A.M. Links: FBI Trains Brazilian Riot Police, Nigeria on Edge, Christie Aide in the Hot Seat

• 

  FBI

  The FBI is training Brazilian police to deal with protesters in the lead-up to this year's World Cup. How could that go wrong?

• In Nigeria, Boko Haram's kidnapping ways and the government's inability to provide even a modicum of security has people just a bit on edge.
• One of Governor Chris Christie's aides has been called to testify in the probe of the "Bridgegate" scandal. Heh. Grab the popcorn.
• A new study claims e-cigarettes have no health benefits because…people might use them and the old-school product. And childrunz! Really.
• A rush-hour bombing in Baghdad took the lives of 24 people.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

This has been worse than anything the government could inflict upons us.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, there are fewer links than normal, was there a shortage in the tubes? Or did the FCC throttle reason?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Links neutrality.

[some guy]

Do you need a nap after your 30-minute vigil? Might want to shower off the cold sweat first...

[db]

I didn't feel like observing the a.m. links until 0930, so they weren't there. Neither were you guys.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

db: Do not try and.read.the AM links. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

db: There.are no AM links.

Neo: There are no AM links?

db: Then you'll see, that it is not.the AM links that post, it is only.yourself.

[db]

+1 cookie

[Cyto]

But what is really going to blow your mind is, would the squirrels have eaten your post if you hadn't +1 cookied them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The FBI is training Brazilian police to deal with protesters in the lead-up to this year's World Cup.

People should just start sheltering in place now.

[BardMetal]

I wonder if Brazilians will put up with American style policing like we do here in the "land of the free and home of the brave"

It's so sad I have to use that quote sarcastically nowadays.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, the brazillian police were already on the scale of 'just another armed gang' in their dealings with the slums and gangs.

[BardMetal]

Oh so it should be a fairly simple transition.

[Drake]

It's a free country.

[Redmanfms]

I wonder if Brazilians will put up with American style policing like we do here in the "land of the free and home of the brave"

You've clearly never been to South America.

Brazilian police have rampaged through favellas in a style that Boston PD could only hope to emulate for decades. I've been to Rio once, in 2008. They were "clearing and pacifying" the favella in the lead up to the election. The entire 5 days I was there the sound of automatic weapons fire could be heard. It sounded like an audio recording my grandfather made of the siege of Tan Son Nhut AFB in '68.

I saw a cop in Colombia shoot a handcuffed man in the face with a rifle in broad daylight in front of the Central Rail Station in Medellin in 2004.

American police behave in an unacceptable way, but they sadly aren't the worst. Not by a long shot.

[Juice]

I wonder if Brazilians will put up with American style policing

American police wish they could be as military commando style as Brazilian police.

[Slammer]

The Brazilian police never had any training with rioters? Never ever?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

"Pare de resistir!"

[AlexInCT]

GOSTOSO!

[mr simple]

They need training about how to more discreetly pepper spray and beat the shit out of peaceful protesters.

[db]

More like, the FBI is getting experience in handling large mobs, right?

/tinfoil.hat

[Tim]

Ruby Ridge went so well, and Waco. I expect the Brazillian cops to take some snipers to the crowd and then light the stadium on fore.

[Bardas Phocas]

Over/Under odds they burn down a favela?

[Rasilio]

A Brazillian police? Are there even a Brazillian police in the whole world?

[Fluffy]

So recently I have noticed this phenomenon where if I know a singer is hot, I like their album more. (See: Lykke Li, Marina and the Diamonds, Asteroids Galaxy Tour.)

On the basis of that correlation where Hot = Good Album, the new Tove Lo EP must be fricking Dark Side of the Moon.

http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-.....pg?30a2558

[BardMetal]

So I'm guessing you're not a big Motorhead fan then?

[Fluffy]

Nope.

[some guy]

My wife is like that with sports. The nicer the uniforms, the more she likes them.

[BardMetal]

Nice uniforms, the real key the Nazi's success.

[Juice]

Are we the baddies?

[lap83]

+1 pure aryan skull shape

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Some of us call them "outfits."

[Clich? Bandit]

yes but are they fabulous?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I'm a Vikings fan despite the fact that I'm not a fan of purple. I should probably be a Dolphins fan - I love light blue and orange together.

And I was a Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan for one race, when he drove the Peter Max special livery. Pretty!

[trshmnster the terrible]

My poor eyes!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

No wonder he crashed.

/too soon

[Clich? Bandit]

I just threw up on my computer.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The Dolphins have a tramp stamp.

[lap83]

I didn't know that Lisa Frank designed race car wraps.

[mr simple]

I like it all ready.

Oh, and PATRIARCHY!

[mr simple]

That's a weird typo. This melatonin helps me sleep, but leaves me feeling fucked up in the morning.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

DANG!

*fans self*

[Fluffy]

I know, right?

[Roger the Shrubber]

She can sound like Bob Dylan and I will declare her's the fairest voice in all the land.

[Bee Tagger]

I like the new Lykke Li album. Haven't heard of Marina and the Diamonds. Similar?

[Fluffy]

Not really. Marina is more like self-aware alt Europop, if that makes any sense.

[Kaptious Kristen]

The only Lykke Li song I know is "Get Some" - it's on my MP3 playlist.

[John]

I have a big thing for Kathleen Edwards and Neko Case. I consider them both very hot in a 30 something club singer damn I bet she is a good time kind of way.

I like their music too. But I think I like it better because I find them both attractive.

[Sansos]

I find increasingly difficult to listen to pop music without mst3king it, but still...

*drolls*

[Lord Humungus]

Cocaine use in Britain so high it has contaminated drinking water, report shows

Steve Rolles, from the drug policy think tank Transform, told The Sunday Times that the findings were an indication of the scale of the use of the drug in Britain today.

"We have the near highest level of cocaine use in western Europe," he said. "It has also been getting cheaper and cheaper at the same time as its use has been going up."

[some guy]

Note that they didn't find cocaine in the water. They found cocaine metabolites in the water. So basically the water in Britain might fail a drug test.

[Zeb]

The headline should probably be "Drug tests so sensitive that cocaine metabolites are found in the water".

[Snark Plissken]

Iran unveils American drone replica.

All American weddings will now be required to have an Apache helicopter hovering overhead, to stop the terrorists.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Hey, now the National Guard can pay for itself!

Big Day, huh? To make sure it goes off without a drone-hitch, call the 1/252nd Air Defense Artillery for cover. Stinger crews can be leased for the day or by the hour. Contact HQ 1/252 ADA BN now for a quote!

