A.M. Links: New York Court To Hear Bloomberg Soda Ban Appeal, Saudi Arabia Refuses To Take UN Security Council Seat, Obama Reportedly Decides on Next Homeland Security Secretary

Credit: Russell Bernice/wikimedia

• New York's highest court is to hear New York City's appeal against a ruling that prevented Mayor Michael Bloomberg from implementing a ban on the selling of super-sized sodas.
• Police in Norway believe that a Norwegian citizen may have been among the militants who attacked a mall in Nairobi, Kenya last month.
• Saudi Arabia, protesting the lack of intervention in Syria, will not be taking up its seat on the United Nations Security Council.
• A federal air marshal has been arrested for allegedly taking upskirt photos of passengers at Nashville International Airport.
• President Obama has reportedly decided on Jeh Johnson, former Pentagon general counsel, to be the next Homeland Security secretary.  
• Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), Congress' longest-serving Republican, is "gravely ill."

Have a news tip for us? Send it to: [e-mail].

Get Reason.com and Reason 24/7 content widgets for your websites.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A federal air marshal has been arrested for allegedly taking upskirt photos of passengers at Nashville International Airport.

What's worse, the NSA was looking up their old address!

[OO=======D]

I LOVE CORN SYRUP!

[The DerpRider]

Wouldn't your handle start of better with an 8?

[Jordan]

What do you have against people with an inverted scrotum?

[The DerpRider]

Trying to get my Othering in early today.

[Bobarian]

Wouldn't your handle start off better with a OOO?

[DEG]

Joining the Mile High Club can be expensive.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/18/.....?hpt=hp_t2

[Snark Plissken]

New York's highest court is to hear New York City's appeal against a ruling that prevented Mayor Michael Bloomberg from implementing a ban on the selling of super-sized sodas.

But, but, it's a tax!

[Restoras]

Instapundit calls for tar and feathers. I don't think that goes nearly far enough.

[JW]

As long as they're applied internally, I think they're sufficient.

[invisible furry hand]

Feathery vaginas are your latest fetish, or a long-standing preference?

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York's highest court is to hear New York City's appeal against a ruling that prevented Mayor Michael Bloomberg from implementing a ban on the selling of super-sized sodas.

They have people at Rikers Island for months without going to trial but this they rush to court before the Nanny is finally out the door.

[Restoras]

The guy is a Supreme Douchebag. What a great use of taxpayer money. Then again, it's NYC, so eff 'em. They are getting the government they deserve.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Seth has been let down too many times:

Looking for a job on Craiglist? The Cleveland Browns might have a position
...Seth Pae, 22, posted an ad on Craigslist reading, "Have you played pro football? College ball? High school? Pee-wee? Have you played Madden before? Do you know some of the rules of football? If yes, keep reading ? We will take ANYONE!"...

[Ted S.]

Can any of these articles actually link to the Craigslist ad? (Your Daily Caller link only links to ESPN, which doesn't link to the ad, as far as I can tell.)

[CE]

I passed for 1,000 yards and 9 TDs on Madden once. Can I try out for QB?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Liberal blogger gets skewered on Twitter for failed Obamacare prediction
Poor Matt Yglesias.

The liberal economics blogger for Slate thinks he knows more than you. So when people began predicting that the Obamacare exchanges might not get off to such a great start, he was there to correct them.

"I wanted to once again take the opportunity to lay down a marker and say once again that Obamacare implementation is going to be a huge political success," he wrote in July on his blog....

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Considering that he's already survived decades with the shame of living as Matthew Yglesias, the shame of being wrong about one government program will probably just bounce off his blubber/hide.

[SugarFree]

^^^Excellent^^^

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That guy is no more an 'economics' writer than I am Mother Theresa.

What a bloody joke this boy is employed and is given a platform to spew his utter ignorance.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard. Admittedly, he was a philosophy major, but I'm sure you'll find people who still think he's qualified to be a rocket scientist or nuclear physicist.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Let him pontificate on philosophy then. He can put that cum to good use.

[Lord Humungus]

you know who else was a philosophy major?

me!

And then I tried a hand at EE before settling for CS.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I started a political science course during undergrad, wrote my first essay on something to do with Socrates, got a D on it, realised this is subjective BS and dropped the course before the tuition requirement date. Picked up a Financial Accounting course and kept reading the philosophy text from the course I dropped (on my own time). Win-win.

I learned that any course where my mark is completely based on the subjective basis of a Liberal prof would never be on my course calendar again.

[Auric Demonocles]

I was actually able to get A's on all the poli-sci, English, or philosophy essays I had to write. But that didn't prevent me from realizing what a load of crap it was anyway.

[Ebriosa]

Some of the most useful skills you'll ever learn - how to give someone in power what they want while realizing how stupid it is.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

That is a useful skill, but I didn't need to waste my time in that course to learn that. The material was dry to begin with and I didn't need to waste money on dicking around with that self-important faculty. Although, the quality of ladies in that course absolutely destroyed my engineering course.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Some of the most useful skills you'll ever learn - how to give someone in power what they want while realizing how stupid it is.

Leftists who worship at the altar of academic credentialism usually mock my assertion that getting good grades in college is typically a matter of parroting what the professor said, until I point out that this was exactly how I got my Master's.

College profs are smart people, but they're also incredibly solipsistic. It's quite rare to find ones that aren't constantly looking to show off how smart they are, and it's remarkably easy to exploit that character flaw if you have enough self-control to not constantly argue against their prejudices.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

RRR, it's what I observed too.

Although, one liberal history professor I had was fair in grading me when I took everything he taught (which I instinctively thought was terribly one-sided and contrary to a lot of the material I was coming across) and spit it back in a different perspective.

A sort of 'fuck you' angle. I got an 'A.'

Whenever people find out I have a university degree they find it odd I have the positions I hold.

Retarded.

[Lord Humungus]

Agreed - it wasn't the difficulty, it was the sheer pointlessness of it all. And the number of pseudo-intellectuals.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I took symbolic logic but could not tell you what Modus tollens is today.

[Ted S.]

It's not surprising that you never learned anything.

[Lady Bertrum]

+1

[playa manhattan]

Is it a derivative of tin?

[Old Man With Candy]

Man, that's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama has reportedly decided on Jeh Johnson, former Pentagon general counsel, to be the next Homeland Security secretary.

Who would have guessed Valerie Jarrett would pick a lawyer.

[Rich]

Who would have guessed Valerie Jarrett would pick a Black lawyer.

RACIST FTFY.

[Rich]

Oh, and of course Johnson was an early political supporter of Obama.

[sarcasmic]

Posted this yesterday but it's worth repeating.

Kill them with fire... Chinese soldiers resort to FLAME THROWERS to destroy giant hornet nests

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

[Restoras]

I read somewhere you can legally own your own flamethrower.

[Snark Plissken]

Had some friends who had homemade flamethrowers in college. Fun to play with at night in the desert.

[invisible furry hand]

i had some hippie friends who used to do fire twirling after dinner. It was cool, but would have been better if the flames had shot out of the end of their batons and set fire to a shrub or something, obviously

[playa manhattan]

I made one. Man portable, too...

[db]

Yay. I can't wait. I'm going to China on Sunday...and I'll be in Shaanxi Province for a couple of days.

[sarcasmic]

Watch out for the hornets. Those things are fucking huge.

[db]

Thanks for the advice.

[Lord Humungus]

and also watch out for the hookers. They'll suck you dry (financially speaking).

[Auric Demonocles]

Because sex offender registries have worked so well...

Bonus points for being named after a victim.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Will cops be registered for killing dogs?

[Bobarian]

Fido's Law?

[sarcasmic]

MY son is the victim: Teacher mother of football player at center of Maryville rape case breaks her silence
Teacher mother of one of the footballers in the Maryville rape case tells MailOnline that her son is finding it hard in the glare of publicity
Her son Matthew Barnett, now 19, saw charges against him dropped over rape of Daisy Coleman
Daisy found passed out and frostbitten in January last year after meeting Barnett and another boy Jordan Zech and drinking large cup of colorless liquid
Barnett's mother even lashed out at Daisy's mother for going public over claims the alleged victim's family was hounded out of town and charges were dropped because the Barnett family is powerful in Missouri town
Following public outrage the original prosecutor has now re-opened the case

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ictim.html
Randian agrees that the rapist is the victim here. Makes me wonder how he got laid in high school.

[Kaptious Kristen]

WTF is a teacher mother?*

*(I know they're saying the mother of the accused is a teacher, but why is that even relevant?)

[gaijin]

because teachers are heros! so, their words are more believable.

[sarcasmic]

Because teachers are special. Like firemen and cops. They are a special selfless breed of humanity who care only for others, not for their cushy union job and pension. Thus their children are special as well, because they have been brought up by one of the selfless ones.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Well, public school teachers. Private school teachers and especially homeschool teachers are violating the social contract to force all kids into government schools.

[sarcasmic]

Good point.

[Kaptious Kristen]

In this case, then, the teachermother must be a public skool teacher, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered.

Can we start adding teacher in front of every noun associated with a teacher? Like, teacherwife or teachershopper or teacherdrugaddict or teachmolester?

[Marshall Gill]

Private school teachers and especially homeschool teachers are violating the social contract to force all kids into government schools.

Indeed.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Randian agrees that the rapist is the victim here.

Dishonest fuckface is dishonest. If it turns out the accusations are false, then he WOULD be the victim, wouldn't he? Or do you still believe the Duke Lacrosse Team raped that dancer?

[sarcasmic]

Fuckface? How old are you? Twelve?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

You're seriously dishonest. Like, to the point where I don't know what's wrong with you.

