A.M. Links: Federal Employees Sue Government for Late Pay, Maine Police Chief Says No to Legal Marijuana, $15 Minimum Wage Initiative Wins in Seattle Suburb

• 

  Credit: World Economic Forum / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

  Federal employees who worked during the government shutdown are suing the government for damages because they weren't paid on time. It would be so satisfying to watch the government fight itself if it weren't taxpayer dollars it was fighting over.

• Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged that enrollment figures for Obamacare for October  will be "very low." Only six people signed up on the first day of enrollment. The government's top healthcare IT official, meanwhile, has stepped down and is headed to the private sector.
• Al Gore slammed the NSA's surveillance program and predicted it will be reined in. Let's hope that's more accurate than his weather predictions.
• Despite the ordinance legalizing marijuana, the police chief of Portland, Maine says officers will still issue citations for possession. On the bright side, he also said reprimandning pot smokers is a low priority.
• Backers have declared an initiative for a $15 hourly minimum wage at Seattle's Sea-Tac International Airport to be victorious.
• Twitter Inc could face volatile trade in its debut Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, but analysts remain enthusiastic after the money-losing social media company priced its IPO above the expected range.
• Syrian troops have retaken a key rebel-held town south of Damascus, according to state-run media.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Despite the ordinance legalizing marijuana, the police chief of Portland, Maine says officers will still issue citations for possession.

Hassling marijuana users is so much easier in terms of policing than working on crimes that have actual victims.

[Bee Tagger]

When they came for the bogarted, you said nothing.

[DJF]

Its also much easier then dealing with violent criminals.

[CatoTheElder]

Plus the added bonus of asset forfeitures and misdemeanor citation income!

[Night Elf Mohawk]

If by "issue" they mean drop it on the ground when people ignore the cops' trying to enforce a non-law, I hope they "issue" a lot of citations.

[UnCivilServant]

The citation is to allow for asset forfeiture proceedings under federal laws, not for state prosecutions.

[Almanian!]

[citation not needed...well, not wanted]

[Night Elf Mohawk]

The Portland cops are enforcing federal law?

[UnCivilServant]

Just exploiting it for their own gain I'd wager.

[Drake]

You have a great big empty state to smoke pot - why do it in the one almost city? I knew people in northern Maine who raised and smoked pot in 80's without even trying to hide it. I doubt there was a cop in their zip code.

[Mr. Weebles]

No kidding. There are huge swaths of land - hundreds of miles - that don't even have names.

I've done some deer hunting up there and it's fucking ridiculous how empty it is.

You could smoke a two-pound joint bare ass naked while belting out God Bless America and no one would notice.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And much more lucrative.

[Lord Humungus]

Greenspan Says Yellen Was His Guide to Economics Research at Fed

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that Janet Yellen would be a "great" chief of the central bank and that he relied on her to explain the newest academic research in economics while the two served together.

"She is an extraordinarily good economist," Greenspan said today at the National Press Club in Washington. "It was very helpful to me because she was a professor and academic who had very significant insights into where various new theories were coming up and the like in academia."

[DJF]

Greenspan is suppose to have loved economic data, but it meant that he was basing his decisions on things that happened months ago, its like driving but only looking out the rear window and when he hit a dip in the road he just put his foot down on the accelerator

[Almanian!]

REARWARD!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Says the man who bears a large part of the responsibility for the last and continuing financial crisis.

[CatoTheElder]

That explains a lot!

[Lord Humungus]

The people have spoken

20-pound carp no match for Jack Eaton in Ann Arbor's 4th Ward

In a strange turn of events, an unofficial write-in campaign was waged in the 4th Ward by a 20-pound carp. It's unknown how many of the write-in votes tallied at this point are for Lockwood and how many are for the self-described bottom feeder (whose votes won't count).

Eaton was heavily favored to win after unseating 14-year incumbent Marcia Higgins by a large margin in the August primary.

Eaton said he wasn't surprised that he beat Lockwood, but he joked he was "relieved" he came out ahead of the 20-pound carp.

[UnCivilServant]

It still smells less fishy than most New York legislators.

[sloopyinca]

Ann Arbor is a whore.

[Almanian!]

Pretty much anyone or anything named "Ann" is a whore.

[sloopyinca]

DONT TALK SHIT ABOUT ANNE OF GREEN GABLES!!!!!

[font_of_stupidity]

That was Ann, not Anne.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The government's top healthcare IT official, meanwhile, has stepped down and is headed to the private sector.

Where, because of his connections, he will thrive.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I smell government contracts for whichever private company hired him.

[Rich]

Dammit, Fist!

Where no one will hire his incompetent ass.

[UnCivilServant]

No, his links to the bureaucracy are more valuable than competence these days.

[Rich]

WHAT?! And become the next EDWARD SNOWDEN?!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Actually, if he got any little thing done despite the obstacles in the federal government bureaucracy, he might do very well at private sector work (where, again, a good deal of the obstacles come from the federal government).

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Do they have a job titled "Ambassador to CronyState?"

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

They do now.

[sloopyinca]

You bunch of male-privileged sexists. The head of IT was a broad.

[wareagle]

then we've achieved equality where either women in govt can be just as incompetent as men and get rewarded OR women have cracked the crony ceiling.

[Almanian!]

No wonder they had so many issues. Dumb bitch.

[Rich]

A really ugly broad

[fish]

Still better looking than Sebelius!

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Journalists Receive Specialized Training From Group Led by Former Health Adviser to the President
As the month of October has rolled on and stories regarding the train wreck that is Obamacare mount, one has to wonder when the President's media allies will come to the rescue and skew reality on health care reporting.

The answer may be ... now.

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) is once again teaming up with a private U.S. foundation known as the Commonwealth Fund. The Fund, a self-described 'progressive' organization, is currently led by David Blumenthal, former senior health adviser to the Obama campaign. The group makes little to no secret of their support for Obama's universal health care plan.

The Commonwealth Fund's relationship with an organization that deals with supposedly objective journalists is a rather cozy one, offering specialized teletraining to reporters at the SABEW, as well as thousands of dollars in grants for meetings designed to train reporters on how to properly cover the Affordable Care Act....

[Doctor Whom]

Liberal media bias is a teathuglican myth. All right-thinking people know that.

[Bardas Phocas]

I thought about this when I saw Zenon's caveat on the Syria story -"according to state-run media."

Maybe we should use that more on most stories from our "free" press.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fannie makes $8.7 billion third-quarter profit

Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage giant, said its third-quarter profit more than quadrupled, allowing it to pay taxpayers a $10.2 billion dividend that means Fannie will repay nearly all of its $116.1 billion 2008 bailout by the end of the year.

A rising housing market has put Fannie, which is still in conservatorship, back on its feet. Revenue climbed 11% to to $6.32 billion. Fannie said it would pay the Treasury another $8.6 billion in December, bringing its total payments to the taxpayers since Fannie returned to profitability to $105.3 billion.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....39384.html

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Fannie Mae is selling coffee in bikinis to pay us back?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Apparently there is good demand for bikini baristas.

[Palin's Buttplug]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/.....s/3456709/

correct link for Fannie.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I liked your first link to fanny better.

[sloopyinca]

Explain to me again what part of the Constitution justifies the government picking winners and losers in the home mortgage business.

Here's a hint: it's not the equal protection clause.

[wareagle]

it's the FYTW clause. but you knew that.

[DJF]

How about the "Some are more equal then others clause"?

[fish]

Explain to me again what part of the Constitution justifies the government picking winners and losers in the home mortgage business.

The soros.org paragraphs that shreeky keeps in moms basement....careful the pages are sticky!

PS:CHRISTFAGWEIGELRINGSHREEKTARDDUCKSPEAK

[Palin's Buttplug]

Soros is brilliant. I especially like his books on capitalism and failing American influence.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He is. But he's a disingenuous currency pirate profiting off the misery of nations.

But he's on your progressive side...so all good.

As you were.

[KPres]

Yep, he's so brilliant...that's why he hasn't made a dime since he got busted for insider trading.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Forgot about that.

Now he's a "humanist."

Get the fuck out of here.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Little Dave has spooged all over the pages of The Alchemy of Finance on a couple of occasions.

Crap, did I just say that out loud?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Hey guys, I fucked up an entire market, the government bailed me out with your money, and now I'm making bank! Don't you feel better now!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Hey, they are giving out mortgages in bikinis now. Things are different.

[Restoras]

That almost cover the loss on the GM bailout. Win!

[KPres]

So Fannie Mae is going to have returned their loan, what, 5 years after the private banks did?

[Lord Humungus]

Robyn Irvine Scares Off Home Burglar With Ax In California

Robyn Irvine, a former ax-throwing competitor living in Hemet, Calif., woke up when she heard a noise and saw the burglar trying to snatch her watch from her wrist, according to CBS Los Angeles.

Irvine quickly grabbed an ax, scaring the intruder.

"He froze at first. I shocked him with my voice and then he took off. There was no way I could've caught him but I could've thrown it," said Irvine, adding that she could have paralyzed the suspect by striking him in the spine.

[Restoras]

This may sound ridiculous but I am going to buy a sword and get some training with it, just so I can scare off an intruder.

[R C Dean]

You don't need training to scare them off. Waving a three foot razor blade will generally do the trick, regardless of how bad your form is.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Just create your own weapon. Fina a blade or two and duck tape it to a hockey stick. You may want to add a decapitated head from a Barbie doll or something. Then wield it around twitching like a psycho and that should scare off most...most.

[Ska]

And a sword is always great for ammo conservation when the walkers show up.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

This may sound ridiculous but I am going to buy a sword and get some training with it, just so I can scare off an intruder.

I'd still use my guns to dissuade intruders, but I do keep swords around. My favorite is the Katana that I keep near my front door. I have signs galore that quite plainly state "not interested, go away". So, when some dumbass decided to ignore all the signs telling them I'm not buying whatever they're selling, I open the door with a Katana over my shoulder. Even the extremely talkative Mormons and JWs that come to my house are rendered speechless.

[Brett L]

Its a pretty good choice for an apartment. I have 3 foot arms. I can stand in the middle of most rooms and lunge to the wall.

[Elspeth Flashman]

My heroine!

[fish]

.....I could've thrown it," said Irvine, adding that she could have paralyzed the suspect by striking him in the spine.

Another opportunity wasted!

[PD Scott]

You say that but you're not the person who would have to get bloodstains out of the carpet.

Plus, she'd probably get sued and/or arrested since they were "fleeing".

[Snark Plissken]

David Eckert, the second guy who was anally raped by Deming police, and their willing minions, alleges in his lawsuit that his real crime was not showing proper respect to authoritah.

September 6, 2012 Search:

On or about September 6, 2012 at approximately 6:26 pm, Plaintiff's vehicle was stopped by Defendant Robert Rodriquez for a cracked windshield. Defendant Rodriquez ordered Plaintiff Eckert to exit his vehicle and stand by the patrol vehicle. Defendant Rodriquez's sole basis for forcing Plaintiff to exit his vehicle was because Plaintiff's hands were shaking.

[...]

