A.M. Links: Obama Optimistic About GOP 'Progress' on Immigration, Ukrainian Activist Claims He Was Abducted and Tortured, State Department Expected To Release Keystone XL Report

NSA

• The NSA has refused a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a transparency activist related to the agency's talking points put together in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations.
• A Ukrainian opposition activist claims that he was abducted and tortured before being left out in the cold to die.
• President Barack Obama is optimistic about "progress" in the GOP when it comes to immigration reform, but has not said whether he would sign an immigration bill that does not include a pathway to citizenship.
• The State Department is expected to release an environmental report on the Keystone XL pipeline "soon."
• According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, almost 1,900 people have been killed in Syria since peace talks in Switzerland began.
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been accused of ordering a jail beating.

Get Reason.com and Reason 24/7 content widgets for your websites.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up for Reason's daily updates for more content.

Comments

[Longtorso, Johnny]

first

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ha Ha.

The trick is to watch the Reason twitter feed.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Oh, and Fist sucks.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You're watching Twitter feeds and I suck?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Did I deny sucking? I just said you suck, not that you alone suck.

And Suki is still dead.

[Ted S.]

You and Fist suck each other? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[110 Lean]

They'll be sitting with Michelle during the 2015 SOTU address.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

You must make a substantive comment in order for the comment to count. Therefore, the victory still goes to Fist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why must you rain on his parade?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Because RULES ARE RULES

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Bullshit. You move the goalposts more than Obama does.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

That's been the rule for a long time, loser.

[Andrew S.]

He's partially correct. While the comment does not have to be completely substantive, commenting "First" comes nowhere close to cutting it. Sorry. You lose.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A 'First' from me beats any so called substantive comment any of you losers has. Do any of you REALLY understand the Golden Girls, or the Cleveland Browns?

[Rhywun]

Please, tell me more.

[110 Lean]

Do you guys remember a commentor named Orin (aka Urine) who used to post First on every thread? Whatever happened to that guy?

[SugarFree]

Registration made handle-hopping too difficult.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I said...hello, you fucking cocksuckers.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Did we let you down, like the Cleveland Browns?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm very sensitive.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Things turn ugly when first comment goes to the uncultured.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Fuck you and the Suki you rode in on.

[Snark Plissken]

Sets the wrong sort of tone.

[invisible furry hand]

konnichiwa, motherfucker

[Ska]

gong hay fat chow, nacka

[BuSab Agent]

considering the time you posted shouldn't it be ohaio gozaimasu?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The NSA has refused a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a transparency activist related to the agency's talking points put together in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations.

How many different, classified ways can you say the phrase high school drop out?

[Obamaphone]

***Ring***Ring***
Make no mistake, we're running the most transparent adminstration in American history. But sometimes, national security secrets must take precedence, for the security of Americans and their families.
-click-

[Rasilio]

As I said in the 24/7 link to this...

I thought the whole point of talking points was to disseminate them. Classifying them seems completely eliminate the purpose of having them.

[mad libertarian guy]

I thought the whole point of talking points was to disseminate them. Classifying them seems completely eliminate the purpose of having them.

It just further shows how hard of a National Security boner DC has for everything.

[Snark Plissken]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been accused of ordering a jail beating.

That's not true, he gets all the beatings he wants at home

[Slammer]

Why would he have a jail beaten? What did it ever do to him? And how does one beat a building anyway?

[invisible furry hand]

I read it to mean he called Dial-A-Beatdown and asked for a Vern Schillinger lookalike to come to City Hall and pound his drunken drugged arse

[Fist of Etiquette]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been accused of ordering a jail beating.

So we've left Ford's funny, victimless antics portion of this Great White North saga.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

If only he could order the beatings of the fools and knaves who increased the minimum wage in Ontario derping that it 'could save the economy.'

'Could' being the key operative word.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

The State Department is expected to release an environmental report on the Keystone XL pipeline "soon."

Right after the 2014 elections, I'm sure.

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***
It won't happen overnight, but my administration will thoroughly study all aspects of the Keystone pipeline and issue its recommendations at its conclusion.
-click-

[Elspeth Flashman]

Dear Obamaphone,
You are wonderful. Are you a man? I hope so. Love, your admirer,
Elspeth

[playa manhattan]

I felt like you were going to get a call there.

[BigT]

California moves to put its boot on the neck of bootcamps. Bootcamps happy to help write the rules to protect their fiefdoms.

California regulator seeks to shut down 'learn to code' bootcamps.
BPPE, a unit in the California Department of Consumer Affairs, is arguing that the bootcamps fall under its jurisdiction and are subject to regulation. BPPE is charged with licensing and regulating postsecondary education in California, including academic as well as vocational training programs. It was created in 2010 by the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, a bill aimed at providing greater oversight of the more than 1,500 postsecondary schools operating in the state.

These bootcamps have not yet been approved by the BPPE and are therefore being classified as unlicensed postsecondary educational institutions that must seek compliance or be forcibly shut down.

"Our primary goal is not to collect a fine. It is to drive them to comply with the law," said Russ Heimerich, a spokesperson for BPPE. Heimerich is confident that these companies would lose in court if they attempt to fight BPPE.

California bootcamp will work with regulator: 'Whatever the cost ? it's worth it to satisfy the state' (interview)

http://venturebeat.com/2014/01.....bootcamps/

[Notorious G.K.C.]

'Whatever the cost ? it's worth it to satisfy the state'

They must have a really effective Room 101.

[Brett L]

Jesus. They really won't rest until they drive Silicon Valley to Austin/Seattle/Tuscon, will they?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There shall be no learning that we have not sufficiently fucked with.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's almost like they want to actively chase professionals and their training out of the state.

[Rasilio]

What's next, regulating Bible Studies classes because they are unlicensed post secondary courses in Theology?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

You know, in the old days regulators were happy to simply sit back, collect a paycheck, and make a few token gestures towards "regulation" while largely leaving things alone. Once they began to be criticized as a bunch of do-nothing gold-brickers, they're actively doing things that wouldn't have merited one second of attention 40 years ago.

I'm not sure which is worse.

[Obamaphone]

Ring***Ring***
In the past year, both progressives and conservatives have lost towering icons. This is a teachable moment. When Pete Seeger passed this week, people mourned, pouring out their sadness and expressing their loss in obituaries and articles, in letters and songs. When Margaret Thatcher died last April, the people celebrated, dancing in the streets. Make no mistake: the people know who was on their side. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, you libertards are on the losing side.
-click-

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

oh hai American

[Andrew S.]

