Brothers Exonerated After 30 Years in Jail, Alaskan Dem in Trouble for 'Willie Horton-style' Ad, Duck Dynasty Ready for War with ISIL: P.M. Links

• 

  Fox News

  Half-brothers Leon Brown and Henry McCollum were set free this week after DNA evidence overturned their 1983 convictions for rape and murder. They spent 30 years in prison.

• Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) yanked a controversial re-election campaign ad after much criticism. The "Willie Horton-style" ad accused Begich's Republican challenger, former Attorney General Dan Sullivan, of letting convicted sex offenders escape with light sentences, causing the death of an elderly couple.
• A New Jersey town will not rename its John F. Kennedy Center the Barack Obama Center after all. Some people were offended.
• If it comes to war with ISIL, foreign policy expert Phil Robertson (of "Duck Dynasty" fame) is ready, he told Sean Hannity.
• Polls show resurgent support for Hamas among Palestinians.
• The Russian sex geckos all died, because the universe is cold and lonely and cruel.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A New Jersey town will not rename its John F. Kennedy Center the Barack Obama Center after all. Some people were offended.

It's Jersey. Obama should be offended by the notion.

[Ted S.]

If they had guts, they'd rename it after somebody who didn't work for the government.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"after DNA evidecne exonerated"

No hello for you, Robby.

[Pro Libertate]

We're going to have a deluge of things people want to name after one of the worst presidents in our history, because he had a black father. I mean, with all of the black people in this country who have achieved great things, you'd think we'd want to name things after them instead.

[Acosmist]

Lots of roads in bad neighborhoods named after MLK.

[Agammamon]

Lots of freeways named after MLK also - pretty much irrelevant as he's not the only black guy to ever get anything accomplished.

[Pro Libertate]

At least King did something and is generally recognized as a figure of accomplishment. What did Obama ever do for us?

[creech]

One of the folks interviewed in the Willingboro dust-up (a white woman, NTTATWWT) told the newsbabe that they would just find another center to name after the great and wonderful Obama.

[Restoras]

RoadZ!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Does J.J. have anything named after him?

DYNO-MITE!

[Pro Libertate]

I'd have voted for him.

[PapayaSF]

It may not be libertarian of me, but I'd favor a law that made it illegal to name anything after a living politician. All the post-mortem naming is bad enough.

[Pro Libertate]

Naming anything after an politician is stupid, They're a class of parasites. If the politician has a good name after a couple of centuries, then maybe.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Venezuelan Socialist Party swaps God for Chavez in new prayer
..."Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and we delegates," red-shirted delegate Maria Estrella Uribe recited on Monday at the PSUV party Congress.

"Hallowed be your name, may your legacy come to us so we can spread it to people here and elsewhere. Give us your light to guide us every day," she said in front of an image of Chavez.

"Lead us not into the temptation of capitalism, deliver us from the evil of the oligarchy, like the crime of contraband, because ours is the homeland, the peace and life forever and ever. Amen. Viva Chavez!" she exclaimed to applause....

[BiMonSciFiCon]

red-shirted

Well, at least she won't be around much longer.

[Restoras]

+1 Ensign Generic Name

[Pro Libertate]

Did you ever notice that those red-shirted guys after they died all had fathers who helped Kirk get into the Academy or something like that? I mean, when they bothered to mourn the loss, anyway.

[seguin]

The Federation: hotbed of nepotism.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, sure seems that way. Saw that in TNG, too.

This is not to say Kirk wasn't insanely qualified for his job. I mean, look at how many times he saved the entire galaxy. In fact, didn't he save the entire universe at least once?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Give us this day our daily toilet paper...

[cavalier973]

Man shall not wipe with toilet paper alone, but with every page of the Communist Manifesto.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

And forgive us as we wipe our ass with venzuelan money (viva Chavez!)

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Are Liberals the Real Authoritarians?
...Jeremy Frimer, the author of the piece, noticed that socialists seemed unable to tolerate even mild questioning of Che Guevara's eminently questionable legacy. Frimer is a researcher at the University of Winnipeg, and he decided to investigate. What he found is that liberals are actually very comfortable with authority and obedience -- as long as the authorities are liberals ("should you obey an environmentalist?"). And that conservatives then became much less willing to go along with "the man in charge."...

[This Machine Kills 40s]

So they're saying that one's view of authority changes when the person in charge agrees with them?

Shocking.

[paranoid android]

Sorry, but as Tony has explained to us time and time again, while channeling Ivan Karamazov, it's the libertarians that are the real authoritarians, for wanting to violently impose all that horrible freedom on people.

