A.M. Links: Google Wants to Disclose More FISA Information, More Americans Believe White House Directly Involved in IRS Scandal, Protests in Brazil Continue With Presidential Endorsement

• Google is asking the FISA court to allow it to disclose more information about the data it's required to share with the government.

• 47 percent of Americans believe the White House was directly involved in the IRS' targeting of conservative groups, up 10 percent from last month.
• The IRS is going to pay $70 million in bonuses despite sequestration, according to Senator Chuck Grassley.
• A former Federal Reserve governor says President Obama's comment that Ben Bernanke has been Federal Reserve chair longer than he wanted or was supposed to amounted to a firing.
• Hamid Karzai has suspended Afghanistan's security talks with the United States because he wasn't invited to peace talks with the Taliban.
• Demonstrations in Brazil continue, with tens of thousands of people protesting poor public services, corruption, and excessive government spending on the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The president says she's proud of the protesters and that her government is listening to their concerns.
• 7.6 million people became refugees in 2012, according to the UN, with more than 50 percent coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, or Syria. 

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

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

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

47 percent of Americans believe the White House was directly involved in the IRS' targeting of conservative groups...

That percentage. How delicious.

[PS]

47, why did it have to be 47?

[Restoras]

In a row?

[Rich]

Wait a little, Fist. It'll probably be changed to at least 50.

[Suthenboy]

It is...it is. I have some fantastic swa....real estate to sell to the other 53%.

[Pro Libertate]

It sounds low to me, because it's clear plenty on the left are beginning to distance themselves from the corruption that is the Obama administration.

[Zakalwe]

7.6 million people became refugees in 2012, according to the UN, with more than 50 percent coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, or Syria.

The rest were running from the IRS.

[Rich]

+1040

[sarcasmic]

Tragic police dog dies of heat stroke after handler forgets him in a patrol car parked outside his Georgia home

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-home.html
Will the officer face felony charges for killing a police officer? Of course not. It was an honest mistake and he feels terrible. He's the victim here. I bet there's a charity set up for him so he can go someplace nice on his paid vacation administrative leave. Poor, poor, policeman. He feels so terrible. He's heartbroken. We should all feel bad for him.

[Ted S.]

It's not as if there were any dogs to shoot.

[sarcasmic]

Warning over falling TOILET SEATS which send more than 1,000 boys to hospital every year
Number of genital injuries related to toilet seats rises by 100 per year
97 per cent of victims are younger than seven but a minority are adults

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea.....-year.html
That's it. We must ban toilet seats. It's for the children.

[Zakalwe]

To be fair, they are way too narrow for my balls to fit.

[sarcasmic]

They do have a procedure for that.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ghter.html

[SugarFree]

At least the lid got put back down, right? Feminism FTW!

[Rich]

97 per cent of victims are younger than seven but a minority are adults

Now, *that* is good reporting.

[Ted S.]

I swear this wasn't here when I started typing my reply!

[Xenocles]

It's important to be thorough.

[Ted S.]

97 per cent of victims are younger than seven but a minority are adults

So how many of them are adults younger than seven?

[Bee Tagger]

More importantly, how many minors are victims of adultery?

[NeonCat]

"I don't know where you got cooties but it wasn't from me!"

[PS]

Why'd You Leave The Seat Up, Son?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Only five adults were caught by falling lids.

I'm a little curious the mechanics of that situation.

[Slammer]

Drunk vomiting accidents

[gaijin]

they were obviously on their knees...or hung like horses.

[Jerryskids]

Midgets.

[Rich]

I imagine alcohol was involved.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

That's it. We must ban toilet seats. It's for the children.

No, we must re-educate the men of this country to give up their patriarchal "standing while peeing" privilege. Only once all men are forced to pee sitting down will the scourge of hurt pee pees be diminished.

[AlexInCT]

SHE PEES STANDING UP!

[jesse.in.mb]

Germany! To be fair, the German toilets are designed in such a way that standing and peeing is ...problematic. I mastered the art, but my German ex mocked me for bothering when it'd just be easier to sit and pee like German men do.

[SugarFree]

Are you talking about the weird shelf thing they have so they can look at their poop?

[jesse.in.mb]

Yes! My first attempt didn't go very well. You really have to stand right over the thing and pee straight down or else you come away looking like you just went on Splash Mountain. Sitzpinkel would've been easier, but I'm a man and an American, some things are just not done.

[tarran]

WTF!

No wonder they keep invading their neighbors. That toilet fills me with a desire to invade france so that I can plunder their better-designed bathroom fixtures.

[jesse.in.mb]

Slavoj ?i?ek touches on this. Never make friends with sociology majors.

In a traditional German toilet, the hole into which shit disappears after we flush is right at the front, so that shit is first laid out for us to sniff and inspect for traces of illness. In the typical French toilet, on the contrary, the hole is at the back, i.e. shit is supposed to disappear as quickly as possible. Finally, the American (Anglo-Saxon) toilet presents a synthesis, a mediation between these opposites: the toilet basin is full of water, so that the shit floats in it, visible, but not to be inspected. No wonder that in the famous discussion of European toilets at the beginning of her half-forgotten Fear of Flying, Erica Jong mockingly claims that 'German toilets are really the key to the horrors of the Third Reich. People who can build toilets like this are capable of anything.'

[PS]

My kid (I think he was about 3 1/2 at the time) made good friends with a German boy when we were vacationing in Croatia. After they went to use the toilet together he asked me, "Why does Jason sit down to pee like a girl?"

[Rhywun]

?

I've lived there and seen none of this. In Bavaria, at least, we stand like real men.

[Juice]

I was in Bavaria a few years ago and the toilets there looked like I've always seen them in the US. Same for Switzerland.

[Jerryskids]

'To us, that was striking,' he said. 'That was unexpected. You think of the bathroom as a safe place.'

WTAF? Is it the often wet, slippery floor tiles combined with all the hard-as-hell porcelain surfaces you can hit your head on when you slip and fall that make a bathroom such a seemingly safe place? Or is it the deadly toxic cleaning and plumbing chemicals combined with the ubiquitousness of the E coli bacteria over absolutely every surface including your toothbrush that makes it seem as safe as a mother's embrace?

Dumbass.

[Slammer]

Hopefully this thread won't start the toilet paper over/under debate again. The only thing more interesting that that would be the "Do you face away or towards the tank when you shit? "debate.

[gaijin]

Why would any adult face the tank to do that? Seems ripe for accident.

[Marc F Cheney]

Wait wait wait. Slammer might be onto something. I could prop up my iPad on the tank.

[Rich]

Very well, then.

Fold, or crumple?

[DontShootMe]

wrap like mummy?

[Gbob]

You, sir, do not deserve your monocle. A true libertarian would have a poor immigrant do the wiping for him, using a glove made out of baby seal fur.

[gaijin]

using a glove made out of baby seal fur

a disposable glove

[Dweebston]

Warning over falling TOILET SEATS which send more than 1,000 boys to hospital every year

Women, minorities hardest hit.

[sarcasmic]

Amazing time lapse video shows dramatic shock wave as one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes explodes into life
The explosion was filmed at the peak of Popocat?petl in central Mexico
The 17,802ft peak spewed a giant ash cloud into the sky following the blast
Experts say it could be one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes
'El Popo' lies just 40km away from Mexico City and its 8.8million residents

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-life.html
El Popo? They named a volcano after the police?

[PS]

*slow clap*

[LTC(ret) John]

Well, it is dangerous to people in the city, right?

[VG Zaytsev]

It's killed thousands of dogs over the years

[All-Seeing Monocle]

a lava discharge occurred

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hamid Karzai has suspended Afghanistan's security talks with the United States because he wasn't invited to peace talks with the Taliban.

The thoughts of one man to another cannot possibly interest you, Hamidicus.

[Jerryskids]

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Which one is our ally again?

[Palin's Buttplug]

WASHINGTON ? The Republican-led House of Representatives approved a far-reaching bill to ban a woman's ability to seek an abortion after 20 weeks on a mostly party-line 228-196 vote Tuesday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/.....e/2435353/

Nice to see the House back to work on important stuff.

[VG Zaytsev]

Why do the dems opposed common sense fetal health laws?

[sarcasmic]

NPR recently moved from Chinatown into its new 400,000 square-foot home on North Capitol, and they're excited about it. Eager to show off the new facility, the organization offered a tour to members of the media Tuesday morning, starting with breakfast from their in-house chefs, along with some talking points from CEO Gary Knell, who outlined some impressive features of the space.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fis.....ty_b107995
Sequestration sucks.

The tour continued through the wellness center, which is capable of simple medical procedures, the fitness center, which is staffed by a trainer, and the cafe, which utilizes the same catering company as Google.

I mean, sequestration really sucks.

[Hash Brown]

And they need my tax dollars why?

[Rasilio]

Cause Big Bird and Cookie Monster will die without them

[Tim]

Do they have a speech coach to train them on those mellow NPR tones?

[Raven Nation]

Although, to be moderately fair, not a whole lot of NPR's budget comes from the feds:

http://www.npr.org/about/about.....ances.html

I know this is NPR's own source, but Cato did something on this and it seems about right. It, of course, strengthens the argument that they shouldn't be getting tax dollars.

[AuH20]

Bu...bu...bu...But CORPORATE MEDIAZZ!

[Pro Libertate]

No, I believe this is correct. Same thing with PBS. In fact, I've wondered why both organizations don't cut the federal spending altogether, as they could make up the difference without too much work. You'd think NPR would do it, to give the illusion of independence in its news reporting.

[Agammamon]

They're taking the BBC route.

