A.M. Links: First Lady Presents Best Picture Academy Award, Gibbs Was Told Not to Acknowledge Drone Program, South Korea's President Urges North Korea to Drop Nuclear Ambitions

Credit: Peter Souza/Wikicommons

• Michelle Obama presented the Oscar for best picture to Argo last night. Daniel Day-Lewis became the first actor to win the Oscar for best actor three times after winning the award for his performance in Lincoln. 

• Robert Gibbs was told not to acknowledge or discuss the secretive drone program when he served as White House press secretary. 

• Cuban President Raúl Castro has announced that he will resign after his second term ends in 2018. 

• South Korea's new president has said that her government will offer aid and trade to North Korea if the reclusive regime drops its nuclear ambitions. 

• NATO says that there is no evidence of misconduct by American special forces in Afghanistan despite allegations made by the Afghan government over the weekend. 

• Protests erupted in the West Bank after it was reported that a Palestinian had died while in Israeli custody. The protests come shortly after demonstrations for the release of Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strikes.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the Oscar for best picture to Argo last night.

A movie about Hollywood saving the day. Who would have guessed.

[Way Of The Crane]

I hear they plan on adding a new category to the Oscar next year: Best Awards Ceremony for Motion Pictures

I wonder who they'll nominate,

[Cheradenine Zakalwe]

Obama? He has magical powers.

[R C Dean]

Jeebus. The narcissism of the Obamas. They just have to elbow their way into everything.

The bride at every wedding. The corpse at every funeral.

[generic Brand]

The corpse at every funeral.

One can dream, can't he?

[Virginian]

ELIMINATIONIST RHETORIC!

[Clich? Bandit]

this was my first thought

[some guy]

I wonder if this was Michelle Obama "elbowing in" or if it was Hollywood humbly requesting the honor of her presence. It was probably a good business move on their part, either way.

[Joe M]

I never thought I'd see the day when Hollywood as a whole jumped the shark.

[Way Of The Crane]

Via the Onion Twitter feed:

Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhan? Wallis is kind of a cunt, right? #Oscars2013

Quvenzhan? Wallis=9 year old actress from Beasts of the Southern Wild

[robc]

I was offended that they took it down.

[Rich]

Pronounced "kwuh-VEN-jah-nay".

I have no idea how to pronounce her *last* name.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Elizabeth Hawksworth tweeted: "Quvenzhane Wallis is a nine year old woman of colour. Let's let what @TheOnion did sink in and remember that Dakota Fanning never had this."

RAAAAAAACIST!

[Killazontherun]

Elizabeth who? Google is ambiguous on the answer. All I see is ugly people. Probably all Canadians. 'Of color', lol! You can NOT make that sound unpretentious in any sentence you try it in.

[Juice]

colored = racist
of color = PC

[Juice]

9 year old woman?

[Don Mynack]

The Onion pussed on this, for sure.

[SIV]

Why doesn't the Onion care about the female libertarian demographic?

[Citizen Nothing]

This is why nobody takes The Onion seriously.

[Matrix]

Aussies warn Americans not to give up gun rights

[Drake]

Been told the same thing from Brits. The politicians really want a monopoly on firepower.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Why the fuck am I awake this early?

[Generic Stranger]

Because you're a masochist?

[Ted S.]

9:00 AM is early? 🙂

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just because Eastern Time Zone is the greatest time zone in history doesn't mean he's in it. Racist.

[Way Of The Crane]

Racist.

That word. I don't think it means what you think it means.

[crashland]

Calling him ignorant is racist, you racist.

[Ted S.]

What about all those time zones in Europe that are even later in the day than Eastern?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The eurotrash can have them. AMERICA RULES.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I look forward to the day when the Eastern and Pacific time zones fall into the ocean, leaving the good people of flyoverlandtimezones to live in peace.

[Fist of Etiquette]

South Korea's new president has said that her government will offer aid and trade to North Korea if the reclusive regime drops its nuclear ambitions.

Just like a woman, thinking she can change a man.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Perhaps, just perhaps, they could offer to trade with them DESPITE them pursuing their nuclear ambitions. See how that works out instead?

Just a thought.

[sarcasmic]

Dalek designer exterminated at 84.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....r-Who.html

[Clich? Bandit]

Stavros?

[Raston Bot]

Sorry!

[sarcasmic]

Naked vegan cooking. Barf.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ead_module

[Way Of The Crane]

Where's the beef?

[sarcasmic]

One time I asked this vegan chick how she kept a boyfriend if she didn't eat meat. Must have struck a nerve because she immediately pushed me down a flight of stairs.

[db]

Meat is attempted murder!

[Brett L]

Maybe she was just demonstrating. Learned everything she knew about keeping a man from Misery.

[sarcasmic]

I was going to ask her how a vegan could be so fat, but after picking myself up at the bottom of the stairs I decided it was not a good idea.

[Virginian]

Someone who eats mostly carbs and plants for her subsistence is fat? No way!

[Way Of The Crane]

I was going to ask her how a vegan could be so fat, but after picking myself up at the bottom of the stairs I decided it was not a good idea.

You were already at the bottom; what's the worst she could have done? Pushed you back up the stairs?

[NeonCat]

Jumped. On him.

[Generic Stranger]

She could have sat on him.

[Way Of The Crane]

Must have struck a nerve because she immediately pushed me down a flight of stairs.

For some reason, I get the feeling that this happens to you a lot.

[LTC(ret) John]

He did seem to mention it in an off-hand sort of way, yes?

[Cheradenine Zakalwe]

If you put a light coating of grease on a couple of those I'd eat it.

[Suthenboy]

What the hell? They should have blurred the vegan food and not the boobs.

[Rich]

They didn't blur John's boobs.

BTW, what *did* he do to that pie?

[Ted S.]

Who wants to cook naked vegans?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Who wants to cook naked vegans?

Tastes like chicken.

[SugarFree]

positive body imagery

Three words that generate horror when used in that order.

[Francisco d Anconia]

New Wave Hippies.

[Matrix]

Deranged gun owner shoots harmless guy. Ban guns now!!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Bad aim or bad tactics?

[sarcasmic]

Ace Frehley faces foreclosure. Never liked KISS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-home.html

[Drax the Destroyer]

Goes to show you that blowing a fortune on hookers and blow after only really working for ~25 years is not the best decision in life. I haven't even read the article but I bet his house is in some over priced area as well. I can hear the sound of a sad trombone play for the Star Child.

[Generic Stranger]

The article said the home was worth $735,000, which isn't so bad considering what it is - what looks like 3 or so buildings on 3.1 acres.

[robc]

I haven't even read the article but I bet his house is in some over priced area as well.

He owes 700k on a 735k home in Winchester Co, NY.

At least he isnt under water. So he has that going for him.

Im sure after penalties and fees he wont see a dime, but he probably wont be on the hook for anything either. Then again, Im betting NY is a non-recourse state.

[robc]

And I bet wrong, NY is a recourse state. Which makes sense, as the werent one of the death bubble states.

[Ted S.]

I think you mean Westchester. There is no Winchester Co. in New York.

[robc]

Correct.

[Rich]

There is no Winchester Co. in New York.

Thanks to those fuckers in Albany!

[LTC(ret) John]

Nicely done.

[swillfredo pareto]

I can hear the sound of a sad trombone play for the Star Child.

Maul Stanley is the Starchild, Ace was the Spaceman.

/KISSnit

[Clich? Bandit]

Star Child sits on the LNC.

[Way Of The Crane]

Isn't the KISS franchise worth over a billion $?

Either Ace really sucks at managing his money or he wasn't included on all that merchandising the band does.

[crashland]

Right but you know who controls it?

[Way Of The Crane]

I'm assuming Gene and Paul since they're the only ones I ever see giving interviews.

[Rasilio]

My understanding is that Gene Simmons pretty much screwed the rest of the band over and owns everything, the rest of the guys are just his employees and pretty much just get a salary

[bostonaod]

I think it's Gene and Paul, but I could be wrong.

Sidenote, could somebody explain how the 'business' of a band works? Are they set up as a corp? Who decides who gets voted out and shit?

[T]

Jews!

[LTC(ret) John]

Lizard people!

[Apple]

I like the accompanying picture of Tommy Thayer in Ace's makeup.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cuban President Ra?l Castro has announced that he will resign after his second term ends in 2018.

