Tonight on The Independents: Mystery Meat Wednesday, With Ralph Nader, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Melissa Francis, Paul Mecurio…Talking Executions, Corporate Welfare, Asteroids, Benghazi, Economic Malaise, and National Honesty Day (Bumped)

Tonight's episode of The Independents (Fox Business Network, 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT) will continue the recent trend toward WTF (Winning the Future!) juxtapositions on Wednesdays, as an interview with Obama-impeacher Ralph Nader transitions into a discussion on Benghazi, asteroid scare-mongering (I hope!) with Bill Nye the Science Guy presages a National Honesty Day round of mutual criticism among the co-hosts, and so on.

Party Panelists are Fox Business anchor Melissa Francis and Wall Street lawyer-turned comedian Paul Mecurio, who will discuss Oklahoma's cinematically awful execution, the U.S. economy's spectacularly sluggish growth, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's pot-sweetening in the Toyota relocation deal, and the high cost of regulation.

Speaking of Melissa Francis, she participated in an Independents real-or-fake contest about horrifying government laws and regulations last Friday:

Follow The Independents on Facebook at facebook.com/IndependentsFBN; follow on Twitter @ independentsFBN, and click on this page for more video of past segments.

Comments

[Dances-with-Trolls]

FFS it's not even noon on the west coast. At least bump the sucker today, eh, Welch.

[Matt Welch]

I'll bump it later.

[anon]

The man is true to his word!

[Tman]

The service around here is Par Excellence.

[GILMORE]

2PM, 8:30PM.... whatever...

[Notorious G.K.C.]

National Honesty Day?

No, honey, it isn't your pants that make you look fat.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I have never had food quite like this before.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Re the job applicant you asked me about, you would be lucky to have this person work for you.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This new book gives the reader insight into the meaning of suffering.

[anon]

"Did I tell you about (insert bullshit)"

Yes, I didn't care the first time, and I sure as hell don't give a fuck now.

[Ted S.]

Kmele is the only one of The Independents worth watching.

[What's that smell?]

What is it about Kennedy that I loath so much?

Is it that punchable smug face?
Or is it that "holier, smarter hipper than thou" attitude? (She was the hip news chick on MTV ya'know. Back in the old days when they actually played music videos).
Is it the egocentric, self-important, single name narcissism?
Or the shrill nasal voice?
Could it be that all of this has created the perfect storm of revulsion?

In any case she makes the show wholly unwatchable.

[Brett L]

If we didn't have cops, who would stop crime?

[Fist of Etiquette]

TWO PEE EM EASTERN TIME? THIS IS INDEFENSIBLE.

[GILMORE]

"Inconceivable!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

I say we don't post any comments until the show starts. WHO'S WITH ME?

[Episiarch]

Seconded.

(in Scruffy's voice)

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, all right, I agree reluctantly out of a desire not to be mocked.

#NationalHonestyDay

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Okay.

But then again. I already broke that pact.

Bah. Countries break alliances all the time.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Shitheel countries, you mean.

[Lord Humungus]

I thought it was National Raisin Day
http://games.usvsth3m.com/what.....-birthday/

[triclops]

Seeing Bill Nye talk politics makes me sad. Like seeing a formerly brilliant person sputter out words in dementia.

[sarcasmic]

Like?

[John]

I am not sure he was ever that brilliant.

[sarcasmic]

I grew up with Mr Wizard. That guy was great. Never really watched Nye enough to say either way.

[Mr. Soul]

What about Mr. Lizard? We're gonna need another Timmy.

[Jesus H. Christ]

YAY!! One of my favorite moments in TV comedy history!

Do you remember the "Pit o' Wild Dogs"?

[GILMORE]

"GOP senators block minimum-wage hike but Democrats vow to try again go through same charade endlessly simply to make GOP look "uncaring" in advance of November elections"
- Los Angeles Times

[Paul.]

You know who else goes through empty charades to simply make the other party look bad?

[GILMORE]

The makers of 'Pictionary'?

[Snark Plissken]

INDEPENDENTS CONGLOMERATE!!!

At last the dream is realized. No longer held back by living in the future. Thank you Matt, for caring enough to make it happen.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'm actually not a very serious person. I'd even say I'm rather silly.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I watched my first episode a month or so ago. It was terrible and Kennedy was to blame. Interrupting everyone and acting over the top childish.

I watched Friday and last night, and I have to say it was much better. I don't know if she has been sedated or what, but the show was watchable.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

She has her moments.

Needs more Matt and Kmele somehow, someway. And maybe they should try and format or model it a little closer to the after show.

[Derpetologist]

MSPCP prog flips out; hilarity ensues:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIcqb9hHQ3E

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That chick asking 'what happens tomorrow.'

She'd better be good in the kitchen or bed - or both. Because...that's some derp.

[Derpetologist]

Noam Chomsky explains how to screw up an economy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mhj-j0z-fk

Warning: extreme derp

[Gene]

With Chomsky no warning is needed, it's assumed.

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

Noam Chomsky is the reason I started to look at the media and politics in a different light, so I can't be too hard on him. One of his favorite quotes is "the information is out there, if you want to look". Problem is, once you actually do that, you no longer believe what Chomsky is saying.

[Derpetologist]

Chris Hedges: Most Obnoxious Prog Ever?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJA6U2nM7qQ

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I always found odd titles like 'Death of the Middle-class' and 'Death of Rome' and stuff.

So frightening.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Re: Kennedy- Noe you didn't.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Here's hoping BNTSG's demeanor is a little better this time around. Last time he was awful.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Jay-Z brings his hip-hopping sorry ass to a game sporting an anti-white medallion AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING? And I'm supposed to give a shit about Sterling and all the faux-outrage around it?

Fact: I didn't know who Jay-Z was until last year or something. Am I racist?

Or just a Canadian cornhead?

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Yes.

[Big Chief]

What is an anti-white medallion?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://dailym.ai/1e3VjPH

[jesse.in.mb]

One of the main tenets of the Nation of Islam offshoot is that white people are 'weak and wicked'

It's like Sodom and Gomorrah up in the white race!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Crazy shit.

[GILMORE]

Taking the 5% nation "too seriously"?
- Racist

Failing to take the 5% Nation seriously at all?
- Even more Racist

White people using 5% Nation lingo in rap songs?
- Priceless

[anon]

I, for one, have no fucking idea what 5% Nation means.

[GILMORE]

Do you listen to any hiphop? If no, then don't worry about it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Habs-Flyers is one of the more under rated, if not forgotten, rivalries in hockey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbTAYukpv8I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8B4dlCO030

Mats Naslund!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

The Flyers are pretty much, or at least for a long time were pretty much, a rolling rivalry machine bringing chaos equally to all. It's how they captured my heart as a child. Except Bobby Clarke. Fuck that guy.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'm terribly confused. Is this getting bumped or what? Am I in the right room? Hello?

[kibby]

I think Matt lied to us.

[GILMORE]

He does it because he loves you

[Matt Welch]

Oh ye of little faith....

[kibby]

Well you waited long enough!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Fie, fie! Unknit that threat'ning unkind brow. And dart not scornful glances from those eyes. To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor!

