Oversight Board Supports NSA Surveillance Methods, Russia Demands Ukraine Stand Down, Target's Logo Not a Request to Bring Guns Inside: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: kevin dooley / photo on flickr

  The bipartisan Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has declared that some Internet bulk data collection efforts by the National Security Agency are legal, "reasonable," and "effective."

• Russia is demanding Ukraine reinstate its cease-fire and stop military actions against pro-Russia separatists.
• The United States Navy has promoted its first female four-star admiral, Michelle Howard.
• The infamously hot Stockton, California, man whose mugshot went viral over his hotness has hired a talent agent. Any bets on whether he'll be on Big Brother next summer?
• After protesters blocked buses full of detained immigrants, keeping them from a processing facility in Murietta, California, officials are keeping mum about what they'll do next.
• Target is politely asking customers to not bring guns into their stores.

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Comments

[hamilton]

data collection efforts by the National Security Agency are legal, "reasonable," and "effective."

Well, that's a relief.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

I get my Ukraine/Russia fill from the guest on TI. Good stuff.

[C. Anacreon]

The infamously hot Stockton, California, man whose mugshot went viral over his hotness has hired a talent agent. Any bets on whether he'll be on Big Brother next stummer?

Stummer? Is that a stunning summer?

[waffles]

Did they stutter?

[Suthenboy]

"The infamously hot Stockton, California, man...."

I am not seeing it.

But, then I probably wouldn't. Hot and man are two words I would not use in any sentence other than: "Man, its hot out here!"

[C. Anacreon]

methinks an editor has fixed the original typo

[Fist of Etiquette]

Target is politely asking customers to not bring guns into their stores.

Then you should change your name.

[hamilton]

Nice.

[Injun, as in from India]

...to "Hard Target"?

[The DerpRider]

"If you understand me, just grunt."

[Injun, as in from India]

I'm glad at least someone got the reference. 🙂

[Zeb]

What about shooting at the sign from the parking lot? Is that OK?

[Rich]

Everybody knows it's pronounced "Tarjhay".

[Slammer]

Or Tar-ghetto

[Raven Nation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mDcZGRKQ_M

[Drake]

I will comply with your wishes and no longer bring any firearms to Target. Unfortunately, my firearm is in the same pants as my wallet, which kinda sucks, because you were convenient.

Tam nails it as always.

http://booksbikesboomsticks.bl.....-well.html

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

After protesters blocked buses full of detained immigrants, keeping them from a processing facility in Murietta, California, officials are keeping mum about what they'll do next.

Yes, nothing creates sympathy for your argument like harassing frightened children.

[C. Anacreon]

But dey terk our jerbs!

[JW]

But dey WILL terk our jerbs!

[Stormy Dragon]

What exactly do the protestors want done with them? Summary execution upon capture?

[ant1sthenes]

Summary deportation to nation of origin, presumably. Perhaps preceded by a brief detention in a federal facility for processing.

[Stormy Dragon]

protesters blocked buses full of detained immigrants, keeping them from a processing facility

Perhaps preceded by a brief detention in a federal facility for processing

[New Normal]

They aren't processed. They are told to show up to court and let go. Almost none ever show up to court.

[John]

I am pretty sure the results of the federal government being responsible for the welfare of thousands of children isn't going to work out so well for immigration supporters. But neither will dumping them out on the street.

[Hawk Spitui]

And you would be right.

[Rich]

The counselor kept a detailed journal about what happened during her tenure at the facility.

"When people read that journal they are going to be astonished," she said. 'I don't think they will believe what is going on in America."

So it was not a great surprise, she said, when she received a call from federal agents demanding that she return to the military base and hand over her journal.

She said she declined to do so.

Stay tuned. 8-(

[MegaloMonocle]

I would have suggested that she make copies of the journal, hand over a copy, and then play dumb and say she thought they just wanted to see the journal as part of their investigation of the horrific conditions. It never crossed her mind they were trying to seize the journal and silence her.

[Homple]

Might have been nice if the child transporters had asked the locals whether they wanted this facility. But, hey it's For The Children, so STFU.

[rts]

Swedish farmers have doubts about climatologists

Researchers the world over almost unanimously agree that our climate is changing because of the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide humankind pumps into our fragile atmosphere. But many farmers ? at least Swedish ones ? have experienced mild winters and shifting weather before and are hesitant about trusting the scientists.

[Brandon]

...because of the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide humankind pumps into our fragile atmosphere.

What an objective statement!

[Zeb]

our fragile atmosphere

I'd really like to see some more evidence for that claim. It seems pretty robust and resilient to me.

[UnCivilServant]

Well, without the magnetosphere, it'd be swept away by the solar winds! It's in constant danger from the massive nuclear fire we orbit!

[C. Anacreon]

The interesting thing is, in recent months the claim about consensus has gone from 97% (which was ridiculous enough in itself if you ever read the "study" that made this claim) to repeated assurance that it is 99% (including a recent Doonesbury Sunday strip) to this now "almost unanimous."

I'm waiting for when they claim that "110%" of scientists agree. We can't be far from that if you just follow the trajectory.

[Suthenboy]

The real question is, when will the climate agree?

[PD Scott]

We're going to let it sweat it out a little first, then it will see the light.

[hamilton]

The United States Navy has promoted its first female four-star admiral, Michelle Howard.

Free birth control now available at the Officers' Club.

[Rich]

Shiver me timbers, that's funny!

