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A.M. Links: Capitol Hill Staffers Warned Not to Trust Obamacare Website, US Government Lobotomized About 2,000 Veterans After World War II, South African Fake Sign Language Interpreter Claims He Was Hallucinating

Ed Krayewski | 12.12.2013 9:00 AM

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    Staffers on Capitol Hill are being warned not to assume they've successfully enrolled in Obamacare just because they completed the process at healthcare.gov and the website confirmed their enrollment, but to seek confirmation in person.

  • Legislators in New York plan on introducing a bill to legalize marijuana in the state, where currently even medicinal marijuana is illegal.
  • An appeals court in Florida ruled students attending the state's public universities cannot be prohibited from keeping their guns in cars parked on campus.
  • The US government lobotomized about 2,000 soldiers it found to be mentally ill after World War II, according to historical research by the Wall Street Journal.
  • The police chief in Durham, North Carolina claims a teenager who died in custody last month shot himself while handcuffed in a squad car, something the chief pointed out has "happened in other jurisdictions".
  • A detective with the Arizona state police resigned after uncovering that she was in the country illegally; she says her parents had told her she was born in the US but that she was actually born in Mexico.
  • George H.W. Bush joined Twitter this week, already accumulating more than 70,000 followers with just one tweet.
  • The fake sign language interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial, who had previously fake signed for the ANC, says he was hallucinating, while officials say they can't track down the owners of the company they hired him through.

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NEXT: K-9 Officer Won't Face Charges After Pushing Dog Through Car Window Onto Suspect

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

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  1. Night Elf Mohawk   12 years ago

    Staffers on Capitol Hill are being warned not to assume they've successfully enrolled in Obamacare just because they completed the process at healthcare.gov and the website confirmed their enrollment, but to seek confirmation in person.

    My flights to Seattle to check on my Amazon orders are getting expensive.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I got my Redline watch in two days using Amazon Prime (USA).

      Maybe they should us Amazon!

    2. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

      Two refreshes and no FIST!?! HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?

      1. waffles   12 years ago

        I'm starting to get worried.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   12 years ago

          I'm pouting.

      2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        sure, all this concern over FoE, but no love for the ruler of the wasteland. Typical.

        1. UnCivilServant   12 years ago

          We all know you saunter in whenever you're ready.

          1. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            Exactly. Getting the gang together, prepping your high tech audio / PA equipment for your speeches takes time, and we've gotten used to that.

  2. gaijin   12 years ago

    The fake sign language interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial, who had previously fake signed for the ANC, says he was hallucinating,

    Perhaps he was just possessed by the spirit of Mandela?

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      This is getting better and better.

      I was watching a video of him next to a real interpreter. He kept doing the same signs. It was fucking god dang hilarious. I couldn't take it it was so funny.

    2. Gbob   12 years ago

      I'm just amazed we were able to see his signing over the size of his balls.

    3. DJF   12 years ago

      """""says he was hallucinating"""

      So Mandela isn't dead?

    4. DJF   12 years ago

      Was he hallucinating when he was signing "Kill the Boer"

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fzRSE_p1Ys

      1. WTF   12 years ago

        He may have been channeling Mandela.

    5. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

      I'm kind of surprised he didn't blame it on a sorceror.

    6. The Last American Hero   12 years ago

      Weekend at Bernies II style?

  3. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    The police chief in Durham, North Carolina claims a teenager who died in custody last month shot himself while handcuffed in a squad car, something the chief pointed out has "happened in other jurisdictions".

    So it's not that uncommon for cops to execute handcuffed teenagers and get away with it? That's not surprising.

    1. mr simple   12 years ago

      An autopsy confirmed the self-inflicted gunshot wound.

      They looked at his brain and saw the intent. The science is settled!

      1. BardMetal   12 years ago

        Yeah how exactly can an autopsy determine if a gunshot was self-inflicted or not?

        1. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

          They asked the cops! SCIENCE!

        2. Floridian   12 years ago

          "Yeah how exactly can an autopsy determine if a gunshot was self-inflicted or not?"

          Powder residue on the victims hands and angle of entry.

          1. R C Dean   12 years ago

            Angle of entry doesn't rule out cop-inflicted. Not even close.

            Now, powder residue might be dispositive, but I'd have to know a lot more detail about it.

            1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

              Sometimes I wonder if these coroners do their work surrounded by a half dozen large men in uniform, resting their hands on their weapons.

            2. Tejicano   12 years ago

              I'm still not convinced. It seems pretty easy to imagine that if one was about to be shot in the head that one's hands might be on that gun trying to keep it from happening. How owuld they conclusively know the difference?

  4. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    NSA chief says there's 'no other way' to protect Americans than to collect billions of phone and internet records

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....s-way.html

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      With all due respect, General Alexander, I submit that banning clothing is another, probably *more* protective, way.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Everyone will be forced to wear their underwear on the outside.

      2. lafe.long   12 years ago

        +1 Puppet Masters

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      NSA chief says there's 'no other way'

      Why not just imprison everyone? Or ban travel? Or would he have some principled objection to those tactics?

      1. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

        Or would he have some principled objection to those tactics?

        Not wanting to do all that work would be a principle, yeah? I mean, collecting data, that's a breeze. Pop in a new tape every couple hours, then kick back and get back to catching up on netflix.

        Universal imprisonment (in a building, or just the country-as-prison) would be such a goddamn hassle. Can you imagine the amount of whining?

        1. gaijin   12 years ago

          Not wanting to do all that work would be a principle, yeah?

          Indeed. Lazy AND unable to admit to fallibility. A winning combination!

          1. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

            TOP. MEN.

  5. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Ex-cop sentenced to 25 years for shooting 'looter' in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is cleared at retrial
    Former New Orleans police officer David Warren has been acquitted of the shooting of Henry Glover, 31, in the days after Hurricane Katrina
    Warren had been found guilty in 2010 and sentenced to nearly 26 years
    Last year an appeals court ordered a new trial after ruling he should have been tried separately from officers charged with covering-up the death
    An ex-colleague said Warren told him shortly after the shooting that he believed looters were 'animals' who deserved to be shot
    After the verdict was read, Glover's sister, Patrice, started wailing and had to be carried out of the courtroom
    Warren's family embraced each other and fought back tears
    On his release Walker said: 'We have spent years talking about something that lasted seconds'

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

    Warren testified that he feared for his life when he shot Glover because he thought he saw a gun in his hand

    Magic words.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      At some point one would think the 'feared for my life' line will be met with skepticism in the halls of public opinion and the law.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        Anybody accused of killing a poilce officer ought to try this defence. Complete with case law of where it was considered a valid defense.

        1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

          Has anyone ever gotten away with killing a police officer in self defense? I've tried looking it up to no avail.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

            Franklin & Bash should try it.

            1. SugarFree   12 years ago

              Franklin & Bash... Rissoli & Isles... TNT became Logo so gradually barely anyone even noticed...

              1. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

                ANGIE HARMON hmmmm.....politics aside she is smoking hot.

          2. Andrew S.   12 years ago

            I know I've heard/seen Balko talk about one case where that happened. Can't remember the exact circumstances though.

            1. Isaac Bartram   12 years ago

              There was a case in Titusville, FL in the early 90s.

              I posted a link for it here once but I've since lost it.

            2. MJGreen   12 years ago

              There was the guy that killed a cop when they invaded his home in the early morning (aka a no-knock raid), and I think he was acquitted. Or maybe I just prefer to believe he was.

              1. Kaptious Kristen   12 years ago

                Corey Maye was sent to Mississippi death row for shooting a cop that invaded his home (IIRC without a warrant). His sentence, due in part to Balko's intercession, was reduced and he was released for time served.

                As far as I know, no one has actually been found not guilty by reason of self defense.

