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A.M. Links: Americans Overwhelmingly Favor Death Penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, World's Muslims Overwhelmingly Favor Rule of Sharia Law, Greek Unions Striking Against Unemployment

Ed Krayewski | 5.1.2013 9:00 AM

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  • not working, because unemployment
    euronews

    Yesterday's Senate primary in Massachusetts saw Congressman Ed Markey win the Democratic nomination and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez winning the Republican nomination. The special election is scheduled for next month.

  • A poll shows 70 percent of Americans in favor of the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who has been charged for his alleged role in the Boston Marathon bombing, while terror attacks in Dagestan, where his older brother is believed to have received some sort of training, are getting more media attention.
  • John Kerry says his department is ready to be open and transparent in answering questions about Benghazi. What difference, at this point, does it make?
  • Remember civil unions? Those are now being recognized in Colorado. Paul Ryan, meanwhile, came out in favor of gay adoptions.
  • A Pew research report indicated overwhelming support for rule by sharia law by Muslims around the world, although their understanding of what that meant differed. Support was strongest in countries that have never been under sharia law and weakest in those where it has been strictly enforced.
  • China warned the U.S. that Japanese nationalism is as much a threat to them as to any other country in the region; China and Japan are embroiled in a dispute over a group of uninhabited but resource rich islands in the East China Sea.
  • Greek unions are striking against high unemployment. Happy May Day.

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NEXT: Terror Attacks Strike Dagestan

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://twitchy.com/2013/04/30/.....gn=twitter

    RGIII!

    1. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

      I had to look up to what his tweet was a reference, so for anyone else who needs to:

      His comments came in response to demands that the Redskins change their name, calling it racist.

      1. mr simple   12 years ago

        While I agree with his sentiment and often say things like we should not let the most sensitive among us dictate how we live, Redskins is a racist term. It's as bad as calling a team the darkies or something. Team names like Braves, Seminoles, etc. are not racist.

        1. Virginian   12 years ago

          Eh, I mean at this point you hear Redskin the first thing you think of is the football team. I'd argue that the popularity of the team has sucked a lot of the edge off the word.

          Just like rap music has taken quite a bit of edge of the word nigger.

          1. generic Brand   12 years ago

            Just like rap music has taken quite a bit of edge of the word nigger.

            Unfortunately, that's not really true. However, if you say "nigga" you're usually pretty safe.

            1. Virginian   12 years ago

              Yeah, or if you say it in a really corny and correct pronunciation.

              1. some guy   12 years ago

                Make it a little nasally and put the word "my" in front. Instant face palm.

                1. $park?   12 years ago

                  What is happening my nigger?

        2. Rich   12 years ago

          Team names like Braves, Seminoles, etc. are not racist.

          Would you be OK with the Shuffling Tapdancers?

        3. CampingInYourPark   12 years ago

          "Redskins is a racist term"

          http://neddybee.blogspot.com/2.....paint.html

          "The image is of William 'Lone Star' Dietz, whose mother was a full blooded Sioux Indian. Dietz was the first coach of the Redskins football team, and it was in his honor that the team was named 'Redskins'. He brought a number of Indian players with him to the team and they wore war paint and Indian bonnets at games."

    2. generic Brand   12 years ago

      I wish I knew who any of these lefties were so that I could hate them more specifically.

      This one was especially bad, in my opinion:

      Like, RGIII knows that he's part of a group that "political correctness" is trying to help, right??
      Chemmy (@felixpotvin) April 30, 2013

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        Yeah the astounding arrogance and condescension that displays is quite fascinating.

        "Damn it you stupid jiggaboo, I'm trying to help you. Shut up and be a noble victim."

      2. KDN   12 years ago

        He's probably a Quebecois Leafs fan, which is prima facie evidence of his worthlessness.

        http://www.hockey-reference.co.....ife01.html

      3. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

        Amazing. RGIII is young, rich, and famous, gets to play a game for a living, but "Chemmy" thinks he needs his help? That, my friends, is straight up racist.

    3. MJGreen   12 years ago

      "Like, RGIII knows that he's part of a group that "political correctness" is trying to help, right?"

      Racist!!

  2. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    China warned the U.S. that Japanese nationalism is as much a threat to them as to any other country in the region...

    Beware the rise of Tojo!

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      I have long thought the fastest road to getting the Norks in line is to publicly announce that the US is helping Japan become a nuclear power. The Chinese would have Kim's ass in a noose so fast that another tsunami might be triggered, but with less fatal results.

  3. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Bestiality billboard to be taken down

    http://www.news.com.au/enterta.....6632926325

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Warty is disappointed.

      1. BigT   12 years ago

        A BILLBOARD featuring a man about to have sex with a pig will be removed, Foxtel says.

        Expected to see one of the Kardashians - I am disappoint.

        1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

          It's Australia - the billboard was taken down because the sheep were jealous.

    2. PS   12 years ago

      Once I was in a Prague bar with an American friend. A German guy and a Czech girl were sitting at the same table and started trashing Americans, in Czech I believe, so I turned to him and said, "Do you have a problem with Americans?"

      He said, "Sorry, I don't speak English."

      So I said, "Do you like to fuck pigs? Are you a pig fucker. Do you understand me now?"

      1. PS   12 years ago

        This billboard just reminded me of this little incident.

      2. T   12 years ago

        I've done the same thing in Germany trying to ask for directions. German guy was all "Nicht verstehen! Nicht verstehen!" Oh, really? Fuck you then. He understood that pretty well, strangely enough.

        1. PS   12 years ago

          I tried to ask a female cop directions in Florence. Her response was something like (I speak pretty good Spanish so can kinda sorta understand a bit of Italian), "When you are in Italy you speak Italian." She then proceeded to give me five minutes of incomprehensible directions while I rolled my eyes. I decided it would be imprudent to try the pig fucker line, though I was sorely tempted.

        2. generic Brand   12 years ago

          In Japan, people tend to be "too friendly" in helping to give directions. I will go up to them and use pretty good Japanese, and they will struggle through the 12 English words they know to help me get to where I'm going. Every time I respond to them or ask another question it's in fluent Japanese (at least when asking for directions), but they insist on practicing their English with the tall white guy I guess. I should just start pretending I'm German or something and don't know English.

        3. WTF   12 years ago

          I would bet he understood conversational English. I knew a girl who was a German major in college, and she spent a semester in Germany. She said that as soon as most Germans realized she was a bi-lingual American, they all wanted to practice their English.

          1. PS   12 years ago

            A Swedish friend of mine was hitting on an American girl one time, she asked where he was from and he said he was German because he's a smart ass. So she starts speaking to him in perfect German, turns out she studied it in college and was an au pair in Germany. And he's like, "Jah, uh, jahvolt, jah, uh bundesbank..."

            1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

              That's awesome.

              I have a friend who was a cashier at a convenience store. Two Russian guys came in and started saying all kinds of dirty things about what they would do to "the little american slut" behind the counter. All in Russian, of course.

              When they got up to the counter, she just looked at them and in flawless Russian told them their mothers would tan their hide if she heard them talking like that. They dropped their stuff and ran. Priceless.

              1. PS   12 years ago

                Yeah, it's always fun to bust people who assume the cliche that Americans don't speak other languages is true.

                1. PS   12 years ago

                  Always true, I should say. It's just mostly true which I don't find to be a tragedy.

              2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                I went to pick up Chinese food once and the Koreans behind the counter were talking smack about white people in general (my Korean was well rusty at this point, but a few salient words popped out), or possibly about me. So I thanked them extremely politely in Korean.

                Slack-jawed dead silence.

                "Uh, you speak Korean?"

                "[I understand a little, but don't speak it well]" (The Korean equivalent of saying "why yes, I'm fluent"). I smiled, about-faced and walked out while they were mumbling awkward apologies.

      3. Virginian   12 years ago

        One time on the DC Metro these Korean tourists were looking really lost. So this loudmouthed little gangsta kid yells, at the top of his lungs "Hey yo anybody here speak Korean? These bitches need help!"

        And someone did. Because its America, and we got a lotta folks from a lotta places. I guess me thinking that was a cool moment makes me a traitor to the white race. I'm sure Murrican will be along directly to tell me how awful I am.

        1. a better weapon   12 years ago

          He was just being helpful in his own little way. I like this story.

          1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

            Bitches be needin' help an' shit.

    3. PS   12 years ago

      Speaking of The Land Down Under, US Ambassador to Aussieland laments the popularity of pirating Game of Thrones

      1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        meh. We actually do get ripped off generally on software, iTunes, etc (not attributable to our tax system as we're buying digital content) and get geo-blocked from buying more cheaply. Funnily, that's helped create a culture of piracy. Quelle surprise.

        1. PS   12 years ago

          From the article:

          In fact, digging through the dozens of comments one is hard pushed to find any that are sympathetic to the Ambassador's plea. That being said, the vast majority aren't boasting about getting something for free either. Instead one reads complaint after complaint from people wanting to buy a product but are being underserved by HBO.

          We've often commented that piracy is a market signal, but it's definitely worth saying again.

    4. Suthenboy   12 years ago

      "...is clearly in appalling taste and demonstrates a lapse of judgment by Studio..."

      Yeah...thats putting it lightly.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        At least they didn't screw the pooch.

  4. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://twitchy.com/2013/04/30/.....ns-school/

    TANSTAAFL

    1. generic Brand   12 years ago

      I liked this one. Also, Donna Brazile is a moron.

    2. NeonCat   12 years ago

      I've been thinking about the wide use of the word "free" in advertising, etc. I think it really promotes the idea that no one paid for it, that something didn't cost anything. It would encourage economic clarity if instead things were advertised as "paid for" or "complimentary".

      I realize this probably isn't going to happen.

      1. MJGreen   12 years ago

        Gratis.

        Or free gratis.

  5. Matrix   12 years ago

    Which tech companies protect your data from the government?

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      None of them?

      1. Matrix   12 years ago

        probably, when you really get down to it.

    2. Jerryskids   12 years ago

      This is the actual EFF link.

      I trust we will see a Reason post on this important story shortly?

      I think it is the governments position that your data out there in the clouds isn't 'your' data in a 4A sense - you need to make sure whoever controls access to the data understands that, regardless of whether or not it is 'your' data, it sure as hell ain't the governments data.

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        Am I correct in thinking that if the govt wanted to inspect the contents of a safe deposit box they'd have to get a warrant to do so?

        If so, then why should cloud data be any different? If I have to use a key or a password to access it, am I not operating under the belief that it is secured by the organization I have the account with?

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        Get back to me when the EFF becomes the E&IRLFF;. Otherwise, fuck those guys for being half-assed.

  6. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://video.foxnews.com/v/234.....=obnetwork

    Stupid robber.

