A.M. Links: Obama Plots Unilateral Climate Change Action, IRS Ethics Lawyer Faces Disbarment, Cease-Fire Holds in Gaza

• 

  Credit: White House / Flickr.com

  "The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."

• A lawyer in the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility may be stripped of her license to practice law after allegedly lying to a court-appointed board.

• The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is holding. But for how long?

• The California Senate has passed legislation banning the use of warrantless drones by law enforcement.

• The U.S. is reportedly recruiting allies for possible military action in Syria.

• NATO is planning to build new bases in eastern Europe to counter Russian aggression.

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Comments

[Snark Plissken]

"The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."

What is the Constitution? ? a bit of paper written by dead white guys. I am the state ? I alone am here the representative of the people.

[Rich]

"I *triple-dog-dare* you to impeach me!"

[Idle Hands]

Leave him alone it's all he has left in the form of redeeming himself.

[Andrew S.]

You libertarians always with your constitutional literalism. You have to read between the lines. Sure, it has all that stuff about the separation of powers, and congress passing laws for the President to sign and such, but what has that ever done for us? Nothing. The President has to get things done. And if Congress doesn't agree with him, well, then he has to get it done anyways!*

*Note: In 2016, if Team Red wins the election, I will completely change my mind on all of this and freak out at the slightest hint of the President deciding to do anything on his own.

/prog

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

[DEG]

Bonjour.

Guten Morgen.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."

As long as the UN isn't involved.

[Drake]

Thank goodness this Administration is lazy and incompetent.

[Ted S.]

Unfortunately the bureaucrats keep working away....

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. is reportedly recruiting allies for possible military action in Syria.

Do we have any left?

[UnCivilServant]

Well, we have Assad now.

[Libertarian]

Just a year ago, John Kerry compared Assad to Hitler. And now he's going to be on TV justifying the bombing of Hitler's enemies. I'll need more popcorn for this show.

[VG Zaytsev]

Whom he wanted the US to help.

[CatoTheElder]

The US has always been at war with ISIS.

Citizen, you need some doublethink training. Report to Room 101.

[gaijin]

Well, we have Assad now.

Oh no we don't...we must deploy the bombings in an equitable, fair and balanced manner against Assad and ISIS/L...that way, whoever wins, we can be friends with them after.

In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets.

[UnCivilServant]

Well that's just plain stupid. What's the point of selling out all your old allies if you're not going to buy new ones with the porceeds?

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Porceeds? Is that like proceeds from pork barrel spending? You may have attained a John-like level of typo.

[UnCivilServant]

I was making typographical errors long before I came to reason to grouse about Cuomo.

[Ptah-Hotep]

I thought that was an Onion article, but no. Stupid is as stupid does.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

I thought it was Duffleblog.

[Rich]

"Bomb 'em all. Let Allah sort 'em out."

[Andrew S.]

Before clicking on that, I thought "there's no way this is serious. This has to be a joke of some kind".

But, yeah. US foriegn policy, ladies and gentlemen.

[WTF]

Smart. Diplomacy.

[tarran]

Strategery!

[expat]

But I thought Obama followed the "don't do anything stupid" doctrine!?!? This clearly would violate the key tenet of that, wouldn't it?

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Obama follows the "don't do anything stupid" doctrine.

[Citizen Nothing]

"I wouldn't call "Did no harm" a resume."

[The DerpRider]

So. Bomb everybody. Okie dokie.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Curious, has the U.S. ever been entangled in ever shifting alliances with enemies who quickly became allies of convenience? I'm ashamed to ask because I should know this but this Assad angle is really odd.

[Ted S.]

No. We've always been at war with East Asia.

[Stormy Dragon]

Once again, the three rules:

1. Never get involved in a civil war.
2. If for some reason you ignore #1, pick a side.
3. Make sure your side wins.

[Xeones]

Also: never get involved in a ground war in Asia.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

And never trifle with a Sicilian when death is on the line!

[Warty]

...What???

[Spoonman.]

Oh wow.

[sarcasmic]

Star of reality show 'Sons of Guns' is arrested for child rape - just two weeks after being accused of molestation

William Hayden, 49, arrested yesterday for the rape of an 11-year-old girl
She claims he raped her almost daily and threatened her with violence
The Sons of Guns star was also accused of child molestation on August 9

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ation.html
Charges like that are guilty until proven innocent.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

He was just following the age-appropriate rule of half your age, minus thirteen years.

[WTF]

But he insisted that the claims were the work of a bitter ex-girlfriend who told authorities that he had molested the girl to get back at him for breaking up with her.

Never underestimate the lengths to which a bitter ex will go to try to fuck up a man's life. Don't know what the truth is, but the timing of the allegations are at least worth a little skepticism.

[Florida Man]

I watched the first season and enjoyed it. Then they turned into a dating reality show and I stopped.

[WTF]

I stopped watching once they started emphasizing cannons and other big crap over cool pistols and rifles.

[Restoras]

I liked the episode where they restored two WW2 anti-tank guns. The hokey targets they set-up are so lame though - how about just putting a thick piece of steel up with a nice bulls-eye to see what it can do?

[Jordan]

Is that the one with the ridiculously hot daughter? I watched one episode.

[Drake]

She is hot in a kind of crazy-sexy Southern way.

[WTF]

No, the one with the ridiculously hot daughter was American Guns.

[sarcasmic]

Now that was a stupid show. And the prices that guy charges? Ridiculous.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

And dumb guys were willing to pay those prices to get a chance to sniff around that daughter.

[Drake]

I never believed the prices. They had to be for TV.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Oh my...

[Ted S.]

Hayden must not be a cop.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The California Senate has passed legislation banning the use of warrantless drones by law enforcement.

Judges, start your rubber stamps.

[trshmnster the terrible]

The police dog sniffed his ass? Either it's 6 more weeks of winter, or they've got drugs! Here's your warrant!

[Bee Tagger]

NATO is planning to build new bases in eastern Europe to counter Russian aggression

But isn't winter coming?

[UnCivilServant]

Do we have any scandanavian countries in NATO who can do the work? It'll allow the Germans to wait for spring to be deployed.

[Doctor Whom]

The French, Italians and Spanish are opposed while the Americans and British are supportive of the eastern European demands.

America continues its role as the world's patsy. SMH.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

The French, Italians and Spanish are opposed

That almost makes me reflexively support it.

[DJF]

NATO has cut it military and is still cutting. Why bother building new bases when they don't have enough military to fill up the bases they got?

[Ptah-Hotep]

Why bother building new bases when they don't have enough military to fill up the bases they got?

Preposition equipment, let the locals maintain it. That way if something bad happens, all you do is fly in the troops; or supply the Russians with NATO equipment, whichever comes first.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

REFORGER, arise!

