Texas To Require Architects Get Fingerprinted, Uruguay Set To Legalize Marijuana, Spanish-Language Obamacare Site Launches: P.M. Links

Credit: Justin Hoch/wikimedia

• Texas will require that architects who apply for an occupational license or are seeking to have a license renewed be fingerprinted as of January 1, 2014.
• The Russian defense minister has said that the Russian military will have 500,000 soldiers on permanent contracts within a decade.
• Lawmakers in Colorado are worried that Denver will not have enough pot on hand to meet demand when recreational marijuana becomes available in the state on January 1, 2014. Bill O'Reilly is not happy about The Denver Post hiring an editor to cover marijuana, who he thinks will be in the business of "promoting intoxication." In other marijuana-related news, Uruguay is expected to become the first country in the world to legalize the sale of marijuana today.
• The Spanish-language version of the Obamacare website has been launched.
• At least five have been killed amid looting in Argentina, where police are refusing to patrol the streets until their salaries are increased.
• Twitter shares topped $50 today, a new high.

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.  You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here. 

Have a news tip? Send it to us!

Comments

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

The Spanish-language version of the Obamacare website has been launched.

Si te gusta el plan de salud que usted puede mantenerlo!

[jesse.in.mb]

5 people before Fist. Does anyone have his address, someone should look in on him.

[Episiarch]

He finally got that shipment of goofballs that I sent him. He should be comatose for a while.

[jesse.in.mb]

How will he defend himself against the ever present threat of being Warty’d if he’s comatose?

You sir are a monster.

[Episiarch]

Of course I am. Who do you think collaborated with Warty to get FoE comatose in the first place? That sneaky little fucker was avoiding Warty’s…ahem…attentions far too well.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Once again, my monstrous accessory spleen makes me immune to all diseases and intoxicants. No, I was just at home moving funds around to cover a $50,000 check I recently wrote.

[Brett L]

I knew a guy, a PhD chemist who came up in the early 70s who was so effective at manufacturing Quaaludes that he believed he had killed several of his test subjects, but they were just too bombed to answer the phone or the door for about 12 hours. As he related it, it was like a Hunter S Thompson deal. He was getting ready to head for Mexico when his friend called him up and explained to him in very slurred jargon that that was the best shit ever, and could he buy the rest?

[Episiarch]

God damn I wish I could get Quaaludes in this day and age. I’ll have to settle for my knockout, super high indica strain weed.

[Killaz]

A drummer friend of mine who followed in his fairly well known Jazz musician father’s footsteps was embarrassed by at a party when he heard that the old man was asking around for Quaaludes. I told him not to be. Those were the shit.

[Ted S.]

So he wasn’t embarrassed that his father was asking for drugs per se, but was embarrassed that Dad was asking for Quaaludes?

[Killaz]

Exactly. This was 2002, and Quaaludes couldn’t be anymore passe. Everybody was stoned. It was a mini little lapalooza of local bands we use to do every year at an estate by a pond. Am American Idol guy owns that land now for sentimental reasons. People brought their families. We got high.

[Killaz]

Chris Daughtry! Couldn’t think of his name even though we floated in the same circles.

[AlmightyJB]

Ah good ole qualuudes. I those days and nights I will never remember. I did enjoy hearing the all the stories the next day about the fun I had. Life of the party.

[OldMexican]

Si te gusta tu plan de salubridad, te puedes quedar con tu plan. Punto.

Si te gusta tu doctor, te puedes quedar con tu doctor. Punto.

Si te gusta que te chinguen por el culo, te puedo chingar por el culo. Y Punto.

[Specail Sauce]

Punto. More like Puto.

[OldMexican]

Only if you liked to be f&*ed por el culo.

[AlmightyJB]

3, 000, 000 residents of Mexico now have medicaid.

[grrizzly]

I’m thinking about flying to Montevideo myself.

[Zeb]

That area is one of the places I’d most like to go in South America. One of the most amazing waterfalls in the world is right around there somewhere.

[playa manhattan]

Iguazu?

[grrizzly]

It’s actually really far away from Montevideo. It’s close to Paraguay, not Uruguay.

[Zeb]

Yes, that’s what I was thinking of. Don’t know why I thought it was between Argentina and Uruguay. For some reason I thought it was just up the river from Montevideo/Buenos Aires.

[Mad Scientist]

At least five have been killed amid looting in Argentina, where police are refusing to patrol the streets until their salaries are increased.

I’m sure none of them are participating in the looting. No. Nuh-uh. No way, Jose.

[gaijin]

I’m assuming firearms are illegal for the proles?

[Episiarch]

IT’S A THIN BLUE LINE

…as long as they get the raises they want.

[gaijin]

Not enough pot on hand! Maybe they should ask our neighbors to the south to lend a hand?

[Zeb]

I’m sure there is plenty of pot of much higher quality than you would get from Mexico in Denver right now.

[Episiarch]

Local boutique weed is all over the place in Washington, far better than some Mexican cartel shit weed. I assume Colorado is the same.

[Clich? Bandit]

Trust me, I don’t even smoke and I can tell you there is certainly no shortage of high quality weed in Colorado. Period. We have had the Crop Report on the radio for the last 5 or 6 years and it has been pretty consistent in price excepting some inflation. Good shit out of Boulder is usually the highest price but I think that is cause college kids are dumb and will pay anything

[Pro Libertate]

What’s this about Russia? Are their soldiers currently independent contractors then?

[Snark Plissken]

I believe they are trying to switch from a conscription army to a professional one.

[Pro Libertate]

What they should be doing is figuring out a way not to be totally dependent on oil revenues.

[Snark Plissken]

In other words, monetize dash cam footage.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. They’ve already sold all of their women, and I think they’re running into competition with their baby-selling business.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Bill O’Reilly is not happy about The Denver Post hiring an editor to cover marijuana, who he thinks will be in the business of “promoting intoxication.”

Bill O’Reilly is a statist shit bag.

[gaijin]

An O’Reilly eh? I’d guess he knows a thing or two about intoxication.

/stereotyper

[BakedPenguin]

I was driving to the store an hour ago, and Hannity mentioned the reporter. Surprisingly, he wasn’t nearly as hostile as I thought he’d be.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Bill-O is fighting for the “folks” against us pot-smoking Establishment Clause supporters.

The WAR ON CHRISTMAS, you know.

[Tonio]

Cranky socon is cranky. And he thinks that about every beverage and spirits editor and writer, too, right? Right?

[Ted S.]

As long as he goes after Robert Parker for his lousy taste.

[Emmerson Biggins]

Hannity is a socon. And a rabid partisian.

I don’t really think BillO is a socon. I think he is just an asshole.

[#]

I think Bill O is mostly a person that errs to the traditional with a reactionary impulse and a modest populous streak, rather than an actual principled socon.

And an asshole of course.

Hannity is mostly just a partisan flack, though might be fun at a bbq.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Hannity is an insufferable lying prick.

He still says “Obama won’t let us drill in the USA” every fucking time I turn the dial to WSB redneck radio in Atlanta. And we are #1 in energy production now with drilling up 300% since 2009.

I hate liars more than I even do racists.

[Bobarian]

So… what you’re saying is that you hate yourself?

That would make it unanimous.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Only because he can’t do anything about drilling on private land.

Mendacious fuck.

[Killaz]

Law and Order reactionary pretty much sums him up.

[Killaz]

For O’Reilly. As bad as he can be as a partisan, Hannity has scruples. I don’t see anything hold BO back from being a Total Statist.