  7. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Super Mario is a hipster.

    http://shortlist.com/cool-stuf.....s-hipsters

    1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      With that mustache and hat, they really didn't have to do much.

  8. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Hot Docs premiere Unclaimed finds a Vietnam veteran left behind for 44 years
    Michael Jorgensen's Unclaimed reveals the amazing story of U.S. soldier John Hartley Robertson, declared dead in 1968.
    http://www.thestar.com/enterta.....years.html

    Special Forces Green Beret Master Sgt. John Hartley Robertson had forgotten how to speak English over the 44 years since he was left behind in the Vietnam War. But he never forgot that he was a father, husband and an American soldier, born in Alabama, shot down over Laos in a 1968 classified mission.

    Had Hollywood told the story of the discovery of a long-forgotten soldier, found miraculously still alive in Vietnam after surviving a horrific helicopter attack and crash, it would have involved a dramatic and dangerous jungle rescue followed by a homecoming parade.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Couldn't they have kept McCain instead?

  9. Matrix   12 years ago

    White graphene: The new supermaterial that sucks up pollution

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      And what exactly will we do with all the polluted white graphene?

      1. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

        Is there room in the Hybrid battery pit?

      2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        shoot it into space!

      3. Sy   12 years ago

        Dump them in unspoiled, virgin rainforest graphene pits, duh.

      4. Teaching Student   12 years ago

        "To clean it, all that's required is a blast in a furnace to drive out the pollutants."

        1. db   12 years ago

          It's quite a bit more complex than that but it can be regenerated.

      5. db   12 years ago

        Looks like it could be regenerated like other adsorbents.

      6. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        "And what exactly will we do with all the polluted white graphene?"

        Store it in Yucca Mountain; they're not doing anything else with the place.

    2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      Nobody doesn't love molten boron!

    3. BigT   12 years ago

      And the obligatory:

      RACIST!!

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        So the white graphene gets the job of drawing muck out of rivers and the black graphene gets the glamourous high tech jobs in electronics. If it were people I'd be inclined to agree.

    4. robc   12 years ago

      Is there anything Boron wont absorb?

      Its used in nuke reactors in the control rods to suck up neutrons.

  10. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013.....olice-say/

    No one needs an assault weapon!!!

  11. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

    sharia law by Muslims around the world, although their understanding of what that meant differed.

    They're showing solidarity with the people who will react to this news using an equal number of varied definitions of what it means.

  12. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Those are now being recognized in Colorado. Paul Ryan, meanwhile, came out in favor of gay adoptions.

    Gay adoptions don't want his support.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      When repubs like Ryan or Toomey or Cheney or whoever support gay issues, they're told to fuck off and that it doesn't matter.

      Meanwhile, the guy who signed DOMA and DADT gets a fucking award from GLAAD. I'm actually meeting more and more gay people who are tired of being political pawns and are looking to other political parties to support. This kind of BS I'm sure has a lot to do with it.

  13. Matrix   12 years ago

    41% of college grads from the last two years are in jobs that require no degree

    1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      In addition to those who are underemployed, 11% said they are unemployed, with 7% reporting they haven't had a job since graduating.

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        Haha I can't find a full time job, but at least I don't have student loan debt.

        People always look at me funny though, when I tell them the reason I don't want to finish my degree is because I don't want to borrow money.

        1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          People always look at me funny though, when I tell them the reason I don't want to finish my degree is because I don't want to borrow money.

          I feel you. I've been working on computers for over 20 years but don't have a degree. Everyone keeps telling me that I should got back and get a degree. Why? so I can go $60k into debt to learn a bunch of stuff I already know. Yeah, no thanks.

      2. wareagle   12 years ago

        ah, the woes of the credentialed society. We have elevated the importance of college degrees to a level that they have become meaningless.

        1. Virginian   12 years ago

          First they debased the high school diploma, now the bachelors. I fully expect the masters to be as worthless as a bachelors at some point.

          1. Zeb   12 years ago

            That seems plausible. But I think (or hope maybe) that the education bubble will burst before then and things will get a bit more sane. But they'll probably try to fund universal bachelors degrees or something stupid like that to keep it going.

          2. Corporate Serf   12 years ago

            In some subjects, it already is: MBA, Data Science.

          3. yonemoto   12 years ago

            1) you mean PhD
            2) too late

        2. Zeb   12 years ago

          I don't know if I have a point here, but I think it is kind of interesting that you could have said the same about high school at some point in the not too distant past.

          1. Virginian   12 years ago

            Well see in the days before the explosion of public higher education, high school diplomas meant that you could perform the office jobs. You could read well, write well, and do math. You were organized, disciplined, and capable of working without constant supervision.

            Now a high school diploma just means you didn't drop out or get knocked up or go to jail. There are people with high school diplomas who cannot read or compute basic math problems.

            Plus it's still illegal to give aptitude tests to applicants.

            Oh, and now we have had a couple generations of people living a credentialist society. So you get funny looks when you assert someone without a degree can be just as capable as someone without one.

            1. generic Brand   12 years ago

              Plus it's still illegal to give aptitude tests to applicants.

              I think this might depend on the state. I definitely recall having to take an aptitude test when applying to Pizza Hut, Sears, and Publix (grocery store) when I was in high school.

              1. tarran   12 years ago

                Nope, the reg is a federal reg. Fallout of EEOC vs Duke Power from the 60's.

              2. Virginian   12 years ago

                I thought the Court rules in Duke Power v. Griggs that they were illegal if a disparate impact resulted. Which of course, there's always a disparate impact. That's the freaking point.

              3. KDN   12 years ago

                Aptitude tests are fine, intelligence tests are not because racist. It's one of the primary reasons for the education bubble and the huge explosion of "diversity" positions in academia: since employers need to use the diploma as a proxy intelligence test, it is essential that the diplomas be free of any disparate impacts.

  14. Restoras   12 years ago

    The Littlest Fascist stands on another grave, ready to shred Bill of Rights in the name of Safety.

  15. Matrix   12 years ago

    Bagram Airfield Crash
    Wow...

    1. db   12 years ago

      Oh god. That is a serious weight and balance problem.

  16. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://datechguyblog.com/2013/.....n-its-not/

    The Democrats hate the NRA...except when they don't.

  17. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Game developers pwn pirates

    What happens when pirates play a game development simulator and then go bankrupt because of piracy?

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      Batman Arkham Asylum did this too. They released a pirated version with a tiny flaw in the grappling gun. You could get through the first hour or two, but then got to a point where you couldn't proceed any further.

      So there was a huge thread full of people flaming the devs, just tearing them to shit. They let it build up, then dropped the nuke. Paraphrased, it was something like:

      "the only games that have the grapple bug are the copy we leaked onto newsgroups and torrent sites. The reason all of you in this thread are having issues is that you're trying to play a game you haven't paid for. Go buy a copy, and it will work perfectly."

      1. a better weapon   12 years ago

        Great game. I only play video games occasionally, but Arkham Asylum was well worth my time. The story is long so you can let it simmer and play for a while, but a good amount of button mashing fun if you like that too.

  18. Matrix   12 years ago

    Pro 2A speaker in New Jersey nails it
    I love it. "I do not respect an oath breaker... Anyone who holds public office has taken the oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. That does not mean you put how you feel first."
    I'm sure the elitists were flabbergasted. "How dare this serf disrespect us. Who does she think she is?"

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      Short and sweet.

      Would that it went viral.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Would that they provide a transcript.

    2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      "I'm a mom and there's only thing I'm afraid and that's people in elected office taking away my rights"

      What a crazy racist tea-bagger.

      1. Matrix   12 years ago

        She needs to report to a reeducation camp immediately. CPS will take care of her kids in the meantime.

    3. WTF   12 years ago

      Since it's New Jersey it fell on deaf ears and will have no effect on the insane gun laws.

  19. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....-again.php

    The myth of the Southern Strategy.

    1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      Want to link us to some nice holocaust denial sites while you're at it?

  20. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Fighting Words
    ESPN's Chris Broussard's attack on homosexuality, sparked by the first coming out of a major American athlete, should not be condoned as free speech.
    http://www.psmag.com/culture/f.....jY.twitter

    But the blanket free speech argument is a weak one. Any journalist knows that. After a basic media ethics class (the easy way) or a handful of frightening emails from a subject (the hard way), you'll know a thing or two about libel and slander. There's also, of course, obscenity, child pornography, incitement, false or misleading advertising (all commercial speech is subject to limited protection), and speech owned by others (this is where trademarks and copyright issues come into play). Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court has tightened the definition of free speech over and over again.

    As a 15-year-old, that made me livid. Now, as a 25-year-old, I appreciate those restrictions, because, frankly, I don't want to listen to your bullshit. In fact, I don't think the existing restrictions go far enough.

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      If he wants to shut me up, he's welcome to try.

      It's jumped up little fascists like this that keep me bitterly clinging to my guns.

    2. wareagle   12 years ago

      In fact, I don't think the existing restrictions go far enough.

      shorter writer: I don't think people should be allowed to say stuff I disagree with.

      Tough shit; Broussard is entitled to his opinion, no matter how offensive you find it, because that is the whole damn point of free speeech. Goddamn, these little statist turds aren't just letting the mask slip, they're ripping it off and stomping it into the dirt.

      1. Matrix   12 years ago

        Maybe I want speech, that advocates eliminating rights, to be banned!

    3. Spoonman.   12 years ago

      50 years ago conservatives might have used the same justification to ban pro-gay speech.

    4. Nikki makes the sign of a tsp   12 years ago

      As a 15-year-old, that made me livid. Now, as a 25-year-old, I appreciate those restrictions, because, frankly, I don't want to listen to your bullshit. In fact, I don't think the existing restrictions go far enough.

      Oh, great, a new mini-version of the "people who care about freedom are children" argument, with bonus "adults have more important things to worry about than being oppressed."

      1. John   12 years ago

        As a 15 year old I used to respect people's rights. Now I am older and realize the error of my ways and am just an outright fascist.

    5. Jerryskids   12 years ago

      Here's my blanket free speech argument.

      Is, then, the Federal Government, it will be asked, destitute of every authority for restraining the licentiousness of the press, and for shielding itself against the libellous attacks which may be made on those who administer it?

      The Constitution alone can answer this question. If no such power be expressly delegated, and if it be not both necessary and proper to carry into execution an express power--above all, if it be expressly forbidden, by a declaratory amendment to the Constitution--the answer must be, that the Federal Government is destitute of all such authority.

      By this reading of the First, even libel and slander are protected free speech.

      Given that this interpretation of the First was written by the guy who wrote the First, I suspect he may have known what he was talking about. On the other hand, he wasn't 15 or even 25 when he wrote it - not to mention he's a dead white male - so maybe what he thought the First meant has no relevance here.

