Healthcare.gov Incorrectly Signs People Up for Medicaid, Snowden Addresses the European Parliament, Bob Filner Sentenced to Home Confinement: P.M. Links

• 

  San Diego

  Another glitch in Healthcare.gov: It's routing applicants to Medicaid, even when they're not qualified for that program, and threatening to leave them without any coverage at all.

• Edward Snowden will give evidence about spying to the European Parliament, despite much huffing and puffing by British Conservatives.
• Former San Diego Mayor and serial-groper Bob Filner was sentenced to 90 days of home confinement—including his entire apartment complex—and $1,500 in fines for charges including felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery. Stay away from the pool, folks.
• Iran's foreign minister says the long-awaited nuclear deal hammered out in Geneva is off the table if the U.S. imposes new sanctions.
• An FBI probe into jail misconduct led to the arrest of at least three Los Angeles County sheriff's officials so far, with more busts expected.
• Bitcoin—it's not just for cyberanarchists, any more. The virtual currency is gaining an increasingly mainstream following. Not that there's anything wrong with cyberanarchists.
• Catch Reason's own Matt Welch on The Independents, a new roundtable discussion TV program emphasizing economic and civil liberties. It's hosted by Reason.tv's Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (Kennedy), also features Kmele Foster, and debuts tonight on FOX Business Network at 9pm ET.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's routing applicants to Medicaid, even when they're not qualified for that program, and threatening to leave them without any coverage at all.

Even Stephen. What's the problem?

[PapayaSF]

Obamacare is just the gift that keeps on giving for us anti-big government types. Despite the cheerleading of fools like Krugman and our own dear Mr. Buttplug, I just don't see how this mess can possibly survive the next few years. As someone said somewhere, once the employer mandate starts to kick in next year and millions more (possibly tens of millions more) people start getting their plans changed or canceled, they'll be hunting Democrat politicians with dogs.

Untangling the whole mess will be difficult, but my idea is to use some of the money earmarked for Ocare to "grandfather in" the few people benefitting from their shiny new subsidized policies, but tear everything else down in a "big bang" of deregulation, aimed at making health care less expensive. Think Ludwig Erhard, 1948.

[Enough About Palin]

New, Improved Obamacare Program Released on 35 Floppy Disks

[font_of_stupidity]

+1 (A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail?

[Sevo]

Ctrl Alt Del

[gaijin]

a\: del

[Almanian!]

*pulls plug from wall*

[Raven Nation]

Rejecting technology will not help your recently announced presidential aspirations.

[Almanian!]

But I have the Luddite vote SEWN UP!

[Raven Nation]

Hmm, interesting strategy.

[db]

10 PRINT "WELCOME TO OBAMACARE"
20 REM BEST 1337 PROG JOB EVER
30 INPUT "NAME: " ,n$
40 PRINT "HELLO, " n$ ", " OBAMACARE IS SO AWESOME WERE TO BUSY. COME BACK LATER OK?"
50 GOTO 10

[Bobarian]

Needs more COBOL

[db]

That's actually the core code. The glue between the BASIC core and the web app is in COBOL.

[Brett L]

Oh my lord. My brain tried to crawl out the bottom of my skull at that thought.

[CE]

In FORTRAN, no doubt.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Catch Reason's own Matt Welch on The Independents, a new roundtable discussion TV program emphasizing economic and civil liberties.

Make sure to borrow Stossel's giant novelty scissors for maximum visual impact.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And lots of boxes to push over.

[Austrian Anarchy]

I declare...

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Catch Reason's own Matt Welch on The Independents, a new roundtable discussion TV program emphasizing economic and civil liberties. It's hosted by Reason.tv's Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (Kennedy), also features Kmele Foster, and debuts tonight on FOX Business Network at 9pm ET.

Will there be top hats and monocles?

[Root Boy]

Aren't they more like what you call cosmos?

I watched the lead in video link and didn't see any hats, but lots of hipster glasses.

[CE]

Jackets and cocktails.

[Austrian Anarchy]

Which size martini glasses will be on their desk?

[Brett L]

So that's Filner's official picture and nobody knew he was a groper?

[playa manhattan]

I'm pretty sure he moved into his apartment building for groping purposes.

[Sevo]

Agreed. That mug shot is one sleazy-looking individual.

[Loki]

I would have assumed pedophile before I would have guessed serial groper.

[Zeb]

Never trust a man whose mouth is wider than his eyes.

[wareagle]

it the Joker before the accident.

[Andrew S.]

That picture is terrifying. It's going to give me nightmares.

[PapayaSF]

Yeah, talk about reptilians in human form. Paging David Icke!

[jesse.in.mb]

in human form

I think you're stretching the term "human form" slightly too far.

[Brett L]

I do think the V lizard people did a better job.

[Alton Knutson]

I just showed the picture to all my kids with the admonishment: "If you ever see a guy with a smile like this, get away."

[Entropy Void]

Stitch!

Paging Lilo!

[Caleb Turberville]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/12.....th-n-word/

So, is "Obamacare" the new, edgy, urban slang that the kids are using?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Doesn't BO refer to it as Obamacare himself?

[wareagle]

but it's okay when he does it.

/prog pedant

[itsnotmeitsyou]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/....._blog.html

[Caleb Turberville]

How come it's okay for "them" to use it but not us?

[wareagle]

same claim that is used to justify use of the n-word...."they" can use it but "we" can't. You were expecting something rational?

[CE]

RomneyCare 2.0?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Doesn't BO refer to it as Obamacare himself?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

DAMN YOU SQUIRRELS

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

MSNBC is a lunatic asylum. At least Fox has the Judge, Stossel, and now Kennedy and Company.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

"I mean, what do you call the president who rescues the U.S. auto industry?" she said sarcastically. "Obamacare! What do you call the president who finally eliminates Osama bin Laden? Obamacare! What do you call the president who ends don't ask don't tell? Say it with me: Obamacare!"

But, Fox News is Faux News!

[Root Boy]

Funniest version of this lefty meme to me was when socialist became a racial slur and someone (maybe on this very board) wrote:

"Socialist, please"

I snorted coffee

[Juice]

That's Fox BUSINESS.

[Warty]

I sometimes see dipshits with "Obama DOES care" bumper stickers on their Priuses. (Prii?) No comment, just observing.

[Pro Libertate]

Priora.

[Almanian!]

Pussius

[mad libertarian guy]

It's the Latin for "Idiot Inside."

[Bobarian]

I thought it was greek for the guy with the constant erection?

[Pro Libertate]

You're thinking about the Toyota Priapus, which is the turbo-charged Prius coming out next year.

[Andrew S.]

I've been convinced for a while that woman is mentally ill (ever since the "Your children don't belong to you" incident). This only furthers that belief.