We sure this is American? There was no overt racism in that post. I'd almost go the other way and say this is Mary, except for the placement of "libertards", which makes no sense in context.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Obamaphone is the tip, I think.

[mr simple]

Hmmm, I took it as more of a satirical impersonation of Obama's actual beliefs rather than someone actually arguing against the libertarian perspective, but I obviously don't know for sure.

[Elspeth Flashman]

That's what I thought so too Mr. S. But lately I have a hard time telling the difference between sarcasm & genuineness.

[waffles]

Who is Pete Seeger?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Duh, he's the head of the Silver Bullet Band

[SugarFree]

Coors Light has a band?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Personified by Kid Rock.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

You're still the same.

[db]

No, that's "Rocky and the Mountain Refreshments."

[Slammer]

What about Lou Reed?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Or Peter O'Toole?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What about him?

I saw him walking around.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Federal Agency Data-Mining Hundreds of Millions of Credit Card Accounts
..."Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are conducting a massive, NSA-esque data-mining project collecting account information on an estimated 991 million American credit card accounts. It was also learned at a Congressional hearing Tuesday that CFPB officials are working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on a second data-mining effort, this one focused on the 53 million residential mortgages taken out by Americans since 1998. ...Later in the hearing, [Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas] remarked that CFPB 'and NSA are in a contest of who can collect the most information,'

[Fist of Etiquette]

e State Department is expected to release an environmental report on the Keystone XL pipeline "soon."

We cannot allow undocumented fossil fuels to cross our northern border.

[waffles]

Bitcoin is fraud, pure and simple, a classic 'Ponzi' scheme. I have no interest in government control of currency one way or another, but the Bitcoin scam has every mark of being a swindle.

I don't do the chunky math, but there have been a number of excellent papers written about bitcoin, who owns them. traffic patterns etc that clearly lay out the case that the bitcoin system as currently configured benefits a vanishingly small number of 'early adopters' to the detriment of everyone else.

There are rules for currency and currency transfers, regardless of how they are denominated and bitcoin isnt a magical shield against breaking the law.

Have a great day!

On that note, FinCen has said people mining and trading Bitcoins are not, in fact, money transmitters. Carry on then.

[SweatingGin]

link? I love that the progs have been so against bitcoin. Let them be luddites, it'll just further expose them.

[waffles]

For you a link!

It's just the comments, but goddamn are they polluted with this drivel.

[SweatingGin]

Thanks a bunch.

[Raston Bot]

I don't do the chunky math

Some people prefer creamy math.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

A Ukrainian opposition activist claims that he was abducted and tortured before being left out in the cold to die.

He got better.

[invisible furry hand]

In a revolution-eats-its-own irony, some online feminists have even deemed the word "vagina" problematic... arguing that emphasizing "vaginas" hurts trans men who don't want their reproductive organs coded as female.

http://www.thenation.com/artic.....aign=Email Nation - 20140130

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I was always partial to 'cunt.'

But that's me.

[Jordan]

HAHAHAHA. Eventually, feminists are going to speak an entirely different language.

[mad libertarian guy]

Eventually, feminists are going to speak an entirely different language.

They already do.

[Rhywun]

trans men who don't want their reproductive organs coded as female

Exhibit A

[Rhywun]

Damn, late to the party again

[Steve G]

They can have klingon

[Auric Demonocles]

I think they already are speaking another language. I can't fully understand what they mean in this sentence:

arguing that emphasizing "vaginas" hurts trans men who don't want their reproductive organs coded as female

I think they are trying to say "emphasizing vaginas hurts women who wish they were men by reminding them they have vaginas", but I'm not sure. If I'm right than they are saying almost the opposite of what they mean.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Ha, I read it the other way and thought they were hurting men who wish they were women by reminding them they DON'T have vaginas.

Huh.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's what would make sense with the fact that they say "men". But since it would be correct I am pretty sure they mean the opposite. Plus the "don't want their organs coded as female" part makes more sense if they want to be men.

[Numeromancer]

Time and time again you people have been warned---warned to stay away from the edge of the abyss. And when you finally fall irrevocably, I will weep for you, knowing that you wait in vain for death to end your descent into the pit of madness.

[AuH20]

Sadly, I have read enough of this crap to explain this.

Basically, in modern feminist discourse, gender is purely a social construct. Masculine and feminine just exist on a spectrum, and you can choose to identify as whatever. Think... drag queens. When they're in drag, they become a different, female person.

Genitals are sex, which is purely biological. Except it's not, because they argue that some people have the wrong bits, and that's probably brain chemistry, and you can get surgery. However, a lot of the trans* people are moving away from surgery because it's expensive and leaves you infertile and just in general your nerves and shit aren't those of the other sex.

Anyway, all this is a long way of saying that trans activists seriously say shit like, "Not all men have penises!" because there are trans men (chicks who want to be dudes and dress as such. Except they don't have to dress as such because they could identify as feminine men. Like I said, this shit is confusing because it's so fucking tarded) and "Not all women have vaginas." Basically, it doesn't matter what bits you have- it's what bits you feel you should have had.

Oh, there are also gender queers, who sit somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, but I think I've hurt my brain enough already.

[Zeb]

reproductive organs coded as female

What?

[SugarFree]

Vaginas are female, Zeb. Many men have one as well.

[SugarFree]

*aren't* Stupid office minions are being noisy.

[Clich? Bandit]

dear god they give you minions?

Should we expect the moon to be stolen soon? Or have a giant laser put on it?

[Corning]

We should call them cunts which can be used to describe men and women...

Or at least I have heard it used to describe men on Scottish YouTube gamer channels.

[Root Boy]

This is a story where Wut? captures my mode much better than What?

[Snark Plissken]

Boulder smashes through Italian farm. Pictures are pretty gnarly, dude.

[waffles]

Cool! I do have a strong desire to live in such places. Not even the merciless conversion of potential to kinetic energy can keep me from retiring under a perilous precipice.

[Snark Plissken]

Good excuse to build giant fortified embankments.

"It's for the the, uhm, boulders."

"What about the flamethrowers then?"

[Pavlov's Cat]

I like 'em melty!

[PD Scott]

Snow removal.

[Atanarjuat]

Notice the rows of grapevines part around the previous giant boulder that had tumbled from the mountain. Maybe it wasn't the most unexpected occurrence.

[mad libertarian guy]

I'm wondering who the fuck connects the barn to the house.

[Corning]

People who like getting salmonella and hantavirus.

[Atanarjuat]

Notice the rows of grapevines part around the previous giant boulder that had tumbled from the mountain. Maybe it wasn't the most unexpected occurrence.

