Introducing Iraq War 3.0, Riot Cops Return to Ferguson, Honolulu Bans Sidewalk Sitting: A.M. Links

• 

  doobybrain.com

  President Obama last night was kind enough to fill us in on the emperor's new plans for extending our forever war with the Middle East. (Or, to put it another way: "Obama vows to split ISIS into dozens of extremist splinter groups.") Read the full speech here, responses from Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Justin Amash here and here, reactions from around the blogosphere here, and Sen. John McCain preemptively bellyaching about Obama's insufficient use of force here. 

• Meanwhile, most Congress critters just want to hold off voting on war until after the midterm elections, okay?
• Ferguson, Missouri, law enforcement had the chance to break out their riot gear again yesterday when several dozen demonstrators attempted to block a highway in protest of Michael Brown's shooting. Thirty-five were arrested by officers, who outnumbered demonstrators about three to one. 
• The Honolulu City Council has banned sitting and lying down on sidewalks in popular areas in an effort to rid the areas of homeless people. 
• The European Union has decided to level new economic sanctions on Russia over its adventures in the Ukraine.
• Missouri lawmakers overrode three of Gov. Jay Nixon's vetoes yesterday, approving a mandatory 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, exempting farmer's markets from sales tax, and allowing public school teachers to carry concealed weapons.  

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

[Steve G]

Hello?

[Fist of Etiquette]

MAYBE SINCE NO ONE EVER ADDRESSES THE CONTENT OF MY FIRST COMMENT IN THEIR REPLIES TO IT I GAVE YOU NO CONTENT TO REPLY TO.

Or maybe I put a period where a bracket should have been.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

That's very meta of you.

Good morning.

[waffles]

Good morning Fist! Good morning H&R! Good morning world!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Reply to what?

[UnCivilServant]

Yay - Fist is Speechless.

Oh, and hi Rufus J.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

[Steve G]

Best reply to the best Fist first comment ever

[Ted S.]

Fist's best post ever.

[db]

It's certainly topical and relevant. He has finally fallen into utter nihilism.

Welcome to the party, Fist!

[Gbob]

No, Donny, these posters are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of.

[Citizen Nothing]

You know who at least had an ethos?

[invisible furry hand]

I am the walrus.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Ozzie-man is not the issue here.

[Reveillon]

Pig-Pen?

[Idle Hands]

The little lebowski urban achievers?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Shut the f*ck up, Donny.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I can picture Fist hunched over with his spirograph as he lashes out at the world.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

It's an etch-a-sketch.

[invisible furry hand]

The hipster iPad

[Fist of Etiquette]

Meanwhile, most Congress critters just want to hold off voting on war until after the midterm elections, okay?

Obama doesn't care if they vote at all.

[DontShootMe]

Obama doesn't care if they vote at all

about anything, ever.

FTFY

[Drake]

I don't think Harry Reid does either. But I think he's around the bend senile at this point.

[Idle Hands]

While symptoms of dementia can vary greatly, at least two of the following core mental functions must be significantly impaired to be considered dementia:

Memory
Communication and language
Ability to focus and pay attention
Reasoning and judgment
Visual perception

Well maybe, he does have problems with communication and basic reasoning.

[Entropy Void]

And so does this entire Administration.

Mass Dementia?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Federal Obamacare Officials Once Recognized the Falsity of Their Current Argument about Tax Credits
...most importantly, the original contract does not include any specific language related to technology which would allow consumers, who sign up using the Federal Exchange website, to determine their individual tax credit eligibility, and calculate and display comparative pricing options after any tax credits. . . if the law was intended to provide tax credits to the residents of states included in the Federal Exchange, the HealthCare.gov original design contract would have included functionality to provide tax credits to individuals in these states.

Shortly after Obamacare was enacted, HHS provided guidance documents to states regarding tax credit technology and systems. . .By stating in the introductory paragraph that "IT systems should be simple and seamless in identifying people who qualify for tax credits", HHS made it clear that tax credits for consumers was one of its highest priorities...

[WTF]

Doesn't matter what evidence gets pulled up, the DC circuit will rule in favor of Obama on the subsidies, because FYTW.

[Steve G]

Blade runner not guilty of murder
Wait, wut?!!?

[Ted S.]

Does Oscar Pistorius dream of electric sheep?

[Entropy Void]

Electric Snowmobiles.

[RBS]

He can still be found guilty of some sort of homicide, just not pre-meditated murder.

[gaijin]

She was a replicant?

[Gbob]

Well, we knew that. The question is if the judge leaving the oragami figure in front of Oscar's table meant that he was a replicant as well. I think the director's cut of the trial will help clarify it.

[gaijin]

^nice! But what does Harrison Ford think? 😉

[Mokers]

But what does Harrison Ford think?

Han shot first.

[WTF]

If the shoe don't fit, you must acquit?

[gaijin]

He wouldn;t have a leg to stand on with that defense

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

*narrows gaze*

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That's going to give you wrinkles

[Slammer]

How about he "skied" on the murder charge instead of "skated"?

[Almanian!]

So Pistorius cut off the Prosecution at the knees. Nice.

[invisible furry hand]

They didn't have a leg to stand on

[Almanian!]

gaijin|9.11.14 @ 9:12AM|#

He wouldn;t have a leg to stand on with that defense

You owe gaijin.....:)

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Army officer is told not to enter his daughter's high school because he's wearing his uniform
...Baker's wife Rachel Ferhadson says, "Before he was allowed in, the security guard stopped him and said sorry you're not allowed in the school. Security told him men and women in uniform weren't allowed because it may offend another student."...

[Ted S.]

Somehow I doubt that includes the police.

And if I were one of the students, I'd be offended by the decision not to allow this, and I'm not a military fellator.

[Doctor Whom]

Only the goodthinkful enjoy the sacred freedom not to be offended.

[Rich]

Security told him men and women in uniform weren't allowed because it may offend another student.

Upon being so informed, assuming the security guard was in uniform, Baker should immediately have tackled the guard and done a citizen's arrest on him.

The guard should lose his job.

[Zeb]

What the fuck? I'm hardly a booster of the military, but how the fuck is wearing a uniform going to offend someone? Having uniformed police in schools offends me a bit, I guess. But it isn't the uniform that does it.

[Brett L]

More to the point, fuck their taking offense. Tough shit. You're in a public school. He's a federal employee. Go shit in your hat.

[mad.casual]

Army officer is told not to enter his daughter's high school because he's wearing his uniform

I've got to know if a grown man wearing a white blouse, plaid skirt, and knee-high socks been allowed in?

I'd assume 'no', but my thinking organ needs clarity on this gray area.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Jaws is dead

[Restoras]

So is Roy Scheider so seems only fair.

[Steve G]

At least we still have Bob Hoskins

[invisible furry hand]

And Lou Reed

[Rufus J. Firefly]

WO! Wha? Lou Reed is...DEAD?

[Restoras]

And Jessica Rabbit.

[Rich]

She's just *drawn* alive.

[Pro Libertate]

I always liked Richard Kiel--RIP.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Successful pastor of a Texas mega-church makes an interesting career move.

[Ted S.]

Fuck that URL, ending before the good part. And fuck Disqus comments.

[INFORG]

2008?

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

[Lord Humungus]

Scotland Nationalists Claim U.K. Oil in 40-Year Campaign

The discovery of North Sea riches in the 1970s planted the seed of modern-day Scottish nationalism as supporters of independence cried "It's our oil!"

Four decades later, nothing will be more important to the economic future of Scotland than the oil industry should the country vote to end the 307-year union with the rest of the U.K.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I loathe nationalism of any ideology, race or creed.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Yeah, good luck with that. The English may be a shadow of their former selves, but they're not going to part with a money maker like oil wells.

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, so now we see the genesis of the next European war.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I thought the EU and concentration of power in Brussels was the genesis of the next great Euro war the Americans (and the branch plant Canadians and Aussies) will have to save.

[Pro Libertate]

The best world wars have multiple causes.

