A.M. Links: WTO Chief Thinks Cutting Red Tape Might Be a Good Idea, Egyptian Minister Warns of the Country's Collapse, Senator Compares Modern America to Atlas Shrugged, Drone Base Planned For North Africa, Malian Troops Hold Timbuktu

• The director general of the World Trade Organization says that cutting back on red tape could provide a $1tn boost to the global economy. Who'd have thunk?

• Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has said that the future of Egypt is at stake as anti-government protesters continue demonstrations. 

• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) believes that there are strong parallels between contemporary America and Atlas Shrugged. No word on who he thinks our own John Galt might be.

• Malian troops are in control of Timbuktu after dislodging Islamic militants with French support.

• The U.S. military will set up a drone base in north Africa. We wouldn't want the French to have all the fun would we?

• Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that China will not allow its sovereignty to be violated, the latest sign that territorial disputes with Japan aren't going away anytime soon. 

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Comments

[Way Of The Crane]

Doctor behind new premature ejaculation treatment shot dead by patient in his office

I sweat that's never happened to me before.

[Way Of The Crane]

*swear*

[sarcasmic]

damn you! that was going to be my first daily fail!

[Ted S.]

More interesting is that somebody beat Fist to the first post.

[fish]

Maybe the treatment resolved Fists premature posting problem?

[Way Of The Crane]

It's a first for me. Given the story, I thought it appropriate to post early.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have no objection.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Most gracious, sir.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Alas, he went too soon.

[GILMORE]

I totally didn't see that coming

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. military will set up a drone base in north Africa.

Does the CIA know the military is stealing its business?

[LTC(ret) John]

Joint venture!

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think the current civilian leadership has an easier time dealing with one entity than the other.

[sarcasmic]

Side boob, side boob, and more side boob!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....style.html

[generic Brand]

I'm not seeing how Anne Hathaway did it "wrong".

[John]

Me either. She is under 30, childless and still has tits that are a force of nature. So she really can't go wrong. Brittney Spears and that other bird on the other hand...

[mad libertarian guy]

My guess is that she somehow crossed the line between being suggestive and outright showing off her titties.

I would agree with that assessment as a matter of taste in public dress. It's not that she doesn't have the tits to pull it off, she clearly does, but that she could have showed half as much side boob and it would have been no less sexy, but much more classy.

[Brett L]

Obviously, the DF fashion pages are edited by misogynistic gay men.

[Restoras]

The DF thinks Hathaway's side boob presentation is how NOT to do it. I respectfully disagree. That's EXACTLY how it's done.

[LTC(ret) John]

Agreed.

[sloopyinca]

Jesus Christ. Am I the only one on here that thinks Anne Hathaway's mouth is just waaaaaay too big? She's like a Limey version of Cameron Diaz.

Nice tits, though.

[Restoras]

No, you are correct - her nose is too big for her face as well. She basically looks like Griphook.

[PS]

Except she's a Yank.

Agree about the tits though, bigger than I thought.

[Greg]

Seeing her naked so much was the only thing that made "Love and Other Drugs" watchable.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I'm going to try to popularize "side scrote". Who's with me?

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm going to try to popularize "side scrote". Who's with me?

This is why I read the morning links. Bravo.

[LTC(ret) John]

All these bitches
checkin' out my britches
Put 'em in trance
When I wear track pants
My dungarees
make them hungry
Their over the moon
when I don pantaloons

My sugarlumps are two of a kind,
sweet and white and highly refined
Honeys try all kinds of tomfoolery
to steal a feel of my family jewelry
My cannonballs cause a kerfuffle
the ladies they hustle to ruffle my truffles
If you party with the Party Prince
you get two complementary after dinner mints

[sarcasmic]

Woman addicted to eating cat hair.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....balls.html
John would... well... probably not.

[Jeff]

She lives in Detroit? Gross.

[sarcasmic]

ANOTHER (relatively) hot teacher caught banging her students.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....dents.html

[generic Brand]

This one happened about a month ago, but on second look, I still would.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I was drinking at 17. I would have preferred banging a relatively hot teacher.

[gaijin]

a funny element of the latest Shameless episode (Showtime series), exploring the idea of a female teacher committing pedophilia as no different than a male doing same...sort of

[SIV]

Not as hot as the Louisiana skank I posted the other day.

[sarcasmic]

She looks like a younger version of this nurse that hits on me when she takes my blood pressure.

[Rich]

So, how's that "white coat syndrome" working out for ya?

[SugarFree]

ARGH!

Gawker stole the title of my forthcoming short story collection for a post. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

[Randian]

I like how one of the top comments is that the State needs to intervene.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Yeah, where's Prudence on this one? I'm sure demon-drink is to blame somehow!

[Ted S.]

I blame bath salts.

[LTC(ret) John]

Change "cerberus" to "hydra" and add a couple of more deviants to the mix.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why would you put all those spoilers in your title?

[SugarFree]

It was going to be a more understated The Girl Who Ate Her Own Tampon and other stories of delicious woe.

[Agammamon]

That was also going to be the title of the next Stieg Larson book.

[sarcasmic]

What is the difference between a government and a criminal gang or protection racket such as the mafia?

http://blog.independent.org/2013/01/17/legitimacy/

[LTC(ret) John]

Bigger, better uniforms, more radios, more accountants?

[Drake]

Less efficiency?

[mad libertarian guy]

The ability to carry out your extortion in the open with the consent of 50% + 1 of the population.

[sarcasmic]

Not really. Read the piece. It's short and to the point.

[Ted S.]

with the consent of 50% + 1 of the population. sounds exactly like "legitimacy" to me.

[LTC(ret) John]

/Tony

[Ted S.]

I dislike popover/overlay ads asking me to subscribe to their shit. Especially when you have to load images to find the "close" link.

[mad libertarian guy]

Cool story, bro.

[sarcasmic]

In any event, the ostensible bright-line demarcation of legitimacy that separates the government from ordinary criminal gangs fades and blurs under close inspection. It does not disappear completely, however, because for some portion of the ruled population, the government's efforts to sell its legitimacy do succeed. These beguiled individuals are the ones who volunteer for service in the government's palace guards?its armed forces, police, and other agencies of physical violence and intimidation?and who willingly send their children to be sacrificed in the government's foreign wars and other adventures. They provide, as it were, legions of "essential idiots," parallel to the "useful idiots" among the intelligentsia, who fight on the government's behalf in the war of ideas and ideologies.

You know who you are.

[mad libertarian guy]

These beguiled individuals are the ones who volunteer for service in the government's palace guards?its armed forces, police, and other agencies of physical violence and intimidation?and who willingly send their children to be sacrificed in the government's foreign wars and other adventures.

Sooooooo . . . Dunphy then?

[LTC(ret) John]

You know, for being a "palace guard" I never got a fuzzy hat or tourists gawking and taking pictures of me 🙁

[Francisco d Anconia]

You didn't get your hat? You got screwed, bro.

[sloopyinca]

This is what Col. John gets for not forming the United States Army Commissioned Officers Benevolent Society.

[hotsy totsy]

The Mafia at least make interesting movie and TV subjects. Plus their neighborhoods are safe.

[Randian]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) believes that there are strong parallels between contemporary America and Atlas Shrugged. No word on who he thinks our own John Galt might be

Maybe Obama will turn heel and join the Wolf Pack.

[Ted S.]

Does NC State even want Obama?