As Plaintiff walked away, Defendant Rodriquez continued to ask Plaintiff more questions. Plaintiff asked Defendant Rodriquez if he was free to leave, which Defendant Rodriquez contends that he found rude. Defendant Rodriquez told Plaintiff he suspected Plaintiff of having illegal drugs in his car and proceeded to interrogate Plaintiff on the matter. Plaintiff refused to engage in Defendant Rodriquez's "conversation." Defendant Rodriquez then seized Plaintiff's vehicle without probable cause. After Defendant Rodriquez seized Plaintiff's vehicle, Defendant Rodriquez contacted Defendant Green. Defendant Green deployed his canine "LEO," who Defendant Green alleges, alerted to the presence of narcotics around Plaintiff's vehicle.

[Zeb]

That's the conclusion I'd draw. The anal probe was a punishment. I bet they were also annoyed that he didn't have any drugs in his car.

[Snark Plissken]

Dude I called it.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

My guess was that they convinced themselves that only a filthy drug runner could be so insouciant to authoritah.

[Drake]

Wouldn't it be the other way around?

[mad libertarian guy]

This is the logical end of the drug war. Any policy which leads to anal probes based on nothing more than suspicion is fucked. And even worse is that the drug war can be used as legitimate cover when the real crime is the failure to fellate the a cop to his satisfaction.

[font_of_stupidity]

logical end of the drug war.

I see what you did there.

[Zeb]

anal probes based on nothing more than suspicion

And I'm not entirely convinced that it was based on suspicion and not simply spite.

[R C Dean]

After Defendant Rodriquez seized Plaintiff's vehicle,

Oopsie. Its dog sniff - probable cause - seizure, not that other way around.

Don't tell me "procedures were followed."

[Elspeth Flashman]

Yep. But you knew that already.

"We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place," Chief Brandon Gigante told the Albuquerque station.

http://www.freep.com/article/2.....l-searches

[Cdr Lytton]

Traditionally this is how highwaymen such as Gigante and his band were dealt with:

http://tyburntree.files.wordpr.....yburn1.jpg

[Bee Tagger]

On the bright side, he also said reprimandning pot smokers is a low priority.

The priority on being able to change his mind remains high.

[UnCivilServant]

It depends on the budget shortfall and how much property can be forfeitted.

[sloopyinca]

More likely it depends in how deferential the pot smokers are when confronted by one of our brave men in blue.

Bow and scrape? You can walk home.
Point out the new law? You can ride to the station.

[mad libertarian guy]

More likely it depends in how deferential the pot smokers are when confronted by one of our brave men in blue.

Bow and scrape? You can walk home.
Point out the new law? You can ride to the station.

Sadly you couldn't be more accurate were you in his head.

[Dr. Frankenstien]

But not as low as catching violent criminals. Traffic tickets bring in more revenue. So that's the highest priority.

[BakedPenguin]

Fortunately, Maine is probably the best state when it comes to forfeiture.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Report: Is Big Labor about to get some of its doggedly sought-after ObamaCare relief after all?
...Weeks after denying labor's request to give union members access to health-law subsidies, the Obama administration is signaling it intends to exempt some union plans from one of the law's substantial taxes.

Buried in rules issued last week is the disclosure that the administration will propose exempting "certain self-insured, self-administered plans" from the law's temporary reinsurance fee in 2015 and 2016.

That's a description that applies to many Taft-Hartley union plans acting as their own insurance company and claims processor, said Edward Fensholt, a senior vice president at Lockton Cos., a large insurance broker....

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

That will play well - "hey, peasants, you still lose - but the unions will get a break!"

[Longtorso, Johnny]

That news will stay buried for that very reason.

[mad libertarian guy]

That news will stay buried for that very reason.

Yep. And anyone who has the nerve to bring it up will be written off as a Koch conspirator and devotee to FAUX NEWZ!!! If it isn't on MSNBC, it isn't real.

[creech]

No, actually it got Pg.4 coverage - 1/3 of the entire page - in my local centrist newspaper. Of course, "Labor officials said the exemption would have only a miniscule impact" on union health plans.

[Restoras]

Some peasants are more equal than others! They deserve more than their share! Unions elevated everyone not just themselves!

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Animal Farm

[Lord Humungus]

I see there is still good money in hearts & kidneys. And blackmarket crude is 1/2 off the normal price.

What Sells On the Black Market

[Restoras]

Holy crap I can sell a kidney and buy a house. I wonder where I can inquire about this...

[Elspeth Flashman]

Korea.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Backers have declared an initiative for a $15 hourly minimum wage at Seattle's Sea-Tac International Airport to be victorious.

We'll soon see what minimum workforce is needed to run Sea-Tac.

[Bardas Phocas]

Overflowing garbage cans.
Filthy, sticky bathrooms.
High(er) priced and shitty food.

But the warm, fuzzy feeling is worth it all.
Right?

[UnCivilServant]

That describes JFK airport as it is now.

[UnCivilServant]

(yes, I know the article was about Seattle, JFK is just a vision of SEA-TAC's future)

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm sure that the quality of applicants will be high.

[Live Free or Diet]

Why isn't minimum wage a hundred grand a year, plus a small farm at 18, a mountain chalet at 21 and a waterfront cottage to retire to at 30?

I mean, while we're just pulling shit out of thin air, why not?

[Lord Humungus]

Damn Wreckers!

Cautious consumers seen curbing U.S. economic growth

U.S. economic growth likely slowed a bit in the third quarter as consumers kept a lid on spending, supporting the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain its current pace of bond purchases to stimulate activity.

Gross domestic product probably expanded at a 2.0 percent annual rate, according to a Reuters poll of economists, moderating from a 2.5 percent clip in the second quarter.

[Live Free or Diet]

Damn them for paying down their credit cards instead!

[radar]

I must have missed when it's the prerogative of the police to enforce laws that don't even exist anymore.

[Ted S.]

Porn for John, or Sarcasmic?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Warty

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

STEVE SMITH

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Barack Obama's Multiplying Deceptions
...Mary McCarthy once said of the playwright Lillian Hellman, "[E]very word she writes is a lie, including `and' and `the.'" Mr. Obama isn't at that point yet. But he's closer than he thinks. And unless he puts an end to his multiplying deceptions, Barack Obama's presidency will not only lie in ruins; his reputation will as well.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

"will"?

[mad libertarian guy]

He's attempting a long con on the entire country.

Unfortunately he just isn't smart enough to pull it off.

[Ska]

When you sit at a game like this you bring your wallet, Lolligan.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama-linked firm received 'unauthorized' $100,000 contract for Michelle Obama's anti-obesity effort

The marketing firm that created first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign's logo, slogan and web design has close ties to the Obama administration and was paid $100,000 in an "unauthorized" no-bid contract, according to internal documents.

The 44 pages of documents ? obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) request by the conservative government accountability group Judicial Watch ? reveal that federal officials are looking into the Let's Move contract with Shepardson, Stern & Kaminsky (SS+K) as an "unauthorized commitment."

According to Judicial Watch, the contract violated federal contracting laws.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

"the conservative government accountability group Judicial Watch"

Huh. When they were chasing an Elephant Prez, they were a "watchdog group"...

[Eduard van Haalen]

Why do they have to do all this investigating? Surely the media is doing it!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What the fuck is that hair she's sporting?

Sheesh.

[Lord Humungus]

No More Touching for Some Canadian Kindergartners

According to a letter outlining the new rule at Coghlan Fundamental Elementary in British Columbia, "We will have a zero-tolerance policy with regards to hands-on play, resulting in the missing of playtime and trips to the office for those who are unable to follow the rules."

The letter states that some contact games have led to injuries, and therefore kindergartners will no longer be allowed to touch each other while playing. The rule does not apply to students in other grades.

[BardMetal]

Do the people that come up with these rules ever wonder what the long term effects might be on these kindergarteners?

[sloopyinca]

Question: do they give kindergarteners in Canada tiny little bags of milk at lunch with their Kraft dinner and side of poutine?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Is it still ok to play "Im not touching you"?

[Ted S.]

Who wants to touch Canadians, anyway?

[Lord Humungus]

other Canadians, I presume. Nasty creatures that they are.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Back off.

Lotsa people want to touch us.

[rts]

Epi was right, you A.M. links people are jejuene and gauche, recycling the previous day's P.M. links.

[Lord Humungus]

I have a life. I don't read the PM Links.

[Rich]

More anal probe news: Matt Lauer, Al Roker to Get Prostate Exams on 'Today'

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Rich]

It'll be really great if they consent to prostate *biopsies* on live TV.

[sloopyinca]

That would be some funny shit.

[Rich]

+as many as you can take

[fish]

Are they going to film them in Deming, New Mexico?

[Palin's Buttplug]

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- Police say the service at a bikini espresso stand in Washington state was too hot.

Officers arrested three baristas Wednesday at the Hillbilly Hotties coffee stand in Everett.

Spokesman Aaron Snell tells KOMO (http://bit.ly/1ixokQ4 ) that police received complaints the women were exposing body parts and behaving inappropriately.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....39384.html

Is there any good reason to like cops?

[Zeb]

And who goes to a bikini coffee place and complains about seeing too much skin? Isn't that the point?

[Ted S.]

People looking to be offended; that is, control freaks trying to shut down other people's happiness.

But you knew that already, didn't you.

[Restoras]

Is there any good reason to like cops?

This is far and away the smartest thing you have ever said on this board. Well done.

[SugarFree]

Another late night stranded motorist killed, this time by the homeowner.

Jezebel's response is "Call the cops." Guess they don't remember Jonathan Ferrell.

[Zeb]

And of course they try to put it on stand your ground. Isn't it more of a castle doctrine thing? But they probably hate that too.

[BardMetal]

All that matters to progressives are the races of the people involved, and that the shooting wasn't done by a highly trained professional, with minutes of training, and a badge.

[KPres]

Um, we don't know the race of the shooter.

[SugarFree]

Might not even be castle doctrine. She was shot in the back of the head. As far as I know, only cops have guns that can fire bullets that loop around.

[Zeb]

Oh, sure. The whole thing seems suspect. But supposing it were justified, it would be castle doctrine, not SYG. I don't know enough about this case to have an opinion on whether it was justified at all.

[sarcasmic]

People on the left see no distinction between self defense and vigilante justice. All that they see is that someone who was not a government employee used a weapon.

It's not what a person does that matters. Only who the person is.

[mad libertarian guy]

Principals Principles

/Proggie

[mad libertarian guy]

Of course that was supposed to read

Principals [Greater than sign] Principles.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

I thought "Call the cops!" would be a joke.

[SweatingGin]

This was a couple of miles from my house. Neither the News or Free Press has had much information on it yet. Sounds like the shooter was initially arrested, then released. Charges are being requested by the police, though.

There's a *lot* of information in the stories about how she was in an accident, cell phone was dead, and walked to houses to ask for help that is presented as fact, with no idea of where it comes from. No indication she called someone and battery ran out or anything, so it's hard to see how that is known.

[db]

The real danger when you're out late and get a flat tire is getting entangled in a creepy alien crossdresser's scheme to build the perfect man.

