A.M. Links: Bradley Manning Trial Starts Today, Jay Carney a "Paid Liar," Public Smoking Ban Goes into Effect in Russia

• 

  Ktione/Foter.com

  The trial of Bradley Manning begins today. The private accused of leaking information to Wikileaks, faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted.

• House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa called the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a "paid liar."
• More than 1,700 protesters have been arrested so far in Turkey. The prime minister says demonstrations are nothing like a Turkish Spring because he's a humble servant, not a dictator. The government of Syria, meanwhile, against which a Sunni cleric in Egypt declared a holy war,  has warned its residents against visiting Turkey because of the unrest there. France believes it can help stop Islamists from Mali from fleeing into Libya.
• Ten school children and two NATO soldiers were among 16 killed in a suicide attack in Kabul.
• The government of the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland confirmed that a surveillance drone crashed in the area. The ports and anti-piracy minister said it was unclear who was operating the drone.
• Henry Capriles doesn't think Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela can survive growing economic problems, partisan in-fighting and the widespread belief the election was stolen.
• A public smoking ban went into effect in Russia this weekend.

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Comments

[Virginian]

Brilliant. Put AM Links in 24/7 to force us to read them.

[UnCivilServant]

I wondered why it went there.

[PS]

Nick has been getting more diabolical since the Jacket took and extended vacation.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

You see the evils that occur once the host slowly regains their autonomy.

[NicoleM]

Start working at home with Google! It's by-far the best job Ive had. Last Monday I got a new Alfa Romeo from bringing in $7778. I started this 9 months ago and practically straight away started making more than $83 per hour. I work through this link, http://www.Mojo50.com

[Gene]

And now they make it look like it never happened.

[Ted S.]

It's a scheme to keep Fisty from being first to comment.

[PS]

Isn't it easier to report FoE to the Handicapper General?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Individual greatness cannot be tolerated.

[Fist of Etiquette]

House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa called the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a "paid liar."

No, he said he thought he had a plaid lair. Which is just as bad.

[LTC(ret) John]

the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a "paid liar."

That is a job description, not an insult.

[VG Zaytsev]

So he thinks that he's still a journalist?

[Pro Libertate]

That was my initial thought, too. How sad that we tolerate such things.

[Lord Humungus]

Is Mars Infested With Pareidolia Rats?
http://www.livescience.com/370.....-rats.html

It has finally happened. Not content with (potentially) infecting the pristine Martian surface with our germs, it appears that we've sent a rat (yes, a whole rat) to the Red Planet. And this isn't some far-fetched hypothesis, there's photographic evidence!

[Zeb]

Honest'y, if no signs of recent life are found on Mars (which seems most likely), people should just send loads of bacteria there and see if anything will take. If people want to try living there at some point, it would probably help to have some kind of life established. If anything can survive at all.

[Sy]

it would probably help to have some kind of life established. If anything can survive at all.

It'd probably also help to have a host of other things first, starting with a magnetosphere.

[Drake]

Nuke the core?

[Sy]

Well, Mars doesn't have a "core" like Earth. It didn't retain enough heat to differentiate, which is why it's red on the surface: iron. The iron should be in the core and mantle like on Earth.

Even if you were to nuke it, the decay needs to provide enough heat to make the entire planet a molten hunk of metal for a few hundred million years or whatever.

[Zeb]

I think Mars has a core. Just a smaller and most likely solid one. Mars had volcanism early on and started off as a molten glob, like any other large rocky body.

[CE]

I think Mars is just rusty.

[Sy]

"Mars had volcanism early on and started off as a molten glob, like any other large rocky body."

Yeah, but it wasn't massive enough to retain its heat long enough for the lighter elements to float to the surface and the iron to sink.
I think the current theory why that didn't happen is that Mars took a glancing blow from a large planetoid that knocked off a ton of mass off its nothern hemisphere.

[Tim]

NASA has found several Earth life forms that could survive on Mars;
e-coli, rats, mosquitos, lice, AIDs and Jock itch. Also congressmen.

[Zeb]

I'd be surprised if there were not some sort of bacteria or archaea that could survive somewhere on Mars.

[tarran]

Congressmen, being parasites, cannot survive absent human hosts. I doubt we will find any on Mars.

[robc]

I learned a new word.

[UnCivilServant]

I was sort of hoping one had nested in the spacecraft and fallen out after landing. This story was underwhelming.

[Brett L]

Fucking idiots. This was obviously the work of the Russians in the 1970s.

[Raven Nation]

This is, by far, the best research of life on Mars:

http://www.projectmars.net/pre.....fe-on-mars

The best stuff starts around Slide 46.

[RBS]

So THAT"S where bigfoot lives.

[Bobarian]

STEVE SMITH LIVE IN YOUR COLON.

[Rich]

Worst slide show evah.

[Raven Nation]

In terms of "slickness," yes. But the content is brilliant.

[PS]

http://reason.com/blog/2013/06.....nt_3782486

[some guy]

This is dumb. I thought the article was going to be about a rat that somehow snuck into the equipment and got accidentally shipped to Mars...

[Fist of Etiquette]

The trial of Bradley Manning begins today.

BUT THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS MORE TIME!!!

[CE]

Three years is "speedy", assuming we'll all live forever by 2045.

[Lord Humungus]

Lola the performing donkey ordered to get off Brussels balcony
http://www.reuters.com/article.....PS20130531

Belgian police have demanded that Lola, a theatre-starring donkey, be removed from the balcony of a cultural center in Brussels after neighbors complained about her braying.

[Slammer]

Pelosi is in Belgium?

[Virginian]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06.....watch-com/

Anyone remember AttackWatch?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Remember it? I still feed it intel.

[LTC(ret) John]

It doesn't help to report Epi more than the 41st time.

[PS]

House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa called the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a "paid liar."

As opposed to the rest of the people in Washington?

[UnCivilServant]

They're "Compensated Press Management Specialists".

[T]

Really, it's his job. It's just that Carney sucks at it. I mean, Gibbs would get up there and spit out the most egregious bullshit like it was simple fact and practically dare you to call him on it. Carney always seems vaguely embarrassed that he has to peddle such low-grade malarkey.

[Brett L]

After a post on H&R, it has become common in my local circles to just refer to the WH press secretary by the title Squealor. As in, "Squealor Carney is the the second worst Squealor in the 21st Century, beating out Scott McClellon but coming well behind Squealor Gibbs."

[PS]

+10 Deliverance Ned Beattys.

[SugarFree]

"He got a real pretty mouth ain't he?"

[AlexInCT]

DO SOME PRAYING!

[Lord Humungus]

Venezuelan police seize 2,500 rolls of toilet paper
http://www.washingtontimes.com.....let-paper/

Police in Venezuela say they have seized nearly 2,500 rolls of toilet paper in an overnight raid of a clandestine warehouse storing scarce goods.

The Thursday announcement on Twitter said that the officers raiding the garage in western Caracas also seized about 400 diapers and 7,000 liters of fruit juice.

Police Chief Luis Karabin told Venezuelan news agency AVN that police, acting on a telephone tip, found "merchandise that we know is scarce on the shelves and doesn't reach the people."

