Biden Apologizes for Latest Gaffe, Supreme Court Turns Away Gay Marriage Appeals, Voters Poised to Send Obama a Bronx Cheer: P.M. Links

• 

  jurvetson/Foter

  Joe Biden apologized to the United Arab Emirates and Turkey for saying they were the "biggest problem" in dealing with ISIS. His political standing would probably take a hit from the latest gaffe if everybody didn't already know he's an idiot.

• With the Supreme Court declining to hear appeals of rulings on gay marriage, the expanded institution becomes settled law in several states—and a matter of continuing legal uncertainty in others.
• Americans are lining up to send a Bronx cheer toward the White House at the polls, according to Gallup. The numbers suggest a repeat of the 2006 midterm elections, but with the parties reversed.
• The White House's war on leakers is based in President Obama's hatred of the press, says James Risen, a New York Times reporter who potentially faces jail time for refusing to reveal sources.
• A Chicago man was busted by the feds after telling his parents he planned to go to Syria to join ISIS. Couldn't just get a tattoo, eh, buddy?
• A nurse treating an Ebola patient in Madrid contracted the disease, in the first known case of transmission outside Africa.
• And if Ebola doesn't do it for you, enterovirus D68 has people worried after it killed a preschooler in New Jersey and was linked to respiratory ailments and paralysis in others.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The numbers suggest a repeat of the 2006 midterm elections, but with the parties reversed.

But Holder, their Rummy, resigned!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Biden also included China as part of North America along with Mexico and Canada today.

Biden 2016!

[Tonio]

You're jealous, aren't you, Rufe? Rob Ford deserves honorable mention but he's only a mayor.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

We have our own gaffe-goof ball machine in Trudeau thank you very much.

[Hyperion]

At least Rob Ford has being high and drunk as an excuse. Biden is just fucking retarded. I mean, seriously can you imagine if a Republican VP was that dumb? It would be like 75% of the material for every comedian on the teevee.

[Juice]

Impeachment is off the table.

[CE]

The numbers suggest a repeat of the 2006 midterm elections, but with the parties reversed.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[Fist of Etiquette]

The White House's war on leakers is based in President Obama's hatred of the press...

Unrequited love is the worst.

[rts]

You Have Mail a for-profit alternative to Canada Post home delivery

A new privately owned company called You Have Mail is preparing to fill the niche of home delivery once Canada Post stops delivering mail to individual homes.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

And with this option Canadians will wonder if civilimization will die.

What will ever happen to the poorz peoplez? The childrenz? Oldz peoplez on fixed incomez?

This company will only care about the rich and their fancy mail!

[Tonio]

Wait, there is such a thing as canadian civilization? Who knew?

[Brandon]

Sure, there's Toronto, and Vancouver, and...I guess, ginger farms?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ahem. Montreal? Hello?

[Scarecrow Repair]

Parlez-vous Q?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Bien sur. Tous les jours.

[C. Anacreon]

Oui. Joos love tours.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Je suis d?sol? d'apprendre votre Francophonie*. Mes condol?ances.

*Is that right? French was a long time ago in a galaxy far away for me.

[Brandon]

Is this a serious suggestion?

[Zeb]

I think the US is unique, or close to it, with the first class mail monopoly. I remember explaining to a puzzled Canadian co-worker once why FedEx or UPS letters can only be sent 1 or 2 day and not by ground.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You must be speaking to low-grade Canadians.

[Zeb]

He did quit on us and go back to Canada. So there must be something wrong with him.

[C. Anacreon]

In Canada they can't have a mail monopoly because of the permafrost.

[Overt]

I also remember when a Facebook Acquaintance thought she was being clever by saying "Fedex and UPS can compete with a Public Option (USPS), why can't health insurers?"

The long explanation of how, no, nobody is allowed to compete with the USPS and how the USPS is in many ways required to not compete with them got me the coveted Unfriend.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Was she hot?

[Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!]

If the unfriend was "coveted", I should think not.

[robc]

Did you start with Lysander Spooner?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Joe Biden apologized to the United Arab Emirates and Turkey for saying they were the "biggest problem" in dealing with ISIS.

See, Turkey? That's how you apologize for something.

[Zeb]

Nice.

[Rich]

Seconded - Nice.

