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Obama Wants Us To Ignore His Scandals and Give Him More Power, Medicaid is an Unbelievable Mess, Weiner Won't Waver: P.M. Links

J.D. Tuccille | 7.24.2013 4:30 PM

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    President Obama wants us to stop paying attention to the scandals bedeviling his administration and get busy making the government bigger and more powerful.

  • Medicaid patients in Michigan and Utah are having trouble finding doctors, which may be partially explained by the problems North Carolina physicians encounter in trying to get paid by the government program.
  • Don't fence me in, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says in response to efforts to curb the NSA's spying excesses.
  • GM shares would have to triple in price for the federal government to break even on its bailout of the car maker, says TARP Special Inspector General Christy Romero.
  • The US government will hold off on selling F-16 fighter jets to Egypt while it tries to figure out who will be running the place.
  • Now that we know random women on the Internet have seen Anthony's weiner as recently as last summer, pressure is growing on the former congressman to exit the mayoral race in New York City.
  • New Zealand's ruling politicians have come up with a blunt approach to dealing with concerns about illegal government spying on citizens: They're legalizing the practice.

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

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    ...pressure is growing on the former congressman to exit the mayoral race in New York City.

    Weiner stands strong! Weiner stays in! Weiner pushes forward! Weiner ready to ejaculate all over the Big Apple! And so on...

    1. John   12 years ago

      Weiner to go balls to the wall for Gracie Mansion.

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Weiner is balls deep in scandal.

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        I'm sure he'll stiffen his resolve.

    3. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      Weiner will not pull out, no matter how much you ask him to stop or cry.

    4. Rich   12 years ago

      "Anthony Weiner, at your cervix."

      1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

        @ Rich: winner!

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          Thanks, but I must give props to The Firesign Theater.

          1. The Bearded Hobbit   12 years ago

            ... and Rocky Rococo.

            Always fun to find another Firehead!

            Forward into the past!

            ... Hobbit

    5. Dibbler   12 years ago

      The Big "baby's arm holding an" Apple.

    6. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      Latest Weiner Poll: Shinkage

  2. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    New Zealand's ruling politicians have come up with a blunt approach to dealing with concerns about illegal government spying on citizens: They're legalizing the practice.

    And I thought Middle-Earth was a libertarian paradise.

    1. Dibbler   12 years ago

      Just wait til they start cracking down on pipe weed.

    2. The Last American Hero   12 years ago

      The Shire was a great place to live until Sharkey and his men took over.

    3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I guess making spying legal is at least better than ignoring the laws.

    4. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      It did have the Lidless Eye.

  3. Joe M   12 years ago

    New Zealand's ruling politicians have come up with a blunt approach to dealing with concerns about illegal government spying on citizens: They're legalizing the practice.

    NSA would be taking notes, except they already knew about this.

    1. Suthenboy   12 years ago

      They invented it. I think their plan was code named FISA.

      1. Suthenboy   12 years ago

        They just forgot to make it legal secretly. Amateurs.

  4. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    New Zealand's ruling politicians have come up with a blunt approach to dealing with concerns about illegal government spying on citizens: They're legalizing the practice.

    So much for that libertarian utopia.

    1. Dibbler   12 years ago

      FYTW taken to its logical conclusion. I can't wait til we get a similar law or, more likely, an executive order.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        The legislation will be called the Citizen Privacy Protection Act. It will billed as a law to strengthen 4th Amendment protections.

        1. Dibbler   12 years ago

          The NSA is just protecting our private matters. We are the government; our privacy is their privacy.

  5. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    GM shares would have to triple in price for the federal government to break even on its bailout of the car maker, says TARP Special Inspector General Christy Romero.

    But GM is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead!

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      Give that man a Volt!

      1. Rasilio   12 years ago

        Or 50000 of them

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      GM is undead. There's a difference.

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        No Volt for you!

      2. Rich   12 years ago

        "Buyers with brains go after the new Chevy Zombie ... or *vice versa*. BWAHAHAHAA!!"

  6. rts   12 years ago

    B.C.'s carbon tax a success, author says

    Sustainable Prosperity has released a report that shows since the carbon tax shift was introduced in 2008, B.C.'s consumption of fossil fuels has been reduced nearly 19 per cent per capita compared to the rest of Canada, while the province's gross domestic product has kept pace with the country's.

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      Interesting...there was this in the article:

      The key to the B.C. carbon tax shift's success, Elgie said, is that it [sic] while taxes went up on fossil fuel use, income taxes were reduced,

      Consumption tax instead of income tax...I might take that deal if offered.

      1. rts   12 years ago

        Well... then people alter their habits, consume less, and you end up $1.146 billion in the hole.

        (I'm not saying it was this tax in particular that contributed to the current hole, but it might come in the future, like the stories we've seen about taxing smokers to fund health care.)

      2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        Consumption tax instead of income tax...I might take that deal if offered.

        I would absolutely take that deal if offered.

      3. Juice   12 years ago

        If you are being "offered" an entirely new tax in exchange for a reduction in rates of another tax, um, don't fall for that.

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          Certainly good/evil is in the details.

    2. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Do they have a comparison with another comparable jurisdiction that didn't impose a carbon tax?

      If not, then we have correlation, and not even the beginning of causation.

      1. rts   12 years ago

        And then there's this:

        Elgie admits that with only four years of data, he can't say for certain the changes in fossil fuel use in B.C. are entirely attributable to the carbon tax, but he's confident most of them are.

        Science!

        1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          The fuck do you want? The guy is confident.

    3. Suthenboy   12 years ago

      Forgive me if I am a tad skeptical about glowing results on a study of Carbon Taxes done by a group named Sustainable Prosperity.

  7. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    A controversial Fringe Festival performance featuring two naked actors engaging in mayonnaise enemas and a sexual act on stage left some audience members in shock while others walked out of the theatre Friday night

    "By the third time . . . I was like, you know, this is gratuitous. I do not need to see any more mayonnaise enemas for the rest of my lifetime."

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      Who'd you hear about that from?

    2. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      It was only the third one that was gratuitous?

      1. Raven Nation   12 years ago

        You have to wonder what the creative conversation was like:

        "I've got an idea. Why don't we smear jam all over our bodies."

        "Hmm, I think mayo would make more of a sexual statement."

        "Even better, let's use it as an enema!"

        I mean, I'm just a little curious how you get that kind of inspiration.

