute terms then.

[heller]

And yes, I am entirely too stupid to actually address that part you wrote about born in the US because I know I'm a Xenophobic racist and wrong.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

You fucker! You're fucking busted, dude.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

What should be clear here is that heller is the griefer troll. He fucked up and forgot to change his name to "John" when posting the 9:44AM "Xenophobe" comment.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

9:50 is the spoofer, not me.

[heller]

This post is rectal, not me

heller|1.26.12 @ 9:44AM|#|show direct|ignore
And yes, I am entirely too stupid to actually address that part you wrote about born in the US because I know I'm a Xenophobic racist and wrong.

[rather]

Fuck you it isn't but am enjoying this spoofer's work.

I guess this is what they mean by reaping....

[heller]

incompetent troll can't even spoof correctly ^

[heller]

^spoofer, not me

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Fuck you heller you griefer asshole.

[heller]

See rectal replied to my post with some nonsensical observation here. Then she forgot to change her handle when she went back to spoofing John.

[heller]

Spoofer again

[R C Dean]

Would posting a link to verifiable statistical claims kill anyone?

[dunphy]

It's a fact that I know, I don't have to cite anything.

[T]

Apparently, yes.

Of course, with broad population-based statistics, you run into a problem of how verifiable they are.

[H man]

Not all young people immigrant or otherwise are unwanted. To draw a finer distinction all the unwanted children were aborted. Your pool of would be criminals is much lower then.
Please note I'm not using crime reduction as an argument for abortion. But the data seems to hold.

[anon]

It's Thursday people, and the mere mention of abortion identifies you as trolling.

[Karl Hungus]

The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws.

That's some seriously frightening shit. One of the very few things that is best administered by government (versus the private sector) is the penal system. Very bad things happen when you attach a profit motive to incarceration.

[KDN]

True, but private prisons would be unnecessary if not for our inefficient governments. We have to deal with all of the negative consequences of employing corrections contractors because those that should be in charge are completely unable manage effectively. If the government understood at all how to control costs then the industry, which exists only because they can do it slightly better, falls apart.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The real question is whether or not prisons should be privatized at all. Higher costs or not.

[KDN]

Probably not, but when has that ever stopped anyone?

[Shawshank]

We knew how to manage prison scum...and ROADZ !

[Ahmadinejad]

Ahmadinejad is ready for nuke talks.

Hey, Yankee, nukes pretty cool, ain't they?

[Fatty Bolger]

Nuke trash talks?

[Abdul]

Get your knee-jerk reactions ready for H&R's you Make the Call:

http://www.theblaze.com/storie.....estaurant/

Cop shoots boy for mere vandalism.

OR

Serves him right for brandishing an ice axe at cops with guns drawn

[anon]

Meh, idiot had no respect for private property. One less welfare recipient.

[Brett L]

Suicide by Cop.

[sarcasmic]

One officers shot the man five times, and a second officer shot the man five more times after he fell to the pavement.

STOP RESISTING!

[Cop]

They keep twitching, I keep firing.

[Zombieland]

rule 2 - doubletap w headshot

[dumphy]

It remains to be seen whether these officers followed proper department procedures for the use of deadly force.

What I can see, in the video, is a man wielding a potentially lethal weapon, and refusing to drop it when ordered to do so by an officer of the law. Do I need to remind all of you that orders from a cop carry the force of law? You must do anything a cop tells you to do, at any time, for any reason. If you do not, and if the officer deems you a threat, he is of course justified in ending your life, or at least beating you severely. No citizen may make a police officer feel threatened in any way.

Of course, if these officers did not follow the proper procedures for de-escalating a potentially violent suspect, they should be harshly punished- perhaps even with unpaid administrative leave. Think of their families.

And I of course need to remind you that only 0.00000000000000000000001% of all police officers ever violently subdue a suspect, and, of those, 99.9% follow all proper department procedures, and are therefore completely justified in using force.

You are all a bunch of knee-jerk cop haters. I want to legalize marijuana. I'm on your side!

ROFLlollerskatesbbq!!11!!!!

[poetry]

A-, best I've seen

[WTF]

Yeah, nice spoof - I almost responded.

[KDN]

Too much capitalization, not enough ime's or iow's. B.

[sarcasmic]

You forgot to say "butthurt". Otherwise not bad.

[John]

I needed a reference some kind of "cop hating meme" but otherwise not bad.

[o3]

"You must do anything a cop tells you to do, at any time, for any reason."
_
no, one does not have to suffer a civil rights, or criminal violation provided one is non-violent, otherwise not violating the law, prepared for the consequences, and has a good attorney.

[John]

I don't think they should have shot him. The ice axe could be a deadly weapon. But it doesn't have to be. The cops had numbers and other less lethal methods to deal with him. They could have tazed him or clubbed him or done something besides shoot him. This is just another case of lazy, cowardly cops taking the easy way out of killing someone instead of doing their jobs.

[Brett L]

They did apply a Taser before shooting him. That's why its SBC.

[Abdul]

They tazed him, but it didn't faze him (c) 2012 Abdul.

You hear somoene say "in the face!" before he's shot. That's apparently in reference to the taser. I think they may have missed his face, and he was wearing heavy clothing.

[wylie]

(c) 2012 Abdul.

even funnier than what precedes it.

*applause*

[anon]

Yeah, you're probably right; however, I don't consider this particular incident a great loss for society.

[John]

True but we pay cops to deal with people like this. Any monkey can just shoot people.

[KDN]

Any monkey can just shoot people.

I'd pay to see literally that.

Monkey Wars! Tonight on G4.

[Fluffy]

You may be unaware, but there was this Charlton Heston movie...

[KDN]

Silly man, apes ain't monkeys.

Besides, I said literally that. I want to see monkeys, not men in ape suits or CGI battle scenes. A proboscis monkey dangling by his tail with a pistol in all 4 handfeet shooting at people that may or may not deserve it.

