A.M. Links: Maine Nurse Vows to Fight Ebola Quarantine in Court, Giants Win World Series, Cops Endorse Legal Pot in Oregon

• 

  Courtesy of the University of Texas-Arlington

  Kaci Hickox, the Maine nurse facing quarantine despite being symptom-free from Ebola, is vowing to fight back. "If the restrictions placed on me by the state of Maine are not lifted by Thursday morning," she told the Today Show, "I will go to court to fight for my freedom."

• A coalition of former police officers, prosecutors, and judges has endorsed marijuana legalization in Oregon. "Treating marijuana as a crime has failed," they are telling state voters.

• A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described Israel's closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque as a "declaration of war."

• The San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I'm proud to be gay."

• "Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests have escalated into a national security issue threatening Chinese sovereignty over the Asian financial center, a delegate to China's rubber-stamp parliament said on Thursday."

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has described Israel's closure of the Al Aqsa Mosque as a "declaration of war."

As opposed to the various actual acts of war.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I'm proud to be gay."

Why would anyone be proud to be happy? And isn't pride a deadly sin anyway?

/takes a sip of raw maple syrup.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Pride is nothing to be ashamed of.

[Pope Jimbo]

I don't know. If you have an uncle who is a complete tool like Scar and he kills your dad and a kid who even though he is an apex predator teams up with a wart hog and a meerkat, maybe you should be ashamed of your pride.

[RBS]

+1 Circle of Life.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Shame is nothing to be proud of.

[Snark Plissken]

Maybe he's proud of being able to demand anyone bake him a cake at any time. That's like a minor superpower.

[some guy]

I'm forced to wonder if these gay-cake cases would provide precedent to similar cases involving legal prostitution...

[Tonio]

demand anyone bake him a cake at any time

Intellectual honesty, how does it work?

[Snark Plissken]

You disappoint me Tonio.

[Pope Jimbo]

The problem is that you have to buy into the whole Apple ecosystem. You need to buy both iMHere and iMQueer to really get the full benefit of them.

And you really are forced to get your content from iDudes.

[Ted S.]

I think you forgot the iGetusedtoit app.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

That is at the App Store.

[Pope Jimbo]

I think you mean the chap store.

[Ted S.]

Someone left my cake out in the rain....

[Zeb]

Gay pride makes some sense when the cultural default is to be ashamed of gayness. But at this point, I think it is time for people to stop being proud of their sexual identity. Enjoy it, embrace it and make the most of it, but it should be a matter for neither pride nor shame.

[RBS]

I mentioned something similar to an acquaintance yesterday and was told to this was just a cover for my own homophobia.

[The Laconic]

If it's not a matter of choice, or (if it were a matter of choice) of moral relevance, then how can one be proud of it? It's like being proud to be blonde.

I think what people really mean when they say that is that it's nothing to be ashamed of. Which is true, but the flip side of that is that it's nothing to be proud of either.

[Jose Chung]

As a gay man, I am happy to announce that I am no more proud or ashamed of my sexual orientation than I am proud or ashamed of my race, gender, or hair color. I take pride in my accomplishments and character, not in some arbitrary trait of my biology.

[The Laconic]

Whoops, I see you already made my point.

[GroundTruth]

And, I find that simply living life is the best way to let people know that, aside from the lack of biological children with one's spouse, gay couples and straight couples are pretty much the same.

[Ted S.]

One wonders what the reaction would be if an Israeli Jew dressed up as a Muslim and suicide-bombed the Al Aqsa mosque.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I think we can guess the reaction.

[sarcasmic]

Video shows the all-out fight between two animals who used their BEAR hands

The skirmish reportedly took place in Rockland, New Jersey this past August
The video of the encounter lasts almost six and a half minutes, and as of this writing has been viewed over 23,000 times

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

[Drake]

Rockland, New Jersey? Is there such a town or county?

Probably New York.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Who knew a bear fight - during an apparent earthquake, no less - could be so boring.

[sarcasmic]

50,000 sacred objects from stone sculptures to shells found in ancient Mexican tunnel - and archaeologists say they could lead to royal tombs

Sacred tunnel was discovered in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan
Entrance to the 1,800-year-old tunnel was first discovered in 2003
Artifacts include finely carved stone sculptures, jewelry and shells

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....tombs.html

[The Late P Brooks]

Tim Cook's queer.

