Here is What We Learned from the Donald Sterling Racism Controversy

After racist comments by former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling were made public, he was banned for life by the National Basketball Association. Here was Reason TV's coverage of the aftermath of the ban as well as commentary over racist policies that may be even more racist than Sterling:

"Does the Free Market Punish Racism? What We Saw at LA Clippers Protest," produced by Alexis Garcia and Zach Weismuller. About 4:01.

Original release date was April 30, 2014:

"3 Policies More Racist Than Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy," written and hosted by Nick Gillespie and produced by Meredith Bragg. About 2:09.

Original release date was April 29, 2014:

Comments

[juris imprudent]

So was the tape ever authenticated or would that have interfered with a good lynching?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

OT

Get off my space-lawn!

"How 'Star Wars' ruined sci-fi

"...But here's the thing: George Lucas' creation, basically a blown-up Flash Gordon adventure with better special effects, has left all too many people thinking science fiction is some computer graphics-laden space opera/western filled with shootouts, territorial disputes, evil patriarchs and trusty mounts (like the Millennium Falcon).
"Star Wars" has corrupted people's notion of a literary genre full of ideas, turning it into a Saturday afternoon serial. And that's more than a shame -- it's an obscenity....

"Many of the great works of sci-fi have not been made into films -- The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov, Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War," William Gibson's "Neuromancer," among others -- partially because they are too smart, too dense and too thoughtful....

"To be sure, the first "Star Wars" was a breath of fresh air, a fun flick for sci-fi geeks. But the series quickly ossified, a victim of its own success...."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/02/.....star-wars/

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Unfortunately when Hollywood does make a movie out of a classic piece of Science Fiction that is thoughtful you get Starship Troopers. They don't need to ruin any more good books on my account. I'll stick with the space opera in the theater and leave the thinking time for reading.

[Old Man With Candy]

+1 I, Robot.

[Corning]

Starship troopers was a good movie and pretty much took all the ideas from the book that one could without turning it into a huge mess.

[GILMORE]

What Corning said.

I think a straight movie version of ST would suck. Verhoven did a masterwork translating it into the ...thing it is. its fucking hilarious. The book was not.

The director comments of ST are pretty awesome. He was like, "When it first aired in the US, and critics started being very negative about what they said were 'quasi Nazi undertones' I was shocked! THEY'RE FUCKING OVERTONES, YOU NINNIES!? I couldn't believe these people didn't see the satire going on...'

His point was that a lot of the Movie is a straight up parody/caricature of 'traditional American War Movies' and Soap Operas and clich? Sci-Fi devices... but that Americans were quasi blind to parodies of themselves.

I also think the line = "They sucked his brains out" is one of the greatest moments in cinema of all time.

[LarryA]

Well, yes. The movie was a parody/caricature. Which is pretty much the opposit of what the book was. "Hilarious" isn't my take.

As well, it was obvious that the screenwriter and director had no clue how to run infantry combat, which Heinlein most assuridly did.

YMMV

[GILMORE]

Pppttt. Everyone knows infantry tactics are just like, you know, a football game, only like the football is a nuclear bomb, and the enemy is like the end zone, and you just have to SPIKE THEM.

As I said, I read the book, and I liked it. A movie of 'that' would suck. What Verhoven did was brilliant. If you were looking at that going, 'Hmph, that's not how you Defilade!...'.. The sonic boom you heard was the point of the movie passing overhead somewhere in the stratosphere.

[Virginian]

A movie of 'that' would suck.

Are you kidding? You could literally do a shot for shot creation of the book and it would be one of the most intellectual and thrilling war movies ever made.

Truly intellectual, not the bullshit that usually passes for intellectual when it comes to war movies.

[GILMORE]

"Truly intellectual"

Uhm. Right.

Now recall the actual point of 'movies'.

[Virginian]

"Truly intellectual"

"When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived."

"The best things in life are beyond money; their price is agony and sweat and devotion ... and the price demanded for the most precious of all things in life is life itself - ultimate cost for perfect value."

"There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men."

"Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost."

I'll take that over Verhoven's bullshit social commentary any day of the week.

[Virginian]

More

"Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal - else a balancing takes place as surely as current flows between points of unequal potential. To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizens were not responsible for the fashion in which they exerted their sovereign authority... other than through the tragic logic of history... No attempt was made to determine whether a voter was socially responsible to the extent of his literally unlimited authority. If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead - and responsibility was then forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundationless temple."

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

[Virginian]

"Peace" is a condition in which no civilian pays any attention to military casualties which do not achieve page-one, lead-story prominence?unless that civilian is a close relative of one of the casualties."

[GILMORE]

You skipped the part where I suggested you try and recall that people don't go to the movies to have books read to them.

[Virginian]

OK, then badass powered armor and interesting human drama abounds. Instead of retards running around in padded vests, screaming randomly.

The movie is a fucking disgrace to a great novel. When I think of that movie, I think of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9Ismh1elM

It's like Verhoven saw that and thought "OH god, I'm going to do that for real!"

[GILMORE]

"The movie is a fucking disgrace to a great novel."

Send your complaints to 'Estate of Robert Heinlein', who gleefully cashed in the rights for a large cut of the receipts.

But seriously = your complaint is like moaning about Victor Hugo... and how Andrew Lloyd Webber really failed to do him justice in Les Mis.

I.e. 'Not the point'

[Virginian]

and how Andrew Lloyd Webber really failed to do him justice in Les Mis.

No, because Les Mis actually captures the spirit of the novel. If Les Mis was a happy musical, that totally changed the core meaning of the source material, then your example would be a good one.

[GILMORE]

"If Les Mis was _________ then your example would be a good one."

About this...'point missing' thing....

It doesn't have to be 'different'; it doesn't have to be 'the same'; when a work of art is 'translated' into a different media, its either entertaining or not *on its own terms*.

A 'happy' les mis could (hypotentically) be a *better* musical. given excellent music and dancing = because that's what people *go to musical theatre for*.

This 'spirit' thing you speak of isnt' necessarily why people adapt works.

again = you don't like parody, fine. But that's on you, not the fault of the work.

[GILMORE]

to clarify = I wasn't suggesting that the books aren't 'good' or not 'truly intellectual'

its that a) no one goes to the movies for a intellectual lecture, and b) movies use raw materials from books to do their own thing = a good movie isn't just "a cinematic translation of a book". Its entirely its own thing. You don't like what PV did with the material. Fine. That's simply a matter of taste, not a "failure" of the filmmaker to deliver what you THINK should be done from the book.

And FWIW, if it could have been done that way? I would have been done that way already.

Or, hell = write a script yourself. Good luck with that.

[Corning]

As well, it was obvious that the screenwriter and director had no clue how to run infantry combat, which Heinlein most assuridly did.

I have played Tribes and Halo.

Hopping around in mech suits does not work as great as Heilein imagined it would.

Pretty much exposes you and allows the enemy to track a good hard bead on you so they can blow you out of the sky.

[Corning]

Also never mind that shooting something moving is easier then shooting something while moving it is fucking impossible to shoot something while you are falling.

[Virginian]

Starship troopers was a good movie and pretty much took all the ideas from the book that one could without turning it into a huge mess.

It took zero ideas from the book. Except the title.

[GILMORE]

"Virginian|5.3.14 @ 11:17PM|#

It took zero ideas from the book.

To be fair, it took quite a few sincere ideas from the book...

...and SHIT ALL OVER THEM

[Redmanfms]

To be fair, it took quite a few sincere ideas from the book...

...and SHIT ALL OVER THEM

No, it really didn't. Verhoven admitted that he never read the book and Neumeier later admitted that the script initially had absolutely nothing to do with the movie.

It missed almost all of the core themes of the book. If you believe that Starship Troopers the book was actually a celebration of militarism and fascist in political ideology you are simply lying about having read the book.

[Rhywun]

Shorter version: "How come everyone is stupider than me?"

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

'Star Trek', as a counterpoint to Star Wars, is a franchise that emphasizes ideas, themes, and character interaction over the loud colorful action.

And yet the 'science' in the various TV shows and movies is only slightly less magical than the technology present in Star Wars. It's all just bullshit invented to fulfill the needs of the plot.

So what makes a genre, ideas or its setting?

Using his logic 'Game of Thrones' really isn't fantasy since its characterizations and themes are not along the more simplistic 'good vs evil' archetypes that Tolkien, the master of the modern genre, established.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"simplistic 'good vs evil' archetypes"

Sure, Tolkien has clearly-demarcated concepts of good and evil, but his characters struggle with the conflict between them. Even the good guys experience cowardice, wrath, pride, etc.

