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Bow Down to Your Ebola Czar, Get Gay-Married in Arizona, and Buy More Things with Your IPhone: P.M. Links

Scott Shackford | 10.17.2014 4:30 PM

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(CNN)
  • A lawyer/political apparatchik is exactly what we need right now!
    CNN

    Ron Klain, the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, is going to be put in charge of containing the spread of the Ebola virus.

  • A judge has struck down Arizona's ban on gay marriage recognition and the state's attorney general says he's not going to fight it.
  • Nigeria has reportedly declared a ceasefire with the Boko Haram terrorist group. But previous reports of ceasefires have proven to be untrue, so maybe not. Releasing all those kidnapped schoolgirls (remember them?) may be part of the deal.
  • Because Gina Raimondo, Democratic candidate for governor of Rhode Island, pushed through huge reforms of the state's public employee pensions, unions are throwing support behind the Republican opponents. Her lieutenant governor pick, Dan McKee, is also a supporter of charter schools.
  • You'll be able to spend your hard-earned bucks on all sorts of regrettable purchases at hundreds of thousands of stores beginning Monday with just your iPhone as the new Apple Pay service launches.
  • Amazon launched its grocery delivery service in New York City today, but only to the hipsters in Brooklyn. They must have given up on the beehives and rooftop veggie gardens.

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NEXT: New Ebola Czar Criticized as Unqualified

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ...is going to be put in charge of containing the spread of the Ebola virus.

    The Obama Administration is going to look pretty dated in two years when we still have an Ebola czar twiddling his unqualified thumbs.

    1. db   11 years ago

      You haven't heard of mission creep? He'll be spending billions on eradicating viral videos or some shit.

      1. Red Rocks Rockin   11 years ago

        This goes way beyond mission creep--this is nominally supposed to be what the head of the CDC is responsible for doing. Instead, the president has to appoint some patsy to serve as his P.R. deflector.

        1. Jayburd   11 years ago

          The guy handled Biden's offspring eruptions, didn't he? Impressive Damage Control abilities. I wouldn't be surprised if he was Beau's coke dealer.

          1. Trigger Warning   11 years ago

            Biteme's youngest worthless turd of a son lasted for a whole month in the Navy Reserves. Couldn't put down the cocaine. What a contemptible little worm*.

            *Not for the coke. For the lack of commitment.

    2. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

      Are there any Nostradamus predictions about Ebola?

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        In the third quatrain of 21st Century, Nostradamus wrote, "Shit's about to get real."

        1. Cyto   11 years ago

          Looks like someone beat you to it.

          1. Cyto   11 years ago

            Skip to 7:55 for the best of the best of the best.

            The triangle of aids, Ebola and flu make a 66 degree angle. The number of the beast. No, seriously.

      2. Adans smith   11 years ago

        The god emperor saw this,it's in the golden path

    3. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

      Hello.

      "Ron Klain, the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, is going to be put in charge of containing the spread of the Ebola virus."

      Is it me or does it take a special kind of arrogant person to take a job he knowingly is unqualified for? Worse, what kind of person offers it to such a man?

      1. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

        Sure, he's unqualified, but he also knows he isn't expected to do a damn thing in this job except provide assurances to TV cameras.

        1. Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)   11 years ago

          Heckuva job Brownie!

          "except provide assurances to TV cameras" and be prepared to be sacrificed when the shit hits the fan.

          Political ablative.

          1. bendover   11 years ago

            Hey Suderman, now that Obama has promoted a political hack to be the ebola czar - can we blame him now ?

          2. John   11 years ago

            At least Bush fires Brown. He did not bring him in to fix things

            1. Rufus J. Firefly   11 years ago

              John, I take back 'the jack squat' comment in the AM Links.

      2. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

        "Ron Klain, the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, is going to be put in charge of containing the spread of the Ebola virus."

        If only it was possible to reunite The Clash, they could do a protest song about this,
        "Klain in Vain".

        1. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

          That would be apropos if and when Obama throws him under the bus when things go bad.

      3. PapayaSF   11 years ago

        Klain is perfectly qualified for his job: protecting Obama from criticism about the administration's handling of Ebola.

        (You didn't think Klain's job was to protect Americans from Ebola, did you?)

      4. Mickey Rat   11 years ago

        An arrogant person who was unqualified for his job when he sought it?