In no way shape or form did I ever say the "rapist is the victim here". First of all, that assumes that (a) someone has been convicted of rape (which hasn't happened) and then (b) I said "rape" was OK, which I didn't say either.

For you to basically call me a rape apologist is fucking unacceptable behavior...fuckface

[sarcasmic]

The king of personal attacks sure has a thin skin! Tee hee!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

If you meant it as a joke, please try to be funnier next time.

[sarcasmic]

Seriously though, you have gone way out of the way to defend this guy. To the point where I find it disturbing.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Well, I bet you said the same thing to the people calling bullshit on the Duke Lacrosse case. In other words, if you defend someone against what may be spurious charges, be prepared to be called a rape apologist by Mr. Intellectual over here.

[sarcasmic]

See Andrew's comment below. Even if the sex was consensual, he's still a piece of shit.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Ah, so that makes it acceptable for you to call me a rape apologist and say I'm "disturbing" and to brand him a rapist...even if the sex was legal and consensual.

Nice.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Oh right, and I forgot: intimate that I'm a rapist too.

[sarcasmic]

You sure put a lot of passion into defending the guy. A LOT of passion.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Like I said, you're dishonest. First, you think it's permissible to imply I'm a rape-apologist and possibly a rapist for pointing out holes in the story, then when you get called on it, instead of backing down and apologizing like a man, you confuse my completely justified anger and your whimpering bullshit as "passion" that you can then AGAIN use to imply I'm a rapist. Fuck off.

[robc]

Even if the sex was consensual, he's still a piece of shit.

If the sex was consensual, he was a piece of shit and the victim.

Like Illinois nazis. Everyone hates Illinois nazis but we defend their right to exist and march and free speechify. If someone stops them, then the Illinois nazis are the victims.

/chrome thinks nazis should be capitalized. Fuck that.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

But when the ACLU defended them that proved they were nazis #derp-sarcasmiclogic

[Rufus J. Firefly]

robc, hilarious.

[Andrew S.]

Even if no crime was committed, he took advantage of a drunk 14 year old and then dumped her, passed out, outside in sub-freezing weather. There is no scenario here he's a victim. He's either a scumbag or a criminal scumbag.

[sarcasmic]

Yep.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Even if no crime was committed, he took advantage of a drunk 14 year old

There isn't even any evidence she was drunk when she got there.

then dumped her, passed out, outside in sub-freezing weather.

Dumped? Do you have proof for that?

See, the problem is the KC Star report is pretty tendentious, and now that narrative has been anchored in your mind as the standard of evidence that has to be overcome. Maybe learn to be skeptical of the media? Hard, I know.

[Andrew S.]

She had a .13 BAC at 9 AM when she was checked out at the hospital. Unless you're willing to believe that her mom was giving her alcohol between discovering her outside and taking her to the hospital, she would have been drunk beyond comprehension at 2 AM.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I'm willing to believe she drank a bunch when she got to the boys' house. That's fine. That doesn't mean she was drunk when she had sex, or if she had been drinking, drunk enough to obviate her consent or be obvious to him about it. I am sure there is a knowledge requirement for rape.

[Irish]

Even if no crime was committed, he took advantage of a drunk 14 year old and then dumped her, passed out, outside in sub-freezing weather. There is no scenario here he's a victim. He's either a scumbag or a criminal scumbag.

In both those scenarios he's a criminal scumbag. He either flat out raped her or he was criminally negligent when he dumped a passed out girl outside.

Not only that, but given how drunk the girl apparently was, I cannot for the life of me figure out a scenario where she could have been capable of consent. I hate the 'if you've had one drink it's rape!' feminists as much as anyone here, but the girl was apparently lapsing in and out of consciousness. There's no way she was capable of consenting.

[Irish]

Oops, I was thinking of the wrong case. I thought we were talking about the Steubenville Ohio rape case, in which the girl was clearly incapable of consent.

I know nothing about this one.

[sarcasmic]

In both those scenarios he's a criminal scumbag. He either flat out raped her or he was criminally negligent when he dumped a passed out girl outside.

Or both.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

IF those scenarios happened, THEN I would agree. But neither is even provable, especially when the "victims" plead the Fifth in their depositions.

[Andrew S.]

Pleaded the 5th according to the Sheriff and the DA. Family says she didn't.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

And according to Barnett's attorney. And according the employment records, Ms. Coleman was terminated from her job BEFORE her daughter was allegedly assaulted.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

The problem is that you assume she was drunk when they had sex AND you assume she was "dumped". Neither of those things is demonstrably true.

As I posted earlier, these girls' timelines make very little sense. They suggest they snuck out of their house at 1 AM, met with the boys outside, drove three miles to his house, got there, Daisy Coleman got hammered, there were two sex acts that happened, then everyone got dressed, dragged Daisy back out to the car, and then drove back to her house...all in one hour.

So, this girl got so drunk she passed out in about 15 minutes. Come on man.

[Andrew S.]

And as has been pointed out to you before, she was already drunk when she got there. Daisy and her friend had been drinking before they met up with the boys. They drank more alcohol when they met up with the boys.

Fuck. The only thing that annoys me more than the "drunk sex is rape" feminists are the dudebros who make every excuse for assholes who take advantage of drunk girls.

[sarcasmic]

The only thing that annoys me more than the "drunk sex is rape" feminists are the dudebros who make every excuse for assholes who take advantage of drunk girls.

Especially dudebros who make every excuse for assholes who take advantage of drunk girls and then leave them to freeze to death outside.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

You do realize that being skeptical of a narrative is not "excuse making", right? Or maybe you don't understand that.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

And did you both just say dudebros? What is this Jezebel now? Don't be retarded.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

And as I pointed out, there are a lot of explanations that make more sense. Such as: girls drink, go have sex, drink more while there THEN pass out. Need an "oh shit I passed out outside" cover story. There's also legitimate buyer's remorse.

Fuck. The only thing that annoys me more than the "drunk sex is rape" feminists are the dudebros who make every excuse for assholes who take advantage of drunk girls.

You know what annoys me? Self-righteous pricks who assume they have all the facts before them and then judge everyone in sight who fails to agree.

[robc]

See above.

Scumbags can be victims too.

[Outlaw]

This case is suspicious as fuck. The family and the girl didn't cooperate with the cops and the prosecutors who wanted to put the guy away for rape.

Instead they left town and went on a media tour.

It's worth asking whether or not this could be a case of "I had sex while drunk and regret it, so..rape."

That's the only way their behavior makes any sense to me.

I'm thinking the girl confessed to mom that, yeah, okay, it wasn't really rape so we can't testify in court because it wouldn't hold up.

I think the mom was the one who suggested she was raped in the first place after finding her drunk daughter blitzed out of her mind.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I don't have enough evidence to entirely concur, but that is how other cases that sound similar to this have turned out. Regardless, it's totally a possibility, which the Social Justice morons at Anonymous (and apparently our own emotive little shit sarcasmic) fail to recognize.

[sarcasmic]

The part where she was left barely dressed in the freezing cold is what makes me think that the dude is a piece of shit. Even if the sex was consensual, leaving her out in the cold like that could have killed her.

[Outlaw]

Where are you getting this "barely dressed" stuff?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Being in just a t-shirt and sweatpants in subfreezing temperatures could probably qualify as barely dressed in this case.

Whether a rape actually took place or not, I can still consider these guys to be broheim pieces of shit. It's below freezing out and you just dump a highly intoxicated person on the porch without at least waiting to see if she makes it inside?

[Outlaw]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/.....6421.story

The case had been no secret in Maryville. The older girl had previously spoken out about waking up outside, clad in just a t-shirt and sweatpants, her hair frozen in subfreezing temperatures. She didn't remember what had happened.

"We found out later, from the text messaging and from the phone calls, [the boys] picked the girls up just a few minutes before 1 [a.m.], and they dropped them off by 2 [a.m.], so they were pretty efficient," the 14-year-old's mother, Melinda Coleman, told radio station KCUR. "They knew what they were doing."

Coleman heard a scratching noise at the door in the early morning and discovered her daughter outside in the cold. The 13-year-old was in the bedroom. Coleman called 911 and took both girls to the hospital.

According to the Star, the 14-year-old's blood-alcohol content measured 0.13 -- almost twice the legal limit for a driving adult. Coleman said her daughter's genitalia and buttocks looked red and inflamed.

"I thought I was dead at first," the girl told KCUR. "I was really confused. I was like, what is happening? I couldn't even make sense of anything."

cont..

[Outlaw]

Two months after the incident, he dropped charges against the 17-year-olds, both of whom were on the high school football team. One, the grandson of an influential local politician, was accused of raping Coleman's daughter, the other of making a felonious recording of part of the encounter.

The video was never found, and Rice declared there was not enough evidence to prosecute. The youth accused of rape said the sex was consensual. Missouri state law says rape defendants are not guilty if they "reasonably believed that the victim was not incapacitated and reasonably believed that the victim consented to the act."

...

Even the sheriff criticized the Coleman family, which reportedly stopped cooperating with officials.

"What really fell apart were the victims and the victims' family," White told KCUR. "They're the ones that actually absolutely destroyed this case, all on their own, all by themselves. At least the suspects were smart enough to keep their mouths shut after it all happened."

White could not be reached for comment Monday evening, and the phone at Rice's office rang without answer.

Melinda Coleman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

[Rasilio]

"It's worth asking whether or not this could be a case of "I had sex while drunk and regret it, so..rape."