[Randian]

Somehow, someway, this entire conversation is racist.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Sen. Ron Johnson thinks that he is John Galt. Much like post-apocalypse nuts and people who want the return of the birthright aristocracy, it's almost certainly because he thinks he'd come out on top.

[JW]

Is that you, John Galt? Is this me?

[LTC(ret) John]

Who said that?! WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?!! Who is the libertarian Koch sucking downtwinkletoes who just signed his own IRS audit?! Nobody huh?!

/R. Lee Obama

[sloopyinca]

Maybe Obama will turn heel and join the Wolf Pack.

This got me thinking. What if Obama went all "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" and grew out his 5 o'clock shadow and went all hardcore right wing for a while. He could get Biden to split with half of the Cabinet people and he could take the others. Then, he could lure Boehner and McConnell into a meeting on national TV and have Biden come out with a chair and smash Boehner in the back with it while the entire Cabinet beats the shit out of the entire Republican House and Senate leadership.

It would be the best trolling ever. And they'd sell a lot of t-shirts, too.

[BakedPenguin]

I'd buy the PPV for that.

[bostonaod]

I might start watching C-SPAN again, just in case..

[sarcasmic]

Can a picture make you feel ill?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....world.html
Do not look if you are afraid of heights.

[SugarFree]

Alt Headline: Idiot Falls To Her Death

[RBS]

Damn. I can barely make it to the edge of our second story balcony.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Do not look if you are afraid of heights.

Thanks for the "trigger warning".

I have a feeling Tarantino would love these pics.

[generic Brand]

DailyMail (or maybe the artist herself) did it completely wrong on the POV pictures. The pictures should be flipped 180 degrees so that it looks like your own feet are the ones hanging over the balcony. As it currently is, it just looks like you're floating 2 or 3 feet above and away from the photographer.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Needs more naked.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Needs a cheeseburger.

[PS]

I don't think a static pic could ever stack up to this video. Or that one of the guy servicing that radio tower *shudders*

[a better weapon]

Waiting for the call about another Ring sequel wasn't paying the bills apparently.

[Matrix]

Dad posing with baby and BB gun is arrested

[Rich]

Police told the station that the close proximity of the child to the gun in the photo is cause for concern.

"Cause for concern".

Nice band name. 8-(

[mad libertarian guy]

And also the new catch-all for the state to continue to run roughshod over us lowly "civilians."

[Way Of The Crane]

Police told the station that the close proximity of the child to the gun in the photo is cause for concern.

So should we be arresting every cop that poses with a student for pictures?

[John]

+100

[R C Dean]

An excellent tattoo, as well. Perhaps across the forehead, Snow Crash-style.

[Brett L]

Jaysus. Glad Ohio has sorted out all its real crime.

[sarcasmic]

Pictured: The incredible moment string of FIREBALLS erupt from exploding manhole covers in Omaha after electrical fire

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-fire.html

[Mike Laursen]

Most exciting thing ever to happen there.

[sarcasmic]

Seattle "no questions" gun buyback results in a lot of questions.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....attle.html

[Way Of The Crane]

Why are they buying back used missile launchers? It's just an empty tube now.

[Brett L]

This is awesome. Police create climate for illegal weapons sales.

[kwais]

pretty fucking cool

[R C Dean]

More detail on the impromptu gun show that sprang up next to the cop buy-back event:

http://dcxposed.com/2013/01/27.....-show-lol/

Police stood in awe as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line for the buyback program.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The director general of the World Trade Organization says that cutting back on red tape could provide a $1tn boost to the global economy.

But, of course, the value of that loss of central control would be incalculable.

[DJF]

How about we stop burdening the economy with the expense of running the WTO?

[gaijin]

Left unspoken is that the red tape would merely be replaced by blue tape.

[LTC(ret) John]

Or green tape.

[Way Of The Crane]

But losing all the people that administer that red tape is lost revenue if we can't tax their government wages!

[Lord Humungus]

ObamaLeaks in the White House
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

After highly classified details of a U.S. cyberattack on Iran's nuclear program were made public, President Obama went to the White House press room to denounce those who suggested the leaks were coming from his top national security aides. "The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive [and] it is wrong," the president declared.

Well, the Federal Bureau of Investigation may disagree. The Post broke the news Sunday that the FBI has launched an "aggressive" investigation into "current and former senior officials suspected of involvement" in the leak that Obama personally ordered cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear program using a computer virus called Stuxnet. The New York Times story which first revealed the details of the cyberattack on Iran's nuclear program cited as sources "members of the President's national security team who were in the [Situation Room]" and even quoted the president asking during a top secret meeting: "Should we shut this thing down?" Only Obama's most trusted national security advisers would have been present when he uttered those words.

[Ted S.]

They're not leaks if Obama authorizes them.

[Quetzalcoatl]

It's part of his plan to destroy Fawkes News. He leaks juicy stories to favored news orgs. and tries to cut out all seditious news orgs.

[John]

And I am sure they leaked it out of the kindness of their hearts, not because Big Daddy told them to. Funny they are going after him at all. They now either have to just stop it or keep investigating and prosecute someone.

[mad libertarian guy]

They now either have to just stop it or keep investigating and prosecute someone.

Or let it all play out and do absolutely nothing about it. Or have you forgotten Fast and Furious? Obama can get away with anything. He is the one true Teflon Don. Our media makes sure of it, both through positive spin of his excuses and obfuscations and negative by portraying any of those who would go after him as crazed racists trying to undermine the Savior of America?.

[John]

Meanwhile they threw some CIA guy in prison for 30 months for leaking a single name. Leaking one of the most sensitive covert ops of the last ten years, well that is okay as long as it helps Big Daddy win re-election. God these people are evil.

[mad libertarian guy]

Yep.

It's okay as long as our national sugar daddy is unharmed and in high places.

[R C Dean]

Don't forget: An "ongoing investigation" is very useful for shutting down any further testimony or discussion. Now the White House can just clam up, while the investigation drags on and inevitably peters out.

[John]

Good point RC. That is I am quite sure the plan.

[John]

And they will no doubt conclude the investigation and decide that while there were leaks none of them were worthy of prosecution just after the 2016 elections.

[Rich]

I still don't understand why "ongoing investigation" should legitimately shut down testimony/discussion. It seems it should *encourage/mandate* such.

[mad libertarian guy]

We can't have potential witnesses spilling the beans before they get all their ducks in a row via an investigation, can we? It just means they get the chance to set the narrative before they get questioned about anything real gets aired.

[bostonaod]

"The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive [and] it is wrong," the president declared.

In Obama Newspeak, whenever he claims charges of his administration's fecklessness are "offensive", that means "it's true but fuck you for pointing it out"

[sarcasmic]

Obligatory Megan Fox
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....dvert.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ywood.html

[Brett L]

I like the Marie Claire suit thing. Well placed sunflower.

[John]

http://www.fox19.com/story/207.....book-photo

I know people like to hate on politicians. But politicians are just a reflection of our overall society. With people like this, we are doomed. Some guy puts a picture of himself holding a BB gun next to his infant son. His mother in law, intent on living down to every mother in law stereotype calls the cops and the cops arrest him for child endangerment on Friday. As of Monday, he was still in jail without bail.

What kind of a person calls the cops in that situation? What kind of a cop takes the call much less arrests the guy? These people are zombies. Forget winning an argument or a political debate because they cannot be reasoned with.

[Matrix]

I posted that above.

[John]

Missed it.

[Drax the Destroyer]

It's a cliche' round these here parts, but public schooling and influence of public institutions have done their work, and they've done it well.

