A.M. Links: Obama Seeks $1 Billion to 'Reassure' Eastern Europe, Seattle Hikes Minimum Wage, NRA Calls Open Carry Protests 'Scary'

• 

  Open Carry Texas/Facebook

  Seattle's city council unanimously approved a minimum wage hike to $15—more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25. 

• Oliver Stone will direct a movie about Edward Snowden, because of course he will. 
• President Obama is seeking up to $1 billion to support increased U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe, calling it the "European Reassurance Initiative" (don't worry, Europe, we're from the government and…) 
• Signs you may be on the wrong gun rights track: the National Rifle Association calls your efforts "downright weird" and "scary." Looking at you, Open Carry Texas… 
• Chemist Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, known as the "Godfather of Ecstasy" for introducing MDMA to psychologists in the 1970s, has died.   
• Bitcoin is no longer the very worst investment you could have made in 2014 (the honor now goes to iron ore and the Argentine peso). 

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Comments

[db]

Reuters: Reuters links 74 more deaths to crashes possibly involving GM ignition switch fault.

They find a significantly higher rate of fatalities in frontal crashes with GM cars than comparable models from Ford, Toyota, and Honda. They can't directly see a link to the ignition switch fault because that is not reported in the data set used for the study, however, the crashes Reuters considered involved similar failures of GM airbags to deploy, leading to fatalities.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

On the Independents, I see ads from a law firm which sues GM for the defects in its cars, recruiting more plaintiffs.

[Jordan]

Scumbag lawyers vs Government Motors? Only time I'll side with the lawyers. I hope they have a John Edwards-type working for them. FUCK GM.

[Ted S.]

I just wish I knew where the scumbag lawyers get the stock photos from. Some of them are a hoot.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I see ads from law firms that sue everyone for everything. Last night there was one offering to sue The Independents for viewer PSTD based on hosts' wardrobes.

[WTF]

Some kind of sexually transmitted disease?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Obviously it induced dyslexia as a symptom.

[pan fried wylie]

dylsexia?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Lysdexia, dummy.

[Andrew S.]

Sexlexia?

No, wait, that's my very sexy learning disability.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Bin Laden is dead and Detroit is....um, killing people?

[db]

I have a buddy who is from Ohio, shoots guns, and.complains heartily about gun laws, and yet consistently supports union efforts to bail out US carmakers because many in his.family work for GM and Chrysler.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

principals, not principles.

[TwB]

Exactly

[Warty]

"You tell me whar a man gits his corn pone, en I'll tell you what his 'pinions is."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I linked to an interview with Marchionne not too long ago. In it, he explained why the bail outs were necessary. The effect to suppliers would have been devastating in his view. I can accept this coming from him - an actual CEO in the auto industry.

But still surprising given how he revamped Fiat/Chrysler's culture. Maybe the two don't go hand in hand.

[Virginian]

Not surprising to me at all.

[db]

I understand the.logic, but perhaps if governmental incentives weren't there for GM to become so large and.influential, that scenario would have been tempered quite a.bit. What has been sown.will be.reaped, and all that.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Meanwhile, no deaths with Toyota.

[Root Boy]

But didn't Toyota settle with a fine in the billions - for floor mats -- while GM got a 35 million fine?

[db]

Have you ever tried to buy replacement OEM floor.mats? Those things are fucking expensive! Probably due to liability concerns, now that I think of.it.

[UnCivilServant]

Have you ever tried to buy replacement OEM floor.mats?

No, my Ford POS doesn't have a floor worth protecting from my footprints.

[db]

The floor.of.my Ranger is entirely rubber mat, no.carpet anywhere. It's the best.

[Brett L]

For what? Getting the blood off the floor mats when an orphan bleeds out?

[Zombie Jimbo]

You're doing this wrong. The orphans should be in the trunk, or running along side.

[invisible furry hand]

Orphans shouldn't bleed out, as it makes their organs less attractive for harvesting and selling

[invisible furry hand]

Orphans shouldn't bleed out, as it makes their organs less attractive for harvesting and selling

[Brett L]

"When they're dead, they're just 'hookers', Cyril!"

[TwB]

Indeed. I guess if Toyota was good friends w/ the UAW, maybe their fine would not have been so steep? Nah, that's not possible.

[Anon E. Mouse]

Interestingly enough, the Toyota issue was publicized right around the time we were bailing out US automakers, and in the end, both the "stuck accelerator" issue and the floor mat issue turned out to be "operator stupidity", and not a design flaw.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Seattle's city council unanimously approved a minimum wage hike to $15?more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

Increasing unemployment is the best way to, um....

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

create dependency!

[Root Boy]

The socialist they elected is cheering this.

I wouldn't call it dependency, I would call it regulatory death for low paying jobs

[WTF]

Plus, don't forget all the benefits of arbitrarily increasing the cost of goods and services!

[db]

Increase the welcoming ambience of the homeless in your city.

[Ted S.]

Get people addicted to the government teat?

[Don Mynack]

Just double the price at the coffee shop and move on. Serves them right.

[waffles]

Seattle was getting too crowded. This will ensure only the cool kids with the right jobs can live there. Anyway I really hope we can get some good before and after stats on this so we can know just how good this will be for the whole country.

[DontShootMe]

when all the workers leave Seattle, does that mean all the hipsters will have to make their own lattes? Looking forward to a rise in "steamed milk accidents."

[Rich]

steamed milk accident

Nice band name.

[hamilton]

Nice band name.

Or, possibly, sex act. Need to check Urban Dictionary on this one.

[gaijin]

Looking forward to a rise in "steamed milk accidents."

Have you been injured in a workplace incident? Get the compensation you deserve! One call does it all. 206-milk-nit.

[db]

"steamed milk accident"

John Stagliano on Line 1!

[Rasilio]

Actually the cool kids with the right jobs are more likely to GTFO because they won't pay $8 for a Latte that costs just $5 2 towns over.

This is more likely to create a Detroit situation where the tax base moves just outside of the city limit and the overwhelming majority of those still inside it are unemployed because there are no jobs near them.

[Brett L]

Seattle has a 1.3:1 male to female ratio. If paying women $15/hr to wash clothes and be the front of house for food service brings in women, that area will count it cheap at the cost. Think of how many "Big Bang Theory" relationships will be going on with Amazon coders and waffle waitresses!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What's a BBT relationship?

Don't watch the show.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nerds & hot chicks

[Auric Demonocles]

Nerds with high paying jobs and dumb hot chicks in dead end jobs.

[Kaptious Kristen]

In another few years, there won't be any dead-end jobs to be had in Seattle. Struggling actresses will really struggle.

[mr simple]

I'm sure there will be plenty of strip clubs, unless they're illegal there or something.

[Kaptious Kristen]

And porn. Maybe the porn industry, wanting to escape the crushing CA regulatory burdens, will move to Seattle. There will be a whole crop of cute young things looking for work when the Starbucks they used to work at goes fully automatic.

[invisible furry hand]

Is it just the taxes?

Porn stars and piracy experts teamed up to create the #payforyourporn campaign to fight back against the tube companies they believe are lowering porn films' profits and quality.

[Rasilio]

The funny thing about that show is that with her looks if she even tried to be good at it Penny would make far more as a Waitress at the Cheesecake Factory than any of the other guys did until they managed to get tenure.

[TwB]

I'm ok with this for one reason: I want to see this implemented and after 5 years or so, see what it does to the economy of Seattle. Will it work? Who the hell knows. But I'm interested to find out. And if it turns out to be a huge clusterfuck, then it will be entertaining at the least.

[Raston Bot]

spoiler: it will "work" but not the way these command/control freaks intend

[JW]

The increase has been deliberately played out over so many years to hide the noticeable effects of the increase, all the while, I have no doubt, they'll be cooking the books on unemployment numbers.

Either way, the perpetrators don't plan on being there when the shit truly hits the fan. They'll be off somewhere else, running for higher office, taking credit for magically increasing everyone's paycheck.

[califernian]

Sadly, it probably won't affect much accept at the margins. The real lowest wages in seattle are already closer to 15 than to 7.50

[JW]

"The salary fairy has given you a raise. You're fired."

[Raston Bot]

Seattle city council: Watch us turn 15 employees making $10 per hour into 10 employees making $15 per hour... PRESTO!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oliver Stone will direct a movie about Edward Snowden, because of course he will. ...

I don't know, this might work out.

[Fluffy]

Signs you may be on the wrong gun rights track

Or possibly a sign that you're on the right gun rights track.

[DEG]

Hear hear!

[BilboTeabaggins]

Brandishing is rude.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

The chance anyone open carrying in these restaurants was more disruptive than the average child in these restaurants approaches zero. I think we should be demanding action of moms. I want to eat my burrito in peace and safety too, you know.

[Virginian]

Pictures don't lie.

http://bearingarms.com/long-gu.....-mistakes/

[Auric Demonocles]

The picture that doesn't show them being disruptive at all?

[Virginian]

Dude I am hardcore pro gun, but if someone started fingering his loaded rifle inside a restaurant without a good reason, I'd ask him to stop. If he didn't, I'd leave.

Slinging a rifle is one thing, but if you remove it from your back and put your finger anywhere near the trigger you better have a damn good reason.

I've had my CCW for a few years now. Not once have I draw my sidearm in public. Not once, and I hope to keep it that way.

They're not open carrying, they're brandishing a loaded weapon. It's extremely poor judgement and flies in the face of the principles of safe gun handling.

This is fine.

And this

etc.