It's funny how many of my liberal friends who continually make "Faux News" jokes think MSNBC is just peachy. (Not like I enjoy anything on FOX News except for Stossel/Judge Nap/The Independents, but MSNBC somehow manages to be worse)

[AuH20]

There argument is that while Chris Matthews and Lawrence whatshisface are bad, Maddow and Melissa Harris-Perry completely redeem MSNBC and put it leagues ahead of Fox.

Seriously, I've seen the argument made on Gawker, during the Martin Bashir thing.

[Suthenboy]

Harris-Perry. Does anyone listen to that retard's affected screechings? It seems every single thing out of her mouth is something something racist racist something.

I guess all four MSNBC viewers do.

[Mad Scientist]

I think you meant, "thomething thomething rathitht rathitht thomething."

[Andrew S.]

It's down to 3, actually. Martin Bashir's mom stopped watching after he quit.

[Almanian!]

I've noted before - if there were a "Journolisp", Harrith-Perry would be on it...

[Raven Nation]

Lord, I know. I subscribe to ReasonTV via iTunes & have it set to auto download. But, when I see that it's a Reason person on an MSNBC show, I have to think twice/three times before watching. When they're on with MH-P, I've taken to deleting them unwatched.

[Calvin Coolidge]

She really does come across as "special". You know how drunk people who want to sound sober will do so by talking very deliberately and slowly, and will fool themselves into thinking you can't tell they are drunk. It is the same thing with MHP. She's a stupid person who believes that if she talks very deliberately she can sound intelligent. It doesn't work.

[CE]

Let me be clear... this strategy, can work...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

She's some piece of work.

No, really.

She's retarded.

[AuH20]

Honestly, I think she may actually be developmentally disabled, to the point where I'm not comfortable calling her a retard because it might be a dick move.

[XM]

So MPH was wrong when she said Detroit was a libertarian project gone wrong? Man, do I feel stupid.

[VG Zaytsev]

Does anyone listen to that retard's affected screechings?

Her students?

[LynchPin1477]

But no matter how many successes that he had as president

How many is that? No, seriously. He successfully got Obamacare passed, and look how that has turned out. That big stimulus package didn't exactly do wonders to help the economy. He isn't even trying to get all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. He hasn't united Washington or the country. He hasn't gotten immigration reform passed. He hasn't gotten any climate change legislation passed. His administration is as transparent as a brick wall. I'm really struggling to think of even one thing.

[Pro Libertate]

His election ended racism forever?

[LynchPin1477]

It's funny how, after he was elected, it was a sign that America was entering a post-racial era, but every single day since then has just been proof of how racist America is.

[Pro Libertate]

He's probably set back race relations a full decade.

[Dweebston]

He got those things passed. That's the only metric for success lefties have, besides getting elected/reelected, which he did, too. Therefore he's a successful president, because Things Happened and Something was Done.

Effects and consequences don't figure into the leftist calculus.

[Gene]

He hasn't gotten any climate change legislation passed.

That's not exactly a bad thing.

[LynchPin1477]

I forgot about DADT and bin Laden. I think any president would have gave the bin Laden mission a green light, but whatever, I'll give him those two. He could use the help. But that's sort of like saying Ryan Leaf would have lived up to the hype if he had just managed a wild card appearance.

[CE]

But DADT was Bill Clinton's big accomplishment.

[An Innocent Man]

In His defense, global warming HAS stopped. That's gotta count for something.

[CE]

As we witnessed on NFL Sunday.

[Juice]

If he manages to leave office with friendly (friendlier) relations with Iran, that would be a major accomplishment in my book.

[db]

As I pointed out earlier, I talked to one of our cefeteria ladies today, who seemed upset. She had canceled her health insurance policy because she though she would get a better policy at lower rate under Obamacare. She found out that the policies available to her are not as good and cost $50 more per month. She's part time and says she can't afford that now.

[font_of_stupidity]

A part-time cafeteria lady? What's an extra $50 per month to those one-percenters like her?

[robc]

Its a special level of stupid to cancel a policy before you have the new one priced out.

[db]

No argument here but I feel bad for her. It's likely she wouldn't have been able to keep the old one either.

[robc]

Any reason she cant get it back? Has it moved into the next month or whatever?

[db]

All I know is what she told me. As I said, it was likely she couldn't have continued it anyway, as it was a "garbage policy" that Obama said she didn't like anyway.

[robc]

I misread that, I thought you said she could keep it. Nevermind, if it was going away anyway, her behavior isnt so irrational.

[CE]

He didn't say she could keep it, Obama did.

[robc]

Ive generally found insurance companies more than willing to back date things if you havent had a claim in the gap.

[Anonymoose]

There should be a law that you can't cancel your insurance unless you get a new policy first. Now if she gets sick we'll ALL have to pay.

[Killaz]

Yes, because the overhead on externality cost due to the free riders thereabouts of around 5% was just so much more expensive than this quasi nationalized overhaul of Obamacare.

[Juice]

It depends on whose calculations you trust but the number I read was something like 2%.

[Killaz]

Me too. 5.x percent is the highest I've heard used in study measures so I used it because even that isn't 1/100,000 as bad as the projections for Obamacare (2.9 trillion in waste is the one on my mind, and that's a mere ten year cost total).

[CE]

Do you want to go back to the old way of 95% of us paying a 5% premium for the uninsured, or do you want everyone to pay 20% more so it's fair?

[Emmerson Biggins]

Its a special level of stupid to cancel a policy before you have the new one priced out.

We are taliking about an Obama voter here. I doubt the stupidity is that special.

[Suthenboy]

"I talked to one of our cefeteria ladies today, who seemed upset. She had canceled her health insurance policy because she though she would get a better policy at lower rate under Obamacare."

She cancelled her policy before checking? How on earth did this brain trust end up working part-time in a cafeteria?

[Killaz]

From db's clarification, it sounds like she got advanced notice that the policy would not meet the requirements under the new laws so she took action.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Edward Snowden will give evidence about spying to the European Parliament, despite much huffing and puffing by British Conservatives.

I still don't know why the Brits continue to be Obama's bitch after his borderline disdain for them.

[Loki]

He has an embarassing video involving the queen, prince Charles, several MPs, and a flock of sheep who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Sevo]

So it's the sheep who are embarrassed?
Can't say I blame them. The royal family is embarrassing.

[Enough About Palin]

It is rumored that Joe Pile is also on said video.

[Almanian!]

"borderline"?

I kinda felt like he was WELL over the border into outright "Britain? Britain is my BITCH!" territory.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

You'll love this one.

Dear Prudence: Help! I had amazing sex-filled weekend with my best friend. How do I explain I want to date her without having sex?

