A.M. Links: Russia Sending Warships to Mediterranean, Obama Still Undecided on Syria Action, NSA Analysts Spy on Love Interests Often Enough It Has a Code Name

20th Century Fox

• Russia is sending warships to the Mediterranean, while China  is warning the US government not to conduct airstrikes in Syria. Donald Rumsfeld doesn't think the Obama Administration has made the case justifying military intervention in the country. President Obama has reportedly not yet decided on the response to chemical weapons use in Syria, though he appears a lot more confident the Syrian regime gassed its own people than US intelligence officials, who don't believe their case is a "slam dunk." The United Kingdom announced it would release some of its own intelligence on chemical weapons use in Syria later today, while the French defense minister insists his country's military is ready to strike. UN inspectors plan to be done with their own investigation on chemical weapons use in Syria by Saturday, although the State Department has signaled it won't wait for the UN on a potential military strike against Syria. John Boehner, meanwhile, sent a letter to the president asking 14 questions about possible military intervention in Syria, while other members of Congress are taking the same stance Obama did as a senator; that the president requires Congressional approval before commititng to any military actions.
• NSA analysts apparently use the tools at their disposal to spy on their love interests so much the practice has a code name in the agency: LoveINT, or Love Intelligence.
• The IRS' targeting of Tea Party groups has provided a boon in recruitment and participation for those groups.
• Republicans in the Missouri legislature ought to have the votes to override the governor's veto of a bill that would nullify federal gun laws.
• Authorities in California are using a predator drone to conduct surveillance on the ongoing Rim Fire.
• Kim Jong-Un's ex-girlfriend was reportedly executed on porn charges three days after her arrest.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

5.Authorities in California are using a predator drone to conduct surveillance on the ongoing Rim Fire.

Hopefully the drone operators don't knee-jerk a double-tap strike on emergency responders.

[gaijin]

Maybe they should rename the blaze 'Hellfire'? How did it start anyway?

[bmp1701]

You know who else liked to watch fiery rims?

[Dweebston]

Proctologists?

[CE]

Volcano worshipers?

[Slammer]

What's up with the numbers?

[Fist of Etiquette]

6.Kim Jong-Un's ex-girlfriend was reportedly executed on porn charges three days after her arrest.

Holy shit. I never suspected Kim was religious right.

[Gbob]

He could also be a radical feminist.

[Slammer]

Lately I've been getting into porn where they let the animals live.

[Bardas Phocas]

Here is her "Excellent" hit: Excellent Horse-Like Lady:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5tkXgw2OMY

[SIV]

One of the charges was the musical pornographers were in possession of Bibles. Death by machine gun. Miley Ray Cyrus should scratch PyongYang off her tour schedule.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Oh, I bet Miley has gotten a lot of PyongYang already.

[gaijin]

Wang dang sweet PyongYang

[Floridian]

I was playing ping pong in ding dang.

[Dweebston]

It wasn't the handle!

[prolefeed]

Looks more like an inconvenient ex-GF was taken out to avoid embarrassment. His wife should be mighty worried about this development, since she could become an unperson too.

[AlexInCT]

Heh, exactly. Kim made sure the wife knew that she had to stay fit and not have "headaches" when big Kim came-a-calling....

[Matrix]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, and the Universe has played everything out many times before, we are just remembering what has already happened in a previous run of the Universe.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[SugarFree]

That's silly. It's obvious that there is quantum bleedthrough between the multiple universes. If you've felt you've done something or been somewhere before, it's because it was a different you in another place doing it.

Maybe you should learn some science and stop making a fool of yourself.

[Auric Demonocles]

I always assumed I was just too blacked out to fully remember when I did the same exact thing before.

[DontShootMe]

crap, you mean warty exists in more than one universe?

[SugarFree]

Warty exists in all the universes, even the universe that contain no Warty whatsoever.

[CE]

I think I'm the first me though. So all of the other me's will be remembering what I did. Yikes.

[Ted S.]

Here's your Deja Vu

[gaijin]

This thread seems familiar...

[Rich]

Glitch in the Matrix.

[Matrix]

no glitches here!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Cleveland man wants Browns as his pall bearers so they can "let him down, one last time"

The Golden Girls: How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals

[CE]

Speaking of deja vu....

[RightNut]

Maybe its a twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop?

[CE]

But you can only go back in time to the point where the first time machine was invented, and it hasn't been yet. After that you get multiple "do-overs".

[John]

See Nietzsche and the theory of eternal return. The idea of a one time existence in a cold universe was too much even for him.

[Loki]

I thought it was a glitch in The Matrix...

[Dweebston]

I've always been comfortable ("comfortable") explaining it away as mostly or entirely unanteceded memories. Misfired neurons, or whatever, sensations mimicking but not embodying actual recollection.

And that scene in The Matrix was easily the dumbest of an otherwise good movie.

[Cowboy]

Pretty much this.

[GILMORE]

I seen to recall it being a synaptic 'loop-de-loop' where the perceptory chemical signals to your front brain get re-routed for a split second through the 'memory' switch (which is also where smells go?) and you experience an instant of 'remembering' what is happening in the present.

But that's not nearly as cool as the 'multiple-dimensions' theory. I go with folding time.

[Matrix]

More easily replaceable unskilled workers think they deserve more money
Because gaining the skills they need for better employment is just too hard. *sniff*

[WTF]

Latoya Jemes, who's been working at a Memphis McDonald's for the past year, plans to join next week's protests.
"I'm a single parent of three, and I'm living check to check," said Jemes, 24.

It's not McDonald's fault you decided to have three bastards you couldn't support by the age of 24, dumbass.

[Rich]

Correct.

It's *Burger King* who expounds "Have it *your* way!"

[Snark Plissken (erstwhile PS)]

+1 Whopper without pickles

[Loki]

And apparently her way is bareback with no other means of contraception. And she's had it her way at least 3 times, probably more. A lot more. NTTAWWT, just don't bitch and moan when the clearly foreseeable consequences happen.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

She works fucking night shift. You really think you are worth $15/hour for night shift?

[Rich]

Hazardous duty pay?

[Auric Demonocles]

So the single guy she works with, who manages his money enough that he could get by without a paycheck or two doesn't deserve to be paid as much as her?

[WTF]

Exactly. Because in proglodyte land you should be paid based on need, not the value of your labor.

[Matrix]

From each according to his abilities. To each according to his need.

-Karl Marx

Yes, they actually do believe that shit

[Dweebston]

Which it should be pointed out at every opportunity describes indirect transfers of wealth. The single man who manages his budget finances the unmarried mother of three. This is not, presumably, the redistribution leftists want to see: it's a transfer from working-class to working-class, much like imposing hoops employers must jump through to hire women benefits higher-prestige women at the expense of their poorer, less-mobile compatriots. If the poor understood the effects of labor laws I doubt the left would own the illusion of compassion.

[Enough About Palin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97XF8ucPQVY

[Fatty Bolger]

That's exactly how they used to justify paying men more than women for the same job. Because they had families to support, right?

[gaijin]

I saw one of the signs that said "Wage Theft is Criminal. Time to make them pay"

What the heck does that even mean? Who is 'they' and how have they stolen wages?

[Auric Demonocles]

As sarc would say: Not giving is taking.

[Zeb]

Marxist bullcrap. The employers are stealing part of the surplus value of their labor or something like that.

[thom]

Yet when businesses lose money they never seem to argue that wages should be reduced.

[Atanarjuat]

Projection, since the workers are going to use legal means to take money from their employers.

[NoVAHockey]

""Wage Theft is Criminal"

I'll just assume they talking about FICA.

[gaijin]

I'll just assume they talking about FICA.

Now that's an interpretation I could get behind.

[CE]

Uh, maybe posting on H&R all day is a form of wage theft....

[Troy muy grande boner]

Because gaining the skills they need for better employment is just too hard.

Libertarian snobbery, meet reality.

http://www.mndaily.com/opinion.....yment-myth

I say good for them. If they can get what they want without the coercion of government, go for it.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/04/.....no-doctors

Here some other losers working in fast food.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Mind you, I don't believe these fast food people "deserve" more money. But an implied premise here is that fast food workers are only losers to lazy to get "real" jobs or a "real" education. Fuck you guys.

[kbolino]

If it's a real job, then why are they bitching about it? They're paid what their labor is worth. If they want more, they need to do something worth more.

[Dweebston]

Yeah, that's not at all the point. The premise behind keeping intact the lowest rungs of the economic ladder is that the vast majority of laborers work their way up it. Raising their wage relative to their labor value diminishes their employability, and thus reduces their upward mobility.

Begging for legislative wage gains is what makes them losers.

[KDN]

There's no snobbery with regards to the menial labor, as most of us have been in the same boat. What we hate is the sense of entitlement these people have about it.

These jobs are those that most people get as a prelude to moving up in the world; we're being snobbish about these people wanting to turn it into a career and seeking government coercion to make that goal realistic. It's cool if you're happy flipping burgers, but it might be a good idea to seek out a higher-ceiling job in a better restaurant instead of having Congress force your GM into giving you a raise.

[Dweebston]

I've a friend from high school who works at Sonic. Since I've known him, he's done the same job: manned the fryers. He hasn't moved up, hasn't taken a management role, hasn't gone to school, but continues to fry fries for a living. In the interim he impregnated a girlfriend, lost custody of their child, and moved back in with his parents.

Explain to me why this fellow deserves to effectively disemploy even more marginal labor, and possibly himself, in favor of automation or more senior staff, in exchange for a wage on par with what I earn after several years working in my field?

[Matrix]

because if he votes blue and feels entitled, then he should get what he feels entitled to.

[JW]

I worked fast food as a teenager. I was eminently qualified because, A) I had exactly zero work skills, other than showing up and B) I would work for $3.25/hour, which was more than the $0.00/hour I was making prior to the job.

I had some good times there, usually for reasons having nothing to do with the actual job, but it sucked enough to encourage me to increase my marketability to employers.

[The Last American Hero]

Actually, since you are just grabbing links from CNN and presenting that as "the libertarian position" - go fuck yourself. If you've actually read most of the libertarian comments on this issue around here, these people are losers for thinking that flipping burgers is a good way to support a family of 4. They aren't losers just because they flip burgers.

[Tonio]

The reality is that many low skilled workers are not lazy so much as stupid. And that's sad, but you can't fix stupid. But it's not our fault, or McDonald's fault that these people are stupid and that some have made really bad life choices (three kids, single).

[BakedPenguin]

Seems like there's an investment opportunity for the Latino doctors. Pay for them to get their licenses, get a decent vig when they start practicing.

[JW]

If you want to make $15/hour, perhaps, then, you should go out and get a job that pays that rate.

[CE]

I've read somewhere online that you can make $62 an hour on the Internet, and you only have to put in 70 hours a week.

[Matrix]

Now the people who text drivers can face penalties
'Cause we're psychic and will know when a person is driving... fuck!
I mean, I have had people tell me they are on the road. I tell them no more texting while driving and to wait until they are no longer driving. This reminds me of the guy who was sued for buying a woman a couple of drinks, and she became wasted and killed someone on the road. Yeah, it's HIS fault she decided to drive drunk.

[Raven Nation]

I used to work at an insurance company. One of the cases I saw involved a guy who drove drunk, crashed, killed himself & at least one of his kids. His ex-wife successfully sued the DEALERSHIP that sold him the vehicle arguing they should have known he was a risk.

[Matrix]

if this was a jury trial, they should be burned alive

[Jon Lester]

One big reason I like to text people is so they can get the message at a moment of their own choosing, rather than interrupt them with a voice call.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Well calls are distracting in this case. Best just to never communicate with anyone ever again.

[John]

I always text someone when I think or know they are driving. That way they don't have to immediately be bothered with dealing with my message.

[RBS]

I wish more people did that. My wife, my mother and my dad always call me when they know I'm driving then get all pissy when I'm short with them. I hate talking while driving.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Don't answer.

[RBS]

Yeah, they will keep calling.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Keep not answering.

[Atanarjuat]

Don't answer.

x1000

I drive a stick-shift pickup, so whoever's calling can fuck off.

