A.M. Links: Public Sector Union Membership Down in Wisconsin, Obama Approves Military Aid to Somalia, Patriot Missiles Deployed in Tokyo

Credit:MuZemike/wikimedia

• Public sector union membership is down in Wisconsin. It looks like public sector employees, who are no longer forced to pay union fees, are making their preferences known.

• Obama has approved military aid to Somalia. What could possibly go wrong?

• Patriot missiles have been deployed in Tokyo amid escalating tensions with North Korea. 

• A Chinese magazine has reported on abuses at the Masanjia labor camp, providing more information to campaigners who want the camp and others like it closed. 

• Margaret Thatcher's funeral, which will include full military honors, will take place next week.  

• It looks like the French intervention in Mali could become something of a permanent affair. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obama has approved military aid to Somalia.

Corps of Engineers is going to build them roads.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Excuse me, Corpse of Engineers.

[Counterfly]

Military aid, in the form of drone strikes.

[LTC(ret) John]

Drone strikes on roadz?!

[gaijin]

you have to destroy the roads to create jobs rebuilding them. Krugman told me so.

[generic Brand]

Obama has approved military aid to Somalia.

Seriously though, who does the money even go to in an ANARCHY?!?!!?!???!

[robc]

What anarchy?

Every warlord is a government.

[generic Brand]

I was using their words "against" them. But yes. How does Obama decide which "government" to give aid to?

[robc]

Whichever warlord can steal it last.

[sarcasmic]

Stupid staff meeting. I'll be back with my Daily Fails in a little while.

[Ted S.]

We're just dying to find out which which women you'd masturbate to and which you wouldn't. :-p

[Counterfly]

Is that a euphemism? Or did you finally get a job?

[db]

Let us know how many got canned. Surprise staff meetings usually suck.

[Restoras]

I think he has them every Tuesday.

[generic Brand]

Not much of a surprise, then, really.

[Enough About Palin]

Bet they still suck, though.

[db]

French forever in Mali? Hoocooodanode?

[Matrix]

War is big business.

[Counterfly]

It's Troll Free Tuesday, but if you dumb shits want to have your strings pulled and get played like North Korea is playing Hagel, McCain and Clinton go ahead, I don't care.

Dance, monkey, dance.

Apparently it's more important for you to give some basement dwelling man-boy virgin a hard on than it is for you to maintain rational discourse.

[Matrix]

is everyday troll free day?

[Ted S.]

Why did you just respond to the troll?

[VG Zaytsev]

Only a troll would ask that question.

[Bobarian]

It's trolls all the way down...

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Dude, it's a Pavlovian response. They can't help themselves.

[Counterfly]

You do realize that there was another result at the end of Pavlov's experiment?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't believe in the no-troll scenario.

[db]

You cheated at the Trolbiyashi Maru scenario?

[db]

Maybe the Rinsh? Maru?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't like to lose... an argument... on the internet... with someone I don't know.

[Auric Demonocles]

All I'm going to say is that...

THERE ARE FOUR TROLLS!

[Citizen Nothing]

I, for one, welcome our new troll overlords.

[$park?]

People still reply to you, don't they? Just because your basement is in Liberia...

[LTC(ret) John]

Liberia is too poor to afford basements - the best you can hope for is a root cellar.

[Counterfly]

I think it's like Florida, the water table's too high. Plus, digging is hard work and stuff.

[some guy]

We hit peak troll a long time ago. Trolling has been in decline for many months. If we don't act now trolls may soon be extinct from this site. We have no idea what effect this will have on the H&R ecosystem as a whole. Can we really risk finding out?

With your donation of just 3 comments per day we can provide essential support to this vanishing species and guarantee their gamboling for many years to come.

[Timrek]

And if you act now you'll also receive, more MATT DAMON!!, references to Warty's creepy sex life, and an utterly inane war of words between Palin's Buttplug and John! All this and more could be yours so post now and post often!!

*Offer voided if Lobster Girl shows a bit of side boob and thus distracts the entire Reason community.

[PS]

Obama has approved military aid to Somalia. What could possibly go wrong?

The Black Hawk is totally down.

[Counterfly]

Good, I hope Ewan MacGregor and that guy from Troy can be in the sequel. Neither have had a decent movie in a while.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He has a name. It's the first guy who helped ruin the Hulk.

[Counterfly]

He was doomed as soon as they cast Nick Nolte as a bad guy.

Pacino and Deniro together couldn't chew up that much scenery.

[Cheradenine Zakalwe]

You mean the only guy who made Hanna awesome?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think we both know Cate Blanchett's accent and Hanna's new found friend helped that cause.

[Counterfly]

The German version of Lt Dangle and his theme song are what made that movie awesome.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well great. Guess what's going to be in my head the rest of the day.

[Bobarian]

Hannahh!

[Bobarian]

Anybody ever see Chopper?

or Choppah' as they pronounced it in the land of drop bears?

[Matrix]

Husband of the year?

Married Man Pawns Wedding Ring to Pay for Prostitute

[Counterfly]

Only if he was married to another man. That award is totally rigged. Just like Father of the Year.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

the two drove to Apache Pawn, where they traded in Holmes' ring for $20

I'm guessing it wasn't the Hope diamond.

[Bam!]

That's Alpha behavior right there.

[Matrix]

Dude uses meme on Reddit to confess to a murder

[Counterfly]

I'm firewalled from gawker, but was it Socially Awkward Penguin? Or Good Guy Steve?

I would have used science cat.

[LTC(ret) John]

It was honey badger.

[Counterfly]

Ugh, that's too well known, and not clever enough. I don't like this murderer any more.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is there any worse sin than banality?

[SugarFree]

Confession Bear. Duh.

[a better weapon]

Now THIS is how you troll!

[Auric Demonocles]

It sounds way too much like a Dexter episode for me to believe it was true.

[Warty]

The Hakkens made it to Cuba. Any port in a storm, I guess.

[db]

Truly a haven for antigovernment types everywhere. Man, somebody (journalists, police, suspects) made a major research FAIL on this one.

[Ted S.]

Do they actually have proof of this, or are they just saying this to try to make the Hakkens look worse?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not a bad choice, given that the Cuban government would love to stick their thumb in the US's eye, particularly after the Elian Gonzalez wackery.

[Counterfly]

Yeah, really. I personally would have gone with Belize. But nothing will piss off the authorities AND provide them a nicer and, uh, safer safe-haven than Cuba.

[Ted S.]

Um, the Clintons did the Cuban's bidding on the Elian Gonzalez case.

[Virginian]

Yeah eventually they sent him back to a totalitarian shithole at gunpoint.

USA! USA! USA!

[Ted S.]

That should of course be "Cubans'", the plural possessive, not "Cuban's" singular possessive.

You could of course argue for the singular since the country is a dictatorship and you only need to worry about one Cuban.

[wareagle]

you only need to worry about one Cuban.
--------

Mark Cuban?

[Counterfly]

Cuban Pete.

[a better weapon]

Opus X?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Fucking facts, getting in my way.

[WTF]

That's what I'm thinking. They'll probably live quite well in Cuba due to their propaganda value.

[tarran]

Part of me is cheered by the news.

I don't think there is a country in the world where they will be left in peace (too many authoritarian shitholes), but I wish them the best of luck!

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Last week I somehow missed the fact that they grabbed their kids the day after the grandparents had been awarded permanent custody. Ugh.

[Warty]

Yeah. If you push people far enough, sometimes they do crazy shit.

[$park?]

You know, I just thought of an interesting theory. What are the chances the grandparents were in on it and agreed to be tied up so it would look like they weren't so they wouldn't get in trouble?

[Counterfly]

I haven't read that much about this one, but that's what I figured from the beginning.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I've been figuring it was either that or they started the whole shitshow to begin with.

[Virginian]

I think that's exactly what happened. It's one thing to have the kids stay at grandma's while you "straighten this thing out". It's another thing to lose custody permanently.

I think no one really feels like the system is going to fuck them, until it does. Josh Hakken decided to fuck back. He is, to me, a hero and an inspiration.

[entropy]

I don't know. If grandma was in on it, why would her having permanent custody matter all that much?

