Eric Holder to Meet with the Media, IRS Leaders Did Sign Off on Investigations, Dems Pick Up a Governor: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: emseearr / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

  Attorney General Eric Holder will be meeting with various Washington bureau media chiefs to discuss the government's surveillance of reporters in order to track down leakers. The meetings will, of course, be off the record.

• Further investigation shows that higher-ups at the IRS did indeed sign off on requests for more detailed information from conservative nonprofits seeking tax exemptions. The Cincinnati workers were not operating without the knowledge of the agency.
• Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, once a Republican, now an independent, will continue his transition and join the Democratic Party prior to running for re-election.
• France's first legally recognized gay marriage was celebrated today, amid much fanfare. Imagine how disappointing it must be to be the second couple getting married.
• Nearly 40 percent of American households are now financially headed by women, either as the sole or the primary breadwinner.
• The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who had been the subject of an investigation for allegedly using private e-mail aliases to conduct agency business, has gone to work for Apple.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Attorney General Eric Holder will be meeting with various Washington bureau media chiefs to discuss the government's surveillance of reporters in order to track down leakers.

BEER SUMMIT!

[Pro Libertate]

More of a Fear Summit.

[NeonCat]

So, Natural Light or Milwaukee's Best, then?

[Pro Libertate]

Zima.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I remember drinking Zima in the 90's. Sniff.

[gaijin]

I remember drinking Zima in the 90's

Zimas like a long time ago.

[Pro Libertate]

That was unnecessary. Apologize to the commenting community.

[gaijin]

I am sorry. I will self-regulate.

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, no Z usage.

[Pro Libertate]

I find the whole thing to be highly inappropriate, anyway.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You're acting stupidly.

[Pro Libertate]

If I were a journalist, like hell would I attend some bullshit summit with some asshole who violated my favorite constitutional right. And I'd publicly decline saying exactly that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If you were a journalist, you and the administration would be enjoying the hottest makeup sex ever at this summit.

[Pro Libertate]

I feel I've been too subtle about my politics.

[db]

Any journalist worth his salt who gets invited to this will immediately file an expose report on the proceedings once it's over. Why the fuck would they attend something like this off the record? It's a slap in the face to the free press. The Administration is basically bitch slapping them to remind them who's the boss.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I thought you were supposed to liquor someone up before you f'ed them.

[Pro Libertate]

Best hope is that this crap backfires.

[gaijin]

Bureau Chiefs of major media outlets...

I wonder who actually got the invite?

[Pro Libertate]

The Press Czar on their behalf?

[Paul.]

Halsey acted stupidly.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Da, Tovarish Zampolit.

[A Serious Man]

Nearly 40 percent of American households are now financially headed by women, either as the sole or the primary breadwinner.

We're losing the War on Women!

[Pro Libertate]

Deadbeat dads for the win?

[Dweebston]

Until that quotient is 70%, the War on Women is ongoing.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Nearly 40 percent of American households are now financially headed by women, either as the sole or the primary breadwinner.

Good thing we're paying them less than men, or that would be more like 30 percent.

[Brandon]

This seems backwards...

[Fist of Etiquette]

If they paid women like men there would be less money to employ ladies therefore fewer households with women who have jobs. It's science.

[tarran]

Don't pee on the wall; it might pee on you!

Tired of the alley outside of their shop being used by members of the public answering the call of nature, two men in the US have come up with a novel approach to ward them off.

[Pro Libertate]

Piss defense should always involve electricity. No man wants electrons shooting up his wang.

[tarran]

Electricity can injure and lead to a tort.

Getting sprayed with water doesn't.

[Pro Libertate]

Light electricity. Electrolite, if you will.

[Joe M]

It's what plants crave!

[Zakalwe]

President Camacho does a nice turn as Herman Cain-like politician in the newest Arrested Development, BTW.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I miss Flava Cain. He was the most entertaining pol in years.

[mr lizard]

I prefer electrodarks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj9k8WuQXY4

[Zakalwe]

No man wants electrons shooting up his wang.

You led a sheltered childhood, huh?

[Pro Libertate]

Sure, you can joke about it, but lightning wang is a very real and dangerous condition.

[Raston Bot]

just ask Raab himself.

[db]

Unless he's Chuck Norris. Then his dick powers the electric fence.

[Tonio]

PL, the things I could tell you...

[Pro Libertate]

It's best I don't know.

[John]

Further investigation shows that higher-ups at the IRS did indeed sign off on requests for more detailed information from conservative nonprofits seeking tax exemptions. The Cincinnati workers were not operating without the knowledge of the agency.

So I guess all of the liberal hack jounolists who put out the talking points that this was just some low level GS employees gone rogue will apologize now?

[Fist of Etiquette]

More importantly, the administration's gonna need a bigger bus.

[Pro Libertate]

Didn't the government itself tell us that lie in the first place? At what point will all of this perjury result in a special prosecutor being appointed? Holy cow, is our tolerance for corruption high.

[tarran]

This is shocking!

I was assured that we were incapable of articulating what the Obama admin had done that was wrong!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Like we expect people as important as higher-ups at the IRS to read the things they sign. We don't even expect that of homebuyers making the most important purchase of their lifetimes!

[Clich? Bandit]

I read mine cover to cover (some 80 pages) and let me tell you...a mortgage is a scary fucking document.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

It's a family story that my dad was breathing into a paper bag at my parents' closing. I have gone over every single lease I've ever signed two or three times. I can't imagine not reading every word of a mortgage agreement.

[gaijin]

if they use auto pens, it's not like they actually sign it anyway, right?

[Palin's Buttplug]

They should fire the acting director of the IRS!

[itsnotmeitsyou]

They should fire the acting director of the IRS!

FTFY

[Palin's Buttplug]

With my flat tax plan (which was well received by the peanut gallery here) we could cut out 98% of the GOP.

Plan = flat 25% tax on all income with a single $25,000 exemption per household - no deductions.

[Palin's Buttplug]

whoops - "IRS" not GOP.

Freudian slip.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I'm not huge on taxes at all, but I don't expect that we'll be getting rid of them any time soon.

Would your proposed plan also eliminate sales taxes/use tax/etc, or would we still be double taxed on everything?

[Jordan]

25% is absurdly high.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tax brackets lower than 25% pay less than 10% of current taxes collected.

My rate is lower for the people who pay the bulk of the taxes (offset by deduction losses).

[Jordan]

Lower != low

[gaijin]

yes, but how would you account for your Fannie Mae stock losses? 😉

[Restoras]

25% sems a bit steep.

Doesn't matter anyway. Congress will never agree to get rid of the creature it uses to dish out favors to its corporate friends.

[AlexInCT]

The f-ed up tax code is f-ed up because the real purpose of this Gordian monster is the ability the political class has given itself to abrogate power through the ability to extend special favors, that this code creates. For some sweet pay, a tit for tat, if you will allow, of course.

[Apatheist ?_??]

15% and this would be fine. Even better have a negative income tax instead of the exemption and eliminate the welfare state.

[Rasilio]

Well it is certainly a simple plan, the problem is that there is no rational or logical basis for a single flat exemption.

Obviously the goal is so that you are not taxing those who are living at subsistance level, the problem is that a single person living in say Ashville Ky and making $25,000 a year is easily middle class wheras a family of 4 living in New York City making $50,000 a year is borderline homeless

[Apatheist ?_??]

How would cost of living be any more of a problem than it is with the current system? You can't base the federal tax rates based off of regional variations of col. I shouldn't be punished for living in Houston instead of NYC.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

This.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, but real estate prices should not dictate tax policy.

If you can't afford to live in Palo Alto - move. The market will correct for locality.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Flat 15% and you have a deal.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

15% and no other taxes. ever.