If we can put a man on the moon, surely monkey marksmanship cannot be far behind.

[wylie]

with a pistol in all 4 handfeet

ok, now I'm onboard too.

[Rich]

I think you'll enjoy this.

[anon]

That video...

FUCKING HILARIOUS.

That is all.

[heller]

and fake

[Pip]

I love the comments:

PimpleJuice
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 9:04am
God I could go for a round of chilli cheese fries right now. Anyone else craving chilli cheese fries?

Report Post ? Log in to ReplyReply
shirtsbyeric
Posted on January 25, 2012 at 9:23am
I haven't had a western burger in years.

[Karl Hungus]

I don't think they should have shot him.

When judging an incident like this, I always imagine that the shooter had been a non-LEO.

For instance, would a non-LEO be justified in confronting an apparently deranged individual breaking windows in a restaurant with a metal bar? Would the non-LEO be justifed in arming himself prior to confronting this individual? And if, in fact, the guy did swing the metal bar at him, would the non-LEO be justified in shooting the guy? To me, the answer to each of these questions would be yes.

[John]

But cops get paid to do such things. And thus should be held to a higher standard. I don't expect a store owner to risk a crow bar to the head to keep from shooting this guy. But I do expect as much from a cop. That is why they are paid.

[anon]

But cops get paid to do such things. And thus should be held to a higher standard.

Cops are just people too. Plus, a woman was injured by shattering glass.

[Karl Hungus]

But cops get paid to do such things. And thus should be held to a higher standard. I don't expect a store owner to risk a crow bar to the head to keep from shooting this guy. But I do expect as much from a cop. That is why they are paid.

A higher standard? That just doesn't square with reality. These guys aren't endowed with superhuman powers. Sure, we expect cops to defuse situations before they become violent, and we should expect them to use the minimum level of force required to effect an arrest, and only when an arrest is warranted. But when someone is swinging a deadly weapon at you, you're justified in using deadly force to defend yourself. A police officer (at least one who's not assaulting a citizen) has just as much of a right to defend himself as you or I do.

Everyone here agrees that a cop's special costume doesn't entitle him to trample the rights of those around him, but nor should it also deprive him of the fundamental right to defend himself from a deadly assault.

(I say all this in the abstract, as I'm not able to get the video to play on my work computer.)

[John]

They are endowed with a badge, numbers and a ton of other nonlethel measures for this. If we are going to hold them to the same standards as civilians why do we have cops? Why not have volunteer peace officers? What exactly are we paying this people for if not to handle these sorts of situations better and more humanely than an ordinary person?

[John]

Spoof nice job on the mispelling though, that gives it authenticity.

[sarcasmic]

But when someone is swinging a deadly weapon at you, you're justified in using deadly force to defend yourself.

The video does not show the weapon being swung at the officer.

Obviously the video is wrong if it conflicts with the police report.

[Fake Name]

Sarcasm is a fraudulent and impotent weapon, don't you think?

[wylie]

Obviously the video is wrong if it conflicts with the police report.

Photoshopically wrong.

[WTF]

Of course the cops did claim he swing the axe at them, but the video shows no such thing.

[sarcasmic]

Cops never lie so the video must be wrong.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Seems to me like "brandishing an ice-axe" is the definition of "tase me, bro".
But probably didn't require actual bullets. He wasn't even within arms reach of them.

Also: The Blaze is still around?!

[anon]

I vaguely remember California doing something about disarming police departments of their tasers due to a recall or some crap. I could definitely be wrong on this.

[sarcasmic]

However, despite the department's claims, the video doesn't appear to show the man swinging the bar at the officers.

Obviously the video is wrong. Police would never lie.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I hear eyewitnesses are just wrong 1/3 of the time.

[sarcasmic]

Obviously, the video is wrong.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So many people deserving of death, so few trigger-happy law enforcement?

[jacob]

I'm on the "dunphy" side for this one.

Shoot him as many times as needed. The article states he swung a metal bar at a police officer. If I were that cop, I'd have fired three shots - chest,chest,head.

(Pats self on back, goes back to jcrew.com to buy more sweaters)

[sarcasmic]

The article states he swung a metal bar at a police officer.

It also says that the video account doesn't show him swinging a metal bar at the police officer.
But the cop says he did, so obviously the video is wrong.

[sarcasmic]

Also, the video is wrong.

[wylie]

but is the video wrong?

[sarcasmic]

I'll say it again: the video is wrong.

[Anti-Cop Bigot Tonio]

Present.

[sloopyinca]

Isn't there some escalation of force doctrine that should be followed here? Like maybe letting the K9 loose on the guy before unloading two guns on him.

And shooting at a person in an area with bystanders while a dog is jerking at your other arm is usually not a good idea. That cop does know that bullets pass through things and continue on their way, doesn't he?

This was totally unnecessary. They flat-out murdered this idiot.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Chuck Norris could have taken the guy down...along with 3 generations on each side.

[JW]

The man then came toward the officers and swung the bar twice, according to the news release.

That's demonstrably false just by watching the video. He walked toward the cop on the left, but he didn't swing anything until after he was shot.

[wylie]

sarc's keyboard must have broken.

"Obviously, the video is wrong."

[JW]

Sorry, I was thrown off by sarc's response not containing a picture of a chick built like a 12-year old boy.

[John]

# Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP.
# At the moment, Wall Street is (voluntarily) giving most of its money to Obama.

Aren't those two really the same story?

[John]

http://news.investors.com/Arti.....-taxes.htm

36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes

[IRS Worker]

according to current federal law, the only federal employees who can be fired for not paying taxes are IRS workers.

WTF?!

[Bee Tagger]

Don't worry, you're your own auditor. And even though that's just a metaphor for masturbation, you still come out ahead.

[SFC B]

I know if a military member gets themselves into tax trouble they can be separated for it. Granted, it's under a more general "failure to manage finances" thing, and I'm hard-pressed to imagine a scenario where a servicemember gets into tax trouble to the point that wage garnishment doesn't cover the debt which isn't related to some other crime.