The BBC is considered to be one of the best and most impartial news agencies in the world - despite repeatedly being show to be nothing of the sort and with a huge bias to boot.

But they're government funded so people pretend they don't respond to market forces.

[invisible furry hand]

One thing the Chinese definitely have got right:

"Being a government official is a really high-risk profession"

http://www.theage.com.au/it-pr.....z2WfIIt5Ie

[sarcasmic]

NRA up in arms about The Simpsons video game that has 'hidden anti-gun messages' and 'mocks NRA'
Games forums and NRA sites are filling up with gun-owners condemning the anti-gun commentary in The Simpsons: Tapped Out
The game includes such quotes as '[The NRA] also say us kids should sleep under a blanket made of loaded guns. You know - for safety'
Makers of the game, EA, say they never expected gamers to reach level 30

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-NRA.html
Simpsons are on the left politically? Fuck! I never knew this!

[Auric Demonocles]

Makers of the game, EA, say they never expected gamers to reach level 30

Bullshit.

[a better weapon]

I think you're being sarcastic, but my memories of the Simpsons over the years was that they were one of the few shows that spoke truth to power. I remember a few frosty one liners against team Blue during the Clinton years. The Bush years were equally as needling.

Although I haven't watched consistently in a few years, like most comedy shows now, they've stayed hard left and resist attacking the lefty narrative as far as I can tell and its damaged the brand IMO.

[robc]

Groening is far left, but the show as a whole was moderately left. And John Swartzwelder, who wrote most of the best episodes, is libertarian.

[MJGreen]

"Didn't you wonder why you were getting checks for doing absolutely nothing?"
"I figured because the Democrats were in power again."

[Agammamon]

The show does have a left lean but the writers/producers were smart enough to not allow it to become the focus of the show - "The Simspons" may occasionally be *about* politics but its not really *political*.

And there are some things in liberal philosophy that only the hardest-core left liberal supporters can take seriously.

[Matrix]

As someone who plays this game:

It was really over the top. They were hammering it pretty hard. I was pretty sickened by it and glad it is now over. They basically took the extremes that the left has been parroting for months now and making it the dialogue of the game to ridicule gun rights folks.

[invisible furry hand]

Anti-abortion Congressman Michael Burgess says he's seen male foetuses masturbate

http://www.news.com.au/world-n.....z2WfIpuZSb

[LTC(ret) John]

Proto-Warty?

[Auric Demonocles]

Proto-posted twice yesterday.

[invisible furry hand]

soz, missed it. Gotta sleep sometime

[Tim]

Have you tried meth?

[invisible furry hand]

not until it comes in raspberry flavour

[Matrix]

would that count as incest?

[sarcasmic]

Cat stands for election in Mexican city
Campaign shines light on political disenchantment with slogan: 'Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....xican-city
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to vote for a cat here in the freest country in the world.

[LTC(ret) John]

Viva Gato!

[Bee Tagger]

'Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat'

meeeeee-ow

[Fist of Etiquette]

Selina Kyle has a Mexican birth certificate?

[sarcasmic]

The 'hairy leg' stockings designed to help women ward off unwanted male attention

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....ntion.html
Ew.

[gaijin]

The unintended consequence is that it will ward on a certain subset of even less desirable male attention.

[RBS]

STEVE SMITH?

[a better weapon]

Oh god, Leah Dunham will be wearing this shortly if she isn't already.

Mark my words people. Sarcasmic will devastate us all by releasing those photos onto the AM links in the near future.

[Ted S.]

Nobody is forced to click on any of Sarca Smic's links.

[a better weapon]

What can I say, he's a hell of a salesman.

[sarcasmic]

John pron!

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, women typically go to such lengths to ward off male attention. If by ward off you mean suck men in like a vacuum cleaner.

[Clich? Bandit]

sooo...why wear those when you can just grow the hair out on your legs?

Unless you wish to look attractive to the modern western male. In which case why would you wear those?

[gaijin]

he IRS is going to pay $70 million in bonuses despite sequestration

How can they do this? Isn;t a law a law when Congress passes it or was sequestration not legislation?

[Rich]

"We never claimed it was a perfect law!"

[Zakalwe]

I think it dumped budget cuts on various departments, but didn't specify (within certain limits) where the cuts had to come from. I.e., DOD had to cut $X billion, but not from procurement, otherwise it was up to the Secretary and services to figure out.

I'm not sure how the non-defense half got allocated among other departments. Possibly Treasury was exempt or they decided not to hit the IRS or they decided not to hit the bonus part of the IRS budget.

[DJF]

They probably saved the money by shutting down the Congressional audit office, I am sure that Congress won't mind.

[Hash Brown]

Priorities. It's all about priorities.

[Raven Nation]

WTF? Why is any government employee getting a bonus?

[WTF]

Because they have been doing such an outstanding job, of course.

[sarcasmic]

'I work hard on my legs': Ke$ha opens up about her body insecurities and admits she's not 'perfect' in new shoot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....shoot.html
I don't care how much she works out. She's a disgusting piece of filth. *vomit*

[Fluffy]

Just shower, Ke$ha.

That will help more than an extra set of leg reps or whatever.

Shower. Wash your clothes. Better yet, have a servant wash your clothes.

[PS]

There's not much she can do with that body outside toning it and plenty of Photoshop.

[RBS]

Better yet, have a servant $park? wash your clothes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The president says she's proud of the protesters and that her government is listening to their concerns.

It's nice that the mother of that country and its boss is fawning over her little protesters and giving them glowing performance reviews.

[LTC(ret) John]

Maybe she would invite them to the Presidential Palace to crap on her lawn and break some of her windows?

[NeonCat]

Oh, has Krugman been translated into Portuguese?

[Art Vandelay]

No translation needed. The Krugmanese war cry "SPEND MOAR!" is so universal, it's like Esperanto.

[LTC(ret) John]

"Hamid Karzai has suspended Afghanistan's security talks with the United States because he wasn't invited to peace talks with the Taliban."

Sod off, Hamid. Just start packing the bags of cash and warm up the exile jet.

[The Late P Brooks]

A former Federal Reserve governor says President Obama's comment that Ben Bernanke has been Federal Reserve chair longer than he wanted or was supposed to amounted to a firing.

For DARING TO SUGGEST interest rates might someday return to historical average?

[Rasilio]

Which historical average? The pre or post 1992 ones?

I mean pre 1992 the average Fed rates were ~7%, then from 1992 - 2008 they averaged ~3.5% so which one is he referring to?

[Agammamon]

He doesn't know man, why do you keep picking on the poor guy. You know he can't help saying this shit. Its like the time he made up that story about hos girlfriend getting rid of Ghadaffi and making Libya a better place. We all knew he didn't have a girlfriend in Libya anymore than he has a Ferrari at his dad's place in Kenya.

[Bee Tagger]

47 percent of Americans believe the White House was directly involved in the IRS' targeting of conservative groups, up 10 percent from last month.

Bunch of rogue citizens in Cincinnati answering these polls.

[Palin's Buttplug]

IRS 'scandal': Issa's case crumbles after release of transcripts

"Answering questions from Committee staff for more than five hours, this official?who identified himself as a 'conservative Republican'?denied that he or anyone on his team was directed by the White House to take these actions or that they were politically motivated."

Another fake scandal bites the dust.

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/18.....anscripts/

[Bee Tagger]

That's quite either/or they've set-up. Either President Obama was directly involved or there's no scandal.

[sarcasmic]

A leftist rag employing the false dichotomy fallacy? I never!

[SugarFree]

Yes, someone denies something that they might go to jail for. Shocking.

This character has run its course. Make up another one. Maybe focus on "Lyle" for a while. You haven't fleshed him out at all. Make him a fighter pilot that lost his legs or something.

[LTC(ret) John]

Nah, Lyle seems too much like someone who is a member of the Temple of Unlimited Godhead from Neal Stephenson's "The Biig U".

[LTC(ret) John]

"The Big U"

[KPres]

"Yes, someone denies something that they might go to jail for. Shocking."

He is not a crook!

[Pro Libertate]

It's odd when even many leftist media outlets are talking about how bad this scandal is.

[Fatty Bolger]

Did the IRS target a DHS whistleblower?

The Inspector General of the Treasury will be a very busy man indeed this year. According to CNN, the IG will launch an investigation to determine how a DHS whistleblower ended up on the IRS' audit list after testifying before Congress. P. Jeffrey Black tried to fix problems in the federal air marshal service, but had IRS agents at his door the day he appeared in a documentary criticizing the Obama administration's air security efforts:

[Art Vandelay]

"how a DHS whistleblower ended up on the IRS' audit list"

It's inconceivable!

[Dweebston]

I believe you've made the same judgment about this foiled scandal twice already.

[carol]

I'm so glad MSNBC was able to clear that up for us.

[Don Mynack]

Not so fast, sport.

"Cummings' assertion that the IRS investigation into political motivations for the scrutiny should be closed, on the sole basis of Manager's testimony, is simply preposterous."

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/kyl.....hingburge/

[invisible furry hand]

Is this the end of Titswobble Road?

http://smh.drive.com.au/roads-.....2oiin.html

[Ted S.]

They can get rid of all roads named after politicians, too.

[The Late P Brooks]

Apparently, the Campaigner-in-Chief will out-JFK JFK at the Brandenburg Gate in a few minutes.

My remote is near to hand.

[SugarFree]

Nuclear disarmament. Obama will get a big win from settling an issue that hasn't been a problem in 20 fucking years.

[gaijin]

Has there ever been a two-time winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace?

[VG Zaytsev]

Who started two wars and murder droned thousands.

[invisible furry hand]

he is over-qualified, admittedly

[T]

Yasser Arafat set a high bar to clear.

