A.M. Links: Obama Approval Rating Holds Steady Despite Scandals, Barack Obama Reportedly Kept Out of Loop on IG IRS Investigation, Michelle Obama "Jokes" About Husband's Failures

• 

  White House

  A new CNN poll shows President Obama's approval rating holding steady at 53 percent despite a torrent of scandals in recent weeks.

• The White House chief of staff apparently decided not to let Obama know about the inspector general's investigation of IRS targeting.
• Michelle Obama "joked" in a commencement speech that she could talk about Barack Obama's failures all afternoon.
• Fleet week in New York's canceled due to sequester. Fiscal concerns didn't stop the U.S. from conducting more than 200 refueling missions in support of the French intervention in Mali this year, however.
• The city of Baltimore denies holding meetings on speed cameras in secret and other misdeeds.
• Nigeria says its military captured about 200 suspected members of Boko Haram .
• The former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Montt's conviction for genocide was overturned by the country's highest court.
• Ray Manzarek of The Doors died at age 74.

Get Reason.com and Reason 24/7 content widgets for your websites.

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.  You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. Have a news tip? Send it to us!

Comments

[sarcasmic]

911 dispatcher treated Amanda Berry (kidnapped for ten years) like a worm. No surprise there. I mean, the dumb bitch was interfering with a public servant. Sheesh.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....---b-.html

[Zeb]

What a dick. Why did he call her a farting birch?

[deified]

Slow clap.

I'm going to start using this. Mainly on Episiarch.

[LTC(ret) John]

"I'm going to start using this. Mainly on Episiarch."

Solely.

[Stormy Dragon]

Audio forensic experts hired by Cleveland station 19 Action News believe swear words were used.

But what do telephone psychics and faith healers think happened? Their are numerous fields of pseudo science BS yet to be brought to bare on sensationalizing this story!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The White House chief of staff apparently decided not to let Obama know about the inspector general's investigation of IRS targeting.

The Oval Office's insulation has a very high R-value.

[LTC(ret) John]

Ah, that was a subtle piece of work, that comment was.

[mad libertarian guy]

They've actually invented a new system of rating insulation: The Derp factor. And Obama's is off the chart.

[Elspeth Flashman]

He needs a derpendectomy.

[Rich]

It derpends on the level of the crisis.

[Lord Humungus]

as any learned doctor can see
this patient needs a derpendectomy /chorus

[Ted S.]

There's no such thing as Peak Derp.

[invisible furry hand]

doesn't stop people from trying to achieve it

[LTC(ret) John]

It is like total enlightenment - you may strive for it, but will never reach it.

Well...actually, Tony has been getting frighteningly close lately.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I found proof we reached Peak Smug this weekend. At the grocery store there was a Prius with the following license plate: "EFF GAS."

[The DerpRider]

You rang?

[Mr Whipple]

Plausible deniability.

[fish]

The White House chief of staff apparently decided not to let Obama know about the inspector general's investigation of IRS targeting.

Why would any front man be made privy to the actual workings of the organization? He hardly has a "need to know".

[JW]

"This meeting never happened and I was never here."

[a better weapon]

This would be easier to believe if Obama's Intel Advisors, Carney, Axelrod, and media minions weren't all over the airwaves last October repeating that Obama is "the most sophisticated consumer of information on the planet" to shield him from attacks for missing all of his intelligence briefings.

They built him up as some omnipotent managerial rockstar who didn't need to be there to know what was going on. I'm supposed to believe he is a hands off, delegating executive now?

[VG Zaytsev]

Occam's Razor.

The were lying their asses off last October.

[DontShootMe]

I don't think their lying is confined to October.

[BigT]

Given Obummer's obsession with the campaign and election, it seems to me that he picks and chooses the topics he studies. Anything to do with the election he knows thoroughly, anything to do with governing he only skims and delegates (or simply allows others to lead).

I think he was aware of the IRS procedures and the AP wiretaps. But likely not Benghazi except for the coverup. After all, what difference did it make?

[sarcasmic]

Naked hiker saved from Colorado mountain after taking mushrooms and fighting with her roommates

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....mates.html
Of course the cops charge her with being under the influence of drugs, and more charges are pending. Never ask the Boulder police for help. Ever. No matter the situation, they'll find a way to fuck you over.

[Virginian]

Never ask any police for help, ever.

[some guy]

Only call the police if you are willing to get someone arrested and you are willing to take the risk that that someone is you.

[Marshall Gill]

Also if you don't mind your dog being killed.

[mad libertarian guy]

Only call the police if you are willing to get someone arrested and you are willing to take the risk that that someone is you.

Or if there is a dead person already in your house. There s nothing to be gained by not calling the cops in that situation.

[sarcasmic]

Or if there is a dead person already in your house.

That's about the only situation where I would call the cops.

[T]

You call the cops if you need a police report for insurance purposes or there's a dead body you're not prepared to handle yourself.

In either event, no need to call 911. Just call the non-emergency number.

[sarcasmic]

Russian soldier shot in the head by an AK-47 smiles for the camera as his comrade pulls it out using just PLIERS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....LIERS.html
It's obviously a fragment or ricochet, but it's not like those disarmed limies would know the difference.

[Live Free or Diet]

As deformed as the slug is, I suspect you're right about the ricochet. Penetrating foliage also causes shocking changes in velocity in some rounds. I can't tell much else from the pics, and newspapers commonly call any AK variant an "AK-47" so who knows what the ammo really was.

[sarcasmic]

Aren't most AKs of the 72 variety?

[Drake]

In the Russian Army - yes.

[Drake]

AK-74's that is.

[sarcasmic]

It's a bad idea to get your girlfriend's face tattooed on you. But if you do, and you break up, this is the next best thing to removal.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....split.html

[a better weapon]

that's a solid cover up.

[Lord Humungus]

Starlight Vocal Band? They suck!

[Bee Tagger]

The city of Baltimore denies holding meetings on speed cameras

Oh, those Baltimore politicians and their fast talking.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The meeting cameras will tell a different story.

[invisible furry hand]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-it

[T]

Thanks, Clay.

[Drake]

Little Finger will fix it.

[Rich]

"The task force has been in the process of compiling meeting minutes. [T]here is no standard reasonable time for creation of meeting minutes and certainly draft meeting minutes need not be made public."

"Compiling" or "creating"?

Ima say the latter.

[Ted S.]

Record the meetings and release the recordings.

[mad libertarian guy]

You must be a racist . . .

*checks sentence syntax*

Yep. You alliterate "R": a sure sign that one is racist.

[sarcasmic]

Jessica Chastain shows off her legs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....kseat.html
I'm a sucker for nice legs. Damn.

[Aloysious]

+1 smooth legggz

[Lord Humungus]

looks like my wife's - really.

[AlexInCT]

Warty's legs are not long...

[Spoonman.]

Earnings completely decoupled to stock prices

[Palin's Buttplug]

ZeroHead garbage. Earnings for the s/P 500 will top $115 this year - up 30% over 2007's previous market high.

The Doom and Gloom crowd at ZeroHead has been consistently wrong this entire record bull market.

[Citizen Nothing]

Isn't "Buttplugs offering stock tips" one of the classic signs of a toppy market?

[Palin's Buttplug]

I don't give advice here other than my "buy" on First Solar (FSLR) a few months back at $35. And the context on that was that solar is improving.

Oh, and short the barbaric relic.

[Citizen Nothing]

Fuck. It's true. Sell!!! Sell!!! Sell!!

[fish]

Oh, and short the barbaric relic.

You might want to get a memo to the Anos.org mother ship. He's buying options on the miners.

[BigT]

FSLR is still doomed. As are almost all the solar boondoggles. FSLR in 2009 hit 300, from 2008-2011 it hovered around 125. When the govt support system implodes it will cease to exist.

[AlexInCT]

^^ THIS!

[Restoras]

30%? That's a 4.5% CAGR including inflation. Interesting.

[Spoonman.]

So their chart is just wrong? Proof?

[BakedPenguin]

I think their chart is somewhat misleading, as the earnings estimates fell by something like 1%, and the chart was scaled to make that look horrible.

However, Restoras' point (above your post) about the new high being a 4.5% annual compound growth is the telling one. The growth since 2007 hasn't been 1%, let alone 4.5%. It's a bubble.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is just a 4-month chart. Here is the real deal. Notice today's low P/E (which means the market is cheap).

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2.....he-sp-500/

Source - Ritholtz (a realist and not a partisan hack).

The 'FED IS PRINTING MONEY!' causality is for know-nothings.

