A.M. Links: Government Shutdown Negotiations Going Nowhere, Park Service Only Shuttering More Popular DC Landmarks, DOJ Opposes Effort by Tech Companies to Disclose Number of Government Data Requests

• 

  Charlie Spiering/Twitter

  President Obama met with congressional leaders to talk about the partial government shutdown, but according to the House Speaker Obama refused to negotiate. Harry Reid says the president won't be held hostage. How melodramatic. Reid also offered to open negotiations on tax reform in exchange for the House passing a continuing resolution on spending. It was rejected by Republicans.

• Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open. How petty.
• The Department of Justice is opposing efforts by various tech companies to disclose the number of government requests for data they get. The DOJ says such a move would damage the government's ability to spy on "particular" Internet communications. How transparent-y.
• Self-described Silk Road drug dealers who sent money to the website but didn't get their merchandise are worried about the consequences. The feds "did not help anything," one Reddit user explained. As for the hacking tools Silk Road is accused of selling by the FBI, the FBI's used a lot of them itself.
• The NRA plans to sue California if Jerry Brown signs a bill that would ban the purchase of nearly all assault rifles.
• A federal judge ordered a monitor be appointed to oversee Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Sheriff's Department following a May ruling that found the agency to be engaged in racial profiling.
• Alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers have asked for his prison conditions to be eased. He is now in near total isolations and attorneys argue it is hampering their ability to defend him.
• Prime Minister David Cameron wants to "nag and push and guide" British youth under 25 out of the benefits system.
• A jury found AEG Live not liable for the death of Michael Jackson. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama met with congressional leaders to talk about the partial government shutdown, but according to the House Speaker Obama refused to negotiate.

House Republicans are stubbornly refusing to recognize the president's non-negotiation stance.

[Auric Demonocles]

Some Jon Stewart ended up playing last night while I was cleaning bottles after South Park ended. I think it was the replay from the Tuesday night, but it could have been the new episode. He spent the first 15 minutes bashing Republicans, and only Republicans, for the shutdown. This included a segment where he played clips of them saying the Democrats refused to negotiate/wanted the shutdown, and his entire response was "bullshit". His audience ate it up.

On the plus side, assuming it was the rerun, I figured out where everyone got this "Obamacare is a law that was passed!" line that apparently means it can never be changed by a new law.

[Slammer]

If "Obamacare is a law that was passed!" why are they selectively enforcing it?

[Auric Demonocles]

Because a law can be changed by executive, but not by a new law, apparently.

[Pro Libertate]

I know we're likely beyond fixing this, but one thing I'd like to see if a reform-minded GOP takes power after the next election is Congress reconsidering its love of delegating everything to agencies and to the president. It should make it abundantly clear that the executive has limited discretion. I mean, this is fucking nonsense.

[TANSTaaFL]

"Congress reconsidering its love of delegating everything to agencies and to the president."

Delegation means less accountability.

Accountability means a solid body of work to be judged by (for voters).

Will. Never. Happen.

[Pro Libertate]

That's not necessarily true. If people fear an unrestrained executive enough, Congress might be pushed to act. Likely? No, not given where we are today. But it is possible, at least for a time.

[CE]

The debt ceiling law is also a law that was passed. Why do they want to change it?

[Pro Libertate]

It's really odd that people run around acting like the House is doing something illegal. Actually, it's fully within the House's constitutional authority to control the purse strings. It doesn't matter if a previous or even the exact same Congress passed a law that isn't funded. It's an additional check on power, which is a good thing.

I wasn't sure about this showdown before it started, but now I see no reason for the House to back down. Not without major concessions about a law most of the country doesn't want.

[John]

I had a conversation this morning with an otherwise reasonable person. When I told her that if funding Obamacare is that important, the President needs to give on something else like Keystone or taxes so the Republicans have a reason to say yes and a way to explain to their supporters they didn't just fold and got something in return. And the women just walked away. She refused to even consider that.

There seems to be a large number of liberals in this country who can't understand that the other side could ever have a reasonable point or any right to any sort of say in the government. They have lived in the hive to such a degree they have lost the ability to understand or have any empathy towards the other side. It is scary. A Republican can't function like that.

[Auric Demonocles]

I really can't understand the dissonance required to think that Republicans are the ones holding this up. The Democrats refuse to negotiate on anything. If you want to argue that the Democrats are right not to negotiate because it's just too important, that's at least a valid (though in my opinion wrong) position. But they seem to think that the people who refuse to negotiate are not the ones responsible for the failure to pass a bill.

[John]

That was Nick's point. When he said "kick ass", he meant act like a President and get Harry Reid and the Dem Senate Caucus to give in on a few things and get the Republicans to understand they are going to have to fun Obamacare but will get a few goodies in return. That is what Presidents are supposed to do.

And sure enough that point went right over Sad Beard and Chait's little minds. They are so retarded they don't even understand politics anymore. All they understand is "those other people are the evil". It is pathetic.

[Pro Libertate]

What I find really odd is Reid and a lot of Democratic supporters acting like the president is "in charge" of this discussion. He isn't. In fact, if this were less a partisan issue and more an interbranch dispute, he would be entirely irrelevant to the discussion.

In any case, I hope this goes on and on. It's time for a showdown, not just about ACA but about spendapalooza in general.

[KDN]

The Democrats are already compromising by allowing the government to be funded at sequester levels. Why should they have to compromise further?

[John]

Because the other side doesn't think that is good enough. And really it isn't. Cutting spending alone doesn't change policy.

[Auric Demonocles]

Allowing the sequester to happen wasn't a compromise, it was the baseline.

[KDN]

Nonsense. They were deep, draconian cuts that were only inserted as a last resort. Plane crashes are up quite a bit since their implementation, and I, for one, hate can't stand knowing that flying has to be less safe just because of the Republicans' dubious idea that the debt load is part of torpedoing our recovery.

I hope Obama continues to fight this attempted sabotage; we've surrendered enough already.

[califernian]

C+ maybe B-. Needs MOAR BUUUUSH to be believable.

[KDN]

Nah, Bush is a giveaway at this point. Just look at the next thread, Tony's griefed the hell out of it without dropping the B-word once.

I do agree on the grading, I can do better.

[JWatts]

I think a link to some completely irrelevant plane crash that's happened in the last few months would have helped. Preferably with a picture.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

A Republican can't function like that.

Baloney. I know people personally who hail from the land of SoConia and who have the same tribalistic attitude.

[Slammer]

I think he meant a Republic, it's another awesome John Typo.

[Auric Demonocles]

John fail typing? That's unplausible!

[John]

it was a typo. A Republic can't function like that. And it is funny. I grew up around SOCONS. I still have close friends who are such. I have never met a single SOCON who is anything like that or in anyway fits the Reason stereotype.

[Auric Demonocles]

I've lived around hardcores of both socons and progressives. The socons are more tolerant and willing to accept that their opponents at least mean well. A liberal in the sticks is treated with much more respect than a conservative in the city.

[#]

It's because the average conservative thinks the average progressive is wrong headed. The average progressive thinks the average conservative is evil.

[#]

And I tend to agree based on my own experience. One of the least tolerant groups of people towards anyone outside of their comfort zone are urban liberals.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

When philosophical positions are arrived at by an emotional method, one should expect that their reaction to disagreement is also emotional.

[JWatts]

+1, that's what I've seen.

[Freedom Frog]

I live in Brooklyn and work at a bar. It's brutal being a Libertarian. SoCons probably have it worse...or they just don't say anything.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Well, I've known a few SoCons who passionately subscribed to the "homosexuals are all secret child-raping pedophiles" school of thought. It definitely came across as a genuine sense of disgust, and sometimes bordered on basic hatred. Which is not to say that I don't acknowledge that I probably know more people who fit into the SWPL stereotype than people who fit into the hate-filled socon stereotype.

[Robert]

The most committed trads I know these days are practically not at all interested in political change, but are preparing to withdraw to enclaves of their own?possibly geographic, more likely just demographic/social?and await the collapse of the wider society. And when I write "trads", I mean people so traditionalist that they treat Judaism & Christianity as part of newfangled Eastern mysticism?but at least not to be feared these days like Islam.

[Tonio]

That can't be true, HC. I've been lectured repeatedly here by a (very) frequent poster about how the Phelps family (Westboro Baptist) are the only actual anti-homo people in the US, and that not a single other christian supports them.

[John]

That is right. Just like no homosexual ever plans to use the force of law to silence anyone who objects to his choices. They all just want to live in peace. You have told me that so many times I don't' know how anyone could not believe it.

[Azathoth!!]

That can't be true, HC. I've been lectured repeatedly here by a (very) frequent poster about how the Phelps family (Westboro Baptist) are the only actual anti-homo people in the US, and that not a single other christian supports them.

None of the christian so-cons support them.

But that may be because the christian so-cons are aware that the Phelps clan are a big 'ol buncha Democrats(invited to Clinton inaugurals twice--and leased space to the Gore campaign)

[tarran]

I think the progressives are reaping what they have sown. To keep people in the collective, they've painted everyone outside the collective as stupid and evil and to therefore be ignored or marginalized.

And when you ignore/marginalize people while messing with their shit, they tend to assert themselves. The more you marginalize or ignore them, the harder they push back.

The propaganda the leaders been putting out has boxed them in.

The rump of the Republicans that are preventing the Obama budget from passing could easily have been whittled down by Boehner if he had something to buy them off with. But Reid and Obama daren't give anything, because their constituencies would punish them.

[John]

I totally agree. I have tried to explain that to a few of them and they can't comprehend it. They are so pissed off the Republicans are so "radical". Well, the Republicans tried to compromise by running a mushy big government Northeastern moderate named Mitt Romney for President in 2012. And the Democrats responded by painting him as an evil autocrat who was probably racist and certainly hated women. If Mitt fucking Romney is going to be treated like that, why shouldn't the Republicans get more radical? The progs cannot comprehend that.

[mad libertarian guy]

Shorter John: Proggies need to learn a lesson or three by reading The Wife of Bath's Tale. You wanna treat me like a radical regardless of whether I act like one or not? That's fine, but you're gonna get what you accuse me of in fucking spades.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You wanna treat me like a radical regardless of whether I act like one or not? That's fine, but you're gonna get what you accuse me of in fucking spades.

This is what I keep telling my kids.

[tarran]

I think part of the problem is the incentives within the group.

Basically, you have a bunch of different people in leadership positions. Some are aware of their opponents' rationales and could accomodate them. Others are aware but don't give a shit. Then there are the guys who are duped by the propaganda and literally cannot understand why the opposition opposes them. There are more, but let's just stop with these three groups.

In the short term the marginalization can work to help get your way, but in the long term, the group think has a very pernicious effect. A young clever guy just starting out is repelled by the group think and goes away. The next generation has a much higher proportion of dupes than the population they are drawn from.

The dupes tend to more vigorously promote the orthodoxy, making it harder for the non-dupes to maintain their authority if they go against the group-think while rewarding those who go along with it with more authority.

The logical conclusion of this trend is a movement that is full of dupes that has few smart introspective guys in it.

This is not just affecting the proggies. I would argue that something along these lines is impacting the Rothbardian wing of the Libertarian movement.

[tarran]

It takes a very unusual leader to break the cycle. Take Martin Luther King, for example. What made him unusually successful was that he challenged his followers to accept their opponents as people worthy of consideration, and his death of course was followed by the reassertion of the group think pattern resulting in the Civil Rights movement becoming ideologically insular and self-destructive.

I think the smartest thing that either the Democrats or Republicans could do in the long term is to set up a system that only mildly discourages people from coming in and shaking things up (encouraging is bad because you get a lot of loons ? forcing people to overcome some opposition separates the unserious from the serious). Like building up one's immune system by playing in dirt. Right now the establishment of both parties are systematically discouraging the shaker uppers, although it seems the Republicans are being less successful (case in point the failure to eject Rand Paul), to their good fortune.

[John]

Yes Tarran. Think about your description of the generation of dupes and then think about the infamous Juicebox mafia. The whole under 40 generation of progs are fucking dupes who are incapable of thinking outside of the hive.

[Redmanfms]

And when you ignore/marginalize people while messing with their shit, they tend to assert themselves. The more you marginalize or ignore them, the harder they push back.