[UnCivilServant]

What have you got in an autonomous heat-seeking model? And are there color options, the bride doesn't want olive drab since it clashes with the bridesmaids.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

We can go desert tan, woodland camouflage or digital camo!

[Clich? Bandit]

does it come in the 40 megawatt range?

[DontShootMe]

My Big Fat Hellfire Wedding.

[Redmanfms]

Translation: Iran unveils paper mache model, spouts bullshit.

[Clich? Bandit]

kinda like how red square in the 80s was a fire hazard?

[Fist of Etiquette]

In Nigeria, Boko Haram's kidnapping ways and the government's inability to provide even a modicum of security has people just a bit on edge.

Exercise your second amendment rights, people!

[BardMetal]

Do the progressives realize how rare stories like these would be if more people had second amendment rights?

People always look at me like I'm insane when I suggest the world needs more guns.

[andarm16]

but if more people had guns then the criminals would have more guns! /buttplug

[Clich? Bandit]

Technical point for the new people here:

It is really the natural right of self defense. The second amendment is a restriction on governments subject to the constitution from violating that right...just sayin.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

And I thought I was into picking nits...

[Bobarian]

Boko Harum hasn't been the same since Robin Trower left.

[sarcasmic]

Family release disturbing video of police shooting their 26-year-old mentally-ill son ELEVEN times after deputies are cleared of any wrongdoing
Michael Blair, 26, a paranoid schizophrenic, was shot eleven times by officers in Houston, Texas
His mom had called the cops after he locked himself in the bathroom and threatened to commit suicide
The officers were later cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal investigation and a grand jury
Blair's family have now released disturbing home security video footage of the shocking incident
They are demanding a federal civil rights investigation

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

[UnCivilServant]

"You can't kill yourself! We'll kill you to prevent you from committing suicide!"

[Matrix]

Well, see, some Christians believe that you can't go to heaven if you commit suicide. This young man was bound and determined to die. Therefore, these cops did the CHRISTIAN thing and killed him, so his soul could be saved from the fires of hell.

Oh praise our Messiahs in uniform!

[BardMetal]

When are people going to learn that you never ever call the police, unless you want to introduce even more violence into a situation?

[sarcasmic]

Show me someone who trusts the police and I'll show you someone who has never called them.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What happened to tasers? Not violent enough?

[sarcasmic]

They had already tased him several times.

[Clich? Bandit]

If a grand jury can supposedly indict a ham sandwich then are we to assume we need to cut cops into thin strips, place them between two pieces of bread with some swiss cheese and THEN go to the grand jury?

[Juice]

Damn, that cop shot him so many times the smoke alarm went off.

[Lord Humungus]

The Man Who Knows Too Much (Glenn Greenwald)

interesting article on Snowden, NSA, etc - but this stuck out:

How do you feel about the early presidential jockeying?

Hillary is banal, corrupted, drained of vibrancy and passion. I mean, she's been around forever, the Clinton circle. She's a fucking hawk and like a neocon, practically. She's surrounded by all these sleazy money types who are just corrupting everything everywhere. But she's going to be the first female president, and women in America are going to be completely invested in her candidacy. Opposition to her is going to be depicted as misogynistic, like opposition to Obama has been depicted as racist. It's going to be this completely symbolic messaging that's going to overshadow the fact that she'll do nothing but continue everything in pursuit of her own power. They'll probably have a gay person after Hillary who's just going to do the same thing.

[Andrew S.]

Libertarians are Greenwald's polar opposites in terms of economic policy, but damn if he isn't right on with civil liberties stuff. And damn true there.

[Fluffy]

The thing about Greenwald is he cares about policy ONLY.

It means absolutely nothing to him that Obama "inspired people" or "realized their dreams" or whatever because they got to see a black guy be President. That's utterly meaningless to him.

And it enrages him that Hillary will be given the same treatment.

[John]

I don't think it will work for Hillary. First, she is too known of a commodity. It worked for Obama because he was such a nobody who had no past to prevent people from projecting their hopes onto him. Hillary is not like that. Love her or hate her everyone knows who she is and what she stands for.

Second, being a woman is not the same as being black. Despite the feminist efforts to the contrary, very few people who wouldn't already reflexively vote Dem anyway are going to feel a duty to vote for Hillary because she is a women like they did for Obama because he was black.

Third, Obama is or was much better at not showing his nasty side and appearing like a nice guy than Hillary ever has been. You don't get elected President in this country unless you have the ability to come off as a nice person most people wouldn't mind having around. Maybe she can change, but so far that is not a good role for Hillary.

[Snark Plissken]

She's a fucking hawk and like a neocon, practically.

There's no such thing as neocons, stop using hurtful language!

[John]

There are, but they usually are not who the term is hurled at.

What Hillary is is a Wilsonian of the worst ilk. And being a Wilsonian is a lot worse than being a Neocon.

[robc]

All neocons are wilsonian.

The reverse isnt necessarily true.

[John]

Neocons are not quite Wilsonians. Neocons believe that it is in the US interests to transform backward sociieties and bring them into the civilized world. Wilsonians are different. Wilsonians are committed to an international order and more specifically the UN. Wilsonians don't really care about transforming other societies. And they really don't care much about US interests. Wilsonians care about establishing and preserving an international order and then using that order for various do gooder purposes.

[Andrew S.]

The second part of that answer is also accurate

I hope this happens so badly, because I think it'll be so instructive in that regard. It'll prove the point. Americans love to mock the idea of monarchy, and yet we have our own de facto monarchy. I think what these leaks did is, they demonstrated that there really is this government that just is the kind of permanent government that doesn't get affected by election choices and that isn't in any way accountable to any sort of democratic transparency and just creates its own world off on its own.

[lap83]

"women in America are going to be completely invested in her candidacy."

I take issue with that generalization. Sure, it will be a higher percentage of women than men who vote for her. But most married women and many women who remember the Clinton years will not vote for her.

[Palin's Buttplug]

A rush-hour bombing in Baghdad took the lives of 24 people.

Just a few "birth pangs" of democracy Condi said back in 2004.

[Andrew S.]

BOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!

Fucking A, Shreek, how long are you and your fellow progressives going to be blaming Bush for everything? We'll be in Hillary's second term in 2023 and you fuckers will still be blaming everything on him.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Fuck you. Being anti-Bush =/= "progressive".

[tarran]

It will keep posting strings of characters that we see as containing an anti-Bush text so long as they generate a response.

It's not sentient. It's neural net spews out snippets of text hoping to garner a response. It's basically an annoying variant of the Eliza computerized psychotherapist.

By interacting with it, you are only training it to produce more snippets of text that annoy the sentient.

[Andrew S.]

I reply in the hopes that they'll continue to improve its programming such that it can pass the Turing Test.