                1. Isaac Bartram   12 years ago

                  In February 1989, police in Titusville, Florida raid the home of 58-year-old Charles DiGristine, a retired painter. As a flashbang grenade detonates near the front door, DiGristine's wife screams, and DiGristine runs to his bedroom to get a handgun. Officer Stephen House, dressed in dark clothing and a black mask, charges into the bedroom with his gun drawn. DiGristine shoots and kills him. Police raided on information from an anonymous informant that the house was being used by armed drug dealers. They found only a small amount of marijuana belonging to DiGristine's son. DiGristine was charged and tried for first-degree murder. A jury acquitted him. When DiGristine then filed suit against the city for the raid in 1990, the Titusville city manager responded, "It appears from the publicity achieved by filing very close to the anniversary date of this occurrence that it fits with the overall plan of greed and publicity." Sources: "Man Innocent of Police Murder During Drug Raid," United Press International, August 17, 1989. Lynne Bumpus-Hooper, "DiGristine Sues Titusville Over Drug Raid," Orlando Sentinel, February 15, 1990.

                  From Botched Paramilitary Police Raids map at Cato.

          3. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

            Has anyone ever gotten away with killing a police officer in self defense?

            There was a case from the 1910's but I can't find it.

      2. bostonaod   12 years ago

        maybe this is why the 'guns as dangerous totem' message is pushed so shrilly

    2. Outlaw   12 years ago

      I'm guessing the guy he killed wasn't even a looter. If he really was, piggy probably wouldn't need to lie about it.

      Real looters deserve to be shot.

      1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

        Real looters deserve to be shot.

        Perhaps by the people who're being looted while they're actively being looted, especially if they're taking food or other supplies needed to survive an emergency situation.

        But being summarily executed by some self-righteous cop after the fact? That's murder.

      2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        Why?

  6. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    Video reveals the horrifying moment a corrections officer slams inmate's head against a concrete wall
    Charles Broaderick smashes James Duckworth's head against the jail wall in Marion County, Florida after accusing the man of spitting at him
    He then pins Duckworth to the wall by his neck as the man starts to bleed
    Duckworth, who had been arrested before the October incident for driving under the influence, needed stitches
    Broaderick was arrested and now faces an assault charge - he has also been put on unpaid leave while the case continues

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-wall.html
    Give it a couple years and he'll be acquitted and awarded back pay.

    1. wareagle   12 years ago

      the one common thread in these stories, he said without any irony, is that you only find them in The Daily Freaking Mail.

      1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

        How is a newspaper expected to have access to information from the police if they print articles that show law enforcement in a bad light?

        1. wareagle   12 years ago

          access actual reporting. Journo professors never taught that, which probably explains why there were teaching instead of still reporting. It must the profession's prime directive.

          1. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

            access actual reporting. Journo professors never taught that, which probably explains why there were teaching instead of still reporting. It must the profession's prime directive.

            It absolutely is. Gaining and keeping access is the only way to further one's career prospects, but it sure is a terrible thing for the public that relies on the information that journos are supposed to provide.

            1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

              Out here in the real world ' Gaining and keeping access" translates into acting as propaganda agents for the government that you cover.

              Journalists had to kill the free press to save it, or something.

            2. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

              Out here in the real world ' Gaining and keeping access" translates into acting as propaganda agents for the government that you cover.

              Journalists had to kill the free press to save it, or something.

    2. Restoras   12 years ago

      Don't forget the promotion.

  7. CampingInYourPark   12 years ago

    Putin the SoCon:

    Speaking as a worldwide protest movement grows against the Kremlin's anti-gay stance, Mr Putin upbraided the West for treating "good and evil" equally.
    In his 70-minute televised speech from an ornate Kremlin hall, Mr Putin pledged to defend traditional family values, which he said were the foundation of Russia's greatness and a bulwark against "so-called tolerance - genderless and infertile."

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....s-war.html

    1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

      They love Putin over at Free Republic. He is their kind of leader - authoritarian, militaristic, and reactionary.

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        What does this have to do with anything?

        1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

          Putin the SoCon:

          Are you kidding?

      2. WTF   12 years ago

        Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

      3. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

        He is their kind of leader - authoritarian, militaristic, and reactionary.

        Sounds like Obama.

        1. DontShootMe   12 years ago

          Well, Putin is also effective and competent, so the comparison only holds so far.

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      It's starting to seem that Rick Perry is moonlighting as Putin (or Putin as Rick Perry).

      They have similar stature. Why with a little nose prosthetic, a wig, and some additive process for the jawline when Perry... just saying... it's possible.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        what?

        1. Tonio   12 years ago

          Something about cake. Just back away slowly.

      2. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

        Fun Fact, Rick Perry and Vlad Putin are both characters portrayed by Fred Savage as avantgarde performance pieces.

      3. Pope Jimbo   12 years ago

        Wouldn't be the first time. I remember reading a fine expose in the Weekly World News about how Gorbachev had been moonlighting for years as Roy Orbison.

        When glasnost hit and Gorby got too popular he had to kill of his alter ego Roy.

        G-orba-chev Orbi-son. See? They also had photos where a picture of Gorby with dark glasses photoshopped on was shown next to Roy. Proof Positive!

    3. robc   12 years ago

      Isnt a a SoCom?

      1. robc   12 years ago

        Isnt "he".

        Gah.

      2. Tonio   12 years ago

        Don't quit your day job, robc.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          It isnt very funny, but is true.

      3. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

        Are you here all of the week?

        1. robc   12 years ago

          Try the veal like substance.

      4. seguin   12 years ago

        SoCom sounds like a mod for XCom. Except instead of aliens, it's teh gays.

  8. Coeus   12 years ago

    I know I said I was done picking on them, but but this is insane.

    That is absolutely the right approach. This school district is interested not only in protecting the female student from unwanted touching, but in conveying to the male student that what he's doing is not right and will not be tolerated. Conveying that unwanted sexual attention is unacceptable is the most basic form of rape prevention.

    And treating a zero tolerance policy on unwanted touching like an "overreaction" is the most basic form of rape apologia.

    1. Tonio   12 years ago

      It's a real dilemma, Coeus. At what point does one decide a writer has crossed the line between sanity and insanity and stop responding to them?

    2. mr simple   12 years ago

      "Respect a kid when they say, 'No' to a kiss or hug or other affection."

      Yes! This happens so rarely. More often, kids are ordered to show affection: "Give your grandpa a kiss." And then the order is repeated, more sternly, until they do it. Little kids are taught that adults' desire to show and receive affection from them should override their own wishes.

      Forcing a small child to show affection to their grandparents is rape!

      1. wwhorton   12 years ago

        Well I know that my enhanced tolerance for slavery is a direct result of my being forced--well, at least asked pointedly--to mow the lawn as a teenager.

    3. lap83   12 years ago

      The rampant unsated sexual lust of a 6 year old boy must be crushed before he becomes a raping machine.

      Yeah, she is literally insane.

  9. sarcasmic   12 years ago

    The cutest carol concert ever: Little schoolgirl SIGNS as kindergarten class sings so her deaf parents can enjoy the show too

    Five-year-old from Florida used sign language during school concert
    Proud mother posted video of show amid criticism of Mandela sign language interpreter

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-show.html
    A five year old girl is more competent that someone hired by the government? I'm not surprised.

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      *than*

  10. Rich   12 years ago

    HHS ordered the private contractors partly responsible for the Healthcare.gov fiasco not to cooperate with congressional investigations [because] they signed contracts obligating them not to share information with "third parties."

    Surely Sebelius's probe will get to the bottom of this.

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      Surely Sebelius's probe will get to the bottom of this

      I'm still waiting for someone to probe Sebelius' bottom over this

      1. Tonio   12 years ago

        Eeew.

        1. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

          Seconded.

          *Paging Barfman, Barfman pick up the red courtesy phone.*

        2. alittlesense   12 years ago

          She'd have to buy me dinner first.

      2. SugarFree   12 years ago

        If you like your anal fissures, you can keep them.

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          "Lean forward, turn to The Left, and *cough*!"

      3. some guy   12 years ago

        Where's Warty when you need him?

    2. Tonio   12 years ago

      That's an interesting legal question, anyone have any insight into that?

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        Obviously HHS does.

      2. robc   12 years ago

        We the people are the "shareholders" in the US government, so arent a 3rd party.

        They may need to keep the info secret from non-citizens, so do the congressional hearings in private and then use the franking privileges to send every US citizen a transcript.

    3. R C Dean   12 years ago

      I've got news for HHS:

      The contract is with the government. HHS is not a separate legal entity. Thus, sharing information with any governmental agency or representative, most def including Congress, is not sharing information with a third party.

