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A.M. Links: NSA Doesn't Need Warrants to Scrutinize Phone Calls, Obama Approval Rating at 18-Month Low, Russia Won't Allow Syria No-Fly Zone

Ed Krayewski | 6.17.2013 9:00 AM

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Large image on homepages | White House
(White House)
  • can you hear me now?
    White House

    The NSA says it can wiretap domestic phone calls without a warrant, but claims to only have scrutinized fewer than 300 phone numbers.  The president's chief of staff, meanwhile, says President Obama doesn't think the NSA is violating Americans' privacy. At 45 percent, the president's approval rating is at an 18-month low.

  • Backers of the Republican candidate running in Massachusetts' special senate election are upset about a perceived lack of outside support, while Democrats worry about a repeat of the 2010 special election.
  • Apple disclosed how many thousands of times various U.S. authorities have requested, and received, information on users.
  • Russia won't allow a no-fly zone over Syria, while Egypt cut diplomatic relations with the country embroiled in civil war.
  • Hassan Rouhani, a Shia cleric and reformist, won the presidential election in Iran.
  • At least 30 people have been killed in a series of car bombs across Iraq.
  • Turkish police pushed protesters out of Taksim Gezi park, the site of demonstrations over the last several weeks. Turkish trade unions are urging labor strikes this week.

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NEXT: Massachusetts Special Senate Race Worrying Democrats and Republicans

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The president's chief of staff, meanwhile, says President Obama doesn't think the NSA is violating Americans' privacy.

    And one day he'll get around to checking to see if he's right.

    1. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

      He's prepared to call them out on acting stupidly if they do, ever, violate Americans' privacy.

    2. Rich   12 years ago

      Neither does Miss Alabama.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        she has a bright future as a news anchor.

        1. Ted S.   12 years ago

          She's the bubbleheaded bleack blonde
          Who comes on at five

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            Its interesting when people die...

        2. Rich   12 years ago

          Nice girl. She doesn't mind if you violate her privacy, as long as you keep her safe.

      2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        There was a funny bit on the radio station I listen to on the drive in today. They had one of their guys answer the questions the Miss USA contestants got, then followed it with the answers the contestants gave and compared who gave a better response. Those girls were dumb.

        1. Echton   12 years ago

          Hillman morning show huh?

          1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

            No idea what that is. Sports Hub in Boston.

            1. Echton   12 years ago

              Greg Hill 97.7 WAAF, out of Boston. I heard them doing the same bit this morning.

      3. Jon Lester   12 years ago

        I don't know Wendie Malick's thoughts on the subject, but I'm guessing she really had to apply more acting skill in that moment than she expected to.

    3. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      I don't really give a shit what Obama thinks about anything anymore. What I'm more concerned with is how long it will take for our supposed watchdog media to check on the claims and do their fucking jobs.

    4. some guy   12 years ago

      He'll give it a serious look once the next Republican president is in office.

  2. DJF   12 years ago

    Looks like the Democratic Party likes to put a lot of bling on their laptops and iphones or they are engaged in some combination of insurance fraud/money laundering/tax fraud.

    """"'Organizers of the Charlotte, N.C., convention have filed a police report for lost and stolen electronics, some of which they appear to have valued at as much as 62 times the listed market prices.

    A reportedly stolen 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop? $75,537. The price listed on the Apple website is $1,199. A lost iPhone? $30,503. A lost Blackberry? $54,250."""

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po.....laim-500k/

    1. WTF   12 years ago

      I'm sure they'll be prosecuted for insurance fraud. Any day now.......

    2. Zakalwe   12 years ago

      Who do these assholes think they are, the Department of Defense?

    3. Ted S.   12 years ago

      What's the deal with the extra quote marks? Can't you use italics tags or

      blockquote

      tags?

      1. DJF   12 years ago

        I like them and since I am the one writing it that is what I use. 🙂

    4. a better weapon   12 years ago

      It's those goddamn rogue employees again!

    5. some guy   12 years ago

      You're forgetting about the value of all the PII on those devices. To a political party they are damn near priceless.

      1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        hair pii?

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Nerd

    6. Rasilio   12 years ago

      Well they could also be including the value of the software licenses installed on the machine plus the value of the data, I'd still have a hard time buying that kind of price increases, especially for the iPhone since all of those apps are easily recoverable and it is unlikely that large volumes of data would be stored on a phone and nowhere else

      1. KPres   12 years ago

        The data? They should use Dropbox.

        Oh, wait, maybe they don't want the NSA looking through it.

    7. Xenocles   12 years ago

      Well, you see the value of those chattels naturally rises from their association with such an historic occasion as the 2012 DNC. Collectors lap that stuff up.

  3. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Hereditary Traits
    Bigoted taunts by the children of GOP honchos have everything to do with politics.
    http://www.slate.com/articles/.....itics.html

    While it's true that dumb kids saying racist things on social media isn't a particularly shocking news story, I think there is something about present-day conservative politics worth taking away from these cases. It's something that most of us already knew and something that occasional Slate contributor Tom Scocca articulated wonderfully in an article on this site last fall. Namely, that there is a not insignificant portion of the GOP electorate that exists as a fever swamp of racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-immigrant hatred, and bigotry of all sorts. Obviously not all Republican politicians and voters, or not even a majority of them, are racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-immigrant bigots. But it's a sizable enough constituency that a key part of the Republican message is to use coded?and sometimes not so coded?language to appeal to this crowd. As Scocca wrote right before last November's election:

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      But "bitter cling" isn't bigotry, of course.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        It's a peach.

    2. John   12 years ago

      Wow. He is letting the mask go and arguing for hereditary responsibility. By his logic any child of someone in the GOP is immediately guilty or at least suspect regardless of their own personal actions. Insert "Jew" for "GOP" and you see exactly what he is doing here. That whole article is straight up fascism. Collective guilt of a designated outsider, along with dedication to the total state is what fascism is. It just gets associated with antisemitism because Jews have traditionally been the outsider. But they do not have to be as this article shows.

      1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

        Er, I think he's just commenting on the 'fever swamps' of racism and homophobia among some right wing groups, the idea being that that's where these GOP kids are picking up this stuff.

        No need to Godwin this early in the morn!

        1. John   12 years ago

          No. He is doing much more than that. Why are only the "GOP kids" picking up on it? No other kids do? Why not? The reason is that GOP kids are suspect because of who their parents are. He is engaging in nothing but collective guilt and fascism.

          1. gaijin   12 years ago

            No other kids do?

            nope. homophobia does not exist in the AA community. Nope , not at all.

          2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

            He's not talking about other kids because they are not in the news for this right now; Jeff Flake's son is.

            The idea he's pushing is: one doesn't have to browse far in right wing circles to land one in these 'fever swamps.'

            But again, the Godwin double down is nice.

            1. John   12 years ago

              So Jeff Flake's son is representative of anything or anyone else why? He is slandering the entire group of kids with GOP parents based on the behavior of one person. Think about what he is saying. It is not that Jeff Flake's son is lousy. It is that all GOP kids are likely to be lousy because of who their parents are. That is collective guilt. Read the article again and replace GOP with "JEW" and you will see what I mean.

              Look, just because you happen to hate the designated other, doesn't' make it any less fascism.

              1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                Oh, I agree it's pretty thinly supported, using Flake's son to generalize. I just don't think he's putting collective guilt on anyone, in fact he pretty explicitly says otherwise.

                Is fascism about hating the designated other now, because I thought it was about socialism these days.

                1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                  Bo Cara Esq. = stupid

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    Oh, I see from the handle you're perhaps upset about my Sarah-bashing down thread.

                    How did so many libertarians fall in love with this woman? Memory loss?

                    1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                      ^^Proof positive this cunt is a troll.

                    2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      My goodness, you really are deranged in your love for Palin, aren't you? You curse a guy you don't even know because he criticizes her?

                      You should get help for that.

    3. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Obviously not all Republican politicians and voters, or not even a majority of them, are racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-immigrant bigots.

      That's actually a surprising amount of restraint for someone at Slate. They really like their broad brushes over there.

      1. John   12 years ago

        No, that is not surprising at all. That is just him being even more of a shit weasel. It allows him to slander everyone in the group and still appear to be reasonable. He never says who of the group is racist. This allows him to let the slander fall on everyone in the group equally.

        1. RBS   12 years ago

          Yeah, it's along the lines of "You know, I'm not a racist, but..."

      2. Bobarian   12 years ago

        Fine brushes require work and finesse.

    4. PS   12 years ago

      The dog whistles to this constituency usually involve subtler terms such as "welfare," "handouts," "illegals," "food stamps," and "Obama phones."

      It's dog whistles all the way down.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        If you think you hear a dog whistle, you must be a dog.

        1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

          That's a pretty silly quote. The people who accuse others of 'dog whistles' on race don't think the stereotypes that constitute the whistle are true, they think the speaker thinks they are true.

          1. WTF   12 years ago

            Also known as "projection".

            1. Banjos   12 years ago

              My sprinkler is racist, everytime it is on it says "spic, spic, spic, chink, chink chink, nigga, nigga, nigga."

          2. John   12 years ago

            No they don't. You totally miss how a dog whistle is supposed to work. It is the speaker secretly telling the other racists that he is one of them. The racists are the only ones who are supposed to recognize it. If everyone does, it is not a dog whistle anymore.

            1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              That's silly. It's the general public that is supposed to not hear it, but those who know the context of such tropes do.

              1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                Who is this boring Bo Cara Esq. troll?

            2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

              The racists are the only ones who are supposed to recognize it. If everyone does, it is not a dog whistle anymore.

              Then how do these liberal wonder-thinkers know they're there?

              1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

                They're the dogs.

          3. robc   12 years ago

            Anyone who uses the phrase "dog whistle" is a moron and everything they say on everything can be ignored.

          4. KPres   12 years ago

            "The people who accuse others of 'dog whistles' on race don't think the stereotypes that constitute the whistle are true, they think the speaker thinks they are true."

            Well, whether they're true or not is an objective matter. I say we look up the data.

      2. WTF   12 years ago

        I've got some news for him - if you can hear the whistle, you're the dog.

        1. WTF   12 years ago

          Great minds, Ted S.

          1. Ted S.   12 years ago

            Now if I could just beat Fisty to the punch.

      3. robc   12 years ago

        I immediately ignore anyone who uses the phrase "dog whistle".