[Fist of Etiquette]

So tonight's isn't live? This all seems terribly inconsistent.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

[anon]

How do you think we floundered in?

[anon]

CSX CEO: We are in favor of tougher tank car standards

Gee, surely there could be -no reason- CSX might be in favor of regulations that stifle competition and promote barriers to entry.

[Max Power]

Goddamn Cavuto is annoying.

[Virginian]

So I was on Reddit last night at work, and apparently they have all persuaded themselves that 8 dollar Netflix is a constitutional right, and they're calling this "net neutrality". Because free shit, am I right?

[anon]

8 dollar Netflix is a constitutional right,

I don't understand... Is Netflix trying to increase prices?

If they get some movies worth watching, I'm happy. If they don't, I'll probably still pay it anyways. You get a -lot- of shit for $8 a month.

[Virginian]

If "net neutrality" goes away, then ISPs will be able to charge people for the bandwidth they use. This is apparently not allowed right now. I'm no expert though.

But it seems like Reddit hates it because it means their ISP will charge them (or rather, it being Reddit, their parents) for the dozens of gigabytes of TV, movies, and porn they torrent every month.

[anon]

Man, having to pay for shit you use!?

CRIMINAL!

[Sevo]

Dunno about that, but someone here was claiming we need it since some people live where there's only one provider.
I found the argument less than convincing.

[Sevo]

The only question I have is whether Nye answers questions this time. Like 'how come it's not warming up?'

[anon]

Please. If you expect a proggy to answer any question with anything but some form of logical fallacy, you're in the wrong universe. I recommend "Reality" two universes over.

[Virginian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0nsKBx77EQ

But but but but it's not FAIR!!!!!

[Tman]

Baghdad Bob just emailed me to say "This kid has chops."- Ace

How many terrible horrible no good very bad things do they have on Carney that he has to go commit intellectual seppuku every day like this?

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know, Cavuto seems to read his hate mail every night.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That last one was good though.

[GILMORE]

HINT HINT

he also has some nice ties

[Max Power]

He must get a lot of it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Prediction: Partly cloudy with a chance of earrings.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Where's Franky d'A? Somebody assemble us!!!!

[Virginian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbW5sxyu9bU

[Virginian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06l-oiT2Vvw

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Schoolmarm with giant hoop earrings.

[anon]

Aw man, I don't have the link. 🙁

[Fist of Etiquette]

Yeah, < i The Independents just has to shite all over the exodus for California.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Hey Matt and Kmele: nice jackets. But who shot the sofas?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who raided the upholstery?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Beige and grey, Kmele? Really?

[Hyperion]

Matt's turning him into a dork clone.

[kibby]

I was fervently hoping the influence would go the other way with those two. =(

[Hyperion]

Expect Kmele to shave all facial hair and be wearing a sweater vest or bow tie by next episode.

[kibby]

What does everyone have against bow ties here??

[Mt low rider]

Woodrow Wilson, ms kibby.

[jesse.in.mb]

You may have just given kibby lady wood.

[Fist of Etiquette]

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS.

[Hyperion]

Well, if Matt and Kmele weren't such dorks, libertarians would be more popular by now.

Can't the jacket do something? Ok, I know, he's too busy going to Cosmo cocktail parties.

[Hyperion]

I just heard that Nissan is leaving CA for TX.

[Hyperion]

Toyota?

[OneOut]

Everybody is leaving somewhere for Texas.

The Secretary of State of Texas just announced that 1,000 people a day are moving to Texas.

We have a 5.5% unemployment rate in spite of 1,000 people a day moving here looking for jobs.

Hey Illinois, California, New York and the rest.

They aren't moving here looking for handouts, welfare, other social services because we are kinda tight with those.

You are losing your productive workers and keeping your moochers.

Good luck with that.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

THANKS FOR THAT!

/Stuck in IL by family and job

[Fist of Etiquette]

I've totally been swayed by Welch's suede jacket.

[OneOut]

You"re swayed by suede ?

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

+1, or a lot, whichever.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How does he get the point? I'm the one who made the joke.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I don't usually comment on people's appearances, mostly because I'm ridiculously good looking and I try to be modest. But I will say this: That is the correct shade of lipstick for Kennedy.

[Max Power]

GILMORE, I think Matt is messing with you. He's finally got the white shirt but has paired it with that pelt-jacket.

[Matt Welch]

It's actually light gray. But yes, I'm messing with Gilmore.

[Big Chief]

Awesome.

[GILMORE]

I'm not sure that's the pelt-jacket, despite its 'mammalian' texture. More "Roan/Horseflesh"-fabric than "koala-skin"

The 'brown' spectrum on my monitor isn't really that sensitive. However, I was never fooled into thinking the shirt was white.

The light-grey shirt and the pink really get a LOT of airtime.

[Matt Welch]

In fairness, there are *many* pink shirts in the closet, and a cupla grays. I haven't worn this one in a while. But you'll be happy to know that there's a Kmele & Matt shopping trip set up for this weekend.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Look out, outlet mall!!!!

[Bobarian]

K-Mart?

[Sudden]

These aren't your X-Mart of Y Club libertarians. These are media elite.

Either Rodeo Drive or managing H&R from a private jet en route to Monaco for spree.

Kochtopus MoNiEZzZzZZZZ!

[OneOut]

Lucky her.

NOT.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

STEVE SMITH pelt?!

[Fist of Etiquette]

The riceburners have left southern California.

[anon]

Wait, they aren't? So where does this mythical money come from? Leprechauns?

[Bobarian]

Buying jobs still pays back to the local economy in a very quick manner. So I'm not sure that this is bad from an overall market stand-point.

[Bobarian]

Also, every other state does it. Until all the other states stop, WTF?

[Christophe]

If you need to give tax breaks to get a company to move in, it means your overall tax bracket could do with a cut. And the beauty of a broad-based tax cut is there's no possibility of favoritism.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ha, Paul is making the show's terrible point for it.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Cuz we don't spend enough on education.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Kmele handles guests way better than Kennedy.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Kennedy The Interrupter is back.

[jesse.in.mb]

It's too hot out to listen to the shrill talking over each other that is this segment.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Blondie doing a nice job illustrating the conservative/libertarian divide.

[Fist of Etiquette]

How delicious. Let's apply the purist tax bennies stance on things like, oh, I don't know, marriage bennies.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

A libertarian-progressive coalition would be awesome. So would a lot of things.

[Fist of Etiquette]

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Wouldn't morphine do the trick?

[Bobarian]

Firing squad? Hanging? Was the guy even conscious for any of it?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Mr. Progressive started to get in a dissenting, pro-DP point.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

.....and then Kennedy interrupted.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Privatize execution? Interesting.

[Virginian]

I mean, I have no compunction about using lethal force in defense of my life, and in an ideal world, my property. That doesn't mean I want a pack of incompetent cops and lawyers executing someone on my behalf after the fact.

[Virginian]

The Washington Post's favorite pantywaist, E. J. Dionne, is worried again ? this time about the "gun supremacists" down in Georgia, where the people are "stark raving mad" and the laws are unique. "You might have thought that since the United States couldn't possibly have more permissive firearms laws than it does now, nothing more could be done to coddle the gun lobby and tip the balance of our statutes away from law enforcement," he griped yesterday. "Alas, you would be wrong."