  11. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    The Bloombergers are in a panic about the potential in-flight cell phone use ruling. It would be so awful!

    I keep waiting for them* to start whining about how air travel has gone to shit since Alfred Kahn broke up the cartel.

    *Most of whom weren't even born when Carter was President.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      since Alfred Kahn broke up the cartel.

      KAAAAAAAAAAHN!

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      All that said, I really hope that airlines disallow the use of TALKING on phones during a flight. The last thing that's conducive to a good flight after having your balls groped by 3 separate men, having all your shit hand searched by some TSA enforcer, and having had to catch a later flight because all of said searching and groping caused you to miss your original flight is to have some schmuck yacking on next to you all flight. Even worse would be some teenaged princess: "yeah, that's, like, totes adorbs."

      That shit would turn me in to the terrorist they already think I am.

      But the bullshit pants shitting about people being able to listen to their music, or play a game, or whatthefuckever below the magic 10,000 foot threshold is goddamn ridiculous.

  12. Coeus   12 years ago

    Suggested by Shaker ActivistSheep: "Have you had the experience of trying something for the first time and really enjoying it and then trying it again later and it not living up to the memory of the first time? Tell the story, if you'd like to share. (I call this phenomenon "marzipan" because of my experience with marzipan.) :-)"

    ActivistSheep ? 8 hours ago ?
    Yay, it's a question I submitted! And I have another example.

    The tv show MacGyver is definitely marzipain (Thanks FloraFlora for your cleverness!) for me. When I watched it as a tween (a word that didn't exist at that point), I was like "Awesome. It's a dude who doesn't like guns, is a vegetarian, who has feelings, and really likes to help people." Now I'm just like, "Ugh. White savior who works for the NGO/ military industrial complex, cleaning up after their messes and who is only ever shown kissing women (about one every other show) but mysteriously has a grown kid show up in the last episode of the show." Seriously not as progressive as it seemed at the time.

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Don't tell Patty and Selma MacGyver is gay.

    2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      I am always confused when people on TV have kids but they didn't show an explicit scene of his conception.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        confused or disappointed?

        1. db   12 years ago

          Do Mike and Molly have kids?

          1. alittlesense   12 years ago

            Thanks for that. Now I need brain bleach.

      2. wwhorton   12 years ago

        Exactly. What the heck, sitcoms? Where did this house come from? I never saw any scenes with a real estate agent or titles changing hands or anything!!

        1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

          How did Ross ever get a job as a paleontologist? I never saw his graduation!

        2. db   12 years ago

          Like we're supposed to just suspend our disbelief. Every sitcom should start out with an "I, Pencil" style documentary explaining how all the props and scenery came to.be.

      3. KMA Too   12 years ago

        "HIS conception"

        Patriarchy much, dammit?!?

    3. mr simple   12 years ago

      So this guy was a bore since pre-teendom. I guess some people are born that way.

    4. Rhywun   12 years ago

      Another successful re-education!

    5. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      Sheep is fucking right.

      I can't imagine going through life wondering why nothing meets my expectations of what they should be, and why they're evil because they don't.

      College has ruined this fucking guy.

  13. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Surely Sebelius's probe will get to the bottom of this.

    *puts down fork, pushes plate away*

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      😎

    2. a better weapon   12 years ago

      "Ladies and gentlemen, you're 2014 Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dog champion!!"

  14. Mike M.   12 years ago

    FoE must be on vacation; it has been a while since he didn't make the top five.

    1. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

      He's still in Warty's rape dungeon. What happens in Warty's rape dungeon stays in Warty's rape dungeon.

      1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        Until a dude comes back from getting McDonald's saves whatever is in the dungeon.

        1. a better weapon   12 years ago

          I knew something was wrong when H&Rs; most active member wasn't contributing and longer... dead giveaway.

          1. a better weapon   12 years ago

            Ugh, sorry for all the errors. Too much Estancia at the Christmas party last night it seems.

        2. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

          +1 Big Macs for life

  15. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

    Report: Scientists predict a century of global cooling
    Better start investing in some warm clothes because German scientists are predicting that the Earth will cool over the next century.

    German scientists found that two naturally occurring cycles will combine to lower global temperatures during the 21st century, eventually dropping to levels corresponding with the "little ice age" of 1870.

    "Due to the de Vries cycle, the global temperature will drop until 2100 to a value corresponding to the 'little ice age' of 1870," write German scientists Horst-Joachim Luedecke and Carl-Otto Weiss of the European Institute for Climate and Energy.

    Researchers used historical temperature data and data from cave stalagmites to show a 200-year solar cycle, called the de Vries cycle.

    They also factored into their work a well-established 65-year Atlantic and Pacific Ocean oscillation cycle. Global warming that has occurred since 1870 can be attributed almost entirely to both these factors, the scientists argue....

    1. Mike M.   12 years ago

      So the science is not settled? I thought we had a consensus!

    2. gaijin   12 years ago

      German scientists, hmm. Fardenstarke!

    3. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      You know what other issue Germans are denialists about?

      1. Ted S.   12 years ago

        They think people want to see their naked bodies at the beach. 🙁

      2. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

        The market for scheiss pron?

      3. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

        Shoddy Volkswagen assembly/production?

      4. Rich   12 years ago

        David Hasselhoff's vomit?

    4. Tonio   12 years ago

      If Michael Mann were truly a man of his convictions he'd wear nothing but shorts and t-shirts for the rest of his life. No parka for you, hockey stick boy.

      1. gaijin   12 years ago

        were truly a man of his convictions

        And there's the issue with many a warmist isn't it!

    5. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I'm gonna have to go ahead and ask for Consensus TPS report to back that assertion.

    6. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

      "called the de Vries cycle"

      The Harkonnens are sabotaging our weather!!!!!!!

      1. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

        +1 parched wasteland

      2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        Start collecting the water.

        1. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

          Start collecting their water!

          *pulls crysknife*

          1. Rabban   12 years ago

            Come at me bro.

  16. Coeus   12 years ago

    SJWs, hoisted by their own petard.

    This blog got blocked because it was self harming. These people actually believe that trying to not be discriminated against is self harming. I'm done.

    Mod note: Yep. They actually think that by us advocating against discrimination, we're hurting fat people. They think fat hatred and bias is good for fat people, and because we consider it critically, we're not allowing those bad fattie-fats to get the torture they "deserve" and hence (as they fallaciously believe) become permanently thin, morally better people as a result. But fat people aren't discriminated against, right? -ATL

    1. Ted S.   12 years ago

      Sarah Jessica Warker?
      Some Jehovah's Witnesses?
      Single Jewish White?

      And I'm confused as to who's going after whom here. (Although, to be fair, this confusion probably isn't a bad thing.)

      1. Tonio   12 years ago

        Social Justice Warriors

    2. mad libertarian guy   12 years ago

      I have a better idea.

      Stop trying to intervene on everyone's "behalf" for "their own good"?

      Worry about your own fucking life and leave people the fuck alone.

  17. Jordan   12 years ago

    Has anybody heard from Fist of Etiquette. It's been nearly 5 minutes. I'm worried he drowned while swimming in his vault of gold coins. It's a common mishap among libertarians.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Seriously.

      /waits anxiously by the phone biting nails.

    2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      If he's too poor to afford a lifeguard for his gold pool then he doesn't deserve to live anyway.

      1. a better weapon   12 years ago

        What do you think the webathon was for?

        Poor bastard... almost made it.

  18. Ted S.   12 years ago

    High school rowing team finds dead body in river

    "The person was brought back to Waikato Hospital where investigators have been able to establish the person was male

    How long does it take gentials to decompose?

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Cold water, dude. Cold water.

    2. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

      This is why they will never, ever dredge Buffalo Bayou. Too many off the books HPD kills chained to batteries down there.

    3. SugarFree   12 years ago

      Fish and turtles eat the soft parts first.

    4. Longtorso, Johnny   12 years ago

      How long does it take gentials to decompose?

      I asked Siri. She says I'm now on a government list.

      1. KMA Too   12 years ago

        You may be on a few mailing lists, too, after that query.

    5. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

      Aside from extreme bloating that happens to a water logged body, the extremities are the first to be nibbled on by local wildlife. A body that's been in the water for a while could be very difficult to identify.

