A.M. Links: Afghans Rally Over Burned Korans (Again), Greece Gets Eurozone Bailout (Again), Dominique Strauss-Kahn Questioned About Hotel Sex (Again)

Mike Riggs | 2.21.2012 8:44 AM

U.S. troops burn Korans, Afghans throw rocks, shoot guns.
Greece gets a second bailout, this one worth $173 billion.
Sheldon Adelson: "I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich."
French Police question Dominique Strauss-Kahn about expensive hotel sex.
Mexican prison guards helped orchestrate riot that served as cover for jail-break.
Obama targets Santorum.

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Sego Sago Kid 13 years ago

Keep fucking that chicken, EU...
1. BigT 13 years ago
  
  We're " skewering that lamb ". Don't you know anything about Europe?
  1. Sego Sago Kid 13 years ago
    
    Oh man, sorry. My gaffe is even more embarrassing considering it's Bestiality Diversity Month.
    1. Old Salt 13 years ago
      
      "Monkey fucking a football" has always been one of my pet metaphors!
      1. sloopyinca 13 years ago
        
        And in Black History Month, no less. RAAAAAAAACIST!!!!!!!!
        
        Yeah 13 years ago
        
        Well, it is the shortest month...
2. sl 13 years ago
  
  looking for the bilover?===Datebi*cO'm=== is a site for bisexual and bicurious singles and friends.Here you can find hundreds of thousands of open-minded singles & couples looking to explore their bisexuality.sign up for free.
  "/
  1. Eduard van Haalen 13 years ago
    
    "How can you tell that a H&R spammer is bisexual?
    
    "He has a sheep under one arm and a goat under the other."
Rick Santorum 13 years ago

First!
1. MSM 13 years ago
  
  "Santorum sliding"
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    Still early.
    1. MSM 13 years ago
      
      "Santorum slipping"
      1. bookworm 13 years ago
        
        When more people find out about his kooky social views and how he wants to influence the public on his kooky religious ideas, there is no way he can get elected. I just hope Republicans aren't stupid enough to nominate him.
Tim 13 years ago

We've accomplished so much in Afghanistan.
NotSure 13 years ago

I can think of so many more worthy countries deserving the huge amount of cash being thrown at Greece.
1. Afghanistan 13 years ago
  
  Like ME!
Nooge 13 years ago

Here's another dose of retard, in case anybody needed more for the day.
1. KDN 13 years ago
  
  LZ Granderson
  
  'Nuff said. He's a fountain of suckitude.
  1. N. Cuiry 13 years ago
    
    He's a fountain of suckitude.
    
    Strangely enough, that's in his Wikipedia article.
    1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
      
      Thanks again, reasonable.
      1. N. Cuiry 13 years ago
        
        Curses, foiled again!
        
        ** twirls moustache **
      2. EDG reppin' LBC 13 years ago
        
        Gojira rickrolled me last week. So be careful, there is a way around Reasonable.
        
        Rubicon 13 years ago
        
        Rickrolling"You know I learned something today."
  2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
    
    When someone says "family values," that's to remind the audience that they don't like gay people; "religious freedom" means "Christianity"; (and) ... until you realize that "secure the border" is slang for "keep the Mexicans out."
    
    ...and when LZ Granderson writes anything it is code for, "Oh, the poor Negroes".
    1. Nooge 13 years ago
      
      When he writes anything, he writes like a below-average eighth-grader. Never mind the intellectual dishonesty, poor reasoning, and lazy thinking. His writing is structurally bad. How did all those fragmented sentences make it by an editor?
      
      Oh, right, it's CNN, and he's the LZ. The editor's job, in this case, is probably to nod and smile and say, "Thanks for the black perspective, black guy. It sure is great that you're black."
      1. Loki 13 years ago
        
        Of course anyone who points out what a horrible writer he is just doing it out of RACISM!!!!!!1111!!!!!!!11!
        
        Afterall, proper sentence structure, sound reasoning, and critical thinking skills are just so... white.
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        Wasn't there a legislator in the past decade that said "logic" was racist?
    2. Zeb 13 years ago
      
      And the keep the Mexicans out bit isn't quite fair. The secure the border crowd also wants to keep Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, Colombians, Brazilians, etc. out too.
    3. LZ Granderson 13 years ago
      
      THAT'S RACIST!
    4. bookworm 13 years ago
      
      And don't forget that the most staunch supporters of the religion of peace are the ones who are the biggest supporters of war.
Francois 13 years ago

Amazon making Kindle in China
http://www.intomobile.com/2012.....ng-summer/
"Amazon's business model isn't to rape your wallet and pocket a 40% margin on hardware. That's what Apple does.
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  No. They'll just delete books you paid for off your device because fuck you, that's why.
  1. Loki 13 years ago
    
    Maybe they weren't the "right books"?
    1. Brett L 13 years ago
      
      1984 and queer romances, thus far, IIRC.
Brett L 13 years ago

I wonder why the US isn't considered a team player.
1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  More of the Obama Admin's "Smart Diplomacy". What's the problem?
2. gaijin 13 years ago
  
  American Exceptionalism!
3. Mike M. 13 years ago
  
  Freaking hilarious. Kind of reminds me of the time when Homer wore the pink shirt to work at the nuclear plant.
4. Fatty Bolger 13 years ago
  
  Man, she's really aged in the last few years.
  1. Loki 13 years ago
    
    I'm sure working with retards has nothing to do with it.
    1. Konfounded Kristen 13 years ago
      
      Hey!!!
  2. rac3rx 13 years ago
    
    The grown out hair pulled up sloppily with the chip clip ages her terribly. She actually looked nicer with the shorter hair.
shrike 13 years ago

Adelson lusts for a war with Iran. Newt saying he would choose John Bolton as Sec of State must have given him a really big hard-on. $100 million worth anyway.
1. rac3rx 13 years ago
  
  John Bolton is an inspired choice for SoS. I'd pay to see the walrus tell some 3rd world idiot to get fucked.
  1. bookworm 13 years ago
    
    I'd pay to see somebody tell John Bolton to get fucked.
RoboCain 13 years ago

"Liberalism is a totalitarian ideology. This means that absolutely everything must be warped to conform to politically correct theory ? even immutable physical reality. A particularly harmful example is the campaign to eradicate sex differences in developing children."

http://moonbattery.com/?p=8340
1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
  
  It is the duty of Congress to amend, or even repeal, the fundamental laws of Nature.
  
  Government is God.
  1. shrike 13 years ago
    
    Better to be a governmentfag than a christfag.
    1. anon 13 years ago
      
      That's wrong.
      
      Read "Democracy in America."
    2. Sleeping Dog 13 years ago
      
      Yeah, being a Commie is sooo much better than being a Nazi!
    3. Jeffersonian 13 years ago
      
      I think we have shrike's entire weltanschauung in a nutshell here.
2. Joe M 13 years ago
  
  Wait, how is that eradicating the sex differences? It's more like crossing the divide to the other side than finding some middle ground everyone can share.
  1. Joe M 13 years ago
    
    Not to say that having hormone therapy and sex change procedures at age four is okay at all.
    1. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
      
      Not to say that having hormone therapy and sex change procedures at age four is okay at all.
      
      Why not? I would wager that it would make a more well-adjusted adult than someone who would undergo the therapy after his or her natural hormones began to cause sex-characteristics development during puberty.
      1. Joe M 13 years ago
        
        Upon further consideration, you could be right, but there's the problem of whether a four year old actually understands enough to be able to make a determination about their sex. It's probably unfair to attack all parents of such children as forcing "non-traditional" sexuality on their kids, as I'm sure some are just trying to be supportive of their children no matter what. It's definitely not a simple thing to figure out either way.
3. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
  
  Where in the world would little kids get these notions? They are encouraged by their moonbat parents, who in turn are encouraged by the "mainstream" media and the alarmingly progressive medical establishment. ...
  
  The apparent purpose is to create permanently deranged freakazoids who could have been innocent children ? like this British five-year-old boy: ...
  
  Liberalism isn't just a matter of ever higher taxes and ever more government intrusion. The agenda entails remaking society as something so blasphemously depraved, you wonder how long God will allow it to exist.
  
  Behold! The average Santorum supporter.
4. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  What does that have to do with liberalism? Those people are fucking weirdos.
  
  "even immutable physical reality"
  
  Not really immutable if it can be changed with hormones and surgery, is it?
  
  Aren't we supposed to be the ones in favor of parents raising their children how they see fit? (Though I would probably say that surgery or hormones for a developing child probably crosses a line into harm).
  1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
    
    The parents of that child aren't doing anything immutable like surgery or hormones (and no responsible doctor would do either for a 5 year old - and if the UK is like Australia, it would need court approval too). And they provide him with boy's clothing in case he wants to wear it. They're just not making a big deal out of what might be a passing phase. Or not. And forcing him to dress as a boy is probably counter-productive. They sound pretty sensible to me.
    1. Zeb 13 years ago
      
      I don't see any problem with that. Gender ambiguity does exist. Forcing a child to behave in a certain way because of gender is as much against human nature as anything. I didn't read much of the article.
5. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  Now that I have bothered to read it, I must say that is a terrible article with almost no support for the claims it makes.
Sparky 13 years ago

Girls fighting makes it on YouTube. Again. And the best part?

It's possible that the girls in the fight as well as those who stood by and recorded it, could all face some type of discipline.
1. Dawn Endurti 13 years ago
  
  The videos were shot by multiple kids from several angles and showed up on several websites almost immediately. Mayor Kennedy says, "Without consequences to that action, I think we are sending the wrong message to those kids."
  
  That is why we keep showing the video on our local news.
2. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  I can't watch crap with everything blurred out like that.
3. Night Elf Mohawk 13 years ago
  
  What type of discipline? I bet they have a zero tolerance policy for violence and as soon as someone stepped in they'd be heading for detention at Mach 1 just like the fighters.
  
  In what kind of fucked up education administrator's mind do people get in trouble for self defense but also get in trouble for not defending a third party?
  
  Or is the problem only that they were videoing the fight?
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    They're girls. Nothing will happen.
  2. Fatty Bolger 13 years ago
    
    The problem is that they made the school administrators look bad.
  3. Sparky 13 years ago
    
    As I hear it, the problem is that nobody stepped in. I think they're throwing around some kind of bystander rule that makes a person obligated to help if they see something like this.
    1. Jess Asken 13 years ago
      
      Are there rules obligating bystander help for verbal/gestural altercations?
    2. Night Elf Mohawk 13 years ago
      
      I'd be interested in seeing such a bystander rule, particularly if the school has a zero tolerance policy on violence.
      
      Maybe the rule is just that they have to go get help, not actually help.
      1. Sparky 13 years ago
        
        My guess is that it's tied in some way to this:
        
        http://www.mass.gov/ago/about-.....n-law.html
4. Francisco d Anconia 13 years ago
  
  I love the faux outrage.
  
