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Obama Marks 9/11 Aniversary, NSA Shares Snooped Data With Buddies, Anthony Weiner Stays Classy: P.M. Links

J.D. Tuccille | 9.11.2013 4:30 PM

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  • President Obama paid tribute to Americans killed in the 9/11 attacks, even as the Benghazi office of Libya's Foreign Ministry was bombed, one year after the U.S. ambassador to the country and three other Americans were killed in the city.

  • The National Security Agency not only scoops up data on Americans, it also shares that info with Israeli intelligence officials. They probably giggle about it together, too.
  • Public Policy Polling had survey data showing two Colorado state senators going down to defeat in a recall election over their support for gun restrictions, but the firm witheld the results. The company's pollsters just didn't believe their own (wonderfully accurate) numbers.
  • Richmond, California, officials say they'll use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages from lenders and let borrowers remain in the homes. There couldn't possibly be any unintended consequences from the move.
  • A poll commissioned by FreedomWorks finds growing numbers of Republicans embracing broadly libertarian views, as well as self-identifying by the term. Fifty-eight percent of the general public say they agree "individuals should be free to do as they like as long as they don't hurt others and that the government should keep out of people's day-to-day lives." John McCain will not be pleased.
  • Anthony Weiner ended his unsuccessful effort to become New York City's next mayor with an underwhelming five percent of the primary vote and a flipped middle finger to the crowd. At least, we think that was his finger.
  • Even in the European Union, there are apparently limits to the state's take. The EU's lawyers says proposed taxes on financial transactions are illegal.

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

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  1. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Anthony Weiner ended his unsuccessful effort to become New York City's next mayor with an underwhelming five percent of the primary vote and a flipped middle finger to the crowd. At least, we think that was his finger.

    That's how Carlos Danger rolls.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      Planting the seeds for his next redemption run.

      1. andarm16   12 years ago

        Which hopefully shall be derailed by his next sex scandal. (fingers crossed)

      2. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

        That goes for you as well because today I am FIRST!

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      Stay classy New York. Oh wait...

    3. Brett L   12 years ago

      Well, at least the voters of NYC have aspirations to class.

    4. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

      Wasn't Weiner the handpicked prot?g? of Chuck "Republican kulak wrecker-hoarders are intentionally sabotaging the economy to make Obama look bad" Schumer?

      1. KDN   12 years ago

        Yes, but Schumer hasn't gone anywhere near him since the original sexting scandal. Schumer might be an asshole, but he's no dummy.

        It's really creepy to see them together. They look like a Nazi caricature of a Jewish father and son team.

    5. MJGreen   12 years ago

      Has Anthony Weiner become the purest distillation of the political id? He is owed a grand, respected life at court, and if you won't vote for him, fuck you.

      1. alittlesense   12 years ago

        Spitzer lost too. Sanity is slowly returning to the Big Apple.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    The company's pollsters just didn't believe their own (wonderfully accurate) numbers.

    Maybe they didn't want to believe.

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      Maybe they didn't want to believe.

      How could they? According to polls, 90% of americans oppose guns!

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      Well, I mean the favorables on the NRA were 53/33, so there must be something wrong. Nobody THEY know has a favorable view of the NRA.

    3. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Hey, in a contest between reality and the narrative, the narrative wins every time.

    4. Fatty Bolger   12 years ago

      Been there. /Mitt Romney

  3. Irish   12 years ago

    8 year old Yemeni girl dies from injuries sustained from intercourse on her wedding night.

    1. waffles   12 years ago

      I was told child brides aren't used for intercourse until there are of child bearing age. Of course there's no accounting for sick fucks.

    2. Matrix   12 years ago

      Just doin' what their prophet would do.

      1. Irish   12 years ago

        Hey, man, He waited until she was 9.

        1. Matrix   12 years ago

          well, excuse my huge error.

          1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

            Am rminded of a song from back when Canada lowered the age of consent to 14.

            Well I can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Livin' in Canada.

            (Bridge)
            My little girl,
            She's so fine,
            Sweat to god,
            You're fuckin' nine!

            Well I can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Can't' get enough of fourteen,
            Livin' in Canada.

        2. Plopper   12 years ago

          Irish,

          This sort of thing could easily be prosecuted without any AoC laws whatsoever.

          Manslaughter and normal laws against rape are all you'd need.

          This was part of my point the other day. Why throw people in prison or ruin their lives for what were truly voluntary relationships when if someone is truly injured or truly raped there is no need to even prosecute using AoC laws.

          1. Irish   12 years ago

            What if she hadn't suffered any injuries though? Then she'd be stuck in a sexual relationship with a 40 year old man.

            It's not hard to get an 8 year old to consent to something she doesn't understand. That's why age of consent laws exist.

            1. Plopper   12 years ago

              I did state before that I think some AoC should be required for a written contracts.

              I said I did think it would be rather absurd to hold an 8 year old to a contract like a mortgage for example.

              I would say the same regarding marriage.

              My argument was that in places like Bangkok the problem with young teenage prostitutes doesn't stem from lack of AoC laws regarding sex or lack of prosecuting laws against prostitution at such an age, but rather the fact they allow them to be traded, bought and sold like slaves.

              And I still argue that people way overreact when it comes to things like what happened to me when I was a kid. Certainly it wasn't "right" for that teenage girl to touch my penis when I was only 6, but the point is I can't see how she injured me in any way. I feel sorry for her more than anything else. I just don't understand how having the state involved would have helped anything. I think it would have just put even more stress on me had my parents pushed for prosecution against her over it.

              Plus there are tons of cases of perfectly healthy relationships that end up breaking AoC laws and lives are ruined as a result for no good reason at all. And as long as you have an AoC at all (for sex) I think there is always the risk of this happening.

              1. Plopper   12 years ago

                I guess I'm basically saying I think the NAP should be applied to children and adolescents as well as adults. As much as possible at least.

              2. Plopper   12 years ago

                Also, I somehow doubt this is something the 8 year old would want to do in a society like ours. I just doubt that even if she had been asked if she wanted to marry the man in a society like ours that she would have said yes.

                But even still I would agree that it is absurd to legally hold a child to a long term binding contract.

    3. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      Eight year olds, dude.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

        Fuckin' capitol l... that creep can roll, man.

        1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

          Nobody fucks with the capitol.

    4. lap83   12 years ago

      Jezebel writers will take to the streets over this. Haha, jk. Climate justice is way more important, even when they're feeling lazy.

      1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

        lap. lap. LAP. Buddy. Pal. Amigo.

        Don't you know that in the Progressive canon, racism is worse than sexism? The Jezzies and feminazis wouldn't dream of critizing a non-western culture because that would mean that didn't accept the self-evident truth that all cultures are equal. And criticizing a culture of brown people? That's a bridge too far.

        Proof

        1. MJGreen   12 years ago

          How can they spend time criticizing the glorious, ancient culture in Yemen, when we have such an oppressive, patriarchal culture here?

          1. R C Dean   12 years ago

            Priorities, man!

            Which is worse, clitoridectomy, polygamy, and child brides, or the lack of transgender bathrooms?

            1. Corning   12 years ago

              Wait...

              What is wrong with polygamy?

              1. crashland   12 years ago

                What kind of an idiot would actually want more than one wife? Can you just imagine being married to three, nagging, cranky bitches?

    5. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I have an eight year-old girl. Easy to see the depravity and tragedy in this.

      1. Corning   12 years ago

        There was a dad in Yemen who was OK with this.

        "Just close your eyes and think of the Prophet"

        I wonder how much he got paid?

    6. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

      When will you racists learn that all cultures are equally valid?

      Once again you libertarians demonstrate your white European male ethnocentricity.

  4. playa manhattan   12 years ago

    "Anthony Weiner ended his unsuccessful effort to become New York City's next mayor with an underwhelming five percent of the primary vote and a flipped middle finger to the crowd. At least, we think that was his finger"

    Sydney Leathers also showed up. What a piece of work that floozy is...

    1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      He ruined his career for this:
      http://pixel.nymag.com/content.....athers.jpg

      1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

        Anthony Weiner: Always Aiming Low

      2. fish   12 years ago

        Yuck!

        I'm generally in the John camp when it comes to the ladies....I prefers em round and bouncy.....but after seeing that photo I think I need a long session of ....of...something.

        1. fish   12 years ago

          ....long session of ....of...something.

          Drinking....heavy drinking! Bleach maybe!

      3. kellymo   12 years ago

        GAH! She's one of those girls who doesn't know how to dress, though. Freakin' stand up straight so your boobs aren't at your waist, and wear a one piece suit, for godsakes. That would go a long way.
        But, since I'm a libertarian girl - I don't exist, so she won't listen.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          She does look like she's standing up straight.

          I just think she's very strange looking. It can't be helped.

          She's not doing herself any favors with those tattoos though. Flabby girls should not wear tattoos. I'm worried this terrible trend is going to get even worse thanks to Lena Dunham.

          1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

            No girl looks better with a tattoo. Ever.

            1. Thane of the Candy Kingdom   12 years ago

              Agreed

          2. kellymo   12 years ago

            Too true about the tats. But she's missing the lesson one ought to learn if you have anything over a B cup - pull your damn shoulders back.
            If you're a mom/dad with daughters and you/your wife isn't flat chested (or even if they are), be a pain in the ass about posture. Makes all the difference in the world - definitely so in the office.

            1. kellymo   12 years ago

              And by that I mean - you look like someone to take seriously, as opposed to some jackass who's slouching into the room.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      So she didn't get the AIDS?

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        She claims no, but hasn't publicly released her tests...

  5. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    A poll commissioned by FreedomWorks finds growing numbers of Republicans embracing broadly libertarian views...

    Right up until they realize it limits their power.

    1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Right up until they realize it limits their power.

      THIS^^

      When Team RED comes back to power, they'll rediscover their authoritarian ways of telling people exactly how they can and can't live their private lives.

      1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

        Is that what happened to Rand Paul? Oh wait.

        I mean, FYI but Team Red owns 30 of 50 governorships and the House of Representatives, and party leaders regularly incite furore amongst the base. I don't think you can be that flip about this.

        1. CE   12 years ago

          But all the important states are Team Blue. And don't start counting counties.

      2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        Nah they're hypocrisy won't manifest that way. Instead they'll just let everyone be free except Mexicans and Muslims.

      3. AlmightyJB   12 years ago

        Also, must people don't understand how basic economics works, that includes republicans. Of course, they've spent their whole lives being brainwashed by communist in the schools and the media. They're still so easily duped by government "solutions" and can't seem to grasp how those solutions ALWAYS make things worse. Probably because after it happens the talking heads just blame our laissez-faire greedy capitalist system that has never existed.

    2. CE   12 years ago

      Until it comes time to cut military spending by a dollar of five million.

    3. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Fuck, everybody embraces broadly libertarian views.

      That matters little when they reject the libertarian option on each and every policy decision.

  6. Irish   12 years ago

    Public Policy Polling basically admits that they had a boll showing Giron down by 12 points but chose not to release it because they 'didn't believe the results.'

    I'm sure Public Policy Polling's partisan leanings had nothing to do with their disbelief.

    1. John   12 years ago

      It is just a rightwing meme that public polling is manipulated to help leftwing causes.

      1. Irish   12 years ago

        They did really well on election day 2012, but I think that's because the left did really well. I feel like polling organizations that lean a certain way do well when their side does win, and do very poorly when their side loses.

        This makes sense since their polls are often twisted in such a way as to help their side, so if their side wins they'd end up looking good.

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          They did really well on election day 2012, but I think that's because the left did really well.

          TRue. Which is also why they would even cop to having had the unreleased poll. See this way their mistake was in not releasing the poll...not with their ability to poll. Pollsters gotta eat!

          1. Irish   12 years ago

            They actually got this poll largely correct, though.

            1. gaijin   12 years ago

              yep. My poorly worded post was trying to say that they still want to be seen as competent when their team loses.

              1. Irish   12 years ago

                Yeah. It makes me wonder how many bad polls they choose to never release in order to make themselves look better.

