Climate Change Takes 'Front and Center' in US Diplomacy, Lois Lerner Regrets Nothing, SEC Pays Record Award to Tipster: P.M. Links

C-Span

• Secretary of State John Kerry says climate change will be "front and center" in U.S. foreign policy. Cuz there's nothing else going on.
• Saying there's no legal standing to challenge other people's taxes, subsidies or the really fishy administration thereof, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed a lawsuit filed by a physicians' group against President Obama's delay of the Affordable Care Act employer mandate.
• Channeling her inner Edith Piaf, Lois Lerner says she regrets nothing. "I'm proud of my career and the job I did for this country," the controversial former IRS (alleged) political hitwoman told interviewers.
• Turkey now plays host to 130,000 Kurdish refugees who are as scared as everybody else of the psychopaths in ISIS.
• What would you say for $30 million? That's the record award doled out by the SEC to an anonymous tipster.
• Saying that doing business in Venezuela is "no longer viable," Clorox is pulling its operations out of the self-destructive country. Investors gave the company a thumbs up.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

What would you say for $30 million? That's the record award doled out by the SEC to an anonymous tipster.

So are we going to find out this tipster went to school with Michelle or Barry himself?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

FYI: Uber is ruffling the taxi monopoly here in Montreal.

[Rich]

It'd be pretty slick if the tipster *is* Barry himself.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's like 30 peace prizes.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Secretary of State John Kerry says climate change will be "front and center" in U.S. foreign policy.

How is State going to write a check to fix that problem?

[DJF]

They are going to require ISIS to use fuel efficient vehicles when creating their Islamic State

[Pro Libertate]

There are atrocities we simply will not accept, like failing to recycle discarded weapons.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

We'll set up a program to convert abandoned Hummvees to run on CNG.

[Pope Jimbo]

So they are sending the electric vehicles to the Iraqi army? That seems to be the most efficient way to get any equipment into the hands of ISIS.

The Iraqi army is the fucking Fed Ex of arms delivery from itself to its enemies.

[Wasteland Wanderer]

Actually, that's not a bad idea. It'd hamper ISIS with shitty short ranged vehicles and get them off our hands at the same time!

Priuses (Prii?) for ISIS!

[PapayaSF]

It all makes sense. NASA was tasked with improving relations with the Muslim world, so State takes over climate change and space exploration.

[Andrew S.]

White House petition to designate CopBlock (and, by extension, Reason and others) as domestic terrorists

Stupidity aside, I'm pretty sure we're already considered as domestic terrorists by the DHS.

[jesse.in.mb]

I'm pretty sure we're already considered as domestic terrorists by the DHS.

"We" being bronies in this case?

[Andrew S.]

No, that's Juggalos. Bronies are weird but harmless.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

HARMLESS! The third picture down scarred my psyche forever.

[jesse.in.mb]

That's what makes bronies so dangerous.* By the time we realized they were tearing the fabric of society apart at the seams it was too late.

WEEP FOR HUMANITY, CLOPMAGEDDON HAS BEGUN

*I've been going on dates with a brony, "weird but harmless" is a pretty accurate description.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Wait until he wants you to put on the Discord costume before you mount him as he's dressed as Fluttershy.

[GILMORE]

W. T. F.

"I believe that many people who are active in this organization are committing terroristic acts by inspiring, inciting, or taking parts in acts that are designed to take human lives in cold blood for political gain"

I can't really even figure out what that means. Criticizing the police = political murder?

[KDN]

Man, Tulpa has really gone off the deep end over the past year.

[ant1sthenes]

Maybe they're confused and meant to classify cops as terrorists?

[db]

Look for Venezuela apologists to whitewash the economic conditions to attempt to stain Clorox's reputation.

[Ted S.]

It's nice to see somebody beat Fisty to the joke.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Saying that doing business in Venezuela is "no longer viable," Clorox is pulling its operations out of the self-destructive country.

How will that country whitewash the problems inherent in socialism now?

[db]

Ahem.

[Andrew S.]

Sorry, but Fist's comments, even if they're not first, have two minutes deleted from them so they can be first. It's in the rulebook.

[Ted S.]

I'm surprised people don't start using reasonable to put Fisty on ignore.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I do that for everyone else. My comments are always first.

[datcv]

They are going to wish they still had access to Clorox's stain-fighting powers when they need to get the blood stains of mass graves out of their government uniforms.

[blackjack]

They got sick of bleaching the reds into pinkos.

[Brett L]

FSU's student newspaper has some fun at our QB's expense.

Heisman trophy winning quarterback Jameis Winston walked into his early morning history class on Monday wearing full shoulder pads and a helmet. According to reports, he stayed in uniform until Jimbo Fisher showed up to tell him to get the fuck out and to take his damn pads off again.

[Ted S.]

Is "fuck her in the cunt" really that bad?

[Andrew S.]

No, but given his history, it was a pretty fucking stupid thing for him to do.

[Ted S.]