That they respond to grandma getting the children by kidnapping them and fleeing to cuba tells me maybe grandma was 'in on it' with the DCFS and had something to do with them losing custody to begin with.

[sloopyinca]

Funny that the WaPo has disabled the comments on the Hakken story. I'm sure it was an accident and not intentionally done.

[Raston Bot]

Probably what CPS et al were hoping for. The last thing they wanted was to publicly bring parents to justice and put the spotlight on CPS's heroic fuckitude.

[Restoras]

Interesting survey on what [some] cops think of the recent gun control "debate".

[Rich]

Meh. What does Eric Holder think?

[gaijin]

Probably the first thing I've seen posted here from PoliceOne that makes me hopeful.

[Bobarian]

Most rank and file police officers would rather come to a crime scene in order to remove the criminal's body than to take a victim's statement.

[entropy]

Unless the criminal is a bear.

[KDN]

I love the huge number of typos in their surveys. Policemen never fail to reveal that they're just a bunch of failed jocks, but this doesn't stop them from knowing they could run your life better than you can.

[LTC(ret) John]

They don't want to run your life, they just want you to obey them at the moment they decide they want to control your immediate actions.

[Lord Humungus]

US Army Labeled Evangelicals, Catholics as Examples of Religious Extremism
http://nation.foxnews.com/reli.....-extremism

The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.

The military also listed "Islamophobia" as a form of religious extremism.

[wareagle]

is there some band of crazed Baptists going around killing non-believers? Even the Klan is a non-entity in comparison to the likes of Hamas. And lists like this are supposed to pass as deep thought from our friendly, caring govt.

[mad libertarian guy]

And lists like this are supposed to pass as deep thought from our friendly, caring govt.

Unfortunately, lists like these ARE passed as deep thought amongst leftophiles.

[Matrix]

Well, people who exercise their constitutionally recognized rights are also labelled as extremists.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Next up, the Army declares war on the Air Force.

[Bobarian]

We've always been at war with the Air Force...

[Rasilio]

Given that the Air Force Officers corps is pretty thoroughly infested with Evangelicals that might make some sense

[Counterfly]

This doesn't seem like The Army at large. I mean I don't think this was a ACOS signed and certified regulation or anything. Just some GS-12 who had an axe to grind at a training seminar.

For reservists.

Who were probably all asleep anyway.

Or was this a CBT? Because I don't think anyone even reads those.

Just skip to the test, and then google the questions.

[LTC(ret) John]

"For reservists.

Who were probably all asleep anyway."

Yes.

[Restoras]

Curves are sexy! NSFW.

[LTC(ret) John]

HA! You won't lure me in - I hovered over the link and saw "Lena Dunham" - no way, man, no way.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You know you want to.

[Counterfly]

Yep, you gotta try harder than that, Restoras.

I mean I still clicked, but I knew what I was getting into. I mean I'll look at anything.

[LTC(ret) John]

Should I need an emetic or to replace syrup of ipecac, then I would.

[Counterfly]

They made homemade emetics on MST3000 one time, and the one that stuck with me forever was Circus Peanuts and Mayonaisse.

Not sure if it was Artisinal.

[Bobarian]

NSFW??

NSFHC you mean.

HC = Human Consumption

[Lord Humungus]

the horror. the horror.

*helicopter sound churns overheard*

[Ted S.]

Curves is sexy?

I know there are all sorts of freaky fetishes....

[Lord Humungus]

a nice collection of links for your left friends:

Obama's regressive record makes Nixon look like Che
http://boingboing.net/2013/04/.....d-mak.html

Redditor Federal Reservations has made a handy post enumerating all the regressive, authoritarian, corporatist policies enacted by the Obama administration in its one-and-a-bit terms. You know, for someone the right wing press likes to call a socialist, Obama sure makes Richard Nixon look like Che Guevara. And what's more, this is only a partial list, and excludes the parade of copyright horrors and bad Internet policy emanating from the White House, via Joe Biden's push for Six Strikes, the US Trade Rep's push for secret Internet censorship and surveillance treaties like TPP and ACTA and TAFTA; the DoJ's push to criminalize every Internet user by expanding the CFAA, and much, much more.

[Virginian]

I like how they think the left is something it isn't.

The Left is and always has been authoritarian and regressive.

[Zeb]

What an odd comparison.

[NeonCat]

Now I want a Che shirt with Nixon's face.

[Bobarian]

I would like to see one of the t-shirt girls model it.

[Lord Humungus]

Ex-Felons Are About to Get Health Coverage
http://www.pewstates.org/proje.....5899465889

Newly freed prisoners traditionally walk away from the penitentiary with a bus ticket and a few dollars in their pockets. Starting in January, many of the 650,000 inmates released from prison each year will be eligible for something else: health care by way of Medicaid, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

A sizeable portion of the nearly 5 million ex-offenders who are on parole or probation at any given time will also be covered.

[db]

It's the least we can do for imprisoning them on trumped up drug charges.

[thom]

Yup. If the government wants to lock people up in little rooms for years at a time for violating their stupid rules, the trade off is that they have to take care of those people throughout the process.

[Auric Demonocles]

They already got healthcare while in there. This about after they are released.

[thom]

Yeah, I understand. Prison is a disruptive experience. A lot of these guys are owed a lot more than they get in terms of getting back on their feet.

[Restoras]

I don't know who Rosie Huntington-Whitely is but damn! Also, Kendall Jenner.

[Enough About Palin]

WTF? Her face could split rails.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) said Monday that, despite calls for the party to moderate on social issues and polls that show more and more Americans embracing marriage equality, the GOP will never endorse gay nuptials and warned that such a change in positions would be "suicidal" for Republicans.

http://livewire.talkingpointsm.....e-equality

[Restoras]

*skates to Hit&Run; Commentariat bench, squints eyes, glares*

Don't even think about it.

[tarran]

Why does the thread suddenly smell like piss?

[Lord Humungus]

it's piss all the way down.

[LTC(ret) John]

You need the Hanson brothers to back you up, right?

[Brett L]

I love the Hanson brothers. "Shut the fuck up and listen to the song!"

[$park?]

This song?

[WTF]

Greatest hockey movie ever.

[Bobarian]

Puttin on da foil, coach.

[LTC(ret) John]

Want some?

[The DerpRider]

Trade me to Detroit. Right fucking now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But I submit that this isn't even trolling. Santorum is anti-libertarian to his core, so this isn't baiting reasoners to defend.

[LTC(ret) John]

But let him battle the strawmen in his own mind, alone and unaided.

[Citizen Nothing]

The Plug trying to make nice? Naw. Couldn't be.

[Andrew S.]

A change in positions would be "suicidal" for Team Red? The GOP needs to commit suicide if we have any hope for the future in politics, so I'm totally okay with that.

[Restoras]

Kate Moss and Sharon Stone making out. Nice but it would have been better 20 years ago.

[Lord Humungus]

Robert J. Samuelson: Myths of post-industrial America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

Almost everyone seems to yearn for a manufacturing renaissance. This would, the reasoning goes, solve many problems. It would kick-start the sluggish recovery. By providing well-paying jobs, especially for semi-skilled men, it would strengthen the middle class. By restoring a heritage of "making things," it would reduce U.S. trade deficits and reestablish our global economic pre-eminence. No doubt, millions of Americans endorse this appealing vision. It's make-believe.

[Xlotl]

We need something to keep dumb people off the dole.

[Counterfly]

I vote for Thunderdome.

[Bam!]

More reality TV shows.

[Bee Tagger]

Public sector union membership is down in Wisconsin.

Must be something in the water. Now that Scott Walker is governor, I'm certain that pollution has skyrocketed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Water contamination is how the Kochs make their money.

[Citizen Nothing]

You gotta dump the monocle-polishing residue somewhere.

[db]

Yes, I guess that's true, since a sizeable portion of their business is involved in supplying pollution control equipment.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Follow the money.

[Timrek]

It's fracking I tells yah!! Oh, and MATT DAMON!!

-- I live in Wisconsin and drove through Madison, by accident, during the height of that crap. The level of stupid and greed coming out of the pro-Unionits was scary.