[sarcasmic]

Feds seize $65 million cash in massive L.A. drug raid, including ransom money paid to secure the release of an American who was kidnapped and shot by Mexican cartel
A raid in downtown Los Angeles this morning turned up $65 million in cash
The 80 businesses targeted were all involved in the Black Market Peso exchange, a system that helps drug cartels launder money
One business had accepted $140,000 from the friends and relatives of a man who was being held for ransom and tortured by the Sinaloa cartel

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

[Restoras]

Is that Goldstein or Big Brother?

[Andrew S.]

Big Brother, of course. He can do no wrong.

Rand Paul is Emmanuel Goldstein. Just wait for the daily edition of two minutes' hate in 2016 if he manages to get the nomination.

[Restoras]

Well sure, but what is Reason going to do about getting Sarah Palin out of office? She's running amok in DC with no one to stop her. She's seriously dangerous.

[WTF]

Yes, we must focus on Sarah Palin right now, it is of the utmost importance.

[sarcasmic]

The Force is strong with this one: Star Wars fan spends $284,000 building the ultimate Darth Vader collection

Bill McBride spent $284,000 building up his 60,000 piece collection
The 42-year-old Star Wars fan has dedicated an entire room to his hobby
Mr McBride can't wait for the new movie as it offers fresh memorabilia

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

Dork.

[Restoras]

Jesus what an idiot.

[sarcasmic]

I imagine he's single, childless, and going to die that way.

For his sake I hope one of those light sabers doubles as a fleshlight.

http://xkcd.com/1397/

[Slammer]

If and when he sells it, he'll finally lose his virginity.

[Restoras]

I am having a vision of this collection showing up on a future episode of American Pickers and the guys passing on all of it.

[Slammer]

I love that show.

[Idle Hands]

Those guys are totally gay for each other right?

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

That is....magnificent.

*applauds*

[Zeb]

I don't know about that. There are plenty of Star Wars dorks out there with nothing else to spend their money on.

[Restoras]

True. But there is no scarcity of Star Wars collectibles/memorabilia, so unless he has stuff that is certifiably rare then he has traded a 2005 Ferrari Superamerica for a bunch of worthless junk.

[WTF]

Wait, you mean supply and demand applies to memorabilia? The hell you say!

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

"Look at these magic beans I got for the cow!"

[Not a Libertarian]

If by Dork you mean....Awesome.

My tastes do not run to big muscle men, but I'd doubt he is some 42 year old virgin. (Although admittedly from his picture, if he isn't married/partnered, I could easily see him spending thousands at DC Strip Clubs)

His collection won't be complete however, until he has David Prowse stuffed and mounted.

[Idle Hands]

He's obviously has big tall black helmet fetish. So probably not into David Prowse.

[Citizen Nothing]

black helmet fetish

So Rick Moranis, then?

[sarcasmic]

Chief relieves four firefighters of their duties after they refuse to remove American flag stickers from their lockers in escalating argument over 'racism'
Craig Bronaugh has disciplined four firefighters in Maywood, Illinois, for refusing to remove American flags from their lockers and helmets
He claims that there is a culture of racism in the department, citing a picture of a monkey smoking a cigarette he found on a locker
The firefighters - who include an African American, a Cuban and two white men - deny the chief's allegations
They say the tension started when the chief ordering an American flag be removed from the inside of the fire station

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

[Restoras]

Land of the enslaved, home of the cowards.

[Zeb]

So, funny pictures of monkeys are assumed to be racist now? I'd say the people making the assumption are the racists. I certainly don't immediately think of black people when I see a picture of a monkey. This isn't Europe.

[Pro Libertate]

So, then, Monkey Tuesday is right out?

[Zeb]

Yeah, apparently all along you and Urkobold have been terrible racists.

[Pro Libertate]

Who knew? Well, the Ur Troll did. He's very prejudiced against male humans.

[tarran]

What is his opinion of Gwar?

[sarcasmic]

You can bet something like this would be acceptable.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It was a matter of time before monkeys offend. In fact, won't be long some aggrieved putz will petition to change the name of 'monkeys' on Change.org because it's offensive to...you know who.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ferguson, Missouri, law enforcement had the chance to break out their riot gear again yesterday when several dozen demonstrators attempted to block a highway in protest of Michael Brown's shooting.

The nation's attention has moved to a new shiny object.

[gaijin]

The nation'smedia's attention has moved to a new shiny object.

Modified

[Fist of Etiquette]

One and the same.

[Lord Humungus]

Americans Now Favor GOP on Immigration ? WSJ/NBC Poll

Republicans seized on the influx to argue that U.S. borders are too porous, and they blamed what they consider to be Democratic leniency toward illegal immigration for persuading children to make the journey.

The result: voters' trust in Democrats has fallen, as has their willingness to consider legalization for undocumented.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Shikha Dalmia hardest hit?

[WTF]

Time for Shikha to recycle one of her immigration articles.

[Lord Humungus]

something, something... armed forces?

[Ted S.]

Just don't recycle the comments.

[UnCivilServant]

What's AnonBot supposed to do then? Huh?

[sarcasmic]

Maria Menounos shows off her slender physique as she covers Shape magazine... while revealing she's 'finally ready to have children'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ldren.html
Damn. I mean... damn.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You know they do a LOT of touch ups, right. Just making sure.

[sarcasmic]

Google "maria menounos bikini malfunction" NSFW.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Some are indeed more 'natural' beauties than others. But for the most part, a lot of these chicks are meh in person and public.

[Raston Bot]

yes, yes i will.

[Restoras]

Yes but the base material is still outstanding.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I picked the wrong chick to make my point.

/self slaps face.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

You really did.

[sarcasmic]

'He had his f*****g hands in the air': New video of Michael Brown incident reveals witnesses' horror at police shooting
New cellphone video reveals eye-witnesses' reaction minutes after shooting
Witness is heard shouting that Brown 'had his f****** hands in the air'
Unarmed Brown was shot dead by a white police officer on August 9
The incident provoked large scale protests and riots on streets of Ferguson

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

[WTF]

Yeah, yeah, whatever, but have you seen what Sarah Palin said?

[sarcasmic]

FIRST LOOK: A sneak peek of Ben Affleck's Batmobile from the set of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....stice.html
Ben Affleck? I'll pass.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So this won't be a continuation of Nolan's Batman universe?

[UnCivilServant]

You mean the Duology?

[sarcasmic]

Looks like Zach Snyder is doing this one.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

lots of slo-mo and leaping, yay

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I think this may be Warner Brothers way of trying to finally kill the franchise. They're probably just tired of it at this point.

[Idle Hands]

So instead of a nipple suit we will get the penis suit?

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

We're getting a penis in the suit.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I hear Matt Damon plays Bruce Wayne's love interest.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Sarah Silverman as Harley Quinn?

[sarcasmic]

Sir Roger Moore 'totally distraught' as tributes flood in for James Bond 'Jaws' villain Richard Kiel who died yesterday aged 74
Actor best known as the steel-toothed villain Jaws in 1970s Bond films
Died yesterday at hospital in California - cause of death is not yet known
Sir Roger Moore, who starred alongside Kiel, said he is 'totally distraught'
Death comes one week after pair featured on BBC Radio 4's The Reunion
Moore, 86, once called 7ft 2in Kiel the best Bond villain of all time
Giant actor's other films included Happy Gilmore and The Wild, Wild West

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ed-74.html

[The DerpRider]

Roger Moore is 86? Holy shit.

[sarcasmic]

So THAT'S how you do it! Olivia Newton-John's daughter Chloe Lattanzi dons tiny shorts and watches on in amazement as an attendant pumps petrol into her truck

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ndant.html
Um, OK.

[Ted S.]

Let's get into physical,
Let me hear Chloe's body talk,
Let me hear her body talk....

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm skeptical, nobody could be *that* stereotypically blond.

[antisocial-ist]

A couple of years ago, I had to teach a woman in her 40s how to pay for and pump gas in Georgia. She said that where she lived (Oregon IIRC) all gas stations had attendants that pumped the gas for you.