[Jon Lester]

That was one of the very first things I thought of when I got my 5-speed truck last year, even before fuel economy.

[DontShootMe]

turn phone off.

[Tonio]

Don't know if your phone has this feature, but my phone lets you send calls directly to voice mail. You have to do this on an individual number basis, and those numbers have to be in your contact list.

Basically, if you can't say it in a text message it tells me you just want to babble.

[Ted S.]

This sounds like just the latest example of using the law to bully people perceived to be doing morally icky things.

Turn your phone off and answer the texts/voicemails later. Is it really that difficult a concept to grasp?

[Jon Lester]

Mine's set only to vibrate and not make any sound, which I don't really feel if I'm doing something else like driving. And unless I'm home alone and taking a call from a girlfriend, I really don't like talking on the phone at all.

[Loki]

And unless I'm home alone and taking a call from a girlfriend, I really don't like talking on the phone at all.

Huh, I wonder what you could be talking about with your gf that would be so interesting that someone who normally doesn't like talking on the phone suddenly want to talk on the phone...

[Lord Humungus]

uh, sharing recipes?

[Tonio]

Do you really *like* phone talking with your GFs, or is that just the price you pay for having a GF?

[Jon Lester]

I'm particular.

[Steve G]

Well, driving while sleepy is a "thing" now so perhaps we should penalize people who serve guests roast turkey, you know, because of the tryptophan or something

[Matrix]

Or anything that can give one "the itis"

[Lord Humungus]

Drunken elk gang flees Stockholm cops

The incident involved four adult elk and one calf, N?verberg explained, all of whom were intoxicated after having eaten fermented apples that had fallen from the homeowner's apple tree.

"Police who arrived on the scene reported that the animals had been warned that the police were on their way and wisely decided to leave the address," the report read.

"The elk will have to find somewhere else to get intoxicated."

I'm sure the elk are just quaking in their vegan boots.

[Gbob]

Were those elves let down by the Cleveland Browns while watching Golden Girls? I seem to recall something like that coming up the last dozen times that link was posted.

[Gbob]

Err...elks. Although the elks may have been dressed as elves in some bizarre cosplay thing.

I should have some more coffee.

[Ted S.]

You mean you can't blame it on auto-correct? 😉

[Lord Humungus]

and less fermented apples.

[mad libertarian guy]

I love the time of year when we get Swedish moose drunk on fermented apples stories. It means summer is on its way the fuck out.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A M??se once bit my sister.

[WTF]

Mynd you, m??se bites Kan be pretti nasti...

[DontShootMe]

You know who else has bitten Johnny's sister?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

DON'T TALK ABOUT LUCY!!!

[Dweebston]

Sadly, I expected this to end with a fine or suit by the city against the owner of the apple trees. And possibly a stern press release by their equivalent of PETA.

[Bee Tagger]

THE CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT THE LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF A.M. LINKS ARE LESS IMPORTANT IS PROVEN TRUE BY THE NUMBERING GAFFE OF 8/29/2013.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The coverup has begun.

[Auric Demonocles]

Next step: unperson Fist.

[NeonCat]

Who?

[Zakalwe]

Which has been airbrushed from history.

[db]

Performer of North Korean pop hit "Excellent Horse-Like Lady" executed on August 17th by machinegun firing squad along with 11 other performers.

Other North Korean pop performers and their families were forced to attend the execution and were then promptly taken to prison camps. The performer of several patriotic songs, Hyon Song-wol, is rumored to be an ex-girlfriend of Kim Jong Un.

No report as yet whether President Obama will declare a "Red Line" over the incident.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Shot only three days after arrest. Kim's girlfriend should have known he was quick. Only three days to fire off, then he rolls over to go to sleep.

Also, this was an official link. You had no business bringing in a competing outside link here.

[mad libertarian guy]

Also, this was an official link. You had no business bringing in a competing outside link here.

db are his initials . . .

[WTF]

But at least db's link goes directly to the story and not 24/7.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's taking money out of reason's pocket. Do you want another webathon?

[Zakalwe]

Maybe we should just buy the books.

[CE]

Reason writers have books?

[db]

Fuck off, protectionist.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I'm listening to The dB's right now. Great band.

[JW]

Just a spy in the house of love....

[Gene]

All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Korea's most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regime's assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated.

Nice little society they have going there.

[KMA Too]

Be a shame if anything were to happen to it...

[Thane runs off sobbing]

A singer named Hyon Song-wol?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Somewhere in 1.The United Kingdom announced it would release some of its own intelligence on chemical weapons use in Syria later today...

If it doesn't come from Snowden, I'm not buying it.

[Lord Humungus]

Woman busted for DUI tried to steal patrol car, deputies said

When Sara Ashley Kirksey was pulled over after a deputy spotted her running a red light on Okaloosa Island on Monday night, the 24-year old Laurel Hill woman gave the deputy a fake name and date of birth, according to a news release from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

During the traffic stop she was additionally charged with DUI.

After the deputy had placed Kirksey into the back of the patrol car, Kirksey slipped out of her handcuffs and climbed through the divider window and slid into the driver's seat. As the deputy stopped her from escaping in the patrol car, Kirksey allegedly hit him-- several times -- with a closed fist, the release stated.

she looks crazy... in a good way.

[WTF]

It's okay, women aren't responsible for decisions they make when they're drinking.

[Gbob]

If anything, the deputy engaged in a form of rape by doing things against her will while she was drunk. Damn the patriarchy!

[gaijin]

Kirksey allegedly hit him--several times -- with a closed fist

Well, at least she didn't bitch slap the cop.

[Zombie Jimbo]

The article says it was her third booking into the county jail since 2007. Booked every other year? That isn't too crazy for Florida.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

How Human Psychology Holds Back Climate Change Action
"Cass R. Sunstein writes at Bloomberg that an understanding of human psychology ? specifically, what human beings fear and what they do not ? helps to explain why nations haven't insisted on more significant emissions reductions ...

[Rich]

Warmer temperatures are a product not of any particular human being or group, but the interaction between nature and countless decisions by countless people.

[H]uman beings are far more attentive to immediate threats than to long-term ones.

This is why Cass pulls down the big bucks.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Human beings are far more attentive to immediate threats than to long-term ones ones threatened far enough down the road to protect the likes of Sunstein from accountability for their predictions when they turn out to be bullshit.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Warmer temperatures are a product...[of] the interaction between nature and countless decisions by countless people...

Or maybe people just don't accept this as true.

[Loki]

Warmer temperatures are a product not of any particular human being or group, but the interaction between nature and countless decisions by countless people.

Let's see if I can translate this from slimy shitweasel to English: "It's not enough that we pass emissions laws to regulate energy production, but we need to start controlling individual people's choices too."

Fuck off and DIAF, Sunstein.

[CatoTheElder]

This is why Obama chose Cass to oversee the investigation of NSA procedures.

We can be sure that he will be all-wise and completely unbiased in his review.

[Tonio]

So climate change is like chupacabra - people react to it relative to it's perceived threat.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-The American Family Association's Bryan Fischer is once again taking to the airwaves in defense of Russia's controversial anti-gay legislation

-There are catastrophic pathologies associated with homosexual behavior among teenagers, and any society that cares about its youth will do everything in its power to steer them away from this self-destructive lifestyle," he wrote. "We spend billions urging teens not to take up cigarette smoking. Let's start spending billions to urge them not to take up gay sex." He then concluded, "I say it's time for us to be more like Russia."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....24236.html

[db]

"The Crazy Years," indeed.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Top Ten Translations For Self-Brags In People's Twitter Profiles

10. "professional writer" = "I have a blog. Also, I aspire to craft Percy Jackson jailbait fanfic"

9. "Funny! Witty! Snarky!" = "I say the f-word a lot because that's comedy. I also use exclamation points because they're super-funny too!"

8. "PREPARE FOR THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!" = "I am on a cocktail of haldol and Zoloft and murder fantasies"

7. "I've got NO TIME for STUPIDITY!!!!" = "I have a great deal of time for stupidity"

6. "pro-sex feminist" = "I talk online about how much I love sex as political propaganda but actually I have issues and I don't even mean the fun sexy issues that strippers have"

[Longtorso, Johnny]

5. "freeminded atheist on a personal mission to probe the truth in all its forms" = "I was once retweeted by Penn Gilette"

4. "progressive male" = "i might rape you. also, ur a fag"

3. "#NoH8" = "I hate nearly everybody, but particularly those I come into contact with which, thanks to my anti-social personality disorder and crippling social anxiety, is mostly limited to twitter and having disputes with delivery boys"

2. "nyc" = "the most interesting thing is my zip code, which I mention with no capitals like I'm casually dropping the name 'Steven Spielberg,' and, by the way, it's really not even my zip code, because even though I say 'nyc,' if I'm being honest, it's Montclair, NJ"

...and the Number One Translation of a Twitter Self-Brag...

1. "I'm Meghan McCain" = "Deny it all you want but you'd hit this sh*t. I mean, look at these. They're like cantaloupes made of Joy and Dreams"

[bmp1701]

2. NSA analysts apparently use the tools at their disposal to spy on their love interests so much the practice has a code name in the agency: LoveINT, or Love Intelligence.

And if they decide to consummate their unrequited lust, the administration can surely come up with a great euphemism for rape. How about "kinetic penile action"?

[Rich]

"OK, let's start. Is your name Joe Blow? Do you work at NSA? Have you ever practiced 'LoveINT'?"

BZZZZZT!!

[Lord Humungus]

Meanwhile in the land of Dairy Queen Phuket

Phuket's Brownout in Patong Bay 'Unlikely to Be Human Waste'

The brown water at Patong beach is probably caused by reasons other than human waste, the Chief of Oceanography at Phuket's Marine Biological Centre, Dr Somkiat Korkiattiwong, said yesterday.

''Human waste could be present in small amounts but it's highly unlikely to be responsible for the color of the water,'' he said.

[bmp1701]

Will the Browns let them down one more time?

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

They finally made it to the Super Bowl, I guess.

[Rhywun]

Did they get Golden Girls in Thailand?

[Fist of Etiquette]

3.The IRS' targeting of Tea Party groups has provided a boon in recruitment and participation for those groups.

Those groups have to report that boon on their 1040.

[Bee Tagger]

Boons are legally equivalent to windfalls.

[bmp1701]

But they only have to report the amount of boon in excess of their adjusted wingnut basis.

[CampingInYourPark]

"John Boehner Asks Obama 14 Questions About Syria"

All good questions, IMO, that should be answered.

http://www.businessinsider.com.....ons-2013-8

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Question 1: Animal, vegetable or mineral?"

[Rich]

Question 15: "Are you aware that impeachment is a probable consequence of your actions?"

But, there I go again.

[Lord Humungus]

obviously a racist.

[CatoTheElder]

There is one, and only one, high crime and misdemeanor for which Obama could possibly be impeached. Pretty much the only thing he could do to be impeached would be to issue an executive order to cancel the 2016 election and declare himself president indefinitely.

It's highly unlikely that he would do that, and equally unlikely that he would be impeached for anything else. No Congress is going to impeach the first AA president.

[WTF]

And if the democrats still control the senate they won't vote to convict.

[Slammer]

New fees for international touring musicians threaten smaller clubs and live venues across Canada

Long story short, the Minister of Employment, Social Development & Multiculturalism in Canada Jason Kenney has passed a new set of fees and regulations for international bands wanting to tour Canada. Originally, it was $150 per band member (maxing at $450) as a one-time fee to enter the country. Now, the new regulations state that EACH VENUE must shell out $275 for each travelling band member in addition to the current $150 per member fee. Oh yeah, that's an application fee. If you application doesn't go through, the money goes out the window and you've gotta try again.

Most touring metal bands have 4 or 5 members, plus a manager, roadie or merch person. Do the math. How many bars/clubs are going to shell out an additional $1,500-$2,000 to bring out a metal band from the USA or Sweden? That's not even including what the band themselves will want to charge as an overhead for the gig. Oh yeah, these fees only apply to bars and restaurants. Arenas, stadiums and open-air festivals will get off without a hitch (Commentary from a Metal Discussion Board).

