A.M. Links: Documents Reveal German Intelligence Works With the NSA, Study Says Al Qaeda is Growing, Police Break Up Blockade at Bulgarian Parliament

Unknown photographer/wikimedia

• Documents seen by the German newspaper Der Spiegel reveal that German intelligence works with the NSA and uses American software.

• A study published by the RAND Corporation suggests that Al Qaeda is growing but that its primary focus is not on carrying out operations against the U.S.

• Police in Bulgaria have broken through a blockade protesters set up outside the parliament building.

• An overnight bombing at the security headquarters in the north of Egypt has left one dead and 28 injured.

• Japan scrambled jets after a Chinese military plane flew through international airspace near its southern islands.

• The rover Curiosity drove 329 feet on Mars, its longest drive yet.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The rover Curiosity drove 329 feet on Mars, its longest drive yet.

Next gas station, 200 miles.

[Zakalwe]

You fool, we can't risk Martian global warming!

[gaijin]

Drive for show, put for dough.

[gaijin]

crap. 'putt'

[Fist of Etiquette]

Too late anyway. I already made a golf joke ealier below.

[CampingInYourPark]

Egypt's army chief has called for demonstrations on Friday to give the military a mandate to confront "violence and potential terrorism".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....t-23434809

Apparently the new voting method in the Egyptian "democracy" is showing up for protests.

[Juice]

This is what democracy looks like, isn't it?

[VG Zaytsev]

Why can't America be more like Egypt.

/ progtard

[RBS]

Are they sure it was a Chinese plane and not Rodan?

[sarcasmic]

Judge orders strippers $1 million cash life savings returned with interest...one year after state trooper confiscated it as drugs money

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....money.html
"Drugs money"? English. Do you speak it?

[Rich]

Brought to you by the same people who study "maths".

[Kaptious Kristen]

And "sport". They're all kinds of fucked up over there.

[Juice]

And drink driving.

[TheTreeOfLiberty]

"Brought to you by the same people who study "maths"."

Yea and the kind where 0.5 is "nought point five".

[Ted S.]

I'd like to see the trooper removed from his house at gunpoint (preferably with his young children watching if he has any) as the house goes on the auction block to pay off the judgment.

[some guy]

Qualified immunity. The taxpayer will have to cover that interest.

[Ted S.]

Yeah; I know it's not going to happen, but I'd like to see it. Even if the use of force isn't particularly libertarian.

[sarcasmic]

Initiation of force isn't particularly libertarian. Force in response to force is totally legit.

[robc]

That wouldnt be an initiation of force.

I dont have a problem with it.

[John]

Maybe that is some kind of UK English thing.

[Zeb]

It definitely is.

[Prisoner Zero]

U.S. attorney Nancy Svoboda said that in any event there was probable cause to believe that in the 'commonsense view of the realities of normal life, it was probable the money was either earned by and being used for illegal drug trade.

commonsense view of the realities of normal life

[Prisoner Zero]

http://journalstar.com/news/lo.....96416.html

Nancy Svoboda likes stealing people's money.

[VG Zaytsev]

Not really, who the fuck drives across the country with a million dollars worth of $100 bills? That's just stupid.

And she showed tax returns to get it back, so it's not like it was unreported cash income in the first place.

[Mr. Weebles]

Not really, who the fuck drives across the country with a million dollars worth of $100 bills?

A free American, that's who.

[VG Zaytsev]

In other words, no one.

[Xenocles]

It's another artifact of British English. I also hear the BBC talking about "drugs gangs" and "drugs corporations."

[VG Zaytsev]

'For all the court knows, there is a 90 percent chance that all money is drug tainted,' the judge said.

She's lucky that she got a non retarded judge, they are quite rare.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Police in Bulgaria have broken through a blockade protesters set up outside the parliament building.

Hence forth known as the turning point in the Battle of the Bulge-arians.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Oh, Bulgar off.

[jesse.in.mb]

But were cars flipped and paving stones thrown?

[Matrix]

Black is white. Up is down. Wrong is right.
Pelosi says Congress must uphold the Constitution by passing gun control

[RBS]

Is that like killing someone to save them?

[WTF]

We must also uphold the Constitution by establishing a State religion.

[Tonio]

Nice.

[thom]

My vote is for Buddhism. It seems like a nice compromise religion. Not one of the big religions and doesn't really give anybody what they want, but something that we could all live with.

[robc]

Not one of the big religions

???

Somewhere between 350 million and 1.6 billion adherents.

[thom]

I'm strictly talking USA here.

[Tonio]

Nice save.

[WTF]

And it would be especially funny to enforce that one at the point of a gun.

[Rich]

"Why Buddhism? Because it does not try to define the Undefinable. Because it does not make itself ridiculous by projecting its own image and calling this the Creator. Because it does not lower woman by teaching her submissiveness to man and his motherless, wifeless deity. Because it does not propagate itself by cheat, torture, sword, and fire. Because it does not insult the Mind by demanding its submissiveness to 'god-made' dogmas. Because it does not incite to tyranny, greed, and sensuality by the promise of power, riches, and glory. Because it does not brutalize the Mind by holding forth an endless, corporeal heaven founded on an endless, corporeal hell. Because it does not insult the Human Soul by placing mediators and priests between it and the Divine Spirit." -- From the inaugural issue of The Buddhist Ray, the first Buddhist journal in the U.S., January 1888

[Michael S. Langston]

"Why not Buddhism? Most believe plants have souls and the taking of any animal life is wrong, whether insect or human. This makes their default belief pacifism, which is a suicide pact. Additionally, they believe in rebirth and karma - combined this allows them to discriminate against many peoples; for instance, Buddhists can and do claim blind children are blind due to debts incurred in prior lives."--From Reason.com Blog 'Hit and Run' July 2013

[Apatheist ?_??]

Take a look at Burma to see what Buddhists can do in power. Or the former theocracy in Tibet.

[jesse.in.mb]

Really, Buddhism? The state religion should be Confucianism it is the best system of thought for advancing the state and implementing order. Not that I'm in favor of that I'd prefer the inaction of the Jains or Taoists personally.

[A Secret Band of Robbers]

C'mon, man. America needs Juche.

[UnCivilServant]

I nominate worship of the great old ones. They represent equality in their utter disregard for all things petty and human. May madness take us all

Ia. Ia. Ia.

[T]

If we're headed towards tyranny and madness anyway, might as well go big.

[Aloysious]

I read the news and Fisties posts. Madness has already taken me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

All shall love me and despair.

[Azathoth!!]

I could enjoy that.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Ayn Rand gave her villains too much depth.

[robc]

Her villains are 2D cardboard cutouts. That is one more dimension than real villains have.

[Bam!]

I'm starting to believe that words have no real meaning to politicians. They just jumble together words that polled well.

[some guy]

Do Congress Critters have to redo their oath every time they are re-elected or only the first time. I can see how a person like her would forget what her oath was after a couple of decades.

[prolefeed]

Pelosi's term in office is 2 years, not "in perpetuity unless I resign or am defeated". So, a new oath every two years.

[some guy]

I can see how a person like her would forget what her oath was after a couple of decades minutes.

FTFM

[DJF]

Pelosi is just trying to show her qualifications as a Supreme Court Judge.

[Atanarjuat]

Pelosi sounds kind of Italian. Maybe she's a Wise Latina.

[Rich]

It's not the first time Pelosi has publicly exhibited apparent ignorance of the Constitution.

Are you serious?

[T]

Well, she has to pass the Constitution in order to figure out what's in it.

[gaijin]

but to point it out would be bullying.

[Suthenboy]

The execrable hag is a master at newspeak.

[KPres]

I don't think she's a master of any kind of speak...

"We stand with that and say that people have a right to have a gun to protect themselves in their homes and their jobs, where, and that they -- and the workplace and that they, for recreation and hunting and the rest. So we're not questioning their right to do that."

[some guy]

"In Congress, there can be no more fitting memorial to the lives lost in Aurora, in Newtown, and across the country than a concerted effort to enact commonsense gun safety legislation

I agree. And common sense says that all gun regulations should be repealed immediately. I'm glad Rep. Pelosi and I see eye-to-eye on this.

[Enough About Palin]

""In Congress, there can be no more fitting memorial"

Memorials ain't congresses job you stupid cunt.

[VG Zaytsev]

Pelosi says Congress must uphold the Constitution by passing gun control

She talking about ending the militarization of local police, limiting SWAT teams to jurisdictions that actually need them and eliminating the armed divisions of the bureaucracies.

Right? Because that would be gun control upholding Constitutional rights.

[Rich]

White House attacks plans to curb NSA data collection

"This blunt approach is not the product of an informed, open or deliberative process," said spokesman Jay Carney.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

[Eduard van Haalen]

Their contribution to an open and deliberative process was to lie and claim the NSA program didn't exist, and to prosecute the guy who revealed it *did* exist. Yeah, they're really transparent.

[Atanarjuat]

It sounds like he's criticizing the NSA, not the civil libertarians.

[KPres]

Kind of hard to have and "informed, open or deliberative process" when everything is top secret.

[Michael S. Langston]

Isn't PRISM an example of a a blunt approach which is not the not the product of an informed, open, or deliberative process?

& not just the secrecy, but the program itself, which has been 'explained' by things such as we need the haystack to find the needle.

[sarcasmic]

USC student claims police told her she was NOT raped because the attacker didn't orgasm
Dozens of USC students have filed a federal complaint against the school for allegedly mishandling sexual assault and rape cases
In one case, a young woman said campus police dismissed her rape report because the attacker did not orgasm
Another student said after the school dismissed her report of sexual assault, she was forced to attend class with her alleged attacker
Tucker Reed, 23, claims her case was ignored even though she provided a recording of her alleged attacker confessing to the crime
The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into the claims

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rgasm.html
The Republican 'War on Women' continues. Wait a sec. This is a liberal organization? Forget it. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

If you want an idea of what it looks like to be obsessed with a subject, behold Tucker Reed's Tumblr.