Or more like, "I got drunk and had sex and mom found out so now I'm in trouble"

One other thing I haven't seen is the actual girl's side of the story. Not that I have read intensively about the story but I've only see the moms story. It is entirely possible that the mom is the one filling in the blanks because she doesn't want to believe that her precious little flower would do such a thing so she must have been taken advantage of.

[Outlaw]

Yeah, that too.

[Lord Humungus]

Political cartoon compares Redskins logo to swastika, confederate flag

A new political cartoon in the New York Daily News is raising eyebrows by comparing the Skins logo to a swastika and the confederate flag.

Next to it is written the caption "Archaic Symbols of Pride and Heritage."

[Justin S]

How is this controversial? These are symbols that hurt people's feelings. As far as the confederate flag, at least that has some historical meaning. What historical meaning does the Redskins logo have? It's a football team. Just change the logo, it's no big deal. They'll actually make more money from all the t-shirts and things with the new logo.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I don't understand how it can be seen as racist. Isn't it a complement to be chosen as the name for a football team? The Redskins were tough people, we wan't our football team to be represented by this group for that reason. If someone names a football team after my last name (or heritage), I would be honoured.

Fuck, I can't stand this PC bullshit.

[Floridian]

Yeah! We're is Irish to tell us how much he is offended by the Notre Dame mascot?

What's that you say?

He doesn't give a shit.

Well I never.

[Floridian]

Where. SOB phone typing

[Lady Bertrum]

Irish isn't really Irish. He just uses the name in an attempt to seem tough, intimidating, and cool. I understand he's been petitioned by actual Irish people to change his name because they find his use of it insulting.

Also, I understand Miss Manners has protested Fist of Etiquette.

[Irish]

Pshaw. I have never claimed to be tough, intimidating or cool.

I do think that other Irish people are probably deeply offended that I am one of them, but that's an entirely separate issue.

[Lady Bertrum]

I do think that other Irish people are probably deeply offended that I am one of them, but that's an entirely separate issue.

If you become a cop or politician, develop a drinking problem, learn to blow up Orange men, and cheat on your wife then they'll love you.

[Irish]

Yeah! We're is Irish to tell us how much he is offended by the Notre Dame mascot?

I asked a hippy teacher of mine why she isn't equally offended by the Fighting Irish and she actually tried to argue that Notre Dame is a Catholic school with an Irish history, therefore it couldn't be racist.

I didn't have the heart to point out to her how fucking racist it is to assume that because some Irish people came up with the name all Irish people must be okay with it.

Neither name is racist. Personally I'd argue that fighting Irish might actually have a better claim to racism given that the 'fighting' aspect of the name could also be seen as a pretty negative stereotype.

It's still idiotic to get offended by the name of a sports team.

[some guy]

These are symbols that hurt people's feelings.

The only person who can control whether you are offended is you. Don't blame other people for something that is your fault.

See, what if I started saying that the name "Justin" offends me because a guy named Justin raped my sister one time. Do you now have to change your name? It hurts people's feelings after all...

Furthermore, the Redskins name and logo have never been used to denigrate. They have always had positive connotations for those associated with the team. They were symbols of strength and honor, as stereotypical as that may be.

[Auric Demonocles]

When polled, 90% of Native Americans said they didn't see anything offensive about the name. But wait, that leaves 10%! Awful, horrible, proof of racism!

Here's a fun fact, 11% of Americans think the moon landing was a hoax.

[Andrew S.]

To be fair, that Annenberg study that keeps getting pointed to had absolutely horrible metrics, and even the authors admit it really shouldn't be used for what it's being used for.

[Bobarian]

Which proves that the moon landing was more racist than the Redskins.

[Ebriosa]

Positive stereotypes are still stereotypes. Imagine being an athletic asian kid who is constantly asked about her grades when she's a top wrestler or something. And this is really, obviously a skin color thing because it's redskins. It's not even Braves. It's using an offensive term for a whole bunch of people who are individuals and assuming it's a complement because who doesn't want to be a badass warrior?

I mean, sure, I name my fantasy hockey league the Fighting Pacifists, but still... how is this not obviously a terrible name for a sports team? The only argument to keep it is that it's old and established and a good reminder of old stereotypes.

[some guy]

Another good reason is that the name wasn't considered derogatory when the team was created. Just like the term "negro" wasn't derogatory decades ago (MKL Jr. used it frequently and without contempt). Since then a small minority of the population has decided that it is derogatory while the rest of us happily moved on and damn near forgot about where the name came from in the first place. In other words, its a non-issue.

[Jordan]

No, the only argument to keep it is that those using the term don't intend it to be offensive, and the vast majority of the "targeted" group aren't offended. Language evolves.

There is no natural law of racism. If the vast majority of people don't believe something is racist, then by definition, it's not racist.

[Irish]

No, the only argument to keep it is that those using the term don't intend it to be offensive, and the vast majority of the "targeted" group aren't offended. Language evolves.

There's also not much evidence that Redskin was a racist slur back in the days of Indian oppression. There are speeches by Native American chiefs from the time calling themselves 'Red Men' or 'Red skinned.'

Personally I don't care either way. I'd change the name if I was the owner if only to put an end to controversy, but this seems to be just another case of white people getting offended on behalf of a minority group while most members of that minority group don't actually care.

If anything, it's pretty racist for white liberals to continuously take it upon themselves to get offended on behalf of people they don't even know. Truly it is the white progressives burden.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's using an offensive term

That's a circular argument.

[OO=======D]

I always thought it was a reference to tasty potatoes.

Oven-Roasted Herbed Redskin Potatoes

http://www.enjoyyourcooking.co.....atoes.html

[Lord Humungus]

with cream sauce?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Your existence hurts my feelings.

[Jordan]

Niiiiice.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

How is this controversial?

[DJF]

This all could be fixed if they just took my suggestion and rename the team the Washington Leaches.

It would reflect both the historical Washington which used to be a swamp and the present day Washington.

[some guy]

This all could be fixed if they just took my suggestion and rename the team the Washington Leaches.

We already had the Washington Senators at one time. The Nationals already decided not to re-use that name.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Ottawa Senators.

[Restoras]

That was a revival of a defunct team.

[Kaptious Kristen]

What about the millions of Americans that suffer from ornithophobia? I think their feelings need to be taken into consideration and all bird name teams should reconsider.

[OO=======D]

As a practicing Catholic, I am deeply offended by the St. Louis Cardinals.

[KDN]

I don't think they could have used without paying a fee since the Rangers still own the rights.

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

They should probably spell it correctly, though. Unless you were talking about the chemical process.

[Ted S.]

If he really wanted to be daring, he'd have had the third symbol be the Obama O.

[Kaptious Kristen]

This whole redskins thing is merely a shiny object to get the Prez's cult members to look away from the numerous errors and scandals and general incompetence of this administration. Because even the most devoted cultie's cognitive dissonance has a limit.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Taking a step back and realizing that the POTUS has, on more than one occasion, commented on a Football teams name over fabricated racial issues is ridiculous. He is the POTUS, be better.

[Andrew S.]

I would feel better if their owner wasn't such a smug asshole, who sues at the first hint of criticism and thinks that anybody against him is anti-Semitic.

To think that the name was originated to honor Native Americans is ridiculous. George Preston Marshall was one of the most intractable racists that sport has ever seen. He didn't even sign a black player until RFK forced him to do it in 1962. In his will, he left a large sum to children, with the caveat that it not be used for anything involving de-segregation.

But whether it's a racist name today is another matter. I say change it. Part of that, admittedly, is a deep-rooted history of that team (given that I'm an Eagles fan). But it really would be best for all concerned, in my opinion, if they went ahead and changed it. Except that it would make that smug asshole Snyder a lot of money, and that's not good.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Honestly, they could probably nerf all of this attention by changing it to the Warriors and work out a deal with some Indian tribe to endorse them the way Florida State did with the Seminoles.

It's a hell of a lot better than Stanford getting rid of "Indians" and changing their mascot to a giant tree.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Let's just think of the most harmless thing. Something we loved form our childhoods. Something that could never, ever possibly destroy us.

Got it!

The Washington Marshmallow Men!

[CE]

Actually, the Washington pro football team's logo is worse than the swastika or the confederate flag. Those are just symbols, not a caricature of a group of people.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

Such crap that the activist judges won't let Bloomberg limit soda sizes. Refined sugar is killing this country, and there is simply no legal rationale for not letting a local government exercise the police power in this way.

I guess republicans only care about activist judges when they are ruling the other way, though.

[Jordan]

I would expect SugarFree to rant against sugar.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

Keep telling yourself I am a spoofer if it makes you feel better that you can't deal with my arguments!

[wareagle]

dealing with your arguments would be easy if you actually made one. As it is, you're not even a good troll.

[gaijin]

I would expect SugarFree to rant against sugar.

that would be SugarNotFree

[SugarFree]

I support Big Gulps of whatever one wants. Mine is filled with vodka, limes and ice made from the tears of children.

[some guy]

Wouldn't that be too salty? Children's tears are extra salty.

[SugarFree]

There is very little ice in my half-gallon of vodka.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I use children's tears on the rim of my big gulp margaritas. Mmmm salty delicious.

[invisible furry hand]

Ignore Mr Free, he's a barbarian who drinks his vodka through a novelty straw. Children's tears are best as a source for the salt on my margarita glasses.

[BakedPenguin]

Jordan, give him some credit. If SugarFree sockpuppeting a troll, it would be far more original and disturbing. Frodo is tired and sad, going over obvious talking points in an uninspired way.

Tony and PB are well done compared to this one.

[SugarFree]

BP is right. I'd use way more butt stuff.

[Auric Demonocles]

So you're saying you are responsible for Tony?

