Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Ebola Fight to Cost $125M/Month and Could Last More Than a Year, Twitter Sues FBI, DoJ Over NSA Spying, Lena Dunham Wants You to Vote Again: P.M. Links

Zenon Evans | 10.7.2014 4:30 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
Large image on homepages | cc
(cc)
  • Girls

    American troops might be in Africa for more than a year and they will have contact with Ebola, says the Pentagon. An Army general in Africa says the U.S. will spend an estimated $750 million in the next six months alone fighting Ebola in Liberia. The Coast Guard is issuing new protocols for dealing with ships from Ebola-stricken countries. Since a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the disease outside of West Africa, the World Health Organization warns that an Ebola outbreak in Europe is "quite unavoidable."

  • We've "tried to achieve the level of transparency our users deserve without litigation, but to no avail," states Twitter, which is suing the Department of Justice and the FBI for information about the National Security Agency's surveillance.
  • According to an exclusive report from Reuters, Missouri authorities are coordinating intelligence with out-of-state law enforcement agencies and, potentially, the FBI to prepare for potential riots if a grand jury decides not to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown.  
  • American airstrikes in Kobani, Syria, are unsuccessful, apparently. Turkey says that ISIS is near capturing the strategic border town. The FBI is asking the public for help identifying English-speaking members of ISIS.
  • The Drug Enforcement Agency is tightening its rules for certain painkiller prescriptions. We're going to have to take a closer look at those "back problems," grandpa. 
  • California is experimenting with a cloud-seeding drone to combat the drought.
  • Nothing says "voting is important" like Lil' Jon and Lena Dunham dancing. 

Follow Reason and Reason 24/7 on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. You can also get the top stories mailed to you—sign up here.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Missouri Police Plan for Riots if Brown Cop Not Charged

Zenon Evans is a former Reason staff writer and editor.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (164)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    That's what you're going to animate for us?

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Thank God I have images turned off by default. I hate gifs substituting for video.

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        Really? I would've never guessed that about you.

        1. Ted S.   11 years ago

          Get off my lawn!

        2. Carl ?s the level   11 years ago

          I wouldn't have, either. I wonder if he has any alternative browser suggestions, or a clever name for using animated GIFS instead of videos, a la "antisocial networking" or "fondle-screen technology".

          1. Ted S.   11 years ago

            In your heart, you know he's right.

          2. Ted S.   11 years ago

            And you can get off my lawn, too!

            (At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have a lot of people on my lawn....)

            1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

              You should ask Rufus about people on his lawn.

              1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

                Or ask Jesse about lawns, and do the opposite.

                1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                  Mock now, but when the water rationing starts we'll be ahead of the game.

                  Maybe I can rip out the whole front yard and replace it with the beach grass that's by my stoop.

              2. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

                Grrrr.

        3. Clich? Bandit   11 years ago

          Jesse, where the hell you been? Either I am not observant or you went AWOL there for a while.

          1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

            I'm not even here now. You're just imagining things.

            Work has been busy. I've been easily distracted and I'm about to do a lot of travel.

            Speaking of which I should start plugging the fact that I'll be in NYC from 10/18 to 10/28 and will be bored for much of that time.

            Hit me up NYers and beers will be had. I think I owe GILMORE a beer on behalf of Playa Manhattan or something anyway.

            1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

              You got it wrong. You owe GILMORE half a beer.

              1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

                Why do I owe GILMORE half a beer? I lost track of the beer debt jubilee program two months ago.

    2. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Hello.

      What's with the recent Lena Dunham obsession? Of all the people could you pick someone we couldn't care less about?

      1. Zeb   11 years ago

        She has a new book, so every media outlet has to mention her at least once a day for two weeks. It's the law.

        1. Slammer   11 years ago

          It's selling like crazy where I work. I bite my tongue all day long.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

            Fall of the West.

            Reason 674743339559966.

          2. Clich? Bandit   11 years ago

            "Slammer found dead today from excessive blood loss"

            "Hees tung done bitten clean off" said one witness.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Nothing says "voting is important" like Lil' Jon and Lena Dunham dancing.

    Vomit or die.

    1. Jerry on the sea   11 years ago

      Voting with your feet to get away from it all.

    2. Anomalous   11 years ago

      Can anyone explain why young women seem to like her so much?