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....-c-w-cooke

[OneOut]

E J Dionne is a complete idiot.

I don't know what educated him but they should be ashamed.

He might consider getting a different picture for his opinion pieces also.

But then he might enjoy looking like a dweeb considering his politics.

He might think it attracts chicks with the like mind.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Switzerland laughs at his foolish "nothing more could be done to coddle the gun lobby and tip the balance of our statutes away from law enforcement".

PISS ON YOU, DIONNE!

[Mt low rider]

Dionne is a bigger nitwit than Robinson or that Dowd critter...that is full blown Derp.

[Virginian]

Average U.S. household spends more on federal regulations than for health care, food or transportation

[lap83]

But it evens out because without government we'd all die of the plague while starving because there'd be no roads to get to the grocery store.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

A libertarian-progressive alliance?

Is he stark, raving, insane?

I want nothing to do with progressives.

[Virginian]

It's probably being floated on Journolist 2.0 right now. Polls must be looking shitty for the Dems in 2014, so they're going to go ahead and tell libertarians to vote Dem in 2016 so that a Dem President can restrain a TEAPARTY ZOMG SNOWCONEZ Congress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLk_ORELrD4#t=29

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

You polled Bo then? Shriek added in for extra derp?

[Contrarian]

Just a cosmotarian is all. Cosmos, although generally contemptuous of the Stuff White People Like, much prefer it to the Wrong Type of White People.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hy11bgVRk

[Fist of Etiquette]

Unstoppable at any speed.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves would know.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

What'd I miss?

[Contrarian]

Kennedy is the strange breed, a female libertarian. How did this strange species develop? Most libertarians embrace their ideology(which is essentially a pathological opposition to all forms of group solidarity) because their society has wronged them and they want to "get back." That accounts for the high proportion of omega males and general wackjobs in the "movement." Is it because she couldn't get the man she wanted? Maybe it is that she understood that feminism, the usual recourse for such people, only acts to perpetuate the current ruling class?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hy11bgVRk

[Virginian]

only acts to perpetuate the current ruling class?

Who would you be referring to?

[Contrarian]

America's Stuff White People Like class and within that class the hereditary noble class, the elites, the politicians and the corporate masters.

[Virginian]

Right, but how does one easily pick them out. For example, what building would I go to on say, Saturday morning to find them?

[jesse.in.mb]

When did "Stuff White People Like" become a class?

What would this map to on our traditional working/lower- middle- upper-middle/ and upper class structure?

[Contrarian]

The university is a place you will easily find many of them. But I see what you are trying to say.....JOOOOOZ!!!

The reason that I don't use "traditional" classes is because the hostile elite propaganda machine has convinced people that both an investment bankster and a garbage man is "middle class."

[Virginian]

The university is a place you will easily find many of them. But I see what you are trying to say

But I'm not the one trying to say it. You are. So say it. Go on.

[jesse.in.mb]

So you're not going to give me a helpful reference point here?

Should I just assume upper middle class, but only the upper middle class people you dislike?

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

My Swiss Masters frown, but then think about this new troll, then chuckle...dryly.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Who's the new troll?

[Virginian]

It's an old troll with a new name.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Figured that. Do we EVER get real new trolls?

Was asking which. From just that post is smells like Mary.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Seems to be 'Merkin. He's making a bunch of racist comments in another thread.

[OneOut]

Which one?

Quik. i want to go there before they delete him again.

[OneOut]

Which one?

Quik. i want to go there before they delete him again.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

http://reason.com/blog/2014/04.....nt_4483729

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Ron Paul/Ralph Nader 2016!

[kibby]

.............

[Virginian]

Without Googling, tell me who is older?

[kibby]

This is clearly a trick question!

[Virginian]

If elected, they would have a combined 162 years of life experience on Inauguration Day.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Ralph by a year and some months. That ticket shall be the Statler & Waldorff of the 2016 elections. Just given them a balcony at the debates.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

We shall name our son: Ronald Paul Ralph Nader

[kibby]

We will do absolutely no such thing because I will actually murder you before you get the chance.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

We need to work on having respectful disagreements.

[OneOut]

So ?

You will kill him before or after conception?

You could change your name to Black Widow.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

+1 she mates, she kills.

[Mt low rider]

kibby, you are mean, I tell you and you must be stopped/sarc

[Bobarian]

Has Nader had a stroke? Is he having one right now?

[Bobarian]

Seriously, half his face is frozen and he's slurring his speech.

[Alton Knutson]

It has been the same way for 20+ years.

[GILMORE]

The Independents Attire Review, 30 April 2014

"Eva's Disappointing Honeymoon"-Edition

- Kennedy: New in the 2014 Sexy School Marm collection, this is better than the last similar thing she tried out, which had a little too much "1950s Desperate Housewife" going. Also = Navy is teh awesomes with the light pink lipstick. The Ghost of Jackie O'Nassis Approves

- Matt: My pleas to the Gods for Matt to find a white shirt go ignored. The suffering must continue; the flavor of suffering tonight being, 'Brown on Brown'. I get that this sort of thing works for quasi-redheads like Matt. And were the grey shirt NOT worn every night, I'd probably go, "A-"! Its a nice combo...but yeah, uninspiring. Needs elbow patches and a lecture on French Semiotic Theory.

- Kmele: Ouch. I like the jacket, but is it a rule that 'shirt never darker than your blazer'? (*note: unless one is a member of crime family and/or is in Atlantic City) If not, I'm sending the proposal to the Fashion Regulatory Authority. The "Boyd" (no tie, buttoned to neck) has seen better combinations.

- Ralph Nader: You look like shit Ralph.

Thank You

[GILMORE]

Although I will say, Damn Matt! your makeup looks great. Your skin texture is almost "replicant" smooth.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They're using a soft filter on him. The same filter they used to use for Cybill Shepard in Moonlighting.

[Matt Welch]

That is my dream, yes.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Fist, I bow deeply before your recollection of that particular effect....nicely done.

*returns to large glass of pinot noir*

[Francisco d'Anconia]

And that was the only thing I've ever liked her in. She and Willis had chemistry.

[OneOut]

Gilmore I never knew you were gay.

Not that there is anything wrong with that !

[Max Power]

Nader is really selling me on Rand Paul.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Nader is a nut.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Where you been? The universe almost imploded.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Setting up my new truck.

Y'all did fine without me.

[Big Chief]

We never assembled. We dissembled.

[Mt low rider]

New trucks rock, I still like my old truck.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Next up, the ghost of Howard Zinn brings together Nihilists and Utilitarians.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Ralph isn't answering the question...but he kind of just answered the question about how horrible Hillary is.

I'm sure Joan Walsh will have another conniption fit if she hears about this.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Elizabeth Warren didn't come up.

I can't believe her name and stock has risen like this.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Nader, Nader, Nader. Interesting and well-intentioned no doubt, but really. I get the 'we have more in common' angle and appreciate it. However, there will be no alliance.

Simply put. Could you imagine sitting at the table with Tony and Palin?

No, thanks.

