Former Email Provider Attacks Surveillance State, Germany Regulates Truck Drivers Out of Existence, Bob Filner To Become a Touchy-Feely Private Citizen: P.M. Links

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City of San Diego The man who closed encrypted email firm Lavabit to escape a government order to snoop on customers says the Obama administration created a surveillance state that hearkens back to the McCarthy era. For its part, the White House finds itself constantly on the defensive, dreading the next NSA spying revelation.
- Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper takes to Tumblr to convince us his operation is as cuddly as lolcats.
- San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is expected to, at long last, resign. Well, maybe one grope for the road.
- In recent years, Germany imposed tough qualifications on truck drivers and stiff fines on those who who work without official permission. Now, shockingly, the country has a shortage of people willing and able to drive trucks.
- A Department of Homeland Security employee responsible, in part, for acquiring guns and ammunition for the feds has a sideline in promoting vitriolic anti-white, anti-gay views.
- Thailand is poised to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. This is not a surprise.
- While education choice explodes in popularity around the United States, Virginia has all of five charter schools, since local school districts have veto power.
- California lawmakers move to give prosecutors the option to be more lenient with drug charges. Wait…prosecutors?
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Filner is a goblin!
That picture has been photoshopped, right?
Yes, he actually looks less human in person. TFIBHAW
That photo was taken right after Filners last molting. He having swallowed a whole goat a week prior to the official portrait.
Look at that mottling....exquisite!
I work at Home with Google. It's by-far the nicest job I have had. I've made $64,000 so far this year working online and I'm a full time student. I've made such great money. It's really user friendly and I'm just so happy that I found out about it. Here is what I do, http://www.Bling6.com
My wife thinks he looks like Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch not Stitch Hessian from Firefly.)
Also, First! Well done, Commentator; it's good to keep Fist on his toes.
I would strut around Jagger-like a bit more if my post were a bit stronger.
Still, though, anything that negatively affects FoE is a good thing.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is expected to, at long last, resign.
Who did he think he was, anyway? Bill Clinton? Ahnold?
Filner's "fondle rate" is 94.5% according to TPM - an all-time elected official high.
Seriously.
Think of the opportunities he missed by the no campaigning laws at poll locations. Lines of women just waiting to be hugged.
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to arm-wrestle Hulk Hogan
The *Onion* bought the Edmonton Journal?
My money's on Hogan. If I can get that auto-title loan....
California lawmakers move to give prosecutors the option to be more lenient with drug charges.
Like suddenly prosecutor resume-padding is going to go away.
Thailand is poised to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. This is not a surprise.
Bad news for Western tourists who have a wild night in Phuket and wake up the next day married to a Ladyboy.
I guess even the wedding officiants had trouble figuring out whom they were marrying.
It's a bear eat bear world
Ugh...the comments...
Cannibalistic bears......eeew!
Wait, is it cannibalism if they're the same family but different species?
I need to know before my cloned neanderthal burgers get cold.
Male brown bears will happily eat other brown bear cubs if allowed. And if hungry enough, I imagine. I don't know if they'll do it to cubs they've sired. I don't know if black bears do too.
There's a documentary on the brown bears that congregate at the McNeil River in Alaska, where one cub makes the mistake of getting too close to a large boar, who then kills the cub, peels it, and eats it. As gross as it sounds. I guess it was easier to catch than a king salmon.
Brown bear males will kill their own cubs.
NASDAQ trading halted for 2 hours today.
How much did Government Sachs lose from not front-running?
Front-running is just good IT practice.
Did you know T. Rex was a vegan? Jesus told this guy so.
I thought he was a Jeepster.
Jesus rode them, didn't He? So He'd know!
Dude, that's a utahraptor, you speciest.
Linking to addicting info, really Brett?
...James Clapper takes to Tumblr to convince us his operation is as cuddly as lolcats.
i can has 4th amendment?
Journalist speaks the truth.
Some of my peers on a trip to Spain had abrupt wake-up-calls when they heard how some Spaniards talk about North Africans.
Soccer is notorious for this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.....n_football
You know why FIFA games have those big 'Say no to racism' signs? Because black players kept having bananas thrown at them during games. There have been black players who got in fights with people in the stands because they wouldn't stop abusing them.
Nothing like that has happened in America since the 60s.
But LIMBAUGH AND MCNABB IS TOTALLY THE SAME THING!!!
-Standard lib response.
Actually, a banana was thrown at a MLB player just the other day.
In San Francisco, IIRC.
San Diego. And the player was Adam Jones (a local who made good with Baltimore.)
San Diego/San Francisco, whatever. CA is CA.
Maybe they thought he was low on potassium?
The guy who did it came forward, apologized, and said it wasnt racist, just that he was mad, and it was convenient.
Lance Berkman has had Twinkies thrown at him.
He'll eat them.
Jesus, *finally* someone said it.
America's pussified obsession with race makes me crazy.
They've warped it so out of perspective that they don't even know what racism is anymore. Witness how many people think dressing up like Flava Flav for a 40's party is racist.
I'd point to being labeled a racist because you don't agree with the particular policy positions of our Dear Leader. Or for pointing out that welfare programs have created intergenerational dependency on government and a permanent underclass of ghetto-dwellers.
I'd point to being labeled a racist because you don't agree with the particular policy positions of our Dear Leader.
Democratic party feature...not democratic party bug!
That's another. But I was picking an example that some libertarians seem to agree with as well.
Couldn't agree more. The word is now officially meaningless. EVERYONE is a racist.
Things that have gotten me called a racist in recent months:
? Saying that I thought the jury made the right decision, and that Zimmerman was not guilty.
? Saying the the killers of the baseball player in OK might not have simply been "bored," but were perhaps trying to gain "street cred" as Crips and/or rappers, because it's not unknown for young gangsters or rappers to do such things.
Another example of what we find racist:
So if food has nothing to do with minority obesity rates, what does? And how the fuck is singling out food when talking about obesity racist? Cause she said, among other things, chicken? What the fuck is the definition of racism that encompasses that?
This is a lie. Mexico just passed us as the most obese country on the planet. Everyone involved in that article is stupid.
+1
I didn't say she was smart, just not racist.
This is a lie. Mexico just passed us as the most obese country on the planet. Everyone involved in that article is stupid.
Nonsense! For every obese Mexican there are six skinny ones behind them!
Mexico just passed us as the most obese country on the planet.
Every time I hear bullshit like "obesity epidemic" I point out we have a shit-load more Mexicans in this country that we did 40 years ago and Mexico's obesity rate.
Plus the fact that baby boomers get heavier as they age and they dominate the demographics.
So it's NOT an epidemic as it was all predictable by demographics and immigration patterns. The result is usually a passive-aggressive change of subject.
She's talking complete bullshit:
Fried chicken is one of the few fast food things I could eat on my diet. That was when I was losing weight so fast the nurses next door were worried I had cancer.
Mexico is more obese than the USA. They changed their diet there too. It's full of sugars and carbage.
Barbecue isn't a sauce, it's a cooking style. Pulled pork with vinegar sauce isn't fattening. Smoked brisket isn't fattening.
Obesity rates correlate to soda consumption.
What was your fast weight loss diet? I need to lose five pounds in a week.
My guess, he's low carb or paleo.
Try Atkins for fast weight loss.
Oh, absolutely. Anyone who has spent any time in Europe knows this. I remember being in Spain (Granollers) and having my Spanish then-girlfriend's mother remarking on how an Ethiopian woman actually shopped in the Spaniard supermarket. It wasn't hateful or anything, it was just that she was shocked, because the Ethiopians have their own markets and are supposed to stick to them and their ghettos and stay out of sight. And for the most part, they do.
But they don't even see this as racism, just the way things are.
When I lived in Spain, I saw several guys dress up as black men for Halloween. It was very strange.
But, as you say, I didn't notice much hate, apart from one guy at a newsstand who wouldn't sell to any foreigner. He was fucking bitter.
Being anti-Muslim, or probably more accurately, against special privileges for Muslims is not "racism".
You Think America's Racist? Look at Europe
While you're at it, look at Asia and Africa, too.
I'll give the Ozzies a pass for the time being.
It's like an eating disorder -- if you judged American culture by the amount of self-flagellation going on for every perceived pound gained impolitic comment or cookie eaten grievance, you'd think we were heifers the KKK. But it's more about our obsession with being thin tolerant than our actual weight racism.
"Germany imposed tough qualifications on truck drivers"
Like what? The ability to drive a truck?
Not be Serbian or Greek.
Euro Truck simulator is huge in Europe.
That article is misleading. Germany does have a truck driver shortage, but this is not new, and the reasons are different, mainly
o poor work conditions
o very low pay (15k to 24k Euro/year) due to competition from low wage Eastern European countries
40% of new German truck drivers (i.e, drivers who already have the necessary license) quit within the first year.
A Department of Homeland Security employee responsible, in part, for acquiring guns and ammunition for the feds has a sideline in promoting vitriolic anti-white, anti-gay views.
