A.M. Links: Congress Unveils $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill, Declassified Documents Declare Assault on Benghazi "Terrorist Attack," Israel Wants John Kerry To Leave the Country Alone

cliff1066-cc-by

• Congress unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that would prevent another government shutdown while boosting funding levels slightly for military and domestic programs - but not for Obamacare.
• Declassified documents show that top military and civilian officials briefed President Obama on the assault on Benghazi minutes after it occurred, and described it to him as a "terrorist attack."
• Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon wants Secretary of State John Kerry to leave Israel alone.
• A December surge in Obamacare sign-ups helped push enrollment for the last three months of 2013 to over 2.1 million.
• Two former California police officers were found not guilty of all charges in the brutal beating death of schizophrenic homeless man Kelly Thomas.
• Russia has declared Radio Free Europe journalist David Satter persona non grata, making him the first American reporter to be banned from the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Two former California police officers were found not guilty of all charges ...

Yeah, they were never going to be found guilty. Enjoy the tossed bone that they were even charged, civilians.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Reading that story with my coffee this morning almost pushed me to add some baileys.. What a god damn atrocity that verdict is.

[db]

The apparent intimidation of the jury by uniformed police in the courtroom audience is shameful.

[SugarFree]

The apparent intimidation of the jury by uniformed police in the courtroom audience is shameful.

Tulpa says that didn't happen, so it must not have happened.

[RBS]

This shit happens all the time. Pretty much anytime a cop is on the stand, even if it's simple chain of custody, several other uniformed cops will be in attendance.

[db]

Sure, gangs send lots of their members to show the colors in courtrooms all the time when one of their number is on trial.

[Mainer2]

The son of some Massachusetts cop got in trouble up here, and when he came to trial, a bunch of Massachusetts cops in uniform showed up in the court room here in Porstmouth NH. Disgusting.

[Warty]

Under his regular handle, or one of his new sockpuppets?

[SugarFree]

Last night in the main Kelly thread. Dozens of cops in uniform taking pictures of jurors and glowering at witnesses isn't intimidation to Tulpa. And he'd be OK if they made machines that intimidated witnesses and jurors for them.

[Warty]

Oh yeah, look at that. And notice that he's dropped his bullshit nice guy mask. How...interesting.

[CE]

Don't these jurors realize you have to draw the line somewhere? If beating a confused, defenseless homeless man to death is okay, then cops will never have a case where there excessive force is ruled unjust or criminal.

[CE]

Here's another chance:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_new.....picks=true

[db]

From the LA Times

Thomas' family quietly sobbed as the verdict was read. His mother emerged from the courtroom with red-rimmed eyes. "They murdered my son and they got away with it," she said.
...
But jurors agreed with defense attorneys that the officers were trying to subdue an unruly suspect, not beat him to death.
...
Prosecutors had to prove the officers had the intent to harm Thomas above and beyond responding to his actions.

"See these fists? They're getting ready to fuck you up."

[Auric Demonocles]

Who even gives a shit what they were trying to do?

[Steve G]

Thomas's father is a lot calmer than I'd be. If my son's last words were used to call out to me, this acquittal wouldn't be the end of it.

[mad libertarian guy]

Thomas's father is a lot calmer than I'd be. If my son's last words were used to call out to me, this acquittal wouldn't be the end of it.

This.

[Paul.]

I'm celebrating the Thomas verdict by buying a Walther PPQ. More guns in the hands of the citizenry is one valid response.

Criticisms welcome.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

wow....if that were my son it would be hunting season on those dirty cops.

[Apple]

Found this gem in the Think Progress comments:

"Police: The private army of the rich. This is happening in cities all over the western world as the Libertarian mind worm takes hold."

[Marc F Cheney]

There's a whole chain of causation from an alleged "Libertarian mind worm" to "Private army of the rich" that needs to be spelled out there, and I don't think you can do it without sticking sorcery or psionics in there somewhere.

[CE]

Was he blinking at them in a threatening manner when they beat his face with nightsticks?

[Lord Humungus]

I can't even comment on this... needless to say, I'm pissed off

[mr simple]

How long until they're reinstated with back pay?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How long before they accidentally get their brake lines cut?

Seriously, what are the odds of retribution on this?

[Kaptious Kristen]

The father is an ex-cop. I bet he has the means to make these guys' lives miserable, wherever they go.

[Paul.]

Doubt it. He's on the wrong side of the blue line by even demanding justice.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

I am surprised you do not see more retribution in the real world against cops. How are we not seeing retribution especially against corrupt prison guards?

[Whahappan?]

The general public is much less prone to violence than law enforcement, and most people know it's a losing battle. Not just the government, but the people will be against you.

[Paul.]

One could argue we have...

[Gene]

500-1 against, unfortunately.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'd give much better odds. The father of the victim is an ex-cop.

[Paul.]

On the wrong side of the blue line. Surprised Thomas' father hasn't been killed in a highly suspicious suicide where he shoots himself seven times with a bolt action rifle.

[widget]

It is wrong of me to wish the feds would charge these cops again with civil rights violations and place them in double jeopardy. ?. IANAL.

[Killaz]

Yeah, because the trial system is a farce.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon wants Secretary of State John Kerry to leave Israel alone.

Swiftboated before he even lands.

[Paul.]

Wait, leave Israel alone... why would they demand his exit from the country unaccompanied?

What difference would it make if he were with friends when he boarded the plane?

[Evan from Evansville]

You really are an impressive bastard, Fist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I prefer magnificent.

[Evan from Evansville]

"And hillybillies wanna be called Sons of the Soil...but it ain't gonna happen."

[Floridian]

I read your book!
/Patton

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else was a magnificent bastard?

[UnCivilServant]

William of Normandy?

[Evan from Evansville]

Wiiiiinnnnah!

[Ted S.]

Rock Hudson?

[AlexInCT]

Speaking of Hudson.. Who got hit by more balls on the chin? Yogi Bera or him?

[Steve G]

Jesus?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Oh, you are so going to hell for making me laugh at that. Blasphemy isn't strong enough of a word to use to describe it.

[Steve G]

Sorry. Can I interest you in an apple?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I never talk to snakes.

[Rasilio]

David Xanatos

[Marc F Cheney]

Dude, you spend waaaay too much time on TVTropes. I know the signs.

[Enough About Palin]

More like inglorious.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Congress unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that would prevent another government shutdown...

Why does the price of votes keep going up every year?

[wareagle]

baseline budgeting. Going less than the desired rate of increase is a cut.

[Rich]

Vaseline budgeting.

[mad libertarian guy]

Vaseline budgeting.

They're not using enough.

[BakedPenguin]

Israeli Defense Minister: John Kerry Should Leave Us Alone

Hey, can we get Kerry to leave us alone, too?

[Lord Humungus]

er, no thanks

Meet The Man Who Hasn't Bathed For 60 Years, Smokes Pipe Filled With Animal Feces

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I don't always smoke animal feces, but when I do...

[Steve G]

"Oh, you eat paleo and make your own deodorant? How cute!"
- Feces smoking man

[Cabeza de Vaca]

Look forward to more Jenkem news stories.

[Evan from Evansville]

Re: Benghazi...Oh fuck. What else is there to say?

"What difference, at this point, does it make?"

/Shreekfakescandal

[Palin's Buttplug]

We are in the age of fake scandals - see also Fat & Furious.

A felony makes the best scandal - or misappropriated funds to arm our enemies at least.

The 70s/80s were the best for real scandals. And 'American Hustle' is a very good tribute to the time.

The good ole days!

[Evan from Evansville]

Fat and Furious sounds like some chubby porn that you're into; vibrating your micropenis against the fluttering neck folds of Lindy West as she gutturally invokes the haunting of the patriarchy.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I can't muster a lot of outrage for the Christie scandal.

The GOP is filled with ratfuckers - see the fake Senator Menendez "scandal" about the whores in the DR. They cooked that one up out of thin air.

'John' our resident GOP recruiter pumped that one for two weeks until the Daily Caller admitted they made it up.

[John]

Just because Martinez uses donors to procure underage whores doesn't mean it is a scandal. It is not like Martinez has a white wife or something.

You fuck yourself you racist lying asshole.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yet, more Democrats have gone to prison in history.

[AlexInCT]

Considering how good they are at avoiding the long arm of the law, that says something...

[RightofCenter]

Wow I might have to stop reading AM links on my lunch break. The sounds I made while balancing not spitting my sandwich on the keyboard with not choking to death literally brought co-workers to check on me. Can't we add a "do not have food or hot coffee in your mouth" disclaimer somewhere?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Declassified documents show that top military and civilian officials briefed President Obama on the assault on Benghazi minutes after it occurred...

Initially briefed the president that it was an attack over the Gangnam Style.

[mad libertarian guy]

You're misunderstanding what happened here.

They briefed the president that an attack was happening because of a video made by terrorists.

[Matrix]

Mississippi to end conugal visits. Well, I guess they can just stick with their fellow prisoners then.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

The city is removing snow again on my street. There's no snow.

I'm starting to be suspicious. Like, are they justifying salaries?

/bites quinoa bread with all-natural peanut butter.

[UnCivilServant]

The rain finally removed the snow from my street. The Government got rid of a lot of the plow drivers, so the roads were untreated for extended periods of time.

Not sure which option I like the least. (We don't have private plow companies with the capital investment to handle the snow because, well, it's not cost effective for the conditions they'd have to operate under here).

[robc]

Not sure which option I like the least.

If the government is going to own roads, the government should plow them. Its part of the cost of maintenance.

As government services go, its one of the least objectionable.

[Nikki just says no]

Ha, why do you think they do street cleaning four days a week in your city, Rufus?

But don't complain about snow removal. Snow removal is the greatest thing ever.

[Agammamon]

You can always tell when the street cleaner has been through my neighborhood - they leave a 5 foot wide streak of mud up and down the roads.

I live in a desert, get a lot of dirt building up on the curbs, but the SC insists on adding water to the mix before scooping the dirt up.

Its *got* to be so that we know that someone's come by.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

you can tell they have been on my street when you see dozens of cars with street cleaning tickets for 10 bucks....but if not paid within a week they go up to 50, then to 100....very quickly. and the streets never actually get cleaned. What a racket

[Gene]

Suspicious? You're in fucking Montreal aren't you? It's really just the way it is.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Gene, yes. Yes, it is. But I think MTL corruption, bad as it is, pales in comparison to places like NYC I hear.