    4. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

      Went to Sam's Club today, they were out of Lysol disinfectant spray (in the economic three pack) and running low on products containing bleach. Not sure if a failure in the supply chain or people getting the ebola willies.

      Also, why are we capitalizing ebola? We don't capitalize influenza, mumps, polio, etc.

      1. Rich   11 years ago

        Because It's The Big One.

      2. Fluffy   11 years ago

        The virus was named after the Ebola river.

        (Kind of like the Civil War tradition of naming battles after nearby rivers or creeks.)

        It's a proper name.

        1. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

          Okay. Still seems a bit silly, but okay.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            No, what is silly is that somewhere in this great nation of ours, someone has named their daughter after the disease.

            1. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

              Just planning ahead for when boys start sniffing around, I'm sure.

            2. wef   11 years ago

              someone has named their daughter after the disease

              racist!

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                I wasn't really going there. I just meant people in general are getting weird about names.

            3. Ted S.   11 years ago

              Somebody in Florida, no doubt.

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                Oh, sure. Ebolameth is her full first name.

                1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

                  I think that's Ebolonics.

        2. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          The Ebola river? Wow. I'll bet you could buy riverfront property there really, really cheaply.

      3. Zeb   11 years ago

        I capitalize Ebola because my spell check puts a red line under it if I don't.

      4. An Innocent Man   11 years ago

        Also, why are we capitalizing ebola?

        We should hyphenate it (E-bola) and make people think it's something you get online.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Or make it into a company name: eBola.

          1. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

            Don't just drink cola. Drink eBola!

            And introducing zero calorie ZBola!

            1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

              Lose weight the eBola way!

    5. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      I'm incredibly impressed with the president's laser-focus on appointing political hacks. No matter what crisis, he never misses the opportunity to reward political cronies.

      1. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

        Change!

        ...for the worse, but still, it's change. Previous administrations would occasionally appoint someone with at least academic qualifications in the area covered.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Looking back at Bush, except for that one hack for the court, I don't recall many that weren't at least superficially qualified for the position. And he sucked ass, too, but I can't say that I viewed him personally corrupt the way I do Obama.

    6. Aresen   11 years ago

      I prefer the Russian method of dealing with Czars.

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        You mean submitting to their every whim for centuries?

        1. Aresen   11 years ago

          I should have specified the 1917 version.

          OTOH: The earlier versions had a way of offing them every couple of generations.

          Peter II
          Ivan VI
          Peter III
          Paul I
          Alexander II

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            Killing czars and replacing them with more czars does not impress me.

            To be honest, that hasn't stopped. They've had czars all along since the Romanovs.

            1. Zeb   11 years ago

              The Yeltsin era could be an exception. Maybe.

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                Yes, there are a couple of really brief non-czar moments. Another one is right after the revolution, before the Bolsheviks took over.

                1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

                  Alexander Kerensky, who died in New York in 1970.

                  1. Mickey Rat   11 years ago

                    No, he went into deep space and founded the Clans.

            2. Aresen   11 years ago

              They've had czars all along since the Romanovs.

              Fair enough, though I think I'd prefer Nicholas II to the Bolshevik Czars.

              As for Vladimir IV of the Okhrana, he is around the middle of the pack on the tyrant scale.

              1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                I wonder what American czars will be like? I hope not like Obama.

                1. Aresen   11 years ago

                  Check the Jezebel or Slate commentariat. Your future Czar is among them.

                  1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

                    Ye gods. I 'd better go check my backup countries. New Zealand?

    7. BigT   11 years ago

      The Surgeon General says czars are bad for your health. And really bad for his job security.

      Who is, and where is the SG anyway?

  2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Nigeria has reportedly declared a ceasefire with the Boko Haram terrorist group.

    How about a ceasefire on those poor princes who have to keep moving their money around.

    1. Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)   11 years ago

      Boko Harum was never the same after Robin Trower left.

      1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

        Compared to the rest of Nigeria,
        the Boko Harum members are a whiter shade of pale.

      2. The Laconic   11 years ago

        Nice.

    2. Zeb   11 years ago

      Are those guys still around? I haven't seen one of those for years.

  3. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago
    1. Rich   11 years ago

      Well, if you insist.

      Here's your reply.

    2. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

      Zackly!

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        It wasn't a top shelf comment anyway, as I recall.

        1. Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)   11 years ago

          Are they ever?

