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Democrats May Face Midterm Drubbing, Inspector General Knew About VA Wait Lists, Libya Gets Even Messier: P.M. Links

J.D. Tuccille | 5.19.2014 4:30 PM

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  • Militias in Tripoli
    Magharebia

    The Democrats continue to look like underdogs heading into the midterm elections. Although it's never safe to ignore the GOP's ability to rip defeat from the jaws of victory, the continuing fiasco that is Obamacare just may be weighing-down the donkey party.

  • The Veterans Administration Inspector General reportedly knew about the possibly lethal waiting lists for care months before the scandal broke.
  • Add Oregon to the list of states where a ban on same-sex marriages was struck down by the courts.
  • Is "chaos-ier" a word? Because that's what Libya is becoming as the forces of a former general seize control of parliament and prepare to battle a rival militia.
  • A New Hampshire police commissioner stepped down after using a racial slur to describe President Obama.
  • Congressional Republicans consider giving schools, and students, relief from not-so-popular "healthy lunch" mandates. Apparently, the nutritional value gets a bit lost when the meal is tossed in the garbage can.

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J.D. Tuccille is a contributing editor at Reason.

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  1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

    Jesse and I are trying to put together a meet up in the next few weeks, possibly a happy hour, Korean BBQ, or Shabu Shabu. Suggestions welcome. Post or email contact info to Jesse if interested.

    Officially, we'll call it Sloopy's Going Away Party. But he already left, so he's just going to see pictures of the celebration in his honor.

    1. John   11 years ago

      You are in NYC right?

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Los Angeles

        1. John   11 years ago

          That is right.

      2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        My handle is derived from this.

      3. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

        playa = beach

        1. Slammer   11 years ago

          Yeah, it's CA, but Ahem

          1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

            whoa

          2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

            Controlled by the Russia Mafia.

          3. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

            Yeah. Occasionally folks will get confused on profiles and be geolocated in LA and have "Manhattan Beach, NY" listed on their profile.

            I hadn't realized there was another Manhattan Beach until I saw that.

            1. Obese American   11 years ago

              How about Torehei or Musha in Torrance?

              1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                Googling now.

                I go to King Shabu Shabu on PCH, but it's getting a little bland for me...

                1. Sudden   11 years ago

                  Y'know Little Tokyo has some great Shabu Shabu places...

                  1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                    I nominate Sudden as Social Chair.

                    1. Sudden   11 years ago

                      I recuse myself lest these meet ups turn into some sort of perverse re-enactment of various scenes from Wolf of Wall Street.

                    2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                      Psht. Like you can get your hands on 'ludes this day and age.

                    3. Agammamon   11 years ago

                      Well, that's still better than re-enacting 'American Psycho'.

                2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                  Kobe Beef Carpaccio for $6.95? Good thing it's near the hospital.

                3. RannedPall   11 years ago

                  That was my go to shabu place when I used to live in Lomita. Haven't been in awhile

            2. Agammamon   11 years ago

              I'm in.

              And on a related topic - can anyone recommend a decent email program?

              I've been using Gmail and Hotmail (don't laugh - they have a pretty damn good spam filter) but I'm getting pissed over Gmail's insistence that I turn on cookies every time I use it. And I'm definitely getting tired of Google's insistence on cross-program integration - I'm seriously considering a *Windows* phone for my next cell.

              1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                Hotmail is usually the address I throw up when I'm worried about spam. Hence using it here, but trying to put together a ReasonLA contacts list with their contact management system is turrible.

                1. Agammamon   11 years ago

                  Hotmail is actually the only one of the three that I use that allows me to log in *without* having to enable cookies and turn my security settings down to minimal.

                  I can't do a fucking thing on any of the Google owned sites without opening myself up to a whole host of vulnerabilities.

                  I don't care about Yahoo anymore - its for the best, since I used to comment on their articles. No need to waste my time in that pit of derp.

                  As a matter of fact, no cookies has kept me out of a lot of pointless internet 'discussion groups'.

                  I've got a HM address that I use as a commerce spam dump and use that Gmail address for personal stuff but I'm seriously thinking about dumping it and getting another HM account for personal.

    2. Ted S.   11 years ago

      If you wanted to be mean, you could call it that "Thank God Sloopy Left Party".

      Or the "We Miss Banjos, But Not Sloopy Party".

    3. db   11 years ago

      shabu shabu. .. yyuuuummmmmm.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        One of the places I was looking at has $1 happy hour Sapporos and hibachis at table for kobe beef belly...

        1. db   11 years ago

          I wish we had a place for shabu shabu in the 'Burgh.

          1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

            Check out the pics:
            http://www.yelp.com/biz/shin-s.....-gardena-2

            I don't think there is anything there I wouldn't gladly eat.

            1. db   11 years ago

              You're just trying to make me jealous.

            2. RannedPall   11 years ago

              Been there. DELICIOUS.

              1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                This is clearly going to turn into an eating contest. I'm getting too old for this shit!

    4. a better weapon   11 years ago

      I'm interested. My email should display.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        I'll forward to Jesse (The unofficial secretary). Where are you located?

      2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        I thought you were in Texas now.

        1. RannedPall   11 years ago

          Gyu kaku? Boiling crab (messy but damn good)? As long as there's booze, I'll be there. The sooner you guys can nail down a date, the better, so I can request it off.

          1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

            Sloopy used to be the decision maker, because he had the furthest to drive. Things have fallen apart since he left.

            1. RannedPall   11 years ago

              Well somebody has to step up and fill the void that sloopy left. We can't just have anarchy.

            2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

              Things have fallen apart since he left.

              Since Friday?

              1. Agammamon   11 years ago

                Look, its not like this was a tightly run ship to start with.

                We're always one chinaman away from a Chinese fire-drill at the best of times.

                THAT'S RACIST!

            3. Raven Nation   11 years ago

              Where did Sloopy & Banjos go?

              1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                Banjos took a job in the DC area.

        2. a better weapon   11 years ago

          I was, but just took a job at UCLA this month.

          I'm right off the Culver Blvd exit off the 90.

    5. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Hello.

    6. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Can't make it.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        I'll pencil you in for next summer. Or is it the summer after?

  2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The Democrats continue to look like underdogs heading into the midterm elections.

    Yeah and the GOP risks mid-term decimation over the rape comments that one guy's about to make.

    1. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

      In the Georgia primary the crazy Creationist Teabagger (Paul Broun) is running fourth.

      Georgia will remain safe Team Red then.

      You have my word on it!

    2. Agammamon   11 years ago

      I wonder if Soros pays some of these guys off.

      Hey, I'll give you a chunk of stock in a good company if you'll say something completely retarded about rape.

  3. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

    First from Spain!

    1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      No puedes saberlo con certeza.

    2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      Are you going to make it to Barcelona?

      1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

        Not this trip, though Barcelona is my favorite European city. But I just heard some good news that may lead to a Barcelona trip in September! Toasting the possibility now.

        1. db   11 years ago

          I was just there for the first.time a couple of.weeks ago. Beautiful city. and I generally don't like cities.

        2. paranoid android   11 years ago

          My sister just got a position teaching English in Barcelona, leading me to question all life decisions I've ever made--and I'm only three years older than she is.

          1. William of Purple   11 years ago

            How did she get a Visa?

        3. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

          I had a beachside apartment in Sitges one summer, which is a few miles down the coast from Barcelona. I had no idea it was the gay capital of Europe until I got there. Didn't matter though, there were nice boobies everywhere.

          1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

            We met up with friends in Sitges when we were last in Barcelona. Lots of good times going on, including tons of blow everywhere, done openly in bars that were carved out caves. The ride down the coast to get there was amazing, through about 30 tunnels. Lots of USA expats. Some locals tried to get me into a bar argument to counter their point that 'America sucks,' but we managed to talk our way out.

            1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

              My cousin is an ex pat (sort of) working for the State Dept there.

              The caves that interested me most were the ones with $1000 aged hams hanging everywhere....

    3. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

      Well, almost first, but certainly the first post from someone who just found out his tapas bar had free wifi, connected to the Internet, and stumbled onto PM links just as they came up, despite the fact that it is 10:30 pm here.

      1. Andrew S.   11 years ago

        10:30 pm dinner? That's dining pretty early for Spain, isn't it?

        1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

          Pre - dinner cocktails right now.

      2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        You should have come across like you were bragging you made the first comment of anyone in Spain, which is how I took your meaning.

        1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

          Si Se Puede!

  4. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Add Oregon to the list of states where a ban on same-sex marriages was struck down by the courts.

    Get onboard with Shackford's phrasing, Tuccille.

