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White House Dismisses Republican Effort to Reopen Government as Too Partisan, Talking to Democrats Instead, Obama Administration Argues Against Supreme Court Review of NSA Surveillance, Blue Screen of Death Spotted on iPhone 5S: P.M. Links

Ed Krayewski | 10.15.2013 4:30 PM

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    The White House dismissed House Republican efforts  to come up with their own plan to end the government shutdown as too partisan; President Obama meets with House Democrats instead this afternoon, while Republicans have abandoned their plan. The Senate, meanwhile, is reportedly close to a deal that would raise the debt limit on a short-term basis, until February.

  • The Obama Administration is arguing the Supreme Court should decline to hear a challenge to the NSA's telephone metadata surveillance operations.
  • LAPD officer Mary O'Callaghan was charged with assault under color of authority for participating in the 2012 beating death of Alesia Thomas.
  • Two girls in Florida, aged 12 and 14, were charged with felony aggravated stalking for allegedly bullying a 12-year-old girl who committed suicide.
  • San Diego's former mayor Bob Filner, who resigned earlier this year amid more than a dozen complaints of sexual harassment, was charged with one count of felony false imprisonment and two counts of misdemeanor battery. Hat trick!
  • A new book by investigative journalist Stephen Jimenez makes the case that drugs and money, not homophobia, were the primary motivation in the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming.
  • Researchers say they've found a blood-filled mosquito fossil in shale sediment in Montana, the first time such a specimen's been identified.
  • The blue screen of death was spotted on the iPhone 5S, appearing just before an unexpected reboot.

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NEXT: Politicians Stumble Around as Debt Ceiling Deadline Approaches

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

    Are any of the LA Reasonoids going to the Ron Bailey taping tomorrow? I'm looking to see if I can fit it into my schedule if possible...

    P.S. Anybody in my carpool, if it exists, will be treated to Korean BBQ afterwards...

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Say, you aren't Fist. What have you done with him?

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        I confess:
        I cut and pasted to make sure I could beat him. I suspect Serious Man does the same thing.

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

          I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT! I copy the link and post a riposte within a matter of seconds!

          1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

            My browser froze. Who would have thought IE would be my undoing.

            1. Metazoan   12 years ago

              My browser froze. Who would have thought IE would be my undoing.

              In the "who would have thought IE would be your browser" sense, yes, I agree.

              1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

                I dunno, 10 and 11 seem tolerable.

            2. Ted S.   12 years ago

              Usually, it's Opera that has a problem with H&R. 🙁

    2. Tim   12 years ago

      Breach of Etiquette!

    3. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      P.S. RSVP required to Reason HQ by tonight:
      http://reason.com/blog/2013/10.....iley-at-re

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Wish they were based in Tampa. No income tax here, dudes. And other perks.

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          MRSA isn't a perk, Pro L.

          1. Brett L   12 years ago

            Shiano is just that dirty. Don't blame anyone else.

            1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

              We were talking about FL beaches being MRSA cesspools in an earlier thread, Brett, there's certainly enough MRSA in FL to go around though.

              1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                In all seriousness, that's mostly BS. We have many millions of beach goers on the Gulf, and just a handful of people (all with some kind of immune system compromises) who have come down with it.

                On the other hand, it is disgusting.

              2. Brett L   12 years ago

                Just a little propaganda to drive the last of the tourists away during the best part of the beach season.

                1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  Man, it is nice down here. Blue sky, warm, not too humid.

            2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              Yeah, that's a Bucs problem, not a Tampa problem. I like Tampa very much.

              1. Pathogen   12 years ago

                "Yeah, that's a Bucs problem, not a Tampa problem.."

                Are you actually suggesting that Trampa isn't absolutely swimming in disease?

                1. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

                  As opposed to where?

                2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  Well, the strippers, maybe.

                  1. Pathogen   12 years ago

                    Ahhh... mons venus... and a cool glass of Hi-C? Hep-C?

    4. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      Damn, I'm flying out of town tomorrow, otherwise I'd invite myself along. Free KBBQ and not having to drive is an irresistible combination for me.

      1. Sudden   12 years ago

        KBBQ, in Culver City?

        Wha? Gotta hit mid-Wilshire to get the real deal. mmmmm.... kimchi

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          Actually, the best KBBQ I've had is "All That" in Irvine. But the place I had in mind is on Lincoln in MDR, which would be on the way home for me: http://www.wharo.com

          1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

            Why am I not hanging out with local, KBBQ-frequenting libertarians IRL on a regular basis?

            1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

              I only just had a KBBQ revival a couple of weeks ago. Hell, I only found out what pho was last year!

              1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                You've been to Saigon Dish on Hawthorne, no?

                The owner is very good about recognizing people after they've been there once and welcoming you back. Orders will be remembered months later. They were just closed for 7 weeks for a remodel/expansion and the place looks really nice. The "highschool special" is a small pho with a side of marinated meat and rice.

                1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

                  It's in my regular rotation, but the pho barely makes my top 5 in the area. Their game hen is outstanding though, and John is very friendly. He always says "welcome back brotha!", gives cash discounts, and remembers my order.

                  The best pho within reasonable driving distance is Pho Hoa on Marine & Prairie (which I'm eating right now, and have 2 more days worth of takeout). The best pho in the area (outside of Little Saigon) is Pho Ever on Rosecrans in Gardena.

                  Full Libertarian Disclaimer: All of this is in my humble opinion.

                  P.S. "highschool special" sounds a little bit untoward. Maybe John should rethink it, lest it be misunderstood...

                  1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                    Nice. I'll have to try some of these places out. Generally my other pho option has been Pho Hana in Torrance on the recommendation of a friend. I didn't like knowing what the much more blunt descriptions of the options were in Korean though.

          2. RannedPall   12 years ago

            GEN BBQ in Tustin, go for their $15 lunch, the quality of their meat is superb and they're always very quick to bring out more banchan.

            1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

              Pollo a la Brasa was delightful. The menu was smaller than I was expecting ,but the flavor was great. I was a little freaked out that their wood supply included pallets (which can be treated with weird shit), but I'd definitely go back. Thanks for the recommendation.

      2. Sudden   12 years ago

        Also, I would go, but I already turned down a 1:00 event in Hollywood to be on Millionaire Matchmaker (even though I'm not millionaire) due to some work I need to get out tomorrow.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          So you are trying to date a millionaire chick then?

          1. Sudden   12 years ago

            Nah, apparently the makers of the show ran outta millionaires so now they're trying to hook regular joe's like me up now.

    5. Ted S.   12 years ago

      What are you taping Ron to?

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        It's nothing sordid as Warty won't be present.

      2. gaijin   12 years ago

        What are you taping Ron to?

        and importantly, will you be using duct, electrical or 8-track tape?

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

      Sounds interesting, but I have no way of getting up to LA.

    7. Paul.   12 years ago

      LA? If you're going to the LA function, shouldn't your name by 'playa burbank'?

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        Everyone seems to think that "playa" is slang for "player". It is supposed to be spanish for "beach", because I live in Manhattan Beach.

        I should have just picked a name with the words "boner" or "buttplug" in it.

        1. Smilin' Joe Fission   12 years ago

          Try "Tony", I hear good things.

        2. Paul.   12 years ago

          Ahhhhhhhhh. I didn't know there was a beach named Manhattan. I would have picked up on the spanish angle had I known that.

          1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

            Also a city in Kansas.

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

    Researchers say they've found a blood-filled mosquito fossil in shale sediment in Montana, the first time such a specimen's been identified.

    Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun!

  3. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

    ...while Republicans have abandoned their plan

    Maybe shutdown will be the new normal!

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Mo better shutdown.

      1. CE   12 years ago

        Keep it shut down. We won't miss it.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          I want more shuttage.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      The Republicans actually had a plan?

    3. Austrian Anarchy   12 years ago

      Wake me when "shutdown" means less cops, not more.

  4. Caleb Turberville   12 years ago

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korabl-Sputnik_3

    During the Space Race, Soviet dog-killing technology was light-years ahead of our own.

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      Commie cat lovers.

      1. Caleb Turberville   12 years ago

        "Comrade Wayne...My friends call me "Kitka."

    2. Austrian Anarchy   12 years ago

      I suppose cooking them with a rocket, or blowing them up is advanced in its own way.

  5. Tim   12 years ago

    You can shut them down but you can't shut them up.

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

    Slate's Justin Peters, who frequently calls for stricter gun safety laws, is is miffed that safe storage laws are ineffective

    Californians should hope for more. We live in a nation where, thankfully, cops cannot storm into private homes and demand compliance with various public health statutes. But there's a difference between actively seeking out gun-safety violators and treating those violations seriously when they're found. A toothless, unenforced law is an ineffective one, and if the Firearm Safe and Responsible Access Act is to be more than just symbolically valuable, Golden State officials need to make it unequivocal: If we catch you acting irresponsible with guns when there are kids around, you will be arrested and prosecuted, period.

    "Ensuring guns are out of the reach of children and holding those accountable who are irresponsible is the first step in reducing firearm accidents," the California bill's co-sponsor, Jimmy Gomez, said in a press release. Gomez is right. This bill is a first step, and nothing more. Now it's up to California to keep moving forward from here.

    For the children.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      You know, rather than oppose guns, what the left should do is promote advances in biotech and/or powered-suit technology to make humans invulnerable to small arms.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        They object to guns because they equalize power too much, not because guns are dangerous. Danger is just their excuse. If they really opposed dead children, they'd be banning cars and buses.

        1. Metazoan   12 years ago

          Evidenced by the fact that parts of the far left are actually not opposed to gun ownership. I recall a hilarious moment in college, when the College Democrats, in a debate with the College Republicans on gun control, decided (primarily out of laziness) to ask the random socialist kid to debate for them. He agreed, of course... and the looks on their faces when he agreed with the Republicans on no gun control (how else would "the people" claim what's theirs?) were priceless.

          1. Boisfeuras   12 years ago

            Those kulaks aren't going to put themselves into camps.

        2. Lady Bertrum   12 years ago

          And swimming pools.

          1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

            I took my 5yo in for his checkup and shots a few months ago, and the doctor told me that the AAP now requires him to ask me if we have a fence around the swimming pool.
            I was waiting for him to ask about guns, but he didn't. Yet.

            1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

              My child sleeps in a hammock slung over a bathtub full of live toasters and hair dryers. He will learn early that even in sleep he must be wary.

              1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

                Jimbo: "Where do you keep the liquor?"
                Homer: "I hide a bottle of schnapps in the baby's crib."

            2. Agammamon   12 years ago

              Did you refuse to answer?

              1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

                Since the answer was yes, I had no problem responding. He asked me in a way that was apologetic, and it was clear that he thought it was as ridiculous as I did.

      2. PD Scott   12 years ago

        On the one hand, that would be really cool, OTOH, I don't know if I want to see cops issued RPGs.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Just escalate the armor. And we have drones, too. I just read a whole article about personal drones in Popular Mechanics.

          1. PD Scott   12 years ago

            If the past centuries have taught us anything, it's that the impenetrable armor of today is just the impetus for the bigger, badder guns of tomorrow.

            When non-military mayhem-minded individuals really get into drones the world will be a lot more interesting (like the reputed Chinese saying) place. That dude with the F-86 radio controlled plane mentioned in PM was just the beginning.

            1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              It usually goes back and forth, with defensive measures having the edge, then offensive.