[Mt low rider]

I'd love to see Palin bitch slap a dolt like Tony, because she is less annoying at this point.

[Bobarian]

Nader is right, we agree with the far left contingent on many things but they aren't the most important things. The things we disagree on are insurmountable.

Also the method we would go to solving these issues are diametrically opposed.

[Virginian]

Right, like I was talking to a prog about prisons and drug war stuff last night. And the main issue he seemed to have was that the prisons were sometimes run by private contractors. Oh, and no matter how many times I kept circling back, he kept refusing to see that without the government's monopoly on violence, there would be no such private prisons.

[Contrarian]

Without the government's monopoly on violence, there would be no violence, right?

[Big Chief]

I think the problem there was that you weren't talking to an actual prog, it was a Demoprog. You were talking to a person who was a Dem first, prog second. I've actually had good discussions with progs and cons, as long as that is their primary affiliation. Unfortunately most of the left and right seem to be partisans first and put their ideology second.

[Raven Nation]

I was reading something the other day and discovered that the whole private prison thing is more a crony capitalist, prison-cop bullshit set up.

[Virginian]

Right, it's like progs getting mad at Blackwater. Once you're waging a war of aggression, it doesn't really matter if you use mercenaries. You've already crossed the line into bad guy territory.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That is absolutely plausible.

[Raven Nation]

It was pretty despicable: basically the contracts are not competitive and the companies are given money based on the number of prisoners. More prisoners, more money. And, of course, some of the companies are buddy-buddy with cops (in one case, a couple of judges were busted for getting kickbacks for jail terms). No one is checking to see how much of the money is actually spent on the prisons so a lot of prisoners have no running water and, in some cases, live in the exercise yard.

It's kind of like the way the British government used to raise regiments and/or akin to tax farming.

I think it was over at The Freeman.

[Raven Nation]

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/cage-complex

[Gene]

The "private" prison industry is private in the same sense that crony capitalism is capitalist. Namely, not at all. It is the antithesis of a truly private industry that competes in the free market, does not accept tax funds, and cannot compel labor. By contrast, the "private" prisons enjoy a monopoly over a service that is created by laws and sentencing policies. They receive tax money and preferential treatment. They exploit captive labor through circumstances similar to plantation slavery.

Thanks for the link, good stuff.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think we can call Free Speech a broader failure of policy.

[Bobarian]

Jay Carney lied? Inconceivable!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Those 3AM calls take it out of you.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

This was a gift to Romney...and he porked it.

Too easy.

[Matt Welch]

Yes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

UNFAIR. I'm told Obama uttered the word "terrorism" a couple days later.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Prediction: Bill Nye will be a dickhead.

[kibby]

I will not take this bet.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Hopefully he isn't confused like last time where he assumed Fox = conservative jackwagons.

[Max Power]

He doesn't have time to figure out what show he's on, man! He's busy saving the world!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Tax day!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Hey, it's the high-powered businesswomen and the Theta male!

[Bobarian]

It was about how the One would look just before the election.

Purely!

[Max Power]

I used to like Bill Nye when I watched him after school, but now he really seems like a jerk.

[Derpetologist]

Hmm, the current atmosphere may not be the best for my debut musical:

Prophet Mohamed Superstar

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Who will play the sheep in the pageant?

[Derpetologist]

Given the sexual proclivities of the region, a porn star with plenty of anal experience. Or Dan Savage.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Vistaprint. Why the hell would any business willingly saddle themselves with the term vista?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Get a haircut you look like a girl.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Methinks that was the look a certain Independent was sporting in his hay day.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yes Matt, we all know why you sympathize with the long-haired kid

[Virginian]

God he looks terrible. I remember when I thought I looked good with long hair.

I didn't.

[Matt Welch]

Dude, that wasn't long hair. http://cloudfront-assets.reaso.....chBeer.jpg

[Virginian]

HAHAHAHAHHAHA Oh hell that's truly hilarious.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Hahha, wow. Did you pick that up in California or out in Europe?

[Matt Welch]

I was a hippie from 1987-1996. Pic is from Europe, 1991.

[Specail Sauce]

I'm awe struck by your rainbow man-purse.

[SweatingGin]

I missed the man-purse. It's better because you think he's holding a cell phone, but they didn't exist in that size then.

[Virginian]

I missed the man-purse.

I did too. Thank you. Thank you so much for pointing that out to me.

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

Good to know you haven't compromised your fashion-sense in the intervening years, Matt.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

IT IS A MAP CASE, DAMMIT!

[Big Chief]

This was before the plaid shirts and Courtney Love?

[jesse.in.mb]

Oh man, I set my parents' network, so I'd just disconnect everything except my computer and electronics. It was super effective.

[Virginian]

Thank you for your letter. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.

An oldie but a goodie.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2.....ifted.html

[Big Chief]

Classic. Nice to get some Anti-Derp links once in a while.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I don't think a private evangelical school should be lumped with PC state schools.

[Bobarian]

I'd vote for that guy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Let's call it part of the Let's Move campaign.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A couple uptight straphangers at the desk tonight.

[Fist of Etiquette]

More Sterling. MORE STERLING.

[Bobarian]

You asked for it.

[Big Chief]

Shoot, should have taken the under. Even with Matt bringing out the Cheney.

[Big Chief]

Squirrels! That was supposed to be under the over and under on Nye's behavior. Doh!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The over under Nye acts like a condescending twit?

[Bobarian]

It won't be acting.

[Bobarian]

The biggest threat to our survival: idiots like Nye.

[Derpetologist]

Acrobats on NYC subways? Well, that beats Chicago. All I saw were screaming junkies, drunks, and beggars.

Plus NYC has yet to send a train up an escalator:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFiN3m64LnQ

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

"All I saw were screaming junkies, drunks, and beggars."

Pffft. Nobody whipped it out and began skinning their #$%&ing; carrot at you?

N00b.

[Derpetologist]

In my defense, while reading the Blue Line, I punched one obnoxious wino and put a crazy, barking gangbanger in a headlock. The latter punched me in the eye to show his gratitude for me not choking him out. No good deed goes unpunished.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Meanwhile in Russia...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Launch Bruce Willis at it.

[Max Power]

Was someone calling for bowties?

[kibby]

They are cool, I don't care what other people say.

[Virginian]

Jeffrey Tucker is a big bowtie guy.

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

+1 Matt Smith

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ha! Nailed Nye with Cheney.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

How did he guess Nye wouldn't like Cheney?

[Fist of Etiquette]

He took the comparison like a shotgun blast to the face.

[Big Chief]

+1 internet to you.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Dick it is.

[Big Chief]

Wow, nice baiting there with the Cheney comment, Matt. His head swelled a little, but it didn't explode.

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

No one likes to be Dicked unexpectedly like that.

[GILMORE]

Apparently Russia gets hit by meteors like, all the time.

Also, the poles. No, not the *polish*

[Max Power]

Haha, ejecta.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I owe Welch a drink. He was baiting Nye with the Dick Cheney comment.

[Steve G]

NEEDS MOAR NASA!!!11!!!

[GILMORE]

See? the makeup people are geniuses. Bill Nye has the complexion of a teenage girl!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Just because a multiplier effect is low probability doesn't mean it's low consequence.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

We'll have drowned before any asteroid gets close to us. Wasn't that his point last time?