IOW, unless the progs get a grip on their insanity, this is only going to end in bloodshed.

Buy it cheap and stack it deep.

[Auric Demonocles]

Pro Lib, I know you're a lawyer, but you're not a constitutional scholar. Apparently you missed the part where it says that Congress is required to approve any proposed spending.

[Pro Libertate]

It's really crazy. Virtually all spending has to originate in the House. While many common folk may not realize it, that should be generally known by educated people.

Consider what that means. We have an annual budget process. Each year, the House gets to decide what gets funded and what doesn't. It is not bound by any law, other than the Constitution itself.

This fact would be much more apparent if the government were forced to operate solely within its revenues (or even with a small, legally capped amount of debt), because only so many things could get funded each year.

[John]

It is totally crazy. All of the talk about how "this is not how it is supposed to work". Bullshit, this is exactly how it is supposed to work. If you don't own the House, you not going to get your spending unless you can give them a reason to give it to you.

[Pro Libertate]

What's not supposed to happen is rule by executive fiat, laws few want getting shoved through by questionable processes, CRs instead of budgets, out of control spending, etc. What the House is doing right now was legal in 1790, and it's legal now.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Right. It's gridlock = good thing if you ask me, not gridlock = bad thing.

[tarran]

On CNN, for shits and giggles, I posted the relevant passage from Federalist #58. I was accused of being a duped by Fox News.

James Madison, Fox News shill. ROFL

[Pro Libertate]

This bit?

The House of Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose, the supplies requisite for the support of government. They, in a word, hold the purse that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British Constitution, an infant and humble representation of the people gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the government. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.

Yeah, what does Madison know? He just wrote the old document.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Yeah, it's also a good way to get downvoted by the Reddit hivemind. Democracy means shutting up and following Dear Leader.

[Juice]

Virtually all spending has to originate in the House.

Where does it say that in the Constitution? It does say that "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House" but that's not the same as spending.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Thank you Juice. I had to slap this down last time.

Why won't they listen?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, yes, it's funding, not spending.

[Palin's Buttplug]

That was a new episode.

Shouldn't you be complaining about how Cartman is always taking the conservative positions on South Park while Stan and Kyle are the liberals?

Like a conservative does Cartman was trying to boo and drown out Wendy Testaberger's essay reading last night.

[Bobarian]

The Liberals on South Park are usually the dipshit parents and school administrators. Cartman is a reactionary populist.

Stan and Kyle are probably the the most libertarian voices on television.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Cartman is a reactionary populist.

In other words, a conservative. Cartman even did a Glenn Beck style radio show on one episode.

Cartman is a bigot (the water park show), a sexist (fighting Wendy about breast cancer), and a con artist (cheating Butters out of his spot at Kyle's birthday party).

He is modeled on Rush Limbaugh it seems.

[Live Free or Diet]

Cartman even did a Glenn Beck style radio show on one episode.

Really? Did they play Moron Trivia?

[trshmnstr]

Cartman is a bigot (the water park show), a sexist (fighting Wendy about breast cancer), and a con artist (cheating Butters out of his spot at Kyle's birthday party).

I was going to write a response to John's comment above about progs not understanding others' motives, but this practically stole my thunder.

You don't understand the motives behind conservatism and libertarianism, so you're free to assign motives as you see most politically expedient. Things like this are why the words "racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe" have no bite anymore.

[Palin's Buttplug]

the motives behind conservatism and libertarianism

You are trying to merge the two.

If the two are mostly one in the same then that will come as a surprise to many libertarians.

[trshmnstr]

Of course they're not the same. They are two relevant examples of ideologies of which you have no grasp of the motives. I have no clue if you have a grasp of the motives of theocratic monarchy, because I've never seen you talk about it.

[Sy]

You must have missed the episode where he rages about the 1%. Then again, you are an idiot. So there's that.

[Auric Demonocles]

He actually tried to act as a whistle blower last night (but nobody else cared about the NSA watching them). Soooo conservative.

[Hyperion]

It's very easy for BP to get liberals and libertarians mixed up, since he's a raging progressive who pretends to be libertarian.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Classic liberals like myself and libertarians share a lot of the same views.

Cartman is a raging anti-Semite too, by the way. Yes, he is a conservative icon.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You ARE NOT a classical liberal.

That you keep mentioning this is nothing short of astounding.

You have not sufficiently demonstrated you are that justifies this position.

[Mike M.]

It's nothing but a vile, shit-throwing monkey. Don't feed the animal.

[#]

That must be another term he doesn't understand.

[Enough About Palin]

"Cartman is a raging anti-Semite too, by the way."

You mean just like Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan?

[JW]

"Obamacare is a law that was passed!" l

It's heartwarming to know that the Dems can count on these partisan lemmings for their support when they reintroduce the Fugitive Slave Act for the ACA.

IT'S THE LAW.

[Auric Demonocles]

But the debt ceiling isn't a law that should be followed because *mumble mumble*.

[mad libertarian guy]

President Obama met with congressional leaders to talk about the partial government shutdown, but according to the House Speaker Obama refused to negotiate.

When you'll negotiate with Iran but not with House Republicans, claiming that it's because they're too radical, you know your priorities are fucked up.

[Snark Plissken]

Prime Minister David Cameron wants to "nag and push and guide" British youth under 25 out of the benefits system.

Jus' hang loose, blood. She gonna catch ya up on da rebound on da med side.

[Rich]

He should nudge Cass Sunstein in as a consultant.

[Slammer]

What's your problem Big Momma? My mama didn't raise no dummies, I dug her rap!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chump don't want no help, chump don't get da help.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He could always just overturn the safety hammock.

[gaijin]

David Cameron wants to "nag and push and guide"

Once a nanny, always a nanny. Maybe he should try a different approach.

[Lady Bertrum]

The British are doomed.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They've got nothing anymore. No work ethic, no natural resources, no dominion over others, no anything. Just remnants of an empire that faded away over half a century ago.

[Hyperion]

At least they've got fashion to look forward to, since they will all soon be sporting burquas.

[Lady Bertrum]

2/3 of the population wishes they were European and tries to emulate them. The 1/3 wish they were Americans or Australians. Losers.

[mad libertarian guy]

Prime Minister David Cameron wants to "nag and push and guide" British youth under 25 out of the benefits system.

That they are eligible to be on benefits to begin with is the travesty.

Unless you are A) retarded; B) otherwise incapable of performing work (perhaps you're severely handicapped in some fashion) there is no goddamn reason for any person under the age of 25 to be on the fucking dole. Go get a fucking job, you lazy fucker.

[CE]

You know who else wanted to nag and push and guide British youth?

[Michael S. Langston]

When hiring a full time employee who only works one day, puts the employer on the hook for 18 months of full pay/medical for unemployment then young people never get hired as it all becomes a big catch 22.

An employer cannot hire people that they cannot trust - the way employers define trust is by prior experience - so young people cannot get a job to prove themselves trustworthy because no one will hire them without having a prior job proving...

In this way - only the connected get real jobs.

& of course for those non-racist Europeans, these policies hurt immigrants much more than nationals, so they have that problem to deal with too.

It's a simple equation - the more risk an employer must take on to hire any given individual, the more protective they will be of that position - with enough risk, this will go to the point of leaving open a position indefinitely without the "right" candidate, even if filling the position with a less desirable candidate would increase productivity/profit/expand business/etc/etc/etc.

[mnarayan]

Good morning to everyone on this glorious day, the second Troll Free Spursday of the season. As the name implies, we kindly request that you do not feed the trolls. If you find yourself missing their special brand of commentary, feel free to watch any of the Europa league matches going on today. While the fan's racism may lack the malice that shrike provides, they do their utmost to compensate in number and volume.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Forza Fiorentina!

Fucking Juve. Boy did they play silly yesterday against Galatasaray.

Bayern: Best team at the moment bar none.

Sorry don't get to talk soccer all that much around here.

[Rasilio]

That's cause Soccer is a girly mans sport

[gaijin]

hey, why are you so mean! [arms folded, lips pursed, eyes squinting]

[CE]

[Falls on the floor and rolls in agony to dramatize the micro-aggression to the authorities.]

[robc]

None of those are EPL teams.

If we are going to talk soccer, lets talk soccer, not this nancy southern european bullshit.

[Rhywun]

None of those are EPL teams.

And Bayern are demonstrating that aimlessly smashing the ball around the field isn't enough to consistently win CL any more.

[Ted S.]

And Bayern couldn't even be bothered to play for the last 15 minutes.

They could easily have been up 6-0 by that point: Robben with the missed header; Robben with the bad pass to M?ller; and M?ller off the crossbar.

[KeithC]

Forza Fiorentina is right. I hope the Viola don't get too caught up in the Europa League, though - with Milan's struggles, they've got a legitimate shot at third this year, unless both Roma and Inter are actually this good.

And screw you guys, Serie A is great. The fascinating combo of WWE-like drama and enjoyable soccer makes for a great product.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, the EPL quip was comical. I watch all four major leagues and disagree with robc. Southern Europe - Spain and Italy - have won more damn trophies than the EPL and their national sides are far superior to anything the whiny, non-tactical Brits can field.

[robc]

It isnt about trophies, its about style of play.

Northern europeans dive less often than southern europeans or south americans.

This is fact.

Im also not a fact of the rules changes. If you get the ball first on the tackle, nothing in your follow thru should matter. Come from behind? Did you get the ball before you broke his ankle? Then its a clean tackle.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bull shit, robc. I see and have seen plenty of diving in Northern soccer. You just choose to believe the "righteous" Northern angle. Last couple of WC's England and Germany and Holland (especially the latter) outdove must countries. How do I know? I'm part of a Fantasy Cheat League.

Dive less my ass.

Yes, there's embellishment in the south but as one astute person pointed out years ago about Italy, that's possibly because of the tight man to man marking that leads to a shit load of clippings.

Brazil, Argentina, Portugal to my mind are the masters at theatrics.

As for style of play, Italy and Spain have influenced soccer more than England could ever do in the last 40 years. I don't know what you mean but did you get the part about the shifting formations? Is that not style of play?

Or do you just want "open" soccer?

Personally, I like all styles. I like Arsenal, Atletico, Roma etc. Each come to the table with their own unique takes.

But don't try and tell this former player with 30 plus years in the game that the English style is better.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Milan is okay this year - won't go far in CL. Roma really looks like a real unit under Garcia. We'll see about the Mazzari effect at Inter. Napoli is also interesting.

The thing that's always been interesting about Serie A is the sheer diverse strategies and tactics employed by all teams. They effortlessly move from one formation IN GAME. That's what makes it look "boring" but to those who actually are fans, it's awesome.

And this impacts the national side. If you notice Italy plays and has played and experiences with multiple formations (only the 4-3-3 was a wreck) whereas the English player can really deviate from the 4-4-2.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

can't really. sorry.

[Raven Nation]

A great idea. Any thought to extending Troll Free Spursday to be an everyday event?

And, do you have a prediction for the Anzhi Makhachkala vs. Spurs game. More importantly, do you know where Anzhi is from.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I missed this earlier. Russian League. Go with Tottenham.

Yes, I acknowledge the question was possibly tongue in cheek.

[SugarFree]

Anyone that would stoop so low as to talk to a troll would also be likely to break into rest homes and give the sleeping patients exotically complex rimjobs.

tl;dr Engaging a troll is the same as raping an old man's shit-smeared asshole with your tongue.

[gaijin]

nice. I really gotta quit eating breakfast before checking out H+R

[Citizen Nothing]

It's a fair cop.

[WTF]

Engaging a troll is the same as raping an old man's shit-smeared asshole with your tongue.

I'm thinking of copying that and pasting it as a response to anyone responding to a troll.

[SugarFree]

Please feel free.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How do you really feel SF?

[SugarFree]

My therapist fired me. 🙁

[Bobarian]

Now wipe the poop off your lips.

[SugarFree]

We all saw what you did, Bobarian.

Bobarian|10.3.13 @ 9:51AM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

The Liberals on South Park are usually the dipshit parents and school administrators. Cartman is a reactionary populist.

Stan and Kyle are probably the the most libertarian voices on television.

[Bobarian]

Grandpa had pudding last night.

