Hillary Clinton Critical of Snowden Leaks, Oklahoma Plans Double Execution, Labor Leader Blasts Keystone Delay: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: marcn / photo on flickr

  Hillary Clinton, in talks at the University of Connecticut, thinks it's "odd" that Edward Snowden fled to China and Russia after leaking National Security Agency domestic surveillance info and mentions that the United States has whistle-blower protections, either oblivious or pretending to be oblivious that the protections would not have covered Snowden.

• Oklahoma is planning for a double execution on Tuesday. I wasn't aware that prisons had sweeps months.
• Officials have decided not to file charges against Philadelphia narcotics officers accused of looting 22 bodegas and sexually assaulting women. The Philadelphia Daily News won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for exposing the story.
• The head of Laborers' International Union is blasting President Barack Obama for delaying a decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline.
• Overall U.S. military suicide rates declined in 2013, but the numbers for National Guard and reserve members have increased.
• The president of Palestine has apparently told Secretary of State John Kerry that the new government will recognize Israel.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hillary Clinton, in talks at the University of Connecticut, thinks it's "odd" that Edward Snowden fled to China and Russia...

That youtuber who killed the Libyan ambassador took his medicine.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Aaaannnnd...Penguins little tight 'round the collar.

[Andrew S.]

What's with the Pens in the first round? Last year it was the Islanders, now the Blue Jackets. Do they just not give a shit about the first round, or what?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Fleury SUX

[Andrew S.]

Well yes, that is part of it. I'm still giggling about the Jackets' goal in OT in game 4.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They made it to the conference finals to get swept by the Bruins last year.

[Corning]

Did they score a hole in one after their opponents scored a touch down?

[Andrew S.]

Heya Fist.

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday party. 12 5-year-olds, a swimming pool and a bounce house,and no beer allowed.

Will be oh so fun.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Why aren't you allowing beer? I had a keg at my 5 year old's party.

[Andrew S.]

I'd allow it. But the place where we're having the party won't.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

These are the tough questions you have to ask before you sign the contract.

Do they have exclusive catering rights, or can you bring in a cooler?

[Sudden]

Psh, I'm brewing a beer this weekend for a baby shower.

Keg at a five year old b-day? child's play.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

But you're going to a baby shower. As a heterosexual. you're doing something really wrong.

[Brandon]

I wouldn't worry about the beer. 5 year olds don't like it anyway, and the other parents would probably appreciate the option.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Either this is a boycott, or the Reason comments are down.

[PD Scott]

Except for the fact of comments appearing, it could have been both.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Ha I just assumed that post would get eaten. Never ass-u-me.

[Gene]

Never ass-u-me.

That is exactly what is told to every new employee where I work (mag and aluminium die cast plant). Mag die cast machines tend to blow-up good (Boomerz).

[Mad Scientist]

It started out as a boycott, but we just can't quit Fist.

[C. Anacreon]

Brokeback Mountain reference?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

WHAT

[paranoid android]

Hillary Clinton, in talks at the University of Connecticut, thinks it's "odd" that Edward Snowden fled to China and Russia after leaking National Security Agency domestic surveillance info and mentions that the United States has whistle-blower protections, either oblivious or pretending to be oblivious that the protections would not have covered Snowden.

Why wouldn't you trust the Ministry of Love? It has "Love" right in the damn name!

[PD Scott]

If only he'd called her, say at 3 AM, this could all have been settled without all the fuss.

[Rich]

+1 SecState

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

They were pretty much calling for his head on a platter. How suspicious that he fled!

[Pathogen]

Yeah, they might of tossed the word "treason" around a bit, but I'm sure it was nothing...

[Pro Libertate]

She's such a joke. And she comes across as Ms. Irrelevant. Yet the media and at least some of the machine is pushing her as a candidate for the presidency.

Really, we can't find anyone at least slightly qualified for that office? Have we learned nothing?

[Rich]

"In America, *anyone* can be President!"

[Pro Libertate]

That's for sure. We couldn't do worse if we put a homeless guy in office.

[Homple]

"Being There" was prophecy, not satire as intended.

[Pro Libertate]

Apparently so. Disappointed, America!

[PD Scott]

Are we, truly, ready for Hillary?

Every time I see one of those damn bumperstickers I die a little inside.

[Raven Nation]

America has an entire system dedicated to preventing people like you becoming president.

Grandpa Simpson

[John Thacker]

Well, she *does* seem to win all the hypothetical polling matchups, sadly, so it's not entirely the media. Perhaps they're idiots convinced by the media, but, qualified or not, she's favored.

[Tonio]

It's still early in the election cycle, JT. And those polls often change.

Shorter: Stop bumming me out, man.

[Pro Libertate]

That doesn't bother me at all. Those early polls are usually insanely wrong.

[John Thacker]

It's certainly influenced by the fact that she has the best name recognition. She might be a paper tiger, but her name recognition is good and it doesn't cause instant revulsion in most people.

[BigT]

A very foolish move by the Hillarybilly. Most younguns are all about Snowden. Remember Rand Paul's talk at Berkeley got a nice ovation.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

...President Barack Obama for delaying a decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline.
Hey, cut him a break! It's really hard to tell which way the wind is blowing right now!

[PD Scott]

"Well, the thing is, ah, (cough) say, ah, I think I hear Michelle calling me, gotta go."

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Or, they need to to more "research" and "studies".

[Ahem']

Research this: gasoline up 30 cents in the last 90 days. If they won't let them build the pipeline then Exxon/Mobile can come drill in my back yard for fuck sakes.

[Warty]

One thing about this tragedy is certain. It confirms everything I already believed.

TheDrDonnaUBelle Femme
Today 1:19pm
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You're probably gonna get some assholes who say things like "maybe he's just a psycho, not all men are like that", and completely whitewash over the whole "society teaches men that they deserve access to women" aspect of this. Ignore them, because you're right and they're wrong.
871Reply

[Brett L]

I don't... what the fuck does "men deserve access to women" even mean? Its not like he climbed over the harem wall to do this.

[110 Lean]

"men deserve access to women" even mean?

It's supposed to be "men deserve access to binders of women"

[brokencycle]

Ban knives and prom. For the kids.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Maybe he's just a psycho. Not all men are like that.

[Warty]

Shut up and bring me your wife. I deserve access to her.

[JW]

Yeah, and don't be so stabby about it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Her vagina is broken until the baby comes. Seriously. She has a doctor's note.

[Ted S.]

She can still give blowjobs.

(This is why there are no female libertarians....)

[Pathogen]

And make sammiches...

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

If society really taught men they deserved access to women, we'd be required to be provided free of charge at every pharmacy in the land. Learn your own fucking stupid vocabulary better.

