Congressional Rage Theater over Obamacare Site Disaster, Soros Wants Hillary Clinton to Run, Pirates Kidnap Americans near Nigeria: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: Simon Wicks / Foter / CC BY-NC

  Today's congressional hearing about the disaster of the Obamacare site rollout was itself was a fairly predictable disaster, full of partisan bickering and contractors pointing fingers back at the federal government for failing to adequately test Healthcare.gov before launch.

• George Soros is joining forces with a super PAC that is urging Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016. Hooray for that Citizens United decision, eh?
• After killing a teenage boy who was holding what turned out to be a toy gun, Santa Rosa, Calif., police say the boy pointed the gun at them when they told him to drop the weapon, and that's why they shot him. But one witness claims they continued shooting at the boy after he was down on the ground.
• Pirates have kidnapped two Americans from a ship off the Nigerian coast.
• Florida police arrested a woman for shooting her boyfriend … with a water pistol.
• What do you know? Some obese people really do have unnaturally slow metabolism. Research shows that the genetic abnormality occurs in less than one in 100, and it can usually be detected by obesity that develops in childhood, so don't try to use it to explain your middle-age love handles.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...contractors pointing fingers back at the federal government for failing to adequately test Healthcare.gov before launch.

They're central planners not central testers.

[gaijin]

But I thought they were...the Central Scrutinizers?

[Mad Scientist]

Cruel and inhuman punishments are being carefully described in tiny paragraphs so they won't conflict with the Constitution which, itself, is being modified in order to accommodate the future.

[gaijin]

+1 White Zone

[BakedPenguin]

Possibly. They sure think anyone who has a broken heart over Obamacare is an asshole.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Florida police arrested a woman for shooting her boyfriend ? with a water pistol.

It takes more than that to take down Florida Man!

[Brett L]

Not if the water came from the St. Johns river. Then the flesh eating bacteria get you.

[trshmnstr]

Florida police arrested a woman for shooting her boyfriend ? with a water pistol.

... if you know what I mean.

[playa manhattan]

"Florida police arrested a woman for shooting her boyfriend ? with a water pistol."

Did it have pee in it?

[Bam!]

Even worse: It was filled with more than 16oz. of cola!

[playa manhattan]

Assault cola!

[trshmnstr]

Illegally sized cola vessel clip magazine on the liquid projectile assault weapon

[paranoid android]

You know, there's a great idea for combatting the soda ban that I bet restaurants didn't even think of, inspired by New York's own gun laws! Since most places have self-serve soda fountains anyway, they should have just continued to sell large drink cups, then posted a sign saying there's a rule against filling your cup with more than 16 oz of soda.

[playa manhattan]

Or start selling 2 16oz cups taped together. I call it the "side-by-side".

[Bryan C]

Dihydrogen monoxide exposure is not a laughing matter.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Dihydrogen monoxide

That sounds like dangerous stuff. HAs it ben tested by the FDA? Consumer protection agencies? Does it come with warning lable? We don't let children play with it do we?

[BakedPenguin]

That shit kills thousands of people a year. More than guns!

[playa manhattan]

And experts estimate that it is in almost every household in America!

[Fist of Etiquette]

...police say the boy pointed the gun at them when they told him to drop the weapon, and that's why they shot him.

There's nothing cowardly about shooting a kid who you think might possibly be carrying a weapon.

[Tim]

I think robots could make better decisions.

[mr lizard]

Well you'd welcome your robot overlords too if you knew how bad my overlord bosses are.

[Brett L]

In the back?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's even more heroic.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Jesus, where do they find these cowards. Our soldiers, who are...like in a fucking shooting war, sometimes have more stringent rules of engagement than these guys.

Or they are really not cowards. They just like killing people. Why? Becuase they know they can get away with it.

[Rasilio]

Sometimes?

Furthermore I'd bet 90% of the infantrymen in the US military would require a hell of a lot more provocation before they opened fire and take it a hell of a lot worse if they shot a kid in a circumstance like this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Some obese people really do have unnaturally slow metabolism.

Does that mean some people actually have big bones?

[playa manhattan]

I have one for you right here.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Is it a femur?

[playa manhattan]

I'm trying to remember the exact quote from "Ali G". Something about a dong bone....

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Research shows that the genetic abnormality occurs in less than one in 100

Nice try, fatties.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

George Soros is joining forces with a super PAC that is urging Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2016. Hooray for that Citizens United decision, eh?

The most libertarian billionaire out there!

[Sevo]

Beat me to it!

[Pro Libertate]

Nothing more libertarian than socialist statists. Nothing.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Silence! Soros is the High Priest of Capitalism and Warren Buffet the King!

The Assplug would know, he got a 97% on the Purity Test!

[gaijin]

and his stock market returns are exceptional!

[Rasilio]

Well since libertarians are just authoritarians with a thin streak of civil liberties...

[John]

We know who shreek is going to be pimping.

[Troy muy grande boner]

EWWWWWWWWW

/14 year old girl

[Bobarian]

Let's not sugarcoat it, at this point, what difference does it make?

[gaijin]

That meme. You didn't build it.

[General Butt Naked]

I'm hoping the Yglesias "If you concede the fact that..." then insert an obvious falsehood meme will catch on.

"Let's not sugarcoat this, if you concede the fact that shrike is the most libertarian person here then Soros is a Randian superhero."

[Pro Libertate]

"If you concede the fact that gravity is merely a mental construct, then we can all fly. Wheeeeee!"

[Not an Economist]

Didn't Douglas Adams conclusively prove that?

[BuSab Agent]

+1 throwing yourself at the ground and missing

[Troy muy grande boner]

Sugarcoat = What happens to Mrs. Sugarfree when he can afford enough anesthesia to knock her out so he can carry out his eevyelll deeds.

Sugarcoated = The condition of Mrs. Sugarfree after she wakes up from an anesthesia related event.

[Sevo]

This would be Soros the 'libertarian'?

[Warty]

MALE GAZE

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't care how many ladies kiss each other, blue is not the warmest color. Black is. That's why you don't wear it in summer.

[Brett L]

Umm. I'm not sure they're kissing each other on the mouth, even if it is on the lips, y'know?

[Fist of Etiquette]

But have you ever worn a black shirt on a sunny summer day? It's so warm that it's too warm.

[PD Scott]

Does one of them end up dying tragically? Because it seems like in every European art film involving lesbians I've seen one of them ends up dying tragically.

European art films, what do you have against "happily ever after" for lesbians?

[jesse.in.mb]

Look in every serious European film someone or almost everyone dies, and then the remaining cast stands or more often sits in silence and watches the sun rise or set. The lesbianism is incidental.

[Brett L]

Pretty much. I summarized my take to a graduate student in French literature of her study area to "every important piece of literature in your field is about prison and/or death."

She had to go back to the 14th Century to cite a counter-example.

[The Last American Hero]

Not familiar with Voltaire?

[jesse.in.mb]

I worked with this dickish European when I was in Korea. He would prattle on about how crass American cinema was, and was offended that I "oversimplified" European cinema to "a perfect life unravels leading to grievous loss or death and remaining characters watching a sunset from a hillside, together, but ultimately alone."

He said A History of Violence as the only American movie that he liked. I don't know if any of you have seen it, but it follows that arc TO A FUCKING T. He was offended again when I pointed that out after a bunch of us watched it together.

[Warty]

You're just pissed that it didn't have a naked sauna knife fight like in Eastern Promises, aren't you?

[LilDebbie]

That scene was deliciously br?tal.

[Fate]

I couldn't believe that they actually portrayed a knife fight as brutally as they actually are.

Loved that scene.

[Lady Bertrum]

The three-hour French lesbian coming-of-age drama.

Is this another Warty Hugeman story? Because no. Just no.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Lesbian sex = ZZZZZZZZZZ

So if these had been a couple of ugly butch like dykes, it would be OK? That they are attractive to male side of the audience makes it some kind of secret exploitation film?

And what is this MALE GAZE thing in movies? I thought i was suppose to look at the screen.

[PD Scott]

Look at the screen, but be ashamed by your looking at the actresses.

That should work.

[John]

Today's congressional hearing about the disaster of the Obamacare site rollout was itself was a fairly predictable disaster, full of partisan bickering

Why does the bickering make it a disaster? It is not like the Democrats are going to stand up and take the blame or anything. I would like to hear Scott's ideas how you would have such a hearing without partisan bickering.

Whenever I hears something described as involving "partisan bickering" I take that to mean whatever it was didn't go well for the Democrats and thus is being spun as just another partisan fight.

[Sevo]

You're right.
Those darn rethuglicans acting like some opposition party instead of minor-league Dems!

[PapayaSF]

Exactly. What Democrats do is never "partisan bickering," it's "raising valid concerns" or "standing up for the poor" or "defending minorities" or something like that.

[lap83]

Republicans should say "I" not "you" and talk about how the Democrats make them feel.

[John]

They should send a letter to every person in America whose insurance is being canceled that says "Democrats care more about Obama's legacy than they do about you".

[PD Scott]

Democrats would seize it as a violation of HIPAA, wouldn't they? Then pound the table loudly about how objectionable the Republican violation of privacy is, their unwillingness to be reasonable, their ignorance of the mandate of the American people, the way they won't sit up straight, etc.

[BakedPenguin]

"Hey Obama, you know that website? You didn't build that."

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, that made me laugh.

[Bryan C]

Congressional hearings are supposed to be a happy occasion! Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who!

[MJGreen]

+Huge... tracks of land

[rts]

Alleged YouTube motorcyclist's rights violated, judge rules

Saanich police acted "unlawfully and in bad faith" when they seized a motorcycle used in a three-minute video that went viral on YouTube, a B.C. judge has ruled.

So, the cops that seized the bike will be charged any time now, right? Right?

[Thane of Steelport]

What is a YouTube motorcyclist, and why is he only alleged to be one?

[Rhywun]

Do they even have motorcycles up in Canada?

[Fluffy]

If you have unnaturally slow metabolism, that still means that to gain weight you're eating more food than you need.

If you gave me some kind of nanotech implant that made me only need to eat three grains of rice a day to thrive, and I went out and still ate three meals a day, I'd be eating excessively and it would be my fault if I got fat.

[playa manhattan]

I'd prefer a nanotech implant that allows me to eat prime rib three times a day.

[Warty]

...You don't?

[Brett L]

I call mine an 'intestine'.

[playa manhattan]

The day is still young. I did have lunch at Lawry's today, though.

What I should have said was "allows me to get away with eating prime rib 3 times a day".

[Lady Bertrum]

You can eat prime rib 3 times per day without gaining weight - just don't any carbs with the meal.

[playa manhattan]

I might just try that. I wonder what my bloodwork would look like at my next life insurance physical?

