ACLU Wants Info on FBI Drones, Clintons Upset About Weiner Comparison, Sen. Cruz Says Some GOP Lawmakers Are Too Scared To Challenge Obamacare: P.M. Links

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• The ACLU is demanding that the FBI release information about its use of drones.

• The Clintons are upset about Anthony Weiner's attempt to liken his latest set of transgressions, and his wife's response, to their own experiences.

• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says that some Republicans are too afraid to challenge Obamacare.

• Support for the NSA's mass collection of communication metadata is waning among the public and Congress.

• Human rights activists want the United Nations to investigate the closing of 49 Chicago elementary schools, saying that the children's human rights may have been violated.

• Israeli and Palestinian officials are ready to talk about talking about peace.

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Comments

[A Serious Man]

The Clintons are upset about Anthony Weiner's attempt to liken his latest set of transgressions, and his wife's response, to their own experiences.

He is an amateur by Clinton standards.

[Damned Fool]

And the pics would be filed under amateur too.

[C. Anacreon]

Why do I keep hearing how hot Weiner's wife is? From that picture it looks like she should speak Parseltongue.

[PapayaSF]

Someone said she looks like an Arab version of Olive Oyl, and now that's all I can think of when I see her picture.

[Damned Fool]

This is the same way MObama is supposed to be attractive. Mind you, Abedin definitely looks better than her.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I think she's hot.

[Zakalwe]

When she first hit the scene a few years ago I thought so. She looks good in some current pictures, ok in others.

[Drake]

I'm trying to imagine how goofy their kids will look.

[Zeb]

I think she is attractive. But I like that Semitic look.

[Heroic Mulatto]

She's a Saudi of Indian heritage, not really a Semite, but whatever...

[Zeb]

I actually knew that, so I probably should have thought better of that description, but she does have that look about her.

[Careless]

She's not at all attractive for her racial background. She's a plain whitish South Asian chick past her best years.

[Warrren]

She's a white Indian?

[Calidissident]

Eh, I think she's good looking (not amazing or anything, but attractive), especially considering she's closing in on 40. If the rumors about her and Hilary are true (and I'm not saying they are, although it wouldn't necessarily shock me), then Hilary definitely has better taste in women than her husband

[Careless]

Given that Bill's taste in women was something like "close enough to grab", that does not sound difficult

[CE]

And there's only one way to find out if they meet that criterion...

[PapayaSF]

Clinton's Mom, when she was young, bore more than little resemblance to Monica Lewinsky.

[Jerryskids]

I'm not sure what Parseltongue is - is that the language Fran Drescher speaks? 'Cause that's the voice I hear.

[Drake]

Really - Weiner appears to be all talk. Clinton closed the deal with many women not his wife - some (allegedly) against their will.

[neoteny]

"Coffee is for closers."

[Careless]

It's hysterical. "My wife's lover is upset that her husband is doing the same thing I was doing, except without the employee harassment and rapey levels. It's outrageous!"

[Bobarian]

Weiners vs. Dicks:
At this point, What does it matter?

[Pro Libertate]

They don't want people to think about how fucked up they are. Thanks to Weiner, people are recalling the Clinton weirdness.

[Mike M.]

Yep, and that cost Al Gore the election.

[wareagle]

Al Gore did a good job of costing Al Gore the election. When you can't even win your nominal home state -

[entropy]

Are you saying Mitt Romney was a ridiculous candidate?

Oh.

Carry on.

[Finrod]

Al Gore won his home 'state': DC, not Tennessee.

[Suthenboy]

As recently as a year ago my wife sent me a joke email with a photo of the hildebeast smoking a huge cigar.

People haven't forgotten.

[wareagle]

does she use interns as humidors, too?

[Pro Libertate]

It's the bringing it back to current discussions that they object to.

[Brian]

I was always under the impression that Hillary was coaching Huma. Whatever.

Anthony Weiner should be a god damn motivational speaker.

Any normal person, six months ago, would have wondered how they made it so far, for so long.

Anthony Weiner, on the other hand, hasn't taken it far enough, damnit, and what's to see how much further he can go. It's inspiring, in a way.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Clinton had an affair with an intern and got in trouble for lying about it. Not only that, he signed the legislation which allowed his own legal harassment (one law allowed him to be cross-examined on his sex life; the other law allowed judges to appoint a prosecutor). Clinton thought the laws he signed were for other people. That latter fact tends to be overlooked. At least Weiner wasn't brought down by his own laws.

[Loki]

No shit. Clinton actually banged other women. All "Carlos Danger" has done, AFAIK, is send pics of his junk to other women. That's bush league compared to Slick Willy.

[Loki]

And for the record, yes "bush league" was intended to be a manscaping joke. You're fucking welcome.

[Warrren]

Puny god.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Clintons are upset about Anthony Weiner's attempt to liken his latest set of transgressions, and his wife's response, to their own experiences.

They didn't even have Twitter for him to embarrass himself on during the Clinton Administration.

[A Serious Man]

Interesting thought. Could Bill have made it to being POTUS if they had Twitter 30 years ago? I doubt it.

Also, first!

[Episiarch]

I can't believe their staffs allow them to even know the password to their Twitter accounts. It's just a recipe for disaster.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Carlos Danger gives his password up to no one!

[entropy]

This is all you need to know to know that Anthony Wiener and his kind should be writing laws regulating the internet.

Dude gets caught tweeting junkpics and it ends his career, so during his comeback campaign he wises up, and changes his screen name to Carlos Danger before posting junkpics...

And these are the assholes getting the NSA debriefings that are supposed to provide oversight.

How many of them think an IP address is a nick for a social networking site called EyePee? "Do you have an IP address?" "No my wife's not into watersports".

[Mad Scientist]

Does Bill have a twitter account now?

[NeonCat]

If only Al Gore had invented the internet sooner!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The ACLU is demanding that the FBI release information about its use of drones.

So that the drone flyers can be subjected to double jeopardy, which is totally civil libertarian.

[CE]

Hey, if the FBI has nothing to hide, why can't they turn over the metadata on their drone program?

[entropy]

So that the drone flyers can be subjected to double jeopardy

Huh? How?

They haven't been tried once, they haven't even been (legitimately) accused of anything specific.

To get to double jeopardy wouldn't you have to hopscotch over discovery, outrage, indictment, jeopardy, acquittal, and more outrage followed by a second indictment?

[Zakalwe]

I've discovered Tulpa's latest project.

http://copselfies.tumblr.com/

[Cytotoxic]

So he's too busy fapping to post here? Works for us.

[Andrew S.]

I'm now looking for a lawyer to sue you for intentional infliction of emotional distress for putting that image in my head.

[Brett L]

Please. No true H&R commentor could suffer emotional distress from less than a full frontal of Warty.

[Andrew S.]

That's something you'd think we'd be used to by now.

[Loki]

Yeah, this is the same forum that I once read the words "pick a fold and fuck it" in relation to banging fat chicks. Talk about words that should not be put together in that particular order. A little masturbation reference is nothing.

[Damned Fool]

This'll be a class-action suit of Reason commenters.

[Enough About Palin]

Sheep fuckers all.

[Clich? Bandit]

someone call arthur

[Brett L]

Ugh. I thought SF's slashfic was bad.

But you're right. Tulpa better stop for the industrial bottle of baby oil before clicking that link.

[SweatingGin]

So glad that ended up being safe for work.

[Heroic Mulatto]

This one made my day.

[Zakalwe]

You've been SFing a lot of links this afternoon.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Trying again

I hope all this SFing isn't a sign that I'm getting diabetes....

[jesse.in.mb]

How can it make our day if you SF the link?

[Damned Fool]

SF'ed the link.

[Killazontherun]

Apparently, it doesn't take much.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And this one made me Youtube this.

[Killazontherun]

Alt-Text: It's a new mist based suppository, and its going straight up my ass.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ok. For today female cops spraying OC gas up their asses and pussies is my newest fetish.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If I have to have my civil rights violated, I hope #8 does it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

#8:

http://copselfies.tumblr.com/image/56749555564

She can pat me down and handcuff me any time!