[Slammer]

"merchandise that we know is scarce on the shelves and doesn't reach the people."

Venezuelans got short arms!

[mr lizard]

Don't arrive at a shit show without enough tickets

[Joe M]

See, national socialism works!

[db]

If it weren't for those dirty hoarders, 700,000 Venezuelans could have wiped their ass once.

[Joe M]

I'm a little concerned that you did the math.

[db]

I'm flush with embarrassment.

[Cdr Lytton]

Crown this man and seat him on his porcelain throne!

[Virginian]

http://lancasteronline.com/obi.....uo.twitter

Great obituary.

[carol]

A shame the guy is dead. I would love for him to write my obituary. That was great.

[Lord Humungus]

meanwhile, on the badger front:

Far-Right Extremists Chased Through London by Women Dressed as Badgers
http://m.ibtimes.co.uk/bnp-edl.....73597.html

Young women dressed in fake fur were seen chasing doughty nationalist supporters down London's Whitehall as a large number of security forces in iridescent jackets looked on from police lines.

Led by Queen guitarist Brian May, protesters in fancy dress demanded an end to the government's cull of badgers, brought in to stop the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

They chanted: "Smash the cull! Smash the BNP!"

[SIV]

Wouldn't the animal rights freaks be the "extremists"? Extending "rights" to mycobacteria?

[Zeb]

No reason they can't all be extremists. I think they are more concerned for the badgers' rights than the bacteria's. Not that that is a lot better. When there are no predators and no hunting, you have to manage them somehow. How did Britons become such pussies?

[SIV]

At one time Britain led the world in bloodsports. How far they've fallen.

[DJF]

I think it was downhill when they so inbred the British Bulldog that it was no longer a fighting dog but a genetic freak which had trouble biting or even walking

[WTF]

True. The origial bulldogs were more like this.

[RBS]

Now that is a cool looking dog.

[Tonio]

Hey, SIV, do you have any evidence of any animal rights people wanting to extend rights to bacteria, or is this just made up bullshit on your part?

[Zeb]

I think we all know the answer to that.

[Joe M]

Based on that photo, why would you want to run?

[Zeb]

Note that Brian May is not pictured. I wish he'd just stick to astrophysics and playing the guitar.

[alittlesense]

This is one of the all-time great headlines.....

[Virginian]

http://collegeinsurrection.com.....erp-makes/

Double standards: twice as good as regular standards.

[Joe M]

Well, there is a bit of a difference between those two. One girl and five guys in a single incident is not the same as an ongoing relationship. It's pretty tough to make a judgement anyway without a lot more information, but I know with the two girls, the parents of the younger girl reported the older one. And age-of-consent laws are different everywhere, so the legality isn't the sole determiner of whether or not something is wrong.

[a better weapon]

Yeah, I didn't understand the comparison of the actual cases either.

The thought exercise to try and imagine support groups and Facebook campaigns coming to the aid of the defendant if she were a male was good enough, but the authors point was undermined by comparing an age inappropriate lesbian relationship to five 16 to 18 year old hockey players running a train on a 14 year old girl. Not even close to the same thing.

[Virginian]

''No school likes to think it's at the end of its options, [but] the boys should have understood that a five-to-one situation is by definition pressurized and coercive, and you can't assume there's anything mutual about it," she said."

_____________

That's the bullshit were talking about. Male sexual drives are cast as predatory and coercive.

[a better weapon]

I don't know, if the story was five 16 to 18 year old softball players and a 14 year old boy doing the Michael Douglas on them all, I'd still have the same feelings about it. I think the word predatory would still apply in that case.

Any comparison of 1 on 1 relationships and you're correct, but there is too much a degree in difference with this specific comparison.

[Bee Tagger]

A public smoking ban went into effect in Russia this weekend.

In Russia, speech passive aggressively refers to you.

[LTC(ret) John]

You are referred to by passive (aggressive) speech?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The government of Syria, meanwhile, against which a Sunni cleric in Egypt declared a holy war, has warned its residents against visiting Turkey because of the unrest there.

The Afghan government has warned its people to just stay clear of that whole region. It's a mess.

[db]

Somalia has offered to send foreign aid to assist Turkey during its difficult time.

[Tim]

The Klingons have withdrawn there diplomats.

[Lord Humungus]

Canadian relief for Moore tornado victims denied at border
U.S. border officials want 20,000 kg of food itemized, physically inspected before entering
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/.....order.html

A Canadian shipment of relief goods bound for storm-ravaged Oklahoma has been stopped at the Canada-U.S. border in Windsor, Ont.

American officials will not allow the 20,000 kilograms of food, blankets and diapers into the country until every item on board is itemized in alphabetical order and has the country of origin of every product noted.

Dennis Sauve, the volunteer co-ordinator for Windsor Lifeline Outreach and the food bank co-ordinator at the Windsor Christian Fellowship, the two organizations that gathered the goods, said it's a "physical impossibility" to do the paperwork required in time to get the perishable food to Oklahoma before it spoils.

[UnCivilServant]

"We don't want your pity help, we send pity help to lesser countries." - US Gov

[Tonio]

Yeah, not good PR for the US govt.

However, having said that, and with grateful admiration for the donors, WTF sends perishable food as relief supplies? Sorry, but food with long shelf life is what you send.

[UnCivilServant]

Well in arctic canada, it's not perishable, just stick it outside and it'll keep indefinately. 🙂

[Tonio]

Good one.

[Virginian]

http://legalinsurrection.com/2.....the-women/

Butthurt blue state politicians whine to Perry about his "stealing" jobs.

[UnCivilServant]

Gee, make it economically unattractive to do business in your state and people don't do business in your state. Whoda thunk?

[T]

Perry is a jackass of the highest degree, but his trolling blue states is goddamn brilliant. I wish I knew which staffer was behind it.

[Spoonman.]

He is a moron, but he generally knows what to keep his hands off of to keep Texas going.

[RBS]

I imagine Perry is the real life caricature of W.

[a better weapon]

Brolin would make a much better Perry than W. Lucky for him and Oliver, they'll probably never have to regret not saving it for a post-Perry presidency.

[PS]

Handsfree Whopper. My take and the UPI story.

[Virginian]

http://www.althouse.blogspot.c.....ed-is.html

[Virginian]

http://www.openculture.com/201.....years.html

So I thought my opinion of FDR couldn't sink any lower. Then I read this.

[PS]

This doesn't make sense at all. Must've had some passing swipe at communism and gulags.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I already knew my opinion of him couldn't sink any lower; fresh revelations just continue to confirm it.

[Lord Humungus]

Markets Erode Moral Values
http://www3.uni-bonn.de/Press-.....ral-values

Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics, fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns. This is the main result of an experiment conducted by economists from the Universities of Bonn and Bamberg. The results are presented in the latest issue of the renowned journal "Science".

Prof. Dr. Armin Falk from the University of Bonn and Prof. Dr. Nora Szech from the University of Bamberg, both economists, have shown in an experiment that markets erode moral concerns. In comparison to non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people participate in markets.