I have no problem with open carry. But the whole point of open carry IMO is to show that going armed is normal, it's something that I just do on a normal day. My gun goes on my belt like my wallet goes into my pocket when I leave the house. Pulling your tarted up SKS out of the closet and waving it around a Chipotle accomplishes nothing but scaring people and pushing them away from our cause.

[CatoTheElder]

Ostentatious displays of arms by random civilians are indeed disruptive. There's a time and place for everything, and lunchtime at Chipotle's ain't it for showing off your AR15.

However, I couldn't agree more with regard to the disruptiveness and obnoxious capacity of children in restaurants.

Sure: Children, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Children, shall not be infringed.

But there ought to be some common-sense registration and licensing of such Children before they are allowed in public places.

[Virginian]

The reason we in the gun rights community have been so successful these last couple decades have been a continuous grassroots hearts and minds campaign to normalize and demystify firearms. A big part of this is being careful to move the ball forward steadily, not attempt to take big huge jumps. Open carry of a holstered sidearm is one thing, mugging for the camera holding a loaded rifle in a coffee shop is fucking retarded and does not help.

[WTF]

^^So much this.^^

It's counterproductive to act like the irresponsible fools the gun-grabbers claim we ar.

[Dweebston]

It's counterproductive to act like the irresponsible fools the gun-grabbers claim we ar.

+15

[Spartacus]

Man with open-air gun range in residential neighborhood (why yes, it's in Florida)

At around the 0:30 mark the camera pans around so you can see the canal and houses behind the targets.

[Brett L]

Huh. A friend has an "open air gun range in a residential neighborhood". But it is the edge of a historical district in a small town and he has a berm. The sheriff came by on a complaint and called it safe.

[Spartacus]

With a berm, not so bad. He probably has a good-size lot as well, which just doesn't exist in the lower keys. This guy in Big Pine Key has a canal (with regular boat traffic) right behind the target, and two-story houses behind that. But they are at an angle so you would have to miss badly to hit them, and that never happens, right?

[db]

While I have issues with the.in-your-face style of.many.open carry demonstrators, Fuck the NRA for not growing a pair and actively working.g to repeal the NFA.

[Citizen Nothing]

Agree

[Citizen Nothing]

It's kind of like a Second Amendment version of an outr? Gay Pride Parade. I mean, yeah, knock yourself out, 'cause you got the right. But don't expect to change any hearts and minds.

[db]

Yes; I have also made this comparison before as well. Gay rights didn't happen because some loud jerks got in the face of Mr. And Mrs. America; it worked because gradually, Mr. and Mrs. America realized that gay people are no different, fundamentally, than they are.

People will accept gun carriers when they realize they are normal people, not members.of.some scary "other." The rabid open carriers play right.into the worst stereotypes the banners hold.

[Auric Demonocles]

Gay people are different than me. That just doesn't matter. People who enjoy wearing jeans are different than me too, but I'm not going to stop them from doing it.

[Virginian]

People who enjoy wearing jeans are different than me too

Auric is George Will?

[Auric Demonocles]

Find me a pair of jeans which aren't the most uncomfortable pants ever developed and I'll try wearing them.

[Rasilio]

You can have my Levi's when you pry them from my cold dead ass

[JW]

It's kind of like a Second Amendment version of an outr? Gay Pride Parade.

I see an opportunity for some synergy.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama is seeking up to $1 billion to support increased U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe...

The Russkies are on the doorstep.

[hamilton]

I thought the idea was he was going to be able to reassure them simply by allowing them to bask in His Presence. When did that plan go tits up?

[DontShootMe]

When did that plan go tits up?

Moments after being uttered.

[Root Boy]

But they had a reset button!!

[TwB]

I see what you did there.

[DJF]

How about instead we reassure the taxpayer of the US that we are not going another $billion in debt?

[Ted S.]

Doesn't OfA have a bunch of money lying around?

[JW]

President Obama is seeking up to $1 billion to support increased U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe.

The German Prostitute Guild applauds this move.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Not if the soldaten end up in Poland, Hungary and such.

[DEG]

Fauxcahontas speaks!

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/0.....l?iid=Lead

CNN/Money wasn't a complete waste of time this morning:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/0.....?iid=HP_LN

[hamilton]

Oh god that interview is annoying.

Those who are rich have managed to help rewrite the rules so they get more and more. So they get breaks in taxes and get to keep more. So the regulations tilt in their favor. So they have better business opportunities. So they have better ability to earn than everyone else who's out there working. When that starts to happen, we get a country that's headed in the wrong direction.

So, of course, the solution is not to unravel all of the rigging, it's just to create more regulation that can "tilt the playing field" to the "other" side.

There's a fundamental question in this country. Which do we think deserves reward: Is it those who work hard and who are smart, who get out there and make something happen? Or those were born into the right families and who are protected by a tax code that says generation after generation, they don't even have to work? We have prided ourselves as a country being built by a country of people who get out there and work. Our tax system has to reflect that same value. It has to reflect the importance of work and people who achieve and people who accomplish over being born into wealth.

Translation: Theft is OK as long as it comports with our "values".

God I need to stop hearing this woman talk.

[gaijin]

those who work hard and who are smart,

I'm sure she thinks her $5 million home and the 'millionairre' salary she made at Harvard are justified by the 'and smart' part.

[DEG]

Of course! It's different when they do it.

[Root Boy]

Especially when they get hired due to minority status into that 6 figure paying job.

[Rich]

This.

Plus, the perennial blathering over "the tax code" is just sickening -- chain yourself to the fucking Capital Steps and "fix it" or STFU.

[Rich]

No offense to the Capitol Steps.

*** calms down ***

[VG Zaytsev]

Her convincing Harvard that she was any kind of injun was genius.

[VG Zaytsev]

Her convincing Harvard that she was any kind of injun was genius.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Our tax system has to reflect that same value. It has to reflect the importance of work and people who achieve and people who accomplish over being born into wealth.

So, is she coming out against an income tax?

[MJGreen]

Or those were born into the right families and who are protected by a tax code that says generation after generation, they don't even have to work?

So she is only advocating an estate tax, right? Because raising the income tax or the capital gains tax makes no sense here.

I'd also love one example, just one, of a family that has not worked for generations, instead living off the wealth of some forebear.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

The Kennedy Family?

[Root Boy]

Cool, wealth trickles up...Seattle will be a gold mine sooon.

They really are fluffing Piketty to no end, are they not? I think he should speak at the DNC in 2016. Get that 80% tax proposal going.

[The Late P Brooks]

Oliver Stone will direct a movie about Edward Snowden, because of course he will.

Great.

I might as well just start hating Snowden now.

[Rich]

Hold on, there, P -- Perhaps Michael Moore will direct one, too.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

*barf*

[db]

Edward Snowden = Emmanuel Goldstein.

[waffles]

Chemist Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, known as the "Godfather of Ecstasy" for introducing MDMA to psychologists in the 1970s, has died

There was a documentary where he and his wife were at Burning Man and all these drugged-up kids are in the background and Sasha's face is just priceless. For unleashing a cornucopia of psychotropics on this world his influence will always be felt. I can tell he was a thoughtful and studious man with a body of work that reflects this.

[Mongo]

He was one of the more interesting fellows around. Sad to hear of his passing.

[Rich]

The advocacy group 15 for Seattle estimates the wage hike will benefit more than 100,000 workers.

I suppose 15 for Seattle declined to estimate how many more workers the wage hike will fuck over.

[Bardas Phocas]

And how are things working out with that $15 min wage in neighboring SeaTac?
http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2.....imum-wage/

"I lost my 401k, health insurance, paid holiday, and vacation," she responded. "No more free food," she added.
The hotel used to feed her. Now, she has to bring her own food. Also, no overtime, she said. She used to work extra hours and received overtime pay.
What else? I asked.
"I have to pay for parking," she said.

[waffles]

It looks like this hurts the people who are likely to work near minimum wage long term and those who have never had a job. This helps the college educated kid working at starbucks, but there's surely fewer of the latter.

[Virginian]

Right but that's who urban progs care about. They don't care that this will fuck over working poor minority families. They care that single white kids with worthless college degrees will be able to buy the latest Apple products and artisanal mayonnaise. Assuming they keep their jobs of course.

[Dweebston]

So don't fuck about with the minimum wage. Fight for more generous student loan allowances.

[Virginian]

Why not both? There is literally no government program a prog will not support. They have no concept of scarce resources.

[WTF]

It's almost as though the employer can afford a specific amount of total compensation for each particular type of employee. Who would have thought?

[Jordan]

"Opportunity cost" is a voodoo economic myth.

[Brett L]

"Bueller....Bueller...."

[Brian D]

From the article:

The wait staff said the hotel across the street is unionized. Therefore, management is not required to pay the $15 wage.

Wait, what??

[waffles]

Socialists love unions, right? Maybe this will force everyone to be in some "I want a fucking job" union so they can get 10 bucks an hour instead of 0.

[Steve G]

So work non-union for $15 or union for

[The Last American Hero]

Yep. There is a carve out for unionized employees. How some idealistic prog can't see this for the cronyism it is is disgusting.

Maybe I should start a union in Seattle, and charge nominal dues, like $10 a year. We don't lobby, negotiate with employers and are slow as hell dealing with grievances, but you can keep your job.

[a better weapon]

The wait staff said the hotel across the street is unionized. Therefore, management is not required to pay the $15 wage

Wait, unionized businesses get a pass?

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm sure those 100,000 workers are going to love paying more at the coffee shop and grocery store.

