A.M. Links: John Kerry in Iraq, Afghanistan, Michael Bloomberg Targeting Pro-Gun Rights Politicians Around Country, IRS Spent $60,000 on Star Trek Parody

• 

  IRS

  John Kerry made a surprise visit to Iraq this weekend, followed by a surprise visit to Afghanistan this morning. In Iraq Kerry accused the regime of providing support to Bashar Assad, including allowing Iranian weapons to be shipped to Syria. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, meanwhile, says the red line for U.S. intervention in Syria has been crossed.

• Michael Bloomberg says he has a responsibility "to try to make this country safer," and will be spending millions of dollars on ads targeting the NRA and pro-gun rights candidates across America..
• A Mississippi state legislator apparently shot herself in another former lawmaker's home.
• The president of the Central African Republic fled the capital this weekend ahead of a takeover by rebels, where at least a dozen South African soldiers died trying to defend the city. The rebels have now named a new government. 
• Just as work to clear the Shanghai river of dead pigs finished, at least a thousand dead ducks were found in a river in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
• The IRS spent $60,000 to shoot a Star Trek parody. Beam me up.

Follow Reason 24/7 on Twitter!

Follow Reason on Twitter too, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here.

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

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

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The IRS spent $60,000 to shoot a Star Trek parody.

Set phasers on wince.

[Counterfly]

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an accountant.

[Rich]

+1

[Fist of Etiquette]

And where do they get off wearing TNG uniforms on the bridge of the TOS Enterprise? They're polluting the timeline.

[Zeb]

Maybe they are antique spaceship enthusiasts from the time of TNG.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Then they're just polluting space. The Constitution Class didn't have jack shit in the way of emission controls.

[Loki]

Because if the Federation were run like our current government they would have still been operation Constitution Class starships at the time of TNG at triple the cost of what a private starship operatot could.

[Loki]

*operator*

Damn keyboards: hoqw di theay fyckjing workl?

[Perd Hapley]

Now, for our viewers at home who may not know, the phaser you are referring to is not real, as phaser do not exist, and is instead a made-up reference to the popular televisual program Bonanza, correct?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I believe you're thinking of six-shooters, which are a very real thing.

[Perd Hapley]

Oh-ho-ho! I believe I am! Clearly you were referring to the popular program Gunsmoke as the origin of phasers, and not Bonanza! Well, I suppose this little mistake, or a Hapley Slip as I call them, will have to end up on the blooper reel.

Back to you, Cheryl.

[Matrix]

THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO CUT!

[Trespassers W]

Did you know that the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" appears in every episode of TOS except one? (The one with the Nazis.)

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's a damned lie.

[darius404]

That's exactly what I'd expect a Nazi to say.

[Bobarian]

Way to Godwin the thread...

[crashland]

Let's just give a red shirt to every single employee of the IRS... problem solved!

[Agammamon]

They've already got brown ones.

[sarcasmic]

Kate Beckinsale. Yoga. Oh my.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-skit.html

[Drax the Destroyer]

Thank you, you motor-boating sonoafabitch!

[John]

She looks good. And a bit crazy.

[sarcasmic]

Counterfly would kick her out of bed. I mean, she's like old and stuff, you know?

[Counterfly]

Those pics are pretty far away, you get those yoga pants off and it's like dried apricot city.

[Drax the Destroyer]

...dried apricot city.

Well, looks like I'm not having lunch now.

[Counterfly]

Were you going to have dried apricots or something?

[sarcasmic]

More dried apricots.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....heels.html

[sarcasmic]

Dried apricots.

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

[Virginian]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03.....d=all&_r=0

Is this anyone else's dream job?

[Ted S.]

I can think of some editors I'd like to barbecue.

[Professional Target]

Is this anyone else's dream job?

No, but only because I've turned too many much-loved hobbies into jobs.

[heller]

Eating good food might be the one thing one could never get tired of.

[T]

Because they'd never send you to a shit restaurant where you get food poisoning...

[Scooby]

Yeah, but in that job you sometimes have to eat bad food, just to write about it.

[Virginian]

My mom was a restaurant critic. There's two ways to do it:

Go incognito, that way you get the true experience from a place. Which means bad meals.

Let it slip that you're a critic, and get royal service no matter the place.

[db]

You used to be a target for fun?

[LTC(ret) John]

Somebody has to test body armor!

[sarcasmic]

Will this Disney star become a tramp like Spears and Lohan?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....arpet.html
I sure as fuck hope so!

[LTC(ret) John]

Odds are - yes, spectacular slide into drink, drugs and slutage.

[Professional Target]

I chalking this one up for "future porn queen."

[Virginian]

I hope so.

[heller]

Ease off the jailbait worship, guys.

[Virginian]

Worship was not what I had in mind.

How old is she anyway? She's gotta be like 20, right?

[heller]

15

[Virginian]

Yikes.

15 will get you 20.

[sarcasmic]

She's gotta be like 20, right?

In five years.

[darius404]

In five years.

Only with good behavior.

[Professional Target]

Ease off the jailbait worship, guys.

Just making a prediction. She's still one of the little rubber people; younger than my kids.

[Jerry on the boat]

You leave Miley Cyrus alone!

[sarcasmic]

She's turning into a boy.

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

[Rhywun]

dancing to J Dash's track Wop while wearing a unicorn onesie

I can't even process that. Seacrest out!

[darius404]

She looks fine with short hair to me. Maybe grow it out another inch.

[generic Brand]

I had to judge for myself whether her show Shake It Up! was as god-awful as the commentariat insisted... alas, I have been where no man dare go alone, and I have returned, forever changed. It is horribly atrocious.

[$park?]

Welcome to the club.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Minnie Mouse? Nooo!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Michael Bloomberg says he has a responsibility "to try to make this country safer," and will be spending millions of dollars on ads targeting the NRA and pro-gun rights candidates across America.

See? He's not anti-2nd Amendment. He's just anti-NRA.

[LTC(ret) John]

"ads targeting"

Eliminationist rhetoric!!!!

[Counterfly]

He's just taking a shot in the dark, really.

[LTC(ret) John]

He wants to misfire with his money, I guess that is his right.

[Drax the Destroyer]

WHERE IN THE FUCKING HELL DID HE GET THE AUTHORITY/RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE THE ENTIRE COUNTRY SAFER!

Jesus Christ. This asshole makes me hate/pity New York more every day.

[Counterfly]

Oh, come on, I'm sure he's spending his own money, and not NYC tax money.

I mean come on!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, the guy in the four thousand dollar suit is going to spend his own money to change the mind of the guy who shouldn't even have rights. Come on!

[Rights-Minimalist Autocrat]

Family love Michael!

[MP]

I don't see why. Bloomy is a perfect reflection of the NYC mentality for decades.

[Agammamon]

We may have to attack NYC again.

[Professional Target]

See? He's not anti-2nd Amendment. He's just anti-NRA.

While I agree there's a difference, I don't agree that's it.
Bloomberg isn't anti-gun, he's just a anti-liberty statist.

[Rich]

"If I can do that by spending some money, ... so the public can really understand the issues"

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

[mad libertarian guy]

If I can do that by spending some money, ... so the public can really understand the issues

How much do you wanna bet that he's publicly against Citizens United?