[SugarFree]

Ah, no. Of course, since what we have know is not "Tony," the hand in the puppet might not be gay at all.

[Lord Humungus]

exactly - a SF sockpuppet would lead to misery and gloom, and would make Mary look sane.

[Auric Demonocles]

He's just scared of candy. Maybe it stems from a horrible Halloween experience as a child?

[Lord Humungus]

Held down and forced to eat Zagnuts against his will?

[Lady Bertrum]

Peeps of Torture?

[Old Man With Candy]

Many are scared of me, yes.

[BakedPenguin]

"How about some more beans, Mr. Taggert?"
"I'd say you've had enough."

[some guy]

The issue is that Bloomberg's Board of Health issued the ban. The court said that the Board was overstepping its legal authority. The court would have been fine with the NYC legislature creating the ban.

[Ted S.]

Which is probably what's going to happen. 🙁

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who's the new rube?

[NoVAHockey]

At this point what difference does it make.

[NoVAHockey]

At this point what difference does it make.

[Cyto]

Better fake troll would be to run over to the daily Kos and pick random posts on the same story. They've got some high-quality inadvertent trollage over there.

[Cyto]

Ok, random first comment on the list from Huff-Po

Ralph Palmieri
SUPER USER?35 Fans
no they don't. Now I have to pay for health insurance for people who are just getting obese . Sorry . I don't want to pay for it if your not trying to stay in some kind of shape. I know things happens but at least try .
Remember now I have to pay for health insurance . Its the law

Add a couple of random all-caps and brackets and you've got your troll. Much easier - you don't have to fake the earnest absence of a sense of irony.

[Lady Bertrum]

Now that we have national health insurance I have the right to scream obscenities at random fat people 'cause taxes?

Upside to socialism!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Happens here in Canada all the time. It's open season on anyone deemed 'unhealthy.'

Losers. Just like the people who attacked that mother with her 'What's you excuse?" picture.

Notice they are gangbanged her with ad hominen bull shit and the question still remained: What's your fucking excuse?

[OO=======D]

Here's what people don't understand, before Obamacare, if you had insurance, you were paying for the obese person's heathcare too. And the smokers. And the risky sexers.

Government is evil because it interjects itself in ways that pit people against each other.

[Lady Bertrum]

I don't mind paying for the risky sexers but I draw a line at smokers. 😉

[some guy]

He's the type of troll who complains that you won't respond to his "argument". Then when someone shoots down said argument, he ignores them and gambols off to find a new bridge.

[Lord Humungus]

did you say gambol?

*ducks head, looks frantically around for a certain Caucasian Native*

[Restoras]

Shit, I loaded my 1911 I got so paranoid.

[PD Scott]

You waited until NOW to load your 1911?

[some guy]

I refuse to let one dumbass on the internet prevent me from using a word as awesome as "gambol". In libertopia, gamboling would be a very common activity.

[Tonio]

there is simply no legal rationale

Self-ownership. Pwned, biotch.

BTW, Happy Friday, Merkin.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

Show me where self ownership is in the constitution

[Night Elf Mohawk]

9th Amendment.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

hahahahahaah

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

The Constitution is irrelevant in this regard. It is not a rights-granting document.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

This is not how its been interpreted for 200 years. Get it straight.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Get it straight

Big talk coming from a guy who wanted to learn more about Sam.

[sarcasmic]

Liam Hemsworth's girlfriend Eiza Gonzalez reveals her natural beauty with minimal make-up and a slinky red dress for dinner at upscale eatery

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....eauty.html
Yeah. I can see ditching a wedding engagement with Miley Cyrus for her. In a heart beat.

[Restoras]

But does she twerk?

[sarcasmic]

Who cares?

[SugarFree]

Eiza is very attractive, but calling someone that's had that much plastic surgery a "natural beauty" is a perversion of the idea.

Before and after

[sarcasmic]

I wasn't really looking at her face, but wow.

[SugarFree]

When they first started dating, I googled a bit to see more of her. At first I thought that it was two different women with the same name.

[sarcasmic]

I tried to land this waitress at some place where I cooked. She was an aspiring model. Pretty girl. Wasn't anything wrong with her. But she said that to get anywhere in the business, plastic surgery was basically required. She'd be offered jobs, but on the condition that she did this to her nose or that to her eyes or something else to her boobs. It was really disheartening to listen to. Anyway, she only worked there for a couple weeks before moving back with her mom or something. Never sealed the deal.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You shoulda offered to cut up her nose with the onion knife?

Now you look purty.

[DontShootMe]

Why do I always like the "before" pictures better?

[BakedPenguin]

Speaking of pointless surgeries, Gillian Jacobs.

[BakedPenguin]

Oh, and for straight male (or gay female) fans of Community out there. (Borderline SFW - no nudity)

[The DerpRider]

Holy cow.

[playa manhattan]

She should also consider eating food more.

[The DerpRider]

She has a Cindy Crawford look in one of the middle pics. Very pretty woman.

[sarcasmic]

More takers for one-way trip to Mars than for Obamacare, and one state spending $12,000 so far to attract each new insurance customer: Is this the worst launch ever?

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

[Jordan]

So much deliciousness in that link:

-'Mars One' colony project has 200,000 commitments from would-be space cadets, outpacing Americans' interest in Affordable Care Act participation
-Vermont has enrolled just 712 people after spending $9 million on outreach, advertising and other PR ventures
-One MSNBC host best known for explaining away a series of racy 'naughty Santa' photos now says it's her past work for the company behind the Obamacare website that she finds embarrassing
-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made time for a Comedy Central interview but won't accept an invitation to testify before Congress
-Healthcare.gov was tested just 1 week before its launch date, after the Obama administration spent $394 MILLION building it and other Obamacare websites
-The top contractor has been paid more than $200 million despite being fired by a Canadian province for botching its medical records database

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Great, a Canadian had a hand in the mess?

Blame Canada!

I'm telling you guys, take it from me, Obamacare will never get back on track. Calling it Byzantine would insult the Byzantines. Canada's universal system is basically anarchy that manages to struggle along.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

You are lucky if you can get prompt care for non-life threatening procedures within a few months. Tear a tendon in your knee? You could be waiting for surgery for 6 months.

[Auric Demonocles]

That happened to my dad here in the states too.

However, the first 5.5 months were him refusing to admit that he should go to the doctor.

[Fate]

Hell, try Aus. I'm currently waiting on surgery to fix a minor heart issue - minor in that I 'only' have a 5 - 10% chance of stroke every year.

I've been on the waiting list so far for about 7 months. Cardiologist tells me it should only be another 6 - 8 months.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I have to admit I didn't have to wait too long to have TWO ACL surgeries.

[Restoras]

Blame or thank?

[Auric Demonocles]

I thought Vermont went single payer recently. Why did they need to bother with Obamacare exchanges?

[#]

They passed a bill saying they wanted it. They didnt appropriate any money to it or creat a program for it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Saudi Arabia, protesting the lack of intervention in Syria, will not be taking up its seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The United Nations? That thing is still around?

[DJF]

The Saudis would send their own army to Syria but its too busy stopping protests in Bahrain.

[CE]

Yeah, we stupidly never elected Badnarik.

[sarcasmic]

Cavuto: Mr. President, we at Fox News are not the problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDdmtJCEWPA
If you're on Facebook, sharing this one is guaranteed to drive your liberal friends over the edge.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nice.

I can't really comment on a lot of stuff about American politics. But watching from where I sit, I can't think of a leader in any country who has spend so much time and energy attacking and blaming others like this guy does.

In any other walk of life, people ignore people who do nothing but complain and blame rightfully concluding they're not responsible - or leaders.

Yet, 50 million Americans voted for a person who clearly lacks quality leadership skills.

I don't get it.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Very true. He sounds like one of those people you come across every now and then that is, by all definitions, a loser in life. Yet, if you listen to him, he will never put blame on himself for his shortcomings, it is always someone else that was out to get him or some very bad luck. People like this lack the character to take responsibility for any of the events which occur in their life and deflect all blame to some outside force holding them down.

[Ted S.]

I can't really comment on a lot of stuff about American politics.

You're the first Canadian I've heard say that. 😉

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ted, I have my opinion but is it really my place? :

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That was supposed to be a smiley face.

[gaijin]

Yet, 50 million Americans voted for a person who clearly lacks quality leadership skills.

I don't get it.

He's just one of them

[KDN]

You and me both. I didn't vote for Romney and don't have a ton in common with him ideologically, but I can't for the life of me understand how so many people preferred to stay with someone who is so clearly terrible at his job. The primary role of the President is to run the federal government, and at this Obama is an abject failure.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

One word for you: racism. If this had been a white guy, I bet he would have been sent packing similar to Carter. Although Obama would have never become president if he was white so we would have Hillary up there. There was no changing this nightmare scenario I guess.

[Juice]

Romney was THAT bad. And then when you put that together with the fact that he was "better" than the other GOP candidates (except for Johnson), there's little wonder that Obama stayed in office.

[KDN]

He wasn't that bad if you actually care about managerial competence; he was actually significantly better just by virtue of not having already proved himself a failure. The problem is that he hit all the wrong buttons for people emotionally, both in terms of ideology and style, but for some reason people don't seem to give a lot of weight to record when choosing the leader of the largest organization on the planet.

Though I suppose that as a libertarian I should be glad about this. It's better to see the government run as inefficiently and incompetently as possible; it damage ceiling is lower that way.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I agree. I don't think Romney would have been worse. People already had an idea since he ran a very liberal state. He actually had a much more substantial track record than Obama.

And there's no doubt, in terms of leadership, he would have been a upgrade.

