Robin Williams Dead of Apparent Suicide, Power Struggle Coming in Iraq, Michael Brown Riots Continue: A.M. Links

• 

  Robin Williams / Wikimedia Commons

  Famed comedian and actor Robin Williams was found dead in his home on Monday. It is believed that he took his own life after struggling with depression. He was 63.

• Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki will not be handing over power to his chosen replacement, Haider al-Abadi, without a fight. Al-Abadi has the backing of both Iraqi President Fouad Massoum and U.S. President Barack Obama.
• David Gregory is expected to be replaced as the host of NBC's Meet the Press.
• Kansas teachers will go to court to protect their right to never be fired ever.
• Violent clashes between police and protesters continued for a second night in St. Louis, Missouri. Cops killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, on Saturday, triggering the recent turmoil.
• Watch the first new footage from AMC's forthcoming Better Call Saul.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Famed comedian and actor Robin Williams was found dead in his home on Monday.

Rainbow suspenders at half-mast.

[Auric Demonocles]

Drag nanny outfits too.

[Snark Plissken]

They call it freebasing. It's not free, it costs you your house! It should be called homebasing! Three signs you're addicted to cocaine: First of all, if you come home to your house and you have no furniture and your cat's going "I'm outta here, prick!," Warning! Number two: If you have this dream where you're doing cocaine in your sleep and you can't fall asleep, and you wake up and you're doing cocaine, BINGO! Number three: if on your tax form it says, "$50,000 for snacks," MAYDAY!

[TwB]

That comedy show at the Met in 1986 was brilliant. I have the audio of it and I listened to it last night. Another talented comedian died too soon. RIP Robin Williams

[Rich]

He was brilliant. What an associative memory and what rapid recall! Perhaps his brain can be studied. RIP

[Pro Libertate]

I love his stand-up work. Extremely funny guy. RIP.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Bigger libertarian, Robin Williams or Lou Reed?

[wareagle]

please. Williams was on the Obama Dogwashing Committee.

[Mike M.]

This. Snorting trays full of cocaine doesn't make you a libertarian. He was a typical Hollywood left-wing assclown.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Williams lead a libertine life but was no libertarian I bet.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I guess I made a bad joke 🙁

I'll leave those to Fist from now on.

[Sevo]

Hey, I thought it was funny!
Is Francisco Franco still dead?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Franco is a cadaver, but fortunately we still have Lou Reed, amirite?

[Cdr Lytton]

He'll never let you down or turn you gay.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"Kansas teachers will go to court to protect their right to never be fired ever."

And their right to not be arrested, to eat kale chips and get free gas - ever.

[Lord Humungus]

I liked RW's stand-up stuff - but his acting schtick seemed fairly limited: it was either "LOOK AT ME I'M LOUD and CRAZY!" or "Sobbing Man". So not a big fan of any of his movies or Disney work.

But still - he seemed to be loved by many people and it's a shame that he went the way that he did. I wonder if there was an underlying medical issue - something beyond depression - that caused him to take the final leap.

[invisible furry hand]

There was the underlying medical issue of not having enough cash

[Lord Humungus]

Good ol' divorce.

[BakedPenguin]

I know what you mean, but in Insomnia, at least, he was neither of those.

[invisible furry hand]

Also the episode of Homicide: Life on the street entitled Bop Gun. Well, he cried a bit, but not that much, and he hit it right out of the park

[Kaptious Kristen]

What was the one he did about the film developer? That was pretty awesome.

[BakedPenguin]

No, it was a Chris Nolan film with Al Pacino and Hillary Swank.

[Kaptious Kristen]

No what? I was wondering what the name of the one was where he played the film developer, because he was awesome in that, as well as in Insomnia.

Anyway, IMDB indicates it was One Hour Photo

[thom]

I liked RW's stand-up stuff - but his acting schtick seemed fairly limited: it was either "LOOK AT ME I'M LOUD and CRAZY!" or "Sobbing Man". So not a big fan of any of his movies or Disney work.

I felt bad that when I read about his death my first reaction was "yeah! no more Robin Williams movies!".

[Zeb]

I actually preferred his more serious acting to his comedic roles in movies. But I like his standup best.

[JW]

I liked RW's stand-up stuff - but his acting schtick seemed fairly limited: it was either "LOOK AT ME I'M LOUD and CRAZY!" or "Sobbing Man". So not a big fan of any of his movies or Disney work.

Garp was his best film.

I agree with this. His early stand-up was brilliant and he was a talented actor, but his stand-up was very stale by the late 80's and his later movies didn't really appeal to me.

[Old Man With Candy]

Am I the only one here who found his movies uniformly dreadful (Mrs. Doubtfire might contend for the Worst Movie Ever), his TV shows worse, and his stand-up only mildly amusing? Poor man's Jonathan Winters.

He did do a nice dramatic turn on "Homicide: Life on the Streets."

[hotsy totsy]

You're not the only one, because I concur. Jonathan Winters was a lot funnier.

He was scathing to a lot of Republican politicians, but pretty soft on the Dems. Then he "feels humiliated" when his TV show flops? Hard to feel sorry for him.

[Fist of Etiquette]

David Gregory is expected to be replaced as the host of NBC's Meet the Press.

Valerie Jarrett is ready to name his replacement.

[Rich]

I do hope it's another felon.

[briannnnn]

But who will replace his hair???

[Bobarian]

I thought 'Meet the Press' guys had to die to leave that position?

[thom]

I saw an news item that said he is being replaced by Chuck Todd? That guy might be the only guy in the world who is a bigger tool than David Gregory.

[Bobarian]

No shit, when he replaced Gregory (during the run-up to the 2008 election) as the White House Press Secretary, I thought he was a spokesman for the Obama Campaign. For months, I was wondering why NBC was giving that particular guy so much time on air." He talks all the democratic TPs well, but he sure has a bug up his ass about Hillary."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

'The border fence is a joke': Filmmaker crosses from US to Mexico dressed as Osama bin Laden as Border Patrol says 'we can't be everywhere at once'

...In Monday's video release, O'Keefe focuses on the implications for national security: He illegally crosses into Mexico twice and returns ? first in street clothes and again in army fatigues, wearing an Osama bin Laden Halloween mask...

[UnCivilServant]

From what I understand it was at a known crossing area where the river is easily forded and there are roads close to the border on both sides.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Are we sure it wasn't a filmmaker in costume killed by Seal Team Six in Pakistan?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Hey, this guy's face seems a bit....plastic?!"

[Bobarian]

Well, we're sure it wasn't this film-maker, but the Obama Admin does seem to have something against film makers (D'nesh and the mastermind behind Benghazi).

[Ted S.]

If it's a video release, he's a videographer, not a filmmaker.

Of course, it's all digital these days anyway.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

A "digiographer"?

[Zeb]

Because if you want to find terrorists, look for the guys with the cameras and Bin Laden masks.

O'Keefe is like the Daily Show of conservative activism.

[thom]

Right. Isn't it possible that the border patrol identified him, knew who he was, knew he wasn't a terrorist, and didn't bother?

[Marshall Gill]

Isn't it possible that the border patrol identified him, knew who he was, knew he wasn't a terrorist, and didn't bother?

You are talking about the border patrol here. So no.

[Don Mynack]

At Big Bend National Park, you can walk across the Rio Grande with ease. In the state park, there is no fence at all, but there are cliffs on Mexican side that make it more difficult to cross there.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

If You Have "Visit the Mosul Dam" on Your Bucket List, Better do it Soon
...This isn't a condemnation of Saddam's Iraq per se: It's a condemnation of ANY country where political connections among contractors and subcontractors, sketchy material suppliers and corrupt or frightened quality control inspectors come together in a big Venn Diagram of "Oh Shit!" Hell, it's hard enough to keep infrastructure standing tall in America (remember the I35 West bridge collapse in Minneapolis/St. Paul?), but The Third World? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Three Gorges? Toast. The Mosul Dam? Toast. Burj Dubai? Toast. It doesn't matter how many First World engineers and architects participate in the design process. As long as the construction or maintenance process is left up to a 3rd cousin of the King in the Middle East, or a business subsidiary of the PLA in China, the structure will never live up to the promise of its design life. Ozzymandias by any other name is still a big pile of debris. And a big-name project that is touted as a crowning achievement of a country where a significant portion of its population has to burn animal dung for cooking or haul their own "night soil" out to fertilize the crops will fail before it should. Every time....

