First Sandy Hook Funerals, Gun-Control Petition Gathers Signatures, Cops Roam and Demand ID: P.M. Links

• A petition calling on President Obama to push for tighter restrictions on firearms has 145,000 signatures. There are no reports yet of a petition to magically make gun restrictions effective or enforceable.

• The first funerals for victims of the Sandy Hook massacre — two six-year-old boys — were held.
• A Government Accountability Office report finds the TSA is primarily concerned with … self-preservation. A bureaucracy took on a life of its own? Shocking.
• A study of ten nations found no relation at all between video games and murder. So, of course … it will be ignored.
• Blueseed, a planned ship-based high-tech business community, has raised start-up capital.
• You might want to hold off on that vacation on the Nile. After the passage of an Islamist-backed constitution, the opposition is calling for more protests.
• Cops in Paragould, Arkansas, will soon patrol the streets in combat gear, carrying AR-15s, randomly demanding identification. No, this isn't a joke.

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: [e-mail]

The updated Reason app for Apple and Android now includes Reason 24/7!

Don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily AM/PM updates for more content.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A study of ten nations found no relation at all between video games and murder.

Researchers had the wrong cheat codes.

[niobiumstudio]

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A... That'll do the trick - they should be able to link murder to video games 100% of the time with that code right there...

[Hyperion]

W-A-S-D, that is the evil code that will make your children into heinous monsters.

[np]

So it's all Konami's fault, eh

[niobiumstudio]

It's ALL Konami's fault...if they hadn't made Contra so goddamn difficult, there would be NO murder right now. All those spree killers who snapped just didn't know the code...

[Randian]

Needs more Select-Start.

[.Rob]

No, fuck you, cut gun control.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cops in Paragould, Arkansas, will soon patrol the streets in combat gear, carrying AR-15s, randomly demanding identification.

Now that's responsible assault weapon ownership! The idea came to the chief while he was reading the Constitution.

[CE]

Sounds like it can be fixed at the next election, when the mayor is canned. If there is a next election, and assuming the people aren't fine with it anyway, because they feel safer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's only going to be in the bad part of town.

[Hyperion]

You mean that the following is only gonna happen to the folks of color?:

Officer: Hey you, ID please.

Guy walking down street: Um, ok, just a minute, I think I have it right h...

Officer: *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*!!!

Guy walking down street: ()

[R C Dean]

More like:

Officer: Hey, you. Don't move. Put your hands up. Give me your ID.

GWDS: Uh, what?

Officer: BANG! etc.

Law-Enforcement Industrial Complex: Good shoot. The perpetrator did not immediately follow instructions, and was starting to reach for his pocket. How was the officer supposed to know that pocket just held his wallet, and not a knife, gun, hand grenade, packet of anthrax, vial of Sarin, or other weapon?

[A Serious Man]

Gawker writer demands that everyone demonize "Big Gun" manufacturers.

[nicole]

Ron Cohen is the CEO of Sig Sauer, the company that produced one of the guns that was used in Friday's Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre. You have probably never heard of Ron Cohen before. I know I never have. I tried to find a decent picture of him this weekend, but I came up empty. He may as well not exist.

In the wake of the shootings, Cohen's name has appeared in a grand total of one Google alert. This is by design. You aren't supposed to know anything about Ron Cohen or about Sig Sauer. Every time a tragedy happens and you, Mr. Gun Control Advocate, decide to lash out at the NRA, or at "our national obsession with guns," or at the classic straw man hunter who needs a 50-bullet clip just to chase down a squirrel, you're doing Ron Cohen, Sig Sauer, and everyone else at Big Gun a huge favor.

And once again, the unbelievable idiocy and lack of information overwhelms. "You aren't supposed to know anything...about Sig Sauer." I bet that would be a surprise to their marketing department.

True story: Just yesterday I found out that a colleague of my bf asked another colleague of my bf, who is expected to know these things because he's from downstate, if he "knew what a Sig Sauer was." He had no idea it was a brand name.

[Episiarch]

No one cares that you're a Sig slut, nicole. Yeah, fine, whatever, you have good taste in guns. We get it. Stop shoving it in our faces!

[nicole]

I got to rent a Mosquito yesterday! And it was awesome!

[Episiarch]

I was going to go buy one yesterday but there wasn't time.

[Gray Ghost]

What? We're talking about the Mosquito, right? Jam-o-matic, so-so trigger? Which is weird cause I really like their P238 and P220. I'd get a 220, if they didn't run almost a friggin' grand. But I'm not a fan of the Mosquito. Just go and get a Ruger Mk 1 or 2 or a Browning Buckmark.

There, done.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Speaking of Sig's marketing department, who's the genius who named a gun after a minorly annoying insect that you don't realize has gotten you till hours after the fact.

[mad libertarian guy]

So-so trigger? That thing is a piece of shit.

The jams go away if you use ONLY CCI Mini Mag ammo. It will jam the fuck up with EVERYTHING else you try with it.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

The only range around here that lets you rent guns also makes you buy the ammo from them. And the only 22lr they have is CCI, so I wonder if something similar gave nicole the wrong impression.

[nicole]

Well I can tell you that's exactly what I was shooting, so it's possible.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Mosquitos suck.

[$park?]

Stop shoving it in our faces!

What the fuck are you saying? You never tell a woman to stop shoving something in your face ... well, maybe you do.

[Episiarch]

I think you're thinking the exact opposite of what should be.

[$park?]

I'm a giver.

[nicole]

It could be boobs, anyway.

[Redmanfms]

Yeah, fine, whatever, you have good taste in guns. We get it. Stop shoving it in our faces!

Actually, Sigs are crap, basically since Cohen the Israeli Wonderboy took over.

He did the same thing to Kimber.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

You know who else complained about Israeli Wonderboys sabotaging German weapons production....