[tarran]

Writing at Bishop Hill, Doug Keenan has a lovely article about the Englisher MET office's desperate attempts not to calculate a number:

The question that Lord Donoughue has been asking requires the calculation of a single number. The calculation is purely arithmetical: there is no opinion or judgment involved ... . Furthermore, the calculation is easy enough that it could be done in minutes, by someone with the appropriate statistical skills. You could think of it as being similar to finding the total of a column of integers.

The number that Lord Donoughue is asking for is 0.001, according to my calculation. (Yes, it is that simple.) Lord Donoughue, though, would like the number calculated by an official body.

...

None of those Answers give the number. Instead, the Answers make excuses as to why the number is not given. The main excuse seems to be that the number is not important. The importance of the number, however, is a separate issue: even if the number has no importance at all, the arithmetical calculation can still be done, and the number can still be given.

... In other words, the Met Office has refused to answer the question?contrary to the claim in your message. What reason does the Met Office have for refusing to supply the number? The required time would be less than the amount of time that the Met Office has spent in refusing.

[John]

They really are not even trying anymore. The world is warming because fuck you that is why is about all they have left.

[a better weapon]

Oh, they're still trying alright. Now they are claiming that the ocean's have sucked up all the warming over the last decade and an El Nino event could cause a near instant 4 degree Celsius increase in air temp to occur.

It's actually a compelling tack. I imagine a lot of people will buy it right away and never question it again. Of course, why the ocean started doing this now and not during previous warming periods is another matter to never consider or calculate.

http://www.worldmag.com/2013/0.....al_warming

[Virginian]

http://www.businessinsider.com.....eam-2013-4

Thatcher helped invent soft serve ice cream.

[Counterfly]

Well I can forgive her, I guess.

[a better weapon]

Eh, if you had said frozen yogurt, I'd have gone a little out of my way to commemorate her passing with some Yumilicious or Orange Leaf. Not Pinkberry though, that place is just awful.

[Lord Humungus]

Look Out Below, The Obamacare Chaos Is Coming
http://www.forbes.com/sites/pe.....is-coming/

Just wait until the broad realization dawns that the harsh reality of Obamacare is that tens of millions will lose their employer provided insurance because of the perverse incentives under the program. Even the establishment CBO admits that at least 7 million, and as many as 20 million, will lose their employer coverage. In February, CBO reported that "in 2019 [5 years after Obamacare is implemented], an estimated 12 million people who would have had an offer of employment-based coverage under prior law will lose their offer under current law [aka 'Obamacare']."

But that report is just the early breeze of the coming storm. The Obamacare employer mandate requires all employers of 50 or more full time workers to purchase the expensive insurance for those employees that Kathleen Sebelius ("The Secretary shall determine") specifies that they must buy. But that mandate is enforced by a penalty of $2,000 per worker, which may be only 10% of the average cost of family coverage under the Sebelius requirements.

[NoVAHockey]

I think the Medicaid aspect of this is going to be worse. HHS is saying the feds will cover 90% of the cost of the expansion population. they won't -- and can't -- answer the question "90% of what?"

[John]

Old people, young people, working people, everyone is going to be measurably worse off in the coming year and the Democrats are going to be desperately trying to avoid responsibility. It is going to be a tragic comedy.

[NoVAHockey]

should make for some fun town hall meetings.

[mad libertarian guy]

They'll just blame it on Republicans, and those on the left will parrot that even though not a single Republican voted for that piece of shit.

[a better weapon]

They'll just blame it on Republicans, and those on the left will parrot that even though not a single Republican voted for that piece of shit.

Exactly, there is no way this sticks to them. Even if the lead editors and news producers didn't get their marching orders right away when the SHTF, they'd gladly spend time coming up with the spin themselves. It used to be fun to speculate on when the emperor would be revealed as having no clothes, but its clear now that this is a just a pipe dream.

[KDN]

We all know how this movie ends: the Democrats blame the failures of Obamacare on trying to work within the existing market reality rather than just sweeping it aside and implementing single-payer. Their base of hard-left progressives and the low-info, free-shit brigade will lap it up and the party will then spend the next 30 years implementing that goal.

One thing I've never understood - it's clear from decades of evidence that Americans are just no good at bureaucracy (even in the private sector). Even if in a vacuum a top-down, bureaucratically administered solution would produce the best result, we would just find a way to fuck it up. Why do we keep beating our heads against that wall? Why can't we just focus on what we're good at?

[Jerryskids]

the Democrats are going to be desperately trying to avoid responsibility

We already know how that argument will go: if you had just gone ahead and dropped your pants and bent over like we asked you to, instead of attempting to defend yourself, it wouldn't have been rape. If you struggle, it will only make it harder.

[Virginian]

http://www.yourtango.com/exper.....udents-why

Hot for Teacher...

[Zeb]

Maybe that explains the psychology of the teachers who fuck their students, but I'd say it fails pretty well in understanding the psychology of teenage boys.

[Auric Demonocles]

The emotional part isn't usually caught and the reasons are many. First of all, the child usually doesn't say anything. He may be afraid of a poor grade, he may like the extra attention or he may feel guilty and/or fearful.

Or maybe the "child" (who might be 18) is hopeful that the sex will come.

[Lord Humungus]

Tax Reform Is Very Much Alive and Doable
Closing special-interest loopholes will help lower rates and boost the economy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....on_LEADTop

There are skeptics who question the prospects for bipartisan tax reform. We know we face some fierce headwinds. People from across the spectrum are trying to turn tax reform into a political weapon, which could end up killing any chance at success.

We can't let that happen. Tax reform can't be about politics. It has to be about the people we serve, about boosting the economy, about creating jobs in Montana, Michigan and across America. It has to be about restoring some trust in the process of government.

[Brett L]

Woohoo. Greetings from the new job, fellow bemonocled curmudgeons! Today is software install day, so I'll have some time to play. The good news: this company treats employees like adults. No bullshit in the employment contract about owning anything you produce ever while employed for them, no company spyware on the company laptop. The entire IT talk was: "The company policy on these laptops are: They are yours. Our only caveat is: Please don't do anything you on them you wouldn't want your mother to see. And if you send me your laptop for service with your Steam or WoW account still logged on, I will screw with your games."

[SugarFree]

If it was really a good company they wouldn't get so mad when you masturbate with the breakroom peanut butter.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Fuck your own food!

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Sorry, let's just call it what it is. Food rapist."

[Virginian]

Oh, I had something for this.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's not that he's using the peanut butter that's the issue, it's that he's not paying taxes on the free peanut butter.

[db]

Nice. My co has been getting stricter on IT stuff recently...in the ridiculous direction. They are doing stupid stuff like tracking internet bandwidth used and still haven't issued reasonable guidance for IT security measure when traveling to, say, China.

[Brett L]

Like looking for your keys under the streetlight. We can measure bandwidth in the office, risk in China is much harder to define.

[generic Brand]

Same, kind of. They found out too many people used Pandora Radio and blocked it. Fortunately, I'm the only libertarian around for cubicles and cubicles in either direction, so it will be some time before they discover how often H&R is refreshed.

[db]

They're also blocking web sites that people actually use for their jobs. Several of our locations are situated near casinos, which generally offer inexpensive hotel rooms, but our IT policies prevent going to their web sites to book rooms and our travel policy on the agent's web site blocks out casino hotels. So the company is paying roughly double for some people's rooms now, since it's technically a violation of the policy to book a room or a flight through anyone but our official travel agent.

[Citizen Nothing]

So who in your company is getting the kickback?

[JW]

They are doing stupid stuff like tracking internet bandwidth used

I do this, because our Internet circuit sucks and won't be better for months. I have one guy who drags down almost a gig's worth off tumblr every morning. Not a lot of productivity going on there. Youtube and Facebook are the other big bandwidth sucks.

When that starts to interfere with hosted business packages that actually make us money, then yeah, it becomes my problem to deal with. Fuckin' slackers.

[db]

Oh, I get it, believe me. Abuse of a company provided utility is a bad thing. It's just I think they should be focusing on real security and they're out trying to minimize traffic. Which makes sense if their goal is cost reduction.

[Ted S.]

I don't play Steam or WoW. So there.

