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Politics

Surveillance Sharing Between US and UK Goes Both Ways, Federal Employees Urged to Sniff Out Leakers or Else, FBI Denies Investigating Hastings: P.M. Links

Scott Shackford | 6.21.2013 4:30 PM

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Large image on homepages | GHCQ logo
(GHCQ logo)
  • Oh God, do we have to learn all their acronyms now, too?
    GCHQ logo

    The British government isn't just the recipient of the National Security Agency's phone and Internet data collections. They do it themselves as well and send what they gather back over to the NSA.

  • The federal government has something called the Insider Threat Program that urges employees to report suspicious behavior by their coworkers that might indicate leakers. They also face potential criminal charges for failing to report such behavior.
  • The FBI has denied it was investigating journalist Michael Hastings, who died earlier this week in a car crash in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department has ruled out foul play.
  • As George Zimmerman's trial for killing Trayvon Martin is set to open next week, a judge ruled that prosecutors can argue that Zimmerman profiled Martin for several reasons (age, clothing) but not over his race.
  • A Federal Aviation Administration panel was supposed to weigh in on whether airlines should ease restrictions on a host of mobile devices in flight, but their recommendations will be delayed until September.
  • France is looking to block Amazon from offering discounts and free shipping in the country because competition is evil, even (especially!) if it provides the state's residents with cheaper goods.

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NEXT: Wozniak Backs Snowden, Feels Guilt Over Enabling Surveillance

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

Politics
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  1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The federal government has something called the Insider Threat Program that urges employees to report suspicious behavior by their coworkers that might indicate leakers.

    Can't get any work done with all these whistles being blown.

    1. Episiarch   12 years ago

      The feds seem really worried that there are all these leakers. I wonder why that would concern them? I mean, if they aren't doing anything wrong, what do they have to fear?

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Fascinating. Good. Good. He knows, Doctor. He has reasoned it out.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

          Recall your basic civics, Doctor.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Can he do it?

            1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

              No, he doesn't have the time. And he's an idiot.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                You mean Episiarch? Because I liked his comment, actually.

                1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

                  His comment seemed sarcastic. Sarcasm is the absolute worst thing ever. Next to hyperbole.

                  1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                    Or glibness, which is really hateful.

                    1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

                      glibness

                      Around here we call that Tulpa's Bane.

        2. Episiarch   12 years ago

          Brain? Brain? What is brain?

      2. Suthenboy   12 years ago

        They are mandated by law to do it. It is part of the whistleblower protection act that obama signed into law.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      all these whistles being blown.

      imagine all the saliva being accumulated.

      1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        Are any of these whistles dog-whistles? And why does whistle have so many unnecessary letters?

    3. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      You? We got spies for that.

      Leakers who try to tell you you're being spied on? We got spies for them, too.

      ROCK. FLAG. EAGLE.

  2. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    The British government isn't just the recipient of the National Security Agency's phone and Internet data collections. They do it themselves as well and send what they gather back over to the NSA.

    Keep Calm, and Surveillance On.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      On the plus side, apparently Obama hasn't totally poisoned that relationship.

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        Presidents and Prime Ministers come and go, the great Anglo-American intelligence services "us versus everybody else" remains.

    2. Jerry on the boat   12 years ago

      All your data are belong to NSA.

  3. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    ...a judge ruled that prosecutors can argue that Zimmerman profiled Martin for several reasons (age, clothing) but not over his race.

    Phew. And I was worried the trial wouldn't be a total farce.

    1. hamilton   12 years ago

      Wait, wait a minute. How the fuck can a private citizen "profile" anyone in any way that is legally relevant?

      1. Hash Brown   12 years ago

        That's what I keep wondering.

      2. tarran   12 years ago

        It's been legally relevant for a long time, see hate crimes and the Supreme Court holding in EEOC vs. Duke Energy (IIRC)

        1. Hash Brown   12 years ago

          I hope the defense will be allowed to put on evidence showing that Zimmerman was not prejudiced against blacks.

        2. hamilton   12 years ago

          But hate crimes are kinda different (although the theory is still stupid): X killed Y because X hates people like Y, so we have to be extra-special-punishy to X. "profiling" suggests more of "X suspected Y because of Y's race/appearance, which led X to jump to a stereoptypical conclusion and thus do something wrong.

          Or:
          Hate crime: "I hate Y's. I'm going to shoot that guy."
          Profiling "Hey that's a Y. He must be a criminal. I'd better defend myself by shooting him".

          I just don't get it.

    2. Rich   12 years ago

      OK, "race profile" is out.

      "Mr. Zimmerman profiled Mr. Martin for his specific clothing, which is typically worn by young Black men."

      "Exhibit A shows a silhouette of Mr. Martin's head as seen from the side."

    3. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

      This judge keeps increasing all the things that can't be discussed in the case. Pretty soon, it will be similar to the South Park school holiday program done by Philip Glass, devoid of anything.

      Here's a wacky idea. How about both sides present whatever they think is relevant to their side of the argument?

      1. Hash Brown   12 years ago

        Because some things that are relevant are too prejudicial to be admissible. Like if a rape accuser slept around a lot.

      2. generic Brand   12 years ago

        Stop blaming the victim!!!

        /libtard

  4. rts   12 years ago

    More minimum wage nonsense: $10 Minimum Wage Would Push More Than Half Of Working Poor Out Of Poverty: Study

    The study, by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a national organization focusing on racial equity in the restaurant industry, discovered that nearly 58 percent -- or roughly 6 million -- of the 10.4 million U.S. workers living below the federal poverty level in 2011 would be pulled out by such an increase.

    1. BiMonSciFiCon   12 years ago

      They misspelled "jobs."

    2. Thane-kin   12 years ago

      Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a national organization focusing on racial equity in the restaurant industry

      Sounds reliable

      1. Bardas Phocas   12 years ago

        I wonder if any of its members or employees have ever openned a restaurant ... or even worked at one?

    3. gaijin   12 years ago

      I know it's been said before, but why stop at $10? Why not just mandate a minimum wage of $100 per hour. We'll all be rich and we'll all pay more taxes and the deficit will be cured!

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        $100!? Do you want all the poor people to starve? True equality can only be achieved when the minimum wage is set at the pay rate of the world's richest CEO!

        1. Thane-kin   12 years ago

          Are you an idiot? With the ensuing inflation nobody could afford anything.

          Twice the pay rate of the world's richest CEO!

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            You all have no conception of economics and advanced socially conscious politics. Everyone should be paid as much as the poorest person.

        2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          "True equality can only be achieved when the minimum wage is set at the pay rate of the world's richest CEO!"

          There's a printing press for that.

          /Ben Bernanke

  5. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The FBI has denied it was investigating journalist Michael Hastings, who died earlier this week in a car crash in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department has ruled out foul play.

    In unrelated news, the LAPD just received a HUGE grant from the DoJ.

  6. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Eight Toxic Foods: A Little Chemical Education

    How could it not lapse into all-caps? In the pre-internet days, this sort of thing was written in green ink all around the margins of crumpled shutoff notices from the power company, but these days we have to make do with HTML.

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      Obviously a shill for big chemistry šŸ˜‰

      Seriously though, the guy has a serious sense of humor:

      But you know something? You can say the same thing for chlorine. After all, it's right next to bromine in the same column of the periodic table. And its use in World War I as a battlefield gas should be testimony enough. (They tried bromine, too, never fear). But chlorine is also the major part, by weight, of table salt. So which is it? Toxic death gas or universal table seasoning?

      1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

        Yeah, and that Dihydrogen Monoxide stuff is killer, too.

        http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      Now that we've detoured around that mess, on to brominated vegetable oil. It's found in citrus-flavored sodas and sports drinks, at about 8 parts per million. The BuzzFeed article claims that it's linked to "major organ system damage, birth defects, growth problems, schizophrenia, and hearing loss", and sends readers to this WebMD article. But if you go there, you'll find that the only medical problems known from BVO come from two cases of people who had been consuming, over a long period, 4 to 8 liters of BVO-containing soda per day, and did indeed have reactions to all the excess bromine-containing compounds in their system. At 8 ppm, it's not easy to get to that point, but a determined lunatic will overcome such obstacles. Overall, drinking several liters of Mountain Dew per day is probably a bad idea, and not just because of the BVO content.