If he stood up on a table in the cafeteria, like I heard, it sounds to me like somebody put him up to a dare.

[Brett L]

Oh, I'm sure. FSU should really fly Vince Young in to spend an hour or two explaining how fast your career can go to shit when NFL GMs decide you are a liability in spite of your huge talents.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I took it as a political response to the growing acceptance of sodomy in our law and culture

[Brett L]

I'm pretty sure that isn't sodomy.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

That's my point (or his)

[Coeus]

In some jurisdictions, anything but missionary style with a spouse was considered sodomy.

[Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)]

I think sodomy is pretty much in the eye (or other opening) of the beholder.

[fish]

Well lets hope it's the "other opening"...I'm pretty sure that "in the eye" would hurt like hell!

[trshmnster the terrible]

NTTAWWT

[Brett L]

He failed an intelligence test. If he wanted to know how big a pain in the ass to the university he could get away with being, he knows now. I think the interim President sent a pretty clear message to Jimbo Fisher that she doesn't give a fuck about the winning streak. (Good on her, by the way. It probably makes Fisher's job easier, too.)

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, but what if Clemson had won?

[Brett L]

She's already pretty clearly NOT the Board of Trustee's favored candidate. John Thrasher is trying to fuck it up, but I'm pretty sure the Board will drag him across the finish line. What does she have to lose? Support of the Boosters?

[Pro Libertate]

I'm glad that money sports don't corrupt universities or, for that matter, government.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I think it's romantic.

[Steve G]

Atlas Mugged: How a Libertarian Paradise in Chile Fell Apart
After reading the article I'm failing to see how this was a libertarian paradise. Seems more like that "libertarian" reality show Utopia?

[Jerry on the sea]

Wait, no mention of Friedman and Pinochet?!!

[Brett L]

Redacted as Paul Krugman's turns as adviser to Enron just before they got caught and Indonesia just before their currency shit the bed.

[MJGreen]

Without reading it, I'm going to guess that it's a libertarian paradise because one thing was privatized.

Since it's Chile and "Atlas Mugged," I'm guessing that thing has to do with pensions.

[blackjack]

I only got part ways in, but the big point was the property wasn't ZONED correctly. A clear indictment of minarchists if ever there was.

[Mendelism]

When you say "privatized", I assume you mean "a private company was granted a local monopoly by the government", like it does in the US.

[Doctor Whom]

Meanwhile, in the progressive utopia that is Venezuela, everything is just peachy except for the latest crop of wreckers, hoarders, saboteurs, and kulaks.

[Sevo]

"Secretary of State John Kerry says climate change will be "front and center" in U.S. foreign policy. Cuz there's nothing else going on."

Hey, did you see that crowd on Sunday? We could jump right in front and claim we were there all along!

[Fist of Etiquette]

"I'm proud of my career and the job I did for this country," the controversial former IRS (alleged) political hitwoman told interviewers.

"Well, my half of the country, anyway."

[Obama's Buttplug]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M

[Andrew S.]

Miami police union boss on body cams

I have to admit, as excuses go, that one's pretty creative. They can't use body cams because they could lead to the death of officers... by getting choked with the cord. Bonus: The ones they'd likely be using are cordless.

[db]

And more: how would we prevent the inevitable and ruinous lawsuits against the police officers for their taking of upskirt photos on a daily basis?

[Fist of Etiquette]

He knows they'll be ineffective as jelly doughnut filling covers the lens.

[Brett L]

Icelandic cops may not be better than US cops, but at least they understand how to use twitter for positive PR.

[jesse.in.mb]

Squeeeee.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I think that they've had one fatal police shooting in their entire history nation-wide so it's probably safe to say they are better than US cops.

[Pro Libertate]

Who shoots their cousin?

[Brett L]

Besides Floridians?

[Pro Libertate]

I meant generically speaking. Florida is an exception to all rules.

[Rich]

A Chicago gangbanger?

[Acosmist]

Yeah nothing about the demographics of fucking ICELAND could be different. Must be better cops!

[Pro Libertate]

It's going to turn out that Iceland is a bunch of clones of one guy and of one woman.

[jesse.in.mb]

Acosmist is probably right, everyone get your serious inbreeding on now. We'll all live in closely-related enclaves and when we're all fifth cousins or closer, we'll live in an adorably-policed utopia.

Oh wait, Acosmist just means they're white and so there isn't so much crime. Oops.

[Ted S.]

Of course, there are only 7 people in Iceland, so the per-capita rate is a bit higher.

[Ted S.]

Why are embedded anti-social networking widgets such horrid memory hogs?

[Warty]

The cute female pig who just power snatched 40 kilos. Bring her to me.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Gawker talks reparations:

The only form that reparations could plausibly ever take is a huge, nationwide program designed to address the modern-day effects of slavery and discrimination?most importantly, poverty?without putting in place strict racial boundaries.

