Rob Ford Loses His Throne, Ebola Quarantines Are Dumb, Weather Channel Co-Founder Calls Global Warming 'a Myth': A.M. Links

• 

  West Annex News

  Crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, a libertarian hedonist's dream politician, was dealt a significant defeat after his brother lost the election to replace him.

• Ebola quarantines enacted by New York and New Jersey are a bad idea, writes The New York Times editorial board.
• UC-Berkeley students, predictably, don't want Bill Maher to speak at their commencement. These days, anyone who has ever offended anyone is unwelcome at university campuses.
• The century-old journal of a doomed member of Roert Faclon Scott's Antarctic expedition was discovered.
• Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that man-made climate change was "bad science" and "a myth."
• Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave a speech insisting that the American people want "a clean break" from the Obama administration. He's probably running for president.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, a libertarian hedonist's dream politician, was dealt a significant defeat after his brother lost the election to replace him.

Toronto voters have thrown their Ford jerseys onto the ice.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ebola quarantines enacted by New York and New Jersey are a bad idea...

More Ebola means more exciting journalism. I'm on to their game.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"He's on to us!"

/NY Post headline writer

[UnCivilServant]

The Army, on the other hand, had decided that all soldiers sent to Liberia will have a mandatory quarantine before being returned to normal duty.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Take that, Italy. You're now our sally port.

[gaijin]

Silly they are not going to be quarantined...they will be held "under controlled observation". See the dif? (yeah, me neither)

[WTF]

Because quarantining people entering from the ebola zones so they can't ride the subways and go bowling will only make the ebola spread worse! All the experts say so!

[Drake]

How many MDs, DOs, and medical Phds are on the Times Editorial Board?

And again (from yesterday) I don't give a shit that it might discourage doctors from volunteering for work in Africa.

[NoVAHockey]

My understanding is that the level of medical support needed to make a difference isn't happening with our without these rules.

[DJF]

NYT editorial board says we should be brave in the face of a deadly disease while at the same time the NTY editorial board does not have the courage to put the names of the people writing this editorial on the editorial.

[Restoras]

I recall there is commenter that is knowledgeable about skis. Who might that be? I have questions!

[SugarFree]

Kristen? Kristen! Get yourself in here, girl!

[Slammer]

"It's a trap!"

[db]

I think Francisco skis too. I do, too but wouldn't call.myself knowledgeable about all the up to date tech.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Also, which commenters are knowledgeable about casts?

[Paul.]

*raises hand*

[Idle Hands]

Episarch probably does cocaine. But I snow ski I may be able to help you.

[Lord Humungus]

+1 Better Of Dead movie

[Lord Humungus]

*off

[SugarFree]

"There's something following them down the mountain."

[Restoras]

+2 dollars

[Restoras]

And round and round we go...

I'd really love to know what's beyond the leading edge of the expanding universe. The palms of God's hands? Other universes that ours is destroying?

[Restoras]

Jeez, not sure what happened there - squirrels pasted an old comment I had saved...

Shopping for new skis. Considering Head Rev 85 Pro, Head i.Supershape Titan, and Blizzard Magnum 8.5 TI.

Basically looking for a carver that has some versatility. But primarily a carver.

[Idle Hands]

I myself have always preferred Blizzard as I find they make an awesome all around product. What coast are you primarily skiing on?

[db]

I bought a pair of Nordicas (can't remember the model) about 3 years ago and they've awesome. I don't think they make that model now but they are primarily carvers. I'll see what they are when I get home later.

Back when I was making the decision I actually bought a membership to realskiers.com to get their reviews. I found them to be very helpful.

[Restoras]

My ski days are split between east and west. That said, even when I am west I like groomers more than anything else - call it 50% of the time when out west.

Thanks db I will check that out.

[Protagoronus]

I ski a pair of Rossi S3 98s which they don't make any more. Rossignol makes some pretty kickass crossover skis though - good for on or off piste.

[Brandon]

I'm a ski geek. What do you want?

[Restoras]

See above.
Shopping for new skis. Considering Head Rev 85 Pro, Head i.Supershape Titan, and Blizzard Magnum 8.5 TI.

Basically looking for a carver that has some versatility. But primarily a carver.

[Lord Humungus]

"A billion husbands are about to be replaced": Imagining the wildly effective vibrators of the future

"A billion husbands are about to be replaced." That is the tag line of a brand of wildly effective vibrators in Chuck Palahniuk's latest novel, "Beautiful You." After the release of these innovative pleasure products, female characters start to make stereotypical battle-of-the-sexes proclamations like, "Men are obsolete!" and "Anything a man can do to me, I can do better!" and "This hunk of plastic is more of a man than you'll ever be!" Women line up for miles and camp out overnight outside "Beautiful You" stores, hoping to get the latest toe-curling product before it sells out. Everywhere, fashionable, metropolitan "Sex and the City" types stomp around town in their stilettos, boldly carrying a bag bearing the brand's logo, white curlicue lettering on a pink background, the new symbol of female empowerment. It's the ultimate horror story for wounded little man-boys everywhere.

but who will open the pickle jars?

[db]

Pickles will be obsolete too.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*narrows gaze....reconsiders, applauds*

[Sevo]

But cucumbers won't

[gaijin]

But will Single Payer cover these?

[SugarFree]

Complicating Tracy's analysis is that Palahniuk is gay. He's a protected class. I'm sure the SJWs on Twitter will gnaw her vag out.

[Doctor Whom]

Gay men are not, at least whenever anyone plays the feminism card.

[Rhywun]

He's white, too.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Vibrators . . . I am not a fan, personally.

[Restoras]

They lack a certain something?

[Elspeth Flashman]

Yes. After a few uses it's like a jack hammer and totally unpleasant for me.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

...like a jack hammer and totally unpleasant for me.

Stay away from Warty!

[Ted S.]

I'm not certain if I wanted that image.

I am, however, laughing.

[Lord Humungus]

TMI

[OldMexican]

Re: Elspeth Flashman,

Yes. After a few uses it's like a jack hammer and totally unpleasant for me.

They don't cuddle, either. Am I right?

[Drake]

Will us men get the Asian sex robots we've been waiting for? Maybe Charles Stross is right and we are about 2 generations away from extinction.

[Raston Bot]

CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN?

[MJGreen]

Lucy Liubot!

[Rhywun]

Have you any idea how it feels to be a fembot living in a manbot's manputer's world?

[Suthenboy]

"Everywhere, fashionable, metropolitan "Sex and the City" types stomp around town in their stilettos,..."

So...actually, no husbands at all will be replaced. There will be a billion males sighing in relief though.

[mad.casual]

Well, if they're carrying their own bags than the husbands have gone *somewhere*.

[NoVAHockey]

until a vibrator can nod along an refill your wine glass while you bitch about work/friends/etc, i'm not seeing it.

[John]

And isn't reducing sex to an emotionless act part of the patriarchy? Isn't that what men do to oppress women?

[NoVAHockey]

[quiet you]

[Zeb]

Scenarios like this are weird. It seems to me that most women actually like having a man in their life for reasons not entirely limited to sex.

[RBS]

Sure, but you aren't Salon's target demo.

[Idle Hands]

Zeb that's what cats are for.

[Zombie Jimbo]

Zombie Jimbo wakes up, stretches and goes back to sleep.

Good Enough?

[Zeb]

Cats are bad at making money and taking the shotgun out to see what is making all that noise outside.

[Idle Hands]

but they can deal with a mouse.

[Citizen Nothing]

But I don't drag the mouse to leave at my wife's favorite chair and then wait for her to praise me.

[Restoras]

This probably makes me some sort of monster but I used to leave the mice I trapped until my ex noticed them...

[cavalier973]

Why not? Is that not a thing, then?

[Paul.]

It's the ultimate horror story for wounded little man-boys everywhere.

?!

[cavalier973]

I think it's scientifically proven that they fear public speaking more.

[Fluffy]

The EXISTING vibrators are more effective than just about any man alive...but they haven't replaced men yet.

Because sexual satisfaction isn't actually what men and women want from each other.

[mad.casual]

The EXISTING vibrators are more effective than just about any man alive...but they haven't replaced men yet.

They have trouble replacing other sex toys.

[Entropy Void]

I'll just leave this here ...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannah.....f-all-time

[Pitana]

Pussy costs money. Dick is free.

[Bee Tagger]

Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that man-made climate change was "bad science" and "a myth."

Maybe if he was co-founder of Climate Channel, I'd believe him.

[Ted S.]

Weather Channel doesn't cover weather any more. It's all climate change fear mongering all the time.

[Raven Nation]

Well, that should lead to circular denial:

He appeared on Fox which is a fake news channel because no real news channel would have him because climate change denial is evil.

[Raven Nation]

Also:

http://www.city-journal.org/20.....rming.html

[John]

Before he founded the Weather Channel he was and still is a very respected meteorologist and climatologist.

[Paul.]

Not anymore.

[Slammer]

Parenting- 7 things I can do that my black son can't

[Dweebston]

This one weird trick will ensure racial harmony for generations to come!

[gaijin]

This parent said something to their son...and you won't believe what happened next!

