A.M. Links: Weiner Announces Run For NYC Mayor, CBS Reporter Says Her Computers Have Been Compromised, Kerry To Address Backers of Rebels in Syria

United States Congress

• Former Congressman Anthony Weiner has announced that he is running for Mayor of New York City. Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after it emerged he sent a photo of his crotch to a woman using twitter and then lied about his account being hacked. 

• A CBS reporter who had reported on the gun-running Fast and Furious program as well as green energy spending says that her personal and work computers have been compromised. 

• Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet representatives from countries backing the Syrian opposition as part of his effort to secure a peace conference.

• Councilman Eric Garcetti has been elected as Mayor of Los Angeles. 

• The University of Central Florida has reinstated a professor who was suspended for making an in-class joke.  

• Friends of a man who was recently shot and killed by an FBI agent say he knew Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. 

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

[Fist of Etiquette]

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner has announced that he is running for Mayor of New York City.

He'll be okay as long as he doesn't pull another boner.

[Auric Demonocles]

Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after it emerged he sent a photo of his crotch to a woman using twitter and then lied about his account being hacked.

I had kind of forgotten about this story, and how technologically illiterate it shows he is. I don't even have a twitter account but I still if you were going to send crotch shots to someone you wouldn't use twitter.

[Bee Tagger]

No kidding, at least Instagram can make it look artsy with their many filters.

[Auric Demonocles]

I also know that if you want to comment on someone else being technologically illiterate you should do so on a site with an EDIT BUTTON!

[DJF]

I am more and more of the opinion that anyone who wants to be a politician should be banned from being a politician.

Maybe it should be like jury duty, you get a notice in the mail and you have to serve as mayor for a year.

[Rich]

Randomocracy FTW.

[RickC]

Douglas Adams was a visionary in this regard. "No one who wants to be president of the universe . . ."

[Citizen Nothing]

That's why William Tecumseh Sherman woulda been the greatest president of them all. True story.

[Citizen Nothing]

"If elected I will not serve."
THAT'S the kind of platform I can get behind.

[PS]

THIS IS YOUR *A* GAME?!?!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Get it? Pull a boner?

[AlmightyJB]

Needs more captioning

[PS]

What burned you out, FoE? Kill one man too many?

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

That Weiner is getting spanked. How can he not realize this?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Suddenly my game is looking a little more A.

[Rhywun]

His pathetic plea to give him "another chance" was nauseating. It's so glaringly obviously that he knows absolutely nothing other than grasping for power. He was Schumer's protege, FFS. That says it all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's such a tool. Beating him shouldn't be hard. On the heels of Bloomie, NYC would be voting themselves the shaft.

[BakedPenguin]

At least he's not sore after all that's happened.

[Bee Tagger]

When everything was still raw, I doubt he was happy. Ending the story with a climactic win will certainly provide a satisfying clean-up to his mess.

[JW]

It's pretty clear that he's going to flog this thing until he gets a happy ending.

[Rhywun]

Actually, I hope he rises in the polls. It would be stroke of good fortune for him to get elected - because of the lol's.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I think the NY Elections Board should pull the jerk off the ballot. The last thing these Yanks need is another corrupt politician.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

The last thing these Yanks need is another corrupt politician.

Unfortunately, that's the only kind they have in NY.

[Joe M]

I would think New Yorkers would gag at the idea of being headed by such a lightning rod for controversy.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Once he whips out his plan for helping the city, he will stand erect in the polls. Now that trade relations are opening up with Vietnam, he can go there on a trade mission and get lots of Dong. But will he support Bloomberg's policy of foreskin' the people to observe healthy habits?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"This question is very difficult. It looks like you guys are being slowly suffocated by these questions. Am I on a killing spree or what?" A student in the review session reported the joke to the UCF administration

WTF? I hope his classmates beat his ass.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Crap. Misplaced comments FTW.

[Virginian]

"We didn't have enough weapons, we didn't have enough bullets," Mr. Spiegel once told an interviewer. "It was like fighting a well-equipped army with firecrackers."....

http://www.althouse.blogspot.c.....iving.html

[Ted S.]

Obviously, Boruch Spiegel doesn't care about the children.

[JW]

That's a damn good obit.

[Virginian]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/d.....ree-678435

IRS worker spends her time at work shopping Amazon with an agency credit card.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not a penny can be cut from anything, anywhere in government.

[mad libertarian guy]

If this lady were to be fired and her department cut, the old and infirmed would be forced to eat the dead that pile in the streets, planes would fall from the sky, and the lazy, parasite class might watch their backs when pilfering the taxpayer.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A CBS reporter who had reported on the gun-running Fast and Furious program as well as green energy spending says that her personal and work computers have been compromised.

She probably shouldn't expect her network to support her with quote the zeal Fox News will defend theirs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And you can quite me on that.

[Rich]

Can I use scare quites?

[AlmightyJB]

You meant quit you right?

[Citizen Nothing]

I can't quit Fist.
No gay.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think Reasonable would make it doable.

[VG Zaytsev]

She probably shouldn't expect her network to support her with quote the zeal Fox News will defend theirs.

Probably not, considering that the president of CBS News is the brother of one of Obama's top advisors.

[Lord Humungus]

where is ol' MNG to remind us that media bias is just in our fevered imaginations?

[WTF]

MNG - now he was a quality troll.

[Lord Humungus]

definitely better than the current crop.

[Bee Tagger]

The University of Central Florida has reinstated a professor who was suspended for making an in-class joke.

Wasn't the problem that me made an out-of-class joke?

I'll be handing in my resignation letter, now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He was like school on Saturday.

[invisible furry hand]

and for the record here's the joke:

On April 23, Jung, a lecturer in UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, was leading an exam review session with roughly 25 students in an accounting course when, according to the Orlando Sentinel, he stated: "This question is very difficult. It looks like you guys are being slowly suffocated by these questions. Am I on a killing spree or what?"

[RBS]

So, someone in the class had to report that to the administration right? We are doomed.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That student will excel in today's society.

[mad libertarian guy]

Likely with an appointment as the head of the IRS.

[Mainer2]

If you see something, say something.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

In the old days, tattletales were mocked and shamed; now they're celebrated.

[creech]

A number of historians believe the gestapo was pretty ineffective identifying "enemies of the Reich" without a constant stream of denouncements and tips coming from neighbors

[Bee Tagger]

Ha, I remember that story now. At least he can plausibly make an insanity plea since he clearly is unaware of the crimes he's committing.

[Ted S.]

I laughed.

[Zombie Jimbo]

For an accounting professor, that's damn funny.

[gaijin]

Jung, a lecturer

I'm sure he was just making a commentary on the collective unconscious.

[gaijin]

*Crap. remember to refresh before posting.

[Anonymous Coward]

THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

/zero-tolerance asshole

[Virginian]

http://www.thecredits.org/2013.....-on-earth/

Has anyone seen the documentary?

[John]

Spelunkers are nuts.

[Zeb]

Well. any explorer has to be to some extent. I can definitely see the appeal.

[robc]

A college roommate of mine did vertical caving.

Repelling wasnt exciting enough, spelunking wasnt exciting enough. He had to repel inside a cave.

He had a series of annual cave incident books. Not sure what to call them, a cave safety org put together every cave rescue/injury/etc event from the previous year and explained what was done wrong and how to do it safely and etc. They ranged from sprained ankles to multiple gruesome* deaths.

My favorite lesson from one of them was: Call the local caving group first, THEN call 911.

*which doesnt involve being eaten by a grue.

[mad libertarian guy]

None of those guys are as brazen as these fuckers.

The Woodville Karst Plain Project or WKPP, grew out of a cave diving research and exploration group established in 1985 and incorporated in 1990 (by Bill Gavin and Bill Main, later joined by Parker Turner, Lamar English and Bill McFaden, at the time the chairman of the NACD Exploration and Survey Committee) to map the underwater cave systems underlying the Woodville Karst Plain, a 450-square-mile (1,200 km2) area that runs from Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico and includes numerous first magnitude springs, including Wakulla Springs, and the Leon Sinks Cave System, the longest underwater cave in the United States.[1][2]

[. . .]