[sarcasmic]

In Oregon and New Jersey it is illegal to pump your own gas.

[UnCivilServant]

I get annoyed and offended if there's someone who tries to pump gas for me.

I do not do well in New Jersey.

[Reverend Mayhem]

That is true. In Moscow-on-the-Willamette you have to wait for an available gas jockey to perform the task. And for some reason they get real pissy if you happen to be from out-of-state and presume it's self-serve like practically everywhere else.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That happened to me.

I was so stunned I replied, 'what a stupid law.'

Question: Do they expect a tip?

[INFORG]

My first time when I moved there, the woman came out screaming at me when I was pumping my gas.

They do expect tips, but I never tipped them unless they at least washed the windows. Most couldn't be bothered.

[mad.casual]

Question: Do they expect a tip?

Here's a tip; get a real job and repeal the law.

[UnCivilServant]

for some reason they get real pissy if you happen to be from out-of-state and presume it's self-serve like practically everywhere else

Because they know their job is so simple anyone can do it. (and generally they do) They hate being reminded of the fact that there's no reason for them to be there.

[Reverend Mayhem]

I have a friend who grew up with me in Portland, then after he graduated college went to live in Seattle where he got used to filling his own gas. On one of his first visits back to Portland he went off to me about how much he now hated having to wait for some dipshit to pump his gas.

[sarcasmic]

I've got a full service station up the street from where I live. I often go there in the winter. Let them shiver in the cold while I stay warm.

[Zeb]

They look pretty posed. No one genuinely makes faces like that, do they?

[Reverend Mayhem]

Dumb AND unattractive. Not a winning combo.

[Zeb]

unattractive

No accounting for taste, I guess.

[Reverend Mayhem]

I prefer her mom. (Well, the younger version, at least.)

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Young Sheena Easton for the win.

[Ted S.]

You liked her sugar walls, I bet.

[Restoras]

So, it's just plain ol' sugar that is the Sauce of Personhood?

[Idle Hands]

Yeah her mom was much hotter.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Obama last night was kind enough to fill us in on the emperor's new plans for extending our forever war with the Middle East.

So much for the element of surprise!

[hamilton]

We'll have to fall back on fear and ruthless efficiency. And an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

and nice red uniforms!

[Entropy Void]

Perhaps the Comfy Chair will work instead?

[Lord Humungus]

The real story of how women evaluate men's junk
From "Bachelor in Paradise" to Jared Leto's crotch-grab, reminders this week that women objectify men's bodies too

We're used to hearing the kind of despicable "guy talk" that evaluates women according to their bra size or even ? interior dimensions ? but not so much women. So all these ladies talking about peen made me proud, it made me ashamed ? and then I decided to talk to some of my lady friends about how we talk about penises.

My friend "Susan" says she started her sex life fooling around with guys who all had what she described as "very standard-issue schlongs." Then in college, she started sleeping with men of all different sizes and shapes. "It was neat, actually ? a lesson in the depth of human variety," she said. "I started to realize that the way people talked about penises ? bigger is better, basically ? was a symptom of shallow and unimaginative sex." She did sleep with one man with an especially large penis and says, "He practically broke my cervix. Oh god, it hurt. There is nothing good about a cervix-banger."

[Rich]

"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"

[boomslang4]

+1 Firesign Theater

[Longtorso, Johnny]

There is nothing good about a cervix-banger.

That's embroidered on a pillow in my living room.

[Rich]

LOL

[trshmnster the terrible]

Why is there always an anecdote about a "friend" who "sampled all varieties of dong" in every feminist article?

Either in the article itself or in the comments, somebody or their friend is the authority on men because she's seen more dicks than Nixon in a fun house.

[Reverend Mayhem]

more dicks than Nixon in a fun house.

Okay, I'm stealing that.

[INFORG]

It actually took me reading that twice to get it. I'll blame allergy medicine.

[Ted S.]

We're used to hearing the kind of despicable "guy talk" that evaluates women according to their bra size or even ? interior dimensions ? but not so much women.

This is complete bullshit.

Back in the early 90s when I was in college I was involved with the college radio station, mostly as a newsreader. Every week, all the departments would have a meeting to assign shifts. One term, I was the only guy reading the news. The news department meetings always devolved into the women talking sex and men. It didn't bother me, because I always figured it was proof women are just as shallow when it comes to sex as men are claimed to be.

[toolkien]

Now she tells me. I've got my "add four inches instantly" coming in the mail.

[invisible furry hand]

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been forced to apologise for accidentally leaving behind a suitcase at Sydney Airport containing 230 grams of a plastic explosive after a dog training exercise.

It was found just this week when a travelling woman was offered a replacement suitcase after hers was damaged during a flight.

http://www.news.com.au/nationa.....7055375797

[Rufus J. Firefly]

They were late for the Aussie rules rugby match?

[invisible furry hand]

DO NOT JOKE ABOUT OUR FOOTBALL CODES!

[Raven Nation]

They're just jealous.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

AFL AND RUGBY ARE DIFFERENT, YOU PHILISTINE!

[Pro Libertate]

I've mentioned this before, but to this day (originating back when AFL was the leading sport broadcast by ESPN), my brother and I will still occasionally do the double-finger gun thingee that the guys in lab coats do after a field goal.

[invisible furry hand]

Cute 🙂

Goal umpires don't wear the coats nowadays - they wear shirts with the sponsor OPSM on the back. That's an optometrist chain. It's like they're daring us to yell "Hey umpy are you bloody blind?" or something

[Pro Libertate]

I haven't seen it in years, but I'm disappointed. The lab coats were awesome.

[invisible furry hand]

It's still full of big boofheads flying through the air

[Ted S.]

Nothing else happened. After all, those brave Heroes in Blue? (or whatever color you wacky Antipodeans wear) made it home safely.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

I think the wallopers wear blue.

[Rich]

Strong solar storm heading to Earth

but the worst of its power looks like it will barely skim above the planet and not cause many problems.

Dammit! Oh, well, one of these times we'll have a real distraction.

[Jordan]

You may recall that I posted a while back about how Japan's economy contracted 5% or so after a sales tax hike and Keynesian Klownery on steroids. Well, it turns out that wasn't quite correct; it actually contracted 7.1%

TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's economy contracted at a larger than earlier estimated annual rate of 7.1 percent in April-June, as companies and households slashed spending following a tax hike.

The revised data released Monday show business investment fell more than twice as much as estimated before, or 5.1 percent, while private residential spending sank 10.4 percent, in annual terms. The earlier estimate showed the economy contracting 6.8 percent.

And behold this breathtaking bit of idiocy from a Klueless Keynesian Klown:

"Theoretically, there should be no impact from the consumption tax increase on corporate spending or long-term corporate planning, but a large number of Japanese corporations seemed to see a large impact from the hike on final demand," said Junko Nishioka, an economist at RBS Japan Securities in Tokyo.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Krugabe hardest hit, last to realize it.

[Citizen Nothing]

Krugnuts: Keynes will change. Really he will! And I loooove him!

[Tejicano]

I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating.

The consumption tax rate in Japan was raised from 5% to 8% - so a 3% increase. But in just about every case I have seen merchants have taken their previous prices (which had included the 5% tax in the listed prices) and then tacked an additional 8% on that. So prices in fact rose by 8%.

Worse than that - as if that wasn't enough - a lot of people purchased as many durable goods as they could afford in the month or two leading up to the tax increase.

The Japanese economy has taken a triple whammy this year.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

But I thought taxes didn't matter?

[Restoras]

5% to 8% is not a 3% increase - it is a 3 percentage point increase but in fact the percentage increase is much higher.

5% of 100 is 5. 8% of 100 is 8. 8/5-1 = 0.6, so it is actually a 60% increase.

[Tejicano]

Well, yeah. A 60% increase in taxes.

I was referring to the increase in prices.

[Mike M.]

+2 lost decades.

[Pro Libertate]

And we're coming in right behind them, learning absolutely nothing.