[BardMetal]

Sadly every day Ray Kurzweil reads Buttplug's postings, and weeps a little.

[tarran]

Shriek isn't a program designed by humans. It's the shambles of what was once a human mind that has been destroyed - whether from drinking too much or sniffing glue is unclear.

It can't pass a turing test - too many destroyed neurons. It lacks the capacity to understand the concepts contained within political discourse.

All it knows is words and the quantity of responses the words generate. So by responding to its more stupid or offensive posts you are training it to say more stupid and offensive things.

Really, we are to blame for the streams of blistering illogic issuing forth from its degenerate, degraded shell of a mind.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

So is it a blowhard asshole, troll, AI or that Journolist dude? Does it matter?

All I know is that I scroll past whatever it bathers on about. It has become as Bo, ignored in threads.

[tarran]

In your travels, did you ever encounter some creature that was maddened from sniffing too much paint.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Yes - There was a fellow in Aurora, IL that had at least 100 arrests for "unlawful use of an intoxicant" - local charges, for huffing paint thinner. He couldn't walk straight, drooled and once shat himself right in front of a new judge, at bond call.
But Manny lived on, somehow. His family wanted him alive because he was on SSI Disability.

[Mike M.]

So is it a blowhard asshole, troll, AI or that Journolist dude? Does it matter?

Yes, yes, no, and yes. He is a blowhard asshole, a troll, and the most loathsome member of the JournoList: the vile cretin named David Weigel.

[Juice]

how long are you and your fellow progressives going to be blaming Bush for everything

Bush and Co. deserve blame for any and all chaotic bullshit going on in Iraq for the next few decades.

[The Late P Brooks]

Why should we believe the FBI is training the Brazilians, and not vice versa? The Brazilians' raids on the favelas are something our modern baboon army of occupation can thus far only dream about.

[UnCivilServant]

Ego, Brooksie, the FBI can't believe that a third world tin pot country like Brazil has anything to teach them (despite being almost fully transformed into a first world tin pot country and the economic powerhouse of South America)

[BardMetal]

And possible future nuclear power from what I've read.

[db]

As I noted, the Infowars headlines practically write themselves.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Good point. Maybe even a Newsmax headline too.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A new study claims e-cigarettes have no health benefits because...people might use them and the old-school product

New studies. They're faaaaaaaan-tastic.

[mr simple]

We have a preconceived notion and policy to base on that. Quick, get a study to support it.

[Spartacus]

I have always wondered how medical researchers manages to put out 200+ publications. Now I know how--they write op-eds and get them in print without wasting time on that "experimental design" and "data analysis" stuff.

That, and the fact that everyone from the test-tube washer on up is listed as a coauthor.

[Robert]

It's Stanton Glantz. Ignore.

[Trials and Trippelations]

AM Links delayed just to give those of us on the West Coast a chance at first, and we still lose to Fist.

Also since I never get to do this, good morning everyone.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Good morning.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Doesn't sound like it's a good morning.

[Lord Humungus]

Sowell: Kangaroo Courts on campus?

Why are rapists not reported to the police and prosecuted in a court of law?

Apparently this is because of some college women who say that they were raped and are dissatisfied with a legal system that does not automatically take their word for it against the word of someone who has been accused and denies the charge.

There seem to be a dangerously large number of people who think that the law exists to give them whatever they want ? even when that means denying other people the same rights that they claim for themselves.

[UnCivilServant]

Reminds me of this...

[Steve G]

Paths of least resistance, how do they work?

[Red Rocks Rockin]

There seem to be a dangerously large number of people who think that the law exists to give them whatever they want ? even when that means denying other people the same rights that they claim for themselves.

Yeah, and a sizeable population of these people are currently ensconced in America's universities, whether as students, professors, or administrators.

This is what happens to institutions whose common, predominant cultural marker is "somebody needs to pay," whether in cold cash or destroyed reputations.

[Fist of Etiquette]

One of Governor Chris Christie's aides has been called to testify in the probe of the "Bridgegate" scandal.

He's either a political monster or an incompetent who doesn't know what's going on in his own office.

[Snark Plissken]

A new study claims e-cigarettes have no health benefits because...people might use them and the old-school product. And childrunz! Really.

But UCSF researchers, in a paper published Monday, say a growing body of research shows that people who take up e-cigarettes aren't necessarily giving up conventional cigarettes, and on top of that, the devices are being heavily marketed to young people, creating a potential new market for the nicotine and tobacco industry.

What sort of randomly controlled double blind scientific research did they use to "study" all the damage caused by this "potential new market"?

[Snark Plissken]

I was going to take a look at this "study" but they didn't bother to link to it. Because why not just take their word for it, they are journolists!

[Slammer]

people who take up e-cigarettes aren't necessarily giving up conventional cigarettes

But many are.

creating a potential new market for the nicotine and tobacco industry

So if there is a nicotine industry instead of a tobacco industry they'd still be pissed? Sounds like their problem is industries (they don't like).

[Lord Humungus]

Warning: Naked bum pic

Naked table tennis comes to London

"There were four guys and three girls and I think I speak for the men in particular when I say I'm just glad it was warm in there."

Bounce founder and CEO Adam Breeden said: "We are inundated with, shall we say 'unique requests' for our private room on a weekly basis.

"When the naked ping-pong tournament was suggested there was no question that we had to make it happen."

[The Late P Brooks]

A new study claims e-cigarettes have no health benefits

So

fucking

what?

[some guy]

So... they should be banned.

[gaijin]

A new study claims e-cigarettes have no health benefits

That which does not kill us, makes us...weaker?

[Tejicano]

So... show me what health benefits this study has. None? OK, ban the study.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I can do it too!!

A new study claims e-cigarettes smart phones have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes 50" TVs have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes comic strips have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes daytime talk shows have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes high heeled shoes have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes men's colognes have no health benefits

A new study claims e-cigarettes bluetooths have no health benefits

[sarcasmic]

Nasa data reveals Antarctic ice sheet is melting at an 'unstoppable' speed

Two new studies found that the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting at unstoppable speeds
Sea levels are expected to slowly rise 4 to 12 feet
Curbing carbon emissions won't be able to stop the melting, but may slow the process

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-melt.html

[UnCivilServant]

Lets do nothing, it will expose a crapload of new land for use on antarctica. And since we can't stop it, we might as well see what resources it uncovers.

Oh wait, it's just another scare article.

[BardMetal]

Awesome new land to colonize, and it will be much cheaper then trying to go to Mars.