    5. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      I wonder what this stance is on house niggers? Because I guarantee you that a much larger portion of Team BLUE sees Clarence Thomas as an Uncle Tom/House Nigger/Lawn Jockey than Team RED voters see him as the kind of nigger that only true racists recognize.

      1. WTF   12 years ago

        That's not racist, that's 'reality based'. Because only republicans can be racist.

    6. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

      One bigoted son of a Republican is proof that all Republicans are bigots. But one son of a Democrat who commits election fraud is an unfortunate situation, an outlier, let's move on, please.

    7. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      Namely, that there is a not insignificant portion of the GOP electorate that exists as a fever swamp of racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-immigrant hatred, and bigotry of all sorts.

      He missed a few:

      Sexist
      Intolerant
      Xenophobic

      Homophobic
      Islamophobic
      Racist
      Bigoted

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        You have to wonder how severe the backlash is going to be when people stop giving a shit about what these nerds think and simply recreate the middle-school locker-stuffing experience whenever they try to employ their Shame Labels.

  4. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

    Apple disclosed how many thousands of times various U.S. authorities have requested, and received, information on users.

    The US Government runs Hipster Runoff?!

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      I am in favor of any government program that runs hipster off.... oh, wait.

    2. Don Mynack   12 years ago

      Apple "said the demands included "national security matters" among other information."

      We must know what podcasts they subscribe to! We must know what is in their music libraries! Are they into jihadai rap? Radical Shiite crunk? We must know, dammit!

      Also, we need their profile pics. Got any pics?

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      Nobody loves the librarians anymore.

  5. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Backers of the Republican candidate running in Massachusetts' special senate election are upset about a perceived lack of outside support, while Democrats worry about a repeat of the 2010 special election.

    Does Romneycare cover Valium prescriptions?

    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

      A friend said something about Romney that I think was generally true: never nominate a candidate who couldn't carry their own state for nationwide office.

      1. Bobarian   12 years ago

        Is your friend Al Gore?

        1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

          He's another example. Really, when was the last time a successful Presidential candidate couldn't carry their home state?

          1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

            Well this isn't especially helpful since it lists birth state AND home state BUT it looks like Nixon in '68 was the last one:

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....dent_state

            1. robc   12 years ago

              Lincoln couldnt carry KY.

              1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

                Yeah, but that's why the list is problematic. I don't think many people associated Lincoln with KY by 1860. Plus, if voters did know much about him, they would know his family left KY to get away from slavery.

              2. alittlesense   12 years ago

                He let Mary Todd Lincoln carry the KY....

              3. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

                Man, nobody could, except maybe Atlas - you know how heavy that state is?!

                1. generic Brand   12 years ago

                  I think he meant the jelly, not the state.

  6. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Forget Russia's problems ? it's France that's almost Bolshevik, says G?rard Depardieu
    Actor claims he's no tax exile ? and that Russian President Vladimir Putin likes his 'hooligan side'
    http://www.independent.co.uk/n.....60905.html

    1. Jon Lester   12 years ago

      Is he still living in that Grozny hotel that almost burned down a few months back?

  7. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

    "a Shia cleric and reformist"

    HAHAHAHAHAHA...the mere fact he was allowed to run by the Guardian Council says enough for me to laugh at that statement.

    1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

      You know who else was a religiously motivated reformer?

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        Saul of Tarsus?

        1. robc   12 years ago

          That was my answer.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            Although technically, he was the exact opposite of a reformer.

            He didnt try to change society as a whole at all. His message was much more of separation from the world than reforming it.

            1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

              Why doest thou persecute Rich's comment?

              1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                GIVE US STEVE SMITH!!!

                /Hebrews circa 33 AD.

      2. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Jim Jones?

      3. Ed   12 years ago

        Daenerys Targaryen?

      4. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        John Humphrey Noyes?

      5. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        Martin Luther?

      6. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Me?

      7. Zakalwe   12 years ago

        I was kind of looking for Torquemada or Cromwell.

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          I like Cromwell - Divine Right of Kings this!

  8. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Man tells police he was using mower to chase gopher
    http://www.kcci.com/news/centr.....index.html

    The Mason City Globe Gazette says an officer was dispatched Tuesday morning to check a report that a man was damaging his neighbors' lawns.

    The man was spotted outside his home, where he reported that he'd deployed his lawn mower in the pursuit of the pesky gopher.

    The officer told the man to stay inside his own home until he sobered up.

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Bill Murray did it better.

    2. Rich   12 years ago

      I knew a guy who used a broken broom handle to pin and kill a groundhog. *That* was nasty. My friend was sober; don't know about the groundhog.

      1. some guy   12 years ago

        Spear hunting is making a comeback? Nice. But he needs to work his way up to wild boar.

      2. Fluffy   12 years ago

        Send him to my house.

        My resident ground hog has grown to the size of a bear cub and my wife won't let me kill it.

        I need somebody to sneak on my property with a spear and do the deed. And unfortunately George Zimmerman is otherwise occupied.

        1. some guy   12 years ago

          The next time your wife goes to the store just kill the thing and dump it someplace. Say a coyote must have gotten it. This also works for unwanted stray cats that your wife won't let you deal with.

        2. Rich   12 years ago

          my wife won't let me kill it.

          "I haven't see it for a while, either, Honey. Guess it moved on."

          1. Fluffy   12 years ago

            OK, so how do I explain it when she comes home and my face is smeared with blood and I'm wearing a bandanna and carving notches into the stock of my AK?

            "All that hate's gonna burn you up, kid."

            1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

              You mean you're not already smearing your face with blood, wearing bandannas and carving notches into the stock of your AK? What do you do all day if not this?

            2. some guy   12 years ago

              You live out in the country on 10 acres of "lawn", right? Here's how you kill two birds with one stone. Get your wife a cute little pony or some fainting goats or something. Then explain the effect that groundhog holes can have on cute little pony legs. Your wife will be the one bathing in groundhog blood and you won't have to mow the "lawn" as often. Win-Win.

              1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

                You live out in the country on 10 acres of "lawn", right? Here's how you kill two birds with one stone. Get your wife a cute little pony or some fainting goats or something. Then explain the effect that groundhog holes can have on cute little pony legs. Your wife will be the one bathing in groundhog blood and you won't have to mow the "lawn" as often. Win-Win.

                This is absolutely the correct approach.

                1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                  Do not pour gasoline down the groundhog hog warren to try and burn him out. My dad learned the hard way that the reek of charred groundhog fur takes a while to go away.

                  1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                    what about packing the warren with hot coals and slow roasting him for dinner? Could that work?

                    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

                      The best way, in all seriousness, short of shooting the fucker and throwing him to the coyotes, is to set a trap. Groundhogs are ridiculously stupid and will get in a trap within a couple of hours of setting it and leaving him be.

                      The key to trapping is two-fold: 1) set it about 2 feet from the hole; 2) when you relocate that little fucker, make sure you bring him AT LEAST 25 miles away. If you don't there's a very good chance he may beat you home.

                    2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

                      "I don't know where that groundhog got to honey...please have another mystery-meat steak!"

          2. Another Kevin   12 years ago

            Growing up with groundhog issues; my father used to go all chemical-warfare. Hold your breath, mix equal parts bleach and ammonia, and pour that down the hole. Chlorine gas sinks 🙂

            1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

              Today, the Obama administration announced that Another Kevin has crossed "the red line" by using chemical WMDs against the peaceful Groundhog Liberation Army. In a strongly worded condemnation of Another Kevin's actions he stated, "Let me be clear. These subterranean dwellers simply want to live in peace with their human brethren. Another Kevin's actions are an affront to all right minded, peace loving denizens of Earth. As such, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering of our furry friends. We will be supplying the GLA with weapons and supplies so that they may defend themselves against the enemies of humanity."

              And then Kevin vaporized.

              1. Another Kevin   12 years ago

                I was wondering what that 'droning' noise was coming from the sky...

    3. some guy   12 years ago

      The officer told the man to stay inside his own home until he sobered up.

      Proof that there are some good cops out there some of the time.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        Um, "he" refers to the *cop*.

        1. some guy   12 years ago

          Either way I stand by my comment.

  9. Zakalwe   12 years ago

    The series Hipster in Stone was captured by photographer L?o Caillard and retouched by Alexis Persani. The series' premise is simple: classical statues don a hipster wardrobe. The effect, though, is amusing. A simple change or addition of clothing seems to transform each figure's timeless grace to a modern boredom. Subtle expression becomes cool aloofness.

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Leo and Alexis need to be dipped into a vat of dog food and flung into a kennel of hungry Rottweilers.

      1. Fluffy   12 years ago

        Dude, why?

        That's hysterical.

        As 21st century art goes, that's actually incredibly thoughtful, creative, and clever.

    2. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      Oh the irony

    3. generic Brand   12 years ago

      How do they get the shirts over some of those statues? Or the pants on?

    4. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      The only "hipsters in stone" I'm interested in are the ones whose feet are cast in concrete before dropping them in the harbor.

    5. Agammamon   12 years ago

      Somebody needs to tell these people how hipsters actually dress - very little of the stuff in those pictures is "hipster".

      Saw something similar on Kotaku or IO9 the other day - drawings of superheroines in "hipster" clothes (based on their normal outfits). It was just a bunch of drawings of women in casual clothes.

  10. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The NSA says it can wiretap domestic phone calls without a warrant, but claims to only have scrutinized fewer than 300 phone numbers.

    I look forward to the eventual revelation that this, too, is a lie.

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      The U.S. government only searched for detailed information on calls involving fewer than 300 specific phone numbers among the millions of raw phone records collected by the National Security Agency in 2012, according to a government paper

      Emphasis added. To be fair, however, "the dozens" would also be correct.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        I wonder if "specific phone numbers" are just one of a number of criteria they can use to search, and if they're using weasel wording here.

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          Ask "James Clapper".

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Depends on what the assumed scale of measurement is. 300 thousand seems about right.

      1. some guy   12 years ago

        The "million" is silent.

    3. Rasilio   12 years ago

      "but claims to only have scrutinized fewer than 300 phone numbers."

      Only 6 of which belonged to suspected terrorists, the other 97 were hot celebrities, and the remaining 180 were high ranking Republicans

  11. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Son who locked boys who were vandalizing father-in-law's home in a closet faces JAIL

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

    1. Matrix   12 years ago

      should've gotten his money's worth and whooped their asses instead.

    2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      It says he held them for the cops, which is what I thought he was entitled to do.