[UnCivilServant]

I just had awesome inspiration from ignorance. I hadn't yet looked up the REFORGER exercises (they were last run in '93, so it's been a while) and the first thing that came to mind was the reanimation of a stricken giant robot. And I know which of my villains would make it too. Sadly, I have to save Reforger for Book 4, since Book 3 is already heavy with bad guys (Doctor Rudra breaks open a prison to get at someone who'd been locked up - the aftermath ain't pretty).

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

I want a h/t!

I enlisted in 1985, so as a Private in an Infantry unit, all we did was get ready for REFORGER (until the Wall fell).

[Ptah-Hotep]

I want a h/t!

Typical, Warrant comes up with idea, Commissioned takes credit.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Warrants don't come up with anything, except ways to avoid work.

[UnCivilServant]

I'll try to remember to add you to the semiserious acknowledgements.

That reminds me, I need to come up with some for the 2nd book.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

REFORGER 14 - "Cold War II, Electric Bugaloo"

[Cdr Lytton]

Nah. It's pivot to the Pacific time. Kim chee and TEAM SPIRIT!

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

That is why the Italians and Spanish are objecting - would save a lot of $ to close Rota, Aviano, etc. A lot cheaper in Poland, Romania, and the Baltics.

[Cdr Lytton]

As long as we keep Moron.

[Restoras]

^This.

Without US military might NATO is an empty shell.

Unless it is our forces that will be forward deployed in Eastern Europe in these new bases - they will just be bridgehead objectives for the Russians if/when they decide westward expansion is once again in their best interest.

[Drake]

You over-estimate the Russians. Their army is big but really shitty. The Germans and Poles can pin them down until American Armored units arrive.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

The Germans are a hollow joke now - but I would not underestimate the Poles.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

...but I would not underestimate the Poles.

Now that they have figured out they need to close the screen doors on their submarines.

[Drake]

I trained with the Germans. Not a big army but they seemed very competent and their gear is at least as good as ours.

A little chilling to see guys in uniform yelling in German...

[WTF]

As long as they're not yelling "Sieg Heil".

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

They were in shit state in Afghanistan. Too busy dressing up like nuns, playing with skulls, working only 9-5 and drinking shitloads of beer at Camp Warehouse. they did have a decent radio station out of Konduz, if your music tastes ran to Euro stuff.

[Drake]

I heard about that. Given all that we "accomplished" there, I think they had the correct attitude.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'Without US military might NATO is an empty shell.'

Always was.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

NATO was a single fire gun, which Cliton fired to distract from a blowjob. Kosovo was it.

Attempts to reuse NATO will likely cause damage to the user.

[Invisible Finger]

Without US military might, the EU is impossible.

[Drake]

Are they really building new bases or just making the old Soviet bases fit for human habitation?

[UnCivilServant]

Is there actually a difference in the work involved?

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Oooh, yeah. In 1997, I went around a series of old Hungarian Warsaw Pact era bases to see baout getting them online to support SFOR in Bosnia (the places I went in Sarajevo were in better shape, many times) - they were miserable. Buried toxic waste, buildings full of asbestos and crumbling to boot.

Better to start from scratch.

[sarcasmic]

Fusion Investigates: How did America's police departments lose loads of military-issued weapons?

http://fusion.net/leadership/s.....ons-984250
It appears that cops are taking these military weapons home. Or selling them. Who knows? We never will.

[WTF]

What are you gonna do, call the cops?

[UnCivilServant]

Naw, I'd call in an airstrike - Napalm as a warning shot, cluster munitions and carpet bombing if they don't return the monies stolen from the taxpayer.

[PD Scott]

Well, time to add Stingers to the 1033 program...

[sarcasmic]

Cannabis-infused fizzy drinks on sale in US
The 'ridiculously relaxing' drinks come with 10mg of marijuana in cherry, lemon or pomegranate flavour

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....in-US.html
I'd try it.

[Libertarian]

As "ridiculously relaxing" as listening to a Carpenters album while drinking chardonnay? I think not.

[Ted S.]

Oh dear, I'm going to have to see Fuck Schumer's ugly mug on the local TV news tonight complaining about the alleged evil of this.

[DEG]

I've had hemp beer. Unfortunately no THC in it, but still tasty.

[UnCivilServant]

Fermented rope?

[DEG]

http://www.humboldtbrewingco.com/hemp-ale/

[UnCivilServant]

Their site wanted personal information from me before I could enter.

What does it matter what my age is? I'm not trying to buy from you!

[PD Scott]

Because our dear friends at BATFE believe if children - meaning anyone under 21 - see an alcohol website, they will be filled with an insatiable thirst for demon rum.

Strangely, TV, radio and print commercials don't have the same effect.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

But, you don't see Jim Beam ads in Ranger Rick magazine. Or Bud Light commercials on Suite Life of Zack and Cody. So.... yeah.

[sarcasmic]

This homebrewing forum I frequent will soon have some marijuana beer recipes I suspect, being that some of the participants live in WA and CO.

[sarcasmic]

Megan Fox sizzles in a strapless mini dress at Seoul premiere of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... as she insists her character is more than just a sexy sidekick

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ekick.html

Leaving everyone starry-eyed! Megan Fox puts on a leggy display in patterned sheer dress at Seoul press call for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....rtles.html
She's got that trailer trash chic that just turns sarc on! Hell yeah!

[Idle Hands]

I do enjoy me some megan fox. I don't care how trashy she is.

[RBS]

She's hot. It drives my wife crazy that I think so too.

[Idle Hands]

Yea she's in the realm of like Jennifer Love Hewitt where women everywhere seem to hate her.

[lap83]

It's easier to appreciate an attractive member of your own sex if they don't seem to have the personality of a turd.

[Fist of Etiquette]

NATO is planning to build new bases in eastern Europe to counter Russian aggression.

Some towns are going to get an unexpected economic boost!

[sarcasmic]

Bikini clad Liv Tyler is a bathing beauty as she takes a dip in the sea during Spanish getaway with boyfriend Dave Gardner

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....rdner.html
From the comments:

"put a lock on the fridge"
"A bit hefty, too many chips and ice cream on holiday I think."
"Save the whale!!"

In other words, John would.

[RBS]

She's put on some lbs since Stealing Beauty

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

In other words, John would.

Bob would too.

She's 37 years old, and still pretty damn smokin'.

[Furburguesa]

FB would hit that like she owed me $$

[sarcasmic]

'Modern Icon' Gigi Hadid goes braless in clingy white T-shirt for provocative fashion shoot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....shoot.html
Best. Titties. Ever.

[DEG]

I don't know about the best, but she is up there.

[Mongo]

Sarctastic!

[Bee Tagger]

"but without ratification from Congress."

do-nothing Congress strikes again.