WKPP divers hold every distance record in underwater cave diving. WKPP director Casey McKinlay and his regular dive buddy, Jarrod Jablonski hold the world's record for the greatest distance from air in a cave dive - 23,810 feet (7,260 m) each way.

I've spent lots of time with technical divers, and these guys are some of the most fit people on earth. The leader of one of the expeditions spent over 24 hours underwater at a depth of 300 feet, over 15k feet down a tunnel. Nearly 3 miles in the earth. Underwater. At depth.

It takes over a year of planning and a massive team to pull off dives like these.

Bonus tip: nearly all of their equipment was home made.

[robc]

Cave divers are insane.

[Citizen Nothing]

24 hours underwater at a depth of 300 feet, over 15k feet down a tunnel. Nearly 3 miles in the earth. Underwater. At depth.

Thanks. I'll be curled up whimpering under my desk.

[mad libertarian guy]

Insanity mixed with extreme know-how is a recipe for seeing some really cool shit.

[DontShootMe]

heck, give these guys a grant to mine on an asteroid...

[AlexInCT]

What about muff divers?

[Lord Humungus]

Teacher suspended for allegedly touching girl with banana
Banana used in class during lecture on sex objects
http://www.clickorlando.com/ne.....index.html

[Rich]

Holding one's finger in a banana shape illegal in 3, 2, 1, ....

[LTC(ret) John]

So teacher objectified someone with an object?

[PS]

Sometimes a banana is just a penis.

[AlmightyJB]

Why are they discussing sex toys in a high school class? The teachers I mean. I don't find that appropriate at all.

[AlmightyJB]

Going back and reading it again it could have been about phallic symbolism in art or literature which I would have less of an issue with but yeah he should not be stroking girls with his banana.

[PS]

Had it been about proper phone etiquette, though...

[Anonymous Coward]

He should have tweeted a picture of his banana to her. Weiner-style.

[$park?]

The district said the girl's parents complained because she felt embarrassed. And she wasn't alone. The district said other students felt the topics in his advanced class veered over the line with "excessive frequency, causing discomfort to many of your students," said the letter.

Excessive Freud always makes me feel that way too.

[VG Zaytsev]

other students felt the topics in his advanced class veered over the line

What do they expect from an advanced sex ed class?

[Brian D]

Really tricky Kama Sutra positions.

[Ted S.]

Sex education based on the idea that the kids are going to do it anyway, so we need to teach them how to do it safely: how could anybody possibly oppose this?

Alcohol education based on the idea that kids are going to drink anyway, so we need to teach them to do it safely: are you nuts?

[Virginian]

Planned Parenthood ran my sex ed in middle school and high school. In elementary school the NRA came in and did the Eddie Eagle program.

Guess which one my liberal mother was outraged about?

[T]

I attended, not long ago, a class on communicable diseases given by the state as part of my required foster parent training. I was expecting a class on bloodborne pathogens and how to minimize transmission risk. The regular instructor called in sick, so they dredged up some fat lesbian who was used to giving HIV prevention classes to high schoolers. In addition to being painfully obtuse, she was also wrong on a lot of the actual details. I wouldn't trust PP after that incident.

[Virginian]

They just came in, pulled up a slideshow of photos of various really really nasty STDs and told us how important it was to use a condom.

[mad libertarian guy]

Take that sentiment and apply it to guns and you will see why it makes sense.

[lap83]

"how could anybody possibly oppose this?"

They couldn't, which is why they give that as the intent of every sex ed class regardless of what is actually taught.

[Suthenboy]

Where is GoldWater?

You would have to be nuts to be a teacher.

[CampingInYourPark]

"The US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald C. Machen - the man responsible for the aggressive surveillance and phone record scrutiny at Fox News - is also a big donor to the Obama Campaigns. "

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....bama-Donor

[Auric Demonocles]

I might not miss the Bruins game 5 due to my cousin's wedding on Saturday!

[RBS]

People should be more considerate when they plan their weddings. Probably depends on what region of the country you live in though. Like here in the south people don't get married on saturdays in the fall, unless it's an open date. I'm only half joking.

[robc]

Open dates arent even good, as some of the attendees (or non-attendees in this case) will be fans of other teams.

Fall weddings are absolutely verboten.

[Auric Demonocles]

I also have to miss the Boston Beer Marathon for a different cousin's wedding in June.

[Ted S.]

You have too many cousins. I don't think I went to any of my cousins' weddings.

[Auric Demonocles]

I have 29 first cousins. At least 1 wedding a year for about the last decade. 3 this summer.

[Virginian]

That's a lot. I have....four first cousins.

I got a friend with...well, both his mom and dad have six siblings, so something like 40 or 50 I think. Catholics, you know.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's the reason I've got a lot too. My mom's family wasn't Catholic, but they were farmers. My dad's (responsible for 23 of the cousins) was both.

[Rasilio]

Only catholic on one side of the family but I have well over 50 1st Cousins. There were 9 kids on my fathers side, 11 on my mothers and all of them had at least 2 kids.

That said I haven't seen any of my cousins for more than a decade

[AlexInCT]

If it was funerals I would tell you to just not go since they wouldn't be coming to yours anyway...

[Tybus]

And if it does happen, you'll see people with a hand to their ears.

[Bones]

My wife and I, both FSU alumni as were half of our guests, purposely got married on rivalry weekend. The ceremony was at 11, reception until 4, game at 8. It can work quite well if you're not as dumb as the Gators.

[robc]

And if TV had moved the game to noon 10 days in advance?

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah. There's the occasional wedding on osu-michigan Saturday here in Columbus. Not popular.

[Ted S.]

Why would anybody like either An Ohio State University or Michigan?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Well, Fuck Michigan!

[Citizen Nothing]

Meh. As long as there's a big screen at the reception, it's usually cool.

[robc]

Not for season ticket holders.

[Citizen Nothing]

Well la-de-da Mr. 1%!

[robc]

My school rarely sells out, if I lived in the ATL area, I could go to every game dirt cheap. And would.

[KDN]

Hopefully there won't be a game 5 to miss. I'm on the Sharks bandwagon this year, but watching the Rags get bounced in 4 and on their home ice would be so sweet.

[Coeus]

After steadfastly ignoring the most common criticism of the stimulus (that it never ends) the lefties are emboldend by the new CBO projections and are finally ready to take it head on.

Keynes haters find new economic posterboy.

Even if the projections are wrong, I'm sure they'll find a way to walk this back.

[Auric Demonocles]

sure, in theory it could be true that a government could design a stimulus program that jacked up the deficit in response to a huge recession, and then kept it jacked up after the emergency had passed. But it's not like we have to rely on Buchanan's modeling to figure out whether temporary stimulus is possible in the United States today. We enacted a temporary stimulus in 2009, consisting of short-term tax cuts, aid to states, some infrastructure projects, and higher spending to cover food stamps, unemployment benefits, and other programs to help all of the people thrown into poverty. Conservatives did argue in 2009 that this would all become permanent, but they were wrong.

What?

[Virginian]

They're liars. Or they just really bought into the old "It's not a lie if you really believe it"

[Auric Demonocles]

But I don't think you can really believe it, unless you just haven't looked at any numbers at all.

So they're liars, or they are talking about something they have literally no knowledge of... Which seems about right.

[Virginian]

From what I've seen of leftists, they tend to work backwards. They're not reasoning, they're rationalizing.

They know that whatever Obama and Paul Krugman says is right. They know this, deep in their hearts. Then they go looking for little nuggets of facts that can be used to support their belief.

They don't look for data to form a conclusion, they look for data to support a conclusion they've already made.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Don't you see? It's not stimulus anymore. It's just part of the normal routine.