BFD

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Sounds to me like Tim Cook thinks Apple needs a PR boost.

[Bardas Phocas]

I only buy products from kkkorporations that have gay leadership.

Only exception is wedding cakes - those must be made by the hands of christians.

[Merrill Hess]

Mandatory KITH reference

[Snark Plissken]

Kaci Hickox, the Maine nurse facing quarantine despite being symptom-free from Ebola, is vowing to fight back. "If the restrictions placed on me by the state of Maine are not lifted by Thursday morning," she told the Today Show, "I will go to court to fight for my freedom."

Hazmat suits violate the right to bare arms.

[Citizen Nothing]

Nice

[Drake]

I have to admit a secret desire to see her get Ebola at this point.

[RUExperienced]

^^Yes

[Mike M.]

And if it turns out that she does have it, she should be arrested and charged with endangering the public and any other applicable statutes that may apply.

And the same thing should have happened to that fucking selfish asshole Spencer in New York, who lied to the authorities about what he was doing, which immediately tells you that he knew damn well he shouldn't have been doing it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Treating marijuana as a crime has failed," they are telling state voters.

Pshaw. It just hasn't been funded well enough.

[Bee Tagger]

They can use some of that sweet sweet marijuana tax revenue.

[Slammer]

Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I'm proud to be gay."

Who gives a shit?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Maybe lots of gay kids who get regularly bullied and told they are disordered perversions of nature for being gay?

[Citizen Nothing]

Forget it, Bo. It's Paleotown.
No gay.

[Tonio]

Good comment, Bo. While maybe Slammer is actually being honest about that, the "who cares" line of rhetoric has been irredeemably tainted by people who used that as a cover for actual homophobia.

[Slammer]

Bullying kids and teens to the point of suicide because of who they are is awful, whether it's coming from their peers or religious zealots. I personally don't give a shit who is gay or not. I don't care as long as the NAP is respected. And I don't give a shit that Tim Cook is gay.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Well, good for you. I'm just suggesting that maybe, just maybe, some people who might need it might care, and that his pronouncement may have been for them, not you.

[Tonio]

his pronouncement may have been for them, not you

Batting 1.000 today, Bo.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah but he's no Hunter Pence!

[Restoras]

Personally, I think the cause of acceptance of gay people more widely would be helped more by someone like Tim Cook saying "Yes, I'm gay - so what?" instead of "Look at me, I'm GAY!".

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Again, taking what some see as a source of the perversion of nature itself and seeing it as a good thing to not be ashamed of, but actually proud of, is bad?

The kid whose church is telling him he's intrinsically disordered, whose peers are calling him fag every day, that kid might need to hear 'not only is gay not bad, it can be a good thing' more than 'hey, no one should care whether you are gay or not.'

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yep. The ticker tape parades for announcing your affinity for ass sex are tedious at this point.

I never got why people's sexuality was any of my fucking business in the first place.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

"I never got why people's sexuality was any of my fucking business in the first place."

For the hundreds of years gays were locked up and killed I bet they thought the same thing, and wished you'd been around and more vocal then.

[trshmnster the terrible]

For thousands of years people have been tortured, maimed, and killed (let alone bullied) for a variety of inherent and learned traits. Yet the only one that deserves a press conference is homosexuality.

"I am here today to declare that I am left handed, and I am proud of being left handed, it is a gift from God! "

[Citizen Nothing]

And yet they allow you freaks to marry pure Righties. We live in a sick society.

[SugarFree]

And yet they allow you freaks to marry pure Righties. We live in a sick society.

My wife goes both ways.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

"I am here today to declare that I am left handed, and I am proud of being left handed, it is a gift from God! "

Say it loud! I'm southpaw and proud!

[grrizzly]

"I never got why people's sexuality was any of my fucking business in the first place."

Then don't shove into my face your affinity for cunt sex, whenever you mention your wife or girlfriend.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Not even remotely similar. If he just happened to mention a boyfriend/husband in the course of a conversation, no shits are given by me. That's not making a big deal out of it. Writing an oped to come out of the closet making a big deal about it.