        2. KPres   12 years ago

          They did really well on election day 2012

          They spent most of 2011 saying Democrats were going to take the House. I think that's what they do...manipulate the data throughout the off years to build momentum, then post the real numbers at election time to gain credibility in the measurements.

          1. R C Dean   12 years ago

            What they do is skew the results until a few weeks before the election, with the belief that poll results can influence the reality on the grounds.

            Then, when the election reality check is imminent and their credibility at risk, they start trying to get within spitting distance of the actual results.

        3. FYTW   12 years ago

          "They did really well on election day 2012," actually means, "Nate Silver did really well on election day 2012."

          And Nate Silver did well because the state-level polling outfits did well. And the state-level polling outfits did well because they used a turnout model that was contrary to conventional political wisdom.

          In other words, a bunch of state-level polling outfits gambled that 2012 turnout would be closer to 2008 turnout than 2010 turnout, happened to be right, and Nate Silver gets credit for being The Amazing Kreskin.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Don't encourage H&R to do more stories about poll results! 😉

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        Don't encourage H&R to do more stories about poll results! 😉

        Why don;t we take a poll on that

        1. Pi Guy   12 years ago

          Two words: Emily Ekins.

          It's is why we don't have any.... Oh, wait

  7. MP   12 years ago

    Massport Stages Fire Training Exercise at Logan Airport on 9/11

    1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

      Everyone knows it's just another day of the year at this point.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        If it was really import the unions would have made it a holiday, right?

        1. DesigNate   12 years ago

          Exactly.

          Instead it's a "day of service".

      2. CE   12 years ago

        Just don't offer a round of golf for $9.11.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

          That's like a direct slap in the face to the president.

  8. John   12 years ago

    http://www.nbcwashington.com/n.....71211.html

    It is the bikers versus the Muslims in Washington today. Maybe they can all just have a big group hug on the mall.

  9. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    ...one year after The U.S. ambassador to the country and three other Americans were killed in the city.

    Huh? What? I don't remember this.

    1. andarm16   12 years ago

      See, all you had to do was let go of your bitter clinginess, and embrace of Obama and manufactured outrage. Now you too are an upstanding citizen

      1. andarm16   12 years ago

        that should read embrace the glory of

        1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

          "Embrace of" sounds vaguely yet appropriately spiritual.

          1. andarm16   12 years ago

            You're right. It does kind of vaguely old testament. Sometime in the distant future, when the transformers movies are taken to be the documentary evidence of the epic struggle between Ahura Mazda, and his vile foe Toyota, maybe my comment in it's mangled glory will make it into the book of Obama.

            1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

              The Book of Obama

              Chapter 1

              1: In the beginning was the Lie, and the Lie was with Satan, and the Lie was Satan.
              2: He was in the beginning with Satan.

    2. MJGreen   12 years ago

      I think I recall this. They were killed by that thug Assad, right?

      When are we going to bomb that fucker!?

      1. CE   12 years ago

        No, but what happened in Libya could happen in Syria if we don't start bombing Syria like we bombed Libya... oh, wait.

      2. R C Dean   12 years ago

        They were killed by that thug Assad,

        Only because Bush cut the embassy security budget.

        1. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

          Even worse, Bush allowed anybody who wanted to produce crappy movies about the Prophet Mohammad PBUH.

  10. Irish   12 years ago

    The first paragraph of this Daily Caller article is a doozy.

    The Syrian Emergency Task Force, the pro-rebel lobbying outfit that employs widely quoted intervention advocate Elizabeth O'Bagy as its political director, receives funding from the U.S. Department of State and related government contractors.

    The State Department gives them money which they then use to lobby government in favor of Syrian intervention.

    1. andarm16   12 years ago

      You'd think they'd add a few more neutrally named intermediates to give the "fact checkers" something to pull out of their asses.

    2. AuH20   12 years ago

      Look, the TOP MEN know what is best for us, but sometimes stupid little people disagree with them and try to constrain their grand ambitions. So, to convince these stupid proles what is best for them, the TOP MEN have to take the proles' money and educate them on their best interests.

      It's basically the same as public schools, you stupid mick!

    3. R C Dean   12 years ago

      You'd think State would be funding lobbyists for more diplomacy, not less.

  11. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Reich: Beware 'capitalist tools'

    If I'm correct, Gregory asks, how could it possibly be that America become world's richest and most powerful economy in late nineteenth century, when the typical worker was earning peanuts?

    Gregory claims to be an economic historian but he doesn't seem to know American history. The answer is simple: Ours was a land of unbounded natural resources that were exploited without regard to consequences for the environment. We also found it relatively easy to copy the industrial advances of England and Germany, and erected a protective tariff so that our manufacturers didn't have to compete directly with them. A giant wave of immigrants came to our shores, willing and eager to work for very little. And our largest industries -- oil, railroads, steel -- were monopolies or oligopolies that generated huge profits for their owners while skewering their customers. The result of all this was fat corporate profits, some of which were reinvested. Hence, the economy grew.

    That was a recipe for economic growth, but not a recipe any sane person would want repeated even if that were possible. The late nineteenth century is hardly a model for twenty-first century American capitalism. I seriously doubt Gregory wants us to go back to an era of urban squalor, robber barons, corrupt city machines, unsafe factories, and poisonous food and drugs.

    1. John   12 years ago

      I seriously doubt Gregory wants us to go back to an era of urban squalor, robber barons, corrupt city machines, unsafe factories, and poisonous food and drugs.

      And Gregory is the one who doesn't known anything about American History? Reich manages to repeat every single muckraking lie ever told in one sentence.

      1. Irish   12 years ago

        I seriously doubt Gregory wants us to go back to an era of urban squalor, robber barons, corrupt city machines, unsafe factories, and poisonous food and drugs.

        By my count we have three of these.

        1. Urban squalor. Robert Reich should check out Detroit, Cleveland, or New Orleans some time and see what wonderful utopias the Democrats have wrought.

        2. Robber barons. What does Robert Reich think crony capitalists like green job CEOs are if not robber barons? The difference between the late 19th century and now is that in the 19th century you had to provide some kind of surface to lay claim to the title of robber baron. Now you just have to give money to the right people.

        3. Corrupt city machines. I invite Robert Reich to come to my home town of Chicago if he wants to see a corrupt city machine.

        As for unsafe factories, we have rampant urban squalor because factories have been driven away by overregulation. I guess it's better that someone unemployed for 3 years shoots himself in despair in his little hovel in Detroit than that he might hurt himself working in a factory.

        1. John   12 years ago

          The number of worker injuries per hour worked is exactly the same today as it was the year before OSHA was enacted. But we need these federal protections. They do so much good.

          1. Irish   12 years ago

            I find it hilarious that liberals constantly bemoan the lack of manufacturing jobs while simultaneously complaining about pollution and work injuries.

            You're more likely to be injured working in a factory than in most service sector jobs and manufacturing processes are by their very nature polluting. Their desire to have more manufacturing jobs is directly contradicted by everything else they claim to want.

            1. AuH20   12 years ago

              You're more likely to be injured working in a factory than in most service sector jobs and manufacturing processes are by their very nature polluting.

              Tell that to millions of American workers who daily face the dreaded scourge of PAPER CUTZ!!!

            2. John   12 years ago

              And they all want to go back to the 1950s model economy, you know back before there was an EPA or any federal worker safety laws.

        2. MJGreen   12 years ago

          If a green job CEO could produce the kinds of savings that Rockefeller or Carnegie or Vanderbilt did, we would be in a golden age right now.

        3. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

          The difference between 19th century robber barons and 21st century robber barons is the the former actually produced goods and services that people actually wanted and, because they did it efficiently, actually lowered prices to mass-market consumers.

          21st century robber barons typically propose businesses that produce goods and services that nobody wants. Typically their owner get rich from government largesse, but never manage to make anything before their enterprise goes belly up. The few that do manage to actually make a product end up making expensive, heavily subsidized toys for the 1%.

          I'll take 19th century robber barons over 21st century crony capitalists.

    2. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      I wouldn't expect any less from a former "Secretary of Labor"

    3. Irish   12 years ago

      Ours was a land of unbounded natural resources that were exploited without regard to consequences for the environment. We also found it relatively easy to copy the industrial advances of England and Germany, and erected a protective tariff so that our manufacturers didn't have to compete directly with them.

      We did have protective tariffs, but the rest of this is essentially a lie. Japan did very well at the same time with few natural advantages and the Europeans did very well by trading or stealing in order to get natural resources. The idea that America just had all these natural resources and that was the secret to our success is ludicrous. Mexico is very resource rich, particularly in oil, and has never been as successful.

      We also didn't 'copy' shit. America was hyper innovative. The cotton gin, the hyper efficient assembly line, vertical integration, the lightbulb, the single-wire telegraph, the lightbulb...all American inventions. The claim that we copied the industrial innovations of England isn't true, but the claim that we copied Germany is even less true because we were far more innovative than the Germans ever could have hoped to be.

      1. AuH20   12 years ago

        Also, how many of the European nations that we were competing with had tariffs of their own?

        I know England had them in the late 1700s, but that's where my knowledge of English trade law kind of ceases.

      2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        America isn't a copying society. They were the innovators. Absolutely. Who is this rube?

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          Who is this rube?

          Former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. Think about that for a moment.

      3. KDN   12 years ago

        we were far more innovative than the Germans ever could have hoped to be.

        On the other hand, Messrs. Diesel and Daimler.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          A lot of what the Germans have been very good at historically is VERY high quality goods. They might not invent the item, but they can refine it and make it work better than anyone else.

          I'm not criticizing their manufacturing or technical expertise, but Germany has always had an authoritarian streak that makes them less innovative than freer places like America.

          1. KDN   12 years ago

            Germany has always had an authoritarian streak that makes them less innovative than freer places like America.

            I agree with that, but they're not slouches in that regard, either (though I'd guess that the truly innovative typically don't care about their overriding culture anyway).

            I have been worried about how political culture spills over into the culture at large in this country. We seem hellbent on destroying our intangible capital, especially the entrepreneurial streak and high financial risk threshold that's kept us so successful, and appear to be succeeding. White Millenials seem to have these traits in less supply than previous generations, and (not to go all Merkin here) with the browning of America I think that trend will continue (and possibly be exacerbated) since minorities of either sex tend to be far more risk averse financially than whites, and white men in particular.

            1. #   12 years ago

              But immigrants whether poorer mexicans or wealthier asians do tend to be entreprenural, as measured by small business ownership rates.

              The characteristics of people willing to immigrate are correlated with willing to start a business, namely the willingness to give up whats comfortable for the change of improvment.

              It's the second generation that has the question mark.

            2. JW   12 years ago

              White Millenials seem to have these traits in less supply than previous generations, and (not to go all Merkin here) with the browning of America I think that trend will continue (and possibly be exacerbated) since minorities of either sex tend to be far more risk averse financially than whites, and white men in particular.

              Blacks and Latinos seem to lack a significant entrepreneurial class, unlike many Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant classes. That isn't to say that are no black or Latino entrepreneurs, far from it, but just not at the same level you see in other ethnicities.

              No hard numbers to back any of that up, but that's my bonafide observation.

          2. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

            Germany also had an enormously innovative chemicals and synthetic materials industry in the late 19th century. That was the high-tech industry of the period.

      4. #   12 years ago

        Add too that the Brits were shocked in the 1850s at the worlds fair to see US arms manufacturers that were capable of making interchangable parts so that guns didn't require hand finishing like they did in Britain. The US was way more advanced in manufactoring precision than in Europe at the time and this allowed for all sorts of products to be made outside firearms. It was in the US that it was also discovered how to mill an asymetrical object, which was a huge manufactoring advance.

        I think I saw something that despite the US population being much less than Europe as a whole in the late 1800s, the US had something like 3 times the pattents each year than Europe.

        It's an absolute crock of shit to say the US wasn't a massive engine of innovation at the time.

      5. MJGreen   12 years ago

        We copied the Germans' education program, and as we all know, public school is what made this country great!

