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Political Nominees Fingered as Responsible For IRS Targeting, President Says Obamacare is Working Just Swell, General Says Syria May Get a Visit from the US Military: P.M. Links

J.D. Tuccille | 7.18.2013 4:30 PM

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Large image on homepages | Pima County Sheriffs Department
(Pima County Sheriffs Department)
  • Tucson cop gone wild
    Pima County Sheriff's Department

    Veteran IRS lawyer Carter Hull said tax agency political appointees took charge of the screening of Tea Party applications.

  • President Obama insists that his signature health care program is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Apparently, spectacular failure is a design feature.
  • Next stop for U.S. troops: Syria! At least, that's what the White House is considering, says Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • Bradley Manning will have to face charges that he "aided the enemy," after all, says the judge in the whistleblower's trial.
  • The Cuban National Baseball Team is in the United States playing exhibition games, and it has already demonstrated its unbeatable defection style. Player Misael Siverio went in search of a new nationality after only a few hours in the country.
  • A Tucson cop lost his job after getting loaded and pulling a gun on a gas station attendant. Having the incident captured by a surveillance camera (yup, that's him, in the photo) probably didn't help his cause.
  • The nomination of outgoing Homeland Security honcho Janet Napolitano as president of the University of California has sparked controversy and opposition. She promptly had protesters deported. Just kidding. She can't do that anymore. She has friends for that.

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J.D. Tuccille is a contributing editor at Reason.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Apparently, spectacular failure is a design feature.

    You joke, but...

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      As I keep saying, we need to take every "reform" foisted upon the health care system and foist it upon the business of lawyering.

    2. hamilton   12 years ago

      Spectactular failure may just be part of the Grand Plan to force single payer as the correct "fix".

      1. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

        That would require forethought and a working brain.

        I doubt it.

        1. BelowTheRim   12 years ago

          That would require forethought and a working brain.

          See there's your folly. Just because the didn't plan it that way doesn't mean BHO cannot ACT like it was planned that way, or just take his socialization scheme to its logical and terrifying end.

          There is no impediment for the true statists to grow government or at least just try.

      2. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

        "single payer" is a system where government runs a previously private industry and rations out their product to people. Single payer is effectively nationalization. If it was farms, we would have no problem calling it communism.

    3. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

      Communist health care has always been the goal.

  2. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Next stop for U.S. troops: Syria! At least, that's what the White House is considering, says Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

    Over there! Over there! Spread the word, spread the word over there! That the Yanks are coming!

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      that war boner is not going to fap itself.

  3. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Detroit files for bankruptcy

    1. Ska   12 years ago

      Word. Racist.

    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Which happens first: Robocop or The Crow?

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        Are there any corporations left in Detroit that have the same ability to innovate that OCP did?

        1. anon   12 years ago

          Did you *really* have to ask?

          1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

            Did you *really* have to ask?

            I suspect Mike Illitch will stick around long enough to turn half the city into his own personal Versailles.

        2. JW   12 years ago

          " This could look bad for OCP, Johnson. Scramble the best spin team we have."

    3. Mike M.   12 years ago

      Everyone knew this coming for months and months of course, but it's still sad. It wasn't very long ago it was truly one of the greatest cities in the world, and now it's a burned-out husk.

      1. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

        And should be held up as the pinnacle of progressivism.

      2. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

        What a perfect day for the Big Ten to announce the location of their new bowl game!

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          In Detroit? It's really sad how far the Big Ten has fallen.

    4. Killazontherun   12 years ago

      At least it is not in an apartheid state like Florida. They respect the mob's civil right to being outraged in Detroit.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Man, that's not totally insane or an insult to people who actually endured apartheid. Or an insult to the millions of blacks who thought Florida was a nice home until now.

  4. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    That Sea Turtle? You Can't Free That!

    1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      BTW, there's an Expedia TV commercial where a woman says she got to swim with a turtle friend.

      And I'm thinking, no he's not. I mean really, will he pick you up at the airport?

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Hahaha, every time that one comes on I think "that turtle is not your damn friend and if he could he would probably eat you."

        1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          Nice bod on the chick, though.

          1. hamilton   12 years ago

            Interestingly one comment on the site mentions this (which was my reaction when I saw this live on air). The other comments are all about how it's illegal to touch sea turtles.

          2. CE   12 years ago

            Yeah, if she needs any other underwater friends...

      2. JW   12 years ago

        Every time I see that commercial, I think about how good she looks in that bikini bottom.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Ass model. No, really, it's a profession. The casting director doesn't even look at the face.

          1. JW   12 years ago

            That's actually not a bad life philosophy.

            1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

              One of my regrets is that I didn't begin utilizing my "go for the one with the smoking body regardless of her face" strategy earlier.

              1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

                If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
                Never make a pretty woman your wife
                So from my personal point of view
                Get an ugly girl to marry you

                But who's to say she can't have a smoking hot body?

      3. Rhywun   12 years ago

        Aieeee I hate that fucking commercial. In my mind that same hippie chick is the one who sings in the "Prius For Everyone" commercial.

        1. RBS   12 years ago

          Prius For Everyone

          Godamnit...

    2. Michael   12 years ago

      That Sea Turtle? You Can't Free That!

      I love that the official charge is violation of the Endangered Species Act, yet the quoted NOAA spokesmouth only cites a few generic safety concerns as reasons why this type of thing shouldn't be attempted. Say...this act wouldn't possibly serve double duty as job protection, would it?

      1. CE   12 years ago

        When the Jamestown reinforcements were shipwrecked on Bermuda, which turned out to be an island paradise despite its bad rap as the Devil's Island, they found abundant sea life and dined on the massive turtles.

        Then they built a boat and sailed north to starve to death in the swamps of Virginia.

  5. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    A Tucson cop lost his job after getting loaded and pulling a gun on a gas station attendant.

    I look forward to the union overruling justice.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      You obviously don't know that totality of the circs, you bigorati. HTH, surf team, etc.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        I don't know why everyone here is so in awe of my modest accomplishments.

    2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

      Fired. But no charges for assault under color of authority? No DUI?

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Is he under color of authority in that tank top?

        1. Brett L   12 years ago

          I think that's his department issued bullet resistant vest.

          1. Ted S.   12 years ago

            It's grainy video. Who can tell? 🙂

        2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          Is that a tank top or a bullet proof vest? In any case, I'll eat one of my shoes if the asshole didn't include the old "do you know who you're fucking with?" line during his "misunderstanding" with the cashier.

          1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

            If he wore tank tops he wouldn't have such gnarly farmer's tan. I'm betting on bullet proof vest.

            1. Almanian!   12 years ago

              Bullet-proof vests are the new black

      2. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. Of course, he was still a probationary hire so it wasn't much to throw him to the wolves.

      3. anon   12 years ago

        But no charges for assault under color of authority?

        racist

  6. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Primitive human society 'not driven by war'

    1. Brandon   12 years ago

      Was it driven by gamboling?

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      I presume it was driven by sex?

      1. T   12 years ago

        Driven? I thought it was primitive. Wouldn't they have walked?

      2. anon   12 years ago

        So, pretty much like modern society?

      3. JW   12 years ago

        It was driven by Warty.

        He has always been here.