[Virginian]

He definitely didn’t go after Obama when he interviewed him.

[Brett L]

Thus his ongoing war with Beer Advocate and Wine Aficionado, eh?

[Dead or In Jail]

I’m sure the eloquence of the Hit ‘n Run commentariat could persuade the DeBary City Council of the folly of regulatory overreach. I’m equally positive that they are dying to know what y’all think. Remember: Yes to chickens; No to abusing autistic children.

Remember to be polite, concise, firm, and POLITE.

Council Member Nick Koval
[e-mail]
296 Adelaide Street
DeBary, Fl 32713

[phone]

[gaijin]

hah! DeBary FL. I did time there when I was a kid visiting a relative. I’d think they’d be ok with chickens everywhere…they sure have geese crap everywhere.

[Rich]

I see Nick is a grandfather. Shipping the kiddies some chicks care of him is polite, right?

[Sevo]

“and POLITE.”

I’ll pass on calling the fucker.

[Restoras]

I’ve heard, but cannot confirm, that Mr. Nick Kovil may be an ovine fornicator.

[Rich]

No one can deny the possibility.

[Enough About Palin]

Poultry was what I heard. He likes the feathers.

[Andrew S.]

The Mayor, who seems to have a brain, is certainly getting the message (though he rightfully voted in favor of the ordinance in the first place)

Mayor Bob Garcia said Monday the city’s vote is bringing it unneeded attention at a time when the focus should be on job creation and selling some of the city’s foreclosed homes. He has fielded calls from all over the country, he said.

“We are the laughingstock,” said Garcia, who voted in the minority to extend the chicken program for two more years. “This baby called the chickens ‘ducks.’ Now he calls the chickens ‘chickens.’ “

[Andrew S.]

Also, what’s “polite” in this situation? Is it polite or impolite to accuse Mr. Koval of having a bad habit of fornicating with chickens? Is it impolite to tell him to go fuck himself with a railroad spike? I’m not too good at this etiquette thing.

[Killaz]

So, what are you going to pay me to keep it eloquent and polite? It sounds to me like you have a price. Cough it up, and we’ll see.

[Bam!]

Bill O’Reilly is not happy about The Denver Post hiring an editor to cover marijuana, who he thinks will be in the business of “promoting intoxication.”

Wonder if any alcohol companies run ads during his show.

[Slammer]

He obviously never watchs NFL games.

[Sevo]

Wonder if he tells the sommelier to take a hike in a restaurant.

[Episiarch]

Lawmakers in Colorado are worried that Denver will not have enough pot on hand to meet demand when recreational marijuana becomes available in the state on January 1, 2014

Seeing as demand is already being met by black market dealers, I don’t really see this as a problem. But I guess I can’t expect “lawmakers” to be able to see outside their moronic legislative bubble.

“Oh noes, we’ve legalized it and suddenly there is demand; we’re too blind and stupid to realize the demand was there–and met–all along!”

[Mad Scientist]

I’m more concerned about the imminent Doritos shortage.

[Episiarch]

I stick to pork rinds. No carbs, you see.

[T]

Beef jerky.

[BakedPenguin]

Lawmakers in Colorado are worried that Denver will not have enough taxable pot on hand to meet demand when recreational marijuana becomes available in the state on January 1, 2014

Seriously, WTF else would they care?

[Episiarch]

Because they’re retarded control freaks who cannot believe that markets and trade go on outside their control and consent (and skimming off the top with taxes)?

[BakedPenguin]

Good point. The ability of statists to believe in the efficacy of government and the inability of price coordination to move resources – despite the massive amounts of evidence otherwise – is impressive in a sad twisted sort of way.

[Brett L]

But SOMEBODY must set prices!

[Restoras]

retarded control freaks who cannot believe that markets and trade go on outside their control and consent

This is what Tony believes.

[alan_s]

What was that thing called? Something about the pricing mechanism or such?

[waffles]

The Russian defense minister has said that the Russian military will have 500,000 soldiers on permanent contracts within a decade.

How big are modern armies? Is that a lot? It seems like a lot.

Don’t they know that the future wars will be fought by robots? Seems like a jobs program for idle men (and women!)

[jesse.in.mb]

We had a few nuclear weapons and they had tanks. We have some drones and they have a large number of soldiers.

Actually, I have no idea, is that a lot?

[Episiarch]

It’s a lot, but compared to the US military numbers (4 million?), it’s not so much. But compared to anywhere else it’s a fair amount of soldiers.

[Zeb]

This is off the top of my head, but I thought the US had around 1 million people in the military.

[Sevo]

~1.5M http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U…..med_forces

[Bobarian]

We had close to 4M in the military during Desert Storm and are much smaller now.

[Raven Nation]

Not a great comparison I admit but, in 1941, Red Army had 4.8 & conscripted about another 30m during the war.

500k: given that they have a lot of border to defend (esp. with China), doesn’t seem like a whole lot.

[Virginian]

Except they aren’t lined up on the border ready to throw the Asiatic Hordes back. Even if they did have a war, which looks less likely considering they’ve had joint exercises recently, they have plenty of space to trade for time to concentrate.

The Russians have actually been attempting to get a modern army with effective long service professionals armed with decent weapons, moving away from the old “quantity has a quality all its own” model they’ve been using for the last three hundred years.

[Brett L]

We have something like 3.5M total military personnel, I think.

[Steve G]

Not even close, we’re more like 1.5M active and less than a 1M reserve, but that’s as of a couple years ago. We’re down and dropping some more. If the Russians are talking strictly Army, that would them about on par w/ us for soldiers.

[Francisco d Anconia]

We have about 1.4M in our military. 541k Army, 195k Marines, 333k AF, 317k Navy, 42k CG.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Thats active duty.

There is another 850k in the Guard & Reserves.

2010 numbers.

[Restoras]

Of that number, how many are in the business of pulling triggers?

[Sevo]

In WWII, ~10% were front-line infantry.
Dunno how things are arranged now.

[Francisco d Anconia]

That’s a tough one. Depends on how you define it. If you get shot at but don’t shoot back are you a trigger puller? Is a radar operator on a ship a trigger puller? How about the C-130 pilot who drops troops behind the lines?

All of the Marines. 1/2 to 2/3 of the Army? 1/3 of the Navy? 10% of the AF?

[Restoras]

I am asking because although it seems like a large number, the number of those that do any actual fighting is relatively small, right?

[Bobarian]

Yes, my back of the envelope math says we had 10 divisions in the Army. A Division has about 4 Brigades. A Brigade has ~1500 ‘trigger pullers’. That adds to about 60K trigger pullers in a 550K Army, so 10 percent is about right.

[Francisco d Anconia]

This gives a history of the breakdown in the Army.

Looks like 40% of the troops in Iraq were considered Combat troops. (see page 51)

Back in WWI it was about 53% (pg 13)

[Swiss Servator, Alps avast!]

Everyone was a trigger puller in Iraq and Afghanistan…whether we wanted to be or not!

[db]

Yeah Colorado totally needs a central marijuana planning commission to ensure adequate supply of tractors.

[Jordan]

The low bar of peer review has gotten even lower:

Randy Schekman, a US biologist who won the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine this year and receives his prize in Stockholm on Tuesday, said his lab would no longer send research papers to the top-tier journals, Nature, Cell and Science.

Schekman said pressure to publish in “luxury” journals encouraged researchers to cut corners and pursue trendy fields of science instead of doing more important work. The problem was exacerbated, he said, by editors who were not active scientists but professionals who favoured studies that were likely to make a splash.