  ...OMG, high school stoooodents would stand by and watch a fight and not break it up....
  
  So I must conclude these reporters never went to high school.
  1. R C Dean 13 years ago
    
    In my experience, trying to break up a fight is a good way to get into a fight.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Megan Fox is still hot!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....Green.html
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Somehow those pictures make a 9 look like a 6.
  1. robc 13 years ago
    
    The tats are a downgrade in my book, but no way that is a 6.
    1. anon 13 years ago
      
      He must not like tatoos.
      
      Tatoos = woman willing to sleep with you, which is a plus in my book.
      1. robc 13 years ago
        
        According to OkCupid, the non-sexual question with the highest correlation to "Would you consider sleeping with someone on the first date?" is "Do you like beer?". Im assuming "Do you have tattoos?" is in the database.
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        Well yeah, but generally I meet women at a bar. Maybe there's some perfect intersection.
        
        RoboCain 13 years ago
        
        It's
        beer/sex
        tats/anal
        
        Don't they teach anything in the schools?
        
        Francisco d Anconia 13 years ago
        
        Smokers put out. I think it's because they don't care what's going into their bodies.
    2. Loki 13 years ago
      
      Clearly she's taking the Angelie Jolie comparisons a little too literal. Trying to outdo her in the tats department or somehing like that.
    3. Brett L 13 years ago
      
      I agree. Objectively, she's 8-9. Somehow, those pics make me think I'd only look twice if I walked past her on the beach.
  2. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    She turns my 9 into a 6... Sha-wing!
2. anon 13 years ago
  
  Man, Jennifer's Body ruined that woman for me. Granted, she's still hot, but somehow I still think she's a succubus.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Bar Rafaeli is still hot!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....rwear.html
1. NotSure 13 years ago
  
  You still on about her ? the hottest super model is Candice Swanepoel, it has been scientifically proven.
  1. Old Salt 13 years ago
    
    While agree that she is damn fucking hot you just shouldn't trust Wayne's World about matters of sex and science!
  2. DesigNate 13 years ago
    
    That is unpossible. Perhaps you haven't heard of or seen the runway videos of Kate Upton. I suggest you google them.
2. anon 13 years ago
  
  I'll have 2 please.
  1. Ike Broslofski 13 years ago
    
    I want thwee!
Respectful Response 13 years ago

Experts in Islam say copies of the Koran should be buried or released in flowing waters if they need to be disposed of, and burned only as a last resort.

Ground too hard, and soil tainted by foreign occupiers. No streams around. What's the problem?
1. Al Azhar University 13 years ago
  
  No, roll the pages into spliffs and smoke them to the greater glory of Allah.
2. R C Dean 13 years ago
  
  That's nice. Any American soldiers who happen to be Muslim and are tasked with disposing of Korans can definitely take that into account.
  1. cynical 13 years ago
    
    Shit, why not just dump them at the local mosque and let them deal with the disposal.
3. Rubicon 13 years ago
  
  Technically every time you blow up or burn any house,mosque or building with a copy of the koran in it,which seems to be close to 95% or better in that region you would be guilty of breaking that law.If Islam doesn't have exceptions for accidental destruction during warfare then every act of warfare that burns the book,by any party,including other muslims,must be punished by death immediately?I think I may have just discovered the sharia legal technicality that will end all wars and guarantee peace in the middle east.This could have more positive ramifications for world peace than the invention of TV and the internet combined.
  1. Rubicon 13 years ago
    
    Alternatively,on further reflection,I may have actually discovered the reason FOR all the wars in that region
Brett L 13 years ago

Also, happy Mardi Gras, everybody. I plan on indulging in some sloth, followed by gluttony, lust, and hopefully fornication later (although that might be my pride talking). How about you?
1. Rich 13 years ago
  
  Anybody planning to give up H&R for Lent?
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    Rick Santorum
    1. Rich 13 years ago
      
      I doubt if he even knows Reason exists.
      
      Perhaps you're thinking "B&D"?
      1. Loki 13 years ago
        
        I doubt if he even knows Reason exists.
        
        I see what you did there.
2. Konfounded Kristen 13 years ago
  
  I already got my fornicatin' done (now the man is headed to Puerto Rico for the tatted, punk-rock, old guy version of spring break. Maybe he'll get some extry fornicain' down there while I sit here in the dank & cold engaging in gluttony and sloth).
invisible furry hand 13 years ago

Bullying is bad, but still...
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Which raises the question: What measures should a ginger go to in order to pass amongst people with souls?
2. Loki 13 years ago
  
  Natalie Harvey's picture of her when she was three is believed to have been posted by internet trolls who took it from her Facebook page.
  
  Why was it on her facebook page in the first place?
  1. anon 13 years ago
    
    I was breezing by this, caught the word "Natalie" and immediately thought "Portman," which brought a smile to my face. Thanks.
  2. R C Dean 13 years ago
    
    If she put it on her facebook page, didn't she post it to the internet?
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Obama peddles modest American dream
http://apnews.myway.com/articl.....KH900.html

Four years after winning the White House, Obama is dealing with a different economic and political reality as he seeks re-election. He's focused less on a lofty vision for overcoming divisions and remaking Washington, and more on the most basic building blocks of middle-class economic security: a job, a house, a college education for the kids, health care, money for retirement.

What Obama describes as the American Dream can seem a spare, fundamental aspiration, tailored for a campaign that looks to be fought over who is best equipped to safeguard the interests of middle-class Americans.
1. Fatty Bolger 13 years ago
  
  "I promise to give you back what I took away."
2. db 13 years ago
  
  The Onion already covered this.
Ice Nine 13 years ago

Kennedy is still hot!
1. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  She looked better on Real Time than she ever did on MTV.
  1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
    
    That was merely sarc commentary on the prevailing notion that skinniness is the prime criterion of "hotness". She's as homely as a mud fence.
    1. RoboCain 13 years ago
      
      Well, I thought she looked nice.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        She is cute. The people on here think everyone is ugly. I think the best old school MTV VJ was Duff.
        
        sarcasmic 13 years ago
        
        Martha Quinn
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I always liked her too. And she has aged really well. She turned into a really cute 40 something mom.
        
        Anacreon 13 years ago
        
        I really liked Martha Quinn in that thing I saw her in
    2. sarcasmic 13 years ago
      
      Are you saying that Rafaeli and Fox have ugly faces?
    3. Zeb 13 years ago
      
      SHe's one of those people who always looks like she is tasting something unpleasant. Maybe that's a turn on for some people. I don't get it.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

Documents: LightSquared shaping up as the FCC's Solyndra
http://dailycaller.com/2012/02.....-solyndra/

Documents and copies of communications obtained by The Daily Caller indicate that the Federal Communications Commission propped up broadband company LightSquared with favorable regulatory decisions and other special treatment, while driving its competition out of business.
RoboCain 13 years ago

'She took on a persona and lied and, as a result of that lie ? what? ? somebody flew here from Idaho? So what?' Pascal said. 'If I were to start criminalizing when one person lies and, as a result of that lie, other people take an action, then everybody's in jail.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....crime.html
1. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  I hope that same prosecutor would be unwilling to press charges when angry couples beat that woman within an inch of her life.
2. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  "when one person lies and, as a result of that lie, other people take an action"
  
  Yeah, sometimes that's fraud.
  1. Rev. Blue Moon 13 years ago
    
    But I bet there is plenty of money for that new tank or legislating about how much Salvia someone can have.
    
    Unbelievable.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

U.S. Limits on Government Can't Work Everywhere: Ramesh Ponnuru
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....nnuru.html

The premise seems to be that the better our constitutional design, the more we should expect other countries to seek to emulate it. But this premise is clearly mistaken. Other countries may have rational reasons not to adopt our Constitution that do not reflect badly on its design. Political elites in other countries may not want to live within the limits that the U.S. model imposes. Other countries may also lack the conditions that allow our Constitution to work.
1. Barack Obama 13 years ago
  
  Let me be clear: what limits on government?
2. Loki 13 years ago
  
  Political elites in other our countriesy may not want to live within the limits that the U.S. model imposes.
  
  fixed
3. R C Dean 13 years ago
  
  Other countries may have rational reasons not to adopt our Constitution that do not reflect badly on its design.
  
  Like, the fact that we have conclusively shown that a sufficiently determined ruling class can turn it into an empty shell, eternally mocking believers in limited government?
John 13 years ago

http://www.chron.com/business/.....341919.php

US oil gusher exceeds expectations. Fuck you peak oil geeks.
1. Matrix 13 years ago
  
  But they're talking about gas prices may rise to over $5/gallon by the end of the year because of Iran. I hate speculators.
  1. tarran 13 years ago
    
    You shouldn't hate speculators. They only make money when they take volatility out of the market. They lose money when they try to move prices in a different direction than they were already heading.
2. shrike 13 years ago
  
  Drilling in the US has quadrupled since Jan 2009 - Fuck you lying "Obama won't let us drill here" AM radio rednecks.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    He just won't let them pump it or refine it. And imagine what it would be if Obama hadn't declared war on the oil industry.
    1. anon 13 years ago
      
      Shriek is still wrong; it's only reached a height in the private sector (not 4x), and the amount of federal leases issued has decreased.
      1. shrike 13 years ago
        
        That is another lie. Federal permits have continued to be issued. Production on federal land did peak in 2004 for various reasons.
        
        From the link the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world
        
        Gee, would that bit of reality make it past the GOP reality-denial shield?
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        Lease != permit.
        
        l2english.
        
        shrike 13 years ago
        
        Barack Hussein Obama
        Mmm mmm mmmm!
        
        Tim 13 years ago
        
        3 Shrikes and you're out.
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        I feel like that's where this thread was going anyways.
        
        DesigNate 13 years ago
        
        Fuck off Demfag.
Matrix 13 years ago

LA times OP-ED says VA shooting themselves in the foot with repealing gun laws

I say LA Times' editors should shoot themselves in the head.
1. robc 13 years ago
  
  And we have yet to hear a gun-rights advocate articulate why any law-abiding citizen has a compelling need to buy more than one gun a month.
  
  Because fuck you, thats why.
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    Actually, the best way to CCW is to have two handguns of the same type -- one full-size for the range, and its mouse version for carry.
    
    Also, you need a pair of revolvers for CAS.
    1. Bobarian 13 years ago
      
      Why do I need revolvers for Close Air Support (CAS)?
      1. R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        To fire out of your open-cockpit biplane. Duh.
        
        Bobarian 13 years ago
        
        But 8 .50 Cals with 27 feet of ammo (The whole 9 yards) work so much better.
        