[ant1sthenes]

That depends. Are we still calling enemies of the enlightenment "liberals"?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

If This Goes On much longer Venezuela is going to become the next North Korea.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Radical leftists here in the states pray to Obama for goodies and shit. What is it with these types treating leaders as gods?

[PapayaSF]

Lighting the Notorious GKC signal, eh?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I've already compared their ID-to-buy-food law to stuff in the Book of Revelations.

So this latest stuff just adds icing to the crap cake.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

The Russian sex geckos all died, because the universe is cold and lonely and cruel.

At least they went out on top.

[RBS]

Apparently not...

that there was in fact no zero-g sex for the tiny doomed space travelers.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

And stiff.

[Raven Nation]

the universe is cold and lonely and cruel

And, it is trying to kill you:

http://www.astrosphere.org/ast.....ou-poster/

[Fist of Etiquette]

If it comes to war with ISIL, foreign policy expert Phil Robertson (of "Duck Dynasty" fame) is ready, he told Sean Hannity.

Fundamentalist to fundamentalist.

[Citizen Nothing]

One quack to another.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Meaning he will volunteer and go over to Syria with a rifle and fight them himself? Or he is ready to send someone elses children to go fight?

If the former, go for it you fucking loon. If the later, go fuck yourself.

[Azathoth!!]

send someone elses children

There is no fucking draft. These soldiers applied for military jobs and were hired to fight(let's dispense with the pretense of a 'volunteer' army--they get paid to fight).

I am forever baffled when people treat te soldiers in the modern military as if they were conscripted.

They weren't.

They applied for and took tests, both written and physical, to get into the military.

And then you get all weird when we expect these government workers to do the job we're paying them to do.

[Bam!]

If it comes to war with ISIL, foreign policy expert Phil Robertson (of "Duck Dynasty" fame) is ready, he told Sean Hannity.

Convert them or kill them is also ISIL's attitude towards those who oppose them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Polls show resurgent support for Hamas among Palestinians.

They've done so well for the Palestinians so far.

[Brandon]

"Russian Sex Geckos" would be a good name for a band.

[Fist of Etiquette]

WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT?

[Brandon]

Why wouldn't I?

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Because it's rumored that you like to sex up the reptiles?

[Root Boy]

Maybe Fist is one of the Reptilian overlords and Brandon found out....

[Mickey Rat]

Fist is Robin Maxwell?

[cavalier973]

A Palestinian Band?

[Ted S.]

We're coming to your town,
We'll help you party down,
A Palestinian band.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Palestinians voted these bastards in and continue to support them to this day. Please let's all remember this when Hamas starts the next round of fighting and "innocent" Palestinians get wounded or killed in fighting with Israel.

[Florida Man]

I don't know anything about Palestine, but I know I don't support 90% of what the US government does, so I don't think I should get killed for it, no matter how many idiots vote.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The "Willie Horton-style" ad accused Begich's Republican challenger, former Attorney General Dan Sullivan, of letting convicted sex offenders escape with light sentences, causing the death of an elderly couple.

Was Kitty Dukakis in the mix anywhere?

[Ted S.]

She'll drink to that.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

If it comes to war with ISIL, foreign policy expert Phil Robertson (of "Duck Dynasty" fame) is ready, he told Sean Hannity.

What's the point of having Rambo around if we don't send him in to handle this himself? I mean, come on, people. Throw in Seagal for good measure, and this is over in two, three days, tops.

[This Machine Kills 40s]

For a second there, I thought you said "Senegal" instead, and I wondered what a coastal northern African country would have to do with this.

[Jerry on the sea]

Attack them with Ebola.

[AlgerHiss]

Go ahead and mock Robertson.

Unlike you wussy mockers, his family will remain safe from "islamics". And "islamics" will have nothing to fear from him, unless they start something.

But go ahead. Continue to mock him.

[Jordan]

Rock, Flag, and Eagle!

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Is that the patriotic version of Rock Paper Scissors?

[Restoras]

Funny. "Islamics" rhymes with "Formics".

[PapayaSF]

I just watched Ender's Game last night. Not bad, but not as good as the book, and there was one historical howler: no, Napoleon did not "conquer the known world."

[Restoras]

Agreed, I liked it and in general thought it was well done despite some flaws. I thought that was absurd too, though I guess that was used to reflect the level of genius they needed Ender to be.

[alittlesense]

I think it's more like the Eurythmics...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Robertson is currently developing a duck call that mimics the Adhan.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

That'll come in handy when I'm sitting in my 'mooslum blind', trying to lure em in with my 72 virgin decoys.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

So who kills Bobarian first, Warty or Steve Smith?