[Warty]

Almost certainly better than it does now.

[Lady Bertrum]

Get Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories.

[Lady Bertrum]

Or, visit this website:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

[playa manhattan]

Thx, will have a look.

[Warty]

Have you ever known someone with hypothyroidism? Unless they literally starve themselves, they get fat. And then you give them Synthoid, and they magically get skinny again. So yes, obesity is at least sometimes a hormonal issue, and possibly always.

[gaijin]

And then you give them Synthoid, and they magically get skinny again.

Especially da womenz

[Live Free or Diet]

Too much G. I. Joe?

Synthroid, perhaps?

/Picking nits.

[John]

So Fluffy, I was thinking about your point you made this morning about Sideways. I think you are probably right about the filmmaker. But his critizism doesn't match reality. Being a bit of a wine geek, I had been to the Hitching Post before the movie got made. It was well known among wine geeks. But it was well know in for lack of a better term "a hipster ironic way". Yeah, it is tacky and looked like a Sirloin Stockade. But it severed all of these great wines you couldn't get anywhere else. It was the ironic appeal of the contrast of a tacky restaurant that served something so tony as high end wine that made it appealing.

In order for the filmmaker's criticism to ring true, people would have to have not understood that it was tacky. Instead, the fact that they knew it was tacky was its appeal.

When you think about it, Sideways is just another example of a media elite not understanding irony when someone else does it. The elite, because they think everyone else is stupid, tend to be literal and humorless as hell when talking about the non-elite and thus completely misunderstand irony in the non-elite. Another example is liberals who listen to Rush Limbaugh and think all of his boasting and puffing is meant literally and that his listeners must think he is God while his listeners get the joke and laugh at it.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

It really pissed me off that a movie that I somewhat enjoyed nonetheless needlessly tanked merlot as a varietal.

[John]

That is okay. People switched and drank Bordeauxs thinking they where avoiding the evil Merlots.

But yeah, if only he had said "I am not drinking any fucking American Chardonnay. That shit tastes like old library books smell", the world would have been a better place.

And honestly, the habit of dismal events serving bad merlot and cheap chardonnay has probably turned more people off to wine than anything else.

[Warty]

I'm so utterly unsophisticated about wine that I like all of it except for the sweet Reislings that moms love so much. Give me any $5 red wine and I'm a happy man.

[John]

Just go to trader joes and get the two buck, now four buck, chuck. It is always drinkable and never expensive.

[playa manhattan]

Or get it in a 5 liter box.

[Rhywun]

Same here, except I prefer white.

[Whahappan?]

That's cause you're a fag.

[Ted S.]

It really pissed me off that a movie that I somewhat enjoyed nonetheless needlessly tanked merlot as a varietal.

I assume we can all agree that Robert Parker should go fuck himself?

[robc]

I hated that movie so much that I basically only drank merlot for the next year (when drinking wine).

[Tejicano]

I thought the inside joke was that the main character's "holy grail" wine - Ch?teau Cheval Blanc - is a blend which is 40% Merlot.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Today's congressional hearing about the disaster of the Obamacare site rollout was itself was a fairly predictable disaster...

I would love to somehow mass hypnotize Congress and make them all think it's the GOP currently in the White House and see how easily they switch sides on the issue.

[Apatheist ?_??]

French clubs and players calling for strike against 75% tax rate.

Now that is a strike I can get behind.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Apparently you can't put a % symbol in a link.

[PapayaSF]

No, I think you Sugarfreed it by linking to the headline and not the URL.

[Rhywun]

Who the fuck watches Ligue 1?

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Was Jon Lester doctoring his pitches for Sox last night?

Jon Lester had one of the best postseason starts of his career Wednesday night, throwing 7-2/3 innings of five-hit, shutout ball in an 8-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. But some are accusing the Boston Red Sox left-hander of cheating to earn his team a 1-0 World Series lead.

Late in Wednesday's game, Cardinals minor-league pitcher Tyler Melling tweeted a photo of Lester, who appeared to have something in his glove while on the mound. Melling, a High-A prospect who was 3-4 with a 4.93 ERA at Palm Beach this season, suggested that it might be Vaseline, which can be used to doctor baseballs. (He's since deleted the tweet, but here's what it said)

Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight? pic.twitter.com/IyQn2iqg5f

? Tyler Melling (@TylerMelling) October 24, 2013
Over at Business Insider Cork Gaines took an even closer look at the Lester situation, including a clearer image of Lester's glove and a GIF of Lester appearing to go to the same area of the glove that Melling called into question.

If you aren't cheating you aren't trying.

[Brett L]

Did it matter? If Kozma is going to screw the pooch on routine plays, the Sox don't need much cheating.

[Restoras]

I guess anything is possible but it didn't look like his pitches were flying erratically.

[KDN]

No way, bro. New England sports teams never have rule breakers; the Sox are surely as pure as the driven snow.

[Brett L]

Man drives truck up Utah Capitol steps, is not shot.

[playa manhattan]

That would make a great pickup truck commercial. Except for the part where the driver is tazed and arrested.

[B.P.]

Nah, leave it in. "Thinking of driving somewhere absurd to make your insane point? Don't leave that job to an ordinary pickup."

[Brett L]

Why I still read The Atlantic website. The Science of Whiskey Barrels.

Liquor barrels are essentially Dickensian nano-factories?dark, sooty, mysterious places from which marvelous things emerge. But they came to that role only after long service as simple containers for shipping and storage.

Now that is a great turn of phrase.

[Pro Libertate]

That's funny. I read a piece somewhere today about the Jim Beam distillery.

[playa manhattan]

I hear there is a magic place in Lynchburg that uses charred oak barrels.

[kinnath]

I was wandering through the liquor section at Sam's Club last weekend. They had a barrel on the shelf and were asking 9,300 bucks for the barrel of booze.

[playa manhattan]

I wonder how much of that price is federal and state excise.

[kinnath]

a lot

[Ted S.]

Fuck you for being in a state that allows wine and liquor sales in stores other than liquor stores. 😉

[kinnath]

Behold the wonders of life in Iowa

[playa manhattan]

Condolences. The liquor section of Costco is awesome.

[PD Scott]

Obviously not in Georgia. You can buy beer and wine in a Sam's but anything harder makes the children turn against Jesus or something. It weirded me out the first time I saw liquor in gas stations and grocery stores.

[John]

Have some NYT commenter prog tears. It is just yummy.

Joe Bute
Pittsburgh

NYT Pick

Confused about why Republicans care so much? I know I am. After all, if the system was as bad as they say it is - it would do in the program. That is, as we all know, their stated reason for being - their political purpose in life -- namely to make sure that health insurance is not made widely available to all Americans. For four long years they have complained about the plan and offered nothing in its place - couldn't even campaign for an alternative with a straight face in the last election. And now, as the prefect of police in Casablanca might say, they are "shocked and saddened" that more Americans cannot access this wonderful program. Everyone with a brain knows that the interface to the program is not the program. Everyone knows that a slow website is not the same as a pre-existing condition or access to preventive care. But somehow the MSM needs to play it "right down the center of the fairway" and act like they are either too stupid or too gutless to point out the obvious.

[Restoras]

Funny, all of sudden now the MSM is a cheerleader for the right? For reporting...inconvenient facts?

[grrizzly]

It always was. The media is owned by right-wing corporations.

[The Last American Hero]

The media is pro-state and pro-authority, which works out well for Chocolate Nixon.

[Homple]

Make that the MILK chocolate Nixon. He's not made of that 85% Cacao stuff.

[Pro Libertate]

Also, "that is, as we all know, their stated reason for being - their political purpose in life -- namely to make sure that health insurance is not made widely available to all Americans."

Yes, that's the central message of conservatism, as the central message of Buddhism is "every man for himself."

That kind of public statement is like a lighthouse beacon, flashing, "I AM A FUCKING MORON" to the world.

[John]

And it is a NYT top comment. I don't think the Obamatrons are taking this whole thing very well.

[PapayaSF]

Not exactly. There are otherwise bright people who believe that. I'd say it's a beacon for "My political fanaticism is making me a moron!"

[Pro Libertate]

Look, each of us is a mysterious black box to the rest of us. Do I really care whether a moron is a moron because of his politics, religion, addictions, or hormonal or physical disabilities?

Let's put it this way. What if Hitler were evil solely because of an untreated hyperthyroid condition? Does that matter when you go back in time to kill him, assuming you have a gun and no means to treat his condition?

[PapayaSF]

I just think it's an important distinction to make. If you call someone a moron, they can laugh it off because they know they aren't a moron. But if you tell them they are smart but their emotions/politics are leading them to a moronic conclusion, they are more likely to listen to you.

And since the leaders of the left tend to be smart people made moronic by their emotions/politics, I think it's more accurate as well as a better tactic.

[Pro Libertate]

Perhaps. I think looking at them in total disbelief and suggesting that they go check to see if they had a stroke is the best way of dealing with them.

[PD Scott]

If you're going to use the Casablanca quote don't fuck it up, nitwit.

[DesigNate]

Not even ten percent of the country goes without health insurance. How again is not widely available to all Americans?

[VG Zaytsev]

The number of Americans without health insurance is irrelevant to it's availability.

It is available to everyone, that some people choose to spend their money in other ways is of no concern to anyone.

[Derpetologist]

Behold- the single most telling quote on Obama

"He's been bored to death his whole life. He's just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

-Valerie Jarrett

[Bam!]

Also:

When David Plouffe, his campaign manager, first interviewed for a job with him in 2006, the senator gave him a warning: "I think I could probably do every job on the campaign better than the people I'll hire to do it," he said. "It's hard to give up control when that's all I've known." Obama said nearly the same thing to Patrick Gaspard, whom he hired to be the campaign's political director. "I think I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters," Obama told him. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that I'm gonna think I'm a better political director than my political director."

I think it's time to stop giving Obama the benefit of the doubt.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Isn't Obama a refreshing change from that arrogant asshole Bush?

[PapayaSF]

Isn't it amazing how the people who saw Bush as arrogant can't see it in Obama, in whom it's several times worse?

[Fluffy]

Honestly, a person who would make that statement deserves to fail and is doomed to fail.

It's only a matter of time.

Ayn Rand heroes wouldn't be big enough megalomaniacs to make that statement.

[Brett L]

One can almost hear Nemesis donning her robes and warming up her chariot.

[Pro Libertate]

Hubris, Ate, and Nemesis. Yeppers, it's just like the Greeks said.

[John]

It just shows he never grew up. That is the kind of statement a person in their 20s, who doesn't have the life experience to know any better, would make. Also, lack of interest in details and thinking that knowing the big picture and being smart is good enough is something a lot of smart, immature people think. Part of growing up is realizing that it is the details that really matter and that you don't know nearly as much as you think you do.

