A.M. Links: U.S. Government Asks for Private Information More Than Once Per Minute, EPA Office Accuses EPA Office of Blocking Investigations, Michael Jordan Considered Himself a Racist in His Youth

• 

  Wikipedia

  The U.S. government is reportedly pinging Verizon and AT&T more than once per minute in search of private customer information.

• The House is expected to take two votes related to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) this week; it will vote today on whether to hold Lois Lerner in contempt and tomorrow on a resolution urging Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS.
• The Office of the Inspector General at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accusing the agency's Office of Homeland Security of illegally blocking its investigations.
• The New Jersey Board of Pensions rejected an application by a Camden police officer who staged a shooting with his wife. One member of the board wondered why no charges more seriously than "disorderly conduct" were brought against the officer for the apparent fraud.
• In a recently released biography, Michael Jordan reveals that he considered himself a racist against white people in his youth.
• Vietnam claims a vessel from China intentionally rammed two of its own in a disputed region of the South China Sea. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. government is reportedly pinging Verizon and AT&T more than once per minute in search of private customer information.

At least buy them dinner first, Obama.

[Andrew S.]

If I had an optimist side I'd say that was the first example of true government efficiency I've ever seen.

[Doctor Whom]

I dunno. Parking enforcement in big cities shows that government can be stunningly efficient, given the right motivation.

[Bee Tagger]

Where denial of service attack meets booty call.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Aaaaannd.

Good-bye.

Gotta go buy paint.

[Doctor Whom]

Say hello and wave goodbye.

[Rich]

Hi & bye, Rufus.

Shows where *your* priorities are at!

[Lord Humungus]

huffing?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Of course. If you were stuck in Canadia, wouldn't you seek chemical escape at all times?

[Hyperion]

Only in September - July. In August I would equip my nuclear powered mosquito shield and attempt to go outside.

[sarcasmic]

Disturbing video footage shows two police officers viciously beat a man, 20, following a routine traffic stop
Kyle Howell from Westbury, New York, was pulled over on April 25 during a routine traffic stop
He suffered a broken nose, bone fractures near both eyes and facial nerve damage as a result of the beating he endured at the hands of two cops
Howell was charged with assaulting the officers, tampering with physical evidence and resisting arrest
His beating was captured on security camera footage and now he plans to sue the county

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-stop.html
Will anything else happen?

[UnCivilServant]

Will anything else happen

A taxpayer funded out of court settlement, maybe.

[Andrew S.]

You know better than to ask that question.

[Ted S.]

Paid vacations?

[Andrew S.]

Alternative post after actually reading the article:

Both officers are on modified duty where they don't have contact with the public and can't earn overtime pending the outcome of the internal affairs probe, Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said.

No way to use their power over the public? And NO OVERTIME? Cripes. Don't you think they've been punished enough?

[Mock-star]

Im glad that beatings are considered a part of routine traffic stops now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Vietnam claims a vessel from China intentionally rammed two of its own in a disputed region of the South China Sea.

You know who else used to attack the Vietnamese?

[UnCivilServant]

Actually, China has been their historical antagonist for centuries. The flirtation with fighting Japan and the West was a relatively minor thing.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

France?

[Rich]

The Cambodians?

[Bardas Phocas]

was it - was it in the Gulf of Tonkin?

[Tim]

Kaiju?

[Mike Laursen]

The other Vietnamese?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Chuck Norris?

[sarcasmic]

FBI agent arrested in Pakistan after he was stopped trying to to carry ammunition onto plane
The FBI Miami Field Office agent is being held on anti-terrorism charges
He tried to check in with 15 bullets and a magazine for a 9mm pistol in his bag at a Karachi airport on Monday
US officials say it was an accident
The agent appeared in court Tuesday and will be detained until at least Saturday as authorities investigate
The operative is in Pakistan to train police officers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....plane.html
Haaaaaaa ha ha ha ha! Asshole.

[Tim]

There's a real danger he might be treated like an ordinary person. I expect Obama to intervene.

[Rich]

US officials said the agent made a mistake and didn't realize he was carrying ammunition in his bag.

The excuse of *every* potential terrorist.

[hamilton]

Fifteen bullets? Obviously a terrorist.

[UnCivilServant]

After all, who needs more than seven

/mendacious NY pol

[UnCivilServant]

The Office of the Inspector General at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accusing the agency's Office of Homeland Security of illegally blocking its investigations.

It's called fiefdom protection Eepers, as a bureaucrat, you should know all about it. You're on their turf now.

[sarcasmic]

'I wish we'd killed more!': U.S. white supremacist couple kiss and grin as they're sentenced to life for killing sex offender and his wife

Jeremy and Christine Moody admitted to killing Marvin and Gretchen Parker in July 2013 and the Moodys were sentenced today

The Moodys said that they targeted Marvin Parker, 59, because he was a registered sex offender and his wife, 51, was 'a casualty of war'

'Killing that pedophile was the best day of my life,' Christine said as she left

'See you perverts later,' Jeremy shouted at victim's family as he walked out

Told police that they had a second sex offender target in mind

Are self-proclaimed skinheads and proud members of a local white supremacist group in South Carolina

Sheriff said that Jeremy Moody shot both victims and Christine Moody slit the wife's throat

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-wife.html
Ah, true love. So heart warming.

[db]

I can.see why that's reported in a UK paper. That has to be particularly scary for them over there.

[Auric Demonocles]

The white supremacist part seems pretty independent from the strong antipedophile stance.

[tarran]

Buried in the article:
1) He's got schizophrenia
2) She's got Borderline Personality Disorder *and* Antisocial Personality Disorder - meaning that she is prone to impulsively doing very destructive things.

The white-supremacism is the tail, not the dog.

[sarcasmic]

Pit bull?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

PIT BULL!!!!!!!

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM

/cop

[DontShootMe]

You left off.

Missed!

Crap, I'm out

Load spare magazine

BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM

Or, for the geeks out there

Do While Dog.Status != "Dead"
gun.Fire(true);
End While

[UnCivilServant]

You left out

Catch ammoDepletedException{
gun.reload();
return
}

[FreeToFear]

Did you just return out of a catch block? No wonder the NYPD is so screwed up

[Rasilio]

Timber

[gaijin]

Buried in the article:
1) He's got schizophrenia
2) She's got Borderline Personality Disorder *and* Antisocial Personality Disorder - meaning that she is prone to impulsively doing very destructive things.

What would Margaret Sanger have done (WWMSHD)?

[Rufus J. Fisk]

I dated a borderline broad in the past....currently, like an idiot, dealing with one on and off as we speak.

[tarran]

Stay away!!!!

Seriously! Unless they recognize that they have a problem and need help fixing it, the BPD sufferer will disrupt the lives of anyone who is vulnerable to their instability.

[SugarFree]

My borderline girl poisoned me with an overdose of her antidepressants. Be careful, dude.

[invisible furry hand]

I've never dated anyone with BPD but I have watched The Sopranos multiple times, especially any scene with Livia, which is probably the next best thing

[Andrew S.]

True or False: The Undertaker is the only person in this country with a neck tattoo that is currently not incarcerated.

[UnCivilServant]

False, I have co-workers with ink there.

[Hyperion]

False.

Apparently you have never been to Ocean City, MD. There is no one living there who doesn't have a neck tattoo.

[Suthenboy]

Yes.

[Elspeth Flashman]

I suddenly have this urge to get covered in ink. (I have zero tattoos). The husband says it's a desire to rebel from what I've become (a dependable-responsible-etc type).

[Lord Humungus]

Race Is Real. What Does that Mean for Society?

Your eyes aren't fooling you, and those sociology and cultural-anthropology professors you had in college were full of it. Human races exist.

Receive news alerts
Robert VerBruggen RealClearScience
Human evolution genetics
[+] More

Wade has been gently broaching this subject for a long time, regularly reporting new genetic findings on the pages of the Times and even including a chapter on race in his terrific 2006 book Before the Dawn. But in his new work, A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, he dives in head-first. He covers everything, from the hard facts that establish the biological reality of race to highly speculative theories about how, exactly, racial groups might differ from each other genetically.

It's an important book. It should demolish the idea that race is nothing whatsoever but a "social construct" and jumpstart a conversation about human history.