I legitimately feel bad for her.

[RBS]

They were both hammered, he may have sexually assaulted her or he might not have then she stayed with him for 700+ days?

[WTF]

Well, obviously it wasn't "rape-rape".
/Whoopi

[generic Brand]

What's that condition where you begin to fall for your kidnapper rapist?

Dickholm syndrome?

[Gbob]

When everything is rape, then nothing is rape.

[Suthenboy]

"I was sexually assaulted by Andy in the early morning hours of December 4, 2010. I denied my victimization and remained in a relationship with him for 707 days."

I am a little lost on that one.

[RBS]

Yeah, that got me, but if you read on she sort of describes what happened or at least how she remembers what happened and it sounds like sexual assault. But who knows, congratulations feminists you've made me sufficiently cynical that even a seemingly legit claim makes me wonder.

[prolefeed]

I think staying in a relationship with the guy for 2 more years would raise "reasonable doubt" with most any jury.

It certainly makes me think she might be a highly unreliable narrator.

[KPres]

It does sound like sexual assault, but her telling of the events sure makes it sound like sexual assault isn't quite the terror it's often made out to be, at least in cases like this. She doesn't seem particularly traumatized as her bigger gripe is to be with social norms she doesn't like (some points I agree with) and not the guy or what happened, per se. Are there degrees of sexual assault? If not, maybe there should be.

[Zakalwe]

That's where I quit reading and stopped worrying about a google on his name hurting his employment prospects.

[WTF]

That's why you don't stick your dick in crazy.

[VG Zaytsev]

She didn't realize that it was sexual assault until her gender greivances professor convinced her that it was.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

This is a weird and bad and messy story, and it seems like she was probably sexually assaulted, but her complaints about societal norms are the kind of thing that make me have a really hard time feeling bad for her. NB: I feel bad for her that she had her person violated, but not about the other stuff.

In December of 2011, my (blacked-out-drunk) rapist flatly told me he would never have stuck around until I was ready to have sex with him. "When would have been the right time for you, Tucker? What length of time would you have found appropriate to leave me hanging?" he'd demanded angrily, rolling his eyes. "Two months? Six months? A year?" He said he was good-enough looking to find sex elsewhere. That, if it had been the 1950s, he would have dated me, but fucked girls on the side. That that's what men had done throughout history, and why should he be expected to behave differently? Because he ? and "all men" ? just needed sex.

Need or not, why would you expect someone to wait? I mean she's the one who's living in some absurd historical fantasy, where people "respect" you and therefore wait forever for you to put out. If you don't want to have sex, fine, but expect the other person to leave or cheat. I just don't understand these women who clearly don't actually want to be in sexual relationships, but start them anyway. Stop dating. You don't want to.

[Enough About Palin]

Maybe she should contact the Cleveland Browns.

[Juice]

Reading that, two words immediately came to mind. Attention whore.

[mad libertarian guy]

This is a liberal organization?

Higher education isn't an organization, it's much larger than than. USC is a speck in a massive liberal institution.

[Mike Laursen]

USC is a private university not affiliated with the University of California, and it is relatively conservative. Of course, everything is relatively conservative relative to the University of California.

[Xenocles]

We always laugh at the UCMJ's description of rape, which includes the line "penetration, no matter how slight, is sufficient to complete the offense." But I guess it's necessary - in fact, it's good for a law to be insultingly clear like that.

[WTF]

Documents seen by the German newspaper Der Spiegel reveal that German intelligence works with the NSA and uses American software.

You know who else had German intelligence spy on Americans?

[Raven Nation]

Kaiser Whilhelm II?

[Rich]

Mata Hari?

[Tonio]

Nice, but I thought she was a front line (!) spy, not a director of spying activity.

[Tonio]

Erich Honecker?

[BakedPenguin]

Erich Honecker?

[BakedPenguin]

PWND.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Colonel Klink?

[gaijin]

Well we know it wasn't Sgt Shultz.

[Marshall Gill]

Zimmerman?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Erich Honeck- er, I mean, Putin?

[sarcasmic]

'It's a scary thing to revisit those things underneath': Lady Gaga looks unrecognisable as she posts make-up free snap

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-snap.html
View at your own risk.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Pretty nice body. Not nearly nice enough.

[John]

Scary, but not unexpected. She looks scary with the benefits of professional makeup and photography.

[I can't trust my fans]

The lack of eyebrows is freaky.

[Brett L]

Meh. She's a solid 7 on the British scale. You can't put your 'Murcanized values of beauty on Brit-girls. Its unfair.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Huh? She's an Italian-American New Yorker.

[Brett L]

Oh. Well in that case, she's a 3.

[Zeb]

She's American. But I don't think she looks so bad. In a magazine is one thing, but if I saw her on the street I'd think she was perfectly OK looking.

[JW]

Nice legs.

[sarcasmic]

Quite the finale! Courtney Love flashes her chest in a red corset dress at the end of her concert

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ncert.html
View at your own risk.

[sarcasmic]

Man kicks and stomps neighbor's 6lb Yorkie and claims killing it was self defense

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....fense.html
Who the fuck does he think he is? A cop or something?

[BakedPenguin]

Jesus, that's sick. Tiny dogs can be annoying, but they don't deserve that treatment.

[mad libertarian guy]

Were I this guy's attorney, I'd use up the multiple documented cases in which cops shot dogs and claimed self defense and were let off as evidence exhibits A-ZZ.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Al Qaeda is growing but that its primary focus is not on carrying out operations against the U.S.

More proof that our enemies don't respect Obama as a threat!

[sarcasmic]

He used to be a she, and she used to be a he. Now transgender teenage lovebirds are in love after they BOTH had gender reassignment surgery

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....rgery.html
That's just messed up.

[Ted S.]

He used to be a she, and she used to be a he.

Now they're both "it"s.

[Tonio]

What does it cost you to have some compassion for them, Ted S? You don't have to like them, or agree with their choices, but why do they not deserve dignity?

Also, it's likely that the F2M still has a vagina, phalloplasty being expensive and not yielding particularly good results.

And the M2F may have undergone that surgery giving her an artificial vag.

What, exactly, are your criteria for dignifying someone (or something) with a gender-specific pronoun?

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Tonio, don't waste your time, you know H&R can't handle trans yet. The F2M did not undergo any genital surgery, only had his breasts removed. And they are an adorable couple.

[sarcasmic]

Surgery don't change chromosomes.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

I don't know why I should care at all about their chromosomes.

[Tonio]

But the windmills, Nicole, I are compelled to tilt at them!

[Floridian]

I didn't look at the pix until you said they were adorable. Whoever did the breat surgery is very gifted. I've seen a lot of breast reductions and they never look that good.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Right? I was amazed.

[Floridian]

It is funny the coincidences in the world. Yesterday on yhe radio they were talking about gender reassignment surgery and how someone was married to a person who had changed their gender but didn't tell them until after marriage. They were asking for people to call in and say if they would stay with that person. I've been with my wife for ten years so I think I would be pissed that I had been lied to, but I don't think I would leave.

[jesse.in.mb]

Seriously. I was surprised. He has less scarring than I've seen on some women with implants. Although he may generally not scar up much.

[Apatheist ?_??]

They are an adorable couple. Look completely normal. Honestly, I have more trouble understanding mental illnesses more than transgender. Born with a brain that is the opposite of their body, not all that complicated.

[John]

Many years ago, there was an HBO show called "Taxicab Confessions" where people in the back of a NYC cab told all for the camera. There was one women who was on TV at least quite attractive and at least claimed to have once been a man. Her confession consisted of talking about how she loved to go out and hook up with random men in the New York club scene for raw, rough sex and how none of them ever questioned that she was anything but a natural born woman. Frankly, from looking at her on TV I couldn't see why they would.

All I could think of was the number of men watching that show going "oh shit". I guess it ended up being a lesson in gender and sexuality for them.

[tarran]

I remember that!

Her description of coring the penis and stuffing it into her pelvis caused me knees to slam together with such force that I bruised them!

[John]

I don't think there is any straight guy who watched ever forgot it. I don't remember a single other thing about that show. I only watched it a couple of times, and each time it was late at night after coming home drunk. But that one really stuck in my mind such that I still remember it nearly 20 years later.

[Ted S.]

What does it cost you to have some compassion for them, Ted S?

That depends on whether the government is trying to force "compassion".

[thom]

One of the most irritating aspects of leftists, and especially progressives, is that they can often only see things in political terms.

It's just as obnoxious when that infection spreads.

[Tonio]

Not a responsive answer.

[KPres]

Actually it is. Playing on people's emotions with anecdotes like this is the primary way they advance the scope and power of the state. Knowing that, buying into their manipulations does cost you...down the road when it inevitably means surrendering another liberty. If that's not what it's ultimately about, then why aren't stories like this ever framed as a celebration of individual rights and choices?

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

why aren't stories like this ever framed as a celebration of individual rights and choices?

I thought that's exactly how the original article was framed.

[JW]

Isn't mockery of choices one of those rights?

FWIW, I could care less about their choices either way.

[Stormy Dragon]

Playing on people's emotions with anecdotes like this is the primary way they advance the scope and power of the state

Whenever I'm not an asshole to everyone around me, The State wins!

[Irish]

Whenever I'm not an asshole to everyone around me, The State wins!

That part got me too. Having compassion for people apparently advances the total state, somehow.

I'd actually argue that having legitimate compassion for people would mean you're opposed to the state, since you believe the state shouldn't be interfering with and damaging people's lives.

[Irish]

That depends on whether the government is trying to force "compassion".