Basically we elected someone with the maturity level of a smart ass college freshman President. It hasn't gone very well I don't think.

[tarran]

I've long held that the only thing he isn't doing to publicize his disorder is that he isn't walking around bearing a sandwich board on which is inscribed "I AM A RAGING NARCISSIST!!!!!"

[Pro Libertate]

It's so funny how hard people project these amazing abilities and skills on a man who clearly isn't particularly smart or able. In fact, without the identity politics and some incredible luck in opposition candidates, he'd never even gotten into the Senate.

[Derpetologist]

He got his sole opponent disqualified in at least one election.

[Bam!]

He disqualified his first opponent when running for state senator. His opponent had some bureaucratic error in his paperwork, or something to that effect.

When he ran an honest election in 2000, he lost handily. Reportedly went into a depression afterwards.

Then in race for 2004, he went back to his old tricks. In the Democratic primary for senate, he dug into his opponents divorce records, claiming that the now ex-wife sought a protection order against him. His opponent pulled out afterwards.

He figured this worked so well in the primary, why not try it in the general. He once again dug up divorce records, released them to the media, and his GOP opponent pulled out.

[Pro Libertate]

Ex-wife/Borg, let's not forget.

[playa manhattan]

I think that was the most disturbing thing about the quotation. He didn't say it about himself, there was actually another human being who made the statement on his behalf. It's so creepily cultish.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

I knew more about management when I was 19. If your job is to manage a team of specialists, chances are very good that your specialists knew more about their specialities than you do.

[carol]

How can anyone so great be so modest?

[robc]

Lets assume what he says is true.

It still means he doesnt understand economics, or he would grasp comparative advantage.

[playa manhattan]

If she could go ahead and elaborate on what those talents are, that would be great, mkay?

[gaijin]

Where was this quote taken from?

[Derpetologist]

This:

As Valerie Jarrett told David Remnick in "The Bridge," Obama's "uncanny" abilities need to be properly engaged, or he disengages. "He's been bored to death his whole life," she said. "He's just too talented to do what ordinary people do."

[Troy muy grande boner]

So, he needs some ritalin or adderall?

[Zeb]

Maybe he should have tried actually doing something then.

[Bam!]

He's too smart for that.

[Troy muy grande boner]

I will give Val this, she picked the right horse to bet on. But damn, I mean DAMN. That is some incredible cock sucking.

[rts]

This drek is making the rounds as "intelligent" political discussion on Facebook.

*sigh*

[trshmnstr]

*Trigger warning* Russell Brand is a major part of said video

[Pro Libertate]

How odd. I just read that as Bertrand Russell.

[a better weapon]

Jesus, so this is viral huh? I just thought it was just my Milwaukee socialist friend who stumbled on it.

Progs sure love their idols.

[Zeb]

I didn't watch the whole thing, so maybe it gets even stupider. But although his solutions are all wrong, he does pretty well describing the problem and tearing down the stupid argument that if you don't vote you have no place having political opinions.

[Agammamon]

Brand is one of those frustrating leftists - he's obviously very intelligent and can often see right to the heart of the problem but, he's so focused on 'being left' (as one of the 'smart people') that he tends to discount any of the bottom-up solutions to things we prefer simply because we *aren't* leftists.

He spouts the same stuff we do on a large range of issues, but on any issue of import he'll jump on the 'Top Men' bandwagon by claiming that our solutions are callous and unworkable, completely ignoring the abysmal track record that central planning has had.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Police: Mass. student used boxcutter to slay teacher

Danvers, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The details are unsettling: a teacher killed, sources say, with a box cutter in a bathroom of the school where she loved to teach; her 14-year-old student picked up and accused in the death hours later, allegedly after cleaning up, he hit a fast food restaurant and took in a movie.
But there was no answer to perhaps the most unsettling question of all -- why? -- on Thursday, two days after police say Danvers High School math teacher Colleen Ritzer died at the hands of student Philip Chism.
Chism has been in custody since the first hour of Wednesday, when police saw him walking under the pitch-dark sky on a busy road. What he'd allegedly done before then became clearer Thursday, including authorities' contention that he'd killed Ritzer with a box cutter he'd brought to school and wheeled her body outside in a recycling bin, a source close to the investigation told CNN's Pamela Brown.
The killer dropped the woman's body about 20 feet into the woods behind the northeastern Massachusetts high school's athletic fields, and didn't bury or cover it, according to another source familiar with the investigation.

Should the people in a moral panic blame [SPOILER] Breaking Bad?

[Restoras]

I blame terrorists.

[Ted S.]

Assault knives!

[Bobarian]

You should obviously blame the box-cutter.

/Derp

[Eduard van Haalen]

Evening reruns

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/

Generally, the penalty for recalcitrant husbands is to be nonviolently shunned by the Orthodox community.

[Agammamon]

You watching episodes of 'The Sopranos' again?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Evening reruns

"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/

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!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

More delinquent children: 11 year old arrested for bringing gun and 400 rounds of ammo to school

A Washington state middle school boy was arrested Wednesday and faces an attempted murder charge, after he brought 400 rounds of ammunition, multiple knives and a handgun to his school, police said.
The 11-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention facility after the incident that caused the lockdown of Frontier Middle School, Vancouver Police said.
The school, in Vancouver, Washington, was locked down for about two hours. Parents received letters alerting them of the situation, said Kris Fay, a spokeswoman for the Evergreen School District.
There were no injuries. Police did not say who was allegedly being targeted.

Wouldn't 400 rounds of ammo and a gun be heavy to carry around?

[Brett L]

Nah. It would fit in a backpack and not be much heavier than what they make 11 year olds carry around if he had his books in there instead.

[gaijin]

and wouldn't you have to actually try and kill someone to get charged with attempted murder?

[Brett L]

Mens rea? How quaint.

[Warty]

400 rounds of 9mm would weigh maybe 15 pounds and take up as much space as maybe 3 or 4 textbooks. 400 rounds of .22LR would weigh maybe 2 pounds and be less volume than a brick.

[Virginian]

Yeah 400 rounds of 9mm and a pistol would fit in one of my shoeboxes.

But I wear a size 15.

[jesse.in.mb]

Go on...

[Virginian]

Knew that was coming.

[Agammamon]

I've got 500 rounds in a box approximately 16in x 5in x 6in - though that's .223 Rem.

[Derpetologist]

British Labour pols asked to vote for socialism or capitalism. Do I even need to tell you how this turns out?

Bonus- guess who turns up in the comments?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=j2LFnCcCM4A

[VG Zaytsev]

KizoneKaprow

Reason.com sent me here. Reason.com is an anarcho-libertarian site. Reason.com thinks this video is "scary." Reason.com's chatters pretend to be libertarians, whilst the editorial policy of Reason.com has steadily trended toward anarcho-fascism. Click my name or? visit Reason.com if you want your mind to be blown. I HAVE SPOKEN.

I LOL.

[VG Zaytsev]

And this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....G-Ch5RyuCf

[Coeus]

Got some good ones today. Remember yesterday when I said that everyone had wiped links to the Ohio University incident when the video came out? Well, You can always count on ThinkProgress to bring the derp:

That's why Ohio University has been making headlines lately. Last week, a student at the university tweeted a photo of a sexual encounter that was later reported to be a sexual assault. His photo, which depicted a man performing oral sex on a woman on the sidewalk, went somewhat viral after Buzzfeed picked it up. Another bystander recorded it and posted a video to Instagram. The morning after the incident occurred, the woman involved told police that it was non-consensual.

[Coeus]

The student who posted the photo says he didn't realize it wasn't a consensual encounter. "It was obvious that both the man and woman were very, very drunk," he told the Ohio University student newspaper. "I guess the thing that put everyone there at ease was that she never said stop, she never struggled and she never asked for help. She put her hand on the back of his head. She seemed like she was enjoying it, so I guess for everyone there it was like 'OK, it's not assault. It's not rape.' "
Even though the victim may not have struggled, the university's definition of consent states that an individual is unable to consent if they are "asleep or otherwise mentally or physically incapacitated, whether due to alcohol, drugs or some other condition."

[playa manhattan]

"She put her hand on the back of his head"

By the university's definition, it sounds like it was the guy getting raped.

[sloopyinca]

[shakes fist]

[sloopyinca]

The guy licking her pussy needs to file a complaint against her, because if that story is any indication, he might consider her as forcing him to continue doing his reverse swirl by putting her hand on the back of his head.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

A lot of people don't actually recognize that crime when they see it. Rape culture ? the set of attitudes that contribute to a society in which sexual assault is allowed to flourish ? operates largely in part by obscuring the reality of the crime of rape. Since many Americans don't really understand what consent is, they don't realize when they've crossed the lines of consent, or when they're witnessing someone else crossing those lines. For instance, the Ohio University student who snapped the picture of the alleged sexual assault clearly didn't understand that intoxication and consent are incompatible.

You just don't understand!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

You also missed the part on how to stop rape!

Or they can simply create a distraction ? going up to one of the people involved and asking them where the bathroom is, or inviting them to step outside, or creating some other type of diversion that removes them from the unfolding situation.

[PapayaSF]

the Ohio University student who snapped the picture of the alleged sexual assault clearly didn't understand that intoxication and consent are incompatible.

If they had, they wouldn't have taken the picture?

Cripes, the left is so deep into the moralism of images that they make Victorian era prudes look like libertines. Apparently it's uplifting socialist realist propaganda or nothing.

No, wait, anything is OK when attacking political opponents, even words and images otherwise considered "racist" and "sexist." But everything else must be Politically Correct.

[PD Scott]

What if you're drunk and taking pictures? Is intoxication and photography compatible?

[paranoid android]

So her obvious consent doesn't count because she was drunk--but he can still be held responsible for his actions despite being equally drunk? Huh? Either alcohol is magic juice which abrogates all responsibility and strips you of your free will as soon as you drink it, or it isn't. Which is it?

[Coeus]

It only has that effect on xx chromosomes, apparently.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

So her obvious consent doesn't count because she was drunk--but he can still be held responsible for his actions despite being equally drunk?

I am very, very glad people are starting to say this openly.

[Coeus]

It's hilarious. Say it on a liberal website, and 30 people will call you a rapist in under 5 minutes.

[sloopyinca]

Serious question: what if the guy was licking her butthole instead of the other place? And I just mean rimming it? Would it still be rape, or even "rape-rape" without any penetration?*

*I assumed he had some penetration based on the woman's reaction, because if you're not getting in there at all you're doing it wrong.

[playa manhattan]

There is no sugarcoating it: That's a very serious question.