[jesse.in.mb]

15% for state and federal combined? Can a representative of each state and the federal government have cage matches as part of the negotiations for how that 15% gets divvied up?

[Brandon]

We can sell tickets to the cage matches for even more revenue!

[Agammamon]

I'm thinking we pay the 15% to the state and then let the federal government try to pry it out of the governor's hands.

[John C. Randolph]

flat 25% tax on all income

Too damned much. Cut back the government to its constitutional limits, and 4% would cover it easily.

-jcr

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am being revenue neutral.

Cut spending THEN cut taxes.

[CE]

Cut taxes completely. If the government still needs money to shut down, print some.

[Agammamon]

The flat tax plans being touted by flat-taxers hold that 15% would be revenue neutral.

[Juice]

Make the exemption $40k and the percentage 10% and you've got a deal.

[Brandon]

Get rid of the exemption and make the flat tax 10%. Everyone should have some skin in the game.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Still requires a huge massive intrusive bureaucracy to verify income.

I'd rather have a property tax. A lot easier to verify.

Even better, make the value self-declared, with the proviso that you can't insure it for more than that or collect more in damages for any lawsuit.

[CE]

With my flat tax plan (at 0 percent), we could eliminate 100 percent of the IRS.

[cavalier973]

10% revenue tariff, and eliminate all import quotas.

[Agammamon]

Yeah, "your" flat tax plan - not like libertarians and flat taxers haven't been proposing this for decades.

Who are you Richard Murphy?

[Drake]

$25,000 exemption per household = a $25k marriage penalty.

That will settle the gay marriage issue.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

So I guess all of the liberal hack jounolists who put out the talking points that this was just some low level GS employees gone rogue will apologize now?

Wait, why do I hear crickets?

[Doctor Whom]

I hear "La la la, we can't hear you."

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

The issue at hand is whether or not Eric Holder is a fucking piece of shit. Yay or nay:

[Let Me Ride]

Do yokels really sail the seas?

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Its called the cajun navy.

[Elspeth Flashman]

yay.

[Brandon]

Yea.

[Fist of Etiquette]

France's first legally recognized gay marriage was celebrated today...

Phrasing! Merci.

[ZackTheHypochondriac]

gay marriage wasn't legal there already? I think I was mislead about Europe.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Next they'll tell us racial minorities aren't embraced by your average Parisian.

[Let Me Ride]

Why the fuck isn't former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson being burned in effigy?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I knew the environment was proprietary.

[gaijin]

At apple, it's an ecosystem dammit!

[db]

So, my Chinese colleague a few offices down returned from a two-week trip to Asia on business and she's sneezing her head off. I'll let you know how this whole coronavirus thingie goes, guys.

[Ted S.]

Coronavirus: worse than schlitzvirus?

[SweatingGin]

Certainly skunkier.

[db]

You need a virus cozy.

[Let Me Ride]

Look, you get no credit for helping us with the overpopulation problem if you insist on being a whiny little bitch about it.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, once a Republican, now an independent, will continue his transition and join the Democratic Party prior to running for re-election.

The only GOP Senator with the good sense to buck BushCheney and vote against the Iraq War (22 Dems did).

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!elevnty!11!

Let it all out, shrike.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Chafee didn't fit in the new Southern-Fried GOP. He will tell you that.

[Let Me Ride]

He saw Christie's poll numbers and irreparably spoiled his trousers with semen.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, once a Republican, now an independent, will continue his transition and join the Democratic Party prior to running for re-election.

Hormone injections for the rest of his political life.

[SweatingGin]

Plus having to fight for the right to use a particular restroom.

[C. Anacreon]

Call me Lincoln Chap-Stick!

[rts]

Cities need to rein in spending, says report

The study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found from 2000 to 2011, municipal spending in Vancouver rose 50 per cent despite a population growth of just 15 per cent.

You'll never guess what the mayor thinks of this.

[Irish]

AUUUUUUSTERRRRIIIIIITYYYYYY!

I assume that Canada's economy is going to implode if they follow this advice.

[Ted S.]

He's to busy smoking crack to give a damn?

Oh, wrong city.

[rts]

Too busy hiring more useless staff:

The report also looked at Toronto and Montreal and found the three cities have expanded their workforce by about a 25 per cent over the last decade and the costs of pensions and benefits have outpaced inflation.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Cutting spending is Yanquis puppet imperialist neoconservatism. Like Harper...er wait.

[LynchPin1477]

To be fair, Montreal needed a lot of new workers to keep track of all the bribes and kickbacks flying around.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So business as usual?

[LynchPin1477]

There is a big corruption trial going on here right now. My favorite part so far is when the city ran out of asphalt because something like 40% of the companies that provide it are under investigation.

[Goldwyn Smith]

I am aware of a recent corruption scandal in Montreal. Didn't the mayor quit over it?

So isn't corruption in Montreal business as usual? 😉

[Irish]

France's first legally recognized gay marriage was celebrated today, amid much fanfare. Imagine how disappointing it must be to be the second couple getting married.

Based on what I know about the French, I can only assume 6 or 7 riots will occur over the next few days to honor this important event.

[Ted S.]

I'm waiting for the first gay divorce in France.

[jesse.in.mb]

Let's hope they're more shirtless man riots!

My academic advisor's specialty was the French Revolution. The prospect of Parisians flipping Citro?ns and throwing paving stones makes me incredibly happy.

[Irish]

I like that French anti-gay riots are SUPER GAY.

I bet they all jerked each other off afterwards in protest.

[Scott S.]

From what I've read, I think 6 or 7 riots took place while the wedding was happening.

[jesse.in.mb]

Were cars flipped? PLEASE TELL ME CARS WERE FLIPPED!

Barricade the streets or go the fuck home, France.

[A Serious Man]

From Ezra Klein's House of Waonk:

A single principle can easily be used to justify starkly opposite policies.
Take equality of opportunity. Everyone in American life professes to believe in equality of opportunity. But nobody really believes in it. Equality of opportunity is often set in opposition to equality of outcome. Communists believe in equality of outcome. Capitalists believe in equality of opportunity.
In truth, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome aren't opposites. They're partners. Companions. Inseparable amigos. You can't have real equality of opportunity without equality of outcome. A rich parent can purchase test prep a poor parent can't. A rich parent can usher their children into social networks a poor parent can't. A rich parent can make donations to Harvard that a poor parent can't.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

You can't have real equality of opportunity without equality of outcome.

This is easily the stupidest thing I've read all day. Bonus points for following it up with examples of...inequalities of opportunity...

[Pro Libertate]

Really, we need a dictator to rise, force everyone of us to take a logic course, then return the country to our hands after everyone gets an 'A'.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

If it's anything like the intro logic course I took in college, we'll be waiting a looooong time to ditch that dictator.

[Brett L]

Logic is actually impossible for certain people. I have several friends who will nod along as you explain the rules and then fuck up every time they try to implement an OR statement. Not even an exclusive OR, I'm talking inclusive here.

[Pro Libertate]

Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Logic is actually impossible for certain people.

I know. But they're not really people.

[C. Anacreon]

But wait, I heard Ezra Klein was a true prodigy, smarter than everyone else in history, so the New Republic hired him when he was seven or something like that.

Cripes, I hate the "rich people hire tutors" meme that assholes like this try to perpetuate, as the only reason affluent kids score better than poor kids. You see, all children are completely equal at age six, it's only the ones who get tutors who score better after that! Jeez, my 11-year-old kid goes to the highest-rated public school district in the state, and I don't know of a single family who has hired a tutor (nor have we, and the boy just tested three math grade levels above his age). Perhaps there might be some other reasons for the success?

[Barry Zuckerkorn]

Bribery?