          1. Brandon   11 years ago

            Most of Fist's comments are of the well variety: fast and cheap.

            1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

              Just like my love making.

              1. db   11 years ago

                "Did he say 'make some fuck'?"

              2. Restoras   11 years ago

                FoE, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

  4. Rich   11 years ago

    the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore

    Hey, what is failing to contain the spread of The Stimulus, chopped liver?

  5. Brandon   11 years ago

    Ron Klain, the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore, is going to be put in charge of containing the spread of the Ebola virus.

    This administration really does believe that political hack lawyers are the answer to every problem.

    1. Rich   11 years ago

      Lighten up, Brandon. They're following established protocol.

    2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      That's an F U to the GOP who insisted on an Ebola czar in the first place.

      1. New Normal   11 years ago

        Wow, he sure showed them!

        1. Rich   11 years ago

          LOL

          "Take that, you obstructionist assholes -- Another *Democrat*!"

    3. Injun, as in from India   11 years ago

      This administration really does believe that political hack lawyers are the answer to every problem.

      There's precedent: http://img.timeinc.net/time/da.....or0531.jpg

  6. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ...unions are throwing support behind the Republican opponents.

    Apparently union support ain't as valuable as it used to be.

  7. Aloysious   11 years ago

    apparattchik

    I saw that. And you are right.

    1. db   11 years ago

      Your eyes are better than mine.

      1. Aloysious   11 years ago

        Well, I did have to go and commit a spelling error, so I only get half a point.

        1. db   11 years ago

          I don't see it anywhere on the page at all.

          1. Aloysious   11 years ago

            Alt-text.

            1. db   11 years ago

              Ah. I can never see that on my phone.

              1. Aloysious   11 years ago

                A lawyer/political apparatchik is exactly what we need right now!

                Mobiles are great, but they do have limitations.

              2. Florida Man   11 years ago

                Hold on the pic. It will ask if you want to copy and you can see the alt text.

  8. Cytotoxic   11 years ago

    Meanwhile in Yemen: Shi'ite Zaydi Houthis are sweeping through the country with complicity from generals loyal to former leader Saleh. They've taken the capital and are fighting AQAP in their strongholds. They basically veto the government if they don't like it. Unfortunately, they're pawns of Iran and share the same anti-Western outlook, and want gas subsidies back. The southern secessionist Herak movement is taking this opportunity to mobilize tens of thousands of protesters. This is a great time for America to just slowly step back and ease out of the room, like you did when you were a kid and the drunk relatives were starting to shout at each other.

  9. Brandon   11 years ago

    Because Gina Raimondo, Democratic candidate for governor of Rhode Island, pushed through huge reforms of the state's public employee pensions, unions are throwing support behind the Republican opponents. Her lieutenant governor pick, Dan McKee, is also a supporter of charter schools.

    Meanwhile, the rest of us will continue not giving half a fuck about Rhode Island.

    1. Rich   11 years ago

      I heard it's not even a real island.

      1. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

        More of an isthmus, really...

        1. Rich   11 years ago

          "No man is an island; he's a peninsula."

          1. Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)   11 years ago

            Florida does look like a cock

            1. OldMexican   11 years ago

              Curiously, you didn't say "looks like my cock."

              1. Bobarian (dinosaur hunter)   11 years ago

                Florida needs a proper circumsicion to resemble my cock.

                Cut off Miami.

      2. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

        Are there even any plantations anymore, Providence or otherwise?

    2. The Laconic   11 years ago

      RAIMONDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    3. Raven Nation   11 years ago

      The raving Quakers have not settled down -- for altho our government has issued orders against these fanatics, nevertheless they do not fail to pour forth their venom. There is one place in New England where they are tolerated and that is Rhode Island, which is the caeca latrina (sewer) of New England.

      Dutch Reformed Ministers, New Amsterdam, 1658

      1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

        I will not tolerate such slander concerning the home of coffee milk.

        1. Ted S.   11 years ago

          Coffee milk is unlibertarian, considering the big brand of coffee syrup is named Autocrat.

  10. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    A judge has struck down Arizona's ban on gay marriage recognition and the state's attorney general says he's not going to fight it.

    Shackford is the one contributor who consistently and correctly inserts the word recognition. I think I might ask him to marry me.

    1. DJF   11 years ago

      I think that a better word would be "takeover".