And *The Children of Hurin* is even darker, with the "good guys" doing all kinds of wacked-out stuff.

[Corning]

Tolkien, the master of the modern genre

Tolkien took much of the world building of his books from Conan and the Hyborian age.

Also it really wasn't good vs evil...more like a fight for survival.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I though he was inspired by the old sagas and the fantasy of William Morris.

[GILMORE]

What NGKC said.

Conan post-dates Tolkein by decades

[Corning]

Conan post-dates Tolkein by decades

huh?

The Lord of the Rings "It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949"

"Conan the Barbarian was created by Howard in a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine in 1932."

[GILMORE]

oh.

I thought the illustrated editions from the 60s-70s were the originals.

[Corning]

I thought the illustrated editions from the 60s-70s were the originals.

I think the marvel comics Conan the Barbarian ran all the way up into the 90s

Those were awesome when I was a kid but in all honesty they really were not Robert Howard's Conan.

In fact Howard never even called him Conan the Barbarian. He did once or twice call him "a" barbarian in his stories but mostly he had Conan himself say he was Conan the Cimmerian. Which is somewhat synonymous but more specific to the wide world Conan lived in and had more meaning then the generic "barbarian".

[GILMORE]

These (I think) are what I was referring to

"Donald M. Grant editions, 1974-1989[edit]

A series of illustrated limited editions of the Howard Conan stories only, containing one or two stories per volume. The series ran out of steam before publishing the last five of the stories and three of the fragments.

[juris imprudent]

Imagining an Oxford don perusing Weird Tales magazine...

I mean these days a post-modern studies dissertation on Rowdy Roddy Piper's interview of Jimmy Snuka is totally plausible.

But Oxford in the first half of the 20th century?

[Corning]

Is this like the Margaret Atwood "speculative fiction" defense?

Pretty sure everyone read everything in the 1930s as there was far less to read and nothing to watch.

But yeah sure Tolkein writes a child fairy tale in the early 30s set in a fantastical world with no rhyme or reason for really anything in the world and then after Howard comes up with a world based on an imagined pre-historic Europe with multiple distinct cultures all having deep histories and in the same genre Tolkien is writing in and suddenly Tolkien out of the blue does the exact same thing with the Lord of the Rings.

Seems legit.

I should also point out now Conan now is kind of a joke. The comics the movies that asshole who stole the copy rights to the original stories and rewrote them and then preached to the world that Robert Howard was insane was not kind to the legacy of Conan or Howard. But at the time it was released Conan was a shock and a revelation. Howard was praised by the genre world.

Conan when it was released changed the whole landscape of genre writing.

[Whahappan?]

Actually, Tolkien started working on The Silmarillion in the teens, even though it wasn't published until the '70's. For those not familiar with it, The Silmarillion lays out the creation of Middle Earth, and thousands of years of history before The Hobbit and The LOTR, so it's unlikely he cribbed the idea from Howard.

[Azathoth!!]

Tolkien's world was begun in 1917. The Hobbit was finished in 1932.

The Hyborian Age and Arda are contemporaneous.

[Anonymous Coward]

So his point is basically "Star Wars, you're doing Sci-Fi wrong"?

[Corning]

sooo...

Kind of hard to say Star Wars ruined sci-fi by being like flash Gordon..

How did we ever get Flash Gordon in the first place?

has left all too many people thinking science fiction is some computer graphics-laden space opera/western filled with shootouts, territorial disputes, evil patriarchs and trusty mounts

Hey buddy i hate steampunk as much as the next guy...but really just don't watch or read it. no reason to blame every problem Hollywood movies have on it.

[TheSpiteHouse]

I would argue the author of that article should take his grienances up with Hollywood studios and screenwriters, not Lucas and Star Wars.

[PapayaSF]

George Lucas' creation, basically a blown-up Flash Gordon adventure with better special effects

Fun fact: Lucas originally wanted to remake Flash Gordon, but couldn't get the rights.

Many of the great works of sci-fi have not been made into films -- The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov

I recently reread them, and think they would likely make a terrible movie. Way too talky. But it's true that there are hundreds of great SF stories out there, begging to be filmed.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

I learned that I really don't care about manufactured racist stories.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Because Chris Paul, president of the NBA Players' Association, was in a conflict of interest as an employee of Sterling, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson mediated on behalf of the players and the league on this issue.

The same Kevin Johnson that molested a 16 year old girl and agreed to pay a settlement. He's also been accused of being a slumlord with his Sacramento properties.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Didn't prosecutors refuse to press charges against Kevin Johnson for what you are talking about with the teen?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

From Wikipedia:

During the summer of 1995, a sixteen-year-old girl living in his home alleged that Johnson had molested her. Johnson apologized to the girl when he was confronted by her with the accusation during a phone conversation recorded by Phoenix police. However, he also stated that "what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened."[62] The Sacramento Bee stated that they had received a copy of a proposed settlement agreement, under which Johnson would have paid the girl's family $230,000.[63] After conducting an investigation, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined to prosecute, on the grounds that there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction.[64]

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So I can not see where the claim that he molested her is supported considering prosecutors, usually pretty charge happy folk, declined to prosecute.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Except for what he was recorded as saying on tape

The story used no anonymous sources, though the name of the alleged young victim was changed, as was that of a former friend of hers. The primary source of information in the piece was a detailed Phoenix police report that included audio-recorded interview transcripts and a recorded "confrontational call" between the girl and K.J.

The upshot: Johnson, 29 when the incident with the teen allegedly occurred in the summer of 1995, had major boundary issues (at the very least), as exhibited by his admission in the so-called "confrontational call" secretly recorded by the cops to having showered with the troubled youngster.

"Do you think us being naked together or taking a shower was normal, or healthy?" the girl asked K.J. during the taped phone call.

"I told you the judgment was not in the best," Johnson replied, sounding contrite. "And I'm sorry about that, and, again, I felt we talked about [that] and you're looking at it different than I'm looking at it, and what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened. I'm sorry about that."

Sounds like there was a highly inappropriate relationship. Maybe it was consensual but a 16 year old is pretty easy to take advantage of.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

This girl who stayed at his house called him up and made this allegation about them being naked together and taking a shower (she did not say 'together' for that one) and he replies on the spot 'I told you the judgment was not in the best...you're looking at it different than I'm looking at it, and what you're saying happened, I'm not entirely agreeing happened.'

That is a pretty thin reed to conclude guilt there, especially when the prosecutor likely took an even closer look and declined to prosecute.

[Virginian]

lol, if he hadn't been famous he'd be in jail. I could get him locked up for life with that testimony.

[DesigNate]

Dude, they didn't press charges because "there was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction." That's not saying they didn't have evidence of guilt, just the jury wouldn't convict.

[Virginian]

Right, but I'm saying they didn't prosecute because the dude was famous. If he'd been a truck driver, he'd probably still in jail.

[nobodyyy]

I am the only one who cares about this.

[Sevo]

nobodyyy|5.3.14 @ 7:16PM|#
"I am the only one who cares about this."

Not sure. I think "somebody" does also.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

One of the Young Turk guys loses his shit over Benghazi emails

"Why don't we talk for eight years about the gross incompetence of the f*cking Republicans George g*ddamn W. Bush and Dick Cheney? They sit in f*cking Crawford for a month as they're about to attack us," Uygur said. "You got a memo that said, '[Osama] bin Ladin determined to attack inside the United States of America,' you didn't do anything about that. Three-thousand Americans died and you want to talk about Benghazi and four Americans, 'Oh, and you changed it from 'attacks' to f*cking 'demonstrations.' F*ck you, move the f*ck on."

[snip]

"They do warrantless spying on all of us, on 300 million Americans," Uygur said. "They do drone strikes on people ? they kill people ? [and] they don't even know who they are. They kill American citizens without due process. There's a mountain of problems with the Obama administration."

By comparison, Uygur said, Benghazi was "a tiny little f*cking thing" that the rest of the media had allowed Fox News to turn into a leading topic.

"Stop talking about what Fox News is talking about," he said. "Have you f*cking not caught on? They do it on purpose."

Right, because the media would totally take Obama to task over drones and civil liberties.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You can tell he's serious because he keeps using the f'ing f word.

[Irish]

Saying 'fuck' is how grownups prove that they're making rational arguments.