      Awesome.

      1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

        And here I am with a Diet Mountain Dew in my hand, and sure enough, BVO is on the ingredients list. Causes schizophrenia, eh? Wonder how everyone developed that prior to drinking several liters per day of Mountain Dew.

        1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          Does it still contain EDTA?

          1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

            Yes!
            "To Protect Flavor."

            1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

              My brother is a PhD chemist (UCLA, Columbia) and years ago at a restaurant I asked him what is EDTA. He drew it out on a napkin.

      2. Rhywun   12 years ago

        The vodka I put in my Dew kills all that bad stuff, right?

      3. BiMonSciFiCon   12 years ago

        I drink liters of diet Mt. Dew it a day, as I get it for free at work. I think I'll live.

  7. Hollywood   12 years ago

    The FBI has denied it was investigating journalist Michael Hastings, who died earlier this week in a car crash in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department has ruled out foul play.

    The account of this guy's accident is very strange. You only speed through a red light like that if you think your life is in danger or if your car is malfunctioning (or you're dunphy).

    1. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

      Mercedes C classes don't blow up when they hit trees. If they did we would have heard about the recalls, 'merikan jerbs, flaying of CEOs etc.

      1. tarran   12 years ago

        Is that the engine lying on the ground a the 5:00 mark?

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          It's the engine and transmission.

          1. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

            HOLY CRAP!

            NO SHIT My tinfoil hat just went to 11. AND I would now say drone.

            1. tarran   12 years ago

              Yep.

              I had assumed a garden variety collision at an intersection or something.

              Flying through red lights at 100 mph until hitting a tree is a little... odd.

              If it is an assassination, it's pretty flamboyant.

              1. Irish   12 years ago

                Yes, I don't think that if someone tried to kill Hastings they'd do so by blowing up his car.

                There have to be more low key ways to do that.

                1. Episiarch   12 years ago

                  That's just what they want you to think!

                2. tarran   12 years ago

                  Yes, I don't think that if someone tried to kill Hastings they'd do so by blowing up his car.

                  Well, in their defense, polonium *has* been pretty hard to find these days.

            2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

              It is possible that the guy had a heart attack or something, slammed his foot on the accelerator without realizing it, and launched himself into the tree.

              1. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

                He was in his thirties. Stranger things have happened, of course, but still... If he did have a heart attack, I wonder if his coroner will mysteriously die soon after examining him, if there's enough left to examine. Maybe the car was on auto-pilot and Hastings was already dead, but the people that killed him needed a reason for his body to be burned the fuck up.

                I admit that when I first heard about the accident, I wondered if Hastings was going to be the administration's Vince Foster (in terms of conspiracy theories and so on). But, given that he was investigating the circumstances of General Petraeus' fall, which happened just before he was scheduled to testify on Benghazi, which could potentially damage or even criminally implicate State Department officials, for example Hillary Clinton, I can't help but wonder if he is another Vince Foster.

      2. Not an Economist   12 years ago

        Anything with gasoline might if they hit something at 100 mph.

        This is pure speculation (and I want to emphasize that), but supposedly he had drug and alcohol problems in the past. Maybe he fell of the wagon and his body reacted badly to something???

  8. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    A Federal Aviation Administration panel was supposed to weigh in on whether airlines should ease restrictions on a host of mobile devices in flight, but their recommendations will be delayed until September.

    The stewardesses keep hassling them to shut off their laptops as they're trying to write up their recommendations.

    1. Episiarch   12 years ago

      "You have to turn off your device, sir."

      "It's a Kindle. You can't turn it off."

      "You have to turn off your device, sir."

      "But I can't...nevermind. See? It's 'off'."

      "Thank you sir."

      (goes back to reading)

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        You can so turn off a Kindle.

        1. hamilton   12 years ago

          Or, failing that, give it the ol' Aaron Hernandez treatment.

        2. Rich   12 years ago

          Just tell it that it looks fat in that sleeve.

        3. Rhywun   12 years ago

          My old one only used power when flipping pages. The newer ones have a backlight you can't turn all the way off.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            I have an older one. It can be completely shut down, though it usually is either totally on or in sleep mode.

            From a "MUST TURN OFF" perspective, of course, it looks like it's on with the screen having an image on it, even when sleeping.

            1. Episiarch   12 years ago

              They are not off. They will still download purchased eBooks through Whispernet while "off", so they aren't off.

              The only way to turn them off is to drain the battery or pull the battery.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                This is incorrect. I have turned mine completely off (I figured out how to do it because of a problem I was having). Granted, that's the old model, so I have no idea how newer ones work.

  9. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Grab your fedora and bullwhip: Archaeologists discover lost Mayan city in rain forests of Mexico.

    Archaeologists have found an ancient Maya city that remained hidden for centuries in the rain forests of eastern Mexico, a discovery in a remote nature reserve they hope will yield clues about how the civilization collapsed around 1,000 years ago.
    The team, led by Ivan Sprajc, associate professor at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, found 15 pyramids - including one that stands 75 feet (23 metres) tall - ball courts, plazas and tall, sculpted stone shafts called stelae.
    They named the city Chactun, meaning "Red Rock" or "Large Rock." Sprajc said it was likely slightly less populous than the large ancient Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala, and could have been home to as many as 30,000 or 40,000 people, though further research is necessary to determine an exact estimate.

    1. hamilton   12 years ago

      Can't they just look on Google Earth for this stuff now?

      1. Gbob   12 years ago

        Heck, yeah. That's been going on for about a decade now. Problem is resolution available to the public, but it's gotten a great deal better.

        I've been tracking down old river beds in the hope of stumbling upon something interesting. No luck so far, but it's like prospecting.

      2. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        Where's your sense of adventure?

  10. rts   12 years ago

    Brilliant plan: divide the wide boulevards in upscale neighbourhoods in half, and build small affordable housing on them: the so-called thin street proposal:

    Planners want to run a pilot project on Ash Street between 59th Avenue and 64th Avenue that would see city-owned cross streets cut in half so that affordable housing could be built on the land.

    The program is part of Mayor Gregor Robertson's plans to create up to 20,000 new affordable housing lots. The plan calls for pilot projects in three neighbourhoods.

    1. Tonio   12 years ago

      IOW they are going to commit fiscal suicide by reducing the property values in upscale neighborhoods by building "affordable" (poor people) housing next to those properties. Then people will move out and tax revenues will go down.

      1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

        Don't forget the brilliant masterstroke of increasing population while simultaneously reducing the number of cars that can get through. That won't be a headache or anything.

        1. Tonio   12 years ago

          They probably view inconveniencing motorists as a feature, not a bug. You know, because we won't need cars in the bright, collectivist future.

        2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          And reducing parking spaces while increasing demand for parking. Perhaps it's all just a ruse to foist public transit on the evil richies.

      2. rts   12 years ago

        Told you it was brilliant!

        I'm pretty glad I live out in some of the more sane rural areas.

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          sane rural areas = flyover country

  11. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Public Censorship And Private Speech

    This week there was a tempest in a Twitter when folks discovered that Kickstarter was hosting a campaign for a "pickup artist" book called "Above the Game" by a guy named Ken Hoinsky. Maybe you're fortunate enough not to be familiar with the PUA genre. Remember the guys who wrote guides about how to win at Mortal Kombat? Imagine they wrote a guide to interacting with women. "If she smiles, then UP UP B B RIGHT RIGHT UP B," where 'B' is 'be a total douche.'" Look, there's nothing wrong with wandering around wanting to get laid; it's the human condition. But there are ways to make it even less dignified than usual, and one way is to approach the prospect of sex like it's the secret cow level on Diablo, where the person you are facing has defenses you need to overcome before you can nail them.

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      Ken is dead on in that article. When people claim that private entities are 'censoring speech' I want to punch someone.

