Obama and Kerry on Ukraine, War in Afghanistan Hits Peak Unpopularity, Rand Paul Urges Voting Rights for Felons: P.M. Links

• President Obama warns that "there will be consequences" for those who resort to violence in Ukraine. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to reiterate that the U.S. could impose economic sanctions. 
• For the first time, more Americans (49 percent) oppose the War in Afghanistan than support it (48 percent), according to a Gallup poll. And it only took 13 years!
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights. Is this really a good issue to pick up before 2016?
• President Obama better not approve the Keystone XL pipeline, suggest environmentalist groups.
• New York Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) wants to stop taxi drivers from collecting fares if they speed. Please come back, Nanny Bloomberg.
• Missouri's attorney general wants the power to indefinitely detain sex offenders. Who cares about Constitutional rights, by Jove, we've got to do this for the children.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) wants to stop taxi drivers from collecting fares if they speed.

His strategy of making everyone late.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

How do you speed in New York anyway?

[110 Lean]

In a taxi.

[KDN]

It's not that hard at night or on weekends. I used to race down Broadway & 7th Ave after Yankee games, occasionally timing it so I never hit a light.

[Juice]

One time late at night (in the early 90s) I took a cab from way downtown, like the Village or something to up in the 50s in midtown. The driver took the FDR and floored it. We were weaving through cars doing over 90. I nearly shit my pants, but he got a big tip because it only took about 5-6 minutes.

[Corning]

Here you go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_4ghLXaEVM

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Alright, very impressive.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Yeah, I'd buy the video game, but I wouldn't want that guy behind me.

[Boisfeuras]

I liked the original better...

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama better not approve the Keystone XL pipeline, suggest environmentalist groups.

I call this an idol threat. Like they're ever going to vote anything but Democrat.

[Pro Libertate]

Sounds like terrorism to me.

[Tonio]

Well, Fisty, they sometimes vote Green. Or they could stay home.

Plus, as I noted on the 24/7 writeup on this, approving the pipeline would be a gift to Hillary since it would be a settled issue by the time of the 2016 election. Biden is the only candidate this could possibly hurt.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So then, no one Obama cares about could be affected one way or t'other.

[Sevo]

This is sort of like CA people really getting angry at Obo; they'll delay voting for D's next time by 5 minutes! That'll show 'em!

[PapayaSF]

They'll only vote once for him, instead of twice.

[Tonio]

My impression is that there is no love lost between Obama and the Clintons. But they do seem to work together.

[JW]

With a face like his, it's hard to tell.

[PD Scott]

"But, but, we can vote GREEN, you big meanie!" -Lying enviromentalists

[Tonio]

They can and they do. Those Nader votes didn't come from nowhere.

[Marshall Gill]

Florida 2000 Presidential election. Nader pulled several tens of thousands of votes.

The Greens there got to look into the mirror and pat themselves on the back for their principled voting which elected the guy MOST opposed to their views.

[Tonio]

No, Marsh, the Greens didn't elect Bush; the Bush voters did. Yes, the Greens who voted for Nader instead of Gore did make Bush's win possible, but they didn't elect him.

I'm taking the time to draw this distinction because it's a topic that frequently comes up here around election time when we debate voting for Libertarian vs other candidates. I can't condemn the Greens for voting their consciences any more than I can condemn libertarians for doing the same.

[PD Scott]

I think they may have had a "never again" moment because of 2000, although a bunch who thought Obama too right-wing no doubt voted Green.

[Michael S. Langston]

Yeah "never again" - what a BS idea, huh?

I mean - I get the political practicality of using ABB (anyone but Bush), but as most snippets of thoughts are - this is absolutely an idiotic ideal.

Based upon the ideal, they are saying "Stalin over Bush" (using Stalin instead of Hitler hopefully keeps me out of the Godwin rule).

Much like women or men or race X or race Y or religion X or... where they only vote for "their kind" over all others.

But logic means little anymore - it's all about the team cult.

[a better weapon]

The only people who are really going to turn their backs and vote for Jill Stein most likely already did in 2012

[SIV]

I actually know several far left women who attended Jill Stein events, made small donations and then voted Obama despite that they live in solidly red states. I politely mansplained the electoral college and why they could "safely" vote 3rd party but the general view was a vote for the Greens in GA, TN, LA or NC was a vote for Romney who wanted to outlaw contraception and force them into binders.

[Somalian Road Corporation]

Yeah, the amount of utterly baseless hysteria that was ginned up about Milquetoast Mitt, the Republican socialist from Massachusetts, was simply breathtaking to behold.

[prolefeed]

why they could "safely" vote 3rd party but the general view was a vote for the Greens in GA, TN, LA or NC was a vote for Romney who wanted to outlaw contraception and force them into binders.

NC was very much a swing state last time around.

[SIV]

IIRC, Obama quit spending money and campaigning there well before the general election.

[GILMORE]

"I call this an idol threat."

Yes, but those Idols? They mean *business*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....E#t=01m36s

[Fist of Etiquette]

Uh, the italics was to denote I meant that they were threatening someone they actually idolize. Do I have to draw you a map of me spelling everything out for you?

[GILMORE]

I still think the Brady Bunch was germane.

[Agammamon]

I call this an idol threat. Like they're ever going to vote anything but Democrat.

I don't know - people can get pretty nasty when their gods don't do what they're told.

[a better weapon]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights. Is this really a good issue to pick up before 2016?

It is if they get out in time

[Francisco d Anconia]

Is letting felons vote a libertarian position? Somebody's gonna need to walk me through that.

Not a winning issue, I'm thinkin.

[Hyperion]

Is letting felons vote a libertarian position?

Not permanently stripping a person of their rights, unless it's a lifetime sentence, is a libertarian position, IMO absolutely.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Wait. Forgive my ignorance. There are states that don't allow "ex-felons" to vote? Is that what we are talking about here? Like AFTER they've done their time?

YGBFSM!

[Tonio]

Yeah, there was a map published here a while back which showed which states automatically restored (ex-)felons' rights, which states you had to petition to get your rights back, and so on...

[Francisco d Anconia]

I would never have guessed that was happening. I thought the article was talking about those currently in the slam or on parole.

[Hyperion]

Nope, Rand is talking about permanent stripping of rights, like the Brady Act does to peoples 2nd amendment rights who have even been convicted of certain crimes.

[KDN]

Yep, Several.

[a better weapon]

I've always wondered if this could fall under the "previous condition of servitude" clause of the 15th amendment.

This is probably one that can easily be justified one way or the other depending on the libertarian you speak with, but me personally? I think they should be allowed to.

[Boisfeuras]

I view it as a form of attainder, and especially with the ridiculous expansion of what constitutes a modern felony, a violation of, at the very least the spirit, the Eighth Amendment.

[John]

I don't think it is "libertarian" one way or another. I think there is a case to be made either way.

But to me Paul misses the issue here. The problem is not that felons don't have the right to vote. I really am fine with people who are actual violent criminals losing the right to vote as part of their punishment. Taking the franchise from felons only seems like a problem because we have too many felonies and a whole bunch of people we have made felons who shouldn't be. I wish Paul would try to fix that problem instead of just trying to mitigate its effects.

[Zeb]

That's about where I'm at. People who murder, batter or rob people can go to hell for all I care. I'd be all for treating them pretty harshly if things like drug dealing and not being entirely truthful to a federal agent weren't also felonies. That's the real problem.

It's like fixing the crack/powder cocaine disparity. It's good I guess, but a lot of those people should never have been locked up at all.

[a better weapon]

He draws exemptions in the legislation, apparently. Not sure if there is more, but murder, sexual violence, and bribery were included.

[CampingInYourPark]

It has already cleared the House, and if it passes the Senate, voters will be able to ratify the amendment to the state constitution in November.

The bill exempts felons convicted of treason, sex crimes, murder and bribery.

I think he's probably going to eventually connect this to a point about victim-less offenses. His MO thus far has been to make small incremental moves that point to an obvious larger logical conclusion. At least I hope that's what's going on.

http://www.politico.com/story/.....z2to53CVqu

[JPyrate]

I have this funny feeling that his position is a roundabout way toward pot legalization.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Great! First he goes off on Hilary because her husband banged an intern; now he hits that key libertarian position upon which all liberty rests: the ability for a paroled rapist to add his dumb-shit vote to our polluted electoral cess pool.

We are almost guaranteed a libertarian president in 2016!

Lovin' the Libertarian Moment. What's next? Paroled paedophiles should not be excluded from working in Day Care?

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Okay, I should have read the article. My fictitious paroled rapist will not be able to vote. Still, it is a stupid issue to hang your hat on.

I've always liked Rand Paul, but honestly I don't know what the fuck he is doing lately. If you are going to stick your head into a hornets nest, it should be for something that matters, like legalizing drugs or curbing police power. If you get shot down, at least you went down for an issue that matters.

[Michael S. Langston]

I've always liked Rand Paul, but honestly I don't know what the fuck he is doing lately.

He's winning. While everyone else is reacting to his announcements - he moves on to the next one and continues to control the tempo and narrative of the new discussion points he starts.

Sure - maybe rapists voting isn't that big on most people's list - but up until Paul - no national politician had the courage to even suggest such a thought.

Now not only is he suggesting it, but people aren't dismissing him in large majorities - only attacking various details, details which he provided when he decided to bring it up.

So you might see this as "Paul acting the libertarian idiot" but from where I'm standing - he is actively changing the political conversation whenever he wishes and he is constantly and consistently taking positions of freedom and liberty.

As for his plan? He's smarter than I - should likely ask him, but it appears that he is staking out his public positions and he does so calmly, deliberately, and on his time frame.

& by doing so - he's setting up a narrative that puts him on one side and any opponents on the other.

& not sure about you - but I wouldn't want to be Paul's opponent as after Paul is well defined, being his opponent means being against Paul's positions.

As to long term success and whether all of this translates into a presidential nomination... who knows.

But his chances seem to be increasing.

[Michael S. Langston]

Reminds me of this (emphasis added):

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

[Zeb]

I think felons should get two votes. The laws affect them more than other people, so they should have more say in what they are.

Actually, I'm mostly joking. I don't have a big problem with people who are incarcerated for a felony losing the right to vote while they do their time. Well, I wouldn't if there weren't lots of consensual/victimless felonies that shouldn't be criminal at all.

[Boisfeuras]

I don't have a big problem with people who are incarcerated for a felony losing the right to vote while they do their time.

The bill Paul supports is to restore ex-felons' voting rights privileges after they complete their sentence/probation. Kentucky has one of the most restrictive disenfranchisement laws, where only the governor can restore an ex-felon's franchise.

[Michael S. Langston]

The bill Paul supports is to restore ex-felons' voting rights privileges...

I understand the thought here, but if the US we believes all citizens deserve a say in their government, then voting is not a privilege, it is in fact a right.

/begin digression
Though note - whether I win the Pendant Award? and we all agree that voting should be labeled a right - this does not mean the state cannot remove it under certain circumstances.

Just like freedom of movement is generally a right and forcefully restricting it is called kidnapping.

However, even if libertopia with a lot fewer laws, people would still lose their freedoms with convictions for murder and what not.

Not to mention that language matters - citizens would likely be much less willing to curtail freedoms defined as rights versus those same freedoms defined as a privilege.... like driving.

/end digression

As if we believe man should be free, and, as a corollary, man should be allowed to have a say in their government - then I think voting as a right makes more sense than calling it a privilege.

[CE]

If most of those felons were arrested on non-violent drug and tax evasion charges, the libertarian vote percentage could be sorta high. Not that many of them would bother to vote. Most libertarians don't.