[Anonymous Coward]

A midget with muscles and handcuffs.

You're taking your life into your hands on that one.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If ya gotta go, go with a smile.

[Slammer]

It's almost like they appear to be your average run of the mill scumbags, and not heroes or something.

[Zeb]

I like the one of the pig holding a pig.

[Butts Wagner]

What is a tulpa?

A tulpa is best described as an imaginary friend that has its own thoughts and emotions, and that you can interact with. You could think of them as hallucinations that can think and act on their own.

Discuss tulpas (also pluralized as tulpae, tulpi, and just tulpa) Share your experience with making a tulpa, give advice to people making a new tulpa, or talk about things your finished tulpa said or did.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Israeli and Palestinian officials are ready to talk about talking about peace.

Obama did it!

[Zakalwe]

That Nobel isn't going to suck justify itself.

[Brett L]

Seriously, by the 3rd time, don't we look like fools for subsidizing both sides to do nothing different?

[Zakalwe]

I don't know, what did happen in the early 90's? I can only tell you that by the 8th time no one cares anymore.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You take throwing money at something out of the State Department's - hell, the whole government's tool bag and you render them impotent.

[A Serious Man]

Human rights activists want the United Nations to investigate the closing of 49 Chicago elementary schools, saying that the children's human rights may have been violated.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights mentions a right to substandard, state-run education?

[CE]

As a matter of fact, it does:

Article 26.

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

[Pro Libertate]

How does the word "compulsory" exist in a document about human rights?

[A Serious Man]

You have a right to shut up and learn what we feel you should learn.

[Episiarch]

Because it's not about actual human rights, it's about free shit.

[Pro Libertate]

Since we're homeschooling our youngest, does that qualify? Or am I violating a UN declaration? What are the consequences of that, if so?

[A Serious Man]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIPSvIz9NDs

[CE]

They tacked this on for you:

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

But also this:

(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Guess which one takes precedence?

[Pro Libertate]

Gosh, I dunno. Where do I turn myself in? Are there any ARMs in Florida?

[Marshall Gill]

Since we're homeschooling our youngest

Today was our first day back after two months of day camp.

Note to self: Buy extra whiskey for the first day of school.

[Killazontherun]

That sounds like abuse under any definition.

[Tak Kak]

A "right" to be compelled. I've got to hand it to the UN.

[Killazontherun]

If you can get a hold of a copy, James Burnham's Suicide of the West has a great take down of the charter contemporaneous to when it was adopted.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I'm not seeing the "substandard, state-run" part.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm not seeing the "substandard, state-run" part.

It's abbreviated as "U.N."

[CE]

It's the "free" and "compulsory" part.

Who do you think give you free stuff? How is the quality of the stuff they provide?

[Mad Scientist]

Slavery is Freedom!

[Anonymous Coward]

Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.

Economically, there is no such thing as "free" so this whole article 26 is pointless.

Teachers cost money. Books cost money. School buildings cost money. Maintenance staff costs money. Lights and running water cost money.

[PapayaSF]

Calling for the Black Helicopters, eh?

[Zakalwe]

Someone wrote something semi-intelligent and reasonable under Amanda Marcotte's byline. Not sure who hijacked this.

[Rasilio]

I think you're giving her too much credit here because she is (as usual) not thinking the issue through.

Why did men use this approach to attracting women? Because the alternative is to approach them like a strutting peacock and say "Hey baby how'd you like to go home with the Hottest/Richest/Best Hung/Most Sensitive guy in the bar", an approach that will get you exactly 0 dates/sex and result in a great many drinks thrown in your face as the woman in question instantly surmises that you are a narcissistic jerk.

So lets hear what Mrs Marcotte's suggested approach is? Perhaps sniveling begging for permission to speak to the woman?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Exactly. "Don't just compliment women; tell them what's good about you!"

Then you do that.

"Ugh. he was so self-centered. All he was doing was saying how great he is! What happened to compliments?"

[Zakalwe]

I just use my go to pick-up line: "Hey, baby, are you a laundromat? Because I wanna put a load in you."

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Are you a woman, and not just a man dressed as a woman? If you're a woman, let's get together!"

[Eduard van Haalen]

"If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd spell out s-e-x. So - dinner?"

[Eduard van Haalen]

Baby, I'm thinking of the words of the poet Andrew Marvell:

HAD we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.

Oh, you're Jewish? Oops - I meant the Cleveland Browns winning a championship.

[Damned Fool]

Narcissists do pretty well in the single sexual encounter market, though.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Sorry, not even close. Marcotte can't even present one essay without completely contradicting it within itself:

Still, men aren't well-served by the constant messages about how a compliment is enough or at least should be enough to make a woman swoon. That's just a recipe for breakdown of communication and then bitterness. Not saying that being a Nice Guy? who does a bunch of favors and thinks that also means he should be rewarded with sex is a great idea, either.

Big fucking shock - Amanda wants to complain without stating what she wants. because she doesn't know, and very few of them do.

[Loki]

Marcotte can't even present one essay without completely contradicting it within itself

NOMAD: That unit's mind was in chaos.

Spock: That unit was a woman.

NOMAD: A mass of conflicting impulses.

[Xenocles]

"Love poems are mostly odes to a woman's beauty. Pop songs are full of "lady you're beautiful, touch my dick please" kind of lyrics."

And the performers of those songs have as many sex partners as they want.

"In movies, marriage proposals or confessions of love are usually a man explaining in painstaking detail how much his life would be improved by her presence, without nary a suggestion as to what he can do for her."

And these movies are made for audiences dominated by women and they seem to make money.

I'm certainly not trying to generalize here. But it seems to me like she's citing things that, to an impartial observer, have the desired effect.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"how much his life would be improved by her presence, without nary a suggestion as to what he can do for her"

Saying how his life would be improved by marrying her is flattering to her - it shows she's needed. Now get me a sandwich, I need one.

[Xenocles]

It's like Marcotte has convinced herself that because she is a woman, all women are like her. Maybe she doesn't go for the whole help-meet thing, but there are plenty who do.

[fish]

It's like Marcotte has convinced herself that because she is a woman.......

What evidence do you have she is a woman?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

What Marcotte discounts as well is looks.

If a man is good-looking, there's a presumption there that he's datable. It may be undone when he speaks, especially by more intelligent women, but the presumption carries a lot of weight. There's a reason all of those "first impressions" pieces of kitchen wisdom exist - they're trite but true.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A 20-Person Brawl Erupted At A Wisconsin Chuck E. Cheese
Two 28-year-old women were arrested after an altercation in a Chuck E. Cheese, reports Fox 6 in Milwaukee.

According to officials, an argument occurred just before 9 p.m. Saturday after a child was taking too long to exchange his tickets for prizes. Parents in line became restless and about 20 individuals were involved in a brawl that escalated when someone pulled out pepper spray. ...

[Zakalwe]

I blame stand your ground laws. If everyone had fled everything would have been fine.

[Andrew S.]

I'm hoping to never allow my daughter to know that Chuck E. Cheese exists. Right now she's a little more than 4 years old and I've been successful so far. I know this will end as soon as one of her friends has a birthday party there, but I'll drag out the charade as long as I can.

[Slammer]

I've always thought it strange there's a place where your food is served by a giant rodent.

[Pro Libertate]

You clearly know nothing of the Mouse that rules much of Florida.

[PapayaSF]

What the hell is it with blacks brawling in restaurants? It seems like every time something like this happens, it's always the same race. Way to reinforce stereotypes, folks.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't let trashy people of any ethnicity out in public, let alone gather in any significant number, without shit going down.

See: Chuck E. Cheese, Amusement Parks, Movie Theatres, Malls, Traktar Pulls.

[PapayaSF]

It's just that the racial composition of this sort of thing seems noticeably disproportionate.