There are some benefits to this approach. Lefties are always wondering how to get poor white people to unite with poor non-white people to fight for common cause. One good way: address their common problem by paying them both. There's no better way to make explicit their common economic plight.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Let's address a few objections that are bound to crop up.

1. Money is not enough to address the evils of slavery and the legacy of racism. I strongly agree...

2. $25,000 is a pittance compared to the historic damages. I strongly agree...

3. This monetary payment is not enough to address the myriad ills that are still the legacy of racism. I strongly agree...

Yes, yes, my idea is stupid, but we must do it anyway

[Pro Libertate]

I want reparations for the theft of my wealth by an illegitimate government.

[perlhaqr]

Good luck with that.

[Pro Libertate]

I can easily account for it by producing my tax records. See? There it is, in black and white.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm still waiting for my 20 acres and a donkey.

[Pro Libertate]

Does it work that way or is it like being an Indian, where just a few drops gets you FULL METAL BENEFITS?

[Warty]

I believe there's some sort of test involving eating and passing a paper bag.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Does it work that way or is it like being an Indian, where just a few drops gets you FULL METAL BENEFITS?

Good question. I guess the answer always lies in what will give the party in power a larger voting demographic.

[Pro Libertate]

We could drop all of the pretense of people deserving disability or welfare payments and base it solely on whether you have slave-descended blood or ever interacted with someone who has slave-descended blood. Then finance the payments the way we pay for everything else.

[Idle Hands]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah right like they'll ever terminate those programs. I would predict a flood of black immigrants claiming that they were affected by the African slave trade, which is endless.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Then finance the payments the way we pay for everything else.

Through issuing Monopoly money? (Remember, according to the rules, the Banker never runs out of funds)

Sounds legit.

[Pro Libertate]

Exactly. Here, have a billion dollars.

[Rich]

And we're we all supposed to get a check for bailing out GM?

[Homple]

Ok HM, that was good.

[PapayaSF]

Gawker talks reparations

Ooh, ooh, I know! They could call it "the War on Poverty"!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I would just like to say that I like the French lyrics to "O Canada" better than the English lyrics.

Compare and contrast the English lyrics to the literal translation of the French lyrics:

(LAME VERSION)
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

(COOL VERSION)
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.

(LAME VERSION)
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

(COOL VERSION)
As is thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.....ial_lyrics

[Andrew S.]

To that end, I've always liked the last stanza of the Star Spangled Banner better than the first.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, and its too bad Montenegro already got dibs on this anthem, because it would make an awesome U.S. anthem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPtPjMdtofk

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Well, it was originally written in French.

[Ted S.]

Oh USA, our home and native land,
True patriot sex, in all thy sons command.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, why not just get Rush to write and perform a new national anthem?

"Spirit of the Canadian?"

[jesse.in.mb]

Meanwhile in Egypt (sorry for the Buzzfeed link, it's long-form, not list style): Egypt Begins Surveillance Of Facebook, Twitter, And Skype On Unprecedented Scale

Egyptians' online communications are now being monitored by the sister company of an American cybersecurity firm, giving the Egyptian government an unprecedented ability to comb through data from Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, among others.

"We are looking at any conversation, any interaction, we might find worrying or would want to keep a closer eye on," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not permitted to speak to the press. "We are watching conversations between Islamists, or those who discuss Islamism. We are watching communities, which we consider at risk."

When asked to explain further, the official said those taking part in "debauchery" or "homosexual acts" would be watched "for the protection of Egypt."

Continued...

[jesse.in.mb]

...

In a copy of the tenders issued by the Interior Ministry, and published on several Egyptian news sites, the ministry spelt out the type of online communications it will be searching for:

Blasphemy and skepticism in religions; regional, religious, racial, and class divisions; spreading of rumors and intentional twisting of facts; throwing accusations; libel; sarcasm; using inappropriate words; calling for the departure of societal pillars; encouraging extremism, violence and dissent; inviting demonstrations, sit-ins and illegal strikes; pornography, looseness, and lack of morality; educating methods of making explosives and assault, chaos and riot tactics; calling for normalizing relations with enemies and circumventing the state's strategy in this regard; fishing for honest mistakes, hunting flesh; taking statements out of context; and spreading hoaxes and claims of miracles.

I'd just like to point out how much I love that they used spelt instead of spelled. LOVE.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I take back all the sympathetic remarks I made about the Egyptian government.

Fuck them.

[jesse.in.mb]

I like how they buried really normal things in that list with actual extreme things. I get keeping an eye out for explosive making and training in riot tactics, but sarcasm, fishing for honest mistakes and calling for normalization relations with enemies [I'm assuming Israel here]?

[db]

You know which are the ones they are really targeting. Just as in the U.S. the SWAT teams most frequently are used against the less dangerous criminals while.using the most dangerous as their primary justification for.existence, they will track and target the gays, dissidents, and hoax spreaders.

[Winston]

fishing for honest mistakes

What does this mean exactly?

[jesse.in.mb]

What does this mean exactly?