In this instance, how the fuck is the government trying to force compassion?

Furthermore, if the government is trying to force compassion, you should have a problem with the use of government force. That doesn't magically give you license to be an asshole.

[Atanarjuat]

It's weird. You learn as a child that there are boys and girls, and you don't learn about the exceptions until much later. Moreover, laughing at something unusual is not necessarily mutually exclusive from having compassion or thinking they're deserving of dignity.

[Atanarjuat]

I fully expect to get jumped on for my lack of political correctness or whatever, but I simply believe that there is nothing off limits to humor in life.

[WTF]

I simply believe that there is nothing off limits to humor in life.

I'll second that one.

[RBS]

Yall are both going to draw the wrath of tonio.

[Xenocles]

Nothing is off limits to humor in life if the humor is done well. Offend me if you must, but never bore me.

[RBS]

This.

[Floridian]

I've heard phalloplasty cost $100,000. Appreciate what you were born with gentlemen, it cost a hell of a lot to buy one.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I have empathy for the kids. I would hate growing up missing a dick I never had.

[Floridian]

I am confused by this sentence.

[Floridian]

Wait, do you mean it would suck wanting a dick but not having one growing up? Then yes I agree.

[WTF]

That's very Freudian.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm nothing if not.

[CampingInYourPark]

What does it cost you to have some compassion for them, Ted S?

Why are they owed compassion? Why do you think it's necessary for them to have a world-wide audience know they are a trans-gender couple? Maybe they get their jollies from getting Ted S. to make comments. Why are you against them being jolly?

[Tonio]

Duly noted.

[A Secret Band of Robbers]

As a libertarian, I don't want to be coerced into calling people "he" or "she" to be politically correct, so just to spite them, I call ALL humans "it," like they're a stranger's Cairn terrier.

Remember the teacher who used to refuse to call kids by the nickname that EVERYONE called them by, and insisted on using the name they hated just because it was on the forms? Why would you want to be that person with gender pronouns? Social interactions are convention-based, not biology-based ("You're supposedly called Cathleen, but you're Asian, not Celtic, so I"m calling you Kei Lin") so what relevance do chromosomes have?

[Bam!]

Pheromones, how do those word?

[Ted S.]

I don't know. Why don't you tell us how they word.

[T]

Word up?

[gaijin]

Word to yer mutha

[Zeb]

What do pheromones have to do with anything?

[SugarFree]

If only they had met earlier, they could have just traded genitals.

But at least for now they get to avoid a lot of awkward third date conversations.

[gaijin]

they could have just traded genitals.

Would that make the relationship it like incest? or just self love?

[Fist of Etiquette]

SF is an idiot. Brain transplantation would be the easier path.

[Ted S.]

or just self love?

Learning to love yourself;
It is the greatest love of all.

[Rich]

They seem to be a happy couple.

And their lucky children will grow up with two mommies and two daddies!

[Tonio]

Rich, please see the questions I asked of Ted S above. Would you like to answer those?

[Rich]

Well, since I exhibited both compassion and dignity for them, I'll address this question:

What, exactly, are your criteria for dignifying someone (or something) with a gender-specific pronoun?

I'm not quite sure where you're going with the "dignifying" thing, so I'll address it as "considering". IIRC, Picasso said if it has breasts it's a woman and if it has a beard it's a man; and Lincoln said calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg. Those are starting points, but don't go far enough. I suppose that if someone self-identifies as being of some gender that's good enough for me. He or she or whatever just has to realize "they" may, um, experience some difficulties in "society". Wrt calling "something" he/she/it, well, I suppose that's up to *me*.

[sarcasmic]

What, exactly, are your criteria for dignifying someone (or something) with a gender-specific pronoun?

Chromosomes.

[Rich]

"May I see your chromosomes, please?"

[A Secret Band of Robbers]

Incorrect. You do not call androgen-insensitive males "he." Nor do you invent new gender specific pronouns for Turner's females, Klinefelter's males, or Warty.

[Zeb]

So, do you genetically test everyone you meet before using a gender specific pronoun, just to be sure you get it right?

[Tonio]

The thing which posts as "Rich" is neither worthy of a name nor of further consideration from me.

This is solely my decision, I don't expect others to agree or comply.

[Tonio]

(Carrying its own rules to their logical extreme)

[Rich]

Rich wonders whether the thing that posts as "Tonio" can read.

[Tonio]

It canz reads teh werds, but sometimes has trouble wit der meanings.

Srsly, I misinterpreted what you were saying. Sorry.

If they adopt, that child would have two sets of parents (biological and adoptive) in the current way of viewing things.

If they both froze sperm/ova and used those to conceive that child would have two mothers (genetic and host) and one father.

Trying to figure if there are any other realistic variations here.

[T]

Tonio, if you decided you were a unicorn and paid somebody to graft a horn on your head, would you, in fact, be a unicorn? Would I be justified in not referring to you as a unicorn and continuing to call you a human being?

[Floridian]

Yes! No! Maybe? I'm leaving now.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Don't give Bronies any ideas--they're already broken enough as it is.

[Tonio]

There are limits, of course.

[Tonio]

I don't know what to do with that example. Unicorns don't exist. I can't imagine myself being that delusional.

Men and women do exist. It costs me nothing to use whatever name or gender pronoun a person wishes to be called. Just as it cost me nothing to affirm that my niece was a princess when she was a little girl playing make believe.

As long as the delusions (or whatever) are harmless, and all it costs me is a slight change in wording, I'm happy to do that to preserve the dignity of the individual.

[Enough About Palin]

"Unicorns don't exist."

God says otherwise:

Deuteronomy 33:17
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

Psalm 22:21
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

Isaiah 34:7
And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

- King James Version

[jesse.in.mb]

Considering unicorn just means one-horn. I'd argue he would be a unicorn. Sadly we'd have to trap him to power the magic that is Obama's economic model, so I don't recommend Tonio going this route.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Tonio, I make fun of mimes. Am I a bad person?

They're happy. Good for them. Just because you poke fun at the oddness of something doesn't make you a monster.

[Tonio]

No. And I'd probably look the other way if you whacked one with an olive loaf (in a non-damaging way, of course).

But there are limits to poking fun. Sometimes it does make you a monster, like taunting a blind person about the colors of his outfit not matching, or about not being able to read the sign in front of him.

[Xenocles]

+1 Opus

[Tonio]

Finally, someone who understands.

[Enough About Palin]

"like taunting a blind person about the colors of his outfit not matching"

Thanks! That's a great idea!

[Brett L]

I used to do this to my color blind friend all the time. And also to consult for him if he had a date/interview to confirm that all of those "blues" were actually blue and not purple.

[Francisco d Anconia]

What ev.

[Gbob]

*shrug*

Individual choice. I have no issue with it.

[BakedPenguin]

It really seems like the Chinese want to start some shit. Or at least, they want countries to start giving them stuff in exchange for them not starting anything.

[Rich]

It's from hanging around with those North Koreans.

[Tonio]

Once you pay Danegeld...

[Bam!]

Chinese economy isn't growing as fast as it used to be. So, like any country, they use the military to distract the citizenry.

[some guy]

It really seems like the Chinese want to start some shit. Or at least, they want countries to start giving them stuff in exchange for them not starting anything.

No, they're just learning how to be a superpower. Right now they have only one role model.

[sarcasmic]

Olivia Wilde.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....-walk.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....movie.html
*drool*

[Floridian]

I think her forehead is way too large. Anyone else?

[John]

A bit yes. She has something of the Giada Natalie Portman thing going and not in a good way.

[Enough About Palin]

Maybe she just has an undersized face?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I would, of course, but I do not share Sarcasmic's overzealous lust.

[mad libertarian guy]

Regardless of the size of her forehead (which is larger than your average forehead), she needs a goddamn cheeseburger.

Or 10 of them.

[Floridian]

Mmmm....blasphemous cheeseburger. *droolz*

[Eduard van Haalen]

Does the Daily Mail have staff take these photographs, or do they rely on freelance paparazzi?

[John]

Free lance. The paparazzi make their living selling photos to places like the Daily Fail, NYPoSt and Enquirer and such.

[Eduard van Haalen]

So I can make a press card, hang it around my neck, go around photographing women, and if they object ask them why they hate journalistic freedom. I might even put film in the camera.

[John]

Pretty much. And if you get lucky and snap that pick of the newest Twilight star cheating on her b/f, you can sell it for tens of thousands of dollars.

[Eduard van Haalen]

They got a new star? Why wasn't I informed?

[John]

No. I was just giving a hypothetical.

[Ted S.]

Why would you watch Twilight?

[Rasilio]

You wouldn't have to, millions of teenaged girls and middle aged women will, all you need to do is get the list of actors starring in it from IMDB then follow them around

[Eduard van Haalen]

Thanks - you can always get excellent advice from Reason, that's why I love you guys.

[CampingInYourPark]

Delaware state officials have told Congress that they likely destroyed the computer records that would show when and how often they accessed Christine O'Donnell's personal tax records and acknowledged that a newspaper article was used as the sole justification for snooping into the former GOP Senate candidate's tax history.

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....z2Zy3zLWLw

[Slammer]

From the woman on the other end of Carlos Danger:

"The part that's most annoying is that I was 22 years old and in a bad place, but if anyone asked him he would say the same thing about himself, yet he's an adult," the woman told thedirty.com."

Holy shit, this is what we are up against with the future of this nation.

[RBS]

I guess 18-twenty something is like pre-adult these days or something.

[thom]

18-25 isn't really considered adult anymore.

[VG Zaytsev]

Hasn't been for awhile. We should just raise the voting age to 26.

[John]

Is the age of consent going to be raised to 30 now?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Maybe after a layover at 26.

[tarran]

I've run across several women who think that below the age of 30 they shouldn't face the expectations and responsibilities of being an adult.