[Lord Humungus]

My crazy night at the Air Sex World Championship

"Get ready for the most prestigious sporting event on earth!" roared host Chris Trew.

And with that, the Los Angeles leg of the Air Sex World Championships was underway. It was the sixth stop in a country-wide tour sponsored by sex toy giant Fleshlight, which I attended with porn star Kayden Kross, in a darkened Silverlake bar. The competition is indeed a real thing, and will cover 22 U.S. cities in one month before pitting regional finalists against each other in an almighty "F-off" in Austin, Texas.

It goes like this: You pick your music. You develop a two-minute routine showcasing your favorite (or otherwise) sex moves, and pick a stage name to match. You replace your sexual partner or object with air. You display your simulated sex abilities in front of a roaring audience and panel of (primarily comedian) judges.

trigger warning: Salon

[Longtorso, Johnny]

So, in other words, a typical Saturday night at Casa Longtorso.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I attended the World Air Guitar Championships back in '02. Several of the contestants were naked, so this seems like a logical next step.

[Stormy Dragon]

Tripod - Air Guitar

[Auric Demonocles]

You replace your sexual partner or object with air.

That sounds like something nerdy teenage boys would come up with, not adults with access to actual willing partners, let alone hot ones who literally fuck as a job.

[Bobarian]

It's sponsored by a company whose product, by all accounts, takes masturbation to a whole other level.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Fifty Years Of Government Intervention Fails To Boost Home Ownership
Despite decades of federal intervention in the housing market, home ownership rates are virtually the same today as they were in 1968, according to an brief released by the Heritage Foundation on Monday....

...The pace of government intervention was especially frenetic in the 1990s, the report says, such that, "from 1990 to 2003, Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] went from holding 5 percent of the nation's mortgages ($136 billion) to more than 20 percent ($1.6 trillion)," all with implicit government backing....

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Apparently we've done a poor job of electing who appreciate the importance of an ownership society.

[WTF]

"Despite"?

[Doctor Whom]

The creation of all of those bubbles really paid off.

[Pro Libertate]

If the government had let the big lenders fail and skipped the bailout and other interventions, houses would be quite cheap, relatively speaking.

Instead, as always, the government has fucked the market up beyond anything remotely rational.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

We Have a Rape Gif Problem and Gawker Media Won't Do Anything About It

In refusing to address the problem, Gawker's leadership is prioritizing theoretical anonymous tipsters over a very real and immediate threat to the mental health of Jezebel's staff and readers. If this were happening at another website, if another workplace was essentially requiring its female employees to manage a malevolent human pornbot, we'd report the hell out of it here and cite it as another example of employers failing to take the safety of its female employees seriously. But it's happening to us. It's been happening to us for months. And it feels hypocritical to continue to remain silent about it.

[UnCivilServant]

But does Jezzie classify everything as 'rape'?

[UnCivilServant]

*doesn't

I mean with theirshrieking over ordinary things, it's hard to tell if there's actually a problem - since it's against my personal policy to visit their site.

[SugarFree]

What they are really complaining about is that they have to moderate the comments on their own stories. Kinja won't do it for them and they aren't allowed to use commenter mods. They are just lazy and using rape .gifs as a bloody shirt.

[Tonio]

ISWYDT

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Well it's obvious that their safety is at risk. So yes, it's rape.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It seems the word "safety" might be suffering some mission creep.

[Zeb]

Yeah, seems like part of the deal with the whole internet thing is that you might be exposed to unpleasant and/or sexy images sometimes.

[SugarFree]

If Denton wasn't so busy hiding his money in offshore accounts, he would fire them all.

[Tonio]

a very real and immediate threat to the mental health Jezebel's staff and readers

Oh, the humanity!

Sounds like a setup for a hostile work environment lawsuit.

[waffles]

How do you rape a gif? Did they mean Jif? Because I swear the jar of peanut butter consented the moment I check out at the grocery store.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

...go on...

[Marshall Gill]

Uh, no, please do not.

[Steve G]

I'd like to see the evidence before making my ruling...

[Ted S.]

We have a GIF problem regardless of what those GIFs are depicting.

[Bill Dalasio]

....and especially to the staff, who are the only ones capable of removing the comments and are thus, by default, now required to view and interact with violent pornography and gore as part of our jobs.

None of us are paid enough to deal with this on a daily basis.

Well, clearly there is only one solution for this travesty. Gawker needs to replace the staff of Jezebel with men. Wouldn't want their precious feelings hurt, after all.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Violent clashes between police and protesters continued for a second night in St. Louis, Missouri.

The protesters should probably be going after the looters for eroding any legitimacy.

[Tonio]

Yeah, but that would make things way more complicated and allow police and press to paint the legitimate protesters as vigilantes.

Agreeing that the protesters are helping nobody except the cops.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You mean looters?

[Tonio]

Oops, yes.

Agreeing that the looters are helping nobody except the cops. [and of course themselves]

[TwB]

I lived in St. Louis for 7 years, and I can tell you that the town of Ferguson is a fucking mess. The majority of the population is black but most of the police force is white, and let's just say that they don't like each other much. I bet that the cop who shot the kid is white and when that info comes out, all hell is going to break loose again. The looting and arson just makes me sick. Good luck getting those businesses back in that town anytime soon.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

So they can become a garden spot like Venice or Brooklyn, on the IL side?

[TwB]

Hopefully not but maybe. We had a saying that nothing good comes out of going to the "East Side" in St. Louis, especially after 10 pm.

[Bobarian]

The North Side of STL is becoming probably worse than the East.

[AnonySmith]

LoL...I live in O'Fallon, IL...not far and totally agree....trouble is I'm leaving the military shortly to be a police officer....looks like being a cop on the Missouri side is out of the picture now

[Colonel Slanders]

I heard earlier this morning that the cop is in fact, black. Can anyone confirm this?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Obamacare Enrollment Is Sinking Rapidly
...Aetna's enrollment reached 720,000 by May 20, after the final end to the the extended open enrollment period. But by the end of June Aetna had less than 600,000 paying customers, IBD reports, and the company expects paying customers to fall to "just over 500,000? by the end of 2015. That would be a drop of just under 30 percent from the May sign-up numbers ? the last time the Obama administration released its official Obamacare enrollment tally.

Aetna's reported drop-off rate appears to be more extensive than other companies. Cigna reported that between both its exchange customers and those in the private individual market, it expects to lose around 20,000 paying customers throughout the year, out of 300,000....

[Ted S.]

8%, baby!

[thom]

I don't get this. Haven't they been touting numbers in the single digit millions for enrollment? I thought there were 40 million people without healthcare. That's why is was such a huge problem. Then shouldn't we have 40 million Obamacare enrollees?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Good...Goooood....

((Steeples Fingers))

[Fist of Etiquette]

Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki will not be handing over power to his chosen replacement, Haider al-Abadi, without a fight.

Regime change is never easy in that neck of the woods.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Wasn't al-Maliki, PM, not President?

[Ted S.]

Wait until January 20, 2017.

[Lord Humungus]

Could Modern Troops Defeat Medieval Knights in Hand-to-Hand Combat?

Today, Marines have a great deal of hand-to-hand combat training relative to other modern military units. The Marine Corps even created its own style of martial arts centered on combat called the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. All recruits are given some degree of martial arts training and knife combat skills in boot camp and then receive far more once they reach their actual units that they will be deployed with.

Still, that doesn't begin to compare to how much training in hand-to-hand combat a knight would have received. Since they were brought up as warriors from an early age, and?ignoring, I suppose, bows and arrows?no other forms of combat training existed, they have the edge.

trigger warning: Slate

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I suppose someone trained from birth to fight w/ swords and armor would beat someone trained from age 18 to fight some other way, were they to fight w/ swords and armor.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Yeah, I'd just watch the Marine level his M-16 and shoot the knight. Or if he had an M203, blow him into steaming chunks.

[Ivan Pike]

Yeah, I'd just watch the Marine level his M-16 and shoot the knight. Or if he had an M203, blow him into steaming chunks.