[Steve G]

15 white celebs you didn't know have black childrens

[Sevo]

Shocking!

[Rich]

6. I Can Complain About Racism

When I point out that black people are incarcerated at alarming rates, or largely forced to send their children to underperforming schools, or face systemic discrimination when searching for jobs and housing, no one accuses me of "playing the race card."

Bullshit.

[Doctor Whom]

If that's what it means to be white, I must not be.

[UnCivilServant]

Most of those are bullshit and backwards.

[RBS]

When I succeed, people assume I've earned it.

Someone needs a lesson on progressive politics.

[Brandon]

Self-flagellation is a requirement to get into the club.

[RBS]

I don't want to give my children a complex about all of this, but I can't wish these problems away, either. I can't eliminate all the unfair hurdles that exist in the world. I can only do my best to raise kids who are able to jump over them.

As moronic as the rest of his little article is, this is probably the most idiotic. It's going to be impossible for him accomplish this goal is he is so obsessive about this list.

[LysanderSpoonman]

#11 Write an idiotic and condescending piece from a white leftist POV.

[lap83]

More and more I think that white liberals who are condescending about race are really just plain old fashioned racist. His list is full of assumptions that white people are perceived as superior without any attempt to back it up, which should tell you that it's what he believes.

A great example is how he considers Socrates, Louis XIV, etc. to be his "ancestors". That is Neo-Nazi level racist. His ancestors were probably turnip farmers.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

That is funny - I know my family, until they got to America were soil scratching Frisian farmers, hut dwelling Manx or petty academics. I have maybe three "ancestors" worth mentioning for any accomplishment that even barely grazed human thought.

[lap83]

I'm related to this guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Berkner but that's about it, and the only thing of interest about him to most people is that an island in Antartica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkner_Island was named after him. It's my maiden name, so it was fun to show people my last name on a map if one was around. Aside from that, most people aren't interested in scientific achievements.

[lap83]

and I'm pretty sure I have more farmers in my ancestry than anything.

[John]

They are racists and white supremicists. They only differ from the old time racists in that it is a paternal form of racism rather than a hostile one.

For white liberals most things are about feeling good about themselves. Acting condescending about race does that in two ways. It allows them to feel superior to black people and it allows them to feel superior to other white people they perceive as racist.

Most "racial issues" in this country concern white liberals using the charge of racism against other whites. Racism is as much a white on white issue as a black white issue.

[Zeb]

The White Man's Burden.

It is disgusting. Yeah, there is still plenty of racism in society. But at this point it really is only perpetuated by the people who obsess over it. We have come so far on race as a society that I think we are to the point where the right response to most racism is to laugh at it. The people who make a big deal out of it just give more power to racist assholes.

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

We have come so far on race as a society that I think we are to the point where the right response to most racism is to laugh at it.

Oh, I don't know. I went to the liquor stor last week (north Minneapolis). As I'm walking in the door a black guy asks (and I wasn't even certain that he was addressing me). "Do you know Michelle?" Now what the fuck does that mean. He asked twice more, but being a ghetto-dweller, I just brushed it off and entered the store. Well, this apparently pissed him off. He says, "Oh I get it, he's a hater. Well I'm gonna kick that white boy's ass. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna beat that white boy's ass." I'm thinking what the fuck? And I know I need to diffuse this, so I very straight forwardly look right at the giuy and said, "I have no idea who Michelle is." He asks, "You don't know Michelle Obama?" I said, "Of course I do. She's at a rally at Patrick Henry High School." It settled him down. But my point is this -- This guy threatens to "beat my white ass" for apparently no reason, and in his fucked-up, fevered mind, I'm the hater. That's not something I can laugh at.

[Restoras]

You seem to be forgetting that black people can't be racist.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that sucks. As I said, there are still plenty of racist assholes. But I'd say that it is at least in part an example of what I'm talking about. I don't think you end up with many people with that sort of attitude unless people are always telling you how white people don't care about you and live in some magical world of privilege and secret handshakes.

[Zeb]

And while it is true that people don't usually get a lot of African history in high school, there is a good amount about African American history. With a couple of semi-mythical exceptions (supposedly I am descended from an English royal bastard) I don't really know anything about any ancestors from more than a few hundred years ago either.

[MJGreen]

But Socrates and Louis XIV had lighter skin like him! That practically makes them the same.

How could you dare call him a racist?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Listen, like the now Greco-German House of Windsor, the Greco-French House of Hennick is well known throughout history for their noble deeds and accomplishments.

[AlmightyJB]

Was become leader of the free world one of them?

[Citizen Nothing]

America is too racist ever to give a black president a third term.

[Zeb]

He sort of almost has a point. But for most of them the issue isn't special privilege for white people, it's special treatment of black people.

People always seem to get this backwards. The problem is not that white people get special privilege. It is that blacks and others were systematically and officially discriminated against for a long time and are still treated differently by many institutions (though for different reasons).

[MJGreen]

Precisely. From what these people talk about, I'm not privileged, I'm just not disadvantaged. I'm at neutral, the place where everyone ought to start.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Actually, that was a lot more even-headed than I was suspecting.

[Fist of Etiquette]

UC-Berkeley students, predictably, don't want Bill Maher to speak at their commencement.

For commencement they should all don headphones to listen to mp3's of themselves mumbling the night before in their sleep.

[Lord Humungus]

Susan Page: Obama administration most 'dangerous' to media in history

USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page has added a sharper edge to this set of knives. Speaking Saturday at a White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) seminar, Page called the current White House not only "more restrictive" but also "more dangerous" to the press than any other in history, a clear reference to the Obama administration's leak investigations and its naming of Fox News's James Rosen as a possible "co-conspirator" in a violation of the Espionage Act.

The WHCA convened the event both to strategize over how to open up the byways of the self-proclaimed most transparent administration in history, as well as to compare war stories on the many ways in which it is not.

[Ted S.]

Actually cover the IRS and other scandals.

[Pro Libertate]

"Very funny. Ha, ha. It is to laugh."

Yes, try not committing professional suicide for a bad president. That might help.

[John]

You missed the best part of that editorial; the "but Obama is doing better" spin. It is so pathetic you have to laugh.

After some quiet discussions with others, Mills asked to have a chat with Earnest. "He apologized," says Mills of Earnest. "He said, 'We'll do better,' and I think that they have honestly tried to do better in every situation. ? I think the relationship has gotten stronger, and I think Josh is making a lot of efforts to get us in" to events, says Mills.

So it is okay that Obama is hacking the computers of journalists, listing others as unindicted co-conspirators and denying access at every turn because they are fixing that by allowing more photo ops.

And the other thing about the article is how it never mentions Obama's appalling record going after leakers or really any of the important abuses. If you didn't know any better, and judging by the comments section most Post readers don't, you would think Obama's problem is he just doesn't let the media into enough events.

The entire article is a whitewash. It takes a very serious issue that has grown so bad even the Post can't ignore it and tries to bury it by pretending its about letting the media into a few more White House events.

[Pro Libertate]

Doing better? How is spiraling out of control doing better?

[Paul.]

Intentions.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, I question those at least as much as I do their honesty and their competence.

[Idle Hands]

My dad always said if someone laid out a web diagram that showed how news reporters/editors/corporate officers and politicians/cabinet members/high ranking bureaucrats were related through blood and marriage we would vote them all out tomorrow because it would become abundantly clear why they constantly cover for each other.

[John]

They are like the Spanish Habsburgs without the lisp and even less intelligent.

[Pro Libertate]

At least aristocrats had some sort of code of honor.

[Zeb]

Their complete lack of transparency is one of the biggest reasons why this administration is the worst for me. I expected some stupid shit on healthcare and stimulus spending and various other left-liberal projects. But I had some hope that he actually intended to be more open and transparent than the previous administration.
I can't say that my expectations were too high, but I really didn't expect Obama to be worse than Bush in every single way possible.

[Pro Libertate]

Where you erred is not noticing that he was a politician out of Chicago. This was all we needed to know, ever.

[Zeb]

Yeah, probably. I try to find something to be optimistic about, though.

[Pro Libertate]

Hotbeds of corruption are corrupt. Do not forget this truth.

[Sevo]

"how to open up the byways of the self-proclaimed most transparent administration in history,"

There's the problem, right there. Hint: "pathways" = access.
Just do your goddam job and forget access!

[Bee Tagger]

The century-old journal of a doomed member of Roert Faclon Scott's Antarctic expedition was discovered.

Filled with lyrics by whatever band was the early 20th century version of The Cure.

[Slammer]

Doom

[db]

Full of descriptions of strange piping music and odd architecture, no doubt.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Any descriptions of 6 foot tall, blind, albino penguins?

[db]

It is no coincidence that Antarctica has the worst representation in Google Earth. "Limitations of polar orbits," my ass.

[UnCivilServant]

+1 Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

[Raven Nation]

Maybe this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4lrdawmUg8

[WTF]

The Cure was a 20th century band.

[Bee Tagger]

Did they also ignore adjectives?