      1. np   12 years ago

        Actually they are censoring. That's why we qualify the term when we want to get more specific, like government censorship. See the TMZ "censored nipples" story below on private censorship (they could've release the original footage uncensored online if they wanted to at least).

        It might be a loaded term, but it's disingenuous to say its definition only applies to government mandates. I agree with the rest of the article, but I think people miss the point: it's not about speech per se, the rights fundamentally come from property.

        It's analogous to discrimination, which come with property rights. No need to avoid the term or trying to change its definition to limit it to discrimination by the state. In fact, censorship is a a form of discrimination by speech.

        Better to change minds about property rights than to change definitions to shift the argument.

    2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      If pickup artist is two words, why does the acronym have three letters?

  12. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

    NJ Supreme Court Rules State Can Seek Custody Of Child Without Evidence Of Abuse

    The Guy Who Used To Protect Your Facebook Data Now Works For The NSA

    1. John   12 years ago

      Autin says under the court's ruling, the state can get custody of a child with behavior problems if it proves that the parent can't provide the type of services the child needs and the services are in the child's best interest.

      That will never be abused

      1. Thane-kin   12 years ago

        You just need to adopt more of a mindset of community ownership of children.

      2. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

        You mean with "being a boy" most likely to be defined as a "behavior problem"?

      3. Scruffy Nerfherder   12 years ago

        That's one way to get all of the families with autistic parents to move out of state and lower the cost of public education.

      4. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        Autin says under the court's ruling, the state can get custody of a child with behavior problems if it proves that the parent can't provide the type of services the child needs and the services are in the child's best interest.

        "This boy clearly has a behavior problem as he's wearing an NRA shirt, and the parents won't provide him with re-education to tell him that his 1A rights can be curtailed because fuck you, that's why."

  13. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

    The Los Angeles Police Department has ruled out foul play. But shot him several times just to make sure he wasn't Dorner.

  14. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    German deserter- former Communist- tells NKVD border guards attack on USSR is planned for tomorrow. Stalin orders him shot as a disinformant

    ? WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) June 21, 2013

    [removed][removed]

    It's almost as if the Top Man of the USSR didn't have his comrade's best interests at heart.

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      More of the German Communist party leadership (and nearly as many rank-and-file members of the party) were murdered by Stalin's purges than by Nazi Germany.

  15. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Leaked NSA Doc Says It Can Collect And Keep Your Encrypted Data As Long As It Takes To Crack It

    How else will the know what their probable cause is?

  16. rts   12 years ago

    Good luck with that: Gabriola Island plans break from BC Hydro

    Michael Mehta, a Gabriola resident formerly involved with SaskPower, is leading the initiative to form an energy co-operative.

    He hopes to combine tidal, solar and other green initiatives to make the island energy independent.

    "On an island like Gabriola, where we have people that are in some cases quite poor, a utility company that is owned by the community could set a rate structure that reflects income."

    I'm all for greater self-sufficiency, but come on...

    1. Bardas Phocas   12 years ago

      They're going to die.

  17. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    Woz - "PATRIOT Act dissolved Constitution".

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....ce-snowden

    Woz gets it.

    1. Gbob   12 years ago

      He's always been on the side of angels. He was the one who hired notged phone phreak "Cap'n Crunch", John Draper, to design the first modem. (That, however, is kind of a sad story for those viewing technology as a tool to liberation. The feds totally won.)

  18. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    A HuffPo user knows how to operate:

    HUFFPOST SUPER USER
    progressivevictory
    149 Fans
    8 hours ago ( 5:42 AM)
    Libertarians are like the teens who want all adult freedoms, but then expect parents to provide all the comforts they want. They still ask what's for dinner. Ron and Rand Paul have health insurance tax payers pay for etc. liberty for me; give me when I want and "need". Me, me, me receive all gain no pain. A libertarian still calls the ambulance, police and fire departments. Liberty to demand all things are done my way without demands on me. Spoiled children.

    HUFFPOST SUPER USER
    mplspolitics
    76 Fans
    7 hours ago ( 6:30 AM)
    MUH ROADS!!!!

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      These would be the new Bill Maher talking points. Get used to them.

      1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

        Rand Paul has the proglodytes scared shitless.

        Someone on the right who could change the whole R/D dynamic. We must destroy at all costs!

        So suddenly libertarians, who they never even seemed to notice before, are square in their sights.

    2. John   12 years ago

      I love how liberals, the living embodiment of the kind of people who think electricity comes from the light socket are always accusing Libertarians of being like children.

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        Anyone who doesn't believe the solution is more government just isn't serious.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

        The liberal Ayn Rand called libertarians childish several times.

        Of course she hated pretty much everyone.

        1. John   12 years ago

          What does that have to do with liberals being childish? I know you are retarded shreek, but you need to keep your talking points straight. Try keeping them in separate word files rather than in stacks of post it notes in your box.

          1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

            Liberals are not progressives. Two different things, pal.

            1. Jordan   12 years ago

              Not in modern American parlance. I'd expect a progressive like you to understand that.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                It must burn you conservatives up that at least half us classic liberals would vote D over R.

                And we will as long as the GOP is insane.

                1. Jordan   12 years ago

                  It doesn't burn me up that you progressives vote for progressives and are too ashamed to admit that you're progressives.

                  1. Jordan   12 years ago

                    Libertarians are classical liberals. People who slavishly defend the Democratic Party are Progressives. hth

                    1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                      You're full of shit if you think I defend Dems - I do acknowledge the fact that Obama is easily better than Bush and that is it.

                      I know "Libya=Iraq. EXACTLY the same!"

                      No they are not.

                    2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

                      "I do acknowledge the fact that Obama is easily better than Bush and that is it."

                      Incontrovertible proof this useless cunt is just a troll.

                      And yes, this is the classically acceptable use of cunt".

            2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

              The difference between liberals and progressives is that progressives think there is a difference.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                That makes Hayek a progressive then.

                1. Jordan   12 years ago

                  The meaning of "liberal" was still in line with the original meaning during Hayek's time. Try again.

                  1. tarran   12 years ago

                    STOP DEBATING THE CRAZY HOMELESS GUY. HE'S SCREAMING AT A WALL AND IS IMPERVIOUS TO YOUR ARGUMENTS.

                    Seriously, he's even more worthy of blocking than Tulpa was.

                    1. cavalier973   12 years ago

                      Did Tulpa get blocked?

                    2. BigT   12 years ago

                      "Enough About Palin| 6.21.13 @ 5:43PM |#

                      "I do acknowledge the fact that Obama is easily better than Bush and that is it."

                      Incontrovertible proof this useless cunt is just a troll.

                      And yes, this is the classically acceptable use of cunt"."

                      **** so PB is a classical cunt, not classical liberal!

    3. Episiarch   12 years ago

      My god the projection is stunning. Every. Fucking. Time. Pure projection.

    4. Irish   12 years ago

      That's a wonderful response. Heaping contempt on that kind of person is probably more effective than trying to argue rationally with him.

    5. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      Haha, please tell me this is the official libertarian response to people like progressivevictory.

      1. T   12 years ago

        We occasionally throw in a SOMALIA!1!, too.

      2. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        Hmmm. Where do you even start with someone like that?

        Dear progressivevictory,

        My fire department is volunteer; young people are still of a type in my community they enjoy the challenge and excitement of that sort of work even if they have to pay out of pocket to do it. I donate to lessen the burden.

        My local ambulance service is administered from the private hospital of which my wife is currently on shift.

        As for the police, I am not the kind of person that calls the police for anything. I'm the other type, the type for whom the cops are a nuisance, and Officer McFriendly doesn't like very much.

        As for your contempt for my spoiled, childish behavior. I started making money at twelve chopping wood. I started working in a factory at the age of fifteen to pay my way through college. From the day my dad smashed his truck into a Carolina pine my status changed from the assumption of well off working class to a more precarious position of having to work to secure my good fortune. It's from those experiences that I have acquired my libertarian outlook.