[SugarFree]

Not only did he have a buttplug made in his likeness, he won't even it share it with Michelle.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

*blinks in surprise, then remembers it is SugarFree*

[SugarFree]

A severely sleep-deprived SugarFree as well. I've gotten a grand total of 30 hours of sleep since waking up Saturday morning.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[UnCivilServant]

Step away from the keyboard.

[SugarFree]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[Marshall Gill]

No, stay at the keyboard. A lack of sleep might produce horrors not even yet imagined!

[Jordan]

Wait... isn't that an average of 7.5 hours a night?

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

He meant Saturday morning, July 26th.

[SugarFree]

Shit. I meant 20. And I woke up in France on Saturday, which is 6 hours ahead.

So tired. You want to take it out back, Jordan? Huh?

[Jordan]

I know better than to get within 100 meters of you.

[tarran]

Good idea, the man has demonstrated that he knows how to take a bullet and still spit venom.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

I know better than to get within 100 meters miles of you.

Fixed.

[gaijin]

You want to take it out back,

Coming from you this has to be some kind of innuendo, right?

[SugarFree]

Only in the sense that there is an alley somewhere out behind the blog.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I'll free you from sugar, sugar!

[RBS]

And I woke up in France on Saturday

You say that like you weren't necessarily supposed to be there.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

He woke up in a bathtub of ice, missing a kidney.

[Lord Humungus]

did you ever have one of those days where you woke up in France... in a back alley... surrounded by snails

[UnCivilServant]

did you ever have one of those days where you woke up in France... in a back alley... surrounded by snails

Live or dead snails?

[SugarFree]

I have all my kidneys. And a few extra.

[Lord Humungus]

a mix.

[PRX]

this is my buttplug
this is my thumb
this one's for my anus
and so's the other one.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Uhhhhhhhhhhh, look Michelle.. Iiii've got my head up my ass!

/Barack Obama and the Buttplug of Boom

[DEG]

"Live Free or Die" has its limits. No masturbation allowed on NH highways.

[UnCivilServant]

I can't complain about that. Get off the highway to do that, don't get off on the highway, you're a danger to everyone on the road.

[Ted S.]

That's only for the driver. What about the passengers?

And what happens when we get driverless cars?

[Rich]

But *hands-free* masturbation is still OK, right?

[Lord Humungus]

that's the best kind.

[sarcasmic]

Do they have any hard evidence that will stand up in court?

[trshmnster the terrible]

They need to erect a new statute

[Rich]

One that has as its main thrust a stiff penalty.

[Entropy Void]

I think the Highway Safety Staff is working hard on that angle.

[DEG]

Ask Trooper Cummings. He's handling the voyeur line... er... incident witness line.

[DEG]

Government always holds the trump card in property purchase and lease negotiations.

[Ted S.]

I like how the page has an "order reprints" link.

I didn't like how it had a popover of some sort that I couldn't get to close since I didn't have images set to load.

[DEG]

Bill Gates donates money to a gun control group.

[thom]

Good for him. Backing up his opinions, however misguided, with his own fucking money.

[mad.casual]

Bill Gates donates money to a gun control group.

He and Ballmer split a $500K "donation"; are we sure they didn't accidentally drop the money and the gun-law advocacy group just picked it up and claimed it as a donation? I'm sure they have no problem accepting cash made selling copies of Grand Theft Auto.

[Adans smith]

it goes like this.I know many in your country don't have electricity ,or clean water,but,We got ours sucker,kneel

[Rich]

Obama eyes transgendered troops

the Pentagon "likely will" allow transgendered Americans to serve openly in the military where 15,500 now secretly serve

"15,500 transgendered Americans now secretly serve in the US military"?

Sorry, but I find that difficult to believe.

[SugarFree]

All those women wearing pants with short haircuts? He might be right about something, for once.

[Rich]

He's undressing them with his eyes?

[SugarFree]

Private eyes.
Omaba's watching you.
He knows your every move.
Or can read about it in the paper.

[UnCivilServant]

Well there is this one odd Division...

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

1st? 3rd? 25th? 101st?

[Ptah-Hotep]

1st?

Of course, it is one odd division.

[Ptah-Hotep]

A big red one at that.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

"The Big Red Dumb"

[Ptah-Hotep]

"The Big Red Dumb"

You are pushing it Swiss. Served there during DS/DS, got out in '94.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

That is what our instructors from the 1st ID called it themselves, when I was mobilizing through there in 2007 for TEH SURGE.

"Where the Hell are the buses to get everyone to the range?"

"Big Red Dumb, sir."

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Of course, they had just gotten back from Iraq themselves, so they were in a rather cynical mode of humor.

[Ptah-Hotep]

I am just messing with you Swiss. I have called them a lot worse.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

To be sure - I got attached to the 25th ID and I think I called them #$%&, *&^@#$% and !@#$*&

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

If you're gonna be one, be a "BIG RED ONE"!

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I'd have guessed the 42nd.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Nicely done.

[Drake]

I still have that fucking rainbow on my old National Guard uniforms.

[Ptah-Hotep]

D-w-T wins one internets*.

*offer good for 30 mins.

[Invisible Finger]

Pansy Division

[Libertarian]

They know how many? Doesn't sound so secret to me.

[WTF]

If they're serving 'secretly', how do they know how many there are?

[Ted S.]

So he's going to pardon Bradley Manning?

[John]

Maybe if you count every woman who likes to wear slacks and every man who ever dressed in drag while having fun with his wife, perhaps.

You have to remember these people see everything in terms of politics. It is all progs know. So they don't give a shit about facts or if the military is actually doing the job it is supposed to do. To them, the military, like everything else in the world is just another thing to be subverted into a weapon advancing Prog politics.

[mad.casual]

To them, the military, like everything else in the world is just another thing to be subverted into a weapon advancing Prog politics.

Exactly, nevermind that the policy has been in force at the whim of the President and the SOD, and that the conventional treatments for the disease are marginally effective and not exactly related to the military's best interests. This is about freedom and letting people know that the Pres. is extremely tolerant and accepting when choosing people to send into the meat grinder in the ME.

[Agammamon]

Not if you consider that 'transgender' means that they think they are the wrong sex, not that they have sexual traits of both sexes.

Essentially what this means is claiming to be transgender will get you an exemption from the gender-specific uniform/civilian attire regs.

Unfortunately, not (as *should* be the case) stripping out the gender specific requirements/prohibitions - this whole 'guys get their heads shaved in basic but women don't' crap is bullshit anyway.

[Entropy Void]

Does anybody know if "the Transgendered" are subject to Selective Service ... either way?

[Cdr Lytton]

I don't think there's a transgendered exemption to the selective service registration.

Fuck Ronald Regan's decomposing corpse.

[Cdr Lytton]

Or Reagan.