      6. Pi Guy   12 years ago

        "You said light bulb twice."

        "I like light bulb."

    4. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      And our largest industries -- oil, railroads, steel -- were monopolies or oligopolies that generated huge profits for their owners while skewering their customers.

      And all those monopolies were created with consent and assistance of government at the local, state, and federal levels.

      Or does he think the railroads just snatched up all of land to lay track with cash and Pinkerton agents? That eminent domain wasn't used, and signed off on by the Nazgul on anyone unlucky enough to be standing in the way of "progress"?

      1. R C Dean   12 years ago

        I ma unaware of any monopoly that lasted any length of time without major governmental support.

    5. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      I seriously doubt Gregory wants us to go back to an era of urban squalor, robber barons, corrupt city machines, unsafe factories, and poisonous food and drugs.

      Except that every single one of those things listed as negatives STILL EXIST, only at the hands of government welfare and scorching levels of government taxation and spending.

      Urban Squalor? Check
      Robber Barrons? Check. Only now they work for government.
      Corrupt City Machines? Detroit? Cleveland? NYC? Any number of others that aren't in the news every other day?
      Unsafe Factories? West. Texas.
      Poisonous Food and Drugs? I guess the various salmonella outbreaks in the highly regulated organic food industry in the last few years doesn't count.

      How is it that people can claim that government is the savior of all when the things they say government saved us from still exist? I mean besides mendacious levels of intellectual dishonesty.

      1. KPres   12 years ago

        """Except that every single one of those things listed as negatives STILL EXIST"""

        Yeah, but the 4-6% growth is gone. So we get all the bad and none of the good. Yea!!

  12. AuH20   12 years ago

    Remember that feminist who was bitching about being too tired to go to a climate change protest? Fear not, fair readers! She made it!

    Another highlight was the hitting of a golden-calf pinata that symbolized fracking. It was so fun watching all the kids hitting it until it broke and then excitedly scooping up the candy.

    [Snip]

    As for other forms of diversity?it definitely could have been better. To be honest, I've been pretty uncomfortable with the whiteness of the climate activism I've seen here in Massachusetts. From everything I've read and seen online, the worldwide climate justice movement is extremely diverse?so why are our events so white-dominated? What can we do to make our spaces more inclusive, more welcoming to everyone? And what can I do, as someone who isn't involved deeply enough to do much event planning or cross-movement outreach?someone who doesn't have the time or energy right now for deep, hands-on, soul-searching, border-breaking-down activism?

    1. AuH20   12 years ago

      MOAR

      A theme that came up over and over again at Monday's rally was love.

      It came from Turner Bledsoe, a 79-year old who had walked the entire 70 miles of the march. He said, "It's a march of love?love and concern. I want your lives to be as good as mine was."

      It came from Ben Thompson, a student activist who is taking time off from grad school to pursue climate justice full-time. He said, "Our activism is a series of acts of love."

      It came from the dancing, the music, the blisters on the feet of everyone who walked for six days straight.

      It came from the fervent, shared hope for a better world.

      A world in which, as Ben said, no one would have to die so that others can have meaningful work. A world in which no one would have to die so that a mother can turn on a light to read to her child.

      Building the bridge from our world to that world is doing to take strength we can barely imagine.

      We can only do it with love.

      We will rise up.

      1. John   12 years ago

        A world in which, as Ben said, no one would have to die so that others can have meaningful work.

        Look, me all of the employees at my monocle factory have meaningful work thanks the blood of the children we crush into the glass we use in them. Why does this man want me unemployed?

        1. AuH20   12 years ago

          You're a barbarian, John. I just let industrial "accidents" take care of my orphan child workers, and its just an incredibly nice coincidence that their sweet, sweet orphan blood is of the perfect viscosity to lubricate my top hat and spats machine's gears/

      2. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        "What can we do to make our spaces more inclusive, more welcoming to everyone?"

        Translation: How do we get minorities to care about white people problems?

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          Well, you *could* give away menthol cigarettes and Colt .45 malt liquor in your spaces.

          1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

            Also, fried chicken.

      3. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        It came from Ben Thompson, a student activist who is taking time off from grad school to pursue climate justice full-time. He said, "Our activism is a series of acts of love."

        I'm glad he's taking a break from one meaningless exercise to participate in another.

        1. RBS   12 years ago

          He should take that shit on the road. Maybe go hold a climate justice rally in Indonesia or the Philippines.

      4. Ted S.   12 years ago

        It's a march of love?love and concern

        Is love-love like rape-rape?

      5. andarm16   12 years ago

        It's not that the global environmental movement isn't diverse, but isn't it just a bunch of white people running the show, along with their post colonialist sympathizers among the bureaucracy of the developing world?

        I'd guess that if you asked the average African villager, they'd tell you that they want their electricity, and their modern conveniences (Like not having to worry about horrible infant mortality) and tell you to shove your sustainability.

      6. waffles   12 years ago

        This girl makes me want to give up on nuclear and become a drilling engineer. Think there's enough gas to last a career in the stuff?

        1. Brett L   12 years ago

          Several careers.

        2. Corning   12 years ago

          Depends.

          The stone age did not end for the lack of stones.

          If Fussion power ever pans out you are fucked.

      7. Tonio   12 years ago

        A world in which no one would have to die so that a mother can turn on a light...

        Well, yeah, coal miners do die, but you never see people like her getting all teary eyed about the coal miners and their families.

        1. Brett L   12 years ago

          A whole shitload fewer die now that they don't go down in tunnels anymore. But hilltop mining is a deplorable environmental rape.

          1. Brett L   12 years ago

            *strip mining.

          2. Tonio   12 years ago

            They still go underground, Brett. Not all mines are open pit. But, yes, mine safety has improved.

        2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          In our wind powered future only birds will have to die so that mother can turn on a light...sooooo many birds.

      8. NoVAHockey   12 years ago

        ""Our activism is a series of acts of love.""

        come for the activism, stay for the "love"

      9. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        A world in which no one would have to die so that a mother can turn on a light to read to her child.

        Can I assume that she is in favor of ending the blocking of emerging economies having access to cheap and abundant energy sources?

      10. tarran   12 years ago

        Just remember, people, that the writer and every person at the event are capable of dressing themselves, driving a car, and presumably graduated from high-school.

    2. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      the worldwide climate justice movement

      What. The. Fuck.

      1. John   12 years ago

        You really can't satirize these people anymore. The climate demands justice!! Don't you want to give the climate its due justice?

        1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

          They are truly beyond parody at this point. That phrasing coupled with the diversity hand wringing would not be out of place in an Onion article.

          1. andarm16   12 years ago

            The Onion is slowly becoming redundant.

      2. Hyperion   12 years ago

        That's commie speak for the sheeps, comrade.

        1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

          I can at least grasp the concept of "social justice". It's dumb and evil, but it's understandable. "Climate justice" is not even good enough to be wrong. It's nonsense.

          1. Libertymike   12 years ago

            You want climate justice?

            I submit Saturday, October 15, 2005, South Bend, Indiana.

            A high of 65 with nary a cloud in the sky and the Notre Dame campus emblazoned with crimson and saffron on the day of Charlie Weiss' high water mark.

            1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

              Charlie Weiss's high-water mark is when Jesse got him to jump over those rocks.

            2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

              i just had the pleasure of listening to a parent make the case about global warming. We were talking about how easily I lose power at my business because the city considers trees legacies you can't cut down. That coupled with poor infrastructure causes outages. Logical enough so far. Then he went on about burning down the Amazon and that global warming is making weather patterns unpredictable blah, blah. It was all in French so I zoned out.

              He was forceful and eloquent about the global warming bit.

              1. Brett L   12 years ago

                We were talking about how easily I lose power at my business because the city considers trees legacies you can't cut down

                I didn't know you lived in Tallahassee, too.

                1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

                  Close enough. North of Montreal.

                  1. grrizzly   12 years ago

                    What's going on with the Charter of QC Values that the PQ is pushing these days? I always thought that the PQ was fighting for the rights of Francophones not to be inconvenienced by the use of a different language. But since when did they start to be obsessed with religious symbols?

              2. Corning   12 years ago

                trees legacies

                PVC conduit for underground power cables is made from OIL!!!!

                1. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

                  Or, even worse natural gas produced by fraccing.

                  And chlorine gas!

      3. RBS   12 years ago

        That's great. I'm sure those people in the developing world are just craving this "climate justice."

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          are just craving this "climate justice.

          If it comes in the form of direct payments/foreign aid, I'm sure the "leadership team" in those countries will gladly accept it.

        2. andarm16   12 years ago

          They've only been deceived by the decadent capitalist media.

      4. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        I, for one, am willing to put my life on the line for more arctic ice and fewer hurricanes..... Now where is my Mission Accomplished banner?

      5. andarm16   12 years ago

        I think it's a combination of climate change and social justice. See, our carbon spewing ways will lead to the sea rising. Now, who lives on marginal islands that are just above sea level? Poor people in Polynesia! See, now climate change has become a social justice issue, and you have climate justice.

      6. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

        No justice, no weather!

    3. Warty   12 years ago

      climate justice movement

      Justice, justice, justice. Everything is justice. Who ordered these clowns to start calling everything justice, anyway?

      1. Libertymike   12 years ago

        Melcheisedech?

      2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        You want to talk about injustice? Try being a bass player trying to learn a song off an album where the other dicks in the band essentially removed the bass line in the mix. Dicks.

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          Injustice is that album being beaten by Jethro Tull for the Heavy Metal album of the year.

        2. Libertymike   12 years ago

          Improvisation, its awesome.

        3. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          Late 80s aesthetics in heavy metal production was a fucking abomination.

          1. Brett L   12 years ago

            Don't forget that was the first post-Cliff Burton album. Can't let the new guy look too good.

            1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

              It wasn't just a Metallica thing. It was a Heavy Metal thing. Virtually every metal record from the 80s has the bass way too far back in the mix, or they've been mixed so that the notes are audible enough, but the tones aren't, making the bass line a glorified guitar track.

              These days only those in the Black Metal scene who insist on their music sounding "raw" mix the bass to near inaudible levels.

      3. CE   12 years ago

        Time to take off a few years to campaign for private property justice and freedom justice. Stop the widespread institutionalized injustice perpetrated by criminal organizations euphemistically known as "governments".

        1. Libertymike   12 years ago

          Where do I sign up?

      4. Corning   12 years ago

        sadly they stole it from the classical liberals just like they stole the word liberal.

        in 2050 we will be forced to call due process and justice "classical justice" and "classical due process".

    4. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      "Another highlight was the hitting of a golden-calf pinata that symbolized fracking. It was so fun watching all the kids hitting it until it broke and then excitedly scooping up the candy."

      So she thinks of fracking as something bright and cheerful, full of candy and toys for small children?

      1. PD Scott   12 years ago

        Really, shouldn't the candy be covered with molasses to symbolize oil or something?

        1. R C Dean   12 years ago

          Gasoline, so it bursts into flame.

          LIKE YOUR WATER.

    5. fish   12 years ago

      So what's the big deal....just a fat girl and the "usual suspects" gettin together at a revival meeting.

  13. PD Scott   12 years ago

    Finally, myomer is becoming real. We can build battlemechs to fight the robots who want to be our overlords.

    FTA: In this case, a dielectric elastomer based on rubber that changes shape when subjected to an electric field. Theoretically, such a polymer could extend to ten times its length and lift 500 times its own weight, though the current version isn't anywhere near that limit.
    "Our novel muscles are not just strong and responsive," Dr Koh says. "Their movements produce a by-product ? energy. As the muscles contract and expand, they are capable of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. Due to the nature of this material, it is capable of packing a large amount of energy in a small package. We calculated that if one were to build an electrical generator from these soft materials, a 10 kg (22 lb) system is capable of producing the same amount of energy of a one-ton electrical turbine."

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      Finally, myomer, formerly known as burma, is becoming real.

      FTFY

    2. seguin   12 years ago

      I call the Orion!