    3. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      mayonnaise enemas

      I suppose Rule 34 is in effect, but that's just fucking nasty.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Did they use artisanal mayonnaise?

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          Pervert dollars spend just as good as vanilla dollars. Sloop would be crazy not to sell to them.

          I have a hard time believing there are no health risks to a mayo enema.

          1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

            I have a hard time believing there are no health risks to a mayo enema.

            May their anuses rot.

        2. R C Dean   12 years ago

          Ted, I think they were making artisanal mayo.

          1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

            HEY-OH!

          2. Suthenboy   12 years ago

            *Glaaaaghk*

            Jesus RC, I really could have gone all day without that picture in my head. The enemas themselves were bad enough but that really pushes it up a notch or two. I dont think I will be eating mayo anytime soon.

            By the way, did you say you had moved to Tucson? How do you like it there?

            1. R C Dean   12 years ago

              Love it.

              1. TeamBarstool   12 years ago

                Welcome to the Baked Pueblo...

    4. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

      Can't imagine where people like me get the idea that sexual extremism is an expression of immaturity more often than not.

      1. Juice   12 years ago

        Maybe immaturity. Or boredom.

    5. Bobarian   12 years ago

      But then after the fourth or fifth time, it started to grow on me.

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        By the sixth, it was funny again. Seventh, well, that's just gross.

        1. NeonCat   12 years ago

          "By the twelfth, I was profoundly shaken to my core, challenging long held personal beliefs. I am a better person for the experience and sincerely hope this becomes the new Vagina Monologues."

    6. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      "I do not need to see any more mayonnaise enemas for the rest of my lifetime."

      Philistine! You have no appreciation for High Art. Go back to your tractor pulls and World Wide Wrestling.

      Alternate joke: With friends like these, who needs enemas?

      1. C. Anacreon   12 years ago

        And now, here's Bullwinkle's Corner.

  8. John   12 years ago

    "an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals.

    Ignore the dead ambassador and the IRS agents taking the 5th over there.

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Let me be clear: that stack of papers over there at NSA Headquarters that contains every phone call and email in America. You didn't build that.

      /Obummer

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        What difference, at this point, does it make?

    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      SO-CALLED SCANDAL! OKAY, SCANDALS!

    3. Tejicano   12 years ago

      Oh jeez, that's just like lighting the flame to draw Buttplug Bob to come crawling out from under his turd stool and derpsplain it to us all over again.

  9. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The US government will hold off on selling F-16 fighter jets to Egypt while it tries to figure out who will be running the place.

    They have the cash, we have merch. Let's get this done. (We know they have the cash because we gave it to them.)

  10. Irish   12 years ago

    How academia lied about George Zimmerman being a racist.

    1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      Academia can turn anyone into a racist. No evidence required, just redefinitions and "group justice" and other bullshit.

  11. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    A quirky Brooklyn model died early yesterday after he drunkenly stumbled onto a subway track's electric third rail while urinating in Williamsburg, law-enforcement sources said.

    1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      In his will, he asked that the Brooklyn Nets serve as pallbearers for his funeral so they could let him down one last time.

      1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

        No self-respecting hipster in Williamsburg is going to do anything so bourgeois as being buried.

        His ashes will be reformed into a tire for a fixie.

        1. I can't trust my fans   12 years ago

          +1 pair of ridiculously over-sized glasses.

    2. SugarFree   12 years ago

      Wait, he took a piss before he got on the train?

      Well, there's your problem.

      1. Tejicano   12 years ago

        I suppose that in this case we could say that the piss took him.

  12. rts   12 years ago

    GMOs May Feed the World Using Fewer Pesticides

    Between 1996 and 2011, Bt corn reduced insecticide use in corn production by 45% worldwide (110 million pounds, or roughly the equivalent of 20,000 Olympic swimming pools).

    ...

    "I just shake my head in bewilderment at the folks who take these stringent positions that biotech should be banned."

    1. Dibbler   12 years ago

      But... But... Corparashuns! Monsanto bad! Unga bunga!

  13. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    What if Anakin Skywalker never turned to the Dark Side?

    Predictably, the possibilities just show what a lousy writer Lucas really is.

    1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      However, the young Jedi knight changed his mind and went to Palpatine's office to assist and became Darth Vader. Imagine if Anakin waited in the chamber, how would the events turn out?

      He would have turned to the Dark Side anyway. Palpatine would have just butchered Mace and Co., then come to Anakin and given the whole "come to the Dark Side, we have cookies" speech.

      1. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

        According to the movies he turned evil because he had a bad dream. Not exactly a tough sell.

      2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        I dunno. I came out of the prequels thinking the emperor wasn't actually that powerful. There's an argument to be made that he was weaker than Yoda, weaker than Anakin, weaker than Mace Windu, and even weaker than Kenobi, who, you may recall, kicked Super Dark Jediakin's ass.

        1. Xenocles   12 years ago

          There's more to power than manipulation of the Force or combat prowess. Palpatine is a pretty skilled and charismatic manipulator.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Sure, I'll buy that. But I stand by my statement. Actually, as written, I'm not sure why Yoda wouldn't have just taken him out a little later.

            1. Xenocles   12 years ago

              Yoda got lucky when the order to kill the Jedi went out. After that he got his ass kicked fighting in the Senate chamber. (Well, okay, maybe not "ass kicked," but somehow Yoda decided that he lost the fight.) We all have off days.

              Besides, it's plausible that Palpatine was playing rope-a-dope because he had a pretty good reason to believe Anakin would come in and see him looking helpless, which Palpatine could then use to push him over the edge. Characters like him always have intricate plans that hinge on perfect knowledge of other characters, which they happen to have.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                Which is stupid. The prequels and everything in them couldn't have been much dumber.

                Really, the big difference between the first films and the later ones was that Lucas felt compelled to explain things. Screw that, it's action-fantasy. He took the epic influences too seriously and tried to convert the series into something it was not.

                1. Xenocles   12 years ago

                  Yup. Omniscience is a hard superpower to write for.

                2. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

                  I assume it's all covered here. I say assume because I haven't watched it yet. Maybe someday.

                  Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace Review

                  The 70 minute Phantom Menace review/critique/commentary/satire/educational video that set the standard for online movie reviews done by a pizza roll eating psychopath. Now see the entire review in one unbroken video.

                  1. Xenocles   12 years ago

                    He did the entire trilogy. Worth watching for fans of film in general as well.