[Virginian]

Yeah, like Keith Richards needs four or give syringes full of the good stuff, which would kill any normal man.

ONLY SPENDING ABOVE THE BASELINE IS STIMULUS!!!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Archon
@rob_stumpf - Actually no, tax revenues have recovered better than expected along with lower than projected costs in medicare, medicaid and social security.

Talk about speaking from assertion--Medicare and Medicaid had over a trillion in costs last year and only brought in $201 billion from their tax programs. How the fuck is that "lower than projected"?

[sarcasmic]

Daily Mail is a fail today. I got nuthin.

[John]

What about Jennifer Lawrence you homo

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

[sarcasmic]

That's two days old. Get with the program.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Say it ain't so, sarc. How am I supposed to start my day now?

[sarcasmic]

I suppose there is this bit of John pron.

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

I hope you didn't already eat breakfast.

[Rich]

Well, this (NSFW) surfaced in an earlier thread.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's good to be the king

[JW]

Swaziland just wants its own Real Housewives series.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

The Sun is there!

[sarcasmic]

It may be there, but my work's firewall has it eclipsed.

[Floating Weightless]

We're still proud of you for showing up. You get an attendance star.

[Lord Humungus]

Partisan Interest, Reactions to IRS and AP Controversies
http://www.people-press.org/20.....roversies/

Criticism of the DOJ is substantially higher among those who are paying attention to the story. By a 55% to 35% margin people who have followed reports about the AP phone records at least fairly closely disapprove of the DOJ's actions. Attentive Republicans are particularly critical: they disapprove by a 66% to 28% margin.

and shockingly enough, Democrats are more likely to approve. GO TEAM!

[John]

The tea party and media are unpopular. It is totally okay for the government to go after unpopular groups

/Progtard talking point.

[Bardas Phocas]

Isn't the government just us? And don't we - the People/Government/Mob - just want to persecute hated minorities?

Let the pogroms begin.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The friends of a man shot was recently shot and killed by an FBI agent say he knew Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Finally, the FBI is taking the war on terror seriously. If only Rand Paul would let them use drones.

[CatoTheElder]

The man was shot and killed by the FBI. Therefore he was a terrorist, and his killing was the result of Obama's new alternative due process.

Nothing at all to see here ... move on, people.

[CampingInYourPark]

"He said that he loved President Barack Obama, but said 'he surrounded himself with Satan...members of the Jewish community.' Farrakhan also said that Detroit's Emergency Financial Manager, Kevyn Orr may be a good person, but could be a puppet of people with bad intentions."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.....3305170150

[Lord Humungus]

now that's class:

'Arise, Sir Oliver': Dame Helen Mirren 'knights' dying boy, 10, after making his wish for the Queen to come to tea come true
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....d-tea.html

[Lord Humungus]

my favorite movie with Helen Mirren
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081070/

she does a great job playing the mob boss's wife.

[invisible furry hand]

"I'll have their carcasses dripping blood by midnight"

"The Mafia? I shit 'em"

I loooooove that film. George Harrison's company made it. He was horrified when he got around to watching it

[Lord Humungus]

Bob Hoskins was positively vicious in his role.

[PS]

The University of Central Florida has reinstated a professor who was suspended for making an in-class joke.

Did they also suspend those sycophants who sit at the front of the class and laugh all the pathetic jokes?

[Citizen Nothing]

As long as the suspension was because the joke was so lame, I'm cool with it.

[PS]

"UNIX, sorry, I don't work with emasculated operating systems, *snort*"

[Bee Tagger]

Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet representatives from countries backing the Syrian opposition as part of his effort to secure a peace conference.

As a show of faith, he's going to throw Syrian military medals into the nearest river.

[LTC(ret) John]

The Order of Assad - "Two crossed dead civilians, over a pile of dead civilians, red ribbon, medal is bronze"

[Lord Humungus]

Candy Totally Won't Make You Fat, Says Study Funded By Big Candy
It's cool to eat as much candy as you want, you guys, no problem, just live off the stuff.
http://www.popsci.com/science/.....tudy-finds

Good news, guys! Candy isn't going to make you fat or kill you or anything negative at all! Feast on M&M's like an 8-year-old on Halloween, because you're totally good on this one.

Says a study funded by the National Confectioners Association, a trade group representing the candy, chocolate, and gum industry.

[RBS]

Was this study funded by Sweetums?

[LTC(ret) John]

The Red M&M sits at large desk, stroking a white cat and chuckling evilly.

[Lord Humungus]

no - it's part of the working group to finally kill off the scourge known as SugarFree.

[Ted S.]

Why is it so obvious that we're supposed to take industry-funded science that puffs up the industry with a grain of salt, but when government-funded science says we need more government, THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED!!!111!!!

[gaijin]

Because EVUL KORPORASHUNS!
while
Government is US

[Floating Weightless]

It's settled then, candy for breakfast.

[gaijin]

Candy Crowley? ewww!

[Gadianton]

No, no, no! This Candy!

[NeonCat]

Things one can learn from IMDB: The actress who portrayed Candy (Corinne Russell) was born on the day JFK was shot.

[Also Ran]

I prefer Psychocandy

[Warty]

"Frequency of candy consumption was not associated with the risk of obesity, overweight/obesity, elevated waist circumference, elevated skinfold thickness, blood pressure, low density lipoprotein (LDL) or high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, or insulin resistance."

That seems entirely believable, actually. Eating a little bit of candy fairly often still sounds like not eating much candy to me. The thing that makes the fat fucks fat is that they're eating sweet shit constantly.

[thom]

Even more importantly, they're drinking sweet shit constantly.

[lap83]

I am somewhat inclined to agree with that study. For the past few months I've been on a diet I made up that I call the "don't eat what I see fat people eating" diet. I don't see fat people eating candy. Fat people eat larger, more caloric things like fried food, pizza hut, and frappuccinos. Seriously, the calories in one of those giant whip-covered frozen sugar monsters puts a little bag of m&ms; to shame.

[CampingInYourPark]

"The DHS appears to have finally found a use for all those bullets it's been buying. At a Tea Party protest outside an IRS building in St. Louis yesterday there were no regular police ? only armed Homeland Security guards."

http://www.infowars.com/armed-.....rotesters/

[mad libertarian guy]

Got anything better than infowars? Even if there's a click through, I won't go there.

Partly because they are crazy fucks that I won't support in any way, and partly because I'd like to remian off of the "Has Visited Infowars" database that is surely being kept?

[Some call me Tim?]

Oh come on, you have to go there just for the lulz.

[CampingInYourPark]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....rcZs-ABN-c

[NeonCat]

Shocking! The Federal Protective Service, an agency under the Dept of Homeland Security, was protecting a Federal building! OMG!

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

Even so, NeonCat, how is this not a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act? They are federal troops, FFS.

[NeonCat]

Because they AREN'T troops?

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

If not, then I would have to say the resemblance is remarkable.

[Virginian]

http://pjmedia.com/drhelen/201.....cing-tool/

People often ask why I hate feminists. I don't hate feminists, I hate anyone who aligns themselves against due process and civil rights in the name of fighting one or more hobgoblins.

[Coeus]

Some commenters got real in this atlantic article. I wonder what the over/under is on when their sourced claims are deleted?

[generic Brand]

That tactic [father and/or brothers beating the shit out of a rapist] is difficult to pull of in cases where the identity of the rapist is unknown, where the victim is too embarrassed to tell the family or where the family is spread out, geographically. It's also, I must admit, a bit barbaric.

Far less barbaric to send a goon squad (police) out to "arrest" the guy, then send him to prison, where most convicted rapists run afoul of many non-rapist inmates who have wives, sisters, and daughters. If anything, a beatdown by a rape victim's family is probably letting the guy get off easy.

[Brian D]

Someone posted a gif of Roddy Piper in "They Live" looking at the obey sign, only it said rape. I wants it!

[Coeus]

That was me yesterday.