[mr lizard]

Sadly I'm actually convinced that the best system would be a benevolent dictatorship. Or an AI based judiciary with terminators for enforcing constitutional infractions by the human police force.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So your beef with the progtards is that the Wrong People are in charge?

[Let Me Ride]

You're behind on your Jezebel assignment, aren't you?

[Restoras]

They'll say anything, no matter how idiotic, to get everyone to beleive in equality of outcomes.

[LynchPin1477]

Actually, I think he has a point, though not the point he was probably trying to make. W/out equal outcomes, the successful will always be able to put their children in positions of greater opportunity. It's one of the reasons I don't advocate for equality of opportunity in the way Klein and his ilk mean it.

[Irish]

So is Ezra Klein arguing in favor of a Communist society now?

[Killazontherun]

Ezra Klein would be the last person to ask. The answer it yes. Ezra is bored. The current round of Democratic scandals and bungles are no fun for him.

Let's start a communist transformation of our society, for gosh sakes! Wouldn't that be darn fun, folks? Light some s'mores around the campfire and get our egalitarian freak on!

[CE]

Why would now be any different than before? Of course the answer is yes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The above quote is right, of course.

At issue is what the state should do about it. The answer is "nothing".

Some people get breaks - others don't. Tough shit.

[Restoras]

No enuf Christfag

[Jordan]

The above quote is right, of course.

No, actually it's not. Just because Mark Zuckerberg thought of Facebook instead of me doesn't mean I didn't have the same opportunity.

[John C. Randolph]

...and of course you still have the opportunity to make a social network service that doesn't SUCK.

-jcr

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Holy sequester, this Klein guy is special. That makes no sense. He can't be that insipid AND get paid for it.

[Ayn Random Variation]

That may be the dumbest thing I've read this year

[Brandon]

I have a higher IQ than 98% of the population. I can absorb, process, analyze and apply new information faster than the vast majority of the people on the planet. Given equal opportunity, I will have better outcomes than most people, because I am more useful than most people. No amount of doublethink or repetition by Ezra Klein can change that objective fact. As much as he would like to believe that we are all equal in every way, it's just not true. Or does Ezra Klein honestly believe that he would be as good an athlete as Lebron James if he had just had the same opportunity?

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have a higher IQ than 98% of the population. I can absorb, process, analyze and apply new information faster than the vast majority of the people on the planet. Given equal opportunity, I will have better outcomes than most people, because I am more useful than most people

To be fair, this is only true in an information-based economy. 1000 years ago, your utility would have been based on how fast you could swing a sword.

[CE]

Archimedes still turned out to be pretty valuable, despite his lack of sword-swinging skills. Until the Romans accidentally killed him while sacking Syracuse, against their general's orders, because he had a cell phone in his hand. (Or was it a compass?)

[Heroic Mulatto]

Brains and brawn are not mutually exclusive, especially in the Greco-Roman world. I suspect that as a young man, Archimedes spent some time as a soldier. Socrates was a master stonecutter and mason, and was a celebrated soldier who fought in the Athenian army and gain fame for his valor.

[Brandon]

1000 years ago I would've been inventing the repeating rifle.

[Michael S. Langston]

Sure, but so we're on the same page - what you are really saying is that you objectively provide more 'value' than others.

This is certainly tied to IQ, but not the same.

Move back 1000 years ago, and most likely your world is so small you never truly learn enough about anything outside subsistence type needs to make your IQ all that meaningful in terms of offering value to others.

But aside from that semi-pedantic point, I agree with your overall point that some people have specific skill sets and desires to use them which make them objectively more valuable to society than others. (disclaimer - valuable isn't used here to connote moral worth)

[RBS]

Imagine how disappointing it must be to be the second couple getting married.

There's always the first divorce to look forward to.

[Irish]

They're French, so there's also the first mistress.

Wait...if you're gay, is it still a mistress? What would a male mistress be called?

A misteress?

[SugarFree]

Manstress. Geez, get with the agenda.

[Irish]

I missed the last meeting of the patriarchy. Leave me alone.

[T]

Sober up more than once every month and you'll make more meetings.

[Brett L]

That's what they told me about AA.

[Killazontherun]

Sobered up and found yourself in the middle of an AA meeting. Horror stories begin that way.

[T]

I had a friend who drove his truck into the side of the building where his wife was attending an AA meeting. Yes, he was drunk. No, he didn't start going.

I can't imagine that marriage ended well, now that I think about it.

[Killazontherun]

Good story whatever the fate of the unfortunate may have been though.

[Irish]

Don't tell me what to do, T. I'll drink two liters of whiskey a day if I damn well want to.

[T]

Hey, your life is your own, and apparently Bushmill's. I'm simply making suggestions if you want to know what's going on.

[Marshall Gill]

Knowing what is going on is why I drink in the first place.

[Killazontherun]

a sod?

[waffles]

I posted two weeks ago about getting my girl to become a licensed driver and I am happy to report great success. Thanks to the commenters here she is well on her way.

Two weeks ago I rented a Mazda 2 for 24 hours costing about $33 with the optional insurance. She got into it in a parking lot and 3 hours of driving later she could handle moderate parallel parking and 60mph driving in the right lane of the freeway.

So we bought a car. Found a high mileage, 1-owner, 2002 Subaru Outback Wagon that unbeknownst to the used car lot guy had a fairly new remanufactured engine. Aware of the head gasket failures on the Subaru 2.5 engine I figured this meant the previous owner loved the thing enough after it likely blew up to plunk down the cash to drop a new (recycled) engine in it before eventually trading it in to be auctioned off. Paid cash and now have a solid second car to compliment my 5 speed 3 series. My girlfriend fell in love with the car and has taken a daily driving lesson with me since. The best part is that it was her cash, so she will know all the pride and pain of car ownership from the start.

Thanks for the advice, hoping all these good omen hold fast.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

That's awesome, waffles! I wish you continued good luck (as a fellow happy Subaru driver, to boot).

[RBS]

Cool. Sounds like she's already a better driver than my wife.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Never stray away from 1980-2005 Hondas and BMWs. I have a 170,000 mile e46 BMW and runs like new.

[waffles]

My e46 has her quirks, but they're all in the accessories/electronics and have no effect on the drive. The suspension and engine are so and planted and strong I can't ever see myself getting rid of her especially at a young 135,000 miles (70,000 of which are mine. The girlfriend on the other hand...nahh I love her too. Even moved to California to be with her.

[db]

Great news on the driving! I love my E82--only 47000 miles so it's pretty yound.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

If you keep them 90% stock (with OEM Bosch parts, 93 premium gasoline, full synethetic oil, etc.) they remain happy cars . They are also really easy cars to work on(the oil filter is on top of the engine for chrissakes). When I bought mine two years ago (first car @155,000 miles) I knew nothing about maintenance. Now I know enough to do a auto----5spd swap.

Yep, she's unfortunately an auto.

[Brandon]

You absolutely do not need premium gas in them, but other than that, you're absolutely right. They are wonderful cars and they last forever. Even after I update mine in a few years to an Xdrive 6 speed diesel wagon (coming for the '14 model year, I will pick one up coming off a lease in '17), I will be keeping my '02 330Xi as a post-apocalypse option.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

"accessories/electronics and have no effect on the drive."

I actually strayed away from the premium features because of how often they fail. The H/K audio may sound sweet for the first 100k, but are a pain in the BMW ass to replace. Heated seats were all I needed.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I was super thrilled with the Bose system in my TT until it broke. Just the head unit was $1500! I almost shit myself when the guy at Audi told me that. I then laughed and asked him if he realized that I could get an in-dash 7" touch screen installed for less than half that, and that included the adapter for the Bose system.