[?Ex Nihilo?]

Only orgs have won more than one.

Only two recipients have won multiple Prizes: the International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times (1917, 1944, and 1963) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has won twice (1954 and 1981.)

[Gbob]

I just hope he has some strong words about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Somebody needs to get those bastards out of that country.

[LTC(ret) John]

Are we going to boycott the Olympics again?!

[Rhywun]

"Tear down this ugly architecture where the wall used to be!"

[Pro Libertate]

Disarm who? I believe it's fairly well-known in military circles that there's effectively only one nuclear power on Earth. The Russian arsenal is falling to pieces, and the Chinese is small, with limited delivery capability.

[Rich]

"This is not a situation in which we are rifling through ordinary emails" of huge numbers of citizens in the United States or elsewhere, the president declared during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"*This* is a news conference with Chancellor Merkel."

Continuing to study Obamaese ....

[Bee Tagger]

So he's saying they may be rifling through numbers just shy of huge?

[gaijin]

somewhat smaller than huge, somewhat larger than small. Oh, and not 'ordinary' emails, but the ones that are extra-ordinary.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Great. They're probably going to catch those millions I'm getting from a Nigerian prince and tax the hell out of me.

[Rich]

They're not rifling; it's a shotgun approach.

[VG Zaytsev]

No, he's saying 300 million a day is much more than huge. Kind of how he never wastses on thin dime - just hundreds of billions.

[JW]

Learn to parse Obama-speak.

He's doing the *exact* opposite of what he's claiming to be doing.

[AuH20]

Have you noticed how many of Obama's news conferences lately have taken place with foreign leaders?

Almost like he's a pussy who needs a shield to stand behind?

[squarooticus]

47 percent of Americans believe the White House was directly involved in the IRS' targeting of conservative groups, up 10 percent from last month.

In other news, 47% of Americans don't like the Obama administration.

I *HATE* polls like this. Polling people on a question of FACT is fucking retarded. You should poll people on their opinion about something, not on something that is either true or false regardless of what people think about it.

[invisible furry hand]

Damning with faint praise:

I Would Have Hired Edward Snowden

A former Google and Microsoft engineer explains why elitist, arrogant rebels often make the best employees.

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

[Bee Tagger]

You start thinking you know what's best for people. Snowden did when he leaked classified NSA documents, and he did when he advocated software piracy on Ars Technica, writing, "I don't want people to play mass-produced, uninspired games. I don't want them to because I don't want to? I want to protect myself and others from bad games, and this is inarguably the most efficient way to do so."

A quote with very little context and an example of when he exposed a group of people secretly making decisions on behalf of other people.

[PS]

His attitude is that of someone who's convinced he's smarter than nearly everyone around him, and in his work and online, he met many who felt the same way. Tech attracts them.

That's the thing about public sector workers, they are so darn humble and lacking in self-esteem. Every time I have to deal with them I want to scream: "Pick yourself off the floor and learn to have an arrogant attitude."

[The Late P Brooks]

"Ich bin ein MESSIAH!"

[BakedPenguin]

Hillsborough County sheriff leaves gun in movie theater bathroom.

[invisible furry hand]

well you don't want his younger brother coming out of that toilet with just his dick in his hands, alright?

[gaijin]

^^lol

[Fist of Etiquette]

The toilet seat fell on it.

[Pro Libertate]

It's part of our county's Give-Back Program, where the cops give guns to random citizens.

[Drake]

Black Louisiana State Senator describes why he is leaving the DNC. They guy talks like he's been reading Reason.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/bla.....g=politics

[kinnath]

Stunning

[Suthenboy]

I am....shocked. I am looking at his district...

This is the rarest of all animals, a pol with principles. I can think of no other reason for him to do this or say these things.

I guess that makes him endangered. I will put him on my list of 'those to support' when he comes up for re-election.

[a better weapon]

Elbert Guillory released a video Sunday explaining his reason for leaving the Democrats, citing their opposition to civil rights

We all know democrats and republicans switched their entire ethos with each other, but kept the party name shortly after the Civil Rights votes. Republicans then are democrats now and vice versa, mmmkay?

[kinnath]

It would be more accurate to say that both parties have abandoned their founding principles and now sell their allegiances to somewhat competing interests.

But Sen. Guillory is correct in stating that the modern Democratic Party is focused on controlling the black voting block by keeping the black community dependent on government services.

[T]

But that's... oh, never mind.

[Stormy Dragon]

The democrats are destroying the black community by encouraging dependency on the government. The republicans are destroying the black community via quasi-military occupation.

[Irish]

The republicans are destroying the black community via quasi-military occupation.

Really? Because last I checked the police forces involved in 'quasi military occupation' are public sector union jobs that are in cities run by Democrats.

[Stormy Dragon]

I have no idea why the party has a hard time appealing to minority voters. I mean they only have to go back 150 years to find concrete examples of why black people should vote for them.

[Drake]

You don't have to go back half that far to discover why minorities should never vote for Democrats.

[Stormy Dragon]

They shouldn't vote for either party.

[WTF]

Yeah, they never should have tried to filibuster the Civil Rights Act of 1964!

[Pro Libertate]

I thought he was pretty eloquent on why the Democrats were the wrong answer right now. Yes, the GOP is only marginally better, and most of that because it's not in control of the government, but the Democrats are in full-state mode these days.

I liked this bit: ""At the heart of liberalism is the idea that only a great and powerful big government can be the benefactor of social justice for all Americans. But the left is only concerned with one thing: control. And they disguise this control as charity."

[Irish]

I mean they only have to go back 150 years to find concrete examples of why black people should vote for them.

You clearly didn't look at what the guy said, since he used many contemporary examples, but ignoring your opponent's argument has never stopped you from running your mouth before.

[tarran]

The repeated introduction of various versions of the Civil Rights Act by the Republicans in the 1950's occured 150 years ago?

Wow. How long was I sleeping?

[sgs]

" I mean they only have to go back 150 years to find concrete examples of why black people should vote for them."

MLK was a Republican.

[Rich]

OFA Gun Control Rally in San Bernardino Draws 3 Protesters

"but it will be 23 next time, and we'll see the time after that."

Perhaps if you gave away ammo?

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

If you missed Jonathan Chait's ridiculous Rand Paul story that I posted last night, watch as Conor Friedersdorf takes him to school instead.

For two thousand years, critics of unmediated democracy have warned about the masses abusing individuals and minorities. The American system was built from the very beginning to check democratic excesses.

But if Rand Paul distrusts democracy he must've gotten it from Ayn Rand.

[gaijin]

A good rebuttal of Chait's cult of personality arguments. I think there are some fearful folks on the left (and the right). They may see a slightly more moderate Paul holding enough appeal among younger voters and independents to upset the balance among status quo party politics...I would guess we'll see many more attempts to link Paul's character and philosophy to radical bogeymen and women like Ayn Rand, Birchers, Racists and Somali warlords.

[LTC(ret) John]

They just need a racist Somali Warlord who happens to belong to the John Birch Society and own a copy of Atlas Shrugged.

[NoVAHockey]

I'll check my contacts. seems like someone I would know.

[mr simple]

Duh, a Somali warlord would be non-white and therefore could not be racist.

[AuH20]

He's the most dangerous thing of all- a Republican who might actually reduce government overall.

[VG Zaytsev]

Most of the comments at the Atlantic are weapons grade stupid. I seriously doubt those people have the intellectual capacity to wiper their own asses.

For example:

I don't see any real difference between Ayn Rand's vision and Mussolini/Gentile's in the 1932 Doctrine Of Fascism.

From the gold standard to civil rights to his own hypocrisy in his most recent vote to enshrine second class (guest worker) not-actually-citizens (freedom for me, but not for thee) it's not paranoia when it's out in the open.

[mr simple]

Wow, some of the comments are ridiculous. It amazes me that with the facts presented to them, people will still argue what they "know" rather than what's true.

[Agammamon]

"I'm not a firm believer in democracy. . .if anyone else in the United States said, of federal intervention in the Jim Crow South, "They did the right thing. . .no one would blink, let alone criticize the speaker."

Didn't Ron Paul get shit on because he said he wouldn't have voted *for* the CRA because it was undemocratic?

[The Late P Brooks]

Yesterday, I bumbled into Walmart and found (the last) two boxes of Tula nonreloadable steel case .45 acp on the shelf, for fifteen and a half bucks per box, which would have been a good price LAST summer.

It made me happy.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I found a box of 350 9mm rds at Gander Mt. the other day for $120. Not a great price, but I almost danced a happy dance at being able to buy more than 50 rds at a single store. They also had .45ACP and .380 boxes.

[Ted S.]

Wait until the legislators try to outlaw buying more than 50 rounds at a time.

[Tim]

It's the simple things that count.

[Ted S.]

Three men die after falling into Dutch liquid manure tank

Emergency services, including helicopters and rescue divers, scrambled to the farm after the men fell into the silo on Wednesday morning (local time).

Eeewwwww.

[Hash Brown]

That happened at a dairy farm near me about 6 mos. ago. Two men died.

[Auric Demonocles]

I used to have to weedwack the inside of the manure pit. My dad never bothered to tell me not to fall in. I assumed that part was obvious.

[PS]

"Three men have died in the workplace accident in Makkinga and one was taken to hospital in a critical condition," police from the Friesland province tweeted.

As an aside, Freisian is the most similar continental European language to modern English.

*Waits for HM to pedantically correct me*

[LTC(ret) John]

And most of my extended family live in that most grumpy of places. A full on Frisian scowl can shatter glass.

[PS]

But no Frisian would waste a scowl on precious glass, that stuff costs money.