[Injun, as in from India]

Target is politely asking customers to not bring guns into their stores.

Imagine the outrage if SoCons were upset at seeing gay couples kiss, and asked Target to kindly ask them to not do so.

[Andrew S.]

Please tell me this is a troll, and you're not actually comparing the two.

(SLD: A store should be allowed to exclude gay people, like Target is allowed to exclude guns. In both cases, they would have to pay whatever price they'd have to pay in terms of lost business, but it is/should be their right)

[Injun, as in from India]

I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of those who call themselves "tolerant".

[perlhaqr]

Seems like a pretty reasonable comparison to me. Liberals get their panties wadded at the sight of a gun not accompanied by a clown suit. Conservatives get their wadded over the sight of two men making kissy face. Only one of these groups can publicly express their panty wadding and make demands of retail establishments without getting shivved in the press.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Reich: All Your Markets Are Belong To Us

Freedom is the one value conservatives place above all others, yet time and again their ideal of freedom ignores the growing imbalance of power in our society that's eroding the freedoms of most people.

This isn't new. In the early 1930s, the Court trumped New Deal legislation with "freedom of contract" -- the presumed right of people to make whatever deals they want unencumbered by federal regulations. Eventually (perhaps influenced by FDR's threat to expand the Court and pack it with his own appointees) the Court relented.

But the conservative mind has never incorporated economic power into its understanding of freedom. Conservatives still champion "free enterprise" and equate the so-called "free market" with liberty. To them, government "intrusions" on the market threaten freedom.

Yet the "free market" doesn't exist in nature. There, only the fittest and strongest survive. The "free market" is the product of laws and rules continuously emanating from legislatures, executive departments, and courts. Government doesn't "intrude" on the free market. It defines and organizes (and often reorganizes) it.

Here's where the reality of power comes in. It's one thing if these laws and rules are shaped democratically, reflecting the values and preferences of most people.

Have it guys.

[Andrew S.]

Damn. Even for Reich that's bad. That's Krugman-level bad.

[Warty]

Sorry. Can't do it today. My time is short.

[waffles]

Is that a little person joke?

[Rich]

Damn your syrupy fingers!

[Rich]

So is Reich's.

*** bites lip ***

[hamilton]

Conservatives still ... equate the so-called "free market" with liberty

Statements like this, and the left's complete lack of understanding of it, are why we cannot have any useful dialogue ever in this country. The fundamental definitions and moral systems are just too intrinsically different.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Government doesn't "intrude" on the free market. It defines and organizes (and often reorganizes) it.

Ohhh, so that's how it works.

[KDN]

Yes. You see, in the absence of the state I could never, ever trade my freshly flayed deerskin for your two handfuls of berries. Thank God for civilization!

[hamilton]

You could, but for just one handful of berries in taxes and fees, we can make sure your deerskin and berries meet our exacting quality standards, protecting you and your family from scary things. Plus you get roads and a free kick in the crotch in order to meet your family planning needs.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It's so laughable that KDN would accept my berries without having the FDA inspect them first.

[110 Lean]

Hey guys, I see your digging fence post holes. Now I'm not going to intrude. I'm just going to define and organize your digging.

[PD Scott]

Gotta make sure them holes are up to code.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And then reorganize it after the fact, because fuck you.

[110 Lean]

you're

WTF?

[waffles]

No you stay away from my digging fence post holes. I'm working on a patent and I'll make a killing finishing the border fence!

[Restoras]

It's one thing if these laws and rules are shaped democratically, reflecting the values and preferences of most people.

So, if I could get a majority to support rounding up hair-splitting, argumentative douchebags and put them in a preserve for me to hunt, that'd be ok? Not sure I see the problem.

[Slammer]

Yet the "free market" doesn't exist in nature. There, only the fittest and strongest survive.

Like gangs governments with the most guns.

[Brandon]

You missed the worst part:

Public goods paid for with tax revenues (public schools, affordable public universities, parks, roads, bridges) are deteriorating, while private goods paid for individually (private schools and colleges, health clubs, security guards, gated community amenities) are burgeoning.

I could go on, but you get the point. The so-called "free market" is not expanding options and opportunities for most people. It's extending them for the few who are wealthy enough to influence how the market is organized.

It's fallacy followed by lie followed by fallacy based on the lie.

[110 Lean]

No shit. The university of Minnesota Twin Cities campuses are unquestioningly burgeoning.

[Juice]

Public goods paid for with tax revenues (public schools, affordable public universities, parks, roads, bridges) are deteriorating, while private goods paid for individually (private schools and colleges, health clubs, security guards, gated community amenities) are burgeoning.

The solution is staring you in the face, Robert.

[MJGreen]

Seriously. God damn. Public goods are deteriorating, private goods are burgeoning. Sounds like the "free" market is holding up its end of the bargain.

[JW]

The solution is staring you in the face, Robert.

Round up and kill all of the kulaks and wreckers?

[Slammer]

The Final Solution of the Reich.

[JW]

The Third and a Half Reich.

[ant1sthenes]

"Public goods paid for with tax revenues (public schools, affordable public universities, parks, roads, bridges) are deteriorating, while private goods paid for individually (private schools and colleges, health clubs, security guards, gated community amenities) are burgeoning."

He came so close to having an epiphany about principal-agent problems or the tragedy of the commons, but whiffed.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Happiness is a warm government.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Bang bang, shoot shoot

[MJGreen]

the presumed right of people to make whatever deals they want unencumbered by federal regulations.

