Gaza Continues to Explode, France Offers Asylum to Christians from Iraq, Another Gay Marriage Ban Struck Down: P.M. Links

• 

  U.S. Army

  Raids and airstrikes continue in Gaza after a truce ended. Hamas infiltrated a Jewish village and killed Israeli troops. Civilians in a park were killed in an explosion. Residents blame Israel. Israel says it was a misfired Hamas rocket.

• A federal appeals court panel has struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage recognition. The court also has jurisdiction over North and South Carolina, West Virginia, and Maryland.
• France is offering asylum to Christians from northern Iraq being driven out by the Islamic State, which has ordered them to convert or die.
• Liberia's president has closed most border crossings and instituted quarantines to try to contain its Ebola outbreak.
• Amazon.com has launched a service for customers to purchase 3d-printed items.
• Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union put out a joint report today showing that America's surveillance programs are making it more difficult for government officials to speak anonymously to journalists. So … working as intended, then?

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

France is offering asylum to Christians from northern Iraq being driven out by the Islamic State, which has ordered them to convert or die.

"Merci, but we'll take our chances with St. Peter."

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"France is offering asylum to Christians from northern Iraq being driven out by the Islamic State, which has ordered them to convert or die."

They'll keep the ones who can play soccer and send the rest 'filled du roi' style to Quebec.

[C. Anacreon]

Suddenly the comedy website "Funny or Die" seems insensitive.

[WDATPDIM!?]

Non permittez les Chretiens in le jardin moi derri?re!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You forgot to end it with panache:

Tabernak!

[See Double You]

I don't know French, but I think you wrote "Christians are not permitted in my ass garden"?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's incoherent. But it's the thought that counts.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A federal appeals court panel has struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage recognition.

I can always count on Shackford to slip the word "recognition" in there. As for Virginny, it's for same-sex lovers now!

[Free Society]

What's wrong with the word 'recognition'? They are married, the issue is whether or not the government recognizes the contractual relationship as 'legitimate'.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What's wrong with it? WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT, YOU ASK? Get a load of this guy. What's wrong with it? Nothing. Shackford is the one contributor here who consistently frames this debate correctly.

[BakedPenguin]

Agreed. One aspect I've thought about - in common law states, do the same residence rules apply to same sex couples?

[PD Scott]

In Georgia, years ago, I believe, the legislature thought deeply about this question and decided to do the only logical thing: they banned common law marriage.

[Tonio]

Except Virginia's constitution specifically forbade people for private contractual arrangements which even "approximated" marriage, whatever that meant (never tested in court).

[Bobarian]

Any contract that "approximated" marriage would also "approximate" indentured servitude.

/every divorced man, ever!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Amazon.com has launched a service for customers to purchase 3d-printed items.

I thought the whole point of a 3D printer was I don't have to purchase anything anymore.

[Mongo]

Use a 3D pen instead and draw your own nudie wimmen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cMn4etTdN8

[Rich]

"Not a quiet as a regular pen"?

Well, then FTS!

[pmains]

Why? Are you concerned that your models will be more likely to notice you leering from outside their windows?

[Res Publica Americana]

"Raids and airstrikes continue in Gaza after a truce ended. Hamas infiltrated a Jewish village and killed Israeli troops. Civilians in a park were killed in an explosion. Residents blame Israel. Israel says it was a misfired Hamas rocket."

I think it's time for Israel to pacify and sanitize the entire Gaza and West Bank territories -- with extreme prejudice. We'll see how effective these motherfucking jihadists are when there's nothing to hide behind but ash and dust.

[Episiarch]

Yeah, because wantonly killing civilians is always the best solution. Bloodthirsty much?

[Res Publica Americana]

Yeah, I have to agree.

I don't know. Evict civilians first, maybe? Evacuation orders?

Or give the residents two options -- patriation into Israeli society, or departure from the territories regardless.

[Episiarch]

I'm gonna be honest: I couldn't give less of a shit about their problems or any solutions. I've had it up to here with the whole situation and would just like to not be throwing money at it, but unfortunately, the scumbags who comprise our government have different ideas.

[Pro Libertate]

I have a cunning plan. Douse the region in hyper-powerful human pheromones and allow nature to sort out the mess.

[Rich]

Actually, that's a pretty good solution to almost *everything*.

[Pro Libertate]

I call it OPERATION BONOBO.

[JW]

It would look something like this.

[Pro Libertate]

Kind of the G-rated version, but I suppose so.

[Bobarian]

Except it wouldn't smell that bad.

[Rich]

I suppose it will have a political solution when they're tired of fighting; but I don't expect to see this in my lifetime.

[BakedPenguin]

I've had it up to here with the whole situation and would just like to not be throwing money at it...

I hate to say it, but I'm pretty much there, too. It should be obvious by now there's no solution that will make everyone happy, or even content.

[Tonio]

You know who else issued relocation orders?

[Pro Libertate]

Ooh, ooh, I know this one! Earl Warren!

[Restoras]

The Allies?

[flye]

That fucking cop, when I was trying to mind my own business and drink a beer?

[Obama's Buttplug]

FDR?

[hamilton]

The Jeffersons?

[Pro Libertate]

You mean George? Weezy, we're movin' on up!

[hamilton]

Precisely.

[BakedPenguin]

Andrew Jackson?

[Sevo]

Jed Clampett?