[Agammamon]

So - why is it she can't give consent because she's drunk, but *he* can consent though being drunk?

[Pro Libertate]

That's The Ohio University.

[sloopyinca]

Go fuck yourself, Gay-tor.

[Brett L]

So Alabama and Oregon are losing so we can meet in the National Championship and Jimbo can whip Urban Meyer's ass just like old times, right?

[Ted S.]

Wouldn't it be better for the comment threads at H&R if The Florida State University and The Ohio State University both lost so that the title game is between neutrals from the point of view of H&R commentators?

The two of you going at each other over some mythical national championship will be like John and MNG going at it.

[Brett L]

What? No. The loser buys diapers for a while. And takes a lot of shit.

[sloopyinca]

The last time I lost a bet on a football game, I ended up with a tramp stamp. No deal!

[sloopyinca]

Comparing Brett and I to John and MiNGe is just...well, it might be right but it's still uncalled for.

O-H...

[Pro Libertate]

Feel the pain of defeat, Semi-Poisonous Nut. It burnsses you, oh yes.

[sloopyinca]

Feel the pain of defeat

OK...guess I'll just set the time masheen to almost two years ago...

[Pro Libertate]

You don't fool me. I know the Buckeye mindset.

[robc]

Ohio was a university before Columbus was a city.

[Pro Libertate]

Is Columbus a city? Seemed more town-like when I lived there.

[gaijin]

it's The Other Ohio University

[hamilton]

No, it's just a Ohio State University. Didn't you hear they come in six-packs now?

[Pro Libertate]

You know, with the growing Hispanic population in this country, I think OSU should go with El Ohio State University.

[sloopyinca]

Just from September 15 to October 15 though.

[Pro Libertate]

That's fair.

[Enough About Palin]

Seattle forces 103-year-old to sell parking lot so city can turn it into -- a parking lot

[Ted S.]

Fuck you, that's why!

[sloopyinca]

With a face like this, he couldn't decide whether to become a piece of shit child abuser or a police officer.

Then he realized he was a good multitasker.

[sloopyinca]

FTA: Yachik was arrested about one month after Berthoud town board members, media outlets and Loveland police received an e-mail from Yachik's former fianc?e accusing him of abuse. The e-mail included a video recording of a child being choked, punched and kicked by an adult male.

According to the arrest affidavit, Yachik and his daughter identified themselves in the video, which was taken in his home.

His former fianc?e told investigators that she attempted to report the incident to Berthoud Police Chief Glenn Johnson, but she received no response. Soon after, Yachik allegedly phoned her and said, "Nice try ... trying to get me fired ... it's not going to work."

The woman then attempted to report the incident to Larimer County's child protection agency.

Because the case involved an officer working in the county, it was referred to Weld County, where the case was closed without action, according the affidavit.

But cops hold themselves to higher standards and there's no blue wall of silence, is there?

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Dear Prudence: Help! My boyfriend is a 30 year old virgin

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.

?Thirty-Year-Old Virgin

She's obviously rebounding from being married to a compulsive cheater, so sticking long-term with this guy would be a mistake.

[playa manhattan]

Discussed in the AM links. Dude plays for the other team.

[Coeus]

Could be he's tried before, but 20 years of the dreaded "ninja grip of death" inhibited his ability to perform. And now he's deathly afraid to try again, lest pepe falls down again on the job.

[Virginian]

Lotta truth to that. I went through a year long dry spell between 21 and 22, and damn if I didn't become Superman once I got my swing back. Could not get off from intercourse.

[trshmnstr]

Or perhaps, and this would be quite devious, he's getting it all on the side, and just using her for something. It wouldn't be the first time somebody dated somebody else to get something completely unrelated to sex.

[Homple]

Might be trying to hot her properly up by having her wait while he keeps fit with his harem. I'm sure this technique is discussed by "game" theorists.

[Pro Libertate]

Could be heavily religious and opposed to premarital sex, could be very cheap and not willing to buy condoms, could just really like show tunes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

CONDOMS ARE EXPENSIVE.

[Brett L]

Dude, they used to come into the FL Dept of Health by the pallet to be given away for free.

[Coeus]

Fuck latex. Go for the Lifestyle Skins. Polystyrene. Transmits heat, thin as hell, doesn't make noise like polyurethane, and basically unbreakable. Worth the extra coin.

[playa manhattan]

I like my mantra better: "No Condoms, No Sunscreen!"

Makes for great vacations.

[Brett L]

You are like... 33 weeks too late with this advice.

[Coeus]

Just to rub salt in the wound, I've said this before. About a year ago when I first started using them.

[jesse.in.mb]

Agreed!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, like I'm going to trust government jimmy hats.

[Agammamon]

1. "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."

Yeah James, whether or not you're interested in sex that's a red flag right there. If she wants sex but is so passive as to leave the birth control completely up to you then she's gonna be an expensive girlfriend.

[Coeus]

Hell, they went for the rare double derp:

The message board attacking Cassidy claims the woman who was involved in the public sexual encounter "changed her story" to avoid expulsion. "Now the guy is facing criminal charges because this evil woman decided to make a false rape accusation against him," the site proclaims, and links to a video of the alleged assailant performing oral sex on the woman ? an act that she later said was non-consensual. "This is what a woman who is getting 'raped' looks like? Nope, looks like she is fully enjoying this VOLUNTARY oral sex she is receiving."
This case doesn't fit the definition of what many people assume is rape, since it doesn't involve obvious physical violence. The alleged victim was not struggling. One of the students who took photos of the incident said he only recorded it because he assumed it was consensual.
But that student also noted that both participants were "very, very drunk." And no matter how "voluntary" the encounter may have appeared to be, that fits Ohio University's official definition of assault. The university's policy states that an individual is unable to consent if they are "asleep or otherwise mentally or physically incapacitated, whether due to alcohol, drugs or some other condition."

Two separate fucking articles.

[Apatheist ?_??]

If you accept that definition of rape, I don't see how it isn't the man here who was raped.

[Coeus]

If she had been giving him head, you know they'd say he was still the rapist.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I was raped, I was drunk and did not consent to her sitting on my face.

[gaijin]

how it isn't the man here who was raped.

it's not rape cause he's a man, duh.

[Coeus]

Someone thinks that we have too little chemical regulation. Who would be this stupid? Why, a writer for feministing, of course.

The first time I looked up the toxicity of my makeup, I was horrified. I had heard about the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database, Skin Deep, and proceeded to type in the various products I put on my face most days. Much to my dismay, most of them were categorized as "moderate" to "high" hazard, and almost all had limited data confirming the safety of the chemicals used in them. Honestly, I was paralyzed. What was I supposed to do? What would it take to switch out all my products with similar non-toxic ones? Did these exist? Could I afford all these non-toxic products? I obsessed about my personal choices over the next few days, completely overwhelmed, when it clicked: wait, why is it cool for anyone to sell me poison?

The reality is, the vast majority of people don't have the education, the time, or the money to look through all the products in our homes, read the ingredients lists, know what they mean, and buy non-toxic replacements. This is a systemic issue: we need stronger chemical safety regulation.

[Brett L]

Jesus fucking Christ, its not like we're using lead based cosmetics anymore. She's probably freaking out about stearic acid or something.

[PapayaSF]

A touch of arsenic clears up acne.

[Brett L]

It also gets your abusive husband's whites really white.

[Derpetologist]

I believe Yes, Minister has an excellent lesson on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vidzkYnaf6Y

[Ted S.]

Ban dihydrogen monoxide!

[Brett L]

hydrogen hydroxide, too.

[Coeus]

Also hydrolic acid.

[sloopyinca]

What was I supposed to do? What would it take to switch out all my products with similar non-toxic ones? Did these exist? Could I afford all these non-toxic products? I obsessed about my personal choices over the next few days, completely overwhelmed, when it clicked: wait, why is it cool for anyone to sell me poison?

Well, this idiot just came up with a really awesome way to open up a business that caters to the feminist-environmentalist-griefer-fashionista. She could open up a business that sells non-toxic makeup and break the bank...

...or she could just go on bitching and complaining to an echo chamber.

[Mickey Rat]

"She could open up a business that sells non-toxic makeup and break the bank..."

That would require thinking and effort on her part, and clearly those things are beyond her.

[PapayaSF]

the Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database

I'm sure they're a fine source for objective information about the risk of chemicals.

[Agammamon]

Uh, you could just refrain from using cosmetics.

IME the vast majority of women are not improved by their ham-handed application of spackle and magic marker. I want to see what *you* look like, not the crudely drawn caricature you have painted on your face.

[Agammamon]

Also, if she thinks 'non-toxic' make-up is expensive now, wait till she see what it'll cost once the government mandates it.

[Coeus]

Stop talking about how bad the obamacare exchange is. Because privilege.

If I see one more journalist symbolically log on to the Obamacare website, I'm going to scream. If you're making faux calls into the call center, only to complain about the lack of hold music, as if that is what's critically important here, you're severely missing the point.

And even when you defend your negative reporting about the Obamacare website glitches, as The Washington Post's Ezra Klein did last night on MSNBC, having the privilege of analyzing the process from the perspective of someone who is already insured and not in need of coverage allows the core impact of the new program on the health and security of millions of Americans to be missed.

[John]

I am thinking Klein's social schedule just got a lot of openings.

[Warty]

Does the word privilege have a meaning anymore? Serious question.

[Coeus]

Yes. It means, "shut the fuck up, cause I got no argument, and it's making me feel bad".

[Brett L]

I don't know, but I saw it used to shame grammarians on FB. Literally, "If you can correct someone's grammar on FB, you should check your privilege."

My response: "Please, if you're on FB and not worried about whether you will eat today, you're privileged. Let's stop pretending anyone on FB's life is hard."

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Mansplainer!

[Brett L]

No, she said she actually was looking forward to my comment because I may be privileged, but at least I'm honest about it.

[John]

It means a white male said something a prog doesn't like.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

The website isn't working because you're saying mean things about it! All we have to do is make sure that everybody says that it works, and it will work!

[Coeus]

The "tinkerbell" theory of IT. Just keep clapping your hands, folks, and I'm sure it will get better.

[B.P.]

BLM holds an auction for solar panel placement. No one shows up.

http://www.denverpost.com/brea.....rado-draws

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

English language white supremacy: 9 commonly used words with racist origins

Peanut galleries:

"Peanut galleries" (which now means "a source for hecklers," usually used in a joking manner) were the upper balconies that African-American people sat in in segregated theaters. They were also known by several even more derogatory names (which will not be shared here).

Hip hip hooray:

This comes from the German "hep hep," which was originally a shepherds' herding cry, so the origin itself was not racially charged. However, during the Holocaust, German citizens began using it as a rallying cry while hunting for Jewish people in the ghettoes. Its anti-Semitic usage even dates back to the 1819 riots (the "Hep-Hep Riots").

