A.M. Links: Harry Reid Claimed Obamacare "Horror Stories" Untrue, Union Workers in Pennsylvania Exempt From Anti-Harassment Laws, Google Street View Now Has Polar Bears

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  Google

  Harry Reid claimed none of the "horror stories" about Obamacare were true, leading to well-deserved mockery. He's now revised that to the "vast majority" being untrue.

• A candidate for lieutenant governor in Texas mistakenly sent out an anti-"activist judge" tweet that insisted marriage was between ONE MAN & ONE MAN.
• Union workers in Pennsylvania are using a law that immunizes them from charges of harassment and stalking during labor disputes to harass and stalk their opponents.
• A car bomb today hit a tea shop in Mogadishu known to be frequented by intelligence agents , killing at least 11.
• Several European countries have begun the process of cutting foreign aid to Uganda over its anti-homosexuality law.
• Google Maps' Street View has expanded into the arctic with images, some including polar bears, taken from a trip through Churchill, Manitoba.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A candidate for lieutenant governor in Texas mistakenly sent out an anti-"activist judge" tweet that insisted marriage was between ONE MAN & ONE MAN.

No gay polygamy. That's where he draws the line.

[Heroic Mulatto]

No, he supported traditional marriage; that is a contract between a man and his bride's father.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Well played, HM.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[Slammer]

Howdy.

[waffles]

Salutations

[UnCivilServant]

Syn.

[Lord Humungus]

Good morning, slaves to the Libertarian Hive!

It's 5F outside and I'm spinning records and, ahem, "working from home"

[Elspeth Flashman]

What.. . is this like a roll call now?

[Pavlov's Cat]

Yo, Mr Kotter!

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

PRESENT!

[UnCivilServant]

Absent

[gaijin]

Absinthe

[Kaptious Kristen]

A/S/L?

[UnCivilServant]

I'm afraid I don't speak American Sign Language, sorry.

[VG Zaytsev]

Old man pickups the wrong child from school - mistaking him for his great-grandson. Realizes the mistake when he gets home and calls the school, which instructs him to bring the kid back.

Parents of said child are pissed that the school didn't call the kops and demand policy changes.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/.....72131.html

[Heroic Mulatto]

Ummm, lady, you need to teach your son not to accept rides from strangers.

[Apatheist ?_??]

At that age I wouldn't have accepted a ride from either of my great-grandparents either. Their minds were still very much in tact and more than a decade after but I wouldn't trust their driving skills.

[Brett L]

So obviously, they need to ruin this old guy's life for making an honest mistake and immediately rectifying it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

He sounds like a good candidate for the sex offender list, just because.

[Rich]

Especially if he had to pull over to "make water".

[Mainer2]

There was a similar case here in New Hampshire a few years ago, where a little boy in daycare got left behind at a public playground. The group returned to the daycare where workers immediately realized they were short one kid. He was still at the playground, and had been out of pocket for a total of about 20 minutes.
The similarity is the reaction of Mom who of course was outraged, demanding changes so that no family would have to suffer like she did. Suffer ?
Why have a measured response when you can go full victim status.

[Mike Laursen]

What is pickupping?

[Pelosi's Rabbit]

Am I wrong for finding the most disturbing thing here to be that a man who can't recognize his own great-grandson still drives himself around?

[UnCivilServant]

"It has a head, two arms and two legs, and was short. It was either the kid or Peter Dinkledge"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Several European countries have begun the process of cutting foreign aid to Uganda over its anti-homosexuality law.

This is about the time Russia starts cutting checks.

[WTF]

What's in it for the Russians to support Uganda?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Access to rare earth elements?

[WTF]

Makes sense.

[wareagle]

I get the sense that screwing with Obama is all the justification Putin needs these days.

[JWatts]

Putin gets a chance to shoot a bird to the West.

[Ted S.]

In Africa, it's Red China doing the check-cutting.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Trafficking of children, ok, here's your aid.

Anti-homosexuality? The line must be drawn!

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

UN peacekeeping forces get aid...?

Oh, you meant states that do that.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Do you think women are treated equally in Uganda?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Traded equally? Sure.

Oh, treated! Sure, they are all treated equally - equally poor, shabby and trod upon.

[WTF]

Harry Reid claimed none of the "horror stories" about Obamacare were too, leading to well-deserved mockery.

Too what? No wonder he was mocked, he talks like a valley girl.

[Slammer]

Dose tories are todally not too.

[waffles]

too sexy. Harry Reid is not aroused by the Kochs.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Too Kochtopussed.

[Rich]

he talks like a valley girl.

OMG, I would gag myself with a spoon if I heard Reid really talk like that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Google Maps' Street View has expanded into the arctic with images, some including polar bears, taken from a trip through Churchill, Manitoba.

Al Gore, done in by his own internet.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Churchill and polar bears are like chocolate and peanut butter. They go well together.

Al Gore. Ha, ha.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Neat post examining which states and provinces rely most on Federal transfers. On the aggregate, American states take in more than their Canadian counterparts, but on a per capita basis, the provinces rake in more. Makes sense to me.

http://worthwhile.typepad.com/.....rison.html

[PRX]

doesn't count the state income tax subsidy from the feds.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Go on...meaning? The numbers would be higher?

[sarcasmic]

'She wasn't scared a bit': How girl ELEVEN grabbed gun and shot dead cougar that was stalking her brother, 13, outside their house
Shelby White, 11, killed her first cougar on her grandfather's ranch in Twisp, Washington, last week
Female cougar had been spotted near family's home twice in the days prior to the shooting
Shelby's 9-year-old brother, Cody, shot a 125-pound cougar earlier this month
Tanner White, 13, Shelby and Cody's oldest brother, killed a big cat near the ranch around same time
Shelby has been hunting since she was 8 or 9, and so far she has bagged herself three deer
State officials and hunters killed 10 other cougars during the winter season

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-week.html
Comments are pure derp.

[Jordan]

Too bad she didn't have the presence of mind to throw the icky gun in the trash and let her brother get mauled to death.

/progderp

[WTF]

Some of the idiot commenters are just certain that if the kid flapped his arms the cougar would have run away.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Not if it was hungry.

[Bardas Phocas]

It worked in that movie I vaguely remember.
So, yes, that's what she should have done.
Absolutly.

[Zeb]

Odds are probably OK that that would work. But OK odds of not getting eaten by a cougar are not really good enough. And if it was stalking people, it will come back.

[thom]

I doubt she is trained to handle wild cougars. She should have called a trained professional (a ranger or a game warden) to come and deal with the cougar. She put both herself and her brother in risk by trying to deal with the threat herself. She got lucky this time, but she's unlikely to be as lucky a second time. Either her school should discipline her or the local police should take action so that she understands what she did is wrong.

/prog

[MJGreen]

She got lucky this time, but she's unlikely to be as lucky a second time.

She's statistically guaranteed to shoot herself in the head next time she tries this!!

[Brett L]

Clever girl.

[waffles]

+1 velociraptor

[Jordan]

-1 Robert Muldoon

[Bookkeeper]

+1 Om nom nom

[BardMetal]

Wow the first comment read says she should have just fired a warning shot at a cougar that was stalking her brother.

What with these people it sounds like they would have preferred that the kid get eaten.

[lap83]

She should have been in school learning about how she needs the big strong government to save her from the patriarchy.

[Warty]

My favorite:

MedusaC, manchester, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago
I find it very disturbing that these children find it so easy to kill. They are not being taught to respect life, and that is worrying. Most children are taught to respect animals and life; these children have obviously been taught to kill with ease. We all know that animals are killed to provide food, but these children seem to look on the dead animals as trophies. Not right, not right at all.

[Brett L]

Oh, I think they respect life more than this fellow. They are protecting the lives of themselves and their cattle from imminent threat, or shooting deer both for food and population management. But don't let the feelz stop this guy from judging from his suburb.

[Firework Surprise]

In all the time I spend out here in the Colorado Wilderness areas, this is the one animal that scares me enough to carry a bear sized revolver.

I suppose that my insistence on entering their domain should allow them to kill my kid or my dog.

[sarcasmic]

Seems like once a year some jogger in Boulder gets mauled.

[sarcasmic]

What happens when a coal mine catches fire: The smoky disaster which is choking an entire town - and which could last for months
Coalmine in Aussie town has been on fire for almost three weeks after an arsonist lit bushfire that spread
Morwell has been engulfed in smoke and authorities say the fire could take months to extinguish
13,000 residents are worried about the long-term health risks from smoke exposure
Police say the arsonist has 'local knowledge' and they are worried the perpetrator could strike again
Local business owners and residents are gathering evidence considering class action against mine's owners

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-town.html

[Brett L]

Aren't there mines in the former Soviet Union still burning?

[sarcasmic]

There are mines in China that have been burning for hundreds of years.

[WTF]

I think there's one in Pennsylvania that's been burning for decades.

[UnCivilServant]

Centralia, PA to be precise.

[WTF]

That's the one.

[Invisible Finger]

I believe there is one in Pennsylvania still burning.

[Invisible Finger]

And I believe it is in Centralia.

Might as well go for the full redundancy.

[Lord Humungus]

Silent Hill!

[DEG]

Centralia, PA is still burning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_PA

[UnCivilServant]

I should have looked downthread before commenting above.

[DEG]

If I had seen WTF's comment, I would have replied to his comment. Oh well. Life will go on.

[sarcasmic]

Carrying a 65lb missile while wearing an 40lb pack: Female soldiers must meet the same physical requirements as men to serve in battle... no wonder only 8% want combat roles
Only eight percent of women in the armed forces want combat jobs
Both men and women are emphatic that the military can't lower standards of physical requirements to accommodate women
The Army is abandoning traditional physical fitness tests like pushups
Now they test battlefield tasks like dragging a wounded comrade to safety
Soldiers of both genders are nervous about women in combat jobs
Women fear being seen as getting jobs because of their gender

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

[Drake]

Never met an enlisted female Marine or Soldier who had the slightest interest in serving in the Infantry. Just officers looking for a ticket punch.

When I was in a "non-combat" unit and we went did stuff like force-marches, the ladies all found other things to do. Some of them couldn't carry a combat load of gear into the barracks in one trip, much less march 30 miles with it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This doesn't surprise me one bit.

How many butch girls who can rival a guy can there be?

Shit, I was reading the amount of chin ups needed to do and realized I triple it!

[Drake]

1 out of 130 according to the Canadian Army (before they went PC and lowered their standards).
http://www.heretical.com/miscella/frcombat.html

[Steve G]

LOL. link blocked at work due to "intolerance" filter

[Bardas Phocas]

Power Armor will fix this (until it shorts out).

[UnCivilServant]

Then the standards will be being able to drag the armor out of combat, as it's more valuable to the overlords than the person inside.

[Mickey Rat]

Life is cheap, 'mechs are expensive.

[Invisible Finger]

Still trying to figure out why we need standards for cannon fodder.

[politicsbyothermeans]

1/10 for making me reply.

Are you fucking serious?

[Jerms]

Same shit they've done at the FDNY, lower physical standards to get more women aboard and dumb down the test to get more minorities. Its an insult to the people they are trying to help if you ask me. I can thank some liberal judge for making my job more dangerous.

