A.M. Links: White House Delaying Obamacare Penaltax, Germany Summons US Ambassador Over NSA Revelations, Pakistani Children Injured in Drone Strike to Testify in Congress

• 

  US Army

  The White House is unilaterally delaying by six weeks the deadline to purchase insurance before being penalized taxed for not doing so. Republicans, meanwhile, who have largely been blamed for shutting down the government in an attempt to get Obamacare delayed or defunded, are reportedly looking for a way to avoid doing so again in the future.

• President Obama is scheduled to make a statement later this morning about immigration reform. He plans to urge Congress to finish working on the issue, something that seems completely unnecessary and extraneous.
• Germany has summoned the US ambassador in Berlin for an explanation about the latest revelations of NSA spying in Europe, which include an allegation the German president's mobile phone was tapped. The revelations may dominate the European Union's latest summit.
• Two Pakistani children injured in a drone strike that also killed their grandmother will testify in Congress on Tuesday, appearing with their father. Pakistan's recently elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif, meanwhile, met with President Obama and urged him to stop ordering drone strikes in Pakistan; Obama says there are "misunderstandings" between the countries.
• Dick Durbin is a liar; the senator claimed a Republican congressman told President Obama he couldn't stand to look at him, but the White House denied anyone made such a statement to the president.
• Three children at an elementary school in California were injured when a visiting cop's firearm "accidentally discharged."
• Kim Jong Un was awarded a doctorate in economics from the HELP University in Malaysia, leading to public criticism of the institution.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama is scheduled to make a statement later this morning about immigration reform

Anyone who wants to be an American can go to citizenship.gov and sign up.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

*polite applause*

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Can I get a fist bump from Fist?

[Ted S.]

How about emigration reform and not making life for Americans abroad such a bitch?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just wear a Maple Leaf t-shirt and you'll be fine.

[some guy]

It'll be as easy as joining Facebook or Twitter.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

(I wrote this on 24/7 - I don't know what I bother). Anyway...

Didn't anyone teach this guy the concept of completing a task properly before moving onto another?

Time for Obamagration!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

3-D chess Rufus, 3-D chess. We just can't understand the intricacies of Obama's mind. He's far to above us, just submit.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, his brain being rot with a Dali-like canvas smeared with the shit of Picasso and the piss of Cervantes is too much for us to comprehend.

[Bobarian]

Do you honestly believe this guy has ever actually completed a task?

[Enough About Palin]

He's got two kids, doesn't he?

[Bobarian]

Nobody knows how wookies actually replicate.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's more a diversion than a pivot.

[Derpetologist]

I have worked out a proposal:

Securing the Border With the Atomic Power- Or, How to Kill Two Birds With One Isotope

The US has thousands of tons of nuclear waste uselessly decaying in containment facilities. At the same time, all efforts to secure the border with Mexico have failed. Could there be a way to solve both these problems at the same time? I believe so.

I propose the construction of an atomic fence on the border. This fence will be made up of thousands of blocks of Cobalt-60, which has a short half-life but still produces enough gamma radiation to make safe approach impossible. Small gaps could be left in the fence at major crossings so as not to interfere with regular commerce.

Additionally, any creatures unfortunate enough to venture to close to the radiation fence would quickly die and their ghastly corpses would serve as a further warning to trespassers.

Radiation has a number of advantages over lesser obstacles such as landmines or a burning river of napalm. Among these are lower construction and maintenance costs as well as greater killing power.

All that is left is to come up with a catchy name. Here are several suggestions:

1) The Great Wall of America
2) The Freedom Wall
3) The Atom Shield of Democracy

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I think you would run into big problems getting just cobalt-60 out of the spent fuel (mainly political). That would jack capital costs way up and we still have a moratorium on any sort of reprocessing (thank you Carter). We could import it from Russia I guess haha.

Not that I advocate this idea at all, but the insane amount of butt-hurt from "environmentalists" would be absolutely incredible.

[waffles]

This sounds like something that would definitely be built in the america of

[waffles]

Fallout

[Bobarian]

So ... just America, then?

[DesigNate]

That's a great plan till the gamma radiation turns a bunch of mexicans into Hulks.

[sasob]

Anyone who wants to be an American can go to citizenship.gov and sign up.

Shouldn't they go to Healthcare.gov first to see how much that citizenship is going to cost?

[Bobarian]

It would greatly cut down on the number of inmmigrants, so... win?

[mnarayan]

Welcome to the third Troll Free Spursday of the season. As a public service, we have compiled a list of common Reason trolls (whom you should not feed):

* shrike

It's a long list, so if you can't remember all the names feel free to print it out for reference.

[Justin S]

What am I, chopped liver? A few days ago you guys couldn't keep your hands off me.

[Fatty Bolger]

A handful of stupid comments doesn't get you on the troll honor roll. Even if they were, admittedly, exceptionally stupid comments.

[Restoras]

Yes, you are still a troll-in-training, a troll pledge.

Now, make with the stupid and the derp.

[Palin's Buttplug]

As a progressive you don't offend them the way I do as a classic liberal.

I am a radical social liberal capitalist - pro-gun, pro-choice, pro-drug, pro-euthanasia, pro-prostitution, pro-secularism, pro-embryonic stem cell use, pro-markets.

So they don't like me!

[Citizen Nothing]

I am a radical social liberal capitalist

This is what buttplugs really believe!

[Fatty Bolger]

Take notes, Justin.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

A master at work here.

[Bobarian]

"pro-gun, pro-choice, pro-drug, pro-euthanasia, pro-prostitution, pro-secularism, pro-embryonic stem cell use, pro-markets"

You forgot pro-statism and pro-Obama Pole Smoking

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Again with the classical liberal line.

You're a left-wing progressive. End of story.

Until I see evidence on the contrary you can remain in your dreamworld. However scary it may be.

[WTF]

You need to bring the derp a lot harder to join the likes of Tony and shreek. See Palin's Buttplug|10.24.13 @ 9:26AM|# for a fine example.

[robc]

You still havent responded to my question.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What about Tony or Justin?

[mnarayan]

I'd put the probability that Tony is trolling at < 50% (at least in the majority of his comments). While he can certainly cause ridiculously long and boring sub-threads, at least some of that is other commenters. I don't really get the trolling vibe from him.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Tony will never even entertain any of the arguments against his beliefs but engaging him and tearing apart his argument is good for third party participants who are new to the libertarian way of thinking.

[Troglodyte Rex]

It worked for me. Ionly wish I could have seen the smoke coming from its ears.

[AuH20]

Tony 's been awfully quiet ever since the double whammy of the shutdown and Obamcare's failed launch. He's had to resort to simply calling us unserious for not bowing down to the magnificent wisdom of Obamacare.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

He has moved on to the meme that he never liked the ACA anyway because he wanted single payer. And, as you may have guessed, he is using the we would have a great single payer system now if it wasn't for the evil anarchist racist teapublicans in the government destroying The Obama's (tm) real plans argument.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm offended. I have to up my trolling game, and online arguing is a great spectator sport.

[waffles]

Three children at an elementary school in California were injured when a visiting cop's firearm "accidentally discharged."

Never to early to learn that guns are dangerous and have a mind of their own.

[Restoras]

Seriously. I only just managed to stop my Remington 700 from running out the door last night to do who-knows-what. Very wiley, the 700 BDL.

[Justin S]

OK, you're being sarcastic, but it does go to show that even trained professionals can make mistakes with a firearm. Think how much more dangerous they could be in the hands of someone without any training at all, who just went down to the gun store on a whim and picked one up.

[gaijin]

even trained professionals

Why would someone trained and professional even bring a gun into a school? Sounds like the guy is neither.

[Marshall Gill]

Three children at an elementary school in California were injured when a visiting cop's firearm "accidentally discharged."

Definitely an example of the New Professionalism. He got three with one shot!

[Restoras]

Not for nogthing but just because some guy is a cop doesn't necessarily mean they are "trained" or "professional". NYC cops don't "train" very much after finishing cop school.

[WTF]

A fine example is the NYC cops shooting at one suspect in Manhattan and managing to hit 9 innocent bystanders.

[Derpetologist]

If you insist on following this path, please read this before commenting further on any gun debate:

http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....e-gun.html

This is my current response to all gun debates.

[Tonio]

Thanks, Derpy. That's brilliant. Also, perfectly describes one of the perpetually aggrieved socons here.

[waffles]

That's a terrible argument because this guy clearly had no training at all. Firearms cannot accidentally discharge. Humans can negligently discharge firearms.

It doesn't matter who you are or how you were trained. Negligence is negligence. But for cops the consequences are much less severe.

[Marshall Gill]

How much training is required to learn:

1. Don't put your finger on the trigger unless you are planning on firing the weapon.

2. Do not point the gun at anything unless you intend on shooting it.

[Restoras]

Not much. But, I think a missing element is accountability. If a private gun owner makes a mistake like that the consequences are significantly different than if you are a cop.

[Vulgar Madman]

Ever see a cop at the range? Uniforms aren't magic.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Most non-cop gun owners go to the range and practice gun safety much, much more often than your average fuzz. That's because gun owners seek out forearms - test them, hold them, practice with them. Cops are just given guns whether they want them or not. Who do you think would have a better safety record?

[WTF]

Also, private citizens are held personally responsible and liable for any mistakes. Unlike cops who can literally get away with murder in the name of 'officer safety'.

[Kaptious Kristen]

*firearms.

Although I personally seek out forearms. I like 'em like Popeye.

[Bobarian]

I'm glad you caught that, because the potential for much sicker responses were beginning to bubble in my head.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Yes, I'll admit - I like to hold and test and practice....stuff with a meaty forearm.

[WTF]

Justin S|10.24.13 @ 9:05AM|#
OK, you're being sarcastic, but it does go to show that even trained professionals can make mistakes with a firearm. Think how much more dangerous they could be in the hands of someone without any training at all, who just went down to the gun store on a whim and picked one up.

Now that is some fine derp. Keep it up and you too will join the Troll Roll.

[Citizen Nothing]

even trained professionals

Yep. Here's yer problem.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

even trained professionals can make mistakes with a firearm.

You mean like fire off 30 rounds into the back of a truck owned by an Asian woman delivering newspapers when they thought it was a black guy who owned a different color and model truck?

[AuH20]

See, Justin, this is why I can't take you seriously as a troll. You're just a moron!

[Fist of Etiquette]

People don't kill people, the passive voice kills people.

[Ted S.]

People are killed by the passive voice.

Procedures were follwed; nothing else happened.

[Lord Humungus]

Seven workers change one traffic light bulb

The image appears to show six men in high vis jackets standing around with arms crossed as one colleague climbs a ladder to fix a traffic light.

One worker changes a bulb while the others crowd around the signal at the junction of the M5 and the A30 near Cranbrook, Devon.

[Ted S.]

Is this a joke?

[Auric Demonocles]

Only 7? They probably aren't counting the guys back in the office doing the paperwork for this.

[Lord Humungus]

my father-in-law is a (now retired) MDOT - Michigan Department of Transporation worker - I could always get a rise out of my wife by insinuating that her father just stood around and watched other people work.

[UnCivilServant]

I think that means he ran coffee instead.

[Brett L]

"That's not true! He was the idiot who was always working!" Yeah, hon. I don't think that helps your case.

[Auric Demonocles]

I think it would be more accurate to say:

"That's not true! The people he was watching weren't working either!"

[GILMORE]

I have a collection of these from the NYC subway system. I asked one of the 'watchers' once what their job description was = "Supervisor"

[Old Man With Candy]

Were they Wilson Artisanal Light Bulbs?

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

+1 jar of mayo

[TheTreeOfLiberty]

Plowing invisible snow

Nothing screams efficiency like government.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

A room-mate I live with works as a groundsman for the wholly government owned Ontario Hydro. He often tells me about a regular day working there. I'd say they put in about 3 hours of actual work in a 10 hour day, and for the other 7 hours they are sitting around in the trucks or actively getting the crawlers and what not stuck in the mud for fun.

Government largess at work.

[Snark Plissken]

President Obama is scheduled to make a statement later this morning about immigration reform.

"Get the latest version of Photoshop."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Kim Jong Un was awarded a doctorate in economics from the HELP University in Malaysia...

Are we still getting fooled by The Onion articles?

[Raston Bot]

The guy's family has given us a real world example of command-control. Who else can say that? Even Lenin backed off and tried to do the 3rd way after staring into the abyss of communism.

[Lord Humungus]

Central Banks Drop Tightening Talk as Easy Money Goes On

Policy makers are reacting to another cooling of global growth, led this time by weakening in developing nations while inflation and job growth remain stagnant in much of the industrial world. The risk is that continued stimulus will inflate asset bubbles central bankers will have to deal with later. Already, talk of unsustainable home-price increases is spreading from Germany to New Zealand, while the MSCI World Index of developed-world stock markets is near its highest level since 2007.