[WTF]

Ah, I missed the 'early'. derp

[Fist of Etiquette]

The century-old journal of a doomed member of Roert Faclon Scott's Antarctic expedition was discovered.

"All work and no play makes Roert a dull boy... All work and no play makes Roert a dull boy... All work and no play makes Roert a dull boy... All work and no play makes Roert a dull boy..."

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Was that a competing expedition with Robert Falcon Scott's?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Blame Soave, not me.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Oh, I have, FoE, I have!

[Pro Libertate]

John Campbell explained what happens to expeditions down there quite well, as visual represented by another John C.

[Pro Libertate]

Visually, that is.

[The Late P Brooks]

Short skis suck.

[Restoras]

Short as in straight ski short?

[Lord Humungus]

Obamacare: More than 120 colleges slash and cap student and faculty work hours

Since the launch of Obamacare, at least 122 colleges and universities across the nation have cut student and faculty work hours to skirt the federal law's mandate requiring employers to provide healthcare for people who work 30 hours or more per week.

Those who have seen their paychecks shrink as a result of the Affordable Care Act include students who work on campus at restaurants, bookstores or gyms, teaching assistants, Residence Advisers, officer workers, student journalists, and a variety of other workers, such as part-time maintenance crews and groundskeepers. Educators' work hours have also been cut due to the mandate, including part-time instructors and adjunct professors.

[Doctor Whom]

But ... but ... Obamacare is a success! That NYT article to which my prog Facebook friends keep linking said so!

[Slammer]

Now they'll have so much time to work/play at fulfilling things in life..like poetry, puppetmaking, etc.

[Ted S.]

More money left over to hire administrators!

[Rich]

Car hits man dressed as zombie

The driver of the car did not stop

, and who could blame him?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

GET THEM BEFORE THEY GET US!!!!!

[Zombie Jimbo]

Raises decaying hand...

[Fist of Etiquette]

Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that man-made climate change was "bad science" and "a myth."

He's just trying to get into her pants.

[invisible furry hand]

Doesn't she go commando?

[Slammer]

Bunk. I'll be in it.

[Restoras]

Jeez you had to do that. Now I won't be able to get up from desk for...awhile.

[Lord at War]

If it's more than four hours, see your physician.

[invisible furry hand]

"Our enemies will laugh at us":

Idiot politician wants Muslim parents to be fined tens of thousands of dollars and face jail if they make their teenage girls wear the burqa

[Drake]

The reverse jiyza!

[John]

In fairness, making your kid wear a burka is a lot worse than letting them out to play alone and doing that gets you arrested. So why not the burkha?

[Zeb]

Hmm. And not in France, even.

[Lord Humungus]

Could non-citizens decide the November election?

Because non-citizens tended to favor Democrats (Obama won more than 80 percent of the votes of non-citizens in the 2008 CCES sample), we find that this participation was large enough to plausibly account for Democratic victories in a few close elections. Non-citizen votes could have given Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to overcome filibusters in order to pass health-care reform and other Obama administration priorities in the 111th Congress. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) won election in 2008 with a victory margin of 312 votes. Votes cast by just 0.65 percent of Minnesota non-citizens could account for this margin. It is also possible that non-citizen votes were responsible for Obama's 2008 victory in North Carolina. Obama won the state by 14,177 votes, so a turnout by 5.1 percent of North Carolina's adult non-citizens would have provided this victory margin.

[WTF]

Voter fraud is just a right wing meme.

[Drake]

Just "Calibration" issues with the machines in Maryland, Illinois, and North Carolina - changing Republican votes to Democrat. Purely a coincidence it never happens the other way around.

http://netrightdaily.com/2010/.....tter-what/

[WTF]

Yeah, if it was really just random calibration issues, you would expect it to go the other way just as often. This is why I think the Republicans may not take the senate, despite all of the polls. Many of the senate races show the Republican lead to be within the margin of fraud.

[Drake]

"Margin of Fraud"

I will be using that phrase.

[Ted S.]

Mandatory voter ID laws would have solved that problem!

(I'm not opposed to voter ID laws; I just think the bigger problems are elsewhere.)

[kbolino]

Indeed, while I am supportive of voter ID laws, the problem is much bigger. Yet we can't even get that much without facing vociferous opposition.

[PM]

"Non-citizen" voting doesn't automatically equate to fraud. Legal permanent residents, for example, are permitted to vote, even though they are not citizens.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Under current law, non-citizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections, and it is a federal crime for a non-citizen to vote or register to vote in such an election, punishable by imprisonment and/or the initiation of removal proceedings against that individual."

[PM]

Yep, you're right, my mistake. Looks like they're only eligible to vote in certain state/local elections. Years and years ago I had a friend who was a legal permanent resident and I thought I remembered him talking about voting, but it was probably in a jurisdiction where he was eligible to vote for local offices.

[CampingInYourPark]

I'm sure the highly trained poll workers are able to sort out who is eligible to vote in any particular election. I don't remember ever seeing a "Permanent Resident" ballot though.

[OldMexican]

Re: PM,

"Non-citizen" voting doesn't automatically equate to fraud. Legal permanent residents, for example, are permitted to vote, even though they are not citizens.

A non-citizen can risk deportation when applying for citizenship if he or she voted in local or regional elections.

Democrats are playing with people's futures when conning non-citizens to vote in federal or local elections, because when they apply for citizenship they run the risk of being deported regardless of how many years they lived in the U.S.

[Not a Libertarian]

Rob Ford did get overwhelmingly reelected to their City Council, so the Etobicoke North ward must still love his antics.

[Slammer]

No Big Bang without God, sez Pope

[db]

God is Jack Horner to the universe's Dirk Diggler.

[Elspeth Flashman]

My 5th grade religion teacher said the same thing once we learned about the Big Bang in science.

[Rich]

The Big Bang "doesn't contradict the intervention of a divine Creator, but demands it," Pope Francis said Monday morning, because the beginning of the world "is not the work of chaos."

What about the end of the world?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Oh that? It is just a Gnab Gib.

[Rich]

I thought it was the world of KAOS.

[Rich]

*work*, sheesh.

[Raven Nation]

+! Restaurant at the End of the Universe

[DontShootMe]

I see what you've been reading there...

[SugarFree]

"God is wherever we haven't been able to look yet."

Cool story, Pope-bro.

[invisible furry hand]

Behind my washing machine?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

No, that would be a couple of dust mice, $.50 in loose change and a rubber band.

[SugarFree]

"And the name of that little rubber band? Jehovah. And now you know the rest of the story."

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+1 [Saint] Paul Harvey

[Almanian!]

I prefer Bootsy's Rubber Band

[Elspeth Flashman]

It's just a variation on the "clockmaker" argument. The universe is like a clock, says scientist. Ah, but then there must be a clockmaker, says theologist.

[Restoras]

And round and round we go...

I'd really love to know what's beyond the leading edge of the expanding universe. The palms of God's hands? Other universes that ours is destroying?

[WTF]

Nothing is beyond the expanding edge of the universe. No time, no space, nothing.

[Restoras]

Ya got proof of that?

[SugarFree]

Nope. And he'll kill anyone that disagrees.

[WTF]

Proof? What kind of barbarian are you?

[Zeb]

Proof has nothing to do with science.

[Tejicano]

From what I've seen so far I would bet it is either a Starbucks or a McDonald's

[Zeb]

If there is an edge to the universe (considered as a 4 dimensional space-time object) with something outside of it, then it's not really the edge of the universe. According to the predominalt theories, there is an edge to the observable universe, but it is by definition impossible to reach.
Where is the edge of the surface of the earth?

[Restoras]

I guess the edge would be wherever you collided with it?

[Zeb]

Well, you need to think of only the 2 dimensional surface. It's impossible to picture a closed 3 dimensional space, so a 2d analogy is usually the only way to visualize it. I'm sure you've run into that analogy before.

[Restoras]

I assume that 'edge' implies 'surface' though that could be way off base. Yes, I have run across that but will confess that a lot of the analogies used to explain space-time seem...inadequate. Or maybe just beyond my cognitive powers.

[Zeb]

The analogies are definitely inadequate. It is beyond everyone's cognitive powers to visualize the real 4D space-time. The surface of a sphere analogy mostly serves to show people how it is possible to have a finite space without a boundary or edge. But you inevitably imagine the 2D surface embedded in 3D space, so it's not quite right. There is no way to understand the real theory without doing the math. Our brains just aren't set up to intuitively make sense of it.

[Griffin3]

I think you'll find that the Universe pretty much covers everything

[John]

But not as cool as the story about there being multiple universes we can't see.

I am pretty sure the Cosmologists have long since lost the ability to snark at anyone else' creation myth.

[Stormy Dragon]

By multiple universes, they generally mean "different regions within the same expanse of space time that, due to inflation, are spreading apart faster than the speed of light and thus are not able to affect each other in any way".

Not "a collection of Sliders-like alternate realities", as it usually ends up getting described in the popular press.

[John]

The multiverse theory is as much as anything a solution to the problem of why the constants in this universe are what they are and how it is they all line up perfectly to make a universe conducive to our existence. If there is only one universe, the odds of that happening are so small as to be effectively infinite. If there are multiple universes, then that isn't a problem. There is a universe for every possibility and we by necessity live in the one allows our existence.