[Rhywun]

To me his statement reads as much the former as the latter. It's not very "look at me!" at all.

[Injun, as in from India]

I take that comment to mean "it's the 21st century and no one cares" when he says "who gives a sh**?" Give the OP the benefit of doubt.

[Merrill Hess]

Surely those bullies will think twice now that Tim Cook is OOTC.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Successful role models and examples, what good could they possibly do?

[Merrill Hess]

The beancounter who trashed a visionary's company?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes, being head of Apple is obviously a disappointment.

[Citizen Nothing]

If he weren't gay, he could be head of a real company, like Exxon or Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

[PM]

Yeah, it's about time white, upper class, highly educated men had somebody they can call their own...

[Bo Cara Esq.]

He's talking to gay young people PM, but carry on.

[PM]

That whooshing sound was the point flying over your head. But carry on.

[Citizen Nothing]

And now that carrying an iPhone means you're gay, the bullies will all be going Android.

[PM]

And now that carrying an iPhone means you're gay...

I think that's been that case since a long time before Tim Cook came out.

[Rhywun]

Yeah, Android users have never had any style.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The new iPhones will be preloaded with Grindr

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Out of the O.C.?

[PM]

I don't really understand how the CEO of a consumer electronics company sharing your sexual preference really alleviates any of the suffering associated with bullying.

Then again, I don't understand how voting for someone who shares your skin color or sex organs alleviates the real and/or perceived injustices and suffering associated with the possessors of said melanin and sex organs either.

Then again, I don't understand how yelling at the TV and drinking beer while a handful of highly trained athletes assembled from around the country outperform another handful of highly trained athletes assembled from around the country becomes a source of personal and regional pride and accomplishment either.

Yay teams though!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

^THIS^

A lot this.

[Rhywun]

I don't really understand

You don't have to. As someone stated above, the message isn't for you or most of us here. It's comforting that we're all "who gives a shit" but the wider world - while moving in that direction - ain't there yet.

[Lord Humungus]

'Naked Rambler' loses bid to have public nudity declared a human right

A British man who spurns clothes has lost a legal bid to have public nudity declared a human right.

The European Court of Human Rights says Stephen Gough's rights were not violated by repeated arrests and convictions for being naked in public.

The court ruled Tuesday that Gough's legal woes were the result of conduct that "goes against the standards of accepted public behaviour" and could be "alarming and morally and otherwise offensive" to others.

[Florida Man]

To be fair, naked is man's natural state. The state should provide him with clothes if they want to mandate it.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Meanwhile, if you google 'naked florida man', you get 24M hits in 0.33 seconds.

[Mickey Rat]

Naked is Man's natural state in eastern Africa. In England put some clothes on, it's cold there you daft bugger!

[some guy]

I wonder if Judge N considered this situation when writing today's editorial on liberty. After all, it doesn't hurt anyone else for this guy to be bare.

[Ted S.]

I can think of a lot of things the politicians do that are "alarming and morally and otherwise offensive". But those are never going to be banned.

[Dweebston]

"If the restrictions placed on me by the state of Maine are not lifted by Thursday morning," she told the Today Show, "I will go to court to fight for my freedom."

SHE'D RISK SPREADING EBOLA TO AN ENTIRE COURTROOM? This woman must be stopped.

[RBS]

If I was representing the state I would definitely wear the full protective gear to court.

[sarcasmic]

Incredible aerial shots show Hawaiian lava trail which threatens to cut town in half

Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii has been bracing itself for lava from the active Kilauea volcano since June
Residents who live in the lava's path have been packing up their valuables and getting out of the way
But when it cuts through the town's main road, many remaining residents won't be able to reach the only supermarket
Many businesses in the area have already closed or moved, but some are vowing to stay

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....nting.html
Wow. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes.

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm headed back to the Big Island this summer. I hope it's not all just a smoldering mass of pahoehoe by then.

[some guy]

Business or pleasure? I found Hawaii to be much more pleasant than Oahu. And don't worry, you'll be fine.