    3. Tonio   12 years ago

      Meh. War requires a lot of time and it's hard to take that much time out of your hunting and gathering schedule. Also, what are you going to fight over that you couldn't get just as easily yourself with less risk?

      Agriculture and villages give you both the leisure time to make war and something to fight for.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Soooo, White Indian was right?

        1. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

          Damn you to hell for all eternity, RBS.

          1. RBS   12 years ago

            More GAMBOL less WAR

      2. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

        So, you're sayin White Indian was right? Gamboling is the existence of peace.

      3. anon   12 years ago

        Uh, food and rape?

    4. Sy   12 years ago

      ""Over half the events were perpetrated by lone individuals and in 85% of the cases, the victims were members of the same society."

      , according to figures released by the Bureau of Gamboling and Hunter-Gatherer Statistics..

      1. CE   12 years ago

        There was no Stand Your Ground Law at the time, but any caveman was free to fight or flee as he saw fit. Also, no trials and no bans on cruel or unusual punishments. They made for good sport.

    5. Killazontherun   12 years ago

      Obviously an attempt by Modern Man to cover up his crimes against the Neanderthals. What war? What genocide? We didn't do those things back then. I see nothing!

  7. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    The news and gossip website Gawker, which organized a so-called "crackstarter" campaign to raise money to buy a purported video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, has given up on its original mission.

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Gawker... has given up on its original mission.

      Pushing Dr. Who and annoying the shit out of em?

      1. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

        I suppose they realized that annoying the shit out the supervisor of agents with licenses to kill is probably an unsound mission.

  8. Brett L   12 years ago

    Holy Shit! Me and Chuck Hagel agree on something.

    The Washington Post reports that "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday that he has ordered a 20 percent cut in the number of top brass and senior civilians at the Pentagon by 2019, the latest attempt to shrink the military bureaucracy after years of heady growth."

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Only 20 percent?

    2. Bobarian   12 years ago

      I agree with Hagel as well, but would like to see him included in the 20% cut.

      Lead by example, motherfucker! And take that asshole in the whitehouse with you.

    3. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

      ...a good start?

    4. DJF   12 years ago

      Gates also tried to cut the top brass, I think he ended up with more then he started with.

      In order to cut 200 generals you need to promote 400 to supervise it.

      1. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

        I saw that episode of Yes, Minister.

    5. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

      Are we sure that's not a 20% cut in the rate of increase?

    6. Bardas Phocas   12 years ago

      You know who else wanted to purge the military?

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        Emperor Justinian?

      2. CE   12 years ago

        Sitting Bull?

      3. Rod Flash   12 years ago

        Mary Kate Olsen?

  9. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    The Cuban National Baseball Team is in the United States playing exhibition games, and it has already demonstrated its unbeatable defection style. Player Misael Siverio went in search of a new nationality after only a few hours in the country.

    I'd be fine with normalizing relations with Cuba if it meant more ball players like Cespedes and Puig.

    1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

      Pug is a beast. Fun to watch. He runs hard, throws hard, and swings the bat like he was trying to kill a grizzly bear. But he needs to take it easy. Los Doyers will need him healthy if they plan on making/winning in the playoffs. I just keep seeing Puig going out of the lineup in late August with a season ending Achilles or shoulder injury. That would suck.

      1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        Just when the crew at Coors Field had finally fixed that Matt Kemp-shaped hole in the center field wall (where last season he wrecked his shoulder crashing into), Puig a few weeks back went and did the same thing crashing into the right field wall.

        Enthusiasm is great, recklessness not so much.

      2. fish   12 years ago

        Screw you EDG....I hope Puig gets hit by a bus!

        VIVA GIGANTES!

        1. CE   12 years ago

          The bus is hoping Puig doesn't hit it.

    2. CE   12 years ago

      It will, and I'd be fine with normalizing relations with Cuba even if they didn't have any baseball players.

  10. Suthenboy   12 years ago

    "Next stop for U.S. troops: Syria! "

    We have always been at war with East Asia.

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      and expanding into West Asia.

      1. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

        "They're here already! You're next!"

  11. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Next stop for U.S. troops: Syria!

    But this time it will be different. We're going in with a civil war already in progress.

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      And not just *any* civil war -- a "full-blown" civil war.

      1. DJF   12 years ago

        And not just one of those boring two sided civil wars, this one has at least three (Government, FSA and Islamists) with some others making their own moves.

  12. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    "J.D. Tuccille is managing editor of Reason 24/7"

    FOR FUCK'S SAKE LET THE MAN REST AN HOUR OR TWO!

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      He needs the overtime pay.

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        If Reason would pay a living wage he wouldn't have to.

      2. MJGreen   12 years ago

        Has to fund that weed habit.

    2. hamilton   12 years ago

      How much work could there be? I presume Reason just has ragtag orphans do all the heavy lifting and eliminates them when they outlive their usefulness (*cough*Lucy*cough*).

    3. Outlaw   12 years ago

      NO! In a survey I filled out for Reason I demanded more Tuccille and I will get more Tuccille, goddamnit!

      Give him another child laborer to polish his monocle if you must, but don't you dare deprive me of Tuccille.

    4. gaijin   12 years ago

      it doesn't say 24/7 365...just sayin

    5. CE   12 years ago

      I thought they stopped posting articles at night, and on the weekends?

  13. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Veteran IRS lawyer Carter Hull said tax agency political appointees took charge of the screening of Tea Party applications.

    How could this be?

    1. CE   12 years ago

      He was off fighting crime with the Justice League, and looking for Hawk Girl.

  14. Brett L   12 years ago

    FEMA fucks up flood maps.

    I have a suggestion. Run a contest with a $50,000 prize for the best flood zone mapping on Google Maps. They'd have 5 good solutions for $50k.

    1. anon   12 years ago

      Shit, you'd get better maps than the government could come up with for $500. No need to spend that much.

  15. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    It's official: Detroit is now bankrupt.

    1. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

      beat ya

      1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

        His doesn't require a subscription, though.

    2. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      Obviously they need more government handouts.

      And the federal government should probably require that we all buy American cars. Given the Obamacare precedent, that shouldn't be a problem constiutiionally. Just force people to pay a penaltax if they buy foreign cars.

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        I believe it's called a tariff.

        1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          You bitch!

      2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        "Just force people to pay a penaltax if they buy foreign cars."

        Isn't that called a tariff?

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          Almost feels like you've been Fisted, huh?

          1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

            Yes. Go on...

      3. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

        Just force people to pay a penaltax if they don't buy a domestic car.

        1. kinnath   12 years ago

          My Forrester was built in the US. What is a domestic car?

          1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

            One in which the glorious People's Government owns stock, most likely.

            1. kinnath   12 years ago

              So is Ford a foreign company then?

              1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

                They knew the risks when they refused to take any money and made the others look bad.

        2. Andrew S.   12 years ago

          That's probably what I meant to say. Derp.

      4. NeonCat   12 years ago

        I saw a US govt Hyundai yesterday, so if the USG wants to it can start buying American and leave us out of it.

    3. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      In 20-30 years after that city depopulates, they can rename it the Coleman Young National Wildlife Preserve.

    4. Tonio   12 years ago

      And filing for bankruptcy is not the same as a declaration (right word?) of bankruptcy.

