U.S. Funds Tweets to Undermine Cuban Government, Rob Ford Crack Investigation Ends, Maryland Pot Decriminalization Blocked: P.M. Links

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Twitter The United States spent $1.6 million on a Twitter-style project to undermine Cuba's government.
- The investigation into the video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has been suspended due to lack of evidence.
- Russia has recalled its ambassador to NATO over the tensions with Ukraine. A Russian diplomat said the United States essentially needs to suck it up and accept Russia's annexation of Crimea.
- Don't commit suicide on April Fools' Day. People will think it's a joke and throw your dead body in a dumpster.
- The Turkish government is restoring access to Twitter two weeks after the country's prime minister ordered a ban.
- Maryland's House of Delegates has rejected legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The state's Senate had passed the bill in March.
- A federal appeals court in New York has ruled that New York City's ban on allowing public schools to host religious services is not a violation of First Amendment protections, striking down a lower court ruling.
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The United States spent $1.6 million on a Twitter-style project to undermine Cuba's government.
It's a virtual Bay of Pigs.
literally
nice
Hello.
Why does the U.S. bother with Cuba again? I thought Michael Corleone and Hyman Roth settled their business long ago.
At this point, I think the reason is FYTW.
At this (or any) point, the reason is "If we change anything with Cuba, we lose the state of Florida in the next election"
How? It's not like there are that many Cuban ex-pats from before the revolution here.
Money talks, politicians love to listen, the Cubans can make a lot of conversation?
David Letterman to retire next year
I hope Craig Ferguson doesn't try to replace him. I love his weird show too much to try to imagine it more mainstreamed.
I don't think Ferguson wants that job, as far as I've heard. He'd rather stay at 12:30 for the same reason you suggest.
Saw Ferguson live last week.
Saw him back in February. Second time, and even better than the first.
I think his stand up is pretty much guaranteed to entertain.
Conan! Conan! Conan!
the consensus is it should be a chick or dame taking over.
They want someone who is funny, not someone to give makeup and house cleaning tips.
Hillary, Hillary, Hillary!
How much to purchase Ellen DeGeneres from NBC?
I can't see Ellen translating successfully to late night.
the consensus is it should be a chick or dame taking over
I saw something about chelsea handler not re-upping with E next year...maybe she's on deck?
I saw that too. Her show and style are both incredibly lame. Every time I flip through the channels and her show is on, I stop for a second to see if she has picked up on the fact that she is terrible at her job. She always seems to only be half listening and almost short of breath when she talks. It's very annoying. So I move on and don't care beyond that.
He certainly won't be going out on top. He hasn't been funny imo for a decade.
Letterman sucks. And he always interrupts his guests.
The only time I think Letterman is funny is when I remember Norm MacDonald portraying him on SNL.
his bits with Richard Simmons were good
This is the greatest interview ever on late night tv.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRb_3hCa72Y
Letterman's been phoning it in ever since Leno began to consistently kick his ass in the ratings, but at least he showed up for work and could pull off an interesting show.
Conan's a possibility, because he'll pull in the same college student demographic that's been watching both him and Letterman for several years now. So there wouldn't be any loss in viewership, there, at least. But if they want better numbers, they'll have to pull in older folks, and Conan seems to have a special gift for compelling that demographic to change the channel.
It's Abe Vigoda and the Masturbating Bear that do it.
I really liked Leno. He is a truly classy guy. I volunteer for a prominent charity here, and when we ask for celebrities to get involved in some of the events, he always says yes, no questions asked. Doesn't matter if he is busy or on vacation, he will find the time. Pete Carroll was the same way when he lived here. Always good for a yes, even if there was no media spotlight to be had.
Every time I've seen his show, it seemed to be rather lazily put together. No real effort expended.
The only exception was when Conan took over The Tonight Show. Letterman smelled blood in the water and put actual effort into his show. It crackled.
Is Conan still on?
Shows how much I watch. I think the last time I watched Letterman was when no one watched back in the 80s at 12:30pm - on a school night.
Conan is on at 11 pm ET on TBS. This week's shows are from Dallas.
Conan becomes a Mary Kay consultant.
Conan becomes a Texas Deputy Sheriff.
Yes, but he was awesome in the 80s and much of the 90s.
Well, at least we had drummer week.
Time for Louis CK to take over, with the help of David Lynch.
Long overdue.
Don't commit suicide on April Fools' Day.
Really, you shouldn't do it any day.
what if it's with honor?
You know who else tried committing suicide with honor?
R. Budd Dwyer?
I know, he did more than try. He succeeded.
Romeo and Juliet?
Goldfinger?
The Japanese soldier in Airplane! that Striker was explaining his relationship with Elaine to?