[Fluffy]

Sometimes wealthy people do volunteer, you know.

[T]

The military does not like having really rich people around, especially on the enlisted side. It skews the dynamic in ways they'd rather not deal with.

[wylie]

rich guy in foxhole, "I'lll pay each of you $10,000 to go out there 1st."

[Brett L]

UK Copyright still worse than America's.

A photo that was similar to, but not a copy of the original was ruled to be copyright infringement. WTF?

[ghost of Ansel Adams]

Don't you ever take a black and white photo of El Capitan!

[Kent]

Newt was right on this one, Elliott Abrams was just another necon bonehead.

[John]

It would have been brilliant to let the communists take over Latin America, not put any pressure on the Soviet Union and never spoke out about the horrible nature of the regime giving support to the dissidents there.

Hard to imagine history proving anyone more wrong that it proved Newt, the Paleos and the rest of their leftist travelers.

[Fluffy]

I was pro-Contra big time back in the day, but honestly, it turned out to be irrelevant.

So I can't claim to have proved anybody wrong by clapping louder for Ollie North.

The Soviet Union wasn't going to magically hold on if only their proxies had made it to Honduras, or if only there had been less pressure on their Angolan puppets. These all seemed like a big deal at the time, but ultimately it was a sideshow to a sideshow.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Wait, those quotes seem to indicate that Newt was an even worse warmonger back in the day.

Gaius Gingrich: like I said earlier, you have to admire his sheer malevolence, audacity, and rapaciousness.

[robc]

Reagan pulled out of the middle east because it was nucking futz.

He was willing to fiddle around in places as part of the cold war, but we didnt have a real war under him. Grenada hardly counts.

War took the Bushes and Clinton and Obama.

[robc]

Speaking of Grenada, we invaded October 25th, overthrew the government, and pulled out in December.

Less than 2 months.

While Grenada is not Iraq or Afghanistan, Bush could have learned something from Reagan. Get it, get the job done and get out.

[Bee Tagger]

Ahmadinejad is ready for nuke talks.

Nuke Titties? He really is a mad man to voluntarily engage in a conversation about the Gingrinch Who Stole Cristmas (he's in Florida, that's why that makes sense)

[P Brooks]

Serves him right for brandishing an ice axe at cops with guns drawn

Anything which may be perceived as a threat to OFFICER SAFETY is a capital crime. Because our saviors in blue are precious.

[sarcasmic]

Because our saviors in blue are precious.

Yes, yes they are. How can you maintain a police state without plenty of men in blue who are ready and willing to commit murder at the drop of a hat?

[wylie]

explosive collars, duh.

[sarcasmic]

Anyway, the video is wrong.

[John]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/book.....revolution

Great article on the sexual revolution of the 18th Century. The history of that is something I think should give hope for ending drug prohibition. 17th Century Britain and America really did hang people for adultery and pre-marital sex. It was a regime even more insane than our current one. But people did eventually wise up and end it not because they embraced free love. But instead because they realized there was no way to stop it and attempting to created more problems and injustices than it solved.

[MNG]

That's actually a good point. Sometimes its good to reflect that in many important ways we are much more free than we were in the past.

[John]

Yes. And people do figure things out eventually. No injustice no matter how horrible lasts forever. Unfortunately we don't always live long enough to see the end.

[Pip]

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"

- MLK

[Brett L]

Not sure if this is hipster or just horrible but it in no way makes you as cool as Bullitt.

[John]

Just horrible. If you want to carry a gun it is very retro. But carrying a camera with it, is douche bag on about 10 levels. First, who the fuck carries a full sized SLR anymore? Second, is there anything more pathetic than "camera guy"?

[Camera Guy]

Second, is there anything more pathetic than "camera guy"?

Your words are hurtful, John.

And you won't see me at the pancake social tomorrow.

[John]

No sweat, all you'll miss is me ranting about Islam being thousands of years old

[John]

Consider yourself Othered.

[Chaos theory o3]

how come the geigo neanderthal morphed into teh gay? now all it does is throw to-be-ignored hissy fits

[John]

Yeah the cheerleader commercial is a bridge too far.

[gaijin]

how come the geigo neanderthal morphed into teh gay?

Why do you think the neanderthals disappeared?

[jacob]

I get the reference

[Zeb]

I agree that the item is silly. But plenty of people use SLR cameras. Photographers, for example.

[LC]

Agreed. If you actually care what your photos look like, you use an SLR camera.

[Karl Hungus]

First, who the fuck carries a full sized SLR anymore? Second, is there anything more pathetic than "camera guy"?

I do, at least when I'm somewhere with lots of good photo ops. I've dropped tons of cash on cameras and lenses over the past several years, and that's allowed me to capture tons of images that I'd never have gotten with a point-n-shoot or cellphone camera. To those of us who still value stuff like depth of field, a fast (or very slow) mechanical shutter, there still doesn't exist an adequate replacement for an SLR.

[sloopyinca]

That's about the gayest thing I've seen in a while. Who carries three cameras anymore but hipster douchebags?

A lot more can be accomplished with a good digital, an extra battery or two and a sizeable memory card.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Wait, a bike with one gear but three cameras?

[sloopyinca]

[golf clap]

[Zeb]

Not just a bike with one gear, a bike with one gear that you can't stop pedaling.

[sloopyinca]

I swear, I want to schedule a hipster bike race...and forget to tell the cross traffic what's going on at the bottom of the first big hill.

I'll be hailed as a hero.

[Pip]

Did you ever know that you're my hero
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle
For you are the gin beneath my wings.

[Zeb]

"Who carries three cameras anymore but hipster douchebags?"

I expect that many professional photographers do.

[P Brooks]

however, I don't consider this particular incident a great loss for society.

Good for you.

[poetry]

Reagan-loving Newt Gingrich allegedly insulted the former president back in the day.