[Bobarian]

Incorrect, it were kinfolk what said "Jed, move away from there!"

[Pro Libertate]

Forcing the relocation through peer pressure.

[MegaloMonocle]

Yeah, because wantonly killing civilians is always the best solution.

Given a choice between the wanton killing of Israelis and the wanton killing of Palis (and that's the choice the Palis insist on), the Israeli government has an obligation to pick the latter.

The Palis have shown absolutely zero appetite for anything other than a "final solution". Sure, there may be Pali civilians who want to co-exist, but they are a non-factor at this point. Sorry, but I don't see how the Israelis can just sit and take it until such time as the moderate Palis emerge from total obscurity and take over.

[Tonio]

Funny how people don't take well to having their lands invaded and appropriated by outsiders.

And don't forget that without US foreign aid they wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

[Cytotoxic]

Funny how people don't take well to having their lands invaded and appropriated by outsiders.

Yeah, the Arabs definitely should not have attempted to destroy Israel repeatedly. And Israel should have pulled out of Gaza OH WAIT THEY DID THAT.

[PapayaSF]

Indeed. And I am always amused that the area called "Judea" since forever somehow rightfully "belongs" to Muslims.

Has it been noted around here that all the Palestinian "civilian" casualty numbers are coming from Hamas-controlled sources? There seem to be an awful lot of military-age "civilian" men in the casualty count.

[Res Publica Americana]

Shut up, or you'll ruin all of that great and high-and-mighty anti-Semitic bullshit Islamist apologists have been peddling ever since back-the-fuck-when.

[robc]

Well, the Jews did take Judea from the Caananites. If they had killed them all off like they were supposed to do, maybe they could have avoided this problem.

[Seamus]

Iran has been called "Persia" since forever. Do the Parsees have the right to return and get their own state too?

[PapayaSF]

Are there any Canaanites any more?

I don't think of Jews in Israel (or even the West Bank) as invaders. Jews have always lived all over the Middle East, and got assigned a little slice of it in 1947 by the UN. The Arabs tried to slaughter them all, and lost. The Arabs continued to try, and kept losing. It's traditional for losers of aggressive wars to lose territory.

[Seamus]

So you're OK with giving the Cherokee their own independent state, as long as it was just a little slice of the land they used to inhabit in Georgia or North Carolina?

[Res Publica Americana]

It's pretty hilarious, because I could spend a week cataloging Palestine's changing hands over the millenia, and how mind-fuckingly retarded Islamist apologists are when they qualify what was done for Israel after World War II as something uniquely evil and unjust.

And what's this about foreign aid?

[Pro Libertate]

Look, we all know what the real solution should be, nay, must be: The Ottoman Empire Mark II. Or, better still, the Byzantine Empire Mark II.

[Restoras]

Why not a Persian Empire?

[Pro Libertate]

Well, okay, but only if the "Persians" do it old school--Zoroastrianism, satrapies, the whole nine cubits.

[Restoras]

I like the cut of your lateen, ProL

[Pro Libertate]

The Persian Empire wasn't too bad as far as empires go. Mostly localized control, some toleration, etc. The Jews actually, quite famously, did fairly well under Persian (Achaemenid dynasty, that is) rule.

[Res Publica Americana]

I'll take the civilization that built this...:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....ouchup.jpg

... over Palestine's Muslim population any day.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Pretty much where I stand. In a sea of madness, Israel carved themselves a neat albeit imperfect but productive society.

If the Palestinians and the Arabs had a shred of dignity they'd spend their energy trying to MATCH Israel. Not destroy it. But...they prefer the death culture.

[Pro Libertate]

I find myself mildly sympathetic to Israel, more because they're a modern, liberal state when compared to their neighbors. I mean, if the rest of the region just stopped wanting to mess with Israel, I think the violence would pretty much stop right there. I doubt seriously that would be the case the other way around.

That said, I also think we have no business being Israel's big brother. What we should do is treat it like a trading partner and, more or less, like any other country we do a lot of business with.

[Res Publica Americana]

There's absolutely no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Israel is the moral superior in this entire clusterfuck. And, just like you, I also don't think it's our business to fix. Let them fuck with each other until they figure it out for themselves.

[Cytotoxic]

Aid to Israel made sense in the Cold War context, when they were vulnerable. They don't need it any more they're a big boy nation now.

[DesigNate]

Aren't the Palestinians really descendants of the Jews that got dispersed during the Roman diaspora after Hadrian said "You're not allowed here anymore." but they didn't really want to travel too far?

[Pro Libertate]

I don't think so. They've been there a very long time as non-Jews.

[Seamus]

Hadrian only said they weren't allowed in Jerusalem. They were allowed everywhere else in Judaea (or Syria Palestina, as the land was renamed).

[Mickey Rat]

Why not the Roman Empire Mark IV?

[MegaloMonocle]

Funny how people don't take well to having their lands invaded and appropriated by outsiders.

If this is about Israel, not Gaza, I guess the Palis should just keep killing Jews until all the Jews are gone? Isn't that what this justifies?

As far as Gaza goes, Israel claims absolutely zero rights there, as far as I know, and has no troops "occupying" it.

And don't forget that without US foreign aid they wouldn't have gotten into this mess.

I'm guessing by "they", you mean the Israelis. They won the wars where they occupied Gaza fair and square, without US assistance of any kind. Not sure how they would be incapable of retaliating against Hamas without US foreign aid. Please elaborate.