This is why you never hear middle schoolers use dirty words.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Please, by all means, make Benghazi the centerpiece of the GOP Senate takeover.

[Anonymous Coward]

Benghazi, Obamacare, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Drone Process, the Surveillance State, TPP. Obama gives you more fuck-ups to choose from than there are appetizers on an Applebee's sampler platter.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Multiple-Derp.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey Shrieky! How's life back in 2007? Are you having fun with your 1st generation IPhone?

[Corning]

Ukraine is looking to become a major fuck up as well.

Don't know if it will produce any political capital for the republicans to spend by November but it could.

[LarryA]

Unfortunately the Republicans will probably look at ACA, gun rights, et al, then decide they need to campaign on right-to-life and traditional marriage to win.

[Mike M.]

Don't forget seven trillion dollars in debt, the welfare explosion, the smallest workforce since 1978, the anemic 0.1 GDP growth; the list truly is almost endless for this dismal failure of an administration.

[DesigNate]

Suck that Dem cock fucktard.

[Irish]

"They do warrantless spying on all of us, on 300 million Americans," Uygur said. "They do drone strikes on people ? they kill people ? [and] they don't even know who they are. They kill American citizens without due process. There's a mountain of problems with the Obama administration."

GODDAMMIT FOX! Why do you keep forcing the media not to talk about any of these things?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Fox News is the Jews of modern America. At once devoid of all ability, integrity, morality, acceptability, and yet somehow controlling everything.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Fox Jews?

[juris imprudent]

Faux Jews!

[Heroic Mulatto]

What does Madonna have to do with this?

[Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!]

+1 Kabbalah.

[Anonymous Coward]

The same crowd who made their media bones off of "Bush lied, people died" and "fake chemical weapons" are shocked and baffled when people demand that Barry's feet be held to the fire for lying to the American people and getting Americans killed.

Principles? What principles?

[Palin's Buttplug]

Uhhh, dipshit, "Barry" didn't lie us into a $1 trillion war.

Sure, an easy trump card I get to play against you Bushpigs.

But it works.

[Anonymous Coward]

Aw, good for you. Now point to the part where I agreed with the Iraq war.

...

...

...

Shriek? Where'd you go, lil' buddy?

[Palin's Buttplug]

So why are you trying to draw a false equivalence?

If you were against the Iraq War then you side with Barry.

[Francisco d'Anconia]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

God, you are a pig.

[juris imprudent]

That is an insult to swine. At least from a pig you can get bacon. Has anything worthwhile ever issued forth from the plastic sphincter stretcher?

[Anonymous Coward]

Firstly, Shriek. You are something of a moron. The original post was about the Young Turks reaction to an incident of Barry lying and getting Americans killed vs. Bush lying and getting Americans killed. Let the principle simmer in that bag of cottage cheese that passes for your brain.

Second, Shriek, the Status of Forces Agreement was signed by Dubya, not Barry. Dubya started a BS war in Iraq and ended that same war. As a matter of fact, Barry tried to keep the war going, but Iraq was having none of it.

You're welcome.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Bush signed that agreement after Obama's election, correct?

[Anonymous Coward]

Six days after, yes.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Not sure how much credit he deserves for signing such an agreement after a candidate that ran against his war won election over the candidate from his party that who was vowing to continue a long presence there.

[Anonymous Coward]

The agreement was in negotiation since January. Is the timing of the signing convenient? Yes. But by the same token, you can't say Dubya just pulled it from his ass like the Supreme Court pulls legal reasoning.

And Obama was more than willing to leave at least 10,000 troops in Iraq (see the Ed Krayewski article linked above). Obama's anti-war bleatings were bull. Accept it and then the healing process can begin.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Obama let the war go on for years more than he promised, years, so I am no fan of him or his handling of the war, just saying I do not give Bush any credit for ending it.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Let's say Bush set the house on fire. Obama ran for Fire Chief saying he would never have done so and would put out the fire quickly. Bush signed an agreement to put out the fire in a few years and upon election Obama set about regulating the rescue squad to death for a few years and then on Bush's signed date went over and put out the fire.

No one looks good in that scenario.

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay then Bo, a question: Do you believe that Obama would have withdrawn troops from Iraq had Bush not put the Status of Forces Agreement in place on his way out?

[Francisco d'Anconia]

Not sure how much credit he deserves for signing such an agreement after a candidate that ran against his war won election over the candidate from his party that who was vowing to continue a long presence there.

Wha?

In an interview January 24, 2008, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated that work on a SOFA had barely been started.

[VG Zaytsev]

Palin's Buttplug|5.3.14 @ 8:11PM|#

Uhhh, dipshit, "Barry" didn't lie us into a $1 trillion war

Sure he did.

The war on American Medicine, aka Obamacare.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Oh, I am stealing that line. Well done.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|5.3.14 @ 8:11PM|#
"Uhhh, dipshit, "Barry" didn't lie us into a $1 trillion war."

No, he kept us in a war that's added $2-3Tn to the cost.
We know you're an ignoramus; do you have to prove it this often?

[Corning]

Uhhh, dipshit, "Barry" didn't lie us into a $1 trillion war.

Yes he did.

He said he would bring the troops home and close Gitmo...

Then didn't.

[Skip]

If its just numbers thing, why does the Left lose their shit over waterboarding 3 douchebags?

[Skip]

I'm sure Cenk was a big supporter of Rand Paul's filibuster, defending him from the nutroots attacking him and whatnot, Anyone have a link?

[Irish]

I'm sure Cenk was a big supporter of Rand Paul's filibuster, defending him from the nutroots attacking him and whatnot, Anyone have a link?

In fairness, he tried to have a pizza delivered to Rand Paul during his filibuster.

He also called Rand Paul a 'constitutional hero' for his filibuster.

Cenk Uygur is a moron, but he is a principled moron. He actually did support the Rand Paul filibuster. I think we should give credit where credit is due.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I've seen that guy on and off over the years.

I've concluded he's a derp.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Derp. Now a noun.

[Entropy Void]

Only in Kanukistan.

[Sevo]

..."You got a memo that said, '[Osama] bin Ladin determined to attack inside the United States of America,' you didn't do anything about that."...

Now, I'm going to state clearly that *NO ONE* out-ranks me in despising FDR. But there are claims that he had prior knowledge about the Japanese attack on PH since 'he got a memo saying they were going to attack the US' and he didn't do anything about that.
Well, I'd love to hear what the imbecile who posted that comment has to say about FDR.

[PapayaSF]

Thank you. There is a huge difference between 1) Surprise attacks that start wars, like Pearl Harbor and 9/11, and vague hints that "something" might happen, and 2) An attack during a war, on a front-line position like a Libyan consulate, that you have had warnings is inadequately defended, that you don't send reinforcements to during the attack, and that you lie about later.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The Florida legislature is considering a bill to protect the citizens' right to bear arms during a state of emergency. A Democrat thinks this is so ridiculous as to warrant an amendment applying the bill to cases of zombie apocalypse.

Great joke, says commenter!

"The Florida Senate didn't take up the bill yesterday and time is running out to have Floridians running around with guns during times of great stress and civil upheaval to have legal cover for standing their ground against unarmed black teenagers."

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2.....pocalypse/

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yeah, why would anyone need a gun during a major breakdown in law and order?

[Pathogen]

"Yeah, why would anyone need a gun during a major breakdown in law and order?"

Ohh.. Lots of reasons

[Palin's Buttplug]

This is just the beginning of this bullshit.

Prediction - Sterling, who doesn't want to sell and doesn't need the money, will put the Clips into a family trust that secures the team for his inheritors upon his death. These people are untainted by his tirades. It was going to them anyway. His son-in-law is GM, iirc.

[Sevo]

And shitpile will use it as a distraction for the next two years as he licks Obo's ass.

[airforce]

I really wish that reason, among others, would help correct the record on Cliven Bundy's "racism." He may not have used all of the politically correct terminology, but listen to the entire tape. He's hardly a racist.

While I'm at it, could someone please explain to me why "colored" is a racially derogatory word, while "person of color" is not? Seriously, I've been wondering about this for years, and no one seems to be able to explain it to me.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ask the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

[Homple]

Why ask when the answer was prerecorded decades ago and you'll hear it played back several times every week for the rest of your life?

[GILMORE]

I personally take offense to the term "White".

I'm clearly more a shade of Tan/Wheat.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Even after that horrible east coast winter?

[Bobarian]

It's a spray tan, he chooses that particular shade to avoid clashing with the furniture.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The spray will ruin furniture.