      1. rac3rx   11 years ago

        No.
        (But I'm not young either)

      2. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

        She hates men?

      3. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Citation needed

      4. PapayaSF   11 years ago

        Because it feels good to be more attractive than a TV star? Because the average woman in America is better looking than Lena Dunham.

      5. lap83   11 years ago

        I'm not young, but I was young-ish when her lame indie movie came out and I didn't like her then.

    3. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Now's the time on Face the Nation when we dance!

      1. Gluesponge   11 years ago

        Do you want to touch my Schieffer?

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Your story grows tiresome.

          1. Gluesponge   11 years ago

            Your presence intimidates me to the point of humiliation.

  3. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ...states Twitter, which is suing the Department of Justice and the FBI for information about the National Security Agency's surveillance.

    The court decided it was a parody lawsuit and shut it down.

  4. Bam!   11 years ago

    6 Insane Details of Corrupt Politics That Movies Get Wrong

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      I presume that since the link is to cracked.com, the list runs to two pages?

      1. Bam!   11 years ago

        You presume correctly.

    2. ant1sthenes   11 years ago

      What I'm getting from the lobbying section is that politics is like dating. Give a politician money for favors, and either they'll be offended and reject it, or you'll both go to jail. Take them on really nice dates, though, and you'll probably get what you're after.

      1. CatoTheElder   11 years ago

        And she will get what she's after, also.

  5. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ...to prepare for potential riots if a grand jury decides not to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown.

    More MRAPS. MORE MRAPS!

    1. Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!   11 years ago

      *quietly opens parts dealership to profit off police complete misunderstanding of logistics*

  6. F. Stupidity, Jr.   11 years ago

    Lena Dunham Wants You To Vote Again

    Can Obama voters claim rape after the fact?

    1. DEG   11 years ago

      No, because that's racist.

  7. NoVAHockey   11 years ago

    "Since a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the disease outside of West Africa"

    This is concerning. It's not like the staff was exhausted and overwhelmed, like in Africa.

    1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      Oh, but Ebola is nothing to worry about, because it's really hard to catch and we have advanced Western medicine. That's what the Top Men keep telling us.

  8. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    American troops might be in Africa for more than a year and they will have contact with Ebola...

    Shock and ewwww.

    1. Swiss Servator, Grundgesetz!   11 years ago

      *throws bottle of bleach at FoE*

  9. Bam!   11 years ago

    California is experimenting with a cloud-seeding drone to combat the drought.

    If that fails, they'll try banning drought.

    1. CatoTheElder   11 years ago

      I would prefer an AB to mandate rain. The mandate should stipulate in that quantities and frequencies of rainfall are to be regulated by the California Air Quality Board.

      1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

        How about we ditch the idiotic bullet train to nowhere, stop inviting in poor illegals, and instead use that money to build some desalinization plants?

        1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

          Santa Barbara is building a desal plant right now.

  10. Slammer   11 years ago

    A gif, reason? Really?

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      Don't complain; people will start making fun of you. 🙂

    2. Clich? Bandit   11 years ago

      GET OFF TED's LAWN!

    3. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      They had that one with the girl pulling her jeans up once. Wait, no, that was in the comments section on the Day of the Commenters. That's officially a Hit & Run gif, though, right?

  11. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ...the World Health Organization warns that an Ebola outbreak in Europe is "quite unavoidable."

    That general lack of first world hygiene is finally going to bite them in the ass.

    1. Rorschach Carlyle   11 years ago

      We've sure come a long way from, "Don't worry, it'll never happen here!" In a hurry, haven't we?

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        If *only* we'd reined in AGW sooner.

  12. Binjelli   11 years ago

    I actually just got physically sick looking at that gif.

    1. Zeb   11 years ago

      It broke my leg.

      1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

        It made my penis go from an outie to an innie

        1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          LOL

    2. Ted S.   11 years ago

      One of many reasons I have images here turned off by default.

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        The other being your refusal to switch to a modern browser that doesn't plotz on anything resource heavy?

        1. Rhywun   11 years ago

          Mine are off because I'm at work.

        2. Carl ?s the level   11 years ago

          Meh, Opera is based off of Chromium, i.e., internally, it's basically the same as Chrome.

          It's probably just his computer that sucks.

      2. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Bro, how do you even blog?

  13. DEG   11 years ago

    Concern trolls come out of the wood work to complain about waitresses enduring sexual harassment.