[Big Chief]

Deathporn! Matt is on tonight.

[Virginian]

http://minx.cc/?post=348880

Phony Scandal!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Okay, this was much better than last time. Good stuff.

[Bobarian]

Well it was a lot better than hearing him talk about AGW.

[Big Chief]

Nye was certainly in better form tonight. He seemed to be aware he was talking to a different audience than before. Maybe he's been on our boards. Maybe he's one of our trolls!

[GILMORE]

Here's one that will confound even the most progressive douchehats=

"The subtitles on the movie 'The Harder they Come' are Racist"

[Kmele]

The Harder They Come = Classic Jamaican Cinema

BTW -- I disagree strongly with tonights wardrobe assessment. Classic tweed jacket (w/ subtle blue highlights) + light blue chambray shirt (yes, with the air tie) + DOPE ASS FEATHERS ON THE LAPEL !? Maybe it isn't working on camera, maybe -- but in person, "the boy is shining" (imagine me saying that in my most severe blackcent).

[SweatingGin]

mic: dropped.

[GILMORE]

"Kmele|4.30.14 @ 9:56PM|#

BTW -- I disagree strongly with tonights wardrobe assessment

Yes, and Martin Scorsese is still pissed Goodfellas didn't get Best Picture.

I was noting the Dope-ass feathers and thinking, "this would be awesome with a hat". There was no hat.

Michael Jordan also fucked with the Ref when he got bad calls. I don't think anyone remembers the bad calls. And 'Total Victory' every night will just make Matt look worse, if that were possible. I have to find nits to pick.

[Kmele]

Alright -- You win [I can't quibble w/ Michael Jordan comparisons, however unmerited].

Speaking of MJ -- that is a guy with literally no sartorial sensibilities at all: http://wtfismikewearing.tumblr.com/

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

I suspect Kmele's blackcent may be less convincing than even Matt's. Still waiting for you to unveil the Island dialect on us.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

No way to sugarcoat it?

It's John.

[Big Chief]

I thought it was a code, she's one of us!

[Bobarian]

Well, we had bad weather...

[SweatingGin]

It was cold!!!!

[Max Power]

I never considered Taco Bell for breakfast.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So are they really saying Obamacare is the reason we had 'growth' this quarter?

Is that going to become like global warming but only an explanation for everything positive?

[RishJoMo]

Dude that sounds liek rubbish to me man.

http://www.myAnon.tk

[Fist of Etiquette]

I guess Taco Bell won't be buying ad space on < i The Independents any time soon.

[Bobarian]

damn you.

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

Even the sweatpants industry is thinking twice, now, after Kennedy's description of the Waffle Taco.

[Bobarian]

I guess Taco Bell will not be a future sponsor of TI

[Fist of Etiquette]

Then again, Fox Biz seems to cater its advertising to old farts. I mean, gold, prostates and Belize?

[Christophe]

You'll know the libertarians have won when the ads are for Bitcoin, paid organ transplants, and Somalia.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Worst recovery EVAH!

[kibby]

I am SUPER EXCITED to be graduating in a couple of weeks, listening to this segment.

[Virginian]

What's your field of study?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

When she tells you please be gentle on her.

[Virginian]

When she tells you please be gentle on her.

Haha that's a slow ball right down the middle of the plate. Not even going to swing at it.

Girl at the day job is a freshman education major. I've been working on her trying to get her to change her degree. She's already 20k in debt, probably looking at 100k before it's all done.

[kibby]

To be fair, my debt is nowhere near that. & I have some number of years of full-time work experience in an industry I can pretty easily re-enter.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Go on...

[Virginian]

hehe yeah I also let that one go.

I am merciful.

[kibby]

The kind that won't get me a job.

[Bobarian]

Taco Bell is hiring for the breakfast shift.

[kibby]

I will keep this in mind.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It doesn't work if you don't do enough of them, Kmele.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I wouldn't want Kennedy there during my set. She seems like a heckler.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Boo! Hiss!

Pinky toe!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Not only are you not funny, but I will show how much funnier I am than you!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No Kmele. Krugman said all you need to do is THROW MORE money at it. And to yell, 'Shamanabazoo!'

[SweatingGin]

Every time a comedian is on, and mentions their tour, the next stop is Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, MI.

[Sevo]

SweatingGin|4.30.14 @ 9:53PM|#
"Every time a comedian is on, and mentions their tour, the next stop is Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, MI."

Beats Konocti Harbor Inn.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Jesus guys, never do this again!

[Francisco d'Anconia]

David Soul!

Hutch!

[Bobarian]

Hey who sings that song?

Let's keep it that way!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Glorious, glorious.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Dress him like a pimp.

[Fist of Etiquette]

OH FUCKING SNAP.

[kibby]

Damnnnn Kmele.

[GILMORE]

HA!

[jesse.in.mb]

Kmele just ramped up the fan-service to 11, no?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Good. We're not the only ones who notice Kennedy's interruptions.

[Bobarian]

National understatement day?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Honey Badger don't care.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

This is actually better than the Two Minutes of Hate. Let's make Honesty Wednesdays a regular thing!

[kibby]

PLEASE.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Let me answer that question...[waits two hours so it isn't Honesty Wednesday any more]...yeah, we'll get right on that!"

[Derpetologist]

Reason needs to make a chick-flick montage of Welch trying on new outfits. Kennedy will be the grumpy chaperon who must carry the comically over-sized bags.

[GILMORE]

Lots of cuts of Kmele making the Sad shake of head and grimace

[SweatingGin]

Don't think Chick Flick, think ...

WE'RE GONNA NEED A MONTAGE!

[Wasteland Wanderer]

EVEN ROCKY HAD A MONTAGE....

[Wasteland Wanderer]

FUCK.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

EVEN JON SNOW HAD A MONTAGE

[Army of the 12 Monkeys]

Even better if Kmele finally settles on the Gay Woody look, concluding that it really IS the best option for Matt. I'm almost sad that he will be improving his wardrobe.

[Fist of Etiquette]

AH! Lou Dobbs.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Since we're being honest.

I think I'm gay whenever Kmele speaks.

[kibby]

That's entirely normal & nothing to be worried about.

[Steve G]

That produced more awkwardness than 2 mins hate...

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

National Honesty Day:
My dandruff is so bad that I have a prescription shampoo....

[GILMORE]

FUCK! Dobbs! RUN

[Christophe]

This never gets old.

[Irish]

Why is Maureen Dowd so unbelievably vapid?

Even some of the chatterers who used to be in your corner now make derogatory remarks about your manhood. And that, I know, really gets under your skin because you think they just don't get your style of coolly keeping your cards to yourself while you play the long game. Besides, how short memories are. You were the Ice Man who ordered up the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, it took some real courage for Barack Obama to look at an intelligence briefing and say "Yeah, kill that guy."

I also appreciate the fact that it's harder for you than it was for J.F.K., W. and all those other pols who had their rich daddies and their rich daddies' rich friends to buy anything they needed and connect them up and smooth the way for them. That gives them a certain nonchalance in the face of opprobrium and difficulty, a luxury that those who propel themselves to the top on their own don't have.