[Enough About Palin]

In St. Paul, they declared a snow emergency, even though it hadn't snowed in days. Apparently, they needed the car-towing revenue.

[mr simple]

Two former California police officers were found not guilty of all charges in the brutal beating death of schizophrenic homeless man Kelly Thomas.

Time for the riots.

[Numeromancer]

Homeless schizophrenics, unite!

[Agammamon]

Homeless schizophrenics . . . there's a man living in my attic [wanders off looking puzzled].

[Matrix]

Federal Judge decides that there ARE Constitutional free zones by allowing suspicion-less searches of laptops, cameras, and cell phones in the border zone. I'm sure the Constitution has something in it about zones within the borders of the US in which the Constitution does not apply. Or maybe it's the FYTW Clause.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Korman, a Reagan appointee, said electronic searches by U.S. Customs and Border Protection are conducted fewer than 15 times a day and do not constitute an undue burden or risk to travelers.

The New Professionalism strikes again.

[db]

Yeah, so if they violate the Constitution just a little bit, it's OK, right? Like, if they did it 20, 100, 1000, times, what is the threshold? Maybe the judge should write that down so there's a clear precedent for how many times you can violate a law before it counts.

[UnCivilServant]

It's an eleastic measure based upon how far the last approval stretched it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nobody expects the New Professionalism!

[mr simple]

Everyone knows you get 20 free passes at unconstitutional behavior before it counts.

[thom]

"Alright officers, you can beat one sass-talker per shift. That's within policy. Two? Well two is a problem."

[The Last American Hero]

He's just letting them put the tip in.

[db]

Get a copy of the Constitution. Read it. This is clearly covered under the "Just the Tip" Clause.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm an American citizen regardless of where I'm located. The fact that I am now deemed to live within a zone where they say they can arbitrarily waive my rights is absurd and totally unconstitutional. Not to mention overbroad and arbitrary.

[Cdr Lytton]

"It's a textbook application of an old law" -- Seth Stodder, a former director of policy at CBP

You know what's a textbook application of an old response to tyranny? Stout rope from a solid oak tree.

[CE]

I think it involves four ropes, and four horses. Or was it tar, feathers, and a railroad tie?

[BakedPenguin]

Russia has declared Radio Free Europe journalist David Satter persona non grata, making him the first American reporter to be banned from the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Looks like they decided for themselves if radio was going to stay.

[SugarFree]

I wanna bite the hand that feeds me.
I wanna bite that hand so badly.
I want to make them wish they'd never seen me.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Some of my friends sit around every evening
And they worry about the times ahead
But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference
And the promise of an early bed.

[SugarFree]

On the radio
We heard "November Rain"
That solo's really long
But it's a pretty song
We listened to it twice
'Cause the DJ was asleep

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaalisoooooooooonnnnnn.......

Mix tape time!

[SugarFree]

Weary voice that's laughin', on the radio once
We sounded drunk, never made it on
Passin' through and it's late, the station started to fade
Picked another one up in the very next state

On and on and on and on
What side are you on?

[BakedPenguin]

The radio plays some forgotten song
Brenda Lee's coming on strong.

[SugarFree]

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with radio cures
Electronic surgical words

[Warty]

I thought I saw him on the video
A trance is keeping him under
I know that God is in the radio
Ch-ch-ch-ch checkin' the station

[KMA Too]

Cretins...

I hear a voice, from ten thousand miles away
I have no choice, our love was meant to stay
With or without you, it's easy for me, without a doubt
As i spend my days, searching for ways
Love is on the go, so is radio

Russian radio, how will we ever believe you
Radio, now that we've learned to deceive you

[Numeromancer]

You can run but you'll never get away from the smell of the garbage
and there's crap on your shoes
and the thought of it is making you happy
and the seeds all explode
and the aphids have eaten your garden
and they're all so confused
and the thought of it really takes little

[Rufus J. Firefly]

From a professor of critical thinking:

"I've long maintained that there is a fallacy gap between right and left. Major right-leaning pundits (Will, Krauthammer, Brooks, and the legions of Am Spec bloggers) far exceed left-leaning pundits (Krugman, E.J.Dionne, and who else is there?) in basic philosophy 101-style argumentative terribleness.

The only evidence I have is my unscientific observations over the past nine or so years. For some, this view cannot possibly be correct, since "both sides do it" is a logical and metaphysical fact. It isn't. But the fact that most people think this forces any treatment of fallacies, over-the-top rhetoric, etc., to insist on a balance which isn't there. Provide your own examples."

He then points to this book that apparently proves the point:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Outr.....0199928975

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

MSNBC still is the gold standard for over-the-top rhetoric and partisanship journalism. Fox is pretty bad but they can't touch MSNBC's infestation of complete morons.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You're a partisan idiot, Fishin' Joe.

Fox harbors outright liars. Sean "Obama won't let us drill in the USA" Hannity and the Beckerhead 'Obama hates white people' Beck.

'Why does Obama hate Israel' special on Fox the week he was awarded Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction is a good one too.

The idiots who watch Fox are told he is an anti-American Muslin terrorist lover every day.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

A pox on both their houses.

See how easy that was?

[Palin's Buttplug]

False equivalence. Fox is filled with full-time liars and MSNBC just has bratty partisans.

[John]

And Fox News installed that broadcast receiver in your head. MSNBC never did that.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

So the Maddow/Koch thing just makes her a part-time liar?

[mad libertarian guy]

No. Her outright lie just makes her partisan.

[John]

I mean people on Fox have recently called for someone to shit in Hillary Clinton's mouth and made fun of Andrew Cuomo's son adopting a black baby. Right? That is the kind of shit that happens on Fox not MSNBC.

If you were not so hideously stupid, it would be easier just to look away. You are like the elephant man of retardation. Have you considered joining a circus freak show? It would at least get you out of sleeping in that box.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Um, Maddow and Harris-Perry and Olbermann and so on don't 'lie?'

You're an asshole for that.

Ad hominen intended.

[John]

That is not an Ad hominem Rufus. Shreek really is an asshole. But his being a retarded asshole is just a fact, not a reflection on the idiocy he spews out.

[BakedPenguin]

That is not an Ad hominem Rufus.

Exactly. An ad hom would be "you're wrong, because you're an asshole." That's different than "you're wrong, and you're an asshole."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Fine.

You're an asshole, Palin.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tell me one lie they repeat over and over again.

Hannity says every day that Obama won't let us drill in the USA - end. No drilling - none.

We are now #1 in energy production while Baker-Hughes says the domestic drill rig count is up 300% since Jan 2009.

[John]

Hannity says every day that Obama won't let us drill in the USA - end. No drilling - none.

Dude, the voices in your head only speak to you not the rest of us. Take your meds shreek. This Hannity person has tortured you long enough. You need to tell him to get out of your mind.

[SugarFree]

Maddow and Harris-Perry tell a terrible lie, over and over and everyday. The lie is that people like you matter and that you have something to contribute. It's a very destructive lie.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Hannity says every day that Obama won't let us drill in the USA - end. No drilling - none.

Maybe you should stop stalking the man, Shriek. You're probably the only one on this board who listens to him more than once a year.

How's that labor force participation rate, by the way, you dumbass?

[Lord Humungus]

awww... poor Shreek is getting angrier and angrier. I noticed a big change in him once O's poll numbers began to drop. He sounds like a Bush II dead-ender. Poor little guy lost his master to the tides of reality.

[John]

You mean telling the truth like when Melissa Harris Perry claimed the term Obamacare was a racist term dreamed up by GOP white men?

You mean the truth like that?

[wareagle]

private land vs public land. Notice any difference? Any at all? We're not producing energy because of Obama; it's happening in spite of him. But you already know that.

[Palin's Buttplug]

We're leasing the hell out of federal land. I am watching it.

One 38 million auction in the Gulf last spring for example.

I know the right-wing talking points cold. That is why I check in on their liars.

[Agammamon]

Tell me one lie they repeat over and over again

[Agammamon]

OK, that didn't work out well.

How about "PPACA will reduce healthcare costs and provide health*care* to 30 million people that *don't* have access to it right now.

Ooh also, "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, period."

[Palin's Buttplug]

Those are predictions that may or may not become true.

Also mainly from politicians.

[Agammamon]

They're out-right lies - The doctor one has *already been proven false (or did you 'forget' that, hmm who's lying now)and its pretty much physically impossible for the other one to work.

And they're repeated by your media.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Palin's Buttplug|1.14.14 @ 9:32AM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

You're a partisan idiot, Fishin' Joe.

Smilin' Joe Fission|1.14.14 @ 9:07AM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

MSNBC still is the gold standard for over-the-top rhetoric and partisanship journalism. Fox is pretty bad but they can't touch MSNBC's infestation of complete morons.

Go fuck yourself Shreek. The irony of you calling someone partisan... At least TONY provides some sort of argument that is entertaining, you come here with nothing to say other than BUSH!!!11!!! You are a boring troll.

There is not a single person here who has ever learned anything from you other than the constant reminder (from you) that you are nothing but a left-wing whore trying to parade himself as a libertarian moral god. Obvious to anyone not on the same level of political whore as you, you only coming across as a douche bag loser spending his time trolling on a libertarian website. Give it up, you have no followers here, you have no narrative of influence here. You are an annoyance to everyone here trying to discuss in good faith.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You said this"

MSNBC still is the gold standard for over-the-top rhetoric and partisanship journalism.

You are either partisan or ignorant.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

constant reminder (from you) that you are nothing but a left-wing whore

Thank you for proving me right, Shreek.

[tarran]

So, smiling joe, did you enjoy being the wall that screamed back? Did you enjoy validating its existence by responding to it?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I fucked up.. lost my composure.

[Marc F Cheney]

At least TONY provides some sort of argument that is entertaining

No, he doesn't.

I'll take Shriek in that fight any day. Shriek is a heady cocktail of half-understood ideas and half-true factoids.

[Ted S.]

Isn't most left-wing argumentation doing so by emotion and not fact?

[sarcasmic]

Most?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Conversely, the liars are all on the right. Facts tend to move left.

It starts with religious gullibility and Creationism. From that they say 'Gawd' is the basis for all our rights - which is abjectly false.