"Call a spade a spade:"

This is a particularly interesting example. The phrase, essentially meaning "to explicitly call something by its rightful name," entered the English language in 1542, and initially had absolutely no racial connotation whatsoever. It referred to the gardening tool. It wasn't until the late 1920s that "spade" changed from referring to the gardening tool to being a slur towards African-Americans (its first public appearance as such was in Claude McKay's 1928 book "Home to Harlem"). In the fourth edition of "The American Language," Wolfgang Mieder notes that the word "spade" (among others) "will give deep offense if used by nonblacks."

[Certified Public Asskicker]

You know who else liked to use the phrase peanut gallery...

The answer is Shreeky.

[a better weapon]

Waldorf: I wish Gene Kelly would teach me to Charleston.
Statler: I wish Gene Kelly would DRIVE you to Charleston!

DO HO HO HOHOHOHO HO HO!!!!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Racist muppets? HOW HAVE WE NOT SEEN THIS BEFORE? QUICK, SOMEONE WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT THOSE PRIVILEGED WHITE BASTARDS AND SEND IT OFF TO SLATE!

[gaijin]

And here I always thought calling a spade a spade was related to lying about your poker hand.

[Homple]

So Oscar Wilde was a racist, eh?

"It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words....The man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one. It is the only thing he is fit for."
?Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, poet, and novelist, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890

[sloopyinca]

Somebody should let HuffPo know that if they plan to plagarize cracked.com, they could at least mention them in the post.

http://www.cracked.com/article.....y-day.html

[Bo Cara Esq.]

SoCon Group on How to Fight the Scourge of Lap and Table Dancing

-Erotic cabarets, juice bars or bottle clubs that feature lap dancing or table dancing whether nude or partially nude or clothed have been found to foster prostitution, immoral conduct and drug dealing and to be a bane on the neighboring area.

Using the tools of an existing state statute, lap dancing as such, in some jurisdictions, can be found to be obscene or illegal as a form of prostitution or prohibited "lewdness" and, in some cases, a nuisance.

Oftentimes, a more effective weapon is a local ordinance creating a "buffer zone" between dancers and performers so that no lap or table dancing is possible. Such ordinances, if properly drawn, have in most cases, been upheld as a proper exercise of the police powers. These ordinances can be, and are, utilized in an alcoholic or non-alcoholic context.

http://pornharmsresearch.com/2.....ation-law/

[Ted S.]

SoCon Group on How to Fight the Scourge of Lap and Table Dancing

That's a scourge?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

To them, yes.

[robc]

Louisville banned close contact and full nudity in strip clubs a few years back. Like said "buffer zone".

It wasnt the socons in charge.

[Metazoan]

SoCon Group on How to Fight the Scourge of Lap and Table Dancing

Now that's kinky

[Homple]

It all starts with pool tables.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Look, y'all better start commenting on my links or else I'll post a link about you-know-what.

[Ted S.]

Your links suck.

There. Are you happy?

:-p

[hamilton]

or else I'll post a link about you-know-what.

What? You mean...thingy?

[John]

University of Colorado deems Cowboy costumes as offensive as Indian ones.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2.....tells.html

Who knew the Village People were just racists?

[trshmnstr]

That's gaycist!

[Ted S.]

I wonder what CU-Boulder does with real, no-foolin' cowboys.

And heaven forbid the drama club put on a production of Bus Stop.

[paranoid android]

I wonder what CU-Boulder does with real, no-foolin' cowboys.

I think that's the point. The University doesn't want people to stereotype or demean cowboys because a real cowboy is one of the things your average CU student is least likely to ever encounter in their time there, along with black people and talented football players.

[Brett L]

I imagine getting their asses kicked by townies is part of the reasoning behind the ban.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

University of Colorado deems Cowboy costumes as offensive as Indian ones.

What about dressing as a painfully nebbishy diversity administrator?

[paranoid android]

New awesome costume idea: go as a university official and spend the whole night explaining at length to everyone you see how racist and insensitive their costumes are for whatever bullshit reason you can come up with off the top of your head.

[Brett L]

"Your slutty [whatever] costume is insensitive because it leads me to believe you'll be blowing me, and that's not happening. You definitely need a spanking."

Yeah, this could work.

[Enough About Palin]

I sure as fuck hope you have a newsletter.

[Killazontherun]

Ban publicly financed colleges and the student loans that enable them before they infect society with even more stupid shit than they already have. Re-establish the useful research oriented aspects into privatized work sites unrelated to teaching. Replace teaching with hypnotherapy induced instruction purely related to non propaganda subject matter. Any hate studies advocate is to be shot on sight with cash rewards collectible as bounties. You want a recipe for a better society, there it is.

[Terr]

And my alma mater continues to climb for the peak of mount retard.

[B.P.]

Go Buffs!

[Terr]

I don't know when you were at CU, B.P. but I remember the diversity hilarity getting really bad around 2006-ish when some girl (I believe she was the student body president or some such) made her email cat fight with another girl public. Apparently the mean girl called the student body president a monkey in an email (it was a personal conflict between the two), and because of this, the rest of the student body had to suffer even more.

TL;DR: Girl makes personal/private conflict with other girl public because she can and fucks everyone else over.

I also refuse to give money to the school because they cancelled Formula SAE and pull this stupid shit.

[B.P.]

Graduated in1992. We had plenty of P.C. bullshit but a lot of the right students laughed at it back then. This was the atmosphere that midwifed the South Park boys.

[B.P.]

That's great. I'll be going to see Colorado get trounced in another football game this Saturday. I will make the pilgrimage with my young boy down the stadium steps to see Ralphie, the bison mascot, whose handlers dress as.... cowboys. I'll be sure to express my outrage.

[Terr]

I totally forgot about Ralphie's handlers. I'd go as one of them for Halloween this year if I was still in Boulder.

[Coeus]

Stretch Armstrong would be proud:

Because police are scared for their own safety, which is yet another consequence of our failure to take action on guns. Additionally, there is increasingly little public expectation that law enforcement agents risk their lives to save other people, even people suspected of being perpetrators, so we defend their right to shoot anyone anytime they have reason (or not) to feel scared.

And, you know, I think it matters that the people who tend to end up dead because cops felt scared, because those people didn't instantly respond to police instruction in the way that was anticipated, are young men of color. Who are, culturally, stereotyped as perpetrators of gun violence.

Truly, at this point, if you don't support meaningful and comprehensive gun reform, you do support the occasional killing of innocent people, including children, as an acceptable cost of unfettered gun ownership. That is a price no decent person should be willing to pay.

[Derpetologist]

"Young men of color" are stereotyped for violence because they commit most of the violence.

I know, I know, racist!, etc, etc.

It amazes me how whenever these things happen, no criticizes the police for being to stupid to tell a real gun from a fake one.

[Agammamon]

"Truly, at this point, if you don't support meaningful and comprehensive gun reform, you do support the occasional killing of innocent people, including children, as an acceptable cost of unfettered gun ownership. That is a price no decent person should be willing to pay."

Yes, yes I do support the occasional horrible thing happening as an acceptable cost of unfettered gun ownership. Unlike you however I don't think it a price no decent person should be willing to pay - I think it a price we must pay as the alternative is worse. That alternative being those *with* guns (and they *will* have them) having unfettered power and control over those without.

I see the death of these innocents as an unfortunate side-effect of the greater good that having free access to the means of personal defense. Something to be deplore, something requiring us to take action to reduce the occurrence - but not that the expense of personal liberty.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Jonathan Frazen hates the internet and libertarians

JF: I think the tech corporations are like the nineteenth-century coal magnates, and the free-lance writers are like the people slaving in the mines, the only difference being that the tech corporations can't stop congratulating themselves on how they've liberated everybody. I think the Internet should be really strictly regulated, the way the airwaves used to be. If an entire region of the country had its main industry suddenly lose 90 percent of its paying jobs because of the predatory practices of a different region's industry, you might, if you were the government, step in and say, "We can't actually let this entire region starve. We're going to subsidize prices, we're going to redistribute some income." Why should Apple shareholders be getting rich while working journalists are getting fired? This is an unjust situation, and the libertarians in Silicon Valley are either moral idiots or liars. They know they're getting away with shit they shouldn't get away with, and all they've got is this idea of libertarianism. That, and the mantra of making the world a better place.

Won't somebody think of the journalists?

[Coeus]

My god. He's serious, isn't he? How the fuck do you get to be that entitled? Seriously. Fucking royalty isn't that bad.

[Warty]

Privilege.

[John]

Funny how papers in other parts of the world seem to make money. It makes you almost think that US papers are boring fish wraps full of lies and boring warmed over conventional wisdom or something.

[Agammamon]

That's more to do with per-minute/pre-megabyte internet connection charges and poverty in general than the quality of newspapers in other countries.

[trshmnstr]

I think we need to take a different approach to some of these progs. We need to just simply say "Fine, you can have what you want, but you're gonna have to pick up the gun, knock on their door, and state your demand to their face. Can you do that?"

These guys are so happy to make these proclamations on their virtual thrones, feet lifted above the river of blood that comes from their policies. How much of that would change if they had to wade through the muck themselves?

[Marshall Gill]

These guys are so happy to make these proclamations on their virtual thrones, feet lifted above the river of blood that comes from their policies. How much of that would change if they had to wade through the muck themselves?

I am guessing very little. If you get off telling other people how to live, using a little of the Iron Fist to make it so is probably a perk.

[PD Scott]

This. Being a Prog is about Other People making the world be the way you want it to be.

[Agammamon]

The 'True Knowledge'. Do what you can get away with.

[sloopyinca]

I thought you said Johan Franzen.

Which made me think of the Red Wings.

Which made me remember that hockey season was already a month old.

Which made me remember I don't really care until March.

[Mokers]

The Olympics are in February. Hopefully the US team has another good run. If not, an epic choking on the part of the Russkies in their homeland would be wonderful as well.

[The Last American Hero]

+1 Mule

[paranoid android]

JF: I think the tech corporations are like the nineteenth-century coal magnates, and the free-lance writers are like the people slaving in the mines, the only difference being that the tech corporations can't stop congratulating themselves on how they've liberated everybody.

The ONLY difference!?

[Derpetologist]

I'm impressed he didn't mention monocles, top hats, Dusenbergs, or caviar.

[playa manhattan]

Well that, plus the slavery, mining, long hours, high risk of injury and death, and strenuous manual labor. Other than that, they are exactly the same.

[PD Scott]

Obviously we need a government program to make sure every journalist has a canary. Canarycare will make America a better, more fair place.