        Or a 30mm gatling gun with wings...
  2. bosty 13 years ago
    
    Change "gun" to "a pair of high heels", just for fun
2. db 13 years ago
  
  I say the LA Times should refocus their eyes from 2600 miles away to their own neighborhoods where their ridiculous religion of gun control has done nothing to save lives or make people more secure in their property.
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    But those people are black.
  2. Matrix 13 years ago
    
    Nanny statist twits will NEVER keep to their own neighborhoods if they can start wagging their fingers and tongues at others.
rather 13 years ago

Licensing for men
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

The real trouble with Rick
It's not the social conservatism
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/o.....l6Qu2ESYfO

Like many culture warriors, he is disappointed by America and its failings, which ? as his controversial views on the morality of birth control demonstrate ? he believes stem from an excess of self-indulgence and the elevation of sexual appetite over self-restraint.

There is no way that a man who expresses such a dark view of the American national character can win the presidency.

huh? The problem is not because he's a Socon, but because of his outlook as a Socon.
1. Santorum Supporter 13 years ago
  
  he is disappointed by America and its failings, which ? as his controversial views on the morality of birth control demonstrate ? he believes stem from an excess of self-indulgence and the elevation of sexual appetite over self-restraint.
  
  *fap*fap*fap*fap*
  1. Proprietist 13 years ago
    
    I blame Jersey Shore.
2. John 13 years ago
  
  Just once I would like to see someone in a debate say to Santorum, well that is great there Rick, it would be wonderful to stop people from using porn or having premartial sex or whatever. That is a great idea. The problem is that if we endorse the use of government to make your great idea come to fruition, then we really can't tell liberals they can't use government to make all their great ideas come true.
  
  I have no doubt it would go right over his head. But the two seconds of thunderstruck look he would give would make it worth while.
  1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
    
    Even if he and/or his supporters argue that he is capable of separating his personal opinions from his role as President on the issue of birth control, I would counter that it's very troubling that someone who is auditioning for President would use his limited time to present his best case by discussing use of birth control in the first place. Pardon me if I get the impression that he thinks his views on birth control are important to being elected.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      I don't listen to the President much anyway. If he wants to spend for years preaching the gospel of clean living, I can't say I would be too upset, provided he never tried to turn such gospel into law.
      1. robc 13 years ago
        
        In fact, that is time not spent on something altogether more distructive.
        
        But I dont think the "provided" applies in Santorum's case. He wont succeed, but he will try.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        He wouldn't turn any of it into law. At most he would stop spending money on liberal ponies, which is bad how?
        
        robc 13 years ago
        
        That isnt bad...but he would try to turn things into law, at the very least waste 30 seconds calling up a GOP leader and trying to talk him into inserting it into a bill.
        
        Or some amendment gets proposed and he supports it.
      2. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
        
        I think the fear that he will do more than just preach his version of clean living is validated because Santorum has taken the time typically reserved for explaining why he should be President to talk about the birth control issue. His inability to separate personal opinions on the proper way to live from governing in other areas like gambling, marriage, and adoption is also a big factor in validating my fears.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        What has he said about birth control other than other people shouldn't be forced to fund yours? That sounds pretty sensible to me.
        
        Bee Tagger 13 years ago
        
        When he gave his personal opinions on how birth control. That feeds into my point about concern over why he would talk about it at all when auditioning for President. I'm left to conclude that he thinks his personal opinion on birth control should matter to voters. When I combine that with his other personal opinions on proper social behavior that bleed into policy prescriptions, I think it's valid to be feel concerned about Santorum and the birth control issue.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Concerned about what? What do you think he is going to do besides hold an opinion you don't like?
  2. R C Dean 13 years ago
    
    Just ask him: "Rick, how would you use the federal government to implement your ideas on America's moral failings?"
    
    If he says "Why, the federal government shouldn't get involved at all." then the natural followup is "Then why don't you shut the fuck up about it in your campaign?"
RoboCain 13 years ago

"As gun culture spreads, local governments have offered to fast-track firearms licenses if men have vasectomies."

http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....7361.story
1. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  "Bhupendra, a Shivpuri resident and affected party, says, "I underwent vasectomy for the gun licence but the collector is reneging on his promise." Lalit Gupta, another disgruntled sufferer, says, "I underwent the operation only for the gun licence. The announcement appears to have been a trick." He wanted the licence because he often has to travel to dangerous places, he says."
  
  http://www.hindustantimes.com/.....80686.aspx
  1. Tony 13 years ago
    
    *fap fap fap fap fap*
df 13 years ago

No A.M. linky to Veterans for Ron Paul march?
1. Rich 13 years ago
  
  Linky.
Francois 13 years ago

ABC Previews Inside Foxconn
http://abcnews.go.com/Internat.....a-15750239
"The average starting salary at Foxconn is around $285 a month or $1.78 an hour. Even with 80 hours of overtime it considered so low that the Chinese government does not deduct any payroll taxes."
P Brooks 13 years ago

Political elites in other countries may not want to live within the limits that the U.S. model imposes.

No shit.

Political elites in America don't want to live withing the limits imposed by our Constitution.
1. Ward Churchill 13 years ago
  
  If the elites don't want to live within the limits I have a win/win/win arboreal solution to this problem.
Joe M 13 years ago

Pretty sad when even the news is just sequels and reboots.
1. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  It's been a very slow week. I'm starting to think Whitney Houston was assassinated by the Writers Guild.
John 13 years ago

I sincerely dislike Santorum. But I have to give him credit for this statement

The comments came at an event in Columbus shortly after the former senator from Pennsylvania said efficacy and safety improvements in oil drilling technology are considered by the president to be "a dangerous technology."

"It doesn't fit his pattern of trying to drive down consumption, trying to drive up your cost of transportation to accomplish his political science goal of reducing carbon dioxide," he said.

Obama, he continued, is not motivated by "your quality of life."

"It's not about your job. It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology," Santorum said. "Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology. But no less a theology."

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/.....-in-one-3/

What is interesting about this is that the media portrayed that statement as questioning Obama's Christianity like Santorum was calling him a Muslim or something. Santorum was making a valid point. Obama doesn't give a shit about the average person's every day problems. He has a national to transform. He has a vision to fulfill. If a few eggs get broken making that omelet, well so be it. And that is in its own way a theology. Santorum was actually making a fairly subtle point that went right over the media's head. What they are doing is not based on reason. It is based on a blind faith that this is the better way for country to be. And that really is in a sense a "theology". Now when you use the word theology that usually implies the bible. And Santorum makes the point that this is not about he bible, not to question Obama's religion or call him a Muslim since it is entirely possible to believe in both bible theology and also this theology. Sanoturum makes that distinction because he wants people to know that when he says "theology" he doesn't mean it in the conventional term but in a different sense in that it an irrational dedication to a set of principles.

It is a great attack. And it is too bad the media missed the point and thought he was calling Obama a Muslim or whatever.
1. Joe M 13 years ago
  
  Sounds more like he's slamming environmentalism as a theology. Which it is.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    That is exactly what he is doing. And the media missed the point completely. They took as him saying that Obama wasn't basing his policies on Christian theology, implying that he should. And that is not what he said at all.
    1. Joe M 13 years ago
      
      I wonder if Obama, like Bush before him, fancies himself a God-Emperor.
    2. Rich 13 years ago
      
      the media missed the point completely.
      
      Oh, they got it. Hence the nature (NPI) of their reporting.
    3. MJ 13 years ago
      
      John, the MSM did not miss the point, they were deliberately avoiding his point. Yhey will take anthing out of context to protect Obama.
2. Karl Hungus 13 years ago
  
  It is a great attack. And it is too bad the media missed the point and thought he was calling Obama a Muslim or whatever.
  
  It was a great attack, but the media most definitely didn't "miss the point." They were making certain that Santorum's point didn't stick, instead making it look like a personal attack on Obama's religion.
  
  In other words, they were merely doing their job.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    I am not sure about that. The media live in such a bubble, they have little ability to comprehend irony and metaphor. And they view their ideological opponents as total cartoons. I think they might never have thought that Santorum could mean anything but calling Obama a Muslim because that is what those people do.
    1. Zeb 13 years ago
      
      Of the coverage I heard, most seemed to be coverage of the reaction of Obama's people. To the point that I never heard the original quote in context.
      1. Loki 13 years ago
        
        I never heard the original quote in context.
        
        Exactly the point, they didn't want you to hear the whole quote in context.
3. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  Interesting, I hadn't seen what he had actually said, but I did hear the coverage of it over the weekend. I don't agree that environmentalism is theology, but it does resemble religion in a lot of ways.
  
  The whole thing was pretty silly, though. Even if he had been questioning Obama's Christian theology, there is no reason that should be surprising or controversial. Everyone knows that Santorum and Obama have very different ideas about Christianity. Isn't it obvious that Santorum would think that Obama's theology was wrong? Duh, people who disagree think that each other are wrong. Not interesting.
Francois 13 years ago

Luxury Hotels of the Romney Campaign http://pinterest.com/thinkprog.....-campaign/
1. Sue Wutt 13 years ago
  
  A whopping nine nice hotels in an extended campaign. I'm sure the Romney crew deserves an occasional break from staying in mostly Motel Sixes.
anon 13 years ago

Can we use these morning links as proof that history repeats itself?
1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  ... first time as tragedy, second time as farce
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    third time = time machines!
P Brooks 13 years ago

g
1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  Word, man. I'm inclined to agree and to think more along the lines of r.
rather 13 years ago

French minister invites 13,000 Twitter fans to bed- they're slutty French
1. Eduard van Haalen 13 years ago
  
  The story fits a metanarrative:
  
  "The intended recipient of the message is not known, although it was probably his wife, Yasmine Tordjman.
  
  "Eric Besson suffered a very public falling out with his ex-wife Sylvie Brunel, who published a book in which she dubbed him a 'serial cheat with inter-changeable mistresses'.
  
  "Rumour has it that at his marriage to Brunel, Besson stopped the mayor and struck "fidelity" from his wedding vows.
  
  "The 53-year-old minister married Tordjman, a 24-year-old art student from Tunisia in September 2010."
John 13 years ago

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes......ate-files/

Peter Gleick Admits to Deception in Obtaining Heartland Climate Files

The best part is the NYT reporter talking about how we need to have a rational debate on the subject of AGW. Really? I thought the science was settled? I thought everyone who doubted it was a denier and a flat earther? Now they want to have a debate?
1. anon 13 years ago
  
  Of course John. Don't you understand? I'm right until you prove me wrong. Then we can debate whether I'm wrong, which I'm right about until you prove me wrong. Ad nauseum.
2. Brett L 13 years ago
  
  Mrs. Suderman had a writeup on the purportedly fake document in the middle of this "scandal" about a week ago, and she pretty convincingly argued on forensic grounds why it is probably fake.
3. tarran 13 years ago
  
  This is a big deal:
  
  Gleick heads an ethics committee of the American Geophysical Union.
  
  He is also the probable author of the forged "Strategy Document" based on the odd turns of phrase that was the source of the explosive scandalous claims against Heartland.
  