The right-wing Bible-beaters just bypass the Constitution altogether with bullshit like THERE IS NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE - IT AIN'T THERE! and FUCK THE ACLU!

[sarcasmic]

Great example of an argument devoid of facts or logic, simply relying on emotion and personal attacks.

[John]

Facts tend to move left.

LOL Yeah, that is why the Left still advocates for welfare, high taxes and central planning. The facts of those policies failure just has moved them so much.

The left is as bat shit insane as you are. They haven't come up with a new idea in a century and refuse to even admit much less face the repeated failure of them. God you are fucking clown.

[KMA Too]

I actually feel sorry for this clown. The fact he lives in such a disgusting, dreary, and sick world is compounded by the fact that it's his own creation.

Surely someone else fells bad for the guy.

[KMA Too]

feels*

[Rufus J. Fisk]

orif they do try and use fact and or rel math, it ends up sounding like Costanza's wild dream to get bonds and griffey in the same outfield without having to give up all that much. that kind of horse shit

[Rufus J. Fisk]

man i hate having to type secretly and quick at work!!!!!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Where do you work? The salt mines?

[Rufus J. Fisk]

haha. no, a company where my cubicle is the only one exposed to the regular foot traffic...everyone else has free reign and at least more time to notice our version of Lundberg coming.

[wareagle]

doesn't including Brooks as a member of the right's commentariat cast this guy's cred into question?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The guy thinks Krugman and Dionne are rock solid.

And he's a professor.

He also believes Mediamatters and Thinkprogress are better critical thinkers than the right and often takes NRO to task.

[Elspeth Flashman]

So, according to that guy, critical thinkers = someone I agree with.

[AlexInCT]

^^ATHIS^^^

And they gave him a professorship for that it looks like... Echo chamber and all that.

[An Innocent Man]

Brooks is a right-leaning pundit? Is there another Brooks I don't know about?

[Zeb]

He's the NY Times's version of a right leaning pundit.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

First rule of selling books: Know your audience

[Jordan]

Major right-leaning pundits (Will, Krauthammer, Brooks, and the legions of Am Spec bloggers) far exceed left-leaning pundits (Krugman, E.J.Dionne, and who else is there?) in basic philosophy 101-style argumentative terribleness.

Do they teach you about confirmation bias in philosophy 101?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I also love:

"who else is there?"

Start with Yglesias. There are legions of left-wing turdism. Yet, he's clueless to it?

I don't know where to begin "arguing" this.

[mad libertarian guy]

I don't know where to begin "arguing" this.

The only way to win is to not argue at all. There is no point whatsoever in arguing with someone with his baseline of Verifiable Fact?.

[John]

I guessed I missed the section in my informal logic class on the logical validity of ad homonym attacks.

The only evidence I have is my unscientific observations over the past nine or so years.

Because nothing says logical rigor like an anecdote or unsubstantiated observation. And the book he points to seems to only find outrage on the Right. I guess the author's cable companies don't carry MSNBC.

You just can't parody these people anymore.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There are many.

Dunno why he zeroes in on the right. If you focus on one side, I reckon it will, you know, make it feel as though they're worse, no?

[John]

He zeros in on the right because he doesn't think nitwits like Yglesias are morons. He is thinks anyone on his side is automatically reasonable.

[Elspeth Flashman]

That's exactly it. People who agree = smart, critical thinkers, while those who disagree = morons.

[mr simple]

When he listens to leftists it's just so obvious how right they are that they can't possibly be using fallacies.

[Zeb]

Most people have a bias toward thinking that people who agree with them are reasonable. None of us is as logical as we think we are.

[Floridian]

Most people have a bias toward thinking that people who agree with them are reasonable. None of us is as logical as we think we are.

H&R might be an exception to that rule. I see people argue about a mutually desired outcome, but disagree about the motives/methods to reach that outcome. And I love it!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

H&R has the best comment section I have come across. People argue in good faith and typically are called out (even by people who agree with them) when they begin to provide unsubstantiated assertions.

The level of discourse here is, IMO, the highest of quality of any internet discussion board I've found.

[Floridian]

I definitely learn a lot reading this blog, and have had some great discussion where I have changed my opinion or at the least though more about my position on a topic. I always enjoy reading your post about energy. Energy production, especially nuclear, has always fascinated me.

[tarran]

The level of discourse here is, IMO, the highest of quality of any internet discussion board I've found.

Virginia Postrel wept.

[Zeb]

Virginia Postrel wept.

Yeah, what's her problem.

Honestly, I can see why people might be horrified on their first trip into H&R commenting.
But once you figure out how things work (and if you have a tough enough skin) it really does beat the crap out of any other political blog comment section I've seen in terms of actual discussion.

[Clich? Bandit]

SF, Wart Hugeman STAT! We can't have these kind of lies getting out.

[Damned Fool]

We also can make the highest quality personal attacks I have ever seen.

[Zeb]

I'd agree that H&R has less of that than most places. When you disagree with most people about a lot of things it is more natural to look critically at arguments from all sides, and avoid the tribal thinking on politics that most people seem to suffer from. We certainly aren't immune, though.

[Ted S.]

Aren't ad homonyms a tax? :-p

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You're just full of questions this morning!

If it isn't, it should be!

Tax everything!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

For the record, he once attacked Gillespie.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

the Constitution doesnt say you CANT be taxed for that, am I right scholars!?

[robc]

I dont know what is in Philosophy 101*, but it must not include logic**, because Dionne and logic are entirely unfamiliar with each other.

I would argue that of the names listed, Will is most stylistically Kantian. Not that he is one, but its a low bar considering that list.

Kant is Philosophy 101, right?

*My school used 4 digit class numbers
**The only philosophy course I took was Symbolic Logic, PST*** 3113
***PST stands for Philosophy of Science and Technology

[Zeb]

The Philosophy 101 class that I TA'd for in college did Plato, Hume and William James.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

The only logic we covered in PHIL 101 was about 20 minutes on syllogistic logic. Besides that we covered Plato, Descartes, Kant, and Hume. I think we touched on Locke, too, but I can't remember.

We covered propositional and predicate logic in intro to logic. It was a decent class, but I remember very little of it.

[Bastiat's Burning Rage]

Introduction to Logic is PHIL 201

[CE]

I took my logic class on a computer. If you didn't get the right answers, you didn't finish. And this was at a top 5 school.

[Brett L]

I see this all the time in an acquaintance of FB. He gets pretty annoyed when I point out that quoting the Daily Show and Huffpo verbatim aren't examples of critical thinking.

[SugarFree]

I read a lot of the pundits he mentions and many that he doesn't. Very few of them make arguments whatsoever. Most use innuendo, guilt by association, and unsupported assertions 99% of the time. And if they do make something resembling an argument it just on so many assumptions that the whole structure wobbles in the slightest breeze of objection.

[Sudden]

Hence Rand's penchant for saying "check your premises"

[Agammamon]

I wouldn't disagree with him - except to say most of the 'right-wing' pundits are AM radio and News of the World fodder.

[CE]

Shorter version (aka "confirmation bias"):

I'm a leftist professor, and I notice WAY more illogical arguments from conservative pundits. I've been tracking them for 9 years. And it seems to be that liberal pundits make far fewer logical errors.

[Lord Humungus]

How to Fight Income Inequality: Get Married
In families headed by married couples, the poverty level in 2012 was just 7.5%. Those with a single mother: 33.9%.

"Marriage inequality" should be at the center of any discussion of why some Americans prosper and others don't. According to Census Bureau information analyzed by the Beverly LaHaye Institute, among families headed by two married parents in 2012, just 7.5% lived in poverty. By contrast, when families are headed by a single mother the poverty level jumps to 33.9%.

And the number of children raised in female-headed families is growing throughout America. A 2012 study by the Heritage Foundation found that 28.6% of children born to a white mother were out of wedlock. For Hispanics, the figure was 52.5% and for African-Americans 72.3%. In 1964, when the war on poverty began, almost everyone was born in a family with two married parents: only 7% were not.

[Zeb]

I think they might have the cause and effect the wrong way round.

[waffles]

I think so too. But they're going for the headline.

[robc]

I disagree.

I think it goes both ways.

[Zeb]

I suppose it probably does to some extent. Especially with the disincentives for marriage that welfare programs create.

[waffles]

You really just hate women don't you? Wait. I'm getting mixed up, this is racist too, isn't it? These numbers are just trying to confuse the facts, er, narrative.

It is craziness that it is even a little controversial to suggest that family stability leads to better outcomes. But here we are.

[CE]

It's not family stability. It's your wife making you ask for a raise, then nagging you to find a better job, then making sure you work late so she can afford a new car.

[Rich]

How to Fight Happiness Inequality: Don't Hve Children

[Rich]

*Heave* 😉

[Jon Lester]

Is that even counting the marriages ruined by money matters?

Old friend of mine once said, "when I was married, I spent half my money on beer and cigarettes, and the rest of it, I wasted."

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Is that even counting the marriages ruined by money matters?

The data is from the Census Bureau. if you don't like the methodology of how the data was gathered, you should probably take it up with them.

Finding that single mothers are more likely to be in poverty than married couples isn't exactly a revolutionary discovery in the realm of social science.

Old friend of mine once said, "when I was married, I spent half my money on beer and cigarettes, and the rest of it, I wasted."

Maybe your friend just had shitty taste in women, and had to use beer and cigarettes to cope with his poor choices.

[Jon Lester]

Wait, you're here on reason.com telling me to trust the methodology of a government bureau? And you're not getting that my friend copes with humor, too?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Wait, you're here on reason.com telling me to trust the methodology of a government bureau?

So you don't take the labor force participation rates reported by the BLS seriously, then?

Unless you can provide alternate data compiled by a private sector think-tank, it's pretty much all we have.

[mr simple]

Do you author this study, RRR? You seem awfully touchy about the criticisms.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That's funny, because I'm seeing quite a bit of equivocation from people regarding the study's results, based on data that in any other setting would be considered relatively free of agenda-bias.

It's almost as if they're invested in the idea that marraige is meaningless, and data showing that married couples are more likely to be financially stable would certainly be a threat to that presumption. Perhaps it's rooted in mild paranoia regarding the government forcing people to undertake more "socially-desireable" outcomes.