[KDN]

I took the FDNY written test a few years ago. In the auditorium before they sent us off the classrooms I spotted a total of two women and about 15 black people out of the 1,000 or so people there. About 1/4 of the test was devoted to general intelligence questions (1/3 math, 1/3 memorization, 1/3 mechanical knowledge), the rest was a personality test: a firefighter in your house does X; how do you respond? (Answer A-E)

Naturally, my class's test was thrown out because not enough women and minorities passed, so it had to be dumbed down even further despite the difficulty of the test clearly not being the problem. They've been tossing tests for at least thirty years and it never seems to change anything.

[Jerms]

They just hired about 200 minorities who failed the test ten years ago. Just got a new 39 year old probie in my house. They all got TEN years back pay. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for failing a test AND seniority over anyone with less than ten years on the job.

[Rhywun]

And then they get to retire in ten years at my expense. Sweet gig.

[Jerms]

The half retarded probie thanks you.

[Invisible Finger]

Wait til you see how they milk their first responder "hero" status.

[Steve G]

Regardless of whether they WANT to do this, women are capable of this; they just need to take exercise advice from someone other than gwyneth paltrow.

I watched 4 women yesterday do a powerlifting meet in the pentagon gym, 3 of which were physically within mil BMI standards. The weakest one pulled 275 from the floor. They just need to know how to train, which unfortunately is still not conventional wisdom...yet

[Drake]

Many of the female Marines washing out of Infantry Officer's course had problems with their knees, hips, backs, and other serious injuries. The female body just isn't built for that kind of abuse.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Know what? Nothing wrong with that. Women play vital roles in other areas of our lives and economy. Why we need to force-equalize things is beyond me.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Women play vital roles in other areas of our lives and economy.

We do?!?!?! Gee thanks, Mister!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah. In my bed.

/winks.

[Steve G]

Probably true. But I also think a lot of women aren't exposed to smart and effective physical training until they get to the military and don't really have a base to carry them through. I'm just saying the potential is there for greater numbers than we're seeing.

[Drake]

At one point I was in an unit with a very large, fit woman. She could easily outrun me in running shoes and shorts. But, she broke her leg in spectacular fashion during an urban warfare course while wearing combat gear. No amount of exercise will make a woman's bones as thick as a man's.

[Steve G]

On average, yes, but with averages come variance. I'm sure guys w/ "women sized" bones have made it through these courses. I'm w/ Rufus, no need to force quotas or anything, but no need to make blanket statements that an entire gender is incapable of making the attempt if they're feeling froggy.

[Rhywun]

But as long as the mindset is that there is a quota to fill, in these people's minds you might as well be arguing for women to stay in the kitchen.

[Drake]

Our political and military leaders simply don't have the guts required to accept a 99% washout rate for women in combat MOS.

[Steve G]

^this

[Invisible Finger]

So you're saying they have the guts of women?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

That's okay, I'm sure Joss Whedon will make a movie showing how a 120-pound pixie can totally kick the ass of an entire platoon of men that outweigh her by 100 pounds or more.

[politicsbyothermeans]

8%!!!!! Oops, wrong thread.

[sarcasmic]

Is this the fate that awaits Sochi? Bullet-sprayed and covered with weeds, inside the eerie ruins of Sarajevo's Winter Olympics Park
The 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games was a symbol of peace and hope
War broke out in the '90s, tearing Yugoslavia apart and leaving Sarajevo under siege for years
The site was left to deteriorate, to store weapons and bury bodies
The site is now overrun with vegetation and a target for graffiti vandals

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

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Was depressing when I was there in 1997 - note the use they found for the grounds around Zetra

http://miserabledonuts.blogspo.....-post.html

[sarcasmic]

The film that makes Private Ryan look like kids' stuff: Move over Hollywood, the Russians are coming - with a blood-drenched film about the most savage battle in history. But, says MAX HASTINGS, the reality was even more barbaric

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

[Drake]

The poster looks aweful - like cartoon propaganda.

Stalingrad was probably the stupidest most senseless battle ever fought. It really solidified Hitler's reputation as a military retard who was promoted too high when he made Corporal.

[prolefeed]

Both sides fought under retarded orders from their Dear Leaders. The Russians ordered their soldiers to not retreat a single step, "the only extenuating circumstance is death",shot over 12,000 of their own troops for retreating or alleged cowardice, and sent troops into battle with no weapons -- you waited for the guy in front of you to die and then grabbed his gun, which might have had two or three bullets in it.

It's what happens when sociopaths clawing their way to power get to treat other humans as animate objects.

[Bookkeeper]

Old Soviet Joke: A child asked his papa, "What is the difference between Communists and Scientists?"

Papa replied, "It's simple, son - Scientists experiment on animals."

[BardMetal]

Wasn't Stalingrad on the way to the oil fields in Baku?

[Drake]

Sure. Surround it, bypass it, and keep going if those oil fields are worth it.

If the Russians try to breakout or relieve the city, fight them in the open country where the Germans have all the advantages. Not in the city where they have none.

[waffles]

I thought Enemy at the Gates did an excellent job of both showing how senseless and awful Stalingrad was while providing entertaining Nazi-killings.

[waffles]

So I guess my sense or taste for historical accuracy is a bit off. Inglorious Basterds was a documentary right?

[Drake]

Sure, so is the new 300 movie.

[JEP]

mmm Eva Green

[Jon Lester]

I did see "Enemy at the Gates" in the theater. This new thing has to be better.

[sarcasmic]

Head over heels! Acrobatic Gemma Collins displays her voluptuous curves on the beach in Dubai... after claiming her body is 'disgusting'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....sting.html
John pron!

[Heroic Mulatto]

No. That is not "voluptuous"; that is "Rubenesque". There is a difference.

[WTF]

"Fat". The word you are looking for is "fat".

[prolefeed]

Fat and muscular.

Bleah.

[gaijin]

after claiming her body is 'disgusting'

Well, she does seem to have a realistic sense of herself.

[Warty]

It's called "volumptuous".

[Rich]

"Hello, 911? Yes, there's a dead whale washed up on shore."

[waffles]

Shes's right. Her body is fairly disgusting. There are uglier fat women. Though that's about the best compliment I can offer.

Why did someone take photos of her and put them online? That's cruel.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Fortunately you threw yourself on that photo grenade...sparing me the grief. Thanks!

[Tejicano]

I can only guess that the photographer and the editor were looking through the pictures thinking "Hell, I've done worse - and will again if I'm lucky".

[Rich]

"You can't stop someone who only cares about killing himself," said Mohamed Abdi, a Somali police officer.

Word, Mohamed.

But what about someone who cares about killing himself and others?

[Slammer]

Border Patrol's use of deadly force criticized in report
An independent review of U.S. Border Patrol shootings criticizes the agency for 'lack of diligence' in its investigations and suggests that agents' tactics sometimes create a pretext to open fire.

The review was completed in February 2013 by the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit research and policy organization in Washington that works closely with law enforcement agencies. Experts from the group were allowed to examine internal Border Patrol case files on 67 shooting incidents from January 2010 to October 2012.

The authors said evidence in the case files suggested border agents in some cases stood in the road to shoot at drivers who were trying to avoid arrest and who posed no direct lethal threat to them or others.

[waffles]

"It's a little bit like talking about gateway drugs," said State Rep. Ron Miller (R., York), who is backing a bill to remove the harassment provision. "If you allow certain activities to be immune, it just enhances that culture of conflict that leads to more dangerous behavior."

Unions. Not even once.

[kinnath]

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/2....._hysteria/

Old, white, wrinkled and angry, they are slipping from polite society in alarming numbers. We're losing much of a generation. They often sport hats or other clothing, some marking their status as veterans, Tea Partyers or "patriots" of some kind or another. They have yellow flags, bumper stickers and an unquenchable rage. They used to be the brave men and women who took on America's challenges, tackling the '60s, the Cold War and the Reagan years ? but now many are terrified by the idea of slightly more affordable healthcare and a very moderate Democrat in the White House.

Another ungrateful brat ridicules his father for not falling under the influence of radical progressism.

[Heroic Mulatto]

are terrified by the idea of slightly more affordable healthcare

The "Hands off my Medicare" screechers?

Go fuck yourself, Salon.

[gaijin]

tackling the '60s, the Cold War and the Reagan years

yeah, those three things are all the same.

[sarcasmic]

In twenty years from now there will be young adults who believe that the occupy movement was important, just as children of the stinky sixties hippies thought that the hippie movement were important.

[gaijin]

there will be young adults who believe that the occupy movement was important,

at least the hippies had woodstock and good music to be revisited a generation later. What did Occupy create?

[waffles]

I think there were puppets?

[Rich]

What was the drumming, chopped liver?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I still have the "this is what democracy looks like" chant stuck in my head.

Democracy, sitting in a park, beating on a drum.

[UnCivilServant]

We had dipshits in our park downtown for a few weeks. They were on the city half because the state police drove them off of the state half. The left the place a wreck. No one ever publically released the cost of repair. I can't be arsed to FOIL it.

[Brett L]

On the plus side, they turned the Occupy site in Tallahassee, right in the middle of all the government buildings, into a food truck park. Got the food trucks off narrow streets, give the workers variety, give the trucks concentrated choice. Seems like a win-win. My only regret is taking a different job away from that choice.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You missed the "moderate Democrat" part - which is true. Obama is barely distinguishable from Bill Clinton other than his skin color and the fact he doesn't chase pussy all the time.

This is why rational people like myself don't get the rage built up among you low-info types.

Is Obama a libertarian? Not even close. But no president since Carter can even claim to do anything close to deregulation and non-aggression.

Those are facts.

[WTF]

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

[Jordan]

Bill Clinton didn't assert the right to assassinate, indefinitely detain, and spy on American citizens without due process. Nor did he assert the right to force people to engage in commerce.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Well, the WOT overreach is hardly "radical progressivism", is it? It is par the for course these days. And at least we quit torturing people and will be out of both wars soon.

And mind you, Hillary-Care would have been far worse than ObamaCare. With the latter we still have the private insurance private doctor/hospital delivery model nicely in place.

[Jordan]

Tu quoque, as usual.

With the latter we still have the private insurance private doctor/hospital delivery model nicely in place.

Only with dozens of new restrictions, taxes, and regulations.

[politicsbyothermeans]

Quit torturing people? You really are fucking daft, aren't you?

Not that you're smart enough to understand what I mean here but "it's not Hillary-Care!" is hardly a ringing endorsement of the ACA.

[prolefeed]

Bill Clinton didn't assert the right to assassinate, indefinitely detain, and spy on American citizens without due process. Nor did he assert the right to force people to engage in commerce.

Clinton is not currently condemning any of this shit. He's probably pissed that he wasn't hopey-changy enough to get away with being openly, overtly sociopathic.

[Jordan]

Wouldn't surprise me. I was just going by his record.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Plus when Hillary runs against Jeb they will debate on which one will "protect us most" from those scary Mooslims.

[kinnath]

among you low-info types

Fuck
Off.

[sarcasmic]

PB must have heard Limbaugh use the phrase and now he's repeating it without knowing what it means. Ironic.

[wareagle]

what exactly has Obama deregulated?

[Palin's Buttplug]

I said there had been nothing close to a libertarian POTUS since Carter (who deregulated many industries and adhered to the NAP).

[Mike M.]

Obama is barely distinguishable from Bill Clinton other than his skin color and the fact he doesn't chase pussy all the time.

No one is going to believe your bullshit, Weigel.

Clinton was pretty moderate, and he especially moved towards the center after being repudiated in the first midterm, showing himself willing to negotiate with republicans.