[Citizen Nothing]

Just a joke. I've been to Hawaii 12, 13 times and the Big Island is my favorite spot on earth.
I'll be visiting family and maybe squeezing a travel story out of the trip as well. My older kids have been there, but it'll be the first trip for my 9-year-old twins. As often as I've been, I can still get jazzed with anticipation for that trip.

[some guy]

I believe it. I've only been once and I've already decided I want to retire there. Just need to save up for a few more decades...

[Citizen Nothing]

Retirement to the Big Island was my plan, too -- until the aforementioned twins came along.
But they're worth it. Most days.

[Dweebston]

Sandbags and garden hoses.

[hamilton]

Wow. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes.

That's Pele, you euro-centric oppressor you.

[Ted S.]

It Neymar who's the bitch, not Pele.

[Steve G]

Is there anything global warming can't do?

[some guy]

Wow. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes.

It's not mother nature's fault that a bunch of people decided to build their houses on an active volcano.

[FUQ]

I have the same thought about people who keep building 20 feet from the ocean. And I'm tired of paying to rebuild their stupidity.

[some guy]

Or on steep terrain in a rain forest. Or in a river's flood plain... The list goes on and on. I mean, it's okay if you think it's worth the risk, but don't expect other to give you money or sympathy when you lose everything.

[Slammer]

Budget cuts blamed for friendly fire

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

In other news, God sent that hurricane to destroy New Orleans because of the queers and Bush is responsible for Obama's piss poor performance.

[Ted S.]

What budget cuts?

[Atanarjuat]

is the first known case of a battlefield catastrophe that can be linked to automatic defense spending cuts

Another day, another journalist making a spurious correlation. #weaselwords

[Lord Humungus]

Walmart apologizes over Halloween 'Fat Girl Costumes' page on website

Walmart has been forced to apologize for listing plus-size Halloween outfits on its website under the offensive heading of "Fat Girl Costumes."

The retail giant sparked outrage early Monday after the insensitive category name was picked up by eagle-eyed online shoppers.

"Stay classy Walmart," wrote tweeter Autumn Mochi.

The chain quickly backtracked ? and by 11.30 a.m. changed the description to "Women's Plus Size Halloween Costumes."

[Rich]

"It is unacceptable and we apologize. We are working to remove it as soon as possible and ensure this never happens again."

"The fathead who put the ad on the site has been given a dressing down."

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Not for nothing, but what dress size do you think 'Autumn Mochi' wears?

GP Medium?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Nice.

[SugarFree]

She's fairly hot in her twitpics. Although she seems to be a fox furry and there's a pic of her boyfriend with a tampon in his nose.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Next up. Banning the word 'fat'.

[Ted S.]

The funny thing is, the people who already hated Walmart have no fun mocking the size of the shoppers there.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+1 People of Wal-Mart

[Not a Libertarian]

No disrespect meant to the man, but I misread the link as

Warty apologizes over Halloween 'Fat Girl Costumes' page on website

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Warty never apologizes.

[sarcasmic]

'Fake orgasms and don't eat too much': How a $1,000-an-hour escort rose to the top 1% of her field by playing the 'perfect woman' for Wall Street's wealthiest men

Svetlana Z, as she identifies herself, spent well over $7,000 a month on rent, clothes, beauty products and a personal trainer
She saved $200,000 over five years before quitting to pursue an education in film-making and psychology
Ninety per cent of her clients were married

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem.....t-men.html

[Atanarjuat]

Money quote:

Aside from these mentions, life as a high-class escort appears to have suited Svetlana. Couples were her favorite sorts of clients, and she got to charge double the fee for the same amount - often less - of work.

'That's the cool thing about capitalism,' she points out.

[Injun, as in from India]

But, but, but - she's a VICTIM!

/closeted SoCon feminist

[MJGreen]

A fit prostitute can go quite far in filmmaking...

But seriously, good for her. Sounds like she has a good head.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day.

Oh for fuck's sake.

But well done, this will rally a few brainless progs into buying some iPhones.

[Dweebston]

Hadn't they already? They know the difference between personal and private property.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Being an outsider looking in, how could that be helpful to anyone?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Is Apple successful because they sell a superior product that cannot be purchased elsewhere for less?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Why don't you just quit the game and make your overall point?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Isn't this how you usually operate?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So a tu quoque was your overall point?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Do you understand branding?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Is this the game thing again? Why not just type your point in the space below my comment here, then I'll respond.