                    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      I like his reviews. Very story-oriented, which is ironic, since that was the new wave of the 70s directors. Including Lucas, supposedly.

    2. Xenocles   12 years ago

      Why would Luke have to kill Yoda if Yoda killed Anakin? What's the big deal with saying "Your dad betrayed the good side and I killed him." With Padme around to set Luke straight it would be even easier to take.

      1. Xenocles   12 years ago

        I also think the whole prophecy thing was a bunch of crap, too. Plainly interpreted, it doesn't mean anything, so it could mean whatever you want it to mean. Maybe it means Vader wiping out all but two Jedi. Maybe it means Vader killing Palpatine. Maybe it means someone else was the chosen one. Just once I'd like to see a movie include a prophecy that never even comes close to coming true, since modern prophecy plots are almost universally weak. Lucas isn't exactly Sophocles.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Someone should rewrite the prequels and shoot them all over again.

          1. Xenocles   12 years ago

            I'd be happy if someone just shot Lucas. (NOT REALLY)

            1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

              Liar.

              1. Xenocles   12 years ago

                Well, it's not that he doesn't deserve it (though to be intellectually consistent I guess he doesn't), it's more that it wouldn't do any good and you never know what sort of trouble you'd get in without the disclaimer these days.

    3. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      When you consider the disconnect in the dialogue between the prequels and Episode IV, it's amazing how badly Lucas blew it in creating a Tolkien-like film epic.

      I've contended before that the storyline works far more effectively if you treat Anakin as an idealistic, carefree Jedi-savant who turns to the Dark Side as he becomes increasingly disillusioned by the destruction that resulted from the Clone Wars, with the final straw being the supposedly apolitical Jedi trying to become king-makers in the removal of Palpatine, which he sees as a violation of their principles. Except that in turning against the Jedi, he ironically allowed a greater evil to establish an increasingly tyrannical state in its place. The tragedy of Anakin is that he became twisted by his idealism and naivete against the principles he swore to uphold.

      Instead, Lucas saddled one of the most bad-ass villians in film history with mommy issues and a fear of death that made very little sense in connection to the original movie.

      1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        It works best with Anakin as a crusading goo-goo corruption fighter, that goes 'a little to far'.

    4. hotsy totsy   12 years ago

      We wouldn't have any Star Wars movies!

  14. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

    Dammit 2 Chili! Stop othering me!

  15. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    Weiner Won't Waver Unshaken

    1. Bobarian   12 years ago

      Weiner beaten, battered, choked, spanked and abused, but he won't go down.

      Has it been 4 hours, because I think someone needs to see a doctor.

  16. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    President Obama wants us to stop paying attention to the scandals bedeviling his administration...

    Obama's not slick enough to get away with calling them phony scandals.

  17. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    Obama back on the campaign trail.

    That was a lot of hype for precious little speech.

    (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

    It's not that President Obama's big economic speech (which you can read here) was bad. It's that it was, unexpectedly, a warm-up rather than the main event. Obama said it himself. "Let me give you a quick preview of what I'll be fighting for and why," he told the crowd. The meat of Obama's economic policy agenda will be unveiled in a series of speeches over the next several weeks.
    So don't look to this speech for the details of the policy. Look to it for the signal of the "pivot."

    Why do everything possible to execute the federal government as efficiently as possible when you have speeches to give?

    When Ezra Klein isn't impressed by the meat and potatoes of an Obama speech, you know it sucked.

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      "Obama back on the campaign trail."

      He's gotta keep busy until he retires.

      1. Dibbler   12 years ago

        I think you meant "until his third term."

    2. SugarFree   12 years ago

      When you've lost The Banana Slugs, you've lost everything.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        http://bananaslug.com/

        This is actually kinda cool.

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          "Warty" plus "Random Tarot Card" gave me, and I shit you not, an online dating site for people with STDS.

          Positive Singles

          1. Rich   12 years ago

            Told you.

          2. Killazontherun   12 years ago

            I tried that with Bing. Several entries down, something interesting.

            The Lime Green Warty Man in the Desert This "mind post card" was of a dirty lime-green being with warts or bony stubby nubs all over ... Farah's Tarot;

          3. Suthenboy   12 years ago

            Positive Singles? Wow, that is some spin there.

    3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Jesus, this president is the lamest duck in a history of lame ducks. People report on what he says, but no one takes him seriously.

  18. Guy LaGuy   12 years ago

    It's important to find ways to include nature's value in our calculations

    Who needs nature? We do. Without nature, we would not be here. How do we put an economic value on that?

    1. KDN   12 years ago

      You can't hug your children with nuclear arms.

      1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

        "It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and our air force has to have a bake-sale to buy a bomber."

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          C03xi$+

      2. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        But your kid will think you are pretty cool if you gave them one to hug.

    2. CampingInYourPark   12 years ago

      Derpdy derpity derp derp

    3. gaijin   12 years ago

      include nature's value in our calculations

      Oh yeah? Well I say nature needs to include US in her calculations!

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        Don't even bother. Trying to explain to them that economics actually does price in the aggregate valuation of more nature versus more widgets is slightly less productive than explaining card tricks to your dog.

    4. Suthenboy   12 years ago

      How old are you Guy? Seriously, how old?

  19. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Abolish summer vacation and institute year-round schooling for the (poor) children!

    There are few more cherished nostrums in American life than the importance of equal opportunities. Unfortunately, one of them is the importance of summer vacation. It's a cheap way of doing something nice for teachers, but summer vacation is a disaster for poor children and their parents, creating massive avoidable inequities in life outcomes and seriously undereducating the population.
    The country claims to take schooling seriously, but the school calendar says otherwise. There's no other public service that we would allow to just vanish for months at a time. To have no Army in February, no buses or subways in March, airports closed down for all of October, or the police vacationing en masse in December would be absurd. Schools, it turns out, matter a lot, too, and having them shut down all summer critically undermines them.

    To an education camp, go!

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      Lets just abolish the family already and replace it with parental government.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        I say we abolish everyone!

        1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

          The Abolition of Every Man, Woman, and Child.

          1. Numeromancer   12 years ago

            The Abolition of Man.

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      There's no other public service that we would allow to just vanish for months at a time.

      I'd be happy to see an endless number of public "services" to just vanish. Permanently, I might add.

      1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        Lifeguards at Minneapolis's city beaches?

        Snowplowing in Minnesota summers?

      2. anon   12 years ago

        I'd take months at a time, for a start.