[Lord Humungus]

for extra derp, read the Boing Boing comments
http://boingboing.net/2013/06/.....to-vi.html

Duh. But maybe this is just clear and dense enough that a couple Randians might choke on it a little.

Melted Crayons

People have a propensity to ignore that which upsets them.
headcode

For Randians money is in practicality morality. They will not be bothered by this.

Little point arguing with Randroids in my experience ? many are ex-Marxists.

[Marc F Cheney]

Here's a zany, alternate interpretation: talk is cheap.

[Joe M]

Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics, fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns.

Logic fail.

First of all, child labor isn't necessarily immoral. Second, animals aren't moral agents. All this study means is people don't like to think about animals dying. There are plenty of people out there (*cough* PETA) who prioritize "animal rights" over everything else.

[Tonio]

And PeTA is only a small minority within the animal welfare community. But such a nice strawman you've got there.

[Citizen Nothing]

Has Tonio become the Tulpa of the animal kingdom? Discuss.

[Joe M]

What strawman is that?

[Zombie Jimbo]

I don't like strawmen, they are vegan. I want strawmen made of meat.

[Zeb]

People buy the stuff they want or need. Imagine that.

[thom]

"Participate in markets"???

This makes no sense. Everybody participates in markets, the same way we all participate in gravity. Even in the most oppressive of communist countries people still have to exchange goods, labor, and services.

[VG Zaytsev]

Markets Erode Moral Values

It's true,
markets erode moral values like racism, homophobia, sexism and religious laws.

Which is why proglodytes hate them so.

[KPres]

"Compared to the individual condition, a significantly higher number of subjects were willing to accept the killing of a mouse in both market conditions."

This is the critical flaw. Why would "individual" be the control group? Everything they claim about ethics in markets applies to any large grouping, as has been known to social scientists for a long time. Whenever responsibility is shared, people care less about the larger impact of their individual action.

The beauty of markets is that they require the least amount of ethical consideration and discipline. Don't kill, don't steal, don't defraud...most people can manage that. Some can't, so we have laws. But beyond those considerations, optimal outcomes are negotiated by the invisible hand, no need for ethical reasoning. Under social democratic systems, each individual is required to know all of the large-scale ethical impact of every action they take...an impossible task. And even if they do know what the right course of action is, they have to resist temptation to act in their own benefit wherever the two aren't aligned, because there's no price system to align them.

[CE]

Markets respect moral values. Markets allow free beings to trade with each other freely.

Non-market economies put one tyrant or group of tyrants above the other participants, and lower the standard of living for all.

[BigT]

Man has sex with pit bull. Film at 11.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#.....-76133989/

[db]

Michael Douglas: oral sex gave me throat cancer!

[Rich]

having oral sex with four or more people in your lifetime, can raise the risk

Fourwarned is forearmed.

[PS]

Which is why he's in talks for a new biopic, Going Down.

[hamilton]

Okay, I laughed. Well done.

[PS]

Cheers!

[Fist of Etiquette]

That doesn't speak well of Zeta-Jones.

[LTC(ret) John]

"you sucked 37 dicks!"

[SugarFree]

In a row?!?

[Fist of Etiquette]

They have a drink called the Todd Hinley?

[PS]

Well, she is Welsh.

[alittlesense]

Way too much information from one of the truly outstanding elderly douche-bags of this era.

[Bee Tagger]

The government of the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland confirmed that a surveillance drone crashed in the area. The ports and anti-piracy minister said it was unclear who was operating the drone.

The lesson to take from this is that in a libertarian paradise aircraft will fall from the sky.

[UnCivilServant]

But no one will be hurt. Whenever an aircraft falls from the sky here, there are casualties.

[CE]

And the aircraft was produced and operated by some country which had a government.

[Lord Humungus]

The $2.7 Trillion Medical Bill
Colonoscopies Explain Why U.S. Leads the World in Health Expenditures
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06.....tures.html

While several cheaper and less invasive tests to screen for colon cancer are recommended as equally effective by the federal government's expert panel on preventive care ? and are commonly used in other countries ? colonoscopy has become the go-to procedure in the United States. "We've defaulted to by far the most expensive option, without much if any data to support it," said Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.

In coming months, The New York Times will look at common procedures, drugs and medical encounters to examine how the economic incentives underlying the fragmented health care market in the United States have driven up costs, putting deep economic strains on consumers and the country.

[Brett L]

My favorite part of this article is how the varied pricing on colonoscopies is described as a market failure. But then, by some undescribed mechanism, when Safeway said they were only going to pay $1250 per procedure, they found plenty of takers, even in California. One of these things is not like the other.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

My favorite quote from the article:

Although her insurer covered the procedure and she paid nothing, her health care costs still bite: Her premium payments jumped 10 percent last year, and rising co-payments and deductibles are straining the finances of her middle-class family, with its mission-style house in the suburbs and two S.U.V.'s parked outside. "You keep thinking it's free," she said. "We call it free, but of course it's not."

No shit.

[LynchPin1477]

the economic incentives underlying the fragmented health care market in the United States have driven up costs

Has there ever been a documented case of costs being driven up in a free market in the absence of increased demand or reduced supply?

[sarcasmic]

Escaped llama spits on cop and lives.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ficer.html
I'm shocked that they didn't kill the thing.

[Brett L]

Goddamit. I can't believe I was too slow.

[db]

La llama es un quadropedo que vive in los grandes del Amazon.

[hamilton]

Look out! There are llamas!

[KMA Too]

+14 North Chilean Guanacos (closely related to the llama)

[robc]

I read that as lama at first.

But not as lllama.

[Tonio]

No, lamas would spontaneously combust.

[sarcasmic]

Boy finds stash of $10,000 in hotel room drawer and his father immediately hands it over to police - but he might be able to keep it after all

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....olice.html
How stupid can you be?

[db]

Well, to be sure, it's likely that if the previous owner of the $10,000 showed up asking for it back at the front desk, they could certainly look up the subsequent occupants of the room and ask them about it or get the police to do so. It's one thing to find $10k on the street, quite another in a hotel room.

[sarcasmic]

A perfect opportunity to teach the kid to never speak to the police.

[Tonio]

It's not like the rightful owners would have much luck getting it back, either, given that the police tend to confiscate found cash.

[Restoras]

Hey, after seeing No Country For Old Men I'd be careful too.

[Zakalwe]

You read H&R trolls and ask that question?

[Lord Humungus]

Police Tase and Capture Escaped Llama
http://www.wctv.tv/news/headli.....80241.html

"I've been doing this 20 years and they said there is going to be a lot of excitement in this job, but no one ever told me I would get spit in the face by a llama and trampled by one," said Deputy Drzewiecki.

Traffic was backed up on Bannerman Road, while deputies finally cornered the six foot tall animal.

The deputies had to resort to using a taser to subdue the giant.

the taserz saves the day!

[sarcasmic]

Beat you by a minute! Ha ha!

[carol]

I see your llama and raise you a kangaroo.

Kangaroo captured after marsupial melee in Lacoochee http://www.wtsp.com/news/topst.....-Lacoochee

Tasers don't always work

[sarcasmic]

It's oh, so quiet: The eerie abandoned towns that have been left to rust and gather dust

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

[Palin's Buttplug]

Widespread release of Morton Downey, Jr movie due soon.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/.....-jr-movie/

He was the first of the modern talk show bullshit artists - and maybe the best.