Burn the heretic!

[BakedPenguin]

Related – Warty linked to Feynman on school books.

[Clich? Bandit]

Saw this on HN yesterday. An encouraging sign if you ask me. Like that teacher of the year who said during his acceptance speech that public school was akin to child abuse or some such thing.

[Medical Physics Guy]

That is great. And he is right.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

First private mission to Mars announced

An ambitious project that aims to send volunteers on a one-way trip to Mars unveiled plans for the first private unmanned mission to the Red Planet today (Dec. 10), a robotic vanguard to human colonization that will launch in 2018.

The non-profit Mars One foundation has inked deals with Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to draw up mission concept studies for the private robotic flight to Mars. Under the plan, Lockheed Martin will build the Mars One lander, and SSTL will build a communications satellite, the companies’ representatives announced at a news conference here today.
[…]
The goal of the Mars One mission is to establish a permanent settlement on Mars. The nonprofit aims to send groups of four people to the Red Planet every two years, with the first group slated to launch in 2022. Lockheed Martin and SSTL have partnered with Mars One for the initial unmanned supply mission, planned to launch in 2018 ? two years later than initially planned.

[gaijin]

Uh, excuse me. Do you have the appropriate license to launch this mission? We need you to show that your crew is diverse, has attended gender equality courses and that your rocket meets all environmental regulations for mars….which we haven’t yet written.

/Jealous NASA lobbyist

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

LIBERTOPIA HAS BEEN FOUND!

[The Last American Hero]

Insert obligatory mention of the book “The Martian”. If you haven’t read it, you should.

[db]

Oh, and I would have been first if it weren’t for Hit and Run’s horrible compatibility issues with Android browsers.

[jesse.in.mb]

When you tap into a text box does it jump to the top of the page and make it impossible for you to type? I fucking HATE that. The browser on my 1st gen Kindle doesn’t do that though.

[Episiarch]

1st gen Kindle? What the fuck are you, a caveman? Jesus Christ, jesse, go get a Paperwhite or get the fuck out.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

I’m pretty sure he meant Kindle Fire.

[jesse.in.mb]

Sorry, 1st gen Kindle Fire. Was looking at the HDX or the Nexus 7, but I don’t really use it enough to justify the splurge and I figure I’ll wait until after my trip to Berlin to make a decision on it since you never know if an escort will steal your shit and I apparently have to sample 1,000 of them in 12 days.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

Was looking at the HDX

BRO, DO YOU EVEN #HOLO?

[Episiarch]

A Kindle Fire? What the fuck are you, a caveman? Jesus Christ, jesse, go get a Paperwhite for real reading or get the fuck out.

[Ted S.]

A thousand Kindles or a thousand escorts?

[jesse.in.mb]

@ Thane: If Amazon would let me watch my damn Prime eligible video on a straight Android device I wouldn’t look back. I mostly got it as a starter tablet to see if I’d use it much. I haven’t really.

@ Episiarch: Thought about it, but I use the Fire more for video watching than reading. I’ve still got a bunch of paper books I’m using and use the Kindle app on my phone or web browser to do a lot of ebook reading when I have downtime.

@ Ted: Escorts.

[Episiarch]

Whatever, jesse, read your luminescent screen instead of the e-ink screen. Your loss. I’m off to the range now anyway.

[Pro Libertate]

My first gen. Fire is having battery issues, which annoys me. We have an iPad, so it’s not a big deal, but still.

Haven’t acquired a Paperwhite for reading; still using the original Kindle. When it dies, I’ll get another e-ink device, depending on whatever rules at that time.

[db]

1. Anytime I scroll downward on a page withing about 2-3 minutes on initially loading it, it jumps to the top.

2. About 80% of the page is filled from the right by an invisible box that links to amazon.com, so if I accidentally tap in that area I get taken to amazon.

3. About 25% of the time, pressing the submit button takes me to a blank page labeled “post” in the URL field. Hitting the back button reloads the previous page and erases my comment.

4. And others I can’t think of right now.

[seguin]

Mine does that shiznit. Hate it. Can’t comment while pooping…is that how man was meant to live? Nay, I say.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

Have you ever tried with Firefox for Android? I haven’t, but it has a different rendering engine than most Android browsers (Gecko vs WebKit/Blink) so it might work differently.

[db]

I have an older android phone that I can’t get chrome for, don’t know about firefox. I have a great ASUS tablet but no matter what browser I use (stock or chrome) the javascript on the hitandrun page makes the loads terribly slow and the pages time out a lot.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

Even on my Nexus 7 2013 H&R is a bitch.

[Andrew S.]

I can load H&R just fine on my Nexus 5 on Chrome, but it’s impossible to type anything; the text boxes don’t even come up. Guess I should try downloading Firefox.

[jesse.in.mb]

I did some quick experimentation and if I use the undock feature of SwiftKey the page doesn’t jump to the top. Other than that every time I click in a typing box it jumps to the top of the page and closes the keyboard.

I’ll file this away for posting from Berlin.

[Episiarch]

I’ve been finding H&R to be fine with Chrome for Android. Better than Dolphin, that’s for sure.

[Episiarch]

I’ve been finding H&R to be fine with Chrome for Android. Better than Dolphin, that’s for sure.

[Mad Scientist]

Is this a new variation on RC’s Law?

[Episiarch]

I didn’t post it from Chrome for Android. I posted from Chrome for Windows. So there!

[jesse.in.mb]

Do you have problems posting from Chrome though? I use Chrome and SwiftKey.

[Episiarch]

No. Chrome is working well for me on my phone.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Today is National Day of Prayer Against Pornography, So Get on Your Knees!

-The organization Morality in Media ? one of the PTC’s closest allies in battling sexualization and sexual content in entertainment ? is initiating a National Day of Prayer Against Pornography on December 10th.

Pornography is inherently dehumanizing and sexually exploitive. Not only does it lead to addiction and the breakdown of families, but porn is also strongly tied to violence against women, sex trafficking, and child abuse.

“This day is set aside to help those who are struggling with pornography addictions as well as their families, and to inspire and encourage those involved in this fight.”said Patrick Trueman, President of Morality in Media.

Morality in Media is being joined in this important effort by many other groups dedicated to preserving family values, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, Enough is Enough, American Family Association, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, and the Beverly LaHaye Institute. The PTC invites those who are of a mind to participate to do so.

http://w2.parentstv.org/blog/i…..rnography/

[Rich]

Patrick Trueman

*** snort ***

He was doomed.

[Zeb]

porn is also strongly tied to violence against women, sex trafficking, and child abuse

And if we repeat this often enough it will become true.

[Ted S.]

If I weren’t an agnostic, I’d pray in favor of pornography.

[Jordan]

So Get on Your Knees!

What you did there. I see it.

[Tonio]

Oops, didn’t read down before posting.

[jesse.in.mb]

porn is also strongly tied to violence against women, sex trafficking, and child abuse.

I have watched some extreme things in my day and none of those impulses have manifested themselves. I must be doing something wrong.

[Ted S.]

When you watch your porn, you want to commit violence against other guys. Right?

[Tonio]

So Get on Your Knees!

What you did there, I see it.

[Dead or In Jail]

Oh, I can practically taste the stream of hot, salty tears right now. Scrumptious.

[Bobarian]

Those aren’t tears, but they are salty.