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it is. But I'm leery of having conversation on particular American subcultures because if I say group X should really stem behavior Y, idiots like...oh, let's say, Murkin...will come in with "herp-a-derp! They are inferiors! Protect our pure, white way of life!"

But yes, black people need to stop fighting at the Chuck E. Cheese. And drinking alcohol at Chuck E. Cheese. And doing drugs at Chuck E. Cheese. And shooting at people at Chuck E. Cheese. It's not a good look.

[Enough About Palin]

I live in the ghetto. Many blacks here are just dying to lash out, women more so than men. Getting off on self-drama is big here.

[Zakalwe]

I've twice seen black women involved in a fender bender get out and start beating the shit out of the other woman involved. Never seen it from anyone else, although over the years living in Houston I did read about three cases where someone dude did it and got shot by the victim. No arrests or prosecution, of course.

[fish]

While working a second job (roofing) while in the Air Force I watched two big....and I can't emphasize this enough...BIG....black girls beat on each other, on and off for about 45 minutes! A flurry of fists, hair pulling, slaps, curses....followed by breaks where great gulps of air were inhaled and fabulous curses were exchanged!

Their punches and slaps were as loud as the pneumatic nail gun we were using!

[Enough About Palin]

There is a segment that just love to fight, especially teen girls. It's fucking nuts.

[Calidissident]

No link to any videos (the video on the page is at a different place), but according to the article, a Chuck E. Cheese in Susquehanna, PA (which according to the Census is 0.4% black) had the cops called to its location 17 times in an 18 month period

http://abcnews.go.com/US/chuck.....d=15803726

[The Last American Hero]

Sounds like a job for Dalton.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Support for the NSA's mass collection of communication metadata is waning among the public and Congress.

Wait until we find out it's not just meta.

[Hyperion]

According to Greenwald, we've already found that out. Just because the NSA is denying it, well, they have been known to lie.

[CE]

Congressmen can now safely express their disdain for the NSA's broad-based data collection efforts, now that the funding is secure.

[Cytotoxic]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says that some Republicans are too afraid to challenge Obamacare.

Just like Suderman.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ka. Boom.

[Jerryskids]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says that some Republicans are too afraid to challenge Obamacare.

I don't believe that for a second and I think Cruz is delusional if he seriously believes that for one second. The Republicans he thinks aren't speaking out forcefully enough against Obamacare aren't not speaking out because they're afraid, they're not speaking out because they support Obamacare.

Oh, sure, they have some minor quibbles here and there about how a universal single-payer nationalized healthcare system is going to get implemented - they especially object to Obama or any other Democrat getting the credit for it - but they really don't want to repeal Obamacare, they just want to tweak it a little.

Forget all the nonsense about whether it's affordable or workable or even theoretically possible to be affordable or workable, Obamacare in principle is a shitload of expanded government power and the concomitant opportunity to trade on that power. No politician thinks he should have access to less power or gives a shit what it costs you for him to have that power, which makes repealing Obamacare about as likely as repealing the law of gravity.

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

Nerds in Space

[Rasilio]

I hate this shit because stories like that make me really want to try Eve out, but knowing that I could devote maybe 5 hours a month to the game basically makes it pointless since I'd just be kitten chow to all the 14 year olds who sit on the site 20 hours a day.

[Joe M]

Agreed. It sounds like an awesome game if you have the time for it.

[Ted S.]

Would you believe Sharon Stone is 55? See bikini photos!

(The photos look grainy as though they're taken from a distance through a telephoto lens.)

[db]

"Filmed through a pair of Levi's 501 jeans..."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Remember that photo from Saturn?.....

[CE]

The one from Uranus turned out better.

[kinnath]

At 56, I could really get used to seeing something like that at home.

[CE]

Try the Internet.

[C. Anacreon]

For all you youngsters to know, life does not end at 40. There are definitely a lot of tappable older women out there. 55 isn't really even that old anymore. People take a lot better care of themselves than they did 30-40 years ago, when 55 would be more likely to look like Granny.

[SugarFree]

55 or 105, you don't grow out of crazy.

[NeonCat]

Will totally not be used as a weapon against the Loonies, honest.

FTA:"Unfortunately, the G-forces involved are tremendous with the projectile subjected to up to 60,000 times the force of gravity."

[Ted S.]

Can they use it againt Twoonies as well?

[Brett L]

Umm. That's great. Except why not just make a 5 km long nuclear steam powered catapult? because accelerating to 7 km/s over 5 km is only 12,000 g. (someone check my math on that)

[Rasilio]

Yeah but it would be great for shipping the water back up to Luna after they dropped the rice bombs on us

[Apatheist ?_??]

Sheila Jackson-Lee has been recommended by the Congressional Black Caucus for Homeland Security Secretary. Which would be awesome because she wouldn't be my congresswoman any more.

[PapayaSF]

Sorry, we need you to take one for the team here.

[C. Anacreon]

I thought she said this was her last term anyway?
But hey, if you want Homeland Security to be run like Detroit, the congresswoman from Houston should be able to get you there.

[Agammamon]

The CBC is just trying to get rid of crazy.

[A Serious Man]

Dear Prudence: Help! My son's big-titted girlfriend never wears a bra!

Q. No, Everyone Does Not Want to See Your Nipples: My 20-year-old son "Ted" has a 19-year-old girlfriend named "Dahlia." Dahlia is very well-endowed and rarely wears a bra. However, she does wear low-cut clothing and often looks like she's about to fall out. The dress she was wearing last night was so small on her that it she couldn't zip it up all the way and she was very close to a nip slip. When she walked in the door she looked at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, "I know this is a low-cut dress" as if she knew she was coming to my house, knew what my expectations are, but came looking like that anyway. Here's my problem: She's going on vacation with us in a week. I don't want to seem prudish but I do want to get through to her that this type of dress isn't appropriate for the places we'll be going and the people we'll be seeing.[...] What do I do? How do I handle this without alienating her but helping her to understand that something that is fine when you're out clubbing is not fine when you're trying to make a good impression with your boyfriend's family?

Answer: Your son is one lucky son of a bitch. I suggest you stop being a prude before you ruin his life by driving this girl away.

[CE]

Admit it. It's not your son you're worried might notice her.

[Pro Libertate]

I predict a cat fight.

[A Serious Man]

That must be one proud father.

[Brett L]

I hope she's a screamer, too.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I'm guessing she's "zaftig"

[NeonCat]

Go on...

[Mad Scientist]

Dear Prudence,
How do I impose my views on others without them knowing what what an awful person I am?

[Bobarian]

Important piece of information missing here.

Is this Mom complaining because Dad seems to have a real problem with looking his son's girlfriend in the eye?

Or

Dad is complaining because Mom has caught him leering?

Also... BOOBIES!

[PapayaSF]

I think it's just a matter of taste, and perhaps class.

[Suthenboy]

No pics?
I have a sad face.

[Zakalwe]

Pics or GTFO.

[a better weapon]

Is she fat though? I bet she's fat.

IME, it's the big girls who are the most proud of their "figures" and go braless/wear low cut shirts. The trim and busty girls keep them wrangled up.

[Zakalwe]

+1 jiggle.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Yup. +1 to you.

[Ted S.]

Iceland police see girl playing with police car; don't shoot her

If you want to argue the police are engaging in propaganda, you're welcome to. I have no idea how good or bad the police in Iceland are on average; I've always assumed the country was a low-crime area.

[Hyperion]

I recently read a long and interesting article on Iceland, from the perspective of an expat from Norway who was living and working there.

Apparently, the favorite pastime in most towns is to get very drunk, go to the streets, and beat the shit out of each other.

This behavior is apparently, socially acceptable to the Icelanders, and anything one does when drunk, is forgiven the next day, so maybe the cops don't fuck with them that much.

[Gladstone]

So Iceland really is libertopia!

[Bobarian]

Is that because the Cops drink on duty?

(anything one does when drunk, is forgiven the next day)

[Brett L]

This behavior is apparently, socially acceptable to the Icelanders, and anything one does when drunk, is forgiven the next day,

Given the price of booze in Iceland, its probably because only the filthy rich can afford to get drunk.