[Steve G]

That former SEAL was convincing to the eyes, but not to the ears. Whoa nellie. Like listening to Michael Clark Duncan talk

[DEG]

World's most expensive apartment goes up for sale. Your daily dose of wealth envy is in the comments section.

[Drake]

Maybe he can afford a house now.

[Agammamon]

Eh - I wanted to know how much the *rent* was.

[DEG]

Not everything on CNN today is shit. Travel photographs of the day includes some nice shots. I like the pictures of Banff and Queenstown, NZ.

[gaijin]

Banff and the Lake Louise area are spectacular...

[The Late P Brooks]

"The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."

We have to act, and act now!

[Tim]

Turns out ISIS is releasing way too much CO2.

[Rich]

"Ha! We'll just deem that treaty an 'agreement'!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh dear me.

The comments at the NYT linked regarding Obama's climate change plans.

Very depressing save for a couple of sane people looking that the problem and consequences of ignoring Congress and the Constitution. But they dwarf by the amount of people who say action is needed because climate.

I love Ken the scientist. 'I'm a scientist but not a climate scientist and climate change is real.'

No shit, sparky. It's always been 'real.' Weather and climate change. I'm no scientist period but even I understand weather and climate patterns shift.

Just don't try and convince me the world is about to end while Hilary flies around in her own private jet.

Respectfully, fuck off.

[Libertarian]

I can't believe you've got the guts to read NYT comments. (although I did it once on a Krugman columnn -- I'm still shaking uncontrollably).

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I do so like I once ate foie gras.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Foie gras is delicious.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I could have picked any food I dislike and someone would have responded the opposite. I could have written the brains of little orphan children and someone would have written, 'but they're delicious!'

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Sigh.

[Entropy Void]

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

I am surprised that, being Kanukistanish, you are not used to that by now ...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That's a new one. Kanukistanish.

[chmercier]

Oh, NYT comments.

Not to offend any New Yorkers here, but a lot of the limo-libs there are the most provincial, short-sighted, and closed minded people. There are fewer trees in NY one day, so nature is dying and all the trees must be saved. The East River is polluted so all water in the world is bad. NY is crowded, so the entire earth is an urban wasteland.

So, yeah, NYT commenters. Might as well as a penguin what lamb tastes like.

(PS - NotAllNewYorkers lol. I've met a lot of New Yorkers, city and upstate, who are not like that at all. It's the lim-libs, permanent students, and public sector employees typically. I've met a few who liked the city life, but hated the costs and all the rules.)

[SugarFree]

GARY BUSEY IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL

[Tim]

There aren't enough Garey Busey stories in the news if you ask me.

[Idle Hands]

That is the most Busey, Gary Busey story ever.

[AlmightyJB]

I'm pretty somebody should have smacked her momma a long time ago.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is holding. But for how long?

I'm going with until Hamas refills the TO&E and identifies a new set of targets. Call it, 5 days.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Might take a bit longer to reload, with their infrastructure/tunnels all banged in.

[Invisible Finger]

I imagine Hamas bombs Israel to distract the locals from internal scandals. Sorta like Obama.

[The DerpRider]

9 year old accidentally kills instructor with Uzi. My 10 year old daughter shoots a rifle, don't think I'd had her an Uzi...

[The DerpRider]

*hand

[UnCivilServant]

The instructor clearly didn't do their job properly, serves them right. Feel sorry for the girl though, having to live with killing someone at that age.

[Tim]

Malpractice. Now you're dead dumbass.

[tarran]

That's fucking insane!

It's always a bad idea to hand anyone a semi-auto or automatic weapon that they lack the strength to control.

Wasn't there a woman who shot herself in the head when the recoil of a handgun twisted it in her hand so that it was pointed at her head and her finger was depressing the trigger a second time?

I don't blame the girl. The instructor, though, seems to have earned that Darwin award.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Let's include the parents in the stupid awards as well.

[Warty]

Wasn't there a woman who shot herself in the head when the recoil of a handgun twisted it in her hand so that it was pointed at her head and her finger was depressing the trigger a second time?

It was a .500 S&W. S&W for some stupid reason made the decision to make those double-action. So it's common for those to double because the recoil causes the shooter to clamp down with their shooting hand.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Here honey, here's your first grenade. Just pull that pin....

[Warty]

There was a case a couple years ago where a kid couldn't handle the recoil of a submachine gun and blew his head off. And there have been a couple cases of people having women shoot .454 Casulls or similarly stupid large revolvers, and the girls blowing their heads off because the recoil brings the muzzle whipping around.

Don't be a dipshit. And when guns are involved, DON'T FUCKING BE A FUCKING DIPSHIT.

[Cdr Lytton]

And wear appropriate clothing.

[Briggie]

I can't even count how many times I have seen YouTube videos of people handing a woman or a young person a large caliber weapon, and it is obvious they can't handle the recoil. Is it bad that I was waiting for someone to get shot?

[Coeus]

What?

Nor does the right to vote have anything to do with conscription, which is the requirement to register for military service in case of national emergency. Though the draft is technically still in place in the US, no one actually signs up for it anymore

Now that bit of blindness is what they really mean by privilege.

[The DerpRider]

no one signs up for it anymore

No women ever signed up for it...

[tarran]

Soooo, Rebecca Watson must not know too many men who had to get student loans to attend college.

[thom]

Or a single person who is both male and a federal worker...

[chmercier]

Or a male who didn't get a nice phone call one day saying "federal offence not to sign..."

[John]

As usual it is all about their privilege and everyone else' responsibility. They should have the privilege to serve in the military if they choose to but only men should have the responsibility of being forced to serve in a national emergency.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

If you are a man ages 18 through 25 and living in the U.S., then you must register with Selective Service. It's the law. According to law, a man must register with Selective Service within 30 days of his 18th birthday. Selective Service will accept late registrations but not after a man has reached age 26.

https://www.sss.gov/default.htm

[Entropy Void]

This is what I was engaging with the question about "the Transgendered" above ...

[userve32]

Wow man that makes no sense at all to me dude. None.

http://www.CryptAnon.tk

[The Late P Brooks]

Lissen up, bigorati!

For many, no facts will invade their opinion. But the current climate of mistrust is not sustainable. To repair the relationship, citizens must calm the rhetoric that assumes our nation's police ranks are filled with psychotic brutes. Police leaders must take a breath and make innovative efforts to communicate with an unsettled public. Violent men and woman will continue to threaten our communities and police will continue to seek better ways to respond to the violence they encounter. Together the great American spirit of balancing freedom with responsibility can be the unifying force of reform wherever it is needed.

The Total Security State PR push is ramping up.

Learn to love Big Authority, America. Stop resisting.

[John]

In other words, if you racist tea baggers insist on keeping your weapons, then fuck you and learn to deal with violent, over armed and unaccountable police.