[mad libertarian guy]

If the Great White North wants to lock out foreign bands, fuck 'em. Maybe they'll start to hit smaller US markets instead, and visit places they might not otherwise go rather than pay multiple thousands of dollars for the privilege of playing to Caunckistanis.

[Ted S.]

But, but, but, CANADIAN CONTENT!

The talented Canadian entertainers make their way to Hollywood to make a success of their lives. The rest stay behind and bitch about what an evil place the USA is.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

But, but, but, CANADIAN CONTENT!

Is Nickeback the works band ever?

[andarm16]

Isn't Canada's number 1 export celebrities?

[WTF]

I thought it was back bacon.

[gaijin]

They sound like the French with their ministry of cultural purity or whatever it's called.

[Rhywun]

Minist[ry] of Employment, Social Development & Multiculturalism

That's too long. How about "MiniLuv"?

[BakedPenguin]

That should work.

Myself, I think it's great how the bureau overseeing "multiculturalism" is making sure foreigners don't come into the country.

[Rhywun]

They just want the ethnic foods and strange folkways - not the people.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

@AceofSpadesHQ We need to start this war to find out what's in it.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

NY Times: Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
... There are moral reasons for disregarding the law, and I believe the Obama administration should intervene in Syria. But it should not pretend that there is a legal justification in existing law. Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to do just that on Monday, when he said of the use of chemical weapons, "This international norm cannot be violated without consequences." His use of the word "norm," instead of "law," is telling.

Syria is a party to neither the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 nor the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, and even if it were, the treaties rely on the United Nations Security Council to enforce them ? a major flaw. Syria is a party to the Geneva Protocol, a 1925 treaty that bans the use of toxic gases in wars. But this treaty was designed after World War I with international war in mind, not internal conflicts. ...

[mad libertarian guy]

I wonder how willing the NYT would have been to see BOOOOOOOOOSH start bombing another country. Team BLUE and their media sycophants are perfectly okay with the death of innocents so long as their guy is calling the shots.

[CatoTheElder]

NYT were for Bush's invasions before they were against them.

[UnCivilServant]

They just want retribution for the hackings.

[John]

Stop this ILLEGAL WAR!! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Hack is not strong enough of a word.

[MJGreen]

And then impeach Obama, right?

[gaijin]

We need to start this war to find out what's in it

If you are happy with your dictator, you can keep him.

[Lord Humungus]

wait, wut?

Rumsfeld says administration hasn't justified Syria attack

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who ushered the U.S. into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003, said the Obama administration has not clearly justified an attack on Syria.

"One thing that is very interesting, it seems to me, is that there really hasn't been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation," Rumsfeld said in an interview with Fox News's Neil Cavuto.

[bmp1701]

"Obama - More Belligerent Than Rummy"

[Gbob]

In 2006 the Bush administration realized that it's place in history was in trouble. The only way to salvage it would be to find someone who would do an even worse job after. Cheney turned his attention to a young rising star from Chicago.

"Let me be clear" said the young turk. "I want to be president, but how will I get the votes in all 57 states?"

Cheney rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Barry, we got it covered. We're going to run McCain. Don't worry about the second term. We can find somebody even worse than that to run against you then."

Both sides shook hands

[mad libertarian guy]

Donald Rumsfeld doesn't think the Obama Administration has made the case justifying military intervention in the country.

That's cute (and he certainly does have experience in justifying military intervention sans cause).

[WTF]

You go to war with the excuse that you have, not the excuse that you'd like to have.

[Lord Humungus]

Canada, land of pickled toes

Mysterious American swallows Yukon bar's last human toe, pays $500 fine

A pickled human toe, the centrepiece of a bizarre Yukon drinking ritual, was swallowed last Saturday night in an apparent act of bravado by a departing American worker.

"It's bragging rights, is what he wants," said Terry Lee, the official "toe captain" who witnessed the deliberate toe-swallowing.

"The more we downplay that, the better, because we don't want to give him any credibility whatsoever."

[Lord Humungus]

When It Comes To Obamacare, Ignorance Is Bliss For Young Americans

First, consider their opinion. Younger Americans are the only age group that actually supports the Affordable Care Act. In contrast to the nation as a whole, who oppose the law by 54 to 43 percent in the most recent CNN/ORC survey, voters 18 to 34 favor the ACA by 52 to 41 percent. And they are indeed alone in that evaluation. Seniors, the main group that actually uses rather than simply theorizes about health care, strongly oppose it by 65 to 31 percent ? more than 2-to-1 in several polls ? and all adults over 50 oppose ObamaCare almost as strongly, by 57 to 37 percent.

and more data in the link...

[mad libertarian guy]

When you don't know shit about shit it's easy to support policy based on rhetorical flourish.

[Auric Demonocles]

This is pretty embarrassing for my generation though, considering young, healthy people are the ones who are going to get reamed by this monstrosity the hardest.

[Raston Bot]

They're getting what they voted for so fuck em.

[Auric Demonocles]

Now we're for tyranny of the majority. Hooray!

[mad libertarian guy]

Now we're for tyranny of the majority.

There was never a majority anything about this bill.

[Blinded by the Derp]

Pretty much. I remember a picture on Facebook that went around a year or two ago of a girl holding a poster with about 10 reasons that Obamacare was awesome and helped her live a healthier life.

Only one of the reasons had been enacted (the child extension to 26 yo).

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Kim Jong-Un's Ex-Girlfriend Reportedly Executed By Firing Squad

This Velociraptor Chasing A Japanese Office Worker Is The Most Terrifying Office Prank Ever

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Damn, missed the girlfriend story in the links. Oops.

Kim Jong-Un's Ex-Girlfriend wants Kim Jong-Un to be a pall bearer at her funeral so he can let her down "one last time"

[Eduard van Haalen]

This Velociraptor Chasing A Japanese Office Worker Is The Most Terrifying Office Prank Ever

A *real* Japanese office worker wouldn't be scared of a reptile that small.

"If it's not as tall as my building I just ignore it," should be his motto.

[UnCivilServant]

How do you think they get that large? By feasting on salarymen! They know to run from them.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Gamera is really neat!
He is filled with turtle meat!
We all love him, Gameraaaaa!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Movie sign!

[Matrix]

This Velociraptor Chasing A Japanese Office Worker Is The Most Terrifying Office Prank Ever

Is this what Chris Bosh does in the off season?

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

That joke would have been funny three years ago.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"President Obama has reportedly not yet decided on the response to chemical weapons use in Syria, though he appears a lot more confident the Syrian regime gassed its own people than US intelligence officials, who don't believe their case is a "slam dunk."

It's funny how they wanted "irrefutable" proof for Iraq, but Syria? Not so much.

The Simpsons reference posted for this article is funny because I always imagined Obama as Ralph Wiggum.

[Art Vandelay]

"What a battle?"

[Art Vandelay]

Damn it!

"What's a battle?"

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Another ObamaCare delay ? and giveaway
...Many union plans didn't meet the requirements of the ACA, either offering too little coverage, or more often, too much ? making them "Cadillac plans" subject to penalties. While this blurb is a bit vague, it appears that HHS has taken the heat off of the unions by deciding not to enforce those mandate requirements on union plans. It's not clear whether this addresses the other union demand to make those in these plans eligible for federal health-insurance subsidies. If not, and it doesn't seem to mean that from Reuters' reporting, then the AFL-CIO complaint that employees will bail out of their plans to go into the exchanges still looks like a real problem for unions that derive plenty of income from their insurance plans.

The other issue that has unions belatedly balking at ObamaCare is the erosion of full-time work. Frobes' Grace-Marie Turner argued yesterday that this was a real problem, corroborated by real data and not just anecdotes, and explains why delaying the employer mandate didn't make a bit of difference...

[Lord Humungus]

Why I fling poo - law student

"We do not dump faeces at the offices of the DA, we go straight to provincial legislature. If the ANC takes power in the Western Cape and nothing changes, these protests will continue. In fact, they will intensify. This is a struggle of poor people who are subjected daily to conditions unfit for humans."

[Troy muy grande boner]

American lawyers are much more sophisticated, they fling legal reasoning.

[sarcasmic]

Wonder Woman! Olivia Wilde is ready to take on the world as she revitalises with a healthy juice in a superhero shirt

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....juice.html
*drool*

[Rich]

Please tell me you're drooling over the healthy juice.

[Marc F Cheney]

Well, she doesn't look as weird as usual there.

[kinnath]

http://www.slate.com/articles/.....ivate.html

You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad?but bad like ruining one of our nation's most essential institutions in order to get what's best for your kid bad. So, pretty bad.

[Bee Tagger]

Your local school stinks but you don't send your child there? Then its badness is just something you deplore in the abstract. Your local school stinks and you do send your child there? I bet you are going to do everything within your power to make it better.

...

You want the best for your child, but your child doesn't need it. If you can afford private school (even if affording means scrimping and saving, or taking out loans), chances are that your spawn will be perfectly fine at a crappy public school.

Phew, now I don't have to spend all that time working to make the school better.

[robc]

I wonder just how evil homeschoolers are then?

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

We're okay because we usually remove someone from the workforce to do the teaching, bringing the unemployment number down.

[robc]

I made it thru two paragraphs. I deserve a fucking medal.

[mad libertarian guy]

How much you wanna bet that this person defended MATT DAMON for sending his kids to private school because government schools just aren't progressive enough for him.

[RBS]

I could barely make it through the blurb. WTF.

[Apatheist ?_??]

All your child are belong to us.

[Ted S.]

The author ought to shop at Walmart, to try to turn its alleged badness into something good.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Yeah, keep going to that shitty restaurant to try to make it better. No thanks.

[bmp1701]

Reading Walt Whitman in ninth grade changed the way you see the world? Well, getting drunk before basketball games with kids who lived at the trailer park near my house did the same for me. In fact it's part of the reason I feel so strongly about public schools.

And there you have it, folks. The point of public school is to allow wealthy JAPs to get drunk with trailer trash.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

3 minutes, that's what I get for reading that article.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I was just about to post this. Truly terrifying mindset. 'Sacrifice your children for the eventual common good.'

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Reading Walt Whitman in ninth grade changed the way you see the world? Well, getting drunk before basketball games with kids who lived at the trailer park near my house did the same for me. In fact it's part of the reason I feel so strongly about public schools.

What, I mean, fuck?

[bmp1701]

I left home woefully unprepared for college, and without that preparation, I left college without having learned much there either. You know all those important novels that everyone's read? I haven't. I know nothing about poetry, very little about art, and please don't quiz me on the dates of the Civil War. I'm not proud of my ignorance. But guess what the horrible result is? I'm doing fine. I'm not saying it's a good thing that I got a lame education. I'm saying that I survived it, and so will your child, who must endure having no AP calculus so that in 25 years there will be AP calculus for all.

So her idea is that we all go shitty public schools, then everybody goes to an easy college and flunks anyways, and then our rich parents prop us up for years until we get a career churning out doggerel for Double X?

[John]

'm not proud of my ignorance.

Then why are you telling everyone about it?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

She's not proud, except she is, and thinks you too should be just as stupid.

[wareagle]

and these people, proud of their ignorance, as the ones who 1) elect morons who screw up your life, 2) will themselves run for office and replicate #1, and 3) are who future SS recipients will depend on.

This piece would be funny in The Onion, it's just derptastic in Salon.

[KMA Too]

Well, that presumes that the Onion has staff capable of taking this unfunny pile of troll-shit and making it funny.

I like the onion, but I doubt even Trey Parker and Matt Stone could un-derp her...whatever that was.

[BakedPenguin]

At least there were quite a few negative comments. But that was some moronic drivel.

[UnCivilServant]

Going to a public school made me feel strongly about public schools - they're warehouses for delinquents where the people who want to learn are punished for "going too fast for the rest of the kids"

[Zeb]

And now they make it even harder for the delinquents to drop out. Most of the delinquents I knew in high school had the good sense and decency to drop out when they turned 16 and stop wasting everyone's time. Now they want to make everyone go until they are 18.

[Art Vandelay]

Of course, because the schools will get more money that way.

My son is in 1st grade, and the school staff freak out if you miss a day of school.