[Heroic Mulatto]

I await nicole's pictorial on sigslut.com.

Jus' sayin'

[nicole]

They've done such a good job of shielding themselves that Sig Sauer doesn't even feel compelled to issue a public statement when one of its weapons is used in a mass tragedy. They don't have to express their regrets or spew some bullshit about being dedicated to making sure guns are used safely. Higher profile companies have to send out public apologies when they send out a bad tweet. Big Gun does nothing and doesn't have to. Isn't that remarkable?

No?

[wareagle]

in reviewing the Gawker guy's twaddle, the obvious conclusion is the gun worked exactly as it was intended. Perhaps we should insist that guns come with some sort of target recognition system and, like IT systems, require a person to confirm that he/she wants to fire.

Or is every company supposed to fall on its sword when someone misuses the product? I await apologies from all the news outlets who got any number of things about this story wrong.

[nicole]

Actually, it shows a massive misunderstanding of marketing. Why do "[h]igher profile companies have to send out public apologies when they send out a bad tweet"? Because they risk pissing off their customer base. Did Sig risk pissing off its customer base here in any way? I seriously doubt it.

They want a company they will never buy from to market to them. They're that stupid.

[Matrix]

We need to put Gawker on the defensive and ask why they hate Jews.

[Eduard van Haalen]

They don't hate all Jews, only Emanuel Goldstein, I mean Cohen.

[Matrix]

They support gun bans, which makes Jews easy targets for anti-Semites. And Ron Cohen is Sephardi.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

According to the latest reports, the Sig wasn't even used, it was just a security blanket (as someone wittily put it yesterday). The Glock was only used to kill himself.

[Hugh Akston]

John H. Galt Gawker is run by a bunch of retards.

[Doctor Whom]

I thought that my opinion of Gawker couldn't get any lower.

[nicole]

It's wise to never think that.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Even the leftists I know mock Gawker.

[iggy]

Every year, about 170 children under the age of 10 are killed by firearms. About 750 children are killed by swimming pools. 1 child dies for every 1 million guns currently in circulation. 1 child dies for every 11,000 swimming pools.

When will the swimming pool lobby stop stealing the lives of our little angels? What gives you the right to let children die just so you can float around in a pool on a hot day? These swimming pool fetishists and swimming pool nuts are a dangerous lobby that cares nothing for the safety of our children.

They must be stopped.

[Hyperion]

Fuck, why stop there? Childinz can drown in any water! Ban swimming! No, ban water!

[Matrix]

I remember when Penn & Teller had people signing a petition to ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. A lot of leftist douches signed it.

[Randian]

Or when The Man Show got those women to petition to End Women's Suffrage.

[Gray Ghost]

I have rarely laughed so hard as I did watching that sketch. The earnest smug woman who was trying to explain to the others that they were being made fun of, just made the sketch even better.

God, Stanhope and Rogan were a gigantic step down from Corrola and Kimmel. Wouldn't have predicted it on paper.

[CuriousGeorge]

This statistic underestimates the number of guns "in circulation." I believe there at least 300 million privately owned firearms in the US.

[VG Zaytsev]

I'm stealing that.

[VG Zaytsev]

That's only the tip of the iceberg with these vicious killers.

An estimated 5,000 children ages 14 and under are hospitalized due to unintentional drowning-related incidents each year; 15 percent die in the hospital and as many as 20 percent suffer severe, permanent neurological disability

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Government Accountability Office report finds the TSA is primarily concerned with ... self-preservation.

Like that agency alone was immune to human nature.

[wareagle]

but the TSA got to that point so soon.

[Whahappan?]

It got to that point as soon as it was established. Even before.

[Hyperion]

Human nature does not exist in the world of the statists. Because it fucks up the perfect utopian statist paradise. So they just pretend it away.

[$park?]

Are you a figment of my imagination? Am I a figment of your imagination? Maybe we're both just sims in someone's perverse attempt to mimic human consciousness.

What if everything -- all of us, the world, the universe -- was not real? What if everything we are, know and do was really just someone's computer simulation?

The notion that our reality was some kid on a couch in the far future playing with a computer game like a gigantic Sim City, or Civilization, and we are his characters, isn't new. But a group of physicists now thinks they know of a way to test the concept. Three of them propose to test reality by simulating the simulators.

[$park?]

WTF? I DID NOT SF THAT LINK!

[Bobarian]

Maybe I just imagined you doing it?

You are, after all, just a sim in my perverse attempt.

[Mickey Rat]

Computer, end program.

[VG Zaytsev]

The notion that our reality was some kid on a couch in the far future playing with a computer game like a gigantic Sim City

Wouldn't it be happening now if his scenario is correct?

[generic Brand]

Because I had nothing better to do on my lunch break, here is the plot summary for for Seeing Double, "a comedy film starring British pop-group, S Club."

I would have expected Wikipedia's plot summaries to be a bit better written than this, though (emphasis added).

In LA, the band tries but fails to get close to the band, so they decide to switch out their Hannah, Rachel, and Jon for the copy's Hannah, Rachel, and Jon. While getting the clone's to tell them that they are copies, they figure out they are clones and decide to do something about it after tracking their creator down based on his recent online purchases of S Club memorabilia, only for them to get caught.

Who's doing what now!?

Both sets of S Club are taken back to Barcelona, where the scientist tells them that he is going to take over the world through music because celebreties attract more attention than politicians (As well as the obviously greater appeal in seeing naked singers emerging from the cloning tubes as opposed to politicians).

Well at least they got that part right.

[generic Brand]

At the end, S Club are seen at the beach and the clones are taking their place. They have decided that the clones will take their place when they want a holiday, and the same vice versa. (It is also mentioned that the clones are getting paid in boomerangs.)