      I love the Monday-morning quarterbacks who figure that, since it wasn't *their* house, they don't have to worry about how the householder should have exercised his right to restrain the suspects while waiting for the police to come by and arrest them.

      And yeah, I bet the police who arrested this guy would have been similarly quick to arrest fellow police for brutality against burglary suspects. What with there being no double standard and everything.

  12. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Ancient Roman Concrete Is About to Revolutionize Modern Architecture
    http://www.businessweek.com/ar.....chitecture

    As anyone who's ever visited Italy knows, the ancient Romans were master engineers. Their roads, aqueducts, and temples are still holding up remarkably well despite coming under siege over the centuries by waves of sacking marauders, mobs of tourists, and the occasional earthquake. One such structure that has fascinated geologists and engineers throughout the ages is the Roman harbor. Over the past decade, researchers from Italy and the U.S. have analyzed 11 harbors in the Mediterranean basin where, in many cases, 2,000-year-old (and sometimes older) headwaters constructed out of Roman concrete stand perfectly intact despite constant pounding by the sea.

    you know who else was perfectly intact despite constant pounding?

    1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

      St. Paul's cathedral?

    2. Zakalwe   12 years ago

      Tim Tebow?

    3. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      Aphrodite?

    4. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Young female porn stars?

    5. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Warty?

    6. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      She-Hulk.

    7. Zakalwe   12 years ago

      Eric Holder?

    8. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      Anna Nichole Smith?

  13. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Is that you Axl? Rocker Rose gets around with the aid of a walking cane and packs a paunch whilst out in New York City

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-City.html

    1. SugarFree   12 years ago

      "My nipples are killing me."

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        He could poke someone's eyes out with those things.

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          Welcome To The Jungle

          1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

            LMAO!

          2. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

            great, Jabba the Hutt got a record contract

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              He already has a backing band.

              1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

                ...and dancers.

                1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                  And the most vital element of any modern concert stage: a Rancor carcass.

  14. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Hassan Rouhani, a Shia cleric and reformist, won the presidential election in Iran.

    Holy Shiite!

  15. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

    but claims to only have scrutinized fewer than 300 phone numbers.

    Ugh, us Americans are so painfully boring!

  16. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Children's media use cuddly animals to reinforce 'racist' and 'socially dominant norms,' researcher says
    http://news.nationalpost.com/2.....cher-says/

    "What I've noticed in particular about animals is the cultural stereotypes that we have in our society, and in the culture of prejudices we have often are more hidden when they're inserted into a story about animals or animal form."

    It's just problematic when it's the only way children see animals portrayed in the media and "when we don't realize that an animal also has its own complex embedded ambiguous life and it exists outside of our own use or interpretation," she said.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      She looks exactly like the kind of person that would write something like that.

      1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

        Take another look at her face. She looks like she's trying to keep a stiff upper lip after learning that her husband fell into the fires of Mount Doom.

      2. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        No shit--another progressive wanting to make society suffer for her daddy issues.

    2. RBS   12 years ago

      when we don't realize that an animal also has its own complex embedded ambiguous life and it exists outside of our own use or interpretation

      What the fuck does that even mean?

      1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        I too have a problem with pseudo-intellectual babble. I start to get sleepy and wonder if I really missed something important. And then I snap out of it... a bunch of meaningless shit, eh?

      2. DJF   12 years ago

        It means the author has a PHD in jibber jabber.

      3. Fluffy   12 years ago

        I know what it means, but I see no reason to care.

        If I'm not eating it, keeping it as a pet, or killing it in self-defense, I don't give a fuck what animals do with their time. Knock yourself out living your complex embedded ambiguous life, animals.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3nDQFickqY

      4. Agammamon   12 years ago

        when we don't realize that an animal also has its own complex embedded ambiguous life and it exists outside of our own use or interpretation

        Somebody should let her know that it *still* does. No matter how many stories we write about it, its just going to keep on doing its thing without giving a fuck about us.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      For example, bees buzzing around a hive or ants in an ant farm can teach the importance of community and teamwork without having to be anthropomorphized, she said.

      Ah yes, the acceptable metaphor is the one that reinforces submission to the state.

      Meanwhile the bad stuff:

      [M]uch of young children's media reproduces and confirms racist, colonial, consumerist, heteronormative, and patriarchal norms

    4. PS   12 years ago

      "Billy the Bee doesn't necessarily project any kind of cultural bias unless we ignore, for example, that worker ants are mostly females and we call them male because we tend to think of workers as male," she said.

      But Billy isn't an ant you fucking pompous idiot, he's a bee. From Wiki:

      A worker bee is any male (eusocial) bee that lacks the full reproductive capacity of the colony's queen bee; under most circumstances, this is correlated to an increase in certain non-reproductive activities relative to a queen, as well. Worker bees occur in many bee species other than honey bees, but this is by far the most familiar colloquial use of the term.

      1. KDN   12 years ago

        In most common bee species, worker bees are infertile due to enforced altruistic kin selection,[1] and thus never reproduce. Workers are nevertheless considered female for anatomical and genetic reasons. Genetically, a worker bee does not differ from a queen bee and can even become a laying worker bee, but in most species will produce only male (drone) offspring. Whether a larva becomes a worker or a queen depends on the kind of food it is given after the first three days of its larval form.

        The dangers of citing Wikipedia.

      2. Agammamon   12 years ago

        Wikipedia is WRONG in this case - a worker bee is a sterile *female*. The males are called drones - all they do is eat and fuck the queen (and then die)

  17. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    At least 30 people have been killed in a series of car bombs across Iraq.

    They might as well use up all their munitions, they're about to be restocked courtesy of the United States.

  18. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Kentucky middle school student,14, faces up to 1 year in jail over NRA t-shirt

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

    1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      The charge of obstruction comes from Marcum refusing to stop talking, hindering the arresting officer's ability to do his job, according to the police report.

      His talking was hindering the officer from not arresting someone for wearing a shirt and leaving?

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        fytw

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        So this kid is going to get his college paid for by the state? Nice. Also, I want to be as cool a dad as his. I'll bet the police are shocked that daddy didn't roll over.

        'Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this,' Lardieri told the station. 'I don't think it should have ever gotten this far.'

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      I thought this was over. WTF Kentucky? I thought you were cooler than that!

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        Without RTFA I'd bet that this was in Louisville. I'd also bet that the officer will face stiff penalties than if he were to have shot someone under dubious conditions. Kentuckians won't stand for this kind of shit.

        You can do all manner of shit that Kentuckians will deal with, but fuck with our bourbon or guns and you're gonna have problems.

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          Russellville, Logan County. Probably have some fresh EdSchool gradutards running the place.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            There aint 12 people in Russellville they could find to convict if the prosecutor hand picked the jury.

            Any kind of reasonable jury of his peers is a no-brainer acquital.

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              Do juveniles even get a jury trial? I honestly don't know.

              1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

                Generally, no, not if they're tried as juveniles.

              2. robc   12 years ago

                I didnt consider that aspect of it.

                Its interesting, while I wouldnt take the gamble, his best chance of getting off is to ask to be tried as an adult.

            2. Elmo   12 years ago

              The Daily Mail blew it again. This is actually Logan County, West Virginia. Which makes it worse.
              http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201305090204

    3. Ted S.   12 years ago

      We talked about this in one of the weekend threads, and I mentioned there that this is the sort of case we need to bring up over and over whenever people talk about the so-called horror of bullying, by which they never mean using the power of the State to bully people with whom you disagree.

  19. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    At least 30 people have been killed in a series of car bombs across Iraq.

    Mission Accomplished!

  20. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Should Physician Pay Be Tied to Performance?
    http://online.wsj.com/article/.....58370.html

    Currently, most doctors get paid for every service they perform. But one of the big ideas behind President Obama's health-care overhaul is paying doctors based on how well they do their job.

    This year, for instance, nearly $1 billion in federal Medicare payments will hinge in part on patient-satisfaction surveys. Doctors are also graded on how well they comply with procedures for patient care?such as immediately giving patients medication during a heart attack.

    The idea of paying providers for their performance has found plenty of backers?and opponents?throughout the medical community.

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      This will surely stop the mass exodus of doctors from Medicare.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Let's use the same scheme do determine attorneys' pay.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        I say we reduce the number of elected officials by 10% each year until we feel there is a dearth.

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

          I'd start with bureaucrats first.

      2. Marshall Gill   12 years ago

        Don't forget politicians pay!

        1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          Don't forget politicians pay!

          This is an absolutely TERRIBLE idea because according to most people, the worth of politicians is based solely on how many bills one can get passed.

      3. Gbob   12 years ago

        If you want to get a lawyer mad, bring up the notion of turning the law into a single payer system. I've found this works great on my girlfriend. She supports fully the idea of government sponsored medical care such as Canada, but bring the same system into her profession and dishes go flying.

        Despite being a libertarian, I think I may start this up as a movement. It may be the best way to kill the legal profession one could think of.

    3. Rasilio   12 years ago

      ROTFL This sounds like some hairbrained scheme that an MBA graduate who has never worked a day in his life would dream up.

      I once worked for a company who measured software testers performance based on the number of test cases they wrote and executed each month, needless to say they got tons of testcases written and executed, problem is almost none of them had any value because they could never uncover a defect and in some cases were so stupid as to have 128 testcases validating which characters could be entered into each text field within the application but completely missing problems with the actual functioning of the app.

      That is what they will get here, doctors will largely respond to the incentives but not in the ways that the bureaucrats want, health outcomes will actually decline even though they'll have all these wonderful stats showing it should improve and they will blame it on market failure or something else, never realizing that it is the attempt to drive behavior from the outside that is the problem to begin with.

      1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

        "Would you rather have a doctor that holds your hand while you die, or ignores you while curing you" -House

        Customer satisfaction surveys may be a good indicator if your customer service dept is doing a good job. It's a patently idiotic metric for whether a doctor is doing a good job.

        But, feelings and intentions and crap.

        1. PS   12 years ago

          Yes, doctors are glorified technicians. Detect problem--implement solution. Being able to interact with people in order to isolate the problem is important, but being friendly and compassionate isn't at least not compared to actually doing the problem solving.

    4. Agammamon   12 years ago

      Yeah, because Press-Ganey does a really good job of letting you know which hospitals give antibiotics for viral infections and which emergency room doctors are loose with the prescription pad. Let's set-up an unaccountable agency to create "metrics" to measure doctor's by.