[Res Publica Americana]

We had an argument about that a few days ago. US foreign aid doesn't mean shit in any significant sense. Israel really doesn't need it.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, I've thought this for a long time, since Israel has a strong economy and all. But I heard something a couple of days ago about Israel actually being quite a bit more dependent on the U.S. than those dollars indicate. Like for parts for their equipment, for instance, and more importantly, for the buffer the U.S. provides internationally, since most other countries appear to dislike Israel quite a bit.

Not advocating anything, but the U.S. assistance appears to be a much bigger deal than many think.

[DesigNate]

You know we give financial aid to Palestine too right?

[C. Anacreon]

Can anyone tell me what the foaming-at-the-mouth progs on the college campuses protesting Israel say they want to see happen? All I can seem to make out is "stop apartheid." Do they also want the complete destruction of the Jewish state and the entire region given to Palestineans?

Also, why didn't all the Palestineans just go to TransJordan after WW2?

[PapayaSF]

A lot of Arabs did leave Israel when it was formed, because the surrounding Arab states told them: "Get out of the way, we're going to charge in and kill all the Jews." Oops. And now they whine about "their" land being taken over. Tough shit.

[Seamus]

Uh, because that would require them to abandon their homes? In some cases homes where their ancestors had been living since before your ancestors took the land you live in from the Indians.

[PapayaSF]

History makes Jews, and a Jewish homeland, a special case. The depravity of their enemies also helps their case.

[Seamus]

History makes Jews, and a Jewish homeland, a special case.

Most of the time, Israel's defenders complain that "Israel is held to a standard that applies to no other country on earth." Yet here is a a defender asserting that Israel *should* be held to a standard that applies to no other country.

[Sevo]

Tonio|7.28.14 @ 4:48PM|#
"Funny how people don't take well to having their lands invaded and appropriated by outsiders."

Cite missing.

[jmomls]

*Funny how people don't take well to having their lands invaded and appropriated by outsiders.*

Excellent thought! Perhaps the Arabs should return to ARABIA and take their swords with them. That would solve this little mess quite nicely.

[robc]

Palestinians arent Arab.

[PapayaSF]

Palestinians are the modern descendants of the peoples who have lived in Palestine over the centuries, and who today are largely culturally and linguistically Arab due to Arabization of the region.

[VG Zaytsev]

When did the Iraqi Arab immigrants to palestine become Palestinians?

[Seamus]

Big deal. When Jews convert to Christianity or Islam, they lose their ancestral right to live in Eretz Israel.

[Cytotoxic]

This.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Maybe he's been studying at the Cytotoxic Humanist Institute for Complete Kinetic Eternal Non-Violent Habitats from Aleppo to the West Back to Khyber Pass?

[Res Publica Americana]

I'm militarily isolationist. I don't think that jibe works out.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

the jibe isn't really at you.

[Cytotoxic]

Still doesn't work.

[jmomls]

*Yeah, because wantonly killing civilians is always the best solution. Bloodthirsty much?*

Hey, wantonly killing as many German and Japanese civilians sure helped win the last war we, um, won. Abandoning that successful formula hasn't worked out well for us, why would it work for anyone else?

[Fist of Etiquette]

You know who else would have benefited from American appeasement?

[VG Zaytsev]

American Indians?

[Seamus]

So the problem with the Mylai massacre is that it was too atypical of our military actions in Vietnam? If we'd created two, three, many Mylais (to paraphrase Che Guevara), we'd probably have won?

[entropy_factor]

mmm, genocide. Yes, delicious.

wtf?

[Res Publica Americana]

Sanitize as a habitable zone once it's cleared of civilians. I made that clear earlier.

[Cytotoxic]

I don't think forcible relocation is necessary and hence just. The West Bank is not as insane as Gaza. WB villages that have militants should get the Sherman treatment. Gaza requires 'Dresden processing'. And possibly nuking.

[Res Publica Americana]

I won't go that far.

Sources of attacks should be carpet-bombed into oblivion -- until they're literally craters and ash atop uninhabitable wasteland, bit only AFTER exhaustive evacuations and clearances. Destroy the playing field for aggressors without killing innocents.

[JW]

Destroy the playing field for aggressors without killing innocents.

I'm sure that our masters will get right the fuck on board with that, real soon now.

[Res Publica Americana]

Politicians, huh?

[jmomls]

*Destroy the playing field for aggressors without killing innocents.*

Riiiiiight, because the Palis have never just moved to another country and wreaked havoc there [see also: Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia].

[Res Publica Americana]

And if they then make their adoptive countries vessels for further aggression against Israel, Israel can declare war and wipe them all off the face of the Earth in a week.

[Cytotoxic]

1) Israel has no obligation to avoid killing 'innocents' of Palestine and doing so is self-destructive.

2) Most of those 'innocents' are anything but and their deaths are the fault of Hamas and other aggressors such as not Israel.

[Res Publica Americana]

Yeah, but minimizing casualties is a good thing.

[JW]

Yeah, but minimizing casualties is a good thing.

That's a bug, not a feature, to the virgin Objectivist.

[VG Zaytsev]

Says who?

[Cytotoxic]

Damn right. They should have done this years ago but Israel is still pulling its punches.

[Rich]

Amazon.com has launched a service for customers to purchase 3d-printed items.

Let me guess what's *not* available.

/Captain Obvious

[mad.casual]

Let me guess what's *not* available.