      1. Rasilio   12 years ago

        Here is the thing statists always miss about libel and slander.

        Both of them are free speech. There is no government sanction against them (in the US at least) as they are Torts and not crimes.

        That is the 1st Amendment is designed to protect you from government interference in speech, not from all consequences of it and if your untrue speech unduly harms another then basically you have committed a form of fraud against them and they should have legal remedy to be compensated and made whole (to the extent possible) the same as any other form of fraud.

    6. MJGreen   12 years ago

      Wait, is he saying that the "hard way" to learn about libel and slander is by... well, libeling or slandering a subject who then responds in anger?

    7. MJGreen   12 years ago

      Also, if you don't want to listen, then don't listen. You don't need to listen to anyone's bullshit. It does not require shutting the speaker up.

      You fucking fascist.

    8. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      psmag--more like pmsmag, amirite?

  21. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Hate speech! Australian Navy gets butt-hurt over "spending like a drunken sailor"

    1. DJF   12 years ago

      They do have a point, I was a drunken sailor at one point in my life and I only spent what was in my pocket.

      Politicians on the other hand spend not only what is in other peoples pockets but their unborn children's as well.

    2. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Should he use "drunker digger" instead?

  22. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.bob-owens.com/2013/.....ork-times/

    NYT writer kills friend, so you need to give up your guns. For safety.

    1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      Is there any confirmation that the incident actually happened and is not the product of an author's imagination?

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        The events may not have actually happened, but they illustrate a larger truth. It's like when Dan Rather broke the story about Bush's NG service. Yeah it turned out those were all fake, but it felt true. It's all about what feels true.

        1. wareagle   12 years ago

          truthy?

    2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

      Again, projection is the centerpiece of the anti-gun movement. This guy is a fucking dumbass and killed his friend, therefore, I shouldn't be allowed to have a gun.

      1. a better weapon   12 years ago

        Well he is smarter than all of us, and if HE can't even stop himself from killing a friend with a gun, what chance do my friends have?

        1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          How do I have any friends left? I must be doing guns wrong.

      2. JW   12 years ago

        Projection. It's what's for breakfast.

        1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          And lunch, and dinner, and late night snack.

          Projection isn't limited to gun control. It's evident in so many aspects of left policy. Food bans because people can't make the "correct" choices. Forced charity because lefties don't want to be bothered doing nice things on their own. etc etc etc

  23. $park?   12 years ago

    Good ole stem cells.

    A 2-year-old girl born without a windpipe now has a new one grown from her own stem cells, the youngest patient in the world to benefit from the experimental treatment.

    Hannah Warren has been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in South Korea in 2010. Until the operation at a central Illinois hospital, she had spent her entire life in a hospital in Seoul. Doctors there told her parents there was no hope and they expected her to die.

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      Doesn't the American health care system suck?

    2. robc   12 years ago

      Hannah's parents had read about Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's success using stem-cell based tracheas but couldn't afford to pay for the operation at his center, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

      Sweden doesnt have universal health care?

      So Dr. Mark Holterman helped the family arrange to have the procedure at his Peoria hospital, bringing in Macchiarini to lead the operation. Children's Hospital waived the cost

      Huh. Weird.

      1. robc   12 years ago

        the Roman Catholic hospital considers the operation part of their mission to provide charity care

        But...but...but....

      2. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        Sweden doesnt have universal health care?

        I guess you can't consider it truly "universal" if you're making furriners pay for the service.

  24. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

    "China warned the U.S. that Japanese nationalism is as much a threat to them as to any other country in the region"

    I think the Chinese leadership has watched Tora, Tora, Tora! one too many times if they think that is the case. I can understand Chinese alarm at a stronger Japan, but I don't think they are hankering to come after the US.

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      but I don't think they are hankering to come after the US.

      They couldn't even if they wanted to as they have zero means to acquire their own energy. They produce only about 1/1000 of their energy needs because they don't have access to any energy resources that we can tap. Unless recovering methane hydrate turns out to be viable economically.

      Japan, which has spent about $700 million on methane-hydrate R&D over the past decade, has the world's biggest hydrate-research program?or perhaps that should be programs, because provincial governments on Japan's west coast formed a second hydrate-research consortium last year. (Several researchers told me that the current towel-snapping between Beijing and Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea is due less to nationalistic posturing than to nearby petroleum deposits.) In mid-March, Japan's Chikyu test ended a week early, after sand got in the well mechanism. But by then the researchers had already retrieved about 4 million cubic feet of natural gas from methane hydrate, at double the expected rate. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry is eager to create a domestic oil industry; at present, the nation produces just one one-thousandth of its own needs.

      China is trying to use Japan as a smokescreen so that they might be able to lay claim to the fuel around those islands and make Japan reliant on China for their fuel needs.

      1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        Indeed - this is a straight up resources squabble.

  25. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

    Douchebag Marky said he's running against the Koch brothers in his victory speech.

    1. DontShootMe   12 years ago

      Sigh, I am so screwed, either Marky wins and becomes one of my Senators (along with E. Warren), or he loses, and stays my Congressman. Heads I lose, tails I lose.

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        That other guy has no chance right? I mean he's a Hispanic Republican.

        1. Ted S.   12 years ago

          I presume that's a White Hispanic?

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            He is practically George Zimmerman!!!1!1!

        2. DontShootMe   12 years ago

          Scott Brown had enormous support from the Republican National Party, and he was photogenic and a very good campaigner. Gomez has shown no sign of attracting national Republican attention, and has not demonstrated himself to be that great of a campaigner. Except, of course, a better campaigner than the two other slouches vying for the Republican nomination.

          1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

            The only ad I saw for him just said that he served in the military. There was literally no other info in it.

        3. $park?   12 years ago

          Don't get too excited. He's a MA Republican, in other words a Democrat.

          1. Zeb   12 years ago

            I just heard him talking about how much he supports Obama this morning.

      2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        Move 30 miles north.

  26. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Support was strongest in countries that have never been under sharia law and weakest in those where it has been strictly enforced.

    Low information citizens yield bad public policy? I've never witnessed that.

    1. anarch   12 years ago

      Know what else has never been witnessed?

      The opinion research [about wearing a veil] is based on 38,000 face-to-face interviews

  27. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

    John Kerry says his department is ready to be open and transparent in answering questions about Benghazi.

    Will he address this over breakfast? With a batter-based cake with syrup nooks and butter crannies?

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      John Kerry doesn't have the balls to throw Hitlary under a bus. His military decorations? Maybe. But not a Clinton.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        I presume he's not running for elective office any more. He has nothing to lose by doing it.

    2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      Epic fail. Reminds me of when the GOP tried to gin up a controversy out of TravelGate in the 90s. They need better material - like a blowjob.

      1. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

        Blowjobs are notorious for needing better material, so I get your point.

      2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weu-R_bgmU4

  28. Restoras   12 years ago

    Two words. Doutzen Kroes.
    Actually, make that one word: Yummy.

  29. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-2011.html

    So both the Saudis and the Russians flagged us about this guy.

    How about we just take the DHS budget and give it back to the citizens of this country.

    1. DJF   12 years ago

      You mean the citizens who

      Rushed to the aid of the bombing victims.

      Tracked their own high jacked car so the bombers could be found.

      Noticed that someone was hiding in their boat.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        You know, if the government and the media wouldn't keep writing hagiographies to first responders, I'd respect what they have to deal with in crises. But now all of that just pisses me off.

  30. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    George Bush's True Legacy? A Republican Party in Denial
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....enial.html

    Yet the political circumstances that moved Bush to adopt his strategy hadn't fundamentally changed. Voters were willing to give Republicans the ability to act as a check on big government in 2010 as they had been in 1994. But in 2012, as in 1996, voters wanted Republicans to stand for more than hostility to government before they would trust the party with a governing majority.

    They were especially suspicious of granting such power to Republicans, given their dismal record in office under Bush. The public doesn't primarily see Bush's failure the way conservatives do: as a matter of overspending. Republicans turned on Bush's spending but never reckoned with the Iraq debacle or the middle-class stagnation of the past decade. They didn't even do much to offer an alternative to the Democratic narrative about the origin of the economic crisis.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      They didn't even do much to offer an alternative to the Democratic narrative about the origin of the economic crisis.

      The narrative of the economic crisis bugs me to no end. "Two wars on a credit card and tax cuts for the very top caused the great recession." I have yet to find anyone who can explain the line of reasoning that indicates the possibility that those two things caused the recession.

      Sure the never ending warring will surely cause trouble down the line, but it has nothing to do with our economic problems right now. The idea that this fantasy can persist as fact for so long just goes to show how weak progressive opposition has been in messaging.

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        "Two wars on a credit card and tax cuts for the very top caused the great recession." I have yet to find anyone who can explain the line of reasoning that indicates the possibility that those two things caused the recession.

        Even worse, the implication is that deficit spending caused the recession.

        Which, of course, requires the solution of much higher deficit spending.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

        I agree that large deficits did not cause the recession.

        Likewise, austerity is no cure for high UE. The only good reason to cut spending is to reduce the tax burden.

  31. Rich   12 years ago

    overwhelming support for rule by sharia law by Muslims around the world, although their understanding of what that meant differed.

    And, in related news,

    'Obamacare' Poll Finds 42% of Americans Unaware It's Law

    1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      I know the 200,000 employees at my company don't give a fuck about Obamacare.

      1. T   12 years ago

        Then your company hasn't complied with it yet. They'll care a whole lot once that happens.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          We're all insured. What is left to do? Obamacare will only effect the little shit companies who care so little about their employees they won't offer some group plan for them to purchase.

          I linked to Popeye's Chicken and they said they offer health insurance now and their employees are too cheap to buy it. Net result - nada.

          Case closed.

          1. Jordan   12 years ago

            Yes, clearly the massive shift to part time employment is completely made-up. Clearly, Popeye's Chicken - which is owned by a corporation that employees 1600 employees - is representative of every business in the country.

            1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

              There has been a long trend underway for years to jettison full-timers and their benefit costs.

              Nothing new at all.

              1. Jordan   12 years ago

                And the trend has accelerated in the past 3 years.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  Remember when the Bush recovery was about "Mc Jobs" and the world was going to end because we had 5% unemployment?

                  Now according to sniveling creatures like Shreek effective 15% employment and an explosion of part time work is great.

                  1. tarran   12 years ago

                    Why are you encouraging it by interacting with it?!?

                  2. Corporate Serf   12 years ago

                    Just wait until there is a republican president. This will become an issue then.

          2. T   12 years ago

            We're all insured. What is left to do?