[robc]

As one of the social construct people, i need more than highly spevulative theories. Give me a genetic test as good as the one gor sex. Yes, some fail the xx vs xy test, but xxy and etc and outliers. The racial test can have some tiny number of outliers too.

[BardMetal]

Why do you need a test? Just use your eyes. It's not a coincidence that different races look different, that is caused by genetics.

If I put an Irishman next to an Japanese man, I think you would have no problem telling who was who.

[Brett L]

Really? Are we counting the Ainu ? No one disputes that isolated populations tend to look like each other, but you'll notice that XY can't naturally breed with XY humans and XX humans can't naturally breed with XX humans. THAT's a difference worth making distinction over.

[BardMetal]

You do realize that there are a number of different species in the animal world that can breed together, and yet we still consider them different species.

Whether you think the differences are worth making a distinction over is your opinion, it's not a fact.

[mr simple]

But the offspring of the interspecies mating cannot further breed. That is a notable difference.

Obviously race exists, I just don't get why it's a big deal. Unless we're talking pure genomic theory. That is interesting.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

That's more what he's talking about.

[kinnath]

It's not a coincidence that different eye colors look different, that is caused by genetics.

[gaijin]

It's not a coincidence that different eye colors look different, that is caused by genetics.

trying to understand the nuamce of terminology here...isn't vitamin 'D' production a pretty non-controversial evolutionary difference attributed to genetic differences in races (i.e., darker skin better at absorbing sunlight vs. lighter skin more efficient at producing vit D from limited sunlight)? Is it the social construct that would turn this into some kind of 'racial' issue?

[BardMetal]

Yep, and it purely random too, thats why there are so many blue eyed Japanese people, and ginger Indians.

I'm sorry if the notion of race insults so many modern PC sensitivities, but lot's not deny something that is plainly obvious.

[kbolino]

What is plainly obvious is that people can be grouped by their appearance. What's not plainly obvious is why that matters.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

robc, the WSJ review is quite good and possibly more informative.

A computer given a random sampling of bits of DNA that are known to vary among humans?from among the millions of them?will cluster them into groups that correspond to the self-identified race or ethnicity of the subjects. This is not because the software assigns the computer that objective but because those are the clusters that provide the best statistical fit. If the subjects' ancestors came from all over the inhabited world, the clusters that first emerge will identify the five major races: Asians, Caucasians, sub-Saharan Africans, Native Americans and the original inhabitants of Australia and Papua New Guinea. If the subjects all come from European ancestry, the clusters will instead correspond to Italians, Germans, French and the rest of Europe's many ethnicities. Mr. Lewontin was not only wrong but spectacularly wrong. It appears that the most natural of all ways to classify humans genetically is by the racial and ethnic groups that humans have identified from time out of mind.

[Azathoth!!]

I've always loved how creationists hide behind the 'social construct' concept.

What's even better is that oftentimes they're hiding from themselves, as with noted moron Stephen J. Gould--a fierce advocate of evolution--except with humans.

Most don't even realize that they're doing it.

Races can be accurately distinguished from skeletal remains, please, tell me what was 'socially constructed' onto the bones.

[BardMetal]

Quick burn the heretic. People aren't allowed to believe that anymore.

[Hyperion]

It should demolish the idea that race is nothing whatsoever but a "social construct"

Well, who the fuck believes that race and gender are only social constructs, outside of looney tune professors at liberal universities and their mentally disturbed minions? No one, that's who.

[Hyperion]

And let me say, that I, for one, am very happy that the genders are different, and the races too.

What the fuck kind of boring different shades of grey world do these wackos want to create?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

+1 Lathe of Heaven

[Suthenboy]

Why, a world of equality, of course.

[Hyperion]

Right. They are always screeching about diversity, while at the same time trying to eliminate it. Makes sense, if you're a moron.

[Rasilio]

Yeah but it sucks for those oaks who get too lofty and face the axe for it

[Hyperion]

The maples are racists!

[Suthenboy]

As humans spread out around the globe they clearly adapted to the local environments they found themselves in.

(Interesting recently discovered example: a tribe in the amazon, living probably thousands of years under heavy jungle canopy who cannot tolerate sunlight)

It is very obvious that there are different strains of human. Since people are less isolated now than in the past we seem to be merging back to a more homogenous population, but there are still plenty of examples of the stocks that we come from.

After taking note of that, it is also true that no group ever diverged enough to be unable to breed with any members of any of the other groups, so we are left nitpicking over the definition of the words 'race' and 'species'.

Because of people's tribalistic nature it is extremely common to use race as a measure of humanness or a measure of value. It is completely unrelated to either of those.

This makes it nearly impossible to have a meaningful conversation on the subject.

[Hyperion]

After taking note of that, it is also true that no group ever diverged enough to be unable to breed with any members of any of the other groups, so we are left nitpicking over the definition of the words 'race' and 'species'.

Apparently, because all of the other species of more intelligent bipedal monkeys were all killed off by us evil Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals. And the Neanderthals, we just eventually bred them out of existence. So of course, all of the different races of Homo Sapiens can interbreed, because we're the same species.

[Suthenboy]

Interesting that you should mention that. In a discussion the other day I suggested that the fantasy genre of stories with elves and dwarfs and goblins and trolls etc is inspired by cultural memory from a time when there really were lots of different humanoids.

Note: this genre is more common in, but not exclusive to, european cultures. Europe most likely had the most number of different humanoids in contact with each other recently.

[Hyperion]

I can believe in this, because I know some real life trolls, lol.

But I would think the interbreeding of humanoids wouldn't be too difficult to believe.

I mean look at canines. You can barely recognize some of them as being the same species, and yet they can all interbreed. Which leads to suck heinous atrocities as a labradoodle.

[Suthenboy]

The differences are not enough to constitute speciation, but more than skin deep.

A white guy I know is married to a black woman. She ran out of her blood pressure meds and so borrowed some of his ( a different med for the same condition) until she could get more of her own. She had a bad reaction.

They went to her doc and told him what they had done. He looked at the meds and said "Oh. No wonder. Black people can't take this one."

Any docs here to confirm or elaborate on this?

[mr simple]

That medicine is racist!

[Suthenboy]

Apparently so.

[mr simple]

How is the idea that different groups of people have genetic variances novel and why does it have to mean anything for society? I guess if you're some collectivist who thinks we need public policy to cover everything it does. See VerBruggen's last third of the article where he talks about the book not being fit for the masses because they surely can't handle it and laments that it might interfere with his favorite social policies.

[sarcasmic]

German exchange student shot dead by homeowner was 'garage hopping after learning it from local kids'
Markus Kaarma, 29, has been charged with deliberate homicide
Diren Dede, 17, trespassed on Kaarma's Montana home on April 27
Kaarma shot him, claiming his house had been burgled several times
Kaarma's lawyer says Dede and a friend had broken into the garages of several homes before the incident
Authorities are investigating whether Kaarma was drunk or on drugs when he shot Dede

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-kids.html
Wait a minute. So if someone breaks into your home, and you've had a few drinks or smoked a bowl, you're not allowed to defend yourself?

[Ted S.]

You're never allowed to defend yourself.

[Rich]

Hey, you're not allowed to drive a car, are you?

[Tim]

You're allowed to file a report after it's all over and then the police throw it away.

[gaijin]

So if someone breaks into your home, and you've had a few drinks or smoked a bowl, you're not allowed to defend yourself?

depends on whether you are good Kaarma or bad Kaarma

/ducks, runs

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

*flings coffee mug at fleeing gaijin*

[Warty]

This guy waited for the dumbass kid to break in and shot him when he did. A premeditated ambush of a burglar is not quite the same thing as self-defense.

[sarcasmic]

I didn't catch that part.

[Idle Hands]

My coach used to say that good offense is the best defense, isn't that applicable here?

[Idle Hands]

My coach used to say that good offense is the best defense, isn't that applicable here?

[Hyperion]

You can, but whatever happens is your fault, and you are liable, because you were impaired.

/MADD

[mr simple]

Is it common for police to search your house and test you for intoxicants after your home was broken in to? Granted, they actually got a warrant for these things this time, but what the hell will it prove? There's no way to know his actual state at the time of the incident.

[sarcasmic]

A while back my apartment was broken into, so I stupidly called the cops. First thing they did was run me for warrants, then they repeatedly asked for consent to search for drugs. I refused, so they left.