Promote him to Border Patrol!
You know who else promoted anti-gay views?
Uh...Jesus?
No, I think the anti-gay stuff is all old testament. Plus, not the answer I was looking for. Hint: closer to home...
Its coming from inside Tonio!
Nope, Jesus didn't care, he was too busy cursing fig trees when he was hangry.
Paul on the other hand wrote things like Romans 1:26-27
Paul was big into slashfic.
IIRC Paul warned against being "effeminate," and in context it seemed mostly like a reference to being gay.
Slick Willy?
Me!
Nahh....just fucking with Tony!
The answer is was hoping for was American!!1! Thanks, everyone. Here's your consolation prizes.
"You don't want the truth, because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall."
FTA: War on the Horizon calls Obama a "a treasonous mulatto scum dweller," and lists him among the movement's enemies (also on the list? Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Condoleezza Rice, among others)
You know who brought down black people? The richest black woman in the world. This guy is awesome.
I eagerly await the Tosh.0 episode!
As tempting as it is to change my handle to that for the week, I won't.
It would be fun to read off that sentence (War on the Horizon calls Obama a "a treasonous mulatto scum dweller," and lists him among the movement's enemies (also on the list? Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, and Condoleezza Rice, among others)) to liberals and watch them react in horror when you tell them that this guy works for the DHS purchasing guns and ammo.
Then, and only then, let them know that he's black. I mean out of context, who would guess?
For its part, the White House finds itself constantly on the defensive...
The best part of this terrible scandal is watching the Obama team scrambling to explain their last lie.
The longer they are on the defensive, the better. It keeps them from doing other shit.
Maybe, Epi. My fear is that they'll come up with other shit to distract us: Syria, CAGW, etc.
Oh, they're going to try. But Snowden and Greenwald are still out there, promising more slow drip leaks.
Obama and crew are going to have a tough time distracting from that.
This is apparently why the huge push to get Snowden and intimidate Greenwald. They no doubt knew what the two had on them. But they kept telling the lies anyway.
Which shows the brilliance of Greenwald/Snowden's strategy in making the leaks a slow drip rather than a massive dump. They allow Obama to take a particular stance, then release the next bit of info which contradicts it.
Russians don't feel the need to hide how many Russians they surveil.
All of them?
And no one was surprised in the least.
In post-Soviet Russia, state surveil you. Wait, that doesn't work.
Yes it does
/Putin.
Fuck. I would have risked decompression if this shit happened.
On the way back, he pondered what he would do if the water reached his mouth. The only idea he came up with, he said, was to open the safety valve on his helmet and let out some of the water.
Tell me again why we send people into space. Besides the cool/ego factor.
If by "we," you mean the government, I have no idea. If you mean as a species, I have a long list of good reasons.
See, government does it on a cost-level that's absurd to contemplate. But it doesn't have to cost billions each launch.
Because it is there.
Because it is not here.
That's actually a great answer.
Money. I think this goes back to the sixties when some of the NASA people argued that the best way to win public support for spending on a space program was to have people going into space.
Because you aren't there.
This may sound stupid, but I wondered what prevented him from drinking it?
Good question.
Was it really water, and not some other (poisonous) liquid?
Semen. This isn't reported very widely, given the subject matter, but semen production is extremely high in low-gravity environments.
I mean, it says "water". Maybe that's not the best idea in the world, but it's better than drowning.
They have hydration systems built in, so basically his water hose was leaking.
It could be contaminated with some pretty poisonous shit.
The coolant system, for example, probably uses something like Ethylene glycol to make it functional in the cold.
I'd decompress before ingesting it. Poisoning on a space-walk = death sentence. Throwing up in a space suit = death sentence.
Dumping half the air in your suit? Not good, but at least you probably will live.
Surely NASA has moved onto propylene glycol like everyone else.
Good point. Maybe he was worried about possible contaminants. But I guess he could have upchucked it after he got to safety.
Also, it sounds like it never reached his mouth, so maybe his mouth could not reach it.
When I heard about it on the news last night, it sounded like he didn't know what it was, and water was just an assumption. Maybe that's why.
He should have just drank the hydrogen molecules, then he would have been left with oxygen to breathe. Duh.
SCIENCE!
Okay, I did some research and what I said there was wrong. It should have been drunk, not drank.
I laughed.
+1 hug /Filner
Where did it come from?
When I think of ways you might die in space, drowning is pretty far down the list.
"Luca Parmitano sleeps with the space fishes."
I would have found myself thirsty all of a sudden.
FTFA: He knew that because of the repressurisation, he could always open his helmet if the water overwhelmed him.
I'm assuming that "open his helmet" means the safety (pressure equalization) valve.
Not ideal, but better than drowning.
No... he meant in the air lock. If he had popped his helmet, he'd have blacked out almost instantly (your lungs start scavenging O2 out of your blood). However, the anoxia would only have lasted a minute or two until the partial pressure of O2 was high enough that it started flowing the right way across the membranes.
I know that.
I think the "open the helmet" is the reporter's invention; all the actual quotes talk about the valve.
Plus, due to the vacuum his lungs would have been pulled out through his mouth. Ugly.
Your lungs don't turn inside out at a pressure differential of 100kPa. You'd rupture a bunch of alveoli and experience some capillary bleeding. Depends on if you have a chance to hyperventilate and exhale as much as possible.
That was inside the airlock. I think outside, he considered hitting the helmet valve to hope that some of the water would evaporate and flow out as the pressure fell.
Why is Jean-Luc Picard working for NASA and not the Federation?
New York, California, and Illinois all hemorrhage tax dollars.
I'd never heard about this before!
Meanwhile, in Cleveland...
Get Let Down In Funky Town!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck44NGcQRTI
"Reversing the trend will require some gut-wrenching changes to business-as-usual."
So NOT wasting money on high-speed choo-choo's is "gut-wrenching"?
If it means delaying our progression to being just like Europe, then yes, it's gut wrenching.
Hot Dog Legs!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/samir/.....the-summer
What the hell
Suddenly, I want some brats. Weird.
So when I want to put mustard on my ladyfriends legs, it's no longer weird?
When you want to do it, or when other people want to do it?
Was it ever?
What kind of mustard? If it has honey in it, then no, it's not weird.
"Hot Dog Legs" is the dumbest thing the internet has come up with in a long time.
That sounds like a challenge
Will the porn version be more or less dumb?
I dunno, but it will be saltier.
In all seriousness, and yes, this has some risks associated with it, the Congress should pass a bill suspending the operation of the NSA altogether until this shit is sorted out. If the administration wants to stop that from happening, it can fucking open the kimono to Congress. All the way.
There is and never has been a national security exception to the Constitution. Time to straighten this shit out.
Now, which Congress are you talking about here?
Sexual congress.
He said "should", not "will", "could", or "might actually consider".
The fictional congress which can muster a collective pair between them all.
It used to be that Congress Critters cared about the institution. Now they don't give a shit. They are perfectly willing to destroy the institution they serve to further their party.
And, as long as individual Congress Critters get re-elected so they can keep getting the freebies & the power.
My local guy campaigned last year against Obama's big government agenda but then blithely voted against the Amash Amendment. And when myself and some others bitched about it on his FB page, the posts were deleted.
When I do posts like that I always take a screen shot afterwards.
Yeah, good idea. I did post again the next day and bitched about the deletion & that stayed up for a while. The weird thing is that he only had a narrow win last year but doesn't seem to want to separate himself from the chosen one. It's kind of a split district but voting that way is going to get him support from the left and will cost him support from the right.
Probably time for a primary challenge.
Now they have plausible deniability, so it costs them nothing to feign surprise when it comes out.
John,
In case you missed this...
That story is so German it's busy trying to forge the Fourth Reich, but is being bogged down by the engineering challenges inherent in designing the world's largest tank.
Whoops, wrong comment section...
IP Arrow's DMCA Takedown Notices Claim UFC And Lynda.com Hold The Rights To Child Porn
Just a heads up: TechDirt did not censor the (alleged) CP URLs from the DMCA requests.
...the Obama administration created a surveillance state that hearkens back to the McCarthy era.
To be fair, I don't know that they created it. Expanded it, yes. Perfected it, maybe. Disingenuous about their intentions to toward civil liberties, definitely.
See, you are not a true wingnut.
According to Wingnut.com, Obama created the PATRIOT Act, the Keep America Safe Act of 2007, and the FISA Telecomm Immunity Act of 2008 and forced Bush to sign all three.
You take that back.
You know, sometimes I think John is a bit harsh on you... but damn, you do love to blame everything on Bush, don't you?
I am cursed with Total Recall.
It wasn't THAT bad. There are some good scenes...
I'm just not into three-titted dwarf whores.
I'm just not into three-titted dwarf whores.
Really? Takes all kinds, I guess.
I do enjoy othering them though.
You mean the remake, the original, or the short story the film was based on?
Create, reauthorize at sunset, what's the difference?
Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper takes to Tumblr to convince us his operation is as cuddly as lolcats.
There's a tumblr section just for NSAonies.
Russians developing new toys for their armed forces: unpowered exoskeleton, robotic vehicles and one sweet combat dune buggy.
Command & Conquer was prophetic!
If you ate a Cronut Burger at the CNE, Health Canada would like a word with you.
Learn the secrets of disarming your opponent!
Oh, I thought you were linking to this.
Both are funny.
I'm pissed off: they did *NOT* mention that you have to feed the tiger.
I recently was mugged by a man wielding a packet of raisins, and when I pulled the lever instead of leaping out an mauling the man, the tiger lay there - skeletonized.
I AM DISSAPOINT.
Wow. So much stupid.
But, what if he's attacking me with a banana?
Stupid refresh.
Your commenting powers are weak, old man.
You can't win, ProL. If you strike me down, I shall become more fruitful than you could possibly imagine.
Yours is the superior. . .fruitiness.
http://news.yahoo.com/public-s.....38247.html
Public school kids no longer forced to kneel before principal
Article I of the United States Constitution forbids any grant of nobility in the United States. Sadly, Dana Carter, the very important new principal of Calimesa Elementary School in Southern California's Inland Empire, failed to get the memo about the 226-year-old document.
An already-changed policy instituted at Calimesa Elementary for the start of the school year had forced students to kneel down in front of Carter ? and potentially other administrators? before being sent to class, reports CBS Los Angeles.
School officials described the bizarre kneeling policy as a postive effort to protect students. During its brief life, the policy was most frequently implemented at the official beginning of each class day and right after recess.
Several parents didn't love the procedure. A flyer opposing the policy circulated among offended moms and dads.
Mandatory kneeling before state-employed bureaucrats? Each shit and fuck right off.
That is the most fucked up thing I have ever heard. Do you have to be completely insane to get promoted to Principal?
Based on what I've read, yeah. You have to be able to survive a soul-crushing bureaucracy. Those who reach the top must have something wrong with them.
As God is my witness, I would have punched that self-entitled petty tyrant right in the fucking face had she even suggested I kneel before her.
What the fuck is the matter with these people?
This is why my wife and I have not had kids. Fate or God or whatever has decided that I will not end up in prison. If that were my kid, I would have punched her in the face and gone to jail as a domestic terrorist.
I'm not arguing that there aren't plenty of good reason for not wanting kids (not liking the filthy little disease-carrying motherfuckers is perfectly acceptable - and this is coming from a stay-at-home dad of 2 boys who are filthy little disease-carrying motherfuckers), but not wanting to be arrested is not one of them.
And by that I mean that private school or home schooling is a way to keep yourself from having to ever see petty tyrant government school bureaucrats, much less feel the urge to fucking strangle them.
"Principal Zod was unavailable for comment."
Wait, before we rush to judgment, what planet is he from?
Asgard. Principle Loki.
Principal*
I've got a feeling I'm about to lose my top hat for a mistake like that.
I thought you meant Prancy Pal.
Even I wouldn't stoop to being an elementary school principal. I still have a little tiny bit of honor, dignity, and self respect.
School officials described the bizarre kneeling policy as a postive effort to protect students.
From WHAT?
From inclinations toward independence, individuality, appreciation for freedom of spirit, and the American way.
I'll be damned if I ever send my kids to a public school.
My fiancee has already made it very clear that I am not to have any contact with public school educators when the fetus gets old enough. She's afraid of the legal costs.
We're going to have to send the kid to private school. I might get pissed off and punch somebody, but the wife would walk in with a bucket of gasoline and burn the place down.
My girlfriend's pregnant. And this is now something I might have to deal with in the future. The anger I feel when I try to imagine my own child in this sort of situation is indescribable.
Zod's righteous rage?
Individuality and independent thought.
Serious question. Is this sort of psychological abuse enough of a violation of the NAP to warrant a physical response or am I just a bad libertarian for thinking that tarring and feathering and posting the video on the internet is a proportional response?
Technically, no. However, I can see myself looking the other way if the parents of children that some megalomaniacal principal made kneel for him/her put some hurt on that principal. Within our culture, that's fucking outrageous.
The appropriate response to a kneel demand is a knee. . .to the manly parts.
I'll give you my take on this: I have a searing hatred and disgust for interpersonal totalitarianism. If you force my children to kneel before you in submission to your authority as a state-employed bureaucrat empowered by nothing but the word of illegitimate law, you'll lose your teeth and your kneecaps.
I think tar and feather needs to make a comeback.
As long as its one of your kids at the school, I dont see the problem.
The fucker started as a gym teacher.
You know what other phys ed teacher wanted children to kneel in front of him?
What the fuckity fuck? I'm glad I'm not a kid going to that school. I'm pretty sure I'd have detention for life. "Kiss my ass, principal fuck-head!"
In light of the skeptic article today, I give you:
What passes for rationed analysis from a feminist skeptic.
This is about fictional sex between a 16 and a 19 year old.
The author, in the comments:
These people don't even know what consent means. And they want their standards made into law?
There is something almost magical in the fact that feminists are universally incapable of writing a coherent sentence.
Oh, I get it. She's trying to be funny by imitating the way vapid, teenage girls talk.
Which is interesting because she appears to be a vapid, adult girl.
I would fund a kickstarter to send this girl to a basic composition class, but she'd probably just whine about patriarchy and drip her menses all over the notebooks.
Because she's not old enough to have sex.
That about sums up the author's mindset.
Fuck off, slaver.
Check out her scambling in the comments to make some kind of logical argument. She gives up pretty quickly and resorts to repeating the same bullshit over and over.
And then there's this:
Isn't the age difference between the two characters like 2 years? If that's considered statutory rape, then that's a sign that the laws are fucked up. This girl basically is arguing that whatever the government says is the same thing as morality.
But they aren't even consistent in that. Even in the matter at discussion, consent.
Actually, even in the scene, as described, you have a situation where the sex is consensual, is not wrong, but happens to be illegal. So fuck off, slaver.
The going back and forth is what gets me. It's not consent if it's not enthusiastic, but that's not a legal standard. But in this case, the legal standard overrides what is very clearly extremely enthusiastic consent.
I wonder what she would say if we took this "illegal =/= nonconsensual" thing to its logical conclusion.
After all, if she cannot consent to sex, she cannot consent to a contract, right? That means no birth control and no abortions. Ruh-roh.
It's like that comment I found on fark last week. about how they should just go ahead and say consent means whatever the woman wants it to mean. Not at the time, but whenever she decides to revoke it.
Consent has nothing to do with it. It's the word and all it signifies. Try sneaking up behind a feminist and whispering "rape" in her ear and see what happens. It would probably be funny until the police are called.
What I find most interesting about the consent argument is that this girl isn't capable of consent to have sex, but in the event she does have sex, she's perfectly capable of consenting to an abortion.
These people need a class in basic logic.
And it's from a supposed skeptic site.
Granny loves her some Elvis Costello
When krumping fractures a hip.
Marcotte Counters Specious Speculation About Spontaneous Combustion By, Uh, Speciously Speculating About Domestic Abuse:
Yes that's fascinating, Mandykins, but how are the Joooooos and Lizard People involved?
Amanda knows a lot about Indian culture. Way more than me, that's for sure.
She is right out of Stuff White People Like. One of the things on the original list was explaining a foreign person's own culture to them.
Funny how feminists are totally okay with profiling white men as abusers and potential rapists yet think that Trayvon Martin was a victim.
He was on the verge of being a potential abuser/rapist when his life was cruelly ended by the certainly old enough and probably is a rapist/abuser Zimmerman.
So, in a way, TM was lucky.
Actually, I think Marcotte is correct here. Spontaneous combustion of infants is b.s., and abuse of some sort is a far more likely explanation.
Guess who?
A society is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on.
Public institutions are supported by all taxpayers, and are available to all. If the tax system is progressive, those who are better off (and who, presumably, have benefitted from many of these same public institutions) help pay for everyone else.
"Privatize" means "Pay for it yourself." The practical consequence of this in an economy whose wealth and income are now more concentrated than at any time in the past 90 years is to make high-quality public goods available to fewer and fewer.
In fact, much of what's called "public" is increasingly a private good paid for by users -- ever-higher tolls on public highways and public bridges, higher tuitions at so-called public universities, higher admission fees at public parks and public museums.
Is this as utterly incoherent as it seems?
Much of the rest of what's considered "public" has become so shoddy that those who can afford to do so find private alternatives. As public schools deteriorate, the upper-middle class and wealthy send their kids to private ones. As public pools and playgrounds decay, the better-off buy memberships in private tennis and swimming clubs. As public hospitals decline, the well-off pay premium rates for private care.
[snip]
But that's not the whole story. America no longer values public goods as we did decades ago.
The great expansion of public institutions in America began in the early years of 20th century, when progressive reformers championed the idea that we all benefit from public goods. Excellent schools, roads, parks, playgrounds and transit systems would knit the new industrial society together, create better citizens and generate widespread prosperity.