But, Ron Paul kind of renounced the gipper, which is probably worse (in the minds of stone age GOPers). It's the difference between calling your dad a 'stupid old faggot' when you're sixteen and wholly repudiating your relationship with him forever in your 20s.

[robc]

...wholly repudiating him when he gambles away the trust fund your grandfather left you.

If we are gonna use bad analogies, lets get them right.

[robc]

Hmmmm...maybe gambles away your baseball signing bonus would be a better analogy?

Reagen is Cecil and Paul is Prince?

[robc]

The more I post here, the more my spelling looks like John's.

[poetry]

It's "gambols."

[Old Mexican]

Reagan-loving Newt Gingrich allegedly insulted the former president back in the day.

In another news, Tom Delay says on the Michael Berry show that Newt is no conservative.

I'm shocked.

[John]

What does Newt not steal enough for Tom's tastes?

[Fluffy]

Delay was unjustly convicted.

I could be persuaded to support a Free Tom Delay movement.

[John]

Yes he was. I will give you that. But he was still a crook. Just because that moron DA in Austin is a bigger crook doesn't take that away.

And actually I don't think he was ever convicted of anything. They just got bogus indictments on him to get him to step down.

[T]

Ronnie Earle had to shop that bullshit to 5 different grand juries before he could secure an indictment. That alone should be enough to get bounced for prosecutorial misconduct.

[John]

it was pretty bad. And what happened in Alaska with Ted Stevens was even worse. I didn't like either guy. But the precedent of just using prosecutors to frame your political opponents is pretty damned scary.

[Fatty Bolger]

He was convicted and sentenced to three years. He's out now, pending appeal.

[Brett L]

Tom Delay can FOAD, although I guess I should thank him for starting my journey away from TEAM RED to TEAM MONOCLE.

[DesigNate]

Team Monocle FTW!

[Biff]

AT&T reels from failed T-Mobile merger.

"Failed"? I thought AT&T's plans were thwarted by the U.S. Justice Dept lawsuit.

[Rich]

Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP.

That reminds me. Aren't we supposed to be getting royalty checks or something from Government Motors?

[GM]

They're in the mail ... to the Obama Campaign!

Booyah!!

[P Brooks]

Very bad things happen when you attach a profit motive to incarceration.

No kidding. Fucking perverse incentives- how do they work?

[sarcasmic]

I remember reading somewhere that private prisons will remain a profitable investment as long as the war on drug users remains, but if it looks like it will end ... SELL!!!

[Karl Hungus]

I remember reading somewhere that private prisons will remain a profitable investment as long as the war on drug users remains . . .

I don't know what percentage of our prison population is doing time for nonviolent drug offenses, but I bet if all such offenders were pardoned and released tomorrow, companies like CCA would be shitting all over themselves.

[T]

Incentives don't matter, only intentions, right?

My performance review is coming up. I'll try to convince my boss that since I intended to be the best employee he's ever had or seen, my actual performance is irrelevant.

[Nobel Cmte]

sounds good

[Biff]

Very bad things happen when you attach a profit motive to incarceration

Wait a minute. So you think that only the State should be incarcerating people (one of the state's only legitimate functions, by the way)? Or that private incarceration entities shouldn't be making a profit on their businesses?

[Karl Hungus]

Wait a minute. So you think that only the State should be incarcerating people

I think that only the state should incarcerate. Sure, maybe we can contract out the prison's cafeteria and laundry services, but to have a private entity whose entire profit depends on keeping its prisons packed with fresh souls . . . well, like someone upthread said, perverse incentives and stuff.

[R C Dean]

Yes, bad things happen whether the profit motive resides in a private company, or in government employees and their unions.

[MNG]

"Wall Street still owes taxpayers $132 billion from TARP."

Can they be this decades "dead beat dads?"

[John]

They are going to pay a $25 billion fine for twenty or more years of rampant mortgage fraud and promise not to do it again. So there is that.

[o3]

still waiting for the perp walk...or is that only for wealthy frenchmen?

[Old Mexican]

Real Reason US Government Wants To Pick A Fight With Iran - Iran Wants To Sell Oil For Something Other Than Greenbacks.

NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the US and EU sanctions, India on Thursday said that it is open to all mechanisms for payment, "whatever it takes," to buy Iranian oil as it contributes around 12 per cent of New Delhi's oil imports and it's difficult to find replacement on this scale.

It could include a mix of options that will enable India to buy Iranian oil without violating the UN sanctions, highly-placed government sources told a day after an Israeli website suggested that India has agreed to pay Iran in gold for oil purchases.

Sources added that India is confident of finding "a way out" to buy Iranian oil without being seen as breaker of UN sanctions.

All options are open, said sources involved with decision-making on this sensitive issue. They neither confirmed nor rejected the option of paying for Iranian oil in gold.

There was, however, no official reaction to the Israeli website's disclosure. Aware of the sensitivity of the issue, some Indian authorities have chosen to play it safe, calling the report "speculative".

Indian officials, who did not want to be identified, pointed out that they were working out with their Iranian counterparts on the options they have to make payments toward oil imports.

[Chaos theory o3]

hardly since iran will have to convert back for international business.

[R C Dean]

hardly since iran will have to convert back for international business.

Gold is universally convertible, you know.

This isn't about getting around the oil embargo so much as it is getting around sanctions on the Iranian central bank.

The oil producting states in general are setting up facilities for doing bidness in currencies other than the dollar.

The oil embargo will not result in one single drop of oil being impeded on its way to customers.

[Old Mexican]

Re: RC Dean,

The oil embargo will not result in one single drop of oil being impeded on its way to customers.

Exactly - hence the threat of war from the US.

It's all about oily dollars, nothing less mundane than that.

[o3]

oh yes it will since global supply is currently outstripping demand.

[Old Mexican]

Re: Chaostheory triple asshole,

hardly since iran will have to convert back for international business.