[Agammamon]

Nah, they'd just mandate that insurance must cover 'em.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Yes, free at the point of sale.

[Warty]

Hm. Your ideas are intriguing. Where can I donate to your congressional campaign?

[Sudden]

That was a thing of beauty, Nikki.

I look forward to selecting you at my local Walgreen's.

[Mt low rider]

Nikki rocks...

[mr simple]

Seize: your queer statusUAnonymousCivilPerson
Today 2:02pm
Hi. Mental illness is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause violent behavior. Most mentally ill people do not display violent behaviors at all. So attributing this kind of appalling behavior to being some sort of "crazy" is a nonsense statement which actually contributes to biases and prejudices toward actual mentally ill people. It's not just useless, it is bad and harmful.

This kid participated in an act of gendered violence. Sure, he turned it up to 11 ? that's why it's on the news. It is much more useful to draw parallels between this stabbing and other acts of gendered violence and male entitlement than it is to the tired and inaccurate trope that violence is caused by a fifth humour known as "crazy."

Don't call people who are violent crazy because it makes other crazy people look bad. Better to blame all men. They're not a protected class.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Frankly, I'm impressed s/he was willing to concede that maleness was realer than humours. So I guess there's that?

[Zeb]

No, he's fucking crazy. Killing someone because they turned you down for a date is crazy. While it is true that not all violence indicates mental illness, this kind does.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

11 is murder. Glad I know that now.

[Brandon]

I thought 187 was murder?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

187 is the penal code for murder in CA.

This guy/girl referred to murder as "turning it up to 11".

[C. Anacreon]

Apparently Playa Manhattan and I are the only ones to ever see "This is Spinal Tap".

[Corning]

So what the fuck happens at 12?

one handed incest rape in a church at a funeral?

[Pathogen]

What is 12 then?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Ask Warty.

[Bobarian]

Posting chauvinistic comments on Jezebel.

[Sudden]

Mental illness is neither necessary nor sufficient to cause violent behavior.

Unless of course you drown your four children in a bathtub. That's temporary insanity resulting from post-pardem depression. /NOW

[Zeb]

Yes, you can draw broad conclusions about society in general based on incredibly rare events perpetrated by obviously disturbed people.
People love that shit. Pretty much the same as how people react when some psycho shoots a bunch of people. Because if 10 people out of 300 million are psycho enough to murder a bunch of people for no reason, that obviously means anyone could do that at any time.

[C. Anacreon]

Just like how all of us are "just a paycheck away" from living under a viaduct and eating out of trash cans.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"society teaches men that they deserve access to women"

And how many men, availing themselves of that lesson, have sought access to *you*?

[Agammamon]

Tons - of the wrong kind.

For some reason pasty accountants and adjunct professors keep hitting on her and not the guys with chiseled abs, swarthy complexions, sexy accents, and high paying prestigious jobs that she deserves!

[PD Scott]

How many boys/men, upon being turned down for a date, reply with "But I deserve access to you!"?

I'm going to put my money on "not a whole lot."

[John Thacker]

To be fair, a lot of them bitch about being "nice guys" and think that being a nice guy means that, cosmically, they deserve some one. But the vast majority of men don't take it so far as to mean that they necessarily deserve a particular person. (They just imply it passive aggressively, which keeps them nice guys.)

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"access to women"

We're strictly talking about vagina here, right?

[Sudden]

Seriously. Why's she acting like I want cuddling and conversation? I just want a quick romp in her rump.

[Zeb]

I don't know if deserve has anything to do with it, but as far as "access" to women goes, that's why there are whores.

[BigT]

Yes, and feminists would be wise to be in favor of prostitution, if only to prevent this type of violence.

[Brett L]

Forty felony charges seems a little excessive.

Gurbaksh Chahal, the CEO of IPO-hopeful advertising company RadiumOne, has walked away from more than 40 felony charges arising from the alleged beating of his girlfriend during a 30-minute attack in a San Francisco, California, apartment.

It seems like domestic battery and attempted murder would have covered it. Of course, since cops didn't follow evidence rules, the guy plead to the misdemeanors and paid some hush money.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Guess who he donates to..

[Brett L]

Its not a WAR ON WIMMENZ when they do it. Just a cultural misunderstanding that evil money can smooth over.

[Andrew S.]

Oklahoma is planning for a double execution on Tuesday. I wasn't aware that prisons had sweeps months.

-----

McMahon: Hi, I'm Ed McMahon. Tonight on Fox, from the producers
of "When Skirts Fall Off," and "Secrets of National
Security Revealed," it's, "World's Deadliest
Executions."

Making his first appearance on our show, heeeere's
Snake!

Snake: Thank you, chickie-pies.

Homer: The chair? Ohh ... how come they only do crucifixions
during sweeps?

[Lady Bertrum]

Who knew Jaime Lannister was a Philly narco officer?

[Andrew S.]

Jamie Lannister may be a kingslayer, and he may have performed certain actions in this previous week's episode that were discussed in a blog post here earlier today, but he has far more honor than any of the narco officers involved in that story.

"A man's got to have a code" - Omar 'The Hound' Little

[Lady Bertrum]

Speaking for the heroes in the Philly narco division, hey, at least they didn't rape their sisters and chose vulnerable random women instead.

[The DerpRider]

Until the HBO show I always pictured Jaime as the blond, curly haired guy from Top Secret.

[Stormy Dragon]

Mel Torme?

[The DerpRider]

+1 Skeet surfing.

[Rich]

Abbas told Kerry unity government will recognize Israel

1) "... as a TARGET!"

2) "Why, there's that Little Satan right now!"

[Medical Physics Guy]

Apparently they, really, actually cut spending in my country of residence this year.

[Cytotoxic]

According to data at ukpublicspending.co.uk, total government spending in the U.K., having leveled off in 2012, actually went down in 2013. Spending was 694 billion pounds, 46% of GDP, in 2011; 694 billion pounds, 45% of GDP, in 2012, and 675 billion pounds, 43% of GDP, in 2013.

In Airstrip One of all places. I'm half-expecting The End Times to begin.

France is giving in. They're at least cutting increases in spending. Even the most verbose NYT bullshit with all the support of all the bullshit economics textbooks can't stop reality.

[R C Dean]

2.73% nominal cut, probably more with inflation.

Its sad that I'm impressed.

[Doctor Whom]

As long as those heroes in Philadelphia made it home safely.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Zonkey? Debra?

[Bobarian]

Jackazz.

[Fist of Etiquette]

My first kiss was a girl named Debra. In fact, I think her last name might have been Zonkey.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Was her sunken face like a galleon clawed with mysteries of the Spanish Main?

[Zeb]

I thought is was "zebrass" (seriously).

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I have zebrass balls.

[R C Dean]

Zedonk. Duh.