[Agammamon]

Oh and the fact the all of those 'journolists' can

a. Start up their own damn news service - tons of guys have done stellar work as internet news sources *and* gotten rich.

b. Go work in those coal mines to keep feeding yourself.

[VG Zaytsev]

Well, journalists, like 19th century coal miners, are uneducated, illiterate brutes. Made functionally retarded by their 'work'.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I am just going to start being as evil as everyone thinks I am. Why not? You'll blame me anyway.

So yes, Franzen, I am a liar and I am glad to see you and your children starve to enrich me. Ha ha, cry moar harder.

[trshmnstr]

The more his children starve, the more likely they'll be good monocle polishers. Nobody wants their monocle polishers to be fatties.

[Agammamon]

Pudgy, greasy fingers leave prints on the glass.

[PapayaSF]

Why should Apple shareholders be getting rich while working journalists are getting fired?

Because people want to buy what Apple is selling, but not what the journalists are selling?

[Biden's Scroteplugs]

fuck Riker

[Lady Bertrum]

Why should Apple shareholders be getting rich while working journalists are getting fired?

Too bad those journo-listers didn't buy some shares in Apple. Heh heh.

[Boisfeuras]

Reminds of the joke about three new inmates.

First one says, "I sold my goods at higher prices than my competitors, and was convicted of price gouging."

The second one says, "I sold my goods at lower prices than my competitors, and was convicted of predatory pricing."

The third one says, "I sold my goods at the same price as my competitors, and was convicted of collusion."

[PapayaSF]

In a slightly different form:

1) If you charge more than your competitor, you're "gouging."
2) If you charge less than your competitor, you're "dumping."
3) If you charge the same as your competitor, you're "colluding."
4) If you have no competitors, you're a "monopoly." ?Michael Shermer

[Derpetologist]

Liberals debate, mooning ensues, comment gold found:

"It may be that the black woman with the African-inspired hairstyle, and the white man with shirt untucked and? beard and hair like 1968 are both extremely conservative. Maybe they are to the right, politically, of Michelle Bachman."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4F6IzAOnDQ

[Agammamon]

Well, its *possible* that the black woman is conservative - but that dude is to the left of Noam Chomsky (and probably needs a shower, the damn dirty hippy).

No conservative professor would show up to work in long shorts and an untucked shirt, let alone greasy hair and a beard you could raise birds in.

[gaijin]

That is a price no decent person should be willing to pay.

Does it occur to the writer that sometimes guns prevent innocent deaths?

[sloopyinca]

Instant poll!

If you swirl your tongue, do you go clockwise or counter-clockwise?

[hamilton]

From whose perspective?

[sloopyinca]

From your perspective.

I'm counter-clockwise and frankly can't even comprehend anybody doing it the wrong direction.

[hamilton]

Oh, then clockwise.

You must be some kind of freak. Or antipodean.

[sloopyinca]

I'm a lefty.

[hamilton]

Well then. I'm proven right again.

[Brett L]

So just sinister. Okay.

[trshmnstr]

I'm left handed, so clockwise

[trshmnstr]

I guess i've been othered so much by the right-hand-riearchy that i've been conditioned to think that clockwise is ok for all people. Little did i know that those priveleged right-handers were oppressing me!

[KDN]

I prefer to leave my tongue in a static position and swirl my whole body. That way my tongue doesn't tire.

[Ted S.]

I stick my tongue out like Foucault's pendulum, and the world revolves around me.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I assume both, but primarily clockwise if you're right-handed, would be my guess.

[gaijin]

If you swirl your tongue, do you go clockwise or counter-clockwise?

it depends on whether I am in the northern or southern hemisphere!

[hamilton]

I think Sloopy is referring to tongue-swirling while you're in the "southern hemisphere" so to speak.

[gaijin]

so, with Australian chicks for example? 😉

[paranoid android]

Oh, you mean the fabled Cunniloriolis effect!

[playa manhattan]

The man rape story really got to you, eh?

[Brett L]

Clockwise. I think. May have to get back to you on this later.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

What difference does it make?

[playa manhattan]

At this point?

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Yes, at that point. When you've got your face buried down there you're bound to do something right.

[Restoras]

I switch it up between tongue flicking and sucking the clitoris.

Don't forget to hum.

[Troy muy grande boner]

If you swirl your tongue, do you go clockwise or counter-clockwise?

I am writing my grant as we speak.

[Banjos]

What the hell are you doing at work that involves tongue swirling?

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

You never know when an Oreo licking contest will break out.

[sloopyinca]

That Ohio U story got me thinking.

[Jerry on the boat]

Why focus on this stupid Obamacare site thingy, as if Obamacare itself is not the problem?! And the Republicans fall for it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"'Star Wars: Episode VII': J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan now rewriting screenplay -- BREAKING

"...Lucasfilm has announced that Star Wars: Episode VII director J.J. Abrams and Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan have taken over screenwriting duties from Michael Arndt, an Oscar winner for Little Miss Sunshine and nominee for Toy Story 3, who had previously been working on the story.

"...Kasdan has a rich history in the Star Wars universe. While best known as a writer-director of dramas such as Body Heat, The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist, Kasdan also co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He had been consulting on the development of the new trilogy, which picks up with the Rebellion after the death of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine."

http://insidemovies.ew.com/201.....-breaking/

[Pro Libertate]

Fine. More Kasdan, less Abrams.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

But with less Abrams, how will we get the copious lens flare needed for great movies?

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't care who does it, as long as it's wall to wall Jar-Jar. That dude is hilarious.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

The film will consist of a three hour pod race, featuring Jar-Jar and C-3P0.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I never really minded 3PO for some reason. Maybe because he was gold.

[Pro Libertate]

And he's so clearly subservient. Hey, 3PO, can you pick up my TV remote and switch channels for me? Great.

[Killazontherun]

Ask Jar Jar and he was just stare back blinking for three minutes and then say something in unintelligible gibberish. C3PO would have been the perfect English butler. I want my own C3PO, damn it.

[Pro Libertate]

Hey, 3PO, how do you say "Fuck you" in Etruscan? I see. Say that to the neighbor.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, that would be a cool project, to base a TV show on the character and to use all of your skills to totally rehabilitate him. To the point that he's hugely popular.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Didn't they do that with Harry Truman?

[robc]

DarthsAndDroids did this.

They wanted to make Jar Jar likable while keeping most of his annoying characteristics. And they did a damn fine job.

[Pro Libertate]

I like stuff like that. Because it's a massive artistic challenge.

[Generic Stranger]

Eating deep dish pizza.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Well Abrams is an avowed Star Wars fan, so I actually trust that he understands what made the original movies work.

His two "Star Trek" movies were decent blueprints to a successful Star Wars film.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, even I have referred to his first stupidpiece as Star Wars Trek. But I'm not sure he won't shit on this property, too. Maybe not more than Lucas has, but still.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

I actually think he's an ideal director for this project.

Technically speaking his movies have been good, the sets, the designs, and the casting have been well-done. And unlike Michael Bay and Zack Snyder, he knows how to elicit emotions from what's on the screen.

That's really all you need in a Star Wars movie.

But a Star Trek movie requires you to go the extra step of developing compelling themes and letting character interaction drive the plot rather than explosions and lens flares. On that front his two Trek movies failed.

[Thane of Steelport]

As long as there's no lens flare.

[Agammamon]

You give way to little credit to Ep V and the better parts of Ep IV and VI - SW is very little about explosions.

Sadly, that's something *George Lucas* didn't understand.

[Agammamon]

No dude - Abrams is trolling.

Ep VII will be 2 hours of an Imperial Remnant cruiser exploring the inside of an incomprehensibly huge alien spacecraft.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

No Abrams. Just no.

[tarran]

Oh fuck!

Before being allowed to touch anything in the Star Wars franchise, anyone who was involved in writing Return of the Jedi should be forced to charge a machine gun nest while armed only with a loin cloth and flint spear.

The machine gunners should be armed with incendiary rounds that cauterize the holes they make. To prolong the pain.

If they survive, they will have learned a valuable point about Ewoks.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

ROTJ wasn't that bad. There, I said it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yes, that's right, boy. Let the bad taste flow through you.

[Pro Libertate]

Actually, it was good except for the Ewoks.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Remove the Ewoks on the ground and the space battle of Endor is one of the best battles ever put on film.

[robc]

Better than the Last Starfighter?

[sloopyinca]

Could the Ko-dan Armada have defeated Han Solo on his own? I'd call it a toss-up.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Never seen The Last Starfighter.

[Pro Libertate]

Wookiees, as originally planned.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Before being allowed to touch anything in the Star Wars franchise, anyone who was involved in writing Return of the Jedi should be forced to charge a machine gun nest while armed only with a loin cloth and flint spear.

I was going to suggest that they be dressed as Jar-Jar and armed only with those stupid blue balls the Gungans had for weapons.

[trshmnstr]

Meee-sa like-a da blue balls!!!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

The Ewoks were 100% Lucas' idea. Kasdan wrote most of Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. He should be welcomed to the new project.

[tarran]

Fine!

He can use George Lucas as a human shield.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

Wasn't the original idea that the revolt would be by Wookies, not by Ewoks? The 7 foot tall ape creatures would seem to pose more of a danger to stormtroopers than a bunch of overgrown hamsters.

[sloopyinca]

I had to say this the other day and I guess I have to repeat it: It's WOOKIEE!!!!!

There's two fucking e's in the word. Don't denigrate their entire race by not even knowing what they're called.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

And they come from the planet Kashyyyk, with THREE y's.

[Pro Libertate]

Wookiees instead of Ewoks, and people would generally praise ROTJ. I mean, it's believable to see Wookiees kicking Imperial ass.

[sloopyinca]

I suppose so, but there's no fucking way the Imperial Army would have placed the jobsite for the construction of the Second Death Star around Kashyyyk. It's always been hostile to the Empire and wouldn't be a likely place to remain hidden while construction was ongoing, which was the reason they placed it around the Endor moon.

Sometimes your ignorance of the Star Wars galaxy makes me want to vomit.

[Pro Libertate]

It's rather racist of you to suggest that Wookiees couldn't colonize another planet.

[sloopyinca]

Except for the fact that Wookiees are pacifist by nature and would be among the least likely of species to colonize (and forcibly displace) another species like the Ewoks.

Besides, like I said before, the Endor moon was in the galactic empire's sphere of influence. Kashyyyk was not, as evidenced by Yoda's exile there for a short time after the Clone Army turned on the Jedi order. And if you will even try to remember your history, you'd know that the Wookiees constantly fought the Imperial forces during the resultant clone war and were never conquered.

[Pro Libertate]

Why do you insist on Ewoks existing at all?