Metal objects?

Anything of non-trivial shape?

Stuff that can be eaten off of, go in the microwave, dishwasher, be generally exposed to the elements, etc.?

Any sort of mission critical devices of any kind or warranties/guarantees thereof?

[Lord Humungus]

and anything that can be used as a firearm.

[rts]

Gay neighbourhoods 'straightening' out, says UBC researcher

An influx of straight residents to traditionally gay neighbourhoods is diluting the distinct cultural identity ? and potentially the voting power ? of these former "gaybourhoods," according to a sociologist at the University of British Columbia.

[ant1sthenes]

What does John think about this?

[Lord Humungus]

Are you saying John is a gay chubby-chaser? 😉

[ant1sthenes]

Maybe. But also, he was talking a great deal about immigration and sovereignty earlier.

[Doctor Whom]

Water is wet, says UBC researcher.

[Lord Humungus]

Does the researcher have a working Gaydar?

[Tonio]

Yeah, the gays who are traditionally unafraid to do the hard work and risk taking to gentrify neighborhoods sell and move to the next opportunity.

[KDN]

Isn't that kind of the point?

[KDN]

To gentrifying the neighborhood, that is. Take a risk on a downmarket property, wait for neighborhood to come up, take your profit, repeat on the other side of town.

[waffles]

Gay people move to seedy neighborhood. More gay people move to neighborhood, making it safe. White yuppie hipsters move in to now safer neighborhood now filled with kitschy art. Yuppies get married have kids, then gay people move to get away from the breeders. And the cycle repeats.

[Obama's Buttplug]

White yuppie hipsters

I live in a neighborhood that is in the process of being gentrified. It's great. Love the gays and lesbians. But I'm concerned about the eventual influx of white yuppie hipsters. In light of this, a couple of Fridays ago, I went to Walmart and purchased a pair of Liberty brand bib-overalls. Take that, hipsters!

[Stormy Dragon]

In light of this, a couple of Fridays ago, I went to Walmart and purchased a pair of Liberty brand bib-overalls. Take that, hipsters!

You demonstrated your opposition to hipsters by buying an out of fashion piece of clothing solely for the purpose of signalling your outsider status to onlookers?

Truly, we have met the enemy and they is us.

[Anonymous Coward]

Gentrification! I mean "Breederfication!" We must maintain the pure, cultural identity of our "White" I mean, "Gay" neighborhoods!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Raids and airstrikes continue in Gaza after a truce ended.

Would you rather they started before the truce ended? That would be ignorant.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union put out a joint report today showing that America's surveillance programs are making it more difficult for government officials to speak anonymously to journalists.

And journalists seem remarkably okay with it.

[Pro Libertate]

Silence and failure to act are key elements to the rise of dictatorships and other government abuses.

[Andrew S.]

Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union put out a joint report today showing that America's surveillance programs are making it more difficult for government officials to speak anonymously to journalists.

Remember that under the Obama administration, speaking to a member of the press (whether anonymously or otherwise) is only allowable if you're praising the administration. If you're at all critical, or even neutral, it's espionage.

[Res Publica Americana]

War on waste: Pentagon auditor spotlights US billions blown in Afghanistan

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2.....ghanistan/

"Another day, another report of rampant waste of U.S. taxpayer money in the effort to rebuild Afghanistan.

John Sopko, the inspector general charged with monitoring aid sent by the U.S. to Afghanistan, has identified potentially billions of dollars wasted in Afghanistan, including donation of planes the local government doesn't need or can't use, weapons that disappear as soon as they're handed over and and construction of brand new buildings that are basically firetraps. In a steady stream of audit reports, Sopko's office of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, has spotlighted seemingly endless waste in the war-torn nation."

[Res Publica Americana]

- Afghanistan probably can't even use two $40.5 million C-130 transport planes the U.S. government plans to give to its motley air force.

- Some 285 buildings, including barracks, medical clinics and even fire stations built by the Army are lined with substandard spray insulation so prone to ignition that they don't meet international building codes.

- The Pentagon has little oversight over hundreds of thousands of small arms turned over to the Afghan army, and many have disappeared altogether.

-----------------------

Tell me again how it's worth our time and our money and our blood, and the loss of our freedoms at the hands of our own detestable government, to try to civilize these shitholes.

[Doghouse Reilly]

Maybe it's all part of the plan.

[Doctor Whom]

9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11 9/11

[Res Publica Americana]

The greatest retribution for 9/11 we could ask for is to allow these animal fucks to murder each other to extinction. And it won't cost us a penny.

[creech]

"Some 285 buildings, including barracks, medical clinics and even fire stations built by the Army"

I wonder what % of our "fighting men" are really just carpenters and builders? I'm sure there's nothing left to cut in our barebones military budget.

[Redmanfms]

I wonder what % of our "fighting men" are really just carpenters and builders? I'm sure there's nothing left to cut in our barebones military budget.

Yeah, clearly, there is no need for the Army Corps of Engineers.

[Atanarjuat]

A family friend was over there building stuff for a few years. He is former military, but is just a construction worker now. He was working for one of the big-name military contractors like KBR. Made well over 6 figures a year.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

Emotional Writer Needed For Support Community for Affluent Individuals

Special community for people who have earned a lot of money or been born into a wealthy family needs a blog ghostwriter. The focus of the community is providing psychological support for the problems money brings -- family tensions, unfulfillable expectations, boredom, etc. To do this you must be intimately familiar with the problems faced by wealthy people. If you grew up wealthy or through some other means can write detailed blog posts on this topic, please get in touch.