[Root Boy]

Michelle is going to love it as all the Dunkin Donuts and MickeyDs move out of town - Only thing available will be $5 arugula from WF.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

http://politi.co/1os85Ig

The problem with her article is it presupposes progressives are more "rational" and "scientific."

Still, she gets a B+ for effort.

[Root Boy]

She blogs at Red Wine and Apple Sauce.

Sounds like a serious science journalist.

[mr simple]

And perhaps those on the left are wise enough not to go on the record as much about many scientific topics beyond climate science and evolution when they already have the majority of scientists on their side.

It's all a team game to them.

[The Late P Brooks]

Signs you may be on the wrong gun rights track: the National Rifle Association calls your efforts "downright weird" and "scary." Looking at you, Open Carry Texas...

I think we should all start open-carrying toy guns.

[Rich]

*** points to orange barrel, suckers ***

[WTF]

If we all want to get shot by the police, sure.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ok. Who will keep tabs on Seattle to see what the direct ramifications are (as well as the unintended consequences) to insanely jacking up the minimum wage?

[pan fried wylie]

I'd take that job for $15/hr....not

I would manage the site that publishes the results for $30/hr though.

[MJGreen]

I'm sure several econ students are keeping a very close eye on it now.

[CatoTheElder]

In five years some econ student will interview fast food restaurant owners in Seattle and Tacoma to determine whether their full-time equivalents increased or decreased. If Seattle's FTEs went up, the research will be published. If they go up a little faster than Tacoma's, the paper will be celebrated.

It will be unnecessary for the research to consider the relative birth-death rate of fast food restaurants over that period. The superfluousness of such considerations has already been established by Alan Kreuger's work, which has already proven that higher minimum wages increase employment.

[WhatAboutBob]

Another day, another Obamacare failure:

At least 2.9 million Americans who signed up for Medicaid coverage as part of the health care overhaul have not had their applications processed, with some paperwork sitting in queues since last fall, according to a 50-state survey by CQ Roll Call.

The Hidden Failure of Obama's Health Care Overhaul

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

8 millyunz!!!!!

[Ted S.]

Only 8 million? I think Obamacare is going to cost us far more than that. 🙁

[UnCivilServant]

Each.

[DontShootMe]

some paperwork sitting in queues since last fall

So, all the ACA workers got trained by VA employees?

[Root Boy]

Link this with the stories in the Daily Caller about how there are paperwork contractors getting paid fixed contracts to do nothing -- even paying overtime since their contract is not dependent on doing anything, it's just open ended.

[UnCivilServant]

"Trained" yes.

[Auric Demonocles]

Their training paperwork is being processed.

[Jordan]

Make your Indian food jokes now:

NEW DELHI: Air India flight AI 121 to Frankfurt that took off from Delhi on Saturday afternoon returned to IGI airport three hours later because all four toilets on the aircraft were clogged.

With two full meals, an evening snack and unlimited supply of beverages awaiting the 214 passengers on board, completing the over eight-hour-long journey without a toilet was not an option for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Also, from a previous incident, WTF is this:

"Everything made available to passengers for free was found flushed down the toilet," another official said. "Dozens of small blankets and pillows, items in overnight pouches such as socks, slippers and towels were flushed down."

Some AI sources said the airline's maintenance needs to do a better job. "AI is the oldest airline of the country," an official said. "It should know the behavior of Indian passengers and should maintain toilets accordingly. The failure to do so has cost the airline dearly, both monetarily and in terms of losing flyers' faith."

Anybody knowledgeable of Indian culture want to comment?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

*bewildered looks crosses face*

[Brett L]

Third world dude. Like telling the East Asians to keep their feet off your toilet. And not throw everything down the hole.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

We had special toilet training classes for the SE Asians when I worked for a manufacturing firm. Still had shoe prints all over the seats and piss on the floor on a regular basis.

[Auric Demonocles]

I can't fathom a single reason to stand on the toilet?

[Brett L]

Many, especially Chinese, learn to squat over a hole in the ground to do any business. So if they have to go, they want to squat, not sit.

[Auric Demonocles]

Then why wouldn't they just squat with their feet on the ground?

[Root Boy]

Yep, go into some back alley restuarant in Saigon and if there is a toilet it's a squat type.

Also saw squat toilets in Inchon at a workers dorm.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Central Asia is the same way.

The porta cans in Afghanistan used to be called bombardier stations... squats and "bombs away!"

[Cdr Lytton]

Not atomization?

[invisible furry hand]

An incorrectly placed gloryhole

[Brett L]

Ewww

[BilboTeabaggins]

I've spent time in India for business and it never ceases to amaze me how dirty the non-elite are there. People shitting in the streets and stuff.

[Kaptious Kristen]

How many non-elites are flying AI on overseas flights?

Still doesn't explain flushing pillows and blankets down the can...

[CatoTheElder]

Tens of thousands of non-elite Indians fly overseas to places like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

[Rich]

Yep.

Even seen one of the circle-slash "No shitting in the shower" signs?

[Jordan]

Aw, that's no big deal. Just waffle stomp it down the drain.

[waffles]

Gross.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's what the power setting on the shower head is for, right?

[Carl ?s his privilege]

I visited a sewage treatment plant in high school; one (Pakistani) student turned to another and said "It smells like home!"

[UnCivilServant]

So it wasn't the design of the toilets but people being assholes?

[Jordan]

Or dumbasses.

[Rich]

"Everything made available to passengers for free was found flushed down the toilet"

"It's yours to do with as you wish."

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

No GI Joes? That Kung Fu grip can seriously fuck up sewage pipes.

[db]

What the hell? Who flushes a blanket? Or socks? Are they serious.that this.is.a cultural thing? Sound more like a protest.

[Brett L]

If you're used to the toilet being a literal hole in the ground....

[db]

I would have thought that there would be.some basic.care taken. I.mean who the.duck wants to have to keep digging a new.hole every year because his.shitter has.filled up with garbage?

[Rich]

Throwing garbage on top of the shit keeps the smell down, fool!

[Brett L]

According to some friends of mine, everyone who used the Army latrine in certain parts of Iraq. And the inevitable sergeant's dilemma about why the fuck there are bloody sanitary napkins in the men's latrine.

[Kaptious Kristen]

why the fuck there are bloody sanitary napkins in the men's latrine.

Because chicks take forever in the can, and sometimes lines form, so adventurous or desperate chicks venture into the men's.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

At BAF we had the shitter pumps pull up grenades, ammo and once a protective mask.

The look on the poor honey truck operator's face when a grenade thunked to a stop at the end of the hose is something I shan't ever forget.

[Cdr Lytton]

And the spoon rattled out of the tube right after the grenade...

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Fortunately the cotter pin was still in... otherwise I would have been too busy diving to the ground to see anything else.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Average Americans don't understand how the sewer system works. Indians who probably don't have much experience with toilets most likely view them as glorified trash cans.

[SugarFree]

Why are they throwing away blankets and socks, then? I'm thinking they didn't understand what the toilet paper was for.

[Rich]

"That thin tissue is no match for authentic vindaloo!"

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Who knows? I don't relate to the mentality of someone who would throw trash in the street, much less flush a blanket.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Glorified trash can = great band name.

[JW]

Where the hell is Injun, as from India when you need him?

[Virginian]

Apparently hurling the contents of the sky mall into a toilet.

[hamilton]

Well OK, now I'm gonna sound like a PC asshole but I promise I'll try harder next time.

My first thought on reading this wasn't dirty Indians. I['m of Indian descent and reasonably familiar with sanitation in the large cities etc, and with behavior of Indian travelers (which can be annoying). But I don't think they're THAT dumb. Not pillows and blankets (unless someone was incontinent in their seat and was trying to cover up the evidence).

My presumption was someone was fucking with the plane and being an asshole. That someone being (as is frequently the case) a teenaged kid.

But I could be wrong I guess.

[db]

That'd be my thought as well.

[SugarFree]

Maybe it was a particularly horrifying incident of joining the mile high club.

The gallon of semen that Sanjay produced while pounding away at the lovely Geeta was just the beginning. As it attacked them both, they pelted it with bags of free sock and pillows. When subdued, they wrestled it into the toilet, but it clung to the sides of the bowl, gnashing and gurgling obscenities. They trapped it, shoving it down with a blanket to protect their hands. Finally it succumbed to the pressure of the toilet and landed as a rock-hard jismsicle just outside the ancient city of Samarkand. The two of them returned to their seats, trying to forget.

Samarkand went dark two days ago.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

*adds jismsicle to dictionary*

[tarran]

Every time I think about trying my hand at writing, Sugarfree reminds me of the level of game required to get above AA ball.

[SugarFree]

All you have to do is think of the worse possible thing that has ever happened to you and then make bullets out of words to kill everyone that made you go through it. And add in a bunch of swear words.

But seriously, I'd be glad to read and comment on work for any of you.

[hamilton]

And to think my youth was wasted on illiterate typewriter-stomping okapi like Shakespeare and Dickens. Our century has finally produced its storyteller.

[WTF]

Our century has finally produced its storyteller.

I picture archeologists 1,000 years from now trying to figure out the meaning of "Warty Hugeman and the Doomcock of Doom".

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Sort of like "A Canticle for Leibowitz" only with SugarFree instead of Isaac Edward Leibowitz.

[The Late P Brooks]

Seattle's city council unanimously approved a minimum wage hike to $15?more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

Seattle will be like a little petri dish of anti-business vivisectionism. So long, Mom. So long, Pop.