Boomerangs to back the U.S. dollar!

[Episiarch]

A petition calling on President Obama to push for tighter restrictions on firearms has 145,000 signatures.

Fuck you, fuck your petition, I will shoot you in the face if you try and take my guns.

[R C Dean]

I trust that Reason will let us know if/when the counter-petition goes up.

Maybe a Reason writer looking to curry favor with the commentariat could even start the counter-petition.

[hamilton]

Are they still currying our favor? The webathon is over and they put the sparkly new sign up on their building and all.

I, for one, demand curry. And maybe some raita.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I could go for a nice chicken saag or vindaloo with aloo naan and a Kingfisher.

[CE]

There are plenty of counter-petitions already up.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions

[CE]

A petition for Texas to secede has a lot more signatures than that.

[CE]

Actually, that was Saturday. "Grab our Guns" has passed it by.

[Killazontherun]

Wont surpass the 55 million gun owners whose ink is a little more authoritative than what comes out of a pen. How many divisions do the banners have? Remember, though they work for the banner in the White House there are only a few million personnel in the armed forces.

[Hyperion]

There were more sigs than that on the petition for TX to secede from the union. Just like that, this will be old news in a couple of months.

[Zeb]

I haven't quite made up my mind yet, but I am pretty sure that I would also shoot in the face anyone trying to take my guns. If there is a line to be drawn, that is probably a good one.

[Gray Ghost]

What's the saying? "The time to bury your weapons is also the time that you need to use them."

[R C Dean]

Cops in Paragould, Arkansas, will soon patrol the streets in combat gear, carrying AR-15s, randomly demanding identification.

Cops aren't allowed to "randomly" demand ID. They have to have "reasonable suspicion" that criminal activity is taking place.

Theoretically, of course.

[AlmightyJB]

They have random "stop and searches" in Columbus. Of course as one commenter already surmised, they're only in the bad parts of town.

[Randian]

We get the "DUI" "checkpoints" in the white parts of town, tyvm.

[Whahappan?]

Uh, stop and frisk?

[Restoras]

Nice night for a walk?

[Zeb]

TO cops, walking down the street at night seems to count as "reasonable suspicion". And if that doesn't, not being sufficiently polite to the cop when he asked what you are doing does.

[A Serious Man]

We have the technology: paralyzed woman uses her mind to control robotic arm.

[hamilton]

Meh. Wake me when I can use my mind to control someone else's robotic arm. Now that has all sorts of possibilities.

[Brett L]

"Quit hitting yourself! Why are you hitting yourself?"

[AlmightyJB]

How about this?

[Brett L]

Think of all those robosexuals who will be typing two handed finally AND getting off to their fetish. Its the promised land for otaku.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wake me when the arm can double tap first responders to a wedding celebration it just decimated.

[Hyperion]

Yeah, but the real technology we need is the one to control our government. You know, like making Congress either work on real solutions to real problems or just go home and leave us all the fuck alone

[$park?]

This probably already got posted somewhere but I didn't see it. In any case: Your stats on gun violence are meaningless.

It doesn't matter if gun violence is down. 20 children are dead here and 6 adults are dead, and the mother of a person who was not mentally -- who is mentally challenged in some way is dead. so to say that gun violence is down -- we need to talk about mental health, yes. mental health is a secondary issue. We need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets. They should only be available to police officers and to hunt al Qaeda and the Taliban and not hunt children.

[Episiarch]

Fuck you, fuck your petition, I will shoot you in the face if you try and take my guns.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If automatic weapons are taken off the streets then there's no reason for law enforcement to have them either.

[Brett L]

They disarm first as a gesture of good faith, and I'll consider it.

[Killazontherun]

The answer will still be no. How am I suppose to defend my tactical nuke from terrorist who want to steal it if I don't have state of the art weapons?

[BakedPenguin]

How will they shoot the random people they pull over if they don't have guns?

[Doctor Whom]

The facts don't matter. Only my feelings matter.

[Rich]

We need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets.

Where's Marion Barry? He got *drugs* off the streets.

[Generic Stranger]

Where are these automatic weapons that are lying in the streets? I'll provide them a nice home! I'll hug them and feed them and call them George.

[rts]

Sick child denied care after treatment in U.S.

An eight-year-old boy with a rare childhood disease has been refused care by at least one Canadian specialist because his mother took him to the U.S. for a treatment not approved in B.C.

How dare you try and do what's best for your child, paying $40K of your own money!

[Raston Bot]

Dr. Erik Skarsgard of B.C. Children's Hospital said that as a result of CBC News inquiries, Johnan will soon be getting the care he needs. (CBC)

[Raston Bot]

and the boy got the care he needed in Baltimore. his mom just wanted a fucking follow-up in Canada.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

He indicated the hospital is still trying to determine exactly what went wrong in this case, but said they can't find the referral to Reilly from Johnan's family doctor, which records indicate was sent there in September 2011.

"What appears to have happened in this case is that there was no realization that a request for ongoing care had been received."

Yeah right.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Some/most doctors have a God complex. (sorry GM, this has been my experience too)

The doctor writing about how the mother was "difficult" reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine gets blacklisted after a doctor writes that on her chart.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A petition calling on President Obama to push for tighter restrictions on firearms has 145,000 signatures.

This will go nowhere. By the time the discussions start, after the holiday break, the (arguably) understandable hysterics over the killings will have been replaced with something else in the news cycle. Replaced by something more doable, like more easily forced detention of certain classes of mentally ill individuals.

[$park?]

And lest we forget what's really important, WAR ON CHRISTMAS!

The parents, who declined to be identified, are threatening to sue the Missoula County Public School District unless songs like "Joy to the World" and "Good Christian Men Rejoice" are replaced with secular tunes.