I think they're just saying criticizing the government when it's heart was in the right place, but that may just be me being really cynical.

[Winston]

That's the most likely definition I could think of. And I'm sure their definition of "honest mistakes" will be quite broad.

[Rich]

You have to consider the whole snippet: fishing for honest mistakes, hunting flesh.

So, it doesn't mean anything.

[Coeus]

Feminist dislikes new white house campaign because it isn't gendered enough.

The White House's flashy new bystander intervention campaign, It's On Us, makes sexual assault sound a lot like a bad thunderstorm ? unfortunate, inevitable, striking seemingly out of nowhere, and devoid of human agents. The solution, then, is easy and comfortable: "Identify situations in which [a-tornado-I-mean-sexual-assault] may occur" and guide your friend to safety; remember: "If something looks like a bad situation, it probably is."

Gender-based violence is not like the weather. It has direct, immediate human agents and is structural and systemic at its core. But the new campaign de-politicizes and de-genders sexual assault, portraying it as an easy-to-avoid problem solely between individuals, and making perpetrators out to be vague "someones" who do "something" to other "someones." In reality, perpetrators are disproportionately likely to be men and their victims are disproportionately likely to be women

By not making it gendered, it seems like she should look out for her drunk friends also, instead of just the men. Responsibility is now what feminists signed up for.

Not to mention that more men were raped by women than vice/versa last year, according to their own metrics.

[Coeus]

Responsibility is now not what feminists signed up for.

FIFM

[MJGreen]

They really don't want any kind of campaign directed at anyone other than the rapist. Don't tell women how to protect themselves or identify bad situations, don't tell bros to keep an eye on their bros acting sketchy. You can only target the rapist, who, being a rapist, probably doesn't give a shit.

[Coeus]

don't tell bros to keep an eye on their bros acting sketchy

No, they want that. That's why they're pissed. The whitehouse didn't specifically task men with this, so obviously it's unfair.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Here, eat this taco, you get rapey when you're hungry.

/new snickers commercial

[PapayaSF]

But the new campaign de-politicizes and de-genders sexual assault

Oh noes! We all know sexual assault must be politicized! And gender equality depends on not de-gendering anything!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Let's address a few objections that are bound to crop up.

1. Money is not enough to address the evils of slavery and the legacy of racism. I strongly agree...

2. $25,000 is a pittance compared to the historic damages. I strongly agree...

3. This monetary payment is not enough to address the myriad ills that are still the legacy of racism. I strongly agree...

Yes, yes, my idea is stupid, but we must do it anyway

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Threading fail.

[Ted S.]

I just figured it was P Brooks posting.

[Brett L]

Big Bang denialism -- not just for fundies.

The Planck analysis is "relatively definitive in that we can't exclude that the entirety of our signal is from dust," said Brian Keating, an astrophysicist at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the BICEP2 collaboration.

(Note: I don't actually believe this hulls the Big Bang theory, but it does lower the evidence we have in favor of it, back to the Cosmic Background IR signal and several other "what else can it be?" physical results. Alternatively, dark matter/energy and the lithium problem continue to bedevil final confirmation. I still think it is the best theory we have.)

[db]

My guess on the nature of dark matter is that it is "regular" matter, just located in a parallel universe whose dimensions are closely interlaced with ours in such a way that it exerts gravitation-like influence on the shape of our space time. Our "real" matter would likewise appear as dark matter to parallel universe astrophysicists.

Just my ignorant $0.02.

[Brett L]

Its not worse than most of the other theories on why gravity isn't quite right at the universe sclae.

[Pro Libertate]

It's just a flaw in the VR simulation. Like pain.

[SMcBride]

There's a manyfold Universe model that suggests that space may be twisted into higher dimensions in such a way that the "extra" gravity seen in galaxies (the "dark matter" problem) is actually from other galaxies in this universe. No parallel universes needed.

[db]

Fair enough.

[Pro Libertate]

Strung-out theory?

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Cheap universe, recycling gravity all over the place.

[Rich]

My favorite hypothesis along these lines (paraphrasing): "You know why every electron in the universe has the same mass and charge? Because they're all the *same* electron, thrashing around furiously in spacetime."

[Heroic Mulatto]

Woah.

[Rich]

Exactly. It's mind-boggling.

[Pro Libertate]

Typical. BIG BANG DISPROVED is less sexy than ONE PIECE OF BIG BANG PROOF POSSIBLY DISCREDITED.

[Coeus]

Krugnuts manages to moralize while denying that he's doing so, and get in a random swipe at libertarians to boot.
He's been in top form, lately.

The Atlantic has an article about a website that sets up "mutually beneficial relationships" between wealthy older men and college students. Yes, it's prurient, and I'm probably a dirty old man for even linking to it ? although what really caught my eye was just how closely reality echoes Woody Allen's (speaking of dirty old men) story "The Whore of Mensa".