"We are undoubtedly seeing these central bankers go wild," said Richard Gilhooly, an interest-rate strategist at TD Securities Inc. in New York. They "are just pumping liquidity hand over fist and promising to keep rates down. It's not normal."

[Lady Bertrum]

It's not normal.

CNBC has gone full Pravda. Jim Cramer's constant yammering about gubermint and their catch phrase "Rise Above" is straight up propaganda.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fox News is trying to create a business channel for wingnuts.

Bloomberg and CNBC will continue to attract the better class of investors though.

[Mike Laursen]

I don't think the smartest investors get their business news from cable TV at all.

[Bobarian]

This is true Mike, but this is Thursday and you are not supposed to engage it.

Give it a recipe or threaten it with the hose.

[Enough About Palin]

Ingredients
4 ounces (1 stick) butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped celery
Salt and cayenne
2 bay leaves
2 pounds peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of hot sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup water
2 1/2 pounds of large shrimp, peeled, tail-off, and deveined
Essence, recipe follows
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
4 cups cooked long-grain white rice
Directions
In a large saucepan (one gallon), over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions, peppers, and celery to the pan. Season the vegetables with salt and cayenne. Saute the vegetables until they are wilted, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the bay leaves, tomatoes, and garlic. Season with salt and cayenne. Bring the mixture up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry add some water. Season the mixture with the Worcestershire Sauce and hot sauce. Whisk the flour and water together. Add the flour mixture to the tomato mixture and continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes. Season the shrimp with Essence. Add the shrimp to the mixture and continue to cook for about 4 to 6 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink and curl up. Stir in the green onions and parsley.

Check the seasoning and add more salt and cayenne if needed. Serve the Shrimp Creole spooned over the rice.

[Enough About Palin]

meril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec.....c=linkback

[CatoTheElder]

QE (aka currency debasement) has been a normal activity of the State for many centuries.

The only thing that is unusual is the rate of debasement, but even that is not unprecedented.

Quite often in history, it did not work out well in the end.

[Restoras]

It has NEVER worked out well in the end.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Nonsense! That is why the Bourbons, Spanish Habsburgs and the Ottoman Sultans are the economic giants of the Earth!

[Hillary's Clitdong]

+1 Denarius

[BakedPenguin]

LB, I didn't see your reply last night. Trailer Park Boys is on Netflix. The first couple episodes are kind of meh, but they get into a groove after that.

[Lady Bertrum]

Thanks - I'll check it out. 🙂

[Fist of Etiquette]

Two Pakistani children injured in a drone strike that also killed their grandmother will testify in Congress on Tuesday...

The Newtown parents didn't get anywhere, what makes you think Congress is going to care more about restricting the government options than citizens' options?

[WTF]

Well, in the case of Newtown the perpetrator was an armed lunatic, and in the case of Pakistan the perpetrator is, uh,....nevermind.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Bombshell: Federal judge suddenly green-lights lawsuit that could stop Obamacare in its tracks
A federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss a case that could fatally cripple the Obamacare health insurance law.

The Affordable Care Act forbids the federal government from enforcing the law in any state that opted out of setting up its own health care exchange, according to a group of small businesses whose lawsuit got a key hearing Monday in federal court.

The Obama administration, according to their lawsuit, has ignored that language in the law, enforcing all of its provisions even in states where the federal government is operating the insurance marketplaces on the error-plagued Healthcare.gov website.

Thirty-six states chose not to set up their exchanges, a move that effectively froze Washington, D.C. out of the authority to pay subsidies and other pot-sweeteners to convince citizens in those states to buy medical insurance.

But the IRS overstepped its authority by paying subsidies in those states anyway, say the businesses and their lawyers....

[gaijin]

but, but SETTLED LAW!!!!!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Settled Enabling Act, you mean.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Intolerable Act?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Maybe Roberts will partially redeem himself since stopping the subsidies would leave his precious penaltax intact. Nah, he's too fucking gutless.

[John]

Depends on how unpopular Obamacare is by the time it gets to him. If Roberts thinks killing Obamacare will make him popular among the right people, that is what he will do.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ah, save liberals from their own stupidity and accept some token public scapegoating?

[Troglodyte Rex]

The Obama administration, according to their lawsuit, has ignored that language in the law...

So what else is new?

[Lord Humungus]

Why Obamacare Is Like Three Mile Island

But the Affordable Care Act's insurance market reforms have created a system prone to what Charles Perrow dubbed "Normal Accidents." By "normal," he didn't mean "minor" -- the lead exhibit was Three Mile Island. Rather, he meant something like "hard to avoid." The system is both complex and tightly coupled: All the pieces are interdependent, so a failure in one part is apt to cascade throughout the market. This is not a system where you want to start pulling out one piece to see how well the rest can get along without it.

The administration clearly understood this -- right up to the point where a major component failed. Now it's apparently planning to keep the reactor running with as many pieces as possible in the hopes that none of it will unexpectedly blow up. This is not sound policy thinking, or even sound political thinking, and I think that all of us who care about keeping insurance available for ordinary Americans should try to talk them out of it -- for their good, as well as our own.

[waffles]

Wait is this article saying nuclear power is bad? Because I assure you that a modern nuclear power plant resembles in no way the federal health insurance exchange.

Well, the bureaucracy navigation is similar but reactors are never patched together and incompetence is never tolerated for safety related components. Signing a form wrong is considered an "event".

[gaijin]

Wait is this article saying nuclear power is bad?

Agree. I suspect far more people will die because of Ocare than did from TMI...which would mean if even one person dies from OCare, it's more lethal.

[tarran]

No, he's saying that Three Mile Island was poorly designed...

And yes, the way the pressurizer was designed in TMI was pretty much a clusterfuck; as a result the operators were more focused on controlling water level (and protecting their main coolant pumps from cavitation damage) than preventing core damage.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Agreed.

[Ted S.]

Three Mile Island wasn't a particularly severe incident.

[Brett L]

If only it was as safe and harmless as 3 Mile Island. Or, as a friend's classic bumpersticker read: "More people died at Chappaquidick than 3 Mile Island"

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Or it's like a nuclear reactor that was assembled from third-rate components, then managed by incompetent managers who barely understood the systems that they were supervising, and then tested under severe conditions by people who were too stupid to stop the testing when the problems became apparent.

TL;DR: Chernobyl

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Chernobyl blows my mind when I read the events that took place to lead the reactor to meltdown. They removed any safe guards built into the system to perform a reactor test on a full power reactor that was still providing electricity to the grid. The operators were completely lacking in knowledge of the nuclear and thermal hydraulic properties of the reactor and when things started to go wrong, they did the exact wrong things to try and fix the problem. Their measures to "right the ship" took the reactor from being in an already unsafe condition to a prompt critical state causing the massive power excursion accident.

This is literally impossible in a western style reactor for many physical reasons (physical barriers to radioactive release, no graphite, strong negative reactivity coefficients). Fukushima is as bad as an LWR accident will ever be and not one person has received a deadly dose of radiation or even a dose that will raise the likelyhood of cancer (if you ignore the baseless linear no threshold theory for low dose radiation).

TMI is an industrial accident. It was a disaster for the utility, not a disaster for anyone else. It is laughable to compare that to even a common natural gas pipe leak, in terms of human safety.

[robc]

Chernobyl is an entire example of WHAT THE FUCK at every step along the way.

The layers of issues it took to create that disaster (going back to design phase) are incredible.

[tarran]

I remember the Naval Reactors report on Chernobyl, and bursting out laughing at a sentence that read something like

"At this point several processes took place. The order in which they occured cannot be determined. Any one of these processes were catastrophic:"

and then they start listing things like the graphite moderator exploding, the welds failing on the primary system resulting in even higher void reactivity, etc. It was as if someone sat down and wrote down a list of all the possible catastrophic accidents a steam reactor like Chernobyl could have, and Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) had decided to have all of them happen at once for the lulz.

[SFC B]

Turns out the new Obamacare "feature" that allows you to see prices wihtout registering is underestimating the cost by 50-100% without ever indicating it is doing so.

Link

[Restoras]

Interesting. That's called fraud in private transactions, right?

[SFC B]

I'm not the sharpest spoon in the drawer, but didn't Lizzy Warren spearhead some federal office to protect consumers from fraud? Could you imagine the reaction if State Farm's website was as blatantly misleading as the OC's site is about what its product was going to cost and whether it might be more expensive?

[Restoras]

Someone would go to prison and some heft campaign donations would be made, is my guess.

[some guy]

It's not fraud if you include the right qualifying weasel words. And if this administration has mastered anything it is qualifying weasel words.

[sasob]

That's because it is headed by an unqualified weasel.

[gaijin]

haha. I logged on to the useless exchange here again on Monday...it showed prices for a plan option from my current carrier at $430/month. The same carrier had quoted me $636 on the same plan. I assumed it was because the site did not ask about ages of my family. Oh, and i had to click through 5 screens of 'The prices you will say may not reflect the discounts you are entitled to'.

[waffles]

Can "discounts" increase the premium?

[Lord Humungus]

negative discount!

[gaijin]

+1 minus

[Lord Humungus]

*head explodes*

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

ciscount?

[Bobarian]

Government multipliers at work.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Dick Durbin is a liar; the senator claimed a Republican congressman told President Obama he couldn't stand to look at him, but the White House denied anyone made such a statement to the president.

Democrat Spin: That the story sounds like it could be true shows just how racist the Republicans are.

Tea Party Spin: That the story didn't even sound like it could be true shows just how establishment the Republicans are.

My Spin: Illinois politicians can lie with the best of them.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Nah, Durbin is not very bright and thus a clumsy liar.

However, he is a very tow the lion guy - if the Donkey Party asked Durbin to ritually disembowel himself on the Senate floor, he would.

[Palin's Buttplug]

"toe the line".

[Brett L]

C'mon, shrike, you know this is H&R in-joking.

[Ted S.]

There's no sugarcoating the fact that Shreeky doesn't know H&R memes.

[SugarFree]

Our regular shrike is out sick, this is a substitute hand for the sockpuppet.

[Palin's Buttplug]

True. Been here six years and I still don't know who Steve whats-his-name is.

[UnCivilServant]

I've been here six months and I know (but despise) that meme and it's origins. It shows a lack of reading comprehension (and just plain reading) on your part.

[Zeb]

Which one, STEVE SMITH or "tow the lion"?

[SugarFree]

You despise STEVE SMITH? WTF, dude? All STEVE SMITH has ever done is love you.

[AuH20]

Aggressively love you, but still love!

[The DerpRider]

There's no sugarcoating it. STEVE SMITH is an aggressive hugger.

[Steve G]

It's 'G', just 'G'... you know like Kenny. Nicetameetcha

[BakedPenguin]

...if the Donkey Party asked Durbin to ritually disembowel himself on the Senate floor, he would.

We can only hope.

[PD Scott]

if the Donkey Party asked Durbin to ritually disembowel himself on the Senate floor, he would.

Finally, a reason to watch C-Span!

[TheTreeOfLiberty]

Speaking of incredibly obtuse politicians, did anyone see the Henry Waxman interview on CNN last night? The guy is so comically stupid I can't even began to fathom how he ended up as an elected official. Truly, how did he even get out of elementary school?

Derr, duhh

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Q: How much money does it take to convince Amazon to build a warehouse in Baltimore?

A: $43 million

[Lady Bertrum]

This is how corporatism works. Amazon will collect sales tax on transactions screwing its customers and collect its $43 million "credit" from the state.

Customers and residents paying more and getting less.

[Restoras]

No one is forcing you to buy anything from Amazon.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It has been tasty though when the traditional Marylander realizes they are no longer able to buy lots of shit tax free through Amazon.

[UnCivilServant]

Wait, maryland has a shit tax too? Is it "to pay for treatment facilities"? How do they meter it?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Flush Tax

[UnCivilServant]

Why can't I ever use sarcasm without it coming true?

[Bobarian]

Your cynisism knows some bounds, but the government's reach does not.

[Lady Bertrum]

No, but if you live in Maryland you will now be subsidizing them via a "tax credit".

[Restoras]

Well you can blame your legislators for that. Amazon is just looking to maximize return on investment.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I always remit my sales and use tax to the state Lady B.

[Citizen Nothing]

Heh heh. But I actually know someone who does this.

[Fluffy]

That's because the important thing here is that citizens can't avoid the tax.

Actually netting more money to the state can be foregone for the moment.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Still less than the South Carolina bribe to BMW.

[Enough About Palin]

GOD DAMNED RACIST SOUTHERNERS!!!!!!!11111!!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

CBS: Healthcare.gov "dramatically underestimates costs" in new estimate feature
...Industry analysts, such as Jonathan Wu, point to how the website lumps people only into two broad categories: "49 or under" and "50 or older."

Wu said it's "incredibly misleading for people that are trying to get a sense of what they're paying."

Prices for everyone in the 49-or-under group are based on what a 27-year-old would pay. In the 50-or-older group, prices are based on what a 50-year-old would pay.