Hand-to-hand SS,saf. Although he would be holding the M16 in his hands.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm presuming he ran out of ammo on the levee. Peasant conscripts are cheap.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Right - I was assuming the hand to hand would not be a match, and the Marine would cheat 🙂

[Ivan Pike]

and the Marine would cheat 🙂

All's fair in love and war.

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

The hand-to-hand would not be a match, and for a very simple reason. The art of fighting has progressed more in the last 20 years than it did in the 10,000 before.

The advent of mixed martial arts has put on a worldwide stage what does and does not work efficiently in hand-to-hand combat. Someone with even minimal hand-to-hand combat training today would most likely be able to destroy someone of like size and strength from 500 years ago. You give me someone physically similar from medieval times, and I would break their arm before much else even occurred. In every area of fighting, the couple of years I've spent in jiu jitsu, wrestling and muay thai would make me for more capable than even the most disciplined hand-to-hand warrior from those days. And in saying that, I don't even mean to insinuate that I'm some sort of bad ass. I am very much on the lower end of the scale.

[Restoras]

I dunno. The modern marine has to be physically bigger than a medieval knight, so that might have an effect.

[MegaloMonocle]

Empty hand? I don't know how much training medieval knights got in empty hand fighting.

Knives? Again, not sure how much training either Marines or knights got in knife fighting.

Swords? Sure, the knight would have an advantage.

For pure physical toughness, a well-trained knight (say, a no-kidding Jerusalem based Knight Templar) would probably have the edge. A country squire-type? Probably not.

[kinnath]

Let's not forget that civilized men tried to outlaw the crossbow, because a farmhand with half a day's training could kill a knight on horseback without a lot of effort.

That and muskets appeared at roughly the same time as full plate armor making knights useless.

[UnCivilServant]

Early muskets actually couldn't overcome plate for some time. The term 'bullet proof' actually came from the dent made by a test shot against a breastplate by the armorer to prove the strength of the plate.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Comments like this are why reading Reason comments is much better than working for a living. Or reading the articles, in some cases.

[Gene]

Comments like this are why reading Reason comments is much better than working for a living.

Easily the most interesting and informative comments on all the intertubz.

[kinnath]

But you can still shoot the horses.

A man in full plate is worth a lots less standing on the ground instead of riding a charger.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

I'd heard that for a time armor was actually tested by shooting it. Early guns weren't always able to penetrate full armor. Don't remember the source though, so don't quote me on it.

[Bobarian]

For early guns, arrows were a lot more effective against armor, but a gun required less training than even a crossbow. Guns weren't really effective killers until about the civil war period, with the advent of wide-spread rifleing, effective manufacturing, reloading capability, and the minie ball. Bayonet charges were still considered an effective means of warfare, rather than 'Oh Shit, we're all gonna die, Alright Boys! Fix Bayonets!'

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I'm going with the Marines.

[UnCivilServant]

I've known enough marines and ex-marines to bet on the Knight.

[Stormy Dragon]

If knights were an effective counter to modern troops, we'd still have knights.

[Bobarian]

If we had to fight hand-to-hand, with edged weapons, we'd still have knights.

Marines and soldiers train in hand to hand and bayonets for 3 reasons.

1. It is cheap training to do.
2. It keeps them in shape.
3. It might be required to do, in a last ditch effort to survive in combat, but if you have to do it, you've already lost the battle.

[Stormy Dragon]

I was under the impression that mnodern bayonet training was primarily to teach aggressiveness, which is good for soldiers in a general sense, not because bayonetting things is specifically useful in itself.

[Bobarian]

That, in my purview, falls into all 3.

[hotsy totsy]

So how did Cortez, with 500 men, take on the Aztec Empire and win? It wasn't the guns and it wasn't going one on one with them.

[Xeones]

Recruiting tens of thousands of native auxiliaries from city-states that were sick of Aztec rule didn't hurt his chances. Nor did the accidental introduction of devastating Old World diseases.

[hotsy totsy]

Progs hate to be reminded of how the Aztecs were hated by other indigenous peoples that THEY had conquered. They want to be outraged by the image of thousands and thousands of Europeans destroying the civilizations of peaceful, happy people.

[Juice]

http://www.spike.com/shows/deadliest-warrior

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Senior citizens denied right to vote by KS Voter ID law

http://m.cjonline.com/news/201.....#gsc.tab=0

[Brian D]

Senior citizens denied right to vote by KS Voter ID law ignorant staffperson.

[SugarFree]

Get your bets in now on how many threads people with help Tony ruin today.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

2.

$5 on 2.

[SugarFree]

That's like bet a $1 on Price is Right.

[Idle Hands]

The price is wrong Bob.

[Pro Libertate]

$4.99 [shoots double birds at Swiss Servator, dances a jig].

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"And the actual retail price is..... $5.13!"

*cue sad trumpet*

[Pro Libertate]

Wait, I did it wrong! Take it back, Bob, take it back!

[Johnny, what did Pro Libertate lose?]

[WTF]

What's the over/under?

[SugarFree]

That's the conundrum. It depends on the number of articles, the nature of the articles and which ones are assigned to shrike or Tony or one of the Tulpa variants.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Bo seems to be trying in this one - does it get a line?

[WTF]

Too easy, he's guaranteed to shit up the majority of threads.

[BigT]

Michael Hind has been making himself obnoxious a lot lately.

[Lord Humungus]

Hide 'D,' Showcase 'R'
It's the media's unwritten rule for covering political scandals.

With control of the Senate hanging in the balance this fall, any story about any incumbent's troubles is news ? if he's a Republican. This is no different from 2010 and 2012, when the press couldn't get enough of Mourdock (Indiana), Akin (Missouri), and O'Donnell (Delaware). The stories were endless.

On August 7, after a lengthy scandal involving, first, plagiarism and then the bizarre excuse of post-traumatic stress disorder as the cause, Senator John Walsh of Montana resigned in disgrace, possibly adding an all-important victory to the GOP this fall. Network coverage? Nada.

I could continue but I won't. We conclude only as we can conclude: This is deliberate. The national news media are doing the bidding of the Democratic party.

trigger warning: National Review

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Pffft. US Senators resign every day - why is this news?!?!

/prog

[WTF]

Fake. SKANDULZ!!!

[Knarf Yenrab!]

trigger warning

How hoplonormative of you.

[Ted S.]

If you're not using a URL shortener, I don't think people can complain about the political leanings of the sites you link to if they don't hover over the links themselves.

It's not as if you're posting links to slideshow lists.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

No coverage? I saw it on the NYT and Washington Post sites quite a bit, so I'm dubious the 'Networks' didn't cover it

[Mercutio]

Senator John Walsh of Montana resigned in disgrace

Did he actually resign? What I heard was that he ended from his reelection bid, but was going to serve out the current term.

[hamilton]

David Gregory is expected to be replaced as the host of NBC's Meet the Press.

Where oh where will they find exactly the right type of ass-kissing syncophantic hypocritical holier-than-thou Boswell to take this job?

[wareagle]

it's NBC. They won't have to look hard. Top contenders are Hillary-promoters.

[DJF]

Chelsea Clinton works for NBC, she would be perfect.

[VG Zaytsev]

"So, like, why are ya some mean to my mom?"

[Steve G]

Oh lord, but then they'd be giving away all traces of impartiality.

[Idle Hands]

Not the hero we need right now, but definitely the one we deserve.

[Lord Humungus]

World's Most Expensive Home Per Square Foot Goes on Sale in Hong Kong

Developer Sun Hung Kai Properties is listing House No. 1 at its new Twelve Peaks development located in the city's exclusive Victoria's Peak neighborhood at 819.1 million Hong Kong dollars (US$105.7 million). If a buyer pays full price, it would represent a cost of HK$175,735 per square foot and would be the world's most expensive home ever sold on a per square foot basis. It would also be the most expensive home ever sold in the city.

The recently constructed home spans 4,661 square feet, with four bedrooms, a private pool, a garden, rooftop terrace and a carport that can house two cars.