Education, for example, was less a personal investment than a public good -- improving the entire community and ultimately the nation.
In subsequent decades -- through the Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War -- this logic was expanded upon. Strong public institutions were seen as bulwarks against, in turn, mass poverty, fascism and then Soviet communism.
Newsflash to liberals: American public schools haven't 'deteriorated' they've been this bad for decades. The reason no one noticed was because there were fewer countries that were beating us at education because fewer countries were wealthy.
It's not that our schools have gotten worse. It's that they've gotten worse relative to other people. Since our schools are stagnating almost entirely because the left is unwilling to allow any changes to the status quo, blaming conservatives for this is ridiculous.
Much of the rest of what's considered "public" has become so shoddy that those who can afford to do so find private alternatives.
Someone oughta develop some kind of wacky theory to explain that somehow.
Given that spending hasn't gone down, either, one can only assume that Reich's prescription is TO CLAP HARDER DAMMIT
Where is the proof that the past existed in this manner? Did people really think like that? Were public institutions that much better?
If you talk to a conservative they may say that in the past people didn't rely on public institutions so much and that private ones were more respected than now. Or that public goods were always crap and haven't changed.
I don't know why, but it really pisses me off when people give this idealized account of the past and why we should emulate it. Whether liberal or conservative, it's fucking obnoxious.
Best comment:
Strong public institutions were seen as bulwarks against, in turn, mass poverty, fascism and then Soviet communism.
Gee, guess that explains why half the budget back then was spent on the defense industry.
"and who, presumably, have benefitted from many of these same public institutions"
Why would you presume that?
Because Amanda Marcotte has never actually used evidence and has no intention of starting now. She knows what she knows and doesn't need any of your bourgeoisie 'evidence' to prove her point.
She speaks the revolutionary truth, man.
It's not Amanda, it's Robert "Napoleon" Reich.
Whenever I am reminded of Rob Reich, I am reminded of this song and Dr Diminutive shrieking that "Napoleon had a *ME* complex!".
Referencing a cartoon? When did you get so depraved, tarran?
I would think you would be enthusiastic at the prospect of the existence of a League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments in Naughtiness existing rather than getting all upset about it.
Because it was a joke because I constantly reference cartoons? You sicken me, tarran.
"We need the intelligence helmets...go give them reason. Frylock, order the intelligence helmets immediately."
Oh yeah?!?
Well the jerk store called, Episiarch, and they're all out of YOU!
It's not Marcotte.
Oh...I saw the Marcotte article posted right above this one and thought it was her.
I criticized John for doing the exact same thing yesterday. This is what I get for being smug and complacent.
Its a form of joez law.
I love the way these eggheads start off these kinds of things: "A society is defined..."
By whom? Is this the only definition? Is there a manual somewhere that solemnly affirms this to be the one true definition.
This is as bad as someone starting off a debate by saying, "I'm sure we can all agree that X."
Reich's pomposity is surpassed only by his fascistic impulses.
Is there any doubt he'd join the Nazis if he time-traveled to 1930s-40s Germany? Instead of killing Hitler like all of the rest of us?
That and how they all talk about "the organizing principles of a society" as if those are made on high rather than rising organically from the bottom. Only an egghead moron thinks a few top men can decide how a society should be organized.
A society is one that can extract as much wealth from you as possible and then criticize you for being an ungrateful oaf when you don't appreciate their magnanimous, spendthrift ways for things you never asked for.
Theft and shame. That's what makes a society great.
I was going to say an economic ignoramus and history philistine on taxation policies, and hey, I was right!
A society is defined as...
Me, I'm going to define a society as a set of twelve doughnuts with a variety of glazes and sprinkles. Then I'm going to argue that society is (1) delicious, (2) causes type II diabetes.
"Privatize" means "Pay for it yourself."
Uh, no.
A society is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on.
Who knew that society did not exist until the mid-19th century!
Your washing might smell fresh but don't be lulled into a false sense of cleanliness.
The move away from the high-temperature washes and harsh detergents of our grandmothers' era may be kinder to fabrics, the environment and sensitive skin but it could costing us our health.
Research has shown that potentially harmful bacteria in our laundry is not being killed off in low-temperature washes, turning the average spin cycle into a breeding ground for germs.
I always add a squirt of anti-bacterial dishwashing liquid.
So, you're the guy breeding the super germs?
We all are, Bobarian, we all are.
You wash your clothes?
After I wear an item, I sell it to the less fortunate then go buy something new.
The greens deny basic hygiene and health. They are the picture of the dangerous idiot.
It's infuriating!
We remodeled our house right after they outlawed good toilets. We threw out perfectly good toilets never imagining the new stuff we were getting would be a crummy step backward to a less hygienic time.
Thanks to greens convincing hotels not to wash their sheets in bleach, a lot of good hotels now have bedbugs. Fucking bedbugs!1
Yep...
My kids came back covered with bed bug bites from staying in a hotel with my ex.
I fucking hate the greens with a passion. They are welcome to buy some land in Idaho and recreate their medieval paradise. They can shit in artisinal chamber-pots, hang their wet clothes to drip dry (and get shit upon by birds) and eat recycled tofu for all I care. Just leave the rest of us the fuck alone!
A proper green never washes his clothes [or his nasty hippy smelling ass] and is thus proof from this scourge.
I will have to remember to stop putting the cuffs of my pants into my mouth or open wounds.
This is gonna be a tough one for me.
There was no bacteria problem back when they made the laundry soaps out of Jews.
You know who else made the laundry soaps out of Jews?
Cornell University website that ranks sorority girls causes controversy/a
Personally I'm less concerned with the dickishness than I am with the unoriginality of the project.
lemme save everyone some time...
top 10
http://www.cornellfetch.com/top10.php
yer welcome
That list is clearly racist.
That's crazy. It looks like a picture of the same girl over and over again.
Despite posting their female peers' photographs and sorority information online, the creators have chosen to remain anonymous.
Olbermann. I bet it's Keith Olbermann.
Darwin Award of the Day: 70-Year-Old Man Forks Himself in the Most Painful Way Possible
An Australian man has set a new bar for disturbing sex practices. Doctors at a hospital in Canberra released a report complete with horrifying photographs of a penis that had been mutilated by a fork intentionally lodged into the urethra for "sexual gratification." The urologists went on to note several cases in which patients had inserted other bizarre foreign objects into themselves, expressing their bewilderment with the autoerotic practices.
I'm not falling for that the 4th time.
Krugman's at it again:
Never forget:
Krugman's Call for a Housing Bubble
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Paul Krugman: As Paul McCulley of PIMCO remarked when the tech boom crashed, Greenspan needed to create a housing bubble to replace the technology bubble. So within limits he may have done the right thing.
I like that the left-wing response to one bubble bursting is invariably to create a new and larger bubble.
Never forget: Krugman sat on the board of Enron.
Never forget: Krugman said the destruction of the WTC would stimulate economic activity.
Never forget: Krugman is a unbalanced loon.
My review for Jesse Walker's new book
Jesse Walker is merely attempting to dismiss conspiracy 'theory' to further Reason's laissez faire conspiracy to enslave the human race to the pan dimensional being who takes on the 3D avatar that humans without the proper sunglasses see as a leather jacket usually worn by the lizard people's representative to the human race, Nick Gillespie, who the Reptilians have placed as editor of Reason Magazine so he and Walker can get themselves invited to the proper cosmopolitan cocktail parties where their monocles are polished using the tears of a human/sheep hybrid named Tony, who supplies their needs for tears, milk, wool, and inane left wing commentary. Don't be fooled.
C-. Use more periods and be funnier.
I just saw this comment at Yahoo Sports.
Kenneth ? 1 day 17 hours ago Report Abuse
Detroit is going to regret passing on Jason Collins. It amazes me no one has signed him yet... I'm a new NBA fan but he is a great player and whoever signs him is going to get a stud. He'll probably go beast because people have doubted him. Much better signing then "Jorts". #Equality.
real or troll?
I have to believe that is a joke. There's no way someone seriously believes that Jason Collins being gay magically makes him a good basketball player.
Here's his profile. I'm leaning towards real.
Perhaps he means "stud" in a different way.
Matty is back and in force, making sure that Marcotte doesn't steal his dunce cap:
Yep, "fairly marginal" if by that you mean "an enormous driver of prosperity that has made the difference between, say, the US/UK and places like Mexico".
Here's an Econ 101 tip for Slate's Economics/Business Correspondent: every change in the economic condition, important or not, is marginal.
Well, NASDAQ is shut down every morning and night so it's not like the world doesn't know how to do stuff without it.
True, but Matty is talking about stock markets as a whole which has to be right up there with banning usury as a Top Ten Stoopid Matty Idea To Kill An Economy.
I know this may light the Shreek signal, and if so I am sorry.
School caves on removing Crucible "God is Dead" posters after parent's complaint/concern trolling.