It's fucking depressing.

[John]

It really is. I sat next to a woman on a plane a few weeks back who couldn't have been more than 27 or so and had three small children with her. She and surprisingly her children were actually quite pleasant. The contrast between her level of maturity and that of the typical 20 something you meet in Washington was pretty striking. And yet, I bet those 20 something Kdults would look down their noses at her for not going to the right school or giving up on her dreams or some such.

[some guy]

So many people are trying to shed responsibility in so many ways and our society/government lets them get away with it. It's bailout nation at every level. Anyone who accepts responsibility for their actions is a sucker.

[tarran]

It's neoteny, a common feature of domestication.

[Tonio]

But also hugely important to human evolution. Human babies are born pretty undeveloped (compared to the young of other placental mammals) because if they were any more developed women would have to have hips the size of a cow to give birth.

An infant horse can up and walk a few minutes after it's born; humans take a year to get there.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

It's unfortunate that I kinda get what she's talking about. We expect 22 year olds to do dumb stuff even though they're accountable for it. When 50 year olds act like this, it's disconcerting.

Especially because Huma's hot.

[John]

I wonder if she at least swings both ways and Weiner and the kid are just beards. The whole thing seems odd. If you like that kind of a look in a woman, which I do but some don't, Huma is very hot. Clearly Weiner likes that look or he wouldn't have married her. There is a reason why he is cruising the internet for sex and it isn't because his wife is keeping his interests.

[WTF]

Pretty sure Huma is Hillary's 'partner'.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

You guys are really ruining Huma for me here.

[Kaptious Kristen]

C'mon, John. You know very well that Washington is an incredibly stratified society and that marriages like the Weiners' are all but arranged. He saw someone who was politically connected, a Democrat, and reasonably young and good-looking. She saw a guy with power, on the rise (heh heh), and a Democrat. All the pieces fit, so bing-bang-boom, they get married. People at that level here don't get married for love or even lust.

This is why I'd be willing to bet that every single member of Congress, every top aide for every elected official and every political appointee is getting their tail on the side. They don't marry people they want to fuck - they marry people who are politically correct.

[John]

they marry people who are politically correct.

Fair enough. That is why they are getting so inbred. I figure by the time my kids have kids, the inbreeding will be so bad that having a protruding chin and a lisp will be required for someone to hold a high political position.

They are like the Spanish Habsburgs; every generation gets a little more dumb and a little more grotesque looking.

[Zeb]

I think there is probably a ways to go yet before there is literal inbreeding going on in the American political class.

[Tonio]

Not arranged (which implies imposed upon the couple by others) as much as contracted for reasons other than love.

[Timon 19]

[quote]Especially because Huma's hot.[/quote]
Citation needed.

I mean, I understand that the fawning left loves her unconditionally, and thus ascribes to her physical attractiveness well beyond reality, but "hot" to a non-lefty?

[John]

You have to be into that kind of look. If you have a thing for Semitic looking women, she is hot. Admittedly she is definitely an acquired taste. But I can see how people find her attractive.

[Timon 19]

I get the whole Arab/Jewish "exotic" look thing (I'm partial as well), but she ain't doin' it. Looks like she's already starting to hit the branches of the 40+ Middle Eastern woman tree on the way down.

Sandblast off the makeup and she probably looks like those Lady Gaga pics from the Fail. And she looks like a skeleton.

[Rich]

I'll hazard a guess that the 22yo has not been in the military.

[Tonio]

Well, leftists generally hate the military, and I've actually heard some of them talking about raising the age of eligibility for military service to "protect children" (early twentysomethings).

[some guy]

Your average enlisted person is a poster-child for irresponsibility regarding everything outside military life. They are (on average) terrible at managing their finances, terrible at managing their relationships and terrible at managing their image. Joining the military doesn't make you an adult.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Bingo.

[Rich]

I've known some enlisted people whose lives were FUBAR. However, I have known enlisted "kids" who were mature and responsible *far* beyond their years.

[Zeb]

I've known some enlisted people whose lives were FUBAR. However, I have known enlisted "kids" who were mature and responsible *far* beyond their years.

You see that everywhere. Some kids are dumb shits and some have it together.

[T]

They are (on average) terrible at managing their finances, terrible at managing their relationships and terrible at managing their image.

So, perfectly qualified to be mayor of New York?

[John]

It doesn't make you one. But it is a good indication. You only hear about the dumb ones who are frankly in the minority. Most of them do not get married, don't have kids and at most blow their money on stupid shit like car stereos and giant TVs, which is fine.

[some guy]

You only hear about the dumb ones who are frankly in the minority.

I admit I'm basing my statement on anecdotal evidence from personal interactions with military people, but damn near every one I meet is an idiot with regard to personal matters. I've always assumed it was because they felt like they had more important things to worry about like not getting blown up. The few responsible ones I've known have either been E-7+ or on the fast track to E-7+.

[John]

I did legal assistance for nearly two years. Saw literally thousands of clients. I saw the worst of the worst. And plenty of them are stupid. Lock them in a room with a solid iron ball and they will break it or get it pregnant.

That said, not all of them are 18 and idiots. You just don't hear as much about the ones who are not so stupid and irresponsible.

[Michael S. Langston]

The percentage of idiots anyone believes exists in the military will likely differ wildly depending upon the MOS's the individual 'believer' typically encountered.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Haha, I was bitching about that exact quote last night at home.

[Bobarian]

WTF does that even mean?

Does she feel she's not being treated like an adult, or that people are being mean to the Donger?

[gaijin]

yet he's an adult

But for years now I've heard that guys never grow up.

[Pro Libertate]

This isn't "This new generation is the worst ever" comment, but there's definitely a lag in emotional maturity in the kids becoming adults right now. Not sure why that is, though I think it's been happening for a while.

My generation was stupid at that age, of course, like most kids have been for a long time, but I don't think we were quite as, I dunno, lost. Is it greater affluence? Something else?

[Xenocles]

I still can't read that pseudonym without seeing it as I originally misread it: "Carlos Dangler."

[SugarFree]

Feminism? Pish-posh! It's time to circle the wagons for our guy!

Slate:

Anthony Weiner's sexts don't make him look like a sexual predator or even a freak. They make him look very, very ordinary.

And then whatever the fuck this is... Huma, Bravo

Personally, I'm still counting the days until the Hilary Clinton / Muslim lesbian affair comes out. Or as we shall forever know it: The Day The Internet Broke.

[John]

It is ordinary for a married guy to be sending pictures of his junk out to women half his age? I think there are a few wives and girlfriends out there who would disagree.

And I am sure these same women were defending Larry Craig when he was caught cruising for blowjobs in the Minneapolis airport, right?

[tarran]

Look at the picture of the Weiners at the press conference.

He is a total beard.

[John]

Yeah. That is what I am thinking. If he wasn't he wouldn't be out doing that. Perhaps that is why she married him. She knew he loved to cruise on the internet and would be okay with a once every couple of months sex life.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Hey, what's wrong with "a once every couple of months sex life?"

[John]

To each their own. I think if my wife only put out every couple of months, I would be looking for a divorce attorney, provided she didn't have a good reason like being ill or something.

[Francisco d Anconia]

How long you been married?

[John]

Seven years. Maybe I just have a big sex drive. But every two months will not cut it.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Damn kids!

When ya been bangin her for 20, come talk to me. 😉

[Pro Libertate]

Ye gods.

[Zeb]

I don't think it matters what any women besides his wife think about it. It's probably not normal, but so what?

[SugarFree]

Jezebel is oddly neutral on the whole thing, but the top rated comment is all "nothing to see here, move along."

[John]

I was thinking about how they defend anyone on their team no matter how vile. Some of it is that people like Slate and Jezebel are so wedded to the ad homimen fallacy that they apply it to themselves and the people they support in reverse. Since Weiner thinks the right things, he must be a good guy. If he wasn't a good guy, then the things he supports would be wrong and we know that isn't the case.

[Raven Nation]

Despite Weiner being a tool, it would still be better for his opponents to go after his policy flaws rather than this shit. If you go after the sexting, that's de facto saying his ideas are good.

[John]

True. But remember, this is New York. Most of the voters probably think his ideas are good.

[Pro Libertate]

Here's what I think. I don't trust politicians as a default, but if I catch any specific evidence that they are dishonest, immoral, unethical, power-mad, or anything else unbecoming a "public servant," I don't vote for that politician. Weiner is a scumbag without all of this, but this kind of nonsense shows he's not someone who should be trusted, even nominally.

"You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death, a flavor of mortality in lies--which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world--what I want to forget."

[Ted S.]

TEAM DERP is strong.

[Brett L]

Just so I'm clear, dick picks should cost you your job if you are:
1. An aging NFL QB on the Jets
2. A Congressman

But its totally cool for the NYC mayor. I hate to seem like I'm blaming the citizens of the Big Apple, but I really don't know who else can be responsible for defining mayoral expectations down to this level.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Ruh-roh. Epi's going to go all "REGION WARZ" on your for speaking the truth here.

[SugarFree]

Epi has a point. Every place in the country sucks in its own special way. To suggest otherwise is just another form of the partisan behavior that drives this mess and it's a particularly retarded form of collectivism.

Of course, Epi's charming personality and diplomatic way of stating things leaves much to be desired.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I agree with the sentiment, but you do have to look at NYC, if they elect Weiner, and say, "well, this is what you asked for".

[mad libertarian guy]

I don't have to wait until they elect Weiner because they have already elected Blommie 3 fucking times. New Yorkers carry a particular kind of retard gene. That and a pussy gene. They act all tough, but then whine like little bitches about things like SUPERSTORM SANDY and HEAT WAVE 2013. Having grown up a Floridian who experienced Andrew and mid-nineties heat for 8 months of the year, it's fucking hilarious to watch New Yorkers bitch about a tropical storm and some heat and humidity in mid fucking July.