[Bee Tagger]

making him the first American reporter to be banned from the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Michael Savage can send him a postcard from Russia, but only if he'll reciprocate with one from the UK.

[Lord Humungus]

It's all starting to make sense now...

Iranian news agency says the U.S. is secretly run by Nazi space aliens

On Sunday, the hard-line semi-official Fars News dropped one of its biggest bombshells yet: The United States government has been secretly run by a "shadow government" of space aliens since 1945. Yes, space aliens. The alien government is based out of Nevada and had previously run Nazi Germany. It adds, for timeliness, that the controversial NSA programs are actually a tool for the aliens to hide their presence on Earth and their secret agenda for global domination. This is all asserted as incontrovertible fact with no caveats.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Hm. 1. Sounds like a "Weekly World News" headline, if I didn't know better. And 2. Makes me think of a bad zombie movie with Peter Cushing in it titled "Shock Troops."

[waffles]

So that means we really did land on the moon!

[UnCivilServant]

It was a stopover on the way here, yes.

[lap83]

So they like us and want better relations? That's great! Unless the "space aliens" part is bad.

[Agammamon]

The 'space aliens' part is *always* bad. Sometimes for the alien but usually for us.

[Jon Lester]

Maybe they've been reading Richard Hoagland, the "face on Mars" guy. I was following him for a long time, up until he asserted the existence of space Nazis.

[CE]

Try Jim Marrs. He tracks all the conspiracies, so you can keep them straight.

[PD Scott]

If that were true then why is the US so closely allied with Israel? You'd think our Nazi space alien masters would try to finish the job... ooh, unless it's all part of their devious long term plan to get the Iranians to do it for them!

[Agammamon]

The whole 'hate the jews' thing was a red herring. It was just an excuse to unite Germany and take over the world.

Why do the aliens, who can travel between stars *need* a proxy - its obviously because they are criminals and pirates hiding out from their civilization's law enforcement and are turning Earth into a haven for interstellar scum.

[PD Scott]

The Government of the United States is a wretched hive of scum and villainy?!

[DontShootMe]

And here is the documentary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034314/

[Bastiat's Burning Rage]

+1000 for Laibach

[Matrix]

The Weather Channel pulled from DirecTV. Old people everywhere were planning on rioting, but then quickly forgot what they were angry about and turned their TVs over to The Western Channel.

[An Innocent Man]

+1 Bat Masterson

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He wore a cane and derby hat...

[Ted S.]

How much weather do they have these days anyway?

DirecTV just added a different weather channel over the weekend (I think; that's the first time I noticed it) called Weather Nation or somesuch.

[Agammamon]

Look, today's 60 year olds find The Weather Channel old and staid - you can't expect to understand the edginess of these young whippersnappers.

Go watch TWC *great*-grandpa.

[mad libertarian guy]

Hopefully Weather Nation isn't a conductor on the Climate Change Train like The Weather Channel is.

[CE]

Needz moar StormChasers.

[Capt. Rimmer]

+1 Little Joe killing crooked cops in self-defense

[John]

Fuck you. The weather channel is good TV. There is something entertaining about watching people go to DEFCON 1 over a blizzard hitting Buffalo or a tornado in Oklahoma.

[UnCivilServant]

There is something entertaining about watching people go to DEFCON 1 over a blizzard hitting Buffalo or a tornado in Oklahoma.

You mean, the average tuesday?

[Zeb]

I used to love watching the weather channel. I haven't had cable for years, but whenever I have watched it recently, it has a lot more bull-crap and less straight weather reporting and forecasting.
I do enjoy watching the guys go stand in big storms. That must be a fun job.

[CE]

That's because it used to have Sharon Resultan.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Sure thing, gramps.

[John]

WTF else you going to watch in the morning? The Today show?

Few things are more pathetic than the "I don't watch that because only old people watch it" excuse.

Here is a hint, if you are worried about whether you look old, you are. I don't care if you are 17, you might as well be 80 because you have already lost the battle and will spend the rest of your life pathetically trying to appear young and every year getting older and sadder.

[Kaptious Kristen]

TWC has some of the best reality TV on the dial right now, between Prospectors, Coast Guard Alaska (which is all SAR work, no drug shit), and all their weird weather shows like Strangest Weather on Earth and Freaks of Nature.

All of which have been pre-empted by actual weather the last couple weeks, the fuckers.

[KMA Too]

^this^

Really like the Prospectors show. It's bothersome that the network is AGW++++

[The Late P Brooks]

I am depressed.

It would be fascinating (in a ragepuke inducing way) to find out just what sort of legal gamesmanship produced that not guilty verdict. I have no doubt whatsoever the DA threw the game.

[kinnath]

The good news is we can count on the Justice Department under Obama to swoop in to prosecute the cops for civil rights violations.

[Capt. Rimmer]

+ 100 Unleash the Civil Rights Division. Big govt I can support.

[Michael]

Is there anything that a beer summit can't fix?

[PD Scott]

Alcoholism?

[db]

No, no, of course not. The LA Times, no less, said the DA "staked his name" on it.

Now he will have to resign and after a respectful delay, settle into his high paying consulting job for regional and state LE agencies.

[Steve G]

Cicinelli, 41, wiped tears from his eyes and Ramos, 39, put his head down and rubbed his temples before turning to his supporters and winking.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....less-death

Winking?!?! Fuck this asshole

[The Last American Hero]

Just remember, the Good Cops who will welcome them back into the fold with open arms.

[CE]

Apparently, he kept resisting.

[Lord Humungus]

Adverse Selection: Obamacare Exchange Enrollment Skews Much Older Than U.S. Population; Cost Increases Likely

Here are the key figures. 59 percent of non-elderly adults who selected an exchange plan were older than 45, compared to just 32 percent of the uninsured population: a skew of 27 percent. On the other hand, 25 percent of non-elderly adults who selected an exchange plan were younger than 35, compared to 47 percent of the uninsured: a skew of 22 percent, for a total skew of 49 percent (27 plus 22).

[The Late P Brooks]

On Sunday, the hard-line semi-official Fars News dropped one of its biggest bombshells yet: The United States government has been secretly run by a "shadow government" of space aliens since 1945. Yes, space aliens.

Tell me something I don't already know.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A December surge in Obamacare sign-ups helped push enrollment for the last three months of 2013 to over 2.1 million.

And I did 5,000 push-ups this morning.

[Rich]

Ease up, Fist. "Enrollment" still means "attempts to access Healthcare.gov".

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hey, pretty good. Eric Dickerson and Herschel Walker territory.

[UnCivilServant]

Grand Mal seizure? You realize that not every arm spasm that lifts the torso counts as a "push-up", right?

[Bee Tagger]

Congress unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that would prevent another government shutdown while boosting funding levels slightly for military and domestic programs - but not for Obamacare.

How can I say this without sounding like I'm really late jumping on a meme bandwagon?

What difference at this point does it make? Isn't it peanut butter jelly time?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Congress let you down one last time?

[Pro Libertate]

"No, fuck you, cut spending."

[Agammamon]

So, then who's Nelson Mandela then?

[Enough About Palin]

I watched Malcolm X last night and I saw that Nelson Mandela was in the film at the end. So whoever it was that asserted that Malcolm X had an impact on South Africa's transition to democracy was correct.

[mad libertarian guy]

This is going to be a boon for liberals on the "TEH RETHUGLIKKKANS HATESES POUR PEEPUL" train as they point out that the deal means giving ore to the war machine and not more to those who deserve free heath care.

[The Last American Hero]

Why does Obamacare cost more money? I was told it would bend the cost curve and save people money. Plus, they started collecting taxes about 4 years in advance of rolling out.

[Lord Humungus]

Polls: Scandal has had little impact on Christie

New Jerseyans appear to be giving Christie the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the bridge controversy. A majority (52 percent) say they don't believe he was involved in the plot, while just about one-third (34 percent) say they think he was. No evidence thus far has linked Christie to the decision to cause a traffic jam.

Three-fourths of voters (75 percent) say such political retaliation is "pretty common" in politics.

[UnCivilServant]

I was actually happy to read about something inconveniencing people trying to get into that cess pit of a city. Won't change the fact that I'll never vote for christie, but still.

[Matrix]

Jim Bean sold to a Japanese company

[Kaptious Kristen]

After they started watering down the Maker's Mark, all was lost...maybe the Japanese can do better.

In the mean time, I'll stick with that Virginia Rye that I found in the ABC store whose name I can't remember because I only drink 5 or 6 alcohol drinks a year.

[Brett L]

They didn't water it. The outcry was great enough that they raised the price instead.

[SugarFree]

It was already owned by Canadians.

[robc]

Allied Domecq is actually based in Bristol, UK now. But was still in Quebec back when they owned MM, I think.

[Rich]

The new evidence raises the question of why the top military men, one of whom was a member of the president's Cabinet, allowed him and other senior Obama administration officials to press a false narrative of the Benghazi attacks for two weeks afterward.

But *that* answer remains highly classified.

[Lord Humungus]

Daredevil lover snaps penis after falling while having sex in tree

Erik didn't realise what had happened at first - it was girlfriend Salina who spotted his penis was bleeding.

She told him his "package" looked like it had "sprung a leak".

Salina said: "He was laying on the ground and there was blood all over his leg.

"I was concerned about his penis.

"I was concerned about his well-being too but every woman wants to make sure a guy's functionable."

[Matrix]

Patient: Doc, is... is it terminal?

Doc: I'm not sure what you mean... There was no considerable risk of you dying, but unfortunately we could not save your penis.

Patient: Pull the plug, Doc. I don't want to live!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

cringe....

[Floridian]

I like this girl. Can you still pleasure me? No. Oh, well good luck with your mangled penis.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I do not see what this has to do with fans of Matt Murdock at all.

[Agammamon]

Its part of the new storyline where DD comes out of the closet.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Maybe he just wandered in there, the fellow is blind after all.

[Brett L]

One of the Real Stories of the ER my wife made me watch the other night had a dude with a broken dick show up with his lover. Then his wife showed up. Then the two fought. Then he made them hug it out. It was the one with the 400 lb virgin who put his first lay through a wall and gave her a concussion. He dropped like 150 lbs after that.

[Lord Humungus]

my doctor brother did ER during his residency. They had a patient come in with a torn urethra, claiming his GF "sucked too hard".