[SugarFree]

Your new sexual fetish.

It will haunt your dreams forever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Japanese stalls have walls that go almost to the floor? What a strange culture.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Falwell was fetishizing that shit years ago.

[Warty]

Holy shit, is that a full length wood veneer bathroom stall??

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

It's like you guys have never been to a nice office or something before. Turn in your monocles!

[Warty]

I'd almost feel bad cutting a gloryhole in that stall.

[NoVAHockey]

i thought we all had keys to the executive wash room.

[Bobarian]

Women's restrooms are lots nicer then men's?

[Counterfly]

So it IS true. Everybody poops.

[Lord Humungus]

The History of Shaving
http://www.todayifoundout.com/.....f-shaving/

When did our modern-day obsession with silky-smooth armpits and legs first take hold? As far as armpits are concerned, we can pinpoint it almost to the day. In May of 1915, the upscale magazine Harper's Bazaar ran an ad featuring a young model in a sleeveless, slip-like dress posing with both arms over her head.

You may be thinking, "So what?" Well, up until that time, fashion ? and propriety ? dictated that women were covered to the wrist and to the ankle. A dress that exposed the underarms was nothing short of revolutionary. In fact, just the utterance of the word "underarm" out loud was enough to call for the smelling salts mere weeks earlier. Now, it was becoming perfectly acceptable. It also meant since underarms were body parts that had always been covered, whether or not they needed shaving had been a moot point and little discussed. If it didn't show, why bother? And yet, here was an ad cajoling women that it was necessary to remove "objectionable" hair. To think just days earlier women had no idea such a problem even existed!

[Matrix]

the patriarchy!!

[NeonCat]

I keep wondering if the pendulum will swing back and women will say "the hell with it" and decide to go back to being hairy.

Somehow the human race managed to survive for thousands of years despite the lack of shaved pits, legs and pubes.

[BakedPenguin]

Only if men start saying "the hell with it" and stop caring. Until then, a woman who shaved while others didn't would have a large advantage. If you don't believe me, google "hirsute" and see how long you can stare into the void.

[NeonCat]

When I was in college there was a Frenchwoman in some of my classes. She always wore leggings. One day there was a gap, revealing a lot of hair. It was shocking.

At this point, hirsuteness is a taboo. Things won't change until some extremely beautiful, trend-setting woman decides to shock everyone by not shaving. Maybe not even then. Maybe in the future people will be genetically engineered not to have body hair.

[a better weapon]

You don't know what you don't know.

It would take generations for us guys to stop complaining about it. Fertility rates would plummet. We'd all turn in to Amish beard-cutters and start knocking our women out with gasoline soaked rags just to get the Mach 5 on her legs.

[Azathoth!!]

But if the first paragraph is included things get clearer. It's highly likely that the girl in the dress had her armpits smooth long before that dress was 'allowed'(I put this in quotes because bare arms also predate the May 1915 issue of Harpers)

Both sexes have a love-hate relationship with removing body hair. We've been pulling, plucking, burning, tweezing and ripping out undesirable hair since the dawn of time. It's believed that as far back as 4,000 B.C., women were using dangerous substances like arsenic and quicklime to get the job done. Meanwhile, the Egyptians, who never did anything halfway, removed all of their body hair from head to toe. They really liked the sleek look, but it also had a practical purpose. Being hairless discouraged the spread of disease and vermin such as lice and other icky creepy-crawlies. By 500 B.C., Roman ladies had learned how to use pumice stones and even a primitive version of the razor.

And let's be truthful--both women AND men were depilating.

[Brett L]

Also, the gf informed me that there will be a half-libertarian bastard brought into this world in about 8 months (the gf refuses to be married while pregnant). No, we will not be raffling off naming rights. But we may be competing with sloopy and banjos for cute baby pictures. This is our first run at this, so I'm not going to lie, I'm kinda freaking the fuck out.

[Virginian]

Mazel Tov dude.

[LTC(ret) John]

Woah - shot one past the goalie, eh? Married after the kid arrives? Life will never be the same - so get that naked skydiving while slamming a Schlitz Tall Boy done now!

[Spoonman.]

Little early to tell people, no? I guess this is all fairly anonymous.

My wife actually gave me the same news a few weeks ago, so, cute baby picture in December contest?

[LTC(ret) John]

Dang, the libertarians, they are breeding!"

[Brett L]

Eh. All the grandparents know. I was in favor of waiting until the end of the first trimester, but I guess she's told pretty much everyone she knows, except fb. We'll wait to tell our "friends" until May or June.

[Spoonman.]

Only my MIL knows, mostly because she is a huge fan of little ones (she really got the frequent flier points - 5) and has been pestering my wife for a while.

Best of luck with the whole thing - it's pretty fucking intimidating.

[Brett L]

Also, congrats.

[wareagle]

good for both of you, spooner and brett. Kids are the coolest. I have four between mine and the bride's. They are challenging at times and life after is never like it was before, but that's also in good ways.

[Spoonman.]

We are not super worried about the lifestyle change because we don't really go out or have friends - we don't like people very much.

[Quetzalcoatl]

My wife is sometimes concerned about my lack of social life. I just told her that my family provides for most of my social needs. Almost too much sometimes!

To wareagle's point about "life after is never like it was before, but that's also in good ways." I think that says it very well. I don't go out for drinks after work anymore, but it's usually because I want to head home and catch the kids before they go to bed. The 20-somethings living like they are still in college don't get it, so I usually don't try to explain.

[Rich]

Half-lib, that's all I ever heard
Half-lib, how I learned to hate the word
Half-lib, she's no good they warned
Both teams were against me since the day I was born

[Lord Humungus]

I freaked out too. Welcome to the club.

[generic Brand]

Which half is libertarian? Above the waist or below?

[Spoonman.]

At this point the babies don't really have waists...I am guessing the tail is currently the libertarian part.

[Greg]

Need to get the eyeballs too to sustain the monocle sales

[JW]

Half-libertarians are black on the right side, dummy.

[Ted S.]

Congratulations! Nine minutes of passion for you; nine months of work for her.

[generic Brand]

Minutes?? I was thinking seconds...

[$park?]

I'm not going to lie, I'm kinda freaking the fuck out.

Good. But you'll get used to it.

[tarran]

Congrats!

The good news is that your body will be pumping out hormones and neurotransmitters that make parenting feel satisfying and fun, especially the bits that would cause a person lacking all those behavior modifying chemicals to run screaming from the room.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Welcome to life after ejaculation. Good luck and stay calm.

[Chloe]

Congrats!

[Warty]

Fake your death and swim to Cuba. Quick, dude.

[NeonCat]

He's still young, it's not too late.

[Restoras]

Brett - I understand the freaking out part. We all go through it. I consoled myself while waiting for my first with the fact that it can't be all that hard considering it's been done several billion times before. After the little one arrives all your anxiety disappears - at least it did for me.

[Brett L]

I keep telling the gf that. Quit fucking worrying. Stupid, malnourished meth addicts pop out healthy babies every day. We are none of these.

[Spoonman.]

Luckily for me my wife is not a worrier. She is feeling pretty crap though so I have been fixing all the meals.

[sloopyinca]

Same here. Especially with the physical problems we knew Baby Reason would have. It's all just been, "meh, we'll deal with it as it comes". And everything has been great.

Well congratulations to you as well then. May they all three come into the world the same day. Sort of a holy triumvirate of Reason babies. Maybe they could form the second coming of Rush when they grow up.

[Spoonman.]

You have no idea how not-cool my kids will be, man. No idea.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

So you're sure it's not the penguins, though? Because that might be something to worry about, even if it's cute.

[Brett L]

But then it'd have a natural tuxedo! Like every little libertarian should... Which reminds me, I totally need to find a tuxedo onesie to annoy the shit out of the gf.

[T]

Right here, buddy. You need anything else, just ask.

[T]

Yes, they do. I have all the proof you need, and can send pictures.

[The DerpRider]

Just avoid Irish twins. Mine are one year and three days apart. You do not want that phone call from your crazed wife/gf about what you did to her when your firstborn is only three months. But hey, it all worked out in the end and the kids are great.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Wow Brett, congratulations. I hope all goes well.