Hong Kong has broken its share of records before. The most expensive home sold to date in Hong Kong was a 5,989 square-foot manse on 10 Pollock's Path, also located on the Peak. That house sold for HK$800 million, or HK$133,578 per square foot, in 2011.

trigger warning: Capitalist rag Wall Street Journal

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

North Carolina Restaurant Offers 15% Discount for Prayer, Jezzies Have Heart Attacks

I'm not Christian, so maybe I don't get it, but I can't pretend people praying in public doesn't make me want to run the hell away as fast as possible. My instinctive (possibly genetically-programmed) reaction when I hear the words "Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior" is to duck, because I feel like I'm about to have a spear thrown at me. I find overt religiosity abjectly terrifying.

I'm an atheist too, but I don't have heart palpitations when someone says grace over their food. This is why when the law refers to a reasonable person's judgment, it doesn't mean yours.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I'll pray to whoever they want for a 15% discount.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Hey that guy has a strangler's cord and says he's praying to Kali!!!!"

[Rich]

Vishnu knows it's *Him*!

[$park? has had enough]

Amen!

[Gadianton]

All good deeds you do in the name of Tash are really done in my name; all evil deeds you do in my name are really done in the name of Tash.

[Doctor Whom]

What sort of patriarchal MRA are you? Trying to take away the Jezzies' Goddess-given right to live in a world free from whatever they disagree with is an integral part of rape culture.

[Tonio]

Pitch perfect.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Agreed - that was art.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

My instinctive (possibly genetically-programmed) reaction when I hear the words "Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior" is to duck, because I feel like I'm about to have a spear thrown at me. I find overt religiosity abjectly terrifying.

This person should start seeing a therapist asap to relieve her of her fantasies about what the world and other people should be. Life becomes a much easier cross to bear once you realize that everyone is crazy but you (the latter being no sure thing).

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

ISWYDT.

[MJGreen]

Another great thing about this community: posters don't call out their own puns or wordplay.

[Zeb]

Then don't fucking go there if your daddy issues give you a panic attack every time you see someone pray.

[Brian D]

No, see, if they can continue to get the government involved in businesses they can eventually use the 'separation of church and state' angle to ban religious activities in public businesses!

[Zeb]

That does seem to be the direction they are going in. I just don't get it. I could fairly be called an atheist and I think people praying in public is a little weird, but it is no skin off my nose. People do lots of weird pointless things that I don't care about at all.
This person who has some weird stress reaction to people praying seems to have some much deeper problems.

[MJGreen]

I'm pretty certain that this person would freak out if you did not participate in a "moment of silence" for some Important Person (from their POV), or you did not wear your "I Voted" sticker on election day, etc.

I also imagine the author has no problem with Starbucks or whatever offering discounts for voters on election day, which may be the more apt comparison.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

Heh. The campus Currito Burrito offered free burritos last election day. I voted L before going to thank the market for its gifts.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Show me on the doll where the prayer touched you.

[MJGreen]

when I hear the words "Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior" is to duck, because I feel like I'm about to have a spear thrown at me.

Many American blacks are Christian, so this is clearly racist.

Also, the author's a moron.

[lap83]

"Many American blacks are Christian, so this is clearly racist."

Nice.

Actually the race association is the only thing that would lend any sort of rationale to the comment. Spear chucking Christians? Really? That belief is bordering on mental illness.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

American Godbag X-tians are well known for their public violence. Especially at restaurants.

[hotsy totsy]

Right? Clearly she runs screaming from the BET awards.

[Mercutio]

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full." -- Matthew 6:5, New International Version

[Carnival]

Woah...you just linked me to a Jezebel article! Trigger warning that shit!

[Bo Cara Esq.]

GOP Congresscritters Target Private Space Firm

"Hey, remember Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the guy who threw needless layers of bureaucracy at SpaceX because the private space company was doing its job of launching rockets into space a little too well? Well, it looks like he's being joined by gentlemen from the other side of the Capitol: Three congressmen are trying to do the same thing."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad.....space.html

[Don Mynack]

Nothing worse than an nanny-state Repub.

[See Double You]

Republicans, dying to live up to their name: the Stoopid Party.

[The DerpRider]

Doesn't Alabama have some company with four letters that used to shoot stuff into space?

[Lord Humungus]

Exotic Dancers Protest Topless At Ohio Church

Club owner Thomas George has said church members have picketed outside his club on weeknights. The Rev. Bill Dunfee, the church's pastor, said earlier that the Sunday demonstration signaled that churchgoers' protests at the club are working.

The newspaper reports that six bare-breasted women marched from a nearby corner to the edge of the church's parking lot at one point Sunday.

Most congregation members entered and exited the church through a rear entrance.

trigger warning: no breasts pictured

[SugarFree]

Most congregation members entered and exited the church through a rear entrance.

Bow-chicka-wow-wow.

[flye]

Must've been uncomfortable to go in through the apse.

[BakedPenguin]

I'm thinking that club won't give a 15% discount to people who come in and pray.

[Lord Humungus]

Man gets paid with buckets of coins in settlement with insurance firm

When Los Angeles-area resident Andres Carrasco reached a settlement with Adriana's Insurance, he expected a check, but instead received more than a dozen buckets containing at least $21,000 in coins.

Eight representatives with the insurance company delivered 16 to 18 paint buckets filled with quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies to Carrasco's attorney's office as part of a settlement that had to be paid by July 25.

"It's unfortunate that a business like that would use some of these tactics," said the attorney, Antonio Gallo.

trigger warning: old man disrespected

[UnCivilServant]

I've heard tales of geezers paying companies and governments that way, but not vice versa. How many intern-hours were spent unrolling the coins from their wrappers (since they clearly didn't have loose change lying about in that volume and asked the bank for a shipment)

[carol]

Not to mention how badly the tellers at the bank were pissed off by having to deal with all that coin. I always say that a person should never piss off their banker, barber or bartender. Sooner or later those tellers will get even.

[The DerpRider]

I'm actually shocked this is in California. Their insurance regulations are a bitch for companies. They are going to get slammed with bad faith along with whatever else his lawyers will dream up. I hope he puts them out of business. Gives the rest of us a bad name.

[invisible furry hand]

Cognitive dissonance, anyone?

Breyer is without a doubt the most ardent believer in government, systems, democracy, and in the American public. And despite the fact that each of those seems to grow ever-suckier, he is an equally ardent believer that people are fundamentally well suited to govern themselves and that left to our own devices, we will eventually prove that democracy is about as fabulous as Proust.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

In a just world, that paragraph would get your diploma revoked.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

A shiny nickel to everyone who can guess the site before hovering over the link.

[Rich]

Ima say ... "Salon".

[Rich]

Dammit!

[MJGreen]

Govern ourselves... through government! Duh! What else could it mean to be left alone and govern ourselves?

[Tonio]

Poster habeas dorkus has died. Repost of the original announcement from last night. Comments contain more info and I think an obit link.

[Fist of Etiquette]

RIP

[DEG]

RIP

[See Double You]

Another commenter from Missoula? I wish I could have met him.

[JW]

Let us remember him as Jamie Kelly, the commenter whose obscene rants could make a barbarian blush.

[Xeones]

Oh man, he was a true artiste. I swear he once used the word "fuck" 17 times in a 14-word comment, including as a subjunctive pronoun, which shouldn't even be possible.

[Rich]

Rioters Chuck Bricks on Interstate 270

Fuck these people. Let them burn down their own houses in protest. Oh, that's right -- they don't *own* houses. Yes, I know -- RACIST! 8-(

[wareagle]

and a previous commentator will be proven right - there will be more outrage at the violence unfolding now than about the trigger event.

Trigger event; too soon?

[Rich]

Oh, I understand all that. It's just that they stupidly compound the problem, and in opposition to the express desires of the parents.

[Drax the Destroyer]

For a second I thought it was 270 in MD. I've definitely thought of chucking bricks at the assholes who ride the lane that is ending until the bitter end. Fucking chlamydia ridden dickbags.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Socons and Surogacy

"This animosity toward sexual liberty is the barely stifled undercurrent of pretty much every anti-surrogacy article out there. For a fringe group of conservatives, gay marriage and abortion are just the tip of the iceberg. What truly disgusts them is the whole array of modern sexual and reproductive practices, from egg donation and IVF to divorce and remarriage. To orthodox Catholics, the widespread acceptance of assisted reproductive technologies and non-traditional families is a grotesque violation of natural law and the start of a horrifying brave new world in which technology trumps humanity."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/out.....chism.html

[wareagle]

So-coooonnnnnss!!!