[UnCivilServant]

Getting back if it becomes unbearable is easier too.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Careful....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.....of_Madness

[UnCivilServant]

What's a few shoggoths now and again?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Eh, I guess nothing if you don't mind a diet of 6 foot tall, blind, albino penguins (hopefully not related to Baked Penguin)

[Tejicano]

I have read that penguin meat is rather greasy and gamey. Not really all that good.

[Bobarian]

When we domesticate it, it will taste just like chicken.

[Zeb]

More likely it will expose a bunch of water around Antarctica and it will still be damn cold and all surrounded by ice in the winter. Or it will turn out that they are just wrong.

But if it does happen, I think a few hundred years ought to give people time to adapt.

[John]

Curbing carbon emissions won't be able to stop the melting, but may slow the process

If so, then maybe carbon emissions have nothing to do with it? It is like there are these enormous natural forces that are beyond are control. Who could have seen such a thing?

[Snark Plissken]

So less distance for those poor penguins to march?

[mr simple]

Is this the same Antarctic ice sheet that continues to hit record levels?

[sarcasmic]

Corporate propaganda from FOUX News and Big Oil!

[Tejicano]

Yeah. The average tempurature in the antarctic is something like -50 degrees F. So if there is an ice sheet calving off big chunks of ice then that has nothing to do with warming and probably just means that too much water vapor has collected and frozen, causing the ice sheet to grow faster than the underlying land mass can support. Once that balances out the ice sheet will grow back.

[UnCivilServant]

Wait... 4 to 12 feet? Psh, levees will take care of that in anyplace worth saving.

[Brett L]

Here's the thing: This is caused by a warm water current that will cause millions of tons of pure water at approximately 0C to be added to the warm water, causing both the temperature and salinity of the water in its immediate area to decrease. It seems to me that there might be a negative feedback possibility in there. I'd be surprised if the models accounted for the the incoming current water to cool or slow.

[Lord Humungus]

The Man Who Lives in a Giant Naked Woman

By 1991, a voluptuous concrete woman towered five stories over the airport-adjacent ravine where Garcia lived. He named her "Tijuana III Millennium," but locals soon began referring to the lady-house as "La Mona," or "the doll."

For several years, Garcia lived inside the hollow woman with his wife. Their bedroom was located in La Mona's breasts, the study in her head, the kitchen in her belly, and the bathroom, appropriately, in her behind.

[BardMetal]

Somebody took their GTS fantasy way too far...

By the way how is that even a genre?

[Slammer]

Disinvitation season for speakers at universities.

[Lord Humungus]

As Jeb Bush eyes 2016, key question is how a presidential campaign would affect his family

Jeb Bush, 61, has acknowledged that he is thinking about running, indicating he will make a decision later this year. He has repeatedly said he will decide based on whether he believes he can run an optimistic, hopeful campaign ? run "joyfully," as he has put it ? as well as whether a campaign would be the right thing for his family.

Presidential campaigns have come to rely heavily on candidates' family members playing visible roles such as fundraising, speaking and submitting to media interviews. Spouses have increasingly become full-fledged fill-ins for the candidates. Sons and daughters help the candidate forge ties with younger voters and can soften and humanize a candidate's image.

[John]

The key question is who outside of his family, and probably not even all of them, would vote for him.

[Andrew S.]

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the country couldn't care less whose name is on the ballot as long as the proper letter is next to that person's name. We could have Stalin (D) vs Hitler (R) (yes, I know, Democratic Socialist, but work with me here) and the third party would still get less than 5%.

[John]

That is only in the general election. Jeb would have to win the nomination to get that far. I just don't see where he has a constituency among GOP voters. He is too establishment to get the SOCONs. The Libertarian wing hates his guts. Maybe there are enough country club Republicans out there to win a nomination but I don't see it. And even if there are, he would have to get all of them to win and not get cock blocked by someone like Walker or Rubio.

[UnCivilServant]

The more Jeb talks, the less I like him. He's already behind other potential primary contenders on my mental ballot.

[John]

I would settle for Rubio or Walker over him. Other than Huckabe, who I don't think has a chance anyway, there isn't a potential GOP candidate I wouldn't choose over Bush.

[Rasilio]

I think you're forgetting about Santorum. He is very likely to run and would be even worse than Huckabe

[John]

There is Santorum, but he is likely to get even fewer votes than Huckabe. Santorum won't get the SOCONS if Huckabe runs. And with Paul and Cruz running, he won't get the working class populist vote. Santorum won't get out of single digits and might not even get that.

[db]

Ah, for the days (if ever they existed) when the key question was how a politician running.for.office could benefit the upholding of the liberties of the.people of the United States.

[andarm16]

He can't possibly imagine running. The family name is ruined so severely that even if a completely unrelated Bush ran for president, they'd have a tough up hill battle.

[db]

Seriously, what would even.be his.purpose.in running? It would have to be power. Can anyone.see a Jeb Bush or a Hillary Clinton running for president for any reason other than power and the ability to.favor their friends? Would either.of them honestly be able.to say they would be.President simply to leave the U.S. a better place than they received it? Or even to simply uphold.and preserve the freedoms guaranteed us by the constitution?

[mr simple]

Someone has to run to represent the establishments interests.

[Lord Humungus]

Obama Library: 67 Percent of Illinois Voters Oppose State-Financing Plan

A new poll from Capitol Fax's Rich Miller reveals that a whopping 67 percent of prospective voters here in Illinois oppose the Michael Madigan-sponsored plan to earmark $100 million for Barack Obama's presidential library and museum.

Results showed that just 29 percent of likely voters approve of the state-financing proposal, which Illinois House Speaker Madigan successfully pushed last month amid vocal opposition from Republicans and just about everyone who thinks that offering nine figures as bait to attract the library here is perhaps not such a great idea given how strapped for cash we are. Also: Obama, a fundraising machine with an arsenal of super-rich Democratic donors, is likely going to sign off on Chicago as the location, with or without the $100 million in taxpayer money.

[Steve G]

racists...

[Lord Humungus]

Dracula's Castle For Sale For The Right (But Undisclosed) Price

If you want to own the castle, it's going to take a bite out of your bank account. While Meyer isn't naming a price, the 57-room manor on 22 acres has been on the market several times in recent years, with investors at one point hoping to get $135 million.

On the other hand, the castle gets 560,000 paying tourists a year so buying it won't necessarily bleed you dry.

"At present, it makes a tidy profit," Meyer told the Telegraph. "But in the right hands it has the potential to generate far more revenue than we could ever imagine."

[Snark Plissken]

Took my son to a castle/chateau last week, and while being shuffled through the overlong tour, thought to myself, "What a crap place to live"

[John]

Iowa Hawk further proves he is an national treasure.