[Lord Humungus]

Everything you need to know about cyberterrorism in one chart

[sarcasmic]

That's GOT to hurt! Video of girl clobbering rival over head with a SHOVEL takes the internet by storm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....HOVEL.html
Can you say "white trash?" I knew you could.

[Idle Hands]

her job is "smoking weed" lol.

[sarcasmic]

Her parents must be proud.

[mr simple]

What is it called when they have the tramp stamp on the front?

This one is destined for greatness.

[Rasilio]

A Slut Gut?

[sarcasmic]

Lucy Mecklenburgh shows off her svelte physique in form-fitting ensemble as she powers through her grueling BootyCamp workout

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....rkout.html
Who? Anyway, while I wouldn't call her svelte, I wouldn't kick her out of bed either.

[Ted S.]

Ahem. Don't talk about Lucy on H&R.

[Hyperion]

What's happened to you, dude? You finally realized that a woman can have more than 2% body fat and some boobs? Good for you, you're coming around, (;

[sarcasmic]

I still prefer speed over comfort.

[sarcasmic]

Turning the red planet GREEN: Nasa plans to create a greenhouse garden on Mars by 2021
Nasa has announced plans to send flower seeds on its next Mars rover
Seeds will be contained in a greenhouse to avoid contaminating planet
In 15 days after landing on the surface, the plants are expected to thrive
If successful, mission could pave the way for humans colonising Mars

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....-2021.html
They plan a lot of things.

[UnCivilServant]

were they also planning on sending the water and fertilizer? I wasn't aware that the martian soil had the nitrates that earthy plants tend to feed on. And about the O2...

[Auric Demonocles]

Plants don't need O2.

[UnCivilServant]

But they MAKE it. The buildup causes them problems.

[Ted S.]

There's not that much CO2 in the Martian atmosphere for the plants to use.

[UnCivilServant]

So we also need to send CO2 and a O2 scrubber (say a plant eating animal...) Why don't we just start full scale colonization then?

[Drake]

Plants do need some O2, they just produce it during photosynthesis.

[SugarFree]

They are just sending Brawndo.

[Hyperion]

Gatorade.

[mr simple]

It's got what plants crave!

[Suthenboy]

Holy shit SugarFree, I almost pissed myself.

[Hyperion]

Yes, they are sending the water and nutrients, I read this yesterday.

[Andrew S.]

Quaid... start the reactor...

[UnCivilServant]

All that steam should have flash-fried the poor people hit by it. I don't know what he was thinking unless it was "Purge the mutant"

[Colonel Slanders]

Don't you actually mean "Burn the Heretic. Kill the Mutant. Purge the Unclean ..."?

[UnCivilServant]

Well, they were short on heretics to burn...

[UnCivilServant]

oh, and

+40K

[Jerryskids]

All that steam should have flash-fried the poor people hit by it.

But Mars had no atmosphere to speak of - the boiling point of water at 0 psi is well below the freezing point of water at 14.7 psi. The explosion of steam is only an explosion relative to the (non-)atmospheric pressure of Mars - which I think would mean there's no way the pressure of an explosion on Mars would have been enough to break the windows of the pressurized biosphere. Maybe an engineer here could opine on the dampening effect on an explosion several million cubic miles of vaccuum has.

[waffles]

I thought the whole point of terraforming was to contaminate the planet. Is the worry that some future rover will find life from Earth on Mars?

[UnCivilServant]

What they don't want is the headline "NASA fails to grow flowers on Mars" when they report stumbling on dead plants from their previous rover.

[BardMetal]

Well I doubt anyone wants to spend billions of dollars studying life on Mars, and bring back to Earth, only to discover it's just some E. Coli bacteria from the NASA scientist forgot to wash his hands.

[Bee Tagger]

By 2025, I hope to see Martians driving cars fueled by corn or this whole red to green movement is a failure.

[db]

I dub theme Sir Phobos: Knight of Mars, Beater of Ass.

[BardMetal]

+ 1 Martian law

[ElevenOnly]

Under Martian law, Doctors and other wizards are forbidden

[Tim]

They should grow hemp. You know, to engage the hippies in humanity's greatest adventure.

[Suthenboy]

I just don't see how anything could go wrong with this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...it will vote today on whether to hold Lois Lerner in contempt and tomorrow on a resolution urging Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS.

I wonder which way those votes will go for each party.

[db]

Surely you're not suggesting that a Congressional investigation into possible felonious action by a Federal agency could be politicized?

[Pro Libertate]

There was a time when politicians would distance themselves from obvious wrongdoing. Now they embrace it.

[db]

It is a corollary to the principle that once you lie about.something, you.must continue to lie about it forever, and then the lie becomes too large to sustain. Once a politician benefits from criminality, he must continue to attempt to cover up the criminality forever, until the burden becomes impossible to bear.

[Pro Libertate]

If only voters and private entities like the media would reject those who lie to them, rip them off, or otherwise violate their rights, we might have a much different situation than we do today. The government is far too powerful anymore to just ignore.

[db]

The frog.is at a high simmer.

[Pro Libertate]

Best analogy I ever learned in Sunday School, even if frogs don't really do that.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Here is a cool graphic showing the most popular girls' names by state since 1960. I don't know what it means, but it is kind of fascinating.

[Auric Demonocles]

It's weird how big/sudden the waves of names are.

Also, this would explain why I dated so many Jess/Jessie/Jessicas.

[db]

Also explains why I used to have a strange attraction to girls named Jennifer. It wasn't the name, just that there were a lot of them.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

When I was in college circa 1989-1991, there were six different Jens/Jennifers in my social circle. We had to refer to them as "Goth Jen", "Cheer Jen", etc.

We also had two Matt Schaffers. One was "Big Matt" and the other "Little Matt". Little Matt hated the moniker so we changed it to "Not Matt".

[Brett L]

Frat Matt, Hippie Matt, Drunk Matt, Smart Matt... Yeah. For girls it was Sara(h) and Katy/ie.

[mr simple]

I dated a string of about 7 Kat(y)ies in a row. Glad I moved on.

[Rasilio]

My wife and I both have extremely common names, Steven and Christina.

We made it a point to give our kids unique but not wierd names

Jackson
Brynn
Camden (don't blame me she's an Orioles fan, she wanted to name our daughter Ripken instead of Brynn)
and Gillian

[db]

Well, if you are named respectively as you write.above, I wouldn't necessarily call your.names common.

[KDN]

Judging by this I should have known/dated a shitload of Jen's and Jessicas. Instead, it's all Christine/a's and Shannons.

My wife seems to know 15 girls named Ashley or some variant, so that part checks out.

[Lord Humungus]

wait-- wut?

AOL Beats on Revenue, Misses on Earnings

As always, almost all of AOL's profits come from its sales of dial-up Internet access and other money generated by its "membership" business, which threw off $138 million in adjusted operating income. But AOL's in-house publishing business also generated a small operating profit of $1.8 million. That's the first time AOL has seen that in four years.

[Andrew S.]

There's a surprising number of old people who don't give up their old dialup.

[Rich]

"I have all the time in the world ...."

[Brett L]

The last time I saw my grandfather alive, in 2008 at their 60th wedding anniversary, he was asking for some help with his AOL account. May have been the last time I heard a modem handshake.

[Andrew S.]

Sometimes I wish, just for a little while, I could rewind the clock back to 1988 or so and go onto some local BBSes with my Hayes external 2400 baud modem.

[gaijin]

Hayes external 2400 baud modem.

haha! my first was a 1200. I still remember upgrading to the US Robotics 56K modem...the fastest damn consumer connection on the planet...that $125 was so worth it...for about 6 months.

[Lord Humungus]

I started with a Commodore 64 and a 300 baud modem. Moving up to 1200 was like lightning in a bottle.

[Gbob]

I actually didn't like my 1200 baud since the text would display faster than I could read it. On the other hand, it cut hours off trying to download a pirated game.

[Lord Humungus]

That's how I remember 300 baud too - "reading speed".

[Pro Libertate]

Acoustic couplers, bitches.

[Lord Humungus]

I so wanted an acoustic coupler with a *ha* "portable" C-64. Just so I could phone phreak from a car.

[Lord Humungus]

my parents live in the sticks - have satellite for their 'net connection - but still use AOL. It's a cumbersome interface but they're used to it.

[Tim]

I use it, had dial up until, not long ago. I live way out-the libertarian dream.