[Virginian]

http://www.latimes.com/world/m.....story.html

So apparently the militias that sprang up in Mexico a while back are heavily influenced by Mexicans who've lived and worked in the US. This includes Mexicans living in the US sending money to fund and support them.

So of course the Mexican government is trying to coopt them.

[Ted S.]

A Google search suggests nobody here has mentioned the #YesAllCats hashtag before:

#YesAllCats Because when I get injured "Owners" shrug it off saying we have nine lives instead of trying to protect our lives.

#YesAllCats because even today, degrees in Cat Studies are not taken seriously in the workforce.

#YesAllCats because I choose to walk down the street with my tail in the air doesn't mean you can stare at my arse

[Christophe]

#felinism

This is amazing. Thank you.

[110 Lean]

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

[Virginian]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/.....le/2549196

Clinton's first book covered the period from her birth in 1947 through 2001. Her second book covers 2009 through 2013. What about the eight years in between, from 2001 to 2009? That was the time Clinton served as a U.S. senator, and it is the only part of her life she has not seen fit to write a book about.

[WTF]

Down the Memory Hole!

[fish]

Hey....we're finished with the toilet thread!

[gaijin]

2001-2009...hmm. seems like their might have been some hard choices in that timeframe.

[Virginian]

One particular hard choice that she chose wrong on.

The Hillary cult mystified me before Obama. I mean it's not like she's a lefty who actually did a lot of lefty things. She didn't do anything but be married to Bill Clinton. That's it.

[tarran]

So like Barbara Bush but without the manners and graciousness.

[Virginian]

So like Barbara Bush but without the manners and graciousness.

Well yeah except Barbara Bush never ran for Senate based on her eight years as First Lady.

[The Last American Hero]

I never got it either. She's some hero to women, yet her husband's treated her like crap and she just took it. She got elected to Senate because of him, not on her merits. This really isn't the ideal they should be aspiring to.

[Cdr Lytton]

Doesn't anyone remember what a great lawyer and stock trader she was before she was elected to the White House for the first time in 92?

[Root Boy]

She could have taken credit for the birther meme against Obama...

[Elspeth Flashman]

WDATPDIM for the time when she was senator?

[Rich]

The official not only held a top-secret compartmented information clearance that required him to report the trip, he failed to disclose decades-old felony arrests or report multiple contacts with foreign nationals .... [He] misused a government travel card, made false statements on ethics and national security forms and failed to disclose an airplane he owned as an asset in a 2008 bankruptcy case, among other serious misconduct findings. The investigation ended quietly without criminal charges late last year when the Justice Department declined to prosecute

Emphasis added. I suppose that would require congress to pass new legislation.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Embezzlement charges. Figures.

[DJF]

Next, in order to put this ugly incident behind them the GSA will give bonuses to all top management and arrange a month long conference in Tahiti to discus the matter.

[Free Society]

Oliver Stone will direct a movie about Edward Snowden, because of course he will.

Something tells me that government empowering leftist ideologies will not only be blameless, but will be portrayed as the sole bulwark upon which the freedom of the proletariat rests.

[Root Boy]

I hope it's as exciting as JFK. Maybe a gay, flamboyant character working for Dick Cheney tries to off Snowden before he finds out the truth...later he's rescued by a Venezuelan agent (played by Sofia Vergara) who spirits him out of the country to Hong Kong...

[The Late P Brooks]

I suppose 15 for Seattle declined to estimate how many more workers the wage hike will fuck over.

I am absolutely certain the people who support this generous disbursement of the funds of others believe everybody will just magically get a great big raise.

And they all lived happily ever after.

[SugarFree]

The First of the Slender Man Murders

Prosecutors are saying that two twelve-year-old girls from Waukesha, Wisconsin stabbed their friend nearly to death as a way to "please a mythological creature they learned about online." Both girls have been charged with first-degree attempted homicide and will stand trial as adults.

According to a criminal complaint, the two friends invited the third over for a slumber party on Friday night, where they were planning on stabbing her. They put it off for the next day, when they all played a hide-and-seek game in a wooded park. "One girl told the other to 'go ballistic, go crazy,' according to the complaint."

Via the Associated Press, this was all done to please a character called Slender Man:

One of the girls told a detective they were trying to become "proxies" of Slender Man, a mythological demon-like character they learned about on creepypasta.wikia.com, a website about horror stories and legends. They planned to run away to the demon's forest mansion after the slaying, the complaint said.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Let me preempt the inevitable joke:

"Ha ha, this won't be the first time people engaged in murder to appease an imaginary spiritual being, lolol!"

[Rich]

One of the suspects told investigators that she sees Slender Man in her dreams and that "he watches her and can read her mind and teleport."

"'Slender Man' .... Yeah, *that's* the ticket!"

[BilboTeabaggins]

So this is a thing now? Like wilding or satanic sacrifices?

I watched that Steven Seagal movie where he whips those Jamaican voodoo-murdering drug dealers asses. Some high-quality violence in that one.

[Jordan]

Won't be long until some politician starts talking about how this proves that the vidyagames cause violence.

[DontShootMe]

Words fail. I have a kid, what do you do when the cops come to your door and tell you your kid was one of these 3, either victim or perpetrator?

[Root Boy]

I've seen this movie before:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01.....lmg_prd_20

[Virginian]

A true story. One of the girls became a bestselling mystery author. Changed her name to Anne Perry.

[Root Boy]

I guess NZ doesn't have life in prison for murder or they got off easy since they were young.

[invisible furry hand]

Go on, get pissed off:

We must learn to acknowledge and embrace taxation's innate goodness, decency and beauty

[UnCivilServant]

The headline in the link alone made me sick, I'm nto reading the article.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Compares the tabu about taxes to the old tabus about sex. Fantasizes about a book called The Joy of Tax with a foreward by Pikkety.

Not sure why the author would *invite* a comparison between being taxed and being screwed.

[Matrix]

I would also recommend you avoid reading the comments as well.

[fish]

The headline in the link alone made me sick, I'm nto reading the article.

You've chosen wisely.

It is time to rehabilitate the word; indeed the notion. In doing so, we must learn to acknowledge- nay embrace- its innate goodness, decency and beauty. Of paying it, sharing in its bounty. Indeed, its infinite erotic potential.

Seriously...are they putting something in the water over there to enable such stupidity?

[Root Boy]

Is he/she talking about the infinite erotic potential of a Hellfire missile fired from an MQ-9 Reaper, because I doubt the Guardian has good things to say about that?

[DEG]

I'm in America, people frown on folks that get drunk this early in the morning.

[Free Society]

Yeah the worst part is the comments sections. With all the absurd and downright false arguments made in the article, you'd think the comments section would be an explosion of criticism. When in fact it was unanimous agreement.

The world is so ignorant and immoral it sickens me.

[Ted S.]

They're always welcome to send extra money to the Treasury (or, this being the UK, Exchequer).

What this is really about is the joy of taxing others.

[BilboTeabaggins]

The comments are grim.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Outside of Greenwald, the Guardian is a socialist rag.

[Jordan]

He's not there anymore.

[Reverend Mayhem]

The "rag" or the "Socialist" part? Cuz economically, Greenwald's definitely on the Socialist Left.

[Mongo]

The art critics are pretty rad. Very un-PC.

[Rich]

"Thanks for your contribution."

[JW]

Does jerking off onto my 1040, before I mail it in, count?

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Go on....

/Grauniad reader

[invisible furry hand]

Two 12-year-old girls intrigued by online legend allegedly stabbed their friend 19 times to prove their worth.

more

[Virginian]

What the fuck.

[Ted S.]

I'm sorry to say it looks like the equally freaky SugarFree beat you to the punch.

[invisible furry hand]

Equally freaky? I am merely the Lady Gaga to his Madonna

[SugarFree]

Express yourself.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I just finished Kevin Bacon's The Following. I knew that cult worship crap was plausible.

[Matrix]

Why solar roadways will not work

[db]

The Roads Must Roll.

[tarran]

What a great story. People forget that Heinlein was, for a time, an FDR New Deal supporter.

[Free Society]

People forget that FDR and progressives in general are watered down fascists.

[Auric Demonocles]

Some of his work was really weird (some of the Lazarus Long stuff) and some was really socialist (i.e. For Us, the Living), but I loved the roadway stories. Of course, I also loved the dropping rocks from really high up stuff.

[Brett L]

Because the tech isn't there?

[Virginian]

Repost from last night:

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....voted-for/

"It's not because I don't like paying taxes," said Gardner, who attended both meetings. "I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can't afford to live here anymore. I'll protest my appraisal notice, but that's not enough. Someone needs to step in and address the big picture."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

The big picture is..."I didn't think they'd actually bill *me* for the things I voted for!"

[Jordan]

My liberal brother and his liberal girlfriend were talking about appealing their property taxes the other day. It took every ounce of self-restraint to not start a fight.

[fish]

It took every ounce of self-restraint to not start a fight.

You disappoint me Jordan.

You could have used this excerpt from the Guardian as an opener....

It is time to rehabilitate the word; indeed the notion. In doing so, we must learn to acknowledge- nay embrace- its innate goodness, decency and beauty. Of paying it, sharing in its bounty. Indeed, its infinite erotic potential.

I'm sure that they would have dropped their appeal after hearing this.

[Brett L]

They call that a "teachable moment"

[WTF]

Shorter Gardner: "I wasn't expecting that I would have to pay for all that shit!"

[Jordan]

Interestingly, another reason voters hate property taxes is because they are more "salient." A salient tax means that the burden is transparent, easy to understand, and hard to avoid. If paid directly, property taxes are found to be more salient compared with sales taxes applied at checkout or income taxes withheld from a paycheck.