To me, Obama's constant whining points to low character; not politics.

[Root Boy]

Be wary of pysch evals of politicians (remember Goldwater), but this is an interesting peak behind the curtain:

"Vernon Jordan, the big-time Washington lawyer (and a solid Democrat), tells the story of a golf game in which Obama was partnered with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also is in a very select group of true experts on the financial markets. Afterward, Bloomberg remarked that, through four hours of riding the cart with the mayor, Obama asked his golf partner not a single question about anything."

http://hotair.com/headlines/ar.....ack-obama/

[sarcasmic]

I think Romney lost because of Palin.

Americans are more sexist than they are racist.

[sarcasmic]

The moment three men roughed up a tagger who painted over the latest work by graffiti artist Banksy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....sburg.html
Vandals vandalizing vandalism!

[Tonio]

Nice.

[Jordan]

Reaon's Friday movie review article goes to a 404. SHUT DOWN REASON!

/Derpgressive who doesn't understand coercion vs. voluntary cooperation

[Ted S.]

There were two links: One was actually Kurt Loder's piece; the other was an article saying, "Kurt Loder wrote an article!"

[invisible furry hand]

I wonder if these states have maintained their poxy pride

This map, printed in 1875 by the Army's Provost Marshal General's office, uses data gleaned from the Union Army draft during the Civil War to show the prevalence of syphilis across various Union states.

[Spoonman.]

Amusingly the area that produced Mormonism in the Finger Lakes region of New York State is one of the poxiest.

[Lord Humungus]

Older Adults Signing Up For Obamacare In Connecticut

Officials for Connecticut's health insurance marketplace said Thursday that after the first two weeks of enrollment they've seen a lot of "pent up demand" from older individuals who are purchasing plans at a higher rates than people under the age of 55.

Nearly 400 individuals ages 55-64 who enrolled in the exchange between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15 qualified for Medicaid because their income was at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, and nearly 600 in that same age group have signed up for plans with one of the three private insurance carriers.

...snip...

Of the 3,847 individuals who signed up for coverage, 1,857 qualified for Medicaid, 1,897 signed up for plans with one of the three private insurance carriers, and 93 qualified for the Children's Health Insurance Plan. Of the individuals who signed up with private carriers, 772 won't receive a subsidy and 1,125 will receive a federal subsidy to lower their monthly premium.

spiral of doooooom...

[Palin's Buttplug]

Which do you fear most?

That the ACA will be successful?

Or that it will be a disaster?

Honesty please.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

Agreed 100%. These republicans just want Pres. Obama to fail so that they can say "See, Bush wasn't so bad" even though everyone knows Pres. Obama is doing all that he can to clean up after bush and cheney and STILL doing an amazing job. The ACA is the best and most important law of the generation!

[cryptarchy]

Are you getting paid to troll this hard?

[Frodo Teabaggins]

Are you getting paid to go fuck yourself?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Palin you didn't tell us you were pregnant.

Sigh. Fucking Aliens all over.

[Lord Humungus]

aww... someone has hurt feelings.

[gaijin]

But his name is so clever! He must be smart.

[Justin S]

Exactly! These libertarians are grasping to every straw like a drowning man. It's obvious that after a few birthing pangs this will all blow over. In 10 years, Obamacare will be looked on as a huge triumph.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I spit out my espresso.

In ten years...let's stretch the time horizon to an arbitrary figure!

What a dolt you are Justin.

Of course in ten years it'll look "great" because people will have gotten used to an inferior product and service. It won't matter people opposed it because the state will have absorbed you.

Take it from a Canadian - there will be bureaucratic ration and mediocrity service if what I'm reading is correct.

I might add, the general overall ignorance about how insurance works is staggering among you leftist clowns.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Its failure will be its success. It's only meant to be a stepping stone to single payer.

[Restoras]

One thing is certain - the acceleration of deficit spending and debt issuance will just hasten the coming collapse. When it comes no one gets anything anyway.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

That it will ludicrously jack up the prices I have to pay for insurance, particularly if many young people refuse to sign up and insurer's are forced to jack up prices.

[Tonio]

Honesty please.

LOL. Like you would know what that is.

[Floridian]

I want it to fail because I want a real free market in healthcare. I want social security to collapse so that the money people sink into a Ponzi scheme instead would be put in an investment they own. I want Medicare to fail so people will have to make actual decision on what they spend their healthcare dollars on instead of distorting the market. I want people to be responsible for the lifestyle choices they make like smoking and obesity instead of passing the cost onto others that take care of themselves. I want the WOD to fail, I want the Global police force to fail and return to defense only. I want the government to stop bailing out irresponsible businesses and manipulating food prices for farm conglomerates and then paying fines on the manipulation to the WTO and paying for food subsidies. The short answer is I want to live in a free country.

[trshmnstr]

amen

[Rasilio]

I fear neither.

There is no chance that it will be truly successful in the sense of controlling costs while providing greater access to health care.

The odds of it being a nuclear meltdown level failure are quite significant and while it will be very painful for the country the experience may very well serve as a reminder to the bulk of Americans just what a bad idea central planning is.

what I fear is that it is just successful enough to gain a modicum of popularity (approval ratings hovering between 52 and 48%) and people become addicted to the free stuff in it meaning that even as it starts to breakdown under it's own weight it becomes impossible to step back from it and the next "Health Care Reform" becomes even more centralized government controlled

[waffles]

The thing is the people rushing to sign up are only the people who have something to gain from it. Personally I have to be coerced into it. I don't like being coerced. This isn't about civic responsibility. This is
"fuck you that's why".

[Palin's Buttplug]

You are not "coerced" unless you insist on being a deadbeat and not buy private insurance.

Of course, the right to be a deadbeat is one I respect. The mandate is like unnecessary roughness in the NFL..

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Prior to Obamacare, it was possible to purchase catastrophic coverage with much lower premiums. Some of us were happy with that, you mendacious jackass.

[Restoras]

Freedom means asking permission and obeying orders.

[waffles]

I am coerced in that my current insurance plan is no longer acceptable under the terms of this law. I paying for my own private and affordable catastrophic insurance plan is being a deadbeat then you are a mendacious twat. This is coercion, plain and simple.

If just any decent percentage of people who do not expect subsidies or medicaid feel like me then you can say hello to the death spiral. Can you deny that the primary impulse here is "free shit"?

[Jordan]

You are not "coerced" unless you insist on being a deadbeat and not buy private insurance.

In other words, you are coerced. Dishonest much?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

You are not coerced unless you don't like being taken to jail or executed! FREE MARKET!

[some guy]

You are not "coerced" unless you insist on being a deadbeat and not buy private insurance.

Why do you care if someone doesn't have insurance? Is it because government already coerces you into paying for their healthcare? If so, why do you want more laws that coerce you into paying for their healthcare? (Remember, PPACA raises premiums on the responsible so that the irresponsible can have coverage.)

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Catastrophic insurance cost for a 30 year old male before Obamacare: $72.16 per month, $5,950 deductible.

Catastrophic insurance cost for a 30 year old male after Obamacare: $196.10 per month, $6,000 deductible.

Forcing someone to pay 2.7 times more for essentially the same thing isn't coercion? Oh, wait, the new policy is a little different. The man now has maternity coverage.

[some guy]

The very fact that maternity is covered by insurance is laughable. Insurance is about risk mitigation. Maternity isn't a risk, it's a decision.

[Restoras]

Indeed. Wouldn't it also be fair to say that as people age health insurance becomes less about risk mitigation since it is nearly certain you will have health problems?

[some guy]

Indeed. Medicare is not a health insurance program. Neither is anything under PPACA. Health insurance doesn't really exist any more. Everything is a health care plan now.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I don't know. Theoretically the premiums go up to reflect that fact, so it could still be more about mitigation since your other use will be reflected in those higher premiums.

[NoVAHockey]

"insist on being a deadbeat"

you assume I won't pay for services provided. Some of us pay our bills. Even the large ones.

[Fluffy]

For broad stretches of my 20's, I did not have health insurance.

I never visited a hospital, never visited a doctor's office, and paid for dental and vision out of pocket.

My lack of insurance during that time frame therefore produced absolutely $0 in free rider costs.

It's completely ludicrous to assert that I was, at any point in that process, a "deadbeat".

If I don't think insurance makes economic sense and don't buy it, but also don't generate any medical bills that have to be charged off, that's called "being a rational actor".

[Andrew S.]

Same here, except that I did go to an urgent care clinic once for a bad sinus infection. I paid cash.

I have insurance now, and I pay out the nose through it (though at least my insurance didn't get any more expensive when I re-upped it back in August. Of course, that was at the expense of my insurance getting worse, but that's another story). But I didn't need it back then, and I'm happy for myself that I didn't have to pay ridiculous amounts for it.

[Juice]

You are not "coerced" unless you insist on being a deadbeat and not buy private insurance.

Fuck you. I have (not for long) affordable insurance. I'm being told I can't keep it. I'll have to buy worse coverage for twice the price. Fuck you.

[Gbob]

I'm still puzzled by the notion that "Insurance companies are evil. Our solution is to force you to buy from those insurance companies or we'll seize your assets. Progress!". Even if you accept that the old system was broken, it just doesn't make a lick of sense.

Unless, of course, you're deliberately trying to fail to institute single payer....but what kind of shithead would do that?

[Palin's Buttplug]

An allegedly drunk driver crashed his car through the front of a northeast Atlanta pharmacy early Friday, then walked away from the wreckage to a nearby bar, where he continued drinking, police said.

According to an Atlanta police incident report, Rashad Williams, 38, of Lithonia told arresting officers that he was driving down Cheshire Bridge Road just before 3:30 a.m., attempting to make a left turn, when he lost control of his car.