[Zeb]

I'm just speculating here, but I would guess that places where lots of parents send their kids to fancy private schools also have relatively good public schools. Those parents who have money to send their kids to private schools still pay taxes.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Providing private school jobs and still contributing to the slop at public schools? Evil people!

[Rasilio]

In general I think you're right but there are a few exceptions where very rich neighborhoods are mixed in areas of general poverty.

Cambridge Mass is a good example of this. Cambridge schools are generally pretty shitty and the place isn't exactly the safest after dark, but there are parts of the town where all those MIT and Harvard Professors making well north of $250k a year live too

[Marc F Cheney]

You are a bad person if you send your children to private school.

Yeah... I'm going to have to disagree. Feel free to carry on with your life, though.

[Matrix]

I am not an education policy wonk: I'm just judgmental A FUCKING MORON.

FIFH

[Troy muy grande boner]

So if I want to send my child to a school that won't sexually molest her over a fishing expedition to find some advil and maybe like teach her something, I am a bad person? Okay, I can live with that.

[CatoTheElder]

So how bad are Obama and Clinton?

Really, really bad. Not only murderer bad, but bad like utterly hypocritical while ruining blah, blah, blah.

[CatoTheElder]

Don't go hating on Alison Benedikt.

She's absolutely right.

American "liberals" who send their kids to private school are bad people.

We should applaud her exhortation for American "liberals" to "not just acknowledge your liberal guilt?listen to it."

I applaud her for the article's consistency with the American "liberal" philosophy and acknowledgement of the consequences of its honest application.

[Matrix]

But MATT DAMON sends his kids to a private school because the public schools there are not progressive enough. Does that absolve him from the sin?

[sarcasmic]

Prostitutes pose in haunting portraits that reveal the mundane reality of life inside the Nevada brothels they call home

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....thels.html
That first one is John's. All the way.

[gaijin]

in the 4th image, the one with the pregnant hooker, is that Shreek sitting on the nightstand?

[Dave Krueger]

Any news outlet that edits pictures to avoid offending people probably edits what they write for the same reason. If they can't report the raw news without dumbing it down, they should get out of the news business.

[DesigNate]

Some of them were way more attractive then I expected.

[sarcasmic]

Man killed raccoon with nail-studded board to avenge his cat that was killed by similar animals years before
Richard Moller, from Boulder, Colorado saw an 'opportunity' to kill raccoons
He allegedly jumped into a dumpster and attacked them with a plank of wood
A witness interrupted him and said Moller shouted: 'All raccoons must die'
Police report says Moller was angry because raccoons killed his cat
He faces two counts of felony animal cruelty

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....efore.html

on Tuesday he remained at the Boulder jail on $100 bond

Loser.

[RBS]

Yeah. This kid at Clemson wanted to find out why so many turtles wound up dead on the side of the road (not in the middle of the road). He made these little fake turtles and put them in various places around Pickens County. He discovered that a lot people intentionally swerve to hit them.

[SweatingGin]

They constructed a board with a nail in it, but they won't stop there. They'll construct bigger boards with bigger nails, and then they'll construct a board with a nail in it so large, it will destroy them all...

[SweatingGin]

They constructed a board with a nail in it, but they won't stop there. They'll construct bigger boards with bigger nails, and then they'll construct a board with a nail in it so large, it will destroy them all...

[Juice]

headline: 'All racoons must die': Man killed raccoon

Is it one c or two c's?

[sarcasmic]

No need to zoom in! Extraordinary moment gigantic 40ft humpback whale surfaced within arm's reach of a stunned holidaymaker

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....touch.html

[sarcasmic]

Mother's claim that baby was shot in stroller during robbery 'doesn't add up', says her own daughter as she reveals how 'grieving' mom asked about life insurance payout HOURS after shooting
Ashley Glassey testified that estranged mother Sherry West changed her story about the attack after her initial claim
Glassey also said in court that West was asking about how quickly she could claim a life insurance policy held on the baby only hours after the shooting death
West even misidentified an alleged suspect in a police lineup

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....dd-up.html
That's messed up.

[WTF]

Except the murder weapon is connected to the accused:
Prosecutors have said information from Elkins' mother and sister led investigators to a pond where they found a revolver. Karimah Elkins is standing trial alongside her son on charges of evidence tampering and lying to police. Elkins' sister also was charged with evidence tampering.

[Slammer]

Russia is sending warships to the Mediterranean, while China is warning the US government not to conduct airstrikes in Syria.

This aggression will not stand, man.

[SugarFree]

Warty Hugeman and the Mad Professor of Treisio Island: A Warty Hugeman Time Travel Adventure

"Stay right where you are, Hugeman! I can destroy this entire island at the speed of thought!" Professor Frobisher gestured and banks of auto-guns slid out from recesses in all the walls of the laboratory. Warty pushed his tongue against his front teeth to activate the HUD in his visual implants. The time interference was back, like in Rome. He couldn't jump away, or slow time down to a crawl. The professor had him.

"Yes, Hugeman. You are trapped here," the professor said. His urbane speech and mild manner was in sharp contrast to the subtle whines and clicks of the guns staying on target as Warty leaned forward in a defensive posture.

"You were my father's friend, professor. You've known me since I was a child. Why are you doing this?" Warty asked.

"Because you are the last remaining vestige of his legacy and I intend for everyone to know what kind of man your father really was!" Frobisher laughed maniacally. Warty tried to keep from rolling his eyes.

"Is this because of the sex-change, Professor? It was just a college prank. My father told me they reattached your penis the next morning." Warty had heard the story half-a-hundred times from his father, who had even showed him pictures of the gaping mangina they carved into meat of Frobisher's pelvis, his frightened scrotum hunched below it like a chafed walnut.

[SugarFree]

"Of course you are," Warty said. He held his hands up and dozens of laser sights blossomed all over his timesuit.

"Don't humor me, Hugeman! I'm going to unleash a plague upon this universe, a plague of you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm going to use this to clone an army of Warty Hugemen!" Frobisher held up a glass vial triumphantly. Warty could see a tiny scrap of skin in it and immediately knew what it was.

"No, Professor! If you use my foreskin to clone me, it will mean the death of everything! The timestream simply cannot withstand that level of rugged cockfucking! The walls of reality will be torn apart like a clingwrap condom!"

"You just watch me, Hugeman. Watch me splatter all of existence with the hot semen of my justice!" Frobisher slammed the vial home in the console beside him. Warty didn't know where the Professor had obtained a hyperwomb bioreactor, but he had seen the results of one being used on a future version of Earth. Utter devastation resulted as the bioreactor turned the entire planet into giant vagina that tried to impregnate itself with Venus.

[SugarFree]

"Too late, too late!" the professor screeched as he danced around the laboratory. The bioreactor shat out the first of the neuWarty Hugemen. It tore itself free of its incubator membrane and stood naked and dripping. Another and another came out, until a dozen Warty Hugemen stood around the giggling doctor.

"Go my Hugemen," Frobisher screamed. "Go forth and destroy!" The assembled gooey Hugemen did nothing.

"Go! I made you! Do my bidding!"

"I don't think so, Professor," they all said in unison, half-formed vocal cords croaking out the words, as they advanced on him.

"You shouldn't have used my foreskin, Frobisher," Warty said. "No human alive has ever had more conscious control over their penis than me; even the parts removed are still mine to direct."

"No!" Frobisher screamed.

"You're going to die like the fool you are, Professor." Warty nodded at the Hugemen. They fell onto the doctor like a pack of uncircumcised sandwolves.

THE END?

[SIV]

Did you collaborate with Dan T?

[SugarFree]

Aw, is someone not getting enough attention? Scream COSMOTARIAN!!1! a few dozen times and I'm sure someone will be along to change your diaper.

[gaijin]

This is better than coffee. Thank you for another exhilarating start to the day.

[SugarFree]

Dammit, I forgot to mention that this was from an idea by our very own BakedPanguin.

[BakedPenguin]

From a vestigial idea.

[SugarFree]

Like a delicious appendix of inspiration.

[Troy muy grande boner]

"No human alive has ever had more conscious control over their penis than me; even the parts removed are still mine to direct."

Genius. I nominate you for a Hugo.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I want 6 time travelling versions of Warty Hugeman to be pall bearers at my funeral so he/they can let me down one last time.

[Lord Humungus]

after they rape your corpse.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Of course.

[WTF]

the gaping mangina they carved into meat of Frobisher's pelvis, his frightened scrotum hunched below it like a chafed walnut.

*wild applause*

[Zakalwe]

+1 walnut

[SweatingGin]

chafed walnut

chafed walnut

chafed walnut

Maybe new handle.

[Lord Humungus]

Pride of Ignorance on Firearms
When it comes to the Second Amendment, the Left doesn't even understand what it's getting wrong.

Scalia is by no means outr? when he contends that machine guns or rocket launchers may fall on the protected side. A favorite, albeit cheap, argument of gun-control advocates is that "when the Second Amendment was written, there were only muskets!" Conservatives customarily react to this by pointing out that, while true, the jab relies for its power upon an absurd standard that doesn't apply to anything else. (The First Amendment, for example, quite obviously applies to the Internet and to speech broadcast over the radio.) But the better way to look at this question is not to compare the personal weapons that the citizenry owned at the time of the Founding with the more powerful personal weapons available to the citizenry now, but to compare what personal weapons the citizenry had access to at the Founding with what personal weapons the military owns now.

[sarcasmic]

Or better yet compare what weapons citizens owned at the time of the Founding to what weapons the military had at the time of the founding.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Or mention privately owned cannon.

[Tejicano]

Too any people do not understand that muskets were specifically a military weapon and not much use for hunting. They were designed for rapid reloading and firing by massed troops - basically the "assault weapon" of the day.

[UnCivilServant]

A preaching to the choir moment: Harvard Study

Still lands firmly on the "No evidence to support gun control" end of things despite the organization that sponsored it.

[John]

The science is settled. There is a consensus. I thought we were all supposed to let science settle these sorts of issues now?

[BakedPenguin]

It's great that one of the guys is named Mauser.

[VG Zaytsev]

The same pattern appears when comparisons of violence to
gun ownership are made within nations. Indeed, "data on fire?
arms ownership by constabulary area in England," like data
from the United States, show "a negative correlation,"10 that is,
"where firearms are most dense violent crime rates are lowest,
and where guns are least dense violent crime rates are high?
est."

[Matrix]

but GUN VIOLENCE is all that matters to leftists in this argument. Even if more people are killed in areas with fewer guns than in areas with a lot of guns, there are more people killed by GUNS in the areas with lots of guns than with few guns. And since they only care about GUN VIOLENCE, it is well and good that GUNS are banned.

[John]

If gun violence were occurring among whites at the rate that it does among blacks, liberals wouldn't be so interested in guns. They would be all about being tough on crime. They only fixate on guns because the truthful answers to gun violence involve facts that don't fit their narrative.

[Jordan]

Obama's own CDC study even had the same findings. No wonder they quietly swept it under the rug.

[Raven Nation]

OT: got to love those compassionate progressives:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/k.....d-n1680418

[sarcasmic]

Any disagreement with the left is intolerance, and tolerance people do not tolerate intolerance. So all he's doing is being tolerant.

[bmp1701]

Where da white women at?

[John]

Ever notice how beta male liberals nearly always turn out to be capable of the worst sort of degrading misogyny whenever the opportunity arises? It is almost as if the ideology attracts sociopaths who pretend to be something they are not.

[thom]

People who let politics turn into a religion always tend towards misogyny. Progressives, Christian Conservatives, etc. Absolute intolerance is basically a requirement for membership.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, and the Universe has played everything out many times before, we are just remembering what has already happened in a previous run of the Universe.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[Free Society]

There's not enough evidence to prove a cyclical universe. Though my intuition tells me that it should be the case.

[Ted S.]

Why is there anything?

What was there before the current universe, and how did it come into existence?

[Rich]

Why is there anything?

Because we observe it.

[sarcasmic]

I've got a similar theory. That instead of some invisible man always existing and creating the mass and energy that comprises the universe, maybe the mass and energy that comprises the universe always existed. For some odd reason I find it easier to believe that what I can see and touch always existed, rather than being created out of nothing by an invisible man that always existed.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that would make a lot more sense.