      And then exempt government doctors from the metrics like government hospitals are exempt from Press-Ganey reporting.

      And of course, all the while keep the doctors in front of the computer filling out idiotic checklists and clicking through automated warnings to get to the part where they can actually give the heart-attack patient his aspirin.

  21. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Girl cuts off rapist dad's head, neighbours say "good for her", impede police investigation

    more

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      I don't know a thing about Papua New Guinea. Do they have the death penalty there? Does their justice system treat rapists and pedophile's with kid gloves like they do here?

      1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        It's got pretty scary crime rates, including of torturing and killing sorcerers, so it reinstituted the death penalty a few weeks ago. It's not that PNG is soft on crime from nice Western idealism - its problem is it's a failing state

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          Pfft. Whatevs. Sorcerers get what they deserve.

          1. Rich   12 years ago

            If they were *real* sorcerers they wouldn't be getting tortured and killed.

            1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

              Who are you sir knight, who are so wise in the ways of science?

            2. SugarFree   12 years ago

              So they are being put to death for false advertising? Way too harsh.

            3. Agammamon   12 years ago

              Its the old "kill 'em all, god will know his own" style of law enforcement.

      2. some guy   12 years ago

        How do we "treat rapists and pedophiles with kid gloves" here? I feel like those accused of rape or pedophilia in the US are guilty until proven innocent. And once someone's on the sex offender registry (even for a minor offense) they often end up indefinitely homeless and jobless.

        1. WTF   12 years ago

          Well, we still allow them to present a defense instead of going straight to the gallows, so I guess that's kid gloves.

    2. Matrix   12 years ago

      NOT GUILTY!

  22. DJF   12 years ago

    """"to only have scrutinized fewer than 300 phone numbers.""'

    Yep, they have only scrutinized phones using the numbers, 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.

  23. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Young, pretty, successful. So why DID Helen let rich 'sugar daddies' date her for cash?

    Helen was a middle-class girl from a loving family in small-town Cheshire
    But six years ago, she joined dating website sugardaddie.com
    She started meeting super-rich men who would pay for her company
    And she quickly grew addicted to a glamorous life of luxury

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....-cash.html

    1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      So why DID Helen let rich 'sugar daddies' date her for cash?

      Because she wanted cash (and possibly the dating part too). Duh.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      Markets, how the fuck do they work?

    3. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Shouldn't be long before the amorphous slugs of the feminist movement who could never choose to utilize their looks in such a way start demanding this woman stop being a detriment to the "cause."

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Or even one's that could:

        Risk: Helen now believes that girls who become involved with sugar daddies risk damaging psychological consequences

        1. Agammamon   12 years ago

          Hmm, imagine that. Women who hang around men only for their money find out that the men only value them for their looks and sex and not as a "whole person".

          Someone should tell these girls that not all jobs give you money *and* self-esteem. Sometimes you gots to trade one for the other.

    4. Matrix   12 years ago

      Needs more "rape culture" and "patriarchy"

  24. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Detroit Recovery Plan Threatens Muni-Market Underpinnings
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....nings.html

    Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr's plan to suspend payments on $2 billion of Detroit's debt threatens a basic tenet of the $3.7 trillion municipal market: that states and cities will raise taxes as high as needed to avoid default.

    Orr, appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder to oversee Michigan's largest city, proposed a deal last week that included skipping a $39.7 million payment on pension-obligation debt. The city is also set to default on unsecured unlimited-tax and limited-tax general-obligation bonds as it grapples with $17 billion in liabilities to avoid a record bankruptcy.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      The proper solution is disincorporation, followed by the selling off of Detroit's assets. (Not that I know how much more than $1.98 Detroit has in the way of assets.)

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

        Yes, but that would involve cutting the pensions. They're not going to do that until they're forced to. What they will do instead is torpedo the muni-bond market, as has been expected.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      that states and cities will raise taxes as high as needed to avoid default.

      Hmmm. there seems to be a flaw in this 'basic tenet' of the municipal market. What could it be?

    3. mr lizard   12 years ago

      Robocop and The Crow were documentaries brought to you by your future Reptilian Overlords... Carry the fuck on

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        I found out that Robocop narrates a series on H2 this weekend. Or Buckaroo Banzai. BB probably makes more sense.

      2. Agammamon   12 years ago

        You know maybe they should seriously be looking for an OCP to take the reigns.

        I mean, how much worse could an OCP future be for Old Detroit than the "public governance" past its had?

    4. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      The city is also set to default on unsecured unlimited-tax and limited-tax general-obligation bonds as it grapples with $17 billion in liabilities to avoid a record bankruptcy.

      I don't understand why so many people think that cities filing bankruptcy is the worstest thing ever.

      It's actually a necessary first step to their becoming financially viable again. (slashing the size of the city government is a necessary 2nd step).

    5. Agammamon   12 years ago

      ". . .threatens a basic tenet of the $3.7 trillion municipal market: that states and cities will raise taxes as high as needed to avoid default."

      If this is a basic tenant then that market needs to be threatened. There's no way Detroit can raise taxes indefinitely. Contrary to what a lot of statists think (Palin's Buttplug, I'm looking at you) the state actually has to provide *some* value for the money they take.

      Detroit's already at the point where raising taxes just drives more people out, if this cycle continues they're going to be trying to pin the whole debt on the last person to leave.

  25. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Do Legos build up anger in our kids?
    http://www.utsandiego.com/news.....rch-study/

    "Today's Lego characters are looking increasingly angry and carrying more weapons, indicating an important shift in the way kids play and interact with toys."

    CNN said so, citing a study led by New Zealand university researcher Christoph Bartnek that concludes, "We cannot help but wonder how the move from only positive faces to an increasing number of negative faces impacts how children play."

    1. John   12 years ago

      Oh for the love of God.

      1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        John, it's pretty clear cut. The only two toys I had in abundance as a little kid were video games and Legos (when I got older I got guns too). I played video games as a kid, so I'm obviously a murderous psychopath. Since I'm a murderous psychopath and I played with Legos as a kid, Legos are obviously making kids more violent, hence the upgrade to guns later. Now, some might say that playing with Legos helped develop my interest in building things, leading to my career as an engineer, but let me be clear: that has only enhanced my capacity for murder.

        1. John   12 years ago

          I had Legos and Lincoln Logs. Clearly, I must be some kind of survivalist killer living in the woods hunting my human prey.

          1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

            you know who else was a surv... oh, never mind.

          2. RBS   12 years ago

            I had Legos and Gi Joes. I even had the GI Joe aircraft carrier. I must be a monster.

            1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              GI Joe had an aircraft carrier?

              I had the jet and it was huge. I can't imagine how big the carrier must have been.

              1. RBS   12 years ago

                It was huge, it took up most of my bedroom.

                1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

                  that's what she said.

              2. Bobarian   12 years ago

                I'm guessing RBS had the little 'Go Joe' types and you had the 12" Barbie Rapers with 'Kung-Fu Grip and Life-Like Hair'.

            2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

              So you're one of those superrich villains in a volcano lair.

          3. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

            You guys are the privileged elite, the 1% obviously. I had Brix Blox, aka Legos for cheap folk.

        2. Agammamon   12 years ago

          Not just a murderous psychopath - those legos taught you how to improvise.

          They're just a gateway to pressure cooker bombs.

      2. Rich   12 years ago

        To be fair, God's looking increasingly angry, too.

      3. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        But NEGATIVE FACES!!!!

    2. Bee Tagger   12 years ago

      I think it all started with the seething violence barely contained in the command to lego my eggo.

      1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        I think that consumer tested better than "Get your #$&*ing hands of my toaster product!"

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      Go ahead and wonder Christoph, but let's leave it at that.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        *Bartneck* has quite the fascination with Legos.

    4. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      I once pulled the head off a Lego man because it had a dehumanizing stare.

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        NEGATIVE FACES!!!

      2. NeonCat   12 years ago

        You're not really a monster until you drill holes in Lego heads and wear them on a necklace as trophies.

        You're not a successful monster until you do that and just insist it's a fashion piece, isn't it cute?

        1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          Years ago I used to have Gumby in a noose dangling from my belt. It got a few looks.

    5. Rasilio   12 years ago

      Gee and I played with Matchbox cars and every single one of them became a spaceship with the head and tail lights being laser cannons and then fought epic space battles with them so does that make me a brilliant naval genuis or a murderous space pirate?

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        Neither - the laws of physics negate the existence of space pirates and your naval warfare paradigm that was not only obsolete but used in a totally inappropriate medium.

        1. Agammamon   12 years ago

          Heck, I bet your spaceships *banked* in turns!

  26. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Amazing moment a tiny fox with its head stuck in a jar approaches two men for help

    Filmed on a Russian dirt road, this shows the wild fox overcome its shyness
    Curiosity had got the better of the fox and it knew humans were its only help
    One rescuer joked: 'Where's the thank you?' as it returned to the bushes

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

    1. John   12 years ago

      Wow.

      1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

        The Russians have tame foxes. Who know what other horrible experiments have escaped into the woods!?

        Other than Steve Smith, of course. In Soviet Russia, experiment experiments on you.

        1. John   12 years ago

          I saw a Nova on that. They were able to breed tame foxes in just a few generations. But their tails curved up and they changed a bit in appearance.

          1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

            I saw that Nova, it was pretty neat. The idea was that the same way they got tame foxes from wild foxes was probably how early man got dogs from wolves.

          2. Azathoth!!   12 years ago

            They got monster foxes as well--from the other side of the experiment.

        2. sarcasmic   12 years ago

          That's cool.

        3. Matrix   12 years ago

          Well, there are people with pet foxes in various parts of the world.

          1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

            I want one to eat the #$%&ing; ground squirrels that raid and eat everything I plant.

            1. Brett L   12 years ago

              Cats? I didn't have squirrels for five years until my kitty lit out for somewhere else.

            2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

              You and Fluffy should get a couple terriers. They go after varmints and will not stop until they are dead or gone.

    2. NeonCat   12 years ago

      It was playing Cosmonaut and things went too far.

    3. lap83   12 years ago

      That was a cool article, until I read one of the comments

      "Considering the misery we heap on nature it's amazing some animals are prepared to take a chance, maybe they see the potential for change in us."

      *retch*

  27. Jordan   12 years ago

    The NSA says it can wiretap domestic phone calls without

    No doubt the constitutional-scholar-in-chief agrees. When did Harvard drop the 4th Amendment from its law curriculum?