Finally, the embargo has worked.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Only took 58 years.

That whole not trading with countries you dislike works like a champ every time.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Glenn Beck calls libertarians "brainless fascists" after epic takedown by ISFLC's Alexander McCobin:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/gle.....iking-him/

Beck goes on to claim libertarians must give credit for the concept of liberty to God.

[Brett L]

Our message must be getting out if Beck AND Coulter feel the need to scream bout it. Or, more likely, Beck got jealous of Anne getting all the attention.

[Ted S.]

Or, more likely, Beck got jealous of Anne getting all the attention.

In that case, he could make a porn movie with her.

[Way Of The Crane]

In that case, he could make a porn movie with her.

[Way Of The Crane]

In that case, he could make a porn movie with her.

Can you imagine those two poking each other in the chops? I doubt that Beck would be up for it though because I'm pretty sure that Coulter has a bigger penis.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Gosh, I appreciate that image.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Beck goes on to claim libertarians must give credit for the concept of liberty to God.

I'll do that as soon as Beck gives credit of the concept of God to dumb hungry people bored out of their fucking minds, trying to find an excuse not to hurl themselves off the nearest cliff.

[Don Mynack]

Pat Gray used to host a local radio show here in Houston. He's a fucking dumbass.

[Suthenboy]

I thought Beck claimed that he was a Libertarian himself?

[Way Of The Crane]

That was before he know what Libertarian really means.

[Ted S.]

Beck's a loser, so why don't we kill him?

[T]

Get crazy with the cheez whiz.

[Stormy Dragon]

Beck is a con-artist. He'll be whatever people are throwing the most money at right now.

[LTC(ret) John]

O'Reilly has him beat, by just a bit, at following the populist theme d' jour.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Beck is a libertarian, like Shreeeek is a libertarian.

[KPres]

Wait...what? That's not the gist of the article at all.

Oh, wait, I should've looked at who posted it.

Anyway...here's some other quotes from the article...

"This society is strung out on the drug of government welfare. The other half of society is strung out on the American flag being all over the world," he also said. "And neither of them will see reality. No one will see that it doesn't work; it's not going to last. We made mistakes beginning 100 years ago." - Beck

At one point, though, Beck voiced his support for Rand Paul (as opposed to his usual suspects in Santorum and Michele Bachmann) as the future hope for liberty. We also got to hear him come out firmly against "warrantless wiretapping" and lament that he was once a "fool" for thinking otherwise

Honestly, Beck sounded the most libertarian he's ever been.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yes, PB was selective in his quotes.

For instance, there's this:

""Whatever sins I have, do you not want someone who is honestly saying 'I'm trying to learn?'" Beck asked of the libertarians who refuse to accept him."

Also, I don't see the reference to God, but if he gave God credit for liberty, he was simply paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson.

[wareagle]

I have no issue with someone making the effort.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I have no issue with someone making the effort.

Nor I, but I'm not sure it's genuine.

Some good could possibly come from it though. He has a shitload of Team Red followers. Perhaps some will explore libertarianism because of him.

Hey, I can dream.

[Cyto]

Play at being libertarian long enough, and you might find you accidentally became one.

[T]

Andrew Napolitano's libertarianism is pretty heavily influenced by his Catholicism, as well.

[Mike M.]

Our resident psychopath is completely obsessed with Glenn Beck. I guess he's probably still butthurt over his friends at ACORN getting taken down.

[Juice]

On one hand, he has a formidable audience-building skills

So does Pat Robertson?

[sarcasmic]

Some hippies finally give up.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....stock.html

[Virginian]

Ummm.....

Anyone else want to start a libertarian enclave on the property?

[LTC(ret) John]

Properly fumigated, first?

[Enough About Palin]

They'll never get the smell out.

[Juice]

I remember them always trying to recruit people at Mardi Gras.

[Rich]

"The planning of it was like Argo -- it was a C.I.A. mission, it was so complicated."

"Argo fuck yourself!"

[Thane of Whiterun]

South Korea's new president has said that her government will offer aid and trade to North Korea

Sooo, unwanted children?

[sarcasmic]

Alec Guinness was a jerk.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....egend.html

[Citizen Nothing]

Madness! Madness!

[Stormy Dragon]

Isn't keeping your petty complaints about other people entirely to yourself by only voicing them in your diary pretty much the opposite of being a jerk?

[Citizen Nothing]

This.

[sarcasmic]

MC Hammer gets arrested. Claims racial profiling.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....iling.html

[Matrix]

damn... you beat me!

[sarcasmic]

Ha ha

/muntz

[db]

No one touch this.

[Brett L]

You can't.

[Jerry on the boat]

Stop, Slammer Time!

[Ted S.]

He's too fulla shit to quit.

[Rasilio]

I guess the cops have proven that you can in fact touch this

[Enough About Palin]

I used to talk with Hammer on the phone back in the 80's. Nice guy.

[Juice]

At least he didn't hurt'em.

[Matrix]

Irrelevant 'celeb' arrested by fat Elvis

[sarcasmic]

Pron 4 John!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ekend.html
Chubbies!

[Rich]

PSA: If you click that link, you'll need to click this one.

[Suthenboy]

Thank you.

[Enough About Palin]

Yes. Thanks!

[Clich? Bandit]

god bless the internet

[Fist of Etiquette]

Robert Gibbs was told not to acknowledge or discuss the secretive drone program when he served as White House press secretary.

Did the White House Press Corps ever even ask?

[AlmightyJB]

They didn't need to 'cause this is the most transparent administration evah.

[DJF]

If its something that the press needs to write about the White House would have written the story for them.

[Thane of Whiterun]

How advertisers can get my attention

[Longtorso]

I read bookz so you don't have to:

Some quotes from Allison, John A. (2012-09-06). The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy's Only Hope
...Several economists pointed out that the legitimate affordable-housing market was not big enough to equal 50 percent of the giant loan portfolios of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. ...

...Economists at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) have estimated that Freddie and Fannie's subprime portfolio was in excess of $ 2 trillion. This is huge. The reporting error itself materially distorted the market. If you are buying subprime mortgage bonds, or if you are a rating agency trying to rate these bonds, the size of the market is extremely important in your decision process.

Freddie and Fannie's failure to report $ 2 trillion in subprime loans misled all the market participants, including the rating agencies. ...

[Longtorso]

...Unfortunately for them (and the economy), Freddie and Fannie got caught up in Sarbanes-Oxley accounting issues over derivatives, as described earlier. Their extraordinarily friendly relationship with Congress deteriorated, and they were put under severe pressure to meet Bill Clinton's affordable-housing/ subprime lending goals by congressmen and senators like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. They then plunged full tilt into the subprime lending business...

[Palin's Buttplug]

Not this shit again. True, Fannie/Freddie should never have existed but the hole they blew in the economy was papered over with $160 billion (out of a $15 trillion mortgage disaster).

They were mere punks.

[Don Mynack]

As Freddie and Fannie moved up the risk scale, however, they loosened their underwriting standards to meet the affordable-housing (that is, subprime) goals established by Congress. The whole origination market relaxed its standards to compete with Freddie and Fannie. Driven by Freddie and Fannie, the private originators created a competitive race to the bottom as the bubble continued (funded by the Federal Reserve) and it appeared that no matter how low the standards, home loans would not default.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, you have it backward. The private market invented NINJA/option ARMS/negative amortization, and the like and the GSEs were very late to catch up (really, they never did).

Shit loans are still being "putback" to the banks where the banks lied about the FICO scores to get FNM/FRE to buy them.

[Drake]

You are almost there. "... the banks lied about the FICO scores to get FNM/FRE to buy them."

So stop with a taxpayer insured, Congress-run, GSE buying loans. It's a fucking stupid idea.

[KPres]

The private market invented NINJA/option ARMS/negative amortization.

Only because they had a willing buyer.

[Jordan]

Fucking incentives, how do they work?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Not this shit again.

My beloved government couldn't possibly incentivized the housing bubble. Unpossible. Top. Men.

/Shreeeeek

[Brett L]

NJ teachers are cheap bastards.