        I'm sure that sounds childishly spoiled to you with the insurmountable odds someone who comes with your level of bitterness in life must, MUST, have faced. I'm just a person in a limited capacity to enjoy the few liberties he is given in life. You would not hold that against me, now would you?

  19. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    France is looking to block Amazon from offering discounts and free shipping in the country...

    So le fair competition would be everyone mandated to charge exactly the same amount and provide the exact same quality of service? I'm beginning to think socialists are idiots.

    1. Hollywood   12 years ago

      Yes, that is same country that regulates when stores are allowed to have sales, you know, for fairness.

  20. John   12 years ago

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

    Sandra Bulluck is 48. She has aged quite well for Hollywood.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      Nice cans.

    2. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

      Everyone looks good in our school color purple.

  21. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Twerking to the sounds of classical music.

  22. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Panorama City school to be named after Michelle Obama

    I'm eagerly awaiting the "So, it's going to be called 'Wookie Elementary'?" jokes.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      For the love of Jesus. Tell me, what has she done again?

      1. Thane-kin   12 years ago

        She helped save a 16-year-old, gold-medal Olympic gymnast from the evils of McDonald's.

        What a hero!

        1. John   12 years ago

          She told a girl who had been starving herself and making unimaginable sacrifices for year that she couldn't have a cheeseburger.

          1. tarran   12 years ago

            BTW, you can thank Michelle for turning my kids into lifelong enemies of the Democratic party and progressivism in general.

            The school lunches keep getting smaller and nastier, accompanied by announcements that Michelle has improved them. It's fucking orwellian, and even my eight year old daughter is now making jokes about the chocolate ration being increased to 20oz per month.

            People fear that the progressive control of the school system is training people to be good little serfs. I think it's planting the seeds of rebellion.

            1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              I'm sorry, exactly what authority does she have to do that?

              1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                She doesn't. The school is using her as a convenient boogey man to deflect complaints as they cut funding to cafeteria services.

                1. Jordan   12 years ago

                  She is deeply involved.

                  1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                    So Michelle Obama is "deeply involved" in a law passed by congress? Exactly how many votes did she bring to the table?

                    Also note the schools are free to serve whatever they like for lunch. They just can't get federal funding for it. So this is yet more "Get the government out of my Medicare" style Tea Party whining.

                    1. tarran   12 years ago

                      So this is yet more "Get the government out of my Medicare" style Tea Party whining.

                      No Stormy, it is not.

                      It is my kids - and their friends - reacting hostilely to propaganda. The school is making the lunches less wholesome and telling the kids to thank Michelle for it.

                      And they are thanking her, with their middle fingers. šŸ™‚

                    2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                      The school is making the lunches less wholesome and telling the kids to thank Michelle for it.

                      I'm sure that's what the school is telling them. I'm just saying that just because the school is saying that doesn't make it true.

                      I find it far more likely they cut back on spending for food services so that they can spend the money on bloated salaries and more administration and are just using the first lady as an excuse so the voters don't blame them for it.

                    3. tarran   12 years ago

                      It's not just for cost savings. The state education establishment has bought into it.

                      They track my kids' BMI. My ex and I both are endomorphs, so naturally our kids have a high BMI, and so I routinely get letters and notices hectoring me about their obesity.

                      It's marvelously dystopian.

                    4. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                      And again, Michelle Obama does not secretly control your state's education department, so I don't see why she's responsible for the decisions your elected officials made.

              2. tarran   12 years ago

                She was put in charge of some anti-obesity task force.

                I honestly don't understand what the educrats are thinking.

                Whether they think tying their hot lunch program changes to her image makes will help them sell the lunches or whether she really put out the guidelines and the educrats think the kids love the food and will be grateful to her is irrelevant. My kids associate Michelle Obama with hunger and privation.

                I think if the educrats ate that shit they would not be so enthusiastically tying the program to progressivism.

                In the meantime, the kids are seething mad.

                1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                  Her anti-obesity campaign is exactly that: an ad campaign. It has absolutely no effect on what anybody actually does. It's a waste of money to be sure, but anyone who claims that it is forcing them to cut back services is lying.

                  1. Irish   12 years ago

                    Stormy's right about that. The school COULD have decided to make changes to their lunch menu based on the ad campaign though, in which case it was still inspired by Michelle, and would explain why they credit her.

                    You can't blame her though.

                    1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                      he school COULD have decided to make changes to their lunch menu based on the ad campaign though.

                      Isn't that what happened with Jamie Oliver in the UK?

                  2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                    This raises an interesting point. Can Congress impeach a First Lady? If not, why not? They're increasingly involved in formal policy, which, by the way, is totally illegal.

                    1. tarran   12 years ago

                      That's one area where the English have it better. The parliament does get a say over who the king can be married to. šŸ˜‰

                    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      These days, I think Parliament could technically toss a monarch out for any reason or no reason.

                  3. tarran   12 years ago

                    My kids' school in the people's republic of massachusetts isn't saying the Feds are forcing them to cut lunches.

                    No, they are cheerfully telling the kids that thanks to Michelle obama's wise leadership, the kids are getting less food.

                    It's absofuckinglutely beautiful.

                    Because educrats are really that stupid and really that ignorant of what kids want and need.

                    1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                      The other reality is that school lunches have always sucked. The difference is that when I was growing up I didn't complain to my parents about it because they'd have told me to quit my bitchin'. If I threw away my nasty ass brocolli and was hungry, it would have been my own dumb fault for being so picky.

                      Now a days we have all these spoiled kids who want expect to be catered to because their parents will raise a stink if everything isn't perfect for their special snowflake.

                    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      It still boggles my mind that the federal government is involved in education or what my kids eat at school.

                      For that matter, why is any level of government involved in education or what my kids eat?

                    3. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                      It shouldn't be, but if you're going to force me to buy your kid lunch, I don't care how much he only likes chicken nuggets. Brussel sprouts are cheaper than chickens.

      2. Episiarch   12 years ago

        She was one of two creatures who made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs, dude.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Is it established that Chewie was with Han at the time? Show your work.

          1. Episiarch   12 years ago

            (waves hands)

            There you are, ProL. See? How dare you question me!

            1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              So, you don't really know, do you? Maybe it was when Han and Lando were gay lovers?

              1. Episiarch   12 years ago

                Who's to say they didn't have a threesome with Chewie during that run? There's plenty of speculation to go around, pal!

                1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  You meant a threeposome, right?

          2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

            Yes, in book 3 of the Han Solo trilogy, it does specify that Chewie was with him.

            Citation

            1. Episiarch   12 years ago

              PWN'D

            2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              NONCANON.

              1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

                *buzzer*

                Sorry, you are incorrect. Check the site. It's canon rating is C. It's part of the official expanded universe and is only non-canon if something of G level canon overrides it.

                Try again.

                1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  NONIONCANNON.

                  1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

                    Sorry, sir. Your nonioncannon has no effect on my nerdsheild.

                    Grand Moff Geeken reporting for duty!

                    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      I never really got into the books. The only one I liked, and that was as a kid, was Splinter in the Mind's Eye.

        2. tarran   12 years ago

          Ahem, lots of people made that run who weren't wookies.

          1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

            But in twelve parsecs?

      3. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        She's done lots of important things, like reassembling C3PO.

        1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

          How exactly does a wookie do delicate electronics with those fat paws?

      4. Brandon   12 years ago

        Well, depending on what is convenient, she is either just a powerless woman married to the President, or a powerful, gracious and wonderful First Lady.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      Wait, I thought you had to be out of office or dead to have a school named after you?!

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        An elegant policy for a more civilized age.

        1. hamilton   12 years ago

          Just wait for the new Obama-head five dollar coin coming out next month.

  23. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    The federal government has something called the Insider Threat Program that urges employees to report suspicious behavior by their coworkers that might indicate leakers.

    "UNMUTUAL! UNMUTUAL!"

  24. hamilton   12 years ago

    Irish MP calls Obama a "war criminal", accuses PM of kowtowing - asking if he will "deck the Cabinet out in leprechaun hats decorated with a bit of stars and stripes to really mark abject humiliation."