The barbarians!

[Suthenboy]

"The "free market" is the product of laws and rules continuously emanating from legislatures, executive departments, and courts."

I.....uh....I.....uh....whut?

I googled him: "Robert Bernard Reich (/?ra??/;[1] born June 24, 1946) is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator."

I am calling bullshit on that. He is no such thing.

[MJGreen]

Yet the "free market" doesn't exist in nature. There, only the fittest and strongest survive. The "free market" is the product of laws and rules continuously emanating from legislatures, executive departments, and courts. Government doesn't "intrude" on the free market. It defines and organizes (and often reorganizes) it.

Fuck off, you useless cunt. There are substantive rules which define what a free market is. It's not simply whatever market exists as currently regulated by the government. This is positivist, General-Will-like claptrap. By this logic the USSR had a free market.

Maybe there's no exact definition of a free market, but we have a pretty good idea of what it means. The government can enforce rules consistent with that idea, or it can create and enforce rules that greatly violate it.

Also, fuck off with including "executive departments." The legislature? Fine, maybe. The courts? Absolutely. But a free market relies on rules created by executive departments? God damn I hate you, Reich.

[Paul.]

Government doesn't "intrude" on the free market. It defines and organizes (and often reorganizes) it.

This is fucking retarded... and I apologize for the term 'retarded' because it's an insult to people who are actually mentally retarded. By this definition, no amount of government intrusion can make a market 'unfree'. No regulation can stymie the market. No rules, no bans, no dictates from policy-makers can do anything to a market except make it free.

North Korea, by his definition, has the free-est market on the planet.

[MegaloMonocle]

That free market, you didn't build that.

[rts]

Guaranteed $20K income for all Canadians endorsed by academics

Rob Rainer, a campaign director for the Basic Income Canada Network, envisions a country where everyone is assured a minimum of $20,000 annually to make ends meet.

"For many of us, we think the goal is no one should be living in poverty," Rainer said at a conference on the issue over the weekend at McGill University.

Futurama covered this.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

If academics want to support this $20,000 minimum alone, have atter.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

As if we don't pay enough taxes.

[C. Anacreon]

This was Milton Friedman's idea.

[califernian]

As a replacement of all social spending it wouldn't be a terrible move.

[ant1sthenes]

A georgist tax on rents whose proceeds were redistributed flatly seems like the sort of welfare system I could get behind.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I don't trust they would do it in any logical manner.

It would just be another hand out.

And then people would be screaming for 25k in no time because they have a pool to pay for or something.

It would have to take a major shift in our mindset I reckon, no?

[rts]

Speed limits on some B.C. highways to hit 120 km/h

I never thought I'd live to see the day... many speed limits are being raised around the province.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I hate driving on U.S. highways. 55mph/60mph speed limits is for children.

It's not like you can go above it because they have a state trooper hiding behind every bush and sign (like in The Flintstones) it seems.

So I have to drive at 60 and when I'm feeling edgy 65.

In Quebec, by contrast, though they've been cracking down. You can literally drive two hours from Montreal to Quebec city without seeing cops. I once bombed there at 150-160km clear.

Bah.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sorry about the period that broke the sentence. I'm talking to clients and typing at the same time.

Don't tell me I'm not dedicated to Reason.

[waffles]

Surely you jest. All the Ontario plates I see round these parts have reckless drivers who usually go 85 mph or so.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ontario and Quebec drivers are fast.

Me? I don't want a ticket.

[grrizzly]

I drove once behind a police car doing the speed limit for like 30 minutes from Montreal to Quebec City. There were many cars behind it. They didn't know it was okay to speed.

[entropy_factor]

in TX, most speed limits are 75. We even have a *gasp* toll road with 85 MPH speed limit. First day it opened, there was much pearl-clutching and fear mongering. And indeed the speedy drivers had a total of 3 accidents that day- all with wild pigs, none with each other.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, my geographic area is basically all the states from Vermont to Florida. Never saw 75.

Of course, my comment was a bit tongue in cheek.

Ontario is more like the States in terms of police presence.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

You must not have driven on many US highways.

Many of the western states have 70 or 75 mph speed limits. Some localities are experimenting with 80mph+. And there are plenty of areas where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing a cop.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, I just wrote above been to all states on the East coast and California.

So it's constricted to that.

Sorry if I ruffled bald eagle feathers two days before the 4th.

[Raven Nation]

And there are plenty of areas where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing a cop anyone.

[Drake]

Most of the East Coast has highway speed limits of 65 and the cops don't usually hassle you until you hit 75.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

So I hear.

But don't want to chance it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Especially reading all the cop stories here at Reason. Yikes, I'd rather just be a good foreigner.

[MegaloMonocle]

Yeah. Go five over, and next thing you know you're strapped down for your third rectal exam of the day.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Putin forfeits all libertarian support -

"Vladimir Putin is telling artists and filmmakers to wash their mouths out with soap?or pay the price. A law that went into effect on Tuesday mandates that creatives whose work includes obscene language pay fines up to 2,500 rubles ($72) for individuals and up to 50,000 rubles ($1,460) for businesses, according to the AFP....