[Restoras]

How do you know the P/E is low? I mean, P is never wrong but in my experience the E is never quite right, and is also completely unknowable.

[some guy]

P/E looks like it's near the historical average. If it's low, it's only by a little.

[Restoras]

Plus if you dig a little deeper into that post you see that the P/E is closer to 19.6x and not the 12.6x that is called out on that chart.

[Palin's Buttplug]

S/P 500 is 1671. E is 110.

PE is 15.19 real time although the E is improving. Home Depot and Cisco just blew the doors off. Housing is back. Tech is strong. Next up is financials then the cycle will peak.

[Restoras]

Digging even a bit deeper and the consensus estimate for S&P earnings this year is 108 according to Thomson Reuters, and the earnings in 2007 were 85.

That makes the CAGR 4.1%, even less good than the anemic 4.5% implied from the 115 "estimate" shreek! provided.

Right now the S&P 500 is trading at 15.4x 2013 and 14.4x 2014. Looks like roughly this historical average and certainly not cheap.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Okay, we arrived at 15ish - Amazing breakthrough at H&R!

Cheap to me, average to you, but certainly not a "bubble".

[Restoras]

Maybe, maybe not.

The E can change rather drastically in a short period of time. In 2006 the E was $88.18 and in 2009 it was $60.80, an -11.7% CAGR.

[KDN]

Housing is back.

Depends on where you're living, of course. Housing is still shit where I live, but gross revenue from my company's building supply division is up 50% over this point last year which means that southeastern market has got to be going like gangbusters.

[Palin's Buttplug]

True. My town is building a new mall (Athens, Georgia) and growth is strong.

[mad libertarian guy]

Communities designed to support professional leeches generally grow.

[some guy]

Communities designed to support professional leeches generally grow.

I wonder how the DC suburbs are doing...

[Stormy Dragon]

Uggh, who builds shopping malls any more? Power centers are the future.

[Not a Libertarian]

Ohh, I thought you were in Atlanta.

It all makes sense now.

[Mr Whipple]

So, the gains in equities are not Fed induced? Then the Fed can pull back, right?

[Mike M.]

Good luck getting scumbag to ever answer that one.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No. The gains are due to record earnings.

[cavalier973]

Which are due to the Fed

[Warty]

Fuck off, sockpuppet.

[Jordan]

Meanwhile, you monetarist clowns not only did not foresee the housing bubble, you were the ones that blew it up in the first place.

The correction is coming.

[some guy]

Earnings for the s/P 500 will top $115 this year

Do you have a citation for this claim? Or did you find it behind your handle?

[Don Mynack]

The stock market and financials generally bore me to tears, so I willfully choose not to understand them, but what does it mean when so many buyback are taking place?

[Restoras]

It means the cos. in question can't think of anything better to do with their cash. They can't generate a strong enough IRR to justify new investment so they buyback share to mollify thier biggest holders.

[Palin's Buttplug]

That or more likely they think their stock is cheap.

Tell the whole story.

[Restoras]

Well the only thing I left out is that cos. don't like to pay dividends, and thier biggest holders don't like them too, because they are double-taxed.

[VG Zaytsev]

Earnings completely decoupled to stock prices

It's almost like some entity is dumping trillions of dollars into the stock market, bidding up share prices, or something.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Fed is NOT buying stock.

Wingnut CT #873902 debunked.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep, money created by QE doesn't go anywhere.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm sure the bond traders would disagree /snark.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Michelle Obama "joked" in a commencement speech that she could talk about Barack Obama's failures all afternoon.

I'm guessing those wouldn't be the same "failures" you and I would discuss all afternoon.

[Slammer]

POTUS ED?

[Rich]

"Everybody does it."

[Auric Demonocles]

He just didn't adequately explain why not having sex at that time was a better option.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I lol'ed.

[Virginian]

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cj.....s/table-12

FBI hate crime statistics.

Interestingly, NY has over three times as many as TX per capita. Actually, looking at the charts, you might think it was the North that was racist.

[robc]

Because, well, it is.

[mad libertarian guy]

Actually, looking at the charts, you might think it was the North that was racist.

That's because it is. Every bit as racist as the south. And the west. And everywhere else on fucking earth. The only thing that keeps the rest of the world (and themselves) from realizing it is a post hoc decision to free slaves during the civil war, despite much of the population having southern sympathies (mostly because of cotton), and not wanting to be drafted to fight a war in order to free slaves.

The idea that the north is somehow not racist/less racist than any other region anywhere in the world is nothing but propaganda.

[tarran]

There is far more casual mixing of the races in the South than in the North. I will say, though, that over the past 5 years, I've noticed that Boston is actually starting to integrate a little.

[a better weapon]

There is far more casual mixing of the races in the South than in the North.

I've tried to explain this to my midwest friends and they don't believe it. They honestly believe african-americans can't go for a walk in Texas without a General Lee passing by hurling racial epithets at them. I've lived in Dallas, Houston, and Shreveport in the South and have never felt uncomfortable being in a mixed race environment and color honestly doesn't cross my mind when I'm out on the town in those places. I've also lived in Madison and Minneapolis and if a group of african-american friends come into the restaurant or passes by my group of friends on the street, the tension is thick.

The south is honestly lapping the rest of the country in race relations.

[Enough About Palin]

"the tension is thick"

^^THIS^^

I live in Minneapolis and it's like it's 1950's Memphis up here. Very different from when I was living in Atlanta.

[Virginian]

I mean, it's kinda hard to be racist and still live in Atlanta. If you truly couldn't stand black people, you would move to somewhere where there weren't any. Like, say, San Francisco.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Houston is the most racially diverse major city and one of the least segregated. We also have a lesbian mayor. Bunch of bigot we are.

[Spoonman.]

Also, wouldn't American be pissed to know that adjusted for cost of living Houston has the highest per capita income in the US?

[T]

Oil is evil, so they remain pure in their poverty.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah, and we constantly hear from the rest of the state how Houston and Austin aren't "real" Texas because of it.

[gaijin]

The idea that the north is somehow not racist...

but, but, the CIVIL WAR FREED THE SLAVES!

[Ted S.]

The only thing that keeps the rest of the world (and themselves) from realizing it

is proof by assertion. They claim they're the broadminded, tolerant ones, and because NYC is where much of the major media is, their bigotries are treated as the acceptable, nay virtuous, ones.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Most SWPL shitlibs have a tourist's exposure to American minorities and different cultures in general--they're rarely, if ever, forced to confront a situation that doesn't reinforce their high opinion of their own righteousness.

It's pretty easy to claim to be open-minded and tolerant when you're living in a whiteopia with little to no proximity to minorities whatsoever. Force these people to live in a barrio or section 8 housing for three-five years, and you'd find out just how accepting they really are.

[Rasilio]

Not only is the north just as racist it is racist in a more damaging way.

In the south racists don't socialize with blacks and they don't invite them into their homes but they'll hire them in an instant.

In the north they befriend them, have them over for cocktails but would never consider hiring anyone who didn't just just as WASPy as themselves

[Spoonman.]

Top 10 per 100,000:
DC: 13.43
MA: 5.77
NJ: 5.76
OR: 5.25
KY: 4.33
ME: 4.14
ND: 4.05
CT: 3.91
CO: 3.73
MN: 3.71

[Spoonman.]

Of course that is per population covered, which isn't the same thing as population of the state.

[invisible furry hand]

Is it common knowledge that the call sign for Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport is 'klit'?

[Rhywun]

I didn't know Billary have an airport named after them. That's rather grotesque. Same goes for anyone not dead yet.

[KWebb]

It's been KLIT forever, but the change to Clinton is new.

There is a chain of gas stations in Arkansas called 'Kum & Go.' They need a new location next to the airport right now.

[sarcasmic]

Godfather of sorority girl shot dead by police lashes out at their failure to negotiate with gunman in house

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....house.html
If you didn't see the story earlier, dude takes a girl hostage and the arriving officer shoots her in the face before unloading on the dude.

[RBS]

The only thing I've really seen about this is the media making sure everyone knows the cop had a tough decision to make and no time to make it. So naturally everything is ok.

[a better weapon]

Yup. Its sickening. Not a single minute given to consider alternative scenarios.

[Ted S.]

But, but, OFFICER SAFETY!

Obviously, you must be a member of the bigorati.

HTH!

[Mainer2]

Yawn.

Troll-o-meter -.01

smooches

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Speed was just a movie. You don't take trainging notes from a Keanu Revees movie. Don't shoot the hostage.

[tarran]

Another successful graduate of the Frank Drebin school of hostage negotiation.