"Bullying is such a hot topic, yet that seems to be what is occurring here," the parents wrote in a letter obtained by The Missoulian. "When the children are singing about the lord and savior Jesus Christ ? public school is not the place."

[CE]

Seems reasonable to take songs favoring a particular religion off the playlist at a government school.

[Killazontherun]

Seems more reasonable to separate school and state.

[Zeb]

Yeah, explicitly religious songs like those don't need to be in public schools. Nor do they need a Christmas concert. Why don't they just form a private Christmas concert club and sing whatever songs tehy want?

[nicole]

Because there would be little to no bullying involved in doing that, Zeb!

[Zeb]

Oh, right. I forgot about the bullying part.

[generic Brand]

I would say "it depends".

When I taught English at in Japan, the students could submit songs that would be randomly chosen to be played during lunch. So if that is done here, and it is open to all songs, then I see no issue with it whether it pushes a Christian message, Islamic message, or satanic message (I'm looking at you ELO!)

[Fist of Etiquette]

After the passage of an Islamist-backed constitution, the opposition is calling for more protests.

There's a Muslimer Brotherhood waiting in the wings to take over.

[Tim]

NOW-more beheadings

[$park?]

It's about time NOW stopped harping on abortion and moved on to their true means of birth control.

[Hyperion]

I say we make a peace offering with them. We send them Congress and all the bureaucrats in DC to let them have their way with, and they stop plotting terrorist stunts. Win/Win

[Randian]

Are we done talking about that thing that happened in Connecticut yet? 'Cause seriously, if not, fuck this place for a few days. This is getting fucking old.

[nicole]

You can always talk about this other thing that happened in CT if you prefer.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I did a chick in Connecticut, once.

[Randian]

THAT is what I think we should be talking about.

[Libertymike]

Mega mucho multi dittos.

[Zeb]

I kind of need this as an antidote to all of the other media which seem to be constantly harping on various variations of :what kind of more gun control should we have now".

[wareagle]

there are alternative media who want to ban video games or have everyone pray each day. Simplistic approaches are bipartisan.

[VG Zaytsev]

I've heard several people say that but haven't seen either proposed anywhere.

Got any links?

[RBS]

While I agree and am also sick of all the coverage, It's nice to come over to H&R for a little sanity.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Brett L]

A decent cop?

When Hayden Carlo was pulled over by a Plano, Texas, cop for driving a car with an expired registration, he told the officer the truth.

"I said there's no explanation for why I haven't done it, except I don't have the money. It was either feed my kids or get this registration done," the 25-year-old told CBS News.

The cop handed Carlo a ticket, along with something extra, "I opened it up and there's a $100 bill," said Carlo. "I broke down in my car, what else could I do?"

He could, and did, update his and his wife's car registrations.

[Heroic Mulatto]

He left out the part where he had to give the cop a blowjob first.

[$park?]

It's not really punishment if he wanted to do it.

[Bobarian]

God dammit HM! -- I read Brett's post and started to tear up just a little bit, and then you go and make me blow a snot bubble right on my keyboard!

Merry fucking Christmas!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Anytime, Bobarian.

[Restoras]

I gotta call BS on this one. How many frakin' cops walk around with Thurston Howell III money? None, except maybe the dirty cops...and there...aren't many of those. Right? RIGHT??

[Bobarian]

I guess you missed the story earlier today about some cop making about a half a mill a year?

Your tax dollars at work.

[generic Brand]

Why did he still hand him the ticket then?

If he was a decent human being why not just give him a hundred dollars and a "Have a nice day"?

Seriously, FUCK THE POLICE.

[C. Anacreon]

Perhaps it was a no-cost "fix-it" ticket.
Which also made a nice envelope for the C-Note.

[A Serious Man]

Well I'm shocked: Amanda Marcotte doesn't know jackshit about guns, deflects argument that the Bushmaster AR-15 used by Lanza would not have been covered under an assault weapons ban with snark.

[Randian]

Why the fuck do you people keep reading Salon and Slate?

Is it some kind of sick masochism or what?

[Episiarch]

I have the exact same question in mind.

[A Serious Man]

Because I can take it. I'm the hero Reason deserves, but not the one it needs.

[generic Brand]

+1 Christopher Nolan sequel

[Hyperion]

It has to be.

[hamilton]

I do it for the same reason I occasionally go to a FB friend's wall (I filter out their stuff normally). So that every time I hear Democrats say something reasonable and kind that might just for a moment make me waver in my opinion of their party ideology so as to evince the slightest hint of sympathy, I have somewhere to go to further compact the tight, tight ball of anger that resides permanently in my intestine.

I have a GOP version of same, as well.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Alright Hamilton!

[hamilton]

Damn, I may have to add that to my signature.

[Jordan]

Why the fuck do you people keep reading Salon and Slate?

Anybody who inflicts that on themselves clearly needs to be locked up before they hurt somebody.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

To fight evil you must be familiar with it.

-- Walter Duranty

[Brett L]

What the fuck is so hard about pull the trigger and get one bang = !automatic?

[A Serious Man]

But Brett, that AR looks scary and all miltaristic. It should be banned regardless of the fact that it has the same rate of fire as a semi-automatic pistol.

[db]

Well, to be fair, the next assault weapons ban will probably not be so na?ve as the previous one.

[Heroic Mulatto]

In Obama World:

An AR-15 owned by a sane, American citizen? Bitterly clinging to guns and religion.

An AK-47 fired into the air to shouts of Allah Akbar! while you burn down a Shiite mosque? An admirable action by a plucky group of underdog rebels whom we offer our fullest support.

[Restoras]

She knows all she needs to know. They're BAD.

[The Other Kevin]

Just like clockwork, all the usual suspects are already pushing their preconceived notions for preventing school violence. None of which are based on the facts (which are not actually available yet).