I have never been a man who enjoys casual sex. It's always been more enjoyable to me when I'm with a woman with whom I have an emotional connection. For some time, I have been in love with my best friend Chelsea. Recently we went on a road trip for my birthday, and one thing led to another, and we spent a weekend in bed together. The sex was thrilling, amazing, and, even better, we've decided to start dating. I know we've had sex, but until we're more serious, I'd like to stay out of bed. Chelsea has a high libido and I'm worried about offending her or weirding her out. It's stupid, but I feel like I'm emasculating myself. I feel ridiculous turning down sex with the woman I love, but this would make me more comfortable. How should I start this dialogue?

I don't even know.

[Brett L]

Dear Prudence,

God just dumped the perfect scenario in my lap and I'm going to fuck it up because I'm a goddamn idiot.

[robc]

That ones easy:

M: How about we hold off on sex for a while?
F: No.
M: Okay, that works too.

[robc]

I would also point out:

I have never been a man who enjoys casual sex. It's always been more enjoyable to me when I'm with a woman with whom I have an emotional connection.

okay, and he follows it with:

I feel ridiculous turning down sex with the woman I love

THATS BECAUSE YOU HAVE AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH HER.

[wareagle]

it's folks like him who made O-care into reality.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I think we can all agree to pitch in and make sure this man does not reproduce.

[playa manhattan]

None of these are real. Prudence isn't even trying anymore.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Idk, the first line of her answer is great:

Obviously, you could tell Chelsea what you told me?except I'm concerned what you told me doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Lady Bertrum]

None of these are real. Prudence isn't even trying anymore.

I know it's bs because of the 'high libido' part.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I was gonna say, Prudence is nothing more than Penthouse Letters for Cat Ladies.

[Brett L]

That is horrible. I spit eggnog everywhere.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How should I start this dialogue?

How about, "I'm in the closet."

[jesse.in.mb]

That's terrible, but the thought did flit through my mind.

[Suthenboy]

I learned a long time ago that when that flits through your mind, it is for a good reason.

[Brett L]

"I want you to know that you were the best woman I ever had, but..."

[Warty]

This can't be real. Assuming it is, this poor girl-man is the poster child for TRT.

[Zeb]

If she's your best friend, then you already have a strong emotional connection. And if your first sexual encounter was "amazing" then you probably have the right kind of emotional connection. So stop being a dork. You have exactly what everyone wants.

[db]

This guy has been cursed by the "best guy friend" thing for so long that when he actually breaks out of it with a girl he wants to crawl back.in. seriously, I would bet that he has been "best friend" to several women that have moved on to other men and doesn't know what to do when it goes right for him.

[Clich? Bandit]

sooo, wiley coyote caught the roadrunner?

[db]

Pretty much. Or he's so closeted that he can't bring himself to.admit it anonymously to Prudence and has to make up the fact that he enjoyed the sex.

[Suthenboy]

"I'm worried about offending her or weirding her out."

It sounds like he thinks there is a chance he might not weird her out.

Do her a favor dude, tell her now before she invests in you any more than she already has.

[Almanian!]

I have never been a man who enjoys casual sex.

Then you're not a "man" and I don't need to read any further, girl-who's-writing-out-some-weird-fantasy.

[Root Boy]

Yeah, sounds like those Christian girls who re-virgin themselves or something.

[lap83]

Of course it's possible that it's a girl, but if there are women out there who like casual sex...doesn't it follow that there would be men who don't? Although granted, men with lower testosterone.

[Almanian!]

no

[AuH20]

Eh, I've never been a huge casual sex guy myself, because if it's good, I want it to continue on a less-than-casual basis, and if it's bad, what the fuck was the point?

But yeah, this guy is a fucking idiot.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Sometimes you're bored and just want to get it done. Doesn't have to be great sex, doesn't have to be anymore than casual. Most guys I know have those girls who they call up when they are bored and/or drunk. The dependable fucks. And girls do the same thing.

Sex with somebody you have an emotional connection with is much better, IMO. But, between romantic encounters, these casual encounters fill the gap.

[LynchPin1477]

That's friendzoning on a whole other level right there.

[Killaz]

He got to comfortable there. Now he has to move out.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"How should I start this dialogue?"

Chelsea. Two words. Anal.

[cavalier973]

It's always been more enjoyable to me when I'm with a woman with whom I have an emotional connection.

I'm aware that some men have stranger fetishes than this.

However, I agree that this probably isn't really a guy; guys don't write to "Dear Prudence".

[Killaz]

More powerful, yes. More enjoyable, hell no.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Iran's foreign minister says the long-awaited nuclear deal hammered out in Geneva is off the table if the U.S. imposes new sanctions.

Whatever. It got people to stop talking about Obamacare for a few days.

[Loki]

Former San Diego Mayor and serial-groper Bob Filner was sentenced to 90 days of home confinement?including his entire apartment complex?and $1,500 in fines for charges including felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery.

I'm sure anyone else would have gotten off just as light. I guess he'll be jackin' it in San Diego.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's creepier looking than Jagger circa Emotional Rescue.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://freethoughtblogs.com/bu.....verything/

The functional difference between glibertarianism and nihilism is close to zero.

[Brett L]

He refused to admit that this was a problem until I asked him how farmers would continue to exist. They buy seed on credit and pay back the loan when the crop comes in. If there is no entity in existence that can offer that first loan, how are people going to plat crops.

Uhh. First of all, letting some banks that make bad loans go under isn't the same as shutting down ALL banks. Second of all, banks are not the only way to get a loan. Third, this isn't the 1840s where Pa mortgages the back 40 every year for seed.

[robc]

Im pretty sure my grandparents never mortgaged anything for seed. Or for anything else.

I dont know for sure, but they seemed pretty damn "pay upfront with cash" type of people.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I never saw anyone like that in those movies about farmers.

[Root Boy]

Yep, more like a mortgage for farm implements. Those John Deeres are like gold.

[Brett L]

I was going to say that. The payments on the combine with the leather, A/C and stereo probably cost more than the seed.

[Almanian!]

"Now, you'll be wantin' the TrueCoat? on that, then...."

[Juice]

I'm guessing the difference in price between the combine with leather and ac is about 0.1% so you go with those options.

[CE]

Farming is hard work. If I'm going to ride on a tractor all day for nine months before taking the winter off, it's dang sure gonna be air conditioned and have leather seats. And where's my subsidy for not planting the back 40?

[Brett L]

Well, they were probably successful farmers. But it does seem to be a trope, sold both during the 1840s-1890s during the birth of rail, and again during the 1930s that farmers lived hand-to-mouth and always had the farm mortgaged to near failure because of the greedy city folk who bought tons of wheat for pennies and sold loaves of bread for dollars.

[Raven Nation]

The Populists used a version of it in the 1890s.

[CE]

If only there were some way to make your own bread.