[juris imprudent]

Most of my lineage turns a pale blue when deprived of exposure to sunlight.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'm more olive myself.

For the first time, I heard the term African-Canadian during a conversation about PK Subban. I hate that term with a serious passion. It's meaningless. Like saying I'm European-Canadian.

Africa is made up of many countries, tribes, cultures and languages. That they'd group all American blacks as if their homogeneous is bizarre beyond belief.

[Virginian]

Well the idea is that the combination of forced transportation, chattel slavery, and consistent oppression and discrimination has created a culture. The tribal differences they would have had in Africa were washed away by the black American experience.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Were people upset about his use of the word colored or the part about black people being better off knowing how to pick cotton and under slavery?

[Homple]

Who knows? They're upset about anything other from a paleface other than abject supine whimpering confessions of inherited guilt. There's no way to satisfy the professionally aggrieved so let 'em feck off.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Drudge headline: DRONES INVADE YOSEMITE

So I went and bought a "drone". It'll be here on Monday. I think I'll bring it to Yosemite on Memorial Day.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Be prepared to have it confiscated or have a run-in with the park rangers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gr.....heir-side/

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I would be happy to have it confiscated. My wife is licensed to practice in Federal courts, so I would get it back plus ridiculous attorney's fees.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Yeah their efforts seem like a slam-dunk lawsuit for whoever gets their drone confiscated or destroyed by the Park Service.

But what about this guy?

CFox 2 hours ago
Certainly the 'legal argument' used by the Parks is absurd.

Given time the laws will catch up with drones in both public and private places. As for me I don't want to see or hear a drone anywhere let alone a national park.

One persons freedom to fly a drone should not infringe on another's rightful expectations of peace and quite in any national park.

Dogs should be on leashes or behind fences. Smokers should not smoke in public spaces. Drones need to be assigned similar rules.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Get.....

.....off my lawn.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I got a DJI Phantom.

This guy has done some amazing stuff with his.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That link takes me to a video of these guys making a Monte Cristo out of Thanksgiving leftovers.

[Corning]

That drone can really do anything.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Warren Buffett's annual Berkshire shareholder meeting is going on today - also known as 'Woodstock for Capitalists'.

Any of you Peanuts attending?

Ha Ha - just kidding. You fuckers falsely think "capitalism" is all about the absence of regulations.

[Pompey]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm a shareholder. But I hate the guy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

And before you ask, yes, I bought in 2009.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Well invest your money with a conservative investor then.

If you can find one with any goddamn sense - which I doubt you can.

Liberals make better capitalists. Put it all on Larry Ellison. He fucking kills.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Most of my money was in VIGAX until a few months ago, which I got for 17.50 a share.

I don't fucking gamble with my life savings, and I don't have time to worry about what the market is doing. I let Vanguard worry about that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I lost $25 000 in Nortel.

Still upset I went against my better judgment on that one.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Other than long shots that I can afford to lose, I don't trade individual stocks. It's not my field, and I leave it up to the professionals (not Palin's Buttplug). I almost always do index funds or retirement funds. My money represents my hard work and time away from my family, and I don't care to gamble with that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The irony is when I did this I was part of an uber-conservative investment team.

I was in my late 20s and I did something uncharacteristic. I worked hard to save that money. Saving comes natural to me but that was one silly move. That and fucking TYCO.

All around the tech bubble.

But you got to move forward and I have. Now I own a business.

[Klan Democrat]

Shit seeking missile conflates wealth accumulation with adherence to capitalist principles.

God are you a fucking dolt.

Or is it just that "the narrative" style guide mandates that wealthy old douchebags not actively holding government office be deemed "capitalist" to the stupid envious masses aka Team Blue's electoral base.

It's tough to keep up with you this weekend, stupid.

[Corning]

Shit seeking missile conflates wealth accumulation with adherence to capitalist principles.

Stalin lived like a Czar.

[Mike M.]

Liberals make better capitalists.

You mean crony capitalists. Yes, I agree: liberals are the masters of thievery and corruption.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Er, how are the presence of regulations, which are defined as 'a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority' be what capitalism is all about?

[Palin's Buttplug]

They (it) are not.

But capitalists need regulations to preserve patents, private property, FASB, equity, debt, and the like.

Libertarians make shitty capitalists. Some cite the wealthy Kochs - who are direct beneficiaries of inherited wealth as successful capitalists. Instead they are happy opportunists of their father's death.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"But capitalists need regulations"

Far fewer than we currently have though, right?

"Libertarians make shitty capitalists."

There are not many libertarians, and not many capitalists successful at Buffet's level, so the fact, if it is true, that there are not many of the former in the group of the latter does not say much to me about anything.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Federal regulations are scant impediments to capital formation.

States are more likely culprits on over-regulation. But this is where I get to defend the Kochs since their business is all about hazardous materials. We need to regulate the poison the Koch companies spew out.

Of course the Bhoupal/Kochs despise plant safety regulations.

In high-tech there are no federal regulations but in materials/energy there are plenty.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Federal regulations are scant impediments to capital formation."

Federal regulations?

Like the SEC regulations?

Scant?

That is like saying Luke Skywalker killed a scant amount of Stormtroopers in the Star Wars films combined.

[Sevo]

Palin's Buttplug|5.3.14 @ 8:53PM|#
"Federal regulations are scant impediments to capital formation."

So long as you lick gov't ass, right, ass licker?

[Agammamon]

Why do you insist on saying we are against *regulation*? We understand that Capitalism (and the Free Market) itself is regulated.

But do *you* not understand that not all regulations come from the strong hand of the government?

Because that seems to be your point - we want to reduce/eliminate *government regulation* but all you read is *regulation*.

All the time you spend here and you *still* do not understand *any* of the basic tenants of libertarianism, along with conflating 'libertarian' with 'Libertarian'.

Its just mind boggling that you spend so much time arguing with the positions our ideological opponents ascribe to us and never with our actual positions. That's along with never clearly stating *your* guiding philosophy.

Its like people who want you to disprove the existence of their God but can never describe the attributes he's supposed to have.

[Agammamon]

TL;DR

Your stated positions are too incoherent to argue with, yet you're not insane enough to be interesting.

[Klan Democrat]

It's prone to some entertaining rants if you hurt its pretend feelings.

Who doesn't want to be known as the guy that finally breaks the bushpig christfag meme generator?

[VG Zaytsev]

Shriek enthusiastically supports the original, Marxist, definition of capitalism as ultra-crony mercantilism. And in regulations, in that type of system, are essential to maintaining the privileged position of the politically influential.

[Sevo]

"You fuckers falsely think "capitalism" is all about the absence of regulations."

You, asshole, think "captialism" is sucking gov't tit and lying.

[Stephdumas]

Meanwhile elsewhere, Rep. Thompson add his pinch of salt.
http://www.americanthinker.com.....ments.html
http://dailycaller.com/2014/04.....m-comment/

[VG Zaytsev]

It seems to me that Sterling was merely telling his ho bag to stop bringing the (other) guys that she's fucking to Clipper's games, where his friends and family notice and no doubt gave him shit for it happening.

Not really a racial thing at all. Only even tangentially so because the other guys weren't white.

Listening to the tapes, it's obvious that she's baiting him, her side sounds like an especially bad stand in reading a script.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

How could he have forseen that the floozy he was fooling around with would be of less than sterling character?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She's a full ret?rd (pronounced a la Hangover).

From the interview:
I was Sterling's right hand arm.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I know, my mom was over and we were watching that too. Both of us were rolling over with laughter. I believe the full phrase was "right hand arm man".

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She recovered nicely, because she was only slightly medicated.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Why is it always "V." Stiviano? Veronica?

And if she was Sterling's right arm, or hand, she must be very busy.

/joke from otherwise forgettable Demi Moore movie

[Heroic Mulatto]

She actually changed her name to "V.", like a weak-ass copy of Prince when he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol or something.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Coming soon to a theater near you...

V for "Very Stupid"

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

She legally changed her name to V. Stiviano.
Real name: Maria Vanessa Perez

[Agammamon]

I always wonder about these guys, how they delude themselves.

You're an old dude with lot's of money - that's why the chick is with you. Nothing wrong with trading what you got for what she's got (companionship and sex) but dude, c'mon. You're a millionaire, you can actually get a hot chick (rather than a meh one) *and* afford to be able to vet her history.