[gaijin]

They act all tough, but then whine like little bitches

As a generalism about the vocal political class, I concur. Individuals I've met...not so much.

[Ska]

Amazing that posters here define what 8 million people think in a sentence or two, as if NYC is some kind homogeneous hive mind. Largest most diverse city in the US and yet everyone thinks the same way. Sure.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Largest most diverse city in the US and yet everyone thinks the same way.

Actually Houston just passed NY up on the diverse part. Though I guess that depends on how you measure it.

[tarran]

New Yorkers carry a particular kind of retard gene. That and a pussy gene. They act all tough, but then whine like little bitches...

That applies to Boston too.

[WTF]

They act all tough, but then whine like little bitches about things like SUPERSTORM SANDY and HEAT WAVE 2013.

Don't confuse hysterical media puppet-heads with typical New Yorkers.

[Zeb]

The thing is that only some New Yorkers elect their mayor. At least half don't care or vote for someone that doesn't get elected. That's why it is stupid to say "well they all got what they deserved". No, only some of them got what they deserved. The rest got fucked by some scumbag politician.

[Michael S. Langston]

All that's needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing...

So disenfranchised I understand, but if they can vote - regardless of whether they do - they are at least partially responsible for that government.

And if that doesn't work... Contemplate the reverse:

If those with the ultimate power to hire and fire legislators aren't responsible who is?

[John]

If anyone knows sucks, it would be Epi. And he is right about that. Every place has its virtues and every place has things about it that suck.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Sucking in their own special way doesn't mean they suck equally.

"Let's see... North Korea or the US... they both suck in their own special way, so I'll just flip a coin to decide where to live since anything else would be retarded collectivism."

[SugarFree]

There are people in all 50 states from all 50 states.

Name me a state or a region of this country that hasn't done something blindingly illiberal at some point.

[mad libertarian guy]

Name me a state or a region of this country that hasn't done something blindingly illiberal at some point.

CALIFORNIA!

It's full of liberals. How could they act illiberally?

[SugarFree]

Interestingly, when I went to Napa and points north, whenever we told people we were from Kentucky they started ranting like libertarians about taxes, liquor laws, and teacher's unions.

Free Northern California!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Free Northern California!

Actually, breaking off everything west of I-5 into a separate state would be an interesting governmental experiment.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Show me where I claimed there was such a state or region.

Does the assertion that there are people in all 50 states from all 50 states mean that starting a business in Texas or California is equally easy? Or that trying to drill for oil or gas would be the same in North Dakota and Oregon? Or that laws for carrying guns are the same in Florida and New York? Or that Detroit is the same as Austin?

Again, to be clear, sucking in their own special way doesn't mean they suck equally.

[SugarFree]

OK, OK. Stick to your teams.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, way not to respond.

Because evaluating every entity comprised of more than one person is just collectivism. The NRA is the Sierra Club, Austin is Detroit, Texas is Illinois, the Northeast is the South, the US is North Korea. There's no difference to be seen except by retarded collectivists.

If every Californian doesn't hold the same opinion, we can make no conclusions about the business, educational, or political climate of California. That's just asinine on its face.

If you can't see the difference between even the US and North Korea because that would be collectivism, your premises probably need some recalibration.

[SugarFree]

If you can't see the difference between even the US and North Korea because that would be collectivism, your premises probably need some recalibration.

Yes, I was obviously talking about different countries and not different regions of this country. You saw right through my clear wording and the context of the conversation.

To talk about an entire region or even state or even a city as thinking in lockstep is collectivization. Libertarianism is about individuals, in case you haven't been able to figure that out yet.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

So collectivization at the national level is OK?

To infer that what I am saying is requiring an entire city to think in lockstep is galatically or purposefully obtuse.

There are people in Texas against concealed carry. Yet, there is concealed carry here. "Texas" approves of concealed carry. Is that collectivism in your view?

Is it collectivism to say that "California" enforces environmental and zoning laws that, though not every Californian agrees, are still the law in California and have an impact on business that wouldn't be felt in Texas, even if some Texans want to be like California?

[SugarFree]

So collectivization at the national level is OK?

You sure put a lot of work into missing the point.

You do want you do want. Crow all you want about how awesome your shitty little chunk of America is compare to those icky other people. Rah, rah, rah. Go team.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

There are people in Texas against concealed carry. Yet, there is concealed carry here. "Texas" approves of concealed carry. Is it collectivism in your view to say "Texas approves of concealed carry?

Is it collectivism to say that "California" enforces environmental and zoning laws that, though not every Californian agrees, are still the law in California and have an impact on business that wouldn't be felt in Texas, even if some Texans want to be like California?

You sure put a lot of work into missing the point.

Coming from someone who seems to assert that pointing out that different cities, states, and regions have different laws with different goals and outcomes requires believing that those entities move in lockstep, that's rich enough to set off a coma.

Is it your view that federalism, in and of itself, it just retarded collectivism since no state will have 100% lockstep agreement on each of its laws? Is it your view that rating some city or state as, say, "business friendly" and another as unfriendly toward business is just retarded collectivism since neither place has 100% agreement on its laws? Why did so much manufacturing leave the Rust Belt for the South? Retarded collectivism?

It's hard to imagine that someone really believes that choosing to locate a manufacturing business in a right-to-work state rather than a union state is just retarded collectivism because there isn't 100% agreement on employment law in either location.

[Zeb]

"Texas" approves of concealed carry. Is that collectivism in your view?

Yes. The laws of Texas allow concealed carry. Texas taken as a whole can't approve or disapprove of anything.

[Zeb]

The objectionable part is saying that all New Yorkers suck or that they all deserve whatever stupid politicians that get elected. You are perfectly right about comparing different cities or regions for their policies, but to put that on all residents of a certain place is unfair collectivization and stupid team bullcrap.

[Brett L]

Oh no, we have Florida Man and routine idiocies. I happen to live outside of the incorporated city, in a purplish-red congressional district. We're just too parochial to get any real sociopathic talent in my particular region of FL.

[Jordan]

I don't think it's particularly unfair to single out the people who continuously re-elect Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomturd. The Mercatus Center ranks NY #50 in terms of freedom.

[SugarFree]

I'm not suggesting NYC is perfect, but it does serve a pretty important function for the eastern half of the US: It is a progressive population sponge.

Of course NYC is fucked up politically, look at how many states have been exporting their leftists to it.

San Francisco and Portland serve similar functions on the west coast. And Florida does for the Eastern Seaboard in regards to people driven mad by the sea winds.

[gaijin]

I don't think it's particularly unfair to single out the people who continuously re-elect Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomturd

True, but neither of them got 100% of the vote.

[Enough About Palin]

Then what about those precincts in OH where 100% voted for Obama?

[Zeb]

I don't think it's particularly unfair to single out the people who continuously re-elect Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomturd.

No, it isn't. But the entire population of the city includes a lot (probably a majority) who didn't choose to elect those shitty politicians.

[Michael S. Langston]

So if good cops just chose to do nothing to stop bad cops, they're not responsible at all?

I get all NYers and all cops and all N.CAians and all humans are all individuals and don't have 'collective' opinions or guilt, but we live in a society where people elect their government.

And to go from non-collective opinions to say NYers should not collectively share the guilt of what the government they allow to exist does seems too far...

[robc]

Every place in the country sucks in its own special way.

Agreed. For example, NYC sucks at pizza and rent control.

[Pro Libertate]

He does, but there's also the fact that some regions are disproportionately asinine. The city is one of them.

[generic Brand]

Nah, AM Links is too early in the morning for Epi to even be up, let alone give a shit. We can hate on the west coast all morning long (at least until sloopy wakes up to feed the chickens, or whatever he does).

[SugarFree]

until sloopy wakes up to feed the chickens

So that's what they are calling it now, eh?

[Bobarian]

To be fair, just being a QB for the Jets should cost you your job.

[Enough About Palin]

I never figured out what it was that Larry Craig did that was wrong. If it's perfectly fine to pick up someone for consensual sex in an airport lounge, then why not an airport restroom?

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

I hate to seem like I'm blaming the citizens of the Big Apple, but I really don't know who else can be responsible for defining mayoral expectations down to this level.

Um Chicago is way ahead of these bitches in that department.

[John]

And so is Massachusetts.

[JW]

Hey! Maryland sucks just as much!

[Brett L]

Just because you elect guys who wanted to be gangsters but had to find an office that came with thugs because they lacked the charisma to build their own loyal followers...

No, no. You're right. I just, well, every time I've been to Chicago its been way too hot or way too cold. I guess I've never been there for that two weeks in May and again in September when its only sort of hot and sort of cold.

[T]

Wait, what? You're from Spring, man. You're bitching about the heat in Chicago? WTF is May through October here?

[Brett L]

Yes, but we had AC literally everywhere. Also, I spent 4 years in IL schools with huge radiators and tiny windows in early June and late August wondering how pre-AC people ever survived. I understand why people get murderous in Chi-town in the summer. AC isn't a basic human right up there.

[Pro Libertate]

I didn't find Chicago summers to be very oppressive. Of course, Tampa is a little hotter and more humid than Tallahassee.

[some guy]

I hate to seem like I'm blaming the citizens of the Big Apple, but I really don't know who else can be responsible for defining mayoral expectations down to this level.

DC keeps re-electing Marion Barry. The bar has been irretrievably lowered to the center of the Earth.

[Pro Libertate]

And "we" voted for possibly the least qualified and worst president in our history twice. Right after we voted for another awful president twice. Which followed two terms of another shitty president.

[SugarFree]

Buzzfeed and Gawker outs the girl he was sexting. Stay classy, you guys.