The students were moved by the Arthur Miller classic - good for them.
The artwork forcibly removed only reinforced the lesson. A theocracy is the primary enemy of freedom.
Don't you dare compare Chris Lane to Trayvon Martin!
The white conservative media believes it has its own Trayvon Martin in the case of Chris Lane, an Australian baseball player who was killed in Oklahoma, where he had been studying, by three black teenagers in an apparently random act of violence (note: there's actually some question as to the race of one of the three teens, the driver, who faces lesser charges).
Oh, so now the media is being extra careful to get the race of the half-white, half-black kid correct.
It's not that difficult to understand so we'll spell it out: It was not only that a light-skinned Zimmerman killed an unarmed black teenager ? but also that police didn't do anything about it. The killing was horribly tragic, as is Lane's senseless murder, but if Zimmerman had actually been arrested for the shooting, the sad reality is that far fewer Americans would know his name. But that's not what happened. Instead, police let Zimmerman go under Florida's "stand your ground" law. It smacked of institutional, state-sponsored racial favoritism of the worst kind. It was only after public outcry that state prosecutors took over the case and pressed charges. Some could argue that Zimmerman didn't need to be convicted for justice to be done, but he did need to stand trial.
Will there be 12 year old photos of Mr. Lane shown on NBC News?
Since a jury of his peers agreed that he had done nothing criminally wrong, it appears that the cops were right in not arresting him.
The jurors were obvious pawns of the kyriarchy.
Yeah, I love the "whatever if he was innocent, but you still have to go through the hell of a trial for the fairness." Now let's apply that "you must pay a bajillion in legal fees and spend at least one night in jail" to legal activities they might be more likely to do...
There was a time when getting pulled over for speeding automatically meant a trip to the station...
Dude, it was so obvious they would do this that I can't believe you even bothered to comment on it. I mean, this is right out of the playbook.
Yes. And I am sure they are pissed that the Australian PM mentioned this case preventing them from ignoring it. Black on white crime is never supposed to be a national story.
Oh, so now the media is being extra careful to get the race of the half-white, half-black kid correct.
Mulatto.
But not heroic.
Wrong--
Presidential
Butts!
Words I always see: "unarmed black teenager"
Words I never see: "assaulted, knocked to the ground, and pummeled"
I think a lot of people here are missing the real reason why the Zimmerman case got so much attention. It wasn't just about a white(ish) guy killing a black teenager. It was the fact that it was a particular instance of a white(ish) guy killing a black teenager that could be used to divide the country and stir up controversy, because the facts of the case were not clear-cut. Had the Martin case happened exactly like this one, there would have been no controversy, because outside of a small handful of extreme racists, nobody would have defended Zimmerman. I recently read a story about an old white guy in Wisconsin who confronted, shot, and killed an unarmed 13 year old black kid who had not attacked him or anything, because he thought the kid had previously stole something from him. The reason that case didn't get the attention the Zimmerman case did, even though it was a far more egregious and clear-cut example of white on black murder, is precisely because the vast majority of people of all races agree that such a crime is horrific and that the killer should be convicted of murder. The facts were not so cut-and-dried in the Zimmerman case, which meant that the public would be divided by it
"Never let a crisis go to waste."
Good point. Hadn't thought about it like that.
(Roll that beautiful bean footage)
Virginia's On Farm Activities Working Group was born out of the Boneta Bill (Right to Farm Act) quarrel with zealous local zoning. The group consists of Salatin, Boneta, and other farmers on one side vs govt and enviros on the other side.
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/.....ties.shtml
A recurring argument from the govt and enviros is:
It is a well accepted concept that the best government is that which is closest to its people. Assuming this is true, the constituents of local boards of supervisors are the most empowered to influence the decisions made at that level.
Could you take that to its logical conclusion and say that the individual is closest and therefore knows best how to govern his own land? It seemed obvious to me.
The New Fiery Doritos Locos Taco Is a Triumph of Human Ingenuity and the Best Bargain in Fast Food Today
What is it with Yglesias and burritos? Is this a fetish I'm too old to grok? Help an old guy out: there's a Yglesias-certified lollipop in it for whoever comes up with the best answer for why Yglesias is so burrito-obsessed.
1. It's a taco.
2. They fill the emptiness inside him for a second. Then the tears start again.
Aw. Sadbeard.
Photos: Peter Dinklage and Lean Headey twirl glow-in-the-dark hula hoops at a gay bar in Calgary
This is why I hate humanity:
Ecce Homo Fresco Painter Who Turned Jesus into 'Hairy Monkey' Signs Lucrative Royalties Deal
We can't do art anymore. What do you say to that other than DOOOM?
We do do art.
The best artists are doing videogames right now.
One of Obama's 'outside experts' to review NSA surveillance will be Cass Sunstein.
"There is nothing wrong with enforcing privacy protections against the NSA, we just need to "nudge" citizens into making the proper choice. For example, instead of requiring the government to get a warrant to surveil someone, we should instead require individual citizens to obtain warrants exempting them from surrveilance. That way the vast majoirty of americans who don't care about living in a police state will default to allowing us to snoop while the small majority that really cares about it will have thier privacy protected."
Stormy, that was awesome!
No fucking way. He really said that? My God Sunstein is a dangerous idiot. Remember, this guy poisons young minds at one of the most prestigious colleges in the world.
He didn't actually say that, but he said something very similar on another topic. Stormy substituted the words about the NSA and surveillance to replace their analogues in the actual essay he wrote.
So he is just too polite to say it with regards to the NSA.
He didn't actually say that, I was doing a parody of his "friendly paternalism" proposals.
Sadly, reality has passed satire. But good job on the satire. Great stuff even if it did troll me.
Great stuff "even if" it did toll you? Or great stuff "because" it did toll you? 😉
Nudge.
I feel so much better, since he's an expert on so many things.
Wake me if he appoints Bruce Schneier. Until then, I'll assume it's the usual collection of power-fellators.
Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul not only responds to people who tweet at him, he even called 10 followers on the phone after he solicited their numbers
Aaron Paul is making house calls. The "Breaking Bad' star decided to reward a few of his fans with a personal ring-a-ding-ding. He dialed up the first ten people who responded to his Tweet, asking for fans' phone numbers.
"Happy Breaking Bad day b??s!" read the Tweet. "What's your number? Calling the first 10 people to answer questions. Ask me anything."
Many were dubious, but many more Tweeted their digits back to the actor. "Aaron Paul called me. I'm serious. I am at a loss of words. He actually did it," @vbizzlebeee Tweeted. "He asked if it was vbizzlebee then asked if I was crying and then I said he was my fav person ever and then he said he loved me."
The Emmy winner, who's nominated again this year for yet another golden trophy for his role as Jesse Pinkman in the series, didn't disappoint the ten lucky fans. "OMG @aaronpaul_8 just called me," @joshfishr Tweeted. "Super cool down to earth dude."
Yeah, bitch!
Ever since I saw that video of Aaron Paul on The Price is Right freaking out about how awesome it was to be a contestant, I've loved that guy. He seems like a pretty cool, normal guy.
Not being a pompous asshole is a nice thing to see in an actor.
Oh, feminism is still alive? Thanks for the tip! It sure is invisible, except for the random whine from some maleducated product of the elite schools who's found a plush berth in glossy magazines. It's hard to remember those bad old days when paleofeminist pashas ruled the roost. In the late '80s, the media would routinely turn to Gloria Steinem or the head of NOW for "the women's view" on every issue ? when of course it was just the Manhattan/D.C. insider's take, with a Democratic activist spin. Their shameless partisanship eventually doomed those Stalinist feminists, who were trampled by the pro-sex feminist stampede of the early '90s (in which I am proud to have played a vocal role). That insurgency began in San Francisco in the mid-'80s and went national throughout the following decade. They keep dusting Steinem off and trotting her out to pin awards on her, but she's the walking dead. Her anointed heirs (like Susan Faludi) sure didn't pan out, did they?
Guess the Author...
Isn't that from Paglia's Salon article? The part where she shits on Hilary Clinton is awesome.
Camille loves Madonna though.
(the singer for you conservatives)
Yep. I'm a crazy Socon. You got me, PB.
I'll let John take care of the screaming monkey video. He seems to really enjoy it.
Further confirming John's theory that Yglesias is somewhere on the Aspy spectrum...
It goes without saying that this reflects both a fundamental lack of economic understanding as well as being strong evidence that Matty will die a virgin, found dead in his mom's basement after a fatal overdose Doritos Locos Tacos.
He is just strange. He is the most pathetic person ever to appear in the American media. Sometimes I feel sorry for him. But if you read him enough you realize he is actually a pretty nasty hateful person. He doesn't mean well. He means ill most of the time.
Yep. To be honest, I don't really have a problem with the stated position -- taxing churches is a defensible position though I'd disagree with it -- but what is bizarre is how Matty proceeds to defend it.
Arguing it on the grounds of economic efficiency (and incorrectly so)? Um, OK...