CBS News ran the numbers for a 48-year-old in Charlotte, N.C., ineligible for subsidies. According to HealthCare.gov, she would pay $231 a month, but the actual plan on BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina's website costs $360, more than a 50 percent increase. The difference: BlueCross BlueShield requests your birthday before providing more accurate estimates.

The numbers for older Americans are even more striking. A 62-year-old in Charlotte looking for the same basic plan would get a price estimate on the government website of $394. The actual price is $634....

[Fatty Bolger]

Classic bait-and-switch. Where's Ralph Nader on this?

[Lord Humungus]

yeah... walked right into it...yeah...

Florida model claims boyfriend repeatedly 'walked into the knife' after his dog ate her marijuana

The boyfriend, Keith Wiggins, claims that Shadae Scott repeatedly stabbed him during a fight that began when his dog consumed her stash of marijuana. She was in the process of kicking him out of the apartment, Wiggins said, when he couldn't find his computer. At that point, he alleges she stabbed him.

Scott, however, told Sheriff's Deputy Laughten Hall a different story. She claims that the couple was arguing over dinner plans, and that the argument became physical when she tried to leave the apartment. "During one of the many times during the argument, Wiggins walked into the knife and cut himself," she told police according to the arrest report.

[waffles]

But dogs do eat marijuana. It's weird but I have much anecdotal evidence that suggests dogs will sometimes seek out and eat weed.

[BakedPenguin]

This is true. I once went to a friend's place, and his bag had been ripped up and partially consumed by his dog.

[mauricegirodias]

Yeah, a friend of mine's dog chomped down an eighth of medical grade. They were really worried about him at first, thinking he'd swallowed something else bad, realized the weed was gone, and punished him by taking pictures of his zonked-out 70-pound labish body in dresses for hours.

[Steve G]

I did not rape that woman... she repeatedly sat down on my erect penis

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Is that 'rape, rape' or just rape?

[Numeromancer]

Rape, rape, rape, rape, rape, rape, raaaaaaaape, rape. Rape.

Rape!

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

"And we're all very grateful, indeed, that he stepped in at the last minute, when the previous Returning Officer accidentally brutally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving."

[Cdr Lytton]

Harry: Well, he saw the Archbishop and rushed towards him woth his head bowed, in order to receive his blessing, and, er, unfortunately, killed him
stone dead.

Edmund: How?

Harry: Mortimer was wearing a Turkish helmet.

Edmund: Oh, I see, yes: one of those with the two feet spike coming out of the top?

Harry: It's one of those things they normally use for butting their enemies in the stomach and (Edmund joins in) killing them stone dead.

Edmund: (sarcastic) Yes, so, presumably he'd forgotten he was wearing it.

Harry: Well, do you know, that's exactly what the poor fellow had done! A tragic accident...tragic.

[Fluffy]

You claim that Shadae Scott is a "model", but Google Image Search reveals that statement is a lie.

/Maury

[Brett L]

Oh, Florida man. You poor bastard.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The revelations may dominate the European Union's latest summit.

Yeah, Obama spying is the greatest of the EU's current concerns.

[Derpetologist]

One of the following is an actual Matthew Yglesias column. See if you can spot it:

How the Tea Party is Ruining the Country

Obama's Battle to Restore Prosperity

The Case for Getting Drunk at Work

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The third would explain all of Matty's other columns.

[Lady Bertrum]

I would have a renewed respect for Matty if it were #3.

[Ted S.]

Surely this is a trick question, and all three are Yglesias columns.

[Fatty Bolger]

Is this one of those trick questions where all three are Yglesias columns?

[Derpetologist]

No tricks here good sir!

And the real Yglesias column is:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/mon....._work.html

[BakedPenguin]

Huh. I agree with him for once.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm going with Door #3.

You think that douche reads Reason?

[Derpetologist]

He went to a party with Peter Suderman:

"So . . . I was walking back from the home of Megan McArdle and Peter Suderman..."

http://thinkprogress.org/ygles.....t-circuit/

Perhaps it was a cocktail party...

[Fluffy]

I am going to tell myself that it was not a cocktail party, but an orgy where Yglesias was tied up and whipped by McArdle while Suderman pleasured himself.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I was going with #3 as well.

[Lord Humungus]

More Democrats voice Obamacare concerns as website blame goes around

The comments from the handful of Democrats posed a new potential hazard for the White House and gave Republicans a chance to portray their efforts to derail the healthcare program as bipartisan.

Democratic Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who faces a tough re-election race next year, said he agreed with fellow Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire that the open enrollment period to sign up for insurance should be extended beyond March 31, 2014.

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-ranking House Democrat, criticized the website for forcing consumers to provide private information before deciding what kind of health insurance plan they want to buy.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Splitters!

[Biden's Scroteplugs]

you arrogant ass. you've killed us.

[Restoras]

*boom*

[Lord Humungus]

Why work out?

Funkybod: A push-up undershirt for men

Gentleman, if you're looking for a nice, toned body, and you simply are too lazy, or don't have the time to work out, then perhaps the Funkybod is for you.

It's sort of like a padded bra -- but it's actually a padded shirt guys can wear. The Funkybod was created by a fashion designer in England. A video on the website shows a thin model before he puts the Funkybod shirt on, and then after. Man-boobs no more, just tight and toned pecks and biceps.

[gaijin]

Would any 'man' really wear such a thing? And if you are skinny enough to wear it, isn't that enough?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Lord H doesn't need to work out, or to wear this product.

[Lady Bertrum]

Perhaps the 'Humungus' is meant ironically?

[Lord Humungus]

You stick with ol' Flashie.

There's been too much suffering. Too much pain.

[Lady Bertrum]

Will Flashie be required to wear a pair of assless chaps?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOZp1nJDbFE

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's what he looks best in.

[Lord Humungus]

Sir Harry Paget Flashman - VC, KCB, KCIE would never do such a thing. Unless he could get some into some strumpet's skirts.

[Brett L]

Goddamnit. Chaps don't have asses. Assless chaps is like saying armless vests.

/fashion rant

[Tonio]

Brett, the commentariat knows that, but they are in love with the phrase "assless chaps."

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Maryland Attorney General, who is also running for Governor, is caught at an underage drinking party. Says it was not his responsibility to break it up.

[Brett L]

Huh. Maryland apparently has far different definitions of "contributing to the delinquency" than any other state. Shit I was staying at my parents one weekend when my brother was a senior in HS, and ended up throwing about 40 people out of the house, because I would be the guy getting arrested when the cops came.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The party was in Delaware, but he's been outspoken against underage drinking.

The house also sustained $50,000 worth of damage, but he didn't know there was any drinking.

[mr simple]

Well, the house was cleared by the realty company as being in good shape after they left but was broken into and vandalised between then and when the cleaning people showed up two days later. So it seems it wasn't their fault. Also, parents are allowed to serve their children alcohol. These "kids" were graduating seniors on their way to college.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Ah, I glossed over the realty company clearing the place.

The picture of him seems to indicate the place probably suffered some damage the night he was there.

[Brett L]

Yes, but in most states parents are not allow to supervise the consumption of alcohol by minors of whom they are not guardians, even if they have the guardians' explicit approval. While I agree this is a stupid law, and that I participated in just such a supervised drunken graduation party, I am not an AG running for governor.

[sarcasmic]

Size 16 women are the happiest and most comfortable in their own skin, according to a new study
The research found 74% of size 16 women are happy with their appearance
This is nearly twice as many as those who are size six (42%)
52% of size six women say they would like to be curvier
Size 16 women comfortable in their clothes and have improved confidence

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....study.html
John agrees.

[Snark Plissken]

FTA: Size 16 women, like Marilyn Monroe, report having high body confidence, looking good and feeling comfortable.

Virginia Postrel disagrees:

We should never again hear anyone declare that Marilyn Monroe was a size 12, a size 14 or any other stand-in for full-figured, zaftig or plump. Fifteen thousand people have now seen dramatic evidence to the contrary. Monroe was, in fact, teeny-tiny.

[John]

They auctioned off a bunch of Monroe's old costumes a couple of years ago. She was a size 4, an absolute grotesque whale to sarcasmic, but a tiny doll to the normal world. The idea that actresses in the 50s were fat is a total myth dreamed up by modern fat women.

[sarcasmic]

The other day my wife was complaining that some of her size 2 jeans don't fit as tightly as she would like.

[Lady Bertrum]

There's a size 0 now, so maybe you need to exchange her for a smaller model. 😉

Soon, they'll be a size -2 which is just a black void.

[sarcasmic]

After complaining about the 2s being loose she squeezed into a pair of 0s.

[Restoras]

I have also seen size 00 in some jeans.

[WTF]

The other day my wife was complaining that some of her size 2 jeans don't fit as tightly as she would like.

That's because the clothing companies make the sizes bigger over the years so the larger women don't feel bad about themselves. A size 2 today would likely be a size 4 or larger 10 to 20 years ago.

[Restoras]

Not to mention that Size is a relative term. I beleive there has been a lot of Vanity Sizing going on over the last few decades as people get fatter and don't want to face that fact.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Yes. If you ever look at vintage clothing compared to modern clothing, and compare the "sizes" with a tape measure, the modern size 8 is a vintage size 11-12 (or even larger).

[PD Scott]

It's been my experience that an Old Navy size 36 waist is nearasdammit most other places' size 38.

[WTF]

It's ridiculous that they do this with actual numerical measurements. My waist is still 32" as it has been since college, but I need to buy new pants in size 30" for them to fit.

[Restoras]

That's been my experience as well.

[Lady Bertrum]

Simple explanation. Thin women are never completely satisfied with their bodies - usually trying to improve it. Many larger women have accepted themselves as is.

By normal standards I'm in shape, but I workout 4 or 5 times per week. I'm happy enough with my appearance but am currently trying to get definition in by arms (too flabby).

[John]

Jung was dead on when he talked about archetypes. People choose their archetype and basically act out their movie in their life. If a woman latches onto the roll of "the fat girl" she will always see herself as fat no matter what her size.

[Lord Humungus]

lift weights. Bench presses, arm curls, triceps. Works wonders for my wife.

[Lady Bertrum]

I do Crossfit, but I'm wondering if it's not specific enough (to any one body part) to get the results I want.

[Lord Humungus]

do some bench pressing for a few weeks (3x a day) and see it if works for you.

You obviously don't need to do 200pds or anything insane like that.

[Restoras]

Not just some barbell curls and overhead tri presses?

[Lord Humungus]

just keeping it simple the Ripptoe way. Curls and tris are perfectly fine too.

[Lady Bertrum]

I have his book on Kindle - I'll review.

[sarcasmic]

'Men say I need a good raping': Asexual woman, 35, on how she never has, and never will, have sex
Julie Sondra Decker from Florida, started describing herself as 'nonsexual' at the age of 15
The blonde says that she's had more offers of sex than she 'wants to count'
But, 'without the feelings that usually go with that sort of thing, it's kind of gross'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....r-sex.html

[Ted S.]

Buy her a dildo and teach her to masturbate.

[Brett L]

I'm pretty certain that she has never actually been told she "need[s] a good raping". That is just the kind of made up shit people want to think men say.

[gaijin]

she has never actually been told she "need[s] a good raping".

exactly. They wouldn't use that word even if they did say something about what they thought she needed. But most likely, no one pays much attention to her.

[PD Scott]

Deeper in the article it's revealed those were Youtube comments, so it's not impossible.

[Snark Plissken]

She had to resort to YouTube comments to get her victimization on? Wow.

[Brett L]

So 'bots have said she needs a good raping. Okay. Everyone knows humans don't comment on youtube.

[mr simple]

It's probably a tumor.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

IT'S NOT A TOOMAH

[Rasilio]

"'without the feelings that usually go with that sort of thing, it's kind of gross'"

How would she know?

[SugarFree]

I know fucking a jar of peanut butter is gross without ever having done it.

[sarcasmic]

What about a freshly microwaved banana peel?

[SugarFree]

Microwave can be a bit tricky. Don't want it to get too hot.

[Marshall Gill]

without ever having done it.

Yeah, sure. The fact that you mention it is an almost certainty that you have your thing in a jar of peanut butter as you wrote that post.

[SugarFree]

Actually, I was thinking about what Tulpa has hinted at far to many times.

[Bobarian]

Sure... If it's crunchy peanut butter.

Also gross; eating the peanut butter.

[Numeromancer]

But have you tried artisanal mayonnaise?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Man, that's one pink chick.

[Lady Bertrum]

Leave Celibate Lady ALONE!

[sarcasmic]

The US teen literally sent to SIBERIA for her bad behavior begs to come home after her father 'beat her'
Sofia Petrova was 15 when her mother sent her to Siberia for 3 weeks to meet her father - but she was not allowed to come home
She and her parents say she was misbehaved at home, where she stole money and disobeyed her mother's rules
Her mom says she can only return when she has shown she has changed
Sofia, who insists she has changed, says her father beat her and she tried to commit suicide while in a children's center in Siberia
She now lives in a hotel where she works 60 hours a week

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-home.html
There's a lot of people out there who are envious of that lady. The mom that is.