The problem is that there is no way to ever observe these universes or explain how exactly they have come to be. The best thing the theory has going for it is that it is elegant and makes for good math. That is nice and all but I fail to see why the universe owes us elegance or what we think of as good math.

It is humans hitting the end of science and not wanting to admit it. Without observation it is just imagination using math.

[Zeb]

Any honest cosmologist will tell you that such theories are (at least right now) not really science as there is no known way to make any observations about them. It's just theorists trying to come up with a plausible model of everything that doesn't require fine tuning.

Without observation it is just imagination using math.

I'd modify that slightly. It is imagination using math to create a model consistent with current theory.

A big problem in physics is the fact that there seem to be a bunch of important parameters to the universe that seem to be constants, but there is no theoretical reason why the numbers are what they are. The bubble universe idea is just one model to explain why a universe exists that is just right for our existence without resorting to a creator who fine tunes the parameters so life can exist. If some day people discover reasons why the values of various constants and parameters must be what they are, the more far-out models become less necessary.

[Restoras]

Can I buy some pot from you?

[John]

Really Restoras? Is that all you have? Is it even possible for you people to have a serious conversation about this stuff? Explaining the various constants in the universe is a fundamental and important problem. You either explain them and in effect understand existence or you can't and have set the limits of human knowledge. The multiverse is one way to do that. I don't buy it because I have yet to see how it can ever be confirmed. Zeb might buy it because it is consistent with the model that explains things that have been confirmed.

It is a serious question. And one that the resident atheists seem unable to contemplate for some reason. Instead, the answer must be there because some guy in a lab coat is looking for it I guess.

Pathetic.

[Restoras]

I think maybe you need some pot, John. Chill the fuck out. It was a joke in reference to a movie called Animal House, maybe you've heard of it?

I do sincerely apologize for not being up to date in theoretical physics and cosmology. The last two books I read on the subject were Kip Thorne's Black Holes and Time Warps and Michio Kaku's Hyperspace. As much as I'd really like to stay up to date on the mental masturbation of the Origins of the Universe I don't have time for everything. I'm glad that you seem too though, maybe you can recommend a book to read instead of being a scold? It'll have to wait until after I am done with Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism and Dune but I promise I'll get to it.

[Fluffy]

And one that the resident atheists seem unable to contemplate for some reason. Instead, the answer must be there because some guy in a lab coat is looking for it I guess.

John, the question is one of method.

I am perfectly happy contemplating the fact that we don't know the answer yet, if the method we are using to attempt to discover the answer is: observe, experiment, do math.

And heck, maybe we'll never find the answer.

But the religious method for finding the answer is: pray and meditate and hope for miraculous insight or a direct message from God. And that method is absurd, and deserves no respect.

And yes, that is the religious method. That method has been so successively driven from the world that even people who self-identify as religious often no longer recognize it as the religious method, but that's the way your founding texts were written.

[John]

The problem zeb is that without those models making predictions that are confirmed with observation, it is no more "scientific" than saying "God did it".

[Zeb]

No, and as I said, it's not strictly science. It's exploring the implications of theory, as well as the philosophical question of why anything should exist at all.
To say that I "buy it" isn't entirely true. I think it is a very interesting thing to think about. I don't assume that it is true or even that it is most likely. Until and unless someone comes up with a consistent theory of quantum gravity and space-time, understanding of the very early universe, or what (if anything) caused the whole thing to start is pretty vague and highly speculative. But it is valuable to explore the edge of things. A lot of really important physics was discovered essentially by guessing.

[RickC]

Way outside my expertise on this but I have a question. Watched the documentary about physicists at CERN making the discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle. According to the physicists, the particle had to fall within a certain range of weight for the multi-verse theory to hold up. If the particle they found, and they felt pretty sure about it, was a Higgs, then it fell outside the range and so put an end to multi-verse theory. At least the multi-verse leaning theoretical physicists in the documentary seemed bummed by the news - whole careers spent chasing something that didn't exist. Can anyone comment on this and clarify?

[John]

Rick,

I have heard that too. But like you I haven't read enough to know its full implication. Hell, maybe they will make a prediction and have some support for it.

[Zeb]

This goes well beyond what I have any real understanding of, but it has something to do with the stability of the universe that we can observe and whether it can continue to exist indefinitely or not.

[Restoras]

whether it can continue to exist indefinitely or not

So...it has an expiration date? Or, God hit the snooze bar?

[Zeb]

So...it has an expiration date?

You jest, but that sort of is the question. I probably shouldn't even attempt to say anything else about it, but it sort of comes down to whether what we see as the universe is just a temporary quantum fluctuation in a big sea of nothing. The universe might just be one big short.

This stuff really is sort of mental masturbation. But it's a lot more fun to think about than politics or economics.
And if FTL travel is a possibility, I suspect the means might be somewhere in all of this stuff.

[Restoras]

I don't disagree that it is a lot more fun to think about than politics or economics. And I'm not trying to put it down at all - it is fascinating and it seems that humanity's understanding of the universe has advanced rapidly in the last...100 years? That said it does sometimes come off as arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and while I assume that perfect or near-perfect knowledge of the Origins of the Universe would be useful/helpful - I'm not sure how it would change the chief problems on Earth, all of which seem to be caused by the unchanging nature of humanity.

[Stormy Dragon]

The multiverse theory is as much as anything a solution to the problem of why the constants in this universe are what they are and how it is they all line up perfectly to make a universe conducive to our existence.

No that's not what it's about. That's what a bunch of innumerate people with journalism degrees say it's about because most science reporters have no idea what they're writing about and just make up new-agey crap that sounds good.

[Zeb]

It is about that to some extent, at least. A big question is why should a universe exist that is just right for our existence. There are a number of parameters that if changed by any significant amount would make for a very different universe, yet there is no theoretical reason why the values should be what they are. In a multiverse scenario with inflation, that becomes less of a problem because you don't have to ask why the parameters are what they are because given enough time pure chance will lead to a universe like what we see.

[RickC]

I wished I had been around to continue this. I think I caught the documentary on Netflix or Amazon and will have to watch again. I do remember the other concern about the weight being that if it wasn't heavy enough then there would be no possibility for even smaller particles and that was believed to be huge for the stability of the universe or rather the weakness of the stability.

[RickC]

"wish"

[PM]

I don't understand why some people get so worked up over a religious organization that at one point in its history put a guy under house arrest for the entire end of his life for suggesting the earth revolved around the sun, acknowledging modern science, but insisting that there's some inherent god-gifted meaning to events that otherwise go without explanation or are attributed to randomness. At worst it's harmless folly.

[Marktaylor]

Eh, not exactly, and plenty of people were pushing the heliocentrism. Many worked for the church. Though Copernican theory was all sorts of wrong anyway. He had the planets orbiting in tiny orbits during their orbits around the sun. Galileo wrote about to compare two wrong theories. He did so by casting himself as the smart guy in a fictional conversation with a dim witted pope called Simplicius.

[PM]

Point being, harmlessly attributing to a deity what might otherwise be attributed to chance or nothing at all isn't really all that bad compared to the church's past treatment of scientific inquiry.

[Zeb]

I'va always thought that if you must believe in a creator god, the big bang is the place to put him. It should be safe for a while. Coming up with a theory about the very start of things before Planck time seems to be quite difficult.

[Citizen Nothing]

It's quantum bubbles all the way down.

[Pope Jimbo]

Don't forget it took them until 1992 to finally admit that Galileo might have had a point after all.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11.....right.html

[PH2050]

The Pope is late to the party.

A Catholic priest named George Lema?tre came up with the "Cosmic Egg" creationist idea which is now known as the "Big Bang".

[Suthenboy]

"God is not some sort of wizard, said Francis, but rather "the Creator who brought all things into being."

Thats funny, according to them God is looking more and more like a natural phenomena, becoming indistinguishable from 'not God'.

Plus, what Sugarfree said.

[PM]

according to them God is looking more and more like a natural phenomena

IOW, pantheism is still a thing.

[Lord Humungus]

CDC says returning Ebola medical workers should not be quarantined

Federal health officials on Monday revamped guidelines for doctors and nurses returning home to the United States from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, stopping well short of controversial mandatory quarantines being imposed by some U.S. states.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called for isolation of people at the highest risk for Ebola infection but said most medical workers returning from the three countries at the center of the epidemic would require daily monitoring without isolation.

[SugarFree]

But the returning soldiers will be.

I know he's a piece of shit, but I didn't think even Obama was venal enough to risk an Ebola outbreak to fuck over the dead-end governor of New Jersey.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

You wonder if someone paid to ask questions of public figures would bring that contradiction up in some sort of question session or such?

[SugarFree]

That's just crazy talk.

[db]

Maybe, but they'll probably fail to to post the answers to YouTube.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+24

[John]

He isn't even that sophisticated. He is risking an Ebola outbreak because he thinks taking efforts to stop it might be the RACIST.