[AuH20]

I hate Lindy West so much.

Here's a romantic image to keep in mind the next time you follow a babe home for a one-night stand or a third-date humpathon:you're probably snuggling up in other people's toe residue and butt fumes and dried-out sex scum! And you're rubbing your genitals on it! AH, YOUNG LUST.

According to a new survey by a UK mattress company, young single men reported that they only change their sheets an average of once every three months.Guh-roooooooss!!!!!

...

Then some bed scientist had to go and add that humans perspire "as much as a liter a night,"and that human skin cells are the favorite food of "mites," which "fester in mattresses and bedding, and also leave their feces behind."Now, obviously, I GUFFAWED LIKE AN AIR-HORN at "leave their feces behind," but that doesn't mean that the gravity of the situation is lost on me.

People.

Stop living your life swaddled in cocoon of ancient sperms and mite shit.Bed is supposed to be a beautiful place. Yours can be beautiful too.You're worth it.

Like, obviously I'm dismayed at the idea of people sleeping in feces-encrusted spider palaces, but I'm even more upset by the idea that so many young men are missing out on the singular pleasure of slipping a clean body into clean sheets.New-sheets-plus-shower-before-bed will body-slam you into some of the best sleep of your life, and you can do it on the reg!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The women I Game don't care about my filthy sheets. I'm that Alpha.

[SugarFree]

Someone that undoubtedly has mold growing in the sweaty folds of her bounteous flab and probably has to wipe her ass with a Bathroom Buddy has no room to talk.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

wipe her ass with a Bathroom Buddy

DON'T TALK ABOUT EPI LIKE THAT!!!!

[PRX]

her panties are as nasty as any 3 month old sheets and oddly enough contain the same square footage of cloth.

[Gbob]

If anyone knows about sleeping in feces, it would be her.

[Matrix]

more like anyone stupid enough or unfortunate enough to be sleeping with her.

She's a giant turd.

[Troy muy grande boner]

What's the world coming to if you can't be a whore on clean sheets?

[Dave Krueger]

Donald Rumsfeld doesn't think the Obama Administration has made the case justifying military intervention in the country.

Hahahaha! By Rumsfeld's standards, I guess he means they haven't fabricated enough evidence yet.

[Free Society]

You are in a better place now, Excellent Horse-like Lady.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Sarah Jessica Parker died?

[Zakalwe]

+1 nose

[Lord Humungus]

Brothels in Nevada Suffer as Web Disrupts Oldest Trade

Nevada's legal brothels, which took root in the mid-1800s silver-mining boom, are dwindling, down to about 19 from roughly 36 in 1985, according to George Flint, an industry lobbyist. Many have been the highest-profile businesses in their sparsely populated regions, and their decline hurts already-stretched county budgets and marks the end to local institutions -- though not the universally beloved sort.

The state's flagging economy, decreased patronage by truckers squeezed by fuel costs and growing use of the Internet to arrange liaisons are to blame, managers say.

bailout!

[NeonCat]

"And what do you do?"
"I'm a lobbyist for the brothel industry."
"Oh! How? interesting!"

[AuH20]

Screw the facts and statistics showing a shorter work week doesn't make you happy! It's all about the FEELZ!

Shut the front door you son of a businessman. What in the Ninth Circle of Hell is wrong with those people? Maybe they should go from five days a week to four days a week? I guarantee their "life satisfaction" meters will jump. Here's the deal: Saturdays you do all the stuff you can't do during the week. Sundays you sleep late and veg and watch British teen TV shows. If you also had Friday or Monday off, oh, imagine the places you'd go! Museums, movies, road trips, sailing excursions, lunches in random parts of town. All kinds of things to boost life satisfaction. Seriously, if I had a four-day workweek, I would be scoring SIXES on the five point scale of life. South Korea, you crazy.

It should be noted that Dr. Rudolf, a wise man indeed, agrees with me:

"I am a big fan of flexible working solutions with flex-time, part-time options, etc. In my opinion, higher personal freedom about their work flanked with well-designed performance targets will make workers both happier and more productive."

Exactly! When I am President slash Queen of the U.S. this will be my platform.

[SugarFree]

Science may say one thing, but I'd be happier with a four-day work week.

Of course, is the South Korean experiment was about cramming 44-hours of work into a 40hr/5-day week, that could be the dissatisfaction linger in the data.

[UnCivilServant]

When you have X workers doing Y amount of work and reduce the number of hours worked per worker, the stress, Z, goes towards invfinity, triggering dissatisfaction, so yes, you will get a study that says shorter work weeks don't make people happy.

I just want true flex time - give me a number of hours you want out of me and the set of work that needs to be done and let me do it when my mind is working.

[mad libertarian guy]

If you also had Friday or Monday off, oh, imagine the places you'd go! Museums, movies, road trips, sailing excursions, lunches in random parts of town. All kinds of things to boost life satisfaction.

Of course your wages falling 20% would really cramp those random lunches around town.

[UnCivilServant]

The tradeoff they usually ask for is more hours per working day. One of many reasons I'd never go for a compressed work schedule.

[mad libertarian guy]

A longer work day for my wife at her job means a longer work day for me with the kids, and they can fuck off with that shit. I love my children, but I already am with them for 11 hours straight sans break, if you stretched that to 13, bad shit would happen.

[Matrix]

I work 4-10s so I would have 3 day weekends. Sucks for the 4 days I work, because I have fewer hours in the evening. But It's great having every Friday off to do my yard work and shopping. Saturday is Shabbat, so I don't do squat (usually), and Sunday is laundry day.

but with football season coming, my Fridays off are definitely going to be useful.

[Tonio]

+1 Walter Sobchak

[AuH20]

Among the things you shouldn't talk about MLK, according to Jezebel: Gutting the voting rights act

You know that guy in college who always dressed like he just got off a boat and was the president of the Young Republicans and believed strongly in the idea of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps? Well, that guy is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States now.

Back in June, Roberts wrote the majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, a case that found portions of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. The decision effectively makes it easier for states with histories of racial discrimination to make it more difficult for racial minorities to vote. Roberts wasn't too worried about that, though. The Voting Rights Act "has proved to be immensely successful at redressing racial discrimination and integrating the voting process," wrote Roberts. "So let's get rid of that fucking thing," he continued, before changing into his chinos and heading to the yacht club.

This is the wrong way to talk about Dr. King, even though Roberts had the good sense to avoid mentioning him by name. This may come as a surprise to you, but ensuring that racial minorities had access to the polls was kinda important to Dr. King. He was present at the signing of the VRA in 1965, for chrissakes!

[mad libertarian guy]

How dare you try and talk during this conversation about race!

[Marc F Cheney]

You know that guy in college who always dressed like he just got off a boat and was the president of the Young Republicans and believed strongly in the idea of pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps?

I don't remember that guy from college, but I do remember him from several 80's movies about college. Is that close enough?

[Dave Krueger]

NSA analysts apparently use the tools at their disposal to spy on their love interests...

Luckily this will soon end when Congress forces carriers to store phone data rather than letting the NSA have it directly. Yeah, that will solve the abuse problem completely.

[AuH20]

Paging Warty. Warty, please pick up the white courtesy phone

Until recently, I lived with three close friends and my partner. I found out that the roommates had thrown a party while my partner and I were on vacation. I was upset, and I didn't really handle the problem well. Everything got tense. Things came to a head when one of my roommates hit and threatened my cat. I never told any of my other roommates about her actions, and they have pretty much cut me out of their lives. I moved out a few months ago. I'm not interested in resuming contact with the roommate who was violent, but is it worth it for me to try and save my friendship with any of the others?

What in the fucking fuck? She hit your cat? Are you motherfucking kidding me? I hope she dies in Costco by being crushed by a 250-lb sack of kitty litter. Also I hope fire is involved, somehow, just for aesthetic effect. I mean, okay, I don't actually want anything bad to happen to her. But I do want her to stop punching cats. Also: let's hope she is not a secret serial killer of humans.

I don't know if you were a complete asshole about the party. I don't really care. What I care about is that this person abused the greatest of all animals, TEH KITTEH. I suggest you read up on animal abuse laws in your state (here's New York to get ya started).

[KDN]

I would hit my wife's cat all the time when we were dating. Damn thing would be my best friend for two hours before he flipped out and commenced repeatedly scratching and biting my hand. Cats are dicks.

[AuH20]

It doesn't matter if you're sister can't pay for her kid, according to Jezebel. It's not your responsibility!. The original question:

My best friend is also my younger sister. She's 23 and I'm 25. She just found out that she's pregnant and it seems like she really wants to keep the baby. She is definitely not ready for this kind of responsibility. She's not even paying her own bills right now. She's still paying off fines for a DUI she got last year, and she borrows money from time to time. I've seen her make some improvements in her lifestyle such as kicking her smoking habit completely, dropping out of the party scene, doing well at her job, working out more, and working on building up her self esteem and confidence, but she's still too immature to take care of another human being. My cousin says I ought to let her do what she wants, but my friends say I ought to pressure her into having an abortion.

[AuH20]

And the response:

Can we just agree that nobody is allowed to pressure anybody into having or not having a baby? Is that a thing we could all get consensus on, like, right now?

No?

Okay, didn't think so.

She's 23 years old. She wants this baby. She quit smoking. She stopped partying. She's doing well at work. She exercises. She's doing important personal spiritual/emotional work. To me, she sounds like she might make an ideal parent. But you know what? It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about this! If she wants to be a mom, she's allowed to be a mom.

...

Remember to be kind but firm and direct when addressing the financial issue. Do some thinking ahead of time and figure out if you want to offer to take care of any baby-related expenses. Understand that you are under NO OBLIGATION to pay for a dang thing ? but I have a suggestion for you. It sounds like the best pre-baby gift you could get your sister would be a session with a certified financial planner who can help her sort out her bills and develop a short-term budget for the pregnancy and a longer-term budget for her child's first few years.

Good luck. Be the best auntie you can be. But make sure to lay down some clear boundaries in advance. Her choice is her choice ? and that means you don't automatically become a mama when she does.

Silly sister! Don't you know that's what welfare is for?

[John]

I kind of agree with the Jezies. Maybe she will get better. Sometimes kids do that. I don't see how you can pressure someone into killing their kid or giving it up for adoption. She is an adult. It is her choice.

[Auric Demonocles]

No no no! It's only your choice if you want to have an abortion. If you want to not have an abortion, then it's a public matter.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I don't see how you can pressure someone into killing their kid or giving it up for adoption

Indeed, that is why I advocate only for abortions that involve early stage embryos or fetuses instead of kids.

[John]

Sure, the "fetus" magically transforms into a child when it makes the trip down the birth canal. Even though it doesn't gain any additional cognitive awareness or abilities, it still magically transforms from a lump of cells one moment into a full human being the next. Amazing thing that birth canal or that doctor doing a C section.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

No, the fetus does not magically transform into a child when it makes the trip down the birth canal. I think late term abortions could be prohibited. I specifically mentioned 'early stage embryos or fetuses' which have huge differences in 'cognitive awareness or abilities' among other things.

[John]

I agree with you. I have no problem with early stage abortions being legal. I disagree with them. But I admit the case is not so overwhelming that no one else could see it differently.

Sorry to misunderstand you.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

No problem. I just do not care for people talking about 'killing your/their kid' when talking about abortion. The entire debate is about whether these are the equivalent of a kid or not, and especially at early periods as you say 'the case is not so overwhelming that no one else could see it differently' so invoking 'killing kids' strikes me as an appeal to emotion akin to the left winger's 'for the children' refrain.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Understand that you are under NO OBLIGATION to pay for a dang thing

I, as a tax paying male, have that obligation instead. I wonder if the Jezzies thought that thru.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I read that as a response to her sister-that her sister is under no obligation to pay for a dang thing.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

So did I. It is just that "you aren't responsible for your own sister" is being said by people who want to tax me based on my 'obligation' toward the same woman and her new spawn.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I guess, but I did not see anything in that answer suggesting public support. I actually agree that if one's sister is acting in a way you disapprove you are under no obligation to support that.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

but I did not see anything in that answer suggesting public support

This is Jezebel. They favor extensive $$ transfer from their political enemies to themselves and those they identify with using any child or any other excuse necessary.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Fair enough, I do not keep up with them.