    1. John   12 years ago

      Sometime after the Supreme Court dropped it form theirs.

      1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        It's probably still in there, and Barry just skipped class that week. Then he messed up the section on the final about it, earning him that D that he's too shy to release.

    2. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      Oh, it is still there - one must learn it in order to evade/subvert it.

  28. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    'He messed with the wrong witch': Brave mother-of-six punches carjacker in the face and then RUNS HIM OVER

    Dorothy Baker was returning home with her children when a man popped up from the back of her car and demanded money
    53-year-old Ismael Martinez had a knife and threatened Baker's two young children
    Baker fought off Martinez and punched him in the face, ordering him from her car
    Martinez exited the car only to be hit by Baker's minivan and is now in a serious condition in hospital
    Baker said she didn't mean to hurt him and was trying to protect her kids

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

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Dammit! Work stopped me from getting this out ahead ofyou.

  29. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

    Cop Gets Pissed Off When Bar Plays N.W.A.'s "Fuck tha Police"

    http://gawker.com/cop-gets-pis.....-513697667

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Checking the original testimony in the court case of N.W.A v. Police Department (Judge Dre residing), it did seem like MC Ren, Ice Cube, and Eazy Mothafuckin' E make some cogent points about the police. Essentially, they argue, fuck 'em.

      =-)

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      Hangs out in a bar called "The Squealing Pig", surprised when they have a joke at his expense. Fuck him, specifically.

    3. Agammamon   12 years ago

      "I have been speaking to all parties involved to ascertain if there was any inappropriate behavior involving those present," Lynn said in an email to the Cape Cod Times."

      It seems that the only inappropriate behavior was by Lynn.

      Hell the cop should be praised since (as far as the article says) he just complained like anyone else and didn't use his nightstick to get his way.

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        Sigh, then I read the article and see the COP is a jag-off who's using his extra man-power for "business licensing compliance".

        I think that, if you have police time to routinely devote to that, then you were already fully staffed and didn't need any more cops.

  30. Brett L   12 years ago

    Houston women will run your ass over if you piss them off...

    Although this is the first time I've seen it used on an actual aggressor and not a lover suspected of cheating.

  31. John   12 years ago

    http://www.politico.com/playbo.....10932.html

    Wow has Rubio turned out to be a fucking moron. "There are American workers out there who just can't cut it" he says in discussing immigration. Well, that is true without doubt. But if you tell them that, you really can't blame them for not voting for your dumb ass. More importantly, when you never say which Americans you are talking about, they are all going to assume that you are talking about them. I don't think I have ever seen a politician completely fall apart this quickly and this spectacularly.

    1. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Did Rubio say something like this himself? The quote is attributed to an aide. He can probably just fire him.

      But yeah, its not as though this is the only comment sinking his ship, he was doing that with his positions before this aide spoke up.

      1. John   12 years ago

        It was an aid. But clearly that is what the office believes or he wouldn't have said it. And frankly it makes me wonder if Rubio is not a racist. Apparently black and white Americans just don't measure up to his kind.

    2. Don Mynack   12 years ago

      I agree with this sentiment. In fact, anyone unemployed for longer than 5 years, that still seeks gov't assistance, either voluntarily gets cut off, or is deported. Let's see if that motivates their asses.

      1. John   12 years ago

        In a normal economy, sure. But not in this economy. There are fewer jobs than there are unemployed people. Worse still, most employers refuse to hire anyone who has been unemployed for more than six months. So basically, if you are out of work for more than six months, you are fucked. The math is really that bad.

        And lets also not forget that Latin American immigrants are racist as hell. They own many low skill fields in this country. And make it impossible for anyone but other Latins to get hired. If you have a yard crew of Hondurans, you are probably going to be lucky to be able to hire a Mexican without your crew quitting or throwing a fit. A white or worse yet black American? Forget it.

        1. sloopyinca   12 years ago

          In a normal economy, sure. But not in this economy.

          Spoken like a true government employee.

        2. Agammamon   12 years ago

          Bullshit.

    3. creech   12 years ago

      No,in this era of inflated self-esteem, workers will assume he is talking about some other goof off, not about them.

  32. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Mayhem central.

    The most violent weekend in Chicago this year left at least 41 people injured and six others dead from gunfire.

    Those killed ranged in age from 16 to 40.

    This is all my fault, I suspect.

    1. John   12 years ago

      If you own a gun, yes. Just having those things has the magical effect of inducing people in Chicago to kill each other.

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        I wonder if the gun control has anything to do with this. Like how they're a novelty and anytime someone from Chicago gets their hands on one they just have to see what it can do, since they've never seen one before.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      They were rioting over the Blackhawks' loss.

      1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

        Boston in six.

      2. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        STOP. JUST STOP. NOW. PLEASE.

        1. Ted S.   12 years ago

          Actually, I'd rather Chicago win than Boston Weak.

      3. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        Being able to hold onto Jagr's stick for about 15 seconds wasn't enough?

      4. John   12 years ago

        I can't believe they went three and then two overtimes. Talk about even teams.

        1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

          Second game ended in the first OT. But the greater point is the same.

    3. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      I didn't realize P Brooks was one of the Chicago legislators who have banned guns.

    4. gaijin   12 years ago

      Wonder if they count the cops shooting 15 year olds? INterestingly, the spokesperson for the police point of view is...the police union head!

      Police shoot 15 year old

      1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        Former "Flying Officer Pat Camden" the traffic guy.

  33. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    TEH WAR ON WIMMINZ!!!

    In 2014, Obamacare's blizzard of regulations and mandates will transform the U.S. market for health insurance, among people who buy coverage for themselves. Of increasing concern is the phenomenon of "rate shock," whereby many Americans face substantial increases in their health insurance premiums. Much of the debate has focused on young men, the "bros" who will bear the brunt of Obamacare's rate hikes. But in California, women and men will see equally high jumps in the underlying cost of individual-market premiums.

    This is because the Golden State already bars insurers from charging different rates on the basis of gender in the individual market.

    snip . . .

    In other words, the rate shock that I described in my three previous posts on California applies equally to men and women. If you compare the cheapest plan on healthcare.gov to the cheapest Bronze plan on the new Covered California insurance exchange, premiums for healthy 25-year-olds will increase by 147 percent?a median of $183 on the exchange vs. $74 today?and premiums for healthy 40-year-olds will increase by 149 percent?a median of $234 on the exchange vs. $94 today.

    This assault on women will go unnoticed by most of the media because Ocare's intentions are noble!

    1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      No no no, you're just not realizing how bad things would have been without Obamacare. If he hadn't saved us with it, the increase would have been even higher. We just misestimated how bad it was going to get.

      1. Suthenboy   12 years ago

        Get a dictionary. It's misunderestimated.

  34. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Rock Found In Amesbury Backyard Came From Space Station

    http://boston.cbslocal.com/201.....e-station/

  35. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    some troll bait:

    'Snowden is not the problem' Palin says
    http://dailycaller.com/2013/06.....alin-says/

    Sarah Palin energized a group of social conservatives at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Road to Majority Conference Saturday, blasting the Obama Administration's apparent lawlessness, calling the current state of America "Orwellian," and urging the United States to stay out of Syria's chaotic and brutal civil war.

    In comments to the Daily Caller, the 2008 candidate for vice president also declined to join many of her fellow Republicans in condemning National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, saying the real problem was the government's violation of Americans' rights.

    In her speech, Palin called the current political atmosphere, rife with scandals, a "a symptom of a bigger disease," expressing outrage over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative nonprofits.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      But but but... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH did it first!

      And what do you expect when Palin speaks to the Christfags?

    2. John   12 years ago

      Everything she said was totally reasonable and spot on. But remember, she is the stupid one. The smart people are the ones telling you privacy is an outdated concept and even if it wasn't we can totally trust the NSA never to abuse the information they have.

      1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

        Like Dick Cheney?

        1. John   12 years ago

          And Gonzalez and David Brooks and Jeffrey Toobin and an entire collection of "top men" from left and right. Those are the smart ones. But Palin is the dumb one. Remember that.

        2. John   12 years ago

          Do you think this issue divides neatly down party lines? Do you think I or anyone reading this is so dumb that we think only Democratic hacks defending Obama are saying these things?

          If not, what is the point of mentioning Cheney? You say it like you think you are adding something to the conversation.

          1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

            No subtext, just can't stand Cheney.

            1. robc   12 years ago

              No one here can stand Cheney, dont act like you are a special snowflake.

              1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                That's good to hear. It seemed like people couldn't let a negative comment about him pass without "Oh, Obama is worse." Obama is worse in a lot of ways, but anyone should be able to note Dick Cheney (and Sarah Palin) are jerks without having to qualify it. Sheesh.

                1. robc   12 years ago

                  Old news is old.

                  We blistered Cheney for 8 years, we have moved on.

                2. KPres   12 years ago

                  It actually is worse when Obama does it.

                  Just like it's worse when a "family values" Republican gets caught cheating on his wife. In both cases, the crime + the hypocrisy and deception is a lot worse than the crime alone.

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    I can agree Obama has to eat hypocrisy crow in addition to doing evil, I just point out that flips in the other direction shouldn't be credited a penny either.

                    1. Agammamon   12 years ago

                      This is not the "New Republic".

                      Even our conservative 'republican' commenters can't stand the last administration, give it a rest already.

                3. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

                  It seemed like people couldn't let a negative comment about him pass without "Oh, Obama is worse." Obama is worse in a lot of ways, but anyone should be able to note Dick Cheney (and Sarah Palin) are jerks without having to qualify it. Sheesh.

                  Well, seeing as how Cheney was never president and has been out of office altogether for 5 years, mentioning him wrt a current scandal is kind of douchey. As is the gratuitous Palin hate.

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    Yes, mentioning a guy who was VP, well known as a major architect of a previous NSA spying program and who recently commented in support of it on nationally televise interview is beyond the pale.

                4. Agammamon   12 years ago

                  ON THE OTHER FUCKING HAND, CHENEY IS NOT IN OFFICE, FUCKING OBAMA IS AND RIGHT NOW OBAMA IS WORSE THAN CHENEY.

                  Fuck the man's been in office for over 5 years and you people still keep harping on the previous fuckers.

                  1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

                    I really don't know why you guys keep arguing with idiots like this after they've proven themselves to be morons/sockpuppets/trolls.