[Ted S.]

I would have thought Icelanders can't afford to get drunk, with the price of liquor being so monstrously high.

[Brett L]

Goddammit. Your comment was obviously not there when I typed mine. Curse your quick fingers.

[Zeb]

Apparently they get drunk a lot nonetheless. What else are you going to spend your money on in Iceland?

[Brett L]

I was talking to a couple in Austin one night at SXSW. He was Icelandic, she was half Icelandic, half American. He was telling the story of breaking down in tears of joy at seeing the prices of liquor in American stores when he first got here. Seriously, I was on like day four of a multiday drunk, but I'm pretty sure he said $70/liter for cheap vodka.

[Zeb]

More like $50 a liter from what I can find on a quick search. There also seems to be a healthy moonshining culture there as one might expect.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The cops are wearing short-sleeved shirts?

So much for *Ice*land.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Global warming duh

[Hyperion]

Good grief, I think I just pantsed the thought. That article is not about Iceland, but Greenland. Oh well, that's my stupid moment for the day.

[jesse.in.mb]

Shackford got a mention at Towleroad: Libertarian Magazine Calls Boycott of Stoli Vodka Over Russia's Anti-gay Regime A 'Very Bad Idea'. While not a ringing endorsement it they basically agree and point out Russian Standard vodka is a better target.

The comments were much more positive than I expected (normally I don't wade into the comments over there because it's painful). The gems include:

ahhh, there's something odd about coming to the aid of a rich man. if he was truly our friend, he would exit the company in some way that his career was salvaged, that is if he even needs one. we do not need the greedy as our allies. we need a voice and this has given us one.
boycott all things russian, i say. bring them to their economic knees. for it is only money and power that putin recognizes anyway. sd

Posted by: steven | Jul 27, 2013 12:00:17 PM

Unfortunately, Stoli will have to be a casualty in this situation. I feel bad for them?truly?but many more companies will have to take the fall until Russia realizes it can't export their tainted products to places that embrace freedom and kindness.

Posted by: Andy | Jul 26, 2013 11:44:49 PM

[jesse.in.mb]

(CONT)

We are supposed to listen to the insane clown posse known as the Libertarians? Just a side note for the people being duped: Ted Cruz is supported by the Libertarians. Nuff said. Boycott Sochi and all Russian products!

Posted by: tom | Jul 26, 2013 9:11:19 PM

The libertarian toilet paper "Reason" is against a civil rights boycott? SHOCKER!!

Honestly, we shouldn't be paying any attention to Reason, even if it's a clock-stopped-twice sort of deal. They don't deserve our attention and certainly don't support our causes. You don't have to look much further than the Paul family to know how much of a cancer "libertarians" are in this country.

Posted by: Ryan | Jul 27, 2013 4:57:25 AM

Clearly these guys don't know Reason is a Cosmotarian rag or else they'd be singing kumbaya with us at our cocktail partiez.

[Gladstone]

Clearly these guys don't know Reason is a Cosmotarian rag or else they'd be singing kumbaya with us at our cocktail partiez.

Don't recall anyone saying that cosmotarianism doesn't prevent them from being attacked as meanies.

[Episiarch]

The sheep have been told who to hate, and they do so with gusto. Marching orders are marching orders.

[Hyperion]

I somehow have this feeling, that most people are not going to stop drinking Russian vodka, because of what a few nuts think. The problem with these people, is that they always think they are more relevant, than what they are.

Ted Cruz is supported by the Libertarians

I lol'd.

BTW, Jesse, you SF'd the link.

[Irish]

The libertarian toilet paper "Reason" is against a civil rights boycott? SHOCKER!!

Honestly, we shouldn't be paying any attention to Reason, even if it's a clock-stopped-twice sort of deal. They don't deserve our attention and certainly don't support our causes. You don't have to look much further than the Paul family to know how much of a cancer "libertarians" are in this country.

God, what an insufferable asshole.

I especially love the 'don't support our causes' part. That's because your causes are stupid. Stop having stupid causes.

[Andrew S.]

Reason supports gay marriage at least, and has for a long time; far longer than Team Blue, who started supporting it when it became politically expedient.

(but lets still ignore the largest group that stifles gay marriage votes, shall we?)

[Irish]

The libertarian party has supported gay marriage since the 1970s. If you're keeping track, that's about 20 years before a Democratic president signed the Defense of Marriage Act.

Clearly we care nothing for gay rights and should act like dipshits and unnecessarily boycott vodka. That would show how serious we are!

[NeonCat]

Hey! That Democrat President won an award from GLAAD for, uh, okay, I'm sure it wasn't *just* because he was a Democrat, wait, it'll come to me...

[Pro Libertate]

So I should boycott the Clintons? Hey, for once, I'm ahead of the curve on correct thinking.

[jesse.in.mb]

There was someone arguing something similar in the original Stoli article. In that commenters eyes I'm guessing "our causes" = the entire New Left platform.

[Heroic Mulatto]

My contribution to the discussion:

"They don't deserve our attention and certainly don't support our causes. You don't have to look much further than the Paul family to know how much of a cancer "libertarians" are in this country."

--Ryan

Hey Ryan, you state that libertarians don't support your causes with such conviction, it is as if you have any fucking clue as to what you are talking about. Libertarians advocate that all people should be treated with equality before the law, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. If you're too caught up in fighting the culture war to see that we have common cause because you find rubbing shoulders with icky, gun-totin' rural White people distasteful, then fuck you.

And speaking of cancer, I hope you contract Kaposi's sarcoma and die an agonizingly painful death.

I wonder how long it will stay up.

[C. Anacreon]

Well, that ought to dissuade him from thinking bad things about libertarians.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Some folks just need killin'

[jesse.in.mb]

And speaking of cancer, I hope you contract Kaposi's sarcoma and die an agonizingly painful death.

Wow HM, way to salt the earth on that one.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You think Ryan was being metaphorical when he said libertarians were a "cancer"? Every genocidal fuck in modern history has described their ideological enemies as cancers needed to be excised. I owe no quarter to someone who would gladly see us rounded up into cattle cars because we disagree with his Free Shit-ism.

Fuck Ryan.

[jesse.in.mb]

And how do you think those who read Shackford's piece, said "yeah he makes a decent point" and then read your comment are going to feel about that.

Ryan is clearly a twat, but invoking Kaposi sarcoma isn't calling him out for being a little ideological fascist it's waving the specter of the AIDS crisis over him and everyone who reads that sentence is going to find you revolting (shoot, I like you and felt a twinge of horror when I read it).

[Heroic Mulatto]

Then perhaps Ryan should have given more thought about whom he describes as a "cancer", of which sarcomas are an example.

As for AIDS, Ryan and his ilk would squeal like a stuck pig if one were to bring up Obama's atrocious pandering toward the gay community considering AIDS research funding, and when called on breaking his campaign promises, his blaming of Republicans.

You're absolutely right in that words have connotations, but if someone can't see that I'm merely calling out Ryan for his use of disgusting language, then I can't help their obstinacy.

[cont]

[Heroic Mulatto]

Now one may argue that AIDS is a "real crisis" whereas no one is sending libertarians to camps. Except that Ryan actively supports a government that engages in widespread abuses that result in the deaths of many, many people.

Now, regardless of Ryan's beliefs or actions, I will always care for my friend who is HIV+, but not only did Ryan not shed a tear, for example, when the FBI murdered Vicki Weaver and her kids, but he implicitly supports their actions.

The fear that, due to my political ideology or my ethnicity, government thugs might at any moment of the night, break down my door, ransack my house, and fatality shooting me or a member of my family if we even offer one iota of resistance (or not) is just as real, all-encompassing, and heavily-weighing on the soul as the effect of AIDS is on the gay community. And whereas, libertarians have done nothing to increase the risk of HIV infection, Ryan lends active support to the threats that endanger us all.