      But, yeah, this is pretty delicious.

    5. PowerBottom   12 years ago

      My mother is from Detroit and a year or so ago she went back for a trip She cried and cried her eyes out seeing her old neighborhood in absolute shambles. Counts herself lucky for getting out in the 70's.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        It's incredible -- one of the greatest cities this world has ever known, in an utter shambles.

        Politics truly is a cancer.

    6. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      Detroit is now bankrupt.

      Shining example of progressivism. Right out of Atlas Shrugged.

      ...but who could have seen this coming?

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        If we had been told in the 80s that the Soviets had depopulated a major city to the point where half its population was gone, and that they had completely devastated our major industrial area, there would have been nukes headed for Moscow.

      2. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

        No kidding. It's basically Starnesville, except orders of magnitude larger.

      3. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

        In answer to your query Franky d'Anky, in 1961 Jane Jacobs was writing about how Detroit was a dying city in her excellent book The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

        http://www.amazon.com/Death-Li.....067974195X

        Not a libertarian per se, but Jacobs did understand a sort of Hayekian spontaneous order was vital to thriving cities. She was opposed to top down planning and other zoning schemes. Now Jacobs ideas are co-opted by new urbanists, smart growth weenies, and environmentalists. But if you actually read the book, she specifically cites the major auto companies hubris, as well as increasingly unreasonable labor union demands for forming a death spiral for Detroit. Oh, and Federal, state and local government was the glue that pulled the death spiral together.

        If you get a chance, I highly recommend you read her books. Unfortunately some on the Left have embraced her works, but cherry pick and mis-characterize her theses.

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          It was assigned reading in one of my classes, and it was the only book for that class I hadn't gotten around to purchasing. By the end of the class it was clear it was the only book on the list that had been worth reading (and the primary source for our final).

        2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          Interesting. I considered the decline to start with the riot in 1967, and then the OPEC embargo and the shift to Japanese cars and the Big Three's poor responses to them (Pinto, Vega, etc.).

          1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

            Jacobs actually says the decline began in 1936 when the UAW staged a successful sit down strike. The Governer mediated, the auto companies acquiesced, thus legitimizing the union. Down hill ever since.

            1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

              Well, that may have planted the seeds of the fall, but I can assure you that Detroit did quite well in the '40s and '50s.

    7. Brandon   12 years ago

      HuffPo, your take?

      tissaBecome a fanCONVERSATION STARTER
      116
      34
      POLITICAL PUNDIT?4,646 Fans?Chicago Liberal /Sales/Marketing Director
      This is directly a result of the Tea Party Governor who has done nothing to stimulate Michigan's economy. He is one of the most unpopular governors ever. Rick Snyder is a former Venture Capitalist--translation: another Mitt Romney who likes to prey on struggling companies by laying off all of their employees to turn a profit.
      Snyder did the same thing to Michigan--he sat and watched this state go down and did nothing. People laid off, struggling and he did nothing to stop it. Flint Michigan is also in the same condition---along with other major cities in Michigan.

      What has he done? Shut down schools in the Detroit area and other parts of Michigan in order to save money. Pathetic.

      Of course. Detroit didn't spend enough money, and it was the R governor's, not any of the D mayors or city councilmens', fault.

  16. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Veteran IRS lawyer Carter Hull said tax agency political appointees took charge of the screening of Tea Party applications.

    Is there anything that this administration can't find to inject its politics into?

  17. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees: 'I want to keep the music alive'

  18. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    New surveys indicates that a substantial number of people are fine with ending a relationship via text message.

    Pop singer Katy Perry recently revealed in a magazine interview that British comedian Russell Brand asked her for a divorce via text, and Brand apparently has company. A new survey of 1,500 daters ages 21 to 50, provided to USA TODAY, found that 59% would or might break up with someone they are casually dating via text; 24% would or might end an exclusive relationship that way.

    "It removes confrontation," says Naomi Baron, a linguistics professor at American University in Washington who studies electronically mediated communication. "You don't have to have a big knock-down-drag-out fight, but you also don't get that experience of having to interact in uncomfortable situations ? face-to-face live situations."

    I guess there is something to the notion that social media and phones destroy social skills.

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      yes, god forbid that there be any confrontation or other unpleasantness in any aspect of life. Coming soon - firing by text. Which has probably already happened.

      1. kinnath   12 years ago

        Last week, some people were fired by text.

        1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          My preference would be to get fired by Norm of Cheers fame.

      2. Ska   12 years ago

        I've seen firing via a FedEx of someone's desk contents with their last paycheck. Doesn't seem so far fetched.

        1. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

          Ha I once got a FedEx of my desk contents a few days after I was fired in person by my boss's boss's boss.

          1. CE   12 years ago

            Sounds like you annoyed someone too high up.

      3. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

        Riley quit the Knicks by fax. He's always been ahead of his time.

    2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      A friend of mine broke up with boyfriends in whatever medium they had first said I love you. There was at least one text message one.

      1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

        That Jumbotron breakup had to be messy.

        1. Brett L   12 years ago

          Epic.

      2. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

        That's a bizarre fetish.

      3. Tonio   12 years ago

        "You can't text message break-up." -"Kelly" (of the Shoes video fame)

      4. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        I hope one day a boyfriend says that via a flash mob.

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          I don't think she's dated anyone with enough enthusiasm for that, although I agree that would make for a fun breakup. That or singing telegram service.

      5. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        If both parties in this relationship follow that same rule, I'd like to be there when their marriage breaks up based on the circumstances of their engagement.

      6. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        in whatever medium they had first said I love you

        Am I odd for thinking anyone who doesn't say that first in person is kind of socially clueless?

    3. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      Roses are red
      Violets are blue
      I'm getting married
      But not to you
      🙁

      1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

        It's been great
        And I really hadn't oughtta
        But I'm dating your best friend
        Because she's hotter

        1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

          I had some fun
          But it got too weird
          I'm tired of being
          Your f___ing beard

          BURMA SHAVE

          1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

            I'm tired of you
            You're not what I need
            I'm letting the gardener
            Plant his seed.

    4. Brett L   12 years ago

      I broke up with a girlfriend by text. A week after we had a face-to-face discussion about how when we made plans to spend time together while I was going to school and working full time, I expected her to actually show up for those plans. So really, I guess she broke up with me by passive-aggression.

  19. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    A Tucson cop lost his job after getting loaded and pulling a gun on a gas station attendant.

    He was pissed the guy sold him a losing lottery ticket.

  20. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Baskin-Robbins reveals what your favourite ice cream flavours say about you

    1. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

      "I'm a fat-ass"?

    2. Bobarian   12 years ago

      WTF is a 'flavour'?

      Speak american!

    3. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Interesting, but what does the NSA think our favorite flavors say about us?

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        That we're suspicious and bear watching.

        What flavor doesn't really matter.

    4. hamilton   12 years ago

      Damn right and I'm sick and tired of me and the other Rum Raisins being othered by you assholes.

    5. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

      If your favourite flavour is Mint Chocolate Chip, you're more likely to be argumentative, frugal and cautious.

      Well, that's my wife's favorite flavor and that is her personality. But I would have replaced "frugal" with "thinks husband's paycheck is "our money", while her paycheck is "her money."" I guess that's not as concise, though.