A veteran New Jersey high school teacher from New York has been accused of contacting a student through Facebook and offering that student cash in exchange for sexual acts, prosecutors said.
...
Prosecutors said Weir contacted the student through Facebook instant messaging and offered the student $50 for a sexual encounter.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The "education" must be "working" if the student thinks $50 bucks is worth the trouble.

[R C Dean]

I'm guessing that converts to a very respectable hourly rate, though.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Minute-ly rate.

[KDN]

Paterson's a Class-A shithole. $50 is probably double the going rate.

[WTF]

This is why we need to pay teachers more money.

[Thane of Whiterun]

how to make the internet not suck (as much) ruined for Warty

[Brett L]

goatse is in your home?

[jesse.in.mb]

I've always used the MVPS one. The only problem is I occasionally link out articles from websites that have naughty advertising to people who are not host blocking. This leads to lots of "Jesus Christ man, why didn't you give me an NSFW warning"

[Matrix]

Homeless guy suing parents for not loving him enough

Yeah, you had a shitty childhood, but you are in control of your adulthood. You can't blame your parents forever.

[Rich]

"That's just it! I'm NOT in control of my adulthood! And I blame YOU, too!"

[John]

Don't make fun of Shreek. He had a tough childhood.

[lap83]

That story shows the truth of most homelessness in this society. It's usually not mental illness so much as it is grown people having the mentality of a spoiled selfish child. They are unwilling to cooperate with other humans and they are selfish dicks, so they can't hold down a job. Then they stew in their situation and blame everyone but themselves.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Reminds me of this douche.

[Zeb]

"That story shows the truth of most homelessness in this society. It's usually not mental illness so much as it is grown people having the mentality of a spoiled selfish child."

Amazing how a single anecdote can do all that.

[AuH2O]

I know! Especially an anecdote that contradicts every study done on this ever.

[Brian D]

Does he expect his parents to love him more afterwards?

[Jerry on the boat]

Seems that every movie got an Oscar last night just so for the marketing side of things.

[Drax the Destroyer]

It's sort of like how the Supreme Court, as part of the government, gets to have the final say on laws drafted by the government.

[Brett L]

That's a spicy meat-a-ball

Swedish furniture giant Ikea was drawn into Europe's widening food labeling scandal Monday as authorities said they had detected horse meat in frozen meatballs labeled as beef and pork and sold in 13 countries across the continent.

The French say, "no wonder we love those things."

[Bee Tagger]

Look, can we blame Ikea for trying to rein in their costs?

[Brett L]

People ask me why I call them Swedish Walmart. Now they know.

[Generic Stranger]

Neigh, it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in this economic climate.

[LTC(ret) John]

True, many retailers are saddled with higher costs at this time.

[Francisco d Anconia]

That thing you both did there...

...was seen...

...by me.

(and I didn't like it)

[Fist of Etiquette]

They probably should have known when they had extra horseshoes left over after assembling the meatballs.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"If this meat were any fresher, the jockey would still be riding it!"

[Rasilio]

Let me just say that I have purchased Ikea Meatballs and love them and I really don't give a damn if Flika is ground up in there

[Mickey Rat]

"Na'Kal: Breen! You've managed to import breen from Homeworld! How?

G'Kar: It, uh?isn't actually breen.

Na'Kal: The smell, the taste?!

G'Kar: It's an Earth food. They are called Swedish meatballs. It's a strange thing, but every sentient race has its own version of these Swedish meatballs! I suspect it's one of those great universal mysteries which will either never be explained, or which would drive you mad if you ever learned the truth.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I'll admit I don't quite "get" the whole Harlem Shake fad, but at least I don't get all butthurt about it.

And ugh, the douchenozzle at 2:05 complaining about TEH KORPORASHUNS.

[generic Brand]

I hate that fad. ANY other song would make it pretty interesting, what with things going apeshit 10-15 seconds into the 30 second clip. But that song is the absolute worst thing to come out of a retarded younger generation. We are so screwed in 15-20 years (if even that long) when these people start taking over.

[Thane of Whiterun]

In fairness to "the younger generation" (i.e., my generation), it seems to me that previous generations liked things such as, say, the Bangles.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Also Iron Maiden, though.

[AuH2O]

"Sugar, Sugar" from the Archies was a the #1 album the year it was released. In, like, 1968. So, yeah, "mainstream" musical tasted has always been shit-tastic.

[Way Of The Crane]

Duran Duran is still OK though, right?

[Thane of Whiterun]

I knew a hipster with a Duran Duran hat.

[Bobarian]

Duran Duran was never OK.

NEVER.

[Rasilio]

Hey, don't you be bad mouthing Susanna Hoff. She was responsible for a good percentage of my wet dreams when I was 16

[Zeb]

That's exactly what every generation says about the next one.

[T]

Reality has a way of beating the stupid out of the youths. Plus, with the epic beatdown for everybody coming down the pike, they'll smarten up or starve.

[Sarg221]

Can we speed up the beat down process? We're still at the point where most college kids think that big government is a good thing.

[Zeb]

We're still at a point where most people think big government is a good thing.

[Sarg221]

True, but if we can convince people that personal freedom is better than big government at an early enough age(hence, begin the beating sooner), we might be able to return to a system similar to the one that the founders envisioned.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I happen to like that song. I don't like everything the kids entering college like these days but I've been listening to various forms of electronica for about a decade now and am happy to see it becoming more popular. You old people can get off our lawn.

[Cheradenine Zakalwe]

Here is the real Harlem Shake.

[Thane of Whiterun]

GIMME THAT SHIMMY Y'ALL

[JW]

Clown College sure has changed a lot since I was a kid.

[Virginian]

http://co-ironwill.blogspot.co.....n-his.html

Know your rights!

[Rich]

"Cause for concern" is yet another term that should go away.

[Virginian]

I respect people who do carry openly, but it's not for me. I like to be low profile.

[Brett L]

Cunty little dick takes himself to the gunshow learns nothing except that he couldn't talk anyone into a crazy quote.

[Thane of Whiterun]

fixed link

"cunty little dick"? what a A Juicy Contradiction?!

[Brett L]

Thanks for the fix.

[Thane of Whiterun]

[Omar Samaha], whose sister was murdered in the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, went to a 2009 gun show on behalf of ABC News, and with $5,000, was able to buy 10 guns in an hour ? no questions asked.

The press, preserving democracy!

[Brett L]

Kinda like the evils of going to Walmart with $500 and leaving with all the sugary beverages you can carry, no questions asked!

[Warty]

And really, that's what it felt like at the gun show: Same old, same old. Had I attended in 2001 or 2006 or 2009, I imagine it would have felt an awful lot like the event I found in 2013. Even after a horrific gun tragedy, America's gun culture is more or less the same.

The nerve of those dangerous lunatic gun nuts, not agreeing with me.

[Killazontherun]

He'll assuredly forget the gift of five thousand dollars on his income taxes next year. It doesn't matter if he kept the guns or not, he was given the money to spend and that is what the IRS counts in their defining criteria of income. He's going to be the subject of an anonymous tip next year. I guarantee you that.

[Whahappan?]

Gift tax doesn't kick in until $13,000.

[Bee Tagger]

Robert Gibbs was told not to acknowledge or discuss the secretive drone program when he served as White House press secretary.

Will he face similar orders at MSNBC?

[db]

Don't Tell, Don't Ask.

[John]

Obama is just so awesome and bipartisan, no one understands him.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/mon.....rewed.html

[Drax the Destroyer]

Except the "enlightened" wardens of "social justice" who make up the septic tank dubbed Slate.

[Caleb Turberville]

I wonder if Anne Hathaway meant to have a boy's haircut last night?

[John]

She chopped her hair for the movie she was in. But it seems no one has told her how horrible she actually looks or that now that filming is over she can go it out.

[Caleb Turberville]

I'm going to be a disgusting pig and say that her best role was in Havoc.

[John]

Pretty much. she isn't much of an actor. And that film was when she was about 19 and still had an incredible body before the weirdos who run Hollywood made her starve herself.

[Jerry on the boat]

And what was up with Kristen Stewart?

[SugarFree]

Weed.

[John]

The people at Jimmy Buffet shows don't look as stoned as she does.

[SugarFree]

Supposedly she was limping because she stepped on broken glass. Dude, don't drop the bong.