The 2012 Chrysler 200 careened across a parking lot, jumped a curb and crashed through the glass front of the Walgreens Community Pharmacy at the intersection of Piedmont and Cheshire Bridge roads, barely missing a DUI school adjacent to the pharmacy.

Responding officers found no one inside the Chrysler, which was still sticking out of the building, but the witness who called 911 told them that the driver had walked next door to the Anchor Bar.

When officers went to the bar, "the driver was sitting at the bar drinking a beer," according to the incident report. "We then escorted the driver outside after he paid for his tab."

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/l.....ees/nbRQf/

[KDN]

When in college my wife was in the back seat of her friend's Jeep when it got t-boned by some douche blowing a stop sign. The jeep flipped a few times before landing upside down on someone's front lawn. Thankfully, nobody was killed.

The dude immediately left the scene and drove to his destination, somehow getting his smashed up POS to a dive in Paterson. When the cops found it and him and told him he was under arrest, he said, "nah man, couldn't be me; I've been here blowing coke for hours."

[sarcasmic]

Will the world end in 2032? Ukrainian astronomers discover massive asteroid that could hit the earth with the power of 2,500 nuclear bombs
Asteroid 2013 TV135 was discovered this past weekend by scientists at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
It is 1,300-feet wide - large enough to damage 100,000 square miles of territory, if it struck the planet
Chance of it hitting the Earth is 1 in 63,000

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....bombs.html
IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!

[Aloysious]

One can only hope.

[some guy]

2,500 nuclear bombs

Nuclear bombs come in many sizes ranging over 3-4 orders of magnitude in energy. I hate it when liberal arts majors try to talk science.

[Tonio]

Yeah, I hate those contrived analogies, too, but it's as much about the scientifically illiteracy of the general public as about the author.

[sarcasmic]

To be fair, when those analogies are made, Hiroshima is usually the assumed reference point.

[some guy]

Either way, the sentence has no meaning other than "It would be really, really bad". Most people have no real concept of how much damage Little Boy did. They certainly don't know how to scale that up by a factor of 2500. And I guarantee they will forget to account for the fact that damage scales with the cube root of energy for explosions. I wish they would just with saying things like "large enough to damage 100,000 square miles of territory" or "an area the size of Colorado". That's something people can actually get their heads around.

[Tonio]

"As much [volume] as contained in a string of tank cars stretching from Paducah to Piscataway."

[Tonio]

Oops, premature post. The tank car example is one of my favorite spurious analogies.

SG's "area the size of Colorado" is actually a useful and accessible example.

[robc]

Not spurious, I think I can picture that.

But then again, Ive been to Paducah.

[Lord Humungus]

9/11 times a thousand!

[some guy]

That sounds like South Park. I bet that was South Park.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Team America, you mean?

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Close enough.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Boy, those Norwegians.

What a fucking farcical waste of time AND money this soda ban thing is. Unbelievable the size of Bloomberg's ego to actually fight this. The set of balls on this nanny-stater. Sheesh.

[Frodo Teabaggins]

What is the legal rationale for blocking the ban? There is none, because the police power belongs to local government.

[gaijin]

What is the legal rationale for blocking the ban?

What is the legal rationale for the ban?

[Frodo Teabaggins]

There doesn't need to be one for it. Local government is not limited in the sense the federal government is.

[some guy]

The court's decision wasn't against the "local government". It was against the Board of Health. It simply said the Board had overstepped its legal authority as granted by the city's legislature. If the legislature changed that authority, then the court would be fine with the ban. If the legislature imposed the ban itself, then the court would be fine. Get your facts straight.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

To say nothing of who made up the health board and the science they used to impose a paternalistic law.

Why would anyone accept another person telling what to eat or whatever?

Oh, wait. We're getting glimpses of the type of people who do.

The 'because we say so and it's for the children so fuck you because people can't make the right choices' crowd.

[some guy]

I was merely pointing out Frodo's misunderstanding of the legal issues at hand. I think he's a lost cause when it comes to moral issues.

[gaijin]

There doesn't need to be one for it.

So you are an anarchist. Got it.

[Tonio]

Not anarchist. Troll. Best quality, finest workmanship.

[Juice]

Honestly it's a pretty mediocre troll.

[sarcasmic]

Does this skull rewrite the history of mankind? 1.8 million-year-old remains suggest all human ancestors belonged to the SAME species but just looked different
Skull 5, which comes from an ancient human ancestor found in Dmanisi,Georgia, implies that all Homo species were once one
It was thought that different characteristics among the Homo fossils showed they were distinct, different species
Scientists from the Anthropological Institute and Museum in Zurich say Skull 5 suggests a single Homo species could cope with a variety of ecosystems

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

[Lord Humungus]

Blind chicken brought back to life

Roberta says: "She wouldn't let us stop trying to revive her. I pumped her chest and blew air down her beak."

Meanwhile, they also used a hairdryer and towels to try and warm the chicken up.

And, amazingly, just over three hours later Chooky came back from the dead.

Roberta says: "She hopped up, did a poo, I thought 'you show off' and then she even laid an egg."

[CE]

So, the chicken did come first, before the egg, as I've long suspected.

[Bardas Phocas]

Going to Kenya.
Forget Norway.
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/kenya/

[Lord Humungus]

Assessing the Exchanges

The administration believes it will be possible to roll through a difficult period, get as many people as they can into the system, and just hold out until things stabilize. The insurers are not sure this will be possible. Everyone involved is guessing.

For me, and for other critics of Obamacare, the problem with the law was never about these technical matters. I didn't think the system wouldn't work because the government couldn't build a website, but because the basic health economics involved is deeply misguided and would take the (badly inadequate) American health-financing system in the wrong direction. So these problems only seem like a prelude to other, larger problems. But Obamacare was also always going to be a test of the sheer capacity of the administrative state to actually do what it claims the authority and ability to do. At this point, it looks as though we may be witnessing a failure of the administrative state on a level unimagined even by its staunchest critics. We may be. But we'll have to see.

more details in the link...

[Justin S]

Now that the exchanges are public, we can see what the problems are and work them out. There are technical teams at work on this right now. This was always going to happen, but a few weeks or months and it'll all be fixed. In 10 years, nobody wil remember there were ever problems.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Today's Words: Death Spiral

[Jordan]

Even better: whistling past the graveyard.

[trshmnstr]

There are technical teams at work on this right now.

Good for them... I can't wait for the technical teams that work on the economics issues and cost overruns that we're gonna hit. They've already got a cute name... Death Panels.

This was always going to happen, but a few weeks or months and it'll all be fixed.

Probably true on the webpage front. Definitely not true on the economics front.

In 10 years, nobody wil remember there were ever problems.

You're right for a few reasons. First, the media will do everything it possibly can to revise history. Second, this will be childsplay compared to the issues to come. Third, after a few revisions of the regulations and the like, we'll be thinking of this as the "good ol' days" when we were at least remotely close to a working system.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Now that the exchanges are public, we can see what the problems are and work them out

The article of faith of the mediocre managerialist.

Leaders actually anticipate problems before they occur and take steps to mitigate them. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Anyone with competence doesn't fix something this ubiquitous "after the fact," they make sure it works in a multitude of scenarios before it goes live. This shit cost over $300 million, and now it's going to cost even more to supposedly fix what shouldn't have been broke in the first place.

And that's just the technical side. There's all kinds of problems with the economic side of this as well, primarily in that it's causing people to lose health plans they liked, and/or having their monthly income dramatically reduced as a result.

Face it, Obamacare has become the F-35 of healthcare programs.

[a better weapon]

So these problems only seem like a prelude to other, larger problems. But Obamacare was also always going to be a test of the sheer capacity of the administrative state to actually do what it claims the authority and ability to do. At this point, it looks as though we may be witnessing a failure of the administrative state on a level unimagined even by its staunchest critics.

Doubt it, if it becomes obvious to the voter that the healthcare industry is too complex for the government to manage, they'll just propose we simplify it. How? With more government and less healthcare, provider flexibility, and patient choice. After all, if the government couldn't manage it, then nothing can. Us stupid plebes just expect too much.

[waffles]

That picture goes against the narrative. Skinny people don't drink super big gulps! They only eat arugula, bok choy, and the occasional artisinal mayonnaise. Please find a stock picture that accurately reflects the horrors of high fructose death syrup.

[db]

I had a girlfriend once: 5'6", 98 lb, and ate like a horse. Her metabolism was unreal.

[Lord Humungus]

she wouldn't disappear into the bathroom for some regurgitation?

[invisible furry hand]

"Hey, he helped Anne lose weight."
"Peter, she's anorexic!"
"Yeah, the guy's really good."

[db]

Not after eating food, no.

[db]

Her whole family was tall and skinny. Definitely not anorexic or bulemic.

[Ruckus]

I used to work with a guy who had about the same frame (and social quirks, scaled down to non characterization levels of course) as the Sheldon character on Big Bang Theory.

Every day for lunch he would eat a couple of bags of chips and a king size candy bar out of the vending machine. While coding, he would drink roughly 8 cans of soda a day and admitted to drinking 4-5 more after he got home.

His entire life he basically consumed nothing but sugar and greasy food, yet weighed like 120 lbs and was in perfect health.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It doesn't mean his heart is.

[Elspeth Flashman]

The picture makes me want to go to a truck stop to get a mega-pop like that one. Why's there no Flying J in my town?

[Lord Humungus]

Insight: Budget fight leaves Boehner 'damaged' but still standing

But within the halls of the U.S. Capitol, the budget showdown was a reminder of the weakness of House Speaker John Boehner, the moderate Republican who reluctantly led conservatives' push until it was clear that no solution would emerge from his fractured caucus.