[rts]

Parliamentary wine contest a cruel joke, says B.C. winery owner

Some winery owners in the B.C.'s Okanagan region are surprised a federal member of Parliament is inviting them to ship wine to Ottawa for a contest ? despite laws making the shipments illegal for ordinary people.

Parliamentarians have exemptions to the trade barriers, natch.

[Tonio]

It would be hilarious for wineries to "participate" by shipping empty wine crates to Ottawa with fake "Seized by CanadaPost pursuant to..." notices.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

This is true. The law is you can't transport alcohol between provinces. The government unwittingly show how stupid and retarded the law they created really is.

[Stormy Dragon]

The letter from the MP invited Halliday to participate in the Great Canadian Parliamentary Wine Competition.

Who is judging the wines? If it's the members of parliament themselves, I'd tempted to send them an atrociously bad tasting wine.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A nurse treating an Ebola patient in Madrid contracted the disease, in the first known case of transmission outside Africa.

But still not a first world nation. AM I RIGHT, AMERICA?

[Zeb]

Africa ends at the Pyrenees.

[Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!]

"The wogs begin at Calais!"

[BiMonSciFiCon]

A Chicago man was busted by the feds after telling his parents he planned to go to Syria to join ISIS. Couldn't just get a tattoo, eh, buddy?

He's not your buddy, friend.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Tuccille's not your friend, pal.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

I'm not your pal, guy.

[Brandon]

He's not your guy, buddy!

[Mexican Hop-head Buttsex]

Living Proof!

[Almanian!]

He's not your buddy, chum!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's not your chum, chief!

[C. Anacreon]

He's not your chief, amigo.

[db]

He's not your amigo, tovarisch.

[thom]

I don't really understand what the crime was that he supposedly committed. He had a conversation with his parents and he bought an international plane ticket. I can see the authorities ordering the airline to void and refund his ticket, or even tipping off the Turkish authorities so that he wouldn't be admitted into Turkey, but I don't really understand the justification for arresting him for a crime he has not yet committed...

[Emmerson Biggins]

Dude, both a thought-crime and pre-crime were committed.

[thom]

Seriously. Now that I think about it, in fact, all they had to do was add him to the no fly list. Bingo. Done. Minimal fuss, minimal expense.

[CE]

Which is also illegal. He can't be deprived of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness without due process, even if you don't like him.

[The DerpRider]

Child killer walks on directed verdict. I guess the judge didn't want the jury to get a chance to decide.

[The DerpRider]

And the comments are about what you would expect.

[Andrew S.]

I'd say they couldn't be any worse than comments I've seen on previous versions of this story, but I'm scared to look.

[rts]

Kroger grocery chain's gun stance draws fire from Moms Demand Action

"I go to the deli counter and nobody says, 'Oh my god, there's a gun,'" Satterfield says. "We're on a first-name basis with the employees. They don't mind a bit."

That's the problem, according to Moms Demand Action.

The advocacy group, which pressured Starbucks, Target and Chipotle to ban firearms, now has Kroger in its crosshairs. The food retailer's fiscal sales in 2013 totalled $98 billion US.

"We're asking Kroger to prohibit the use of guns in our stores so we can feel safe," said Wendy Wittmayer, the Georgia chapter spokesperson for MDA.

You'd probably feel safer with a gun you twat. Or at home cowering under the bed.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

"We're asking Kroger to prohibit the use of guns in our stores so we can feel safe,"

Unless it's to stop a robbery in progress, I'm pretty sure Kroger already does not permit the use of firearms in their stores.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

How do you know if vegetables are fresh without shooting them first?

[OldMexican]

Re: Grand Moff Serious Man,

Unless it's to stop a robbery in progress, I'm pretty sure Kroger already does not permit the use of firearms in their stores.

You can go to that store with a gun, legally, in Texas, as long as you have a license to carry. I don't know who will be the bigger pussy, if the Georgia branch or who.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Oh I have no doubt. But she said they need to ban the "use" of guns in the stores.

I read that as if it were permissible for me to walk into a Kroger armed and discharge the weapon into a watermelon or something.

[kbolino]

discharge the weapon into a watermelon

The Gallagher Act is little known outside of Texas.

[Zeb]

The Homer Simpson school of firearms use.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I searched youtube for the clip of him opening a beer with his gun, but no luck.