If there is an Ebola outbreak in New Jersey after the President stepped in and told them they couldn't quarantine, it won't be Fatso who is fucked. I am pretty sure "I told you so and I tried to stop this" gets someone else fucked, like the Democrats since Obama is beyond being fucked.

[some guy]

If there is an Ebola outbreak in New Jersey ...

Fortunately for everyone, that's not going to happen because monitoring people from hot zone countries is more than sufficient to prevent an outbreak. Quarantining these people is overkill and a violation of their natural rights. They aren't contagious until they are showing symptoms, so all you have to do is educate them on the situation and then monitor them.

Just look at the cases that have been treated in the US. All but two victims caught the disease in a third-world hot zone. The other two caught the disease while treating someone who was already in quarantine.

I thought libertarians were supposed to put a much higher value on liberty than on security...

[John]

Libertarians also have a healthy skepticism of top men. And rightfully don't trust the top men who claim to fully understand this disease when all evidence indicates they clearly don't.

Moreover, Libertarianism is not anarchism. Quarantine and the control of infectious disease is a proper role of government under even the most limited view of it. So there is nothing unLibertarian about quarantines. The only issue is whether they are the proper response to this situation. And to think that they are, you have to believe what the various top men are claiming. And libertarians are rightly skeptical of that.

[some guy]

I don't care what the TOP MEN say. Real scientists have been studying Ebola since the 60's. When they say it can't be transmitted easily, I believe them.

So there is nothing unLibertarian about quarantines.

There is when the quarantined person objectively presents no threat to the public. You're just following the precautionary principle here and we all know by now where that leads.

And to think that they are, you have to believe what the various top men are claiming. And libertarians are rightly skeptical of that.

So stop listening to the top men and go listen to the scientists. Or just look at what is happening with your own eyes. You can't just imprison someone because might conceivably be a remote threat to your health, maybe. That's how we ended up with Japanese internment camps and the War on Drugs. If you can prove that Ebola carriers can transmit the disease before they show symptoms, then you have a case for mandatory quarantine. Until, then you are just violating individual rights out of irrational fear.

[some guy]

Dammit, John, your typos, poor grammar and bad punctuation must be contagious. Time to quarantine you from the rest of the Reasonoids... for the children.

[Azathoth!!]

The woman who was quarantined had a fever.

Fever is a symptom of ebola.

[John]

I don't care what the TOP MEN say. Real scientists have been studying Ebola since the 60's. When they say it can't be transmitted easily, I believe them.

Every Ebola outbreak is different. This is not the same virus as the previous outbreaks. So knowledge of previous strains is not dispositive about this strain.

So stop listening to the top men and go listen to the scientists. Or just look at what is happening with your own eyes.

What is happening before my eyes is the WHO is saying the infection rate is doubling every month or so in Africa. The WHO are scientists too. And they are not scientists on the US government payroll with a reason to say what their masters want said. And they keep saying the infection rate is increasing. That fact is not consistent with the assurances that this stuff is hard to contract.

Moreover, what I also see before my eyes is the fact that treating one patient in Dallas cost over $500,000 and has bankrupted the hospital who treated them patient. The consequences of even a small outbreak here would be huge.

Freedom is important but so is not stopping infectious disease. It is absolutely foolish not to quarantine people who have been exposed to this stuff. It will only take ten or twenty cases in this country before we have an enormous problem on our hands.

[some guy]

This particular outbreak started over 10 months ago. Over that time it has been continuously studied by experts in the field. If this strain were transmitted in a way significantly different from other strains we would know it by now. If transmission rates are going up in Africa it's probably because it's Africa, a third world area full of impoverished and ignorant people who are ill-equipped to handle the situation. I seriously doubt there's some hidden transmission vector that researchers have failed to find over a dozen cycles of infection.

Again, we know where the Precautionary Principle leads, John, and it ain't pretty.

[UnCivilServant]

Real scientists have been studying Ebola since the 60's. When they say it can't be transmitted easily, I believe them.

And yet you missed the fact that Ebola was first recorded in 1976?

[WTF]

Is this the same CDC that said it was okay for that Texas nurse to fly when she had a fever? And that there wouldn't be any ebola outbreak in the US? That CDC? Sure, I totally trust them to get it right and put the welfare of the public ahead of politics.

[Zeb]

And that there wouldn't be any ebola outbreak in the US?

So far, I don't see how that is not true. Two people who had close contact with a person in the late stages of the disease where it is most easily transmitted getting sick does not constitute an outbreak.

[Bryan C]

"In fact, we recommend doctors gargle daily with bodily fluids collected from Ebola patients", said CDC spokesperson Bob Nurgle, who went on to recommend liberally sprinkling the fluids on friend's and family's food before leaving the room in a cloud of biting flies and noxious vapors.

[Slammer]

+1 Lord of Decay

[The Late P Brooks]

"Ask not what your country can do for you" would be classified as hate speech at Berkley.

[LysanderSpoonman]

"But what you can do for your country".

They assume the "you" is someone else, so that would still be fine at Berkely.

[Lord Humungus]

Tesco milk packaging leaves little to the imagination

A supermarket chain of the size of Tesco has to design a large amount of packaging for its in-house food and home products.

Sometimes, things will inevitably fall through the cracks as it did with this buttermilk packaging for its Irish branches.

Still, packaging that make its milk look like the produce of male genitalia is never particularly pleasant.

builds muscle it does.

[Rich]

Better to learn it from a milk carton than on the streets.

[Suthenboy]

I am pretty sure that is not where milk comes from.

We do have a local dairy here named 'flowing hills'.

[invisible furry hand]

Death by text?

The man who bombarded his legally-blind girlfriend with hundreds of text messages before she took her own life has been branded a "pig" and a coward" before being sentenced to six months in prison.

Dan Shearin will serve at least two months in jail for using a carriage service to menace and harass Breeana Robinson, who he lived with for just 38 days before she fell to her death from their balcony

http://www.dailytelegraph.com......7104090911

[Ted S.]

She didn't have to have those text mesages converted to Braille.

[WTF]

So if you argue with a nutty girl and she kills herself, you are at fault and must go to jail? Holy shit the Brits are even worse than we are.

[Isaac Bartram]

Australians are not "Brits".

[Isaac Bartram]

But they do seem to have gone overboard on the sensitivity thing.

They have also gone crazy on the safety front. They passed the first mandatory seat belt use law in the world (in Victoria in the early seventies IIRC) and since then have been in the forefront of things like bicycle helmet laws and smoking bans.

[Lord Humungus]

Squirrel crawls into Grand Rapids Police patrol car

The Grand Rapids Police Department posted a photo on its Facebook page, showing a squirrel peering out from the rear window of a squad car on an Eastown street. The creature was right next to a half-opened car window.

"A prisoner got a little 'squirrelly' today," the department said. "Lesson learned!"

The animal avoided any time in lock-up and was released back into nature.

[Free Society]

"There's no owner to anguish over this creature if we were to shoot it, so we didn't shoot it."

[Stormy Dragon]

They did try to shoot it. Squirrels just move around too fast for cop marksmanship to handle.

[waffles]

You can play the Rob Ford game with anything!

Crack-smoking Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that man-made climate change was "bad science" and "a myth."

See? Checkmate deniers!

[Lord Humungus]

Man charged with groping employees at Aurora haunted house

Officers said that at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Ameet Kumar, 30, was at the local haunted house where he touched and groped two women ? a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old employee.

The 20-year-old victim said she was working inside the haunted house when Kumar grabbed her buttocks several times. The second victim said she was also inappropriately touched by Kumar as he left the building.

According to Aurora spokesman Dan Ferrelli, employees phoned police and were able to stop Kumar from leaving the scene.

At my last job we had an Indian programmer named Gopi. After a visit to the local strip club, he got the nickname Gropi.

[PM]

Things that go bump in the night...

[Free Society]

"Well women dressed like that back home are asking for it!" Said the Indian/Paki casual rapist. So many of those people just don't belong in a civilized western society.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Thanks for that! FTA:

The first allegations were made earlier this month against employees of the Massacre Haunted House in Montgomery.

An Oswego mother alleged that she and her daughter were assaulted by two actors while visiting the business on Oct. 11.

According to a lawsuit filed last week in Kane county, two employees dressed as clowns and wielding "adult toys" approached the victims and three other minor children in the business' parking lot.

One actor, identified by police as Robert Keller, 23, of Algonquin, had an adult toy in his hand that he began waving and poking the victim's minor child with, the suit said.

A second man, only identified in the suit as John Doe, had a teddy bear with him, which he had allegedly attached an adult toy to, the victim said.

[gaijin]

Are you an authoritarian?

24 types of authoritarian

Apologies if someone posted this already.

[UnCivilServant]

I can't punish my enemies - my enemies don't come in contact with any system I control. If I don't have the tyrant element it's no fun

[Doctor Whom]

I found two for Tony right off of the bat: "Na?ve" and "More Humanitarian than Thou."

[Spoonman.]

Well, I think I saw that on the Free Talk Live forums when a guy calling himself "MuslimAnarchist" made it in 2008 or so.