[Brett L]

Let me suggest that the real problem is that we have too many felons, because too many crimes have been designated as felonies. Traditionally, felonies were very serious crimes, for which the death penalty was common. The justification for loss of civil rights, like voting, was that though you were being allowed to live, your crime ? rape, murder, etc. ? was sufficiently serious that it separated you from civil society. That can't be maintained where today's rather promiscuous designation of felonies is concerned. Personally, I think there should be ? and, in fact, are, though not presently recognized by the courts ? limitations on what can be designated a felony under the Due Process Clause. I may write something on this someday, but in the meantime I would refer readers to the discussion of malum in se vs. malum prohibitum in my Ham Sandwich Nation piece as a starting point.

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit earlier.

[Hyperion]

Regardless if it's a good move politically. He's right. Once a person has served their sentence for a crime, they should not be made 2nd class citizens. Where in the constitution does it allow for permanent removal of peoples rights? You know what that sort of thing eventually leads to? This guy:

Missouri's attorney general wants the power to indefinitely detain sex offenders

[Fist of Etiquette]

Maybe he recognizes that all of us are felons, just most haven't been caught yet.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, detain. I thought it said entertain. I was trying to figure out why the fuck anyone would want to entertain sex offenders, who, by and large, are disturbing people.

[Cytotoxic]

This. Indefinite punishment is unlibertarian.

[Rhywun]

It leads to fucking gulags.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If I were cynical, I would suggest that Rand is latching onto this because many on the Left are promoting this as The Greatest Voting Rights Issue of All Time (well, that and voter IDs). Of course, he probably believes in letting people other than killers, rapists and bribers vote once they've served their prison time, probation and parole (which is what he seems to be pushing). I hope he confines his efforts to the KY legislature rather than offering a constitutionally-dubious federal bill.

But politically, it lets him go to the black voters and show his "progressivism on criminal justice reform."

Then the Dems will run nonstop ads about the CRA and the Southern Avenger, and the moment will be lost.

[kinnath]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/wei.....tucky.html

A friendly article from Slate.

Sen. Rand Paul brought his national crusade against the war on drugs back to his home state, giving testimony before the Kentucky state senate in favor of an amendment to restore voting rights to felons after they get out of prison.

. . .

In his testimony, Paul gave a fact-based and level-headed critique of mandatory minimums, the war on drugs, and the American justice system writ large?it could have doubled as a David Simon blog post. A few samples:

- "When you look at those who are being deprived of voting, I think it is disproportionately people of color."

- "Kids do make mistakes: white kids, black kids, brown kids. But when you look at the prison population, three-quarters are black or brown." [at this point, one woman sitting in the audience walked out of the hearing.]

- "Not only is the incarceration unfair...but then they get out and their voting rights are impaired."

- "We have a cycle here of crime and poverty and drugs that we need to try to get out of."

[John]

Forget for a moment your opinion of Paul's actual chances of being President. Just let yourself imagine him getting there and at the end of his first term there are fewer black men in prison than when he got there. The stunned, angry butt hurt on the part of liberals if that ever happened would be delicious. I would never get tired of throwing that fact in their faces.

[Cytotoxic]

Rand Paul knows where it hurts.

[kinnath]

Rand is getting better and better at telling a compelling story on why he should be in charge of everything.

The fact that Slate ran this is amazing.

[John]

I like his chances. But I am forever an optimist.

[kinnath]

Paul made the same case that religious liberals have been making for years: giving people second chances benefits everyone. "Most of us are Christians in this room ... most of us believe in redemption," Paul said. "You want to keep people from committing crimes? Let them work again."

[CampingInYourPark]

IMO, it's actually more of a political feat for him to get support for this from the Kentucky GOP than anything else.

[kinnath]

Right.

[CE]

The proglodytes would never admit it or give him any credit for it. They would say, yeah, he wants them to be free, but he wants racist drugstore owners to be free not to let them sit at the soda counter too.

[John]

They would never admit it. but the contrast between Paul and the great jailors Clinton and Obama would kill them.

[MJGreen]

It's another clever ploy to get uninformed liberals to vote for him. It's another shameless tactic to get him to the White House!

[SPG_900]

I bet a million bucks this will be brought up and twisted in a way to make Rand appear racist. But Bidens "back in chains"? OFF LIMITS!!1!!!1

[Fist of Etiquette]

For the first time, more Americans (49 percent) oppose the War in Afghanistan than support it (48 percent)...

Why is America so obese if it's filled with such avid cut and runners.

[PD Scott]

We drive everywhere?

[Almanian!]

Get me a bucket - I'm gonna puke...

/M. Creosote

[Pro Libertate]

And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint.

[Bobarian]

And our taxi's speed?

[alan_s]

Whatever the hip people in the news told me I was supposed to think.

[rts]

Funny headline but makes sense when you read the details...

Portland Hotel Society teaching alcoholics to make booze

A non-profit agency that provides social services to people living on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is running a unique program aimed at helping extreme alcoholics.

The Portland Hotel Society is teaching them how to make their own booze at its Drug Users Resource Centre.

[PD Scott]

Won't they get angry when they find out the can only brew or, uh, vint, not distill?

[Rich]

"Gee, thanks, PHS! My rubbing alcohol tastes a lot better when I add your wine!"

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) wants to stop taxi drivers from collecting fares if they speed. Please come back, Nanny Bloomberg.

You talkin' to me?

[hamilton]

Glenn Greenwald will be in the US on April 11 to pick up his Polk Award.

In other news, the NSA has a solid tip on the identity of the shoe bomber and will be holding a news conference on April 12.

[Sevo]

Moonbeam Hates Gavy Newsom:

"Newsom opposes high-speed rail - other Dems to follow?"
http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....246249.php

(I think Moonbeam got between Newsom and a camera; REALLY pisses him off!

[BakedPenguin]

Send out the suede/denim secret police!

[CampingInYourPark]

Gov. Jerry Brown to unveil new $687-million drought proposal

Can't he get E. Warren to perform this rain dance at a discount?

http://www.latimes.com/local/p.....z2to2Bp0AT

[Mad Scientist]

For that price, they'd better be doing nothing short of reanimating William Mulholland.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Is any of that $687M going toward building reservoirs?

[Drake]

Damns are evil!

[MJGreen]

Is this a god dam?

[a better weapon]

Most of the money in the proposal -- about $550 million worth -- would come from existing bond money approved by voters, according to sources familiar with the proposal. There are no new taxes or fees on water use in the plan.

If you like your water utilities plan, you can keep it!

[Rhywun]

I read that as "doughnut".

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights.

Who are Bluegrass felons likely to vote for? I assume this has been researched.

[Tonio]

They might be favorably inclined towards someone who restored their voting rights, and who opposes draconian gun laws. Also those who believe in winding down the Wo(S)D...

[Pro Libertate]

Who is this Rand man?

[Auric Demonocles]

I think he was an older brother or something I had when I was little and couldn't say the word "Raymond". I wonder what happened to him.

[Pro Libertate]

Is he some sort of stripper? You know, from the British word "randy?"

[BakedPenguin]

"I'm a very good politician. I only stump on Sundays."

[Auric Demonocles]

"Definitely watch the election results but you have to be in bed at eleven. Lights out at eleven."

[SPG_900]

Quantas never Crashed*

It did like 6 months after the movie came out.

[Hyperion]

He was foretold of in the books of libertopia. The one who would come, with 2 first names. Were you not paying attention, weedhopper?

[Pro Libertate]

No, silly, that's comedians.

[Cytotoxic]

He is an electable libertarian(ish) pol. The DayWalker.

[Auric Demonocles]

Pro Lib predates prophesy.

[Pro Libertate]

I am your prophet, Auric.

[Auric Demonocles]

There's no fate but what we make.

[Pro Libertate]

I prophesied that you would say that in The Book of Hit & Run, chapter 4, verse 17:

To an old leader will be born an idiot heir,weak both in knowledge and in war.The leader of France is feared by his sister,battlefields divided, conceded to the soldiers.

[Marc F Cheney]

He is the Prince Who Was Promised.

Speaking of which, and I know I'm just getting caught up here, but I can't pick up Storm of Swords again since, you know, Edmure Tully's wedding. I can't remember ever feeling so betrayed by a novel. I feel nauseous every time I think about it.

[Pro Libertate]

Why? Whatever could have happened?

I kid, I kid.

[Marc F Cheney]

IT'S NOT FUNNY! *runs away in tears*

[CE]

If you're looking for justice, you've come to the wrong place.

[Warty]

NauseATED. The Red Wedding was nauseous, you are nauseated. SAY IT RIGHT

[Marc F Cheney]

Warty's odor makes me feel nauseated.

OOH BURN

[Pro Libertate]

I think vegetables can be very sensuous, don't you?

[CE]

That was Ron Paul. No one was paying attention, unfortunately. We had 3 chances to vote for him. (I voted for him all 3 times.)

[KPres]

Rand Paul doesn't have two first names. He has a first and a last they're just in reverse order.

[Rich]

President Barack Obama says "there will be consequences" for violence in Ukraine if people step over the line.

1) Ah, but is it a *red* line?

2) Do those consequences entail violence?

/Captain Obvious

[Pro Libertate]

Consequences to whom? To the government? To the people in the streets? To both? To the Russians? To Obama?

[Hyperion]

He's going to send horse face to scold them, maybe draw a red line.

[Pro Libertate]

Rev on the red line. Isn't that a song?

[Drake]

Howie Carr describes Kerry perfectly...

http://bostonherald.com/news_o.....lly_loving

[Francisco d Anconia]

John Kerry walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Hey John, why the long face?"

Ba-dum-chhhhhh!

I'll be here all week.

[PD Scott]

Since this is a struggle between EUness and Russianess, why doesn't the US just, I don't know, stay out of it?

[Pro Libertate]

Well, we are the EU's sole military.

[Rich]

ZINGG!!

[Rasilio]

Let the Germans rearm, they can probably handle things

[alan_s]

Cuz that would just be so not US.

[Almanian!]

I read that as "Captain Oblivious", but I think that fits Dear Leader's MO...

[Rich]

"That's '*Emperor* Oblivious' to YOU!"

[SPG_900]

Obama will send a STERN, STRONG HEARTED letter of dissapoint!

[DJF]

So does this mean that the next time the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street protest Obama and demand he step down along with his entire administration that he will do it?

[tarran]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights. Is this really a good issue to pick up before 2016?

Abso-fucking-lutely. He argues that there are too many laws on the books, too many people prosecuted for shit that isn't a crime. It is morally quite defensible.

... and....

it makes it harder to argue that he wants people disenfranchised who might vote for his opponent.

[Cytotoxic]

Rand Paul knows how to prep his image and inculate against attacks. This is more excellent field work.

[Sevo]

Mother Jones finds rightwingers are the ones opposed to vaccinations and proves it:

"In California, exemption rates are increasing, especially in certain geographical pockets such as Marin County where rates doubled from 4.2 percent to 7.83 percent between 2005 and 2013." (OOOOPS)

http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/.....-children/

[John]

I thought the anti vaccine weirdos were a bipartisan mix of environmental retards and evangelicals who take the bible a bit too literally.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

At my daycare I've had five sets of parents refuse to take vaccinations and they all were lefties and environmentalist types. They believe in all the it leads to autism stuff and other assorted theories.

[John]

If I ran the day care I would refuse to take their business. Maybe the part about evangelicals objecting is an urban myth started by leftists embarrassed by this.

[Some call me Tim?]

Their are granola types who think vaccines are evil on both sides of the political spectrum.