[sarcasmic]

Violent men and woman will continue to threaten our communities and police will continue to seek better ways to respond to the violence they encounter employ them.

[Rich]

While I don't have unique access to the details of that deadly encounter, I am familiar with the science of officer-involved shootings.

Emphasis added.

"As a matter of fact, I have a *doctorate* in that science."

[John]

The science is settled!!!

[sarcasmic]

Consensus!

[trshmnster the terrible]

Damn deniers!

[sarcasmic]

the science of officer-involved shootings.

I imagine that's like climate science where a consensus of cops say that all of them, without exception, are justified.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's science bitches, now shut up

[Ken Shultz]

"Citizens must calm the rhetoric that assumes our nation's police ranks are filled with psychotic brutes"

If it's just the rhetoric that's the problem, is it okay if we assume our nation's police ranks are filled with psychotic brutes--just so long as we don't talk about it?

I wonder if this guy has heard of the Stanford prison experiment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.....experiment

[Ted S.]

Police leaders must take a breath and make innovative efforts to communicate with an unsettled public.

It's not that innovative not to fill your ranks with psychotic brutes.

[Ken Shultz]

I think he means facebook and twitter.

From the Ferguson police department, it wouldn't surprise me if their first tweet went something like:

"We're gonna kick your asses. We're gonna kick ALL your asses!"

[Whahappan?]

"And we're gonna get away with it!"

[Warty]

It may be hard to hear, but we live quite safely in the United States thanks in large part to our law enforcement system.

There it is. The Thin Blue Line keeps the wolves at bay, so shut up and do as you're told.

[thom]

Yeah, it's totally the threat that the cops are going to come and take a report that keeps the burglars out of my house. It has nothing to do with my neighbors knowing when somebody shouldn't be there...

[EDG reppin' LBC]

There was a rash of break-ins in my neighborhood over the last month. Police were baffled and had no suspects. A burglar was shot and killed by a homeowner two weeks ago. I think the rash of break-ins is over. Thanks police.

Oh, wait.

[Ted S.]

Gotta love those TOP MEN:

ASIC says staff misunderstanding of internet led to 250,000 websites being blocked

The corporate regulator has revealed that it accidentally blocked access to a quarter of a million websites because its staff misunderstood a basic feature of internet technology.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission made the blunder when it was trying to black-list a small number of websites it suspected of defrauding Australians.

But it says staff who ordered the block didn't realise that suspending access to the site would affect many more hosted on the same IP address.

The Internet is a series of tubes!

[UnCivilServant]

On a related note, I think Oman has one public IP address for the whole country and just NATs and proxies everything on the inside.

[Coeus]

A book review with a dose of total political bullshit.

The affected Hadens population around the world is a population in need: those experiencing Lock In require continual medical care as they remain trapped in bed. Pilotable robots allow them to reintegrate into public life, while a virtual agora allows them to interact in virtual space. Unlocked explores some of the underlying discrimination issues through a couple of dates: individuals not permitted to frequent restaurants (as they take up space), while marriages and childrearing causes its own set of problems for Hadens. The equipment and care required to keep Hadens alive isn't cheap, and the threat of cutting down funding is reminiscent of talks of cutting social security. Bernie Sanders would certainly be an advocate for this program. In Lock In, Scalzi uses the book for a good bit of commentary throughout: Hadens, despite their robotic bodies, are still people. Angry protesters going out and hitting Hadens (or Threeps, as their robotic bodies are known) with bats, or running them over with cars, is eerily reminiscent of the anger we've seen in protests over the last couple of years, and that's no coincidence.

Yes, all of those Tea Party rallies have been so violent. Assault and rapes and...

Nevermind, those were the give me more goodies rallies.

[John]

Refusing to fund an army of GS15 diversity coordinators and giving billions to various cronies in the name of "green energy" is totally the same as refusing to help the profoundly disabled.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Scalzi was good....once.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades were fucking awesome but Scalzi was always a dickbag.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

I stopped reading his blog a while back. TOPMENITIS

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Yeah, my dad got me into him gifting me OMW and GB. I then checked out his blog and had a feeling it was only a matter of time before he went all Eric Flint on me. Bummer.

[John]

This climate treaty is history repeating itself as comedy. The idea is to sign an agreement that is so weak it never has to be put to a vote and then "naming and shaming" any government that doesn't live by it. Seriously, that is their idea. They honestly think that people are going to willing regulate themselves into poverty to avoid being "shamed" by the international elites. Good luck with that.

[tarran]

I expect it will be particularly toothless since:
1) Everyone has figured out that Obama is the sick man of the Western Hemisphere.

2) No way the Aussies, the Chinese or the Japanese agree to anything meaningful.

3) The Russians will push it to promote forcing Europe to buy Russain natural gas to make up for all the Western European power plants that are being shut down by the watermelons. The Brits will be all for it because England has collectively gone mad.

4) The French will love it because they have their nukes, but they are riven by a huge internal political battle and no faction will want to look pro-American because they hate Americans with their JR Ewing and television shows that everyone wants to watch.

5) The Germans will try to sign something as toothless as possible to keep the watermelons on board without making them even more dependent on Russian good will.

And, in the end, I predict Obama will make such an ass of himself that there will be nothing more than a tepid memorandum of understanding.

[John]

At most he will have an MOU to justify what he was going to do anyway. And it will all be repudiated by the next administration, be it R or D. It is funny how cheap of a date the greens really are.

[tarran]

I don't think they are cheap dates at all. They are the most expensive kind, the ones who insist that you buy them $500 bottles of wine that they then use as mouthwash.

[CatoTheElder]

The US President is intentionally going to negotiate and sign a treaty for the express purpose of shaming the US.

Do I have this right?

So Obama is ashamed of his country? We are just not good enough for him.

[John]

No Cato, we are not. America and the world really has let his greatness down. We just weren't worthy of such a man.

[Restoras]

Know who else let his greatness down and wasn't worthy of such a man?

[Whahappan?]

This is what progs actually believe!

[The Late P Brooks]

I don't blame the girl. The instructor, though, seems to have earned that Darwin award.

I' be interested to know if the guy "warmed her up" on something else, like a .22, to see how she handled it.

Remember, boys and girls, the leading cause of death is stupidity.

[John]

Handing an automatic weapon to a child. What could possibly go wrong?

[Andrew S.]

Cop (in non-police garb) sues for brutality after he's roughed up by other cops.

I'm not sure whether to feel sorry for him or not.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

The City of Philadelphia, he said in his civil suit, encourages and is deliberately indifferent to the abuse of police powers. Among other accusations, Ruff claims the city tolerates officers who misrepresent facts in order to establish probable cause, and allows officers to have persons falsely arrested or maliciously prosecuted. He also asserts the city permits the continued employment of officers who are psychologically or emotionally unfit to serve.

You don't say?!