Boehner emerges from the budget fight as a diminished leader with little ability to control a restive caucus whose conservative members tried to oust him from the speakership last year, analysts said.

[invisible furry hand]

The brief appearance of a concrete sculpture in Gdansk last Saturday depicting a Red Army soldier raping a pregnant woman has sparked ire on both the Polish and Russian sides. Now the artist could be facing two years in prison.

[SugarFree]

"defiled by his pseudo-art the memory of 600,000 Soviet servicemen who gave their lives in the fight for the freedom and the independence of Poland."

Which they promptly re-enslaved.

[Restoras]

After raping all the women.

[Lord Humungus]

multiple times.

[Kaptious Kristen]

So only one generation later and we're already canonizing the Soviet Union. We're fucked.

[The DerpRider]

How did a concrete sculpture move itself so quickly as to have a brief appearance?

[Lord Humungus]

Glitches continue to frustrate efforts to sign up for health insurance in Michigan

Two weeks after the launch of the Michigan Health Insurance Marketplace, it's still unclear how many Michiganders have been able to buy insurance there.

Comments earlier today by the chief deputy of the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services underscored the lingering confusion over health insurance exchanges, the centerpiece in each state of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Ann Flood, who on Nov. 1 will become the director of the department, said she checked with her staff and "we actually do not have any confirmation of anyone (in Michigan) signing up on the exchange."

[Hillary's Clitdong]

"we actually do not have any confirmation of anyone (in Michigan) signing up on the exchange."

I guess total and complete failure is an achievement in its own way.

[The DerpRider]

Michigan exchange and Prince Fielder - both batting .000.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Boston pitching is getting him to ground out.

The depressing thing for Detroit is they outpitched Boston in the first four games. Can't ask for more. Yet they were 2-2.

I still can't believe Leyland took out Scherzer in game three. Spent or not, he was in control. I couldn't see a reason to yank him that soon. Detroit's bull pen isn't a sure bet.

[The DerpRider]

Fielder has been atrocious. Five of his last eight at bats have been one pitch outs. He's not even making the pitchers work to get him.

[The DerpRider]

FWIW, Scherzer said he was done and couldn't go another inning. Don't know if he was covering for Leyland or not.

[Andrew S.]

Of course he was covering for Leyland. That's exactly what he should do, but he at least looked (as pointed out above) that he was completely in control of the game. Leyland should have had him go back out to pitch, but keep him on a short leash should he run into trouble.

[BakedPenguin]

Agreed. Detroit's starters are fucking awesome. He should have stayed with his strengths, but as a Red Sox fan, I'm glad he didn't.

[Lord Humungus]

Birdbrain: Man Arrested For Throwing Parrot In Face Of Pursuing Police Officer

While being chased by a cop, a Connecticut man allegedly threw a parrot at his uniformed pursuer, who was bit on the hand when trying to shield himself from the feathered projectile.

Luis Santana, 32, was arrested Tuesday night on several charges, including assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct, and animal cruelty.

[db]

If using an animal as a weapon is animal cruelty, what are all these K9 officers doing walking around free?

[BakedPenguin]

"Beautiful plumage, the Norwegian Blue"

[db]

The plumage don't enter into it! 'E's stone dead!

[Mainer2]

He's not pinin', he's passed on. He's shaken off this mortal coil and joined the choir invisible. If you hadn't nailed him to the perch, he'd be pushin up the daisies.

This is a late parrot.

[Ted S.]

I didn't see this on any of the other threads:

Michael Bay assaulted on Transformers 4 set

He'll survive to continue making the explodey film.

[invisible furry hand]

So much to think about in this story:

"Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount," Bay wrote. "I personally told this man and his friends to forget it. We were not going to let him extort us. He didn't like that answer."

The man returned an hour later, "carrying a long air-conditioner unit," according to Bay. "He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face, but I ducked threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away."

[Jordan]

Ban assault air-conditioners!

[db]

Anyone surprised to see that Bay feels that "fair prices" are something that can be unilaterally determined?

[Juice]

Apparently so did the vendor.

[Lord Humungus]

Cocktail-Drink Boat Powered by Booze

magine sitting down with a cocktail only to find a tiny, brightly colored boat zipping around the surface. Either you really need to be cut off or you're looking at a booze-powered cocktail boat invented by foodie scientists. And, like other fruity garnishes, this one is meant to be eaten.

The boat idea first emerged when Lisa Burton was pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT and took a class taught by her adviser, fluid dynamicist John Bush. During the class Burton learned about water-walking insects, which inspired her to construct a tiny fluid-propelled vessel with help from her friend, fellow mechanical engineer and designer Nadia Cheng.

[BakedPenguin]

Cosmocatamaran!

[Lord Humungus]

DNA Links Mysterious Yeti to Ancient Polar Bear

A British scientist says he may have solved the mystery of the Abominable Snowman ? the elusive ape-like creature of the Himalayas. He thinks it's a bear.

DNA analysis conducted by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes suggests the creature, also known as the Yeti, is the descendant of an ancient polar bear.

Sykes compared DNA from hair samples taken from two Himalayan animals ? identified by local people as Yetis ? to a database of animal genomes. He found they shared a genetic fingerprint with a polar bear jawbone found in the Norwegian Arctic that is at least 40,000 years old.

insert STEVE SMITH joke here

[SugarFree]

STEVE SMITH NOT YETI! HOW MANY TIMES STEVE SMITH HAVE TO RAPE YOU BEFORE YOU UNDERSTAND?!?

[The Late P Brooks]

At this point, it looks as though we may be witnessing a failure of the administrative state on a level unimagined even by its staunchest critics. We may be. But we'll have to see.

One can only hope.

[Rich]

appeal against a ruling that prevented Mayor Michael Bloomberg from implementing a ban on the selling

Anybody else need a Big Gulp of The Dew in order to parse that?

[gaijin]

I dew!

[invisible furry hand]

i just bought an album by these guys, who have an awesome bio on Amazon:

It was just around the corner from the "Pack-and-Go" coffin shop that any trace of music was found in Malawi, on a tiny stretch of road which marks the only place where the tradition of selling barbecued mice-on-sticks as snacks for passing travellers continues.

Literally working around the clock whistling and waving their wares at oncoming traffic, the Malawi Mouse Boys spend the downtime of their days (and nights) beside the highway strumming rudimentary guitars made from recycled scrap-metal parts.

Having criss-crossed almost 2,000 miles along the bumpy dirt roads and two-lane, main highway of the tiny, agricultural and landlocked country, until then, in over two weeks, not a single instrument at all had been sighted...

[invisible furry hand]

Subsisting in one of the poorest countries in the world with nearly the highest rates of AIDS (e.g., the average income is less than $900 annually and life-expectancy barely surpasses 40 years of age), this group of young villagers have been writing songs of faith and love together since they were children. The purity, earnestness, and passion of their voices harkens back to the glory days of mid-20th century American gospel music and its rural, southern roots a la The Fisk Jubilee Singers, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, et al.

With vocal-powerhouse, Zondiwe Kachingwe, 22, playing Sam Cooke to 27-year-old Nelson Muligo's stonecold Keith Richards, the only real obstacle to catching lightning-in-a-bottle musically with these eight young men, were the tiny spiders that kept crawling into the hard-drive and crashing the mobile system as I recorded on the clay-ground beside their hut.

[The Late P Brooks]

Here's a question for your liberal friends:

How much money has the federal government spent chasing Mark Cuban?

What does "Society" have to show for it?

[Ted S.]

Intimidating the little people into not standing up for themselves is priceles.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"What does "Society" have to show for it?"

Martha Stewart?

Boy was that chick railroaded.

[Mainer2]

No shit. Didn't they finally convict her of lying during the investigation, not for the actual crime she was accused of ?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yup.

[Mainer2]

Can't find the quote, but Cuban once said the best way to help your country is to make yourself filthy rich. Because by creating wealth, you were making other people better off.
No wonder the politicians hate the guy.

[Fatty Bolger]

Brian Aitken: MY LIFE AS A CONVICTED GUN OFFENDER WHO DID NOTHING WRONG

Three years ago this month, thanks mostly to poorly written laws and a vindictive judge, I turned 27 while incarcerated in Mid-State Correctional Facility in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

I got sentenced to seven years in prison for legally owning guns. I had purchased them in Colorado and brought them with me to New Jersey, home to some of the harshest gun laws in the country, where I moved to be closer to my young son. I complied with all of the regulations, but one day the police searched my car and charged me with unlawful possession of a weapon?even though my handguns were locked, unloaded, and in my trunk. The court said it was on me to prove that I wasn't breaking any laws, which obviously was very difficult. When Reason magazine covered my case, it wrote, "Even the jurors who convicted him seem to have been looking for a reason to acquit him. But the judge gave them little choice."

[Kaptious Kristen]

Love me some Brian Aitken.

[Jordan]

"Even the jurors who convicted him seem to have been looking for a reason to acquit him. But the judge gave them little choice."

God damnit. This is exactly why people need to be educated about jury nullification.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm not a violent man, but seriously, how do you not plot and spend your days planning to seek revenge on the judge and prosecutors like Bat-Man?

This is OUTRAGEOUS.

And that fucking puke judge KNOWS he put an innocent man in prison. May God find a way to instill real justice on those evil people.

[Outlaw]

Batman? He should go Law Abiding Citizen on their asses.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He had guns. How could he be innocent?

[Andrew S.]