[BuSab Agent]

+1 Transsexual Transylvania

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Something tells me the title on that site was sensationalized a tad.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Democrats Ditch the Middle Class
...The case for Obamacare was never going to be easy. The program was sold as a middle-class benefit but it actually benefits a subset of the middle class. Federal subsidies go up to 400 percent of poverty -- $45,960 for an individual -- with much larger help at the bottom than the top. The law also mandates that younger and healthier people purchase comprehensive coverage. So the program benefits older, lower-middle class people while placing new burdens on younger, upper-middle class people. Like elsewhere in the welfare state, the young come out behind.

So there is a serious gap between the simplicity of the message that sold Obamacare and the complexity of the law's outcomes. And the karmic consequences for the president and his party are considerable....

[Lord Humungus]

Jim DePersia Finds Testicle-Eating Pacu Fish In Cedar Lake, Ill.

"As I came up and looked at it, I thought I knew my fish and this is a huge monster," he told CBS Chicago.

The freaky-looking fish was actually a pacu, a cousin of the piranha that has been known to mistake human testicles for tree nuts, a staple of its diet.

In 2011, two men in New Guinea reportedly died from blood loss after a pacu devoured their treasured family jewels, the Metro reported.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

New Guinea must be the only place on Earth, (maybe besides of Australia) where everything living exists solely to cause harm.

[sarcasmic]

Deathworld

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Those were fun reads back lo those many years ago.

[Slammer]

+1 Stainless Steel Rat

[Elspeth Flashman]

Recently I saw a few Aussie films about big things (crocs, sharks)eating unsuspecting vacationers, and the theme of the movies seems to be "don't vacation in Autralia, because something will eat you."

[DRM]

New Guinea is geologically part of the Australian continent.

[DJF]

Will some libertarians now realize that open borders can have negative effects? Or is testical eating fish not warning enough!

[SugarFree]

What will happen to all of White Fish in the lake? Libertarians won't be satisfied until this whole lake is testicle-eating third-world freeloaders that don't speak ENGLISH!

[Rich]

SF, I thought you, of all people, would know what "White Fish" are.

[SugarFree]

Coney Island White Fish need to be protected as well!

[Restoras]

I don't think Shika has testicales so I'm guessing she doesn't care.

[Lord Humungus]

Ron Paul: Christie Will 'Go the Way of McCain and Romney'

Just one day after Chris Christie's successful reelection bid, Ron Paul already foresees doom for the New Jersey governor's 2016 aspirations. The former Texas representative saw Christie another possible candidate from the "mushy middle" similar to the past two Republican presidential nominees who have lost.

"If he wants to go the way of McCain and Romney, I guess he can go ahead and do it," Paul said on Fox News on Wednesday. "I think it'll be same old stuff again, wishy-washy stuff ? chase [out] all the constitutionalists, limited-government, libertarians."

As for the presidential prospects of his son, Kentucky senator Rand Paul, the elder Paul saw the recent negative attacks, including plagiarism charges, as a "good sign." "When they start attacking you, you know you're having an effect," he said.

[UnCivilServant]

I will not vote for the ambulatory adipose tumor from the jersey wastes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Big Boy will make Cruz or Rand Paul look insignificant in the primaries. And I don't mean just physically.

He won't win on ideology, of course. It will be style and bombast.

[wareagle]

and if he's nominated, the MSM will paint him as some Simon LeGree type while you're telling us about Hillary or Uncle Joe's libertarian cred.

[Atanarjuat]

Bitch, Big Boi voted for Gary Johnson.

[sarcasmic]

Shocking video shows man locked in jail cell on minor charge 'being ignored by prison guard as he dies from food allergy'
Michael Saffioti, 22, turned himself in to police on July 2 last year for misdemeanour marijuana charge
Mother received a call next morning letting her know her son was dead
Autopsy report reveals Saffioti died from severe allergic reaction to dairy
His mother is suing county in $10m wrongful death suit

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

The attorney said she was forced to file a complaint to see the video after authorities originally claimed that it did not exist.
The tape shows that within minutes, Michael Saffioti asks to use his inhaler and, according to the lawsuit, asks to see a nurse.
He is returned to his cell where he allegedly presses the call button but is ignored.
The 22-year-old is found unconscious 35 minutes later and dragged out for nurses to perform CPR. He is rushed to hospital but pronounced dead.
An autopsy report from the Snohomish County medical examiner revealed that Michael Saffioti died from bronchial asthma triggered by the consumption of dairy.

Will anything else happen?

[SugarFree]

Better off dead than a junkie.

/LAO"L"

[BardMetal]

Thats right. They managed to cure him of his evil marihuana addiction.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Protect and serve

[KDN]

Summary of today's links: stay the hell away from Everett, WA.

[Restoras]

Nothing of consequence. Procedures will be reviewed and revised, or not, and the jackboots will be reprimanded (maybe, probably not) and will continue to clip the coupons of the indenture they sold to the state.

[Kaptious Kristen]

"Misdemeanour"? C'mon, ya fucking limeys!

[Mr. Weebles]

Snohomish County was where some of the earliest COPS episodes were filmed.

They have some DRUG WARRIORS up in that place.

Thank God they got this guy off the streets. Marijuana is no joke. God knows what kind of shenanigans he might have gotten himself into if he had been allowed to live.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Couldn't bring myself to watch the video.

Evil, ignorant cocksuckers.

Big tough guys protecting the public over simple possession.

Get the fuck out of here.

[Lord Humungus]

Polluted office bosses issue gas masks

Builders called in to reinstall the office's air conditioning system bungled by setting it up to suck in supposedly fresh air from the underground car park below the building.

Staff complained of watery eyes, coughing fits and headaches as a result of having to brave the fumes at the building in the city of Nanchong, Sichuan province.

Managers refused to give them time off but, on the third day, finally agreed to buy staff gas masks as an alternative to allowing them to stay away from work.

[The Late P Brooks]

The government's top healthcare IT official, meanwhile, has stepped down and is headed to the private sector.

Invaluable specialized expertise.

[mad libertarian guy]

The government's top healthcare IT official, meanwhile, has stepped down and is headed to the private sector.

If this private sector job isn't consulting for government projects, he'll not last long because there is this thing called accountability.

[sarcasmic]

Unless he's going to work at a contractor where he can use his crony connections to get contract after lucrative contract.

[sarcasmic]

Zombie-eyed woman wearing nude bathing suit as part of a pig costume for Halloween party is busted for DUI

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....limit.html
You just can't make up headlines like that.

[sarcasmic]

Father's heartache after police SHOOT DEAD son, 19, when he reported van stolen to stop teenager from buying cigarettes
Tyler Comstock died from two gunshot wounds on Monday after a police chase ended on the campus of Iowa State University

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....d-son.html
He refused to comply with a lawful command to shut off the vehicle, so they opened fire.
Seems to be a daily thing now. Police murdering people simply because they don't do what they are told.
And nothing else happens.

[SugarFree]

Disobey a lawful command and you get lit up, punk.

/LAO"L"

[Zeb]

Well, a van is a deadly weapon, so failing to turn it off immediately when ordered to do so is exactly the same as pointing a gun at someone.

[Drake]

Only if the van was pointed at someone.

[Citizen Nothing]

And it was probably parked perpendicular to traffic.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Never call the cops unless you want someone to die

[BardMetal]

Is it wrong to ask why someone hasn't started targeting the police? I mean if someone murdered your son what would you do?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nothing I would tell you about

[Zeb]

Not wrong at all. It's a good question. And I think that the answer is that if you did, it wouldn't get your murdered loved on back and it would be fairly likely to mean the end of your life as well. Most people seem to value life over revenge or martyrdom, which I think is a good thing.
I wouldn't fault anyone who did try to get back at some pig who murdered their kid, though.

[sarcasmic]

What can you do? Sure, it is possible to pull off the perfect crime, but who has time to plan out and execute something like that? Especially someone with a family. Then if you screw up or tell anyone you're looking at summary execution or life in prison. How will that help your family?

I'm convinced that it's shit like this that draws people to religion in hopes that people in power will see justice in an afterlife, because they certainly do not see justice in this one.

[sarcasmic]

Paula Deen's husband 'walks out after she confronts him about alleged year-long affair with 'sexy' brunette'
According to the National Enquirer, the disgraced TV chef quizzed tugboat captain Michael Groover, 57, after a friend told her he had a secret mistress
A source quoted in the report claims Deen 'went on the warpath' when she heard about the alleged affair though he adamantly denied it
After both of them calmed down, Groover allegedly returned home, and swore his innocence and allegiance to Deen

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

[John]

In fairness, if you were married to Dean, you would cheat too.

What kind of a "sexy brunette" has a Papa Hemingway fetish?

[sarcasmic]

I dunno. The lady seems like one horny pervert. I'd have thought she could keep a man satisfied. I guess not.

[Zeb]

What kind of a "sexy brunette" has a Papa Hemingway fetish?

An English major with daddy issues?

[R C Dean]

In fairness, if you were married to Dean, you would cheat too.

[stares in shocked disbelief, sobs, runs away]

[Mr. Weebles]

Tugboat captain?

That's my dream job.

As long as I got a hat.

[Zeb]

I have a friend who is a tugboat captain. Seems like a decent job if you don't mind being away for months at a time and not really being able to maintain any steady relationships. For my friend the upside there is the "woman in every port" thing.

[Mr. Weebles]

Does he have a hat?

[sarcasmic]

Mom's angry blog against schools stopping boys being boys with controls on toy guns goes viral
Stephanie Metz of South Dakota was inspired to write her rant against over-parenting when she heard her son's take on toy guns in the classroom
'Many years ago, there was a time where young boys could run around with their toy guns': Metz says she'll always let her boys play with toy guns
The working mother of two also says that today's bullied children who contemplate suicide feel 'entitled to a world-wide pity party'

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

[Certified Public Asskicker]

From her blog:

Your child, who you cater to every need, who you shelter from all things "evil." How will this child react when he or she grows into adulthood? "Debbie" graduates from high school and goes to college. She writes her first paper and meets with her professor about that paper and the professor tells her that it's junk and it will get a failing grade. How will Debbie cope with that if she's always been made to feel that no one should ever make her feel sad, or criticize anything she does?

Ha, she thinks college is a tough place to be nowadays.

[tarran]

Actually, during my stint as a college professor, I had students break down in tears after I reviewed exams where they made very basic mistakes.

One girl in particular was pissed off because she had always gotten A's in math despite not knowing how to reduce fractions properly.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

How long ago was that? I graduated in 2008. There was no intelligent life in college.

[tarran]

2008, actually.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

We are probably reaching the same conclusion in a sense.

I had to take a basic stats class for my major. I was horrified by how dumb people were in that class.

And yet, most of them still followed me through graduation.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I spent three years in University horrified at the future. That shoulda been my going away thesis paper.

[Zeb]

I think that is going to vary a lot depending on the college and the course. Though I have been out of that world for some time, so maybe it is worse than I think.

[John]

We are creating a generation with no emotional ability to handle adversity. Somehow parents decided that their role is to "protect" their children rather than prepare them for adulthood. Everyone has to protect their children to some degree. But that is a necessity not an end. The end is to prepare them for life on their own. We somehow forgot that.

[Rich]

One girl in particular was pissed off because she had always gotten A's in math despite not knowing how to reduce fractions properly.