[Citizen Nothing]

Needz moar Mike Douglaz

[Citizen Nothing]

Now realize I shoulda said Merv Griffinz to avoid confusion. I blame the oral sex.

[The Late P Brooks]

For those of you still wondering how the Justice Dept might react to liberalized marijuana laws:

Federal prosecutors are appealing the sentences of a former University of Montana quarterback and three other medical marijuana providers who were convicted in the largest drug-trafficking investigation in state history.

The U.S. attorney's office has filed notices with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that it will challenge the sentences handed down to four of the 33 marijuana providers in which prosecutors sought longer prison terms.

U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter acknowledged in an Associated Press interview in May that it's the judges' job to impose sentences, but he has decided to appeal the sentences in certain cases.

"There are instances where we don't necessarily agree with the sentence, and what we can do is have the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals review those sentences to see if they are within the statutory framework or proper, given the circumstances and evidence," Cotter said.

Puny states. HOLDER SMASH!

[Floating Weightless]

Zombies ever invade. I'm finding that guy.

[sarcasmic]

New Jersey police officers face sack after appearing in rap video and bragging about being 'felons'

Home-made rap video shows cops swinging a flail, wearing gold chains and hoodies and bragging about status
Four police officers face charges for conduct unbecoming of a police officer

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

[Brett L]

Apparently, llamas in FL are treated like people rather than dogs w/r/t deadly force. (Alt text: Don't tase me, bro!)

Tallahassee police reported using a taser on a six-foot llama, Scooter, after it ran around a local neighborhood for hours yesterday and generally galavanted about. The llama was eventually subdued to avoid an accident and returned, and its owner will not face charges.

[db]

I was once at a New Year's Eve party with a llama. The owners brought it indoors from tge barn to show it off. It was well behaved but it had to leave once this one dude started hitting on it.

[Ted S.]

Why would db hit on a llama?

[Brett L]

He's always liked them tall and blonde?

[db]

It was a different dude. Like I'd hit on a llama when there are alpacas around.

[sarcasmic]

Paris Hilton is waaaay to skinny for John.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ikini.html

[Restoras]

She's a Skank of the First Order but I'd still hit it hard.

[sarcasmic]

I dunno. I'd be afraid my dick would shrivel up and fall off.

[alittlesense]

Perhaps Michael Douglas might want to do something to her....

[Rich]

40,000 Africanized honey bees killed a Central Texas man

Pix or it didn't happen.

[Tim]

"Oh Death where is thy sting? Oh, there it is."

[Smells Like Tom Skerritt]

That's cold.

[Citizen Nothing]

But funny.

[a better weapon]

Good thing it wasn't the other way around. Some southerner kills any number of Africanized honey bees and you'd have a textbook hate crime on your hands.

[Lord Humungus]

David Axelrod Dismisses IRS Scandal On NBC: Too 'Stupid' To Be Politically Motivated
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dav.....motivated/

obviously these people need a wide scope of powers - just to share the stupidity on a larger scale.

[Rich]

IRS employee in bombshell congressional interviews about tea party targeting: 'Washington, DC wanted some cases ... I sent seven'

I guess this is what made Axelrod's mustache fall off.

[John]

That is the Chicago Jedi mind trick. Engage in corruption more blatant and outrageous than anyone ever dreamed. Then when it is discovered claim it must have been the result of incompetence because no one could be this corrupt.

[Brett L]

Please. "Even people in politics aren't this stupid" is a terrible excuse.

[John]

Don't believe your lying eyes, these are not the droids you are looking for.

[sarcasmic]

Body after baby: Kristin Cavallari flaunts her flawless post-pregnancy bikini figure

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

Again... waaaay to skinny for John.

[robc]

You would think she would have boobs.

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

...or any other heterosexual man.

[Lord Humungus]

wow - three lama posts.

lama lama lama lama

[UnCivilServant]

You mock the incan contribution to the internetz?

[Brett L]

Its my hometown. Usually all we get is stupid politician news and stupid college athlete news.

[Ted S.]

I want vicuna posts. 🙁

[Mainer2]

no love for the guanaco ?

[Tim]

The farm down the road has Lamas, sometimes they spit on runners. Then there's guinea hens, my wife got a call from a woman who was angry that our guinea hens charge her when she's out walking.

[Rasilio]

We're apparently going to be getting some guinea hens soon. I should be done building the chicken coop by next weekend then I need to figure out what to do about an enclosure for the Guinea Fowl before the birdies arrive mid July.

The chickens are for eggs, the Guinea Fowl are to keep the damn tick population under control

[mad libertarian guy]

The chickens are for eggs, the Guinea Fowl are to keep the damn tick population under control

You will be well rewarded in short order with the guineas.

[Elspeth Flashman]

There's also other wildlife- Rats and badgers.

[sarcasmic]

Fight against the 'vampire fish': Entire creek near Lake Michigan to be POISONED in an attempt to fight off invasion of killer species that sucks all the body fluid out of other fish

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-fish.html
Yikes!

[Brett L]

sucks all the body fluid out of other fish

"The Communists, Mandrake, have attempted to corrupt our bodily fluids by introducing fluorine into our water supplies."

[Matrix]

the same thing exists in Washington DC

[LTC(ret) John]

The Chicago Aldermanfish?

[a better weapon]

sucks all the body fluid out of other fish

Ah yes, the sea lampreys. Or better known as the Michael Douglas of fish.

[Redmanfms]

So I was watching this thing about Jaron Lanier's new book (Who Owns the Future?) on BookTV earlier this morning (program was dated May 15) and was trying to figure out exactly what the guy is arguing for. He was simultaneously endorsing and condemning capitalism, but wanted to "monetize" social media as a means to invigorate the middle class. He spent quite a bit of time in this really bizarre discourse on how a sort of social pact was made to protect the livelihoods of people whose jobs were made obsolescent by technology.

The dude didn't make a whole lot of sense.

So, again, WTF is up with this dude?

[DJF]

"""So, again, WTF is up with this dude?"""

He's selling books.

[DJF]

Also don't discount the value of incomprehensible gibberish, Alan Greenspan built his whole career on being able to say things that others could not understand.

[T]

He's an idiot. I read an interview with him at Salon and it is the most WTF thing I've read lately. He spends a lot of time trying to argue shit that isn't remotely true from some fairly stupid premises.

This guy has several more takedowns of him.

[Redmanfms]

He spends a lot of time trying to argue shit that isn't remotely true from some fairly stupid premises.

Yeah, that's the impression I got.

[SugarFree]

Israeli Soldiers Disciplined for Posting Underwear Selfies on Facebook

No pics and the comments turn into a shitstorm. 🙁

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, Jews will bring that out of you.

[DJF]

One blury pic at link

http://www.timesofisrael.com/f.....ry-assets/

[RBS]

Nice

[Rich]

"I see you're re-upping, Soldier."