[Francisco d Anconia]

If I ran the day care I would refuse to take their business.

Shouldn't everyone who's vaccinated be protected?

[tarran]

No. Vaccinations do provide protection to most people, but not all.

And kids are such huge disease vectors, that if one kid is sick, he's got a good chance of spreading it to anyone who is susceptible.

[John]

No. It takes a while for your immune system to develop the immunity. During that time, you can get the disease. Also, vaccines occasionally won't take in a person. So people who don't get vaccinated create a danger by reintroducing the disease to people who haven't yet developed the immunity or won't for some reason. You really do need to vaccinate everyone to avoid getting someone who has been vaccinated sick.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Shouldn't everyone who's vaccinated be protected?

Nope And for a sub-set of the population, vaccines can actually present a different set of medical problems.

Case in point: I didn't find out until this year that my son has aluminum poisoning. There is only one way that he could have gotten it, from vaccines. Aluminum was the replacement for mercury in children's vaccines. There is no way he could have built up that amount of aluminum in his system otherwise.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Actually, so goes the argument, if you have 50 kids and one, two, or three are not vaccinated they're the ones at risk.

We feel it's irresponsible.

But it's a tough call about refusing business and honestly, I don't even think we're allowed.

[alan_s]

We had a whole discussion, rebuttal, and rebuttal to the rebuttal about this courtesy Ron Bailey.

http://reason.com/archives/201.....ree-choice
http://reason.com/archives/201.....-put-other

[Francisco d Anconia]

Okay.

But, I put it to you all that vaccinating your own kids is about the best you can hope for, unless you approve of the initiation of force.

[John]

The best you can hope for is vaccinating your kids and having the money to send them to a private school that requires it.

[Bobarian]

Well, Marin County has a whole bunch of one and hardly any of the other, so selection bias?

[jesse.in.mb]

My folks are anti-vax, but I think it's more their holistic health ideals than their evangelical views that drive it.

[Tonio]

"Marin County." IOW, rich hippies. Delicious. Sorry about the kids, though.

[CE]

Marin County is full of liberals though.

[Sevo]

CE|2.19.14 @ 5:15PM|#
"Marin County is full of liberals though."
You could fish Marin for years and never catch anyone who admitted to being conservative.

[califernian]

haahahah there is not a single right winger living in marin county . Good god you have to be completely clueless to think that marin country trends are right wing trends.

[John]

http://dailycaller.com/2014/02.....ment-cuts/

4th Georgia hospital closes thanks to Obamacare. I guess that is one way to bend the cost curve.

[John]

It is also in SE Georgia where a bunch of bitter clingers who no doubt didn't vote for Obama lives. Given that, I am sure Obama is happy to hear this news.

[PD Scott]

Maybe he can message it differently and talk them into not closing. "If you like your hospital" something something.

[Palin's Buttplug]

RTFA, idiot.

That hospital is closing because the ACA cut off their federal welfare payments and Georgia won't pay its share.

[Jordan]

The government reimburses hospitals for treating patients that the government forces them to treat. That is not welfare (for the hospital).

[Juice]

Well, you could blame the governor of Georgia just as much for that for not taking the medicaid expansion.

[Jordan]

I blame the entity that forces them to provide services without compensating them for it.

[John]

What Jordan said you fucking retard. The Feds force them to treat these people and then won't pay for it.

Just die. I am seriously, kill yourself. It is the best thing you could do for the human race.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

If Shreek really lives in Georgia, the good news is in the event he needs medical treatment there will be no hospitals left.

[Mike M.]

For like the millionth time, Weigel the scumbag doesn't live in Georgia, he lives in Washington D.C.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Athens, Ga born and raised. I know the town inside out.

Your Weigel fantasy doesn't bother me but I will point out I posted while he was at Reason.

[Mike M.]

Every other word out of your vile mouth is a lie, and by the way, you're not even a good liar.

It has been obvious it has been you for quite a while now. Sometimes you even post the same exact shit at virtually the same time on your Twitter account that you do here, like when you posted about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Who the fuck do you think you're kidding?

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 5:23PM|#
"Athens, Ga born and raised. I know the town inside out."
Good,
I hope they know you and refuse treatment on account of stupidity.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Isn't there a guy (a Democrat), Kansas I think, who has been in politics for 50 years but has lived in Virginia the whole time?

[John]

He is a Republican and it is 47 years. And one of Obama's white cousins is trying to primary him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

So you are FOR welfare when it is a Reagan program then? (EMTALA)

Typical.

[John]

Yes, change the subject. Good retard move. Now move along before I make the mistake of making eye contact.

And for the last fucking time, you don't rule the night and no one here has any cake.

[Juice]

So these hospitals got their government checks reduced and had to close.

[John]

Yes. that is because they are forced by law to treat the people who get those checks. What obamacare did was said, "fuck you treat them for free". So they closed screwing everyone who needed the hospital and could pay.

[Jordan]

Those governments checks were reimbursing them for treating uninsured patients that the government forces them to treat.

[hamilton]

Picard is not gay.

No comment on Sisko. NTTAWWT.

[John]

I never heard he was. Just because gay men decided he was a sex symbol doesn't mean he is actually gay.

[Matrix]

he did play a gay actor in Fraiser, though.

[John]

He played the gay opera director. That was when I started to like the guy. He played that role knowing he was a huge sex symbol among gay men. It took a lot of confidence and self awareness to do it. And it was a great episode too.

[Pro Libertate]

He played a gay ma?tre d' in LA Story (I think that's right). Very funny.

I just saw him as John of Gaunt in The Hollow Crown series in the Richard II installment. He was good, as usual. I haven't seen the rest of those, yet, but the first was quite good, with the new Q in the role of Richard.

[John]

The Hollow Crown? Is that BBC? That sounds interesting.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. They did Richard II, both Henry IV plays, and Henry V. The casting is superb, with new Q playing Richard II, Jeremy Irons playing Henry IV (as king; Rory Kinnear as Bolingbroke in the first play), and Loki as Prince Hal and as Henry V, plus all sorts of good supporting actors.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, and I just got Henry IV, Pt. I and Henry IV, Pt. II from the library, so I'll probably watch one or both tonight.

[110 Lean]

Yes it was, John My favorite, actually.

[AuH20]

I thought everyone played a gay actor in Frasier?

Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try your waitress and tip the veal!

[Pro Libertate]

He just married a female person.

[110 Lean]

Could be a tranny.

[Pro Libertate]

I don't think so. Besides, Richard III conducted the ceremony. I mean, that's credibility.

[Coeus]

Wouldn't that be a third preference? We have a few gay commenters here. Would any of you guys want to bang a guy who looks like a girl?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

If there was ever a gay Starfleet captain it was Janeway.

[John]

She went both ways I think. All that mattered is that she was always the top.

[hamilton]

Whereas I would bet money on Chakotay modeling ball gags.

[Corning]

She went both ways I think

She de-evolved into a lizard and had primordial swamp mud sex with her helmsman.

There are far more then two ways with Janeway.

[Juice]

She's currently playing in "Orange is the new black" I don't know if she plays a prison lesbo though.

[BakedPenguin]

Not in the first season.

[Matrix]

He was recently wedded to a woman half his age by Gandalf.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Isn't Gandalf gay? Or was that Dumbledore?

[Marc F Cheney]

The actor who played Gandalf is gay. The character Dumbledore is gay.

Is that right?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. It's like Sulu. Sulu likes women, especially Lt. Uhura. Takei is gay.

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's just British.

[Bobarian]

So, by default, Gay?

[Pro Libertate]

No, no, that's a myth. Except for a few years in certain public schools. More like the old Greek thing, where they're only temporarily gay.

[Marc F Cheney]

My uncle used to say that half of British men are gay, and the other half just enjoy the occasional gay experience.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Rum, sodomy and the lash: the British way of life.

[gimmeasammich]

And also an album that doesn't leave my phone. Before that it was a Zune. Yes, a Zune. I hate Apple *that* much.

[MJGreen]

Sure, they're polite and the men all sound gay, but they will rip out your heart.

[Pro Libertate]

With what? They've banned guns, swords, and pointy sticks.

[Christophe]

Spoons.

Not because of the bans, because of tradition.

The bans are to keep you from resisting effectively.

[Hyperion]

But he's still bald and Kirk would have totally kicked his ass.

[CE]

Kirk had to outwit his enemies, and failing that, to outfight them. Picard just gave them a stern talking to.

[Francisco d Anconia]

And some sort of tachyon burst from the main deflector array.

What a pussy.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Picard is not gay.

...but ain't the most masculine fellow in the world.

-EM

[lap83]

I think most women (at least the ones who ever watched Star Trek) would prefer him over Kirk.

[The Other Kevin]

So today I became the latest victim of Obamacare. Our company's owner told me our group plan is not up to Obamacare requirements, so in the near future the plan will be dropped. As we have far fewer than 50 employees, her options are to just drop health insurance and leave us to fend for ourselves, or get a new plan which looks like it will cost about 45% more.

The ironic thing is that I have a pre-existing condition, and in the past I was self-employed but took this job so I could be insured. Now the Magic Health Care law that was supposed to help people like me, just screwed me over.

I'm sure my company is just the tip of the iceberg. If this happens to as many people as I think it will, the midterm elections are going to be a bloodbath.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The good news is you didn't like your plan anyway.

[Auric Demonocles]

Also his boss is a racist who just lied to his employees about why the plan is not going to be offered anymore.

[Hyperion]

lmao

[Juice]

And you're free from the shackles of work just like the CBO said.

[AuH20]

At this point I'm surprised that the national endowment for the arts isn't hiring painters to do murals of Comrade Obama gloriously freeing us from the shackles of labor, effort, and things we thought we wanted but didn't really. We got a shit ton of those from the New Deal

[Tonio]

Sorry, TOK. Good luck.

[Almanian!]

Jesus H Christ. Good luck to you going forward....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And so continues the unintended consequences.

[Bobarian]

Something about foreseeable unintended

[Bobarian]

missing symbol =/=

[Fist of Etiquette]

I didn't think companies would still be discovering this at this late date. If it's going to be an ongoing thing, yes, the midterms will be not pretty for the Democrats again.

[The Other Kevin]

The thing I hated most about my plan was that it was affordable and covered pretty much everything I needed it to. How horrible.

Who was it on here that said that Obamacare only affected a small percentage of the population? I don't think so.

[Palin's Buttplug]

There are plenty of group plans for under-50 companies.

Sounds like typical cost-cutting to me. Were you offered a pay increase to offset any employer contribution? If not it was just an old fashioned pay cut.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 4:49PM|#
"There are plenty of group plans for under-50 companies."

See, shreek isn't bothered and it's not Obo's fault!
Fuck you.

[Don Mynack]

Yes, he said that. The plan was also going to cost 45% more.

[John]

God you are a disgusting fuck. Every time I think you can't get more repulsive, you prove me wrong.

[The Other Kevin]

Uh, no. The plan is going to be cancelled because it doesn't conform to Obamacare standards. We were all fine with the plan and nobody had complaints about it.

It will be a while before a decision is made, but it will involve either going with a more expensive group plan, or having us go out on our own and giving us a pay increase to compensate for the loss of insurance benefits.

This was definitely not a cost cutting measure.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Even with your PEC this "giving us a pay increase to compensate for the loss of insurance benefits" might prove to be a net positive to your financial situation.

Granted, your preference was to remain in the status quo. But get back to us on the final verdict.

[Juice]

If he has to go to the exchange plans, you know those things are overpriced by at least a factor of two.

[Palin's Buttplug]

No, I don't.

PriceWaterhouse said exchange plan premiums were 20% lower.