[jesse.in.mb]

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

I don't think you're wrong on any point HM.

[Killazontherun]

The libertarian toilet paper "Reason" is against a civil rights boycott? SHOCKER!!

Hey tom, did it ever occur to you to boycott Russian products until just now, in the current month when other people suggested it to you? Russians didn't just turn homophobic yesterday. Shouldn't the novelty of the boycott alone give you pause to whether or not it is a good idea.

Hey, are you also going to stop giving to African aid charities? Are you now going to boycott giving money to Sally Struthers to feed poor babies because in some of those countries they burn homosexuals alive after lynching them?

How is harming third parties that happen to share the same nationalities as those you have a hate on for rational or good? It isn't, you are just a little bitch who doesn't have a clue.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Strangely, I have never seen a "Boycott Uganda" campaign from Big LGBT.

Funny, that.

[C. Anacreon]

Because gays understand that they are below blacks in the PC grievance ladder. Same reason they never questioned Trayvon's apparent homophobia that may have led to the fight with Zimmerman.

[Not a Libertarian]

In only slightly a joking fashion I might ask, what Ugandan product would we actually boycott?

[Irish]

I should feel bad about them criticizing us since that site is so serious and intellectual.

HUGH JACKMAN CLAIMS TO ROLE-PLAY AS WOLVERINE IN THE SACK

Jackman and wife Deborrah Lee-Furness supposedly "confessed" this fact to The Sun yesterday. Lee-Furness told the tabloid that her husband makes use of the Wolverine costume, claws and all, all around the house. "Oh my God, it's dreadful! Always with the claws. I'm like, 'Mix the salad. Put them to use, come on!'" Jackman then quipped, "The sheets we go through..."

[Suthenboy]

I first read that as Debra Lee Furriness.

[db]

Is that like a mail-order Russian bride?

[Anonymous Coward]

The libertarian toilet paper "Reason" is against a civil rights boycott? SHOCKER!!

"How dare you libertarians not support my righteous indignation! I shall stamp my feet and be very cross with you until you apologize!"

[Ted S.]

My first drinking experience was on an overnight train from Riga to Sankt-Peterburg, drinking vodka from a bottle labeled (in Russian) "Russkaya Vodka".

The only thing the other students had to chase it with was cola, and I don't like carbonated beverages, so I wound up chasing it with sausage. 🙂

[Damned Fool]

What kind of sausage?

[Ted S.]

This was 1992, when there were kiosks outside the train stations and metro stations selling all sorts of dodgy goods.

Looking back on it, I'm amazed we all survived.

THat having been said, that semester in Russia was also my first hangover, as I had too many drinks on the overnight boat to the Valaam islands. Thankfully, the American professor in charge of the study abroad program pretty much took the attitude that this would only teach me a lesson.

[Hyperion]

Hey, prof, can you buy me some more of that Russian Vodka, for tonight?, I'm broke and I haven't quite learned my lesson yet. You do want me to learn, don't you?

[jesse.in.mb]

I wound up chasing it with sausage. 🙂

That generated a very different mental image from the one I'm assuming you intended.

[Ted S.]

It would for you, wouldn't it? :-p

[Ted S.]

I think you Sugarfreed the link.

[jesse.in.mb]

There's a first time for everything

THE LINK

[Ted S.]

There's a first time for everything

I assume that was months ago?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Qu'est-ce que c'est "Towleroad"?

[Zakalwe]

Yeah, I've been cautiously pondering the etymology of that.

[jesse.in.mb]

Er, I think his name is pronounced Toll even though it looks like it should be pronounced towel.

[jesse.in.mb]

It's a gay news and culture roundup site. It's slightly less insufferable than Joe.My.God. It's run by Andy Towle and it hooked me back when it was his personal blog and contained more about photography than culture and law.

[Hyperion]

They need a new webmaster, before their readers all go fucking blind from looking at text on a black background.

[Marshall Gill]

It's run by Andy Towle

No, You're a towel!

[Not a Libertarian]

Pulling out your toenails and dipping them in iodine is slightly less insufferable than Joe.My.God.

[jesse.in.mb]

All I know dropping JMG from my RSS feed significantly decreased the number of blood pressure spike headaches I get.

[NeonCat]

NASA using 3D printing for "rocket parts", totally not for untraceable firearms.

"In 11 different hot-fire tests, the two 3D-printed injectors were subjected to a total of 46 seconds of firing time at temperatures nearing 6,000? F (3,316? C)."

[Nazdrakke]

Human rights activists want the United Nations to investigate the closing of 49 Chicago elementary schools, saying that the children's human rights may have been violated.

Moving "Human Rights" alongside "racist" as language that is rapidly losing coherent meaning.

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

Putin, Putin, Putin

[Hyperion]

Super Putin!

I think Obama should challenge him to a fist fight, over Snowden.

[NeonCat]

Most awesome pay per view ever...

[Pro Libertate]

Jesus, Putin would kill him with the handshake.

[Killazontherun]

The Prince of Honeypot Setups, Radioactive Poisoning and Disappearances is not going to let the Duke of Economic Collapse and Dronekills off that easily with a quick kill.

[Hyperion]

I hope not, I was looking forward to a long and painful pummeling.

[Paul.]

he Clintons are upset about Anthony Weiner's attempt to liken his latest set of transgressions, and his wife's response, to their own experiences.

Comparing Weiner's is a favorite political pastime.

[Hyperion]

Whatever happens, Weiner says he will 'stick it out'.

[Finrod]

I admit it, I've been enjoying the headlines reading '(person) encourages Weiner to pull out'.

[Enough About Palin]

Found guilty of the worst bowel movement ever

[C. Anacreon]

Oh my, pretty disgusting -- but this is what federal appeals courts spend their time on?

And what a mess. The poor maintenance worker who had to deal with it said that "seventy-five percent of the floor was covered in feces" while more was "smeared more than two feet up on the walls" and "on the paper towel and toilet paper dispensers, on the toilet paper itself, and on part of the toilet seat and the left side of the toilet bowl," according to the opinion.

The outrageously graphic 57-page court document, written by distinguished judges who sit one level below the U.S. Supreme Court, includes vivid comparisons to spaghetti with meat sauce and chunky peanut butter.

[db]

"Justice Beavis, how do you rule?"

"Heh-heh, yeah, I rule!"

"Not like that, dumbass!"

[Longtorso, Johnny]

"Huma? Hey, Honey? Was I Happy Before I Started Running for Mayor?"
She approached in a knit white top and navy-blue business skirt, her dark, almost black hair down to her shoulders. She wore bright-red lipstick, which gave her lips a 3-D look, her brown eyes were pools of empathy evolved through a thousand generations of what was good and decent in the history of the human race. The harsh, cheap buck lighting in the coffee shop couldn't lay a glove on her. By the time she sat down, the harmony of angels had vanquished the tinny background music from every corporate space on the planet. Of course, you'd seen pictures before. But you'd also seen pictures of the Taj Mahal. It didn't quite come up to actually being there.

...A few days later, I saw Huma again, this time in the couple's apartment, a nifty, reportedly $3.3 million spread owned by a longtime backer of the Clintons. This was the so-called domestic segment of the reporting process, a quick sitting with the modern young couple and their 18-month-old son. There were to be no searing re-?creations of the sexting scandal, no intrusive inquiries about personal lives. Huma was a famously private person, give or take a Vogue spread or two, ...

[CE]

Descended from a thousand generations of what was good and decent in the human race????? Do these people know that the person with the most living descendents was Genghis Khan?

[Irish]

By the time she sat down, the harmony of angels had vanquished the tinny background music from every corporate space on the planet.

That's the best part.

[Heroic Mulatto]

As the conversation turned to kids and travel, Huma showed me a picture of her father, Syed Zainul Abedin, which she keeps in a small frame on the windowsill. Born in India in 1928, Syed Zainul Abedin was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University, in a western Uttar Pradesh town where, in 1803, a regiment under the command of the British East India Company waged war against the Maratha Empire.