    3. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      "Myomer fibers were first developed in 2350 by Terran Hegemony researcher Professor Gregory Atlas during the research project, called Operation Musclebound." http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Myomer

      And we are a couple hundred years ahead of the game.

      1. Corning   12 years ago

        Ever hear about the bronze age collapse?

        We are due for another dark age.

  14. AuH20   12 years ago

    I had to post this for the title alone: "Hetrosexual Cisgender Queering of Transgender Sexuality

    LG (and B, but more often than not, usually just the LG) criticisms of our alphabet soup alliance usually starts with a truth which transgender folks have often tried to assert ourselves: gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same issue. They are, in fact, very distinct. And yet, the use of this truism by LG commentators to break apart our civil rights alliance is deeply problematic.

    Why? Because it serves to discount two very powerful forces in the lived experiences of trans identified folks: the view of one's own sexuality... and the view of one's sexuality by a heterosexual, cisgender majority. When trans folks like myself talk about the need to separate gender identity from sexual orientation, it is because no one bothers to ask us how we would like to be viewed.

    I myself do not identify as queer, at least not within my own head. I accept my own normalcy, whatever normal is. I am different, but not abnormal, so the word queer, for me personally, seems off. Do I use it verbally? Yes, yes I do. I do because the spaces I am often most comfortable participating in are identified as queer. But also because cisgender, heterosexual folks acknowledge me as queer.

    1. AuH20   12 years ago

      Many of my straight (yes, straight!) binary identified transgender friends and acquaintances, however, really resent this labeling. They do not think of themselves as homosexual, let alone something which suggests abnormality like "queer." For these binary identified, heterosexual trans women, especially, even the insults like "faggot" or "faerie" don't seem to make a whole lot of sense. They're not just harmful and offensive, they suggest hatred based on an identity that the folks in question don't even claim.

      This would suggest to many of the aforementioned critical LG folks that their criticisms are borne out by the resentment of trans folks, and especially heterosexual trans folks. "Look," they tell us, "the way to deal with this is by presenting a separate front to the straights! If we do that, they'll realise that gender identity isn't the same as sexual orientation! If we work together, they'll keep confusing us!"

      Yeah, well, no. Because many of the same discriminatory policies which harm the LG and B also harm the T because they are seen as LGB (plus maybe something extra). The T is often seen as a modification of the LGB. Our existence is threatening in several ways, one of which is the way in which we threaten the traditional understanding of the relation between biology, gender, and sexuality. Even if heterosexual transgender folks wanted to remove themselves from the mainstream conceptualisation of queer, it would be impossible.

      1. AuH20   12 years ago

        The fact is: I can't. Ever. Not possible. My experiences as a lesbian are tied directly into my experiences as a trans woman. Especially issues regarding my sexual history, which consists mostly of cis women with a wide variety of sexualities. Women very much aware of my own gender identity. This is where my own view of my own sexuality negates any argument which would see me choose one group over the other. Intersectional feminist theory denies such is even possible:

        But the real blow to the criticism of LGBT unity comes when we start speaking about legal rights. Marriage equality isn't the only issue we're working on (although it sometimes seems as though it is), and the patchwork system we have now often works against transgender folks who identify as straight. Let's take my home state of Texas, as an example. Legal precedent is that sex is determined chromosomally. That is to say, XY or XX determines your sex according to the Texas judiciary. XX or XY with "opposite parts" or XXY? Probably you won't run into issues, as long as you are comfortable with what you were assigned as at birth. Who's going to check? But let's say an XY trans woman who is straight identified wishes to marry her cisgender male partner in Texas. NOPE. BZZT. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT $200 WORTH OF MULTIPLES OF THE SAME COFFEE MAKER. That would be a gay marriage. And we don't be marryin teh gayz in Tejas! Objections by the trans woman in question would be (and have been!) ignored.

        1. DesigNate   12 years ago

          What the..I don't even...huh?

        2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

          "My experiences as a lesbian are tied directly into my experiences as a trans woman."

          Hey, this sounds like my "hey, baby, I'm a lesbian" joke.

          1. Coeus   12 years ago

            Oddly enough, most of the MtF set still dates women.

        3. Coeus   12 years ago

          Many of my straight (yes, straight!) binary identified transgender friends and acquaintances, however, really resent this labeling. They do not think of themselves as homosexual, let alone something which suggests abnormality like "queer."

          Was this written by Mr. Ms. Garrison?

        4. Tejicano   12 years ago

          I tried to read that but I guess I would have to update my "Lefty-speak - English" dictionary to get through it.

          I wonder if this being's mental anguish would be taken down a few notches if it understood just how little most of us would care either way even if we fully understood what it was sputtering about.

          Even as "special" as she wants to believe she is in truth she is one of seven billion where rubbing anatomical features for pleasure is one of the smallest of small problems confronting our species. Take a number.

      2. John   12 years ago

        It is like he took all of the buzzword and created his own new category of freak.

        1. andarm16   12 years ago

          This has to be the work of some horrible AI experiment gone haywire.

        2. Matrix   12 years ago

          you need to check your "non-trans-gendered" privilege

        3. R C Dean   12 years ago

          Could be a prank. Who can tell anymore?

    2. AuH20   12 years ago

      Yes, I'm sorry this is so long... but it was just SO fucking retarded.

      And, once again, Jezebel has to be playing a joke by calling their user submitted blog "group think"... right?

      1. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

        Gotta compete with Ezra Klein's Wankblog.

      2. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

        SPLITTERS!!!

  15. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Here's an article about how McDonald's is evil and exploitative for not paying its workers the same wages as In N Out. But this stuck out to me:

    Compared to Capitol Grille, In-N-Out's employees did not talk about discrimination or a lack of opportunities for advancement. An associate level 4, averaging $10.78/hour, from Las Vegas said, "Fast-paced, lots of room for growth, once you're in, you're pretty much in. Extensive hiring process, but all that means is they are selective in taking the best." A Davis, Califronia, associate said, "This is a good paying job for the background required? good opportunities for advancement if you work hard." But one employee from Palmdale, California, complained, "you can never get full-time hours and benefits once you're hired. Lucky at some store[s] if you get more than 25 hours a week."

    As ROC's Reyes notes, it's important to keep In-N-Out's pay and benefits in perspective, at least compared to what the striking fast-food workers are seeking. "The bar is set pretty low," he said, referring to the restaurant industry's pay and benefit standards. "They don't pay $15 an hour, which is what the fast food workers are looking for."

    So what exactly do these people want? They want free meals, free healthcare, and the right to flip burgers for $15 an hour?

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      Isn't this just a giant ploy by the unions to increase their rolls?

    2. Irish   12 years ago

      But one employee from Palmdale, California, complained, "you can never get full-time hours and benefits once you're hired. Lucky at some store[s] if you get more than 25 hours a week."

      Wait. They get a good wage per hour but can't get more than 25 hours a week? In that case, aren't they making less money total than a McDonald's employee making 8 bucks an hour but working full time?

      1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

        Not to mention the legislation these people back that would cause an employer to limit hours.

    3. Matrix   12 years ago

      Are they comparing In-N-Out in Las Vegas to McDonald's in Las Vegas? In-N-Out is not nationwide. McDonald's is.

      And what is an "associate level 4"?

      1. andarm16   12 years ago

        Not to mention that In-N-Out isn't a direct substitute for McDonalds. In-N-Out is serving a higher quality of product, for a higher price, and thus requires a more a experienced / stable workforce.

        1. Matrix   12 years ago

          higher quality? eh. I wasn't that impressed

          1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

            NO YOU DIDN'T!

            1. Matrix   12 years ago

              yes, I did! Fuck In-N-Out!

              1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                Why would you say something so inflammatory, Matrix? You could've just insulted his mother, which is entirely within the bounds of good taste, now there's a hit out on you as the custom of Southern California requires.

              2. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                Fuck In-N-Out!

                Although your double-entendre is absolutely correct, your intended sentiment is absolutely wrong. In-N-Out burgers, shakes, and fries are freaking manna!

                1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                  In-N-Out burgers, shakes, and fries are freaking manna

                  Eh, the fries need to be well done and animal style to be worth eating. I usually forgo them for a shake (which is excellent). Burger + shake ? burger + fries + coke in calories but massively superior in enjoyment.

                2. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

                  In-n-Out = Overrated. I stand with Matrix in this.

              3. MJGreen   12 years ago

                Those are good burgers, Dude.

        2. CE   12 years ago

          In-N-Out is cheaper, actually. And better. And faster.

    4. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      They want a living wage. Like Obama said they deserved. And god dammit you're gonna provide it, you hear?

      $15 for everyone!

    5. KPres   12 years ago

      The trick they pull whenever they make these comparisons is they always pick a company that only operates in high end neighborhoods, and compare them to companies that operate all over. So In-n-Out vs McDonalds, or Costco vs. Walmart. But the difference is all just local cost-of-living. Once you adjust for that you'll find the pay is basically the same.

      For instance, take a look at this Wal-Mart v Costco locations map....

      http://find.mapmuse.com/map/walmart
      http://find.mapmuse.com/map/costco

      What do you notice? Costco is basically in the Northeast and West Coast, where cost-of-living can be 150% higher than elsewhere. Wal-Mart is mostly in the mid-west, where it's much lower.

      1. Corning   12 years ago

        I live in the Northwest. We have a Walmart and a Costco.

        I fucking hate Costo. They have no variety which mean they never have what i want and i need some stupid card to even buy crap from the place.

        Walmart isn't great but it is nice to have a place where you can buy electronics, groceries, and clothing....sometimes I need a flashdrive, socks and plums.

        1. Tejicano   12 years ago

          I've only been to one Costco in the US. But Costco in Japan are freaking retail gods. They broke every stupid rule laid down by the Japanese academia and press - and got loads of negative articles written about them for it. But then they hit the ball into orbit and had to double their 3 year growth projections. Every store I've been to in Japan - even on weekdays - has been crowded with shoppers.

          Of course the media has tried to ignore them because Costco made them look like the know-nothing, academia-sock-puppets they are.

          When Walmart came to Japan they did every stupid, bassakward business move that they were told to do and screwed the pooch worse than any company trying to enter the Japanese market ever did. They ended up selling out to their local "partner" - which I'm sure was the partner's strategy all along.

    6. KPres   12 years ago

      "So what exactly do these people want? They want free meals, free healthcare, and the right to flip burgers for $15 an hour?"

      They don't want $15, they want $10. They're just negotiating, trying to get people to think $10 is a compromise. I say counter with $7.50 and stand firm at $7.60, since they have no leverage given that neither GDP nor inflation have risen much since the last minimum wage hike.

  16. Hyperion   12 years ago

    A poll commissioned by FreedomWorks finds growing numbers of Republicans embracing broadly libertarian views

    I'm not surprised to hear this. I only post here, but I read comments all around the intertoobs, and the comments have really turned a lot in a libertarian direction over the past few months.

    I hope it's real and that it lasts. I've been saying that we don't have to try to hard (although we should) to create new libertarians, the government is going to do it for us.

    1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

      A lot of contards are even giving plaudits to Greenwald. They don't like him but they like what he did. That is a very good sign.

  17. Brett L   12 years ago

    Florida Man, apparently having trouble at home.

    Florida man, 51, was arrested last night for battering his wife with a bowl of chicken wings, police report.

    1. AuH20   12 years ago

      How long until an indie comic company starts making a Florida Man series? Or a freaking web comic?

      1. MP   12 years ago

        Dave Barry and Carl Hiassen have the market cornered.

    2. gagster   12 years ago

      After battering her, was he gonna fry her too? I don't know, she might go well with those chicken wings.

  18. DJF   12 years ago

    """The National Security Agency not only scoops up data on Americans, it also shares that info with Israeli intelligence. """'

    And its not just Israeli intelligence, the US shares info with all its allies and the allies share information with the US

    This needs to be remembered when these intelligence agencies say something is happening, they are all sharing the same few bits of info and so they get the same answers.

    1. CatoTheElder   12 years ago

      This is a great workaround for the NSA. To the extent that Constitutional ninnies have prevented them from directly spying on American persons, they outsource the spying to Israeli intelligence.