Obama on the other hand is a fully committed lefty, and in contrast to Clinton, he has moved further and further to the left as he has gone along, and he has officially adopted a "my way or the highway" position, proudly declaring that he won't negotiate with republicans on anything.

[Invisible Finger]

When BHO was a Senator he ranked as one of the most left-leaning Congressmen. That pretty much was his advantage over Hilary Clinton, as she couldn't convince the Dem base she wasn't as moderate as Bill.

[PowerBottom]

The arrogance of these people thinking they won't end up old and in diapers like everyone else.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

O!care will be there to have them euthanized before they get to that point.

[Steve G]

polite society

Is that a society where everyone does what Dear Leader says?

[Warty]

He thinks liberals are all stupid, ignorant fucks who hate America.

Well, maybe not all of them are. ...No, all.

Also, it's cute that Salon, which nowadays publishes nothing but hate for the Right, is complaining about Fox News hating the left.

[Warty]

I, and people like me, have managed to break the cycle of conservative red-and race-baiting.

Good for him for inserting the necessary adjectives. They sure as hell haven't stopped baiting.

[JD the elder]

"They often sport hats or other clothing"

As opposed to the nudists who make up the rest of society.

[Palin's Buttplug]

He's now revised that to the "vast majority" being untrue.

It is a lot easier to get it right the first time.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

I have been burning to ask this question, Butt; Are you just a normal person, commenting on your beliefs (stupid as they may be), or are you PAID to be here by a government entity?

[WTF]

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

[Palin's Buttplug]

I've commented here for at least six years. I am a small-gov independent type who escaped the GOP plantation long ago.

We'll live through Obamacare - it preserves the private delivery components of our health care system. I listed the worse laws Bush passed the other day and stopped at nine.

[Jordan]

I am a small-gov independent type

Who nonetheless defends every law and regulation proposed and/or passed, as long as Obama agrees with it.

[wareagle]

if you believe in small govt, I'm am the king of Siam. There is no possible way you can believe in that and still vote for Obama. Just stop.

[Palin's Buttplug]

There is no possible way you can believe in that and still vote for Obama.

Does that include the Reason editors too? I remember one of them voted for Obama just to punish the GOP for Bush.

I am right there on that.

[Jordan]

The Reason editors don't slavishly defend Obama's latest statist venture like you do.

[Citizen Nothing]

Some folks learn from their mistakes. The Plug, not so much.

[Azathoth!!]

Does that include the Reason editors too?

Absofukkinlutely.

If you're a Libertarian, and you're pissed at the GOP, you vote....oh, I dunno......for the LP candidate maybe? You never vote for Captain Statist.

[Lord Humungus]

DERP!

[Mike M.]

I have been burning to ask this question, Butt; Are you just a normal person, commenting on your beliefs (stupid as they may be), or are you PAID to be here by a government entity?

"Palin's Buttplug" is actually a guy named David Weigel who, sadly, used to write for Reason back in '08, before moving to the more leftist institutions where he belongs.

He was a member of Ezra Klein's "JournoList", but he is so vile and rightfully hated by so many people that one of his fellow list members couldn't take him any more and exposed him as the sociopathic liar and phony that he is, blowing the whole entire thing wide open and forcing Klein to shut it down.

He fully remains a JournoList in spirit though, meaning that his nominal job is to behave as a reporter, but in reality he gets paid to shill for Obama and the democratic party. So when he pretends to be something other than what he is under this sockpuppet persona that he has created for this board, he is indeed doing the job that he's truly getting paid for.

[gaijin]

Politicians and their fondlers only understand three numerical values: all, none or most. Specific data and precise numbers are for losers.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

I got up early just so I could beat you guys to the punch on the A.M. links.

And you guys just had to go and screw it all up by being faster than me.

I hate you sometimes, FoE.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You thought you could drag your ass out of bed eleven minutes past nine eastern time and then cruise into the top spot?

[Lord Humungus]

He is, after all, the Russian Prime Minister

[Auric Demonocles]

It's actually pretty late in the day in Russia.

[Lord Humungus]

Time for Vodka!

[Elspeth Flashman]

In Russia, it's always time for vodka, comrade.

[UnCivilServant]

As their death rate from alcohol poisoning can attest.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

You watch your ass, FoE. . .

There's a new guy in the kingdom, and he's eyeballin' your spot on the throne.

*cue inappropriate western whistle tune*

[waffles]

Here yah go.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I've explained it before. There is no throne. I just happen to come along some days and see that there's a new Links post so I read it over and if a comment about one of the links pops into my head I type it out and sometimes no one has yet commented before me.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

LIES!! He has Warty Hugeman's timesuit and goes back to make his comments at the exact moment to be first.

[Lord Humungus]

I don't think any mortal could wear Warty's timesuit. The, er, remains inside would kill.

[UnCivilServant]

We don't need anyone to put it on, we just need to reverse engineer the temporal motivator.

[Rich]

Knife found in dad's car may get teen banned from graduation

And that's the *best* part of the story. 8-(

Reason bloggers -- are you covering this?

[sarcasmic]

You're a couple days late to the party.

[Rich]

Sorry. The NSA was supposed to inform me.

[PowerBottom]

UCLA student has meltdown when Israel boycott measure fails.

Via legal Insurrection
http://networkedblogs.com/Ucbv1

[gaijin]

Tears like wine.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Again, I ask if that young woman would weep with such heartfelt despair if she ever viewed the post-mortem photos of the 1 month old Israeli girl who was stabbed to death in her crib by a Palestinian terrorist in an attack on Itamar* that was authorized and defended by the al-Asqa Martyr's Brigade, the armed wing of the "moderate" Fatah party?

I wager not.

*Not to be confused with the first attack on Itamar, where only a 5 year old Israeli boy was shot in cold blood.

[PowerBottom]

I saw a guy on campus the other day with a "Gays for Palestine" shirt on. If he wanted to be gay in Palestine he'd have to move to fucking Israel.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have a feeling that for many, "Gay for Palestine" means they swoon for the wiry, swarthy, olive-skinned with black wavy hair, oozing with masculinity and 5 o'clock shadow guerrillas. Their actual social and political views don't matter much.

[Tonio]

Even though I don't share your reflexive apologism for all things Israeli, that is pretty good HM.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Hey Rufus. Time to bounce?

An astounding 19 per cent of Quebecers ? that's one adult in five ? say they have given serious consideration in the last year to leaving Quebec. The numbers are even more dramatic among non-francophones in the poll, half of whom say they've wondered whether now is the time to crisser son camp.

Typically, some prominent Quebec nationalists have tried to downplay the poll results. On Radio-Canada's Le Club des Ex Tuesday afternoon, panelist Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, a former PQ MNA, said exactly that. "There's nothing new or surprising" about the poll, he said. He suggested that similar results occur every time the PQ is in power.

Although it's certainly true that many anglophones and allophones feel more isolated or alienated when the PQ is in power, the percentage has never been this high, even during and following two emotional referendum campaigns. In fact, the numbers have increased dramatically just in the last year: Shortly after the election that gave the PQ a minority government, an Ekos poll showed that 42 per cent of anglos were considering moving. Today, it's 51 per cent.

More here. He says it's turning into a Quebec he doesn't recognize, but it looks pretty familiar to me. Why so surprised they've turned to suppressing religion after so successfully repressing language choice?

[SugarFree]

Jean-Pierre Charbonneau

Punchable name.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Quebecers are good at punchable names.

[Ted S.]

They should vote to secede. 😉

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh, I know. It's worse than ever. There isn't a person who I know who isn't considering leaving. It never was like this. My wife has had it. My friends who never felt the need to also are looking around.

We're already preparing ourselves to not keep our daughter in Quebec. The situation is pretty bad. You have to understand, the nationalists and PQ are out of their fucking xenophobic minds.

The province of Quebec is a laggard on many levels and indicators, yet, the cunts and assholes in the PQ continue to divide us with their petty policies - not to mention taxing the living shit out of us.

They can go fuck themselves. My blood boils each time I hear stuff like this. Reason would tremble at just how far Quebec goes when it comes to assaulting civil liberties.

Anyway. The problem us non-Francophones face is that many of us - not welcomed in the civil service or open to unionized jobs - are land or business owners. It's hard to pick up and go with illiquid assets.

Some do, but it's hard.

My ENTIRE family is on board. It's just a question of organizing it and liquidating. I've invested in a med lab company through an American friend in Florida. We're seeing this as a step in that direction.

My feeling is, despite all the problems in the USA, it's better than this shit hole.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

To add: The picture of that kid in the article is accurate. We laugh at those people all the time. They're usually a ragged assortment of leftists clinging on to nationalist gibberish harkening back to 19th century romanticism. They're idiots.

And the fact remains, Montreal was king in Canada before 1976. It's now a jack (jack-shit) in Canada since then. That can be connected to the rise of the PQ who have ran this place aground economically.

Look up L'office de la langue Francaise' and look at how retarded it is. Now jurisdiction on the continent as the sort of PUNITIVE language laws we have here.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'No jurisdiction on the continent has..'

C'est vraiement pitoyable. Pequistes are such assholes they literally tell CITIZENS 'parle moi en francais' as if we're second class citizens.

Tell you what, I'd speak English just to spite them.

[UnCivilServant]

Hearing someone speak French makes me violent. I'd end up bludgeoning them with whatever was at hand.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's sad is the Quebec people, as a whole, are pretty cool and laid back. It's when they get fed all this divisive fear-mongering they get ruffled.

Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for even mild-mannered Quebecers to accept regressive laws that infringe on everyone's rights.

[UnCivilServant]

Do you think it's a genetic trait they got from the French? Or a cultural taint?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

There's some of that. The French are notoriously quarrelsome and here in Canada, they tend to whine a little.

They yap about oppression yet they live a pretty damn good life. Quebecers love their ski-doos, motorcycles, boats and swimming pools. I don't see evil Anglos preventing them from achieving their joie de vivre.

[Invisible Finger]

Anglos preventing them from achieving their joie de vivre.

Can you put that in English?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Yeah, sorry to say, it is better than that shithole. Sorry you have to deal with something so difficult, though.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Meh.

[Ted S.]

e nationalists and PQ are out of their fucking xenophobic minds.

But hating Anglophones is acceptable xenophobia.

It's funny how "multicularalism" always seems to exclude certain first world cultures.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Quebec rejects multiculturalism. The nationalists loathe it because it runs afoul with their agenda of 'Quebecois purity.'

Honestly, I'm no fan of it either in terms of policy but I won't lie in bed with the PQ over it.

Remember, two derelicts in their ranks - Pierre Drainville and Jean Francois Lisee- compared their actions in the Quebec Charter as being in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson regarding its secular flavor. Ignorant hacks. Another cunt, Diane De Courcy, wants to ban 'Bonjour/Hi.' Even civil discourse they attack.

They're mental and are lead by a mean-spirited Hobbit in Pauline Marois.

[Gene]

Ren? L?vesque was fucking hilarious back in the day.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes he was. He's a hero to them.

Our history teacher showed his funeral back in high school. He turned the TV off after he realized it was nothing but a chance for us to practice our comedic skills.

Macabre yes. Disrespectful perhaps. But the fucker was not on our side so...

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Another cunt, Diane De Courcy, wants to ban 'Bonjour/Hi.'

Wow, that was the only thing you've said that I didn't already know and IT'S INSANE. Bonjour/hi is totally sacred to Montreal culture.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You don't know half the shit we know and go through.