Convert back to what? US Dollars?

Russia, China, India, they are all gold producers and technology producers. You're being too naive.

[o3]

central banks dont trade in gold, despite what ron paul desires.

[sloopyinca]

I'm looking up the international law that says they can't but am having a hard time finding it. Could you please link to it, piss facktory?

[Old Mexican]

Re: triple asshole,

central banks dont trade in gold, despite what ron paul desires.

Haven't you tired yet of being wrong, numbnuts?

[o3]

Philip Klapwijk, head of metals analytics at the consultancy, was skeptical that the lending activity had affected the gold price. "This is a purely financial swap of gold for U.S. dollars; it shouldn't have an impact on price."

However, a report from investment bank Goldman Sachs said that "the downward pressure from European bank funding issues has left gold prices at a steep discount to the levels suggested by US [real interest rates]."

http://www.moneynews.com/Stree...../id/424595

[Maxxx]

Yet.

[Suki]

A new market for the "untouchables" emerges.

[Fluffy]

If I was advising the Iranians I would tell them to sell some of their Euro oil to...Israel.

Just for the fucking yucks.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

I about choked on my coffee on that one.

[John]

That is a great idea. If Iran wasn't nuts, they would ally with Israel and rule the whole middle east. They both hate the Saudis. And no one like the Palestinians. But sadly they are a little more emotional than that.

[Lost_In_Translation]

And no one like the Palestinians

really John? are they all that fucking bad? im pretty sure they're not al qaeda.

[John]

If you are Israeli they are worse than Al Qaeda. How many Israelis has Al Qaeda killed?

Regardless, the sad fact is no one cares about them. The Arabs and the Iranians certainly don't. They just encourage them to do insanely destructive and counterproductive things.

[DesigNate]

If any of the neighboring countries really cared about a Palestinian state, they'd pony up some land along with Israel. It's much better for them if they don't though cause then they have something to point to to say "Look at how evil Israel and the West are. They won't let Palestine even settle somewhere."

[Maxxx]

And no one like the Palestinians.

The arab dictators love the Palestinians. If the palestinians and israelis didn't exist the Arab dictators would have to invent them. It's the only way they can cling to power.

[anon]

Disingenuous article; we had beef with Iran long before they wanted to sell their oil for a different currency.

[Old Mexican]

Re: anon,

Disingenuous article; we had beef with Iran long before they wanted to sell their oil for a different currency.

No, "we" didn't do anything, anon. The US government has been playing games with Iran for years but not to this level. The same argument could be made about Iraq, that "we" had a beef with them long before the invasion of 2003, but what a coincidence that the US invaded her right after Hussein accepted selling oil in Euros.

[anon]

I didn't mean "we" as individuals. Kinda implied by "we." I mean "we" as in our government.

[Lost_In_Translation]

If they didn't have oil, Britain and American proxies wouldn't have had reason to oppress them as long as they did.

resource wars...how do they work!

[robc]

How long has this been going around? Over a decade, right?

20 years?

[DesigNate]

It's a little bit closer to 60.

[John]

STOP SPOOFING ME!

[John]

^spoof

[Brett L]

Jeb Bush: Why I could never be President.

Short version: Jeb has an almost sane view on education, business, and education.

[Fluffy]

Views so sane he has them twice.

[John]

Why would any sane person want the job? Is there any more proof of Rick Perry's insanity than his run for the Presidency? There are few better jobs than Governor of Texas. The legislature only meets every two years. You don't have to do much. You get a great mansion to live in. Get to travel around on the State's dime. You make a good salary. It is a life of leisure. Why would anyone leave that?

[tarran]

Oh, there are several possible reasons.

[DesigNate]

Besides being one of the worlds premiere thieves and breaking into the Smithsonian to steal the Hope Diamond.

How bad is it that I didn't even have to see what the link was before I posted this?

[John]

Seriously, I've asked you nicely, stop fucking spoofing me or I'm involving the authorities and having you prosecuted for identity theft.

[Good luck I'm behind 7 proxies]

Cry more John.

[John]

I will.

[Good luck I'm behind 7 proxies]

We know.

[SFs Greatest Hit]

SugarFree|11.7.11 @ 9:06AM

The Pledge

I will not respond in any way to rather or any of her other thousand spoof handles in any way...Let her post her retarded form letters and whining unmolested; she will hoist herself on her own petard as she has always done. The Big Ignore begins today. Please do not feed any of the trolls.

[John]

"I will not respond in any way to rather"

Not rather.

Go back to fucking up links and saying shit no one cares about, and posting long winded screeds about not posting.

[The Big Ignore]

Starts today!

OK, tomorrow!

Saturday at the latest!

[anon]

bet i can out u

[sarcasmic]

LOL

[anon]

u r sugarfree
email me ill prove it

[Fluffy]

If it makes you feel any better all spoofs are pretty much instantly recognizable.

[John]

Except of course the ones that aren't.

Which you fucking idiots never get apparently.

[John]

^spoof

This seems to happen every couple of days, any chance it gets its meds from a free clinic or something and only gets a few days supply?

[SugarFree]

I like how she's trying to blame heller for the spoofing that she's doing. Or is she spoofing the Rev to make it look like Rev is blaming heller?

Ignoring works, guys. Because it's forced her into this shit. Which stinks of desperation.

By the way, did you notice how yesterday "rather" wasn't around and neither were any of the anono-griefers? I wonder how much more evidence it's going to take for some people to finally figure it out.

[John]

"Ignoring works, guys. "

Sure it does, yet you seem wholly incapable of doing it, as evidenced by the many comments you posted regarding it.

[John]

By the way, YOU REPLIED TO ME.

YOU CAN TELL!!!

[SugarFree]

Anyone that feels like emailing me, I'll tell you what's really going on. Sorry, known email addresses only.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

I have to figure out a way to get on this trusted list.

[SugarFree]

Send me a message thru grylliade. I'm pretty sure she hasn't managed to pollute it yet.