[John]

The girl has a job. That is more than you can say for most teenagers in the US.

[sarcasmic]

Is it the fault of US teenagers that they can't legally sell their labor for less than minimum wage?

[John]

No, no it is not. But it says something about the US that teenagers in Siberia might be better off.

[sarcasmic]

How are they better off? Can they be claimed on their parents' health insurance until they're 26? I think not!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The White House is unilaterally delaying by six weeks the deadline to purchase insurance before being penalized taxed for not doing so.

Apparently what we found out was in the bill was that the White House had full discretion on its application to Americans.

[DJF]

We won't know what is in the bill until its passed and the administrating makes it up as they go along.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Enabling Act.

[Auric Demonocles]

I assume this is legitimate grounds for impeachment, since trying to delay Obamacare is treason, right?

[WTF]

"It's okay when our side does it!!!"
/derp

[Lord Humungus]

Why the Elite Attack Mainstream America

The United States is at war. No, I don't mean in Afghanistan or Syria; I mean right here in River City. Right here where our opinion-makers and political leaders are doing their level best to demean and discredit historical American values. A new film, Nebraska, that parodies our heartland, provides exhibit A.

Nebraska played at the Lincoln Center Film Festival in New York recently to an enthusiastic audience. Directed by Alexander Payne, whose body of work includes The Descendants, Nebraska speaks volumes about the country we live in. While one reviewer lauded the picture as a "nuanced portrait of small-town life" that "contemplates the loss of the stout Midwest that once formed America's backbone," I found it mean-spirited and insulting./blockquote

[Fluffy]

I don't think you can watch Sideways without realizing that Payne does, in fact, hate America, but also that the substance of his observations are largely correct.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Interesting. How do you get that observation from 'Sideways'?

[Fluffy]

The critical element in any particular scene in Sideways is the location or the background.

Take, as an example, the scene where the two guys walk down the commercial street from their motel to the bar.

It's the shitty kind of suburban strip mall street that most people undertake most of their commerce on now...but movies never use them as a setting for WALKING. They always either find some cute street that looks nice, or some edgy urban street that seems hip, or dangerous, or ANYTHING but what that street is Sideways seems, which is merely pathetic and lame.

The point of that short walk is that these guys think they're doing something sophisticated and cool, but in actuality it's pathetic and lame. It's rendered pathetic and lame by the physical environment and the material culture, which is nowhere NEAR what it's usually portrayed to be in popular culture or in advertising.

A similar scene is later when they're at a winery and the place is essentially one large gift shop full of fat, ugly and tacky people from a tour bus buying knick-knacks and T shirts. It's not a sophisticated activity at all. It's just kind of sad. Paul Giamatti thinks he's this literary oenophile, but there's nowhere left to be the character he's carrying around in his head, and he wouldn't be capable of it even if there was.

The whole movie is like that, if you just pay attention to the backgrounds.

[John]

But it was filmed in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara actually looks like that.

[Fluffy]

Right, exactly.

But he chose to allow it to look like it actually looks.

He didn't have to have a scene where they walked at all. He could have cut right to the bar. He chose to show it, and lingered on it.

And then consider the bar itself where Virginia Madsen works. It's incredibly dingy, tacky, and dispirited. It's not "cinematic" at all. Either Payne is incompetent at site selection and at the conventions of how you shoot a scene like that, or he wanted it to look like that. On purpose. Because that's the country he sees.

He's either misanthropic, or he hates America. I think it's the latter, personally.

[John]

Yeah. Although, the people in the end are redeemed. The big dumb guy from Wings goes back to his fiance, but it seems like he kind of gave up on being a philanderer. And the short bald guy ends up with Virginia Madsen and finds some sense of happiness and gets over his ex wife.

It would seem that if he truly hated America, he would not have given the characters such happy endings. But maybe the studio forced him to to get the movie made.

[Fluffy]

That's a good point.

But the happy endings can also be seen as capitulations.

The guy from Wings walks away from his identity as a former TV star who uses that to bang chicks.

And Miles admits that he's a shitty writer who's never going to make it.

So in a way the two guys get their happy endings by walking away from their pretense of participation in American culture, and settling for reduced circumstances.

[Lady Bertrum]

Good analysis but I wonder if Payne isn't just pointing out the commercial banality of America but also the pathetic pretensions of the pseudo-elite?

[Fluffy]

Yes. I'd agree with that. He's doing both.

[Lady Bertrum]

The contrast between Giamatti and Madsen's characters are telling. Giamatti is despondent but Madsen is rather accepting and cheerful. She sees the same thing Giamatti's character sees but doesn't expect the world to conform to her ideal. She's an admirable character.

Possibly Payne doesn't hate America, he just hates the way America is portrayed in films primarily by elites? But, I haven't seen his latest so, can't really say.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Just wanted to say I really enjoyed the discussion of the film here by Fluffy, John and Lady Bertrum. Extremely insightful, thought provoking stuff. Thanks!

[robc]

That movie is entirely unwatchable.

I tried 3 times, and never made it more than half way.

[John]

I always thought that movie meant he was a short bald schlub who made a fantasy about finally getting the gorgeous blond.

The other thing is that Sideways is about people in LA doing a sophisticated thing like wine tasting. I can't see that movie as a Red State Blue State thing.

[sarcasmic]

Va. mom charged after firing gun into air to scare off daughter's attackers

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....to-scare-/
But it's OK for cops to kill a kid with a plastic gun for not immediately obeying a command.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Did she first warn the group to stop before firing?

[sarcasmic]

Doesn't say.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I think a person should at least try some verbal warning before firing their firearm in public. Having said that, any sensible DA would have settled this without charging her.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Sure, while someone is being attacked, why don't we just require the person trying to give aid to read the Riot Act before doing something.

[John]

She is a woman and they were teenage boys. She has no chance in a physical confrontation with them. Warning them might have brought one about. The shock of the gun shot greatly reduced that. Unless you can show me that she hit someone, no harm no foul here.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I am sympathetic to her plight, but I think since discharging a gun is very serious business a warning should be expected first (unless of course the danger is so imminent it is impractical).

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bo, so how come no one absolutely ripped Biden to shreds for his utterly irresponsible and ignorant comments during the gun debate. Clearly, he was acting in bad faith - and like a jackass.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-he was acting in bad faith - and like a jackass.

He rarely act otherwise. Biden is a bit of a dolt, everyone knows that I think. I certainly do not want the law to be based on one of Biden's off the cuff comments, if anything it helps my argument.

[trshmnstr]

(unless of course the danger is so imminent it is impractical)

I think she'll argue that. What has the potential to kill her case is the fact that she walked away from the fight to "safely discharge her gun." If she had just whipped it out and shot wildly at the guys, she would've had a better case.

On a related note, it seems that our self defense laws skew toward protecting people who panic, and against people who have the presence of mind to take danger mitigation steps like firing a warning shot. Granted, I've only seen cases where the person herself was in life threatening danger, not where she was trying to protect someone else.

[Michael S. Langston]

Agreed - our self defense laws and the justice system incents people to shoot and (hopefully) kill anyone they fear, because any other use of a firearm caused by fear that does not result in a shooting victim and/or death will result in more criminal charges than had someone died (usually).

[Ted S.]

Is the DA running for higher office?

[Restoras]

You need to ask?

[Brett L]

"I felt her life was in danger, I fired at one of her attackers and missed."

Never, never, never say it was a "warning shot".

[Zeb]

Firing into the air is a bad idea. Should have fired at the ground.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What, you mean Biden's advice doesn't work in practice?

[mr simple]

Prince William County police spokesman Officer Jonathan L. Perok said Ms. Gaither "should have called police instead of taking matters into her own hands."

Yes, that way they could have filed the paperwork for taking their bodies to the morgue. Or perhaps he thinks the attackers would have politely waited for the cops to arrive. Cops can't really believe people are this stupid.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes, that is an incredibly stupid comment.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-He plans to urge Congress to finish working on the issue, something that seems completely unnecessary and extraneous.

I would not say that, the House has been sitting on it hoping it will just go away. I would say that Obama would like to score political points on the issue rather than see progress on it.

[sarcasmic]

Decomposing body of sacked security guard found hanging in his Paris flat EIGHT YEARS after he killed himself
Thomas Ngin, 42, was surrounded by thousands of pounds of unpaid bills
Found by new owner after bank seized flat and sold it to pay his creditors

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....mself.html
Do they not have property taxes in France?

[Auric Demonocles]

I normally think suicide because you have 'nothing to live for' is crazy, but if no one realized he was dead for 8 years...

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

That is...sad.

[sarcasmic]

Who is the enigmatic Mona Lisa of healthcare? Hunt is on to find model who is face of shambolic Obamacare website
Website launched on October 1 but has been inundated with problems
One feature has always been there - the smiling photo of a mystery woman
Conservative blogger David Burge tweeted she is now the 'most despised face on planet'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....bsite.html
I wouldn't go that far.

[Drake]

She's just some unfortunate woman who's photo was picked from a marketing agency. My company buys similar photos all the time.

[BakedPenguin]

Yep. Stock photo model. Also, Iowahawk is wrong. I certainly don't hate her. She didn't foist that piece of shit legislation on us.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ha, ha. I always wondered who she was. Too funny.

[sarcasmic]

Town in Norwegian valley enjoys winter sunlight for the first time in its history? using giant MIRRORS
Industrial town of Rjukan gets no sunshine between September and March
Three giant mirrors or 'heliostats' have been set up on the mountainside
They will track the path of the sun and beam light onto the town square
Idea was first suggested 100 years ago but a cable car was built instead
A similar scheme has been successfully implemented in an Italian village

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

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, giant sun-mirrors in Norway are okay--but building the space elevator, that's ridiculous.

[Steve G]

Um, it just lights town square with about as much coverage as a street light. Oh, it'll turn town square into a meeting place all right. They'll put picnic tables there with fuckin umbrellas to block the annoying glare.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Old news, sarc.

Heh.

[sarcasmic]

They've been debating it for five years. Only this year did they actually do it.

[sarcasmic]

Ready for work... or for bed? Richard Gere is almost unrecognisable as he pads around Franny set in dressing gown and slippers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....y-set.html
Looks like Jerry Garcia.

[Fatty Bolger]

Looks like Gay Dumbledore.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Turns out, you're both right! Jarry Garcia = Gay Dumbledore = Richard Gere.

[Matrix]

I'm pretty sure Dumbledore is gay. So that is kind of redundant.

[Bobarian]

Out-of-the-closet, gerbil-lovin Dumbledore?

[mr simple]

So, Dumbledore.

[Lord Humungus]

Henninger: Obama's Credibility Is Melting
Here and abroad, Obama's partners are concluding they cannot trust him.

This notion that they're going to get in a room and negotiate a deal with the president on immigration," Sen. Rubio said Sunday on Fox News, "is much more difficult to do" after the shutdown negotiations of the past three weeks.

Sen. Rubio said he and other reform participants, such as Idaho's Rep. Raul Labrador, are afraid that if they cut an immigration deal with the White House?say, offering a path to citizenship in return for strong enforcement of any new law?Mr. Obama will desert them by reneging on the enforcement.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-Mr. Obama will desert them by reneging on the enforcement.

Good for him if he would. The 'strong enforcement' measures the conservatives want are quite anti-liberty.

[John]

Then change the law. You can't enforce laws that don't exist. If your plan is to just stop enforcing a law because you don't like it but can't get it repealed, you are dishonest and damaging the country a lot more than the law is. If you don't want immigration laws enforced, there are a lot of other people who no doubt have some laws they would like not enforced. Good luck with that.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Do you think an Executive must enforce a law that, for example, they think is unconstitutional?

[John]

Yes, if the courts rule otherwise. No, the executive doesn't get to pick and choose which laws it gets to enforce. If you do that, you no longer have a rule of law, you have a rule of men.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I think you have a good point, but I also can see arguments for why an Executive can rightly not enforce a law he finds unconstitutional or deeply immoral. I do not want to Godwin but it seems to me that was partly what the trials Nuremberg ended up saying.

[John]

If the law were truly immoral sure. There is a limit to everything. But even then, you could argue that the duty is to resign in protest. Regardless, immigration laws don't go that far. They are not the Nuremberg laws. They are not so immoral that they cannot morally be enforced.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Not Nuremberg, yes, but I think a darn good case can be made that deporting young people who were brought here as children and who have roots here is quite immoral.