[VG Zaytsev]

I, as a tax paying male, have that obligation instead.

You are not your brother's keeper, everyone else is.

[Atanarjuat]

I'm not clicking the link, but that's pretty good advice.

[Marc F Cheney]

Yeah, that sounds about right. There's plenty of good reasons to pick on the Jezzies, but this ain't one.

[Rhywun]

The folksy tone still makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

[Drake]

Too bad her improved lifestyle didn't include not getting knocked up by random guys.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, and the Universe has played everything out many times before, we are just remembering what has already happened in a previous run of the Universe.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[Bardas Phocas]

Course heading?
Second start to the right and straight on til moring.
Neil Armstrong takes that last flight.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technolo.....d=12325140

[NeonCat]

Bardas? It's 2013. 2012 was, well, so last year.

[Ted S.]

Icelandic culture, circa the late 16th century

On drinking culture: "When sitting around the table drinking alcoholic beverage, it is not appropriate to go to the bathroom. A woman must monitor the table and respond when signaled. She'll hand over a pot, which goes under the table. When all this is happening, everyone grunts like pigs, so nobody can hear what is going on."

[Eduard van Haalen]

American guys: "Does this describe Iceland...or Paradise?"

[John]

Say what you want about the Vikings. Sure they did some looting an pillaging and human sacrifices and such. But damn, they knew how to party

[mad libertarian guy]

I'd argue that by the 16th century, the ancestors of the Vikings were well on the way to being the pussies they are today.

The 16th century is much closer to now than when the Vikings were around.

[John]

The Vikings were still Vikings in 1000 AD.

[mad libertarian guy]

Like I said, 16th century Icelanders are closer to now than their Viking ancestors.

[CatoTheElder]

The real Vikings moved on to Iceland after their relatives in Scandinavia became pussified.

[sarcasmic]

Did you see Bourdaine's visit to Iceland on No Reservations? It's an odd place. Then again, it's oddness can be summed up in one word: Bjork.

[John]

All of Scandinavia is strange. They are still really nature worshiping Pagans. Christianity just took the edge off of it and put a civilized veneer on. And that is a very good thing.

[sarcasmic]

You should check out the Finnish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That's some messed up shit.

[John]

I really like the Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men. It is like really good pop music with a touch of Scandinavian strangeness to keep it from being predictable.

[Warty]

They are still really nature worshiping Pagans.

This is true. Black metal bands putting trees on their album covers and burning down churches didn't come out of a vacuum.

[John]

Go visit there sometime. I haven't been. But my friends who have all say the same thing. They love nature and the outdoors in a way we don't. It is very religious for them.

[mad libertarian guy]

So religious that one can freely trespass on private property during berry season in order to gather berries.

[AuH20]

Miley Cyrus is appropriating black culture!

Here's the thing: historically, black women have had very little agency over their bodies. From being raped by white slave masters to the ever-enduring stereotype that black women can't be raped, black women have been told over and over and over again, that their bodies are not their own. By bringing these "homegirls with the big butts" out onto the stage with her and engaging in a one-sided interaction with her ass, (not even her actual person!) Miley has contributed to that rhetoric. She made that woman's body a literal spectacle to be enjoyed by her legions of loyal fans. Not only was that the only way that Miley interacted with any of the other people onstage with her, but all of her backup dancers were "black women with big butts" as Violet_Baudelaire so astutely pointed out. So not only are black women's bodies being used as props, but they are also props that are only worthy of interaction if that interaction involves sexualization.

Now some people have said that Miley is only 20, and she's "just a child" and that she doesn't understand what she's doing. But Miley isn't new to this. Her video for the single wasn't even the first precursor to this madness. She has been quoted as saying that she explicitly wanted "a black sound" for her new album.

[John]

So they will be condemning every female Rock and Roll and blues/jazz singer now? Has the Lilith Fair crowd heard about this?

[Auric Demonocles]

the ever-enduring stereotype that black women can't be raped

What the fuck? I have literally never heard this before (which would seem to contradict the "ever-enduring" part).

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I am betting it is standard feminist procedure. During slavery or even Jim Crow it was likely true that law enforcement did a rather poor job at investigating rapes of black women, especially by white men. Standard feminist procedure is to take this kernel of truth and restate it in an exaggerated and silly way 'the ever-enduring stereotype that black women can't be raped.'

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-By bringing these "homegirls with the big butts" out onto the stage with her and engaging in a one-sided interaction with her ass, (not even her actual person!) Miley has contributed to that rhetoric. She made that woman's body a literal spectacle to be enjoyed by her legions of loyal fans.

This is undoubtedly the funniest drivel I will read today, thanks for flagging it.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

She made that woman's body a literal spectacle to be enjoyed by her legions of loyal fans.

Um.....entertainment industry? MTV? Hello? Have you been paying any attention at all lately?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The funny thing is, if anything, the entire performance was centered on making the white woman's body (Cyrus) the 'center of the spectacle.' The black women were back up dancers in the background.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I like Big Butts and I cannot lie.....

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else appropriated black culture?

[Zakalwe]

Marshall Mathers?

[WTF]

Barack Obama?

[Troy muy grande boner]

Led Zepplin

[Tonio]

Led Zeppelin?

[Tonio]

Refresh fail. Bravo, Troy.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

You're missing the most important point here - MTV and/or Cyrus apparently kidnapped these black women and forced them to perform on stage for the amusement of the national audience.

Unless perhaps I shouldn't get my facts from batty feminist articles...

[John]

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....cyrus.html

Why are feminists judging Miley Cyrus? Because they look at her as white trash. And feminism is all about making sure upper and upper middle class white women retain their privileged spot in society. And part of that is looking down their noses at who they perceive to be lower class white women.

If Cyrus were a hate studies major at Brown and down her act as part of her senior project, feminists would be cheering her and calling anyone who criticized her a misogynist. If you didn't go to the right school and are not from the right background, you can't be in the club. Sorry Miley.

[JW]

To be fair, she is white trash, culturally.

She may be able to buy and sell me several times over, but money doesn't necessarily buy you class.

[Auric Demonocles]

Is Link #1 the longest AM Link ever?

[Rich]

I'm somewhat surprised it made it through the filter.

[Auric Demonocles]

I almost quoted it in that post, then decided it would probably be too long to fit anyway and didn't bother trying.

[Slammer]

TL;DR

[AuH20]

A history of sci-fi and skeptic con anti-harassment policies

Sometimes fighting harassment and assault at conferences feels like a losing battle. For every step forward, it seems like there's another step back: A science fiction convention adopts a code of conduct, but then doesn't enforce it for a Big Name Fan. People publicly identify a serial assaulter in skepticism, but then he threatens to sue and the blog post is taken down. Is a community without sexual harassment and assault too much to ask for in 2013?Conference anti-harassment campaigns do work ? they "just" take several years of dedicated effort to succeed. In the free and open source community, it took about 3 years of concentrated work to get to the point where the vast majority of open source conferences have strong, specific, enforced anti-harassment policies. In 2013 we saw a record percentage of women attendees and speakers at one of the largest open source conferences in the world. Now open source communities are adopting codes of conduct that apply to online interaction too.

Why a history of anti-harassment campaigns?

We decided to chronicle the history of conference anti-harassment policies in three communities: science fiction and fantasy, skepticism and atheism, and free and open source software.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, and the Universe has played everything out many times before, we are just remembering what has already happened in a previous run of the Universe.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[CampingInYourPark]

"What is Deja Vu?"

"Heavy as they are, the costs of action must be weighed against the price of inaction. If Saddam defies the world and we fail to respond, we will face a far greater threat in the future. Saddam will strike again at his neighbors. He will make war on his own people.

And mark my words, he will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them, and he will use them."

President Bill Clinton - December 16, 1998

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

[UnCivilServant]

The gag wasn't funny the first time. Cut this shit out!

[Eduard van Haalen]

What do you mean? This is the first time anyone posted that link. Are you OK?

[UnCivilServant]

I really need to work on that murder app powered by hate.

[Lord Humungus]

but made with love.

[Atanarjuat]

This is really fucking disorienting as I randomly skim the comments while tapping the pagedown key.

[Eduard van Haalen]

I promise I'll only do it once.

But watch out for the alternate universe EvH - he's a real asshole and likes planting false memories just to mess with people's heads.

[AuH20]

False Rape reporting may be 2-8%, but that's only because PATRIARCHY!!!

So let me add in a study of police attitudes toward rape victims. It would seem EEB isn't alone, then. And if we could factor in the victims who never reported at all because of shit like this, that "false" rape allegation statistic would drop like a rock. Since they don't, the statistics are skewed, making "false" allegations look more prevalent.

Now add the horrific treatment victims experience from defense attorneys who believe they're scum. I can tell you from experience this can be worse than the rape. It can be a form of torture, and like torture victims, some rape victims will recant just to make the pain stop. Magically, their allegation is now "false." But they're no less raped, and the rapist is no less a sexual predator.

Add in the fact that some rapists have the lock on society, and can crush their victims. If their victims had the courage to report, they've soon got their buddies to sweep the crime under the rug. And another several ticks are added in the "false" rape allegation column.

Add in children who receive such a terrifying reaction to their attack that they recant just to protect themselves. More "false" rape allegations.

[Auric Demonocles]

TLDR: False rape doesn't happen, and if it did it doesn't matter because other people actually rape other victims.

[John]

It really sucks to be a victim of a crime, especially a really personal one like assault or murder or rape. Going to the cops and convincing them it happened and to do something about it is hard. And the guy or gal who did it is likely not going to admit to it and call you liar.

Welcome to the real world ladies.

[sarcasmic]

Going to the cops and convincing them it happened and to do something about it is hard.

"Who are you and why should I care?"

[John]

See sarcasmic, if some guy splits your head open and the cops give you that answer, well tough shit, you are a white guy and they are public servants. But when some women goes to them with some story about a rape that happened five years ago that she has just now decided to report, they can't even show a hint of skepticism. The Patriarchy you know.

[sarcasmic]

if some guy splits your head open and the cops give you that answer, well tough shit

If some guy splits your head open and you go to the cops, the likely response would be "So? What did you do to deserve it, pussy?"

[Drake]

"The myth of false rape?" I followed the links all the way to Wikipedia that had a variety of studies with occurrences ranging from 5% to 90%. A range that is outside my "myth" setting.

I've known several guys tossed in jail thanks to a bitter ex with an axe to grind. The police immediately send the woman for rape-kit exam. When it comes back as completely negative... nothing. The guy gets sent home and nothing happens to the chick.

[sarcasmic]

No charges for filing a false report?

[Drake]

Nope. In one case it helped his divorce case, otherwise no consequences. They couldn't prove the negative (her not being sexually assaulted in any form), they just had absolutely no physical evidence that she was raped (or had any kind of sex).

Thanks for playing, hope you enjoyed that weekend in jail.

[Drake]

My former associates in the Marines, then the National Guard often did not select the most stable women for mates.

[tarran]

To nail someone for filing a false report, you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they lied; you have to get evidence before the jury that shows the report to be false

In the matter of a false rape allegation, in effect you get another trial of the rapist, with the null hypothesis being that the allegation wasn't false.

In the case I witnessed, the accused was so freaked out by his close brush with jail, that he told his lawyer he would absolutely refuse to testify about it. He was terrified that something he would say would give them an excuse to go after him again.

It was understandable; the investigating detective clearly thought the allegation was bullshit, but he still stood tall in front of the magistrate and leveled the charge anyway.

[John]

Unless the person comes out and admits they were lying, filing a false report is nearly impossible to prove.

[Steve G]

Speaking of which, anyone seen the Naval Academy rape testimony? She admits to multiple consensual encounters that same night. awesome...

[AuH20]

More on how Cryus' performance was RACIST!!!