(but deductibles are 40% higher)

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 5:26PM|#
"PriceWaterhouse said exchange plan premiums were 20% lower."

Right, turd, so since PW says it, well everything's just fine.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

PriceWaterhouse said exchange plan premiums were 20% lower.

I'm going to guess their sample came from New York. Plans in Virginia doubled or tripled with higher deductibles to boot.

[Jordan]

I'm going to guess their sample came from New York. Plans in Virginia doubled or tripled with higher deductibles to boot.

Their sample did not compare like plans.

[Jordan]

PriceWaterhouse said exchange plan premiums were 20% lower.

By comparing the cheapest exchange plans with the average employer plan. PriceWaterhouse also said that Geo Metros are cheaper than BMWs.

[Juice]

PriceWaterhouse said exchange plan premiums were 20% lower.

I don't know what they did to come up with that lie, but I can see with my own damned eyes that they are much more expensive.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 5:15PM|#
..."Granted, your preference was to remain in the status quo. But get back to us on the final verdict."

See, TOK, it's not the slimy turd that has to go chasing around to see if there's some way to salvage the mess, so O-care is just a minor inconvenience. To the slimy turd that is.
And it you manage to somehow find something similar, well, see, O-care is just great!
Fuck you, shreek.

[tarran]

Why do you guys even bother interacting with it? You realize that it isn't sentient and can't comprehend what you are saying, right?

[The Other Kevin]

PB, my preference was to keep a plan that covered my family at a reasonable rate, and not have to suddenly scramble to find new coverage that will most likely take a big bite out of my paycheck.

Tell you what, I will keep everyone posted and we'll see if PriceWaterhouse was correct.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But Kevin, you don't understand, it doesn't matter what you want or decide. Palin knows.

He knows. You don't.

Understand?

[Sevo]

"Who was it on here that said that Obamacare only affected a small percentage of the population?"

It was shreek, and the claim was people like you could just go find new insurance so it really wasn't a bother.
As far as HE was concerned.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My friend, a doctor (no longer practicing) from Florida saw his premiums triple for a family of four.

Yes. He thinks Obama is a giant clown and a 'fucking asshole.'

[Hyperion]

Even the ones of us lucky enough to keep our existing plans are seeing the cost rise and the deductible soar.

[PRX]

Who was it on here that said that Obamacare only affected a small percentage of the population?

it was the lying asshole who replied first.

[Pro Libertate]

Good luck. Hope this crap gets repealed and saves us all.

[Cytotoxic]

It will. I think it will be like forced bussing.

[Juice]

So it'll only go on for the next 30 years?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But it sounds like far more people will be directly affected than segregation so if it were to be repealed I imagine it would go quicker?

[Rich]

Sorry, Man. Perhaps the +45% plan will pan out?

[hamilton]

(a) good luck to you, sorry to hear.

(b) be sure to report back in a month or so when you have been magically converted and recant this hideous, hideous story that you must surely be making up.

[The Other Kevin]

Thanks for the good wishes. I will need them because I've been asked to (voluntarily) go to the Obamacare site to check out plans and pricing.

[Almanian!]

The horror...

The horror...

But - seriously - good luck. I wouldn't wish this shit even on Tony or Mary Stack.

Well, maybe on Mary Stack...

[CE]

They're married? (Tony or Mary Stack)

[creech]

I hope you suggested to the boss that she increase everyone's pay by the amount she'll be saving on their health insurance. That way, it become Obama's fault and not the greedy businesswoman's fault that health insurance is not affordable.

[The Other Kevin]

Most of us have been employed here a long time, and we've always been treated fairly. She is asking us to help her determine what the best course of action will be, and when the time comes I will make that suggestion. We all understand that we've had this policy for a long time, we are all happy with it, and the only reason anything has changed is because of Obamacare.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Mission accomplished for the progs. You are now free; it's just that you don't know it.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

This is actually a good idea. The healthcare plan was going to be a sunk cost anyway; if she has to drop the plans because she can't afford the increase, just suggest that she shift the cost of what she's currently paying every month for employee healthcare over to salaries, or maybe even 75% of that cost so she can sink the remainder back into the company.

It won't get back the insurance plan you lost, but it might help you find something reasonable on ehealthinsurance.

[Rich]

Flagged as possible sexually violent predators, the Missouri attorney general's office wants them held indefinitely at a secure state mental institution called Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or SORTS.

Next up:
Flagged as possible violent domestic terrorists, the United States attorney general's office wants them held indefinitely at a secure federal mental institution called Terror Adherent Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or TARTS.

*** doffs tinfoil hat ***

[Andrew S.]

But when we're all locked up as potential domestic terrorists, who's going to do the AM and PM links?

[Rich]

*** crickets ***

[Fist of Etiquette]

Fear not. I will find a way.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Crickets? So, even the squirrels are making the trip to the FEMA camps with us?

[Almanian!]

Ask not for whom the bell tolls acorn drops - it tolls drops for thee

[Rich]

Yep. They'll scream and cry that they tried everything in their power to keep up from commenting, but it will fall on deaf ears since they'll be scapesquirreled for the Obamacare rollout debacle.

[PD Scott]

Anonbot?

Somebody who's neighbor's mother was recently laid off but now she makes $117/hr on the internet?

Tony?

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Pedobot will be heading to the SORTS facility.

[Hyperion]

a secure state mental institution called Sex Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Services, or SORTS.

So, which one of his cousins is running that joint?

[Jerry on the boat]

President Obama warns that "there will be consequences" for those who resort to violence in Ukraine.

How about telling those government thugs in Venezuela to bugger off for a change?

[Corning]

It was Putin who made a fool of Obama over Syria not Chavez (or whoever the new asshole is)

[The Late P Brooks]

Consequences.

CONSEQUENCES, I TELL YOU!

[Almanian!]

*whispers to POTUS "remember to shake your fist"*

[PD Scott]

So you want to go to a SE Asia Buddhist themed water park? Now you can!

Suoi Tien Cultural Theme Park is a Vietnamese water-filled fantasy land, located rather unromantically next to a rubbish dump 15 kilometres South of Ho Chi Minh City. Suoi Tien, or "the fairy stream," is the world's first water park devoted to Buddhism, specifically the Southeast Asian animistic form of Buddhism. The animism works well for the theme park; instead of Mickey and Daffy, Suoi Tien has chosen the Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, and Phoenix as its sacred animals, used thematically throughout the massive water park. Furthermore, workers in golden monkey outfits roam the park taking pictures with visitors and causing "mischief."

[Rich]

Now, if *only* there could be a water park devoted to Islam.

"Workers in golden burqas roam the park 'stoning' visitors who try to take pictures of them."

[Hyperion]

And warning you not to live on Mars.

If you try to live on Mars, you're going to hell!

[Rich]

"Go to Mars, go to Hell!"

[CE]

If you're from Minnesota, Mars is not THAT much colder:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/.....tion-plan/

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) in the United Arab Emirates said that anyone making such a "hazardous trip" is likely to die for "no righteous reason".

If it ain't jihad, it's suicide. What a bunch of ignorant and disgusting shitstains. Morally bankrupt and logically impaired.

[PD Scott]

"Protecting life against all possible dangers and keeping it safe is an issue agreed upon by all religions and is clearly stipulated in verse 4/29 of the Holy Koran: Do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful," the committee, chaired by Professor Dr Farooq Hamada, said.

So, these guys running around blowing themselves and others up thinking they're martyrs are, uh, wrong? Un-Islamic?

[CE]

Mentally disturbed and manipulated by evil people who discredit their religion.

[The Last American Hero]

In a word, yes. Just as the Bible can be selectively quoted to justify all sorts of horrible behavior, so can the Koran. The Koran goes on at great length preaching tolerance for Jews and Christians, recognizing that although there are differences between their faiths, all 3 religions are worshiping the same God. Funny how that doesn't seem to translate to policy in most places in the Middle East.

[lap83]

The Koran is worse because the message from page to page changed according to Mohammad's mood. Whereas the message of the Bible predated the text and the writers were held to a very high standard in transcribing it.

[Sevo]

"Whereas the message of the Bible predated the text and the writers were held to a very high standard in transcribing it."

Cite missing.

[Redmanfms]

The Koran introduces the concept of abrogation. The long, early suras that exalted Muslims to treat Jews and Christians as brothers were all written by Mohammed when he was the guest of Jews and Christians while hiding from the people in Medina who wanted to kill him.

The warlike suras with calls to war are shorter and are therefore first, the Koran being ordered not chronologically, but from shortest sura to longest and were actually written last after Mohammed had become a military commander of a fairly large army of followers. These passages, as they were written later, abrogate the previously written peaceful love and brotherhood suras.

The fire-and-jihad imams are not wrong, they are the ones who are interpreting the Koran correctly, not the apologists in the West.

[SPG_900]

"All i said was that peice of hallibah was good enough for Jehovah!"

[Rich]

LOL

[Rabban]

Bro, Wali Whadi Water Park of Dubai is the shit, and pretty damn mulism.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Even when priced for perfection, investors still find plenty of reasons to push Tesla Motors Inc.'s stock price sharply higher.

Shares jumped 15% to $223.32 in after-hours trading after the electric car maker reported quarterly results and a 2014 outlook that exceeded analysts' expectations. The stock had closed down 4.9% Wednesday at $193.64.

Tesla said it delivered 6,900 Model S electric cars globally in the fourth quarter and forecast that its deliveries would rise to 7,400 in the first quarter as it expands deliveries in Europe and China. The company said demand remains strong for the $70,000-and-up sedan.

WSJ

[SPG_900]

So the S, which is as good as a jag or benz everywhere besides refuel time, will sell a fraction of many cars as the E-class.
Whats your point, BushPig??

[Don Mynack]

I think investors are interested that Musk is also talking to Apple about....something.

[Palin's Buttplug]

DAMN LIBRULS GETTIN TOGETHER AND MAKING MONEY AND SHIT!

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 5:10PM|#
"DAMN LIBRULS GETTIN TOGETHER AND MAKING MONEY AND SHIT!"

No, dipshit, it's people betting Musk can keep the government spigot open.
Tesla's only profit has come from selling gov't credits to other car mafg's.

[Sevo]

..."the $70,000-and-up sedan."

How many of the subsidies are included in that price?
I've yet to have an owner thank me for my contribution to his ego-prop.

[John]

Nothing says caring like giving people a tax credit on the $70,000 gold carts.

Basically only a retard like Shreek would buy the thing.

[SPG_900]

One of the magazines raced one with a modified Model T touring with a 2 speed rear end for 800-1000 miles. the Tesla won by 10 minutes

[waffles]

THIS

pretty cool stuff. way neat-0

[John]

You really mean that as some kind of endorsement?

[waffles]

For the Model T? Hell yeah.

[Sevo]

If they'd have 'fueled' the Tesla, a kid on a skate-board could beat it.

[CE]

Tesla's are a win-win-win with California women.

Expensive: they prove you're rich.
Electric: better for the environment, they prove you care.
Fast: they can still get a thrill ride.

[creech]

How many shares you got PB?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Sadly, none. TSLA is scary high on a P/E basis.

[GILMORE]

what the hell is it with you and "stock prices", as though they mean something about politics?

I'm not sure what the point is of cheerleading for a company that still is forecast to lose $100m+ (again) despite the government handing out $10K in subsidies to each consumer who'll buy their product.