Kicking myself today for actually reading/listening to the news outside of H ampersand R.

[Dagny T.]

Kev, it is always a mistake. I had just started yelling at the screen in the first of many "guns killed x in the last y years" when I reached my monthly limit of free articles on the NYT. I consider that limit an act of mercy on their part.

[nicole]

The only problem is how to find out when to go from total media blackout to the normal state of basic media avoidance. I don't want to stay off Twitter forever. But how the fuck am I supposed to know when it's safe to read my feed again without raging out?

[Dagny T.]

Well, if the speed at which this one ramped up to 11 on the stupid scale is any indication, maybe the lifecycle overall will be shorter than we're used to and it will all be out of their systems before we have to hear about it over Christmas dinner.

[nicole]

Fuck, Dagny, that just reminded me that I will be having Christmas dinner with a bunch of gun-fearers. Waaah.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Fuck, Dagny, that just reminded me that I will be having Christmas dinner with a bunch of gun-fearers. Waaah.

Look them straight in the eye, like a boss, and say "Is the 2nd Amendment worth 20 dead kids? Yes. An unequivocal, unconditional, unapologetic yes."

[nicole]

The problem is that's what I would do if I were having Christmas with my family, but I don't really want to be that much of a shit-stirrer with my boyfriend's. But I might anyway. Actually I'm getting kind of warm and fuzzy thinking about how much it would upset his mom. Bad, bad nicole.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Actually I'm getting kind of warm and fuzzy thinking about how much it would upset his mom. Bad, bad nicole.

^_^

[nicole]

She's just so...sheltered. Yeah, that's it.

[VG Zaytsev]

Offer to let them shoot squirrels in the backyard with your mosquito.

[Dagny T.]

nicole, I will be with a bunch of smug Canadian gun-fearers who will have to use every ounce of self-control they possess to keep from using this as a reason I should move back to Canada. I think by now I have them trained well enough to know that is a bad idea.

[nicole]

That does sound bad. And I mean, if Kraft Dinner and Timbits weren't enough of a draw home, why would this be anyway?

[Dagny T.]

How did you guess the traditional holiday meal of choice?

Actually, with any luck I will primarily be feeding on a near-constant input of the most wonderful Canadian cuisine of all. Seriously, I was shocked and horrified when I found out Americans didn't have butter tarts. Butter. Tarts. Get with the fucking program, Americans.

[nicole]

Ooh, I was right! I almost guessed Swiss Chalet.

[Dagny T.]

Ah, Swiss Chalet. That was a "drive to the next town over for a special occasion" kind of place. My stupid town only had a Boston Pizza. And a White Spot. Bet you didn't have that in fancy schmancy Montreal.

(Now let's wait and see how long it takes Epi to rage out over "Boston" and "pizza" in the same sentence. If we are really lucky maybe he will Google their menu...)

[nicole]

Well, for us it was a "drive to the next province" deal because they have nothing good in Quebec. Well, that's a total lie, but they don't have Swiss Chalet. They certainly didn't have any good pizza. All my friends liked this horrible, horrible like...Middle Eastern style pizza. If that sounds like it doesn't make sense, that's because it completely doesn't make sense.

[Episiarch]

What the fuck is a Boston Pizza?!? Everything about that is so utterly wrong on a fundamental level that I'm assuming you made it up as the perfect way to torture me?

[Killazontherun]

You slap together every thing on the menu at Boston Market and put it on top of a pizza?

[Episiarch]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Dagny T.]

Killaz, yes, pretty much. I have no idea why the name, and I honestly never thought twice about it until I moved to the States. Is it because Boston sounds like somewhere cool and American and kind of hazily theoretical, and enough things are already named New York- or Chicago-something or other? Probably.

[nicole]

Which is worse: the idea of "Boston Pizza" or the idea that Boston sounds cool?

[db]

A "Boston Pizza" is something SugarFree made up for the Urban Dictionary.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Now let's wait and see how long it takes Epi to rage out over "Boston" and "pizza" in the same sentence

Shows how much you know about Boston. You can find some fahkin' good pizza there, guy.

[Episiarch]

I know, I just had to go FULL NEW YORK RETARD on Boston. Especially since the Patriots managed to suck the ONE FUCKING TIME I wanted them to win. At home. At least I got to see Brady sadface.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*sigh* You're bringing back some bad memories, circa 2008.

[Killazontherun]

Kaepernick is probably a swell fellow even if his face is aerodynamic by design, but I really hate seeing a hype machine in action where all of the sports pundits sound like they are reading from a Team's press releases. They shitcanned a successful quarterback in mid season, it's bizarre and shady even.

[Episiarch]

Dude, this Sunday is going to be insane. Home game at Centurylink, Seahawks versus the 49ers. I will probably be able to hear the crowd from my deck.

[mad libertarian guy]

Agreed.

SF will pay dearly.

[mad libertarian guy]

Agreed.

SF will pay dearly.

[Ted S.]

As a Packer fan, it would have been nice to see the Packers move up to the #2 seed.

Thank you Lance Easley. 🙁

[Episiarch]

The reason this one went to 11 so fast is that the grasping statist scum thought they had a tremendous opportunity here, because it was children that were killed. Yes, that's right, dead children made them excited. These are the people we're dealing with here. The fact that within hours, their new meme was "we need to talk about this right now because people are grieving" tells you all you need to know about the people you're dealing with.

[Robert S]

The only problem is how to find out when to go from total media blackout to the normal state of basic media avoidance. I don't want to stay off Twitter forever. But how the fuck am I supposed to know when it's safe to read my feed again without raging out?

We need some sort of hero. Someone willing to monitor the news and the idiotic partisans and let us know when all is clear. But who????