[DJF]

I thought that was her acting style, to have one expression and look like she is on some depressants

[SugarFree]

Much like January Jones and Sarah Michelle Geller, Stewart doesn't really act. She reads a script out-loud and sometimes her delivery fits the plot and sometimes it doesn't.

[Clich? Bandit]

I asked my wife who the starving little boy was?

She didn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes.

[John]

Question, could there be more of an unpleasant experience than a five hour bus ride with Obama supporters being bused in to protest for gun control?

http://www.freerepublic.com/fo.....0659/posts

[Rich]

Perhaps if it included this?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

What is this? What sick fuck would do this?

[tarran]

Depends, are you in the cult or out?

[thom]

Breakfast AND lunch are included, and it is free.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

ZOMG! People getting bussed to a protest?? With free lunch?? TEH ASTROTURFZ!!!

[John]

Yeah, it is astroturfing if you go by the dictionary definition.

[tarran]

Whether it's astroturf of not depends on who is paying for the buses.

If I and some friends form an organization and rent buses, it's not very astroturfy.

On the other hand, if Greenpeace is providing buses and paying me with food to attend a protest on their behalf, it is much farther down the astroturf continuum.

The ultimate astroturf would be if the people being paid in food were being funded by the Obama admin which is not supposed to be interfere in state legislation (other than the constitutionally provided authority to enforce a republican form of government on the states).

[Bee Tagger]

Cuban President Ra?l Castro has announced that he will resign after his second term ends in 2018.

Do I have to think of everything? Use this opportunity for someone else to "win" a "fair" and "free" "election." Make a show of it for the media across the world.

[np]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ka.....he-border/

While attempting a road trip in late January from Vancouver to L.A. to join his cast members for the show's premiere, Rook was detained at the Canadian border for 9 hours, where he had to hand over his iPhone and iPad so that U.S. customs officials could go through his email, Twitter and Facebook accounts looking for evidence that his trip was for work not pleasure. Based on what he calls "no evidence," the officials gave him a five-year ban from entering the country.

Rook said he had planned a three month visit to L.A., where he had scheduled some meetings with casting agencies and Warner Brothers to advance his application for a U.S. work visa "for talent" that would allow him to move to the city full-time in the future. He also planned to try out for a few pilots while in town. He wasn't technically working, because he wouldn't be paid for any of this, but one of the border guards was suspicious.

"I could tell right away he wasn't in a good mood," said Rook. "I deal with these people a lot and could tell something was off."

[John]

No GS 9 border guard would ever abuse someone because of their celebrity status. Hey, I wonder if Kate Upton keeps naked pics on her Android. Lets find out.

[np]

Funny you mention that because:

They took his smartphone and iPad, asked him for the pin codes to both, and then left the room with the devices to go through them. For anyone with anything sensitive on their devices, this would surely be a harrowing experience. Make sure you've wiped any, ahem, revealing photos from your phone before a border crossing, or you could wind up even more exposed than when going through a TSA body scanner.

[John]

It was totally about finding celebrity gossip. There was no reason to do that. I travel abroad at least twice a year. I have never had them take my cell phone or laptop. But I am just some schmuck. Who wants to read my text messages?

[Thane of Whiterun]

My brother works at the Apple Store; you'd be amazed at how many people keep this stuff more or less in the clear.

I imagine a nefarious iCloud admin could get his/her hands on a lot of goodies.

[db]

I got thrown out of Canada once because of a misunderstanding over a lease agreement for some equipment I was working with. Every time I set foot in Canada, even if it's a hop on an international trip, I have to go through Immigration so they can lecture me about how it's not nice to TEK CANADIAN JERBS!!!

[tarran]

In my experience, Canadian customs officials are worse than American ones. They can't even get over even that low of a bar without tripping.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I've definitely had the same experience. Once, trying to get into their frozen wasteland, I mis-spoke when asked about my job, partially due to a hangover and partially due to no sleep, and they almost walked me off in chains right there. It was pretty difficult to not filling my pants with shit. Luckily, the guy was just an asshole who gets off making people almost shit their pants and ended up letting my dumb ass go after laughing about it. I fucking hate customs.

[db]

The Immigration lady threatened me with five years in Canadian prison for daring to come into Canada for my job without adequate paperwork. Basically I was training Canadian workers to run test equipment they had leased from us. It was a pretty tense hour s

[db]

The worst part was my employer had no idea they were supposed to give me the paperwork for this. Plus, it was essentially in support of sales and marketing and those folks cross the border all the time with no problems.

[tarran]

When I was at LTV Steel, there were two different unions supplying security cards at the Cleveland Works, which had a river bisecting it from south to north. The ones one the east side saw themselves as traffic guiders and paperwork checkers. The ones on the west side were ex-military or ex-cop and saw themselves as defending the mill against the commie hordes.

We were moving a bunch of expensive, unneeded computer hardware from the east side to the west side for storage. I loaded the pickup truck with the parts, waved to the guard as I drove out of the west side gate.

Driving into the east side, the guard stopped me and demanded my transfer paperwork. I gave him my winnningest Han Solo smile and said, "we don't need any!"

When he found out that the east side guards had let me drive out of the mill with thousands of dollars of hardware without even stopping me, I thought he was going to stroke out.

The funny thing was that the guys who were supposed to "store" the hardware loaded it into a front loader, and I watched them drive it over to a dumpster and just dump it in. I figure that we could have sold some of that stuff to legacy hardware support company for a few thousand dollars, but my bosses thought different.

Can't figure out why we ended up in chapter 7!

[R C Dean]

I mis-spoke when asked about my job,

"Occupation?"

"Smuggling underage heroin addicted prostitutes across international borders in cargo containers for use in snuff videos."

[Drax the Destroyer]

It's like you were there Dean.

[tarran]

My experience going into Canada on multiple occasions:

POS Customs Official "What is the purpose of your trip?"

Me: {"Tourism","My Sister In Law was in a car accident in your fine country and I've come to take her home"}

POSCO: "Where were you born?"

Me: "Istanbul, Turkey."

POSCO aggressively: "Citizenship?"

Me: "American"

POSCO aggressively: And when were you naturalized.

Me: "My mom's American; I've been a U.S. Citizen since Birth."

POSCO snidely: "Oh really?!?"

Then comes the forty five minute wait for the aggressive five question interview. The dark threat that the U.S. government will try to detain my ass when I return. The speculative fingering of my passport as if they are about to confiscate it.

Then finally the "You're free to leave, enjoy your visit, sir."

It will take a large amount of money deposited into my bank account to get me to travel to that God Forsaken Land.

[Caleb Turberville]

Remember how awesome it was when Laura Bush presented the Best Picture Oscar for 2005?

[SIV]

"I hear she killed a guy back in high school"

[wareagle]

almost as awesome as Tipper Gore at teh Grammys handing out the Best Rap Album trophy.

[np]

Madonna's Instagram Account Threatened to Be Shut Down For 'Mature Content'

According to Billboard, the 54-year-old singer has received a warning from the company to adhere to its community guidelines, which ban photos that show "nudity" or "mature content".

[Virginian]

Instagram has no nudity or mature content in the TOS?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA

[Thane of Whiterun]

That's what Vine is for

[Virginian]

Nah it's just that half the Instagram shots I see are attention whoring bullshit with 20 or 30 likes from pathetic mewling girly men.

If there wasn't any nudity or cheesecake shots on Instagram, it would just be pictures of food.

[Bobarian]

To be fair, these were warnings about Madonna pics...

Some things can't be unseen.

(SHUDDER)

[Palin's Buttplug]

NEW YORK?Money managers held a record number of bets on lower gold prices on the main U.S. gold exchange, according to data released Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Hedge funds and other investment managers tracked by the commodity regulator boosted their bets on lower Comex-traded gold futures and options by 33%, to 65,617 contracts, during the week ended Tuesday. That is the most in weekly CFTC data going back to June 2006.

http://blogs.barrons.com/focus.....record-dj/

It's building.

[Citizen Nothing]

Now's your chance to make a fortune, plug. Do it. Do it.

[db]

Futures != physical. There is a big big difference. Look up "backwardation" -- there's been some interesting discussion recently on what happens when futures prices drop below the spot price. Essentially, the dollar will either be worth zero or infinity in terms of gold, because no one will trade gold for dollars until the market rights itself. Whether or when it will right itself has something to do with when the currency manipulators in the central banks decide they want to stop fucking people.