But there is some economics here too. Thomas Piketty tells us that we're living in a new Belle Epoque ? and he's right, in some ways contemporary society feels more like that era than the cruder, more hypocritical American Gilded Age ? and one thing extreme inequality brings is, yes, a courtesan class.

I'm not moralizing; there are far worse things going on in our society. But maybe it's a reality check for those who imagine that all our plutocrats are Hank Rearden having a torrid but uplifting affair with Dagny Taggart.

[Jerry on the sea]

60 years ago a woman could use marriage to get out of poverty. Good luck trying that these days.

[Ted S.]

Nowadays they use divorce to get out of poverty.

(This is why there are no female libertarians....)

[Notorious G.K.C.]

That *totally* wasn't the intention of the feds in so inflating the higher ed bubble that students wouldrather prostitute themselves than incur huge costs and debts for an education which could be available for less money, and less selling of one's virtue.

Really, the feds are the real victim here because all this makes them look bad!

[db]

I'm guessing most fans of Atlas Shrugged spend less time imagining the Koch brothers as inspiring heroes and more time watching the real-life Wesley Mouches, Floyd Ferrises, Balph Eubanks, and Robert Stadlers of today follow the script to a T.

[db]

And I am looking at you, Paul Krugman, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Thomas Friedman, et al.

[perlhaqr]

What's the issue with NdGT? I haven't heard this one, I don't think.

[PapayaSF]

He's been caught fabricating quotes and anecdotes. There's a bit of a Wikipedia war going on about it now.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

You could start here.

Neil deGrasse Tyson may well be America's most prominent scientist. He is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History, both in New York. He was the host for Fox's "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey" and PBS's "NOVA ScienceNow." He is a prominent lecturer and public intellectual, and may be more well known than Bill Nye, the Science Guy. He is a noted authority on science and current affairs ? and yet, according to at least one critic, he may have a habit of making up some of the tales he tells in his speeches.

[Doctor Whom]

I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. It was like Atlas Shrugged in stereo.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

I thought Krugnuts was in the courtesan class.

[fish]

....and to his credit he stays a kept man in spite of any contrary evidence!

/cue Tammy Wynette

[Doctor Whom]

I'm not moralizing

Sure you're not.

those who imagine that all our plutocrats are Hank Rearden having a torrid but uplifting affair with Dagny Taggart

The progressive war on straw continues.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

You can tell his wife wrote the second phrase.

[Winston]

So Reason will support the Ed Bubble now?

[PapayaSF]

Who in hell imagines that "all our plutocrats are Hank Rearden"? Has Krugman actually read anything by libertarians?

[Whahappan?]

No he doesn't, and I'm not being snarky. He has openly stated that he doesn't read his critics, because they are beneath him, and he doesn't need to familiarize himself with their arguments to refute them. He's literally proud of his ignorance of opposing points of view.

[Mickey Rat]

Has Krugman actually read Atlas Shrugged for that matter? The majority of plutocrats in that story were not "Hank Reardons" either.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, all this talk about climate change being center to our foreign policy, which sounds psychotic on the surface. . .could it be something more direct than it sounds? Could the U.S. have weather control and be threatening countries with literal warming? Don't fuck with us, or you'll be having one season next year--fucking hot.

[Winston]

HAARP! Chemtrails!

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

You'd think they'd do something about the drought in California, then - unless it's part of advancing the narrative.

[Pro Libertate]

Our secret weapon needs a cover story, naturally.

[db]

You won't know it until ISIS gets really threatening and moves to destroy the Mosul Dam. Then we'll all wake up and find Lake Mead full to the brim next day, and HAARP will be revealed as "fully operational."

[Idle Hands]

We'll we know Cheney and Bush used it on New Orleans because they hated black people or something.

[jesse.in.mb]

For the last time, God was trying to punish the gays and he just missed slightly. Poor black people just got in the way.

[Idle Hands]

He made an interesting tactical choice of picking New Orleans as the premier gay hot bed in america. But who am I to question his strategy.

[Brett L]

He aimed halfway between Atlanta and Houston.

[Horatio]

So Superstorm Sandy was his correcting shot, then?

[PapayaSF]

You know, all this talk about climate change being center to our foreign policy, which sounds psychotic on the surface. . .could it be something more direct than it sounds?

Naw, it's just progressives getting infested with a meme, which can sound like psychosis. Controlling weather (beyond local rainmaking) is hugely difficult, and basically impossible to do in any targeted and secret way.

[Winston]

So has Reason ever written an article about a gay pot-smoking Mexican? Surely one must be running for office somewhere and has some ideas that can be vaguely construed of as libertarian.

[Ted S.]

Finland's road cameras show it's already snowing in parts of the country

(Obviously, the above link is only going to show snow until it melts in the morning.)

[Brandon]

What was the point of posting this? We had snow in Denver two weeks ago.

[Winston]

So I've been reading about the blocparties that exist in Communist countries to create the illusion of multi-party Democracy. Which one of you guys would be willing to be an American Li Jishen?