[John]

http://online.wsj.com/article/....._uber_feed

NY Times douche bag goes full on fascist.

As for Tea Party groups that received extra scrutiny from the I.R.S., an Associated Press-GfK poll released last month found that fewer than a fourth of Americans say they support the group. The Tea Party may well be pass?. . . .

So an unpopular movement applied for tax-exempt status under conditions made possible by an unpopular court decision, in order to influence politics with unfathomable amounts money from unnamed donors? Good luck gaining sympathy for that.

It is clear that the Justice Department overreached on the Associated Press scandal and that its strong-arm tactics are likely to have a chilling effect. But Americans are not big fans of mass media. A November Gallup poll found that only a fourth of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of journalists highly. Even bankers ranked higher.

It is okay for the government to go after unpopular people.

[invisible furry hand]

and then there's this

Will the IRS's scrutiny of Tea Party groups convince conservatives that all kinds of profiling are wrong?

[mr simple]

I love that everyone in the administration and the IRS has admited that what happened here was wrong, people have been fired and an investigation is under way, yet every lackey is still trying to come up with excuses for what the IRS did. They so desperately need a way to believe that the administration did no wrong and Republicans are evil.

[sulphurbottom]

Yesterday Morning Edition ran a long-ish piece about how every president has scandals in his second term.

It's to be expected, gnome sane?

[Rasilio]

Yeah but the problem here is that these scandals happened during his first term and are just now coming to light.

Further there were other scandals in Obama's first term which were at least in line with any other presidents 2nd term scandals but were whitewashed by a compliant media.

It would be truely poetic justice if some AP reporter decided to get revenge by actually digging the truth out on things like Fast and Furious cause I'm pretty sure if they did our esteemed AG would be looking at some jail time.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The irony is that the Tea Party crowd applied for tax exempt status when they didn't need to.

[SugarFree]

This character grows tiresome. Try a new one. You're not fooling anyone at this point.

[invisible furry hand]

A singularly unhelpful post. It needs some suggested new characters to try. How about Judy Garland? That could be fun

[sgs]

That's not irony, that's Alanis Morissette irony.

[sulphurbottom]

For those folks watching at home, that's the WSJ quoting a Charles Blow column in the NYT.

[John]

The Reason squirrels reject all NYT links as spam. No kidding. Thus the need for the secondary source.

[sulphurbottom]

It confused the heck out of me until I clicked through.

[robc]

Seems about right.

You sure the problem isnt that the NYT is registration-walled?

[John]

Not sure. Just know when I submit a NYT link, it won't go through and is flagged as spam.

[robc]

As I refuse to register for news websites, regardless of the reason, Im glad they do it.

[Jerryskids]

Yeah, I refused to register for Reason too.

[robc]

reason isnt a news site.

And you only have to register for the comments.

[Jerryskids]

Reason isn't a news site? Somewhere Matt Welch is weeping. If about 90% of the newspapers in the country can call themselves newspapers because they repost articles from AP, Reuters, NYT, Tribune, etc., then Reason is every bit as much a news site.

And if you say you refuse to register regardless of the reason, a reasonable person might reason that offering a reason for registering for Reason is some unreasonably dodgy reasoning.

[T]

I think that's a drink. Ruling from the judges?

[robc]

And if you say you refuse to register regardless of the reason

Reading comprehension fail.

Or, in this case, but writing.

Notice the comma, the clause "regardless of the reason" referred to the alter clause "Im glad they do it", not to the preceding clause "As I refuse to register for news websites".

Or rewording it:

1. I refuse to register for news websites.

2. Regardless of the reason that reason blocks it as spam, I am glad they do it.

[robc]

but == bad, apparently.

[robc]

alter == later

[LTC(ret) John]

"I refused to register for Reason too."

*golf clap*

[Night Elf Mohawk]

It's bad enough that the NYT quotes Charles Blow.

[Rich]

Nationwide Tea Party protests TODAY

Film at 11.

[gaijin]

Film at 11.

Expect to see counter-propaganda implants railing immigrants, women and the government!

[Stormy Dragon]

Are you seriously arguing there's no actual anti-immigrant sentiment in the tea party?

[gaijin]

Are you seriously arguing there's no actual anti-immigrant sentiment in the tea party?

No. I am suggesting that teabaggers will be portrayed as stereotypes by TEH MEDIA.

[mad libertarian guy]

It is clear that the Justice Department overreached on the Associated Press scandal and that its strong-arm tactics are likely to have a chilling effect. But Americans are not big fans of mass media. A November Gallup poll found that only a fourth of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of journalists highly. Even bankers ranked higher.

With mendacious fucks like this guy writing shit like this, who can blame most of America for believing those in the mass media are mendacious fucks?

[BakedPenguin]

Well, do you trust the guy who wrote that?

[Zeb]

A fourth of the population is pretty popular for a start up political movement.

And what the hell does this mean: "Americans are not big fans of mass media"?

Is that sort of like "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded"?

[Citizen Nothing]

+1 Yogi

[a better weapon]

Free speech is just for the popular kids now.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Free speech for me, and not for thee. . . Two legs are better than 4 legs. . .
plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

[MJGreen]

Of course, Congress ranks far lower than media or bankers or the Tea Party.

So I guess we can go pillage the Congressional building or something?

[Virginian]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/am.....-politics/

Five reasons the NRA wins.

[a better weapon]

5?! Sorry, but new laws say there is a strict list capacity of 4 or less reasons. What do you even need an assault list for?

[Gbob]

About time someone stood up to those first amendment bullies. When the constitution was written, they couldn't envision the technology to have long lists like that. You got *one* item to list and that was that.

[Virginian]

http://www.mrconservative.com/.....n-control/

The fascist state of New Jersey.

[sulphurbottom]

But I repeat myself ...

[WTF]

Meanwhile, gangbangers in Jersey City and Newark continue to rain death and mayhem, despite CCW being essentially prohibited in New Jersey. Clearly the problem is not enough anti-gun laws.

[Zeb]

In other states. I think that will always be the fallback when lots of restrictions don't work to reduce violence. If those other states would just cooperate, it would be fine.

[WTF]

Although oddly enough, those other states with the 'lax' gun laws always have far less gun violence. Go figure.

[Virginian]

Murder rate of DC was something like 70 per 100,000 at one point. At the same time, murder rate for Arlington VA was like 1.5 per 100,000.

Some thing was different. Wonder what it was?

[AlexInCT]

Criminals from VA where killing innocnents in DC with the guns they could get so easily accross the border!

/moonbat off

[deified]

I've got a situation right now where there's a lady with a gun charge in my (rental) house and I still wouldn't be able to get permission to purchase a firearm from the sheriff.

So, I'm crossing my fingers.

God, Fuck New Jersey. Fuck it so, so hard.

[deified]

I grew up there. It's the definition of fascist (although second to NYC).

Their mentality, and I mean this literally, is "if you disagree with me I can and will do whatever I have the power to do to destroy you."

Vile, vile politics in that place. Fuck them.

[Bee Tagger]

A new CNN poll shows President Obama's approval rating holding steady at 53 percent despite a torrent of scandals in recent weeks.

First, he take the media's freedom. Then he takes their influence.

[LTC(ret) John]

A new CNN poll .... stop right there.

[gaijin]

The problem is that this one poll is being touted as showing strong approval. The RCP averages, Rasmussen, Reuters and Gallup don;t show anything nearly as positive for O. Outliers should be greeted with skepticism imo.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Rasmussen and Gallup shit their nest in 2012 and are reinventing their models.

[mad libertarian guy]

Where the fuck is John's screeching monkeys clip when one needs it?

[fish]

What?? The Plug engaging in a partisan defense of President Hollow Chocolate Bunny by defending the polling organizations providing him favorable results.

Well color me shocked.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Whereas you shit your pants every day, not just 2012.

[LTC(ret) John]

+1 Depends

[Rich]

Obama's approval rating holding steady at 53 percent despite a torrent of scandals in recent weeks.

Shouldn't that be *47* percent?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Six percent Romney of error. I mean margin of Romney.

[Rich]

Nice.

[Bee Tagger]

Good point, anyone hired since the last cavalcade of articles hasn't had a chance to write about 47% yet.

[db]

Rasmussen has support at 47% today. 40% strong disapproval, 52% overall disapproval.

[Mike M.]

What was Richard Nixon's approval rate in May of 1973?

I'm guessing that it was still pretty damn high, given that he got reelected by a far bigger landslide than Obama did.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nigeria says its military captured about 200 suspected members of Boko Haram.