I may have left FIJA pamphlets outside a certain county courthouse a few times. I may do such a thing again in the near future*.

* I also may not have done such a thing. I cannot confirm or deny either way.

[Bones]

I mentioned jury nullification to a friend who mentioned his jury duty on Facebook. He said, "No, I want to do my civic duty." He actually thought I meant jury nullification as a way to get out of jury duty. This is a college educated man who holds a real job and has written two published fiction books. We're so fucked.

[Auric Demonocles]

The court said it was on me to prove that I wasn't breaking any laws

What?

[invisible furry hand]

I haven't RTFA, but that doesn't sound unusual, at least to an Australian lawyer.

If the offence is you can't carry a weapon (but there's a defence of reasonable excuse) the prosecution has to prove BRD that the weapon was carried, and then the onus moves to the defence to show a reasonable excuse (but it only has to show that to the civil standard of balance of probabilities)

JDs, this sound right?

[Jordan]

This is exactly the problem with laws that criminalize peaceful behavior.

[Lord Humungus]

I've really been enjoying The Wild Swans lately.

Here they are in 1988 video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3yoEcoKGEQ

but they came out with a new album in 2011 which is even better than their 80s work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9cARwIiYyk

Recommended - if you're into that new romantic / Echo & the Bunnymen sound.

[invisible furry hand]

And if you're not, Swans

The band sells a t-shirt that says Swans: You Fucking People Make Me Sick

[The DerpRider]

Bring back the Hoodoo Gurus.

[The DerpRider]

Dammit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov_ByEAACok?

[invisible furry hand]

heh, that reminds me I've been on an Oz rock marathon this year but have yet to see the Gurus live (just saw Ed Kuepper two hours ago, and have also seen Beasts of Bourbon 4 times this year, Bad Seeds, Crime & The City Solution, Mick Harvey, Steve Kilbey from the Church and Hugo Race. And some others I have forgotten)

[Lord Humungus]

If I'm going to kill myself, I'll go out with Dead Can Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpMNXEY_tio

[Lord Humungus]

(but I have a few Swans albums in my collection too)

[Auric Demonocles]

Gronk has finally been medically cleared.

[The Late P Brooks]

I heard a little snippet of a Larry Summers interview earlier. He said something about economic growth being the way to fix our deficit problems. So far, so good; but then he starts blathering about how the "shutdown" cost us GDP points. This is the problem with transferring one's focus from reality to the numerical representation of reality. As long as "the GDP" is going up, everything is good. But, as we have seen, "the GDP" can be goosed by printing money to loan to the government. Real economic growth requires wealth creation. Real inputs (raw materials, intelligence, work, et c) must be combined in such a way as to make them more valuable. Printing money to pay TSA agents to stand around in airports tormenting people who have productive lives to lead does not create wealth.

Fuck you, Larry, and every single other person who cries about the detrimental effect on GDP of reduced government spending.

[Mainer2]

See my earlier comment about Mark Cuban.
Make yourself filthy rich, help your country. Crudely put, but fundamentally true.

[Lord Humungus]

heh - last night I watched "Cocaine Cowboys". As the documentary ended, there were several clips on how the drug trade improved Miami, increasing construction and the sale of luxury goods.

as a side note, did not like the editing style, but overall a good overview of a different time.

[The Late P Brooks]

The court said it was on me to prove that I wasn't breaking any laws

"If that kid wasn't guilty, what the hell was he doing in my courtroom?"

[Fatty Bolger]

MIT News: Small cubes that self-assemble

Known as M-Blocks, the robots are cubes with no external moving parts. Nonetheless, they're able to climb over and around one another, leap through the air, roll across the ground, and even move while suspended upside down from metallic surfaces.

Inside each M-Block is a flywheel that can reach speeds of 20,000 revolutions per minute; when the flywheel is braked, it imparts its angular momentum to the cube. On each edge of an M-Block, and on every face, are cleverly arranged permanent magnets that allow any two cubes to attach to each other.

I bet that with a little refinement, these could be a major toy hit right now.

[db]

So, Mexican Jumping Beans with an inertial guidance system and built in GPS? Tech is so cool.

[Fatty Bolger]

Exactly. "High-tech Mexican jumping beans" was the first thing I thought of when I saw them, too.

[Root Boy]

Until CPSC outlaws them when some retard kid, with retard parents swallows them.

[Fatty Bolger]

They're a little big for that, but I would definitely make sure those magnets were not exposed.

[Andrew S.]

Jah is going to be running DHS? Now this song from Futurama totally works!

We didn't choose to be [DHS officers]
No it's what almighty Jah made us
We'd treat people like slime
And make them stand in line
Even if nobody paid us

(Yes, I know it's Jeh and not Jah. I could not resist, though)

[Mainer2]

Thank Jah i't Friday.

[Mainer2]

Here's a nut punch from New Hampshire:

Felony hit-and-run charges against fired Manchester officer reduced to misdemeanors

http://www.unionleader.com/art...../FRONTPAGE

Second punch: remember the cop who shot a dog in a dog park ? Same guy.

Fired Manchester Officer Investigated in 2004 Dog Shooting

http://bedford-nh.patch.com/gr.....89aea7eafa

[SugarFree]

The misdemeanor charges are "part of a prosecution strategy. It would be unprofessional for me to say anything more at this time," Hathaway said.

The strategy of letting this asshole go free. I wouldn't discuss that either.

[Mainer2]

I'm assuming the strategy is to avoid a felony conviction that would preclude citizen Coco from owning a gun.

[SugarFree]

Ah, yes. You are correct. The force can't lose such an excellent officer.

[Fatty Bolger]

The Most Dangerous Line Uttered During The Debt Ceiling Debate

Today there is a great sense of relief that has swept the nation as news flowed through the media that the government shutdown had come to an end. After all, during the 16 days of the shutdown, there was great hardship inflicted on the average American as the stock market rose by 2.4%, government workers that were furloughed received a 2+ week paid vacation and interest rates fell from a peak of 2.65% on October 1st to 2.59% on October 17th. Outside of the financial markets, which were never concerned of a "default," the reality is that the government shutdown did likely clip up to 0.5% off of 4th quarter's GDP. While that clip to economic growth created by the government standoff is temporary - the ongoing persistant weakness of economic growth is another issue entirely. This is the focus of this discussion.

The most disturbing sentence uttered during the debt ceiling debate/government shut down, that should raise some concerns by both political parties, is:

"We must increase our debt limit so that we can pay our bills."

Think about that for a moment.

[Root Boy]

That's a good definition of Derp. Plenty of stuff out there about how bad shutdown was and how much it cost (DoD claims an imaginary $600M when they didn't really shut down -- except for trying to screw over widows).

Yahoo Finance has an article written as "Hey teabaggers, deficit is getting smaller" where they admit it will grow in the future, nullifying the whole point of their stupid article.

I am happily suprised that most Yahoo comments these days are at least 5-1 anti-Obama, so that is something.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs.....47158.html

http://www.defense-aerospace.c.....costs.html

[The Late P Brooks]

"We must increase our debt limit so that we can pay our bills."

That whole, "This is just money we already spent!" argument drives me nuts. It makes no sense.

[Auric Demonocles]

I have yet to come across a person IRL who is aware that hitting the debt ceiling does not mean default (unless you are already bankrupt). The Dems managed to get their spin out amazingly well, especially since this isn't spin it's a straight up lie.

[sarcasmic]

Most people don't know the difference between the deficit and the debt. Why would the understand what default means?

[sarcasmic]

*they*

[Andrew S.]

My father is an old fashioned baby boomer liberal (so is my mom. My brother worked for Obama in both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns. Not sure how I turned out sane). Was having lunch with him earlier this week and he was going on and on about the debt ceiling and how we were going to hit it and doom and gloom... you know the drill. Said "You do know that hitting the debt ceiling does not mean default, right?". He hemmed and hawed for a while, added in a few "buts", and then changed the subject. It was hilarious.

(My father is the one who told me, after the 2012 election, that he thought that Krugman should be nominated for Treasury Secretary. He's insane.)

[Juice]

People in other comment sections and message boards would dogpile me with "derp" and "you can't be that stupid" whenever I try to correct this lie. So, yes, they were quite effective in convincing the rubes. They would even tell me (with authority) that raising the debt ceiling doesn't actually increase the amount of debt to be incurred. It's just the way "we" pay "our" bills. You don't want to be a deadbeat do you?

[Fatty Bolger]

They would even tell me (with authority) that raising the debt ceiling doesn't actually increase the amount of debt to be incurred

/facepalm

[Juice]

I know. It's like they thought "Debt Ceiling" was just a funny name they gave it. And then they would tell me how stupid I am.

[sarcasmic]

Well, just because your credit limit on your credit card goes up doesn't mean your balance automatically goes up with it! Well, unless you pay your mortgage with your credit card like our government does.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yes they did. Getting everybody to panic about default was obviously a deliberate strategy, and as usual they counted on their propaganda branch to carry it off for them. Which they did, beautifully.

[The Late P Brooks]

(My father is the one who told me, after the 2012 election, that he thought that Krugman should be nominated for Treasury Secretary. He's insane.)

My condolences.

[Andrew S.]

When he told me that, I quipped to him that amongst the other reasons it was a bad idea, Krugman would probably have random American cities bombed so we could profit off the economic impact of rebuilding. He told me he didn't like my joke.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't a joke.

[sarcasmic]

But, but, but Europe and the Japanese are outproducing us because they have newer factories since their old ones were blown up in the wars! If we bombed our factories we would be so much more efficient!

[Cascadian Ephor Xenocles]

Then again, why not? After he's done it would be much harder to hold to his beliefs.