Cyrus used her sexuality?which is hers to use?throughout the performance. This is not something we as viewers should be shocked by or disgusted with. What should be shocking is Cyrus' appropriation of a culture she knows nothing about, and her use of black women as props in her most recent music video and in last night's performance. Most, if not all, of the dancing bears were women of color. At one point, Cyrus motorboats one woman's ass, which adds to the weird, circus-y feel of it all. Cyrus is the "ring leader," and women of color are hers to play with however she likes.

I felt super gross during and after watching her performance. Her "sluttiness" was nowhere on my mind. I was more disgusted by the apparent unawareness/unconsciousness of Cyrus with regard to the culture she has been appropriating and the women she has been exploiting. People will say, "Oh, but she's young"?this isn't an excuse. She has money. She has many privileges. If she cared to learn more, this knowledge would be easily accessible to her.

Our society chooses not to worry about other issues, though?about black young men being killed while walking freely, about trans women being murdered, about people who are homeless and starving.

[sarcasmic]

about black young men being killed while walking freely

Cyrus' performance was racist because of Treyvon!

[Juice]

Miley sticks middle finger up in pics, smokes & wears grills = just her being a kid. Trayvon does it = hes a thug #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen

? Mixed Girl Problems (@mixdgrlproblems) August 12, 2013

[removed][removed]

This has gone way too far. Justin and Miley, for the last time, you cant #Twerk with us!!!

? Mixed Girl Problems (@mixdgrlproblems) August 28, 2013

[removed][removed]

[JW]

WTF? Who in their right mind would want to claim that inter-dimensional train wreck as their own?

[John]

And if I am not mistaken it was a black male who murdered that trans woman in New York recently.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Does anybody seriously think Miley Cyrus planned out and designed that performance? Their ginned up outrage should at least be directed at the right people.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

This is all so bizarre. First, is it not more insulting to call what Miley did 'black culture' which she is then faulted for 'appropriating?' What she did was disgusting if a white person who 'knows nothing about' that culture but it would have been fine if an 'authentically black' performer did the same thing?

And what is this 'unawareness/unconsciousness of Cyrus with regard to the culture she has been appropriating and the women she has been exploiting?' Clearly she must be somewhat aware of this culture if she is copying it, and again, if this be exploitation isn't she, as the center and focus of the show, the one exploited (exploiting herself) the most?

And I love the 'Treyvon, transgender homeless' line tacked on. Should have mentioned baby seals too.

[John]

It is all about class. Miley is low class so they must hate her. The same women who spend their lives lecturing the world about black culture even though they are white and have never so much as lived next door to a black person, accuse Miley of taking black culture when she doesn't know anything about it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

They do a similar thing with Elvis. As an undergraduate I had a professor who once inveighed about how Elvis 'appropriated' and 'stole' 'black culture.' For one thing I found that silly because most culture builds on something before it (I imagine later black musicians and such borrowed from Elvis), and for another why would it be so wrong that this poor white kid from the South was willing to find something worth emulating in 'black culture?' It is nonsense.

[John]

Those types never mention how the exchange went both ways. A lot black blues artists grew up listening to white country music. The Grand Old Opry was broadcast all over the South. Black people listened to it as well. And of course a lot of the best black gospel is black interpretations of white hymns. Were black stealing white culture? Did Duke Ellington appropriate white culture when he took black jazz and had a full orchestra play it?

It is so pathetic when you see the world through the lens of victimhood. You never appreciate or understand anything that happens.

[Matrix]

It's okay when other cultures appropriate things from "white culture". But if a white person appropriates something from a non-white culture... that's racist.

CHECK YOUR FUCKING PRIVILEGE, JOHN!

[CatoTheElder]

The origin of modern rock and roll can be traced to American blues, also an African American cultural innovation. Is it too "stolen"?

Well, is the guitar a product of black culture? Did BB King or Muddy Waters invent the guitar?

Or did they find a musical instrument of European origin and use it to develop a novel form of musical expression?

Of course culture evolves across cultures. Humans are not so utterly stupid and self-absorbed that they cannot learn from others, adapt, innovate, and improve. Of course there are exceptions, like the morons who would complain about one group "stealing" culture from another.

[OldMexican]

I was more disgusted by the apparent unawareness/unconsciousness of Cyrus with regard to the culture she has been appropriating and the women she has been exploiting.

She's not ridden with enough white-guilt for my liking!

[bmp1701]

with regard to the culture she has been appropriating

If random ass-shaking dances were part of my "culture", I wouldn't be complaining if people were stealing them.

[Matrix]

Most of the comments rightly bash the writer for nitpicking every little thing. Then this person responds to one of those commenters:

Lola says:
August 27, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Not everything is a race thing? That in itself is your privilege talking. Cultural appropriation is so toxic, and can make something with significant meaning dissipate. Maybe Miley Cyrus is aware of the culture that inspires her, but she is not being respectful, and should be more intentional.

Cultural appropriation is toxic and by not believing that everything is racist, it is because of your privilege.

That's it... humanity is done. If an alien race wants to wipe us out, they are right to do so.

[Matrix]

But wait! There's MORE!

Seran says:
August 27, 2013 at 7:12 am
The amount of ignorance regarding cultural appropriation in some of these comments is heartbreaking.

White feminists, check your fucking privilege. If people of colour, especially black women are telling you that Miley Cyrus is appropriating their culture, enacting symbolic violence, or using black women as stock street cred, you need to step back and support these black female voices.

Now black feminists are attacking white feminists because of their privilege. "IT'S RACIST BECAUSE I SAY IT'S FUCKING RACIST!"

Maybe if you're so fixated on race and has to find it everywhere, then you're the one who is racist.

But fuck it... humanity's end can't come soon enough.

[Troy muy grande boner]

It is like racsist all the way down, like those magic turtles.

[Irish]

White feminists, check your fucking privilege. If people of colour, especially black women are telling you that Miley Cyrus is appropriating their culture, enacting symbolic violence, or using black women as stock street cred, you need to step back and support these black female voices.

You need to support me because I'm black, even though I'm wrong.

[Matrix]

Irish... your white privilege is showing!

[Eduard van Haalen]

"black young men being killed while walking freely, about trans women being murdered, about people who are homeless and starving."

A progressive is someone who watches some slutty singer performing, and responds by thinking about the murder of trans women.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It doesn't take much to get me thinking about the murder of trans women either. Puppies, rain, bad Scrabble hands....basically anything...

[Lord Humungus]

it's a hobby, really.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

But try getting one processed. Even if you promise the death was an accident, you have to make the jerky and sausage yourself.

[Ken Shultz]

"Kim Jong-Un's ex-girlfriend was reportedly executed on porn charges three days after her arrest."

And her family was sent to a prison camp.

This kid's gonna end up being worse than Uday and Qusay.

[John]

How could he not? Can you imagine growing up in that environment? And every generation of idiot sons gets worse. Kim Jong Il was much worse than his father. And now the son is even more insane.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

And every generation of idiot sons gets worse

How many generations of Bushes and Clintons does it take to equal the genetic damage of one generation of Nork leadership?

[John]

A few. Chelsea is bad but not that bad.

[CatoTheElder]

Kennedys

[Eduard van Haalen]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, there must be a universe in which the Cleveland Browns play so well that anyone would be honored to have them as pallbearers.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[robc]

Its no blink tag.

[Lord Humungus]

from 24/7:
http://reason.com/24-7/2013/08.....id-ceos-en

About 40 percent of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States over the past 20 years eventually ended up being fired, paying fraud-related fines or settlements, or accepting government bailout money, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank, said that chief executives for large companies received about 354 times as much pay as the average American worker in 2012. That gap has soared since 1993, when CEOs for big companies received about 195 times as much.

but no linky inside the link (inside the link inside the link)

[John]

We seem to have a real cultural problem in this country. The private sector is no different than the government. In any big organization, sociopaths and incompetents seem to rise to the top at alarming rates.

[CatoTheElder]

Didn't read the study, but I am certain that most of the 40% either:

1) paid a settlement in a bogus shareholder class-action suit, or
2) were bankers forced to accept government bailout money.

I don't like the state of American corporate governance, but that statistic is dubious.

[Tim]

1,2,3,4
Time for another war!
5,6,7,8
Whom should we annihilate?

[bmp1701]

'We Are What Feminists Look Like' Tumblr Launched In Response To 'Fat-Shaming Anti-Feminist Meme'

Read with caution.

[John]

And feminists wonder why so many women reject the term. Has it ever occurred to them that most women don't really want to be associated with the terms, fat, loud, and obnoxious?

[Eduard van Haalen]

#8 looks pretty good for a feminist. But who's the girl with the hat standing next to her?

[Apatheist ?_??]

Do NOT look at #4 in the slideshow.

[SugarFree]

This Is What A Feminist Looked Like In Picture She Took Ten Years Ago

Also, I suspect at least one of those is a picture of a dude.

[John]

Stop projecting your gender normative views on these people. You monster.

[Troy muy grande boner]

So feminist = people you would never want to fuck?

[GILMORE]

""How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?

None, because feminists won't change anything.""

+100

[OldMexican]

Russia is sending warships to the Mediterranean[...]

A5
B7
C3
Bastard! You sank my battleship!

[John]

I think we should be more afraid than we are. The US and Russia are now pointing weapons at each other. How does that end well?

[Lord Humungus]

Putin is just trying to get Obama to blink. Anyone want to lay any bets on which way this goes?

[CampingInYourPark]

Obama will blink

[Drake]

blink, blink...

[John]

Sure he is. And such confrontation never result in war or anything.

[Gbob]

Putin has to have an Obama poster in his study. Obama is the best thing that could have happened for the new Russia. Every action Putin takes against him increases his stature with the rest of the world.

[John]

Putin is a former KGB thug. He literally picks his teeth with useful idiots like Obama. He had to laughed his ass off after first meeting that clown. My how the running dog capitalists have fallen.

[UnCivilServant]

"You have a fleet in the area? I load a nuke on one of the cruiser's tomahawks and blast the whole board. I don't have time to hunt and peck for the PT boat."

[DJF]

Russia has a fleet in the Black Sea, all it takes is for one of the ships to go to the Mediterranean and we get scary headlines.

It is like when every six or eight months when the US changes out carriers in the Persian Gulf and the same "news sources" write up scary headlines about a military buildup.

News for everyone, Russian ships enter and leave the Mediterranean all the time.

[John]

True. But I am not really comforted by the idea of US and Russian ships that close to one another while Obama shoots his mouth off to Putin. Accidental or wars that were not initially intended by the parties do happen.

[GILMORE]

Russians don't take a dump without a plan, son.

[Tim]

Imagine some kid press ganged into military service off a street in Damascus by a gang of thugs. He's beaten down and given a shovel to dig ditches at the airbase in the 130 degree sun. One day he hears a sound different from the Migs that normally fly overhead. He looks up. It's a rocket engine. Here comes a missile with US NAVY on the side and it blows him to bits. That night President Obama addresses the world and says the Assad regime has been punished.

[Drake]

While I think any intervention in Syria is insanity, your argument doesn't do for me. Basically you are saying we could never fight against an army using a draft.

[SIV]

Unless we always pursued a strategy of decapitation, as we should. Kill the leaders.

[bmp1701]

Kill the leaders.

Though that wouldn't do much in the case of Syria, except slightly increase the probability of the country eventually being ruled by a Wahhabi loon named General Abdullah al-Clitslicer bin Head-Chopper.

[John]

Killing the leaders isn't as easy as we thought it was. We tried to kill Saddam for 12 years.

[SIV]

After announcing we intended to do so giving him ample warning to hide. Assad hasn't been cowering in some bunker and sending decoy doubles out in his stead.

Surveillance technology, as we are so often reminded of, has grown by leaps and bounds as well.

[John]

Doesn't matter. The country is still huge. And a leader has lots of places to hide, especially one who knows we will avoid bombing civilians. All Saddam did was move from average Iraqi house to another.

[H. ReardEn]

I don't think Tim is trying to define a principle. He is making the point that the military response that has been proposed in Syria will be ineffective in perusing any objective, yet Obummer will defend it as necessary and effective.