[Warty]

Sad kitty story time

(Reuters) - Twenty-five dead cats found stuffed in plastic bags and hung from tree limbs in Yonkers, outside New York City, were killed by blows to the head, investigators said on Friday.

Goddammit.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

AWFUL

[Warty]

The killings do not appear to be part of a ritual, the SPCA said.

Uh...killing a bunch of animals and hanging them in bags from the same tree is what then? A habit?

[Rich]

Well, not a RITUAL-ritual like marriage.

[C. Anacreon]

Yes, perhaps there was no "ritual" associated with it. Perhaps this was just a guy cleaning house and he had already filled the recycling bin, so needed other places to discard things.

[paranoid android]

Maybe it's a very serious misunderstanding about the reproductive cycle of cats and/or trees.

[Brett L]

An obsession with the 2nd sentient species in the Ender saga?

[Zeb]

It may have been someone working on a new ritual. Or perhaps an art project.

[Pro Libertate]

Some guy burned down a cat rescue place here--killed a few cats. Weird trend?

[Warty]

MOTHERFUCKER. Give him to me.

[Pro Libertate]

They caught him. Apparently some kind of nutcase.

[mr simple]

Whoa, there, with your privilege. You offend all crazy people by linking them to this. Better to blame it on his male pattern aggressiveness towards pussy.

[carol]

OT, ProL, but have you thought about adding tegu to the menu along side of pythons? They've gotten quite plentiful down in my part of the county.

[Pro Libertate]

Sure, anything nonmammalian works.

[Brandon]

WTF are tegu?

[Pro Libertate]

Standard Florida fauna.

[carol]

A four to four and a half reptile that is native to Argentina but is rapidly making a home in Florida. The third largest breeding population in Florida is in the Riverview/Gibsonton area of southern Hillsborough County. Around 100 adult tegu have been spotted in the area, which doesn't sound like many except that each female lays 25-50 eggs at a whack. I'm told they make great pets-so long as you mind them eating your other pets.

[JW]

Look, I have it on good authority that crazy people aren't all violent and saying that is insulting to them.

He just hates cans.

[Pro Libertate]

Cans? All cans, or just the ones made of tin?

[JW]

GET AWAY FROM THE CANS!

[Max Power]

My cans! My precious antique cans!

[Brandon]

He just hates cans.

I've seen that kind of thing before...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Police chief: Yeah. It might be a good idea to find these people.

[Brett L]

Aww. I just got a little fluff-ball. A calico my wife named Pixel without knowing that she was continuing the Heinlein inspired theme of my cat naming.

[Warty]

A calico, huh. Enjoy your insane little ball of bossy, obsessive love.

[Brett L]

She already walks around meeping at me when I'm not doing it right. I'm not 100% sure what each one means. She's only been training me for 3 days.

[Warty]

I have a tortoiseshell who meeps. It usually means DADDY DADDY DADDY MAKE IT FUN or DADDY DADDY DADDY GET MY BELLY.

[Brett L]

Yes, it usually seems to mean: Walk by the thing I'm hiding under so I can attack you!

[Jordan]

One of my tabbies does that when she either wants me to make a lap for her or to play with her. Her brother hardly ever meows, but purrs all the time.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yep, my tortoiseshell has those ones plus the "i'm about to go fucking berserk" one.

[Brandon]

We have a tortie who insists on being an outside cat and then gets terrified of moderate wind.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Ours is just the opposite, she hated the outside until she realized that there are furry and feathered things with meat inside prancing around our backyard. Now she only comes in for an hour at a time.

[What's that smell?]

OK ya'll are officially FAGS!
Get a F'ing dog!

[Corning]

I can't have a kitty cuz I am allergic...

I hope you all die from Toxoplasmosis.

[Brett L]

Addendum: I learned tonight that six month old babies and six week old kittens operate on completely different frequencies, and neither one startles the other. So... that's good. However, both crying at full volume is a little rough on me.

[Brett L]

Wife is texting me from the vet. Apparently, they won't give our six month old child vaccinations at the same time, but I really want him to be safe from heartworms.

[Stormy Dragon]

You sent your sixth month old child to the vet? o.O

[Pro Libertate]

Another victim of Obamacare.

[Brett L]

No, no. I just thought that while he was there, we could do our part to help with health care rationing changes and see if they had any vaccines that a human could survive.

[Pro Libertate]

If I were a vet, I'd start building an underground practice where I took human patients. Charge the procedure or the prescription to pet insurance, which is likely not very regulated, or just charge cash.

[Mad Scientist]

So, you'd be a mob doc?

[Pro Libertate]

No. A vet with a human side practice.

[Max Power]

Here, look at this and you'll feel better.

[db]

Yes, that filled.me.with rage.

[Sevo]

"The head of Laborers' International Union is blasting President Barack Obama for delaying a decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline."

Are these the guys who finally got pissed at O-care, too? Well, Obo has learned they can be ignored also; he's still got a loyal following of bootlickers.

[Medical Physics Guy]

They really can be ignored; where in the world are they going to go, to the Republicans who they've spent against for decades? And if they don't like it, well they shouldn't have put themselves in this position.

[Cytotoxic]

But they should do that for once. It would put them up on the DNC ladder of priorities.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

hamster-sized deer

[Andrew S.]

Would you rather fight 100 hamster-sized deer or 1 deer-sized hamster?

[Brandon]

Deer-sized hamster. More meat for less cleaning.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Did you get the wrong link there?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Zut Alors!

[Bobarian]

Jackazz.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Dead cats found hanging from trees in Yonkers, New York

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

sorry Warty

[Cytotoxic]

At least they were just cats.

[Warty]

HOVERPUG

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Puppy meets kitty

[PD Scott]

Ex-DHS watchdog put on leave after critical report
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson put his agency's former internal watchdog on leave within hours of the publication of a Senate report that concluded the employee was too cozy with senior agency officials and delayed or classified some critical reports to accommodate President Barack Obama's political appointees.
Charles K. Edwards had been allowed to quietly resign as acting inspector general and transfer to another post within the Homeland Security Department in December, just before Johnson took office.
Thursday's suspension came within hours of a report that concluded that Edwards was not only politically influenced, but wasn't qualified for his job. The report said that he also lacked the independence required of an inspector general.
Edwards was also criticized for seeking legal advice from the Homeland Security general counsel's office, despite being required by law to only get such advice from his own counsel or from another inspector general, the report said. Edwards told investigators for the subcommittee that he didn't trust his own lawyer or anyone else in that legal counsel's office.

[Rich]

Aunt Shoots Niece Dead Hours After Wedding, Over Argument About Who's Driving Home

"I can *too* drive! Look, I can even *shoot*!"

[Brett L]

Unusually high quality for random naked chick.

[PD Scott]

"Leave Sparkle alone!!!"