Echo on the heated seats, though. I'll never own another car without them.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Most of the time I have the windows down anyway, so the 10 speakers are ample(I listen to talk radio most of the time...yeah, I'm a lame 17 year old). And if the speakers fail, I can plug in and play most new speakers. (Bose, H/K infinity).

I will spend 1k on a 5spd swap before I would dump 1k on vulnerable luxury speakers.

[ZackTheHypochondriac]

Do they make cooled seats? I'd be much more interested in that.

[Brandon]

They do, but they didn't back then.

[Ted S.]

hoping all these good omen hold fast.

You should use the Latin "omina", just to be a pedantic bastard.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Nice to be able to rely on you for this sort of thing, Ted.

[Restoras]

Question for the car people here.

I have a 2004 Lexus RX330 that needs new struts. Along with brakes (front and rear) the work will cost me about $1,800. The car has 96K miles on it.

I am inclined to have the work done and continue driving the car until the wheels fall off. Opinions on if it is worth it?

[mr lizard]

1800???!!!!!!!! W.T.F.
If you are in Tampa I can probably do all that for 900ish out the door. And you can help me turn wrenches so you can learn something. Or find an independent Toyota mechanic.

[Restoras]

Well I live in an area of NY where things like that are priced absurdly high. Cheaper than the dealer.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Buy a Haynes or Bentley manual (available at a local auto store for around $30-$50 bucks). Buy a car jack and a wrench set. Thank me later.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

If you DIY, the brakes are only $50-90 for the rears and fronts. Go ceramic.

[mr lizard]

Google is your friend. KYB makes aftermarket struts for your car. $92 each. Just buy those, and take them to any independent shop to have the work done. They should be able to get pads and rotors as well. Should be around $600 in parts and max $400 for labor. You're welcome.

http://www.partsgeek.com/catal.....embly.html

[NeonCat]

Looks like Rock Auto has about the same prices.

Rock Auto seems to have damn near everything you'd ever need to replace on a car.

[General Butt Naked]

Found a high mileage, 1-owner, 2002 Subaru Outback Wagon...

Are you trying to turn her into a lesbian? You sign her up for the softball team as well, romeo?

[waffles]

You have it all wrong. I'm the lesbian in this relationship.

[General Butt Naked]

No wonder you chose a subaru.

Every kid in America has an aunt that owns a subaru, isn't married, shows up to family functions with her "friend" and likes camping.

[waffles]

I'll have you know she did go to an all-female school for undergrad and graduated in the same class as Lucy. I'm for sure the butch and she's the femme, but we do like camping. I think the Subaru is a damn fine choice.

[General Butt Naked]

This is starting to shape up into a wacky sitcom.

Now I know why you didn't want to teach her how to drive "stick".

heh heh

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

Was it the manual bimmer that picked her up?

[waffles]

No, she was thoroughly unimpressed with my car when we met. She even had "car blindness" and more than once attempted to get into someone else's silver sedan when I would pick her up. Fortunately she has since been cured of this strange ailment.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

This is cracking me up--I don't know if you remember I mentioned it in the other thread, but my bf also doesn't know how to drive, and his car blindness is insane. I drive a black sedan. It's bad.

[Thane of #HOLO]

Car blindness?

As a suburbanite I can hardly fathom this.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

It's pretty weird.

[waffles]

You know what Nicole? Knowing you have the same automobile/relationship hurdle made this whole thing so much better. I stopped acting like she was some pariah for not driving and just made it into this cool and fun thing we do together.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Yay, that's so awesome to hear!

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

"more than once attempted to get into someone else's silver sedan when I would pick her up"

So your's must be fern green with a beige interior....no?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

The Harpy is feeling a bit catty today...

As earlier reported, Michele Bachmann abruptly announced today that she won't be running for re-election for a seat that used to be assuredly hers by virtue of her party, but could be under threat from a Democratic challenger as her national profile-seeking has revealed to the country exactly how much of an embarrassment she is.

She goes on to "translate" Bachmann's resignation speech.

Is this slut-shaming, or am I not supposed to notice when feminists trash women with a hatred that men would be called misogynist for employing? I'm so confused!

[itsnotmeitsyou]

No no, it's ok for THEM to trash a woman with that level of hatred. But if comes from you, it's tainted by the fact that you have a penis.

Bad penis!

[Nikki says you caddie well]

could be under threat from a Democratic challenger as her national profile-seeking has revealed to the country exactly how much of an embarrassment she is

I really don't know how true this is, but wouldn't it have been a lot more true in November 2012 than it will be in November 2014?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Minnesota is... weird. It could be true, but as with so many other subjects, I suspect this is something about which Amanduh is clueless.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Look at it this way--just because Bachmann's a loon doesn't mean Marcotte is any less of a waste of carbon molecules.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Whoever wins a cripple fight, the audience always loses.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bachmann should be shamed for being a statist whore.

She and her poofty husband survived on farm subsidies, Medicaid billing for getting rid of the ghey, Fannie Mae loans, and Congressional pay and loot.

Ms. Tea Party she is.

[Auric Demonocles]

There was some talk earlier about trying to set up a beer trade in HnR. Who would be interested (and has ideas on how to organize)?

[T]

I'm interested, but I have no idea how to organize.

[Restoras]

So, we need...a community organizer?

[Auric Demonocles]

So, we need...a community organizer?

Damn, they all seem to have gotten snatched up for upper management.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Same.

[Zakalwe]

Same!

[db]

Maybe if legal. Are we talking homebrew or hard to get local beers?

[Auric Demonocles]

I was imagining hard to get local beers....

But what is harder to get or more local than homebrews?

[Mad Scientist]

I get 12 bottles delivered every month from the Beer Of The Month club, so the hurdles for shipping the stuff shouldn't be too high. But for all I know you need a license and a health inspection and a special stamp and a zoning variance and ...

[Raston Bot]

Just a heads up. It's illegal to ship if you're not a licensed distributor. You could try shipping yeast samples suspended in a medium of simple sugars and humulus lupulus via FedEx or UPS but definitely not USPS.

[Auric Demonocles]

Even if you aren't selling it?

[Joe M]

We didn't have any problems using USPS.

[Raston Bot]

If you use USPS and there's a mishap like a broken yeast containment vessel, then you are federally fucked.

[Max Power]

I vaguely remember from lurking a few years ago that someone said they tried to ship beer and it broke and then the police came. I don't remember who that was though.

[Max Power]

Also, I'm in.

[C. Anacreon]

Are you the same Max Power from the Wildcat Report site? That would be something.

[Max Power]

No, I saw it on a hair dryer.

[Joe M]

I did this once on homebrewtalk.com, and it was pretty cool, but damn it's expensive to ship liquid in glass bottles. We used some kind of random lottery where everybody sent and received two bottles from three different people, not necessarily the same three for each group either. I sent six bottles and it cost about $35 total in shipping.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Count me in, and I might organize.

[Auric Demonocles]

What method would you use to organize?

[Clich? Bandit]

im in.

[Raston Bot]

I found this posted by a local homebrew club:

2. It is legal to ship your entries via UPS, FedEx Ground or air freight. Usually you will be asked the contents of the package; your reply should be: "Bottles, but they are double-boxed and padded well." DO NOT send entries via US Postal Services. It is illegal to ship via USPS and your entry will not be judged.?

3. PACK YOUR ENTRIES WELL: Line the inside of your carton with a plastic trash bag. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material. Clearly state "GLASS FRAGILE THIS SIDE UP" on the package. No late entries will be accepted.?

The bolded section does not reconcile with guidance from my local FedEx and UPS branches who flat out refused to ship my bottles and described some licensing scheme.

[Auric Demonocles]

Just because it is legal for you to ship with them, doesn't mean they have to let you.

[robc]

Yet another advantage to cans. Much, much less likely to break open in transit.