[UnCivilServant]

Reading this story, despite the author's intent, I side with the property owners. It was omitted, but it certainly sounds like a lot of them were complaining about beachgoers crossing their land to reach the shore after parking in front of their houses. However, being the people's republic of california, the editors trimmed down the homeowner's comments.

[Rhywun]

it certainly sounds like a lot of them were complaining about beachgoers crossing their land to reach the shore

Seems to me that if that were the case, calling the cops on any trespassers would be a bit more effective than posting fake No Parking signs. Given the sketchy details in the article, it sounds to me like they're entitled assholes who don't want anyone to park near them. Is IS Malibu after all.

The article also doesn't mention whether the beach is public or private. That seems like the kind of information that might add something.

[Lord Humungus]

Poll: Midterm momentum belongs to GOP

Republicans enter the final week of the midterm campaign holding higher ground than the Democrats, aided by public dissatisfaction with President Obama's leadership, with the overall direction of the country and with the federal government's ability to deal with major problems, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Driving attitudes is a pervasive sense of a country in trouble. Overwhelming majorities say the country is badly off-track and give the economy negative ratings. Economic expectations are little better today than they were at this time four years ago.

[Ted S.]

I'm sure TEAM RED will figure out a way to fuck it up.

[Restoras]

Yup. Lotsa time left.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

The Elephants will try - but it is getting late in the day for the Donkeys.

[John]

I will take that bet. It looks like Coakley might lose and the Dem in Maryland running for governor is within the margin of error in the most recent poll.

If Dems are having trouble winning in Maryland and Massachusetts they are doomed. At this point the Republicans are just bystanders. This is between the public and the Democrats.

[Andrew S.]

All true, but you can never underestimate the ability of Team Red to pull defeat from the jaws of victory.

[WTF]

Yes, but in too many races the polls show a margin of victory for the republican that is well within the margin of fraud, so the dems will pull those races out the fire because the republicans have no effective counter to the democrat fraud machine.

[John]

This is true. But they can only bring out the fraud if they can get their supporters out to vote. The fraud consists of two things; getting non citizens to vote and getting people to vote in other voters' names. Both of those require numbers to make any difference. If the Democrats had the numbers to do that, they wouldn't have a turnout problem and wouldn't be in so much trouble.

[WTF]

They also manufacture fake ballots that are entered to be counted. Just take a look at the Al Franken fiasco.

[Idle Hands]

The real fraud occurs after the polls close where the top precinct officer votes for the registered people on the rolls that never showed up.

[John]

Outside of Philadelphia and Chicago, I don't think it is quite that bad.

[Restoras]

I'm sorry but I thought voter fraud was a myth? Hasn't Reason expounded on that at length?

[John]

Yes they have. Ron Bailey has a study and it was done by a real top man. And that study assured Ron that voter fraud is a myth.

[Entropy Void]

But ... But ... what do the Millennials think?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Anthony Brown had one thing to do as Lt. Governor, and he royally fucked it up.

I hate this state, how did he even win the primary?

[John]

I hate the state too. The Dems nominating Brown is just them telling the voters "fuck you, you will vote for anyone we put on the ballot". But there is a good chance the Democrats are right and the voters will shut up and take it. Amazing.

[Idle Hands]

He didn't just royally fucked it up. He federal investigation fucked it up.

[This Machine Kills MUH ROADZ]

Stop the Ebola Calm-Mongering!

So now I know, and communicate to you with full faith and fidelity the following guidance: Panic your fucking balls and/or clits off.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Is this something sort of jezzie offshoot? The writing style is painfully similar.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

It is a military parody blog

[Not a Libertarian]

http://www.thestar.com/news/ci.....uncil.html

John Tory was elected as Toronto mayor

The new council faced by Tory, a centre-left conservative, looks like a somewhat more Tory-friendly version of the old council, where centrists held the balance of power.

I understand the idea of a "Red Tory" but a center-left conservative?

[Ted S.]

It's Canada. They're bizarre up there.

[Rich]

Ebola can survive on surfaces for almost TWO MONTHS

Oh, very well. Voluntary quarantining for *81* days!

[Andrew S.]

Given that it's from the Daily Mail, I'll take it with multiple grains of salt, but...

...I'm so glad to be safe in Miami! Take that, all you cold Northerners!

[Lord Humungus]

What Can Washington Get Done in Obama's Last Two Years?

In the worst-case scenario, the next two years of the Obama administration could look as bad as, or worse than, the past two: a (most likely) Republican-controlled House and Senate at odds with the Democratic White House and a new low number of bills enacted into law. The West Wing is already brainstorming potential areas of agreement with new GOP allies on the Hill, and new House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised an early emphasis on productivity.

But after four years of gridlock and confirmation fights, most Americans don't appear to be getting their hopes up?congressional approval, as of earlier this month, was at a meager 14 percent. Which raises the question: Can Washington realistically get anything done before the next president is inaugurated? We asked a range of thinkers?from Congress and beyond, from both sides of the aisle and smack-dab in the middle of it?to tell us which bipartisan ideas really could make it into law before the Obama era ends.

[db]

Golf. Lots of golf.

[PM]

a (most likely) Republican-controlled House and Senate at odds with the Democratic White House and a new low number of bills enacted into law.

Oh fuck! What will we do!

[Brian D]

You mean the government might not be able to add more reasons to arrest people to the thousands of reasons they've already come up with? OH NO!

[Drake]

Unless President Executive Order springs into action.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Pen and phone, pen and phone.

[This Machine Kills MUH ROADZ]

In the worst-case scenario, the next two years of the Obama administration could look as bad as, or worse than, the past two: a (most likely) Republican-controlled House and Senate at odds with the Democratic White House and a new low number of bills enacted into law.

This is a good thing, you idiots! The last thing any honest citizen should want is for Congress to do more of anything. Except maybe seppukku. I would settle for more seppukku.

[Slammer]

I agree. But seppukku is for people with honor.

[LysanderSpoonman]

Um....without honor hence the seppuku.

[Slammer]

Or people with honor who have lost it.

[Slammer]

But you are correct.

[LysanderSpoonman]

Here's to honor, stay in her, if you can't come in her, come on her. Cheers, Slammer!

[Monty Crisco]

Without honor, hence seppuku, that then redeems their honor in death... (mere serfs and peasants and criminals were just beheaded...)

[Raven Nation]

new House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised an early emphasis on productivity

Missing the point completely.

[Ted S.]

and new House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised an early emphasis on productivity.

I'd rather see him running down Pennsylvania Ave. telling us the pod people are coming to get us.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

They are, aren't they!

*secure foil hat*

[Mock-star]

UHF was his best.

[John]

They could get a lot done if say 1/3rd of the Democrats got together with the Republicans and started overriding vetoes. I mean if the point is to make law, there is always that option. Just saying.

[Pro Libertate]

Do not make. Unmake.

[John]

Yes. But it is funny how these people think the Congress should be passing all of these laws but it is totally the responsibility of the Republicans to compromise so that can happen.

[Pro Libertate]

Look, it's easy after your first repeal.

[John]

That is right. It only hurts the first time. Promise.

[Free Society]

UC-Berkeley students, predictably, don't want Bill Maher to speak at their commencement. These days, anyone who has ever offended anyone is unwelcome at university campuses.

The Berkeley students are disinviting him based on his "racist" remarks about Islam. Nevermind that Islam is not a race and nevermind that the same criticisms leveled against Christianity would gain these students' applause. Religious oppression and fanatical barbarism are to be cherished as long as it's some perceived ethnic minority practicing such beliefs.

These leftoids are about as unthinking and one dimensional as it gets.

[John]

Unless you are convicted of murdering a cop, then you are always welcome on campus.

[jmomls]

*Unless you are convicted of murdering a cop, then you are always welcome on campus*

You also get automatic entry into the Reason.com Hall Of Fame!

[Suthenboy]

I am convinced that the real appeal of Islam to leftists is its extreme authoritarianism.

[trshmnster the terrible]

They think they can control the savages and keep the power as spoils. It's conceit all the way down!

[jmomls]

*I am convinced that the real appeal of Islam to leftists is its extreme authoritarianism.*

No, the appeal of Islam to Leftists is that it is a useful cudgel with which they can bash Christians and the Christian Right. That's it.

[Entropy Void]

Forget it, FS ... It's Berkley-Town ...

[invisible furry hand]

Domain name squatters have sold Ebola.com for $200,000, including stock in Gary Johnson's pot company.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/.....for_200000

[Rich]

The highly sophisticated hacking of Sharyl Attkisson's computers

A Justice Department spokesman said ? that "to our knowledge" the department "has never 'compromised' Ms. Attkisson's computers" or tried to obtain information from any of her devices.

"To our knowledge"? W.T.F?

[UnCivilServant]

Bureaucracies are built to prevent information from reaching the highest levels.

[Ted S.]

The spokesman is telling the truth: nobody told him anything.

[Rich]

Nice catch. 8-(

[Doctor Whom]

They hadn't read about it in the newspaper before then.

[Drake]

This would be a massive story in a country with an independent press.

[Sevo]

Drake|10.28.14 @ 9:28AM|#
"This would be a massive story in a country with an independent press."