  And, if one parses his admission, he doesn't actually deny having forged the document. HE refers to having received "a document" and leaves it at that, prompting many to infer that the forgery was the leaked document.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    It is a huge deal. If you read the NYT link, even the NYT guy admits that it looks pretty bad. When it is so obvious the Times can't deny it, it is pretty bad.
    1. tarran 13 years ago
      
      Bob Ward over at the BBC stepped into it - again. I'm sure the reality distortion field there that has protected him from getting disciplined for his previous serious lapses will once again protect him.
      
      These guys are Teflon PR hacks & journalists.
      
      Or maybe sons of Dracul
  2. Brett L 13 years ago
    
    Time to fall back on the old "fake, but accurate" defense. Get me Dan Rather on the line!
  3. Loki 13 years ago
    
    Gleick heads an ethics committee of the American Geophysical Union.
    
    WARNING! IRONY OVERLOAD!
Dekedin 13 years ago

Does the diminishing popularity of Newt Gingrich prove that Citizens United isn't the apocalypse for democracy and money alone can brainwash voters?
1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
  
  Doubtful.
  
  Though, it is cute that the same media pulling their hair out over money in elections could conceivably have contributed more to the success/failure of the Gingrich campaign through their changing narrative than the money could ever do.
Ice Nine 13 years ago

Strauss-Kahn Questioned About Hotel Sex (Again)

He needs to get a few pointers from Berlusconi on politically-survivable skank fucking.
1. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  Move to Italy. Own TV stations.
Sandra Collins 13 years ago

lol, OK so who are those dudes trying to fool?

http://www.totally-anon.tk
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Mexican prison guards helped orchestrate riot that served as cover for jail-break.

Mondays on Fox, starring Wentworth Miller.
Bee Tagger 13 years ago

Pittsburgh race relations could be better.
1. shrike 13 years ago
  
  Fucking AM talk radio mouthbreathers.
  1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
    
    They're giving high school basketball players radio shows?
  2. db 13 years ago
    
    I blame the racist mindset of Pittsburgh unionists.
2. KDN 13 years ago
  
  The players say two Monessen students in banana suits ran around the court and called them monkeys and cotton pickers and more.
  
  Considering how this game was filmed and broadcast (as per the P-G article), shouldn't there be some record of this or some witnesses besides the one janitor that heard stuff in the locker room after the fight (note: I have no doubt that the kids were dropping all kinds of n-bombs after the game)? It doesn't appear to be that big of a gym.
  1. db 13 years ago
    
    These were two different games; four different schools.
    1. KDN 13 years ago
      
      So it is. Objection withdrawn.
  2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
    
    No kidding. One of the hallmarks of our society today is that every time some shit goes down, 10-20 jerkweeds will whip out their smartphones and start recording it. You'd think there'd be some sort of easily accessed record out there.
John 13 years ago

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....medium=RSS

Violent crime in Washington DC skyrockets. Must be all those people who got guns thanks to Heller.
1. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  Yes, both of them.
  1. John 13 years ago
    
    See that is what happens when you create an environment that endorses guns.
    1. anon 13 years ago
      
      Homicides were the only category of violent crime to decline in the first six weeks this year. As of Thursday, the city had recorded 10 homicides compared with 11 at a similar point last year.
      
      I love the mental gymnastics required to form this sentence, and the rest of the article. Of course, Heller is being used as the example that "gunz r bad!!11" Meanwhile, the article neglects to mention that homicide rates have been on a downtrend since 04 or 05, while other violent crimes have been experiencing an uptrend. Just last year, rape alone was up 25% in DC.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        And depriving women of the ability to carry a gun to defend themselves had nothing to do with it. Most criminals are morons with poor impulse control. Crimes are almost never some elaborate plot like the movies. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity. If the typical rapist in DC thought the next woman he attacked might pull out a gun, he would think twice.
      2. RoboCain 13 years ago
        
        Rape went up because they changed the way they count reports.
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        Do you know if the same is true for assault and other "violent crimes?"
        
        RoboCain 13 years ago
        
        It isn't, afaik, but it might include other "violence against women" not counted as "rape".
        
        Zeb 13 years ago
        
        Are you thinking of the changes made for statistical purposes? I don't know if that applies here if the number is the actual number reported to the DC police.
        
        RoboCain 13 years ago
        
        How else do I put this? The way they come up with that number was recently changed in DC and Baltimore.
        
        Zeb 13 years ago
        
        OK. I was thinking of an article recently where they had changes the way they counted rape for national statistics and thought you might be thinking of that. Apparently you know something I don't.
        
        RoboCain 13 years ago
        
        If they also apply the FBI/UCR definition of the crime to the local numbers (and most localities do) that would also effect the number. But what they consider "unfounded" reports, how they count multiple crimes in the same incident, etc. still counts in addition to whether the reported offense fits the definition of the crime.
    2. Joe M 13 years ago
      
      Wrong, John. That's clearly the result of Citizens United.
sl 13 years ago

looking for the bilover?===Datebi*cO'm=== is a site for bisexual and bicurious singles and friends.Here you can find hundreds of thousands of open-minded singles & couples looking to explore their bisexuality.sign up for free.
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Mike M. 13 years ago

The fat-assed first lady and her daughters go skiing in Aspen. That's their sixteenth freaking vacation in just three years!
1. John 13 years ago
  
  It is fucking appalling. Worst recession in living memory and that fat bitch can't forgo even one vacation. Would it kill her to stay in the White House or gasp, go to Camp David once in a while?
  1. anon 13 years ago
    
    RAAAAAACIST!
  2. CoyoteBlue 13 years ago
    
    It ain't cheap avoiding Barry's pendatious droning on and on and on.
    1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
      
      You just gotta tell us what "pendatious" means, man, because I, Google, and 1062 online dictionaries don't have any idea.
    2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
      
      BTW, you just got yourself a solitary Google hit with that word. Congrats!
      1. db 13 years ago
        
        Sleartigamading!
      2. Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        Weird - thirteen minutes later there are six hits. Shouldn't he have gotten his fifteen minutes?
  3. Yeah 13 years ago
    
    Her vacations are always on my mind.
    1. Yeah 13 years ago
      
      I mean, a politician's wife going skiing, for Chrissakes!
      Who does she think she is? People are hungry. And the children!
    2. John 13 years ago
      
      It is tasteless and tacky and shows her to be the tacky no class neveu riche she is. There are certain social duties that come with being the first lady. Like it or not, she and her husband do represent the government country and the country to the world. She has completely failed in that regard.
      1. Michelle 13 years ago
        
        I practice what I preach.
        
        Let's Move!
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        If more people would take vacations in Spain and hit the slopes in Aspen, our childhood obesity problem would be a thing of the past.
      2. Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        While she's skiing she can't be running around stealing the homemade lunches of schoolchildren.
      3. Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        I agree with John. And it's not because I hate Obama and all Democrats. I do, but that's not the reason. It's because the Obamas are, are tokens of our, um...they represent..she is a target, no, a symbol of...what a First Lady shouldn't be, because she went skiing with her daughters, the classless hussy. Also she's black.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Multiple vacations, four of five a year, each of which require massive amounts of planning and security and disrupt the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people. Can you imagine how fucked up Aspen is right now thanks to Queen Michelle's entourage right now?
        
        And of course the same people like you who defend this had a fit when Bush so much as played a round of golf. Bush spent most of his time on his ranch. Did Laura Bush ever do such a thing? Never and if she did, she would have been brutalized in the press for it. But liberals defend Michelle Antoinette because no one on their side ever does anything wrong. They play the race card because they have nothing else and they know what an embarrassment she actually is.
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        Your priorities are in all the right places.
        Good to know you're on the job.
        
        Ice Nine 13 years ago
        
        Let's ask LZ about it.
        
        invisible furry hand 13 years ago
        
        Enough with the Queen Michelle stuff. Her workload is nowhere near as heavy as Queen Elizabeth's, or any real queen. We make our figureheads work!
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        True. Elizabeth, if the movie is to be believed has a real sense of duty and cares about her country. And Marie Antoinette actually lived quite modestly for a monarch of her era and never said "let them eat cake". So yeah, it is unfair to call her Queen Michelle. She is more like the wife or a banana Republic dictator. Does Mugabe's wife have a title?
        
        invisible furry hand 13 years ago
        
        Dunno, but the Queen Mother of Swaziland is known as the Great She-Elephant. Elena Ceasescu was the Mother of the Nation, which is quite drab by comparison
        
        rac3rx 13 years ago
        
        I like "Lady Chewbacca" or Ms. Magilla.
        
        Roman Polanski 13 years ago
        
        "Grape Ape" contains RAPE
        
        Loki 13 years ago
        
        She is more like the wife orf a banana Republic dictator.
        
        FTFY
        
        Zeb 13 years ago
        
        Multiple vacations, four of five a year, each of which require massive amounts of planning and security and disrupt the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people.
        
        This is the problem. If she wanted to be classless nouveau riche, I got no problem with that. Except that it is a huge burden for all of the other people who want to be where they go and we are paying for the massive security.
        
        The president and his family should not be allowed out of the White House if they can't pay for their own security. I accept that special security is needed for the president. But it should not be paid for by taxpayers unless it has to do with an essential function of the office. Why the fuck are we paying for him to go on campaign trips and for his family to go on vacation?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Go question Zeb. And they have their own vacation home provided by the tax payers at Camp David. And it is quite beautiful. And very remote, easy to get to, and easy to secure. WTF do they want?
        
        Zeb 13 years ago
        
        And while we're complaining about this sort of thing, why the hell does Romney get Secret Service protection? He can certainly afford his own security. Shouldn't that be a campaign expense?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Yes Zeb it should be.
        
        Night Elf Mohawk 13 years ago
        
        I agree wit Mr. Know-It-All? because she should definitely be taking five vacations a year on the public dime when most in the public are lucky to take one.
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        Most of it is paid for privately. I don't begrudge them for the necessary security. This is all so much "Let them eat cake" political posturing.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I don't begrudge them for the necessary security
        
        First, you certainly begrudged Bush. So why is this different
        
        Second, security is a fact of life. When you become President you can't just run off to New York on date night without inconveniencing a ton of people. So therefore, you have to by necessity and out of concern for others live a more constrained life. You don't get to just jump in the car and go somewhere even if you have the money to do it. It is the price you pay for assuming the office.
        
        If the Obamas were anything but narcissistic neveu riche classless trash, they would realize that and act accordingly. But it is always all about them.
        
        If you want to be an international party couple, don't run for President.
        
        Libertymike 13 years ago
        
        But John, see Pierre Trudeau and his wife.
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        First, you certainly begrudged Bush
        
        I did? "I" being...who...the symbol and representative of all your political enemies across the blogosphere? I think you're talking to the voices in your head again, John. Emotionally healthy people do not obsess over politicians' wives' vacations.
        