They're going to make them play A Whiter Shade of Pale and then release them.

[Jerryskids]

I came here just to ask if Robin Trower was among the 200.

[gaijin]

+1 whiter shade of pale

[DJF]

Then the US government will declare them to be refugees suffering discrimination and bring them to the USA.

[Don Mynack]

They'll let them go 10 minutes into Conquistador.

[Virginian]

http://www.wired.com/threatlev.....-dossiers/

This is why the immigration bill should be killed. At 800 pages, I doubt this is the only statist bullshit in it.

[Rich]

Anyway, they all look alike.

[Virginian]

I mean, not to get all COSMOTARIANNZZZ, but Reason should be screaming bloody murder. IMO, a marginal improvement in immigration policy is not worth giving the feds the power to create a fucking biometric datbase of every American adult.

[Rich]

I agree with your assessment of the seriousness of this issue. I apologize for my RACIST comment.

[John]

They totally should be. There are some massive infringements on civil rights in that thing. The basically want to make you put yourself into a national database for the right to get a job. But Reason loses all sense when it comes to immigration. They would agree to detention camps if they thought it would get amnesty.

[VG Zaytsev]

But John, focusing on the troubling, but small, issues of a biometeric database and needing government permission for employment distracts from the larger, more important, issue of enrolling more welfare clients

/ suderman

[LTC(ret) John]

I may not entirely agree, but I did laugh.

[Stormy Dragon]

The basically want to make you put yourself into a national database for the right to get a job.

And which party has spent the last 15 years running on how great e-Verify is?

[tarran]

This isn't a party thing. It's a state versus freedom thing.

[Stormy Dragon]

Except when someone is bringing up "cosmotarians" in relation to it, that suggests they think this is a liberal thing, when that aspect of the bill is clearly being driven by the conservative side.

[Virginian]

No you dipshit Team Blue apologist, the cosmotarian angle is the fucking political calculus some supposed libertarians have where a fucking 1984 style biometric database is somehow considered to be a good political compromise in return for some theoretical improvement of immigration policy.

Sorry, it's fucking Tulpaesque to suggest that giving the fucking DHS the power to face map every goddamn person in the country is worth anything at all. There's no goddamn reform or package of reforms that would be worth setting up a goddamn surveillance state.

[Stormy Dragon]

Sorry, it's fucking Tulpaesque to suggest that giving the fucking DHS the power to face map every goddamn person in the country is worth anything at all.

Saying "X is a shitty argument for A" is not arguing in favor of not-A. I'm not saying "that giving the fucking DHS the power to face map every goddamn person in the country is worth anything at all". I'm saying that given the current political alignments of the country, it's stupid to describe it as a cosmotarian conspiracy, and only a TEAM RED dipshit who thinks all bad ideas must have come from liberals because his beloved conservatives would never promote anything statist would describe it as one.

[sgs]

"Except when someone is bringing up "cosmotarians" in relation to it, that suggests they think this is a liberal thing,"

Nope.

[Virginian]

Well, I'm just wondering how anyone calling themselves a libertarian can support a bill which provides for that Orwellian face mapping database that authoritarians of both TEAMs have salivated over for a decade.

[Stormy Dragon]

I agree, but to the extent it implies anything about the quality of Reason's libertarianism, support for e-Verify is far more "yokel-" than "cosmo-".

[VG Zaytsev]

Yep paranoid yokeltarians are all about increasing the surveillance state.

::rolls eyes::

[Stormy Dragon]

They tend to be, as long as the surveillance is directed toward the sinister other rather than "real amurricans".

[sgs]

"They tend to be, as long as the surveillance is directed toward the sinister other rather than "real amurricans"."

Um, are you stupid or just deluded?

[Bee Tagger]

Top White House staff, including Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, knew that a potentially damaging inspector general's report on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of tea party groups was looming but decided not to inform President Barack Obama.

They better not tell Obama they haven't been telling him about these things, it could make him look bad.

[gaijin]

Clearly, the president is not the decider in chief. He reports to his general counsel apparently.

[Jerryskids]

[Carney} said it was "absurd" for anyone to suggest Obama was kept in the dark to maintain "plausible deniability."

ab?surd (b-s?rd, -z?rd] adj.

1. Ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable.

Really?

[Coeus]

Politician is consistent. Farkers are perplexed.

a sample:

Cheron
2013-05-21 07:44:11 AM
Time to stop campaigning and start governing. If you keep trying to score points and if something is good for the other guy it must be bad for you then shouldn't be in office. Holding political office isn't a zero sum event it is about make the lives of Americans better.

[Thane of #HOLO]

Millions of dollars towards useless gestures like voting to repeal Obamacare

Wait, what?

Yet he had no problems trying to strip nearly all disaster aid from the East Coast last year. Pathetic douchebag.

Forget RTFA -- how about the headline?

[Irish]

Millions of dollars towards useless gestures like voting to repeal Obamacare

This confused me too. Unless you're talking about the money that congressmen are paid, how does trying to repeal Obamacare cost anything?

[mad libertarian guy]

I imagine that an enormous amounts of private treasure has been spilled in order to get OCare repealed. Donations to PACs, SuperPACs, Tea Party groups, donations to specific politicians because they pledged to repeal it, etc.

I'd say that one could probably make a living campaigning for the repeal of Obamacare as the head of a non-profit.

[Irish]

So I'm supposed to give a shit about what people do with their own money now?

I find it funny that leftists care more about people wasting their own money than the government wasting everyone's money.

[Virginian]

They don't think the government is wasting it.

They see people giving their hard earned money to repeal such a noble and progressive law, and they think of all the cowboy poetry festivals that could be funded by the benevolent government.

Hell, I've had leftists say if the people who fight Obamacare had spent all that energy making it work, then it would work.

IF WE ALL JUST BELIEVE!!!!!!

[Lord Humungus]

tinkerbell!

[Irish]

Time to stop campaigning and start governing.

If this person is pro-Obama, then this is probably the most hypocritical sentence ever written.

[Coeus]

Then they're almost certainly pro-Obama. Do you know anyone who is that isn't a raging hypocrite?

[Auric Demonocles]

But I also know of a lot of hypocrites that aren't pro-Obama.

[Raston Bot]

Someone else commented that consistency is sometimes worse than hypocrisy. And principles are probably for losers too.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Or misquoting Emerson on consistency.

[Virginian]

http://drawandstrike.blogspot......se-at.html

Great example of how media bias works.

[Phrygian]

awesome article..must read IMO

[invisible furry hand]

I cannot work because you fear my beauty

[sulphurbottom]

She might want to rethink that argument.

[Coeus]

Hehe

Appearing on ITV's This Morning, Fernee elaborated on her condition, saying the constant attention and "romantic gifts" left her "traumatized."

[John]

She is cute.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

She looks like Michael Jackson.

[Numeromancer]

Que c'est un dur m?tier que d'?tre belle femme

[WTF]

So, she had a job, but then quit because she didn't like getting complimented on her looks, and now lives off of her rich parents.

The horror, the horror.

[Rasilio]

Wait seriously? She's not even cute.

That is one thing I have noticed about a lot of skinny women, they seem to equate skinny with beautiful. The two are not in any way related. You can be skinny and attractive, or skinny and ugly or you can be fat and attractive or fat and ugly and with both skinny and fat your can reach a level where it is impossible to remain attractive but really this woman is completely and utterly average looking

[mad libertarian guy]

That is one thing I have noticed about a lot of skinny women, they seem to equate skinny with beautiful.

I would agree, but partially because so many men also conflate being skinny with being pretty.

[BuSab Agent]

She could have just stopped wearing make-up and got an unattractive haircut. Mendacious bitch.

[Coeus]

Everything going wrong in the videogaming industry, in one perfect sentence.

I recently got a job where I write about video games on the internet, and naturally, my first post had some gender issues crop up. I am a woman and I wrote about women in video games, so, of course.

Of course. What do you want, game reviews? You must be a sexist patriarchal oppressor.

[gaijin]

I recently got a job where I write about video games...

see the problem was in the first sentence. That job needed to be where she wrote about herself.

[Virginian]

Seriously hate it when people, women or men, try to stretch their job description. You're a video game writer. That means you write about video games. I mean, if you want to try to write some kind of bullshit about gender, ok fair enough, but I'm not going to read it. Save that shit for your personal blog.

It's why Gawker media is so annoying, because they can't show me a cool video without any bullshit editorializing.

[The DerpRider]

Every sportswriter in America wants a word with you...

[Coeus]

It's going to be a rough 24 hours for the both of us.

[Ted S.]