Considering her Mughali heritage, there's a good chance she might be a direct descendant.

[Killazontherun]

She wore bright-red lipstick, which gave her lips a 3-D look

When painting lips, you place the lightest shade of the color at the point that light hits, its best if you center the light to hit in the upper, fat puffed out area of the lip for emphasis, then you apply the darkest shade to the under folds, and blend between. You can't approximate 3D with one single shade.

[SugarFree]

As opposed to the perfect flat plane that her lips are when not smeared with lipstick.

[Killazontherun]

Yup. In real life, single shading obscures form.

[SugarFree]

I was snarking on the terrible writing of the article, not your helpful makeup hints.

[Killazontherun]

I didn't think so, but I didn't want to confuse the girls who could use a little of my advice.

[Killazontherun]

One thing I liked about the first wife, I didn't have to tell her her eyes were too close together, she could see it for herself. A little creme colored powder on the bridge line, and a dark thick line above the eyes on the ends, and thin light ones blending on the interior made her look a damn bit less freakish.

[Irish]

A little creme colored powder on the bridge line, and a dark thick line above the eyes on the ends, and thin light ones blending on the interior made her look a damn bit less freakish.

I wonder why you're no longer together.

[Zakalwe]

Man, I worked with this female captain who apparently had the West Point nickname of "cyclops" because her eyes were so close together. It was disconcerting trying to look her in the...eye. She also wore waaaay too much makeup, probably to try to compensate.

On the other hand, she had huge biceps and could probably out squat Warty if you're in to that sort of thing. Apparently some are, as I was forwarded an engagement announcement. The groom is a full bird colonel she used to work for. Um.

[Killazontherun]

It's a joke, Irish. Though I accurately describe the regimen she used to even out her face above. If you really care, her anorexia and schizophrenia made it impossible to live with her.

[Suthenboy]

Jesus Christ.
I think I am going to puke.

[A Serious Man]

Green paint found on Smithsonian statue, organ at National Cathedral

The Southern Avenger strikes again!

[Zakalwe]

It's obviously Muslims.

[Pro Libertate]

I thought it was Paulites.

[NeonCat]

Paulite Muslims. They want to keep themselves out.

[Pro Libertate]

AH, HA!

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Israeli and Palestinian officials are ready to talk about talking about peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW2xyXl2tTI

[NeonCat]

N-Fix tech could drastically reduce amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed by crops, might not get attacked as "frankenscience" by nitwit Luddites.

FTA:Nitrogen-fixing bacteria do occur in some varieties of Brazilian sugarcane (a non-legume plant), which is the reason that those varieties are known for producing high yields with the addition of only small amounts of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Nottingham's Prof. Edward Cocking discovered that one strain of that bacteria could colonize all major crop plants, at a cellular level.

The process that Cocking developed, based on his discovery, is known as N-Fix. It involves covering seeds in a non-toxic coating that contains the bacterium. As a seed sprouts and the plant grows, the bacterium enters through its roots, and ultimately ends up in every cell of the plant. This means that every one of those cells is capable of fixing nitrogen from the atmosphere ? just like sugarcane does.

[db]

Wait, so this bacterium penetrates and then lives inside the cells of a plant as a parasite? Creepy.

[Apatheist ?_??]

That's how Chlamydia works. Also viruses.

[NeonCat]

Mitochondria are just squatters, aren't they?

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, they're way past the tolling period for adverse possession.

[db]

I knew that about viruses, but don't they just hijack the cell's reproductive mechanisms and kill it when it has produced too many copies? I didn't know there were bacteria that colonize other cells.

I guess mitochondria as mentioned below might be an example of a similar symbiosis.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Yes viruses basically do that. What you have to remember about bacteria is that they can be really small.

That is one theory as to how mitochondria became a part of cells.

[PH2050]

There are fungi that "infect" plant root systems and both organisms benefit. They are very helpful when cultivating cannabis.

[jesse.in.mb]

That sounds promising. Do we have a countdown clock for someone shitting their britches over it?

[Ted S.]

might not get attacked as "frankenscience" by nitwit Luddites.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!111!!!

Sorry, but the Luddites will go after everything.

[NeonCat]

I'm sure governments won't be fond of it as a way to dramatically reduce the amount of ammonium nitrate lying around, ready for diversion to less wholesome ends.

[Enough About Palin]

"Human rights activists want the United Nations to investigate the closing of 49 Chicago elementary schools, saying that the children's human rights may have been violated."

STFU.

[db]

Imagine Rahm Emmanuel up on human rights charges in front of the International Criminal Court...

[Finrod]

That would be like a fight between a rattlesnake and a scorpion.

[R C Dean]

Maybe they're investigating the possible violations of human "educational" rights that led to those schools being closed?

[db]

"Intellectual genocide"

[Marshall Gill]

+infinity

[Rich]

Israeli and Palestinian officials are ready to talk about talking about peace.

I'd like zero coverage of "the Middle East Peace Process" until peace has existed there for at least three years.

*Then* tell us WTF happened.

[Endless Mike]

"Clintons upset about Weiner comparison". Best. Headline. Ever.

[A Serious Man]

44 injured when two trains collide in Switzerland

At least 35 people were injured, five of them seriously, in a head-on collision of two trains in western Switzerland late Monday, police said. One person had yet to be recovered from the wreckage.

The crash happened near the station of Granges-pres-Marnand shortly before 7 p.m. on a regional line about 31 miles southwest of the capital, Bern. It came just days after 79 people were killed in a high-speed train derailment in Spain.

Photographs from the Swiss site showed the two regional trains locked together, partly lifted off the tracks by the force of the collision.

I'm beginning to think trains aren't all they are cracked up to be by the proggies.

[NeonCat]

Add that to the bus crash/plunge in Italy and it's not a good week for mass transit.

[Irish]

Add that to the bus crash/plunge in Italy and it's not a good week for mass transit.

It was all caused by austerity.

Austerity kills.

[I can't trust my fans]

I can't tell of the Weiner-Abedin child will grow up to be really hot or...really not.

Am I perv just for thinking that?

[Gladstone]

So what exactly does "free minds" mean? As far as I can tell that means Atheists on Acid.

[Irish]

As far as I can tell that means Atheists on Acid.

No, atheists on acid sounds like a fun party. If you're talking about 'Free thought blogs' it basically means 'I am an atheist who uncritically believes everything the Democratic party tells me.'

[Gladstone]

I was referring to the Reason's slogan. Hehe.

If you're talking about 'Free thought blogs' it basically means 'I am an atheist who uncritically believes everything the Democratic party tells me.'

Why don't they just go back to calling themselves Communists?

[Calidissident]

What prompted this question?

[Gladstone]

Nothing, just something on my mind.

[SugarFree]

Your free mind, perhaps?

[Marshall Gill]

Man, I haven't had any acid since the children were born. I miss it.

[Killazontherun]

Same here 🙁

[Mike M.]

What's that you say, another lavish, taxpayer-funded Obama vacation? Yep, another lavish, taxpayer funded Obama vacation!

On August 10 the spendthrift first family return to Martha's Vineyard for eight days, where they will be renting the $7.6 million estate of some guy named David Schulte. No word yet on what the total bill to the poor beleaguered American taxpayers will be, but you can bet it won't be cheap!

Oh, and yes, the White House tours are still closed, so if you and the family were hoping to visit any time soon, tough shit on you.

[Hyperion]

I thought that Shreek said that the Obamas pay for their own vacations, and that they don't cost the tax payers one dime?

[Killazontherun]

If shrike only knew what that buttplug was saying in his name I'm sure he would not be too thrilled.

[Damned Fool]

Heh. I was speaking with my uncle and cousin in who live in India recently, and at some point the discussion came to Bush III. The Indian media has apparently been giving the impression that he was humble and competent, but it hasn't developed slavish followers like it has here, so I think I was able to disillusion them. The looks on their faces when I mentioned the $100 million Africa trip was priceless.