[Joe M]

Honestly, the first six months or so are exhausting but relatively straightforward. Feed, change, rinse, repeat. It's when they start crawling and walking that shit gets crazy.

[PS]

Yeah, the first six months really can suck ass, especially if the kid is fussy or 'colicy'.

And to be really really really honest. It wasn't till the kid started talking that I was really into him. Until they can speak they are really just need machines, afterwards it starts to be a hell of a lot of fun.

[Raston Bot]

the first year is hell. it's when they crawl and walk that they self-entertain and give you a moment to yourself.

[Rasilio]

Nah, the crawling and walking part ain't even that hard, just remember nothing dangerous or breakable ever goes less than 4 feet off the floor, it is the first time they say "NO!" when things really start to go to hell and they stay there for about the next 2 years, then they settle down again before picking back up 8 - 9 years after that.

[db]

Good luck!

[NoVAHockey]

congrats. FWIW, they're pretty resilient. I've figure out that above anything else, my son just wants my attention and time. doesn't matter what we're doing. he's almost 4 and just involving him in tasks, like fixing a toilet or helping in the yard, make his day.

[Andrew S.]

My daughter is "almost 4" as well, and yep. Don't sweat the small stuff with kids. You're going to worry about everyting anyways, so don't make that worse than it has to be.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Haha, my in-laws commented at the time that we weren't treating our first like a first child (i.e. freaking out and helicoptering).

I took it as a compliment.

[PS]

My wife freaked out about *everything*: he wasn't turning onto his stomach on schedule, took him to a physical therapist, getting sick too often, a battery of allergy test, is he going to learn Czech and English, etc etc.

That shit works itself out in most cases. I did manage to talk her out of a speech therapist after the gumnit preschool recommended one, twice. Now he speaks better in either language than most kids in their native tongue.

[mad libertarian guy]

Anyone who sends their child to a speech therapist before the age of 10, short of obvious physical issues, is fucking retarded.

Upon entering a private pre-school at age 3, my son was screened for potential speech problems. They recommended that we send him to a therapist. I told them "no fucking way" and he's worked himself out of every problem they said he had and needed therapy for.

[PS]

Yeah, same here. Even with socialized medicine, I'm sure it's a way to increase numbers and hence their budget.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Jesus Christ, there aren't going to be any natural resources left for me at all.

[Quetzalcoatl]

We all know that you consume primarily unnatural resources.

[Fist of Etiquette]

My doctor says I should switch to all natural.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Congrats!

[Kaptious Kristen]

What will the SoCons think?!?!? OMG will someone think of the SoCons!!

[T]

Ehh, you'll be fine. I just got handed (by the oh-so benevolent state) an infant 2 months ago. It's not rocket science, and you have 8 months to prepare. I had less than a week. You'll be fine. Remember: complete idiots have been doing this with varying degrees of success for thousands of years, so it can't be that conceptually challenging.

The sleep deprivation is kind of a bitch, though.

[PS]

Congratulations. Enjoy the enhanced horniness women usually get from the hormones. You'll need to camel that away for the coming winter. Babies are God's little cockblockers.

[carol]

Congrats! Babies are the perfect mix of "holy shit" and "aw, crap!". Really, really lovely beyond all means. Your life just changed for the better.

[JW]

Congrats?

[sloopyinca]

Fucking awesome news, man! Congrats.

And expect the freaking out to continue for about, oh, 10 months or so. That goes double for when the baby starts to kick and you can feel it.

Now, if you suffer from a similar condition as me, be careful when you have sex after 6-7 months, as your penis can poke the baby in the head. Once, I was sure mine was grabbed by a fist! But that's only a fear for the ultra well-endowed, so you might not have to deal with it.

Seriously, though. That's wonderful news. Can't wait to see the both of us cheering simultaneously at the birth of our little ones and our screwing of the IRS.

[Brett L]

Oh, yeah. She told me just in time to fill out the new W-4. Fuck you IRS, I'm taking those deductions.

[Auric Demonocles]

Congrats to both of you guys.

[a better weapon]

What's the other half?

[sloopyinca]

What's the other half?

Human being.

/Progtard

[Brett L]

Non-political emotive.

[MJGreen]

BABIES EVERYWHERE

Congrats to you and the missus lady with whom you cohabit.

[Tonio]

Congrats BrettL and Spoonman and to your respective girlfriends/spouses and families. Wishing everyone healthy pregnancies and babies.

[gaijin]

Please fasten your seat belt by inserting the flat metal buckle into the...oh hell. Fun times ahead!

[Spoonman.]

My neighbors across the street just put their house up for $100k more than we bought our house for a year ago. Now, theirs is in significantly better shape, but it isn't very updated since what looks like the 80s.

So having a vacant house for a year or two should be really fun.

[Lord Humungus]

or a rental. *shudder*

[Virginian]

Dude, there's a house a friend lives across from that has been vacant for a decade. Property owner lives out of state and just...well just refuses to fix it up or sell it.

[Ted S.]

On the bright side you'll have one fewer set of nosy neighbors.

[Spoonman.]

Our neighbors generally mind their own business. The only nosiness we got was when the lady next door we could barely understand asked whether we were going to have children the day we moved in.

Given other things it would kinda be nice if a young couple moved in since everybody else is empty nesters/teenage kids.

[gaijin]

since everybody else is empty nesters/teenage kids.

Built in babysitters and cautious drivers. It could be worse.

[John]

It might sell. Big Ben is re-inflating the housing bubble just as fast as he can because the first one worked out so well.

[Counterfly]

Freaking Roethlisberger. Is there anything he doesn't ruin?

[NoVAHockey]

woo. Stillers.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Here we go... Here we go...

[NeonCat]

I'm picturing a meeting of the governors of the Fed with Bernanke chucking footballs at people with displeasing reports.

[Spoonman.]

The power of Philadelphia's permanent stagnation laughs at Helicopter Ben.

[Astra]

Yep, we just sold our house last week six hours after it went on the market.

[John]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/04.....nterparts/

Obama declares Tuesday 'National Equal Pay Day,' despite paying female staffers less than male counterparts

[Chloe]

Yeah, but whose going to report that little bit of trivial info we're not supposed to know or care about?

[Rich]

"On National Equal Pay Day, we recognize this injustice by marking how far into the new year women have to work just to make what men did in the previous one."

Say what?

[Virginian]

Oh my fucking god this bullshit canard will not die, despite the fact that it's absolutely retarded.

[sarcasmic]

It's only retarded because you think about it and apply logic to facts.

You're supposed to feel.

[Warty]

OK, that convinced me. He's not an evil genius, he's not an evil idiot, he's not Hitler reborn. He's just a wildly successful troll.

[Counterfly]

Shut up John, you racist.

[generic Brand]

Women in favor of the "Equal Pay for Equal Work" movement are no different from union zombies. They want to marginalize everyone's pay under "fair terms", rather than give themselves the chance at higher pay than their peers by excelling at their job.

I mean, I guess it makes sense for the majority who are at or below the average pay, but why any woman who is an actual go-getter would be in favor of this is beyond me.

As an aside, this line of thinking is becoming more and more predictable when it comes to education. The teachers who complain about not getting paid enough while simultaneously endorsing teacher's unions are the teachers who know they couldn't cut it at a private school or in a non-unionized district.

[John]

They want to be able to take six months off for maternity leave, go home at three every day, and skip work whenever the snowflake has a cold or a school play, but still be as successful and paid as well as people who work 12 hours a day and haven't taken a sick day in years.

[generic Brand]

Tell me about it. My office has no less than six pregnancies at a time, and we only have about 200 employees. There must be something in the water...

[edcoast]

Been busy GB?

[generic Brand]

Shhhh!!! My girlfriend is already super jealous when I talk to the girls in my office.

[sloopyinca]

What's she gonna do when you up stakes and head for the Windy City in the fall?

[generic Brand]

Three potential outcomes, as I see it:

A) She cries constantly for about a month, but we battle through it and she moves up maybe end of spring semester my first year (about 20% chance)
2) We break up and she goes on a bangfest after 4+ years with the same guy (about 8% chance)
III) We try to make things work, but realize that a long distance relationship for a third year out of five together is too much to ask and we just sort of grow apart (72% chance)

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Aw, this makes me sad. Like your panda.