[John]

I don't think there is a case for that at all. And if there is a case for that, there is a case against pretty much any law. Countries have had borders and enforced them for hundreds of years. Every other country in the world does exactly that. What is moral and what is not is a value judgement. So you are free to believe that. But it is hardly unquestionable. So you are left with the standard of what is a President's moral duty. If the standard is he is free to not enforce any law that he finds immoral, regardless of how much in dispute that issue is, you are basically saying the President is free to not enforce any law he doesn't like, which is rule of man. The standard has to be higher than "I think this is immoral". The standard has to be, this is so immoral that few if anyone could find it immoral. No practice that is as universal and long standing as immigration enforcement is going to meet that standard.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

But he is not refusing to enforce immigration laws in general, just against a class of people in a very sympathetic position.

[John]

Either one. If you don't want to enforce the law, don't run for President.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Remember the story of the children who were suspended for playing with soft pellet BB guns? The police were called and there was a law their actions technically fell under. Were the police and DA wrong to not enforce that law in that instance?

[SFC B]

I think so many of the left don't imagine that other countries enforce their immigration laws. Here in Germany we have Soldiers who seperate to stay in Germany with their signifigant others and have jobs on the German economy and lives built in that world. They lose that job they're gone. Polizei don't fuck around.

[Auric Demonocles]

He can go ahead and veto it when it gets passed, or privately support a lawsuit to get it overturned.

[CatoTheElder]

Since the president swears an oath to uphold the Constitution, signing legislation that he thinks unconstitutional is a violation of his oath.

Signing statements are bullshit.

[CatoTheElder]

Since the president swears an oath to uphold the Constitution, signing legislation that he thinks unconstitutional is a violation of his oath.

Signing statements are bullshit.

[John]

Yes. And if he vetoes and Congress overrides it and the Courts agree with Congress, he has a duty to enforce that law. If he thinks it is immoral, then he should resign in protest. But I don't think any President should stay in office and just refuse to enforce a law that is on the books and upheld by the courts.

[Eduard van Haalen]

If the law were truly unconstitunal, which he does not claim in the case of the immigration laws, thenhe shouldnt enforce it. Jefferson pardoned the people convicted under the sedition act, even though the courts had upheld it. Congress later compensated two of the victims, retroactively vindicating jefferson.

[robc]

Its up to congress to impeach him, he has no reason to resign.

The fact that only 2 presidents have ever been impeached (and none removed) is a sign that the congress has been filled with pussies for over 200 years.

[Fluffy]

I understand the principle behind what you're saying, but the law books are riddled with archaic laws that are technically still in force but which are universally ignored.

Why is any particular immigration enforcement law privileged over the laws against, say, driving a car near a horse on a public street?

And the answer can't be "It's obvious which laws are which!" That's not good enough.

If we are going to take a position in favor of unflinching enforcement of all laws until official legal repeal, then we have to actually TAKE that position.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well said. I would also add that from what I understand Congress could pass a law ending the administration's particular use of discretion in enforcement of immigration laws if it wants. If it were to then continue then I think there would be more of a problem.

[John]

Because a difference in quantity eventually becomes a difference in quality. The only reason enforcing the horse law sounds ridiculous is because no one would ever argue that it should be enforced. Immigration law in contrast is in the words of our VP kind of a big fucking deal. A lot of people want those laws enforced and have through the political process gotten their way by having these laws passed. If the President refuses to enforce them, he is telling them to go fuck themselves that passing a law isn't good enough they also have to have the Presidency too. Sure he is doing the same thing in the horse law case, except that no one or almost no one wants it enforced so he is effectively telling no one to go fuck themselves. The situations are therefore totally different.

Immigration is not the Nuremberg laws or some obscure law that they just haven't bothered to take off the books even though no one wants it enforced and the reason for enforcing it has long been forgotten. They are laws that are important to a lot of people and which some disagree with. If the President is allowed not to enforce a law like that, he can pretty much not enforce any law he doesn't like and the law really doesn't mean anything anymore.

[Fluffy]

They are laws that are important to a lot of people and which some disagree with. If the President is allowed not to enforce a law like that, he can pretty much not enforce any law he doesn't like and the law really doesn't mean anything anymore.

Since the DOJ routinely exercises "discretion" over what it prosecutes and what it doesn't (and since that happens at the state and municipal level too) then maybe it doesn't.

[John]

They use "discretion" over what cases they prosecute. Saying "fluffy technically broke a law but under the circumstances prosecuting him in federal court is not just for whatever reason" is not the same as saying "we don't like this law and will therefore not enforce it against anyone". The first is the prosecutor doing his job and ensuring justice is done in each individual case. The second is the prosecutor nullifying the legislative body. Two totally different things.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-we don't like this law and will therefore not enforce it against anyone".

That is not what he is doing. He is telling his prosecutors not to enforce the law against a particular class of offenders in a particular set of circumstances. People are still being deported, just not those in that particular class and circumstances.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes. If anything it is better that the administration wrote down and announced their plan to use their discretion in that way so it is in plain sight; if Congress wanted to they could amend the law taking away such discretion.

[John]

This isn't discretion. This is just saying we won't enforce the law no matter what.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

He is just saying he will not enforce it against this particular class of people in this particular circumstance. He is still deporting other people.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

John, what do you think about my Sheriff example below?

[gaijin]

Good for him if he would.

So "by any means necessary" is what you advocate? I suspect trust suffers from that approach. But then, untrustworthy people only look for trust in others...as something to be exploited.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well, I meant more to note the anti-liberty aspects of the 'strong enforcement' measures than to advocate some kind of 'Ceasarism.'

Let me ask you this: if an elected Sheriff decided the drug laws in his jurisdiction were morally wrong and started a policy instructing his deputies to not arrest anyone for simple possession, would you oppose him? At the very least I would not be much upset about it.

[gaijin]

an elected Sheriff decided

Well, sheriffs don't get to decide the law. They get to enforce it.

But, answering your hypothetical question...if the Sheriff had run on a platform of enforcing drug laws, and then reneged on his platform, as in the case you supported for Obama and immigration negotiations, then I would not trust the sheriff in any number of areas unrelated to drugs.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Going back on one's word is one thing, an executive not enforcing a law they think is immoral or unconstitutional, especially for a particular class in a particular context, is another. You would really be upset with my hypothetical Sheriff?

[gaijin]

I had read your original comment as supporting the president going back on his word. The whole reneging thing.
I place a high value on trust worthiness. Would I be upset with your hypothetical sheriff? Yes.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I had read your original comment as supporting the president going back on his word. The whole reneging thing.

Yes, that was my fault, poorly worded.

[John]

That would be wrong. I couldn't support that even though I don't support drug laws. I would rather try and change the drug laws than live in a world where a sheriff can selectively enforce laws.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Fair enough.

[Steve G]

"reneging"... sounds almost racist. Better not combine that word with Obama in the same sentence

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

+1 dog whistle

[Steve G]

Reminds me of a little off-color joke in the household between the wiff and I. If you're one who renegs, what does that make you?

[Ken Shultz]

"The White House is unilaterally delaying by six weeks the deadline to purchase insurance before being penalized taxed for not doing so."

I guess Obama can bring himself to do more--just so long as it doesn't look like he's doing it in response to the Republicans.

Actually, I think this was a dumb move on Obama's part--he should have gone for more. If he's gonna take the heat for delaying it for six weeks, he might has well take the heat for delaying it for a year or two.

It's evidence that Obama is so completely out of it that he doesn't even realize that six weeks isn't going to be anywhere near enough time to get ObamaCare straightened out. It isn't just the websites that are the problem. The websites are just masking the inevitable failures to come.

Obama doesn't even see it coming. He's oblivious.

[Lord Humungus]

China cockroach farms thriving in the shadows

The 43-year-old businessman is the largest cockroach producer in China (and thus, probably in the world), with six farms populated by an estimated 10?million cockroaches. He sells them to producers of Asian medicine and to cosmetic companies that value the insects as a cheap source of protein as well as for the cellulose-like substance on their wings.

The favored breed for this purpose is the Periplaneta americana, or American cockroach, a reddish-brown insect that grows to about 1.6 inches long and, when mature, can fly, as opposed to the smaller, darker, wingless German cockroach.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-can fly, as opposed to the smaller, darker, wingless German cockroach.

Seems like a racist comment to me.

[DJF]

Remember this the next time you open a fortune cookie and its says 'That was not Chicken"

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

"The favored breed for this purpose is the Periplaneta americana, or American cockroach"

USA! USA! USA!

[Steve G]

Today's a good day, I just got my work machine upgraded from IE 8 to IE 9 (the only option). What's the rest of the (IE using) free world up to now, IE eleventeen?
I think my next move will be to trade out this monochrome monitor...

[Ken Shultz]

Forcing the detainees at Guantanamo to use IE is against the Geneva Conventions.

[Fluffy]

I have administrator privileges on my work computer, so...HELLO CHROME DOWNLOAD PAGE

[Drake]

IE10 is the current version for Windows 7. I only have because I have admin rights to my machine. I use Firefox for most tasks.

[Kaptious Kristen]

We here in this particular US gubmint agency are on IE7. But they did give us Chrome last year.

[Steve G]

yikes, I won't complain anymore re: IE in this particular branch. Chrome however, dayum

[Andrew S.]

I'm still on IE8 at work. I dislike IE8.

(For a while, there was a way to easily back-end administrative privileges on my work computer, but they took that way. Not like I ever put anything unauthorized on my computer, because that would have been wrong (HI IT!))

[Matrix]

Most men are raising their own biological children

Though your wives might be cheating, your kids are probably yours.

[Ken Shultz]

That's what I taught ALL my baby mamas to say.

[gaijin]

Not just 'most' men, but more than 97% according to the article.

[Brett L]

What, this is news? I mean, we report when it isn't the case because that's the exception.

[Auric Demonocles]

Is this supposed to be surprising?

[Fatty Bolger]

Somewhat, because of this: That is substantially lower than past estimates gleaned from rates of adultery and other family research, which suggested the rate of cuckoldry could be as high as 30 percent.

[Virginian]

The 30 percent number is coming from paternity tests submitted to private labs. So it's a self selected sample, of men who have suspicions they have been cuckolded. So they swab the kids cheek, and send it off to the lab.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tea Party Insists that Extremist Ken Cuccinelli Not Extreme Enough

But the Richmond Tea Party's executive director Larry Nordvig told Breitbart last month that Cuccinelli isn't conservative enough because he hadn't taken a sufficient stand against "Obamacare, immigration, and moral decline."

http://www.politicususa.com/20.....treme.html

[Ken Shultz]

So what?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I would say that for one thing it shows the distance between that Tea Party group and, say, the LP, which differs on immigration and 'moral decline.'

[Ken Shultz]

I'm sure that was Shrike's point. He wanted to congratulate us.

[Drake]

So Tea Party bad because they can do math.

Elect Terry McAuliffe - the sleaziest piece of shit that ever lived.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Do not worry 'Cooch,' Rick Santorum to the rescue!

-Rick Santorum is signing up volunteers for a "strikeforce" to help Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his bid to become governor of Virginia.
http://www.politico.com/story/.....z2ie37D3lB

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic ties with US over response to conflict in Syria
Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.

Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday....

[Fluffy]

How is this not a bigger story?

Granted, I would say fuck the Saudis, so I'm not the person who will jump up and use this failure as an excuse to bash the Obama administration...

But still.

What the fuck.

You'd think this would be news somewhere.

[John]

It is a huge deal. What that tells you is that Obama is about to sell out to Iran. Forget Israel. The Saudis, along with a lot of other people, are terrified of Iran. If they are going to this extreme, they must really think Obama is going to sell them out.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Not going to war with Iran is hardly selling out to them. Good on Obama for resisting those on the right still beating war drums for Iran.

[John]

Apparently the Saudis disagree or Obama is going to do more than not go to war with them. Maybe Iran means well or them getting the bomb will be a great thing. But the people who live near them seem to think differently.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-Apparently the Saudis disagree

Who cares? Let them go to war in Syria and Iran if they feel so strongly about it.

[WTF]

Have to agree with Bo on this one. The President is supposed to look out for whatever is in the best interests of the US, not Saudi Arabia or anyone else. If US interests coincide with Saudi interests, fine, but if they don't, too fucking bad.

[Michael S. Langston]

The US uses (2010 numbers) 20 million barrels of oil a day; 5% of which comes from Saudi, 20% of which comes from OPEC (including Saudi).

So while not going to war with Iran might be a good policy for the US, we do have a clear security interest in the stability of the region.

& I seem to recall this President specifically telling all of us how he would be better at dealing with the international community, especially Muslims, than his narrow minded predecessor - yet here we are - less stability, fewer allies, Russia openly mocking us, Germany and others investigating our NSA, yet same wars/rendition/GITMO/PatriotAct/etc as before...

Shorter version: the story should be Obama's failures extend well past domestic policy on healthcare - see no further than America's position internationally as proof.

[Derpetologist]

Stupidest Yglesias quote ever?

"The housing bust, meanwhile, has been followed by an epic construction slump that's actually left us with a shortage of homes."

[Ken Shultz]

Herp derp the derpest derp SHORTAGE, damn it!