That is just it. the other day he was arguing against zoning. But his premise was that zoning forced him to have a yard. Even when he has the right position, he has taken it in a really strange or hateful way and for a reason that is both bizarre and usually quite authoritarian.
I'm in favor of taxing churches too. The should get a deduction for any actual charity they're involved in, but most of the money they pull in is spent on combination self-help/therapist/social club for the churches own members.
I don't necessarily have a problem with taxing churches. I have a problem with claiming that not paying taxes is a subsidy.
You have no problem with the EITC then, Irish.
I always knew you were a statist.
That's not close to being true for most churches. Larger churches, sure -- but most churches don't get past the 200 people mark, much less get to the point where they are lavishing on their members. The vast majority of church expenses are spent on operating costs (church rent ain't cheap!), staff costs, and community projects.
There is a reason that potlucks are so popular in churches -- they are a dirt-cheap event for members.
Operating and Staff costs are the major expenses for ANY business. The question is whether the nature of a church's business is such it should be treated differently than, say starbucks.
People hang out at Starbucks, do book groups (i.e. bible study), community events, etc., but no one says that justifies making them non-profit.
And as for community projects, this is actually a far smaller part of church activities than a lot of people seem to think. Case in point, for the Southern Baptist Convention (the second largest church in the US), only about 10 percent of the money donated to member churches was spent on projects outside the congregation. If any other charity did that, they'd be considered a scam.
Considering the primary purpose of the SBC is to minister to its members, I dont see the problem.
And how do you count visitors to the church? Is the money for a service with visitors inside spending or outside spending? How should it be split up?
Yes, but I don't see how giving a church money you know is largely going to be spent providing services back to yourself is charity. That's just commerce in my book.
If someone hires a psychologist to give them and their spouse family counselling, no one would accept the argument that paying the therapy bill qualifies as charity. It's very odd to me that if the psychologist claims to be a minister, suddenly it's charity.
But the money donated also goes for services to non-donating members (as well as visitors).
Like charities dont have events that benefit the givers. Charity dinner? Yeah, never heard of that.
I'd apply the same rules to all non-profits. Organizations should not be for-profit or non-profit. Specific activities should be tax exempt or not based on the nature of the activity.
I'd apply the same rules to all non-profits.
So would I, repeal the 16th amendment.
Yeah, but until libertopia arrives, I want Rev. Lovejoy going through the same hell I am every April.
That is liking saying that when a soup kitchen feeds people inside its building, its a scam.
They should be feeding people in the park, Tulpa be damned!
No, but what if the soup kitchen passes around the hat and gets all it's money from the people feeds? Is it still a soup kitchen or just a really weird restaurant then?
That's a fair argument.
To address your points:
1) You are talking in terms of percentage of income for all churches; I am discussing in terms of churches in general. Large churches are very insular and spend large amounts of money on their own people, that is already known. The average church in the country is small and doesn't operate the same way.
2) There is an overlap between spending money on the poor and spending on members, since much of a church's expenses will be in helping members who have either fallen into hard times or who are poor. Example: many churches with a large Hispanic immigrant component host and pay for ESL classes that their members can take free of charge.
3) Many, many charities do just that. Clearly you are unfamiliar with the state of charities and non-profits; many of the most well-know spend exactly that percentage (10%) on their stated purpose, while the rest of their funds go towards advertising, staff costs, and miscellany. Churches are not charities; charity is part of what they do.
I am open to an argument about bringing churches and non-profits into the world of taxation and perhaps taxing charities differently, but let's not pretend that churches and non-profits are qualitatively distinct from one another in the areas you've mentioned.
And I should say a lot of this is colored by the church I went to growing up, which was more of a really cheap country club where everyone said Jesus a lot than a charitable enterpise. I'm agree some churches do a lot charity work, but a lot, particularly in the suburbs, are really more of a social institution than a charitbale one.
Which is why I think the decision should be based on specific activities (if you're running a soup kitchen, you can deduct the costs of doing so) than on the type of organization (you're a church so the youth group's white water rafting trip is now tax exempt).
Agreed.
The basic problem with subsidized religion is that there's no reason to believe that religion-related expenditures enhance productivity. When a factory spends more money on plant and equipment then it can produce more goods per worker. But soul-saving doesn't really work this way. Upgrading a church's physical plant doesn't enhance the soul-saving capacity of its clergy.
Not taxing is subsidizing?
"All your monies belong to U.S."
It...doesn't? Having a better, cleaner, more welcoming place doesn't entice more people in and allow them to have the gospel spread upon them? Hence more souls are saved?
What does religion contribute to GDP?
Why does religion have to contribute to a nation's economy?
That's no different than saying each individual has to be productive for the sake of society or the state gets to make them do so.
State-sponsored wastes of time should get no tax breaks.
Commercial aerobics is taxes - why not commercial voo-doo?
State-sponsored?
What does trolling contribute to GDP?
How do churches get Tax subsidies? They aren't taxed. Not being taxed is not a subsidy.
I see that you haven't followed the "not giving is taking and not taking is giving" meme that the statists have evolved to.
It all belongs to them. So anything you keep is no different than welfare. Spending money to send someone welfare is no different than not taking a dollar of your income in taxes.
I hoped y'all would pick up on that.
Good to see that Reason is on its game.
I bet Matt gets more pussy than Ralph Reed. $100 only - not too sure.
This sentence frightens and confuses me -- I'll be honest, I have no idea what it could possibly mean. Anyone got that screaming monkeys Youtube clip handy?
You just predicted Matt would die a virgin - the post I responded to.
Guys... it keeps spouting gibberish. I'm not sure what to do; should I give it 50 cents for bus fare and hope it decides masturbating on public transportation would be more its speed, or ignore it and bear with the insane ramblings?
The latter
Not taxing something is subsidizing it?
I would appreciate it if progs wrote their own dictionary. It would make it easier to figure out what they mean.
Productivity, he says? Wouldn't repealing regulations and cutting taxes increase productivity?
Your Afternoon Stupid
...Yet I still think we can learn something from the weird little story of Onan in the book of Genesis. Neglecting our duty to provide a safety net for those who need it is shameful behavior ? a lasting shame so severe it forever alters our very name and how we are perceived throughout the community. But it's even worse to attack the very idea of such duty while simultaneously exploiting those we are duty-bound to protect.
I think we are on solid biblical footing, in other words, to say that the current effort among House Republicans to gut SNAP is an example of the sin of Onanism. The anti-welfare rhetoric and ideology of the tea party ? with its denunciations of "takers" and "moochers," and the rallying cry of its founding in rejection of mortgage assistance for soon-to-be-homeless families ? is a virulent, vicious strain of Onanism,
And this weird little story in Genesis suggests that God takes that sin very seriously indeed.
So... House Republicans should knock up welfare moms?
I'm sure some of them are down with that, but it seems more like a Democrat thing to do.
It gets better:
...Judah points out to Er's brother, Onan, that it is now his duty as a brother-in-law to impregnate his dead brother's widow. Onan takes this as license to have sex with his late brother's wife, but he always pulls out so that he won't have to worry about having a new son/nephew and another mouth to feed. That wasn't the deal with "the duty of a brother-in-law" so Onan is put to death as well.
Alas, Onan's name has also lived on in a flagrant misreading of this story. "Onanism" became something of a euphemism for masturbation, and this text has been, for centuries, cited as forbidding masturbation....
That's mostly correct, but it wasn't just that he'd have another mouth to feed, he'd be cutting himself out of the inheritance in favor of his brother's line, even though it would've sprung from Onan's loins.
Not wanting to pay taxes to support some Obama crony is just not taking care of the needy. God looks pretty unkindly on envy and theft too last I checked.
And yet you're writing this article instead of working at a soup kitchen. That's weird.
And yet you're writing this article instead of working at a soup kitchen. That's weird.
He's doing more good demanding power for those politicians he has attached his ego to and punishment for those he hates than he ever could by sacrificing himself.
In the criminal justice system, crimes committed by White(ish) people against blacks are considered especially heinous. The dedicated TV show writers who raise public awareness of these vicious felonies are a part of an elite show called Law & Order: SVU: this is the future story they're writing
Wednesday, pictures from the SVU set emerged on BuzzFeed and speculation mounted about whether or not the images might suggest that the show was taking on the controversial George Zimmerman trial so soon. In fact, the SVU writers have taken things one step further and combined two of the year's biggest headlines: The trial of Zimmerman over the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the Paula Deen scandal.
"[Jeffrey] Tambor is a defense attorney representing a very high-profile celebrity woman chef who thought she was being pursued by a rapist and turned around it was a teenager. And she shot him," said Leight in an interview with EW. "There's a lot of stop and frisk elements to that as well."