There are tons of attractive women who would be willing to be your companion, actually be discreet in their affairs, *and* who won't stab you in the back for a few minutes of fame.

[Pathogen]

"You're a millionaire, you can actually get a hot chick (rather than a meh one) *and* afford to be able to vet her history."

Yeah, she must be pretty dynamic in the sack, (or he's into some really weird shit that she's 'comfortable' with) because you could cut a roast on that face...

[Virginian]

There are tons of attractive women who would be willing to be your companion, actually be discreet in their affairs, *and* who won't stab you in the back for a few minutes of fame.

I doubt that. Besides, I don't think she stabbed in the back for a few minutes of fame.

I think she did it at the behest of some person or group who wanted to buy an NBA team. They read the NBA bylaws, realized the right PR disaster could force a sale, and recruited her.

He's 81 and has cancer. She needed a nest egg to set her up for life. One year of TV revenue is 30 million. Give that to her, and the rest of the years are yours, forever.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Not really a racial thing at all."

Not a racial thing at all, which is why he kept saying 'black guys.'

He was talking about their black, as in evil, hearts of course.

[VG Zaytsev]

Meh, she was fucking black guys. Listen to the whole thing with an open mind and you'll understand what I'm saying.

Not that I'm defending the bigoted pos, but this story has been manufactured from the get go by someone that wants to get the team at a discounted price.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"Not that I'm defending the bigoted pos"

Wait, you just said the comments were 'not really a racial thing at all,' so why refer to him as bigoted now?

[Anonymous Coward]

The sooner America turns New Orleans into an open-air prison, the better.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Escape from NOLA

[Anonymous Coward]

Heoric Mulatto? I heard you were dead.

[Beautiful Bean Footage]

Go Fuck yourself and DIAF, moron.

AC, not HM

[Anonymous Coward]

U MAD?

[VG Zaytsev]

He's clearly a bigot and general piece of shit, based on his long term behavior including, but not limited to, what came out during the unfair housing lawsuit.

However, in this specific case, it looks to me like he was played and then his off the cuff comments cast in the worst possible light by race baiters in the media.

Casual observers of the story are under the impression that he said something like I hate nig--rs or I don't want dem nig--ers coming to my games. Which he never said in any way. What he said was stop making me look bad to my friends by bring handing out with guys you're fucking at my games. Yeah, the old fool should have kept it race neutral, then again, she was clearly baiting him.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"What he said was stop making me look bad to my friends by bring handing out with guys you're fucking at my games."

You left out the word 'black' in front of 'guys.' That is pretty key here. I agree he was played by his woman, but his statements were clearly racial. Maybe he was just afraid of the racist judgments of his friends, but if that is his best case scenario I can not say much for him.

[VG Zaytsev]

Was she bringing any of her white 'boyfriends' to Clipper's games?

It think that he was reacting to his friends and maybe his family giving him shit about his mistress hanging out with other guys at his games. And yeah, I'm sure there was some racial angle to it. I doubt that factor would change if the races of everyone involved was reversed, ie a black owner's mistress was hanging out with white guys in his circle of friends.

And yes, it's evidence of a certain level of bigotry, but so what. It's certainly not enough to justify making him public enemy number 1

The thing is that I've know real racist assholes in the past. People that disowned their daughters for dating black guys, and worse. So hearing Sterling say that he "doesn't care if she hangs with black guys or sleeps with them, just don't do it in front of him" doesn't outrage me at all.

[Acosmist]

Don't argue with Bo. He's a full-on racist. See the Clarence Thomas thread.

[BoscoH]

2:45... I would have liked to know her thoughts on OPP too! But the lady had an excellent point.

[Max Power]

I bought a can of Flex Seal and sprayed it on my roof where it was leaking. Thanks Fox Business Network!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

For realz?

I'm thinking of making a fountain for my patio, and I need to know if Flex Seal is the Real Deal.

[Max Power]

Yeah, I have a city row home and the lower roof over the kitchen has to have this tar shit spread over a couple spots every year or it will crack and start to leak. The tar really makes a mess and gets everywhere so I sprayed it with flex seal today (they had it at Lowes). It was way easier, hopefully it works.

Although it runs out pretty fast. If you were gonna fix cannonball holes in a boat, you'd need like 10 cans.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I don't have a cannon. Yet. I shoot a lot of stuff with my 9. I posted a video here of me "disposing" of a propane tank a couple of years ago.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Here it is

[Max Power]

That looks fun. My dad and I shot up an old toilet with a shotgun one time, although I don't have a video.

[Corning]

"We are not doing that again"

What?!?!

How could you not?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Aftermath: The propane bottle rocketed 100 yards away, and started a small fire. The desert is more flammable than I would have expected. We didn't even get to the tannerite.

[Virginian]

Dangerous libertarians!

[Anonymous Coward]

If Obama Had a Son, He'd Look Like Marshall

A 15-year-old who survived being shot in the head last July by a Marigny homeowner was arrested Friday (May 2) in a residential burglary in the Marigny, according to two law enforcement officials. Marshall Coulter was shot last July by homeowner Merritt Landry, who later told police he believed the teen was breaking into his home.

So this criminal mastermind, after having been shot in the middle of a burglary, decides he's going to commit another burglary and gets shot again.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

If you don't succeed...

[Anonymous Coward]

Take up a new profession?

Ars?ne Lupin he ain't.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"It's a silent testament to the never-give-up and never-think- things-out spirit of our citizens."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Guns are bad m'kay.

This guy is classic.

[Corning]

Marigny, Marshall, Merritt

I didn't even realize that there were that many "M" names.

[Dear Sirs,]

I am sitting in the smallest room of the house with your magazine in front of me.

Soon it will be behind me.

Best,
Raaaacist!!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

So, what would it take for any of you guys to watch the White House Press Correspondents dinner?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I have some ridiculous food about to go on the grill. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would get me to watch that.

[Episiarch]

Having the only other thing on be Transformers 3. No, wait, I'd still watch Transformers 3 over that.

[Anonymous Coward]

So, what would it take for any of you guys to watch the White House Press Correspondents dinner?

A lobotomy.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Intrepid journalists chasing stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_cXTpHOw4

[kibby]

More money than they could possibly offer.

[Virginian]

More money than they could possibly offer.

If this lotto ticket wins the jackpot, I will pay off your student loans if you watch the last ten in one sitting.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Shit, I'll watch the entire goddamned thing for my student debt to go away.

This is where years of reading Salon, Raw Story, and Huffington Post pays off. I've slowly built up a tolerance for bullshit and derp that would kill a lesser man.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Listen, Playa et al. have already offered the sex tape option, but you've decided that you're too damn obstinate to take it.

So don't go whining about a situation that could easily be solved via some melted butter and an alpaca.

[Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!]

"some melted butter and an alpaca."

HM, are going SugarFree on us?!

[Heroic Mulatto]

What? You never saw Last Tango in Paris (Alpaca Edition)?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Perhaps all you guys so interested in that should start a Kickstarter.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Calling our bluff.

Ballsy.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'd say at least $50K.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You've disclosed your debt. I say much lower. Or nothing. Ball's in your court.

[Virginian]

Shit, I'll watch the entire goddamned thing for my student debt to go away.

The last ten dinners, not the last ten minutes. In one sitting. Sober.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Well half of those would feature Booooossshhhh, who doesn't offend me nearly as much as our narcissus in chief mainly because he seems much more down to Earth and there was once genuine animosity between the media and the person in the White House.

It would actually be funny to see how those assholes once thought of themselves as tough and objective keepers of truth by challenging the person in power.

So yeah, I'd take that action.

[kibby]

I will totally take you up on this. & I'd even do it sober.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DJtHL3NV1o

[juris imprudent]

Definitely this.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Sand Sharks

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, I can top that -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aihQg0UKMTc

[Episiarch]

You need to try harder, Eddie.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

OK, then, you asked for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6hOlI9cg4o

[Heroic Mulatto]

That was like a Vine version of I Spit on Your Grave.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Pursuing badness outside of the horror field, I give you Leonard Part 6 -

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt00....._=tt_ov_rt

[Ted S.]

Dondi. It's weapons-grade terrible.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

2001: A Space Travesty

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01....._=tt_ov_rt

[Episiarch]

I know the director. He is, unsurprisingly, insane.

[Episiarch]

It's got Parker Lewis in it! A must-see!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Interesting fact: The next town over from me, El Segundo, gets so much property tax from the Chevron Refinery that their high school is really nice. Really, really nice. So, Parker Lewis, along with dozens of other shows, including 90210, were filmed there.