    1. kinnath   12 years ago

      yesterday's news, but it was enjoyable

      1. hamilton   12 years ago

        damn. I try so hard to be timely too. Now I'm just embarrassed.

        1. cavalier973   12 years ago

          I hadn't seen the story; and if you haven't read it, it's still news.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      I liked the 'slobbering all over the Obama's' part.

  25. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Canada!

  26. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    New Hampshire gun control rally gets ugly:

    After Musso left the father alone, the police arresting Musso felt compelled to tase him despite outnumbering him at least three to one. Now he's facing a few charges ? including two counts of simple assault ? plus any neurological damage he may have sustained.

    1. hamilton   12 years ago

      I saw this. Of course the comments will make you vomit. I'm consistently amazed by how cruelly violent the folks who bitch about gun violence can get.

      1. Episiarch   12 years ago

        They don't want people to have guns because they think everyone is as violent and impulse control challenged as them. As always, projection.

        1. hamilton   12 years ago

          I have a facebook friend who constantly posts democratic pr bullshit about some asshole republican being an asshole. One of her other friends will inevitably comment on how such GOP assholes should be shot, beaten, raped in prison, etc. for being so cold-hearted and cruel. There is no sense of irony, and no humanity to them.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            If they finally get total control, I fully expect to be living in a camp of some sort.

        2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          Also, they themselves are inherently violent, just too cowardly to do violence themselves. Hence the need for a state to that violence and an unarmed populace.

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        Well sure. The whole point is for them to be intolerant and insufferable without having to worry about blowback.

      3. A Serious Man   12 years ago


        Rocket88
        FRIDAY, JUN 21, 2013 12:59 PM PDT
        You don't touch the cops. It's that simple. This was an entitled white guy learning what the less fortunate learn very early on.

        Police have to deal with incredibly violent people in incredibly volatile situations and they are always outnumbered. (This did NOT depict three-on-one. It depicted an angry crowd against three.) They have to preserve this notion of their persons being essentially inviolate because it is that mental state that protects them. They want everyone in the crowd to know that really bad things happen to you if you touch one of them. That is what protects them and their fellow officers in the NEXT unruly crowd, which may not be a bunch of God-fearing white men, but rather a bunch of drunk MS-13 members.

        It's okay when it happens to people we don't like.


        Jonathan
        FRIDAY, JUN 21, 2013 12:28 PM PDT
        So apparently Musso's ability to own guns did not enable him to resist the tyranny of his government? Interesting...

        See! You don't really believe in gun rights unless you assert the right to shoot a cop.

        1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          That last one sounds like a challenge...

  27. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    I'm beginning to think socialists are idiots.

    *backs slowly out of room*

  28. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Matty Yglesias Tweets that Rand Paul is a white supremacist, expresses hurt feelings at backlash from people with common sense.

    1. John   12 years ago

      He said people only think Bobby Jindal is smart because he is an Indian. He really is some kind of Aspy or Autistic or something. He is certainly not normal.

      1. tarran   12 years ago

        I don't think he has Asperger's or is Autistic.

        I think he is really, really stupid and self-centered.

        1. John   12 years ago

          Can't he be both?

      2. Irish   12 years ago

        He said people only think Bobby Jindal is smart because he is an Indian.

        Then when people called him on it, he said 'Now that I know more about Jindal's educational history, he actually is a smart guy.'

        All he had to do was fucking Google Bobby Jindal and he could have found that information without making an ass of himself. A person whose supposed job is journalism is apparently incapable of using a search engine.

        1. John   12 years ago

          'Now that I know more about Jindal's educational history, he actually is a smart guy.'

          Yglesias really is retarded. That is the kind of thing someone who can't read social cues would do.

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      I saw that yesterday. The best part is that it was in a conversation with Conor Friedersdorf, and it was such an absurd statement that Friedersdorf basically just shook his head sadly and refused to engage.

      1. John   12 years ago

        Yglesias really has a problem reading social cues and understanding the mores of person interaction. He is like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory only with a very low IQ and none of the charm.

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          Yes, and Sista Sarah is some sort of scholar. You get everything backward.

          1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

            Compared to Sad Beard and you for that matter yeah she is dipshit. What's it like to be a retarded cunt?

          2. Irish   12 years ago

            Are you saying that Yglesias is smart? Palin and Yglesias are both pretty stupid.

            1. Jordan   12 years ago

              Witness the "classical liberal" desperately attempting to deflect criticism from Progressive Matt Yglesias.

              1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

                Fuck Yqlesias. He supported the Iraq War.

                But he can read and write a complete sentence.

                Sarah is just stupid. I hate Newt Gingrich but the fucker can write and speak like a great Roman orator.

              2. Suthenboy   12 years ago

                Beat me to it.

                1. Suthenboy   12 years ago

                  I was referring to Jordan....

                  1. Irish   12 years ago

                    You mean you don't think Gingrich can speak like a great Roman orator?!?!

            2. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

              I don't think Palin is stupid. She is of average or above average intelligence, from what I've been able to ascertain.

    3. tarran   12 years ago

      A progressive spreading prejudice by promoting hateful stereotypes?

      It must be a day with a name ending with the letter "y". šŸ˜€

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        People misunderstand what Yglesias was trying to say: 'people assume Jindal is smart, but to me he looks like just another slack jaw yokel from the South.'

        Which is kind of worse.

    4. A Serious Man   12 years ago

      Now Matty is heroically defending the Civil Rights Act against white supremacists and Rand Paul:

      Even if you take democracy to relatively narrowly mean majoritarian voting procedures this doesn't work. In the periods between the Civil War and World War II, African-Americans were a majority in quite a few southern states and would have been a large?and potentially decisive?voting bloc in the others. If, that is, they were allowed to vote. But instead of voting, African-Americans were disenfranchised via a systematic campaign of terrorist violence. The same campaign that gave us the Jim Crow social system. The point of the Civil Rights Act, including its provisions regulating private businesses, was to smash that social system. And it succeeded. It succeeded enormously. The amazing thing about retrospective opposition to the Civil Rights Act is that we know that it worked. It didn't lead to social and economic cataclism. In fact, the American south has done quite a bit better since the smashing of white supremacy than it was doing previously.

      1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        I think the Cook/Paul view that we should somehow regret this and pretend that everything would have worked itself out on its own is bizarre.
        But it's not only bizarre. It seems to me that it necessarily has to stem from not taking the interests and history of African-Americans seriously to even be comprehensible. The "respectable" thing to say about people like Paul or the late Barry Goldwater, I suppose, is simply that they are ideologues rather than people driven by some kind of racial animosity. But I think it's selling free market ideology short to suggest that government regulations meant to undue the outcome of a century long campaign of terrorist violence is just a straightforward consequence of a general support for free enterprise. You need to combine that ideology with a sincere indifference to black people's welfare to reach that conclusion, just as you need to combine Paul's ideology with genuine indifference to the history of race in America to reach Paul's conclusion about democracy's relationship to Jim Crow.

        1. cavalier973   12 years ago

          Yet in the late 1940s, the unemployment rate among young black men was not only far lower than it is today but was not very different from unemployment rates among young whites the same ages. Every census from 1890 through 1930 showed labor force participation rates for blacks to be as high as, or higher than, labor force participation rates among whites.

      2. Irish   12 years ago

        I don't even care. It's Slate. It's Yglesias. Realistically, the only people who read Yglesias are the fever swamp dwellers at Slate, and people like us who mock him.

    5. Coeus   12 years ago

      That's becoming their new go-to insult for people they don't agree with. I put up with the "racist" bullshit, but the next person who calls me that to my face is getting popped in the mouth (yes, it's already happened before, in a discussion about taxes. Fucking taxes.)

      1. Irish   12 years ago

        They'll claim that the only reason anyone could be in favor of small amounts of government is because they're racist. This is despite the fact that the history of anti-government agitators is basically a list of abolitionists and civil rights organizers.

        1. Episiarch   12 years ago

          Through what avenue do the worst types of racial prejudice express themselves? As in slavery, concentration camps, pogroms, Jim Crow, etc?