[Restoras]

Don't feel bad my wife just fired me. Oddly, I don't seem to mind. I can always get another, and so can you...

[Lord Humungus]

Daily Mail full of 'bile', says Nick Clegg

But it's good bile!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tell the comment section of AM Links something it doesn't already know.

[Bee Tagger]

Are you telling me I wasted 2 minutes of my life typing this in a separate document to get ready for AM links?

I guess we know the deupty prime minister of the UK isn't the real life persona of sarcasmic

UK's Deputy Prime Minister Says The Daily Mail is "Overflowing With Bile"

[DJF]

Since its "Her Majesties" government and since Cameron and Clegg are in charge of it, shouldn't they have the title Queen and maybe Grand Duchess instead of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister?

[Zeb]

Cameron and Clegg run it, but they don't own it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A federal judge ordered a monitor be appointed to oversee Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County Sheriff's Department following a May ruling that found the agency to be engaged in racial profiling.

Yeah, I see that playing out exactly as that judge intended.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Why Divorce Attorneys Will Love Obamacare
Someone in the White House thinks marriage is a bad idea.

Earlier this year, TFT showed that a high-earning couple, each with incomes of $400,000, would save about $27,000 annually if they divorced and filed their taxes separately. Now we learn that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is dangling a similar fate in front of middle income earners.

A typical 40-year old couple with two kids could save $7,230 a year by divorcing if one partner earns, say, $70,000 and the other $23,000. Sixty year-olds earning $62,041 each a year would save $11,028 annually if they broke up....

[Palin's Buttplug]

How does the ACA impact taxes due a middle income couple if both are insured by their employer? (the most common scenario)

[Longtorso, Johnny]

If their employer(s) dump them on the exchanges, like the Obamassiah wants.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh, that is not happening.

Home Depot dumped their part-timers on the exchanges who had a "limited liability" policy - a lousy $5000 maximum benefit policy. They did them a favor basically.

Tax subsidies for execs are paid for by the middle class anyway.

[Rasilio]

No clue but Obamacare could very well be the final nail in my (official) marriage.

My wife and I have already been considering the cost/benefit of getting a "divorce" so she can return to school and get all those yummy free benefits.

Now with Obamacare we could in theory drop our health care expenditures close to in half by putting her and the kids on an exchange plan paid for almost entirely by the government (she has no income, she's a SAHM) and just insuring me through my employer.

[Citizen Nothing]

Now you've got me thinkin', R.

[DJF]

Another reason the government should get out of the marriage business.

I wonder if homosexuals will think that marriage is such a great idea now?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Whoever was asking about legal issues to become familiar with to make some $$ - two words:

Gay Divorce

Imaging the legal issues in family court as they look for both a man to screw and a woman to reward.

[Zeb]

I wonder if straight people will.

[Citizen Nothing]

There is a flip side to that: My mom and dad stayed married for more than a decade after they split up (until my mom died) so she could continue to get his health insurance.

[sarcasmic]

Woman arrested for drunk driving sues after video shows her being strip searched by four officers and tossed naked into a cell
Dana Holmes was pulled over in May for driving at nearly three times the legal limit
Officers say she was resisting arrest and three male and one female officers are all shown stripping the 33-year-old
Holmes is suing Lasalle County police and the four officers involved for what she says was an unnecessary and illegal search

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-cell.html

Holmes is suing the LaSalle County sheriff's department and the four deputies for violating her civil rights after her May 18 arrest and for inflicting

emotional harm by stripping her without legal justification and says she hopes the officers involved lose their jobs.

Haaaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Lose their jobs? Haaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha!

[Andrew S.]

Now, now. It's possible an officer could lose their job over this.

I mean, one of them might decide that the other officers did something wrong and report it, right? That'd get the officer fired for sure.

(The reporting officer, of course. She wouldn't expect the officers who stripped her to be disciplined, would she)

[sarcasmic]

She's under the impression that the law actually applies to those who enforce it. She's in for a rude awakening.

[Raven Nation]

Even if they do, I suspect Holmes would find herself the subject of a large number of moving "violations."

[Ted S.]

I'm surprised the cameras didn't malfunction.

[Zeb]

What would be the point of the strip search if they didn't have the video to watch later in a more private setting?

[sarcasmic]

The point of the search is to degrade and humiliate her for failing to show sufficient respect.

[Zeb]

That was mostly a joke. But as the victim appears to be pretty attractive, I bet that had something to do with the decision too.

[Zeb]

Gee, I wonder why they decided to strip search her in particular. Fucking pig-fucking pigs.

[CE]

Dana Holmes was pulled over in May for driving at nearly three times the legal limit...

What, was she doing 165 in a 55 mph zone? Wow!

[Lord Humungus]

not newsworthy, unless you want to see a picture of a harpy.

Sin?ad O'Connor Pens Open Letter to Miley Cyrus

"The music business doesn't give a sh*t about you, or any of us," she continues. "They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted... and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, 'they' will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone."

[Ted S.]

The music industry made Sineaid O'Connor go on SNL and rip up the Pope's picture?

[OldMexican]

Re: Ted S.

The music industry made Sineaid O'Connor go on SNL and rip up the Pope's picture?

That is what she implied, and I believe her! It's those eeevil corpureishiuns! They made her do it, I tell you!

[DJF]

She maybe a harpy but she is telling the truth.

[Snark Plissken]

That the music industry makes a profit on voluntary transactions?

[Lady Bertrum]

And that young poorly educated people are fucking stupid?

[DJF]

So what is wrong in warning someone that you should make sure that voluntary transaction is good for you in the long run. Or that you should negotiate a better voluntary transaction.

[Lady Bertrum]

Absolutely nothing.

[Snark Plissken]

The idiotic hyperbole? The attention-seeking whining?

[Lady Bertrum]

O'Connor is an annoying self-righteous hag. While her style of presentation is awful, the content is about right.

If she really gave a shit about Miley she would have picked up the phone and had a private conversation instead of putting it out there publically like an attention seeking whore - making it more about herself than a "friend".

[Elspeth Flashman]

Ding! Give that woman a brownie.

[robc]

http://www.techdirt.com/articl.....lead.shtml

Or, possibly, you know, making a profit via stealing artist royalties.

The concept of Eminem having a precedent setting case makes me lol.

[Rasilio]

What is the difference between Miley "thinking it is what she wants" and her actually wanting it at the time and then later in life changing her mind?

Oh that's right not a damn thing.

In otherwords go fuck yourselfrighteous self Sineaid, no one made you "prostitute" yourself and no one is making Miley do it. You both love the fame and adulation and syncophants telling you how awesome you are that the prostitution gets you and the only problem is that you couldn't handle it when that fame and adulation moved on to someone new.

[Lady Bertrum]

The circle of life continues.

Young somewhat talented kid gets a job with Disney and sells "good girl" image for millions.

Good girl gets tired of being inauthentic and wants to stick it to the corporate interests who have moved on and or used up said young talent. She Reinvents herself by becoming "bad".

Bad becomes pathetic and boring.

Drug rehab next stop.

[SugarFree]

I think there will be some "accidental" nudity and shoplifting before rehab. I mean, she hasn't even gotten a DUI yet, right?

[Lady Bertrum]

She needs a sex tape obviously. Perhaps you should produce?????

[Lord Humungus]

the horror, the horror...

*helicopter sound overhead*

[SugarFree]

the horror, the horror...

Oh, you know you'd watch it. I know about your panda bukkake fetish.

[Lord Humungus]

hey...I thought that little secret was between the two of us. *pouts*

[SugarFree]

Just be glad I deleted the pictures.

[robc]

The "accidental" nudity for Miley has already happened.

She already has had the obligatory "short skirt, no underwear, getting into a car" pic.

[SugarFree]

I must have missed it. For which I am glad. Ogling someone with such a severe case of Bell's Palsy just not cool.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

It was really controversial because she was underage, IIRC, and Perez Hilton or TMZ or someone like that was facing child porn charges.

[robc]

I think you are confusing the Miley Cyrus pic with some other teen star...Amanda Hudgens or whatever.

Gah, how do I remember that?

[Lady Bertrum]

Miley could have tried another strategy by actually producing music and/or movies that were good and entertaining. (See Justin Timberlake). But, that would require a controlled ego, some goals beyond just being famous, and some minimal level of real talent.

[Rasilio]

Hell she could just look over at her contemporary Selena Gomez who to this point seems to be making a successful transition from teen to adult star.

Sure her music isn't great but it is passably decent pop and she seems to be able to keep her "bad girl" image in check to just the music and acting and at least mostly out of her personal life.

[gaijin]

QOTSA lyrics seem apropos:

I'm Designer:

My generation's for sale, beats a steady job
How much have you got?
My generation don't trust no one
It's hard to blame, not even ourselves

The thing that's real for us is fortune and fame
All the rest seems like work
It's just like diamonds in shit

[Red Rocks Rockin]

They may both love the fame and adulation, but there's nothing wrong with someone who's gone through this before putting out some realtalk on the music industry. It's possible Miley could stay relevant by continuing to act like a "FUCK YOU, DAD!" adolescent--hell, Madonna's whole career is based on it--but it's a lot more likely she's going to be thrown on the pop-culture dumpster inside of five years and/or go into some kind of Amanda Bynes/Lindsay Lohan meltdown, especially if she's more focused on cultivating a "brand" than in creating good music.

[robc]

Considering the history the music industry has had with not paying out royalties properly, I think the warning goes beyond "be careful about your voluntary transactions".

[Brett L]

Yeah, I was listening to the audiobook version of "Predictably Irrational", which, for the most part, is a delightful book. But the author, at one point started talking about how if there are "anchor prices" then free markets don't work. But it assumes that happiness and thinking something will make you happy are different. Which is true but besides the point.

[Caleb Turberville]

"Mandinka" is a fine late 80s modern rocker. There, I said something supportive of Sinead O' Connor, and I stand by it.

[WTF]

Agree. She's still a lunatic, though.

[Palin's Buttplug]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF0cCQCiZ-c

Downpressor Man

[Drax the Destroyer]

This brings to mind the fact that musicians, especially ones that played to the serfs, were only a shade above prostitutes for most of human history. I think this changed in the 20th century...slightly.

[WTF]

Same for actors, actually.

[sarcasmic]

Grandmother shot and killed by state troopers after high-speed chase
Wendy Lawrence, 45, of Canterbury, N.H., was struck by gunfire four times
Led police on high-speed chase following failure to produce driving licence
She died on Monday night after being shot in Manchester

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

It is not clear what exactly prompted the trooper to fire his gun and officials have launched an investigation.

"Totality of the circumstances... Furtive movements... Weapon was seen... Feared for his life..." What boilerplate did I miss?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He was making sure he gets home at night?

[gaijin]

grandmother...at 45?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Well, if 18 used to be the age to become a parent, being grandmother at 45 would have been behind the curve. Of course, this was before the idiocracy-esque world we live in where "smarter" people believe having children is cost prohibitive.

[Rasilio]

Why would that be surprising?

Really that is just slightly below the average since on average women first become mothers is around 23 years old. The average was 21 in the 70's and is up to 25 today, so if she had her first kid at 21 in 1989 and that kid has their first child at 24 she'd be a 45 year old grandmother with each birth occurring just 1 year below the median maternal age at the time it occurred.

[gaijin]

The math all makes sense. I'll have to remember to check my stereotypes at the submit button!

[Zeb]

My family has long generations, so that strikes me as young too. But it is really pretty usual. Why it is relevant that she is a grandmother, I am not sure. If the shooting is unjustified, then I would be just as outraged if it was a 25 year old single man that no one likes.

[BuSab Agent]

Damn straight. I had my first kid at 19 My oldest had her first kid at 23. So 45 isn't even that weird.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Wonkblog: We Need an Elected King
... Max Weber, in conversation with Gen. Erich Ludendorff, advanced my personal favorite theory of democracy: "In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, 'Now shut up and obey me.' " People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business. ?Later the people can sit in judgment. If the leader has made mistakes ? to the gallows with him!"

Hanging leaders rather than failing to reelect them seems a mite harsh, but the overall idea here is exactly right. For a government to be truly accountable to the people, it needs to actually control the circumstances over which the people will judge it. And in developed countries, the people judge it in large part based on the state of the economy....