    I feel dumber for having tried reading the comments. I think a trip to the Tilted Kilt is required so that I can recover my lost brain cells.

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      The bus boys are in skirts too. I can get behind this place.

      1. This Machine Fills Caches   11 years ago

        I can get behind this place.

        Oh, I bet you would.

        1. Slammer   11 years ago

          *pinch*

    2. Trouser-Pod   11 years ago

      Of those complaints, 66% are attributed to restaurant management, 80% to co-workers and 78% to customers.

      Something about those numbers...

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        66-80-78 -- Oh, Baby!

        1. Trouser-Pod   11 years ago

          OK, that made me laugh...(dammit)

  14. db   11 years ago

    I know it's October and Halloween is fast approaching, but you really can't stay SFW and post gifs from horror movies even at this time of year, guys.

  15. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    Nothing says "voting is important" like Lil' Jon and Lena Dunham dancing.

    Director: Okay Lena, we want you to emphasize the importance of voting.
    Dunham: Can I take my pants off?
    Director: Uh no, we don't need you to?
    Dunham: I'm taking my pants off.

    1. Jesus H. Christ   11 years ago

      You were there. My condolences.

      1. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

        The productions staff's cries of pain and lament forever be burned into his soul.

  16. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    California is experimenting with a cloud-seeding drone to combat the drought.

    They find pics of Jennifer Lawrence in that cloud and then it really gets seeded.

    1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

      What we need is a committee willing to spend whatever it takes to prove the efficacy of divining rods.

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        A fun throwback to our relationship with Cuba: Ex-Researcher Says U.S. Seeded Clouds Over Cuba

        "Weather science is too primitive to say that cloud seeding hurt Cuba's harvest," Ponte said. "but it could have. The point is our government secretly attempted to tamper with weather in another nation, with which we were not at war, in an effort to cause economic and political harm."

        Preach it brother!

        Ponte, author of "The Cooling." a book dealing with climatic change and manipulation of weather for political reasons, said the cloud seeing near Cuba originally was to provide information for a Pentagon project called "Nile Blue."

        The secret project, he said, has studied ways to melt polar icecaps, direct hurricanes and tornadoes as weapons to "destabilize weather in the Soviet Union, China and Cuba" to ruin harvests.

        Paging Jesse Walker, can we get a ruling on this?

  17. Rich   11 years ago

    New studies point out dangers of 'talking' to car

    Twice, test drivers using Siri in a driving simulator rear-ended another car.

    On the bright side, if you have Cortana, she'll know to call the authorities.

    1. Marty Feldman's Eyes   11 years ago

      Considering how stupid and useless Siri is, they probably intentionally rammed their cars out of frustration.

      "Maybe if I can get the car to blow up, Siri will die with it"

  18. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The Drug Enforcement Agency is tightening its rules for certain painkiller prescriptions.

    Now that's how you be aggressively tone deaf.

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      They're not tone deaf. They're cackling at how much they're screwing over normal people.

  19. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

    Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Tuesday said he expects Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States in 2016.

    "Hillary is going to win," Mr. Buffett said at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in California. "I will bet money on it. I don't do that easily."

    Political observers say Ms. Clinton, the former Secretary of State, is months away from announcing whether she will run for president, a move that appears to be increasingly likely as she is the Democratic party's presumptive front runner. She has said that she would make a decision after New Year's Day.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat.....tHeadlines

    1. F. Stupidity, Jr.   11 years ago

      I'll be shocked if she wins three states that aren't bordered by an ocean.

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        Not even getting the nomination. Openly evil and incompetent can't win every election, you know.

        1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          Not to mention having an unpleasant personality and major health issues.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            I happen to know how she plans to overcome that. What she'll do is trade bodies with Jennifer Lawrence, which almost works until a legal challenge results in her being declared ineligible, due to not meeting the age requirements.

  20. GILMORE   11 years ago

    "American troops might be in Africa for more than a year and they will have contact with Ebola, says the Pentagon. An Army general in Africa says the U.S. will spend an estimated $750 million in the next six months alone fighting Ebola in Liberia. "

    What ever happened to the whole 'Fuel/Air Bomb' thing? Because that looked less expensive.

    1. Entropy Void   11 years ago

      I've been saying that for months ...