[Idle Hands]

This needs to be re-posted on principle, I find myself utterly facinated by this person.

WOMAN has spent $20,000 on surgery to get a third breast and her dream is to become a celebrity.
The Florida massage therapist, who calls herself Jasmine Tridevil, said she had the surgery a few months ago.
"It was really hard finding someone that would do it, too, because they're breaking the code of ethics," Tridevil told Real Radio 104.1.
"I called like 50 or 60 doctors, nobody wanted to do it."

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Tridevil said that while she wanted fame and fortune, this was not why she had the surgery.

"I got it because I wanted to make myself unattractive to men. Because I don't want to date anymore," she said.

Riiiiiiight.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Also, adding a third breast will make you unattractive to some men, but it will most certainly attract men who are into third boobs, which I imagine are not the men you want your mom to meet.

[Idle Hands]

he looks harmless.

[lap83]

"I got it because I wanted to make myself unattractive to men. Because I don't want to date anymore," she said.

Oh good, now they'll be able to appreciate her for her impressive intellect!

*looks at her pictures* oh...

[Brett L]

She's trying so hard to appear unattractive that she keeps posing in bikinis! I'll bet she hates sex so bad, she's the Pele of anal.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Nothing wrong with her that years and years of therapy couldn't improve.

[Idle Hands]

She's definitely a project.

[T]

Don't stick your dick in crazy. Just sayin'.

[Rich]

"I'm dumping every penny I have into this. If this doesn't work, I'm through."

She could try getting Kickstarter funding for a fourth breast.

[perlhaqr]

ECCENTRICA GALLUMBITS LIVES!

[Horatio]

You make me wish I had THREE HANDS!

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Baseball games are too fucking long.

So, let's form a committee.

I would still prefer to shorten the season by, oh, 62 games or so.

[Idle Hands]

If they would just enforce the existing rules of timing between pitches and they limited the amount of mound visits allowed it would decrease the game time quite a bit.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Is it supposed to be 12 seconds between pitches?

[Idle Hands]

Something like that, but if you ever put yourself through the hell of Red Sox and Yankees game you would think that they are milking as many commercials as possible.

[Ted S.]

The radio news just breathlessly reported the police claim tht the guy who jumped over the White House fence had [insert scary number, in a terrified town] rounds of ammunition in his car. Never mind that he didn't drive his car over the wall.

[Ted S.]

Er, terrified tone, not terrified town. But Washington does like to engage in fear-mongering.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

They can't take the chance that that ammunition will wait until a gun fires it to hurt someone. Everyone who isn't a knuckle-dragging teabagger knows bullets are blood thirsty and will stop at nothing to kill. Even looking at a bullet funny could cause it to rocket directly at you.

[fish]

I think you underestimate the threat Ted....once he got inside the White House it would be a simple matter to cross the lawn again, hop the fence a second time, walk to his car, open the trunk and grab the crate with the ammunition, walk back to the White House with the crate, Throw the ammo over the fence, climb over the fence again, cross the lawn for a third time and get back into the White House.....

I think it's pretty obvious just how much of a mortal threat that ammunition was to the safety of the president.

[Homple]

Hey, who gets to assert property rights over the White House and toss the guy out? It's common property like the border and he should be able to cross the fence because he's obviously getting a job.

[PapayaSF]

And he should be able to bring his whole family, too.

[Rich]

Josh Earnest said Obama is "obviously concerned" by the embarrassing security breach, but added that the president "continues to have complete confidence" in the Secret Service.

*** facepalm ***

[T]

Bitching out the guys keeping you alive and telling them they suck doesn't seem like a great idea.

[The Late P Brooks]

Lois Lerner says she regrets nothing.

I want to hear her say, in her best Peter Lorre voice, "I'm eeeenocent! Eeeeeenocent, I tell you!"

[fish]

As seen on Drudge....

Says she's not worse than Jeffrey Dahmer...

A tacit admission that she's as bad as Dahmer?

[The Late P Brooks]

That's the record award doled out by the SEC to an anonymous tipster.

anonymous tipster unindicted co-conspirator

[The Late P Brooks]

the police claim tht the guy who jumped over the White House fence had [insert scary number, in a terrified town] rounds of ammunition in his car.

Maybe he made a deal to sell them for a huge profit, and just wanted to thank the President in person.

[Coeus]

New Journolist found. This time for the SJW takeover of the gaming media.

High-profile editors, reporters, and reviewers from heavyweight gaming news sites such as Polygon, Ars Technica, and Kotaku use the private Google Groups mailing list, which is called Gaming Journalism Professionals or GameJournoPros, to shape industry-wide attitudes to events

[Pro Libertate]

It's not paranoia when they're all conspiring to mislead you.

[Coeus]

There were 12 identical articles in the space of two days recently, calling for the "death" of the term "gamer" and it's associated demographic. Confirmation of this list wasn't needed, but it's nice to see it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

And that's all "social justice" is in this context; a statement of "how dare this mass media product explicitly appeal to a demographic of which I am not a part!"