[some guy]

I haven't seen him say anything one way or the other. I don't think he's a hypocrite on this issue, but that may change about a year before the next election...

[generic Brand]

Haha quoting Jesus Christ to a Jew... how quaint.

[Rich]

Yeah, I considered that.

"Jew respect the New Testament"?

[MJGreen]

Jesus was a smart Jew, though. Just not the Messiah, right?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I actually watched Meet the Press for the first time yesterday because I thought Bloomy and LaPierre were going to debate face to face.

I am very disappointed.

[Rich]

Perhaps this will perk you up: Larry Pratt destroys Piers Morgan

[sarcasmic]

Lighting swamp farts!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-lake.html

[Ted S.]

I'd be more worried about the carbon dioxide lake.

[sarcasmic]

Jim Carrey doesn't like bitter clingers.
http://twitchy.com/2013/03/24/.....-our-kids/

[Counterfly]

Eww.

[John]

It is the smart move on Carey's part. He hasn't had a hit in a decade. His career is pretty much done. Best move is to go full lefty retard. This guarantees him a steady stream of small parts and the ability to claim he is a martyr to the cause rather than just a hasbeen.

[Counterfly]

Fucking pro-liberty, anti-state Hollywood always keeping the liberals down.

[Professional Target]

Never been a Carey fan anyway.

[mr simple]

Going to have to disagree with you there, John. 4 of his top 10 grossing movies have been in the last decade.

[mr simple]

He's still an ass and an idiot, but he's doing alright for himself.

[John]

Ok. He hasn't had a hit in five years. The newest film on that list is from 09.

[Counterfly]

And even that isn't really a "Carrey" movie, he was just in it. I hazard that even Nic Cage in that role and it would have been a 'hit'.

I'd put the last Jim Carrey vehicle hit at 2003. Anything that's done well since then are just coattails or kids movies.

[VG Zaytsev]

At least Eddie Murphy's kid's movies were watchable (not good but not horrible).

Carey's are the worst shit made in the last decade.

[some guy]

His recent successes have been terrible kids movies. They only did well at the box office because kids/idiots are easily entertained.

Also, I don't think these are in constant dollars and they certainly don't take industry growth into account. Look at gross per theater in constant dollars and you'll see support for John's statement.

Carey's last good movie was Bruce Almighty, which came out a decade ago.

[Counterfly]

They should put us in charge of Hollywood.

[mr simple]

The argument wasn't about whether or not he made good, quality films. I'm not a big fan of his either way, though I did think Eternal Sunshine and Leminy Snicket's were good for what they were. John said he hasn't had a hit and was doing this to get back to relevance, at least partially. I don't think that's right. I'm saying he's doing fine for himself. I think he is just talking out of his ass because he's a self important douche. Probably literally, Ace Ventura style.

[Rasilio]

Scroll down, it actually gives the inflation adjusted numbers

[BigT]

"Carey's last good movie was"

Hahaha!!

When was the first? They're all crap. Unfunny. Boring. Cliche-ridden crap.

[Stormy Dragon]

Bleh. Kinda shows the problem with the public that his two best movies (Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) are at 19 and 20 on that list, while freaking Batman Forever is at number 3.

[Rhywun]

Someone should inform him that Twitter's character limit is no excuse for expressing himself like a twelve-year-old girl. 'K?

[MJGreen]

Not really. He's pretty hated for joining his wife on the anti-vaccine crusade.

[sarcasmic]

Not enough blacks and Hispanics are committing suicide.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....erica.html

[Counterfly]

Give them credit for the homicide rate, though. Well done, guys.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how is 75 five times 27?

[Ptah-Hotep]

A white person is five times as likely to kill themselves with a gun than be shot by another person

75 is five times 15, not 27.

[Thane of Whiterun]

The headline says How white population is five times more likely to kill themselves with a gun than African Americans

[Ptah-Hotep]

Gotcha, I read the article. They actually had it right within the text.

[LTC(ret) John]

Kerry sure has no problem sliding right into what he previously spoke against. I guess he was against it before he was before it?

[wareagle]

he's in the right administration for evolving viewpoints based on the poll of the day.

[Counterfly]

All true, but if I have to watch that windsurfing commercial again, I'm going to icepick someone.

[LTC(ret) John]

*for*

[Counterfly]

Re-pordding before doody.

[Pro Libertate]

Weird that people thought this guy should be president. Might as well vote for Charlie Crist.

[carol]

Crist's "stances", like his sexuality, are ever evolving.

[BakedPenguin]

It'll be hilarious if they're stupid enough to run him for governor. He's probably the one person more odious than governor Skeletor.

[Pro Libertate]

Scott really blew it by caving in on things like the exchanges. That resistance got him a certain amount of credibility. Without that, though, no one much cares for him anymore.

But yes, no one not named Charlie Crist wants him to run. I don't think even the Democrats will support his nomination.

[Virginian]

http://www.nysun.com/editorial.....den/88238/

Comments are great.

[Virginian]

Old people getting high.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03.....ef=general

[sarcasmic]

In the future old people will have tattoos, body piercings, and listen to rap music.

[John]

And it won't be pretty.

[LTC(ret) John]

It isn't now....add wrinkles, liver spots and grey hair to it...ugh.

[John]

I am already seeing women in their late 30s with the 90s tramp stamps. And it is not a good look.

[Counterfly]

No woman in their late 30s looks good, so who cares.

[Virginian]

SEXIST!!! 40 is the new 20! You just can't handle a sexy older women. Cougars on he prowl.

[John]

A woman who acts and dresses her age at 40 can be a lot sexier than some 20 year old nitwit with a nose ring and a bunch of tattoos.

[John]

Lots of women in their late 30s look really good.

[Virginian]

But they don't look better then they did in their 20s.

[Lord Humungus]

In her early 40s, my wife looks better now than she did in her late twenties/early 30s. Thank you Taubes and Rippetoe.

[$park?]

Thank you Taubes and Rippetoe.

Is that anything like camel toe?

[T]

The problem with women in their 20s once you hit a certain age? They're functionally retarded.

[Counterfly]

So fat AND old. Jesus, John. I never who went to those websites, but now I do.

[John]

Yeah, because no women over 30 looks good. Are you retarded Counterfly? Gay? Can you feed yourself?

[Counterfly]

Relax, guy. Do you take every single thing on the internet to heart?

[darius404]

Yes, he does. Everything is personal.

[Professional Target]

No woman in their late 30s looks good, so who cares.

Got to disagree. The ex-wife is pushing 50 and still looks amazing. Damnit.

[sarcasmic]

My wife just turned 40 and has never looked better.

[Loki]

My wife just turned 40 and has never looked better.

...and apparently she's standing there looking over your shoulder.

[sarcasmic]

...and apparently she's standing there looking over your shoulder.

Yeah right. She'd box my ears if she saw some of my Daily Fails.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I always wondered why those didn't count as porn.

[sarcasmic]

I really and truly despise Pink Floyd, and that handle of yours gets a particularly annoying song stuck in my head. Not appreciated one bit.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Aww. I'll change it up, just waiting for inspiration.

[db]

Well I like it.

[Steve G]

Reads this blog does she?

[Rich]

I'm still having trouble getting used to eighty-year-old "Bambi".