Would-be Darwin award candidates:

Tourists Rescued after Dining Out on Iceberg

There's even a photo of the idiots.

[generic Brand]

I thought the Darwin Award could only be given posthumously. On account of they rid the human race of their dumbass selves, and we thank them for that.

[SugarFree]

Conservative love racial profiling, so what the IRS did is OK.

The flat-lies are adorable at first, then begin to wear on you.

[John]

You see using the government to go after your political opponent is just like police pulling people over for driving while black.

[Virginian]

The whole profiling is just another annoying example of TEAM. TEAM RED thinks any Muslim is an obvious terror threat and needs to be anally probed. TEAM BLUE takes it as a given that anyone with a Gadsen flag is a dangerous extremist who needs to be anally probed.

They're both huge fans of profiling.

[mad libertarian guy]

TEAM RED thinks any Muslim is an obvious terror threat and needs to be anally probed.

With the frequency of murder droning, I'm inclined to see Team BLUE leading the way on this one.

[gaijin]

They're both huge fans of profiling anal probing.

fify

[John]

Of course people with Godsend flags are not blowing shit up. There is a huge difference between law enforcement looking at people who are members of organizations who are committing violence. I suppose the FBI profiled Italians when they went after the old Italian mafia. But since the mafia was mostly Italians, that was pretty much unavoidable. The reality is most of the terrorist threat we face is from Muslims. What is the FBI supposed to do?

That seems to be a bit different than using the IRS to go after one political group for the benefit of another.

[generic Brand]

There is a huge difference between law enforcement looking at people who are members of organizations who are committing violence.

Wearing a turban or hijab is not indicative of belonging to "organizations who are committing violence". But that certainly is the extent of thought that goes into profiling Middle Easterners.

[John]

Show me where anyone wearing a turban is profiled? If anything they are the other way. The Russians told the FBI the Boston bombers were dangerous. Yet, the FBI never did anything because FBI doctrine is that the major terrorist threat is domestic. Official government police s currently to deny that radical Islam is a domestic threat. Thus, the Fort Hood shooting is "domestic violence".

The idea that the FBI or the feds are targeting people simply because they are Muslim is completely at odds with the facts. If anything, they are incapable of targeting Muslims who they are told are dangerous.

[generic Brand]

Show me where anyone wearing a turban is profiled?

Have you flown on a plane recently? Like in the last decade? Because they are constantly being profiled either by the TSA agents directly or by other passengers just for wearing clothes similar to or looking the same way as the 9/11 hijackers.

[WTF]

I fly fairly regularly, and the only time I was on line with a guy in a turban, the TSA gave him no additional scrutiny. Although they did single out my blonde, blue-eyed wife for some extra scrutiny in the form of a baggage search. Clearly not a big sample, but I just haven't seen any constant profiling.

[Virginian]

How about all the surveillance of mosques. Because the FBI used to just bug churches at random to catch Mafia members.

[LTC(ret) John]

No, restaurants..."Take the bahklavah, leave the gun"

[mad libertarian guy]

Have you flown on a plane recently? Like in the last decade? Because they are constantly being profiled either by the TSA agents directly or by other passengers just for wearing clothes similar to or looking the same way as the 9/11 hijackers.

Beards are an even bigger factor than turbans, which would be too obvious.

[mad libertarian guy]

The reality is most of the terrorist threat we face is from Muslims.

Yes.

But what does a Muslim look like? How does one profile a Muslim?

[WTF]

But what does a Muslim look like?

[Rasilio]

"How does one profile a Muslim?"

Offer him a ham sandwich and shrimp cocktail. If they eat the shrimp but not the ham then they are Muslim. 🙂

[Bardas Phocas]

... and anal probing.

[Rich]

in 2012 there was another 50 percent spike, this time to 3,357 applications.

So what do you do? You look for a shortcut.

Approve 'em all. Let DOJ sort 'em out.

[John]

Take a short cut by quickly approving anyone you agree with and totally screwing anyone you don't. Yeah, that makes sense.

[mad libertarian guy]

So what do you do? You look for a shortcut.

If they were looking for a shortcut, there would be a surge in organizations going through without any problems in rough equivalency to the rise in applications, not the halting of the process, the addition of tons of red tape, and extra scrutiny. Organizations would be falling through the cracks, not being subjected to being looked at via microscope. Especially when said organizations all just happen to be of the same ideology, and opposed to those in power.

Even if it were true that applications were rising exponentially (which they weren't at the time the crimes were taking place), this is a bullshit excuse to deflect responsibility to the victims.

[Rich]

Exactly. IIRC, if you don't have the resources to perform your job correctly, you are obligated to so inform your supervisor.

[mad libertarian guy]

This isn't a case of not having enough resources, but of having too many.

[Rich]

Carney [said] it was "appropriate" that nobody told the president anything because there was nothing to be done until the report came out. Any action would have amounted to interfering in an investigation, Carney said

Similarly, it is "appropriate" to not impeach anyone until future historians provide their assessment.

[gaijin]

Any action would have amounted to interfering in an investigation, Carney said

Like Banghazi?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Any action would have amounted to interfering in an investigation, Carney said.

Unlike, say, interjecting that the police acted stupidly or that his son would be like Trayvon Martin.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Honestly, if Obama ever had a son, he'd be more like Carlton Banks than Trayvon Martin.

[BakedPenguin]

Jaleel White

[invisible furry hand]

God bless Ke$ha

"Well, I'd like to have sex with a dinosaur, Liberace, and Patrick Swayze."

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Sparky didn't make the cut?

[Teenage Girl]

Eewww!!

[Dr. Frankenstein]

All dead. Apparently she's a necrophilliac.

[db]

Simultaneously?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Apparently all that glitter she's inhaled has finally short-circuited her brain.

[Lord Humungus]

Some new Nigel Farage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....QryLd2MYaE

Taxes & Fairness

[Rich]

Farage-Hannan 2016

[Aloysious]

The threat of olive oil in dipping bowls?!?

What we need here in the States to counter this threat is a blue ribbon commission of former Senators...

[Lord Humungus]

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytime.....-oil-rule/

[Coeus]

Attack of the Dreaded Cultural Appropiation!!!!!

Brooklyn Hipsters Degrade Native American Culture with Indoor Tepees

[LTC(ret) John]

Wait...what?!

[Coeus]

Don't try to understand it, only accept it's existence and mock it's champions. This is the only way to deal with Cultural Appropriation Awareness.

[Slammer]

If only we had an indoor Cavalry

[Agammamon]

Oh my fucking god! I only got to the third comment before my blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels.

Since when the fuck did "culture" become IP?

[Slut Bunwalla]

Yesss. Yesssssss.

The stupidity, the faux moral outrage...feeding me, making me stronger!

[a better weapon]

Is it just me or is there no connection between the title and the story? The author didn't explain how its degrading at all. He just manically went back and forth about whether he thought the idea of an indoor teepee was cool or not.

[Coeus]

Awesome reply to a humorless feminist by a comedian she started a campaign against.

Seriously, this one's great.

[Coeus]

Bonus: How feminists see the world.

[Virginian]

Never, and I mean never, pick a fight with a decent comedian. If they're famous at all, they know how to utterly shit on a heckler.

Writing your heckling down just gives them time to write a very well thought out heckling.

[SugarFree]

Her eyes say "yes" but her sports bra says "I say I'm a lesbian, but no woman will sleep with me."

[invisible furry hand]

her vibrator is called Eleanor Roosevelt. Isn't that enough?

[a better weapon]

...nothing was ever made funnier by political correctness.
I know a ton of funny people and I've never heard: "you know who we need to punch up this material? A blogger who doesn't get irony."

That was a good read.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

This remark from the humorless feminist caught my eye:

To understand how hard this was, for me, I should start at the beginning.

Seriously, it seems like EVERY FUCKING THING written by feminists is like a combination of some self-aggrandizing diary confessional and middle-school writing project. It's like they've never matured past the 7th grade.

[Coeus]

She also starts by lying about what Tosh said. That is becoming required for any feminist critique of humor these days. They shoe-horn that lie in there even if the critique is about racism or domestic violence.

[Lord Humungus]

Coburn Wants Tornado Disaster Aid to Be Offset
http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb.....be-offset/

The tornado damage near Oklahoma City is still being assessed and the death toll is expected to rise, but already Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he will insist that any federal disaster aid be paid for with cuts elsewhere.

CQ Roll Call reporter Jennifer Scholtes wrote for CQ.com Monday evening that Coburn said he would "absolutely" demand offsets for any federal aid that Congress provides.