Regardless what you think of the company or the product - their business model is a scam:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/pa.....ome-money/

"Tesla didn't generate a profit by selling sexy cars, but rather by selling sleazy emissions "credits," mandated by the state of California's electric vehicle requirements. The competition, like Honda, doesn't have a mass market plug-in to meet the mandate and therefore must buy the credits from Tesla, the only company that does. The bill for last quarter was $68 million. Absent this shakedown of potential car buyers, Tesla would have lost $57 million, or $11,400 per car. As the company sold 5,000 cars in the quarter, though, $13,600 per car was paid by other manufacturers, who are going to pass at least some of that cost on to buyers of their products. Folks in the new car market are likely paying a bit more than simply the direct tax subsidy. ...
How's this going to work in the future? As long as the competition has to pay greenmail to Tesla, probably just fine. And with California gradually ratcheting up the electric-vehicle mandate, maybe just finer. "

[Palin's Buttplug]

Old article. The credits have ended and TSLA is profitable.

Keep up, son!

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|2.19.14 @ 5:53PM|#
"Old article. The credits have ended and TSLA is profitable."

Which ignores the fact that it's profitable for the reasons stated in the article, you turd.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

Even when priced for perfection, investors still find plenty of reasons to push Tesla Motors Inc.'s stock price sharply higher.

Like for instance: Stupidity, Greater Fool Fallacy, Boredom, a "Aw, One Only Lives Once!" moment... plenty of reasons.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Tesla said it delivered 6,900 Model S electric cars globally in the fourth quarter and forecast that its deliveries would rise to 7,400 in the first quarter as it expands deliveries in Europe and China.

LOL--what a fucking joke. This ain't shit and it's telling that Musk-ox had to include sales to one continent and a nation of a billion people to push the quarterly sales figures up another 500 units.

Toyota sells more Tacomas than Musk-ox does Teslas. The only time Ford sold less than 500,000 F-150s in the last 15 years was in 2009.

It's the truck market that's getting more creative in an industry they already absolutely dominate, not Musk-ox. Tesla's the reincarnation of the dotcom bubble.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Dear Prudence: Help! I'm having an 'emotional affair' with my student!

I am a 30-year-old married college teacher and a mother. I have recently developed a platonic relationship with one of my students. He is 19 years old and is quite smart and intelligent for his age. We chat, through Facebook mostly, about topics related to what I teach (philosophy, history, literature, current events) and we seem to have connected intellectually in many aspects. I have conversations with him I don't even have with my husband and it has been very mentally stimulating. I find myself feeling guilty about this relationship, as if I were cheating on my husband because I found someone that fulfills something in me that he doesn't. I consider myself a woman of morality and integrity, but I am also frightened that this might develop into something else if the boundaries are blurry. Am I wrong for having this relationship?

I'm willing to be the student isn't really attracted to her and this is her way of flattering herself.

[John]

I don't know about that. She is only 30. she might be pretty hot. You can't tell from the letter.

[Auric Demonocles]

On the other hand, he's 19 and in college, not 16 and in high school. He's got a lot of options living just on the same floor as him.

[John]

He might. But even still, have you ever actually talked to a typical 19 year old college girl?

And besides which, since when does having other options mean not working every angle?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

have you ever actually talked to a typical 19 year old college girl?

This, it's a rare 19 year old female that I am willing to try to hold a conversation with. Like, really rare, like, you know?

[Auric Demonocles]

You guys also aren't a 19 year old guy.

[John]

True. But not all of them are the same. Maybe this kid is mature for his age and has nothing in common with most of his piers.

[110 Lean]

One of the most mature, witty and classy women I have ever had the pleasure to know was a fifteen-year-old girl I coached one summer at Camp Woodward. 30-years later and I still remember her.

[CE]

Maybe the 19 year old girls told him to go walk off one. (Pier)

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Maybe the 19 year old girls told him to go walk off one.

I think it was the constant verbal Obama-fellating by our last babysitter.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Don't remind me.

[Juice]

He's got a lot of options living just on the same floor as him.

Only if he's gay or going to a very small minority of schools with co-ed dorms.

[Auric Demonocles]

I've seen 1 dorm that wasn't coed in all the colleges I've visited (and it was the only one like that on that school's entire campus). Are you sure they are still a big thing?

[Apatheist ?_??]

Small minority? WTF? My school didn't even have a coed dorm at all, just one floor in one dorm for those who preferred it.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

When was the last time you visited a college? 1950?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

True, but it's possible he's A. a suck-up that's angling for some letter of rec B. gay, or C. just a nice guy that can have a friendly relationship with a teacher without feeling weird about it.

[John]

True. But I am kind of in the when Harry Met Sally camp about that. He might be content with some friendship. But I would be surprised if he would turn her down either.

[Mad Scientist]

He could also be one of those absurdly awkward kids who doesn't know "how to talk to girls." With the professor, he has a topic he can talk about without it seeming like pretense. He might just be a lonely kid who appreciates the interaction, and has no idea it's a bit unusual.

[Auric Demonocles]

All of these type of stories confuse me because they always start out with "they texted each other" or "they chatted on Facebook" and I can't figure out why the students or teachers have that connection to each other in the first place.

[John]

Because they both want to bang the other one. They know they shouldn't do it. But they do it anyway because their desire gets the better of them.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

fwiw, I'm friends on Facebook with several former high school teachers, all female but none I'd want to sleep with.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

The key word is "former". Being facebook friends with them while they're still teaching you is a recipe for failure.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yeah I agree, boundaries are there for a reason.

[Hyperion]

Just bone him or not, and spare us your whining, you bore.

/Prudence

[PD Scott]

This reminded me of yesterday's "stupid" and "ableism" discussion.

[CE]

Face it. We're all too entrenched with smart privilege to even get those kinds of arguments.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

84 year old nun gets 35 months in Federal prison for breaking into US nuclear weapon storage facility

An 84-year-old nun was sentenced to 35 months in prison Tuesday for breaking into a nuclear facility, her lawyer said.

In May, a federal jury in Knoxville, Tennessee, found Sister Megan Rice; Greg Boertje-Obed, 57; and Michael Walli, 63, guilty of destroying U.S. government property and causing more than $1,000 in damage to federal property.

It was not immediately clear what the sentences were for the two other peace activists.

The incident began before dawn on July 28, 2012, when the three cut through a chain-link fence surrounding the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

They then walked nearly a mile, cutting through three more fences and breaching what was supposed to be the most tightly secured uranium processing and storage facility in the country.

Elderly nun sabotages nuclear weapons lab
It was not until hours later that a guard finally confronted the activists who, by then, had hoisted banners, spray-painted messages and splattered human blood on a building that houses highly enriched uranium.

I knew there was a Papist conspiracy against America

[Pro Libertate]

Is she one of those singing nuns?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

She actually flew into the facility.

[PD Scott]

She's no stoolie!

[Rich]

Rice and the others admitted to spray painting peace slogans and hammering on exterior walls of the facility. When a guard confronted them, they offered him food and began singing.

Yep.

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, I've got a problem with them busting the von Trapps. That's fucking bullshit.

[Juice]

Whose blood was it?

[Jarl ? the booty]

Canonical announces first partners to ship Ubuntu phones around the globeCanonical today announces it has signed agreements with mobile device manufacturers bq (www.bqreaders.com) (Spain) and Meizu (China) to bring Ubuntu smartphones to consumers globally. Canonical is working with these partners to ship the first Ubuntu devices on the latest hardware in 2014. Ubuntu has also received significant support from the world's biggest carriers, some of which intend to work with OEM partners to bring phones to market this year.

Development programmes have begun with the partners to provide smartphones with a superior user experience on mid to high end hardware for consumers around the world. Devices will be available to buy online through bq, Meizu and at Ubuntu.com.

Ubuntu introduces a new UI paradigm for mobile devices. Ubuntu puts content and services at the centre of the experience, rather than hiding them behind stores and apps. This gives consumers a fresh and rich way to engage with their favourite videos, music and other mobile activities. It also means OEMs and operators have unprecedented customisation opportunities with a common UI toolkit, which gives devices their own unique footprint and without fragmenting the platform.

[Jarl ? the booty]

Closing tag fail, but at least it works

[Corning]

Wait...

You are an adbot?

They have reached sentience!!!

[Jarl ? the booty]

What?

[jesse.in.mb]

I want to play with one! Are they planning on bringing them to the US? I know the original rollout plan was to skip the US entirely.

[Jarl ? the booty]

From everything I've seen, I'd guess the answer is "no".

[Jarl ? the booty]

You can already install on some Android devices, though.

[jesse.in.mb]

Ooh. I do have a Nexus 4 lying around for travel purposes...

Disregard my comment below.

[Jarl ? the booty]

Disregard my comment

I usually do.

[jesse.in.mb]

*runs off sobbing*

Did I do that right?

[Jarl ? the booty]

You make me so proud

*runs off sobbing*

[jesse.in.mb]

I dislike your short but accurate answer and will sit here awaiting another...

[The Late P Brooks]

Even when priced for perfection, investors still find plenty of reasons to push Tesla Motors Inc.'s stock price sharply higher.

P T Barnum would be proud.

[tarran]

The fraud Musk is comitting with Tesla is pretty epic.

So here we are, fifteen months after Tesla started getting carbon credits for the battery swap. The company has already cashed out, probably for more than $60 million. Without building a single swap station, or demonstrating the feature in consumer cars, or bothering to provide any sort of explanation.

I have emailed them, written on their Facebook page, posted in their forum. Their only "reaction" was to kinda make the battery swap disappear from their website. It's impossible to get an actual response from the company.

Tesla intends to shut up its way out of this mess.

The question is, how could a scam so brazen go unnoticed for so long? I think other carmakers probably don't want to get into trouble with California officials. So they've been lobbying to put an end to the special treatment Tesla gets, but they haven't publicly denounced the situation or filed a lawsuit.

[Pro Libertate]

It's so insanely bizarre to admire SpaceX while simultaneously rolling my eyes about the weirdness that is Tesla.

[Christophe]

Well the car is cool too. Just that instead of just doing R&D for another decade untile economics of it make sense, they're pushing it out early at our expense. That's the dealbreaker.

And if they decided to take the high road and not cash in on the subsidies, someone with less scruples would take them, and use that head start to shut out competitors.

It's just a fucked up story overall.

[Michael S. Langston]

The X-Prize - little known fact - the prize itself began and was pushed forward in St. Louis Missouri. They thought it appropriate given the Lindbergh connection and what not.

Not saying this is overly important or anything, but as a St. Louis resident, it is one of the few things in the last 100 years the region has done well.

Don't get me wrong - I do like St. Louis - but they cannot seem to make a good long term decision to save their lives. Makes me miss CO more and more (I will retire there - assuming I ever retire that is).

[Sevo]

..."The question is, how could a scam so brazen go unnoticed for so long?"...

Guangzi

[Cytotoxic]

Former Mexican President Vincente Fox has come out in favor of legalizing ALL drugs. Too lazy to link.

[AuH20]

10 Things I learned at my first big Queer Conference

1. Check your privilege ? seriously

In a lot of mainstream social justice circles, the phrase "check your privilege" becomes synonymous with recognizing that social institutions and systems grant you certain benefits at the expense of other individuals or groups. At IvyQ though, the very notion of a conference almost exclusive to Ivy League students definitely invokes a brand of elitism. All of our schools were built on land violently stolen from indigenous people, constructed by slave labor, and designed to benefit from a capitalist class structure that values people based on their socioeconomic status. That's a whole lot to work through, but we can't hope to fight heteronormative, dominant cultures and to campaign for LGBTQ rights without challenging other systems of oppression that allowed us to be at that conference.

I'd be lying to say that everyone at the conference worked to dismantle Oppression, or that I even succeeded at checking my own privilege all of the time, but many of the workshop facilitators encouraged students to not only acknowledge our privilege(s), but also to interrogate, restrain, and rectify the faults of our privilege(s).