[Andrew S.]

I'm in favor of the part about dragging our leaders to the gallows...

[Raven Nation]

This would be more entertaining:

http://www.economicpopulist.or.....lotine.jpg

[Eduard van Haalen]

OK, I followed the links and checked out the context of Weber's remarks. Ludendorff, as de facto dictator of Germany, had just led that country into defeat in WWI, but he refused to take responsibility, blaming everyone else but himself (he later joined a coup attempt led by a certain Austrian corporal).

Weber wanted Ludendorff to take responsibility for the defeat - not in the Janet Reno sense of holding a press conference and saying she's responsible but will still hold on to power, but in the sense of handing himself over to the Allies for possible execution.

The problem with Weber's idea (as Ludendorf's experience shows) is that once you've made someone a dictator, they're not going to consent to be judged by the people, not even if they lead their country into an utter disaster.

[Bam!]

Ironically, that's pretty much how Dick Cheney viewed the Oval Office.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Just to reinforce the pure totalitarian nature of this:

For a government to be truly accountable to the people, it needs to actually control the circumstances over which the people will judge it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Our leaders just need a little more authority, that's all. What with all these elections it's just hard to do anything.

[Long Range Boredom]

I'd be in favour of re-introducing dueling into the political realm actually, both non-lethal and lethal. Challenge their statements and see if they're willing to stake their life on such claims.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Get rid of elections and have them fight to the death like Klingon emperors?

[Long Range Boredom]

Better idea: Ancient feudal Siamese leadership rite. It requires fighting to the death on the backs of war elephants.

[PD Scott]

Have a bunch of Texas longhorns chase Congress, the Cabinet and the Supremes down Pennsylvania Avenue. Call it the Running of the Bullshit.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

How about you throw 100 politicians and 50 parachutes out of plane? Then you can gamble on which ones will be able to successfully fight for a parachute before hitting the ground.

[Brett L]

Okay, but you know they use bulls and longhorn bulls don't have the wide horns of cows and steers, but more traditional fighting horns, right? I don't want you disappointed when they just look like rangy normal cows.

[Lady Bertrum]

More like Necromancers. You keep what you kill

[BuSab Agent]

That's Necromongers.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The wankblog article promotes unicameral legislature and parliamentary government, saying that the Presidential, bicameral system is so dysfunctional that it leads to dictatorship.

Then the accompanying map refutes the article's thesis - it shows countries with bicameral legislatures (like the US, most of Europe, etc.) versus countries with unicameral legislature (such paragons of democracy as China).

Anyway, the wankblog misses the point - Madison's concern was not a dictatorship by a stereotypical bemadaled caudillo, but dictatorship by a temporary majority - and that problem does indeed exist in parliamentary systems.

At least the wankblog takes a position contrary to its short-term preferences - a parliamentary system would have made Boehner the Prime Minister. Do they realize this?

[#]

"a parliamentary system would have made Boehner the Prime Minister. Do they realize this?"

I don't think most of them do. I've used this line with dems recently complaining how the republicans don't respect democracy. I tell them if this were a more pure democracy, a PM Boehner would have repealled the whole thing 2 years ago and there would be no fight. Is that what you meant?

[Fatty Bolger]

"In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, 'Now shut up and obey me.' " People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business. ?Later the people can sit in judgment. If the leader has made mistakes ? to the gallows with him!"

Only a great fool would make that deal. Whatever makes you think that the dictator, once given absolute authority, would willingly give it up and face the consequences?

[Pro Libertate]

It may be a Red Queen's race to make sure it works at all, but never, ever give anyone unchecked power over you.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

They're operating off of the presumption that Lord Obama, El Shaddai and Light of the World, would step down the same way Sulla did. What they fail to understand is once you weaken the structures of a republic for the sake of convenience, its impossible to prevent said structure from eventually being destroyed.

Augustus was intelligent enough to cloak his dictatorship in the illusion that the Senate's authority had been restored after decades of civil war, but he couldn't control his successors taking what he had done to its logical conclusion.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Sulla is pretty much the only example of someone obtaining that much power and voluntarily giving it up. And Sulla was a vicious bastard.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Max Weber, in conversation with Gen. Erich Ludendorff, advanced my personal favorite theory of democracy

If you're going to Erich Ludendorff for political advice, you just Godwinned yourself. Why not just go ahead and say that Congress should pass the Enabling Act and just get it over with?

[Eduard van Haalen]

To be fair, Weber thought Ludendorff should give himself up for possible hanging because of his failures.

[BuSab Agent]

I could go along with this if there was also the proviso that the elected king could have no bodyguards whatsoever.

[sarcasmic]

America's best pizza is in LA (but what will Chicago and New York make of it?)
Top pizza restaurant was chosen by reviews using Zagat survey
Michael's of Long Beach, California has only been open for two years

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ke-it.html
What's a Zagat?

[SugarFree]

It's a version of Yelp that has no idea where you are.

[Pro Libertate]

Who decided that? People in LA?

[Azathoth!!]

The restaurant is owned by Michael Dene who is originally from New York City but wanted a taste of the east coast out west

So it's someone making New York pizza in LA.

Actual LA pizza didn't even make the list.

By us we have two, Flying Pizza and Goodfellas that make a passable New York pizza. Flying Pizza has their water shipped in. Goodfellas doesn't. Fyling Pizza is, of course, the one that tastes spot on, like the neighborhood pizzeria, like Pal Joey's or Joe & Pats.

New York pizza wins even when it's not cooked in New York.

[Lord Humungus]

Frito Pie Review Gets New Mexico Riled Up

Bourdain has apologized and says that despite what his review may have sounded like, he did enjoy the corn-chip delicacy.

"I, in fact, very much enjoyed my Frito pie in spite of its disturbing weight in the hand. It may have felt like shit, but was shockingly tasty."

"It always hurts to see something taken away from New Mexico and given to Texas," says New Mexican David Stout. "The only thing we have at the moment is Breaking Bad, so just give us Frito pie."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It's Fritos, canned chili, and day glow fake yellow cheese. WTF people, you aren't Hiroyuki Sakai for serving it - get over the insult of "I love it but I shouldn't".

[gaijin]

where's the Frito Bandito when you need him?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Eye, eye, eye-eye.....

[RBS]

+1 Iron Chef

[Clich? Bandit]

+1 trout ice cream

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I hate cooking shows with judges. Why am I watching if I can't taste it myself? Why should I trust judges? It's all, after all, very subjective.

[Pro Libertate]

Just wait. One day, Tast-O-Vision will be a reality.

[Lady Bertrum]

Still waiting for Feelies......

[Ska]

Milk enema porn will never be quite the same.

[AlexInCT]

And government will force everyone to tase ass during the state of the union address?

[Zeb]

Those are pretty stupid. Cooking shows used to be about showing you how to cook. It seems very silly to make cooking into a sport.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It seems very silly to make cooking into a sport.

It makes perfect sense for tv. The judging will be completely subjective and it's ripe for manipulation. Therefore they can develop their plotlines and characterizations with total abandon.

[Zeb]

Well, TV is very silly in general, I guess.

[Pro Libertate]

I liked the Food Network back when it had cooking shows. Now I hardly watch it at all.

[robc]

Ditto.

They apparently have a new network which actually shows cooking shows, but I dont get it, its in a higher tier cable package.

[Pro Libertate]

The Cooking Channel. Emeril moved over there a while back.

I miss Good Eats.

[robc]

I thought the Cooking Channel had Good Eats? Or are you like me and without that channel.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

The series itself is over.

[Pro Libertate]

I have it, but Alton Brown walked away from the program a couple of years ago now, I think.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I liked the Food Network back when it had cooking shows. Now I hardly watch it at all.

Careful what you say. Gordon Ramsay may show up in your kitchen.

[Redmanfms]

Create TV by PBS (yeah, I know).

They have other stuff like home improvement and travel shows, but the cooking shows, especially America's Test Kitchen are really great.

[Pro Libertate]

I watch that some. Couple of old Food Network chefs are there, too, like Ming Tsai.

[Zeb]

As a libertarian, I have obvious problems with how PBS is funded, but as far as broadcast TV goes, I don't think that there is anything nearly as good. (though broadcast TV is not so relevant these days, so perhaps that is not saying much).
America's Test Kitchen is great. My favorite was a series they had in the 80s, "Great Chefs of [various big cities]".

[Emmerson Biggins]

I blame Bravo. They have really fucked up a lot of TV.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"It always hurts to see something taken away from New Mexico and given to Texas," says New Mexican David Stout. "The only thing we have at the moment is Breaking Bad, so just give us Frito pie."

Fucking Christ, talk about insecure. Frito pie is about authentically "New Mexican" as Velveeta is authentic cheese.

[UnCivilServant]

Velveeta isn't even imitation food, let alone cheese.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

You'd think they'd be happy with just having the best goddamned green chili in the universe.

[Clich? Bandit]

bingo

[Zeb]

It's not cheese, but at least it is actually a dairy product. Definitely not the worst of the fake orange cheese products.

[Pro Libertate]

There's a line in Doon, the Harvard Lampoon Dune parody, which goes something like this in response to the Paul analogue mentioning Velveeta: "Know you then of the Cheese that Cannot Die?"

[sarcasmic]

Great White sharks in feeding frenzy caught on camera tearing dead whale to pieces

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

[Raven Nation]

Freaking free-riding seagulls.

[gaijin]

+1 SNAP!

[Ted S.]

Totality of the circs; the whale was resisting a legitimate order; yada yada yada.

[sarcasmic]

Kristen Stewart strips down to her underwear while Juliette Binoche goes nude as co-stars frolic in lake on set of new film in Swiss mountains

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....a-set.html
Nice ass-floss.

[Rich]

Those are some disturbing photos.

[SugarFree]

You mean all the shots that make it look like Kristen Stewart has a penis? Because transphobia ain't cool man. If Kristen Stewart wants to flaunt Kristen Stewart's penis then Kristen Stewart's penis should be flaunted.

Kristen Stewart's penis

[sarcasmic]

I was thinking "Girl's got junk" until the picture with her shorts wet, then I thought "Girl's got ass-floss."

[SugarFree]

I think it's fine if Kristen Stewart wants to cover up Kristen Stewart's penis with a Kristen Stewart's penis' man-thong.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Harry Reid says the president won't be held hostage

Apparently he didn't see Olympus Has Fallen. SPOILER ALERT.

[Lord Humungus]

Why Divorce Attorneys Will Love Obamacare

Earlier this year, TFT showed that a high-earning couple, each with incomes of $400,000, would save about $27,000 annually if they divorced and filed their taxes separately. Now we learn that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is dangling a similar fate in front of middle income earners.

A typical 40-year old couple with two kids could save $7,230 a year by divorcing if one partner earns, say, $70,000 and the other $23,000. Sixty year-olds earning $62,041 each a year would save $11,028 annually if they broke up.

[Drax the Destroyer]

Hmmm...my 60 ish parents could use 10 grand...

[Elspeth Flashman]

that's like another income from working part-time as a greeter at Walmart.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Already posted, and PB'ed above.

[Lord Humungus]

my apologies ... and sympathy.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The pain.....the pain.....

[Rasilio]

Well technically divorce attournies would be unlikely to be involved since these would be uncontested divorces as presumably the couple would just be doing it for financial reasons with no actual intent to split up.

[Pro Libertate]

Ha! Just wait until they try to amicably fake split the money.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I could honestly see a law being written to prevent couples who are happy in marriage from getting a divorce just for the financial benefits.

[Cdr Lytton]

If the Marine Corps is going after "sham" marriages, why not go after "sham" divorces? Medicare or Medicaid (forgot which one) looks back so many years to make sure you're not "hiding" assets.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Ding! I am sure it's already being considered as a way to stop this work-around.

[Rasilio]

They already exist in some states where it is a bit harder to get a divorce

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Not one dime that can be cut:

Lerner's Pension Could Be as Much as $102,600/Year, $3.96 Million Lifetime
Even before she retired last week, scandalized IRS official Lois Lerner's compensation was already attracting attention. While on administrative leave, federal rules allowed her to keep collecting a salary, one that reportedly totaled $177,000. So it was no surprise when speculation arose over how much Lerner could collect in federal pension benefits.