The posts need to be highly personal, emotional and have a strong editorial voice. These are anything but generic lectures. We are looking for 3 posts per week and each post pays $30.

[Lord Humungus]

$30? Cheapskates.

[paranoid android]

The posts need to be highly personal, emotional and have a strong editorial voice. These are anything but generic lectures. We are looking for 3 posts per week and each post pays $30.

Something, just something, tells me that they could probably go a little higher on the pay.

[lap83]

So whine about tennis elbow and lack of good service at the country club and get paid $30? Shit, sign me up.

[Rich]

State ordered them to convert or die.

Good thing we don't have this sort of thing over here.

[ant1sthenes]

Yes?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

France is offering asylum to Christians from northern Iraq being driven out by the Islamic State, which has ordered them to convert or die.

They'll feel right at home in Paris.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

What fate awaits them?

http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/The_Crepes_of_Wrath

[Rich]

A Polish priest claims he has been getting hate texts - from a demon.

He said one of the text messages read: "She will not come out of this hell. She's mine. Anyone who prays for her will die." He said however that he had prayed for her and sent back another text message, getting the message in return: "Shut up, preacher. You cannot save yourself. Idiot. You pathetic old preacher."

OMG POS

[PD Scott]

Texts? I thought demons only used social media like Twitter.

[db]

@Priest trying #exorcism now. #peasoup #peasoup #coxinhell

[Episiarch]

I've seen that movie. I think it had Max Von Sydow in it.

[paranoid android]

yo mama sux cox n hel

[Rich]

yr mama sew sox t smel

[Mad Scientist]

Mary, take your meds and leave the crazy priest alone.

[JW]

He's just a rowdy Devil's fan, FFS.

[Almanian!]

You know who else did...stuff...to other people...

[Lord Humungus]

My parents? *sniff*

[MegaloMonocle]

Raids and airstrikes continue in Gaza after a truce ended.

Ended . . . how, exactly?

Perhaps because Hamas rejected the Israeli offer to extend the cease-fire?

http://www.reuters.com/article.....4A20140726

Perhaps because Hamas decided to get the Jew-killing underway again, chop-chop?

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

[GILMORE]

As noted over the weekend, Libya is exploding... and full civil war seems to be taking hold, with pitched street battles occurring in multiple parts of the country...

... and i mused, 'i bet, given how Gaza and Ukraine provide the admin with more-positive posturing/talking points, this will be buried'

Looking at the front page of both the NYT and WaPo online...

there is not a single mention of either. I couldn't find anything @ either website on the front page.

Although WaPo has an interesting story about "Where cats are more popular than dogs in the U.S. and around the world"...?

I just found the link to the NYT coverage

in the back of the international section... but not featured on the web.

My point on this = Libya is 'Obama's Intervention'. This is the one 'he did right', as far as many are concerned.

I don't hear anyone talking about it anymore.

[db]

Whatever is.going wrong in Libya is now the fault of the new people in charge. Obama can't be held responsible for that. Just like he can't be held responsible for things that happened after Bush was no longer Preside...wait. hey!

[PD Scott]

Clearly the Libyans have let the President down.

[Pro Libertate]

Racism?

[db]

His message is clearly not being understood by them.

[Restoras]

Perhaps he should have his campaign swing by North Africa?

[db]

I'm thinking they could get together an elite corps to go on a blitz across the desert to really establish his position.

[Cytotoxic]

The good news, I think the Libyan Islamists are being beaten back.

[GILMORE]

By who? The OTHER islamists?

This isnt a case of a majority state fighting off groups of 'jihadist rebels'...

...this is primarily different groups of 'ex rebels', all of whom have vague claims to power

"Thousands of ex-rebels have been put on the state payroll as semi-official security forces in an attempt to co-opt them, while others have joined the nascent armed forces.

But often their loyalties are stronger to region, tribe or faction. Fighting now involves two loose confederations of armed factions and their political allies in Tripoli and Benghazi, whose deepening standoff is shaping Libya's transition.

In Tripoli, on one side are troops from the western town of Zintan and their allies the Qaaqaa and al-Sawaiq brigades, who include some former Gaddafi troops who rebelled in 2011. They have controlled the airport since the fall of the capital.

Against them are ranged various Islamist-leaning militias allied to the port city of Misrata, which is closer to the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Libya. Those militia have now dug in a few kilometres from the airport."

The point being = there's not 'established state' fighting off some fringe groups. Its ALL fringe groups. Which is why every embassy has gotten the fuck out of dodge - no one trusts whomever may have control at any given moment.

[Bobarian]

Islamists killing islamists? What's not to love?

Sounds like the Bosnia in the late 80s/early 90s.

[GILMORE]

Meh, its a different kettle of fish.

The US is going to have to accept that there are going to be governments in the Middle East that are going to fall somewhere between the spectrum of "ostensibly secular nationalist dictator" a la Mubarak, and "Theocratic Despotic Monarchy" a la Saudi Arabia... that while 'islamist', are not *all the same*

The fact is you cant take the islam out of the middle east, and not all 'islamists' are necessarily going to be 'the Bad ones'.