The OLF demanded a Greek place remove the word 'Souvlaki' and replace it with the generic 'brochette.'

The Greek man was beside himself. Can you get anymore ignorant and meanspirited?

I can go on and on and on...

[UnCivilServant]

I know what Souvlaki is, but what the hell is a 'brochette'? it sounds like a very small pamphlet.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Look up Bill 14.

Weep.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ted, to add, they're filled with contradictions of that sort. It's mind-boggling. They justify their prejudiced behavior as being 'necessary' to protect the culture and language.

Never mind that the state of Quebec French (seen as rural by the French) is abysmal in school these days. They can barely teach it themselves. Moreover, with their Anglo bashing (and they do hate the rich here just like American progs) they actually do a disservice to their beautiful language.

Suppressing one language to prop another is apparently sound policy.

[Brett L]

A car bomb today hit a tea shop in Mogadishu known to be frequented by intelligence agents

Jesus Christ. This straight out of Conrad. Where else are the Saudis, Chinese, French, and Americans going to honey pot each other?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Youth softball team to raffle "Tarus Judge" handgun - makes front page of AJC.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/l.....k_homepage

Oh, the controversy!

[PowerBottom]

"I'm for people having (guns) in their homes or using them for hunting or whatever they want to use them for," said Smith. "If it's anything to do with kids, I don't think weapons should be involved."

What about homes with guns *and* kids in them?

[Rich]

What about cops serving and protecting kids?

[UnCivilServant]

Does not compute.

[WTF]

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

[Mainer2]

The real controversy is why not raffle off a decent handgun instead of a novelty.

[UnCivilServant]

No one wanted to give up a good weapon.

[The Late P Brooks]

Old, white, wrinkled and angry, they are slipping from polite society in alarming numbers. We're losing much of a generation.

GET OFF MY LAWN, OLD MAN!

[PowerBottom]

Adam Driver from HBO's Girls is reportedly going to be the new Star Wars villain. He looks like he could pull off that bad guy look, but I've never seen anything with him in it. Anyone know if he's any good? I'm worried it will turn out to be Star Wars: Rise of the Hipsters.

http://variety.com/2014/film/n.....201121646/

[Jordan]

I stopped caring about Star Wars after the unmitigated shit show that was the prequels.

[Brett L]

I don't know. He isn't bad. I don't like his character, but his acting doesn't distract you from the character he plays. Still, how are they going to get a mask over that nose? Unless he's going to be one of those elephant aliens from the Cantina.

[Don Mynack]

Why is Girls so-talked about? It gets around 600K viewers an episode - that's about as much as the worst rated show on the CW - and yet I can't avoid reading about it. It's not even a highly-rated HBO show (True Detective doubles its viewers, Game of Thrones destroys it). Do only media types watch this show?

[UnCivilServant]

I only hear about it from H&R Commentators.

[Brett L]

Because every one of those 600k is in the 25-45 and most are women. So if those are the people you want reading your website, you host a Girls recap/discussion blog.

[Anomalous]

I watched the first two episodes. Not funny at all, and Lena Dunham is the fugliest woman I have ever seen.

[Rich]

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has promised to take action over claims Russian athletes inhaled performance-enhancing gas at the Winter Olympics.

Ban XENON -- for the CHILDREN!!

[Brett L]

More like ignoble gas, amirite?

[The Other Kevin]

Apparently they ran out before they got to the hockey team.

[Rich]

They had to use helium.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Dave Gettleman playing a dangerous game with Steve Smith

[Jordan]

Aren't we all?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Two big pieces of news:
1.) STRIPPED is now available for pre-order on iTunes! Go now and snag your copy!
2.) Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes fame has kindly drawn the poster for the film!

Stripped as you know, is a full-length documentary on the world's best cartoonists, featuring the first-ever recorded interview with Bill Watterson. The film explores the art of the comics strip, the cartoonists behind your favorite strips, and where the art form goes as newspapers die.

[Auric Demonocles]

When I was ~7 I got a poorly written letter published in the editorial section of the newspaper when I tried to convince Watterson to keep writing Calvin and Hobbes (I suggested he should consider "just taking a brake").

[Palin's Buttplug]

Crumb is a fantastic documentary of one of the best cartoonists.

[Tonio]

Wow, just wow. Crumb may have done some good work but he's ultimately a pathetic, misogynist. How very telling that you would like him so much.

[prolefeed]

During the day, she dodged taunts from union protesters outside the 12th and Wood Streets work site in Philadelphia, where her company was building apartments last year.

After hours, tradesmen snapped photos of her children, 8 and 11, at their bus stop in Abington. They trailed her at weekend sporting events. One union leader loudly cursed at her in front of a packed restaurant and mimicked shooting her.

And under Pennsylvania law, none of it was a crime.

Devil's Advocate: this all seems like First Amendment protected free expression.

[Jordan]

There's a lot more in the article, like outright assault and vandalism.

[prolefeed]

My point is that the author of the article chose to highlight actions under "There Outta Be a Law" that all appear to be dickish but protected free speech.

Assaults and vandalism -- if she'd led with that, then fine, except those are already against the law.

[RussianPrimeMinister]

I'm for her getting a mob together and doing it right back.

I can't even imagine the slew of union-backed lawsuits that would emerge, though.

[WTF]

One union leader loudly cursed at her in front of a packed restaurant and mimicked shooting her.

Given the known activities of the unions in Philadelphia, that seems like an overt threat.

[prolefeed]

Devil's Advocate again -- how is this different from the widely mocked articles here about the kids getting in trouble for making guns out of PB&J sandwiches?

Pointing an actual gun, sure -- saying out loud, "We're gonna kill you if you don't knuckle under", sure -- pointing a finger, arguably hyperbole.

[UnCivilServant]

Intent, and the loud cursing.

[Tonio]

Are you really claiming that a small child with a poptart is a credible threat? Are you really claiming that a union thug isn't a credible threat?

And yeah, there are some troubling First Amendment issues to all this, but what outrages me is that there is a special exemption (Special Rights, for realz) carved out for union thugs.

[Rich]

Why silent types get the girl

Study finds that men who use shorter average word lengths and concise sentences are preferred, while men who use verbose language are deemed less attractive

TIWTANFL

[Brett L]

"I can be terse. I was laconic once."

[Rich]

That's good.

"I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure."

[Brett L]

I stole it from Firefly. The one with the Russian oligarch where Wash insists on going with Mal in place of his wife.

[Mainer2]

"I can be terse. I was laconic once."

Yup

[WTF]

Okay, what is TIWTANFL?

[Brett L]

...No Female Libertarians

[Brian D]

This Is Why There Are No Female Libertarians

[WTF]

Ah

[Heroic Mulatto]

Professor of linguistics, Molly Babel

Again, proof that Loki the Trickster is the one true god.

[Lord Humungus]

Gee, when speaking I'm so terse that I'm practically silent. Women end up thinking that I'm a smug bastard, not something to be pursued.

Or maybe it's the fact that I'm a middle-aged ugly bastard.

[DEG]

"Boston Strong" really means "frightened old women", part "Oh fuck it, I've lost count".

[Auric Demonocles]

I suspected this would end up being the retarded case. What runner ever needs more than 1 liter of liquid?

[Brett L]

My pops is running it. I think he's crazy. Who wants to be a part of that fucking circus? There's no way anybody except the elites are getting a good run in. He's done it, like, five or six times. I don't get it.

[Auric Demonocles]

These idiots don't seem to realize that adding all this security is making the terrorists win.

[Rich]

"But we ask that those who are not official participants to refrain from entering the course for the safety of the runners and themselves."

Because they will be shot on sight.

[Brian D]

Notably, pressure cookers are not banned.

[Auric Demonocles]

That's because they all got pulled from shelves around here.

[Ted S.]

Sadly, you're being serious, aren't you?

[Auric Demonocles]

Yeah, it was Williams-Sonoma. I don't remember how long they ended up doing it.

[Ted S.]

Last year was the only time I ever rooted for the Toronto Maple Leafs [sic]. They played Boston in the first round of the playoffs, and some Toronto fan made up a sign reading "Toronto Stronger". The Boston media and I think a lot of other sports writers had apoplectic fits.

[Invisible Finger]

I'm using "Boston Chicken" as the new city slogan.

[OldMexican]

Harry Reid claimed none of the "horror stories" about Obamacare were true, leading to well-deserved mockery. He's now revised that to the "vast majority" being untrue.

Reminds me of a late Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side" cartoon where a teenager girl was asking her mother if she could wear makeup to school (this was a 60's cartoon, in case you were wondering); the mom responds with a stern "Absolutely not!"

"But, ma, everybody... practically everybody at school wears makeup!"
"Oh, is that so? Well, I'll better go there in the morning to give an earful to the principal about this!"
"No, ma! Please don't make a big deal out of this! It isn't practically everybody, but most girls! Ok, a few of them!"
"Keep going!"
"JoAnn Marcus" responds the girl, meekly.

So I am hearing Reid saying "Ok, not the vast majority, but many of those stories! At least the ones you're hearing about!"

Keep going...

[Rich]

Exactly. This is a perfect opportunity for the Republicans to hold a press conference documenting the "untrue horror stories" and challenging Reid to refute them.

[gaijin]

This is a perfect opportunity for the Republicans to hold a press conference

The problem is that only Fox News would show up.

[John]

I would go one better. I would get a couple of subjects of those horror stories to show up at Reid's office and film the results and posted on Youtube. If he won't talk, go to his house. Stalk his sorry ass until he has to confront you.

[Rich]

"Bogus 'horror story victims' arrested for threatening Senator Reid"

[John]

It won't matter. People pay very little attention to words. They only remember the pictures. And no amount of lying words can overcome the effect of a picture of Reid running from or berating a sick person

[Drake]

Is it really a press conference if nobody shows up or reports it? Does it make any difference if only Fox reports it?

[John]

The media would show up. It is just the reporting would be "evil Republicans play dirty politics exploiting sick people".

[The Other Kevin]

I'm not sure I blame the guy. The alternative is for him to admit that the purely partisan bill he forced through, using a questionable tactic, all the while stating how historic and awesome it will be for the country, really is a piece of shit that hurts many more people than it helps. But that would require humility and honesty from a politician.

[prolefeed]

It's possible he's really in denial about what a piece of shit he's foisted upon everyone.

Either that, or he's a sociopath who knows he's harming people, but just doesn't care because sociopaths never ever admit they are wrong -- because if you regard other people as animate objects, no different from lumber or cattle, why would you apologize? It would be like a normal person apologizing to a table for harming it.

[Mike M.]

I can remember when Reid was a sane democrat, and it wasn't even all that long ago. In the last several years the guy has gone completely around the bend.

[OldMexican]

A car bomb today hit a tea shop in Mogadishu known to be frequented by intelligence agents , killing at least 11.

That was quite a score! Imagine, killing 11 agents at the same time!

[Ted S.]

Technically, it's only half a score, give or take.

[hamilton]

A tea shop full of spies? A tea shop?

I mean, was it at least a dark and foreboding tea shop?

[Auric Demonocles]

If they were at a coffee shop it would have been too obvious they were American.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Is there a building in Mogadishu that isn't foreboding?

[UnCivilServant]

Actually 10 of those wer epushing the car because the ROADZ were so poor the engineless vehicle couldn't navigate them.