If I understand college administrators correctly, colleges are hotbeds of racism and rape that everyone should be able to attend.

It is on his twitter account which the Reason squirrels do not like for some reason.

[UnCivilServant]

That's why I linked to someone else's blog on the twit. (I will not call them 'tweets')

[Lord Humungus]

racism... duh.

Education Sec. to Probe Why Young Black and Hispanic Men Are 'Less Successful' in the Job Market

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Monday will host an Internet discussion aimed at uncovering why young black and Hispanic men are "less successful" in the job market and in school, and what causes encounters between them and law enforcement.

The discussion is part of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative, which the administration announced in February. That initiative created a task force including Duncan as education secretary, and is meant to develop proposals to "enhance positive outcomes and eliminate or reduce negative ones" for young black and Hispanic men.

[John]

Maybe locking up millions on drug charges and letting the teachers' unions destroy any chance most of the rest have at getting a decent education has something to do with it?

[BardMetal]

Nope it's those racist Republicans. So keep voting Democrat so we can keep in the same shitty schools, and keep locking you up for petty drug crimes, because if you don't some evil Republican might get you.

It's hard to feel sorry for victims of abuse when they keep coming back and asking for more.

[John]

A little bit. It is like Asians taking it up the ass in college admission because of affirmative action. For all of the Republicans' faults, one of the few issues Republicans have been consistent on is ending race based affirmative action. They have never supported it and have ended such programs whenever they had the chance. Yet, Asians still vote Democrat in large numbers. So, they must just not mind taking it up the ass.

[BardMetal]

"My Brother's Keeper"? As in the Bible reference? When Cain said that to basically try to beat a murder charge?

How stupid are these people that come up with this shit?

[Fluffy]

One reason it's funny is because it YET AGAIN makes a hokey part of Atlas basically come true.

[John]

Yup. the last five years have proven that Rand's biggest flaw as a novelist is that her characters were too realistic.

[UnCivilServant]

I learned early on that reality is unrealistic. I could write a book entirely true to life that covered one day at work with all the dialogue and sputtering it contains and everyone would say it's terribly unrealistic and lacking in coherent sentences with impossibly stupid characters making impossibly stupid choices.

[John]

I have learned that too thought probably later than you. The truth is always more unbelievable than fiction. What makes good fiction is it being just far away from reality to be entertaining but real and sensible in a way we wish the real world was but is not.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Yes, because 2001-09 was a Randian paradise.

Holy shit, you are a fucking idiot.

[John]

Maybe Tarran is right. I think only a deeply flawed neuronet could make such a nonsensical response.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Ayn Rand despised your hero Reagan. She preferred Carter in 1980.

Yet I am sure you claim her for Team Red.

In reality she was all about Team Objectivist.

[John]

I am not an objectivist you retard. But unlike you I am literate so I can actually read books and understand them even if I don't totally agree with them.

[Palin's Buttplug]

I am not an objectivist you retard.

Did I say that? You idiot, of course not. You are Team Red and should never fucking mention Ayn Rand again.

[trshmnster the terrible]

should never fucking mention Ayn Rand again.

Is this fight club or something? (Incidentally, I've never seen that movie)

[tarran]

I *am* right.

Think about it... what infuriates you about shriek?

It's the lack of argument; the fractured discourse, the button-pushing non-sequiturs.

Only a creature incapable of reason would interact with us in the way it does.

[Tejicano]

A childhood buddy of mine has a brother who is an actual extra-chromosome, Down's Syndrome person. His intellect was probably on the higher end of the spectrum for that type. Comparing him to shriek does leave me with the impression that while their mental ability for abstract thought is about the same skriek does seem to have a slightly higher level of verbal expression.

[John]

Tejicano,

My older sister has a variety of developmental issues. She is probably as verbally expressive as shreek but has much more emotional intelligence and empathy.

[Tejicano]

I generally will not respond directly to skriek mostly because 1) that only provokes an emotional reply devoid of thought and 2) that would encourage it to continue posting here which nobody needs. I also have pity for people with such obvious problems - pumping them up is probably not good for their state of mind.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Damn, that reminder that Ayn Rand despised Reagan has really upended Peanut orthodoxy today.

[Corning]

Yes, because 2001-09 was a Randian paradise.

I don't know about that.

But it is interesting that Blacks and Hispanics had more jobs then 2009-2014.

[tarran]

Yup. the last five years have proven that Rand's biggest flaw as a novelist is that her characters were too realistic.

I have long felt that Rand's novel was kind of a gedachten experiment to provoke thought and thought that the wooden characters weren't supposed to match reality.

Now I look at the people acting like they stepped out of her book and think that this is what going mad must be like.

[John]

When I was a kid I would read about 1930s Germany with disbelief that people could believe such crazy things. Now, I am seeing it happen here. We are lucky in that the insanity going on here is thus far not as deadly or genocidal like what went on there. But the ideas and actions are just as irrational. We live in a country where the entire political and academic establishment thinks printing money is the way to prosperity and subsidizing something makes it actually cheaper than its competitors. To me cash for clunkers is a real watershed moment. That was the moment when a government actually enacted the broken windows fallacy as real policy. Wow.

[Don Mynack]

Glad to hear Arne Duncan actually did something. The only other time he has emerged is to play in the ESPN "celebrity" basketball game.

[Lord Humungus]

California lawyer fined for zapping witness with trick pen

While testifying against dairy farmers who claim currents from the Delta power plant harm cattle, expert Athanasios Meliopoulos said 1.5 volts couldn't be felt by a person.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Howarth, who represented dairy farmers, gave a child's gag pen to Meliopoulos, told him it contained a 1.5-volt AAA battery and challenged him to push it.

Brady says Meliopoulos "received a strong electric shock" because the pen also contained a transformer that boosted the battery up to 750 volts.

[Lord Humungus]

Gun Control in Nazi Germany

By the end of March, Hitler had succeeded in passing the "Enabling Law" which gave him the ability to create laws as he wished, with no requirement for consultation. Following this, the confiscation of weapons escalated. Municipal governments were informed that military weapons and ammunition had to be surrendered by the end of March. The Jews were targeted next, with a large raid in East Berlin on April 4, 1933. Jews were not forbidden to own firearms until 1938, but the raid led to confiscations and arrests. The 1928 Firearms Law was utilized to identify the so-called enemies of the state, locate them, interview them, and subsequently confiscate their weapons, thereby increasing Nazi control and eliminating private ownership of firearms from the majority of society.