[John]

It is like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Maybe the McCarthyites were onto something. The communists were here to take our children.

[mad libertarian guy]

They're not here to take them, but simply to indoctrinate them early (though I suppose it amounts to the same thing). Having to fight actively against collectivist propaganda is tiring as a parent.

[VG Zaytsev]

Talking to my wife this morning I said that gun free schools are idiotic, feel good laws that don't accomplish anything. She agreed and then said that school administrators had pushed them in the 90s so that they could expel violent kids that were bringing guns to schools.

Which is nuts in itself and demonstrates that the people running schools are brain dead zombies too.

[Raston Bot]

baby's maternal grandmother who saw the photo and called the police

Sorry to make a fuss over inconsequential details, but that's probably not his mother-in-law.

[Lord Humungus]

The Military's Most Science-Fictional Projects
http://www.forbes.com/pictures.....keleton-3/

Warning: It's a slideshow

[LTC(ret) John]

And that is just what they are showing you. Some of the stuff I saw plans for made me really wonder what TACOM was up to.

[Lord Humungus]

Skynet?

[LTC(ret) John]

Skynet strikes me as Air Forcean.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Oooooo... do tell!

[LTC(ret) John]

Lets just say that the exoskeleton is primitive compared to some of the concept/design/dream suits envisioned. Self contained medical, near invisibility type camo, integrated stuff that is just a bit shorter of Heinlein's Starship Troopers stuff. Maybe they read John Scalzi's Old Man's War and were inspired.

[db]

I give you the Y-17 Trauma Override Harness.

[Ted S.]

Thank you for the warning.

[Agammamon]

Don't get all excited - 9/10 of those items have been profiled in "Popular Mechanics" and the like over the last *20* years.

[LTC(ret) John]

Yes, this is more like a "best of" rerun.

[Lord Humungus]

Treasury Gets a Citibanker
From Wall Street failure to the pinnacle of finance in four short years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

There was a time when you had to be successful on Wall Street to become secretary of the Treasury. Now along comes presidential nominee Jack Lew, whose only business credential is a stint at the most troubled too-big-to-fail bank.

During the darkest days of the financial crisis Mr. Lew served as the chief operating officer of Citigroup's Alternative Investments unit (CAI). When Mr. Lew took this job in January 2008, the unit was already infamous for overseeing "structured investment vehicles" that hid mortgage risks outside Citi's balance sheet. It also housed internal hedge funds that were in the process of imploding.

[DJF]

"""hid mortgage risks outside Citi's balance sheet.""

Change that to, "hide debt risks outside of the governments balance sheet" and you can see why he is perfect for today's Secretary of the Treasury".

[Brett L]

Well, considering how well the Morgan Stanley alumni have done in running the economy into the ground, I say we let someone else play for a while.

[Lord Humungus]

10 Most Quotable Movies for Geeks (That Aren't Star Wars Films)
http://www.toplessrobot.com/20.....t_star.php

To some, movie quotes are a mere curiosity. To geeks, movie quotes are a way of life. Due to the way their brains function, every geek possesses the innate ability to have entire conversations with their friends using only lines spoken in movies. Star Wars is, of course, the gold standard; between Han Solo's self-assuredness and Yoda's new-age philosophizing, there is a quote in the original trilogy for every occasion. (The prequels are less quotable, although most Jar-Jar Binks and Anakin Skywalker dialogue is useful when attempting to make a grown man cry.)

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Due to the way their brains function, every geek possesses the innate ability to have entire conversations with their friends using only lines spoken in movies.

What, they have memories?

[Quetzalcoatl]

They need to check their cis-heteroneurological privileges.

[SugarFree]

At least they aren't filthy neurotypicals like you.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I think Idiocracy is fairly quotable. For some Geeks. Namely, us.

"Go 'way. 'Bating!"

[Brett L]

No Better Off Dead? No Heathers? Raiders of the Lost Ark? Really? Princess Bride wasn't in the top 3? These geeks are lame.

[Brett L]

Also, Office Space, for those of us who were in the IT workforce before about 2005.

[R C Dean]

For office geekery, nothing tops Office Space.

[Restoras]

PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean??

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Brett.

[Obese American]

No Fletch, No Peace!

[Proprietist]

Office Space is #1 for me.

[Emmerson Biggins]

that list sucks.

Lord of the Rings ain't worth shit for quotin.

Clearly Office Space should be #1.

[sloopyinca]

I finally got around to the list. What a load of bullshit. No Clerks or Mallrats? And Avengers?

Puh-leeze.

Besides, we need a list for normal people, not the geeks. You know, lists that include Caddyshack, Airplane! and Animal House.

[John]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....taxes.html

Anna Wintour's b/f owes 1.2 million in back taxes. Normally I would be outraged. But the poor bastard has to wake up next to Wintour every day. So I am not sure prison wouldn't be an improvement.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I wish I was even in a position to owe 1.2mil in taxes.

[John]

Remember when using the IRS for political purposes was a high crime and misdemeanor?

[Rasilio]

Yeah, it sounds nice but it really doesn't take that much income to get there, just have a small business implode.

My parents who never earned more than $120k a year in personal income had a Construction business fail and ended up on the hook for $750k in unpaid business taxes

[Lord Humungus]

Some inconvenient truths
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/.....ent_truths

Here's a little fantasy for you to ponder: what if one of our senior foreign policy officials accidentally swallowed some sodium pentothal (aka "truth serum") before some public hearing or press conference, and started speaking the truth about one of those issues where prevarication, political correctness, and obfuscation normally prevail? You know: what if they started saying in public all those things that they probably believe in private? What sorts of "inconvenient truths" might suddenly get revealed?

#1: "We're never gonna get rid of our nuclear weapons."

#2: "We don't actually care that much about human rights."

#3: "There's not going to be a two-state solution."

#4: "We like being #1, and we're going to stay there just as long as we can."

#5: "We do a lot of stupid things in foreign policy. Get used to it."

[Slammer]

How about sports journalists?

"Coach, can you please explain why you fucked Vegas and thousands of gamblers by not going for the touchdown there and electing to try a field goal?"

[John]

Just imagine if Tim Tebow has been an HBack, backup QB on the Ravens and had talked about laying hands on Joe Flacco before the Baltimore Bomb like Ray Lewis did. I think Merrell Hodge would have had some kind of angina attack and ended up in the hospital. But overt religion is okay as long as black people do it. That is just how those folks roll.

[RBS]

Whatever it takes to get Merrell Hodge off the air.

[LTC(ret) John]

More concussions?

[Ted S.]

Nah, I'd use it on sports journalists to make them answer questions in which their hypocrisy is pointed out.

[Lord Humungus]

Dog Power and Dog Engines
http://www.douglas-self.com/MU.....og/dog.htm

This page deals with a power source that is now long gone- animal power. In earier times horses and oxen walked in circles to grind corn, and a donkey in a giant hamster-wheel was used to draw water from the well in Dover castle. Dog-power, however, has always been limited in its application by the limited horsepower of the average dog.

Dogs were used in smaller hamster-wheels to turn roasting spits in Britain. There was even a special breed, called not unreasonably "the turnspit" for the purpose. Some information on the turnspit breed, which sadly appears to be extinct:

Personally I like to use children, saving the dogs for security work. The monocle factory must meet the production goals!

[LTC(ret) John]

Correct - not much fear be hind a command of "release the starving waifs!"