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        All wives do that.

      2. RBS   12 years ago

        Or replace frugal with "thinks using a coupon to buy something you weren't going to buy is saving."

      3. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        My sister is the same way, but replace husband's paycheck with everyone she knows' paycheck. She is also a mint chocolate chip with jamoca almond fudge rising.

    6. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      Vanilla people suck!

    7. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

      If your favourite [sic] flavour [sic] is Rocky Road, you're more likely to be aggressive, engaging and a good listener.

      This is just great. Now Baskin Robbins doesn't understand me either.

    8. The Bearded Hobbit   12 years ago

      (Kliban cartoon)

      "We've got four flavors, Corn, Liver, Wood and Vanilla. And we're out of Vanilla."

      ... Hobbit

  21. Mike M.   12 years ago

    Gina McCarthy approved by Senate as the new head of the loathsome Environmental Protection Agency.

    No official word though on whether she's had time yet to give herself a phony e-mail account complete with fake "ethics certificate" for dodging FOIA requests and congressional oversight.

    1. DJF   12 years ago

      They put her in the witness protection program with a all new identity.

      Nobody will be able to track what she is doing.

    2. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

      At least she's hot.

      1. Hash Brown   12 years ago

        You bastard.

      2. Atanarjuat   12 years ago

        Fuck you. I actually clicked on the link expecting to see some MILF type. This woman looks like her bureaucratic soul.

        1. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

          She looks like Barney Frank.

          That's 2 diversity checkmarks for the base.

          1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

            No, Barney is more feminine.

      3. Terr   12 years ago

        god fucking dammit!

    3. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      Barney Frank's lost some weight.

  22. NeonCat   12 years ago

    A good article on the Chinese economy.

    "China had lost external demand, so the country doubled down on investment. China had essentially been keeping GDP growth high by creating new infrastructure, housing, factories. The problem is that, in order for this all to be real, there has to be an end-user. In the past, demand from overseas could make up the difference. But that's not going to materialize anymore. The demand has to be domestic."

    1. Agammamon   12 years ago

      So wait, you're saying government spending *doesn't* produce wealth? That counting government spending into GDP is accounting shenanigans?

      Damn, my whole worldview - just shattered.

  23. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    He brought Mandela back to life; let's send the Faith-Healer-in-Chief to Detroit to serve out the remainder of his term.

  24. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Why Tim Hortons is failing to score in America

    1. Mike M.   12 years ago

      So it's kind of like all the Canadian hockey teams.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Oh, you mean Canadian hockey teams based in Canada. Not Canadian hockey teams like the Blackhawks.

    2. Bobarian   12 years ago

      The problem is Tim Horton's has 'flavours', unlike Baskin Robbins.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        "Fla" clearly refers to Florida. "Vour" comes the Latin to consume.

        "Eat Florida?" What kind of strange Canadian plot is this?

        1. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

          Well, Florida is America's penis. So maybe Canada wants to give the US a blowjob?

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            I'm having trouble conceiving how all of these analogies actually would work in the real world. Maybe they mean to move Canada physically south of Florida?

            1. Agammamon   12 years ago

              No, they mean to invade. To 'devour' the US all the way down to Florida!

              Pre-emptive defensive invasion is called for.

    3. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

      They need to educate people about their products better. Who doesn't want to order a timbit and a double-double? I would take one of each right now...TIMBITS!

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Maybe if they weren't vaguely sexual.

        1. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

          But that's what makes them awesome!

      2. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

        If it wasn't rush hour I'd totally go right now.

        1. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

          Full disclosure: I actually used to order triple-triples. I will be thankful that only a few people know what that means and thus my true shame.

          1. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

            Click away people and know her true shame: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tim+hortons+triple+triple

            1. RBS   12 years ago

              It's just triple cream and triple sugar? So basically it's really sweet cream with a splash of coffee?

          2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            See, I saw through to the soul of Starbucks when they unleashed the milkshake that isn't called a milkshake in the U.S. That's the sole reason they have been successful--they allow people to say they're drinking a coffee when they're actually drinking a milkshake.

            1. Brandon   12 years ago

              The milkshake sure tastes a lot like coffee. Which is disgusting.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                No argument from me.

          3. Agammamon   12 years ago

            Well, its still better than ordering a triple-triple at Sonic.

  25. NeonCat   12 years ago

    Awesomely cool furniture made out of airplane parts.

    I'd probably kick the nacelle all the time by accident.

    1. TeamBarstool   12 years ago

      What parts do you want?

      http://goo.gl/maps/Oz9HM

    2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      Nice. My Dad used to jump out of C-119s when he was a paratrooper.

  26. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    President Obama insists that his signature health care program is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Apparently, spectacular failure is a design feature.

    You mock J.D., but just one more major speech from Obama and all these problems will go away. Remember how he ended all the abuses of the War on Terror when he gave a speech about them? Or how he ended all our problems in the Middle East when he gave a speech in Cairo?

  27. NeonCat   12 years ago

    Our Afghan allies are serious about the paperwork - charging $1000 per shipping container fine if no customs statement filed.

    1. Tonio   12 years ago

      Our Afghan allies are serious about some revenue collecting.

  28. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Fresh new stupidity, hot off the presses!

    In America, land was plentiful since you could steal it from Native Americans. That should could have led to an egalitarian distribution of wealth [Really? -ed], but instead an alternative agrarian elite emerged that did happen to own large stocks of land but whose wealthy was primarily composed of owning the human beings who worked the land rather than owning the land itself.

    Three guesses as to who said it...

    1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      I had guessed White Indian. Oh, well.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      1. Yglesias
      2. Robert Reich
      3. Krugabe.

      Am I right?

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        Right on the first try, though the other guesses were also good.

      2. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

        It couldn't have been Krugabe, as there was no mention of Republicans or (insufficient) aggregate demand.

    3. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      In America, land was plentiful since you could steal it from Native Americans. That should could have led to an egalitarian distribution of wealth

      Not for the Indians it wouldn't have, Sadbeard.

      Seriously, the dude is somewhere on the spectrum. Not the autism spectrum, but the one for mental retardation.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        Yeah, that was unbelievable.

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        Yeah, Aspies are super logical, so that can't be his problem.

        1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

          Beyond that, why should the notion of land being plentiful have led to an egalitarian distribution, especially if you are assuming that only a portion of the colonists were the ones actually stealing the land?

          No economic analysis would support the notion that an egalitarian distribution follows from the abundance of a resource -- not even Marxist economics, which posits its favored state of egalitarianism as a quasi-imposed one following decades of "natural" distribution and movement through the historical dialectic.

          1. Agammamon   12 years ago

            Also, it wasn't *cheap* - those Indians didn't vacate the land easily - meaning significant capital resources were needed to 'acquire' that land.

            As such you'd expect that those who were capable of putting together the capital (ie rich people) would end up owning large swathes.

      3. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Not the autism spectrum, but the one for mental retardation.

        One of the retarded aspects of his assertion is that land distribution in the US was egalitarian before the Civil War, with millions of small freeholders. Compare that with the land grant system of Latin America or the feudal land ownership in Europe.

    4. Tonio   12 years ago

      Maybe Yglesias was WI?