Unfortunately, that speculation, which initially projected a benefit of over $50,000, might be off by about half ... and in the wrong direction.

National Taxpayers Union calculations show that Lerner could qualify for a starting pension at the annual equivalent of as much as $102,600, and up to $3.96 million over her lifetime....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

IRS must turn over improperly obtained conservative donor lists
The Internal Revenue Service is still in possession of improperly obtained conservative donor lists, according to congressional investigators.

"The Committee on Ways and Means (Committee) has discovered that inappropriately obtained donor lists still remain in taxpayer case files, despite assurances from then-Acting Commissioner Miller at our May 17, 2013 hearing," according to a memo Wednesday from House Ways and Means chairman Rep. Dave Camp to acting IRS commissioner and Obama appointee Danny Werfel.

"In testimony before the Oversight Subcommittee on September 18, 2013, you said you 'learned last night about the potential presence of these donor lists, which were intended to be destroyed,'" Camp wrote to Werfel....

[Brett L]

I think Congress should pass a law to strip Federal employees who refuse to answer questions about their job performance, even by taking the Fifth, of their accrued pension and benefits. Then see if they're still willing to take the fall for their appointee bosses.

[Drake]

That and none of them should get pensions. Let them have their 403b's like the rest of us.

[UnCivilServant]

Why aren't you arguing for private pension companies, which would have lower operating overhead than those funds which bleed you dry with fees?

[Brett L]

Sure, but people who started 25 years ago didn't have a 403(b) option, I don't think.

[Drake]

Sure - but no new hire should get a pension and everyone under 10 years just gets a payout to their IRA or 403b.

[Pro Libertate]

It's well within Congress' authority to remove people in the administration for such things. Not sure about just waiving their hands to remove the pension, not without a law already authorizing it.

[Brett L]

No, they have to pass a law, then strip the pension of the next guy who does this. I should clarify that ex post facto laws are bad, and I am no advocating for them. Lerner would not be eligible unless given another turn to give open and honest testimony. But you don't have a right to a pension, so taking the Fifth shouldn't prevent the stripping of your pension.

[Pro Libertate]

I imagine there are already some circumstances where a pension can be stripped. Wonder what those are?

[Brett L]

I'm just saying, when FL did it to Crosby (Secretary of Corrections caught taking kickbacks), it got everyone's attention. People realized that Jeb was really, really serious about cleaning up FLDOC. Which was impossible, but they made some headway.

[Pro Libertate]

He's the last halfway decent governor we're ever going to have, I fear.

[Drax the Destroyer]

The righteous and indignant gnashing of progtard teeth over this fabled shutdown kept me sleeping well all night long. Facebook updates are a wasteland of my publicly educated peers worst anti-freedom diatribes. News at 11.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Department of Justice is opposing efforts by various tech companies to disclose the number of government requests for data they get.

Don't you understand? That number is also the government's PIN.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

How Much Of A Jerk Can You Be And Still Be Loved By Women?
Short answer: A lot.

The girlfriend of a jailed alpha male helped organize a helicopter prison break for him.

Yes, folks, she was part of a team that commandeered a helicopter and landed it on the roof of a prison complex, so that the man who drives his dick into her can do it in more romantic settings than a conjugal visit cell. Twue wuv!

Lest you think this Allie Capone is some ugly ghetto skank who resembles the abused crack ho spouses on COPS, here's her pic with her thug life lover. I'd tap that.

As beta males buy disillusioned 35-year-olds drinks and get thanks but no thanks cold shoulders in return, some inmate with a professional smirk waits for his hot fucktoy to land a fucking helicopter on the prison roof to fly him to freedom. And disingenuous hand-wringers wonder why men aren't "manning up"....

[Drax the Destroyer]

That's depressing and hilarious at the same time, Torso.

[Brett L]

After RTA, I'm going to bet that she worked at the strip club where her boyfriend was arrested with the Hells Angel.

[Rasilio]

I'm sorry but if alpha male and jailed are kind of an oxymoron.

[Lady Bertrum]

In her defense, the boyfriend is kinda hot. So, there's that.

[Lord Humungus]

I thought it was cheese... I was mislead.

There's Poop on the Moon

Among the things the astronauts left to lighten the load for the return trips were their "defecation collection devices," also known as emesis bags (top). So decades-old containers filled with decades-old astronaut turds are still hanging out on the Moon.

In addition to the cool-gross factor, this astro-poop has some scientific and, with the other artifacts up there, cultural value. Some astrobiologists are interested in how bacteria in the abandoned feces have fared, and some anthropologists and historians would like to see the moon landing sites and all the artifacts there protected as part of a World Heritage Site.

[Long Range Boredom]

Reminds me of something Arthur C. Clarke talked about. He suggested that humans could possibly create life millions of years down the road on pieces of space junk in orbit that have been sprayed with fecal matter from capsule ejections. He then also suggested that this might be how life on earth started (which would explain a lot, to be honest).

[Rich]

He then also suggested that this might be how life on earth started

The fecal position, as it were.

[Lord Humungus]

the world is nothing but a giant graveyard... and sewer... and brothel.

[Elspeth Flashman]

and restaurant!

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yes, and the alien species which caused life on earth were themselves the descendants of germs left by a previous alien species, and so ad infinitum.

Elephants all the way down.

[Long Range Boredom]

"And God shit, and from his mighty bowel did flow the plants, the beasts of land, and birds of the sky. And He saw that it was good."

[PD Scott]

Didn't William Burroughs write a story which had life on earth arising because an alien ship dumped it's waste tanks here billions of years ago?

[Pro Libertate]

There's a movie in this somewhere, as mutant bacteria (remember, no atmosphere and no magnetic field to block the radiation) evolve to thrive in the vacuum of space. If we don't get back there soon, they'll become xenomorph death machines.

[Citizen Nothing]

All with Buzz Aldrin's face.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ben Carson: 'I had my first encounter with the IRS' after challenging Obama
At an event in Birmingham, Ala. Monday night, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson revealed that he had received a visit from the Internal Revenue Service following his much-noted remarks at a National Prayer Breakfast earlier this year.

"I had my first encounter with the IRS this year, unsurprisingly after the prayer breakfast," Carson told an audience that at the annual Business Council of Alabama Chairman's Dinner, according to a report from Cliff Sims of the Montgomery, Ala.-based Yellowhammer News....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A CEO who resisted NSA spying is out of prison. And he feels 'vindicated' by Snowden leaks.
Just one major telecommunications company refused to participate in a legally dubious NSA surveillance program in 2001. A few years later, its CEO was indicted by federal prosecutors. He was convicted, served four and a half years of his sentence and was released this month.

Prosecutors claim Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio was guilty of insider trading, and that his prosecution had nothing to do with his refusal to allow spying on his customers without the permission of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. But to this day, Nacchio insists that his prosecution was retaliation for refusing to break the law on the NSA's behalf.

After his release from custody Sept. 20, Nacchio told the Wall Street Journal that he feels "vindicated" by the content of the leaks that show that the agency was collecting American's phone records....

[tarran]

The thing I love is that the 'Insider Trading' so called is based on the fact that he sold his shares before the company stock crashed. The company stock crashed after they stopped getting contracts from the govt. The contracts stopped after they refused to go along with the NSA.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nacchio was framed, period. To me, this is what proves we are living under an illegitimate government that has no concept of restraint or limited authority.

[Cdr Lytton]

The value of the contracts was no where near the amount of missed revenue. The stock crashed because it built on extremely rosy assumptions that were not true, and it crashed along with the rest of the telecom industry minus the companies that actually were bringing in real revenue and not swapping assets back and forth.

His defense to insider trader (SLD applies) was he was in possession of material inside information. Not a very good strategy.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

While that may be true and I don't really doubt it, I don't recall any other telecom executives receiving the type of treatment that Nacchio did. At the minimum, it was unequal application of the law. I was in the cell business at the time and I can say with certainty that every single one of the major equipment suppliers and service providers knew what was coming with the dotcom bust. Nortel broke the ice and the rest of them followed with the bad news after years of exorbitant and unrealistic projections.

So why did Nacchio get prosecuted and not the rest of them?

[Cdr Lytton]

Bernie Ebbers is still warming a cell, for one. Other lower level functionaries were convicted and even more settled civilly with the SEC.

Speaking of Nortel, Frank Dunn and two others went to trial in Canada but was acquitted in January.

[Cdr Lytton]

Also to add, while I think Nacchio got a fair trial and was guilty of those charges, it wouldn't surprise me if he was targeted by the NSA but I'd like to see something more substantive than just assertions by that clown.

[Suthenboy]

Two-bit banana republic dictator engages in banana republic tactics. What a surprise.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Banana...monkey...POTUS who is black....

RACIST!!!!!

[Lord Humungus]

Tesla Says Car Fire Began in Battery

In an incident report released under Washington state's public records law, firefighters wrote that they appeared to have Tuesday's fire under control, but the flames reignited. Crews found that water seemed to intensify the fire, so they began using a dry chemical extinguisher.

After dismantling the front end of the vehicle and puncturing holes in the battery pack, responders used a circular saw to cut an access hole in the front section to apply water to the battery, according to documents. Only then was the fire extinguished.

[Drax the Destroyer]

It's like that rash of exploding laptops that happened in the early-mid aughts. Except it happened in a vehicle that costs at least $50K and could CONTAIN YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

[Brett L]

And nobody was injured.

[WTF]

And nobody was injured.

This time.

[Redmanfms]

Uh yeah dude. I get the Tesla hate because Musk is a rent-seeking shitheel who built a car company on selling forced carbon credits, but there are literally thousands of car fires involving internal combustion powered vehicles in any given year.

[Suthenboy]

"Prime Minister David Cameron wants to "nag and push and guide" British youth under 25 out of the benefits system."

Didnt we just see an article a couple of days ago about how excited the limeys are about socialism? Wow.

[Long Range Boredom]

I'm still waiting for a new Mosley to show up.

[Rich]

The NPS has stationed officers along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that runs 184 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland to make sure nobody uses the bike paths. It would have required less manpower to keep this trail open. The handles on all the well pumps have also been removed.

Haven't found independent verification, but I kinda don't doubt this.

Barrycades

Nice.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Democrats Pay Union Members to Protest World War II Vets
... After about an hour, about 20 SEIU protesters arrived on the scene chanting "Boehner, get us back to work" and claiming they were federal employees furloughed because of the shutdown....

...In the video below these protesters were marching towards the press gaggle and I was asking them to show their federal IDs to prove they were in fact federal workers. No one wore their federal ID and none would provide it to prove their claim.

Then, remarkably, a guy carrying a sign passed by wearing a McDonald's employee shirt, which I noted. I then began asking them how much they had been paid to protest, at which point the guy wearing the McDonald's shirt came back and admitted he had been paid $15 to attend the protest....

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Shutdown overreach: More personnel sent to WWII memorial than Benghazi; Park Service closes park it doesn't run
...At the World War II Memorial on The Mall in Washington, where veterans have been staging protests to keep it open, Washington Examiner's Charlie Spiering reports that at least seven officials were dispatched Wednesday morning to set up a ring of barricades to block tourists from the memorial. That is two more than the State Department had in Benghazi a year ago on the night of the terrorist attack that killed four, including the U.S. ambassador....

[Mike M.]

Block Yomomma has officially morphed into Block Yograndfatha.

[mad libertarian guy]

That is two more than the State Department had in Benghazi a year ago on the night of the terrorist attack that killed four, including the U.S. ambassador....

I have been assured by a proggie friend that it's a false equivalence; that the events are completely separate and have nothing to do with one another.

I agreed, but noted that it clearly shows priorities. A terrorist attack on a foreign embassy in a hostile country? Fuck 'em! Stopping octogenarians from seeing a memorial that isn't funded or maintained by the fed gov? Send in the goon squad.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A jury found AEG Live not liable for the death of Michael Jackson.

Well obviously someone must be responsible for Jacko's behavior.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Remember kids, the music industry is full of people who Care and should run our lives.....

Michael Jackson 'chemically castrated' as child: doctor
...After discussing the voice with his colleagues, including endocrinologists, Branchereau ended up with the theory of chemical castration through the synthetic anti-male hormone drug Cyproterone....