[Ptah-Hotep]

Denver cops may start wearing body cameras. We can hope.

http://kdvr.com/2014/08/27/den.....-officers/

[Lord Humungus]

Naked man busted watching porn, having sex with mattress outside old people's home in North Ireland

The 52-year-old man was reportedly spotted entering the premises of Lavery Fold Old People's Home in Derry at 5 a.m.

Cops were called and said they found him writhing around on the springs behind a fence.

"He was laying on a mattress naked from the waist down with his trousers and underwear down by his ankles, and he was simulating sex with the mattress," a Police Service of Northern Ireland report states.

[trshmnster the terrible]

[insert epi's mom joke here]

[Lord Humungus]

Study finds less domestic violence among married couples who smoke pot

"These findings suggest that marijuana use is predictive of lower levels of aggression towards one's partner in the following year." Leonard says. "As in other survey studies of marijuana and partner violence, our study examines patterns of marijuana use and the occurrence of violence within a year period. It does not examine whether using marijuana on a given day reduces the likelihood of violence at that time.

"It is possible, for example, that?similar to a drinking partnership?couples who use marijuana together may share similar values and social circles, and it is this similarity that is responsible for reducing the likelihood of conflict.

[John]

Smoking pot chills you out. They are called "drunken brawls" and not "stoned brawls" for a reason.

[sarcasmic]

I knew this guy whose super-hot wife would freak out when they ran out of pot. She'd start punching him until he went and got some more. True story.

[Jon Lester]

Russian aggression? When's the last time they overthrew a government on a NATO member's border? Has the CSTO been expanding westward?

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Ah, we can always count on someone to ride and justify Russian anything.

[Ptah-Hotep]

When's the last time they overthrew a government on a NATO member's border?

You mean other than Ukraine?

[Lord Humungus]

The Detroit suburbs are arming to the teeth

Oakland County ? one of the richest communities in the country ? received over $4.5 million more in equipment and supplies than did Wayne County, where crime is high and law-enforcement budgets are financially strapped. (The dollar amounts in the data refer to what the military originally paid for the equipment.)

Last year, there were 19 murders in Oakland County; in Wayne County, there were 355. Robberies in Oakland County numbered 615, compared with 6,050 in Wayne County.

Yet Oakland received almost double the number of rifles that Wayne did, 491 compared to 265, respectively. Oakland even received a mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicle (MRAP), designed to protect soldiers from land mines ? hardly an issue affecting any suburban police force.

[John]

In fairness, if I lived next to Detroit, I would want to be armed too.

[RBS]

I'd want one of those armored houses from The Purge.

[sarcasmic]

Last year, there were 19 murders in Oakland County; in Wayne County, there were 355. Robberies in Oakland County numbered 615, compared with 6,050 in Wayne County.

I wonder how many were solved. Or even investigated. Probably not many. I mean, investigating crimes with victims conflicts with officer safety.

[John]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/.....m=referral

Obama is just a victim of bad luck. Heinlein lives!!!

The reasons offered for why bad things aren't his doing fall into three different categories: (1) The system is broken, the country is polarized, and the Republicans have become too insane to deal with; (2) stuff happens, and no one at all can do much about it; and (3) people think that the president ought to be Superman and solve all their problems, which is really expecting too much. As Joshua Keating wrote on July 21 in Slate: "There's a tendency to judge U.S. foreign policy on the condition of the world at any given moment rather than the success of actual actions taken," as if the condition and the actions can have no conceivable link

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's gonna need a bigger dust buster to clean up the mess!

[CatoTheElder]

In reality, Obama has been extremely lucky.

If fracking technology had not unlocked immense reserves of domestic oil and gas, the US would be experiencing much higher inflation and a much worse labor market.

Obama gets zero credit for fracking, but at least he didn't issue an executive order to ban it.

[John]

Yet

And yes he has been lucky, if for no other reason than there hasn't yet been another major terrorist attack on his watch or a real international catastrophe like North Korea finally going belly up or India and Pakistan nuking each other.

[Lord Humungus]

Ivy League Professor Calls Video Music Award Winner Racist For Not Being Black

It's one thing to lament that black Americans historically have not gotten much credit for the transformative music they created ? and another to say that non-black musicians are somehow racist because they won an award.

That's the thrust of a tweet by Anthea Butler, a University of Pennsylvania religious studies professor, responding to the award winners at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards.

As The Blaze notes, Butler was apparently offended that pop star Ariana Grande ? who is of Italian descent ? won a VMA. Her fellow nominees included two black musicians, Pharrell Williams and Jason Derulo, Campus Reform notes.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

It's one thing to lament that black Americans historically have not gotten much credit for the transformative music they created

Wait.. what?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Imma let you finish...

[SugarFree]

They didn't get sufficient recognition in the past and all the praise in the present won't change the past therefore the past can always be held against you forever, especially if you didn't have anything to do with the past whatsoever.

It's the One Drop Rule of Cultural Grievance.

[John]

They never got any credit in the past. I mean it is not like Jazz was ever a big thing or people like Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington were ever popular or made any money in their lifetimes.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

It's not like Dr. Dre is a fucking BILLIONAIRE.

[Ptah-Hotep]

I mean it is not like Jazz was ever a big thing

Or the Blues, BB King, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Etta James, come on.

[SugarFree]

Most of this thought spins out of Afrocentrism spawned in by 60s Black radicals and the Nation of Islam. Black people invented everything, but it was stolen from them. Black people invented the entire ancient world, and so the modern world is really their invention as well. This is where you get the widespread notions that Socrates was Black, or Cleopatra was Black (or that all the Egyptians of antiquity were Black Africans.) It's probably the genesis of the Black Jesus movement as well.

It's just another flavor of conspiracy theory and the idea the "[my group] actually invented every thing and every thought" pops us in many different places.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I remember my very first experience with a person indoctrinated with Afrocentrism. A young college student who should have 1) smacked her father for raising a credulous fool and 2) sued her college for fraud to recover her tuition money.

[John]

There was a Classics scholar who completely destroyed the "Africans invented everything" thesis back in the 1980s. The woman became a pariah. Everything she said was true and no one could really deny it. She was just an evil racist for saying it.

[tarran]

It's very sad, since everyone knows it was the Scots and the Turks that invented everything.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Yes, if you consider 'fucking sheep and little boys' everything.

[John]

Of course, southern blacks didn't get any influence from the music of the Scots-Irish. Nope. They just sprang forth from Africa singing the blues.

[Citizen Nothing]

Fuckin' A. Hillbillies have NEVER gotten the credit they deserve.

[WTF]

Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, none of them ever got any recognition.

[Spoonman.]

That's the same professor who called for the Benghazi video-maker to be in jail before anybody knew he was on probation.

[Coeus]

Turning around is anti-woman and racist.