          Through the government. That's why we need more of it, right?

          1. Virginian   12 years ago

            But those were the wrong kinds of governments. We just need the right kind. Not the wrong kind, the right kind.

            God libertarians are so stupid.

        2. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

          In fairness, there were a hell of a lot of abolitionists with views that are beyond retarded even in the context of modern political discourse (Prohibition, socialism, various utopian and religious scraps of nonsense). The Republican party almost balkanized after the Civil War for just that reason, and infighting in the party is partly to account for the Democratic party's resurgence.

          It would be as if in the future, everyone was staunchly pro-life and saw the pro-lifers of today as heroes: sorry folks, but there are a lot of retards in the pro-life ranks and most of them believed lots of stupid things outside of that issue.

    6. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      I can't be the only one who imagines Yglesias as the real-life Rod from Birdemic.

  29. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

    OUTRAGE: TMZ Won't Let the Internet See Kate Upton's Nipples Riding a Horse

    Want to see Kate Upton riding a horse while topless? Here ya go! Oh?you were expecting nipples? Sorry, not happening.

    TMZ released a video yesterday subtly titled "Kate Upton SUPER TOPLESS ? On a Horse," claiming it was "taken during a recent modeling shoot" (according to Coed.com, the video was actually filmed during Upton's 2012 shoot for Complex)?and it's pretty much what it says on the tin.

    For one minute and 11 seconds, you'll see Upton sitting on a horse, giggling awkwardly, and eventually taking off her top to reveal? stars! Yes, Kate Upton has stars for nipples. Either that, or, for whatever reason, TMZ has decided to protect someone's modesty for the first time ever?in particular, a swimsuit model whose decidedly un-star shaped nipples most people have had the joy of seeing countless time already?and peeps are mad. They're furious. Gawker collected a sampling of the outrage already spewed across the Twittersphere and it's pretty epic. Because if there's one thing that infuriates the Internet more than anything, it's censored nipples.

    1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

      Why are nipples the most titillating thing about a pair of tits? I mean we see the cleavage, their shapeliness, and everything else but we can't see the nipples because that's too risque?

      1. Episiarch   12 years ago

        Because it conforms to the FCC's "nudity guidelines" if I recall, though why TMZ would give the slightest shit about that is beyond me.

      2. gaijin   12 years ago

        Why are nipples the most titillating thing about a pair of tits?

        It's the mysterious part...are they big or small? Proportional or oddly shaped? A mouthful or a kissful? They are the final reveal required to burn the difference of the image into your brain. They are the detail that can't be inferred from the fit of a shirt or dress. Without them, it's all left to your imagination. Some dudes don;t have much of one.

    2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      I'm sympathetic, they did the same thing with Prince Harry.

    3. Bam!   12 years ago

      "TMZ Won't Let the Internet See Kate Upton's Nipples Riding a Horse"

      How do nipples ride a horse?

      1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

        Kate's do.

  30. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Tell me, what has she done again?

    Assembled a President from an random assortment of scrap parts?

    1. NeonCat   12 years ago

      No, Obama isn't an expert at communication. Bullshit, maybe, but that's about it.

  31. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Agents With Faces - What Can We Learn From LEGO Mini?gures? [PDF]

    The LEGO company developed hundreds of facial expressions for their Mini?gures, which are often the centerpiece
    of LEGO construction. We investigate and present a summary of
    the development of the facial expression for all LEGO Mini?gures
    that were released between 1975 and 2010. [...] The two most frequent expressions are happiness and anger and the proportion of happy faces is
    decreasing over time.

  32. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

    Breitbart writer characterizes slaughter of Rohingya Muslims as simply being the Buddhist way of defending Myanmar culture and history.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-P.....nmar-Islam

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      Following this rape and murder, 10 Muslims were killed when their bus was intercepted by Buddhists as the bus was traveling in the province. This was an act of retribution, as the police (Buddhists) refused to turn over the perpetrators to the angry community for punishment. "The attack followed the distribution of leaflets in Rakhine calling for retribution for the gang rape and killing of a young Buddhist woman several days earlier" according to Reuters.

      They were pissed that the police wouldn't let them lynch someone, so they got 'retribution' by murdering 10 Muslims who were not related to the crime.

      Every time I want to like Breitbart.com for their attacks on Obama, they go and do something like this.

      1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        They have themselves to blame if they are mocked and cast to the margins. Of course they'll blame 'the elites'. Liberals lack all self-awareness but conservatives are such whiny babies.

    2. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      Horseshit. That's a gross mischaracterization of the author's argument. Just like the campaign in the Western media (spearheaded by the BBC) to demonize the Buddhists of Rakhine State is a gross mischaracterization of events.

      As I argued this morning:

      Secondly, the hatchet job the media in the West are doing to the Burmese Buddhists of Rakhine State is insidious. When a monk points out that a lot of Burmese Muslim charities give money to radical Islamist groups in Bangladesh which in turn fund Rohingya incursions into Rakine and suggests a boycott, he is painted as a hate-monger. (Meanwhile the boycott of all things Israeli is just and noble.) Likewise, when a group of barely literate Burmese Buddhists form a mob to attack a Rohingya village it's painted as due to the Rohingya's status as a religious minority. There is never any mention that radical elements among the Muslim Rohingya have for years torched Buddhist temples, abducted and raped Buddhist girls and women, and killed Buddhist boys and men; all while the government does nothing. Nope, it's just the intolerant Buddhists and their holy war. No mention that the Rohingya seek refuge, in droves, in Buddhist temples. It doesn't fit the narrative, see.

      1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

        Secular Post-Modern Westerns need to feel superior to those superstitious Third World Buddhists by playing up the misconception that Buddhism is pacifist and then calling it hypocrisy when actual Buddhists don't follow the precepts of their straw-man Buddhism. It's a good racket, just ask the odious Michael Jerryson, who's made an entire academic career of it.

        1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

          The issue here is that 1) most Westerners don't know shit about Buddhism (even, or perhaps especially, self-described converts to Buddhism), 2) there is a vested interest in reporting on Our Friends in the Middle East in a certain way, and 3) religion and nationalism intersect in ways that are difficult for the Western press to appreciate and communicate. This is a problem, since there is an important distinction between the essentially religious and theologically-chartered character of Islamic violence in Southeast Asia, and the essentially nationalistic violence of ostensibly "Buddhist" protests against the Muslim minority.

          Peasant violence is deplorable, but it's a disservice to characterize it as equivalent to the religious violence in the region.

          1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

            Mind you, I only know enough about Buddhism to know that I don't know what I'm talking about outside of tenets and some medieval history -- and even then, I know more than the morons reporting on S-East Asia!

  33. Thane-kin   12 years ago

    Lust Never Sleeps: An academic's sexual memoir puts the ire in desire

    Once in a while a book appears that's so bad you want it to be a satire. If you set out to produce a parody of postfeminist mumbo jumbo, adolescent narcissism, excruciating erotic overshares, pseudopoetry, pretentious academic jargon, and shopworn and unshocking "dirty talk," you could not do better than Unmastered: A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell.

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      "I mention the writing," she tells us.

      "I'm very curious, Katherine," says Mom, "to know what this book is about."

      "Well," says Angel with hushed awe, "it's about, you know?S-E-X."

      HAHAHAHAHA

  34. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    World War Z is sexist because it depicts a mother staying behind with her children.

    But never fear, Gerry isn't subject to internal conflict about stay-at-home dad-dom for long. The zombie apocalypse that snarls up his morning carpool may be awful for humanity?much of which ends up chomped and converted into speedy monsters?but it's terrific for Gerry, who is called back to duty by the U.N. and told that he must work to find a cure to the virus in order to keep his family under military protection. Restored by danger to what seems to be his proper role, Gerry thrives, saving Karin from looters, bashing zombies' heads in, performing emergency battlefield amputations, and generally being a badass, while occasionally remembering to check in with his family in their makeshift home on a naval carrier. Karin, meanwhile, started out the movie being sensible and forward-thinking enough to snag flares from a grocery store, but spends much of the rest of the film snuggling her girls and an adorable Latino boy named Tomas.