[sloopyinca]

I don't, asshead. But replacing them with another species merely because you were already familiar with one of them is more idiotic than having the Ewoks.

If you're going to replace them, make it with some underground-dwellers that the Imperial troops weren't likely to know existed. Or just let the planet be inhabited with lower-level lifeforms.

[robc]

Clearly the Wookiees on Endor's moon would be an off-shoot group from Kashyyyk that the Empire didnt know were there.

Duh.

[sloopyinca]

Wookiees breeding with Ewoks...they could have used Orangutans for the fight scene, which would have been hi-lar-i-ous.

[Pro Libertate]

If by breeding you mean raping and pillaging, yes. In fact, we could go with the Ewok-as-degenerate-Wookiees subplot. The Wookiees are there to rape and pillage not out of any evil motives, but to restore Wookiee greatness to their long lost brothers. And sisters.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Let me defend the Ewoks by saying that I do think it's believable that a large force of diminutive bears, hidden in heavily forested terrain, could wear down the Empire throw ambushes and booby-traps.

It's just the Ewoks were never armed with anything other than spears and arrows. Given them blasters and bombs and then you've got a battle!

[Pro Libertate]

No. There was one way to make it work within the Star Wars oeuvre--have the Ewoks be Force-adepts. Boom, end of problem.

[sloopyinca]

No. There was one way to make it work within the Star Wars oeuvre--have the Ewoks be Force-adepts. Boom, end of problem.

It's like you are trolling us. If you make then force-adepts, then the entire aura of Luke and the way he essentially conned them into helping them by using the force to levitate C3PO goes out the window. Sorry, but the Rebels would then have to get them to help by bargaining with them, which means they would probably have not been able to keep them armed with only rocks and spears while they themselves were armed with blasters and thermal detonators.

The alliance, and their leader Princess Leia, were fine with keeping them poorly armed and at much greater risk than her own soldiers. Making the force-adepts would have taken that away.

Besides, if they were force-adepts, they would have also sensed the dark side of the force fucking around up in the sky and down on the planet when Vader came strolling through from time to time, which any good General Contractor would do on a large-scale project requiring security, like that one was.

[Pro Libertate]

I rather suspect I could--let alone a professional--write a decent plot line with Ewoks being able to use the Force. Heck, the whole floating 3PO thing could've stayed in, only with the Force users going, "Oh, you've got the Force. Everything's cool."

And being Force users doesn't mean they have to be one whit more sophisticated.

[sloopyinca]

Then the Viet Cong ought to sue Lucas for copyright infringement.

[Pro Libertate]

Charlie don't morph.

[paranoid android]

Something I never understood about that whole plot...maybe I'm forgetting something, but if the Death Star's shield generator was stationed on Endor, wouldn't that meant that the Death Star itself wouldn't be able to move away from Endor without losing its shield, thus defeating the purpose?

[Pro Libertate]

I think the idea was that it was a temporary expediency until the thing was a fully armed and operational battlestation or something.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Since the Death Star was only half complete, the shield was necessary to protect it while under construction.

[sloopyinca]

The shield generator was on the Endor moon while the Death Star was under construction. And while the weapons systems of the Death Star were fully operational, the shield generator was still on backorder, as the transport they were coming on wasn't able to do the Kessel Run in less than the traditional 18 parsecs.

[Pro Libertate]

Why are you so into Ewoks, anyway?

[Killazontherun]

The ultimate furry sex slave.

[Thane of Steelport]

Better than Tribles or whatever the hell they're called.

[Agammamon]

There were thousands of Ewoks against a couple hundred Imperials. Eventually numbers will win no matter how good your tech is.

The unbelievable part is that the Ewoks - having never seen large-scale industrial warfare before - didn't break and run, not that they won when they didn't break.

[Agammamon]

Plus, there's a continuation of the personal growth of Skywalker (and the acting ability of Hamilton) and the maturation of the relationship between Leia and Solo.

Anyone with half a brain will tell you that V is the pinnacle of the series - I say the VI is actually better than IV, which is a pretty basic young man's heroic fantasy story.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Can I troll, or can I troll?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

SoCon Group Calls on FCC to Hold the Line Against TV Indecency

-It is clear what the American public wants: protection for themselves and their children against nudity and foul language on daytime broadcast TV. Says one American, Craig Joyner, in his comment, "People that have no moral compass for decency can purchase this type of programming for private use. Too many want the liberty to dirty my liberties. We the public need the choice to pick and choose our programming, and when that choice is not technologically available the programming should at the very least be free of expletives and nudity."

-Decency is important because it can be an expression of honor and respect for another. It can promote self-worth, guard against provocation towards violence, and protects the morals and values parents try to instill in their kids. Broadcast TV should not be for indecent programming, which can be found on Cable and Satellite TV, for those who crave it. Instead, it should be a safe outlet, a venue of worry-free entertainment for children and adults alike. The FCC needs to embrace its role as guardian of the right to decency, and not cater to the constantly changing opinions of the TV networks.

http://pornharms.com/editorial.....-in-media/

[gaijin]

We the public

Who is this 'we'

[trshmnstr]

"The FCC needs to embrace its role as guardian of the right to decency, and not cater to the constantly changing opinions of the TV networks."

It has, it just so happens that its definition of decency doesn't match with yours.

Nevermind that, let's push for more regulation!

[Bam!]

"It is clear what the American public wants: protection for themselves and their children against nudity and foul language on daytime broadcast TV."

They broadcast TV during the daytime?

[PD Scott]

Yes, it's so old people know what lawyer to get when the insurance they paid for after watching a daytime TV ad won't pay out.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Broadcast TV should not be for indecent programming, which can be found on Cable and Satellite TV, for those who crave it."

Now, that's a very unambitious, even lame, attempt at censorship. Exempting cable and satellite? I know...slippery slope and everything. But still, it's remarkably modest.

Is that your best example of SoCon wickedness?

Which is a normal citizen more likely to want ... supplementing his cable porn with broadcast porn, or being able to endorse or oppose political candidates without being fined?

[Agammamon]

Broadcast porn?

[robc]

Bo,

point to the place on the doll where the SoCon touched you.

[Killazontherun]

Bo has a point here, when they go after lapdancing, they go after the true heart of this country, and true patriots only answer for this abomination of prudery assaulting our shores like the stench of beached leviathans is napalm.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Damn straight. I'm a fairly devout Christian, but as a conservative type I demand that we maintain at least a minimum standard of debauchery and sinfulness -- if only out of reverence for the lechers and deviants who made this country what it is.

[Agammamon]

Plus, if you're never truly tempted then you've never truly resisted temptation.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Bo started this project because people have tended to post examples of dumb liberals. I for one welcome seeing other forms of crazy being linked, Bo's annoying other tendencies aside.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Do you think other tendencies should not by annoying?

[robc]

People spent 8 years posting examples of dumb conservatives on here. Its why joe hung around so long.

[Agammamon]

He doesn't know that - he's new here.

If it happened before I got here then it doesn't count.

[jesse.in.mb]

Does this mean we can't have a marathon of Oz preempting after school programming?

[widget]

"Broadcast TV should not be for indecent programming, which can be found on Cable and Satellite TV, for those who crave it."

"Hold the Line" is using the geeky radio term "broadcast" correctly and in context. The FCC should always do the same.

[Agammamon]

You know what - fuck it, let 'em have it if it'll shut 'em up.

Who the hell watches broadcast anyway?

Nothing but Leave it to Beaver and Phil Donohue reruns.

[sloopyinca]

Ooh, I've got a dilemma. Pittsburgh or Seattle on Defense this week in FFL.

Yeah, the Yinzers suck, but they're playing the Raiders on the road. And that may be worse than not even having a starting QB anymore.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Come on sloopy, are you really asking?

[sloopyinca]

But it would be easy for Seattle to ease up in this game defensively. I figure the Stillers are so bad that they'll be forced to play hard on D the entire time and since the Raiders suck ass, it could work out to my advantage.

[Ted S.]

What about the Packers? They're playing Minnesohhhhhhhta, and supposedly Christian Ponder is starting again. (And supposedly Peterson has a hammy injury.)

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Ponder played well in the dome against the Packers last year. I was really hoping for Freeman to start.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Seattle. Should I go with Jacquizz or Steven Jackson?

[sloopyinca]

Jackson for sure.

[Derpetologist]

Reason's favorite Femme-a-gogue explains why dainty women shouldn't carry big, scary guns:

http://twitchy.com/2013/02/20/.....ents-rape/

[Nooge.]

Shooting a guy who's trying to rape you is actually a pretty definitive way to stop the rape.

[widget]

Obamacare rollout, "partisan bickering", and contractors:

The three time-tested entities in an ordinary contract are OWNER, ENGINEER, and CONTRACTOR. They are really spelled that way, all caps. Sometimes ENGINEER is replaced with CONSULTANT. It's imperfect, but it's a good start.

In the ACA contract the OWNER is the USG, the ENGINEER/CONSULTANT is null, and the CONTRACTOR is the last man standing after 100,000 hours of unpaid meetings. What could possibly go wrong?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Pope Francis speaks to a delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, denounces all forms of intolerance.

"With particular sadness I think of the sufferings, the marginalization and the very real persecutions which not a few Christians are undergoing in various countries."

http://www.vatican.va/holy_fat.....er_en.html

[General Butt Naked]

What a brave man.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Uh, I'm following up on the criticism of Rand Paul's speech on Radical Islam and its war on Christianity. There were some comments that lol he's just trying to get the votes of the idiot redneck bleevers.

So is the Pope courting SoCon voters the way he's courting support from atheists and gays?

[petarmark4]

like Walter explained I am taken by surprise that a single mom able to profit $5487 in four weeks on the internet. visit their website
http://WWW.JOBS72.COM

[Derpetologist]

lol sometimes you jsut have to roll with it!

http://iwilldonate1000buckstor.....ambots.com

[Enough About Palin]

Why do you denigrate single moms, petarmark4?

[Derpetologist]

Guess who wrote it?

"The extensive attempts at GOP sabotage weren't factored into the bill. If it had been deployed as written, it would be fine."

Incidentally:

"You can also email me: amanda dot marcotte at gmail dot com"

Oh, believe me I will.

[playa manhattan]

Please cc: us

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Rand Paul: Liberals have no idea how capitalism works.

Wonkette: We Resemble that Remark!