[Professional Target]

Bambi's a boy, dude.

[Rich]

Oh. Well, it's often difficult to tell the gender of an eighty-year-old.

[T]

Got to unravel the wrinkles to be sure.

[SIV]

Old people have always had tattoos. Anchors, battleships, hearts, hula girls...

[Zeb]

Since whenever WWII vets started to be old, anyway.

[LTC(ret) John]

Yeah, some old dude with a Navy or Marine tattoo makes you want to ask questions of them - some old woman with a tramp stamp would make me want to avoid eye contact, much less speak to them.

[Counterfly]

Again, why would you speak to an old woman anyway.

[LTC(ret) John]

Fly, you realize you are almost assuredly invoking Epi to come in with a "your Mom" remark, yes? I don;t think any of us want that.

[Counterfly]

YOU LEAVE MY MOM OUT OF THIS THAT WOMAN IS A SAINT

[darius404]

The question is, a Saint of what?

[Counterfly]

I don't know I haven't spoken to the old bat in years.

[Way Of The Crane]

Yeah, some old dude with a Navy or Marine tattoo makes you want to ask questions of them - some old woman with a tramp stamp would make me want to avoid eye contact, much less speak to them.

What about dudes with tramp stamps?

[Way Of The Crane]

PS: Be sure to check out the tan line on #23.

[PS]

Ewwww!

[Counterfly]

The IRS spent $60,000 to shoot a Star Trek parody. Beam me up.

JJ Abrams spent about $120M on the same thing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an acc- Oh, wait. Um, set phasers on audit!

[Drax the Destroyer]

And he made back $500M on it. Hate the game, not the playa.

[Counterfly]

I have enough hate for both of them.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Sounds like jealousy to the Destroyer.

That being said, the Enterprise's Brewery, misuse of time-travel, weak villain, and Kirk's nonsensical rise through the ranks were frustrating "features" of JJABRAMS' parody.

[Tim]

I can't wait to see him wreck star wars.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Lucas already popped that hymen. I'm not sure it could get any worse unless they actually smeared fecal matter on the camera lens.

[Counterfly]

Actually I don't care that much about ST, and thought the reboot, while still fairly mediocre, was still better than most summer movies. Even though they had to shoehorn a bunch of crap in there, from the old series, and the whole deus ex machina Scotty crap.

But don't tell anyone here that, because they'll send me to the Qaatrian prison planet or some other nerd reference.

[Lord Humungus]

I saw the reboot a few weeks ago, and as long as I didn't think too hard, it was enjoyable.

[Ted S.]

unless they actually smeared fecal matter on the camera lens.

Do we have to keep discussing that kink?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Do we have to keep discussing that kink?

Yes.

[Tim]

Star Wars Into Darkness:

Everybody in trenchcoats clutching handguns, running from explosion to explosion. Spaceships going down in flames into cities full of screaming people.

A wounded Chewbacca with one of those lampshade things around his neck, straining desperately to lick himself.

[LTC(ret) John]

"A wounded Chewbacca with one of those lampshade things around his neck, straining desperately to lick himself."

That statement is just full of ..WIN!

[Loki]

I'm not sure it could get any worse unless they actually smeared fecal matter on the camera lens.

How else is J.J. Abrams supposed to get lense flairs?

[Rasilio]

He already did.

Think about it, Future Spock is still kicking around with knowledge of 150+ years worth of technological advances plus knowledge of future threats (which would remain untouched even with changes in the timeline) such as the Romulan development of the cloaking device, the Borg, the Organians, the Dominion, etc. and to spice things up he has absolutely no reason NOT to give Star Fleet the details of all that because the timeline has ALREADY BEEN CHANGED.

I mean realistically Spock should be able to give Star Fleet Galaxy Class Starships or better in less than 20 years.

[Rights-Minimalist Autocrat]

The highlight for me was the cartoon hands.

[Ted S.]

Who hates beaches, and why are you speaking Spanglish?

[sarcasmic]

High school gets unisex bathrooms.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....dents.html

[Counterfly]

I foresee absolutely no issues or problems will come of this.

[Rich]

"Smokin' in the, uh, ROOM!"

[LTC(ret) John]

+1

[Eduard van Haalen]

"You've been spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Have you been smoking?"

"No, teacher, just having sex."

"Very well, then, carry on."

[Rich]

+69

[Virginian]

My high school had one bathroom that was a single, in the hallway where all the freshmen hung out. It had a lock on the door. One day a guy forgot to lock it, and a girl busted in. But she had like six brothers, so she just went to check the mirror while he was sitting on the shitter. All of us out in the hallway heard him yell "Hey get the fuck out!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just as work to clear the Shanghai river of dead pigs finished, at least a thousand dead ducks were found in a river in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Sounds like someone has been going fishing for pigs and ducks with dynamite.

[Counterfly]

I think it was a live action Angry Birds art project gone very awry.

Or perhaps only slightly awry.

[LTC(ret) John]

+ 1000

[Thane of Whiterun]

Don't you mean "awy"?

[Lord Humungus]

ah so.

[Counterfly]

Language!

[T]

If I could catch bacon fishing, I'd do a lot more of it.

[sarcasmic]

Pictures from the top of the Great Pyramid at sunset. Pretty cool.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....hotos.html

[Drake]

The Brotherhood hasn't torn down that pagan idol yet?

[Rich]

Or at least beheaded the photographer?

[mr simple]

Wow, I can feel the vertigo starting just looking at the pics.

[CampingInYourPark]

"'I do think there are certain times we should infringe on your freedom,' Mr. Bloomberg said, during an appearance on NBC."

Why is this tyrant not dangling from a rope?

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....z2OYYQkGbH

[John]

He is a straight up fascist.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Ban assault ropes!

[Virginian]

Because New Yorkers, for all their tough guy posturing, are in fact giant blubbering pussies.

[KDN]

This. A thousand times, this.

[R C Dean]

Here ya go. This right here.

[Loki]

Especially anti-semitic NY cops.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Holy shit. That literally sent chills down my cynical spine. What's the over/under on this Nazi trying to nab the one ring (Presidency)?

[Counterfly]

Might be the only way the Repubs could win.

[SIV]

Why would Bloomberg run as a Republican? That was a one-time thing to get him on the NYC Mayoral ballot.

[LTC(ret) John]

I think he meant if he ran as TEAM BLUE, or as an independent he would ensure GOP victory.

[R C Dean]

NE liberal Republicans have just been cleaning up in Presidential races, and I missed it?

Would he jump parties? Sure. Would he win the nom as a Democrat?

I have serious doubts. He's (a) a white male who (b) made a ton of money.

Those are two serious handicaps. While the Dems have no problem with marrying or inheriting serious money, I think they still have a problem with people who, you know, earned it.

[Rich]

I was watching this unfold on MTP.

Along with the "I support the 2A, but", I had to go into out-of-body mode.

[Ted S.]

Perhaps we should infringe on the freedom of media outlets that want to publish Bloomberg's words?

[Professional Target]

Why is this tyrant not dangling from a rope?

Tarred, feathered and lit!