Sofia Vergara's 'turn' at the Emmys was a gross, stereotypical objectification
A celebration of industry diversity shouldn't feature a Latina woman spun around like a piece of meat on a vertical spit

[thom]

If only Sofia Vergara could calmly sit down and show this lady her bank statements...

[Lord Humungus]

The Welfare State

[Lord Humungus]

According to calculations by Harvard's Greg Mankiw, based on data from the Office of Management and Budget, roughly 60 percent of Americans receive more in government benefits than they pay in federal taxes. A Tax Foundation study suggests that as many as 70 percent of Americans are net recipients of government largesse. Those numbers will only grow worse in the future.

Increasingly, the welfare state is us.

[Lord Humungus]

yeah...it's research... that's it.

Former Acting HHS Cyber Security Director Convicted for Engaging in Child Pornography Enterprise

Timothy DeFoggi, 56, formerly of Germantown, Maryland, is the sixth individual to be convicted as part of an ongoing investigation targeting three child pornography websites. The three websites were run by a single administrator, who has since been convicted in the District of Nebraska of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise in connection with his administration of the sites.

According to evidence presented at trial, DeFoggi registered as a website member on March 2, 2012, and maintained his membership and activity until Dec. 8, 2012, when the website was taken down by the FBI. Through the website, DeFoggi accessed child pornography, solicited child pornography from other members, and exchanged private messages with other members where he expressed an interest in the violent rape and murder of children. DeFoggi even suggested meeting one member in person to fulfill their mutual fantasies to violently rape and murder children.

[John]

The fact that HHS employed a pervert doesn't really reflect poorly on them. How were they supposed to know? It is not like he listed "deviant" on his resume.

What does reflect poorly on HHS, however, is the fact that their "Cyber Security Director" is apparently so poorly versed in internet anonymity that he managed to get snagged by the FBI. Something tells me this guy doesn't know much about cyber security.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

What is wrong with people?

[tarran]

Clearly nobody taught him not to rape and murder children.

[Mike M.]

Will the IRS's strategy of destroying evidence pay off? Maybe not.

Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner's emails, indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe. The Obama administration attorneys said that this back-up system would be too onerous to search. The DOJ attorneys also acknowledged that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is investigating this back-up system.

Funny how the vile scumbag Dave "Palin's Buttplug" Weigel doesn't have much to say lately about this "fake scandal".

[John]

I don't think the judge will find it "too onerous" for them to search. Those emails are going to be recovered and made public. My guess is sometime next summer. It will take about a year or so for the judge to terrorize them enough into producing them.

When they come out and the truth that the whole thing was orchestrated by the White House becomes clear, the spin will be "Republicans disappointed in their quest to pin IRS actions on Obama", since they likely will never get an email directly from Obama telling the IRS to do this. There will be a lot of goal post moving.

[SugarFree]

Or they will fight the search order until November 9th, 2016, then let it come out and the Dems can switch over to screaming "Old scandal!"

[tarran]

If I managed to take over the body of Obama's successor in some freaky friday type occurance, I would have a lot of fun prosecuting the civil service and Obama's political appointees for the blatant violations of various laws. Do it right and the civil service would be terrified of stepping out of line for another thirty years. And the internecine war between the political and civil service proggies might sour them on each other for at least 5 years.

[John]

For the long term, it is more important to throw Lois Lerner and the civil service hacks in prison than it is the political hacks. Political hacks come and go and there will never be a shortage of political hacks willing to risk prison for the cause. Political people are difficult to deter. But civil servants can be deterred. Send Lerner and a few other people to prison for the rest of their lives and the next political hack who wants the civil servants to do their bidding won't have it so easy.

[tarran]

Oh yes... the civil service people to scare them from EVER doing that again, no matter how much they like the current admin and want to help them out.

The politicals so that the whole thing is in the news...

[Agammamon]

indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe.

. . . that this back-up system would be too onerous to search.

So, what's the fucking point of a backup system intended to be used in the aftermath of a 'government-wide catastrophe' if ITS TOO FUCKING DIFFICULT TO SEARCH FOR RECORDS IN IT DURING NORMAL, NO CATASTROPHE, SITUATIONS?

FFS, I've seen E-3's put more effort into their lies.

[The Late P Brooks]

PBS: bringing you the sort of thoughtful, unbiased news reporting you just cannot get anywhere else.

In recent years, a number of American companies, as many as 22 since 2011, have relocated outside U.S. borders, usually through mergers with or purchases of a foreign company. One impact of changing their business addresses: They're no longer subject to U.S. corporate taxes. It's a process commonly known as a tax inversion.

WRECKERS!

HOARDERS!

THEY"RE STEALING FROM THE GOVERNMENT!

[John]

There are over six billion people in the world who are NOT SUBJECT TO US INCOME TAXES. Did you know that?

[tarran]

John, I think we have solved the government's revenue problem. Clearly we must levy a tax on everyone on Earth!!!!

[sarcasmic]

What do you think this whole AGW movement is all about?

[Sevo]

John|8.27.14 @ 10:07AM|#
"There are over six billion people in the world who are NOT SUBJECT TO US INCOME TAXES. Did you know that?"

I'll bet they are, if you read enough of the IRS tax code.

[thom]

Don't foreign corporations still have to pay taxes on US income?

[CatoTheElder]

Any business that operates in the US has to pay US corporate taxes on US corporate income.

Most tax regimes outside of the US do not tax US income.

The US government taxes US corporations on their global income, not just their US income.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

If that money is re-patriated, though. If Apple (China), Corp. makes income in China, but leaves the money in Apple (China), Corp.'s bank account in China, the US gov't doesn't tax it, right?

[CatoTheElder]

True. Capital goes to where it is welcome, and the US has told global corporations that income earned abroad is not welcome in the US.

[thom]

That's what I thought. So the issue here is that people consider it unpatriotic that companies aren't paying income taxes on income that has nothing to do with this country.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Allan Sloan wrote a long article on inversions in Fortune back in July. It was the same sort of tripe but with more politics. Since Sloan guest commentates on NPR, I'm surprised it's taken them this long to get on the bandwagon.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You can find it here

Sorry, but this year, July isn't going to work for me. That's because of a new kind of American corporate exceptionalism: companies that have decided to desert our country to avoid paying taxes but expect to keep receiving the full array of benefits that being American confers, and that everyone else is paying for.

[CatoTheElder]

What is "the full array of benefits" that Sloan refers to?

Why would a global corporation want to contribute to the US warfare/welfare state?

Why would a global corporation want to be tarnished as an arrogant American imperialist?

[Lord Humungus]

ya think?

Defense Lawyer Worried Murder Suspect Caius Veiovis' Horns, 666 Tattoo, May Sway Jury

Veiovis considers himself a worshipper of Satan, and told police he was a vampire who drinks the blood of others along with his own, Mass Live reported.