[Andrew S.]

porn is also strongly tied to violence against women, sex trafficking, and child abuse

In that there’s a negative correlation between the availability of porn and violence against women, sex trafficking and child abuse, I guess that statement is technically true…

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

“Texas will require that architects who apply for an occupational license be fingerprinted”

Just part of that special Texas commitment to freedom that my governor is always bragging about to the other states.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my car inspected and pay the fee, or face a heavy fine.

Then I need to get a bottle of wine. I tried to purchase one this past Sunday morning at 11:45, but that’s illegal.

Then my 12 year old daughter has to be vaccinated against some form of VD that she will never get…oh wait. We managed to get that one thrown out, even though Perry supported the mandatory shots.

Yay freedom! Yes, I know Texas is better than a lot of states, but when the GOP brags about this I want to throw up.

[Warty]

Then my 12 year old daughter has to be vaccinated against some form of VD that she will never get

That sounds like a challenge.

[Apatheist ?_??]

A pretty easy challenge. You should still get the vaccination even though Perry was a dipshit for trying to make it mandatory.

[Zeb]

some form of VD that she will never get

Planning on putting her in a convent pretty soon, then? Otherwise, you are being a bit overconfident. About 1/4 of everyone has HPV (I assume that is what you are referring to).
Still should be up to you and your daughter, though, of course.

[Tonio]

HPV – uh, this is hugely transmissible. Although it can be sexually transmitted it can also be transmitted through skin-skin contact, kisses, sharing a water bottle.

But, hey, go ahead and risk your daughter getting cervical cancer later just so you can feel morally superior.

[jesse.in.mb]

But, hey, go ahead and risk your daughter getting cervical cancer later just so you can feel morally superior.

I believe it has now replaced smoking as the leading cause of throat cancer and there’s an increasing incidence of anal/rectal cancer because of it as well.

It should also be noted that she may marry someone who either has a checkered past or messes up at some point, exposing her to HPV through no moral fault of her own.

[Warty]

Not to mention that he seems to have a strong opinion about how his daughter will behave sexually.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

I wonder, have any of the males here gotten the HPV vaccine?

[Warty]

Not me. Obviously.

[db]

I hear they actually make the vaccine from your offal.

[jesse.in.mb]

The way it rolled out it wasn’t really available for men, and then only men younger than me. They kept raising the cap they were willing to administer it, but I was always a few years ahead of the cap. At this point it’s probably meaningless.

I was consistently annoyed that their plan was to administer it only to women because that would protect the men too. What about the men who are cougar hunters or gay?

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

What about the men who are cougar hunters or gay?

It could also help prevent transmitting it to a woman

[jesse.in.mb]

Right, but women aren’t the only ones affected by HPV. They’re claiming that men will be protected as a splash effect of immunizing all the girls. I’m contending that that only consistently protects girls, but not men who may have sex with women from before immunization started or gay men who are getting it from other men.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

Oh, I’m just bringing that up as another reason

[Warty]

Oh, stop pretending like you don’t already have a hideous, malformed, humpbacked, abcessed, wart-ridden nightmare dong. You’re long past needing a vaccine.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

I have a beautiful dong

[jesse.in.mb]

I’m still waiting for pics.

And yes, I checked the spam filter.

[Ted S.]

Or “throat cancer”.

[DesigNate]

I’m late to the party, and I’m sure my neighbors have reported me to the NSA for all the shouting I was doing after reading the linked article, but fuck the Texas legislature.

[Mickey Rat]

What are you talking about? Didn’t you see on Reason last weekend that objecting to vaccinations is not libertarian?

[Warty]

“What is really disturbing to me is this is the best of someone’s ability.”

Killer beard. Killer accent. 9/10 would watch again.

[gaijin]

Uncle Si!

[Francisco d Anconia]

Redneck ingenuity!

[General Butt Naked]

Barry and Eric! They make great videos, been watching them for a while.

Check out their Hi-Point abuse vids.

[Generic Stranger]

At least none of them involved a Dremel…

[Caleb Turberville]

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/20…..m_ral.html

“It’s all part of a red state cabal of governors that want to discredit Obamacare,” he said.
Anthony “Alann” Johnson described the fight as a “silent civil war” whose casualties include veterans, senior citizens and children in Alabama who do not receive adequate medical treatment.

“It’s not about race. It’s the haves versus the have-nots,” said Johnson, a contender for a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.

Grayson Brown, with the Progressive Democrats, elicited yells from those gathered after proclaiming that “people will die because of this decision.”

[Ted S.]

We need class warfare, but the classes need to be the productive class and the government class.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Warren Buffett – ‘There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.’

[Restoras]

Wouldn’t be the first dumb thing he’s ever said, but it may be the dumbest.

Although, in a certain sense he is right since it is rich liberals waging the class warfare in DC.

[Donut-san]

Yeah, I would say that he is right, not in the sense that our tax code isn’t progressive enough, but in the sense that crony capitalists like him influence policy in their favor. The guy wrote an open letter thanking government for the bailout. If he’s worried so much about the poor and middle class, why does he think billionaires should get welfare?

[Palin's Buttplug]

He thanked Bush/Paulson/Pelosi/Bernanke for saving the American financial system on behalf of average Americans.

Maybe YOU would have liked to see the banking system fail and 80 million depositors wiped out.

Buffett was going to be fine no matter what happened.

Berkshire owned two bank stocks – USB and Wells Fargo. Neither needed TARP.

You need to be better informed.

[Restoras]

He took a position in Goldman Sachs as well. I’d say he benefited handsomely from the government bailout of the banks.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/…..s-cm285398

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin’s Buttwipe,

He [Buffett] thanked Bush/Paulson/Pelosi/Bernanke for saving the American financial system on behalf of average Americans.

Maybe he was being flippant. Nobody can be that ridiculously stupid-sounding, Zoolander.

[Donut-san]

He only said that Berkshire-Hathaway would be the last domino to fall. And he of course ignored the role that government policy played in creating the crisis, and that there’s plenty of reason to believe that it was only averted temporarily and that the day of reckoning is going to come sooner or later.

[Sevo]

Palin’s Buttplug|12.10.13 @ 5:26PM|#
“He thanked Bush/Paulson/Pelosi/Bernanke for saving the American financial system on behalf of average Americans.”

He’s a slimy hypocrite; at least as sleazy as you.

[Invisible Finger]

Maybe YOU would have liked to see the banking system fail and 80 million depositors wiped out.

Fucking idiot.

The top 100 banks at the time had 4 trillion in deposits. Assuming ALL of that was FDIC insured, even if the FDIC didn’t have enough to cover its insured amounts, they could have issued bonds which the Fed would surely have bought.

The Fed has issued over 4 trillion in Quantitative Easing schemes since then.

Now, why do you think the banks were made whole instead of the depositors? I’d love to read your idiotic answer.

[tarran]

The guy wrote an open letter thanking government for the bailout. If he’s worried so much about the poor and middle class, why does he think billionaires should get welfare?

Because Buffett knows where his bread is buttered.

It’s possible that he bought into the infantile notion that the world financial system was on the verge of catastrophic collapse. However, that would assume that he learned nothing from his dad Howard Buffett and Murray Rothbard’s long correspondance and friendship.

My personal take on the man is that that open letter was a great way to open minds of the gibbering morons that populated treasury and HHS in the Obama and Bush admins by stroking their egos. It cost him a few hours of his time, and the rent seeking legislation they might have enacted thanks to their good will could have netted him billions more.