[Drax the Destroyer]

I employ orphaned paraplegic children in my pollution factory. I pay them in contempt.

[Lord Humungus]

do you collect their tears to make Mead?

[LTC(ret) John]

Eiswein.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yes, and I sell it at a profit as I cackle manically, draped in my buffalo/tiger hide fur coat petting my heavily inbred persian cat that houses the soul of Hitler.

[NeonCat]

You left out the part about giving Hitler cat mice with little yarmulkes pasted to their heads, you evil swine.

Or is that a given?

[bostonaod]

the limited horsepower of the average dog

?__?

[LTC(ret) John]

Um, limited dogpower of the average horse?

[Atanarjuat]

I've been turned on to some cool stuff from lurking in HitnRun comments. Like Firefly, which I literally hadn't heard of, and now love. So anyway, has anybody seen the British sitcom called Peep Show? Definitely recommended.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I watched the first three or so episodes, but it didn't stick with me.

[Zeb]

It's one of those shows that takes a little while to get going. I'd recommend watching a bit more.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

It hits it's stride by the end of season 1. It is fucking hilarious. Watch every episode, you will be rewarded.

[SugarFree]

Those guy have a new show that just finsihed up its 2nd season, Fresh Meat. Very good, sort of cringe-com meets Felicity.

[Lord Humungus]

For British Shows beyond the classics (Black Adder, Monty Python, Red Dwardf, etc), I enjoyed:

Little Britain
Allo, Allo
To the Manor Born
Thin Blue Line - with Rowan Atkinson
Fry & Laurie
the early years of Are You Being Served?
the early episodes of Time Goes By

and I'm sure I've forgotten some already.

[Lord Humungus]

and Good Neighbors (70s o-riffic)

[Ted S.]

Also known as The Good Life.

[Lord Humungus]

I have a thing for Felicity Kendal(from that era). It's those big eyes.

[Elspeth Flashman]

great show!

[Slammer]

Black Books

[Quetzalcoatl]

Green Wing was fun. Brian from Spaced is on it.

[SugarFree]

I really enjoyed The Inbetweeners. Exactly the sort of filthy, juvenile humor I enjoy and employ.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Also: I'm sure that you're including Jeeves & Wooster in the "Classics", it deserves to be above the fold.

[Lord Humungus]

oh yes indeed.

[Zeb]

Don't forget Yes, Minister (if that's not one of the assumed classics, which it probably should be).

[Elspeth Flashman]

I watched that and can't remember much about it.

[Zeb]

Its the best comedy ever about how government works and how fucked up it is.

[Cdr Lytton]

Add the The Thick of It as a modern continuation to Yes, Minister.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

The Young Ones

[Raston Bot]

How is this not #1 or maybe it's included in the obvious "classics" category along with Python.

[Lord Humungus]

I'll also add League of Gentlemen, though season three gets very odd.

[Ted S.]

Not to be confused with the wonderful 1960 British movie with the same title.

And for the love of god, don't confuse either them with that horrid "League of Wtraordinary Gentlemen" movie from 10 years or so ago.

[Pope Jimbo]

The IT Crowd
Father Ted

[Lord Humungus]

the IT Crowd "Gay: The Musical" episode is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

IT Crowd. Gut busting funny.

[Agammamon]

"Yes, Minister" is pretty awesome.

Honestly "The Thin Blue Line" should have been great, but was merely mediocre.

[Zeb]

I love Peep Show. Very funny.

[mad libertarian guy]

Like Firefly, which I literally hadn't heard of, and now love.

How is this even possible? You wouldn't be trolling us, would you?

[SugarFree]

Atanarjuat was frozen in a stasis capsule for 30 years.

Can you at least make the barest effort to keep up with the backstory of the board's members? I mean we never forget about your years as a carny or your brief marriage to Miranda Kerr.

[mad libertarian guy]

Being a carny would have been an upgrade for me in my formative years.

[Elspeth Flashman]

He was in stasis for a few million years actually.
"Everybody is dead, Dave."

[Atanarjuat]

I had just gone off to college in 2002, and didn't have even basic cable. And I was more preoccupied with getting high and goofing off with friends at the time.

[Atanarjuat]

I mean, what SugarFree said. Groovy, baby!

[SugarFree]

You were still using 60s slang in 1983? No wonder they froze you.

[LTC(ret) John]

Cool beans!

[SugarFree]

Radical!

[geneparmesano]

hella cool

[geneparmesano]

I am a fellow lurker and I had not heard of Firefly either. Total lurking twins!

I was not getting high, though...

[mad libertarian guy]

I am a fellow lurker and I had not heard of Firefly either. Total lurking twins!

I was not getting high, though...

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS WORLD TURNING TO?!?!?!?!?!?

[robc]

Like Firefly, which I literally hadn't heard of

???

[Spoonman.]

The best thing H&R has turned me onto is the Sears Outlet.

[Emmerson Biggins]

I never would have heard of artisanal mayonnaise if it weren't for HnR. It has been a major upgrade to my life. Thank god those genius hipsters figured it out how to do it.

[sloopyinca]

[facepalm]

[Cdr Lytton]

Don't forget to try the honey!

[sloopyinca]

[Picard double-facepalm]

[John]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/.....671106.ece

Sure socialized medicine leaves the old and sick to die. But it does provide hookers.

[Rich]

Close encounters of the Bloomberg kind

"We'll get right back to you."

[John]

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion.....z2JN3rNscP

Using the power of the Presidency to go after opposition media, nothing fascist about that.

[Matrix]

They are just as legitimate as MSNBC, CNN, ABC and others. They are just tend to support more conservative views, whereas the others support "progressive" views. So, I suppose if you do not support progressivism, you're not a legitimate news source?

I find Fox News silly at times, but they often report things that other stations refuse. Plus it helps that a few libertarians are given air time and articles on the website.

[John]

The thing is that Fox News is not particularly conservative. There is nothing conservative about a populist crank like Bill O'Reilly. The standard for Obama and his supporters is that anything that is not absolute worship must be destroyed. I wish them luck with that.

[RBS]

That's exactly their problem with FoxNews. I think it's funny that so many people spend so much time watching and analyzing something they claim to hate so much.

[MP]

I don't allocate any time for rhetorical bullshit of any sort (with the exception of The Daily Show, which at least spins it funny). It amazes me how many people who claim to have opposite opinions still spend time watching MSNBC/FOXNews.

[VG Zaytsev]

I watch MSNBC for the lulz.

[Eduard van Haalen]

It's good to follow people you disagree with, see how they're thinking.

[$park?]

Nothing conservative about Bill "Traditional America/Culture War/War on Christmas" O'Reilly?

[John]

He is more populist. He is all about the fake "I am for the little guy" routine. He only talks about those things you mention, to the extent he does, because he thinks that all of the little people care about them.

[$park?]

I guess I just don't have the great insight into the mind of Bill O'Reilly that you have. I actually get the feeling that he really does believe all of the stuff he spews. He regularly calls himself an independent but that doesn't actually make him one.

[John]

I don't think he believes a word he says. I think he is an ego maniac who likes to lord his self perceived wisdom over everyone else. He is not a "conservative". And there is nothing particularly conservative about being religious. Lots of liberals are very religious.

[Restoras]

I agree with John. It's all a schtick for ratings. Kinda like Howard Stern.

[VG Zaytsev]

He's not even religious. He's got the cultural faux religion pushed by the movies in the 30s, 40s & 50s.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, O'Reilly is an old style democrat, that was driven out when the socialists took over.