Apparently it was always physically possible for her to get A's.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

One girl in particular was pissed off because she had always gotten A's in math despite not knowing how to reduce fractions properly.

Please tell me you were teaching at Remedial College for Retards.

[Lord Humungus]

But RCR has a great football team!

[sloopyinca]

But I thought Mississippi State was lousy this year.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Go Mongoloids!

[Raston Bot]

They won 8/10ths of their games!

[tarran]

Nope, at one of the finest pharmacy schools in the country.

Seriously, these kids weren't stupid. Their teachers who had taught them shittily while giving out A's like they were candy OTOH...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Debbie can whine her way to better a grade. When I used to wait my turn to see a professor over something it always blew my mind how little dignity students had the way they begged for a better grade they probably didn't deserve. Dumbasses.

[Zeb]

It just amazes me how little self respect people have. In college I would never have considered whining to a professor about a bad grade unless I had a really good case to make that they had made a mistake. And I certainly never would have considered crying to my parents about how mean the nasty old professor was.

[Raston Bot]

CPS is on its way.

[Lord Humungus]

When Do Dems Set Obama Adrift ? or Can They?

On the stump yesterday, Vice President Biden didn't once mention his boss by name. MSNBC and Huffington Post contributor Howard Fineman reports "Joe Biden Had Nothing Nice To Say About Obama At Virginia Rally." A mere oversight or the start of a trend?

I don't see how Democrats can detach themselves from their president too publicly before the 2014 elections. Still, nervous representatives and senators already are hedging their bets with talk of delaying Obamacare and somehow reforming the awful law.

At what point do Democrats decide President Obama does more harm to their grand progressive dream than help? In the next few months? After the midterms? Never? And if certain Democrats want to do so, how can they avoid alienating those who view Obama as a secular messiah?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Dems rallied around Bill Clinton - they will support Obama too.

The writer is just a ratfucker-in-training.

[wareagle]

sun rise in the East? Check
PB springs to Obama's defense and denounces criticism as heresy? Check

[John]

And makes the false equivalence between defending blow jobs in the Oval Office to defending fucking up the entire country's health care insurance.

Being Progs, the writers of the Shreek sock puppet believe in cargo cults where words and appearances matter and reality doesn't. So to them, the Democrats defending Clinton is the same as them defending Obama because the words are the same.

[Palin's Buttplug]

John, most of the country does not give a fuck about the ACA as demonstrated by VA exit polls.

It won't be an issue in 2016 at all. It will be a big "So What?" as I have previously stated.

You guys will run on abortion and gay butt sex again.

[John]

Sure they don't. And it is not like VA if full of government employees whose insurance hasn't changed or anything. No one cares and that is why Obama's approval rating is still in the 50s. Right? I mean he won the shutdown and no one cares about the ACA.

Take your cargo cult elsewhere loser.

[John]

And McAuliffe under performed and barely won instead of winning by the 7 points the polls had him winning by because of bad luck.

[Restoras]

You may be right about 2016. Not so sure about 2014.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Mmmm, gay butt sex. Boss man is starting to feel a little turgid again.

[Restoras]

Honestly Shreek is a political neophyte and ignorant of history. Once the Dems in congress realize that Obamacare is going to cost them their positions of power and lucre they will drop him like a radioactive potato.

[John]

They certainly will when campaigning. I wonder too if things go badly in 2014 that the Dems don't discover that some of the scandals are not so phony. If you make Obama out to be really bad, you can blame the whole thing on him and send up a stunt Democrat in 2016 who promises to clean up Washington. It sounds crazy. But if it is the Dems themselves who shank Obama, they might be able to pull it off. Hell, Ford almost won in 1976.

[creech]

Yes, Hillary will be the white knight.
"I was so busy running around the world cleaning up the messes George Bush made with our allies that I didn't realize how badly Obama was screwing up. My three years out of the administration give me clean hands and a pure heart to get into the White House and work tirelessly for women, the poor, the children, bipartisanship, etc."

[John]

Hillary would have a hard time. The better candidate would be a Democratic Governor who never voted for Obamacare and was never in Washington to be associated with the disaster or the scandals. Someone like Cuomo or O'Mally.

How do you pin the Obama sleaze on them? And if the Republicans own the Congress by wide margins, the public might go for putting a Dem back in the White House knowing they will have some adult supervision of a Republican Congress.

[Restoras]

That's a good point. If they get shellacked in 2014 the fake IRS and NSA scandals will all of a sudden be very real scandals requiring extensive investigation, remedial measures, and maybe even a firing or two.

[Jeff]

In his defense, shriek is ignorant of everything.

[Palin's Buttplug]

But I continue to be right about everything where John gets it all wrong.

John swore again and again that Obama would start a war in Syria, for instance and I told him he would not.

John repeatedly said Romney would win - I and many others here said he would not.

should I go on?

[#]

I wouldn't use Obama not starting a war in Syria as some kind of "I was right and you were wrong" brag. He tried to start a war and wanted to start a war and almost did. If any one of the following did not happen then we would be at war: the British saying no, the republicans in congress saying no, the UN saying no, or Kerry having a gaffe that allowed Putin to play Obama like a fiddle.

[mr lizard]

Ya team blue lacks the instincts of common ship rats.

[Drake]

To be fair, it is believable that Biden may have just forgotten Obama's name.

[GILMORE]

He did once refer to "this black guy I know"

[Lord Humungus]

Smog Blocks China's Surveillance Cameras

China's notorious smog problem is no longer just an environmental issue ? it's now a security problem, too.

Government officials are raising concerns about the function of its vast network of surveillance cameras because of the thick smog blocking visibility for some of them, the South China Morning Post reports. Officials fear that threat of terrorism could be heightened on smoggy days, so the government has tasked one civilian team and one military team to find a solution within four years.

[UnCivilServant]

Is this why progs and enviros hold hands?

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Oft evil will shall evil mar

[Eduard van Haalen]

Today is Troll Appreciation Thursday, when we honor the folks who provoke discussion, challenge conventional wisdom, supply diverse perspectives, and provide amusing links. Find a local bridge, look under it, and hug a troll today!

[Lord Humungus]

aww...

[UnCivilServant]

Don't hug me, I don't like physical constact with Libertarians. (A sentiment exacerbated by the lack of female liberatrians)

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Sorry, you are no longer allowed to discriminate against people willing to give you a hug based on sex.

Come here big guy!

[UnCivilServant]

Sue me.

BTW, I'm broke.

[Lord Humungus]

Is Christie more Giuliani 2.0 or the GOP's Bill Clinton?

Maybe the better analogy is Christie as the GOP's Bill Clinton. As columnist Matt Lewis wrote recently: "[Christie] could be the bizarro Bill Clinton. Just as America was willing to accept a 'moderate' Democratic governor from a Southern state in 1992, might they be willing to accept a "moderate" Republican from a Northeastern state in 2016?"

I would put it this way: Clinton ran as a modern, problem-solving reform Democrat. The Un-Mondale. Christie seems likely to run as a modern, problem-solving reform conservative. But he'll need a policy agenda that supports his "we're all in this together" persona. As Henry Olsen explains, "Christie's New Jersey success ultimately rests on the notion that he represents the aspirations of average New Jerseyites against the elites." He sided, for instance, with taxpayers over public sector unions in his battle over pensions.

[radar]

We're all in this together! Except you gun owners.

[KDN]

Nonsense. His hack opponent informed me that he stands with the gun lobby because he's really running for President. I can't imagine Babs Buono lying about how conservative her Republican opponent is in a blue state, how could that possibly help her chances?

[creech]

Yes, if anyone saw the Buono attack ads against Christie you'd think he was one of those teabagging Rethuglicans we are always hearing about. If he's the nominee, he'll be destroyed except for those of us who would love to see him rip Hillary a few new orifices in the debates.

[UnCivilServant]

I've said it before (upthread) I'll say it again. I'll never vote for the ambulatory adipose tumor from the jersey wastes.

[Palin's Buttplug]

All Big Boy needs is a fundie type to siphon off primary votes.

See the Huckster or Santorum.

[Almanian!]

How about Christie as "FAt Fuck Statist Prick" - no need to compare him to others.

[John]

There was a link on instapundit talking about the Virginia election yesterday. It turns out the difference in the election was not Sarvis or sodomy or gays, it was the huge advantage McAulliffe had among unmarried women. Cuccinilli actually won married women. So his talk about sodomy and such didn't hurt him that much. But what mattered was unmarried women. And that has been true for the last Presidential election as well.

Unmarried women want a big daddy politician who they feel will take care of them. And sadly, fat statist prick fills that bill and probably makes Tubby more competitive than he should be. How do you convince unmarried women that relying on the government to take care of them is a bad idea?

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Life of Julia...its here.

[John]

It is why the left fights the culture war so hard. Changing the culture is essential to what they want to accomplish. They didn't want to destroy marriage out of compassion. They wanted to because unmarried women are a ready made insecure dependent class of voters.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How do you convince unmarried women that relying on the government to take care of them is a bad idea?

You don't cure daddy issues.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Maybe unmarried women don't want the state probing around in their uterus, idiot.

[John]

Oh yeah once they get married they totally change their views on such. That is why Cuccinilli won married women.

You really are not even trying anymore.

[Anonymous Coward]

True. They just want the State stuff money into it.

And they want the state to pay for anything that might come out of it, living or dead.

[robc]

Unmarried women are a small part of the GOP, methinks, so that wont help him in the primary.

[Rasilio]

"How do you convince unmarried women that relying on the government to take care of them is a bad idea?"

Well step 1 is to STOP TALKING ABOUT ABORTION

Step 2 is no more idiotic comments about rape or birth control

After that there isn't much you can do because most of them are probably unreachable.

Steps 1 and 2 are important because they drive turnout among those unmarried women, if you can keep those issues out of the race most of them probably won't care enough to actually vote

[#]

There is also a whole bunch of other variables that are skewed between those two samples. Married women relative to unmarried women tend to be higher income, older, more religious, and more white.

I agree there is some truth to what you are saying, but don't over rely on univariate analysis.

It's the same thing with Hispanics. How much of the hispanic vote's skew towards dems is beause of being hispanic and how much of it is that hispanics tend to be poorer, higher degree of being single, and younger? Older, middle class hispanics for instance vote more gop then the hispanic population as a whole.

[John]

Also Hispanics tend to be very catholic and very socially conservative. Abortion does not play well in the Hispanic community.

[Mike M.]

As Henry Olsen explains, "Christie's New Jersey success ultimately rests on the notion that he represents the aspirations of average New Jerseyites against the elites."

ROFLMAO. As I explained yesterday, he got rewarded for sucking Obama's cock and getting sixty billion pieces of baksheesh redistributed into the state. There's really not much more to it than that.

[Rich]

Athens teen dislikes getting out of bed

When he would not get up Monday morning, the mother said she threatened to throw water on him, and he responded by saying that if she did he would tear up their home, according to police. The woman did splash water on him, at which time the boy punched a window and threw household items, including a large vase and a wall mirror, which shattered, police said.

This kid has a great future.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

He can be a local OFA "organizer"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

My dad was notorious for throwing ice water when we ignored his wake up call.