[Restoras]

Inanimate objects are scary.

[Warty]

Their feelings are not contingent on the actions of Kroger. Bitches need some Epictetus.

[Bill Dalasio]

+1 Stoa

[Brett L]

"If you wish to be happy, seek to control only what is in your power to control."

I don't think they have any wish to be happy.

[Warty]

Exactly. This kind of cunt desperately wants two things: to be miserable and to make others miserable.

[Coeus]

"I go to the deli counter and nobody says, 'Oh my god, there's a gun,'" Satterfield says. "We're on a first-name basis with the employees. They don't mind a bit."

That's the problem, according to Moms Demand Action.

If even those hysterical loons are admitting that the open carry movement is normalizing guns, I guess it's working.

[ant1sthenes]

So, what sort of action are they demanding? Break-action, bolt-action, pump-action, something else?

[Tonio]

Heh.

[Marshall Gill]

They are attention whores so I am going to go with double action.

[PBR Streetgang]

Moms Demand Double Action? whoa...

[Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!]

Go on...

[Trouser-Pod]

Swiss Servator is right about PBR being right! That name would be an awesome response for gun-rights women to use against these jack-offs.

Frankly, not having to shop around anti-gun whores fills me with a tremendous sense of joy.

[mad.casual]

The business owner must clearly display and enforce a policy of disallowing Beretta 92s on the premises.

[antisocial-ist]

That's the problem, according to Moms Demand Action.

Is it just me, or do all women's groups sound real...bitchy? MADD,NOW,etc.

[Brandon]

It's Freudian.

[Cdr Lytton]

And bossy.

[Paul.]

"We're asking Kroger to prohibit the use of guns in our stores so we can feel safe," said Wendy Wittmayer, the Georgia chapter spokesperson for MDA.

The "use" of firearms? Well, I guess if people were firing into the air over the price of ground beef, then I can understand that.

[Lord at War]

Paul

$5.00/lb for ground beef.

I'm ready to shoot somebody... perhaps a "Krugnuts" or a "shriek" who denies this reality.

How is McD's still selling "Value-meal" burgers? I'm starting to believe in the wormburger.

[Cdr Lytton]

"We're asking Kroger to prohibit the use of guns in our stores so we can feel safe,"

[CE]

The advocacy group, which pressured Starbucks, Target and Chipotle to ban firearms, now has Kroger in its crosshairs.

I doubt they would approve of the firearm-centric metaphor! And with no trigger word warning!

[Fist of Etiquette]

His political standing would probably take a hit from the latest gaffe if everybody didn't already know he's an idiot.

The soft intellectual snobbery of low expectations.

[Brandon]

Oh, he pronounced all the words right. Good for him!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"A Chicago man was busted by the feds after telling his parents he planned to go to Syria to join ISIS. Couldn't just get a tattoo, eh, buddy?"

Was there really a need to make fun of Canadians Tuccile, eh?

Tease the Newfies. Leave us alone!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Tuccille.

Scusa.

[Coeus]

Is it scusa? I thought it was "mi scusi"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Scusa is correct also.

[Coeus]

Good to know.

[db]

I found the Newfies to be quite pleasant and friendly, if bewilderingly unable, for a seafaring race, to cook seafood properly.

[waffles]

Ebola works for me!

[Coeus]

Gamergate's getting some traction.

Cue the creation of the Operation Disrespectful Nod initiative, a campaign which was created to supply GamerGate members with the information needed to effectively contact the advertisers which buy advertising space from a range of publications implicated in the GamerGate affair. When inundated with an inbox full of mail linking to articles which seek to negate the very audience that an advertiser wishes to court, there are very few of them that will not reexamine the nature of their relationship with that particular company. One such implicated publication was Gamasutra, a blog which can perhaps best be described as first among equals when it comes to a complete lack of journalistic ethics. When the initial spate of 'Gamers are Dead' articles hit, one of the very first of their number was penned by Gamasutra's 'editor at large', who can usually be found writing about Indy games when she is not busy moonlighting in her second job as an Indy game marketer. Her article, ''Gamers' don't have to be your audience. 'Gamers' are over', is more or less a traditional hitpiece on gamers, writing about how we are socially awkward basement dwellers to a man, and about how embarrassing we all make the act of gaming for normal people like her:

[Coeus]

"We stop upholding "fun" as the universal, ultimate criterion for a game's relevance. It's a meaningless ideal at best and a poisonous priority at worst. Fun is a neurological trick. Plenty of categorically unhealthy things are "fun". Let's try for something more. Many of the alternatives will have similarly fuzzy definitions, but let's aspire to qualities like "edifying", "healing", "pro-social", or even "enlightening". I encourage you to decide upon your own alternatives to "fun" in games (while avoiding terms like "cool" and "awesome" and any other word that simply caters to existing, unexamined biases)."