Coburn added, Scholtes wrote, that it is too early to guess at a damage toll but that he knows for certain he will fight to make sure disaster funding that the federal government contributes is paid for. It's a position he has taken repeatedly during his career when Congress debates emergency funding for disaster aid.

[gaijin]

Is he retarded?

[Jordan]

What is retarded about this?

[gaijin]

What is retarded about this?

From a principled perspective nothing. From a political perspective, he's holding his own constituents hostage to Washington budget politics. I'm just suggesting that as a politician, COburn has picked the wrong time to stand on principle.

[Virginian]

Yeah I mean I can talk for hours about how insurance and reinsurance would more efficiently protect people's financial security in the event of a disaster, but at the end of the day, emergency relief is by far one of the least objectionable things the government does.

[gaijin]

emergency relief is by far one of the least objectionable things the government does.

That's a more articulate way of saying it.

[CE]

No, it's just falling for the old trap that we need the government to rescue us with our own money, when people have proven time and again that they are perfectly capable of helping each other without being forced to do so.

[Coeus]

He's retiring.

There is no better time.

[gaijin]

He's retiring.

There is no better time.

Well, in that case I guess you are right. And if that is what it takes to get a guy like Coburn to act in a principled fashion, then I'd like to see everyone in the senate get a mandatory retirement after a term or two.

[Marshall Gill]

COburn has picked the wrong time to stand on principle.

It is never the wrong time to stand on principle. Coburn term limited himself as a Congressman and will do the same as a Senator.

What does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

[SugarFree]

What does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Poontang. Poontang is my profit.

[Marshall Gill]

I don't think you need to worry about "gaining the whole world".

Plus, you can't lose something you do not posses.

[gaijin]

It is never the wrong time to stand on principle.

point taken. It just seems odd. Perhaps too much cynicism on my part. Maybe he is consistently principled on such matters.

[Marshall Gill]

Maybe he is consistently principled on such matters.

While he definitely isn't a Libertarian, he is one politician for which I am happy to vote. I don't always agree with him but he does seem to be of a different breed.

[mad libertarian guy]

From a political perspective, he's holding his own constituents hostage to Washington budget politics.

Or he's attempting to show the nation just how little Democrats care for people. "There is no way that we can cut this cowboy poetry funding in order to help trailer trash in OK."

[Jerryskids]

I think that 'standing on principle', by definition, has no 'wrong time'. Politicians, by definition, have no principles.

[Coeus]

See my link to Farker's reactions above.

[CE]

Actually, the death toll fell, from 51 to 24 overnight. While that's great news, I'm not exactly sure how a death toll can fall. Don't they count bodies or something? Were there resurrections?

[Lord Humungus]

Energy Department approves expanded LNG exports
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

The Energy Department gave a terminal near Freeport, Tex., permission Friday to ship liquefied natural gas to Japan, providing a new outlet for rising U.S. production of shale gas despite qualms of environmentalists and many domestic manufacturers.

The permit marks another step in the sudden reversal of fortune in the natural gas business. Less than five years ago, anticipating a worsening shortfall in domestic supplies of natural gas, the Freeport terminal on Quintana Island began operations as an import facility.

[Spoonman.]

This is huge. Going to be some serious money flowing into Texas.

[mad libertarian guy]

The Energy Department gave a terminal near Freeport, Tex., permission Friday to ship liquefied natural gas to Japan [ . . .]

Free Market!

[Brett L]

Did you see the bitching about the new fracking rules on Federal land. They must be totally reasonable, because the envirotard butthurt was immense.

[invisible furry hand]

Guy reads and summarises new economic papers so you don't have to

[generic Brand]

Finally finished watching the first (and only) season of Firefly over the weekend. Christina Hendricks WAS hot, but how has the girl who played Inara not been in more stuff? I thought she was far more attractive then Hendricks, and a better actress to boot.

Oh well, I guess that's why I'm not making the big bucks as a studio head... I would actually pick successful shows.

[Coeus]

Check out Homeland. Thank me later.

[CE]

Wasn't she also the queen lizard person in V?

[Virginian]

Christina Hendricks was much hotter in Firefly, but thats the curse of those genes. She's going to lose the war sooner or later, poor girl.

[Irish]

Christina Hendricks was much hotter in Firefly, but thats the curse of those genes.

She's still attractive, but she's definitely put on some weight since her Firefly days. I don't know that it could have ended any other way, because eventually she was going to have to grow into those boobs.

[Bam!]

She's doesn't look that attractive in that alcohol commercial that plays every 10 minutes during "Mad Men".

[Thane of #HOLO]

I didn't find Saffron/Hendricks particularly hot. Just sayin.

[Virginian]

Well I respect your courage. Even in this enlightened age, it takes some balls to come out.

Seriously though, shes good looking, but if I could take my pick, it would be Kaylee. She'd drain you dry, and then go and tune up your motorcycle.

[Coeus]

Always been a Jewel Staite fan myself. But Hendricks, those tits. I imagine her unfastening her bra, my jaw goes slack and I mutter "my god, they're full of stars!"

[LTC(ret) John]

+1 monolith

[itsnotmeitsyou]

+12 monoliths

[Bam!]

Was Inara that space hooker who locked Hendricks in that space dumpster during that space robbery? 'cause that hooker was incredibly beautiful.

[mad libertarian guy]

That's her.

A Brazilian Beauty.

[generic Brand]

Yep. "Space hookers" for the win.

[CE]

They're "companions" you low life.

[Auric Demonocles]

She was space beautiful.

[BakedPenguin]

...how has the girl who played Inara not been in more stuff?

She's actually been in a lot of TV series, but she must be the death knell for them. Whenever she gets a starring role, the show only lasts one season.

[Rasilio]

Wait, what is with not mentioning by far the hottest girl on the whole goram show?

That'd be Kaylee/Jewel Staite

[generic Brand]

Kaylee was definitely hot, and there is something desirable about a girl who can give you a tune up and lube job at basically the same time (if ya know what I'm sayin), but she was always too naive and childish in my opinion. But yes, definitely a 7 or 8.

[mr simple]

She was hot on the show, but a little too Canadian in real life, for me at least.

[Marc F Cheney]

LOL, same here.

[Marc F Cheney]

I was never a big Morena Baccarin fan, preferring Jewel Staite and Gina Torres, but I was watching some of that Firefly marathon this weekend, and I admitted to myself that I was just trying to be different.

While all the women on that show are adorable, Morena Baccarin is a freaking goddess.

Good lord, though, Melinda Clarke in "Heart of Gold"... yum...

[Coeus]

She reacted very well to the plastic surgery, didn't she? It usually doesn't go like that.

[Lord Humungus]

As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....siness_pop

Yet economic growth remains slow by historical standards, and 11.5 million Americans are still looking for work. More than 4 million people have been unemployed for longer than six months. A Washington Post-ABC News poll found in April that two-thirds of Americans said jobs were difficult to find in their communities.

But lawmakers appear to feel little electoral pressure to address those concerns. They disagree vehemently over what actions would make a difference, and lately they've been distracted by other issues and scandals. There also is mounting evidence that the political donor class ? wealthier Americans ? is feeling a stock-market-fueled surge of optimism about the economy. It all adds up to inaction.

[DontShootMe]

"It all adds up to inaction."
-Yay!

[CampingInYourPark]

"The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to allow illegal immigrants who get legal status to begin collecting tax-welfare payments, as the panel spent a fourth day working through amendments to the massive immigration bill and party-line splits began to emerge."

Little do they know new immigrants don't use welfare. They are busy werking hard.

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....-newly-le/

[Don Mynack]

As always, the true enemy is the welfare state, not some group of "furr'ners".

[Lord Humungus]

A Partisan Union at the IRS
Nearly two-thirds of campaign contributions from IRS employees go to Democrats.
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....-union-irs

The IRS may be "an independent enforcement agency with only two political appointees," in the words of White House press secretary Jay Carney, but its employees are represented by a powerful, deeply partisan union whose boss has publicly disparaged the Tea Party and criticized the Republican party for having ties to it.

The White House continues to insist that profound incompetence, not partisan malice, led the IRS to single out conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. If the testimony of acting commissioner Steven Miller is true, incompetence was certainly a factor. But given all that has come to light about the agency and its employees in recent days, it would be hard to believe that its targeting of conservative groups wasn't also politically motivated.

[Palin's Buttplug]

2/3rds may be the national average considering the last two POTUS donor takes.

Those Socialists sure do contribute a lot!

[Virginian]

Yeah it's easy to be a high roller when you're playing with other people's money.