[Rasilio]

There are also a lot of people who live in rural enough areas where they still don't have access to DSL or cable modems and so the only fast access option is satellite which still requires a dialup line

[Jerryskids]

There's a surprising number of old people who don't give up their old dialup realize their bank account is still being auto-drafted for an AOL account they haven't used in 12 years.

I suspect that if AOL has $138 million in income, it means it has about 1.15 million subscribers who don't realize they are still subscribers.

[sarcasmic]

Driver, 24, shot dead in row over parking space as his mother opens fire at son's killer
Darrell Lynch, 24, died from his injuries after being shot in the leg
His 55-year-old mother is questioned by police after firing back
Gunmen sped away in a car and has not yet been caught

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

[Palin's Buttplug]

Happy Huckabee Gets Mad

Gone is the sunny, compassionate candidate of 2008. In the run-up to 2016, the former Arkansas governor is downright angry. He's learned his lesson from his last campaign, ex-aides say.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....s-mad.html

The Huckster has undergone a makeover for 2016.

[Lord Peter Wimsey]

Don't! You're going to upset all the Huckabee fans on this site...

Oh, wait. There are none. Never mind.

[Lord Humungus]

SDOT tweet angers some motorists, prompts apology

The Seattle Department of Transportation has apologized for a tweet that angered some drivers.

The tweet read, "You get a scumbag hat, you get a scumbag hat, everyone gets a scumbag hat! Haha, I'm mean #sorry"

The person running the department's twitter account put a hat on top of drivers who were backed-up and on the West Seattle Bridge Monday morning. The hat references an internet meme known as Scumbag Steve. It's considered an insult and infers that you're a low-life.

[db]

How can Twitter put a hat on.someone? Do they have drones now to deliver hats? I'm confused.

[Rhywun]

That whole thing might as well be in another language to me.

[Fist of Etiquette]

One member of the board wondered why no charges more seriously than "disorderly conduct" were brought against the officer for the apparent fraud.

Apparently missed the part where he was an upper tier participant of the criminal justice system.

[sarcasmic]

Ancient California redwoods decimated by drug-addicted poachers who are hacking out chunks of trees to sell for furniture
The poachers are after giant gnarled knots on the tree called burls where the interesting grain fetches more money
Concerned park rangers say the giant scars leaves the 1,000-year-old organism vulnerable to fire and disease
California has shut down long stretches of state park during the night, when the poachers tend to strike
The beautiful redwood burl wood can be sold to make anything from pricy furniture to souvenirs
The wood winds up in the homes of collectors worldwide

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-wood.html
It's always the drugs' fault.

[waffles]

Much like copper thieves but without the bonus of sudden electrocution.

[Ted S.]

Well, the trees could fall on them.

[gaijin]

They need to fell all these trees so that the poachers canbe stopped.

[db]

If park rangers lie in wait near the trees and shoot poachers at night, is that murder?

[UnCivilServant]

Yes. Park rangers should not be shooting people over trees.

[db]

If I owned a stand of Giant Redwoods and forest poachers came in under cover of darkness with saws to mutilate and steal my property, would I be justified in using force to stop them?

[UnCivilServant]

Are you a government known for staggering arrogance and incompetence in even the basics?

Would you accept merely scaring them off as a suitable outcome?

Did you obtain the land honestly, or simply claim it through superior force?

[db]

I am not attempting.to.justify any action on the.part of the state, but you made a general statement that rangers should not shoot people over trees. I attempted to step back from that and ask if property (be it trees or.gold or whatever) can be legitimately protected by force. It.goes.to the argument about the dude.who lay in wait for kids to break.into his.house.and then shot them. Absent his.baiting them and apparent premeditated.intent to use violence, would he have been justified?

[R C Dean]

Db: bunch of guys with chainsaws trespassing and stealing your stuff? Fire away.

[The Late P Brooks]

In a recently released biography, Michael Jordan reveals that he considered himself a racist against white people in his youth.

Okay.

[gaijin]

that's just one of the acceptable forms of racism. Especially when it is admitted using the past tense.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I assume Michael Jordan is still racist against white people. So fucking what? As a white guy myself, I could give two shits about what MJ thinks of white people.

[John]

Me either. But I would give anything for some disgruntled mistress to release a tape of Jordan talking about how he hates white people. Watching the NBA and the various idiot hacks in the sports media explain how that is different than Sterling would be priceless.

[BardMetal]

The explanation would be some bullshit about how we don't understand the black culture, and how it was a different time back then, and black people went through a lot, blah blah blah.

[John]

It would be that and it would be pathetic and hilarious.

[gaijin]

I could give two shits about what MJ thinks of white people anything.

better?

[Bee Tagger]

it will vote today on whether to hold Lois Lerner in contempt and tomorrow on a resolution urging Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS.

That's a lot of meaningless gesturing for one day.

[Jordan]

The EPA has an Office of Homeland Security? We are so fucked.

[gaijin]

Don;t all these regulatory agencies have a paramilitary force now...to protect our regulations from terrorists?

[db]

It's like Starbucks. There's a DHS office in the bathroom of the DHS office.inside the EPA office.

OSHA raided it because of inadequate safety protection--they need to provide.additional training to.prevent accidental toilet drowning when their employees get a drink.

[waffles]

Vietnam claims a vessel from China intentionally rammed two of its own in a disputed region of the South China Sea.

Well it's not called the South Vietnam Sea.

[Brett L]

The libs on my FB are such bigots. They assume that any man who likes to dress as a woman MUST be a hypocrite if he doesn't favor state-sanctioned gay marriage.

[Shirley Knott]

They've forgotten Jedgar already?

[Andrew S.]

Jedgar? Is that the US answer to Jedward?

[Brett L]

Hoover, J. Edgar

[Ted S.]

The libs on my FB are such bigots.

Fixed it for you.

[Brett L]

Now, now, Ted. Epi is always chiding us for collectivizing. I'm only making observations on the ones I can see.

[Ted S.]

Epi's a freak.

How about:

99.99999999999999999% of liberals are such bigots. Is that better? 😉

[Brett L]

"Sir, it is this commenter's belief that the senior commenters will only beat him harder if he changes his mind!"

[Rhywun]

Maybe he favored gay marriage before his "conversion". FTA it sounds like he got religion.

[Rich]

The House ... will vote ... tomorrow on a resolution urging Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the IRS.

Be sure to ask him nicely. 8-(

[Lord Humungus]

Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank

It's a small number that's part of a much larger picture: The Internal Revenue Service collected $5.7 billion in 2011 from penalties, meaning that Americans took out about $57 billion from retirement funds before they were supposed to.

The median size of a 401(k) is $24,400 as of March 31, with people older than 55 having $65,300, according to Fidelity Investments. Those funds can disappear quickly in retirement, and the early withdrawals indicate that the coming retirement crisis could be even more acute than expected.

$65k?

[Don Mynack]

I guess rich people offset my $2k.

[gaijin]

Part of me says that converting 401K to IRA and paying the tax now may be a smart move (and then withdrawing penalty free at 55). At some point, I expect the feds to levy a wealth tax on anyone who has a tax advantaged retirement account...it's the only way someone dotGov can pay for the retirment costs of someone with a $65K retirement nest egg.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Converting to a Roth you mean?

[gaijin]

Converting to a Roth you mean?

yes. and only having to wait 5 years or age 55 after the conversion I believe.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

If you plan well enough, one could easily defer tax in a regular IRA or 401k, then in their first few years of retirement, live off of other savings while converting your taxable retirement into nontaxable.

[waffles]

This is of course assuming there are no rule changes.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Right, which is why I think tax deferred is generally better.

Plus, what people always leave out of the Roth vs. Regular debate is state savings. If you do regular while living in NY but then retire to Florida, NY never gets a bite out of the money you socked away in retirement.

[Auric Demonocles]

Part of that is probably that many people don't know where they're going to retire to in 30 years.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Right, but part of that too is we do not know what Federal and State law will be in 30 years. Maybe my state will abolish their income tax by then? (ha!, but still possible)

[UnCivilServant]

Are they counting accounts that are not under the section 401 laws? I think mine is a 450-something.

[Auric Demonocles]

The median size of a 401(k) is $24,400 as of March 31

What the fuck? Are they counting people with $0 or something? Mine was bigger than that when I was 24.