Our diplomacy in the region is going to need to establish some new ways of talking about 'the people in charge', because Egypt, Syria, Libya, etc. are going to be redefining themselves for decades, and in general, will be more 'islamist' than they had been before the collapse of their respective regimes.

[Cytotoxic]

Renegade general Hiftar is fighting them. He's a badass.

[Suthenboy]

To be fair, they are too busy covering the disaster in Venezuela to....oh wait.

[PapayaSF]

Even more important to the MSM, Libya is connected to Hillary.

[PD Scott]

Surely that would have NOTHING to do with it.

[BigT]

GILMORE, as libertarians we just don't give a damn about Libya as long as we aren't doing anything there. As long as we don't want to get involved it is not very interesting to most people. I think the NYT is not completely off-base in this case - just maybe a little.

[GILMORE]

"We just don't give a damn about Libya as long as we aren't doing anything there... it is not very interesting to most people"

We we we...

as a libertarian, do you generally presume to speak for some monolithic mass of dogma-following acolytes?

Also, is your memory of US-lead Bombing of Libya so dim already?

Or that the US State Dept (not to mention CIA) have poured hundreds of millions into the country?

If you find the issue "boring", that's your own problem.

If you think there's some 'official libertarian POV' on the issue that is being deviated from, please share.

[BigT]

If you find the issue "boring", that's your own problem.

The NYT is selling to their market, whom they judge not to be interested in Libya compared to other stories - Ukraine, Israel. Just because you want to read about it is no reason for them to feature it. Their market is blue-dog Dems who don't want to hear about Libya. The NYT is nothing more than a local rag.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....latestnews

House GOP report rips troubled Eisenhower memorial project as 'disservice' to former president

The 15-year-long effort to build a national memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower is so mired in cost overruns, design problems and construction delays that it has become a "disservice" to the former U. S. president and war hero, a new House Republican report finds.

The project, approved by Congress and signed into law by then-President Clinton in 1999, remains in the planning-and-development stages but has already cost taxpayers $41 million, according to the 56-page report, titled "A Five-Star Folly." It was released by the House Natural Resources Committee.

"With millions spent, there is no memorial and not even a memorial design that can be approved for construction," members of the Republican-led committee said.

The findings are just the latest in a series of black eyes and setbacks for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission and its project to honor the country's 34th president, five-star Army general and World War II allied commander.

--------------

Read on to find out Washington regulations and construction guidelines and governmental mismanagement are what fucked it up. Well done, federale.

[PD Scott]

"Much of the criticism has been directed at famed architect Frank Gehry, particularly his fee and design"

Damn, I thought Gehry's fifteen minutes of architectural fame were already up.

How about this: put a nice statue of Ike at a rest stop in Kansas, designate the entire Interstate system his memorial, call it a day.

[waffles]

Ughh Frank Gehry....uggghhhh.

[Rich]

*** wads up paper and tosses it on table ***

[DJF]

"""""Damn, I thought Gehry's fifteen minutes of architectural fame were already up.""""

No, he has continued his program of overpriced badly designed sculptures that pretend to be useful buildings in city after city

[PapayaSF]

How do you spend $41 million in "planning and development" without a design?

[Mad Scientist]

"I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the color of the book that regulation's in. We kept it grey."

[DJF]

But you did not make that decision without first conducting a world wide series of fact finding trips to Europe, Asia, South America and Africa where you personally examined the best practices of book color choice.

[Restoras]

I imagine very easily, when you are spending money that isn't yours and there is no chance you will get fired for doing so.

[PD Scott]

"Hmm, bring the study to a close and lose my funding, or keep the study open and keep getting paid. Decisions, decisions..."

[DesigNate]

Give me a month and $100k and I'll destroy whatever ridiculous thing Ghery came up with and design something good.

"Read on to find out Washington regulations and construction guidelines and governmental mismanagement are what fucked it up."

Oh, never mind.

[Res Publica Americana]

http://latino.foxnews.com/lati.....uty-judge/

Soldier's Home In Miami-Dade Illegally Demolished While He Was On Active Duty, Judge Rules

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jesus Jimenez fought two separate battles over the last seven years. He served one year in the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and, while he was stationed overseas, he also fought Miami-Dade County in Florida to keep his home.

Jimenez, 37, did not win the war back home.

In 2011, while training for an upcoming deployment in California, his family home was torn down after county officials rejected a plea to delay demolition over home code violations.

Jimenez's wife, kids, hearing-impaired brother and mother-in-law were able to get some personal items out before the 1947 house was razed.

"I didn't think they would go and demolish it," Jimenez told Fox News Latino from El Paso, Texas where he is currently stationed. "When the house came down, (the county) didn't have a court order. It was spur-of-the-moment."

[Res Publica Americana]

Welcome to the land of the free. What a motherfucking disgrace. They should have shot the bastards that performed the demolition.

[entropy_factor]

man, usually your wife is the only thing getting plowed when you are deployed...

[Bobarian]

+1 Jodie

[GILMORE]

"In 2011, while training for an upcoming deployment in California..."

Well for one I am relieved that we're finally going to invade California and liberate it from the Communists.

[db]

Again, I ask:

Has there ever been a time since the release of the classic film that these words could be applied to more situations in the world all at once?

[Bam!]

Depends who the "we" is in the "we'll be lucky to live through it." Nothing going on right now directly threatens America.

[db]

I think the biggest threat is Ebola now. It has the.potential to really get out oh hand in Africa. The more people it infects the more chances it has to mutate to a form more easily transmitted.