[Episiarch]

I guess that's why Parker Lewis can't lose.

And coincidentally, I lost my wallet in El Segundo.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Dammit. That's the 2nd time this week.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!]

That guy is wearing his pakol all wrong!

[Virginian]

repost, because I love Waffle House:

Fuck yeah. A man's Waffle House is his castle.

"I understand he felt threatened by the situation," McSwain said. "But he said the gun was pointed at him so he fired. In fact he (Williams) was walking out."

Bitch, you bring the steel out, you best be ready to welcome all comers. Don't start nothing, won't be nothing.

http://www.foxcarolina.com/sto.....new-debate

[Ted S.]

Just for the hell of it, I typed "waffle house arrest" into Google's search bar today, to see how many interesting autocompletes I'd get. There weren't any really interesting ones, although the actual search results were fairly interesting.

I did it to compare it to the autocompletes for "Florida woman calls 911", which yielded autocompletes for at least five hilarious news items about the stupidity of Florida Woman.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Fluffington Post: Donald Sterling is racist, but so is our economy

The median duration of unemployment for black workers was 23.3 weeks in April, compared with 17.1 weeks for white workers, according to not-seasonally adjusted data from the BLS. Those six weeks make a difference...

And African-Americans with jobs are typically getting paid less than white workers: The median weekly income for black workers in 2013, the latest BLS data available, was $629, compared with $802 for white workers. That translates into annual incomes of $32,708 vs. $41,704 -- the kind of inequality we don't talk about that much.

The "underemployment rate" -- meaning the percentage of people either not working or working part-time because they can't find anything better -- was 20.5 percent for African-American workers, compared with 11.8 percent for white workers, according to the National Urban League's latest annual report on the State of Black America.

What could help? Maybe fixing an inherently biased system. The Urban League wants to raise the minimum wage, which would lift the incomes of many black workers, particularly women. Republicans say that might hurt low-wage hiring, but the jury is out on that argument. Better access to job training and child care could also help.

**facepalm** And yet they will continue to support Democratic policies.

[Sevo]

"The median duration of unemployment for black workers was 23.3 weeks in April, compared with 17.1 weeks for white workers, according to not-seasonally adjusted data from the BLS. Those six weeks make a difference..."

I have this theory which has yet to attract a grant for development, but it sounds good prima facie:
If you don't throw brown kids in jail for doing the same things white kids do, they might not be un-employed for so long.
Do I need to add "Climate Change" to the title to get a grant?

[PapayaSF]

Republicans say that might hurt low-wage hiring, but the jury is out on that argument.

The jury came in on that ages ago. There have just been numerous protests, appeals, and conspiracy theories since then.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Now that's a party. Trying to remember the biggest party I've attended.

http://yhoo.it/1kx7K3z

[Notorious G.K.C.]

If you can remember it, you weren't there.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Why are there so many douchebags there?

[Redmanfms]

Somebody saw Project X and decided to do it for realsies.

BTW, the movie is actually pretty damned entertaining.

[kibby]

Alright, everyone. I'm terribly bored & you're not doing enough to fix this problem.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You need to listen to more bhangra

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Weak. This is better.

If we ever meet in real life, we will have a dance off. And you will lose.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Dancefloor is better, but I figured the kibbster would identify with Miss Pooja better.

And you would win as I am a chronic asthmatic.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Oh, is that the only reason?!?

[Heroic Mulatto]

That, and the fact that no one appreciates softshoe anymore

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

That's for people with vertigo.

[kibby]

"kibbster"???

& what is this assault on my ears? Zero points to both of you.

[Ted S.]

But 12 points to Romania

[Heroic Mulatto]

Woah...woah...woah...

If bhangra didn't make you jump up and dance around the room like an idiot then you're just as wicked as the Rwandan genocide.

Seriously.

[kibby]

Yeahhhhh, I'm very picky about music.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I can't imagine a soul so dead that it cannot appreciate bhangra. What has he done to you?*

*In graphic detail, please.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I'm actually the one with a horrendous opinion of music, according to her.

[kibby]

YOU DON'T LISTEN TO MUSIC, HOW IS THAT NORMAL???

[Heroic Mulatto]

Moff is a Salafi Muslim?

Who knew?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I THOUGHT YOU LIKED ME FOR MY UNIQUENESS!

And I don't think I am, I just can't bring myself to have an interest in music for some reason. Knowledge of music occupies almost zero space in my brain.

[jesse.in.mb]

And I don't think I am, I just can't bring myself to have an interest in music for some reason. Knowledge of music occupies almost zero space in my brain.

That was true of me until sometime in high school. I'm not sure what changed. I still have awful taste in music, and I couldn't tell you who sings what, but I enjoy listening now.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I do listen to music sometimes (such as at work or on a long passenger trip).

But when I do it's just a highly eclectic mixture of whatever I enjoy, which ranges from classical, jazz, country, classic rock, and pop.

[Agammamon]

You need something to cleanse your palate?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN5CSolJvCw

[Ted S.]

How about some highlife instead?

[GILMORE]

HM, the bhangra thing is like 8 yrs old already.

Look for the DJ APS (acronym, not 'apps') megamix if you dig it. That guy was the short-lived main source for the stuff for a while. He's got a dozen or so US remixes plus his own mixtapes.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Thanks.

Though, bhangra has a longer shelf-life for me, due to certain side-ways cultural connections.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This cute bird singing should help -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uguXNL93fWg

[kibby]

I have seen this before & it endlessly, ridiculously amusing. A few points to you.

[Sevo]

kibby, tell us:
What would it take to make you happy?

[kibby]

My student loans magically disappearing & a good, decent-paying job in which I am at least marginally interested.

[Sevo]

"My student loans magically disappearing & a good, decent-paying job in which I am at least marginally interested."

That "question" is what's handed out in the first (cheap) "sales training program" any tyro manager buys, so it can be ignored.
But seriously, aren't you already proficient in a marketable skill?

[kibby]

I have tons of work experience, but going back to the same type of job I worked before college is pretty depressing.

[Sevo]

And you aren't in a program that would lead to a more enjoyable job?

[kibby]

That would involve finding one in my field, which is unlikely given my lack of interest in grad school.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What was your old job? If you say "Hot Dog on a Stick", I might be aroused.

[kibby]

I feel like you people know entirely too much about me already.

[Sevo]

"That would involve finding one in my field, which is unlikely given my lack of interest in grad school."

Uh, I have to ask:
You have no interest in anything that might be marketable outside of your 'field'? Sounds like a self-defined recipe for failure.
If I remember, you're focusing on Renaissance History. You got banking, painting, stone-work, religious shenanigans, civic organizations; all sorts of subjects to explain to those with an interest.
You can't find a way to make money from explaining that to others? And that presumes nothing else interests you...

[kibby]

I'm Classics -- just taking a Ren class this semester as an elective.

Teaching is pretty much the only route for me as far as that goes & Ancient History isn't really a big field, though if I ever relearn enough Latin I would have that, as well. & I would love to teach -- history is something I'm very interested in, but so are nine billion other people who have an actual Masters in it. Which is absolutely not worth my money at this point.

I'm just trying to be realistic in finding a job in an area that's less...uh, useless?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Didn't I tell you to go on digs?

You can set up a tent in Turkey. Then have servants deliver you meals on silver trays and drink from crystal goblets.

Like Heinrich Schliemann

[Virginian]

Like Heinrich Schliemann

"kibby, she wolf of the archaeology department."

[kibby]

Is Heinrich Schliemann someone I really want to emulate?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

well, the cool parts.

[Sevo]

kibby|5.3.14 @ 11:52PM|#
"Is Heinrich Schliemann someone I really want to emulate?"

I'd love to have been the one to have found Troy.

[Sevo]

"Teaching is pretty much the only route for me"

Writer (ten different markets)
Tour guide
Tutor (yeah, close)
Researcher (for another writer)
C'mon, I got those in two minutes. You have years of looking at who might buy your knowledge.
You're going to let those who don't know what you know define how you make money from that?

[kibby]

I'm touched by your unending confidence in my ability to land a dream job.

[Sevo]

kibby|5.4.14 @ 12:12AM|#
"I'm touched by your unending confidence in my ability to land a dream job."

You're fantasizing; dream jobs ain't part of the deal AFAIK.
Jobs you like might be. And they might be prosperous; *you* get to find those.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Do you know how to put on a hideous hat at the mall and fry hot dogs?