Here you go.

[Brian D]

Woo, thanks!

[Coeus]

Do feminists just get better drugs than I do?

It remains a radical act to be fat and happy. If you're fat, you're not only meant to be unhappy, but deeply ashamed of yourself, projecting at all times an apologetic nature, indicative of your everlasting remorse for having wrought your monstrous self upon the world.

No, dumbass. You're supposed to be ashamed bounce around half naked. Unless it's your whole self-image to be naked, I don't see the problem.

[Virginian]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/.....rinflation

Hyperinflation in Diablo 3.

[Palin's Buttplug]

ZeroHead is a nutcase CT site.

[Warty]

Fuck off, sockpuppet.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Shriek is a pants-shitting, math-retarded Obama gloryhole,

[Warty]

Why was Diablo 2 such a complete blast, but Diablo 3 got so boring after I beat it once? Oh well, at least there's Borderlands 2.

[Some call me Tim?]

I love Diablo 3.

But it definitely, doesn't have the same great replay value. I took 7 months off from playing after the baby was born, but I am enjoying getting back into it.

Part of the problem was that farming on Inferno was focused so heavily on ActIII that it got really repetitive after awhile. The latest patch seems to have solved that problem with higher MOB density in other acts.

[Lord Humungus]

semi-related: anyone recommend a good FPS? I enjoyed Red Orchestra 1 & 2 - WWII stuff but with "realistic" health (no health packs!) and physics (bullet drop + no cross hairs or bullet count).

For fun I enjoyed Left 4 Dead 2, though the lack of bosses leads to repetitive play. At least the engine/concept forced good team play.

[generic Brand]

Online or offline?

[Lord Humungus]

I prefer team play.

[JW]

Check out Team Fortress 2 on Steam. It doesn't have the realism you're looking for, but it's stupid fun and is all team play. Best of all, it's free-to-play.

[Joe M]

+1 for TF2. Best online FPS I've ever played.

[Lord Humungus]

Here Comes The Asian Naval Arms Race
http://blogs.the-american-inte.....arms-race/

The President of the Philippines announced today that his country is embarking on an ambitious military upgrade to protect itself from "bullies"?namely, China.

"In thinly veiled comments referring to China, [President Beningo] Aquino yesterday vowed in a speech marking the navy's 115th anniversary that the armed forces would be given the resources ($1.8B) necessary to protect Philippine sovereignty," reports the South China Morning Post.

[Rasilio]

$1.8 Billion?

For a navy?

That ought to get them 2 small outdated Frigates plus spare parts and a couple of dozen missiles to arm them with.

Reasonably certain that even China's small navy would not feel threatened by that.

[Virginian]

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....ision.html

Anyone want to peel this particular onion of insanity?

[Coeus]

This is all I can think of.

[Virginian]

http://www.pocketfullofliberty.....reholders/

Damn these corporations, obeying the law and making money. God damn them to hell.

[Lord Humungus]

Even Before Apple Tax Breaks, Ireland's Policy Had Its Critics
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05.....rates.html

Irish politicians through the years have stood behind the country's official 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, so much so that three years ago when the previous government negotiated the international bailout, it refused to budge when European negotiators wanted to make a higher tax rate a condition for a deal.

Government figures show that in 2010 the effective rate on the gross income of companies here was only 6 percent, and economists say that in some cases ? as with Apple ? it can go lower than that. That stands in contrast to the effective corporate tax rate in other countries: 29 percent in the United States, 22 percent in Britain, 27 percent for France and 24 percent for Germany.

More than 600 American companies have set up in Ireland, employing 100,000 Irish workers and enjoying the advantages of an English-speaking work force and low taxes.

[Virginian]

More than 600 American companies have set up in Ireland, employing 100,000 Irish workers and enjoying the advantages of an English-speaking work force and low taxes.
__________

Wow, imagine a country with a strong tradition of property rights, individual liberty, small government, innovation, and a strong work ethic.

Such a country, I think, would do quite well. Anyone know where I can find one?

[Restoras]

How about Fantasyland!

[Virginian]

I get no respect!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, seemingly Ireland would be a low-tax paradise.

In reality it is an economic basket-case.

[Restoras]

And why is that, exactly?

(prepare for a mind-numbing display of derpitude...)

[Palin's Buttplug]

Huge debt, insolvent banking system, and years of negative GDP.

The global recession has significantly impacted the Irish economy. Economic growth was 4.7% in 2007, but ?1.7% in 2008 and ?7.1% in 2009. In mid-2010, Ireland looked like it was about to exit recession in 2010 following growth of 0.3% in Q4 of 2009 and 2.7% in Q1 of 2010. The government forecast a 0.3% expansion.[35][36][37] However the economy experienced Q2 negative growth of ?1.2%,[37] and in the fourth quarter, the GDP shrunk by 1.6%. Overall, the GDP was reduced by 1% in 2010, making it the third consecutive year of negative growth

Wiki.

No one here can touch me in Econ, pal.

[Ted S.]

No one here can touch me

Nobody here wants to touch you.

[T]

No one here wants to touch you at all. Whatever's wrong with you might be contagious.

[Citizen Nothing]

My seven-year-old son thinks he's the best rocket designer there is.

[VG Zaytsev]

Sounds like Obamanomics to me.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Huge debt, insolvent banking system, and years of negative GDP.

IOW, the same thing we have here, considering that GDP's been propped up with years of deficit spending.

No one here can touch me in Econ, pal.

Please--I own your ass so routinely you might as well call yourself Kunta Kinte.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Also, 14% UE.

[Marshall Gill]

They haven't printed enough money!

[Rich]

Lerner's attorney, William W. Taylor III, has requested that she be excused from Wednesday's hearing, writing in the letter that forcing her to appear "would have no purpose other than to embarrass or burden her."

Have they no shame?

BTW: Don't miss the Live White House Briefing with Jay Carney on C-SPAN at 1255ET.

[generic Brand]

Wouldn't want to embarrass or burden you, much as the IRS has now done to various 501(c)(4) groups.

[SugarFree]

what u[. i'm a juggalo

Juggalos on OKCupid.

"I spend a lot of time thinking about Being a dead body man and Lettes painted up Faygo dripping sex"

[tarran]

I'm afraid to click on that link.

[Auric Demonocles]

This came up last week already.

[Rhywun]

I dunno WTF is wrong with Chrome on Windows, but it won't show me the URL when I hover over links. Therefore I am afraid to click on ANY link.

[Also Ran]

I have that same problem with Chrome on occasion. And of course as soon as I start bitching about it, it magically starts working again.

[Rhywun]

You're right, it seems to be random. I have tried various extensions and they seem to be flaky too. I don't understand Google's aversion to showing me the damn links but I wish they would just do it already.

[invisible furry hand]

is this the perfect H&R woman?

[Coeus]

Works for me.

[Ted S.]

"I spend a lot of time thinking about Being a dead body man and Lettes painted up Faygo dripping sex"

I recognize most of those words as English, but what do they mean put together?

[SugarFree]

I assume this indicates that Juggalos use cheap soda as a sexual lubricant during the creation of necrophilic art.

[Coeus]

Should've saved that internet pic for this post.

[Aloysious]

|Former Congressman Anthony Weiner has announced that he is running?

Get ready for the Weiner roast.

[Lord Humungus]

The NHS is killing disabled people
My daughter is disabled so I know at first hand how badly NHS staff often treat people like her
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm.....CMP=twt_gu

there is no room for weakness heavy expenses in the new world order.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lebensunwertes Leben.

And here you thought the Fascists lost World War II.

[Some call me Tim?]

Does anyone else here read ZeroHedge?

I enjoy their contrarian take on the finance world, but man, most of their commenters are conspiracy theorists with more than a tinge of paranoid anti-antisemitism. You can't go more than 10 comments without someone railing on about the Rothchilds, Trilateral Commission or "the Jews."