Unfortunately for Gamasutra as a whole, Intel did not see the good humour of the situation, and proceeded to issue their own response to what has been occurring:

"We take feedback from customers very seriously, especially as it relates to relevant content and ad placements"

Intel has pulled their advertising from the cesspool that is Gamasutra. Predictably this has to the shrill cry of game 'journalists', as they squawk and sputter about being silenced by GamerGate [as though they are somehow entitled to Intel's advertising dollars even as they insult Intel's customers], but really Intel has no reason to remain in an expensive relationship which only stands to affect them in purely negative terms.

[Warty]

Fun is a neurological trick.

Ooo, is "gamergate" about to fall down the rabbit hole of the brain-in-a-jar problem?

[Coeus]

The SJWs have been pushing the whole "fun is overrated" in response to the terrible reviews of their games for a while now.

[Brett L]

In fairness, SJWs have been pushing "fun is overrated, and probably rape or abuse" in just about every arena for the 20 years I've been paying attention.

[Coeus]

Have you seen the new complaint? That SJW is a slur. Seriously. They have such short memories that they forgot that they created the term themselves.

[Bill Dalasio]

On the other hand, these sorts do turn pretty much any term they use to describe themselves into a slur. It's not the term. It's them.

[Coeus]

I'm just gonna leave this here...

[PapayaSF]

Funny, but they should have tried harder to mimic the look of People magazine or a supermarket tabloid.

[Bill Dalasio]

This is pretty funny:

http://www.reddit.com/r/StormfrontorSJW/

[PapayaSF]

Have you seen this?

[Mickey Rat]

Which is why the Left abandoned "progressive" for liberal some 90 years ago, and is returning to it after dragging "liberal" through the mud.

[Zeb]

That SJW is a slur.

It's a slur when I use it.

[robc]

Single Jewish Wombat is a slur?

[Zeb]

Don't get me started on Wombats.

[John Titor (Formerly Jensen)]

But Gone Home is some outstanding example of the medium and environmental storytelling!

...Or it's a somewhat competent environmental puzzle with D-class writing, lots of nostalgia porn and nothing in terms of narrative that wasn't done ten years ago. Why do they hold it up as outstanding? Oh right, it's about a teenage lesbian relationship.

[Tonio]

Yeah, because I can do all those non-fun, pro-social things in real life. I do games to escape from reality and to do those things you just can't do in real life.

[Coeus]

They picked a good target for the first blow.

Seriously, this woman is bad news.

[Bill Dalasio]

We stop upholding "fun" as the universal, ultimate criterion for a game's relevance.

What kind of full-blown retard would say something so entirely stupid? She doesn't want me to pick my amusements based on the extent to which they amuse me. Basically, what this comment would tell me is that I should assign absolutely no value whatsoever to any of her reviews ever.

[Coeus]

Intel agrees.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

It means EVERYTHING must be political. Progressives and SJWs are literal totalitarians. Even something as innocuous as a game meant to entertain must serve a socially useful purpose or else it is decadent, capitalist trash.

[Zeb]

Well, it is decadent capitalist trash. Isn't that what games are supposed to be? Games, especially video games, are almost by definition for people with more than enough money to live on and lots of spare time.

[Warty]

The New Soviet Man isn't going to make himself.

[Juice]

That's why western art is not allowed in North Korea, because it does not serve the state, which is the sole purpose of art.

[Zeb]

Isn't fun sort of the point of all games? I suppose the point is more than just fun at high levels of athletic competition or games like chess or go or something. But unless you are a high level competitor, fun is in fact the purpose of games.

[Rhywun]

I'm afraid to ask, but what the hell is "GamerGate"? Is it just SJW's griping about one more arena they haven't taken total control over yet?