Gosh, we are such dumb liberals! We thought we knew all about capitalism, an economic system most of us have lived with our entire lives. We thought we knew all about private ownership, and free markets, and the commodification of labor, and investment, and consumption, and all that jazz! And we thought we knew about the externalities like pollution and poverty and political corruption that come from capitalism, and how they are bad. So dumb! So liberal! Ugh, we disgust ourselves. Thank heavens there are men like Rand Paul and Alan Greenspan to set us straight.
Open wide, dumb liberals, because here is Rand Paul on Hannity to regurgitate Economy Facts about Obamacare into your hungry gullets:
"[I]t's a big danger turning a sixth of your economy ? our health care is a sixth of our economy ? turning all of that over to government in one fell swoop."
This is Rand Paul explaining that the private insurance companies that will enroll you in private insurance plans are "the government." They have been telling you dumb liberals this for years, why are you so thick?

Awesome.

[Pro Libertate]

I'd say that the one truest thing you can say about lefties, other than that they are amazingly delusional, is that they absolutely do not get capitalism.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

"Political corruption that comes from capitalism."

Yes. Socialist and communist government officials are paragons of virtue.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Get with the program, Comrade. All corruption in socialist and communist governments came from wreckers, hoarders, and saboteurs.

The New Soviet Man is immune to capitalist decadence.

[Killazontherun]

The youngsters posting there know as much about the Soviet Union as they do Camelot. Not the media love for JFK thing, the mythology built around an Anglo-Saxon lord of yore. It is mythology to them; whereas, capitalism is a beast that forces them to consume goods and buy products against their will, corrupting their beautiful little minds with false values of want and greed, battering against more morally compelling systems like a socialist order. That is the reality they know, and they hatez it so!

[Homple]

You forgot spies, counterrevolutionary bourgeouise elements, hoarders, and kulaks

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Comments:

Lizzietish81 123p ? 2 hours ago
Look, liberals just don't understand that the trickle is coming, it will hit us any day now, and there is no reason to go back to the Keynesian (who was gay you know) model of economics that worked perfectly fine until Reagan (who was senile you know) threw it out and gave us our glorious economic structure that has allowed Mittens to be stupid rich while the rest of us struggle with just you know, being comfortable.

Goonemeritus 128p ? 2 hours ago
I don't think people fully understand the danger in turning our government over to individuals whose slavish devotion to a philosophy overrides obvious facts.

No, I don't think they do.

[jesse.in.mb]

Keynesian (who was gay you know) model

There was a person named Keynesian?

Incidentally what does his sexual orientation have to do with whether or not the economic model is good? It's the exact same bullshit as Niall Ferguson's panning Keynes for not caring about the future because Keynes was a childless 'mo.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Did you see who they cast as the male lead in Fifty Shades of Grey?

I think it's clear from the two leads who the film's intended audience is.

[jesse.in.mb]

I was wondering why there was so much random chatter about him on websites today. He was the Huntsman on Once Upon a Time. I was quite sad when they killed the huntsman off, but that won't be enough to get me into theaters. All I really need are a few choice screencaps and I'll be content. Just like Man of Steel

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

I'm just struck at how the female lead is very pretty but not outrageously hot or attractive.

So in other words, she's attractive enough to be onscreen, but plain enough so that the female audience can project themselves onto her.

[jesse.in.mb]

If Ron Jeremy Dakota Johnson can sleep with all those hot chicks Jamie Dornan then I can too!

[Pro Libertate]

Yeah, isn't that the step-daughter of some decathlete?

[trshmnstr]

"Incidentally what does his sexual orientation have to do with whether or not the economic model is good?"

Because, economics changes on whether you like sticks or holes. That's why when gays move into an urban area, it magically becomes gentrified and the food desert goes away.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

For that matter, what they are supporting is not Keynesianism. You can say a lot about Keynes and his politics, but his economics were mostly classical with a special case for recessions in large economies. It was not an endorsement of the current tendency of social democrats to turn on the spigot and never turn it off again, nor was it an argument in favor of the incentives found in structural welfare programs. It was an argument in favor of one-time fiscal stimulus and a few other changes to the classical system on the margins.

If the debate in political economy were between Lord Keynes, Hayek, and Friedman, we would be debating in far freer countries than is currently the case.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

externalities like pollution and poverty and political corruption

Two of the three things listed as externalities do not fall under the definition of externality. That is at least as pathetic as anything else in the column.

[Boisfeuras]

We thought we knew all about capitalism, an economic system most of us have lived with our entire lives.

In what fevered dream?

[Killazontherun]

Today's congressional hearing about the disaster of the Obamacare site rollout was itself was a fairly predictable disaster, full of partisan bickering and contractors pointing fingers back at the federal government for failing to adequately test Healthcare.gov before launch.

I hate that 'pox on all their houses, my ass smells soooo much better!' attitude, Scott. There is no such thing as pretty congressional hearing, and there shouldn't be. The more congenial the atmosphere the more fucked are the results. The only way to truly beautify the place is not to spray it down with lavender, burn incense, have Tibetan monks stirring harmonious sounding bowls, and pay for a plastic surgery upgrade on all members not named Michelle Bachman, it's to take a flamethrower to it. Until that day comes, bomb throwing rhetoric from the gallery is the best decoration improvement we have at our disposal.

[General Butt Naked]

Am watching BBC news right now, and I guess it was found out that Merkel's personal phone was being tapped. Seems she's pretty pissed off.

[General Butt Naked]

oops...

being tapped by the U.S.

[Restoras]

Sure she's pissed. So? What is she gonna do, kick our troops out of Germany?

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm pretty sure the Germans invade France whenever they get cranky.

[Restoras]

Ok by me.

[Homple]

She grew up in the DDR and probably had enough of that STASI shit and doesn't want a so-called ally starting it all over again.

[Coeus]

Yet another example of someone who ironically labels themselves "pro choice"

Do Genetic Advantages Make Sports Unfair?. It's more of his glib, counter-intuitive nonsense, and it's dangerously bad.
He argues that performance enhancing drugs aren't so terrible after all ? they're just equalizing the playing field. But the only way he can do that is by pretending the consequences don't exist.
What Gladwell fails to mention ? at all ? are the risks involved in using performance-enhancing drugs. There is nothing about the risks of blood doping or of pharmaceutical enhancement. He even skips the risks inherent in the very genetic condition he holds up as "lucky." There is no mention of contact sports, where the decision to illegally enhance could be the difference between life and death for your competitor. There is no recognition that healthcare access for athletes is a continuum with the Lance Armstrongs at the upper end, with their elite teams of morally questionable medical practitioners,and with some kid at the bottom end, desperate for a place on the team, taking injectables that he gets from a friend of a friend.
So journalists can lose their jobs for plagiarizing or making up facts, but actively distorting the evidence and making dishonest arguments is apparently still within the ethical compass of some journalists.

[Coeus]

Interesting. The same people who want a guy fired for talking about his sex life where other people can accidentally hear, seem to have done a complete 180. I wonder what the difference is?

Yikes, this is an awkward story. A teaching assistant mailed her students personal, nude photos of herself instead of homework answers. If it was a genuine mistake, and I assume it was, I feel for her ? she's going to get some unfortunate student feedback.
But to everyone giggling over it, I would say, grow up. Adults are sexual beings. They will have sex lives; they aren't going to sacrifice that so students can pretend they're all alabaster statues. This was an unfortunate error, but it doesn't mean she's something unusual: educated people, like your professors, tend to have rather adventurous and interesting sex experiences. They just don't usually expose them.

[General Butt Naked]

Are those the same people that made a big deal over the programmers and their "dongle" jokes?

[Thane of Steelport]

Fuck PZ Myers.

The Gawker article to which he links in turn links to a censored version. This sums it up:

Anyway I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in my life than when I saw all these tweets about "nude video of herself" and "her homemade porn" then got the pictures in the tips and it was a skinny Asian dude holding his cock. Add that to the fact that I had to personally go into Paint and censor that, meaning I had a screenful of dick for like 5 minutes editing it. All in all this story ended up sucking big time for me.

[Cytotoxic]

DON'T ALLY WITH LIBERTARIANS

I cannot support this coalition or the rally. It is fatally compromised by the prominent leadership and participation of the Libertarian Party and other libertarian student groups; their hardcore ideology stands in direct opposition to almost everything I believe in as a social democrat.

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.

So clearly.

[General Butt Naked]

Remember when they had a majority under Obama and we had no NSA for 2 years?

Me neither.

[Pro Libertate]

See? Morons.

[PapayaSF]

Wanna bet the same writer had no problem with peace marches and Occupy events organized by proud, no-bones-about-it Communists?

[Boisfeuras]

Our comrade worker here clearly hasn't read his Nechaev.

"One may conspire with the liberals in accordance with their programs...and at the same time one should dominate them...compromise them to the utmost, so that no retreat remains open for them, and then use them as instruments for stirring up disturbances."
? Catechism of the Revolutionist (1869)

[Sigivald]

During a Wednesday afternoon news conference police displayed a real assault weapon and the "air soft" carried by the teen to demonstrate how difficult it is to tell them apart.

AirSoft guns can look enough like real guns that it's unreasonable to expect anyone to tell the difference at a distance when it's pointed at them.

Don't point realistic fake guns at random people, especially cops.

(This link shows a still of the press conference on load.

That AirSoft AK looks very, very realistic, it turns out - and the barrel is oddly shortened down to the replica gas block. AK AirSofts normally have a red/orange muzzle tip or sight block to signal "toy gun", but it's been cut off of that one.)

[Restoras]

How about cops exercise some judgement on this instead of reflexively shooting?

1. Young kid in the middle of town.
Nothing unusual about that.
2. Young kid in town appears to be armed.
This is unusal and HIGHLY UNLIKELY IN CALIFORNIA.
3. Kids sometime like to play army. Perhaps these are not real guns?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I am sorry if this posts twice as a result of the squirrels, but I'm not sure it went through:

I am looking forward to the well-reasoned, thoughtful responses to this column: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/.....rc=usn_tw.

But I better be patient, because it's going to be a while before I read a well-reasoned, thoughtful response.

[Old Man With Candy]

OK, guys, I need advice. And because of the fine sensibilities and deep sensitivity of the Reason commenters, I'm asking you.

I'm putting together a Halloween costume. It involves an Afro wig, dark face makeup, a hoodie with a bullet hole, and a box of Skittles. My wife thinks this is in bad taste. What say you refined ladies and gentlemen?

[Thane of Steelport]

You need a can of Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail, silly.

[Old Man With Candy]

Excellent point. Thank you. There's a reason (drink!) I like to hang out here.

[Homple]

Costume your wife as a "300 pound slab of ghetto attitude" and keep texting her about crackas through the evening. You will make, if not a good impression, most assuredly a lasting one.

[Old Man With Candy]

Costume your wife as a "300 pound slab of ghetto attitude"

I am most assuredly not married to Mary Stack.

[Nooge.]

Why must you insult 300 pound slabs?

[Nooge.]

The Nigerian coast must be lovely this time of year.