So if you want to cheer for manipulated outcomes that make everyone poorer, go ahead. Just don't claim you're doing anything otherwise.

[robc]

Nice spin.

Here is the part you should have quoted:

Money managers still held more bets that prices would rise than bets they would fall, though by the lowest margin in more than four years. Their net long, or the amount of bets on higher prices less the number of bets on lower prices, stood at 42,318 contracts, the least since November 2008.

[John]

Shreek lying? What a shock.

[np]

Putin Turns Black Gold to Bullion as Russia Outbuys World
Putin told Bank Rossii not to "shy away" from the metal. "After all, they're called gold and currency reserves for a reason," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

Paper Money Kaput? Gold rush on rise as Europe crisis deepens

[np]

China Will Have World's Largest Gold Reserves In 2 To 3 Years

The last time China officially disclosed their gold holdings was in 2009. But there are some very strong clues regarding traffic through Hong Kong and production. They're the largest gold producer now and most of that gold stays in, not just central bank, but consumed among the populace

[Stormy Dragon]

I don't get why so many libertarian fetishize gold. Other than the "ooo, shiny" aspect, it's not really all that useful so it seems odd to make it the unique holder of value. There's obviously a huge gold in the bubble market, and if Russia and China are letting everyone else cash out at the top of the market, we shouldn't be terrified, we should be going "hahaha, suckers!"

[db]

The counter argument is that China and Russia may see something other than a bubble and may not be suckers here. No one seems to be claiming that Russia and China are libertarians who "fetishize" gold, yet, both countries are placing significant stores of value in gold.

[Stormy Dragon]

What I mean is that to a large extent, gold is valuable only because it is widely percieved to be valuable, not do to inherent utility. This is exactly the same as fiat currency. One can think "the dollar is going to lose value relative to gold, so I should use my dollars to buy gold", which is what China and Russia seem to be doing. What I dont get is the "gold is the one true currency!" thing you see a lot.

[John]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.co.....o-scandal/

Tunisian Islamist President caught in gay sex video. I have often wondered why the CIA isn't doing more of this with look alikes.

[The Late P Brooks]

Gene Sperling is on my teevee, weeping about how "children's mental health services" are going to be gutted by the sequester. Mental health services! For children! GUTTED!

Won't someone think of the crazy children?

[John]

NRO produces the reader comment of the year if not the decade.

You know what would be awesome? If well-intentioned people stopped trying to fix the world. Seriously. All of you. Just go get a good job, love your kids, home-school them, and stop worrying about how terrible the schools are, what bad parents your neighbors are, how much obesity there is, what drugs people are taking and what light bulbs they are using.

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....h#comments

[NoVAHockey]

where do I send a campaign check to that guy.

[Brett L]

The mask accidentally slipped on one of the financial TV channel morning shows at the gym. Someone admitted on live TV that the worst thing that could happen was the sequester happening and nobody noticing.

[Don Mynack]

Gutted, meaning cut by 1%, of course.

[Thane of Whiterun]

So one of the InterVarsity peeps at school sent me an FB invite to their "social justice week"

I'm informed I should "make special kits for women in strip clubs" because they are "where sex trafficking can easily hide"

[Brett L]

If your kit doesn't include cocaine, airplane bottles of tequila, a $100 bill, and a condom, you're doing it wrong.

[Virginian]

More like 100 1 dollar bills am I right?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Whenever I see the phrase "social justice" tossed about, I have day-mares where the worst of the OWS-types beat me with sticks and take the paltry amount of money I've been able to squirrel away. They proceed to spend it on Ipads and video games.

[KPres]

Social justice is a way to bypass individual justice while still using the word "justice".

[Rich]

PLEASE post that invite.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I dunno, I don't want Warty and STEVE SMITH knowing where I go to school.

[Rich]

Just redact. PRETTY PLEASE with SugarFree on top?!

[Thane of Whiterun]

OK. It's not that interesting though.

[generic Brand]

What does "Intervarsity Undergrad" mean?

[Rich]

You don't think it'd be interesting to "hear about the complexities of human trafficking from experts" and view "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls"?

I was disappointed that there was no logo for Social Justice Week, but THANKS for indulging me!

[Thane of Whiterun]

http://i.imgur.com/YwjvEfC.jpg

[LTC(ret) John]

"How can a loving God allow human trafficking?"

I see they do not teach the concept of "free will" at your school?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Two Christian groups are co-hosting the event; that's just how they roll.

My school is secular.

[The Late P Brooks]

f your kit doesn't include cocaine, airplane bottles of tequila, a $100 bill, and a condom, you're doing it wrong.

Mouthwash.

Don't forget the mouthwash.

[Virginian]

Never kiss 'em on the mouth.

[Way Of The Crane]

It's not to improve their breath it's to get certain tastes out of their mouths.

[John]

Jack Lew's Citigroup contract paid him extra stock options if he left for a high government position but not for one in the private sector. It is almost as if they benefit from having their people in the Obama Administration.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2522413

[The Late P Brooks]

You still have to talk to them.

[Virginian]

You talk at them, not to them.

[Spoonman.]

My wife had a crisis of confidence in our redoing our crappy kitchen to be slightly less crap, so we went to one of those kitchen design places to see what they'd say.

It turns out our "low end" price for a redo was over $20k, which set her mind right.

$20k for some boxes to look a little nicer. What the hell?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yeah, the scary thing is people pay for it... Oh well, at least the only people forcing us to buy that shit are women.

[generic Brand]

Oh well, at least the only people forcing us to buy that shit are women.

This is why there are no libertarian women!

[Drax the Destroyer]

No...this is why Drax has no women. Don't lump us all together. I'm sure John has several plump women tied up in his van as we type. Warty probably has a bunch of Kimchi eating whores coked out in his ovary-shaped bed right now as well. The Destroyer has none, because one of the things he destroys, is relationships. It's like a Midas Touch.

[John]

One things you can do is tear the old stuff out yourself. Contractors charge by the hour and make really good money tearing the old stuff out, which is something anyone with a crow bar and a truck to hall the stuff off can do.

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, tearing the old stuff out was $1900 of that price, and our plan if we went that way was to move them to the laundry room, so we definitely weren't going to pay somebody to do that.

[Rich]

Mrs. Rich & I had a similar experience. When we saw their estimate for the job, we immediately literally LOLed, it was *so* out of line with what we had in mind.

[Spoonman.]

Yeah, I mean, the doors are a little wacky and the countertop is slightly uneven, but it totally works.

[Zeb]

Kitchen stuff is insane. And for $20k it'll still look like pre-fab crap.

If you don't need all your cabinets to be freestanding, you can just build stuff in place for way cheaper.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

If the time comes to redo our kitchen before we turn it into a rental, we'll get a nice, expensive slab of something for a countertop, some nice replacement doors for the cabinets, and some under- and in- cabinet lighting.

Upscale kitchens are really cool, I just can't justify the price for what I'd like.

[Apatheist ?_??]

This is one of the ways I'm convincing my wife to keep renting for a few more years. Our kitchen is fantastic and there is no way we could afford something that nice in a starter home.

[The Late P Brooks]

went to a 2009 gun show on behalf of ABC News, and with $5,000, was able to buy 10 guns in an hour ? no questions asked.

The system worked!

[Virginian]

Ah the days when guns averaged 500 dollars apiece.

[Virginian]

Oh, and didn't he just confess to a straw purchase?

[DJF]

Hey, its not against the law when someone in the media does it to support the administrations policies.

[John]

I figured Silver Lining Playbook would win last night. It was perfect. Another movie like Crash, The Artist, Slumdog Millionaire and so many other recent Best Picture winners that no one will ever watch again with the added bonus of it being the great Hollywood storyline of a gorgeous women who for some reason can only get a date with an excon who can't control his temper. That is Hollywood right there.

[AuH2O]

Well, to be fair, its not like Bradley Cooper is a tatooed up thug. He's freaking Bradley Cooper.

I found Silver Linnings to be a perfectly fun, cute rom com, sort of echoing some of the great old screwball material.Best picture? No, not necessarily, but more because of the rule Hollywood created in the 1970s, "If it makes you laugh, ever, it can not by definition be a great movie."