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

It'll take em a little time to turn my decoys into sodden, pulverized receptacles of DNA, giving me time to escape.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

But their vision is based on movement.

[Troy muy grande boner]

Continue to mock him.

Okee Dokee.

This dude's popularity (and 'reality' television in general) is evidence of just how insane modern culture has become.

[Trouser-Pod]

This dude's popularity (and 'reality' television in general) is evidence of just how insane modern culture has become

Yeeesh...someone has a chip on their shoulder.

[Lyle]

Not really. America is a diverse country and bunches of people unlike you like him. What would be truly insane is if we were all just like you.

[Azathoth!!]

Did he say 'islamics' or 'islamists'?

[Jordan]

If it comes to war with ISIL, foreign policy expert Phil Robertson (of "Duck Dynasty" fame) is ready, he told Sean Hannity.

And by "ready", he means he's ready to put a "Support the Troops" bumper sticker on his truck.

[Brandon]

And by "ready", he means he's ready to put a another "Support the Troops" bumper sticker on his truck.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

No bumper stickers. Magnets. Those don't hurt resale value.

[John]

I am pretty sure the ISIS folks wouldn't do so well in rural Louisiana.

[Lyle]

This.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

For those who haven't seen it here is Balko's feature on St Louis County 's uniformed tax collectors.

Pretty long. Recommend an alcoholic beverage be kept nearby while reading.

Includes beauties like: And Voss recalls one incident in which after successfully negotiating with a prosecutor to reduce his clients' fines, the prosecutor replied, "You're taking money right out of my pocket, here."

"That sounds shocking, right?" Voss asks. "But if you've been in these courts a while, it isn't really all that controversial thing to say."

[Jordan]

Good lord. And the comments only add to the nutpunch. It's like nothing but Tulpas and Tonys.

[Aloysious]

New Light on Stonehenge
The first dig in 44 years inside the stone circle changed our view of why?and even when?the monument was built

Cool new stuff about Stonehenge, nothing earth shattering, but neat. But they start the article off with Druids casting seven grains of wheat in a hole.

I don't like the modern day Druid. Primitive superstitions.

[Pro Libertate]

In ancient times,
Hundreds of years before the dawn of history
Lived a strange race of people. . .the Druids.
No one knows who they were or what they were doing,
But their legacy remains
Hewn into the living rock. . .of Stonehenge.

Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge! Where a man's a man,
And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan.

Hey!

Stonehenge! 'Tis a magic place
Where the moon doth rise with a dragon's face.
Stonehenge! Where the virgins lie,
And the prayers of devils fill the midnight sky.

And you my love, won't you take my hand?
We'll go back in time to that mystic land
Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow.
I will take you there, I will show you how.
Oh!

And oh how they danced,
The little children of Stonehenge
Beneath the haunted moon.
For fear that daybreak might come too soon.
And where are they now?
The little children of Stonehenge
And what would they say to us?
If we were here. . .tonight.

[hamilton]

"This tasteless cover is a good indication of the lack of musical invention within. The musical growth of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry."

That's just nitpicking, isn't it?

[Pro Libertate]

Two words: Shit sandwich.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Megan McArdle's Nude Selfies Will Never Be Safe

[BiMonSciFiCon]

She gets bashed around here a bit, but her FB post on that ridiculous Slate article about "primitive conservative thinking" or whatever was pretty great.

[paranoid android]

Sounds interesting. Have a link to somewhere I can read the post? I don't do FB.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I don't know how to link to a FB post, but here's the text:

"You should probably think twice before writing an article arguing that conservative ideas are a product of "low effort thinking". But if you decide to go ahead and write it, you probably shouldn't let most of it rest on a not-very-robust group of psychology studies, done by a single research team on 89 New England bar patrons and 75 psychology students at the University of Maine. But if you are going to write that article, relying mostly on a single, kinda weak journal publication, then you should probably not treat that publication if it presented scientifically validated facts about the world, rather than--at best!--possibly suggestive but highly speculative findings about a very narrow group of people. But if you decide to do all of those things, then you should probably make it clear from the start that you're a staunch proponent of low-effort thought. #slatepitch"

Here's a link to the slate piece.

[John]

But in fairness, picking on Slate really is picking on the retarded kid. It is almost as easy as picking on Salon.

[Brandon]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the "nude selfies" thing?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

It's when you take a picture of yourself while nude. Not too tough to understand.

[Brandon]

Why is it a big deal today? They've been around for at least as long as I've had internet access.

[Rhywun]

Because it has the word "selfie" in it.