[Palin's Buttplug]

The commentors are insane. They remind me of a libertarian site named 'Liberty Forum' in their CT.

[Jordan]

Yeah, it's a shame. Some of them cross over to Mike Shedlock's blog too.

[BakedPenguin]

They are interesting, but you do need to read them critically. Still, they have articles you probably won't find anywhere else - even here.

[Some call me Tim?]

They always link some of Santelli's better rants so I do enjoy that. Some of their guest posts are bat-shit-insane, but a lot of there stuff is a breath of fresh air when compared to the endless cheer-leading that occurs on CNBC.

[Palin's Buttplug]

35 cops arrest and restrain naked female hiker high on shrooms.

http://kdvr.com/2013/05/20/nak.....n-rescued/

[sarcasmic]

I posted that yesterday. Loser.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I suspected someone might have.

I am just not the link master you are.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Garcia Makes Fried Chicken Joke About Tiger"

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/.....iger-woods

[Virginian]

Ah yes those tolerant and progressive Europeans.

Seriously though, that dude needs a goddamn tampon. Apparently he has some heavy flow issues.

[Bee Tagger]

He's the bad guy in a feud with a man most recently know for cheating on his wife a lot. That's a major accomplishment.

[robc]

Im not sure how he is the bad guy. Regardless of what Tiger was told, it is his responsibility to not do something distracting during his opponents back swing.

If Tiger had said "I fucked up, my bad" it all would have ended day 0.

[Auric Demonocles]

The part where he made a racist comment.

[robc]

See creech's comment below. Is an asian eating fried chicken joke racist?

[Auric Demonocles]

If he made a joke about Tiger having slanted eyes that would have also been racist.

[robc]

I guess a feather not dot joke too.

Good thing Tiger isnt 1/256th polish!

[Eduard van Haalen]

He loses twice when he bets on a golf game?

[Palin's Buttplug]

They're both at fault. There is a story about a train blowing its horn during Ben Hogan's backswing and he was asked about it and replied "what train?".

Now Sergio will hear everything on the course.

[Virginian]

Nah man, Tiger didn't do anything wrong. Sergio hadn't even started his swing when Tiger caused a crowd murmur by pulling a club.

Sergio is just that whiny bitch who complains he's doing poorly in a game because other people are messing him up.

[robc]

He had approached the ball.

From that point on, Tiger should do jack and shit.

Sergio is a whiny bitch, but Tiger was still wrong here.

[Some call me Tim?]

Uhhh you know he couldn't see him from where he was.

[robc]

That doesnt matter.

Literally, that doesnt matter. It is his responsibility, if he cant see, to verify that Sergio has hit.

He could walk out to point where he can see, if he needs to.

[Some call me Tim?]

That's why he asked the marshals.

[robc]

It is still his responsibility. If the Marshall's are wrong, he is still his fault.

See his drop at the Master's that cost him 2 strokes. The official on the hole (who is much more "official" than a marshall, who is a volunteer holding up the quiet please sign) didnt have a problem with his drop and that wasnt good enough. He was still penalized later than evening.

And got lucky about the rule change on signing a wrong card, a few years ago it would have been a no-brainer DQ.

[Some call me Tim?]

Whatever.

Everyone else under the age of 80 realizes he wasn't at fault. But hey, if you keep saying "it's his fault" long enough, maybe someone else will believe you.

The fact is, he thought he had it, and all he did was pull a club. Apparently he's supposed to have x-ray vision and the ability to read the minds of fans who might cheer.

[Auric Demonocles]

Tiger caused a crowd murmur by pulling a club

That seems a bit strong.

[robc]

Huh? That is what happened.

His choice of club led to the crowd reaction.

[Auric Demonocles]

So you're responsible for other people's reactions to you in all instances?

[robc]

Does causation imply responsibility?

I dont think it does.

But in this particular case, yes, yes it does. Just stand the fuck still until he hits, THEN pull your club.

How many times has Tiger pulled a wood in those situations? Enough that he knew what the crowd reaction was going to be. He could have safely pulled a 5 iron, although he shouldnt, the crowd might have sighed in disappointment.

[Auric Demonocles]

So you're fine for the phrasing that:

"A Danish cartoonist caused 200 deaths by publishing a drawing of Muhammad"?

I think you're letting your obvious hatred of Woods show. Yes, the guy is as asshole. Yes, he's a cheater. That doesn't make him wrong in every situation. And it doesn't make the guy who makes racists jokes about him right.

[robc]

I hate Tiger?

Cleary you dont know me.

I fucking cant stand Sergio. I hate that he is right this time around. He is right in the most bitchy kind of way.

Im defending him in the same way I will defend Illinois Nazis.

[robc]

"A Danish cartoonist caused 200 deaths by publishing a drawing of Muhammad"?

In a strict causation sense, yeah.

As long as it is well understood that the word cause is being used in a literal sense with no implication of responsibility, Im fine with that usage.

As many people use cause the other way, there are better word usages, I grant. But *Im* fine with it.

[robc]

You are making the same argument John makes wrt blowback.

Acknowledging blowback != blaming America

[Auric Demonocles]

,blockquoteI fucking cant stand Sergio. I hate that he is right this time around.

He's not. Even if he was right about the crowd noise (which he isn't), that's not actually what this subthread is about. He was wrong to make a racist joke.

You are making the same argument John makes wrt blowback.

Acknowledging blowback != blaming America

If you use the word "caused" then the general usage is that you are blaming. If you literally mean it the way you are talking about you should say something like "led to".

[robc]

Even if he was right about the crowd noise (which he isn't), that's not actually what this subthread is about.

I dont know about you, but thats what Im arguing about. I dont give a fuck about the joke.

Next you are say its wrong to make rape jokes.

[Auric Demonocles]

I dont know about you, but thats what Im arguing about. I dont give a fuck about the joke.

Then maybe it would make more sense to argue that "Sergio is right" in a subthread that isn't specifically about the joke.

[Auric Demonocles]

Though I guess you did manage to shift it enough that it's about both now.

[robc]

Speaking only for myself, Im much more interested in discussing rules of golf than random PC bullshit.

People tell insensitive jokes, news at 11. Yawn.

But the etiquette of when to pull a club, thats interesting shit.

[T]

But the etiquette of when to pull a club, thats interesting shit.

Man, I hope that's sarcasm, because otherwise you may have just leapt forward into Most Boring Man Alive territory, rob. Your brewing may not be able to save you.

[robc]

Most Boring Man Alive

I doubt I have ever denied this.

And no, it wasnt sarcasm.

Well, maybe a bit, but its far far far more interesting than debating racist jokes.

[robc]

This subthread was started by Virginian at 9:29 and has nothing to do with the joke, but was about the club.

Maybe you should learn to follow subthreading.

Until you brought it back up, the joke hadnt been mentioned in this subthread.

[robc]

Or possibly me starting the subthread at 9:24.

Or go back to Bee Tagger at 9:14 who mentioned the feud, which isnt about the joke. As far as I can tell, there is no feud over the joke.

[Auric Demonocles]

This subthread was started with "Garcia Makes Fried Chicken Joke About Tiger".

[robc]

There are multiple subthreads under that subthread.

[robc]

One of my biggest pet peeves on the internet is people who think they get to control the direction a discussion goes just because they started a thread/subthread/etc.

[Auric Demonocles]

When you are arguing under a sub thread that's started by "Garcia Makes Fried Chicken Joke About Tiger" I don't think it's unreasonable for people to assume that the joke is why "he is the bad guy".

[robc]

That wasnt the subthread, Bee Tagger split off a new one, the joke subthread continued under creech's 9:28 post.

You are the one arguing in the wrong subthread.

Here is a map:

9:09 subthread created about joke
...9:14 Bee Tagger splits off subthread about golf
......9:28 you make a subsubthread about joke, we argue about it
......9:29 Virginian continues Bee Tagger's subthread about golf
.........I get into golf etiquette argument and a causation argument, you try to say I dont understand the threading
...9:28 creech continues original subthread about joke

[Auric Demonocles]

Subthreads are first level comments. Threads are posted by Reason staff (in this case, the thread is the AM Links).