    6. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

      You know, even if your dick was nibbled off by turtles, it still wouldn't look like a vagina. The body would look like a man missing a penis.

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        You've apparently never had your dick was nibbled by turtles.

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          Need more turtles coffee.

        2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

          You've apparently never had your dick was nibbled by turtles.

          It's turtles all the way down.

      2. Ted S.   12 years ago

        You're othering the transgendered!!!111!!!

        1. Rich   12 years ago

          It's the transgendered all the way down!

  19. SugarFree   12 years ago

    Diabetic woman dies in jail after being denied her insulin

    Rebecca Tibbetts, Sarah's mother, said staff phoned her a day after the motel arrest and asked her to bring the medicine to jail.

    "I said I'm in California. I can't bring it up," said Rebecca Tibbetts, who lives in that state. "I said my daughter is insulin-dependent and she will die without her insulin. If you can't provide it, she needs to be sent to a hospital."

    The next morning, Sarah Tibbetts lay unconscious on the floor of her cell.

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Some jail workers saw an opportunity for a long paid vacation.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Or they thought she was going to snort insulin to get high.

        1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

          She was going to inject them with insulin as part of a daring escape attempt.

      2. R C Dean   12 years ago

        You know, when prison guards see a woman unconscious on the floor of her cell, I doubt that taking a vacation is the first thing that crosses their minds.

  20. Rich   12 years ago

    The Obama administration is bringing in the "Sexiest Man Alive" to help "boost" Obamacare enrollment numbers.

    Show the depth of their desperation if they're willing to enlist *Vladimir Putin*.

    Seriously, if *any* taxpayer money is financing this shit ....

    1. Rich   12 years ago

      the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has shoveled $4.5 billion of taxpayer money to promote Obamacare on the state level.

      ARGHH!!

      1. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

        Actually, "promote" is misleading.

        "Build" would be more accurate based on the links:

        http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Resou.....ts/hi.html

        Still it is a waste of money.

    2. Mike M.   12 years ago

      Whoa, THAT dude is the sexiest man alive? Even People Magazine has turned into a bunch of trolls.

    3. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      I might be off here but isn't that insensitive to ugly people?

      1. Rich   12 years ago

        Could be the scandal that finally brings down the administration!

  21. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    George H.W. Bush joined Twitter this week, already accumulating more than 70,000 followers with just one tweet.

    "Act now! Offer ends soon!"

    1. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

      "Save hundreds with this one weird trick"?

  22. Snark Plissken   12 years ago

    The US government lobotomized about 2,000 soldiers it found to be mentally ill after World War II, according to historical research by the Wall Street Journal.

    And gave them a Purple Heart in post-op.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Signed off by Nurse Ratchet.

      The bitch.

  23. Palin's Buttplug   12 years ago

    Has South Park jumped the shark? It was just boring last night. The 3-week stint on Black Friday/console wars was stale too.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      When will you blame Bush if it has?

    2. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      The Game of Thrones three-parter was good.

      I didn't watch last nights, so I can't comment on that.

    3. Jordan   12 years ago

      Not enough Obama-fellating, am I right?

      1. OldMexican   12 years ago

        Re: Jordan,

        The Buttwipe is angry at the great one for flirting with the viking hottie.

    4. Mike M.   12 years ago

      You jumped the shark years ago, and yet you're still around.

    5. Crusty Juggler   12 years ago

      "Weiner weiner weiner weiner weiner weiner weiner one weiner next to another weiner"

      1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

        "Oh god, he hasn't even ordered the pizza yet!"

  24. Rich   12 years ago

    The National Institutes of Health is spending over $224,000 to study Latino children's "menu ordering and consumption behaviors" in 12 restaurants, followed by the "restaurant-based intervention."

    Un *linda* proyecto que ser

    1. OldMexican   12 years ago

      ?Va a estar de su puta madre el proyecto ?se!

      (It's going to be one motherf&*@g project that one!)

    2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

      Me volver?a a pagar diez mil d?lares a la mierda Dora la Exploradora en el culo. Diez de los grandes.

  25. SugarFree   12 years ago

    Just your basic "men need to clean more!!!1!!" article, but it is a good opportunity to talk about Tracy Moore. I'm not going to suggest you actually fool with doing it, but if you have read her articles over the last few years, pieces on child-raising, post-partum depression and the long string of articles in the last year that are very pointedly hateful toward men, something obvious emerges: Her marriage is crumbling, and I'm pretty sure she has no idea.

    1. gaijin   12 years ago

      You know, I've never really clicked on the links here that go to Jezebel...it was an intuitive sense that I would be damaged for having done so. Today I went ahead and clicked on your link. I should have listened to my intuition.

      1. Swiss Servator, Alps avast!   12 years ago

        Your sacrifice is noted. You have spared others of us...

      2. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Wait, I think I prove my point with just her article titles:

        What Does It Even Mean to Be a 'Needy' Girl?
        Are You Sure You Want an Orgasm EVERY Time?
        In Defense of Being a Lover AND a Fighter
        If Yelling at Kids Is as Harmful as Spanking, What the Hell Is Left?
        Will Women Ever Have the Freedom to Be Ugly?
        Ten Advantages to an Unplanned Pregnancy
        Some Ladies Just Don't Give a Shit About Having It All
        A Handy Guide for When Everyone Hates You
        Trying To Be Perfect Is Destroying Us All
        How to Still Have a Drink When You Have a Newborn
        Women Are Doing the Man Things But Men Won't Do the Lady Things
        Are You Ambivalent About Pregnancy? Join the Club.
        When Is It Better to Just STFU?
        Stop Acting Like "Bouncing Back" From Labor is Even Possible
        How Nice Does a Woman Have to Be to a Guy She Rejects?
        The Secret to Lasting Love Is Staying the Hell Away From Each Other

        1. Spoonman.   12 years ago

          Stop Acting Like "Bouncing Back" From Labor is Even Possible

          Uh, OK, but that is EXACTLY what my wife did over the past month, and that was with the baby in the NICU for a week.

        2. Apple   12 years ago

          Sometimes I imagine how my life would have turned out if I had married that girl*, instead of breaking up with her by e-mail while she was on the other side of the planet. Makes me shiver.

          *Not this specific woman, but her spiritual cousin.

        3. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

          Well, that last one really gives the game away.

        4. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

          That is hideous.

          Fall of the West. Reason #488 e495 tty786.

        5. robc   12 years ago

          She should consider writing one entitled:

          "Examining My Premises, or How Everything I Think Is Fucked Up At The Start"

        6. Corning   12 years ago

          How Nice Does a Woman Have to Be to a Guy She Rejects?

          The fact that they ask this question at all is an improvement. Hell it is the only instance i can see Jezebel even acknowledging that men might have feelings.

          The rest all seem like what any Cosmopolitan issue might hold.

    2. Nooge.   12 years ago

      Who in the fucking FUCK would want to be married to a woman like that?

      1. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

        not her husband, apparently.

      2. #   12 years ago

        I've wondered at times what the men who marry these people have to be like. Do they enjoy being miserable?

    3. Warty   12 years ago

      Ahem:

      "The boundary between Self and Environment is a social con[struct]. In Western cultures this boundary is supposed to be sharp and distinct. The beard is an outward symbol of that boundary, a distancing technique. To shave off the beard (or any body hair) is to symbolically annihilate the (essentially specious) boundary separating Self from Other . . ."

      And so on. The paper was rapturously received by the peer reviewers and immediately accepted for publication in a major international journal. Charlene is presenting some related work at the War as Text conference:

      "Unshavenness as Signifier in World War II Movies." On the strength of her beard work, three different Ivy League schools are fighting over who will get to hire her.

      Randy does not want to move to the East Coast. Worse yet, he has a full beard, which makes him feel dreadfully incorrect whenever he ventures out with her. He proposed to Charlene that perhaps he should issue a press release stating that he shaves the rest of his body every day. She did not think it was very funny. He realized, when he was halfway over the Pacific Ocean, that all of her work was basically an elaborate prophecy of the doom of their relationship.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Only pre-pubescent boys have smooth-faces. Any women that prefers a clean-shaven man is a pedophile.

      2. Loki   12 years ago

        On the strength of her beard work, three different Ivy League schools are fighting over who will get to hire her.