[generic Brand]

Sad, why? 8% may be a long shot, but it's not out of the cards completely! 😀

[Matrix]

Warty...

[Ted S.]

And they're ingrateful bastards about it, not thanking people for picking up the slack for them.

[NoVAHockey]

this is why i'm doing associate level work even though I've never been to law school. seems there's always an associate out of maternity leave.
on the plus side, during review time I noted that if i'm doing associate level work, then I should be paid like one. and they went for it.

[generic Brand]

on the plus side, during review time I noted that if i'm doing associate level work, then I should be paid like one. and they went for it.

Nice! How do you get around the licensing schemes the ABA puts in place?

[NoVAHockey]

it's more policy than legal work. any legal research that I do is reviewed by a lawyer and not billed out hourly. most of our clients are retainer anyway.

[sarcasmic]

Kate Moss and Sharon Stone swap spit.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....arity.html

[generic Brand]

Where's Ted to tell you you're stupid and also that someone else already posted this? (I might have been exaggerating the stupid part.)

[sarcasmic]

How would I know? I'm not going to scroll over the entire set of comments before my onslaught of Daily Fails.

[Ted S.]

You could have waited a few more minutes, you know. 🙂

[Ted S.]

Somebody up above in the comments was posting all the Daily Mail crap on your behalf.

[generic Brand]

Muwahahahaha!

[sarcasmic]

Maybe if I ever get a real job Restoras will take up the cudgel.

[sarcasmic]

Kristin Cavallari is way too skinny for John.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....birth.html

[Warty]

Needs much more ass.

[Ted S.]

You're not going to get anybody to show you their ass no matter how much you try.

[sarcasmic]

He thinks Maggie Gyllenhaal is hot.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....dress.html

[$park?]

She's got great skin. GREAT! SKIN!

[John]

She was hot when she was like 20 and was in the Secretary. Today. not so much. But now she is way too thin and looks like a little boy. Looks like your dream woman to me.

[sarcasmic]

I think Olivia Wilde is hot.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....igure.html

[robc]

Much hotter in the on the streets pics than the yellow dress pics.

[sarcasmic]

I agree.

[Zeb]

You don't say.

[sarcasmic]

'Anti-government parents who kidnapped their toddler sons' now thought to be in Cuba and officials 'don't know how they will be able to extradite the children'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ldren.html
Police are disappointed that they will be deprived of the opportunity to kill the parents in front of their children.

[Fatty Bolger]

Bitches in stiletto heels (NSFW)

[sarcasmic]

Man given a ticket for looking at a MAP on his phone while driving

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....iving.html

[Auric Demonocles]

Could he get a ticket for looking at a regular, paper MAP while driving?

[sarcasmic]

Navy deploys giant laser.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2014.html

[Counterfly]

Is this the project that Admiral Parsons and Dr. Allen were working on?

[sarcasmic]

And you thought your town's potholes were bad?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....holes.html
Comments are pure derp.

[John]

But Obama's visit has annoyed political insiders who want to see results for the dollars they've already forked over. "We've got a mayoral race he'll be getting in the way of," said one. "We should be focusing on that and individual congressional candidates. It's like 'Lord of the Flies' . . . [Obama] is cannibalizing donors."

And others expressed fund-raiser fatigue: "It is stunning that [Obama] is back here fund-raising. We'd like to see some results for the money we've already given. And his impact on the traffic congestion in the city is the perfect example of why we need an infrastructure bill that he's never put any muscle behind."

http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/i.....ng-donors/

Fuck you pay me.

[wareagle]

"We'd like to see some results for the money we've already given"

you mean the fact that their money and votes helped elect the single least qualified candidate ever isn't result enough? They get to bask in the glow of their open-mindedness at electing a black man whose intelligence boggles the capabilities of mere mortal observers.

[John]

The buyer's remorse if great. They all now claim they never really supported the black messiah. They always really wanted Hillary. Expect to hear more and more of that as time goes on.

[NoVAHockey]

"impact on the traffic congestion"

WTF. it doesn't matter how great your roads are if the police shut them all down so he can drive by.

[VG Zaytsev]

How much of OFA cash will wind up in Obama's pocket by Jan n2017?

[sarcasmic]

Roommates suck.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....mates.html

[sarcasmic]

Man gets shock of his life when he buys two toy poodles for $150 only to be told by a vet that they are actually GIANT RODENTS pumped up with steroids to look like dogs

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....roids.html

Seriously? Can't tell the difference between a rodent and a canine?

[Counterfly]

It depends how much hot sauce and batter they have on them.

[Bobarian]

Liberian cuisine?

[Tonio]

Ferrets are not rodents. They are carnivores, and as such are much more closely related to other carnivores (bears, dogs, cats) than to rodents (rats, squirrels, beavers).

[John]

Obama slams Republicans for "gun control stunts" after he meeting with parents of dead children. God what a piece of shit.

http://www.france24.com/en/201.....orm-stunts

[Zeb]

It is amazing how we managed to follow Bush II with someone even more awful.

How the fuck is everything that the gun-controllers are doing not political stunts?

[John]

This is basically the equivalent of Bush meeting with the parents of dead soldiers before asking for more funding for the war.

[Bobarian]

I'd conflate it more with parading the wife of someone killed at the WTC, which was done, but not so blatantly.

[sarcasmic]

Whether or not something is a political stunt or not is determined not by what they actually do, rather by who does it.

[John]

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

Did man confess to murder on the internet? Sounds to me like the guy needed killing.

[Ted S.]

Are you happy now, generic Brand?

[generic Brand]

Hahaha vindication!

Also, I never knew you were as young as you said yesterday (something about you were born in the 70s, if I recall correctly), what with all of the old movies you review.

I just had the desire to watch some Paul Newman flicks; let me know if you have any lesser known recommendations. I was planning on watching The Hustler, The Verdict, and I want to say The Sting.

[Ted S.]

If you want to have a good laugh at a pretty bad movie, you could watch The Silver Chalice. Quintet is also really bad in a "what the fuck were they thinking" way.

[John]

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

The Rolling Stones made almost $600 million on their last full scale tour. And Mick Jagger can't afford braces for his daughter. Honey, don't smile whatever you do.

[Counterfly]

He can afford them, she doesn't want them. I mean what happens if you run into an ear of corn on the other side of a picket fence?

You starve and she lives.

[Warty]

There's nothing wrong with a little gap. It didn't hurt Belladonna any, did it?

[John]

It is not the gap. It is the two huge teeth that stick out.

[John]

With her mouth closed she is hot.

[sarcasmic]

Really? I thought Mischa would be more to your liking. Well, the pics at the top. Not the ones when she was skinny.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....Dukes.html

[John]

She look like a dumpy high school girl.

[sarcasmic]

I always thought she was pretty hot before she ate all those cheeseburgers.

http://images2.fanpop.com/imag.....0-1396.jpg

[Zeb]

Funny how one of the pictures in which she is smiling is captioned "flawless". She's a very good looking person, but the giant front teeth with a gap is definitely a flaw. And makes her look way too much like her father.

Which reminds me of another thing that I often wonder about. How do ass ugly dudes like Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler become sex symbols?

[John]

Money and the magic of playing in a band. It really is magic. Check out Kieth Richards' wife of nearly 30 years

http://www.modwomen.com/2011/02/patti-hansen.html

She is not a 20 something anymore. She is actually somewhat age appropriate for him. But my God.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Fix her teeth, destroy her branding.

[John]

Like Streisand's nose I guess. Jennifer Grey got her nose fixed in the 1990s and had that happen to her. She never got a major role again.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yeah, sometimes I get the feeling all these dudes don't understand the fashion industry!

[John]

No. We really don't. My theory is that the entire industry is run by ugly women and gay men who all hate women and want to torture them.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

I mean models are supposed to be "striking," not conventionally beautiful anyway.

[John]

Why do clothes look better on a skinny ugly woman? I don't get it. Don't clothes look good on Kate Upton? The only reason to have models like that is so the ugly women who run the fashion industry can get their rocks off by telling beautiful women how fat they are.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Well I'm talking about the face. You're supposed to remember it, is the point.