It must have been so hard for Barack Obama to ascend to the presidency after accomplishing literally nothing of value. Poor, poor Barry!

[SweatingGin]

Even some of the chatterers who used to be in your corner now make derogatory remarks about your manhood. And that, I know, really gets under your skin because you think they just don't get your style of coolly keeping your cards to yourself while you play the long game. Besides, how short memories are.

I thought it was going to be about Sterling until I read the next sentence.

[Irish]

But that being said, you are the American president. And the American president should not perpetually use the word "eventually." And he should not set a tone of resignation with references to this being a relay race and say he's willing to take "a quarter of a loaf or half a loaf," and muse that things may not come "to full fruition on your timetable."

An American president should never say, as you did to the New Yorker editor, David Remnick, about presidents through history: "We're part of a long-running story. We just try to get our paragraph right."

Mr. President, I am just trying to get my paragraph right. You need to think bigger.

If Maureen Dowd ever gets a paragraph right, it will be the first time.

How can we accept these reduced expectations and truculent passivity from the man who offered himself up as the moral beacon of the world, even before he was elected?

Well, I can accept it fairly easily because I'm not an easily manipulated moron who needs someone to do my thinking for me. Here's a hint, Mo. If you need someone to be your moral beacon, you're probably too much of an idiot to tie your own shoelaces, you vacuous nitwit.

She might actually be my least favorite Times writer, which is impressive given their continuing employment of Thomas Friedman.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Someone is still paying her for shit like that?

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Carlos Slim still has some funds, apparently.

[John]

The part about the "courage" it takes to drone strike people thousands of miles a away whom few people in America care about and most actively loath brings a new meaning to the term "rich". She forgot to talk about what a badass Obama is for ordering Bin Ladin killed, because killing the American public's most hated man took real political courage.

Obama is a profoundly stupid and cowardly man. His only asset is a sort of feral con man intelligence and ability to size up and manipulate people like Dowd.

[Sevo]

..."because killing the American public's most hated man took real political courage."

Physical courage, too!
I'm not thrilled that the Marines killed a guy who, if he wasn't sleeping, it was only because they made too much noise.

[Big Chief]

So we've had multiple Matt posts, a Kmele post... WHERE ARE YOU KENNEDY?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Okay, if you must know, I'm Kennedy. (Well, one of her personalities.)

[SweatingGin]

I believe the term is "headmates"

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I thought you were Nick?

[Big Chief]

Were any of your personalities told you're pretty for your race? If not, check your privilege!

[Derpetologist]

National Honesty Day: I don't think Kennedy is the best spokesperson for liberty. Do spunky female hosts appeal to the main demographic of grumpy old men?

[Big Chief]

Yes, we like them with spirit. And I should know. It's like this one time I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you'd say...

[Derpetologist]

+1

http://www.hulu.com/watch/26211

[Raven Nation]

Ah yes, the good old days when The Simpsons was funny & insightful on a regular basis.

[John]

I am pretty sure those days ended some time during the FIRST Bush administration.

[Irish]

The best Simpsons seasons were at the end of the Clinton administration. That would have been seasons 8-12 or so.

They've been bad a long time, but let's not get crazy, John.

[SweatingGin]

I was thinking Homer vs. The 18th Amendment was 9th, but it's 8th.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I stopped after early season 13. The episode where Homer hurts his knee playing B-Ball is the last episode I found to be funny.

[SweatingGin]

Halloween episode from '96 election. Tree House of Horror VII

"Oh, no! Aliens, bio-duplication, nude conspiracies... Oh my God! Lyndon
LaRouche was right!"

Homer: America, take a good look at your beloved candidates. They're
nothing but hideous space reptiles. [unmasks them]
[audience gasps in terror]
Kodos: It's true, we are aliens. But what are you going to do about
it? It's a two-party system; you have to vote for one of us.
[murmurs]
Man1: He's right, this is a two-party system.
Man2: Well, I believe I'll vote for a third-party candidate.
Kang: Go ahead, throw your vote away.

For my money, that's the peak right there. Seasons 3 - 8 are awesome, non-stop. That's season 8 Halloween episode.

[Big Chief]

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

I still say that after every election.

[Bobarian]

Fox News says yes.

[Sevo]

..."the main demographic of grumpy old men?"

Who you callin' "grumpy"?

[C. Anacreon]

Aren't you the guy who keeps saying "who's that trompty-tromp-tromping on my bridge?" That's pretty grumpy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Oh, snap! He's close enough to kill you, C.

[Derpetologist]

In fairness, you are an old man whose favorite word is "shitpile".

[Sevo]

"In fairness, you are an old man whose favorite word is "shitpile"."

Damn!
Busted!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"Shitpile" doesn't capture the essence. The correct usage is "Go fuck your daddy, shitpile!".

[Sevo]

"Shitpile" doesn't capture the essence. The correct usage is "Go fuck your daddy, shitpile!".

Playa, don't know if you've been posting long enough, but the guy really does have daddy-issues he'd gripe about here; nearly as amusing (and I presume not intentional) as Dicky Smothers' mommy-issues.
That's where that started.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I hope I don't waste my night researching that.

I only lurked when he was shrike. But I gather that some family issues led to his hatred of anyone that he perceives to be conservative.

[Sevo]

"But I gather that some family issues led to his hatred of anyone that he perceives to be conservative."

Pretty much came across that way. Dislike, bordering on hatred of relatives, projection, total lack of anything approaching principles.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Sad, but it makes me appreciate what I have.

[Sevo]

"Sad, but it makes me appreciate what I have."

That's true, but there's another issue involved:
None of us had perfect parents. For pete's sake, by the time you're 30, you had better come up with a way of forgiving your parents for not being perfect, or spend the rest of you sorry life blaming them for you being a pathetic loser.
Tony exhibits the same sort of arrested development, but in a more common manner; the transference of parental guidance/demands to the government.
Both seem stuck at an age that suggests they are 'in Mom's basement' as several suggest.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Everything you said is spot on. I would love to get into it more, but my kid just spiked a fever. It's going to be a loooooong night.

[John]

Kennedy is sexy and cute without being so attractive she is threatening to wives and girlfriends. She is just hot enough men don't mind looking at her but not so hot women aren't able to think "I am hotter than she is" and not consider her a threat creating the need to tear her down.

[lap83]

Most women aren't actually threatened by a hot woman being on TV. That's retarded.

[John]

Women generally find it annoying when men lust a bit too much at women on TV and they generally don't like women who are too attractive. "Don't make the spokes model too hot" is an iron rule of advertising. Go to "who is that hot had girl" sometime. It is a web site that tells the name and links to the portfolio and web pages of various actress in commercials. Nearly every time the actress is made up to be less hot in the commercial than she actually is.

Retarded or not, that is the way it actually is.

[kibby]

I'm sure we're all thrilled you have such a high opinion of women.

[John]

Take it up with the advertising people. I am just telling you what they think.

And I am equally thrilled that you apparently can't grasp the concept that a "generality" is not the same as something being "universal".

[Virginian]

I'm sure we're all thrilled you have such a high opinion of women.

If it makes you feel better, there's a ton of less than flattering general truths that apply to most men. It's just the way things are sometimes.