        That sentence could be misinterpreted in so many interesting ways taken out of context...

      3. R C Dean   12 years ago

        The boundary between Self and Environment is a social con[struct].

        No, I'm pretty sure the boundary between self and environment is anatomical, going by the name of "skin."

    4. Warty   12 years ago

      I liked the linked article about a problem Lindy West surely will never have.

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        Which is odd, considering that she eats an entire wedding cake every day.

      2. Warty   12 years ago

        I imagine this guy does all the housework:

        SquidTechUSerengetti Dove231L
        My husband took my last name, but before he'd reached that decision for himself he agreed the future children should have my last name (although he will be the stay-at-home parent, assuming I can support us for such a lifestyle?point is, it would never be me). I'm not sure what his logic is, but I've always felt so strongly that "my kids, my name." Maybe men feel that way too, but eh. Idk. 10/17/13 2:31pm

        1. SugarFree   12 years ago

          And she leaves him a few years later because he's impotent. Where have all the good men gone?!?

      3. Apatheist ?_??   12 years ago

        LibraryChickULindy West151L
        So, I am getting married in May, and I am changing my last name. I am not happy about it, but I am doing it because my fiance has asked me to. Trust me, we have discussed it and discussed it. He doesn't necessarily understand why I feel why I do about it, but I have decided to give in on this because I care about him and this is apparently really important to him. It does bother me! I am keeping my middle name and my maiden name as a second middle name and I plan on using both (all my names are short).

        Do I think he is going to be a terrible husband? No, not really. He is definitely stubborn, and often kinda stupid about things, and we disagree, and work on things, and fight, and work it out, and compromise, and he thinks I win more often, and we see a therapist who says I win more often and I don't believe either of them, but it's ok. I guess my point is that now I am afraid because I really, really support women who keep their names, and I am feeling like they are going to call me a terrible not-feminist hussy for changing mine. 10/17/13 2:44pm

        Good lord, you're already seeing a therapist before your even married? I don't think your problem here is the name change.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          Pre-marital counseling is a good thing, but Im not sure that is what is going on there.

          I dont see the big deal about the name change thing. In certain cultures you dont change your last name, in some you do. In Iceland you dont really have a last name to begin with.

          Shrug.

          Go with your cultural flow.

          1. trshmnstr   12 years ago

            Pre-marital counseling is a good thing

            Yes, but typically you don't do that with a conflict resolution therapist

        2. Tonio   12 years ago

          ^This.

          1. Tonio   12 years ago

            My comment was referring to Apatheist's 10:13 post.

      4. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

        The feminist thing to do is to retain your father's last name.

        1. Elspeth Flashman   12 years ago

          The feminist thing to do is find a female ancestor's name to use (who was also using her father's name). Or adopt a new last name entirely for both members of the couple.

    5. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Again, I ask, why do you guys read this shit? I know it's novel and fun at first, but then it becomes disturbing and sad to watch these cuntcases.

      Is it a question of keeping your friends close but enemies closer so as to know what libertarians are up against?

      1. SugarFree   12 years ago

        but then it becomes disturbing and sad to watch these cuntcases.

        You answered your own question.

      2. Tonio   12 years ago

        I rarely click-through, but I do find it useful to keep up with what others are thinking because I will eventually encounter those viewpoints and need to be prepared to refute them, and if necessary refrain from laughing out loud.

        1. WTF   12 years ago

          I think laughing out loud is the most appropriate response.

        2. Tonio   12 years ago

          There are certain social situations in which it is advantageous for me to not LOL when viewpoints like that are presented earnestly.

          Also, if the goal is to sway third-party observers, LOLing is seen as bullying etc, and it is better to choose the moral high ground and attack the viewpoint not the person.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

            If third party observers even remotely entertain that point of view needing swaying back to common sense then I argue they're already lost. Move on.

          2. shut the fuck up mary   12 years ago

            "Also, if the goal is to sway third-party observers"

            This is frequently used as justification for behavior, and frankly, it is fucking moronic, and RJF already pointed out.

            It's just a cover for stupid shit you can't deal with.

    6. Coeus   12 years ago

      Why is it that when you say "women have lower sex drives" they raise holy hell, but if you say "the person who wants it cleaner should clean more" they scream "that just means the women end up doing it!!!"

      Stereotyping double standards. Yet another popular feminist tool.

      1. shut the fuck up mary   12 years ago

        I asked exactly this question two days ago, and surprisingly, my wife agreed.

  26. Ebriosa   12 years ago

    Battered women morally entitled to kill abusers, U of O professor asserts

    OTTAWA ? Battered women are morally entitled to kill their abusive partners, even those who are passed out or asleep, says a respected University of Ottawa law professor.

    BUT at least she does tell women who are arrested to not talk to the police without a lawyer!

    (and I have to admit I like the talking point of selling shelters as not just good for the battered, but they save the lives of abusers, too!)

    1. Restoras   12 years ago

      Are we talking beer battered, or other types of batter i.e.-cake?

    2. Coeus   12 years ago

      Well, seeing as how 70 percent of non-reciprocal domestic violence is committed by women, I can see why they gendered the statement.

      1. Loki   12 years ago

        Although something tells me if asked if battered have a right to kill their abusers, this cunt's response would be "he just needs to man the fuck up and stop being such a pussy."

        1. Loki   12 years ago

          *battered men

          Oops. Commenting fail.

    3. OldMexican   12 years ago

      OTTAWA ? Battered women are morally entitled to kill their abusive partners, even those who are passed out or asleep, says a respected University of Ottawa law professor

      "But not with a gun because that would be Stand Your Ground and that's just icky. No, just bludgeon them to death or something."

    4. Coeus   12 years ago

      "Why should women live in anticipatory dread and hypervigilence?" she writes in the book's concluding chapter. Would it not be just, Sheehy asks, "to shift the risk of death to those men whose aggressions have created such dehumanizing fear in their female partners?"

      Or, you know, just leave.

      1. WTF   12 years ago

        Stop mansplaining, you micro-aggressing otherer!

      2. R C Dean   12 years ago

        Of course, an ambush killing isn't exactly "shifting the risk of death."

        If that's what you're after, well, ordinary self-defense law is all you need.

    5. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      There has to be a hockey reference or joke in there. I know it.

  27. Nooge.   12 years ago

    The police chief in Durham, North Carolina claims a teenager who died in custody last month shot himself while handcuffed in a squad car, something the chief pointed out has "happened in other jurisdictions".

    Yeah! Y'all remember that jurisdiction where that happened? I sure do. There were several of them. Jurisdictions, I mean. Whacky shit going down day and night, in those other jurisdictions.

    1. SugarFree   12 years ago

      Actually, it happened twice in 2012.

      Of course, saying all three were suicides is the bullshit part. I believe the Arkansas incident would have required the suspect to break his thumb and wrist first to be able to shoot himself in the temple at that angle.

      1. Warty   12 years ago

        "Just like a nigger, to steal more chain than he could swim with."

      2. Nooge.   12 years ago

        Actually, it happened twice in 2012.

        I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

      3. Pope Jimbo   12 years ago

        I'm guessing this police chief also used this same line of logic on his wife when he was explaining how he got the clap from a toilet seat.

        "Honey, if you look at the stats you will see lots of other married guys got the clap from a public toilet seat and not from banging some skank on the side!"

        1. Pope Jimbo   12 years ago

          Oh, yeah. They also said that the reason for Roy Orbison's combover was to hide that big wine mark on Gorby's head.

  28. Rich   12 years ago

    Flirty Obama owes us an apology

    I got a few laughs out of this column.

    Example: Not to be outdone by the president's bad behavior, the Danish hellcat hiked up her skirt to expose long Scandinavian legs covered by nothing more substantial than sheer black stockings.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Caption time: In the pic Rich linked to. the guy at the bottom right looking down on his phone.

      I'll give it a whirl.

      "Obama is acting like a douche again. Be home for dinner at 6pm."

      1. Loki   12 years ago

        "It's bad enough that I have to sit here and listen to his narcississtic self absorbed speech, but now I have to sit right in front of him while he runs his game on the Danish Prime Minister. C U l8er"

        1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

          "Django's at it again."

      2. Crusty Juggler   12 years ago

        "If you like your interracial sexual fantasies, you can keep them."