[Ken Shultz]

Your dad and my dad should go bowling.

[BardMetal]

Nothing that a belt can't cure.

[UnCivilServant]

It should have been applied years ago.

[Zeb]

At 14, I think maybe not. I think there might be some deeper problems there too.

[GILMORE]

This man should be on a telethon

Like this guy

@2:20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cku497rURF8

Like I said, there is a Mr Show episode for everything

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sign him up for the Union or police force! Kid's a natural!

[Lord Humungus]

Smartphones can make people dumb

"For many people, the unwritten rules of sidewalk choreography now include this: If what I'm reading or watching on my phone is sufficiently interesting to me, it's entirely up to you to get out of my way, just as if I were very frail, or three years old, or blind. Or a lamppost."

It's not just New York. And I wonder whether it's not a symptom of a more widespread decline in civility: Increasingly, I encounter people who walk four or five abreast or steer Zamboni-sized strollers ? people seem to view urban sidewalks as their exclusive domain. Don't want them to walk into you? Then make it your business to get out of their way. There's a kind of arrogance to that, it seems to me, a misplaced sense of entitlement.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

I do want them to walk into me. It distracts them from their phones long enough for me to tell them to watch where the fuck they're going without having to raise my voice.

[SugarFree]

"And when did gum get so fancy?!?"

[Zeb]

Walking around with earphones in all the time is annoying enough. Walking around staring at a screen? Get off my lawn.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The Case of the Clenched Buttocks Search

-Officers pulled over Eckert for a traffic violation, and the officers came to believe that Eckert was a narcotics smuggler. A drug-sniffing dog was brought to the car, and it alerted to the front seat where Eckert had been sitting. The officers came to believe that Eckert had drugs stored up his rectum, and they brought Eckert to the police station. The officers then applied for and obtained a search warrant to search his body for the drugs, including but not limited to his rectal area.

The officers brought Eckert to the local emergency room to have a doctor execute the warrant, but the first doctor refused. The officers located a medical center in a nearby county and brought him to the ER there, and the ER doctor agreed to execute the warrant. The ER doctor ordered an X-ray, which produced nothing, and then conducted a digital rectal exam over Eckert's objection. The doctor felt something soft but wasn't sure what it was, and he then passed off the case to another doctor. The second doctor did another digital rectal exam but didn't find anything.

http://www.volokh.com/2013/11/.....ty-deming/

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-After that didn't work, the doctor forced Eckert to undergo three enemas in front of the nurse and one of the officers to see if he passed the narcotics. No narcotics were found. After that, the doctor forced Eckert to undergo a colonoscopy under general anesthesia. Again, no drugs were found. Finally, the officers came to the conclusion that Eckert had no drugs in him, and they returned him home. To add insult to injury, the medical center then billed Eckert for the medical procedures that they forced him to undergo.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Man, if this had only been extensively covered and discussed somewhere!

Oh, wait!
http://reason.com/blog/2013/11.....nal-probes

[Snark Plissken]

Blue Tulpa needs to work on his due diligence.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I do not read Reason every single day, yes.

[Snark Plissken]

I'd mention search engines but don't feel like arguing the semantics of how the term 'search engine' ought to be defined.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You seem to be really upset by me posting this without checking to see if it had been discussed before. That was not my intention. If it would make you feel better, I apologize for doing so.

[Snark Plissken]

Naw, I just think you can be very Tulpa-esque, after nitpicking semantics with me on a weekend thread a while back. And now I'm giving you shit for it.

[robc]

Everyone gets shit for posting duplicates.

[Lord Humungus]

Jared Mustrat stuffs girlfriend in duffel bag, tries to sneak her into halfway house

A man stuffed his girlfriend inside a duffel bag and tried to sneak her into his halfway house.

Boca Raton police received a call from a man walking his dog Friday. He told police he saw a man hunched over a large duffel bag in a Walgreens parking lot, talking to it. He said the man started to lift the duffel bag into his car when a woman's arm poked out. The man then pushed the arm back inside the bag, put it in the car and drove off.

[Almanian!]

A+ for effort, brother!

[Rich]

Police said no crime was committed, so Mustrat and Tosi were allowed to leave.

Land of the Free!

[BardMetal]

Wow the police showed up, and nobody was shot or arrested? Bravo

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Damn you! Damn you to Heck!

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Hey, nobody got shot, did they?!

/freedom

[Hillary's Clitdong]

He told police he saw a man hunched over a large duffel bag in a Walgreens parking lot, talking to it. He said the man started to lift the duffel bag into his car when a woman's arm poked out. The man then pushed the arm back inside the bag, put it in the car and drove off.

Clearly a rehearsal of a scene from Breakfast at Warty's.

[Lord Humungus]

There is no rehearsal with Warty.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

"Breakfast at Warty's"

Alokozay Tea hurts a fair bit when snorted up into the nasal cavity due to laughter, I'll have you know.

[Hillary's Clitdong]

ALOKOZAY TEA AWAKENS YOUR SENSES TO THE JOYS OF BEING ALIVE AND GIVES YOU A REASON TO CELEBRATE EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE

Meanwhile, I drink cup after cup of black coffee.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

Yeah, the ol' Arabic translation department probably should have run that one by a native English speaker or two... They had 90% of the Afghan market and I got hooked.

Wow, that sounds almost like some sort of poppy related confession.

[SugarFree]

And I said what about Breakfast at Wartimus'?
She said I think I remember the rape
And as I recall I think, we both kind of liked it
And I said well that's one thing we've got

[The Late P Brooks]

The assemblage of smarmy insufferable cunts which is Morning Joke lashed out against the mean old Rethuglitard spoilsports who can't admit that Chris Christie is the greatest aisle-crossing politician of the modern age.

Special opprobrium was heaped on that rat fink Rand Paul, who attempted to smear His Immense Rotundity by pointing out the apparent conflict of interest (which will no doubt be intently scrutinized by the FEC) in starring in post-Sandypocalypse tourism ads paid for with disaster funds during the election campaign.

[UnCivilServant]

Can a party constituency vote to expell a member across the aisle?

[Hillary's Clitdong]

In this case, it's more a matter of tying him up with lifting straps and using a cargo crane to lift him across the aisle.

[UnCivilServant]

We could just roll him, it costs less.

[John]

If the media realizes that Obamacare is so bad that the Dems are toast in 2016, look for them to have a two year love fest with Fatty. He will be the establishment crooks last and best hope.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Nicely written, P Brooks. It reeked of heartfelt disgust.

[The Late P Brooks]

Father's heartache after police SHOOT DEAD son, 19, when he reported van stolen to stop teenager from buying cigarettes

Hang yourself, you dumb motherfucker.

[Lord Humungus]

These Abandoned Toy Factories and Shops Will Haunt Your Nightmares

[Rich]

For the first time, scientists are able to engineer any part of the human genome with extreme precision using a revolutionary new technique called Crispr, which has been likened to editing the individual letters on any chosen page of an encyclopedia without creating spelling mistakes.

The Singularity is just around the corner.

[The Late P Brooks]

He told police he saw a man hunched over a large duffel bag in a Walgreens parking lot, talking to it. He said the man started to lift the duffel bag into his car when a woman's arm poked out. The man then pushed the arm back inside the bag, put it in the car and drove off.

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.

[R C Dean]

To be fair, I probably would have called that in, too.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

SoCons Hate Legalized Gambling (with the end of White Ribbon Against Pornography Week I am moving on to SoCons other obsessions, starting with Gambling)

-Gambling is driven by and subsists on greed. For this reason, the activity is morally bankrupt from its very foundation. Gambling is also an activity which exploits the vulnerable ? the young, the old, and those susceptible to addictive behaviors. Further, gambling entices the financially disadvantaged classes with the unrealistic hope of escape from poverty through instant riches, thus ultimately worsening the plight of our poorest citizens. Also, gambling undermines the work ethic. It is based on the premise of something for nothing, a concept that sanctions idleness rather than industriousness, slothfulness instead of initiative.

The more tangible downsides to gambling are similarly disturbing. Legalized gambling breeds a host of social ills, as has been demonstrated time and time again in areas where gambling has been introduced on a widespread basis.

http://www.citizenlink.com/201.....-gambling/

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

SOCONZ!!!! THEY ARE IN MY CEREAL BOWL TOO!!!! GET 'EM OFF ME!!1!!1

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It is interesting you are so bothered by posts calling out SoCons for their violations of the NAP.

[Palin's Buttplug]

SoCons are best pals with "libertarians", you didn't know that?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I will say some get mighty upset when you criticize them around here.

[Lord Humungus]

The Bo Cara Esq. and Shreek partnership sprang out of the need to be loved.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I disagree with a lot of what BP says, but not when he points out this kind of thing. For too many people libertarianism simply means 'hating progs and Democrats.'

It means that, but so much more as well.

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

You keep railing at a threat that does not have any strength or momentum. Socons spent their ammo in the 1980s. Join us in the present.
You won't find anyone here railing against the German American Bund or the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade here either.

[Entropy Void]

"hating progs and Democrats"

*raises hand*

[John]

It does breed a host of social ills. That part is true. That doesn't mean it should not still be legal. But Libertarians do themselves no favors by acting like liberals and ignoring reality.

Gambling in many ways is worse than drugs. It is a lot easier to be a functioning drug user than to be a compulsive gambler. Unless you are really poor or just get so bad you stop working, using drugs will not leave you broke. Gambling in contrast will leave you bankrupt no matter how much money you have or make. In the end, the casino gets it all.

The problem with legalized gambling as we do it is that we don't get rid of the enforcement issue. Even in a state where it is legal, you can't run a poker game in your house. Only the corrupt cronies who got the state contract can do it. At the same time, we are advertising and encouraging people to become compulsive gamblers.

I think we would be better off not having casinos but telling people that can do what they like in their own homes. It would get rid of the enforcement problem and probably result in fewer compulsive gamblers.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

John, perhaps it is a problem for some small portion of people that engage in it, but those people would likely have some similar problem in another area were this closed to them. You conflate a 'drug user' with a 'compulsive gambler' to get where you want to go.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, the millions who visit Vegas each year are all destitute. They built all those billion dollar casinos on small biz grants.

[John]

No. I don't conflate anything. Lost of people are drug addicts yet still function. Almost no one is a gambling addict who isn't quickly bankrupt.

And if you make something legal, available and advertise the hell out of it, more people are going to do it. And when more people do it, more of them will end up compulsive gamblers. The behavior traits that make you a compulsive gambler don't have to manifest that way. They can manifest in other ways.

Prohibition never eliminates anything. But it does reduce it. That is just true. Legalize gambling and build a giant casino, you will have more gambling.

The problem with prohibition is the harms created by enforcing it. And we still have all of those harms regarding gambling, except now instead of enforcing the law, the police are enforcing a private monopoly.

Get rid of the monopoly and let people do what they want in their own homes. But understand that is going to mean more compulsive gamblers and such. It is still the right thing to do. But lying and pretending that that won't happen is not the way to go.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You absolutely conflated them in your previous post:

-It is a lot easier to be a functioning drug user than to be a compulsive gambler.