[Auric Demonocles]

Heady Topper is in cans!

So is Long Trail and Magic Hat, but those will probably be less desired.

[robc]

If I ever get a hold of a Heady Topper Im going to ignore the instructions and pour it into a glass.

Magic Hat can bite me.

[Michael S. Langston]

I was in shipping during a prior life - it's technically illegal to ship alcohol unless thru a licensed distributor.

However, due to wine and beer baskets and other type gift items, it is routine.

Just pack well - they make double-walled boxes with foam inserts that fit bottles ow wine perfectly. They were fairly inexpensive and work well... but pack well and write on contents label 'tea' or whatever.

[SeaCaptain(Yokeltarian)]

While Reason focuses on French gay marriage.....

Seriously, Sub Saharans ruin EVERYWHERE they go. Look at Columbus,OH and Minneapolis for a close to home example.

[a better weapon]

Never had a problem with the Somoli population when I was in Minneapolis, but then again I was only there for 2 years.

A sub-saharan gent in military fatigues beginning a loud prayer in arabic on the 94 bus was unsettling, but that's about it.

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

This is my experience as well and I have lived in Minneapolis for 28 years. Got no concerns about Somalis at all.

[CE]

Of course not -- the state government provides them ROADZ for free.

[Let Me Ride]

Omaha, NE and Portland, ME are doing alright. Besides, isn't Minneapolis a haven for Somalis who are, to a man, devoted libertarians (and not sub Saharan)?

[a better weapon]

You should seem them when they come off the plane for the first time and see roads! Holy shit, they can't believe it!

I've had many beers with the Somalis talking about shit we wouldn't miss.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I dunno, sub-Saharan Africans made the southern United States, the Caribbean, and Brazil pretty nice places to live for some folks circa 1552-1872.

[Eduard van Haalen]

+1 mint julep

[A Serious Man]

Evidence that liberals are completely fucking unhinged when it comes to Monsanto.

The march to stop Monsanto is one of the most pressing issues of our time. As a single company, Monsanto is the tip of the iceberg representing the threat that unchecked corporate power has in corrupting our democratic institutions, driving family farmers off the land, threatening human health and contaminating our environment.

Is there any global tragedy that Monsanto isn't behind?

[T]

Yeah, I have one art professor friend who is completely unhinged about Monsanto. It's pretty funny to watch from afar.

[Marshall Gill]

You won't be laughing about Monsanto when Soylent Green hits the market.

[Brett L]

But they made Agent Orange!!1!

ME: As long sa they don't reuse shipping containers for food after AO, I'm good.

[Irish]

I like that Monsanto is at fault for making Agent Orange, but they never hold the government accountable for actually dropping it on people.

Since the government dropped Agent Orange on civilians and gave their children birth defects, that means you should never trust the government, right liberals?

[Goldwyn Smith]

Since the government dropped Agent Orange on civilians and gave their children birth defects, that means you should never trust the government, right liberals?

Wrong People were in charge then.

[Bee Tagger]

And the Senior Partners who run Monsanto are ever still in charge.

[db]

What are they, a division of Wolfram and Hart?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Terrible.

[mad libertarian guy]

I like that Monsanto is at fault for making Agent Orange, but they never hold the government accountable for actually dropping it on people.

It's like guns. Some people use them badly and so they shouldn't be allowed to exist. They're anti-technology and anti-progress. How they've become known as Progressives is a linguistic sham and the result of a 120 year old long con.

[Tejicano]

"How they've become known as Progressives is a linguistic sham"

Well, they are also called "liberals" so...

[Killazontherun]

I saw this earlier today where a progtard was patting himself and his party on the back for being more sciency than Republicans:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201.....democrats/

Yes they are the ones spreading propaganda that global warming is not real and all the other planets are also warming up in our solar system and that those higher C02 levels are great for the plants in addition to claiming those GMO foods are wonderful and harmless.

BWAHAHAHA!

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Monsanto is the reason that the Lost series finale didn't make any damned sense.

Monsanto is why the prequels had to have Jar Jar Binks in them.

Monsanto is why Firefly got cancelled.

[a better weapon]

I could live with the first one, but not the other two.

Where is my protest organizer's approved sign to carry?!

[C. Anacreon]

Monsanto is why the goddam Cubs will never win the pennant.

[seguin]

Monsanto is why the Ford Falcon isn't available in the States.

[Jumbie]

Monsanto is why the Millennium Falcon isn't available in the States.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Monsanto is patenting farm seeds. They are brilliant capitalists who exploit IP law aided by the heavy hand of the government.

[Rasilio]

"Monsanto is patenting farm seeds. They are brilliant crony capitalists who exploit IP law aided by the heavy hand of the government."

FIFY

While the focus on Monsanto GMO's is clearly misplaced the fact is the are one of the most vile corporations on the planet an have mastered the art of regulatory capture at a level that makes Wall Street Investment banks envious.

[PapayaSF]

They are patenting seeds that they developed. AFAIK they have no stranglehold on seeds in general.

[seguin]

Here's something I don't understand: does their patent cover the introns as well? It seems like an easy way to get around the patent if so.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I have one liberal friend who is pretty much wrong about everything. He loves his gobmint, hates guns, typical statist idiocy...

However, he and I have sat on the same side of the "debate" over GMO and Monsanto since day 1. It shocked me. Here, I had lefties jumping all over me for being ok with GMO and he, of all people, jumped in to help defend me.

He spoke eloquently and intelligently about it and I could tell he'd really done his homework. It just saddened me to know that when it came to things like guns, he just plugged his ears and went "LALALALALALALA GUNZRBADMKAY!!!" It's sad to see someone with actual intelligence bury their head.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So will Reason include Hollande in their new heroes of freedom?

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Where did you find that foto of Epi?

[a better weapon]

The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who had been the subject of an investigation for allegedly using private e-mail aliases to conduct agency business, has gone to work for Apple.

Maybe you have Apple become part of the revolving door, maybe this whole "tax" circus packs up and moves onto the next town...

[Brett L]

FBI spent 2 years decoding the lyrics to "Louie, Louie", found that it was not, in fact, a pinko Commie faggot call to revolution.

[db]

I think Berke Breathed did a comic on this back in '86 or so.

[Brett L]

Probably. I dl'd the first 3 years of Bloom County from iBooks and was just too damned young to appreciate him back then. (In fairness, I was 1 when he stopped drawing for The Daily Texan and moved on to professional syndication.)

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Canadian Coat Hangers placed at half mast today

[Goldwyn Smith]

Remind me to not watch the news today. Not that I usually watch it.

[Bee Tagger]

Hey! Don't watch the news today.

Is this a paying gig?

[Generic Stranger]

Damn, I was hoping Justin Beiber died...

[Mickey Rat]

90 years too late.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

corporations sit there in their... in their corporation buildings, and... and, and see, they're all corporation-y...

Today, the New York Times published a report about how bold gun manufacturers are about their willingness to put guns on the black market, if it increases their profits:

The Glock executive testified that he would keep doing business with a gun dealer who had been indicted on a charge of violating firearms laws because "This is still America" and "You're still innocent until proven guilty."

The president of Sturm, Ruger was not interested in knowing how often the police traced guns back to the company's distributors, saying it "wouldn't show us anything."

And a top executive for Taurus International said his company made no attempt to learn if dealers who sell its products were involved in gun trafficking on the black market. "I don't even know what a gun trafficker is," he said.

Don't those corporations know that anyone accused of a crime should be shunned and never allowed to participate in market exchanges?

[Brett L]

Exactly how many journalists accused of a crime have been denounced by the NYT?

[Irish]

I thought the government was supposed to be the one handling people who break the law. If gun companies start doing the government's job for them, and start tracking down gun traffickers, wouldn't that make them vigilantes by Raw Story's fucktarded definition?