[Brett L]

To be fair, Wickard v. Filburn filled that loophole.

[Caleb Turberville]

They're like pissy high schoolers who are too cool for everything: this sucks, that sucks, this is gay, that's lame?yet they never actually explain how anything could possibly work in their world, save for some nonsense about the gold standard.

Drone-killing, the Drug War, and the national debt are like...totally gay.

[Warty]

I like his use of "glibertarian". You think he takes seriously anyone who writes about "Democraps"?

[General Butt Naked]

I though Tulpa made that term up.

Not that another idiot couldn't have come up with it independently.

[Root Boy]

Who came up with Demoncrats...or DemoRats? If you are going to revert to name calling, be more creative.

[mr simple]

There's no point in trying to reason with these people:

LOL, is Minnow seriously trying to argue that property rights are more fundamental than personal autonomy? And that the moral positions of libertarians are OMG totally rational, you guys, and not based in any way on emotion?

This is why libertarians are such a joke. All moral arguments are emotional and not rational. You cannot derive any moral positions from a set of facts. At some level, all moral arguments are based on feelings about how people should act.

And property rights are derived from the government which only makes it that much more absurd when libertarians try to treat it as a fundamental property of the universe.

[Caleb Turberville]

And speech rights are derived from the government which only makes it that much more absurd when libertarians try to treat it as a fundamental property of the universe.

I can do this all day.

[Mad Scientist]

Hey, I was really enjoying my delusion that all was not lost. Thanks a lot, ms.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And property rights are derived from the government which only makes it that much more absurd when libertarians try to treat it as a fundamental property of the universe.

No. What's absurd is that I still haven't gotten my 20 acres and a donkey.

[Bobarian]

+1

That's some funny shit there!

[Agammamon]

It doesn't work that way - instead your black half got your 40 acres/mule . . .

. . . from your white half.

[CE]

Property rights are short hand for trying to live in a civilized manner in society. Without stealing anything from anyone else.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://freethoughtblogs.com/si.....class-war/

Noam Chomsky writes:

If you care about other people, that's now a very dangerous idea. If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That's not going to happen if you care only about yourself. Maybe you can become rich, but you don't care whether other people's kids can go to school, or can afford food to eat, or things like that. In the United States, that's called "libertarian" for some wild reason. I mean, it's actually highly authoritarian, but that doctrine is extremely important for power systems as a way of atomizing and undermining the public.

[Pro Libertate]

Idiot savant.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Chomsky just blew the top off of the dipshitometer.

[db]

Noam Chomsky: Protector of the Realm, Slayer of Strawmen!

[Andrew S.]

I ain't even mad, honestly That's some of the most incredible doublespeak I've ever seen. That takes talent.

[Warty]

These people are incapable of separating the ideas of caring for your fellow man and violently forcing them to behave the way you think they should. He would have made a great Spanish confessor.

[Loki]

Noam Chomsky is a retard. Also, in a shocking discovery, it turns out the sky is blue, grass is green and water is wet.

[Clich? Bandit]

women have secrets and Milla was SMOKING HOT in that movie.

[CE]

just like every other movie she was in.

[wareagle]

it never dawns on people like Noam that is perfectly normal to care about other people and even to help those people WITHOUT believing that govt should force everyone else to help them, too.

[lap83]

I don't really want to read the whole thing, so does he explain how it is authoritarian to want less governmental authority? Or does my hatred of children and love of starvation just blind me from the truth?

[SusanM]

Leaving people to mind their own business is authoritarian? Oh, so they're somehow entitled to the work of others.

[OldMexican]

I mean, it's actually highly authoritarian[...]

Not caring about the kids of someone you don't even know is "authoritarian."

The derp is strong with this one.

[alan_s]

Yes, because non-aggression = not caring about other people.

[The Late P Brooks]

Straight from the "unexpected study reults" desk:

Despite a loss of about $10 billion on the General Motors bailout and $2 billion on the Chrysler bailout, the government ? and the economy ? is better off, according to a new study.

With the U.S. government expected to sell its final shares of GM stock anyday now, the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research today released an updated version of a previous study arguing that the collapse of GM and Chrysler would have cost a lot more than the bailouts.

CAR estimated that the U.S. would have had 2.631 million fewer jobs in 2009 and 1.519 million fewer jobs in 2010 if the two auto companies had disappeared. The study also estimated the government "saved or avoided the loss of" $105 billion in lost taxes and other payments.

I'm glad an unbiased neutral source has laid to rest my doubts about the economic effects of this program on the economy as a whole.

[Not an Economist]

Of course the estimate is accurate. They used the same economic model that said we would be on our 3rd straight year of 5% GDP growth after the Obama Stimulus.

[The Last American Hero]

So when these companies go tits up and come back to Uncle Sam in 2017, did the bailouts work? When other favored industries point to the bailouts when trying to circumvent bankruptcy laws, did the bailouts work? Just askin'.

[LynchPin1477]

Weren't the auto bailouts going to make the government a little bit of money? Why am I not surprised that didn't work out.

[Mad Scientist]

Yeah, the automotive bailout nonsense has been one of my favorites. If the bailouts were going to make money, investors would have rushed to the aid of General Motors and the government wouldn't have needed to lift a finger. That the investors were jumping ship was all the information you needed to know that the government bailout would be a losing proposition.

[mad libertarian guy]

Yeah, the automotive bailout nonsense has been one of my favorites. If the bailouts were going to make money, investors would have rushed to the aid of General Motors and the government wouldn't have needed to lift a finger. That the investors were jumping ship was all the information you needed to know that the government bailout would be a losing proposition.

But EVUL WALL STRETE!!!!!

[CE]

Because no one could have possibly bought up the assets of GM and Chrysler and started a viable car company with them.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

New York hit by invasive species of cockroach that can survive freezing winters

A species of cockroach native to Asia that has been seen crawling around an outdoor tourist destination in New York City can survive the city's often brutal winters, according to a new study.

Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have identified the resilient pest as Periplaneta japonica, which is native to Japan. Until an exterminator saw the bug last year crawling around the High Line, an elevated, outdoor park in lower Manhattan, it had not been confirmed in the United States.

While it was too soon to predict the implications for nearby residents and businesses, the bug's appearance could be good news, researchers said.

"(Cockroaches) combined numbers inside buildings could actually fall because (the) more time and energy they spent competing (for food and space) means less time and energy to devote to reproduction," said Rutgers biologist Dominic Evangelista, who helped identify the species by analyzing its DNA barcode.

How the bugs got to New York was unclear, but researchers speculated they were in the soil of one of the plants festooning the park.

We should send in the pythons.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Summon Mira Sorvino to the Big Apple!

[Brett L]

New York hit by invasive species of cockroach that can survive freezing winters

They're just now discovering Bloomberg?