[LTC(ret) John]

They would scowl at a tourist's car windshield, or the glass in their hand.

[Rasilio]

Would you really want to live after that?

[BelowTheRim]

Anybody like to cook Paleo/Primal?

I've been on it for a few months and need some new simple but good ideas for food to cook myself.

[PS]

Nom Nom Paleo is a good place to start, with very nice pics.

[PS]

Also Jan's Sushi Bar.

[BelowTheRim]

I like it PS.

Thanks!

[PS]

No problem, welcome to the cult.

[Clich? Bandit]

So that Sushi one sounds very Libertarian...she was hawking a Come Back with a Warrant Door mat. And the comments...it is refreshing to know that it is not just you deranged assholes who agree with me.

[Marc F Cheney]

Seconded. I get a lot of my regular-rotation recipes from there.

[NoVAHockey]

2nd nom nom. been using it for a few months.

[AuH20]

I just started dating a vegetarian. Not a moralistic one. Just a "I stopped enjoying the taste of meat. Well, fish sometimes" kind.

HOW DO YOU STOP ENJOYING MEAT?

Like, now I'm worried that she was raped in a meat locker or something.

[Teaching Student]

My wife is the same way... I think it was that she was "over-meated..." Her family eats so much meat; growing up, she just got tired of it. My dad can't eat steak anymore, because of the stuff they ate on Cruises in the Navy.

[PS]

I hope it wasn't a gray meat locker.

[Rasilio]

Here is a recipe that I recently came up with....

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1lb meat (whatever kind you like but I use shrimp) diced into 1/4 in cubes
4 oz Miataki Mushrooms
4 oz Enoki Mushrooms
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 can bamboo shoots
8 oz bean sprouts
1/2 cup Mirin
1/2 cup Ponzu
1/4 cup Tamari (or you could use Soy Sauce)
1 small Ginger Root grated
2 tbsp Minced Garlic
4 oz lemongrass paste
Juice from 1 lemon

Dice the Mushrooms, Water Chestnuts, and Bamboo Shoots finely then pour all ingredients into a bowl and let marinate for 20 minutes to an hour

Coat a large heated skillet in Stir Fry Oil (I use a Ginger Garlic flavored one but any will work) and pour 1/3rd to 1/2 of the mixture (enough to just barely cover the bottom of the pan) and cook for 5 - 7 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the liquid reduces by half, repeat with additional batches until it is all cooked

Server in Romaine Hearts, makes enough to serve 3 - 4 people

[The Late P Brooks]

You start thinking you know what's best for people. Snowden did when he leaked classified NSA documents

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I'm not sure why these are popping up in Ohio lately. Maybe Warty's followers have just gone renegade. Dammit, Warty, rein in your minions.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro.....th_hu.html

[jesse.in.mb]

Do we call them minions if they're a product of clonal budding?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Well, the clones would have to be altered so as not to be quite as powerful or intelligent as the original Warty. That way they're more malleable and compliant to Warty's commands. The first batch were meant to be equals, but he had to destroy them all to prevent the complete destruction of the planet.

[jesse.in.mb]

So these Wartylytes are just here to soften up the world for the coming Rapenarok?

Or are they serving more of a vaccine function, so the world can withstand the full face of Warty a bit longer before going all Nazis-at-the-end-of-Raiders?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

It's for the Rapenarok. The Wartylytes go out and kidnap, rape, and pillage, and burn. (not always in that order, though. He's working out the kinks.) This serves to acclimate the humans to in inhuman abuses that will be rendered unto them when Warty unleashes his full might!

[The Late P Brooks]

Another fake scandal bites the dust.

That's so cute.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"NH Court: You Can Choose a School So Long as It's Secular

"Earlier today, a New Hampshire district court upheld the "Live Free or Die" state's nascent scholarship tax credit (STC) program, but limited the use of scholarships to non-religious private schools.

"Earlier this year, the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit claiming that New Hampshire's school choice law was unconstitutional under the state's Blaine Amendment, which prohibits the public funding of religious schools. The law grants tax credits to corporations in return for contributions to non-profit scholarship organizations that fund low-and-middle-income students attending the schools of their choice.

"The decision hinged on whether or not tax credits constitute "public money....

"...the NH trial court rejected this traditional understanding of "public money" in favor of the plaintiff's "all your money are belong to us" argument....

"...The NH trial court judge, by contrast, holds that any taxpayer's income on which the government might have a claim is instantly "public money," even before collection, and it remains so even if the existence of a tax credit or deduction means that government will never collect it."

http://www.cato.org/blog/nh-co.....ts-secular

[T]

Well, they've at least admitted it now. Good to see somebody stripping away the bs.

[Fluffy]

Under this theory, wouldn't any tax deduction a NH taxpayer claimed that went to any religious charity whatsoever be unconstitutional?

The judge just ruled that if you get preferential tax treatment for a donation to an organization with a religious purpose, it constitutes the spending of public money for that purpose.

NH has that specific education amendment in their constitution, but that's ultimately redundant. If the ruling holds that tax preference = spending, than a tax deduction for a donation to a church = state spending on that church.

[John]

Also, I don't see how using a federal loan or a pell grant to go to a religious founded college wouldn't be unconstitutional. But that has never been held so. The courts rely on the bullshit legal fiction that college is somehow different from primary school.

[Agammamon]

Yes, yes he did. But the contradiction will never be challenged because no-one will have enough incentive to gain standing to do so.

[Pro Libertate]

Isn't that a violation of the free exercise right and viewpoint discrimination?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Obama, in Northern Ireland, denounces "segregated" (Catholic) schools as harmful to peace, echoing Protestant talking points.

In Northern Ireland, the Protestants go to government schools and the Catholics go to Catholic schools (which have a better academic record than the state/Protestant schools).

Catholic schools "are in a constant fight against the very argument Obama voiced ? that religious education is the cause of division, as opposed to, say, the state's prior role in religious cleansing or thuggish behavior by grown-ups on both sides of the religious and political divide who should know better.

"In 2010, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, a unionist, made comments nearly identical to Obama's in calling for a de-funding of the Catholic schools. Bishop Donal McKeown denounced Robinson's statement as "an attack on the right of Catholic parents to have their children educated in the ethos of their faith, a right which they have literally paid for down through the years in Northern Ireland." (In practice, such a cut-off would simply mean that Protestant-attended schools would be funded by the government and Catholic ones would not ? there are very few "officially" Protestant schools.)"

http://conservativeintel.com/2.....chooling/#

[Outlaw]

So Obama's trying to spark violence in Northern Ireland after things have been relatively quiet for a while now.

He's either evil or a retard. Or maybe an evil retard.

[Drake]

Maybe we'll deploy there after Syria.

[tarran]

No, he's a narcissistic retard, like Jane in Coupling.

[Art Vandelay]

"If you love animals, you'll love lamb!"

[Auric Demonocles]

Looking for that second peace prize.

[sarcasmic]

In Northern Ireland, the Protestants go to government schools and the Catholics go to Catholic schools (which have a better academic record than the state/Protestant schools).

That's just unfair. Must go with the lowest common denominator. Better for everyone to get a crappy state education than for there to be education inequality.

[John]

In Northern Ireland Catholics have been the victims of discrimination for hundreds of years. Forming their own schools was the only way they could get a fair shake.

Since Obama is all about integration, I wonder if he thinks the same thing about historically black colleges in the US that he does about Catholic schools in Northern Ireland? What an amazingly hypocritical, authoritarian, idiotic piece of this he is.

[AuH20]

Honestly, I have always been impressed by the Catholic schools. The thing that is fucking Hispanics?

When the Irish and Italians got here, there were no public schools. If there kids wanted an education, they had to go to Catholic schools. Now, the Irish and the Italians ain't the Jews. They are not culturally known for highly valuing education.

But the kind of people who run Catholic schools, especially the Jesuits? They ain't letting you out without an education.

So, we got a bunch of Irish and Italian kids who got a great education.

The largely Catholic Hispanics, however, get screwed and stuck in public schools.

[John]

Yup. And blacks are getting fucked as well. Sadly, the protestants, which most Blacks in America are, don't have the same tradition of education that the Catholics do. And blacks are also stuck in horrible schools.

And don't forget what bilingual education did to Hispanics. It created two and now going on three generations of Hispanics who were illiterate in two languages.

You really have to hate a group to intentionally create a program that prevents them from learning the dominant language. I honestly don't think the worst send them all back to Mexico xenophobe would support that. But millions of right thinking liberals thought it was just the thing to do.

[robc]

the protestants, which most Blacks in America are, don't have the same tradition of education that the Catholics do.

Actually, that isnt true. They had a stronger tradition at one time, especially among the puritan-type denominations. It was basically home schooling, but a much larger rate of literacy than anglicans or catholics.

[RBS]

So when they were forced into public schools things got worse?

[robc]

Pretty much.

I blame the Germans, I think they are pretty much responsible for the modern public school concept.

[John]

Bismark. It is really funny. The Germans pretty much invented everything the modern American liberal holds dear. But liberals are so stupid they don't know it.

[T]

Our particular insanity is home grown. You can blame John Dewey, like I do.

[Rasilio]

Prussians to be specific but yes they are responsible for the public education systems used in most countries, and especially the US

[John]

Rob,

I meant the same tradition of starting schools. Sorry. I didn't mean to imply Protestants don't value education. I didn't put that well.

[robc]

I meant the same tradition of starting schools.

Even that is questionable if you include Universities.

What they didnt have a tradition of was formal K-12 schools. That was expected to be taken care of in the home.

[Auric Demonocles]

The Catholic school I went to through 6th grade had great academic results.