"The report suggests that the legislation is directed at eradicating "mat," the complex vocabulary of swear words, which is most readily associated with Russia's criminal underworld and its military. Article 20.1.1 of the Offenses Code of Russia already bans "mat" in public use, but is said to be sparingly enforced."

http://news.artnet.com/in-brie.....dium=email

[Brandon]

An autocratic former state strongman who has acted as a dictator for over a decade? What libertarian support did he have?

[The Last American Hero]

Since Team Libertarian is generally opposed to US military action in Ukraine as well as US Gov making empty threats to Russia, we have been branded as Pro-Putin. Try to keep up.

[PD Scott]

"Hey, Vlad? Here's 2500 rubles. Go fuck yourself."

[Wasteland Wanderer]

"PD Scott, you are fined 2500 rubles for a violation of the Verbal Morality Statute."

[PD Scott]

You'll just blow it all at Taco Bell.

[perlhaqr]

Yob tvoyu mat', Put'a.

[rts]

I'll take "Visualizations I didn't need" for $200, Alex:

Obama, 'a bear on the loose,' breaks free from White House

Obama started referring to himself as a bear on the loose in late May when he broke out of his White House cage, and opted to stroll along the streets of downtown D.C. instead of taking his motorcade to a meeting. "It's good to be out," he said as he walked along Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall, suit jacket tossed over his shoulder. "The bear is loose!"

[Slammer]

Who does he think he is...Putin?

[Zeb]

Medvedev would be the bear, no?

[The DerpRider]

What did the fox say?

[Agammamon]

'I was born and raised in the briar patch!'

[Homple]

Andrew Sullivan maybe?

[John]

I think he increasingly hates the country and the job of being President. I just hope the stupid bastard doesn't get himself assassinated pulling some dumb stunt while his secret service detail is out whoring one night.

[Restoras]

Impossible. Isn't DC a gun-free zone?

[Injun, as in from India]

Thread winner.

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

The bear? More like the bull, as in bullshit!

[Warty]

The Wolf is Loose

[Slammer]

Warty do play any guitar? Did you see this? John McEntee's (Incantation) wife has cancer and Asphyx is auctioning this.

[Warty]

I wish I was cool enough to play guitar.

[Zeb]

Yeah, it's a rarefied and exclusive group of people who play the guitar.

[jesse.in.mb]

Years ago I was out with a random Norwegian girl and a random American guy in Mostar. She suggested the guy and I go get our guitars from the places we were staying and go back to her hostel to drink and play music.

We were both puzzled and asked her why she thought we a) could play guitar, b) would bring our guitars to Bosnia.

Apparently all Norwegian men know how to play the guitar and it's considered a core part of the wooing process. She was utterly confused how we found girlfriends if we couldn't play the guitar.

[Homple]

Well, a Norwegian would....

[Slammer]

I saw that!

[JW]

"I call this next number 'Schtuping Schtuping Bork Bork Bork.'"

[grrizzly]

She was utterly confused how we found girlfriends if we couldn't play the guitar.

That's why you don't have a girlfriend.

[jesse.in.mb]

That's why you don't have a girlfriend.

I tried to learn in middle school but the teacher was intolerant of my left-handedness.

[Professor Booty]

This is the leadoff hitter on my lifting mix. Love Blood Mountain.

[Andrew S.]

We need Springfield's bear patrol.

[MJGreen]

Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax.

[Jerry on the sea]

Wth, they don't have bears in Kenya.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

More like the gerbil is loose.

[Suthenboy]

A bear on the loose, huh? He is a bear because he is so fearless, tough, and rugged. Would that be this bear?

http://www.freerepublic.com/fo.....8294/posts

Y'know, come to think of it, that is exactly the kind of thing I would expect him to say. I only wish we had a recording of his voice when he said it. I bet it would match that photo perfectly.

[ant1sthenes]

So the rumors are true.

[Suthenboy]

No shit. You had doubts?

[110 Lean]

Target is politely asking customers to not bring guns into their stores.

Of course politely. Their headquartered in Minneapolis.

[110 Lean]

They're

[JW]

You're not doing too well today, are you?

[Rich]

While the board found that certain aspects of the program are questionable and "push the program close to the line of constitutional reasonableness," essentially its five members concluded unanimously that the core of the so-called Section 702 program is "clearly authorized by Congress, reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and an extremely valuable and effective intelligence tool."

Do these "five members" have names?

"Civil Liberties Oversight Board", eh? "It's CLOBberin' time!"

[Slammer]

While the board found that certain aspects of the program are questionable and "push the program close to the line of constitutional reasonableness," essentially its five members concluded unanimously that the core of the so-called Section 702 program is "clearly authorized by Congress, reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, and an extremely valuable and effective intelligence tool."

Drink!

[John]

The public largely blames President Obama for the flood of children who have poured over the border in recent weeks, creating a growing humanitarian crisis, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll released Monday.

[...]

The poll found that 59% of those closely following the immigration crisis agree that "current administration policies and lack of focus on securing the border" are behind the human tide of illegal crossings. Six in 10 say that the children should be ordered to leave the country. (The survey found that 73% of Americans are following this story closely.)

http://hotair.com/archives/201.....s-scandal/

So as the public increasingly hates Obama's guts, how exactly do Democratic politicians standing for election this November distance themselves from the Black Jesus?

[Injun, as in from India]

By promising a different flavor of Hope-n-Change? Or more free sh**?

[PD Scott]

Based on ads here in Georgia, they show a lot more scenes of their adorable children and try hard not to mention the fact they're Democrats.

[Rich]

"The country was just not yet ready."