[John]

Seven percent. And Japan is one of the best educated, most productive and hardest working populations on earth. Yet, the central planners still managed to fuck it up.

[Restoras]

There is a lesson in that somewhere.

[Brett L]

You're not hitting it hard enough!

[invisible furry hand]

Is this Australia's biggest wanker?

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyl.....0fmfp.html

[Rich]

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has apologised for leaving a training device in a suitcase at Sydney Airport

The training device contained approximately 230g of a plastic explosive

So, no.

[Jordan]

Well, he is a hipster dufus, but I don't think he can beat that kid that had hundreds (thousands?) of people over for a house party while his parents were gone.

[Rhywun]

My eyes!

Yes.

[sarcasmic]

[Longtorso, Johnny]

[sarcasmic]

[UnCivilServant]

[waffles]

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

[Longtorso, Johnny]

[sarcasmic]

[Reveillon]

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

[Lord Humungus]

You know who else was...

Some DCPS Students Were Assigned to Compare George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler

Some D.C. Public School seventh-graders were assigned the rather unpatriotic task this week of comparing Adolf Hitler to former President George W. Bush. But now the school district wants you to know that such an intellectual exercise is not part of the official D.C. curriculum.

Late Wednesday afternoon, a tweet showing the Venn diagram homework assignment circulated, in which students (at McKinley Middle School, according to NBC4) were asked to compare the similarities and differences between the president and the dictator, "two men of power who abused their power in various ways."

[Longtorso, Johnny]

Do you know who ELSE was compared to Hitler?

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

Epi's Mom?

[WTF]

Wouldn't a comparison to Obama be more timely? I wonder why they didn't use Obama?

[Entropy Void]

Obama and Mussolini would have been better.

The Venn diagram would almost perfectly overlap.

[Andrew S.]

The District of Columbia Public Schools provides teachers with an English-Language Arts curriculum that outlines the topics, texts, and standards to be taught within instructional units, while allowing teachers the flexibility to decide the best approach and day-to-day lessons for their students. One of the units at the beginning of the year is about War and Peace, allowing students to explore different perspectives and determine when conflict is warranted, and when peace should prevail

How the fuck is that part of the Language Arts curriculum? History maybe, but Language Arts?

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

It's in DC; nobody in DC apparently knows anything about US History.

But they do know how to use language like an art.

[Jordan]

Here you go, Rufus:

QUEBEC CITY ? Quebec police are investigating witness claims that Quebec City police pinned a cyclist to the ground and continued with their arrest, even as blood poured from his mouth after their cruiser ran him over.

Guy Blouin, 48, died Wednesday in the hardscrabble Saint-Roch district of the provincial capital.

Witnesses say a cruiser that attempted to pull over Blouin, going the wrong way down a one-way street just after 1 p.m., instead ran him over.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I always keep my head up for cops while I cycle. I trust truckers more than them.

In other news, the Quebec Liberals are set to begin the process of putting an end to subsidized daycare - at least in its current form.

No fucking shit. What a mess subsidized daycare is.

Meanwhile, I keep reading how other jurisdictions are considering it. It's the WORST idea you can do. Especially if you live in a region vulnerable to corruption.

[Jordan]

In other news, the Quebec Liberals are set to begin the process of putting an end to subsidized daycare - at least in its current form.

Wow, that is pretty surprising. What turned them against it?

[Restoras]

Are they just pushing the requirements down on smaller municipalities to remove it from their budget but not get rid of the program?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Usually what Quebec City dictates all municipalities follow in this case. I believe.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Pressure from private daycares, the CFIB, perhaps even the public and the media as some journalists actually report on the disaster.

But I think it's the cold, hard reality we don't have the funds to pay for it. By removing a subsidy the good daycares survive, the bad ones die.

I think the average person understands it's unfair and corrupt.

[Entropy Void]

"I think the average person understands it's unfair and corrupt."

I thought that about this Administration in November 2008.

Obviously, I was wrong.

[tarran]

I always keep my head up for cops while I cycle.

I had a scumbag Boston cop throw something at my bicycle because I wasn't negotiating a maze of cars fast enough for his taste (my light was green, the cars blocking me had a red light and were trapped in the intersection, and no I wasn't blocking them).

I wasn't going to stick around to find out what his major malfunction was.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Holy shit.

[tarran]

At the time I couldn't believe it was happening. I have no idea why he picked me out as a target, I wasn't impeding traffic - in fact I was removing myself from the traffic jam.

I literally had no interaction with him before he started shouting at me when I was halfway across the intersection for me to move my ass.

Dude was an older obese Irish guy with a thick Boston accent. He shouted at me twice and then pow! Something whacked my back tire, hard and clattered to the ground. He shouted "I warned you!" and I just kept going. The problem was that I was trying to get back onto a bike path that was on the sidewalk level, and that meant I had to negotiate some tight precise turns necessitating a slow speed. Once on the path, I hauled ass out of there.

[Swiss Servator, Bern baby Bern]

BOSTON HERO STRONG!

What an ass that cop was/is.

[Lord Humungus]

Even the Bush White House polled better than this

Despite all of President Obama's promises, despite all of his soaring rhetoric, a record number of Americans say they don't trust the federal government to handle foreign policy issues competently.

With Obama set to address the nation on Wednesday night, trust in the nation's elected leaders to deal effectively with issues overseas has fallen to just 43 percent, an all-time low ? even lower than during the presidency of George W. Bush, according to Gallup.

The Gallup survey comes at a time when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist group that has overrun much of Iraq and Syria, continues its march across the Middle East and Moscow sets its sights on the West.

[John]

Shreek hardest hit.

[CatoTheElder]

It's no surprise that Obama is polling bad. He really would be polling as bad as Congress if it weren't for party loyalists, because his foreign policy is too aggressive for peaceniks and to docile for warmongers.

[Mike M.]

This is incredible: a dopey democrat aide in Washington named Brian Fallon who used to work for Charles Schumer and now works for vile Attorney General Eric Holder accidentally called the wrong representative's office last Friday to lay out a leak strategy and damage control plan for the criminal activities of the I.R.S.

The aide, Brian Fallon, is a former senior aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a well-known personality on Capitol Hill. The letter describes Fallon as "audibly shaken" when he realizes his request to leak documents to help get ahead of news stories about them was mistakenly made to the very office he was seeking to undermine. Issa believes the call was intended to be made to Democratic Rep. Elijah Cumming's staff, the ranking member on the oversight panel, the letter said...

"At this point," Fallon "abruptly placed the call on hold for approximately three minutes." When Fallon returned to the call, "he was audibly shaken. He immediately stated that there was a 'change in plans' and that there would be no effort" by DOJ to release the material early.

So Holder's office is actively working to obstruct the investigation. Unreal.

[Andrew S.]

Rogue employee, blah blah blah, has been disciplined, blah, blah, blah. I'll just get their response to it out of the way so everyone else can get back to ignoring the giant blinking sign.

[Jordan]

Nothing to see here; move along.

/Shreeeek

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

At this point...

[Ted S.]

Should have subpoenaed the bastard before releasing this.

[John]

This has been known for a while. Don't forget, Cummings and Schummer are leaking documents to obstruct the investigation to reporters. That means the reporters who got them know exactly what is going on and are just dutifully being operatives with bilines and pretending it is not happening.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Ben Carson: Evolution is an Absurd Myth

"In a "Faith & Liberty" interview posted last week, potential GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson discussed his rejection of the theory of evolution, arguing that the science of evolution is a sign of humankind's arrogance and belief 'that they are so smart that if they can't explain how God did something, then it didn't happen, which of course means that they're God. You don't need a God if you consider yourself capable of explaining everything.'

Carson pointed to the 'complexity of the human brain' as proof that evolution is a myth: 'Somebody says that came from a slime pit full of promiscuous biochemicals? I don't think so.'

He said evolution is unable to explain the development of an eyeball"

http://www.freespeech.org/text/candid.....bsurd-myth

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Great

[Citizen Nothing]

Those species? You didn't make them.

[RBS]

Is that the same Ben Carson that all those conservatives were really excited about a couple of years ago?