Then a new principal took over and ran it into the ground in about 4 years.

[John]

Let me guess the principal had a PHD in education and introduced all of the great modern teaching method?

It only takes one liberal in the right position to ruin an entire school.

[Auric Demonocles]

I attempted to find details, but I don't remember how to spell her last name, or her first name at all. And there doesn't seem to be a lot of detail about schools that are not in existence anymore.

[Eduard van Haalen]

You mean a failing school got shut down?

You see, that's why comparisons between private and public schools are so unfair - the public schools don't close their failing schools, and it messes up the scores.

[Eduard van Haalen]

(that was sarcasm, by the way)

[Eduard van Haalen]

Not only is Obama the first black President, he's the first Orange President as well.

"Croppies Lie Down:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orLeh3GsY6s

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

"A former Federal Reserve governor says President Obama's comment that Ben Bernanke has been Federal Reserve chair longer than he wanted or was supposed to amounted to a firing."

Awkward. Rewrite.

[Drake]

That depends. Did Valarie put it on the teleprompter, or was he about to tee-off?

[AuH20]

Gray Rape: Or Why Feminism Doesn't Treat Women Like Grown-Ass Adults

We talk about rape a lot on xoJane. And the rape we talk about is often pretty clear cut. But we also try to talk about the experiences that are more nebulous. Julieanne wrote about it, but most of us have experienced it, too. It's more than just wishing you'd said no -- it's feeling like you were not able to. That inability might come from a variety of sources: not wanting to cause a scene, not wanting to hurt someone's feelings, not being conscious enough of what is happening.

Gray rape can be a problematic term -- some people use it as a label for rape that they don't consider "real" or "as bad as real" rape. That is totally bogus. I use the term here to mean the kind of encounter that people sometimes have where consent is not given but it is assumed; it's a term used to describe "nonstandard" sexual assault and, in some ways, it is a weasel term to cover the conflict we feel about consent.

...

It seems like no one wants to call gray rape just plain rape because then it's really serious. We'd have to talk about why it is so damn common for women to wind up in sexual situations they don't really want to participate in but feel they cannot refuse. We'd much rather just call it bad sex and move on.

[AuH20]

See, women? Despite being adults, you can't say NO to unwanted sex, for fear of making a scene!

But it gets worse. If you ever wanna see why active consent is retarded:

That's one way that rape culture perpetuates itself. In rape culture, the default status for a woman's consent is yes. When the assumed state of women is set to "receptive," you wind up with these grey situations.

"She should have just said no," people say, placing the responsibility firmly on the woman involved -- but why? Why is the responsibility on her to say no instead of on the initiating partner to secure a yes?

We tell people that no means no, that you shouldn't have sex with someone who is protesting. This is a pretty effing low bar. There is, in fact, a world of difference between not saying no and actively saying yes.

That "saying" can be metaphorical, too -- enthusiastic consent does not have to be the kind of explicit verbal consent demonstrated in Adam and Natalia's first sexual encounter. A lot of long-term partners go with nonverbal cues and it can be pretty obvious even with new partners that everyone is engaged. I don't think that's a problem. The idea behind enthusiastic consent is, most simply, that you want someone who is an active and engaged participant, not simply someone who is willing to let you stick it in, dude.

Because she's a fucking adult, that's why.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

There is, in fact, a world of difference between not saying no and actively saying yes.

Someone should really just start trolling them when they use sentences like this and just say, "SOCIAL CONTRACT!!!"

[John]

That is right. You married the guy or went out with him. Isn't that a contract to be intimate?

[AuH20]

Nicole, that's different. The government is us. We can't rape ourselves, now, can we?

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

I don't know, I mean, what if you're just like vaguely masturbating and don't feel comfortable telling yourself to stop because you don't really feel like it?

[Auric Demonocles]

You know, I've never gotten a verbal confirmation from myself...

[John]

Why is the responsibility on her to say no instead of on the initiating partner to secure a yes?

If she is unable to say "no" then how is she competent to consent? You would write a sentence like that if you were talking about a child. It doesn't matter if a child says no to sex because the child isn't legally competent to say no or yes. By this woman's standard every time a woman has sex, it is effectively rape.

[AuH20]

By this woman's standard, every woman is effectively a child.

[Rasilio]

Hell by this standard I have been raped dozens of times, maybe even hundreds. I mean does she seriously believe that men never have sex with a woman when they would really rather be playing xbox or hanging out with the guys? That women never initiate sex with a guy who just goes along because it is expected of him even though he wasn't really into it?

In fact I'd be willing to bet that using this standard it turns an outright majority of women and virtually all men into rapists

[PS]

Whoever wrote this has never been to Sweden.

[John]

. That inability might come from a variety of sources: not wanting to cause a scene, not wanting to hurt someone's feelings, not being conscious enough of what is happening.

If you are unconscious and unable to consent, it is rape plain and simple. If you don't object because you don't want to cause a scene or you feel sorry for the guy, then it is consent and not rape.

Basically feminists want to make bad decisions on the women's part into "rape" on the man's part. Think about it. This woman would convict a man for rape because the woman he slept with only did it because she felt sorry for him. So even though she by all outward appearances consented and he had no way of knowing she was really doing it out of pity, he is still a "rapist".

Basically feminists, if they were honest, would just like to have a rule that any woman can at any time she chooses and for whatever reason she chooses, send any man to prison for decades and ruin his life.

[AuH20]

Check the second part I posted John. Apparently, the guy should have been able to read her non-verbal signals.

In fact, later in the piece, they go big into "So much of human communication is non-verbal."

Yes. They actually expect men to be motherfucking mind readers.

But I think the larger part is how infantilizing this is to women. The women who doesn't want to have sex should say it. If she sighs and starts sucking a guys dick after a lot of pleading, shouldn't we respect her enough as an adult to respect her decision?

[John]

It is better than that. If your wife or girlfriend puts out not because she is in the mood but because she is tired of you asking or would rather she give you 20 minutes and have you both go to sleep than fight about it, you have "raped" her.

They are telling young women that making any effort to please their husbands sexually is rape. I am sure that will work out real well for them and the future of their marriages.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also, that any convincing makes it rape. If you do anything to change her mind, you have raped her. She must want to have sex with you from the very start.

[John]

Yup. And the sad fact is that if you look at any couple that is happily married for the long term, it is where the wife makes an effort to put out for and please her husband rather than just give him whatever she feels like.

The reality is that men are emotional about sex. And their wife or g/f treating sex as some kind of favor they do them makes men profoundly unhappy. If a wife isn't willing to give her husband what he needs, some other woman will. Then the wife goes on feminist boards to talk about who evil men are and wonder why her husband left her for another woman.

[Drake]

I used to get real drunk at parties and end up Gray Raped by fat chicks. What is the statute of limitations?

[invisible furry hand]

got some bad news for you... they weren't chicks. But they were fat

[PS]

I've blearily woken up many times at 5 AM with a woman riding my morning wood like I'm some sort of piece of meat. It was degrading as hell and I think I deserve some state-sponsored counseling to purge those awful memories.

[The Late P Brooks]

Earlier this year, the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit claiming that New Hampshire's school choice law was unconstitutional under the state's Blaine Amendment, which prohibits the public funding of religious schools.

Yay, ACLU.

Fight the good fight. Don't worry about random warrantless searches, or the ongoing abuse of administrative law by agencies like the EPA, just make sure those delicate little ears are never subjected to any icky references to Jeezis.

[John]

Yeah. Because if some poor family gets a voucher and sends their kid to a Catholic school to get a better education and shot at life, the terrorists have won.

Why do love terrorists so much Brooks?

[sloopyinca]

Police agree to apologize to a woman as long as she doesn't file a lawsuit against them because they arrested her illegally when she asked to see a warrant for her son's arrest...a warrant that did not, in fact, exist.

I sure hope there's a line of civil attorneys at her doorstep this morning ready to do this case without a retainer.

[LTC(ret) John]

Would not need a retainer - just a contingency fee arrangement.

[sarcasmic]

My theory is that someone from the police department explained to her that she could sue the department if she wished, but if she did then they'd find an excuse to lock up her eleven year old until the age of eighteen.

[John]

That is probably a good guess. I love how they told her they would apologize if she agreed not to sue. Go fuck yourself. I want cash.

And I would send my kid to live with his grandparents out of state for a bit. Good luck extraditing him.

[Rasilio]

Ok I agree not to sue.....

Hello Mr Attorney General, I'd like to press civil rights charges against my local police for violating my rights.

Criminal charges are not a lawsuit right?

[sloopyinca]

A "civilian" can't press charges anyway. So yes, she'd be free to approach a DA and have him/her pursue a criminal complaint against the officers.

She'd also be free to pursue civil remedies, saying she was under duress to agree not to. And IIRC, she'd be free to use their apology as evidence in the civil trial and the AG would be free to use it in the criminal case.

[sloopyinca]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

As usual, sarcasmic puts the cops' mentality into perspective.

"We'll apologize, lady, but if you do bring charges, you and your son will endure a living hell wherever you live. And don't think you can move out of town and escape it. We've got access to the NCIC database, which you're now in since you were arrested. Have a nice day...and watch your back."

[AuH20]

"This gets in the news... cops in the place you move to might not look too kindly on it."

[sarcasmic]

"You know what happens when people who sue the department call 911? Nothing. That's what happens. Nothing at all."

[Agammamon]

Which I could live with - 40+ years and I've never had reason to use the damn thing.

[John]

They totally fucked up and they know it. So they will use the kid as a hostage to make the whole thing go away.

[Sevo]

No good guys here:
"San Jose sues MLB over A's blocked move"
Which taxpayers are going to get stuck for the new playpen?