[AuH2O]

Also, Silver Linings fills a niche. Its a solid, cute romantic comedy with utterly no one to hate (unliek Katherine Heigl. Here career can't be over soon enough, people) and is a really good date night movie.

Like, if your wife/gf say, "Honey, let's just stay in and watch Silver Linnings" that ain't too bad, compared to having to watch anything to do with Nicholas Sparks (*cough sloopyyoudirtywhore IhopeyourdaughterbecomesobssessedwithTwilight orNicholasSparksorsomething cough*

[generic Brand]

***PLOT-HOLE SPOILER ALERT***
Was I the only one to notice that earlier in movie the Eagles were playing the Seahawks and were winning 27-10 because of Cooper's good juju, then when Lawrence was revealing the connection between dance practices and Philly sports, the Seahawks lost to the Eagles 17-10?

[generic Brand]

He wasn't an ex-con; he was institutionalized because of bi-polar disorder. Just sayin'.

[John]

Mental illness, even more attractive.

[SugarFree]

What a strange thing for Jezebel to complain about.

[robc]

Seems the company did the right thing, Im failing to see the problem. It was apparently exactly one batch, not some ungoing thing they ignored.

The only difference between that and local sausage is that if something gets into a local batch, there is nothing to recall by the time its figured out, because the batches are small.

[SugarFree]

Yup. It seems like the typical paradox that leftists want to put business in: small businesses can't afford the amount of regulation they demand and big business that can afford it are bad for some reason they can't really articulate.

Speaking of small business: Have you ever eaten at the Grind food truck? They were down from Louisville at West 6th Friday, but I couldn't make it. Their menu looked interesting.

[robc]

No, not that one.

The food trucks rarely get out my way, which annoys me, as I would hit them up if they did more often.

Of course, the new rules that prevent them from parking within X feet of a residential zone gives them limited spots in the burbs.

[SugarFree]

Ours were in trouble after some zoning "reinterpretation of regulations" after 1/1/13, but that has been cleared up. They're fate is still up in the air until a June city council vote.

In Lexington they've gotten into a very profitable relationship with the brewery taprooms and beer bars. Since they still can only be on private property, one will be invited to, say, Country Boy, set-up for the night and serve the patrons. People either come for the beer and get hungry, or come for the food truck and drink as well. The bars have gotten into announcing which food trucks will be there on a certain date, and even posting their menus on there websites or Facebook updates.

[robc]

Apocalypse does that food trucks.

I probably will too.

The Louisville rules are mostly good with some weird restrictions. The one that annoys me is that even on private property, a food truck cant stay in one place for more than 14 days.

Before that change, which when in when they were "loosening" the rules for food trucks, there was one taco truck that had a semi-permanent spot in one shopping center. Now they have to leave for two weeks after being there for two, or something.

[Virginian]

Private property isn't anymore.

The craft beer and wine store in my old neighborhood had a permanently parked trailer that did Cajun food.

[robc]

"went in when"

[SugarFree]

We still have the 14 days rule, but I think even without it most of the trucks would still more around like they do. The customer base of the various bars-that-allow-food-trucks is so rigid, I imagine variety suits them.

For my money, the food truck has led me to go to the bar far more often than the bar as led me to eating at the food truck. Country Boy is so busy and W6th so full of douches, I doubt I'd go to either very often without a food truck drawing me in.

[robc]

The one time I was at Country Boy it wasnt busy at all. Of course, that was July 4th, so things have changed and that probably isnt the biggest bar day of the year. 🙂

I havent been to West 6th yet, not sure I will like it. Although some probably think that Holy Grale is douchey. I think its a bit pretentious but not hipster or douchey.

[SugarFree]

Country Boy has been discovered. They had to open a "back bar" in the brewery space to accommodate. It's loud and crowded now. Good on them, but I'll wait until the student's leave to spend any serious time there.

The beer gets better and better. They had a barrel-aged chocolate stout on Valentine's day that was delicious, and they've make a very drinkable high-alcohol Imperial Stout.

The biggest knock some people have is that the beer isn't consistent, but their experimentation is what I love about them. Country Boy and Against the Grain have started trading kegs, which is interesting, even if only a few of AtG offerings have been to my taste.

The problem with W6th is the part of town they are in, which is hipster central. The guys that run it are really nice and enthusiastic about beer, but they are shooting for a consistency of product because they want to can, but it's a consistently mediocre to my tastebuds. And their fan base is a bit rabid and will brook no criticism, also because of the part of town--it's a very defensive crowd as they are enthusiastically gentrified that part of town and complaining about the gentrification of that part of town simultaneously. Think mini-Williamsburg circa 2003.

[robc]

They will be back at West 6th on 3/29.

[SugarFree]

Cool. Maybe I can make it. I'm not a huge fan of their beer, and it is polluted with hipsters, but it's a nice space they've set up.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So from the headline, this has something to do with marital aids?

[Drax the Destroyer]

I refuse to click that link, but do they (writer and/or commenters) go into histrionics as they type "THE JUNGLEEEEEE!!!!!!" over and over again.

[SugarFree]

MadPiglet and 2 more Reply
I re-read "The Jungle" whenever I feel the urge to spend some time as a vegetarian. I feel like one of those times is on the horizon. I have to practice a special kind of denial when it comes to sausage, and I do try to buy in a farm-to-table way, but that's not always possible. At the diner, say.

[Drax the Destroyer]

DO I get a cookie? Gold Star? Severe Depression because the human race is a disappointment?

[SugarFree]

All of the above.

[Rich]

Must have been the "mild pork sausage roll" -- emphasis added.

[AuH2O]

Jezebel is highlighting this because even if they don't eat meat (obvs.), incidents like this show just how big and evil and always plotting corporations are and therefore just another example of how vital government spending and regulation are to our daily lives.

[Way Of The Crane]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service denotes that a Virginia packing company called Smithfield has recalled around 38,000 lbs of their "Gwaltney mild pork sausage roll"... ...because they may contain small pieces of plastic. They think it's probably from gloves...

Look: in an ideal world, we could all afford to eat free-range, organic whatever-the-fuck.

Because workers making free-range, organic sausages aren't don't use glove?

[JW]

"Free-range, organic, colon-formed."

[Way Of The Crane]

That explains the natural intestinal casings.

[John]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....3301.story

The reputed gang member accused of gunning down 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton last month was on the street even though he had been arrested three times in connection with break-ins and trespassing while on probation for a weapons conviction in recent months, the Tribune has learned.

Remember kids, it is guns that is causing the murder problem not a complete breakdown in law enforcement.

[Jordan]

Break ins and trespassing. Aren't those crimes that you have to now call 311 for instead of 911 (in other words, crimes that the CPD will not even bother responding to)?

[Eduard van Haalen]

It's those other, more liberal jurisdictions which are flooding Chicago with guns!

[AuH2O]

Seriously? The fucking first lady had to be part of the fucking Oscars, something that I don't believe a single government official has ever presented at?!

I mean, all the presidents we've elected are narcissists (its the kind of position that attracts that personality), but the Obamas may take the goddamn cake. Jesus, by Obama's last year, it will be bad.He's going to be flying all over the country just so he can preside over the goddamn coin flip at football game.

[John]

The make Bubba and wife seem classy and understated. They really are just nouveau riche trash.

[Tony]

Well la-di-da. Not all of us can trace our lineages directly to William the Conqueror and have so much idle time that we can actually find room in our lives to be outraged over something so completely harmless.

John if Laura Bush had done exactly the same thing: "Movie making is a proud, traditional American industry, and the First Lady has every right to participate. What a patriotic moment. She truly is a class act."

[Zeb]

What do you suppose the audience would have done had it been Bush?

[Tony]

The logic of that scenario is hard to figure out... okay imagine Laura Bush doing a surprise video appearance at the Country Home Cross-stitching convention. Equally, more, or less trashy, John?

[Sarg221]

Yea, like a bunch of actors in Hollywood would have invited a republican president or first lady.
Maybe they would just throw shoes at him?

[John]

Laura Bush would have never done such a thing. The Obamas are tacky and no class people who honestly think they are doing us all a favor by sticking her ginormous ass into every single aspect of society. They are just trash both of them.