    1. Winston   11 years ago

      Whatever happened to "legalize recognition of Same-Sex marriage."

  5. Archduke von Pantsfan   11 years ago

    For Victoria Day: Essential Facts about Queen Victoria.

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Her father is the man after whom Prince Edward Island is named.

    2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Did she bang that Scottish dude?

      1. Ted S.   11 years ago

        She was Queen. She could bang anybody she wanted.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Ha! Ask Elizabeth I about that.

        2. db   11 years ago

          Except that non-nobles could be executed for helping her out with that, right?

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      Fact 1: Incredibly unattractive

      1. Isaac Bartram   11 years ago

        Not really.

        She may not have been a great beauty but as a young woman she was not unattractive by the standards of the day.

        She gained weight as she aged and even then slim was considered better looking than fat. So she certainly lost a lot of her looks in middle age.

        But even in old age she was hardly "Incredibly unattractive" compared to other old women. Especilay not if compared to working class women who were usually haggard at thirty (if they lived that long).

        1. Slammer   11 years ago

          I've always had a crush on young Elizabeth II.

      2. Corning   11 years ago

        she had 9 kids...

        someone found her attractive...plus how would you look if you had 9 kids.

    4. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Here in Quebec, they celebrate "La journee de les patriotes." What a fucking joke. The cynic in me wonders why they settled on Victoria Day to push their nationalist agenda.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Eh they want to keep the Holiday but not celebrate an English Queen?

  6. Slammer   11 years ago

    The Veterans Administration Inspector General reportedly knew about the possibly lethal waiting lists for care months before the scandal broke.

    Scandal?

    1. Rich   11 years ago

      Exactly.

      "Reportedly"? "Possibly"?

      Move along, Citizen ?.

    2. The Other Kevin   11 years ago

      Sorry, that should be, "partisan-created fake scandal".

    3. John   11 years ago

      If it can't be traced back to the Chocolate Nixon, it might be a scandal.

      1. Brandon   11 years ago

        He just found out about it the other day, and he is just as outraged as you. He is so outraged that he is considering increasing the chocolate ration.

        1. Ska   11 years ago

          14.04.09 BB refs unpersons rewrite fullwise upsub antefiling.

        2. pan fried wylie   11 years ago

          "increasing the chocolate ration" = An Extra SOTU?

        3. Not an Economist   11 years ago

          He did.

          1. Not an Economist   11 years ago

            Link to the above.

  7. Winston   11 years ago

    GOP's ability to rip defeat from the jaws of victory

    I now know the GOP is indeed becoming more libertarian every day.

    1. Corning   11 years ago

      libertarians have not come within a hemisphere of the jaws of victory.

  8. Ted S.   11 years ago

    Oh dear: They're back to linking to 24/7, at least in one of the stories.

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Ted S. SMASH!

  9. Archduke von Pantsfan   11 years ago

    Lionel Messi is set to become the highest-paid player in the soccer world after he agreed to sign a new contract with FC Barcelona on Friday.

    On Friday, (now former) Barcelona head coach Tata Martino said Messi's new contract should end any strife between the club and its star player.

  10. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    James Taranto on trigger warnings for college reading assignments.

    http://online.wsj.com/news/art.....29692.html

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Jesus Christ, I wish this more offended than thou fad would pass. Its not like they're reading Lolita to Elizabeth Smart.

      1. Fluffy   11 years ago

        Elizabeth Smart probably would think Lolita sounded like a trip to Disney World.

        1. Brett L   11 years ago

          A fair point, but I couldn't think of anything else in the canon that has a real complaint against it. Especially now. Reading about a lynching in college where people actually burned a cross in your daddy's yard might actually trigger a panic attack. I don't think that's happened to any Oberlin students this generation unless they burned the cross.

      2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Very poor taste. I like it.

    2. John   11 years ago

      And as usual Oberlin leads the way

      Triggers are not only relevant to sexual misconduct, but also to anything that might cause trauma. Be aware of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other Issues of privilege and oppression. Realize that all forms of violence are traumatic, and that your students have lives before and outside your classroom, experiences you may not expect or understand." ("Cissexism" refers to prejudice in favor of men and women who identify themselves, respectively, as men and women.)

      1. Slammer   11 years ago

        When everything is a trigger, there are no triggers.

      2. Winston   11 years ago

        Isn't like reading ableist against the blind?

      3. Rich   11 years ago

        Obviously that paragraph should have been prefaced by a *meta-trigger*. Let the lawsuits begin!

      4. ~Knarf Yenrab~   11 years ago

        Heckler's vetoes for everyone!

      5. a better weapon   11 years ago

        Realize that all forms of violence are traumatic, and that your students have lives before and outside your classroom, experiences you may not expect or understand.

        So how are the professors supposed to know when to put in a trigger warning?

        1. Agammamon   11 years ago

          They are not. They *are*, however, expected to grovel profusely when one of their students claims psychic injury from a topic of discussion in the course, or if one of the other students in the class says something they don't like, or someone somewhere does the same.

    3. PD Scott   11 years ago

      Oh, if only the trigger warning was "do the required coursework or fail the class."

  11. Paul.   11 years ago

    The Veterans Administration Inspector General reportedly knew about the possibly lethal waiting lists for care months before the scandal broke.

    I'm heading into the wayback machine here, so bear with me, but weren't we told by the progressive party machine when healthcare reform was being debated vis-a-vis Obamacare, that rationing was normal, fair and expected?

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Lethal Waiting Lists vs. Death Panels?

      1. Mike M.   11 years ago

        More like rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies.

      2. John   11 years ago

        Look, only idiot racist tea baggers like Sarah Palin think there are death panels. We do have care priority lists and those are totally different, you racist.

        1. BigT   11 years ago

          Death panels are active, death waiting lists are passive. So, no aggression to be resisted.

  12. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    Tagalog in California, Cherokee in Arkansas: What language does your state speak?

    The most-commonly spoken language other than English map is pretty unsurprising. The map of most-commonly spoken languages other than English or Spanish map, though, is pretty interesting.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Lots of German. They--well, we--are insidious.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Amish included.

        1. db   11 years ago

          I was in ATL waiting for a flight back to PIT two weekends ago and there was a group of Amish (or Mennonites) there speaking some kind of patois that sounded like a mashup gibberish of German, Dutch, and Valley Girl.

      2. Ted S.   11 years ago

        Das ist keine ?berraschung.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          I read somewhere that German is the biggest single nationality in the U.S. in the sense that more of us are descended from German immigrants than from anything else.

          1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

            I think we're #2 after the English, actually, with the Irish taking the bronze.

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              I can't say for sure, and I don't remember the source, but it surprised me at the time.

              1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                I remember learning that in school, but it is probably out of date by now.

            2. Emmerson Biggins   11 years ago

              I'd guess that the % of people with English but no German DNA or vice versa is pretty godam small regardless. Maybe just cause I'm such a white boy mutt though.

          2. Zeb   11 years ago

            And until surprisingly recently, I think it was the second most common primary language after English.

            1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

              I grew up hearing it spoken frequently in my grandparents and great-grandparents houses, the PA version of it, that is, which is sadly becoming a dead language. Fewer and fewer people each year know what a hoofy is, and the world is poorer for it. Sigh.

              1. Old Man With Candy   11 years ago

                Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch, aber ich habe keine ahnung- was bedeutet "hoofy"?

          3. Restoras   11 years ago

            http://www.businessinsider.com.....ica-2013-8

            Funny, this

            49,206,934 Germans

            The largest wave of Germans came to America during the middle of the 19th century, facing civil unrest and high unemployment at home. Today, the majority of German-Americans can be found in the non-coastal states, with the largest number in Maricopa County, Arizona. Famous Americans of German descent include Sandra Bullock, John Steinbeck, Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Tom Cruise, Uma Thurman, David Letterman, Walt Disney, Henry J. Heinz, and Oscar Mayer.

            explains a lot...

            1. Agammamon   11 years ago

              Hmm, is Arpaio a german name?

          4. Invisible Finger   11 years ago

            This is why we have a functioning economy on the verge of being ruined by socialists.

      3. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

        I'm a little surprised that Oregon went Russian. I know there's a lot of Russian immigrants here, but there's still a lot of German-speaking communities as well...though I suppose they've had more time to fully assimilate, so there may be a lot fewer people who use it as their primary language.

      4. Corning   11 years ago

        No shit.

        By way of the Saxons they pretty much are everywhere.

        I recently read they started in Denmark.

        In 1000 BC passing aliens would have looked at those cunts and said.

        "Those cunts are going nowhere."