            Ignorance displayed for all to see, right here.

      2. wareagle   12 years ago

        not till it affects them. Call us back in a year or so.

        1. DontShootMe   12 years ago

          maybe big union presence, or big Obama contributors, probably have a waiver.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      At first I was shocked at this, but then I realized how much sense it made.

      If you ran a poll that asked "will Obamacare give you all your healthcare needs free of charge?" I bet you'd get around that same number.

      "Well, my healthcare isn't free yet so it must not be law yet."

  32. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.nationalreview.com/.....ing-matter

    Wow.

    1. John   12 years ago

      Wow. They are not doing us any favors by lying. When you don't tell the truth or try to cover up the truth you cede the field to the worst among us.

      The truth is they were Islamic terrorists and CNN and medias job is to report that in context without accusing every Muslim of being a terrorist. If they don't feel up to that job, maybe they should find a new line of work.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Can't believe she so swiftly censored herself. Candy Crowley is the HS flag girl trying desperately not to ever offend the cheer squad.

      She knows they are vapid, hurtful bitches, but they have power and she'll do anything to be in their good graces.

      I wonder if she knows that if she wasn't such a sycophant, her prog buddies would lambaste her for being overweight and a financial drain on society.

      1. John   12 years ago

        Yeah. When you are the sorority's token fat girl, you better toe party line better than anyone. They let you in because your grades help the House average and someone has to keep the books and buy the T-shirts.

      2. Fluffy   12 years ago

        Guys, this is silly.

        Her second word is much more specific than her first word.

        I can make you an "Islamic" video right now about the history of mosque architecture in the post-Persian Empire cultural zone, and how it differed from mosque architecture in the post-Byzantine cultural zone.

        Nobody's going to blow anything up after watching it, though.

        A video telling you to blow up civilian targets is a "terrorist" video.

        It's called set theory, guys. Pick up a math book. The set of videos encouraging terrorism in the name of Islam is smaller than the set of videos that cover topics that could be described as Islamic.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          And here first set was accurate. Either is fine, but no need to apologize for using the larger set.

        2. a better weapon   12 years ago

          Islamic terrorist would be the most specific, but that combo has been absent in coverage.

          I get what you're saying, but because of the previous censorship of the word by CNN, the apology came across to me as a reaction from some off-camera conditiong "don't say Islam, don't say Islam, don't say Islam... Ok so he had Islamic vi... SHIT!"

          In the coverage I've seen (really on any network, not just CNN), Tsarnaev has been described as a former boxer more often than as an Islamic radical and he gave up boxing years ago.

        3. John   12 years ago

          That would be true except that I doubt the video was an all purpose how to blow shit up video. The video probably included a whole lot of propaganda about the jihad and so forth. The Anarchist Cookbook is a "terrorist book". A book about the need to kill the infidel and instructions on how to do so is an "Islamic terrorist book".

  33. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

    striking against high unemployment.

    Really? So, to protest people not having jobs, you're not going to work... brilliant. It's amazing your country is not the top economy in the world!

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Maybe the unemployed could be hired as replacement workers!

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        Well the scheme was to get strikebreakers brought in to do the work, and the two groups would just alternate between strike weeks and non-strike weeks...

        Naw that requires more coordination and alturism than you get from people.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      I'd like to see somebody strike in favor of high unemployment.

    3. MJGreen   12 years ago

      I saw a few minutes of the VICE show on HBO, as they followed the pre-Occupy rioters in Spain. These brilliant kids were explaining that, because there's 50% unemployment for youths, the best thing to do is destroy a lot of banking terminals and generally fuck shit up. That'll improve things!

  34. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.newgeography.com/co.....h-suburbia

    The Burbs are always dying, but they never quite breathe their last.

    1. Spoonman.   12 years ago

      Suburbs are awesome. Most people don't need to be at the coolest clubs, the hippest cultural productions, etc., because most people aren't that cool.

      I'm not cool at all. I am happy, though.

      1. Zeb   12 years ago

        Suburbs suck. Too crowded.

        1. WTF   12 years ago

          No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
          /Yogi

        2. $park?   12 years ago

          I agree mostly, but at least they're a decent middle ground.

          1. John   12 years ago

            I am not a huge fan of them. But a lot of people love them or at least look at them as the best thing available. I wish urban planners and other such busybodies would leave such people be.

            1. robc   12 years ago

              The suckiest part of the burbs is the existence of zoning.

              Without zoning, burbs would be much better.

    2. John   12 years ago

      It is amazing how people let their culture determine their views of things and then create entire fields of study to justify their views. Urban planners are almost uniformly from the upper class urban culture. They hate suburbs and suburbia for cultural reasons. But rather than just admit their preferences and call them preferences they take over an entire field of study and co-opt it to justify their preferences.

    3. robc   12 years ago

      Burbs are going to be even awesomer once we have google cars.

      They will have to radically change as parking lots become unnecessary, which is even better.

      1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        they will hit peak awesomeness when we have jetpacks

      2. John   12 years ago

        The burbs are already much better now anyway thanks to the internet and true nationalization of culture. It used to be the burbs sucked in no small part because the best restaurants, stores and such were all in the big cities. Now you can get virtually anything you want anywhere.

      3. KDN   12 years ago

        google cars

        I already refuse to entertain the purchase of a car with an automatic transmission even though it restricts my car choices to the two extremes of the market, do really think I (and the 5% of the market that's like me) is really going to entertain the thought of going driverless?

        In 20 years they will be the bane of my existence.

        "THE LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING! STUPID FUCKING ROBOTS!"

        It'll be a shame that they won't care how badly I cut and flip them off.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          Im hoping to not have to buy a car.

          Just googleSchedule my googleAppointments and let googleCar googleDrive me on the googleRoads.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            Also, the biggest competitor to google damn well better call themselves Johnny Cab.

        2. $park?   12 years ago

          Your car will be programmed by the brightest government regulators to only go as fast as you should be going at any given time. There will be no passing because traffic will flow perfectly at the approved speed.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            Im just thinking how much nicer my trips to Atlanta will be.

            Flying is a pain in the ass, and the 7ish hour drive (with stops) is getting harder and harder on me. Letting google drive me there will be nice, I dont care if they only go 65 mph the whole way (although, with time, I think the speeds will be much higher once we eliminate the humans on the road).

            1. Jerryskids   12 years ago

              Why wait for higher speeds? Higher speeds now will hasten the eliminating humans on the road part.

              And I can't believe you think your trips to Atlanta will be nicer - you're still going to wind up in Atlanta, after all.

              1. robc   12 years ago

                I went to school in Atlanta. I have lots of friends in the ATL. My fantasy baseball league is Atlanta-based (although about 1/2 of us are elsewhere).

                I wouldnt want to live there, but I enjoy trips.

          2. Dr. Frankenstein   12 years ago

            Personal Rapid Transit. Minoity Report style of course. Not the Disney ride version that exists now.

        3. Zeb   12 years ago

          I am still astonished at the proportion of automatic transmissions in cars in the US.

          1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

            like Zeb said I am astonished Warty's mother could make $4762 month working on internet...

          2. KDN   12 years ago

            Much of it is probably a legacy of how car markets were ~25 years ago. Automatic transitions used to be huge contraptions that really sucked the performance out of a car compared to manuals, which is a huge problem when you're dealing with FF city cars running 1.4L I4's but not as much when you've got a V8 Buick running FR. With the way technology has progressed and markets have converged I'd be surprised if autos' share of foreign markets for new cars hasn't increased substantially, but I've never looked into it.

            There's also a cultural element to it, though. Europeans historically viewed cars as an extension of self and favored control over comfort, but Americans viewed the car as an extension of home and didn't want to be bothered with shifting.

          3. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

            I finally had to bite the bullet and get an automatic transmission car, even though I learned on and prefer manuals. The wife can't shift properly to save her life and I don't want her stripping out my gears trying to learn.

            Maybe I'll teach her when we go to visit her family and she can learn on her gramps' old manual Aveo.

        4. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          I already refuse to entertain the purchase of a car with an automatic transmission

          It kind of saddens me that this is a fading trend. I've only owned a few cars with auto, and those were "fuck, I need to buy a car yesterday" temporary cars.

          I enjoy driving. I recently bought a new car and had to walk out of several dealerships because they didn't have any manuals and they kept trying to convince me that I should just buy an automatic because they're so much better than they used to be and there's "really no benefit to driving stick anymore"

          Fuck off! Driving automatic will never be as fun as stick, and that flappy paddle bullshit doesn't count. There's something visceral about smashing a clutch, throwing the shifter, and feeling the car respond that will never be in an automatic. How's that for a benefit?

          1. Zeb   12 years ago

            The benefit to driving a stick is that I like it better.

            1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

              Pretty much.

              Both my wife and I drive stick shift cars and have made a pact to never buy an automatic. I've almost always owned a sports car of some sort, and couldn't imagine owning an auto sports car. I test drove an auto Camaro because I just wanted to see how they drove. I hated it. Later, I got to drive a colleague's stick Camaro and absolutely loved it. Probably would have bought one if the dealership wasn't such a dick about ordering one. I finally had to look at the guy and say "look, you're obviously not interested in selling me the car that I want, so have a nice day" and walked out. He and the manager were chasing after me, offering me money off the auto, special financing, etc. I spun around and said "If you're too fucking stupid to understand THAT I WANT A MANUAL, I'm sure as hell not doing business with you."

              1. Winded   12 years ago

                They were probably thinking, "But why does anyone need 3 pedals on the floor?" Excellent that you walked and told them exactly why. It didn't help you, but maybe the next customer actually gets listened to.

                I've only owned 2 cars in 25 years, and they've both been stick sedans. My current car is nearly 15 now, though, so I'm starting to look around. Lots of changes to transmissions in 15 years leaves me looking harder than before for a stick in a 6 or 8 cylinder larger car. My current model (Maxima) no longer makes them, and when I look around the only thing I see is BMW 5 series. Not a bad choice, but anyone got any other recommendations?

                1. KDN   12 years ago

                  You're probably stuck in the luxury sport sedan sphere. I liked the Subaru Legacy Turbo when I was looking, but didn't really have the scratch to get one and didn't feel like waiting 6 weeks for delivery (Not V6/8, but the turbo makes it move).

                  The lack of stickshifts is probably going to keep me in 4 cylinder mid-size sedans for the next 15 years. It's sad.

  35. Virginian   12 years ago

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

    Cheaper batteries?

    1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      And our trolls can get cheaper meds!

  36. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.breitbart.com/Insta.....ut-Pigford

    Kinkos Guy for Congress.

  37. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

    You're mean if you don't take away people's rights in memory of my mom!

  38. Restoras   12 years ago

    Candice Swanepoel. Just because.