    2. Snark Plissken   12 years ago

      That's supposed to be satire, right?

      1. Tonio   12 years ago

        It is satire, but not intended as such. Unconscious self-parody is one of the cruelest and therefore funniest forms of humor.

    3. Restoras   12 years ago

      Where da white wimmin at?

    4. Tonio   12 years ago

      Yeah, the slut-shaming is epic. Thanks, Rich.

    5. Loki   12 years ago

      I'm just curious. What exactly was he and the Danish prime minister talking/ laughing about? Does anyone even know? Also, what's so scandalous about sheer black stockings and a skirt? I see professional women dressed similar to that all the time. Also, did Obama put his hand on her leg or touch her in any way that would suggest lewd or inappropriate conduct?

      You could argue that perhaps he should have been in a more serious, somber mood and his joviality was inappropriate at a funeral, but without knowing what they were talking/ laughing about, and unless there was some kind of inappropriate physical contact I'm not seeing it. I mean, it's not like he mounted her right there in front of everyone.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        Yeah, the context of the situation would be useful. It could be pulled right out of it.

        Still, I look at all the people around them and they all look rather serious which suggests to me that the "celebrating" was taken place elsewhere.

      2. John   12 years ago

        I think it is the joking and laughing that is appalling. They were at a memorial service for a national hero of the country they were in. It is appalling behavior and beneath the dignity of the office.

        1. Loki   12 years ago

          That I can see. And it's possible that that's why Michelle was giving him the stink eye, because she didn't think it was appropriate for him to be laughing and carrying on at a memorial service. If it was a wake afterward, that's one thing (especially an Irish wake), but not there. Or maybe he was really stupid enough to run his game right in front of his wife. We'll never know for sure.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

            Know, it really seems to boil down to him being a frat boy.

            Question is would he be allowed into Delta House Fraternity.

          2. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

            Michelle has permanent stink eye.

      3. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

        "Never mind Mandela, baby, let me show you something *really* stiff."

        "So, Mr. President, would you like a Danish?"

        1. John   12 years ago

          Who do you have in the resulting cat fight? I know Michelle has the edge in size and general nastiness. But Viking chicks are crazy and likely to fight dirty.

          1. Crusty Juggler   12 years ago

            Michelle has the shoulders of an experienced sculler. She would tear that majestic president to shreds, and not in the good way!

            1. John   12 years ago

              Go ask Tiger Woods how fucking with Viking chicks works out. It would all be fun and games for Michelle until that Dane pulled out the golf club.

              1. VG Zaytsev   12 years ago

                Klingons laugh at your puny golf clubs.

            2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

              Tear to shreds...with her jaws.

          2. The Last American Hero   12 years ago

            I'm pretty sure the PM would win if a hobbit stabbed Michelle in the leg to distract her first.

    6. Zeb   12 years ago

      That is funny. So, if another world leader is an attractive woman, then you are not allowed to be friendly with her.

      1. Crusty Juggler   12 years ago

        Attractive women exist so that other women can gossip about them and ask their significant others "do you actually find her attractive?"*

        Naturally, all attractive women are sluts and starve themselves, and only have jobs because they sucked their way to the top.

        *Yes, I do. I always do.

    7. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Those two pictures are frikkin' hilarious.

      A visibly pissed off Michelle switches seats with her husband, who can't keep his mitts off the Danish hottie, who appears to be pouting after the switch.

  29. db   12 years ago

    An appeals court in Florida ruled students attending the state's public universities cannot be prohibited from keeping their guns in cars parked on campus.

    That has promise. If it can be carried into other states, it would be a big win. I hope that it does...campus gun prohibitions are a shameful practice, disarming the innocent while empowering the criminal. Especially on urban campuses, students need to have their self defense rights upheld, not eviscerated.

  30. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

    Small college pushes for CEO pay caps, realizes their own college administrators make bank:

    http://www.nationofchange.org/.....1386341976

    1. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

      And good news to all of us heartless bastards, admissions are down!

      http://www.somdnews.com/articl.....landMobile

      1. itsnotmeitsyou   12 years ago

        Call me a heartless bastard if you want, but if this means that prices will start to come down, I'm extatic.

        1. Certified Public Asskicker   12 years ago

          In this case though, the students successfully pushed through a higher living wage for the lowest paid employees.

          And now admissions are down. Delicious.

  31. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    South African Fake Sign Language Interpreter Claims He Was Hallucinating

    Who isn't?

    1. Snark Plissken   12 years ago

      Well he backed up that claim by saying that he thought Obama showed great humility.

    2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

      Listening to Obama's divisive class warfare gibberish, one could surmise he hallucinates all the time on matters of economics.

  32. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    The fake sign language interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial, who had previously fake signed for the ANC, says he was hallucinating, while officials say they can't track down the owners of the company they hired him through.

    This story elicited some serious horrified outrage on the part of one of the Bloomberg Babes. "OMG THAT CRAZY GUY WAS LIKE THREE FEET AWAY FROM THE PRESIDENT!11!"

    Too bad they searched that guy and took his tire and gasoline away.

  33. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

    so during the breakfast meeting, one of my co-workers mentioned the future tobacco surcharge on healthcare costs. He's part of the health awareness group - the company is may be doing swabs to test for the presence of nicotine.

    Some random thoughts on this: privacy issue? also, how long does a swab go back? I mean if I smoked a cigarette this morning, could a swab 4 hours later pick up nicotine. Also, do e-cigarettes count as a "tobacco user", since it's actually nicotine.

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Yes.

    2. John   12 years ago

      It is appalling. Just because the government isn't doing it, doesn't make it alright. I understand the cost issues. But I value my privacy more. I am fine with paying a bit more as a nonsmoker in return for not having my employer drug test me.

    3. tarran   12 years ago

      They go back weeks.

      And yes, they assume nicotine = tobacco products. Which will suck for e-cig users since ecigs don't contain the carcinogens that tobacco does, so they should be in the non-smoker risk pool.

      1. John   12 years ago

        If the test can detect it for weeks, that means the guy who has the odd cigar out drinking will be treated just like the pack a day smoker.

      2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

        I'm a part-time smoker: I can go months and months without a smoke. But once I'm at a bar with my friends - I get the urge to have a cigarette. So, no, I'm not particularly worried about passing, but I do consider it intrusive.

        1. Clich? Bandit   12 years ago

          ahh yes, the occasional Lung Butter evening.

        2. Juice   12 years ago

          Doesn't it make you nauseous?

    4. Loki   12 years ago

      Also, do e-cigarettes count as a "tobacco user", since it's actually nicotine.

      Likewise, would chewing a piece of nocotine gum also leave traces of nicotine in your saliva? I think it would. I suspect the only alternative nicotine delivery method that wouldn't show up would maybe be the patch.

      1. pan fried wylie   12 years ago

        maybe be the patch

        I dunno, once it's in your blood, it might be detectable in your mouth. Like breathalyzers.

      2. Tonio   12 years ago

        It depends on what they are actually testing for. If they are testing for nicotine, then a patch would cause a positive test.

        And don't trust that "health awareness group" guy - he is not your friend.

        Find a trusted third-party source for this info.

    5. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

      just in case anyone cares:

      from: http://thelawdictionary.org/ar.....he-system/

      If you're facing a nicotine test, it's likely that you'll be asked to provide a urine or saliva sample. With the power to detect nicotine up to a week after the cessation of smoking, saliva tests tend to be more sensitive than urine tests. On the other hand, they also tend to be less accurate and may require additional rounds of confirmation testing. As such, you should expect to face a urine test unless you're advised otherwise by your insurance company.

      Urine tests are designed to detect a byproduct of nicotine known as "cotinine." This substance is produced by the body's metabolic processes and can be detected in typical smokers for about four days after the cessation of smoking. Smokers with unusually fast metabolisms may be cotinine-free within two days after their last cigarette. On the other hand, some other smokers may be unable to pass a urine test for a week or longer after quitting smoking.

    6. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Private employers can test for what they want.

      Depending on the test, it can pick up nicotine from, I think, as long as a couple weeks ago, depending on how much you have taken in.

      And yes, these tests count ecigs as the equivalent of unfiltered Camels.