[mr simple]

How pathetic are the Brits that they're creating stings on their own dime to entrap people for the police?

Tulisa Contostavlos will be charged with helping to supply Class A drugs to an undercover journalist, it was announced today.

From the article:

Contostavlos's lawyer Ben Rose said: 'As has been widely reported this entire case has been manufactured by the Sun on Sunday and Mahzer Mahmood, sometimes known as the fake sheikh.

'They spent a large amount of their readers' money in flying Tulisa and a number of her friends first class to Las Vegas. There Mahmood posed as a film producer offering her a ?3million film contract.

'The law clearly forbids such conduct on the part of police. It is ironic that the police should rely on it when it is the work of a journalist.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

At least pick a crime with a victim.

[Anonymoose]

That would be hard.

[jesse.in.mb]

Meanwhile in Russia

News agency RIA Novosti and the state-owned Voice of Russia radio will be scrapped and absorbed into a new media conglomerate called Rossiya Segodnya [translated: Russia Today], according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.

The move is the latest in a series of shifts in Russia's news landscape, which appear to point toward a tightening of state control in the already heavily regulated media sector.

In a separate decree published Monday, the Kremlin appointed Dmitry Kiselyov, a prominent Russian television presenter and media manager recently embroiled in a scandal over anti-gay remarks, to head Rossiya Segodnya.*

Head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov said the changes were about saving money and making state media more effective.

The scandal was over comments made on national television to the effect of:

I think that just imposing fines on gays for homosexual propaganda among teenagers is not enough. They should be banned from donating blood, sperm. And their hearts, in case of the automobile accident, should be buried in the ground or burned as unsuitable for the continuation of life.

[jesse.in.mb]

But don't worry Reasonoids:

The direct translation of Rossiya Segodnya is Russia Today, but the new body will apparently be separate from RT, the Kremlin-funded English-language television channel originally known as Russia Today.

[db]

Yeah, I was wondering if Reason would get around to reporting on this. Putin is becoming for all intents and purposes a new Tsar.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Somebody has been watching too much Sam and Dean.

Has Russia completely lost its shit?

[jesse.in.mb]

Has Russia completely lost its shit?

*shakes magic 8 ball*

"Signs point to yes"

[Suthenboy]

I just remembered to donate to the Reason webathon. I watched the banner for a minute or two before donating. I see all kinds of shenanigans are being played with it.

Warty hates you all?

Chuck Shumer's moobs?

Excellent.

Also, My reason donations come out of my gun budget. People that know me would be shocked.

[Warty]

Shenanigans? I really do hate you all.

[Brett L]

"Hey, Farva, what's that restaurant you like?"

[Anonymoose]

+1 pistol whip

[LynchPin1477]

Mmmm, pistol whip

[playa manhattan]

Speaking of gun budgets, I just realized that I haven't used mine this year.

What do I need? What are all the cool kids shooting these days?

[mad libertarian guy]

Speaking of gun budgets, I just realized that I haven't used mine this year.

What do I need? What are all the cool kids shooting these days?

What do you want to do? Hunt? Shoot shit a long ways off? Pistol blast some shit? Defend yo shit while on the go? Defend yo shit at home?

I have nice rifle (Cooper) for sale if you like small calibers.

[playa manhattan]

I'm looking for something to keep the King of England from pushing me around. Maybe an AR-10 clone that's California compliant...

[Generic Stranger]

And yet you completely failed to take the chance to commit shenanigans yourself.

[The Late P Brooks]

How should I start this dialogue?

"Honey, there's something you should know. I'm gay."

[Bobarian]

The fact that this completely falls out of the thread makes it look like a confession...

NTTAWWT

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

The War on Public Employees

For many years the American Right -- and many of the most powerful elements of corporate and Wall Street elite -- have conducted a war on public employees.

Their campaign has taken many forms. They have tried to slash the number of public sector jobs, cut the pay and benefits of public sector workers, and do away with public employee rights to collective bargaining. They have discredited the value of the work performed by public employees -- like teachers, police and firefighters -- going so far as to argue that "real jobs" are created only by the private sector.

Last week a conservative court ruled that by going through bankruptcy the city of Detroit could rid itself of its obligation under the state constitution to make good on its pension commitments to its retirees.

It should surprise no one that the Republican Chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan, is demanding that a budget deal with the Democrats include a 350 percent increase in pension contribution by all civilian federal employees. That would effectively mean a pay cut of about 2 percent for every federal worker. And that cut would come after a three-year pay freeze and multiple furloughs caused by the Republican "sequester."

He then goes on to defend the downtrodden and exploited state employees and unions of Illinois.

[Warty]

going so far as to argue that "real jobs" are created only by the private sector.

I don't know how I would speak to someone who could write this drivel. It would be like trying to speak to someone who doesn't like deep-dish pizza - there's just no common ground.

[Andrew S.]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Lets slow down here.

Chicago Pizza is not pizza. It's an abomination, concocted by Satan himself to fool people.

[Warty]

IT IS A 2 INCH SLAB OF GREASE AND CHEESE. "Pizza" or not, to not enjoy it is inhuman.

[Pro Libertate]

It's such bullshit that people claim not to like it. More proof that people are insane.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Haggis pizza. Don't knock it until you've tried it.

[Pro Libertate]

Sounds delightful.

[Almanian!]

Deep-fried haggis on a stick. In Glasgow. It's GOOD. Shut up.

[Pro Libertate]

What about deep-fried haggis pizza on a stick?

[hamilton]

Warty in 100% correct in this. The deep-dish arguments in this forum are about the word pizza and not the inherent deliciousness.

[Pro Libertate]

Actually, I don't think this is true. It's more about dimensional prejudice, 3 versus 2.

[hamilton]

Then they'll really get pissed when I deploy my tesseract version.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Eh, I don't like quiche despite whatever nomenclature you use.

[Pro Libertate]

What if I called it. . .an omelet?

[Pro Libertate]

Exactly. When I read Episiarch's comments, for instance, all I see is "Dur, dur, dur."

[Loki]

I don't know how I would speak to someone who could write this drivel.

Don't bother. Just rip their head off, shit down their neck stump, and use their heads for a flower pot. That way, for once there would be something in there other than empy space.

[robc]

Republican "sequester."

That was the one Obama agreed to, right?

[R C Dean]

If by "agreed to", you mean "proposed", yes.

[Pro Libertate]

How weird that it's public record that he did that, yet the media lets him and his ilk get away with blaming the Republicans. SEQUESTER! NEOCONFEDERATE TEABAGGERS!

[The Last American Hero]

Well to be fair, Obamaquester doesn't roll off the tongue like Obamacare.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

And it gets even worse:

Cutting back on the public sector -- and demonizing public employees -- has nothing whatsoever to do with economic necessity -- or with "redirecting" our resources into "more productive" uses. In fact, just the opposite.