[A Serious Man]

Boom baby! Jewel thieves steal $136 million worth of diamonds on the French Riviera.

The latest estimate suggests that Sunday's theft yielded a haul of $136 million (?89 million). It took no more than a solitary thief, armed with a handgun, to slip through a half-open window into the plush Carlton Intercontinental Hotel, on the Croisette promenade of Cannes, and help himself to diamonds and other gems.
Wearing dark clothes, his face shielded by a cap and scarf, he appears to have struck as unarmed security men were transferring valuables from a safe to display chests. He completed his crime in less than a minute, stuffing earrings and studded rings into a briefcase before coolly escaping on foot, dropping a few items in the process, according to French reports.

It's that easy?

[Episiarch]

Dude, that was quite clearly the Pink Panther. Everything's easy for him.

[Pro Libertate]

Is Clouseau on the case?

[Episiarch]

Clouseau: Does your dog bite?

Hotel Clerk: No.

Clouseau: [bowing down to pet the dog] Nice doggie. [Dog barks and bites Clouseau in the hand]

Clouseau: I thought you said your dog did not bite!

Hotel Clerk: That is not my dog.

[Pro Libertate]

I love that bit.

[Finrod]

Ditto that.

[Andrew S.]

I dunno what it is, but I've been particularly angry lately. It seems like there's been an uptick in the number of daily Reason nutpunches, but I may just be imagining that.

[NeonCat]

"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

Maybe you need to take a break once in a while. Take a nap. Meditate. Think of a giant cat, pawing at a limousine full of screaming politicians.

[Gladstone]

So did Reason SF it's own link?

http://reason.com/24-7/2013/07.....-in-france

[Hyperion]

That link works for me.

If the link is not supposed to be about Feral Cats in France, then it's not a SF'd link, it's a pantsed link.

[Gladstone]

Well there is no link in that article. Krayewskied the link?

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

NO
a Pantsed' link is when it goes to the wrong article/story/video

[Hyperion]

Which is what I was trying to say:

'if the link was not supposed to be about feral cats in France'

I know you are proud to have a fucked up linkage thing named after you, but calm down man, (:

[Archduke Trousersenthusiast]

I was saying no to HappyRock

[Gladstone]

So do any reasonoids have a good response to the "Austerity caused Hitler" argument?

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W......931932.29

[Zakalwe]

You know what else austerity caused?

[Gladstone]

Modern British cuisine?

[Enough About Palin]

Actually, it was integral in the development of French cuisine, hence all of the sauces.

[Irish]

I'd point out that Hitler achieved almost every checkpoint on the early 1900's progressive wishlist.

Massive spending? Check. Forcing the individual to be subservient to the will of the collective? Check. Eugenics to purify the gene pool? Check. Militarizing the society? Check. The personal sphere taken over by the political sphere? Check.

It's a bit ridiculous for them to claim our ideas preceded Hitler when Hitler was the avatar of virtually all of their beliefs.

The level of power that progressives always want to give to leaders to 'solve' our problems is what caused Hitler.

[Episiarch]

Once again, it all comes down to projection with them. It's the golden rule when dealing with TEAM BLUE.

[Hyperion]

If only our current government wasn't so teeny and powerless, they could stop Russian vodka.

[Brett L]

1. Austerity != War Reparations
2. Godwin's Law
3. The price of gold has nothing to do with currency anymore.

[Calidissident]

Yep, Weimar Germany's problem was not enough inflation

[Irish]

Also, everyone should look at Roosevelt's entire 'Fear Itself' speech if you want to see how progressive ideology is almost indistinguishable from fascist ideology. Here are actual quotes from that speech:

Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

Pol Pot felt the same way. So did Mao.

We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of the national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded and permanent national life.

Indistinguishable from Mussolini's worship of the past and belief that all possess a duty to the state.

If we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good.

SIEG HEIL, MEIN ROOSEVELT!

[JeremyR]

It wasn't austerity, it was a welfare state (started by Bismarck) that ran out of other people's money, in this case because of war reparations from WW1.

As someone mentioned, inflation was the big problem. You don't get that from austerity, you get that from printing money.

All Hittler did was pass on the buck (well, mark) for a while, then tried to pay for the newer, more generous National Socialist utopia by invading other countries and taking their gold and resources.

[Lord Humungus]

hahahaha...

Hitler and Co went on a big spending binge, ramping up the military and building ROADZ. Before that, it was inflationary hell, and then the mix of the 1929 Depression laid the foundation for the raise of the Nazis.

You might as well blame FDR for the rise of Hitler, since his awful policies lengthened the Depression even more.

[A Serious Man]

The Fracking Boom: Think of the Children!

Last year I traveled to Western Pennsylvania to talk with people living next door to fracking operations. One man showed me the home he built for his wife and three sons on a quiet country road. They loved their rural lifestyle until representatives from an energy company showed up and said they had the right to drill for natural gas beneath the property. Soon a steady stream of trucks arrived with fracking fluids, giant generators, and other heavy equipment, and workers built a large drill pad next to the house. To top it off, the company stationed a security guard right in the middle of the family's yard.

America is in the midst of dramatic spike in oil and gas development. Aided by new fracking techniques, companies are drilling record-breaking amounts of land, including in our backyards and wild places. Once drill pads are built, these places become vulnerable to pollution, toxic spills, and permanent scarring.

America has a choice to make. We can stand by and watch energy companies industrialize our beloved landscapes. Or we can create smart safeguards that hold companies accountable for pollution and put sensitive places off-limits. But we have to decide quickly, before oil and gas companies make the choice for us.

Got to love a Luddite false dichotomy.

[NeonCat]

Oooh, shoulda found out who owned the mineral rights before they built the house.

[Brett L]

Just how do you think he built that nice home?

[creech]

"We can stand by and watch energy companies industrialize our beloved landscapes. " I wonder if this includes wind turbine farms, acres and acres covered with solar panels, organic farm operations springing up where bunnies and deer and raccoons used to gambol all day and night?

[Fatty Bolger]

alt text: Remind you of another couple?

It reminds me that politics is show business for ugly people.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Once more into the breach...

Ask a business executive these days about why investment levels are depressed and he's likely to say that cash is "on the sidelines" and will stay there until the government adopts:

? a) Regulations that are friendlier to his company's interests.
? b) Corporate income tax policies that are friendlier to his company's interests.
? c) Individual income tax policies that are friendlier to his personal interests.
As Harding points out, this makes very little sense. The means by which business-hostile public policy might depress investment is by depressing profits. The question is why investment is low relative to profits.

Umm... no, Matty. The question is what marginal return on investment companies can expect to see. A, B, and C are directly related to this question; general investment:profit ratio, not at all (as can be seen in almost any highly regulated extraction-based economy).

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Link: http://www.slate.com/blogs/mon.....price.html

[A Serious Man]

I'm not going to link it, but Yglesias did write a blog post criticizing occupational licensing for hair stylists and citing it as the reason cosmetology schools cost so much.

[Suthenboy]

"As Harding points out, this makes very little sense"

Soooooooo.....the people who are actually an active part of, and run the real economy on a day to day basis don't know what they are talking about.

This is as bad as a guy who has never had a job or built anything in his life looking experienced business people in the eye and flippantly telling them "you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen" about their companies.

[A Serious Man]

When Progressives eat their own: Joan Walsh eviscerates Ralph Nader for going against Team Blue

Todd also asked Nader how he could say there's no difference between the two parties given what the Tea Party has done to the GOP, and Nader allowed that "the right wing of the Republican Party has gotten so crazy" there now seems to be some distinctions. But then he asked "What's the difference between Generalissima Hillary or McCain?" and insisted "the White House and the Congress are not that different."

Slurring Clinton as a fascist is abhorrent, and saying Obama and Congress are "not that different" is delusional. Yes, on NSA spying, there's too much consensus, but Nader didn't talk about that. On economic issues, we need more bold populism from the president and his party, but denying there's a difference from Republicans means you're not paying attention, or you don't really care.