                    Whoever this asshat is, he's just another idiot who came over from Slate or wherever to poke the Libertarians. They also are under the retarded delusion that Libertarians are just Republicans who smoke pot.

                    Oh yeah, and BOOOOOOOOOSH!

          2. DJF   12 years ago

            Heinlein

            Political tags--such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and. so forth--are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort

            1. John   12 years ago

              Boy have the last few months borne that out.

          3. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            Cheney was on TV over the weekend calling Snowden a Chinese spy and defending the NSA.

            1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

              No surprises there. Cheney is consistently an authoritarian bastard.

            2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              That's why I mentioned him, but those that love him can go on defending his jerkass.

              1. robc   12 years ago

                No one here loves him.

              2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

                That's why I mentioned him, but those that love him can go on defending his jerkass.

                Where, exactly, do you think you are?

                1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                  I've had about half a dozen people that seem terribly upset that I brought up Cheney being a jerkass on the exact same subject Palin was speaking of this weekend.

                  Oh my, if you mentioned Cheney's asshole comments you must be on the Obama bandwagon!

                  WTF?

              3. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                ^^Who is this idiot?^^

              4. Agammamon   12 years ago

                No-one's fucking defending him here. relax dude your among friends here.

                Sort of.

                The type of friends that will get you drunk and egg you on until you moon the president and get thrown in a federal pound-me-in-the-arse prison, but friends.

            3. Don Mynack   12 years ago

              And, he looks more undead than ever.

              1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                That which is dead may never die.

                1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

                  Was that from Lovecraft or Game of Thrones? Because I could see Cheney fitting in either milieu.

                  1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                    That is GoT. Lovecraft is "That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die."

        3. WTF   12 years ago

          Bo Cara Esq.|6.17.13 @ 9:24AM|#

          Like Dick Cheney?

          Hey, we may have a new troll!

    3. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      Sista Sarah is too stupid to know that Bush made warrantless wiretapping perfectly legal.

      1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

        Indeed, I don't remember her complaining about that stuff during his administration.

        1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

          Ah, so we knew the NSA was doing this back then? Interesting.

          1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

            We didn't know about NSA spying back then?

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.....ontroversy

        2. John   12 years ago

          And I don't' remember the NSA doing this ever being public. The NSA up until Snowden claimed to only be listening to foreign calls not every call made in the US.

          1. WTF   12 years ago

            Bo Cara is a new troll who thinks this is a Reuplican site. Don't waste your time.

            1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

              Ah, thanks - I've been out for a little bit. Can't keep up with the trolls without an updated scorecard.

            2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              No, this is a libertarian site from what I understand, which is why I think it's interesting you'd get upset at a swipe at Dick Cheney. Is this the kind of libertarian site that defends Dick Cheney?

              1. WTF   12 years ago

                Don't confuse being annoyed at a lefty-style tu quoque in an attempt to excuse Obama's malfeasance with a defense of Cheney or Bush.

                It's clear you're taking a swipe at Cheney in an effort to minimize Obama's bad acts, which is the annoying, trollish behavior, especially since no one here defended Cheney or Bush's bad acts.

                1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                  Where do I minimize Obama's malfeasance? I mentioned Cheney because he was kind of in the news on this topic this weekend.

                  1. robc   12 years ago

                    NO ONE CARES ABOUT CHENEY HERE.

                    Not since Jan 20, 2009.

                    Stick to the present, or the future.

                    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Did you not hear that Cheney gave a big interview on this subject this weekend?

                      Sheesh.

                    2. robc   12 years ago


                      Did you not hear that Cheney gave a big interview on this subject this weekend?

                      Yes, and I ignored it like Ive ignored everything Cheney has said since about 19dickety-two.

                    3. robc   12 years ago

                      And "big" seems like bullshit.

                      Sheesh.

                    4. Agammamon   12 years ago

                      So did Palin, and I ignored her too.

                    5. Agammamon   12 years ago

                      Heck I agree with most of what she said and I ignored her.

                      I also ignored the other fuckers who defended the program.

                      Except Stossel - its not the screwing around with other ideologies, its the betrayal that really hurts.

                  2. Don Mynack   12 years ago

                    Snowden live Q&A at the Guardian:

                    http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....stleblower

                  3. KPres   12 years ago

                    It's deflection, not minimizing per se. And you've done it like 3 times in this thread.

                    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Holy crap.

                      Dick Cheney was on Fox News this weekend defending NSA spying and calling Snowden a traitor. It's somehow defending Barrack Obama to bring this up?

                    2. robc   12 years ago

                      Was anyone surprised by this being Cheney's position?

                      Anyone at all?

                      Of course a fucking neo-con supports it.

                      Its deflection from the real issue, which is that the CURRENT FUCKING SITTING PRESIDENT SUPPORTS IT.

                    3. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      It's not deflection, it wasn't said in response to ANYTHING ABOUT OBAMA (since you like all caps), it was said in response to a comment about Palin suddenly finding Jesus on this issue; I tied the two together because Cheney was seen as the architect of NSA warrantless spying for years while Palin remained silent about it.

                      You guys are amazingly touchy about Palin.

                    4. robc   12 years ago

                      It wasnt public knowledge until just now, how could Palin "find Jesus" before now?

              2. Agammamon   12 years ago

                No this is a libertarian site that gets upset at constant attempts to deflect the issue away from the people running the scandal.

                I'm thinking you're a liberal troll whose modus operandi is constant "but Bush!" comments. Only in this case you think you're being subtle by crying "but Cheney!" all the time.

            3. Gbob   12 years ago

              Or someone has an extra sock puppet laying about.

        3. Rasilio   12 years ago

          Why would you? No one had ever heard of her before McCain tagged her to be VP and as the VP candidate she had to follow McCain's platform and not her own.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            No one had ever heard of her before McCain tagged her to be VP

            I successfully called her as the 2008 VP candidate here on reason in Jan/Feb of 2007 (I think, its vague exactly when it was, lots of people were "who?" when I said it).

            Fuck you, I am someone.

            1. Rasilio   12 years ago

              If you're commenting here it is defacto proof that you are a nobody 🙂

      2. John   12 years ago

        Bush had the unilateral power to change the Constitution and pass laws without Congress. He just made it "legal".

        But of course Palin is the dumb one. Wow, you are amazingly stupid.

        1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

          I'm not sure what your point is here. Did the Bush administration not have a pretty controversial spying program in place when Palin was running for VP? Did she comment on it then?

          1. John   12 years ago

            Sure they did. But they didn't have this program as far as we know. What was revealed in 05 was spying on calls between the US and foreign countries, not collecting every single call. To my knowledge the NSA under Bush never collected every call. And even if they did, Palin and no one else without the security clearance knew about it. So you can't call her for hypocrisy about something she didn't know.

            1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              I'm not a big fan of either program, and if Palin loved liberty and privacy she would not be either. She knew about the programs that Bush was running and said jack.

              Sorry, this libertarian has little use for Sarah Palin. YMMV.

              1. John   12 years ago

                She knew about the programs that Bush was running and said jack.

                No she didn't. She wasn't in government. She didn't have a security clearance. Stop fucking lying.

                1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                  Jesus. She knew about the program revealed in 05, it was in every newspaper in the country (and she reads all of the newspapers, remember?).

                  1. robc   12 years ago

                    What was revealed in 2005 != 2013 reveal.

                    Different things.

                    There are 4 possibilities, 1 absurd:

                    Agree with 2005, agree with 2013 (Cheney)
                    Disagree with 2005, disagree with 2013 (lots)
                    Disagree with 2005, agree with 2013 (insane, see also, democrats)
                    Agree with 2005, disagree with 2013 (Palin)

                    2013 is 2005 at a completely different level. Its perfectly reasonable for someone to support the 2005 NSA and oppose the 2013 NSA.

                    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Where do you fall?

                      I fall with the second one, hence my criticism of 1 and 4.

                      That this upsets so many ostensible libertarians is really quite surprising to me.

                    2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                      ^^Who IS this fucking moron?^^

                    3. Azathoth!!   12 years ago

                      I fall with the second one, hence my criticism of 1 and 4.

                      But not 3.

                      That freudian slip of yours is showing...

          2. robc   12 years ago

            It was pretty clear that she was told to "shut the fuck up" by the McCain folks if she wanted on the ticket.

            Sort of like Rand Paul avoiding certain topics.

            1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

              This creates a nice way to explain away anything she did that you don't agree with.

              What she said you liked: that was the real Palin! What she said you didn't: that was those pesky McCain folks!

              1. robc   12 years ago

                The 2013 Palin matches the 2007 Palin.

                The 2008 Palin was an awful politician for about 3 months.

                I can draw conclusions pretty successfully from that.

                1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                  Bush's NSA programs were well known by 2005. Did Sarah ever say anything about it in 05? 06? 07?

                  This is the same woman that was calling for Julian Assange's head not long ago.

                  1. robc   12 years ago

                    Bush's NSA programs were well known by 2005.

                    Apparently not, or it wouldnt be a big story now.

                    Did Sarah ever say anything about it in 05? 06? 07?

                    I doubt it. I never heard her support it either. I think she was busy dealing with Alaskan issues.

                    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      It's a big story now because the NSA has been outed as doing something more than they were doing in 05.

                      My point is that Palin is only suddenly against NSA spying because her base is mad at Obama about it now. When her base was happy with Bush and Cheney (see, THIS is why I mentioned him in response to praise for Sarah) she said jack about it. I found it particularly ironic that she condemned spying and getting into Middle Eastern wars on the same weekend that Cheney had this interview, given that she was fine with Cheney and Bush doing that sort of thing a few years back.

                      She's pandering, and you guys are the panderees.

                    2. robc   12 years ago

                      It's a big story now because the NSA has been outed as doing something more than they were doing in 05.

                      Hence the big difference. Lots of people accepted what they were doing back then (or supposedly doing back then).

                      The NSA has been spying since it started. She didnt criticize it when Clinton was president either.

                      The difference, TODAY, is that we now know more of what they are doing and it stepped over a line for a lot of people. She isnt a libertarian, but she isnt a neo-con either. This very reasonably went past her line.

                      If you cant see the difference between today and 2005, then you are the one with the problem. The fact that she is disagreeing with Cheney solidifies that point.

                      You could say that Cheney is pandering to Obama, maybe he wants an admin job or something. But, I dont say that, because I think he was being honest this weekend. He is that evil. I think Palin was being honest too, which I dont think was always the case in 2008.