[generic Brand]

I rewatched The Avengers last week, and the line from Loki when he first reveals himself to the world seems more fitting every day:

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

The number of people who would actively stand up to smiley faced jackboots like Bloomberg are dwindling every day. More and more it seems people are willing to give up ever increasing amounts of freedom, as long as the government doesn't overstep and go after something "sacred" like guns or abortion.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yeah that was something I really liked about The Avengers. It made it easier to root for them considering they were basically fighting space fascism. It's too bad their boss (SHIELD) was basically the world's policeman which, no doubt, had oceans of blood on it's hands.

Oh well, it's a dumb comic book movie.

[John]

http://thehill.com/homenews/se.....nd-checks-

McCain plans to sell out gun owners. What a shock. Thank you Republicans of Arizona from not retiring the bastard in 2010. Now we have a Senator who is too old to run again and lives to have liberals tell him how mavericky and wonderful he is. A younger Dem who would face re-election would have been a better choice.

[np]

The whole DiFi assault weapons bill was like a red herring. Since the background check bill is way more pernicious, Republicans should've conspired to encouraged Dems to package it all together, signaling some compromise, some way of working with it perhaps in amended form, if they would package all the ridiculous proposals together (the DiFi ban, mag limits, etc) including the background check bill before they send it to the House.

Then once it reaches the House, they can tear it down, scrutinizing all the illogical parts, which would give them easier sell to the public of why the entire bill should be struck down. Of course, such a psyops would necessitate temporarily deceiving their constituents as well.

[Brett L]

I want to amend the Constitution such that no person currently holding Federal elected office is eligible to stand for election to the Presidency without first resigning the office. That way McCain would've had to run against an incumbent (and Kerry, etc).

[mr simple]

Yeah, I don't think we should be too comfortable thinking nothing like this will pass. Some of them are too interested in being bipartisan.

Also,
But Heller said the record-keeping requirement for expanded background checks, which Schumer has insisted on, is a deal breaker.

"I wouldn't say anything at this point is a deal breaker," he said.

What?

[Perd Hapley]

A Mississippi state legislator apparently shot herself in another former lawmaker's home.

Leaving this reporter confused, saddened, and visibly aroused.

[The Late P Brooks]

Michael Bloomberg says he has a responsibility "to try to make this country safer," and will be spending millions of dollars on ads targeting the NRA and pro-gun rights candidates across America..

This is a guy who belongs in the nuthouse.

[Perd Hapley]

Everyone belongs in The Nuthouse! With three locations along SR-231, anytime is a great to stop in and get mouthful of nuts! It's like their slogans says, "You're not up until you've tasted nuts!"

I'm not even a paid spokesman- I just love the taste of a good honey roasted chestnut after a long day informing the good people of Pawnee what's going on in their neck of the woods!

[Spoonman.]

It is March 25th and it is snowing. This is bullshit. I am so sick of winter.

[Drax the Destroyer]

It is March 25th, and I still haven't worked enough to cover my tax bill for the next year. Now THAT'S bullshit.

[WTF]

It's because of global warming..er, climate change!

[Professional Target]

It's because of global warming..er, climate change!

A whole bunch of global warming fell yesterday afternoon here, then suddenly turned into the Blizzard of 2013 about 5 pm. At one point going home (6:30-ish) I had visibility of about 30 feet. I hit a wet patch of ice when the traffic light in front of WalMart turned yellow and went through the intersection at less than 20 mph.
I used to think I lived in the South.

[Brett L]

Inorite? It is supposed to be 70 or below all week in Tallahassee.

[Ted S.]

So? Who gives a shit about Florida? :-p

[Brett L]

I'm sympathizing. The girlies should be out in bikinis on every balcony around campus, but nooo. Fuck climate change. I want to ogle 19 year olds.

[Ted S.]

So you're just a perv. Not that we didn't know this already.

[T]

The Y chromosome gives it away, doesn't it?

[Pro Libertate]

We've got another cold (well, cool) front down here. I don't remember it ever happening this late, though I could be forgetting something. Certainly unusual.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Winter is coming. Not just a tagline anymore.

[crashland]

This winter has sucked. Fuck you very much Al Gore you piece of shit.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Though a fair number of people in the room at NASPA shared their own thoughts, one demographic was silent to the point of getting called out ? twice ? by Miles: white men. At her encouragement, one student affairs official shared his experience as the only straight white male in his department.

[Virginian]

"While it can't be all on what you look like," she said, "it can't just be merit. It has to be a marriage of both."
______

She makes a lot more money then I do, despite being functionally retarded.

[RBS]

If you are a white male in academia, what possible benefit could there be for speaking out about anything unless it's about your white guilt?

[LTC(ret) John]

If you are teh ghey, you are shielded from your white-maleness, yes?

[mad libertarian guy]

You can openly announce that you fuck dogs, frogs, and anything else that rhymes with "-ogs" and so long as you don't fuck women, you have been placed above "white male" in academia.

[Brett L]

The gf was at this conference and does student affairs work. Her office is probably 80% female. I think she was busy shopping at the outlet malls during this preso. I'm not sure she attended anything but her group's presentations. Which I am proud of her for.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Is this being furiously emailed around by her peers? I imagine there are some delightful insights flying about.

[Brett L]

I doubt it. They are very herd-like in their behavior. It isn't that they don't tolerate dissent, it's that they don't want to cause a confrontation. Which is weird because the gf has no problem taking a strip off my hide when she and I are not in consensus.

[Virginian]

Women form consensuses without ever really discussing the issue. Men argue things out in the open until everyone's position is clear.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Is that before or after you Gibbs-slap them?

[Virginian]

Hehe I'm starting to feel like the old man in my favorite joke.

A young man is walking down by the docks one day and decides to stop by a bar and have a beer. He walks into a bar, and sees a grizzled old fisherman, crying into his beer. Curious, the young man sits down and says, "Hey old timer, why the long face?"
The old man looks at him and points out the window, "See that dock out there? I built that dock with my own two hands, plank by plank, nail by nail, but do they call me Simon the dockbuilder? No,no."
The old man continued, "And see that ship out there? I 've been fishing these waters for going on thirty-five years! but do they call me Simon the fisherman? No,no. "
The old man starts to cry again, "But you fuck one goat ? "

[Loki]

So what you're saying is you've fucked a goat. Well, at least it wasn't a sheep.

[AuH20]

God do I hate people who avoid confrontation for its own sake.

It allows idiocy and evil to reign, because not one has the guts to use their brains or moral compass.

No offense to your gf, obviously. Just her work environment.

[Ted S.]

They don't have brains or moral compasses.

[Brett L]

Agree completely, but I grew up professionally as a coder, so I'm used to having confrontations at work when there is a consensus.

[Stormy Dragon]

Everybody's got a mortgage to pay.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I encourage you to rethink that feeling [that you were "totally belittled in my student affairs grad-level class, explicitly for being white and the only male"].

In my experience, it comes more from having, for the first time, one's perspective highlighted and challenged--identified, that is, as a perspective shaped by one's social position of privilege and power. I've never seen someone dismissed and "belittled" simply because he's a white man. But I have seen many white men feel that way, when what's happened instead is a mere pointing out of the simple fact that their perspective on some issues demonstrates bias, no doubt because of how they've been unconsciously trained in a white supremacist patriarchy.