[Tonio]

Yeah, Kev, I've decided the best thing to do after one of these incidents is to ignore the hysteria and let it pass. Trying to engage them with arguments based on facts and logic only enrages them more. Let them rant it all out and save your energy for later.

[Episiarch]

I blocked several people on Facebook and had to restrain myself from posting something incredibly inflammatory and insulting, just as a fuck you. I don't know if you realize how much self control I had to exercise to not be the hugest dick possible.

[nicole]

I don't know if you realize how much self control I had to exercise to not be the hugest dick possible.

Oh, I think we have an idea.

[Episiarch]

It was a lot of self control, nicole. A lot.

[Restoras]

Me too, Epi. I unsubscribed to a lot of feeds over the weekend.

[rts]

Ditto. My opinion of a few people went from "this person is kind of irritating sometimes" to "this person is abject scum".

[John]

^^THIS^^ They are always going to be pissed about something anyway. Give it time. They will find something new to be angry about.

[A Serious Man]

In honor of Gerard Depardieu going Galt, here's my favorite scene of him from My Father, the Hero.

[John]

Is that the scene with the then 16 year old Katherine Hagel in a g-string one piece bathing suit? If not, you posted the wrong scene.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You're welcome, pedophile.

[np]

You mean Ephebophile 😉

[A Serious Man]

She was 14. 14.

[John]

No she 16. Heigl was born in 1978. My father the hero was made in 1994.

[A Serious Man]

My Father the Hero was released in 1994, meaning it was likely filmed in 1993. Since Heigl's birthday is at the end of November, it is likely she was 14-15 during production.

[John]

Pretty amazing they cast her in that that young. Yeah, Hollywood is really gross. Now you know why they don't have a problem with Polanski.

[Randian]

It didn't do anything for me, so I fail to see how it's gross.

[Redmanfms]

She's got pretty legs, but not much of an ass.

I do know that I wanted to fuck her brains out when I saw this movie....

(I was 13 in 1994)

[Redmanfms]

Of course I didn't see the movie until 2 years ago...

Mwahahahahahahahahaha

[Randian]

I think we should have a board where actual, real-live taboos are discussed.

For example: age of consent is 16, but women are fertile as early as 12. What's the right answer here, and why?

[Heroic Mulatto]

First, let's look at history.

In the USA in the 1890s, most states had an age of consent of 10?12. In 1895, the age of consent in Delaware was 7, according to an article in The New York Times.[27] However, feminists and children's rights activists began advocating raising the age of consent to 16 wanting to ultimately raise it to 18 and by 1920 almost all states had raised their age of consent to 16 or 18

[The Bearded Hobbit]

Heinlein (PBUH) pointed out that the age of consent is higher in urban societies.

... Hobbit

[nicole]

I think we should have a board where actual, real-live taboos are discussed.

You mean like abortion and circumcision?

Haha, seriously though, when what's-her-face was running for the LP nod in 2008 nobody wanted to talk about her kid lib issues. Or at least everyone was just like "shh let's not talk about the kiddie porn thing."

That is to say, I completely agree with you.

[Randian]

Abortion and circumcision are played-out.

[Heroic Mulatto]

when what's-her-face

Ruwart. Mary Fuckin' Ruwart.

Don't ask me why I put the fuckin' there, I just thought it would be bad-ass.

[nicole]

Yeah, I remembered her name in the middle of my comment actually.

[Ted S.]

No, we mean right-to-work. 😉

[BakedPenguin]

The right answer is that any age chosen will be arbitrary. People mature at different ages physically and mentally, and will be ready for sex at different ages.

[Episiarch]

STOP MAKING SENSE BP

[nicole]

BP is making no sense, how the fuck are Top Men supposed to pass a law for that?!?

[Heroic Mulatto]

"Top Men" Men on top....

Tee hee hee.

[BakedPenguin]

I was going to link to a video of "Girlfriend is Better", but thought it would be a little too on-the-nose.

[nicole]

It is quite on the nose, with the "bows in her hair" line, I think.

[Randian]

The right answer is that any age chosen will be arbitrary. People mature at different ages physically and mentally, and will be ready for sex at different ages.

Doesn't that mean that placing the AoC at 16 punishes children who are ready but younger, meaning that we would be against AoC laws in general?

[nicole]

Doesn't that mean that placing the AoC at 16 punishes children who are ready but younger, meaning that we would be against AoC laws in general?

Who's "we"? But yes.

[np]

I propose mean age of puberty + standard deviation. It's future-proof as it'll work for aliens too 🙂

I'm willing to go to majority status, which the courts do for some serious crime for later teens anyways. It doesn't make to be treated children (except when they want to punish you in some cases) until you magically become an "adult" on your 18th birthday.

Everyone I knew in highschool did not fundamentally change one bit come their senior year. Yeah, they may have grudingly spent some time studying for SAT, but other than that, clowns were still clowns, jerks were still jerks, etc in their senior year. Learn to work and become responsible, rather than extending your childhood by virtue of law.

I've seen some discussion elsewhere about brain development, but if you really want to be consistent and non-arbitrary about that, using peak potential neuro/psy/phys maturity to be sure, then we'd all be legally children until about age 33 or so.

[Killazontherun]

Not exactly lusting over her there, but she could not possibly be lovelier than she is there. Something about her face has changed.

[Zeb]

I think you are allowed to wear small bathing suits when you are 15.

[CE]

The most popular petitions on the White House site:

157,103: Gun control (more, please, and violate 2nd Amendment)
134,200: Make Westboro Baptist Church a hate group (and violate 1st Amendment)
120,374: Let Texas secede
71,035: remove MJ from Controlled Substances Act
65,316: recount the election (because Mitt is better?)
52,319: mandatory GMO food labeling
46,361: repeal Obamacare
46,114: make scientific journals give their product away
40,854: impeach Obama
40,339: let states legalize MJ
37,668: "outlaw offending prophets of major religions" (not sure if they mean outlawing Mohammad and Jesus and John the Baptist, or just outlawing offending them, even though they're already dead?)
37,588: let Louisiana secede
35,454: let Florida secede
35,354: federally legalize MJ

I wonder if the Obammunists saw that coming...