[tarran]

Certainly it made people far more receptive to his “Brer-Rabbits deserve to be chucked into the briar patch!” routine peddling the increase in the inheritance tax at the end of the OWS movement. It completely took the winds out of the sails of the movement running a Bernaysian campaign in favor of a Robin hood Tax (a tax levied on most if not all securities transactions), and once it was clear they weren’t going to get their Robin Hood Tax the backers of that astroturf movement allowed it collapse faster than the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

That tax would have reduced the profitability of life insurance company investments noticeably, since they can’t structure their securities sales efficiently over long periods of time (when someone dies they have to pay out in a timely manner).

[Palin's Buttplug]

Berkshire didn’t need a dime of TARP you slobbering morons. You just hate Buffett because he is not Team Red.

Besides that – TARP had a high 10% interest rate. The government made out like bandits on the big banks.

[Restoras]

But he did benefit from the bank bailouts. Quite handsomely.

[Sevo]

Palin’s Buttplug|12.10.13 @ 5:53PM|#
“Berkshire didn’t need a dime of TARP you slobbering morons. You just hate Buffett because he is not Team Red.”

He’s a slimy hypocrite; at least as sleazy as you.
Go fuck your daddy.

[tarran]

My god. Did Shrike really say that?

“Berkshire didn’t need a dime of TARP you slobbering morons. You just hate Buffett because he is not Team Red.”

It must be hitting the rubbing alcohol extra hard today. The first sentence is funny in that nobody is arguing that Buffett needed Tarp (in fact, I argue that he didn’t need it and probably is aware that the financial system would have survived the banckrupcy of the most overleveraged actors).

The second sentence is utterly delusional.

This is why I advocate completely ignoring its attempts to communicate. It is literally too cognitively impaired to comprehend what’s happening around it.

[The Last American Hero]

It’s worth noting that banks weren’t bailed out in the bank bailouts – their creditors were the ones who benefited.

[tarran]

The thing is, while it’s tempting to rail against crony capitalists like Warren Buffett who advocate for the government to enact policies that direct rents into the crony capitalists’ pockets, in reality they are pragmatic people who would do whatever it takes to make money.

Deprive Warren Buffett of the state, he’d probably figure out a way to make money honestly, without ripping off the hard-working bourgeoisie. Sure, it would be harder to buy companies at a discount without children beign forced to sell them to cover high inheritance taxes, or buying expensive life insurance policies intended to cover the tax bill, but I’m sure he could figure out a way to live comfortably albeit at a lower income.

The government, and its power to beat the bushes and send rabbits his way, is the proper target and should be what we focus on.

[Donut-san]

That’s true; he has talent with or without the government. I should have include that in my comment above.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

PRC state media under fire for arguing benefits of smog

The Global Times said smog could be useful in military situations, as it could hinder the use of guided missiles, while CCTV listed five “unforeseen rewards” for smog, including helping Chinese people’s sense of humor.

[Damned Fool]

Mother Russia’s fling with General Winter worked out well for her, but I don’t think the Middle Kingdom will do quite so well with Lt. Smog.

[Ken Shultz]

“Texas will require that architects who apply for an occupational license or are seeking to have a license renewed be fingerprinted as of January 1, 2014.”

In my work as a commercial real estate developer, I’ve worked with a lot of architects, and I can see why they’d do this.

Some of them are kinda scary.

[Rich]

Serious question: Are Texas legislators required to be fingerprinted?

[Tonio]

Probably not, but then they aren’t required to be licensed, either.

[Tonio]

My understanding is that they are also trying to make ACA Navigators go through background checks.

[Enough About Palin]

I just want to say that since blocking Bo and Plug, my HyR experience has improved immensely.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I do not have a position on blocking people, but it strikes me as a bit sad to wander into the PM links and announce how happy it makes you.

[Tonio]

Everyone that blocks you is one less idiot you have to deal with.

[#]

I get Plug, but what’s wrong with Bo?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I would have to speculate that the handle ‘Enough About Palin’ came about by the poster being unhappy with posts here about Sarah Palin, and so it would be quite natural if he found my negative posts about social conservatives to be upsetting. To each his own.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Sista Sarah is much like Aimee Semple McPherson – a populist evangelical preacher that the wonderful book/film Elmer Gantry was based on.

First sentence – “Elmer Gantry was drunk.”

It is a favorite of mine.

[jesse.in.mb]

Aimee Semple McPherson

Ha, my folks are Foursquare. I don’t see McPherson referenced all that often anymore. Actually she wasn’t referenced all that often at their church either after the pastor got a bug up his ass about women leading ministries thanks to Timothy:

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing?if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I have always wondered about this. How was Adam not deceived? Either he ate of the fruit with his wife not telling him what it was or he did it knowingly, which seems worse than what Eve did (even God admits she was ‘beguiled’ by the serpent).

[Enough About Palin]

I’m not a fan of posters who seem to argue just for arguments sake. Reminds me too much of MNG.

[Restoras]

C’mon, admit it. You are a SnoConz and highly offended. This is obvious to everyone just by the name you have chosen for yourself.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

A community has the right to organize itself as its voters see fit!

[Restoras]

It’s the libertarian thing to do, glad you agree.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It is actually the opposite of the libertarian thing to do, of course.

[Restoras]

Oh right, of course.

The Arbiter Hath Spoken, So Let It Be Written.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

No, please, I welcome your explanation of how supporting the right of a majority of voters to prohibit voluntary transactions between adults fits with any coherent version of libertarianism. You have had days to come up with something since you let the mask slip.

[Restoras]

You have yet to provide any proof of what you accused me of. Nothing. Crickets. I am still waiting.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-To the extent that local voters wish to bar certain activities (providing they don’t infringe on the Bill of Rights) it is their community and they should be allowed to organize it as they see fit.

AM Links, Dec. 3

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So now that we have silenced those crickets, I would be entertained by your attempt to square what you said with a libertarian philosophy.

[Restoras]

You haven’t provided any proof of my ‘socon mask slipping’.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I told you the other day you could be any kind of statist, not necessarily a SoCon.

But certainly not a libertarian with that kind of statement. This is not me being any kind of arbiter of the philosophy (ironically it was you that acted that way first), it is about recognizing that there are some very basic fundamental tenets of libertarian. For the same reason I can not say that someone like Palin’s B*ttplug, who supports the ACA, can also be a libertarian I can tell you that someone who thinks government can prohibit free transactions between adults because of the right to ‘organize their community how they see fit’ can not be one.

[Restoras]

Why, because if a community of libertarians wishes to organize itself along purely libertarian principles, I would not support their right to do so? Even though that is what I said?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Because you would ‘support’ (your words) the right of any community to prevent voluntary transactions between adults. And that is the fundamental tenet of libertarianism.

Libertarianism is about the liberty of adults to voluntary transact, and your stated position is ‘if a community wants to organize itself in a way that violates that, I support its right to do that.’ To coin a phrase, there is no libertarianism there.

[Restoras]

a way that violates that

Except I never said that but fine.

To coin a phrase, there is no libertarianism there

So if a community of religously minded people wished to organize their community along religous lines, and I supported their right to do so, that isn’t libertarain? They should be forced to live under a beleif structure that they disagree with?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

They should not be able to force anyone to live by their beliefs.

You can not pass off your comments as referring to voluntary, Shaker-style communities since you clearly said ‘voters’ and we were talking about communities preventing casinos from opening and operating in their jurisdictions (not communes or homeowner associations).

You flatly said that you support the idea that local governments should be able to prohibit activity that is not protected by the Bill of Rights. That would mean you support the right of local governments to pass minimum wage laws, prohibit strip clubs, pass zero tolerance school laws, etcetera (none of those activities are mentioned by the BoR). That is not libertarianism.