[Sevo]

Hey, how about that link?
http://www.sfgate.com/athletic.....607373.php

[sloopyinca]

Cop pulls man over fourth time for same "infraction" (no insurance), even though the previous three cases were dismissed from court. Officer refuses to let man show proof of insurance, tazes the man three times, puts a gun in the face of his son, who has Down Syndrome and puts a gun to the head of the man's daughter.

His department says he did a good job.

[sarcasmic]

That's one of those cases where an officer has a personal grudge against someone, and will harass them at every available opportunity. The only solution is to relocate.

[Agammamon]

No, there's another solution. A, how you say, "final solution" to government abuse.

[Auric Demonocles]

The lawsuit alleges that Branson noticed the family when they pulled into the Walmart parking lot, and followed them when they left two hours later.

Methinks it's something like the daughter refused to go on a date with the cop or the father gave a sermon he didn't like.

[VG Zaytsev]

It sure seems like a lot of these police abuse stories are from Texas.

So much for it being better than CA.

[Auric Demonocles]

This seems to be North Carolina.

[VG Zaytsev]

My bad, I saw aberdeen and assumed texas.

[sloopyinca]

Don't worry. Texas makes my roster in a few minutes...in a veeeeeery big way.

[WTF]

As requested, the events surrounding your arrest have been investigated and our investigation has determined that our officers took the correct action under the circumstances that were present at the time."

See, you bigorati fail to note that the incident was properly investigated and found NO PROBABLE CAUSE to believe any wrongdoing based on totality of circs, it was a good stop and good UOF. Police are entitle to DUE PROCESS just like civilians.
hth

[RBS]

Too much capitalization.

[Art Vandelay]

TROLLMETER .00001.

[sloopyinca]

What happens when you give a pervert a badge and let him work in a school?

Duh! What do you think happens?

[WTF]

Same link as Aberdeen cop above.

[sloopyinca]

Sorry. Here's the link to the fucking piece of shit sexual predator.

[sloopyinca]

Motherfucker is like the Shawn Kemp of School Resource Officers!

[WTF]

At least he was fired and charged. That's alot more than usually happens.

[The Late P Brooks]

If you don't object because you don't want to cause a scene or you feel sorry for the guy, then it is consent a pity fuck and not rape.

[robc]

The IRS is going to pay $70 million in bonuses

I guess they had a good year, with lots of profit?

[AuH20]

Apparently, men are "made to penetrate" (rape) at a rate similar to women, but the CDC doesn't count it

To me, one of the more startling findings of the NIPSVS is this: In the 12 months prior to taking the survey 1.26 million men (1.1 percent) had been "made to penetrate," and that number is almost identical to the 1.27 million women (also 1.1 percent) estimated to have been raped during the same time period. If these numbers are anywhere near accurate, this paints a significantly different portrait of sexual violence in the U.S. than what I'm used to seeing.

The CDC, however, does not ascribe to my basic definition of rape as being made to have sex against one's will. They have placed "made to penetrate" in its own category, limiting the label of rape to being penetrated unwillingly. Using this definition, they cite the total number of male rape victims as closer to 1 in 71 men, or 1.4 percent. I will certainly admit that being penetrated has the potential to be more physically injurious than being forced to penetrate, but I'm not sure that justifies the exclusive definition, as it doesn't reflect how our cultural understandings of rape have evolved. The litmus test for rape is now widely accepted to be consent, not physical trauma.

[AuH20]

And before we shit on the idea of "made to penetrate"- every guy knows that Boner =/= desire to have sex. Furthermore, I can see it. Your drunk, a chick climbs on you and starts fucking you... what do you do? You can say "Throw her off, because I'm stronger" but now, she can press assault charges, and who are the cops going to believe? So you just lay there and let her finish.

There are quite a few stories of a woman coming on aggressively to a guy, him throwing her off, and her running to the police because her feelings were hurt.

[tarran]

There are quite a few stories of a woman coming on aggressively to a guy, him throwing her off, and her running to the police because her feelings were hurt.

I can't believe that's ever been known to happen.

[AuH20]

Yeah. For all the physical power men have over women, that is returned with an equal social power that women have over men.

It's like crying. When you make a woman cry, even if she is doing it to manipulate you, you feel like a dick, and people give you dirty looks.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's like crying. When you make a woman cry, even if she is doing it to manipulate you, you feel like a dick, and people give you dirty looks.

Once in college a group and I were playing some drunken capture the flag. One of the girls on the opposing team cheated, and I called her out on it. At the time she was also sleeping with someone else's boyfriend, so I threw in a quip about her sleeping with cheaters. She threw a beer bottle at me then walked up and tried to slap me. I caught her hand before it hit my face, so she kicked me in the shin and stomped off crying.

Everyone else was far enough away that they couldn't hear what we were saying, so all they saw was us talking, then her physically attack me while I did nothing to retaliate and just protect myself. How did everyone immediately respond?

They all crowded around her asking if she was OK, told me I should leave, and later described the situation as me "ruining the game".

[The DerpRider]

Does anyone really need that many quips?

[sloopyinca]

In a way, they were right about you ruining the game.

[Pro Libertate]

And, of course, Auric grudge-fucked her six weeks later.

[Auric Demonocles]

No, although she did try to get me to screw her about 3 years later when she got drunk and started apologizing for starting the feud.

If she didn't have a boyfriend at the time I would have.

[Pro Libertate]

Good for you. But I knew she was a spite-fucker. I could feel a disturbance in the Whorce.

[Auric Demonocles]

I had to hold onto that moral high ground.

But doesn't this go against your second greatest teaching?

[sloopyinca]

Houston, Texas grand jury refuses to bring charges against a police officer who, rather than sidestepping the wheelchair-bound man, decided to shoot him dead. Apparently the dangerous man had the police officer's partner cornered and had threatened him with a ball point pen.

FTA: In December, McClelland confirmed he asked the U.S. Justice Department to review Claunch's shooting, the beating of teenaged burglar Chad Holley and the July 2011 arrest of a 16-year-old robbery suspect who, although handcuffed, was punched in the face by an HPD officer. The Justice Department later requested information from HPD on three additional cases, including the fatal shooting last July of unarmed immigrant Rufino Lara and the force used in the arrests of two other residents.

No wonder they declined to bring charges. The people sitting on the grand jury probably figured they'd end up dead two steps outside the courthouse doors if the recommended charges be filed.

[sloopyinca]

I'm sorry. I neglected to mention that the man in the wheelchair was a double-amputee.

[sarcasmic]

No wonder they declined to bring charges. The people sitting on the grand jury probably figured they'd end up dead two steps outside the courthouse doors if the recommended charges be filed.

I imagine that happens a lot. I mean, you're on the grand jury, and the whole time you've got a dozen large men with clubs and guns giving you the unblinking evil eye. If one of them goes down, you go down.

[WTF]

NO. DOUBLE. STANDARD.

Odd we haven't seen dunphy around lately to copsplain these incidents for us.

[RBS]

He's too busy surfing to his next world weightlifting championship. He only takes breaks to bang Morgan Fairchild.

[sloopyinca]

You mean he's not stopping to personally put out wildfires while on the way and tutor the children of the people he rescues in mathematics? I wonder why he changed his normal routine.

[Matrix]

Armed forces upset over XBox One lockouts and M$'s uncaring response

"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360. If you have zero access to internet, that is an offline device."

Just keeps getting better and better.

[AuH20]

So, I assume Army bases in the future will be stocked to the gills with PS4s. Thank god Japan is an ally.

PROTIP FOR MICROSOFT: Don't take ideas from Blizzard or EA. Because they're, y'know, dicks.

Take ideas from Bethesda because they actually give a shit about the product they make.

[Matrix]

The always on DRM is a disaster. EA is, fortunately, doing away with those stupid online passes that they started. I wish Sony would do the same with their games.

[Steve G]

Anyone going to the DC reception tonight?

[sloopyinca]

More importantly, will Kennedy be riding in on that horse to the LA reception later in the month?

[sloopyinca]

Looks like that short, white guy driving a Honda Ridgeline is gonna sue Torrance because their officers "mistakenly" shot at him because they thought he was a 6'2" black man driving a Nissan.

For some reason, the story forgets to state what criminal charges the officers are facing for firing willy-nilly into an occupied vehicle they failed to properly identify at a suspect they had previously identified as not the guy they were looking for. But I'm sure that was just an oversight and the attempted murder and myriad other charges are winding their way through the court system as we speak.

[sloopyinca]

FTA: The two Torrance police officers involved in the shooting, one of whom shot the three rounds, are back at work pending the outcome of an investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, officials said.

Oh. That's a relief.

[Lord Humungus]

"working from home" today... suckers.

[Matrix]

Was the official story of the TWA 800 crash wrong?

A group of whistle-blowers, including a number of aviation experts, have come forward in a new documentary to claim that the official explanation for the crash of TWA Flight 800 was wrong and a gas tank explosion did not bring down the flight off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago.

[John]

I have always doubted that story. The 747 has been flying for 40 years. There have been thousands of them produced. And never except in this one case has one just blown up due to a fuel transfer. If that was what happened, there had to have been a design flaw in the plane. And a design flaw would have shown up sooner than after 30 years of reliable service.

[John]

..This team of investigators who actually handled the wreckage and victims' bodies, prove that the officially proposed fuel-air explosion did not cause the crash," reads a statement by the producers of the film, which will debut on cable network EPIX next month. "They also provide radar and forensic evidence proving that one or more ordnance explosions outside the aircraft caused the crash." However, the statement said they did not speculate about the source or sources of any ordnance explosions.