[UnCivilServant]

I only have $18K... 🙁

[Certified Public Asskicker]

People don't save, spend more than they earn, rely on their house that they refinanced 20 times as their main investment, and I am supposed to feel bad when they make it to 65 with only 65k in their retirement account?

[Brett L]

Ugh. Don't even talk to me about refinancing. My mortgage company sent me a promo the other day, "Lower your rate 0.375%, lower your payment $180/month! Total interest saved: $--."

Oooh. I could lower my payment by $180/month, extend the life of my loan 4.5 years and give them even more money than I'm already projected to! Why not?! The only good thing is they estimate me at 86% LTV, so after putting down 10% and living here for 8 years (4.5 on a 15 year note), I'm only a year away from getting rid of my PMI payment!

[Rasilio]

You should actually probably take the refi but then continue making the same payments. In the long run that would save you quite a bit of money

[Brett L]

I checked. Even without re-fi costs, it would still take me an extra year to pay off the loan.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Indeed - I am cramming 12% of my pay in my 401(k).

[Lord Humungus]

For those who like the baseball aspect of politics:

10 Maps That Explain the 2014 Midterms

What the Democrats wouldn't give to swap this year's Senate map for the one coming up in 2016. This year's Senate class, filled with Democratic incumbents in hostile territory, would be difficult to defend any year?it's especially so when there's an unpopular Democratic president in the White House. But the next Senate map, coming in 2016, is filled with Democratic targets and Republican vulnerabilities. Simply switch them?leaving all else the same?and the 2014 midterm takes on a completely different character.

That's obviously impossible, but it does get at an essential truth of American politics: For all the plaudits heaped on the winners and derision dumped on the losers after an election, structural factors controlled by neither side dictate the results to a significant degree. Big gains one year lead to big losses another; races won in certain environments would be defeats in others. Due to the mix of seats up for election this year, just 2 million voters across six states?0.6 percent of the U.S. population?could end up deciding the fate of the Senate.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, that's bullshit.

The phant's underperformed in the 2010 Senate races - meaning that 2016 will be another tough year for donk senators.

[John]

Yes. The article assumes that just because a Dem won in 2010 it is an easy state for a Dem. The fact that they are already saying "16 will be different" in May tells you how bad things are looking for November.

[VG Zaytsev]

Yeah, that's bullshit.

The phant's underperformed in the 2010 Senate races - meaning that 2016 will be another tough year for donk senators.

[The Late P Brooks]

Since I wasn't on the Indepents thread last nihjt, here's a contribution for krystal Ball's library:

The Little Red Hen- a harrowing tale of resource theft, wealth inequality, and the oppression of the deserving poor by wealthy one per centers.

[Andrew S.]

What were her parents thinking when they named her Krystal Ball, anyways? Did they want her to be a porn star or something?

[mr simple]

Seriously, I laugh every time i read it.

[Rich]

Every Country Will Have Armed Drones Within Ten Years

So, if any of you guys are thinking of getting married, do it *soon*.

[Brett L]

Are they reporting based on General Dynamics' sales projections?

[db]

I heard Fiat is buying a drone manufacturer...

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Guns on campus! Catholic high school students shoot muskets!

(gunpowder but not bullets, alas)

http://www.oregonlive.com/beav....._fire.html

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Karina Jaroch carefully adds gun powder to her musket after learning how to do it safely."

http://photos.oregonlive.com/b.....ent_3.html

Schoolgirls fire their muskets -

http://photos.oregonlive.com/b.....ent_2.html

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

This is the third time you have posted these, yes? I think we got it.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Just following the example of certain Reason staffers.

[Auric Demonocles]

Rearming the Faith Militant is not going to end well.

[Rasilio]

Hey when I was in High School I was on the ROTC Drill team and we had M1 Garands and a couple of 03 Springfields.

Course they were just for Show and completely demilitarized having had their barrels and chambers filled in with lead

[Lord Humungus]

Obama's top advisers set to spill insider details

Clinton and Geithner's books will be released just four months after former Defense Secretary Robert Gates' memoir landed like a sucker punch in the West Wing. Gates gave political advisers in the White House virtually no warning ? and no advance copy ? of his headline-generating memoir, which included sharp criticisms of Obama's decision-making.

However, Obama aides do not appear to be girding for a repeat of their experience with Gates' book as they await the release of Geithner and Clinton's memoirs.

While Geithner has not provided the White House with advance copies of his book, "Stress Test," the text has been reviewed by lawyers at Treasury and the Federal Reserve. And drafts of Clinton's book, "Hard Choices," have been circulating for months among a small number of officials in Obama's National Security Council.

[Jordan]

I'm sure that Geithner is a lying, sycophantic piece of shit. They have nothing to worry about from him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

"True progressives" hated Geithner with a passion for not nationalizing banks and for not forcing banks to forgive mortgage principles. The fact is that his public "Stress Tests" (as the book is titled) restored faith in bank balance sheets and kickstarted this great bull market.

I know the wingnuttery hates him but he was instrumental in saving the economy back in early 2009.

[Jordan]

Geithner is an economic illiterate clown who just reinflated the bubble and bailed out his cronies. A typical central banker.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Geithner was never a central banker, numbnuts. He was Treasury Secretary.

[Jordan]

I'm aware of that. It's not as if the Fed and Treasury don't collude. They're all cut from the same cloth.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

Geithner was never a central banker, numbnuts.

That's not what Jordan meant, Caca. He means he's bought and sold to the concept of central banking.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The NY Fed is not "central" either.

[Jordan]

And the Fed doesn't influence interest rates either, right? Mendacious cunt is mendacious.

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Fed does not SET interest rates. Influence? Sure.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

The Fed does not SET interest rates. Influence? Sure.

Just like when I am adding water to the kiddie pool, in reality I'm just "influencing" the water level.

[John]

He was Treasury you half wit. If your mind were a physical presence you would have to be covered with a sheet so people wouldn't be scared by seeing you.

[John]

He saved the economy so we could enjoy tens of millions in long term unemployment and going on five years of stagnation.

God you are a fucking retard. You really are a disgrace to every living being in the universe.

[John]

And I am sure Geithner is guilty of any number of felonies that the DOJ and SEC could suddenly find interesting.

[The Late P Brooks]

Typing is hsrder than usual this morning. There's a couple of inches of snow on the ground this morning, and my fingers are cold.

[Brett L]

Wat? Is there a glacier sneaking up your back 40, too?

[UnCivilServant]

Well, with the most recent climate data, there is a statistically significant cooling trend that started in 2002. (before the current batch extended the trend, it wasn't satistically significant)

[gaijin]

bah! That's just weather. The real story is Climate Disruption!

WH Science Advisor advises a name change for Global Warming

[Jerryskids]

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will involve developing "a variety" of energy sources, including renewables, nuclear, and fossil fuel technologies with carbon capture and storage, he said in response to a question from an audience member. But "nobody has a crystal ball to know what the mix will be that will emerge from efforts to raise each of these options to its highest potential."

If only there were some sort of mechanism whereby we could determine what people think is the best mix based on what they are willing to buy and sell energy for.

[Brett L]

Fuck the STATISTICS man! We need a reason to return the peasants to their proper standing!

[General Butt Naked]

Go inside, dumbass.

Jesus.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Heh.

[Lord Humungus]

Last night we got some real heavy hail.

[Suthenboy]

Where the hell are you people?

I have tomatoes already. I have already had to refill my hummingbird feeders twice.

[Lord Humungus]

the Wastelands of Michigan. Only a few leaves on the trees though the grass finally turned green.

[Jordan]

Grand Closing: America's Pot Farmers Are Putting Mexican Cartels Out of Business

Gee ya think? I wonder what it must be like to be an economic illiterate, always wandering around in a shocked state.

[Brett L]

I guess I had missed the whole lime interdiction until this weekend when it came up about four different times with different bar people.

[John]

It just happened so unexpectedly.

[Jordan]

Sophie Turner (Sansa in Game of Thrones) adopted one of the dire wolf pups from the show. Daaaawww.

[John]

What a beautiful animal.

[Lord Humungus]

sexist!

[Brett L]

The girl, too. Not just the bitch.

[Ted S.]

Wait until it mauls her. 😐

[John]

If it is an actual wolf, it might or more likely maul someone else because it thought they were a threat to her.

[Drake]

Season One I think they were using Husky pups. Now it's GCI'd Grey Wolves.