  29. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Economics and business correspondent, folks.

    I will admit that I've always found the "Peak Oil" debate to be a little bit confusing, especially because both the words "peak" and "oil" turn out to have some ambiguity to them.

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      Ok, that's my Yglesias limit for the month.

    2. anon   12 years ago

      It's Slate. I mean, really, what did you expect?

    3. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

      I could actually defend the latter, if they go on to discuss, e.g., the use of light sweet crude as a benchmark...

    4. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

      Is that graph even in real dollars?

    5. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      But even so, America's oil boom hasn't pushed U.S. oil prices back down to mid-aughts levels and it certainly hasn't pushed U.S. oil prices back down to 1990s levels. The good old days of genuinely abundant liquid fuel really do appear to be behind us.

      Of course the "let's regulate the fossil fuel industry so as to promote green initiatives" over the last 20 years has had NO EFFECT on the price of oil.

  30. paranoid android   12 years ago

    I hadn't seen this posted before, though there are a ton of Zimmerman case threads so I may have missed it:

    Daily Caller intern asks Jay Carney a question about the safety of George Zimmerman's family, gets mocked and insulted by officials and journalists

    1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      What was Carney going to say? "You see, young man, the President is a constitutional officer charged with a fairly limited set of duties, and sending bodyguards for Zimmerman's family would be interfering with a criminal case, contrary to the reserved 10th Amendment authority of the states."

      Oops, better just mock him.

      "Ha ha, some dumb kid just said he couldn't see the Emperor's new clothes!"

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Do you think Carney and the president would be handling this situation the same if Zimmerman was black and Martin a white hispanic?

        Somehow, I think if that were the case, the president would be alarmed by mobs howling for the blood of a black man.

    2. T   12 years ago

      To be fair, I'd mock and insult anyone who asks Carney a question and expects a straight answer instead of bullshit.

      Carney always seems vaguely embarassed to be up there. He lacks the confrontational panache needed for the job anymore. You need to get up there, own the lie, and dare anybody to question you on it.

  31. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Sign outside Baptist church in Alabama: "Zimmerman Jury Supports WHITE RACISM.

    Pastor Michael R. Jordan is outraged about the Trayvon Martin case and "not guilty" verdict for George Zimmerman, and he's pointing the finger at the jury with two bold signs that accuse them of "white racism." Reactions to the sign have been mixed, with the church's predominantly black neighborhood largely supportive despite the barrage of negative comments that have been directed at Jordan online.

    One side of the sign at the New Era Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, declares, "George Zimmerman Jury Supported White Racism." The other proclaims, "Rape A White Woman And You Will Die In Prison," a reference to the 1983 Baby Doe rape case in Birmingham. He told The Huffington Post in an interview, "The criminal justice system says the value of a black life is much less than a white life."

    Sad, if Obama had a pastor he'd look a lot like Pastor Jordan. Er, wait...

    1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      WTF do black people want and why in the fuck do they think that this is the way to get it?

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        They feel like they've been screwed for centuries and want whitey and brownie to feel their pain.

        That's what they want.

        A more interesting question to me is what the proglodytes want.

        I think it's all about gun control with them and they don't care how much race hatred they have to stir up to get it.

    2. Bobarian   12 years ago

      At least it's 'white racism', which implies that there might be some other kind.

    3. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      Um...

      ...isn't Zimmerman Hispanic?

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Sometimes.

    4. MJGreen   12 years ago

      Wow, they really got me with that second sign. The idea of rapists dying in prison? What is this world coming to!?

    5. Tejicano   12 years ago

      I can't help but think that there has to be some significant swath of "the Black Community" which is thinking that pushing this "Zimmerman is a white guy" lie is going to draw down the balance on the "white guilt" account to the point that they will have to start trading on actual facts in the near future.

  32. a better weapon   12 years ago

    http://geekologie.com/2013/07/.....py-loo.php

    Man ruins at least $30,000 worth of vintage comics (including a 1968 Avengers #1) to make a shitty paper mache sculpture.

    ...rage...INCREASING...

    1. Raston Bot   12 years ago

      just as long as there was no ROMs in the mix, i'm good.

      1. Agammamon   12 years ago

        ROM The Spaceknight! I used to love that comic.

    2. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      "I really love the idea of me creating something out of such expensive things that's worth less. I think it's brilliant."

      What a dick.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Hmmm, his life philosophy seems familiar...

    3. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

      30,000 pounds not dollars if that helps your rage. Still, he found them in the dumpster. I'd blame the person who threw them out. I think its funny, especially with people's reaction.

      1. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

        ?30,000 is $45,600. So that just makes it worse.

      2. Rod Flash   12 years ago

        I'm sure somebody's mother threw them out when he went off to college. That's what happened to me. Including my first edition Spiderman, Groo, and Howard the Duck.

  33. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Rachel Jeantel schools Limbaugh on the N-word: 'It is racist for an adult' to use it

    Clearly, a dumb teenager is best equipped to spearhead this debate.

    Also, what important issues? Someone we don't like may have used a naughty word!

    1. RBS   12 years ago

      They really couldn't have picked a more unlikeable person to get famous as a result of this case.

      1. a better weapon   12 years ago

        Worse than Sandra Fluke? Rachel at least hasn't asked that I be forced to do or pay for anything I don't want to.

        1. Bobarian   12 years ago

          Give it time.

        2. RBS   12 years ago

          Sure Fluke is worse, but what does she have to do with the Zimmerman trial?

          1. a better weapon   12 years ago

            Nothing, just thought I'd throw the comparison of the two most recent progressive darlings out there.

        3. RickC   12 years ago

          "Rachel at least hasn't asked that I be forced to do or pay for anything I don't want to." My guess is she just assumes it.

          1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

            "Moar free shit -- that's New School."

      2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        I'd have a beer with her. She seems okay to me. I've worked with a lot of kids in her situation. And on top of that, we saw her at a very difficult time. I have never been in the witness stand and I hope I never am.

    2. Tonio   12 years ago

      It is possible for both of the named individuals to be wrong.

      1. a better weapon   12 years ago

        Dichotomies are just way too convenient. What you're proposing is chaos!

        1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

          No way. One of them has to be in the right; my worldview demands it!

    3. a better weapon   12 years ago

      19 is legally an adult.

      Not that the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do mentality is uncommon, but thought it was worth pointing out.

    4. Francisco d Anconia   12 years ago

      Race baiters, talk to the hand.

      I'm done with it.

  34. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

    This is entirely irrelevant to anything, and I apologize if most of you have seen it...

    Still, I approve.

    1. anon   12 years ago

      Obviously we just need to make Internet Explorer illegal.

    2. Bobarian   12 years ago

      I didn't click the link. Does it have anything to do with Cleveland Browns fans being let down by Golden Girls?

      1. anon   12 years ago

        graph of Internet Explorer usage correlating with homicides.

    3. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

      an oldy but a goody

      1. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

        Corollary

        1. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

          +2 exposed asscheeks

  35. SIV   12 years ago

    For all y'all under 25 or so "Millenials":

    This is the America your grandparents tried to leave you.

    Your parents fucked it all up. Remember to thank them.