    1. generic Brand   12 years ago

      I don't see the appeal with this chick. I have no idea who she is nor do I find her exceptionally attractive. I don't like porkers like John does, but I also favor girls who have a little something above an A cup.

      Ah, who am I kidding, and very non-discriminatory when it comes to women. But still, this girl isn't anything super special.

  39. $park?   12 years ago

    They see you when you're sleeping, they see when you're online...

    The Mozilla Foundation ? responsible for the Firefox browser ? accuses Britain's Gamma International Ltd. of hijacking the Firefox brand to camouflage Gamma's electronic espionage products.

    Researchers have found several samples of Gamma's FinFisher spy software disguised as a Firefox file, apparently in an effort to fool computer users into believing the virus is harmless.

  40. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Google, Twitter, Facebook and the new global battle over the future of free speech
    http://www.newrepublic.com/art.....king-rules

    Collectively, the tech leaders assembled that day in Palo Alto might be called "the Deciders," in a tribute to Nicole Wong, the legal director of Twitter, whose former colleagues affectionately bestowed on her the singular version of that nickname while she was deputy general counsel at Google. At the dawn of the Internet age, some of the nascent industry's biggest players staked out an ardently hands-off position on hate speech; Wong was part of the generation that discovered firsthand how untenable this extreme libertarian position was. In one representative incident, she clashed with the Turkish government over its demands that YouTube take down videos posted by Greek soccer fans claiming that Kemal Ataturk was gay. Wong and her colleagues at Google agreed to block access to the clips in Turkey, where insulting the country's founder is illegal, but Turkish authorities?who insisted on a worldwide ban?responded by denying their citizens access to the whole site for two years. "I'm taking my best guess at what will allow our products to move forward in a country," she told me in 2008. The other Deciders, who don't always have Wong's legal training, have had to make their own guesses, each with ramifications for their company's bottom line.

  41. Virginian   12 years ago

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

    See if you can find all the concern trolls, factual errors, and outright lies in this story.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      "overwhelming public support," for one. Of course that was with vague open-ended polling that allowed the respondent to assume whatever it is they thing is "common sense." When the poll includes what they actually want to do (federal background check when dad sells his gun to uncle Tom or confiscate them if you've ever been prescribed Zoloft), then public support is as shallow as a puddle in a parking lot.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      I will say though, at least the author goes ahead and lists the organized lefty "gun-control groups" that are battling her. At least they didn't try to say the opposition is entirely a pure-souled, sober-thinking, grass-roots movement.

    3. John   12 years ago

      The "public support" lie is one of the more odious ones. First, public support is only trotted out when it can be used to support their cause. The majority of the public doesn't support amnesty and would like Obamacare repealed. Yet, somehow the will of the people isn't so sacred on those issues.

      But more importantly, the constant lying and reliance on "public support" is really a totalitarian tactic. Totalitarian governments stay in power even the the majority of their citizens don't support them, by lying and convincing every citizen that they are alone in their dislike for the government. They make their critics and dissidents feel isolated and alone and thus people are unwilling to take a stand because they don't think it will do any good. Same thing is happening here. The media will create some bogus poll and then constantly repeat the false results. They do this so that anyone who disagrees with them feels like they are in the minority and thus have less will to stand up. It is really sinister when you think about it.

  42. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    D.C. Council may push Washington Redskins into 'Washington Redtails'
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

    In recent months, as the Redskins made their run toward the playoffs, debate about the Redskins name has been heating up. Earlier this year, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said he would also like the name changed. But Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and team officials have largely avoided the debate, giving no indications that they are seriously considering such a change.

    According to Grosso's resolution, which he said he plans to formally introduce in a few weeks, the 13-member council would declare that "District residents and their elected representatives should not tolerate commercial or other use of derogatory terminology relating to any people's racial identity, or which dishonors any person's race, or which dishonors the name Washington."

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      "or which dishonors the name Washington"

      So we are going to bulldoze the District of Columbia!?

    2. NoVAHockey   12 years ago

      good thing the team is in PG county.

    3. Ted S.   12 years ago

      The Landover Redskins could simply move their offices to Landover if they haven't already done so.

    4. wareagle   12 years ago

      do people really think that teams adopt nicknames in order to insult themselves? Then again, this is the same city where teh NBA team changed its name from Bullets to Wizards, though if the concern was about getting distance from violence, it would have dropped Washington for something else.

      1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

        It wasn't really about distancing themselves from violence.

        It was really about appeasing Jesse Jackson, who wanted to demonstrate his influence by making a crusade of it.

        When I was a kid in DC, they used to show clips of Jesse's sermon from the week before as bumpers during the after school shows. You'd go from the Carvel commercial, to the commercial for Mr. Ray's Hair Weave, to Jesse Jackson screaming "I am! Som-BO-tay!", to Captain 20, to Bugs Bunny. And what's amazing is how seamless it all was.

        Most natural segues I've ever seen.

        1. T   12 years ago

          Jesus. That's giving me flashbacks, Ken. Good job. All you missed was the Jhoon Rhee "nobody bothers me!" commercial.

          I wonder whatever happened to old Captain 20? Off to the googs...

          1. JW   12 years ago

            On the Intertubes, like everyone else.

            http://www.dickdyszel.com/

    5. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      Christ, "Redtails"? Why not just change their name to "Reds" or "Redhawks" like every other institution trying to get its PC card?

  43. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Greek unions are striking against high unemployment.

    What if the solution was weakened collective bargaining? Would that be something the strikers would be willing to hear?

  44. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

    "A Pew research report indicated overwhelming support for rule by sharia law by Muslims around the world."

    In related news, Jesus is still popular among Christians.

  45. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    My review of the B&W Matrix 805 speakers
    http://6streetbridge.blogspot......akers.html

    I'm in the middle of writing a review for my recently purchased VPI Aries 1 turntable.

  46. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

    http://www.minotdailynews.com/.....l?nav=5010

    But, like, we're totally running out of oil and stuff, man. Didn't ya hear?

    1. John   12 years ago

      No. We can't use that dirty oil in North Dakota and Canada. We need to buy it from stable, nice places like Saudi Arabia.

      1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

        Canada is our top foreign supplier of crude oil, dumbass. Mexico is slipping and SA is third.

        1. John   12 years ago

          This despite Obama's best efforts. Once in a while we are fortunate that he is a moron who fucks up everything he touches.

  47. SugarFree   12 years ago

    The thread that was sanitized for Tulpa's delicate sensibilities. A number of my and Epi's posts were deleted and a few particularly whiny ones by Tulpa.

    American and Chris Mallory spew racist garbage all over these threads every day, yet Tulpa gets to throw any post pointing out that he is a liar--which he undoubtedly is--down the memory hole.

    1. $park?   12 years ago

      You're not free unless you're free to be censored.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        It not censorship, it's a weird protectiveness of someone who insults them on a daily basis. Tulpa smacks them around, and Reason tells the cops they walked into a door frame.

        1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

          one day Tulpa will stop posting here and then you'll be sorry!

          Just kidding. Even death won't stop him.

        2. Warty   12 years ago

          Hey, man, the whiny crypto-Republican failure market is expanding every day. If Reason offends him too much, other failures aren't going to want to spend money here.

          1. $park?   12 years ago

            They'll always have John.

        3. tarran   12 years ago

          It serves you guys right for not throwing the shitweasel into Reasonable and being done with it. Instead you interact with it as if it's someone who is worthy of notice and encourage it to shit over everything.

          1. Warty   12 years ago

            I haven't talked to that sack of shit in two years or something. I'm glad more of you are coming around.

    2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      You mean a poster can ask the H&R staff to edit threads?

      1. hamilton   12 years ago

        they ARE the edit button!

      2. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

        You mean a poster can ask the H&R staff to edit threads?

        And yet here you are.

    3. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

      I don't think it would be better if they consistently read ever thread and censored everything that was wrong consistently.

      If less censorship is better, then it's better if they only take things down when someone complains.

      If Tulpa consistently complains, then that does make him (or her) a whiny little tattle-tale. ...especially considering that Tulpa used to be one of the first to go after people, personally.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Complaining about me I get. I mean, I shredded his arguments so many times he had to make it personal, and then I made it personal. What I don't get is deleting the Tulpa post where he said he was filtering a bunch of us, and I busted his ass about it--because he has always whined that reasonable allowed people to filter him.

        Why delete that post other than to give him cover?

        1. John   12 years ago

          Other than pulling the various stunts that Mary Stack did, I really don't see how anyone can complain about what is said about them or their arguments on here. Having people be mean to you and being mean right back to them is kind of the point of internet boards. If you don't like that, why do you come on?

          1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

            "If you don't like that, why do you come on?"

            To help spread the libertarian gospel.

            To learn stuff from other smart libertarians.

            Usually, when I'm arguing with other libertarians, I'm hoping they'll teach me something I don't understand. Show me where I'm wrong.

            I tend to assume other people are the same way--but that's often a mistake.

            I learn stuff from non-libertarians, too, sometimes.

            1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

              What's the point of arguing if it's not a mutual education. Sometimes, however, the only thing you learn is about the other speaker.

            2. John   12 years ago

              I realize why you come on. But if your delicate sensibilities are offended when someone disagrees with you or gets nasty with you, then you probably ought to either get over it or not come on.

              1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

                Yeah, you're right.

                You have to have a tough skins.

                ...which is why so few chicks women come around.

                Even in the sandbox as a kid, once the boys started throwing dirt at each other, the girls went off somewhere and played by themselves.

                Nowadays, we call that place where they play by themselves, "Jezebel.com".

                1. John   12 years ago

                  My sister in law was posting on face book the other day about how she can't believe we still let kids play dodge ball. To her it is just a horrible cruel game. I dearly love my sister in law and she is generally a sensible and lovely person. But I all could think is "what a girl".

                  1. KDN   12 years ago

                    It is a horribly cruel game. That's what makes it so much fun.

                    I used to be in a dodgeball league after work. You don't know pain until your nuts have been shattered by a giant rubber ball launched by a former D-I pitcher.

                    1. John   12 years ago

                      Exactly KDN. My first reaction was "well yeah it is cruel, that is why we played it". My sister in law just didn't quite see that way.

                2. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                  You have to have a tough skins.

                  ...which is why so few chicks women come around.

                  That's right, we're all thin-skinned little princesses. It's got nothing to do with the tedious and stupid generalisations about women or boob obsession around here. Nothing at all.

                  And the comeback about how thin-skinned I am in five... four... three... two...

                  1. John   12 years ago

                    Your such a girl IFH 😉

                    1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                      you're just jealous that i'm made of sugar and spice and all things nice

                  2. $park?   12 years ago

                    That's right, we're all thin-skinned little princesses.