[AuH20]

9. Consent is more important than quenching the thirst

I did not realize how strong the hookup culture was at a big LGBTQ conference like IvyQ until I physically attended. Once the sun went down, everyone seemed to turn up. I have nothing against hookups or hookup culture, but I think that our communities do have to challenge the role hookups play in our interactions with one another.

First of all, hyper-sexualizing our communities can leave some people feeling pressured to engage in sexual activities. Any pressure to have sex or engage in sexual activities leaves little room for consent, and if we're going to create spaces where individuals can feel "liberated" enough to perform and pursue their sexual desires, we must also fiercely endorse consent and respect for other people's boundaries. Furthermore, we must examine who has access to this hookup culture. For example, some asexual people might find a conference where the most emphasized and publicized social activities promote hooking up as the "norm" and unintentionally alienating of other perspectives. Also, we must consider if the venues and setup of our parties and get-togethers are accessible to people with disabilities of any kind, instead of simply assuming that everyone fits the same socially acceptable standards of ability.

Cont..

[AuH20]

It's not impossible to take multiple perspectives into account, even when we're hooking up. Likewise, it's not weird, uncool, or awkward to endorse consensual sex/sexual activities. Consent-focused conversations are always where our discussions should begin when it comes to thirst quenching.

[paranoid android]

If I were a praying man, I'd ask God to make sure I am never stuck seated on an airplane next to this person.

[PD Scott]

If they try to start a conversation, say firmly "I DO NOT CONSENT TO CONVERSE WITH YOU."

Maybe it will work. If not, insist they are microaggressing you.

[GILMORE]

If sucking my dick will make that person shut up then so be it.

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

Consent-focused conversations are always where our discussions should begin when it comes to thirst quenching.

Excuse me, sir. Do you consent to me taking a sip of this bottle of water?

[Coeus]

CCC for the gay hookup scene. I'm sure that will go over like a ton of bricks. Isn't the best part of being gay not having to put up with the feminist bullshit?

[AuH20]

Lady gays, Coeus. Academic, feminist lady gays. I think they actually get turned on by this kind of stuff.

[AuH20]

Also, too lazy to google: CCC? The Conservation Corp?

[Coeus]

Crystal Clear Consent

[Michael S. Langston]

I cannot imagine anyone ever looking at me, during some debate, and saying, with all seriousness "check your privilege" but I do hope it happens as I really, really want to say *"fuck you".

I mean who are these people who think such clever idiotic and meaningless phrases are useful?

*Caveat - in reality, the only people likely to say this to me and not be in jest are random strangers and I don't typically like to argue with strangers at all - so my most likely response will be to ask a few follow-up questions to try to understand why they thought using that would work. Then move on and never talk to them again.

Lest we forget - identifying the problem is step one. Step two is doing something about it.

[Rich]

Consent is more important than quenching the thirst

Oh, come off it -- this isn't RAPE-rape!

[jesse.in.mb]

This twit thinks that because I'm getting laid other people are going to feel bad about themselves and have sex that is unwanted and therefore not consenting. If that kind of background "peer pressure" is too much for you to handle, please consider abandoning society and becoming a monastic/hermit.

[PapayaSF]

I did not realize how strong the hookup culture was at a big LGBTQ conference

Wait, a group of gays turns out to have a hookup culture? Who knew?

[gimmeasammich]

The hot tub isn't called "egg drop soup" for nothing!

[John]

So basically they never got passed the forced self criticism and re-education sessions to get around to doing anything.

[PD Scott]

That's probably the best possible outcome, short of them realizing they're a bunch of whiny assholes and slinking away in self-disgust before re-evaluating their existence and making something of themselves.

[AuH20]

Yeah. I like how privilege is basically their original sin. You are born with it, can never escape it, and must eternally atone for it. I mean, look at this line:

but many of the workshop facilitators encouraged students to not only acknowledge our privilege(s), but also to interrogate, restrain, and rectify the faults of our privilege(s).

[John]

And of course the same people who are otherwise obsessed with racism and sexism are completely unbothered by the concept of collective guilt.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Being a collectivist means never having to say you are rational.

[PapayaSF]

You can't have "social justice" without collective guilt!

[Matrix]

what about privilege for people who aren't part of the so-called "privileged class"? The ones who get to smuggly go around and tell others to "check your privilege".

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

HuffPo suggests Jeopardy! college tournament players had a racist moment by avoiding a category about Black History Month until last

In today's things that make you go hmmm.

On a college championship round of Jeopardy, it seemed three white college students avoided the "African American History" category until they had absolutely no other options.

During the second round, rather than being asked about black history, the contestants gladly chose from categories like "International Cinema Showcase," "Weather Verbs," and "Kiwi Fauna."

But the students choice wasn't surprising, as they only answered three out of the five questions in the category correctly. Although they knew the answers for clues on Martin Luther King Jr., Apollo Theater and Phyllis Wheatley, they missed questions on the Scottsboro Boys and the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.

Were they saving the best for last or avoiding painful embarrassment?

So they got a majority of the questions correct and felt that the other categories were easier? And that's awkward because...

[John]

Remember it is people like you and I would watch that and think nothing of it who are the racists. It is not the people who let race color everything in their lives including trivial details of game shows.

[paranoid android]

Anyone who's watched Jeopardy should not be surprised by a category being untouched until the end of the round.

Is the idea that every white person needs to be an expert in black history because slavery? What in God's name are they criticizing here?

[OldMexican]

What in God's name are they criticizing here?

Probably a slow day at the HuffPO, or a "oh, what the hell" moment.

[Michael S. Langston]

Is the idea that every white person needs to be an expert in black history because slavery?

That's not really their point at all as I would think the 3 contestants know more about black history than any writer at HuffPo and likely more than anyone who has some "degree" in African American Studies.

No - what this is - is someone who was raised/taught/brainwashed into believing racism is a huge problem, yet when they look around, even at their own lives, they don't see the evidence.

And like all other humans - having strong beliefs without evidence puts them into rationalization mode quickly.

See no further than Krugman and any other Obama fans as an example - they all have a very strong belief that The Great One? is... well, that he is great and perfect.

So if you think his ideas are bad, then you're a racist. Or evil. Or an extremist.

Or whatever else comes to mind which allows them to safely dismiss any critiques in order to avoid the internal conflict known as cognitive dissonance.

Such as - If you lost insurance and a job you liked and are upset by the non-job you now have, as aren't happy about the higher-priced, decreased-access insurance you are forced to purchase, the cannot be Obama, so it must be you.

You're just too stupid to know how much better off you really are.

[Don Mynack]

The $200 question was a lock to be MLK.

[Michael S. Langston]

Chris Rock (paraphrased)...

Teacher: Who was the black woman who defied segregation by sitting in the whites only seats on a bus?
C Rock: Hmm... that's a hard one. Are you sure it's a woman?
Teacher: Yes
C Rock: Hmm... Martina Luther King?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I'll take African American History for $200, because I am not a racist like these other two Alex.

[Rich]

"What is ... fried chicken?"

[Almanian!]

"What is 'RACIST!111' Alex..."

[GozWa]

What are Naggers ... geesh, come on people

[GILMORE]

What if they'd chosen "Fiscal Policy" and gotten *every* question wrong?

[PD Scott]

They'd become the new junior members of the President's Council of Economic Advisers?

[PD Scott]

Chris Rock: "I took a black history class- thought that I'd pass it cuz I'm black, right? WRONG- FAILED IT. Ain't that some sad shit. A black man failing black history. Cus you know fat people don't fail cookin'!"

[Cytotoxic]

Russia must be bleeding cash to support Assad and Yanukovich. How long can Russia do this? Their economy is in the crapper and they can't even pacify the Caucs.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm a little concerned about what happens when oil prices go down, which looks likely at some point in the next couple of years, especially if the U.S. decides to blow open production. I mean, what else has Russia got? It can only sell so many babies and wives, after all.

[CampingInYourPark]

Fresh water, diamonds, and a fifth of the world's forests.

[SIV]

Krokodil!

[SIV]

Krokodil!

[Pro Libertate]

What, they're going to sell trees?

[Sevo]

Cytotoxic|2.19.14 @ 4:51PM|#
"Russia must be bleeding cash to support Assad and Yanukovich. How long can Russia do this? Their economy is in the crapper and they can't even pacify the Caucs."

Ask Obo, re: O-care.

[AuH20]

Well, wasn't this exactly what sank the Soviets? Supporting too many satellites for too little gain?

[BakedPenguin]

Propping up Cuba and North Korea ain't cheap.

Fun fact: in 1959, Japan and Cuba had the same per capita GDP.

[Pro Libertate]

That is a fun fact.

[Tonio]

Sen Rubio slams Pres. for Insufficiently Believable Apology to Art Historian

Ironic, since this is the one thing Obama has said that could have been lifted from the pages of H&R. The Senator protests a bit too much, methinks.

[John]

But in fairness, Art history is actually a tough degree to get. And there are very few people who actually major in it. Whatever the problems with higher ed, people majoring in art history isn't one of them. It was a cheap shot.

[Dr. Frankenstien]

http://econlog.econlib.org/arc.....st_ro.html

Bastiat seen supporting The American Recovery and Reinvestment act. Page 33
The Act's investments in expanding broadband infrastructure and laying the groundwork for high-speed rail, to take two examples, are a far cry from the broken window in Bastiat's parable because they do so much more than simply restore things to how they once were. Rather, these types of investments will raise the economy's potential output for years to come, from a rural school that can now offer its students and teachers high-speed Internet access, to a business that has a new option to transport its goods more quickly.

[Jerry on the boat]

There is no such thing as free French toast.

[paranoid android]

Holy crap, the point flew so far over their heads, it was fined by the FAA.

[Juice]

Holy shit. Actually reading page 33 is just...damn, it just makes you shake your head.

[GILMORE]

The fucking envirotards have picked the Keystone XL to be their "litmus test", not for any real *environmental* reason, but as a PURE bullshit exercise in the power of their constituency. They want to show what they can do. Which is what its always been about = symbolic 'victory'. Because when they show what they can do, shutting down economic development worth billions, representing thousands of jobs, with a dozen industries set to benefit...? when they show they can do THAT, that they can "shut bartertown down".... YOU KNOW WHO RUNS BARTERTOWN NOW?? Yes, the greenies.

I'm not sure they're going to get it. They have little to offer other than some qualitative support, and as FoE and others point out? They've got no real other TEAM options that make any difference. I don't buy the "Vote Green" BS. That happened once and wont be done again. If I were Obama I'd tell the greens to shut their yap about XL and accept the bones he's gonna throw them. They've already got Tom Steyer throwing a hundred million into campaigns, who the fuck needs the Sierra Club? Fuck em.

[SPG_900]

And the pipeline will actually be BETTER for mother Gaia(from a Co2 standpoint, which is bs anyway). And the alternative-Supertankers, have worked soo well in the north pacific...

[hamilton]

Isn't halfway through the second (and final) term a little late to be litmus testing a politician? They need to rethink their tactics here.

[GILMORE]

Yeah, seriously. They're more laughable than OBAMA claiming "I'm drawing a line here, Ukraine!..."

Like, WHAT? You're not gonna do dick and everyone knows it, so shut up and go make me a sammich.

[John]

Unfortunately, there are some lines that even Obama will not roll over and allow to be crossed. It is just a matter of time before someone miscalculates and crosses one of them and we get in a war.

Weak, narcissistic morons are much more dangerous in power than the worst sabre rattlers. No one in the world respects Obama or is in any way afraid of him. That is how wars happen.