[KDN]

But he has children! Surely you're not suggesting that those adorable little scamps aren't his?

[Rich]

Somebody's responsible!

[Rich]

Crap! Start at 47 seconds.

Does that count as a SugarFreed link? Ruling?

[Fist of Etiquette]

It worked for me.

[Rich]

Good. Must be a Firefox thing.

[NebulousFocus]

not here. & instead of #

[Lord Humungus]

We Don't Need 'Tapering,' We Need Full Termination Of QE3

Obviously, QE3 assumes that the economy and the financial markets need and want excess bank reserves more than they need and want Treasury securities and federally guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. However, this is clearly not the case.

Three-month Treasury bills are fully guaranteed by the federal government, just like bank reserves. Although highly liquid, T-bills are less liquid than bank reserves, because bank reserves are dollar liquidity itself. And, 90-day Treasuries bear some interest rate risk, while bank reserves have none (since they are effectively one-day T-bills). So, by all logic, 90-day T-bills should command a higher interest rate (i.e. be viewed as less desirable by the markets) than bank reserves.

And yet, despite all of this, the financial markets are willing to trade bank reserves yielding 0.25% for 90-day T-bills yielding 0.01%. In other words, the markets are saying that they need and want T-bills more than they need and want bank reserves.

[JW]

Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open. How petty.

"The most transparent petulant administration in history."

[Pro Libertate]

That's funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that one.

Casting politics aside for the moment, this administration, without question, is the most childish I've ever observed. It's hard to think that a reasonably articulate six-year old would behave much differently.

[Pro Libertate]

Hard not to think.

[Slammer]

They're treating the Japanese differently...RACIST!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's not even close. I've NEVER seen a President, even Nixon, whine about people criticizing him as much as Obama has done the past six years.

Everything that's happened during that period is the outgrowth of a spoiled-ass child with abandonment issues meeting true resistance for the first time in his life. Every statement is the equivalent of someone whose emotional development ended at the age of 10.

[Tonio]

I don't know, R^3, the "Checkers" speech set the model for presidential "I'm a victim" butt-hurt, and is still a tough act to follow.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Just gonna leave this here for Enough About Palin

[Lord Humungus]

CIA ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels

The CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train opposition fighters in Syria amid concern that moderate, U.S.-backed militias are rapidly losing ground in the country's civil war, U.S. officials said.

But the CIA program is so minuscule that it is expected to produce only a few hundred trained fighters each month even after it is enlarged, a level that officials said will do little to bolster rebel forces that are being eclipsed by radical Islamists in the fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

[Drax the Destroyer]

I fail to see how this could ever come back to haunt us. #endsnark

[Snark Plissken]

I feel othered.

[Ted S.]

Shouldn't "moderate" be in sneer quotes?

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Hey, they promise to saw off the infidels' heads with sharpened knives instead of dull ones. It's the moderate way!

[Long Range Boredom]

Hey, the Mujahideen 2.0 aren't going to train themselves.

[DJF]

Yep

I am betting that the background checks on these "moderate" militia fighters is a incompetently done as the ones in Afghanistan and Iraq where as soon as they were trained and armed they went off to fight for the Islamists.

[Lord Humungus]

Doves and peaceniks no more: These Democrats relish the role of bullies

"As someone who has spent 20 years in the crossfire between the armies of left and right, the government shutdown does not surprise me. What surprises me is how long it took for the long-defective partisan machine to actually break down," Mr. Gerzon said.

"The blame game can be a winning strategy at election time. Election time now never ends. It used to be that politicians played by slash-and-burn election rules for a few months before November every other year. Now they play by those rules all the time. There is almost no 'governing' anymore. It is all electioneering."

[Drax the Destroyer]

Gridlock is still delicious in its own way.

[Ted S.]

The State is the biggest bully of them all.

[Pro Libertate]

I was thinking this morning--if the "shutdown" (still objecting to this word, dammit!) continues for weeks, will some of these workers waiting on pay just go find other jobs? I'm assuming, though not with much confidence (it's the federal government, after all), that they'll be owed their back pay regardless of whether they stick around.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I don't think there's a provision to give the furloughed workers back pay, but it's hard to say how that will actually play out. With sequestration, the DoD, for example, could simply calculate the shutdown into their annual budget, depending on how long this goes on, and tell the workers, "Hey, at least you won't be furloughed the rest of the fiscal year."

I won't be surprised if there's a bunch of them looking for part-time work to hold on to even after the shutdown ends.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

History says they'll get back pay, and I would guess that most of them are expecting it.

Cue the sob stories of the poor little furloughed federal workers not having enough money to put Christmas gifts under the tree.

[Pro Libertate]

I'd find another job, muy pronto.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You would, but you're not a career bureaucrat.

Or are you?

[Pro Libertate]

No, I'm private sector, but even they have government options, like state government. And I imagine many could find private sector work, too. I work with a guy who was a regulator, many years ago.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I was listening to some IRS employee bitching on NPR about now having enough to make ends meet yesterday.

He was a 40 year career IRS bureaucrat.

If you've been in basically the same job for 40 years and haven't planned for a rainy day, you're an idiot.

[db]

http://googleads.g.doubleclick.....5887993764

I saw the above banner ad image on reason earlier. I was actually physically disturbed by it. Especially the slogan, "Life. Run well."

There really are people out there that believe this kind of shit.

[Pro Libertate]

No, no, it's "Life, Well run." "Life, Run well" isn't very disturbing.

[The Late P Brooks]

I'm watching the MSNBC Business Channel today; apparently the Bloomberg signal can't punch through however much snow has accumulated on my satellite dish.

Apparently, it's TARP's birthday, and they're having a party. They interviewed Hank Paulsen and Kindly Old Grandpa Buffet. TARP was the wisest and most appropriate course of action because, absent TARP... ARMAGEDDON!!! No mention of any of the policies in the preceding decades which brought about Teh Great CRASH.

It's like listening to 18th century doctors congratulating themselves for successfully amputating the patient's legs while ignoring everything they did to cause the gangrene to set in.

What Buffet did not say: "I like TARP, because I made a whole lot of money from it."

[DJF]

These are the people who give the free market a bad name.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's MSNBC--to them, "free market" = crony capitalism.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, it was CNBC. The "MSNBC Business Channel" to Brooks.

The home of Rick Santelli and conservative lackey Joe Kernan.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

The home of Rick Santelli and conservative lackey Joe Kernan.

You only say that because he's not your lackey, you jealous bastard.

[Palin's Buttplug]

First, Buffett did not say that on CNBC. TARP cost Buffett money in that he was competing against the government for loans to banks.

He did manage to loan Goldman and BoA each $5 billion at high rates though.

Buffett's company, Berkshire, received no TARP loan.

Get your story straight, old man.

[Lady Bertrum]

GRRRRRRR. You remain an idiot. Buffett was the single largest stock holder of AIG. He most certainly did benefit and benefit richly from TARP and the bailout. Go Away.

[Rich]

10,516 pages of Democratcare regulations

Keep that in mind for the next filibuster.

[Brett L]

Can't you just require the clerk to read it?

[NoVAHockey]

i read those. and bill my time.

[Restoras]

I'd go with the Federalist Papers.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

ATF: Lost Guns, Cigarettes, and Credibility
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had a great idea: facilitate the sale of weapons to gun runners near the Mexican border, then follow the guns to the higher echelon of criminals in Mexico. American and Mexican authorities would arrest the kingpins. Foolproof?

No. Project Gunrunner began in 2005 as an effort to use electronic tracking to trace guns sold illegally in Mexico and the Caribbean. It led to Fast and Furious (2009-11), Wide Receiver (2006-2007), the Hernandez case (2007), and the Medrano case (2008). In these latter operations, rather than create an intelligence trail with the eTrace software, the U.S. simply let straw buyers purchase guns to transport to Mexico. Mexican authorities were not notified. In the case of Fast and Furious, the ATF attach? at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City was not notified....

...It wasn't a great idea. Now, we know the ATF has applied the same "strategy" to illegal cigarettes.

The ATF made profits of $162 million from stings ? but they lost an estimated 420 million cigarettes worth more than $15 million between 2006 and 2011. Through a system of "churning operations," ATF used profits from one sting to finance the next set of operations. ATF used informants to handle the cigarettes (one informant received a staggering $4.9 million in "expenses"). ...

[Longtorso, Johnny]

...According to Police Chief Magazine, terrorist groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, the PKK, and the IRA have made millions by selling cigarettes and sending the money to the Middle East (or to Ireland). ...

[Andrew S.]

Or to Peter King's re-election fund?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It verifies the truth that the ATF is a legalized mafia and as such should be utterly and completely destroyed.

[SugarFree]

Do you hate your tongue, but aren't quite ready to write out the alphabet on Joan Walsh? Try J?germeister Spice!

[sarcasmic]

Reminds me of this shot that was popular in the college town I lived in in my early 20s. I think they called it a Little Hitler or a Dead Hitler. Something Hitler.

[SugarFree]

Dead Hitler

1 part Rumple Minze
1 part Jagermeister
1 part Goldschlager

Sounds... interesting?

[sarcasmic]

That's one word for it. Disgusting is another.

[SugarFree]

Cinnamon and peppermint already go great together, so why not add in the smooth, refreshing flavor of Nyquil?

[sarcasmic]

Nazi Helmet
1/2 shot Jagermeister
1/2 shot Rumple Minze

Screaming Nazi
1 part Jagermeister
1 part Rumple Minze

Screaming Nazi #2
1 part Jagermeister
1 part Goldschlager

[Matrix]

Isn't jagermeister and goldschlager together a Starry Night? I love those things. A couple of friends of mine and I drank down both bottles one night and were lit.

the next morning sucked bad, though.

[Ted S.]

Where I went to school it was just 1 part Rumple Minze and 1 part J?germeister, and called a Glasnost.

[Pro Libertate]

I once had some concoction involving Jack and Rumple Minze. It was not a felicitous combination.

[Clich? Bandit]

A Flaming Purple Jesus is the worst shot ever.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Know who else had a shot of Hitler? Hitler's Mom!!!

Thanks. I'll be here all week.

[Long Range Boredom]

Dune. Arrakis. Desert Planet. Bitchin' Kegger tonight at Muad'Dib's place.

[Brett L]

Spice beer? I'm in. I hear it makes you see things.

[Pro Libertate]

A beer liqueur? Is such a thing possible?

[Nephilium]

Depends on your definition of beer liqueur... by some definitions the Sam Adams Utopias already qualifies.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm harking back to Doon for the second time in this thread. The Paul Atreides analogue came up with a beer liqueur.

[Fatty Bolger]

A message to America from President Obama

[Drax the Destroyer]

I would also have accepted "Fuck you, that's why."

[a better weapon]

Yesterday I scored some free lower-level tickets to the Stars season opener tonight. I love this time of year when hockey and football are on at the same time.

[Auric Demonocles]

Nice. I'm looking forward to the good Tampa-Boston weekend we have brewing. I'd even consider trash talking Pro Lib, but he's probably got enough sports-based sadness out of Freeman right now.

[Restoras]

I am looking forward to Rays/Sox as well. My son wants to go to a playoff game...not sure I can afford that.

[Pro Libertate]

Trash-talking? How did that work out the last time the teams met in the postseason?

[Auric Demonocles]

The last time Boston and Tampa played, it ended their quarterback's career. I'm pretty confident in the Bruins tonight. The baseball series this weekend will probably be the best matchup of the three.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm feeling good about the Rays. The pitching is really going well right now. And they're hitting.

[trshmnstr]

I've only been to one Stars game since I moved down here. It was tons of fun, and not nearly the hassle that going to Arlington for football or baseball can be.

I've also been to Allen for an Americans game once or twice. That's super convenient, granted not NHL caliber.

[a better weapon]

It always cracks me up how Dallas Texans have no problem shouting "STARS!!!!" during the Star Spangled Banner at the rink, but if the singer at Jerry-ville or Ranger stadium starts getting too flashy with the national anthem, the crowd starts grumbling and complaining that the singer isn't being "respectful."

[Slammer]

Apologies if this has been posted before:

Faculty members expressed alarm at new sexual harassment policies at the University of Montana approved by the Departments of Justice and Education.