Fellow doctor said to my brother: "I wonder if I can get her phone number."

[A wild THANE appeared!]

There was a good one where somebody got his dong stuck in a camp stove after his girlfriend dared him to put it there.

[AlexInCT]

had a buddy that decided to go to nursing school to have a backup for the IT career he was afraid he would lose to outsourcing. The stories he told about the crazy shit at the ER provided hours of entertainment. We ended up calling him the hot dog extractor because of all the stories of people showing up that needed hot dogs pulled out of various orifices. Life must be really boring for some people?

[Lord Humungus]

Is This Guy the Swiss Cheese Pervert?

So I developed this fetish to help me deal with my sexual urges. I found that women tend to like dairy products, and settled on cheese to represent the girl. thus I started having sex with cheese. I like to use Swiss cheese and would wrap slices of the cheese around penis, then masturbate. Now tho, after finding several girls to do it for me, I prefer having girls do it for me, instead of myself. Still I suppose I was lucky in finding those women, and our relationships did not last long, since our relationship based more on my fetish and me helping them out money wise. When they became comfortable again, we stayed friends, but they seemed to move on with their lives or I moved on because of the drama that sometimes followed some of them.

[Eduard van Haalen]

"Do you, in fact, have any cheese at all?"

"Sorry, sir, some pervert bought the lot."

[db]

"Venezuelan Beaver cheese?"

[Rich]

I found that women tend to like dairy products, and settled on cheese to represent the girl. thus I started having sex with cheese.

And to think that he *could* have found that women tend to like pumice stones and nail polish remover.

[Numeromancer]

DON'T DO THAT!

Just thinkin' about it...ach!

[Suthenboy]

So the guy was paying loser chicks to rub cheese on his dick.

I am not sure what to say about that.

[BakedPenguin]

Well, it gives new meaning to the phrase "dick cheese"

[AlexInCT]

I think they left because when he was done he told them to make sammiches with the cheese.

[Lord Humungus]

Fed Said to Release Plan to Limit Banks' Commodities Activities

The Federal Reserve is planning to release a notice seeking information on ways to curb banks' ownership and trading of some commodities as it tries to cut risk for deposit-taking banks, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. Regulators and lawmakers have said raw-materials assets could lead to catastrophic losses, collapses and public bailouts.

A Senate Banking subcommittee has set a hearing on the issue for tomorrow, the second such hearing on the topic. Senator Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, has raised concerns that banks may have a conflict of interest when they own and trade both physical commodities and instruments tied to them.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

raw-materials assets could lead to catastrophic losses, collapses and public bailouts

How about raising the capital reserve requirements to something reasonable like 1:2, or is that too obvious?

[Lord Humungus]

What could go wrong?

Chinese theme park will build life-size replica of the Titanic

"We think it's worth spreading the spirit of the Titanic. The universal love and sense of responsibility shown during the Titanic shipwreck represent the spiritual richness of human civilization," said Seven Star's chief executive, Su Shaojun.

The shipwreck simulator will let several hundred people feel what being aboard the disaster that befell the "unsinkable" ship was really like.

"When the ship hits the iceberg, it will shake, it will tumble," Su said. "We will let people experience water coming in by using sound and light effects ? They will think: 'The water will drown me. I must escape with my life.'"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

This will end badly...

[Eduard van Haalen]

You maen it will end up reaching its destination, angering those who wanted it to sink?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Nothing could possibleye go wrong.

[Eduard van Haalen]

Can you have sex in the cargo hold?

[Rich]

"I'm king of the wolrd!"

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Should be 'emperor'

[Eduard van Haalen]

Comrade General Secretary of the world?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Heh, good one. I might add 'People's' at the front though.

[waffles]

Ah, so it's like Noah's Ark

[Agammamon]

God himself could not sink this ride.

[The Late P Brooks]

New Jerseyans appear to be giving Christie the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the bridge controversy.

They want the trains to run on time.

[UnCivilServant]

They want the trains to run on time.

But don't care about the cars.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Google wants a motion detector in your house:

Google Buys Home Automation Company Nest

[The Late P Brooks]

I've long maintained that there is a fallacy gap between right and left. Major right-leaning pundits (Will, Krauthammer, Brooks, and the legions of Am Spec bloggers) far exceed left-leaning pundits (Krugman, E.J.Dionne, and who else is there?) in basic philosophy 101-style argumentative terribleness.

The only evidence I have is my unscientific observations over the past nine or so years.

"Those guys agree with me!"

Fucking Critical Thinking- how does it work?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Is there anybody worse the EJ Dionne for argumentative terribleness?

[Mainer2]

Are you considering some of the people who post at Hit and Run ?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

pfffttt, I'm only talking about licensed journalists

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A little girl named Cthulhu Titanium McLaughlin might be born this spring, if the Internet has any say in the matter.

[Agammamon]

Obviously a sign of the patriarchy - no reasonable woman not being held down by the man would allow their child to be named anything awesome.

[SugarFree]

THE PERFECT STORM

Lindy West is handling the recaps of Girls Season 3 for Jezebel

From what I can gather from her laughable prose, she's angry because the two new episodes were funny and entertaining. Or maybe she's just hungry. It's hard to tell the difference most of the time.

[BakedPenguin]

She starts off that way, but then apparently realizes the fempower of just being funny, or something.

I could only get through a few paragraphs of her femsplaining, so I could be mistaken, though.

[SugarFree]

Lindy West won't know funny if she ate a 5-pound bucket of it while sobbing on the floor of a public park toilet stall.

[John]

She is a professional SugarFree.

[SugarFree]

She gets paid to be funny, like a joke whore working a corner.

[Rich]

Now, new research suggests that a dose of caffeine after a learning session may help to boost long-term memory.

The team also found that memory performance was not improved if subjects were given caffeine 1 hour before carrying out the picture identification test.

Damn it! I've been doing it bassackwards!

Also, WTF is it with "research suggests"? Is that the new "at the end of the day"?

[mr simple]

It sounds like the new "I read somewhere..."

[A wild THANE appeared!]

"Research suggests" is supposed to highlight that it hasn't proven anything, though people often come away thinking so anyway.

[Zeb]

I really think that "research suggests" is very appropriate in a lot of cases. You need to get pretty deep into studying something before you can start talking about proof (and being a math person, I don't like to talk about proof in science at all).

[Bo Cara Esq.]

(Noted this Last Night) NM Court Strikes Down Law Criminalizing Assisted Suicide

http://www.volokh.com/2014/01/.....dividuals/

From the opinion:

"This Court cannot envision a right more fundamental, more private
or more integral to the liberty, safety and happiness of a New Mexican than the right of a competent, terminally ill patient to choose aid in dying. If decisions made in the shadow of one's imminent
death regarding how they and their loved ones will face that death
are not fundamental and at the core of these constitutional guarantees, than what decisions are?"

[Marshall Gill]

If decisions made in the shadow of one's imminent
death regarding how they and their loved ones will face that death
are not fundamental and at the core of these constitutional guarantees, than what decisions are?"

Ah, yes. And those wards of the State which have been determined by the State to be incompetent? The benevolent State will will make the decision, of course.

Assisted suicide is another Lefty attempt to cover up the problem of government prohibition of drugs. The legalization of a "black capsule" which would bring near instant death would enable those desiring to kill themselves an easy way to do so. It would not, however, provide a legal excuse for the government to kill "undesirables".

Having people who are licensed to kill by the government, however touchy feely the reason, isn't about Liberty.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So a doctor who is willing to assist someone who wants to commit suicide should be criminally punished based on what libertarian principle again?

[Agammamon]

None, buuuuut . . . as some here have pointed out, this opens a slippery slope to the 'Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient'.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So what other basic liberties do you oppose because they may lead down a slippery slope to situations where, of course, that liberty would not be present anyways?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I mean, we do not oppose freedom of contract because one day the government might force us to contract (for example, the mandate), or freedom to buy birth control on the idea that it is a slippery slope to being forced to buy or provide birth control. We tend to say, let us be free to do those things and free not to, and not restrict the former because of fear it will lead to future restrictions on the former.

[Marshall Gill]

what other basic liberties do you oppose

You did not mention Liberty. You mentioned government license. It is not a bit surprising that you don't know the difference.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

What are you talking about? I mentioned the liberty of one adult to voluntarily assist another in something that does not harm any other, and a law which restricts that liberty.

[Marshall Gill]

It is almost as if you are not arguing in good faith. Next you will move the goal posts. Opps, already have.

I mentioned the liberty of one adult to voluntarily assist another in something that does not harm any other, and a law which restricts that liberty.

No, you mentioned the government approval of certain government licensed individuals, doctors.

You don't recognize the difference between the Liberty to kill yourself and the government approved "right" to hire the properly government licensed Top. Men?

I suspect that even you do not believe this will move in the ultimate direction of Liberty, but of litigation.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So let me get this straight, you are against decriminalizing a willing doctor and a willing patient in this situation from acting because the doctor has to have a license? I agree the government should not regulate doctors, but to base your opposition to this on that is a mighty contortion.

[Marshall Gill]

So let me get this straight, you are against decriminalizing a willing doctor and a willing patient in this situation from acting because the doctor has to have a license?

You really are a disingenuous POS. You know full and well that this isn't "decriminalization" of shit, but regulation. Not an increase of Liberty, but an increase in government. Just because you favor it, and the government will recognize and legitimize it, that is not Liberty.

Government licensed and regulated suicide is really the only missing link for Obamacare to truly become Obamacarousel.

[Zeb]

I'm with Bo. It would be wrong to punish a doctor for providing someone who wants to end their life with an easy and painless way to do so, so I can't support a law which would criminalize that. I just can't support a criminal law that will punish innocent people.

And laws against assisted suicide (or suicide generally) do more than punish doctors who give patients what they want. It also makes it so that a person who wants to end their life cannot have their loved ones present when they die, or they would be open to prosecution for not stopping it in many cases.

The right to determine your own destiny is too important.

[Marshall Gill]

The right to determine your own destiny is too important.

For government to regulate and license? I agree.

Sad that you can't see a difference between Liberty and government license. Why pass a law that limits your right to suicide assistance to doctors? Why not simply push for a law that legalizes assisted suicide? Such a law would not increase government control. Do you really believe that government, once entrenched in licensing suicide, will then retreat in the favor of Liberty? Unpossible.