    2. Ted S.   11 years ago

      I could go for some tagalongs right about now.

    3. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      Some of those maps are almost unbelievable. Almost.

      1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

        How so?

        1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

          In my neck of the woods, the Chinese neighborhoods are way bigger than the Filipino ones. Way, way bigger. Same with the Bay Area.

          I would have to assume that there are more Mandarin and Cantonese speakers than Tagalog speakers in CA.

          1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

            For instance, some people answered the ACS with "Chinese," while others gave specific dialects such as "Mandarin" or "Cantonese". These were all treated as different languages in the ACS data and when constructing these maps. (See the raw data here.) New York is marked "Chinese" because more people responded with "Chinese" than any other language other than English or Spanish. If all Chinese languages (or languages under the umbrella of a larger language family) had been grouped together, the answers for many states would change.

            1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

              So we are in agreement. The map maker sucks.

              1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

                That was a quote from the map maker.

              2. Sudden   11 years ago

                How is Japanese not the second most common language in Hawaii too? Way more native Japanese than Filipinos there.

                1. grrizzly   11 years ago

                  I was surprised that Hawaiian wasn't on the map.

                2. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

                  According to Wikipedia:

                  Hawaii's Asian population mainly consists of 198,000 (14.6%) Filipino Americans and 185,000 (13.6%) Japanese Americans. In addition, there are roughly 55,000 (4.0%) Chinese Americans and 24,000 (1.8%) Korean Americans.

                  So they are pretty close in number.

                  Of course when you say "native" I presume you mean "born in Japan/the Philippines", which this of course does not illuminate.

                  Looking at the raw language data, there are only about 4000 more Tagalog speakers than Japanese, so it's again a pretty close race.

                3. Calidissident   11 years ago

                  I'm pretty sure that the Japanese-American population generally has the lowest proportion of immigrants among Asian-American groups.

          2. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

            I checked the data; you are correct -- if you add up everyone who wrote simply "Chinese" along with more specific names, there are about 200K more Chinese speakers than Tagalog speakers in California.

            Personally, I would like to see the Census Bureau somehow nudge people into saying something more informative than "Chinese" when asked their language.

            1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

              Good enough for government work.

              I just knew that my anecdotal experience was correct.

              1. Calidissident   11 years ago

                Chinese isn't just one language, though. Mandarin and Cantonese (among others) are different languages. Related, but different. I would presume that most people who put "Chinese" probably speak Mandarin.

                1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

                  That's why I scarequoted "Chinese"

                  1. Calidissident   11 years ago

                    That was more a response to Playa, not you, my apologies on the lack of clarity.

                    1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                      My original guess was that there were more Mandarin speakers than Tagalog speakers in CA, and more Cantonese speakers then Tagalog speakers in CA.

                    2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                      then=than

                    3. Calidissident   11 years ago

                      Well that isn't possible, given the numbers. Depending on the ratio of Mandarin to Cantonese, the larger (almost surely Mandarin) may still come out ahead of Tagalog.

    4. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

      Holy shit, there ARE a lot of Portuguese in Rhode Island...

    5. Agammamon   11 years ago

      Tagalog in CA is completely unsurprising to anyone who has been in the US Navy. The Pilipino Mapia has roots all up and down the coast of that state.

  13. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

    A Huffpo article on Erectile Dysfunction

    We have entered the age of the entitled penis, the penis-in-denial, the penis-as-revenge against the Grim Reaper. Our artificial national erection has become a metaphor for what ails America: patriarchal fist pumping without end; avoidance of softness and vulnerability; the cultural denial of death; and the synonyous-making of manhood and manhood that leaves men's brains humming with one inner mantra. I get hard, therefore I am.

    1. Paul.   11 years ago

      Where does that leave the manufacturer of KY Jelly?

    2. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

      I think I got ED reading that paragraph.

    3. John   11 years ago

      Hormone treatment for women with no libido is just empowerment.

      1. Warty   11 years ago

        While hormone treatment for men is dangerous and has to be stamped out with restrictive laws and class-action lawsuits.

        1. John   11 years ago

          We don't want men staying young and fit. It just makes them more dangerous rapists.

          1. Warty   11 years ago

            It's hard not to conclude that the mandarins hate manhood, isn't it?

            1. John   11 years ago

              I don't think that is going to work out very well for them.

    4. Rich   11 years ago

      a metaphor for what ails America: patriarchal fist pumping without end

      Fap-fap-fap-fap-??.

    5. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      We should coat our next gen stealth bombers in that text. I keep trying to read it, but my eyes slide right past it.

      1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

        Penis. Penis. Penis.

      2. db   11 years ago

        Win.

    6. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Somebody send that writer a copy of Zardoz.

      1. pan fried wylie   11 years ago

        Zardoz sounds like the pharmacological antithesis of Viagra.

    7. Christophe   11 years ago

      "New Puritans" is spot-on accurate.

  14. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    A New Hampshire police commissioner stepped down after using a racial slur to describe President Obama.

    Boston PD will take him.

  15. Winston   11 years ago

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1804_Haiti_Massacre

    Does this make Jean-Jacques Dessalines the ultimate Progressive?

  16. PD Scott   11 years ago

    You may disagree, but I think this song is pretty libertarian. Or "fellow travelers", at least. From 1952, Lulu Belle & Scotty "I'm No Communist"

    Our government is bigger than it ever was today
    The more they hire to work for it, the more they have to pay
    Our public servants should be proud and honest you would think
    Instead of taking bribes and dressing up their wives in mink

    The taxes keep on going up of that there is no doubt
    But still they just can't take it in as fast as they dish it out
    Our national debt is monster size and growin' every day
    Our children's children, still unborn are gonna have to pay

    Our dollar used be the soundest money on this earth
    But now two bucks won't even buy a good old dollar's worth
    Unless we stop inflation and take care of what we've got
    The Communists may win the fight and never fire a shot

    1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      Nice.

    2. Warty   11 years ago

      Some excellent comments there.

      Los Comunistas1 year ago

      lol this sold how utterly dumb things were in the USA and probably still are. Communism is ultimately NOT about government, it is about its gradual withering away into a completely stateless society. It is only in the first primitive phase of communism, called socialism, that there exists a government, a state

      Los Comunistas1 year agoin reply to TaleOfValors

      wrong, there are many who lived in USSR (spoken to them) who say the old system was far better, there was generally job security, and huge social benefits. Free health care like in new zealand. Now you have a fascist capitalist dictatorship of rich corrupt tyrants, you got your wish, no sympathy

      Stannis Baratheon11 months ago

      This is pathetic. It really is, this brainwash propaganda you Americans make is almost as bad as the one the Nazis did, well you both hate communism and you're both imperialists, that's something you have in common. USSR had it's flaws, of course, I didn't support USSR, but you people have no idea of what Communism is, Communism wasn't just the Soviets, capitalism will drain our world of resources while people suffer with no food. You should be ashamed of supporting this hate-fueled propaganda.

      1. PD Scott   11 years ago

        Good God, man, how do you expect to retain your sanity if you read Youtube comments?

  17. Archduke von Pantsfan   11 years ago

    Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' Targeted for Plagiarism

    1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      Huh, never noticed that. It's not a pure copy, being a little different, but parts are close.

      Still, I don't know how much of a case they'd have.

      1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

        Smoke on the Water was ripped off a Bossa Nova tune.

    2. John   11 years ago

      Isn't not suing for 40 years kind of a problem? What, did they not turn on a radio for 43 years and thus missed the song?

      1. Zeb   11 years ago

        They claim that they didn't have money for attorneys until now.
        I can't imagine they have a case. It's just not the same music. There is a whole industry of making songs that sound sort of like hit songs in just that way. You really have to copy lyrics or music note-for-note to have a case like that I think.
        And just about all popular music references earlier works. That's just how it is.

        1. John   11 years ago

          I can't see it either. And the song came out in 1971. Spirit was still a signed and functioning band then. They didn't have the money to hire an attorney to get a piece of the most played song in FM radio history? Doubtful.

          1. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

            Randy California (guitar / singer) has previously said they just wanted Zep to acknowledge they "borrowed" the tune.

    3. Zeb   11 years ago

      That's not the same or even very close. Hardly a rip off. I'm sure there is some ever earlier song that sounds similar to that one too. It's hardly an innovative or complicated guitar line.

    4. db   11 years ago

      Quite a few of.their.songs have guitar and bass lines lifted right out of blues recordings from the 1930s.and.'40s.

      1. John   11 years ago

        Quite a few of every rock band in history's songs have guitar and bass lines lifted right out of blues recordings from the 1930s.and.'40s.