[John]

"The Country is just ungovernable" and

"Obama just had bad luck"

[CatoTheElder]

It's all George Bush's fault, obviously.

Well, that, and racism.

[Invisible Finger]

I suppose they could blame RINO's for being fake Republicans and therefore you might was well vote for a "real" Democrat.

[Suthenboy]

Sadly, they would have a point.

[MegaloMonocle]

how exactly do Democratic politicians standing for election this November distance themselves from the Black Jesus?

By running against Bush?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"As Numbers Grow, Single Women Emerge as Political Powerhouse...

"...Democrats and allied groups are making an aggressive push to woo single women ? young and old, highly educated and working class, never married and divorced or widowed. This week, they seized on the ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority, five men, that family-owned corporations do not have to provide birth control in their insurance coverage, to buttress their arguments that Democrats better represent women's interests....

"Half of all adult women over the age of 18 are unmarried ? 56 million, up from 45 million in 2000 ? and now account for one in four people of voting age. (Adult Hispanics eligible to vote, a group that gets more attention, number 25 million this year.) Single women have become Democrats' most reliable supporters, behind African-Americans: In 2012, two-thirds of single women who voted supported President Obama. Among married women, a slim majority supported Mitt Romney."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07.....-news&_r=0

[John]

That more than anything is what gave us the Pelosi Congress and the Chocolate Nixon. Single women want a husband or a daddy and look to government to fill that role.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

This comment warrants a serious, non-ironic use of "This is Why There Are No Female Libertarians".

[John]

LOL. It is true. Single women have less of a support structure than married women and are thus more supportive of big government. when they get married, they tend to be less supportive of big government.

[C. Anacreon]

I'm not sure I've got this correct -- the thin majority of married women supported Romney? So that means the fatty minority voted for Obama?

That would explain the fawning over Michelle a bit more.

[Professor Booty]

There are so many ways I would have phrased this differently than John, but at the core of it he is right.

[MJGreen]

Romney was just as willing to be a big strong daddy for the country.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, but for whatever reason, he didn't connect. Don't have a link for it now, but Obama cleaned up on the "he cares about me" question.

[Tak Kak]

"Every woman adores a fascist"

[MegaloMonocle]

Its the uniforms. They're just so dreamy.

[Injun, as in from India]

But misinforming the public of the Green family's objection to abortifacients, as opposed to preventive birth control, you can definitely motivate them.

[Tonio]

Surely the gays are to blame for this, too.

[ant1sthenes]

Their complete rejection of female sexual power makes them key villains in the war on womyn.

[Rich]

Among married women, a slim majority supported Mitt Romney.

"The overweight minority supported Obama."

[C. Anacreon]

dammit

[MJGreen]

the ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority, five men

I know that politics is stupid and driven by emotion, but this kind of ad hominem can still make me go crazy. Either the ruling was well-reasoned or it was not. If it was the reasonable decision, then a woman justice should have ruled the same way. They shouldn't have decided against it because they're women who want to help their sisters get more contraception.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...officials are keeping mum about what they'll do next.

Pretend it's not happening?

[Injun, as in from India]

But the conservative mind has never incorporated economic power into its understanding of freedom.

And the "liberal" mind has never incorporated the hijacking of government power by those it is intended to "control" and turned against the people at large.

[John]

It is as always projection with these people. Conservatives, since Adam Smith have done exactly that and their solution is not to have a powerful government for business to corrupt. It is liberals like Reich who forever think the next group of top men are not going to end up serving the interests of the powerful.

[Brandon]

I don't think it's even that. The Little Tyrant just thinks that he will be part of the Inner Party as long as putative Liberals have the power.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

People like Reich think Enlightenment thinkers like Smith were liberals of the contemporary sort.

That's a huge problem because when you discuss history with them, there's a major disconnect.

[John]

I don't know a single liberal who isn't profoundly ignorant of history. Every person I know who has an interest in and good knowledge of history is either a conservative or libertarian.

[MegaloMonocle]

People like Reich think

Assumes facts not in evidence.

[Juice]

Adam Smith was a liberal in the actual sense of the word.

[Injun, as in from India]

Hayek never like word libertarian and thought it was not aesthetic. But the word liberal has been completely hijacked and is unusable for at least another generation.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes.

Classical liberal.

Not the the progressive-liberal we see from the likes of Reich.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Man dressed as Stormtrooper prompt lockdown in Kansas town

A man dressed as a Star Wars Stormtrooper prompted the lock down of a local business in Salina, Kansas, amid fears he was armed and dangerous.

Officers in the city of Salina were called to respond to reports of an armed man patrolling the streets from nearby business Action Travel, after a customer saw what they believed to be a man carrying a weapon at 1pm on Thursday.

Police advised the owner to lock up the business while a team responded, local media has reported.

Action Travel employee Janelle Snyder told KWCH12 they made the call as a precaution, "due to the stuff that's happened out in Colorado at the theatre and just weird stuff".

She added: "If he wouldn't have had the gun, we wouldn't have thought about it."

Police said the man, Chris Burns, was dressed up as a Stormtrooper and carrying a plastic prop gun for a video he and his friend were making. The pair had been taking a break from shooting the video for his Vine account 'Stormtrooper Sam' when he was seen walking down the street.

TX-421, why aren't you at your post?

[Andrew S.]

Oh c'mon. Why were they scared? Even if he started shooting, it's not like he would've hit anything.