White guys usually think of themselves as free-floating individuals, free of categorical significance and influence. And so, when someone points out that they're not, they usually feel attacked, or at least "belittled." How nice it would be if instead, they would use the opportunity to learn something about themselves. Now that's a REAL man.

NEEDZ MOAR PRIVILIGE

[Zeb]

Fucking racists. Do they ever even consider that everyone is a free floating individual?

[Ted S.]

Heavens no!

[$park?]

Your white privilege is showing.

[generic Brand]

Uncle? Is that you?

(he constantly accuses me of this because I suggest that minimum wage is bad for minorities and young people and that thinks like VAWA and Lily Ledbetter do nothing to help women)

[Zeb]

Now you're a racist too, assuming I'm white. I am, but that's be side the point.

The thing that really gets me is that in academia, the white guys have no privilege at all. Privilege means you are allowed to do things that other people are not allowed to do. Everyone else can say whatever they want to about people based on the groups that they belong to, but the white males have to watch what they say or face a massive shitstorm if they are not careful enough.

In some parts of society, there probably is still some white privilege that still exists, but in academia, it is quite the opposite.

[R C Dean]

What they proggies are missing here is that, regardless of whether whites and/or males are privileged and empowered outside of academia, there is no question that they are not inside of academia.

So, yeah, in the environment that they live in, these white males are the runts of the litter, fair game for their institutionally empowered colleagues to spit on.

[Rhywun]

I've never seen someone dismissed and "belittled" simply because he's a white man.

Something tells me she doesn't get out to the ghetto much. Talk about privilege.

[mad libertarian guy]

She has never been to a community where whites didn't dominate the population.

Go to Miami and you'll see PLENTY of white males being dismissed and belittled because they are white.

[MJGreen]

I've never seen someone dismissed and "belittled" simply because he's a white man. But I have seen many white men feel that way

Of course, when it comes to anyone other than straight, white men, how the 'victim' feels is all that matters. Not the intention of the purported offender.

[John]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Why is the US not telling the Italians to go fuck themselves and denying extradition?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Because the future doesn't belong to Amanda Knox.

[LTC(ret) John]

But a Lifetime move, coming soon, might?

[LTC(ret) John]

*movie*

[AuH20]

The British are giving birth to a new heir soon. Do you realize how many gallons of young women's blood that requires?

[Emmerson Biggins]

The US govmt might want to extradite somebody from Italy someday.

Preserving that power to the greatest extent possible is obviously more important than one little puny citizen getting justice.

[John]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Why is the US not telling the Italians to go fuck themselves and denying extradition?

[alittlesense]

We should say this to the entire EU.

[Ted S.]

This whole case has bothered me from the first time I heard about it, mostly because the coverage has been so one-sided. Why does the media have such a vastly different view of Amanda Knox than of, say, Casey Anthony?

[tarran]

Because Amanda Knox is indisputably innocent. Her roommate was murdered while Amanda was smoking marijuana and having sex with her boyfriend at his apartment. Her roommate was covered with DNA from both blood and semen of a homeless guy who used to hang around the neighborhood and fled Italy immediately after the murder.

Amanda Knox on the other hand had a daughter who was last seen alive in her company, lied about her daughters whereabouts for months until the girl's skeletonized corpse was found near her home.

[tarran]

er.. Casey Anthony on the other hand had a daughter who was last seen alive...

[SIV]

Maybe she is guilty?

Knox and Sollecito have both maintained their innocence, though they said that smoking marijuana the night Kercher was killed had clouded their recollections.

Prosecutors have alleged that Kercher was the victim of a drug-fueled sexual assault.

[John]

Who gets stoned and assaults someone? Not buying. If they were snorting coke or drinking sure. But not Pot.

[Matrix]

You need to watch Reefer Madness again!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Balko covered the "evidence" in his (now defunct) blog. There was very little of it, and I'd like to think under our system, reasonable doubt would have come into play. But you never know. Sometimes juries tend to place the burden of proof on the defendant.

[R C Dean]

Maybe she is guilty?

My vague recollection of this is that the evidence against her is very weak, and mostly consistent with being the victim's roommate, while there is another very plausible suspect walking around.

[tarran]

Arrgh! They got the guy! Rudy Guede! He's in jail for the murder as we speak!

The case against Amanda depends on her being able to clean her DNA off of surfaces while leaving Rudy's behind.

It's not that the evidence is weak; there is NO evidence other than the testimony of a heroin addicted homeless bum who claims to have seen Knox and her boyfriend in the area on the night in question.

On the other hand, there are mountains of evidence that she wasn't there at the time of the crime.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, that's what is so strange about this case. They found and convicted the guy who clearly did it, but still can't stop this weird fixation on Knox and her boyfriend.

[Brett L]

Drone strikes for Italy. We will not let this assault on an American citizen who is proven to be hot, crazy, and a goer to proceed without retaliation..

[Rich]

Asked about the level of losses on uninsured depositors on Bank of Cyprus, he told state radio it was not possible to be specific at this stage. "The assessment is that it will be under or around 30 percent. But that is a bit of an arbitrary estimate."

A little uncertainty is good for you.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Stock Futures up After Cyprus Deal"

"The deal between Cyprus and heads of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will spare the Mediterranean island a likely banking collapse by winding down the largely state-owned Popular Bank of Cyprus and shifting deposits below 100,000 euros to the Bank of Cyprus to create a 'good bank.'"

Because banks stealing from their depositors is good economic news.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....11375.html

[John]

The news readers this morning couldn't thank Cyprus enough.

[Lord Humungus]

a 100K Euros is not a lot of money - any good saver could have this stashed away in an account, so it's just not "the rich".

I can see this happening here in the US with 401Ks and IRAs.

[Spoonman.]

Although you're kind of an idiot if you don't find another bank to put your money in once you reach the insurance limit.

[Lord Humungus]

true 'dat - but I know some old people - like my in-laws - who stash all of their money away in savings accounts and CDs.

[Drake]

It won't happen in the U.S. - not because they are above that level of theft - it just isn't necessary when you can print your own money.

[R C Dean]

I think what they'll do with retirement accounts is force them to buy Treasuries to fund the deficit.

[The Late P Brooks]

The IRS spent $60,000 to shoot a Star Trek parody.

Photon torpedoes encased in trillion dollar coins?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The president of the Central African Republic fled the capital this weekend ahead of a takeover by rebels...

Isn't that the fake name 24's writers gave the generic African country that took over the White House in that awesome season with Lady President?

[Counterfly]

Why pay more for Brand Name African Republic?!

[Bee Tagger]

Is that why they stormed the White House singing Happy Mirthday?

[Ted S.]

CAR dictator Jean-B?del Bokassa declared himself Emperor back in the late 1970s and changed the name of the country to the Central African Empire.

[Brett L]

Anyone else have FGCU advancing to the Sweet 16? Go Eagles!

[Pro Libertate]

No way, though I wish I had--they did show some moxie during the regular season. Of course, I can no longer cheer them on in any event (I was for them against Georgetown, even though it wasn't what I picked).

[The Late P Brooks]

The cute blonde on Bloomberg was just talking about the Cyprus "rescue". She seemed somewhat befuddled by the continued weakness in the Euro.