[Raston Bot]

Couple here but blurry...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ead_module

[sarcasmic]

Is it a bird, is it a plane... No, it's shirtless Michael Keaton in his tighty whiteys running through Times Square!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....quare.html
This one is for the ladies!

[PS]

Birdman: Keaton plays a washed up actor, famous for once playing an iconic superhero, but now preparing to mount a Broadway play.

So a lot of method acting is involved.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Umm, thanks?

[Palin's Buttplug]

BAGHDAD ? Since the American-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has become one of the world's top oil producers, and China is now its biggest customer.

China already buys nearly half the oil that Iraq produces, nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, and is angling for an even bigger share, bidding for a stake now owned by Exxon Mobil in one of Iraq's largest oil fields.

"We lost out," said Michael Makovsky, a former Defense Department official in the Bush administration who worked on Iraq oil policy. "The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping to assure their supply."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06.....om.html?hp

[sarcasmic]

If you had the slightest clue about economics you'd know that it doesn't matter who buys the Iraqi oil, because if we bought it then China would just get their oil from somewhere else.

But you don't have the slightest clue about economics, so of course it matters to you.

[John]

Life is hard and even harder if you are retarded. And don't forget, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Bush invaded Iraq to steal their oil. During the rest of the week, Bush was an idiot because he didn't steal their oil.

[UnCivilServant]

We have enough ships in the area - lets go into the piracy business and take the tankers!

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tell Michael Makovsky that, you illiterate dumbass.

I am as free trade as you get and I know markets better than any Paultard ever hatched.

[John]

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

Needs more Christfag.

[KPres]

At least one country benefited economically from the Iraq war, unlike say, the stimulus package. 🙂

[Rasilio]

The funny thing is this very fact completely and utterly disproves the whole war for oil meme.

We did not use our dominant position in Iraq to force them to sell the oil to us at a discount and we didn't even really buy much if any of it at all and even with the global commoditization of oil we did ourselves no favors by taking Iraq oil production off the market for a decade.

[Zakalwe]

Twitter reacts to last night's Game of Thrones episode.

https://twitter.com/RedWeddingTears

This guy read the books; they hadn't.

http://i.imgur.com/c9X6n.gif

[kinnath]

No spoilers please.

[Brian D]

Spoiler Alert. The books have been out for twenty years.

[Zakalwe]

In two years when the show outpaces the books things will get interesting, though.

[PS]

Yes they will. But I'm not sure it will take two years because nothing has happened in the last three books.

[Zakalwe]

I knew I was being generous.

[Zakalwe]

I didn't see the part where the Mountain and Tyrion swap bodies coming, but the actors handled the personality switch surprisingly well. I believed it.

[SugarFree]

They shouldn't have been peeing in that land-mermaid's mouth when the lightning struck them.

[Zakalwe]

Look, when the ghost of Ned Stark appears and tells you to do something during a midnight thunderstorm and you're very drunk you do it.

[Pro Libertate]

Of course, the "Red" in "Red Wedding" refers to the Starks embracing communism and becoming one with the workers.

[Zakalwe]

Tyrion is following the traditional path of the radical leftist insurgent leader - well educated dilletante rich kid trying to make a name for himself by destroying the political order that has denied him his self perceived rights. His defection to the Starkitburo is only a matter of time.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, yet no one sees that coming.

[Zakalwe]

Ironically, after all the churn of the game of thrones Tyrion will last as long as Castro, and for the same reasons.

[Zakalwe]

And of course "winter is coming" was a little known Trotsky war cry during the revolution.

[CE]

Except Sansa.

[Warty]

I have been waiting for this moment since the series started. I am satisfied. Oh, so satisfied.

[Raston Bot]

If there's one thing the books taught me, it's that the Starks (even their bastards) can't sniff out an ambush worth shit.

[John]

Prediction,

Manning will get a punitive discharge, probably a dishonorable, but will get no more than ten years in prison and nowhere close to what the government will ask for. Military juries are much more circumspect and fair than people think.

[Xenocles]

In my law class the prof (a Marine JAG major) said that if you were guilty you wanted to get a civilian trial and if you were innocent you wanted to get a military trial.

[John]

As an Army JAG, I totally agree with him. Turns out that they are going with a judge alone trial. I am not sure I wouldn't chance it with a panel. I don't know the judge. Maybe they do and have reason to do so. But my worry with a judge is that he doesn't want to be remembered as the guy who let Manning go and will hammer him because of that. A panel in contrast is 7 to 12 people and are less likely to worry about such things since no one knows the deliberations and no one can pin the decision on any one person.

[Cdr Lytton]

I defer to your expertise, but you don't see a panel officers hammering him due to the nature of his actions vs a judge ruling more objectively? Especially if some senior enlisted are on it?

[LTC(ret) John]

If they had any E-9s on the panel, you would probably see them winding nooses during argument.

Officers are usually more lenient than SGM/CSMs.

[Floating Weightless]

Implication being that civilian jurors are retards while military jurors are smart. Sounds like something a club member would say.

[John]

It is true. Civilian juries are made up of people who couldn't get out of it. Military juries are people who are ordered to be there. Everyone on a military jury will have a college degree. Few on a civilian jury will. Military juries are highly rational and organized and pretty immune to appeals to emotion. Civilian juries are all about emotion. There is really no comparison between the two.

[Xenocles]

They're also more likely to hammer the guilty.

[Xenocles]

* "They" being a court-martial panel. Also, I have no personal experience with this, just relaying what I've heard.

[RBS]

If you disagree with John, go sit in on jury selection down at the county courthouse one day.

[LTC(ret) John]

Or do a jury trial in one of the great areas of this land - say, the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

*shudders at the memory*

[tarran]

No, in the military they have lectures on the U.S. Constitution, and the legal doctrines that underlie the U.S. legal system to a degree that few civilians are exposed to.

Much of the training in bootcamp is designed to instill discipline - which results in a person who is willing and able to override their emotions to do what they are told. And when what they are told to do is to review the facts of the case and to judge dispassionately whether the state has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, they are far more likely to do just that rather than to say, 'the guy is a scum bag, fry him'.

[John]

http://legalinsurrection.com/2.....the-women/

Rick Perry causes liberals to despair. Good for Perry and I am glad at least some states are doing well. But it also infuriates me that liberals have managed to completely fuck up every garden spot in America and reduced the country to having its most vibrant economies in the barren plains because liberals have left business no where else to go. Fuck liberals, I don't want Midland, Texas. I want California back. Let those brain dead idiots live in Midland.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I love Rick W. Perry and sincerely hope he hops on the 2016 Klown Kar.

[creech]

Even better, Monahans or Pecos.

[Spoonman.]

My parents lived in Midland for a while in the late 70s. Sometimes the entire volume between the side of their house and the fence would fill with tumbleweeds.

[Brett L]

At least its not Odessa, amirite?

[John]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab85.....z2V9xhIr5A

I think what is going on in Turkey is quite a big deal. Secular and sane Turks are finally standing up to Islamist insanity. Our President of course is on the side of the Islamists.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yeah, he is a pro-Islamist Muslim Killer by Continuous Drone.

You are insipidly stupid.

[John]

The Turkish government is Islamist. Since you don't know anything, it is not surprising you don't know that.