[Atanarjuat]

Sometimes things happen twice, see.

[db]

Squirrels, soft and warm,
Wake from your winter slumber!
Your great work calls you

[Clich? Bandit]

I am pissing off my co-workers from my laughing.

[db]

There is a huge rock on the same fall line a little further down that had been dislodged "many years previously." Anyone stop to think about that before they put a FUCKING HOUSE in the middle of the path?

[Brett L]

They're Italian. Why do they make Fiats when they are capable of making Ferraris?

[Snark Plissken]

I used to have one of these, a bit finicky but pretty awesome.

So whatchoo mouf.

[db]

Why make Vespas when they are capable of Ducatis?

[Atanarjuat]

On second thought, as the owner of a house in an area known for sinkholes I probably shouldn't cast that first stone.

[mad libertarian guy]

Central FL?

[Matrix]

Amanda Knox did it.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Nah. Some scientist failed to predict that boulder rampage. It's lynchin' time.

[Clich? Bandit]

CLIMATE CHANGE!

[RBS]

Looks like the work of giants to me.

[BigT]

Crony capitalism in the financial crisis exposed:

The Financial Crisis: Why Have No High-Level Executives Been Prosecuted?
Jed S. Rakoff
Who was to blame? Was it simply a result of negligence, of the kind of inordinate risk-taking commonly called a "bubble," of an imprudent but innocent failure to maintain adequate reserves for a rainy day? Or was it the result, at least in part, of fraudulent practices, of dubious mortgages portrayed as sound risks and packaged into ever more esoteric financial instruments, the fundamental weaknesses of which were intentionally obscured?

If it was the former?if the recession was due, at worst, to a lack of caution?then the criminal law has no role to play in the aftermath. ...

But if, by contrast, the Great Recession was in material part the product of intentional fraud, the failure to prosecute those responsible must be judged one of the more egregious failures of the criminal justice system in many years.Thus, in the year 2000, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo increased to 50 percent the percentage of low-income mortgages that the government-sponsored entities known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were required to purchase, helping to create the conditions that resulted in over half of all mortgages being subprime at the time the housing market began to collapse in 2007.

http://www.nybooks.com/article.....tion=false

[Longtorso, Johnny]

The Cause of the 2008 Mortgage Crash

[KWebb]

I was hoping it was the Golden Girls.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that the government knowingly participated in any of the fraudulent practices alleged by the Financial Inquiry Crisis Commission and others.

I love it - private parties are clearly guilty of fraud. Govt agents involved get a pass.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Intentions, the magical cure-all

[Rhywun]

The government is us - we can hardly lock ourselves up, can we?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Banks have paid over $30 billion in fines and restitution to Fannie/Freddie for selling them non-conforming shit loans.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

REDUX:

He's LIBERTARIAN.

Did you read his entire biography?

[Palin's Buttplug]

It is a legal fact, not opinion.

Banks fork over $17 billion for misdeeds in 2013

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/3.....index.html

[BigT]

You are making his point for him: the BIG banks paid their protection money, the SMALL bankers went to jail. It's all about the cronyism.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ableist. What about my odd fetish? Who caters to me?

With Super Bowl in town, sex trade's got game
"Any hooker that can walk will be in Manhattan'' during the Super Bowl, a police source told The Post. To meet the challenge, the NYPD has ramped up enforcement, arresting 298 people on prostitution-related charges from the beginning of the year through Jan. 26 ? a 30 percent spike from the 229 busts made in the same period last year, a police spokesman said. Cops generally concentrate on catching johns and pimps, treating hookers as victims.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It appears hooking is the moral pandemic of 2014.

[SugarFree]

The bogus "domestic violence soars during Superbowl" gag finally ran out of steam.

[mad libertarian guy]

It appears hooking is the moral pandemic of 2014.

Nope. It's "sex trafficking." Which is exactly the same as hooking, but sounds more ominous.

And the po-leece reinforce this new verbiage:

Cops generally concentrate on catching johns and pimps, treating hookers as victims.

Hookers can't possibly be selling their wares of their own volition, they're victims.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

This is the new prog cause-du-jour, wherein no one can possibly be a willing prostitute, no no, they're all impressed into service and of course need the Giant Social Services Superstate to free them from their brainwashing. This crap, of course, is parroted by people who are ugly enough to get their MSW and get into the "save the hooker" line of work..

[thom]

they're all impressed into service and of course need the Giant Social Services Superstate to free them from their brainwashing

This is why you never see hookers in places like Holland or Germany.

[Auric Demonocles]

Who would possibly want to have lots of sex and money? No one!

[invisible furry hand]

Five years ago I said something stupid, now The Nation lets me say it again!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

barf

[SugarFree]

Just end the federal loan guarantee. Student loans become bankruptable again and banks start actually vetting the loans they are giving out. The colleges will writhe and scream and I will laugh.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I will laugh and rejoice when witness all of the Student Life Directors hitting the streets to find productive work.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'Forgive student debt.'

No.

Thank you come again.

Apu.

[Auric Demonocles]

I am about to get my student loan debt forgiven. All I had to do was give them an amount of money we agreed to beforehand. So simple!

[Swiss Servator, Befehl!]

I tried that - it appeared to work!

[Jordan]

Ban it.

MONTREAL ? A woman in her 30s is dead after her headscarf and hair became caught in a subway-station escalator.

Nobody needs more than 7 inches or hair or hijab.

[Slammer]

Ban escalators.Then ban stairs.

[Jordan]

Ban escalators, hair, and hijabs, just to be safe.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Ban women.

[AlexInCT]

Did you say "bang' or "ban"? I like the first, not so sure about the second...

[Ted S.]

She's not the first, either.

[robc]

If that hadnt been the link you posted, I would have been disappointed.

[Ted S.]

I don't think there's video of the incident available, or I would have posted that. 😉

(Seriously, I've posted the Budd Dwyer video on other sites before.)

[What's that smell?]

I watched the Budd Dwyer suicide live, so to speak. Seriously a local Pgh news channel showed as it happened and repeatedly showed all day long.
The joke afterward was that PA came out with the Budd Dyyer memorial coin...it was a washer.

[Atanarjuat]

Nobody needs more than 7 inches

That's not what she said.

/size queen

[Jordan]

Ban scary black assault penises!

[db]

That's pretty horrible. There was a girl in our high school (years before I was there) who got her hair caught in a table saw in wood shop. Evidently, it dragged her straight into the blade, mangled her face, and cut her throat.