My body, my choice.
(No, I'm not planning to commit suicide. At least not until I'm terminally ill decades down the road.)
Have you ever seen the movie Alatriste? If so, what do you think?
No, I haven't.
My body, my choice.
Are you not made of materials of this world? This world belongs to all. Therefore It is our body. Our choice. Not yours. Now do as we say and eat your veggies!
only if bacon is a veggie.
Bacon is the absolute best veggie.
My body, my choice.
The Health Dept. would like to have a word with you.
Ted, the language police on Quebec went after a business owner for posting on her PERSONAL Facebook page in English.
Real normal.
I've always thought common suicide decency should involve disposing of your own body as well.
Hog farmers agree!
Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig."
Don't commit suicide on April Fools' Day. People will think it's a joke and throw your dead body in a dumpster.
Well I dodged a bullet.
So you're just as poor a shot as the average cop?
If you managed to do that while attempting suicide, you're the worst shot I've ever met.
Hey! It's a 50lb trigger!
Who are you, Jerry Miculek?
Rather, using a Jerry Miculek handgun. The real Jerry wouldn't miss, but would rather put the whole cylinder in his head before his brain said stop.
He might even get through half a reload just on reflex alone.
The United States spent $1.6 million on a Twitter-style project to undermine Cuba's government.
They should just send drones playing Remy's "New York" parody Reason.TV video.
A Russian diplomat said the United States essentially needs to suck it up and accept Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Now that's how you do diplomacy.
"A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip."
-- Caskie Stinnett
"Diplomacy is saying 'nice doggie' whilst looking for a rock"
- attributed to Talleyrand
Let's annex Yakutsk and say the same thing.
Hell, some Russians still think Alaska ought to belong to them.
Then let's annex it.
Hmm, Siberia is a vast wasteland, a blight, if you will, so under Kelo the US should be able to condemn it and develop it, yes?
Oh, and the Kuril Islands? Japanese.
The investigation into the video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has been suspended due to lack of evidence.
The crack investigation cracked under the rather light stress of proving beyond reasonable doubt.
Important to note that this is the investigation into the guy who filmed the video being threatened/beaten/extorted by one of Ford's pals who was trying to get it from him. The investigation into Toronto's dipshit and onetime drug-warrior mayor smoking crack is, as far as anyone can tell, nonexistent.
My response to Charles Koch's Editorial Defending Himself
I first met Charles Koch at a Sotheby's monocle auction on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He and I were engaged in a ferocious bidding war over a particular monocle that was fashioned from a combination of rare-earth metals, skeletal fragments poached from exotic fauna on the verge of extinction, and the crystallized tears of starving children. Being a renown billionaire, Charles ultimately outbid even my most passionate efforts to acquire this monocle for my collection. As is gentlemanly behaviour in such bidding wars, I approached him afterwards to congratulate him on his new eye piece.
I cannot express the shock of when as I approached, he immediately handed me a small solid gold jewelry box. As I opened it, the monocle I had sought so desperately to make my own glimmered its brilliant array of colors back at me. I knew at that moment that he was taunting me for failing to win the bid, a custom unbefitting of great men. He quickly noticed my expression turning sour and at once interjected: "That is not to mock your efforts, good sir. Consider this a gift welcoming you into the secret libertarian cabal that runs the world."
I looked up with astonishment painted on my face in such broad strokes that not even Van Gogh himself could provide them justice. "While your offer is certainly magnanimous Charles, I could not accept this in good faith. This would be akin to accepting charity, and acceptance of charity is the sole provenance of the weak and feeble and those unworthy of the blessings of life itself."
And with that, Charles shot a look at me that I shall not forget until the end of my days. He flashed a toothy, perfect smile, beaming with recognition that he was conversing with a man who, while not his equal in net worth or monocle-auction-winning capacity, was clearly a kindred spirit.
"Certainly there must be some way I could welcome you to the secret cabal of libertarians that run the world." he said.
I politely explained that the orphan boy who had brought me to Manhattan via rickshaw from my vacation home in the Hamptons had finally succombed to exhaustion, dehydration, and dysentery. I had no spare orphans with me to man the rickshaw for the trip to JFK Airport (I try to only keep as many orphans as I'll need with me, lest the food expenses get unmanageable). I was going to need to have a chartered helicopter pick me up.,
"Hogwash!" Charles replied. "I have plenty of orphans to spare today as my diamond mine upstate is closed while dealing with some EPA and OSHA bureaucratic nightmares. Take one of my orphans and let him pull your rickshaw."