Goddamnit, Milton Friedman.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

So much stupid.

[Rich]

"I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can't afford to live here anymore."

You can't fool *me*, Virginian. That's from The Onion.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

This is the caveat of living in Texas--no income tax, but property taxes tend to be really high. Not to mention the compound effects of inflation in a fast-growing hipster douchebag haven in a fast-growing state.

Here's another one:

The rising burden from property tax is worse for the housing-rich but income-poor elderly homeowners. For example, elderly homeowners tend to move more often to reduce their property tax burden, which is an additional cost of owning a home for those who can least afford to move.

So encouraging a housing bubble, helped in part by the aforementioned inflation, reduces the buying power of low-income citizens? Who could have seen that coming?

Seriously, fuck these people. You want to "keep Austin wierd," you get to pay for it, you assholes.

[John]

The housing bubble was a boon for real estate agents and state and local governments who collect property taxes. Don't think for a moment that their greedy paws didn't have something to do with the push to raise and prop up housing values.

[JW]

I heard a news report this morning that basically said, "Good new everyone! Housing prices are up 10% from last month!"

I eagerly await the same glowing report on the price of gas or milk increasing the same amount over the same period.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The housing bubble was a boon for real estate agents and state and local governments who collect property taxes.

I'm seeing this in the bedroom community where I grew up. Back in the early 80s, there were about 30K residents, and housing costs weren't that bad. Nowadays, even the 50-60 year old tract homes that need work can't be had for less than $250K--valuations that mainly finance all the growth and expansion that the city administrations have been pushing the last 25 years.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

The Democrats' sentiments can be summed up thusly:

"Taxes are the price other people pay for civilization."

[a better weapon]

Looks like the DNC has found their new slogan!

[MJGreen]

The great fiction in which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.

[Emmerson Biggins]

I'm sticking with plain ole "theft".

[Matrix]

Five dumbest ways that people defend NSA spying

But of course did not address, "if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide."

[Virginian]

http://www.businessinsider.com.....nts-2014-6

Holy shit.

[SugarFree]

We are becoming Italy.

[Virginian]

But without the cool old buildings, food, and climate. Oh and wine everywhere.

[invisible furry hand]

Or calcio

[Virginian]

Is that the game we have young children play here because it's simple to learn?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hey wassa-matta-you?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not enough mama fetishizing.

[SugarFree]

Give it time. Single mother households seem to breed it.

[invisible furry hand]

You've never read Mr Free's Nancy Pelosi fantasies

[db]

I interviewed some candidates.for a.job the.other day (engineering). Let.me.just say that I.would be.terrified.if I.were.right.out.of.school now, even.in the market.for an engineering.job. the sheer.number.of graduates not actively working is scary. Especially at the crucial juncture between school and.professional life, unemployment is.a.prospect.killer, because these people haven't even developed jobs skills to atrophy yet.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

If I were a recently graduated engineer, I would probably look for a company that had overseas facilities and offer to work offshore. They're always looking for engineers who can help bridge the communication gap between the home office and the plants.

[robc]

I would talk to the company I did my co-op with. Isnt a guaranteed hire, but a good bet.

[db]

That's the thing, a ton.of applicants I have seen have good.grades.and.good.internships, but their internships haven't played out due.to hiring freezes or other budgetary concerns. These aren't bottom of the.barrel candidates either.

[Brett L]

Any of them know anything approaching programming? Even not hating Matlab with all their heart?

[Auric Demonocles]

Stop poaching my recruits!

[db]

They all had Matlab and Excel on their resumes along with various process simulation packages and.some with AutoCAD. Only.one mentioned VBA, which in.conjunction with Excel, has been my most used computing tool in my engineering career.

[Auric Demonocles]

The last time I used VBA was during an internship in undergrad, but I did the entire workload they had planned for my 10 week stint in 2.5 days because of it.

[Cdr Lytton]

Does your version of Excel import .psv files?

[Auric Demonocles]

You're assuming they managed to get an internship or co-op while in school.

[Brett L]

How? I mean, as a CE, even NOT using my degree, I could call a classmate in either West Texas, Dakota, or Edmonton and go to work tomorrow pushing a broom for $40k+.

[Brett L]

Sorry. ChemE. I may still be drunk from a late night.

[invisible furry hand]

William drank you under the crib again, eh?

[Brett L]

I'm out of town for work. I was celebrating his hemianniversary. Apparently, my wife aspires to make our child a hipster.

[invisible furry hand]

Sadly, he looks too happy and life-embracing to join the ranks of the terminally ironic.

[JW]

Dude, looking at those pics, I hope you do realize just how much you've scored in the babe department.

She loves you for your personality, right?

[db]

These were all Chem Es with good grades and decent internships. It's scary.

[Brett L]

Yeah, but were they willing to work in an oilpatch as an operator for a year.

[db]

Well, they're applying for plant.jobs now...and not clean ones, either.

[waffles]

Yeah, and those cringe-inducing comments too. Failure in my cohort to meet milestones of adulthood will have a significant impact. On what? I don't know, but it will be significant.

[TwB]

So depressing. But will it get worse over the next 10 years? I hate to say it, but I think it will. I know so many 20 somethings that are hip deep in debt, it's just sad.

[Andrew S.]

Recovery!

My brother finally moved out of my mom's house last year (at 27).

[Carl ?s his privilege]

"Holy shit" would seem to imply that you're surprised.

That said, if you look at the graph, the lowest point since 1983 is about 26.5%. So the change is very large, sure, but probably not earth-shattering.

What I am more interested in is the number above, say, 25 years old. There's a big difference between a 22 year old and a 29 year old living at home.

[robc]

I dont see the problem in general with this. The multigenerational home is the norm. The last 50 years is the exception.

And that chart doesnt go back far enough, lets see 1953 or 1883.

[Rhywun]

The multigenerational home is the norm. The last 50 years is the exception.

Agreed. More interesting would be, how many of them are layabouts?

[Kaptious Kristen]

My Pa and I were talking about wanting to see a huge minimum wage somewhere so we can monitor the effects. At the time, the Swiss were considering it (I think they ultimately rejected it).

Since I have no plans to ever live in or visit Seattle, this will do nicely. But the automat fast food restaurants and grocery stores might be cool to see...

[John]

And Episiarch lives in Seattle and might suffer in some way. Looks like everything is coming up Kristen.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The cost of living in big liberal cities lie Seattle is quite high and that is in no small part due to their higher tax burdens. Everything is taxed and at rates higher than you would find in other localities (taxes on plastic bags, tourism taxes, etc). Everyday things like gas and food are taxed a lot and the price becomes very hard for poor people to reach. If cities like Seattle cared about the poor they could immediately help them out by slashing and/or eliminating much of the tax burden. But instead they just made labor more expensive too.

[Warty]

Everyone likes Kyuss, right? Of course you do.

[invisible furry hand]

You're very kind.

Saw QOTSA recently (double bill with NIN). Fuck they're good live.

[Warty]

Josh Homme is the last true rock star. He's awesome. And whenever I show him to girls, they invariably say something like, "Oh, he's hot! Even though he's a ginger!"

[invisible furry hand]

That really makes it sound like "Josh Homme" is code for the party in your pants

[Rich]

Wow, ifh -- You're really, um, on a tear today!

[Warty]

I do call my dong by his name, yes. But that's a subject for another time.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

"Hugeman"?

[Warty]

Plus, he's one of us.

You've described yourself as a conservative.
Do you mean politically? Sure. I'm very socially liberal, but I don't think the government knows what to do with your money better than you do. If the government were a business it would be completely bankrupt. And they always put new laws on the books but they never take any away. I wish they'd just get off my fucking lawn, basically.
Are you thinking of joining the Tea Party, like Sarah Palin?
I think I'm even worse than that. I'm a fallen libertarian. In America, the land of the free, almost every civil liberty has been taken away; people use the police for everything. If you have some disagreement with your neighbour, they call the police, a third party, to mediate. And you basically give away control to a little Judge Judy. I don't believe in that. I don't like... I guess you'd have to say The Man, for want of a better word.
What else pisses you off?
I can't stand the modern schooling system. If you learn a little bit of everything you're a Renaissance man? No. You can play Trivial Pursuit and that's about all.

[invisible furry hand]

And zing went the strings of my heart. The Ginger Elvis Is God.

[TwB]

Refreshing. Plus, he was in Them Crooked Vultures, so that's another plus on his already successful career.

[John]

Peggy Noonan, who has touched on this theme before, describes the president's problem as a "failure to understand that government isn't magic." That appears to be literally accurate. Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown and Jennifer Epstein report that Obama has resorted to apotropaic rituals. It started, they write, "last fall in the midst of the biggest humiliation of Barack Obama's presidency, the failure of the health care website":

Anytime he heard a sliver of good news, the president reacted the same way: He knocked on the polished cherry wood table in the Roosevelt Room.

It's a small thing, almost a nervous tic, but Obama's habit of knocking on wood during Obamacare meetings had become notable, something that close advisers talked and even joked about among themselves. . . .