The greatest threat to our economy is the shrinking buying power of everyday Americans and the growing concentration of wealth in the 1 percent. Economic inequality is a cancer growing on our society.

Fact is that if ordinary people don't get a proportionate share of the income from increased economic productivity, it stands to reason that they won't have the money to buy the products the economy produces. That leads to economic stagnation and recession, it's that simple.

Every economic and political decision we make should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases that economic inequality. When it comes to public employee pensions and wages, the corporate elite tries to convince ordinary people that the choice is between "lavish" benefits to public employees or education for our kids. They play upon the resentment that most ordinary people feel that their incomes have been stagnant for three decades to pit them against middle class public employees.

[Warty]

Every economic and political decision we make should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases that economic inequality.

"The sky is green and Lena Dunham is attractive!"

[playa manhattan]

All of the pizza talk made me hungry, but now I'm too grossed out to eat.

[General Butt Naked]

...but now I'm too grossed out to eat.

Ooh, the famous "Lena Dunham's ass looks like a cheese pizza" diet!

[Almanian!]

*BARF!!!*

You MOTHERfucker!

[Sudden]

Now, I will never eat pizza again. Deep dish or conventional.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Should I buy the carbon neutral or fair trade coffee beans? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?

[NoVAHockey]

"Every economic and political decision we make should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases that economic inequality."

we're doomed.

[Loki]

Every economic and political decision we make should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases that economic inequality.

He went full retard.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Every economic and political decision should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases economic inequality

So by that metric it would be appropriate to carpet bomb Martha's Vineyard. It would reduce economic inequality by causing a loss to the rich people and giving regular people jobs!

[Libertymike]

Lots of broken windows to fix!

[LynchPin1477]

If that is the lense through which we are viewing every economic and political decision, then it would make the most sense to just sieze the assets of all the rich and give them away to the poor, right? And while we're at it, we might as well just off the 1% anyway. No one wants to hear them complain.

[Sudden]

Alternatively, a mass genocide of the poor would result in reduction of income inequality as well. Just sayin'

[OldMexican]

You guys have it all wrong. THIS is the worst part:

Fact is that if ordinary people don't get a proportionate share of the income from increased economic productivity, it stands to reason that they won't have the money to buy the products the economy produces.

"IF we don't plunder the productive, why, the economy would stagnate! Simple!"

[OldMexican]

Every economic and political decision we [sic] make should be viewed through the lens of whether it reduces or increases that economic inequality

"Hmm, should I wear leggins or jeans with this tank-top? Oh, wait, would that help reduce inequality in the world?"

Economically-ignorant pseudointellectual lefty confuses Economics with economic policy.

[Root Boy]

Man, there seems to be a million of these stories out there. I guess the combo of Detroit and Obamacare debacles is making the derpy progs lash out. It is beyond parody since there is a ton of data on how much the public employees make compared to private.

Detroit was paying it's retirees 13 months of pay (same story in Greece).

And Chomsky thinks the country is full of starving kids who can't go to school because they have no money.

[Root Boy]

Oops. Replying to the Viscount

[OldMexican]

Last week a conservative court ruled that by going through bankruptcy the city of Detroit could rid itself of its obligation under the state constitution to make good on its pension commitments to its retirees.

Progressive syllogisms 101

Judge grants bankruptcy protection to city.
Bankruptcy would place public employee pension plans in jeopardy.
Ergo, judge is conservative.

[CE]

They have discredited the value of the work performed by public employees -- like teachers, police and firefighters...

It's funny how they keep bringing these up, thinking that we still automatically respect the people who take these jobs, and that their pay and benefits are nothing compared to the gratitude we owe them for their service.

[The Late P Brooks]

a budget deal with the Democrats include a 350 percent increase in pension contribution by all civilian federal employees. That would effectively mean a pay cut of about 2 percent for every federal worker.

So, their contribution goes from ten to thirty five buck per month?

Oh, the horror.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

350% contribution increase equals 2% of take home? That means they were only contributing 0.5% of their salary to begin with. Cry me a fucking river.

[Almanian!]

IT'S LIKE CUTTING THEIR PAY, PB! CUTING. THEIR. PAY!!

[jesse.in.mb]

Pulling down a statue of Lenin in the Ukraine on 12/08/13.

I can't say my Sunday was THAT productive.

[playa manhattan]

Mine was. I drank beer and watched shit blow up.

[Almanian!]

Man, that's living!

[playa manhattan]

True DAT! Especially since the beer was Pliny.

[jesse.in.mb]

Much fancier than the Labatte Blue I had last night.

[playa manhattan]

I take from your Facebook post that you missed the fireworks?

[jesse.in.mb]

I didn't even know they were a thing. I heard them last night and wondered what they were for and where they were.

[playa manhattan]

You missed out:

http://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.....6934_n.jpg

[Almanian!]

Ohhh - Blue's my boy beer!

Nothin' wrong with that.

[Almanian!]

Ima stretch a little, and say that even NOT having beer, watching shit blowed up real good is fun.

Kind of like going to the range with my son last weekend. No beers - bien sur - but $120 of lead downrange later, we felt REALLY GOOD!

THEN we went home and drank...

[playa manhattan]

I haven't tried mixing alcohol and guns. Yet.

[Brett L]

I did have a deputy sheriff ride up on us in Early County, GA while we were shooting guns on a friend's uncle's property... celebrating his passing. The deputy just wanted to tell us that he'd be checking up on the property until he knew they had someone on it pretty regular. Three Bud Lights over two hours, but I think its probably better to just not mix the two.

[Enough About Palin]

Bitcoin?it's not just for cyberanarchists, any more. The virtual currency is gaining an increasingly mainstream following. Not that there's anything wrong with cyberanarchists.

Okay, a single bitcoin is worth $1,000.00, so how do I use it to purchase a twenty dollar book?

[Brett L]

Its pretty much infinitely divisible. Well, to 64-bit floating point precision. You can pay 0.02 BTC.

[robc]

My SealsWithClubs poker account currently has .02758 btc in it.

Yes, Im down a bit, had a few bad nights.

At $1k per btc, that is $27.58.

For those that havent seen my posts on this before, sealswithclubs.eu is a bitcoin poker site. Which makes it a hell of a lot easier to get money out (and in) than dollar poker sites. The kind of people who own bitcoins tend to be marginal at poker (myself included).

[mad libertarian guy]

The kind of people who own bitcoins tend to be marginal at poker (myself included).

Sounds like the long con is on.

[Raven Nation]

I hear people have the same problem with the Triganic Pu.