  34. robc   12 years ago

    Brewery update:

    Saw a few properties on Tuesday, 2 have strong potential, details and etc to be worked out, lease could be signed in January.

    1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

      I thought you were already going. Is this an expansion, or was I wrong?

      1. robc   12 years ago

        You were wrong.

        Its been a long slog. Things are happening rapidly now, including change of cities.

        1. Auric Demonocles   12 years ago

          What's the new city?

        2. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

          What city are you in now?

          1. robc   12 years ago

            I still live in Louisville (for now) but am location shopping in Bowling Green, KY.

            1. EDG reppin' LBC   12 years ago

              Sweet. Well, good luck man. In my experience people, "friends" and family even, will try to prevent you from opening this brewery. Whether it is their own risk aversion, jealousy of you, or just malevolence, they don't want you to succeed. Fuck 'em. Don't listen to those people. Push ahead and open this brewery. We'll be out in KY for The Derby next year, and I want to drink one (or six) of your beers.

    2. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

      good luck - it's always easy to dream, but actually doing something is a big step. It takes courage, but it is far better to take the risk and even lose than to never take a risk at all.

      1. robc   12 years ago

        Yeah, I know. Ive been tiptoeing at the edge for 2 years now.

    3. db   12 years ago

      Great news!

    4. BakedPenguin   12 years ago

      Awesome, robc. Next time we bet a six-pack, it's going to be a real six-pack.

    5. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Free advice, from someone who has seen too many small businesses fail.

      Do not hire family or friends to work there, no matter how pitifully they whine or how they bluster and threaten. I've seen too many family members and friends of the owner drag down and destroy a business. They get all entitled and lazy and shit, and the owners are way too slow to fire.

      1. robc   12 years ago

        1. I owned a small business from 2000 to selling my share off in 2012, so I know a bit about running a business. I think Ive already made just about every mistake possible. Except the one you specifically mentioned.

        2. Good advice though. Fortunately, my family and friends arent that way, so not a problem. And none are in BG.

        1. R C Dean   12 years ago

          Glad to hear it, robc.

          Didn't know your background, and restaurants/bars/brewpubs are notorious for having newbie owners who hire all their drinking buddies and deadbeat relatives.

      2. Pope Jimbo   12 years ago

        I consulted for a company where the owner, who was a very sharp guy, had six daughters and by coincidence six son-in-laws ensconced in the c-suite.

        The CFO's previous job had been the seater/greeter at an Old Country Buffet.

    6. Elspeth Flashman   12 years ago

      Yay! Exciting (and exhausting) times.

  35. Loki   12 years ago

    Heard about this on the radio this morning: Man sues government after google auto-correct mishap caused him to be harrassed by gov. agents and lose his job.

    Multiple agencies within the federal government are accused of stalking and later causing a former contractor to be fired after Google auto-correct changed a search from "How do I build a radio-controlled airplane?" into "How do I build a radio-controlled bomb?"

    I'm not sure I entirely buy his story. Not the part about the government harrassing him and causing him to lose his job. That part I have no problem believing. The part about google auto-correct changing "airplane" to "bomb." Seems like that would require one to pretty badly mangle the spelling. FWIW, right now if type in "how to build a radio controlled..." google doesn't suggest "bomb." Although it's possible they changed their algorithm. Weird story to say the least.

    1. waffles   12 years ago

      I don't get it. How does a google search raise flags? How do you police what people search for without getting an extremely massive amount of false positives?

      BRB-clearing my search history.

    2. John   12 years ago

      I find this difficult to believe. First, how did they know about it? Did he do the search on a government computer? Yeah, I know the NSA collects everything. But just because they collect it doesn't mean they do anything with it. Just how exactly is the google search of some random contractor important enough to get their attention?

      Second, this paragraph makes me wonder.

      Kantor states that he took his complaints to the Anti-Defamation League, which caused an increase in veiled death threats and retaliation from government investigators.

      Veiled death threats? Really? He is a contractor not a GS employee. If the government doesn't like him, they can just call the contractor and say "get this guy out of here". Even if you believe the NSA took notice of him, they wouldn't have needed to issue death threats or do anything except call the contractor and tell them one of their employees is a security risk. After Snowden, no contractor is going to need to be told twice.

      My guess is this guy is a paranoid nut.

      1. Loki   12 years ago

        After Snowden, no contractor is going to need to be told twice.

        Apparantly the search that allegedly started all of this was in 2009, before Snowden, but yeah, the story definitely sounds fishy. I can believe the government goons acting like thugs part, but the rest of it not so much. I'm thinking a combination of paranoid and looking for a big day.

        1. Loki   12 years ago

          *big pay day

          Fucking typing, how does it work?

        2. John   12 years ago

          Even pre Snowden, if the government doesn't like a contract employee, the contractor just fires them or sends them to a different job. And security clearances are shockingly easy to revoke. I find it hard to believe the government agents' actions here not because I think they are above such things, they are not, but because they didn't need to do it to screw the guy.

          1. Loki   12 years ago

            Thinking a little more about it, it's possible, even likely, that that's what really happened and he's making up the harrassment story.

      2. R C Dean   12 years ago

        Kantor states that he took his complaints to the Anti-Defamation League, which caused an increase in veiled death threats and retaliation from government investigators.

        Entirely plausible, IMO. This is the same administration that immediately begins tax audits of people who appear on news shows criticizing ObamaCare, after all.

        1. John   12 years ago

          It is not very plausible. This guy was a nobody and all they had to do was pull his security clearance.

          1. R C Dean   12 years ago

            C'mon, John. This administration has sicced the IRS on people because they appeared on the wrong TV show.

            I'm not willing to rule out the idea that the atmosphere that apparently now exists in these agencies would lead to employees making threats against people.

  36. Loki   12 years ago

    The fake sign language interpreter from the Nelson Mandela memorial, who had previously fake signed for the ANC, says he was hallucinating

    I think it's more likely that he lied about knowing sign language when he was hired. Although you'd think someone would have figured that out before now. Another less likely explanation is that he was being possessed and started "signing in tongues."

    1. Loki   12 years ago

      Another likely explanation is that he wasn't to listening to a word president teleprompter was saying. Lucky him. Too bad he got caught.

      1. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

        "This guy is still saying a bunch of silly stuff, so here is a joke about the farmer's daughter and the travelling salesman."

        1. creech   12 years ago

          Salesman is out driving in a rural area when a snowstorm hits. His car skids off the road and is stuck. After trudging five miles through drifts, half frozen he comes to a farmhouse. "Can I stay the night?" he asks the farmer. "Sure, but it's only fair to warn you...I don't have a daughter." Salesman: "How far is it to the next farmhouse?"

          1. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

            NEVER GET OUT OF THE CAR!

            /winter safety tip

    2. Tonio   12 years ago

      I'm going with fraudster. And it's quite possible that the company knew, and didn't care.

      So, the government's inability to find the company they contracted with - deliberate incompetence to save face and protect cronies, or were they disappeared to send a message?

      1. Loki   12 years ago

        the government's inability to find the company they contracted with - deliberate incompetence to save face and protect cronies, or were they disappeared to send a message?

        Or perhaps they got the hell out Dodge. "Oh shit, they're onto us! Time to clear out and lay low for a while."

  37. db   12 years ago

    Illinois man released from prison after serving 31 years of a 100 year sentence for a rape he did not commit but confessed to under police torture.

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      The city has spent more than $85 million in settlements and legal fees for 17 cases related to Jon Burge, a former Chicago police commander who led a secret unit within the police department that carried out systemic torture during interrogations between 1972 and 1991.

      Mr. Burge was never criminally prosecuted...

      I'm shocked!

      1. John   12 years ago

        Intentional torts are not dischargable in bankruptcy. That means when Chicago goes belly up, the victims of their police department will collect before the police department pension does.

        Sure, Obama will probably try to banish that law. But we can at least hope that justice might be served.

      2. Rufus J. Firefly   12 years ago

        Costs the people $85 million and gets to keep his pension.

        The day we show balls as a society to not tolerate such barbaric behavior is the day we've reached maturity and self-dignity.

      3. db   12 years ago

        Another mind-boggling aspect.of this is that none of the perpetrators be charged or sued in conjunction with this due to the fact that the statute of limitations timing has expired. Somone please explain to me why there is a statute of limitations on any crime relating to abuse of power!