                    3. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      What I'm saying is that I think the only "line" that matters to Sarah Palin is "what does my base like right now?" If she was really motivated against warrantless spying on Americans she would have denounced it when Cheney et al., were doing it.

                      The Syria thing is even worse. The same lady that was fine with "bomb, bomb, Iran" is now upset about intervention in the Middle East. That's rich.

                    4. KPres   12 years ago

                      Much like Obama pandered about this stuff in '08. Pandering, apparently, is the best we're going to get. I say run with it.

                    5. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      We don't have to settle for pandering. The LP doesn't pander. And maybe more importantly we now have national figures like the Paul's that do very little pandering. It's good to support those people and remember people like Palin and Cheney for what they were and are.

                    6. KPres   12 years ago

                      "The LP doesn't pander."

                      The LP doesn't have any influence, either. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I say join the side that's right, even when you know they're full of shit and would backtrack on all of it if they got their hands on the wheel.

      3. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        and the bait has been taken.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          Aren't you the web-boy for Conservatives4Palin?

          1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            Shreeeek!

          2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

            I know. I've read the articles at this site for a while and never seen such kneejerk defenses of Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney, so I'm a bit surprised to see it in the comments. And the irony of guys doing it accusing me of not knowing what this site is all about is not lost on me.

            1. Don Mynack   12 years ago

              What are you talking about? People were remarking about what Palin said this w/e, which is consistent with the majority of opinion on this site (at least the quoted remarks). Are you saying you disagree with her in the fact that we should enter the Syrian civil war and condemn Mr. Snowden?

              1. WTF   12 years ago

                I think Bo Cara is saying "But, BOOSHH!!! CHENEY!!111!!".

              2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                No, I'm noting the irony of Palin saying these things the same weekend that Cheney was saying his, when Palin was running for office Cheney was doing this kind of thing and she said jack. Screw her.

                1. robc   12 years ago

                  Screw her for being correct. Got it.

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    My goodness you really love Palin, don't you?

                    Wow.

                    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

                      The 10:29 really does reveal. Fakes not understanding approval of a position vs unconditional backing of a politician. Sheesh. Back to troll school, if you want to be a better concern troll.

                    2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Pointing out that she didn't condemn this sort of thing when her base supported it but does so now when they don't is trolling?

                      It seems to me that a lot of people here just don't want to hear anything negative about Palin (or Cheney). We're supposed to close our eyes towards them or something.

                    3. robc   12 years ago

                      You clearly didnt read this blog in 2008.

                      The hate that flowed towards Palin was huge, and deservedly so as she flip-flopped to McCain position after McCain position.

                      BUT, and I repeat, Cheney and Palin are old news, they dont matter anymore. Lets focus of the fuckers actually running things.

                    4. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Both parties are 'running things.' Both are terrible from a libertarian pov. It's not some defense of one party to point out that the jerks in the other party remain, well, jerks.

                    5. robc   12 years ago

                      Both parties are 'running things.'

                      Yes, but not Cheney or Palin.

                      There are plenty of actual ELECTED republicans to bitch about.

                      Rubio is fair game right now. Take everything you said about Cheney and replace it with Rubio and everyone here would be supporting you.

                    6. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      This isn't some zero sum game where if I criticize Cheney and Palin that results in pluses for Obama or Rubio.

                    7. robc   12 years ago

                      Or is it?

                      I just dont understand why you are wasting your effort on non-entities.

                    8. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Why didn't you ask the same question of the original comment praising Palin?

                    9. robc   12 years ago

                      I didnt see it?

                2. Don Mynack   12 years ago

                  Is it possible that Palin changed her mind?

                  Was the Syrian civil war an issue in 2008, because I missed that.

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    Changing your mind to suit the political winds is not something admirable in a politician.

                    I agree with Palin on Syria, but I don't give her any credit on that either; in 2008 she ran on a ticket wanting to 'bomb, bomb Iran' so she's no isolationist. There's a different guy in the White House that her supporters don't like so she's singing a different tune.

                    1. robc   12 years ago

                      Changing your mind to suit the political winds is not something admirable in a politician.

                      But its what politicians do.

                      I agree with Palin on Syria, but I don't give her any credit on that either; in 2008 she ran on a ticket wanting to 'bomb, bomb Iran' so she's no isolationist.

                      1. I dont blame her for the ticket she was on. She was McCain's running mate, she was going to echo him, everyone knew she didnt agree with him on things, its what she had to do as VEEP.

                      2. You used the word isolationist where you clearly meant non-interventionist, which is the sign of a troll.

                    2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      I say isolationist with pride.

                      "everyone knew she didnt agree with him on things"

                      How does "everyone know" this?

                      "But its what politicians do."

                      Well let's not praise them when they do it.

                    3. robc   12 years ago

                      I say isolationist with pride.

                      Then you are a fucking moron.

                      Isolationists oppose free trade.

                    4. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Isolationism is not the same as protectionism, though many people who buy into the former do the latter.

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

                    5. sloopyinca   12 years ago

                      Who's ^^this asshole^^? I've been gone for a while.

                    6. robc   12 years ago

                      Who's ^^this asshole^^?

                      He is new, and/or an old one with a new name.

                    7. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      Nice to meet you too, sir.

                      I am an asshole because I think Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney deserve criticism?

                    8. robc   12 years ago

                      No, context is important. You are an asshole, in this context for supporting isolationism.

                    9. robc   12 years ago

                      Isolationists are both non-interventionist and protectionist.

                      Which is what the link says.

                      You used isolationist, which implies BOTH.

                      A non-interventionist is a good thing. An isolationist is fucking evil.

                    10. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                      From the link:

                      "Two other terms often associated with Isolationism, but not necessarily the same as Isolationism, are:

                      2.Protectionism ? Relates more often to economics, its proponents believe that there should be legal barriers in order to control trade and cultural exchange with people in other states."

            2. WTF   12 years ago

              Needs more christfag and bushpig.

            3. Rasilio   12 years ago

              No one is defending Cheney or Palin (well besides John but he's more Republican than libertarian), they are agreeing with what she said this weekend and your bringing up Cheney was a complete non sequitor completely in line with the tactics the liberal/progressive trolls/foils who comment here use.

              Basically you just did the equivalent of saying "But Bush did it and she didn't say anything" implying that this somehow makes her stance now disingenuious or even wrong

              1. robc   12 years ago

                Basically you just did the equivalent of saying "But Bush did it and she didn't say anything" implying that this somehow makes her stance now disingenuious or even wrong

                Exactly. I will say the exact opposite, any stance she took in the fall of 2008 was disingenuous. Want to bitch about Palin, bitch about her selling out to McCain for 3 months.

                1. KPres   12 years ago

                  Very true about her being disingenuous in 2008. Deep down, nobody wants the NSA spying on them. But it's a great example of how democracy leads to policies that nobody likes.

              2. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                I think her stance now is completely disingenuious.

                1. KPres   12 years ago

                  Maybe, but who gives a fuck? Palin is an obscure nobody at this point. Why are we talking about her? How can distracting from the people in power right now and their complicity, and focusing on yesterday's news, possibly advance a libertarian cause? Just please answer me that question.

                  1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                    Again, why didn't you say this kind of thing to the original posters praising Palin?

                    And to answering your question, it always advances liberty's cause to remember who was friendly to it and who was not when it mattered.

              3. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

                No one is defending Cheney or Palin

                I'm defending Palin.

                Fuck you culture warrior douches that hate her for being icky and right on issues.

                This weekend she came out against intervention in Syria and Obama's spying.

                But she's an icky hick so you gotta gratuitously attack her.

                1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

                  At least you seem upfront about it.

                2. Emmerson Biggins   12 years ago

                  +1 for the Zaytsev

                  Even if you wanna bitch about Palin being a hypocrite/flip-flopper, do it when she is wrong. Not when she is right.

          3. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

            better that than an Obama cocksucker.

  36. Brett L   12 years ago

    Apple decides to get ahead of PRISM controversy by releasing its cooperation.

    For example, conversations which take place over iMessage and FaceTime are protected by end-to-end encryption so no one but the sender and receiver can see or read them. Apple cannot decrypt that data. Similarly, we do not store data related to customers' location, Map searches or Siri requests in any identifiable form.

    I hope this is true. I am skeptical about the last sentence.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Similarly, we do not store data related to customers' location, Map searches or Siri requests in any identifiable form.

      They store it, but in a form that isn't currently identifiable. Decrypt it and it will be.

    2. np   12 years ago

      On encryption, it's only state-proof if they don't store the keys.

      On Siri:
      http://www.wired.com/wiredente.....two-years/

      Here's what happens. Whenever you speak into Apple's voice activated personal digital assistant, it ships it off to Apple's data farm for analysis. Apple generates a random numbers to represent the user and it associates the voice files with that number. This number ? not your Apple user ID or email address ? represents you as far as Siri's back-end voice analysis system is concerned.

      Once the voice recording is six months old, Apple "disassociates" your user number from the clip, deleting the number from the voice file. But it keeps these disassociated files for up to 18 more months for testing and product improvement purposes.

      "Apple may keep anonymized Siri data for up to two years," Muller says "If a user turns Siri off, both identifiers are deleted immediately along with any associated data."

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        So why doesn't Apple disassociate the number immediately after the end of the session. I can tolerate them keeping my anonymized search requests for analysis to improve the service but there's no (for me) legitimate reason to keep that number for six freaking months, except to make it easier for government to link the search to me.

        1. Emmerson Biggins   12 years ago

          Hell, even 10 days would be a big improvement over 180.

    3. Agammamon   12 years ago

      If users of iMessage and Facetime are using Apple's encryption, then by definition Apple has the key to decrypt it.

  37. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago


    The idea of paying providers for their performance has found plenty of backers?and opponents?throughout the medical community.

    Money back guarantees. Fuck you, AMA.

  38. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Sessions: Special interests behind immigration bill 'not in touch with the real people
    http://dailycaller.com/2013/06.....ple-video/

    don't forget the Cosmotarians!

    1. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

      COCKTAIL PARTIEZ!

    2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      MoneyedInterests!

  39. SugarFree   12 years ago

    The Disappointing Cave of Neolithic Over-Intimacy: A Warty Hugeman Time Travel Adventure

    Warty Hugeman surveyed the group of huddled savages in the valley below him. The image intensifiers worked perfectly, resources well-spent during his last excursion to The Engineering Theocracy of 2340s. The STEMlords would trade anything to access technology to further their temporal jihad against The Matryoshka Egg. Warty knew they would lose in the end, and it was difficult to not laugh in their veiled faces.