  19. db   12 years ago

    What's the over/under for number of days until Weiner finds himself served with divorce papers?

    1. Libertymike   12 years ago

      The answer hinges entirely upon Hillary. When she gives the green light, the over / under, imo, would be single digits.

    2. robc   12 years ago

      Late last night?

    3. Raston Bot   12 years ago

      She does not strike me as strong-willed.

      1. Paul.   12 years ago

        As long as there's a glimmer of hope in his career, she'll stick.

        Remember how Mrs. Spitzer was doing that "Whoa, whoa, hang on now, let's not be hasty" when everyone wanted Spitzer out of the governor's mansion? Then once his ass was out, she was like, "Fuck this..."

        Yeah.

        1. fish   12 years ago

          As long as there's a glimmer of hope in his career, she'll stick.

          Then she's out....

          Dead marriage walking! Of course it was a political message so no one really is the worse for it.

    4. Tejicano   12 years ago

      I'd say she's got that "Stand By Your Man" tune down pat now so time for a different track.

  20. PD Scott   12 years ago

    Tubes can do anything: intestinal tube prototype aims to fight obesity, diabetes.

  21. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Anthony Weiner sprinted through a McDonald's last night while being chased by disgruntled sexting partner Sydney Leathers

    Sydney Leathers, a Las Vegas woman with whom he carried on a sexting relationship, crashed his "victory party." Before Weiner showed up to address supporters at Connolly's Pub in Midtown, Leathers was hanging out on the sidewalk, waiting to berate him in front of assembled press. His campaign desperately wanted to make sure there wasn't a confrontation in front of cameras.

    Weiner is resourceful, and he had a plan. There's a McDonald's next to the bar, with a back door leading to a stairway into the bar's rear entrance. So Weiner got into his own victory party by sprinting through a McDonalds with the press and Leathers chasing behind him.

    *cues appropriate music*

    1. andarm16   12 years ago

      Is that her professional name, or her real name?

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        Real. Just a wonderful coincidence that she can use it "professionally" too...

      2. Tejicano   12 years ago

        "Tony Weiner", on the other hand...

    2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      How long before she does porn?

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        A month ago:
        http://gawker.com/sydney-leath.....1176968270

        1. Paul.   12 years ago

          Boom!

          1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

            I'll not be in my bunk....

        2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

          Yikes!

          Her parents must be proud.

  22. PD Scott   12 years ago

    Is there a higher education bubble in China?

    FTA:As China's expanding colleges and universities generating more and more graduates, the job market is getting worse and worse, especially during an economic slowdown. Take 2013 for instance, a record-high 6.99 million fresh graduates are on the market. But in Beijing, the home of many of the country's top universities, only 33.6% fresh graduates have signed up for employment as of May 10.

  23. Matrix   12 years ago

    You're probably still alive today because of at least some of these 14 things

    1. AuH20   12 years ago

      I can see they're in the pocket of Big Fluoride. Why do they insist on trying to corrupt our natural fluids?!

    2. John   12 years ago

      One of those 14 things doesn't belong.

      Oppressive, burdensome, over-reaching government regulations. People like to complain about the government, but when you start looking through the alphabet soup of agencies, you realize that most of them are there to save your life. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration runs the National Weather Service and warns you about hurricanes. The Environmental Protection Agency enforces the Clean Air Act and has dramatically reduced the amount of deadly pollutants in the air you breathe. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration keeps you safe at work. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Transportation Safety Board investigate vehicles and accidents and make recommendations so accidents don't happen again. The Food and Drug Administration keeps deadly microbes out of your food. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalls toys that could kill your child. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks and tries to cure or avert basically any health hazard, and the National Institutes of Health supports some of the most important biomedical research in the world.

      Because every government program accomplishes exactly what it sets out to without any cost.

      Wow.

      1. RBS   12 years ago

        Don't forget none of that would ever happen without government.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          My favorite is the hurricane one. Like we would have no idea a fucking hurricane was coming were it not for the National Weather Service. No one would notice.

      2. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

        Let's not forget protecting us from the evil scourge of certified mad-cow-free beef. Totally have the consumer's best interests in mind there.

      3. Marshall Gill   12 years ago

        One of those 14? Why is it not surprising that they included cotton and not DDT?

        That list is an epic pile of derp.

        1. PD Scott   12 years ago

          You know, IIRC cotton doesn't trap body heat when it is wet, unlike wool. So, cotton uniforms for Napoleon's soldiers in the Russian winter would have gotten a lot of them killed, too.

          1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

            IIRC cotton doesn't trap body heat when it is wet, unlike wool.

            You recall correctly. Cotton is the enemy. It's comfy enough if you spend most of your time indoors or in moderate weather. But if it's super hot it won't wick sweat away efficiently, and if it's cold you will be as well if you get wet.

          2. wingnutx   12 years ago

            "Cotton kills"

        2. Corning   12 years ago

          One of those 14? Why is it not surprising that they included cotton and not DDT?

          Hell they didn't even mention antibiotics.

      4. CE   12 years ago

        Because:

        No one would know a hurricane is on the way without NOAA and the NWS.

        Corporations would pollute the air with impunity without the EPA and Clean Air Act.

        Employers would care not at all for worker safety without OSHA.

        Highways wouldn't be accident free without the NHTSA and NTSB.

        Food suppliers would have no incentive to sell safe food without the FDA.

        Toy companies wouldn't care if kids died absent the CPSC.

        We would have all died long ago from epidemics without the CDCP warning us about them.

        No biomedical research would exist without the NIH.

    3. gaijin   12 years ago

      and they slip in 'Oppressive, burdensome, over-regulating government' at the end of the list. nice.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        argh! refresh, then post, refresh then post.

    4. robc   12 years ago

      The regulation one is a lie.

      The FDA, for example, kills far more people thru its regulations than it could ever hope to save. I dont think it can ever make up for the years it delayed beta blockers, for example.

    5. Irish   12 years ago

      What about all the black people living in hyper regulated blue cities who can't get jobs because no one will hire low skilled workers at the cost imposed by the city?

      As a result, those poor black people eat lower quality food, become hopeless and dependent due to a total lack of opportunity, and sometimes end up getting shot by other unemployed young men.

      Their lives are drastically cut short by government intervention. Why do they not get a shout out, Slate?

      1. DesigNate   12 years ago

        Because liberals are fucking racist.

    6. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I see the town of Framingham, Mass. was mentioned. Ahem. We, Duvernay, QC., beat Framingham 3-2 at a soccer tournament way back in 1987 I think it was. Now your lives are all richer.

    7. Corning   12 years ago

      Oppressive, burdensome, over-reaching government regulations.

      FUCK YOU SLATE!!!

  24. AuH20   12 years ago

    Indian Mascots shouldn't be allowed because Philadelphia fans are dicks!

    Game 4. Philly Flyers vs. Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers score a goal, and VERSUS tv shows this guy. This guy, holding an impaled, severed, Indian head. On national tv.

    So disturbing, so graphic, and just what I wanted to wake up to on a Saturday morning. Truly sickening in the literal sense.

    What do you think?

    This proves it, without a doubt. Native American mascots are demeaning, stereotyping, and harmful to Native people. The Blackhawks logo is often touted as a "good" image?not evil or stupid looking, nothing like chief wahoo or the other blatantly racist images. But "good" image or not (and I still stand that no Indian mascot is a good mascot), clearly this demonstrates the danger when fans are given control over a mascot and image. There is no excuse for this man's actions.

    That's one area mascot debates rarely cover?the actions of rival team's fans and how they affect Native people. When an entire arena is shouting things like "Beat the Indians!" "Scalp the Redskins!" "F*@! the Blackhawks!" Can you imagine how it would feel to be a Native person hearing those things?

    1. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

      One of my best friends is a Navajo--his birthday is today, too, hah--and hooo boy you should hear him talk shit about other the other tribes (the Hopi are on his shitlist in particular). Evidently he hasn't gotten the memo that only whites and white hispanics can be bigots.

      1. John   12 years ago

        I have done a fair amount of work with Indians. And yeah, Indians hate Indians of other tribes. Only dipshit white people who have never met an actual Indian don't realize that.

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        only whites and white hispanics can be bigots.

        Listen to Caribbean Islanders talk about each other some time.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Or Hispanics. Watching politicians regularly lump them into this one group is hilarious, because the one thing Hispanics despise more than Anglos is other Hispanics.

          1. Paul.   12 years ago

            I used to know a Panamanian guy who made endless fun of Mexicans.

            1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              I grew up with Cubans and Puerto Ricans. They endlessly mocked one another. I will say this, though: My Puerto Rican friends taught me how to cuss in Spanish.

              1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

                I've heard "they stole out flag" more than once.

                1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  It took me a long time to know which was which. Red triangle is Cuba, blue triangle is Puerto Rico.

              2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

                I grew up with Cubans and Puerto Ricans.

                As did I, in Miami. The absolute worst thing you can call a Cuban is a Puerto Rican and vice versa.

                And if you happen to call an Argentinian anything other than European, you'll get the cussing of a lifetime.

                1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

                  Yeah because a lot of them trace their heritage straight back to Italy or Spain.

          2. seguin   12 years ago

            My gf's Mexican employees treat the Guatemalans like shit.

          3. Corning   12 years ago

            I worked at a convenience store with a guy from Nigeria...he told me all he thought about American blacks and it was not pleasant.

            Then again I was a young punk kid with a shaved head...maybe he was testing me to see if I was racist.

        2. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

          Dude, don't get me started on the fuckin' Jamaicans.

      3. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        Indians were quite good at whacking each other in war. It just so happens Euro diseases had the bigger impact. Hence, they were peace loving hippies before the war-mongering, disease infested white man.

        1. fish   12 years ago

          HOLY SHIT!

          If you ever want to disabuse yourself of the whole "noble savage" myth read, Empire of the Summer Moon where they describe various and sundry ways the North American tribles gleefully slaughtered and enslaved each other!

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

            The noble savage: Rousseau's Revenge.

            The Apache's source of pride is their warrior DNA.

      4. Tejicano   12 years ago

        I've read about an encouter which took place at one of the first nationwide indian conferences where the Navajo met a contingent from some small northern tribe. They found that their languages were completely mutually intelligible - meaning they were basically the same tribe. One would think this would result in a joyous reunion but one would be wrong.

        After the brief exchange the Navajo stopped talking to the other tribe and walked away. They claimed that this tribe was from a clan which their mythology tells them were unclean and sent away by the gods so they would have nothing to do with them.

    2. Matrix   12 years ago

      Do Irish people bitch and moan all the time about Notre Dame? Well, they might because the team sucks, but other than that...

      hey, Irish, do you find Notre Dame Fighting Irish to be racist against the Irish?

      I dunno. I don't find the Dallas, Oklahoma State, or Wyoming Cowboys to be offensive to white people.

      Are excessively tall people offended by the New York (NFL) or San Francisco (MLB) Giants?

      1. Irish   12 years ago

        I once had a legitimately Marxist history teacher who was talking to us about the racism of naming a team after Indian tribes. In order to express her point, she showed us a picture of different team names with racially insensitive names for every race. I remember the white one was something like the 'San Diego Crackers.'

        It didn't really work because all I could think was that I would be the biggest fan in the world if someone created the San Diego Crackers. Their mascot could be a giant apple pie, at half-time someone would come out and dance spastically in the middle of the field totally without rhythm, and the team's entrance music could be Safety Dance by Men Without Hats.

        I would watch the shit out of that team.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

          What about the San Diego Gringos? Or White Heads?

        2. PD Scott   12 years ago

          Before MLB came to Atlanta, the baseball team was the Atlanta Crackers. During the days of the Negro Leagues, the baseball team was the Atlanta Black Crackers.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Apropos of nothing, I believe several professional teams carried the name "Stogies" over the years.

          2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

            Wonder what a Premium Plus black cracker would taste like.

    3. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      *ahem*

      Philadelphians are sick mutants.

      That is all.