I never said you don't understand the threading (before this post, you could argue that my previous paragraph says that). I said if you're going to argue solely about the club removal, it would probably make sense to do it in a subthread that doesn't involve the joke. At the very least make it clear that you're ignoring the joke part, which you didn't do until the post that I responded to with the threading comment. You absolving Sergio of any guilt would make a lot more sense if you provided that context.

Basically, if someone starts a conversation about the racist joke and you want to remove that from the calculation of who is at fault, it's wise to actually tell people you are doing that.

[robc]

Subthreads are first level comments.

Wrong.

Every new level is a new subthread.

We could call them subsubthreads and subsubsubthreads, but that gets silly.

Its like clades. Each clade is a part of a bigger clade.

[robc]

If you use the word "caused" then the general usage is that you are blaming. If you literally mean it the way you are talking about you should say something like "led to".

Like I said, there are better ways to say it. But I think a literal (since you brought that word up) use of cause has no implication of responsibility.

Most of the time, it is used with the implication, but it doesnt have to be.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"How many times has Tiger pulled a wood in those situations?"

Huh-huh huh, "pulled a wood," huh-huh. Huh huh, huh

[catches breath]

huh-huh-huh, huh huh.

[creech]

I don't get the joke. Why would a half-Asian guy be served fried chicken?

[robc]

Apparently the PC crowd believes in the one drop rule.

[Virginian]

Cyril: Oh, I think we're pretty diverse.
Lana: Ha! Please...
Archer: What? You're black... ish...
Lana: "ISH?"
Archer: Well, what's the word for it, Lana? You freaked out when I said "Quadroon!"
Lana: Imagine that!
Archer: You imagine it!
Malory: Both of you, imagine shutting up!

[Citizen Nothing]

Why would a half-Asian guy be served fried chicken?

To get to the other side!

[gaijin]

Garcia must be one of those white hispanics

[Matrix]

he's a spaniard.

[Lord Humungus]

golf is a game?

[Lord Humungus]

New York City seeing spike in anti-gay crime, officials say
http://www.reuters.com/article.....AS20130521

Two men in their early 40s were attacked on a street in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood early on Tuesday morning by two men who shouted anti-gay slurs in Spanish and English and left one victim with a minor eye injury, police said.

The attacks followed the killing on Friday of Mark Carson, 32, who was shot in the head in what police are calling a hate crime in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood often described as the cradle of the gay-rights movement in the United States.

Carson, who was openly gay, was shot by a gunman shouting anti-gay slurs, police say. A suspect identified as Elliot Morales, 33, was arrested on a charge of second degree murder as a hate crime shortly afterward.

[PS]

The DA is asking for six months for the shooting and life without parole for the anti-gay slurs.

[invisible furry hand]

A jailed member of the Pussy Riot radical rock group has announced she is going on hunger strike in protest over the authorities' failure to allow her to attend a parole hearing in person.

[Coeus]

Nice. I want one.

Scanadu Scout. The $150 tricorder.

[generic Brand]

I foresee this being used in the very near future by police trying to get a more accurate BAC count. Don't discount the ability of statists to warp technological advances to their totalitarian goals.

[Coeus]

Don't discount the ability of statists to warp technological advances to their totalitarian goals.

Never had that problem, never will.

[Ted S.]

Scanadu your neon lights will shine,
For you Scanaduuuuuuuu

[generic Brand]

The University of Central Florida has reinstated a professor who was suspended for making an in-class joke.

If I was still a student at this school I would've started a campaign against whoever was offended enough to say something in the first place. We are turning out by the millions a bunch of humorless fucks, and I for one AM MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Just laugh it off.

[mad libertarian guy]

WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT!

[Lord Humungus]

Virtually Everything the Government Did to WikiLeaks is Now Being Done to Mainstream US Reporters

At Freedom of the Press Foundation, we believe it's vital to defend WikiLeaks' right to gather and publish classified information in the public interest, just as it's vital to protect the rights of Associated Press and Fox News to do the same. Under the law, the AP, Fox News, and WikiLeaks are no different (a fact that even the government argues). If one falls, the others will not be far behind.

Despite this fact, many journalists and mainstream media organizations purposefully stayed silent when WikiLeaks first came under attack by the Justice Department in early 2011. That disappointing silence left open the possibility that the Justice Department could use those same tactics against others in the future.

And unfortunately now it's clear: virtually every move made by the Justice Department against WikiLeaks has now also been deployed on mainstream US journalists.

[Slammer]

Bloomberg: "I am going destroy all you fucking guys"

[Rich]

'Come January 1st, when I am out of office, I am going to destroy your f--king industry.'

A *real* man would do it *now*.

[tarran]

Is there a way they both can lose?

[Rhywun]

Yeah, the "taxi industry" here isn't any less repulsive than Bloomberg.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

"Bloomberg thinks that everyone should just follow his decisions,"

Understatement of the week.

[Anonymous Coward]

Petty tyrant is petty.

Film at 11.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Bloomberg is a dick of the highest order. That said, I hope the whole fucking corrupt NY taxi system comes down around their ears.

[VG Zaytsev]

Bloomy thought the guy was a soda distributor.

[robc]

The Miguel Bloombito twitter feed has covered this yet.

That could be awesome.

[invisible furry hand]

Superhero games banned in US pre-school after children's imaginations become 'dangerously overactive'

Read more

[RBS]

Insane.

[generic Brand]

The culling of innovation and creativity is well underway. I for one, welcome our new boring dictators.

[Virginian]

We wouldn't want that! I mean, next thing you know they'll be starting new businesses or creating new art. Very disruptive.

[Tim]

Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!

[robc]

Might as well link it.

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

[Rich]

A headline you'll never see:

Political games banned in US after statists' imaginations become 'dangerously overactive'

[Eduard van Haalen]

KINDERGARTEN PUPIL: "OK, you be the committee chairman and I'll be the recalcitrant witness taking the Fifth Amendment."

TEACHER: "Hey, that gavel is too realistic!"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They should only dream of being wards of the state

[Anonymous Coward]

It then spells out a ban on imaginary play: "Wrestling, Super Hero (sic) play, and Monster games Stuff that boys like will not be permitted here."

FIFT.

[Coeus]

Feminism. It's all about equality.

According to The Daily Dot, the coach in question is Keith Hac of the Chicago Bliss. He's seen here yelling and screaming at the players in a performance worthy of a daytime Emmy. Which is probably the point of his histrionics, but it's incredibly jarring, nonetheless.

Listen, I get that coaches are an crazy breed of intense, but this takes a definite turn for the creepy because he's yelling at a woman

Oops.

[Virginian]

Once again, there is nothing feminists hate more then women who use their looks or bodies rather then their brains to succeed in life.

Why do we consider a male construction worker to be an honorable, but not prestigious profession, while insisting that women who work for Hooters are being degraded or exploited?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because...fuck you, that's why?

[mad libertarian guy]

My theory and debate ending thought about feminism has always been, "If you want equality of opportunity/pay/etc, great; but that also means you're going to have to take an ass whooping like a man too."

[Archduke Pantsfan]

If only the USA was more like Europe.

[Virginian]

Well in Europe they build their housing projects outside the center of the cities. Kind of the reverse of here.

[Tim]

"Justice Minister Beatrice Ask said anyone who felt mistreated by police should file a report. "

[Rich]

Is it OK to say "Justice Minister Beatrice Aks"?

[PS]

Police in the deprived, largely immigrant suburb of Husby shot a man dead last week after he reportedly threatened to kill them with a machete.

See!!! Gun control works!!!

[mad libertarian guy]

Croatian metal!