I thanked Charles and we exchanged contact information. To this day, Charles Koch and I speak at least one a month. We share our contempt for the garish tastes of the middle class (those with incomes between $1 and $5 million annually), our enjoyment of simple peasant dishes like osso buco and foie gras, and our ongoing plans for global conquest and dominion. Charles Koch is as fine and upstanding a man as you'll ever not meet because you are so clearly beneath him. And the orphan he gifted me was the most well-mannered orphan I've ever had in my employ (so much so that he never once requested in increase in his meager bread ration, though that may be what led to his early demise). I ask you to read this article and take Charles Koch's words at face value: he is a man whose estate was bequeathed upon him by the hand of the Almighty, not through some accident of birth.
Coincidentally, his brother David is a total dick.
$20 says that if you showed this to 10 Huffington Post commenters, at least 6 would believe it real.
It is in part an effort to troll friends and family who believe Charles Koch is the direct descendent of Satan. I'm banking on them taking my satire as evidence of my distaste of Charles Koch and fishing for the "ya man! fuck that guy" comments.
Good job, man. Good job, I say!
Maybe I read too much SugerFree. I was expecting more...
*presents card*
...and I would greatly value the opportunity to speak further with a man of such...demanding tastes.
Good day, sir!
The adult version, which reads like Marquis de Sade on holiday in Thailand, is only available by signing up for my newsletter.
[Stands, and begins to clap slowly but firmly.]
Well done, Sir, well done. Sug now has a rival.
/slow clap
Slow clap. Does your employer know what you do with your time?
I am paid only for what I produce. Ergo, I am only hurting myself. Though I imagine they still wouldn't be happy about my time management. In either event, you'd be surprised how quickly I author things of this nature.
A grateful commentariat thanks you for taking a hit to the wages to produce such masterpieces for our consumption.
And if you're ever in mid-Michigan and in need of an orphan for your rickshaw...
*throws sudden a knowing glance and tip of the tophat*
David is a total dick.
Like Doom Cock dick? or just flaccid penis dick?
Well done. 😎
It was good until the last sentence, that pushed it into great territory.
You need to post that to Fark.
BRAVO!
The Kochtopus is caressing us seductively before squeezing the life out of us.
Using Lycra. Yoga pants are only the first line of attack.
Or a midget on your back. Like that dead comdian said...
"A turtleneck is like carrying around a really weak midget on your back, who's trying to choke you alll day..."
Mitch Hedberg. that was his name. Anyhoo...
"Butter is way better than margarine. I've seen through the booolshit."
I miss Mitch.
He's funny. I have a Pandora channel for Chris Porter and Mitch Hedberg gets thrown into the mix too.
So you're a smart audience. If you were a dumb audience, I'd have to say, "Hey! you got a lotta SHIT on our head!"
Comments from the WSJ article are, as expected, most entertaining
That is leftism so perfectly distilled: martyrdom, hegelian inevitability of the left's victory, and veiled insinuations of racism.
Bravo Dick Doyle.
Damn, Sudden, you're batting 1.000 today, bro.
I rather suspect that King would not share most of the values and viewpoints of today's leftwing nutcase.
He probably would. King was turning on capitalism toward the end of his life.
I think even socialists back then had some pragmatism in their veins. Today's version are totally deluded, not merely confused.
You forgot projection.
How can a coincidence be telling? It's a coincidence.
Maryland's House of Delegates has rejected legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The state's Senate had passed the bill in March.
And now candidates can say that smoked AND inhaled.
The investigation into the video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack has been suspended due to lack of evidence.
Meaning they didn't actually have the crack?
The cops stole it from the evidence locker for personal use?
Mask has slipped completely.
Yeah. Missed that government class taught in a government school by a public union teacher.
Dude is para-quoting Rousseau. It didn't make any damn sense when JJR said it, either, and he a tongue made of platinum and vagina fur.
MPG requirements save fuel, which is a limited resource.
No, they actually increase fuel consumption by lowering the marginal cost of driving.
Side mirrors save thousands of lives per year.
Then I guess everyone will want them and there is no need to force them right?
Thus it is my right to dictate, as a collective, what is best for us as a whole.
Since there is a "collective good", it is "your right" not the collective's right to determine it?
It is all about the collective and community right up until it comes time to make a decision. Then it is all about them.
If we could only get cars powered by smug douchebagness, we'd never lack for fuel.
Heh. Good one.
SOUTH PARK DID IT!
Wow! Citizens can do that?!? I have some work ahead of me!
Thus it is my right to dictate, as a collective,
He has his own collective right?
What is this "collective" and where can I buy one? No, three hundred?
So if the collective opposes abortions, they should be illegal? If the collective wants to enslave black people, who are a small minority, that's cool?
The right collective is in charge! TOP. COLLECTIVE.
It doesn't matter. In his mind, in Imaginationland, it's all settled.