[mr simple]

Northern Inuit dogs. They were bred specifically to resemble wolves.

[Auric Demonocles]

Good news: she's 18 now.

[mr simple]

So she can buy lottery tickets and cigarettes?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

And vote!

...what?

[invisible furry hand]

is there anywhere in the US where 18 is the drinking age, or is it 21 everywhere?

[mr simple]

I believe it is 21 everywhere now after Louisiana caved, which was back in the 90s I believe. They all want a piece of that federal highway money.

[Soros' Wank-noose]

^Dingdingding!^

Of course, it's odd that news programs seem to always feel the need to mention a state's drinking age when alcohol is part of a story. "Guys, it's the same for everyone..."

Sensationalist media shitheads...

[Elspeth Flashman]

I thought it became 21 when the drinking age was tied to highway funds in some Congressional Act or another. But I may be wrong. Wyoming was one of the holdouts, IIRC.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act

Short version: all 50 states are now enforcing the 21+ drinking age, although some states allow underage drinking in certain situations.

[invisible furry hand]

thanks Elspeth. I should have guessed this was the result of a Federal bribe

[Rasilio]

Not just one of, she adopted the one which was her characters

[Corning]

In the last episode I noticed how tall she had grown.

How tall is she?

Like 6 foot?

The actress who plays Arya has some catching up to do...as well as the actor who plays Jon Snow...though i think he is done growing even though the character he plays is like 16.

[Rich]

The number of people age 65 and older in the United States is expected to almost double by 2050, a shift that is expected to drastically alter the nation's racial makeup

Say what?

[Lord Humungus]

The Federal Government Loses an Insane Amount of Revenue to Tax Expenditures

Tax credits, deductions, and exclusions, in other words, amount to as much of U.S. GDP as the entire federal individual-income tax.

The CBO defines "tax expenditure" very broadly: It includes everything from the fact that employer-paid health-insurance premiums and pension contributions aren't taxed to the preferential rate for capital gains and dividends and all manner of itemized tax deductions (for mortgage interest, e.g.) and credits (for the production of wind energy, e.g.). As Heritage has pointed out, this is a pretty heterogeneous group, some members of which are just natural parts of good tax policy (I think this is the case for a lower capital-gains rate, though some people disagree). Still, it helps remind us of the economic weight of all the vagaries of the federal tax code, and the size of a few of these expenditures ? the exclusion for health insurance, most prominently.

[gaijin]

The Federal Government Loses an Insane Amount of Revenue to Tax Expenditures

Translation: It's the government's money. The people are stealing it.

[sarcasmic]

Not taking is giving.

[SugarFree]

"I used to be an attractive person that men fell in love with. Gross. I feel so dirty now."

The comments... oh, the comments...

rokokobangUgreenheart
Yesterday 3:42pm

Arrgh. I was best friends with a MPDG and it fucking sucked. I never quite got over the sting of having every boy in our school lining up to love her while I sat making jokes in the corner trying to get noticed.

After reading this I guess I have to make some room for pity and compassion towards her, instead of just the straight up bitterness I have felt for a lot of years.

Sour grapes turned into the sweet wine of hateful "compassion."

[John]

There is so much dissonance going on in those people's heads it is wonder they don't explode.

I thought the "male gaze" was evil and exploitative. Yet somehow she is years later still angry and bitter various boys in school never inflicted such on her.

[Idle Hands]

I stopped reading at "Marital Rape was normalized throughout my childhood". What the fuck does that even mean?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

All sex is rape to these people. It's sick. And sad.

[John]

All sex is rape, yet, the one comenter is still pissed off not enough boys hit on her in high school.

[Robert S.]

The Toothless Predator: Breast Feeding as Sexual Assault

[General Butt Naked]

She watched her parents fuck through the keyhole.

[Idle Hands]

You can't make a statement like that, then proceed to spare us of the gory details.

[Rich]

If her parents fucked through a keyhole I imagine it was *quite* gory.

[General Butt Naked]

Let's just say that this manic pixie dream girl knew what a "prostate massage" was long before any of her friends in school did.

[Rasilio]

Well she seems to be implying that her father repetedly raped her mother who thought she had no choice because they were married.

Obviously a husband can rape his wife, just because they are married does not mean that she can't say no but somehow I doubt that is what she is referring to.

I suspect she is implying that having sex when you don't really feel like it because your partner does is rape. Of course what she probably misses is that using that definition her mother was likely raping her father at least half as often if not as often as he raped her cause that us part of marriage.

Sure your spouse does not owe you sex on any given night or even week but they do owe it to you at some level (especially in monogamous marriages) and that means that BOTH of them will occasionally have to have sex when they don't really feel like it just as a normal part of relationship maintenance. Grown ups see this as not really a big deal and an act of love, whiny overgrown children with victimization complexes see it as rape.

[Loki]

After reading this I guess I have to make some room for pity and compassion towards her, instead of just the straight up bitterness I have felt for a lot of years.

I really hope this is sarcasm, because if not, I think I'm starting to get a pretty clear picture of why he couldn't get laid.

[mr simple]

I'm pretty sure that's a she.

[Palin's Buttplug]

US to use 2010 tax law (FATCA) on Russia to withhold 30% of all interest and gains.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101645154

[John]

Sure Putin didn't call Obama the next morning after he butt fucked him in front of the entire world not once but twice over first Syria and now the Ukraine, but this will totally get Obama's dignity back.

[Palin's Buttplug]

You wanted us in a ground war with Syria so bad.

Why?

So you could say Obama is a warmonger or because you are one?

[John]

No. I wanted Obama to shut his fucking mouth and stay out of it. Instead, because he is one person in the world that might be almost as stupid as you are, shot his mouth off and Putin depants him and raped him and American credibility with it.

[Jordan]

Yeah, trade wars are the ticket to prosperity!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Seems like a good way to kill the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

US to use 2010 tax law (FATCA) on Russia to withhold 30% of all interest and gains.

There's another way to explain this:

U.S. Government To Profit From Russia's Move Against Ukraine.

[Rich]

China uses trained monkeys to protect air force base

Minkeys with *bimbs*?

[db]

+1 little yellow friend

[Rich]

Not now!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

It's actually pronounced "beumb".

[Rich]

True dat. I took the liberty of Anglicizing it.

[The Late P Brooks]

The fact is that his public "Stress Tests" (as the book is titled) restored faith in bank balance sheets and kickstarted this great bull market.

Oh.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Roger Goodell does a Twitter chat, does not go well.

[Ted S.]

Why can't they just copy the text, instead of using a fucking widget because it's so goddamn important that the tweets look the same way they do on Twitter itself?

[The Late P Brooks]

I guess I had missed the whole lime interdiction until this weekend when it came up about four different times with different bar people.

Somebody has been telling me the narcoterroristas have taken over the lime trade. I dismiss this claim as complete and utter bullshit.

Everybody knows it's teh kkkorporations.

[Rich]

I dismiss this claim as complete and utter bullshit.

A lime excuse, as ifh might say.

[db]

Citrus you to deliver such a sour pun.

[invisible furry hand]

whatever do you think i sound like?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Aussie accent. Lame = lime.

[invisible furry hand]

Yeah I get that but Yanks seem to have a very odd idea of what we sound like. My accent's like Cate Blanchett's, not some mutant cockney. Or at least that's what I tell myself

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Everything I know about Aussie accents, I learned from Jim Jefferies.

[invisible furry hand]

This will be of more use if you ever need to communicate with us in person

[John]

If they have gone legitimate and are now just selling limes, isn't that a good thing?

[Brett L]

No, they have apparently been stopping outgoing shipments and hoarding the limes. Adding to a natural rise in prices due to a blight. Wholesale prices have quadrupled.

As a result of high prices and rampant lawlessness in some Mexican regions, criminals who may be linked to drug gangs are plundering fruit from groves and hijacking trucks being used for export, said Bill Vogel, president of Vision Produce, a Los Angeles-based importer. A truck headed for Vision's sister company in Texas was hijacked two weeks ago in Mexico, he said, and growers and shippers now are hiring armed guards to protect their green gold.

[db]

You're wrong. They smuggle the lime in the coconut.

[John]

That is the Neilson gang that does that.