      1. CE   12 years ago

        Didn't they throw snowballs and ice at Santa Claus? And cheer when Troy Aikman suffered a career ending injury?

    4. creech   12 years ago

      This is one Flyers fan who thinks the Blackhawks jersey is the coolest in all of professional sports.

    5. CE   12 years ago

      Indians, Chiefs, Warriors, Seminoles, Blackhawks, etc. are fine. Only someone looking to be offended would be offended that a sports teams has chosen them for its mascot.

      "Redskins" is another category entirely, being a racial slur. There's no excuse for any team to continue to use it. The pro football team in Washington should have abandoned it 30 years ago.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Is it a racial slur? I mean, do people use that term as a slur now or even in recent decades? What I'm getting at is I wonder if this is one of those things that seems so obviously offensive on paper that isn't actually offensive in any practical sense.

        I'd have dumped the name myself, even though I think the uproar over teams being named after Indians in general to be political nonsense.

        1. Irish   12 years ago

          Saying -color- skins is pretty commonly understood to be racist. If I called someone a 'blackskin,' he'd understand it to be racist even though it's not a common slur.

          I personally agree that Redskins is offensive and I think they should change it.

      2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

        "Redskins" in regards to the football team is actually a reference to the nickname of one of their earlier coaches, Lone Star Dietz. Prior to him running the team, the team was named the Braves, after the baseball team.

        Yes, a Native American NAMED THE TEAM. Why shit all over the man's history when HE didn't think it to be a derogatory term??

        1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          Yes, a Native American NAMED THE TEAM. Why shit all over the man's history when HE didn't think it to be a derogatory term??

          He was obviously suffering from false consciousness.

          /proggie derp

  25. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

    I needed a microwave, and found one of these on clearance at Walmart for $30. Thirty dollars.

    Obviously, the government needs to get involved to stop companies from exploiting consumers like this.

    1. waffles   12 years ago

      Yeah, but for only 15-20 bucks more you could have had a 1000 watt model. For 5 more than that, 1200 watts. Because of your cheapness your popcorn will take an extra 30 seconds.

      1. andarm16   12 years ago

        Sub 1000 watt microwaves are the devils work. Unless you stick to TV dinners, you'll either end up with stuff that's been overcooked to hell, and thus borderline inedible, or cold.

    2. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      One of the commenters here (whose name escapes me) told a story about taking ambien and sleep-sitting naked on his microwave. Maybe you can get that microwave cheaper if you factor in the" skid-marks" discount....

      1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        Suthenboy

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          Good find. I thought I remembered it as being GBN...

          1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

            I sit in the microwave, chief.

            1. PD Scott   12 years ago

              "I wear the cheese, the cheese does not wear me."

    3. Brett L   12 years ago

      I have a microwave that I bought in 2004 for whatever the consumer price was then ($50?). Easily the best money I've ever spent on a device that plugs in.

    4. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      It's amazing the speed in which convenience and technology can be safely delivered to people of every social strata when the government gets the hell out of the way.

    5. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Don't forget Craigslist for your home furnishing needs. I've picked up some stuff crazy cheap.

      1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        Craigslist: not just for creepy desperate sex with strangers anymore!

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          We got a great deal on a couple of heavy-duty metal loft beds when we decided to make the boys share a room. We were able to find matching ones at less than a third of the retail price. In pretty much pristine condition.

          I've seen some pretty good deals for appliances, too, though that's a little riskier than furniture.

          1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

            A friend of mine was hunting for a bike so I learned CL's specific boolean operators and created a string to narrow down her search. It's been passed around our friend group unmodified for a few years now whenever anyone needs a bike.

  26. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Indonesia threatens to deport Harrison Ford after the actor attempted to confront government minister over climate change and over-logging.

    The Hollywood actor Harrison Ford has been accused of "harassing state institutions" in Indonesia and threatened with deportation after allegedly confronting a minister during an interview about illegal logging and climate change.

    The forestry minister, Zulkifi Hasan, said he was left shocked by Ford's emotionally charged interview techniques and complained there was no time to go over the questions before filming began, local media reported.

    "I suddenly had my face made up and was then interviewed," Hasan told the state news agency Antara.

    "I was given a chance to make only one or two comments."

    The Star Wars actor has been in Indonesia filming an episode for the climate change documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which will air on the US television network Showtime in April 2014 and feature Matt Damon and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      MATT DAMON

    2. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0BCQjbzKeA

      "I can't believe what you did!"

    3. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      It always makes me marvel how these so-called intelligent actors completely overlook or worse, outright ignore, cultural realities different from our own. Indonesia isn't fucking North America, Harrison.

      Why do government's even bother with them?

    4. wingnutx   12 years ago

      Those trees belong in a museum!

  27. db   12 years ago

    WSJ: Hiring Millenials? Meet the Parents.

    8% of millenials surveyed had parent accompany them to a job interview; 3% actually were present in the interview.

    My Mom drove me to my first job interview, primarily because my Dad had just died and we needed to be together. Plus her sister lived in the area where the interview was. But bring her into the actual interview? That's an unthinkable level of dependency for me.

    1. Irish   12 years ago

      You're also guaranteed not to get the job. If you can't interview without mommy there, how can you do the work?

      1. db   12 years ago

        That's my thought as well. I have interviewed a number of candidates and I would be very reticent to consider a candidate that brought a parent, or anyone else with them into the interview. It's one thing to sit in the lobby and wait but if they introduce me to the companion, it's bad form. The interview is about the candidate and their abilities and potential competence in the job and fit with the company/team. I don't need to hear about your kids or your parents or anything else. And I sure as hell don't care if you're a volunteer for whatever.

        1. Jordan   12 years ago

          I would be very reticent to consider a candidate that brought a parent, or anyone else with them into the interview.

          You're much more generous than me. I'd end the interview as soon as the parent set foot in the interview room.

          1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

            I'd have to take the opportunity to fuck with them.

            "Let me ask you something, candidate... If your mother bakes cookies for your lunch pail, will you bring enough to share with everyone?"

            1. Irish   12 years ago

              "When you go to the bathroom, does your mom wipe your bottom, or just wait outside the stall to tell you what a good boy you are?"

            2. fish   12 years ago

              I'd have to take the opportunity to fuck with them.

              What a fabulous opportunity to go full Freudian during an interview.

              Tell me about your mother.....

          2. db   12 years ago

            On the one hand I would throw the parent out after explaining the interview was for the candidate only. On the other I would let them in on the off chance that I would otherwise be staring at a discrimination lawsuit if I didn't hire the candidate.

            On the gripping hand, if the parent was a serious MILF...

            1. Jordan   12 years ago

              I'd have to take the opportunity to fuck with them.

              On the gripping hand, if the parent was a serious MILF...

              Good points all around. I shall have to reconsider my position.

              1. hamilton   12 years ago

                H&R has always been great about informing one as to the previously-unforeseen sexual angles to any given situation. It's one of the biggest benefits IMHO.

              2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

                MILF to interviewer: "What does my son have to do to get this job?" /licks lips. Winks.

        2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          And I sure as hell don't care if you're a volunteer for whatever.

          I want you to clone yourself approximately googleplex times and replace all interviewers with your clones. Fuck. Volunteering.

          1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

            Are you suggesting that you do not accpet the inherent moral superiority of volunteers over those who actually expect to get paid for work?

            1. R C Dean   12 years ago

              My suspicion is that if you have some kind of major volunteer commitment, you're going to be asking for time off to take care of it. Its a negative, in my book.

              I don't want well-rounded employees, I want hard-working, dedicated employees.

              1. db   12 years ago

                Volunteering is for part-time workers, high school students who can't find a minimum wage job, and CEOs that want to burnish their public image.

      2. Rich   12 years ago

        If you can't interview without mommy there, how can you do the work?

        Oh, she'll be there, too.

    2. John   12 years ago

      Why would you want to live a life where your mom came with you to a job interview? How do those 8% not just kill themselves in shame?

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        patience, John, patience.

      2. #   12 years ago

        John, You live in Northern VA. You should be aware of all the special snowflakes that are raised there.

    3. Somalian Road Corporation   12 years ago

      I can't even begin to comprehend the mentality that thinks this is a good idea. And hiring somebody who was thus escorted... yeah.

      1. John   12 years ago

        My wife works for a med school. Dealing with angry parents is now something they do. A med school. Think about that.

        1. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

          I apologize for my generation.

        2. Brett L   12 years ago

          Yeah. My friends who work administering the MBA program report this regularly as well. Of course, my parents were of the opinion that a seven year old could absolutely ride his bicycle a mile and a half to school unaccompanied. So they would probably be classified as child abusers today.

          1. db   12 years ago

            Many years ago I was friends with a professor of philosophy at a branch campus of Pitt who was of a conservative bent and clashed with the very liberal Dean of Liberal Arts. A parent of a student who failed his course filed a complaint with the Dean, who proceeded to use it as leverage in a battle to deny tenure to my friend. Eventually it got all the way up to high levels at the main campus where the university decided my friend was within his rights to hold his students to the terms and requirements of the course, which he had wisely published in the syllabus. Eventually he got his tenure, but the fact that a parent was able to raise that much fuss for so long over a bad grade was disquieting.

            1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

              I've taken a few philosophy courses at pitt, does your friend still teach there?

              1. db   12 years ago

                I've lost contact with him but he may still be there. Big busy mustache and a huge gun collection.

                1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

                  Doesn't sound familiar. I wish I would've had his class.

                  1. db   12 years ago

                    He was at UPJ.

        3. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          I worked at a tech company years ago and after a round of lay offs, the mother of one of my co-worker's called the CEO to complain about how awful he was to lay off her daughter. The daughter, I swear I am not making this up, was previously employed as a stripper.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            I'm surprised they'd lay off the ex-stripper, to be honest.

            1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

              No one knew she had been a stripper at the time. I only found out because we were both laid off on the same day. She asked me for a ride home and on the way she wanted to "stop at her old job" and see if she could get it back. After a "left here, right at the next light, it's this parking lot here" we arrived at a strip club.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                This reads remarkably like a Penthouse Forum letter.

                1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                  Yeah, I guess it kinda does. But nothing else happened!

                  1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                    You're not doing it right.

                  2. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

                    Did you even try?

                    1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                      Did you even try?

                      Nah. I'm not inclined to take advantage of girl who's emotionally vulnerable. (Though I didn't complain about getting in the back door of the strip club for free.)

                      Anyway, the point is this was a younger girl who's mom called the CEO to complain about how the company treated her precious little snowflake. I never thought of it until I was relaying the story just now, but the poor girl was so dependent that she even brought me with her to her next job interview. Shit, I was an enabler and didn't even know it.

                    2. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

                      You are possibly too honorable for this blog.

            2. fish   12 years ago

              I'm surprised they'd lay off the ex-stripper, to be honest.

              No openings in sales??

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                I liked the part where she went straight back to stripping.

                1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                  Yeah, I'm guessing mommy had no idea that was going on. The brutal part was when she talked to the manager at the club and asked for her job back. The guy blatantly looked her up and down and said, "You've gained weight."

        4. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

          When I taught at UK I received emails from two parents upset because their children "worked really hard" yet received bad grades.

          I told them both to fuck off. Fortunately with the blessing of the program director.

    4. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

      I can't imagine bringing my parents into an interview. I consider myself a mediocre interviewee at best but that just I don't even.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        Interviewer: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

        Kid: "Yeah, Mom. What are my strengths and weaknesses?"

        Mom: He does the laundry well.

        1. db   12 years ago

          Awesome. Both questions answered.

    5. andarm16   12 years ago

      Holy Mother on a pogo stick in the month of May!

    6. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      The worst part is the candidate would no doubt expect the new boss to act like a parent. And not a good parent, but an enabling asshole like a parent that would actually ACCOMPANY the candidate.

      I understand getting a ride from a parent, but it's not like they can't drop you off and go somewhere else and pick you up after the interview is over.

    7. Tejicano   12 years ago

      I suppose the gap between me and this generation must be unfathomable.