Student demonstrators occupy the office of the president of Dartmouth. Some demands (abridged version):
"...students in the country illegally be considered for admission on an equal basis with students who are American citizens or legal residents....the university to provide students who are in the country illegally with pro-bono legal assistance.....Establishing quotas to increase the number of professors and students of color.......full health care benefits to transgender students, regardless of whether they have had surgery..."All male-female checkboxes should be replaced with write-in boxes to make forms, surveys and applications more inclusive for trans*, two-spirit, agender, gender-nonconforming and genderqueer folks. This should be a campus-wide policy.""
http://www.minotdailynews.com/.....ffice.html
...and forever forget about something called merit in its admission and hiring criteria.
full health care benefits to transgender students, regardless of whether they have had surgery.
What started as "let people dress in drag if they want to" has now become "force others to pay for their sex change operations".
Can't you see why I think that the Left will never quit in the culture war no matter how hard you try to accommodate them? What is a "right" today becomes a "you must pay for it" tomorrow.
Facebook seems filled with people who believe that if Hobby Lobby doesn't pay for some forms of contraception, they are "denying medical care."
And give a couple of years and it will refusing to pay for sex changes is denying medical care.
It already is, in San Francisco. Apparently people here can get one at public expense.
Actually, what starts as a 'right' today for progressives already has "you must pay for it" built in. From the very beginning.
The assumption is that all rights are paid for by the magical unicorn, secretly owned by the 1%.
Gosh, the Ivy League schools really do have the bestest and the brightestest.
Establishing quotas to increase the number of professors and students of color
There is an african porn studies professor that might need a new job soon
You think she'll be fired?!?!??
50/50
50/50
Oh, you poor fool.
Didn't you hear that when UCSB broke its silence about the incident, the official statement from the president of the university (may have been a dean or chancellor, can't be bothered to check) was that the pro-lifers were a bunch of jerks who needed to be fought and resisted at every step, and didn't mention the assault at all?
You mean persecuted because she stood up for her bodily integrity in the face of Patriarchal aggression?
What kind of half-wit becomes so emotionally invested in causes like this, that they personally have no stake in, that they are willing to invade and occupy the president's office?
wtf? these are obviously people that cannot be reasoned with on any level.
What kind of pussy President lets a bunch of faggot, skinny, vegetarian, 120lb. limp-dick college punks overrun his office?
What a dick.
Happened in the Sixties, I believe. Students would take over buildings, offices, etc.
New decade, same childish antics.
Seriously. Fucking pussy.
All these jerkoffs need to be told their place because it looks like no one ever did.
They learn it all from their parents.
Establishing quotas to increase the number of professors and students of color
Surely, being smart enough to go to Dartmouth, these kids are aware that the Supreme Court ruled race-based quotas in higher education to be unconstitutional, and that this demand is therefore impossible to fulfill without the university being sued?
Is it illegal for a private institution like Dartmouth? Why?
Meh, forgot Dartmouth is private. Not in a position to research the specifics of the relevant cases at the moment but you're probably right.
If it is permissible for private universities, I wonder what kind of information exists about any schools with existing quotas and what those quotas are.
Because they accept federal funds?
That may or may not be the answer, but it would be the rationale if it is.
"two-spirit"
What the fuck?
That was my first thought, which quickly gave way to "nah, fuck it. theres no point in trying to learn their secret language of depravity."
Won't somebody think of the agendered!?
This just happened.
"And I looked, and behold a cute little kitty: and his name that sat on him was Death, and My Little Pony followed after him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with cuteness."
"An I luk, and was layk, KITTEH! an he's got Def on his bak. An a My Lil Pony comed aftr. An teh powerz was gived for to PWN wif sord an' not give the noms an deth and teh dorable KITTEH cuteness LOL!"
fixed
BY THE POWER OF ....
ohh nevermind
Is that your cat? And more importantly, is that your toy collectible action figure?
sadly no it was posted by another.
I still have all my He-Man and Playschool Dinosoar toys. From time to time I make my wife play along with me. The battles are EPIC.
A guy I work with:
Here's his bedroom.
And that's just 1 wall. Surprisingly, he has had sex with a woman before.
She must not have been in original condition.
How do *you* know what his room looks like.
*narrows gaze*
Was it really a woman, or just you in a Metroid costume?
You got me. I'm projecting. Don't tell my wife, she'll be disappointed that I banged such a lame dude.
Apparently not in the back seat of one of those cars, though.
^Excellent
I work so hard creating a memoirs of my initial meeting with Charles Koch, giving life to the story of my most lasting friendship. And yet I am outdone in all my efforts by the cuteness of a cat. Curses!
Your memoir was very good. But his picture had 10,000 words.