This is just like the SSM debate. Increasing government control over anything will never result in less government control over the same thing. Inertia is a law of nature which especially applies to government.

See, my way, legalizing drugs, doesn't give any government bureaucrat, or any lawyers, any power over their fellow man. Why should I have to go to a doctor to exercise my natural right to kill myself? The expansion of the State in the name of Liberty is the opposite of actual Liberty.

[Zeb]

What?

How do you figure that I disagree with anything you wrote?

[Marshall Gill]

I realize the link didn't work but it isn't surprising that Bo or Zeb or Shriek didn't comment upon the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient.

A taste, from what appears from the wiki article to be a supporter:

Commenting on the new sedation-and-dehydration regimes[clarification needed], in 2008 Jacqueline Laing, a legal academic at London Metropolitan University, warned that "[i]n the context of changing positive law, however, it is important to understand the considerable financial, scientific and medical interests there are in controlling death. These interests need not be illicit in themselves. The interests of hospital and state efficiency, freedom from unnecessary compensation claims, scientific research and increased supplies of organs for transplant are not in themselves wrongful. When understood in the context of law that invites bureaucratised homicide and serious mutilation of the non-consenting or ill-informed vulnerable, these interests introduce new extrinsic concerns

Intentions, rather than evil results, are what matters.

[Zeb]

Go fuck yourself, asshole.

It is still the case that no one should be punished for providing someone with the means to end their life. You are saying that that is OK because some day someone might implement another system that pushes people toward suicide. Which is pretty fucked. You want to criminalize a behavior simply because other people might some day do something bad. That is just as evil as the Liverpool pathway.

[Lord Humungus]

some troll bait here:

The Motley Fool: 3 Ways You've Been Tricked Into Thinking the U.S. Economy Is Healthy

A dramatic increase in stock buybacks coupled with steep cost-cutting:

The same could be said for heavy-duty construction company Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) , which announced two separate $1 billion share buybacks in 2013 as it continues to cut costs in lieu of weak commodity prices. These moves are being made to cover up the fact that Caterpillar's 2013 revenue is expected to contract 17% while regaining only 1% in 2014. Despite three earnings warnings in 2013, Caterpillar's stock actually managed to end the year higher!

Long story short: Corporate growth isn't anywhere near where it should be to support a 30% rally in the stock market.

[UnCivilServant]

This is why my metric cross references the labor participation rate and the median wage. It's a cludge, but it's closer to reality.

[robc]

Despite three earnings warnings in 2013, Caterpillar's stock actually managed to end the year higher!

The buybacks could lead to higher per share earnings, even if overall earnings is down.

Or, more likely, the buybacks is shifting the supply/demand curve for the stock, leading to temporarily higher share prices.

[Marc F Cheney]

Shriek! Get down here and say something funny.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Bootleggers and Baptists, or SoCons and Indians: Indian Tribes and Alabama GOP Secretly Teamed to Suppress Gambling

"The arrangement also offered donors a way to help Mr. Hubbard without their checks showing up on the Alabama party's public filings. One such supporter was the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which operates several large casinos on tribal land in Alabama. The tribe was wary of the rapid expansion of non-Indian gambling in the state, particularly the proliferation of small bingo parlors competing with their resort casinos, and stood to benefit if antigambling Republicans took control of the Legislature. But precisely because they opposed gambling, few Republican state lawmakers or candidates would accept the tribe's contributions. After meeting with Mr. Marsh and other Republicans, said Robert R. McGhee, director of government affairs for the tribe, the tribe chose a different approach: It donated $350,000 to the leadership committee. When the contributions were later disclosed, critics accused Mr. Hubbard of using the Washington group to launder the money by exchanging it with other contributions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01.....ml?hp&_r=3

[robc]

But precisely because they opposed gambling, few Republican state lawmakers or candidates would accept the tribe's contributions.

Its still a socon and indians situation, but that is interesting.

It donated $350,000 to the leadership committee.

Hmmm...or is it? Maybe its a statists and indians situation.

[RBS]

Your Parenting Sucks

It's a little old but this article has been popping up on facebook lately. While I pretty much agree with the article I am so tired every fucking parent who lets their kid play outside or do something "dangerous" writing a goddamn article/blog about it like they just made some astounding new discivery. Jesus Christ.

[John]

It would seem that half the fun of having a kid these days is looking down at other parents.

[SugarFree]

Advanced Tedious Parenting Magazine

[goneGalt]

Offered as a "Me Decade" counterpoint.

[RBS]

It's a highly competitive area. I don't get it. I mean there are definitely some wrong ways to raise your kids but there are also a lot right ways so shut the fuck up, do your thing and I'll do mine.

[John]

In the end you owe your kids, safety, a roof over their heads, the chance to go to school, learn right from wrong, and be set up for a chance at success in life. Anything beyond that is really just about the parents and not the kids. NTTAWWT. But I wish people would realize that their beliefs about raising kids are just that, beliefs not moral edicts handed down from God to enforced on the unbelievers.

[RBS]

Pretty much. I have to remind my wife of this every time she comes home with the "guess what this girl at work let's her kid do..."

[Elspeth Flashman]

Agreed.

[Marshall Gill]

Anything beyond that is really just about the parents and not the kids.

Exactly. If I don't point out how other people are wrong in raising their children, how can I be sure I am doing it right?!

[mad libertarian guy]

Exactly. If I don't point out how other people are wrong in raising their children, how can I be sure I am doing it right?!

Both my kids have been singing heavy metal songs since before they could talk properly. I'm fucking sure as shit that I'm doing it right.

Anyone who has any comment whatsoever about how I raise my kids can go eat a bag of dicks.

[Agammamon]

Kinda the problem is, those parents that think there's danger around every corner and kids need to be watch every second until at least age 26, have a tendency to call the police on those parents who let their kids play outside.

And the police and CPS respond because, hey, its justification for a larger budget and more power.

[Kaptious Kristen]

This is not going to help matters.

If I had kids, you bet your ass I would not raise them in he Urbs or Suburbs. Suburbs are the worst - where all the power is concentrated with the soccer moms.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Forgot link

http://www.nbcwashington.com/n.....93301.html

[Zeb]

I'm just glad that more people are realizing that recent trends in parenting are sometimes not so helpful and that kids need some degree of risk and independence to become people who can think and do for themselves. I can ignore the blogs and articles if I get sick of them.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

For you soccer buffs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJHvg5c7vPE

Clough v. Revie.

[Auric Demonocles]

Does alt-text count as a domestic program? It seems like we need more funding for it..

[Palin's Buttplug]

Cato debunked on the $1 trillion "welfare" claim:

Cash and cash-like programs: As Michael Linden of Center for American Progress told me, there are five big programs in the Cato list that are most analogous to what people think of as "welfare": The refundable part of the Earned Income Tax Credit ($55 billion), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ($21 billion), Supplemental Security Income ($43.7 billion), food stamps ($75 billion), and housing vouchers ($18 billion) and the Child Tax Credit. All together, that's around $212 billion dollars."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....each-year/

$212 billion - Still too much.

But the point is that the real big spending on social programs is the primary GOP demographic - the elderly.

As we age and get more secular the GOP will suffer electorally.

The future will not be kind to the old Bible-beaters in the GOP.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

If the primary voting demographic of the GOP are the old, then as we age will not that be a good thing for them?

[Agammamon]

Not really - old leftists just get more set in their ways.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I seem to recall that as people age they tend to become more conservative.

[robc]

Old wives tale?

Does Winston Churchill qualify as an old wife?

[Restoras]

In the sense that they are more suspicious of change and like to keep things the way they are. Anyone starts talking about taking away what they think they are owed from the government and they will bolt for the other side, regardless of party affiliation.

[Agammamon]

Yeah, more conservative as in more set in their ways, not more GOPish.

Sean Penn is becoming more Sean Pennish.

[John]

The Earned Income Credit is welfare you fucking half wit. It is money you don't earn. My God, just go die or check yourself in somewhere, something, anything. Your existence has become to grotesque to continue like this.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I am not sure he is disputing that, he is saying the total number comes up short of the 1 trillion dollar claim.

[wareagle]

yes, he is disputing the finding of one think tank by citing the work of another. It's a bit like saying Rush's numbers are wrong because Chris Matthews has a different set of figures.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, the EITC is a deemed a "cash" program you twit. RTFA.

We are not a welfare nation - we are an elderly entitlement and global defense nation.

The GOP picks the wrong target and fools you gullible hicks into voting for them repeatedly.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Who is this "we" you are talking about? You really can't fathom that we aren't Republican whores, can you? It's tough being the only political whore in the room, isn't it Shreek?

[Agammamon]

Yeah, that's a welfare nation.

You're not listing the *other* welfare programs, at the state level, subsidized by federal taxes.

Also, I'm not sure how you get that these programs primarily serve the elderly.

I'm pretty sure these are not going to old people.

Temporary Assistance For Needy Families
Child Tax Credit

And I think the there's an awful lot more young than old people getting this stuff.
Food Stamps
Housing Vouchers
EITC

[Apatheist ?_??]

The only way Cato is debunked is that they didn't include SS and medicare. So in fact our welfare spending is much higher than 1 trillion.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, the that is a strategy to preserve the GOP vote. It obscures real spending trends.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Also, how the fuck is medicaid not welfare? It's easy to "debunk" things when you just say nuh-uh and change the definition of words.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The payments go to medical service providers and old-age homes and not directly to the indigent.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

By this logic the do not the actual 'payment' of food stamps go to the grocer, and so they should not be considered welfare?

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

In Shreeks world, unless you are giving someone cash directly, it is not welfare.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I mean, if food stamps are not welfare then nothing is.

[The Last American Hero]

So if you cut Medicaid, you aren't cutting assistance to the poor?

Let's cut it, or repeal it then.

[KDN]

It's only debunked if you ignore the primary driver: Medicaid, at $225b annually. It's a semantic argument.

Seriously, the paper's not very long. Maybe you should try fucking reading it. It focuses on those programs that are aimed primarily at the indigent and working poor, which clearly includes Medicaid. There's some there to dispute, but Konczal wants to change the definition to fit his narrative.

[Jordan]

Social Security is welfare. Flawed article is flawed.

[John]

Sometimes it is good to read the New York Times just to be reminded that people like this really do exist and are not just the product of overactive imaginations.