      I left home at 17, paid my own way through two degrees with equal parts of GI Bill, academic scholarships, and personal savings. I don't remember even telling my parents when I was interviewing. I do remember discussing which job offers I preferred with my dad, maybe once.

      The concept of bringing anybody else to an interview does not compute.

  28. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

    "F*@! the Bears!" Can you imagine how it would feel to be a climate change endangered polar bear hearing those things?

    "F*@! the Steelers!" Can you imagine how it would feel to be a union member hearing those things?

    "F*@! the Hurricanes!" Can you imagine how it would feel to be a climate scientist hearing those things?

  29. hamilton   12 years ago

    I'm really surprised the Israeli intelligence thing isn't getting more play / outrage. I mean, this isn't intelligence assessments or filtered / redacted date - it's the raw feeds of everything they've got. The memo sets up a protocol for the Israelis to destroy the intel if it covers an American and violates the 4A (as interpreted by...somebody). Why on earth would they do that?

    I mean, how is this not setting up for the worst sorts of blackmail down the line and all sorts of mayhem? Am I overreacting?

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Everyone has already taken sides on the NSA. Nothing will move the dial short of finding out the NSA is literally murdering American children every day with the President himself watching it happen.

      1. hamilton   12 years ago

        They did that, too, didn't they? (Well, the CIA did I guess).

        1. Brett L   12 years ago

          Yeah, I added "literally" and "every day" because I believe they have caused the murder of American children, although probably not in America and probably not with the President watching.

  30. Paul.   12 years ago

    U.S. ambassador to the country and three other Americans were killed in the city.

    I thought we agreed to never speak of Benghazi again.

  31. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    The pernicious myth that you don't need college to be an entrepreneur

    The reality is that a bachelor's degree is an important foundation for success for most entrepreneurs. Yes, a few, such as Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, were able to achieve success after dropping out. But they surrounded themselves with very competent adults, and they were very lucky. All three have extolled the virtues of education and encouraged children to finish college. And their companies rarely hire college dropouts.

    One good question Thiel often raises is whether you need to learn what's taught in college. My dean at Duke University, Tom Katsouleas, has a great answer. He tells the story of a high school teacher whose students confronted him with the same question: "Why do we need to learn this?" The teacher replied, "You don't. You need to learn to ask just one question." The piqued students implored him to tell what that was. His answer: "Would you like fries with that?"

    Sadly, for the vast majority of college dropouts, the opportunities are sparse. They won't earn nearly as much as their friends who had the perseverance to finish what they had started. And if they do become entrepreneurs, the companies they start will be far less successful than those started by degree-holders. After three years, Thiel's experiment is beginning to prove that there are no shortcuts to success.

    1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      Because there couldn't be any other variables separating the successful and the non. Maybe people that finish college are more likely, on average, to behave a certain way and would be successful no matter what.

    2. waffles   12 years ago

      There are shortcuts to success. You can be born rich, extremely good looking, or be very smart. But fortunes can be squandered, looks fade, and intelligence without practice or discipline atrophies or never appears at all.

    3. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

      This...is pretty dumb. College is a service like any other. I need not go to a Starbucks to enjoy quality coffee (as a matter of fact, I would argue, Charbucks hinders my ability to enjoy quality coffee).

      I have started three business, all to varying success. I have also made a rather well paid career out of leaving college to work in telecom.Continually being at the top of pay scales due to my experience. Almost EVERY telco job posting says "4 year degree or equivalent experience"...never had trouble with the second part.

    4. Killazontherun   12 years ago

      You haven't been exposed to the mediocrity of the American education system until you worked as an evaluator for assessment testing. I've been through entire classes of kid's papers, hundreds in a row, where the kid's repeat that phrase in their essays.

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        'Would you like fries with that?'

      2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        I had a part time job for a while evaluating the 4th grade FCAT. On one of the exams, a kid misspelled "count" by omitting the "o". I showed it to the woman next to me and said "that should make for an interesting spelling bee".

    5. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

      He tells the story of a high school teacher whose students confronted him with the same question: "Why do we need to learn this?" The teacher replied, "You don't. You need to learn to ask just one question." The piqued students implored him to tell what that was. His answer: "Would you like fries with that?"

      As opposed to the college graduate's question, "Would you like skim or regular milk in your coffee?"

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        +1 dram of cocoa liqueur in my latte.

  32. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    White Student Unions are a danger to campuses across the country

    #WhiteGenocide: these were the words Indiana University students found written on fliers and in chalk around their campus last March. This white power message references the theory among supremacists that the increasing non-white population in the United States is a threat to eliminate "white culture."

    One student, Aidan Crane, explained in the Indiana Daily Student that he took it upon himself to tear down every flier he saw. He also encouraged his fellow Hoosiers to follow suit.

    "Dangerous movements grow from small seeds," Crane wrote. "We have a responsibility to stop racism and white nationalism whenever they rear their ugly heads."
    [...]
    More college administrators need to take a stand against white student unions on campus and be clear about having a zero tolerance policy for hate groups. Freedom of speech is, of course, constitutionally protected, but wildly misguided groupthink mentalities pose a threat to changing popular opinion and perception for the worse. The mere existence of white student unions on campuses creates a danger that can sometimes be just as harmful as physical injury: they're toxic for students' minds.

    We'll tell you what to think, thank you very much.

    1. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      ...but wildly misguided groupthink mentalities pose a threat to changing popular opinion and perception for the worse.

      Sounds like the 2008 presidential election.

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      misguided groupthink mentalities pose a threat to changing popular opinion and perception for the worse

      Mirror, mirror on the wall...

    3. Brett L   12 years ago

      I absolutely agree. And the second they want to forbid all racial or ethnic student unions from being sanctioned by the school, I will sign their petition.

      Oh, wait...

    4. kbolino   12 years ago

      I'd say odds are better than even that most of these "white student unions" are false flags anyway. There have been too many examples of perpetual victims not feeling victimized enough for me to take groups like that at face value.

    5. Coeus   12 years ago

      Do we really want a new generation of thinkers to be influenced by extreme racism and hate?

      Well, obviously you do.

  33. Killazontherun   12 years ago

    I sent the nephew out in the world this morning with some cash and a hand full of coupon clippings from Total Wine --

    He brought me back this for obvious reasons,

    http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23/65230

    Made with 6 chiles including Anaheim, Fresno, jalape?o, serrano, habenero, and ghost chile.

    1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      Ghost Chilis? Do you get along with your nephew?

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        I gave him a place to live, I should hope so.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      That shit is hot. Far better, IMO, as a barbeque marinade than a drinking beer.

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        I'll keep that in mind if it doesn't work out. Perhaps a flank of steak marinaded for the weekend fajitas.

        He also brought a Gulden Draak sampler six pack that looks yummy. I've had their triple but everything else will be knew to me.

        1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

          new to me. Such a word clutz.

    3. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

      Total Wine? You in Colorado?

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        Greensboro, NC. They've had a location here for many years, but only recently started stocking beers. 2500!

      2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        They're all over So Cal now too.

    4. Raston Bot   12 years ago

      How long has he hated you?

      1. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        I should have known something was up when I bought us both a He Man sword and shield to duel one another with when he was four. He would thwak it at me without mercy. A Big Boy too, nearly four foot then, six foot five, maybe six, now.

      2. Killazontherun   12 years ago

        Also, his buddy that is coming over later is a dot Indian and pepper consumption is a competition between the two.

        1. seguin   12 years ago

          Half my friends in college were subcontinentals. Hanging out with them really built up my spice tolerance.

  34. Matrix   12 years ago

    My friend changed his name to that of a Twilight character. Can I disown him?

    Disown him? you should probably put him down for his own good...

    1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      That's terrible. Why would you want to remove a delightful bit of schadenfreude from the world, Matrix?

    2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      What if the friend gets married? Will they be Mr. and Mrs. Emo Sparkly Bloodsucking Doofus?

  35. Coeus   12 years ago

    I have seen this murder gleefully talked about on almost every feminist blog I randomly link clicked through yesterday.

    Whil, I have no problem with joking about dark news, these women usually do.

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Yes, swap the sexes of the murderer and the victim and see if they are amuzed.

    2. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

      Jabba the West strikes back in the comments:

      Oh, you mean the paragraph where I said, "This is really beside the point," to indicate that I was going to talk about a completely separate point?

      I went out of my way to make sure I didn't take the bride's "if anything happens to me" text message at face value, so as not to suggest that the groom was asking for it or make any assumptions about abuse.

      I said a sincere "condolences to everyone affected."

      I closed with, basically, "MURDER IS BAD."

      I made zero gendered jokes. Saying "This sounds like an Investigation Discovery" episode isn't a joke?it's true. It does. (Are you guys outraged at them for making ridiculous television dramas out of cases like this?) And I was genuinely wondering why more murders aren't staged as hiking "accidents." That's also not a joke.

      And finally, while the individual loss of life is no less tragic when a woman murders her husband, it means something different, culturally, when a man murders his wife?when we discuss it we're not discussing the specific case so much as its place in a larger global history of male violence against women.

      1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

        it means something different, culturally, when a man murders his wife

        When a woman gets pushed off a cliff, she's dead. When a man gets pushed a cliff, it turns out he's only mostly dead.

      2. Irish   12 years ago

        And finally, while the individual loss of life is no less tragic when a woman murders her husband, it means something different, culturally, when a man murders his wife?when we discuss it we're not discussing the specific case so much as its place in a larger global history of male violence against women.

        Earlier today I mentioned the mindless need for progressives to force everything into narrative histories. If you're an antiwar libertarian, you're secretly racist because you are an 'heir' to the 'American racial narrative' of America First and the hyperconservative isolationists.

        They can't imagine any act being separated from a grand historical narrative, and this ends up taking their arguments to really bizarre places.

        1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

          I think they can imagine it. However, they're very accustomed to couching their arguments in terms of historical narratives because it's a fairly effective smear (to other progressives). Everyone else with an IQ above 80 recognizes it as bullshit.

      3. Corning   12 years ago

        it means something different, culturally, when a man murders his wife

        This is the feminist escape button whenever logic enters the conversation.

        Anyway is this even technically Murder? Sounds like she pushed him just to push him cuz she was pissed...not to make him fall off a cliff and die. Aggravated Manslaughter? That is if her story is true that is.

      4. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

        Jabba the West

        So stealing that.

  36. playa manhattan   12 years ago

    Ghost Chilis? Do you get along with your nephew?

  37. Coeus   12 years ago

    The gun-grabbers have actually bought into their own lies.

    How timely! Just after George Zimmerman was taken into custody following an alleged domestic dispute involving his soon-to-be ex-wife (hear that ladies? He's siiiiiiingle!), Sarah Silverman released this very relevant PSA on Funny or Die. In it, Silverman ? alongside David Alan Greer, Ron Funches, Deon Cole and more ? throws her support behind the Black NRA, the new (fake) branch of the National Rifle Association that seeks to arm the American citizens who are the most in need of protection: young, African American men.

    Thanks, Black NRA! You truly are a civil rights organization.

    Do these morons have any knowledge of gun control at all?

    1. Jordan   12 years ago

      If they had an ounce of awareness, they probably wouldn't be proglodytes.

    2. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      Gun control in America was originally propigated to disarm black people in America. Even post-slavery, post-Jim Crow, the gun controllers clutched their pearls about "Saturday Night Specials" which, in reality, meant "guns black people can afford." A man or woman barely making in rent in the worst cities in America doesn't have $400-500 to spend on a pistol and ammo. But they're the ones living next door to the crack dealers and the gangbangers.

      1. KPres   12 years ago

        "Gun control in America was originally propigated to disarm black people in America."

        Um, it still is. There's no murder problem in white rural or suburban america (aka the people who own most of the guns). This is all driven by rich urban liberals being scared of blacks coming out of the inner-city.

        1. Coeus   12 years ago

          Um, it still is.

          Bingo. Which is why you don't hear any "disparate impact" claims about ammo tax or the stupid "gun insurance" bullshit.