Well if the jackboot fits Joan. Nader is a doofus, but at least he's principled.

[Episiarch]

The more TEAM someone is, the more it terrifies them when someone states the truth about how indistinguishable the TEAMs are. Because it can't be, or TEAM wouldn't have any meaning.

[A Serious Man]

What's the difference between "bold populism" and false propaganda anyway? In Joan Walsh's world we need the president to tell lies about the Koch Brothers and Stand Your Ground Laws and the evilness of the markets.

[Episiarch]

Lies are OK because their motives are so pure.

[Pro Libertate]

It would be just dandy if people would stop operating like that. Just stop. If someone does something wrong, it's wrong regardless of their motives. The only time that matters is when you're sentencing them.

I'm distressed at how people--just people, not those in power--take on this totally Machiavellian viewpoint. Ye gods.

[Episiarch]

It's a critical mass thing.

Before the internet, it was hard to find people that would outwardly support what our society generally considers "bad" behavior. Our society generally considers lying to be bad, along with being a hypocrite, and a number of other things. Since doing one of the bad behaviors usually brought only condemnation, those behaviors tended to be kept to a minimum.

With the internet, it is now possible to find like-minded people in droves. So people who before didn't propose lying because they knew they would be condemned for it can now do so amongst like-minded people and actually have it be not just not condemned, but praised and reinforced.

[Pro Libertate]

I became truly conscious of this weird acceptance of the Big Lie during the Clinton years. They didn't invent it, but it seemed to be the time that Americans started accepting it.

It's weird to think our country was once known for having a fairly virtuous and practical population. Now we have neither.

[Irish]

On economic issues, we need more bold populism from the president and his party, but denying there's a difference from Republicans means you're not paying attention, or you don't really care.

How DARE Ralph Nader call the Democrats fascist! We're just populist demagogues who want state control of the economy! That's not like fascism at all!

[Irish]

On economic issues, we need more bold populism from the president and his party, but denying there's a difference from Republicans means you're not paying attention, or you don't really care.

How DARE Ralph Nader call the Democrats fascist! We're just populist demagogues who want state control of the economy! That's not like fascism at all!

[NeonCat]

It bears repeating.

[C. Anacreon]

To anyone on the left, Republicans are automatically evil, which should be immediately obvious to everyone. Saying that there isn't any difference between D and R is the same as saying Heaven and Hell are indistinguishable.

[Slammer]

Detroit cops rob and assault people while in uniform

[Slammer]

While wearing badges...EDIT BUTTON!

[Andrew S.]

I don't understand why they were arrested. I mean, cops do that all the time. Isn't it just called "asset forfeiture"?

[A Serious Man]

Care about justice and the fair treatment of others? Fuck you. You're fired. Judge fires court employee just short of his retirement for helping exonerate wrongfully convicted man.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A longtime judge's assistant in Jackson County says she was fired for providing a public document that helped a wrongfully convicted inmate win his freedom.

But court officials say 70-year-old Sharon Snyder was sent packing four weeks ago because she violated court rules against inappropriately providing advice and discussing court matters with outsiders.

Snyder says she gave Robert Nelson's sister a copy of a motion last year from a different case in which a defendant successfully requested DNA testing. Nelson, who was convicted in 1984 of raping a woman and robbing her, previously filed two motions for DNA tests that were denied because they didn't meet technical requirements.

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't you know that if libertarians

[Anonymous Coward]

Ignore that. My brain sharted.

Anyway, it's good to know that our black robed guardians are in such fear of possibly convicting an innocent man.

[db]

This would be a good topic sentence for Horse Ecomics.

[NeonCat]

"They're experts! Experts Bob! Exploiting every loophole, dodging every obstacle. They're penetrating the bureaucracy!"

[Joe M]

A longtime judge's assistant in Jackson County says she was fired for providing a public document that helped a wrongfully convicted inmate win his freedom.

But court officials say 70-year-old Sharon Snyder was sent packing four weeks ago because she violated court rules against inappropriately providing advice and discussing court matters with outsiders.

Rules are rules!

[Ken Shultz]

"Human rights activists want the United Nations to investigate the closing of 49 Chicago elementary schools, saying that the children's human rights may have been violated."

Where were they when the rights of Chicago's taxpayers were being violated?

[Agammamon]

Weiner's wife must be kicking herself right now. I mean, she's a pretty attractive woman who's obviously interested in social climbing (or she would have dumped this jack-arse long ago)who's saddled herself with a husband who can't keep his indiscretions indiscreet.

On the other hand, if she was any good at this politician's wife game she would have grabbed the fether by the throat and beat him into submission after his last fiasco cost him his office.

[Pro Libertate]

My recommendation? Leave Weiner for Spitzer.

[R C Dean]

Drudge headline:

Younger Women Love Weiner.

That is all.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yesterday it was "Weiner vows to stick it out."

[Omni]

Minimum wage debate. Austin Peterson (Libertarian) vs some other guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOMom7mEgsM

Thought I'd share this here with the minimum wage strike news all over my TV. Just had some protesters share that they should be making 15 bucks an hour because corporations have a responsibility to make sure their basic needs are met.

[Hyperion]

they should be making 15 bucks an hour because corporations have a responsibility to make sure their basic needs are met

Someone failed economics 101.

[db]

Such ignorance.

[JeremyR]

The thing is, if people's needs aren't met, they are going to eventually use violence.

People aren't just going to stand around and starve to death.

And frankly people do seem to overlook the basic laws of supply and demand.. Open borders simply means that people will never be able to make enough money at jobs, because the labor supply will be essentially infinite, lowering the value of it to almost nothing..

More and more people will be making less and less money, and either have to go on welfare or the government will pass minimum wage jobs, at which point companies will simply stop hiring people, and people will end on welfare again.

[Irish]

And frankly people do seem to overlook the basic laws of supply and demand.. Open borders simply means that people will never be able to make enough money at jobs, because the labor supply will be essentially infinite, lowering the value of it to almost nothing..

You think open borders results in infinite labor?

[Fatty Bolger]

Well, nobody working at McDonalds is going to starve to death, that's for sure.

[Anonymous Coward]

Open borders simply means that people will never be able to make enough money at jobs, because the labor supply will be essentially infinite, lowering the value of it to almost nothing..

This is a variant of the same argument that the champions of minimum wage made at the beginning of the 20th century. They would say that the minimum wage was necessary because immigrants and blacks were accustomed to living in poverty and squalor and would gladly work for less money than whites. Therefore, whites needed to "protected" from this onslaught of cheap labor.

[The Last American Hero]

Of course, costs never come down with that cheap labor, right? Talk about ignoring the laws of supply and demand.

[Tejicano]

"if people's needs aren't met,"

What fucking country are we talking about here? Or have we re-defined "needs" to include the latest smart phone, cable+broadband service, a minimum amount of bling, and a DVD/TV set up with no less than a 30" screen?

[Fatty Bolger]

My son was hired at McDonalds recently, and it took two interviews (and it normally takes three). He saw the list of candidates and it was a huge list for just five positions. McDonalds could easily hire people at less than they are paying them now. At $7.25, most are probably making more than what the true market price would be.

[Killazontherun]

Overpaid? Bernanke will take care of that problem.

[Hyperion]

Apparently the green paint bomber has been arrested, and it was ..... drum rolls .... a woman.

So it had to be either Nikki or KK, because there are no other Libertarian wiminz.

[A Serious Man]

Nikki is the worst ever, but I don't think she would use green. Besides, she's probably out celebrating Wesley Crusher's birthday.

Kaptious, on the other hand, has the means, the motive, and the lack of shame (she does, after all, live in DC).

[db]

celebrating Wesley Crusher's birthday.

Now that's low.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Southern Avenger is a woman?!

I need to go revise my predictive models. Possibly drink liquor as well.

[Hyperion]

she does, after all, live in DC

Yep. It was the Oath Keepers poster that set her off.

I have a disappoint though. I thought we had agreed to use orange paint to spread our reign of terror.