[RBS]

What? The PM claims to be just a simple civil servant...

[John]

He is not. The ruling party has spent ten years patiently and slowly making Turkey into more and more of a theocracy.

[RBS]

I know, I was making of him.

[UnCivilServant]

Augustus was merely first citizen. Uncle Joe was merely party secretary. One need not bear a fancy title, but oh, wait my sarcasm meter needs repair. Sorry about that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Gezi Park is the fulcrum of the protests, idiot.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/.....terAccount

It is not about Islam.

You would side with the government thugs.

[John]

Why don't you read the fucking article moron. You are so fucking stupid. You can't really defend Obama anymore. We have finally beaten you down so much you can't really scream like a little monkey and throw shit like you used to. So you are left trying to make actual points and getting everything wrong.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yep, you side with the authoritarian thug government as usual.

[ant1sthenes]

Uh, he's siding with the protesters and accusing the government of being Islamist. You. Fucking. Retard.

[db]

I hope that's the case. Visiting Istanbul in spring of '01, I was really impressed by the city and its citizens. I hope they don't go down the disastrous road many of their neighbors have taken.

[RBS]

I've always wanted to go to Constantinople. When I was in Greece a couple of years ago visiting some family I mentioned adjusting my trip to try and go over there. Hilarity ensued.

[db]

Why? Did Constantinople get the works?

[LTC(ret) John]

Hey, that is nobody's business but the Turks!

/Istanbul

[tarran]

I haven't discussed this with my relatives over there to get the lowdown, but judging by the rants on facebook (and my Turkish is so rusty that I am missing one word in three) the educated people are really really fed up with him.

They see Erdogan as a barbarian that is trying to make Turkey more barbaric. The Turkish Republic is a very stable fascist republic modeled on the French republic. Erdogan has essentially been attacking the national identity and triggered a backlash of the sort that Obama would have triggered if he tried to eliminate July 4th as a holiday and gave Jane Fonda a Medal of Freedom for her advocacy durign the Vietnam War.

It's not just the islamism; if I understand correctly, the guy is corrupt and giving away lucrative contracts to his cronies (sound familiar?).

Ordinarily, this would end in a coup by the Army; but Erdogan essentially arrested and charged a significant portion of the officer corps with plotting a coup, and I suspect that he might have broken the military's ability to effectively oppose him.

I suspect it will end in a coup, but the military won't be in a position to quickly and with certitude consolidate its power. In fact, I think a significant portion of the junior officers will fight against the coup.

[John]

The Turks I have known, and I have known a few, pride themselves on not being Arabs. They look at themselves as being the inheritors of an ancient civilization and more European than middle eastern. The ones I had known would go to fists if you told them Turkey was just another Muslim country like Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. I would like to think there are a lot of people in Turkey who are willing to fight to keep it what it has been.

[tarran]

I think they will.

Americans have no idea how much propaganda we got in school in support of Kemalism. Everyone above the age of 30 has grown up being told that what makes Turkey a great place to be in the model of a western secular republic.

Erdogan is toast; it's going to take a resignation or severe repression for him to end the protests. He won't do the former, and the latter will lead to massive political violence followed by the army taking over.

[John]

The Turks used to own the Middle East. They lost it and that was a hard blow. But they made up for it by Kamalism, which said they were special and better than the rest of the Muslims they used to rule. That is a big part of Turkish identity.

[johnl]

It might be important that Erdogan is in his third term. Even in the USA, third terms are disasters.

[Matrix]

Heineken wanted to make beer bottles that could be used as bricks for homes

[Zeb]

I've seen walls built from regular beer bottles. They look pretty cool.

[sarcasmic]

Something about glass houses.

[LTC(ret) John]

But if you throw stones, then you just have to drink more beer to repair them!

[Bobarian]

But it's Hienie...

Bleh!

[John]

http://www.realclearpolitics.c....._hand.html

Gibbs, Republicans on verge of overplaying their hand. Since Gibbs lies about everything, I take that to mean Republicans are on the verge of doing some real damage.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Only 22% of the country gives a fuck about these phony scandals.

It will be 1998 all over again if the GOP won't pull Issa off the pile of dogshit he is gnawing on.

[John]

Christ fag!!

Yes Shreek, we know you are a fascist brown shirt. You love the idea of using the IRS, FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies to go after political opponents. That is who you are and one of the reasons why you love Obama so much.

We know who you or your handlers are. And we know you have an orgasm over the idea of using the power of government to stick it to the other. You need not remind us.

[Restoras]

Well when you are a blinker-eyed retard it is easy for Team! to trump all, regardless of facts.

[VG Zaytsev]

It will be 1998...

Focusing on the president using the IRS to harass people, abandoning military men in the field and defending blatantly lying bureaucrats is totally the same as a bunch of hypocrites obsessing over presidential blow jobs.

[Rabban]

Lying under oath in a court of law, no biggie? The feminist movement lost any credibility when they whored out for Clinton. By letting the President get away with perjury we lowered the ethical bar. Now we have the shameless Obama admin lowering it further and further.

[Brett L]

Yeah. The more Dem apparachiks formerly associated with the regime (and therefore not accountable) get trotted out to say "nothing to see here", the more I believe there is real damage.

The thing I don't fucking get is, what does Eric Holder have on the Obama camp that lets him hold on to his job. It is well past time for him to decide to "spend more time with his family". The smart play is to throw him overboard, bring in a party who everyone agrees is above reproach and let them spend the next two years cleaning house publicly. At least then you MIGHT be able to salvage some close seats in the midterm elections.

[John]

First, never discount arrogance and stupidity as a cause of Obama doing something. Second, the thought may be that you can only use Holder as a tar baby for so long. So, keep him on board until he has taken as much of the blame as possible and then in a dramatic moment, have Obama fire him. That would then allow the sock puppets and apparatchiks to talk about what a great and decisive leader Obama is and how the whole thing needs to be put behind up now that Obama has cleared it up by firing Holder. I think that may be the plan.

[RBS]

arrogance and stupidity

Yes.

[Brett L]

But its getting close to too late. See, if he'd thrown Holder overboard in the first week, he could have named anyone and been okay. Now he has to name someone who is without the faintest whiff of politics. I mean, if they want to do anything but get to 2016 with Obama still in office.

[John]

That is a good point. I hadn't thought about that. Who would he appoint to replace him? The confirmation fight would be brutal. And the new guy would have no ties to the scandal and might actually investigate. And no one in the White House wants that. So Holder may be there for the duration.

[wareagle]

the longer Holder stays, the less likely he is to leave or to be forced out. You can't use the same calculus with this administration that applies to normal ones. Obama could give a shit what anyone thinks; his ego is that big and four+ years of a media blowjob has him convinced he's bulletproof.

Holder won't go of his own volition because where's he gonna land? A wealthy private practice? That will happen anyway. The two of them know nothing but zero-sum politics; without enemies, they have no existence.

[John]

Yeah they really don't care. And they really don't care about what happens after they leave. I don't think Obama loses any sleep about how his actions might affect Democratic prospects in 2016 or going forward. If I am a Democrat, that would make me very nervous.