When Obamacare fixer Jeffrey Zients told the president for the first time that the website would finally hold up under a rush of visitors, Obama joined his senior aides in a round of knocking. When the insurance marketplace finally functioned as it should, they knocked. When enrollment numbers picked up in March, they knocked.

http://online.wsj.com/articles.....1401738048

Even Chance the Gardner wasn't that fucking stupid.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Even if government were magic you would have to have some level of competence to work it right (think the Sorcerer's Apprentice). The Obama administration clearly does not have that. Think about the level of incompetence involved in working out the Bergdahl exchange without, you know, doing a little fact finding about his situation to ascertain that the guy was a deserter hated by his peers. It is frankly staggering.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Simply put, the federal government is too large to function properly. There is no way that a system of that size can be run efficiently and effectively by human beings, particularly politicians who specialize in winning popularity contests.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I agree there is a systematic problem to government functioning, but I think currently there is a very bad apple example compounding it.

[John]

It could be run more efficiently, but only as a dictatorship totally immune from the rule of law; which is what Progs are going to end up advocating for.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I don't think dicatorships are run 'efficiently.' Dictatorships don't make the trains run on time, they just shoot anyone who complains about a late train (or they go back and change the arrival dates to fit with the schedule).

[John]

True. But they can do something. We are getting to the point that our government can't do anything, except spend money.

[VG Zaytsev]

People were saying the same thing when Carter was president.

I want to see the government slashed to a fraction of it's current size.

However, the top management does matter and Obama is just horrible, as should have been expected. He's really never run anything at all, not even his political campaigns, which proggies in 08 were citing as his main qualification to be president.

[NebulousFocus]

Singapore does a pretty good job. Not quite a dictatorship, but not that far off either.

[Root Boy]

There are also plenty of stories about how Obama runs the gov with just a cabal of sycophantic aids (who have never done anything except run campaigns). He rarely meets with the Cabinet Sec (see Sebelius) and does not know what goes on in the vastness that is the .gov.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It could be run more efficiently, but only as a dictatorship

I disagree. What they would gain in efficiency, they would lose in effectiveness. The knowledge problem is too great. The only solution is downsizing and divestiture.

[R C Dean]

True. Less accountability rarely leads to more efficiency.

[robc]

This was the big taking away point from Coase's work on regulation. He was trying to determine the good from bad ones, and his conclusion was at the current (and this was 30 years ago) size of government, there are no good regulations. They all fail.

There are some "good" ones, but they were added back when government was 1% of GDP or something.

[John]

One of the first things I figured out when I learned to practice law is that "law" is a commodity like any other. There is only so much of it. The more laws you pass, the less "law" you get from each individual law. A small government with few laws gets a lot of return out of its laws. As it gets bigger, the law of diminishing returns kicks in such that you end up with laws but no real "law".

[robc]

Law of diminishing return is econ 1001. And at a certain point it goes negative.

We are well passed the point that each law/regulation hurts instead of helps.

[BSubversive.com]

That toga wearing roman lawyer knew this way back in 50~BCE. More laws, less Justice.

[John]

I honestly can't explain the Bergdahl thing. According to CNN this morning the intel community basically considers the guy a collaborator. Also, the fact that six people were killed looking for him is really suspicious. That is a lot of people to be killed on one impromptu search and rescue mission. It almost makes you think someone told the Taliban where the US would be looking for the guy or something.

I can't figure out what the upside of doing this is. It is not as if the guy was any kind of national cause or something or that anyone was even talking about GUITMO anymore. What did they think this would get them?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

John, I think they actually acted without this knowledge. That's how incompetent I think they are.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I mean, why talk to his old unit, they're little people that no one would listen too, right?

[John]

You are probably right. This reeks of something a bunch of morons in the West Wing thought up and did without any planning or consideration.

[Brett L]

"We need a win"

[TwB]

VA scandal? What VA scandal? Such horseshit...

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I can explain it. They're fucking idiots with superiority complexes .

[tarran]

Juicebox mafia, John... the juicebox mafia.

[Jordan]

Also, the fact that six people were killed looking for him is really suspicious. That is a lot of people to be killed on one impromptu search and rescue mission.

I thought they were killed at different times, since the SAR missions lasted for months.

[John]

Maybe so. I stand corrected then.

[tarran]

My take is that the deaths occured due to the a variety of factors related to his desertion

1) The search operations disrupted and worked against the COIN operations by pissing off the locals who had their villages tossed during the search.

2) The search operations disrupted COIN operations by diverting resources away from them.

3) The search operations diverted intelligence assetts from monitoring enemy operations (allowing them to mass and prep for attacks with less chance of being caught)

4) The search operation put soldiers into areas that they would otherwise avoid, making them vulnerable to attack.

5) The search operation diverted aviation/transport assets to move/support personnel and equipment involved in the search that would be otherwise available to reinforce or evacuate soldiers involved in serious engagements.

[John]

In fairness then, I think it is pretty hard to pin all six deaths on this guy. That seems a bit of a stretch.

[DontShootMe]

My understanding from reading some of the articles is that the 6 were lost of a period of around 3 months. It was a big deal, and they ran extra patrols and stuff for a long time to look for him. So, anybody who got killed on those extra patrols is getting included in this. It wasn't like the six were all killed in one night patrol launched after they discovered he was missing.

[DontShootMe]

Never mind, said better by multiple people already.

[R C Dean]

I can't figure out what the upside of doing this is.

It pushed the VA scandal off the front page. I can't think of any other reason to do this, and in such a big hurry.

One of the more entertaining theories is that this is exactly the kind of thing that happens to the loser in a war, and that we should read it to mean that Obama has lost the war against AQ. Probably at Benghazi, because AQ acquired intel there that they are using as leverage on the President. Looking around since Benghazi, you do see an emerging pattern of accommodating AQ, what with the attempts to bring them into the Afghan government, etc.

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

AQ is not the Taliban - they may sometimes ally out of convenience should not lead to conflating the two.

[R C Dean]

Fair enough. My bad.

[Ivan Pike]

the president's problem as a "failure to understand that government isn't magic."

A lot of people share the same problem.

[Azathoth!!]

Never knock on tables. Or anything with legs. The 'luck' runs out the legs.

Thresholds are good. Doorways. Doors. Full of potentia. Especially if the door is closed.

[robc]

Reason #37 why Im not an NRA member.

And what the fuck, Brown? That is your takeaway from the NRA position? Not that the NRA is fucked in the head as usual?

Open carry is not scary. Period. End of story. This is a fact, not an opinion, anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

And if they are a progressive, I will quote FDR at them.

[Warty]

Open carry is fine, but these people are deliberately provoking confrontations that they don't need to provoke. That's not good tactics.

[waffles]

Yeah it's like the gay couple who I saw making out in a Catholic mass when I was 14. People just ignored them, but they were deliberately looking to antagonize.

[Andrew S.]

Open carry is not scary. However, as pointed out above, the fact that open carry is not scary does not mean the people that do it for show are not dumbasses.

(That may have been too many negatives. You get my point though.)

[John]

There is something about being in the Washington area that makes otherwise reasonable people turn into cultural douche bags. Open carry is "scary" to the typical Washington douche bag who has never seen a weapon outside of TV. That culture seems to pervade every institution here including apparently the NRA.

[Rich]

Hi, John!

You were conspicuous by your absence ....

[John]

Sometimes, even I have to work for a living.

[Rich]

Have you tried writing a blog?

I hear it can be quite lucrative.

[John]

If you are Glenn Reynolds, it seems to be.

[Virginian]

These idiots would have scared me. Coonfingering a loaded rifle in a Chipotle is fucking retarded.

http://bearingarms.com/long-gu.....-mistakes/

Those assholes right there have set the cause back. Not forward, not even a little bit. Anyone who was in that Chipotle is going to think less of gun rights.

Fuck them both.

[John]

Most gun nuts are dorks. Go to a gun show sometime. It is about on the cultural level of a Star Trek convention.

[Virginian]

Oh I know. One of the main issues IMO with the gun culture right now is all the guys buying guns because of COD or other shooter games, but not getting educated in the training or etiquette of firearms. If someone was nicely dressed, shirt tucked in, wearing a tie, well groomed, etc and had a rifle slung with the mag removed, I would not bat an eye. But this fatass with a goofy hat, tshirt and gymshorts with his hands all over a loaded rifle is not someone I want around me or mine.

Israeli teacher on a field trip with her students.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax.....471c04.jpg

[John]

But this fatass with a goofy hat, tshirt and gymshorts with his hands all over a loaded rifle is not someone I want around me or mine.

Tell me about it, SWAT teams are everywhere these days.

[robc]

The proper way is just to strap on the long rifle and carry it around as if you didnt know it was there.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

This is a fact, not an opinion, anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

Try not to soft-pedal it so much next time...

...anyway, that's pretty misguided. Sure, it isn't scary if you're acclimated to people carrying guns. But if you're in an anti-gun part of the country, or even simply a pro-gun area of the country where open carry is uncommon, there's nothing strange about people getting scared.

[robc]

Its an oddity, but not something to get scared about.

Im in a state in which open carry is protected by the state bill of rights. But I never see anyone actually doing it, so it would be just as much of an oddity here.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Fear is subjective and depends on the environment you're conditioned to; you can't just proclaim something to be not scary because it doesn't scare you.

[robc]

I cant?

I did.

And its not because it doesnt scare me, but because there is no reason to be scared of a gun.

[PD Scott]

It's not the gun so much as the possibly dumbass person it's attached to.

[MJGreen]

Fear is rarely rational. People are afraid of the dark, even when they're in familiar locations.

If people are scared of seeing a rifle in Chipotle, they're scared. That's that.

[Virginian]

It's not so much about what as how. That goes for any dangerous object or activity.

If someone passes me on the left driving a well maintained vintage Porsche going really fast, and I see him signal before smoothly merging right and shifting without a hiccup, I'm going to admire obvious skill and competence.