[lap83]

I think the libertarian women's studies majoring porn star was busy.

[Virginian]

Well, depending on how much Photoshop Kennedy used on the cover of that one book, and considering their relative ages, I'd say Kennedy is more attractive.

Porn star is a spinner, which I like, but you could swing her by the ankles and cut down a tree with that beak on her face.

[lap83]

I don't know very much about porn, but it seems like being classically beautiful is not a prerequisite.

[kibby]

The miracle of makeup.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

This^.

The willingness and ability to swallow a whole cucumber is pretty much all that needs to be on the resume.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She's youthful, but that's about it. Not very intelligent, either. I'll give her a pass on that, though. She won't know what she is talking about for another 5 years, if ever.

I would punch 18 year old me in the face if I could. I wasn't an "adult" until I was 23.

[Sevo]

OK, so Nye this time:
1) Self righteous twit?
2) Willing to address comments and questions?
3) Mannikin with bow tie?

[GILMORE]

5

[Bobarian]

He did not have enough time to address comments, but did not rise to the obvious baiting that Welch applied.

So 3) was the closest descriptor.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

BN could just have said, "Maybe it's like Cheney, I hadn't thought about it that way. Now about those killer asteroids..."

But he was really got tripped up on the question. Must be a Democrat.

[Virginian]

Fuck You.

[GILMORE]

nice

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

National Honesty Day:

I have nothing of interest to confess.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Cough it up. Do I need to go digging through your Facebook feed?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That would just confirm how boring I am. Notice how few photos I take or have taken of me? Exactly.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

That's exactly what somebody with something to hide would say.

[kibby]

I can vouch for the fact that he is very interesting.

& is a gentleman.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Dawwwwww

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Friend Zone?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Friend Zone?

That's a thing?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You'll find out soon enough.

[kibby]

You know nothing, Pl?ya Manhattan.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Jeesh. Prove me wrong.

[kibby]

Get him & I in a room together & I will gladly do so.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

As I understand it, the 'friend zone' isn't just being friends with someone you'd like to have sex with, it's actively fulfilling the role of best friend to that girl in the hopes that she will eventually let you have sex with her.

And I ain't got time for that shit.

[Acosmist]

That is not what the friend zone is.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

barf

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Bigger Lincoln Museum opens at Lincoln College

"On the second floor, visitors walk through a review of Lincoln's life, as if he is seeing it pass by after being shot.

"During this "life review," a clock ticks in the background. "It is a reminder of our own mortality," [Museum director Rob] Keller said."

http://www.pantagraph.com/news.....d4abe.html

[lap83]

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the museum?"

[Sevo]

OT, but hey!
CNN writer busts the LA NAACP over Sterling (yeah, so what?), but then gets the NY chapter over charter schools (that's what, wise guy!)
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/.....?hpt=hp_c2

[John]

Instapundit is saying that Sterling probably has a good case in court. If he can prove that other owners were known to have said racist things and the league ignored it, he can win. The discovery process alone would likely be very painful for the NBA. I hope he sues.

[Irish]

I can't imagine the NBA doesn't have some kind of 'best interest of the league' clause. Unless Instapundit knows what kind of contracts you have to sign to buy an NBA team, I'm pretty sure he's talking out of his ass.

[John]

I am sure they do. The problem is that having such a clause doesn't mean they can ignore racist behavior by other owners and then one day bring the hammer on Sterling.

He is not talking out of his ass. Just because you are a private organization, doesn't mean you can't effectively breach a contract by holding some people to the rules but not others.

[Sevo]

John,
I have zero sympathy for the guy, but then I don't have a lot of sympathy for public 're-education' either.

[John]

I have no sympathy for him either. But I would love the see the NBA, an organization I am convinced has had refs fix playoff games in the past, have to air all its dirty laundry. The only way a Sterling V NBA law suit would disappoint me is if it settled too quickly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Discovery is a harsh mistress, as many litigants have learned throughout history.

[Bobarian]

The fact that the league handed down their equivalent of the death sentence, for an incident that had no direct bearing on the team, or the NBA; what do they do to someone that, say actually had used discrimination in hiring practices or in paying employees?

This swift over-reaction is gonna blow back on them.

[John]

Dolan was the wrong end of a pretty appalling sexual harassment suit that also revealed that Isiah Thomas, when he was GM of the Knicks told his staff something to the effect of "he didn't care about the season ticket holders because they were nearly all white". The NBA never took any action over that.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Male circumcision is legal in Norway, but it is not available on the national health service. Now the centre-right government has presented a white paper to allow public hospitals to perform the procedure....

""We have seen in the last years that there have been some cases with serious complications because children have been circumcized outside the health system," [the health minister] said....

""I think it's a fundamental error to bring this procedure into the national health service. Children should have the right to be protected from such surgery," said Jenny Klinge from the opposition Centre Party. She wants a ban on male circumcision, similar to the existing ban on female genital mutilation."

http://www.dw.de/male-circumci.....a-17601519

[Bobarian]

It makes it look bigger. Leave it be.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Denver Deep Dish seeks stomachs of steel for Kentucky Derby pizza challenge...

""We did it last year for the first time, and no one finished their pizza, but one guy came close, eating seven of the eight slices," says [owner Jason] McGovern. It's a timed event -- you have exactly one hour to polish off a four-pound, deep-dish pizza topped with three ingredients of your choice -- and if you manage to stuff it all down your throat before the buzzer goes off, you'll wobble away with a trophy and bragging rights."

http://blogs.westword.com/cafe.....ar_car.php

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Bring it....were I within travel distance, I would be all CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

[Agile Cyborg]

Nat Geo Praise the Lord... we dum dum's saved the countrieside from DRUGS bitches. We done drove in that wid the dum-dum shariffo and his dum-dum shit-lickers and we done saved ALL dat county frum le' dum-dum drug-a-Broadway.... where le' dum-dum shit-licking deputies axchually get to zap really super super duper poor people who 'r well escapin' poorness?....

PRAISE GOD FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC! MAY JESUS SAVE THEM NAT GEO SOULS ALL CAPTURED ON DEM KAMERAZ!

[Agile Cyborg]

What would life in the poor soul's be without National Geographic preying on them? Jesus LOVES the anus holes of worthless National Geographic whore cameras...

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Well okay, fine confession on National Honesty Day:

I once made eye contact with Kennedy at the 2013 International Students for Liberty Conference without recognizing who she was. It was during the taping of the Stossel show and she was seated off to the side close to my section. As I looked around the room we made eye contact and I think she kind of motioned for me to fill the empty seats in the rows in front of me.

I declined because the girl I was seated next to was cute and I was having a discussion with her.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Weak. You must have something.

Everybody has had accidental diarrhea accidents. Start there.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'm honestly embarrassed by the fact that I can't think of anything worth sharing.

Uhhh, when I was 6 and on a Little League team my head was so big I was the only player that needed to wear the adult sized cap.

[Virginian]

Everybody has had accidental diarrhea accidents

_______

One night in college I drank six beers, ordered Chinese food, then washed said food down with a fifth of Jack Daniels.