[Tony]

Commenting on her ass, how classy!

What's "trashy" about doing a surprise video appearance at one of the country's biggest cultural events? I don't get it.

[AuH2O]

A gay lecturing another man on commenting on a woman's ass?

I mean... irony, I want to say, but I could be wrong.

[Sevo]

You're wrong. When it comes to shithead, presume stupidity over irony, always.

[Tony]

As a gay it is my lot in life to attempt to educate straight men out of their natural boorishness. Let me think of an example, laced with irony for good measure: an excitable idiot saying a woman has a "ginormous ass" and then accusing her of being classless.

[Sevo]

Tony| 2.25.13 @ 10:42AM |#
"As a gay it is my lot in life to attempt to educate straight men out of their natural boorishness."

As a human being, it is my lot in life to tell you that you're a slimy turd.

[Mike M.]

"Tony" isn't gay, and he isn't from Oklahoma. That's just his phony sockpuppet persona he's created.

[Rich]

He's going to be flying all over the country just so he can preside over the goddamn coin flip at football game.

With the *trillion-dollar* coin, no doubt.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Goldwater, you get the Destroyer's seal of fucking goddamn swearing approval.

Related to the content of your rant, I used to give Obama a pass as "Just another fucking shitty president..." as I've done with 90% of the bastards. But the longer this douchebag is in office...the more I hate him. As I listen to Peter Schiff's radio show, he plays an audio clip where Obama says something to the tune of "They want to make a virtue out of selfishness!" which induces a blood-boiling rage in my clogged arteries. Like that fucker has ever bother to read The Fountainhead let alone the book he tries to bludgeon us with in that quote. Fuck. It reminds of all the cunts who get their Atlas Shrugged hate-on, but none of them ever got passed page 100. Granted, some of that shit is hard to read, but finish the book you disingenuous cum-fart cocktails.

[Tony]

I've read them both all the way through, and they're dreck, and selfishness isn't a actually virtue. For fuck's sake why don't I write a book telling teenaged boys that jacking off five times a day is the source of all human greatness, and I'm sure they'd eat that up too.

[Rich]

I see you've read Portnoy's Complaint.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Granted, some of that shit is hard to read, but you finished the books you disingenuous cum-fart cocktails.

[AuH2O]

Tony, did you forget to use lube last night? I keep telling you body, no matter how hot and horny you get, if you use spit instead of KY, you are going to end up butthurt in the morning.

[Tony]

It's Monday.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

... selfishness isn't a actually virtue.

What's more selfish, my choosing how to spend my money or your taking it with a gun to spend it how you'd like?

[Tony]

Oh gee I dunno. Since I'm clearly advocating armed robbery as the alternative.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

What is the bottom-line threat for not paying taxes? Men with guns will come and take you to prison. Right?

[SugarFree]

Men with guns will come and take you to prison. Right?

joe always claimed no one was ever put in jail for failing to pay taxes, ergo taxes were completely voluntary.

[DonH]

joe was full of it, Irwin Schiff and others are in prison for failing to pay taxes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Schiff

[Tony]

Why do you think you should be able to freeload on society?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I don't. What is utterly laughable, though, is that once you get past the core benefits that accrue to everyone -- protection, courts, roads !!, etc. -- the taxes you favor are extracted precisely for the purpose of allowing others to freeload on society. So, why do you think the beneficiaries of the largesse you want the state to take from others should be able to freeload on society?

[Tony]

Not sure who you're referring to. I don't favor any program for the reason that it allows people to freeload. A safety net is good for all of society (since theoretically everyone is at risk of falling into poverty).

But that's a distraction from the argument. All taxes are taken in the same manner. They can't be the equivalent of armed robbery if they go to pay for one thing but legitimate if they go to pay for another.

You have choices other than paying taxes to support this particular civilization, but those rightly don't include living off that civilization and not paying your share.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I don't favor any program for the reason that it allows people to freeload.

You favor healthcare as a right, don't you? Those who can't buy their own are freeloading on either the taxpayers or the providers. Calling it a safety net does not change its nature.

They can't be the equivalent of armed robbery if they go to pay for one thing but legitimate if they go to pay for another.

Sure they can. If someone takes your money and then deposits into your account it is not equivalent to taking your money and depositing it in their account.

Texas Theft statute: Sec. 31.03. THEFT. (a) A person commits an offense if he unlawfully appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.

(2) "Deprive" means:
(A) to withhold property from the owner permanently or for so extended a period of time that a major portion of the value or enjoyment of the property is lost to the owner;
(B) to restore property only upon payment of reward or other compensation; or
(C) to dispose of property in a manner that makes recovery of the property by the owner unlikely.

Robbery is just a special case of theft.

[sarcasmic]

Collecting money through voluntary exchange is theft, while collecting money under threat of kidnapping is the height virtue.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Mohwak, obviously if you have enough money to not starve to death, you have too much.

[Citizen Nothing]

War is Peace.
Force is Selflessness.

[T]

why don't I write a book telling teenaged boys that jacking off five times a day is the source of all human greatness

Well, it made you whatever you are today, didn't it? Quit complaining.

[The Late P Brooks]

didn't he just confess to a straw purchase?

Laws are for little people.

[SIV]

Phrenologists determine we aren't Rhesus monkeys

Obama wants to give these clowns $Billions for more "research".

[Zeb]

Phrenology? Do you think that neuroscience is some sort of pseudoscientific fraud or something?

[Thane of Whiterun]

Yeah, he does.

Anyway, it couldn't be that the summary sucked and the actual article has more info, could it? Never.

IDK why I indulge MonkeyAIDS

[The Late P Brooks]

If David Gregory went to a gun show in Texas with a film crew, and told a seller he was buying a gun for his Guatemalan cook so she could carry it in her purse while riding the bus to and from work, MSNBC would spin it as the breakdown of sensible gun regulation, and agitate for the arrest of the seller.

And Gregory would be a hero.

And if the seller told him to go fuck himself, well, they'd wipe the hard drive and try somebody else.

[AuH2O]

Gun sellers should just find every local and national reporter and just put their pcitures on a giant "Do not sell too" list.

[John]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/02.....r-for-sex/

Another Menendez hooker steps forward.

Menendez, she said, is "quite a hobbyist. He sees a lot of girls and doesn't seem to have the skills to have a relationship."

"Hobbyists," she explained, are men who "'hobby' in seeing many girls, as many as they can," referring to escorts who offer companionship and sexual favors in exchange for what they euphemistically call financial "donations."

Just a matter of time before an underage one comes out of the woodwork. What a freak.

[Heroic Mulatto]

In 2006, Menendez's journalist daughter whined that people would have the audacity to say mean stuff about her Daddy during the campaign:

The New York Times reported that on Election Day, 2006, after a campaign marked by mean-spirited personal attacks, Menendez approached her father's competitor, Tom Kean, Jr., introduced herself, and wished him luck. Menendez stated, "It's very easy to be negative when it's anonymous, but that's somebody's Daddy you're talking about."

She is strangely quiet now.

[WTF]

I wonder if he made the hookers call him 'daddy'?

[SugarFree]

No, demanded that the hookers respond to him calling them "Daddy."

[Clich? Bandit]

"You might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment."

[Enough About Palin]

I read this morning that horse meat turned up in IKEA's Swedish meatballs and all I can think is, man, I could really go for a plate of Swedish meatballs. Might have to hit Macy's Oak Grill for lunch today.

[Matrix]

Man dies from gunshot wound 36 years later

they are not classifying this as a homicide, as well they should. But the suspects were never found.

[Matrix]

meant to say "now" instead of "not"

[The Late P Brooks]

Personally, I'd be delighted to see the First Nag spend the next four years doing ribbon-cutting ceremonies at used car lots and Dollar General stores.

[sarcasmic]

First Nag? C'mon! That's an insult to horses everywhere! Comparing a wookie to a horse? That's just fucking racist!

[Sevo]

"South Korea's new president has said that her government will offer aid and trade to North Korea if the reclusive regime drops its nuclear ambitions."

Been tried; doesn't work.
The Kim's are tin-pot dictators who care about their personal power and wealth alone.

[Drax the Destroyer]

In the short term, such trade could enrich the bastards more than they hoped. In the long term, their people will know what they've been deprived and probably turn the bastards into pinatas.