[rts]

And these blast points, too accurate for Sandpeople. Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise.

[Andrew S.]

Yes, but Obi Wan was full of crap when he said that (warning: TV tropes link)

[Brandon]

There's a theory that they were missing on purpose on the Death Star, since they wanted the Millenium Falcon to escape anyway.

[Stormy Dragon]

Star Wars actually fits in with the other five movies if you assume everything Obi Wan says was intended to be sarcasm because he thinks Luke is just as big a dope as his father was.

[Rich]

Nice. Pew, pew, pew!

[kibby]

I'm relieved to find the name in this article isn't yours.

[JW]

Wait until he asks you to dress up like Episode IV Leia.

[Whahappan?]

Like that hasn't happened yet.

[Rich]

Action Travel employee Janelle Snyder told KWCH12 they made the call as a precaution, "due to ... just weird stuff".

"If you see weird stuff, say weird stuff."

[Brandon]

I'm guessing Janelle Snyder has more than a few cats.

[JEP]

*ahem* It's TK-421 you philistine.

\Comic Book Guy

[Warty]

It's Not Crazy, It's Not Socialism, It's Not The Imperial Presidency

He's getting increasingly pouty, isn't he? It's hilarious to watch.

[John]

If the Democrats lose the Senate in November it is going to be epic. He has already told people that the Republicans taking the Senate would make his last two years as President "unbearable". I think he might have some kind of meltdown like some losing coach finally letting the media have it in a post game press conference. Think Jim Mora "Playoffs?" or Denny Green "We are who we thought we were!!" kind of thing. I want to see him do something so bizarre and pathetic even his boot lickers in the media can't explain it away.

[some guy]

I want to see him do something so bizarre and pathetic even his boot lickers in the media can't explain it away.

Can God create a boulder so heavy even he can't move it?

[John]

It is a rather deep and difficult question, granted.

[110 Lean]

I read that as blunder.

[Injun, as in from India]

So 2010 was a shellacking. What word is our Community-Organizer-in-Chief going to up with in 2014?

Pounding?
Beat down?
Reaming?

[Rich]

"There's no sugarcoating it -- They tore us a new one."

[Injun, as in from India]

"They tore us a new one - and then sugarcoated it."

[ant1sthenes]

Coordinated terrorist attacks on red polling places by Mara Salvatrucha mmebers armed by the Tampa ATF through Operation Castaway, who were directed to come to the US and prepare through coded messages in Central American media, and who are being placed in position by DHS under the guise of releasing what are nominally UACs (in their late teens, whose "sponsors" are actually fellow gang leaders)?

/takes off Alex Jones hat

Welp, that's the last time I read Drudge after too many cups of coffee.

[kinnath]

I want to see the fucker divorced, homeless, and wandering the streets muttering shit at everyone that walks by.

I want to see him broken utterly.

[Rich]

*** whispering ***

"See that shabby man over there, the one with Secret Service protection? He used to be *president*."

[Invisible Finger]

Forget it. He'll be getting $3M per speech the moment his term is up, Bill Clinton will have to re-brand as the "value" post-POTUS speaker.

And yet these rich "liberals" paying these speaking fees will somehow be chiding the Fed for not printing money and handing it to poor people.

[kinnath]

Not if he has a total mental break. He'll be kept out of site in some posh resort setting.

[Invisible Finger]

How would they be able to tell he had a total mental break? He starts making sense?

If he starts screaming at walls, REPUBLICANS will pay $3M to hear him speak and Sharon Osbourne/Michelle Obama will gladly take the money.

[Suthenboy]

"I want to see the fucker divorced, homeless, and wandering the streets muttering shit at everyone that walks by.

I want to see him broken utterly."

^^^This^^

It is not an impossibility. The guy is a pure ideologue. Having a break when finding out that no one buys the bullshit that you believe is gospel, and then possibly having an epiphany, seeing it for the bullshit that it is, and realizing you blew your once in a lifetime chance being president.....he could end up catatonic and drooling on himself.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Invisible Finger]

What you want is a Nixon-style break. The GOP is too chicken-shit to bring it to that point and they don't have a bought-and-sold media to do the dirty work for them.

[Homple]

All of the above, except indissoluble married to Michelle.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"The Republicans and the American people who voted for them are who we thought they are!"

[Invisible Finger]

Yep: RACISTS

[Max Power]

Maybe he'll do like John Chaney, and send his goon out after the Republicans.

[Suthenboy]

" I want to see him do something so bizarre and pathetic even his boot lickers in the media can't explain it away."

Clearly you have shreek and Tony blocked. Otherwise you would know that there is no such thing.

[some guy]

Think back to what he was like during his first national campaign. There's no way he thought the next six years would turn out the way they did. He thought the country and the world loved him. After such a huge dissapointment how could he not be depressed and pouty?

[The Late P Brooks]

the presumed right of people to make whatever deals they want unencumbered by federal regulations.

That evil fucking Red Hen. How dare she pretend she is allowed to only share her bread to those who actually helped make it?

[Tonio]

Does the current massive influx of child illegal immigrants remind anyone else of the Children's Crusade?

[Suthenboy]

Actually, yes.