/sarcasm

[OldMexican]

Several European countries have begun the process of cutting foreign aid to Uganda over its anti-homosexuality law.

If that is what it takes to keep the money with the taxpayers, then I propose promoting anti-gay legislation on all 3rd World countries!

[The Late P Brooks]

Using pharmaceutical methods to increase oxygen intake, thus improving performance, is banned by Wada.

But using another method to stimulate the natural production of EPO is not outlawed and regarded as a grey area by some.

High altitude training is okay. Hypobaric chambers are okay.

Breathing through a mask is verboten.

FUCK THE IOC.

[Rich]

It's been said before: Two Olympics -- one entirely "natural" (no clothing); the other "anything goes" (drugs, bionic enhancements, etc.).

[waffles]

I think I would only want to watch the utlralympics.

[OldMexican]

Google Maps' Street View has expanded into the arctic with images, some including polar bears, taken from a trip through Churchill, Manitoba.

I bet they were all dead polar bears with Xs instead of eyes due to Global Warming Climate Change

[OldMexican]

A candidate for lieutenant governor in Texas mistakenly sent out an anti-"activist judge" tweet that insisted marriage was between ONE MAN & ONE MAN.

Well, my wife wears the pants in the family, so... it is not like he's not even close enough.

[Clich? Bandit]

When did you start using the blockquote formatting?

[Auric Demonocles]

The Reason Happy Hour last night was a blast.

Among other things, Hamilton corned the Jacket to talk about scouts for quite a while.

[DEG]

I thought about driving down, but it was too early to fight the traffic into Cambridge on a work day.

[Auric Demonocles]

Fortunately I can just walk from my apartment. It actually ended up going pretty late. It officially ended at 8:30ish, but a few of us HnR guys hung out until 10 before heading out to grab food.

[Ted S.]

Didn't want to go home and watch The Independents did you?

[Auric Demonocles]

I asked Nick about it. Does that count?

[Ted S.]

Nick doesn't watch either, I presume?

[DEG]

Next time maybe I'll come down for the late crowd.

[hamilton]

Agree - was cool to see you guys. They should do more of those; I'd even pay for my own drinks.

[Auric Demonocles]

I had been expecting to anyway.

[tarran]

It was great meeting you guys.... and crushing the dreams of the earnest guy trying to get us involved in politics.

[Auric Demonocles]

I felt a little bad about that.

[tarran]

Don't be. When a slobberingly drunk man corners you in a bar, chases off all the women and then blearily tells you that techies like you could totally recreate the Obama cybercampaigning machine and put Rand Paul into the white house, he is

a) wasting your time
b) chasing off all the women
c) shutting down conversation on interesting, worthy topics (such as the moral imperative of kicking Jets fans in the balls)
d) chasing off all the women

He got a burger out of the deal, and some exercise (I didn't watch him run after us, no doubt missing out on a funny sight).

[Auric Demonocles]

Notice I said "a little". Not bad enough to stop doing it.

[WTF]

Among other things, Hamilton corned the Jacket... What what WHAT!?

Hamilton corned the Jacket!?

[hamilton]

What, you don't carry a few cobs around with you just in case?

[Auric Demonocles]

He was supposed to kick him in the balls but he toned it back a bit.

[hamilton]

I forgot, honestly, and I was really happy he signed my book. It was only when i got home that I remembered the missing patriots-inspired crotch kick. Now I'll have to just randomly stalk him or something, and that'll take a big-ass bite out of my free time.

[Auric Demonocles]

You mentioned it once around 9ish, so it didn't completely slip your mind.

[tarran]

In his defense, about the time hamilton realized that he had "Kick Gillespie in the balls" written in his Franklin Planner (item A-3, I believe), Nick beat a quick retreat out of the place. I think the jacket detects threats and levitates him away from them, kind of like Jackie Chan's tuxedo.

[Butts Wagner]

Hello

[Auric Demonocles]

Sup.

[Auric Demonocles]

Though with it being day 4 of your new job, shouldn't you not be on HnR? You gotta wait at least a week before easing back into the comments.

[tarran]

So, when does the redhead get back from philly?

Does she have friends?

[Auric Demonocles]

Late flight in tonight.

She does, though they are mostly from her rowing team. The ones I have met were mostly attractive but also mostly taken, though I have heard about a single British girl who was too "shattered" from dinner to come out with us. She's apparently gorgeous and does triathlons and is brilliant... and I think the redhead might have a crush on her.

[DEG]

Obamacare fee on restaurant bill

[Auric Demonocles]

God damned racists!

[UnCivilServant]

It's only fitting that people see the costs of regulations. We need greater itemization for things like that on bills.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Another day, another religious freedom bill scheduled to be vetoed by a governor.

Religious freedom bill in Va would protect public-school students' religious expression.

"...LGBT and allied groups, including the commonwealth's major LGBT-rights organization, Equality Virginia, are concerned that the broad nature of the bill's language, and the restrictions on schools and educators, may give students free license to attack or bully their LGBT peers by citing religious freedom.

''Equality Virginia is disappointed in the passage of SB236 through the Senate and now the House of Delegates,'' James Parrish, Equality Virginia's executive director, said in a statement following the House vote. ''This bill could have the consequence of allowing students to discriminate against their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peers under the guise of religious freedom. As Virginia moves toward becoming more inclusive and welcoming for all individuals and families regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, this legislation stands out as a step in the wrong direction. We hope that Governor McAuliffe will stand by his word to veto this bill.''"

http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=8890

[John]

That is an "anti-gay" bill GKC. Telling people they can serve whom they want amounts to legally mandating they don't serve gays. Didn't you know that?

[Brett L]

Well, when your bill analysis specifically says, "crafted in response to the decision in New Mexico recognizing gays as a protected class" then yes, it is an anti-gay bill. I don't know if the VA bill said this, but the AZ bill did. They didn't just decide to strengthen religious freedom because Odin worshippers refused service to Christians, whom they felt had historically persecuted them.

[John]

Well, when your bill analysis specifically says, "crafted in response to the decision in New Mexico recognizing gays as a protected class" then yes,

No it is not. It is "anti gay" only in the sense that it says "no we are not going to force people to do things against their religion".

If this bill is "anti gay", then the Progs are correct in calling Rand Paul a racist for wanting to repeal the CRA, because that is all this bill does with respect to gays.

[Brett L]

One of these things is not like another. The AZ bill added the words STATE ACTION all over the place to try to get around the courts doing something. Because being forced by the court is not the government, but it is state action. So they were explicitly addressing the gay problem even if they didn't limit themselves in the text. If they had entirely repealed the section and all others making provisions for who must serve whom in private transactions, I think you would have seen a much different response here.

[John]

Because being forced by the court is not the government, but it is state action.

If the sheriff comes and throws you in jail if you don't do it, it is government action Brett. You are making a distinction without difference.

And they don't have to repeal the entire CRA. They can say it doesn't protect gay people. It doesn't protect steeler fans either. Are they anti- NFL too?

Your argument makes no sense Brett. If Arizona is anti-gay because they don't think the CRA should protect gays, then Paul is racist for thinking it shouldn't protect blacks.

[Agile Cyborg]

I understand this is slightly off topic but you will soon be able to eat your favorite movie star as a salami. Holy fuck, any of you boobs up for some Gillespie or Kennedy Salami? Throw some in the store and see what happens, Reason. Maybe pair it with some Welch-infused ale. I don't know why this post just occurred to me but I'm going to stop before I get pelted with stuff.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What is the topic that your post is off?

[Agile Cyborg]

It's somewhere up there if you look closely.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Quarterbacks still get hot women.

Blake Bortles' girlfriend

[Jordan]

Dem tittays. GODDAMN!

[Heroic Mulatto]

True, but I wonder "why the long face"?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Could those breasts be real? They have the contour of real ones for sure.

[John]

I can't believe the NFL wanted to talk to her. And worse still made jackass comments like "if he comes to town, will you be there for dinner?"

I really with Bortles had told whatever GM or scout who asked that to go fuck himself and to leave the room if he valued having all of his teeth. That is just pathetic.

[Brett L]

Hey man, if you had a chance to get 10 minutes in the presence of that, wouldn't you have to try?

[John]

Sure. But I wouldn't blame her boyfriend for telling me to fuck off.

[Brett L]

Please. These guys always talk tough before draft day, but he's going top 5.

[Ken Shultz]

"Harry Reid claimed none of the "horror stories" about Obamacare were true, leading to well-deserved mockery. He's now revised that to the "vast majority" being untrue."

The important thing to progressives is that people believe their lies.

Not whether their lies are actually true.

That's why everyone who doesn't believe their lies is a stupid, bible-thumping, anti-science, redneck.

Yet another reason why progressives are America's most horrible people.

[John]

It is not the facts, it is the narrative. And yeah, they have been denying bourgeois facts and logic since the beginning. I lie that advances society is always better than the truth that empowers the reactionary forces.

[Ken Shultz]

And the problem with this lie is that it is well known to be false by so many people through direct experience.

They need to stick with lies people have to depend on the opinion of scientists for--because I think most people in the middle class know somebody who's been negatively affected by ObamaCare.

They don't have to take the Democrats' or anybody else's word for it! I guess we're supposed to stop believing our own lying eyes?

How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?

[John]

And the problem with this lie is that it is well known to be false by so many people through direct experience.

This is why communist and fascist countries are so fanatical about controlling the press. Everyone knowing its a lie only matters if everyone knows everyone else also thinks its a lie. The trick is to control the media so that each individual thinks they are the only one who sees the lie and it is thus pointless to say anything.

When you understand that, you then understand why the Progressives hate the internet and any form of alternative press. It prevents them from ensuring that people think they are alone in seeing the lie.

[prolefeed]

It's more than that -- it's about keeping a few percent of voters in denial who don't want to face up to what their TEAM is really about to keep pulling the lever for that TEAM, because elections are often won or lost by a couple percent.

[John]

That too. And don't forget the media. The media are in so deep supporting this, they can't admit its a failure. Even they are not shameless enough to get away with suddenly acting like they never lied and sold this pile of crap to the country.

All they can do is keep lying to their shrinking audience.

[Loki]

Which H&R commenter is this?

Ever Pass Out Drunk And Wake Up Making Out With A Homeless Man?

And apparently another person from the party did what any of us would:

Unfortunately for Mai, another person who was at last night's party in the city of Nanyang, China, was there to capture all of the glory on camera.

[John]

Or better yet, how did shreek end up in China?

[Ted S.]

That was Warty, and he wasn't "making out"; he was raping.

[The Late P Brooks]

There is a guy on Bloomberg who, all things considered, is not a complete idiot, but he just said, "China is full of toxic smog. They need electric cars."

How does he think putting a bigger load on those smog-belching coal fired power plants is going to reduce pollution?

[UnCivilServant]

He thinks electric cars are magical beasts that eat the pollution generated at the plant.

[Rich]

Al Capp invented the smogmobile *decades* ago.

[Lord Humungus]

If I remember correctly, the ULEV/LEV cars actually had lower pollution coming out of the tailpipe than LA's "normal" air. eg, the more you drove the car around Los Angeles, the cleaner the air got.

/memory from an old Car & Driver magazine

[UnCivilServant]

Well, the air coming in gets filtered, so as long as it produced less polluting output, it can act as a roving filtration unit.