This is the publication that informed me that shooting a rapist is wrong because it escalates the violence, therefore you should call the magic police officers, who will ride their magic carpets to your door and use their rainbow powers and unicorns to end the threat.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I hate her too much for using "amongst" in her first paragraph to continue reading. What a pretentious fuckwit.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

You're a copy-editor, right? Must be torture for you to read Marcotte, heh. I'm not the best English speaker or writer, and even I can tell that she's terrible.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I was; still am at heart.

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

I question your use of punctuation in the above sentence.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Ha, I was waiting for that.

[db]

That shit bothers me too. "I smelt my own farts whilst writing this."

[mad libertarian guy]

That shit bothers me too. "I smelt my own farts whilst writing this."

Seriously, dude. Don't disparage fart sniffing like that. One can get a great sense of satisfaction from letting a big nasty loose.

[Irish]

What ho, Nikki! Why dost thou speak such vile slanders as regards the noble Marcotte? Thou art just imbued with jealousy that thou canst not use unnecessarily antiquated spellings as you scrawl across the parchment with your quill pen.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Aaaaaand then I kept reading and almost stroked out. That's a real bad one.

[Brett L]

But blogging means breaking free from the chains of editors and running amok. Like the 17 year olds who think poems should be written in one take. But lower quality and with less clarity.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

You're right, Brett. So let me clarify a bit.

Gun Manufacturers Fight To Protect Profits From Black Market Sales

So, you might think that headline means gun manufacturers are concerned about losing profits because people are buying black-market guns instead of new guns from manufacturers or their retail partners. It doesn't. Fighting to protect profits here means fighting for other people to sell your products illegally. Why?

In sum, gun manufacturers have made it as easy as humanly possible for gun dealers to make huge sales of guns to people who clearly will be turning around and selling them on the black market to people who couldn't pass background checks. Selling guns to criminals?even if you have to use a bunch of middlemen to do it?is good for business, and gun manufacturers understandably were neither going to take voluntary action to limit these sales nor were they going to allow the government to pass laws to limit these sales.

Now, I have no idea how gun manufacturers have "made it as easy as humanly possible" for retailers to sell to straw purchases, because that would require Amanda to give evidence. She does not. But this is my favorite part...

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Someone at Smith & Wesson has a conscience, and the company took voluntary action to keep their guns from falling into the hands of criminals. They required their dealers to perform background checks at gun shows and took action to limit the number of guns that could be bought by one person at a time.

Nothing S&W did required their dealers to perform background checks at gun shows. That's the motherfucking law, you stupid cunt. It also has nothing to do with what the NYT actually cites about S&W that hurt their business:

In 2000, it agreed to settle the litigation, and it adopted a number of far-reaching changes, including promising to design a handgun that could not be operated by children and forbidding its dealers and distributors from selling at gun shows unless background checks were conducted on all sales.

Right, because designing a handgun that can't be operated by children and complying with existing laws on background checks are totally the same thing.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

How the fuck do you make a gun that children can't use?

A) the little bastards are ingenious at getting around child safety features. Ask anyone with kids.

B) There are no physical distinctions that are unique to being an adult that would prevent children from using them.

C) Fuck this moron, why am I even giving her words a first, let alone second thought?

[General Butt Naked]

How the fuck do you make a gun that children can't use?

You put a giant, yellow, federally mandated sticker on the side of the gun that says: "Danger! Not For Children!"

Remember back in the days before federally mandated stickers when people used to actually smoke cigarettes.

[Generic Stranger]

In this case, they put on a little lock that was pretty much universally reviled by gun owners, as it's considered an unnecessary complication that can and has locked the gun up while firing. S&W was boycotted because of that 2000 agreement and damn near went out of business. The owners at the time ended up having to sell the company.

Unfortunately, most new manufactured S&W revolvers still have that damn lock, but every once in a while they release a line without it, and they seem to be slowly getting away from it.

[Brett L]

the little bastards are ingenious at getting around child safety features. Ask anyone with kids.

The nice thing about being in my mid 30s as I start my parenting journey is that I understand that they are born with intelligence, the only advantage I have is experience.

[mad libertarian guy]

A) the little bastards are ingenious at getting around child safety features. Ask anyone with kids.

This is true to a point. One can generally use brute strength to allay younger kids.

[Corneliusm]

S&W's marketing is far superior to Glock, Sturm Ruger, and Taurus simply because they were only ones smart enough to inform a "journalist" that their dealers were federally-licensed and therefore require Form 4473s.

I recently had a debate with an anti-2A coworker who seemed surprised when I told him that all FFLs are already legally required to perform background checks on all purchases, even at gun shows. Can't fault him though- the successful misinformation campaign by Bloomberg, Biden, et al even has many in the pro-2A camp thinking that gun dealers and shops love gun shows because they can avoid the background checks there.

Ignorance is a powerful weapon.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Proofreading is an evil plot by the patriarchy -- deny it your substance at all times.

[PapayaSF]

The NY Times never does business with unions that have been found to violate the law, right?

[Goldwyn Smith]

So Chafee has gone full Bruce Bartlett like that Goldwater kid?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bartlett left the GOP when they went Big Gov.

Nothing wrong with that.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Something wrong with going from opposing GOP Big Gov to lurving Dem Big Gov though.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Is Rob Ford destroying evidence?

Emails and telephone records in Mayor Rob Ford's office are in danger of disappearing, the Star has learned.

The electronic records, which may reveal knowledge of discussions of the video scandal, were ordered destroyed this week. Sources say people who were told to delete the records are balking at the order.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Welcome Mayor Olivia Chow!

[Brett L]

Well, yeah. I mean you can't NOT destructively ingest crack.

[A Serious Man]

This hits close to where I live: Newport teen escapes death in fiery crash because his father made him stay home and study.

[a better weapon]

Has the car been given a parking ticket yet

[Clich? Bandit]

soooo...putting on my tinfoil hat...Was the car hit by a drone strike? Perhaps these kids were a message to their parents?

*takes hat off*

Not possible with our transparent and benevolent government.

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

Perhaps had the son been picked up, the timing of the trip would have been altered and the accident would never have happened. This fucker just killed five of his kid's friends.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Chaos theory.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

IT IS the dream of many men - a shirt that can be worn for 100 days straight without needing a wash or iron.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifesty.....z2UiXwrxhE

[Bee Tagger]

Yeah, I have one of those shirts already, I call it my skin.

[T]

Stand downwind, please.

[Archduke Pantsfan]

Burn the Heretic

[Joe M]

I am so sick of leftists tossing around the 97% number. It was 97% of those who expressed an opinion, not 97% of the grand total.

[PapayaSF]

The "97%" figure itself is under serious question.

[Ayn Random Variation]

Tony and Obama are in France?

[Brett L]

As long as they are public lands, I am fine with NHS funded boob jobs when single payer comes to America. I mean, you can't judge by the picture because she's British. Of course $7000 didn't fix what was wrong with her looks.

[Jordan]

Holy shit, she looks like a caveman with bolt-on tits.

[PapayaSF]

Too bad she didn't know that bigger is not always better.

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, I might be okay with funding part of that.

Can we just go with $5000 and get some that aren't too big for the girl?

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, can we now all agree that socialized medicine is an unvarnished evil?

[Auric Demonocles]

Seriously. They should have started with the face, not the chest.

[Brett L]

Again, she's British. They don't even know her face is bad. They think anyone with straight teeth is a movie star.

[mr lizard]

Ya i'd put on the clown shoes, and fire up the ZombieRapeVan for that tax payer funded carnival ride.

[A Serious Man]

Jessica Chastain, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, and others being considered for the role of a young Hillary Clinton in biopic.