[CatoTheElder]

Now imagine that the missile hits a building where twenty Russian military advisers work. That night President Putin addresses the world and says that the US has lost all legitimacy and Obama must be punished.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What is Deja Vu?
My "theory" (made up on the spot) is that since the Big Bang has happened multiple times, and the Universe has played everything out many times before, there is a parallel universe in which Miley Cyrus and Kim Jong Un's alleged ex-girlfriend are nuns.

Or it could be GLOBAL WARMING!

[OldMexican]

Arkansas Republican State Senator Who Is Leading Call To Arm Teachers Accidentally Shot A Teacher, Leftist Blogosphere And Facebook Shares Light Up Like A Christmas Tree...

... Until you read the note from Gawker, you find out this:

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hutchinson became interested in arming school personnel, he said. He was invited to attend an 'active shooter' training and - using a rubber bullet-loaded pistol - he mistakenly shot a teacher who was confronting a 'bad guy.'

The description of the firearm just sounds too fishy to me, especially when a rubber bullet fired from a standard cartridge can give a world of hurt to whoever is on the business end of the gun. I believe they were using Airsoft pistols (which use rubber pellets) to practice, as they feel and look much like real pistols and the "ammunition" is both safe and cheap. The fact that the senator accidentaly "shot" a teacher would have no greater relevance than if a kid had shot his cousin with a rubber pellet during a game of Marines and Jihadists.

The gun-grabbers were full of glee at the apparent irony. Oh, go ahead and read the comments... if you dare.

[John]

Fucking moron. I have no sympathy for any adult who accidentally shoots himself or others. Weapons don't just go off.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,
He shot a person during practice with a toy gun.

I was made aware of this issue because my gun-grabbing sister shared a Facebook link from some Chicago activist who linked to the Gawker piece withnout even reading what happened, saying that the legislator should not sponsor such a bill while also throwing cheap shots at gun-rights activists - because of an airsoft gun.

[John]

What do you mean by "toy gun"? A pellet rifle wound sucks. I am not seeing how that is very mitigating.

[sarcasmic]

Airsoft is not the same as the Crossman you use to kill chipmunks.

[Jordan]

Airsoft guns aren't pellet guns.

[John]

Is it more than a paintball? If so, you are a fucking moron for pointing it as someone.

[sarcasmic]

John. Do a little googling on Airsoft. You're making an ass out of yourself.

[John]

No. I am asking a question. What the fuck is an air soft? Is it a nerf gun? If it is, then fine. But if it is a pellet gun of any kind, the screw this guy.

[Jordan]

Basically, airsoft guns are realistic looking guns that shoot rubber BBs. And yes, if you point it at someone who doesn't want to be shot, you're a moron.

[John]

Just say what the guy used. Not "well it is not a pellet gun". Okay, is it animal mineral? You guys are the ones claiming it was harmless, not me. So say what it is.

[Jordan]

It definitely hurts less than a paintball.

[John]

So basically it is a nerf gun. How did this even get into the media then? He didn't shoot anyone.

[Jordan]

Well, it hurts more than a nerf gun, but it's still overblown.

[BakedPenguin]

How did this even get into the media then?

You have to ask?

[GILMORE]

Not so much nerf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB3pWNxrgZ8

It'll leave a mark

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

What do you mean by "toy gun"? A pellet rifle wound sucks. I am not seeing how that is very mitigating.

I am indicating in my post that what I believe they were using for practice is a rubber-pellet gun (an Airsoft gun), not an airgun or a real gun.

I am making that assumption based on two things: One, the fact that airsoft pistols look real enough for practice and training; two, on the fact that the gun-grabbers are extremely ignorant on guns; when they say "rubber bullet" they actually mean a rubber pellet.

The point here is that the grabbers are so pathetic in their attempts that they will even peddle this non-issue all over the net without even reading the piece with at least a modicum of thought.

[Matrix]

So God made a Bammer

ROLL TURD ROLL!!

[Fatty Bolger]

That's a scene from That 70's Show, right? Left to right starting with the blonde, it's Laurie, Michael, Eric, and Jackie. That could be Bob on the microphone, but I'm not sure.

[The Late P Brooks]

About 40 percent of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States over the past 20 years eventually ended up being fired, paying fraud-related fines or settlements, or accepting government bailout money, according to a study released Wednesday.

So... random outcomes, then?

What the fuck was that supposed to demonstrate?

[John]

That corporate boards do a pretty shitty job of choosing CEOs.

[Drake]

"40 percent of the highest-paid CEO's"

What the fuck does that mean?

So they were fired OR involved in a fine or settlement? OR accepted a bailout?

What big company isn't occasionally fined for something somewhere? That's just the cost of doing business.

[The Last American Hero]

Lumping in those that got fired with the fraudsters is not making an honest argument. Many of these execs are like college/pro football coaches - the get a big payday for taking the team to the top but if the success drops off they are dropped like yesterday's garbage.

[Drake]

Our old CEO was told by the Board that his contract was not being renewed. He just rode off into the sunset with millions in parting gifts (as stipulated in his contract). Does that mean he was "fired"?

[JW]

President Obama has reportedly not yet decided on the response to chemical weapons use in Syria, though he appears a lot more confident the Syrian regime gassed its own people

I'm sure this will come as a great relief to the relatives of US drone victims in their own countries.

[Eduard van Haalen]

George Carlin on "vuja de" - the feeling that none of this has ever happened before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7LBSDQ14eA

[The Late P Brooks]

I believe they were using Airsoft pistols (which use rubber pellets) to practice, as they feel and look much like real pistols and the "ammunition" is both safe and cheap.

I find it difficult to believe schoolteachers were conducting live fire exercises. Airsoft makes a lot more sense.

They also fail to point out that a cop would have emptied his mag in a frenzy of panic fire and "killed" everybody in sight, for OFFICER SAFETY.

[John]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/.....s-citizens

McArdle puzzles over the idea that a business might use contractors for workers they only need during certain peak hours. This is news to her. Remember McArdle tells everyone about how she has some top flight MBA. Yet, the idea of hiring temp workers to fill peak hours is something that is totally new to her and possibly malevolent. How do these nitwits get hired?

[Eduard van Haalen]

"The New Back Alley in California"

"...A funny thing happened on the way to mainstreaming baby destruction: An awful lot of doctors became decidedly queasy about saving some lives while destroying others with no discernible difference between the two except "choice." A low supply of doctors willing to perform abortions has led to the rise of the circuit-rider abortionist and now also a serious attempt within the movement to minimize the need for a doctor at all. Both Time and the Huffington Post feature pieces celebrating the passage of a bill in the California legislature that will enable "non-physicians" ? nurse practitioners, certified midwives, and physician assistants ? to perform first-trimester abortions."

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....aine-yoest

[John]

In fairness, Obamaand the HHS are doing everything they can to force doctors to perform abortions.

[Eduard van Haalen]

But if abortion is "between a woman and her doctor" - that means *both* parties have to agree before an abortion gets performed. If doctors are developing moral scruples about abortion, instead of getting outraged, shouldn't Obama take this as a sign that...there might be something *wrong* with abortion?

[John]

Abortion is a cult for these people. It can never be wrong. If they could get away with it, they would send doctors to prison or take their licenses for refusing to do an abortion. They have tried every way in the world to make abortions a mandatory part of all medical training. Get doctors doing them early so they will do them later.

[sarcasmic]

"Look. It's just a clump of cells. It means nothing. It could be compared to... What? The bastard killed a pregnant woman? That's a double-fucking-murder!"

[Eduard van Haalen]

In *Roe v. Wade,* even for the largely-unregulated first trimester, "the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment *of the pregnant woman's attending physician*." [emphasis added]

And there's plenty of language in the opinion assuming that abortion will be done by "physician[s]," without a hint that anyone might do an abortion without a physician's supervision.

If the "abortion decision" is a medical one which the Court assumes will be made by a "physician," then the fact that growing numbers of physicians are rejecting the very idea of abortion as a medical procedure is one of those relevant social facts that Roe-style judicial activists should take into account.

[Eduard van Haalen]

All the rhetoric about deferring to the medical judgment of physicians is going to bite the choicers in the ass. It's how they got the abortion legalized in the first place - "you would put *doctors* in prison for exercising their *best medical judgment*?"

Now their own talking point is tripping them up. More and more physicians are using their medical judgment to say no to abortion. So of course the next step is to say "we were only kidding about deferring to physicians - it's just something we said to get abortion legal, don't hold us to it!"

[Jordan]

So, they correctly diagnose a lack of supply as being the problem here and ease government restrictions to increase supply, but fail to see the parallel when discussing healthcare in general. Typical derpgressives.

[John]

Yeah. If you told those same people that Wall Mart should be able to hire nurses and offer fee for service treatment for minor ailments, they would have a stroke.

[John]

http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=5023

Retiring aTm President to get 800K plus a do nothing $311K a year job. Obama is right. We need more aid to higher education. Outside of TARP, the colleges may be the biggest fucking rip off scheme in American history.

[Jordan]

That's why their letters begging for donations go straight to the trash.

[John]

Same here. I can give my money to people who actually need it. It is just a matter of time before people turn on universities the way they turned on the monasteries during the reformation. That is really are they are anymore; monasteries for the prog religion.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The difference is that hopefully the universities we have now will be turned into better, cheaper, more efficient universities, not handed over to rich landowners who want to get richer.

[John]

Nah. They will be looted by cronies. It is how the world works.

[PRX]

Johnny Honor Code isn't the only bad apple at AampersandM.

[John]

Guys from the Big 12 and Big 10 get banned for life for trading their jersey for a tattoo or having lunch with Dion Sanders. SEC guys' parents can take six figure payments from boosters and five figure payments for autograph signings and it is no big deal.

Go to the SEC and go pro out of high school.

[John]

http://www.nationaljournal.com.....e-20130829

Obamacare is raising everyone's insurance. The comments. Read the comments if you want to know for sure that we are doomed!!

[GILMORE]

This is awesome =

"So let me get this straight. This is a long sentence. We are going to be gifted with a healthcare plan that we are forced to purchase, and fined if we don't, which reportedly covers 10 million more people without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman doesn't understand it, passed by Congress, that didn't read it, but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese and financed by a country that is broke. So what the blank could possibly go wrong?

Barbara Bellar MD.

[Sevo]

"Fast-food workers prep for strike
Hundreds in Bay Area may walk out today."
Sob-story: Woman has three kids while working at Micky D's, wants Micky D's to take responsibility.
BTW, 'hundreds' is unlikely.
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....769397.php

[Dweebston]

You're harvesting links from the same thread? For shame, Sevo.

There's a troll responding to the original post who could use another few kicks.

[Sevo]

Ooops.
Didn't see it above.
Note to self: Read the damn thread!

[Joe M]

What is Deja Vu?

Probably quantum entanglement or parallel universes.

[Fatty Bolger]

It's a glitch in the Hoyven Glaven.

[PRX]

I wonder what bearded Spock Obama is like? Still hyper-incompetent but truthful?

[Bardas Phocas]

In the latest gun-grabber/banning frenzy - the President will sign two Executive Orders banning gun related stuff that will have ZERO impact on gun violence.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/n.....hp?ref=fpa
Proggies rejoice that the chocolate ration increases to 20 grams.

[John]

Oh my fucking God. He is cracking down on people buying M1s from overseas. Yeah, that will totally stop the violenz!!!

[NeonCat]

Is it just me, or was that an editorial masquerading as a news article?

[Bardas Phocas]

It's TPM, a reliably mainline, beltway liberal site. It's all editorial there.

I go there to get the conventional liberal line for the day. Usually it's a few stories about crazy/stupid stuff Rs are saying and praise of our Dear Leader and his good works.

[Outlaw]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article.....trol-steps

Obama is banning the re-importation of antique military rifles (M1 Garands and M1 Carbines) that we loaned to our allies during the Cold War.

Why? 'Cuz the children, natch!

He's also requiring double background checks for people purchasing NFA guns for their trust.

[Outlaw]

Goddamnit. I didn't see it posted right above.

THAT IS SOME SORT OF PRIVILEGE AND I AM BEING OTHERED RIGHT NOW!