"For many years, Karen Paperno told me, she hadn't paid much attention to those variations and distinctions. . . . In 1996, she settled into work that made her happy, opening a store called Boing Boing in Park Slope, Brooklyn, catering to the needs of new breast-feeding mothers. . . . But about six or seven years ago, she began to feel uneasy. . . . 'I was still middle class," Ms. Paperno said, 'but no one else seemed to be.' . . . Mothers began to come in and ask for the sort of products that Ms. Paperno didn't carry because they offended her sensibilities. They asked for something called the Belly Bandit, for instance, a postpartum slimming belt that Ms. Paperno regarded as decidedly anti-feminist, and stroller blankets from 7 A.M. Enfant, which she found too expensive. She stocked these things reluctantly. . . . A story like this one reminds us that inequality is corrosive even when it isn't extreme, that the complications and confusions of class and position are as psychically affecting as anything else."--Gina Bellefante, New York Times, Jan. 12, 2014

[Damned Fool]

By 2010 her troubles deepened. Ms. Paperno's husband had a recurrence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which eventually required a bone-marrow transplant. She had opened a second store in Brooklyn with no real business plan or any strategy for meeting the needs of an increasingly wealthy and entitled clientele.

So basically she doesn't think about what she's doing and won't stock what the customers want and she's surprised she's going out of business?

[Restoras]

Yes!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Her "reasoning" goes something like this:

"Like, I, like, lived in, like, Park Slope since before it was, like, cool!".

Full stop.

[Nikki just says no]

A story like this one reminds us that inequality is corrosive even when it isn't extreme, that the complications and confusions of class and position are as psychically affecting as anything else.

Oh excellent. Not only do we need to equalize incomes, but tastes as well. Do you know what it does to this bitch psychically when she sees someone eating white bread?!?!

[Agammamon]

SO, she's upset that her customers are *rich*?

Couldn't she, I don't know, serve those rich slaves to the patriarchy and then take some of that evil profit and open up a charity to take care of the poor mothers?

I mean, fucking *lawyers* do pro bono work form time to time.

[Zeb]

a postpartum slimming belt that Ms. Paperno regarded as decidedly anti-feminist

OK, so feminists are obliged not to get back into shape after giving birth? What the fuck is wrong with people?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"opening a store called Boing Boing in Park Slope, Brooklyn, catering to the needs of new breast-feeding mothers"

Why not just advertise it as a 'topless' store?

[UnCivilServant]

That would be as anti-feminist as the "Belly Bandit" she refused to sell despite there being a market for it.

[sarcasmic]

'Somebody throws popcorn... and then bang!' Witnesses tell how retired SWAT captain, 71, 'shot cinema-goer dead and injured wife who tried to stop fight over texts' at Lone Survivor screening

Two couples got into a fight in a Florida movie theater over noisy texting
Retired Tampa police officer Curtis Reeves, 71, pulled out a gun and shot the man and the victim's wife in front of him
Chad Oulsen was killed and Nicole Oulsen was injured in the hand
'It's absolutely crazy it would rise to this level over somebody just texting in a movie theater,' Sheriff Chris Nocco said
A witness said the victim was texting his three-year-old daughter before he was shot dead

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....eater.html
Makes you wonder how many people he murdered in his years on the job.

[John]

What do you want to bet he avoids death. Florida is about like Texas when it comes to handing out the death penalty. Normally killing a in front of his wife will get you that. Since this asshole was a former cop, I bet he pleds it down to manslaughter and barely does five years.

[Brett L]

Texting his 3 year old daughter? Its a pretty advanced 3 year old that can read.

[Pro Libertate]

It's insane. I haven't been to that theater, but I have family who has.

[BakedPenguin]

Even worse, it was during the goddamn trailers.

[Pro Libertate]

Fucking cops.

[Fluffy]

OK, now it's my turn to be the one claiming you guys are jumping to conclusions.

The reports say that the texting guy freaked out when the shooter went and told a manager he had been texting.

I wouldn't be surprised in the LEAST if Texting Guy felt "disrespected" and felt like he had to act tough and make threats.

And if he did - BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG drink your own blood, Texting Guy.

[Jordan]

Texter guy did initiate the confrontation. He asked the guy if he went and "told on him" and then threw popcorn at him.

[Fluffy]

A witness in a dark room says popcorn was thrown.

That witness could very easily be describing their interpretation of seeing popcorn flying through the air as the result of a punch by Texting Guy.

Picture people in two rows in a movie theater in a confrontation, and suddenly stuff starts flying through the air. What just happened?

I am calling Reasonable Doubt / Self-Defense on this one up front.

[Jordan]

I wasn't disagreeing. Just telling you what has been reported.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, what cop wouldn't fear for his life when popcorn is flying? I mean, those kernels are hard and pointy.

[BakedPenguin]

The trailers were going, and the witness was in front of the melee, meaning the fighters were lit.

But I can wait until all the facts are in to argue more about this.

[The Last American Hero]

Cause a bullet is an appropriate response to an asshole throwing popcorn in a theatre?

How about you get the manager and have the theatre deal with it? You'd probably have the thanks of the other patrons and some gift certificates for your inconvenience instead of a man's blood on your hands.

[Jordan]

I agree that shooting is not an appropriate response, if this witness's account is accurate. But he did go try to find a manager, but none were around.

[Brett L]

Oh, well obviously shooting is the next recourse. Not leaving and demanding his money back.

[Jordan]

Did you read the first sentence?

[Agammamon]

Obviously its not this hero (former)cop's fault - find out who threw that popcorn and made this upstanding citizen fear for his life and then throw the book at him.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

There was butter on that popcorn and the hero (former)cop is dangerously lactose intolerant!

[Agammamon]

That ain't butter!

[Pro Libertate]

To be sure, whatever the victim did, his co-victim wife needing shooting, too?

[Fluffy]

She put her hand on the gun.

So if her husband was threatening and/or threw a punch, the shoot on him is good.

If she puts her hand on the gun to try to stop a good shoot, the shoot on HER is good, too. Keep your hand out of the fucking way of my fucking good shoot.

You guys are getting totally played by the media on this one. They WANT you to freak out about how a bad, terrible, horrible GUN was brought into a movie theater, and inevitably a poor innocent soul was shot as a result.

It couldn't POSSIBLY be that the type of guy who texts in a movie theater is also the type of guy who will freak out on you if he thinks you notified a manager. NO WAY. It can't be that AT ALL.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, the theater is right off of an interstate, so maybe it's under federal law. And, to be sure, Tampa (and Wesley Chapel, a suburb) is near the border.

[sarcasmic]

I want to know how many people this cop killed during his career.

I'll bet it's in the low double digits. All justified of course.

[Zeb]

He fired his gun in a movie theatre with other people who had nothing to do with the incident. Even if the guy threw a punch, I still say it was inappropriate. He should have left and called the police. I'm all for SYG type laws, but morally you still have a duty to try to avoid the possibility of injuring bystanders if there is any clear safe way to avoid it.

[Agammamon]

Why would you shoot the former cop's wife. I mean, he's the only real victim here.

[sarcasmic]

Diminutive Christina Ricci sparks a trend dubbed 'Riccing' as she reveals penchant for squeezing into tiny spaces with hilarious mini fridge photo

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....photo.html
I'm surprised her forehead fit.

[robc]

People who complain about her fivehead need to lower their gaze.

[sarcasmic]

Man's best friend: Wiley the coyote, the family pet who likes to sit by the fire, goes for walks on his leash and plays fetch with a tennis ball
Wiley lives with the Hanestad family near Eau Claire, Wisconsin
The coyote was rescued three years ago and is now part of the family

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....Wiley.html
How long before someone from the government takes it away and kills it, for its own good of course.

[Warty]

http://www.dailycoyote.net/

On the one hand, fuck coyotes. They are why target ARs were invented. On the other hand, they sure are cute.

[sarcasmic]

When I lived up in the Colorado Rockies I would watch them hunt mice in a grassy valley. They'd jump up and pounce through the snow to get them. Then on Christmas the cat never came home. We found a bloody patch in the snow with a mix of cat and coyote fur. Then we followed the tracks to a ten or fifteen foot diameter circle of trampled snow, covered with blood and cat fur, with tracks leading in and out from several directions.

Didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. I didn't really care though. That cat was evil. Probably tried to taunt the wild dog and got what it deserved.

[Agammamon]

They kill it *then* take it away. Need to shock the family so they don't ever do this again.

[sarcasmic]

California aims to make anyone who assembles their firearm at home on a 3-D printer undergo background checks in an effort to clamp down on GHOST GUNS

Bill by Senator Kevin de Leon aims to halt spread of undetectable weapons
Would also apply to anyone who buys parts that can be made into a firearm
Dep of Justice serial number would have to be engraved onto the weapon
Guns would need permanent pieces of metal that can be detected by X-ray
Goes further than federal bill that extended ban on plastic guns which can evade airport detection

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-GUNS.html
Unenforceable laws are unenforceable.

[Damned Fool]

But they can do it in the Land of Make-believe!

[waffles]

Ah yes, the California Assembly.

[sarcasmic]

Ready for CAT-tle: Now your cat can have his own BODY ARMOR, turning him into an 'unstoppable force for slaughter', all for just $500

Fully-articulated armour is hand-stitched from black leather

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....t-500.html
Meeoowch!

[Brett L]

I put this up last week. Although it may have been the Friday PM links. So you're forgiven.

[db]

Friday PM Links is where government agencies announce bad news that they can't just smother.

[sarcasmic]

Runaway 100-pound African tortoise reunited with owners 30 miles from home after a year on the lam
A sulcata, or African spurred tortoise, went missing from an Arizona farm in November 2012
The 100-pound reptile named Samson traveled 30 miles, where a foster owner took him in
After a year, George and Mary Plumb were reunited with their wayward reptile thanks to an online ad and a microchip

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....r-lam.html
We've got a pet tortoise, not that big though, and they can move when they want to. Ours chases the cats.

[db]

Sounds like the cats could be tortoise food.

[Lord Humungus]

One of the few friends I have left went to the doctor - he is on the threshold of type 2 diabetes, nearing high blood pressure, and is overweight.