If someone passes me on the right going really fast in a rice burner with a shitty body kit, blaring shitty music and swerving back in front of me with no signal, lurching wildly, I'm going to back off and give the idiot plenty of room.

[robc]

I agree with this.

[Virginian]

Girlfriend just texted me from work (animal hospital). A dog died over night, because the owner, for the fourth fucking time, did not feed him the special dog food he needed to not have his digestive track rupture. Apparently when she found out her dog was dead she pitched a huge scene in the lobby blaming the vets and techs for her stupidity.

So, when they pass the law giving you one free murder per year, that's my target right there.

[Warty]

Poor puppy.

[Jordan]

Jesus christ. They ought to ban that stupid bitch from their practice, since I'm sure she'll get another dog that she won't take care of.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

My brother in law is a GC and we were talking about staining the patio. While searching for paint and researching and generally just talking, we were reading the reviews for certain paints. He was cautioning against taking negative reviews to literal for that reason. People DON'T LISTEN TO INSTRUCTIONS be it from an expert or what's written on the fucking can.

So they do the easiest thing. Blame the company and paint. "I painted my deck and it's peeling! This product stinks!" Then when you investigate, they painted when the wood was wet or the weather was too cold or something like that.

Drives him nuts.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"too literal"

[TwB]

As a pet owner, folks like that just piss me off. How hard is it to feed your pet the proper food? And I see that she also has trouble with personal responsibility, so that poor dog didn't have a chance.

[Brett L]

OTOH, Do NOT spend $25k resuscitating my cat, because I'm not paying for it. I enjoy the company the kitty, but not 4 months of work worth.

[TwB]

You bring up a good point. What is the cost threshold for saving your beloved pet? I will probably have to experience that firsthand someday and I'm not looking forward to it.

[110 Lean]

Dog: $5-10K
Cat: $1-2K

[Spartacus]

Good question. We had a cat (great big Maine Coon, 25 lb) that had multiple medical issues for pretty much his whole life (heart problems, liver problems, diabetes, ...). For the last 4 or 5 years of his life we averaged over $400 per month between special food, meds, vet visits every 2-3 weeks, etc. We took him along when we traveled because he was on a regular schedule of meds, several times a day.

As far as I'm concerned, it was well worth it. Tigger lived to be 15 years old, and was a joy to have around. He died Thanksgiving weekend 4 years ago. My, it's getting dusty in here.

[R C Dean]

What is the cost threshold for saving your beloved pet?

Too many variables. Can't say in advance.

Oldest Pit Bull was diagnosed this past weekend with very aggressive and advanced cancer. The usual alternatives (chemo, radiation, but not surgery in her case) were dismissed out of hand, but not because of cost (which I don't know, but expect would be in the thousands).

Its just time for her. Thirteen years old, blown knees, arthritic hips, and advanced cancer.

She's in home hospice care right now on so many painkillers she probably IS a controlled substance. I've done this before. I'll know when its time.

[Reverend Mayhem]

There used to be a comedian back in the '80s who did a bit about this. He said he took his cat to the vet, and found out it had bad knees. "I didn't even know cats HAD knees. Anyway, the vet told me what it would cost to do the required surgery, and I reminded him that I can get a new kitty for free. Let's face it, high vet bills make it hard to respect the sanctity of life. Fluffy may be cute, and you may love Fluffy, but Fluffy's NOT getting a liver transplant."

[Kaptious Kristen]

Who here knows their Tex-Mex cuisine? I was eating at a place last week that had a little scoop of some kind of corn bread stuff. It was the consistency and texture of, say, really moist bread pudding, served like a scoop of ice cream on the side. It was really sweet and soft and went well with the chimichanga I had.

Any ideas what this would be called so I can google up something? I'm obsessed with it.

[John]

That is a corn pudding. It is not so much TEXMex as just generally Southwest food.

[Kaptious Kristen]

It was custardy, though. It was like corn bread pudding. Like really mushy corn bread.

[John]

The corn pudding I have had is custardy. It is not bread, it is pudding.

[Kaptious Kristen]

OOps - I meant it WASN'T custardy.

[SugarFree]

It might have been corn souffle, a relative of corn pudding (and sometimes the terms are used interchangeably for the two different foods depending on region.)

[John]

Yeah. I bet that was what it was.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Interesting - it did have a souffle-like texture. I'm-a Google that shiz.

[Ivan Pike]

Spoonbread??

[John]

I bet this is pretty close to what you had.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/g.....n-pudding/

[Kaptious Kristen]

Nope - the stuff I had was more like bread pudding, less like pudding-pudding.

[John]

Probably just a variant where you make the pudding but also put in corn bread to make it more like bread pudding.

[110 Lean]

Call the restaurant and ask them.

[Snark Plissken]

I grew up in NM and I have no idea what this is. Sounds like some damn foo-foo CA cuisine crap invading like fajitas did back in the 90s. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

[R C Dean]

Respect, Snark.

There is no Mexican food better than New Mex.

That is all.

[John]

No RC. New Mexican is fine, but in the end it is all some version of chili stew. Nothing wrong with that, but it gets old.

[R C Dean]

Tut, tut, John. Carne asada is chili stew. Enchiladas are not. Neither are chile rellenos. Sopapillas are definitely not.

[fish]

Polenta?

Oh and as palate cleanser here's you first "cops shoot dog" story of the day.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/20.....rm-system/

[Kaptious Kristen]

It did kind of have somewhat of a polenta-like consistency, but not as dense.

I'm-a have my Pa go down there and ask 'em what they call it in Spanish (it's in Hendersonville, NC. I haven't seen it at any other Tex Mex place I've eaten). Hell, the chef or proprietor might be Salvadoran or South American for all I know and decided to use a recipe from his/her home.

[db]

I had a friend who was an older Italian guy. He said once, "I don't understand why polenta is such a big thing now. That is what my mother used to feed us when she didn't have enough money to make good food."

[John]

It is a reaction against the over complication of restaurant food. Polenta is simple and people have grown to like that.

[Stormy Dragon]

A lot of delicacies started out as something only really poor people ate because they couldn't get "real food".

[Root Boy]

Look at all the high fallutin' mac n cheese out there. My kids hate the 4 cheese with duck or whatever you can get at the local gastropub, but love Kraft.

(I like the fancy shit).

[WTF]

Lane added that the dog's blood was cleaned up off the floor, but that bullet holes remain in the wall and the futon Bullet slept on.

Sounds like they shot the dog on his bed. But the brave officers went home safely. It's all that matters.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I should add there weren't any whole corn kernels in it. It's as if they just used Masa.

[Rasilio]

Corn Pudding or Spoon Bread is what I have heard that called.

One place you can find it is a regional Tex-Mex place found mostly in the Mid-West and Mid Atlantic states called Don Pablo's

[John]

Today in Derp. The NFL is just a playground for mean old conservative white men.

But football's appeal is more than demographics. The numbers reflect the values of white conservative males. No professional sport looks more overtly macho than the NFL, and none appears to take greater delight in violence ? not even the National Hockey League, which has gone to great lengths to curb fisticuffs. The Michael Sam draft story revealed that none may be more homophobic. Where the National Basketball Association enthusiastically embraced Jason Collins when he announced he was gay, former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has claimed that that he was released for advocating gay marriage and that his position coach made homophobic slurs. Then are the numerous player tweets against gays, as well as Miami Dolphin lineman and team captain Richie Incognito's gay taunts against former teammate Jonathan Martin.

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/.....ersus-nfl/

[robc]

posted yesterday...or maybe the day before.

Thats what you get for working.

[Mike M.]

I'm starting to get this funny feeling that football is rapidly moving up the progressives' hit list.

I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's simply because something normal Americans love so much, and to a dopey-ass progressive, anything that normal Americans love must be bad.

[John]

They hate pretty much anything average Americans like and value. Killing football and replacing it with the more acceptable and European Soccer has always been on their wish list. They are just miserable rotten assholes who want to make everyone else as miserable as they are.

[Virginian]

World Cup soon. Can't wait for the thumbsucking articles decrying the U-S-A chant.

[John]

What is funny about the Prog love of soccer is that in the rest of the world it is the worst sort of working class, nationalistic, xenophobic sport. There are entire sections of European Soccer stadiums reserved for neo Nazis who do monkey chants and such at black players. European Soccer is everything Progs claim American football is.

[TwB]

Yes, a thousand times yes. If Prog's only knew how racist some European soccer fans are, they would lose their PC minds.

[R C Dean]

What is funny about the Prog love of soccer is that in the rest of the world it is the worst sort of working class, nationalistic, xenophobic sport.

Proggies are not averse to nationalistic xenophobia, as long as its pointed in the right direction.

[invisible furry hand]

Yeah, dopey-ass progressives want European soccer cos it's all non-racist and PC and shit. There are fans over there who still throw bananas at black players, for Christ's sake

[a better weapon]

Fuck Chris Kluwe. That guy was a treasure for the Vikings and reached a level of admiration that few punters ever achieve.

Then he got old, lost some of his boom and accuracy, and like a punch-drunk fighter, he couldn't accept that he wasn't even in the top 20 for NFL punters. The Vikings had a good, young guy for 1/5 of Kluwe's price tag so they did the smart move. Kluwe needed to man up and admit he didn't deserve $1.5 million a year any longer. Instead, he called the organization bigots even after all the years the Vikings supported him and his passionate lobbying outside of the game. Seriously, fuck that guy.

[Rich]

Blue Angels cockpit footage

[Brett L]

"Do you like gladiator movies?"