              1. PD Scott   12 years ago

                Until the competitors go bankrupt, yep.

            2. Rasilio   12 years ago

              I'm still waiting for the drone assasination system.

              Combine a high powered rifle mounted on a quad (or more) copter drone slaved to that sniper scope that can turn anyone into a professional level sniper and you should have a device which is capable of killing anyone from 300 yards, potentially even over the internet

      3. Pathogen   12 years ago

        You know, rather than oppose guns, what the left should do is promote advances in biotech and/or powered-suit technology to make humans invulnerable to small arms.

        Or, they could go and live their lives, and learn to cope with the gripping terror the world induces in them, including everyone and everything in it...

    2. CE   12 years ago

      We live in a nation where, thankfully, cops cannot storm into private homes and demand compliance...

      Somebody needs to read Reason once in a while.

    3. John   12 years ago

      That guy is a massive douche bag. His big crusade this year has been for criminal liability for anyone whose kid accidentally kills themselves with a gun. No criminal liability if you leave your four year old un attended at a pool and he drowns. But totally if your 12 year old plays with a pistol he knew better than to have and shoots himself. I really hate that vindictive bastard.

      1. Paul.   12 years ago

        The only people who can be trusted with firearms:

        http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....-1.1316832

        http://www.newser.com/story/14.....-dead.html

      2. wareagle   12 years ago

        any liability for having your kid be on free lunch for 12 years? Or is teaching him to be a mooch a good thing?

    4. Paul.   12 years ago

      Californians should hope for more. We live in a nation where, thankfully, cops cannot storm into private homes and demand compliance with various public health statutes.

      What?

    5. Ted S.   12 years ago

      We live in a nation where, thankfully, cops cannot storm into private homes and demand compliance with various public health statutes.

      Are you sure of that, Justin?

    6. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      Keeping guns away from children like this?
      http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201.....racy-fair/

      1. Paul.   12 years ago

        Helms said that SWAT Officer Robert Rench was in a SWAT vehicle demonstrating equipment to children when a boy, between 6 and 8 years old, walked up behind him and fired his holstered Glock .40 caliber service weapon into his leg.

        Glock perfection.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          And yet I still want one. But I'm too loyal to XD.

          (I'm guessing that as a SWAT officer, he had an incredibly irresponsible trigger job done on his glock)

          1. Paul.   12 years ago

            I hear a rumour that the po-po have their Glocks made with a much heavier trigger pull, because of all the freakin' LEO accidental discharges.

            I too love my XD and XDs-45.

            1. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

              It's called the "New York trigger", as NYPD requires their service pistols to have a trigger pull of at least 12 lbs. I think whether or not it is required varies from dept. to dept.

      2. JD the elder   12 years ago

        Did they ever find that kid? I always found the cop's story a little fishy - a kid just appeared and fired his gun, then ran away and nobody could find or identify him. Sounds more likely to me that Officer Boogerhook accidentally fired the gun himself, then was too embarrassed to tell the truth about it.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          Nothing on the news. I'm not holding my breath for a follow up investigation.

        2. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          It never gets old...

        3. Paul.   12 years ago

          So... the story is: There he was, minding his own business, when an unidentified brat was able to unholster the weapon, fire it and reholster it and was seen by no one?

          Holy fucking shit if that's the story this cop is such a liar.

          1. Pathogen   12 years ago

            The child was the "Cato Fong" to this officers "Clouseau"... and Kato will do you like that..

    7. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

      A toothless, unenforced law is an ineffective one

      Ineffective for whom? They're quite effective for prosecutors who want to find some bullshit violation to nail somebody on because their precious feelings got hurt.

      Also, wrt this law: Live With a Foreigner Who Doesn't Have a Green Card? You Must Keep Your Guns Locked Up

    8. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      This bill is a first step, and nothing more. Now it's up to California to keep moving forward from here.

      Just one step, then another, and pretty soon you're goose-stepping!

  7. CE   12 years ago

    Researchers say they've found a blood-filled mosquito fossil in shale sediment in Montana, the first time such a specimen's been identified.

    The researchers were unavailable for a follow-up interview, and their answering machine message said they were busy with their new adventure theme park consulting gig.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      A park with a mosquito theme might have a limited market.

      1. CE   12 years ago

        The ones in Minnesota do okay.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Wait, people visit Minnesota? On purpose?

      2. PD Scott   12 years ago

        You ride the mosquito coaster, you have to duck as giant flyswatters narrowly miss you, do some loops, some twists, then just before the end you "hit the vein" and get sprayed with red dyed water.

  8. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

    Stephen Fry meets with prominent exgay therapist Joseph Nicolosi

    Watching this was a bit surreal for me having been a patient in that very office. My therapy didn't go too far since he insisted that I MUST have been sexually abused as a child and I insisted that I had not been abused.

    His case studies (I got a complimentary copy of the book!) were of men who had ruined their lives due to bad decisions (often drugs) who blamed those experiences on their attraction to men rather than taking responsibility for their actions, which I found ridiculous.

    1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

      Hey, he's got this theory, and you refused to alter your reality to conform to it. Therefore you were lying.

    2. John   12 years ago

      It is amazing how many quacks insist that their patients have been sexually abused as children. You just repressed the memory!!

      1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        You just repressed the memory!

        It's like you reached into my mother's brain!

        1. Paul.   12 years ago

          That's not all he reached of your mother's.

    3. PD Scott   12 years ago

      Show us on the doll where no one touched you.

      1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

        Speaking of which, PD...

        1. PD Scott   12 years ago

          I totally tried to send you an email but it turns out that if you don't use your gmail addy that you keep for creeps and strange weirdos often enough it stops working. Who knew?

          1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

            It's GMX, not Gmail. I haven't received anything.

            1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

              No silly, HIS gmail is no longer working. YOU are the creep/strange weirdo in this scenario and he doesn't want to use his real email address because he doesn't want his personal email box cluttered with Thane dick pics.*

              *You're free to redirect those to my inbox. Your emails don't even go to my spam filter anymore.

              1. Thane runs off sobbing   12 years ago

                Oh, that makes a bit more sense

    4. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      My therapy didn't go too far since he insisted that I MUST have been sexually abused as a child and I insisted that I had not been abused.

      So this sort of thing could have negative consequence for the parents that insist on their child's attendance.

      "Mum, Dad, turns out I'm not really gay. I was anally raped by you two for my childhood though. The police will be here soon. Thank you soo much."

      1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        He seems to soft pedal that part of the "process" in his interview with Fry and just talks about broken relationships with father figures, but that was just the start.

        I agree that trying to convince kids they were abused is playing with fire. It's not like we didn't learn that lesson during the '80s or anything.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          I guess he remembers exactly who is paying the bill...

      2. Tonio   12 years ago

        So this sort of thing could have negative consequence for the parents that insist on their child's attendance.

        You would think so. Suicide of gay teens from unsupportive families is a big deal. But many of those parents seem relieved to be able to put on the mantle of the bereaved parent rather than live with the shame of a gay child.

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          many of those parents seem relieved to be able to put on the mantle of the bereaved parent rather than live with the shame of a gay child.

          Suppose that is true to some extent, but it seems so sick. I have to believe that this is the smallest minority of parents today.

          1. PD Scott   12 years ago

            There's always Munchausen's by Proxy. Hopefully that's a smaller minority.

        2. JW   12 years ago

          "I love my dead, gay son!"

        3. Rasilio   12 years ago

          I love my dead gay son

        4. Virginian   12 years ago

          But many of those parents seem relieved to be able to put on the mantle of the bereaved parent rather than live with the shame of a gay child.

          Eh, in my experience a lot of parents are more worried about the ridicule and other consequences others might direct at their children more then they are ashamed to have a gay kid.

          Kind of like back when black parents had lightskinned children, they might try to pass them off as white. Not because they hated their race, but because things were so much easier for their kids.

          1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

            My experience my parents (particularly my mother who had apparently been scarred by her older sister coming out as a lesbian in the '60s) expressed their personal embarrassment at having a gay kid in terms of how life was just going to be harder for me. The personal embarrassment slipped out in things like "how do you think your sister feels about people knowing her brother is gay!?"

            It is ironic that the single most difficult person in my life re: me being gay is the one who bemoaned how difficult my life would be because of me being gay.

            That's purely anecdotal so YMMV, but while that's what parents say, I don't think it's really what they mean, they just want to sugar coat expressing their personal disgust of their children to their children.

            1. Tonio   12 years ago

              Uh, no, Jesse, it's not anecdotal, it's a data point. Anecdotal is shit that you hear but didn't actually experience.

            2. Virginian   12 years ago

              Yeah I'm sure some, perhaps even most use it as a cover, but societal pressure is such a big thing for most people. I mean, so many people put so much emphasis on being "normal", on fitting in. I think that some parents just think of sexuality as another aspect of the "I don't want my kids getting picked on" thing.

              I will say that among the three kids I knew who came out to their parents when we were kids, the moms were a lot more supportive of their gay sons, but my lesbian friend's mom did not take it well at all. So I think that ties into it too, the whole masculinity/femininity issue.

          2. Tonio   12 years ago

            That's some serious projection and justification you have going on there, Virg.

    5. playa manhattan   12 years ago

      I went to McMartin preschool and the investigators did the same shit. "Just say that they touched you, and then you can go play with the toys!". I didn't take the bait, even though they had the brand new Optimus Prime toy that wasn't even in stores yet.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.....hool_trial

      1. Tonio   12 years ago

        Srsly, dude? That must have been a surreal experience. Thanks for being so strong at an early age.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          I was taught not to lie, even at 4 years old. My parents watched the whole thing through the one way mirror. After about 20 minutes, my dad barged in and pulled me out of there and really let the investigators have it. About 50% of the parents reacted the same way. The rest just figured that the "professionals" knew what they were doing...

          1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

            Wow, a witness to history. Yeah, the investigators really went overboard, and got the kids to report that zoo animals were involved, that there were secret tunnels under the school, and lots of other utterly fantastic crap.

      2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        My parents were involved in some sort of school activism/moral panic shenanigans spawned by the McMartin case. I don't remember exactly what it was, but I think my mom ran for a school board because of it. I'll have to ask next time I talk to them. I'd be interested in picking your brain on the issue sometime.

        1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

          Around that time, it likely would have been satanic ritual abuse.

          1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

            Very likely, iirc, it came up because I found the instruction book for Legend of Zelda in a drawer and was miffed that I had neither a Nintendo, nor a copy of the game itself. I guess they had gotten a copy of the booklet as supporting evidence for Satan influencing children through videogames. They were living in MB at the time of the McMartin thing I think.

            1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

              No Nintendo? That's actual child abuse!

              1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                I had no Nintendo as a kid. That might have something to do with it not existing at the time, but we did have a kick ass Pong console.

              2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                I got a Sega Genesis later. In high school I parlayed being forced to play football into me getting an N64 and Goldeneye, which all of my peers were playing. I convinced them that without practice I would be unable to socialize with my peers and it would be detrimental to team cohesion.

                1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

                  "forced to play football"? The dudes in tight pants, the ass slapping, and locker room showers weren't enough for you?

                  1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                    The dudes in tight pants, the ass slapping, and locker room showers weren't enough for you?

                    I was still in the closet when I was on the football team. I was terrified of outing myself through...involuntary means. Nobody used the showers except the waterpolo team, and only one guy ever got naked in the locker room because he thought he was a more impressive specimen than he was.