"Teachable moment" on why you don't wear loose clothing or hair around rotating machinery.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah saw that.

Pay close attention to the comments. It comes very close to suggesting just that.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/woman.....51087.html

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, you can have 10 inches, as long as you don't unroll the last 3.

[sarcasmic]

Emotional officers form guard of honor salute flag-draped casket of police dog stabbed to death by criminal he was helping to arrest

Officers gather outside Pittsburgh veterinary clinic to pay final respects
Rocco was killed as officers attempted to arrest a convicted sex offender
John Rush, 21, allegedly stabbed the German Shepherd in side of his body
Knife left a three-inch deep wound, which penetrated muscle and a kidney
Rocco died surrounded by police officers two days later after 'a good fight'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....asket.html
And for them killing dogs is standard operating procedure, even if the dog is no threat. Fuck them, and their dogs too.

[Andrew S.]

Love that they threw "convicted sex offender" in there. Just in case people weren't quite outraged enough about the dog!

[Rhywun]

Not that "sex offender" means anything anymore.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

you're a mouthbreather.

[sarcasmic]

Oh look! The king of personal attacks is back!

[Brett L]

C'mon. The correct response is: You're a towel!

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Winner!

[sarcasmic]

Hey look! The king of personal attacks is back!

[Atanarjuat]

I've seen what police allow their dogs to do to suspects. I was locked up with a guy who was missing part of his ear and had wounds stitched up on his arms, hands, and legs. Stabbing it is perfectly reasonable self defense.

This was a non-violent drug offender, by the way. He did try to run though if I remember correctly. Nice young guy from a nearby rural county who had drug problems.

Furthermore giving a dog that funeral is ridiculous.

[sarcasmic]

Remember a short while back a cop picked up his dog and pushed it through a car window onto an unarmed person's lap where it proceeded to rip his face off?

Heroes!

[mad libertarian guy]

Furthermore giving a dog that funeral is ridiculous.

Nothing left to cut. When my dog dies, I bury it in the back yard. When a Special Breed dies, it gets a funeral with full police honors.

And people put up with this shit.

[sarcasmic]

And people put up with this shit.

What choice do we have?

[mad libertarian guy]

How about picketing the funeral like that crazy ass church does to military weddings? Pointing and openly ridiculing these officers for being the scum they are?

[RBS]

Better wear some body armor.

[mad libertarian guy]

You wouldn't be shot, but certainly fucked with. Falsely arrested and like harrassed for a significant period of time, but not shot.

[sarcasmic]

Sorry, but I don't have a death wish.

[BigT]

Rocco died surrounded by police officers two days later after 'a good fight'

Micheal Vick not available for comment.

[sarcasmic]

'I've always felt great about my body': Heidi Klum, 40, displays taut tummy as she reveals secrets to her fabulous figure

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....rself.html
That's funny, because I've always felt great about her body as well.

[robc]

Ive always wanted to feel her body. I assume it would be great, but I have no evidence to validate that.

[Clich? Bandit]

Look at the baby Seals...awwww.

[sarcasmic]

The hilarious Russian marriage snaps that show how NOT to take a wedding photo
The pictures range from the banal to the bizarre, the tasteless to the rude
They were all taken at provincial Russian weddings and gone viral online
Includes mini brides, gender swaps and groom being stabbed by a baguette

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....photo.html
I almost laughed.

[Atanarjuat]

This one is awesome. Anyone know what the marks on the building mean?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Anyone know what the marks on the building mean?

Night Watch hq?

[Brett L]

I assume they are "M" for men and the other for women.

[kinnath]

men ("em") and women ("zhe")

[Root Boy]

zhe looks like a crossed out penis

[Ted S.]

I swear this comment wasn't here when I started typing mine!

[Ted S.]

M for "Muzhskoi" (male); ZH for "Zhenski" (female). It's a primitive bathroom, with the ladies pretending to use the male side as a urinal.

[sarcasmic]

I'll fight anyone... even black people': George Zimmerman to take part in a celebrity boxing match

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....match.html
Not very smart. Someone might take this opportunity to kill him.

[Brett L]

If he made good decisions, he would just be the weird guy who calls the cops on people.

[sarcasmic]

'How many dates before sex? It depends on the date!' Orlando Blooms's new love Nora Arnezeder reveals racy side... as topless pictures of her kissing a girl emerge

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....merge.html
It's nice to be Legolas.

[Dweebston]

And I'm spending my Friday night alone eating corndogs watching It's Always Sunny and drinking deeply from the cheapest bottle of sauv blanc I can find.

Thanks, Obama.

[Auric Demonocles]

That sounds a bit too risky to check out the link, but this seems perfectly reasonable:

'How many dates before sex? It depends on the date!'

If you always have sex on the Xth date, that's pretty weird.

[Ted S.]

Politician A, to Politician B: If you're going to call me out of touch, you might not want to wear a $2,000 designer dress.

Politician B: RAAAAAACIST!

[waffles]

Aren't they both white kiwis? Or is one some kinds of high-fashion aboriginal?

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

She's apparently Maori, whatever that means.

[sarcasmic]

http://bit.ly/1elm3Jl

hth

[Ted S.]

You use a fucking URL shortener to send people to LMGTFY?

[sarcasmic]

Not people. Randian.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

He's not the brightest bulb in the box.

[sarcasmic]

Hey look! The king of personal attacks is back!

[waffles]

In America she'd be white. She's milking her privilege for sure.

[Jordan]

Is she Maori in the sense that Fauxcahontas is Indian?

[SugarFree]

She'a Maori in the sense that she's shaped like a diving bell.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

For reals. I bet she's as native as Elizabeth Warren.

[invisible furry hand]

She looks Maori and has a Maori name. She's a Maori.

Fun fact: NZ actually has Maori seats in its Parliament

[db]

Dude, even the U.S. didn't make leather upholstery out of our natives.

[Root Boy]

Did NZ get into any sort of ruckus like Andrew Bolt did in AUS where he accused the blond haired dude of not being an Aboriginal like he claimed?

[Zeb]

Go find some pictures of other Maori. I'd believe she's at least half.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

They look fat

[KMA Too]

a "sensitive wee sausage"

Now, there's got to be a joke in there somewhere...

[invisible furry hand]

Good God, what are these inbred Vikings up to now?

Icelandic scientists tap into molten magma for record geothermal energy production

[Fist of Etiquette]

They'll singe their sweaters!

[Tim]

"Liquid hot magma"

[Ted S.]

As opposed to liquid hot nitrogen.

[John]

You have to love the careful scientific language of the media.