[Coeus]

It's a blowback to an attempted SJW takeover of the gaming community. About time too. If they had waited any longer, it would have been all but done. It might still be too late. Time will tell.

Here's a good overview.

[Rhywun]

Ah, "projection".

Got it.

[trshmnster the terrible]

If you hand power to a small group of people with zero transparency and oversight, mistakes will go un-corrected.

A rallying cry if I've ever seen one.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I've been gaming since Pong and the amount of fucks I have given for GamerGate can only be meaningfully measured with Planck mass.

[mr lizard]

So your concern is still measured exponentially?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Orders of magnitude for something magnitudely stupid.

[thom]

I'm afraid to ask, but what the hell is "GamerGate"?

A homely "game designer" was sleeping around in exchange for good reviews of a shitty game she made. That's basically all I know.

[Gluesponge]

You forgot the part where if you pointed that out, you were a fascist, baby-eating, raping monster.

[Calidissident]

This whole thing is the dumbest shit I have ever seen become a lasting big time news story. Echoing HM above, I could not possibly give fewer fucks about this, but this seems to have ignited more passion online than almost any controversy I can remember.

[Coeus]

People are tired of the constant abuse they receive from SJWs from just about every direction online. The gamer community, having recently dealt with Jack Thompson, has no desire to see version 2.0 up and running, this time completely unquestioned by the media.

Here's hoping it spreads to other online cultures. Sci-fi literature is already pretty much lost, but it's possible that the athiests could rally.

[Paul.]

and that titles should instead be judged on concrete definitions such as whether they are 'edifying', 'healing', 'pro-social', or 'enlightening' ? but never fun!

Oh geez.

[Paul.]

"We stop upholding "fun" as the universal, ultimate criterion for a game's relevance. It's a meaningless ideal at best and a poisonous priority at worst. Fun is a neurological trick.

So after years of me making this joke, there is ACTUALLY a group trying to make 'fun' a four-letter word?

[Heroic Mulatto]

"Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer.
An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious."

- Ayatollah Khomeini

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Obama has done it now!

President Obama Jokes That It Takes a Wife "10 Years to Train a Man." Ha?

Policywise, it's easy to argue that Barack Obama is a feminist president. The first bill he signed was for equal pay. He launched a White House task force to fight sexual assault and ensured mandatory contraception coverage in Obamacare, a decision he has had to fight for. So why does the president keep making sexist jokes casting his wife in the role of the mommy who has to take care of him?

[tarran]

I have read, (but cannot find) an article that made a plausible but circumstantial case that Obama was sexually abused by Frank Marshall Davis based on an analysis of one of Obama's childhood poems.

After his biological dad abandoned his mother, and then his mother abandoned his Indonesian step-dad, the next major father figure in Obama's life was a fellow by the name of Frank Marshall Davis, who had some ideas about sex with 13 year olds that are pretty predatory. This guy was the closest thing to a father that Obama had in that the other men either ran away or were driven off.

I suspect that the most stable relationship Obama had was with his biological grandmother, and he subconsciously thinks that a stable family has as a pattern a mature woman telling a less mature man what to do and that he doesn't really know how a father is supposed to behave.

Of course, I am engaging in the worst form of psychological analysis at a distance of a man I really despise, so I would take everything I say with a huge brick of salt.

[Stormy Dragon]

I have read, (but cannot find) an article that made a plausible but circumstantial case that Obama was sexually abused by Frank Marshall Davis based on an analysis of one of Obama's childhood poems.

YOU FAIL PSYCHOLOGY FOREVER

[kbolino]

Psychology is a failure. They can't do the experiments that need to be done because they're unethical, so they just sit around all day "analyzing" random events and uncontrolled "experiments". Unsurprisingly, the entire field has a heavy "flavor of the month" bias, and never really seems to explain human behavior rather than simply describe it.

[kbolino]

Psychologists can't do the experiments that need to be done because the experiments are unethical, so psychologists sit around all day ...

Antecedent confusion FTW

[Zeb]

Psychology is certainly corrupt as a science. Perhaps irredeemable.

But I think all science is more about describing things than explaining them. Once you have good enough description of how things appear to work, you can start making predictions about what else might happen. There aren't reasons in science, just causes and effects.