He's all for the drug warz, economic regulations, and generally anything that's sold as for the kidz.

[Emmerson Biggins]

He is more just an asshole.

[Tim]

He's lookin' out for you!

[Drax the Destroyer]

They've definitely cornered the market on hot anchors. I guess they are trying offset the Susteren effect.

[Andrew S.]

They're not conservative, but they're clearly in the tank for Team Red (which also really isn't conservative). Like MSNBC is in the tank for Team Blue. And CNN is in the tank for Team We Love Power.

[Auric Demonocles]

Relationship update:

Looks like it may actually be a medical thing. She's even had to switch from tampons to pads, so sadly I don't think this is because I grew 3 sizes.

She also said that she thinks if she got married she'd let her husband have sex on business trips to keep him satisfied. So that's....weird.

[$park?]

That being said, do you want a woman with a broken cooch?

[Auric Demonocles]

Nope, but it does mean I'll feel like more of a jerk if I break it off.

[$park?]

Is that maybe why she told you, or do you not think she's that type of girl? And jerk or not, you have to look out for what's best for you.

[Auric Demonocles]

She really hasn't shown any indication that she'd be willing to guilt trip someone into doing things.

[Auric Demonocles]

But your second point still stands.

[SugarFree]

Three simple words are all you need: "I am gay."

[Auric Demonocles]

I may have made it a bit obvious that's not true. "Far from it".

[robc]

Alternate, 7 words:

Im not gay, but I will learn.

[SugarFree]

I may have made it a bit obvious that's not true.

You were just overcompensating.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am from a Catholic family.

[SugarFree]

I am from a Catholic family.

That's perfect!

[LTC(ret) John]

No, no - Didn't Jim McGreevy tell us ... "I am a Gay American!"

[$park?]

If she doesn't seem like a guilt tripper then you may have found the rare woman who understands and accepts why you wouldn't stay with her.

[JW]

Have you at least tried anal with her?

[Auric Demonocles]

I already said I'm not gay.

[John]

TMI

[RBS]

Ummm, yeah. I'm not sure why anyone would give a shit and I'm sure the lady involved would love to know her man is discussing her broken vagina with random internetters.

[RBS]

Also what SF said.

[SugarFree]

Too clarify, it's the let her husband have sex on business trips to keep him satisfied that is the starter pistol in my mind.

[RBS]

That's what I thought.

[SugarFree]

This is why there aren't any women libertarians.

[Tim]

That, and Star Trek.

[T]

Pull the loud handle and don't look back.

[Atanarjuat]

Well, it's pretty anonymous actually, there's almost no way it will come back to her personally, which you can't really say about discussing it with a co-worker or something.

[Lord Humungus]

wait, wut?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Wasn't this a key plot element in one of Godfather novels?

[BakedPenguin]

Yep.

[SugarFree]

Dude. I'm not saying run, but maybe it's time to at least lace-up your trainers.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Before the dentata come out...

[SugarFree]

No, I think she is doing him a favor by letting him know they will have a sexless future. Either she already doesn't have much of a libido and is finally confronting the fact or she's going to leave him for a lovely women she met in book club.

[Rich]

She also said that she thinks if she got married she'd let her husband have sex on business trips to keep him satisfied.

Sorry, but that's her way of telling you she's agonna cheat on you.

[Atanarjuat]

Possibly; I assumed it meant she plans on not putting out for her husband for such extended periods that he'll have to look outside the marriage for sex.

[RBS]

Either way its a warning.

[Auric Demonocles]

And also really weird.

[mad libertarian guy]

Sorry, but that's her way of telling you she's agonna cheat on you.

What? It's okay for you to bend some secretary over a desk on a business trip, but I can't fuck the neighbor kid who moes the lawn?

[Agammamon]

". . . *moes* the lawn"

I think your neihbors kid has some real problems.

[NeonCat]

No, he moes it, i.e. slaps it around, accuses the grass of being wise guys, etc.

[Brett L]

You're young. Unwind the relationship in the least painful way possible, tell her you wish her the best, and GTFO. You don't have to stay there just because she's nice. There's a whole ocean of nice and attractive young women.

[RBS]

This is excellent advice. Several years ago I was dating someone who, the longer we were together the more damaged she revealed herself to be but I kept it up because I'm nice and didn't want to be the guy that breaks up with a girl because she's crazy. In hindsight, extreme emotional swings and severe body image issues are excellent reasons to end a relationship.

[robc]

didn't want to be the guy that breaks up with a girl because she's crazy?

Thats actually the best reason to break up.

DONT STICK IT IN CRAZY.

[RBS]

Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.

[SugarFree]

Yup. There's only so many nights you want to spend trying to talk them out of killing themselves or trying to decide if she's poisoned you to the point to need to go to an emergency room.

[Brett L]

"Down, not across this time. I'm out."

[Lord Humungus]

I've mentioned this before, but in college I dated a lovely (but goth) art model. She liked to cut herself, do homemade tattoos (back before the tattoo craze), and had a real love for ravens. She was a lovely thing but sooooo very damaged. It was a mental burden just being with her.

[Auric Demonocles]

Is that when you put on the mask?

[LTC(ret) John]

And moved to the Outback.

[Auric Demonocles]

I wish there was more time before my trip to Europe next month.

[generic Brand]

It could be the perfect opportunity to explore the idea of the elusive "open relationship". If there are a lot of elements you love about her, but just can't get the carnal aspects out of the relationship, you could stay with her for those things and just get some action on the side. She has already suggested as much.

But maybe you're interested in the monogamous relationship yourself, in which case some of the other guys probably said it best.

[Spoonman.]

I am a monogamy sort of dude, so the thing about business trips would be a dealbreaker for me, because I would not be comfortable with my wife being cool with that.

Also, has she seen a doctor?

[Auric Demonocles]

I am a monogamy sort of dude, so the thing about business trips would be a dealbreaker for me, because I would not be comfortable with my wife being cool with that.

I don't know if that's quite dealbreaker for me, but it's really weirding me out.

Also, has she seen a doctor?

Not yet, but she has an appointment coming up shortly.

[db]

I missed the backstory on this, but if it's unexpected and excessive vaginal bleeding, that can be a bad sign. She really needs to get checked.

[Auric Demonocles]

The background was that I was considering breaking up with my girlfriend because of a lack of sex (dropping off from much more frequently). A couple people suggested it might be medically related, though there weren't any symptoms like you're talking about. After a talk, it appears to be general discomfort there. She is getting checked out in a couple of weeks.

[$park?]

Bioethicists vs fat smokers.

That said, public health officials shouldn't shy away from tough anti-obesity efforts, said Callahan, the bioethicist. Callahan caused a public stir this week with a paper that called for a more aggressive public health campaign that tries to shame and stigmatize overeaters the way past public health campaigns have shamed and stigmatized smokers.

National obesity rates are essentially static, and public health campaigns that gently try to educate people about the benefits of exercise and healthy eating just aren't working, Callahan argued. We need to get obese people to change their behavior. If they are angry or hurt by it, so be it, he said.

"Emotions are what really count in this world," he said.

Yes boys and girls, he actually said it.

[John]

That got posted a few days ago. It is funny how bioethicists seem to be the least ethical and most blood thirsty people on earth.

[Ken Shultz]

They don't seem to value anything that that can't be put under a microscope.

Rights, freedom,...?

Blah, blah, blah!