[Reverend Mayhem]

Don't know about conservatives, but I personally have seen Ben Carson give an extended interview. I'm not impressed with Ben Carson.

[Rich]

a slime pit full of promiscuous biochemicals

Nice long band name.

[invisible furry hand]

Nice description of Hit & Run

[Tejicano]

"Nice description of Hit & Run"

Nope. That would be "a slime pit full of well-armed, promiscuous biochemicals"

[Slammer]

Because things are too complex to figure out, it is truth that this answeris the only explanation.

Do I have that right?

[Steve G]

The purpose of evolution is not to explain shit to you Carson, it's to hopefully unfit folks like you from the gene pool. If you want to know how the eyeball evolved, talk to an evolutionary biologist.

[Steve G]

*remove unfit folks like you

[Restoras]

The unfit ones that get removed are the ones that can't survive. He seems to be surviving quite well. Better that than some bureaucrat deciding who is fit to remain in the gene pool and who is not.

[John]

The purpose of evolution is not to explain shit to you Carson, it's to hopefully unfit folks like you from the gene pool.

You are absolutely right Steve. Of course there is nothing dangerous about believing man is just another animal that can be improved through selective breeding. Nope, wanting to clean up the gene pool has never lead anywhere bad.

[Steve G]

My comment wasn't an endorsement of eugenics

[CatoTheElder]

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to think that Carson is so mentally defective that evolution will remove him from the gene pool.

[Steve G]

That's all I was saying, but in the age of idiocracy, folks like Carson are unfortunately at the top of the heap.

[jmomls]

Ben Carson already has 3 children and possibly several grandchildren by now. His genes are not leaving the pool.

He also "graduated from Yale University, where he majored in pre-med with a minor in psychology. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School" and further "was a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics, and he was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.[3] At age 33, he became the youngest major division director in Johns Hopkins history, as director of pediatric neurosurgery. He was also a co-director of the Johns Hopkins Craniofacial Center."

But I'm sure you're wayyyyyy smarter than him, just because you believe in evolution.

[John]

Believing God eliminates you from the gene pool? I guess that is why religion died out centuries ago. Right?

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to believe that. You just have to be an idiot. Thanks for outing yourself as such Cato.

[John]

And good luck with eliminating all of the "defectives" who are also surgeons.

[John]

Which is worse, thinking evolution is a myth or that supply and demand is a myth?

Outside of a desire to troll and feel smug, why do you care what any politician thinks about evolution? Have you gotten Hillary's opinion on string theory yet?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Why does Carson feel the need to advertise it? Some people just don't know when to shut up.

And there is this little treat in there:

Arguing that Obamacare will lead people to lose their health coverage ? even though the opposite is happening ? Carson said he has "prayed to God that he will expose even to people of low information what is going on. Sometimes things have to be so blatant, it's like hitting them over the head with a two-by-four, before people wake up."

It just demonstrates that Carson has no political sense. That's almost up there with bitter clingers.

[John]

What is wrong with that?

Sometimes things have to be so blatant, it's like hitting them over the head with a two-by-four, before people wake up."

People on here say that about a hundred times a day. He said "pray to God" but so what? He is not an atheist. What the hell do you want him to say? If you can't handle a reference to God in a speech, go fuck yourself.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

prayed to God that he will expose even to people of low information what is going on

It belies a patronizing attitude. If you're a politician and you want to get elected, you don't say stuff like that, particularly if you're a Republican.

And lighten up Francis.

[John]

It belies a patronizing attitude.

Again, that attitude is expressed on here about a thousand times a day. And he is right. Most people are low information. He didn't say they were stupid. He said they didn't know what is going on, which is true.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And who here is running for office? Rush Limbaugh can say it all he wants because he's preaching to the choir and it's how he stirs the pot to get ratings. Carson doesn't have that luxury and he should know better. I don't think Reagan would have ever said something like that. It sounds more like something Obama would say.

Additionally, even though Reagan was a creationist, he didn't use language like "absurd myth". Talk about alienating potential voters on something that shouldn't even be relevant to national politics.

[John]

So all you are saying is you think he is a bad politician. So what? Others disagree. And cry me a river about the "absurd myth" bit. Atheists say all sorts of nasty shit about theists all of the time. God fucking forbid anyone give them a taste of their own medicine.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Who pissed in your corn flakes this morning John?

[John]

It pisses me off when people can give it but can't take it. Atheists say all kinds of nasty things about theists. But God forbid someone gore one of their sacred cows.

[trshmnster the terrible]

John, rule number one of politics is that there are no consequences to a voting person's actions. You and I may find it refreshing to hear somebody advocating accountability, but your average hedonist voter doesn't find it appealing at all.

[John]

So that makes him a truthful politician. I am still not seeing the problem here.

[gimmeasammich]

"it's like hitting them over the head with a two-by-four"

The "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan approach.

[Restoras]

Supply/demand. It effects everything people do every day. Evolution/Creation? Not so much.

[John]

I am pretty confident that a President Elizabeth Warren or President Andrew Cuomo would do a lot more damage to the country than a President Ben Carson.

And Carson is an accomplished neurosurgeon. It is a bit rich to listen to someone who will be lucky to get out of law school call Carson stupid.

[Restoras]

It does sometimes seem like the anti-SnoKone Guard would happily trade freedom of action/contract for a completely non-religious society.

[sarcasmic]

A standard tactic of leftist trolls on libertarian sites is to compare libertarians to Republicans or Christians or something, and then go and bash whatever it was they compared libertarians to. Then they get all pissy when libertarians refuse to defend whatever it was the troll was bashing.

[Lord Humungus]

'Vetted Moderate' Free Syrian Army Commander Admits Alliance with ISIS

As President Obama laid out his "strategy" last night for dealing with ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and as bipartisan leadership in Congress push to approve as much as $4 billion to arm the Syrian "rebels," it should be noted that the keystone to his anti-Assad policy ? the "vetted moderate" Free Syrian Army (FSA) ? is now admitting that they, too, are working with the Islamic State.

This confirms our reporting about the FSA's alliances with Syrian terrorist groups here at PJ Media last week.

On Monday, the Daily Star in Lebanon quoted a FSA brigade commander saying that his forces were working with the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's official Syrian affiliate ? both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations ? near the Syrian/Lebanon border.

[WTF]

Top. Men.

[toolkien]

http://www.bobhope.com/graphics/radiolg.jpg

and

http://gotriangle.files.wordpr...../coins.jpg

[Doctor Whom]

http://www.washingtonblade.com.....gles-move/

An owner of a shopping center wants to use the alcohol-licensing bureaucracy to keep a leather bar from opening next door. But remember: Economic freedom and LGBT freedom are either completely unrelated or antithetical (I forget which it is today).

[Slammer]

"Study" Suggests Hollywood Is Not So Gay-Friendly

A survey of 5,700 SAG-AFTRA members has found that more than half of lesbian, gay and bisexual performers "have heard directors and producers make anti-gay comments about actors" and that "53% of LGBT respondents believed that directors and producers are biased against LGBT performers."

"We found that LGBT performers may have substantial barriers to overcome in their search for jobs," said the authors of the study

Example: "I was cast in a commercial ? although I have no proof, I believe that after I was overheard talking about marriage equality that the producers decided to fire me?.I was pulled aside and told that they had made a mistake hiring me ? that they had meant to hire someone else. I later heard from other actors that they were scrambling trying to find an?other actor to come to set to replace me."

[trshmnster the terrible]

If I were talking about marriage equality within earshot of my boss, I'd get the pink slip by the end of the day, too. You don't talk politics at the shop when you're newly hired. He got fired for being a moron, not for being gay.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

It's like trying to form a union on company time.

[John]

No, audiences are not gay friendly and Hollywood is following its audience.

Also, the sampling of openly gay actors is fairly small. Most of them are D listers who used coming out as a way to keep their names in the media.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

I can think of no industry (other than maybe strippers and hair-dressers) that is more LGBT friendly.