Well, the press is trying to 'open pathways', ya know.

[Slammer]

Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation... nor would I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in fact exist, sir.

[John]

And they said "the Department" not "the government". DOJ isn't the one who would have the hacking software that sophisticated. That is the NSA. It would be surprising if DOJ had done it.

Beyond the "to our knowledge" weasel word is never says they didn't obtain such information. It just says they didn't try to obtain it. That is strictly speaking true even if the NSA got it and gave it to DOJ at the direction of the White House.

This is a massively serious charge. You would think the response would be "no one associated with the government ever enter her computer on the government's behalf nor has anyone in the federal government obtained or has any information from her computer".

The fact that they didn't say that and instead gave a statement clearly drafted by their lawyers, is in my opinion effectively an admission of guilt.

[invisible furry hand]

Attagirl!

Senator sought taxpayers' money to help her to carry out a 'freaky' extra-marital sexual tryst with Olympic medallist Ato Boldon

[PM]

"You stand on the threshold to the magical world of sensual delights that most men women dare not dream of!"

[Ted S.]

As if it would be less bad if the sex weren't "freaky".

And why couldn't it be Kirsten Gillibrand?

[Not a Libertarian]

In other emails obtained by the NT News, Ms Peris sends multiple nude pictures of herself to Mr Boldon and speaks candidly about her views on race relations in Australia.

"...You should be compensated for your long haul travels across the pacific.. sexually of course? but only .. a tired traveller should kick back for a few days," Ms Peris says on Feb 28, 2010.

I think ...sexually of course... should be the theme of the day.

[John]

I am sure they will produce portly yet athletic children. Good for her.

[Not a Libertarian]

I didn't think Labor politicians got into sex scandals.

[Lord Humungus]

GOP Senate Candidate Called 'Uncle Tom' at Hillary/Hagan Rally in N.C.

Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis was called "Uncle Tom" at a recent Senator Kay Hagan rally in North Carolina. Hillary Clinton was also on hand to help rally Democrats in support of Hagan--and the possible presidential candidate specifically praised the speaker who made the questionable comments.

The remarks were Alma Adams, who is running for Congress from North Carolina's 12th Congressional District. Here's audio:

"We need to send Uncle Tom -- Tillis, that is -- home," she told the crowd to cheers and applause.

[Ted S.]

And these are the people who are tolerant and broad-minded.

[Raven Nation]

In Iowa, the Koch Brothers are the gift that keeps on giving for the Dems.

Plus, Biden is a tool.

[cavalier973]

I wasn't going to vote, but hearing repeated airings of Braley's attack ads against Ernst has really warmed me up to her.

[Raven Nation]

Which part of Iowa (generally-speaking) do you live in?

[Not a Libertarian]

Uncle Tom?

I was unaware that candidate Thom Tillis was black?

[Suthenboy]

She only did it because republicans are racists.

Also, isn't this the exact same schtick that Sheheen used against Nikki Haley?

Is this the latest thing with them, using racial or sexist slurs then claiming it was a gaffe? Who is dumb enough to buy that?

Proggies really are fascists and the mask is slipping more every day.

[Stormy Dragon]

Good ol'boy in Dallas shocked to discover he can't just beat up homosexuals in public anymore:

DFW passengers subdue homophobic assailant

[Drake]

Did he just step out of a time machine? I want to be there when he finds out women can vote and Prohibition has been repealed.

[Rhywun]

And the vast majority of men in pink these days are heterosexual.

[Ted S.]

Why couldn't it have been a cop or TSA worker?

[PM]

That's an interesting synopsis of that particular story.

[waffles]

From my understanding you can still beat up homosexuals. It is just now done in private and requires enthusiastic consent.

[Suthenboy]

Understanding....or experience? I guess one could come from the other.

[John]

Yeah, he is a good old boy because red necks make a habit of attacking anyone in public wearing a pink shirt.

That or maybe he is a fucking lunatic who snapped for whatever reason. There is always that possibility.

And doesn't the fact that numerous bystanders stood up and did something cut against the "good old boy" narrative. Where none of them good old boys? Were they all there changing places from enlightened places like New York?

[Aloysious]

Other passengers responded immediately, jumping in to subdue the assailant and drag him to the ground.DFW Department of Public Safety officers then arrived...

Most interesting part of that story.

[Tonio]

Well, TSA employees don't have police powers, which is a good thing.

[DWC]

I wouldn't want Bill Maher speaking either, mainly because he is a dick. And this horseshit about him offending people - he only offends the right people, so I don't see the issue.

[SugarFree]

In other alarming Ebola news: The New Jersey nurse that threatened her way out of quarantine is a friend of a friend of my wife's.

I'm pretty sure this means I have third-hand Ebola.

[waffles]

Nice.

[invisible furry hand]

What the fuck are you doing? You're exposing us all! BURN HIM WITH FIRE

[SugarFree]

[cough, cough]

[db]

Everyone's Ebola number will be less than six, eventually.

[John]

I am sure quarantine sucks and would piss me off too. That said, as bad as quarantine would, living with the fact that I infected someone with a killer virus would be worse. If it turns out this women has it and has given it to someone, it will of course be everyone's fault but her own.

[SugarFree]

Maybe it's just me, but being quarantined in my house for 21 days is fairly appealing.

"Oh, no?!? You mean I don't have to go to work and I can play Borderlands and watch Netflix all day?"

[Andrew S.]

The apparent conditions of her quarantine at the hospital were bullshit.

But quarantined at home for 21 days? I'm in. Maybe I'll take a flight to and from the airport in Monrovia to be able to do that.

[John]

If it was at my house and the state was bringing me food, I would love it. I would finally play all those video games I haven't had time to play. Watch every movie I have missed in the last ten years. Catch up on my cyber sex.

I didn't realize it was at her house. I am not seeing the problem there.

[Andrew S.]

It wasn't at her house, at least not initially. It was in a wing of the hospital, allegedly a tent (the feds and the woman have wildly differing views of how she was treated)

[waffles]

+The Plague

[UnCivilServant]

The only thing that would get in the way of that is the fact that I didn't file for an absentee ballot and have to show up to vote this year (I really want to get rid of some incumbants and an off-year is the only time NYC apathy makes that plausible)

[SugarFree]

Having Ebola is the best reason to go vote.

[LysanderSpoonman]

+1herdthinning

[Pro Libertate]

Wait a second. You're commenting here. Does that mean the blog will be quarantined as well? No commenter may leave this thread until the all-clear has sounded!

[Slammer]

And we've linked to a bunch of other sites to spread it there! OMGZ!

[Pro Libertate]

Everyone get in here! We must stop the spread of infection!

[SugarFree]

BWA-HA-HA-HA!

This was Ebola tidbit number one from my wife's recent trip to Croatia, the other is that the liberal and tolerant Europeans would get up and move tables when any African sat down at a restaurant or a bar. She said that some of them just walked out if they couldn't get at least a couple of tables away.

But Americans are just panicky little babies.

[Pro Libertate]

To be sure, you can see Africa from Europe. At least, you can from Gibraltar.

[SugarFree]

Wouldn't it be great if this was a zombie novel backstory? There was only a few of the undead at first, but the CDC said it was hard to catch (bites) and there was no reason to quarantine the bitten because they were asymptomatic until it was too late.

[Pro Libertate]

Was it Stephenson or Gibson that had the virus people could catch from computers?

[SugarFree]

Stephenson. Snow Crash was a drug, a virus and a religion.

[Pro Libertate]

Right, right, of course. Thanks.

Ebola has computerized.

[db]

Stephenson, Snow Crash.

[Johnny Bravo]

There was only a few of the undead at first, but the CDC said it was hard to catch (bites) and there was no reason to quarantine the bitten because they were asymptomatic until it was too late.

So the zombie apocalypse will be caused by kink? Figures.

[SugarFree]

They found that the zombie virus could live on patent leather and rubber surfaces for up to three weeks.

[Zombie Jimbo]

Shhhh

[John]

And for the record, I am pretty sure you can get Ebola from reading your fiction. So if we are going to start quarantining people...

[Marshall Gill]

No, John, Nutra-Sweet's fiction does not give you Ebola. You just wish you had Ebola after reading it.

[Rhywun]

It took the local NYC media all of about 5 minutes to locate a representative of the "West African Community" to explain to us, at the top of every hour, how horribly racist we're all being to his kind.

[Lord Humungus]

I, for one, support the quarantining of SF.

[sarcasmic]

'Robin Hood' parking meter watchers who have saved drivers from $80,000 in tickets are forced to fight RESTRAINING ORDER attempt by meter maids in state court

Six activists trail traffic wardens with cameras, questioning their morals
They also fill up meters with coins to 'stop state stealing from drivers'
Group in keene, NH, goes by the name Robin Hood And His Merry Men
It has been brought before Supreme Court, case is still ongoing
Judge said they will be powerless to infringe First Amendment rights

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

When the group, which is also goes by Robin Hood and His Merry Men, finds an expired meter they refill it with change and then place a card notifying the car's owner what has happened.

'Your meter expired,' read the notes. 'However, we saved you from the king's tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.'