    I understand why a complicated narrative had to be boiled down to a single main character and an simplified storyline for World War Z to make it to the screen. But having mom stay home with the kids while dad goes out and defends them to reclaim his manly honor seems unnecessarily old-fashioned.

    1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

      Yeah, they should have left the kids behind to fend for themselves.

      1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        Yep, because thousands of years of evolutionary logic must be tossed out the window if it reeks of the patriarchy.

        But really, in a disaster situation (let's put the zombies aside) what would you expect the mother of young children to do?

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          If the mother is Joan Crawford...

          1. NeonCat   12 years ago

            I can picture her now, in a gown and heels, pearls slinging around as she decapitates zombie after zombie with wire coat-hangers and a broken Pepsi bottle.

        2. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

          Sure, he's bigger, stronger, faster, more suited to warfare in almost every way, really. But does he have GIRL POWER!!????? No!

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      I understand why a complicated narrative had to be boiled down to a single main character and an simplified storyline for World War Z to make it to the screen. But having mom stay home with the kids while dad goes out and defends them to reclaim his manly honor seems unnecessarily old-fashioned.

      The problem with this argument is that I can't see Jessica Chastain as an action hero. During a zombie apocalypse, what is an untrained, petite woman going to do? If she were running around bashing zombie's heads in, it would have been almost as eye rolling as Maid Marion riding into battle during Russel Crowe's Robin Hood.

      1. Episiarch   12 years ago

        Jessica Chastain isn't in World War Z.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          Somehow, I mistook this woman, who is much less attractive than Chastain and seems to have a lazy eye, for Jessica Chastain.

          In my defense, I'm pretty sure she only shows up in the trailers for like 15 seconds.

          Seriously though, that woman's lazy eye is freaking me out.

          1. Episiarch   12 years ago

            Too bad it wasn't really Chastain.

  35. Brandon   12 years ago

    The FBI has denied it was investigating journalist Michael Hastings, who died earlier this week in a car crash in Los Angeles.

    According to Dick Cheney and all the supposed liberals who agree with him, isn't this dereliction of duty on the FBI's part, if true?

  36. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    Food Network cans Paula Deen for "Sambo burgers".

    PC run amok.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      What exactly did she say, anyway? I heard the N-word was used, which is surprising, since she's used to the spotlight, even if she's inclined to racism.

      1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        It came up in depositions for a civil suit involving Deen and an ex-employee claiming discrimination.

        In it she admits to casually using the N-word and tolerating racist jokes and pornography in the workplace.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Uh, oh.

          My brother just ate at her restaurant in Savannah. I'll ask if the waitstaff used that term.

        2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

          It didn't help that Deen's defense was along the lines of "Well I don't use it to refer to all black people, just ones I don't like. Remember that time I hired all those black waiters for my plantation themed weddings? I didn't call any of them the n-word once!"

      2. trshmnstr   12 years ago

        From my understanding she's being sued by one of her employees for racial and sexual harassment. During the deposition, she was asked a question about using the "n-word", and she said that she has used it.

        http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/.....acial-slur

        1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

          She grew up in the Jim Crow south. I would be shocked if she had never used it. Did she say she still uses it today?

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            She only uses it with her black lovers.

            1. tarran   12 years ago

              She only uses it with her black lovers.

              That's the *worst* (NSFW)

            2. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

              Paula Deen at one of her world famous restaurants.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                My brother said her restaurant was pretty good, but he complained about something--think it was the lack of variety at the buffet or something.

        2. OldMexican   12 years ago

          Re: trshmnstr,

          From my understanding she's being sued by one of her employees for racial and sexual harassment.

          The funny part is when people read about the case and realize that the plaintiff is w-h-i-t-e.

          1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

            So if you're white, you can't be bothered by your boss constantly using the n-word?

            1. Virginian   12 years ago

              You can't be racially harassed by it. You can be offended, but not racially harassed.

      3. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        A friend of mine has been reading the transcripts and sending snippets. It sounds like her brother was more directly at fault, but she definitely sounds unpleasant.

        1. Agammamon   12 years ago

          I have no doubt that she's unpleasant - you generally don't build up a brand to the size hers is if you aren't *very* open and freely express you displeasure everytime your staff's performance fall short of expectations.

          I imagine that Oprah is a complete bitch behind the scenes.

          On the other hand, these people kept taking that paycheck even after they knew the working conditions. I don't see why the law needs to get involved, even as a civil matter.

  37. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    "As George Zimmerman's trial for killing Trayvon Martin is set to open next week, a judge ruled that prosecutors can argue that Zimmerman profiled Martin for several reasons (age, clothing) but not over his race."

    I predict that regardless of the verdict, as soon as it is read, the riots will begin.

    1. Thane-kin   12 years ago

      Yeah, I don't know if I will be hiding when the verdict comes down or leaving [American city with high crime rate and minority population] altogether to spend a few days in the country.

      1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

        Stick around, it might be a good time to get a new computer or TV. just follow the "protestors" who are inadvertently looting as part of their demonstration.

        1. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

          Whenever this subject comes up I'm reminded of a SF resident I know who was absolutely convinced that "right-wing Tea Party race riots" were going to follow if Obama was reelected.

  38. Coeus   12 years ago

    Proggies really inhabit an alternate reality, don't they?

    However, just because Serena was wrong does not mean that the reaction against her is productive, or that the disproportionate backlash was not motivated in part by the pervasive racist and sexist portrayal of Serena in the media.

    I no longer cheer for my hometown football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, as their Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is probably a serial rapist. He was accused of rape twice in nine months. Though he was not convicted, I highly doubt that women across the country are colluding with false allegations to accuse him of sexual assault. (The case was settled out of court, but there was enough evidence for him to be temporarily suspended by the NFL.) Furthermore, I have many friends who attended Penn State who I watched defend Joe Paterno even as more and more evidence came out that he had failed to act to protect children from Jerry Sandusky. Some male athletes have even had successful returns to their sport after being convicted of sexual assault.

    This is worse than when they were all agreeing that no one made fun of Charlie Sheen.

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      However, just because Serena was wrong does not mean that the reaction against her is productive, or that the disproportionate backlash was not motivated in part by the pervasive racist and sexist portrayal of Serena in the media.

      They're defending someone who said that rape is the woman's fault entirely because that someone is black.

      I no longer cheer for my hometown football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, as their Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is probably a serial rapist. He was accused of rape twice in nine months. Though he was not convicted, I highly doubt that women across the country are colluding with false allegations to accuse him of sexual assault.

      Women across the country wouldn't have to 'collude' since it was two fucking people. I think Roethlisberger probably did it, but the idea that we should all just assume he's guilty based on two accusations is ridiculous.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        I am so lost trying to follow the logic of identity politics, which is so shot through with regular politics that it makes no sense at all.

        The pinnacle of all of this was when feminists practically applauded Bill Clinton messing around with an intern. If he'd been a corporate CEO, they'd have had a cow.

      2. Virginian   12 years ago

        The woman in Tahoe claims she was raped, yet her coworker filed a sworn affidavit stating that the alleged victim in fact bragged to her about having consensual sex with Roethlisberger.

        So, gonna go ahead and say its just an attempt at a payday. In fact, my first assumption when any athlete gets a civil suit filed for sexual assault is that it's about the money.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          If innocent, he should've had her sign a pre-fuck agreement, also signed by witnesses.

          1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

            Ah yes, the Dave Chappelle love contract.

    2. Agammamon   12 years ago

      "The media all too often provides a negative portrayal of powerful and successful women, particularly black women like Serena. . ."

      WTF! outside of the bitches in the state department (Albright, Rice, and Clinton) I can't think of any powerful and/or successful women the media negatively portrays - indeed its usually the opposite, these women get more leniency.

      Oprah for example - everyone *loves Oprah. I hate Oprah and yet I still love Oprah.