[Restoras]

You are right, none of those ideas are libertarian. But how does a Libertarian force a community to accept these things in its community if no one in the community wants them? Is that Libertarian?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-But how does a Libertarian force a community to accept these things

No one is forced to go to the casino, they are only stopped from prohibiting a willing operator to operate one on his land.

You are arguing for the right of ‘the community’ to use the government to bar activities that do not involve them because they just do not want them going on in their ‘community.’ I respectfully suggest this amply demonstrates how divorced your views are from anything remotely libertarian.

[Restoras]

So would you, if yuy could, force everyone to live according to your definition of Libertarianism and not allow anyone to live any other way?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

They may live however they choose, they just can not use government to force others to do so. If you are asking me whether I would not empower governments to be used in that way (and that is what you are asking), then the answer is yes.

This really is basic libertarianism. With respect, how did you not acquaint yourself with it talking to people here and reading Reason?

[Restoras]

ironically it was you that acted that way first

Do you have some proof of this too?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Sorry, we have done this already. I silenced your crickets pretty quickly, so let us say now that the burden of veracity is on you.

[Restoras]

Oh really so now I stand accused and am guilty until such time as I prove otherwise? Good to know where you stand there.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

My you are quite melodramatic when it suits you.

[Restoras]

As are you.

[Restoras]

Oh, and by the way asshole, the ‘mask I let slip’ was in reference to me being a SoCon. So provide some proof of that in the postings I have made here, or go fuck yourself you sophomoric little twerp.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I also support the power of a local community to organize itself as it sees fit.

Same source and date

[Restoras]

So what is libertarian – forcing communities that don’t believe in libertarian principles to live the way you want them to live?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You really haven’t a clue, do you? Libertarianism is totally foreign to you.

Libertarianism is about letting individuals organize and carry on their lives however they see fit as long as they do not violate the rights of others. A majority of voters do not get to tell consenting adults that they cannot engage in voluntary transactions because of their ‘right to organize their communities the way they see fit.’

[Restoras]

Yes I know I still learning so much!

So tell me, how does a community not wanting a casino within its confines prevent anyone that wishes to use a casino from doing so? And just to be clear here, my declaration is contingent on that organization being within the confines of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How does a community preventing casinos from opening and operating in their jurisdiction prevent anyone who wishes to use a casino from doing so? It prevents the owner/operator from owning/operating and the potential user of the service as well.

This is getting incoherent.

[Restoras]

Couldn’t that casino operator open a casino somewhere else? Couldn’t that gambler just go to a place that has a casino?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

It really is foreign to you. Incredible.

Your ‘libertarianism’ amounts to ‘liberty, except whenever local governments say no!’

The entire essence of libertarianism is that government can not tell me what to do unless I am engaged in force and fraud. And you oppose that idea, with the argument ‘well, you could always try to find a better town to live in!’

[Restoras]

The entire essence of libertarianism is that government can not tell me what to do unless I am engaged in force and fraud

I didn’t say ‘government’ I said community. You are the one that keeps conflating government and society, a classic progtard misconception.

And you oppose that idea, with the argument

I most certainly do oppose the idea of a government telling/ordering a community the way it, the government, sees fit, especially if that isn’t what the community wants.

‘well, you could always try to find a better town to live in!’

Uh, you do realize that this is a founding characteristic of the US, right? People leaving oppressive places and coming here?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

-I didn’t say ‘government’ I said community.

This is a mighty sad dodge. You referred to ‘voters’ right to ‘bar’ activity, and invoked the Bill of Rights as a qualifier, all which would be incoherent with the idea you were only talking about communes or voluntary associations.

[Restoras]

So ‘government’ and ‘community’ are the same thing? Got it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How is your ‘community’ of ‘voters’ going to ‘bar’ someone (with the BoR applying, somehow)?

Come now, stop this silliness, the ‘jig is up’ on this damage control attempt.

[Restoras]

Ok Bo, you win. I am not a Libertarian.

[Apatheist ?_??]

So tell me, how does a community not wanting a casino within its confines prevent anyone that wishes to use a casino from doing so? And just to be clear here, my declaration is contingent on that organization being within the confines of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

They can buy the property or pay the potential casino owner to go away. They can also convince other people not to give their business to the casino through a boycott.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

All acceptable.

What he really misses is this: no community has to ‘bar’ a casino opening and operating in ‘its’ community unless of course someone in that community is willing to sell his property to a potential casino operator. So what he is of course arguing for is the right of a local government to tell that land owner-no, you can not do that because we do not want a casino near us.

[Enough About Palin]

Yes it’s true. But my specialty is being a racist. I live in a very black neighborhood and everyday I look out the window and ask myself, why aren’t all of these fuckers in prison? It’s why I’m such a strong supporter of the police, G-d love ’em.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Echo Chamber loves you back.

[Tonio]

Enjoying the echo chamber, eh?

[Mad Scientist]

It’s like subscribing to the HnR premium version. All the snark, and 50% of the stupid.

[Francisco d Anconia]

I just want to say that since blocking Bo and Plug, my HyR experience has improved immensely.

It’s kinda nice not having to listen to someone arguing about the irrelevant, ain’t it?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, because arguing with the D’s and R’s about whether the top tax rate should be 35% or 36% is just so gratifying.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Fuck you shitbag. I don’t have you filtered yet. Your idiocy amuses me.

[Restoras]

He does fit nicely as the Court Fool.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Struck a chord it seems.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That’s “struck a nerve,” you moron. Even your burns are retarded.

[seguin]

It’s like he’s new to idiom.

[alan_s]

You can block people?

[Mad Scientist]

Yes.

[RightofCenter]

One of the sucky things about this job is no one will see my 0100 CST PM links post, but it will make me feel better:

I love the way Restoras tried to give you shit about blocking Bo, only to be drawn into a continuation of an argument they apparently started before. I think he just made your point for you. I don’t block Bo, but there are a large number of threads taken over by people arguing with him, that’s fo sho.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Man with HIV says Obamacare saved his life

Dan was paying $1,485 per month for his old plan with the $1,000 deductible. His new plan under Obamacare, which includes coverage not only for all his prescriptions but for dental and vision — which his old plan did not — is costing him over $500 less per month, at a total cost of $914, with the same deductible. That’s not to mention that he got it with the pre-existing condition of HIV. I don’t want to downplay or obscure what are some real problems that some people with HIV are reporting regarding getting drugs fully covered under Obamacare, or what other people are reporting about higher deductibles in the new plans. But Dan’s story obviously shows that a lot of people have been swept up in the hysteria when there is indeed great health insurance out there for them.

“Dental and vision!” Dan exclaimed. “Yes, the deductible is all tax-exempt. It’s a health-savings plan. So it’s all tax-exempt. It’s a wonderful plan.”

Dan apologized and said he wanted to “rectify the damage” he’d done by calling the show and “scaring people away” from Obamacare.

“I want to say to all your listeners: I was terribly wrong,” he said. “Now I’m going to push myself as a huge Obamacare success story. I’m bragging it to everyone.”

Gee, if only Dan could buy his HIV drugs from the free market.

[R C Dean]

Tell me about the wonderful network Dan is getting, and whether he was lucky enough to get to keep his doctor.

[MJGreen]

That’s great Dan. Now prepare for the backlash against teh gayz and their HIV for making healthier people pay for their meds.

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.cpusa.org/announcin…..june-2014/

The people of the United States face enormous challenges today.