[Sevo]

Drax the Destroyer| 2.25.13 @ 10:34AM |#
"In the short term, such trade could enrich the bastards more than they hoped."

Seems they already fly to Tokyo in what amounts to AF1 for Japanese take out; not sure it's possible to steal much more.
But any hint of what the world's actually like to their population is death to those guys.

[jesse.in.mb]

Actually ROK has given a lot of food aid to the DPRK. Before they cross the border the DPRK changes all of the signs on the trucks to obscure the origin and contents of the deliveries.

[The Late P Brooks]

What's "trashy" about doing a surprise video appearance at one of the country's biggest cultural events? I don't get it.

"Biggest cultural events"?

Seriously?

[R C Dean]

No kidding. Its not like she threw out the first pitch at the Superbowl or anything.

[Jerryskids]

On the 24/7 block - "Egyptians Voting to Send Morsi to Outer Space"

I first read that as "Egyptians Voting to Send Morrissey to Outer Space" and thought 'as fine an idea as that is, why are the Egyptians the ones doing it?'

[Sevo]

See, his views are still 'evolving'
"Obama to decide on filing Prop. 8 brief"
"President Obama is due to render his own verdict with a decision to join the legal battle or stay out of it."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/nation/a.....z2LvPyGxIj

Weathervaning, but don't worry, all but two or three gays will vote for him.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I thought he was for a states'-rights approach to gay marriage? But that was before the election, of course.

[Sevo]

Yeah, but then his views 'evolved' when it looked like there were three more votes from knocking down DADT than leaving it in place.

[desosa]

what Carmen explained I am impressed that any body can make $6192 in 1 month on the computer. have you seen this web link http://qr.net/j93R

[Brett L]

Carmen's body couldn't make $6192 turning tricks 24/7.

[SugarFree]

Whatever. Still more real than Tony or shrike.

[Mike M.]

Curtis Jackson, aka "50 Cent", gives Erin Andrews an unsolicited kiss. Her "get the fuck away from me" reaction is priceless.

[sarcasmic]

Obviously she's racist. I mean, she works for FOX. She must be racist.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yeah, there's got to be a way to milk this to attack Fox. How about saying that Andrews would have had no hesitation about kissing Kid Rock full on the lips, because Kid Rock is, you know, white?

[Cheradenine Zakalwe]

This is why there are no black female rappers.

[Hyperion]

The feds should take this idea out of private hands and run with it.

Scooby SNAPS

[The Late P Brooks]

Why do you think you should be able to freeload on society?

Fucking logic- how does it work?

[Tony]

You think you should be able to opt out of the mechanism for paying for the physical and legal infrastructure of the civilization you use every day because... logic?

[mad libertarian guy]

If government spending was equal to "the mechanism for paying for the physical and legal infrastructure of the civilization" it would still be bad enough. But what you describe is about .05% of government spending. The rest is clever ways to use force to steal and give to their friends.

[sarcasmic]

Tony sees no distinction between tax dollars paying a policeman to do his job, and tax dollars paying some welfare recipient to sit on their ass all day eating chips and watching cable.

No distinction at all.

[Tony]

Sure I do. One is real, the other is a quasi-racist fairy tale invented by rightwing assholes to make old white morons irrationally angry at government.

[sarcasmic]

I've known plenty of people in my life who managed to succeed in their goal of becoming permanently on welfare. All were able bodied, but just unwilling to do anything.

I suppose I should believe your leftist lies over my own eyes.

[Hyperion]

You just made that up, man, no one is gaming the system.

I bet those folks that you are speaking of, if they do indeed, exist, have 1000s of excuses for why they can't work, and why you need to pay for them to live better than you could working 2 full time jobs.

[tarran]

Nobody was gamin the system!

That's why when the handouts were reduced under the Clinton Era Welfare Reform, there were people starving on the streets!

[Hyperion]

That's why when the handouts were reduced under the Clinton Era Welfare Reform, there were people starving on the streets! gettin jerbz!

FIFY

[Hyperion]

tax dollars paying some welfare recipient to sit on their ass all day eating chips

Chips? Are you kidding me? You mean lobster, filet mignon, and $80 bottles of wine, right?

Troll also thinks that you owe someone a living through government paying them a 6 figure salary job for life, for getting a degree in multicultural feminist history.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Because welfare, EITC, food stamps, Section 8, Cowboy Poetry Festivals, the Department of Education, etc., etc., etc., are the physical and legal infrastructure of the civilization you use every day, right?

[Tony]

You don't have to like everything government spends its money on, but imagine the complexity of the tax code and the resulting mess if everyone got to personally decide where his tax dollars were allocated.

[tarran]

Tony has a point: the complexity of the contract I have with the supermarket is horrific.

[sarcasmic]

Because your exchanges with the supermarket are voluntary, they are stealing from you.

Only the exchanges where you give money under threat of being kidnapped by an agent of the government are moral.

[tarran]

I stole from Star Market last week: I decided not to buy the organically grown free-range tofu and bought a cheaper chicken breast instead. It was horribly selfish of me to hoard my money and worsen global warming climate change climate weirding.

[Joe M]

Minor quibble: tofu is quite affordable, often cheaper than meat.

[Hyperion]

The supermarkets are stealing from you, man! Wake up comrade and let's bring these capitalist pigs to justice. We need the government to step in, nationalize those evil markets, and set the prices for us.

It worked out great in Venezuela, you see, there is now no food on the shelves, and that is great, because people are too damned fat! You see how government works for the good of all people?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I notice how quickly you move those goalposts far the hell away from paying for the physical and legal infrastructure of the civilization you use every day.

There may be some close issues around the edges but paying for a court system isn't close enough to paying for food stamps to introduce a lot of complexity to the discussion.

[mad libertarian guy]

Teachers Unions still evil.

The New York State teachers' union filed a lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of the state's cap on annual increases in local property taxes, one of the signature measures of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's time in office.

Surely opposing caps in property assessment rates is all about the children. Because the school system can use that money better to suit the children's needs than THEIR FUCKING PARENTS who pay those property taxes.

Fuck teachers unions with a rusty chainsaw.

[WTF]

Teahcers don't get paid ENOUGH!
/MATT DAMON

[The Late P Brooks]

You think you should be able to opt out of the mechanism for paying for the physical and legal infrastructure of the civilization you use every day because... logic?

NEEDZ MOAR HANDWAVING AND LOOK-OVER-THERE!

[Hyperion]

but imagine the complexity of the tax code and the resulting mess

Talk about irony...

[The Late P Brooks]

imagine the complexity of the tax code and the resulting mess if everyone got to personally decide where his tax dollars were allocated.

Oh, the horror of voluntary exchange. I realize you are impervious to such arguments, but I manage to decide how to allocate my money between such "benefits" as gasoline for my car, a ski pass, beer, and animal cookies (it says "organic" right on the label, but I buy them anyway).

Why wouldn't I also pay for government services as I use them? Gasoline taxes for repair and maintenance of the roads I drive on. "Security" taxes to fund the FAA and TSA if I go insane and for some reason choose to fly again. Port fees for maintenance and "security" services involved in importing the coffee I like to drink every morning.

Do you see where we're going?

[sarcasmic]

It's not fair that you don't want to use the government to take from people who can afford it and give people free shit!

That's robbing the poor to feed the rich!

Every dollar that you do not take from a rich person and give to a poor person was in fact stolen from the poor person and given to the rich person!

See? Not taking is giving, and not giving is taking!

[The Late P Brooks]

You just made that up, man, no one is gaming the system.

I must have imagined those ads on the teevee for Social Security Disability Benefits "advocates".

"No fee unless we get you free money every month! Call now!"

[The Late P Brooks]

How would you fund Cowboy Poetry Festivals?

A tax on cowboy hats?

A tax on lariats?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Admission tickets.

[Hyperion]

to make old white morons irrationally angry at government.

Troll has no logic, no reason, no facts, no brains, resorts to racism.

[John]

Yeah, so says the troll who loves the environmental and anti- gun movements, both of which are made up almost entirely of old angry white people with little understanding of science.

[The Late P Brooks]

Admission tickets.

Now you're just being mean.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Even more evidence that abortionists are willing to abort female children *because* they're female:

http://protectourgirls.com/