                    There really wasn't much to redeem the experience.

            2. playa manhattan   12 years ago

              The whole thing got so ridiculously out of hand. The FBI uses still uses the McMartin case as an example in their forensic psychiatry investigator's handbook.

              It is absolutely stunning that the case ever even made it to a verdict. They had kids testifying that they were probed by aliens, molested on blimps, went in tunnels to disneyland, sacrificed lions and tigers, ate dead babies, were forced to perform in public sex shows in the aisles of the local grocery store, and many other sick acts that existed solely in the minds of the investigators. There were many other accusations, but these were the ones that were actually used in the prosecution.

              1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

                I would be interested in seeing a Venn diagram of McMartin students and American Martyrs Church parishioners. I wonder if there wasn't actual sexual abuse, but perpetrated by the priests at AMC. But the parents couldn't fathom that horror, so picked on the McMartins. Just wondering.

                1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

                  Funny you should mention that. By my estimation, 80% of the parents of the accusers that actually testified were AM parishioners.

                  The cars that had the "We Believe the Children" bumper stickers 10 years later were all parked in the AM parking lot on Sunday mornings

            3. cavalier973   12 years ago

              I found the instruction book for Legend of Zelda...they had gotten a copy of the booklet as supporting evidence for Satan influencing children through videogames.

              Highly amusing, as Link was originally a Christian.

              1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                Highly amusing, as Link was originally a Christian.

                That's excellent. I always enjoy Japan's depictions of Christianity as an exotic religion. It's fun seeing something that's pretty mundane be treated in the way we treat Shinto, Hinduism or old fables.

      3. Jordan   12 years ago

        The case also influenced how very young children were questioned for evidence in court cases with concerns over their capacity for suggestibility and false memories. The case and others like it also impacted the investigation of allegations that included young children. Normal police procedure is to record using video, tape or notes in interviews with alleged victims. The initial interviews with children by the CII were recorded, and demonstrated to the jury members in the trial the coercive and suggestive techniques used by CII staff to produce allegations.

        These interviews were instrumental in the jury members failing to produce a guilty verdict against Buckey, and several similar trials with similar interviewing techniques produced similar not-guilty verdicts when juries were allowed to view the recordings. These records ended up being extremely valuable to the defense in similar cases. In response, prosecutors and investigators began "abandoning their tape recorders and notepads" and a manual was produced for investigating child abuse cases that urged prosecutors and investigators not to record their interviews.

        And innocent people once again get fucked over in the name of TEH CHILDREN. That is infuriating.

      4. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

        Best line from the wiki:

        There were no indications to confirm Johnson's accusation he was able to fly under his own power, unassisted by technology.

        1. Pathogen   12 years ago

          "..one child identified actor Chuck Norris as one of the abusers.."

          I dunno, this one's good too...

    6. grrizzly   12 years ago

      Jesse, you had a hard time growing up.

      1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

        I had a weird childhood, but it really wasn't that bad. Besides, my ability to be really blas? about it makes small talk with strangers incredibly awkward/entertaining.

    7. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I used to date in university a liberal (and loose) hot chick who insisted I had homo-erotic fantasies on the theory all men do. It was one of my first encounters with liberal projection in all its presumptuous inglorious stupidity.

      But I didn't hold it against her. Those were good times and she introduced me to Billie Holiday.

  9. Brett L   12 years ago

    One of the best Inside the Beltway echo-chamber takes on the shutdown.

    OMG! The GOP are crazy for demanding that their staffers be subject to the O-care exchanges without subsidies! Yes, yes they do. And the rest of America want to see them make it on the exchanges if the rest of us proles have to.

    1. CE   12 years ago

      Go for it dudes. Then vote out the old Congressional pensions and put everyone in Congress and DC on Social Security.

  10. Paul.   12 years ago

    A new book by investigative journalist Stephen Jimenez makes the case that drugs and money, not homophobia, were the primary motivation in the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming.

    I thought we already knew this?

    1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

      Were you reading the 24/7 links a month ago, or comments where it was brought up as an OT a number of times around the same time?

      1. Paul.   12 years ago

        No, I seem to remember it was a theory proffered shortly after it happened. That people were getting concerned that the media wanted an identity politics narrative and the reality was much more mundane.

      2. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Woo-hoo! My sinister plan to get everybody here to point out when stories were previously posted is working! 😉

        1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

          Congrats Ted, you've brought about change within the commentariat!

          1. Ted S.   12 years ago

            Have I brought about hope, too? 😐

            1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

              Are you hoping to be the light-bringer of H&R?

              1. Red Rocks Rockin   12 years ago

                Future Ted S.:

                "If I had a son, he'd look like SugarFree."

                1. seguin   12 years ago

                  "If I had a son tentacle'd rapespawn, he'd look like SugarFree. Warty"

                  FTFY

          2. Agammamon   12 years ago

            Don't congratulate him too much - once he has a stronger power-base the purges will start.

    2. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      Does he now have more evidence other than a hand written letter? If not, this is dubious at best.

      1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        Yes. The book is the result of a long investigation by a gay journalist who did not expect to find what he found. It looks pretty solid to me.

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

    Italian protesters disrupt Nazi war criminal's funeral

    ALBANO LAZIALE, Italy (AP) ? The funeral of Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke was called off at the last minute Tuesday by his lawyer after he said police prevented friends and family members from attending amid a noisy protest against the planned memorial.

    Shouting "murderer" and "executioner," hundreds of people jeered as Priebke's coffin arrived for the funeral Mass to be celebrated by a splinter Catholic group opposed to the Vatican's outreach to Jews.

    But Priebke's lawyer, Paolo Giachini, told The Associated Press the funeral did not take place "because authorities did not allow people to enter who wanted to come in." The casket remained inside.

    Since Priebke's death on Friday at age 100, debate has raged over what to do with his remains. Pope Francis' vicar for Rome refused him a funeral in a Catholic Church and Rome's police chief backed him up, citing concerns for public order.

    You know who else had concerns about public order?

    1. CE   12 years ago

      Public order concern trolls?

      http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09.....order.html

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      Pope Francis' vicar for Rome refused him a funeral in a Catholic Church

      So all sins cannot be forgiven?

      1. Tonio   12 years ago

        No, I believe that catholics consider abortion (performing them) is an unforgiveable sin.

        1. pmains   12 years ago

          I'm not sure where you got that information, but, for the past few weeks on Catholic radio, they have running a story about an abortionist repenting at the Vatican. For a serious sin like having an abortion, you may need to seek absolution from your bishop rather than the parish priest. For performing an abortion, the procedure is probably similar if not identical.

          1. Robert S   12 years ago

            What about paying for an abortion?

            1. pmains   12 years ago

              That seems to be all lumped into the same category.

              Therefore, the doctor who performs the abortion, the nurse who assists in the procedure, the boyfriend who encourages the abortion, and the parent who pays for the abortion ? all are accomplices, guilty of the act, and thereby receive the just penalty [of excommunication].

              1. Tonio   12 years ago

                Looks like I was right, then. Cheers.

                1. pmains   12 years ago

                  No, Tonio. Excommunication does not mean that a sin is unforgiveable. It means that reconciliation with the Church might be more complicated than popping into Saturday afternoon confession.

              2. Arkansaustrian Economics   12 years ago

                As a Razorback fan, I have to ask...what about supporting an abortion of a football program?

        2. Boisfeuras   12 years ago

          No, I believe that catholics consider abortion (performing them) is an unforgiveable sin.

          According to Jesus, the only unforgivable sin is "blaspheming the Holy Spirit". Of course, the Catholic Church made up all sorts of stupid shit that supposedly falls under that. You may be thinking of automatic excommunication (latae sententiae).

      2. SugarFree   12 years ago

        PR sins are non-dischargeable.

      3. creech   12 years ago

        Priebke was never contrite about his actions as an SS captain in shooting innocent Italian hostages.

      4. LynchPin1477   12 years ago

        I don't know the details by I suspect that if he had made an honest confession and penance then this would not have been the case. The fact that the group trying to hold the funeral is openly anti-Semitic makes me think he probably did not show remorse.

    3. Damned Fool   12 years ago

      Just burn the body and dump the ashes in the water without ceremony. He didn't think that kind of thing.

    4. BigT   12 years ago

      They should have had a number of Vatican reps be pallbearers, so ....well, you know.

    5. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      Cripes, a 100-year-old dead Nazi. That's something to get upset about. These dead horses won't beat themselves! The political theater must go on!

  12. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

    You didn't build learn that!

    Welcome, Freshmen. You Do Not Deserve to Be Here

    "Deserve" is a heavy word, freighted with a shared sense of obligation... It denotes merit earned from service?that's where the "serve" part comes from.

    ...We live in a society increasingly defined by winner-takes-all competition. You're the winners. And you won by serving yourself.

    You had a lot of help, of course... Most of you came here from privileged places. It was hard to miss all of those late-model luxury cars lined up in front of the dorms this morning, disgorging your stuff...

    ....This palace of learning was built by the labor of less fortunate people, as palaces always are...

    So I worry about you. Fate has endowed you with gifts, and instead of becoming humble, you want reassurance that all you have was well earned.

    It gets worse from here...

    [Investors] will trip over themselves trying to give some of their money to you. They will tell you that your idea for a smartphone app... is nothing less than a world-changing business plan, poised to sweep aside the tired and the old and replace it with a new generation of leaders. People with the guts and brains and vision to take on the establishment. People just like you.

    They will say you deserve it, and I'm afraid you'll believe them.

    1. Brett L   12 years ago

      Deserve's got nothin' to do with... waitaminute.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        What, they're shooting freshman now? Seems a little extreme.

        1. seguin   12 years ago

          The Freshman Hunt becomes the Most Dangerous Game.

    2. CE   12 years ago

      Sorry, I pulled up in a Rent-a-Wreck, because my dad's 18-wheeler wasn't allowed on campus. And that palace of learning was built by the riches of a railroad robber baron, not less fortunate people. And investors don't just give away money to smart people, they ask for business plans and expect a sizable return.

      1. Mickey Rat   12 years ago

        Yes, either the app or whatever the student develops in the future is useful or it is not. If the latter the investor has wasted his money. The author seems t6o have some hangups about making useful stuff for a profit is not serving others.

    3. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      I'm sure none of these students worked their asses off to get scholarships or took part time jobs so they could afford some of the tuition so they wouldn't go deeper into hock.

      There's an inherent danger in this "privelege" meme. It's an excuse to steal other people's stuff and not treat them equally before the law.

      1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

        I guess you did remember to check your spelling privilege, at least.

        1. Smilin' Joe Fission   12 years ago

          I assume it was his privilege?

        2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

          I never had the privilege of a Stanford typing class.

      2. Coeus   12 years ago

        There's an inherent danger in The point of this "privelege" meme. It's an excuse to steal other people's stuff and not treat them equally before the law.

        FIFY

        1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

          There you go. It gives Marxists a weapon to beat "oppressors" with, regardless of any messy and inconvenient individual details. E.g., in the view of those blathering about "white privilege," it's this Terribly Bad Thing that an unemployed West Virginia coal miner has, but Oprah does not. It's unfair! Government must do something!

    4. wareagle   12 years ago

      well, they don't deserve to be there, but not in the way this person means. They don't deserve to be indoctrinated, to be charged confiscatory prices while being required to take absolute academic drivel in the hopes of securing a credential that may prove useful in life.