      Since now the government in Arizona will be the controlling party in homosexual marrage and make the rules on such marrages and not only that but the one who can change those rules whenever it wants without the permission of the two people who got married.

  11. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

    AmazonFresh is the best. I don't ever have to wade through the sea of mouth breathers, retirees, and screaming children at the supermarket any more. In fact, God bless Amazon. The only time I ever leave home is to go to a bar/restaurant/theater/concert.

    1. Brandon   11 years ago

      Do they know how to deliver a ripe avocado?

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        And a ripe peach? Fuck, if they can do that, I'm never shopping outside my home again.

        1. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

          At least out here in Cali, through AmazonFresh I can order a $35.00 produce box assembled by the Out of the Box Collective. It's all grown in SoCal, organic, pesticide free, blah blah blah. The cool thing is it is all ripe, fresh from the fields. There is no consistency in what fruits/veggies are in the box because it is whatever is ripe and harvested that week. But it is always a nice variety of fruits/veggies/fresh herbs. It's a cool surprise, and it's a fun challenge to learn how to cook new stuff. So for $35 I get fresh ripe produce for an entire week worth of meals. Pretty cool.

          Specifically, for the past couple of weeks I've getting perfectly ripe peaches and plums. Beautifully ripe heirloom tomatoes. And some of the most colorful and delicious carrots ever.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            We do that here. Get a share from some farmers, with much of the produce being purely seasonal stuff. Yum.

      2. EDG reppin' LBC   11 years ago

        Can you make a shoe smell?

        1. C. Anacreon   11 years ago

          I'll bet you were really something before electricity.

    2. db   11 years ago

      Just don't order the clam chowder.

    3. Mad Scientist   11 years ago

      Now you can stay home and guard your lawn!

  12. OldMexican   11 years ago

    Bow Down to Your Ebola Czar,

    All Hail Plankton!
    All Hail Plankton!

  13. Rich   11 years ago

    Pentagon police shut down a building entrance and a portion of the south parking lot Friday because a woman was sick and told emergency personnel she had recently been to West Africa

    [She] works for Total Spectrum, whose ... Managing Director Steve Gordon ... said the woman had not been out of the Washington area.

    So, can we start waterboarding again?

  14. Winston   11 years ago

    Do libertarians think that "marriage is a fundamental right"?

    1. kinnath   11 years ago

      new around here, huh?

    2. Rich   11 years ago

      Hmmm.

      Well, do libertarians think that "death is a fundamental right"?

    3. Cytotoxic   11 years ago

      Yes.

    4. OldMexican   11 years ago

      Re: Winston,

      Do libertarians think that "marriage is a fundamental right"?

      Entering into an agreement or life-long commitment and calling it "marriage", YES.

      A right to a ceremony - NO. You can't make a priest, pastor or minister marry you.

      1. Winston   11 years ago

        A right to a ceremony - NO. You can't make a priest, pastor or minister marry you.

        Wonder what the judges will say about that.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Bake me a cake, bitch.

        2. Zeb   11 years ago

          I'm optimistic that they will do the right thing when it comes to religious ceremony. Freedom of religion is pretty clearly protected. For cake bakers and such, it looks less good. But we are already very far down that road with or without gay marriage.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            Where's my cake, bitch? I'm suing you. Late cake is cake denied.

    5. db   11 years ago

      Nothing based on an arbitrary social construct such as the idea that people's peaceful interaction with each other can be legitimately controlled by third parties through the threat of violence can be considered remotely "fundamental." The very notion of marriage as a state institution implies that fundamental liberties such as freedom of association are up for government control.

    6. The Laconic   11 years ago

      It depends on what you mean by "marriage" and "fundamental".

    7. Zeb   11 years ago

      I don't think that many do think of it as a fundamental right. It's more of an equal protection issue for those who favor it. I think most would rather just get rid of marriage as a predefined legal concept regulated by the state.

  15. OldMexican   11 years ago

    A judge has struck down Arizona's ban on gay marriage recognition and the state's attorney general says he's not going to fight it.

    Do you know how I know you're so gay? Because you won't fight it!

    Amazon launched its grocery delivery service in New York City today, but only to the hipsters in Brooklyn. They must have given up on the beehives and rooftop veggie gardens.

    "Ha-ha, very funny. Now, if you excuse me, my groceries and the organic trash container I ordered just arrived..."