And the Gawker original story was also neutral (I had to make sure I was really reading Gawker), but the commenters don't care, because Republicans ugh.

[Warty]

This "scandal" has gone too far. Americans are way too puritanical. Why do we Americans expect what we do of our politicians? So Clinton got a blow job from an intern, an entirely consensual act. Big fucking deal. That Senator Hart dude was banging away on his yacht. Now Weiner-head here is shooting off his cock shots. Not a big deal if the parties involved were consenting (but cock shots unsolicited, not cool). The only time I think something like extra-marital affairs matter is when politicians are preaching about "family values" and using that as an excuse to take rights away from others and push really abhorrent policies. In other works, not practicing what you preach, but hypocritically milking on what you preach.

The problem is Republicans. Obviously.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Hilarious. Because a 50-year-old man cruising the internet isn't a sign of poor judgment.

[Nikkis enthusiastic dissent]

Well, a 50-year-old man who has already had his career and marriage close to destroyed...for cruising the internet.

He just obviously has zero self control.

[SugarFree]

The "Huma, Bravo" article I linked above posits that Weiner has bipolar disorder and then excuses his behavior because of it.

Here's a radical idea: Maybe someone with untreated mental illness shouldn't be mayor of America's largest city. Haven't we had enough of that with Bloomberg?

[Brett L]

Oh, well let's give him a multi-billion dollar budget and the NYPD then!

[John]

Yeah. Especially to do it in such a public way. It is not like it is hard to be anonymous on the internet. And there are chat rooms out there catering to every kink imaginable.

[WTF]

Yeah, you gotta love how the "position of power" bullshit goes out the window when one of their guys like Slick Willy is getting it on with an intern.

[gaijin]

is getting it on with an intern

For clarity and focus

[WTF]

Nice.

[mad libertarian guy]

So I guess 23 year old teachers fucking their 18 year old students is okay now, right?

[Zeb]

I don't see why not.

[Raven Nation]

"So Clinton got a blow job from an intern, an entirely consensual act. Big fucking deal"

I tend to agree. BUT it should have been a big fucking deal to the feminists who argue there can be no consensual sex when there is a power disparity.

Except, of course, for the Ivy League professors banging their grad students.

[Rasilio]

"So Clinton got a blow job from an intern, an entirely consensual act. Big fucking deal"

Actually no the big deal is he lied to cover up the existence of the liaison which was being used to establish a pattern of behavior in a case where he was accused of rape.

The problem was not the blow job, the problem was obstruction of justice and the very real probability that he did in fact rape a woman prior to becoming President.

[Raven Nation]

Agreed

[Pro Libertate]

You know, fuck that. I think maybe someone who has no fucking honor shouldn't fucking get power over other people.

I'm a libertarian, but I still think morality and ethics count for something. Fuck these fucking amoral people.

[Zeb]

I just assume that anyone who is a successful politician is amoral, so I don't get too worked up about specific cases. This guy is just dumb enough to get caught. Which I suppose is and extra strike against him. But there is plenty of reason not to like him just based on his politics, so again, I don't care.

[Pro Libertate]

Why not toss the ones who get busted? Sure, most are guilty of something, but I don't see giving them a pass when we know it.

[Zeb]

It's not really up to me.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The only time I think something like extra-marital affairs matter is when politicians are preaching about "family values" and using that as an excuse to take rights away from others and push really abhorrent policies.

"Hypocrisy: When your personal beliefs contradict mine."

[ant1sthenes]

"You know, when I was a young man, hypocrisy was deemed the worst of vices," Finkle-McGraw said. "It was all because of moral relativism. You see, in that sort of a climate, you are not allowed to criticise others--after all, if there is no absolute right and wrong, then what grounds is there for criticism?"

"Now, this led to a good deal of general frustration, for people are naturally censorious and love nothing better than to criticise others' shortcomings. And so it was that they seized on hypocrisy and elevated it from a ubiquitous peccadillo into the monarch of all vices. For, you see, even if there is no right and wrong, you can find grounds to criticise another person by contrasting what he has espoused with what he has actually done. In this case, you are not making any judgment whatsoever as to the correctness of his views or the morality of his behaviour--you are merely pointing out that he has said one thing and done another. Virtually all political discourse in the days of my youth was devoted to the ferreting out of hypocrisy.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

So if this is all consensual and no big deal, why are they outing her? Why not respect her privacy?

[RBS]

"Celebrity Gossip" privacy.

[SugarFree]

And one of the comments is promoting the idea that Weiner should release the nude texts she sent him.

[NeonCat]

"Pics or it didn't happen"?

[VG Zaytsev]

Nothing says feminist empowerment better than standing by your philandering husband, to be close to political power.

[JW]

Whore's gonna whore.

[Hillary Clinton]

Were you talking about me?

[Francisco d Anconia]

A study published by the RAND Corporation suggests that Al Qaeda is growing but that its primary focus is not on carrying out operations against the U.S.

So is the point that 12 fucking years of war didn't stop them and we should stop sticking our finger in everyone else's chest OR that we need to be at war for another 12 fucking years?

...just a couple more decades and we'll have them.

[CampingInYourPark]

Moderate Democrats are quitting on Obamacare

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....obamacare/

[John]

Traitors!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The rover Curiosity drove 329 feet on Mars, its longest drive yet.

It was a par 3.

[John]

They didn't have the weight or the space to send it with a full set of irons.

[Auric Demonocles]

Damn it Fist! Two jokes for the same link?

[gaijin]

Damn it Fist! Two jokes for the same link?

indeed! Imagine the embarassment and rage he's created for those who came late to the links only to scroll down and see this cunning placement, surely meant to diffuse similar jokes from others, made earlier on his original post. You are a selfish and evil genius.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I must own all humor.

[WTF]

All your joke are belong to Fist.

[Auric Demonocles]

Somebody set us up the Fist!

[Pro Libertate]

Mars has around 40% of Earth's gravity, so a 329-foot drive would take what, a 4-iron? What's Curiosity carrying, anyway? Regulation fourteen clubs or fewer, due to weight concerns?

[Auric Demonocles]

Don't forget to account for less air friction.

I also thing you are messing up your units (funny how that happens with Mars). A ~110 yard shot is something I do with a sand wedge.

[Pro Libertate]

Good point about air resistance, but I was adjusting for limitations in Curiosity's swing. I admit, assumptions were made.

[Auric Demonocles]

What tees would Curiousity play? It is only like 2, but there aren't kids tees. So I guess it'd have to go with the women's?

[Pro Libertate]

That's close to rape, Auric. Don't force your patriarchic views on Curiosity.

[Rich]

Obama nominee probed by DHS for assisting McAuliffe-connected business

the DHS inspector general's office announced that the primary complaint against Mayorkas is that he assisted Rodham's financing company, Gulf Coast Funds Management, win approval for an EB-5 visa even after an application was denied and an appeal was rejected.

However, this was not the only attempt by Rodham and McAuliffe to get assistance from the Obama administration for their business venture.

Yawn, another so-called scandal.

[CampingInYourPark]

Don't really get this one. You're the SOS' brother and you can't get a visa approved for your loan shark?

[Brett L]

Hillary is smart enough to have no contact with her brothers that could possibly be viewed as favors. Until they return the White House silver.

[Rich]

Officials at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership were wary of McAuliffe's EB-5 fundraising plan, which they saw as a "visa-for-sale scheme" and worried that it could eventually "give the Commonwealth a black eye."

RACIST!

[Suthenboy]

http://danfromsquirrelhill.wor.....ani-perry/

Professor of African American Studies shows rapier-like wit with her counter argument to an ideological opponent: "Dr. Perry wrote back to me and said, "I will be reporting you to the police for harassment."

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

The one place where I appreciate the legal community is on this subject. We're pretty much united on the verdict.

[John]

Other than one idiot lefty I went to law school with, I don't know a single attorney who doesn't think the verdict was correct. It is good to know that even the liberal ones know that reasonable doubt means something and can't be thrown out for the mob.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Tell me your idiot friend only believes in the manslaughter charge.

[John]

Yes. And sadly, she is a very good trial attorney and an otherwise smart person. But she really bought into the Obama cult and it has taken its toll on her overall intelligence and reasonableness.

[RBS]

I know a couple of attorneys who caught the Zimmerman Trial Retard Disease. A friend of mine got flamed on facebook for explaining the role of juries.

[John]

It is a disease. Some of the generally more unreasonable lefties I know agree with the verdict. Hell, Talkleft agrees with the verdict. There is no in between. One either thinks rationally about it or is completely batshit crazy about it.

[Ted S.]

Barack Obama went to law school, and I don't think he believes the verdict to be correct.

[John]

If you caught him in a honest moment, I bet he does. He is just lying to the mob.

[WTF]

Barack Obama went to law school, and I don't think he believes the verdict to be correct.

Sure he does. It's just politically expedient for him to pretend not to.

[WTF]

Gah! John beat me to it.

[Floridian]

Outstanding! That is all.

[Jordan]

Good article. I didn't know about some of that stuff. Trayvon looks even worse now.

[Ted S.]

I hate it when sites don't display properly if you don't have images set to load.

[Tonio]

As annoying as it is, I feel it's best to not engage people like Imani Perry. Any pushback only gives them more fuel for the engine of outrage.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"My two sons, bright, creative and kind African American boys, aged 7 and 9, both wept when they heard that George Zimmerman had been acquitted. They were afraid he, or others like him, might come for them next."

This smacks of ShitThatDidntHappen.txt, but if it did, this is downright abusive. She's turned Z into a literal boogeyman and scared her kids into thinking he's going to hunt them down and shoot them.

Nuke universities today.

[Brett L]

This guy doesn't have what it takes to be a firefighter, but I think the cops will want him. Oh, Florida Man.