We live in a capitalist system where the 99% of people struggle every day to survive and the richest 1% control the vast majority of wealth and power. Capitalism cannot meet the needs of the vast majority.

Economic inequality and job insecurity are increasing. Working families are living with less and working longer hours. The infrastructure of our cities and towns is deteriorating. Our schools are underfunded and essential public services are strapped and slashed. Home foreclosures are everywhere and millions of people are homeless and hungry in the richest country in the world. Racism, sexism, homophobia and all kinds of discrimination are commonplace. Working men and women fight and die in wars around the globe for U.S. corporate interests…

The drive of the rich and powerful to gain wealth at the expense of working people is the only logic of capitalism…

We are proud to announce our 30th National Convention, June 13-15, 2014 in Chicago, the city of our birth.

[Enough About Palin]

“We live in a capitalist system where the 99% of people struggle every day to survive and the richest 1% control the vast majority of wealth and power.”

I’m not one of the 1%, more like one of the 35% and I don’t struggle everyday to survive. What hogwash these people spout.

[Caleb Turberville]

Then maybe you should bring it up at the the next session of the Supreme American Soviet in Chicago, cuz like it or not, they are the officially national legislative body of the 99%.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

where the 99% of people struggle every day to survive

Can this fucking die already?

[Andrew S.]

You want the 99% to “fucking die already?”. Typical libertarian, only cares about the 1%, of which they’re all a part! *snert*

[Restoras]

This is most certainly not a libertarian position. Who will polish our monocles and wash our Packard limousines with the tears of unloved orphans?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Can this fucking die already?

No kidding. It is the shitstain left over from OWS.

It is safe to say the bottom quintile contains the only people truly struggling and not all of them are. Some have assets and a monthly SS check.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

What are you doing PB, let’s not try to find common ground on which to agree.

[Restoras]

He won’t quit us!

[BakedPenguin]

…in Chicago, the city of our birth.

Brutal cops, totally corrupt political environment, massive violence. Yeah, sounds about right.

[Dead or In Jail]

Wait, is CPUSA only 30 years old? Born in the Reagan administration? That must be wrong.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Maybe they only meet every five years?

[Raven Nation]

Every four years. I’m guessing they meet in the off years. So, 120 years prior to 2014 = 1894. Sounds about write, year of the Pullman Strike.

[Winston]

CPUSA was formed in 1919.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPUSA

[Francisco d Anconia]

99% of people struggle every day to survive

The drive of the rich and powerful to gain wealth at the expense of working people

All one can say is…derp.

[Krios]

Is this truly what they believe?

[Paul.]

Lawmakers in Colorado are worried that Denver will not have enough pot on hand to meet demand when recreational marijuana becomes available in the state on January 1, 2014.

Is this because Denver Lawmakers have set production quotas, price controls and limits on retail outlets? Hmmm? HMMMMM?

[Caleb Turberville]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayfers

Worst. Department Store. Name. EVER!

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Never stick it in crazy: Florida woman sets ex-boyfriend’s house on fire

After a fight, a woman set the front door on fire of the home where she had “recently lived together as a family,” with her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend, authorities said.

Kaelyn Marie Partenza, 26, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested on Wednesday, along with her ex-boyfriend Brian Morris. She faces two counts of arson first-degree dwelling with people present, and he faces a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm/domestic violence and battery domestic violence.

“I got mad and lit the door on fire,” Partenza told authorities.

The incident began when Partenza went to the apartment “to get closure on her relationship with Morris,” the complaint affidavit said.
[…]
Morris’ current girlfriend extinguished the blaze, authorities said.

Partenza told police she intentionally used lighter fluid she found a grill outside and lit a cigarette to start the fire, the complaint said.

She was being held on $50,000 bond.

[Andrew S.]

Andre Rison nods sagely.

[Pro Libertate]

To get closure. Wonder if her psychologist suggested something like this?

[Paul.]

I think it was her genetics that suggested something like this.

[Pro Libertate]

Her geneticist? Huh, I thought that was just for the rich and very ill.

[Warty]

I hate everyone here. Have some smug. There’s no particularly good quote, the smugness has to be read in whole.

Also, Salon is dumbfounded that gun owners don’t want to give in to one of their pet ideas.

[Rich]

One area that ought to be discussed more is mandatory firearms training for gun owners.

I’ll go you one better, Salon: Mandatory firearms training for *everyone*.

[Warty]

I can think of worse things to require in public school.

[Damned Fool]

It would give the educrats heart attacks.

“You’re suspended for making a finger gun! And you’re suspended for not bringing your .22 to class!”

[Restoras]

Ironically, I was thinking about buying a couple of guns this weekend. Any recommendations on a 12-gauge over/under?

Does anyone have the Ruger Gunscout .308? Thoughts?

[Warty]

Are you asking me personally? I barely know jack shit about shotguns, and jack left town when it comes to over/unders.

[Paul.]

Get a side-by-side coach gun, with hammers. Your old-timey friends will love you.

[R C Dean]

Any recommendations on a 12-gauge over/under?

How much money are you planning to spend?

[Restoras]

Hoping to not spend more than $600. After a certain amount of money aren’t you just paying for bling?

[Bobarian]

Over/unders tend to run expensive. This link is a place to look.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/pho…..-less-1000

[Bobarian]

As to the Scout, I’ve heard good things but never fired one.

[Another Kevin]

I love my Scout. Light, quick, recoil really isn’t all that bad. Have been having fun with the stock irons hitting steel out to 400 yds or so.

Trigger is ‘meh’ (but crisp for a stock trigger), bolt has a bit of play, but locks up tight, extracts/feeds smoothly.

If the Shit Hits The Fan, I’m still gonna carry my custom AR in 6.8 SPC; but you can’t beat a short, light bolt gun in 308…

[db]

I do. I’ll post in a more recent thread when I see your handle.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

War With China?

The Obama administration claims to be committed to diplomacy in its foreign policy. This was the rationale for the Iranian interim agreement and Kerry’s effort to play peacemaker with Israel and the Palestinians.

The U.S. should follow the approach of diplomacy in this dispute between China and Japan. It should try to persuade the parties to find a way to avoid a war which is neither necessary nor inevitable. One alternative is for the parties to take this territorial dispute to international arbitration. But please let’s try to negotiate a resolution. While the U.S. and China have serious differences to resolve, they should not go to war over this issue.

[LynchPin1477]

Is there any actual risk of this?

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

From what I have read so far, the chances are relatively slim, but present.

The big thing peace has going for it is the intense trade between all the parties involved (PRC, ROC, USA, Japan, ROK).

[Caleb Turberville]

http://www.businessinsider.com…..er-2013-12

The problem with trying to shoehorn popular economic concerns into fights against “cronyism,” as the libertarian populists do, is that broad economic problems in wealthy countries are not mostly about cronyism. Income desparities are arising from market forces: Creators of intellectual property sell into bigger markets than ever; wages are soft due to weak labor demand; capital is more mobile than labor and flows to markets where wages are low.

By and large, public policy did not create these phenomena and the rising inequality that results from them. But because inequality is important, policy still needs to find ways to address it. A political ideology that has nothing to say about inequality not arising from cronyism does not address one of today’s key economic concerns and is not populist.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

For that to matter, income inequality per se must matter. Barro doesn’t establish that it does.

[Mickey Rat]

“…capital…flows to markets where wages are low.”

Which is the market solving a problem of inequality. Just not the one they want and in fashion they don’t want.