[db]

The second biggest threat is a regional war turning really hot and our leadership bumbling us into.it. right now it seems everyone is trying to use someone else's crisis as cover. No one has the power to stop it all and the local instigators know this.

[PapayaSF]

And don't discount the chance of another big financial crisis.

[PapayaSF]

Ebola symptoms appear very quickly, which prevents it from spreading too far. The real danger would be a variant that didn't show symptoms for a while.

[db]

I have read the current outbreak in Africa has a strain which is taking up to a couple of weeks to manifest symptoms. Whether it is contagious before symptoms appear, I don't know.

[PapayaSF]

Oh-oh.... Well, I guess once it gets to the US, we'll have some posts about how the epidemic in no way discredits the idea of open borders.

[JW]

Because there's no way an infected person could travel here for vacation, by some kind of transportation system or something.

[PapayaSF]

Of course it's possible, which is why you need some control of borders, and why having a situation in which tens of thousands of people can just walk across it is non-optimal.

[Stormy Dragon]

Ebola wouldn't spread nearly as easily in the US on account of us being unlikely to steal infected corpses from hospitals so we communally wash them for burial, making sure the entire neighborhood is smearing infected body fluids all over their hands.

[entropy_factor]

meh, I'm not really worried. It's the 24/7 news cycle that has people freaked. Boomers haven't had this kind of fear-boner since '89

[DJF]

""""Liberia's president has closed most border crossings and instituted quarantines to try to contain its Ebola outbreak."""

Reason needs to send a delegation of its opinion writers to explain the evils of closed borders.

[Cytotoxic]

Reason needs to more regularly mock its idiotard commenters who conflate keeping out Mexican labourers with keeping out Ebola.

[DJF]

Its not just Mexican laborers, its their kids who get free school and free medical. Plus we get to pay for American laborers who get unemployment.

And don't worry Reason has declared that no diseases are crossing the US boarders.

[John]

That or mock the retards who confuse welfare benefits with disease. There is that.

[antisocial-ist]

Liberia's president has closed most border crossings and instituted quarantines to try to contain its Ebola outbreak.

I'm sure REASON will condemn these border closing racist xenophobes soon.Also, for a country called Liberia...

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Some people read Marcotte for the intellectual train wreck. I read Paul Farrell. Today's missive. Why Pope Francis should excommunicate capitalism

http://www.marketwatch.com/sto.....2014-07-26

What he doesn't realize is that Capitalism is Protestant.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Huh?

Last I checked, capitalism had its roots in Renaissance Italy.

[Restoras]

He may be referring to Adam Smith, not that what some towns in Renaissance Italy didn't practice it, along with a lot of other places.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Regardless, the whole idea of exommunicating a concept and a concept that has lifted billions of people out of poverty is nuts.

[ant1sthenes]

*cough* contraception *cough*

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Res, not sure what you mean.

The base of modern business practices took place in Renaissance Italy - accounting, commercial lending, banking in the current modern form, trade between warring city-states etc.

To suggest capitalism is "protestant" is wrong.

And I blame Nial Ferguson for continuing this nonsense.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

What are the Protestant Dutch? Chopped liver.

[Pro Libertate]

Capitalism existed all along. It was just identified by Smith and others.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yup.

[Raven Nation]

Yes but - in general - capitalism & free markets found more support in the Protestant parts of Europe than in the Catholic parts. Exception to that on both sides of course.

[Raven Nation]

And, to clarify, I agree with previous comments on the origins being in Renaissance Italy; I'm referring to the spread of capitalism post-1500 or so.

[rts]

The U.S. suffers from lifespan inequality gap, Stanford researcher says

You're very clever, but it's gaps all the way down.

[Rich]

You know, there's a simple "solution" to this "problem".

[hamilton]

Carousel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSnLU9nyFSA

[Pro Libertate]

Obamacarousel.

[Raven Nation]

That was probably the worst way they movie fucked up the book.

[Mickey Rat]

http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opini.....ew-6994125

[Mongo]

100 years ago today, some bushy-mustached monarchist prepared to attack Prince Landstealer which enraged mutton-chopped royalists to mobilize against Lord and Lady Bejeweled who countered the armies of Sultan Holy Sandfly with elite troops of The King's Horse and Camels and everbody got phosgene in their lungs.

[BakedPenguin]

We can at least be happy that our politicians have avoided getting us into a clusterfuck of that magnitude.

Yet.

[flye]

If I was a producer for Drunk History, you'd be hired immediately.

[Terr]

NO SPOILERS!

[MegaloMonocle]

I see the 4th Circuit has bought into the usual question-begging sub rosa definition of marriage to order states to license gay marriage. While I think gay couples should be able to get a state license if they want, I think the analysis used to justify this result as a Constitutional mandate is deeply, deeply flawed. More of the same "words mean what we say they mean" living-constitution type crap that has done so much damage to the rule of law.

[DJF]

But it puts more people personnel relationships under the thumb of the State who can now change the rules of marriage whenever it wants so Reason Mag is in favor of it. Nothing says freedom more then getting a State issued license concerning your personnel relationships

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget all of the divorce attorneys (who are part of TEAM) who will be getting paid once the floodgates of no-fault divorces from gay marriages roll in like a harvest from the heavens.