Authorities first became suspicious when they noticed a man waiting at the scene of the fire in bunker gear, which firefighters wear when they go out on calls. When questioned, 18-year-old Joseph Michael Brannen told deputies that he wanted to be a volunteer firefighter and had purchased the gear on eBay.

[BakedPenguin]

That reminds me of this guy.

[Brett L]

Why didn't they just give him a job. Is it in the union contract that people who enjoy running a subway train can't hold that job?

[BakedPenguin]

One of the comments mentioned that he had autism, and may have been unreliable wrt schedules, etc. Otherwise, that would seem to be the best solution.

[mad libertarian guy]

Documents seen by the German newspaper Der Spiegel reveal that German intelligence works with the NSA and uses American software.

I love subsidizing the defense of a very, very rich country.

Code your own shit, Germany.

[John]

http://www.propublica.org/arti.....own-emails

In response to FOIA request, NSA claims it can't search its own emails. I think the site went down from an instalanche but it was working earlier this morning.

[Brett L]

I'd have my lawyer say, "No problem. Send them all."

[John]

Except they could charge you for all of it.

[Brett L]

I'll bet I could find backers up to $10M.

[T]

Kickstarter?

[Brett L]

Sure. Anyone who gives me $20 can have all the emails where their name might be mentioned. Anyone who gives me $250k can have the whole dump.

[Auric Demonocles]

Women's tees are sorter and easy than the men's.

There, I said it. I'm a monster.

[Auric Demonocles]

And apparently a squirrel victim.

[Auric Demonocles]

The rover Curiosity drove 329 feet on Mars, its longest drive yet.

No way it makes the green in regulation.

[CampingInYourPark]

Nearly 1.2 million mortgage modifications have been completed since the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was first launched four years ago. Yet more than 306,000 borrowers have re-defaulted on their loans and more than 88,000 are at risk of following suit, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) found in its quarterly report to Congress.

http://www.localnews8.com/life.....index.html

[WTF]

So, people who couldn't afford the homes they were in still can't afford the homes they were in?

Shocking.

[VG Zaytsev]

Meh, that's a 33% failure rate, I would have expected a much higher one.

[Outlaw]

OT: Should I go to law school? I'm not satisfied doing what I'm doing (software testing) nor making what I'm making ($30k/year).

I have my BA degree in Poli Sci and a minor in CJ and a lot of my undergrad coursework was pre-law stuff. I'd considered it when I graduated in 2010 but I met a lot of hungry law grads who weren't making much or couldn't find work, which kind of dissuaded me. Has that situation changed?

Otherwise, I'm thinking about pursuing a second degree in Accounting.

tl;dr I NEED MORE GOLD DOUBLOONS TO SWIM IN AND CHILD LABORERS TO POLISH MY MONOCLES. HALP!

[Drake]

I've worked with a lot of corporate lawyers - insurance and healthcare firms. Seems a fairly cushy well-paying gig. May be pretty boring in the long-run.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

What will a law degree do for you that you don't have now?

[Francisco d Anconia]

Huh?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He asked whether he should go to law school. Does he have some need for a law degree to enter a particular field of interest or does just want to get a law degree to see how it works out job-wise?

If someone wants to get a law degree to practice in a particular field in which there is a need and in which he is interested, that's one thing and it may well justify going to law school.

If someone wants to get a law degree to say "Hey, I'm a lawyer" and then try to find work, a law degree may be a poor investment.

[Outlaw]

I'm interested in criminal defense. Always have been.

[RBS]

You can make a solid living doing magistrate/municipal level criminal work. You also get to spend a lot of time doing the fun courtroom stuff.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Well, more and more things are becoming illegal, which probably means that being a criminal lawyer is a segment of lawyering with solid growth potential.

[JW]

I'm no lawyer, but I worked at a law firm in the 90's as a paralegal when I was considering going to law school.

It's a horrible profession at that level. You're shoving piles of paper from one side of the office to another and into a file cabinet. Document reviews for young associates are long and brutal and you will see zero court time, unless you find some juicy pro bono. You will see other new-ish associates crying in the bathroom, if not breaking down in the hallway.

The legal market was completely saturated at the time, nt sure if it's improved, and I worked along side people with JD's, temping as paralegals, making 10 bucks/hour and with $100K in loans. They went to a tier 2 school and/or didn't have an A average. They didn't get recruited.

I worked for a partner who loved his job and many of them did, but by that level, the ones who didn't love it had bailed. Associates had to bill 2000 hours annually and senior associates had to make rain.

Lawyers at smaller firms or working as in-house, seem to be happier.

The day I decided against law school was one of the happiest days of my life.

[JW]

I meant to say that it was a large law firm in DC, one of the biggest.

[Pro Libertate]

If you want to do that, there's work (though the market is very bad for new lawyers right now in general). The pay initially isn't great, but it usually scales up.

Big firm practice is stressful, so consider an ultimate in-house or small firm practice.

Yes, if you want to be in the legal profession, you'd better get a law degree. But don't spend too much getting one.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Well, he said he wanted more money. I can't imagine a lawyer, regardless of foi, wouldn't make more than a software tester.

Of course, he'd have to live with the fact that he's a lawyer.

[John]

I think it depends on what your ambitions are and what kind of a financial deal you can get from a school. If you can manage to go cheap and keep your debt down and have realistic expectations of what you want to do with the degree, sure. There still is a need for lawyers and a law degree is still marketable in other fields. It is just not a license to print money anymore. My advice would be to go if you really want to and can get into at least a second tier school without accumulating a lot of debt. And understand also that unless you go to a top 20 school, go to a school in an area of the country you plan to live the rest of your life in. The legal profession is horribly regional.

[Zakalwe]

Law is in a long-term downward spiral and structural adjustment. Stay away from that shit.

[John]

The business model of large commercial law firms is dying and will only get worse. Really, the only field I see that has a future as its currently constituted is criminal defense. The world will never run out of criminals and you can't outsource criminal defense to India or hire a paralegal or build a computer program to do it.

[T]

Actually, as the feds keep making new rules, the supply of criminals will just keep increasing. Sooner or later, we're all criminals to the feds.

[John]

Yup. It is not like the drug war is going to end anytime soon.

[kinnath]

Patent lawyers seem to be safe for a little while yet.

[mad libertarian guy]

the only field I see that has a future as its currently constituted is criminal defense. The world will never run out of criminals former lawyers who make and never ending stream of criminal legislation and you can't outsource criminal defense to India or hire a paralegal or build a computer program to do it.

FIFY

[John]

Gotta protect the guild somehow.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Divorce law! Can't outsource that either.

[John]

You can to some extent. If the parties are splitting amicably, they can download the forms off the internet and save the attorney's fees. But, gays will be getting into the divorce court act soon. So that should make up for some of that loss.

[Auric Demonocles]

Gays can't split amicably? What a bigot!

(/s)

[SugarFree]

Baby Boomer dementia sex cases. Gold-fucking-mine.

[Auric Demonocles]

Wow, you sound like you're in the wrong side of software.

[Outlaw]

Sadly, I'm not too interested in software development.

Just not my thing even though I wish it was.

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, if you like it it's great pay and easy to find work. Bonus that there are a lot of people our age doing it.

But if it's not your thing it's got to be boring as hell.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

DON'T GO TO FUCKING LAW SCHOOL.

In short: no, the job situation has not changed. Only 50% of law grads find long-term work in the law, BigLaw is collapsing, and there are like 500 applicants per one job.

[WTF]

So we've actually reached peak lawyer?

[Jordan]

Well, it sounds like it's too late for you, but the national unemployment rate for software engineers is about 1-2%. But maybe you can work your way into some other part of IT.

[RBS]

I'm not going to say don't go but if you do go make sure to lower your expectations. Law school generally sucks and your classmates will mostly suck too. If you actually want to practice I would suggest the solo/small firm route.

[Bobarian]

I have it on good authority that Sugarfree's mom makes hundreds of dollars an hour on the internetz.

[Auric Demonocles]

I woudln't hav believe it either, until just Friday i saw Sugarfree's mom check for $9847 for working just a few hours this month

[SugarFree]

She does support my depraved life choices.

[Jordan]

Did she buy a Bugatti?

[Andrew S.]

As an attorney, let me say...

No. Don't do it.

[gaijin]

Trying to eliminate competition eh?

[CampingInYourPark]

OT: Should I go to law school? I'm not satisfied doing what I'm doing (software testing) nor making what I'm making ($30k/year).

My advice would be to try to do what you enjoy and interests you. If you really want the gold doubloons and child laborers why not start a business? The people that I know with the big bucks are all business owners.

[kinnath]

50% of experienced engineers and engineering managers are going to retire over the next 5 to 10 years.

We still struggle to hire high-quality new-grads.

Go back and get a undergrad degree in engineering.

[JW]

I'm really pushing The Boy to get an Engi degree. Not sure if that'll happen, but I'm encouraging it.

The She-Spawn is pretty much settled on some kind of art degree. :::Sigh::: To be fair, she does have talent. Hopefully she'll leverage that into something that pays.

[thom]

You'll find good paying work with a degree in accounting. Law School is a scam.

[lap83]

You sound like you're better at picking degrees than picking a career. You know you don't have to go back to school at all to change what you do for a living.

[Outlaw]

Fair criticism and true to an extent.

[Warty]

You should be making a shitload more than $30k as a software tester.

[Rasilio]

What the hell are you doing that you only make $30k a year software testing?

Entry level wages in the field everywhere I have been were over $40k and I test software for a living and make over $120k.

Also if you don't like software testing it is very easy to springboard from that to a career as a project manager (and from there to senior management), which will double your salary within 3 years and get you up to $100k in 6, just get a PMP certification.