[Sevo]

"Do you know how to put on a hideous hat at the mall and fry hot dogs?"

Would they be "Classical" doggies?

[kibby]

Is that all I am to you, Pl?ya? Just a girl in an ugly hat handing you a hot dog?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Could be you

[jesse.in.mb]

If she's going to be in a soda commercial, she should go for this one.

[GILMORE]

hmmmm.

Perhaps you should set the bar a little lower. Like, 'try heroin'.

[kibby]

That seems like it would not end well for me. DO YOU HATE ME?

[Derpetologist]

Here- have some uplifting Orthodox chanting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hwELsSesvE

[kibby]

This is actually amazing. One hundred points to you.

[Derpetologist]

This is even better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK_cCh92Q8U

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

-100 points for trying too hard.

[GILMORE]

Dude, that's a Jimmy Cliff cover.

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a cute puppy to enjoy

[kibby]

...Which one is supposed to be the puppy?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Ramsay looks like a mischievous puppy. The one that chews on the others' ears.

[kibby]

Well he doesn't in the books -- Iwan just happens to be precious as sin.

[Anonymous Coward]

Reek is the puppy who looks like he's been kicked too many times, and Ramsay is the puppy who just found an unclaimed hambone and couldn't be happier.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm experimenting with 5 different kinds of poultry marinades tonight.

[Max Power]

Whoa, that looks good. I grilled a steak tonight, tomorrow I'm going to do Cornell chicken.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I looked that up. It seems to involve "poultry seasoning", whatever that means.

[kibby]

Can I come over for dinner sometime, please?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Of course. Do you know how to change diapers?

[kibby]

I avoided babysitting at all costs as a teen. Petsitting was much less work for far more money.

[Episiarch]

I just had kangaroo jerky, crocodile jerky, and emu jerky. The crocodile was the best, but that's not surprising because I do love me some reptile. The kangaroo is good too.

[Derpetologist]

I had alligator fritters in Flarduh once. Good stuff.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

A few of my asshole best friends got me that stuff for my wedding present. I never wanted to eat giraffe, but I did.

[Sevo]

Tastes like chicken.
Actually, alligator tastes like alligator, and it's good.

[Pathogen]

"Actually, alligator tastes like alligator, and it's good."

It's fucking excellent, and the loathsome contempt that I have for them makes eating them sooo much more rewarding...

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Keep inviting me to dinner. One day I'm bound to be available.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Last night, I grilled up some chicken quarters that were marinaded with this.

So good, and perfect bite.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

There is a similar tikka masala mix at my local grocer.

The instructions sucked. You have to marinate for 48 hours to get any real flavor.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Damn, I have to take my BBQ out now.

[Sevo]

How do you keep the fat from flaming?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

3 layers of lava rocks on half of the grill. One the fat drops, I sear.

[Sevo]

"One the fat drops, I sear."

Means what?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The fat melts off on lower heat, and then I can move it to the hot side of the grill to brown the skin without causing an inferno.

[Sevo]

OK.
Not too many left, but most of the "Joes" restaurants had a grill at the right end of the counter; you could watch the grilling (and the re-charging of the charcoal).
I envy them a "grill" (that part that supports the meat) of thick enough sections to be hotter than hell and stay that way when the meat lands on it, and a surface large enough to be blazing over there and only searing over here.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

My grill is a 5 burner. I converted it to Nat Gas from propane, and I had to drill out the orifices. I went overboard, and now it gets a little too hot.

One side, where I layered lava rocks, is basically like an oven., and the temperature is easily controlled. The flame never reaches the grate, even on high.

The other side is like a blowtorch. On high, the flames reach 6" above the grate.

[Sevo]

Pl?ya Manhattan.|5.4.14 @ 12:11AM|#
"My grill is a 5 burner. I converted it to Nat Gas from propane, and I had to drill out the orifices. I went overboard, and now it gets a little too hot."

My grill is a one-burner mesquite so I need to do a bit more development.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Benny Lava?

[Derpetologist]

Today on Derpbook:

A prog claims rich Americans stash trillions in overseas banks. I claim that's impossible since most of the US dollars in foreign banks (about $3 trillion worth) are in Japan and China. He then claims that rich people have a hundred times that. I explain that the total value of all the notes, coins, and bank accounts in the world is only about $25 trillion. No response yet.

http://gizmodo.com/5995301/how.....e-on-earth

I get the impression he would not be able to tell me how many zeroes are in a billion or a trillion without using Google.

[Sevo]

"I get the impression he would not be able to tell me how many zeroes are in a billion or a trillion without using Google."

I'd bet that s/he would assume raising the income tax rate on "the rich" by 10% or so would retire the national debt in a year.

[juris imprudent]

I think you are just talking to someone slightly ahead of their time.

[Sevo]

More self-righteous hilarity at the Chron:

"Surely there is a special ring of hell for the sleaze balls who rip off bikes. They prey on people who are not only trying to do the right thing by staying out of cars, but who often use bikes as their main means of transportation."
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/.....448933.php

For those of you in most of the East Bay, the smug storm seems to be stalled over San Francisco, outside of a portion which has extended to Berkeley.
Stay tuned for updates!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"trying to do the right thing by staying out of cars."

Hadn't realized getting into car to go to work was wrong.

[Agammamon]

Its Triply wrong. You're killing the environment, perpetuating the tyranny of work, *and* allowing the 1% to enrich themselves of your labor.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

But car thieves are A-OK!!!!

[Sevo]

Pl?ya Manhattan.|5.3.14 @ 11:26PM|#
"But car thieves are A-OK!!!!"

During dinner, some son of a bitch stole my helmet from the 'lock' on my Yamaha (I found out later they were really not secure).
I had to ride home without a lid; I was *PIIIIIIIIIISSED*!

[Anonymous Coward]

Another Obamacare Success Story

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A local mother is battling for her life with an unknown bone disease, and making matters worse, her insurance has just been ripped from under her.

On top of her health battle, Domeikis is now fighting a second front with Nevada Health Link. After months of trying to sign up on the Health Link website and getting the error message, she was finally enrolled in Medicaid, given insurance cards, and started seeing doctors.

But it all came to a grinding halt last week when she received a heart-dropping letter from Medicaid saying her eligibility was miscalculated and her coverage was terminated. "I told them without treatment, I could die. The girl said, 'As cold as it sounds, it's not our problem,'" Domeikis said.

At least she wasn't denied coverage by some heartless, moustache-twirling, insurance fatcat.

[SusanM]

She should be honored that a minion of the Grand Panjandrum told her personally that she was s.o.l.

[Derpetologist]

I have begun compiling the Derponomicon- over 6,000 words of sanity-blasting derp straight from the deepest pit of Derpbook.

[Max Power]

Will it be bound in human flesh?

[Derpetologist]

No, something far more sinister-

The back cover will be an Utne magazine. The front cover will be an 8x10 glossy of Lena Dunham.

[kibby]

That sounds like a suicide mission.

[Palin's Buttplug]

How much conservative Creationist Derp is in your pile? That is certainly Derp source #1.

[Derpetologist]

None. In the first place, there isn't much of it. In the second place, it's been beaten to death already. And most importantly, it has no impact on my life.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Pussy. I knew you had no response to right-wing derp facts.

Sad, you had a gig going.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

That market is saturated

[Derpetologist]

I congratulate on making 2 posts in a row without mentioning BOOOOOSH!

[Sevo]

"I congratulate on making 2 posts in a row without mentioning BOOOOOSH!"

For being dumb enough to forget?

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Baby Goats

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Cat In A Shark Costume Chases A Duck While Riding A Roomba

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

You're like the anti-Heroic Mulatto based on links to adorable stuff you post.

[kibby]

Someone has to be!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Without darkness, there would be no light.

Without me, you wouldn't know that this is a thing that exists in reality.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I liked Cecil B. DeMille's version better:

http://eriklundegaard.com/medi.....dments.jpg

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Permission Denied

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Well, you can imagine why.

Try this non-DeMille version with the then-equivalent of twerking:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GoldCalf.jpg

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

You have to wait for Notorious to come down off the mountain with the 15 Commandments

[Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!]

I just...I mean...

*long slow bow to HM*

[Heroic Mulatto]

No need. It's what I'm here for.

[kibby]

I really need a Roomba, just for the opportunity to make adorable videos of one of my cats riding it.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

No. To the Roomba and the cats.

[kibby]

=(! Why do you hate my babies?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

If you die, they will eat you without hesitation.