[WTF]

Slate.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

War eagle and wtf ok with technology fearing movements attacking voluntary contracting between adults as long as they're so cons.

Why am I not surprised?

[WTF]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Haha, busted, back to script

[WTF]

Were you born a fat, slimy, scumbag puke piece o' shit, or did you have to work on it?

[VG Zaytsev]

Yes, because Slate honestly presents the views of those they despise. For example, they've done the most accurate overview of libertarians of any msm outlet.

[WTF]

Don't bother trying to engage Bo. He dishonestly refuses to argue in good faith, deliberately mischaracterizes other's positions, and shifts goal posts like a madman. He is in law school and is more interested in practicing his lawyer shtick than arguing in good faith. He deserves to be treated like the other trolls.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Oh, WTF, U mad bro?

[WTF]

Mad? No, Bo.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

What I actually like about WTF is this: he just repeats what he hears other people here say, and almost verbatim. The 'Bo's just a lawyer who comes here to argue' is something that another poster here started saying when we argued (because, of course, who could argue with him and not see he was right without some nefarious motivation at work?). And WTF just straight up lifted it, just like he did using the Strangers With Candy quote as a repetitive 'response.'

I think he realizes that he gets mad at me because he'd like this place to be more conservative friendly and because I've openly disagreed with him, but those are not good reasons to call me a troll, and having no others come to his mind he just goes with what other people upset say.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I mean, I like how he hits all the bases: 'dishonesty,' 'shifts goal posts', 'lawyer shtick'...It's a shame Gilmore and saracasmic didn't just copyright this stuff, because they could make a killing off of WTF alone.

[WTF]

I mean, I like how he hits all the bases: 'dishonesty,' 'shifts goal posts', 'lawyer shtick'...It's a shame Gilmore and saracasmic didn't just copyright this stuff, because they could make a killing off of WTF alone.

Yeah, it couldn't be because you actually do those things. If one person says you're an asshole, tell them to fuck off. If many people tell you you're an asshole, maybe take a look in the mirror.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"f many people tell you you're an asshole, maybe take a look in the mirror."

Wow, you really have nothing original to add. Are you sarcasmic posting under another handle? I'm serious.

[WTF]

Jesus Christ, at least learn a little basic HTML, dumbass.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Now the HTML thing?

It's like talking to someone's lost parrot.

[WTF]

And Bo helpfully demonstrates my point by deliberately mischaracterizing my positions and acting like a troll by "arguing" dishonestly. Good job, dumbass. The Prosecution rests.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"The Prosecution rests."

Oh my gosh you are great. I mean it, that was wonderful.

[$park? has had enough]

Has this replaced the great John/sarcasmic battles of the past?

I swear it's like a soap opera, you miss a month or two and nothing is like you remember.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

sarcasmic doesn't lay well with pretty much anyone.

[Restoras]

Has this replaced the great John/sarcasmic battles of the past?

How did that turn out? Skinny chicks are hotter, right?

[Restoras]

wareagle|8.12.14 @ 9:12AM|#

So-coooonnnnnss!!!

WTF|8.12.14 @ 9:19AM|#

Slate.

Nothing in those responses provides any proof of...

Bo Cara Esq.|8.12.14 @ 9:26AM|#

War eagle and wtf ok with technology fearing movements attacking voluntary contracting between adults as long as they're so cons.

...thus confirming:

deliberately mischaracterizes other's positions

I'm not even sure how you can characterize any position from those posts, except that perhaps a) wareagle is mocking your obsession with teh SnoKonez, and b) WTF is implying that since the source is slate it is not necessarily trustworthy.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Come off it Restoras, they're up to what you're up to: remember 'I support the right of a majority of voters to organize their community the way they see fit?'

I mean, let's be frank. You guys lean conservative GOP, and thus you're a bit uneasy with someone criticizing social conservatives here even when they are plainly violating the NAP. It's certainly not 'mocking the obsession' because we have people who post far more obsessively about other topics and get nary a word of protest from you guys, because their obsessive focus is some type of 'prog.'

[WTF]

Derp.

[$park? has had enough]

Can you define "you guys"?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

There's a significant group of regulars here who clearly lean more 'Tea Party' than anything else.

It's not most people here. But it's more than I would have guessed before posting here.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Note, I don't think you're a social conservative. Eddie might be the only actual social conservative that posts here.

But, especially in the middle of a second Democrat term, its become fairly common for people that were conservatives to move towards libertarianism (when the government aims only at your sacred cows its easier to see the wisdom in movements skeptical of government in general). And conservatives who are not socons often will still be uneasy about attacks on them, because they are seen as 'on the right side' at least.

And look, I am happy to have conservatives gravitate here and to libertarianism. We do have a lot in common, and I think its great when you have an epiphany on these things as you claimed to have when I pointed out your anti-casino stance didn't jibe. Almost noone starts as a libertarian, I had to gravitate towards it myself once.

But while you guys are here, try to realize that libertarianism has always hated socons and progs, and so you're going to see criticism of both. Try not to get upset about it when it is about socons.

[$park? has had enough]

So you're saying you're a real libertarian, unlike other posters? There's another guy like that who pops in often to call everyone else right-wingnuts and Beckerheads.

It just seems a little No True Scotsman, but maybe that's just me.

Full disclosure: I am not, and never have referred to myself as, a libertarian.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Actually, it's more like I'm saying 'those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.' I never questioned anyone's libertarianism until they started in on mine, and ironically because I posted about stories of social conservatives arguing for NAP violations. It was then I said 'hey, what's up with how upset you are about my posts about this?' And I started getting responses like Restoras', that if a community wants to keep someone from owning, operating or patronizing a casino, then they have the right to pass laws to do that.

Now I will be the first to talk about the wide areas of potential disagreement among libertarians. We could fill the entire thread with IP alone, for example. But there are some limits to any coherent political philosophy, and when one calls oneself a libertarian and then endorses a general right of the community to restrict the behavior of consenting adults in that community, I think it's fair to say 'hey, that's just incompatible.' If that is being a 'no true scotsman' then I guess I'll have to plead guilty.

[Ivan Pike]

and when one calls oneself a libertarian and then endorses a general right of the community to restrict the behavior of consenting adults in that community,

Restrict how?

[Restoras]

Restrict how?

I expressed support for a community in MA that did not want a casino in its midst. This made me an ochlocrat and likely a socon to boot - and certainly not a libertarian. Flame wars ensued, much to the boredom of others here, I am sure.

[Ivan Pike]

I expressed support for a community in MA that did not want a casino in its midst.

So he was saying the people who live there shouldn't have a say what happens within their community?

[Restoras]

As I recall, it was more about the right of a property owner to do with their property as they wished - in terms of the right of individuals to freely contract and otherwise engage in commerce with other consenting adults.

To the extent that a community did not wish to have particular activities engaged in by consenting adults within the confines of their community is a violation of the NAP and libertarianism in general as Bo pointed out. My point was that if a majority in the community didn't want a casino then it shouldn't have to allow one to be built - an un- or non-libertarian viewpoint. It also made me a suspect socon for quite a long while.

[Azathoth!!]

I love when you do this--

I never questioned anyone's libertarianism until they started in on mine

It's always good for a chuckle.

[Restoras]

Yep, I did say that.

Of course, subject to the conditions in the Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects minority status. I've also told you on many, many occasions that I've since reconsidered that view in light of the ongoing 'dialogue' we had on it and am still trying to find a good middle ground - all of which you conveniently ignore. That's all fine, I don't really care, but it does lend support to...

...deliberately mischaracterizes other's positions...more interested in practicing his lawyer shtick than arguing in good faith...

...though I'll stop short at treating you like a troll ala Tony and Weigel, since you do make good points occasionally.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

As you can see I don't ignore your movement on it. I think, props to you for it.

I don't mean to bring it up to beat you over the head with it, I can assure that when I started to go with libertarianism I held quite a few views that I later learned were incompatible with any coherent set of libertarian first principles.