Numerous witnesses saw a trail of some kind of rocket go up and hit the plane. They were all dismissed. Sure, witnesses are unreliable. But they are not always unreliable.

I doubt the Navy shot it down. Someone would have talked. That is too many people to keep quiet. But if it were terrorists and Clinton didn't want such an embarrassment to get out? I could buy that.

[kinnath]

If terrorists shot down a B747, they would have been taking credit loudly and constantly.

[John]

You would think so. But one never knows. It is not impossible that they might do it and keep it quiet.

If it was shot down by a missile and it wasn't the Navy, then who?

[Stormy Dragon]

The people who fired a cruise missile into the pentagon and then hide flight 93 obviously.

I'm sure once we find Obama's secret Kenyan birth certificate, we'll find out this was all part of a massive plan to build a superhighway to let all the black helicopters be trucked in from Mexico.

[John]

Sure.

[kinnath]

The primary problem with the missile theory is that missile's generally seek out the engines (the heat sources). And you could blow an engine into little pieces and not affect the airworthiness of the aircraft.

It is unlikely that an air-to-ground missile would have hit the main fuel tank in the body of the aircraft and caused the massive breakup of the aircraft.

So as much as I don't like the official story, I like the missile theory even less.

[sarcasmic]

It is unlikely that an air-to-ground missile would have hit the main fuel tank in the body of the aircraft and caused the massive breakup of the aircraft.

Wouldn't a radar guided missile seek the fuselage?

[kinnath]

ask tarran

[sloopyinca]

A laser-guided missile is accurate to a few meters. The logical target would be the largest part of the craft.

Engineers: if they used a laser-guided missile, isn't this where it would likely strike it?

[kinnath]

You need a decision tree to decide what anti-aircraft system might be in play. First decision, US Military or Terrorist?

If you start with Terrorist, you can take radar-guided and laser-guided off the table (my guess anyway).

If you start with Military, see tarran below.

[sloopyinca]

If you start with Terrorist, you can take radar-guided and laser-guided off the table (my guess anyway).

That was who I would have assumed. Why would you take those two weapons systems off the table? Have we not shipped either type to a terrorist network yet?

[kinnath]

We are talking 17 years ago, five years before 9/11/11. So years before the US was routinely using laser guided munitions in Iraq.

My guesses:

Radar is too big, too expensive unless home grown by technically-savvy engineer/terrorist. Needs a ground or maritime installation to track and illuminate a moving target many miles out to sea.

Laser, too new, and too tightly controlled by US military. Needs a ground or maritime installation to track and illuminate a moving target many miles out to sea.

Man-launched AA missiles were and are widely available. Radar-guided and laser-guide not so much.

[sarcasmic]

Man-launched AA missiles were and are widely available. Radar-guided and laser-guide not so much.

So if it did indeed hit the geometric center instead of a heat source, that points to the military more than a rogue terrorist.

[kinnath]

yup

[kinnath]

a military, not necessarily ours.

[sarcasmic]

not necessarily ours.

A quick bit of googling did not find any radar guided SAMs produced by the USA. Interesting.

[tarran]

Dude there are lots of different systems:

The AMRAAM has a surface launched version, as does the Sparrow, the Patriot missile started out like as a SAM (its missile killing capability is a happy accident), the Rolling Airframe Missile is another. The U.S. has scads of them.

They don't get much use since the U.S. is really good at establishing air superiority over its battlefields, but they exist.

[kinnath]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800

Although the NTSB had already reached the conclusion that a missile strike did not cause the structural failure of the airplane, the possibility that a missile could have exploded close enough to TWA 800 for a missile fragment to have entered the CWT and ignited the fuel/air vapor, yet far enough away not to have left any damage characteristic of a missile strike was considered. Computer simulations using missile performance data simulated a missile detonating in a location such that a fragment from the warhead could penetrate the CWT. Based on these simulations the NTSB concluded that it was "very unlikely" that a warhead detonated in such a location where a fragment could penetrate the CWT, but no other fragments impact the surrounding airplane structure leaving distinctive impact marks.

Unless the entire NTSB report is a fabrication and the aircraft was not destroyed by an explosion in the Center Wing Tank, it is not very likely that a missile caused the accident.

And if it was, then it was the result of a significant effort to bring a radar to the area to track and illuminate the aircraft so that the missile could get close enough to cause the CWT to explode without leaving any physical evidence that it was a missile.

Since they never determined why the CWT exploded, there will always be an opportunity for someone to argue that a missile did the deed.

[sloopyinca]

Maybe they used unguided missiles made of ice so there would be no remains to pin the attack on.

Boom! Mystery solved.

[kinnath]

If there was a cover-up, I vote for a bomb in the cargo compartment that triggered the CWT to go boom and tear the aircraft apart.

[sloopyinca]

"A bu-"

"No, a bomb."

[Agammamon]

Standard Missile (RIM-66)
Sea Sparrow (RIM-7)

are the Navy's standard (heh) goto missiles for air defense. But both are semi-active (require an separate illuminator and the missile flies towards the reflection).

[sloopyinca]

Thanks for the explanation. I thought they were more readily available.

[tarran]

Wouldn't a radar guided missile seek the fuselage?

Sort of...

First, my knowledge is really out of date and wasn't that great to begin with. I worked in the engineering spaces.

Basically, the guidance system on most aa missiles tries to get the missile close to the target, where a proximity fuse detonates the warhead. Different warheads require different fusing and terminal guidance paradigms.

For example, some warheads kick out a ring of metal that cuts up the plane and destroys its aerodynamic profile and the air flow accross the fuselage and wings then rips the plane apart. Other designs use high explosive with shrapnel. T

When I got out, designers were moving to more directional warheads that directed lethal force in a small cone around the warhead because a lighter warhead allows for more fuel/less weight increasing the range and capabilities of the missile.

Guidence systems have gotten more sophisticated to support those warheads. For example, IR seekers no longer just look for the engine exhaust heat, but also look for the heat signature on the leading edge of wings (caused by air compression). I'm sure that similar work is being done in the radar guided stuff (although the longer wavelengths limit image resolution) that is being kept very secret.

With that being said, a hit in the geometric center of a huge aircraft like a 747 seems quite reasonable.

[Agammamon]

In addition to what Tarran says, a radar guided missile will seek out the target's radar *centroid*, basically the brightest radar relfection.

Usually that won't be a large slightly curved surface like the fuselage as a large amount of the illuminator's energy will be reflected away from the missile.

Places with flat surfaces and lots of sharp angles are good at returning signals back towards the attacker and so the wing root and especially the area where the engine nacelle connects to the wings are tasty to missiles.

[tarran]

I would be very surprised if the Navy shot it down;

I took part in several life fire exercises. They were always abundantly documented in a large number of different records. For example, the XO's office puts out a Plan of the Day that is liberally photocopied and distributed. Any exercise that includes a missile firing is documented. Missiles are inventoried routinely. Life fire exercises are coordinated with shore activities that monitor munitions performance. Message traffic goes out. Notices to airmen and mariners are published in writing and through radio calls prior to the launch, etc.

It is possible to accidentally fire a weapon during a drill. In 1992, the USS Saratoga accidentally launched two Sea Sparrow missiles that struck the TCG Muavenet when the commanders had in fact ordered a simulated missile firing. One of the critical failures that led to that accidental firing was the fact that the sea-sparrow was not a primary weapon for the Saratoga and as such the officers engaging in the drill didn't recognize that the orders and responses they were getting from the missile crew were the preparations for a missile release.

Subsequently, the Navy became far more anal about life fire exercises.

It is technically possible that a U.S. Navy ship could have shot down TWA-800. Its altitude and airspeed were well within AA missile capabilities. But absent a missile launched from a sub, I just don't see how they could keep it quiet.

[John]

Exactly. I find it difficult to believe the Navy could fuck up that badly and if they did manage to hide it that well.

No way did the Navy shoot it down.

[RBS]

Someone's never seen Under Siege.

[tarran]

I could see the Submarine service pulling that shit off.

They sub crews are trained in obsessive secrecy. They don't really mix with the rest of the Navy that much (their shore tours tend to be at activities related to supporting the submarine fleet).

But nuke submarines have a hyper plan-everything-and-follow-the-plan-closely mentality and I can't see them accidentally firing a weapons system, especially something like an underwater-launched anti-aircraft missile ever.

It would be on a par with the marines guarding the white-house showing up to guard duty with big blobs of strawberry jam staining their tunics.

[sarcasmic]

They sub crews are trained in obsessive secrecy.

Yep. If anyone could keep something like that under wraps, it would be the silent service.

[Agammamon]

Except at that time our subs didn't have SAMs.

[tarran]

I forgot, every missile launch is documented in the ship's log. The ship's log may be classified, but it's the closest think the a sacred, holy document in the Navy.

[John]

That is another good point. Hell, you can't fire a round from an M16 without accounting for the brass. No way would a Navy ship fire off a missile and no one notice it was gone.

[Matrix]

So then, the logical conclusion is, that if it was a Navy missile, then this was intentional with orders higher up the food chain than just the commanding officer of that ship.

[tarran]

Actually, if the order came from outside the ship, it would be well documented.

In the sea-sparrow accident, the cluster fuck began when the CO changed the drill, and instead of a simulated launch on paper where nobody did anything, he ordered the missile crews woken up and to man the launchers. The result was that they had no exercise script (and the orders of course weren't written down).

In fact most Naval catastrophes start with a captain deciding to change the plan on his own.

[John]

In fact most Naval catastrophes start with a captain deciding to change the plan on his own.

You mean like surfacing your submarine really quickly to show off to a bunch of visiting VIPs? What could possibly go wrong?