[paranoid android]

1. Cell phone cameras are of much better quality. A picture taken on a cell phone ten years ago was too dark and blurry to be useful, really, and phones weren't designed such that pictures of yourself were very easy to take. Back in high school when my then-girlfriend and I wanted to have a little private photo shoot, we used a standalone digital camera, which involved the somewhat tiresome process of loading all those pictures onto a memory card and transferring them to a computer, which leads me to my next point:

2. Easier to use interfaces. With a modern smartphone you can take such a picture from any location you want and send it to whoever you want in all of three or four button-presses.

[Brandon]

NM. I have surmised that someone hacked a gymnast's cell phone at some recent point and distributed her nude selfies online. That's why it's a hot topic.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Why is it a big deal today?

On Monday, a bunch of nude pics of celebrities, most prominently Kate Hudson and Jennifer Lawrence, were leaked onto the internet.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

ugh, Upton

[Brandon]

Oh. OH. Oooooohhh. Bigger deal than I thought.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Among men? Yeah, you might be the only one.

Many straight women have said they don't like nude selfies from men, though. I don't know how lesbians feel about them.

[paranoid android]

Well I would imagine the lesbians are even more strongly opposed to nudes from men.

[Restoras]

About what? Nude selfies of men or women? I presume they are in favor of nude selfies of women. Unless the definition of 'nude' or 'selfie' is different in Lesbos.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Have you seen most lesbians? I would suspect they're strongly against nude selfies.

[Restoras]

I think it is safe to say nude selfies are a bad idea for most of the population regardless of orientation.

[PapayaSF]

Fat shamer!

[Restoras]

Even the non-fatties! I've been to nude beaches...the horrors I've seen...

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Of women. That was implied.

[paranoid android]

The nude selfies really are a stupid idea, and as someone who has been on the receiving end of such pictures, I hope women never figure that out.

[John]

Your lips to God's ear.

[Antilles]

Will she be arrested for producing child pornography? If they're going after underage girls who send nude selfies to their boyfriends, why does she get a pass? How the photos were revealed isn't relevant since their very existence is a crime. Why aren't celebrities bound by the same laws as us little people. Just wondering...

[PapayaSF]

Apparently some of the pics included in The Fappening are of McKayla Maroney*, and she was underage when she took them, so there's some scrambling on 4chan and Reddit to remove them.

*Yet another from the "celebrities I'd never of" list.

[Antilles]

Yeah, but why hasn't she been arrested for producing child pornography like a slew of teens have been these past few years? Possessing them is a crime, but producing them is even worse. I don't think any of them should have been charged, but why does the celebrity get a pass?

[PapayaSF]

You're right, it's not fair. Ted Kennedy got away with manslaughter, too.

[dave b.]

Feds screw up free food

[Rich]

They had jolly well better start taxing "free" school meals, too.

[Brandon]

My company supplies coffee in the kitchen. Is that a taxable benefit?

[Restoras]

Jesus H, don't give them any freakin' ideas.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

1. A little PSA for those of you freaking out about the supposed media conspiracy to hide that the alleged rapists in Britain are Pakistani:

In the United Kingdom, the term "Asian" is more commonly associated with people of South Asian origin, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans.[3][14] The UK usage of the term "Asian" is reflected in the "ethnic group" section of UK census forms, which treat "Asian" and "Chinese" as separate (see British Asian).[15] Most respondents to the UK 2001 Census of non-Chinese East Asian and Southeast Asian descent chose to write-in their ethnicity in the "Other Ethnic Group" category rather than the "Other Asian" category, reflecting the association of the word Asian in the UK with South Asian.[16] Despite there being a strong presence of East Asians in the United Kingdom there are considerably more South Asians, for example the 2001 Census recorded 1.05 million people of Indian origin and 247,000 of Chinese origin in the UK.[17] Peter J. Aspinall of the Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Kent, recommends privileging the term "South Asian" over the term "Asian", since the term "Asian" is a "contested term".[14]

Of note, your "British friends" might have discovered that "Asian" means something else in America and adjusted their speech accordingly.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

I have never? ever? heard a person of Pakistani or Arab origins called 'Asian' in the UK other than in the mainstream media. Never. Not even once.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

From the comments:

Maybe its a generational thing. I heard the generic term 'Asian' a lot , growing up , and everyone knew it to mean , generally , people from Pakistan , rather than Canton or Hong Kong. What's really interesting is that other Asian groups are not at all keen on the term , feeling it isn't nearly precise enough

I have to admit that as club cricketer you hear the term Asian a lot in describing opposition cricketers from the sub continent, predominantly ones from Pakistan, though it would encompass cricketers from all the subcontinental cricket playing nations, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In fact I'd say that Asion now means subcontinental, and other 'asian' races are accorded their own nation 'He's Chinese', 'He married a Filipino', 'She's Japanese' etc etc.