        Fixed it for you.

      2. Zeb   11 years ago

        Yeah. And all of those artists from the 30s and 40s were copying stuff that they heard from other people who never got recorded.

        1. db   11 years ago

          Who's making the value.judgment here?

          1. Zeb   11 years ago

            Not me. That's just how music (and literature and painting, etc.) works. Especially with folky vernacular stuff like the blues.

    5. 110 Lean   11 years ago

      Bullshit. That is about as common a chord progression as they come. Hell, someone could claim Spirit ripped off It's Been a Long, Long Time by Louis Armstrong

    6. BigT   11 years ago

      Taurus?? Bull!!

      Is this just a big PR stunt to reawaken people to Spirit's music? Love Mr Skin.

    7. robc   11 years ago

      I wonder if Kansas Joe McCoy and Mississippi Minnie* get a few cents every time "When The Levee Breaks" is played?

      *or their heirs

  18. Archduke von Pantsfan   11 years ago

    Gonna be tough for the Habs to beat the Rangers without a goalie.

    1. Andrew S.   11 years ago

      So I'm going to have to root for the Blackhawks in the finals again. Gag.

      At least the Penguins lost.

      1. Ted S.   11 years ago

        And listen to sports talk (if I turn it on) talk about the Rangers. Gag.

    2. Shirley Knott   11 years ago

      So that makes them the Hab-nots?

    3. BigT   11 years ago

      Kreider should have been suspended

    4. Sudden   11 years ago

      At least the rangers won't have your goals disallowed for "goalie interference." (still smarting over that BS call even though the Blackhawks overcame it).

  19. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The Veterans Administration Inspector General reportedly knew about the possibly lethal waiting lists for care months before the scandal broke.

    I'd hate to think he found out in the newspaper.

    1. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

      This is one of those damned-if-you-did, damned-if-you-didn't dilemmas.

  20. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

    SIAP: http://www.salon.com/2014/05/1.....t_failure/

    To be fair, this is one of the more thoughtful anti-libertarian pieces to come out lately. But it still relies on the old trope that "libertarianism only works in a fantasy world."

    1. Brett L   11 years ago

      Unlike Socialism, which works every time in the real world -- just not the way its apologists think it will.

      1. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

        Good point. Socialism and libertarianism have an equal failure rate - 100%.

        I had not considered that before.

        1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

          Hey Weigel.

        2. Fluffy   11 years ago

          They have vastly different standards of success.

          Libertarianism succeeds even when it "fails".

          Because I never fucking promised you a rose garden.

        3. Juice   11 years ago

          Really? Where was liberty (for real, with no slavery) ever tried and then it failed?

          1. Tak Kak   11 years ago

            Somalia!

            The road (dilapidated and filled with war lords) always leads to Somalia.

            1. Agammamon   11 years ago

              Its like, zen, man.

              The road to libertopia always leads to Somalia, but there are no roads in Somalia.

              Boom, mind blown.

    2. Red Rocks Rockin   11 years ago

      Heh--"estrangement from history." Rather delicious irony given that we're coming up on the anniversary of WW1. Who the hell would take a look at the industrialized slaughter engendered by various governments over the last 100 years, often in the name of "progress," and come to believe that just maybe the cult of the Central State wasn't all it was cracked up to be?

      This is why I laugh at hoplophobic leftists crying about guns in society--as if Jethro and Billy Bob in their right-wing militia are capable of causing even 1/100th the level of destruction that governments have unleashed.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Wasn't WWI a major blow against classical liberalism pretty much everywhere?

        The amount of government control used to produce the needed supplies, arms and troops not only required the sacrifice of classical liberalism but WWI (and WWII) did inspire future generations of socialists that TOP.MEN. could mobilize society for Total War so why not mobilize society in peacetime?

        Not to mention the ensuing economic dislocations in Europe provided able ground for Fascism, Communism and You Know Who.

        1. John   11 years ago

          It was a massive blow to humanity. But it wasn't the result of classical liberalism. It was the result of nationalism. You can't pin nationalism on classical liberalism. It is the French Revolution that started that, and a lot of other things.

          1. Restoras   11 years ago

            The unification of Germany and Italy into nation states didn't help either.

            1. PD Scott   11 years ago

              Unification because of nationalism. Nationalism was the hip new thing.

              That, and Germans were tired of being the Belgium of the 16-19th century, other people's armies always marching across them...

          2. Winston   11 years ago

            It was a massive blow to humanity

            Oh yeah, I missed that.

            But it wasn't the result of classical liberalism. It was the result of nationalism. You can't pin nationalism on classical liberalism. It is the French Revolution that started that, and a lot of other things.

            You misunderstood. I didn't blame the war on classical liberalism but that the War Economy seemed to show that centrally planned economies could work and that the post-war chaos was beneficial to fascism and communism.

            1. John   11 years ago

              For sure. Lenin got a lot of ideas from German war socialism.

              1. Winston   11 years ago

                In Canada during WWII the CCF (precursor to the NDP) like to say they supporting the conscription of wealth rather than men.

                I'm also amused that thanks to the Allies including Stalin the Communist parties in Canada, US and UK supported conscription and in India the Communists supported the British War effort.

          3. Warty   11 years ago

            The french Nation in Arms, or whatever they called it, was the worst thing to happen to humanity since at least classical times. Once the kings and presidents realized they could in fact control society enough to field armies that huge, the world wars were inevitable.

        2. Red Rocks Rockin   11 years ago

          Wasn't WWI a major blow against classical liberalism pretty much everywhere?

          Yeah, I'd say so--in Europe at least, it was the final nail in the coffin. The ideas of classical liberalism and the Enlightenment had been eroding for most of the 19th century. I think it took the Great Depression and WW2 to finally kill it off here for good, though. FDR at least tried to give lip service to the very thing he was attempting to strangle, even if the fashion-obsessed academics in his "brain trust" were quite open in their contempt for the concept.

          It really wasn't until after the war that increasing centralization and technocracy became the conventional wisdom, because those forces had been harnessed in a very successful way. Truman and the post-war Dems tripped up in confusing a wartime economy with a peacetime economy, though, and never did grasp the limits of scale and the ability of increasingly centralized bureaucracies to deal with socially and ethnically diverse populations that weren't under war duress. Eisenhower addressed this in his farewell speech but as is usual, everyone missed the point and thought he was just talking about the MIC (contrary to popular belief, it's not solely about the MIC, he simply identified the MIC as a primary example).

    3. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

      I tend to think that we/they make this kind of criticism too easy by overselling libertarianism. Instead of claiming that everyone will be richer, happier, and freer in libertopia, maybe we should just say that freedom is worth more than the costs of a relatively moderate drop in the average standard of living.

      1. kbolino   11 years ago

        It is very hard to argue principles with people who can't see past the nobility of their own intentions.

        Forcing them to own up to the consequences of their failed ideology is impossible, because once they're done being apologists for one disaster, they move right on to being apologists for the next.

  21. Archduke von Pantsfan   11 years ago

    Physicists have discovered how to turn light into matter ? and reckon we have the technology to do it

    1. Winston   11 years ago

      I want to see if science can prove that traveling at infinite speed will turn people into giant horny salamanders.

    2. Shirley Knott   11 years ago

      As long as by 'matter' you mean 'electrons'. I don't think most folks think they get matter out of their electric sockets.

    3. Ted S.   11 years ago

      If light is a particle, isn't it technically matter?

      [ducking]

      1. Paul.   11 years ago

        *nods slowly*

        1. Corning   11 years ago

          Fucking physicists!!

          Can't they just say turning photons into electrons?

          But NoooOO. They got to bring up god damn Star Trek replicators.

  22. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

    A teacher fantasizes about his perfect Charter School:

    My pretend school is called the Progressive Institute of Student Awesomeness (PISA).

    PISA teachers would have autonomy and high expectations and job security. Class sizes are small -- 18 to 20 students at most

    *Record Scratch* He fucked up already.

    1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

      Oh lol, he was just pulling our leg anyway:

      Above and beyond all of my progressive ideas about school, I believe in public education above all else. No matter how great, the imagined PISA hurts public education and hurts our country because it stands alone, or represents the elitist nature of the charter, and can't be replicated to serve the interests of all.

      No one left behind and no one excluded from the best we can muster. Those are the ideals we should pursue as we seek to enhance our public schools. Shouldn't every student have a school like PISA?

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Shouldn't every student have a school like PISA?

        No. No brainer. Next question.