[Corning]

As opposed to solid magma.

[Brett L]

Maybe they don't want to settle for a 5 kW per household power limit

Eigg is firmly on course to become the first island entirely self-sufficient in renewable power. Dotted around the picturesque island are solar panels, wind turbines and hydroelectric schemes that provide almost all of the residents' energy needs
...
To ensure there is enough energy for everyone, islanders cannot use more than 5 kilowatts at a time - equivalent to running a washing machine and a kettle simultaneously. For businesses, the limit is 10 kilowatts. Islanders are used to rationing their power: So far, no one has been disconnected.

[Ted S.]

I'd think the wind turbines and solar panels make the island un-picturesque.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That viewshed has been totally destroyed

[Brett L]

Its not like the Royals summer there.

[Tonio]

Or the Kennedys sail there...

[Tonio]

That happened in Iceland in 2009. It's the only the second time that it's known to have happened, the other being in Hawaii in 2007. Both places are hotbeds of volcanism, and while the magma chamber wasn't an expected discovery (it was only 2.1km deep), scientists in Iceland and Hawaii chose different paths of action. In Hawaii, they plugged the hole with concrete. In Iceland, they left it open, wondering if it could be of use for geothermal research - and a study published this week has confirmed that, yes, it has been.

This could be huge in areas with any type of volcanic or geothermal activity. And note what happened in the US when they did the same thing. Why didn't the enviros demand development?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Why didn't the enviros demand development?

That would contaminate the untouched purity of the magma chamber.

[Corning]

In Hawaii, they plugged the hole with concrete

Which is only about 10000 times more expensive then just pumping water into it.

[Clich? Bandit]

Iceland is an interesting place. And being the progeny of a geologist I have a healthy respect for and fear of what lies underneath our feet.

I go to Yellowstone but I don't stay.

The blue lagoon in Iceland is fukin awesome though. And they serve drinks in the pool. If you fly to Europe on Icelandair you can usually land at keflavik and get a 9 hour layover...it is worth the car rental to go to the lagoon.

[wareagle]

let's see: the economy remains stagnant, the labor force keeps shrinking, food stamp participation keeps going on, and O-care will continue to unravel. Repubs? Immigration reform and their belief that enforcement will be included. This time. Because movies come with alternate endings all the time. I'm beginning to think that Repubs don't want to win. And given their gravitation toward big govt, that may not be all bad.

[Jeff]

They aren't called the Stupid Party for nothin'.

[Palin's Buttplug]

U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The newest estimate of the nation's economic output represents a slowdown from the third quarter's strong growth rate of 4.1 percent but still comes in ahead of consensus estimates, which according to Bloomberg were at 3.0 percent.

Higher consumer spending and a boost in exports were two key factors driving GDP growth last quarter, the government reported. Indeed, while GDP slowed, consumer spending accelerated considerably last quarter, from 2.0 percent growth in the third quarter to 3.3 percent. This is a positive sign, considering that consumer spending is one of the key drivers of the U.S. economy. Last quarter, it accounted for more than two-thirds of GDP growth.

http://www.usnews.com/news/art.....th-quarter

Great numbers - and those with the government shrinking 4.9%

[wareagle]

I wonder if anything happened in the fourth quarter, say some type of annual event that usually drives increased spending. What would one call such a thing?

[Palin's Buttplug]

"third quarter's strong growth rate of 4.1 percent"

Missed this, right?

The stock market doesn't move up on magic. January is reflecting China and emerging market unrest.

[wareagle]

ah, yes; the stock market. The 1% thanks Barack, much as it thanks his predecessors. Now, about that inequality thing he's yakking about.

[Corning]

Third quarter is December Shrike. Waregal simply go the quarter number wrong.

4th quarter number will not be out yet.

Interesting fact: Because of this number scheme you still incorrectly think Bush signed the 800 billion stimulus in 2009.

[Don Mynack]

That's good news.

Now we can stop talking about all this "income inequality" twaddle now, right?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fine with me. Only the market can correct imbalances like income inequality.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Yep--just ignore the $328 billion added to the debt after the debt ceiling was raised.

[AlexInCT]

Yeah, but the problem is that total growth for 2013 was a miserable 1.9%. That's conveniently left out of the article you link.

A weak first half of the year dragged the annual rate of growth down to 1.9% for all of 2013, down from 2.8% in 2012.

They hope it is going to stay high next year too, but my advice is to hope in one hand and shit in another, and wee which one fills up first...

[invisible furry hand]

Uultrasound imaging business sells the same photo over and over to parents

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/a.....d-pictures

[Longtorso, Johnny]

All unborn babies look alike anyway.

[Jordan]

Well, the asian ones do, anyway.

[Tonio]

At the early stages, yes. I mean, you never hear anyone say "hey that blastocyst is forming up just the way George did at that stage."

[Brett L]

...Aand, its Dana Milbank in today's edition of the totally predictable 'repeal the 22nd Amendment for a Democrat' column. Funny how he discovered the limitations of Lame Duck Presidencies during Obama and not Bush II.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I did not know until today that Dana Milbank is a guy.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Opinion is divided.

[Jeff]

Neither did Dana Milbank.

[waffles]

As long as they repeal the 19th and 21st too.

[Andrew S.]

No. Repeal the 16th and 17th. Then I'll consider repealing the 22nd.

[robc]

Make the 3 a package deal and I will whole-heartedly support it.

[Brett L]

Why do you want Prohibition to return?

[robc]

Getting rid of the 18th and 21st would be a good thing, as that might bring an end to the mandatory 3 tier system.

The 21st did more than just repeal the 18th, of course.

[Clich? Bandit]

CA and CO do not follow and have never followed the 3 tier system.

just sayin.

[robc]

Actually, they do.

They also allow for self-distribution, but its within their 3-tier system.

A number of (mostly western) states have limited forms of self distribution, but its still within the 3 tier system.

Try having tied houses in CA and see what happens.

[invisible furry hand]

Spats, jazz, drop waist dresses, polio...

[Brett L]

Only if we can be sure that we give the polio to everyone who desires to be President. As kind of a gauntlet of natural selection.

[Emmerson Biggins]

repeal the ammendment that enables the War on Drugs, just like we repealed the one that enabled prohibition.

[Brett L]

Also, Balko has spent the week giving us hope, so the nutpunch this afternoon will be epic. Get out your bulletproof cups.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Big banks are beginning to loosen their tight grip on lending, creating a new opening for consumer and business borrowing that could underpin a brightening economic outlook.