[John]

I find Kate's face pretty memorable. And aren't you supposed to remember the clothes?

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Yeah, the idea is that you remember both. And the makeup, and the hair, and the shoes. The entire thing is an art installation.

[sarcasmic]

There's more to women than large breasts, John.

[John]

Sarcasmic, you don't even like women. Let Nicki and I talk.

[sarcasmic]

Like I said John, there's more to women than making up for not being breast fed as a child.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yep.

And most fashion is meant to be artsy fartsy, not a sexy show for hetero males. It's why you don't see downmarket brands like Jacqueline Smith or Kathie Lee Giffords put on shows at Fashion Week.

[John]

But isn't the point of the industry to sell clothes and make money? 90% of the shit that goes down the runway during fashion week will never be worn again or move even 10 units. I don't get it.

[sarcasmic]

I don't get it.

You have made that very clear.

[Shine on, Nikki Diamond]

Fashion week stuff is not for wearing. It's art, and some of it trickles down to ready-to-wear. You have to think of it as art, though, avant-garde art.

[John]

And it is mostly just random from year to year. When The Devil Wears Prada came out I read a review that made a great point. The reason why you have to be a bitch to run a big fashion magazine is all you do is make arbitrary decisions. Oh the hemlines are going up this year, oh earth tones are out only to come back ten years later. There is no real logic or reasoning behind it. But someone has to make all of those arbitrary decisions year to year and it kind of takes a bitch to do it.

[sarcasmic]

There is no real logic or reasoning behind it.

What part of "art" do you not understand?

[John]

Art doesn't have to be arbitrary sarcasmic.

[sarcasmic]

Art doesn't have to be arbitrary sarcasmic.

Art is whatever the artist and their fans agree is art. Since you are neither, your opinion matters naught.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Incidentally, the costuming in The Devil Wears Prada was widely panned as being very outdated, unfashionable and Dynasty-esque.

I remember thinking, the first time I saw the movie, that Andy's clothes before her makeover were much more stylish than the shit Stanley Tucci's character put her in.

[John]

I watched it with my wife. It wasn't t hat bad of a movie. But I didn't see where anything in it was particular to the fashion industry. Yeah, CEOs are often immoral scumbags who treat the people who work for them like slaves.

[Counterfly]

Hahah, gay.

[Fatty Bolger]

Fashion week stuff is not for wearing. It's art, and some of it trickles down to ready-to-wear. You have to think of it as art, though, avant-garde art.

Avant-garde art is mostly crap, so yeah, that fits.

[Zeb]

Oh, good. Someone called the art police.

Art is all crap to people who don't like it.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Someone had to. We couldn't have dissenting opinions, now could we?

[Kaptious Kristen]

What Nikki said - runway shows are art shows. The concepts are sometimes translated into ready-to-wear items that pop up at Target or Walmart.

You should have seen the models on the Fall 2013 runways. I think I can safely say both you and sarcasmic would have hated all of them (most designers went with really masculine hair and makeup), and the styles for fall are heavily 1980's-influenced, which means less cleavage and leg, and more bagginess and menswear inspirations (a la Annie Hall).

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months. - Oscar Wilde

[Zeb]

I don't even understand why there is a fashion industry.

[sarcasmic]

Where else are the beautiful people going to hang out and drink bubbly?

[Zeb]

Their fabulous mansions? At the restaurants that are too expensive for regular people to even know about?

Actually, I can appreciate a lot of the couture stuff as art. What I don't get is people who think they need a new wardrobe every year. I've got winter clothes and summer clothes. If something has too many holes in it, I'll replace it.

[sarcasmic]

Don't forget her trademark *fweet* *fweet* as her breath whistles through the gap.

[robc]

For our gay commentariat:

Bell's Brewery, for a pride event they support, is making a special beer called Sparkleberry.

Why isnt that offensive?

[John]

According to Slate this week, gay men who don't act effeminate are somehow sell out other gays or something. So yes, everything is offensive.

[Libertymike]

Suppose the Auburn, Mass property owner had planted and grown plenty of vaccinium aboreum in his back yard.

Would Fluffy consider that to be baiting?

[Tony]

What's offensive about it?

[Tonio]

It's offensive.

[jesse.in.mb]

You really want to encourage the gays to be more easily offended?

I don't see why it would be offensive. It's certainly an awkward attempt at camp, but if I got angry every time someone said something awkward while trying to be supportive I'd stroke out.

[Fate]

I'd try it. Though I'm not gay. I'd be bi if I thought males were in any way attractive, but I struck out there.

[sloopyinca]

Looks like the student body President of Riverside City College is a pederast.

FTA: "Many students have been aware of my status and we believe in rehabilitation," Figueroa said. "I dedicate my life to change the stigmas on these types of offenses. Don't get me wrong, there are some offenders that truly need to be on high supervision."

His crime? Also FTA: Doug Robert Figueroa, 40, who was elected to a one-year term as student body president in May, pleaded guilty in 2005 to kidnapping and lewd and lascivious acts with a boy under 14, the Riverside Press Enterprise (http://bit.ly/10APlun) reported. His five-year prison term was immediately suspended and he's serving 10 years' probation.

So he's here to change the stigma associated with kidnapping and diddling pre-teens. NAMBLA would be so proud.

[John]

How do you get a suspended sentence for kidnapping and statutory rape? Does California just like child molesters or something?

[robc]

I was going to ask the same thing, but Im guessing it was one of those bullshit kidnapping charges that get thrown on to throw the book at the guy and force a guilty plea.

So Im going to let that one slide. But, yeah, a 32 year old with a 13 year old? I dont see that just getting suspended.

[John]

If there is so much as a hint of force, he needs to be locked up.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Via Politico, by way of the NAGR Facebook page. Poor widdle Congresscreatures have to deal with constituents!

"There's a new generation of gun rights groups causing havoc in Republican offices on Capitol Hill.

They're going after anyone ? even members with pristine ratings from the National Rifle Association ? in a no-holds-barred attempt to make Republicans stop from even thinking about any potential compromises with Democrats on gun control or background check measures.

Several Senate GOP staffers have complained to POLITICO about the National Association for Gun Rights in particular, saying its hardball tactics have made life difficult for their offices with its email and phone campaign."

[Virginian]

I mean, I could understand some of them being a little pissed that a lifetime of supporting gun rights still gets them annoying lobbying efforts.

I mean, it's one thing to keep the wobbly in line, to watch for defectors. It's quite another to hammer the ones who have always kept the faith. Not a good idea, IMO.

[John]

Do you trust any of them? I don't. Hammer them all all of the time. Make them wake up every day shaking in fear that they might make a wrong move.

[Virginian]

Eh, at this point the NRA is Don Corleone. They don't need to bluster and threaten and puff up. Little dogs yap and bark.

[John]

True. But I just like to torture them. Every single one of them should live stressful miserable lives.

[Virginian]

Yeah but the mindset should be to be their best friend or their worst enemy.

[John]

This is why they shouldn't be trusted.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/04.....in-secret/

[Kaptious Kristen]

Joe Manchin has a "pristine" rating with the NRA, yet is trying to convince the NRA that certain "restrictions" are necessary. Fuck 'em all - they're all willing to sell out when the right hat drops.

[Virginian]

Democrat. Sorry, but I'm as a "pox on both your houses" as anyone, but the Republican Party genuinely believes in gun rights. The Democrats who claim to are pretending. The single exception was Jim Webb, and he's no longer a Senator.

[John]

Webb never had a chance. Remember Webb voted for Obamacare. That scum sucking weasel would sell out on gun control if he were still in office.

[Virginian]

No, I really don't think so. Remember, he carried a gun in the Capitol. The only reason to do that would be to assert your rights. There's certainly no practical purpose to carry in a building which is so secure.

[John]

Sure there is. It was his way of hiding who he was. After Newtown, I guarantee you Webb would have sold out. Anyone who voted for Obamacare showed that when it really mattered, they were party hacks.

[Jerryskids]

The NRA itself isn't opposed to 'reasonable' restrictions. 'Reasonable' compromises are always 'a little bit more'.