  21. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

    If the gif of Lena hasn't put you off your feed, watch Australians trying American junk food. It isn't disgusting unless you find sugar, HFCS, etc. disgusting.

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      You'll have to repost this in the AM Links for IFH. (Actually, now that they're using summer time down there, it's closing in on 8:00 AM. She may see it yet.)

    2. Carl ?s the level   11 years ago

      It would be good with ice cream... like a McFlurry, with Butterfingers in it...

      We have that.

      AMERICA!

  22. Rich   11 years ago

    Hawaii officials drop plan to name park for Obama

    He says there may be other public facilities more appropriate to honor the president.

    Contest! What are those facilities? A sludge-processing plant, perhaps?

    1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

      Not unless it's opposite day. Sludge plants clean sludge.

    2. Zeb   11 years ago

      Hard to blame a state naming stuff after the only president from there. NH has lots of stuff named for Franklin Pierce, and no one gives a shit about him.

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        "The first handsome President."

      2. Ted S.   11 years ago

        I presume they waited until decades after he died to name the stuff after him, however.

        1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          There should be a law that no politician gets anything public named after him until he's out of office (at least), or better yet, dead.

    3. Ted S.   11 years ago

      A urinal, so everybody can piss on him.

    4. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

      A porta-potty. Just the one. Used at the raunchiest of construction sites.

  23. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

    BUT CITIZENS UNITED!

    Crowd Funding Lifts Democrat Weiland in South Dakota

    A crowd-funded super PAC on Tuesday announced plans to spend $1 million on behalf of the Democratic candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat from South Dakota, aiming to shake up a race that favors the Republican.

    MAYDAY.US, co-founded by Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig and Republican strategist Mark McKinnon, said it is spending $1 million on behalf of Democratic candidate Rick Weiland. The money would dwarf the amount either Mr. Weiland or his main rival had in hand as of the middle of the year. By June 30, Mr. Weiland had $447,919 in cash on hand, compared with $754,800 for Republican contender Mike Rounds, the former South Dakota governor.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/....._Video_Top

    1. F. Stupidity, Jr.   11 years ago

      I'm thinking Mark McKinnon and Mike Rounds don't mingle in the same area of the Big Tent.

    2. BiMonSciFiCon   11 years ago

      I am not sure what point you're even trying to make.

      1. F. Stupidity, Jr.   11 years ago

        Neither is he.

      2. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

        I want people who raise shitloads of money for Dems/Obama to quit complaining about CU.

        CU was rightly decided.

        1. BiMonSciFiCon   11 years ago

          I... agree?

          Pretty damn hypocritical of Lessig to be "injecting money into politics." Guess it's okay when he does it.

          1. Wasteland Wanderer   11 years ago

            Is...Is today Opposite Day?

            Because I kind of forgot to wear pants on my head.

            Or at all.

        2. Gluesponge   11 years ago

          The Irony is, Lessig's group is trying to reverse the decision (well, money in politics in general.)

          He's long preached for a $5 donation limit per person/corporation to campaigns. (Or something similar. He's tweaked it over the years.) I love his stance on IP and broken Copyright (and the bullshit that is IP in general), but in this instance, he's got his wires crossed.

          But he's a lawyer, so what do you expect, right?

      3. John   11 years ago

        He has no idea. It is one of the drawbacks of being retarded and homeless.

  24. Zeb   11 years ago

    Fuck the DEA and doctors too. How have MDs not long ago collectively told the DEA to get fucked?

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      They rely on the government for licensing?

    2. CatoTheElder   11 years ago

      The DEA can and does send MDs to prison?

      1. Zeb   11 years ago

        But they can't send all the doctors to prison.

    3. Contrarian P   11 years ago

      The same reason the rest of you haven't.

  25. GILMORE   11 years ago

    "California is experimenting with a cloud-seeding drone to combat the drought."

    Uh, yeah, well, that's just what they want you to think

  26. Every Cop is a Criminal   11 years ago

    "According to an exclusive report from Reuters, Missouri authorities are coordinating intelligence with out-of-state law enforcement agencies and, potentially, the FBI to prepare for potential riots if a grand jury decides not to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown."

    Them damn Amish.

  27. On The Road To Mandalay.   11 years ago

    I love Lena. She's hilarious. +100.

    1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      I find her hilarious too, but I'm not laughing with her.