Panthor! Do Battlecat next.
I'm fine with this just publish the list of the people who donated to new communist party
"The Oklahoma state senate passed a bill Tuesday to withdraw the state from the Common Core standards. If the bill is signed by Governor Mary Fallin, Oklahoma will become the second state to withdraw from the Common Core.
"Indiana withdrew last week, with Governor Mike Pence's signature."
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....lec-torres
Skydiver nearly hit by meteorite.
A skydiver wasn't hit a meteorite. Not news.
Apparently it is the first time one has been caught falling on camera (after the burning stage).
Dark Flight, I guess it's called among meteorite geeks.
Beautiful.
Goddammit. This was in yesterday's links, and I'd put it out of my mind, and you have to go back and post it again. I hate you.
::cries::
What's comical is that everything bad Bush was doing, Obama is doing, but dialed up to 11.
According to Errol Morris, the guy Nick Gillespie interviewed about his new film on Rumsfeld, Bush sneakily super-glued the dial to 11, and Obama just hasn't been able to dial it back, despite the best noble efforts of his entire administration.
I heard them interviewing that guy on NPR. While his criticisms of Rumsfield seemed plausible (I only heard one side), he also just sounded like a real dick. And yeah, when he was questioned about Obama, the response was BOOOOSH!
That's a shame, Errol has done some quality work in the past.
Errol got Werner Herzog to eat his shoe.
I've seen a few interviews with him and he comes across as if there is something not quite right.
Don't tell Tony. He'll just accuse you of giving Bush a pass on the matter.
He's also a currency speculator, that means he profits off the misery of countries in distress, Rick....you asshole.
"Senator Reid, your campaign has the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?"
A+ satire
Blacklists: Are thy back in style?
*are they.
Worked better with the original 'thy'.
What Paul said. It works with thy.
Everything works well with thy.
Verily, thou hast spoken truly.
I honestly have no problem with any of that. Seems the market is doing what we always said it would.
If by "the market" you mean the Internal Revenue Service, which illegally leaked the return of the National Organization for Marriage, disclosing that Eich was a donor to their campaign.
More information is never a bad thing in the market. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see heads roll at the IRS.
For sure. Taking away people's privacy never has any downsides. Hell, it is just more information for the market.
You do realize you are celebrating someone losing their job because they made a political donation. That doesn't strike you as the least bit fascist or intolerant?
Allow me to rephrase. I have no problem with what OK Cupid did. I do have a problem with what the IRS did.
The tagline said "blacklists". IE, list of people you don't want to do business with. If those require IRS disclosure to operate, then I do have a problem with them. But if they do, I was unaware of it.
Well, that was kind of tongue-in-cheek...I was thinking of the Hollywood blacklists and how it was supposedly horrible, and how similar that was to this situation, which is, apparently, ok.
An article in last year's National Review explains the importance of this.
Supreme Court cases dealing with the NAACP in the Jim Crow south said the group couldn't be forced to disclose its members, since these folks would then be subject to retaliation.
"In testimony before Congress, NOM chairman John Eastman accused the IRS of publicizing the list "to facilitate the intimidation of donors." He talks of a "campaign of harassment and intimidation" against the organization's financial backers that has included boycotts of their business, physical assault, and the vandalizing of private property.
"Now, he tells me, "A number of donors are concerned about their names being disclosed." He said in his testimony that the harassment "has now pervaded across the nation every time our donor list is disclosed to the point that our donors tell us 'We are fearful of giving money to you to help support the cause that we believe in because our businesses and our family are at risk.'""
http://www.nationalreview.com/.....na-johnson
Suppose the FBI leaked a document giving the names and addresses of everyone who posted at H&R, together with their handles? Would that be a triumph of the market, too?
Addressed above.
I think I see your point.
To me, the IRS thing is the key part of the story.
No illegal IRS leak, no boycott threats, no forced resignation.
And maybe organizations shouldn't have to cough up donor names, while we're at it.
Gotcha. Seguin and John seem to think that it's the boycott itself that is awful. I just don't see how you can square abhorrence of boycotts with free market ethics.
"To me, the IRS thing is the key part of the story."
Bingo.
It is impossible for the IRS to exist in its present state, having the kind of information and power that it does, and our nation be a free country. It has become exactly the kind of tool used by despots and tyrants the world over.
It must go.
I am sure the market will only do things that you like.
Remember, this is not a business practice. Mozilla didn't put up a sign that said "fags not welcome". Their CEO took a simple political position and people based their purchasing decisions on that.
In the short term it is a satisfying answer to tell people who demand laws against people they don't like "hey just don't shop there". In the long run it would, if it ever became common practice be a fucking disaster.