[The Big Ignore]

I'll tell you what's really going on. Sorry, known email addresses only

Oooh! A secret society! Intrigue, oaths...

Five Liberty Dollars for the first person to divulge SugarFree's Big Secret!

[John]

Yeah, I lol'd, the fact that I sent them running like that shows how thin skinned and ill prepared they are.

[The Big Ignore]

They ran like cheap mascara!
But I do want ever so much to learn The Secret?!

Why won't SugarFree share it with the rest of us?
Is it ill-gotten information? Something that would expose a mole, perhaps? Or, more likely, just a face-saving ruse?

[Banjos]

Hey Sug, thank you for the wedding gift! The record kicks ass. Ken and I are going to fuck like crazy while listening to it. Oh, and please put us on your top secret email distribution list. I'll learn whatever handshake required.

[Banjos]

Hey Sug, thank you for the wedding gift! The record kicks ass. Ken and I are going to fuck like crazy while listening to it. Oh, and please put us on your top secret email distribution list. I'll learn whatever handshake required.

[Hee Hee]

+1

[Rev. Blue Moon]

I like how she's trying to blame heller for the spoofing that she's doing. Or is she spoofing the Rev to make it look like Rev is blaming heller?

Lord, who knows at this point...

[heller]

I win.

Have a nice day.

[ANARCHY]

Reap what you sow, biotches!

[heller]

No she fucked up by forgetting to switch her handle from "heller" to "John." Now she's spoofing Rev to cover up her idiocy.

[John]

^spoof

[heller]

Spoofer

[John]

I knew it, what do I win?

[heller]

I can't tell you publicly. E-mail me for the secret.

[heller]

Rectal is a cunt

[The Big Ignore]

That's the Big Secret?

I want my money back.

[Suki]

If the government would get out of the way he could keep his meds instead of selling them on the street.

[John]

You're replying to the spoofer, that wasn't me.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Shut up, heller.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Spoofer, how silly.

[John]

They are. It guess for once my horrible spelling pays. It is like a secret code. But really, I think the effects of the greifer troll are starting to wane. People are getting better at ignoring him. And he is having less and less effect on the discussion. He is all over this thread. But it is just a usual morning links.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

"He is all over this thread."

He's posted 5 times total, so, clearly it's working on you.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

Spoofer again, still silly.

[heller]

"He"? There's only one? I don't believe you.

[Rev. Blue Moon]

So, heller, is this you?

[John]

Nope.

But you can tell right?

Yeah, sure you can.

[John]

You shouldn't, I wasn't anywhere near here yesterday and John is apparently still pissy about something someone did.

[Zeb]

?

[heller]

You're the idiot who thinks fluffy's link is misspelled.

Shut the fuck up now.

[heller]

Rectal is a cunt ^

[Hey!]

The Big Ignore starts today!

[heller]

^spoof

[heller]

^spoof

[heller]

^spoof

[John]

"But really, I think the effects of the greifer troll are starting to wane. "

Well, since you seem to think I was on here all day yesterday when I was in fact away from the house til 2 AM, yeah, "wane" is the word I'd use...

Of course, I also think Islam is thousands of years old so that's what my thoughts are worth...

[Pip]

Given that Islam traces it roots to Abraham, I think one can safely assert that Islam is indeed thousands of years old.

BTW, spoofing is the hallmark of a total loser.

[Fluffy]

Yup.

[John]

You replied to the spoofer.

[Fluffy]

We are all spoofers.

[Fluffy]

Spoofer.

[Zeb]

Well, at least the Fluffy spoofer has the decency to misspell his link.

[Fluffy]

Yup.

[John]

Lol, look closer fuckwit.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Poofer

[DesigNate]

What I don't get is why use their email addresses? What does the spoofer get out of it?

[heller]

I cannot tell you publicly.
Email me for the Big Secret.

[Suki]

How widespread are Casey Anthony lookalike mugshots? People keep telling me about them, but only one panned out.

[Ice Nine]

It's the burning question in everyone's mind.

[o3]

when she inevitably does porn, i'll pay attention

[John]

And don't you know it will be the lowest end porn imaginable.

[Mommy]

"Washington lobbyists defend Egypt's military crackdown"

In other news, Satan steals souls

[R C Dean]

Pish. Why steal, when its a buyer's market?

[sarcasmic]

Olivia Wilde is still hot! And dating a total dork.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....lycra.html

[John]

She is smoking hot.

[Fluffy]

2 people like this.

[anon]

In this we agree 100%.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Short people got no business...

[heller]

Jason Sudeikis is banging Olivia Wilde.

...

[heller]

^Spoof

[heller]

Rectal is a cunt ^

[heller]

^spoof

[heller]

I like to say "cunt."
I get a little boner.

[heller]

Wasn't she married to an Italian Prince or something?

[Pip]

Sarah's prettier.

[P Brooks]

So you think that only the State should be incarcerating people (one of the state's only legitimate functions, by the way)? Or that private incarceration entities shouldn't be making a profit on their businesses?

1) We incarcerate WAY too many people. I don't beleive people should be locked in cages unless they are demonstrably dangerous to others.

2) The incentives for a "for-profit" prison system are all wrong; the incentive should be to reduce the prison population, not increase it. Maybe the payments should be capped, so returns would be enhanced by minimizing the prison population.

3) The government sucks just as much as private companies at "rehabilitating" prisoners (or even treating them humanely) and reducing recidivism. Their incentives are different, but all you have to do is look at the political power wielded by California prison guards' unions to know there's a problem.

Is there an easy answer? No.

[sarcasmic]

What could be more cruel and unusual than locking someone in a cage where they will be subjected to random rapes and beatings?

I say bring back stocks and the whipping post.