    2. Gluesponge   11 years ago

      So she's the equivalent of 100 hilariouses? Must be why her ass is so big.

  28. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    prepare for potential riots if a grand jury decides not to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown.

    The prosecutor should just threaten him with a plethora of charges with sentences tallying into the hundreds of years, so he'll take a plea bargain: guilty to littering (improper disposal of the dead body), ten days probation and a letter of reprimand.

  29. John   11 years ago

    Maybe I am missing something but I don't see how race riots in St. Louis just before the election are going to do anything but hurt the Democrats. Maybe they missed the memo but there is a black President. Blacks having the perception that the system is still screwing them even though there is a black President is unlikely to make them feel motivated to get out and vote for that rich white Democratic Senator who needs their help. And white people seeing the result of six years of Democratic rule by the light giver is race riots are unlikely to feel too motivated to get out and vote Democrat either. If there was a Republican President, I could see race riots helping Democrats. But with a Democratic President who was sold to the country in no small part because electing him was going to be an historic advance in race relations? Not seeing it. Its like the Democrats only know how to riot and destroy shit and can't understand that doing that is a bad idea when you are in charge.

    1. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

      Maybe they are just really pissed off and everything isn't about elections?

      Do you ever think?

      1. John   11 years ago

        Sure. That might be believable if the Progs hadn't spent the last fifty years agitating race riots for political purposes.

      2. Sevo   11 years ago

        Fuck off, turd.

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      I don't see how race riots in St. Louis just before the election are going to do anything but hurt the Democrats.

      It's obvious, John. Riots destroy polling places. No valid midterms.

    3. PapayaSF   11 years ago

      If the political agitators and poor ghetto-dwellers had foresight, they wouldn't be political agitators and poor ghetto-dwellers.

      But it is amazing how many things are going wrong for Democrats in the run-up to the midterms: ISIS, Ebola, EV-68. They managed to delay more of the Obamacare catastrophe until after the election, but it wasn't enough.

  30. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    Ugh, I hate linking to BuzzFeed, but...

    A DEA agent commandeered a woman's identity, created a phony Facebook account in her name, and posted racy photos he found on her seized cell phone. The government said he had the right to do that.

    [W]hile she was awaiting trial, [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Timothy] Sinnigen created the fake Facebook page using Arquiett's real name, posted photos from her seized cell phone, and communicated with at least one wanted fugitive ? all without her knowledge.

    Some of the photos are SFW but a touch risqu?.

    1. Carl ?s the level   11 years ago

      You could avoid linking to BuzzFeed by linking to the H&R story about it from this morning.

      1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

        That would require me to have had enough time in between the extra appointments on top of the regular appointments I had scheduled today to see this morning's stuff.

  31. Slammer   11 years ago

    More on what makes the 1% so darned wonderful, by yet another courtier

    In today's economy, the goal of this sort of flattery of the rich is to portray their success as coming entirely from within. Forget the advantages of birth or rigged compensation deals for CEOs or crime; it's all about inner determination and "mindset." Siebold writes, "Few people in the middle class really understand the mindset of the richest people. After all, if they did, they would be among the top earners as well."

    When it comes to the economy and personal wealth, the insidious subtext of Siebold and his fellow success-mongers is that externalities have nothing to do with your failure. You simply haven't learned "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," or "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," or "The Magic of Thinking Big."

    Income inequality? Your fault. Siebold: "Many people go as far as accusing the wealthy of having some sort of unfair advantage. Those are easy accusations to make, and they resonate well with some people. But the truth is, there are no unfair advantages. Everyone has the same opportunity to acquire wealth."

    Of course, that's not what the facts on the ground teach.

    Emphases mine.

    1. John   11 years ago

      Who other than the voices in shreek's head ever claimed that everyone has the same opportunity to acquire wealth?

      1. lap83   11 years ago

        douchebag get-rich-quick con artists.....which no one but a Democrat is stupid enough to believe. I do think their entire political philosophy is based on gullibility.

    2. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

      Forget the advantages of birth or rigged compensation deals for CEOs or crime

      You know, I'm pretty sure if we took the all the CEOs in America and compared them, most probably don't make more than half a million.

      And they certainly don't just sit around and do nothing.

      The CEO of the small medical coding company I work for founded the business. His wife is the bookkeeper and even his daughter does office work.

      I doubt he's raking in millions of dollars for doing nothing.