    3. Ted S.   12 years ago

      They've never heard of summer school?

    4. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      From a practical perspective breaking the year up into quarters with 1 month breaks in between is more sensible than having a massive summer break. Summer does give shitty students a chance to catch up through summer school, but that just makes their burnout even worse. Beyond that I remember getting stir crazy by the end of summer and wishing for more time off at other points of the year. You could have "year round schooling" and still have the same amount of time spent in a classroom as you do currently.

      I don't think schools should be a year-round warehouse/daycare program for kids, but under our current system breaks are divvied up shittily, and you could "arbitrarily" put all of the breaks straddling equinoxes and solstices and just about everyone would be ok with that.

      1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

        10 weeks on, three weeks off. I support it.

      2. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

        I don't know, there is something about that 12-week break...never has anything seemed so sweet since the need to work kicked in. That amount of time to do anything or nothing, whatever you want...you'll probably never have the chance again, at least not until you're retired.

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          I could do a lot more with 12 week breaks now than I did/could have done when I was in school. I had about 5 weeks in a row of being mostly off last year. I wonder if I could stretch that to 6 this year and not get fired.

          1. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

            Well, yeah. But to never have it at all...

      3. SugarFree   12 years ago

        You could have "year round schooling" and still have the same amount of time spent in a classroom as you do currently.

        They tried that here. The parents we all for it, until they realized it didn't mean 250 days of school a year, but rather scattered weeks and days off all over the place. It only lasted a couple of years.

        Not a parent, but I cannot imagine condemned a defenseless child to 250 days of classroom bondage.

      4. gaijin   12 years ago

        Why can't some private school system create their own school calendar menu with options to include a spring break, summer school and stupid bank holidays?

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          It makes transferring kids from one school to another more difficult. Private schools could theoretically do this now, but it's more convenient for them to have their calendar roughly line up with the public school system's calendar.

        2. mr simple   12 years ago

          This is, of course, the correct answer. If all school was private, parents could choose the school with the schedule they preferred.

    5. Juice   12 years ago

      It sounds like he's actually advocating for government-run taxpayer-funded summer camps for poor kids.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Funcentration Camps.

  20. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Abolish summer vacation and institute year-round schooling for the (poor) children!

    There are few more cherished nostrums in American life than the importance of equal opportunities. Unfortunately, one of them is the importance of summer vacation. It's a cheap way of doing something nice for teachers, but summer vacation is a disaster for poor children and their parents, creating massive avoidable inequities in life outcomes and seriously undereducating the population.
    The country claims to take schooling seriously, but the school calendar says otherwise. There's no other public service that we would allow to just vanish for months at a time. To have no Army in February, no buses or subways in March, airports closed down for all of October, or the police vacationing en masse in December would be absurd. Schools, it turns out, matter a lot, too, and having them shut down all summer critically undermines them.

    To an education camp, go!

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      To have no Army in February, no buses or subways in March, airports closed down for all of October, or the police vacationing en masse in December would be absurd.

      Now, don't be too hasty! Let's discuss this.

      1. R C Dean   12 years ago

        Doesn't that pretty much describe Europe in August?

    2. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      One of these days there's going to be an article with a Yglesias byline saying: "You realize I've been acting stupid for all these years to see how dumb my readership is, right? I can't believe you fell for that stuff".

      Or maybe I just tell myself that to keep myself sane, instead of knowing that idiocy is quite real.

  21. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Abolish summer vacation and institute year-round schooling for the (poor) children!

    There are few more cherished nostrums in American life than the importance of equal opportunities. Unfortunately, one of them is the importance of summer vacation. It's a cheap way of doing something nice for teachers, but summer vacation is a disaster for poor children and their parents, creating massive avoidable inequities in life outcomes and seriously undereducating the population.
    The country claims to take schooling seriously, but the school calendar says otherwise. There's no other public service that we would allow to just vanish for months at a time. To have no Army in February, no buses or subways in March, airports closed down for all of October, or the police vacationing en masse in December would be absurd. Schools, it turns out, matter a lot, too, and having them shut down all summer critically undermines them.

    To an education camp, go!

    1. Libertymike   12 years ago

      Nothing like repetition!

      Emphasis is awesome!

      Redundancy is the rave!

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Proposing a lousy idea over and over doesn't make it any better.

      1. Bobarian   12 years ago

        Obama disagrees with this sentiment.

    3. A Serious Man   12 years ago

      Damn squirrels.

  22. Rich   12 years ago

    Clapper ... said he welcomes an open and candid discussion about the NSA programs.

    OK, Jim. You start.

    1. NeonCat   12 years ago

      "Feel free to talk about it in your personal phone and email conversations, and so we can get a real feel for the pulse of the nation please don't use any euphemisms like 'No Such Agency' or 'those people at Fort Meade'. It will only take away vital resources that are best used towards, uh, whomever we're actually supposed to detect. But, please, be as candid as possible."

  23. I can't trust my fans   12 years ago

    Bri'ish Proime Ministah David Cameron's pr0n Tsar got her website hacked. It was hottt.

    http://www.ministryoftruth.me......s-blogger/

    Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's loses its court appeal to stop Dish Network Corp's plan to sell devices that would let viewers skip over commercials.

    http://www.reuters.com/article.....UK20130724

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      Why does David Cameron have a porn adviser?

      1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

        The man has so many choices, he doesn't know what to yank it to on any given day?

        When in doubt, go German.

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          When in doubt, go German.

          Aren't you the filthy one.

          1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

            You don't know what love is until you see Annette Schwarz eat puke and orange juice off the floor.

        2. Dibbler   12 years ago

          The German's porn makes mayonnaise enemas look tame.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      my goodness but that Claire Perry is sure one piece of authoritarian shite

    3. DesigNate   12 years ago

      Fuck that cunt.

  24. Rich   12 years ago

    Fucking Zimmerman strikes *again*!

    1. Outlaw   12 years ago

      Fucking Welsh-Hispanic!

    2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      So Jirjis then?

  25. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    Medicaid patients in Michigan and Utah are having trouble finding doctors...

    Single payer will fix all that.

    1. Numeromancer   12 years ago

      Obama is trying to change Medicaire into a single doctor system.