[Atanarjuat]

Whereas your game is being a dick to people on the internet. Why not just make your point civilly, Bo? It's a fair one. Because that doesn't get dozens of responses, I'd wager.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I made my point in my first reply to CPA, so try another hobby horse that's obviously been bothering you for a while Atanarjuat.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

My point being, Apple has long ago stopped being a tech company that develops cutting edge technology. These days they spend most of their time following what Samsung does with their tech.

Apple is a luxury brand, people buy it for status. Recently, they have had a lot of negative publicity. You know, icloud hacks, phones bending, shit like that.

Good news, the CEO is gay, his whole life even! He'll fight through this, because that's what gay men do. Now come, buy an iPhone, and show your support. Fuck you Bo.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So, wait a minute, your original and overall point was that you think Apple is living off its past true innovation? The Apple CEO's declaration was just the launching point for your pre-existing beef with Apple's business model.

No wonder you are so upset with me for leading you to that.

[trshmnster the terrible]

No, it's fairly obvious what his point is. Apple is and always has been a hype driven luxury brand. Whether it's the 1984 commercial, the white earbuds, or a thousand other social cues, Apple thrives off of brand status and hype.

Now, for the first time in a while, they have strung together a series of gaffes, blunders, and negative hype that is surely hurting the bottom line. Conveniently, they bring out a new social cue (CEO is gay) to show all the "cool kids" where to shop.

Tim Cook outed himself for money, not to help some sad gay kid in Alabamastan.

[Citizen Nothing]

Yeah. He's probably not really even gay and was ordered to "out" himself by the board in order to goose the stock price.
"Take one for the team, Tim."

[trshmnster the terrible]

While that would be hilarious, I don't doubt his sincerity. I also don't doubt that the timing of this announcement was planned and discussed well in advance.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

He's a CEO, trshmnster, obviously his intentions are pure.

[Rhywun]

surely hurting the bottom line

You would have to ignore the record earnings reports that come out every quarter in order to believe that.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

WTF?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes, people taking what some see as a disability and reframing it as something positive in their life, WTF is up with that?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

A God given gift - c'mon, don't be so obtuse...I know, I might as well ask the ocean not to be wet.

[Duke]

I just caint quit you Swiss.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

So he framed the characteristic that others see as a disability as not just a positive, but as a 'God given gift.' Yes, no one ever does that but gloryhounding gay activists.

Sheesh.

[Merrill Hess]

It's sentimentalist and manipulative when other disableds do it, too.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

This is what gets me about this reaction. If someone with what is considered a bad quality, a disability or what not owns it and says they are proud of it and see it as an asset, then you criticize it, but if they say it's a source of constant trouble and woe you do the same. They just can't win for you.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Bo's just mad because his 'god given gift' of being a pedantic sphincter doesn't garner him much sympathy.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I'm not the one who is upset here, but there seems to be a lot of people who are at the occasion of a gay CEO coming out of the closet.

[PM]

that others see as a disability

Can you name a single person who actually sees homosexuality as a "disability"? I mean the APA did up until the late 70's, but not even the most fundie Muslims, Christians and Jews think of it as a "disability".

Also, if it actually were a disability, referring to it as something other than a disability would be stupid. It's patronizing to people actually suffering. "Being born with Down Syndrome has been such a unique gift for me!". "I'm so happy to have been blessed by god with Marfan Syndrome". Having a real disability fucking sucks. It's not a "gift".

[Bo Cara Esq.]

The official position of the largest Christian church is that homosexuals are 'intrinsically disordered'.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Disorder =/= disability... Try again.

Alcoholism is a disorder. Cystic fibrosis is a disability.

[FUQ]

I've decided you just like picking stupid fights with people for no reason just to feel smug. You may soon be added to the list as you don't really bring anything worth reading to the commentary.

[Citizen Nothing]

Nooooooo! Not The List!