[jesse.in.mb]

At what point are the solid into slavery in Tunesia by merchants?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Veteran: Open carry advocates should join the military if they want to resist tyranny

Some of these right-wing activists use words like "tyranny" and "oppression." But ever since 9/11, there's been plenty of call for people willing to fight true tyranny. During my two decades in the military, I visited countries where people had lived under such tyranny. They knew they'd been oppressed; they didn't need talk radio blowhards to tell them so. When you see real tyranny, it's unmistakable, and it looks nothing like the United States, the most free and prosperous nation on the planet.

There are those in the open carry movement who have spent time in the military, and I thank them for their service. But there are others who need to realize that bringing a Glock into Starbucks doesn't make you a freedom fighter.

So, if you want to carry a weapon and wear tactical clothing, here's an idea: Go see a recruiter. The weapons and cool clothes are free.

You might find serving a challenge, though. It'll take more commitment than shooting a few holes in a paper target whenever you feel like it. It'll take more time than slapping a "Don't Tread on Me" sticker on your windshield.

You'll take an oath to follow lawful orders and defend the Constitution. All of it, not just the parts you like.

And you won't get to intimidate other Americans; you might have to face real enemies.

[Andrew S.]

Better to become a cop. You get the fun toys, have a higher chance of using them, and a lower chance of actually encountering anything dangerous.

[Brandon]

To resist tyranny, join the tyranny?

[Jordan]

Yeah, that was pretty derptastic.

[The Last American Hero]

It's not as crazy as you think. If a bunch of Reasonoids were police chiefs, the SWAT toys would be gathering dust and the no-knock raids would be part of a dark past nobody talks about anymore.

[Injun, as in from India]

But... Power corrupts! And we're all fallible humans.

[ant1sthenes]

Speak for yourself. I'd make it my mission to ruin the day of every coplover in town.

[Homple]

I'd treat them like Andy Griffith treated Don Knott's.

[Homple]

Damned autocorrect! Knotts, KNOTTS, I say!

[Raven Nation]

Second generation is often the problem. That's a broad brush stroke explanation of what happened 1812-1820.

[Jordan]

When you see real tyranny, it's unmistakable, and it looks nothing like the United States, the most free and prosperous nation on the planet.

"We're better than Yemen, so quit your bitchin!"

[Injun, as in from India]

Yeah. A swat team burning a toddler with a flash bang grenade is not Yemeni-style tyranny. It's American Liberty!

[MJGreen]

Why is the assumption that these people simply wanted to intimidate others? Did any of these activists act in an intimidating fashion, other than simply being armed?

[MegaloMonocle]

This much of it could (and should) have been directed at cops:

So, if you want to carry a weapon and wear tactical clothing, here's an idea:

Go see a recruiter. The weapons and cool clothes are free.

You might find serving a challenge, though. It'll take more commitment than shooting a few holes in a paper target whenever you feel like it.

[Azathoth!!]

When you see real tyranny, it's too late.

Better, by far, to fight to keep it from happening.

And making it clear to you, Tom, and your compatriots who would be our masters, that Americans are armed and ready, is one small way to fight back.

[Coeus]

We can solve global warming by harnessing the spin power in this piece

Monday's Other Supreme Court Decision That Attacked Female Workers

At Talking Points Memo, Sheila Bapat argues that the female predominance of the group is not merely a coincidence, but part of the reason the court felt justified in stripping Illinois' home health care unions of their power and likely ending them completely:

This sense that domestic and caring labor is not "real" labor and therefore doesn't need the same protections as other kinds of labor may not be intentionally sexist. (Though it's worth noting, as Bapat does, that the justices who ruled against the mostly female workforce in question are all men).

[Slammer]

A lot of those women are seriously obsessed with dicks.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yet, if asked, wouldn't take part in a gangbang or bukkake session.

[John]

God damn it Coeus, if you cared about those women home health care workers, you would want to force them to pay protection money to the union too. Why do you hate women so much that you don't want to force them to join a union?

[Injun, as in from India]

Isn't this a corollary to the SoCon claims that Vaughn Walker being gay was the reason Prop 8 failed? That a judge belonging to a certain class will rule in favor of that class?

[Suthenboy]

Holy shit. We are talking about family members caring for other family members who also collect govt checks in lieu of sending said family member to a nursing home and having the nursing home collect the check.

In what way does a mother caring for her son need union protection? What would she get in return for the union taking a cut of that check?

What an evil mendacious cunt Bapat is.

[MegaloMonocle]

I love how a ruling in favor of the "predominantly female" plaintiffs is somehow an attack on women.

[Coeus]

Person named in George Will piece takes the national stage to explain to thousands of supporters that victim status doesn't confer privilege.

[John]

In other news, victim status also doesn't confer self awareness.

[C. Anacreon]

The comments all say she is a hero and Will is the lowest person on Earth. Someone suggested they RTFA and he is now also a sociopathic rape apologist.

Isn't this the woman who had consensual sex, even telling her roommate her plans and other key evidence that this was all intentional, but a few days after the act changed her consent and the college ruled in her favor as the two of them had both been drinking (nullifying her consent)? And this is now what we call a 'rape survivor'.

Don't even bother to question if it was real rape, you psychopath.

[Coeus]

No this is the one who "basically said no" but then when he tried again later "I was just tired and wanted to go to bed. I let him finish" in reference to her boyfriend of three months.