[John]

I would rather suffer the lash than months or years in a cage. I don't see how prison is any more humane than the lash or the stocks

[sarcasmic]

Be ready for a psychiatric evaluation.

http://bangordailynews.com/201.....valuation/

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Cruel and unusual are relative terms. To me, being locked up with a bunch of sociopathic rapists and living in total fear for years is cruel and unusual. I'll take the corporal punishment thank you.

[Zeb]

Even a year in prison sounds just unbelievably horrible. Even without the rape and violence from other inmates, the whole point of prison is to beat you down and dehumanize you. And that's the part that is legal and above board.
If I had any faith in the government to fairly apply the death penalty, I'd be tempted to say that the only available criminal penalties should be fines or death. OF course, this woudl only be acceptable if only things that actually hurt other people were against the law.

[Jordan]

I've always found it strange that so many prisoners prefer life without parole to the death penalty.

[John]

Because to a career criminal, prison isn't that bad. If you are a lifer, people don't screw with you. And those kinds of guys thrive in prison. Why die when you can spend a life victimizing others?

[Zeb]

I've never found it so strange, really. By and large, people really want to live. I can't think of much that I would rather die than endure.

[Heir Grease]

I love a happy ending!

Teens try to rob man, 65; he shoots two, kills 1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46.....nd_courts/

[sarcasmic]

sarcasmic|1.26.12 @ 9:04AM|#

65yer old man shoots two attempted robbers, one of them dead.

You're a day late and a dollar short.

[robc]

1 hour and 5 minutes late, it looks like to me.

[John]

Robbery should always be a contact sport.

[Drake]

I always assumed that the purpose of the stocks was to make rape easier. Just me?

[Old Mexican]

Ahmadinejad is ready for nuke talks.

This is how it's going to pan out:

Ahmadinejad: Ok, you win, we will suspend our nuclear program. Satisfied?

Da US: No! You must also let our inspectors come into your country to inspect all your facilities, including those that only look like nuclear facilities! You must also submit all your expense records into the program, plus the names of all your technicians and scientists, plus submit 100,000 virgin girls to us, plus their dowries, every year, for 30 years, as compensation!

Oh, and stop selling oil for something other than US Dollars!

Ahmadinejad: Wait - what??? That's outrageous! That means war! Sell oil for dollars only???

[John]

It is the North Korean playbook. Makes some threatening gestures, get the world riled up, then offer to go to talks, go to said talks and agree to nothing while buying yourself months to continue your nuclear program, rinse repeat.

[Drake]

Maybe he's having a conversation with an uranium rod.

[P Brooks]

As for this:

that private incarceration entities shouldn't be making a profit on their businesses?

The problem with that is, if you pay by the head for captives, the obvious incentive is to maximize the number of captives, by such means as lobbying for more laws and harsher penalties.

I have long believed nobody should walk out of prison unable to read. What would happen if prisons (public or private) were rewarded financially for educating the inmates?

[John]

That is a good idea. You have to create some kind of metric to reward the prison industry beyond the head count. Maybe you could give bonuses for every prisoner who left prison and didn't commit another crime within so many years. Something.

[Ice Nine]

Comic book sales would skyrocket.

[SugarFree]

It's days like this that must test what faith some libertarians have in Thomas Szasz.

[SugarFree]

I live and die by what people think of me based on what I post on a web board!

[John]

Don't worry SF. Most of the thread is the toll talking to him or herself. You can tell what is real and what isn't.

It is just noise.

[SugarFree]

"You can tell what is real and what isn't."

Which is why I suggested private emails...

[John]

I sent you an email via gmail. I am curious just what in the name of God is going on.

[SugarFree]

You replied to the spoofer you cunt, that's what is going on.

[John]

Speaking of it being obvious what is a spoof.

[SugarFree]

"Speaking of it being obvious what is a spoof."

"Nothing but the first one is me, John."

It's hilarious that you still don't get it.

[John]

I CAN TELL WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT ISN'T!!!

[The Big Ignore]

I am real.

Soon...

Be afraid.

[Pip]

YOU'RE TEARING ME APART!!

[SugarFree]

Nothing but the first one is me, John.

What do you think about The Yankees?

[John]

Thanks. And I think the Yankees did quite well with the Montero trade and signing the Japanese guy from the Dodgers.

[SugarFree]

Ha, that worked quite well, thanks John.

[rather]

"What do you think about The Yankees?"

So you're resorting to that now?

Mission accomplished.

[Pip]

I think they should get the hell out of Atlanta. They are ruining the place.

[P Brooks]

What ever happened to restitution?

[Drake]

I believe it is still a word.

[o3]

restitution morphed into reparation.

i'll be around all day

[Old Mexican]

Re: triple asshole,

restitution morphed into reparation

And reparation morphed into the victims paying for the room and board of their victimizers, plus the college tuition for the kids of the unionized prison guards. That's the State for you.

[Warty]

I'd pay it

[sloopyinca]

Damn, that Karl Lagerfeld is a fruity-looking motherfucker.

[Ice Nine]

Supreme Joke of the Day: That flamer is wearing a Silver Star ribbon on his lapel.

[sloopyinca]

I'd be willing to bet it's some fruity french thing, not a silver star ribbon. Although, it is the right size...

[DesigNate]

Here's my contribution to the morning links.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/loc.....71753.html

Not sure if I would have gone the 1st amendment route with it but I'm not a lawyer so what the heck do I know.

[sloopyinca]

FTA: In 2011, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously, said the fee is too small to be considered a burden on free expression, and the state has a legitimate interest in trying to curb the secondary effects of potential violence associated with adult entertainment and alcohol.

Who are they to determine what is a burden? Any fee imposed by the state is a burden, assholes.

And "secondary effects of potential violence." WTF does that even mean? Can they link to a single study that supports their bullshit claim?

Fuck the Texas Supreme Court. And fuck the US Supreme Court for not hearing the case. Bunch of pussies.

[Tulpa]

Any fee imposed by the state is a burden, assholes.

I guess they shouldn't be allowed to charge sales tax on books and DVDs, then?