[sloopyinca]

Ah, yes. The Kelsey Grammar school of submarine captaincy.

[John]

The worst part of that whole thing was the reaction of the Captain and his buddies. They actually had the nerve to whine about his career being over. That to me says more about how far the Navy has fallen than anything. People have always fucked up. But it used to be that they had the integrity to admit it and understand they deserved to lose their authority. Now, they can fuck up and kill a bunch of people and think that they should somehow get another chance.

[tarran]

Kelsey Grammar school of submarine captaincy

I had the pleasure of serving with a warrant officer who was one of the last members of the non-nuke submarine fleet. He told me that that movie captured the zeitgeist of the non-nuke submarine fleet perfectly; the shitty equipment, the admirals who hated their guts; the stream of rejects; and the "fuck em, we will thrive despite the bastards" attitude.

He told me of one deployment to the pacific where they arranged a trade with a Soviet (!) fishing trawler - where the U.S. sub traded its coffee rations for Alaskan King Crab, so much crab that the reefers were packed solidly. They traded the crab with other ships (some Navy, some not) for a wide variety of goods and supplies, including a bribe that got a guard to look the other way while they stole a motor-generator they needed for their electrical system.

Talking to him, I finally understood how his predecessors had been able to go out sail across the pacific and sink a significant portion of the Japanese navy and its merchant marine despite having shitty torpedos and all the odds against them.

It was sad; everyone crapped on the non-nuke submariners, despite the fact that they were probably the most skilled mariners in the Navy and were generally fucking awesome.

[tarran]

I spent 15 minutes unsuccessfully looking for a spectacular collision video I saw in the Navy (someone has to have uploaded it onto you tube but I can't find it).

Basically a CO had had a fitness report that intimated he lacked sufficiently aggressive qualities and he decided to remedy that deficiency by a really aggressive maneuver during a formation change.

I think the closing speed in the collision was 40 knots, and several people were killed.

It's really important to never lose your shit when you are the CO of a vessel. It rarely ends well.

[John]

Even in ground forces, going to the field and bringing everyone back unhurt and alive is no small feat. That is doubly true at sea. Too bad he lost sight of that.

[AlexInCT]

Not trying to be a conspiracy whore mongerer, but the fuel tank explosion never made good enough sense, even if it was the simpler explanation. What if whatever asset that fired the hypothetical missile being discussed as the alternative was ordered to do that? I still think the angle that something on that plane could have necessitated such an order has not really been explored properly. Sure, it is hard to believe it could have been kept it secret in that case, but then again, it depends on the asset used.

[tarran]

Most naval officers would not obey an order to shoot down a civilian airliner that came out of the blue.

Moreover, the U.S. government wouldn't give such an order. The Brits are close allies, a call from the U.S. to Downing Street, and when the plane lands in Heathrow, MI-6 agents are there to grab whoever needs to be made to disappear. No muss, no fuss.

To me, the only plausible scenario where a naval anti-aircraft missile takes the jet down is one where there was an accidental launch, and I can't see that being covered up. Too many people in the military have integrity, and most of the enlisted aren't planning to make a career out of it anyway and would be happy to rat out the sort of scummy officers who would engage in such a cover up.

[AlexInCT]

What's the altitude the plane was flying at when it supposedly experienced the malfunction? Could it have been a shoulder fired missile? Wondering if the plane was in an envelope of such a weapon system, be it from a location on the ground or even a boat.

And if they tell the NAVY people that plane is carrying a lethal bio agent or a nuke and that it will be used to attack some target that's valuable, some people might actually go along with a launch command. They were ready to shoot down the planes on 9-11 after the 3 that hit the WTTC & Pentagon, were they not? The situation or cover story can make a difference, man. No way decent people shoot at innocents, but tell them that they are not, and you have something going.

[Agammamon]

Heh, I was on the Saratoga - on watch on the bridge when we shot the Muavenet.

[Pro Libertate]

I was told by a security consultant years ago that the word on the street was it was an attack that was covered up. It seems unlikely. since I don't recall anyone claiming credit, but it could've been a one-guy operation.

[AuH20]

So, I just watched Lindy West's "hilarious" celebrity liquor drinking video. Its rant time

Look, I know I say this every time with West, but I repeat: I do amateur stand up comedy with a bunch of other amateurs. And it is basically like being an amateur musician, but just with a lot less equipment. The thing is, like a garage band, you are hoping that against the odds, you break big. You make a career out of it.

And it is one thing to see hacky comedians, like Dane Cook or Carlos Mencia, hit it big. As a comedian who tries to do more intellectual or concept based jokes, I can kind of look down on them for going to the lowest common denominator, but I can understand why that is successful and it works. To go back to the music comparison, 1968's top song wasn't the Beatles or the Stones, Simon and Garfunkel or Dylan, it was The Archie's "Hey Sugar, Sugar." Carlos Mencia is basically the equivalent of teeny-bop. As a rocker, you may hate it, but you can accept its success.

RANT Cont...

[AuH20]

But then people like Lindy West come along. And they just aren't funny. Seriously, go to Jez and watch that video (Okay, I know no one will). She has ONE line that, if she had any delivery, COULD have been funny. But it is a 6 minute, completely unfunny, laugh free video. I've managed to pull more laughs out of completely bombing it than that video. But West gets paid to make videos like that, and I do not.

She also gets paid to write "funny" pieces. MAYBE YOU SAW HER HILARIOUS PIECE ON ALL CAPS!. I do not get paid for anything funny I produce.

And I could maybe accept that someone with not just no talent, but a negative amount of talent, for comedy, was being paid for her work. Like, maybe her employer is brain dead.

But then I go to the comments, and they are all, "Girl, you are so funny and amazing!"

It feels like I am taking crazy pills.

And its not just me I am angry over. It is all the other comics, male and female, that I do comedy with that have to hold down day jobs and pay gas money and buy sound equipment for open mics. Who support each other and come out for each other's shows and work their asses off writing jokes. Hell, it is especially the female comedians I'm pissed off for, because they could write for Jez better than West.

Sorry, but I just watched that video last night, and I had to express how it both mystified and angered me.

[John]

She is a paid hack. She gets paid to tell people what they want to hear. She tells them what they want to hear and they pretend she is funny.

It is very disturbing and totalitarian. The Jezzys who are pretending this is funny are letting their political views dictate reality. It is no different than the people who pretended that Rhapsody in Blue was decadent and horrible and some piece of German marshal crap was great because the former was written by a Jew and the latter written by a good Nazi.

It is a mundane example. But you are seeing what totalitarianism looks like.

[SugarFree]

I can't find it (because the shit with her and Jim Norton has added too much noise to the keywords) but she first caught my eye in an article where she argued that because she was being paid to be funny, therefore any not being paid is not funny. Because if they were actually funny they'd get paid like her.

She's delusional. And not in a funny way.

[bostonaod]

where do you perform goldwater?

[Also Ran]

Russell Brand makes the people on Morning Joke looked even dumber than usual: http://avc.lu/11Xyxk2

I can't decide if my favorite part is when he refers to Mika as a 'shaft grasper', or where he asks serious questions about Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning, and all the hosts stare at him blankly.

[AuH20]

"But he was just supposed to be a funny comedian..."

Yeah, I love it when some performer comes on and reveals themselves to be much more informed on the issues than the dingbat person interviewing them.

[RBS]

I enjoyed how uncomfortable he made all of them.

[Matrix]

I love his comment about the show being a "hotbed of neurosis and psychosis"

[sarcasmic]

That was awesome.

[Agammamon]

I don't like more than a few of Brand's political/social stances but I have to admit - the guy's smart, usually well-informed, funny, and charming (in a greasy sort of way).

I enjoyed his show.

[The Late P Brooks]

Odd we haven't seen dunphy around lately to copsplain these incidents for us.

Good.

[bendover]

Looks like THE JACKET and Kathleen Parker have a lot in common.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml?hpid=z5

John may be right about the inside the beltway Kulture War

[John]

When THE JACKET is claiming that Bobby Jindal and Christ Christie are some the people to attract young libertarians, shows he was just trolling.

[PS]

I'm liking Ted Cruz more and more.

Anyone know if President Obama intends to perform background checks on the Syrian rebels before providing them weapons?

[Matrix]

Gold!

[All-Seeing Monocle]

Now that is funny.

[The Late P Brooks]

As a comedian who tries to do more intellectual or concept based jokes

You know who I used to think was insanely funny?

Taylor Negron.

[sloopyinca]

The pizza delivery guy from Fast Times?

[SugarFree]

And the mailman from Better Off Dead.

[sloopyinca]

Also a delivery man in Johnny Dangerously, although he was able to shed the image of the delivery specialist as Julio in Easy Money.

[John]

There has never been a more cerebral comic than Rodney Dangerfield.

[Brett L]

Florida Man fails as supervillain again.

A Florida man allegedly attempted to murder his sleeping wife Friday, but succeeded only in breaking his own neck.

[Sevo]

Post disappeared.
Wonder how Tesla can turn a profit when others fail? Why, crony-capitalism will do wonders for the bottom line:
"Model S Could Earn Tesla up to $250 Million in CARB ZEV Credits"
" It's believed that Tesla earns approximately $35,000 in ZEV credits from CARB for each Model S sold in the state of California. We say "believed" because details of the ZEV credits earned are not necessarily disclosed by automakers. Furthermore, Tesla does not have to report the price at which it sells credits to other automakers. So, it's a guessing game here."
http://insideevs.com/model-s-c.....v-credits/

[CE]

If Google really wants to disclose more data about the NSA requests, they should just post it on the Google home page. It's just metadata after all -- what does the NSA have to hide?