                    Hold on a second, the only thin-skinned little princess I've seen around here is Tonio.

                  3. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

                    I know women don't understand this, but boom obsession is about the biological imperative.

                    When I was in college, I had to read this account of a transsexual who became a man. Reading her account of what happened to her during hormone therapy was instructive. Suddenly, she'd be talking to other women, and she knew their lips were moving, but all she could do was stare at their boobs.

                    We spend 98% of our time acting like there aren't any boobs in the room--and that is an amazing batting average. Imagine someone were blowing a whistle in your ear all day long--how long are you supposed to ignore that?

                    Boobs aren't something nice heterosexual guys don't think about, okay? We do our best. I've done my best to put forth an argument that we should avoid using language that is denigrating to women. ...but if saving America and the world depends on us having to stop thinking about boobs, then I'm afraid America and the world are just gonna have to slip into totalitarianism--'cause that ain't gonna happen.

                    1. db   12 years ago

                      Bravo. This is truth. BTW, I agree with you about respectful language. Even though I occasionally write 'cunt.'

                    2. db   12 years ago

                      I should clarify by saying what I think is truth is the impulse to look at boobs. I love to do so, but have no difficulty when it's not appropriate. Those who insist that women should be covered lest they drive men to sin implicitly accept that humans are animals incapable of resisting biological urges. Clearly that is not consistent with the view of man as a rational animal.

                      Although the skwerlz today are testing my limits on the urge to wring little rodent necks...

                    3. Nikki makes the sign of a tsp   12 years ago

                      I couldn't care less about the T&A bullshit, it's the generalizations that bother me. Collectivize at your own peril, motherfuckers. It's not like the majority of men are non-statists (or non-retarded).

                    4. Warty   12 years ago

                      Collectivize at your own peril

                      *staring at Nikki's boobs*

                      Huh? Oh, yes, you're right.

                    5. Nikki makes the sign of a tsp   12 years ago

                      Also, if we got really mad about the boob-staring, we could always just smother you with them. So watch out! (Get it? Watch out? HAHAHA)

                    6. Warty   12 years ago

                      Our two weapons are surprise, fear, and boob-smothering.

                      "No! Not the comfy boobs!"

                    7. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                      I know women don't understand this

                      You know Ken, being called a cunt doesn't bother me as much as the patronising generalisations.

                      I'm not telling what to to think. I'm not telling you what to say. I'm not denying reality. I'm only telling you that the boob obsession can bore many women. That is all. Stop reading more into my comments than is actually there.

                    8. Warty   12 years ago

                      Wait, you're a chick??? *stares at IFH's boobs*

                    9. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                      just let me get into prime jiggle position... there you go

                    10. John   12 years ago

                      A lot of women understand a lot of things. And a lot of men are morons. Judging women by the ravings on Feministing is like judging men by the letters to Penthouse.

                      This is another reason why women more than anyone should hate the idiots on places like Feministing and Jezebel. By claiming to "speak for all women" they just encourage men to make the collective judgement that all women are morons.

          2. Rasilio   12 years ago

            *snif* yeah look how mean people were to me when I admitted to having Nickleback on my cell phone, but did I act like a whiny bitch and complain, no, I went home threw on some Morrissy and cried myself to sleep

        2. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

          For all we know, he (or she) threatened to sue.

          1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

            Reason should run a donation campaign to build up a "free speech frivolous lawsuit fund". For every dollar you donate you get one use of "sheep fucker".

            1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

              I like it!

            2. $park?   12 years ago

              I'd donate a dollar to see Ken Shultz call someone a cunt.

            3. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

              Suppose I don't want to use that phrase? What do I get for contributing?

        3. WTF   12 years ago

          Why delete that post other than to give him cover?

          Maybe Tulpa is Weigel?

          1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

            I honestly think that Weigel attracted a certain...element to the site that..

            Sort of like a buck in the rut who rolls around in his own pee and starts howling?

            ...and then all these other deer showed up, some 'cause they like people who roll around in their own pee and some 'cause they wanted to challenge him.

            The site's never fully recovered. We buried it in lye years ago, but the Weigel's filthy smell is still there, simmering underground...stinking.

      2. wareagle   12 years ago

        I don't get that. More speech always trumps less. Look at how the mast has slipped among many on the left who feel emboldened to say what they really think.

        Good grief; it's a big boy/girl board. Say something stupid and folks will call you on it. Or they will challenge an assertion. That's a good thing in that it forces you to make better arguments. Isn't there a word for wanting to live in a world where everyone is forced to agree with you?

        1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

          Yeah, I'm saying more free speech is better.

          So, taking stuff down selectively--only when people complain--is better than consistently taking down everything that's bad.

          And I think Reason has to protect itself from lawsuits--frivolous or otherwise.

          That's the great thing about owning your own board--you're the one who gets to decide what stays up and what comes down.

          1. SugarFree   12 years ago

            To be clear, I'm not complaining that they took down a comment. It's their board, they can do as they like. But I am questioning the logic behind who and what they are deleting and what it looks like when they exercise that power in such a way clearly favorable to someone who is uniformly critical of every writer, editor and commenter on this site.

            1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

              Strike back, SugarFree! Write some slashfic about Matt Welch's hiring practices and terrify them into obeying your every whim

              1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                Nah. The only people that deserve that sort of treatment are politicians.

              2. Dr. Frankenstein   12 years ago

                Matt Welch's hiring practices.

                Reason has donkeys working for them?

            2. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

              Yeah, I know.

              Tulpa's being a whiny little tattle-tale, and they should see straight through his or her bullshit.

    4. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Wait, we can have SugarFree's comments deleted? Hold on, I have a whole list of them that have offended my delicate sensibilities. Offended, I say!

      1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        I want this comment deleted toot sweet.

      2. T   12 years ago

        You'd have to prove first that you have sensibilities and second that they are delicate. You're gonna need all your mad lawyering skills to prove those two points.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Nah, SugarFree will stipulate to both. I must break him.

          1. $park?   12 years ago

            Just show everyone your Southern Living magazine and your mint tea. They'll understand the delicacy then.

            1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              Curious how those points were established right before I launched my legal campaign again SugarFree, isn't it?

    5. db   12 years ago

      Quite frankly I have been put off by people making comments on a thread about how Tulpa will react to this or that before he even has posted. Seriously guys, why let him work you up? If you disagree and feel you can't get a reasonable argument out of him, just ignore him. Don't act like children and try to goad him into making even more unreasonable statements.

      1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

        "Don't act like children and try to goad him into making even more unreasonable statements."

        It's not like a takes a whole lot of effort.

        Tulpa wants to make those statements. You just have to let it happen.

  48. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

    "China warned the U.S. that Japanese nationalism is as much a threat to them as to any other country in the region."

    In related news, China warned that any Chinese who commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square Massacre on June 4 will be taken care of by the People's Liberation Army.

    1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

      Also, China warned that people doing tai chi are more dangerous than Al Qaeda.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_gong#Exercises

    2. John   12 years ago

      We can only hope so. I have grown a bit tired of the Chinese. I think it is time to let the Japanese be Japanese again.

      1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

        The Chinese government is a greater threat to the Chinese people than Japan's military is, that's for sure!

    3. NeonCat   12 years ago

      You forgot to mention that the massacre never happened and anyone who claims to remember it IS MISTAKEN IF THEY KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM.

  49. SugarFree   12 years ago

    Climate Change Will Make Whores Of Your Women!

    Also a little bit of "Climate Changes, Women and Minorities Hit Hardest"

    1. John   12 years ago

      That has apparently been posted several times. Global Warming is to modern liberals what the devil or Jews were to medieval Christians, a benevolent force at work behind everything.

      1. John   12 years ago

        Malevolent force.

    2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

      Our women already are whores. Dirty dirty whores.

    3. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      Your link seems to work this time, but the topic is several days late.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        OK, OK. I only saw it last night. I was going to post it in the PM Links last night, but I was hard at work on my erotic memoirs.

        1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

          Go on...

          1. SugarFree   12 years ago

            I was working on the part where [redacted]'s mother had called the police. I was 5am and had to get dressed quickly. It was all very tense.

            Episiarch called it "Unbearably erotic, I had to beat down my erection with a rotary phone."

            1. WTF   12 years ago

              I had to beat down my erection with a rotary phone.

              Fucker - I just pictured that and couldn't control my idiotic laughing fit.

        2. hamilton   12 years ago

          Why would that take very long? You shoulda had time to post.

          1. SugarFree   12 years ago

            I have seen things you people wouldn't believe.

            1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

              The porn you watched in your mother's basement doesn't count as part of your erotic memoirs.

              1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                Mock all you like, buttophobe.

                1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

                  At least I'm not scared of candy.

                  1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                    Ain't you the one who's afraid of the Hershey Highway?

            2. T   12 years ago

              You watched c-beams glitter in the dark near Epi's mom?

              1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                There's a reason her nickname was "Tannhauser Gate."

    4. Loki   12 years ago

      Dammit, beaten to the punch again. Oh well.

      I'm just wondering why more whores is supposed to be a bad thing?

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        Well, an increased supply would reduce the price, potenitally allowing plebs access to higher quality providers. It offends the sensibilities of the snobbish.

        1. NeonCat   12 years ago

          Maybe they can get medallion piercings?

      2. Rasilio   12 years ago

        Cause they charge for it, what we need is more sluts who give it up for free

  50. Loki   12 years ago

    Some of our best and brightest in Congress seem to think global warming could cause more women to become prostitutes. These are the people who are running the country. We're so fucked.

    1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

      When it comes to some issue they care about, the left suddenly understands the implications of economics, and, coincidentally, those implications always seem to support their stand!

      Then, when the subject turns to the economy, suddenly, they forget everything they ever knew about economics again. It's like selective amnesia.

  51. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    Metal video of the morn!

    Though it may appear to have some of the trappings of your average Viking Metal, Solefald's saga, (comprised of 2 albums) Red for Fire + Black for Death, is more a literary project where rather than pining for the days and gods of old, they take part in the Icelandic saga tradition and tell a story. It's fucking excellent if you like Avant-garde Black Metal.

    \m/

  52. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

    We're going to a cubicle sharing arrangement here at the office (that means 2 or 3 days of telework per week!!!). Anyway, as a courtesy to my soon-to-be-cubemate, I need to take down one of my posters so he can have 1/2 the wall space.

    Do I take down the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness, or the collage of civil aircraft?

    1. NoVAHockey   12 years ago

      you can't take down the pyramid of greatness. I don't think it would let you.

    2. John   12 years ago

      Take down the Pyramid. Never take down pictures of airplanes.