  16. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

    President Obama said he hugged and kissed some of the nurses in Atlanta who had treated the patients with Ebola. Man, Obama will do anything to get out of that job right now.
    - Conan O'Brien, October 16, 2014

    1. Every Cop is a Criminal   11 years ago

      The question I have is did she offer consent or did the president kiss-rape her?

  17. New Normal   11 years ago

    11 children have tested positive for TB so far out of a possible 850.

    http://www.krgv.com/news/more-.....erculosis/

    1. Ted S.   11 years ago

      It's not as if they tested positive for ebola.

  18. Coeus   11 years ago

    THE BARTENDER WHO ACCIDENTALLY SAVED THE WORLD

    The evening of October 24, 1962 must have been quite a shift for the bar staff at the National Press Club. Only two nights before, President John Kennedy addressed the nation about Soviet missiles being discovered in Cuba and the imposition of a naval "quarantine" around the island. The uncertainty combined with the high stakes of a nuclear stand-off between two superpowers would've been enough to send DC's elite searching for a place to grab a drink and seek out more news. As one of the few spots in Washington for power players of the day to blow off steam and exchange information, the tap room at the Press Club would've been packed.

    1. Coeus   11 years ago

      No comments on this one? I am dissapoint. I found this story fascinating.

      1. The Bearded Hobbit   11 years ago

        That was a good read.

        I was in Fourth Grade at that time and don't recall ever being in any sort of concern. However, a year or so later Dad moved us out of the city into the nearby mountains and I now wonder if the missile crisis was on his mind when making plans.

        ... Hobbit

      2. Gray Ghost   11 years ago

        The problem with your link is that, like TV Tropes used to, it inspired me to binge read another 10 posts at that site. And I really have other stuff to do.

        Bookmarked, fuck you, and thank you.

        I agree with his point that historic events can turn on some awfully small details. Reading about those details was what inspired me to learn history in college, and it also killed any idea I ever had of believing that human institutions have any great idea about, or control of, what happens next.

  19. John   11 years ago

    The Ebola Tsar is not a doctor but a lawyer political hack. This is like if George Bush had brought in Mary Madlon to fix the Latrina response. It is so bad as to be insulting. It is Obama saying "fuck you America".

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      It really is. I mean, it's stupid on its face. . .and, of course, as corrupt as it gets. Here, political hack, have a sinecure created by a crisis.

      Even mere window-dressing to make it look like you're doing something would involve someone with an arguable connection to epidemiology.

      1. John   11 years ago

        He doesn't even have a survival instinct anymore. Doesn't he understand that the public is going to blame him if this goes bad? He has lost his mind

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          No, John. He doesn't care.

          1. John   11 years ago

            I bet the Democrats who are going to get blamed with him do.

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              Sure, but they aren't sociopaths. Not all of them, anyway.

        2. Concerned Citizen   11 years ago

          The madness of King Barack

      2. db   11 years ago

        It is insulting yes, but perhaps comforting as well: Obama could be certain that Ebola will end up a red herring. Tsar Hack will be praised for his monumental effort and dedication and move up to fill a cabinet position vacated by someone wanting to spend more time with the.family.

        I'm pretty sure Obama and Valerie only see this.as an opportunity.ity to groom this.guy for a more "responsible" position, and are completely discounting the idea that Ebola could be a real problem.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          If the GOP Senate does anything other than reject EVERY SINGLE OBAMA appointee going forward, it has failed.

          1. db   11 years ago

            How can they possibly deny a caBinet post to the man who singlehandedly saved us all from certain foaming.bloody death?

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              Easy. REQUEST DENIED.

        2. John   11 years ago

          You are right. And I hope they get lucky. Sadly the laws of nature and biology don't really care about politics.

        3. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

          Maybe AG after Holder leaves? If he can stop Ebola he can fight crime?

          1. db   11 years ago

            Now you 're talking. This Administration has become completely severed from reality.

        4. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          Obama could be certain that Ebola will end up a red herring.

          I don't believe that, or that he believes that. Cases in West Africa are doubling every few weeks. It's only a matter of time before more people leave with the virus.

    2. Coeus   11 years ago

      fix the Latrina response

      Best typo ever.

      1. John   11 years ago

        Smart phone error. But beautifully appropriate if you have ever been to NOLA

        1. Coeus   11 years ago

          Many times. Got robbed while getting a handjob once.