  26. I can't trust my fans   12 years ago

    U.S. Senators think tax reform is a stupid and unimportant issue. They would also like it if you were to tongue their collective scrotal sacs

    http://www.reuters.com/article.....YH20130723

    80% of Americans (including 62% of Republicans) want the Federal Minimum Wage raised to $10/hour.

    http://www.nelp.org/page/-/rtm.....df?nocdn=1

    1. John   12 years ago

      80% of Americans (including 62% of Republicans) are total economic illiterates.

      1. KDN   12 years ago

        Tulpa will be here any minute to explain how min wage increases do not, in any conceivable way, increase unemployment.

        In a totally unrelated story, my 16 year old sister-in-law can't get an interview despite applying to literally every minimum wage store in our area. That's the fault of the patriarchy, after all.

      2. Rich   12 years ago

        The bad news, John, is that the other 20% want it to be $35/hr.

    2. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      Why not $30/hour? Let's really stick it to those rich fatcats!

      /Progressive School of Business Management

    3. Ted S.   12 years ago

      U.S. Senators think tax reform is a stupid and unimportant issue. They would also like it if you were to tongue their collective scrotal sacs

      Even DiFi's? Eeewww.

  27. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

    Clap on.

    *clap clap*

    Clap off.

    *clap clap*

    Clap on, clap off. The sheep-f***ing bastard.

  28. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Family rescued by Zimmerman last week cancels television appearance citing fears of 'blow back'.

    Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, said the family had asked to speak, but then got concerned about the anger surrounding the controversial verdict.

    "The family called because they wanted to address the media. I knew that if we did it in an organized way, it would help them get back to a normal life.. But they called today and said they were more worried about blow back from saying anything that would be favorable to George, and decided they did not want to do any media," O'Mara said.

    The lawyer said that when he spoke to the Gerstles "their voices were trembling" and that they feared saying anything positive about Zimmerman "would be toxic."

    Probably a good idea.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      I suppose I can't blame them for not having the guts to do it, but any "blowback" would show just how nasty the anti-Zimmerman people are.

      Not that the low-information voters would notice, and not that the press would report it. 🙁

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Probably a good idea.

      Sadly, yes.

      Any word on what race the occupants of the SUV were?

      1. kinnath   12 years ago

        White . .

        1. kinnath   12 years ago

          google dana and mark gerstle

      2. Outlaw   12 years ago

        They're white.

        http://grumpyelder.com/wp-cont.....40x400.jpg

      3. A Serious Man   12 years ago

        No, at least not from any articles I've read.

        Their fear of reprisals would make more sense if they were black and held a press conference thanking Zimmerman and the other man who helped them.

        Like Ted said I wish they were brave enough to do that because it would really show the true colors of the Martin supporters.

        1. A Serious Man   12 years ago

          Okay, so white. I guess the retort "Zimmerman only helped them because they were white" won't go away.

        2. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

          Can't really blame them for not putting their lives on the line in order to score a political point on an issue they likely don't give two fucks about.

      4. Rich   12 years ago

        View it and weep.

  29. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    A new type of shrew has been found that is said to have a virtually unbreakable back.

    So whatever you do, don't marry this one!

    1. NeonCat   12 years ago

      The Shrewperhero!

  30. I can't trust my fans   12 years ago

    New Jersey stripper collects $1Mill (mostly in singles) over her 15-year stripping career. She drives across country, gets stopped in Nebraska, and the cops kindly relieve her of her filthy greenbacks. Now the judge says she's entitled to get that money back. With interest.

    http://everythinglubbock.com/f....._id=206062

    A man opens up a smoke shop in Canadia. The po-lice decide to plant cocaine vials in his store and arrest his ass. They didn't figure that he surveillance cameras. It's safe to say that these are not the world's smartest cops.

    http://www.dailygazette.com/ne.....ay-sue_wv/

    1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      No hat tip for Sullum?

    2. Isaac Bartram   12 years ago

      The smoke shop story happened in Scotia, NY.

      I think you might have confused it with Nova Scotia, Canada.

  31. rts   12 years ago

    Melting Arctic ice called 'economic time bomb'

    The rapidly melting Arctic is an "economic time bomb" that will cost $60 trillion or more over the next 10 years, say a group of European economic and science researchers.

    1. John   12 years ago

      a professor of ocean physics at University of Cambridge, both in Britain ? are urging creation of an economic model for the impact of climate change.

      So they don't have a model, but they know how much this will cost?

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        Even if they had a model I wouldn't trust it. The models they use for the "science" itself are deeply flawed and haven't been even remotely close to reality. Why should anyone trust a model that is made by guys who are relying on bad models?

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      When in doubt, just make up numbers.

    3. A Serious Man   12 years ago

      "The imminent disappearance of the summer sea ice in the Arctic will have enormous implications for both the acceleration of climate change, and the release of methane from offshore waters which are now able to warm up in the summer. This massive methane boost will have major implications for global economies and societies," Wadhams says.

      So the Earth is basically going to fart.

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        Mother of Storms by John Barnes. The methane causes a dramatic increase in global temperature leading to a hurricane so large it spawns smaller hurricanes.

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          And a whole lot of chapters about porn stars with tire tread nipples.

          1. rts   12 years ago

            Wot?

          2. NeonCat   12 years ago

            Dammit SF! You're supposed to add a spoiler tag for that!

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              Oops!

              Have you read anything else by Barnes?

              1. NeonCat   12 years ago

                I think so but I honestly don't remember. Not for several years at any rate.

                1. NeonCat   12 years ago

                  I read the Timeline Wars. That was a fun series.

                  1. SugarFree   12 years ago

                    The "Million Open Doors" series is good, and his future history novels are very good. Barnes doesn't do anything startlingly new, but he plays with SF tropes very well.

  32. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

    Lindsey Graham demands war with Iran by end of summer:

    http://www.theatlanticwire.com.....mer/67527/

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Fuck you, Lindsey Graham.

      That is all.

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      Lindsey Graham is a vile human being. I look forward to giving money to his primary challenger.

      1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

        Graham is seriously close to overtaking Schumer as my most hated Senator.

    3. ant1sthenes   12 years ago

      As cruel as it may be to the people of Iran, I believe we are coming to the point where we have no choice but to drop Lindsey Graham on Tehran. May he do as much damage to their country as he did to their ours.

  33. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Larry the Cable Guy is pretty cool with gay rights

    In a recent appearance on Larry King's Hulu show "Larry King Now," the country's most famous fake Cable Guy (real name: Dan Whitney) told King how he feels about the constant controversies regarding gay rights in America.