FTA: Of special concern is a requirement that those professors who fail to complete training are being reported to the federal government.

[Troy muy grande boner]

The DOJ says such a move would damage the government's ability to spy on "particular" Internet communications. How transparent-y.

How Justice-y, too.

[Adam330]

"Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open. How petty."

They locked the children's playground in the park near my house, and there were park police guarding it yesterday. That was the first time in 5 years that I've seen a park service employee in that park.

[Bam!]

How do you lock a playground?

[Adam330]

There is a 30 inch high gate around it, and they put chains with a lock on the door. You can just step over, and now that the guards are gone, that's what people are doing.

[Cdr Lytton]

What's a bolt cutter run at Home Depot? $30? If that was near my house, I'd be tempted.

[PD Scott]

Get a group of small children and have them try to get into the playground. Film the Park Police stopping them while chanting "The whole world is watching! The whole world is watching"

[sarcasmic]

They're saving money by paying cops overtime to keep people out. Yeah. That makes sense.

[Blinded by the Derp]

In a slightly less imperfect world after the shutdown government workers return to their departments and discover the money they spent guarding "closed" parks and setting up "shutdown" websites will come out of their budget or the head of the department's salary

[Auric Demonocles]

Or they would just fire anyone who made the decision to spend more money to "shut something down" than it would have taken to do nothing.

[AlexInCT]

RACIST!

[Lord Humungus]

Munich, 75 Years Later

Historical revisionism is always in season and is generally a useful, or at least diverting, activity. But Nick Baumann's effort, in Slate last week, to resuscitate the strategic reputation of Neville Chamberlain (British prime minister, 1937?40), on the 75th anniversary of the Munich Agreement, was a bridge too far in historical myth-making.

[AlexInCT]

The pacifists want to pretend that giving in to bullies is the right thing to do, because peace at all costs, is a good thing.

The fact that Hitler took Chamberlain's cowardice to mean that he could throw the treaty of Versailles out the window (remember that Germany's military at that time was a joke because of said treaty), rearmed and expanded his military in but one year, and then used that military to go out to plunder the rest of Europe, shouldn't dissuade you from the illusion they want to create that you can negotiate with evil crazy bullies, because they need you to believe tat peace at all costs is a good.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Even Black's article (unintentionally?) makes the point that Chamberlain's actual options were very limited. Neither France nor Great Britain had the overwhelming force necessary to make a war a slam dunk, and their populations sure as hell weren't looking to start a war. U.S. involvement in a second World War was by no means guaranteed, the words of FDR notwithstanding. The USSR was a wild card. Germany's military was hardly a "joke" relative to other European powers, especially when you factor in the number of paramilitary men that would have unified under the Nazi banner had G.B. or France been stupid enough to invade on their lonesome.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

the illusion they want to create that you can negotiate with evil crazy bullies

Which, funnily enough, Black advocates as an "alternative" which Chamberlain should have pursued. Specifically, he suggests that "He should have tried hard for a Soviet alliance, and brought the USSR in with the Little Entente (Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia), added the Poles, and offered a one-year handover of Sudetenland to Germany."

So "Chamberlain shouldn't have negotiated with Hitler" apparently means that Chamberlain should have humored Germany irridentism with national time-share programs.

[Doctor Whom]

OT: Radical feminists show a breathtaking lack of self-awareness.

Trans Activists Really Need To Lighten Up

[OldMexican]

I just can't get myself to open the link... I'm too chicken to do that. I can't even place my finger on the left button on the mouse without my body trembling and sweating. I just can't do it.

[Tonio]

Don't feel bad, OM, you're not alone.

[PD Scott]

The article is written by Brendan O'Neill, who's articles occasionally appear here at Reason.com.

[Doctor Whom]

True, but the radfems reposted it and are saying how wonderful it is, apparently without noticing how the same argument could possibly apply to them. Oh, yes, and now it appears that Gloria Steinem has failed their purity test.

[Auric Demonocles]

Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open. How petty.

It's totally not petty! How do you expect them to close so many parks when they don't have the funding? They don't have that kind of manpower when Congress is holding them hostage!

[Ken Shultz]

Shouldn't the Democrats be really happy about the shutdown from an environmental standpoint?

Surely, the shutdown is minimizing the government's carbon footprint. Someone should be doing a study on precisely how much the shutdown is helping...

I would imagine environmentalists must be really happy to see the government making the necessary sacrifices in the fight against global warming. If global warming is as bad as they say, then we're going to need the government to do what it's doing during the shutdown--and a whole lot more--if we're going to save the polar bear, et. al. And isn't that more important than whether some people lose their jobs?

If Obama's said it once, he's said it a hundred times: we all have to make sacrifices in the fight against global warming.

[Auric Demonocles]

Government carbon is good and pure. It's only carbon motivated by profit that traps heat.

[Ken Shultz]

I honestly didn't know about that.

I think I might have been confused about what he means when he says "we all" need to make sacrifices, too. He didn't mean the government, too?

If "we all" had to cut our carbon footprint by 20%, it would be a lot more disruptive than a temporary government shutdown, I can tell you that.

[sarcasmic]

Just as "the public" means "everyone but you," "we all" means "everyone but us."

[Fatty Bolger]

A body as sharp as her tongue! Newly single Chelsea Handler rocks black string bikini on Hawaiian break

[gaijin]

the last photo in the set is not rocking.

[SugarFree]

All you haters can fuck off. I think she looks great for a 60-year-old!

[John]

Every blond 20 something party girl should have a picture of her on her night stand. If that doesn't get them to cut down on the booze and pills, nothing will.

[Reverend Mayhem]

Considering that comes from a country renowned for a frumpy, pasty-white populace with bad teeth, I'm not surprised they classify that as "rocking."

[Steve G]

I'm sorry, but I was stunned when it said she was 38. I occasionally watch her show and figure her for mid-40s minimum. She's funny and all but comes across as a 'put away wet' sort of gal. That body is not that impressive for a 38 yr old, at all.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

38? That 38 has been rode hard and put up wet.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And I repeated your idiom without even noticing.

[WTF]

That body is not that impressive for a 38 yr old, at all.

I believe Jennifer Aniston is 44. 'Nuff said.

[Zeb]

Here's what I want to know. Why is everyone riding those stupid stand up paddle boards now? And where did that come from? Seems like a sit-on-top kayak would be much more comfortable and effective.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Tennessee's health insurance co-op offers unique benefit: a smartphone
...As part of its Community Health Connection Program, CHA is offering qualified individuals an LG Lucid 2 4G smart phone (or equivalent model), a phone plan and tech support, included as a cost of their health plan benefits. The phone plan includes unlimited talk, unlimited texting and 1.2GB of data....

Need health care coverage? Just dial 1-800-F**KYO to reach Obamacare's national hotline
Need health insurance? The Obama administration has you covered. Simply dial 1-800-FUCKYO to reach the next available health-care provider.

Far from being a mistype, that's the official number that Health and Human Services wants Americans to dial when seeking health care. Obamacare's national call center really did list its number as 1-800-318-2596, helpfully spelling out President Barack Obama's tendency to blatantly flip the bird in plain view....

[Ted S.]

Technically, that's 1-800-F1U-CKYO.

[a better weapon]

Yeah, kind of a dumb thing to glom on to considering all the angles to attack this clusterfuck on.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

In case you're wondering if the phone # is legit:

HealthCare.gov: Questions? Call us at 1-800-318-2596

HHS.gov: Get Ready for the Health Insurance Marketplace
...We're also launching a new toll-free consumer line (1-800-318-2596) that's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can speak with a trained customer service representative in any one of more than 150 languages and get answers to your questions about the Marketplace....

[Lord Humungus]

The Alien's Guide to the Ruins of Washington, D.C.

Ellen Harvey's "The Alien's Guide to the Ruins of Washington, D.C.," on display at the private Corcoran Gallery of Art until Sunday, is an exhibition that takes place in the future, after extraterrestrials have discovered a wrecked and depopulated Earth. The exhibit is their well-meaning attempt to understand why the late earthlings erected so many white, pillared buildings, especially in Washington.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the alien's pamphlet about the various ruins they've discovered in the city: "The Circle/Triangle Pillar Thing" (the Jefferson Memorial), "The Really Complicated Pillar Thing" (the Capitol), etc., accompanied by very earnest, and exceedingly wrong, alien-museum-curator speculation about the likely purpose of the particular ruin. Imagine what ancient Athenians would make of 21st-century academic articles about fifth-century Greek life, and you get some sense of what it's like to read the aliens' guide.

[Ken Shultz]

Alien archaeologists will almost certainly conclude that we worshiped a white-bearded, red-coated deity, who flies around in a sled pulled by reindeer.

[Doctor Whom]

Who here is familiar with Motel of the Mysteries?

P.S. I'm sure that the obstructionist teathuglicans (but not the God-Emperor, who is incapable of error) will try to shut DC's privately owned museums.

[Slammer]

Awesome! My mom bought me that when I was 11 and I loved it.

[Ken Shultz]

I haven't read it, but it looks really interesting.

[WTF]

Alien archaeologists will almost certainly conclude that we worshiped a white-bearded, red-coated deity, who flies around in a sled pulled by reindeer.

Either that or a cartoon mouse.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

They'll probably conclude that human civilization broke down with the advent of home-printing technology. This allowed homeowners to manufacture their own plumbing components when their plumbing broke, thus breaking the traditional mating cycle between plumbers and horny housewives.

[DJF]

See what happens when you shut down government, the aliens take over.

[Nephilium]

So another anecdote about health care cost increases... we just got a first glance at the costs for our costs starting next year. The low usage policy has across the board increases on the employee side of +50% for non-tobacco users, +75% for tobacco users. The "high usage" policy is a +10% increase for non-tobacco users, +15% for tobacco users. Apparently both plans are rated as gold, with no information about the out of pocket expenses yet.

[gaijin]

anecdotes are not data, but:

self insured. family of four. my insurance company sent me a letter that my current plan (a high deductible plan) will no longer be available after Jan 1. On their website, the 'replacement plan' (bronze) most closely resembling my current plan will cost me 26% more per month. Oh and now I have to use people in a network (vs. PPO).

[John]

I have yet to meet a single person whose health insurance is not worse and more expensive as a result of this.

[kinnath]

You just don't hang out with enough poor and the disabled people 😉

[Lady Bertrum]

Poor and disable people have Medicaid so their plans not changing.

Yeah, I know you're kidding.

[Mr. Weebles]

I was just informed that my contribution to my employer health plan is going up 10% in order to comply with Affordable Care Act requirements.

Doesn't explain it any more than that, just says it's going up.

[Slammer]

McDonald's faces backlash in Tecoma, Australia. A long-running feud has pitted protesters from a small town of 2,000 people in the shadows of Australia's temperate rainforest against one of the world's most recognisable brands.

FTA:"We knocked on the door of every house in Tecoma and we discovered that nine out of 10 people didn't want this," says Garry Muratore, a spokesman for No McDonald's in the Dandenong Ranges, who denies the group is on an anti-corporate crusade.

"They have the legal right, but they don't have the moral right. McDonald's have a right to run a business as long as it is in an appropriate place," he tells the BBC News website.

[Doctor Whom]

If they're that overwhelmingly opposed, can't they put it out of business just by not patronizing it? Oh, there I go again with my Randroid, loonytarian silly talk.

[Andrew S.]

A friend of mine is currently running a crusade against Walmart opening near here. It's more or less the same thing to. He swears up and down that nobody wants Walmart in the area. Whether he's actually talked to the people in the area is questionable.

[sarcasmic]

Why does he need to talk with people? He knows that he's right! Anyone who disagrees is just unreasonable and not worth speaking with anyway!

[Gilbert Martin]

"He swears up and down that nobody wants Walmart in the area"

And of course with these kind of people "nobody" never ACTUALLY means nobody.

It merely means people of his same socio-ecomonic status, cultural and political outlook.

The opinions of anyone not in the that select group simply don't matter.

[mad libertarian guy]

A friend of mine is currently running a crusade against Walmart opening near here. It's more or less the same thing to. He swears up and down that nobody wants Walmart in the area. Whether he's actually talked to the people in the area is questionable.