          1. John   11 years ago

            At least you enjoyed the experience. And I love the place but it is a dump.

          2. Raven Nation   11 years ago

            Umm...never mind.

  20. Dread Pirate Roberts   11 years ago

    We have top men working on it. Top. Men.

    1. John   11 years ago

      Topem who have no medical training. You can't make this shit up.

      1. Jayburd   11 years ago

        WAIT TIL YOU SEE HIS BUDGET!!!!!

  21. Coeus   11 years ago

    Why women leave tech.

    Almost everyone I spoke with said that they had enjoyed the work itself. Most mothers added that they would have happily returned to their jobs a few months after giving birth, but their companies didn't offer maternity leave and they needed to quit in order to have their kids. Some women felt that their work environments were discriminatory, but most reported something milder: the simple discomfort of not fitting in in an otherwise homogenous setting. It may not sound like a big deal if you're used to being in the majority, but it was enough to drive many qualified engineers to quit.

    Slight discomfort caused the majority to quit a high-paying job. Now that's privilege.

    1. db   11 years ago

      Hmmm, what enables a person to up and quit a high.paying job? It must be superior financial planning.

      1. Coeus   11 years ago

        And in their thirties, no less.

    2. Jesus H. Christ   11 years ago

      I've been involved in the medical billing field for a big chunk of my adult life. There have been times when I was the only man out of 50 or 60 women in my department. The only time I had any consistent difficulty is when I was in the position of being manager. Trying to manage a bunch of low paid, man hating single mom bitches was a nightmare. I would be talking to them calmly and politely and they would be screaming at me. Then the tears.... I'm pretty immune to female tears now except for my wife and daughter.

      1. Cyto   11 years ago

        I worked in a lab like that. 28 women and two men. One was an older gentlemen only two years from full retirement. With 2 daughters in college. The environment got so bad he quit to run a video store. If you can't finish out the last two years of a 40 year run, it must be pretty bad.

        They actually openly plotted to get rid of the men working there. It was kinda like the movie "Heathers", only with a bunch of med-techs instead of high school girls.

        1. Jesus H. Christ   11 years ago

          They were vicious to each other as well. At one point I had a group of about a dozen gals for whom I was "team leader" ie, manager without the real authority or pay. Four or five of the more disgruntled decided to go Mean Girls on one of the other gals. I'm assuming because the victim was pretty, and had a good relationship with her devoted husband. In other words, she was happy, and the others couldn't stand it.

          1. Cyto   11 years ago

            Oh yeah... they went beyond just talking behind each other's backs and stealing lunches from the fridge. They even sabotaged reagents and hid supplies to hurt the quality of the other women's work. Pretty much as close to "Lord of the Flies" as you can get in the workplace. When I was a teen I worked in a kitchen filled with convicted felons where the head chef never called me anything nicer than "piss ant" and it was never close to the all-women environment. In fact it was positively cordial by comparison.

          2. flye   11 years ago

            I've worked for some very talented women in my time, and every single one of them was irrationally hated by at least one woman they managed.

            1. Coeus   11 years ago

              I've worked for some very talented women in my time, and every single one of them was irrationally hated by at least one woman they managed.

              Of all the stories I've seen posted here under my comment, this is the only one I can claim to have seen myself.

    3. The Last American Hero   11 years ago

      If half this shit was true there should be some really awesome all-female tech companies out there, what with all this highly qualified talent that is underutilized.

      1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

        Nah, they'd get sick of the computer with its mansplaining seg faults and 404 errors.

      2. Cyto   11 years ago

        There is a grain of truth here, but it is not gender specific. Tech has a very specific culture - nerd culture like scifi is part of it, but it is more than that. It is very much a culture where geek cred is earned by being brainy. Brainy in a specific way that relates to the job at hand.

        So coming up with an awesome optimization of an SQL query to get the runtime down to milliseconds from minutes is where you get your juice. There are a lot of guys who don't do well with that either, despite being perfectly fine at their jobs. (not great, just perfectly fine).

        There are a lot of very bright people who don't suffer fools well in tech. It kinda draws them like flies.

        It really isn't all that different from any other specific skill set job though. A machine shop has its own specific culture too, and despite all the ancillary things that bring coolness, being able to do a high quality weld in a difficult spot will get you credibility in the shop, not just being a NASCAR fan.