[AdamJ]

I’m pissed about the TX fingerprinting as it applies to engineers as well. So many engineer felons running around doncha know. I have to get fingerprinted and backgrounder for GSA work anyway, but now have to waste an hour and $45 to donut again? It’s all a handout to Morphotrust, the company that performs the service. So on top of the $200/yr professional fee (tax) ALL professionals in TX need to pay, now we have this. Busybodies will be busybodies.

[Rich]

Just for that, Mr J — *retinal scan*, too!

[Ted S.]

But we just learned that crony capitalism isn’t a problem.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Study says War on Poverty a success

The findings by a group of academic researchers at Columbia University paint a mixed picture of the United States nearly 50 years after Lyndon B. Johnson announced in his January 1964 State of the Union address that he would wage a war on poverty. They also contradict the official poverty rate, which suggests there has been no decline in the percentage of Americans experiencing poverty since then.

According to the new research, the safety net helped reduce the percentage of Americans in poverty from 26 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012. The results were especially striking during the most recent economic downturn, when the poverty rate barely budged despite a massive increase in unemployment.

While the government has helped keep poverty at bay, the economy by itself has failed to improve the lives of the very poor over the past 50 years. Without taking into account the role of government policy, more Americans ? 29 percent ? would be in poverty today, compared with 27 percent in 1967.

[paranoid android]

Wait, I thought we were living in a crushing neo-feudal dystopia wrought by decades of slashing government and gutting the social safety net? That’s what the leftists are always telling me, anyway.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

If the ‘success’ of the War on Poverty was lowering the percentage of people below poverty by increasing the number of people on the dole then that is a pretty Pyrrhic victory at best.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Echoes of Finis Welch! Excellent!!

[Irish]

…How can you know what the economy would have done to improve poverty without the War on Poverty? Given that the percentage of people living in poverty decreased DRASTICALLY between 1900-1965, it seems that you could have expected similar results in the next 55 years.

They’re basically just guessing at how the world would have been without all of this spending.

[Thane is a cosmotarian!]

Pawn Stars dudes shill for Microsoft

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I saw the Dad and Old Man plugging a double-bladed safety razor the other day.

[The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc]

Six year old suspended from school for sexual harassment: He kissed a girl on the cheek

A six year old boy is suspended from school in Canon City for kissing a classmate on the cheek

His mother says it’s a crush and the two children like each other. But the school is calling it something else; sexual harassment.

First grader, Hunter Yelton, told us he loves science and phys-ed. Also…that he has a crush on a girl at school, who likes him back.

It may sound innocent enough…but at six years old Hunter now has ‘sexual harassment’ on his school record.

“It was during class yeah. We were doing reading group and I leaned over and kissed her on the hand. That’s what happened,” said Hunter Yelton.

Six year old Hunter was at home on Monday instead of at school.

“They sent me to the office, fair and square. I did something wrong and I feel sorry,” he said.

“She was fine with it, they are ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’. The other children saw it and went to the music teacher. That was the day I had the meeting with the principal, where she first said ‘sexual harassment’. This is taking it to an extreme that doesn’t need to be met with a six year old. Now my son is asking questions? what is sex mommy? That should not ever be said, sex. Not in a sentence with a six year old,” said Hunters’ mom, Jennifer Saunders.

[Andrew S.]

My four year old daughter recently told me that when she grows up she’s going to marry one of the boys from her class (who I’ll leave unnamed). Apparently she was sexually harassed?

[Mad Scientist]

I was sexually harassed by my neighbor’s 6-year-old daughter a few years ago. She delightedly told me that she wanted to have my babies, and then fell into a severe fit of giggles. Who do I sue?

[Andrew S.]

Wait, I can sue this kid’s parents for the sexual harassment? Woohoo!

[Mickey Rat]

You might not want to bring it up for the risk of child molestation charges.

[Pro Libertate]

Disney. Their television programming sexualizes young girls inappropriately and without any attempt to install appropriate safeguards. Call all of the screwed up child stars as witnesses.

[Ted S.]

You’re a man. You can’t be sexually harassed.

And wait till that kid sues you for child support.

[Mad Scientist]

You’re probably right. The problem with being an ultra-hunk is women lose all their self-control. It’s not their fault. It’s my fault. Who do I pay?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It’s worse than that Andrew.

I am afraid, your daughter is the harasser.

[Andrew S.]

Girls can’t be harassers, silly. It’s all the fault of men. Even if the girls are harassing men, it’s the man’s fault. Haven’t you learned anything from third wave feminism?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

You’re right, I overlooked the role male gaze played in this boy’s ability to control your daughter’s thoughts.

[Rich]

Both hunter and his mom, Jennifer, admit he’s had some trouble at school in the past. Hunter has been suspended for rough-housing, and for kissing the same girl on the cheek.

Violent *and* a serial rapist!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

“They sent me to the office, fair and square. I did something wrong and I feel sorry,” he said.

Holy fuck the brainwashing.

[Invisible Finger]

I would like to hear the rationale, besides money, that people choose not to send their kids to Catholic schools when given the opportunity. Are the Catholic schools too permissive? Do they not brainwash enough?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

There is also a great part in the comments where they are arguing over whether or not liberals or conservatives are to blame.

[paranoid android]

“They sent me to the office, fair and square. I did something wrong and I feel sorry,” he said.

“She was fine with it, they are ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’. The other children saw it and went to the music teacher. That was the day I had the meeting with the principal, where she first said ‘sexual harassment’. This is taking it to an extreme that doesn’t need to be met with a six year old. Now my son is asking questions? what is sex mommy? That should not ever be said, sex. Not in a sentence with a six year old,” said Hunters’ mom, Jennifer Saunders.

The competition in this story to see who can piss me off the most is intense.

[Ted S.]

The other children saw it and went to the music teacher.

Fucking snitches.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I ain’t no snitch.

[Paul.]

Pull your kid out of that school. Post haste.

[Scooby]

That fingerprint requirement also applies to professional engineers, and probably every other licensed profession that had their licensing board come up for sunset review last session.

My last DoD background check came back clean, so I’m pretty sure that this is just a hassle and another $45 fee, but I’m not too happy about it.

[Apatheist ?_??]

I had to do it to apply for the bar as part of the background check.

[The Late P Brooks]

By and large, public policy did not create these phenomena

[citation needed]

[The Late P Brooks]

Texas will require that architects who apply for an occupational license or are seeking to have a license renewed be fingerprinted as of January 1, 2014.

When the Big Bad Wolf blows your house of substandard straw down, you’ll be damn glad the State has such foresight.

[Eduard van Haalen]

NPR follows the travails of obamacare advocates who thy to persuade north floridians to sign up. The rubes woul sign up if only it was explained to them what a good idea it is!

[Palin's Buttplug]

OK this is going to fuck someone up.

Huffpo just began a new comment system which links your Facebook account to your username and both are visible to anyone.

I am “moneyshot” on HuffPo about 90 posts in six years for what it is worth.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Trust me. No one cares who you are at HP.

[Tejicano]

Yet another unarguably solid reason for me to never sign up for FB. Thanks for the tip!

[The Late P Brooks]

Huffpo just began a new comment system which links your Facebook account to your username and both are visible to anyone.

And I’m supposed to give a fuck, for some reason?

[The Late P Brooks]

I live in a very black neighborhood and everyday I look out the window and ask myself, why aren’t all of these fuckers in prison?

A true libertarian would be asking himself, “Why aren’t they out in my field, picking my cotton?”

[lap83]

An app that claims to improve vision (presbyopia).
It doesn’t say whether it comes in “monocle”.