[Clich? Bandit]

Bitcoins, being just numbers, can be spent in increments. You would pay the price and your account would go from 1 to .998 bitcoins

[Clich? Bandit]

.98 and DAMN MY SLOWNESS.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Lincoln was *assasinated*?"

http://www/humanevents.com/201.....y-matters/

[Eduard van Haalen]

The Human Events link doesn't work, but at least I almost spelled "assassinated" correctly.

[mr simple]

You should try a dot between the www and humanevents rather than a slash.

[cavalier973]

Here.

(look at the "www" portion of your link to see what went wrong).

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Why I believe Jameis Winston's accuser

I've represented clients charged with sexual assault on less evidence than Meggs had against Winston. Significantly less, actually. My clients, usually poor minority men with no shot at the Heisman, were never given the option of "declining" to be interviewed by the police. Meggs may not have been pressured to close the case against Winston, but given the knee-slappin' good time and Meggs's palpable relief at the press conference, it's hard to imagine that Meggs wasn't at least partly influenced by the public flogging he took from FSU fans and alums when he charged defensive tackle Travis Johnson with rape in 2003, and lost.

I don't know what happened between Jameis Winston and his accuser. Given what I've read in the police reports and the fact that the victim was clearly frightened, at least initially, of pressing charges against Winston, I'm inclined to believe her. I also know that, after a woman is raped, the prospects of a police interrogation and cross-examination are frightening. So frightening in fact, that many of us choose to keep quiet.

I know that every time we see one of these "we can't prove it" press conferences, it confirms what many rape victims have grown to believe: Unless there are severe injuries and/or witnesses to the rape, it's not even worth reporting it.

The law is reason FEELZ with passion.

[playa manhattan]

Jesus.

[Brett L]

tl;dr version: "Please, please like me. Even though I am a defense attorney."

[Andrew S.]

I actually had just come back here from reading this and was about to post it.

I have serious doubts that woman is really a defense attorney. If she is, she's not a very good one.

My clients, usually poor minority men with no shot at the Heisman, were never given the option of "declining" to be interviewed by the police.

So I'm sure you brought up those blatant Miranda violations at trial, right? Because I'm pretty sure that every single person, Heisman trophy contender or not, has an absolute right not to talk to the police.

[playa manhattan]

She didn't even bother to address some of the details that I would consider very important.

The accuser said she was attached by a 5'11" man, and then weeks later decided that it was 6'4" Jameis Winston? Sorry, I just don't believe her.

[Almanian!]

COME SEE THE WOMAN HATER! RIGHT HERE, EVERYONE! WOMAN HATER! MISOGYNIST SUPREME! HERE HE IS! WITNESS HATRED OF WOMEN, PERSONIFIED!

/bitchy male progtard

[Brett L]

Its a big fucking mess. Some friend of hers who was black out drunk called the cops and her family. I guess once mommy starts blowing up your phone, the only thing to do is go for a rape kit, eh?

[Loki]

I know that every time we see one of these "we can't prove it" press conferences, it confirms what many rape victims have grown to believe: Unless there are severe injuries and/or witnesses to the rape, it's not even worth reporting it.

Well, for better or worse, those severe injuries and/or witnesses are what's known as "evidence." Without which most of these cases end up coming down to "he said, she said" and, like it or not, we do still have the presumption of innocence. I guess she'd rather put the burden of proof on the the defendant. At least for rape cases, because PATRIARCHY or some shit.

[hamilton]

Party of Science!

[Pro Libertate]

There are quite a few people in prison for rape, so it's not impossible to prove. Of course, the state has a huge burden of proof in any criminal case, so there's no doubt people have gotten away with rape due to problems with the evidence (or with the prosecution). Like every other crime.

[Jordan]

So, recently a politician gave a speech denouncing taxation as theft and approvingly quoting Murray Rothbard. That politician was Godfrey Bloom, a member of the European Parliament, of all places.

Mr. President, I am minded to quote the great American philosopher Murray Rothbard here. The state is an institution of theft. Tax is just about a system of politicians and bureaucrats who steal money from their citizens to squander in the most disgraceful manner. This place is no exception.

Fascinatingly, and I really don't know how you manage to keep a straight face when you are talking about tax evasion. The whole commission and the commission bureaucracy avoid their taxes. You don't pay taxes like citizens pay taxes. You have all sorts of special deals: tax rates, high tax thresholds, non-contributing pension schemes. You are the biggest tax avoiders in Europe. And here you sit pontificating, well the message is getting home to the people of the European Union.

You are going to find that eurosceptics are coming back in June, in ever greater numbers. And I can tell you worse, as the people get your number, it won't be long before they storm this chamber and hang you. And they'll be right.

It appears nowhere is safe from the Kochtopus.

[LynchPin1477]

Say what you will about Europe, but their system makes it easier for minority voices to at least get a foot in the door. That be both a good and a bad thing.

[Jordan]

Yeah. Nigel Farage and Steve Baker are other examples.

[Raven Nation]

" it won't be long before they storm this chamber and hang you"

SHIT! Kudos to the guy for being this blunt. Could you imagine the shit-storm that would erupt if something like that was said in Congress?

My only question is, will the EuroMPs be executed before or after the advertising department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corp.?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Wow, I really enjoyed hearing somebody say that so elegantly to these politicians faces.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

97 year old World War II veteran charged with the murder of great granddaughter

Russell Eugene Dawes, 97, is accused of shooting and killing his great-granddaughter.
Thursday morning, deputies found Sonja James, 30, dead in her bed from a gun shot wound to the chin.
Rodger Floyd, the director of Davis Funeral Home in Cushing, said he answered a call at 8:50 a.m. Thursday from Dawes. Dawes told him he needed help with a dead body.
When Floyd arrived at the house just a few miles west of Cushing "he met me at the door, he told me, he'd shot his granddaughter".
He's known the elderly man since the 1980s and handled many funeral arrangements for Dawes in the last 30 years.
Floyd believes the great granddaughter moved in a few months ago to take care of Dawes.
Deputies said Dawes told them, "I got tired of her carrying on, and I shot her".
Floyd said while at the home "I never did feel like I was in danger at all. I stood beside him from the time he told me that, until the time the police officer got there. I stood right beside him. I would have done anything to help him. He had no gun, I was not scared of him whatsoever."
The 97-year-old, with no previous criminal history, now faces a felony.

I guess there's no effective deterrent to crime at that age.

[Jordan]

If we'd banned AR-15s, this never would have happened.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"I got tired of her carrying on, and I shot her"

The Axl Rose school of familial relations

[BigT]

OJ: what am I? Chopped liver?

[PapayaSF]

Dementia.

[The Late P Brooks]

Also, My reason donations come out of my gun budget.

I need a bigger gun budget.

I haz a sad.

Although, I did just get the frame for another 1911 build, so I've got that going for me.

[Suthenboy]

Decided on a caliber?