In both the U.S. and Europe, new reports released Thursday show banks are slowly starting to increase their appetite for risk. The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said banks relaxed the criteria for businesses and consumers to obtain credit during the 18 months leading up to June 30, 2013, while the European Central Bank said fewer banks in the euro zone were reporting tightened lending standards to nonfinancial businesses in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Fueling the loosening is a rosier economic picture, competition for a limited pool of loans and a sustained low-interest-rate environment that has banks reaching for returns.

WSJ - today

Tight credit is ending finally (following up on yesterday's lesson on "tight" vs "easy" credit).

You are welcome!

[Jordan]

Monetarist clown doesn't understand the concept of loose money. News at 11.

Debt deflation is coming.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, the Fed's policy is "loose" or more aptly "accommodative". That is to help offset the tight part of the credit cycle we are in.

Banks hate risk during and after financial crashes and won't loan.

[MP]

Banks hate risks when their balance sheets are in tatters. Once the bad debt is flushed, they love risk. Particularly when it is quite obvious that they are Too Big To Fail and they'll suffer no adverse consequences from re-inflating the asset bubble.

Welcome to your new business cycle. Thanks Henry.

Dick.

[Jordan]

The asset bubble re-inflation is already in full swing and corporations are awash in debt. It's almost like making money artificially cheap has adverse consequences or something.

[MP]

I think a big part of this issue is the narrative. There is almost no media spotlight given to the upside of property devaluation. It's always reduced to "Values Up = Good / Values Down = Bad". And all of the Government incentives to push home ownership hard remain.

And that's just one slice of the Credit picture. There are skewed incentives all over the place.

I'm just glad to be in a position where the boom/bust cycle simply doesn't matter too much to me anymore.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I's all tied back to the minimum wage and the growing inflexibility of the labor pool, thanks to regulatory changes. Deflation demands change. Government, unions, the connected, the rich, all hate change because it threatens the status quo. We live in a society that has become absolutely dependent on a minimally inflationary environment. It's a house of cards.

[robc]

One thing with the "housing" bubble, it wasnt one.

Structural values continued to increase with only a tiny blip down for a few quarters.

Land value, on the other hand, crashed hard.

With and index of 1.000 in 2000Q2, the land index went from 2.77 in 2006Q1 to 0.98 in 2009Q1. After a bit of a dead cat bounce, if hit bottom at 0.77 in 2011Q4. As of 2013Q1, it was back up to 1.13. That is the end of the data I have.

The structure index peaked was at 1.42 in 2007Q1, bottomed out at 1.35 in 2009Q3, and is back up to 1.44 as of 2013Q1. So basically flattened for 6 years.

What people saw though was the market value, which due to the huge run up and crash in the land values, drove the overall number. It peaked at 1.85 in 2006Q1. 1.27 in 2009Q2, 1.22 in 2011Q4, and back to 1.36 in 2013Q1.

1.36 is 2003Q4 prices, so as of 1013Q1, overall market value of homes was back to end of 2003 values.

This was national, of course, the details were more extreme in certain states/cities, but the basic was the same, there was no crash in structural values.

[robc]

^typos abound, deal with it.

[Brett L]

Even in Tallahassee, which crashed hard, I had a real estate guy tell me that if you looked at the price/square foot of the average house on a quarter acre lot you could draw a line from 1983 to 2013, you would have seen a steady line at 1.5% year over year until about 2002, a spike until 2006, a huge dip in 2009/10 and by 2013 you were back on the line. So as long as you didn't make any plans on the short-term deviation, you were fine.

Unfortunately I bought in 2006, so my value owed and value of house are just now beginning to approach each other within the margin of error.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Banks have new tough capital ratios. And if the quality of their balance sheet falls they now face orderly liquidation via Dodd-Frank - i.e., controlled bankruptcy.

[BigT]

they now face orderly criminal liquidation via Dodd-Frank - i.e., controlled bankruptcy

just like GM and Chrysler.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You assume that the banks loan money easily just because the Fed drops the Fed funds rate to near zero?

Don't be naive.

[Jordan]

You assume that the banks loan money easily just because the Fed drops the Fed funds rate to near zero?

Man, you really killed that strawman!

[BakedPenguin]

What does "monetarist" mean to you? It's generally associated with Milton Friedman, and one of it's main aims was to avoid inflation.

[mr simple]

Friedman thought the Fed should be run by a computer who would ensure a steady rate of inflation at about 3% a year.

[Protagoronus]

I sometimes read BP's comments with this in mind.

[HazelMeade]

I'd like to see Reason comment on the Amanda Knox case.

She is now facing extradition, although double jeopardy is unconstitutional in the US. So in the US her re-conviction could not happen.

Does anyone think the state department is likely to extradite her back to Italy?

[robc]

See, yesterday.

Already been discussed.

[John]

I don't see how they can. She was acquitted. Trying her again violates double jeopardy. I am not any kind of expert on extradition or choice of law. But I cannot believe that a US court would agree to extradite a US Citizen to face judgement of an overseas court that would violate a constitutional right.

If they can, then the Constitution is irrelevant. You could just have a foreign court try someone for a crime and then extradite them to the country.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Well not without jurisdiction, John. Let's not be hasty.

[John]

Sure Italy has jurisdiction over the crime, but not over Knox right now. The US courts do. That is the whole point of extradition, for the US Courts to force Knox to submit herself to Italian jurisdiction. I can't believe they would do that when the conviction in question violates a fundamental due process right like double jeopardy.

[db]

I think the U.S. will refuse extradition if only to maintain/establish the precedent to protect U.S. agents charged and tried.in absentia in foreign jurisdictions.

[John]

And the rest of us too. Suppose you visit another country and after you come home they charge you with some BS crime and convict you. Should the US turn you over? I don't think so.

[RBS]

I'd like to think the Italians will get a big fuck you from our courts.

[MP]

Why? I have a real hard time understanding why she's deserving of any press. This is pure tabloid journalism (young hot chicky/relationship intrigue/murder/exotic city).

I really don't fucking care if she did it.

[John]

Because she is a US citizen and entitled to protection against double jeopardy. US Courts should not be subjecting US citizens on US soil to the judgement of crack pot foreign courts that violate basic rights.

[MP]

Because she is a US citizen and entitled to protection against double jeopardy.

Why? I don't understand why foreign nationals should expect that their hometown legal system carries with them when they travel. Sorry, you're in a foreign land, you're subject to their rules. And yes, I understand that treaties and whatnot setup "co-operative agreements" that adjust the boundaries here. But I'm talking as a general matter of principle. Why, when I travel somewhere, should I expect separate legal privileges from what exist in the region I'm traveling to?