[Zeb]

I hope everyone can make their sexuality a positive thing in their life. That doesn't mean that the specific kind of sex you are into is something to be proud of.
Now, I suppose there is probably still enough homophobia in the culture that it is good for young gay people not in the best situations to see successful people not being ashamed about being gay and openly embracing it.
But, on the other hand identity politics and basing large parts of your identity on something like sexual orientation is not helpful.

For groups who have been systematically discriminated against historically, I can understand the utility and power of being proud and open in a public way. And it may well still be necessary to do so. But too many people see it as a good thing in and of itself. You should take pride in the things you do, not in characteristics of yourself that you didn't choose and can't do anything about.

[Drake]

Obviously knows some women. Hard to disagree with the guy at this point in my life.

[Tonio]

Yeah, I wouldn't have gone there even if I were a believer. Being gay still presents challenges in many areas of the country.

[Restoras]

Seems like a raging case of narcissistic personality disorder to me. Not unusual in people like Mr. Cook.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Have you read his oped? He explains that he has never really wanted to make any kind of public statement, but "Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation. I don't consider myself an activist, but I realize how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy."

[Tonio]

And total insensitivity to the suffering of others is textbook psychosis, Restoras.

[PM]

Good to see our resident lgbtarians go straight to the "you just don't care like I do!" well.

I bet you hate teh children too, don't you Restoras?

[Restoras]

I only hate non-orphans. Orphans I love - I mean who else can I get to polish my monocles and walking sticks, or brush my top hat and keep my Rolls Royce waxed, to say nothing of the upholstery? And their tears are delicious in my morning coffee

[Citizen Nothing]

lgbtarians

That's hilarious. I'm stealing it.

[Restoras]

You don't get to the top of a place like Apple unless you have a touch of narcissism. Quite a lot of it, even.

Personally, I think he cause of gay people would be more widely accepted by a greater number of people if, instead of rubbing society's face in it, people who are gay didn't make a big deal of it.

Does this mean bigotry against gays would go away overnight, or even ever? Nope. Not by a long shot given that people are people and will always be some who are bigoted against an other.

Does this mean that gay people should not fight for equal treatment under the law? Nope, not at all, in fact I encourage it and am happy to see that it is making gains every year.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Admitting to what you are publicly='rubbing their faces in it?'

Look, I agree pushing anything too much can backfire, but he's just writing a single oped here coming out.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The CEO of a Fortune 500 company touting his "victim" cred.

[Tonio]

Uh, yeah, like nobody has ever called for gays to be imprisoned or killed.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

In California, in 2014?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I know, that oppression stuff went out with Lawrence v. Texas, which was like eons ago. Look at all the gay hairstylists operating openly now! Oppressed my foot!

[PM]

Homosexuals, as a demographic group, are more educated and wealthy than the general population. How do you square that?

[Bo Cara Esq.]

In the 1940s in the US I'm betting the average Jewish household income was higher than the US average, but would you like to argue they were not the target of some ugly discrimination too?

[PM]

I'm struggling to figure out the mechanism by which you become financially and academically successful while being oppressed, is all. Discrimination and oppression aren't the same thing. You used the term oppressed in your original post. Going back to your example, no, I don't think I would describe Jewish people in the United States circa the 1940's as "oppressed", despite the existence of anti-semitism (which hardly disappeared in the ensuing decades).

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You're missing the point. I'm drawing attention to the fact that across our culture, your achievements are no longer the defining aspect of your identity. No, instead it's what minority group you belong to or oppressed status you have.

If Cook had come out and said, "Yeah, I'm gay, so what? You got a problem with that? If you do, you can kiss my ass.", I would be totally supportive. He's a powerful person who had the opportunity to demonstrate that being gay should be a non-issue. Instead he's playing more into the progressive arguments of identity politics and victim status.

Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one's sexuality, race, or gender.

Should read

Part of social progress is understanding that a person is not defined only by one's sexuality, race, or gender.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I think you are missing his point. His OpEd is about, hey, I know some kids are struggling with being gay and societal reaction, and while I like to keep my personal life private, I realize that as a successful figure coming out might give them some example or role model that might provide a little hope. He leverages his success outside of his orientation in order to combat the idea that gays are disordered perversions who are destined to be miserable, unnatural failures.