Along with a large septum piercing and the number 666 tattooed on his forehead, Veiovis also has body modifications in his head that resemble protruding horns. His lawyer, James G. Reardon Jr., told Mass Live he is worried his client's appearance might make prospective jurors prejudiced.

[UnCivilServant]

What you do to your body is a form of self-expression, so it does accurately reflect the person wearing the ink and the body mods.

Sorry, but you have a dumbass for a client.

[tarran]

Maybe they could allow him to wear a burka?

[OldMexican]

His lawyer, James G. Reardon Jr., told Mass Live he is worried his client's appearance might make prospective jurors prejudiced.

Maybe the lawyer is paving the way to a good plea deal...

[Sevo]

Only on pay-per-view. Lefty-on-Lefty fight night! All heavyweight action!
Thrill as one brain-dead pummels another with slogans!
"Tesla Gigafactory competition a 'race to the bottom?'"

Laugh as Musk lies through his teeth!
"Tesla CEO Elon Musk insists that he isn't trying to benefit his company at the expense of the states."

Groan at the under-card!
"The other groups to sign the letter are Arizona PIRG, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, the Southwest Organizing Project (based in New Mexico), Texans for Public Justice and Good Jobs First."
http://blog.sfgate.com/energy/.....hc-bustech

[OldMexican]

I don't know if there's a connection or not, but CNN is facing such hardships due to low ratings that is thinking of bribing employees to leave. I don't think leftism is that sexy anymore. Maybe we're indeed seeing the Age of Obama as the nadir of Progressivism.

[Lord Humungus]

It's cool to be a libertarian ? whatever that means

Libertarianism might be all the rage, but its adherents might not be as "libertarian" as you think.

That's the premise of a very interesting new Pew Research Center piece, which notes that there are relatively few big differences between how those who call themselves libertarians and everybody else view the role of government regulation, foreign policy and personal liberty.

Here are the most striking figures (while encouraging you to read the whole piece):

[EDG reppin' LBC]

That "study" seems like it might be more of a "fabrication". The graphs seem to have been created by a 4th grade student.

[CatoTheElder]

The findings are based on a "quiz" that supposedly identifies political orientation.

However, the Pew Research Center's Political Typology Quiz is entirely bogus. Pew might try to be objective, and they probably believe that they really are, but they have progressive bias. The Quiz forces a libertarian to choose between 23 different false dichotomies. It's a really silly analysis of a poorly constructed study.

[Sevo]

It's all good!

"Minimum wage bump would help close wealth gap for 23% in S.F."
http://www.sfgate.com/default/.....714913.php

And nobody loses! Reich tells him a certain price only went up $0.15 somewhere else and unicorns farted the rest of the money!

[Sevo]

Oh, and comments mostly sane, surprisingly. Writer isn't.

[Coeus]

5 Things You Need To Know About Interacting With Me, a Fat Girl Who Wears Revealing Clothes

Since I enjoy wearing a lot of clothing that reveals my skin and shows off my body, like crop tops, short skirts and shorts, bikinis, leggings and tight dresses, I have to deal with a lot of backlash. Because god forbid a fat woman likes the way she looks and lets the world know it.

2. Don't Stare. I'm a Person, Not Eye Candy.

The most common reaction I get from others when I wear revealing clothing are stares. Some people will sort of roll their eyes or look disgusted; others will just stare as if I'm some kind of art exhibit at a museum. Either way, there are a lot of stares.

Look, I understand that I'm challenging your views on fat womanhood and forcing you to question your beliefs and attitudes, but keep this contemplation to yourself. Yes, I do notice when you're looking. Yes, it does make me feel uncomfortable.

I'm not some sort of object to be admired; I'm a human being first and foremost. Respect my right to choose to be fabulous and move it along.

[Lord Humungus]

Not Eye Candy

no shit.

[UnCivilServant]

I'm not some sort of object to be admired

Somehow, I don't think that's admiration.

[John]

What do you mean don't stare? It is human nature to stair at a car wreck no matter how hideous it is. You just can't help it.

[tarran]

I am struggling here and hope that someone can femsplain this to me.

Is her thesis really that she likes to show off her body but doesn't like people looking?

[SugarFree]

It's hard to parse the "arguments" of the delusional. She's fine with positive comments (coming from other delusional people), but will brook no criticism.

[John]

Isn't this really "I just want the cute guys to look at me"? She totally wants a guy she is interested to notice her. The guys she doesn't like are supposed to magically know not to objectify her.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I'm shocked, shocked I say!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yes. That way she can express a grievance no matter which way it goes.

Fat is one thing, stupid and vile is another.

[WTF]

Yes. She chooses to show off her (disgusting fat)body, but is horrified that anyone might actually look at it.

[Rhywun]

I thought the whole point of wearing revealing clothing was to attract attention? Wut do I know.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Because god forbid a fat woman likes the way she looks and lets the world know it.

Hunter, it's great that you've found out that you like bon-bons better than sit ups, but the rest of the world doesn't want to know. Back before "fat shaming" was put in the same category as bigotry, folks would call you trailer trash. I guess the equivalent today is "body positive feminist" or some similar bullshit.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Honey*

[RBS]

Look, I understand that I'm challenging your views on fat womanhood and forcing you to question your beliefs and attitudes

Fat, stupid and delusional.

[Whahappan?]

...is no way to go through life

[OldMexican]

Some people will sort of roll their eyes or look disgusted; others will just stare as if I'm some kind of art exhibit at a museum. Either way, there are a lot of stares.

So much for asking people not to regard you as "eye candy." They clearly don't, as you concede.

I'm not some sort of object to be admired; I'm a human being first and foremost.

I don't understand. Do you mean humans do not deserve admiration? Or that being admired is the antithesis of being human? I don't get it.

[Steve G]

"I enjoy...show(ing) off my body" But... "Don't Stare" it 'makes me feel uncomfortable' So let me get this right you dress specifically to be on display, but you don't want to be on display, is that about right?
Assclown. You are getting exactly what you wanted

[DEG]

Did this get posted at all? It's a little old.

Department of Justice sues the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) because the PSP uses the same physical fitness standards for men and women. The reason is having the same standards for men and women is discriminatory against women.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Wait, I thought having different standards was discriminatory

[John]

Gender is a social construct, except when its not.

[Coeus]

Silly. Biology only matters when it comes to child support arguments.

Thus spake feminist Zeus.

[The Late P Brooks]

Is her thesis really that she likes to show off her body but doesn't like people looking?

She just doesn't want the *wrong* people looking.

[OldMexican]

"The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."

And I am sure the other nations will take this agreement very seriously even if the U.S. Congress doesn't ratify it, meaning that once Obama's term is over, Congress will happily disavow it. Am I right?