You were in some way right to do so because I do not think your newer point that gambling addicts are ruined faster than drug addicts can be shown.

-The problem with prohibition is the harms created by enforcing it.

This is why you are not a libertarian. The biggest problem with prohibition is that it is paternalistic, government coercion in violation of the NAP.

[John]

Your problem is you don't read very well. The biggest problem created enforcing it is the infringement on people's autonomy that requires.

And sure, the argument is autonomy and freedom. That is why it is stupid to pretend that it doesn't result in social ills. It does. But that is not the point.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I can not read what you did not write John. Where did you write that the biggest problem created enforcing it is the infringement on people's autonomy that requires?

[trshmnstr]

That point was fairly obviously implied. What other benefits make it "still the right thing to do"?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Stepping into the utilitarian bullshit for a moment, what percentage of the people who go to Vegas and play some blackjack or whatever would you say are compulsive, bankrupt gamblers?

[John]

NEM,

Which part of "that doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do" did you not understand?

I am doing the exact opposite of utilitarianism. I am rejecting that. I am saying that sure it will cause harm but that doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do.

All I am saying is the Libertarians do themselves no favors by ignoring reality and pretending there are no downsides to ending prohibition. There are. The argument is, "so what", not "that can't be true", because it is true.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

For myself John, I just think the harms are dramatically exaggerated, which is the modus operandi of most groups that want to restrict my liberty.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

You wrote, "I think we would be better off not having casinos but telling people that can do what they like in their own homes." Also, "And if you make something legal, available and advertise the hell out of it, more people are going to do it. And when more people do it, more of them will end up compulsive gamblers."

You are arguing, whether you want see it or not, that you don't want casino gambling allowed because there will be more compulsive gamblers. You are not doing to opposite of utilitarianism, you are calling for it. Your argument isn't based on the rights of the people it is involved, it is based on your disapproval of the outcome of the exercise of those rights.

That aside, what percentage of the people who go to Vegas and play some blackjack or whatever would you say are compulsive, bankrupt gamblers?

[trshmnstr]

"And if you make something legal, available and advertise the hell out of it, more people are going to do it. And when more people do it, more of them will end up compulsive gamblers."

What, exactly, is wrong with this? It seems like John is making a few reasonable arguments.
1) There ARE harms associated with gambling
2) If forced to choose between one or the other, in home gambling would be better than casino gambling.
3) Despite the harms mentioned in #1, gambling should still be legal.

The only argument that seems even remotely controversial is #2.

Some posters on here are so stuck in identity politics that they can't get past their personal biases against other posters.

[Ken Shultz]

Vegas is full of some sorry ass locals.

You know they have casino chains off the strip that cater to no one but locals?

It is not a place you want to raise your children, and that isn't just because of all the temptations they wouldn't have to face elsewhere.

It's cause a lot of the locals suck. There are bitter, nasty people, who work for the casinos, who seem to think hard work is for suckers and success is all about luck.

It's also telling that they have so many casinos that cater to locals--and so many locals who work in the casinos. Having all those people clock out at the casino and go straight to a casino must be indicative of somethin'.

[Citizen Nothing]

I was in downtown Carson City playing at a $3 blackjack table with locals. (Who else visits casinos in downtown Carson City?) It was apparent that they were there every evening. That said, you can spend a lot less money spending your evenings at a $3 blackjack table than you would spending every evening at a bar.

[Ken Shultz]

"That said, you can spend a lot less money spending your evenings at a $3 blackjack table than you would spending every evening at a bar."

The drinks are free so long as you're playing, and they wouldn't do that if they could make more money selling drinks than dealing blackjack.

[BladeDoc]

+1logics

[Citizen Nothing]

I said you "can." Not that most people do. But playing by the odds blackjack at $3 a hand -- even without counting of any kind -- CAN reliably provide an extremely cheap evening of entertainment, if you're into that kind of thing.

[Rasilio]

"Prohibition never eliminates anything. But it does reduce it"

I am aware of absolutely no evidence to support this assertion.

There is a plethora of evidence that alcohol consumption and alcoholism were both more rampant during prohibition than they were before or after it. Similarly drug use and drug addiction both fell in Portugal when Drugs were decriminalized

[John]

I am aware of absolutely no evidence to support this assertion.

There are a lot of people out there who don't use drugs because they are illegal. I am one of them. I am not risking arrest or associating with the kind of people who sell drugs just to use them. If I cold buy it at CVS? That calculation changes. I doubt I am the only person like that.

Deterrence does work even if it is never complete. If we raise taxes on something we get less of it. Why would throwing people in jail for using something not produce less of it?

I get it that prohibition is a ludicrous and immoral policy. But knowing that doesn't mean we stop thinking or facing reality.

[Rasilio]

"There are a lot of people out there who don't use drugs because they are illegal."

And there are a lot of people out there who are attracted to them specifically because they are "illegal" and have become both the forbidden fruit and a symbol for their asserting their sovreignty and rejection of authority

[John]

And there are a lot of people out there who are attracted to them specifically because they are "illegal"

Bull. They are attracted to them because they are fun. Being cruel to animals is illegal, but people are not attracted to doing it if they are not some sicko who finds it fun.

It was illegal for me to drink when I was 18. And you know what? I kept doing after it became legal for me to do so. Don't tell me that people do drugs to stick it to the man. People do drugs because they like doing drugs. It is as simple as that.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

That was the biggest pile of crap I have ever read on this site.

[John]

So gambling produces no social ills? Why is that so hard to admit? Isn't the position that freedom and autonomy matter more than the on the ground results? Or is that "well ending prohibition will never create any harm and thus should be done". If it is the second, I think you are not going to get very far.

Beyond that, I fail to see how going from prohibition to state sanctioned and police enforced monopolies is much of an improvement. When I can run a poker game in my house, gambling will be legal. Sorry, but "gambling at the state approved crony establishment" is not much of an improvement and really just makes the government even more like mafia enforcers than it already is.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So you're a against a neighborhood poker game or bookie down the street?

Fuck, you're the biggest statist around here - or second to Tony maybe.

[John]

So you're a against a neighborhood poker game or bookie down the street?

Sure I am dipshit, that is why I said

When I can run a poker game in my house, gambling will be legal.

Wow. I knew you were retarded. But I always thought you were somewhat literate. Did you forget the meds again? Sometimes you are funny. Sometimes you are annoying. But sometimes you are just remarkably stupid.

[Ken Shultz]

I think that's just the way Shrike thinks maybe?

If you don't like something, then you must want to make a law against it.

Maybe Shrike just still doesn't grok libertarians.

[KDN]

Shrike is a breathing demonstration of the 1st percentile of reading comprehension.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I confess I don't read all of John's conservative ramblings. I just noticed he was trying to cure society's ills again.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I fail to see how going from prohibition to state sanctioned and police enforced monopolies is much of an improvement.

Because it at least allows more gambling than the alternative?

Of course we would like to see people free to easily open and operate casinos and people gamble in their homes. That the latter is not realized yet does not mean that I should stop opposing attempts to thwart the former.

[robc]

I agree with John on this, sorta.

State monopolized gambling may be worse, because it increases start power.

[robc]

s/start/state/

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I agree with John on this

I am shocked I tell you!

[robc]

Considering John and I disagree about 99% of the time it seems, you should be.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

What the fuck is a "social ill"? Is that something that damages the "social contract"?

[Swiss Servator, I got nothing.]

is it related to a "social disease"?

[robc]

SoCons Hate Legalized Gambling

Like Bill Bennett?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Why yes, that one example disproves all the organizational statements I could post!

[robc]

It only takes 1 example to disprove an absolute statement.

By naming one socon who supports legalized gambling, it removes your ability to make a universal statement. Instead, you need to make individual statements like I did. Name the specific fuckers who oppose legalized gambling.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That is hilarious robc. The next time you criticize 'Democrats', 'progs' or 'feminists' if I can find just one of those self-identified who disagrees I will expect your recantation!

[robc]

I will, find the one.

Im not sure I have ever criticized feminists on here (maybe once or twice, and usually them with another adjective, because I support libertarian feminism) or democrats (because, for example, KY democrats exist). Progs, yes.

So you find the progressive who doesnt go along with whatever I say about them and I will recant.

Or declare them not a progressive. 🙂

[robc]

If SoCons hate legalized gambling, explain the state of KY.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Ever heard of the Kentucky Family Foundation?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Who argued the recent case against Instant Racing?

[robc]

Horse racing is still legal in KY.

And the reason KY doesnt have more legal gambling is that the horse racing industry lobbies against it. They only want slots or casino gambling legal IF its located at horse tracks (and they really, really want slots at the track). Im okay with allowing slots at the track if they are allowed elsewhere too.

I oppose expanding in the way the tracks want too, because rent seekers piss me off.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You have moved your goalposts. I quickly pointed to a major SoCon group operating to fight gambling at the KY state level. That other gambling interests may also do so in some instances does not detract from my point. Bootleggers and Baptists, after all.

[robc]

My point is, the socons arent even trying to outlaw legal racing in KY. A large number of socons in KY support horse racing. They may oppose expansion of gambling beyond that, but they support it.

Yes, there is a B&B group working to keep other gambling down. But it takes the first B to make it work.

[robc]

You have moved your goalposts.

No I havent. As long as horse racing is legal in KY my point stands. That is the goalpost.

You are wrong because KY has legal horse racing. You are the one trying to bring in IR or other things.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

What are you talking about?

In response to my initial point about SoCons opposing gambling you said '
If SoCons hate legalized gambling, explain the state of KY.' And my reply was to point out that in fact SoCon organizations are and have been fighting gambling in KY. What are you trying to say in response, that because some racing has gotten by the opposition of these groups it demonstrates they are not against it?

[robc]

What are you talking about?

When I asked you to explain KY, that means "horse racing is legal in a socon domintated state, explain that?"

And Im not talking about groups. Groups you are legitimately correct on.

If you had said KY Family Foundation in your initial post, I would have agreed with you. SoCons as a generic term support horse racing in KY. If they didnt, it would be illegal already.

[robc]

My bigger point is that these issues are nuanced.

There are wide swaths of counties in KY in which sale of alcohol is illegal. The majority of SoCons (see what I did there? I used a qualifier to signify it isnt a universal characteristic. In particular, the catholic socons in KY mostly seem just fine with alcohol sales.) in KY oppose legalized booze.

But gambling, specifically horse racing, is treated differently. Also the state run lottery, so there is that too.

[Ska]

If I saw slot machines at Keeneland I'd probably vomit.

[Ken Shultz]

"Al Gore slammed the NSA's surveillance program and predicted it will be reined in."

Why would any president, except maybe Rand Paul, want to get rid of the NSA's domestic surveillance program?

I think a president is more likely to sign a bill cutting his own pay.

The courts might reign it in, but I wouldn't count on the same people that signed off on the individual mandate and Kelo to do the right thing, either.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Hil-Dog or Big Boy won't reign it in. That leaves a strong possibility that it won't even be a campaign issue in 2016.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Twitter (TWTR) priced at $26 and will open at 9:45am.

[Ken Shultz]

See what happens when you roll out a website successfully, Shrike?

How come your stupid president can't do that?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Damn, it is going to open in the mid $40 range!