[John]

If this is true, holy cow.

http://www.washingtontimes.com.....didnt-ris/

The Pentagon on several occasions had ground-level intelligence on where ArmySgt. Bowe Bergdahl was being held captive at various times ? down to how many gunmen were guarding him ? but special operations commanders repeatedly shelved rescue missions because they didn't want to risk casualties for a man they believed to be a "deserter," sources familiar with the mission plans said.

I don't even know what to say to that.

[Virginian]

So why not just chuck a MOAB at the spot then?

[John]

The place might not have had any military value and just bombing it might have involved killing more innocent bystanders than the military value obtained by bombing it. They were probably holding him in some village somewhere that was not easily bombed.

[Virginian]

With what we spend on military hardware, there better not be a single village on the planet that's not quickly bombable.

[John]

It is always bombable, just not always worth the cost of doing so.

[Virginian]

http://blog.joehuffman.org/201.....report-16/

So the two morons in Chipotle probably moved about 15 people to the less gun friendly side of the page. Joe went out this weekend and added one to the pro gun side.

We then went out to lunch. I invited Barb and she met us and we all had lunch together.

This is how we win the culture war. The anti-gun people don't have anything to compete with what we have to offer.

Exactly this. When I take someone shooting for the first time, we go to the nice range, and then we go for Vietnamese and good beer right next door.

[db]

We are so fucked.

[Auric Demonocles]

So, I assumed the blisters were because my hiking boots were too large, but perhaps it was actually an allergic reaction to an alt-text-less picture.

[Kaptious Kristen]

NYC continues to use taxpayer cash to bring back the soda ban.

[Ken Shultz]

"Signs you may be on the wrong gun rights track: the National Rifle Association calls your efforts "downright weird" and "scary." Looking at you, Open Carry Texas..."

I see it at sort of like a gay pride parade.

In the gay rights movement, there were always two forces at work. One of them was making the case that gay people are just like everybody else--and their goal was to make the mainstream accept gay people as normal. The second force wasn't trying to appease the mainstream; their goal was to freak out the mainstream, and their attitude was: we're here, and we can be as obnoxious as we want to be, and if you don't like it, you can go fuck yourself.

The Open Carry people are basically taking that second attitude, and I think it's great. I'd love to live in a world where libertarians ideas are generally accepted, but in the meantime, neither I nor my rights exist just to make the mainstream happy. Our rights are not a popularity contest--and if the mainstream isn't aware of that fact, then this is a great way to teach them AND they can all go fuck themselves.

[Virginian]

Our rights are not a popularity contest

It would be nice if that were true. The fact is that they are in fact a popularity contest. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

You know why the NRA is winning? Because they have sought for the last two decades to carve out incremental victories, accept half-measures, and never try to overreach the possible. It sucks that it has to be that way, but this monstrosity wasn't built overnight and it will not be removed overnight. It's a long march.

[Ken Shultz]

"It would be nice if that were true. The fact is that they are in fact a popularity contest. It sucks, but that's the way it is."

That's actually not the way it is.

My rights exist regardless of whether they're popular; in fact, my rights exist regardless of whether the government supports them.

Our legal rights may sometimes be put up to a vote, but our legal rights are a pale shadow of our real rights...

Did Rosa Parks have the right to sit int the front of a public bus?

The local popularity contest said no. The law in Birmingham, Alabama said no, too. But it didn't matter what the local popularity contest or the law said. Rosa Parks had a right to sit in the front of a public bus anyway.

You can hold a popularity contest on the question of whether my right to own and carry a gun exists. You can make me owning and carrying a gun illegal! But you can't change the fact that I have a right to own and carry a gun. All you can do is violate it.

The gay rights people dealt with the same thing. They were unpopular. What they were doing was against the law. When they decided to start asserting the fact of their rights at Stonewall, their unpopularity and the law started to change. When the law and the unpopularity disappear into irrelevance when it comes into conflict with real deal rights?

It's the unpopularity and the law that are an illusion. It's the right that's real.

[db]

The right is certainly real, but rights that are exercised but not recognized have a way of.getting people in deep shit.

[Ken Shultz]

Yeah, that's part of it.

It always is. Always has been.

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."

----Gandhi

They set dogs and water cannons on black kids for carrying signs saying they wanted to go to good schools.

They beat the shit out of gay people at Stonewall.

Isn't the whole purpose of black blocs at Anarchist gatherings to try to provoke the police into overreacting, beating some innocent protestors, and catching it all on video--to discredit the state in the eyes of the public?

This has all been done before.

They jailed people for burning their draft cards.

Is this something I'm willing to do to go to jail? No, not really, not right now. When Patrick Henry says, "Give me Liberty or give me death", I say, "How 'bout give me Liberty, or I'll bitch and moan about it?". That doesn't mean I can't admire people who care more passionately about their cause than I do.

I would join a protest movement if things got bad enough.

[Virginian]

I'm familiar with the concept of natural rights Ken.

Meanwhile, in the real world, rights exist in a practical sense only so much as they are tolerated by others. Gun rights are in better shape every year, because the NRA and their fellow travelers don't just pontificate on their rights, they do the nitty gritty politicking and the day to day hearts and minds work with friends, neighbors, coworkers, and colleagues to make those rights a reality.

Libertarians could learn a lesson from the NRA. They know how to move the ball forward. You can't count on an eighty yard bomb. You have to pound it upfield, two or three yards at a time.

[Ken Shultz]

"Meanwhile, in the real world, rights exist in a practical sense only so much as they are tolerated by others."

Again, you seem to be quite confused about what's the real world and what's an illusion.

My rights are real.

The popularity contest is an illusion.

When reality comes into conflict with an illusion, it's the illusion that disappears. I've given you numerous examples of the illusion disappearing when it comes into conflict with various rights. And it isn't the rights that disappear--it's the law that disappears.

Hell, I saw the whole Soviet Union dissolve--in my lifetime. I saw China go from being communist to capitalist. Why would I believe the law is the real, practical world?

Don't believe the hype!

[Ken Shultz]

There's a law that says you can't go over 65 mph on the freeway in Los Angeles.

You wanna know what the reality is?

Those law makers think they're the real world? They're all dreaming! Don't fall under their spell.

[db]

The issue is that gun rights are at a tenuous pass right now, and it is.becoming fashionable to.revile.gun.owners. this.is.justified by the haters as a "hate the sin (gun), not the.sinner" scenario. As long as opponents of gun ownership rights can paint gun owners as weird, crazy obsessives, we lose. If they had to acknowledge that gun owners are.just people, not.inherently more.or.less violent than anyone else, they would lose.

[Ken Shultz]

"The issue is that gun rights are at a tenuous pass right now, and it is.becoming fashionable to.revile.gun.owners."

Yeah, and that's happened plenty before.

I was using the gay rights struggle as an example--they've been at a tenuous pass for more than 40 years!--but there are plenty of others...

Environmentalists and animal rights people have been reviled and continue to be reviled in some sectors. And they have suit and tie people--and they have activist who get into the headlines by being obnoxious.

Still, they make inroads.

I'd say the civil rights struggle was the same way. There were always people claiming that blacks were just the same as everybody in white society--and then you had people like the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam, whose message included, "We are not here to appease the mainstream".

I know people on the right aren't used to thinking of themselves in terms of activism, civil rights, street protest, etc., but maybe that needs to change. There are some, I'm sure, who will be offended just to be compared to the gay rights cause...

But it is what it is, and what these Open Carry people are doing--maybe those tactics are unusual for being applied to a stage right issue, but these tactics have been used before.

[db]

http://denver.cbslocal.com/201.....n-larkspur

Police.dogs released, public.warned to keep.away.

[Kaptious Kristen]

So I'm just finishing up reading The Stranger Beside Me. I had no idea the evidence against Bundy was so thin, and basically boiled down to one eye witness (who saw him in profile in the dark) and bite mark analysis. I had no idea he was never convicted in Washington or Colorado. I'm fairly certain he committed those murders, but I had thought for a long time that the evidence against him was rock solid. Of course, they didn't have DNA testing back then, and he did leave some evidence at some scenes. I would be curious to see if there's a match, but since he was executed, they probably destroyed the forensic evidence.

[John]

Didn't he pretty much admit to all of it the night before he went to the chair? And the bite mark evidence was pretty strong. That is not some made up bullshit the fiber from the carpet evidence. He teeth matched the bite mark on victim.

It is not that surprising they didn't have a lot of evidence against him. Bundy was really smart and a total sociopath who killed for the thrill of it. He wasn't stupid and he didn't act out of passion. So it was unlikely to make many mistakes or leave a lot of evidence around.

[db]

After the bite mark analysis issues brought to light by Radley Balko, I would have serious questions regarding such evidence.

[Root Boy]

Just finished watching The Riverman on Netflix. It was about the Green River killer, but the movie had scenes of the investigator going down to Florida and getting Bundy to help (the cop had previously tried to pin the murders on Bundy). The movie claimed Bundy confessed to a bunch of his murders in WA to that cop.

[Rollo]

That is not some made up bullshit the fiber from the carpet evidence. He teeth matched the bite mark on victim.

It is exactly made up bullshit, bite mark evidence has been discredited completely. I'm surprised you didn't know that.

[R C Dean]

Some bite mark evidence has been discredited. Radley was after one particular coroner, who was horrific. I wasn't aware that all of it has been.

[db]

Derek Lowe does a good job of summing up my opinions on psychoactive substances and other recreational drugs in his eulogy of Sasha Shulgin.

[Bubba Jones]

Open carry is building political support in texas. No need to scare people.