[The Late P Brooks]

This is bullshit. I am so sick of winter.

Why do you hate science?

[John]

Basically the EU, a organization with no military and that is completely broke, just robbed Putin's buddies. I can't see this turning out well.

[robc]

My yard and deck are white this morning.

Lousy Smarch weather.

[SugarFree]

What is the point of living in this hell-blasted place if we still have to put up with snow on March 25th?

[Drax the Destroyer]

...There are a lot of hot single women loaded with $50K in student loan debt?

[SugarFree]

That helps, obviously. That and the defective lululemon yoga pants.

[R C Dean]

I don't know that "semi-transparent" is necessarily a defect in yoga pants.

[Brett L]

It is in the XLs.

[robc]

There was nothing defective about them.

[mad libertarian guy]

Where the fuck is global warming when you need it? They told me that my area (just south of Lexington) would be looking at about 2" through Tuesday. I had 2" before the sun came up this morning, and they said to expect another 2-4" on top of that through Tuesday night.

[Lord Humungus]

ha - no snow here - in Michigan!

[Agammamon]

Its 83 here in sunny Yuma - a couple of weeks ago I had to turn on the AC for a bit.

[Zeb]

I decided a long time ago just to like snow, always. It's nice to look at and gives you lots of opportunities to complain about other drivers. What's not to like?

[robc]

Generally, I agree. But not in March. Im ready for Spring.

[AuH20]

Plus you get to wear layers- the burly man's best friend!

[Drake]

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

[Rhywun]

+200

[Spoonman.]

It's not really the snow, although that does make me nervous for my wife driving to work (I work at home or take the train).

It's that I'm sick of winter. I want green. I want to stop paying heating bills. I want my knuckles to stop cracking and bruising spontaneously from it being so dry all the time.

[Zeb]

Sure. But what you want doesn't matter to the weather, so might as well make the most of it. I wouldn't mind some spring now. I need to finish putting siding on my house and plant some grass. But there is two feet of snow in the ground, so too bad. I'll go skiing.

[Pope Jimbo]

Quit Griping.

Snow in March is nothing. Snow in May is nothing. Snow in June? You can only bitch about it if you are enroute to being wiped out by indians.

I made my kids go look at the marker in Beach, ND about the snow storm that stopped Custer for a couple days. They didn't think anything about snow in June, they just talked about how lucky the 7th cav was because they didn't have march back across North Dakota.

"Six of the Custer campsites are within a short driving distance from Medora, as the 7th Cavalry's progress was slowed to a crawl by the rugged terrain of the Badlands. They spent 10 days traveling a distance that entails approximately 35 miles on the parallel Interstate 94 Highway of today. Leaving Mandan on May 17, 1876, they spent from May 25 to June 3 at their six campsites of the Medora area."

"Weather was a factor in slowing them down too. They first endured rain, followed by a couple of muggy 80 degree days, followed by a snow storm which stopped them for three days in a deep canyon eight miles straight west of Medora."

[T]

They didn't think anything about snow in June, they just talked about how lucky the 7th cav was because they didn't have march back across North Dakota.

Why I am suddenly reminded of the old WWII paratrooper I talked with one time? He was discussing some odious thing he had to do as punishment for being a dumbass. But he got out of it! Because "Fortunately, the next day we jumped into Sicily."

I don't think I'll ever hear that sentence again. Yeah, fortunately 7th Cav didn't have to march back across ND, either.

[crashland]

I've spent a lot of time in ND and I still can figure out why there are any people there. Who the hell finds the place and says "yep, I think we'll settle here." Any place that has electrical outlets in the hotel parking lot for plugging in block heaters is no place for humans to bother with.

[Zeb]

Yeah, when you need block heaters for gasoline engines, it's too damn cold.

[Pope Jimbo]

Why live in ND? Fantastic upland bird shooting. One of my favorite trips is to hunt sharptailed grouse in the Teddy Roosevelt National Grasslands. Birds have really been down since they oil guys have moved in.

I can't tell you how many times people would stop me at Memphis State and ask if my old beater truck was really electric (because of the block heater cord hanging out the front). They were happier with it being an electric car than with the concept of needing to keep your engine heated so it could start.

[Warty]

More like 4 inches here. FUCKING OHIO.

[robc]

The rebels have now named a new government.

Is it also a republic?

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else named a new government?

[Brett L]

Emperor Palpitine?

[T]

Paul von Hindenburg?

[$park?]

Plato?

[LTC(ret) John]

The President of Italy...constantly.

[Counterfly]

Italy has a president? I thought they had a king or something.

[Virginian]

+1 rubber suit

[LTC(ret) John]

- 1 Victor Emmanuel

[SugarFree]

Just as work to clear the Shanghai river of dead pigs finished, at least a thousand dead ducks were found in a river in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

STEVE SMITH: The Asia Tour...

DO YOU FEEL LIKE I DO?!? GGR!

[Thane of Whiterun]

The other day I was talking to a Chinese girl:

"You have ever eat duck?"
"No"
"Duck good! You just have not think about that duck. Is our friend!"

[Brett L]

I eat ducks with delight. Fuck those flying shit factories. I like to pretend they suffered.

[Thane of Whiterun]

Foie gras fan?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Thai/Chinese duck noodles are sooooooo good.

[LTC(ret) John]

Then you would applaud the coyotes near my house - they have nabbed both duck and geese. Quite the sound-fest when they are tearing one of them up.

[The Late P Brooks]

We understand this can be seen as an abstruse point, but it is one that rankles us in this era when President Obama is cutting out White House tours for school children so as to save a few tens of thousands of dollars for the sequester.

Eddie Cochrane covered this about fifty years ago.

"I'd like to help you, son, but you're too young to vote."

[John]

Meanwhile Crazy Joe spend over a half million dollars on a single night in Paris.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Fuck White House tours. Kids would learn more looking at Japanese porn than touring that hive of scum and villainy.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I should have a doctorate by now, then.

[Drax the Destroyer]

You just have to print it out Thane.

[Rich]

LOL

"The People's Hive"

[LTC(ret) John]

There is a joke in there about the Clintons, butt waggling to gain attention, etc.

I am too lazy to make it.

[Zeb]

Here's an idea. Make the president pay full market rent for the Whitehouse if he wants to live there. If he doesn't want to or can't afford it, he can find an apartment or something.

[AuH20]

I just love how spectacularly this has backfired on them. They wanted one big, symbolic thing that would hurt the proles and not just the folks inside the beltway, who they already have. Ideally they should have shut down the Smithsonian (Shutting it down would hit proportionally hurt more upper middle and upper class people, although I guess they too are drifting D. Still, you could get rich independents pissed at the Rs), but I think it has its own revenue stream.

It is an interesting question what the best use of the Monument strategy would have been. National parks like Clinton? Its too cold for that, I suppose.

[Lord Humungus]

EPA Releases Producer Information To Animal Rights Groups
Extensive list of CAFO and smaller livestock producers illegally collected by EPA and handed to environmental action groups.
http://farmfutures.com/story-e.....ps-0-95162

NCBA and the National Pork Producers Council are both furious with EPA for handing extremist groups illegally gathered data on farmers who operate confined animal feeding operations.