[Pro Libertate]

I'm so disappointed in the future. Not only no moonbase, flying cars, fusion, etc., but also totally fucked up politics, economics, and culture.

Disappointed!

[Heroic Mulatto]

You and me both, brother.

[Pro Libertate]

Jesus, we've really missed out. Do you think this is some sort of dystopian alternative future, branching out from true reality?

[trshmnster the terrible]

One can only hope.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Still crickets here at Reason. Considering that they just devoted a full print issue to the importance and impact of gaming and gamers a few months ago it's a pretty significant omission.

[Horatio]

Kind of strange, no? Also, if there's been any significant coverage of the Mann vs Steyn suit here I've missed it.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I love Reason, but their biases do show pretty clearly at times.

[John]

They had one "well I don't know what to make of this" post on rotherham. They have barely covered the Scott Walker John Doe investigation.

Reason will not cover anything that really might antagonize lefty journos. They just don't do it.

[ant1sthenes]

Gotta get those journalism awards, man.

[Pro Libertate]

You know, that is odd. Have they not covered that lawsuit in any detail then? I hear about it over at Transterrestrial Musings (Rand's a named defendant) and may not have noticed any omission over here as a result.

As for the gaming business, that's a relatively new revelation, so I'm sure it'll be reported on here in due course. It's not like this is some huge outfit with resources and everything. Except for the secret Koch-promotion unit, which employs everyone in the U.S.

[Coeus]

As for the gaming business, that's a relatively new revelation

Shit's been going on for over a month (well, years, really, but now they're finally getting some pushback). Some Reason contributers have even been tweeting about it.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Fucking Slate even picked up on the issue, for Aqua Buddha's sake.

The gaming press declares that gamers are dead. But they are the ones who are becoming obsolete.

[Pro Libertate]

THEN HEADS MUST ROLL.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

It's also possible that it's a shitstorm they don't feel like being a part of. "Pick your battles" and all that jazz.

[Pro Libertate]

These days, one must have a superficial and hastily issued opinion, or one is SATAN INCARNATE.

[Horatio]

So "free to drink raw milk" is a worthier hill to die on?

[Pro Libertate]

If that's what makes millennials happy, then by golly, yes.

[Horatio]

But how on earth would you ever KNOW such a thing, I ask

[Pro Libertate]

Me? I poll 'em. Day in, day out. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Why, I'm polling them right now.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Is that even a serious question? The raw milk articles are about government regulations infringing on individual rights.

No government coercion is involved in GamerGate. Since Reason is also a cultural magazine, that doesn't mean it's not something they wouldn't cover, but no, it's not nearly as worthy. Especially considering that "GamerGate" looks like it is going to resolve itself, anyway.

[Pro Libertate]

See another member of the raw milk lobby at work. Come, tell us how much they pay you.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

I get Bessie once a month.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Also, Pro Lib, email me. NOW.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

double negative was a mistake, need an edit button, etc.

[Pro Libertate]

I find that I care much less about what Reason spends its time on than others around here. So they don't map up to my interests exactly. So what? They do more than, say, National Geographic.

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

You know what does line up with your interests? Emailing me.

[jesse.in.mb]

You probably should've had this conversation in the upskirt photo thread.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I'm sad I missed that thread! We were looking at that exact statute in crim law two weeks before it got invalidated.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Just like everything else, if they direct their content to my interests, my participation in their enterprise increases. Conversely, if their content diverges from my interests, they lose my business. Such are things in a free market. I don't begrudge them at all for not matching my interests, but I also don't disagree with asserting our interests as a way of guiding their content.

[Horatio]

Carl, thought my example was non sequitur enough to make a joke, but I guess not. Sub "what millennial's think" or "daily global temp update" for raw milk. Also am more surprised by lack of Mann v Steyn

[Carl ?s his ? for ?s]

Sorry, hard to tell sometimes.

[Obama's Buttplug]

Re-installed Chrome today. Also Reasonable. Chrome says Reasonable is enabled and yet it doesn't appear to be working. Any insights?

[GILMORE]

i blame Kanye West

[jesse.in.mb]

That's almost always a safe bet.

[John]

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/.....-rhetoric/

So sad to see that Terry Gilliam is a murderous asshole in his old age.

[Pro Libertate]

It's so much better to not pay any attention to the inane political mutterings of artists. The fact that anyone does so, especially given the. . .oh, fuck it. HITLER! HITLER WAS AN ARTIST!

[Idle Hands]

god I suck.

[fish]

Wait let's hear him out....

... At least the communists had ten year plans.

Never mind.

[Pro Libertate]

That's not really accurate. They had five-year plans, which had to be done over and over again, because central planning doesn't work in economics. At least, not unless GOD HIMSELF IS RUNNING THE ECONOMY. You know, like Stalin. Or Obama.

[Idle Hands]

advocates the killing of people he doesn't agree with.