[The Other Kevin]

Of course they are going to pick today to take one of these petitions seriously.

[Bobarian]

40,854: impeach Obama (because Biden is better?)

You missed an opportunity for some good snark.

[Hyperion]

Let's see, which ones of those have a realistic chance of happending. Rule out the ones that don't first.

1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 aren't happening.. must be something about odd numbers going on here.

Also, there is no LETTING a state secede. That won't happen if they have 300 million signatures. If they want to secede, they either do it, or they don't.

4th one from the bottom wiht 37,668 signatures is the most retarded of all of them.

[Rich]

By golly, start a WH petition to get 'em to answer!

[R C Dean]

outlaw offending prophets of major religions

If a prophet of a major religion is willing to go on the record that something offended him/her/it, maybe we can talk.

But as far as I know, they're all dead, and not susceptible to being offended.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

134,200: Make Westboro Baptist Church a hate group

Uh, haven't they already made themselves a hate group?

40,854: impeach Obama

Maybe these people don't remember their civics, but for arcane constitutional reasons, impeachment of the president is not done by the president.

[Caleb Turberville]

I learned about evolution in high school and played violent video games. Shouldn't I get some credit for holding my homicidal actions at bay?

[Bobarian]

You're just a time-bomb, waiting to go off, so...

No!

[Hyperion]

Considering that popular titles of violent games sell millions of copies worldwide, sorry, but you will have to share that credit with just a few other people.

[Episiarch]

Thanks for reminding me that I didn't get a single minute of Borderlands in over the weekend. Asshole.

[Alack]

Fuggin love Borderlands. Just started an Assassin playthrough, since I have an obsession with sniper rifles.

[Hyperion]

I've just gotten to the point that I don't give a fuck if any whiny ass liberal thinks I am selfish, heartless, or a racist, or whatever. Fuck them, that's all.

[Randian]

Hyperion for Supreme Overlord.

[A Serious Man]

NASA is live-streaming its mission involving two lunar probes that are being deliberately crashed into the moon.

[Killazontherun]

Live Stream: Watch NASA Crash 2 Spacecraft Into The Moon [Video]
Today at 4:17 pm by Alex E. Weaver
+1
0
Comment

Tonight beginning at 5pm, NASA will livestream video of two lunar probe spacecraft as they're intentionally crashed into the side of a mountain near the Moon's north pole. The spacecraft, reports Geekosystem, are Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar probes that go by the names Ebb and Flow and have been orbiting the moon since September of last year, beaming back images and information during what's been deemed a "successful and useful mission." The GRAIL mission is reportedly coming to an end because the spacecraft lack sufficient fuel for the return trip to Earth.

You can watch NASA's live stream of the lunar probe crash below:

According to the Kenneth Chang of the New York Times, "The exercise will not be for the advance of science, but rather something of a garbage-disposal operation, to make sure that the probes ? which are running out of fuel ? do not come to rest in a historically significant place, like on Neil Armstrong's footprints."

Err, the surface is the size of the continent of Africa. That's just an excuse to dive bomb those satellites for the shits of it.

[Redmanfms]

....to make sure that the probes ? which are running out of fuel ? do not come to rest in a historically significant place, like on Neil Armstrong's footprints.

Don't they know that a migratory alien species with massive landing ships will shake the footprints out of existence with low bass vibrations as they pass Luna on their way to dispatch the Murder Ships to Terran cities?????

[Hyperion]

That's ok, Epi, I played the hell out of it all weekend. Amazing how violent I am in that game.

Soon as I got a good sniper rifle and took a few heads off with blood spurting out, I was off a crazed rampage of blood lust.

Feel better now, meu amigo?

[Hyperion]

Reply was to Epi, above, somehow fubar'd it.

[Episiarch]

Nice threading, douchebag.

I do not feel better. I'm fucking level 22. Many people I know are level 50. And I won't be able to play this entire week.

[Hyperion]

I'm level 16 now. I just cleared out that underground place where you have to fix that stupid robot.

I have a damn badass collection of weapons now. I especially like the revolver with the bayonet blade on it, and one repeater with a high fire rate that sets people on fire.

[Episiarch]

What character class are you? I always play the chick (Siren) because I have gender identity issues.

[Killazontherun]

Same here. I fell in love with the first version of her from the bus ride scene, but it was certainly merely narcissism. I have the same sassy moves.

[Killazontherun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyfpYxM67aY

[Hyperion]

I had to make a beer run cause can't play moar Borderlands without beer.

I refuse to play any game as a wiminz.

I am hunter class, and now level 18, bwahahhahaahaaa! Time fer some moar killinz.

[Killazontherun]

Even the Russian brunette in Fallout 2? Jeez, dat ass?!?!!

[R C Dean]

Levelling in B2 can get to be a real grind, especially at higher levels.

I'm through the game, both released DLCs, and almost all the side missions (some I just can't do; I'm a terrible driver in real life and in video games), and I think I'm about level 36 1/2.

[Hyperion]

I'm a terrible driver

I call Mafia 2 a car wreck simulator because I've wrecked so many damn cars in it.

I finally got used to the driving in Borderlands a while after I crashed trying to jump piss wash gully.

[Hyperion]

We are crashing stuff into the moon again?

When is this senseless violence against Mother Luna going to stop?

[Drax]

OH Canada

Well, sorry, congressman, but you are certainly one of them, at least in my (admittedly Canadian) book.