NCBA said early this week it was notified by the EPA that the agency had been collecting information from states on CAFOs. The information was requested by extremist groups, including Earth Justice, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council through a Freedom of Information Act request and was given to them.

The information released by EPA covers livestock operations in more than 30 states, including many family farmers who feed less than 1,000 head and are not subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act.

[Lord Humungus]

Museum's 'whale bone porn' leaves Vancouver mother 'extremely disturbed'; demands its removal
http://news.nationalpost.com/2.....s-removal/

[Rich]

whale bone porn

Nice band name.

[Ted S.]

Don't bone me!

(Actually, that's coming up tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM on TCM.)

[$park?]

When all you've got it a whale bone...

[$park?]

And of course it gets fucked up with a spelling error. *sigh*

[LTC(ret) John]

Soemtimes you jsut have to roll with it.

[Ted S.]

More like user error.

[Lord Humungus]

When the Whole World Has Drones
The precedents the U.S. has set for robotic warfare may have fearsome consequences as other countries catch up.
http://www.nationaljournal.com.....321?page=1

The proliferation of drone technology has moved well beyond the control of the United States government and its closest allies. The aircraft are too easy to obtain, with barriers to entry on the production side crumbling too quickly to place limits on the spread of a technology that promises to transform warfare on a global scale. Already, more than 75 countries have remote piloted aircraft. More than 50 nations are building a total of nearly a thousand types. At its last display at a trade show in Beijing, China showed off 25 different unmanned aerial vehicles. Not toys or models, but real flying machines.

[mad libertarian guy]

How dare you suggest that the precedent set by our Dear Leader might have be used against us at some point?

Racist.

[LTC(ret) John]

We will end up with nanowarfare ala The Diamond Age

[Bardas Phocas]

I read that as 'Whole Foods has Drones' which is fair. If the gov, in its various species, has them - private individuals and companys need them to maintain the balance of terror.

[Loki]

At some point we're just going to end in a Taste of Armeggedon type of situation where we just fight war by computer simulation.

[Enough About Palin]

The folks on Morning Joe this morning referred to the pro-second amendment community. Does that make them the anti-second amendment community? They also said gun owners don't like Mayor Bloomberg because he's a Jew. I shit you not.

[Thane of Whiterun]

I don't like him because he double-posts.

[Enough About Palin]

The folks on Morning Joe this morning referred to the pro-second amendment community. Does that make them the anti-second amendment community? They also said gun owners don't like Mayor Bloomberg because he's a Jew. I shit you not.

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....1980s.html

Good thing the BBC isn't the Catholic Church or someone might be held responsible for this.

[Zeb]

Unless there is any evidence of a coverup, it sounds like those responsible are dead.

[John]

There is lots of evidence of coverup.

[Zeb]

On a second reading, that does seem to be true. Though not nearly as bad as that other BBC guy (so far anyway).

[Drax the Destroyer]

So...as usual...they call the opponents of the issue du jour racists. Anti-semites to boot.

Oppose Abortion? Racist
Want to lower taxes? Racist
Cut foreign aid? Racist/Anti-Semite
Don't trust the Fed? Racist/Anti-Semite
Against wars? Racist/Anti-Semite
Own a gun? Racist/Anti-semite
Save your money? Racist/Anti-Semite
Want to leave some of your wealth for you kids? Racist/Anti-Semite
Homeschooler? Racist

Jesus. It's Monday and I'm out of depression medication (booze).

[robc]

Homeschooler? Racist

but not anti-semite?

Hell I figured a pro-Israel supporter of the wrong team would be called a racist/anti-semite.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yeah that was a copy/paste/laziness error on my part.

[darius404]

Like a guy who says an attack on Israel means we'll go to war?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well, this guy isn't helping.

[Rich]

Or this guy.

[SugarFree]

Cannibal Chef Sentenced

"I loved my wife. I didn't cook my wife."

[Brett L]

She tasted fine tartare?

[John]

Maybe he was reenacting The Cook, The Their, His Wife and Her Lover.

[John]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....1980s.html

Good thing the BBC isn't the Catholic Church or someone might be held responsible for this. Damn threaded comments.

[Ted S.]

This is old news. Somebody already posted about it at 9:27 AM. 😉

[John]

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

I am thinking Tim Robbins traded up. Sarandon, not so much. God what a doofus.

[robc]

God what a doofus.

Which one?

[John]

Well Robins. But was thinking more of the hipster Sarandon has lowered herself to.

[Rhywun]

At least the hipster knows how to pull his pants up.

[np]

Just as work to clear the Shanghai river of dead pigs finished, at least a thousand dead ducks were found in a river in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

http://www.ministryoftofu.com/.....-shanghai/

And the public relations effort by the authorities failed miserably. Repeated claims that water quality is not affected and there's no danger to public health ran into a wall of disbelief. An official explanation that the pigs only froze to death brought public opinion to another boil.

One user wrote, "Next time you lie, please use your brain."

Even President Xi Jinping weighed in during the political meeting, "Nowadays the sole criterion for testing water quality is if the mayor dares to jump in the river and swim." His comment was repeated by nearly 7,000 on Weibo.

Some net users, however, unleashed their humor on the pig scandal, with these cartoons.

Finally, this post wrapped up the recent air and water pollution mess in China.

It read, "Beijingers say, 'we are the happiest bunch, able to smoke for free just by opening the window.' Shanghaiers reply, 'So what? we have free pork soup coming out of our faucet!'"

[NoVAHockey]

So much for my "year-of-the-Jesuits" picks.

[John]

There is still Marquette.

[NoVAHockey]

the one I didn't pick

[robc]

LaSalle is catholic, but I guess they arent jesuit.

[John]

Christian Brothers, which is close enough.

[robc]

Yeah, I dont know what that is but it just didnt match the string "Jesuit" exactly.

[Lord Humungus]

I took last Friday off and ended up buying a $2k turntable
http://6streetbridge.blogspot......ies-i.html

[The Late P Brooks]

The folks on Morning Joe this morning referred to the pro-second amendment community.

First, you separate them from the herd. Then you get the Judas Goat to lead them to the slaughter.

[Rich]

The rhetoric is just wonderful.

I "like" the constant usage by the anti-second amendment community of "reasonable" and "sane".

"Why, if you don't agree with my position you are quite obviously certifiable!"

[The Late P Brooks]

NCBA and the National Pork Producers Council are both furious with EPA for handing extremist groups illegally gathered data on farmers who operate confined animal feeding operations.

NCBA said early this week it was notified by the EPA that the agency had been collecting information from states on CAFOs. The information was requested by extremist groups, including Earth Justice, the Pew Charitable Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council through a Freedom of Information Act request and was given to them.

If an animal rights activist falls in the hog pen and nobody hears him (except the hogs) scream, did it even really happen?

[Tim]

I am really pissed about Iraq shipping weapons to Syria, the proper response should be invasion and a ten year occupation.

[LTC(ret) John]

Of Syria or Iraq?

[Tim]

That's why we have an Army AND a Marine Corps.

[Loki]

Michael Bloomberg says he has a responsibility "to try to make this country safer," and will be spending millions of dollars on ads targeting the NRA and pro-gun rights candidates across America. is an obnoxious insufferable twat that the world would be a better place without.