If you're selling fucking insurance, no one is going to tolerate you being 'in your face' about what you do on your own free time.

This is confirmation bias. "No one would fire me because I'm a shitty actor! It must be due to the fact that I'm..."

[trshmnster the terrible]

When you define yourself by who you screw, it's not shocking that you would suck at your job (unless you do porn).

[Lord Humungus]

George Will: Senate Democrats' extremism on display

Since Barry Goldwater, in accepting the Republicans' 1964 presidential nomination, said, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice," Democrats have been decrying Republican "extremism." Actually, although there is abundant foolishness and unseemliness in U.S. politics, real extremism ? measures or movements that menace the Constitution's architecture of ordered liberty ? is rare. This week, however, extremism stained the Senate.

Forty-eight members of the Democratic caucus attempted to do something never previously done: Amend the Bill of Rights. They tried to radically shrink First Amendment protection of political speech. They evidently think extremism in defense of the political class's convenience is no vice.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I notice the Virginia Democrat delegation abstained from that vote. They at least have some sense.

[Idle Hands]

Va isn't totally lost yet, but give us a couple more years of fed. expansion. We are a far superior state than MD which makes us attractive for blue transplants.

[Pro Libertate]

Our freedoms aren't why government is out of control. The very people voting to reduce our liberty have also taken every possible opportunity to increase the power, scope, and size of the state. Of course the government is corrupt and unaccountable--they made it so, along with their not-different-enough opponents.

[Brett L]

I liked Harry Reid's "how dare the Republicans not block us from doing something stupid" angle.

[Rich]

'Bring carrots': School bans birthday cupcakes

Instead of cupcakes, school leaders are suggesting students bring pencils, pens and stickers or wear "silly socks."

"Silly socks"?! And violate the dress code?!

[trshmnster the terrible]

By wear, they mean you can have them in your backpack, subject to search for contraband, and after submitting a sourcing report to show that the materials are all fair trade, organic, and local.

[invisible furry hand]

Derry Township contains the Hershey factory. You'd think self-interest would Hershey's vile stuff mandatory everyday consumption

The picture on that article is gold, BTW

[db]

There may some words missing that sentence.

[invisible furry hand]

thanks db

would make Hershey's vile stuff mandatory every day

[Ted S.]

Strine is quite different from standard English.

[Ted S.]

Keep bringing them and force the school to remove them at gunpoint. Get it all on camera.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

School leaders?

Is there such a thing?

[CatoTheElder]

There may be an upside to all of this: most kids will probably figure out that the State sucks, and become less likely to believe the bullshit that the schools teach about the State being the source of good things like justice, peace, and so forth.

[invisible furry hand]

Jealous bedhopping goblin is killing my sex life

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

+1 Barbara Hershey

[Idle Hands]

Or it's the crazy.

[The Late P Brooks]

SNOW, motherfuckers.

Global warming isn't dead, it's just resting.

[alittlesense]

It's pining for the fjords.

[Brett L]

Jesus Christ. Its still the middle of summer. Well, the end of the hot-as-balls part of summer, but still hot-as-balls.

[Lord Humungus]

Teens who Smoke Cannabis Daily 'Seven Times More Likely to Commit Suicide'

Teenagers who start smoking cannabis daily before the age of 17 are seven times more likely to commit suicide, a study has found.

According to the paper, published in the Lancet Psychiatry journal, youths who smoke marijuana on a daily basis are also 60% less likely to finish high school.

Researchers led by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales analysed results of three large, long-running studies from Australia and New Zealand involving nearly 3,800 people.

[John]

Because everyone knows causality can only go one way.

[sarcasmic]

You mean suicidal teens might use marijuana to cope?

Nonsense!! Marijuana made them do it!! It forced them to commit suicide!!

[John]

Its the devil weed.

[The Late P Brooks]

You don't talk politics at the shop when you're newly hired. He got fired for being a moron, not for being gay.

Exactly.

Shut the fuck up, puppet, and be ready to dance on cue. We don't care what you think. About anything.

[Mand13]

I was curious how we have all this money to fight wars against amorphous terrorists but no money to secure our borders and actually figure out who is in our country (please don't comment about illegal aliens). It seems like the last 10 yrs of war in Iraq, and these next 10 won't likely be any different, definitely could have funded a revamping of the border and immigration system with similar or better results for national security.

[John]

Securing the border is fascist. Didn't you know that? We are supposed to do nothing overseas and also do nothing to stop anyone from entering the country.

[sarcasmic]

That straw man is not resisting. Why do you keep punching it?

[John]

Tarran doesn't think its a strawman. It is his position.

[tarran]

"Securing" the border is an impossibility.

There are thousands of miles of forest in the North and trackless desert in the south.

Even the Soviets couldn't pull something like that off.

[John]

Then you agree, we should do nothing overseas and not prevent anyone from coming in the country.

Do me a favor and inform sarcasmic of this, because he is convinced no one actually believes this and that it is a strawman.

[sarcasmic]

Stating the fact that you can't secure a border that is thousands of miles long is not the same thing as saying you should make no effort whatsoever keep bad guys from getting into the country.

[tarran]

I only agree with this 50%.

I don't care who moves where (so long as they pay the rent or buy the property they happen to move to), but since my livelihood right now depends on people going overseas to visit museums and buy curios and look at interesting shit, I do hope some of us continue to do stuff overseas.

I also love Toyotas, so I want to continue to trade with the guys who make them.

I also have a huge weakness for olives and Feta cheese, and some of the stuff I consume is grown/processed in Greece and Turkey, so I want to continue to do business with people who buy that shit.

Even if I didn't want to buy those things, eg I grew maple trees for a living, there is the whole morality of preventing other people from peaceably doing stuff overseas.

[John]

So if say one of the fighters over in Syria wants to come here, we have no right to stop him, right? He does have a freedom movement right? Sure, if he cuts off someone's head or blows something us we can and should arrest him. But before he does that, we have no right to stop him.

I don't see how we do. You have said any number of times it is "retarded" to think there is any collective right to control the border. So all of them have a right to come here, correct?

[tarran]

Yes, John, they do.

[John]

So Tarran, they can all come over here individually and we have no right to stop them. If they formed an army and tried to invade and occupy, then we maybe could. But if they come as individuals, each one of them gets a free bombing or free murder before we can do anything about it.

I have no doubt that is your position and that I am not going to talk you out of it. So I won't try. I will just tell you that 95% of the rest of the world is going to find that position at best retarded and at worst insane. So, good luck with that.

[tarran]

Oh there are all sorts of things you could do John to 'stop' them.

You could persuade people not to do business with them.

You could surveill them to bring their evildoing to light (should they decide to try to form their caliphate instead of driving a cab).

And if you see one trying to saw a head off, you take the *his* fucking head off with a shotgun.

[John]

You could persuade people not to do business with them.

Words really do fail on that one. Sure, you plan to blow shit up but we will show you, we are going to boycott you. Really?

You could surveill them to bring their evildoing to light (should they decide to try to form their caliphate instead of driving a cab).

What gives you the right to do that? That is discrimination. And what about their right to privacy? Just because someone comes here from a country you don't like doesn't mean they no longer have Constitutional rights. Not every person from Iraq is going to blow shit up and not every ISIS member will either.

And how do you plan to put them "under surveillance" if you don't control the border? They have a right to come here whenever and however they want to. Do we have border checks between Missouri and Kansas? No. So where do you get off having them between the US and Canada? They have a right to come here and they have a right to be free to do whatever they like and be free from government intrusions into their lives. How dare you say otherwise.

[tarran]

Words really do fail on that one. Sure, you plan to blow shit up but we will show you, we are going to boycott you. Really?

I take it then you are opposed to the laws of U.S. government forbidding people from doing business with illegal aliens? Because U.S. immigration policy is largely enforced via a mandatory boycott.

What gives you the right to do that? That is discrimination. And what about their right to privacy?

You've been commenting on reason for what 10 years now, and you don't realize that ancaps the choice to engage in racial and ethnic discrimination is up to the individual?