[John]

That is because they don't value life. They look at human beings as just another collection of cells at best and an invasive species at worst.

[mad libertarian guy]

That is because they don't value life. They look at human beings as just another collection of cells at best and an invasive species at worst.

I once read a fledgling scientist, a guy who is working as a grad student to "help bring change to the world through devoting his time and energy towards renewable energy" advocate for what he calls the '50 by 50' plan, or a plan to cut in half the world's population by 2050. Or, in layman's terms, killing about 3.5 billion people in the next 37 years.

[Brett L]

Yes. I can always tell the humane environmentalists, because they are the people who want the 3-5B people least like them to die without having children. Preferrably in less than a decade.

[Drax the Destroyer]

In the end, that's what most hardcore environmentalists want, even if they don't have the braincells or balls to completely form the thought. Many people who get into science, especially biology, are environmentalists.

[VG Zaytsev]

That got posted a few days ago. It is funny how bioethicists seem to be the least ethical and most blood thirsty people on earth.

It's similar to the way that constitutional scholars have never actually read, let alone understand the constitution.

[Ted S.]

Who smokes fat?

[$park?]

Most BBQ joints.

[Slammer]

Regulate 'em, they're ADDICTIVE!

[mad libertarian guy]

They are addictive, actually.

[bostonaod]

Has there been a legitimate study that really compares these medical costs realistically? Like the costs of a fat smoker to a healthy nonagenarian? Sure the fat smoker will rack up some impressive bills as they croak before 60, but compared to putting doddering nana in a nursing home for 40 years, it's peanuts.

[KPres]

There have been many on smoking specifically, and nearly every one shows that smokers' health care costs over their lifetime are lower than average.

[Proprietist]

Think of it this way: the average smoker's life expectancy is 64. Thus, before full Social Security and Medicare benefits kick in. Not even counting the costs of late life old age illnesses and nursing care, you already have to assume non-smokers will be more expensive on that premise alone. Anti-smoking campaigns have likely exacerbated our pension crisis even more than estimated.

[Ken Shultz]

Has there been a post yet about the giant explosion that never happened in Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons facility killing hundreds of nonexistent Iranian and foreign nationals working on Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons program?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....t-21230686

It might be the biggest story of the year, but it might have never happened!

[John]

WND had that a couple of days ago. Lets hope its true. A covert bombing is a hell of a lot better than a full on war.

[Ken Shultz]

If Israel pulled off something like that, not only would it be great for American security, it would be freakin' hilarious!

...especially just ahead of Obama's scheduled "talks" with the Iranians. Sick as he is, if this really happened, and Israel did it, Obama's probably mad as hell!

[John]

If Israel pulled that off, you would think the Arabs would learn to stop fucking with them. I wouldn't want the US fucking with a country that can pull that off. And if I were the leader of some Islamist hellhole?

[RBS]

You're forgetting the insanity factor.

[Ken Shultz]

They might stop screwing with Israel for a while (and incidentally, I think that's happening in some quarters, especially with the MB now that they're in power in Egypt)...

...but it makes Obama look like a joke, as well. Obama is over there, more or less, negotiating with Iran, but then Israel just, more or less, walks in and solves the problem.

Yeah, you go ahead with your talks Mr. Obama--in fact, why don't we give you two somethin' interesting to talk about?

LOL @ Obama's diplomacy!

Oh, I hope it's true.

[kwais]

I wouldn't say that Iran 'Fucks with Israel'.
I guess funding Hezbollah could be said to be fucking with Israel.

But mostly it is Israel that fucks with Iran.

Syria doesn't fuck with Israel. In fact the opposite, they get bombed and don't retaliate.

Egypt and Jordan do Israel's bidding (at our request). So does Saudi Arabia to a lesser extent.

Are you talking Palestine? Because that is not really a country, it is for all practical reasons a territory of Israel.

[John]

But mostly it is Israel that fucks with Iran.

Did I miss when Israel made it national policy to wipe Iran off the earth?

Seriously, why do Libertarians always bend over backwards to defend Iran? Do you hate Israel that much that you will excuse one of the most oppressive nations on earth?

[kwais]

Dude chill the fuck out.
No one is defending Iran.

I love Israel, I spent a year defending that country, and I loved every moment of it. so don't go there.

[John]

I just don't see how you can say Iran doesn't fuck with Israel. Of course they do.

[John]

I wouldn't say that Iran 'Fucks with Israel'

So calling for its destruction and funding Hezbollah to fire rockets at its civilian population is not fucking with?

Are you serious? If Cuba were sending rockets to Mexican drug gangs who were firing them on San Diego, that wouldn't count as fucking with us?

[Ted S.]

Syria fucks with Lebanon.

[Ken Shultz]

How's it goin' kwais? Good to see you!

Have you been livin' in Egypt through all this mess?

It seems to me that the MB has put Israel on the back burner. They've got themselves to think about.

I see Hezbollah as essentially an extension of Iran. If Hezbollah isn't supporting the fight to overthrow Assad, it's to some extent because Syria is an important ally for Iran. Hezbollah threatens Israel from Lebanon--doesn't it?

Certainly, if Iran having a nuclear weapons program is a threat to anyone, it's a threat to Israel.

I do think it's also true that if Israel didn't have to worry about its relationship with the U.S., they would have taken the gloves off long ago--and been much more brutal. So, yeah, I think they screw with each other.

My interests are American, anyway. If Israel did something that's good for American security, then that's a good thing. I don't like the prospect of our ONLY options to the Iran problem being:

1) Bankrupt Iran through sanctions.
2) Obama Administration diplomacy.
3) U.S. military action.

The moment Iran successfully conducts a nuclear test, the world will start appeasing them. Anything Israel does to push that day further down the calendar (Option 4) seems like a good idea in my book--especially if it doesn't involve American troops.

[kwais]

Hey Ken,
I am not in Egypt anymore, I am back in Iraq.
But I was in Israel during the last kerfuffle thingy.

It was actually a really good time to be in Israel as an American.

I posted in the (probably dead thread now) 'International concerns over Islamists in Syria'.

Hezbollah is probably supporting Assad, as they are a Shia organization, and Assad is part of the Shia minority, and the Islamists are Sunni.

If Assad wanted to get a lot of public support from the Syrian public, and the 'Arab Street', he would attack Israel. That would probably halt the tide of foreign fighters that are coming to fight him.

But apparently Assad is more afraid of Israel than of the Islamic fighters. That should tell you something.

Egypt is still supporting Israel. Not as enthusiastically as they were under Mubarak, but they still are.

[John]

Kwais,

They are all terrified of the Iranians getting nukes. The Iranians want to own the whole middle east, not just Israel.

[kwais]

The Saudis are terrified of Iran getting nukes.

Not sure how terrified anyone else is.

Iran's natural enemy is Sunni Arabs, particularly Saudi Arabia, Israel is not a natural enemy of Israel at all.

Saudi Arabia famously represses the Shia minority there. And they actively support the repression of the Shia underclass in Bahrain. (which apparently we support, actively helping to silence western press that would report on it).

[Timon 19]

The UAE is quite nervous. They've got US, Korean and Japanese (and French?) nuke companies on board trying to catch up in that realm, at least on the civilian front.

[sloopyinca]

I never understood the difficulty in obtaining and building nuclear weapons. One can pretty much find the plans for one on the internet, and if you've got enough money, you can buy fissile material by posting a want ad on Craigslist. It makes me think these countries aren't seriously putting any real effort into building nukes but want to give the impression to their own people that they are.