      1. BiMonSciFiCon   11 years ago

        According to Kevin D. Williamson, the average salary for a CEO is ~200k. That means for every Fortune 500 CEO making gobs of money, there are CEOs of small businesses busting their asses for much less.

    3. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

      Of course, that's not what the facts on the ground teach.

      The facts on the ground teach that you become who you emulate. It just so happens that poor people tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. Middle class have their own set of mistakes. Upper class have their own set. If you avoid the mistakes of the poor, you become middle class. If you avoid the mistakes of the poor and the Middle class, you become wealthy.

      1. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

        To be clear, some people are just unlucky but c'est la vie.

        This noble poor bullshit is just part of the progressive War on Personal Responsibility, if you want to call it that: your perceived misfortune is not your fault and everyone who has gotten ahead did so through dishonesty and cheating.

        So vote Democrat and we'll make things "fair" by tearing down those ahead of you.

        1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

          I generally ignore the hard luck cases, because they are few and far between when compared to the self inflicted stuff. Losing your job and not having the reserves to pay your mortgage isn't bad luck, it's poor planning. Half your paycheck going to $1000 in car payments each month, causing you to charge Christmas on a credit card is a lifestyle choice, not government's fault.

          I've loaded food stamp groceries into escalades, eaten at fancy restaurants with friends who can't pay their student loans, and watched broke people buy thousands of dollars of new furniture. Generally speaking, it's not a luck problem, it's entitlement with a sprinkling of stupidity.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

            Do you eat children for supper?

            1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

              Doesn't everybody? (minus the whole supper thing... My great aunt would "warsh" up before supper. I allow my orphans to wash meup before eating them for dinner like a true bemonocled libertarian)

      2. CatoTheElder   11 years ago

        ^ THIS.

        Well, that and the fact that 16% of the population have an IQ of less than 85, which is a fairly serious handicap to getting wealthy. Even then, a person can be taught to avoid lower class and middle class mistakes. My retarded brother-in-law is now retired with a pension (being a reliable employee meant he kept a job for 35 years, even though menial, thereby avoiding critical lower class mistakes) and has six-digit investments and savings in 401(k) and other accounts due to his own frugality (thereby avoiding a middle-class mistake of spending more than one makes.) The guy can barely read and can't tell time with an analog clock, but he has managed better financially than a lot of engineers I know who make an order of magnitude higher salaries.

        1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

          I have mentioned this a few time before, but listening to Dave Ramsey's show for an hour is enough to shame any self respecting person who struggles with money. Single moms paying off $50k in debt with a $35k salary. Families of 5 with a single $45k income who are debt free, mortgage and all, before the kids enter high school.

          Unless you have a million bucks in unnegotiable medical debt from a debilitating and lingering medical condition that prevents you from working, you've still got hope of being, if not wealthy, financially secure. That's a flipping awesome message when compared to the entitlement brokerage of the modern left.

        2. ant1sthenes   11 years ago

          Is he married?

    4. ant1sthenes   11 years ago

      Well, everyone has the same opportunity to become a professional athlete or movie star. Sort of. In the "all men are created equal" sense.

      But what is the point of this argument? Is equality fair in and of itself? Why not put innocent and guilty alike in prison, then? Surely some people are born to a situation more weighted toward a life of crime than others, whether due to nature or nurture. Yes, those accidents of birth lead them onto different paths where their actions will have substantially different effects on others. But the same can be said of wealth.

    5. lap83   11 years ago

      No. People don't all have the same opportunities, luck definitely factors in to any success story. But he's stupid to conclude that this fact is an argument against capitalism. As if a centrally planned economy could alter reality enough to make sure everyone gets an equal amount of luck. Even if it was theoretically possible there's no way the assholes that are in charge would ever allow it to happen. By golly, they deserve SOMETHING for having to put up with us lowly rubes.

  32. Troy muy grande boner   11 years ago

    The Drug Enforcement Agency is tightening its rules for certain painkiller prescriptions.

    Because nothing says the competent practice of medicine like a fucking pig that has never been to medical school.

  33. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Tuesday said he expects Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States in 2016.

    Kindly Old Grandpa Buffett undoubtedly considers her an investment.

    1. Gluesponge   11 years ago

      I think it shows that Buffet's got a "team" who helps him invest. 🙂

  34. The DerpRider   11 years ago

    Be American. Buy American. GM issues 76th recall of 2014.