The question is: can you separate the attractiveness of those actresses from the image of the woman they are playing?

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, for the love of God. Another campaign film? Give it a rest, people.

[Auric Demonocles]

Suddenly Pro Lib hates Citizen United!

[Brett L]

I'm sure people will be suing to re-fight Citizens United, right?

[SweatingGin]

They might pick up some more support for overturning citizen's united if they promise to ban this.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Game Change was awesome. It was kind of like Mommie Dearist and Gia rolled into one.

[A Serious Man]

Even the title of the film, "Rodham", is just off-putting.

Rodham sounds like some gay sex toy.

[Palin's Buttplug]

It should be called Pants suit. Is that one word or two?

No chicks here to know.

[Pro Libertate]

They're missing the superior title: Rodhammer

[ant1sthenes]

Or some sort of euphemism for wang, at least.

[a better weapon]

Eh, the fact that they think her early years are interesting enough to make a movie about is the real crime. The casting of bombshells for below average people isn't new. I mean, the real Blind Side woman didn't look a thing like Sandra Bullock either.

They were pretty close with the Michael Oher character though.

[Pro Libertate]

She's such toast. It's funny that people view her as the candidate to beat in 2016. The fuck she is.

[Irish]

The minute someone makes her angry during a debate and she starts screaming like a harpy, she will be done. She has no control over her emotions.

Of course, since she has no control over her emotions and will probably lose the election as a result of her horrible personality will result in feminists claiming that she lost because of patriarchal sexism.

[a better weapon]

Damn right it will be!

-ProgDerp

begins furiously scrubbing historical articles referencing Howard Dean's emotional and screeching downfall

[Juice]

Her maniacal cackle alone should make anyone question her sanity.

[Ayn Random Variation]

"Rodham: How I fucked my way to the top"

[Palin's Buttplug]

Hillary: The Big Dawg's Bitch

Better.

[Marshall Gill]

Ewwww. That is just nasty. And not in the good way.

[CE]

The Arkansas Chainsaw Massacre.

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

NOT Arkansan. NOT AT ALL.

She's a - wait for it - Illinois girl. She was an albatross around Bill's neck when he was in this state.

[The Late P Brooks]

Attorney General Eric Holder will be meeting with various Washington bureau media chiefs to discuss the government's surveillance of reporters in order to track down leakers. The meetings will, of course, be off the record.

It's too bad nobody has the balls to go to that meeting and then publish a complete transcript.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Most atheist countries?

Interestingly, you can come to several results depending on how you ask the question. Japan, for example, is either one of the most or least religious countries in the world, depending on whether your polling questions allow for syncretic and flexible views on the topic of divinity.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So what do you guys think of the Marquess of Queensbury? He was an atheist who liked boxing and had Oscar Wilde busted for being gay. Does that make him an atheist hero or not?

[Killazontherun]

Who needs heroes when you don't worship any one or thing?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Ask the millions of atheists in China who flood Mao's Mausoleum every year. People are good at creating gods -- almost as good as they are at killing them.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Or the atheists who love Stalin, Chavez and Obama.

[Palin's Buttplug]

This site is about "free minds" - read the motto.

Theocrats go elsewhere.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Nothing says "free minds" then Obama fellating.

[Pro Libertate]

Many of the greatest proponents of political, economic, and philosophical freedom were theists, you know.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Some were even polytheists!

NOOOOOOO

[Pro Libertate]

Polygamatheists!

[Killazontherun]

And Napoleon, Hitler and Suharto were Catholic. So what?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Hitler was more likely a neo-pagan than anything else -- and I'm not sure Napoleon had it in his heart to worship anything bigger than himself. Can't really speak to Suharto's faith; Catholicism makes as much sense as anything else.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Suharto [was] Catholic

Huh? Where are you getting that from? Everything I've ever read about him states he was a Muslim.

[Apatheist ?_??]

He was a Muslim. I was in Singapore at the time. They were actively persecuting the Chinese minority, a subset of which made up most of the Christian population in Java.

We and other expats we knew had friends from Jarkata come stay with us because it was becoming dangerous.

Even so, I'm not sure how Suharto made it into the same list as Hitler and Stalin or even Chavez.

[Killazontherun]

Chavez had nothing like East Timor going for him, but HM is right about him being Muslim.

[Killazontherun]

South East Asian Catholic despot who was a bit on the murdery side. I must have been thinking of someone else.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You're probably thinking of the 'Nam.

[Killazontherun]

You are quite right, and how I muddled that is inexcusable. I actually did a lot of research related to his assassination at one time.

[AlexInCT]

Pol Pot? that fella knew how do do it. In a country of some 6 miilion he sent 2 million to their gravess. That's being effective at culling the herd.

[Killazontherun]

Do they need a hero or is that a mere psychological crutch? That is the question.

There is a presumption of atheism, or nonworship, in any form of anti-collectivism. That being you are the only one responsible for your actions, not God, gods, demi-gods, heroes, genetics or the collective Other. If the Marquess of Queensbury is my hero than there is an assumption that I take on a form of culpability for his actions, and thus atheism is tainted as well. Sorry, but no. Whatever he did to Wilde has nothing to do with me nor my belief system.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So you have a "belief" system?

Anyway I was more making a jab about the importance of atheism that reason and its commenters make. Like you know loving Hitchens because of his atheism but ignoring everything else. Then I read numerous comments of peoples shocked that their atheist friends aren't libertarian as if there was a correlation between the two.

[Joe M]

Hitchens' book God is Not Great is, uh, great, btw.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Intelligence and atheism correlate.

[Goldwyn Smith]

Then I guess the Western and Soviet Elites must be the smartest EVAH?

[Killazontherun]

I don't know how you pointing out 'belief system' is 'poking a hole' in something. I believe it is Wednesday, but every now and then, especially on a vacation, the day will be different than the one I believe it to be. I don't believe in Jehovah, but if he were to show up at my door, offer me a deal to smite my enemies, I may be willing to put him on a trial retainer.

[Goldwyn Smith]

My reference to "belief system" was to the fact that I've seen some atheists (on this board even) claim that "only theists believe!" It was not the main point of my post.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I've always thought that libertarianism had its basis more in agnosticism than atheism -- a healthy skepticism about government and society's ability and willingness to ascertain and implement morality as an institutional feature.

[Killazontherun]

I actually shared this belief too, until Sugarfree set me straight. Atheism is simply the refusal to accept the dominion of an entity over one's self in the form of worship. You can leave the question of God's existence out of it. I happen to believe it is likely their is an intelligence behind the creative aspect of the universe, but worship is a primitive form of acknowledging it.

[T]

Wait, what? If the Marquess of Queensbury is your hero, that simply means you find something in him worthy of emulation, not that you have any culpability for his actions. You may have to explain yourself if you run around telling people he's your hero. People may also think that you, like the Marquess, have some bad ideas or behavior but that's being tarred by association, not culpability.

There's always a need for goals to strive for, and sometimes using an existing example is easier than starting from whole cloth. Just make sure you acknowledge the flaws in your hero and don't try to emulate those, too.

[Killazontherun]

Tarring by association is misplaced culpability, if it weren't you would not have to answer for the actions of your heroes. For example, I greatly admire the economic work of Murray Rothbard, and make no bones about that, but every now and then a Goddamned fool will believe that to mean I have to repeat some denunciation mantra about his comments concerning the LA Riots. I don't apologize for my own words concerning the LA Riots much less those of another person on the basis I find something admirable about that person.

[Killazontherun]

BTW, no, I'm agnostic on the value of MoQ as a hero. I objected to atheist having to answer for him one way or another on the persecution of Wilde.