[John]

Our economics blogger doesn't understand supply and demand. I can't believe I missed a whole thread slamming on that nasty little retard last night.

[Derpetologist]

Cheer up- I recently learned he got roughed up while walking home one night. Nothing was stolen, so maybe it was just two guys who were tired of his derp:

http://thinkprogress.org/ygles.....t-circuit/

"Therefore, all else being equal a denser city will be a better policed city."

My god, the derp just keeps coming.

[John]

Yglesias is that rare liberal who will remain a liberal even after being mugged.

[Derpetologist]

Of the incident, someone wrote:

"Usually, I agree with the well-wishing sentiments for crime victims, but given the way Yglesias is determined to make every neighborhood in America look like the set of Blade Runner, I'll reserve my sympathy for a more worthy recipient."

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Wow, that someone did not even thinly veil their racism.

[Derpetologist]

Racism is Team Blue ketchup- goes on everything.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You do not have to be Team Blue to see that comment ("given the way Yglesias is determined to make every neighborhood in America look like the set of Blade Runner, I'll reserve my sympathy for a more worthy recipient.") is racist.

[Derpetologist]

Please explain how it is racist. You may wish to consult this before proceeding:

http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....acism.html

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You really need me to explain why 'determined to make every neighborhood in America look like the set of Blade Runner' is racist? It is clearly a 'yellow/brown peril' comment.

[Derpetologist]

Or maybe it was a jab at Matty's love of super-dense cities? You know, like the city in Blade Runner?

Keep calm and derp on!

[Fluffy]

Yeah, I think that's much more a reference to the "polluted urban hellhole" aspect of the Ridley Scott LA.

I doubt the "high Asian population" element was even a factor.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I guess perhaps, but the streets of LA's cities insanely crowded with Asians and Hispanics seems too much in the forefront to not be part of it to me.

[mr simple]

Have you ever actually seen Blade Runner, Bo, or are you just greifer trolling again?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

One of my favorite movies. A central feature of the film are these streets insanely crowded with Asian and Hispanics and a mish mash of their cultures. I do not think the film was racist in that depiction, but I took the 'make every neighborhood in America look like the set of Blade Runner' to be so motivated.

I honestly never took the physical urban environment of the film to be something that was to be construed as negative. Deckard's place looked nice to me, the noodle stores, pet stores and strip clubs in the film struck me as vibrant parts of city life. Only the place of the final clash struck me as particularly run down.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Additionally, I do not recall the streets being portrayed as high crime areas (absent those committed by the Replicants, or, if you will, by the authorities against Replicants).

[tarran]

I do not recall the streets being portrayed as high crime areas

Then you weren't paying attention...

Remember the scavengers trying to steal bits of Deckard's car, while he was pulled over talking on the radio? The intricate locks on Sebastian's door?

Priss asking Sebastian why he hadn't left Earth like all the other talented people?

It was a dystopian hellhole of urban decay. Race had nothing to do with it.

[Fluffy]

Dude, you're crazy.

The eternal night of terminal smog, the random gas flares, the skies filled with zeppelins running loops of ads lying about a better life on the colony planets, the monumentalist architecture contrasted with the debilitating poverty at ground level...

You missed all of that?

Fuck, Scott invented or appropriated an entire visual style that has been endlessly imitated since - a style that is supposed to instantly communicate "hellish future urban landscape bereft of humanity or hope" - and you just missed it?

You think the point is that there are Chinese and Hispanic people?

Wow.

[#]

Blade runner was awesome in creating an really cool ambience of film noir crossed with futuristic sci fi, which in itself was mixing the two global most populous groups, hispanic and asian and mixing the culture.

For all of the movies other shortcomings, imaginative and great execution of the enviroment makes the movie really interesting.

[Lady Bertrum]

It's not racist. There's nothing racist about the set of Blade Runner - cyborgist? yes. Racist? no.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

+1 skin job

[Mike M.]

Sadbeard was the victim of a "Polar Bear Hunt", also sometimes referred to as "Knockout King".

A Polar Bear Hunt is a twisted "game" where a group of bored young racist blacks randomly pick a vulnerable looking solitary white guy on the street (usually late at night), sneak up behind him, and try to knock him out cold with one punch to the back of the head.

[SugarFree]

I condemn their lack of effort.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Completely un-Christian of me...I laughed.

[Restoras]

That is some ferocioulsy circular logic.

[Fatty Bolger]

One Obamacare tech surge, coming right up!

[gaijin]

Your name. How apropos 😉

[SugarFree]

My boyfriend is a 30-year-old virgin. How do I get him into the sack?

Dear Prudie,
I have been seeing a really sweet guy for three months. He is intelligent, fun, considerate and generous. My issue is that he is a virgin and doesn't seem very interested in changing that. We are both in our early 30s. I am recently divorced?my husband was a compulsive cheat?and have a 2-year-old son. I have discussed sex with "James" and he said that he originally wanted to wait until marriage for religious reasons, but now doesn't feel that is necessary, he just wants it to be with the right person. We were making out the other night and I whispered to him how much I wanted him. He said he wanted me, too, but he sounded awkward and unconvincing. He always tells me that we can't do anything because he doesn't have condoms, but he hasn't made any attempts to purchase some. I can tell he is aroused when we kiss, but I'm worried that he just isn't very interested in sex. That would be tough for me to handle long term. Is it wrong that I expect our relationship to be further along after three months? My friends say I need a man with more heat and passion but I am hesitant to pass up an otherwise great guy.

Step 1: Grow a penis.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Buy your own condoms and call his bluff.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Right! That's what I would do.

[John]

. I have discussed sex with "James" and he said that he originally wanted to wait until marriage for religious reasons, but now doesn't feel that is necessary, he just wants it to be with the right person

Just a guess, but I bet the "right person" won't have two X chromosomes.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Grow a penis

I won't sugarcoat this, he's gay.

BTW, did you know you can rearrange the letters of "Grow a penis" to spell "Spiro Agnew"?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Is he a fan of the Golden Girls?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Sounds like he's letting her down.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

He plays for the Browns?!

[John]

I knew a couple of women when I was single who were with guys like this. They always met them at church and usually on the rebound from dating some abusive asshole. Everyone would try to give them a hint or explain that their new wonderful guy just wasn't that into them. They never listened. It was always the same story. "But he is just deeply religious and wants to wait until he is married". Soon enough the guy would be so serious about religion he would be out cruising the clubs and the woman would be at home wondering why she never can meet the right guy.

[Auric Demonocles]

He always tells me that we can't do anything because he doesn't have condoms, but he hasn't made any attempts to purchase some.

And he's solely responsible for these purchases (which would be made for something you want to do more than him) because...?

[Pro Libertate]

Could be he's just cheap and this is all about who buys the contraceptives.

[Auric Demonocles]

Maybe he just prefers bareback and she should get on the pill.

[Restoras]

Yeah Baby!

[Pro Libertate]

I know the obvious answer is the guy is gay as a Broadway musical, but I have known some guys over the years who were pretty seriously anti-sex for religious reasons--meaning they really thought they shouldn't be having premarital sex. That's a tough position, these days, of course, though I think it was more common in the past.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Kickstarter program, anyone?

Tori Spelling reveals money troubles are so bad husband Dean can't even afford a VASECTOMY

[Lord Humungus]

and by kickstarter, you mean repeated blows to the balls?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I'd even watch their reality show if you did that, LH.

[gaijin]

Are vasectomies covered by Obamacare?

[SugarFree]

I hope so.

[UnCivilServant]

But wouldn't that make it harder to provide abortions later?

[SugarFree]

Shh... don't say the "A" word. It triggers its programming.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Rams call Brett Favre?

[Ken Shultz]

It was either him or Testaverde.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I am starting to think the NFL has some conspiracy to humiliate Tim Tebow at this point.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

No kidding. Austin Davis and Brady fucking Quinn?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I really think Jacksonville should give him a chance. He would at least sell tickets and jerseys there. It seems perverse that they have not yet. What in the world do they have to lose?

[Fatty Bolger]

What would they have to gain? They're already fully stocked in shitty quarterbacks.

I doubt that tickets & jerseys are their main concern right now, the owner's not exactly broke.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How can 'tickets & jerseys' not be their main concern? That is their business.

[Auric Demonocles]

You need to learn how the NFL revenues work before you start talking about what business decisions they should make.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I guess they make money from revenue sharing, but I would think merchandise and tickets are still a big chunk of their business, no?

[Auric Demonocles]

Not really. First, TV deals (split equally) massively dwarf everything else. Ticket sales go 40% to the visiting team (and Jacksonville doesn't have an attendance issue anyway), and jersey sales are shared revenue too.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Even if what you say is true (surely not all revenue from merchandise is shared, right?), how would having Tim Tebow on the team negatively effect their finances? Are they somehow going to get less TV and shared revenue with him playing?

[Fatty Bolger]

You're missing the point, Bo. Making money is not their primary concern right now, turning around the team is. The owner is a multibillionaire who just bought a new toy. You really think he cares about selling a few more tickets this year? If Tebow offered a long term solution, I'm sure they would jump on it, but he doesn't. He's had his shot with some of the best coaches in the NFL, and the consensus is that he just doesn't have an NFL caliber arm.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-Making money is not their primary concern right now, turning around the team is. The owner is a multibillionaire who just bought a new toy. You really think he cares about selling a few more tickets this year?

Fair enough I guess, but I still think he could have his cake and eat it too by having Tebow play especially as a back up when whoever they are trying to develop at that position is hurt.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

and Jacksonville doesn't have an attendance issue anyway

They have higher attendance than Tampa Bay, Oakland, and St. Louis, but also tarp over about 10k seats.

They also had to give away beer to sell tickets.

But sure, no attendance issues.

[Auric Demonocles]

If it's not tarped over, it would be one of the biggest in the league. In attendance numbers, they are as close to the median as they are to the lowest.

They haven't had a game blackout since 09. They aren't selling the stadium out, but they've been hovering between 60k and 65k fans the last several years. They don't have an attendance problem. Plus next year they might have a competent rookie QB.

[Auric Demonocles]

And, despite the meme, they aren't hurting for attendance.

[BakedPenguin]

What would they have to gain?

They could go from being utter shit to just being really bad. Hiring their own version of Bobby Douglas could get them 4 wins, baby.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's a conspiracy that goes back a century, and it's called "the forward pass".

[Brett L]

Tebow and Vince Young both have winning records as starters. Can Sam Bradford even say that?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I can understand Fisher not wanting Young. And I do understand Tebow generally sucks.

But he wins and people show up to watch him. The Rams are not going anywhere, so why not?

[Kaptious Kristen]

Meanwhile, Josh Freeman has a "concussion", and we're full circle back to Ponder.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Not sure if I buy it. "God I sucked last week...I know, I'll tell everyone I had a concussion!"

[Pro Libertate]

It's likely bullshit. Something's not right with him.

[Mike M.]

Yeah, what's not right with him is he sucks.

[Pro Libertate]

He does now, but he has had streaks (like six-seven game streaks) where he was a good QB. It's got to be something mental or emotional with him, and, whatever it is, it's gotten worse.

That streakiness is why he keeps getting chances, too, I suppose. I was never high on him, because I always thought his inaccuracy was a big problem.

[Mike M.]

Yep, but NFL history is chock full of bad quarterbacks who had brief stretches where they looked good.

Even a complete bum like Matt Cassel had an entire season where his Patriots teammates made him look decent.

[Auric Demonocles]

Cassel isn't that awful. He also had a pro bowl year in KC.

[Pro Libertate]

As did Freeman. With guys like that, the team better be good all-around. Flacco and Eli Manning are examples of that, though better-grade overall, I think.

[Virginian]

Flacco will look entirely mediocre for most of the game, then maybe twice or three times he'll throw a beautiful deep ball that travels more than 40 yards through the air. Eli has playoff magic.

[Bobarian]

Cassel was pretty awful that year as well. He was a stat whore who put up great numbers when they no longer mattered (KC was way ahead or way behind) but sucked when the game was on the line.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That's what I was thinking.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I have long suspected Michael Vick of doing that, feigning or exaggerating injury when his play has been poor.

[Mike M.]

Nonsense. Vick gets hurt regardless of whether he's winning, losing, or tied.

Have you ever actually looked closely at him? He's a little (by NFL standards) man who is constantly running all over the place around guys twice as big as he is.

By the way, RG3 has the exact same problem Vick does, which is that in order for him to be an effective quarterback, he has to play a style that practically guarantees he's going to be constantly getting knocked out with injuries. I'll be shocked if Griffin ever makes it through an entire season intact.

[Bobarian]

This^^

RG3 has a very good chance of being out of the league in two years, but Luck will likely be playing for Indy for 10 years. Vicks still playing because he managed to get a vacation for a couple years.

[Virginian]

Eh with the change in the rules, I could see him lasting longer then that.

[Troy muy grande boner]

The White House is unilaterally delaying by six weeks the deadline to purchase insurance before being penalized taxed for not doing so.