And what right to privacy? Any privacy I have arises out of my right to control my shit. I have no right to force you avert your eyes from my shit so long as you aren't trespassing. If you sit on a public road and take notes as to who drives up my driveway and when, it's not a violation of my rights.

Do we have border checks between Missouri and Kansas? No. So where do you get off having them between the US and Canada?

My goodness! I think you are actually starting to get it!!! A couple of years ago, the local cops arrested a violent home invasion crew from North Carolina in my home town. We must have dodged a bullet; allowing Carolinians to freely come and go from Massachusetts could have resulted in us being burned out of our homes!

[John]

I take it then you are opposed to the laws of U.S. government forbidding people from doing business with illegal aliens? Because U.S. immigration policy is largely enforced via a mandatory boycott.

I am not. But you are supposed to be. So, doesn't that make your idea contradictory to your professed belief that it is "retarded to have any border restrictions"?

You've been commenting on reason for what 10 years now, and you don't realize that ancaps the choice to engage in racial and ethnic discrimination is up to the individual?

So the government won't do anything? Okay. So your plan is to leave it up to individual militias of people to track and stop these people. Yeah, that will work out well.

My goodness! I think you are actually starting to get it!!!

Yes, I do get it. And the result is that you will these people in, have no idea where they are, what they are doing or if they are even here and give every one of them a free murder or bomb before anything is done.

Again, I am not trying to talk you out of your position. I am just telling you that pretty much every other person on earth is going to think it is insane.

[tarran]

I am not. But you are supposed to be. So, doesn't that make your idea contradictory to your professed belief that it is "retarded to have any border restrictions"?

Nope. boycotts are nasty things to do to people. If you want decide as an individual you want to boycott someone, have at it. Hell, I do it occasionally myself.

I am opposed to mandatory boycotts that prevent people from doing business with people they want to.

And, most people reading this not only know that, they also know that you know that, so you really aren't doing yourself any favors by trying to set up that fallacy of false choice.

[tarran]

So the government won't do anything? Okay. So your plan is to leave it up to individual militias of people to track and stop these people. Yeah, that will work out well.

You really love the fallacy of false choice don't you? The reality we are dealing with is the U.S. And the U.S. government has many marvelous tools to surveil people and to tease out conspiracies. The various police forces that operate on it do relatively surveil people who are suspected to be engaged in criminal conspiracies. Sometimes, as in the case of that home invasion crew, they get arrested before they can get active in the new place they set up shop.

If we did live in Ancapistan, it would be up to private actors to oppose them, since there wouldn't be a state to do it. What form that would take would depend on how security is provisioned. My guess is that whatever services, coops, mutual insurance companies, and/or security services that catered to Shiites and Jews would be forehanded enough to recognize there was a problem that they needed to deal with. Whether they won or lost woudl depend on how well they did their job.

[John]

Again Tarran, you think anyone who believes in the right to control the borders is "retarded". You have said so on any number of occasions. I am not going to try and argue out of that position. I will only say, you are in a very small minority with that one. I am pretty sure 99% of the sentient people on earth will think the opposite. Just saying.

[tarran]

Again Tarran, you think anyone who believes in the right to control the borders is "retarded".

No John! I asked you to stop making retarded arguments and then declaring that anyone who disagreed with them must be a retard.

[John]

Tarran,

I said people have a collective right to soveriegnty and thus have a right to control immigration and their borders. You called that "retarded". Good for you. You are entitled to your opinion. But that is what you said. Meanwhile, you are the one who claims the entire ISIS army could move here and each get a free murder or bombing as long as they did so individually and not as a Army.

The contrast is a bit striking.

[tarran]

I said people have a collective right to soveriegnty and thus have a right to control immigration and their borders. You called that "retarded". Good for you. You are entitled to your opinion. But that is what you said.

I see you left out the point where you called anyone who didn't agree a retard from your confession.

And yes, you made that assertion. You didn't really back it up with any argument, you just threw it out there and got all whiny and butt-hurt when people judged your work product to be pathetically sub par.

As I said then (and boy I wish I could unearth the actual thread because all my googling can't turn it up) the problem was that you were making a retarded argument and declaring victory. I stand by that comment. And nothing you have subsequently written has made me reconsider my accusation that you were making a retarded argument and then trying (unsuccessfully) to preempt any counter argument by accusing those who disagreed with you of being retards.

[John]

Tarran,

My argument is that without that, there is no such thing as a nation state. At some point you hit conceptual bedrock. You have to start with some assumptions. And that is my assumption. Why do I like that assumption? Because the world is better with nation states than it would be without them. The ability to collectively organize into a sovereignty for a common defense is one of essential things to creating nations and laws and such. I happen to like those things and thus like that assumption. Beyond that, since other people are going to do that right or wrong, we really don't have much choice but to do it ourselves. So right or wrong, it is the state of the world.

If you don't like those things, then you don't like that assumption and reject that right. Well good for you. Good for you. You are a transnationalist who rejects the concept of the nation stat and sovereignty. I am not.

[tarran]

Meanwhile, you are the one who claims the entire ISIS army could move here and each get a free murder or bombing as long as they did so individually and not as a Army.

All the oxygen in the room could also in theory go into one corner of my workplace, and all of us could die of anoxia at our desks. I don't fret about that either. Gosh! I really like living dangerously don't I?!?

[John]

Okay, Tarran,

You think that no one would ever move here and do bad things or if they ever did would never do so in large enough numbers to create a significant harm.

Whatever fantasy you want to live by is your call. I don't know what to tell you other than the world in reality doesn't often work like you think it will. Moreover, even if it does for a while, it won't matter once it doesn't.

[tarran]

Again Tarran, you think anyone who believes in the right to control the borders is "retarded". You have said so on any number of occasions.

No I have not said that, and I challenge you to back that up with a citation or to retract it.

I am certain of this because I don't believe anyone who isn't for open borders is retarded. For example, I don't believe George Will is a retard.

I don't believe you are a retard, although I do on occasion accuse you of being one in a cynical bid to drive you into a fury. It works too! 😉

[MJGreen]

Late to this discussion, but there's one obvious option being ignored: an ISIS member that did murder or commit some other crime in the Middle East could be prosecuted here.

So he immigrates here, and you have proof that this is a bad person guilty of crimes? I think there's a moral right to detain him and act as agent for his victims.

[Mainer2]

Back when we used to worry about the Russkies launching ICBM's at us, George Carlin put border security in perspective. No need to deliver a nuclear bomb on the tip of a missile....just put it inside a bale of marijuana.

[Mand13]

You're right. You could never completely secure the border, but you could man easily traveled areas. Desolate areas don't generally need to be extensively monitored as they tend to kill people who cross by foot and 1 drone/satellite could pick up vehicle traffic for hundreds of miles. I'm not trying to say it would be easy but the over trillion dollars spent in Iraq probably could have gotten the job done. Also it would be nice to have an immigration system that actually lets people in but also verifies identity and that they don't have active TB. A real immigration system, I'll admit is a bit a of a pipe dream.

[Drake]

I thought we were supposed to disengage from the terrible Islamic radicals in the Middle East, but let all of them wishing to immigrate to the U.S. in - no questions asked?

[Rhywun]

Yes, except for the "no questions asked" strawman.

[kbolino]

Look, if government-appointed question-askers aren't the ones asking questions, then no questions are being asked, don't you know!

After all, it's not like landlords ask any questions of potential tenants, or banks of potential mortgagees, or employers of potential employees, ...

[Sevo]

Well, the media is quite proud:

"Lesson learned, Tea Party plays nice on spending"
[...]
""No question we learned that with the aid of the news media the Democrats were able to pin the blame on us" for last year's shutdown, said conservative Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala."
http://www.sfgate.com/politics.....747023.php

[Stormy Dragon]

Depressing News:

Star cluster shows lithium shortfall is widespread

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Depressing

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And I finally read your byline. Derp.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

What you did there,...

[sarcasmic]

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

[Colonel Slanders]

And this is depressing why?