In the criminal justice system, crimes committed by White(ish) people against blacks are considered especially heinous. The dedicated TV show writers who raise public awareness of these vicious felonies are a part of an elite show called Law & Order: SVU: this is the future story they're writing
Wednesday, pictures from the SVU set emerged on BuzzFeed and speculation mounted about whether or not the images might suggest that the show was taking on the controversial George Zimmerman trial so soon. In fact, the SVU writers have taken things one step further and combined two of the year's biggest headlines: The trial of Zimmerman over the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the Paula Deen scandal.
"[Jeffrey] Tambor is a defense attorney representing a very high-profile celebrity woman chef who thought she was being pursued by a rapist and turned around it was a teenager. And she shot him," said Leight in an interview with EW. "There's a lot of stop and frisk elements to that as well."
I guess SVU means the Squirrels' Victimization Unit.
That's going to be an interesting episode because there's no way she would plausibly have an unrestricted pistol permit (required for concealed carry in NY). My guess is that they won't even cover that aspect at all because most writers have zero clue about carry laws. I've seen other shows where they showed people carrying guns in NYC like they were in Vermont.
"Greendale Community College is represented by two separate yet equally important types of people: the goofballs that run around stirring up trouble, and the eggheads that make a big deal out of it. These are their stories."
"In a ham-fisted Team Blue morality play, the characters are represented by two separate yet equally insipid groups: the Team Blue Mary Sue good guys, and their preposterous right-wing strawman adversaries. These are their fantasies."
+1
+1
"There's a lot of stop and frisk elements to that as well."
WTF?
SVU has gotten baaaaaad.
I mean, shitty bad. They shoehorn the most ridiculous shit in there.
Even worse, they did stop-and-frisk once already, so I am hard-pressed to see how it's going to happen again.
And this is like Martin/Zimmerman exactly how?
Elon's comin'
Elon's comin' (Elon's a-comin')
Well you better hide your car, your stinky car
Elon's a-comin' and the cards say... electric cars!
Elon's comin', hide your car, girl
Elon's comin', hide your car, girl
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's comin', hide your car, girl (hide it)
You better, better hide your car
Elon's comin', better walk
Walk, but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the burnin' the fossils
I plugged in the supercharging bay
Everywhere I go though,
Elon's a-comin' (she walked but she never got
away)
Elon's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away)
Elon's a-comin' and he's comin' to git ya (she walked but... she walked
but...)
Get down in the tubes! (she walked but she never got away)
Elons comin', (hide it, hide it, hide it)
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's a-comin', you better hide
Girl, Elon's comin', hide your car, girl (hide it)
You better, better hide your car
Elon's comin', better walk
Walk, but you'll never get away
No, you'll never get away from the burnin' the fossils
I plugged in the supercharging bay
Everywhere I go though, Elon's a-comin' (she walked but she never got
away)
Elon's a-comin' (she walked but she never got away)
Elon's a-comin' and he's comin' to git ya (she walked but... she walked
but...)
Get down in the tubes! (she walked but she never got away)
Get down in the tubes!
No-no, no-no
Fuck, I said no-no, no-no, no-no
(hide it) She can
(hide it) hide it
(hide it) You better
(hide it) Somebody
(hide it) You got t'
(hide it) Oh, my
(hide it) Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A2eet1bttY
Simon Pegg to 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Haters: Fuck you!
The movie which opened in May has been criticised by fans, but Simon has hit out at claims that the latest flick may be the worst of the franchise.
Pegg tells The Huffington Post: "It's asinine, you know? It's ridiculous. And frustrating, as well, because a lot of hard work and love went into that movie, and all JJ wanted to do was make a film that people really enjoyed," he said.
"So, to be subject to that level of sort of, like, crass f**king ire, I just say, 'F**k you'."
Simon compared the movie's reaction to 'Into Darkness' to that of "when you tire of an indie band that you love because they get a number one single".
"Star Trek Into Darkness is the most successful Star Trek movie ever made," he said, "It is, in terms of what it took at the box office and how many people went to see it. More people saw that film than any iteration of Star Trek that existed before. That is probably slightly annoying to some Star Trek fans - which I totally understand."
Well you did rip-off and bastardize elements from the best film in the franchise.
Honest Trailer
Also, I've never seen any non-Abrams Star Trek so I'm coming at this from a different perspective than most of you, but Into Darkness sucked.
The one before it was OK, albeit simplistic. Though I hate time travel.
Damn you, Thane!
A+, they hit just about every point.
I still haven't seen it, but that was funny, and brought up all the complaints that friends have seen it have brought up.
I think I'm going to have to get really, really stoned for STID when I finally do watch it.
Probably your best bet, it'll make the audience-insulting plot holes and deus ex machina ending more palpable.
I liked the 2009 Star Trek.
STID is just astoundingly bad.
I know I am in the minority on this, but I don't see the need for a reboot/rewrite of ST universe history. When a different set of actors performs Macbeth, for instance, they don't create a scene so you accept them as the characters instead of some other blokes who trod the boards before them. JJ could have just told a ST story. New Enterprise, new actors, not bothered to say "this is why it's different from what was on TV." And I think people would have gone with it. But no-o-o-o, JJ has a VISION.
The thing is, Star Trek isn't exactly known for rigorous scientific accuracy, it just patches up a lot of plot holes with the Treknobabble, and it's fine, we can buy it.
But oh my God, is the storytelling in the Abrams Trek franchise awful. It's just ridiculously contrived. In the first movie it was a special matter that can create a black hole...which somehow sends you back in time.
And then in the new movie they invent this special transporter thing that can beam you anywhere in the universe, which as the Honest Trailer points out, makes starships essentially obsolete.
Vger, the Genesis device, even the frickin' humpback whales were far more believable and less distracting plot devices than this shit.
The writing in the reboots has been strangely bad. I expect head-slapper moments from Abrams--whether in film or TV, though his TV tends to be better--but this level seems off the charts. I really don't get it.
I laughed until I cried: the honest trailer for STID.
HA!
Hey, Simon? How much money a movie makes has ver-r-r-y little to do, unfortunately, with how *good* a movie is. And lots of stinkers had a "lot of hard work and love" put into them.
Fuck JJ in the ass.
Actors are such whiny bitches.
How much money did Armageddon and The Rock make?
Also, one thing that irks me is how everyone goes along with the Hollywood bullshit of not adjusting for inflation (and, of course, leaving aside altogether the increase in population and distribution abroad). To this day, Gone with the Wind remains, by a substantial margin, the biggest moneymaker ever. A movie I don't much like, for the record.
Uh oh, you've gone and insulted FoE's favorite movies.
I would have used Pearl Harbor as my example.
Is that the biopic about Pearl Bailey's vagina (euphemistically referred to as her "harbor")? That was a big hit at Cannes, though a commercial disaster.
Yep
well fuck you too, Simon. Your movie sucked and you got called on it. Here's the world's smallest violin for you.
What he said.
Look at Michael Caine. He's a fine actor who has been in great movies and some of the worst ever. He just does the gig and accepts the massive paychecks. You don't hear him whining.
Isn't that pretty much all British actors, though? Malcolm McDowell was in the worst Star Trek movie of all time, and also in some pretty good stuff.
You mean Dr. Bashir's uncle? Sure, same thing. But I bet there are some whiny Brits, too. They're not the men they used to be. And women.
The only thing stopping the UK from going full Airstrip One is the fact that the UK's military rightfully fears Christopher Lee's righteous vengeance.
Hell, even in death we can't be sure that Christopher Lee won't be there watching the UK's government.
And waiting.
He's so far beyond badass that he is single-handedly preserving the value of the term.
I'll give the British this--when they go cool, they go all the way. Something left over from when they were run by Vikings, I guess.
Let's check in with Kathryn Jean Lopez, shall we?
We... we do? Must have missed that memo.
I tell my little cousin all the time: "I expect you to knock a girl up by 6th grade."
"Anal, at least, or you're not trying."
Well, your cousin is Irish.
I am always amazed at how easy SOCONS are trolled by the media. Lopez watches HBO or Cinemax after midnight and thinks things like Real Sex are real. She really thinks that the entire world is out there telling their 10 year old daughters they need find a girlfriend and screw.
Let's tax churches!
I have no problem with this.
Except that Sad Beard wants to do it because he doesn't think they contribute enough to the GDP. So that won't be the only thing he will want taxed.
He is a taxing individual.
One day, progs say Americans should work less and take more vacations like Europeans because money isn't everything.
Another day, they say the government should tax churches because they don't add to GDP.
Well, which is it? You can't be for both these things at the same time.
Unless you're a blithering idiot that is.
I do. Tax no one.
This.
I'm on record as favoring, if we must fund the government, a telethon. Once a year. An Americathon, if you will.
Works for me.
Also, the Bernardo de la Paz suggestion of letting congressmen pay for stuff. They passed the laws, they can pay for it.
Crazy!
Butbutbut if we free the slaves, who will pick the cotton?
True, there's no profit in textiles if you have to pay for labor.
As the Chinese have proven to the world so effectively.
What did the Oberlin Board of Trustees know about the racism hoax, and when did it know it?