Those fucking bookrunners steal money legally.

[GILMORE]

Yeah, by having assholes like you constantly tooting their horns about it and drumming up ridiculously overhyped expectations. Bravo (slow clap)

[SugarFree]

You, sir, were on fire last night the LAPD thread. Kudos, GILMORE.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Is this the same GILMORE that is a Truther?

[SugarFree]

Fuck off, cunt.

[Citizen Nothing]

This is why there are no libertarian buttplugs.

[Rich]

Observers, aided by a full moon, will see 10 to 20 large fireballs every hour.

Emphasis added. CBS "News" strikes again!

[Slammer]

I supervise the cash registers for a major retailer. Yesterday we got a big poster and a glossy pamphlet about all the security features on U.S. currency. There's a stupid little Q and A in the back of the pamphlet that goes like this:

Q: What do I do if I find a bill I suspect is counterfeit?

A: If you receive a bill that you are unsure is legitimate, contact and turn the bill over to your local police. If it is real it will be returned to you as soon as possible.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

[UnCivilServant]

"We found trace amounts of cocaine, and will be seizing it as 'evidence'."

[The Late P Brooks]

Speaking of bullying...
I have been hearing little snippets of some story about "bullying" in the NFL, a notion so preposterous on its face I cannot believe it has even made a ripple on the surface of daily news. Based on what little I have seen, since I don't actually give a shit about football anymore, this is pretty much what I have gleaned:
Some Ivy Leaguer(?) made it to the NFL without ever figuring out that it is the ultimate in deadly unrestrained cutthroat competition for a limited number of highly sought after jobs, and that nobody was going to give him hugs and stroke his fevered little brow and tell him what a super special winner he is?

Is that pretty much it?

Didn't that dummy ever read Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot or North Dallas Forty?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-nobody was going to give him hugs and stroke his fevered little brow and tell him what a super special winner he is?

It was a bit worse than you describe, unsurprisingly.

[KPres]

Not really.

[Ted S.]

We don't want Stanford in the Ivy League, thank you very much.

That having been said, I agree with Bo, surprisingly enough.

[John]

You make a living doing violence and risking serious injury. I think telling some loud mouth to get bent should not be a problem. What is he going to do? Beat you up? Oh that happens to me 16 times a year on Sunday. So what else you got?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

From what I can tell this is a simple story of a man telling the company he works for that another man or group of men are bothering him. I do not see the problem with that. The fact that the work they engage in is rough seems non-responsive to me.

-What is he going to do? Beat you up?

Well, that is exactly what this guy seemed to threaten to do. I do not see it as out of bounds to report that to your boss when a co-worker does that.

[John]

Sure he did. And when you make your living doing violence to others, that is not much of a threat.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That is ridiculous John. You do not think, for example, that a police officer or a bouncer could be bullied by other police officers and bouncers, or that it would be less wrong because they make their living being physical with others?

[John]

That is ridiculous John. You do not think, for example, that a police officer or a bouncer could be bullied by other police officers and bouncers,

No. IF my bouncer can be bullied by another bouncer, he is not much of a bouncer because clearly he will be bullied by the customers.

Have you ever been involved in a profession that deals in violence? The culture around such professions is different than the culture of a normal office.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Again, ridiculous. A perfectly good bouncer could be beaten up and therefore bullied by another bouncer, or group of bouncers, ditto for any profession.

[KPres]

You're an idiot, Bo. I'm not even going to explain why, but I know you've never played a team sport, nor apparently, had male friends.

[KDN]

His teammate said some things that were hilariously vile and others that were, on the surface, just plain wrong. Said teammate also has a history of being a bit of a piece of shit, so he's not getting any of the benefit of the doubt.

Honestly though, I hear worse on a typical Saturday night with my buddies than what was reported. There's probably more to Martin's issue than the reported interactions.

[John]

The infamous voicemail was probably a joke. It is so over the top it is funny.

[Ken Shultz]

Seems to me the guy may have had some psychological problems already--particularly with anxiety. Not living up to your first round pick is probably a pretty hard thing.

Anyway, using racial slurs like that is especially stupid in the NFL, where the whole world is waiting for you to slip up so they can make a story out of it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The media is going to be upset about the racial slur more than anything else, which is silly to me. If there is a problem here it is the harassment of a co-worker by another co-worker. Now not every little thing that would fall into that category seems worthy of complaining to your boss about, but it can rise to that level. When it does, who cares whether the harassment involves racial elements? It is the harassment that should be problematic.

[KPres]

If there's a problem here it's that Martin is a pathological pussy.

[KDN]

Seems to me the guy may have had some psychological problems already--particularly with anxiety.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. He started every game as a 2nd round pick (which is very good), but he just got shifted to RT (which is technically a demotion). Could be this was the first time he dealt with any sort of personal adversity in his career and the constant ribbing set him off.

Incognito's an idiot, but there's more to the Martin story than just him picking on the guy.

[robc]

Apparently many of the teammates considered Incognito "black" so it was okay for him to use the terms but Martin is mixed-race and from an upper class family and wasnt considered "black".

[robc]

It seems Martin found the voicemail funny and had laughed about it with his teammates. But his family leaked it becasue they didnt see the humor.

[The Late P Brooks]

If you receive a bill that you are unsure is legitimate, contact and turn the bill over to your local police. If it is real it will be returned to you as soon as possible.

One of my former girlfriends, who owned a bookstore, got nailed with a counterfeit hundred. She said, "I paid for it, I'm keeping it." I think she had it framed.

[R C Dean]

Technically, I believe mere possession of counterfeit currency, not just trying to pass it, is illegal.

[Ted S.]

The guy wsan't counterfeiting; he was engaging in private-sector quantitative easing.

[Ted S.]

Woman throws cake in wrong-thinking Swedish politician's face

For some reason I can't find this on thelocal.se. And when Radio Sweden discussed this, they included a couple of listener comments which basically downplayed by saying the guy's a wrong-thinker. One of them said throwing a cake at somebody is less violent than using the wrong words.

[Ken Shultz]

The cake was a lie.

[Kid Xenocles]

I guess it's less violent than "or death."

[KMA Too]

+1 Anglican Inquisition

[Pompey]

employees who worked during the government shutdownare suing the governmentfor damages because they weren't paid on time.

Fuck these parasites raw over a barrel. Where was all the solidarity for my private sector furloughs for Q1 and Q2 2009 while these pieces of shit are spinning around in their office chairs, wiping boogers on the underside of their desks, and clandestinely rubbing one out in the office shitter for an "afternoon delight"?

I am fed up with these shitdicks moaning about delayed extra paid time off!

[Brett L]

I want a condition of the settlement to be that ALL Federal employees have to return any unemployment monies received during the time period with interest.

[The Late P Brooks]

One of them said throwing a cake at somebody is less violent than using the wrong words.

THEY ALL WANT CAKE.

[R C Dean]

Turns out OCare has a marriage penalty, too:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....00848.html

Why does Obama hate teh gaiz?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

If there is any justice Obamacare is going to be for Democrats in the next few years what Iraq was for Republicans from 2006-recently. If anything, it should be worse since Democrats more exclusively own the former and are still not running from it.

[Ken Shultz]

I'd like to think it will be worse because Iraq mostly happened to other people, but ObamaCare is happening to voters themselves.

It's one thing to be upset about stuff that happens to other people, quite another to be pissed off about what's happening to you.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well, the bill for Iraq happened to everyone, but I get what you are saying.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But Obamacare is directly affecting pockets. It was a redistribution scheme and you Yanks fell for it. I keep praying one society on earth can stand against tyranny...I Digress.

Iraq is part of the mandate of what government does in the interest of national security and thus doesn't impact your household budget in the same way.

I reckon.

[Drake]

And much pf the bill for Obama's debacle is itemized - not just mixed into the general budget.

[John]

Exactly. And the other thing is that it is really demoralizing to Democrat supporters. Some of the loudest most obnoxious Obamatrons I know have gone totally silent on politics since the end of the shut down.

Politics can be personal, especially for what I call mainline liberals. Most of the liberals I know are that way because they think being so is a way to signal that they are smart and tolerant. Well thanks to Obama, they have spent the last four years talking about how great this bill was going to be only to see it be horrible. It makes them look foolish and stupid and takes away one of the biggest reasons they are Democrats. Not sure what the long term fallout will be. But I can't see it being good.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

But that just fits my analogy; Republicans who supported the Iraq war went through a demoralization period before they started offering mea culpa's and different outlooks on that kind of thing. Maybe this demoralization among Democrats we are starting to see is their first step on a similar road.

[John]

The Iraq war split the right as different factions turned against it and others defended it. Obamacare is going to do the same thing to the left only worse since the Iraq war has an end and Obamacare doesn't.

Some liberals are going to defend it no matter what. Others will demand single payer. Still others will reach out to Republicans and try to fix it. All three of the groups are going to hate each other for it. It is going to be an open wound in liberalism for a very long time.

[NoVAHockey]

I circulated the propublica piece about the a couple who volunteered OFA types who were shocked that their policy was cancelled. it was either silence or "good. get fucked."

[The Late P Brooks]

Technically, I believe mere possession of counterfeit currency, not just trying to pass it, is illegal.

I'm pretty sure that was pointed out to her (not by me).

[Eduard van Haalen]

What would Troll Appreciation Thursday be without an item like this?

"Mommyish is a parenting website. We support all parents,including those who become parents by accident, and we also support people who don't want to become parents....

"I'm very pro-choice, and I can think of 10 reasons to have an abortion....

"Having A Baby Would Endanger Your Life...

"Your Birth Control Failed...

"You Don't Want To Have A Child Because Of Your Career...

"You Feel You Are Too Young...

"You Feel You Are Too Old...

"You Feel Strongly About Overpopulation...

"You Are Worried About The Health Of The Baby...

"You Want No Relationship With The Person Who Got You Pregnant...

"You Don't Want To Have A Child"

Read more: http://www.mommyish.com/2013/1.....z2jyLPdr8l

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Those seem like fair reasons to me. Is your position that everyone must potentially pay for the consequences of every sexual dalliance rather than, say, do harm to a single celled 'person'?

[Eduard van Haalen]

Why should a child (who by the time of the abortion is probably a bit bigger than a single cell, if that were relevant) pay with his/her life for a sexual dalliance?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-who by the time of the abortion is probably a bit bigger than a single cell

A lot of 'abortions' are 'day after' events. And most abortions occur before 12 weeks when your 'child' appears to be a weird alien that can fit in the palm of your hand.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Literally dehumanizing rhetoric. Dr. Seuss was right, "a person's a person no matter how small."

[Eduard van Haalen]

And I suppose you'd at least be OK with banning late-term abortions, when the fetus looks more "human"?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-when the fetus looks more "human"?

The look is not itself determinative, it is just a common sense indicator of what is, that an early term fetus or embryo is so far from what we think of as a person that it is absurd to grant it the rights we grant to persons.

What is determinative for me are qualities such as sentience, intelligence, and capacity for feeling. As you get closer to birth I become more supportive of protection of a fetus, but at the other end it becomes absurd in my opinion.

[Eduard van Haalen]

What would be a good cut-off time during a fetus's development when you would say, "OK, deliberately killing that fetus is now categorically illegal?"