Nice

[Pro Libertate]

A restraining order. What possible basis other than WE NEED THE DUES could they have for stopping the practice?

[Rhywun]

Harrassment?

[Ted S.]

The Daily Mail is late to the party. Reason has reported on this several times.

[Rhywun]

FFS. Charging for a limited resource is now "stealing"? Annoying hipsters at best.

[sallyanneelsworthikv]

my neighbor's ex-wife makes $69 hourly on the laptop . She has been unemployed for ten months but last month her pay check was $21809 just working on the laptop for a few hours. you can find out more...

????? http://www.netjob70.com

[Drake]

How the fuck would you know your neighbor's ex-wife and her pay check?

[Andrew S.]

Regular customer of her camgirl site?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Maybe she is an Australian Labour MP?

[Andrew S.]

A few hours?

We're up to 316 hours now to get to that paycheck. That's more than 10 hours a day, assuming no days off. The bot really needs to either roll back the totals or hike up the hourly rate.

[UnCivilServant]

79 hours per week. Allocate how you want, as it's a work from home scam.

[Tonio]

Roert Faclon Scott's Antarctic expedition

Robert Falcon Scott. Proofreading, how do it work?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Ahem! 🙂

http://reason.com/blog/2014/10.....nt_4859894

[Tonio]

Yes, I saw that after I posted. Didn't have time to refresh and re-read.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Muhuhuhuwha!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Re the latest commencement-speech kabuki -

I don't know how many students are involved in this protest against Maher, whether they represent a majority of the graduating class. These articles never seem to give that information.

Anyway, the graduation ceremony isn't about the speaker, it's to honor the graduates, and if in fact the speaker is offensive to them, don't force him down their throats.

I myself wouldn't want a vaccine denier at my commencement at an institution of supposed higher learning.

[Pro Libertate]

Seems like someone noncontroversial is best, because, as you say, the whole business is about the kids graduating, not the school, the speaker, or anything else.

There are plenty of people that, if they offend, they only offend on the fringes.

On the flip side, this bullshit on campuses, especially from the left, of shouting down, trying to boycott, and not fucking listening to speakers they don't like is pathetic. I saw quite a few speakers in college, and I got something out of most of the presentations, even from the ones I didn't care much for.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Invite Maher to an event with marginal attendance, where he's there to offer an opinion without the imprimatur of the administration.

Let him explain how Big Vaccine wants us all to get autism of whatever.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

optional attendance, not marginal - wtf?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

If it is optional, then it would be marginal...

[Suthenboy]

"...an institution of higher learning..."

Read the article man, this is happening at Berkley.

[UnCivilServant]

Anyway, the graduation ceremony isn't about the speaker, it's to honor the graduates, and if in fact the speaker is offensive to them, don't force him down their throats.

So why was I stuck with president bubba then?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Wow, that sucks.

[MJGreen]

Hillary here.

Though we also had Whoopi Goldberg the day before, and she was moderately fun.

[John]

Why don't they just stop spending money to hire celebrity speakers? They pay college Presidents a fortune these days. Have them actually do their job for once and give a short speech and be done with it. It would save money, time, and no one could be pissed off about it.

The whole thing is idiotic.

[John]

It should also be noted that the best commencement speech ever given was given by Richard Feynman at CalTech in 1974. Since he worked at the university, I assume it was given for free.

You have these huge universities full of people doing interesting things. You would think they could find someone on the payroll who could give a decent speech.

[UnCivilServant]

Worse, all I remember from the speeches at my commencement was that the japanese guy they were giving an honorary doctorate to gave a far better speech than president bubba, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't getting paid, unlike clinton.

[John]

But the President of the University and the various poobas got to hang out with Bubba and get their photos taken with him. So, who cares that they wasted your time and spent university funds to make it happen? What do you think that institution is there for the students or something?

[Warty]

Mark Twain gave one university commencement address. It's fantastic, obviously.

MISSOURI UNIVERSITY SPEECH

ADDRESS DELIVERED JUNE 4, 1902, AT COLUMBIA, MO.

When the name of Samuel L. Clemens was called the humorist
stepped forward, put his hand to his hair, and apparently
hesitated. There was a dead silence for a moment. Suddenly
the entire audience rose and stood in silence. Some one began
to spell out the word Missouri with an interval between the
letters. All joined in. Then the house again became silent.
Mr. Clemens broke the spell:

As you are all standing [he drawled in his characteristic voice], I guess, I suppose I had better stand too.
[Then came a laugh and loud cries for a speech. As the great humorist spoke of his recent visit to Hannibal, his old home, his voice trembled.]
You cannot know what a strain it was on my emotions [he said]. In fact, when I found myself shaking hands with persons I had not seen for fifty years and looking into wrinkled faces that were so young and joyous when I last saw them, I experienced emotions that I had never expected, and did not know were in me. I was profoundly moved and saddened to think that this was the last time, perhaps, that I would ever behold those kind old faces and dear old scenes of childhood.

[Warty]

[The humorist then changed to a lighter mood, and for a time the audience was in a continual roar of laughter. He was particularly amused at the eulogy on himself read by Gardiner Lathrop in conferring the degree.] He has a fine opportunity to distinguish himself [said Mr. Clemens] by telling the truth about me.
I have seen it stated in print that as a boy I had been guilty of stealing peaches, apples, and watermelons. I read a story to this effect very closely not long ago, and I was convinced of one thing, which was that the man who wrote it was of the opinion that it was wrong to steal, and that I had not acted right in doing so. I wish now, however, to make an honest statement, which is that I do not believe, in all my checkered career, I stole a ton of peaches.
One night I stole?I mean I removed?a watermelon from a wagon while the owner was attending to another customer. I crawled off to a secluded spot, where I found that it was green. It was the greenest melon in the Mississippi Valley.

[Warty]

Then I began to reflect. I began to be sorry. I wondered what George Washington would have done had he been in my place. I thought a long time, and then suddenly felt that strange feeling which comes to a man with a good resolution, and I took up that watermelon and took it back to its owner. I handed him the watermelon and told him to reform. He took my lecture much to heart, and, when he gave me a good one in place of the green melon, I forgave him.
I told him that I would still be a customer of his, and that I cherished no ill-feeling because of the incident?that would remain green in my memory.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Literature's gain was politics' loss.

[Lord Humungus]

Justice Alito Turned Away From Sunday Brunch

He calmly walked away and went down the street. The hostess didn't appear to know who he was, and he didn't seem to go out of his way to make it clear who he was.

I asked the hostess after if she knew who he was, and she said no. I explained who he was and she said, "Well, he should have made a reservation. We get very busy for brunch."

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Sad that this would be a story. "Government official doesn't get something he wants, shrugs it off and doesn't make a scene."

[John]

The sad fact is that that really is a man bites dog story.

[UnCivilServant]

To be fair, they don't allow cameras in the courtroom, so people are unlikely to know what they look like, if they even recognize the names. I don't think I could pick more than two or three of the justices out of a lineup (or even properly apply the names to the group portrait)

[trshmnster the terrible]

Celebrity worship is weird. I don't care if it's alito or Peyton Manning or slash, you wait in line with everybody else.

Famous people are either enormous pricks or normal people with fancy jobs. Either way, groveling is pathetic.

[OldMexican]

Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that man-made climate change was "bad science" and "a myth."

But it is not bad science when the solution to the problem is socialism. That's good science!

[Rufus J. Firefly]

'libertarian hedonist'

Isn't that a libertine?

[John]

Yes

[OldMexican]

Re: PM,

"Non-citizen" voting doesn't automatically equate to fraud. Legal permanent residents, for example, are permitted to vote, even though they are not citizens.

A non-citizen can risk deportation when applying for citizenship if he or she voted in local or regional elections.

Democrats are playing with people's futures when conning non-citizens to vote in federal or local elections, because when they apply for citizenship they run the risk of being deported regardless of how many years they lived in the U.S.

[Tonio]

From a purely tactical standpoint it's a win-win. They get votes. Immigrants who get caught voting are automatically accorded victim status, and a push to allow legal (nudge, nudge, wink) immigrants to vote.

[Krokko]

I thought women's pay was always quoted as 78% of men's in the US... Now it's 66%? Although the article includes the phrase, "...according to the perception of business leaders," so I guess it's all about the feelz.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/2.....?hpt=hp_t2

[cavalier973]

Obama campaigns for candidate, candidate drops 9 points in the polls.

The poll was commissioned by the Maryland Republican Party, so have your salt grains at hand.

[Jackand Ace]

Yeah, the Weather Channel co-founder said that. Big deal. And what does the Weather Channel itself say about it? They completely disagree with him, and they say that the potential from AGW COULD be catastrophic, and that its best to come up with solutions right now. Hardly a myth.

http://www.weather.com/news/sc.....t-20141029

[UnCivilServant]

Question: why the fuck is there such a thing as a school cop?

(Yes, I know the answer(s) already)

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Mumble, mumble, argle...mumble, gragh!"

*stumbles off stage*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oz-zie! Oz-zie! Oz-zie!

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Anytime.

(I only get to the A.M. links at lunch these days)