    1. Outlaw   12 years ago

      And I plan on leaving this America to my grandkids:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZQPmDye5xA

      MWHAHAHA!

      1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

        You plan on leaving a SF'ed link to your grandkids? What kind of sick fuck are you?

    2. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      No, their grandparents voted in the massive increase of the industrial/military complex in the name of the Cold War.

      Fuck them too.

    3. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

      On the other hand they gave us an entire internet of hotter women in less clothing and in higher definition during our "formative" years.

    4. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

      I don't miss cone tits.

  36. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Some other folks besides Marcotte and Yglesias write articles for Slate. They are equally stupid:

    The British critic Charles Shaar Murray once described the central drive of American popular music as "the need to separate black music (which, by and large, white Americans love) from black people (who, by and large, they don't)." It's a glibly polemical assessment that too often feels sickeningly right: You don't need to look far for evidence that this country values black American culture substantially more than it values the lives of black American people.

    Gets worse from there.

    1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      Doesn't Charles Shaar Murray have a riot to cover, or something? And I hear that a future king has been born.

    2. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

      If Slate were an airplane, I would jump without a parachute.

      1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

        If Slate were an airplane you'd drop 10 feet onto the tarmac.

        1. anon   12 years ago

          10 feet?

          Wait, it has landing gear?

          1. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

            [Insert Asian-name joke here]

          2. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

            It was a guess based on a "normal" airliner with flat tires. I'm not going to dumb it down for some bonehead mass audience.

            1. anon   12 years ago

              I was merely questioning "Airliner."

              I was thinking more cessna-sized.

              1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

                See, I was going the "plenty of resources, very poor results" route. Cessnas that can't fly would be more like indie prog blogs.

    3. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      "Say it loud-I'm black, and I'm proud!"

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akEC4UGX-8g

      1. Omni   12 years ago

        I'm black and I'm proud! And it's gonna say that...in diamonds...on my teeth!"

    4. John   12 years ago

      So when a white person listens to black music that is sickening?

      Slate is sort of a metropolis of stupid.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        If I found out tomorrow that the Koch brothers founded Slate as a way to quarantine the insane population of progressives from the rest of us, it would not surprise me in the least.

        1. John   12 years ago

          That is what Double X and The Root are for.

    5. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      Let me get this straight: some guy who is completely unselfconscious about his own habits of treating other human beings as some kind of homogenous collective entity thinks he's suddenly going to get other people to think "when you put it that way, I guess I am a big old racist."

    6. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      Someone needs to remind Murray that Eric Clapton, whose entire career has been covers of Black singers' songs, is holy-shit, balls to the wall racist.

      Glass houses and stones, Murray.

  37. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Need A Badass Way To Stoke A Fire?

    1. anon   12 years ago

      That's dumb; exhaust gas is mostly inert.

      Leaf blower would be waaay more effective.

    2. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

      what a fag

  38. PowerBottom   12 years ago

    Official Firefly game launching next year...

    http://www.gamespot.com/news/o.....ar-6411639

    "Cult TV show Firefly will live on through an all-new iOS and Android role-playing game from Fox Digital Entertainment. The company announced Firefly Online this week at San Diego Comic-Con, scheduling the new game to launch in summer 2014."

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      Enough with the Firefly already. Pull the plug. The show was good, but it's dead and it's been dead for a decade.

      Get over it.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        Not referring to Powerbottom, just the whole damned internet and its ridiculous obsession over a good (not great) TV show.

      2. anon   12 years ago

        Blasphemy.

      3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Um, no.

    2. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      Who wants to play an RPG on a frigging phone?

    3. a better weapon   12 years ago

      Season 2 would be better.

    4. Agammamon   12 years ago

      The game will suck.

  39. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Norwegian tricked into believing he's gone bungee jumping

    1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      That's a bachelor party? I hope that's just what they were doing to entertain themselves until the two hot Norwegian stripper/prostitutes arrived with a massive keg of beer.

  40. Sevo   12 years ago

    "President Obama insists that his signature health care program is doing exactly what it's supposed to do."

    Increased costs? Check.
    Decreased coverage? Check.
    Made a muck of the economy? Check.
    Left everyone in the dark about what happens when? Check.
    See? Just ducky!

    1. Gozer the Gozerian   12 years ago

      "It's always darkest before the dawn!"

      1. anon   12 years ago

        Racist.

      2. hamilton   12 years ago

        I just want you to know that, years ago, when I bothered to read it, Wonkette used the above clip all the time for it's hip snarky postings.

        That's all. I'll just leave that thought right there.

    2. Ayn Random Variation   12 years ago

      But I just heard him say on the radio that Obamacare is already lowering costs all over the place.

  41. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    Southern Prison music doc

    1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      Was that Leadbelly in the beginning?

      1. John   12 years ago

        Yes. Lomax found him in prison in either Texas or Louisiana. He was actually a really dangerous guy. Killed a couple of people, threatened a lot of others. Sang his way out of two different prisons. Ended up dying young of ALS.

        1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

          Ah, the way the Blues should be.

          1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

            Right? I read Jhon's post and thought, "A fella' could really write some good blues songs living like that."

  42. Sevo   12 years ago

    OK folks, really good news from Dtown:
    "Detroit emergency manager files bankruptcy"
    Now, let's see if we can identify the missing words:
    "A number of factors ? most notably steep population and tax base falls ? have been blamed on Detroit's tumble toward insolvency."
    (hee, hee)
    http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/.....673011.php
    Or your fave AP reseller.

    1. John   12 years ago

      The population just dropped. The tax base just went away....unexpectedly. It was just bad luck.

      1. Sevo   12 years ago

        Procedures were followed, contracts were signed, living wages were paid, the passive voice was invoked!

        1. anon   12 years ago

          Kinda funny how "living wages" equals nobody living there.

    2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

      If only they'd been allowed to raise taxes just a few percentage points higher they could have build that monorail, and surely that would have saved the city.

      1. Sevo   12 years ago

        Yeah, you'd have thought the bankruptcy judge would have required one.

    3. OldMexican   12 years ago

      Re: Sevo,

      "A number of factors ? most notably steep population and tax base falls ? have been blamed on Detroit's tumble toward insolvency."

      That's the kind of simplistic and economically-ignorant drivel that would come out of Tony's pretty little hands.

      "Being bankrupt - it just happened! Nothing to do with us! Honest!"

  43. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Philadelphia woman posts ad on Craigslist looking for a woman to take her Harvard-bound son's virginity.

    1. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      I hope that's just viral marketing for a remake of True Romance.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        Brad Pitt's finest role.

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          Get some beer and some cleaning products!

    2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      This has to be some kind of identity theft scam. Nobody offers to make all of your financial difficulties go away for taking their son's virginity. Maybe it's just a pervert with a creepy idea of what fun is, but I can't believe that's real.

      1. Tejicano   12 years ago

        How much do you want to bet that he is trying to find one that will let him do a test drive to be sure she knows what she's doing?

    3. DJF   12 years ago

      For the amount of money that Harvard charges shouldn't they be providing this service as part of an all round education?

      1. Hash Brown   12 years ago

        They do, but the service consists of matching you up with another incoming Harvard virgin.

  44. Brett L   12 years ago

    Qvothe coming to TV?