    3. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      take down the collage of civil aircraft. It doesn't have quite as many teachable moments as Ron

    4. a better weapon   12 years ago

      You can take down the collage of civil aircrafts if you'd like, but the next passenger airliner that goes down, I'm blaming it on you and your bad joo-joo.

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        I'm blaming it on you and your bad joo-joo.

        What did the Jewz do this time?

    5. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

      I still have 24 hours to decide....I'm so torn.

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        If you're torn, go for a soloman solution - tear down half of each! That will make you decide which you want to keep more.

      2. $park?   12 years ago

        I'm so torn.

        You just unconsciously answered your dilemma.

  53. John   12 years ago

    http://www.philly.com/philly/b.....idate.html

    Woman in Philadelphia considers run for mayor and working to end the myth politics is Hollywood for ugly people.

    1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      Certainly not ugly, but that photo looks super air brushed.

      1. John   12 years ago

        There are other photos out there. She is quite attractive. She is over 40 and has some curves and shows her age somewhat. But for her weight class does quite well. And she owns a very successful business as well.

    2. Jordan   12 years ago

      Damn, she is smokin. Unfortunately, I doubt a white republican has a chance in hell of being elected in Philadelphia.

    3. SugarFree   12 years ago

      Oh, the comments are awesome!

      Socialism isn't screwing over Europe, neo-liberalism is. The Socialist countries in Europe, such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, they're all doing fine. The neo-lib states, like Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, they're in trouble.
      You obviously don't understand what socialism is (not surprising), particularly if you call liberals like Nutter and the rest of the clowns that run this city socialists. They definitely are not. A socialist mayor and council would not waste our time begging Comcast for handouts to fund after school programs. They would tell Comcast to pay their fair share, or they would seize Comcast's assets, like that giant tower in the middle of the city.
      A socialist also would not continue to rip off the firefighters who risk their lives every day to save ours.
      ? jerkoftheworld

      1. John   12 years ago

        A real socialist would have already put in camp buddy!!

      2. PS   12 years ago

        While countries like Denmark have a strong welfare state they also rank a lot higher than the US on the Index of Economic Freedom. Denmark has flexible hiring, Sweden has school vouchers (albeit not ideally implemented), etc.

        1. Virginian   12 years ago

          Italy isn't socialist??

          HAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHA

          1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

            Is Fiat owned by the state?

            1. John   12 years ago

              That just means it is not communist retard. Socialism is not state ownership of all means of production.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                Wrong, idiot. That is the very definition of socialism.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  No its not. By that definition no European country in the 20th century has ever been socialist. Even labor Britain didn't own every major industry.

                2. Virginian   12 years ago

                  Ah yes, until the last kulak has been thrown into a camp, we are still being oppressed by capitalism.

            2. Virginian   12 years ago

              Saab isn't state owned, Sweden is still socialist.

          2. PS   12 years ago

            Where the fuck did I say Italy wasn't socialist?

      3. Alack   12 years ago

        Well, at least his name is accurate.

      4. Bam!   12 years ago

        Isn't Norway an oil country?

        1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          Yes.

          The oil is state owned, they have a fuck-ton of it, and the population is about that of Kentucky.

          If the market for oil ever declines (for whatever reason), Norway is fucked. They already have insanely high taxes, but that doesn't even begin to actually pay for their little utopia. They are also being inundated by hordes of immigrants who are fleeing to the tundra because of their very generous welfare state. That can't last forever.

          1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

            Statoil is traded on the NYSE.

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

            1. Jordan   12 years ago

              The Government of Norway is the largest shareholder in Statoil with 67% of the shares.

              Bro, do you even read?

              1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                I know all about Statoil. I used to own the stock.

            2. Loki   12 years ago

              Which proves absolutely nothing.

          2. PS   12 years ago

            Actually they don't have a fuck-ton of it. Their oil fields are fairly depleted from what I've read. Also, they have the highest extraction cost.

      5. Loki   12 years ago

        I liked this exchange from further down the comments:

        jerk is right. Americans generally don't understand that a properly run socialist system -- as in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and, to some extent, France and Germany -- requires people to mitigate certain behaviors that we Americans consider iron-clad individual rights, and in return delivers a quality of life that we can only dream of. I lived in Europe for 15 years, and I can tell you that I'd be willing to make that trade here. ? Dave Clemens

        ...

        As a legal Scandinavian immigrant, I can tell you that as an American you don't understand how even a properly run socialist system will run any economy into the ground and completely stifle innovation.

        You are really willing to give up the freedoms you (still) have in this country for 50 years of OK security, followed by economic and cultural ruin?

        Maybe you should have stayed in Europe then. 15 years there you were probably eligible for citizenship depending on the country, problem solved. ? Philburt

        Gee, I think I'll take the testimony of someone who was born and raised in Scandinavia over the Euro-snobbery douchiness of a stereotypical American leftwinger asshat.

        1. John   12 years ago

          American leftwinger asshats love to go to Europe as tourists, ride the trains, see the sights and dream about how wonderful America would be if only we were like that. The have no fucking clue how they average European lives or what life in those countries is really like. It is basically like visiting Disney World and thinking it would be the greatest place in the world to work without ever bothering to talk to anyone who worked there or learn what working there as opposed to visiting there is really like.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            And the only reason the trains "work" is due to population density.

            Which is why the northeast corridor train from DC to Boston makes sense too. AND NOWHERE ELSE.

            1. John   12 years ago

              That and enormous public subsidies. The trains don't make any money in Europe either. And even with the subsidies they are expensive as hell. Americans don't generally realize that because they usually come for a short time and buy passes. Yeah, the passes are pretty cheap. But if you live in Europe, you don't travel enough in a short period to justify a pass. Try buying a ticket on a single round trip fare sometime. If Americans ever did that, they wouldn't think the trains were so cheap anymore.

              1. robc   12 years ago

                I put "work" in quotes for a reason.

                But yeah. I had a Swiss-pass when I lived there, it gave me 1/2 off on Swiss trains and mail buses. Everyone had a pass, no one paid full price. Im guessing if you lived in a city and didnt travel much, you didnt. But I was out in the sticks, so everyone I knew used the buses to get into the cities for groceries and etc and thus had a discount pass.

                But when I visited Italy I paid full price for tickets. Yeesh.

            2. Rasilio   12 years ago

              Actually I would argue that the Acela still does not make sense. It costs more than an airplane to get from Boston to DC and takes just as long as driving between the two

        2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          I think this ties in nicely with the link about Sharia Law.

          Support was strongest in countries that have never been under sharia law and weakest in those where it has been strictly enforced.

          I know a few people from socialist countries that constantly bitch about how socialism fucked up their country, so they moved to the USA and are now seeing socialism creeping in here. They get more pissed about it than most native born Americans do because they've seen the effects first hand.

          The left derps on about how great socialism will be in this country while completely ignoring all the crumbling socialist countries out there. "but it's different"

  54. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    Conservatives complaining about OTC Plan B again.

    Why do you cons hate freedom?

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      Free republic is that way ------}

    2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

      Palin's Buttplug is complaining about Conservatives again on a site not dedicated to conservatives.

      Why does PB hate intelligence?

      1. John   12 years ago

        Some envy the things they lack, some hate the things they lack. And Shreek just can't grasp the concept that perhaps life might begin before traveling through the birth canal. I think that is because his parents told him they found him under a rock.

        1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

          I think he was grown in a secret government lab. They wanted to see how low of an IQ they could give a human being before they just ceased to function. I'd say they hit the mark.

          1. John   12 years ago

            He is the future. There is a reason why we doomed.

  55. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

    The Kerry link goes to the Paul Ryan article.

  56. Jerryskids   12 years ago

    Regarding what most Muslims believe:

    most adherents of the world's second-largest religion are deeply committed to their faith and want its teachings to shape not only their personal lives but also their societies and politics

    and:

    most Muslims favor religious freedom for people of other faiths.

    Are these not mutually exclusive opinions? Isn't Islam an evangelical religion?

    I have often wondered when seeing articles about Muslim opinions if what I am reading is the equivalent of reading Jesse Jackson on what black people believe or reading Pat Robertson on what Christians believe or reading Paul Krugman on what economists believe.

    When you directly approach people and ask them about their religious views, you are really asking them about their religious views when they focus on their religious views. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that many Muslims are no more devout in their faith than many Christians are in theirs and that their religion doesn't really play that large a role in their daily lives.

    IOW - this report may not be actually be on what most Muslims believe but what most devout Muslims say they believe. Big difference.

    1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

      Isn't Islam an evangelical religion?

      They think their religious beliefs are superior to those of other faiths, and that everyone would be better off if they abided by the tenets of Islam.

      I would not say they are evangelical. Essentially, they believe in predestination--which, despite the Calvinist influence in American culture--is hard for most Americans to grasp.

      There are two part to it:

      In Part One: it's almost like--if you're not a Muslim, it's because you're not one of the people God has predestined to be among the supremely righteous. If God wants you to be a Muslim, then there's nothing they can do to stop you, and if God doesn't want you to be a Muslims, and you've been damned from the beginning, then there's nothing they can do to save you, either.

      So, No! I would not call them evangelical.

      Part Two has to do with this: There's a verse in the Quran that says something to the effect like "True Christians have nothing to fear on judgement day". Just as they believe in predestination, they believe that God created Christianity for his own purposes, and you can make it to heaven as a Christian. ...and once you get there, you'll realize that Islam was right all along, and then you'll effectively become a Muslim.

    2. John   12 years ago

      Islam is an evangelical religion. But so is Christianity. And just like Christianity some believers take the roll seriously but a lot do not.

      What pisses me off about the portrayal of Islam by the media is not that they ignore violence. The vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists and don't support terrorism. It is that the media totally ignores the conservative nature of the religion. The average religious Muslim in the middle east has no problem with making homosexuality a death penalty offense, giving women very few civil rights, basing the law and the government on religion and generally having a society that would make the most strict SOCONS wildest dreams look like Las Vegas.

      The media totally ignores this. And then act shocked when, given the chance to vote, the people of the middle east don't create a secular western government and society.

      1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

        I think they believe those things are inevitable. That God's will shall ultimately reign supreme, and there's nothing anybody can do to stop it.

        But they are not monolithic in their thought about what God's will is. They love to argue--especially with each other. I've never seen people who like to argue with each other more than Muslims from the Middle East.

        They're like libertarians that way.

        1. John   12 years ago

          They totally love to argue. And I have known an interacted with and been friends with any number of Muslims. And truth is I am a bit of Orientalist. I find the Middle East fascinating. I would live there if the opportunity arose, not forever but for a while anyway. But I have illusions about how many people there think. Most of them don't want a society that looks like ours. Some do. But a whole lot don't.