So there are conflicting accounts. Note that what I cited said "more commonly".

[Restoras]

Wiki FTW!

[John]

And there isn't a media conspiracy to hide it. Everyone knows who they are. There is just a lot of media uncomfortableness over just how icky it is to have to admit brown people may have done something wrong.

[PapayaSF]

I think they are also using "Asian" to avoid saying "Muslim."

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

2. Another PSA: for anyone who has downloaded "The Fappening" images, "word on the street" is that two of the women (initials LL and MM, can't remember the names -- I had never heard of them) were under 18 when those pictures were taken. So you may want to securely delete those.

[This Machine Kills 40s]

Liz Lee and McKayla Maroney, FYI.

[Brandon]

Oh. I don't know who Liz Lee is, but I guess I get the nude selfie thing now.

[John]

Those would be them. And why aren't they up on child porn charges? Every other teenager who takes a nude selfie seems to be charged as a deviant.

[Brandon]

They can't charge someone with resources! They might fight back, and where's the fun in that?

[MJGreen]

I heard that there were pics of Maroney and thought, "Wait... is she even 18?"

[Dweebston]

They'll have to pry them from my sweaty, sticky hands.

[Troy muy grande boner]

What is a fappening? My first thought was 20 guys masturbating in a room in unison.

[Jordan]

It's the name given to the release of nude selfies of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Hudson, etc.

[Jordan]

Kate Upton*

[This Machine Kills 40s]

It's the term that Reddit gave to the recent leak of hundreds of explicit celebrity photos. So you're not really that far off, if by "20" you mean "hundreds of thouands" and they're all in separate rooms instead.

[This Machine Kills 40s]

Arraragghgagrghgrr. Late reply, and I duffed up the link. All apologies.

[Agammamon]

Oooooh! Its going to be fun watching the prosecutors go after these women for producing and distributing child pornography then.

[Antilles]

No way. They're celebrities. Laws and jail are for us little people who don't matter.

[Brandon]

Because Fist doesn't care...

"Russian Sex Geckos" would be a good name for a band.

[Jerryskids]

I heard one of them spontaneously combusted, one choked to death on somebody else's vomit, one died in a freak gardening accident, and I can't remember how the rest of them died but they're all dead.

[Agammamon]

One was found dressed as batman, having strangled to death.

[PapayaSF]

One criticized Putin.

[Aloysious]

Huge Wine Cellar Unearthed at a Biblical-Era Palace in Israel

Various teams have been excavating Tel Kabri since the late 1980s, slowly revealing new insights into life during the Middle Bronze Age, generally considered to be between 2000 and 1550 B.C.

...snip

The room holds the remains of 40 large, narrow-necked vessels that could have held a combined total of 528 gallons of liquid?enough to fill 3,000 modern bottles of wine.

This patriarch was obviously a libertarian.

[Brandon]

Did they taste it?

[Ted S.]

Is anybody else finding that H&R pages are downloading a lot more antisocial networking shit than before?

[Jordan]

Ghostery.

[Rhywun]

AdBlock too.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, I have some news. According to something I read at Transterrestrial Musings, we've been relocated to another supercluster. Instead of the Virgo Supercluster, where all of the cool superaliens live, we're now in the Laniakea Supercluster, which is bigger but more rundown.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Gentrification.

[Pro Libertate]

I for one don't plan to stand for this move to the Section 8 cluster. We pay our own way here in Sol System!

[hamilton]

Fuck that! I say we take back our rightful lands in the Virgo Supercluster. WHO'S WITH ME?????

[Pro Libertate]

I'm in. We have the means to reach the Supercluster capital in no more than 500 million years, give or take ten million, but our descendents will get justice.

[John]

And much less fashionable. But since everyone on planet earth seems to be gay these days, maybe we were moved there because we are early gentrifyers.

[Pro Libertate]

I've wondered if some people are fake gay. Back when I was in academia, I dated an art professor and attended a ton of social events with her students (and professional artists) and she--who was quite liberal in most respects--used to tell me that she thought some of the "gays" were faking it because it got them some sort of extra credibility in the art community (she also had seen some drop that after being out of school for a while). I was dubious about that claim, since it still carried a little social baggage back then (in the 1990s). But I do wonder about that a little bit today.

On the other hand, gay is as gay does, so if you're faking homosexuality by having sex with your same gender, well, you're at least bisexual.

[Rich]

Mele Laniakea!