I want to steer him toward a low carb diet but hate giving out advice like this - especially to someone who is such an opinionated bastard who doesn't believe in anything unless he came to that conclusion himself. Thoughts?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I like Wheat Belly because of all the baked goods. It doesn't feel like a low-carb regimen. Be warned - it's very home cooking-intensive.

[Lord Humungus]

Read that book too...

Wheat Belly certainly made me back away from eating "low carb/sugar" wheat products.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I cleared up my shitting issues* within a week. Pretty amazing.

*I debated whether to be circumspect with this. Fuck it.

[Steve G]

well, "issues" is a little vague... 😉

[Lord Humungus]

let's keep it that way

[Clich? Bandit]

KK...you kill me.

[Floridian]

I'm sure his doctor gave him advice. Either he is going to decide to change or not. Nobody can make him.

[Lord Humungus]

yeah, it will be usual doctor advice - "Lose some weight". Oh, and here are some statins and some other medication.

[Steve G]

Lead him to water, as it were, then let go of it.

Tell him about what they are doing in Reno:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.c.....revention/

[db]

The gist of a conversation in an office down the hall from me (marketing mgr talking to corp comm specialist):

"Can I get the icon in Cornflower Blue?"

[The Late P Brooks]

Two couples got into a fight in a Florida movie theater over noisy texting
Retired Tampa police officer Curtis Reeves, 71, pulled out a gun and shot the man and the victim's wife in front of him

Good shoot. Stop whining.

[sarcasmic]

Had he been in uniform it would no doubt have been a good shoot, but he's retired.

[db]

Someone last night reposted a comment on this from somewhere else...something like "he had no right to be texting in a theater, bottom line."

Well that makes total sense now!

[The Late P Brooks]

he's retired.

Do you, of all people, think that makes a difference?

HE FEARED FOR HIS LIFE!

[sarcasmic]

Cops who commit crimes while out of uniform are convicted all the time.

But once they put on that uniform they can beat homeless people to death on camera and get away with it.

[John]

He failed to obey. I bet you anything the guy is convicted of something less than murder 1 and that he never does ten years in jail.

[Damned Fool]

They'd have to set up some expedited parole system for cops, he's 71.

Oh, wait, that's called acquittal.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Despite concerns that turning teen moms into reality TV stars has glamorized teen pregnancy, a new study shows that MTV's 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have had a more powerful impact in the opposite direction: the series has significantly reduced births to teens."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.....095145.htm

[robc]

I guess I could click thru, but are they actually attributing it to the TV show?

Did the teen pregnancy rate of those who watch the show fall significantly more than those who dont watch it?

[robc]

Kearney and Levine show that 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have a large and highly engaged following, win ratings wars, and lead teens to search for and tweet about the themes within. They also find that searches and tweets about birth control and abortion spike exactly when the show is on and in locations where it is more popular. According to Professor Levine, "our use of data from Google Trends and Twitter enable us to provide some gauge of what viewers are thinking about when they watch the show. We conclude that exposure to 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom was high and that it had an influence on teens' thinking regarding birth control and abortion."

I still think my idea would have been more scientifically valid.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"To determine the show's impact on teens, Kearney and Levine conducted an in-depth empirical study, analyzing several measures of exposure, including Nielsen ratings data and metrics from Google and Twitter. The researchers then examined the impact on teen birth rates using Vital Statistics Natality microdata.

Kearney and Levine show that 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have a large and highly engaged following, win ratings wars, and lead teens to search for and tweet about the themes within. They also find that searches and tweets about birth control and abortion spike exactly when the show is on and in locations where it is more popular. According to Professor Levine, 'our use of data from Google Trends and Twitter enable us to provide some gauge of what viewers are thinking about when they watch the show. We conclude that exposure to 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom was high and that it had an influence on teens' thinking regarding birth control and abortion.'"

[robc]

slow.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes, you totally get your money back 😉

[robc]

Even the 2nd time around, seems like bogus science. Im not sure there is a strong correlation between researching birth control and using it.

Heck, there is probably only a weak correlation between buying birth control and using it.

[robc]

That said, better "science" they I originally guessed.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I do not disagree, seems like an odd way to do the study for that conclusion.

[Zeb]

Yeah, it does seem to be pretty good as far as social science studies go.

[widget]

This would impossible to measure, but Octomom's reality TV show might have given pause to any woman going to fertility clinic and asking the doctor to turn it up a notch.

[Agammamon]

Of course they are - I mane, teen pregnancies went down at the same time this show was on, what else could have done it?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well, I will give them credit for at least not making that gross of a 'correlation means causation' argument and at least exploring a bit more how the show might be causing related behaviors (though robc's point about the overall tenuousness of the conclusion holds I think).

[robc]

My original post was assuming the same as Agammamon.

Which is why I clicked thru to see what they were really doing.

[KMA Too]

Isn't the real news that teens might actually be watching that shitty network?

Seems parents need to have two sets of "values" talks with kids...

[DEG]

Volunteer firefighters get an exemption from Obamacare:

http://www.pottsmerc.com/gener.....-obamacare

[Lord Humungus]

Japan: Is celibacy syndrome a myth?

Not entirely. There clearly is a subset of Japanese youth who have withdrawn from dating. Instead, they focus on online porn and games like Nintendo's Love Plus, in which players conduct a relationship with an anime girlfriend. Hundreds of thousands of young men are known as hikikomori, shut-ins who eschew human contact and spend their days playing video games and reading comics in their parents' homes. (See below.) But most Japanese young people do have friends and relationships ? they're just not settling down. The marriage rate has plummeted, and with it the birthrate, since out-of-wedlock births are rare in Japan. In 1975, just 21 percent of women and 49 percent of men under 30 had never been married; by 2005, the figures were 60 percent of women and 72 percent of men.

[Andrew S.]

H-games and dating sims have been around forever. The subset of people who focus on that instead of real relationships are likely pretty tiny.

Hikkomori is nothing new either,.

[db]

"Krieger-san! You promised!"

[widget]

These Japanese youths don't seem to be much different than the emos that staff the front desk of the gym I go to. There might be some genetic code in humans that forbids overpopulation and plays itself out this way.

[BakedPenguin]

Instead, they focus on online porn and games like Nintendo's Love Plus, in which players conduct a relationship with an anime girlfriend.

Obligatory.

[A wild THANE appeared!]

Some good news: SCOTUS denies cert to patent troll.

[db]

Holy fuck. I saw this on Popehat.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I love this woman!

[RBS]

Nice, her "apology"

[db]

Yes that was excellent.

[Kaptious Kristen]

If not for the spelling of the name, I would wonder if it was our own Nikki.

[db]

I have been wearing a goatee (and infrequently a full beard) since I was in college. I'll be damned if I let some hipster pussy ruin beards for everyone. I have seen so many of them I sometimes wonder if maybe I should shave it or even grow it ridiculously long.

But in the end, I'll probably do as a paraphrased Richard Feynman would say: "Why the fuck do you care what people think because bearded man-children skew their opinions of beards?"

[Brett L]

Agreed. I have traditionally grown a winter pelt, but started keeping it year round as it became acceptable to the ladies to do so. Which may have been as much that I stopped dating women in their early 20s as the time period. Anyhow, it is my God-given right as a programmer to not shave for months on end and fuck anyone who doesn't know what an allen wrench is.

[Zeb]

Well, in that case I'm glad I know what an allen wrench is.

[db]

That's a really odd perq.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Hipsters must know what allen wrenches are with all the Ikea furniture. Except they probably call it "those tightening doohickies that come with Ikea furniture".

[Brett L]

Honestly, most bikes, even fixies, use hex keys, so its a poor example.

[Rufus J. Fisk]

The only reason I grow a beard is to hide the fact I have a bad overbite and it rounds of my face better. But Lancaster city, PA is a haven for hipsters and drives me nuts. Favorite hipster music? the kind where the mood of the song does not change whatsoever throughout it. Boring as shit! Also, pretending to drink only for the taste. Bunch of liars and emotional heathens.

[Clich? Bandit]

Ohh how I long for the option. My brother (who actually WAS a lumberjack) could grow a mean mountain man beard in a week. I can't grow 3 hairs in 4 weeks. I shave once every 8-10 days, dry, and I have the same safety razor for 9 months.

I also possess 7 chest hairs. I am proud of the six that aren't gray.

[RBS]

Also, she responded to a comment with this:

Compliments make my butt sweat.

[sarcasmic]

After clearing my driveway of a foot of snow, I stopped shaving. My face was less cold when it came time to clear the next foot.

[lap83]

"There's a whole generation running around looking like lumberjacks, and most of you can't change a fucking tire."

That says it all.

[Clich? Bandit]

When I was dating my wife we had arranged to meet at a happy hour with some friends. She called and said she had a flat. (Of course it is raining). I left HH (as I am always early to HH), drove to her car, changed the tire in the rain, and followed her to the bar. It was never a question of me doing it and she never had a question of who to call to get it done...now, plumbing? That is a different story.

[Zeb]

Fashions come and go, but beards are always good. Especially in winter.

[mad libertarian guy]

Bullwinkle Deer.

But one of the weirdest afflictions of whitetails you are unlikely to encounter is so new it doesn't even have a scientific-sounding name yet. The unfortunate victims are called "Bullwinkle" deer because their snouts balloon to moose-like proportions (pause for Millennials to find "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" on YouTube and make the cultural connection).

No reports of bullwinkle deer before 2005. Fucking strange.

[RBS]

Didn't take long for the discussion to turn to GMOs did it?

[db]

Some people only have a hammer.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Holy shitballs...the multi-day discounted price for a lift ticket at Park City MR is the same as a single-day non-discounted price at Stowe. And I thought Stowe was expensive!

This better be good, is all I'm sayin'....

[Kaptious Kristen]

Feb 1 - spending the weekend hanging out with some friends and acclimatizing, then skiing Feb 3-7.

[db]

Good move on the acclimatization. I made the mistake about 10 years ago of getting on the slopes the day after arriving in Utah, having never.skied at those altitudes.before. I was so winded it was ridiculous. I made maybe 5 runs all day (granted they were long runs compared.to out east). The next day at Snowbird.was.much better, my body.having finally acclimatized.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And I live no more than 100 feet above sea level, so 9000' is gonna be a big jump for me. My Pa and I are going up to the highest lodge at Deer Valley for lunch on that Sunday. We'll see how it goes!