[Lord Humungus]

Chart of the day: California vs. Texas in one chart

actually it's all of California versus just Houston

The chart above displays 1-unit housing starts for the entire state of California and the Houston metro area annually from 2011-2013 and year-to-date through March for 2014. During the period from January 2011 to March 2014, there have been slightly more single-family housing starts in Houston (95,037) than in California for the entire state (94,993). In this single chart, we can understand the dynamism of the booming, expanding Texas economy and housing market compared to the stagnation of the California economy and the housing market there for new construction.

[andarm16]

Now of course, the left would just hand wave that away by claiming that only bitter clingers want single family homes, and that all of the "creative professionals (hipsters)" that make California a fabulous paradise (fucked up hell hole) are moving into glorious new condos in the inner city.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

...are moving into glorious new condos in the inner city.

Which is actually kind of true. Not a hipster, but that is the trend in CA.

[UnCivilServant]

I've learned to hate sharing walls with neighbors. I'm looking to get out of multi-unit housing so that I don't have to worry that the noise might carry through my floor and cause people to come banging on my door at three in the afternoon because they happen to work nights.

[UnCivilServant]

(Note - they never said hi or told me the were a shift worker before then, and I was in the middle of having trouble adjusting the audio on the computer. It was literally less than a minute of unbearably loud noise before I managed to wrangle it just as they started pounding away)

[andarm16]

Personally, I see this whole let's move into the city thing as something like a sports car. It's fun to have when you're young, but good luck dealing with a family in a 2+2. Even if the current generation of adults doesn't get a clue about the impracticality of it all, their kids are going to want a house in the suburbs with a picket fence.

[trshmnster the terrible]

A bunch of my friends and classmates live in apartments and condos downtown. They all think it's quaint that I live on an acre 30 miles away. That is, until they come to my house and realize that they can do whatever the fuck they want, and my neighbors don't give a shit. Heck, we just burned about a ton of tree branches this weekend, with the flame getting 15+ feet high at times. I got a curious look or two from neighbors, but that was it. No HOA president knocking on my door in a huff, no panicked neighbor calling 911 on me, just a glance or two to make sure that I wasn't going to burn the neighborhood down.

Try pulling that, or a party until 3am, or even throwing a friggin baseball in those cramped downtown ratholes. They're paying the same in rent or mortgage and HOA fees that I'm paying, and I'll pay my mortgage off in 12-15 years at worst.

I can understand the lifestyle that comes with urban living, but dollar for dollar I enjoy my land better.

[Tejicano]

No Joke.

I used to live at the end of a string of four houses in the southern AZ desert. Sometimes when I was reloading ammo for a rather finicky 9mm S&W auto I would fire off a few rounds to check if my loads worked in that pistol. Neighbors never mentioned it.

[The Late P Brooks]

daughters help the candidate forge ties with younger voters and can soften and humanize a candidate's image.

See: John Huntsman. It worked like a charm for him.

But his daughter parlayed her enormous mouth into a MSNBC gig, so there's that.

[gaijin]

Of all the natural gas companies in all the countries of the world, he walks into theirs...

Joe Biden's Son joins board of Ukrainian Natural Gas Company

But seriously, the US position is about freedom and democracy and shit.

[db]

Oh yeah, that is some totally above board movin' and shakin' there. Definitely a merit-based appointment.

[db]

How do you know he's a Biden?

He's on the board.of the Ukrainian gas company.and.not Gazprom.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Gazprom uses former German Chancellors.

[Corning]

His son probably opposes fracking.

[Lord Humungus]

Most Drunks: States
Almost one-third of D.C. adults report binge drinking in the previous month

1 District of Columbia 30.10%
2 North Dakota 27.96
3 Rhode Island 27.94
4 South Dakota 27.37
5 Wisconsin 26.71
6 Minnesota 25.94
7 Iowa 25.84
8 Massachusetts 25.05
9 Louisiana 25.02
10 Illinois 24.91

[John]

DC is a big college town. Between the colleges and the Hill Rats, that doesn't surprise me.

The Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin are so cold most of the year, how does anyone living there not binge drink?

[BardMetal]

How is Ohio not on that list? I mean it sucks here so we have to drink.

[Auric Demonocles]

I assume this the "binge" drinking which means 5 drinks in one day.

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

It says, "Binge alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days."

I think there's something screwy with the survey. One in five adults in Virginia has binge-drank in the last month? One in six from Utah? I don't buy it.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

If you lived in IL, you would binge drink too...

*sobs into Irish Coffee*

[Lord Humungus]

The Last Communist City
A visit to the dystopian Havana that tourists never see

Outside its small tourist sector, the rest of the city looks as though it suffered a catastrophe on the scale of Hurricane Katrina or the Indonesian tsunami. Roofs have collapsed. Walls are splitting apart. Window glass is missing. Paint has long vanished. It's eerily dark at night, almost entirely free of automobile traffic. I walked for miles through an enormous swath of destruction without seeing a single tourist. Most foreigners don't know that this other Havana exists, though it makes up most of the city?tourist buses avoid it, as do taxis arriving from the airport. It is filled with people struggling to eke out a life in the ruins.

Marxists have ruled Cuba for more than a half-century now. Fidel Castro, Argentine guerrilla Che Guevara, and their 26th of July Movement forced Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959 and replaced his standard-issue authoritarian regime with a Communist one. The revolutionaries promised liberal democracy, but Castro secured absolute power and flattened the country with a Marxist-Leninist battering ram. The objectives were total equality and the abolition of money; the methods were total surveillance and political prisons. The state slogan, then and now, is "socialism or death."

[John]

Havana was one of the world's most beautiful city and actually quite wealthy. The apes who took over under Castro had to destroy it because it stood as a bright shinning reminder of how everything they said was a lie.

[db]

SSSHHHHH! Di ye wanna gae suuued?

[Sevo]

..."The state slogan, then and now, is "socialism or death."

Like Jack Benny:
Gimme a minute, I'm thinking!

[The Late P Brooks]

By the end of March, Hitler had succeeded in passing the "Enabling Law" which gave him the ability to create laws as he wished, with no requirement for consultation.

"Gee, I wish WE had one of them Doomsday Machines."

[sarcasmic]

We've got regulatory agencies. Congress won't pass a law? Get it done with regulation. Sure it takes longer, but it amounts to the same thing.

[The Late P Brooks]

The state slogan, then and now, is "socialism or death."

DEATH: 1,5423,961, SOCIALISM: 0

[Auric Demonocles]

One of Governor Chris Christie's aides has been called to testify in the probe of the "Bridgegate" scandal.

Stop.

[Mongo]

HR Giger died.

[John]

For my money, Alien is still one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Even 35 years on, it still doesn't look dated. For all of the love Aliens got, IMHO, the original puts it, and a lot of other movies, to shame.

[Fluffy]

The only problem is the ship's computer.