What you think is so great is the various sides in the culture war refusing to do business with each other. Rather than learn to live with each other and tolerate each others opinions, you advocate people refusing to do business based on other party's politics.
Maybe objecting to gay marriage is so horrible that it is the exception to the rule and this is a great thing. Who knows. But understand that you are stepping on a slippery slope here and a society where the culture war becomes economic war is not going to be a very nice place.
And yes, I know, it is people's right to do what they like. But that doesn't make it a good idea.
Sometimes the market isn't going to do things you like since, you know, its made up of millions of people making millions of decisions that affect other peoples decisions.
Having said that, the greater problem isn't any blacklist, it's the government assholes who think it is ok to leak private information.
I'm angry at Mozilla and Eich for backing down, and angry (also, scared shitless) by the mob mentality and viciousness displayed by the left over an incredibly minor contribution in support of something stupid. I've been stupid in the past. I've supported things I don't anymore. Does this mean that I now have to live in fear of being hounded by witch-hunters?
All of us here are thinkers-on-the-margin. We're prime targets... and if suddenly our preferences are revealed and happen to not be aligned with that of the mob's, we're going to be next.
I'm going to be next.
^^THIS^^
Why people on here think this is a good idea is beyond me.
I will just say this to the people who think that boycotts are a good thing to be encouraged, if your goal in life is to economically punish everyone who disagrees with you, perhaps you should talk to your doctor and see if Progressivism is right for you.
You're assuming they always work. Chic-Fil-A is still in business, because there were a lot of people pissed off by all the crap surrounding what went down over them, they swarmed the place.
That actually made me feel better. Thanks BP.
Personally, I usually boycott them because of those damn waffle fries. But their sandwiches are actually pretty good.
If you like pickles.
And Starbucks where people were encouraged to pay with $2 bills. The anti-2A people wanted a boycott, but instead nothing happened. I know people who said that they would never go to Starbucks (for the cost) who went out and bought coffee on those days.
^THIS^
You're missing a component. Hint: it involves men with guns and badges.
see above
Well, the IRS has men with guns and badges.
And lots (and lots) of ammunition.
Progressives have always been about lock step group think. What they're doing here isn't anything new.
Yeah, you're right. I just can see it more clearly now, and now that I'm actively trying to build a life and a business (and leave behind a legacy) instead of waiting to die, the seriousness of the threat against the work that I hope to accomplish is resolved into a much clearer focus now.
Between the slavering hordes and the violent authority, just how the hell am I supposed to make my life worthwhile?
Illegitimi non carborundum.
I'm with John on this. I don't think boycotts should be outlawed, but I think they should be mocked, criticized, undermined and reversed on principle. Even if you agree with the substance.
Because they are a symptom of politicizing every single goddam thing. And that is poison to a free society.
"Left Is Outraged Charles Koch Would Defend Himself
"...Why is it necessary for writers on the left to pretend Koch said something he didn't? Because his actual argument is pretty unobjectionable. There seems to be this idea that the wealthy ought to be pi?atas?silent as the staggering masses beat the stuffing out of them. Koch didn't claim he's deserving of anyone's pity. But as a businessman whose reputation is being subject to repeated dishonest attacks by prominent politicians, it would be ridiculous for him?and irresponsible to his shareholders?not to defend himself in the public sphere."
http://www.commentarymagazine......d-himself/
If it is okay to run the CEO of Mozilla out of his job over his politics, why is there anything wrong with what the Left is trying to do to the Kochs?
I have problems with the blatant lies the left tells about the Kochs.
More outrage
Let them get out their two minutes hate.
Am I the only one suspicious of the narrative being given about the Fort Hood shooting?
Within the last few days they announced they were looking for someone who was planning a shooting there, a person they said had jihaddist tendencies.
Now, the shooting occurs and suddenly it is a guy who suddenly 'cracked' under pressure and went on a rampage....workplace violence.
Did I miss something? As much and as blatantly as these fuckers have been lying to us I can't help but be skeptical and speculate.
Meh. I doubt that. Govermnment loves to play up "terrorist" attacks, whether or not they're really "terrorist" attacks, because it gives them more of a justification in their own minds for their spying tactics.
Hassan engaged in 'workplace violence'.
Obama has won the war on terror. Remember, Osama is dead. Obama killed him with his own two hands.
And GM alive!
Govermnment loves to play up "terrorist" attacks,
So that's why the no-kidding jihadist attack at Fort Hood is officially "workplace violence".
You mean the drudge narrative?
"Soldier on Ambien Snaps!!!!!"
He may or may not have had an active prescription for Ambien. But, unless he has sleepwalking during the shooting, it's not accurate to say he was "on" Ambien.
The other dude who was "plotting" was put in a psych ward a couple of days ago.