So Shitweasel in chief goes to SCOTUS to get their approval of the fine. Then he turns around and, without any authority whatsoever, delays it. God how this man disgusts me.

[Ken Shultz]

That's what I was sayin'...

I think this was a dumb move on Obama's part--he should have gone for more. If he's gonna take the heat for delaying it for six weeks, he might has well take the heat for delaying it for a year or two.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/10.....nt_4085446

He has no idea what he's doing. He's so oblivious, he doesn't even know what's in his own best interests.

He must believe his own weaselshit.

[Juice]

And 6 weeks? WTF kind of delay is that? It helps no one and only hurts Obama. What was he thinking? I'd love a delay but 6 weeks isn't a real delay.

[Juice]

And 6 weeks? WTF kind of delay is that? It helps no one and only hurts Obama. I'd love a delay but 6 weeks is not a real delay.

[Juice]

oops that wasn't squirrels
i just didn't see that the first time actually took

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

You aren't just brown nosing the squirrelz, are you?

*squints*

[Clich? Bandit]

always blame the squirrels.

[Troy muy grande boner]

He's so oblivious, he doesn't even know what's in his own best interests.

It really is amazing how incompetent and clueless this schmuck is.

Shitweasel in chief is nothing more than the exemplification of the Peter Principle.

[BakedPenguin]

The Peter Principle would mean that he's competent at something. (I guess if you count hucksterism, that's true.)

The last three years of his presidency are going to be hilarious as he constantly gets BS information from his retinue of sycophants, then wonders why everything is going wrong and polls show people no longer loving him.

[Snark Plissken]

The Peter Principle X The Affirmative Action Principle.

[anomdebus]

The Affirmative Peter Action Principle?

[Mike M.]

Yeah, there aren't the words in the dictionary to adequately describe how completely vile the man is.

And we all know it's going to be delayed for longer than six weeks.

[The Late P Brooks]

Congressional pontifications are underway. Waxman informs us O-care is an unalloyed success. People are saving millions. Children- precious little baby children!- are being covered under their parents' policies. Drugs are being subsidized. A new era of peace, tranquility, and even immortality has been brought forth upon this great land.

But. BUT! Republicans, who are Satan's minions here on earth, are attempting to thwart the Ascended One's beneficent gifts to deserving Americans. Republicans are bad, children, mmmmmkay?

[RG]

Its a great trial balloon to see just how stupid the American people are. If they swallow that nonsense, all hope is lost. Progressives will eb able to sell them anything, regardless of actual results.

[John]

Meanwhile, Dem Senators up for re-election next year are drafting bills to delay it. And I still have liberal friends on Facebook posting about what an evil terrorist Ted Cruz is. It is going to be a fun next couple of months.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

Of course Henry is in O!care, right?

[The Late P Brooks]

If they swallow that nonsense, all hope is lost.

We're doomed. The simple fact that the remainder of Waxman's comments were not completely drowned out by laughter following his assertion "This legislation is a SUCCESS!" means the Great Experiment has failed.

[RG]

As I said on another thread, I'm just trying to figure out what state to escape to while I watch it collapse.

I'm thinking Montana, Wyoming, Dakotas.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Don't leave out Idaho and Alaska.

[Restoras]

How about Utah?

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Too many Mormons. Also, Nevada would be a great state to retreat to in the event of the debtpocalypse but for the presence of California right next door.

[Restoras]

What's wrong with Mormoms? I really don't know. It looks like a nice state with reasonable gun laws and great skiing.

[Fluffy]

You can only trust Mormons as long as they are stuck in the middle of a godless country that can keep them in line.

If there was some sort of Mad Max disaster that took the feds down, and the Mormons were on their own and could run things the way they want to, they would turn Utah into a quasiCalvinist theocracy and a hell on earth pretty quickly.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

If there was some sort of Mad Max disaster that took the feds down, and the Mormons were on their own and could run things the way they want to, they would turn Utah into a quasiCalvinist theocracy and a hell on earth pretty quickly.

Maybe, but they're likely the only larger-scaled society that would survive such a collapse as well. There'd be some pullback by farmers and ranchers in the Mormon corridor (which is basically Arizona all the way north to southern Alberta) to semi-urban areas for safety purposes, but I suspect they'd pull together and help each other survive far easier than any other section of the country.

[B.P.]

The federal government controls 85 percent of Nevada's land mass.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Ugh, make mine Vermont or Maine.

[John]

We might be. If the Dems get away with pretending this work or delaying it after they just spent a month calling Ted Cruz a terrorist for asking for that, they can pretty much get away with anything. This is pretty much the country's last chance to show that it has any intelligence or credulity left.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Didn't Democrats openly call for Cruz being arrested and tried for sedition? IMHO, this passes a great big line. If you are so dogmatic that people should be send to prison for having the temerity of disagreeing with you, that is a big deal.

[John]

Yes.

[Drake]

I downgraded "Democracy as an viable system of government" to "failed hypothesis" a long time ago.

A "Republic" is still theoretically viable as long as the democratic aspects are severely limited. Even then, it has a limited shelf-life (ours expired a while ago).

[The Late P Brooks]

"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

Wink wink, nudge nudge.

[The Late P Brooks]

"sophisticated INTEGRATED platform"

Hold on, I think we may be getting somewhere.

This woman seems to be having some difficulty distinguishing what IS from what IS SUPPOSED TO BE.

Now she's doing a pitch. You've already got the job, Lady, and you fucked it up.

[Lord Humungus]

OT: Damn, so they decided to "fix" the HVAC here at work. Which means the air-conditioning is kicking in while it's 36F outside.

[Flatulent Monkey]

I must be in a masochistic mood, just watched a portion of the committee member's opening remarks for the healthcare.gov hearings.

I would appear that TEAM BLUE line is: "ACA is okay and healthcare.gov is also a-okay, because, MEDICARE Part D."

Yes, that's right, one unnecessary, wasteful and ineffective entitlement program is being used to justify yet another unnecessary, wasteful and ineffective entitlement program.

[Lord Humungus]

take one for the team, FM.

[Flatulent Monkey]

I should get an AAM, at least.

Now the individuals testifying are, in fine civil servant/gubimnt contractor fashion, doing their best to see how fast they can throw each other under the bus.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

You keep watching, it'll go to ARCOM.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-one unnecessary, wasteful and ineffective entitlement program is being used to justify yet another unnecessary, wasteful and ineffective entitlement program.

Well said, but I would add some adjectives right after 'yet another.' 'Bigger, less well thought out, more oppressive' would all fit.

[Flatulent Monkey]

That will work.

[John]

So the Democrats want to delay the mandate not the law itself. Do they not understand that without the mandate, the insurance death spiral is assured?

[Drake]

Understand or care?

[John]

I think they might not understand. I think someone like Waxman or Pelosi know how to take money from taxpayers and give it to their friends. They really don't understand much beyond that. I really think no one will be more shocked than they are when the spiral happens.

[Andrew S.]

They understand. Do you understand what their goal is? If so, their reasoning should be very easy to understand.

[John]

Don't you understand how stupid they are? If you think their plan was to destroy healthcare in this country, somehow avoid blame for it, and then ride in and save the day with single payer, you think they are a lot smarter than they have ever shown. Hell, if they were that smart, we would already be in full on communism.

I think the more likely answer is that they are as dumb as they appear, really don't know how to do anything but steal, and thus have no idea what they are doing or what the consequences of their actions will be. They blunder from one spin cycle to the next.

Doesn't that sound like a lot more likely explanation for these clowns than "they are really evil geniuses thinking five years ahead and passing things they know will fail but create greater opportunity in the future"? Have you seen these people?

[Auric Demonocles]

If this is their plan the "somehow avoid blame for it" is obvious:

Have the entire media blame evil greedy insurance corporations, evil racist Rethuglicans for obstructitnating, and stupid conservatives because this plan* was theirs all along.

*passed entirely be Democrats over Republican objections

[John]

Sure. But that doesn't mean they thought that far ahead. They are just idiots. None of them even knew what the bill said when they voted for it. They just knew it was "health care reform" and Obama wanted it and this is what they had been working for since FDR.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Do they not understand that without the mandate, the insurance death spiral is assured?

Probably not. There's probably more than a few who think that the insurance companies have a magically-refilling pot of gold, and that therefore they can simply be forced to sell insurance at low prices.

[John]

That is what I think too. They are really that stupid.

[Biden's Scroteplugs]

it doesn't matter if they understand. it doesn't matter if there is no delay. the death spiral is going to happen because the Obamacare policies are a shitty deal for the consumer. Obama basically said so when he said they were a good deal, because he cannot not lie.

[Troy muy grande boner]

I think the point has been made earlier that the whole fucking point of ACA is to destroy the private insurance industry and get us to a single payor system.

[Troy muy grande boner]

wow... I made a such a pithy and TIMELY comment.

[Kaptious Kristen]

My Perfect Husband? , Nick Offerman, promotes Movember.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Tofu Bacon...[spit].

LOL

[BakedPenguin]

Vegan bacon.

[GILMORE]

As a former member of the Beard-Tribe, I believe Mustached-Ones to be my blood-enemy

Because I just don't get it. Its all the bitch-ass pain of shaving, with none of the 'Check Out My Manly Fucking Classical Greek Profile, bitch'. Plus everyone looks like they're on some spectrum between Geraldo and Saddam. Call me a fashion snob but... no. just no.

Also= for the love of god, H&R, please stop with the random Movie Previews in my browser. Just stop or I'm goin to have to get Chrome or some shit.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Hey--don't disparage the fine collection of turn of the century mustache styles.

[GILMORE]

AaarrrrgG!! no! Those be worn by Hipsters.... and HIPSTERS MUST DIE

[Warty]

I apologize in advance to you retards for linking this drivel.

The secret conservative message of the "Duck Dynasty" beards

The beards in "Duck Dynasty" symbolize this general, supposedly authentic, but actually mass-produced, Southern cultural conservatism. As Gold McBride noted, 19th century beards symbolized masculinity and an affirmation of gender distinctions in an age when gender roles were shifting. Contemporary America is witnessing many of the trends that shaped the 19th century, including growing income inequality and movements by various minority groups to claim their human rights.

[Warty]

deeznuggets 21 hours ago
He missed the most obvious complexity of modern day big beards. Black or brown man with a big beard = scary threat. White man with a big beard = folksy Americana. You put the cast of Duck Dynasty in a tanning bed until they are darker than olive complexion, and then for shits-and-giggles, record them on some monkey bars sporting a rifle over the shoulder and suddenly these All American boys are disappeared to Guantanamo Bay.

[John]

Yeah, James Harden is a totally scary guy. I mean he is a pariah or something.

[Zeb]

So, in other words "I'm terrified of big dark men with scary beards".

[Lady Bertrum]

Well, Jeffrey Wright is terrifying.

http://www.cinemablend.com/tel.....53584.html

[GILMORE]

"'He missed the most obvious complexity'"

Somewhere, a liberal arts professor just received tenure.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

And Blue Tulpa applauds.

SOCONZ!!!!!

[John]

So when the hippies grew their hair long and started growing beards, where they really secret 19th century misogynist or something? Where the hippies really reactionaries longing for a return of antebellum culture?

[Fluffy]

Actually, some people have argued that since avoiding the draft was potentially culturally emasculating ("That sissy boy is afraid to go and fight!") the hippie beard phenomenon was an unconscious assertion of maleness. ("Look at my big manly beard!")

[John]

I think it was more a cultural signature. It was a way of showing the world you were not part of and objected to the mainstream. If the mainstream still had been wearing Gettysburg style beards and staches, the hippies would have cut their hair and shaved. Eventually being counter to the mainstream became mainstream. And when that happened, suburban dads started wearing long hair and mustaches and the punks shaved their heads or got Mohawks. Think about it.

[waffles]

If you really want to counter the counter-counterculture you need to just not give a shit and do whatever you want to do. That's the real way to stick it to the man or really whatever you want to stick it to.

I guess.

[John]

Everyone loves wearing a uniform. And the original beats and hippies did that. And they were a lot cooler and more interesting than what came after.

[Swiss Servator, O Luzern!]

The uniform of nonconformity.

[KPres]

I always thought it was the same reason they don't shower, wear ragged clothes, dreadlocks and all the rest...it's an expression of their life-denying asceticism.

[waffles]

I think so. That sounds right. But wasn't there something about a war in Asia and a draft that spurred that too?

I might be wrong, but modern hippies don't really know what they are.

[John]

Notice how liberals must destroy everything that doesn't further liberal ideology. They can't just ignore a show they don't like. They must find deeper meaning in it and explain to themselves and other why it is evil and represents a threat and must therefore be ended.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Not really different from SoCon anti-porn crusaders. Doesn't fit my worldview, IT MUST BE DESTROYED!

It's not really about liberal or conservative. It's about principled and unprincipled.