Other than that, it could have been made last year. Looks great.

[John]

Yeah, it is funny how they can't get interior design right.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Agreed. RIP, Mr. Giger.

[Mongo]

It's my favorite movie, period.

[John]

And there is also a 20 something Segorney Weaver in her underwear. There is something about her in that movie I always liked a lot.

[Slammer]

Tom G. Warrior of Celtic/Frost/Triptykon said this:

"I fight the impending lure of belated sleep
For fear of waking up and you are gone"

Triptykon, "My Pain", 2010

For the first time in 74 years, last night was a night not illuminated by the indescribable light that was H.R. Giger.

H.R. Giger became our mentor, against all odds, when we, somewhat audaciously, first established contact with him some 30 years ago. At a time when almost everybody ridiculed, ignored, or even obstructed the music the then almost completely unknown Swiss underground band Hellhammer was creating, Giger listened to us, talked to us, and gave us a chance. Not least at a time when he was at one of many peaks of his path.

[Slammer]

A little more than a year later, his exceptionally stunning art made what might be one of Celtic Frost's most important albums, "To Mega Therion", even more significant. Other links to Giger's universe also manifested themselves, almost as if it was predestined.

Eventually, after many more years, the mentorship became a friendship. It was a friendship and a personal connection I valued infinitely, and it also included his wonderful wife, Carmen, and many other remarkable people that were part of his circle.

When Celtic Frost came to an end so acrimoniously in 2008, H.R. Giger and his wife were among those who witnessed my uncontained despair and stood by me. That Giger subsequently agreed to collaborate with my new group, Triptykon, and thus enabled us to release our first album, "Eparistera Daimones", with one of his most dramatic paintings on the cover meant the world to me.

It apparently pleased Giger, too. He told me so on several occasions, and he completely stunned me in October 2011 by proposing that we continue the collaboration between him and Triptykon. I would have never asked for such a thing, because I never would have wanted to appear insatiable. He brushed such reservations aside, and it was his mentorship, friendship, and art that enabled us, once again, to release a second album on which music and cover art formed a seamless symbiosis. Only a few weeks ago, he held the result in his hands and loved it.

[Slammer]

Regardless of anything I may write about H.R. Giger, however, none of these words will ever be able to truly, accurately describe him as a person and as a friend. It is utterly inconceivable to imagine a world without his wit, his perception, his genius, his horizon, his determination, his humour, his friendship, and his immeasurable kindness. And yet, we are now left in exactly such a world.

Tom Gabriel Warrior for Triptykon, May 13, 2014

[Sevo]

There's gotta be an Austrian pun in that name somewhere:

"Austrian drag queen [...] won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday before a global TV audience of about 180 million people in 45 countries, Reuters reported. "For me, my dream came true," said Conchita Wurst,"
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/n.....FB_MIBrand

[John]

It literally means "female Latin sausage". So yeah, there is some double entrendre going on there.

[Sevo]

I guessed it was something on "wurst", just didn't think it would be so crude.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You know which other Austrian was Worst?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Frau von Nikki?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

You know which other Austrian was Worst?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

The cap of Gessler?

/Swiss Nationalist

[Notorious G.K.C.]

AP stories to be shorter.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html

[Corning]

I am guessing they are taking the second half of their articles out.

You know that part that completely contradicts the head head line and the first half of the article.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Speaking of Brazil -

"Perfect Match: Brazilian Kids Learn English by Video Chatting With Lonely Elderly Americans"

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/.....ign=buffer

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Quibble: Brazilians are also Americans.

[John]

Bullshit, we own the hemisphere. Any talk otherwise is just myths put out by jealous Canuckistanis.

[mr simple]

1) We're the only country that actually has America in the name.

2) We called dibs, other countries can suck it.

[John]

That is one of the nicest things I have ever read. It is like a reverse nut punch compared to most of the stuff I read on here.

[Ska]

Reverse nut punch = handjob.

It is known.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Epic: It Took Just 3 Minutes For Trey Gowdy To Shame An Entire Room Of Journalists Into Silence" on Benghazi

http://www.westernjournalism.c.....ign=buffer

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Daaaaaaaammmmmmnnnnnn!

[a better weapon]

Well, I am officially settled in California. Fuck, AM links on PST are completely ridiculous. Any hope I had of ever beating Fist have completely evaporated (Let's be honest, 'first' in the AM links are the only ones that matter).

I'm worried I may even become one of those creatures who have to visit H&R for Welch's evening "On the Independents" or worse... on the weekends*GASP*

[John]

Weekends are a strange cocktail of depravity and general perversion on here.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Welcome to Cali, pally. Where'd you land?

[a better weapon]

Marina del Rey. I'm working at the CHS building at UCLA.

I may actually be able to catch Hugh at the Whittier College homecoming this year.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Pope to priests-in-training: Avoid "boring homilies," stay under 10 minutes

http://www.catholicnews.com/da.....401950.htm

[John]

That is probably good advice. The percentage of priests who can remain interesting for more than five minutes is about equal to the percent of 70s rock bands who were good enough to make an interesting song lasting more than four minutes; not many.

[Fluffy]

Especially considering the fact that I believe Jesus never said anything or told any story that was longer than the Gettysburg Address.

[tarran]

Especially considering the fact that I believe Jesus never said anything or told any story that was longer than the Gettysburg Address.

Are you sure about that?

[John]

Pretty much. The Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes are pretty long, but I don't think that is much longer than the Gettysburg address.

And the things he actually said were pretty meaty. Take something like the parable of the Prodigal Son. You can use that to explain injustice, sin and forgiveness in the world. There is a lot there for such a simple story.

A Mass has three readings, Old Testament, New Testament outside of the four Gospels and something from the Gospels. They are chosen to illustrate a single point. There really isn't any reason not to just spend five minutes or so explaining that point. Anything beyond that is just the Priest liking the sound of his own voice.

One of the reason why I only go to Mass as a favor to my wife and only once or twice a month is I usually find the Priest has missed the larger and more interesting point of what is going on. It drives me bonkers.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

On a related topic, does any of this seem familiar?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/c.....-building/

[Warty]

My granddaddy was a preacher, and a good one. He had nothing but scorn for preachers who drone on and on like that and beat their point into the ground. Their problem is that they have no respect for their audience.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

One of the reason why I only go to Mass as a favor to my wife and only once or twice a month is I usually find the Priest has missed the larger and more interesting point of what is going on. It drives me bonkers.

I'm an atheist, myself. But I was brought up in a born-again, evangelical Christian household. Sunday sermons were real fire and brimstone type stuff. And though not my style, the minister at my parents' church was spot on with Christ's message to Christians. Salvation, accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, etc.