I'm just trying to see if there's some part of the current status quo you'd be willing to challenge.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I could support some of the late term abortion bans I have read of.

Could you support the use of 'day after' abortion procedures?

[Eduard van Haalen]

I "could" do all sorts of things, but I sure don't want to support abortion.

[Eduard van Haalen]

And the interesting thing is that by supporting these late-term bans, you have branded yourself in the choicers' eyes - and in the eyes of much of the media - as an "extremist" who hates women.

But I, for one, welcome you to our ranks, if only for that limited purpose. No sarcasm intended.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I do not know what portion of pro-choicers or the media consider which specific late term bans to be 'extreme' or not (and of course there are other matters people consider, exceptions for rape/incest or health/life of the mother for example), but I also think some of those people you are talking about are worried about the slippery slope, with good reason since most anti-abortion people, like yourself, admit that you would like to protect one day old embryos as much as you would third term fetuses. I am not saying a slippery slope argument works here, just noting it.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Yeah, but before we can carry out the more sinister parts of our agenda, we'll need to do some more public education. It's not as if the courts would be willing to bypass the people and enact our full agenda for us, like they try and do with the other side. And our public education campaign would have to convert the judges as well. So in the short term, you're OK.

[KMA Too]

Speaking of slippery slopes...

an early term fetus or embryo is so far from what we think of as a person

And, who is this "we", Kemo Sabe?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Eduard, at some point things dehumanize themselves. If you saw something like a 12 week fetus on the street you would not think 'hey, look at that guy' or even 'hey look at that kid.' You would think 'what IS that?'

[Eduard van Haalen]

So, again, what about banning late-term abortions when they look more stereotypically human?

[Eduard van Haalen]

(see our discussion above)

[trshmnstr]

If you saw something like a 12 week fetus on the street you would not think 'hey, look at that guy' or even 'hey look at that kid.' You would think 'what IS that?'

Not Human

Not Human Either

(and i picked some of the nicer images that i saw)

Your "dehumanized" argument is a hop, skip and a jump from eugenics. There are all sorts of people with physical deformities, mental retardation, and other "defects" that would be completely abortable by your standards if they happened to still be in the womb.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Your tree man is not two inches long and light years as under-developed in matters like brain and neural formation as, say, a 10 week old fetus.

[KMA Too]

Oh, you mean like this?

[trshmnstr]

" Is your position that everyone must potentially pay for the consequences of every sexual dalliance rather than, say, do harm to a single celled 'person'?"

YES... that is exactly what my position is.

You have no right to consequence-free sex. Your child has a right to not be murdered* by scalpel and vacuum.

*Same caveat as always. There is an assumption on the pro-life side that a fetus is a person bestowed with human rights.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Joseph Cotto writes a Washington Times column, "The Conscience of a Realist." Here is one of his recentl realistic musings:

"Overpopulation: Should America have a one-child policy?

"...In order to proactively meet the challenges posed by overpopulation, [intellectual and politician Michael E.] Arth has proposed an immensely controversial program. Pushing all of the rhetoric aside, what is it all about?...

""I have proposed that all countries adopt a self-funding, choice-based, marketable birth license plan called 'birth credits.' Each couple could have one child for free, additional births would cost one credit each. In low-birth countries, like all of Europe, these credits would be free. In high-birth countries, the cost of the credit would still be only a tiny fraction of the actual cost of raising a child, so birth credits would function as a wake-up call to future costs.

""The wealthy would not buy up birth credits because birth rates correlate inversely to net worth through intelligent choices. Instead of socializing the costs of bad family planning, like we do now by encouraging the worst parents to have the most children, we should put a greater burden on individuals to make socially responsible decisions.""

http://communities.washingtont.....ld-policy/

[John]

"I have proposed that all countries adopt a self-funding, choice-based, marketable birth license plan called 'birth credits.' Each couple could have one child for free, additional births would cost one credit each. In low-birth countries, like all of Europe, these credits would be free. In high-birth countries, the cost of the credit would still be only a tiny fraction of the actual cost of raising a child, so birth credits would function as a wake-up call to future costs.

What is scary about that is that because he has put a market veneer over a horrible and destructive policy, there will be people on the Right and in Libertarian circles who should know better but will buy into it because they are seduced by the market veneer.

See for example Bailey, Ron believing in idiotic carbon taxes.

[NoVAHockey]

"wealthy would not buy up birth credits"

why not. if it's a commodity. perhaps there's an opportunity to buy some cheaply and see if they increase in value.

[John]

Of course they would. Babies are already a luxury item that many in the middle middle class can barely afford. If you created a market for birth permits having large families would become a status symbol.

Seriously though, what kind of a sick fuck thinks this is a good idea? The permits are only valuable if you throw people in jail for having unauthorized children. That is an idea that only an intellectual could be depraved enough to love.

[Eduard van Haalen]

And you'll be shocked to see that Cotto wants the Republicans to abandon "social rightism." Because it's just so divisive.

http://communities.washingtont.....-once-and/

[NoVAHockey]

" middle middle class can barely afford."

amen to that.

we have 1 kid. and when you run the numbers, having a second would be incredibly difficult. not impossible. but as a double-income professional couple in the DC area, I don't know how we'd make it work without significant cutbacks. if we both continued to work, with 2 kids we're looking at 40-50k annually in child care and school*. it would require one us to quit, give up half or salary and sell the house and move to the exburbs. or you pay a shit ton.

*yeah, i could send them to public. but i want them to actually receive a quality education.

[John]

We are facing the same issue if we are able to have a kid. My wife makes really good money, but day care is a fortune. What do you do, have her quit her job and lose her salary and be worse off or have her work and still be worse off but not as worse off but have her working for what ends up after the child care expenses not much better than minimum wage?

Add to that the long term effect on her career for quitting to take care of a child. Some day that kid will be grown and my wife will like to have a job and a career again. It is a difficult problem.

[Citizen Nothing]

We went through this when our twins were born and my wife left her professional job to become a stay-at-home mom. Fortunately we could swing it, but it cut our income in half and really changed our lives.
It was also the best thing we ever did.

[John]

I think you made the right choice. It just sucks taxes and housing are so expensive that it is a hard choice to make. I am of the firm opinion that whatever positive effects you have on your kid occur in the first three or four years. After that they are prewired and are going to turn out how they choose to turn out. But being at home with a parent in those first few years makes a difference.

[NoVAHockey]

for us, we were thinking I might quit. and maybe pick up a part time EMT job just for some extra cash and to get out of the house on a occasion. but the point stands. somebody is basically working to pay child care and taxes.

we've been having more and more "should we move" conversations. but we've got family in in the area. and it would have to be a total career change.

[OldMexican]

Instead of socializing the costs of bad family planning, like we do now by encouraging the worst parents to have the most children, we should put a greater burden on individuals to make socially responsible decisions

I want more Kim Kardashians and less Honey Boo Boos in mainstream, damn it!

[Rasilio]

"I have proposed that all countries adopt a self-funding, choice-based, marketable birth license plan called 'birth credits.' Each couple could have one child for free, additional births would cost one credit each. In low-birth countries, like all of Europe, these credits would be free."

So if the concern is GLOBAL overpopulation then why are these handed out on COUNTRY specific rules?

From a global standpoint a child born in France is no different than one born in Bangladesh

Ultimately the entire issue of "overpopulation" is irrelevant from a global perspective. Sure there are localities on the planet which can be shown to be overpopulated but we can easily support at least 11 billion humans on the earth without even needing to break out advanced technologies like seasteading or inhabiting the polar areas. Current midrange projections of world population show us leveling off at just a hair over 10 billion and there is quite a bit of evidence that we may never even reach that level of population

[R C Dean]

How, exactly, will these birth credits be enforced?

What if you have a kid without one? Does the State confiscate your kid? Since the point of the credit is that their be no kid, that would be pointless. The only way to accomplish the purpose of the birth credits would be to execute all unlicensed infants, wouldn't it?

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Those numbers ? namely the fact that there is so little difference in Sarvis support in counties with wildly different candidate preferences ? strongly suggest that Sarvis was a "none of the above" candidate, not a Cuccinelli siphon or a traditional spoiler in the mold of Ralph Nader."

http://thefederalist.com/2013/.....-election/

[John]

It was the single women who made the difference in that election.

But Sarvis being a none of the above, doesn't exactly give Libertarians much encouragement for getting 7%.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"That day with the disfigured man, the pope doubtless saw pain and suffering.

"But he also looked beyond that reality to see something more, something beautiful and precious.

"Pope Francis saw Jesus."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....saw-jesus/

[Brett L]

According to a friend of mine, the total proposed relief to state funded entities for claims adjudicated or settled for the 20

[Brett L]

According to a friend of mine, the total proposed relief to state funded entities for claims adjudicated or settled for the 2014 legislative session in FL is $57M plus 3 bills that have a TBD (one of which is the FAMU drum major beat to death by his fellow band members). So, about one dollar in every thousand collected by the state in 2013 will go to pay civil damages.

Don't know why this posted half finished.

[The Late P Brooks]

A while ago, as they were breathlessly covering TwitterLaunch, one of the Bloomberg Babes (since they are all about the truly important aspects of The story) asked some guy if they were going to have some of them there womynz on their Board of Directors.

The guy mumbled some generic platitude about the desperate need for diversity in these modern times, and staggered off. This, naturally, led me to speculate on the sorts of names likely to be tossed into such a hat. And, of course, this train of thought leads here: assuming a certain current First Lady even gives the remotest possible fuck about antiquated notions such as "the appearance of propriety" how long will it be until we are treated to the uplifting spectacle of one Michelle Obama being trotted out as a paid Director of an array of large American corporations?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Put Katy Perry on the Twitter BOD. She has the most followers (twits) of anyone.

[robc]

I would have responded with "that is up to the shareholders. Whoever they elect to the board is fine by me."

[itsnotmeitsyou]

obamacare website could only handle 1100 users day before launch docs show

What. The. Unholy. Fuck.

I once designed a website and back-end to host a live streaming feed that over a million people were simultaneously browsing. I designed and built the server configurations in less than a week. Seriously, 1110 people? I can't even imagine a server so crappy that it couldn't handle that. That must be some severely fucked up coding.

[Brett L]

They have a gigabit pipe and need to push a megabit per request-second to prevent timeouts? And that's assuming that there's a single pipe through a firewall somewhere with no load-balancing. Which, probably not super crazy that they put up something like that.

[Snark Plissken]

Did anyone give the young intern credit for his brilliant alt-text?

Well done, young Xenon, and may you remain ever noble.

[Citizen Nothing]

And I believe noble young Xenon is a Buckeye as well.

[GILMORE]

I'm going to have to put this in PM links later, but thought this was priceless =

Lululemon founder blames some women's bodies for yoga pant debacle

Jezebel? We need your input here on the crucial topic of "Fat People in Yoga Pants"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....8186.story

[BuSab Agent]

No just no. I am usually 100% against licensing schemes...but my repressed inner statist wants there to be a maximum allowable weight limit to yoga pants that is strictly enforced. It's a mental health thing; some things can't be unseen, for the childrenz.