[Obama's Buttplug]

Brothers Exonerated After 30 Years in Jail

RACIST!!!11!!1

[Rich]

It has emerged that a security measure called two-step verification, which is recommended by Apple, can be bypassed using easily available software that allows access to iCloud back-ups.

Oops.

[Rhywun]

I love how after slamming Apple for fifteen paragraphs they wait until the final line to add that, oh yeah, it can happen to any service.

[Rich]

At least they added that.

Didn't *have* to, you know.

[Rhywun]

These sorts of articles all use the same boilerplate. You just have to fill in the name of whichever unknown "security" outfit is pimping themselves that day.

[The Late P Brooks]

Megan McArdle's Nude Selfies

Where's Barfman, when you need him?

[Restoras]

Hey, it's all in the lighting.

[John]

I want to meet the lightening guy who can do that. Does he bring some kind of a magic wand?

[Winston]

You said "wand"...

[Restoras]

Ok, and photoshop.

[John]

A lot of photoshop.

[Restoras]

Or just no lighting at all...

[John]

And we say Nicole is the biggest monster in the universe. God, we really are the worst.

[Restoras]

I can only dream of being as worse as Nicole.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

This is why Postrel hates us. Be nice.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Seconded. Also some (me) would say Suder-man is a lucky guy.

[Restoras]

Point taken.

[PapayaSF]

She's certainly girl-next-door/nerd girl cute. With the right makeup she'd be hot.

[John]

I wear her hate like a badge of honor.

[Winston]

So here;s a trivia question for y'all: which is the only state to not hold its state elections (i.e. governor and legislature) on the First Tuesday following the first Monday of November?

[Rich]

Hitler?

[Winston]

LOL!

So what state would that be? One of those seven extra states that Obama created?

[Rich]

OK, WAG -- Arizona?

[Winston]

WAG

So I'm a wife or girlfriend of an English soccer player or I'm the Winnipeg Art Gallery?

Arizona
Nope.

[Rich]

(Wild Ass Guess)

[Winston]

Well it doesn't look like anyone is going to reply so the answer is: Louisiana.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

LA has a lot of weird baggage left over from its time as a French colony.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

East Wednesday?

[Coeus]

Let's play real or poe.

A Rapist's View of the World: Joss Whedon and Firefly

I have become increasingly interested in examining Joss Whedon's work from a feminist perspective since I had a conversation with another lesbian feminist sister at the International Feminist Summit about whether Joss was a feminist. I am really quite shocked by how readily Joss is accepted as a feminist, and that his works are widely considered to be feminist. I decided to start re-watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and also to watch Firefly and the movie Serenity.

I have to say that now that I have subjected myself to the horror that is Firefly, I really am beyond worried about how much men hate us, given that this was written by a man who calls himself a feminist.

So, real or poe?

[John]

That is totally real. Feminists are the interenet's best comedy act. Even better than cats.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

real.

[Winston]

I was on a forum where I linked to that and joked if a prog feminist who hated Whedon wrote it and even she thought this was ridiculous.

[Coeus]

I'm thinking poe because of this line:

since I had a conversation with another lesbian feminist sister at the International Feminist Summit

It's too perfect to be real.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

Folowing Poe's law, it is now both.

C'mon, "the horror that is Firefly"?

It's obviously a joke, it's just that no feminist has ever had a sense of humor.

Ever. See Lindy West, Margret Cho, or Janeane G. as proof.

[Coeus]

Yeah. The commenters certainly take it seriously. It's like the perfect example of poe's law.

[Illocust]

That's real, I've seen it before. It's also really old, though.

[John]

I am sorry, but I have a hard time believing any of the actors victimized by the Apple hacking are upset about it. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Most of them had done nude scenes in movies before. So it is not like people hadn't already seen the goods. And sans, Jennifer Lawrance, none of them have that great of careers. When is the last time Kristen Dunst was in a big movie? If I were her agent, I would be ecstatic to see her finally get some run.

[Rich]

Ah, HA! An inside job!

[John]

That would not surprise me at all. Maybe not all of them. But I bet a few of the actors leaked their own pics.

[Pro Libertate]

Those sex tapes that started with Pam Anderson were all obviously intentionally released. What makes this a little more likely is its batch nature.

[Restoras]

I think someone here said it yesterday, that he wished people would stop calling it "the cloud" and call it what it really is - a "server you don't control".

If you store stuff off of your own hard drives or other devices, it has to be more susceptible to theft. So, don't store anything there you don't want stolen. Unfortunately some people are getting a harsh lesson of the reality that is humanity.

[John]

That was in a comment I quoted from the Althouse blog. And it is dead on. Don't store shit you don't want stolen on other people's servers. It is not that hard.