I'm no mechanical genius, but I bet if I had $10M and three competent mechanical engineers, I could have you a fully-functional nuke within 3 months. 2 months if you were offering a bonus for early completion.

[Dweebston]

I'm going to guess that like much else, it's not what it you know but who you know.

[Ted S.]

When hasn't Obama looked like a joke?

[Ken Shultz]

He's always looked like a joke to me, but it's always been a joke that goes over the heads of a lot of other people.

I guess that's the way I see him. It's like with ObamaCare. I suspect he genuinely wanted to help the uninsured when he started out, but he ended up siccing the IRS on people who are too poor to afford health insurance--thanks for the help, Mr. President!

This is the same thing. Just like he wouldn't let betraying his principles on healthcare get in the way of what's best for his public image, he wouldn't let what's best for American security get in the way putting his best foot forward either.

If he had a media blitz on Iran talks all set and ready to go, and then Israel goes and screws up the party? It wouldn't matter to him if what Israel did was in the best interest of American security--he'd be mad as hell at Israel for messing up his dinner party. What's the point of being president if you can't make yourself look like a savior on television?

[kwais]

What Islamic country fucks with Israel?

[John]

Egypt, Syria, Hamasistan, just to name three or two and a half.

[kwais]

OK we cross posted.

But as I said before:
Egypt does Israel's bidding. The secure the southern border of Gaza, they give free gas to Israel, they help track militants for Israel.

Syria does not fuck with Israel. They often get bombed and don't retaliate.

Hamas is not really a country. I don't want to say that it is an Israeli prison. But they only import and export with Israel's permission.
They can't legally come and go except with Israel's permission. The can't fish of their own coast except with Israel's permission.

I suppose they do fuck with Israel. I was in Israel when their missiles were being shot out of the air by the Iron Dome.
But you can't really say that Hamas, or Gaza is a country.

[John]

Syria does not fuck with Israel.

They just funnel weapons from Iran to Hezbollah who then uses said weapons on Israel. They have just invaded Israel three times since World War II.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Some people have a memory greater than 50 years. Those people want blood. Still.

[kwais]

Yes they went to war with Israel twice.
And as a result they learned to not fuck with Israel.

To which the comment:
"you would think the Arabs would learn to stop fucking with them."

They did learn.
They will sympathize with other organizations that fuck with Israel, they will sell them weapons and such.
But they will not directly fuck with them.

Israel on the other hand has no such fear. They bombed Syria twice while I was in Israel. They directly assassinated engineers and scientists in Iran, and one dickhead in Dubai.

They bombed an Egyptian Army post (lately with the MB in charge of the Egyptian government) and there were protests in Cairo demanding retaliation, but there was none.

The last militants that attacked Israel had to kill Egyptian soldiers to get to Israel, and thus loss their element of surprise.

[Timon 19]

Dude, the Arabs are marginally on the side of Israel regarding an Iranian nuke program (to the extent that the Kingdom itself essentially granted use of their airspace for just such an attack by promising to "not stop them").

I don't know how many times we have to go over this.

[kwais]

I really don't want Iran to get a nuke.
But I am not sure we can stop them if they really want one. I mean outside of invading Iran.

Israel can put off the program, and they have done pretty well up until now. But they will learn from their mistakes.
Outside of regime change, I don't see Iran not getting a nuke, if it is what they are trying for.

[Timon 19]

Agreed. I don't think anyone wants the current Iranian regime to get there.

I'm not so sure Pakistan is going to be real happy either.

[Rich]

Nice Obama tat (courtesy of Drudge)

But it would have been truly teh awesome if the guy had used his navel as O's mouth.

[Longtorso]

Seattle Gun BuyBack Gets JACKED! Turns Into a Damn Gun Show! LOL
...Police stood in awe as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line for the buyback program.

People that had arrived to trade in their weapons for $100 or $200 BuyBack gift cards($100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault weapons) soon realized that gun collectors were there and paying top dollar for collectible firearms. So, as the line for the chump cards got longer and longer people began to jump ship and head over to the dealers....

[Matrix]

That's hilarious! More gun groups should do this at buy backs.

[Ken Shultz]

That's why the government hates markets.

Market forces are people making choices, and markets give people the freedom to make choices--and obviously we can't have that!

If the government wants to shut down assault weapons sales at gun shows, they COULD just go to the gun shows and outbid everybody else, but noooOOOooo.

How could fixing the buyback price below the market price not work?!

[sloopyinca]

Not content with just stealing a tractor, Macon police officer decides to steal two cars as well.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The important question is did he shoot someone's dog/child?

[Rich]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) believes that there are strong parallels between contemporary America and Atlas Shrugged.

I point out as well this effect with The Road to Serfdom. It reads like it could have been written yesterday.

[Ted S.]

Salmonella Outbreak Traced to Beef from Two Michigan Stores

Sloopyinca is going to have an orgasm over this news.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Fuck Michigan!

[sloopyinca]

Jesus, I missed this post for nearly two hours? Fortunately, Evan was here to put the correct spin on it.

[sloopyinca]

Petersburg, VA cop arrested for DUI in Henrico County. John I Dixon IV refused to take a breath test. When the chief, John I Dixon, was asked about it, he had no comment.

The arrest brought up the bigger issue of nepotism and breaking city policy, which bars relatives from working in the same department where one may be in charge of the other.

The arrested Dixon got a vacation for his trouble.

[Ted S.]

The Chief is the great-grandfather of the arrestee?

[R C Dean]

Sure. Assuming these troglodytes start breeding at, say, age 15, the chief could be 65 and the kid around 20.

[sloopyinca]

Maine police officer arrested for domestic violence assault. Is given a lengthy vacation so he can spend more time at home with his family.

[Rich]

a disagreement between Weatherbee and a woman led to pushing and shoving and eventually Weatherbee held her on the couch. We're told she managed to free herself and called 9-1-1.

"Ma'am, according to our database there's already an officer at your location."

[Matrix]

NAACP calls for arrest of cops in brutal beating

Tased the guy... he falls down, and then two proceed to beat him. A third pulls up and joins in on the beat down.

Connecticut's finest at their best!

[Andrew S.]

Better yet, there's a lawsuit pending in another brutality case regarding one of the officers involved there, and that lawyer says he has at least two more brutality cases against the same officer to show as well. Real winner that guy.

I'm sure that he'll have to suffer the indignity of a couple of weeks of paid vacation for this!

[sloopyinca]

OK, I'm not sure what this cop did should be a crime even though the age of consent in VA is 18. But the fucking dude sure looks creepy.

[SugarFree]

It's like looking in a mirror. [shudder]

[John]

IN this day and age, how can people be dumb enough to cruise for jail bait on the internet? It is about as smart as leaving your ID behind at a burglary.

[Ted S.]

It's a cop. I wonder if they're even human.

[Brett L]

Wait, what? Requesting a picture is now trafficking in child porn? So if I ask someone to bring drugs, I'm trafficking in them even if they refuse and I don't possess any?

[sloopyinca]

That's the idiotic part of the story.

Hell, I could have been arrested for child porn several times for holding my "Show Us Your Tits!" sign to cars of high school girls on their way to beach week.

[tarran]

Ah yes, the civilized gun free society, where a bunch of men can hack a kid to death with swords at their leisure.