        The Essence of John 13 years ago
        
        "The Obamas [are] narcissistic neveu riche classless trash."
        
        Any questions?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        They are what they are. You just don't like it. And of course you begrudged Bush. You just piss and moan because the truth hurts.
        
        The Essence of John 13 years ago
        
        You just piss and moan because the truth hurts
        
        The projection is strong with this one.
        
        Is there a bigger narcissist in this chat room? P Brooks and Sarcasmic come close, but you're the all-time champ, John. So please, continue regale to us with your crackpot opinions. It sure as hell beats working.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        WAAWAA. You don't like it because someone has the nerve to point out shit you don't like and don't have a response to. Tough shit. If you don't like it, don't come here.
        
        Mike M. 13 years ago
        
        Most of it is paid for privately.
        
        This is total absolute bullshit, and you know it. Who do you think you're talking to here?
        
        I don't begrudge the family of the president getting Secret Service protection and certain perks that come with the job, but families that have class don't abuse these privileges to this extent.
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        They pay for their own food at the White House, too. Did you know that, Mr. Huff 'n' Puff?
        
        Imelda Marcos 13 years ago
        
        Emotionally healthy people do not obsess over politicians' wives' vacations.
        
        I really could have used you over 20 years ago.
        
        R C Dean 13 years ago
        
        Most of it is paid for privately.
        
        Of course, footing the bill for a five or six figure luxury vacation for the family of a sitting President couldn't possibly be a bribe.
        
        Yeah 13 years ago
        
        Is it a bribe? Prove it or shut up.
        
        DesigNate 13 years ago
        
        Prove it's paid for privately first.
      4. Karl Hungus 13 years ago
        
        She has completely failed in that regard.
        
        Dude, she reads to kids and has appeared on iCarly (have you seen that show??). That shit is exhausting. She's going to need a vacation every few weeks to recharge her batteries. And I for one am glad to help pay for it.
  4. Loki 13 years ago
    
    Hey, just because us rubes in fly over country are having a hard time doesn't mean that our Great Leaders lovely wife should suffer!
    
    If I'd known she was in Aspen yesterday I would have taken the day off to go to Aspen and see if I could trigger an avalanche on whichever slope her fat ass was skiing on. Actually, I'm kind of surprised she didn't cause one herself.
    1. The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
      
      us rubes in fly over country
      
      Your prose proves it.
      
      Also your class envy.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        Also your class envy.
        
        A liberal talking about class envy. LOLOLOL.
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        A liberal talking about class envy
        
        Hahahahaha! Yeah, John, I'm a "liberal" (listen to Limbaugh much?) because I point out your insufferable, narcissistic nonsense.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Of course you are. Only liberals think anyone who disagrees with them listen to Limbaugh. And you only get defensive about the charge because it is true. Save your concern trolling for elsewhere.
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        Oh yeah? Well if you don't kike it, go somewhere else, poopy pants.
      2. Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        Whoa whoa whoa.
        
        I am not envious at all of people who spend their own damn money on frivolous ski vacations.
        
        If the Obamas were spending all of his memoir money I'd have no problem at all.
        
        "Political officeholder" is not supposed to be an economic class. When it becomes one, it's time to refresh the tree of liberty yadda yadda yadda.
2. Joe M 13 years ago
  
  It's good to be the King.
3. JEP 13 years ago
  
  I've been living in Colorado for the past 8 months and I haven't even been able to go skiiing/snowboarding because I've had too much to do at work.
4. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  Yeah sure, black people on skis. Next thing you are going to tell me asians play basketball.
  1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
    
    A chink in the armor.
Brett L 13 years ago

Heads up reasonoids who are on the pill or having relations with someone on the pill: Pfizer sent out a million placebo doses.

"Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer recently announced it's recalling one million packets of birth control medication because it mixed up the order of the hormone-containing pills with placebos during packaging, putting an unknown number of women at risk for unintended pregnancies. While news of this error spread quickly, the question of Pfizer's liability in this incident and how it delayed to notify the public has received scant attention."
1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
  
  well, we needed more babies to pay for social security!
2. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
  
  It would be great if a bunch of parents left their children on Pfizer's front porch.
3. Yeah 13 years ago
  
  Heads up reasonoids
  
  Uh-oh. Is Mongoloidism hereditary?
  1. Loki 13 years ago
    
    You'll find out when/ if you have kids of your own.
    1. Yeah 13 years ago
      
      Good thing I'm not a libertarian, then.
      1. Rev. Blue Moon 13 years ago
        
        Thank god for small favors. We're all stocked up on retard here; go peddle it somewhere else.
        
        Yeah 13 years ago
        
        I will if you will. Deal?
anon 13 years ago

So, does Shriek == rectal?

I need to know whether to ignore it or not.

Nevermind, I don't.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Shrike is silly and ignorant. But he at least stays on point.
  1. rather 13 years ago
    
    John, do you have to be an asshole before I finish my first cup?
    1. Biography 13 years ago
      
      When asked by a reporter why he repeated himself so hard every day, John replied, "There might be a kid out there who's never heard me say it."
    2. John 13 years ago
      
      Fair enough Rather. I have come to the conclusion you are not the resident griefer troll anyway. If you are, you are either a brilliant characterist, have multiple personalities or both, which I doubt.
      1. Warty 13 years ago
        
        I tell people to ignore her, and the anonopussy troll mysteriously shows up a few minutes later. What more do you need, John?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I know. But I refuse to accept the horrible implications of that being true. I am like one of the hold outs in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. No, not everyone is a pod person!!!
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        I tell people to ignore her, and the anonopussy troll mysteriously shows up
        
        Awesome! It's like "Warty" has super-powers!
        
        rather 13 years ago
        
        I'd love to know who you are too. Are you clever enough to have figured out the why of their game? Or, do they just annoy your intelligence?
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        I'd love to know who you are too.
        
        Who, me? I'm just a bored guy/gal who likes to torment the adolescents. It's funny, watching them dance...
        
        Keeps my typing skills sharp, too.
        
        rather 13 years ago
        
        I can tell you are
        #1 a regular
        #2 male
        #3 35-45
        #4 educated
        
        rather 13 years ago
        
        and confident
        
        The Anonypussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        I can tell you are
        #1 a regular
        #2 male
        #3 35-45
        #4 educated
        
        You forgot witty and erudite. The age is a little off, too.
        
        rather 13 years ago
        
        A belletristic man; well-educated then
        
        Warty 13 years ago
        
        So, now that she went out of her way to confirm it, do you believe, John?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Ananopussy is most assuredly not educated. So maybe she is puffing herself there.
        
        The Anonypussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        By the way, the correct spelling is "anonypussy," as in anonymous pussy. Not that I am educated.
      2. SugarFree 13 years ago
        
        You're wrong, John. But it takes a while for the implications of the truth to sink in.
        
        Warty 13 years ago
        
        Just like that time I told you what the phrase "drag queen" meant.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        It's not about Shirley Muldowney?
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        Is this a support group?
        Can I join?
        
        Mr. Know-It-All? 13 years ago
        
        Pleeeeease?
        I want to obsess over rather/rectal/anonypussy too!
  2. Tim 13 years ago
    
    John: Yes it is.
    MJohn: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    John: Yes it is.
    John: Yes it is.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    MNG: No, it isn't.
    1. Bee Tagger 13 years ago
      
      John: Yes it is.
      MJohn: Yes it is.
      MNG: No, it isn't.
      
      I thought they didn't form the Zoltron-like thread-ruining creature known as MJohn until closer to the end of the argument.
      1. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        I think John and MNG are characters played by Courtney Stodden.
        
        Sparky 13 years ago
        
        No they aren't.
        
        Libertymike 13 years ago
        
        CN, I think they are played by the ghost of John Wilkes Booth.
        
        Rev. Blue Moon 13 years ago
        
        Now why would you want to go and denigrate one of your heroes like that...
        
        Libertymike 13 years ago
        
        Like Roger Staubach in super Bowl XIII, what Booth did was too little, too late.
        
        Joe M 13 years ago
        
        Yes they are.
      2. Voltron 13 years ago
        
        who the fuck is Zoltron?
  3. SFC B 13 years ago
    
    I think he's O3. Isn't O3 the one who was using that "AM Radio" schtick?
    1. Proprietist 13 years ago
      
      O3's too lazy to use proper capitalization and spelling. I sincerely doubt there the same.
      1. Proprietist 13 years ago
        
        ^ IRONY! ("they're")
2. rather 13 years ago
  
  BTW, ignore me; I hate gutless men
3. Warty 13 years ago
  
  Almost certainly, but why would you be stupid enough to talk to any of the trolls? DO NOT DANCE.
  1. rather 13 years ago
    
    Wartfly has spoken, and in the absence of his deity, he gives the orders
    1. rather 13 years ago
      
      Wartfly, part of 'ignoring' me is to 'IGNORE' me
      1. Tim 13 years ago
        
        No, it isn't.
        
        anon 13 years ago
        
        Yes, it is.
        
        Tim 13 years ago
        
        No, it isn't.
        
        JEP 13 years ago
        
        This isn't an argument!
        
        Yes, it is!
        
        The Big Ignore? 13 years ago
        
        I tell ya I get no respect!
4. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  I think that Shriek, like Tony, was once a real person, but now is mostly spoof.
  1. rather 13 years ago
    
    You're right. Sugarfree and his trolls are most of the characters; they love to ruin a thread and then blame it on a troll; they communicate by email to set it up
    1. The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
      
      That's true. E-mail me for the details.
      1. rather 13 years ago
        
        lol; you kill me 🙂
        
        The Anonypussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        Somebody has to do it.
        
        Have you noticed how the regulars here rival the hippies of yore in their conformist, collectivist, group-think attitudes? And they think they're individualists! I laugh and laugh.
        
        rather 13 years ago
        
        I think of them more as the nerd in HS who never got laid; a George McFly.
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        You may be right. They do obsess over unapproachable, unattainable women a lot. It's like a locker room in Neverland.
        
        DesigNate 13 years ago
        
        That's right, we all agree about everything. Clearly you haven't paid attention to an abortion or immigration thread.
Joe M 13 years ago

Speaking of sequels, looks like Ron Paul is doing Romney's dirty work, again:

Ron Paul ad slams Santorum as 'fake' conservative
1. robc 13 years ago
  
  Good ad.
  
  To the point, no distortion, moderately amusing.
  1. Rich 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, ... but I doubt if STEVE SMITH will find it amusing.
2. JW 13 years ago
  
  Nice. Too bad Paul is just a fringe nutter kook who isn't electable.
  
  ARE YOU READY TO GET SANTORUMED?
rather 13 years ago

The Germans are bombing again
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Proper treatment of the Koran is a highly sensitive issue for Muslims across the world, including in Afghanistan, where international troops are fighting to defeat the militantly Islamist Taliban in a war that has entered its 11th year. Experts in Islam say copies of the Koran should be buried or released in flowing waters if they need to be disposed of, and burned only as a last resort.