      Give me a break. It's Stanford so it's not like this class is students in need of remedial math. A lot of them are sharp. My greatest hope would be that the academics don't fuck them up.

      1. Damned Fool   12 years ago

        I think that if you eliminated the professors and just gave them the internet and each other then the students may come out with more common sense.

    5. Zeb   12 years ago

      I think that the very idea of deserving is poison. If you came by something honestly, or if it is freely given to you, it's yours and deserve has nothing to do with anything.

      1. MJGreen   12 years ago

        Yes, the implicit assumption is often that you can only legitimately claim something if you deserved it. And if it's decided that you didn't deserve it, well...

    6. MJGreen   12 years ago

      [Investors] will trip over themselves trying to give some of their money to you.

      Which is all backwards. Their money should be taken from them by the government and (some of it) transferred to you.

    7. Juice   12 years ago

      I tend to not like the words "deserve" and "earn" very much because they seem to imply that there is an objective way to determine value, which there is obviously not.

      1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

        Sowell made a good point about subjective value (which may have been also made by one of the Austrians). If there were an objective way to measure value, it would greatly diminish trade, since the main reason to buy something is that you value it more than whatever you;re paying for it.

        1. Boisfeuras   12 years ago

          which may have been also made by one of the Austrians

          Carl Menger

  13. Brett L   12 years ago

    Drunk blames her drinking on the perfectionist tendencies of the modern woman. Sure, hon. And male drunks blame the pressure of having a family depend on them.

    1. CE   12 years ago

      I blame advertising and movies and TV shows that keep showing rich people drinking.

      1. wwhorton   12 years ago

        I blame beer for tasting so good.

        1. Bobarian   12 years ago

          You're too quick for me.

        2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

          Have you ever had Budweiser?

          /beersnob

      2. Bobarian   12 years ago

        I blame making alcohol so damn tasty.

    2. Marshall Gill   12 years ago

      And male drunks blame the pressure of having a family depend on them.

      Of course we do because it is true! You just wait. Some days the question is "should I strangle this family member or should I start drinking heavily even though it isn't yet noon."

      1. playa manhattan   12 years ago

        Ehhh, 3pm for me. I'm classy.

    3. hamilton   12 years ago

      I blame my own drinking on the perfectionist tendencies of modern women, too. So we have that in common.

      1. Sudden   12 years ago

        +1

    4. SweatingGin   12 years ago

      Well, this is the perfect opportunity to post the most important news in social justice:

      This Is Sober Privilege

      1. hamilton   12 years ago

        This is awesome.

    5. Brandon   12 years ago

      That is some loooooooooooonnnnnng navel gazing.

    6. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      "Upper class whites think that their tales of woe are worthy of a book as long as they pretend to "shed light" on some societal issue. New victim of society: rich and successful women."

      Does this comment in the thread extend to "upper class blacks?"

      A bit of a vapid comment. But it got 75 thumbs up!

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

    Famous movies with lead roles that were recast

    Director Steven Spielberg's action adventure series originally had Tom Selleck playing the role of Indiana Jones. The actor was forced to turn down the role due to his commitments to the TV series Magnum, P.I., giving Harrison Ford the opportunity to play the risk-taking archaeology professor.

    Belloq. Did you see the sunrise this morning?

    Back to the Future (1985)
    Five weeks after Eric Stoltz began shooting scenes as Marty McFly, he was replaced by director Robert Zemeckis' original choice, Family Ties star Michael J. Fox. The moviemaker later said that Stoltz was "a magnificent actor, but his comedy sensibilities were very different. And he and I were never able to make that work."

    Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
    Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said the role of police officer Axel Foley was first offered to Mickey Rourke, who signed a $400,000 holding contract to do the film. Script revisions took longer than expected, and the actor withdrew his involvement once the contract expired. Sylvester Stallone was then cast in the flick, but he backed out two weeks before production began.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I fucking loved that two-part episode. I remember everyone at school (high school) talking about it. We went around asking each other about sunsets for a week. No shooting though.

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

        I only found out about that episode from Archer.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          A little different than in Magnum, but yeah, that's it. Totally unexpected.

    2. John   12 years ago

      The original plan was for Redford to be the lead in the Graduate. Fortunately, the director realized that casting someone that good looking in the role would make the whole film not work since there is no way someone like Redford would ever be an outsider.

      1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        How about Doris Day as Mrs. Robinson, and Ronald Reagan as her husband? That was a possibility for a while.

      2. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        Faye Dunaway was (IIRC) the 14th choice for the lead in Bonnie and Clyde. I think the first choice was Natalie Wood.

    3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Of all those, I could only see Selleck-Indy possibly working, though, of course, that's hard to visualize now.

    4. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Claudette Colbert broke a bone in her back making the gritty POW drama Three Came Home. As a result, she wasn't able to take what was supposed to be her next role: that of Margo Channing in All About Eve.

    5. PapayaSF   12 years ago

      You would enjoy "If the Other Guy Isn't Jack Nicholson, I've Got the Part": Hollywood Tales of Big Breaks, Bad Luck, and Box-Office Magic by Ron Base.

  15. Coeus   12 years ago

    The disbelieving of women

    If you are a woman who holds and expresses strong opinions, particularly online, you'll be able to relate to this -- the unceasing demand from men for us to present them with academic studies to back up our points. Now, not for a second am I denigrating the importance of using hard evidence in an argument, or the citing of one's sources. Yet, when men are constantly asking women -- and only women -- for sources during casual conversation, and in a challenging, sneering manner at that, something else is certainly at work here, and it isn't simply a passion for academic rigour.

    Nowhere is the knee-jerk disbelief of women more apparent than in the public reaction to a woman's reporting of rape or sexual abuse, particularly if the man in question is a celebrity or in a position of power. Despite all the evidence pointing towards the extreme rarity of false rape accusations,

    1. Bam!   12 years ago

      "If you are a woman who holds and expresses strong opinions, particularly online, you'll be able to relate to this -- the unceasing demand from men for us to present them with academic studies to back up our points."

      Which men online? I only demand women to make me a sandwich.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      Reality is an oppressive dick, ain't he?

    3. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

      Now, not for a second am I denigrating the importance of using hard evidence in an argument, or the citing of one's sources.

      It seems to me that you are.

      Despite all the evidence pointing towards the extreme rarity of false rape accusations,

      ...none of which she provides.

      I don't buy all the hype that there are a bajillion false rape accusations every year, but they clearly do happen and are devastating to men and women alike.*

      *Actually, probably more to women

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        Even the ones with proof of malicious intent and get prosecuted (which is a small amount of those) makes it about double that of other felonies. They count every dropped case as a rape, and massage the statistics that way.

      2. Virginian   12 years ago

        *Actually, probably more to women

        How so?

        1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

          Because it makes people automatically suspicious of rape accusations

          1. Virginian   12 years ago

            Nah, innocents falsely accused, who in this case are almost always men, still come out on the short end of that. Especially considering how few women are prosecuted for their lies in these cases.

      3. Rasilio   12 years ago

        "I don't buy all the hype that there are a bajillion false rape accusations every year, but they clearly do happen and are devastating to men and women alike.*'

        Oh no there are, but most of them never appear in a police blotter as they are never reported to the police, rather they are use as a way to get social revenge on someone and get that person ostracized by their mutual circle of friends.

        As far as false legal accusations, depends on how you want to determine whether a rape accusation is false.

        I suspect that the number of strictly false accusation is on the same order of magnitude as actual rapes but that in the majority of cases the accuser "feels" as if they have been raped when the actions in question do not (or at least logically should not) qualify as actually being rape.

        Now to a femenist this means that that the accuser actually was raped because feelings are more important than mere rule of law so they would treat such cases as actual rapes that went unprosecuted or resulted in a false acquittal.

        I will agree however that the number of cases where a woman knowingly files a false report of rape with law enforcement is probably pretty small but not so small that they can be ignored

    4. hamilton   12 years ago

      Pfft. She probably doesn't have hard data to back up that claim.

    5. Metazoan   12 years ago

      I'm confused. Who only asks women for sources?

      1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        Yeah, I'm not seeing that either.

      2. Pathogen   12 years ago

        Pimps... or, the police...

  16. Sevo   12 years ago

    Rocker gets called on hypocrisy, is not happy he isn't given a pass:
    "Sting: 'BBC ambushed me'"
    "[Sting] was taken to task by tough interviewer Jeremy Paxman on current affairs show "Newsnight" in 2006, when he blasted the singer as a rich rock star with an eco-harming lifestyle who simultaneously campaigns for the Amazon rainforest."
    http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydi.....bushed-me/

  17. Coeus   12 years ago

    The commenting policy says a lot about their viewpoint, don't it?

    1. Vote Up, Not Down. Upvotes are encouraged so that community members can see that their comments were valuable to others. Downvotes, however, are prohibited, as we share a lot of personal stuff here and downvoting will, in many cases, serve as negative policing of someone else's lived experiences. Thus, we do not allow downvoting.

    (If you accidentally downvote someone else's comment, you can undo it by clicking the down arrow a second time.)

    Naturally, because there are always people who willfully disregard the rules of this space, sometimes comments will get downvotes by people deliberately trying to stir trouble. This would definitely be a problem if we were the humorless feminists we are oft accused of being?but we are not! We are and always have been stronger, wittier, and more creative than anyone who tries to get us down!

    So, in recognizing that the only people doing downvoting are misogynist heapshits who flagrantly violate our commenting guidelines, we recognize downvotes as Feminist Experience Points! "Congratulations?you said something so awesome that a pathetic wreck with nothing better to do expended energy on giving you a Feminist Experience Point!" No need to feel bad about a downvote, Shakers?it's just evidence that you're LEVELING UP!

    1. CE   12 years ago

      Can't they just disable down votes if they're so worried about them?

      1. PapayaSF   12 years ago

        It's Disqus, so probably not.

    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I wish we could vote down comments here, as I'd make it my goal to get the most down votes.

      1. Swiss Servator, Zurichmania!   12 years ago

        You would never catch Tony, Shriek, Tulpa or Blue Tulpa.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          One must have goals in life, even if they are unachievable.

          1. Pathogen   12 years ago

            Reach for the stars gutter...

        2. Sudden   12 years ago

          I'm calling BS.

          Give ProL the floor to discuss the merits of deep dish pizza and see how Tony/Shriek/Tulpa flail recklessly at their inability to get as many downvotes.

    3. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

      (If you accidentally downvote someone else's comment, you can undo it by clicking the down arrow a second time.)

      They can't disable down-voting? Does that make Disqus part of the patriarchy?

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Disqus sucks because it's a memory hog, not because of upvoting/downvoting.

        1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

          Seriously dude, what are you doing? Rocking 512MB of RAM?

          1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            Hey, Thane, don't make fun of Ted's 486.

            1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

              That's one souped-up 486.

              1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                Opera compatible with Windows 3.11

            2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

              486? Oh, I've been lower than that. Heck, I had a 386 in law school. Fucking had to push-start it.

              1. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                That being said, Ada Lovelace was just Pro L in drag. He was "going through a phase" back then.

                Happy Ada Lovelace Day, Pro L. Thanks for helping to get the Babbage Analytical Engine up and running.

                1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                  My first computer was an IBM XT. I got a hard drive for it from the discard pile where my dad worked--10 megabytes. Ten.

                  I sold but never owned Kaypro computers in high school. At first, those had no hard drives at all--just twin floppies. 5 1/4.