[PD Scott]

Maybe they were worried Ben Roethlisberger might see her...

[Rich]

Pittsburgh police say they assisted Point Park University police with arresting the woman.

I'll bet.

[Ted S.]

Nearly-naked chicks

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Don't think you're not going to pay for that.

[Agammamon]

Look, she was drunk and might have killed herself if she drove.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Called the Limo of the Skies, this $140k trip will fly you round the world in ultimate opulence

[Pro Libertate]

Apropos of nothing, I've always wanted to drive to Tierra del Fuego. From Tampa. In an RV. Is this possible? Google Maps insists that I must fly.

[PD Scott]

If you can convince Chile to build a big enough ramp...

[Pro Libertate]

Now I'm really curious about how far I could get by road.

I tried to get to Rio Gallegos, which isn't far from there and looks to be connected to the road system, but Google has denied me that, too. What are you hiding, Google?

[Ted S.]

The Dari?n Gap?

[Pro Libertate]

Wow, that sucks. So I couldn't even get through Central America? It's the 21st fucking century! That pisses me off to no end.

[Corning]

how much does the rental of a one car ocean ferry cost?

[PD Scott]

From Wiki:
"Efforts have been made for decades to remedy this missing link in the Pan-American highway. Planning began in 1971 with the help of United States funding, but this was halted in 1974 after concerns raised by environmentalists. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations agency reported that the road, and the subsequent development, would cause extensive environmental damage. Cited reasons include evidence that the Dari?n Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot-and-mouth disease since 1954, and since at least the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Dari?n Gap."

So it's the environmentalists and the, well, diseased cattle's fault.

[Pro Libertate]

I was not angry since I came to France until this instant.

[PD Scott]

I was not angry since I came to France until this instant.

"Once more unto the Dari?n Gap, dear friends, once more!"

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, that's a great idea. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the gap up with our English dead! So I can drive over them.

[PD Scott]

So I can drive over them.

Going to be hell on the suspension. Better upgrade the shocks.

[Homple]

A pique in Darien?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

WAIT A MINUTE

There was a car ad a number of years back which featured a couple that drove from the US to Brazil!

[Pro Libertate]

See, this is how scandals get uncovered. Call the press!

[Brandon]

Am I the only one who had never heard of the Darien Gap before reading The Panama Laugh?

[Pro Libertate]

This whole thing is news to me. I thought I could drive to Tierra del Fuego from here until today. I-75 north to I-10, left, I-10 to I-35, left, drive south on roads I don't know for around 6,000 miles, boom.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I suspect those destinations have requested Google hide from you bridges and ferries.

[Pro Libertate]

Look, I just want to drive to the cape. Is that so much to ask? They have roads in South America. It's land all the way down. Why can't I drive it?

I'm smelling a White House petition here.

[PD Scott]

Maybe a very special RV, with a winch and a bulldozer attachment...

[Pro Libertate]

No. I want to drive an RV, a nice, comfy RV, but not an amphibious or flying one, to the bottom of South America. On roads. Stopping for gas all the way down. I demand an infrastructure!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

They have ferries around the Darien Gap. Plan on dividing up your cash and hiding it all over the RV.

[Pro Libertate]

The one thing that did occur to me prior to learning that we need to extend I-35 6,000 miles south is that there might be some dangers on the road, from both public and private criminals.

[Mad Scientist]

I guess you'll need to put up some barriers then. But with the right decor (ask The DerpRider for paint samples) it can be made scenic enough.

[Pro Libertate]

Guns are out of the question, I imagine. Or could I bribe myself and a small arsenal all the way down?

[PD Scott]

Have reversible signs on each side, one side painted with Jesus, the other with Che, motorized to flip back and forth at a touch of a switch. You'll have to make a judgement call about which will be appropriate when.

Also a little sticker saying "Driver carries less than $20" in Spanish.

[Pro Libertate]

I'll keep that in mind when they finally build me a road so I can plan the drive. I'm sooo disappointed in the continent.

[Terr]

This sounds like a great Top Gear road trip. Except the trip will be made in Smart cars.

[Pro Libertate]

They can steal my idea, but it's got to be an RV. Or maybe a conversion van. You know, with the shag carpet everywhere.

[Tonio]

Officials have decided not to file charges against Philadelphia narcotics officers accused of looting 22 bodegas and sexually assaulting women.

As depressing as that is it means he could be charged and tried in the future when we have a more sane political environment.

Those sham prosecutions of bad cops where they are inevitably get acquited are worse because they are then immune from further prosecution.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

A reader writes:
"I'm the most promiscuous virgin I know"

[Rich]

I feel I shouldn't be loosing my virginity to somebody that I'm not in love with.

Sorry, lady, you're already loose.

[Rich]

promiscuous virgin

Nice band name.

[C. Anacreon]

They could play warmup for 'Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals'

[Brett L]

If she's not down to technical virginity, she's not even close.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's unclear if she is ok with backdoor.

[Christophe]

Yes, please do continue to attack Mr. Snowden. That's bound to be a winning strategy for the "party of civil-liberties". Keep it up champ.

[Doctor Whom]

Civil liberties matter only when the evil Rethuglikkkans are in the White House.

[Professor Woland]

They've either written off the Dems who actually care about civil liberties or they fully expect them to vote Donkey because the Republicans, by and large are no better and some Republican somewhere will say they think the world is 6000 years old. The Democratic voters who care about this stuff won't stay home because they are devoted to the civic religion, and while they might ponder voting for the Green Party, ultimately you don't vote for someone you vote against someone, and these people will vote against whatever goofball the Republicans run.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

George Clooney stormed out of a dinner with the Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn, claiming that the billionaire had insulted President Barack Obama.

[Pro Libertate]

Okay, so there's one guy I shouldn't sit next to at dinner.

[Bobarian]

George Clooney?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, that's the guy.

[Sudden]

In a statement Clooney said: "There were nine people at that table so you can ask them. Steve likes to go on rants He called the president an a??e. That is a fact. I said the president was my longtime friend and then he said, 'Your friend is an a??e'. At that point I told Steve that HE was an a?e and I wasn't going to sit at his table while he was being such a jackass. And I walked out. There were obviously quite a few more adjectives and adverbs used by both of us. It had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with character."

Can someone tell me what an a--e is? Arse? When did Steve Wynn turn into fucking groundskeeper Willie?

[Lord at War]

Count the dashes.

I'm pretty sure is was analube.

[Mickey Rat]

Isn't that cute? Clooney thinks Obama is his friend.