[OldMexican]

Healthcare.gov Incorrectly Signs People Up for Medicaid

Yeah. "Incorrectly". Sure it is.

Sure it is.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Combatting London's Knife Crime Epidemic

That silly argument that if guns were banned, people would just use knives to kill each other -- that's just crazy libertarian talk!

[Almanian!]

Yeah, ask that beheaded soldier in London about that.

OH WAIT, YOU CAN'T.

[Medical Physics Guy]

This killing is back in the news this week, because the trial is on. The guy is totally unrepentant, says he's not guilty because it's a holy war on.

I assume as usual, the Brits will just roll over and take it in the usual place.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Man drinks $102,000 worth of rare whiskey

The owner of an historic inn in Pittsburgh has brought charges against a former tenant she says was supposed safeguard 50 bottles of vintage whiskey valued at more than $100,000 but drank it all instead.

The owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast, Patricia Hill, found 104 bottles of Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey when she bought the historic mansion and converted it into a bed and breakfast. It had originally belonged to Pittsburgh businessman J.P. Brennan.

The whiskey had been distilled in 1912 and given to Brennan in 1918, she told ABC News affiliate WTAE.

"There were four cases, 52 bottles, manufactured by an old distillery here in the Township that went out of business many years ago," Barry Pritts, chief of police in Scottdale, Pa., said today.

He said the bottles had been made and sold before Prohibition and then passed down.

The Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey was part of a collection of historical whiskey believed to have been consumed by Henry Frick and Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s in Pittsburgh, Rick Bruckner, the chef at the South Broadway Manor, told WTAE.

[LynchPin1477]

J.P. Brennan

I wish we referred to people by their initials more often these days.

[Rhywun]

Right? You just know he wore a monocle too.

[Heroic Mulatto]

John Saunders, 62, was a caretaker who lived in the basement and was expected to safeguard the booze.

Yeah. There's your first mistake, lady. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of "alcoholic" is "62 year old man who lives in a basement".

[CE]

Well, I safeguarded it purty good all right for a fortnight or two. Then I noticed it was an ounce or two low anyways, so I figgered what the heck, why not try it, them folks'll never notice. But dang if that wasn't the best tastin' dad gum whiskey I ever did drink. So's I had another sip or two the next day, and the day after that. And by then there was sho' enough no hidin' it, so I says, bottoms up old friend, bottoms up...

[cavalier973]

No more hot sauce.

[playa manhattan]

They already did the chili grind this year. They have 12 months of supply before things start getting weird.

I'm willing to switch to Sambal Oelek (made at one of their other factories) if it really comes down to it.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Can't they make it in Mexico or something?

[playa manhattan]

They should have. Apparently, the City of Irwindale gave the owner a deal he couldn't refuse, though.

[AuH20]

Now, you too can be a student in Mellisa Harris Perry's class by following along with her Black Feminism syllabus!

Last week, whilst schooling Michelle Cottle on her insipid "Michelle Obama is a feminist nightmare" article, Melissa Harris-Perry quipped, "You might want to read up a little bit on black women and our feminism. I'm happy to send you a syllabus." To which the Internet responded, "Um, yes, please do."

Very happily, that quip has now become reality: here is MHP's suggested reading list on black feminism. It's an amazing, inspiring, hugely necessary resource, and it covers a wide breadth of theory and history. Take a look, educate yourself, share it, use it to augment your holiday wishlist, bookmark it for future use, print it out and turn it into a vision board, etc etc.

Also: please comment with any additional texts you think deserve a spot on the syllabus!

For those who refuse to give Jezebel clicks, here is the syllabus

Yes, this is the same "Obamacare is like the N-Word" and "All your children belong to the government" woman. And the Jezzies think her and Maddow make MSNBC vastly superior to FAUX NEWZ!!!

[AuH20]

Also, we should totally do a Reason book club to read through this crap. It'd be more like a book club/AA meeting, given the sheer amount of alcohol it would take for me to read that.

[jesse.in.mb]

Weren't you going to do a "I read it so you don't have to" on Marcotte or something?

[AuH20]

I was, before I returned it the library unread. I just got busy. It is still on my to-do list, though.

I'm just thinking it will be Lovecraft meet crazy feminist drivel. My slow descent into madness documented for the world to see.

[Bobarian]

"It is still on my to-do list"

Sounds like a do-do list.

[califernian]

"When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks it Down."

This is contender for the best non-fiction title of all time. I can only imagine how amazing the content is.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

College: An island of authoritarianism in a sea of free speech

This fall, students at Yale University fielded the first Republican candidate in 20 years for Ward One alderman of New Haven, Conn. Ward one encompasses the majority of Yale's central campus. Desperately seeking to overthrow the secure Democratic incumbent, Sarah Eidelson, student volunteers for the underdog Republican, Paul Chandler, canvassed campus with posters, fliers, and the like. However, their actions were met with administrative reproach and threats of discipline.

Yale officials asked Ben Mallet, a sophomore at Yale and Chandler's campaign manager, to take down Republican campaign signs across campus. For failing to do so in the less-than-24-hour period requested, for postering in his dormitory, and for hanging a banner from his window without permission, he was sent to the Executive Committee, Yale's disciplinary-review board.

I spoke with Mallet to confirm the reports. "We started to put up leaflets, put up posters, as did our opponents," Mallet tells me. Posters of both campaigns were strewn throughout the campus's residential colleges. Then Richard Schotten, the master of Mallet's residential college, e-mailed Mallet directing him to take down all the posters because his office had not approved them. "Eidelson's campaign wasn't disciplined by Yale at all," Mallet says.

[AuH20]

I mean, it's possible that the Democrat groveled to the appropriate administrator and got approval... but knowing colleges, this isn't likely the case.

I was in college in 2010, and had a lot of fun making the Student Recreation people get really uncomfortable looks on their faces when I asked, "There was viewing party for the 2008 elections... why none for the 2010?"

(Official answer, BTW: The viewing parties were supposedly put on by the College Democrats. Which is funny, because I don't remember the school advertising that in 2010. They made it seem that it was their idea and their show)

[Raven Nation]

It's like that "event" where College Democrats gathered every year on the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War to plant flags and read off the names of all the US casualties. It was "not political" and was simply to commemorate US losses. No prizes for guessing which year was the last year most college Democrat groups held the ceremony.

[cavalier973]

Dude, if you want to maintain some sort of "conservative purity", why are you attending Yale?

[Jayburd]

End result of American education. http://www.alternet.org/belief.....-1-problem

[Jayburd]

"Why Atheist Libertarians Are Part of America's 1 Percent Problem
Thinking Ron Paul is a genius because he's anti-war and anti-drug law is like thinking a Big Mac is good for you because it has lettuce and a pickle."