I only bring it up to illustrate a point: you were one of the first to 'mock my obsession with socons.' And I challenged you, on that casino post, what is it that upsets you about it? And you answered in a way that shows that what upset you was that you agreed with the socons that a community of them should be able to restrict the voluntary exchanges of other adults. See, that was at the heard of your upset, and from past experience dealing with WTF and wareagle I'm betting the same is going on.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Slate can be awful, but if you think something in the excerpt is wrong point it out.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

Jesus fucking Christ, Bo, when I don't have anything relevant to post I just stay silent. Try it sometime.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Not relevant?

My original post was about a movement that wants to restrict the ability of adults to voluntarily contract with each other because the subject seems 'icky' to that movement. That's relevant to a discussion on a libertarian board.

Then I got the usual attempted dismissal of my criticism of social conservatives and I addressed it. Since then I've done nothing but address responses to that.

This is what I'm talking about, there is no real principled objection, just a 'I don't like that guy posting that socon stuff and saying people's here are conservatives' kind of thing going on.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

Bo, a rule of thumb: when every other thread becomes half-filled with your private flame wars, you're doing something wrong.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That's a fair rule, but if you visit many political discussion sites you will see that its common for political factionism to set it, and a very loud and vocal minority can attempt in some pretty tenacious attacks on any dissenter. If you went to a liberal site, I don't know say Daily Kos, and just spoke your mind you'd be attacked quite a lot, and I doubt it would say anything about you as a person or commenter, really. And it can happen even in sites where in theory you'd be welcome: take the Volokh Conspiracy which, on some issues, you can find non-libertarians (from the left) outnumbering and savaging libertarians, and on a libertarian site! I really think that is going on here, except that the political leanings are reveresed. And I find that really interesting, because anyone who has been really into libertarian movement groups for a while usually knows that Reason is usually seen as on the 'left' side of libertarianism. So that's really interesting to me.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Jesus, Bo. I can usually tolerate you. But not today. Dial it back a little, huh?

[Homple]

Aldous Huxley was a socon? Who knew?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

You read Brave New World and came away with 'surrogacy is bad?'

You might want to re read it

[briannnnn]

No one should be subjected to that bore fest a second time.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

There's always Zamyatin's We

[briannnnn]

Oh no you didn't go there!

[$park? has had enough]

You know, maybe it's because I read it right before Catch-22, but I didn't think it was that bad.

[briannnnn]

God Catch-22 is juvenile. Almost as bad as Cather in the Rye. I think there's just something with the word "Catch."

[$park? has had enough]

To date, it is the most thoroughly uninteresting book I've ever read. Having read BNW before it and Fahrenheit 451 after may have made both of them seem better just by comparison.

[Zeb]

OK, now you've gone too far. Catch-22 is the greatest book ever.

Catcher In The Rye is indeed a piece of shit, though.

[$park? has had enough]

I felt like I was giving myself the Clockwork Orange treatment trying to get through it. Awful doesn't even begin to describe it.

[Zeb]

Well, no accounting for taste, I guess, but I've always found it to be among the most fun to read books I have encountered, as well as the best philosophical novel about war.

[Restoras]

Awful doesn't even begin to describe it

This is how I feel about everything written by Faulkner.

[T]

Your mother is a fish, Restoras.

[Zeb]

In a way, I suppose.

[Lord Humungus]

Masturbating Spark Plug Guy Is Giving Politics One More Try

Jordan Haskins is not going quietly into the night. After some soul-searching, the Saginaw native busted multiple times for breaking into government vehicles and masturbating inside them is re-entering the race to fill a state House seat.

Haskins, a 24-year-old Republican, entered the race to become a Michigan state representative to fill a state seat, but his arrest record for numerous "cranking" incidents came to the surface immediately after he put his name in the hat.

trigger warning: car sexual abuse

[hamilton]

Good to see Michigan trying out those wankel engines.

[Rich]

+1 "hummmm"

[briannnnn]

Breaking into a car and beating off has its own name?

[Elspeth Flashman]

"cranking," "plugging," "torquing" . . .

[briannnnn]

New Daft Punk song?

[$park? has had enough]

Carjacking was already being used.

[briannnnn]

+1

[Stormy Dragon]

Oh my God!? Are you a bunch of car f***ers!? (NSFW)

[Dammit, not again]

Robin Williams is dead and David Gregory lives? wtf

[Lord Humungus]

Boyfriend welcomes lover home with romantic candle message - and wrecks home in blaze

Amanj Yassen, 29, had not seen Jana Stankeviciute, 25, for a month while she was on holiday in Latvia.

Eager to show his love was still burning, he arranged dozens of tealights on his bedroom floor in the shape of a heart with an arrow through it and spelt out her name.

But when he closed the door to hide the surprise the carpet caught fire and the flames tore through the entire room.

trigger warning: heterosexual couple

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I am finding your trigger warnings more amusing than the articles themselves....keep it up, plz.

[Lord Humungus]

running out of caffeine...

[db]

Trigger warning: Substance Dependence.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm triggered by trigger warnings and am having a hard time with LH's posts today.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Me too!

[Rich]

Purer-than-pure silicon solves problem for quantum tech

Skynet is just around the corner!

[Ted S.]

It's not possible to be more than 100% pure.

[briannnnn]

You're clearly not familiar with Nietzsche.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's incredibly uniquely pure.

[briannnnn]

Probably the most uniquely individual product. I'm guessing they gave 110% to produce it?

[UnCivilServant]

They start with Pure Silicon, then they go for all of a single isotope of silicon because Silicon-29 messes with quantum.... somehow.

[Steve G]

RACISSS!!!1

[Zeb]

If quantum computing ever becomes practically useful it will be pretty astonishing. It's hard enough to accept that things work that way on tiny scales that we can never really directly interact with.

[invisible furry hand]

There really is someone for everyone:

My husband is a lifelong bed-wetter. He wears a fairly thick cloth diaper and plastic pants to sleep each night. We are both completely comfortable with his bed-wetting and diapers and it's actually fun getting him ready for bed.

[Dammit, not again]

Well, I hadn't been depressed about my singledom...

[invisible furry hand]

Well you can fix that easily - just let your love flow like a mountain stream

[Atanarjuat]

Being depressed about it won't help. Go bang some hood rats to get your mind back in the game. (Imagine that scene from 40 Year Old Virgin, because I can't find it on Youtube.)

[Rich]

it's actually fun getting him ready for bed

Getting him ready the next day -- not so much.

[Rich]

*for the next day"

[Idle Hands]

There is an ass for every seat.

[Lord Humungus]

"Life is extraordinary, and I don't want to miss it." -- Robin Williams

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I saw this bumper sticker over the weekend.

I somehow managed not to drive off a bridge.

[sarcasmic]

I'd rather they drive off a bridge.

[hamilton]

"Yooooouuu didn't buiiiillld thaaaaaa................"

[thunk]

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

We're through the looking glass here people

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Google tells me Alan Grayson is among the wealthiest people in congress.

"We the people" indeed.

[Rich]

What is this "Grayson" to which you refer?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Robin.

[Tonio]

No, no, CPA, we want to encourage that strain of idiocy.

[Idle Hands]

Lol. That can't be real.

[Lord Humungus]

I just added an Agalloch bumper sticker to my car.

trigger warning: hipster alert

[sarcasmic]

Police admit mother-of-two who was used as a human shield by bank robbers in gun battle was killed by a COP after being shot 10 times
Misty Holt-Singh, 41, was taken hostage by the armed robbers who held up the Bank of the West in Stockton, California, on July 16
She was killed in a major shootout with police
Two other women were taken hostage but were thrown from a vehicle during a 45-minute chase
Both women survived
Two of the bandits were shot dead
Ballistics report has now revealed it was police bullets that killed Holt-Singh and that she was shot about 10 times
Surviving robber Jaime Ramos, 19, will be charged with murder

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

[Idle Hands]

Someone watched Speed recently and was a terrible shot.

[MegaloMonocle]

Wow. The cops shot the hostage TEN times?

Just, wow.

[JW]

What's worse than being kidnapped by ruthless criminals?

Being rescued by the Stockton Police Dept.