[tarran]

'Stop telling kids they look beautiful', says UK Minister Jo Swinson

Ms Swinson, 33, who doesn't have any children herself, said mothers should also be careful not to impart their own body image issues onto their children.

I did my fucking best parenting before I had kids as well.

[Bee Tagger]

"I know as an aunt, you fall into the trap of turning to your niece and saying, 'you look beautiful' ? because of course all children do look beautiful ? but if the message they get is that is what's important and that is what gets praise, then that's not necessarily the most positive message you want them to hear," she said.

She couldn't even follow her own advice for 3 seconds.

[Goldwyn Smith]

You know who else didn't follow their own advice?

[LynchPin1477]

To hell with that BS. There is nothing wrong with a beautiful person a) knowing it, b) feeling good about it, c) profiting from it. Ugly people can go find something else to take pride in.

[Auric Demonocles]

That is also wrong because there are ugly kids out there.

Hell, I was one.

[Joe M]

Her comments come as the government launches its 'Body Confidence Campaign'...

"Don't tell your kids they're beautiful; that's the government's job."

[mad libertarian guy]

because of course all children do look beautiful

That's horse shit of the highest order.

[Thane of #HOLO]

Trigger warning: Jezebel

So is this a troll, or not?

[Goldwyn Smith]

SF'ed the link

[Thane of #HOLO]

http://i.imgur.com/FkVKqJH.png

[Thane of #HOLO]

SF'd THEN fucked up the threading? FML.

[Auric Demonocles]

Okay, now complain about alt-text missing, then insult Michael Bay, then hate pythons, then impregnate another HnR poster, then be a girl.

You're trying to take all of the regular commenter's "thing", right?

[Thane of #HOLO]

Huh?

[Auric Demonocles]

First you messed up a link. Then you ignored threading.

Sugarfree. P Brooks.

From there I was continuing with other regulars' quirks.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I am definitely going to consider being a girl a quirk from now on.

[Auric Demonocles]

Maybe that was referring to Banjos.

[Thane of #HOLO]

Or Kristen.

Or hotsy totsy, if she can qualify as a "regular"

[Auric Demonocles]

Nah, Kristen would have been "use the word squeeze to mean boyfriend".

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I can still use it.

[Thane of #HOLO]

Yeah I get it now.

I don't usually identify screwing up threading with Brooksie, but looking back it makes sense.

So if you can SF a link, does that mean you can Brooks a thread? Or does he not have verb privilege?

PS And I stole sarc's small tit love. John is safe, though.

[Auric Demonocles]

I don't usually identify screwing up threading with Brooksie, but looking back it makes sense.

Really? He refused to switch over when threading got implemented. We didn't think he was going to keep posting when they added registration.

[Thane of #HOLO]

I haven't been around long enough for all that. I was revolted by the comments when I first visited Reason in '08 and hence read them relatively infrequently (I mean, I read enough to know about Mary Stack and White Indian, but that doesn't take much).

I didn't start doing much serious lurking until around '11, as I began to understand some of the memes and in-jokes and became slightly less revolted.

[PapayaSF]

"Hit+Run commenters: Slightly less revolting once you get to know us!"

[Pro Libertate]

Wait, who hates pythons?

[db]

You, dumbass.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

I was going to invoke Poe's Law, but I don't know how many trolls would be familiar enough to use "kyriarchical" appropriately. It would be like SF-level trolling.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Hell, I don't know how you can call it a troll when published and quoted feminists have said the same thing years before.

[jesse.in.mb]

Yay! "all heterosexual sex is rape" all of you are doing it wrong.

I suppose that's a tiny bit better than the feminist I knew who said gay porn was just as misogynistic as straight porn because it made the claim that women weren't necessary for sex.

[Goldwyn Smith]

So is homosexuality misogynistic or not? On one hand it means that women aren't sex objects. On the other hand it means that women have no role in a society except for procreation. And with in-vitro fertilization gay men don't even need to have sex with women to procreate. ZOMG TEH PATRIARCHY!!

[Stormy Dragon]

Of course homosexuality is misogynstic. You know they're really just fantasizing about raping women when they have sex with other men.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

You have a dick, so you're doing it wrong too. So there.

BTW, how did you actually respond to that bitch?

[jesse.in.mb]

Haha, unfortunately it was with slack-jawed incredulity. I was just blind-sided by the stupid.

[Nikki says you caddie well]

Makes sense.

[Killazontherun]

Since I can't have sex without it being rape, why not just embrace my inner rapist and take the lid off the id and rape without abandon?

[PapayaSF]

Yes, one problem with that world view is that you then have to define some sort of more extreme "rape rape." Or maybe not. So much of "progressive" thought seems to consist of taking the most extreme terms (racism, sexism, homophobia, fascism) and applying them so widely that they lose all meaning.

[Michael S. Langston]

It's because they're the 'big tent' party - and by defining original sin as broadly as possible; they then by definition broaden the base of people requiring salvation.

And to keep the story together, original sin needs its proponents - commonly referred to as the 'devil' in Christianity, this 'entity' is always tempting those requiring salvation prompting behaviors which could well affect their mortal souls.

Therefore - the other side, that side responsible for racism, sexism, global warming, capitalism , etc, etc, etc - even if that side has a decent idea or seems to be correct - this is only an illusion. It is a ruse used to lull you into a false sense of security in order to finally tempt you enough to harm your mortal soul.

When you believe like this - it becomes easy to think more laws to control the ignorant/weak but well meaning populace, are required.

Not just laws, but enforcement is required as well. We may not like it, but rules are required!

Why? Because we're doing G*d's work.

And if you don't 'get' it.... then FYTW.

[Stormy Dragon]

James Lipton discusses working as a pimp in 1950's Paris:

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2.....?hpt=hp_t3

[Goldwyn Smith]

Unless he hooked Kate Hepburn up with some women I don't care.

[cavalier973]

A D.C. man who faced criminal charges for using an unregistered gun to kill a pit bull as it mauled a neighborhood boy is now raising funds for the 11-year-old victim to help him cope in the aftermath of the vicious attack.

[cavalier973]

Stupid idjit; don't he know that only police officers are allowed to kill dogs?

[Agammamon]

No, others are allowed to kill dogs but DC figures its better that you get mauled to death by a pack of strays than you have a scary gun.

[Tejicano]

I've never lived in the DC area and only visited it infrequently when my dad lived there about 20 years ago - but this makes me wonder if there ever was a time, back in whatever day, when something like this would have been handled by confiscating the gun, telling the guy he did a good thing with the wrong tool, then sweeping it all under the rug.

I. Really. Hate. "Zero Tolerance".

[ant1sthenes]

Hey, they're only fining him. If the story didn't get publicity, he's probably be doing hard time for nearly depriving a cop of a chance to kill something.

[Tejicano]

Oh, now I see it - there were three dogs and he only shot one which left the other two dogs for the police to shoot and kill (they did). I'd hate to think what might have happened to him if he had shot all three dogs.

[PapayaSF]

Oh, I think there's no question that a lot of law enforcement was rather informal back in the day, for good or ill. The local cop knew the neighborhood, and cut some slack when appropriate (and probably sometimes when it wasn't).

[Agammamon]

Here's a fun one to end your night on - an example of the stellar quality of person we have running the government at the national level.

http://abovethelaw.com/2013/05.....ury-it-is/

Apparently Tom Cotton (R-AR) thinks that people are entitled to due process only if they aren't accused of too serious a crime.

[Agammamon]

"Cotton also seeks to punish any family member of those people, "to include a spouse and any relative to the third degree,"

I like that - like ancient Chinese treason laws - kill up the tree to the great grandparents and then kill down to the great grandchildren. Pull out those roots. That'll stop crime for sure.

[WomSom]

There is a ude that knows what time it is. WOw.

http://www.Anony-Web.tk