So that's the problem with the idea that it's all going to go to rat shit eventually so let's make as much money as possible. Those people will always be a fungus and if I was running the country I would take them out and shoot them frankly, but that's something else [laughs].

How can someone who is behind the movie Brazil ever be an advocate for gov involvement ever. I ask myself the same question whenever I hear that retard David Simon talk about anything. It befuddles me how can someone sees the exact same problems I do and advocates for the same policies that caused that result in the first place.

[Idle Hands]

*Terry Gilliam

[fish]

How can someone who is behind the movie Brazil ever be an advocate for gov involvement ever.

Isn't this the prototypical "the right people need to be in charge" argument?

[Idle Hands]

pretty much.

[Pro Libertate]

He's old and cranky. And an artist. What do you expect?

[db]

He is famous. Famous people never get their Forms 27b/6 misfiled.

[Pro Libertate]

I think that's the key to liberty--being famous.

[Stormy Dragon]

Saying there's no legal standing to challenge other people's taxes, subsidies or the really fishy administration thereof, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed a lawsuit filed by a physicians' group against President Obama's delay of the Affordable Care Act employer mandate.

In the long run, this is a good ruling. I think people are letting their desire to get ObamaCare at all costs blinding them to the potential implications of creating a cause of action where taxpayer A is allowed to sue because they think taxpayer B ought to be paying more than they currently are.

[John]

In the long run, that is a very bad thing not to allow such suits. Suppose a President said that the IRS was no longer going to collect taxes from black people. By your's and the 7th Circuit's theory, no one would have any standing to challenge the decision in court. Black people would be benefiting and thus not subject to harm. Everyone else would just be paying what they legally owed and thus not harmed.

The rule means the President can be as lawless as he likes just so long as his lawlessness benefits someone and does not directly hurt anyone. That is a terrible rule.

[Pro Libertate]

Again, standing being such a huge bar to constitutional claims is a bad idea from the get-go.

[Stormy Dragon]

If we accept your theory, progressive pressure groups can sue claiming the government isn't doing enough to collect taxes from, say, overseas corporations or some such bullshit, and everyone now lives with the risk of randomly getting hit with retroactive taxes because a judge somewhere thinks they're not paying "their fair share".

[Pro Libertate]

Ye gods, do we need massive tax reform. This whole system went wrong when it stopped being x% of y and became a social engineering/constituent reward mechanism.

[ant1sthenes]

Here's an easy, alternate tax system to enforce, at the federal level:
0. Amend the Constitution, or just ignore it because why the fuck not.
1. Figure out how much money you want to collect in taxes, X
2. Divide that by the number of legislators in Congress, to get Y
3. Send a bill for Y * (2 + N), where N is the number of representatives, to each state.
4. Suspend Congressional voting rights for any state that doesn't pay up.

[ant1sthenes]

"Suppose a President said that the IRS was no longer going to collect taxes from black people."

Can't anyone who is still paying taxes still sue on equal protection grounds? That is, while they can't argue that black people need to pay their taxes, can't they argue that they are entitled to a similar exemption?

[The Late P Brooks]

Terry Gilliam is a murderous asshole in his old age.

Did he call for randomly gunning down suspected looters, or something?

[John]

No just killing people he disagreed with. And if you don't think people have a right to defend their property against looting, when can we come buy and take everything you own?

[Horatio]

Thought LPB covered his bases with "randomly" and "suspected" there man.

[BigT]

The real danger of course is that the United States overplays its hand and arrogantly goes too far. While many would believe that milestone has come and gone, the truth is that the U.S. has yet to pay a price broadly for its actions. The dollar's reserve status is as yet intact, and U.S. Treasury debt is being sold at generationally low yields. But the longer this goes on, the greater the danger becomes.

Arrogance breeds contempt. The more reckless the United States becomes in throwing its weight around, the greater the temptation will become for the rest of the world to jettison the dollar like an unwanted house guest. If that happens, the value of U.S. dollar-based investments, and the living standards of all Americans, will pay a very heavy price.

http://m.seekingalpha.com/arti.....ound?ifp=0

[Ayn Random Variation]

MY apologies if this was already posted, but in the "climate change" article comments someone asked if the death camps are coming.

Here's some RFK Jr.

http://www.climatedepot.com/20.....me-for-it/

"Those guys are doing the Koch Brothers bidding and are against all the evidence of the rational mind, saying global warming does not exit. They are contemptible human beings. I wish there were a law you could punish them with. I don't think there is a law that you can punish those politicians under."

"I think it's treason. Do I think the Koch Brothers are treasonous, yes I do," Kennedy explained.
"They are enjoying making themselves billionaires by impoverishing the rest of us. Do I think they should be in jail, I think they should be enjoying three hots and a cot at the Hague with all the other war criminals," Kennedy declared.

[dinkster]

"Saying that doing business in Venezuela is "no longer viable," Clorox is pulling its operations out of the self-destructive country. Investors gave the company a thumbs up."

But that isn't fair.