If you travel to dumbfuckistan and you get fucked by dumb-ass laws, well that's on you.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

She's not in a foreign land.

[prolefeed]

Why? I don't understand why foreign nationals should expect that their hometown legal system carries with them when they travel. Sorry, you're in a foreign land, you're subject to their rules.

Sure, you're subject to their rules when you're in their country. But she's not. She's in the U.S., and is a U.S. citizen, and a foreign government is asking for her to be extradited so they can violate her Constitutional rights.

[MP]

her Constitutional rights

Her Constitutional rights apply to actions taken by her Government. They aren't universal.

If the US Government refuses to turn over a convicted criminal, isn't that simply one Government stating that "we don't respect your legal institutions"? I'm not claiming that the US Government doesn't have the authority to do that, but what comes around goes around.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

Yeah, basically, we are saying we don't respect their legal institutions, nor should we, because their legal institutions are infirm.

[John]

^^THIS^^

If she had been convicted in a trial that didn't violate basic Constitutional rights, I would be okay with extraditing her.

You want the US to turn over its citizens to you, show us you have a legal system that doesn't violate their rights. Otherwise, fuck off.

[Clich? Bandit]

Wow, been a while since I had to do this:
There are no such things as Constitutional Rights. This is where you problem arises. The Constitution protects your Inherent Natural Rights. So the US has a DUTY, while she is on US soil, to protect her natural rights. Fuck Italy, or Germany, or even North Fucking Korea. You want her come fucking try to take her. This is why I am not an AnCap, the whole point of a government is to stop this kind of shit from outside forces. The AnCaps have a good point though that your own government is just as dangerous. Hence the "keep it small enough to drown in bathtub" principle.

[MP]

Yeah, basically, we are saying we don't respect their legal institutions, nor should we, because their legal institutions are infirm.

And when someone from the outside looks at Guantanamo, NSA, Capital Punishment, ... they shouldn't feel the same.

Works both ways.

Again, my point is that there should be no expectation that the legal system you live under is transferable. If you travel to a country that doesn't respect natural rights, expect to accept the consequences. If you escape, don't expect your Government to save your ass. If they choose to, it's a political choice based on a calculus that goes beyond simply stating "our way is best, and your way sucks, so fuck you".

Because that works both ways.

[John]

And when someone from the outside looks at Guantanamo, NSA, Capital Punishment, ... they shouldn't feel the same.

If some country doesn't want to turn over their citizens to the US because they don't like our judicial system, that is their right. Indeed, France wouldn't turn over a US citizen, that fuck head murdering hippie from Phily, because he would have been subject to the death penalty. And they were within their rights to do so.

[MP]

If some country doesn't want to turn over their citizens to the US because they don't like our judicial system, that is their right.

Absolutely. But the argument should not be that it's because to do otherwise would violate their Constitutional rights. That's bollucks. They have no such rights on foreign grounds. It may violate their natural rights. And thus we're talking about a political calculus based on a moral, not legal, obligation.

[VG Zaytsev]

The question is whether dumbfuckistan can get you after you've come back the the US. The answer should be no.

[VG Zaytsev]

The question is whether dumbfuckistan can get you after you've come back the the US. The answer should be no.

[Zeb]

I can't say I care a lot. But the fucked up Italian legal system is sort of interesting to watch.

[John]

I don't care a lot about Knox. But I do care about the precedent the case might set going forward.

[Zeb]

That too. Though I know very little about how international extradition works, so I don't know how unusual or unprecedented it would be.

[Ted S.]

I don't know what to believe. The US media has been in full "how could anybody think she's guilty" propaganda mode on the case for years, while the UK has been in "how could anybody think she's not guilty" propaganda mode.

[John]

I really don't know if she is guilty. But I do know she was acquitted and the Italians thus have no right to try her again.

[HazelMeade]

Technically speaking, the Italians are going to claim it wasn't really a second (or third) trial, it was a reversal of the earlier court's decision, reversing the earlier court's decision. That is, In Italy, not only do defendents get to appeal, so do prosecutors. So if you are acquitted, the prosecutor can appeal and get you convicted.

I think that's a horrible system and much prefer the American one where once you are acquitted, it's final, but I think the Italisns could make a real argument that she's not being subjected to double jeopardy.

[John]

The reason why prosecutors cannot appeal after an accused is acquitted is that doing so would violate double jeopardy. Double jeopardy means that once a finding of innocent occurs, that is it, game over, no more appeals or anything.

[Steve G]

Never realized they would do this, but it shut e'erbody up real quick.

http://conservativepost.com/2-.....-straight/

I go to the tomb frequently. I could watch for hours...

[The Late P Brooks]

To ensure there is enough energy for everyone, islanders cannot use more than 5 kilowatts at a time - equivalent to running a washing machine and a kettle simultaneously. For businesses, the limit is 10 kilowatts. Islanders are used to rationing their power: So far, no one has been disconnected.

Possibly because any person booted off the "grid" would immediately run out and buy a diesel generator and light up his house like Las Vegas.

[BigT]

Tight credit is ending finally

Haha! Unicorns have gone into hiding! Very amusing.

[The Late P Brooks]

Does anyone think the state department is likely to extradite her back to Italy?

This President? This Secretary of State?

I'll say yes.

[John]

Has Knox done something to embarrass or criticize the President? That really is the question here not the law.

[RBS]

She better hope she's not related to anyone who donated to a Republican.

[John]

If I were her I would be making "I love Obamacare" Youtube videos right now.

[The Late P Brooks]

Actually, I want to see the Italians send a SWAT team over here to snatch Amanda Knox off the sidewalk and rendition her back to Rome.

[RBS]

I'm sure that will occur in the next Dan Brown novel.

[John]

In fairness I don't think the US has ever done that without the permission of the host state. I can't think of a time where we just reached out and nabbed someone without the host state giving us the okay.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

We don't nab, we drone.

[RBS]

Did Pakistan give the OK for OBL?

[John]

They say they didn't. But I find that claim dubious. I am inclined to believe the entire story of the raid is misinformation. I bet that whole story about the dogged CIA agent is bullshit. I bet Pakistan got tired of hiding his ass and the potential embarrassment of doing something about it and told us where he was and were just fine with the raid.

[sarcasmic]

Bin something...

[John]

I don't believe that official story on that.

[Whahappan?]

We did this in Italy, in fact. The CIA agents were tried and found guilty in absentia.

[db]

This is why, as I said above, the U.S. will not.extradite her. They need to.maintain the logic of.not.subjecting U.S. agents charged.in foreign.jurisdiction to extradition.