        1. db   11 years ago

          This. The "meat grinder" animation in The Wall is a perfect metaphor for modern public education. Everyone gets forced in, regardless of aptitude, intelligence, or background, forced through the same degrading process at the same rate, and ends up as part of a homogeneous mush at the end.

          1. Winston   11 years ago

            So how long before The Wall is banned as racist hate speech for saying that Government Schools suck and are conformist?

            1. db   11 years ago

              I'm sure Bob Geldof, if he ever stopped to think about it, would be appalled by his participation in such a project.

              1. Winston   11 years ago

                He'll probably say that he was just against the fact that Wrong TOP. MEN. were running British government schools back then.

              2. Winston   11 years ago

                Or that he was attacking the British Public (i.e. private boarding schools) schools rather than state (i.e. what we think of as "public" schools) schools.

      2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        No one left behind and no one excluded from the best we can muster.

        I thought we'd stopped leaving children behind during the Bush years...

        1. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

          Only if "no one left behind" means "nobody goes anywhere."

      3. Agammamon   11 years ago

        And no one allowed to get ahead.

    2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      He seems to be focused on what the teachers get.

      1. Paul.   11 years ago

        I'm glad you pointed that out. What do the kids get, I refuse to click through.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Happier teachers. It's trickle-down education.

        2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

          I don't know. I'm not clicking through and putting money in their pockets.

          1. Andrew S.   11 years ago

            Here, try this one

        3. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

          Oh, the kids, they get:

          Teachers receive free tuition to take courses at the best local public university, each expected to either possess or work towards Master's degrees in pedagogy and content. Part of the job at PISA is to contribute to the scholarship on teaching and learning through professional reading, writing, and sharing with others.

          Whoops, I mean:

          PISA students would experience mandatory arts programs.

          1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

            As far as I can tell there is only one class in the teacher credentialing certificating program that has benefited any of my teacher friends in any way. WHY would you need a Masters in pedagogy. If there's more interesting stuff to learn put it on a lower shelf so everyone gets it, if not, stop wasting teachers' time with useless classes.

            1. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

              Teachers have been brainwashed well though. All of the teachers I graduated with (2008) that are now finishing their masters programs are very proud of themselves.

              Hard work! Masters! I am now the greatest teacher ever!

              1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

                Six years? Please tell me they have been doing their masters alongside teaching.

                1. Paul.   11 years ago

                  I'd hope so. I've been tempted to hand some of my daughter's teachers a juice box and a bag of goldfish crackers.

                2. Certified Public Asskicker   11 years ago

                  They have. Some have completed their masters faster, but most still within the last 2-3 years.

            2. gaijin   11 years ago

              take courses at the best local public university

              Why should teachers get to go to the 'best' local University? Wouldn't his ideal include all universities being equal?

      2. Andrew S.   11 years ago

        And here's everything you need to know about how much he cares about the students themselves:

        When charter schools succeed, I cringe. I believe that the schools-worth of students belong with their peers, helping to raise everyone in our American society, not just the few who are chosen by a lottery or whose parents can get them to the charter or private school.

        1. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

          ...not just the few who are chosen by a lottery...

          The reason some cities use a lottery is because assholes like you drastically limit the amount of spaces available to save your asshole union buddies' jobs.

    3. Andrew S.   11 years ago

      The charter school my daughter will start at in the Fall pulls from the community on purely the basis of a random lottery. Yet it still manages to be a better school (especially for Middle/High School)with higher test scores than any of the Public Schools in the community. Wonder why that is.

      1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

        The proper comparison is to the losers of the lottery.

        . Yet it still manages to be a better school (especially for Middle/High School

        Doubtful. Educational intervention, experiments, etc. are less effective with older children.

        1. Andrew S.   11 years ago

          The charter goes from K to 12, so the older kids there are going to have been in that system their entire educational careers.

          And the losers of the lottery tend to be the kids from the same area. There's no direct comparison, but it's fairly startling the difference between the schools.

          1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

            the older kids there are going to have been in that system their entire educational careers.

            They're also kids who are smart/motivated enough to pass an advanced curriculum for many years.

            And the losers of the lottery tend to be the kids from the same area.

            There's a lot of variance in any district.

          2. Christophe   11 years ago

            I think Sidd's saying that people even just applying are self-selected for good family backgrounds, so comparing winners and losers of the lottery gives you the most direct comparaison.

            1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

              Right. A random lottery followed by tracking the winners and losers is the gold standard for education experiments. It's shitty for the losers of the lottery, but it's super duper shitty to not at least get the data.

      2. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

        Yet [the charter] still manages to be a better school (especially for Middle/High School)with higher test scores than any of the Public Schools in the community. Wonder why that is.

        Andrew, do parents have to apply at all, or is it truly random blind assignment? Because if it doesn't have spaces for kids whose parents can't be bothered to fill out a form, I think I can get to a big chunk of why that might be.

        1. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

          Oops. I will scroll down in the future.

          At any rate, let me rec 2 movies to watch if you haven't seen them: Freakonomics (or read the book) and Waiting for Superman.

    4. Brett L   11 years ago

      Progressive Institute of Student Awesomness -- Schooling Humans in Things?

      1. Fluffy   11 years ago

        "What is this, a charter school for ANTS?"

        1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

          "How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read if they can't even fit inside the building?"

          "The building has to be at least... three times bigger than this!"

    5. #   11 years ago

      "PISA teachers would have... high expectations and job security."

      Little tough to enforce the first with that latter, don't you think?

      1. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

        He said the teachers would have high expectations, not that they would meet high expectations.

  23. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    Prison reform programs produce high income, art

    Prison reform programs, ranging from making soy sauce to creating works of art or doing woodwork, have often garnered positive feedback from society and are constantly breaking annual income records at their respective prisons.

    According to the Agency of Corrections, the total income from produce sales for all prisons across the nation exceeded NT$460 million (US$15 million) last year, exceeding the total income of 2012 by 13 percent.

    Chiu added that some of his colleagues, upon hearing that they would be transferred to other facilities, even ordered a sand drawing to remember their stay at the prison.

    1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      Soy sauce? I would not eat something made in a prison.

      1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

        Well the one advantage to slave labor is that you don't run into the problem of products made on Friday not being as high quality as those made on Tuesday. This can't be impossibly different.

        1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          The Friday sauce may be the same as the Tuesday sauce, but that's not saying much. The problem is, it's all made by unhappy and resentful people.

          1. Corning   11 years ago

            Cooking food in prison compared to other prison activities would be the highlight of my day.

            1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

              But many of your co-workers would be sociopaths, who are not known for conscientious and considerate work.

      2. Agammamon   11 years ago

        Is it made in the toilet with leftover fish and hair?

    2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Prisons, the new monasteries?

      NOW with more less approximately the same amounts of sodomy!

      1. Brandon   11 years ago

        What is it with you and sodomy? Oh, yeah...

        1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

          I actually blame marathoning "Oz"

  24. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    NPR vs. New Republic - the latest progressive catfight: Is the song "Turkey in the Straw" racist?

    http://www.newrepublic.com/art.....ign=buffer

    1. Paul.   11 years ago

      I may be on one of my longest NPR-no-listen streaks ever. Thank you for reminding me why.

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      Let's see:

      "Well, if frogs had wings and snakes had hair,
      And automobiles went flyin' thro' the air,
      Well, if watermelons grew on a huckleberry vine,
      We'd still have winter in the summer time."

      It contains the W-word, so Ima say "yes".

    3. Ted S.   11 years ago

      It should be "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the Straw".

    4. Ted S.   11 years ago

      No, it's not racist at all.

    5. Agammamon   11 years ago

      but the melody reached the nation only after it was appropriated by traveling blackface minstrel shows

      So, why can't ice cream truck re-appropriate the song from the racists?

  25. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    NPR vs. New Republic - the latest progressive catfight: Is the song "Turkey in the Straw" racist?

    http://www.newrepublic.com/art.....ign=buffer

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      What? That's like total Americana. So what if someone stole the tune for a while? Not like that doesn't happen to songs all of the time--look at the U.S. national anthem.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        That's like total Americana.

        Raacist!!

    2. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Of course it's racist. Who could possibly think otherwise?

  26. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    NPR vs. New Republic - the latest progressive catfight: Is the song "Turkey in the Straw" racist?

    http://www.newrepublic.com/art.....ign=buffer

    1. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

      what the heck?

      1. Slammer   11 years ago

        Squirrelz in the Straw

    2. Ted S.   11 years ago

      It may or may not be racist, depending upon the context in which it's used.

    3. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      Is it racist?

      The only question that matters.