Also, if you are some big model or movie star that has millions of male fans looking for a sex tape, maybe you should tell the mambo you are dating this month that no he won't be taking any selfies of you naked or making any videos.

Why the hell is someone like Jennifer Lawrance letting taking naked selfies in the first place?

[John]

Have you seen the one of Kate Upton standing naked next to the guy? I have no idea who he is but when I saw the picture all I could think was "Yeah, I am spending her money and banging her friends". Poor Kate

[Restoras]

I haven't seen them...yet.

[Coeus]

Anyone got a link to a valid trove? I want to download them but I figure that anything I find now that it's a international news story will be virus laden.

[John]

Look on reddit "the Frapening" and they are there. It just might take a bit to find them.

[PapayaSF]

It'll take quite a while if you spell like John does! It's "The Fappening" and I'd say look for a torrent.

[Coeus]

Thanks. That makes a lot more sense. Methinks that john is unfamiliar with the meme.

[John]

I have no idea what the hell "frappening" or whatever it means is. I just know that is what they call the reddit thread.

[Coeus]

Google "fap". You'll find it instructive.

The title "the fappening" is hilarious.

[paranoid android]

Are there any references to the name in "respectable" media, or are they unanimously omitting that detail? I'm picturing some CNN anchor looking at the latest copy and going, "I really have to go out there and say 'fappening' on national television?"

[Coeus]

CNN is too busy trying to identify the mysterious sysadmin "4chan".

[JMC1607]

The guy is Justin Verlander and, given his own $250+ million dollar contract he signed with the Tigers and that the pics appeared to come from his phone, I doubt money is his #1 concern at the moment.

[Rhywun]

I have a hard time believing any of the actors victimized by the Apple hacking are upset about it

I haven't actually heard that claimed but of course that is the implication.

What's really going on is it's got "Apple", "selfie", and some names of presumably attractive actresses. A clickbait trifecta.

[John]

The one thing about this that bugs me is how the FBI is all over it. I am sorry they got hacked but the FBI wouldn't give a shit if someone hacked my account. Why the hell should they get special protection?

[Coeus]

SJW darling Anita Sarkesian doxes herself and fakes death threats.

Guess she felt she wasn't getting enough attention.

[John]

Who the hell is Anita Sarkesian? Is she the USC football coach's wife or something?

[Brandon]

Nah. Sark's wife is actually really hot. She was at his intro press conference.

[John]

He is a former college football star. So I would imagine she is.

[Coeus]

The forefront of the "computer games are sexist and must be made the way we want from now on" movement.

Summed up pretty well by this penny arcade post:

t's very weird to pull up a story about a game with frankly visionary art and hear why it shouldn't exist, or to hear what I supposedly fantasize about, or what kind of power I supposedly revere, and any attempt to defend oneself from these psychotic projections or to assert that creators may create is evidence of a dark seed sprouting in the heart. It's an incredible state of affairs. They're not censors, though - oh, no no. You'll understand it eventually; what you need to do is censor yourself.

[John]

She is the "all gamers must die" chick? I thought the name sounded familiar.

[PapayaSF]

One of the annoying things about SJWs is that they have no trouble hounding people out of their jobs for crimethink, but it's all just "people using free speech" doncha know. Just like when Communist sympathizers were hounded out of Hollywood in the '50s... no, wait, that was totally different somehow.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

IIRC, alongside liking the Bill of Rights, disliking Anita Sarkeesian was one of the signs your boyfriend was an internet troll.

[The Late P Brooks]

Kirsten Dunst is about ten thousand times sexier and better looking than that pudgeopotamus Upton.

So, she's got that going for her.

[Brandon]

I pity you.

[Coeus]

Dude's got a thing for flapjacks. Everybody's got a type. Don't understand it myself, but there you go.

[John]

There is more to life than cheap bimbos with huge boobs. Granted, not a lot, but some. And Dunst is part of the some.

[Coeus]

Agree to disagree there. I find her disappointing.

[John]

I agree. I have always had a thing for Dunst and still do. Even in her 30s she is hot. And Upton looks like a bimbo.

[Bam!]

You have an irrational hatred of Upton.

[John]

I don't hate her. Who doesn't love a cheap looking blond with huge boobs? Not me. I just like Dunst a lot more.

[PapayaSF]

Dunst is hot in part because she has a "face." She's distinctive-looking, in a very good way. Too many supposedly hot young women look generic/interchangeable to me. And her breast are fine. Sheesh.

[Coeus]

Her face is dour and dissapointing. Kate's is much prettier.

And you apparently haven't seen her in any movies where she's wearing a wifebeater and no bra. There've been a few. Girl's had pancakes since she was in her early 20's.