    "I'm so sick of gay this, gay that," Larry the Cable Guy said. "I could care less. It ain't affecting my life at all," he said in response to a question about whether gays should be permitted to play professional sports.

    The comedian explained that his opinion stems from his identification as a libertarian, and thinks that people should "mind their own business."

    Sure, maybe it's not the most progressive opinion. But as a comedian whose persona and popularity are synonymous with the Bush years, Larry the Cable Guy deserves some credit at least as a conservative reflection of our changing times.

    Nice, the author admits that minding your own business is not a progressive opinion.

    1. widget   12 years ago

      LTCG means "I couldn't care less".

      /pet peeve

      1. NeonCat   12 years ago

        It means he secretly cares!

      2. Numeromancer   12 years ago

        Nuh-uh. He's being sarcastic.

        /Pinkerderp

        1. hotsy totsy   12 years ago

          No it means if he could care less, he would care less. But he can't care less, unfortunately.

  34. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

    If you want an example of how insane most conservatives have become on the immigration issue, visit Breitbart.

    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....ct-amnesty

    1) Rep King (different King) makes absurd statement that for every valedictorian child of illegal immigrants, there are 100 more with 'canteloupe muscles' hauling MJ and other drugs.

    2) Sane people plus GOP leadership call him out for bullshit.

    3) Breitards rally around King because 'the facts back him up'. 'The facts' being a couple of articles about immigrants kids being used to haul drugs. Because that totally confirms everything King said.

    Conservatives have simply decided not to be part of a rational debate so they won't be. They're going to be cut out, sent to their room, and the world will get on. Maybe conservatives should also drop the martyr syndrome too.

    1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      Drat, you beat me to the Steve King quote.

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      That's still not as bad as the time Breitbart published an article arguing that it was totally okay that a bunch of Buddhists murdered several Muslims in retaliation for a rape that those Muslims had nothing to do with.

      I wonder why no one takes Breitbart.com seriously. It must be liberal media bias.

      1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        Read any cultural analysis, especially by Nolte. Always hilarious and an instant unintentional summation of why conservatives can't do culture and will never succeed. Remember, we are smarter than these people. They're like insects to us.

    3. widget   12 years ago

      I think you are conflating conservatives with some Republicans.

      1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        No I'm not. If anything the contards are going way crazier than the GOP. Even often reasonable types like Steyn are having conniptions over tens of millions of furriners and THY TRK R JRBS.

      2. Irish   12 years ago

        I think you are conflating conservatives with some Republicans.

        No. The GOP proper consists primarily of RINO fat cats with names like Thad who are essentially exactly the same as the Democrats, only slightly less crazy, slightly less young, and slightly more white.

        The racist aspects of the GOP tend to come from the super conservative wing that populates Breitbart and the Blaze.

  35. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

    I dare you to translate this paragraph of the Obamanius Maleficarum into English:

    Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, we've cleared away the rubble from the financial crisis and begun to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. In our personal lives, we tightened our belts, shed debt, and refocused on the things that really matter. As a country, we've recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced nations in the world. With new American revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing, and health care, we are actually poised to reverse the forces that have battered the middle class for so long, and rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

    1. NeonCat   12 years ago

      "Prosperity is just around the corner. Any moment now. Honest."

    2. Rich   12 years ago

      A sickingly prodigous profile could have lain ahead, what with the future yet to come. However, a wave loudly clashing against a long shoreline gambled with our lives, our happiness, and even destiny itself. Now, nihilism loves a good joke, and gasoline comes asking for bread.

      What do I win?

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        *sickeningly*

    3. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      With new American revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing, and health care, we are actually poised to reverse the forces that have battered the middle class for so long, and rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

      I'm sure that the middle class sees blistering government spending and the propensity to tax everything that moves, including new health care premiums that are set to rise dramatically over the next year as an ally against "the forces that have battered the middle class." I know that a smaller paycheck and bigger payouts (required by law) make me happy as fuck.

      1. hotsy totsy   12 years ago

        And "rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead."

        Work hard and obey!

    4. Bobarian   12 years ago

      What I heard was:

      "Despite all the things I've fucked up, Mericah is still a decent place to live, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop fucking it up.

    5. R C Dean   12 years ago

      "Bush wrecked the economy and the middle class! This recovery is awesome, but you didn't built that!"

      1. JW   12 years ago

        "Bush wrecked the economy and the middle class! This recovery is awesome, but you didn't built that!"

        When is he going to get around to opening the 2nd envelope?

    6. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      "Shed debt"? To shed something, don't you have to have less of it afterwards?

  36. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

    Tea Party's biennial "Who can say the craziest thing during the campaign" contest is in full swing:

    Ken Cuccinelli wants to start arresting people for extra-marital sex again

    Meanwhile, Steve King begs us to remember the 99% of Mexican children are drug mules sneaking into this country to crush us with their freakishly huge leg muscles

    1. John   12 years ago

      Since when is Cuccinelli a Tea Party Candidate? Does that term just mean "people Stormy Dragon doesn't like"?

      1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

        Really?

        http://www.google.com/search?q.....Cuccinelli

        Of course now I'm sure we're gonna play the "no one is really in the Tea Party" game.

        1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          Coochi is definitely a TP disaster but is King?

          1. Irish   12 years ago

            King's been in Congress since 2003. I don't know how you can blame King on the Tea Party.

            1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

              Yeah, how could someone possibly associate Steve King with the Tea Party?

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.....h_Congress

              1. Irish   12 years ago

                What I said:

                King's been in Congress since 2003. I don't know how you can BLAME King on the Tea Party.

                King would be in Congress with or without Tea Party support. The good people of his district are apparently morons.

                1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

                  "You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons."

                  1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

                    Oh I see Stormy's doing his/her TEAM BLUE concern trolling again.

        2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          Can we blame Obama on the Communists? He got the CPUSA endorsement.

    2. John   12 years ago


      Politics
      Tweet
      Share via Email Print This Post
      Topics: conservative, dreamers, Hispanics, House, immigrants, immigration, Latinos, tea party
      Congressman Steve King (R-IA) , at right. Photo/Getty Images

      Congressman Steve King (R-IA) , at right. Photo/Getty Images
      Iowa's Rep. King: For every valedictorian Dreamer, 100 are "hauling marijuana"
      by Sandra Lilley, @sandralilley Follow @NBCLatino
      11:28 am on 07/23/2013

      Iowa conservative Republican Congressman Steve King said in an interview with Newsmax that for every valedictorian DREAMer who has been brought to this country by his or her family, "?there's another 100 out there who, they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.