[Pro Libertate]

It's funny you say that because I was just wondering this morning, hearing news about Ukraine, wondering whether Obama will fuck things up enough that we end up in a war with Russia. After avoiding one for so long, when our interests were actually diametrically opposed.

[Sevo]

..."wondering whether Obama will fuck things up enough that we end up in a war with Russia."....

Here's hoping that thug Putin saves his ignorant ass again.

[AuH20]

Well, look at it this way:

*A global carbon tax failed
*Copenhagen failed
*Internal Cap and Trade failed

They haven't had a win in forever. But with Keystone, they've been able to get the administration to delay it a few years, and now have Obama by the balls as his poll numbers drop and he needs the progs to turn out to avoid a fucking massacre. Even if it has utterly no effect on their stated goal, it feels like a win and energizes supporters.

It's the same reason sports teams make the playoffs, only to be utterly demolished. It doesn't matter if it was a pyrrhic victory and a high draft pick would have been more useful: it FELT like a victory and got butts in the seats and foam fingers sold.

[John]

But they are destroying their chances of keeping the senate. The greens are not going to save Mark Pryor or Mary Landrieu.

[AuH20]

And the Wizards are costing themselves a probably needed lottery pick.

John, human beings are irrational. When they haven't won in a while, they want a win so badly that they will do dumb things in the long term for a short term high.

Basically, the Keystone XL pipeline is the environmentalists version of the Lakers trading for Howard. "We have Howard, Gasol, Kobe, and Nash! How can we NOT win the Finals?"

Also, I think the environmentalists truly believe that Obama is their guy and won't betray them (his presidential library funding would be hurt) and that Democrats are destined to hold the Presidency forever more.

[John]

I wouldn't bet on that. And I suspect losing the Senate will be more painful than they think it will be. At some point Democratic politicians are going to get tired of losing their offices defending a lame duck.

[GILMORE]

its foam fingers all the way down.

[Redmanfms]

Environmentalists have never been consistent about picking causes for "real" environmental reasons.

Look at their absolute throbbing-veined hatred of hydro or nuclear power, the only workable alternatives to fossil fuels.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Georgia creates a Sons of Confederate Veterans license plate, and you can guess what happens next...

The state of Georgia has released a new specialty license tag that features the Confederate battle flag, inflaming civil rights advocates and renewing a debate on what images should appear on state-issued materials.

The new specialty tag has stirred a clash between those who believe the battle flag honors Confederate heritage and those, particularly African-Americans, who view it as a racially charged symbol of oppression.

A spokesman for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said Tuesday that the state should not have sanctioned the battle emblem to appear on a Georgia tag.

"To display this is reprehensible," said Maynard Eaton. "We don't have license plates saying 'Black Power.'"

For their part, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said it meant no offense. People have a right to commemorate their heritage, and the state would be discriminating if it rejected the group's application, said spokesman Ray McBerry.

I'd have no objection to a Black Power license plate, would you?

[Pro Libertate]

These plates are fairly dangerous territory for the states, because if they start rejecting this sort of thing and approving other, more politically acceptable things, they're exercising viewpoint discrimination.

Some leeway is granted to them in practice for not publishing "Celebrate Fornication" plates, but this isn't one of those things.

[SPG_900]

First Amendment. How does it work???

[PD Scott]

A) You Sugarfree'd the link.
B) I'm confused, we've had SCV tags with the Confederate flag for at least several years now.

[CE]

Do they know the Stars and Stripes was also once the battle banner of a rebellious group of slave-holders?

[Calidissident]

I support the First Amendment, but that's a false equivalence. The colonies didn't secede to protect slavery, nor was slavery as widespread or dominant in the 13 colonies in 1776 as it was in the CSA in 1861. Not to mention the USA eventually abolished slavery (150 years ago). The CSA had slavery for the entirety of its (brief, due to being defeated) existence.

[jesse.in.mb]

Obama on the passage (and signing by President Museveni) of Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill:

As we have conveyed to President Museveni, enacting this legislation will complicate our valued relationship with Uganda. At a time when, tragically, we are seeing an increase in reports of violence and harassment targeting members of the LGBT community from Russia to Nigeria, I salute all those in Uganda and around the world who remain committed to respecting the human rights and fundamental human dignity of all persons.

Tee-hee it's complicated!

Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo responds to Obama's implicit threat:

"We don't like to blackmail others. It's very dishonest, very irresponsible and unfriendly of persons to attach behavior of another community to their sharing resources,"

Fuck. You. Foreign aid is generally just counter-productive moral masturbation but to act like we OWE him strings free US tax dollars makes me so fucking angry.
(Cont...)

[jesse.in.mb]

(...cont)
Museveni's remarks on signing the bill:

But since the medical authorities, the department of genetics of the Medical School from Makerere, say there is no proof yet that people are homosexual by genetics, I told those scientists to put it in writing and they are going to do so. Then I will sign the bill.

Am taking all these precautions because am historically answerable for whatever I do as a leader. There were mistakes made in the 1930s by Hitler because he wanted to make Germany strong. Some of these issues are very crucial and should be handled objectively not emotionally.

Are you fucking kidding me? We have to be very scientific about our bigotries because "mistakes were made" under the fucking NAZIS whose entire fucking MO was bigotries with a veneer of scientific backing. Do we have an award available for least self-aware statement by a nation's leader?

[Sevo]

..."We have to be very scientific about our bigotries because "mistakes were made" under the fucking NAZIS whose entire fucking MO was bigotries with a veneer of scientific backing."...

See Stalin, Lysenko. Long history of totalitarian 'scientism'.

[John]

You tell me jesse, what does Obama care about more, protecting homosexuals from government oppression, or his various anti-colonial prejudices and fantasies?

I don't about you, but I am betting on the latter.

[jesse.in.mb]

I honestly don't know. Libya makes me think his anti-colonial sentiments aren't much more than rhetoric. He seems to be very comfortable with pushing for changes in post-colonial countries, but I also don't think he has the chutzpah to start pulling the rug out from some of these countries for being absolute shitholes and humanitarian blights. Museveni is actively invoking 1930s Germany. Even if it's in an ostensibly cautionary way a purge is coming and it's going to be ugly, and it isn't just going to be Uganda (see the other two posts about Africa below)

[John]

I think in the end Obama has a huge daddy complex and would never pull the rug out of someone he thinks of as being one of his father's people and part of the anti colonial struggle. He will go pick a fight with Russia and create a danger of a real war. But no way will he do anything about some shit hole in Africa doing much worse, even if dealing with it would be relatively painless. He is really that stupid.

[jesse.in.mb]

The thing is it isn't just Obama. The EU is still looking at increasing aid to Gambia where the president just said "We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively." Although I suppose you could say the EU has even more hangups about colonial legacy to deal with.

The Gambian president sounds like a nutter in 2012 there was a run of executions of his critics and there's always:

A modern-day version of Papa Doc Duvalier, the late voodoo-practising dictator of Haiti, Mr Jammeh has a reputation for jailing anyone who says things he doesn't like. Such as questioning, for example, his declaration last year that he would rule for "a billion years" if necessary, or his claim in 2007 to have invented a herbal HIV cure.

[John]

It is because they all are really just racists who don't look at Africans as people. If you don't think of Gambians as full on people, you don't hold them to the same standards of moral behavior. They think well sure they are killing homosexuals, that is what those people do.

[Corning]

A few months ago there was a discussion about blaming colonialism on all the gay hate going on in the world that is not Europe and the US.

There are lots of things Uganda could have taken from their former European masters. Rule of law, property rights, not killing your neighbor with a machete, not raping every woman you see...the list goes on.

It seems odd to me that the one thing they keep from their colonial masters is hatred of the gays.

At the vary least they should be blamed for picking the wrong apple from the basket and more probable that they did not need colonialism at all to hate the gays and would have hated then regardless.

[jesse.in.mb]

It's probably more sensible to say that the post colonial legacy is a systematic, legally entrenched homophobia, not that it created the homophobia (and I'm using this in the very literal sense that they're trying to core out something they see as rotting their society from within).

But I certainly agree that some of these societies have cherry picked some awful legacies of colonialism including the bureaucracy in India.

[Corning]

post colonial legacy is a systematic, legally entrenched homophobia

Dude bullshit. It is impossible for me to see post colonial Muslim nations sticking with the gay bashing of 19th century English law while simultaneously adopting Sharia law for everything else.

Give me a fucking break.

You might think Latin America or non-muslim Asia and Africa could fall under you colonialism BS but it can't. Not when all of Islam is the exception to your rule.

[jesse.in.mb]

Are you being disagreeable just to be disagreeable? India and African countries are still using the same criminal codes for penalizing homosexuality except for cases where they've recently made them harsher. I honestly don't know enough about the specific laws in the post colonial Middle East to make or not make a specific exemption for Islam. My point was just that in some colonial countries homosexual behavior may have been stigmatized to various degrees but now has specific prison sentences attached to it. Did I anywhere make a claim that local culture didn't play a role in this process?

Not when all of Islam is the exception to your rule.

What rule? I didn't make any binding statement about anything other than that there are specific laws on the books in many post colonial countries where there may have just been nastiness before.

I think you're having a fight with someone in your imagination who is bitter about the history of western colonialism.

[Corning]

now has specific prison sentences attached to it.

As much of the world did not have prisons before colonialism put them there i would contend that putting gays in prison would be a blessing compared to what use to happen to homosexuals before colonialism got there.

This is in no way an apology for colonialism just that the idea that people world wide have not been killing gays for 1000s of years until Christian Europeans brought the idea to them is bullshit.

[jesse.in.mb]

until Christian Europeans brought the idea to them is bullshit.

Dandy, go make that argument to someone who believes that they did. You've successfully called bullshit on a position that I don't hold. Mazeltov!

[Calidissident]

Not that I disagree with your point, but it's not really surprising that they wouldn't take things like property rights, not killing or oppressing people etc. from Europeans, when those weren't things the Europeans demonstrated in their colonies, even if they respected them at home.

[Coeus]

Amanda Marcotte. Quite possible one of the greatest legal minds of our time.

This is all why it's doubly important, then, to support the push for states and universities and other institutions to create an affirmative consent standard, where both parties should display a "demonstrated intent to have sex" in order for it to be considered consent. Looking for a woman who said "yes" (or any variation of it, which can be expressed in a variety of ways, both verbal and nonverbal) instead of focusing on whether she said no in exactly the right words will help put the role alcohol plays into focus. It will clear up some of the murky gray areas, such as cases where a woman is too drunk to be articulate in her refusals but not so drunk that she passes out. It will also offer a degree of protection for scared men, because a somewhat intoxicated woman who explicitly asks for sex will have a hard time convincing the courts she hasn't "demonstrated intent" to bone. It's an easy way to get more guilty men convicted while offering protection for innocent men.

Three major things wrong here, and probably a few minor ones as well. Who's first?

[paranoid android]

The implicit assumption that all sexual assault is male-on-female is what jumped out at me the most.

[Coeus]

How about this line:

" It will also offer a degree of protection for scared men, because a somewhat intoxicated woman who explicitly asks for sex will have a hard time convincing the courts she hasn't "demonstrated intent" to bone. "

Now ask her about rape shield laws. Not to mention that feminists have pushed forever in the opposite direction.

I often wonder if she's maliciously lying, or if she is just that clueless.

[Coeus]

Because it couldn't be that she wants to put the burden of proof on the person claiming consent and then not let them mount a defense, or could it? They never think this shit through unless it's forced upon them. Anyone trying to reason with them is accused of "trying to figure out how to get away with rape".