Oberlin continues the wall of silence which delayed for months disclosure of the hoax. It's time for Oberlin to reveal who knew what, and when, particularly as to the oversight exercised by the Board of Trustees.
They knew it was a hoax and let it go on. you know they did.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/08.....race-hoax/
The police caught the guys red-handed on Feb. 27, a week before the Klan blanket sighting.
Damn, you beat me to it.
Universities are such echo chambers of activist leftism these days that they have to make up boogeymen on campus to rail against.
An LOL excerpts from the Daily Caller article on this:
Bleier also describes himself on Twitter as an "atheist/pacifist/environmentalist/libertarian socialist/consequentialist."
"Libertarian socialist"--someone doesn't appear to understand what a libertarian actually is.
Prepare to be quote PWND.
http://oberlinreview.org/artic.....ir-debate/
"Free speech should be protected unless it's actively inciting hate or violence against a group," said Bleier. "If so, legal action should be taken."
From the link:
"I've comforted my friends who have cried because of things that have been said on ObieTalk," said College senior Anna Zeemont.
"MUH FEELINZ!!"
What happened to "sticks and stones"?
It's gotten to the point where every single time some kind of "incident" happens on a campus, you can bet a lot of money that it was a hoax. What's funny is that the low foreheads who do this stuff (presumably to "raise awareness" or some other bullshit) and then get caught just create a boy who cried wolf situation for claims of racism/sexism/whatever on campus. So the geniuses are having the exact opposite effect of what they are (presumably) going for.
Free to obey the greater good for everyone.
Bonus: Here's what Dylan Bleier looks like:
http://new.oberlin.edu/dotAsset/3860515.JPG
Yeah, BIG shock this sad-sack nerd is an Obama supporter.
I don't even know what to say.
He looks like he should be forced to wear a bicycle helmet every time he goes outside. And maybe be covered in bubblewrap.
I'm guessing these hoaxes were a nighttime thing.
Now he truly is a liberal who just wants to smoke dope. Freedom is great as long as it only means gay sex, abortion and dope!! Not that whole exploiting and making a living thing.
From my cursory research, a tenet of libertarian socialism is that private ownership of the means of production infringes on liberty because it means that some people will be able to hire workers and that is "wage slavery".
Wage slavery, libertarian socialism- one oxymoron is used to explain another.
They want a society that has an economy without money or property. Which is about as possible as a society that has a language without words and grammar.
So what your telling me is that don't want a job or to have to work for a living.
Yes.
Have your cake and eat it too, everyday at Crazy Al's libertarian socialist buffet!
Patrick McConlogue, Startup Founder, Suggests Homeless Learn To Code, Is Shocked By Backlash
I don't know if the blogger in question is being sincere or if it is a bizarre social experiment, but either way it strikes me that this is a win-win for the homeless guy: whichever choice he makes, Homeless Dude is better off than if he'd never been approached. Quite frankly, it is far from ludicrous to suggest that practical work experience would be a bad idea. Many of the most successful womens' shelters and mens' rehabilitation centers have integrated teaching practical trades as part of their work, and it's an excellent way to get homeless people out of their ditch.
This strikes me as another example of how far-removed progs are from the poor and how little concern they have for them outside their convenience as an outrage inducer.
That said, I do think he would be better off offering his services to an established organization helping the homeless -- there are plenty out there that would love to have an experienced software engineer teaching their clients a trade.
It has nothing to do with wanting to help the poor. This guy put something out there that TEAM OUTRAGE could find a way to get upset about. I'm telling you, this isn't going away. The people who absolutely love to be outraged have been binging on it for a while now, and they are addicted. They will make ludicrous statements like "homeless are not bit players in your imaginary entrepreneurial novella" even though it's monumentally stupid because OUTRAGE.
I mean, think of how innocuous what the guy said really was: a marketable skill could go a long way for someone who has no job. OUTRAGE!
And they will latch on any behavior no matter how strange, immoral or self destructive and label it a unique culture worthy of saving. How dare this guy suggest the bums get a job. Living in your own vomit and begging for a living is a unique and valuable way of life.
I keep forgetting that homeless people are supposed to be bit players in Upton Sinclair-like works of fiction about all the compassionate and wonderful things government does for the homeless.
Keep looking picturesquely poor, homeless guy. You're doing the Lord's work by living in a cardboard box and wondering where your next meal's coming from -- keep waiting for help from the government that never comes.
Wouldn't want to become a capitalist oppressor, would you?
That is it. Other people are not human beings to liberals. To liberals other people function as props in their internal psychodrama.
I hate to credit Epi with it since doing so will just encourage that irascible Dago, but he is 100% on the money when he says that leftist really are anchored to projection. The "bit players in your imaginary entrepreneurial novella" is amazingly un-self aware.
There's also the fact that they are just completely insane when it comes to welfare and incentives.
Every city used to have dozens of transient hotels and flophouses.
Government shut them all down.
What did they think was going to happen to the people that stayed in them? Handing them a welfare check only made the prices on all the other sheltering options go UP. So the economically intelligent thing to do is NOT go to a shelter as often as possible.
So the homeless are actually economically smarter than the people who allegedly try to help them.
Wait, Henry Higgins is bad?
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Well, it's hard to argue the truth of that statement.
I mean it's not like there are three job openings for every student coming out of these programs or anything.
He's just holding out false hope that they could get one of those jobs.
He's oppressing them via encouragement!
Hope and Pain.
Either that or he's just going to end up jackin' it in San Diego.
+1 Jason Russell
Has this been covered by Reason? New Mexico photographer loses discrimination case after refusing to shoot gay wedding
In Elane Photography v. Willock, the New Mexico state supreme court has decided to reject a professional photographer's statutory and constitutional claims that she could not be required to photograph a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony. Filed under a state law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation in "public accommodations" (which nowadays is often defined to include small businesses that offer services to the public), the case has been kicking around in the state's court system since 2006. The next stop for the photographer would be the United States Supreme Court since there are First Amendment free speech and free exercise claims.
They break down the court's opinion nicely.
How long until people are drafted into doing work?
You know, somebody has no interest in being a photographer or cake-maker or wedding planner but yet they'll be forced to provide the service anyway.
So much for the 13th Amendment. And I hope this asshole couple understands they just gave a lot of people a reason to hate them. Yeah, suing your way to social acceptance. That will work out well.
How long until bakers, photographers and others learn, don't say you don't want the icky gays money, say you have a scheduling conflict and you're very sorry you won't be able to help them?
I almost feel like there's a career to be had, teaching small business owners how to convincingly lie to clients they don't want.
It won't matter because first-come-first-served will not apply to the special snowflake population.
Mandatory set-asides for protected groups. You will always have to find room in your schedule.
Btw there is no Gay Marriage in NM and this case has been around since 2006. This is Exhibit A that SSM laws and anti-discrimination/public accommodation laws are completely separate issues.
IOW, just the type of TOP. MAN. you'd want to be responsible for large amounts of guns and ammo.
He's like an anti-white Uncle Ruckus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt0CpG6CjZ4
California Gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly plans to offer $250,000 to assist in the firing of California's worst teacher
Many California politicians have taken a crack at education reform in recent years, but the latest effort by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a 2014 gubernatorial candidate, is an interesting one to say the least.
"I'm going to raise a half-million dollars," he told KQED in an interview. "I'm going to hold a press conference and tell them, 'tell me the worst teacher. I want the worst teacher story.' ... We'll have thousands of people send in videos."
KQED reported:
Donnelly said after his campaign selects a "winner," it will offer $250,000 to the teacher's school district to fund the lengthy teacher dismissal process.
The other $250,000, Donnelly said, would be used to find the state's best teacher, and allow him or her to travel around California sharing techniques and practices.
It's bad teachers all the way up.
California Gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly plans to offer $250,000 to assist in the firing of California's worst teacher
Many California politicians have taken a crack at education reform in recent years, but the latest effort by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a 2014 gubernatorial candidate, is an interesting one to say the least.
"I'm going to raise a half-million dollars," he told KQED in an interview. "I'm going to hold a press conference and tell them, 'tell me the worst teacher. I want the worst teacher story.' ... We'll have thousands of people send in videos."
KQED reported:
Donnelly said after his campaign selects a "winner," it will offer $250,000 to the teacher's school district to fund the lengthy teacher dismissal process.
The other $250,000, Donnelly said, would be used to find the state's best teacher, and allow him or her to travel around California sharing techniques and practices.
Can we also offer money to exterminate the squirrels who have got me twice on this thread?
The Squirrels' Victimization Unit victimizes you not the other way around.
I found this via an outrage link on feministing labled "how to be a privileged white guy".
9 tips for women starting out in standup.
That right there is a master stroke. Nothing gets internet feminists angrier than having it pointed out that their impotent postings about THE PATRIARCHY on Facebook serve no purpose.
I know Drew Michaels and have seen him perform a few times. He's a great guy.
He once covered a girl's car in saran wrap to get her to notice him.
It worked.
Richard Belding?