[Colonel Slanders]

Doh! What a dummy - I didn't see what you did there... at first.

[Sevo]

Pinging GILMORE!

Some of the funniest clothing comments I've seen.
Example:
"Here is something for your friends to wear golfing after they lose a bet with the rest of the group"
or:
"You know you have a pants problem when people can't tell if they're looking at part of the pants or strangely loose socks."
http://www.sfgate.com/life/sty.....832125.php

[Rhywun]

My god, men's fashion is a joke. They should really just stop trying.

[Restoras]

The hipsters in NYC seem to be engaged in a fashion war - who can dress more like a little boy. It's pathetic. If I were a woman that age I'd be freaking out that one of these assholes want to be my husband.

[UnCivilServant]

What's the last article the 'fashion industry' invented that actual migrated into the everyday attire of the average male?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The keyboard necktie?

[Sevo]

"What's the last article the 'fashion industry' invented that actual migrated into the everyday attire of the average male?"

The transition from skinny ties to wide ties and then back again.

[Kaptious Kristen]

I feel like I just stepped into the Hot Tub Time Machine.

[Restoras]

Great flick!

[Kaptious Kristen]

Indeed. How can any movie that combines the 80's and skiing be bad? The answer is it can't.

[widget]

Missouri lawmakers overrode three of Gov. Jay Nixon's vetoes yesterday, approving a mandatory 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, exempting farmer's markets from sales tax, and allowing public school teachers to carry concealed weapons.

O for 3, strikeout. None of these are anyone else's business. Go team red!

[sarcasmic]

Former WWE star wrestler-turned-hair stylist Sean O'Haire dies from apparent suicide at 43

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....de-43.html

Wrestler-turned-hair stylist?

[John]

http://legalnewsline.com/news/.....sider-says

Since Reason is too busy covering the important things like Sarah Palin's facebook feed to get around to covering one of the worst cases of politically motivated proprietorial abuse in a very long time, I will just leave this here. This John Doe investigation in Wisconsin is something else.

http://legalnewsline.com/news/.....sider-says

Now a longtime Chisholm subordinate reveals for the first time in this article that the district attorney may have had personal motivations for his investigation. Chisholm told him and others that Chisholm's wife, Colleen, a teacher's union shop steward at St. Francis high school, a public school near Milwaukee, had been repeatedly moved to tears by Walker's anti-union policies in 2011, according to the former staff prosecutor in Chisholm's office. Chisholm said in the presence of the former prosecutor that his wife "frequently cried when discussing the topic of the union disbanding and the effect it would have on the people involved ? She took it personally."

Citing fear of retaliation, the former prosecutor declined to be identified and has not previously talked to reporters.

Chisholm added, according to that prosecutor, that "he felt that it was his personal duty to stop Walker from treating people like this."

[tarran]

Wow.... just wow..... these people literally are children in adult bodies!

[John]

They launched dawn SWAT raids serving search warrants on people. I am not kidding. People who had worked with Club for Growth or the Walker Campaign were subjected to SWAT raids serving unbelievably broad search warrants that allowed the cops to tear apart their entire house. And then the hack judges put gag orders on everyone so they couldn't complain to the media about it. The whole thing is terrifying.

[TwB]

It's something straight out of 1984. I mean, that is scary as fuck. What next?

[Idle Hands]

Well you would be upset to if you knew you were about to lose your job and had 0 skillsets because it was required by law for people to pay you. The difference being you don't have a husband whose vindictive/powerful enough to set out to ruin and jail people over your layoff.

[CatoTheElder]

Wow ... just wow ... this is banana republic stuff.

[Idle Hands]

Dude.

[TwB]

Jesus.

[Zeb]

Now that is fucked up. Seems right up Reason's alley too.

Shit like this is why I don't like elected judges and DAs.

[The Late P Brooks]

Since Reason is too busy covering the important things like Sarah Palin's facebook feed

Maybe you should start your own blog as you goldbrick from your government job; then we can see how many of us would read it.

[John]

I know at least you would Brooks. If you didn't, how would manage to be butt hurt every day?

[sarcasmic]

What Brooks said. Seriously.

[John]

I don't whine about you, why are whining about me? You are the one who constantly insults me. If you don't like getting it back, don't start it. I don't care either way.

[sarcasmic]

You're the whiner.

"Waaaah! Reason isn't covering what I want them to cover! They're not true libertarians, because if they were then they'd cover what I feel is important! Waaaah!"

[John]

If criticizing them for ignoring a story is "whining", then maybe I am. That still begs the question of why you should care? If you don't think the story is important, don't comment on it. Instead you come in and insult me and then get all pissy when I give the same back at you.

Again, if you don't care, don't comment.

[sarcasmic]

You're the only one who's pissy. Just you. Not me. Not Brooks. Just you.

[John]

There is nothing pissy about trolling every thread I start by yelling RED TONY. Yeah, nothing pissy at all. Again, if you don't want me to go back after you, don't insult me. I didn't direct the comment about the John Doe investigation to Brooks. Why did he and you feel the need to insult me about it?

If my posts both you so much, don't comment on them. I don't stalk your threads and insult you. Why do you feel the need to do the same to me?

[sarcasmic]

Why did he and you feel the need to insult me about it?

I don't think he wasn't insulting you for pointing out the story. Rather I figure he was insulting you for acting like an arrogant bitch while you did it.

[John]

And I pointed out what a whinny little bitch that made you. So we are even. If you don't like me calling you that, stop being one.

[sarcasmic]

When you use logical fallacies, I'm going to call you Red Tony.

Not that you are self aware enough to understand. You will, just like Tony, say that I just don't like your argument. And then everyone else will point and laugh at you.

When you go on about how you are so superior to Reason because you find a particular story to be important, again people will shit on you for being a condescending prick. And again, just like Tony, you will show no self awareness as you whine and cry about being picked on.

Perhaps you could stop using fallacies and stop being an arrogant bitch.

Nah. That would require some humility.

[widget]

Wisconsin is the home of the Allen Bradley corporation. AB is a heavy hitter in industrial automation. AB gets sole-sourced on many public sector/military contracts. The standing joke is that you can buy a better product than one from Allen Bradley but you cannot pay more for it.

[db]

Allen-Bradley is the Microsoft Windows of the process control world--standardized for the sake of standardization.

[The Late P Brooks]

Yeah, sure, whatever.

[John]

You are the one who feels the need to attack me. I never attack you until you go after me. Why do you care if I tweak reason for not covering the John Doe investigation other than you want an excuse to whine and be butt hurt?

[The Late P Brooks]

The standing joke is that you can buy a better product than one from Allen Bradley but you cannot pay more for it.

Nice.

[The Original Jason]

Note to future supervillans: Cause trouble right before elections. US will be too busy with elections to stop me.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Excellent album, especially Pink Thing, which I have to skip while my kids are in the car.

[db]

"This video is not available."

[db]

Who performs that? Video is not avail to me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Probably written under a Republican president.

[Lord Humungus]

Works for me.

[Ted S.]

I had a different "King For a Day" in mind....

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

But of course. It was a swipe at Reagan, even though he was involved in fewer military adventures than almost all of the Democrat Presidents over the last 100 years. Not surprising since it was released in '89 and pretty much all English music from that era is tainted by an anti-Thatcher bent.

[Ted S.]

Nobody does it better,
Makes me feel sad for the rest;
Nobody does it half as good as me,
Baby I'm he best.

🙂

[Pro Libertate]

Ringo Starr--the greatest of the Beatles.

[TwB]

Ehh, I still prefer George. But, Ringo will outlive Paul and get the last laugh. And yes, I know that Ringo is older than Paul but still, it will happen.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, George was married to Barbara Bach, too?

[CatoTheElder]

Reagan also launched the most significant arms reduction initiative in history, which was many orders of magnitude more significant than whatever holds second place.

[jmomls]

It's always been an annoyance to listen to British musicians try to stick their nose in our politics, as if they had any bloody idea as to what life in America is like. Crawl back to your socialist hellhole and get decapitated by hook-handed mullahs, scumbags.