I missed that.
Because COVERUP!
I don't think that other guy was planning a shooting at Fort Hood, just one inspired by what Hasan did at Fort Hood. He lived in Missouri IIRC.
I don't think he had very concrete plans to do anything.
Facebook status update: "Jihad lol!".
"Why, then, the ruckus? Amazingly enough, it is entirely due to the fact that [Mozilla CEO Brendan] Eich made a $1,000 donation to the campaign urging a 'yes' vote on California's Proposition 8. When this fact first came to light in 2012, *after the Internal Revenue Service leaked a copy of the National Organization for Marriage's 2008 tax return* to a gay-advocacy group [emphasis added], Eich, who was then CTO of Mozilla, published a post on his personal blog stating that his donation was not motivated by any sort of animosity towards gays or lesbians...
"...The moral force of the civil rights movement did not permit any sort of accommodation or compromise with bigots, and contemporary social conservatives who believe that they can negotiate more favorable terms of surrender have fallen prey to wishful thinking. What [journalist Owen] Thomas's statement [of denunciation] and others reveal is that the same-sex marriage movement has inherited that same genuine moral outrage, that same crusading zeal. While supporters of traditional marriage would like to convince the world that they are correct, they may soon find it difficult enough just to establish that they are not monsters. What is certain is that this will not be the last time that a public example is made of a dissenter from the new moral order."
http://www.firstthings.com/web.....o-problems
Local radio just had some ad (for the autism wing of a hospital) claiming autism is now up to 1 in 68 children.
To what extent is autism becoming a scam? When they started calling it a "spectrum"?
When it started to become a trendy label for children whose parents want to believe their raindrop is a snowflake.
See: Public School funding.
My kid has 2 kids in his kindergarten class that have "personal assistants" paid for by my taxes.
I chatted up one of the assistants when I was picking my kid up, and she was telling how bad this kid's autism was, and that he was essentially non-verbal. The next day, I had a normal conversation with the kid that was completely developmentally appropriate for a 5 year old.
Scam.
Clarification: Severe autism is very real, and heart breaking for those who suffer from it. The 1 in 68 number is complete bullshit, though, and funnels the available resources away from those who need it most.
Or you have a new career cut out for you as... The Autism Whisperer.
I chatted up one of the assistants when I was picking my kid up, and she was telling how bad this kid's autism was, and that he was essentially non-verbal. The next day, I had a normal conversation with the kid that was completely developmentally appropriate for a 5 year old.
Did you report this to Child Protective Services Protective Services or something?
Also, I agree with you about severe autism. It is a horrible existence for all involved.
It was a scam, but not child abuse. The kid was maybe in the 20th-30th percentile for this class, and his parents thought some 1 on 1 time would help him.
A poor attempt at humor; but that would make me angry.
It's brutal. Even more so when the parent makes the transition from denial to acceptance. My sister didn't mess around and started working on my nephew at three years-old when everyone thought she was nuts. She ended up giving him a chance in life. She was a legend among social services and teachers. Together they made it work.
It bothers me not all autistic cases have such attention.
Rufus: I live in a wealthy school district, so it is over-diagnosed. If you go 10 miles east of here, I would bet that it is very under-diagnosed.
Which is to say: Parental involvement is critical, which is pretty much what your point was.
Unless you're in an all-party consent state, record the conversations with the kid and rat out the teachers' aides. 😉
In this case, the aide demanded to be removed, and she was transferred.
To what extent is autism becoming a scam?
When the label became a meal ticket for subsidies and medical care.
Los Angeles Woman Accidentally Frozen to Death in Body Bag at Morgue
http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/.....at-morgue/
It doesn't matter that they were wrong, they're women of color, so any critique is racist and sexist.
Oh, and:
No, cause humans can be criticized. Cross obviously wants something else.
If there's one thing I've learned from feminists/progressives, it's that only white men can be criticized and held responsible for their actions.
She may think they're human, but she certainly doesn't act like they're people.
Hotel Victoria... where you can check out but can never leave:
Elderly couple demand hospital end 'illegal detention'
Tonight on the Six Million Dollar Rodent: Scientists watch bioengineered self-healing muscle tissue grow within a mouse.
The living skeletal muscle tissue grown by Duke University researchers is 10 times stronger than any previously bioengineered muscles. Not only does it contract as strongly and as rapidly as the real thing, but it is also capable of self-healing, both in the lab and after implantation into an animal. This has been proven beyond doubt through a novel approach that involves peeking at the growing muscle tissue through a glass window in the back of a living mouse.
This news just made a nation of calfless gymrats ecstatically happy.
They've unlocked Erskine's formula?
Dear? There's a deer on the roof.
Doe!