    3. Irish   12 years ago

      I think it's funny that they claim their opponents are racist when the NRA is an organization with the desire to defend the 2nd amendment rights of EVERYONE. The people seperating everyone by race in this instance are all liberals. The attacks on the former president of the NRA were particularly grotesque because he is known for working in favor of other types of civil rights and won an award from the Congress on Racial Equality.

      I liked Colion Noir's take on this ridiculous video where he said there's more racism in an hour long Sarah Silverman stand up special than a KKK meeting.

      1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        nice.

    4. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      If it is called "Funny or Die", there should a whole pile of bodies by now, with Sarah Silverman's corpse smack in the middle.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        I thought the fucking Matt Damon thing was funny. But that was really Kimmel, wasn't it?

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          That clip was hilarious and in no way affiliated with "Funny or Die".

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Very well, I retract my tentatively worded near-objection.

      2. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

        Yabut Drunk History!

      3. Robert   12 years ago

        Couple yrs. ago my friend John lent me a DVD of the Sarah Silverman Show. OK, but it was done much better by David Mirkin & Chris Elliot in "Get A Life", which John hadn't seen.

    5. Corning   12 years ago

      I am guessing no.

      http://images.flatworldknowled.....11_017.jpg

  38. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   12 years ago

    Violence in Chile as protesters gather to commemorate 40th anniversary of the coup that ousted Allende

    Police said they had arrested dozens of people for erecting barricades and throwing stones and petrol bombs.

    A bus was set alight in the capital, Santiago, where 8,000 officers have been deployed to prevent any violence.

    The 1973 coup deposed the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, and led to 17 years of military rule.

    Past anniversaries have regularly been marked by demonstrations, some of which turned violent.

    Interior Minister Andres Chadwick said on Wednesday that "up to this moment the reports have been very positive compared to what we were expecting".

    He said that "major troublemakers were trying to take advantage of the occasion", but assured Santiago residents that the city was functioning normally.

    Protesters have erected burning barricades in two Santiago neighbourhoods, police reported.

    Things seemed to turn out alright in the end for Chile. A lot of the people protesting are young students that didn't directly experience the Pinochet regime, which is interesting.

    1. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      Things seem to have turned out alright for Germany too. That a bizarrely low bar for handwaving a dictatorship.

      1. KPres   12 years ago

        Minor dictatorship. Pinochet wasn't exactly Pol Pot, though you wouldn't know it.

      2. MJGreen   12 years ago

        Yes, Germany did improve following the overthrow of the Nazis and adoption of a more market-oriented economic program.

    2. KPres   12 years ago

      Things seemed to turn out alright in the end for Chile.

      Yep:

      http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1wA7.....growth.jpg

      I'll note that Venezuela is the only one worse off then they were in 1969. Chile and Milton Friedman dominate.

      1. tarran   12 years ago

        Pinochet was a pretty straightforward anti-communist fascist.

        My sense was that he literally had no economic ideology. The first few years of his rule were marked by huge economic problems from hamfisted attempts to react to dislocations as if they were military problems to be managed from the top down. Not being wedded to any ideology, he was quite prepared to scrap what wasn't working for what did work.

        Friedman would go on to complain that the speeches he gave in Chile were the same ones he gave in Communist China.

        IIRC Pinochet started adopting some of Friedman's recommendations 1978-1979, and the economy started taking off. Pinochet is also unusual in that he stepped down 'voluntarily' as the increasing prosperity made the justification of his autocratic rule increasingly untenable.

        Chile is actually a very interesting case study; Allendale's experiment with a socialist command-and-control economy with cybernetic control systems would have proved an interesting test of the Austrian theories regarding the socialist calculation problem.

        1. tarran   12 years ago

          Pinochet's rule is also interesting as an example of a dictator who succesfully steered his country back to prosperity and ceded power.

          One problem is that the two men are lightning rods for disinfromation. Allendale was not the saint he was painted as, neother was his economic management as successful as his supporters or as disastrous as his detractors claim. In some ways Pinochet gets a bum rap. IIRC the Argentine Junta was far more murderous, both in intensity and in duration of its abuses. In contrast, the vast majority of the murders, kidnappings and beatings that Pinochet authored occured in the first years of his reign and were small potatoes compared to what other dictatorships were doing. If one did a pareto chart of killings, Pinochet would be in the middle of a very murderous pack, but he is painted as if he were an outlier.

  39. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    iKoch

    Molex Inc., a maker of electronic components for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other products, agreed to a $7.2-billion acquisition by Koch Industries Inc., the holding company controlled by the billionaire Koch brothers. . . .

    The deal will turn Molex into a stand-alone division of Koch, with the company retaining its name and headquarters in Lisle, Ill. Molex sells interconnection systems to automakers, mobile-phone companies and military customers. That includes Apple, which uses some Molex connectors for the iPhone 5.

    http://www.latimes.com/busines.....8709.story

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      This article is way too light on the use of the world 'teledildonics'.

    2. KPres   12 years ago

      I would have said this was going to bother liberals, but now that Apple has put out cheaper version of the iPhone suited for the masses, I have a feeling the hipsters are going to abandon them in droves anyway.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Apparently, not cheap enough. Analysts blasted Apple for not coming out with a cheap phone for the Chinese, and the stock took a nice dip for a while.

      2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

        It's actually not cheaper AT ALL, just doesn't have the price increase of the NEW phone, but that's because it's the previous version in a cheaper container.

        Only the idiots who put $99 down and take out a 2-year mortgage on a fucking phone think it's slightly cheaper.

  40. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

    A poll commissioned by FreedomWorks finds growing numbers of Republicans embracing broadly libertarian views, as well as self-identifying by the term. Fifty-eight percent of the general public say they agree "individuals should be free to do as they like as long as they don't hurt others and that the government should keep out of people's day-to-day lives." John McCain will not be pleased.

    I can tell people I'm the king of France. That doesn't make it true. It's very easy to say government should keep out of people's lives while still voting for social engineering and free stuff.

    1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      Yeah, that made me immediately nervous. I've finally gotten it to the point where my closest proggie friend can tell the difference between a libertarian and Republican pretending he's a libertarian. Republicans pretending to be libertarian while being Republicans is not helpful.

      1. Corning   12 years ago

        It movement bitches!!!

        Quit being so glum.

    2. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

      Team Blue Concern Troll is Concerned.

    3. Robert   12 years ago

      So what kind of poll answers are you looking for? You use reverse psychology? Looking for respondents to say they're big money-sucking busybodies?

  41. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

    California: Continuing to lead the way in bad-fucking-ideas.

    City of Richmond, California Backs Plan to Use Eminent Domain to Seize Mortgages

    The power of 'eminent domain' allows governments to seize private property for a public purpose. Critics say the plan threatens the market for private-label mortgage-backed securities.

    Richmond's city council voted 4 to 3 for Mayor Gayle McLaughlin's proposal for city staff to work more closely with Mortgage Resolution Partners to put the plan crafted by the investor group for the city to work.

    Richmond can now invoke eminent domain if trusts for more than 620 delinquent and performing "underwater" mortgages reject offers made by the city to buy the loans at deep discount pegged to their properties' current appraised prices to refinance them and reduce their principal.

    John Paul Stevens, you're wanted at the courtesy phone. Justice Stevens, please pick up the fucking phone!

    1. CE   12 years ago

      Mortgage Resolution Partners, looking out for the common man (and Richmond city council members, no doubt.)

    2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Did any of you read the comments?

      It's like economics and finance never happened to those defending the plan.

  42. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

    Anthony Weiner ended his unsuccessful effort to become New York City's next mayor with an underwhelming five percent of the primary vote and a flipped middle finger to the crowd. At least, we think that was his finger.

    32k people are either trolls or retarded

    1. PD Scott   12 years ago

      Or little bit column A, little bit column B.

      1. db   12 years ago

        I would have thought there were more hipsters voting ironically.

        1. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

          If the 32k were from Brooklyn, I will have to agree with you.

  43. Tucker Smith   12 years ago

    "A poll commissioned by FreedomWorks finds growing numbers of Republicans embracing broadly libertarian views, as well as self-identifying by the term. Fifty-eight percent of the general public say they agree "individuals should be free to do as they like as long as they don't hurt others and that the government should keep out of people's day-to-day lives.""

    The keyword here is "broadly." Ask them about the issues.

  44. Coeus   12 years ago

    About that bullshit survey I posted about yesterday which didn't actually ask about rape:

    The 1 in 10 number refers specifically to stranger rape. So that headline's wrong. And it suggests the AP doesn't consider rape by an intimate partner to be rape.
    they never asked about intimate partner rape, you disingenuous twunt.
    The original article does mention the actual stats, but frames them in a way that advances the notion that partner rape numbers are in addition to actual rape statistics:

    About 1 in 10 men in some parts of Asia admitted raping a woman who was not their partner, according to the first large studies of rape and sexual violence. When their wife or girlfriend was included, that figure rose to about a quarter.

    The AP has since changed the headline and flipped around the framing of that paragraph (without acknowledging the original error) ? though they still think stranger rape should be singled out. But AP articles spread to other publications quickly, and the original headline and article are still out there, published without corrections. And there is no excuse for the AP ever putting out this article with its original framing.

    "Because it's accurate and we don't like it".

    I just can't fathom why anyone would think that the skeptic movement wouldn't benefit from it's infusion of feminism.

    1. Tucker Smith   12 years ago

      Well it asked questions like this:

      "Have you ever had sex with your partner when you knew she didn't want to but you thought she should agree because she's your wife/ partner?"

      Many women don't want to have sex but agree to it anyway. I don't think this one girl I dated "wanted" to have sex with me but she agreed to anyway because I not-so-subtly threatened to leave her.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        Exacly. Someone at the AP read the poll, realized it only asked about rape for strangers, and (semi)accurately reported the results (there was some fudging to increase the number to 1-in-10). Then, because reality is their sworn enemy, feminists threw a fit.

      2. Tejicano   12 years ago

        One GF years ago, on about our 4th or 5th date, was not so interested in going to bed but went along with it. After I gave her the first orgasm she had ever had (she didn't even know what it was) she didn't want to get out of bed for a couple days. By Sunday afternoon I was the one who was not as interested anymore.

        But by their narrative it strated with rape.

  45. Tucker Smith   12 years ago

    I used to have a lot of sympathy for Israel. Not anymore. They really are an apartheid state, hell-bent on keeping the Palestinians of the West Bank subjugated and stealing their land. All their excuses are just excuses. And the sad thing is that the Jews will be the ultimate victims when this apartheid state falls apart, they will wind up like the White South Africans. Unless they act now.

    1. Neoliberal Kochtopus   12 years ago

      It's a chicken-egg problem.

      1. Tucker Smith   12 years ago

        Not really. The Israelis would be much better off if they at least cut off the welfare flow into the settlements and demolished the illegal ones.(or leave them to fend for themselves) They should finish walling off their border with the West Bank. If the Palestinians don't agree to a peace(they most likely won't), they should unilaterally withdraw and annex a few of the close in settlements and strategic areas. If the Palestinians keep firing rockets at Israel they should reoccupy the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon.

      2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

        No it's an Arab social and cultural degeneracy problem. Israel is the victim and has always been the victim.

    2. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

      They really are an apartheid state

      That's a load of shit right there.

  46. sloopyinca   12 years ago

    Going, Going, Gone!

  47. Dave Krueger   12 years ago

    CNN showed video of Weiner's single finger salute, but blurred the finger in keeping with their policy for dumbing down any news that might be upsetting to the hypersensitive audience they cater to.

  48. Brandon   12 years ago

    I know it's late, but my boss is the guy this blog post is about. The comments get stupid real fast.
    http://blogs.denverpost.com/th.....ebt/10853/

    Prosperity ? 6 hours ago ?
    The bean counters' $68 billion in debits fails to consider the even bigger $100 Trillion + in offsetting economic credits from an educated, healthy and happy America. The bean counters need to consider the ROI from investing in America's future, not just subtracting from it.

    GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT!!

  49. johnson29   12 years ago

    Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article.

    HECM pros and cons
    HECM calculator

  50. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

    Richmond is Detroit, writ smaller.

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