    New Regency Productions and 20th Century Fox Television have optioned Patrick Rothfuss' fantasy trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle to develop into a drama series. Eric Heisserer (Hours, The Thing) is attached to adapt the series and will exec produce. Arnon Milchan, Andrew Plotkin, Brad Weston and Robert Lawrence (Die Hard With A Vengeance) also serve as exec producers.

    But how will they do Felurian on Fox? That needs the HBO/Showtime treatment.

    1. JurisCani   12 years ago

      Maybe this will get Rothfuss off his backside and get the third book out.

  45. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Military resisting integrating women into Special Ops forces, some citing sexual attraction as being problematic for unit cohesion.

    Some ex-military members contend sexual attractions and relations are inevitable if male and female Special Ops members are placed in self-contained groups (as small as 12 or two) for long periods in lonely places. Those encounters, they add, could spark competition, jealousy and general havoc within tight teams where mutual trust and a laser attention to detail keep those troops alive.

    1. John   12 years ago

      You mean they are not warrior monks and will start screwing? Never. They are going to totally fuck up those units. But to Obama and the feminists, that is a feature.

      1. Bobarian   12 years ago

        This is my only problem with removing DADT, as well.

        There is no place for sexual tensions in a combat unit.

        1. John   12 years ago

          The thing about DADT is that it really doesn't affect men that much. There are not that many openly gay men who want to join. But there are a lot of openly gay women. If it affects anyone it will be women not men.

          1. Agammamon   12 years ago

            1. *openly gay men* haven't joined in large numbers in the past BECAUSE IT WAS ILLEGAL.

            2. Have you been in the military in the last two decades? There's a ton of gay men, men their collegues know are gay, who have simply kept it discreet so no official notice needs to be taken.

            1. Tejicano   12 years ago

              This.

              When I was in over 30 years ago I knew of two in the same unit I was in who were pretty much known to be gay - one basically flaunting it. From others in other services I have hear dsimilar stories - one guy in special forces who others refered to as their "rasberry beret". Troops didn't care so much as long as they did their jobs and didn't push anything on others.

            2. darius404   12 years ago

              There's a ton of gay men

              To my knowledge, they are all gay. "Entire Military Comes Out Of Closet, Confirms They Are All Gay":

              WASHINGTON, D.C. ? In a shocking turn of events in light of the Supreme Court striking down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, the entire United States military has confirmed they are all gay.

              "I can't tell you what an unbelievable day this is," said Specialist Jim Ruckers. "Even with Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed, I wasn't comfortable telling anyone. But after today, I came out, got a boyfriend two hours later and now we're getting married!"

        2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          The Sacred Band of Thebes disagrees.

      2. JW   12 years ago

        An ex-neighbor of mine was a doctor in the army, which had also put her through med school. She was insanely cute and had a perfect little petite body, not to mention being a real girly-girl.

        I finally saw her in her fatigues one day and I noticed that she had a Rangers patch on the sleeve. All I could think was that this very attractive woman, whom I wanted to schtup 15 different ways, could probably kill me with her bare hands. That would be interesting sex.

        1. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

          She didn't go to Ranger School.

          1. Tejicano   12 years ago

            US Army Ranger school is closed (always has been) to female applicants :

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

            I highly doubt there are more than 0.01% of the female population that could complete that school anyway. I've known two close friends - one Marine Recon, and another who makes Jack Bauer look like a wannabee - who didn't make it (both medical drops). Both were physical & mental warriors - I saw one take out three guys in a bar fight faster than the three could clear their seats. It would be an extraordinary physical mutant of a female to have the skeletal/musculature structure to withstand that training.

        2. OldMexican   12 years ago

          Re: JW,

          She was insanely cute and had a perfect little petite body, not to mention being a real girly-girl.

          You miss her, don't you?

          1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

            How's that song go?

            I want to do an Army Ranger....

          2. JW   12 years ago

            Just a *little.*

    2. John   12 years ago

      And what should keep women out of special ops is that they will never meet the physical standards. But I am sure they are busy lowering those as we speak.

      1. anon   12 years ago

        I know jack shit about spec ops, except that navy seal training is fucking brutal.

        The last thing I'd personally want though is my squad mate not doing what I tell him, getting me shot, because I was banging the squad hottie.

        Also, any chick that could get thru seal training probably isn't bangable anyways.

        1. John   12 years ago

          Army training is just as brutal. There is no way any woman could get through it. It is insane.

          1. Libertymike   12 years ago

            I know some babes that are (1) fitness contestants, (2) bodybuilding competitors and (3) crossfit enthusiasts. They could totally outclass some jarheads I know.

            Sure, they are the minority; but, just sayin'.

            1. RickC   12 years ago

              There have been two full classes of cohort pass through the Marine Infantry Officer school since the change in regulations. Both classes included four women. Not one in eight made it through. I assume these were the best female candidates available because the push for this to be successful is obvious given the statements by high ranking officers. Not one came close. Just saying.

              1. RickC   12 years ago

                - or cohorts-

                1. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

                  And if one were to someday make it through I would be perfectly fine with that. That should of been the talking point all along: get through with the same standards and your good. Not all this bullshit about sexual attraction.

                  1. anon   12 years ago

                    It's not the attraction John and I are worried about, it's the distraction.

                    1. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

                      The article said sexual attraction but one way or the other too bad. I would think people in our special forces would be professional enough to handle having a woman around (one who was capable of passing the same standards as them).

                    2. Libertymike   12 years ago

                      Oh yeah, "unit cohesion" - soldier boyz can't kill as efficiently if GI Jane is in their unit.

                    3. Agammamon   12 years ago

                      There's no fucking distraction. When you're outside the FOB for two weeks with maybe babywipe 'showers' and everyone is covered in dust, tired, and smells like arse, no-one is thinking about a quick shag.

              2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                Cowhores?

            2. jamesrk   12 years ago

              See the problem is you think "bodybuilder" when you see special forces, Think more along the lines of The worlds strongest men competition. A bodybuilder would not last more than a couple of days in the jungle or desert where food an water are limited , much less the months they spend out there.

          2. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

            Army training is just as brutal. There is no way any woman could get through it.

            Hey, I saw Stripes. It didn't look that hard.

        2. Agammamon   12 years ago

          Dude, no-one is going to fail to follow orders because you're banging the squad hottie.

          It doesn't happen in the regular military so I don't know why you would expect it to happen in spec-ops.

      2. Agammamon   12 years ago

        This is the ONLY legitimate reason to be hesitant to allowing women in these jobs.

        But the solution is not to forbid it, its to ensure that your senior leaders have enough balls to not allow the standards to be watered down. If you can make the (single) standard, you're in - if not, go pack sand.
        Fucking 'diversity ratios'.

    3. Atanarjuat   12 years ago

      I was never in the military, but I worked on a steel-climbing crew, and saw the dynamic change completely when a woman was part of the team. It's not sexism against women. It's how men act around women.

      1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

        Yes, that's the fear, that the men will spend too much time worrying about protecting the women rather than focusing on their own job.