My wife and I go to Mass twice a year, as a favor to my mother-in-law. No offense to Notorious G.K.C., but I always find the Catholic priests are so off-base with their interpretation of the New Testament, and the whole meaning of Christ's life. Over the last few years, it's getting worse. The church is filled with automatons; kneel, stand, bow, wafer, wine, kneel, ad infinitum.

[John]

They do. The last time I went one of the readings was about the Pharisees basically playing stump the chump wiht Jesus and asking him if it was okay for a widow to marry her dead husband's brother (provided he is single) then what happens in heaven, are they both her husband?

Jesus comes back and says you guys are missing the point. Things will be so different in heaven that earthly relationships won't matter. We will see each other totally differently than we do on earth.

That is a pretty interesting and significant point. It is saying that marriage and really all of morality are not some test we are supposed to pass to prove ourselves to God but more of a guide book on how to get along in the world. The institution of marriage is just God telling man "okay, you have been kicked out of the garden if you are going to make the best of it, here is how".

There are a ton of implications to that idea and the priest completely missed it.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"No offense to Notorious G.K.C."

No offense taken - if there wasn't a problem the Pope wouldn't be bringing it up.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I've been fortunate to find a very eloquent priest - and eloquent on the core issues. I need to travel a bit to get there, though.

[John]

GKC,

I have had multiple people tell me that my calling should have been being a minister. I always laugh when they tell me that. Talk about taking a walk towards temptation.

[Robert]

I never really understood Christian theology (Christianity, I guess being the same thing) until I read Rulers of Evil by F. Tupper Saussy.

[Warty]

Sam Harris kinda-sorta defending guns to other atheists. I guess I should appreciate that he's making the case against gun bans to his deranged fans on the radical gun-hating left. But then I see the below. Fuck this guy.

It is hard to argue that anyone needs an AR15 for the purposes of self-defense. If you are shooting someone over 50 yards away in "self-defense", something has either gone very wrong with you or with the society in which you live. It is true that many gun owners think it prudent to prepare for the latter case. While I can't entirely fault their logic or their reading of history, and understand that it is a lot of fun to practice with an AR15, I don't take the civilian need for these guns seriously. So I'm willing to say, in effect, "Fine, let's ban assault weapons. Now can we talk about the real problem of gun violence?"

[Warty]

Oh, and this gem.

But I have gone further in suggesting that owning a gun should be "made as difficult as getting a license to fly an airplane, requiring dozens of hours of training."

Fucking fuck this fucking fuck.

[John]

How the hell did being an atheist get consumed in politics? If anything Atheism should be less political than theists. If you deny God, then you are free to believe in whatever politics you want without worrying that it might conflict with your metaphysical views.

[lap83]

Politics and the media turns everyone's belief systems into caricatures.
So Muslims (to most Americans who don't know any)= women-despising terrorists. Christians (to liberals who don't know any)=ignorant, abortion clinic lurkers/bombers.
Athiests (to Christians)= Power-worshipping dictator wannabes

My view of human nature is that no one is immune from the allure of power. Even a libertarian who became president could turn into a statist.

[John]

For sure. No one is immune from the allure of power. I think what is going on with Atheists is that Leftists have now started to claim to speak for all "atheists". And since leftists are totalitarians who think politics should govern every aspect of life, they have made atheism into a means of advancing leftist politics, just like they do everything else they touch.

[Robert]

It was put best in a South Park bit that was quoted here: that to be an atheist, you not only had to not believe in god, but also (by the evidence of Richard Dawkins) had to be an asshole.

[Soros' Wank-noose]

Oooh...I get to lay this down, for old Sammy

[R C Dean]

It is hard to argue that anyone needs an AR15 for the purposes of self-defense.

That will be news to all those cops who have them now.

. If you are shooting someone over 50 yards away in "self-defense", something has either gone very wrong with you or with the society in which you live.

And it is precisely that second option that justifies it. All self-defense weapons are "just in case" something unlikely happens.

I don't take the civilian need for these guns seriously

Fortunately, your take on my need is totally irrelevant to me.

[John]

I wouldn't say she has no chance. She may win. A lot of people like her. If she does win, it won't be in the same way or for the same reasons Obama won.

If she wins it will be because the media convinced the country whoever the GOP runs is THE CRAZY and people think electing her will put some adults in charge again.

If the Republicans get big majorities in Congress this November and look like they will keep them in 16, I could see her winning because people don't trust either party and figure that Clinton with a Republican Party worked last time so why not try it again.

One thing I would bet on is that it will be a very long time before the country ever gives the Democrats Congress and the White House again.

[John]

I have been to Minnesota a few times and it has its charms. The people there are generally very friendly and a great time. If I ever had to live there, I would need a liver transplant within two winters. How could you make it through that winter sober?

[Kaptious Kristen]

I thought they stopped making Zima!

[LiveFreeOrDiet]

Scottish sex has always been the best sleep aid for me. My first was from a place in Scotland called Twatt. It occurred to me to look the place up a few years ago and it turned out there are two of them.

[Juice]

I didn't think ZMA was a sleep aid. I thought it was a mineral supplement, just zinc and magnesium. How does it help you sleep?

[John]

I have a good friend I met at an Army class last summer who has lived his whole life there. He said this last winter was the worst he has ever seen.

I am friends with him on Facebook and some of his posts are unintentionally right out of Fargo. One day he was saying how he was taking his sons sledding this afternoon because it was in the 20s and he wanted to take them before it got cold tomorrow. Joe is a great guy and one of those earnest and completely honest people that the Midwest seems to grow. He wasn't being ironic or smart. It is just that fucking cold out there.

[John]

I have found the Catholic Masses my wife drags me to to be around 50 minutes. Maybe an hour on Easter or Midnight Mass.

I find them to be a lot shorter than some of the Baptist services I have been drug to over the years.

[lap83]

I'm from MN originally and my parents don't drink at all. But the people who do drink DRINK, such as some of my relatives. You basically have to be a total stoic or you'll turn into an alcoholic.

[John]

Yeah. I am anything but a stoic. I wouldn't stand a chance up there.

[Auric Demonocles]

One day he was saying how he was taking his sons sledding this afternoon because it was in the 20s and he wanted to take them before it got cold tomorrow. Joe is a great guy and one of those earnest and completely honest people that the Midwest seems to grow. He wasn't being ironic or smart. It is just that fucking cold out there

I find it amusing that you find this amusing.

[John]

Not living in the arctic, I would consider the 20s to be pretty fucking cold outside.

[Bobarian]

Scottish sex does help you sleep. Something about counting sheep and kilts.