Shut. Down. Everything.
"Measles"? "Mumps"? "Shingles"? "Dropsy"?
Sheesh, no wonder people don't take diseases seriously.
I'm still laughing at Chelsea.
I went to this past weekends EPL game with a Palace fan, it was pretty enjoyable being the only happy people in the bar.
David Letterman Working The Drive-Thru At Taco Bell
http://reason.com/blog/2014/04.....nt_4424732
recursive link is recursive.
recursive
Is that when you have to write something out, longhand, twice?
Cuz it's in my head
Well, then I ain't clickin' on it. Nope nope nope nope nope....
Should anyone have to explain being a 'larper'?
Mozilla's Anti-Gay-Marriage CEO Is Out
Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech. Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard.
"We have employees with a wide diversity of views."
They just have to be quiet about what those views are if they know what's good for them.
Tolerance is less tolerant, diversity is less diverse.
"We have employees with a wide diversity of views. This is a first step toward remedying that problem."
All that Mozilla is doing is breeding fear in their organization (however it's structured). Fear is the mind-killer you know - I personally think people who are afraid of being wrong will be afraid to innovate, even if the field is wholly unrelated to the brouhaha.
Fear is the mind-killer, and if they were a smart organization, they'd test applicants with the gom jabbar.
You know, for those really intense coding days, a stillsuit would be a great piece of office equipment.
The Fremen Temp Agency.
Nothing says 'good coding' like drinking your own urine.
Better yet, the Bene Gesserit Temp Agency. They exist only to serve.
Salusa Secundus Staffing?
NYPD disperses crowd outside sneaker store -- has anyone asked John Nike (or John Nike) about this latest attempt to give their product street cred?
Not only do cops ruin lives, they ruin pitching careers and possibly destroy franchises in the process.
Note they all sat in uniform during the civil trial? As if that's not influential to a jury.
There's just no way in the world the NYPD would maliciously prosecute a woman with manufactured evidence and then let her rot in jail for 7 years for a crime she didn't commit.
Oh wait...
It could never happen in Murika!
I've been saying this and will keep saying it. MD will be one of the last states to legalize weed. This is the most authoritarian and backwards state in the union. Weed will only be legal here when the feds legalize it or every other state has and the statist democrats who control the state finally realize that they are losing revenue.
When I saw the thing, I thought WHY? The article had this too.
The House Judiciary Committee voted instead on Wednesday to form a task force to investigate decriminalization over the next two years
The "task force" is just a delay tactic to make sure it doesn't come up again for two years, and when it does the answer will be to not do it.
You're right. Maryland is the worst state I've experienced in my life and I've lived in Louisiana and Arkansas before.
Alabama cops pull airman over. Shoot him for...for...well, we don't know why.
The shooter was given a paid vacation.
A New Yorker Libertarian Christmas Special - Courtesy Of Home Depot Or Something
(Yeah, it is that bad. Tread carefully)
My uncle used to go annually. He said it was legal as long as you didn't actually spend any money there. Do I believe him? Maybe, but I never questioned it because doing so might lead to getting punched in the mouth "for sassin'."
One trip he said that there were people going around trying to round up enough sugar over a period of a few days to make a birthday cake for one of the local kids. My MIL puts that much sugar in her coffee on a weekly basis, and these people were struggling to find it. Depressing for sure.
It's too bad that the evil people who make apologies for Communism immediately showed up in the comments.
I believe so. He told me once how he did it, but it was a few years ago and I don't exactly recall.
Thanks for the article. It is definitely worth a read.
Man, English and Italian fans are equal when it comes to pure hatred of opposing teams. I don't read as much disgust among Spaniards and Germans - even though there's quite a bit of regional fracturing among their teams particularly among those in La Liga.
I witnessed what that guy was saying in the article in the flesh while in Cuba.
I could only muster "Castro you motherfucker" as I walked around.
Those apologists sons of bitches can suck my balls. And I've told a couple to fuck off.
Even more depressing when sugar actually will grow there and doesn't have to be imported.
Several years back in the Schalke/Dortmund derby, fans of the home team (I forget which one it was) brought giant penis-shaped balloons and a long banner telling the visiting team's fans to perform an obscene act upon themselves.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any news articles about it since I saw it on de.rec.sport.fussball on Usenet ages ago.
Scots are pretty good at that hate thing (well, Ranger v Celtic at least).
One morning I came across a rather large Scottish NCO who was a rabid Ranger fan, chuckling whilst he was reading something - I asked him what was so funny and he said "Coach of Celtic died yesterday".
Yikes.
I vaguely seem to recall that.
Sugarcane was at one time Cuba's biggest crop. Perhaps it still is. It's where they get rum from anyway.