                  The first computer I used at home at all was a TI Silent 700, which was really just a dumb terminal to Dad's mainframe at work. It used an acoustic coupler for the connection and a roll of thermal paper for the "monitor." I played the shit out of ASCII Star Trek and Colossal Cave Adventure.

                  Learned BASIC on a TRS-80, which used a cassette tape drive for storage.

                  1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

                    Old fogie.

                  2. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

                    I actually own one of these, which I bought at a junk shop.

                    I don't have a power cord though, and didn't deem it worth the effort to buy one.

                  3. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                    We get it Pro L, back when you were still called Ponce de Le?n you found the fountain of youth in Florida and you've been working with proto-computers ever since. You don't have to go rubbing the eternal youth thing in ALL THE TIME.

                    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      I'm hardly the oldest around here. Bet we have at least a few from the sliderule days.

                      I believe Episiarch also learned BASIC on a TRS-80. Which is where all the good coders started.

                    2. jesse.in.mb   12 years ago

                      I'm hardly the oldest around here

                      What started the bit about you being uncountably old?

                    3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

                      Auric, who is unimaginably young.

                  4. Pathogen   12 years ago

                    TI-99/4A... Represent!....

                  5. Lord at War   12 years ago

                    "Those were the days" /Archie Bunker

                    You are old enough to be on my lawn.

              2. seguin   12 years ago

                I modded my 386 to use the same starting crank as my Durant Six. Good times. I got the high score on Akalabeth.

    4. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      They REALLY heave self-esteem issues.

    5. gaijin   12 years ago

      Up With People!

    6. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

      I'm disappointed that post has no comments. I was going to downvote every single one of them.

  18. Coeus   12 years ago

    Latest proggie shutdown outrage:

    This is truly alarming news. An outbreak in Saudi Arabia of a lethal new strain of virus named MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) has coincided with the return of Muslim Pilgrims from the Hajj, and the Republicans' deliberate crippling of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

    MERS is a virus had spread from bats to humans. This new outbreak has killed 48.7% of its victims in Saudi Arabia so far making it a dire threat we shouldn't be unprepared for as a technologically advanced nation. Yet that's exactly what these reckless Republican fanatics have done.

    1. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      The GOP runs Saudi Arabia? I thought it was the other way round.

    2. Stormy Dragon   12 years ago

      MERS is a virus had spread from bats to humans.

      I blame Bruce Wayne.

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

    Amaze project aims to take 3D printing 'into metal age'

    The European Space Agency has unveiled plans to "take 3D printing into the metal age" by building parts for jets, spacecraft and fusion projects.

    The Amaze project brings together 28 institutions to develop new metal components which are lighter, stronger and cheaper than conventional parts.

    Additive manufacturing (or "3D printing") has already revolutionised the design of plastic products.

    Printing metal parts for rockets and planes would cut waste and save money.

    The layered method of assembly also allows intricate designs - geometries which are impossible to achieve with conventional metal casting.

    Parts for cars and satellites can be optimised to be lighter and - simultaneously - incredibly robust.

    Tungsten alloy components that can withstand temperatures of 3,000C were unveiled at Amaze's launch on Tuesday at London's Science Museum.

    At such extreme temperatures they can survive inside nuclear fusion reactors and on the nozzles of rockets.

    I want an army of battle droids for personal reasons.

    1. Firework Surprise   12 years ago

      This really is going to get good isn't it? What will the state do when half of my neighbors have 3d printed mounted 50 Cals with motion sensors to protect their homes? Certainly this technology will not be allowed to continue development.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        The patents for metal laser sintering printers expire in 2014. IT's about to get real interesting.

      2. The Last American Hero   12 years ago

        Where the hell do you live that half the neighbors feel the need for automated machine gun defenses? Are you from Detroit?

        1. pmains   12 years ago

          Well I suppose that they could be from Detroit, but have you considered that they might just be awesome. Sure, the occasional unruly house pet or child might run afoul of one of these death-dealing machines, but make an omelet and all that.

  20. Biden's Scroteplugs   12 years ago

    Kos Kid dismayed by Obamacare. joe calls shenanigans

    1. SugarFree   12 years ago

      I like how none of them can read or understand the "law" they fight for so viciously. The diarist had catastrophic insurance, which Obamacare won't let him keep and they are all arguing that he could. Idiots.

      Nice to see that joe is still a short, smug prick. There should be some constants in this cold universe.

      1. John   12 years ago

        You should be able to count on something I guess.

      2. Juice   12 years ago

        The diarist had catastrophic insurance, which Obamacare won't let him keep

        Hey! Just like me!

        1. pmains   12 years ago

          I just got a very confusing letter from my (soon-to-be-former, so I guess it's moot) employer, informing me that my catastrophic insurance is "non-creditable," and that I should apply for Medicare. Being neither disabled nor elderly, I'm thinking this isn't correct.

      3. amelia   12 years ago

        Not all are arguing that he could keep it. One guy chastised him for purchasing a "substandard" policy...

    2. Juice   12 years ago

      O man, and they're giving him shit for having "substandard insurance." What these morons don't realize is that he's complaining about having to pay double for THE SAME COVERAGE. They really think Obamacare is something like welfare and that people will now get awesome insurance for cheap.

      Hell, next year I'll have to pay double for WORSE coverage. Before the policy I got was the highest deductible and OOP cap I could find just to keep continuous coverage. If I want to keep roughly the same level of coverage I'll have to pay triple.

      Wait until these Obamacare cheerleaders start getting those outrageous bills that the Republicans caused.

    3. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I see the Kos community has stolen the 'low information' line from Limbaugh and those on the right.

      1. Boisfeuras   12 years ago

        Stealing is what the left does. Their lapdog media even stole the color blue?an international symbol of conservatism for hundreds of years?because, well, making them red would be a bit too on the nose, I guess.

    4. fish   12 years ago

      Well, now, because of Obamacare, my wife's rate is gong to $302 per month and mine is jumping to $284.

      I am canceling insurance for us and I am not paying any fucking penalty. What the hell kind of reform is this?

      You wanted fucking change........HAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAha..hahahahahahahahaha... ...whew......hahahahahahahaha!

      Dumb fuck!

  21. John   12 years ago

    People wonder why I hate the Washington elite so much. Here is a good example of why. Charles Murry, an otherwise reasonable person, explains that he was taken in by Obama in 2008 because

    t's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I responded in part to his rhetoric because he talks just like me," Murray said. "[I]t's his whole way of presentation of self ? of a little of self-deprecation in the argument, and picking out a nuance here, which is all the ways that we over-educated people who have been socialized in the same way. It's the way we carry on discourse.

    "His discourse just was so familiar to me, and along with what was a very engaging personality, I kind of ignored things, which, I think it is fair to say, a lot of working class people glommed onto right away," he added.

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/10.....ays-video/

    What a fucking idiot and unbelievable smug snob. It didn't matter that Obama was obviously an incompetent and a hard left nut. He was one of Murrey's social class so he had to be better than Sarah Palin. Murrey is one of those people who thinks the guy who fixes his car or anyone not from his class is a lesser being who needs the leadership of top men. Fuck him. He ought to be run out of polite society and never given a public soap box again. I fucking hate these people, all of them, both left and right.

    1. Coeus   12 years ago

      That's why I like Jonah Hill. But I damn sure wouldn't put him in office for it.

    2. Brett L   12 years ago

      So, not a libertarian at all. Glad he's out in the open about it.

      1. MJGreen   12 years ago

        What about this makes him "not a libertarian"?

        1. Generic Stranger   12 years ago

          Despite our talk of top hats and monocles, libertarians generally aren't smug elitist douchebags. It goes hand-in-hand with the anti-TOP MEN attitude.

    3. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      I already thought there was something off about that guy. Now I'm sure.

    4. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      All POTUS votes are strictly for symbolic reasons. This is the reason the office isn't decided by popular vote. I'm of the same opinion regarding the Senate as well but we fucked up that one because, as shit-for-brains, Americans demand their symbolism.

    5. MJGreen   12 years ago

      You're funny when you're deranged, John.

    6. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      Possibly the worst thing about public intellectualism is how much slack one public intellectual is willing to give to someone seen as being part of the same group, such that even the very worst ideas proposed by public intellectuals (or the worst people in that group) cannot be acknowledged as such in the general public.

      "You know," Murray concluded, "I don't think it's so much that Barack Obama is evil as is that he is clueless about this country

      He is not "clueless", he is decidedly wrong about not only this country but also the general mechanisms of prosperity, the role of government in the lives of the citizenry, and a whole number of issues. Soft-pedalling criticism in such a manner simply exacerbates the already extant and intrinsic problem that public intellectuals and their intellectual output have no quality control and no incentives to get their ideas right in an operational or pragmatic sense.

      1. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

        "Clueless about this country" doesn't strike me as soft-pedalled criticism.

        1. Pathogen   12 years ago

          Well, as opposed to calling Obama a fucking retard, and a dangerously incompetent and shameless sociopath... with the moral fiber of a landmine, I can see where that critique might be construed as "soft-pedalled criticism"

          1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

            Hehe, true but I think even something milder than that (such as forthrightly calling him dangerously wrong about fundamentals, and incompetent besides) would be less hyperbolic and quite accurate. "Cluelessness" implies that Obama stumbled upon an error, Mr. Magoo-style -- that is not what happened; Obama and those who surround him have carefully cultivated their beliefs. Their errors are not merely incidental or unintentional, they are part and parcel of their ideology and reflect poorly on their character.

            1. Pathogen   12 years ago

              ".."Cluelessness" implies that Obama stumbled upon an error, Mr. Magoo-style --.."

              When one sifts through all the lore and bullshit surrounding scary Barry's life, one might think of Forrest Gump, rather than Mr. Magoo... But, yes.. I can agree with your point... His hubris and stupidity are entirely intentional, and separating him from failure is akin to separating stink from shit...

    7. Sidd Finch   12 years ago

      "Murrey" isn't his, or anyone's, name.

      anyone not from his class is a lesser being who needs the leadership of top men.

      One of the two paragraphs you quoted suggests the exact opposite.

    8. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      He ought to be run out of polite society and never given a public soap box again.

      I thought all of polite society was like that. It's why Bammy was able to con them.

  22. Coeus   12 years ago

    CONOR FRIEDERSDORF, talking out of both sides of his mouth:

    "Let me ask a simple question," Senator Ted Cruz said to hundreds of apparent Republicans as the day of rallying began. "Why is the federal government spending money to erect barricades to keep veterans out of this memorial?"

    Trust me when I say that I find the barricades as absurd as any right-wing populist, and that on the subject of Washington memorials I am a more radical libertarian than any elected Republican. I'd love nothing more than to sit sipping beer on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as I've done on the steps of so many European churches, and when my libertarian friends were arrested for holding a silent dance party to celebrate the birthday of Thomas Jefferson at the memorial dedicated to him, I regarded that as an absurd display of federal idiocy too. I've spent my life ignoring signs informing me that beaches and parks close at 10 p.m., even when there are no surrounding houses that noise would affect, and I'm glad there are citizens out there ignoring the inane barricades.

    1. Coeus   12 years ago

      But part of me can't help but read about the rally at the World War II Memorial and think, "To hell with you, conservative activists. This perfectly illustrates your uselessness." I don't just mean that, but for the useless government shutdown that Tea Party Republicans provoked, the World War II Memorial would be open.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Sorry, dude, the discretion is solely in the hands of President Groovy.