[John]

First Jane Harmon on one of the Sunday shows and now Politico compare Bengazi to Vince Foster. Progs really do follow orders and know how to repeat the talking points, unless you are shreek and are too retarded to even get those right.

http://www.politico.com/magazi.....2o2i6LxhA5

Remember, Vince Foster killing himself is just like Hillary Clinton leaving an American Ambassador to die in an unsecured compound in the middle of a war zone.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Both are fake scandals.

[John]

Because Hillary being completely incompetent and getting four people including a US ambassador killed and then lying about it using a racist slur against Muslims and to this day never admitting how badly she fucked up has nothing to do with her fitness for office.

I know you are a racist piece of shit who is probably happy she lied and slandered the Muslims. You are also retarded and thus are not bothered by incompetence. Some of us, however, are neither racist nor retarded and thus find Hilary's incompetence and lying to be a bit more than a fake scandal.

[General Butt Naked]

Aside from sitting on their hands while people died, the fact that they told the nation, with a straight face nonetheless, that it was all caused by a fucking cheezy youtube video should of been scandalous enough for, at least, an iota of media investigation.

[John]

It should but the media was part of t he lie. The lie only worked to the extent it did because the media did everything it could to hide the truth.

[Palin's Buttplug]

What is to investigate? Several admins said it.

[tarran]

John!

Once again, you are arguing with a non sentient organism. You are getting outraged at the political equivalent of Eliza

Like Eliza, shriek has no understanding of any of the concepts in the streams of letters it produces. It merely has a sense of which sequences generate a response.

And, by interacting with it, you are training it to say more things that piss you off.

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

Both are fake scandals.

"President's ass taste so sweeeeeet tonite! Lovely!"

[Loki]

It's weird, lately everytime I read one of PB or Tony's comments, I can't help but get this song stuck in my head. Is this what going mad feels like?

[Rasilio]

I don't know.

I'll give Tony some credit, while he is usually wrong about everything he at least displays some ability for original thought

Shreik on the other hand just seems to regurgitate talking points

[Soros' Wank-noose]

Sorta kinda like Tony is FOR something, in terms of a world view (as warped and as vile as it is).

Caca, on the other hand, is only AGAINST. It knows about some things or people, doesn't like them, and harps on whatever talking points come across it's screen.

[Loki]

Man in FL (where else) has petition to marry laptop denied by courts.

But, MARRIAGE EQUALITY!!!1!!!11!!! /sarc

[Rich]

"Naturally, I 'fell in love' with my computer and preferred having sex with it over all other persons or things, as a result of classic conditioning upon orgasm."

How this troller can keep from laughing is beyond me.

[Loki]

In a recently released biography, Michael Jordan reveals that he considered himself a racist against white people in his youth.

If they were really honest, wouldn't most young black men be considered racist against white people? And of course old black men are the most racist of all.

[Ted S.]

Hymietown Jackson for the win.

[OldMexican]

The Missing Science From The Draft National Assessment On Climate Report

Cato's Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. Knappenberger call the new report "pseudoscience."

In the Assessment's 1200 horror-studded pages, almost everything that happens in our complex world?sex, birth, disease, death, hunger, and wars, to name a few ? is somehow made worse by pernicious emissions of carbon dioxide and the joggling of surface average temperature by a mere two degrees.

Virtually every chapter in the Assessment perseverates [sic] on extreme weather, despite the U.N.s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change statement that:

There is medium evidence and high agreement that long-term trends in normalized losses have not been attributed to natural or anthropogenic climate change.

The Assessment is woefully ignorant of humanity's ability to adapt and prosper in response to challenges. The quintessence of this is the truly dreadful chapter on human health and climate change.

[John]

In fairness, while people may have been able to adapt to warmer weather in the past, the people who wrote this plan to make that a bit harder by destroying the electrical grid and the internal combustion engine in the name of "stopping climate change".

[Brett L]

The usual suspects on FB were fapping to a statement by Neil Douchebag Tyson about climate change "drowning our coastal cities". At even the outside estimates of 1/2" of sea-level rise per year, we should be able to implement the same solutions the Dutch did 400 years ago. How anyone who fancies himself a scientist could worry about that level of progress is beyond me.

[tarran]

It's hysterical watching these people who think that they are rational completely lose it an join a millennial cult.

[Jordan]

Yeah, watching Bill Nye go on The Independents to just petulantly stomp his feet and declare that he refuses to debate anyone was hilarious. It was like watching Tom Cruise handle people who criticize Scientology.

[John]

Doesn't he realize how weak that makes him look?

[OldMexican]

Re: John,

It makes him look like a convinced ideologue unwilling to accept that the left's favorite bugaboo is a big lie, nothing more than an enormous and sad post hoc fallacy, a "look, a black cat!"

I understand people like Nye and others; they simply do not want to feel humbled by the realization that they were so credulous. However, I don't want to cut them slack yet, because these guys are supposed to be the skeptical ones; the questioners; the doubters. Yet they jumped into this head-first and not because they were so convinced about the science (otherwise they would not prevaricate so much or resort to Ad Hominem attacks) but because the political implications were so juicy in their socialist minds.

[Brett L]

I don't think its funny at all. These guys are destroying all of the credibility that Galileo, Newton, Hooke, and guys like that have built up.

[tarran]

No they are not.

Not if you inocculate the people you have influence over with this video:

Feynman on the Scientific Method

[Brett L]

I can't tell you how grateful I am for having a professor who taught the Unit Ops labs for beating Feynman into our head. He got hooded at the ceremony where Feynman gave his "Cargo Cult Science" speech. But most people really either lack the training or ability to understand how one can be certain of the dangers of ingesting lead and skeptical of the risks of ingesting bisphenol-A.

Although I do have to wonder if these guys are part of professional organizations. I know the AIChE ethics statements would prohibit me from taking to a big stage and using my credential as authority to opine about a field I don't have expert knowledge in as an expert.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The usual suspects on FB were fapping to a statement by Neil Douchebag Tyson about climate change "drowning our coastal cities".

I saw that on mine, too. What a bunch of fucking pablum he spouted--unicorn dreams about "free" energy from the sun and doomsday predictions on CO2.

Fucking LOL at anyone who acts as if this isn't a new religious cult disguised as scientific inquiry.

[Lord Humungus]

China has a small contingent of trained monkeys protecting its air force base

The Chinese military revealed its "secret weapon" yesterday: monkeys. The People's Liberation Army said it has trained a small contingent of the furry creatures to protect its air forces base from birds that endanger its fleet of planes. State-run media showed videos of the impressive feats the primates are capable of, such as quickly scurrying up trees to destroy nests, leaping far distances, and scaring off birds.

The monkeys are trained to respond to "precise whistle commands" from their handlers and can destroy six to eight birds nests an hour, reports the Washington Post. Migrating birds have long threatened the base's jets, since they frequently get sucked into their engines. Chinese media didn't reveal the base the monkeys are being used at, but described it as being in the Beijing military zone.

You know who else responded to whistles?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Ukrainian attack dolphins?

[Warty]

Identity politics? Sure, I love them. They're not tiresome at all.

And whoever Larry Corriea is, he's apparently the worst human to ever live.

For writers and fans like Larry Correia, whose virulent attack on MacFarlane was excellently dissected by Jim C Hines, sex is a biological imperative and the idea of gender as a social construct is a damn liberal lie!

[Drake]

So an article proclaiming liberal Sci-Fi "good" and conservative "bad". Shocking.

[John]

Notice how sick the assumption behind the article is. Sci fi shouldn't exist to entertain its readers or make whatever points the author chooses to make. Sci Fi exists, like everything else in the universe, to push Prog politics.

What a totalitarian cunt.

[Warty]

I'm seeing more and more examples of this insistence on making the new Soviet man, like you're always talking about. It's disturbing.

[Brett L]

I essentially stopped reading the blogs of sci-fi authors because of their insistence on weeding out all disagreement for "inclusion".

[Rasilio]

The funny thing is Larry is absolutely right in his takedown of this schmuck

You don't throw a queer gender fluid hermaphrodite into a story unless it is central to the friggin story. Throwing it in there and wasting 8 pages on the internal dialogue of this secondary character deciding whether he wants to be more like a man or a woman today is just patronizing and annoying to everyone else because it is not actually part of the story.