That's why I love this new anti-SJW tactic of making them follow the same insane rules they try to force on other people in order to shut down rational conversation. Posted an example the other day.

[Corning]

all sexual assault is male-on-female

I say this is why I like woman on top...but it is a lie. I am just lazy.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Who's first?

I'm not touching that without a signed consent and release form.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Well I'm not saying nooooo.

*giggles*

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Ha, funny Slate commenters exist:

Personally, I've found that bringing a lawyer along on a date spoils the mood.

[paranoid android]

If the Marcottes of the world aren't fiercely resisted, I'd say we're 5-10 years away from that Dave Chapelle sketch about the consent contract no longer being satire.

[AuH20]

Dude, I would start suggesting using that for current college students and anyone who is dumb enough to date a chick who talks about being really into feminism. For regular people? Maybe never a possibility. But I would be super wary of sticking it into a lot of chicks on a college campus these days.

[Almanian!]

I'm gonna be one of the first to CURSE YOU FOR POSTING THIS!

Damn you, Coeus!!!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So if the guy is more drunk than the woman did the woman rape him?

[John]

What is funny is that Amanda is such of fucking moron she doesn't understand even adopting such a standard wouldn't solve the problem. The government has the burden of proving every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt. So, you want to add "there wasn't affirmative consent" as an element, knock yourself out Amanda. But we will be right back where we started the first time we go to court and the accused raises the reasonable possibility there was such consent.

[Coeus]

How? Rape shield laws prevent him from compiling a case.

[Corning]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20110829.gif

[Corning]

I think it would be fun to write one of these in a drunk scrawl.

"Corning can have sex with me. No anal. Signed random drunk girl."

[Mike M.]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights. Is this really a good issue to pick up before 2016?

So when he takes a principled position, he should be thinking more like a politician trying to win, and when he acts like a politician trying to win, he should be taking a more principled position.

I wish you guys would make up your damn minds already about how he should be running for president.

[CE]

He can't win either way. Unless he wins.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So I found this gem about "gun-nut" culture

As it happens the latest big gun news has been the Michael Dunn case (angry nut shoots black kid to death for loud music) which has made some folks nervous about firearms. In response comes National Review's David French to defend shootin' ahrns, but with a twist:

The protected class has a different view. The protected class is a dependent class ? not economically dependent of course, but dependent on the state in perhaps a more fundamental way (for their very lives) ? and like members of other dependent classes, they are terrified of flaws in the state's protective apparatus. Walled off from gun culture, they read the occasional, aberrant story of (legal) gun-owner stupidity or recklessness and cower in fear of a nonexistent threat.

Apparently French considers such forces a socialist aberration like welfare, and those who rely on them yet another species of moocher. In his ideal world I suppose such things would be privatized, as they were in the days before that dark statist chapter in world history called Civilization.

These people bitch when some gay people want to make them bake their wedding cake, yet when they win a few gun rights court cases their instinct is to try and turn society into some neo-feudal hellscape.

Notice how he validates the last sentence in the NRO except.

[Almanian!]

I have no idea what he's trying to express.

And I'm pretty grateful.

[tarran]

What's fucking comical was that he thinks widespread gun ownership is 'feudal'

In feudalism, the peasants didn't have weapons; the nobles were the only ones who could carry weapons (or their armsmen).

The proggies are the neofeudalists - pledging allegiance to a system that then provides them with protection, and expropriates half of their production in exchange.

[John]

He says that because these people are gripped by some kind of monstrous evil. Everything they say is the exact opposite of the truth.

[GILMORE]

I don't even understand what the fuck the retard is whinging about.

if there's anything about 'Bloggers' that makes me want to take a flamethrower to the lot of them, its their goddamned college-sophomore C- English Composition skills.

e.g.
"'that dark statist chapter in world history called Civilization."

..."turn society into some neo-feudal hellscape.""

What??

The douchebag just mashes some words together, all vaguely suggesting that "ME SMARTER THAN GUN MAN"

[jesse.in.mb]

While I'm on the topic of aid to countries led be complete fucking assholes: Gambia! where the president recently used the occasion of the 49th anniversary of British independence to make a speech that included:

We will fight these vermins called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively, [...]

We will therefore not accept any friendship, aid or any other gesture that is conditional on accepting homosexuals or LGBT as they are now baptised by the powers that promote them. As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence

Awesome bro, I hope the Western nations take you up on that offer. I'm sure your people will benefit hugely from you being a monumental prick.

Despite concerns over Gambia's poor human rights record, diplomats said the European Union could double aid to the country over the next seven years.

🙁

[Duke Trshmnstr of Stench]

As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence

Are they saying they don't like gays, or that they don't like penicillin treatable diseases?

[Jarl ? the booty]

So Google has announced the cities it will potentially roll out Google Fiber too next.

I am having a gay old time cackling at the moans and groans from people in SF, LA, and NYC that they aren't on the list (nor am I, for that matter), because for once, they aren't the first in line for a new product or service.

[jesse.in.mb]

I probably wouldn't get it even if it were in LA. They probably mean LA proper, which is huge, but is still small compared to "LA".

[paranoid android]

Portland?

PORTLAND!?

[Jarl ? the booty]

Portland!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Got to keep the hipsters happy.

[Juice]

I think those are the places they got permission so far.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

This add for a steam iron is...creative in its sexual wordplay

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

New app lets you and your lover create a timesheet for how much time you spend boning each other

Spreadsheet's like Foursqaure for your vagina, according to Nerve.com. Here are the top states for the longest sex times, which reportedly don't include foreplay but only penetration, and let's just say I'm considering a move to the Southwest.

1. New Mexico - (7:01)
2. West Virginia - (5:38)
3. Idaho - (5:11)
4. South Carolina - (4:48)
5. Missouri - (4:22)
6. Michigan -(4:14)
7. Utah - (3:55)
8. Oregon - (3:51)
9. Nebraska - (3:47)
10. Alabama - (3:38)
11. Delaware - (3:33)
12. Hawaii - (3:28)
13. Wisconsin - (3:22)
14. North Dakota - (3:18)
15. Arizona - (3:17)
16. Maryland - (3:15)
17. Mississippi - (3:10)
18. Rhode Island - (3:09)
19. Connecticut - (3:07)
20. Texas - (3:06)

Must be all that meth in New Mexico, Land of Enchantment

[Francisco d Anconia]

Is it just me or does 3:06 seem high?

[Jarl ? the booty]

So, are you telling me that chicks I've watched getting nailed for 15 minutes weren't actually real college sluts?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Jesus Christ:

I hate that almost all sex surveys only include straight people. I especially hate when the survey in question (like the one linked to above) just uses the word "sex" in the title so you think maybe it's inclusive, but then you read it and find it includes only straight people who were asked about vaginal sex. I've had straight people try to tell me that lesbians who have never had sex with men are virgins. I'm tired of being told that the sex I have with my wife is not "real sex."

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Scissor me timbers!

[Juice]

Where are they getting these numbers from? I guess I didn't realize that I was some sort of high-stamina stud or something.

[jesse.in.mb]

Kenyan Parliamentarians are furious that gays are not being prosecuted to the full extent of the law:

Members of Parliament are now planning to summon Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko and Attorney General Githu Muigai to explain why the State has failed to enforce anti-gay laws. The legislators say that in spite of the existence of the law banning homosexual behaviour, gays have had leverage to operate with impunity as the State appears helpless in cracking down on what they insist are outlaws.

Outlaws!? This is high butt-piracy we're talking about here. Shiver me timbers.

MPs Irungu Kangata (Kiharu), John Njoroge (Kasarani) and Julius Ndegwa (Lamu West) said they were appalled by recent activities of pro-gay groups demonstrating in support of homosexuals in Nairobi and Mombasa. They cited the provisions of Section 162 of the Penal Code, which prohibits same-sex relations and provides a jail term of not less than 14 years for those convicted of the felony.

GET ME MY FUCKING FAINTING COUCH. NOW. Fucking gays agitating to be treated like people. APPALLED.

[John]

Most of the world is really fucking barbaric.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Admit it Jesse, you're just angling to be appointed ambassador to some Central African shithole.

[jesse.in.mb]

Yeah, but if you tell everyone they'll never pick me.

[Cytotoxic]

At least the Ivory Coast is gay-okay. It's also on the upturn now that their war is over.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Leaders of the Kansas state Senate just say no to hate and puppy-killing; say there will be no vote on house bill on religious freedom.

Don't worry, the Senate will hold hearings in March about balancing religious freedom versus Not Hating the Gays.

"Thomas Witt, spokesman for Equality Kansas, the LGBT-rights organization that spearheaded opposition efforts, was reluctant to declare victory yet.

""That bill number. Yea," Witt said when asked to respond to news of the bill's demise.

""I think in the minds of the proponents, this is very much not a dead issue," Witt said."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2014.....rylink=cpy

http://www.kansascity.com/2014.....rsial.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- The University of Alabama apologized to a student anti-abortion group Monday after the removal of their display in the student center sparked controversy and reignited a free speech debate on campus, an issue of which some feel the university often runs afoul.

"...A UA worker emailed the group Monday, apologizing for the display's removal before the group's reserved end date and offering them an additional two days of display time. BSL will set up their display again on Thursday.

"In December 2013, a civil liberties organization named UA one of the "Worst Colleges for Free Speech" in the country."

http://www.al.com/news/tuscalo.....logiz.html

[PD Scott]

"In December 2013, a civil liberties organization named UA one of the "Worst Colleges for Free Speech" in the country."

I have to wonder how much of this is the echo-chamber tendencies of other schools. If no one dissents (much), how can you prove you don't have free speech?

[OldMexican]

President Obama better not approve the Keystone XL pipeline, suggest environmentalist groups.

Because, otherwise... they're not going to love him anymore.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) testified before Kentucky's Senate State and Local Government Committee to advocate for the restoration of felons' voting rights. Is this really a good issue to pick up before 2016?

Yes. Next question?

Missouri's attorney general wants the power to indefinitely detain sex offenders. Who cares about Constitutional rights, by Jove, we've got to do this for the children.

Next thing, he'll put them all to work making Air Jordans and wowsy apparel. For free. The 13th Amendment allows, doesn't it?

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

Apropos of nothing, the Yenrab household just started watching True Detective this evening. As though I needed another reason to contend that it's the Golden Age of TV.

All downhill from here, humanity.

[jesse.in.mb]

Extremely enjoyable. I watched the first five episodes in a row. Although I realized I missed some of the visual queues because I was doing other things at the same time and need to rewatch.

[Juice]

I don't know about Golden Age but HBO puts out some damned good shows.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Has there ever been an actor that's won an Oscar and an Emmy for acting in the same year?

Because McConaughey has an excellent shot at both.

[Winston]

Are the main characters a bunch of assholes with dysfunctional families and friends?

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

Yes! It's soooo realistic!

[~Knarf Yenrab~]

Having grown up in the NYPD Blue era of good tv, I feel like Boardwalk Empire, GoT, and the rest of HBO's lineup has spoiled this generation of young people.

Caution, teenaged TV viewers: the writers of Dexter are unemployed, and they're not about to start selling Lady Maytags while Netflix and Hulu are creating original programming.

[Sigivald]

President Obama warns that "there will be consequences" for those who resort to violence in Ukraine.

... and the goverments of Ukraine and Russia both realize that "consequences" most likely means a sternly worded letter or something very similar.

[Sevo]

Ha!
Obo's got DRONES!

[RishJoMo]

Sometimes man you jsut have to roll with it, thatks all.

http://www.Anon-Works.com