[Jordan]

And using a central bank to funnel wealth from the lower and middle classes to yourself. And a gargantuan regulatory state that ensures they will never be able to compete with you.

[BakedPenguin]

Shut the fuck up, asshole.

[The Last American Hero]

But but but Citizens United, Kochtopus!!!!!!!

[Ted S.]

I would have thought it would be around 90% or more.

[The Late P Brooks]

A new CNN poll shows President Obama's approval rating holding steady at 53 percent despite a torrent of scandals in recent weeks.

Yesterday morning somebody on Bloomberg was citing some poll which showed "massive" support on the part of the American people for her desired political outcome. Except the thing was, more likely than not considering the margin of error, split dead even right down the middle.

Polls suck.

[Lord Humungus]

Why sign up for a one-way Mars trip? Three applicants explain the appeal
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_.....ppeal?lite

Nevertheless, the venture has an attraction for Brin and tens of thousands of others, The ages of those listed in Mars One's database range from 18 to 71. All those applicants are facing a long road even before the first four-person crew gets off the planet. Mars One is accepting applicants through Aug. 31. The field of applicants would first be whittled down by panels of experts. Then they'd undergo trial by reality TV, followed by years of training.

"This may sound crazy, but it kind of reminds me of 'The Hunger Games,'" said Kayli McArthur, an 18-year-old student who's one of the youngest Mars One applicants. "It's cool that it would be televised, but that's not my whole thing."

[robc]

I dont understand why people are making such a big deal about the "one-way" aspect of it.

Most people shipping to the New World were doing it on one-way tickets too.

Its nothing new.

[Auric Demonocles]

As long as you have a decent number of people coming with you, a one way trip isn't the worst thing ever.

[Virginian]

Fuck that. I don't want a lot of people. Why do you think I want to go to the frontier in the first place?

[Auric Demonocles]

Even if you bring 50,000 people, I think you'll have enough room on Mars.

[LTC(ret) John]

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did

[a better weapon]

Brin? I'd assume someone with a name like that is probably a little off.

[Coeus]

Really? I find the name quite uplifting.

[Rasilio]

Hey my daughter is named Brynn

[bostonaod]

Why sign up for a one-way Mars trip?

Because fuck this place, in the Farnsworthian sense.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Get yoah ahss to Mahs.

[Coeus]

Feminists in the Skeptic community finally get their wish and get Skeptics to talk about feminism. They are less than pleased with some of the results.

[Warty]

That transphobic radical feminist did not silence him

...?

[Coeus]

The best part is, she agrees with him at the beginning of her post. So then her argument boils down to "He's right, but he's a white male, so let's nitpick the hell out of it and apply standards to definitions we don't hold ourselves to using".

[$park?]

At least she didn't do it because of his privilege.

[Thane of #HOLO]

To summarize, Lindsay spends a good deal of time arguing against the idea that feminism as a movement has no significant internal disagreements, an absurd idea I have never actually heard expressed by any feminists, but I suppose Lindsay and I travel in different circles. Lindsay doesn't mention who exactly has argued this point so I can't check to see why on Earth they'd think something so obviously contradictory to reality. It seems impossible to me that a person could be involved in modern day feminism in any way without noticing the lively and occasionally contentious debates among feminists about topics like intersectionality, particularly with regards to the fringe radical feminists who hold openly transphobic beliefs.

WTF? I'd assumed Becky's post would be retarded, but this is insane.

[Coeus]

Lindsay spends a good deal of time arguing against the idea that feminism as a movement has no significant internal disagreements, an absurd idea I have never actually heard expressed by any feminists,

Every single feminist (including her) who's said "feminism just means women should have the same rights as men".

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Feminism - The Radical Notion that Women are People"

http://www.zazzle.com/feminism.....4372868534

[Coeus]

They always leave out the end. "Feminism, the radical notion that women are people, but not accountable for their actions."

[Eduard van Haalen]

"women are people...beginning about the time they emerge from the birth canal, or at least some time thereafter."

[Brett L]

transphobic radical feminist

People who hate anyone born with a Y chromosome no matter how the Y-chromasomic people tend to view themselves from a gender prospective.

[Lord Humungus]

Listed For $190 Million, This Is America's New Most Expensive Home For Sale
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mo.....-for-sale/

Greenwich, Conn. has long been known for its pricey ZIP codes, enviable proximity to New York City, and of course, a diaspora of wealthy Wall Street residents that has earned it a nickname as the hedge fund capital of the country. Now the tony town will be known for something else: as the location of America's most expensive home for sale.

With an astounding asking price of $190 million, Copper Beech Farm has come to market as one of Greenwich's last 'Great Estates,' a designation assigned by the Junior League of Greenwich in a 1986 coffee table book highlighting the town's 46 most architecturally significant historic abodes. At that nine-figure price tag, Copper Beech Farm trumps every other U.S. residence publicly listed for sale, asking nearly 30% more than the country's second most expensive home, the $135 million Crespi-Hicks estate in Dallas, Texas.

[Jordan]

In Connecticut? Really? Why the hell would anyone pay that much for a house that's not on a tropical island somewhere?

*Standard non-retarded-person disclaimer: Why would anybody pay that much for a house, period?

[Virginian]

http://premiereestates.com/auc.....x600-.html

That's the house I would have bought if my Powerball ticket had panned out.

ah well.

[Cdr Lytton]

I applaud your taste.

[Agammamon]

Just before I left there in 2003ish, a guy I worked with bought a shoebox sized house for $400,000. The "garage" wasn't even big enough to squeeze a modern car into.

[Brett L]

Especially since the Dallas property is probably the size of Connecticut.

[$park?]

Well a new job has finally been secured. Gave my notice this week and get to start next week. A little bit of a pay cut, and a bit more travel but that was to be expected I think. At least the place I'm going has a good record of hiring contract workers and is a pretty stable company. I'm pretty sure this will be my last week hanging out on H&R with any regularity, at least for a while.

[Ted S.]

Woohoo! $park?'s leaving!

[/sarcasm]

[Lord Humungus]

yesssss!

seriously, I'm also on the hunt for a new job. Boredom is my worst enemy and this place has reached peak bore.

[sarcasmic]

I'm in the same boat, but what do I tell my potential next employer? Am I supposed to tell them that for the last several years my soul has been slowly sucked from my body and my skills atrophied as I struggle to kill time in a cubicle by posting on a libertarian forum? In this market you need a good reason to leave a steady paycheck. Does boredom count?

[$park?]

Does boredom count?

It does if you look in the right places. Just spin it as something like you're looking for a place where you'll have a chance to grow your skillset. Some places I've seen actually look for that.

[sarcasmic]

In my last interview I tried that, then they explained that I'd start out maintaining software written in a twenty year old proprietary language using vi or some other text editor.

Needless to say the rest of the interview didn't go well.

[Brett L]

"Fuck you all. Fuck you all with a rusty chainsaw. If you haven't updated your software in that long, you suck. I hope the Invisible Hand of the market punches you in the nuts."

[sarcasmic]

Later in the interview I learned that the software is used mostly by public schools for some financial bullshit. At that point I realized I'd me moving from one government contractor to another, and in my mind the interview was over. When the called me a few days later to tell me I wasn't a good fit for the company, I told her I would have refused any offer anyway.

[Lord Humungus]

that's my problem too - having spent the last 17 years in the industrial / manufacturing field - it's not exactly a hopping go-getter place to be.

Frankly I'm burned out.

[gaijin]

good luck!

[Elspeth Flashman]

Congrats! on the job.

[Rich]

Best wishes, $park?!

Crawl on back to H&R when you get settled.

[SugarFree]

Take our love with you... and our hate.

[$park?]

Aww, thanks. And here I was thinking the only thing I was going to take away from here was the mild case of syphilis.

[Coeus]

If it's mild, you didn't get it here.

[$park?]

Hmm, you might be right. But if I didn't get it here, I certainly left it here.

[sarcasmic]

He got it from drinking Ke$ha's urine.

[SugarFree]

I also suggest introducing the STEVE SMITH meme at your new job as a prophylactic to team building camping trips.

[invisible furry hand]

first he has to swagger in and tell them there's a new daddy in town

[SugarFree]

True.

"What you are smelling are my testicles. That's what a real man smells like. Black coffee, gunpowder, testicles and the spontaneous ovulation of your fertile women. Now where's my desk? I have a goddamn job to do."

[$park?]

Thanks, I'ma give that a try.

[SugarFree]

Or pick out the biggest guy there and beat him unconscious with a folding chair. You have to establish your place in the group hierarchy quickly.