[mad libertarian guy]

Though Holder is a mendacious douche who has certainly committed crimes, he's not nearly as bad as some other AGs in recent history.

Reno presided over Waco and Ruby Ridge and she kept her job for all 8 years. As bad and evil as Holder is, he hasn't overseen a massacre yet. As long as he doesn't also meet that bar, we shouldn't expect that he will get fired.

[John]

Reno didn't preside over Ruby Ridge. It happened in 92 when Bush I was in office. Reno just presided over the cover up.

[tarran]

Reno did however preside over the literal witchhunts of people engaging in Satanic abuse of children.

A vile woman with no redeeming features whatsoever.

[ant1sthenes]

Holder might not have overseen the massacre at Waco, but IIRC, he oversaw making sure no one was held accountable for it.

[Pro Libertate]

We're well past the point where a special prosecutor needs to be named.

[Lord Humungus]

The Decline of the Obama Presidency
His second term is coming undone not because of scandal but because of decisions made in the previous four years.
http://online.wsj.com/article/.....47400.html

He is also pushing two leftovers from his first year in office, immigration reform and gun control. What's striking about Mr. Obama's handling of both is his complete absence of influence. On gun control, his speeches had zero impact. On immigration, his influence is entirely negative. He can impede a bill. He cannot aid its passage.

All this has left Mr. Obama in a state of weakness. And Democrats are increasingly blaming him. Doug Sosnik, a former senior adviser in the Clinton White House, wrote in a memo last month that Mr. Obama's re-election "was a great political achievement, but the fact that he didn't set out a clear policy agenda for a second term left him without a clear mandate to govern over a politically divided Congress."

[John]

He didn't accomplish a single thing in his first term beyond shoving Obamacare and the porkulus down the country's throat with big majorities in Congress. He has never once moved the polls on any issue beyond how great it is to be Obama.

It is a Presidency totally based on narcissism and personality cult. He hasn't done the Democrats any good at all in advancing their agenda.

[Gbob]

The sad thing is that he will always be remembered by the majority as a "great" president for at least a couple of generations. Sure, it'll be impossible to point to anything he accomplished aside from being "first", but it won't matter. Like Kennedy it'll be a narrative of a mystic like leader restoring hope and all that.

Obamacare will be long gone by then (sadly, I imagine it's going to have to be replaced by single payer because, you know, the children.) and the eight years of dismal economic performance dismissed. Thanks to the boot lickers not having an ounce of principle, the IRS as a political tool and wiretaps of reporters will be business as usual (this is the danger of a team red/team blue paradigm you progtards) so that won't even stick to him a legacy.

Fuck. I'm being cynical on a Monday morning.

[Lord Humungus]

I'll agree with this - we are witnessing the (long) death throes of the Republic. This is what "the people" want. And they will get it - good and hard.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

What's striking about Mr. Obama's handling of both is his complete absence of influence. On gun control, his speeches had zero impact. On immigration, his influence is entirely negative. He can impede a bill. He cannot aid its passage.

This is why the "OBSTRUCTIONIST RETHUGLICANS!!" meme is so stupid. Just about every president has had to deal with the opposition trying to impede his agenda.

Guess what? That's their damn job. They wouldn't be serving the interests of their party if they didn't. The difference is that effective leaders can overcome this and leverage public opinion to get their pet projects through Congress even when their party doesn't have full control of both branches.

Obama's great at preaching to the choir, but he's incapable of getting the opposition to go along with him. That's the difference between him and Clinton, and why he's effectively been an empty suit ever since Team Red took back the House.

[mad libertarian guy]

Guess what? That's their damn job.

And they're doing a lousy job of it.

A body such as Congress cannot spend $3.5T a year if one team is doing its job of obstructing the other.

[Virginian]

The Best and Simplest Way to Fight Global Poverty

Proof that giving cash to poor people, no strings attached, is an amazingly powerful tool for boosting incomes and promoting development.

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....re_toolbar

Your Yglesias retardation of the day.

[John]

He is just not right. Yeah Sad Beard, if you just hand out checks, people do better, for as long as you hand out checks anyway.

[DJF]

Isn't this the same policy he has for rich countries, just keep printing money and that will make them even richer.

[John]

Yes. He really never matured beyond being 12 years old and wondering why his parents wanted him to turn lights off to save money. "Why can't we just give everyone all of the electricity they need?" a 12 year old Sad Beard asked himself. And thus ended his intellectual development.

[KPres]

Well, it is better than government anti-poverty programs.

Of course the best way is to get the corrupt dictators out of the way and let capitalism thrive.

[robc]

I could see that actually working at very low levels and very small amounts and for ONE TIME grants.

We have seen that large amounts are generally negative, see the bankruptcy rate of lottery winners.

Of course, even if it "works", it doesnt make it moral to take from one person to give to another. But, the whole history of charity seems to agree with the concept of a single boost being helpful, so I dont see anything groundbreaking in this.

[robc]

To continue this concept, if someone gave me a one time grant of $50k (roughly median US household income), it sure as hell would "promote development".

[Rasilio]

Thing is this only works if you give it to someone with life goals and a work ethic. If you give it to your average poor person you would certainly stimulate consumption of consumer goods as they ran out and bought a new TV, iPad, and iPhone and follow that up with a trip to vegas or disney or maybe getting that boob job they have always wanted for themselves/their girlfriend. The money would basically be wasted and their actual wealth would not be increased on bit

[Xenocles]

Traveling through the desert I was starved for radio yesterday, so I spent some time listening to a practitioner of "energy medicine" and "modern complex homeopathy." I wondered what that last one was - the mixture of two or more chemicals that aren't there?

[db]

You have to be really careful when mixing two homeopathic sllutions together--they may have encountered each other before and remember their hate for each other.

[T]

"The Memory of Hate" is a great album title.

[mad libertarian guy]

You actually listen to the radio?

I'd have thought that anyone who likes music would have ditch radio ages ago for either one's iPod or SiriusXM. I can't tell you the last time I heard standard radio. I can't name a single modern pop song or tel you its artist. And I am a better man for it.

[Drake]

Rep. Ed Markey stumped by tax question.

http://michellemalkin.com/2013.....-increase/

[tarran]

When I was stashed for a month in a recruiting office in Boston, I spoke with Markey on the phone. He called us demanding special treatment for a niece who wanted to be a nurse.

What made it so funny was that we were so desperate for nurses, that if she had called herself and had pulled no political strings, we would still have fallen all over ourselves to get her into the program.

That conversation was all I needed to get the measure of that worthless shitbag.

[John]

Markey is amazingly stupid. He is not quite as craven and repulsive as Fauxchahontas but he makes up for it by being appalling stupid. I would be surprised if his IQ is above the low 90s.

[SugarFree]

Vagina Nightmares

[Brett L]

Not clicking that, dude.

[Zakalwe]

It's safe, mentally and for work. Dose have text of the word "vagina."

[SugarFree]

If he wants live like a coward, let him.

[PS]

Click on it, dude. SFW and nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi.

[Bobarian]

Why does this make me think of 'dessicated'?

[The Late P Brooks]

Big Compassion comes calling at the Oval Office.