    1. John   11 years ago

      There is always Ford.

      1. Matrix   11 years ago

        If you want an POS vehicle, sure.

        1. Clich? Bandit   11 years ago

          You sir are dead to me...DEAD!

  35. Palin's Buttplug   11 years ago

    Stanford dropout now worth $4 billion at 30 (and gorgeous to boot).

    http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28756059

    And she seems to have had it since at least the age of 19, when she dropped out of her engineering studies at Stanford University to found her corporation.

    Theranos is as yet little known, but private investors have taken stakes that value it at an extraordinary $9bn (?5.4bn).

    Ms Holmes still owns half the business, making her on paper (according to the magazine Forbes) the youngest woman ever to become a self-made billionaire.

    And Theranos has attracted some striking believers. On one of the most star-studded boards of directors in the USA sit two former secretaries of state - Henry Kissinger and George Shultz - and a former defence secretary.

    Wow.

    Probably a damned liberal too.

    1. Sevo   11 years ago

      Fuck off, turd.

  36. Slammer   11 years ago

    How Firestone shut Ebola down in Liberia

    "None of us had any Ebola experience," says the director, but NPR notes that they did have what everywhere else in the region did not: The muscle and resources that a major corporation can harness. The woman died, but not one of Firestone's roughly 8,500 employees and 71,500 family members contracted the virus.

    As for what's needed to contain the outbreak, a CDC rep says simply: "More Firestones."

    1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

      I have a rock that keeps tigers away!

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        How much?

        1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

          All of them!

      2. Clich? Bandit   11 years ago

        THAT WAS MINE!!!

  37. Every Cop is a Criminal   11 years ago

    CDC: 110 Million Americans Have STDs

    http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/20.....iven-time/

    1. Jerry on the sea   11 years ago

      When is an infection not a disease...

      1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

        I always thought that an infection happens with or without symptoms, a disease is when you present symptoms of the infection.

  38. Jesus H. Christ   11 years ago

    OT: is Vice News a fairly reliable source? They seem to do some pretty wild stuff, and I'm wondering if it's mostly self-promotion, ala Geraldo, or is it true investigative journalism.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Not convinced of the latter.

  39. Sevo   11 years ago

    Bus drivers who work for bus line want to unionize; lefty rag can't pass up making connection to Face Book:

    "Facebook's bus drivers push to unionize"
    [...]
    "Some bus drivers who ferry Facebook employees to and from Silicon Valley want to unionize, saying they are underpaid, overworked and unfairly compensated for time on the job.
    The drivers enlisted the Teamsters, a powerful labor union, to pressure their employer, Loop Transportation, to allow them to organize."
    http://www.sfgate.com/news/art.....hc-bustech

    Fine. Face Book can hire a new transport company.

    1. califernian   11 years ago

      You can never appease the bay area nutjobs.

      Oakland pushing a 12.50 minimum wage on the ballot now. It will pass overwhelmingly, thus putting an end the burgeoning urban revival currently happening in Oakland.

      All the cool new brewpubs and restaurants will be opened in Emeryville from now on.

      1. califernian   11 years ago

        The most evil a thing a person can do is, in order, (according to bay area nutjobs who run oakland/berkely/s.f)

        1. Give someone a job
        2. Buy your kid a Happy Meal
        3. Own property
        4. Rend someone your property
        5. Drive a car/use a car/pass over the chance to vandalize a car

  40. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    I am Groot?

    Woman carves impressive Groot statue with a chainsaw.

    This will give at least one of my friends some serious wood.

    1. Warty   11 years ago

      Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Is the Supreme Court Really That Divided? The Facts Say No.

Billy Binion | 6.5.2025 5:21 PM

Milton Friedman Disproved Trump's Argument for Tariffs Decades Ago

Joe Lancaster | 6.5.2025 4:35 PM

If Viewers Love PBS So Much, Let Them Pay for It

Robby Soave | 6.5.2025 3:20 PM

Florida Woman Fined $165,000 for Trivial Code Violations Takes Her Case to the Florida Supreme Court

Autumn Billings | 6.5.2025 3:05 PM

Nathan Fielder's 737 Stunt Involved Elaborate Workaround of Ridiculous 1,500-Hour Rule

Christian Britschgi | 6.5.2025 2:50 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!