FTFY

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Do you have student loan debt? Well why not support the Student Loan Fairness Act, where "fair" means "getting to borrow money with no intention of ever paying it back."

[John]

The best part is this

Further, this legislation would:

? ensure low interest rates;

Because nothing ensures low interest rates like letting people walk away from their debts.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I can't decide how much to chalk up to idiocy and how much to malice. I mean, I know the rule favors the former, but if you had to ask me to design a law that would encourage people to borrow much more than they need to and subsequently become the least economically productive possible...this would pretty much be it.

[Matrix]

What do you have against college education? A college education is everyone's RIGHT! Why would you deny them to RIGHT to a free college education? You must want every to be dumb. YOU MONSTER!

[AuH20]

She wants them dumb so they buy her rethuglican lies and vote against their own economic interests!

/This is what progressives actually believe.

[Pro Libertate]

Screw that. The only answer is indentured servitude. Seven years of learning a trade (something apparently not learned in college), then your debt is paid off by your master.

[John]

We have that. They are called unpaid internships. And these people think they are evil. Remember it is perfectly okay for a college to charge kids a six figure bill in exchange for a worthless degree. But a business giving training and networking away for free is exploitation.

[Pro Libertate]

Internships are nonbinding, short-term, and do nothing to free you from your debt.

Indentured servitude, on the other hand, is binding, long-term, teaches you a valuable trade, and frees you from your debt.

[John]

You mean for the ones who have debt. The problem is no one is going to pay $100,000 for the services of an NYU trained puppeteer no matter how long the service lasts.

[Pro Libertate]

Over seven years, it's not that much. And, needless to say, the whole point of the servitude is to teach a marketable trade (and to get labor), so a useless major is irrelevant.

[John]

But can hipsters even be taught a marketable skill?

[Pro Libertate]

Sure, anyone can be trained with the proper application of operant conditioning.

[Brett L]

I'm with ProL. For $16k/year, he could probably be taught to work at McDonalds, same as any other idiot with extra chromosomes.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Looks like I forgot this one:

Think that College might have become an overpriced sham for most majors? Racist

[Andrew S.]

I have an ex-friend who was always talking about. This is an idiot who actually said he had no clue how much money he was going to have to pay back until after he graduated. And he's been complaining ever since (or he was; he banned me and locked down his twitter. Shame, it was always such good entertainment. 🙁 )

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Sex for seniors

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Some feminists do care about fashion!

[AuH20]

Fashion and vintage advertisements are the source of, like, 68% of fem-gen studies dissertations.

[Loki]

Not sure if sarcasmic posted this upthread yet or not (probably, but I don't have time to read all the links, and even so I think this one would deserve a second posting:

Quick someone get this poor widdle baby a binky, a bottle, and put down for his nap.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Calling him a baby would have been appropriate even if he wasn't crying. The guy looks like he just cartwheeled out of a giant vagina.

[sarcasmic]

I thought about putting that one up but I just couldn't come up with a good caption.

[John]

He looks like Mr. Clean's evil, retarded brother.

[John]

And there is only one proper caption.

I wasn't there to see it, but I hear Byron Hadley was sobbing like a little girl when they took him away.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Notice that "American" hasn't been online lately.

Coincidence?

[Archduke Pantsfan]

School dinner staff have been banned from serving triangular flapjacks after one was thrown and hurt a pupil.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Well, looks like the human race had good run. Time to pack it in, roll over, and let some animal with actual testicles take over.

[Pro Libertate]

Those aren't American flapjacks, right? More cornbready?

Frankly, I'm impressed at the ability of a kid to throw one like a throwing star, though I deplore the resulting injury, of course.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Your beloved NRA is working with soon-to-be-ex-Senator Joe Manchin on background checks.

[John]

I posted that above. Why am I not surprised that McCain is going to sell out?

[Kaptious Kristen]

It's no surprise that McCain is a sellout. Just another day of bullshit. Whoop-de-do.

But I'm curious what all of our NRA members around here think? The NRA has done nothing for the 2A.

[John]

They have done a lot. I don't think that is fair. Who got the assault weapons ban repealed?

[Virginian]

The AWB expired, it wasn't repealed.

[John]

It wasn't reenacted was it? Half of the Congress lives in fear of the NRA. I think it is a bit much to say they have never done anything for the second amendment.

[Virginian]

I wouldn't go that far, but they are very much a mainstream political organization. They do not push the envelope. Don't expect them to push for the repeal of the NFA.

[Zeb]

Didn't it repeal itself after 10 years?

[generic Brand]

Funny how John says the NRA has done a lot, but the ACLU is a complete waste of space. I think they are both well past their hey day... they had a good run, but neither even comes close to doing what they started out doing for the 2nd amendment or civil liberties.

[John]

Nothing that I know the NRA has ever done has done the affirmative harm that the ACLU does. The ACLU takes a lot of affirmatively bad positions and does little more than carry water for the Dems. The NRA in contrast, often supports D candidates and at worst doesn't work hard enough. It does do near the affirmative damage that the ACLU does. When I see the NRA out suing to end father daughter dances, I will consider them as vile as the ACLU. Until then, not so much.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, and where's the NRA been on anti-terrorism law or police militarization issues? ACLU may get involved in a lot of goofy lawsuits but they're still one of the few groups pushing back on the police state.

Meanwhile when Heller came out, the NRA was actually trying to stop it from being heard in court.

[John]

Meanwhile when Heller came out, the NRA was actually trying to stop it from being heard in court.

That is because they were terrified they would lose. You make it sound like they don't think the 2nd Amendment applies to the states. That is not true. They were just afraid it would go the other way and it would no longer apply in the circuits where they had won. It was a reasonable fear that thankfully was not borne out.

And the ACLU doesn't participate in just goofy lawsuits. They participate in awful lawsuits specifically intended to wage the culture war and restrict people's freedoms. Why people who should know better insist on giving them a free pass is beyond me.

[Zeb]

I think I'm still an NRA member, though I have decided to stop giving them money for a while because of crap like this and mostly because of their constant fundraising appeals. I'd be happy to write them a check once a year if they woudl stop sending me 5 pieces of mail a week and calling me on the phone at dinner time.

I think they do good in keeping legislators views on guns out in the open and holding them to what they say.

[Zeb]

And their education programs and sponsorship of shooting events and competitions is good too.

[np]

L Neil Smith on the NRA and compromise:

http://www.lneilsmith.org/am-i-nra.html

http://down-with-power.com/compro.html

[SumpTump]

Hey, its only money, no big deal!

http://www.GoinAnon.da.bz

[The Late P Brooks]

Didn't the NRA try to torpedo Gura's(?) legal arguments in Heller and McDonald?

[tarran]

They did. When it didn't work, they tried to insert themselves into the case because they were afraid the court would rule against Gura and wanted to make their own arguments.

[mr simple]

Two Teenage Boys Arrested in Georgia Baby Shooting Death

I'm normally against the death penalty.

[Matrix]

Well, fortunately for them, they were both under 18 at the time of the murder.

[mr simple]

Peter Schiff on Cyprus bailout and US Treasury bubble.

[Eduard van Haalen]

It's been at least 5 minutes since anyone has quoted C. S. Lewis against Commissar Bloomberg, so here we go:

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."