[John]

I read the other day that the pollution control of any car built to EU or American standards after the turn of the century is so good that in a really polluted city like Beijing or Mexico City, the air coming out exhaust pipe is actually cleaner than the ambient air the engine is taking in. The emission controls are so good that they not only clean the car's emission, they clean up some of the pollution in the air.

China's air problem is not cars. If I had to guess it is mostly like two stroke motorcycles, which exist by the millions in that country.

[prolefeed]

It's more like the problem is a massive build up of coal fired power plants located near major cities.

[John]

That too. You can push power up to a thousand miles away from the plant with not a whole lot of loss of current.

Only a central planner could think building the coal plants next to the city is a good idea.

[UnCivilServant]

"At the current price of copper, we must minimize transmission line length to maximize exports."

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it were that very reasoning.

[Don Mynack]

Yup, all the putt-putts emit a ton of pollutants. Also, the emission and safety standards of their cars are a couple of generations behind ours, which is a major reason one can't import their crappy cars into the U.S. or Europe.

[John]

Two stroke motorcycle engines are the worst. And China has millions and millions of them and a lot of really small cars with them too.

[Tonio]

Well, that would reduce pollution in Beijing if the power were generated far away, or in areas with wind patterns where the pollution would go in a different direction. However the heat loss from the long distance transmission would be a net increase in overall pollution.

[John]

Perhaps, but overall pollution is not the issue. It is the pollution in that area. I suppose trash pick up increases overall pollution in some sense since the trucks pollute and wouldn't do that if you didn't need them. But that doesn't mean we should stop trash pick up.

[Hyperion]

Anyone post this yet? If not, here's your morning nut punch.

The Daily Cop Shoots innocent victim story

[John]

That's right, ObamaCare's employer mandate applies to the public as well as the private sector, and although it's been delayed until next year, "many public employers have already adopted policies, laws or regulations" to avoid its costliest effects, the Times reports.

That means making sure part-time workers don't reach 30 hours a week, the threshold at which the mandate kicks in: "Among those whose hours have been restricted in recent months are police dispatchers, prison guards, substitute teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches, school custodians, cafeteria workers and part-time professors."

Local officials from across the country describe the dilemmas ObamaCare has forced upon them. "Are we supposed to lay off full-time teachers so that we can provide insurance coverage to part-time employees?" asks Mark Benigni, schools superintendent of Meriden, Conn. "If I had to cut five reading teachers to pay for benefits for substitute teachers, I'm not sure that would be best for our students."

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/184616/

I honestly think this thing is going to be repealed or it will be the death of the Democratic Party. This thing is so bad, it actually manages to fuck the teachers' unions. The most partisan Democratic bill in history is so idiotic, it screws over the teachers.

[waffles]

Harry Reid said you have to be a Kochsucking fool to believe these lies. Who is more trustworthy? A senior Senator or some schmucky school supernintendo?

[Loki]

This thing is so bad, it actually manages to fuck the teachers' unions.

And yet those same teachers' unions will continue contributing money to the Democratic Party.

[John]

They won't be forever if this doesn't change. That is why I think it is going to be repealed. Too many powerful interests on both sides are getting fucked.

[Lord Humungus]

Vice Magazine:

Are Cuban Special Forces Shooting at Venezuelan Protesters?

[John]

Of course they are. Cuban thugs have been propping up that regime since it started. The media just won't report it because they are on their side.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Don't read the comments.

Just. Don't.

[Lord Humungus]

I love Vice Magazine, but it is infected with herp-a-derp lefties.

[John]

They need to develop some kind of spray for that.

[Loki]

They do. It's called pepper spray.

[Tonio]

Which is totally ironic since the point of Vice is illegal vices. How can those pure-of-heart proggies do things of which the collective disapproves?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Mark Steyn on the Canadianization of America

"Through all the years I have been in America, I have been told, whenever I draw attention to some examples from Canada, that Americans are not wussy pantywaist Canadians, and there's no chance of that happening here. And yet oddly enough it does happen here...

"Live and let live? No, live and let die. As Barbara Findlay, the QC who successfully sued the Knights of Columbus, said way back in 1997:

""The legal struggle for queer rights will one day be a showdown between freedom of religion versus sexual orientation."

"But don't worry, you'll still have the "freedom to worship"."

http://www.steynonline.com/613.....ked-a-cake

[John]

We are what a year or two away from a judge ruling that it is illegal for a church not to accept actively homosexual members or at the very least forfeiting its tax exempt status for doing so?

It is just a matter of time. This will not end with gay marriage. It was never about marriage. It was always about making anything other than absolute support for homosexuality effectively illegal.

[prolefeed]

I've yet to hear of any judge ruling that, or anything remotely resembling that.

Link or STFU.

[John]

How about you read the post. I didn't say it has happened, I said it is only a matter of time.

And as far as you claiming it won't happen, I have no doubt you also didn't think the SCOTUS gay marriage ruling created a constitutional right to gay marriage. And just as I said it would, that is exactly what courts are doing.

Show me where liberals ever stop in these sorts of things or why they would on this or STFU.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Your predictions are always wrong, John.

That is the point.

[John]

BUSHPIG!!!!

Shreek, you are illiterate, so you won't be reading the opinion in question. But if you needed to know how to read, as opposed to throw shit, the party would have taught you to do so.

[Ken Shultz]

I think it's reasonable to assume some activists somewhere will challenge a church's tax exempt status on the basis of membership restrictions.

I think they would have to go to a mighty holy roller church before they found one that wouldn't even let them into the building for being gay, though.

Most fundamentalist churches will let anybody through the door and stay, so long as they aren't disturbing the peace. Membership is another story.

But I'd fully expect activists to make the case that churches shouldn't enjoy tax exempt status if they discriminate against gay people in their official membership--even if the activists only do it for the publicity.

[Tonio]

I don't think that's a reasonable assumption, Ken. Sorry, I just don't. Get back to me when it actually happens.

[John]

Why wouldn't it? Government mandated public accommodation is the stated goal.

I know it is not yours. But you are not typical. That is what they want and that is what they are going to get. The "gay rights" movement has been co-opted by Leftists. It is not about gay rights. It is a vehicle for suppressing religion.

[John]

And Tonio,

If they will sue bakers and florists, why wouldn't they sue anyone else? What was the point of those suits other than to punish people they didn't like? It is not like there were not plenty of other businesses waiting to take their business.

I am sorry, but any credibility in the claim "no the gay rights movement isn't going to use government force to coerce people" died with those law suits. Right now "gay rights" in this country, means a judge forcing a photographer to take pictures at a wedding he morally objects to. You don't like that and personally didn't create that situation. But that is what it is.

[Ken Shultz]

I'm not sure I understand why gay rights activists wouldn't want to make headlines.

These stories don't hit the news accidentally.

Somebody has to go out and look for a baker that won't serve gay weddings. The media is a battlefield.

Animal rights people do stuff like this all the time, too. It's Media Manipulation for Activists 101. This is how the ACLU makes their money. This is how the Institute for Justice operates! Case law is fine, but if it happens and no one in the media is there to see it, it's like it didn't really happen.

[Lord Humungus]

I looove listening to my stereo when no one else is home...

$3500 worth of turntable along with two 15" Eminence woofers moves some air.

[Rich]

You know what else moves some air ....

[Lord Humungus]

curse you!

[Rich]

Sorry, my Lord. 😎

No disrespect to your woofers, especially after your kind words about Texas.

[John]

I don't have anything like that, but me too. My wife hates loud music. And God do I love loud music. I don't think I will ever grow up and stop loving it.

[John]

Jonathan Turley on the concentration of power in the executive.

"My view [is] that the president, has in fact, exceeded his authority in a way that is creating a destabilizing influence in a three branch system," he said. "I want to emphasize, of course, this problem didn't begin with President Obama, I was critical of his predecessor President Bush as well, but the rate at which executive power has been concentrated in our system is accelerating. And frankly, I am very alarmed by the implications of that aggregation of power."

"What also alarms me, however, is that the two other branches appear not just simply passive, but inert in the face of this concentration of authority," Turley said.

http://freebeacon.com/the-imperial-presidency/

It is failure all the way around. But you really can't blame and despise the media enough in this. As bad as the Bush overreach was, Obama, thanks to total media commitment to covering for him, has been that times ten. This is how Washington works; to get the executive to stop doing something you have to have the support of two of the following three groups, the President's party in Congress, the opposition party in Congress, or the media. If the President's own party in Congress stays loyal and the media refuses to make a stink, the President can do it no matter what it is.

[Palin's Buttplug]

What is it? Which EO is pissing you off now?

I will explain the legal basis for it to you.

[John]

BUSHPIG!!!

Turley is an actual liberal retard. But since he is not a fascist like you are, he thinks this is a problem.

We know shreek, you are a fascist but make up for it by being retarded. You really don't need to come on and prove us right every day.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

What is it? Which EO is pissing you off now?

I can't speak for John, but you have the Executive selectively delaying the implementation of a law where the implementation date is clearly stated and indicated as "shall be"; there's no legal justification for that, regardless of how much of Obama's semen you have taken for him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

OK, thanks OM. You usually try to debate honestly, unlike John.

a law where the implementation date is clearly stated and indicated as "shall be"

The law actually says that the mandates will be enforced "after Dec 31, 2013".

That is why the law is pliable.

[John]

No one has honest debate with you retard. Everyone hates you and knows what you are hear to do. You are too stupid and too mendacious to justify debate. You are just here to serve as a reminder that Progressives are actually worse than even we think they are.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

The law actually says that the mandates will be enforced "after Dec 31, 2013".

No, it says "shall", not "will":

"The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013," concludes Section 1513.

That means the month of January 2014 onward. It looks pretty clear to me, even for someone for whom English is a second language. Maybe you have been lying to us and you're actually a prince from Nigeria or something and thus someone for whom English is like a fourth or fifth language.

[John]

Since Shreek barely qualifies as human, I am pretty sure any conventional language is a "second language" to him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Which months beginning after December 31, 2013?

That is a big enough hole for any lawyer to drive exceptions through.

[WTF]

It says "shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013." Not some months at some time thereafter, "months" period, specifically, the months beginning after December 31, 2013. So all months after the stated date, you dishonest lying piece of shit.

[OldMexican]

Re: Palin's Buttwipe,

Which months beginning after December 31, 2013?

ALL of them, Buttwipe. If there's no other specification except for that starting point, it means what it says: ALL months starting after December 31, 2013.

[Slammer]

Season 2 of Vikings starts again tonight. Hope it's as good as the first season.

[John]

Me too. But even if it isn't, it still has Katherine Wynnick.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Hooray!!

[OldMexican]

Socialism and Fascism are the same ugly thing in different wrappings

Most people who read this website probably know where we land on this question. The two ideologies have the same father and are not really that different from one another. Both are collectivist dreams. Both venerate the state over the individual. Both are obsessed with works projects and managing the economy. Both see the ends as justifying the means.

And yet by some bizarre accident (actually it's not really that much of an accident) of history fascism has somehow become associated with the "Right" and socialism with the "Left." Part of the problem is that the terms "Right" and "Left" don't really make much sense. There are those who are for more statism and there are those who are for less statism. Both Nazis and Communists are for ever more power to the state. Those with a classically liberal drift are on the other end of the political spectrum (assuming we want to be intellectually honest).

As Daniel Hannan points out [...] one of the key differences between the two similar camps is that Hitler (and others) saw that it was just more efficient to keep the bourgeois factory owners and managers in place than to liquidate the entire class as they had in Soviet Russia.