For those who like a twist of weird and eclectic in their metal, try Johann Wolfgang Pozoj. Though containing plenty of the telltale attributes of black metal, they allow in an organic element to the songwriting which allows for a flow that most black metal bands simply don't possess, and incorporate the typical warmth and earthiness known in eastern and southern flavors of black metal for a full sound and rounded album structure.

"Queen Emerelda" is the second song on their 2 track album Birth of Pozoj, the first in a trilogy (followed by Escape of Pozoj and an unreleased 3rd album). I would tell you what's it's about, but who the fuck can understand Croatian? I'm not even sure Croatians really understand it.

Rock on!

[Ted S.]

Not metal. Definitely not metal.

[Aloysious]

Neil Sedaka? Really? What did we do to deserve this kind of abuse?

[Ted S.]

It's no more abusive than crappy metal. And it's not as if I necessarily like the stuff; I'm just trying to post the most polar opposites to metal I can think of off the top of my head.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Why should I listen to a bunch of Southeast Europeans clearing their throats?

[Rich]

The Justice Dept. now tells POLITICO that it is not responsible for the irregular activity: "To our knowledge, the Justice Department has never 'compromised' Ms. Atkisson's computers, or otherwise sought any information from or concerning any telephone, computer, or other media device she may own or use,"

With all due respect, "To our knowledge" is not the same as "not responsible".

[T]

Keep a guy in a windowless room with no phone or computer. Send him out when people ask questions. He doesn't know shit about anything that goes on in the organization, so he never lies...

[VG Zaytsev]

That guy's name is Eric Holder.

[VG Zaytsev]

That guy's name is Eric Holder.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"To our knowledge" is just CYA bullshit. If you want to work in DC, knowledge of these terms is mandatory.

[The Late P Brooks]

The friends of a man shot was recently shot and killed by an FBI agent say he knew Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Was that the same FBI agent who used to give Tsarnev money, and bring him pressure cookers and dynamite, or a different one?

[Some call me Tim?]

Dynamite??? There was no dynamite involved.

[mad libertarian guy]

Man does what any other would do when he runs our of gas on the side of the highway.

My apologies for the Gawker link.

[Virginian]

I'm shocked the cop didn't cite him for something.

[AlgerHiss]

The insidiously ignorant, vile people that make up NYC will elect Weiner without hesitation.

I'd rather live in Kabul, than rot my life away in NYC.

Enjoy the wisdom of those that long ago, knew what a sewer NYC is:

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

[Rhywun]

Show me on the doll where NYC touched you.

[alan_s]

Has anyone looked into this FBI shooting? So far, I haven't heard any reason why the person was shot other than FYTW. Heck, the FBI makes it sound like they just walked up to someone and killed them, and they're practically bragging about it. Is the public really this accepting now that they don't even have to cover this stuff up anymore?

[Loki]

FTA:

An FBI agent was interviewing Todashev regarding his connections to Tsarnaev and other extremists. He was originally cooperative, but was shot after attacking the agent, NBC News reports.
...
Todashev was arrested earlier this month on aggravated battery charges after getting into a fight with a 54-year-old man and his 35-year-old son over a parking spot at an Orlando shopping mall.

Just reading between the lines it sounds like this guy may have been a bit of a hothead. The FBI agent probably said something that pissed him off and provoked the attack, either deliberately or inadvertantly.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Jason Bateman was almost destroyed by fame 'Arrested Development gave me a new life'

[Rich]

"The vast sum of stimulus money flowing into health information technology created a 'race to adopt' mentality ? buy the systems today to get government handouts, but figure out how to make them work tomorrow,"

The report predicted that widespread use of electronic records could save the United States health care system at least $81 billion a year, a figure RAND now says was overstated.

Hey, RAND, overstating savings is *CBO*'s job!

[Ken Shultz]

"Weiner resigned from Congress in 2011 after it emerged he sent a photo of his crotch to a woman using twitter and then lied about his account being hacked."

That's not what matters to New York City's voters.

If he hates rednecks the most, then he gets to win.

[$park?]

The University of Central Florida has reinstated a professor who was suspended for making an in-class joke.

I make joke, you raff now! I'm kirring it up heah!

[Ken Shultz]

"A CBS reporter who had reported on the gun-running Fast and Furious program as well as green energy spending says that her personal and work computers have been compromised."

Well, obviously, if she didn't want her personal and work computers compromised, then she shouldn't have reported on the Fast and Furious program.

Putin does the same thing in Russia. They do the same thing in China, too. I don't see what the big deal is.

Obama wants what's best for us, and it's hard for him to do that with a bunch of pesky little reporters running around making trouble.

[Joe M]

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner has announced that he is running for Mayor of New York City...

...forcing it to rename itself the Big Banana.

[PS]

+1 phallic symbol

[Palin's Buttplug]

Obamacare employer mandate defanged. (as I predicted it will be a big 'So what?')

Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans that can lack key benefits such as hospital coverage.

Benefits advisers and insurance brokers?bucking a commonly held expectation that the law would broadly enrich benefits?are pitching these low-benefit plans around the country. They cover minimal requirements such as preventive services, but often little more. Some of the plans wouldn't cover surgery, X-rays or prenatal care at all. Others will be paired with limited packages to cover additional services, for instance, $100 a day for a hospital visit.

Federal officials say this type of plan, in concept, would appear to qualify as acceptable minimum coverage under the law, and let most employers avoid an across-the-workforce $2,000-per-worker penalty for firms that offer nothing. Employers could still face other penalties they anticipate would be far less costly.

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....98186.html

[Jordan]

So those plans are free. Oh wait...

[Ken Shultz]

A close reading of the article offers this little nugget:

"But a close reading of the rules makes it clear that those mandates affect only plans sponsored by insurers that are sold to small businesses and individuals, federal officials confirm. That affects only about 30 million of the more than 160 million people with private insurance, including 19 million people covered by employers, according to a Citigroup Inc. report. Larger employers, generally with more than 50 workers, need cover only preventive services, without a lifetime or annual dollar-value limit, in order to avoid the across-the-workforce penalty."

Sounds to me like they're saying that the only companies that can benefit by this strategy are companies with more than 50 employees.

Also, it remains unclear whether the strategy will actually work. Sounds like it's still in a gray area.

Oh, and if it's so easy for employers to squirm out of the mandates and penalties, then why not just get rid of them?

[Ken Shultz]

"Oh, and if it's so easy for employers to squirm out of the mandates and penalties, then why not just get rid of them?"

Just in case there are any progressives reading this, the suggestion was to get rid of the mandates and penalties--not to get rid of the employers.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Companies under 50 are exempt.

Still, the only "victim" of Obamacare is a healthy individual who wants no insurance at all.

[Jordan]

Except for anybody who pays insurance premiums, or wants to buy a plan that is illegal under Obamacare, including those exempt employers.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

or wants to buy a plan that is illegal under Obamacare

This. My current plan, which I like, does not conform to Obamacare. My alternatives have much higher premiums.

Fucking catastrophic insurance, how does it work?

[Some call me Tim?]

Still, the only "victim" of Obamacare is a healthy individual who wants no insurance at all.

Well that's a lie. The victim is anyone who would like barebones coverage, and doesn't want to buy a plan with some of the mandated provisions required by the PPACA.

[Virginian]

Plus anyone who's had their premiums shoot up thanks to the law.

[Ken Shultz]

Companies under 50 are exempt.

Giving them an excellent incentive not to hire and expand.

If they're not doing any good (and still doing plenty of harm), then we might as well get rid of the mandates and penalties.

Still, the only "victim" of Obamacare is a healthy individual who wants no insurance at all."

You say that like people being harassed by the IRS because, rather than buying insurance, they tried to keep their house--won't be victims?

[Jordan]

Oh, and anybody who gets a tax refund. Or anybody who wants to expand their business beyond 50 employees.

[Ken Shultz]

I'd throw in the taxpayers who are being forced to cover the Medicaid expansion, as well.

[Ken Shultz]

People who are paying higher premiums as a result of ObamaCare are victims, too.