        1. Jesus H. Christ   11 years ago

          Being a kick-ass problem solver is the way to earn cred in a tech environment. I worked for a software company, and the top techs were both men and women, gay and straight. If you could get the job done and keep the customer happy you were respected.

        2. Coeus   11 years ago

          There is a grain of truth here, but it is not gender specific. Tech has a very specific culture - nerd culture like scifi is part of it, but it is more than that. It is very much a culture where geek cred is earned by being brainy. Brainy in a specific way that relates to the job at hand.

          Not always. I've just learned I'm being held back because of my lack of office political skills. There's a perception that I'm hard to work with because my emails are terse.

          Though I was told by a manager that if I worked on the East Coast it probably wouldn't be an issue.

        3. Jayburd   11 years ago

          Never let a welder drill a hole. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were not welders.

  22. Coeus   11 years ago

    Russell Brand: 'I want to address the alienation and despair'
    Power to the people is Russell Brand's new manifesto. He tells us why he's 'ready to die for this'

    If he hadn't got waylaid by success, he would have been banging revolutionary drums long before now. "I always wanted to do something worthwhile, and more than the self-aggrandising pursuit of fame. There's all sorts of opportunities if you're an ambitious and narcissistic kid, and that's the direction I ended up going down." Fame ? another addiction. "I came to realise it doesn't do anything, has no value. It's not going to be enough, like all the addictive behaviours I've pursued are never enough. They are, what's the word? Sisyphean."

    How convenient now that his career is in the shitter.

    "This gentleman here is a proponent of the truth," the young man continues. "His only agenda in life is to disseminate unadulterated facts in a hopefully unbiased way."

    Another man approaches: "Got any spare cash?"

    He hasn't, because he's celebrity royalty. "I ain't got a penny, mate. You got any money, Simon?"

    Brilliant, I say, digging into my pocket. I'm interviewing you about the revolution and you've not got a couple of quid to give to this fella.

    1. Doghouse Riley Jr.   11 years ago

      You know, if he really wants to help people in need he could go to west Africa and suit up.

      Never liked Brand, not a damn bit.

      1. jmomls   11 years ago

        Russell Brand is a crack monkey. If he wants to go overthrow something, try Her Majesty's Government in his very own UK.

        I've hated this fool ever since I saw a clip on TV of him exhorting me to vote for Obama in '08. What is it with these damn foreigners sticking their noses in American politics? I don't tell him which no-chin limey to vote for.

    2. Rev-Match   11 years ago

      waylaid by success

      And Katy Perry.

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        Truly, it is a world of wonders.

  23. Adans smith   11 years ago

    Well 9-11 brought the TSA,Homeland Security and endless war.Ebola has a lot of catching up to do.

  24. np   11 years ago

    Bird says fuck you

  25. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

    Bubbles: Liquor and Whores.

  26. Coeus   11 years ago

    Miami University Welcomes George Will Despite Campus Rape Controversy

    In a June 6 column, Will disputed evidence that 1 in 5 women on U.S college campuses experience sexual assault and argued that efforts to fight sexual assault have made "victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges."

    Will's column sparked widespread criticism. Four senators publicly condemned his comments in an open letter, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch dropped his syndicated column and apologized for publishing his "offensive and inaccurate" arguments, and women's rights groups called for the Washington Post to fire him.

    But the feminists have been telling me that that's corrupt journalism.

    Quick, someone stop the man before he uses basic arithmetic again!!!

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      He should have barely consensual sex with a coed.

      1. flye   11 years ago

        He takes forever because baseball is all he ever thinks about.

        1. PapayaSF   11 years ago

          +1

        2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          He denies feminists his essence.

  27. Coeus   11 years ago

    This bullshit is getting out of hand. Now they can't even tell comedy from reality.

    The basic scenario is this: While watching a reasonably tasteful shot of the bedroom door, we hear Mindy and Danny happily getting it on. Suddenly, Mindy yelps words to the effect of, "Danny! That doesn't go there!" followed by a clumsy separation and a bullshit apology: "I slipped."

    He didn't slip, of course. (As the show makes clear, no man has ever "slipped" and ended up with his penis in the wrong hole.)

    There's a whole mess of clips on efukt proving that wrong.