  27. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

    Pauly Krugnuts: Health Care Confidential
    ..I know about a health care system that has been highly successful in containing costs, yet provides excellent care. And the story of this system's success provides a helpful corrective to anti-government ideology. For the government doesn't just pay the bills in this system -- it runs the hospitals and clinics.

    No, I'm not talking about some faraway country. The system in question is our very own Veterans Health Administration, whose success story is one of the best-kept secrets in the American policy debate....

    ...The secret of its success is the fact that it's a universal, integrated system. Because it covers all veterans, the system doesn't need to employ legions of administrative staff to check patients' coverage and demand payment from their insurance companies. Because it covers all aspects of medical care, it has been able to take the lead in electronic record-keeping and other innovations that reduce costs, ensure effective treatment and help prevent medical errors.

    1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

      Moreover, the V.H.A., as Phillip Longman put it in The Washington Monthly, ''has nearly a lifetime relationship with its patients.'' As a result, it ''actually has an incentive to invest in prevention and more effective disease management. When it does so, it isn't just saving money for somebody else. It's maximizing its own resources. In short, it can do what the rest of the health care sector can't seem to, which is to pursue quality systematically without threatening its own financial viability.''...

      ...For the lesson of the V.H.A.'s success story -- that a government agency can deliver better care at lower cost than the private sector -- runs completely counter to the pro-privatization, anti-government conventional wisdom that dominates today's Washington....

    2. Matrix   11 years ago

      BWAHAHAHA! How's that working out for you, Krugnuts? Go fuck yourself!

    3. PD Scott   11 years ago

      "Because it covers all veterans... Because it covers all aspects of medical care..."

      So, when my Navy veteran father who served on aircraft carriers went to the VA and asked for hearing aids he must have been imagining things when they told him his hearing problems had nothing to do with being around loud jet engines in his youth and therefore he wouldn't be getting hearing aids from them now. (Maybe they said yes and he just misheard them.)

      I'm so glad Krugman is a Nobel Prize winning expert on so many things, otherwise he'd be just another jerk talking out his ass.

      1. Matrix   11 years ago

        My coworkers go to the VA all the time, but it's mostly because it's free. They don't particularly care for the VA, in most cases. I know one of my coworkers who broke his back in the Airforce (on duty, coming off of a truck on an icy runway), and they did almost nothing. In fact, they nearly caused him to be paralyzed by not treating him for well over a year. He hates military docs and the VA. He sticks to private care, for the most part.

    4. ~Knarf Yenrab~   11 years ago

      Well, that was before the Tea Party implemented their savage cuts (to budget increases).

      1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

        Krugbe is way ahead of you:

        The V.H.A.: Not Wealthy, but Sometimes Wise
        ...Paul Krugman: The V.A. does have some waiting time issues; as you say, they're due to lack of funds. The fact remains, however, that despite its shoestring budget the V.A. by all accounts does a better job in many dimensions than private health care.

        Still, you've touched on my biggest worry about the V.A., which is that it will be starved for funds by politicians who prefer to use the money for, say, tax cuts. That's what happened to Britain's National Health Service, which is better than Americans think, but was nickel-and-dimed by successive British governments down to the point where it currently spends only about 40 percent as much per capita as the U.S. system....

        1. John   11 years ago

          but was nickel-and-dimed by successive British governments down to the point where it currently spends only about 40 percent as much per capita as the U.S. system....

          Gee Paul, maybe we should let people spend their own money on healthcare rather than leaving it to the whims of politicians.

          1. Knarf the Yenrabian   11 years ago

            Harry Reid warned us about anarchists like John.

          2. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

            VA Budget Skyrockets Despite Federal Spending Cuts
            DAYTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs spends more today in inflation adjusted dollars than it did after World War II and the Vietnam War, when millions of troops returned from the battlefield, according to federal budget figures.

            By the next fiscal year, the VA budget is projected to rise 58 percent since 2009 to $152.7 billion, more than double the $70.9 billion spent in 2005, agency figures show.

            ...Straining under the national debt, budget cutters have slashed billions in federal spending and ordered unpaid furloughs of hundreds of thousands of Department of Defense civilian employees, but the VA's spending has more than doubled in little more than a decade and keeps climbing....

        2. Knarf the Yenrabian   11 years ago

          Obviously the problem is that the VA doesn't have enough money. That's the problem with all nationalized programs--they just don't take enough wealth away from private investment to be successful.

          Still, you've touched on my biggest worry about the V.A., which is that it will be starved for funds by politicians who prefer to use the money for, say, tax cuts.

          That's a revealing slip.

        3. Juice   11 years ago

          The V.A. does have some waiting time issues; as you say, they're due to lack of funds.

          That Krugman said this is all I need to know about his economic way of thinking.

        4. Robert S.   11 years ago

          There's no sugar-coating it; the VA has some waiting time issues.

      2. Corning   11 years ago

        Tea Party implemented their savage cuts

        savage slowing of budget growth when compared to what others wanted.

  28. William of Purple   11 years ago

    International Masturbation Month

    1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

      But only Warty's can reach across an international border.

      1. db   11 years ago

        I'm imagining a massive celebrity-led benefit event consisting of millions of simultaneous cross-border hand jobs along the US/Canada border. To promote world peace or international cooperation or whatever.

        1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

          A chain of hands to naughty bits streatching from sea to shining sea.

    2. Winston   11 years ago

      Wankers.

    3. Slammer   11 years ago

      Back in a few!

    4. Rich   11 years ago

      If you're moved to get pledges beforehand, you're really in the spirit of the thing!

      Oh, FFS!

    5. Christophe   11 years ago

      I read that as "Intentional". Mildly confused.

    6. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Only a month?

  29. Winston   11 years ago

    Hey Rufus J. Firefly, Do you miss the Montreal Maroons and the Montreal Wanderers?

  30. PD Scott   11 years ago

    What's worse than an unsightly, unkempt home? An unsightly, unkempt home in an ATOMIC ATTACK!

    It's like the urban renewal and civil defense folks got together to make a movie. I don't think I've ever heard the word "slum" said with such disdain.

  31. William of Purple   11 years ago

    5 Ways the Poor Are More Ethical Than the Rich

    1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

      5 Ways People in Comas Are More Ethical Than the Awake

    2. Brett L   11 years ago

      1) They can't afford lawyers.

    3. Matrix   11 years ago

      Just be wary of the comments. But one guy does see the real problem:

      Jerome Bigge ?5 hours ago
      Add to the discussion the "rentier" class, those whose incomes are higher because they use the power of government to restrict competition. What would the incomes of American doctors look like without their government enforced monopoly over access to medical drugs? Historically, they didn't earn anything more than middle class incomes before the passage of prescription laws in 1938. Previously to that time, when people got sick, they went to their neighborhood drugstore where they either asked the druggist to help them or knowing what they needed, simply purchased the medicine they needed and that was that. Of course the medical profession hated this state of affairs and persuaded the Roosevelt administration to pass a law that only doctors could prescribe medicine. Which of course raised the cost of health care for everyone else, but significantly improved their own standard of living...

      1. Mt low rider   11 years ago

        And I thought Raw commenters were as stupid as it got.

    4. 110 Lean   11 years ago

      Then for their own moral good, we need to make certain that they stay poor.

      1. Matrix   11 years ago

        Well, that is the proglodyte strategy.

  32. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

    The Politics of the C-word: http://freethoughtblogs.com/he.....he-c-word/

    Long story short: Americans shouldn't use it, but British people might be able to.

    1. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

      Reading this raises a question on my part regarding why the connotations associated with a word must last forever.

      Surely, culture and society are dynamic enough that the taboo of certain words can change or disappear in a few generations' time?

      To say that the American use is bad and the British use is...well, not bad, is to miss the evolution that occurred between British and American societies. If indeed one word managed to change into a slur over the course a few hundred years, then isn't it possible that it might change back in another few hundred years?

      Besides, if you limit or prohibit the use of a word, people are just going to use other words to get across their message.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Good example: Moron, imbecile and idiot were supposed to clinical terms but came to be seen as insults so much that retard was chosen to replace it but today those words aren't really regarded as hate speech while retard is pretty close to being seen as that.

        1. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

          Yeah. Add "lame" as well.

      2. Winston   11 years ago

        Also don't the Brits regard "spazz" as really insulting but over here it is pretty harmless or even archaic?

        Not to mention how the Brits use "fag."

      3. Corning   11 years ago

        Lots of video game playing youtubers use cunt...the scots and brits anyway.

        Some are hugely popular.

        I am bullish that Cunt will soon enter the American lexicon.

    2. Matrix   11 years ago

      I rarely hear an American use it. But talking to British folks (men and women), they use it quite frequently.