Or, as non-Muslims, do whatever the hell you want. It's a book. Should we apeshit on everyone who burns a U.S. flag? (Well, I guess we have many of them, but not specifically for lighting up Old Glory.)

Anyway, nothing drains sympathy for a slight like an out of proportion response.
1. Tim 13 years ago
  
  These are the same assholes who blew up the giant Buddha Statues.
2. Heroic Mulatto 13 years ago
  
  True, but to play Devil's Advocate, how would you react if, say, the Chinese Army occupied the U.S. and managed to burn a whole bunch of Bibles or copies of the U.S. Constitution or whatever American symbol?
  
  Would we see it as an accident or yet another incident that adds to the humiliation of occupation?
  1. Brett L 13 years ago
    
    About the same way we react to foreigners burning flags?
  2. Sparky 13 years ago
    
    Didn't you ever see V for Vendetta? You can't destroy a symbol.
  3. Thomas Friedman 13 years ago
    
    the Chinese Army occupied the U.S.
    
    fap fap fap fap fap!!!
3. Zeb 13 years ago
  
  Every time I hear about people freaking out over someone burning a Koran, it makes me feel like burning a Koran. Fuck those people. Fuck them 'till they're dead. I don't even care anymore that the people doing the burning are assholes. The people willing to riot over it need to lose all credibility.
  1. The Anonypussy Troll? 13 years ago
    
    Your credibility is wanting.
    Just sayin'.
4. Lord Flashheart 13 years ago
  
  Those Korans were likely government property. There is an actual National Stock Number for them. Gov't can dispose of Gov't property as it sees fit.
RoboCain 13 years ago

"Could Lesbianism Have Saved Whitney Houston's Life?"

http://thegloss.com/odds-and-e.....-life-741/
1. John 13 years ago
  
  Only if it resulted in a non butch girlfriend and a decent sex tape.
2. No 13 years ago
  
  The Government killed her, you know.
  I saw it on Reason.
3. Roman Polanski 13 years ago
  
  LiLo is doing do well as a lesbian with all the no drugs...
P Brooks 13 years ago

So, does Shriek == rectal?

I need to know whether to ignore it or not.

Why does that even matter?

If you think he's crazy and full of shit, ignore him.
1. anon 13 years ago
  
  Damnit Brooks, you missed the last sentence.
2. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
  
  No, see, because if he's really a dude we can't ignore him because of the secret rules.
  1. Loki 13 years ago
    
    Shhh, ixnay on the ecretsay ulesray!
RoboCain 13 years ago

Courtney Stodden And Dakota Fanning Are The Same Age

http://thegloss.com/beauty/rem.....e-age-597/
1. John 13 years ago
  
  That is horrible. Dakota Fanning is not that pretty. But she does look like a lovely young girl. A woman can only look like that for a few years. Why would any women want to look like an aging party girl when she is 17?
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    Chelsea Handler and Reese Witherspoon are also essentially the same age.
    1. robc 13 years ago
      
      [mind blown]
    2. Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
      
      So are Betty White and the corpse of Veronica Lake.
      1. John 13 years ago
        
        Betty has got to be 80. And frankly she looks like she has fewer road miles than Handler, who is maybe 40.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        Betty is 90.
        
        Citizen Nothing 13 years ago
        
        (So is the corpse of Veronica Lake)
        
        robc 13 years ago
        
        Handler was born in 75. She turns 37 in a few days. Which means Im 5.5 years older than her. I would have guessed her a decade older.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        I know she is a big drinker and partier. But it is not like she is the only one. Handler really does seem to be setting some kind of record for being rode hard and put up wet. I bet Lindsey Lohan looks better than Handler when she is 37.
        
        SFC B 13 years ago
        
        You're making a bet Lohan makes it to 37? Bold choice.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Houston made it to 49, and Houston make Lohan look like an amateur.
        
        SFC B 13 years ago
        
        Yeah. Now that I think about media darlings with serious substance abuse issues do live longer than I'd thought.
        
        I still don't agree that Lohan will look better at 37 than Handler does. Lohan strikes me as the type who will rapidly, and frequently, hit the plastic surgeon as soon as she realizes what her lifestyle has done to her looks. Her change from how she looked in her late teens to how she looks now is like a Meth poster.
        
        Chelsea Handler 13 years ago
        
        Are you there, Botox? It's me, Chelsea.
    3. John 13 years ago
      
      When Handler wrote her first book, she was pretty hot. But she looks horrible now. Part of it is that she has had bad work done and she always looks like she just doesn't give a shit.
Lord Humungus 13 years ago

from: http://www.nationalreview.com/.....ael-barone

Thus, taking each individual by turns in its powerful hands and kneading him as it likes, the sovereign extends its arms over society as a whole; it covers its surface with a network of small, complicated, painstaking, uniform rules through which the most original minds and the most vigorous souls cannot clear a way to surpass the crowd; it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces one to act, but it constantly opposes itself to one's acting; it does not destroy, it prevents things from being born; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, compromises, enervates, extinguishes, dazes and finally reduces each nation to being nothing more than a herd of timid and industrial animals of which the government is the shepherd.

- Tocqueville
1. anon 13 years ago
  
  Tocqueville's observational skills really were amazing.
  1. Lord Humungus 13 years ago
    
    It's uncanny.
2. Elspeth Flashman 13 years ago
  
  In other words, it makes everyone more risk -averse. Ouch.
3. Roman Polanski 13 years ago
  
  Reads like a romance novel
4. R C Dean 13 years ago
  
  it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them;
  
  Which pseudo-libertarian Big Brain likes to go on about "nudging" and so forth?
  
  Whoever it is, needs to be nudged about the head with a hardback copy of de Tocqueville.
P Brooks 13 years ago

it does not break wills, but it softens them, bends them and directs them; it rarely forces one to act, but it constantly opposes itself to one's acting; it does not destroy, it prevents things from being born; it does not tyrannize, it hinders, compromises, enervates, extinguishes, dazes and finally reduces each nation to being nothing more than a herd of timid and industrial animals of which the government is the shepherd.

This reminds me of something I once read about boa constrictors: it claimed they do not actively "crush" their prey so much as just inexorably take up slack, until the victim is unable to move, or even expand its lungs enough to take a breath.
1. robc 13 years ago
  
  Boa's are members of the Church of Subgenius?
  1. robc 13 years ago
    
    No idea why the ' is in there.
P Brooks 13 years ago

you missed the last sentence.

Oops.

Reading all the way to the end is hard.
1. The Big Ignore? 13 years ago
  
  It's OK. You comment what...500 times daily? There are bound to be mistakes. Buck up and move on.
JEP 13 years ago

So does anyone have any good book recommendations for U.S. foreign policy in the 20th Century?

Looking back, I realized that in every history class I took in high school never got past WWI - so I'm woefully ignorant of world politics past that point. It makes arguing foreign policy with people older than me difficult since they've lived through a good deal more of it than I have.
1. anon 13 years ago
  
  Duh, that's because FDR was the greatest president evar and that's all you need to know about modern history.
  
  But yeah, I didn't even know there was a Korean war until I got out of public school.
  1. JEP 13 years ago
    
    Yeah, I've been finding out a lot of things recently: Didn't know that there was an Iran/Iraq war in the eighties (I was born in '88), had heard about the Iran-Contra debacle but didn't know exactly what it was, etc.
    1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
      
      Do you know what Henry Kissinger said about the Iran/Iraq war? "It's a pity they can't both lose." I have swiped it for personal use
2. robc 13 years ago
  
  Ive been thinking that the standard college US History of "pre civil" and "post civil" probably needs to be split into threes: -- pre civil, civil thru ww2, and post ww2.
  1. anon 13 years ago
    
    I guess we probably need to understand that a lot of college professors grew up in the post ww2 era.
  2. JEP 13 years ago
    
    My American history class went at a steady pace until the civil war, then sped up to an insane rate when the teacher realized he couldn't finish it all in one year. The next year, I took History of the Americas which covered South American and Mexico southward. That was a terrible idea - there were so many regime changes in South America and Mexico that you can never hope to keep straight which dictator believed what, what country they were in, and how many coups they instigated.
    1. Ice Nine 13 years ago
      
      My American history class went at a steady pace until the civil war, then sped up to an insane rate when the teacher realized he couldn't finish it all in one year.
      
      Nary has there been an AmHx (or WorldHx) class any different.
      1. robc 13 years ago
        
        Ive always thought too much time was wasted in the colonial era.
        
        Its not US history until 1776, IMO. Until then, its British history.
      2. Red Rocks Rockin 13 years ago
        
        When I took AP US History, we spent maybe a week on the post-Korean War period. It really fucked what was left of the class (half the students dropped it mid-year) because one of the essay questions on the test was on 1950s cultural trends.
        
        My best friend and I did well because 1) I knew my stuff and 2) he was a master bullshit artist, but nearly everyone else got poor scores. Not surprisingly, that teacher ended up leaving the profession the very next year.
  3. JW 13 years ago
    
    I haven't seen these yet, but you might want to try the Khan Acadamy for a quickie.
3. John 13 years ago
  
  Try the Wise Men. It tells the story of the people who made cold war foreign policy.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Wise-Men.....838&sr=1-1
4. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  Looking back, I realized that in every history class I took in high school never got past WWI - so I'm woefully ignorant of world politics past that point. It makes arguing foreign policy with people older than me difficult since they've lived through a good deal more of it than I have.
  
  It strikes me that listening to them rather than arguing with them might be one approach to the problem. Just a thought.
  1. JEP 13 years ago
    
    The problem is we get wrapped around the axle as to what's the cause and what's the effect. Such as Iran taking hostages in the 70's - he, my father, sees it as just another instance of Islam hating the West, I see it as retaliation for the U.S. supporting the Shah.
    
    I would try to listen more except he's a religious statist, gets all his news from Fox, and has been spewing party talking points for the last few decades - so I consider his views suspect and go look for my own.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      I see it as retaliation for the U.S. supporting the Shah
      
      But of course when it counted we didn't support the Shah. We restrained him and talked him out of putting the revolution down with force. That fact always gets lost. The only thing we did to trigger the Iranian hostage crisis was to let the Shah come to the west and prevent them from killing him and his family.
      
      The Iranian revolutionaries were two bit criminal fanatics. There really isn't anything positive to be said about them.
      1. Libertymike 13 years ago
        
        John, you and I would love to be supported for 26 years the way we supported the Shah.
        
        The problem is that the support would come with some strings, like establishing and maintaining a secret service that kidnapped, tortured and murdered at will.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        SAVAK was minor league compared to what they have now. And that was not what caused the revolution. What caused the revolution was the Shah actually going after the corrupt Imams and trying to secularize society. The Shah did a lot to modernize Iran. You guys act like he was all evil and the people who opposed he were all good. Bullshit. The people who most hated him were much worse than he was. And this has been born out by the last 30 years. I would much rather have lived in Iran under the Shah than under the Mullahs.
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        What caused the revolution was the Shah actually going after the corrupt Imams and trying to secularize society.
        