"Asshole", maybe?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

One would think Hillary Clinton would be the last one to try to attack someone by inviting speculation into wrongdoing implied by 'odd' fact circumstances surrounding someone. That is not just living in glass houses while throwing stones, it is like having bones of glass like the villain in Unbreakable and tossing stones around.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Speaking of Snowden, I caught this NPR program interviewing a Vanity Fair journalist who writes about Snowden. I thought the journalist was quite fair to Snowden. The more I hear about the man the more I think he deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor.

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/16/.....nsa-leaker

[Jordan]

I certainly agree with the sentiment, but I think that's only a military decoration. Perhaps the Presidential Medal of Freedom? I'm sure the Nobel-Peace-Prize-Winner-In-Chief would have no problem with that.

[Max Power]

Naked beer fest in the Poconos!

[PD Scott]

I'm going to go out on a limb and bet it would take a lot of beer before you'd want to see the majority of the participants naked.

[The DerpRider]

It does say unlimited sampling.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Was Kmele Foster's mother there?

[Ted S.]

That's what drinking massive quantities of beer is for. 😐

[Alton Knutson]

OT from my wife's home town.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com.....-brighton/

Reminds me of one of the old Steve Martin comedy albums where he is depressed that his girlfriend died. They had been out drinking and she got in the car to leave and they got in a big fight, she said she was ok to drive, he said she wasn't, they argued for a bit, then he shot her.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

You know, I'm not thrilled about government (state or federal) having the power to kill, but FUCK Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner. I don't know why you need the snark about "death penalty sweeps month."

It took a while, but I finally managed to find a fucking news outlet that told what crimes they were convicted of (minor stuff like murdering teenagers and home invasion).

I hope the death cocktail is mixed wrong and it burns their insides out.

Fucking savages.

[Juice]

I hope the death cocktail is mixed wrong and it burns their insides out.
Fucking savages.

Hmmmm.

[R C Dean]

death cocktail

Is today Name a Band Day?

[Zeb]

Sounds like the sort of thing a savage would say.

[jmomls]

One of these angels raped a 1 year-old baby to death, the other took two chicks on a joyride in the country, raped the pretty one repeatedly with his buddy, then shot the fat one.

Nice blokes, both. They should have been put in front of a firing squad the day after their trials.

[Calidissident]

These guys are no doubt lowlife scum, and I won't shed a tear for them, but the government simply cannot be trusted with the power to legally kill people as punishment. Innocent people will inevitably be killed, regardless of how many safeguards you put in place, and the "justice" of killing guilty people is simply not worth the injustice of government-sanctioned murder of an innocent.

[Cytotoxic]

Hmmm but that argument can be extended to incarceration too.

The government can't be trusted currently with the DP but I think it is possible for government to attain DP-quality.

[JW]

What about ATM? This is crucial for any DP issues.

[Calidissident]

If you offer a better alternative to incarceration, I'm all ears. There's no reason why the death penalty is necessary. Life without parole eliminates the threat to the public just fine. The death penalty is purely about revenge, and that is not a reason that justifies the inevitability of killing innocent people.

"The government can't be trusted currently with the DP but I think it is possible for government to attain DP-quality."

Yes, if only we get the right TOP.MEN we'll get a 100% accuracy rate.

[Corning]

but that argument can be extended to incarceration too.

One can be released from jail...death has no return.

[R C Dean]

Those years you spent in jail have no return, either.

[Homple]

Yes, what if those about to be capitally punished are as innocent as babes unborn ... oh, wait....

[Calidissident]

Who are you, Eduard? Nobody said anything about abortion.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

I agree. That's why I'm opposed to the death penalty. I just never understood why being against the death penalty necessitated minimizing barbaric crimes or ignoring what the fuckers did to get on to Death Row.

[What's that smell?]

If "the government can't be trusted" I'll do it.
And fuck you, you sanctimonious ass!

Remember.. there are those among us that don't deserve to be among us.

[Lord at War]

but the government simply cannot be trusted with the power to legally kill people as punishment.

But, they are perfectly righteous enough to throw them in the rape cage for 30-40 years?

Ask Timothy Howard about that.

He did almost 30 years for a murder he did not commit. He got a nice (taxpayer provided) paycheck upon his release.

He died less than a year later...

If you can't support a "death penalty", how can you support gov't handling crime at all?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Cliven Bundy has done something rare - shut the conservative media up for a day while they scramble to disown him.

[Pathogen]

Yeah, that's pure awesome.. now we can talk about the IRS/DOJ/DNC-Cummings connection..

[Tak Kak]

"Oklahoma is planning for a double execution on Tuesday."

And with that they'll be taking the #2 spot from my dear Virginia, "tied with Oklahoma" was enough to make me move in disgrace. Now I doubt if I'll ever return home.

[The DerpRider]

One year college ban for pot, or go pro.

[Warty]

"Being a part of a program that values integrity, it is important to let everyone know of a poor decision I recently made. I tested positive for marijuana during the NCAA Tournament. We were notified of that result after the Final Four. I regret thoroughly disappointing my family, coaches and administration. Despite all of this they have been understanding and helpful over the last couple of weeks.

Pussy. "I smoked marihuana! It was horrible!"

[Zeb]

Doesn't everyone in the NBA smoke tons of weed?

[PD Scott]

In the offseason?

According to this, the policy is:
PENALTIES -- NBA
First Offense: 5 game suspension and mandatory attendance in the leagues anti-doping program
Second Incidence: 10 game suspension, continued counseling.
Third time: 25 game suspension, continued counseling.
Fourth: Minimum 2 year suspension.

For "drugs of abuse" there are similar penalties.

A DUI conviction or a player's first positive test for marijuana results in mandatory entrance into league's substance abuse program.

Second offense: $25,000 fine and possible suspension.
Third: 5 game suspension without pay.
Fourth: 10 game suspension without pay.

[BigT]

"Mitch has had a tremendous impact on our program from the moment he committed to us," Beilein said in a statement. "He has injected an enthusiasm that cannot be matched. This is why he is loved by the coaching staff, his teammates and Wolverine fans.

A slip of the tongue, no doubt.

[Brett L]

So easy, even an athlete can find the right answer.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hey, what do the Mass. crowd here think of Romneycare? My friend from Boston says it's a success - but he's Liberal and thinks Sir Blames-A-Lot is trying to fix a mess left behind by Mordred.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Conservatives Fume Over Rand Paul's Abortion Comments

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....13294.html

The Aborto-Freaks are just not into you, Rand.

[Juice]

"Obviously, no president has the power to unilaterally ban abortion, but he does have the power to make the issue a priority -- something most Americans assumed Rand Paul would do."

Maybe delusional people thought he would make it a priority, but we're talking about single-issue abortion voters here.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yeah, but there are about 20 million of those single issue abortion voters that rabidly vote GOP.

[Corning]

They didn't have any problem nominating pro-choice Romney.

[Brett L]

Oh yeah, I'm sure HuffPo has their finger on the pulse of pro-abortion American. "We found some people who said some things."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

you mean prolife America?