[NoVAHockey]

FWIW, my first stop is to offices where were we have support. both to make sure it's there, and to get them to engage the wafflers. kid of a "we know you're on board, but what do you think we can do to get X to sign on"

/lobbyist

[John]

They just big meanies. Don't these people understand how hard it is in Washington? If they don't sell out their constituents on gun control, the whole city will other them.

[Citizen Nothing]

I almost wish I were a Republican so I could help wreak havoc in the next primaries.

[John]

I wish I lived somewhere besides Maryland where there was an actual Republican party.

[T]

I love the assumption that the NRA is teh be-all end-all of gun rights. Oh noes, they're going after people with a great NRA rating! How can this be?!

Journalists, even gun industry journalists, don't understand the hardcore RKBA crowd at all.

[Zeb]

It is funny. I've always thought of the NRA as pretty middle-of-the-road, law and order kind of group.

[db]

Making life hard for politicians who think they can legislate away natural rights to defense? Hold on, let me open up my tiny violin case...

[Fatty Bolger]

The point is that it isn't enough for the pol to just support gun rights. They want these guys actively resisting these bills. Sending the message that they will be blamed if gun control legislation passes, even if they voted against it, is one way to do that. They almost certainly can stop the legislation if they really want to. If they're content to just vote "no" and do nothing else to stop it, then it may still get enough votes to pass.

[The Late P Brooks]

Fashion week stuff is not for wearing. It's art, and some of it trickles down to ready-to-wear. You have to think of it as art, though, avant-garde art.

Really? Mrs Early Twenties Investment Banker Trophy Wife isn't wearing that dress while she vacuums the stairs and changes the baby?

[Joe M]

Two shootings by four-year-olds in the last two days:

4-year-old Kills Deputy's Wife at Cookout

Police: 6-year-old accidentally shot by 4-year-old

[Tony]

If only the 6-year-old had a gun as well.

[John]

Tennessee state police spokeswoman Kristin Helm told the Los Angeles Times, when Daniel Fanning started showing his guns to a friend in his bedroom.

A 4-year-old boy at the cookout walked into the room with Josephine Fanning and picked up a loaded handgun from the bed and it went off, Helm said.

How stupid do you have to be to leave both a four year old and a loaded gun unattended long enough to let that happen? Could it be the cop killed his wife and is blaming it on the four year old? That is very fishy.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Well, it is a cop. They're not the brightest bulbs when it comes to knowing anything about uns or gun safety or shooting guns.

[John]

But the wife and the four year old kid had to be in the same room. Right? The kid did shoot the wife. You mean to tell me the wife stood there and watched the four year old pick up a loaded revolver and shoot her? Not likely.

[sarcasmic]

Where did it say it was a revolver?
I'm not sure a 4yr old could easily manage a double-action trigger pull. So I'm thinking it was a semi with one in the chamber.

[John]

YEAH. It probably wasn't a revolver. But so what? The wife still had to leave both the gun and the four year old unattended at the same time in the same room that she is in. That seems very unlikely.

[sarcasmic]

Maybe it was left fully cocked and the kid touched the trigger while picking it up?

Being that a cop was involved, the truth will never be known.

[John]

Very true. But if the cop, loaded, chambered a round, cocked the trigger, turned the safety off and left the gun unattended in the presence of a four year old, he is dumb even by cop standards.

[sarcasmic]

Or very sly.

[John]

yeah. I think he killed his wife and blamed it on the kid. But he is a cop, so we will never know.

[Rasilio]

I highly doubt this. It would require stupidity beyond that of your average cop.

First, the fact that the 4 year old pulled the trigger would not guarantee that no charges would be filed against the cop.

Second and most importantly, gunshot wounds are nowhere near as fatal as they are made out to be in the media so even if the cop pulled the trigger and somehow got the kid to say he did it there would have been no guarantee that the wife would have died

[Joe M]

Sounds like there was at least one other person (the friend) in the room at the time of the shooting. I suppose it's possible they were in cahoots though. Tragic that the wife died, but leaving a loaded gun on the bed when the kid came in was beyond idiotic.

[John]

It is not just that. They left it there and then allowed the four year old to pick up up and shoot someone as they stood there. How does that happen? I am not buying it.

[Joe M]

I mean, I suppose it's possible they weren't paying attention to what the kid was doing. Adults often ignore little kids. But what was the wife doing/thinking if that was the case? You'd think she would've been helicoptering with guns on display. It is a bit weird.

[Jordan]

We should start profiling 4-year olds. FOR TEH CHILDREN

[NoVAHockey]

I had a party at my house once and friend brought a date. no problem. until i went to get a coat from the pile on the bed for a guest who was leaving and his gun fell out. he was a cop or FBI or something. don't remember. but I asked her to leave and take him. i'm not anti-gun at all, but he left an firearm unsecured in a strangers house in a pile of coats.

[Kaptious Kristen]

IJ's latest suit (as always, IJ is out there pounding the pavement and litigating shit!)

[Kaptious Kristen]

And there's a pug...

[Jordan]

IJ needs more love.

[Warty]

joe from Lowell says:
September 16th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Matt,

Don't get suckered by the IJ. They seize on cute, fuzzy poster boys in order to push radical changes to the law in the service of corporate deregulation.

"Simply put, the government is not allowed to require people to get a license in order to talk."

Simply put, this outfit is committed to eliminating the distinction between commercial speech and individual speech.

[Jordan]

Holy shit. He also tried to tell me that FIRE was a conservative organization. What a douche.

[Kaptious Kristen]

ZOMGZ! I'm tewtally not supporting IJ anymore!

Fuckin joe.

[John]

HE was the worst. Worse than Shreek even.

[The Late P Brooks]

Several Senate GOP staffers have complained to POLITICO about the National Association for Gun Rights in particular, saying its hardball tactics have made life difficult for their offices with its email and phone campaign.

There needs to be a powerful refutation of the omnipresent "everybody agrees!" bullshit.

Everybody does not agree on sensible reasonable gun safety legislation as defined by the political stuntman in the Oval Office. For example, somebody should sit on John McCain's chest and slap his face with an eighteen ich shit-smeared dildo until he agrees to either resign from the Senate or STFU.

[sarcasmic]

Everyone who matters agrees, and if you don't agree then you don't matter.
See?
Circular logic always wins!

[Sevo]

Lefty columnist shows correct time at least once today:
"Indiana Bill Would Make It Illegal to Expose Factory Farms, Clearcutting and Fracking"
Not sure this would get past a court test, but I'm also pretty certain there's no reason to find out.
http://www.greenisthenewred.co.....#more-6825

[some guy]

Dilbert accurately describes both the nature of the current tax code and the nature of those who wrote it.

[Warty]

I present to you, zee condom applicator slingshot gun. Let me show you its features. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Kaptious Kristen]

"So you can shoot....downwards. MWAHAHAHAHA"

Krauts, man.

(this guy looks a lot like my squeeze)

[Warty]

I am reusing a 28mm D.I.L.D.O. slingshot projectile.

[Auric Demonocles]

You are the only person I have ever use the term 'squeeze'...

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yes, you've mentioned that before.

[Auric Demonocles]

Haha. I didn't remember that, only that you use it all the time.

[Warty]

Dat's ze only zing ze sickly sweet junk food is good for

I had almost forgotten about this awesome guy. It had been a year or so since I saw any of his videos.

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm not sure a 4yr old could easily manage a double-action trigger pull. So I'm thinking it was a semi with one in the chamber.

Like a Glock?

"See how light and crisp the trigger is? None of that crazy long and heavy first pull for me!"

[mad libertarian guy]

Public sector union membership is down in Wisconsin. It looks like public sector employees, who are no longer forced to pay union fees, are making their preferences known.

That's why becoming a R2W state is so evil. The preferences of the individual shouldn't matter.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

CELEBS WITHOUT MAKEUP

[mad libertarian guy]

I have a feeling they chose the worst of the worst sans makeup pics for so many of these celebs.

[trshmnstr]

Most of those are as expected. They look like normal people.

However, Kathy Griffin and Lady Gaga will haunt my dreams.