        What caused the revolution was the Shah's corrupt and tyrannical rule. That's what turned the people of Iran against him.
        
        That revolution became Islamicized because the Shah had relentlessly ground into the dust any potential opponent or institution that could threaten his rule, and the only institution he couldn't destroy was Islam.
        
        It's no accident that the more repressive the monarchy or one-party state in the Middle East, the more likely it is that their primary opponents will be Islamists. The Islamists are the only people fanatical enough to withstand the totalizing impulses and police state apparati of these petty authoritarian states.
        
        The same thing happened in Poland with Catholicism.
        
        If we had never supported the Shah in the first place, would he have been replaced by the mullahs? Nope. We originally were afraid he would be replaced by secular Communists. But by 1979 the Communists, and everybody else BUT the mullahs, was dead.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        That revolution became Islamicized because the Shah had relentlessly ground into the dust any potential opponent or institution that could threaten his rule,
        
        That is just untrue. He didn't ground a lot of things into the dust. And when push came to shove, he didn't put the revolution down. The Shah was a pussycat in comparison to what Assad is doing right now in Syria. If he had been anything like the way you claim him, there never would have been a revolution.
        
        And the revolution became Islamized because the Islamists were more fnatical and more willing to kill than the Shah was. It is that simple. And the proof of that is the military, which never became Islamist and had to be purged after the revolution. Why didn't the Shah use the military like Assad is?
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        The military split, John. And there had been endemic armed resistance to the Shah for years prior to 1978.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        But when push came to shove, the Shah left peacefully and didn't start a civil war. If he had been Joe Stalin or the mad killer you claim him to be, he would not have walked away. And indeed, our giving him a place to walk away probably prevented that. We saved who knows how many lives by talking him into leaving. But we hate all Iranians and wanted to kill them.
        
        Kreel Sarloo 13 years ago
        
        We originally were afraid he would be replaced by secular Communists.
        
        And the funny thing is that the iranian socialists were no more leftwing than the English socialists who instigated the coup (although the coup occured under Churchill, the trouble started with the Attlee government).
        
        Strange that after nationalizing a huge swath of the British economy (railways, coal, steel and road transport) the Attlee government should baulk at negotiating with Mossadegh over terms fro Iran to nationalize BP.
        
        Libertymike 13 years ago
        
        John, Mr. Straw may think that the Shah was all evil and that those who opposed him were all good.
        
        You know that most of us here do not. In fact, I will prove it to you:
        
        Based upon my LIMITED knowledge, I, too, would have rather lived in Tehran between 1953 and 1978 than from 1979 to the present.
        
        Kreel Sarloo 13 years ago
        
        The Shah did a lot to modernize Iran.
        
        The Shah "modernized" Iran in roughly the same way that Stalin modernized the Soviet Union. Read Paul Johnson (Modern Times IIRC) for a good summary of where and how the US screwed up.
        
        Paul Johnson is certainly no America hater. The plain fact is that Ike backed the wrong horse in 1953. That and refusing to abide by the Geneva accords on Vietnam were two grand errors in an otherwise generally good administration.
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        Yeah, that's a popularization, but a first-rate one.
        
        The section titled "The Bandung Generation" is one of the best summaries of how statism doomed the post-colonial nations that I've ever read.
        
        DesigNate 13 years ago
        
        Of course you're completely ignoring the fact that the Iranian people had a democratically elected government prior to the Shah's reinstitution.
      2. Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        The only thing we did to trigger the Iranian hostage crisis the invasion of Afghanistan was to let the Shah Osama bin Laden come to the west stay in one of our caves and prevent them the US from killing him and his family entourage.
        
        Signed,
        
        The Taliban
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        They did more than that. They supported him and he pretty much bankrolled the government. And then told the UN and the rest of the world to fuck off when they demanded he be turned over.
        
        Seriously, Fluffy, you really seem to think of the entire middle east, sans Israel to be completely morally blameless for everything. I am surprised you are willing to live in a country that you consider to be the most monstrously evil ever conceived rather than a more morally blameless one like Pakistan or Iran.
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        Too bad, dude.
        
        The Shah was a mass murderer. If Iran wanted to hang him after he fell from power, more power to them. Iraq hung Saddam and everybody cheered.
        
        When you claim that Iran should not have been angry because "all we did" was refuse to extradite a mass murderer to face the punishment he so richly deserved, then we should not have been angry when the Taliban refused to extradite a mass murderer to the US.
        
        Your only way out of this is to say, "Well, OK, I guess not extraditing the Shah was pretty shitty and it's natural that they got really pissed off at us. But we owed him a bunch of favors and we didn't want any of our other client rulers to feel like we wouldn't help them out in a pinch, so we decided to take a chance on sheltering the guy."
        
        You're the one who always wants the US to be morally blameless. Actually, it's worse than that. Even in instances where you admit that the US did something wrong, you think that other countries should just suck it up and not get mad at us because "Hey, World War II, man!" or "What do you expect? We were trying to win the Cold War!" or "It would have been worse for everyone if we hadn't bombed you and killed your kids!"
        
        I am perfectly willing to acknowledge that supporting the Shah was an unfortunate necessity of the Cold War and the US pretty much had to do it. But the price we pay for that necessity is acknowledging that the people the Shah tortured get to be pissed off at us. That's the trade-off. But you're such a patriotic yokel and self-centered bastard sometimes that you can't bring yourself to admit that.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Sure they were pissed off at us. But that doesn't mean they were right either. And that doesn't mean that the people who were pissed off were nice people either.
        
        You are such a closet fucking leftist you just can't accept that just because someone is pissed at the US, even rightfully, doesn't mean they are good or even not bad people. You refuse to admit any fault on anyone but the US's fault or admit that maybe people might have motivations for doing things beyond all their legitimate grievances against the US. In fluffy world, it is as if US evil drives all actions.
        
        You are the fucking yokel. You are the one who thinks everything that happens in the world is the result of US action not me.
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        You are such a closet fucking leftist you just can't accept that just because someone is pissed at the US, even rightfully, doesn't mean they are good or even not bad people
        
        Wow, project much?
        
        Strictly speaking, if someone has a legitimate grievance vis-a-vis the US, that grievance to me COMES BEFORE the question of whether they are good or bad people.
        
        Obviously the Iranian regime sucks. But that doesn't mean that they aren't right and we aren't wrong under (for example) the terms of the NPT.
        
        Iran's rights under the NPT (again for example) are the same whether they're good people or dicks who lust after genocide.
        
        And if the history doesn't matter because the current Iranian regime is made up of dicks, then why don't you just argue that? Instead you have to jump up and make fantastical claims every time someone points out the real history. You can forestall all of that just by saying, "Well, sure, Fluffy, you're absolutely right about the history and also about the rights and responsibilites of the US and Iran under the NPT, but I think the Iranians are jerks and I want us to squash them regardless of those things." Then we could talk about the merits of that idea separate from these other issues. But you WON'T DO THAT, at least not consistently, because it's imperative to you that everyone think the US has clean hands, even when we don't.
        
        The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
        
        It's like John has an opinion on everything!
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        "It's like John has a shitty, poorly thought out opinion on everything!"
        
        FYP.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Apparently between attacking queen Michelle and your meds running out, you are now in full manic mode. Way to spoof dipshit. Everyone knows it is you and no one cares what you have to say, whoever you are.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        The truth hurts me.
        
        anonogriefer 13 years ago
        
        "no one cares what you have to say"
        
        YOU cared, enough to respond at least.
        
        Owned again.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Attention is what you want so badly, being too stupid to actually understand anything that is being said and all. Just say thank you and move on.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Obviously the Iranian regime sucks
        
        Why do you think that? You are the ones that claim they are right under the NPT. You are the one who thinks that they have a peaceful nuclear power program.
        
        What do they do that makes them dicks? Every time the topic comes up, you are always on the side of how Iran is right under the NPT and how they have peaceful intentions.
        
        If take what you say on its face, I don't see how you could say the IRanian regime are dicks. They are embarked on a peaceful and lawful nuclear program. They are being unfairly picked on by the evil US. They are in power as a result of a popular revolution against a mass murder put into power by the US. What is not to love?
        
        You say they are "dicks". But the rest of what you say doesn't indicate that at all. I don't think you are being consistent here. Most of the time you are explaining how they are a peaceful law abiding government brought to power by a popular revolution against a horrible tyrant. So are they that or dicks? Which is it?
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        "So are they that or dicks? Which is it?"
        
        I am asking of course, because I am so unsophisticated that I cannot picture an entire REGIME of people existing over DECADES being both.
        
        My tiny mind is incapable of that level of thinking.
        
        Fluffy 13 years ago
        
        The Iranian regime is made up of dicks because they maintain a system of both official and paramilitary religious police that abuse Iranian citizens for engaging in innocuous acts which I, as a libertarian, think they should be perfectly free to pursue.
        
        So that's a big reason for me to consider them dicks.
        
        Do I think they're dicks for pursuing their rights under the NPT? Nope. And unless and until we withdraw from the NPT I will go right on not thinking that.
        
        Do I think the fact that they seized our embassy over 30 years ago means they're the WORST COUNTRY EVAH? No, not really. Not in the context of overall US / British / Iranian relations for the last century. It was an unfortunate event, but not one that should preclude tolerable relations forevermore.
        
        Do I find their overall political system legitimate? Not really. But they do have a limited system of republican elections, which is a lot more than you can say for many of our allies in the region.
        
        Do I care that they don't like Israel? No. I don't.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        "You are the fucking yokel. "
        
        I know you are but what am I!!!
        
        And my butt hurts.
      3. JEP 13 years ago
        
        Well, I coming from the position that if you truly believe what the Declaration espouses, then you believe every nation has the responsibility to determine what form of government they want to live under. When the Shah fell, that was a legitimate revolution and the U.S. attempted to undermine it and prop up somebody else on the U.S. pay roll.
        
        It doesn't make since that we, as libertarians, would be against statism and tyranny of the majority domestically, but be perfectly fine with influencing the governments of other nations, whether they are democracies or not.
        
        So, even if there is nothing positive to be said about the revolutionaries, I don't see how the U.S. has the right to interfere in the internal politics of other another nation.
        
        John, from what I understand the Shah was trying to secularize a nation that was 90% muslim and the people said no, so the Shah tried to do it by force. If the people want to live under a theocracy, then they have the right to do that. There's still no imperative for a foreign nation to mess with their internal politics.
        
        John 13 years ago
        
        Sure they can. But that doesn't make it the right choice. And I think the now the majority of the people in Iran would prefer not to live under such a theocracy.
        