[sarcasmic]

Principles are for ideologues, and ideologues are bad. Thus principles are bad.

[John]

In a way yeah. But sex is kind of a big deal. And a lot of people who are not SOCONs don't want their kids watching porn. And of course SOCONS are not the only ones who hate porn. Feminists do a pretty good job too.

People hate porn because they don't want their kids seeing it and or they think making it or watching it is degrading to the people who do it. I don't really agree with all that. But it is a lot more reasonable of a position than "the beards on Duck Dynasty are bringing back the 19th century patriarchy".

[Kaptious Kristen]

If people don't want their kids to watch porn, then they shouldn't let their kids watch porn.

That's just one example. Online poker was a favorite of the So Cons. My illustrious former Senator George Allen, sent me a letter saying "it's for the children!!".

The point is, people of all kinds want to impose their particular values on everyone else. All it takes is being unprincipled. And a little elitism doesn't hurt.

[John]

I agree with you Kristen. But I think the case against porn on every corner is a bit more reasonable than the case against Duck Dynasty. As I say below, the better example is the various fainting fits any number of people have over prime time TV shows.

And the answer is to retreat from mainstream culture and create your own culture. Don't own a TV and strictly control what your kids do on the internet and then it doesn't matter. And many people in fact do that.

[trshmnstr]

The point is, people of all kinds want to impose their particular values on everyone else. All it takes is being unprincipled. And a little elitism doesn't hurt.

What the SoCons would be embarrassed to realize is multiple-fold
1) They're continuing the legacy of the 1st generation Progressives. "Everything unpure must be illegal!"
2) They're putting the same government they don't trust with their money in charge of their morals
3) They're exemplifying the spiritual laziness that is railed against in the New Testament.

[John]

The Progs are nothing but the New England puritans who traded God for government. And the SOCONS wouldn't be embarrassed at all. They hate the Progs ends. The SOCONS are not libertarians.

[John]

The better example Kristen is the SOCONS bitching about some prime time TV show that shows gays or people getting abortions or something. There, they are convinced that the idea even being put forth is evil and wrong. That is analogous to this nitwit.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That's a good example, indeed.

Speaking of, am I the only person on earth that doesn't like Modern Family? I just don't think it's funny. Maybe I like a more in-your-face brand of comedy.

[John]

I don't like it either. My wife loves it. I have watched it. I find it annoying. I can't stand the skinny blond chick and her husband. The gay couple are just tiresome. And I am probably the only straight guy on earth who finds Sofia Vergara to be grating and completely lacking in sex appeal. I don't get that show at all.

[Brett L]

And I am probably the only straight guy on earth who finds Sofia Vergara to be grating and completely lacking in sex appeal

Well, she seems hot, but I've never watched the show or listened to her.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

And I am probably the only straight guy on earth who finds Sofia Vergara to be grating and completely lacking in sex appeal.

She looks a lot better when she's not slathered in makeup, which the show unfortunately does to an unseemly degree. There was one episode where the dad (not Ed O'Neill, the other guy) was ogling her as she came out of the pool, and she looked amazing.

For the most part, though, it's just another "Look how ignorant the men in this family are, and the women are 'powerful' but act like harpies!" type of show.

[SugarFree]

I don't find it funny.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I find the Ed O'Neill character somewhat tolerable, but I wish he was much more crotchety than he is.

[John]

I think women like that show because Ed O'Neil married the hot young second wife half his age and spends most of his life totally miserable because of it.

[WTF]

I tried watching it for several episodes. Not funny; stopped watching.

[sarcasmic]

They're just being tolerant. That's all.

[Warty]

Exactly. And it ties in well with this little bit of poison. These people are true scum.

[Troy muy grande boner]

For those whose feet still touch the ground, the path to NSA reform so clearly lies inside the Democrats' big tent ? and runs through its liberal wing.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Or libertarianism itself will rise, and our loss of liberty will be greater still. That's because libertarianism is a form of authoritarianism disguised in a narrow slice of civil liberties.

I knew you guys were secretly authoritarians. I am sure that you would use violent mean with which to leave me alone

[Kaptious Kristen]

I had dinner with a couple of uber-liberal girlfriends a few weeks ago. They were lamenting and hand-wringing over the fact that women in Turkey are now allowed to cover their heads in public buildings. I asked them "what about all the women here in the U.S. that wear head coverings at work?" Their response was "well, that's different".

Those poor, dumb adult women in Turkey don't know what's good for them. They need educated, worldly Western women to tell them right from wrong.

Elitist and paternalistic to the core, they are.

[John]

In fairness, in some countries not covering your head will get you killed or beaten by some fanatic. I agree with you that head coverings are no big deal. The Amish have been doing it for years. And I think for the most part the Muslim women in the US are no different than the Amish in that regard. But in Turkey it might be a bit different. If the women wear the coverings because their family will beat them or some idiot who sees them on the street will attack them, the head scarf takes up a totally different meaning in that context.

[Kaptious Kristen]

That's the thing - the law should focus on the fact that it's wrong to commit violence against someone, not on what people wear. If a women is being beaten, it should be prosecutable, period. If a women really wants to cover her head, then as an adult human, she should be able to go to work with her head covered.

[John]

But if it is endemic in the society, it becomes really hard for the law to function. Most women will just wear the head scarf rather than take the beating and call the cops and be disowned by their family. Making it illegal gives the women an out. I understand freedom and all. But if Muslims consider doing it so important, perhaps they should change their tactics so the law doesn't have to intervene?

[GILMORE]

The beards in "Duck Dynasty" symbolize this general, supposedly authentic, but actually mass-produced, Southern cultural conservatism

Whereas Hipster beards that are thin, scraggly, and a consequence of simply not making up ones mind whether to shave or not or...whatever... see, they are a sign of cultural sensitivity and caring and softer feminine emotions and something also Obamacare is awesome.

Because the beards like teh obamascare and the womens fall downs in awe

http://thenypost.files.wordpre....._faint.jpg

[PD Scott]

"19th century beards symbolized masculinity and an affirmation of gender distinctions in an age when gender roles were shifting."

If this is true, why did you see so few beards (except on older men) in the 1920s-50s, when there was much greater shifting of gender roles?

I read somewhere that beards were so unusual in late 18th/early 19th c America that this one guy who did have a beard was routinely harassed over it (I don't think any of the Founding Fathers had facial hair). Part of me wonders if the Great Awakening and it's re-emphasis on religious themes led to more facial hair but mostly I suspect that styles change - the US became more frontier oriented, there weren't no dang barbers out there to shave a man, beards became fashionable.

Gold McBride, it turns out, is a History prof at UC Berkeley, so I'm sure she has no ideological axe to grind.

[SugarFree]

There were plenty of beards in the 19th century, but they did become more common after the Civil War. Long beards tended to only be on older men, 60+.

[Eduard van Haalen]

My beard, flecked with shades of gray
Yo' beard, grown in a day.

My beard is big and causes trouble
Yo' beard is nothing but stubble.

My beard reaches down to my knees
Yo' beard needs to increase

My beard, long as a rope
Yo' beard can be washed off with soap.

[The Late P Brooks]

As Gold McBride noted, 19th century beards symbolized masculinity and an affirmation of gender distinctions in an age when gender roles were shifting.

Huh. And all this time I thought men in the nineteenth century just thought shaving with a straight razor was a gigantic pain in the ass. And a serious health hazard.

[John]

That and perhaps fashion changes for pretty much random reasons over time. Men stopped wearing hats when Kennedy was President and didn't wear one. Does that have some deeper meaning too?

And lets not forget beards and staches were pretty big in the 1970s. Were the 70s a golden age of 19th Century gender distinctions?

[GILMORE]

""Men stopped wearing hats when Kennedy was President and didn't wear one. Does that have some deeper meaning too?""

OF COURSE. HATS INTERFERED WITH THE MIND-CONTROL RAYS

[Zeb]

And it keeps your face warm and protected from insects.

[sarcasmic]

I grow a beard during the winter because it keeps my face warm while I'm clearing snow from the driveway.

[GILMORE]

The hipsters in Williamsburg says it softens the punchings when they say, "hey man be cool"

The punchings they'd probably avoid had they been beardless and ever learned to say "my bad"

[Zeb]

I have a beard all year because I can't be bothered to shave, but I stop trimming it in the winter. I also like to maintain a bit of the crazy weirdo look.

[GILMORE]

I was bearded before it was cool.

No really. People were like, "Dude, you're so lame. Ditch the beard"

[Lady Bertrum]

I was informed up thread that beard growing is racist. So, RACIST!

[The Late P Brooks]

I apologize in advance to you retards for linking this drivel.

Word Order Error Detected.

SHOULD BE:

"I apologize in advance to you for linking this retard's drivel."

hth

[Sevo]

OK, not a cop, but will prolly get time off with pay.
Park & Rec gardener drives over the lawn (where he's supposed to have a spotter), runs over and kills a woman, keeps right on going.
First report says he didn't know of anything, now:
..."where he told his supervisor, "I hit something. It was maybe a dog or a child.""
Whatever it was, it wasn't enough for him to stop and take a look.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/.....921078.php

[PD Scott]

So, he won't even stop For the Children?

[The Late P Brooks]

I read somewhere that beards were so unusual in late 18th/early 19th c America that this one guy who did have a beard was routinely harassed over it (I don't think any of the Founding Fathers had facial hair).

Was it a cultural/wealth marker? "Haha, me so rich I have manservant to scrape itchy hair from chin, not like you day laborer types."

[GILMORE]

San Franciscans So Passive and Self Absorbed, They Ignore Psychopath Waving Gun Until He Shoots One of Them

http://www.sfgate.com/default/.....876709.php

For police and prosecutors, the details of the case were troubling - they believe the suspect had been out "hunting" for a stranger to kill - but so too was the train passengers' collective inattention to imminent danger.

"These weren't concealed movements - the gun is very clear," said District Attorney George Gasc?n. "These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They're just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They're completely oblivious of their surroundings."

Clearly there needs to be more funding for something.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, totally shocking, not. Here's what the train fetishists don't get: Riding on the train fucking sucks. That's why people check out and try to pretend they're somewhere else when they have to do it.

[GILMORE]

Actually, as a lifelong subway rider in NYC, I like the train perfectly well, and have always enjoyed 'people watching'...until you notice some people are crazy, at which point you start people-watching for which one you can use as a shield in case "peeing on himself AIDS-needle waving guy" wants to make friends.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Anti-Christian terror is everyone's concern

"By Steven B. Nasatir ["president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago"]

"The upcoming 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht makes this an auspicious time to raise awareness about the contemporary violence targeting religious minorities and their places of worship. Of particular concern are attacks against Christian minorities that have occurred with alarming frequency from Syria to Egypt, from Iraq to Pakistan, and from Kenya to Sudan....

"It is time to sound the alarm about the religious persecutions of Christians and others. Let us raise our voices, and call on our elected representatives to take action. People of all faiths should support passage of H.R.301, legislation that would direct our President to appoint a State Department Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....s-concern/

[Eduard van Haalen]

IMHO, a better response would be to give asylum in the US to the persecution victims. And be even-handed: If we can find Muslim victims of persecution, let them in, too!

[Warty]

Speaking of beards. BEARDS.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Gangsta rabbis allegedly use violence to persuade husbands to divorce their wives. Orthodox rabbis charged with setting up Jewish courts to give wives the right to divorce, and using force if the husband refuses to give the necessary court-ordered divorce paperwork (a "get").

Most rabbis don't operate this way, but there *is* precedent in old Jewish law for rabbinical courts to use force to induce compliance with their decrees (just like US courts can authorize force for the same purpose).

http://forward.com/articles/18.....get-a-get/

[Eduard van Haalen]

Generally, the penalty for recalcitrant husbands is to be denied seats of honor in the synagogue and to be subject to other forms of nonviolent shunning.

[Ken Shultz]

And then you could do stuff like this sometimes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erthun0Pauc

[Matrix]

Well, the Torah and the rest of halacha only allows for a man to give a women a get. So if a woman wants a divorce, she's pretty much at the mercy of her husband.

In America and other non-Jewish dominated societies, it's not a legal issue. The state will grant a divorce. Though, in the Jewish community she would still be seen as married until a get is given. In Israel, where Jewish law is the foundation of many secular laws, the husband must be the one to do so. Some husbands who refuse are jailed.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Here's a decree by a rabbinical court in Israel which ultimately induced a husband to grant a divorce:

"'Decree by force of oath on every Jewish man and woman under your jurisdiction that they not be allowed to speak to him, to host him in their homes, to feed him or give him to drink, to accompany him or to visit him when he is ill.....'

"We added to these strictures that no sexton of any synagogue in the area where the husband resides be allowed to seat him in the synagogue, or call him to the Torah, or ask after his welfare, or grant him any honor. All people are to distance themselves from him as much as possible until his heart submits and he heeds to voices of those instructing him that he grant his wife a divorce."

http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/excom1.html