      Come on. That is some funny shit.

      1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

        I suppose, if you're a xenophobic racist, then yeah, it's funny.

        1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

          That's some funny shit.

      2. kinnath   12 years ago

        Western IA is like the far side of the moon.

      3. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        What's not funny is watching conservative xenophobe pearl-clutchers defend this guy.

      4. kinnath   12 years ago

        The good news is that King said he would not run for Harkin's open Senate seat.

      5. SugarFree   12 years ago

        At least they have a job that brings joy to people, Steve King. You just spread misery on chicken legs.

      6. Irish   12 years ago

        That's not really funny at all, John.

        1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          It would be funny if this guy weren't running the USG.

      7. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.

        A friend who studied art history in Florence told me that Benvenuto Cellini referred to the muscles on Hercules and Cacus as "a sack full of melons"

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          See? He was just comparing immigrants to works of art.

      8. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        Never met a valedictorian willing to haul anything for me, so I have no use for them. Get rid of all the schools, that's where all the uppitiness in the world comes from.

  37. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

    Quannel X, Houston race pimp extraordinaire who led this past weekends Trayvon Martin march, defends black woman who stood her ground.

    The activist said the shooting was a case where Texas' self-defense and stand your ground laws were justified.

    Quanell has led recent marches in Houston to protest the not-guilty verdict a Florida jury returned in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, but said McDonald cannot be compared to the man acquitted of killing the 17-year-old Martin.

    "George Zimmerman profiled Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman stalked and pursued Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was armed (but) Trayvon Martin was not," Quanell said.

    Because its TOTALLY DIFFERENT YOU GUYS.

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      "Quannel X". Really?

      1. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

        That's his Nation of Islam name. Of course he was/is such a crazy racist fuck that they kicked him out.

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      George Zimmerman profiled Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman stalked and pursued Trayvon Martin.

      Race baiters have serious imagination runaway issues. This is no less stupid than the ridiculous descriptions of marijuana users in the 20s and 30s.

  38. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    This Jezebel advice column, in which a woman who values 'diversity' wants to know how to make black friends, really makes you appreciate Dear Prudence.

    1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      You will not trick me into clicking on a Jezzie thread.

      New rule proposal: Jezebel/Gawker links can only be in the form of a screenshot. I'd rather not give them the fraction of a cent of ad money they'd get from my click.

    2. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

      Oh. My. God.

      Will I just come across as looking for a token black friend? Are my interests (hiking, independent films, craft beer, live music) just too white? I'm uncomfortable just asking myself, "Well, what kinds of things do black people like to do?" because I don't want to stereotype.

      Yeah, all that talk of racism is totally not projection...

      1. Nikkis enthusiastic dissent   12 years ago

        Meanwhile, advice columnist demolishes entire premise of identity politics, presumably without realizing it:

        From what I can tell, black people love hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. Also, black people hate hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. Also, black people are ambivalent about hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. This is because, as you know, black people are not a uniform group. They are people, which is to say persons, which is to say a collection of individuals who've been grouped under one giant label because we are humans and we are fond of easy categories.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          This is the first time I've read a Jezebel column that actually seems anti-collectivist. It's refreshing.

          1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

            But they're not going to get from there to here.

      2. Irish   12 years ago

        The advice isn't bad:

        From what I can tell, black people love hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. Also, black people hate hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. Also, black people are ambivalent about hiking and independent films and craft beer and live music. This is because, as you know, black people are not a uniform group. They are people, which is to say persons, which is to say a collection of individuals who've been grouped under one giant label because we are humans and we are fond of easy categories.

        That's pretty much what I'd say, although I'd be much meaner and would call this idiot a filthy racist.

      3. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

        I'm uncomfortable just asking myself, "Well, what kinds of things do black people like to do?"

        Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrim is death.

        Black people like doing things that other people like to do. Dare I say it, but I even think there are some black people who like craft beer.

        Shocking, I know.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          Bullshit. The only way to meet black people is to attend underground rap battles or wear a box of fried chicken around your neck and wait for them to come to you.

          There's nothing racist about this. Nothing.

          1. Zakalwe   12 years ago

            I just offer malt liquor to the guys I see on the street.

            1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

              isn't that baiting?

            2. Zakalwe   12 years ago

              Well, not Mickeys. No one wants that Irish trash.

              1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

                They had other things to do last weekend anyway.

                The Smallest Penis In Brooklyn Has Been Found

      4. Xenocles   12 years ago

        Yes, your explicit search for "a black friend" is inherently racist. It is pretty much an attempt to collect humans to accessorize yourself the way that you might collect neckties or handbags. You have reduced the person you would call your friend to nothing more than a shade of fleshtone; you have dehumanized your potential friend utterly. Why anyone would be your friend is beyond me.

      5. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        Not surprising that a white shitlib looks at minorities like fucking pokemon characters to be collected.

    3. Tejicano   12 years ago

      I have an idea which would cover this objective as well as probably help you get in shape and do a bit of travel : join the Navy or the Army (heck, any of the services)

      You will get to experience a wide range of cultures, social environments, and lifestyles.

      You might end up chucking your current worldview into a dumpster in the first couple months but that would be a good thing for all and sundry.

  39. A Serious Man   12 years ago

    Fridersdorf: Conservative hypocrisy on racial profiling: Victor Davis Hanson is against racial preferences. College applicants should be judged as individuals! But racial profiling? He's okay with that.

    1. widget   12 years ago

      The world is a stage.

      I knew a few black drug dealers back in '80s who wore golf attire and eyeglasses they didn't need. They drove ordinary sedans and walked on the sidewalk. They didn't go to prison. How 'bout that?

      Humans profile, that's our nature. With no other information available, it's all based on first look.

    2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      I am not sure this is hypocrisy. College admissions involve judging each individual, with affirmative action meaning that otherwise identically eligible individuals gain or lose points solely due to race. The worst that happens is someone gets in and doesn't do well, or someone else has to go to a different school.

      Walking down the street is an entirely different thing. We are forced to make judgements about that person or persons walking toward us. If someone crossed the street to avoid an old black man or old black woman, that might well be racist. But to avoid one or more 14-24 year old black men? (And, increasingly, black women?) That might just be common sense. Black men of that age are about 1% of the population, but commit about 28% of the murders (IIRC). They disproportionately commit robberies and rapes. So, unlike college admissions, a wrong decision on your part can have very serious consequences.