I ended up sleeping on the toilet.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Fist bar I went to as a 21 year old was a fancy bar in Newport Beach for an Orange County Young Republicans Christmas party.

I drank a whiskey, a vodka and gin martini, and some other liquor that I forget what it was.

I ended up sleeping on the bathroom floor next to the toilet.

[Derpetologist]

The standard Peace Corps joke is that everyone who goes to Asia comes back a philosopher, everyone who goes to South America comes back a revolutionary, and everyone who goes to Africa comes back a drunk.

In keeping with this proud tradition, I offer the following:

I got really drunk while visiting Mikumi Wildlife Park. I threw up through the window of a safari bus while a herd of zebra gazed on.

Another time I decided to drink a whole bunch of banana wine. Since I was bit wobbly, two helpful Masai grabbed my arms and walked me home. I woke up covered in vomit and stained my mosquito net.

Sadly, these two are not the most embarrassing drunk tales I have.

[Derpetologist]

The standard Peace Corps joke is that everyone who goes to Asia comes back a philosopher, everyone who goes to South America comes back a revolutionary, and everyone who goes to Africa comes back a drunk.

In keeping with this proud tradition, I offer the following:

I got really drunk while visiting Mikumi Wildlife Park. I threw up through the window of a safari bus while a herd of zebra gazed on.

Another time I decided to drink a whole bunch of banana wine. Since I was bit wobbly, two helpful Masai grabbed my arms and walked me home. I woke up covered in vomit and stained my mosquito net.

Sadly, these two are not the most embarrassing drunk tales I have.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Jesus. If drinking what I drank in Asia made me a philosopher, then I'd have died in Africa from cirrhosis of the liver.

Or Dengue Fever.

[Derpetologist]

I got vaccinated for that.

I did get malaria, and you can't drink when you have that. Nature can be so cruel.

[Agile Cyborg]

National geographic is a county sheriff BUTT fuck.

[Agile Cyborg]

National Geographic camera men/women are parasites who should be feeding on the flesh of filthy bacteria.

[Agile Cyborg]

National Geographic whores and their whore cameras on their whore cable channels on their drug-hunting bullshit lifestyles have truly proved themselves to be a rank sack of my slippery rotten shit shot with freestyle fury right into the jaded faces of National Geographic whore producers. You rotten sick fucks of revolting diseased humanity.

[John]

How did National Geographic go from David Attenborough watching a lion take down a sick wildebeast to "Super Lock Down America"? Talk about evidence of civilization being on the decline.

[Agile Cyborg]

I LOVED Attenborough. I HATE the modern NatGeo filth of chasing the local idiot Copper brigades into poor neighborhoods following their fuckton of dum-dums in their dum-dum vehicles heavily armed to bust down the doors of poor people who have nothing but a simple toke to cope...

[Agile Cyborg]

National Geographic is a sick fucking example of how NOT to be great. National Geographic has proven that chasing the poor and lowly into their miserable and broken trash piles is a way for revolting media corporations to make a fuckton of filthy rotten condemned cash... you fucking diseased filthtards....

You rotten piles of shit... HOW the FUCK you sacks of garbage can raise families and be happy feeding them pizza while filming and producing the filth of ravaged trailer trash for money is fucking beyond my ethical mind you screen whores...

[Agammamon]

AG please point to, on the doll, where National Geographic touched you.

Then go recompile your kernel and sleep it off.

[Christophe]

Dude, context? I'm pretty sure you don't normally break into rants.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm interested in where you are going with this. What happened? You could be talking about a number of their shows....

[Agile Cyborg]

I just watched a few of their recent shows on human highs and I'm revolted... They suck a reverse infinity...

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

THERE'S ANOTHER ROB FORD CRACK VIDEO GUYS

[kibby]

HOW??

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Because he's still doing crack

[Sevo]

Hey, Obo 'gets high on LIFE!' by comparison.
Problem is, that includes Hell-Fire missiles.

[Heroic Mulatto]

So what did I miss?

[Sevo]

Bill Nye as a manikin in a bow tie.
So I'm told.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I see.

[Bobarian]

R. Nader thinks we should be friends.

[Sevo]

Hadn't heard that, but I don't have the desire for poverty or the number of hair shirts to match the guy.
I guess I'll just enjoy myself instead.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

It's National Honesty Day.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maggots found in Whole Foods meat case

Whole Foods claims to be "America's Healthiest Grocery Store," and that they, "maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry." Such claims might start to be questioned, however, after a disgusting discovery at one of their San Francisco locations on Monday, April 21. Last week, KRON 4 News exclusively reported that maggots were found in a meat case. Now, KRON 4 News is reporting that the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) claims Whole Foods hasn't worked quickly enough to fix the problem. Beyond that, the grocery store can't seem to keep its story straight as to what actually transpired.

[JeremyR]

Maggots are natural.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse, CBC News has confirmed.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So how exactly can bring '24' for only 12 episodes?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

a wizard did it.

[kibby]

A wizard alien?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

GO HOME SHARKS YOU'RE DRUNK

[Swiss Servator ...etwas]

Hawks v Wild?

SCORE!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

SHOTGUN WEDDING

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

If 'Upworthy' covered the Bible, they would write the Best. Headlines. Ever.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Professional skateboarder and former inmate Andy Roy shows you how to make a Pelican Bay State Prison favorite, sweet and sour pork.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

If "net neutrality" goes away, then ISPs will be able to charge people for the bandwidth they use. This is apparently not allowed right now. I'm no expert though.

No, that's not what it means. So-called net neutrality means that ISPs can't prioritize packets from one entity over another, for example by transmitting them more quickly or by exempting them from bandwidth caps.

Pretty much everyone who want to ban metered pricing and/or bandwidth caps also wants to mandate net neutrality; it's not clear that the converse is true, though.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Oops, Brooksed it.

[Virginian]

OK, so net neutrality means it's not legal for an ISP to have some kind of "line jumping" rate?

[Carl ?s his privilege]

I'm not sure what you mean; however, it sounds like you are suggesting it is an end-user matter, which it is not.

Net neutrality advocates don't want content providers to strike deals with ISPs to gain an edge against competition, or for ISPs to give their own services an advantage over competitors'.

The reason that Netflix comes up so often is that so many ISPs also offer TV service, even non-cable companies like AT&T and Verizon, so they have an incentive to stifle Netflix.

Comcast and Netflix are currently having a PR back-and-forth over whether the former is purposely degrading the latter's service.

IIRC, the answer is "sort of", in that Comcast has not been adequately upgrading capacity where it peers with the backbone providers that carry Netflix's traffic.

[Virginian]

OK, so is there a good summary that isn't statist bullshit? Because every so called unbiased summary I've seen has basically been ZOMG CORPORATIONS

[Carl ?s his privilege]

I don't know of one off of the top of my head, but Technology Liberation Front might have one somewhere.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Northern Lights tonight.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Pictures?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What he said.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Not that good. Looks like the lights from a town, only, no town.

Haven't seen a really good one (picture worthy) in a while.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Bright enough to take pics?

[Gene]

Fogged in dammit.

[Mr Whipple]

Fuck Kennedy and that tie wearing faggot Welch. I'll take Melissa Francis anyday over those two idiots.