[sarcasmic]

They get the thrill of killing someone and they get to charge someone else for their crime! It's a win win!

[Lord Humungus]

When Obama Beat Hillary, We All Lost

I think that Hillary Clinton would have pulled back when Rahm Emanuel (or his counterfactual Clinton administration counterpart) told her that this was a political loser and she should drop it. I've written before about how my Twitter feed filled up with comparisons to 1932 the night that Obama took the presidency, and it's quite clear to me that the Obama administration shared what you might call delusions of FDR. It thought that it was in a transformative, historical moment where the normal rules of political caution didn't apply. The administration was wrong, and the country paid for that.

...snip...

But I doubt she would have had the debt ceiling debacle or the deep gridlock of the last four years, because it was Obamacare that elected a fresh new class of deeply ideological Republicans who thought they were having their own transformative political movement, and they were willing to do massive damage to their party, their own political fortunes and, in my opinion, to the country in order to take a stand against "business as usual" -- business that included legislating or paying our bills.

[Mike M.]

and they were willing to do massive damage to their party, their own political fortunes and, in my opinion, to the country in order to take a stand against "business as usual" -- business that included legislating or paying our bills.

Ah, I see. The job of Congress is to "legislate" simply for the sake of legislating, and raising the debt ceiling in perpetuity so that we can "pay our bills".

How very DuPont Circle of you Megan. No wonder you're such great friends with slimebags like Dave Weigel and Matt Yglesias.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think John is right about McArdle, she's never going to say anything that will jeopardize her social network.

[Idle Hands]

Why would she? Those cocktail parties are kind of fun.

[grrizzly]

And I actually thought that John was unfair to McArdle. He was right all along.

[Ted S.]

We would have lost with Hillary or McCain as Preisdent, too.

[UnCivilServant]

For a moment I misread that as a 'Hillary/McCain' presidency wherein they ran on the same ticket.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

deeply ideological Republicans

Yes, those deeply ideological GOPers led by notable ideologue John Boehner.

If McArdle ever met anyone who was deeply ideological, she'd wet her pants in terror.

[John]

She would

[Tonio]

Oh, the anti-Clinton hatefest on the left has already started. The proggies really, really hate them some Clinton. They honestly think that Warren could win in a general election.

[MegaloMonocle]

Pretty sure she voted for Obama, at least the first time.

All the things she is complaining about now were pretty apparent back in 2008, IMO. He was inexperienced as hell as an administrator/executive, had been marinated in a very narrow circle of academia and Daley machine politics, had run a couple of notably dirty and arguably illegal campaigns already, etc.

[sarcasmic]

Don't tickle me, Elmo! Times Square mascots on best behaviour as NYPD cracks down
Police are distributing fliers advising that tipping is optional, posing is free
Police advise tourists to call 911 if they feel harassed b
The move comes after four costume wearers were charged with disorderly conduct following tipping disputes

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

[Ted S.]

Don't those mascots know "stop and frisk" is for the cops only?

[sarcasmic]

I love my selfie! Plus-sized women take to Instagram to post pictures of themselves in bikinis under #Fatkini in order to promote self-acceptance
The #Fatkini is exactly what it sounds like, big women posting photos of themselves in bikinis to promote self-acceptance and love via the internet
#Fatkini is in response to an image obsessed Instagram selfie trend perpetuated by stars like Kim Kardashian
#Fatkini participants hope to build self acceptance and inspire more retailers to carry larger bikinis

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....tance.html
John pron!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Link to #Fatkini hopes to be clicked, but shan't!

[Lord Humungus]

I too will join this public censure of this.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Make it 3

[Zeb]

I'm still upset that "selfie" is the stupid word that everyone decided to start using this year.

[UnCivilServant]

A stupid word for a stupid act.

[Zeb]

And it's not as if people never took pictures of themselves with cameras that aren't built into phones.

[$park? has had enough]

But now there are thousands of ways to let the world know how self-absorbed you are. Isn't this a great time to be alive?

[Elspeth Flashman]

I'd have thought the same thing if I'd worked at a photo developer before this miracle called the internet though.

[Ivan Pike]

I'm still upset that "selfie" is the stupid word that everyone decided to start using this year.

How do you feel about sealfies?

[sarcasmic]

Medway dog recovering from wound after being shot by police officer

link
The guy actually believes the town will pay his vet bill. Yeah right.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

He'll be billed for the bullet. Maybe a "discharge fee" too. And the cop will sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Jake, a black Labrador retriever mix vicious pit bull, was shot by a police officer Saturday and is recovering at home in Medway on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014.

[Auric Demonocles]

So it turns out my friend is going to have to join me later in my hike than we thought. That means he won't be able to bring my resupply to my one week mark. Trying to decide if I should ship my fuel with along with my food, or obey the law and risk running out before I get to my 2 week drop.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"The skeleton of the long missing hiker was found with a note clutched in hand that read 'at least I obeyed the law!'"

[hamilton]

We could set up a reasonoid supply mission. How many monocles and cases of 1847 Chateau d'Yquem do you need?

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm more worried about running out of orphans than anything. They don't seem to survive well when you add 15 miles of hiking onto their meager diets.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

The ones who drop can be rendered into food for the others.

[SugarFree]

STEVE SMITH will be there to help you. He loves helping hikers.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Nice thought!

*shivers*

[Ivan Pike]

Trying to decide if I should ship my fuel with along with my food, or obey the law and risk running out before I get to my 2 week drop.

Ship it, your life is worth more than the law. By the way, were are you hiking?

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, it wouldn't be my life. I could still eat the MREs I have cold.

I'm doing the Long Trail. It's goes north-south across Vermont (border to border).

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"I could still eat the MREs I have cold."

You must have old ones - they should have the chem tab heaters inside to heat the main course.

[Tonio]

I'm assuming their aren't any places to buy fuel along the way? Have you worked the local trails clubs to see if anyone nearby would resupply you for money?

Also, dead drops. As in, drop off your fuel in a secluded area and leave a note with it. Bury it or camoflage it.

[Tonio]

Also, at the risk of stating the obvious to someone who I assume is an experienced backpacker: you're going to run into some cool temperatures and a hot dinner is really comforting and helps with core temperature maintenance.

[Zeb]

You could probably find out if there are any convenient places that sell the right kind of fuel in the towns where you plan to send your supplies.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

David Gregory is expected to be replaced as the host of NBC's Meet the Press.

I didn't even know he was out of prison! Fast turnaround.

[Atanarjuat]

James O'Keefe should have brought the same magazine into D.C., and video'ed himself flaunting the law like Gregory did.

[invisible furry hand]

Just saw the first episode of Dr Who with Peter Capaldi. He and I were the best-dressed people there

[UnCivilServant]

Peter Capaldi attended a screening of "An Unearthy Child"?

[invisible furry hand]

Er, sorry, no, the first episode of the new series. He and Jenna Coleman are doing a world tour with advance screenings. Although he would be totally up for An Unearthly Child screenings

[UnCivilServant]

No Spoilers!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

YOU ALREADY SAW EPISODE ONE?!?!?!

[invisible furry hand]

Yep. No spoilers cos I'm not that big an arsehole, but it does have an actress in it that I simply adore, and some fun things. It was written by Steve Moffat and I've gone a bit off him, and this didn't exactly restore him in my eyes, but it was enough to keep me hoping

[sarcasmic]

Moffat is my favorite writer for this series.

[MJGreen]

The actress isn't Alex Kingston, is it?

[Ted S.]

Capaldi

[$park? has had enough]

The name of that show should be changed to Dr Who Cares? Amirite?

[UnCivilServant]

No, you're not right.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Heretic! Back to your artisnal mayo making operation!

[MJGreen]

Very cool. Did Capaldi tell you to go fuck yourself with a lubricated horse cock?

[The Late P Brooks]

On August 7, after a lengthy scandal involving, first, plagiarism and then the bizarre excuse of post-traumatic stress disorder as the cause, Senator John Walsh of Montana resigned in disgrace

Huh. I live in Montana, and I have not heard Word Fucking One about Walsh resigning.

It's fake scandals, all the way down, I guess.

[See Double You]

It's been in the Missoulian quite a bit.

[MegaloMonocle]

Another Republican resigns in disgrace.