I remember when ObamaCare was supposed to make health insurance affordable for the working poor.

Yeah, I'd say working people toward the lower end of the income scale are victims of this, too. Not only has private insurance been priced even further out of their reach by ObamaCare, now the IRS is going to be harassing them if they don't have health insurance, too.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

, now the IRS is going to be harassing them if they don't have health insurance, too.

The "logic" behind this is something I never could figure out. The only time I haven't had insurance of some sort was when I was too poor to afford it. How does it make even the slightest sense to say "You can't afford insurance, ok, here's a fine (sorry, tax) for not being able to afford insurance."

[Ken Shultz]

The short version is that...ObamaCare is really intended as a fix for Medicare and Medicaid. Hospitals lose so much money on Medicaid and Medicare patients, that they have to make up for it by essentially gouging private insurance and uninsured patients. That's why private insurers are so crazy about making you only go to the providers "in network" (they have contracts with).

Unless you want to reform Medicare and Medicaid, the way to make up for that shortfall so that providers aren't forced to gouge private pay patients, you have to make more people pay into the system--preferably people who don't typically don't need and use healthcare!

That's people under 35. Force healthy people to buy health insurance they won't use, and you're pushing a lot more money into the healthcare system--without adding much cost.

So, the shortest answer is that if you look at ObamaCare as a way to avoid reforming Medicare and Medicaid--and not as a way to make life better for working poor people--then this makes perfect sense. They just sold it as a way to make life better for the poor, bu then they sold the Iraq War as a war of self-defense, too.

[Some call me Tim?]

A giveaway to big business buried in PPACA regulations?

Color me shocked.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, and if it's so easy for employers to squirm out of the mandates and penalties, then why not just get rid of them?

Because one of the most important rules of politics is that you must appear to be doing something?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Mandating employers provide health insurance is a stupid idea in the first place. We're doubling down on a dumbass idea that is only in existence because it is an artifact of ancient tax policy.

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

We're doubling down on a dumbass idea that is only in existence because it is an artifact of ancient tax policy work-arounds to federally imposed wage freezes.

[VG Zaytsev]

Excellent

Obamacare will result in worthless anti-catastrophic 'insurance'.

WTF

[Marshall Gill]

Obamacare employer mandate defanged. (as I predicted it will be a big 'So what?')

Because as a "Libertarian" you simply adore Central Planning and just know it can work if run by your Dear Leader?

Obama's Toilet Paper pushing the edges of Peak Retard on a daily basis.

[Loki]

Unfortunately Peak Retard is a myth. Stupidity is the universe's only infinite resource. And asshat here is a derp-ularity: a concentration of stupidity so dense that reason and logic are unable to escape.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has it's limits."

PB, Tulpa, Tony... they all prove this to be correct every time they attempt a thought.

[DontShootMe]

So, Obamacare mandates a plan that pays for preventative services, but does nothing in the event of something catastrophic? What is this, pre-paid Anti-Insurance?

And real insurance (I pay for everything under say $5k a year myself, and if I end up real sick, then the insurance covers it, kind of like my house), is illegal?

Brilliant!

[Ken Shultz]

"Councilman Eric Garcetti has been elected as Mayor of Los Angeles."

He seems like a guy who really hates rednecks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.....nal_career

Now that we have him running the city, I'm sure all of LA's problems will be solved.

[The Late P Brooks]

There was no dynamite involved.

Yet.

[The Late P Brooks]

Employers are increasingly recognizing they may be able to avoid certain penalties under the federal health law by offering very limited plans that can lack key benefits such as hospital coverage.

Wait- the whole "free unlimited health care" thing was nothing but a tissue of lies?

Shocked, I am.

[Auric Demonocles]

Insurance that doesn't cover hospital stays? Isn't that the main point of insurance, to cover large, unpredictable costs?

[Citizen Nothing]

I want some of that car insurance that only covers oil changes.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

No, no, no. It's supposed to cover contraception and routine prostate exams, don't you know anything?

[Auric Demonocles]

That's true. As long as my girlfriend can get the pill, why would we want anything else?

[Virginian]

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/oop.....ngressman/

Reporter is an ignorant asshole.

[Loki]

As long as the guy he's berating is a Rethuglican, it's all good. Afterall, anything bad that happens is the fault of every Rethuglican everywhere, regardless of what actual office they hold. And the Koch brothers too, of course. /prog-derp-o-tard

[Loki]

A CBS reporter who had reported on the gun-running Fast and Furious program as well as green energy spending says that her personal and work computers have been compromised.

Gee, I wonder who do something like that...

A CBS reporter who had reported on the gun-running Fast and Furious program as well as green energy spending says that her personal and work computers have been compromised.

Uh huh. "I'll beleive that when my shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert."

At this point I'm pretty much of the opinion that anything coming from this administration, especially the Justice Dept. is the complete opposite of the truth.

[Fatty Bolger]

IRS's Lerner Had History of Harassment, Inappropriate Religious Inquiries at FEC

Perhaps no other IRS official is more intimately associated with the tax agency's growing scandal than Lois Lerner, director of the IRS's Exempt Organizations Division. Since admitting the IRS harassed hundreds of conservative and Tea Party groups for over two years, Lerner has been criticized for a number of untruths?including the revelation that she apparently lied about planting a question at an American Bar Association conference where she first publicly acknowledged IRS misconduct.

Still, Lerner has her defenders in the government and the media. Shortly after the scandal broke, The Daily Beast published an article headlined "IRS Scandal's Central Figure, Lois Lerner, Described as 'Apolitical.'" Insisting Lerner, and the IRS more broadly, were not not politically motivated has been a central contention of those trying to minimize the impact of the scandal.

The trouble with this defense is that, prior to joining the IRS, Lerner's tenure as head of the Enforcement Office at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was marked by what appears to be politically motivated harassment of conservative groups.

[Virginian]

Read the transcripts of her questioning people about their prayers.

I try not go Godwin, but this woman is a straight up fascist. She should be treated the way we used to treat fascists.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yes, that is infuriating. "Was Pat Robertson praying for you? Is that something he did for you? Was he praying for you in 1991?" WTF?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That line of questioning is outrageous. Unfortunately, the only thing that matters to Team Members is who she was harassing.

[ant1sthenes]

See, they were telling the truth about Citizen's United being the cause of this.

[Virginian]

http://rare.us/story/map-divid.....nsactions/

Map of the US based on cash transactions.

[Virginian]

http://imgur.com/gallery/P0Twl

Cool aerial photos with data laid over them.

[VG Zaytsev]

Let's end on a happy note.

Tornado victim's dog emerges from wreckage unhurt

[Crackers Boy]

A question regarding Obamacare and the rules regarding "companies with fewer than 50 employees"...

If I was a small business owner, say with 90 employees, why wouldn't I create two new entities; one that owns all of the production machinery, (assuming that's why my company does) but has no employees, and leases the machinery back to the "orignal" company, that now has only 45 employees, as well as the newly formed "other" company, that also has 45 employees? Now I have 3 companies to "manage" (file quarterly taxes on, etc) but none of them have more than 49 employees? Need more staff? Add another company that leases that machinery for the "third shift", which would be run by the staff of the newly formed fourth company. Wash, rinse, repeat.

CB

[Jon Lester]

Forget Weiner's other very public baggage. Call him out for not caring that the rent is too damn high. Same for Quinn.

[Chexsystems Removal]

Yes you are not the one we are also..but i need to mark this.so i can visit here anytime.thanks for the blog..

[Warty]

A 20 ounce bottle of Coke is 65 grams of sugar. That's 24 Jolly Ranchers. Nobody except SugarFree in the Before Times would eat 24 Jolly Ranchers in a sitting, but people think nothing of drinking pop every day.

[Warty]

And if we imagine that all carbs are equivalent, it's equal to 15 Jolly Ranchers. Still after the point where you take your kid's Halloween candy away before he makes himself sick.