[sarcasmic]

"Political tags ? such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth ? are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort." -Heinlein's Lazarus Long

[John]

More importantly, both believe in the concept of collective class guilt. To a Communist it doesn't matter what you personally did or did not do. You are guilty by virtue of the class you belong to. The Fascists did the same thing only used race instead of class. But it is the same evil in both case; the belief that a particular class of people are responsible for the world's ills and murdering them will thus eliminate those ills.

[WTF]

You are guilty by virtue of the class you belong to.

This is why all white people are racists, all men are misogynists, etc. etc.

[Warty]

For collectivists, it all comes down to class guilt. I really think that one of the main appeals of leftism is that it provides a pseudointellectual veneer for the group hatreds that are innate to humans.

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

There's an important distinction between Italian-style Fascism and German-style Fascism (Nazism). Fascism is more centered on nationalism regardless of other traits whereas Nazism is centered more on race regardless of nationality. Both political and economic systems still allowed certain private ownership of property whereas communism tends to nationalize all property, but both are still heavily interventionist and authoritarian.

Communism was supposed to be more international because it centered itself on class but, in reality, Soviet-style communism, Maoism, Juche and the other iterations tend to be more nationalistic than international.

[John]

Communism pretended to be a world movement. Indeed, Lenin said that it had to be since the capitalist nations were such exploiters socialist nations could never achieve their goals until all of the capitalist nations were destroyed and made socialist.

But as you point out, that internationalism quickly morphed into crude nationalism. In fact, the post Soviet political thinker Aleksandr Dugin, who is a favorite of Putin, calls his ideology "National Bolshevism". It sounds crazy but not if you know anything about communism and fascism.

[OldMexican]

And something that many hard-core communists don't want to recognize is that the reason the Soviet Union didn't collapse much sooner was because it became fascistic pretty quickly after it was clear that forced collectivization was not delivering the goods in quantities close to even bare subsistence for the population, so the government had to allow - in secret - private farms and businesses to keep things afloat. Heavily regulated, of course, but how was that different from the supposedly right-wing Fascism?

[John]

They didn't change the national anthem from the International to a patriotic song about the glories of mother Russia defeating the Germans for nothing.

Most Western Communists are like Shreek, they are retarded and vile beyond belief. They don't even understand their own ideology anymore. They just spew out hate and buzz words.

Sometimes we complain about shreek shitting on these threads. But he does serve a purpose; he constantly reminds us just how vile these people actually are.

[Kaptious Kristen]

You know who else combined nationalism with socialism?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Sun Yat-sen?

[Brett L]

Kim Il-Sun?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Bismarck?

[KB Check Release]

So I got into a bit of an argument/discussion with my college buddies via Groupme last night. I obviously was in the minority on the Jan Brewer veto and my buddies were going totally progtard on the issue talking about free market /= most efficient, or that 'we don't live in a vacuum'.

Then I pulled out the big guns and went with the Curves example and how they don't allow men to work out there and how it is Curves' choice.

It worked until my doctor buddy started beating straw men by sarcastically calling for people to get their guns and march on the FDA.

I like my friends, I don't like their politics generally.

[Warty]

Incorrect. You hate your friends because they're stupid assholes. Say it with me. "My friends are dipshits."

[KB Check Release]

Warty,

I'm from central Ohio and watch the Browns. Obviously I hate them because they are committed to losing.

What are your opinions on cutting D'Quell? I don't know the details beyond the $4 mill roster bonus and think it could go either way.

Tribe starts in like 32 days, I have an excite.

[Warty]

DQ was a good player, but he's getting old and probably wasn't worth the $8 million he was going to cost. Still, they have a shitload of cap room, so I don't see the harm in keeping him.

After seeing CPA's link about Blake Bortles' girlfriend, I'm now in favor of drafting him. The mean quality of eye candy around here could use a boost.

[Warty]

Looks like DQ wanted the Browns to pay him a loser premium and they passed. Good for him.

[Citizen Nothing]

Browns? Tribe?
Dude. The answer is staring you in the face, just 100 miles south.

[Warty]

Then he would be Judas. But at least you didn't suggest he look east. Nothing is more loathsome than a car with Ohio plates and Steelers stickers, after all.

[KB Check Release]

^^This.

I genuinely like the Reds and think Walt Jockety might be the best GM in baseball (even though he reached to extend Homer Bailey). I only hate them when they play the Indians.

I went to college in southwestern Ohio. Bengals fans are loathsome. The only redeeming quality of the Bengals is that they have figured out that firing half decent coaches every 2-3 years is a terrible long term strategy.

The Browns still think they can detonate regimes constantly and still have a semblance of competitiveness. It really doesn't work.

[John]

Really, the entire state of Ohio's history of pro football competence consists of the late Paul Brown. The only time either of the state's teams were run with any competence was when he ran them.

Amazing.

[Warty]

Exactly. The Browns were great under him, good for a while with his leftovers, and shitty except for that brief time in the 80s when they were good because they got a bunch of USFL leftover players. And then the current Browns are just a cynical fraud that is cashing in on Cleveland's memories of the real Browns.

The Bengals were good to great while he was coaching and later GMing, utterly shitty when his idiot son took over, and pretty decent now that his idiot son has learned to stop meddling. It's amazing how much the teams mirror each other.

Don't forget what he did at Ohio state, either.

[Citizen Nothing]

At least the Bengals have been to the Super Bowl and have been making the playoffs. Alas, with Dalton, I fear they may be perpetual first-rounders.
(Also, I think Judas gets a bad rap.)

[Citizen Nothing]

I actually discovered pro football at age nine, the year the Bengals made the playoffs for the first time, which made me their fan. As a native Columbo, I had no natural allegiances in either direction. My grandpa was a Reds fan, so I also went that way -- and it certainly paid off during the Big Red Machine years.

[John]

But getting to a Super Bowl is as much luck as anything. Better teams than those Bengal teams haven't made it to the Super Bowl. And the one year, they would have never beat the Chargers had it been anything but the coldest day in history and the Charges not played the most epic playoff game ever in the heat and humidity of Miami the week before. And in 1988, the AFC was just horrible.

They have their two super bowls, yes. But they also have years and years of 10+ loss seasons to go with it.

[Citizen Nothing]

They have their two super bowls, yes. But they also have years and years of 10+ loss seasons to go with it.

So exactly like the Browns. Except with two Super Bowls.

[Brett L]

The Cardinals have to have the best GM in baseball. Anyone with the balls to let Pujols go and keep the pitching staff they have is a genius. Although Kosma must have something on him.

[Special Agent Marc F Cheney]

Seriously, I don't understand the number of people who get in political arguments like this with their "friends".

Friendship is based on shared values. I value personal freedom, among other things. My friends are all either libertarianish or apolitical. I have acquaintances and colleagues who are not, but those relationships are of limited scope.

[John]

You didn't even go for the really big guns. If you can't discriminate based on sexual orientation, then there is nothing to stop straights from taking over gay bars. Indeed, a good number of lesbian bars won't serve men.

Of course, the Progs figure that kind of stuff will continue no matter what. The point is to fuck their enemies. They still retain their privileges.

[KB Check Release]

Good point John, it was just big guns for me. The thing about gay/lesbian bars is a great point.

My buddies in this case are from college. Few people I know share my political views.

My younger brother certainly does but he is blood and we have more in common than anyone else I know / he is my closest friend.

[Sevo]

Gold-finders have to sell it and they have to sell it NOW!
"Couple's gold discovery will be taxed at top federal rate"
[...]
"Martinez notes that if the couple unload the coins in a fire sale - to raise money to pay taxes before the April 15 deadline - it could depress the price."
http://www.sfgate.com/business.....271261.php

You can argue that it's just found money, but the feds didn't even have to pick up the stick.

[Warty]

Poor idiots. Why didn't they find a sleazy lawyer who would help them launder it?

[Tonio]

Better call Saul!

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

Because they didn't know my number....what?

[Brett L]

The law IS pretty clear on this. Found money is taxable.

[Warty]

I'm slightly surprised that the coins are legally money. I had thought that since only Federal Reserve notes are legal tender, the coins wouldn't be taxable until they were sold for dollars. But no, Sam wants his cut and he wants it now.

[Brett L]

No, because barter is supposed to be reported in its equivalent taxable amount. So finding something of value is exactly the same as finding a suitcase full of cash. Otherwise, I could just "leave" my money somewhere you could find it and you could just provide me a service "for free".

SLD: Not saying these rules are good, right or fair. Just that they are.

[OldMexican]

Re: Sevo,

When I came home yesterday for lunch, my wife told me something, regarding this case, that I thought was brilliant. She said "I would have NEVER called the media or anybody to tell them about the gold. I would've sold each coin in a piecemeal fashion, or whenever I needed cash, on a pawnshop or something and kept the sale to myself. But these idiots wanted their 15 minutes of fame and now the government is going to take 1/2 of their find."

I am so blessed.

[UnCivilServant]

My question is thus - Can you manage a better return on investment by taking the 5 million now and leveraging it, or trying to squeeze the most out of the initial commodity value by delaying liquidization? Because depending on what you do with the windfall, taking the up front hit might not be a stupid move (though I doubt these people will be cautious in managing the funds)

[OldMexican]

Re: UnCivilServant,

My question is thus - Can you manage a better return on investment by taking the 5 million now and leveraging it, or trying to squeeze the most out of the initial commodity value by delaying liquidization?

All things being equal, it would probably be better to liquidate the assets and invest the money; but things never remain equal. Why do you think those coins were placed in tin cans and buried in the ground in the first place? If there's one thing that is certain, is that the government will always act like Saturn and eat its own children - ALWAYS. Better then to HIDE from its gaze and so keep the asset for as much time as possible.

[Drake]

Nope. Slowly convert enough to cash to buy a decent sailboat - and sail on down to the Caymans with the rest.

[Emmerson Biggins]

If it were just plain bullion, for sure. I think for these particular coins most of the value comes from how old they are. So you need to find specialists to sell/broker them.

So I think you come out ahead even after paying into the protection racket.

Maybe I'm wrong though.

[Jordan]

Why in the fuck would you report this? How have people not learned this lesson yet?

[The Late P Brooks]

It worked until my doctor buddy started beating straw men by sarcastically calling for people to get their guns and march on the FDA.

If he doesn't think we should abolish the FDA, he's an idiot.

[Tricky]

Hi there.

I am a long time lurker, first time poster.

I have worked for 2 years at a defense contractor as an accountant, and while I have learned a great deal, I am extremeley uncomfortable working in such a bloated environment, and I am simply not passionate about the product. I am also extremely overutilized due to either incompetence by other employees, or just general staffing cuts.

I have given notice that I am leaving as I am financially stable to take time off and look for work. I am also getting married in late April so the timing works well with health insurance via my future wife's employeer (also the defense contractor, but she's a little screwed due to being in aerospace as her field is pretty much monopolized by government contracting). She also does not 100% share my views.

Anyway, to the root of the problem. I have an opportunity to go work for a local firm involved in the solar industry (owned by Solon in Germany, who is now owned by some firm in the UAE). However, I know that they are very likely supported by subsidies, which I am not okay with. Would taking a job here just be rationalization, or can I still morally work somewhere even if I disagree with the way they are funded? I don't find anything inherently wrong in solar power production. What I find wrong is subsidizing it.