Because successful companies such as Walmart never do any market research to see where there stores will work and where they won't. They run their business off of the Field of Dreams model making multi-million dollar investments building a new store, hoping that people will come.

[Fatty Bolger]

So if nobody wants it, then the store will have no customers, will lose money, and will eventually be shut down. Problem solved.

[Auric Demonocles]

We knocked on the door of every house in Tecoma and we discovered that nine out of 10 people didn't want this

I'll just assume that this is true. So they can not go to McDonald's, and the 1/10 who do want it can go.

[cavalier973]

Ken Hamm put up on Facebook that, due to the FedGov "shutdown", people weren't able to visit Lincoln's birthplace, so they decided to spend extra time at The Creation Museum.

[cavalier973]

I misspelled his name. There's only one "m" in his last name. The first "m" should be redacted.

Unfortunately, this website has not yet evolved an edit feature. I fear that Hit and Run may go the way of the dinosaurs, because having an edit feature provides a definite selective advantage to any sort of blogroll-type page. The other blogrolls will run faster, leap higher, and mate more frequently, while Hit and Run fails to pass on its genes to the next generation.

[Auric Demonocles]

Reason doesn't have time to implement useful features like EDIT BUTTON. They are too busy adding a bunch of social media crap that nobody wants which just slow down the page.

[cavalier973]

So...Hit & Run is the blog equivalent of the dodo?

[Auric Demonocles]

Was the dodo kept alive for a while by parasites?

[Loki]

Two questions:

1) Who the fuck is Ken Ham?

2) Why should I give a shit if people are going to The Creation Museum?

Seriously, why should I, or anyone else for that matter, care what tourist sites people choose to visit? I don't get it. Or is this just another excuse to rail against people doing religious-y stuff? "How DARE people choose to believe in a supreme deity! Believers! Non-heretics! BURN THEM!!!!"

[Zeb]

People care about all kinds of stuff that doesn't matter. It's most of what makes life fun. And the Creation Museum is very funny Seems like a good enough reason to me.

[cavalier973]

1.) Ken Ham: http://www.answersingenesis.org

2.) You shouldn't care. However, if the Democrats knew that people were abandoning the shrine to Lincoln in favor of learning about Creationism, then they would fold like Hotcakes, and give the GOP whatever it wanted just to correct the situation.

[Loki]

Ah, so he's actually the opposite of an anti-theist, and he's not railing against those "crazy" religious believers. Just the opposite. Got it.

Though I still don't care.

[The Late P Brooks]

Buffett's company, Berkshire, received no TARP loan.

Poor Butthurt. Berkshire did not receive TARP money directly. They made money loansharking to people like Goldman and GE, based on Buffett's expectation (inside knowledge) Paulsen would come through.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Well, GE received no TARP funds at all.

Buffett did fleece Goldman (smartest guys on Wall St) but so what? Goldman should have kept the TARP money they rushed to repay since it was far less expensive.

[John]

They didn't get any tarp money, except that had Goldman Sachs gone down, they would have been done. God, you are a lying piece of shit.

[Ken Shultz]

The Obama Administration forced them to take the money whether they wanted it or not. Congress passed a law refusing to let them pay it back, too.

Obama used that as an excuse to manipulate them in all sorts of ways.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh, bullshit. TARP was Hank Paulson and Bush all the way. It was doled out to all nine TBTF banks by Nov 1, 2008.

[John]

Yes. And on top of that, by saving AIG, they basically all took TARP money. Had AIG gone down, Goldman would have gone down and Bershire with it. They are all welfare queens.

[Palin's Buttplug]

For once we agree. AIG was so large and interconnected they had to be saved.

Had the whole system crashed we would still be experiencing -10 GDP.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

For once we agree. AIG was so large and interconnected they had to be saved

Because otherwise the angel of death would have swooped down to earth to take the soul of the first-born from each family.

That's as far as your economics go, P. You are that pathetic.

[Ken Shultz]

"Goldman should have kept the TARP money they rushed to repay since it was far less expensive."

Horseshit.

'cause there's nothing better than having Barack Obama approve of how you pay your talent--and which deals you can and can't do?

[Brett L]

Sign the petition to get GWAR to be the 2015 Super Bowl half-time show.

[Ted S.]

Get rid of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Seriously. The smoke from the pyrotechnics don't dissipate until the end of the third quarter, causing the second half to be played worse.

[Auric Demonocles]

Anything that makes the Super Bowl more about the football game is a good move.

[RBS]

YES to you and Ted. Although I have always had this super bowl halftime show fantasy where I'm in charge and instead of hiring some washed up pop act I hire a band from whatever city, state or region the game is in that represents the musical heritage of that area. Like in New Orleans I'd get Dumpstaphunk. Atlanta would be any number of Georgia bands like Widespread Panic, the Allman Bros, etc. Jacksonville would be Derek Trucks. Charlotte would be Warren Haynes either solo or as Gov't Mule.

[Reverend Mayhem]

Like in New Orleans I'd get Dumpstaphunk. Atlanta would be any number of Georgia bands like Widespread Panic, the Allman Bros, etc.

Yeah, because the Allman Brothers certainly aren't washed up...

[RBS]

Yeah, with Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, totally washed up.

[NoVAHockey]

have it in cold-weather cities. I'm biased, but i think a superbowl in Pittsburgh would be awesome. or any other city.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am pretty excited for this year's being in New Jersey. A lot of the complaints people have is how it'll be cold for people going to the game, and won't be good for partying. First, New Jersey isn't even cold. Second, that just means that the people who go will be going because they really want to go to the game. That is a good thing. Third, football is better in the snow.

[RBS]

That's a ridiculous complaint. They just had Wrestlemania 29 there and everyone in the crowd seemed ok.

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, it's southerners complaining, mostly. I believe it's a combination of southerners having no experience with cold weather, and them using it as an excuse as to why they should get it every year.

[Andrew S.]

I'm a former northener living in the south. Lived in Syracuse. I love snow. The Super Bowl should not be played in snow.

It's going to be hilarious if there's a big noreaster that shuts down the roads there, given how everybody along the northeast coast freaks out at the first flakes of snow.

[Auric Demonocles]

It didn't take you long to go soft.

[KDN]

I agree with this outside of New Jersey isn't even cold. It gets plenty cold here (especially in the swamp), and February's the worst time for that. It's not consistent though, it's just as likely for it to be 50 degrees on SB Sunday as it is to be 20 (though I really, really hope it's the latter).

[Auric Demonocles]

I agree with this outside of New Jersey isn't even cold.

it's just as likely for it to be 50 degrees on SB Sunday as it is to be 20

Does not compute.

[KDN]

The fact that it's able to get to 20, which is unthinkable for most SB's. And the Meadowlands are a goddamn icebox after November anyway on account of the wind and humidity. There's going to be a ton of weather complaints unless there's record highs.

[Clich? Bandit]

AGW Yo!

[The Late P Brooks]

"They have the legal right, but they don't have the moral right. McDonald's have a right to run a business as long as it is in an appropriate place," he tells the BBC News website.

But he apparently is not sufficiently confident in his claim "Nobody wants them" to just sit back and watch as they go broke from lack of customers.

[cavalier973]

Obama shuts down only privately funded national park. Because without the government, how will this privately funded national park pay its workers and stuff???

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/c.....d-n1715200

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Bitches don't know 'bout my Washington Monumenting.

[sarcasmic]

Are you a geek or a nerd? Scientist creates graph that explains the difference - and tells you where YOU are on the scale

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....scale.html

[trshmnstr]

IOW, geek is to MythBusters as nerd is to a journal article on the exothermic effects of trinitrotoluene on a steel plated rock mash transport vehicle.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

I'd always thought of a nerd as being a geek without any social skills.

[sarcasmic]

I thought it was the other way around.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nerds are geeks with marketable skills.

[trshmnstr]

When I was in school, the nerds were on the academic team, the geeks were the ones trying to get an anime club started. There just so happened to be a significant (but not complete) overlap.

[Juice]

I've never heard of being able to hire hitmen and assassins over the Silk Road. Is it true or total bullshit?

[John]

That reeks of urban myth. Very few people actually are hired to kill someone. And the ones who are are a part of criminal organizations and basically are forced to do such as a price of admission to the gang. The idea that there are people out there who make a living whacking people's ex wives and such is a complete myth.

[RBS]

It does sound like it was cooked up by some Fed who read too many spy novels.

[sarcasmic]

If someone offers to do a hit for you, there's somewhere between 100 and 100 percent chance it's a cop trying to entrap you.

[RBS]

Yeah, it seems like if you have to go outside of your "organization" then you are definitely getting a cop.

[Loki]

I'd also suspect that at 9/10 of all "hitmen" are really undercover cops.

[Tonio]

I recall some prosecutions of (perhaps wanna-be) contract murderers who indiscreetly advertised their services in SoF magazine back in the eighties.

[sarcasmic]

The way I read it, the founder of Silk Road tried to hire a hitman to kill someone who was blackmailing him. I don't recall reading anything about hiring hitmen through the site.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Probably bullshit. It sounded like he contacted a dealer he knew through Silk Road and sought to have the dealer perform a hit.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

I've never heard of being able to hire hitmen and assassins over the Silk Road. Is it true or total bullshit?

I was watching Fox & Friends this morning and Steve Doocy mentioned that you could buy drugs and hire "hitmen" through the Silk Road, and immediately thought it sounded like a blatant lie. I believe it is nothing more than the usual anti-freedom defamation from Fox, which is not saying much since their closest competitors are far worse in that regard.

[Cdr Lytton]

CNN has some army wife on in a military families hurt by shutdown segment. Near as I can tell from the muted TV, she's a non-essential DHS analyst employee. Boo fucking hoo. Your husband's occupation (enlisted judging by her rotundness) doesn't entitle you to employment.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Across the American landscape, herds of dependopotami bellow mournfully at the sight of the dried up River of Benefits. One dependopotamus waddled mournfully towards the cameraman, looking for money, but turned away when she realized he worked in the private sector. "WHERE ARE MY JERBZ" she roared.

[Redmanfms]

Your husband's occupation (enlisted judging by her rotundness) doesn't entitle you to employment.

If she's employed as anything other than a part-time babysitter she's not an enlisted dependamotamus.

[Cdr Lytton]

Not a dependapotamus, but way too many sizes larger than an officer's wife either.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Service academy games are back on. (Article with video, possible autoplay warning.)

I wonder if the ADs at each of the schools raised the question of who was going to eat the multi-million-dollar liabilities to the TV networks and the NCAA for missed games.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

"Self-described Silk Road drug dealers who sent money to the website but didn't get their merchandise are worried about the consequences."

SLD here, but isn't this basically a black marketeer complaining about the risks of a black market? The authorities seized your contraband? No shit, that's what they do. Did they really not know this was possible, or perhaps even likely?

[Zeb]

I haven't RTFA, but it sounds like they are worried more about possible legal consequences than about their lost merchandise. Which is probably also something they should have taken into account.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

To expand on that, I see only two interpretations there. First, that they're worried about having been caught in illegal transactions. The only response to that is "duh." The second is that they're concerned about legal liabilities for not delivering the illegal goods that their customers paid for but were confiscated. That's not a valid concern, since any contracts implied by the purchase would not be legal anyway (you can't have a legal contract for an illegal purpose).

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

After RTA it seems the worry is not as much about legal consequences as it is about the self-enforcing nature of the black market, if you get my meaning.

[Loki]

Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open.

I don't know about the Japanese-Americans Memorial, but they had to keep the Upper Senate Park open. I mean, where else is Harry Reid supposed to go to fuck sheep while Joe Biden watches and masturbates?

[Troy muy grande boner]

You know who else fucked sheep?

[Loki]

Warty?

[Tonio]

Troy, you know we're not supposed to talk about that.

[Spiny Norman]

The NRA plans to sue California if Jerry Brown signs a bill that would ban the purchase of nearly all assault rifles.

You don't really mean rifles that can switch to full auto, do you?

[Enough About Palin]

"Apparently the National Park Service is only bothering to barricade popular open air landmarks in Washington, DC, leaving less well known ones like the Upper Senate Park and the Japanese-Americans Memorial open. How petty."

Barack Obama: America's asshole.