I am skeptical of these concern-trollish articles in the proggy media to highlight "look! divisions among Republicans!"

The main prolife action is at the state level. Whether in the Senate or the White House, Rand's job will be to avoid doing harm - eg, *not* more putting abortion advocates on the federal bench.

[Professor Woland]

Honest question here, if the choice were a nominee who supports legal abortion, but also is great on everything else or a nominee who opposed legal abortion but was generally disappointing on everything else, which would you prefer?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Hmmm...depends on what "everything else" means. I mean, is the putative prolifer some kind of Communist? I'd need more details before I could answer.

Fortunately, I've noticed a nice "coincidence" - in the Republican Party, while of course there are prolifers with too much trust in the federal government, there are prolifers who *also* want to rein in the feds and take a crack at limiting spending.

Indeed, when we see a Republican who is denounced as "extremist" in the media because he proposes cuts to various federal programs, or repealing Obamacare, or whatever, chances are he's "extremist" on abortion as well.

So far, then, the choice you posit is a false choice. I can have my cake and eat it too.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The better question is how does a choicer who sees him/herself as an opponent of Big Government deal with a prolifer like Rand who agrees with them on so many issues?

[Cytotoxic]

Vote for him do what is possible to stand in the way of insane laws based on the insane notion that Zygotes Are People Too.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm not sure what's insane about it. To me, the insane part is that we can wait an arbitrary period before recognizing that a living human being has human rights.

[Cytotoxic]

Because it's a fucking single cell. There's no possibility of a being. Jesus Christ you may as well declare that my sperm are people.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I admit holding the position that human personhood starts at the moment of conception.

But if you put the point of personhood later, you're still not out of the woods.

At some point before birth, you're going to recognize that the, uh, entity, is sufficiently humanlike to be a person with rights. Then you'll have to confront our abortion regime, which allows a "right" to abortion at very late stages.

Consider bills like the ones Wendy Davis filibustered, which don't ban abortions for zygotes, but for developed fetuses who look remarkably human.

This is the front on which the battle is being fought right now.

I suspect you disagree with the abortion status quo, but hesitate to agree with fundies. But you don't have to embrace the full insanity of my views, just go as far as you feel right. You'll still be against the current abortion regime, I'm fairly sure.

[Cytotoxic]

You see that's difference between us. I base my positions on data and logic, not 'feelings' or how something 'looks'. As is, I don't even consider infants to have person-hood and as such not only am fine with abortion before birth but after in for subjects with deformities or infections or other severe problems.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Uh, wow, I, uh, suppose we disagree more than I had initially supposed...

[Homple]

Could you provide references to the data and a summary narrative of the logic?

[Mickey Rat]

"Because it's a fucking single cell. There's no possibility of a being."

"I base my positions on data and logic, not 'feelings' or how something 'looks'"

That is hilarious.

[Professor Woland]

If I voted I'd seriously consider him, he is clearly better than whatever wretch the Dems will nominate, and if I were a voter there might be some issues one would have to agree with me on, abortion isn't one of them. Legal abortion isn't going anywhere no matter who gets elected President, so it wouldn't be a big issue for me. If a President did have the power to significantly curtail it, I might reconsider. As a non-voter I can conveniently avoid having to think about it.

[Cytotoxic]

Legal abortion isn't going anywhere no matter who gets elected President, so it wouldn't be a big issue for me.

Yup. This is a pro-choice nation, period. Some cowardly sand-bagging by a few retrograde state legislatures isn't going to change that. There have always been a few that kick at change like that and we'll mop them up.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Public opinion is in a muddle. It's certainly not as "advanced" as the "liberal" status quo.

And what is particularly cowardly about protecting some of the weakest among us? Killing some fetus that didn't do anything to you can be many things, but hardly brave.

[Cytotoxic]

And what is particularly cowardly about protecting some of the weakest among us?

The state legislation is cowardly because, instead of honestly fighting abortion, they sandbag women with mandatory sonograms and BS.

Public opinion is in a muddle. It's certainly not as "advanced" as the "liberal" status quo.

We have our foot on the neck of popular culture. We need to keep it there and continue secularizing America to maintain our dominance, which I'm sure we can.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Goodness, Cyro, It's like I don't know you anymore!

[BigT]

Cyto: "As is, I don't even consider infants to have person-hood and as such not only am fine with abortion before birth but after in for subjects with deformities or infections or other severe problems."

You are one sick dude.

How would you like it if we decide YOU had severe problems?

[Redmanfms]

You are one sick dude.

How would you like it if we decide YOU had severe problems?

Yes.

He's never seen a murderdroning he hasn't loved.

[Brett L]

How about a candidate who wishes he could make abortion illegal, but realizes the electorate he would represent doesn't agree with him, and thus will continue to personally talk about how he wishes people wouldn't have abortions, but won't attempt to legislate such until after changing enough people's minds to have a chance?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I think Rand Paul believes this. If he has the chance to sign some abortion restriction, he will take it, but I don't think he will take the initiative from prolifers on the state level.

[Brett L]

Exactly. Imagine that, a guy with Presidential aspirations who understands that he will not govern by whim. Obviously a danger to the status quo.

[R C Dean]

For Presidential candidates, an acceptable answer on abortion is:

Rand: "I am running for federal office. I see no enumerated powers of the federal government that would allow it to outlaw, limit, or fund abortions. The issue is simply outside the scope of the federal government."

Reporter: "But, Rand, what is your position on abortion?"

Rand: [turns up volume on sound system] I AM RUNNING FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. I SEE NO . . . ."

[Cytotoxic]

An oddly sane stance considering his totally insane Zygotes are People Too Act.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What do you mean by "act"? That he's not sincere?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, sorry, you meant act as in bill, not act as in political posturing. Never mind!

[Cytotoxic]

No, the Act that he introduced.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I know, sorry.

[The DerpRider]

Wife is making me choose paint samples this evening, so I have a lineup of Ballast Point Sculpin, Great Lakes Chillwave, Dogfish Aprihop, and will finish numbing the pain with some Eagle Rare.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Ha. You think that you have a choice.

[Brett L]

You can always neg a couple and get them ranked higher than she would have.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

^^^This man is definitely married.

[Mad Scientist]

Is there anyone you want us to contact in case you don't make it?

[PD Scott]

"I like the ecru, but it could use a bit more eggshell."

[JW]

Is it too late to fake your own death?

[Sudden]

I will be enjoying The Bruery's Chocolate Rain, paired with soy-honey glaze pork chops, sticky rice, and kim chi.

[Corning]

Wife is making me choose paint samples this evening

How does that even happen?

Or do you mean your wife is making you watch her choose paint samples?