    1. Coeus   11 years ago

      Look at this bullshit:

      I recently witnessed a conversation among longtime feminists in which one admitted she had no rebuttal for the argument that the flipside of "too intoxicated to consent to sex" is "too intoxicated to know the other person hasn't consented." If we acknowledge that victims can be out of their mind on alcohol and drugs, aren't we obligated to acknowledge that perpetrators can be as well?

      Well, sure, of course they can. That just doesn't absolve them of responsibility for any crimes they commit while wasted. Someone who robs a bank, punches a fellow barfly, or kills his wife while kneewalking drunk has committed a crime. So has someone who rapes while drunk. Easy-peasy.

      But one of these longtime feminists, a woman I admire greatly, rejected those analogies on grounds that all of those other crimes are just as criminal if you're in your right mind. Sex, on the other hand, is not a crime when you're sober!

      Well, sure, of course it isn't. But who was talking about sex?

      Rape is a crime whether you're drunk or sober, just like robbery, assault, and homicide.

      You were. just now. When you ignored the "black-out" elephant in the room.

      1. trshmnster the terrible   11 years ago

        Wow, way to miss the entire fucking point random feminist! Enjoy all that smugbola.

  28. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    I watched a little MSNBC, earlier, because I'm fresh out of red hot knitting needles to stab myself in the ears with. The smarmy, annoying bitch (Name? Who knows? There's a fleet of them, and they are completely indistinguishable from one another.) was sassily pointing out that the One True Czar of all the Ebolians does not NEED to be a medical professional because of his indomitable organizational skills, and the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves, because obstructionism! Those crazy redneck teabaggers were against a czar before they were for one, but now that they see what an awesome selection the Healer-in-Chief has come up with, they're against it again. They're jealous.

    There were some other OFA talking points, but by that time, I had swallowed my tongue and couldn't hear over the ringing in my ears.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      That's interesting. So the administrators already in government, all the way to the president, are so incompetent that they need someone else to do the administrating?

  29. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Also, Rand Paul is a racist, because he says SOME things the race griefers agree with, but it's just a ruse to bring back slavery by stealing black votes, or something.

  30. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    So the administrators already in government, all the way to the president, are so incompetent that they need someone else to do the administrating?

    It's not so much that they're incompetent, per se; but this guy is super qualified to manage the political optics in a way a doctor might not grasp.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      What's needed here? I mean, taking off the libertarian hat and looking at things through the statist glasses for a moment. Isn't it someone who understands the proper response to a biological threat? How is that not a doctor or, at least, someone who has managed a response to a contagious disease?

  31. jmomls   11 years ago

    So let me get this straight: we already have a CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL*, which already has a Director...BUT, we need to go find some other--totally unqualified--schmuck and pay him 200,000 dollars a year to "control" ONE "disease".

    * Read that name again, over and over, very slowly, America: CENTER. FOR. DISEASE. CONTROL.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Is there even the slightest doubt this is a sinecure that has the sole purpose of giving the appointee an income?

      1. db   11 years ago

        No its purpose is to groom him for higher sinecure down the road. Ebola Czar is not a career termination, it is a stepping stone to Secretary of Education, or Secretary of the Interior, or (dare I say) Attorney General.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          Very well, a starter income.

  32. The Late P Brooks   11 years ago

    Isn't it someone who understands the proper response to a biological threat? How is that not a doctor or, at least, someone who has managed a response to a contagious disease?

    There are doctors galore at CDC; the place is lousy with them, but they are just functionaries. They can be trotted out on stage like trained seals to toot the horns and balance the balls as needed, but they just can't see The Big Picture. That requires a top of the line political consultant.

    1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

      Pre-law, pre-med, what's the difference?

  33. db   11 years ago

    Obama should have offered the position to Rand Paul.

  34. cavalier973   11 years ago

    Just calm the heckavoo down, people! The CDC has spoken, and its words are sweet comfort: "Nope; not Ebola!" If you can't trust the CDC, who can you trust? They're Top. Men. people!

  35. BigT   11 years ago

    Why not put the eboma patients in the VA?

  36. Gilbert Martin   11 years ago

    "Ron Klain, the man who once failed to contain the spread of Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore,"

    Yes he certainly failed to contain Al Gore's spread. Gore spread out quite a bit after he failed in his attempt to steal the 2000 election.

    Too many triple cheeseburgers,

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