16-year-old screamed as he was hacked to death with swords in central London

The boy, who has not been named, was heard screaming for his life as he was attacked in Lupus street, Pimlico, shortly before 7pm yesterday, eyewitnesses have claimed.
He was rushed to hospital where he died from his wounds, becoming the first teenager to be killed in London this year.

[John]

And everyone just stood by and watched. Remember when Kitty Genovese was a national embarrassment?

[tarran]

WTF are they supposed to do. The dudes had swords!

That's the technology the Romans used to subdue the Britons thousands of years ago.

[John]

And if they had used weapons of their own, they would have gone to jail. At this point there is barely a right to defend yourself in Britain. I would imagine there is no right to defend others much less with a scary weapon like a shovel or a fire poker.

[Brett L]

"We must retain an open mind re the circumstances of the incident and any motive at this early stage."

For instance, if you play the footage backwards, you'll see them pull knives out of him, heal his wounds, and send him on his way.

[Rich]

Scotland Yard have launched a murder inquiry and said that they are keeping an "open mind" on the motive for the attack.

"Bother, if it were an honor killing we'll have to let it go."

[Jeff]

Well, then they should enact sword control, too. Why does a civilian need military style weapons, anyway?

[tarran]

You joke, but there's a knife control movement there that's probably going to be very powerful in another decade or so.

In 50 years they'll be banning cricket.

[Brett L]

I had a friend who spent a year at Oxford on an exchange program to get redneck GA folk some culture. He wanted to take a cricket bat home for his nephew and was cautioned that he needed to put it inside a bag that completely covered it lest the police stop and hassle him about it. Given that said friend is 6'3" and about 275, wears a beard and shaves his head, the coppers probably would've shit themselves.

[mad libertarian guy]

I had a friend who spent a year at Oxford on an exchange program to get redneck GA folk some culture.

It's insulting as fuck that somehow the kultur warrierz see sitting around whilst they listen to classical music or jazz and sip a glass of old country wine during their conversations is somehow more enlightened than folk sitting around whilst they listen to some bluegrass or old timey and sip from a jar of shine during their conversations.

And in at least 1 way the latter is superior if only because it's authentic and not imported as a means to look sophisticated to their Euro brethren.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I listen to British metal, drink Mexican tequila, and eat Texas beef. Fuck Oxford culture.

[Jeff]

German metal is superior, so fuck YOU.

[mad libertarian guy]

Swedish.

[Brett L]

The truth is that a megamillionaire alumnus of good ol' Columbus State University visited Oxford and decide it would be a good thing in the sense of exposing people to other cultures. The average CSU student was likely born and raised within 100 miles of Columbus, GA. Neither he nor I think Oxford has a superior culture, but it is different. It also gave him the opportunity to jaunt around Eastern Europe for several weeks. I've found that type of travel was invaluable for changing my perspective and making me less prone to groupthink in politics and life in general.

[Brett L]

Whoops. To clarify "he/him" in the above is my friend, not the megamillionaire.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I doubt it will take 50 years.

[Jeff]

Is that still a thing? I remember that bunch of doctors writing a letter about how, gosh, there are so many stabbings these days and people don't really need such sharp knives, you know, so why not let's ban them? But that was years ago and I wasn't sure if that was just a one-off or part of a more sustained effort.

But, hey. Their murderous gangs are racially mixed, at least. That's pretty enlightened!

[SugarFree]

"How many knives do you have in the home?"

"How many of them are coated in the HPV vaccine?"

[sarcasmic]

The number one cause of kitchen accidents is a dull knife.

I suppose it's better to have kitchen accidents than allow peasants to own sharp knives.

[sloopyinca]

Former East Haven, CT cop (ret) indicted in federal court for systematic racial profiling and abuse gets caught while out on bail with an assault weapon on state property. Unlike any other person facing federal felony charges, he's placed under house arrest, where he will be able to enjoy his taxpayer-paid pension...which is, oddly enough, paid for by those people whose rights he abused in the first place.

Ain't unions swell?

[John]

And don't forget the very people he profiled will also be helping to pay for the giant civil judgement in the class action suit that will no doubt arise from this.

[SugarFree]

Archer derives many of its laughs from its political incorrectness, which is great--most fans (myself included) revel in its frequent bursts of deeply transgressive humor. But "The Wind Cries Mary" dove too deep into the waters of still-fresh bigotry for my taste.

Goring sacred cows are awesome until you gore mine.

Spoilers in the article for the newest episode of

Archer

.

[John]

Sort of like when people bitch about Girls not having any black people. Dumb hipster chicks in New York generally don't have black friends. It is like bitching that The Wire didn't have enough white criminals.

[KDN]

I just want to point out that season two was nothing but white criminals. Or are we playing by NBA rules and pretending Euros don't count?

[John]

Euros don't count. And my point was not that specific. Just more that you would expect a show about the Baltimore slums to concern mostly black people.

[R C Dean]

I just want to point out that season two was nothing but white criminals.

Still plenty of black ones. Plus, season two was also about pervasive corruption and criminality in the unions, which offsets any cred it got for showing whites acting badly.

[Brett L]

Grr. I can't type the rant I want for spoilers. Shit.

[Agammamon]

Dude, c'mon - anyone who watches "Archer" has already seen the episode, the rest aren't going to.

[db]

Not true. I wait until the show comes out on blu ray. I basically watch no broadcast TV unless it's a sporting event.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Before clicking that link I was thinking, Slate, something on Gawker, or Daily Kos.

Slate it is.

I'm not bitching here or anything, but hearing about how I am awful awful person for simply being a white male going on decades now makes it hard to muster a shit over a cartoon regardless of who is pilloried.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

What an aggrieved hack.

[BakedPenguin]

At least most of the comments are not stupid.

[MJGreen]

SPOILERS

These complaints are pitiful. We're supposed to be offended that Archer is disturbed to learn that his best friend raped him one night. That is now "gay panic."

[Gladstone]

Ever see Myra Breckinridge? Reason and LRC fave Gore Vidal used a similar plot element.

[Greg]

Has that writer ever watched Archer before? It sure doesn't sound like it.

[Enough About Palin]

Anagram: President Barack Hussein Obama = A Democrat speaks inane rubbish

[Brett L]

Cop saves Bambi, Indiana Wildlife officers euthanize the deer and threaten charges. What ever happened to professional courtesy?

[John]

Jeff Counceller, a police officer in Connersville, and his wife were charged with unlawful possession of a deer, a misdemeanor that punished to its fullest extent could put the Councellers in jail for up to 60 days and cost them up to $2,000 in fines.

Don't you care about children? Do you know how easy it is to by deer at any high school in America?

But they didn't euthanize the deer. It magically "escaped".

[R C Dean]

I'm betting it escaped right into someone's freezer.

[John]

Nah. If it was back to health, I am sure it just wandered off and joined its hundred buddies that no doubt live in the subdivision.

[sloopyinca]

Man, I wish I had some venison from this year. My freezer is pretty bare right now, but I'm thinking of slaughtering one of our hogs in the next few weeks. Just waiting on our sow (Lindy West) to give birth and then it's a shot between the eyes for Little Dunphy.

[mad libertarian guy]

Man, I wish I had some venison from this year.

Come to KY and enjoy a venison pot roast courtesy of the mad one. Here's the little booger right here.

We had a 50/50 venison/bison meatloaf last night (and will finish it off tonight). Mmm mmm mmm.

[Matrix]

For fucks sake.. the cop does an actually honorable thing and is getting punished? I guess they really are supposed to just shoot any animal that may in any way pose some kind of threat to "officer safety".