      1. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

        It's almost evidence for the point that the (over)use of a word can diminish the hurtful effects of that word.

        It's like camp entertainment. By carrying a concept to the most exaggerated of extremes, you reduce it to a harmless caricature.

      2. kinnath   11 years ago

        Well, no one hears me say it, because I am always alone in the car when I say it.

      3. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        I wish we could get away with it. "Cunty" has a way better mouth feel than "bitchy".

        In Dublin they were saying it almost as they were saying "feckin' grand".

    3. Corning   11 years ago

      Americans shouldn't use it, but British people might be able to.

      What the cunt?!?!

    4. db   11 years ago

      I have a female professional colleague who is fond.of the.phrase "see you next Tuesday" when she means to express displeasure without openly cursing.in a meeting. If she gets to use.it at work, why don't I?

  33. Paul.   11 years ago

    A New Hampshire police commissioner stepped down after using a racial slur to describe President Obama.

    Did he do it in that ridiculous NH accent?

  34. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

    A New Hampshire police commissioner stepped down after using a racial slur to describe President Obama.

    Well, so much for the VA scandal.

    1. Knarf the Yenrabian   11 years ago

      I think we're going to need a week's worth of CNN.com editorials, many more WH-released shots of BHO sitting in Rosa Park's seat, and several candlelight vigils to get past this traumatic reminder of America's racist history.

  35. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

    Paging Thomas Friedman...

    A Devotion to Language Proves Risky

    A poet, linguist and globe-trotting polyglot, Abduweli Ayup had a passion for the spoken word, notably Uighur, the Turkic language spoken in his homeland in China's far northwest. In 2011, soon after finishing his graduate studies in the United States, Mr. Ayup returned home to open a chain of "mother tongue" schools in Xinjiang, the vast Central Asian region whose forced marriage to the Han Chinese heartland has become increasingly tumultuous.

    But in a country where language is politically fraught, Mr. Ayup's devotion to Uighur may have proved his undoing.

    Last August, Mr. Ayup and two business partners were arrested and accused of "illegal fund-raising," charges that stemmed from their effort to finance a new school by, among other means, selling honey and T-shirts emblazoned with the school's insignia.

    Mr. Ayup, 39, and his two associates, Dilyar Obul and Muhemmet Sidik, have not been heard from since.

  36. Brett L   11 years ago

    Court rules that student found guilty of sexual assault by college tribunal may sue the college, particular faculty and staff, and his accuser. Ruh roe. Look for the calls to end due process to ramp up.

    The federal court held that he was entitled to sue the private university under the state's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, and that he could also sue the university, university employees, and the female complainant for defamation (slander), with the court holding that their accusatory statements about him were not legally privileged.

    Interestingly, the court said that he could also sue the female complainant for intentionally interfering with his contractual relations with the school; an important ruling, suggests Banzhaf, because for such an intentional tort he can seek much higher punitive damages in addition to general damages. Also, the court ruled that the mere fact that the tribunal found that the male student had committed the wrongful act complained of was not conclusive as to his guilt or innocence, and did not shield the female complainant from this type of legal liability.

    1. John   11 years ago

      So the college face the choice of being sued by Obama's DOE for not having star chambers for rape cases or being sued by their victims for having them.

      1. Paul.   11 years ago

        I'd choose getting sued by broke college students.

        1. Brett L   11 years ago

          Government lawyers with unlimited budgets or hungry, unethical John Edwards types gunning for you? Tough call.

          1. Paul.   11 years ago

            Where do you think the John Edwards types end up?

            1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

              In hell, channeling dead babies to stupid juries?

              No, you're right. The government.

            2. paranoid android   11 years ago

              Anywhere they want, probably. Handsome sociopaths can get pretty far in life.

    2. Warty   11 years ago

      Jezebel doesn't seem to have a story about this up yet. When they do, $20 says the headline will be something very close to "Court Rules it's Legal to Rape College Women".

      1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

        Sucker bet if I ever saw one.

    3. Stormy Dragon   11 years ago

      Assuming it was a he said/she said sitation, it's probably going to be hard to sue the complainant. It's going to be hard to show she doesn't believe the accusation to be true.

      1. Brett L   11 years ago

        Want to bet whether the accuser was (a)under oath or (b)cross examined by a lawyer in her tribunal?

  37. Winston   11 years ago

    You Know Who Else thought it was too upsetting to discuss rape?

    1. Paul.   11 years ago

      The dipshit who invented the 'trigger warning'?

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      The marketers of canola oil?

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        *clap clap clap*

      2. Paul.   11 years ago

        That was pretty good. Well played sir, well played.

    3. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

      Right. What is the big deal with rape? It is not like you are stealing money or something like that.

      Todd Akin and Richy Murdoch got fucked!

      1. Fluffy   11 years ago

        I don't see the need a trigger warning for discussion of stealing money, either.

  38. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

    http://blog.al.com/spotnews/20.....ing_l.html

    Guy makes rap video "glorifying" the death of a police officer.

    He gets jail time.

    1. John   11 years ago

      Not exactly. He made a video that pissed off a judge and caused that judge to pull his plea deal and give him jail time.

      If you are a criminal and your fate lies in the hands of a judge, making a video about how great it is to kill cops is probably not a good idea.

      1. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

        I can see that.

        But the judge's statements regarding how young people should "respect certain positions in the community" deserves some mockery.

      2. Paul.   11 years ago

        Yep, my admittedly weak understanding of probation terms is that they can be very... broad.

        If you're on probation, just stay home and play XBox.

      3. PD Scott   11 years ago

        Always wait until AFTER the sentencing to release your anti-cop video. Hell, that should be part of Common Core.

    2. Warty   11 years ago

      I'm a cop killer
      Better you than me
      Cop killer
      Fuck police brutality
      Cop killer
      I know your family's grieving
      Fuck 'em

      1. Caleb Turberville   11 years ago

        You're not going to make friends with any judges by making a video like this. But it's a little bit silly for the judge to claim that no one will make a productive living out of making songs and videos like this.

        He could be the next Ice T, and by that I mean he could star in the next Law & Order spinoff.

        1. Invisible Finger   11 years ago

          In that case the judge might have done the right thing for once in his life.

  39. Paul.   11 years ago

    OT: MSNBC annoyed that emails showing the president lied about Benghazi are 'giving fuel' to the far right.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      'Cause that's all that matters in this story.

    2. Winston   11 years ago

      OT? When did these threads care about on-topic posts?

      And You Know Who Else didn't want lies or corruption exposed since it would benefit the far right?

      1. Brandon   11 years ago

        Hillary?

  40. John   11 years ago

    http://www.popsci.com/article/.....aster-code

    You can live forever as a computer program.

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      I saw that movie already

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Julie and Jack?

    2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      A copy of me might at some point. Won't be me.

      1. Paul.   11 years ago

        But would it be what you would have become?

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Who cares? I'll be dead, anyway.

          1. Protagoronus   11 years ago

            So do you constantly die when your cells are replaced?

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              An excellent question. And I have a ship for you. Theseus' ship.

      2. hamilton   11 years ago

        To be fair, most of us already think you're a computer program.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Consciousness is consciousness.

      3. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

        Wouldn't you die happier if you knew that Pro Lib 2.0 would be posting on HnR for centuries to come?

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          No.

          1. Corning   11 years ago

            Corning 3.0 is going to write an approximation construct of Pro Lib 2.0 to entertain him no matter what so you might as well get use to the idea.

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              One of my other analogues will sue!

    3. PD Scott   11 years ago

      Progressive horror sci-fi: If you were a really rich person you could have yourself cloned and download your programming into your clone. You could do this over and over again, creating hundreds, thousands of copies, all of them rich and registered to vote, wrestling away the democratic process from the poor, the downtrodden, women, minorities, etc.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Don't give them any ideas. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of scifi stories already did this.

        1. Agammamon   11 years ago

          Surprisingly enough - almost every single sci-fi story where the tech allows this handwaves some sort of restriction on multiple simultaneous copies.

          Its like most sci-fi is actually pulp space-opera dreck and not at all interested in exploring the theme of how technological advance changes society.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            I'm trying to remember if that was the case in the Gateway series. I don't think so.

            1. Agammamon   11 years ago

              As far as I can remember Broadhead is at one point both corporeal and instantiated inside a virtuality.

              But virtual broadhead doesn't exist as multiple simultaneously active copies.

              1. Agammamon   11 years ago

                I think I have that wrong - his *wife* did that after he died and was uploaded. She uploaded a copy of herself to live with him in the virtuality.

  41. Hyperion   11 years ago

    I hate PM links.