Keep in mind it is very difficult to find anything in my area (Tucson) that does not seem to be government involved in some way, especially in finance.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Part of the subsidies are paid for by your tax money which is taken by threat of force. There is nothing wrong with attempting to get some of it back. If a mugger robbed you at gun point and then offered you back one of your own $5s, would you refuse?

[John]

Fuck it dude. You not taking the job isn't going to change anything. If it is the right move for you personally, do it. Just don't complain or be unwilling to support killing off the subsidies even though you know that wouldn't be good for you personally.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I've found it's impossible to live 100% by principle. It just can't be done without being either a) poor and unemployed and/or b) friendless and alone. Lots of us here work in government. The more I work with government, the more I hate it. I definitely haven't drunk the Koolaid. That's all that matters to me.

Lighten up and take the job.

[John]

What Kristen said. If you don't someone else will. And don't take your principles too seriously. Subsidies and big government suck, but it is not like sticking people in ovens or something. I think short of working in a prison or working for the DOJ, not much rises to t he level of you having to say "I would rather starve than do that".

[Kaptious Kristen]

Agreed. My company has ATF contracts. I would never, ever agree to work there if they wanted to transfer me. But the State Dept? Meh. Fairly low on the evil government scale. My company also has contracts with DOT, which is also innocuous to me (employment-wise).

[Matrix]

And there can be some good by actually working for the government if you don't become disillusioned or lose sight of what you want to accomplish. If you are someone who can have influence on money, you can do some good to try to make more fiscally responsible choices and influencing others.

I'm currently trying to find ways of keeping serviceable items I know we'll need in the future. But people higher up just want to throw things away to save holding costs. But the way they present it is that throwing away billions of dollars worth of inventory saves those billions, when it only saves holding costs for the short term. But we'll eventually have to buy it all back at a markup.

It's not easy, and it's frustrating. But for the small amount I manage, I can try to hold on to as much as I can to prevent 1) shortages in case of surge in demands and 2) wasted money on reacquiring everything in the future.

[Special Agent Marc F Cheney]

I'd say knock yourself out. Just don't start arguing for subsidies. Even tacitly.

Rand discussed this sort of moral dilemma in one of her essays. And, consistent with her argument, she cashed her social security checks.

[TheZeitgeist]

A walking Randian dilemma is Elon Musk. The guy is re-inventing space launch (a pillar of Libertopia) with SpaceX, and has a tech-stock darling version of a car company...all startup-funded by taxpayer suckers who don't own one share of these interesting, viable enterprises that they spawned.

[Special Agent Marc F Cheney]

I don't think he's a dilemma. Just because he does stuff that we think is cool doesn't mean he's not a straight-up crony capitalist.

[Warty]

It can't be any more soul-crushing and dehumanizing than working for a defense profiteer, can it? Go for it. At least a solar panel company produces something kinda sorta of value?

[UnCivilServant]

Speaking as a Government employee there is a risk - it can be a soul sucking experience working at a place at odds with your own personal views. It depends on your strength of will regarding such matters and your motivation for employment there.

[Tricky]

Everyone, thank you.

In my mind, as long as I support an end to the subsidies, even if that would mean losing my job, I can live with taking the position.

And yes, it's a step in the right direction for me. The position sounds fantastic and it may also get me out of my current situation sooner.

[Warty]

I briefly worked at a DOD scam company after college. I didn't even make it three months because it was too much of a scam to take. I've never felt so shitty as I did on the day that the scumbag congressman came to visit. We all assembled to listen to his bullshit speech, and I sat there meekly and didn't even throw one rotten vegetable or dead cat at him. I even wore a nice shirt. No tie, though. I had that much pride at least.

So my point is, make sure you know your limits and don't let them degrade you beyond them.

[Ken Shultz]

We need libertarian minded people wherever we can get them.

Libertarianism isn't a set of rules or a religious conviction that you can violate. For a lot of people, it's just a desire for more freedom and a belief that politicians aren't the solution to our problems.

We need libertarian cops. We need libertarian IRS agents. We need libertarian defense contractors.

If you're a force for more liberty in the world, then going to a place that maybe needs it more than elsewhere is a great place for a libertarian to go.

[Ken Shultz]

Think of it this way: there would be defense contractors in mini-archist Libertopia, too.

Actually, in anarchist Libertopia, there wouldn't be a state, and there might not be as many wars, but we'd depend on defense contractors rather than government for defense, right?

[MJGreen]

Yep! Still need people building chopters and missiles and tanks.

[MJGreen]

Chopters? Where the hell did that come from?

[Steve G]

And we need our un-libertarian jobs until we can at least get (more)libertarian politicians in office who will eliminate our jobs and, with any luck, set the stage for the creation of more libertarian jobs that we can then migrate to.

[Tonio]

Fuck all that. How do you feel about deep dish pizza?

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

*narrows gaze*

At least you didn't ask a Star Trek question...

[Emmerson Biggins]

If time allows, look for other work first. You will actually feel better in the long run if you can find it.

But if you gotta feed your family, there is no shame in doing honest work for thieves.

[Firework Surprise]

I work for a company that gets most of its income from the dipshits who wastefully spend NIH money.

Eventually, with the right mindset, you begin to revel in the idea that you play some part in exposing to others just how stupid it is for an irresponsible party to hold that much of our stolen money.

Every chance I get to twist the knife, I do it. The only way the federal gov't dies at this point is for it to kill itself.

[The Late P Brooks]

She said "I would have NEVER called the media or anybody to tell them about the gold. I would've sold each coin in a piecemeal fashion, or whenever I needed cash, on a pawnshop or something and kept the sale to myself. But these idiots wanted their 15 minutes of fame and now the government is going to take 1/2 of their find."

No kidding.

It's hard to conjure up any sympathy for people this stupid.

[John]

The problem is how do you sell them anonymously? I guess you could drive around the country and sell them two or three at a time to pawn shops and coin collectors. But you would have to be careful.

[Warty]

I suppose you could melt them and pretend that you're an exceptionally lucky gold panner.

[John]

The IRS are such assholes, you would have to be very careful about how you did it. I think I would slowly sell them off a few at a time over a period of years so as to not draw any attention.

[Warty]

That's my thought. If you sold, say one a month over 30 years or whatever, you would probably be safe. And it's not like you'd lose money to inflation by having it just sit around.

[Citizen Nothing]

I've got an old high school friend who owns a big coin shop in town. So now all I gotta' do is find my treasure.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Aquaman manages to do it.

[Griffin3]

Why would you have to sell them anonymously? Couldn't you say you had one coin, you bought it in 1953, you want to sell it, and then pay long-term capital gains on it?

I don't think you are required to keep receipts past 7 years, but even if you did, who is going to be able to contest a blurred carbon copy from '53?

[The Late P Brooks]

It just can't be done without being either a) poor and unemployed and/or b) friendless and alone.

*Tiny flickering lightbulb appears above P Brooks' head*

[The Late P Brooks]

Would taking a job here just be rationalization, or can I still morally work somewhere even if I disagree with the way they are funded?

Ten bucks is ten bucks.

It's not like you're going to work for the DEA.

[John]

Even I couldn't work for the DEA, and I have had the opportunity.

[John]

Huffpost tells the faithful the bad news that even the inunsured hate Obamacare. The comments are of course an exercise in tragic comedy.

"Super User" Jay Rodgers tells us

This makes lots of sense as those who need it most are in southern states lacking education and resources, they have very poor sources of information and their primary source of "news" is brought to them by agents who wish nothing more than to see it fail (which is incredible). In general, media has done a less than stellar job educating the masses but when you narrow your media sources, fear and loathing is all thats left (or right in this case). Further proof that our education system has failed miserably.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....56105.html

It never gets old that Huffpost calls its most retarded posters "super users". In this age of polite euphemisms, that one has to be the best.

[Warty]

I just realized something. They're missionaries. And they're very hurt that the savages won't listen to the Gospel.

[Heroic Mulatto]

If that's true, we need to do more cannibalism of missionaries and burning of missions then.

[John]

You called it Warty. That is exactly how they view themselves.

[Sevo]

"Further proof that our education system has failed miserably."

Hey, at least he got that right.

[All-Seeing Monocle]

those who need it most are in southern states lacking education and resources, they have very poor sources of information and their primary source of "news" is brought to them by agents who wish nothing more than to see it fail

My understanding is that NPR is a free, totally unbiased source of news and information that ensures that the general public is well-informed in such matters. Have they somehow been subverted in their mission?

[Tonio]

There's a brilliant anti-PBS rant at about 4:30 in Archer S5:E5 "Southbound and Down". By Malory, of course.

[The Late P Brooks]

The problem is how do you sell them anonymously?

I don't see that as a significant obstacle, unless there are some extremely rare and immediately recognizeable ones, like Morgans.

You'd need to do your homework*. But these people are just dumb.

You obviously can't just dump them all at once.

*I have often thought about what I would do if I won a big lottery score (which is merely idle daydreaming, since I have never even bought a ticket). Step one would be to stick the thing in a safe deposit box for at least six months, and do my homework and establish a plan for investing the dough and maintaining my anonymity insofar as possible.

[John]

I have that same thought. Step one for me would be calling my best friend and hiring him as my attorney and having him collect the money for me anonymously, if that was possible.

I really think if I had a choice, I would rather win a garden variety forty or fifty million dollar score than one of these half a billion dollar ones that gets the Today Show calling you. I would rather be just an ordinary millionaire and have no one know I was.

[sarcasmic]

A condition of receiving the prize is them using your likeness.

[John]

But if I won a smaller one that wasn't a record, a lot fewer people would see that likeness.

[Kaptious Kristen]

RIP Tim Wilson, who was Jeff Foxworthy before Jeff Foxworthy was Jeff Foxworthy.

Dale Darrell Waltrip Richard Petty Rusty Awesome Bill Ervin Gordon Earnhardt Smith. Johnson. Junior.

[Brett L]

Barry Switzer would know about arrogant pricks: Legendary Coach Thinks Johnny Manziel Is 'An Arrogant Little Prick'

[John]

Wow. That is like Hugh Hefner calling you a man whore.

I really want to like Manziel. I think he was a tremendous college player and could be a really fun and entertaining player in the NFL, something the boring league really needs. But I have a bad feeling he is too much of a self destructive prick to ever amount to anything.

To me the give away was him walking out on the Manning Camp last summer. It wasn't that he partied, most players do at those things. It wast that he held his manhood so cheaply that he didn't show up the next morning because he had a hangover. If you have ever been around jocks and military types, there is no one held in lower esteem than the light weight who can't handle his booze. In those situations you can get so drunk you puke all over the dance floor and on the bouncer who throws you out and people will just look at it as a funny war story, provided you show up to work the next day.

[The Late P Brooks]

Further proof that our education system has failed miserably.

Yes.

Yes, it it.

[Tonio]

Uh...

[GILMORE]

"Harry Reid claimed none of the "horror stories" about Obamacare were true"

Harry later made some further comments to the press =

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....0#t=02m37s

[The Late P Brooks]

A condition of receiving the prize is them using your likeness.

Right. And you accept some minimum obligation to promote the lottery.

I wonder if you could form a trust of some sort, and claim the ticket is owned by the trust and you are merely one of several salaried employees of the trust. Then you pay some ugly fat girl to perform the promotional duties.

[Swiss Servator, mehr K?se!]

"Then you pay some ugly fat girl to perform the promotional duties."

That is...brilliant. Brilliant and devious.