[Coeus]

Sounds like High School.

[Brett L]

Or pick out the biggest guy there and beat him unconscious with a folding chair.

This worked for me. People now ask my opinion before doing work.

[a better weapon]

You'll be back in no time. Every new job comes with expectations of non-stop fulfilling work and motivation. Then it ends up being short sprints of self development with a lot of downtime, going-through-the-motions in between.

See you next week.

[Brett L]

Good luck. We'll keep it warm for you.

[invisible furry hand]

the $135 million Crespi-Hicks estate

Crespi-Hicks sounds like a snack food that you don't want to eat

[Mongo]

Conservative blogger verbally confronts two Muslim women on street. Goes to a bar where he then is arrested by the coppers. He sues the city for $10 mil.

http://www.journalmpls.com/new.....inneapolis

[Rich]

Gilmore says he had just placed a vegetarian order when police "manhandled" him out of the restaurant in his Birkenstocks.

"Conservative" blogger, my ass!

[Thane of #HOLO]

Chick tries to scam people into paying for her sex-reassignment surgery. Reporter implores people to support her, then discovers the sacm, but doesn't report it because she's threatening to kill herself if he does. She attempts anyway.

He reports it and gets suspended.

...an indie game developer named Chloe had an Indiegogo (crowd-funding) campaign put up to raise money for what was supposedly a life-saving operation.

[...]

Then the Indiegogo campaign was shut down, and the rampant speculation began, alleging that the whole thing was a scam.

[...]

A popular theory emerged... that the whole story was fabricated to raise money for a gender reassignment surgery.

[...]

On May 12th, Chloe posted the following:

"I've failed. I've failed at everything I love, I've even failed at saving myself countless times, all because I'm a coward. [...] If you're sick and want to watch my final moments, click here."

[...] Shortly after that post, she... overdosed on pills and was motionless for several minutes...

[...]

...Allistair Pinsof... who first wrote about the story and implored people to donate... confirmed people's fears that the entire crowd-funding effort was in fact a scam... and explained that Chloe had blackmailed [him] by threatening to kill herself if [he] reported it. Having attempted suicide anyway, Allistair [told] people what happened.

[Virginian]

Yeah you should never give in to suicide threats.

[Coeus]

Especially to someone who's "failed at everything". You know she's just gonna fuck it up.

[gaijin]

Did Mante Teo know her?

[SugarFree]

Had a friend who's girlfriend threaten to kill herself whenever he tried to break up with her. He finally got away after a few batshit incidents. I asked him a month later if she killed herself or not. She hadn't. He ignored my pleas to ring her up and call her a liar.

[Virginian]

Yep. Friend had a very similar experience.

If they threaten constantly, they probably just like the attention.

[Brett L]

"Down, not across in a warm bath. I've left you a razor blade. Good luck."

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Specials at Pro Libertate's Phython restaurant.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor.....te-record/

[Pro Libertate]

I don't know what the big deal is, because our chefs dispatch pythons with a knife every day. Fresh python is the key to python cuisine.

[LTC(ret) John]

Mounty Python's chefs can fillet a 15 foot python in just under 4 minutes.

Fresh python-on-a-stick!

[Coeus]

I had python chili fries a few weeks ago. Pretty good.

[mad libertarian guy]

True Metal Nerd-dom!

To battle we go!

[$park?]

You realize this means war.

[Coeus]

Supposedly this is satire, but it is identical to a thousand facebook posts.

I think maybe it started out truthfully, and then halfway through it became "satire". Just really stupid satire.

[Virginian]

She thinks she's being clever, but she's missing the point.

[$park?]

But that's unpossible!

[BigT]

So what's the answer?

Put out!

[sarcasmic]

High school seniors who released crickets for prank are not only banned from graduation, but also fined.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....-1.1348929

[Bee Tagger]

We are treated almost daily to infuriating stories of hard-to-fathom punishments in schools. This one doesn't seem so bad.

[Virginian]

Yeah releasing thousands of insects into a school goes a little beyond a harmless prank.

I filled paper cups with water, then stapled them together in a grid. Covered some offices, and some strategic chokepoints. Cleanup required a mop.

[bostonaod]

release two pigs, one with a "#1" painted on its back, and the other with "#3"..

[sarcasmic]

Father who set up video to capture 'paranormal' activity accidentally films his girlfriend having sex with his teenage son instead

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

Ouch!

[tarran]

Interesting dynamic. His girlfriend was 28 years old, and had been with him for 11 years. The 'boy' was 16.

[Coeus]

The 28-year-old woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty at Australia's Supreme Court to five counts of sex with a minor,

Tha fuck? Feminism has really gotten out of hand in Australia.

[tarran]

Australians, what can you say?

[invisible furry hand]

Nothing to do with feminism.

Most states here prohibit publishing information that would tend to identify the victim of a sexual assault, to encourage the reporting of such crimes. A sexual offender's identity is suppressed if their victim is a relative, partner, stepchild etc, because if I know who John/Jane Doe is, and their relationship to the complainant, then I can work out the complainant's name.

On the upside, if you're acquitted, your reputation hasn't been trashed.

If you want a really dumb law, here in NSW you can't identify a child who's been a victim of a crime. So dirtbags who murder a child related to them in some way have their identity suppressed.

[Coeus]

sexual offender's identity is suppressed if their victim is a relative, partner, stepchild

None of which applies here. I like the law because of the acquitted thing, but she's already been convicted.

[Coeus]

Nothing to do with feminism.

Also, my bad. I saw a woman irrationally protected from her choices and thought "feminism". In my defense, this is the first time I've been wrong about it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"Brought to you by Brazzers"

[Bam!]

The security risks of too much security. All of the anti-counterfeiting features of the new Canadian $100 bill are resulting in people not bothering to verify them.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Golf bans anchored putting.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/g.....-golf.html

[a better weapon]

Those in favor of anchored putting argued that none of the top 20 players in the PGA Tour's most reliable putting statistic used a long putter, and if it was such an advantage, why wasn't everyone using it?

I'm against belly putters but really for no rational reason. They just look stupid as hell. It's tough to be too mad at the busy bodies in the PGA rules committee when I'd be tempted to ban them for baseless reasons as well.

[CE]

Good. Those things always looked ridiculous.

[mr simple]

This is a few days old so I don't know if it's been posted yet.

From Forbes: Economically, Could Obama Be America's Best President?

Where in a Harvard MBA Forbes contributor and others mistake the stock market for the economy and debt for the deficit. I don't read it much, but has Forbes always been a shill for the Dems, or is it just Obama?

[CE]

Gee, I wonder what else could be driving the stock market up? Can't be quantitative easing and record low interest rates on bonds. Must be Obama's wise overspending policies and new regulations!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

As a counterpoint:

http://www.abqjournal.com/main.....iving.html

[21044]

The city of Baltimore denies holding meetings on speed cameras in secret and other misdeeds.

Hon,

There was good reason to set the HBO series The Wire in Baltimore and not just because the author used to work for the B-more Sun.

[cavalier973]

So...how are you supposed to deal with this type situation?

Littlefield initially denied hitting the child but later said she spanked the girl with the spoon she was using to stir soup after the child struck her granddaughter, spat at her and used a racial slur, according to the arrest document.

[cavalier973]

There's this: Foster parents receive extensive training on the proper care of children, including how to manage behaviors without resorting to corporal punishment, Kleeblatt said.

...but call me skeptical about non-corporal punishment in the face of a recalcitrant child.

Besides that, I though it was spanking that taught a child to use violence, and yet there is evidence that this child hit another child without prior experience of corporal punishment.

[Stormy Dragon]

While I'm in favor of corporal punishment in certain situations, using it to punish them for hitting someone else is kind of ironic.

[Stormy Dragon]

"It's wrong to hit people!" *SMACK*

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I don't find it ironic. It's an object lesson. "See, it sucks to get hit"

Beating kids for no reason may cause them to be violent, but spanking them for being bad doesn't. It teaches them to not do the thing that caused them to get spanked.

[Stormy Dragon]

It teaches them to not do the thing that caused them to get spanked.

The problem is that if they never internalize morality beyond "something is wrong if and only if I expect immediate retaliation for it", they're going to grow up to be horrible people. Corporal punishment may be necessary in some cases for maintaining short term order, but at some point a parent has to move beyond it.

In this particular case, using corporal punishment becuase the child is hitting people doesn't teach "See, it sucks to get hit". It teaches "my moral rules are arbitrary, and will really matters isn't right and wrong, it's who has more power".

[baansbo]

obama so good.
i love obama.