I mean, he must be a Repub, right? The article doesn't identify him as a Dem, and by default all bad politicians are Repubs.

[Apple]

General question for any Kentucky Reasonoids, especially those with kids: We've decided we're spending next spring break in your fair state (it's the only one in the South or Mid-west we've never been to). Dragging a seven and a four year old along so fine dining and nightlife is mostly out. Things I've tentatively marked down are: Mammoth Cave, Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Belle of Louisville, Buffalo Trace Distillery (supposedly the most family friendly), maybe a race at Turfway Park. Probably spending more than one day in Louisville, Lexington and/or the Cincinnati area. The question is, is there anything uniquely Kentucky and open to kids that I'm leaving off? Also, restaurant suggestions welcome and we dig exotic foods. Thanks!

[Lord Humungus]

Wigwam Village?
http://www.wigwamvillage.com/

[SugarFree]

It's totally campy and fun, but it is just full of spiders. Seriously. So many spiders.

[Lord Humungus]

the wife wanted to stay there but I opted for the Marriot instead. The interior pictures made it look like a Cold War-era bunker.

[Apple]

Nope. Fuck spiders.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

SF's basement

[$park? has had enough]

Bring a bucket of golf balls, a 20' garden hose, a spaghetti strainer, and a package of Baby Ruth bars.

The candy is the only defense you'll have so don't use it up too quickly.

[Lord Humungus]

Did someone say Baby Ruth?
http://38.media.tumblr.com/tum.....o1_500.jpg

[Marshall Gill]

I was going to be so disappointed if you didn't use that picture.

[invisible furry hand]

Dragging a seven and a four year old along so fine dining and nightlife is mostly out.

But not entirely, thankfully. They'll treasure the memory of that first cocktail for the rest of their lives

[UnCivilServant]

Depending on their body weight, they may not remember that first cocktail at all.

[Apple]

The oldest downed a glass of champagne at a wedding when she was three. It'll be interesting to see if her little brother can handle his liquor as well as she can.

[SugarFree]

If the spring break is in April, go to Kenneland instead. It's nicely appointed and does the pomp and circumstance of racing very well.

Don't plan on being at Mammoth Cave too long. Other than the cave, there's not much to do there any longer.

Woodford is a nice distillery tour, but they don't have dining like Buffalo Trace.

Ramsey's in Lexington is a local mini-chain, sort of like a Memphis meat-and-three place. Very kid friendly. Being childfree, I really can't think of anything else kid-friendly that you couldn't get else where in the country. Most of our outre cuisine is heavy on drinking and uncomfortable hipster seating.

[Apple]

It's the end of March so I think Turfway is the only one open. We actually have horse racing here in Arkansas so we could skip it if we had to. Just thought the kids might want to check it out after the Horse Park.

Thanks for the info! I'll just plan for a day at the cave.

[Lord Humungus]

I was in Bowling Green a few months ago:

The Montana Grille was good.

Sadly the Lost River Cave tour was closed due to too much rain water. It does look interesting though.
http://www.lostrivercave.com/

The downtown area wasn't anything worth the time.

If you're into Corvettes - the museum is there. I skipped this.

But for more children orientated stuff, the train museum is nice - we got a personal tour of the railcars.
http://historicrailpark.com/

[Ted S.]

If you go to the Corvette museum, watch out for the sinkholes.

[Apple]

Excellent, thanks! I'll add the train museum to the list.

[Ted S.]

Drive around Appalachia and show them the toothless hillbillies? 😉

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

And meth labs!

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Dueling Banjos

[Apple]

We're from Arkansas, but I suppose there might be subtle differences between the Appalachian and Ozark varieties, Thanks!

[Arkansaustrian Economics]

Dammit, when are we going to get around to that Arkansas Reasonoid get-together at the Harrison Dairy Queen?

Probably at least not until I get around to posting on an article within six hours of its being published.

[Ted S.]

More seriously, how about Lincoln's birthplace? You can teach them abous suspending habeas corpus.

[Apple]

In all seriousness, I'll add it to the list. Looks like it's pretty much on the way between the cave and Louisville. Thanks!

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Go across the Ohio River to the Sheraton in Jeffersonville, and enjoy a Hot Brown at the Bristol Bar&Grille;. You get a great view of the Louisville skyline. And Hot Brown is a local dish, very delicious, and prepared well here.

[Apple]

Awesome

[Rhywun]

Go across the Ohio River

I've heard great things about Cincinnati.

[Lord Humungus]

Study: Twitter Has Potential To 'Induce Psychotic Symptoms'

Five doctors examined the real-life case of a 31-year-old woman the authors called ?Mrs. C," who was admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital in Berlin.

Medical records showed "Mrs. C" had never shown signs of any kind of personality disorder until she was committed following a year-long obsession with Twitter.

?Sometimes, she would spend several hours a day reading and writing messages, neglecting her social relationships and, sometimes, even meals and regular sleeping hours," said the study.

And thus Mary was born.

[$park? has had enough]

Obviously it was Twitter what caused the crazy. Couldn't have been an underlying mental defect.

Also, obsessive people are obsessive.

[Lord Humungus]

More Hispanics tell Census Bureau they're 'white'

Over the past 10 years, a growing number of Hispanics have changed their race and origin to "white," according to top Census officials.

While whites, blacks and Asians generally kept their status between the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census review of the population, Hispanics, especially among younger immigrants, were quicker to change.

In a working paper titled "America's Changing Races: Race and Ethic Response Changes between Census 2000 and the 2010 Census," the authors found that at 9.7 million Hispanics changed their racial and origin status.

[DJF]

See, another problem caused by mass immigration. How can we have a diverse country if we keep letting all these white people into the country?

[Andrew S.]

I blame George Zimmerman.

[$park? has had enough]

The suit guy?

[Zeb]

Men's Wearhouse encourages them to dress like white people so they feel like white people.

[ant1sthenes]

Drudge hardest hit.

[creech]

Gee, I hadn't realized the guy who cleverly pretended to be other people had died. All my network news shows are running is coverage of out of control police behavior in Missouri, out of control President in the White House, out of control spending in Washington, out of control border crossings from Mexico, and out of control violence in the Middle East.

[Zeb]

Hey, he also cleverly pretended to be an even crazier version of himself.

[Elspeth Flashman]

There's a vacancy in my judicial district that I am considering. I wonder if the Governor would consider me (it's by appointment and not by election). Any thoughts?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

How much have you contributed to his campaigns?

[Tonio]

Yeah, this, pretty much. Or if you haven't contributed have you argued a case which advances the agenda of the governor's party?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Zero. But I never gave to the other side.

[Isaac Bartram]

Perhaps there are other "considerations" you can render. 🙂

After all, most political jobs require that you whore yourself out. Maybe it's time to see how willing you are to literally be one.

[UnCivilServant]

Just so long as you're not a lawyer. I am of the opinion that Lawyers should be barred from holding judgeships as the function of a lawyer is to pervert the law, and the (purported) function of a judge is to interpret the law.

[Tonio]

That's good in theory but leads to a lot of mistrials, miscarriages of justice, etc.

[Warty]

Johnny Manziel Forced To Wear Cleveland Browns Jersey In Cruel Rookie Hazing Incident

[TwB]

Hey, I just read that your Cleveland Browns signed Rex Grossman. Enjoy.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Sources say the Browns are also investigating whether bullying may have been at play after discovering that 2014 first-round pick Justin Gilbert was recently forced to purchase a home in Cleveland.

That was absolutely brilliant.

[John]

This is hysterical

http://mobile.rawstory.com/all.....borhoods#1

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

But, John, that's racist!

[Apple]

I proposed an app like that for out of town travelers a few years back to a friend of mine who's a developer. he thought it was a good idea but didn't want anything to do with it.

[Sevo]

Local rag (Chron) fill front page with R. Williams; nothing else happening in the world.
Features 'clever' quotes, such as "The second amendment says we can bear arms not artillery"
Isn't that a laugh riot?

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Fair enough. We have Madison and Jefferson, they have Robin Williams.

[Kaptious Kristen]

Full episode of Inside the Actors Studio w/Robin Williams. Best thing he ever did, IMO. I heard someone in the audience separated a rib from laughing so hard.