[Palin's Buttplug]

(CNN) -- Federal prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against Rep. Michael Grimm, capping a two-year FBI investigation that ranges from his business dealings to his first campaign for Congress in 2010, U.S. officials briefed on the matter said.

In recent months, public attention has focused on the 44-year-old House member's campaign donations after a friend and donor was charged with funneling illegal contributions to Grimm's campaign four years ago.

At least he didn't send a dick-pic.

[C. Anacreon]

Brother, that's Grimm.

[PD Scott]

"It's plea-bargainin' time!"

[The Last American Hero]

He also didn't have $90k in bribe money in his freezer like Jefferson or spend $750k in campaign donations on personal luxury items like Jesse Jackson Jr. He also wasn't doing business with high priced hookers while prosecuting others for doing the same thing like Spitzer.

He's probably a crook since congressmen by definition are almost all crooks. If he keeps his position after a conviction, I'll be surprised. Although he might get the Ted Stevens treatment.

[Raven Nation]

Posted on earlier thread but some have missed. Heinlein biographer dies:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/.....n-memoriam

[Raven Nation]

Jeez, in a column on Mark Steyn/NROs court battle with Michael Mann, Conrad Black eviscerates the American justice system:

In fact, as is becoming notorious, American justice is in a shocking condition. Too many judges in the U.S. are elected; too many are ex-prosecutors; the battle over capital punishment has taken all the air out of the room in which the infamous severity of American sentences and the unspeakable lopsidedness of prosecutorial success should be debated...The Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendment guaranties of due process, just compensation for seizure of property, grand jury deliberations as assurance against capricious prosecution, prompt justice, access to counsel (of choice), impartial jury, and reasonable bail have been put to the shredder...Even after removing from the totals all those with unstigmatizing records irrelevant to their hireability today (DUI or disorderly conduct decades ago, for example), about 15 percent of adult males are felons.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, when you put it that way. . . .

[Cytotoxic]

Gen Y and Millennial moms having more kids and abandoning helicopter parenting.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2.....parenting/

Makes my generation seem less stupid and puts a hole in the notion that the less religious won`t be good for making kids. (Gen Y and Mill are less religious). What's the difference between Millenials and Gen Y?

[Stormy Dragon]

There isn't. It's too different terms for the same generational cohort.

[Corning]

Fundamentally people who don't want kids don't have them. This has become more and more true over the past 40 years.

Eventually the only people alive will be people born from people who really wanted kids and will carry on those traits from their parents.

The irony is abortion is genetically weeding out people who would get abortions from the population.

[Raven Nation]

cont.

Prosecutors win 99.5 percent of their cases, 97 percent of them without trial, because of the plea bargain system, which has often been reduced to a sleazy extortion or subornation of confected and rehearsed inculpatory testimony in exchange for immunities, including from the perjury sponsored and approved by the prosecutors. This is far from what was intended by the authors of the Bill of Rights and the original propagators of the tenuous theory that American independence was a new order of the ages and the dawn of government of, by, and for the people, vested with inalienable rights, according to self-evident truths.

Beyond all that, the American legal profession is a suffocating cartel that saps 10 percent of American GDP and through its members in legislatures and regulatory authorities adds 4,000 statutes and regulations a year to the law books, steadily tightening its strangulation of American life, all and always in the name of a society of laws and the ever more equitable refinement of civilization.

[Warty]

I have been ready to murder someone all fucking week, and now the fucking gym is fucking closed for no fucking reason and I can't even fucking deadlift. GODDAMMIT. FUCK. This is worse than the Holocaust.

[Mad Scientist]

Aren't there some semis in the parking lot you could throw around?

[Pro Libertate]

Why would it be closed today? Last week was Passover, Good Friday, and all of that. Could it be Orthodox Good Friday?

[Raven Nation]

ANZAC Day - Australian solidarity.

[Pro Libertate]

In Ohio? I'm rather doubtful they know where Australia or New Zealand actually are. Excepting Warty, of course. He knows, because those are his back-up nations.

[Warty]

Some fucking kind of bullshit asshole dipshit banquet for stupid cocksucker fucks. Fuck them. I hope the fucking walls collapse on them and nobody around is strong enough to lift the fucking rubble off them and they suffocate. Fucking Christ.

[Pro Libertate]

Why not just crash the banquet and workout and eat at the same time?

[Derpetologist]

Today on Derpbook:

I don't know why you insist on sending me links to the most insane people you can find on the Internet, but here we go;
NO ONE has ever advocated banning profits. When people talk about income inequality they are talking about the mere fact that since Reagan, the average CEOs pay has increased a hundred fold or more. There are only so many pieces of the pie to go around, and it seems as the wealthy skim more and more and more off the top, I.e. get richer and richer and richer, there is less to go around and everyone else gets poorer and poorer and poorer. This isn't rocket science. Corporate profits are at an all time high, wages have not kept up with inflation and have remained stagnant. The ONLY people who are making any upward mobility whatsoever are the fat cats at the very top. If you have 10 people at a pizza party, and five pizzas arrive to feed everyone, and the enormous obese guy takes four pizzas for himself, the other 9 people are barely going to get a slice each. The guy that shows up late is only going to have the crumbs in the box. The problem is not that corporations make a profit, the problem is that they don't share the profits with the people at the bottom that make them possible.

[Derpetologist]

My response to his zero-sum game thinking was to ask him if he got poorer every time someone won the lottery.

[Griffin3]

I suppose it's not kosher to point out that the obese guy is the guy who paid for the f*cking pizza?!?! And is still paying the people hourly wages while they sit around snorking down pie on the company clock.

[PD Scott]

It's always the goddamn pizza analogy. As if the economy doesn't bake new pizzas every day.

And, of course, those rich bastards never spend any of their money, just put it in their vault and swim around in it.

[Christophe]

I thought the pizza analogy was appropriate given that I convert all my earnings to cash and eat it.

Or am I doing it wrong?

[Pro Libertate]

One thing I do wonder about is how much increased government meddling and influence peddling may have to do with the dramatic rise in CEO compensation. Maybe it's not related at all, but it's an interesting correlation.

[Derpetologist]

Most of a CEO's pay in a large corporation is in the form of stock. Since the Fed has been pumping up the stock market for decades by fiddling with interest rates, it's not surprising that CEO pay has grown more than median pay.

[Christophe]

And the reason they started being paid largely in stock/stock options in the first place was because salaries were enormously taxed.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I don't know why you insist on sending me links to the most insane people you can find on the Internet

That tends to be my response to the links that Coeus posts here.