[Brett L]

Smart enough to build a great grow lab, dumb enough to talk to each other in front of the cops.

Quintero and Torres were taped having a conversation in which they admitted they knew there was marijuana in the Range Rover's trunk and they planned to lie to police about it. They were arrested. It is unclear if they were recorded before or after the discovery of the pool lab.

[John]

Reasons why a life of crime is always a bad choice. Even if you are smart, your counterparts are likely to be stupid. The only crime you can get away with is a crime you do yourself with no one else knowing about it. And that is a pretty short list of crimes.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Reasons why a life of crime is always a bad choice. Even if you are smart, your counterparts are likely to be stupid.

We're all criminals thanks to the federal register. Whenever I see some lawschool nimrod wearing a T-shirt that says Ignorantia juris non excusat, I want to punch them in the face for being stupid.

[RBS]

What? That shirt exists?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I've seen it twice. Both times were for some law school.

[RBS]

Bo probably has one. Law school should be more like Fight CLub.

[invisible furry hand]

Mine was. Well, I hallucinated a cooler version of myself who encouraged me to do stuff

[Brett L]

Can we make one with the whole truth:

Ignorantia juris non excusat*

*Exceptis vigiles

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Sweet

[John]

I mean profitable crimes Nerfherder. You know like robbing a casino or something.

[prolefeed]

The NSA has refused a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a transparency activist related to the agency's talking points put together in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations.

So, their list of their TALKING POINTS -- their POV / propaganda that they are willing and eager to make public -- is top secret?

This goes beyond parody.

[SugarFree]

It's probably about making sure the exact wording they released can't be traced to the outlets that spouted it verbatim.

This was the exact reason Journolist imploded.

[John]

Is that how Jounrolist imploded? Someone noticed all of them were writing the exact same language?

They were really so stupid and lazy they just cut and pasted?

[Marshall Gill]

They were really so stupid and lazy they just cut and pasted?

We are talking Journolist, here, John, of course they are that lazy and stupid.

[paranoid android]

The actual talking points themselves probably read something like "Instead of acknowledging X, change the subject to Y" and the really don't want to acknowledge what "X" is on paper.

[Brett L]

So you would think a dozen cops busted by the Feds for running a protection racket and identity theft ring would merit larger news than just a footnote in an article about one's conviction.

[Ted S.]

Why would you think that about the po-po?

[sarcasmic]

If such items made big news, people might lose trust in their public servants. Therefore these types of busts must be kept quiet.

[The Late P Brooks]

They need to.maintain the logic of.not.subjecting U.S. agents charged.in foreign.jurisdiction to extradition.

Those men were noble Agents of the State. She's just some skanky civilian murderess.

[VG Zaytsev]

Proof that Marijuana is a killer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....t-bed.html

[RBS]

'She suffered from depression and was on prescription drugs to try and deal with that although it would not appear she was taking them at the time of her death.

Right, because there has never been a medical examiner in history who made his findings match the government narrative...

[sarcasmic]

I read that yesterday. Basically the coroner said that he couldn't figure out what the cause of death was, and she had THC in her system, therefore the THC killed her because he couldn't find another explanation.

[VG Zaytsev]

That explanation will fly with the drug warriors. I expect to see that O'Riley douche pushing the story tonight.

[mr simple]

No one has ever smoked a half a joint a night for some length of time. Also, today's marijuana is just soooo much more potent which means it's more dangerous.

[Sevo]

It's certain she never admitted that O-care is a stinking pile of manure, but Michelle was banging the tin cup in SF yesterday:

"First lady Michelle Obama stumps for cash in S.F."[...]
"We need you to dig deep. We need you to max out right now,"

You bet! We'll keep digging ourselves deeper in that hole and you keep digging deeper so we can keep ourselves in shovels!
http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....191178.php

[VG Zaytsev]

Do you think the true believers that dug deep to help O fight the good fight will be outraged when it's revealed that Obama is the US's first billionaire ex-president?

[Redmanfms]

Do you think the true believers that dug deep to help O fight the good fight will be outraged when it's revealed that Obama is the US's first billionaire ex-president?

That would merely be proof of what a genius he is.

[mad libertarian guy]

If these people are so enamored by government that they would give cash based on anything that Chewbacca Michelle Obama might say, then why are they not sending that cash straight to the treasury?

[Sevo]

Sorta like Buffett donated all his dough to the government instead of some private charity where they track results?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

"First lady Michelle Obama stumps for cash in S.F."[...]
"We need you to dig deep. We need you to max out right now,"

Shit like this is why I laugh at people who say this isn't a religious cult.

[Jon Lester]

The Atlanta taxi cartel is also unhappy with Uber and Lyft, and have the gall to say they want a "level playing field."

[mad libertarian guy]

I find it hilarious when government protected markets claim that some other business encroaching on their turf is inherently unfair.

[Idle Hands]

Can I get a shake with those fries?

[Idle Hands]

Can I get a shake with those fries?

[Idle Hands]

at least I get a squirrel.

[Jon Lester]

Damn right.

[John]

The former Penn State volleyball player works nicely. But so does the 18 year old Russian. Of course a lot of 18 year old Russian women would do nicely.

[Snark Plissken]

The Russian blows her out to the water. Also, stop making such a big deal about being tall, you're 5'11", hell my mother is almost 5'10" and she's approaching 70.

[John]

The Russian does. But the blond from America is not bad.

And yeah 5'11' is a nice height for a woman but it is not remarkable. All of those women are just tall thin women, of which there are a lot of in the world.

[Clich? Bandit]

If a woman is over 6' i have a 98% chance of finding her extremely attractive. I can't explain that.

[John]

I like them at almost any height above five feet. Can't do the little people.

The funny thing about that article is that I bet none of those women really have the longest legs in New York. They have the longest legs of the women who care enough to say it. I work with a woman who is about six feet one and runs marathons. She is very slim. I bet her legs are as long as those women's, though since I value being employed I won't be asking her how long they are.

[Jon Lester]

I'm 6'6" so I always have my eyes open for tall women, although it's often difficult to find an unmarried one that isn't closer to my daughter's age and without character and/or faculty issues, but I keep looking for that perfect 30-35 year old Slavic woman...

[Jon Lester]

And in a time of change, some things remain constant. Toure is still an idiot.

[The Late P Brooks]

"First lady Michelle Obama stumps for cash in S.F."[...]
"We need you to dig deep. We need you to max out right now,"

Buy our snake oil, it'll cure what ails you.