[sloopyinca]

They charge sales tax on books and DVD's. They also charge that sales tax on the sale of alcohol in these establishments. This is a fee imposed over and above taxes, and it singles out one activity.

It's apples and oranges IRT sales taxes, Tulpa, since the titty bars are charged that as well.

[Tulpa]

If the state can slap a tax on hotel stays and rental cars, they can slap a tax on strip clubs.

The first amendment argument is batty as hell.

[sloopyinca]

Freedom of expression is a little different than being charged an additional tax at a hotel.

How would you feel if they upped the tax on gun purchases to 50%?

[DesigNate]

But it's not a tax. Our politicians here are very careful about EVER calling something a tax.

[sloopyinca]

I would feel better about it if they actually called it a tax. Because a surcharge on only certain forms of expression are designed to punish that form of expression, and that's a direct infringement on free speech.

[P Brooks]

After a prolonged bout of harrumphing, Tom Friedman gets to the point.

In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to buttress employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education.

What this country needs is a Ministry of Credentialism.

[John]

some kind of G.I. Bill for the 21st century

That is priceless. We have a GI bill and it is wildly generous. So generous that I am thinking about going back to school just for the hell of it. What fucking planet does he live on?

[sloopyinca]

His "21st Century GI Bill" would likely not just be for GI's. That would be unfair to the people who aren't willing to sacrifice something to et the benefit.

No, since this is the 21st Century, and everybody thinks their shit should all be free, he more likely means having the government taxpayers underwrite all post-secondary education.

[John]

What could possibly go wrong.

[JW]

Everyone should have one of the very valuable bachelor's degrees.

[John]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports.....=obnetwork

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is actually pretty cool. He built his own spaghetti western set in his backyard.

[MNG]

Yeah, too bad NASCAR is supported by nothing but hicks and racists. If it wasn't so misogynistic and racist I might care about him.

[Danica Patrick]

what?

[MNG]

You've heard the term "exception that proves the rule"?

In addition, the fact that you use her as an example just proves my point.

[Juan Pablo Montoya]

Surely you jest.

[tarran]

Someone doesn't understand what "exception that proves the rule" means...

[MNG]

I'm smarter than all of you. I make more money, and I have a Ph.D. What state university did you go to, again?

[John]

Spoofing MNG now too I guess.

[MNG]

Grow up John.

[sloopyinca]

Too bad he has almost zero driving ability.

[John]

I wouldn't say that. It takes a monumental amount of skill and balls to get one of those cars around the track. He is just an average NASCAR driver. Most sons don't measure up to their great fathers.

[sloopyinca]

John Holmes did.

[Tulpa]

GW Bush for one.

[Brett L]

He can drive 2nd place all day long. Until the last pitstop. Its fucking mystifying how that happens. He's the world's worst finisher.

[sloopyinca]

You know who else started off doing well but finished poorly?

[Banjos]

You, last night. Ohhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Banjos]

Love you, honey!

[sloopyinca]

I am sad.

[Uncle Pfizer]

Apparently Rubens Barrichello is headed for Indy

[Heir Grease]

Two Democratic Party officeholders are on trial in upstate New York for a scam that allegedly involved paying residents of Troy, N.Y. $10 each to register to vote, then forging their absentee ballots.

And there is a witness.

The scheme was apparently concocted to ensure local Democrats would win co-listing under the Working Families Party's ballot line.

Jermaine Joseph, now attending college in Iowa, told jurors Wednesday that he was approached with an offer of $10 to register to vote. He said he never voted in the 2009 third-party primary, and read aloud the names of Democrats for whom election records say he cast his ballot.

The two officials standing trial, Rensselaer County Board of Elections Commissioner Edward McDonough and former Troy City Councilman Michael LoPorto, are accused of forging up to 50 Working Families Party primary ballots, the Albany Times-Union reports.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/01.....z1ka1Qcj7z

[T]

But vote fraud is a myth, and we don't need to show ID!

[Tulpa]

ID laws wouldn't affect absentee ballots.

[P Brooks]

Eggheads!

If we could reduce the current number of dropouts by just half, we would yield almost 700,000 new graduates a year, and it would more than pay for itself. Studies show that the typical high school graduate will obtain higher employment and earnings ? an astonishing 50 percent to 100 percent increase in lifetime income ? and will be less likely to draw on public money for health care and welfare and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. Further, because of the increased income, the typical graduate will contribute more in tax revenues over his lifetime than if he'd dropped out.

When the costs of investment to produce a new graduate are taken into account, there is a return of $1.45 to $3.55 for every dollar of investment, depending upon the educational intervention strategy. Under this estimate, each new graduate confers a net benefit to taxpayers of about $127,000 over the graduate's lifetime. This is a benefit to the public of nearly $90 billion for each year of success in reducing the number of high school dropouts by 700,000 ? or something close to $1 trillion after 11 years. That's real money ? and a reason both liberals and conservatives should rally behind dropout prevention as an element of economic recovery, leaving aside the ethical dimensions of educating our young people.

With our made-up numbers (MULTIPLIZER!) and our utter indifference to the distinction between correlation and causation, we have PROVEN the dire need for a vast new expansion of government's role in education.

[John]

Because lowering the standards and increasing the number of people with diplomas and just diluting the value of it would never reduce the value of an individual diploma.

[T]

The plus side of an engineering degree is there's only so far you can dumb down engineering. I sense an artificial scarcity coming on.

[Tulpa]

Think how much money we could add to the economy by forcing everyone to become a doctor.

[P Brooks]

We have a GI bill and it is wildly generous.

Yeah, but it's unfairly restricted to, you know, actual GIs, you hater.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

The great state of Oklahoma *finally* will make it illegal to use human fetuses in food products.

When will the other states follow suit? Why is there no federal law? Where does our president stand on this vital issue?

So many questions...

[sloopyinca]

Why does Oklahoma hate Chinese restaurants so much?