    Warty had gone back into the deep past for one reason: caveman pussy. At The Eternal Time-Traveler Poker Game a neo-Australian, its scarred face aglow from the enormous pile of neutronium chips on the table, had assured Warty that the only cure for the unending torment of the wounds he received at the hands of the sentient Pornships of the Ejaculate Empire would be caveman pussy, and lots of it. When Warty asked it if it meant "cavewoman pussy," a shot rang out and the neo-Australian's face exploded.

    "Gonna get me some caveman pussy," Warty hummed tunelessly. He was touching himself through the impervious material of his time-travel-proofed clothing. The touch and the sensation of being touched were so removed that Warty could pretend it was Marissa touching him. But Marissa was dead. Dead everywhere and everywhen.

    CON'T

    1. SugarFree   12 years ago

      Warty descended on the group of cavepeople, his SmartCape billowing out behind him like a big dumb cape. He landed beside their crude and smoky fire and struck a pose that had gotten him laid in numerous time periods. Even time periods that you have never even heard of. And long before those time periods got all popular and touristy.

      "I am Warty Hugeman. I am here to have sex with you," Warty's voice boomed in the quiet Stone Age night.

      Three subjective days later, Warty wiped away the tears as he centered the crosshairs of his Ultrarifle on the neo-Australian's brain case. Thinking of Groocluck and Kuh, their dirt-streaked faces looking up at him pleadfully, Warty flexed his enormously over-muscled trigger finger.

      THE END

      1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

        Like Joseph Smith with his angelic glasses, Nutrasweet has graced us with his prose once again.

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          his SmartCape billowing out behind him like a big dumb cape

          I can practically *see* it!

          1. Bobarian   12 years ago

            That, Sir, would be poetry, if it rhymed.

      2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        thank you, kind sir. I am liberated.

        1. Bobarian   12 years ago

          That liberated feeling...

          Scarred brain tissue.

          1. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

            I thought it was the drinking...

      3. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        neo-Australians would not have brain cases as they would not have brains. We would have lost them as superfluous to requirements. Or they would be so small they'd be like an appendix attached to a spinal column

      4. gaijin   12 years ago

        so Warty is screwing the Queens of the Stone Age?

        1. Warty   12 years ago

          Correct. I blow my load over the status quo.

          1. gaijin   12 years ago

            +1 Smooth Sailing ahead!

      5. LTC(ret) John   12 years ago

        This must be given an award. Now, what one would be appropriate?

        A Hugo?

        Newberry medal?

        1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

          A Hugo Schwyzer?

      6. Warty   12 years ago

        "Pleadfully". I approve.

  40. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    caveman pussy.

    Now, wait just a goddam minute!

  41. Rich   12 years ago

    [The Obamas] will also receive more information on John Kearney - President Obama's great-great-great-great-grand uncle who was Provost of Trinity from 1799-1806.

    Suck on *that*, birthers!

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      Oops, the linky.

  42. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    'Feasts of flesh': From the Miss Bum Bum contest to find the best bottom to 'humiliating' game shows, how TV degrading women passes for entertainment in Brazil

    Daisy Donovan explores TV shows around world for new Channel 4 series
    In Brazil, she was alarmed by how women are treated on popular shows
    In Miss Bum Bum contest they are judged on their derrieres
    On another sketch show they play humiliating games whilst in bikinis

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....razil.html

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      That second pic.... yikes.

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        John pron.

      2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        What, you don't like Warty's aunt?

    2. np   12 years ago


      Brazilian Car Shop Pranks Husband Buyers With A Milf Maid!

  43. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    Because FUCK YOU, THAT"S WHY!

    This one's gonna be expensive...for the taxpayers.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

      Five bucks says it was a case of "contempt of cop"

  44. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    There's no way that forcing New Yorkers to separate their food scraps, store them separately in their homes until such time that they bring out said food scraps for collection will cause rat or bug problems. Not in sparkling clean New York City!

    Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who [is a statist tyrant], is taking on a new cause: requiring New Yorkers to separate their food scraps for composting.

    [. . .]

    The administration plans to announce shortly that it is hiring a composting plant to handle 100,000 tons of food scraps a year. That amount would represent about 10 percent of the city's residential food waste.

    Anticipating sharp growth in food recycling, the administration will also seek proposals within the next 12 months for a company to build a plant in the New York region to process residents' food waste into biogas, which would be used to generate electricity.

    "This is going to be really transformative," Mr. Holloway said. "You want to get on a trajectory where you're not sending anything to landfills."

    The residential program will initially work on a voluntary basis, but officials predict that within a few years, it will be mandatory. New Yorkers who do not separate their food scraps could be subject to fines, just as they are currently if they do not recycle plastic, paper or metal.

    No chance for cronyism there!

    1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

      Lord, that story has nearly every element of why Bloomberg should be hated by everyone.

      Authoritarianism? check
      Trendy Hipster environmental/organic bandwagon? check
      Government largesse? check
      Kickback potential? check

    2. SugarFree   12 years ago

      "And that sandwich you're eating is made out of old, discarded sandwiches. Nothing just gets thrown away."

      "The future is disgusting!"

  45. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    Rapist cop (2 times!) found guilty in civil court and ordered to pay $500k in damages. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth's attorney didn't see fit to charge him in criminal court.

    FTA: If attorneys for Allen had their way, the city of Norfolk would be paying up, too. But because of sovereign immunity, Doyle dismissed the lawsuit against the city, a decision that was upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court.

    What the fuck? Aren't they responsible for the actions of their on-duty officers that rape 60 year old drunk women?

  46. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

    Death star cantina.

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Eddie Izzard is fucking hilarious.

      1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

        "Cake or death?"

      2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        If that clip is representative, I'd have to agree.

        Also, I like the French shoegaze you linked right beneath this comment.

  47. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    French Gray Metal!

    Les Discrets is part of the incestuaous French shoegaze scene. It's in the vein of Alcest, but without any of the wreched vocals Neige is known for.

    Enjoy!

  48. Matrix   12 years ago

    Menopause is men's fault.

    Everything is our fault...

  49. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

    This may be one of the dumbest things I've read in a while:

    What Superman and Mitt Romney have in common
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ldnt-know/

    1. invisible furry hand   12 years ago

      I'll take your word for it. The writing style is so cutesy I couldn't be arsed working out the underlying argument. And they wonder why newspapers are dying

      1. Bo Cara Esq.   12 years ago

        The worst thing is: someone got paid to write that drivel.

    2. sloopyinca   12 years ago

      What Superman and Mitt Romney have in common

      They both don't believe individuals have rights that supersede those of "humanity"?

  50. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    Well at least Knoxville, Tennessee takes their police abuse seriously. They charged a couple of officers with misdemeanors for nearly beating a homeless man to death.

    The other officers at the scene and those involved in (perjury!) the official cover-up were given written reprimands. The original two officers on the scene, that actually started the beating, were given an unpaid vacation for failing to stop the attack by other officers.

    Funny how they can stop an attacking person making a furtive movement toward their waistband by filling them full of lead but can't raise their firearm to stop their brothers in blue from beating a drunk, homeless man half to death...after hogtying him.

    PS: don't watch the video. It'll make you want to go out and punch the first cop you see today.

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      It'll make you want to go out and punch the first cop you see today.

      You need a video for that? I thought that was just the natural state of libertarians.

  51. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    Finally, a cop does (half) a good thing and gets suspended two days for his troubles.

    If he would have just let her go once she got home without committing a crime with a victim, he probably would have been dismissed from the force altogether.

  52. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    Brian Eno's pussy
    http://i.imgur.com/SDuEGwj.jpg

    1. SugarFree   12 years ago

      It's much hairier than I imagined.

  53. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    cop does (half) a good thing

    FTA:Police Officer Bryan French has been suspended without pay for two days and has a permanent writeup on his record for allowing a suspected impaired driver to drive home while he followed May 26.

    Not getting those impound fees is the same as stealing from the town!

    1. sloopyinca   12 years ago

      That's what I was thinking as well. The city comptroller probably caught wind of it and spelled out to the department that the city lost $2k in fines, the impound fees of $1000, his buddy who owns the towing concession for the city didn't get to charge her $500 and the court fees of $100 for a case she didn't even bring won't be collected.

      She was free to turn herself in to the next cop she came in contact with. She should be charged with felony theft from the city for what this cop did.

  54. Another David   12 years ago

    Supreme Court rules that if you remain silent in response to police questions, you are not invoking your right to remain silent, and that silence may be used against you in court. PLAIN ENGLISH AND STRICT CONSTRUCTIONISM!

    1. sloopyinca   12 years ago

      I read it to say that you must invoke your Fifth Amendment Rights for them to be observed.

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        Just like you have to invoke everything else supposedly protected by the Bill of Rights?

        1. sloopyinca   12 years ago

          I'm not agreeing with the ruling. I just interpreted it differently than David.

          1. robc   12 years ago

            Both of your interpretations seem accurate.

            The lesson learned: never speak to the cops without lawyer present.

        2. John   12 years ago

          No. But not every right is the same. The 5th has a long tradition in the common law. And the tradition always was and always has been that you have to invoke it to get it. More importantly, if you start talking about something, you lose it. You can't selectively invoke it. This guy started talking about the murder and then decided to stop when they asked him the right question. I see no problem with them holding his silence against him. If he wanted to remain silent, he should have remained silent. You shouldn't get to try to explain your way out of it and then quit when you think things might go bad.

          1. Agammamon   12 years ago

            I disagree, you should be able to invoke your 5th amendment rights at anytime, without predujice. To act otherwise taints the 5th beyond use. How long before demanding your rights is used against you in court - oh ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant openly refused to cooperate with the police and required a lawyer present during interviews. A clear sign of a guilty conscience.

            I've been in more than one interview with police where I turned pretty quickly from being witness to suspect. And I don't think that having to actually say that you're invoking the 5th should be required. I'll allow that the cops don't haveto stop asking you questions or provide a lawyer until you demand that, but silence is silence.

  55. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    And the tradition always was and always has been that you have to invoke it to get it.

    Citation Required

    More importantly, if you start talking about something, you lose it.

    Not so. If they ask you your name and where you live, you are free to tell them without fear that you've waived your rights to not answer other questions.

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