These types circumstances seem to encompass a lot of the claims. Instead of teaching guys "enthusiastic consent" teach them to sleep on the couch if she seems resistant. Half the time she'll come wandering in saying something along the lines of "ok, we can have sex, just sleep with me afterward." The whole sleep with me thing is endemic since the 90's. I think that's what a lot of the older people talking about this stuff are missing. I know guys who haven't been laid in a year but have slept with 4 or 5 different women.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I bet at least some of the focus she's now getting is because she was criticized in the Will piece

[Coeus]

Granted, but she wasn't obscure in the least before this. He didn't pick it out of thin air.

[Coeus]

Also, are you saying that she is the victim of criticism?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

These six "gay libertarians" are probably just bisexual

? Salon.com (@Salondotcom) July 2, 2014

[removed][removed]

That's gold Jerry, gold!

[Andrew S.]

The best part about that twitter account is when they retweet actual Salon headlines. It's impossible to tell the difference at times between the parody and the real thing.

[Andrew S.]

Example. These are their three latest tweets. Two are parodies of theirs, one is a retweet of an actual Salon.com headline. Without looking, can you guess which is real?

If men could get pregnant, the Supreme Court NEVER would have issued their terrible Hobby Lobby ruling

Free at last: Why we need to reform the centuries-old rules of chess so black can finally move first

Watch Paul Krugman prove once again that central planners are smarter than the one percent

[Invisible Finger]

I'm gonna say the last one is the "real" Salon one.

[John]

I bet the first one.

[Andrew S.]

It's the first one.

But it's not easy to tell, is it? The other two could easily be real Salon article titles.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How'd you like to be Breyer reading that?

[Invisible Finger]

Ho
Lee
Fuck

Life Of Brian has become a documentary.

[Suthenboy]

I think you know the answer to your question, and so do we.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Meeks appears to have a teardrop tattoo. According to my deep Wikipedia research, "the [teardrop] tattoo can have several meanings, including signifying the number of years spent in prison, the number of times they were raped while incarcerated, or the fact that the wearer has killed someone."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teardrop_tattoo

I wonder which one Meeks is?

[Zeb]

Huh. I thought it meant that someone you like got killed.

[Zeb]

Ah, Wikipedia mentions that as well.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Tear drop tattoos remind me of those dudes in Another 48 Hours.

[Matrix]

Ideal Aryan baby on cover on Nazi magazine turns out to be Jewish

Hahahaha!

[John]

It is Chapelle's world.

[Matrix]

It doesn't really surprise me. My Ahuva's great great grandmother was apparently a Lebensborn, and she was Jewish. She was paired with an SS guy, but the two fell in love and stayed together.

My Ahuva is very light blonde and blue eyed like most of her family, and they're all Jewish.

[John]

My wife is Italian French and Irish and was frequently asked in college if she was a member of Halel.

[MJGreen]

I'm guessing it's the Italian. I'm Italian/Irish and frequently mistaken for Jewish.

[Invisible Finger]

Isn't a self-hating Jew sort of an ideal?

[Wasteland Wanderer]

I bet they did nazi that one coming!

...I'll show myself out.

[JW]

COASE COASE COASE COASE

[jesse.in.mb]

Grandmother buys old building in Japan, finds 55 classic arcade cabinets

The grandmother agreed to purchase an old building in Chiba, which is just outside of Tokyo. When they arrived to check out the contents of the building it was discovered that the first two floors used to be a game center in the 1980s. Whoever ran it left all the cabinets behind when it closed, and it is full of classic and now highly desirable games.

[John]

When I was 12 my older brother got married. This was the early 80s, the height of the video game craze. His future father inlaw was in the business, among others, but wholesaling game counsols. I spent an entire evening the week before the wedding alone with my future sister in laws very cute and same age younger sister in their basement with the sister and pretty much every video game there was available to play for free.

Of course being 12 I had no idea what to do with the sister but I knew it was pretty cool she was there. It was about as good as it gets for a 12 year old.

[Carl ?s his privilege]

Looking at the original thread, it appears that somebody has bought the whole lot.

[Coeus]

Marissa Alexander, who fired warning shot at husband attacking her, likely won't see prison after Florida changes 'Stand Your Ground' law

Precious. The media is still pretending it was a "warning shot" that went by his head.

[Stormy Dragon]

More importantly, they leave out the fact that the shooting occurred when she broke into his house.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/fea.....mpossible/

TL;DR Messi is the best at everything by a wide margin. Also lots of graphs.

The percentage of shots Messi makes from outside the penalty area is absolutely stunning. He scores almost as often per shot from outside the penalty area (12.1 percent) as most players do inside it (13.1 percent).

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This is cool.

I still think it's ridiculous to say that if he doesn't win a WC he won't be considered an all-time great. Little likes saying Marino wasn't a great QB for not having won a SB.

[Slammer]

This actually a pretty funny satire of the Hobby Lobby ruling

[Knarf Yenrab!]

The bipartisan Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has declared that some Internet bulk data collection efforts by the National Security Agency are legal, "reasonable," and "effective."

Bipartisan committee of Roman consuls declares that crucifying Son(s) of God(s) is legal, "reasonable," and "effective."

[Stormy Dragon]

School suspends student for "disrupting class" by being excessively non-disruptive:

High school student disciplined for participating in National Day of Silence pro-gay-rights protest:

The day before the event, on Thursday, April 19, 2012, Fusco called Hatcher out of class and into her office, where she warned that if Hatcher came to school the following day and "was quiet, there would be disciplinary consequences."

[Invisible Finger]

I don't see the difference. Target is the one doing most of the spinning.

Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience

Complete bullshit. Especially since Target has no problem hiring armed guards.