      2. Brett L   12 years ago

        Friedersdorf caught Palin Derangement Syndrome from Andy Sullivan's old office, as best I can tell. "Ugh, that Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin are just awful."

        As long as he worries about the principals in front of the movement more than the principles behind it, Conor will be confused.

        1. John   12 years ago

          He is just a Washington douche bag. There are some on here that defend him. I don't see why. He is nothing but a more effeminate Dave Weigel.

          1. Coeus   12 years ago

            He was much better last year. It's only recently that his concern trolling has getting out of hand.

            1. Brett L   12 years ago

              I think he's more of a non-interventionist liberal than a true-blue libertarian. I continue to be disappointed by his writing, which, I agree, has gone down hill in 2013.

            2. Mike M.   12 years ago

              He is nothing but a more effeminate Dave Weigel.

              Wow, that's not easy to pull off. Weigel is pretty damn effeminate, despite his pathetic attempts to make his sockpuppet persona sound like a tough guy here.

              1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

                Which sockpuppet was Weigel?

                Please tell me it was Max.

                1. John   12 years ago

                  People think it is Shrike/PBP. That is not true. Shreek is just a few especially retarded lefties running a sock puppet.

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

                  Some are convinced he's Palin's Buttplug. I don't see it though.

        2. Juice   12 years ago

          "Ugh, that Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin are just awful."

          Wait. They're not?

      3. John   12 years ago

        Part of me can't help but read this and conclude that Conner Friedersdorf is an elitist douche bag who loves freedom just so long as it is exercised by people he approves of and in ways he finds tasteful.

        Go fuck yourself Conner. Those people at that memorial, and I was one of them, hate you and everyone you knows guts and can see right through you. Give you a hint, we have to spend a paragraph explaining your freedom bonifides, you are just telling the world you don't have any.

        1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

          ^^^This^^^^

    2. grrizzly   12 years ago

      Friedersdorf has become a big-time concern troll. Barely a day passes without him posting another concern-troll missive.

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

    And now for something completely different: Eric Idle bashes GOP and our system of government

    After one of the recent school shootings, a young mother said to me, "What must you think of us? You must think we're all mad." Mad certainly, but not all of you.

    Half of America seems to be entirely enviable: movies, books, TV, arts, liberal democratic institutions, great centers of learning and research, gay marriage, social freedoms, etc., etc.

    The other half does seem to be, well, nuts.

    Currently you appear to be almost in a state of civil war. If one party can shut down the government, then the social compact to rule is broken. In most other democracies this simply could not happen. In the UK, for example, the government would dissolve and the prime minister would call for an immediate general election, which would be held within three weeks. (Yes, that quickly.) With your fixed terms you do not have this benefit. You must limp on to the next overlong election cycle and then waste a whole year of execrable television and billions of dollars on it. This is a very expensive and not very flexible system of democracy that no one else wants to follow.

    The Mad Hater's Tea Party throws everything overboard, not just the tea. The captain, the crew, the ships dog... Pirates could hardly do worse.

    He is the biggest sell-out of the Pythons.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I absolutely refuse to pay any attention to what he may have said about politics. He's a god of comedy, and that's all that matters.

      1. Caleb Turberville   12 years ago

        They should remove his segments from the Journey into Imagination ride at EPCOT. All I want to see is Figment, not the fourth best Python.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Say no more!

          1. Caleb Turberville   12 years ago

            "One little spark...of inspiration!"

    2. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      WHY IS HE TALKING?

    3. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      There's a reason all the political sketches were written by Cleese or Jones.

    4. Smilin' Joe Fission   12 years ago

      Apparently he thinks that their is only a presidential election and not the House elections ever 2 years and Senate every 4.

      1. Smilin' Joe Fission   12 years ago

        there, not their

      2. paranoid android   12 years ago

        *Psst*

        Senators serve six year terms

        1. Smilin' Joe Fission   12 years ago

          Aww shit, mental slip. I'm an idiot.

          1. PD Scott   12 years ago

            All that radiatin' done burned out the part of yo brain that knows 'Murican civics.

      3. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Look, he's been upset ever since Michael "Sarah" Palin got to run for office and he didn't.

        Not going to insult Python people. Not going to do it. What would Elvis say?

        1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          If I want to hear something political from the Brits, I'll watch the Yes, Minister documentaries or listen to Hannan cut a bitch up.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Exactly. What do I care what they think? Most of them don't entirely understand our system, anyway.

    5. pmains   12 years ago

      Hm. There's certainly a lot of leftist hackery there, but I think he may have a point about the fixed terms. If government starts doing things that we don't like, what, as citizens are we able to do? Make a few phone calls, join a protest. Essentially, nothing.

      I have been wondering for the past few weeks if it would be practical to switch congressional elections to a subscription-based system. If your congressperson starts misbehaving, you unsubscribe from him and throw your support behind somebody who then votes on your behalf. Then, when they vote, their votes are weighted based on their subscription numbers.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Here's a question: How come many states have recall provisions in their constitutions, but nothing doing in the federal Constitution? Because we need the ability to recall these fucks even more.

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

    Yasiel Puig: Please Don't Change

    Meanwhile, when Puig speaks, he doesn't sound much like a brash upstart. On Monday, he said, "In Cuba, you always see a lot of emotion on the field. Everyone is really giving it their best. It's their job to go out there and do the best they can, just like it's here in the big leagues."

    This isn't an apology. This isn't Puig saying that he is a young kid with a lot to learn, though he has said such things often in the past. Instead, he simply is saying that what you see from him on the field is, in part, a product of where he is from?and that it's the product M.L.B. is going to get. Some people may hope that Puig will learn the game of American baseball, which, in part, is the game of allowing oneself, like a wayward mole, to be knocked back into place among the rest of the game's bland faces. Why can't we hope for the opposite?that Puig stays more or less the same, maybe remembering to hit the cutoff man more often, but otherwise still playing with the exuberance not of a child but of a man possessing great skill and confidence?

    Exactly. He makes the game exciting, never dull.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      The NHL and the Montreal Canadiens went through the same crap with PK Subban. For the first time in my life, I felt the assertion "subtle racism" was justified in his case.

      It left like an "uppity niggar showboating" and needed to pipe down and "show the game respect."

      Fuck off.

      Show the game respect. Dumb.

      The guy faced unfair criticism.

      Puig and Subban come from different places man and it's good for the game.

      I guess the petulance of a John Lackey and the insufferable pump fisting of the Red Sox is okay though, right?

      1. Virginian   12 years ago

        The Puig thing here is that he might have been able to make it around all four if he'd just run hard to start with. Which would have been a hell of an awesome moment.

        There have been a couple of these bullshit "that's not respectful" things this year in baseball. The Dodgers swimming in the D-backs pool, and the thing where someone hit a homer off the Braves pitcher who had beaned him last time up.

        Fuck you. You don't want a division rival celebrating at your field? Beat them. You don't like a guy giving you a little something after he hits a homer off you? Don't give up the homer.

      2. johnl   12 years ago

        Aroldis Chapman was also an uppity nigger. Maybe he shouldn't be doing flips on the field. But the correction could have been handled backchannel instead of calling him on the carpet in public.

  25. John   12 years ago

    http://www.theatlanticwire.com.....orm/69876/

    The NSA used to spy on MLK. But they would never do that now. They are all reformed.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I am surprised when really bad stuff that comes out about U.S. history in the last fifty years gets blown off like it's totally irrelevant. Um, no, it isn't. Not like we're told jack about the abuses going on now, except when we're exceedingly lucky.

  26. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Remember that time in our dystopian past when the Republican-dominated South broke away from the US to create their own slaveholders' republic? Charlie Rangel does:

    "This is all about a handful of people who got elected as Republicans that want to bring down our government," Rangel explained. "You can see it in the streets, you can see where they're coming from. And the same way they fought as Confederates, they want to bring down the government and reform it."

    This supports my theory that the members of the House have a long-running competition to see which of them can say the stupidest thing without losing their re-election campaigns.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      That's a bit awkward, considering not only the reversal of the parties at the time of the war and during virtually all of the civil rights movement, there's also the fact that a shitload of Republicans don't live in the South.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        As Rand Paul pointed out, it was Republicans in his home state of Kentucky who repealed that state's Jim Crow laws.

    2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      Someone somewhere, during the run of that Lincoln movie, write that Lincoln would be a Democrat if he were alive today.

      You gotta love the de-humanization of anyone that isn't a Democrat.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        Someday, if they prevail and impose a leftist totalitarian state, Lincoln will have been a Democrat. Also, the South will have killed six million blacks in concentration camps, but that's just a detail.

    3. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      I am one of the vehement opponents of the Confederacy you'll find, but I find fault with Rangel's inaccurate summary of history.

      The Slave Power did not want to bring down the Republic. They wanted to take their ball and go home from the federal government to protect slavery. They had no interest in "reforming" government.

      But of course, Charlie's point is not to draw a proper analogy; it's to slander and smear the opposition.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        And, of course, it will work with his intended audience.

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

    MSNBC host to GOP Congresswoman: 'Do you hate Obamacare more than you love your country?'

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Pro Libertate to MSNBC: Do you love your government more than your country?

      1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

        MSNBC to Pro Liberate: "There's a difference?"

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Yes, and that is why you have shitty ratings.

      2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

        No, they love their PARTY more than both.

        1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          This. MSDNC.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            I'm surprised they haven't made that name change. I mean, it's not like everyone isn't completely aware of that.

    2. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      MSNBC President Phil Griffin Shocked That Megyn Kelly Gets Higher Ratings Than Rachel Maddow; Calls For An Investigation Because MSNBC Is Perfect

      MSNBC president Phil Griffin suggested journalists should investigate how the ratings for Megyn Kelly's new 9 p.m. show on Fox News shot up on its second night after debuting behind MSNBC.

      When Kelly's new show debuted Monday on Fox News, her competitor Rachel Maddow held her own in the ratings, and even topped Kelly in the key 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. But on Tuesday night, it wasn't even close with Fox News dominating the rest of cable news.

      Griffin complained about the jump in an interview Friday with TVNewser's Alex Weprin.

      "Monday we had a really good day in the key demographic, on the night that Fox News debuted their three shows, we either tied or beat them in those hours," Griffin said. "Tuesday ? you guys should be doing some investigations ? I have never seen it in all my years of cable, same overnight, same everything, and they doubled their ratings in a day? It is impossible."

      Nielsen is clearly in the pay of the Kochtopus. That's the only possible explanation.

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        It's always a bad sign when a network executive decides to blame Nielsen. They frequently do it when the shit hits the fan and their job is threatened. And it always turns out Nielsen wasn't the problem. . .reality was.

        1. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

          I eagerly await the day when MSNBC turns into the Lockup Channel.

          Prison documentaries all day, every day.

          1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            Bet that would do better in the ratings. And include more coherent political commentary.

      2. Ice Nine   12 years ago

        Ok, what? This guy calls for an investigation because Megyn Kelly's show whooped Rachel Maddow's show?! I mean, maybe if Helen Keller were perplexed by this I could understand, but really now...

      3. Juice   12 years ago

        Neilsen is still a thing? Why? Cable is two way now. The cable company can know who's watching what when. Maybe the satellite networks would do something different, but come on. Neilsen?

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          It's actually not that easy, and, incidentally, with providers also owning some networks, there's a conflict of interest. Comcast says NBC rules!