[MegaloMonocle]

Eh. Something like 3% of the population is gay. I wouldn't expect a big windfall, in real terms, for either the wedding industry or the divorce industry.

[Seamus]

They may be 3% of the population, but I'll bet that they make up a much bigger percentage of the divorces.

[JW]

I haven't read the decision, but I'll go with "What does the 9th and 14th Amendments say?" for $200, Alex.

SLD: The state shouldn't be in the marriage business, but as long as it is, it shouldn't be discriminating as to who gets one.

[Sandi]

I took a shit in Gaza once.

[Rich]

Sandi! It's been too long! 😎

[db]

I bet she's got a real bowlwinder worked up by now.

[C. Anacreon]

Now there's a blast from the past.

[BigT]

"One of the things that bothers me about the modern libertarian movement is many of them think that much of the world's unrest is caused by us intervening where we have no business." -Rush Limbaugh July 28, 2014

Think what you might about Rush, he is very influential with the folks who will make or break the GOP candidate in 2016. In order to make a significant dent in the establishment GOP one needs to educate Rush about libertarian policies.

I suggest that he is missing the point that most people - in any situation - underestimate the negative effects their actions have on others. This applies to marriage, work, and foreign policy. Many Americans (R's, primarily) suffer from this w/r/t our foreign policy in particular. People like Rush just can't imagine what it is like to be on the other side of the fence and look back at Americans pushing them around or messing in their business. It would be great to get this point across to Rush since he is so influential. Otherwise he will be bashing Rand Paul daily to 30 million voters.

Some donkeys suffer from the opposite effect - they are obsessed with the evil that is done. Neither side has a balanced, nuanced view of America's place in the world.

[John]

Some donkeys suffer from the opposite effect - they are obsessed with the evil that is done.

Ron Paul is a Democrat?

[Pro Libertate]

From a purely pragmatic viewpoint, why blow money intervening and furthering instability? We're an economic power first, and forgetting that key fact is causing us a world of hurt, especially when coupled with the fact that we're also forgetting that we're supposed to have a market-based economy.

[Stormy Dragon]

We should have gone in, taken out Al Qeda, and then left, leaving the Afghans to pick up the pieces.

For what the occupation cost, we could have invaded them a dozen times. Eventually someone who got the message would end up in charge.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree as far as Afghanistan is concerned. We had a clear reason for attacking the country and, probably, for toppling the government, but after that, our occupation didn't make much sense.

[Atanarjuat]

True, but without the occupation and rebuilding phase, politicians couldn't funnel billions to those with political connections.

[VG Zaytsev]

We're an economic power first, and forgetting that key fact is causing us a world of hurt,

Nope.

We're an imperial power that is leveraging military might for financial gain (which is the point of empire after all).

One serious military catastrophe and the petro-dollar arrangement ends, the Dollar stops being the world's reserve currency and the fucking jig is up.

Which would probably be in the best long term interests of liberty but would cause massive dislocation along the way.

[BigT]

VG Zaytsev|7.29.14 @ 12:03AM|#|?|filternamelinkcustom

We're an economic power first, and forgetting that key fact is causing us a world of hurt,

Nope.

You need to read The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. Any nation's military power is only as great as its economic power - lose the economy and lose the war.

We're an imperial power that is leveraging military might for financial gain (which is the point of empire after all).

Throughout history empires expand by annexing territory. The US has not done that in quite a long time. We are something different than an empire.

[Sidd Finch v2.01]

I suggest that he is missing the point that most people - in any situation - underestimate the negative effects their actions have on others. This applies to marriage, work, and foreign policy

You been reading that microaggressions site?

[JW]

many of them think that much of the world's unrest is caused by us intervening where we have no business.

It's like he's almost there. He can taste it.

Keep going Rushbo. Admitting it is the first step.

[BigT]

much of the world's unrest is caused by us

He might agree if "must" were replaced by "some" :

...some of the world's unrest is caused by us

Someone needs to take him there.

[Lord Humungus]

Vice: NSFW Photos of Sexy Juggalettes at the Gathering of the Juggalos

Eye BLEACH!!

[Rich]

Clever site. It shows the goods, *then* asks if you're over 18.

[Restoras]

I'd stick out like a sore thumb at an event like this, but it does look like they are having a good time, and not bothering anyone else.

[DJF]

Yes, but in that first picture, is that a safe and recomended use of power tools?

[BakedPenguin]

No, it isn't. Pretty sure that's the point.

[MegaloMonocle]

Well, do you want safe and recommended usage of power tools, or do you want a good time, because I don't see how you can have both.

[JW]

They're going to void the warranty with those sort of highjinks.

[Jesus H. Christ]

"Sexy Juggalettes"

I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.

[SusanM]

I see nothing wrong here.

[Slammer]

"Like diets...How do they work?"

WOOP WOOP!

[Cytotoxic]

The Moral Illiteracy of Israel's Critics, by George Jonas. He's one of Canada's best.

http://fullcomment.nationalpos.....s-critics/

[PapayaSF]

Social networking website Facebook has stated that a group created by anti-Semitic users entitled, "Death to zionst [sic] baby killer israeli jews" falls within its Community Standards guidelines.

Zuckerberg is not following orders from his Hidden Zionist Masters, it seems.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What *does* violate their Community Standards Guidelines, then?

[VG Zaytsev]

Anything pro christian or anti abortion.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Now, for fun, try 'We stand against Obama' and see what happens.