[GILMORE]

That's horrible. The cat is either retarded or on heavy medication. Or retarded by the heavy medication its cruel owner kept giving it to make it sit still on a rhoomba while a live baby duck was Not Being Slaughtered on the kitchen floor.

Seriously, the cats I grew up with would have put a pillow over SharkCats head and let him die before throwing the rhoomba through a window and leaping away to freedom.

oh, and they would have the bloody head of the duck in their mouths at the time.

[Sevo]

You want a vid? Trank that sucker and turn 'em loose.

[Pathogen]

Ahhh... the great circle of life.

[Virginian]

Well, looks like I have a cat now.

[GILMORE]

At least you're getting a little pussy.

[Virginian]

Yeah my girlfriend pulled it out of a tree. It's a kitten, very small, only eats little bites of solid food.

My opinion on cats is changing slowly.

[PapayaSF]

"One of us! One of us!"

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

http://instantrimshot.com/

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Kings tie it up late!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

A dozen friends heading to the Kentucky Derby for a bachelor party discovered a dead body en route to what the Americans call the Run for the Roses.
The group was headed to Churchill Downs Racecourse on Thursday when they stopped off in Winona, Minnesopa, and made the grim discovery, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The groom and his pals had started out in the Twin Cities and stopped off in Winona to pick up a few more partygoers when they found a body in an exterior compartment of the RV they had rented.

[GILMORE]

"IN AUSTRALIA, the term "dead 'un" refers to a horse which was not trying to win its race. But a group of American blokes found a real human dead 'un on their way to the races."

Don't let people tell you Aussie journos aint Classy.

[PapayaSF]

"I think I'll rent my RV to make some money. Should I remove the dead body first? Naw, I'll just tell them to not open that compartment. It'll be fine."

[Lady Bertrum]

Joel McHale at the White House correspondence dinner:

"Chelsea Clinton just announced she's having a baby. Which raises the question, do you give Bill a Cigar when the baby's born?"

Ouch.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

I maintain that the Lewinsky thing becoming a punchline is a humongous asset to Bill Clinton and his legacy since it deflects away any closer examinations into just how fucked up that relationship was.

[Derpetologist]

Click below to get the feminist reaction to Lubricate William's peccadilloes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re72di5phM0

[Lady Bertrum]

Possibly.

FYI, McHale is being incredibly brutal. Really uncomfortable silences and awkward laughing. Very fitting for this bunch of throne sniffing douche bags.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

America gets the WHCD it deserves.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The entire room is long overdue for a Colbert-type roasting. It's not like there isn't plenty of material.

[MJGreen]

McHale is generally pretty ruthless. He seems to give everyone shit. I love the guy.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

How do you beat breaking the sound barrier with your body?
You attempt 24 hours of Nurburgring.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson says the BBC has told him he will be sacked if he makes "one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time".

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"So I can't do the one about the guy's turn in the barrel?"

"No."

"Not the one where the Pole loses a bet on the instant replay?"

"No."

"Or the travelling salesman who spends the night at a dairy farm?"

"No."

"I know, how about the one where..."

"No."

"Or..."

"No."

[GILMORE]

"
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson says the BBC has told him he will be sacked if he makes "one more offensive remark, anywhere, at any time"

This is like Obama claiming he'd ended the war in Iraq by simply fulfilling Bush's timeline for drawdown.

BBC doesn't give a fuck what Clarkson says, and wants desperately to milk the last few seasons out of him before he retires soon. Fuck, they'll probably allow him to do an entire episode where he says nothing but "nigger bitch slut faggot paki retard gooks have little penises" on repeat if it means they can get one more "most money they've ever made-season" out of him. That bullshit is completely to placate the retarded british PC crowd.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Oh no

Unions built the middle class in the last century and, with the right conditions, can do so again this century, a new report by Unifor economist Jordan Brennan has found.

"What we call the 'middle class' today had little precedent in human history until unions helped create it," Brennan writes in The Creation of a Shared Prosperity in Canada: Unions, Corporations and Countervailing Power, published recently by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Brennan calculates that for every percentage change in union?ization (up or down), the average income of Canadian workers goes up or down by close to $500 dollars.

"This is the average 'value' of labour unions to the Canadian workforce," Brennan writes.

By contrast, working people lose ground as corporations become more concentrated and powerful ? boosting income inequality. Correcting that will require stronger unions, and governments to stop attacking union rights.

[Sevo]

""This is the average 'value' of labour unions to the Canadian workforce," Brennan writes."

Brennan has no idea what the term "value" means.

[GILMORE]

"Unions built the middle class in the last century..."

Can we please dispel this bullshit myth? Its wrong in like 4 dimensions.

The "middle class" is by definition the 'self employed' - the industrial 'ownership' class being people who don't work for wealth, and the lower classes being paycheck people who do not own anything and accrue no accumulated value from their labor.

Unions didn't "create" doodly squat. They were part of the evolution of the industrial economy in the US. The 'middle class' had nothing to do with them. The 'middle class' one might argue got quasi-wealthier because industrial companies enabled them to spend money on time saving products/services, but aside from that, the only people 'unions' helped were themselves. See: Detroit, the city 'unions' unbuilt.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

London Hipsters in the 60s

[TheSpiteHouse]

I just recently found out "hippie" was short for "hipster". Then, reading the "hippie" article, I discovered hipsters have been around for around a century.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Is this commercial based on offensive racial stereotypes of an ethnic group that has faced widespread discrimination in America?

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's not a stereotype; that was a documentary.

[Swiss Servator, Gnomes FTW!]

Ask Epi.

[Derpetologist]

Completely inaccurate. Why, those "Italians" are nearly hairless!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Here's something they should have laid on ol' Wolowitz yesterday:
"The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq has said the Church in his country is "ruined" eleven years after the US-led invasion of Iraq.

""1,400 years of Islam could not uproot us from our land and our churches, while the policies of the West [have] scattered us and distributed us all around the world," Patriarch Louis Rapha?l I Sako said."

http://www.zenit.org/en/articl.....d-invasion

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oops, it was pre-recorded, so that story wouldn't have been out yet.

Oh, well.

[Derpetologist]

I will post something relevant to the topic for once:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCWPCN2_ccE

Sure is fascinating how the left did not make a peep about her violent bigotry.

[Sevo]

"You don't get to make a speech".
Or, 'is there a question buried in that rant?'

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Communist symbols to be banned in Georgia

I wonder how this will fly in Augusta?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

It's now May 4, the anniversary of Kent State. It's hard to find coverage of the anniversary except in the Ohio media, and for some reason in Haaretz.

"This Day in Jewish History / 4 shot dead by National Guard in Vietnam war protest

"Three of the dead at Kent State University were Jewish students, two of whom were bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/fe.....m-1.588816

[GILMORE]

"...the other one was a dumb putz who was making a scene, and no one cares about the goy. So, anyway, about the good ones..."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, wait, CNN is doing something too

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/held.....y-1.484412

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

but how are they linking it to flight 370?

[Almanian!]

The Ohio National Guard shot down Flight 370!!11!!

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Which Country's jersey would piss off people the most if I wore it during World Cup?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I would suggest Bosnia and Herzegovina, since it's the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Unless that's too sensitive a topic for an Archduke.

[GILMORE]

rimshot

(for the record, the sound made to punchline a joke is not technically a 'rim shot'. its a 'fill'. But blah blah blah blah)

[Sevo]

Well, I'll keep that in mind. But I can't find instantfill.com

[GILMORE]

Is there one with a picture of Muhammad getting raped by a donkey?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You mean Serbia?

[Sevo]

"Is there one with a picture of Muhammad getting raped by a donkey?"

Kerry's got your number, pal.

[WDATPDIM?!]

What we've learned is that being a racist in private (Sterling) is worse than being a child ass-rapist (Polanski).

[Say What!?]

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

But if a white guy doesn't want his girlfriend to bring black guys to a basketball game, it's front page news.

[TheSpiteHouse]

To be fair, Sterling was already famous, and this woman is unlistenable.

[Mike M.]

I'm amazed that Nick Gillespie somehow missed Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's racist tirade on talk radio the other day. He rarely misses out on one of these opportunities.

[RishJoMo]

Sometimes man you jsut have to roll with it.

http://www.myAnon.tk

[Spio]

Oh man... Nick Gillespie made me giggle with the "They can go F*** themselves" line that came out of the blue. I never get tired of Nick and his awesome reporting skills. Gets the point right away then proceeds to drop bombs. Love.