    3. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      "(The case was settled out of court, but there was enough evidence for him to be temporarily suspended by the NFL.)"

      Being suspended by the NFL is almost as good as being convicted by a jury of your peers.

  39. Coeus   12 years ago

    This was posted yesterday, but I noticed something in the comments.

    Marcotte sounds like a few of the regulars here.

    Ctrl-f for "sodalitas" and check out some of Marcott's responses to him. (you'll have to expand the comments a few times, there's been a lot of activity there since yesterday).

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      Can't find it.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        Gotta expand the comments at least twice, from the button on the bottom.

  40. Coeus   12 years ago

    More on the "A+" front.

    Guy writes this in response to a dishonest article written about him at an atheist conference, and the feminists call for his head. When that doesn't happen, this does.

    With that last point in mind, fuck it: I'm boycotting and I hope you do, too. I'm not giving any more of my time or money to Center for Inquiry, just as I'll no longer give any time or money to the JREF and Richard Dawkins. But in addition to this personal decision I've made, I'm actually asking you to do the same.

    I'm sure they'll be sorry to see your constant demands for self abasement in response to imagined slights go.

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      Skepchick is one of the worst fever swamps of the 'skeptic' community. None of those people are actually skeptical. If you tell them anything and dress it up in enough left-wing pablum, they will believe it.

      They are the most gullible human beings in the universe, but they hide their gullibility behind faux-skepticism. That way they can pretend they're smart, despite steadfastly refusing to behave like adults.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        It would be one thing if they actually believed the bullshit they're spouting (still stupid, not actively evil), but there's this.

        And also this.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          Those are some yellow fucking teeth.

  41. Coeus   12 years ago

    This is great.

    119 hits today from a site, which hasn't been updated in more than a year, detailing the Penny Arcade "dickwolves" debacle and subsequent fallout. Which was three years ago.

    Just sooooo many people still interested, especially whenever some other criticism of PA or PAX is made. And, yes, I still get emails about it, too. All of which instruct me that I am wrongity-wrong-wrong. And those are the polite ones.

    So there are at least 119 people who also get kicks out of watching the feminists go bat-shit insane.

    I should start a club.

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      HAHAHA I remember that.

  42. Agammamon   12 years ago

    So, I just got back from seeing the new "Superman" movie - oh lord.

    Its kinda retarded. Not pants-on-head retarded like the last "Die Hard" but retarded nonetheless.

    Apparently the writers think an "appellate courts" has any authority over who the military allows into their facilities, even when that facility is in another country. Oh and that the military files "injunctions" against people to deny them access.

    There's a scene at the beginning where Kal, no Jor, you know whatever - Russel Crow is talking to the planetary governors of Krypton and the door the audience chamber blows up - everyone just sits there. Some soldiers come in and shoot the guards - everyone sits there without reacting. Zod comes in and arghargh Ima taking over and ur all under arrest narm narm and everyone just sits there.

    Then he loses his coup because he has no commanders he can trust enough to delegate to while he goes off chasing Russel Crowe.

    The fight scenes go on for-freaking-ever

    Superman's father dies for no fucking reason whatsoever except to try to get a reaction from the audience.

    Lois Lane is annoying. Elliot Stabler has apparently stopped chasing down sex crimes in New York and is a Colonel in the Army AND knows how to fly a C-5 Galaxy (which they call a C-17)

    Did I mention that the fight scenes go on forever?

    1. Virginian   12 years ago

      But are they good fight scenes?

      Look, what Superman movies have been missing is two superpowered beings fighting it out with huge insane effects. Fuck the Luthor stories, I want Darkseid and Zod. I want Big Blue punching evil gods through skyscrapers.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl_5UwS57X8

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        Uh, let me tell you - a fight scene -between two effectively invulnerable super-powered beings is boring as fuck.

        Remember Neo fighting Smith in the 3rd matrix, how most of the fighting was pointless since neither could get the upper hand?

        Same shit.

        1. Agammamon   12 years ago

          And you get all the "punching through skyscrapers" you want - they destroy half the freaking city.

          And then its some stupid sappy incident that finally gives Superman the will to do what's necessary to end the fight.

          He's so in love with humanity that he and Zod destroy a bunch of shit, kill a bunch of bystanders and then its this bit that pushes him over the edge to finish it off.

          Its like the writers had TVTropes open and were reference as many clich?s as they could in this film.

          1. Agammamon   12 years ago

            Oh, and I was wrong about the Galaxy - It *is* a C-17. My mistake.

          2. DK   12 years ago

            And you get all the "punching through skyscrapers" you want - they destroy half the freaking city.

            So, Lex Luthor was in it - in the form of Krugman.

            1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

              Well...now we know who the next villian should be.

              1. Agammamon   12 years ago

                He's who the first villain should have been.

                Now let's debate on who should play Lex in the sequel.

                I'm thinking Lawrence Fishburne - he can do an "acting for two" as Perry White and Lex Luther.

                Ohh, they can be twin brothers.

        2. Episiarch   12 years ago

          Superhero movies are so fucking played out. Snyder just wanted to get his chance at making a Supernman movie because he's a comic nerd. I can't even muster up enough interest to even think about going to see this. Though it is playing at The Big Picture and they serve martinis during the movie...nah, I'll pass.

        3. BiMonSciFiCon   12 years ago

          I feared this would be the case in the thread on Suderman's review. Think I'll wait for the TV debut.

    2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

      But the fight scenes were good!

      Everything else you said is true. Zod's characterization was great while Supe was a boring ass Ken Doll. Guess I'd be the same if I grew up in Kansas (BARF).

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        You know for all the advances in special effects, this movie s *isn't* any better than the first one.

        Hell they even cast a guy who's the spitting image of Christopher Reeve.

        1. cavalier973   12 years ago

          The first wizard of special effects

    3. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      C'mon, the military fucked up, no one would believe that a real C-17 is smaller than a C-5. 175, right?

  43. Rainbow   12 years ago

    Crusader Kings 2 is on sale, is it any good? Or is it a whole bunch of gimmicks and an incredibly clumsy interface? I think I played one of the games by that studio before, and it was just unplayable. It wasn't turn based, wasn't real time, more like "playing" a game on pause. Does stuff actually happen in this one?

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      Crusader Kings II is a hell of a lot of fun. It's a bit difficult to get into, but is by far more accessible and fun than previous Paradox titles, and is very stable. If you like strategy games, medieval history, or both, you have to give yourself the opportunity to play the game. I recommend trying one of the counts in Ireland if you want a slightly boring but easy start, or starting as the duchess of Tuscany or one of the Iberian kingdoms if you want something more difficult but with more immediate options available. The Byzantines are always fun, as well. I have an extra download code of CKII that I bought when the Republic DLC came out -- if you want it, it's all yours.

      EU4 is another one to look out for, btw -- comes out in August and it looks fantastic.

      /shill

      1. Rainbow   12 years ago

        Thanks for the generous offer. I went ahead and got the 75% off "complete" package. So far I have just poked around the interface, right now I'm trying to find a likely marriage. Then it looks like I'll have to purge some of my small council.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      Dude, Rome II is due out in a month or so. RI hope they don't ruin it like they did with the Shogun II. Dear Total War makers: Quit making it so complex! I just want to kill the shit out of some fucking Gauls and Carthaginians and Greeks.

  44. cavalier973   12 years ago

    Apparently, meth makes you look like a zombie.

  45. Coeus   12 years ago

    Good monkey.

    ARANSAS PASS, Texas ? A rookie police officer was caught off guard Wednesday when a pet monkey jumped on him as he wrote a traffic citation.

    Keith Moore, a 21-year-old who had been with the force only three months, handed a pen to a traffic violator, when a monkey jumped up from the back seat and attacked his hand, according to kristv.com

    "His monkey attacked me!" Moore told another officer who was still in their squad. "He's got a monkey and it attacked my hand. I'm not even kidding."

    1. cavalier973   12 years ago

      Did he spank the monkey?

  46. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

    Yes, let us just say a Koch and be done with it.

  47. BigT   12 years ago

    Women don't love Koch?

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