If it is the gold dubloons you want stick where you are, even without going into development you will earn more money working in IT for the next 8 years than you will going to law school for 4 years and then working as a lawyer for 4 more and at the end of the 8 years your salaries will be pretty damn close to the same. You just need to find a role within the IT space that you enjoy well enough.

[Outlaw]

I'm an entry level tester at a relative's small business.

[Rasilio]

Ah, there is your problem.

In my last gig I was a QA Manager and couldn't even get an entry level tester in Louisville Ky for less than $45k a year. I did hire one guy for only $40k but he had no actual corporate IT background, he was working for Geek Squad as a field agent making $17/hr so it was still a pretty big step up for him.

My recommendation is to look for work with another company, stay in QA for a couple of years while you scope out other positions in the IT field and see what you might like to do, then take a few classes so you can move into that type of work. Possible end goals are System/Network Admin, DBA, Project Manager, Product Manager, Configuration Manager, Release Engineer, Sales Support Engineer, Field Service Engineer, Performance Test Engineer, Test Lab Manager, Technical Writer and probably about a dozen other jobs all of which will eventually pay you about as well as a lawyer and you can use a couple of years experience as a QA tester to move into.

[Outlaw]

Solid advice.

I admittedly don't have many skills or certifications other testers at other companies have. What skills and certs would you recommend acquiring?

And how much do Technical Writers make?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Learn to program and let the drones test the greatness of your output.

[Rasilio]

Average salaries range from about 55k to 80K depending on location, they probably top out between 75K and 100K once you get senior enough.

Certs I generally don't recommend for QA as I have yet to see one which was worth the paper it was printed on (they all boil down to insider fights on which terminology for basically the same stuff is better).

I do recommend that you learn to code at least a little because test automation is where the money is and if you want the big bucks learn performance and/or security testing, both require some coding but it is not the all day every day coding of an app developer, more like spending 2 or 3 days putting together a script to get the test you want then a week running it through difference scenarios and another week working with sysadmims/dba's/developers tweaking parameters till you get the performance you desire. This does reqire some ability to do statistical analysis however so if you're a mathophobe it is probably not a good choice.

As far as the actual QA itself, there really isn't too much to learn, it is mostly intuition finding where the bugs are but solid debugging skills will take you far.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Should I go to law school?

No.

[Outlaw]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'd reply to you all but I have to train for my new job: Anon-bot Apprentice

Wow! Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches, dude!

[VG Zaytsev]

OT: Should I go to law school?

No, not unless you want to be unemployed and $100,000 in debt.

Why don't you start your own business or buy one?

[generic Brand]

As someone who is starting law school next month, against the better judgment of people here and my attorney coworkers at the law firm I am currently employed, I can tell you that it really comes down to what you want (as cliche as that is).

I know I'll be saddled with debt for probably the next two decades of my life. I know that I'll be stressed out and entering a career where I will likely work at least 70-80 hours a week. I know that everything and everyone is telling me not to go to law school right now, but I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. I welcome the challenge that the law will give me, and I feel that this is the best way for me to affect a change around me, however minor.

I too am drawn to criminal law, because I can't help but see the three felonies a day that me and my family and friends are constantly committing. There are too many damn laws on the books, and if I educate myself to better understand those laws, maybe I can help those around me navigate that shit.

My two cents, anyway.

[Outlaw]

I used to be that idealistic when I wanted to be a police officer a couple years back. Then I met a lot of police officers taking all those CJ courses and learned all about how the police operate.

I hate cops.

[generic Brand]

Same, on all counts. I'm still pretty idealistic, and in the back of mind know that I won't make much of a difference, but it's more than I'll make staying in the current job I'm in.

[The Late P Brooks]

Has anyone, anywhere, actually looked at Weiner's "ideas" about governing the City of New York?

I assume they are uniformly idiotic and wrong, but just for laughs, I'd like to see somebody say, "I don't care about Weiner's sexual obsessions, bizarre or otherwise. He would be a shitty Mayor, because his policy proposals are dumb."

I expect too much.

[John]

They could say that, but no one would listen.

[The Late P Brooks]

Kelly O'Donnell is fat.

That is all.

[John]

She doesn't look too bad on the google image search for her. Has she porked out or something? Is she pregnant?

[The Late P Brooks]

Should I go to law school?

It seems to me in-house "regulatory compliance officers" will be in demand from now until Doomsday.

[Auric Demonocles]

My girlfriend's title is "Regulatory Label Specialist".

[The Late P Brooks]

"Regulatory Label Specialist"

Does she get royalties on every one of those "Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law" tags? Because that would be awesome.

[Auric Demonocles]

Nutrition labels. No royalties. Though I do get a bunch of free food that she gets to bring home but doesn't want.

[np]

Linus Torvalds defends his right to shame Linux kernel developers
"My culture is cursing": Linux kernel world is a hostile place?by design.

(coverage by Wired, different perspective, different comments)

[Brett L]

I miss the days when all kernal developers were either full on autistic or Aspie enough that you had to curse at them to get their attention. "This is bullshit" is not really a curse, just an attention grabber.

[Timon 19]

From the Ars piece:

" Linus, you're one of the worst offenders when it comes to verbally abusing people and publicly tearing their emotions apart."

Tearing their emotions apart?

What the fuck?

[Clich? Bandit]

He is a real prick. But I love it. My favorite was when he tore into a longtime maintainer for fucking up user apps.

"SHUT THE FUCK IT! We never break user space! Period. Your Push was total crap."

Ahh, how awesome.

[Clich? Bandit]

IT = UP...on a full list by the way.

[Clich? Bandit]

Here it is.

[Timon 19]

Wow, I hadn't read the whole thing before.

"The whole patch is incredibly broken shit. It adds an
insane error code (ENOENT), and then because it's so insane, it adds a
few places to fix it up ("ret == -ENOENT ? -EINVAL : ret")."

That's hilarious. That's someone who was just trying to get shit out the door and was probably in a hurry and couldn't figure out why the "insane" error code was happening in time. That's so hackish.

[Timon 19]

Oh, I know he's an asshole. While that management style isn't ideal for face-to-face work, for remote collaboration I don't see the problem. About 5 minutes after I started first interacting with people on the internet in any way, I learned to stop taking stuff personally.

And Linus is right in a lot of cases to get fired up about breaking userspace. They're trying to maintain something that a huge part of the world RUNS ON, even if the world doesn't quite realize it. And they don't largely because the kernel is managed very tightly so shit doesn't break.

[Zeb]

Seriously. Since when do Linux developers have emotions?

[John]

Stay classy San Diego.

SAN DIEGO - San Diego city attorney Jan Goldsmith will question the police officers in charge of Mayor Bob Filner's security.

A lawsuit filed Monday by former Filner communications director Irene McCormick Jackson claims the men who guard the mayor witnessed sexual harassment.

"McCormack Jackson was in an elevator with ... Filner along with the police officer..." the lawsuit alleges.

"The police officer was fixing his handcuffs," the lawsuit claims. "The mayor put a headlock on (McCormack Jackson) and said, 'You know what I would like to do with those handcuffs?'"

The lawsuit also says Filner stopped the harassment when a member of his security detail walked in on it.

"Mayor Filner only ceased trying to kiss her when the elevator stopped and a staffer got in with them," the lawsuit said.

http://www.10news.com/news/inv.....l-07232013

Too bad she didn't kick him in the balls. What a fucking scumbag.

[Jordan]

Top Men! Only men like this are qualified to run our lives!

/Derpgressive

[John]

What kind of a sicko do you have to be to grab some strange woman in an elevator and put her in a head lock? You don't just do that one day out of the blue. You have to work up to that kind of depravity. How many other things did he do before he got to that level?

[Jordan]

Yeah, I can't even fathom how somebody could believe that was acceptable behavior. The guy's a complete sociopath.

[Kaptious Kristen]

But....but...but...he's a hugger!

[The Late P Brooks]

Has she porked out or something? Is she pregnant?

She was on a little while ago, and she has ballooned. Not as fat (or ugly, Cthulu be praised) as Candy Crowley, but

*sings*

I don't want her, you can have her,

SHE'S TOO FAT FOR MEEEEEEE

[John]

Crowley is a whale. I can't figure out how she has a job. She is the token fat chick I guess.

[CampingInYourPark]

Obama 'Pivots' for 19th Time

According to political reporter Salena Zito, today's economic speeches by Barack Obama represent the 19th "pivot" for the president:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....40875.html

[Kaptious Kristen]

John & JW - you all going to Dick Dale? Looks like I'm going stag. I can't believe out of the group of 6 that we normally get to go to his show every year, nobody is on board. Fuck em!

[Kaptious Kristen]

And what about our resident NoVA hockey fan? Any interest in Dick Dale on August 4? Birchmere?

[John]

I think I am going to go. I am going to be out of town next week on vacation. But will be back on Friday. I am going to go alone though. My wife agreed with me that she could do about five minutes of Dale at that volume and no more.

[JW]

I think I'm going. Not sure if stag or not.

Are we all wearing carnations?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'll be the only female of the species alone there. Chicks these days hate being seen alone in a social setting.

Anyway, I think I may get there about 5:30 or 6 and have a wee snort in the bar. Not sure when the concert hall doors open. Probably about 6:30 or so (show is at 7:30).

[Kaptious Kristen]

And I'll be sure to wear platform shoes, just for John.

[John]

And promise not to lie and tell you how nice they are.

[Warty]

Fuck, he played here on Saturday and I missed it. Fuck. Why didn't you tell me he was touring? Dick.

[Kaptious Kristen]

He tours every summer, ya fluffy-headed jackanape! Only a total non-Dickhead wouldn't know that!

[Warty]

I haven't seen him in like 6 years. YOU'RE A DICK.

[Kaptious Kristen]

No. I'm a Dickhead. What are you, slow?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Kristen and I had a convo about it a while back. I missed it due to some retarded family function. (stupid weddings)