      I suppose it all depends on how much you want to feel good about yourself for being "not racist," versus trying to avoid the street-level reality of the statistics.

      (True, not every 14-24 black male on the street is a mugger or whatever. He's just far more likely to be one than some other person on the street.)

      1. widget   12 years ago

        On the other side of spectrum, snap judgments (profiling) also has its place. The situation I'm familiar with is when a consulting engineer walks onto a construction site. The better he is dressed, the less he knows.

        1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          Ha, interesting.

      2. Tejicano   12 years ago

        Years ago I noticed a group of 6 or 7 young, black males walking through the K-Mart which I picked out as not looking right. As I went to wait for my wife in the car I noticed they were following me out about 20 yards behind me. The outlier they sent to check on me happened to pop up behind my car in time to see me checking the chamber in my 45 ? so he and his buddies went off to better prospects.

        When I played it back in my head ? I realized that what subconsciously alerted me was the fact that they had walked by three very hot females without even the ripple of acknowledgement any group of young men would exhibit. What I had profiled was their behavior.

        1. Numeromancer   12 years ago

          So you were stalking them from befront, you racist. Probably trying to steal their skittles.

        2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          And so a crime was stopped by a gun, and yet it didn't show up in any statistics.

      3. hotsy totsy   12 years ago

        Most crimes are committed by young MEN in that age group. You'd be better off avoiding young white males than black females.

        1. hotsy totsy   12 years ago

          Make that young males of any race. 90% of murders. And most of the time when a female murders a stranger, she's accompanying a young male. It's testosterone not skin color/hair texture.

        2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          There does seem to have been an upswing in attacks by groups of black females, though.

  40. Sevo   12 years ago

    OT:
    The America's Cup was 'sold' to media-whore (and then-SF mayor) Gavin Newsome by Larry Ellison; Newsome then said 'Who needs the Superbowl?', and put SF on the hook for any shortfall.
    Well, we're down to three boats (from the 8 or 9 promised) and five or six spectators are pouring into the stands to watch!
    And now, well:
    "Sailing team sues to delay America's Cup finals"
    Seems some guy was hoping to get a spot and then try to find funding, based on the name of "African Diaspora Maritime sailing team".
    Contest: Try to find a good guy in this mess.
    http://www.sfgate.com/sports/a.....683076.php

    1. Bobarian   12 years ago

      Gavin Newsome? Because he managed to fuck SF?

      1. Sevo   12 years ago

        Strangely, he hasn't had much to say recently, but of the lot, you prolly have the winna!

    2. Xenocles   12 years ago

      There's no need to cheer for anyone. It's like the Battle of Stalingrad.

  41. Paul.   12 years ago

    Now that we know random women on the Internet have seen Anthony's weiner as recently as last summer, pressure is growing on the former congressman to exit the mayoral race in New York City.

    Proper Reason style guide usage:

    Pressure is swelling on the former congressman to pull out of the mayoral race.

    1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      A Load of New Sexting Pictures May Interrupt Weiner's Mayoral Ambitions Prematurely

    2. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Can Weiner Finish, or Will He Have to Pull Out?

      Public Disapproves of Exposed Weiner.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        OT, but does Tucson (or AZ) have any negative points from your perspective?

        1. Marshall Gill   12 years ago

          This time of year, surely the heat.

        2. TeamBarstool   12 years ago

          Depends on what you consider negative.I've lived here in Tucson for 20+ years and love it. We have a very entrenched liberal government in the city and country.The fact that I can drive in any direction from my house and be in the middle of nowhere makes it bearable.

  42. Irish   12 years ago

    Corporations made Detroit bankrupt, says Salon.

    1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      I am coming to the conclusion that anyone who uses the term "race to the bottom" is an economic idiot. "If only corporations didn't try to lower their costs, all would be well!"

      1. Sevo   12 years ago

        PapayaSF| 7.24.13 @ 6:04PM |#
        "I am coming to the conclusion that anyone who uses the term "race to the bottom" is an economic idiot. "If only corporations didn't try to lower their costs, all would be well!""

        Dunno if you're keeping an eye on the SF Gate BART negotiations comments; the new lefty talking point is that government jobs should set the standards!
        Of course, those 'standards' are exactly what the elected 'negotiators' chose to pay those who elect them.

        1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          This is a common left meme now: "Public employees aren't overpaid, everybody else is underpaid!"

    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Right, like we haven't seen government fuck economies up over and over and over again.

    3. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      But these days, in a global economy where U.S. multi-nationals can stash hundreds of billions of dollars in profits in off-shore tax havens, the smart play to win all the marbles is to really be from no place in particular.

      Don't you know that the TOP MEN can spend money better than you can? Why, they took classes on how to spend other people's money!

      "It is important that we get some kind of coordination and a global system in place that assures that capital is not just fleeing from one country to another to avoid oversight and avoid regulation but on the other hand endangering the economies of all," Obama said.

      It is hard for this story to get out there. Common business law practice now includes embracing legal fictions and shopping for the friendliest state even within our nation's fifty. Check out the ownership structure of major news outlets and you'll learn just what a "media" mecca Delaware is.

      "Do you see what happens when you fail to pay your fair share? Detroit happens! DO. YOU. SEE?!"

      What a maroon.

  43. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

    Parents in Loudon County freak out because the school system has decided to enforce a longstanding rule that only those who live further than 8/10 of a mile away will get bus service. Because apparently walking (or riding a bike, skateboard, etc) less than a mile is way too risky.

    That includes a rising fourth-grader who she would never leave home alone but is now expected to send off to school by himself, De Angioletti said.

    You won't let a 10 year old stay home alone? The fuck? I was riding my bike 1.1 miles to school in the 2nd grade; for those counting at home, that's age 7. By age 10 I was riding my bike within about a 4 mile radius of the house.

    1. All-Seeing Monocle   12 years ago

      Yes, but you're mad.

      Is there also a rule preventing the parents from dropping the kids off at school if they're that worried about it? We live *more* than 8/10 of a mile away from the school (!!!) but somehow managed to do that.

  44. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

    Jimmy Fallon, this is your notice to begin deciding what to do with your career after Leno sabotages your show and drives you out of NBC:

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/n.....g-him.html

    1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      Leno can't do anything Fallon isn't capable of fucking up all by himself.

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