      4. Troy muy grande boner   12 years ago

        Maybe there are a few people that live west of New York, south of Chicago, and east of LA that watch TV.

      5. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        Sounds like Griffin is out of ideears, Fred.

        Calls for investigations. Too funny. What' next? Blame Bush.

    3. Virginian   12 years ago

      I hate Obamacare because I love my country.

  28. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

    Labor Union-Funded Study Shows Fast-Food Workers Are On The Dole, Therefore Raise Minimum Wage

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than half of low-wage workers employed by the largest U.S. fast-food restaurants earn so little that they must rely on public assistance to get by, according to a study released on Tuesday.

    This ends up costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars a year, the study said.

    Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and public benefit programs show 52 percent of fast-food cooks, cashiers and other "front-line" staff had relied on at least one form of public assistance, such as Medicaid, food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit program, between 2007 and 2011, researchers at the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Illinois said.

    The Berkeley study was sponsored by the two universities and received funding from the pro-labor organization Fast Food Forward.

    In a concurrent report which drew from some of the same data, the pro-labor National Employment Law Project found that the 10 largest fast-food companies in the United States cost taxpayers more than $3.8 billion each year in public assistance because the workers do not make enough to pay for basic necessities themselves.

    Dammit! Flipping burgers should be a career!

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      The best dole is that paid by other people's money.

    2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      Notice how they never suggest that taxes could be reduced at the same time minimum wage is raised.

    3. MJGreen   12 years ago

      It's McDonald's fault that the government offers Medicaid, food stamps and the EITC.

    4. Leigh   12 years ago

      Could have just as easily said, "Thousand of workers have reduced their dependence on the government thanks to low wage jobs" . If it weren't for those jobs, unemployment for the low skilled would be millions more. But hey, lets blame those greedy bastards for holding out on them.

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

    Wow, Salon published this?

    This, then, is the contradiction of the presidency right now: All-powerful and hands tied all at once; dictator and hostage. It's a conflict of sovereignty wherein the executive operates ostensibly with absolute power ? without recourse to Congress ? deciding who lives and dies by drone fire; and enabling ? without even recourse to the shadiest judicial process ? information to be gathered on our every online and telephonic communications. But, at the same time, a jacked-up set of bat-shit crazy ideologues in Congress can shut down the government and push the U.S. into economically disastrous default.

    FDR appealed to Congress, and he was granted essentially limitless domain to regulate the U.S.'s economic life. It's a situation that would not happen today, of course. But it's worth noting too that FDR threatened to override Congress on this issue: "In the event that the Congress shall fail to take [the necessary measures] and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me," he said. Some argue now that, if Congress fails to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling, Obama should unilaterally order the Treasury Department to issue new bonds.

    Yep.

    1. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      I hope they do. The only outfits that will buy them are public employee unions.

      Then the next Republican administration can unilaterally renounce those same bonds for being illegal garbage.

    2. John   12 years ago

      I have no doubt they would support an outright coupe if Obama did it. The major media would go right along with Obama if he called out the military and declared himself an emergency dictator and suspended all future elections. In fact, they would turn on the military and savage them if they didn't follow Obama's orders to do such a thing.

      They are full on fascist right now.

      1. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

        They might support a sedan or SUV.

        1. Almanian!   12 years ago

          +1 pickup

        2. Damned Fool   12 years ago

          The environmentalists wouldn't allow an SUV.

          1. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

            If Lord Obama says it's OK they will.

        3. Pathogen   12 years ago

          The only Obama sedan they live to support...

    3. Metazoan   12 years ago

      More evidence that Peak Derp isn't real?

  30. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Real Wymyn of Genius, Pt. MLXII in a continuing series:

    Nor should you be forced to take on these risks [for pregnancy] because, as Dr. Carson says, babies are cute. So are cats, but you don't have to own a cat if you don't fucking want a cat. You don't need to own ten cats because cats are cute. Just because I pompously declare that I've assigned you the role of the caretaker of cats doesn't mean you are required to do it. And cats already exist. They actually have more of a claim to deserve your care than a baby that doesn't even exist yet, because it's still in embryonic form.

    Truly, David Hume and Kant's rebuttals to Aquinas' cosmological argument pale when compared to the sheer intellectual heft of rebutting pro-life arguments by pointing out that, yes, cats do exist. Well argued, Ms Marcotte.

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      Link: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/201.....ldbearing/

    2. John   12 years ago

      They actually have more of a claim to deserve your care than a baby that doesn't even exist yet, because it's still in embryonic form.

      Nothing says intellectual prowess like question begging.

      1. Almanian!   12 years ago

        If only we'd aborted more babies, my cats would have more air the breathe.

        Selfish little bastards! (the non-aborted babies, I mean)

        1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

          I don't give a crap about people who don't want kids. I thought for a long time I wasn't going to have any.

          But the militant child haters, who seem to have come out in spades in the comments? I have no clue what their mental illness is.

          1. Almanian!   12 years ago

            Yeah - we never "planned" to have the three kids we did. We just fucked. Up.

            Kept 'em anyway - do no regret 🙂

            1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

              I've only got one, and she's the greatest thing in the world. And yeah, she just kind of happened. And absolutely no regrets were ever had (okay, that's a lie, maybe at about 6 weeks old while I was hallucinating from sleep depravation...)

          2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

            They're fucking evil. That's their problem.

            1. Troy muy grande boner   12 years ago

              They belong in the mines, polishing my monocle, and plowing the fields. I made my daughter sleep outside and hunt her own food.

              1. Pathogen   12 years ago

                Rugged independence I tell you, it builds character... and hunger keeps them sharp!

    3. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      I hate you for linking me to Amanduh without properly warning me first. HATE.

      1. Michael Ejercito   12 years ago

        Why do I doubt Amanduh is the kind of person who would have to worry about an unplanned pregnancy?

    4. Biden's Scroteplugs   12 years ago

      Marcotte writing about cats? NEVER SAW THAT ONE COMING.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

        It is truly shocking -- perhaps next week, she'll surprise us with badly written English, or a bizarre hate-filled rant against marriage and long term relationships.

        1. PD Scott   12 years ago

          "Why doesn't Ben and Jerry's have more flavors named for women?"

          1. Swiss Servator, Zurichmania!   12 years ago

            +1 pint

      2. Pathogen   12 years ago

        Her cat failing to reciprocate, and constantly othering her, sent her into a fit of rage?

    5. Bobarian   12 years ago

      I think Shroedinger had an argument against whether cats exist...

  31. Coeus   12 years ago

    Holy shit. Krugman's got some intelligent dissenters in his comment section. Check it out now before they're scrubbed.

    1. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      The only trouble is that Krugabe gets the credit for the click, not the commenters.

    2. Juice   12 years ago

      It used to happen all the time.

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

    Bison don't give a shit about your government shutdown!

    We now know where bison stands. What say you, musk ox? http://t.co/c3URdk9g6T

    ? Radley Balko (@radleybalko) October 15, 2013

    [removed][removed]

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      I see. So bison vote Republican, do they?

      1. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

        Only because they're racist against Musk Oxen.

        1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

          Well, of course it has to be that, as no person has ever been a Republican without being the WORST RACIST IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE.

    2. Ted S.   12 years ago

      I gotta answer fucking Google survey questions to read the whole article? Fuck that shit, man.

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

        I didn't get that prompt, but if you click on the date you'll see the picture Balko posted from his Twitter.

  33. Almanian!   12 years ago

    Did Miriam Carey need to die? Well....yes, apparently. Based on the comments. Jesus H. Fuck.

    http://www.courant.com/news/op.....6671.story

    1. Andrew S.   12 years ago

      Unfortunately, the calculus for many people is as follows:

      1. Did somebody die?

      if yes, go to question 2.

      2. Did the police kill them?

      If yes, the answer is "Of course they deserved to die"

      1. Almanian!   12 years ago

        I believe you are spot on.

        "Totality of the circs, officer safety, she didn't stop, STOP RESISTING!, endangering the public, gotta family to get home to tonight (the occifers, not her, of course), procedures were followed, "not experts".

        BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG! You're dead. AND RIGHTFULLY SO.

        1. Pathogen   12 years ago

          It's always been amazing to me that firemen make an honest living by running into burning buildings, because that's where the job takes them... yet the police cannot handle one single woman, or dog for that matter, without gunplay because their job is dangerous, and ... "Officer safety / gotta family to get home to tonight"

    2. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      Dude, it's spelled "Mariah" Carey. I can't believe how many people are getting this wrong.

      1. Almanian!   12 years ago

        heh heh! Hey, wait, are you saying...

    3. Juice   12 years ago

      Well, for one she wasn't wearing a hoodie or carrying Skittles.

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

    Sexy, ab-baring mom comes under fire for asking 'what's your excuse?'

    If freelance writer/fitness blogger Maria Kang had simply posted a picture of herself, baring her abs, kneeling behind her three children, it would not have caused a stir. But that photo came with the caption: "What's your excuse?"

    As Beth Greenfield writes for Yahoo Shine, the photo went viral and racked up more than 16 million views on Facebook, with more than 12,000 comments. Some of the feedback is positive; a hell of a lot of it is negative. Kang has been called "obnoxious," "desperate for fame," and a bully.

    Those three words are the real problem: "What's your excuse?" In response, one woman wrote, "Not that I *NEED* an excuse for not working out, but here's mine you self-righteous idiot: fibromyalgia." Another argued:

    I can give you many 'excuses' to why a woman's body does not snap back, or look like yours after having kids. Your comment is not only judgemental it's biasly based on your own specific situation, body type, education, income, etc.... Why would you think that your comment is positive or motivational? Maybe something like - 'You Can!', 'It's Achievable!', 'It's Worth It!', would make more of a statement that appeals to more women without assuming we all are making excuses!

    Some people are so insecure.

    1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      How pathetic. She's challenging you, fatties. You don't have to take up the challenge if you don't give a shit.

    2. Almanian!   12 years ago

      Some people are so insecure.

      And the others? What's their excuse?

    3. Mad Scientist   12 years ago

      This reminds me of a great line from a Minor Threat song. "I'm sick and I'm tired of your whining, complaining, and bitching and moaning. Boo-fucking-hoo."

      1. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

        This reminds of a different song called "Whole Lotta Rosie." Don't know why.

    4. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      Yahoo Shine?

    5. Anonymous Coward   12 years ago

      Off your asses, fatties and neckbeards! Despite your trophies in Call of Duty and Halo, Maria Kang will kill you and huddle inside your flesh for warmth when the end comes and there won't be a thing you can do about it!

    6. Almanian!   12 years ago

      Also - this is the problem with goddamned TIGER MOMS.

      Thanks, Asian Women!

      /kinda racist

    7. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      So.

      After you settled down and stop whining.

      What IS your excuse?

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

    Sexy, ab-baring mom comes under fire for asking 'what's your excuse?'

    If freelance writer/fitness blogger Maria Kang had simply posted a picture of herself, baring her abs, kneeling behind her three children, it would not have caused a stir. But that photo came with the caption: "What's your excuse?"

    As Beth Greenfield writes for Yahoo Shine, the photo went viral and racked up more than 16 million views on Facebook, with more than 12,000 comments. Some of the feedback is positive; a hell of a lot of it is negative. Kang has been called "obnoxious," "desperate for fame," and a bully.