        1. Tejicano   12 years ago

          Worse yet, remember when Jessica Lynch was captured in Iraq there was a male soldier who was awarded for going beyond the call of duty basically to protect her from the Iraqis. I have always expected that there were at least a couple other male soldiers there doing the same thing who did not live through the encounter. It is male instinct to protect women in danger. That changes the dynamic in a combat unit from everybody fighting for each other to the males taking additional risks for the sake of the females.

    4. Agammamon   12 years ago

      So wait, gay guys can be in spec-ops but not women? Because of 'sexual attraction issues'? So gay *guys* (about as traditionally promiscuous a group of humans as has ever existed) will somehow never become attracted to one of their battle-buddies, like, ever, once their training is complete?

      And I'm supposed to accept this excuse prima facia?

  46. Live Free or Diet   12 years ago

    President Obama insists that his signature health care program is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

    I believe that. Physically. Philosophically. Politically. Absolutely. 100%.

  47. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Grandfather of US citizen killed in Yemen will petition a Federal court to hold the administration accountable.

    Nasser al-Awlaki, father of high profile al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki and grandfather to Anwar's son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, made the announcement in an Op-Ed in The New York Times today.
    Abdulrahman was 16 years old when he was killed in a strike in Yemen in the fall of 2011 just weeks after Anwar was killed in a separate strike. Altogether, American drones have killed at least four U.S. citizens since 2009, but Anwar was the only American purposefully targeted, according to Attorney General Eric Holder.
    U.S. officials referred to Anwar al-Awlaki, who was known for long online videos in which he called for attacks on the U.S., as a "senior operational leader" of al Qaeda and he was linked to more than a dozen terror plots. However, as referenced in Nasser al-Awlaki's letter, the U.S. government never charged him with a crime.
    [...]
    "Nearly two years later, I still have no answers," Nasser al-Awlaki said in the Times. "The United States government has refused to explain why Abdulrahman was killed? My grandson was killed by his own government? Shouldn't it at least have to explain why?"

    1. hamilton   12 years ago

      I bet I don't see any of my progressive friends switching their avatars to a picture of that particular assassinated brown-skinned teenager.

      1. paranoid android   12 years ago

        My grandson was killed by his own government? Shouldn't it at least have to explain why?"

        All together now:

        Because fuck you, that's why.

    2. anon   12 years ago

      Grandfather of US citizen killed in Yemen will petition a Federal court to hold the administration accountable.

      I'm sure it will be completely ignored.

    3. Libertymike   12 years ago

      It was murder, nihilistic neoconmen nonsense notwithstanding.

      1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        Wow, so it turns out that being in Al Qaeda is risky, huh?

        1. Calidissident   12 years ago

          Is there any proof Alwaki's son was in Al Qaeda?

          1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

            The son, no, not as far as I know. I was referring to the father. Perhaps I should have written: "So it turns out that hanging around with Dad and his fellow Al Qaeda companions is risky, huh?"

            1. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

              His dad had been dead for some time before the strike that killed him. Maybe he was hanging around with Al Qaeda. The administration has never tried to defend its actions at all, so who can say?

  48. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    President Obama insists that his signature health care program is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

    What news of the chocolate rations, Comrade?

    1. NeonCat   12 years ago

      It's increased to one whiff of chocolate a month.

      Actually eating chocolate would make you a fatty and rob the rest of us of healthcare.

  49. Archduke Trousersenthusiast   12 years ago

    We keep learning more and more about Warty's ancestors.

    1. anon   12 years ago

      That pic is wildly appropriate.

    2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      I wouldn't have expected him to have roots in Utah.

    3. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      "Nasutoceratops was a four-legged (quadrupedal) herbivore."

      Does that seem right to you?

  50. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

    Federal review of death penalty cases finds everyone was rightfully convicted.

    HA! HA! Not really...

  51. OldMexican   12 years ago

    The Cuban National Baseball Team is in the United States playing exhibition games, and it has already demonstrated its unbeatable defection style. Player Misael Siverio went in search of a new nationality after only a few hours in the country.

    Wait until he's briefed on Obamacare and you will find him swimming back to Cuba in no time...

  52. Cdr Lytton   12 years ago

    Lord Humungus posted about Oregon's mileage tax in the A.M. links but no one mentioned Bob Poole's enthusiastic support of it with these doozies:

    In addition to requiring non-GPS options, the legislation requires personally identifiable information to be destroyed within 30 days after it is used for billing. (These MBUF privacy provisions were vetted and approved by the ACLU.)

    Maybe Bob should read HnR once in a while to see how those "privacy" promises work in the real world.

    all proceeds go into the State Highway Fund and will be distributed 50% for state highways, 30% for county roads, and 20% for city streets.

    Except that the highway funds for all three are not exclusive to roads.

  53. Matrix   12 years ago

    Lesson: Don't be black and go against the predominant black opinion about the Zimmerman trial
    Actually, don't be a black non-Democrat for that matter.
    (PrisonPlanet.com link)

    1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      Elder tweet: "For the ladies who hated 'my tone'. Be advised that pre show, @piersmorgan called me a 'coward', said I lacked "the balls" to confront him."

      Wow, saying that to Larry Elder was such a good idea!

      1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

        Then when the cameras roll he turns on the old British charm - "why are you so angry, let's be reasonable!"

        During Commercial Break: "You're going down, you teabagging, self-hating, Uncle Tom!"

        "And we're back, trying to calm Larry Elder down so we can have a rational discussion about the American justice system!"

      2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Larry's a lot better when he's not angry, so that douchey tactic may have worked for Piers

    2. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

      Morgan admitted that he had booked Elder to appear because he had been critical of Morgan's assertion that the key witness in the failed prosecution of George Zimmerman is a "smart cookie."

      While Morgan attempted to railroad Elder into calling Rachel Jeantel "stupid"

      Jeantel is at best borderline retarded. Calling her stupid would be a compliment.

  54. Dunphy (the real one)   12 years ago

    "I look forward to the union overruling justice"

    Darn that due process!

  55. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

    A sportswriter who is not a moral crusading git, will wonders ever cease?

    http://sports.yahoo.com/news/g.....38614.html

    "Wednesday, Dawson was asked if he could "explain to the 10 women in the room why racism is unacceptable and sexism clearly is?"

    "The nature of the "question" meant that no answer other than total agreement would be acceptable nor will dissent ever be acceptable. Like a kid hungry for ice cream, we won't stop screaming until we get what we want."

    1. darius404   12 years ago

      Nice article. I especially like when he mentions the women's only golf groups. For some strange reason, there's never any outcry over how sexist THEY are. How curious.

  56. Paul.   12 years ago

    A Tucson cop lost his job after getting loaded and pulling a gun on a gas station attendant. Having the incident captured by a surveillance camera (yup, that's him, in the photo) probably didn't help his cause.

    And why isn't he facing charges of assault?

    1. Cdr Lytton   12 years ago

      Assault with a deadly weapon and abuse of office.

      If convicted, the prosecution would seek a sentance enhancement for the gun, right? And make sure that he loses his pension benefits.

  57. Butts Wagner   12 years ago

    huh

  58. Ted S.   12 years ago

    The Bee Gees were a hell of a lot more talented than Justin Bieber, Kedollarsignha, or Bruce Springsteen.

  59. Jerry on the boat   12 years ago

    Someone started a joke?

  60. Ted S.   12 years ago

    Didn't you get the message?

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