A big problem with psychology, I think, is that it is very hard to design an experiment that is both ethical and provides useful or reliable data.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Only to the extent that it presents itself as a "hard science," which it didn't do in the days of Freud and Jung and which went out of vogue after behaviorism had its day in the sun.

And as imperfect as experimental design involving human behavior may be, psychology is certainly a far more accurate experimental science than other social sciences, economics in particular. Psychology is in general best understood as applied philosophy with some limited experimental fiddling to illustrate or advance key insights into human nature.

[Zeb]

I don't think it is worthless, but it is deeply flawed. To their credit, I find that a lot of psychologists will admit that this is the case.

[PapayaSF]

Frank Marshall Davis was a very kinky guy, though, and there have been numerous other indications that Obama might have a "down low" life.

[mauricegirodias]

Davis wrote a book, subtitled "Confessions of a Gash Gourmand," entailing his and wife's sexual enslaving of a pre-teen gal, also at least one bisexual experience. The entire novel, which was a 500+page "old man book" from Marvin Miller's Collector's Publications, has been removed from history, but you can still find excerpts on line.

[Coeus]

The least you can do is risk your life for a woman.

But, as with all cliches, the problem is not just that you see it once but that it happens over and over again. That's when it starts to be toxic, because it stops being just a plot device and starts being a cultural assumption that says a lot about men, women, power, etc.

The thing that frustrates me the most about it is, like a lot of benevolent sexism, the trope sets the bar shockingly low for what makes a man a fucking hero. Oh, so he doesn't want an innocent person to die? Even though he knows for a fact that she's female? Well, throw this man a goddamn parade.

And if he saves a man's life? Just kill the damn misogynist now and get him our of our misery.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Similar to wanting someone to give you a blow job for politely opening a door and, should that not happen, lying to people on Reddit about all these feminists who kneed you in the balls for opening doors.

Uh, what?

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Marcotte's who shtick is going onto Reedit and finding some incoherent, vaguely sexist thing a 14 year old kid wrote and using it as primae facie proof that society has a ___ problem.
So in her mind that's the only reason you or I would open a door for a lady. Because somewhere on the internet someone joked about getting a blowjob in reciprocation.

[PapayaSF]

At least once in my life I was sneered at by a woman for opening a door for her.

[db]

It has happened to me at least twice, when I was in college. It may have happened more times but I can only remember the two. But they left a lasting impression. For a while I started allowing doors to slam in people's faces on purpose. Then I started opening doors only for other men. Then I calmed down and went back to my normal way which is to holds doors for everyone, keeping in mind that if anyone ever sneers at me for doing it again, I will call them out quite publicly.

[Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!]

I would then close it in her face, smiling all the while.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I got a lecture once or twice, and have been sneered at or intentionally avoided more than once. I had a girl make eye contact with me, knowing full well that I was holding the door for her, and open the next door over. I've never had anything but politeness from men and children in the same situation.

[Zeb]

God, that's obnoxious. I'll hold the door for anyone if that's the smoothest way to get everyone through the door, or if I'm just feeling nice. And it's not uncommon to have a woman hold a door open for me. It's not something you need to analyze.

WHoever said "the personal is political" is the worst.

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, in fairness to Ms. Marcotte, I wouldn't piss on her if she were on fire.

[Brandon]

I would, but then I don't think I could piss enough to put out a fire.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Because of.... arousal?!?1?

[Brandon]

Because of experience. I've tried pissing out campfires. There's just not enough volume of liquid.

[John Titor (Formerly Jensen)]

Eh, don't worry Marcotte, if I recognized you I wouldn't help you.

[Tonio]

Oh, and for anyone who cares my commenting problems last week were due to the obnoxious popup ads. They sometimes interfere with posting and you have to click CloseAd to get the commenting to work.

[robc]

What are popup ads?

[Warty]

WHEEL! OF! SUBGENRES!

[Aloysious]

Crab Core... I laughed.

[GILMORE]

"Joe Biden apologized to the United Arab Emirates and Turkey for saying they were the "biggest problem" in dealing with ISIS. His political standing would probably take a hit from the latest gaffe if everybody didn't already know he's an idiot."

While i do not think anyone is going to argue that Biden is "not an idiot"...