  42. John   11 years ago

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....women.html

    Democrats release old police report calling Republican woman Senate Candidate in Oregon a "Stalker".

  43. Brett L   11 years ago

    The mimi-BL is desperately reaching for the keyboard. He has strong opinions about everything';'o,..ll;,kppp;798ikji77uo

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Mimi?

      1. Brett L   11 years ago

        My one-handed typing skills have fallen off precipitously since I got married.

        1. Brandon   11 years ago

          One thing at a time, Brett.

    2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      Time to get him a leaptop.

      1. db   11 years ago

        Just make sure you keep.control of.his.time with it. My nephew is basically addicted.to "The Pad" because his.parents indulge him.too.much and used it as a babysitter early on.

  44. John   11 years ago

    Add Albuquerque, New Mexico's to the growing list of VA hospitals accused of keeping secret waiting lists to hide delays for veterans seeking medical care. And it may already be too late to get to the truth and find out what harm, if any, was done to veterans there?VA officials are already destroying records to cover their tracks, a whistleblower inside the hospital tells The Daily Beast

    1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

      See above. Krugbe preemptively blames Tea Party budget slashers for this, forcing the cuts past poor, powerless Obama.

      1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

        I'm sure he meant well and just overlooked the fact that the problem pre-existed both Obama and the TP. He missed a golden chance for a but BOOSH. Buttplug will be crushed.

        1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

          All govt programs are simultaneously successful enough to prove govt needs more money and power and are unsuccessful enough to prove govt needs more money and power.

          1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

            Very good.

  45. Slammer   11 years ago

    My uncle tells a classic story about being a nurse in the Naval hospital in Naples, Italy. He was in the ward with a patient in an oxygen tent when some big-wig officer came in to put in an appearance, chomping and smoking a huge cigar. My uncle pointed at the tent and said, "Oxygen, Sir" The officer said, "Oh, yeah..." and reached down and turned off the oxygen.

    1. tarran   11 years ago

      Funny bomb line story;

      An Air Force Gen in the early 50's liked to ask people "Got a light?" whenever he was inspecting the bombers. And if someone offered him a match, he got an article 15, to encourage everyone to take the reg against open flames in the vicinity of ordnance seriously.

      So this general goes walkabout late at night during the Korean unpleasantness. Upon hearing that he is prowling around, the senior noncom rushes out to intercept him with a couple of extra guys (letting a general officer roam around without a handler is more dangerous than letting a toddler wander around unattended). They find him poking around one of the arming stations talking to a young private. And just as they arrive they hear the General ask, "Got a light?" to which the private responds, "Of course, sir! Let me get it out for you."

      The following .5 seconds was an agony for the non-com; that moment of pregnant calm before the firestorm of blame and punishment would explode throughout the unit incinerating any stripes that got in its path.

      Then the chipper private flicked on his flashlight, and proffered it butt first to the General, "Here you go sir!, anything else you need?"

      My understanding is that the private made corporal very, very quickly.

      1. Paul.   11 years ago

        An Air Force Gen in the early 50's liked to ask people "Got a light?" whenever he was inspecting the bombers. And if someone offered him a match, he got an article 15, to encourage everyone to take the reg against open flames in the vicinity of ordnance seriously.

        Curtis Lemay used to smoke a cigar on the flightline.

        Legend had it that someone remarked that something might blow up if he kept that up. The response was "It wouldn't dare..."

  46. John   11 years ago

    http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/did.....obamacare/

    I love WND. It is so goofy but never boring. The "NSA blackmailed Roberts into supporting Obamacare" rumor surfaces again.

    1. widget   11 years ago

      But Justice Ruth Bater Ginsberg really is the Shadout Mapes.

      1. Brandon   11 years ago

        The Shadout Mapes didn't live that long.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Sure she did. Just not that long at the end.

  47. Juice   11 years ago

    I think this story deserves some kind of Douglass Adams award or something.

    http://www.cleveland.com/metro.....rison.html

    The Lorain County Correctional Institution acknowledged Friday that pirated movies are being shown to prisoners there, even as inmates serve time for illegally downloading movies.

    Let that sink in. Someone could be convicted of illegally downloading movies and sent to prison, where they are shown illegally downloaded movies.

    1. John   11 years ago

      In April, 2010, Humphrey was sentenced to 29 months in prison for selling pirated copies of movies through the subscription-based USAWAREZ.com.

      Because my tax money should go to throwing someone in prison to protect Walk Fucking Disney.

      IP law needs to go. Just get rid of it all. It is no longer worth it.

      1. Longtorso, Johnny   11 years ago

        Disney/ABC (along w/ NBC/Comcast) are govt shills and must be protected.

    2. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

      Sent to prison for illegally downloading movies? I guess I wouldn't be too shocked, but I have never heard of it happening, and I read about this sort of stuff a decent bit.

      1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

        he was selling pirated movies before they were released

        1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

          That's my point; the articles says

          even as inmates serve time for illegally downloading movies

          whereas I have only heard of jail time for people involved in distribution.

          1. Sidd Finch   11 years ago

            I'm assuming the reporter is bullshitting until I see further evidence.

      2. PD Scott   11 years ago

        If MPAA came after you and you didn't have the money, maybe then?

        Hmm, this guy got five years for file-sharing.

        1. Carl ?s his privilege   11 years ago

          But again, without necessarily disputing the heartlessness of the IP lobby, that guy was engaged (quite heavily, too) in distribution, not mere downloading (which, if you're using BitTorrent, does involve you in distribution).

  48. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

    Obamacare just may be weighing-down the donkey party

    You don't need a hyphen there, Mr. T.

  49. Matrix   11 years ago

    I follow CopBlock on Facebook, so I get little stories like this all the time. Probably not good if I want to avoid hypertension, though.

    Cop pulls gun on 18 year old woman for driving faster than the posted speed limit, then handcuffs her

    McDonough [county prosecutor] considered whether to authorize charges of felonious assault and conduct unbecoming a public official against Wagner, but ultimately decided his handling of the traffic stop did not warrant criminal charges.

    I wonder what would happen if I just pulled a gun and pointed it at someone, as well as handcuffing them if they were doing nothing threatening to me and had committed and serious crime?

    "When he asked if she enjoyed having a gun pointed at her I became sick to my stomach," McDonough wrote. "... I do not want Trooper Wagner to have the opportunity to do anything like this again and certainly not in St. Joseph County."

    Then why not prosecute this stupid SOB so other officers won't think his behavior is okay?

    1. Slammer   11 years ago

      Because he can advance his fucking career by getting convictions, and who better to help him with that than cops?

      1. Matrix   11 years ago

        I had a friend who managed to get a thug to back down. This was probably quite a while ago. Probably in the 90s. But a cop was threatening him, and he was a concealed carry holder and a truck driver. There were a lot of shakedowns apparently going on these areas. Well, the cop was about to draw on him, and my friend said to him, "If you clear leather, I will put you down." The cop's attitude changed after that and ended up letting him go.

        1. poloniusium   11 years ago

          Now, he'd walk back to his cruiser, get his m4, and magdump into the cab.

  50. neoteny   11 years ago

    Supreme Court vacates police-immunity ruling in suit over multiple Tasering

    The US Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court Monday to reexamine a case involving the alleged use of excessive force by a police officer in Louisiana who deployed an electronic "Taser" device eight times against a handcuffed arrestee who was lying on the ground.

    The suspect, who later died, had reportedly refused to obey a police command to stand up and walk to the patrol car. The police officer was fired for using "unnecessary force," but was found not guilty of manslaughter.

  51. Winston   11 years ago

    Has anyone checked the IMDB boards for Derp?

    I have found this on the Discover Channel Show Never, Ever Do this At Home:

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt29.....#215416418

    Agreed. This show is completely useless. It's like a cross between MythBusters and Jackass. It come off more as a show about two rich little kids who are given permission to go around destroying things for the sake of destroying things.

    As much as I hate how the MythBusters waste stuff (smashing and blowing up things that could have been donated to the poor, homeless, and people whose possessions have been destroyed by disasters), it's all the more aggravating when they do it on this show.

    1. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

      Y'know, someone could've used that derp.

      1. Slammer   11 years ago

        Nice. Whoever wrote that also needs to donate his computer.

    2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      I'm so tired of this mindless dreck.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        Are you referring to the comment I quoted or to the show(s)?

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          The quote. I like Mythbusters.

      2. WDATPDIM?!   11 years ago

        "Will no one rid me of this turbulent dreck?"

  52. poloniusium   11 years ago

    Libya is a complete success for US foreign policy! Don't look behind the curtain.

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