        JEP 13 years ago
        
        But that doesn't make it the right choice
        
        Right, and I'm not in favor of our government forcing people to make the right choice, domestically or internationally.
        
        JEP 13 years ago
        
        And thanks for the book recommendation, by the way.
5. Raston Bot 13 years ago
  
  White Man's Burder is badass.
6. db 13 years ago
  
  Not directly on US foreign policy, but I can recommend Arthur Goldschmidt, "A Concise History of tge Middle East," as a nice factual take on ME history from pre Islamic times to now. I have the 6th edition which was published in 1999, which is when I took Goldschmidt's course at Penn Sate. He's up to 8th or 9th edition now...wonder why?
P Brooks 13 years ago

I realized that in every history class I took in high school never got past WWI

Woodrow Wilson, a Great and Noble Man, overcame the objections of teabagging haterz and made the world safe for Democracy.

and they all lived happily ever after

period;

The End.
Warty 13 years ago

Pepper Keenan-less Corrosion of Conformity.
P Brooks 13 years ago

it takes a while for the implications of the truth to sink in.

OMFG I GET IT NOW!!!!

"Rectal" is joe.
1. Trespassers W 13 years ago
  
  You're scaring me. It's shockingly plausible that joe never left.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

Politically incorrect advertizing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....d-now.html
1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  i've posted it before, and by God, I'm posting it again
2. RoboCain 13 years ago
  
  Since when is a Colt a bad xmas gift?
  1. Zeb 13 years ago
    
    I want one of those for $69.99.
3. Ice Nine 13 years ago
  
  Sitting around the pool deck in your new suit watching a guy do "Kookla, Fran and Ollie" hand puppets. Could a cruise get better than that?
  1. RoboCain 13 years ago
    
    That does sound kind of gay.
4. Warty 13 years ago
  
  Not just for Christmas: Two adverts you wouldn't see today, one for American Export Lines (left) and the other suggesting a gun might be a good gift
  
  Fucking Limeys. What kind of scumbag hasn't gotten a gun as a present?
  1. Brett L 13 years ago
    
    Age-appropriate gun gifting list in the South
    2 yo -- cap gun
    6 yo -- BB gun
    10 yo -- .410 or .22
    14 yo -- 12/16 ga duck gun or hunting rifle
    18 yo -- hand gun in self defense caliber
    1. Warty 13 years ago
      
      The best birthday present I ever got was a Makarov.
  2. db 13 years ago
    
    Clearly that author hasn't watched local TV or read billboards in the Pittsburgh area around the winter holidays.
RoboCain 13 years ago

"Given the sadly widespread attitude that women who go out drinking are basically consenting to sex with whoever might decide he wants it, the ad is a bad move."

http://jezebel.com/5886591/com.....im+blaming
Auric Demonocles 13 years ago

Reason users annoyed by crappy mobile site (again).
1. The Anonopussy Troll? 13 years ago
  
  Perhaps your life would be less vexing if you stuck with the print copy and left the narcissism to us professionals.
2. Other reason users 13 years ago
  
  Other reason users annoyed that your moron ass was given a perfectly acceptable solution, but you continue to bark anyway.
  1. Auric Demonocles 13 years ago
    
    What solution? Buy a new phone?
P Brooks 13 years ago

When you become President you can't just run off to New York on date night without inconveniencing a ton of people. So therefore, you have to by necessity and out of concern for others live a more constrained life. You don't get to just jump in the car and go somewhere even if you have the money to do it. It is the price you pay for assuming the office.

I disagree. If you broadcast your intentions (and itinerary) for weeks, you probably need structured security. If you just jump in the Bulletproof Suburban with a driver and a couple of guys at your side to grab a milkshake, you should be fine, UNLESS YOU ARE SO UNIVERSALLY DESPISED YOU ARE A TARGET OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE WHO LAYS EYES ON YOU.

And, if that is the case, you're doing it wrong.
1. Loki 13 years ago
  
  UNLESS YOU ARE SO UNIVERSALLY DESPISED YOU ARE A TARGET OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYBODY ANYWHERE WHO LAYS EYES ON YOU.
  
  And, if that is the case, you're doing it wrong.
  
  Because every petty authoritarian tyrant with delusions of grandeur knows that if you're doing it right, people will despise you to the point of actually trying to kill you no matter how much security you have around at all times.
Matrix 13 years ago

Man who shot daughter's laptop defends himself

I thought the video was great, though I think a shotgun would be been better to watch that sucker get obliterated. Still, it was a great watch. But then, of course, CPS gets involved and ruins everything. Is there anything the government touches that doesn't turn to shit?
1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
  
  The sad thing about CPS is that if you poke them back with a stick, no matter how well-deserved you might feel it is, you just invite more trouble.
  
  But... it's for teh childrenz!!
  1. Matrix 13 years ago
    
    There are genuinely bad people whose children should not have to endure what they do with their parents. Those are kids who are beaten to broken bones, bleeding, or any real damage. They are kids who are sexually molested or raped by parents or relatives. They are kids who are forced to live in filth and squalor. They are children whose parents tie them up or lock them up, verbally abuse them, physically abuse them and starve them.
    
    For kids who get mad at their parents and make up stories, I think CPS is a wonderful thing. They'll likely be put in a home worse than they were in with strict parents who wouldn't let them stay out past 10 PM on a school night, or make them eat all their vegetables. They'd discover how lucky they were to have those parents instead of many of the deranged people that CPS gives children away to.
    1. invisible furry hand 13 years ago
      
      What's so frustrating about CPS and its analogues is that it can be great at hassling basically OK parents, and bloody awful at dealing with the scumbags. The horror stories of dead tortured children always seem to note that the child was known to the authorities - and a fat lot of good it did them (at least here in Australia and in the UK). Like this one
2. John 13 years ago
  
  First, it was meant for the Facebook friends she has her own age that thought "Hey, that's so cool that you stood up to your parent's that way. That's awesome!" I wanted them to know in no uncertain terms that she didn't get away with it.
  
  if you work in IT and you didn't think that video would go viral, you are too stupid to live.
  
  How he disciplines his daughter is his business. But if he wants to keep it his business, he might want to avoid putting videos of said discipline on the internet.
  
  He reminds me of one of these women who gets caught up in some public scandal claims they just want their privacy back right after they pose in Playboy.
  
  And I think this guy is a douchebag. But fuck CPS. They need to stay out of it.
  1. Matrix 13 years ago
    
    It's not really easy to predict what will or will not go viral. You can probably determine what may or may not, but there is not certainty when it comes to internet popularity.
    1. John 13 years ago
      
      One thing is a certainty, if you don't put it up there, it won't go viral.
    2. anon 13 years ago
      
      Oh but how I disagree. There are plenty of forced memes around the internets to back it up.
      1. Matrix 13 years ago
        
        Impossibru!!!
Raston Bot 13 years ago

Latest PopMech has a piece by Joe Pappalardo titled The Winning Way to Trim the Pentagon that includes this:

"These changes involve the Pentagon's core missions of nuclear deterrence, regime change, humanitarian aid, and pinprick airstrikes."

While we're trimming areas of nation building, why not cut back on subsidies for Afghanistan mineral exploration, private investment, industrial development, banking and financial system development, agricultural diversification and revitalization, and energy development?
invisible furry hand 13 years ago

Beyond satire:

Park Slope Food Co-Op Falls into Chaos: Should They Have a Position on Israel?
Fluffy 13 years ago

That Drudge link apparently is about to link to a tape where Santorum in 2008 claimed that Satan had infiltrated all the major Protestant churches and the government and that only Catholics had any hope of saving America.
Fluffy 13 years ago

OK, it's up

http://drudgereport.com/flash3s.htm
1. anon 13 years ago
  
  I offer this link as proof that there is no God.
Fluffy 13 years ago

Saying that the Protestant churches are infiltrated by Satan is not a good plan for winning the GOP nomination.
1. John 13 years ago
  
  He is saying that "Major Protestant Churches" have been infiltrated by Satan. The evangelicals left such churches because they thought the same thing. It won't hurt him.
  1. db 13 years ago
    
    Yeah. A colleague of mine can talk your ear off about how the churches have failed. The undercurrent hetries to hide is the whole "satan coopts the church" part of the End Times narrative. He doesn't know how much I have read about this and he thinks he's being sly but he gives too much away.
Fluffy 13 years ago

Rick, Rick, Rick - when you unselfconsciously refer to Satan as "the Father of Lies" several times in your speech, it makes me think that you go home and and whip yourself with a cat o' nine tails while screaming the Hail Mary in Latin.
1. Mean Girl 13 years ago
  
  Did Satan make you double-post?
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    No, that was the Greek God Nerdrageon.
2. Eduard van Haalen 13 years ago
  
  How *should* he refer to Satan? "The leader of the Democratic party"?
  1. Fluffy 13 years ago
    
    I think it's a matter of expressive mode revealing a state of mind.
    
    It's one thing to talk about the presence of evil in the world.
    
    It's another thing altogether to personify it and give it a proper name.
    
    It's yet one more thing to have all sorts of Hercule Savion Whatever all-capitalized phrases you use to refer to that personified evil.
    
    When Person A says "I think that the presence of evil in the world is a weighty question for philosophy," and Person B says, "I believe that there is a literal devil named Satan who opposes God throughout history," and Person C says, "Yea verily, for the Father of Lies and the most horrible Lord of the Flies did smite down upon the servants of the lamb, and lo they were led into temptation!" Person C is a fucking loon.
Fluffy 13 years ago

Rick, Rick, Rick - when you unselfconsciously refer to Satan as "the Father of Lies" several times in your speech, it makes me think that you go home and and whip yourself with a cat o' nine tails while screaming the Hail Mary in Latin.
Anyway 13 years ago

If I see that "Whitney's angel ascending to heaven" video still one more time I'm gonna vomit.
Dawson Jones 13 years ago

Man you would think those guys would have learned by now!

http://www.Privacy-Wares.tk
GILMORE 13 years ago

U.S. troops burn Korans, Afghans throw rocks, shoot gunsU.S. troops burn Korans, Afghans throw rocks, shoot guns

...

""Experts in Islam say copies of the Koran should be buried or released in flowing waters if they need to be disposed of...""

....FLOWING WATERS?: urinating??

""Adding to the negative perception of U.S. troops was the release of a video last month that showed four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters. ""

Seriously, can we please leave now? WTF. Let the Taliban have the @#$@ place. Next time we'll just bomb them. It turns out to be much more humane, and we don't make news stories like this.

There's gotta be a "Operation Enduring Freedom = I fought the Taliban in Afghanistan and all I got was this (@*#$@ T-Shirt" out there somewhere by now.
tablette pc 13 years ago

Does the diminishing popularity of Newt Gingrich prove that Citizens United isn't the apocalypse for democracy and money alone can brainwash voters?
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