    Those three words are the real problem: "What's your excuse?" In response, one woman wrote, "Not that I *NEED* an excuse for not working out, but here's mine you self-righteous idiot: fibromyalgia." Another argued:

    I can give you many 'excuses' to why a woman's body does not snap back, or look like yours after having kids. Your comment is not only judgemental it's biasly based on your own specific situation, body type, education, income, etc.... Why would you think that your comment is positive or motivational? Maybe something like - 'You Can!', 'It's Achievable!', 'It's Worth It!', would make more of a statement that appeals to more women without assuming we all are making excuses!

    Some people are so insecure.

    1. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

      She looks pretty nice.

      Anyway, chill out people.

    2. General Butt Naked   12 years ago

      "Not that I *NEED* an excuse for not working out, but here's mine you self-righteous idiot: fibromyalgia hypochondria." Another argued:

      Durp.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        Those three words are the real problem: "What's your excuse?" In response, one woman wrote, "Not that I *NEED* an excuse for not working out, but here's mine you self-righteous idiot: fibromyalgia."

        So do I. What's your excuse? (though I must admit, I've never been able to muster the self control necessary for a six-pack.

        1. Tejicano   12 years ago

          Self control isn't always the problem.

          I still pump out 50 push-ups without dropping the pace, 15 dead hang pull-ups, and 50 GHD sit-ups. So the six-pack lurking under the remaining fat is evident - but I just don't have a good reason to give up beer to get all the way down.

          I'm in my 50's, married with kids. Even when I did get really ripped a couple years back my wife barely noticed. What's the point?

    3. Heroic Mulatto   12 years ago

      Ladies and Gentleman, the author of the Jezebel Post:

      Fat Albert in drag

  36. Thane of Steelport   12 years ago

    Glenn Greenwald leaving The Guardian

  37. Coeus   12 years ago

    Coates goes full retard:

    I picked up Tony Judt's masterful Postwar this weekend and came across a fairly interesting discussion of how Germans thought about the Holocaust in the aftermath of the War. Judt is discussing Konrad Adenauer's attempt to broker Wiedergutmachung, or reparations, to Israel for the Holocaust. But getting everyday Germans to recognized their complicity in the great crimes proves difficult:

    To those of us who've studied the Civil War, this is a very, very familiar line. I'm not sure how Rommel fits in here, but my intellectual instincts say that he'd be a natural hero for this kind of sentiment. The idea of blaming some crazed, maniacal monster for the evils of actual men is another familiar theme. Here at home, it's very hard to accept white supremacy as a structure erected by actual people, as a choice, as an interest, as opposed to a momentary bout of insanity.

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

      Post-War is fantastic, but what the hell is Coates actually talking about, here? And why the Rommel reference? Rommel died well before the German post-war period.

      1. Coeus   12 years ago

        but what the hell is Coates actually talking about, here?

        Wiedergutmachung, or reparations

        1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

          Right, I meant more specifically wrt Rommel. Why would he be a "natural leader" for (or against; the writing is unclear) Wiedergutmachung?

          At any rate, I'm not sure that it would be fair to blame "everyday Germans" for the Holocaust, seeing as how it was planned, coordinated, and executed by a relatively small number of people in leadership and in government. Your "everyday German" in 1943 was more likely to be starving to death in the Sixth Army than participating in the Holocaust.

          1. Virginian   12 years ago

            A few people have bounced around the theory that, had Rommel lived, he would have essentially been Germany's Eisenhower. I guess that's what he's going for.

            1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

              Konrad Adenauer was himself a highly-regarded political opponent of the Nazi regime, as was the leader of the largest portion of the political opposition, Kurt Schumacher. Neither person was anti-Semitic and encouraged Wiedergutmachung. I don't see how Rommel would have made a difference in the German people's self-perception as either facilitators or victims of the German regime, assuming Rommel would have pursued a political career.

              In any case, the throwaway reference is never developed or elaborated on which makes me question why it was included.

              1. Virginian   12 years ago

                Well I actually read it, and it's even better then that. He references the CSA/Lost Cause thing, so it's now looking like he thinks that Rommel would have been held up as a sort of German General Lee.

                Except Rommel was in fact a decent man, who fought a clean war in France, then commanded in North Africa, before returning to take command of the Atlantic Wall in the spring of 44. He then became involved in the Stauffenberg Plot, and killed himself in order to avoid him and his family being tortured by the Gestapo when the plot failed.

                So Coates is even more of an idiot, because he's trashing the whole "Good German" meme, and brings up Rommel as an example of someone that would be held up as a good German had he lived. But Rommel was a professional soldier who conducted himself in an honorable manner during the war, and who died as a result of his plotting against Hitler. No saint, but surely a better man then any Ostheer general you can name, or someone like Sir Arthur Harris.

                1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

                  Yes, thanks Virginian -- that was my original interpretation of what he wrote as well. I wasn't sure if I was misreading it and he was saying something more sophisticated that I didn't quite understand/that he was being allusive about, or if he really was saying something that wildly stupid and historically illiterate.

                  1. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

                    I went back and re-read the article -- Coates is such a tool.

                    29 percent acknowledged that Germany owed some restitution to the Jewish people. The rest were divided between those (some two-fifths of respondents) who thought that only people 'who really committed something' were responsible and should pay

                    According to that poll, nearly 4/5s of the German public believed that those responsible for the Holocaust should pay for it. This does not strike me as being in any way unreasonable.

                    To those of us who've studied the Civil War

                    Sure professor, you've fucking "studied" the war by reading a couple of books in the subject. Let's all bask in your wisdom, you arrogant fuck.

    2. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      Does this retard blame BOOOSH for everything he doesn't like?

      Does he conveniently forget that only a handful of states codified white supremacy into law, while arguing that residents of all 50 states owe reparations?

    3. Invisible Finger   12 years ago

      Also, "intellectual instincts" is a contradiction in terms.

      I realize most intellectuals believe they've been given a gift of intellectual instinct because they cannot explain their intellect nor their hare-brained conclusions.

      Are we supposed to pay, forever, for the sins of ancestors who died 150 years ago? Isn't that the exact same stupidity that keeps blood feuds going in the Middle East?

      The welfare state, a complete failure, is a structure erected by actual people as a choice and an interest as opposed to a momentary bout of insanity. But getting everyday Americans, especially public intellectuals, to recognize their complicity in the great crime proves difficult.

      1. cavalier973   12 years ago

        Are we supposed to pay, forever, for the sins of ancestors who died 150 years ago?

        The Yankee will never be able to wash the blood from his money-grubbing hands.

      2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Are we supposed to pay, forever, for the sins of ancestors who died 150 years ago?

        What fucking sins.
        My ancestors fought and died to free the slaves so fuck you ingrates.

    4. Lord at War   12 years ago

      There's a reason that Chumley was always shown as smarter than Ta'nehisi Tuxedo.

  38. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

    GO SAHX!

    1. Almanian!   12 years ago

      BOOOOOOOOOOO SAD BEARDS! GO LOS TIGRES!

  39. The Immaculate Trouser   12 years ago

    Methinks the shutdown may have affected Matty's glue-huffing to article-writing ratio just a tad...

    I've written previously about the "Vitter Amendment," a nonsensical across-the-board paycut for congressional staff that is masquerading as an anti-Obamacare measure[...] The way New Vitter would work is that House members, senators, the president, the vice president, and Cabinet officers would all lose their employer-provided health insurance. Then they would be told to go buy health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. And the government would not be allowed to use the money it saves by no longer providing the insurance to raise salaries or to subsidize exchange purchases.

    In other words, all the top-ranked officials take a pay cut for no reason.

    Gee, wouldn't it be horrible if "top-ranked officials" in government took a pay cut and had to live by the same rules as us?

    1. Juice   12 years ago

      This morning, Chuck Todd or someone on Morning Joe or something (they all look alike to me) complained that there are a lot of low-paid people that work as staffers that would be "hit" by this. Obviously there are no low-paid people like this outside of that world that have to deal with Obamacare on their own.

    2. Pro Libertate   12 years ago

      Too fucking bad. The rest of us are getting totally screwed, why not them, too? Or, maybe, the whole fucking economy-hurting, healthcare-diminishing law should be shitcanned altogether?

      Jesus, they fucked up. They enacted a horrible, horrible law. KILL IT.

    3. MJGreen   12 years ago

      But THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO CUT.

  40. Metazoan   12 years ago

    Border Patrol fun! "Why I Will Never, Ever, Go Back to the United States"

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      "We don't understand. Why would a Jew go to Yemen?"

      "But... I'm not Jewish."

      Damn. It's like a Firesign Theater skit, only not funny.

      1. Almanian!   12 years ago

        I was reading the sign on my door....REGNAD KCIN....

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

    "Rally Bear" banned from Dodger Stadium

    The man who donned a bear costume for a frantic dance atop the St. Louis Cardinals dugout Monday night in Game 3 of the National League championship series says he's been banned from Dodger Stadium for six months.

    The 50-year-old man behind "Rally Bear," Mark Monninger of Rancho Cucamonga, said he pulled the stunt to promote the idea of the Dodgers' getting a mascot.

    The moment came as the Dodgers fought their way to a 3-0 win Monday over the St. Louis Cardinals. In the bottom of the eighth inning, during a pitching change, Monninger jumped out of his seat dressed in a bear costume and rushed on top of the Cardinals' dugout.

    He then waved his hands wildly, clapping to get the crowd hyped up and tried to do a jump into splits -- twice -- before being pulled away by security personnel.

    Monninger called it "a gonzo, guerrilla-thing where you just go for it."

    "Not bad for a white guy.... Trust me, it can get way better," Monninger said of his late-game performance. "I can tear up a rug if I have to."

    [Updated: A spokesman for the Dodgers on Tuesday clarified the ban as including six months worth of games at Dodger Stadium.]

    The owner of an office-furniture store, Monninger said he was trying to drive home the point that the Dodgers need a mascot.

    Excessive, I think.

    1. Swiss Servator, Zurichmania!   12 years ago

      "Excessive, I think."

      The dance or the ban?

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

        The ban since he didn't run onto the field of disrupt play. He didn't even distract the fans from the game since he waited for a pitching change.

        1. Michael S. Langston   12 years ago

          Yeah, that is hefty - I've never seen someone in costume on a dugout, but I've been in plenty of games where some one (or two), not representing MLB or the ball park, take it on themselves to start the wave or whatever by directing sections at a time.

          With things like that happening all the time at ball parks all around the country - the only real question left is: when exactly will this scourge be stamped out?

  42. Coeus   12 years ago

    Why isn't the race of the shooter mentioned?

    How strange.

    1. Coeus   12 years ago

      The racism in the comments there is insane. And probably mostly from white people as well. So many proggies are self-hating retards.

  43. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

    I was thinking, in case the ZEDE plan for 'free cities' in Honduras falls through, they should hit up Nicaragua. No seriously. A Chinese businessman is getting tax-free treatment and a bunch of other cronyistic perks just because he might, some day, build a canal. Nicaragua needs the money because Venezuela is giving less and apparently to get vaunted access all you need to do is present the dough and stroke the national-greatness boner.

    They might say no, which begs an alternative. Did I mention the Contras are back?

  44. cavalier973   12 years ago

    Singing in a train station.

  45. Cytotoxic   12 years ago

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/ma.....onception/

    Tyler Cowen's stupid new book is stupid.

    1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

      The ZOMG Robots will do everything and no one will have a job meme is especially moronic because the future isn't a few people owning them and controlling production but everyone owning them and not needing centralized production.

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