If I understand properly, you live in an urban area, and carry around a .40-calibre pistol with up to 17 bullets in the magazine, capable of firing up to five a second, just like one of the pistols the Connecticut shooter toted.

In other words, you pack the means to kill more than a dozen people in moments if you choose, and we just have to trust you to be sensible and hold your temper.

[Episiarch]

That's funny, I am against killing people except in self defense. I guess this person isn't. I'm so glad they are willing to project their depravity on others, though.

[nicole]

It's like when Christians talk about how atheists will just go around raping and murdering because they don't believe in God, and you're like, "Oh, so I guess I should be pretty fucking worried if something ever shakes your faith, eh?"

[Episiarch]

The only thing that stops me from raping and murdering is my belief in not raping and murdering.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

And your fear that the woman would make fun of your penis.

[hamilton]

Woman?

[Apatheist ?_??]

I'd rather see you instigate a discussion on circumcision than have John explain that reasoning again.

[nicole]

Have I talked about that with John? Lord, that must have been stupid.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I don't recall if you have but people goad him into it from time to time and it is fucking stupid.

[rts]

and we just have to trust you to be sensible and hold your temper.

But wear a uniform of some sort, and all of a sudden everything's golden.

This is why I cannot stomach Canadian media and just stick to Storage Wars.

[R C Dean]

you pack the means to kill more than a dozen people in moments if you choose,

Yes, I do. And yet here you are, pissing me off no end.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

Unless you're Neo, no way you're getting off five aimed shots at different targets every second.

[np]

Sinful Robot developing fully-immersive virtual reality sex game

The world's first series of "fully-immersive erotic encounters" is being developed by a new California-based startup. In other words, virtual reality sex is finally on its way.

The new company, Sinful Robot, is producing the game for the virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift, which is currently in development.

[Redmanfms]

Yes.

[A Serious Man]

Caprica here we come!

[R C Dean]

I don't think a headset, no matter how badass (and Oculus Rift looks pretty badass) can deliver a "fully-immersive erotic encounter".

[BakedPenguin]

Pretty much what I was thinking. "Any uh... attachments come with that headset?"

[Brandon]

And just like that, the libertarian movement comes to screeching halt.

[Hyperion]

Finally, my fembot 3000 fully customizable model will arrive in the mail!

I've been checking out the progress of the Oculus for quite a while now, since it was still in funding. One of the best, if not the best kickstarter projects to date. Has a lot of promise with some big name game companies on board. I don't think they have shipped the developer kits yet, there was some sort of delay.

How long will it be before the feminazi nannies get around to trying to ban these technologies.

[Redmanfms]

I prefer the Cherry 2000 myself. They do have durability/moisture problems though......

[Coeus]

How long will it be before the feminazi nannies get around to trying to ban these technologies.

They started years ago in Canads, pushing legislation make sexbots illegal. Called 'em "rape simulators".

[Sevo]

So anyone know if Obozo is gonna camera-whore on the ball game tonight?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Of course, the only way the Bitter Clingers will pay any attention to him is if he interrupts their proletarian forms of entertainment.

[Alack]

Just wanted to thank y'alls for the gun advice. I think I'll be looking for a .357 and hitting up the local ranges after the holiday cash-influx.

[Redmanfms]

Do yourself a favor and don't buy a revolver.

The gun advice I've seen offered on this board makes it look like gunshop counter-wipers puked their stupid all over the place.

[AZ]

Eh. If you're going to buy 1 gun, look at the Glock 19 and similarly sized offerings from Springfield (XDM), S&W (M&P) and Walther (PPQ). Those will be your best bet for all-around simplicity of operation, reliability, capacity, and at a size friendly to carry.

If you're going to buy multiple handguns, look at .22s as well. You'll want the practice at 0.04 a round instead of 0.20 a round, though you need to shoot enough centerfire to make sure you ignore recoil.

If you're going to get more into handgunning, then look into DA/SA (CZ75/85, Sig 226/229, FN FNXs, Berettas) and SAO/manual safety pistols (1911s). These all require a bit more familiarity to keep safe and shoot well.

Revolvers for: highly concealed carry (snubbies), woods carry (.44mags), recreational range shooting, or because they're just awesome. Modern automatics are just as (if not more) reliable, easier to reload, higher capacity.

[Tulpa (LAOL-PA)]

The biggest thing is that you shouldn't depend on what people on a blog say to make the decision. Hopefully we've given you some information to start with but the biggest thing is to get a gun that feels right in your hand.

[Coeus]

This article is a true triumph of intellectual sophistry. No only does it use the privilege concept, they've managed to make the phenomena of male disposability a privilege.

Gender, Family Life and Gun Fueled Mass Murder.

In sum, what I'm proposing is that a large part of the toxic culture of white/privileged masculinity is fed by parental permissiveness, so that what privileged boys learn as they grow up is that there are no limits or boundaries which they must respect. Little boys are permitted to be more destructive in their play and in their relationships with others than little girls are. Drug and alcohol abuse is more tolerated among bigger boys than among adolescent girls, not to mention the ownership and use of dangerous tools and weapons from pocket knives to semi-automatic rifles and handguns. Poor academic performance is more tolerated among boys than girls?we're told that the boys are just "different learners," not meant to sit in academic classrooms quietly and obediently all day long.

Tha fuck?!?!

[Agammamon]

"A petition calling on President Obama to push for tighter restrictions on firearms has 145,000 signatures. There are no reports yet of a petition to magically make gun restrictions effective or enforceable."

There is now - http://wh.gov/nqzP

[Agammamon]

I just need 24,999 more signatures to meet the threshold for the Obama administration to ignore it officially.

[Agammamon]

Off-topic, what the hell is it with all the new horror movies coming out this month and the old ones being shown on tv.

I put up with enough of this shit in October.

[Drax]

the mayan apocalypse