[Derpetologist]

Today on Derpbook:

I don't know why you insist on sending me links to the most insane people you can find on the Internet, but here we go;
NO ONE has ever advocated banning profits. When people talk about income inequality they are talking about the mere fact that since Reagan, the average CEOs pay has increased a hundred fold or more. There are only so many pieces of the pie to go around, and it seems as the wealthy skim more and more and more off the top, I.e. get richer and richer and richer, there is less to go around and everyone else gets poorer and poorer and poorer. This isn't rocket science. Corporate profits are at an all time high, wages have not kept up with inflation and have remained stagnant. The ONLY people who are making any upward mobility whatsoever are the fat cats at the very top. If you have 10 people at a pizza party, and five pizzas arrive to feed everyone, and the enormous obese guy takes four pizzas for himself, the other 9 people are barely going to get a slice each. The guy that shows up late is only going to have the crumbs in the box. The problem is not that corporations make a profit, the problem is that they don't share the profits with the people at the bottom that make them possible.

[Mad Scientist]

I'm beginning to believe that it would be impossible to explain to a progressive that the economy is not a zero-sum game.

[Cytotoxic]

The only solution is too make their 'vision' obviously politically impossible and thereby politically obsolete. Micronations, cryptocurrencies. Do for prog economics what internet and porn mags did for SoCon anti-nudity laws.

[C. Anacreon]

Usually they at least try to couch their concept of zero-sum a bit, but jeez, not this guy. He really uses the "pieces of pie" and "pizza" analogies people usually use to try to explain how wealth is NOT zero-sum!

E.g. PJ O'Rourke writing "wealth is not zero-sum, it doesn't mean that I can eat the whole pizza and you are left chewing its cardboard box".

[Notorious G.K.C.]

mmm...pizza...

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Who bought the pizza?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The People's Pizza Factory and Distribution Center #21. Featuring a wide variety of topping choices, from moldy cheddar to mozarella that will be delivered next week, weather permitting.

Now get in line for your slice, citizen!

[Carl ?s his privilege]

The problem is not that corporations make a profit, the problem is that they don't share the profits with the people at the bottom that make them possible.

I was under the silly impression that companies paid their employees.

Well, except for mostly-left-leaning media and cultural outfits.

[JW]

I've blocked so many 3rd party sources from friend's posts or told it to hide so many stupid posts as "boring or uninteresting" that my news feed has virtually been scrubbed squeaky clean of leftist imbecility.

[trshmnster the terrible]

The big question is whether it's deep dish pizza

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"There are only so many pieces of the pie to go around"

Why, can you not make more pies? It's almost as if 'wealth creation' doesn't exist in reality-based-unicorn world.

The rest reads like a retarded monkey's manifesto.

[Derpetologist]

So, Chris Hayes quoted a figure from Eric Foner that the value of slaves in 1860 in the south was $10 trillion adjusted for inflation. Since there were about 4 million slaves, that means each one was worth $2.5 million. That figure seems a bit high. This link for slave prices in New Orleans gives a figure of $1400 per slave, which works out to about $42,000 in 2014.

Is the figure based on the value of exported cotton? 3.9 million bales were produced in 1860. At a 12 cents a pound, that's $60 per bale, so $240 million in 1860 dollars or $7.2 billion in 2014 dollars.

That $10 trillion figure looks like a complete as pull.

[Stormy Dragon]

How are they calculating inflation for 1860 when the CPI only goes back to 1913?

[Derpetologist]

It's an estimate. $1 in 1860 is about $30 today. Also, there was basically no inflation during the 19th century.

http://www.minneapolisfed.org/.....st1800.cfm

[R C Dean]

Also, there was basically no inflation during the 19th century.

No-kidding gold standards will do that.

[Derpetologist]

Here is the video the prog was responding to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07fTsF5BiSM

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I find confrontational interviews annoying - how did the slave price thing come up?

[Derpetologist]

Today, there was a link to a Chris Hayes article which claimed that climate justice was akin to abolition. One of the figures cited was that the value of oil left in the ground was $20 trillion. For comparison, Hayes claimed the value of US slaves in 1860 was $10 trillion.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ah, I thought it was the Lincoln thing when Judge Napolitano said Lincoln could have avoided war by having the federal government buy up the slaves.

(which he actually suggested at various times, but found no takers except in the District of Columbia)

[Brett L]

So, if I'm clear on the argument: Fuck the fact that human beings were bought and sold as chattel, the real bad part was the economy giving up $10T?

[Juice]

WTF? It's been calculated as $3-4 billion.

[Brett L]

I think its $3B in 1865 money, Juice. That would fit nicely with a 30:1 current dollar to 1865 dollar inflation.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

New York Times reports on the dangerous trend of Southern slavery nostalgia:

http://takingnote.blogs.nytime.....inion&_r=0

[Derpetologist]

Interesting. I wonder when they report on the dangerous trend of nostalgia for communism.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"'The Himalayan glacier melt really was the least of the errors' ? UN IPCC Lead Author Dr. Richard Tol turns on UN: 'The IPCC does not guard itself against selection bias and group think' ? 'Alarmism feeds polarization. Climate zealots want to burn heretics of global warming on a stick'"

http://www.climatedepot.com/20.....ink-alarm/

[Derpetologist]

Here's the math on reducing CO2 emissions:

http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....g-co2.html

[Derpetologist]

Here's the math on reducing CO2 emissions:

http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....g-co2.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Math scares me. Can I just emote instead?

[Tonio]

It irks me to say this, but what Eddie said.

Yes, I find it thoroughly comprehensible and persuasive, but the vast majority of people I know will click away after the multiplyer slide appears. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these people have baccalaureate degrees ore better.

This could be very powerful if better presented (dumbed down) and uses a US accented narrator. I'm an effete snob and it took me a while to figure out that he was saying "perturbations".

[Corning]

err...you do realize how much less CO2 emissions come from natural gas then from oil and coal right?

Halving would be pretty easy and we are already on that path.

Anyway it does not matter. The IPCC's last report said doing nothing costs less then implementing CO2 reducing policies.

[RishJoMo]

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me dude. WOw.

http://www.Anon-VPN.com

[PD Scott]

Yep, no way any evil trollers will come up with a way to remotely activate the brake at will...

[Brett L]

I'm sure your kids will totally want to ride a bike where the brake randomly locks up and dumps them.

[Pathogen]

It's diabolical...

[Bobarian]

Meet Florida Man

[Warty]

From what I've read, these shooters tend to give up at the first sign of any resistance at all. So yeah, it's certainly better than nothing.

[The DerpRider]

Yes. Michigan.

[Bobarian]

Yeah, as the guy says, "LAST RESORT".

The rule is RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.

Avoid the shooter first, but if you can't, then attack.

[R C Dean]

The rule is RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.

A good rule, if you feel no obligation to protect others and are willing to walk past a pile of corpses on your way home.

Personally, in such a situation, I hope that I go more with "FIND, FIX, CLOSE, DESTROY."