Further, the even by the most wildly inflated estimates only 5% of the population is gay and maybe another 10% is bisexual, Transgender and all the other bullshit made up sexual identities are a tiny tiny fraction of those. So in a book with 10 significant characters you'll have MAYBE 2 who are not straight up heterosexual so if you go filling your book with non standard sexualities and just have 1 token heterosexual then you are going to lose the readers ability suspend their disbelief because your characters will not match humanity

[Lord Humungus]

Disillusioned: Why the 'Obama generation' won't vote

The Institute of Politics' newest survey of 18- to 29- year-olds found that less than a quarter of these young people plan to "definitely" vote in the 2014 midterm elections. Della Volpe attributes this sharp drop in millennial political participation ? which, by contrast, was at a record high in 2008 ? to a general "frustration with Washington" and the lack of change under Obama's watch.

"It's everything, It's the tone, it's the series of issues, it's what's happening domestically as well as what's happening abroad, but the main message is that young people voted for Obama in 2008 so they could have a stake in what was happening in government," he said. "They truly wanted to take that spirit of volunteerism into government, into public affairs and I think they're frustrated that they weren't asked to do more."

Warning: Autoplay video

[John]

I guess it is too much to ask that they realize that projecting their hopes on a fucking con man might not have been such a good idea.

[db]

young people voted for Obama in 2008 so they could have a stake in what was happening in government," he said. "They truly wanted to take that spirit of volunteerism into government, into public affairs and I think they're frustrated that they weren't asked to do more."

There is so much wrong with that I won't go into.it now but:

1. They finally learned, maybe, that all the stress on "volunteerism" in their upbringing served mainly to turn them into a free labor corps for cynical adults who exclusively benefit from their efforts?

2. They're asked to do plenty: pay for their elders' health care, sit on the.sidelines of the work force so their.elders can have a job, go into massive and crippling debt to sustain a bubble in the education.industry that ensures full employment of a legion.of university administrators?

I could.go on...

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I like all the extra periods you put in your posts. It gives your posts a Captain Kirk syntax.

[db]

I actually speak.them that way.into a special speech.to text program.

[General Butt Naked]

And also that volunteerism and government are mutually exclusive. You can't be volunteering with a gun to your head.

[db]

Bingo. If "volunteer" work is a requirement for.something, it.is.slavery, not.volunteerism. When coerced volunteerism is in service of an empire's vision of an ideal.society, I have a hard time seeing anything but raw cynicism.

[db]

"Empire" s/b "elite"

[Soros' Wank-noose]

They had to be "asked" to do more??? If this analysis is correct (big IF), why the hell did these yutes need to be told what to do? Why couldn't they just, ya know, do more?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

young people voted for Obama in 2008 so they could have a stake in what was happening in government,"

What?! No they didn't. They voted for Obama because they wanted to feel good about themselves for voting for a black guy. They wanted to be able to tell their grandkids they voted for the first black president.

Obama's election was all about feeding the egos of SWPL simpletons, not increasing their stake in government.

[General Butt Naked]

Yeah they're disillusioned. They put all their hopes into a slick advertising campaign filled with only the squishiest of saccharine drenched platitudes and all they got out of it was a gun to their heads telling them to buy shitty health insurance. Suckers.

[db]

...to subsidize the health.insurance.of the.people ultimately holding the.gun.

[Lord Humungus]

The Unburied Truth About Jim Jones
A new thriller reveals the left-wing roots of the Jonestown massacre.

Yet the Jonestown massacre itself is only dimly known to contemporary Americans, and the details of the event are often ignored by news and academia. It is, after all, an inconvenient story, in which a Communist community, led by a committed Marxist and '60s Bay Area radical, came to a horrifying end.

Following the mass suicide, the mainstream media spun the story into one of religious fanaticism rather than leftist fanaticism. Had a right-winger persuaded followers to join him in retreating from society and building their own enclave, then held them prisoner and ultimately persuaded or forced them to take their own lives in some sort of revolutionary act, Jonestown would be taught more widely in schools than Abe Lincoln. Instead, when Jonestown is addressed, the Marxism of the People's Temple is whitewashed and the story is packaged as one of a religious cult gone awry, or as a warning against the perils of organized religion.

[Jordan]

That was obvious from the start, considering how deeply embedded into San Francisco's political scene he was. Diane Feinstein was a follower. Too bad she didn't follow him to South America.

[tarran]

Actually, Diane Feinstein wasn't a follower.

She just schmoozed them in an attempt to get their political support.

Diane is, at her heart, a Massachusetts Democrat; Catholic, determined to force everyone around her to behave properly, patronizing towards the lower classes, a firm believer in using social engineering to keep people on the straight and narrow path of righteousness, and able to compromise any principle whilst fighting for the greater good.

The people's temple sought to disrupt the family life of followers. Diane was too prim and proper and committed to Catholic views of the proper role of the nuclear family to embrace such a heretical religion.

[OldMexican]

Re: Lord Humungus,

A new thriller reveals the left-wing roots of the Jonestown massacre.

The only people requiring such "revelation" are the leftist ideologues who buried their own heads up their behinds. Everybody knew that Jim Jones was a big liberal who donated and campaigned for marquee-name leftists in the Bay Area, and that his commune was in fact the perfect realization of all lefty ideals, with the inevitable consequences we all got to know .

[Hyperion]

Warning: There is an abortion thread upstream.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

I am ordering a deep dish pizza and will camp out there, watching the comment count rise to 500+...

[Hyperion]

I'm not going anywhere near it, I've already had my fill of that here. No good can come of it. We already know that libertarians are divided on that issue, and that's ok.

[Lord Humungus]

I'm rather agnostic on abortion - I have a belief that life is precious, but also know that people back bad decisions that can forever change the course of their lives. It's obviously a tough and thorny issue that I prefer not to wade in.

[Lord Humungus]

back = make

I picked a bad time to switch to decaf.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

SO YOU WANT BABIES TO BE MURDERED?!?!?!!!!

[John]

I would be more agnostic about it if it wasn't for the pro choice side using the "personhood" argument. Once we get in the business of deciding who is really a person worthy of legal protection and who is not, it never ends well.

[OldMexican]

Re: Hyperion,

Warning: There is an abortion thread upstream.

I'm more interested on the downstream.

[Hyperion]

You missed my post a couple days ago, where I was questioning why there are no Mexicans here, but so many Canucks.

[Corning]

Hit and Run is an English language blog....

[OldMexican]

Re: Peter Caca,

The Fed does not SET interest rates. Influence? Sure.

Just like when I am adding water to the kiddie pool, I'm just "influencing" the water level.

[The Late P Brooks]

Della Volpe attributes this sharp drop in millennial political participation ? which, by contrast, was at a record high in 2008 ? to a general "frustration with Washington" and the lack of change under Obama's watch.

Haha, suckers!

[The Late P Brooks]

Warning: There is an abortion thread upstream.

Snakes Abortions. Why did it have to be snakes abortions?

[flye]

Man, this Aronofsky remake of Raiders Of The Lost Ark is dark...

[Loki]

I am sick and tired of all these mother fuckin' snakes abortions on this mother fuckin' plane!

[Sevo]

I predict a drastic up-turn in phone sales from emporiums just outside the city limits!

"S.F. law requiring smartphone kill switch pitched"
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/ar.....hc-bayarea

[Drake]

Who is killed when you throw the switch?

[Jerryskids]

This morning I'm over at my nieces and she's toasting a bagel and asks if I want one and I tell her not as much as I want two of them - but then she whips out this fat-free cream cheese. Now, leaving aside the question of how something with no fat in it can be considered cream cheese, what sort of scary chemistry is involved in making fat-free cream cheese and, more importantly, who the hell would consider the health effects of eating fat-free cream cheese to be worth the trade-off of not eating real cream cheese?

[Brett L]

Fat-free fats are usually indigestible lubricants and sugar. May cause insulin spikes and anal leakage.

[invisible furry hand]

You know what else causes insulin spikes and anal leakage...

[Brett L]

SugarFree's slashfic?

[db]

Sadly, Zug.com and it's classic "Ol? Olestra" article appear to no longer exist.

[Rasilio]

I believe far free originated as a french term and was mistranslated. A closer translation would be "Chemical laden shit storm"

[invisible furry hand]

If you ever have a chance to see Holy Fuck live, do so. They are excellent.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Thanks for the heads up. Checking them out on YouTube and found this gem.

[Idle Hands]

That is a man on a mission: "savingbritsfromfat" one comment at a time.