        1. R C Dean   12 years ago

          Because the people who write the statute of limitations are the same people who abuse power, perhaps?

        2. sarcasmic   12 years ago

          Somone please explain to me why there is a statute of limitations on any crime relating to abuse of power!

          Because people with power write the rules.

    2. Mike M.   12 years ago

      Holy fucking shit. Reading that made me sick to my stomach.

    3. Lord Humungus   12 years ago

      jeezus christ.

  38. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

    Remember the us aid which was only going to the secular rebels in Syria? Well, it appears some of it ended up in the hands of Islamist groups.

    http://theam.cn/1aYBYHI

    1. db   12 years ago

      Sorry, my shocked face is still in the repair shop from the Obamacare debacle following close on the heels of the NSA revelations.

    2. Mike M.   12 years ago

      Funny how that Syrian civil war has almost completely disappeared from 24/7 news cycle.

    3. OldMexican   12 years ago

      Aw! Really? Well, it wasn't like the government wanted that to happen!

    4. Loki   12 years ago

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y80EL6d2peI

    5. R C Dean   12 years ago

      Just another isolated unintended consequence?

  39. Sevo   12 years ago

    "South African Fake Sign Language Interpreter Claims He Was Hallucinating"
    How do you say "chuzpa" in Afrikaans?

    1. db   12 years ago

      "Visions of Angels."

  40. JD   12 years ago

    NYC: FYTW

    http://ny.curbed.com/archives/.....e_city.php

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      Newsstand forced to close because the guy can't afford to pay $37K to the city. Comments blame the evil greedy rich for not paying the fine for him. Holy derp.

  41. Enough About Palin   12 years ago

    According to a Congressional Budget Office report this week, America's top 40 percent of earners pay 106 percent of the taxes and the bottom 40 percent pay negative 9 percent, reports CNBC.

    1. OldMexican   12 years ago

      Income inequality! If they can afford to pay 106% of the taxes, then they're Making Too Much Money?!

    2. Eduard van Haalen   12 years ago

      All taxes or just income taxes?

      1. robc   12 years ago

        Probably income taxes.

        I have a spreadsheet of the breakdown, up thru 2007. In 2007, for income taxes, the top 40% paid 98.7% and the bottom 40% paid -3.3%.

        For total federal taxes, it was 85.4% and 5.2% respectively.

        The trend line suggests that the 106% and -9% for INCOME taxes is probably correct.

        1. robc   12 years ago

          And total 2007 breakdown for funsies (bottom to top quintile):

          Income -3.0 -0.3 4.6 12.7 86.0
          Soc Ins 4.8 10.8 16.6 24.7 42.9
          Corp 0.6 1.4 3.3 6.8 86.8
          Excise 11.0 14.1 18.1 22.2 34.3
          ALL 0.8 4.4 9.2 16.5 68.9

        2. Mike M.   12 years ago

          "We won't be happy until the top 1% is paying 110% of total taxes and the bottom 99% is paying -15%!"

          -Derpy Krugscum

  42. John   12 years ago

    This is exactly what I would expect. And the upshot of it is that for once Democrats are going to get bit by low information voters rather than benefiting from them.

    In Durham last month with Obamacare navigators, I sensed not elation at the law's passage but a general sense of confusion that may help to explain the poll's finding. "I have to tell people all the time, 'It's the Affordable Care Act, not the Free Health Care Act,'" one navigator told me. The same navigator said the consumers who come to him are largely unaware that they will have to pay a penalty if they choose not to purchase insurance.

    A large number of people out there, most of them Democratic voters, honestly think that Obamacare means free health insurance. They have no idea they are going to have to pay for insurance under the program or that not getting insurance is going to cause them to be fined. On top of that, a good number of these people get the earned income credit. So the Obamacare fine is going to be collected. They are going to be pissed. I still don't think people fully appreciate how huge the fallout from this is going to be.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/.....na-johnson

    1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

      A large number of people out there, most of them Democratic voters, honestly think that Obamacare means free health insurance. They have no idea they are going to have to pay for insurance under the program or that not getting insurance is going to cause them to be fined. On top of that, a good number of these people get the earned income credit. So the Obamacare fine is going to be collected. They are going to be pissed. I still don't think people fully appreciate how huge the fallout from this demand for single payer is going to be.

      ftfy

      1. John   12 years ago

        You think that. But liberals don't seem to be very convinced that fucking up everyone's health care is such a good thing. They seem pretty worried about it and seem pretty committed to pretending that Obamacare is a good thing. Maybe you just understand their situation better than them.

        You have such a religious faith in the coming of single payer. If I honestly thought the majority of Americans are so stupid that they will reward liberals for screwing this up by giving them more power, I would give up on freedom and go full fascist. I couldn't in good conscience allow a group of people that stupid to live their lives unsupervised. But I don't believe that and I don't think you do either. So single payer isn't coming through that door.

        And even if liberals wanted it, advocating for it would require admitting Obama is a failure. And no one wants that. Thanks to Obamacare, advocating for single payer is now racist.

        1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

          If I honestly thought the majority of Americans are so stupid that they will reward liberals for screwing this up by giving them more power, I would give up on freedom and go full fascist.

          It doesn't take a majority of Americans. It takes a majority of voters. Not the same thing.
          And isn't it the liberal way to demand more government to fix problems created by government?

          And even if liberals wanted it, advocating for it would require admitting Obama is a failure.

          Failure, or just didn't go far enough thanks to obstructionist Republicans?

          1. John   12 years ago

            But it won't be a majority of voters. At most maybe 30% of the country, the real low sloping forehead types, support single payer. It would take not just a majority but a big majority to get it. You would have to effectively outlaw insurance. That won't happen. The Dems would have to get 60 votes in the Senate again and somehow manage to get all of their members to buy on. Considering the fate of those who voted for Obamacare, I doubt many Democratic Congress creatures are going to be too interested in the next guy who comes along with a new health plan, much less single payer.

            I doubt that the damage done by Obamacare will ever be totally fixed. Things will probably remain worse than they were until hopefully technology makes some improvements. But single payer isn't going to happen. We will just blunder forward.

            1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

              You would have to effectively outlaw insurance. That won't happen.

              Or force insurance companies into only being allowed to offer plans that don't cover anything and cost more than anyone can afford. Kinda like what they're doing now.

              Then blame the free market and corporate greed. Kinda like what they're doing now.

              Then shuffle people into Medicare. Kinda like what they're doing now.

              1. John   12 years ago

                But none of that is working. Didn't you read the polls Reason put up yesterday?

                No one is buying those excuses. Everyone knows what is going on. And moreover liberals admit as much. They are not blaming insurance companies. They are claiming that those high priced plans are better for you.

                None of this is playing out like you say it will. None of it. I don't understand why you keep thinking it will.

                1. sarcasmic   12 years ago

                  They are not blaming insurance companies.

                  Yeah they are. They're blaming insurance companies for selling worthless plans and ripping people off.

                  They are claiming that those high priced plans are better for you.

                  Exactly. But what happens when people can't afford those high priced plans? Oh yeah. Single payer.

  43. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    Speaking of radio controlled bombs, I have some drifts which need to be cleared away.

    Anybody have any good designs?

    THIS IS WHY CHAIN GUNS SHOULD BE LEGAL.

    1. Loki   12 years ago

      Anybody have any good designs?

      None that I would be willing to share on a website that is no doubt monitored by the NSA, DEA, BATFE, FBI, and probably several others.

  44. Brett L   12 years ago

    Did anyone hear the final tally for H&R? Will the new interns' monocles be platinum or simply gold?

    1. R C Dean   12 years ago

      I think you mis-spelled "manacles", Brett.

      1. Brett L   12 years ago

        Ah, joez law?

  45. lafe.long   12 years ago

    Man fined $183k after joining Anonymous DDoS of Koch Industries for one minute

  46. The Late P Brooks   12 years ago

    None that I would be willing to share...

    Selfish bastard. Only thinking of yourself.

  47. Marc F Cheney   12 years ago

    A detective with the Arizona state police resigned after uncovering that she was in the country illegally; she says her parents had told her she was born in the US but that she was actually born in Mexico.

    At last, our long national nightmare is over.

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