          1. tarran   12 years ago

            Yesterday on my ride home, John, I saw a vision that I thought would give you pleasure.

            Cute very trim jewish girl jogging in yoga pants on the Charles river. She ran up while I was waiting to cross Memorial drive, and stood there three feet away, breathing deeply, her slightly flushed face was framed by dark curly hair, her almond eyes intently watching the traffic, her stance balanced but ready to start moving in an instant.

            I figured trying to snap a photo would be a little pervy, but the moment I clapped eyes on her, I thought of you. 🙂

            1. $park?   12 years ago

              Way to be a creepy old dude, tarran.

            2. John   12 years ago

              That is a nice vision. Yoga pants really are a gift of the modern age.

              1. tarran   12 years ago

                They are, but in this case, the Yoga pants were superfluous.

                It was like a Renaissance painting come to life.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  The day seeing a woman like that doesn't make me just a bit happy, is the day they need to probably put me out of my misery.

          2. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

            "Most of them don't want a society that looks like ours. Some do. But a whole lot don't."

            That's true of people from Massachusetts and Massachusetts, too.

            People from Massachusetts are convinced that the people of Montana want to be just like them--if only the people of Montana weren't fooled by the media and the Koch brothers, they'd want to be just Massachusetts. So, what needs to happen is that the government needs to force the people of Montana to be more like Massachusetts--and then they'll all see how great it is!

            Muslims think we all want to be Muslims, we just don't know it yet--and those of us who don't want to be Muslims are just irredeemably horrible people. There are a lot of Christians and Americans who think the same thing about Muslims in the Middle East. I think it's probably a universal default position--everybody would want what I want if only they knew what I know.

            1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

              "That's true of people from Massachusetts and [Montana], too."

              Fixed!

            2. John   12 years ago

              That is just it. People have a hard time grasping that not everyone in the world is like them and wants the same thing as them. In the same way some guy living on Com Ave just can't understand how anyone would want to live in the middle of nowhere, many Americans can't grasp the idea that some people really do want to live in a religious based society.

            3. $park?   12 years ago

              People from Massachusetts are convinced that the people of Montana want to be just like them

              Blow it out your ass. I wish the rest of the people from Mass wanted to be like me. Then we could work on the other states.

            4. Dr. Frankenstein   12 years ago

              You mean the people voting for larger government really want larger government and don't want to be libertarian if they only knew better?

    3. Zeb   12 years ago

      I don't think they are necessarily mutually exclusive. If you asked Christians the same questions, I think you'd get the same sort of results. Wanting your religion to influence politics and society is not necessarily coercive and does not necessarily require restricting religious freedom.

      1. Ken Shultz   12 years ago

        I think Muslims would be better off if they all embraced libertarianism, and I'm sure I'm right.

        AND I'm evangelical about it.

  57. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    LUCASVILLE, Ohio?An Ohio man who admitted raping a 6-month-old baby but claims he never meant to kill her was set to be executed Wednesday after his last pleas for mercy failed.

    Steve Smith, 46, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the state prison in southern Ohio at 10 a.m. for the September 1998 killing of his live-in girlfriend's infant daughter, Autumn Carter.

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      So he admits it? Why the hell is he still alive?

    2. Jordan   12 years ago

      The sasquatch finally went too far.

    3. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      Good riddance. (For those who wrongly think I am a progressive reason #8743 I am not is that I support the death penalty)

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        No. You're a statist.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          You're a liar.

          The data clearly shows that the state grows more under a GOP POTUS (since 1970).

          You "libertarians" should quit defending the GOP all the time.

          1. Jordan   12 years ago

            Who said shit about the GOP?

          2. $park?   12 years ago

            Since it grows more under the GOP, it's fine that it grows some under the Dems? That's the most bizarre libertarian position I've heard, and I've heard some bizarre ones.

            1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

              I never claimed it was a libertarian position.

              My only claim is that Obama is better than BushRomney for libertarians. But it is like arguing who is better - the Astros or the Padres.

              1. $park?   12 years ago

                I just think it's hilarious that you call yourself a libertarian. You're clearly not, I don't know what the big deal is. Are you just trying (poorly) to fit it?

                1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                  I voted for Reagan in 84 and LP every year since (until Bush fascism needed to be put down).

                  5 LP votes
                  1 GOP
                  2 Dem

                  1. John   12 years ago

                    Sure you did Shreek. I seriously doubt you were old enough to vote in 1984.

                    This is what is called concern trolling shreek. And not even good concern trolling.

                    What is next, you going to tell us you have always owned guns but support common sense gun control?

      2. John   12 years ago

        Don't worry shreek, everyone here is quite sure you have no problem with the state killing people.

    4. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      What. The. Fuck.

    5. Loki   12 years ago

      Lethal inhjection? Fuck that shit, that's way too good for him. I'm thinking death by boola-boola might be more appropriate for this fucker.

    6. edcoast   12 years ago

      Good gawd. Am I allowed to make an exception to my principles for this one? Like maybe a little Bolton-style flaying?

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        Complete the execution as painfully as possible, then let the 8th amendment suit bicker over the finer points of law after he's done.

  58. John   12 years ago

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/a.....-again.php

    The point of all this is not to deny that Richard Nixon may have invited some nasty fellows into his political bed. The point is that the GOP finally became the region's dominant party in the least racist phase of the South's entire history, and it got that way by attracting most of its votes from the region's growing and confident communities?not its declining and fearful ones. The myth's shrillest proponents are as reluctant to admit this as they are to concede that most Republicans genuinely believe that a color-blind society lies down the road of individual choice and dynamic change, not down the road of state regulation and unequal treatment before the law. The truly tenacious prejudices here are the mythmakers'.

  59. lap83   12 years ago

    "Support was strongest in countries that have never been under sharia law and weakest in those where it has been strictly enforced." So, like communism.

  60. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    China and Japan are embroiled in a dispute over a group of uninhabited but resource rich islands in the East China Sea.

    If they're in the China Sea (as opposed to the Sea of Japan), then they must belong to China.

    1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

      According to China, the East China Sea extends to about fifty miles inland along the west coast of the Americas.

      1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

        Okay, okay, I exaggerrate, but if you look at the lines people draw, the Chinese claim is literally crawling up the beaches of their neighbors.

  61. John   12 years ago

    http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/168101/

    Maureen Dowd, who is adept at knowing which way the wind blows, finally admits that Obama just isn't very good at being President. Who knew?

    And the Reason servers mark any link to the NYT as spam and won't accept it. Good for them.

    1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      He is too far right for her.

      1. John   12 years ago

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuGtxt84wPQ

        Let it out shreek, let it out.

  62. Virginian   12 years ago

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

    The private sector used to manage the game in southern Africa. But obviously the greedy private sector, which is of course also racist, can't do that.

    1. Zeb   12 years ago

      I always enjoy explaining to people how private hunting preserves are the best thing going for the survival of large African fauna.

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        Rhodesia was a modern, civilized nation built in large part on the amount of money safaris brought in. Then they went commie, instituted "land reform" and changed their name to Zimbabwe.

    2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      Damnit, I just lost The Game!

  63. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://blogs.the-american-inte.....h-sorcery/

    Jewish sorcery!

  64. Virginian   12 years ago

    http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/i.....ladelphia/

    1. John   12 years ago

      Isn't homosexuality considered a form of insanity by the Cuban regime?

      It is really sad. The gay rights movement has allowed leftists to co-opt it. It is not about gay rights anymore. It is about promoting leftism. At this point, I think you could get GLAAD to sign on for re-criminalization of sodomy if that was the price of setting up a communist dictatorship.

      1. tarran   12 years ago

        Yep... Right off the bat they started executing homosexuals by firing squad.

        1. John   12 years ago

          I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that Che was big on executing homosexuals.

          1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

            In a 2010 interview with Mexican newspaper La Jornada, Castro called the persecution of homosexuals while he was in power "a great injustice, great injustice!" Taking responsibility for the persecution, he said, "If anyone is responsible, it's me."

            I pointed this (and the prison camps) out to a right-on lefty type who was praising Cuba. The squirming was delightful

            1. John   12 years ago

              That is great. Cuba also oppressed the hell out of Afro Cubans. Not everyone in Cuba looks like Che and Fidel. As of a few years ago, Afro Cubans were not even allowed to live in Havana. Mention that fact to a Cuba loving lefty sometime. I have and they wouldn't believe it. Even when I showed them news articles that said as much, they claimed the articles i sent were just "right wing American lies". It was fun.

          2. tarran   12 years ago

            And rock and roll fans.

            Being a musician wearing a Che T Shirt is like being a rabbi wearing an Eichman T-Shirt.

  65. Bam!   12 years ago

    Criminal gang uses work-at-home employees to pull off a cyberheist.

    You mean all those guys who've posted about their mothers making thousands of dollar working at home were scams?

    1. John   12 years ago

      I don't condone criminality or theft. But once in a while someone pulls off a crime with such cleverness you have to admire it a little bit.

  66. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

    WOW...MLs are out of control these days. I just don't have enough time to make all the comments that enter my head. Here is my summary for your ridicule:
    SF - Your mind is the reflecting pool of humanity's sewage...well done

    To the Ladies - Don't let the generalizations get to you, dudes have them too. I have pointed out that in pop culture (commercials, sitcoms, movies) it is OK for men to be too stupid to handle simple situations but I just don't care (Tim Allen actually commented he didn't like how dumb Tim Taylor became on the show). Ohh and Boobs.

    Tulpa is a statist (statist fails spell check WTF?).

    PB is not a libertarian

    Tech companies are like all other rent seekers, they comply out of simple internal bureaucracy.

    Warty...is...well, never mind.

    There, please reuse these throughout the week in my stead as I must now pretend to be a productive member of society.

    To post or not to post

  67. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

    A few of my pilot friends all said the same thing. It had to be the cargo not strapped down properly. Plane takes off, cargo shifts backwards and unbalances the plane, stall, crash.

  68. Virginian   12 years ago

    How the fuck did this happen?

  69. Virginian   12 years ago

    My question answered before it was asked....Hit and Run rules.

  70. db   12 years ago

    I wonder what the chances are that some "local contractors" loading the cargo are also employed by the Taliban.

  71. John   12 years ago

    It is about to cease to be important to the US. It will still be important to China and Europe. But not to us. That is going to be a seismic shift in geopolitics. I for one wish the Chinese and Euros luck in dealing with the place.

  72. John   12 years ago

    Good riddance is right. Imagine caring about the middle east about as much as you care about Africa.

  73. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

    No need, I already do. It's on my list of places not to visit because the locals won't like me, alongside California, France, and India.

  74. Corporate Serf   12 years ago

    Do not ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence (or sloth).

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