I am not sure what the 'Gaffe' here is, other than probably 'telling an inconvenient truth'. Or, rather: being caught telling the truth when inconvenient. same difference?

Turkey has had its fingers deep in the Syrian anti-Assad elements since 2011. Every 'foreign fighter' in the region likely passed through Turkey and received some support and/or training in the process. Funding for the influx of jihadists into Syria was provided by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, and all of ISIS and other groups financial transactions have been enabled by the UAE.

Sunni states in the region saw the opportunity to get rid of Assad, AND force the Maliki Shia government into a retreat into its traditional power base between Basra and Baghdad.

Once they've achieved this, they will be happy to 'do away' with ISIS. (letting the US do that part, naturally)

The fact that Joe made the mistake of actually telling the truth, instead of spinning some bullshit narrative about how ISIS sprung out of thin air, and how we're just 'helping the locals' by intervening... should probably be *congratulated* rather than mocked.

[tarran]

I am not sure what the 'Gaffe' here is, other than probably 'telling an inconvenient truth'. Or, rather: being caught telling the truth when inconvenient. same difference?

Well said!!!!

Bluntly speaking, ISIS is kicking ass because they have powerful allies! The UAE was pretty openly allowing weapons and ammo to transit their ports on its way to ISIS hands. ISIS is really well funded and supplied implying that they have access to a lot of Gulf Arab wealth. The Gulf Arab states claim that they are not allied with ISIS, but that is in my mind bullshit, the Arab mentality of how the state functions is very different than that which applies in the west; what matters is what the tribes want to see happen, the tribal system has a power that rivals or even exceeds that of the state.

In Turkey, the AK party has coyly flirted with Islamism, and want to see the Kurds diminished and the Iranians spanked. They hate the Russians and want to see them lose their base in Syria.

[tarran]

Turkey may be a Nato ally of the U.S., but the party that is running the government is decidedly anti-American and wants to see an Islamic Turkey ascendant over the Middle-East and moving away from Europe culturally.

If Turkey leaves Nato, it's a disaster for Nato. Thus in the U.S. this issue is not to be acknowledged. Similarly, the gulf arab support for wahhabist terrorism is one of the great open secrets of the War on Terra'. If they acknowledge it, a major load-bearing member in the edifice of the U.S. national security system will be broken. So it is ignored as well.

[Pro Libertate]

Ah, so my cunning plan to restore the Ottoman Empire is at last coming together. Do I get a commission for this?

[Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!]

10,000 lira.

[Pro Libertate]

Screw that. I want real estate. Is Rhodes available?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Truthful or not, Biden should be aware of what the administration's strategy is.

[GILMORE]

"Should be"

yes, and then maybe the Administration should have reconsidered the whole, "Joe Biden" thing as well.

Could have, would have, should have

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Well, yeah. All roads lead back to him being an idiot.

[CE]

How could he? They make it up as they go along.

[Steve G]

They have one of those?

[The Late P Brooks]

A Chicago man was busted by the feds after telling his parents he planned to go to Syria to join ISIS.

"Don't mention the war."

[Pro Libertate]

I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.

[kbolino]

Don't you usually have to commit the act of treason before you are guilty of the crime?

[The Late P Brooks]

"We're asking Kroger to prohibit the use of guns in our stores so we can feel safe," said Wendy Wittmayer, the Georgia chapter spokesperson for MDA.

Dammit. Ketchup bottles are excellent reactive targets.

[The Late P Brooks]

Who invaded Poland? Hmmmmm?

[Almanian!]

Hungary? Well, their gypsies anyway...?

[Mexican Hop-head Buttsex]

Even an Ozarks coroner gets surplus military guns

http://www.startribune.com/pol.....55261.html

[Fluffy]

I bet Amanda can point to numerous times that she has risked injury or death to save another person.

Right?

Since that's such a "low bar", we can assume she passed it. Right?

[tarran]

I have a question for Amanda,

Is it the lowest common denominator of chauvinism to assume that when a woman levels wild allegations of rape against a group of men that the men must be guilty because they are men?

[trshmnster the terrible]

I bet Amanda can point to numerous times that she has risked injury or death to save another person.

Well, this one time she skipped dinner... That had to have saved a few starving Africans! You know, because not taking is giving.