[John]

Her face is beautiful. And Kate Upton is going to be tucking those giant 70s squishy boobs in her jeans by the time she is 30. Her boobs were very disappointing. Just big and saggy.

[Coeus]

And Kate Upton is going to be tucking those giant 70s squishy boobs in her jeans by the time she is 30.

I never said I wanted to grow old with her. Just that she's way hotter than Dunst.

[PapayaSF]

If you think those count as "pancakes," well, I question either the range of your experience or your standards.

[Coeus]

Can't find the tank top photos and don't want to look too deep at work, but how about this:

Even a bra does'nt help much.

[PapayaSF]

I think of "pancakes" as flat, deflated-looking breasts. She just has small breasts, and not that small, based on the nudes. There are different kinds of attractive bodies, and she certainly has one kind.

And as they said in 200 Motels, "Anything over a mouthful is wasted."

[Coeus]

Krugnuts vomits more bullshit onto the page.

Over the same period, greater Atlanta's population grew almost 27 percent, and greater Houston's grew almost 30 percent. America's center of gravity is shifting south and west. But why?

Is it, as people like Mr. Perry assert, because pro-business, pro-wealthy policies like those he favors mean opportunity for everyone? If that were the case, we'd expect all those job opportunities to cause rising wages in the Sunbelt, wages that attract ambitious people away from moribund blue states.

[Coeus]

So conservative complaints about excess regulation and intrusive government aren't entirely wrong, but the secret of Sunbelt growth isn't being nice to corporations and the 1 percent; it's not getting in the way of middle- and working-class housing supply.

And this, in turn, means that the growth of the Sunbelt isn't the kind of success story conservatives would have us believe. Yes, Americans are moving to places like Texas, but, in a fundamental sense, they're moving the wrong way, leaving local economies where their productivity is high for destinations where it's lower.

So Rick Perry doesn't know the secrets of job creation, or even of regional growth. It would be great to see the real key ? affordable housing ? become a national issue. But I don't think Democrats are willing to nominate Mayor Bill de Blasio for president just yet.

Yeah, housing in New York is dirt cheap.

[PapayaSF]

Liberals are people who support every single law and regulation that make housing more expensive, and then complain about lack of affordable housing.

[John]

There is more to opportunity than "wages". There is jobs. you have to have a job to have a wage. And wages only mean something in comparison to the cost of living.

Maybe the south having a lot of jobs and a low cost of living is what drew people?

God Krugman is a disgrace. The only thing more disgraceful are his brain dead followers.

[Dweebston]

Er, didn't we try an affordable housing bender already? And where did that get us?

[Pro Libertate]

The biggest financial disaster in decades. But why stop there when we can do so much more!

[Coeus]

Germany's fiscal responsibility is the reason the rest of europes fiscal irresponsibility isn't working like Krugman thinks it should.

Look at core inflation (excluding energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco). During the years when Germany was gaining competitiveness, euro area inflation was running at around 2 percent, and inflation in Southern Europe was running considerably higher. So Germany could gain competitiveness simply by having lowish inflation ? no need to actually deflate. But these days German inflation is only one percent, euro area inflation is lower, and the only way for Southern Europe to gain ground is to have zero or negative inflation:

This makes the adjustment problem incredibly difficult, both because wages are downwardly sticky and because deflation worsens the debt burden. Add onto this the fact that the eurozone as a whole remains depressed thanks to fiscal austerity and inadequate monetary expansion, and Germany is in effect demanding that Spain and others accomplish a task vastly harder than the Germans themselves had to achieve.

And the worst of it is that there's no sign that Berlin understands, or is willing to understand, this reality. And if the euro fails, that refusal to think clearly will be the fundamental cause.

Wreckers!!!

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Add onto this the fact that the eurozone as a whole remains depressed thanks to fiscal austerity and inadequate monetary expansion

Nope. Not even remotely related to the fundamentals of wealth creation, Paul. You can't create wealth by manipulating the price of money and thereby misleading producers regarding the actual presence of physical capital. There's only so much productive stuff out there, and overestimating the amount does not create greater wealth, merely a greater initial impression of wealth. You create wealth by meeting the needs of your trade partners with desirable goods and services.

This view is such a stark, Kuhnian disaster of the intellectual class that I don't know why Austrians even bother to engage. Presumably they have more to gain attention-wise by engaging the neoclassical school than they would if they stopped.

[The Late P Brooks]

Add onto this the fact that the eurozone as a whole remains depressed thanks to fiscal austerity and inadequate monetary expansion

Sound money? Hitler was for it. I think that tells you all you need to know.