Mental illness is common in America. As many as one in five children suffer from a disorder, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

People with mental illnesses statistically are far more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators, and the vast majority of gun violence in America is not linked to people with mental problems.

Treatment for mental illness is most effective when started early, but the White House has said less than half of children with mental problems receive treatment.

At the Monday event, Obama will launch a new website with information about mental illness and treatment, and will announce that the Department of Veterans Affairs will hold mental health summits at its 151 health care centers across the country in coming weeks.

The White House conference will feature several of Obama's cabinet members, Hollywood stars Glenn Close and Bradley Cooper, as well as advocates for mental health issues, practitioners, teachers, faith leaders and representatives from the private sector.

We're all crazy, now.

[UnCivilServant]

We will create pretty pictures and have bureaucrats chat, but do nothing to end this plague known as 'progressivism'.

[Drake]

Sen. Frank Lautenberg is now officially dead.

Hope Christie appoints Steve Forbes.

[John]

The old bastard finally died? The collective IQ of America just went up.

[John]

In all honesty, it wouldn't surprise me if Christie appointed a Democrat in return for some shady deal with Obama giving the state more federal money. Christie is so craven, if I were Obama I would certainly made the offer.

[WTF]

Even if Christie appoints a Republican, it will be a middle-of-the-road New Jersey Republican, who would therefore be functionally a Democrat anyway.

[Mike M.]

Good riddance.

[Outlaw]

Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, The Hound, Polliver, The Mountain, Frank Lautenberg

[Jar jar binks]

You can all suck it.

[Ken Shultz]

"House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa called the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, a "paid liar."

That isn't the official job description?

Incidentally, whenever I see President Obama give a press conference, I always think of it as him acting in his capacity as Liar in Chief.

[John]

One other thought on the Manning case. In many ways his supporters are hurting his cause. By throwing such a fit, they make the case about bigger issues than just some dumb private who thought he was doing the right thing. That makes it harder for the judge to give him a light sentence since doing so will be interpreted not as a judge looking at Manning and having some pity on him but instead as agreeing with all of the supporters that what Manning did was right, something no judge or jury would agree with. They also have ensured that Manning is going to be a celebrity when he gets out of jail. A judge is likely to be more circumspect about further confinement ff letting him off with time served and a DD, would send him back home to pump gas the rest of his life. But instead, letting him go will be letting him go to a life of celebrity on the college speaking circuit. That makes it a lot harder for a judge or jury to just let him walk and much more likely he sentences him to prison long enough that his celebrity and ability to capitalize on his misdeeds has faded.

[tarran]

I don't think his supporters care about the man.

This is their chance to gambol about and stick it to The Man. They want to pleasure of attacking the military and the Passion of Manning gives them that pleasure. Staying quiet so that it becomes politically palatable to be merciful towards him would deprive them of that pleasure.

[John]

Yeah. And that really sucks. I feel bad for Manning. I don't agree with what he did. But I don't think he deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail over it.

[Emmerson Biggins]

If things were actually calm and rational, would he have any case at all (or at least strong set of "mitigating factors"), if he said : "this stuff shouldn't have been classified anyways, it was just done for political reasons" ? Or is that argument worthless, even if objectively true?

[Ken Shultz]

Manning is kind of like the mirror image of Oliver North.

[Ken Shultz]

...in that some were willing to support what North did (and ignore whatever crime) becasue they agreed with his objectives.

Manning's supporters seem to think, likewise, that whatever Manning did that was illegal should be overlooked just becasue they share his objectives.

[Brett L]

Well, I rooted for North over Congress, too.

[The Late P Brooks]

We're well past the point where a special prosecutor needs to be named.

Exactly what I'd expect a Booshpig Christfag to say.

[CE]

Special prosecutor? Just send in the Capitol Hill Police to bring in the entire Chicago gang currently running the Executive branch, let the House of Representatives serve as the grand jury, and televise the whole thing.

[Lord Humungus]

An argument you hear from the left is that it's no big deal that Obamacare hikes premiums, because poor people won't have to pay those prices; their plans will be subsidized by the government. But this is an incredibly irresponsible point of view. We're going to make health insurance unnecessarily expensive?thereby placing an extra burden on taxpayers and those ineligible for subsidies?and it's no big deal because the government will insulate a select few from the costs?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/th.....-premiums/

[sarcasmic]

Doncha know? Government creates wealth! When the government prints money it creates value out of thin air! No? Well then give me all of your money! What? You won't do it? See! I just proved government is the source of all wealth!

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's like when a teenager wants a car, and his parents say "OK, you pay the difference in our insurance rate." and the teenager is all "What, dude, that bill doesn't have my name on it, why should I have to pay it?"

[mad libertarian guy]

Haunter of the Dark

Belgian and Dutch atmospheric black metal by Saille.

Enjoy.

[db]

Frank Lautenberg has finally kicked the bucket.

[VG Zaytsev]

To bad it wasn't McCain.

[Matrix]

deaths often happen in threes. So keep your fingers crossed.

[Zombie Jimbo]

So if this is the case, then McCain and who else?
DiFi is just a couple of weeks short of 80. That could work.

[Stormy Dragon]

Former Texas GOP Chair accuses Grover Norquist of being a secret Muslim because he has a beard:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201.....s-a-beard/

[John]

He is not even a current chair of anything. So we should care about this why? Call me when someone who matters says something crazy.

[Stormy Dragon]

Yeah yeah, she's not a true scottsman. Just keep telling yourself nothing is wrong.

[John]

Are you retarded? A lot of people say and do stupid shit. I am supposed to care about said stupid shit said and done by someone I have never heard of who doesn't hold an official position why?

Why should anyone on here care about this? Why did you put it up other than to imply that it means everyone in the Republican party must be crazy.

You are really a worse sock puppet than Shreek. He is at least entertaining in his own twisted way and is sometimes honest. You manage to be both boring and completely mendacious.

[Stormy Dragon]

She's a former state chair, and the current president of the Texas Eagle Forum and one of the main Dallas tea party groups. And my problem is not that "everyone in the Republican party must be crazy". It's that too many Republicans are willing to pander to the ones that are.

[John]

Oh so she is now the President of a group I have never heard of and don't care about. Yeah, that makes so much of a difference.

Do you really think the people reading this are so stupid that they think one statement by one women in one group is now representative of the Tea party or somehow indicative of the Tea party's willingness to pander to such people, whatever the fuck that means?

Just shut up and go away. Stop engaging in ad hominym attacks. And stop pretending that the statement of one person means something or reflects on something beyond that person.

[Irish]

Are you retarded? A lot of people say and do stupid shit. I am supposed to care about said stupid shit said and done by someone I have never heard of who doesn't hold an official position why?

You don't understand. Stormy has two things he talks about, the Tea Party being dumb and George Zimmerman.

If George Zimmerman was a Tea Party member, Stormy Dragon would have a never ending orgasm. The Tea Party makes him lose his fucking mind.

[mad libertarian guy]

He is not even a current chair of anything. So we should care about this why? Call me when someone who matters says something crazy.

But what about SARAH PALIN!!!!!!111!!!one!!!!