Now, he takes it a step further and says that not only is he successful despite being gay, he thinks being gay has actually helped him and he owns it as a gift. That's hardly crass identity politics, he's saying to that gay kid 'not only are you not disordered, consider that you may be blessed in your own way.'

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I don't think he's being crass at all. I think he's quite earnest.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

By claiming he's proud of being gay? I guess if he said it was a constant source of trouble and sorrow that would have been better and less victim-y.

[Restoras]

It's ok for him to use his bully pulpit. That is all.

[Bee Tagger]

The San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series.

Great game. Each team had a couple of scoring opportunities. Lots of great pitching plus an epic Bumgarner. An awesome "wtf" moment with 2 outs in the 9th. A great end to a really fun October.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Props to Affeldt for the job he did coming in early.

[Bee Tagger]

Agreed!

[NealAppeal]

I was hoping for a close game for the final. Every other game, aside from G3, was a great game for one of the teams. Even though I am a SF fan, I like to see all innings played like the game is on the line. And, man, the end was a nailbiter, but you could tell MadBum was in control.

[Restoras]

I think the third base coach should have sent him in the ninth.

[Idle Hands]

Dynasty right? To me it's no question.

[Restoras]

As close as it can come in baseball, I don't disagree. Certainly makes the Yankees strategy look idiotic.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I don't want to push this thread to a 1000 comments, but what IS wrong with the Yankees organization?

[Idle Hands]

Currently? or going forward? Curently their infield is a complete mess, and their roster is filled to the brim with old people that are regressing badly. Going forward, nothing they are the yankees and can fix these issues by throwing globs of money at players.

[Idle Hands]

It's getting harder though because teams are getting smarter(in my opinion) and a little riskier locking up their players earlier so they are getting to free agency later.

[Restoras]

Both. The Yankees are a mess - and look for them to blow open the money spigots again this off season.

Teams are getting smarter and also you are seeing more of them take a long view - KC was an awesome surprise this year and can only be attributed to a lot of draft picks and good coaching. I hope they can challenge again next season.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

People often ignore the fact that the core of their teams during their dynasty in the mid 1990s/early 2000s came from the system. They would go out and sign players to fill spots they felt they needed help in. Rivera, Williams, Posada, Jeter even later with Cano - all came from the system. O'Neill, Martinez etc. through trades/signings.

I forget all the players involved but that was their MO.

[Restoras]

Yes, that's right, Rufus. If the Yankees want success like they've had in the past they have to suck it up and pour all that money into development.

[Rasilio]

Cashman seems to have lost some power.

They started their dynasty in the 90's with a cadre of home grown players and smart free agent choices who weren't overpaid.

They kept it going by trading away their prospects for good players and overpaying for free agents but they still had their homegrown core (Petitte, Rivera, Posada, Williams, Jeter) .

Now, the last of their core is gone and all they are left with is overpriced aging stars. They havn't developed a legitimate talent from their minor league system in a decade and they smartly let him walk (and I think Seattle will really regret that contract).

The real question going forward is will the new crop of Steinbrenners give Cashman the free reigns to build a proper team over the next 3 - 4 years or are they going to do what they always used to do before George got old and let Cash run things by trying to buy a championship every year.

If they let Cashman do his work you are looking at last place Al East finishes for the next 2 - 3 years followed by a very good chance at another decade plus dynasty. If they don't you're looking at the Yankees of the 80's and early 90's all over again

[Bee Tagger]

I don't know. There's so much variance cooked into the playoffs now. That's not a complain as I find it tremendously fun but it's certainly not a great process for finding the best team.

At no point during these past 5 years did I (and dare I say anyone?) think they were the best or even one of the top 2 or 3 teams heading into the playoffs. I don't know what to call it. 3 out of 5 above-average regular seasons followed by a month of being the best? I won't say it's not a dynasty but I'll not jump at the chance to call it one.

[Restoras]

It's two seasons - regular season and playoffs.

In the regular season offense wins (generally). In the playoffs pitching and defense wins (generally).

I think the best way to find the best team would be going back to just two leagues, no divisions, each team in each league only plays team in thier league and the best record in each team determines the World Series.

It's either that or pare the whole league down from 30 teams to, i dunno, 20, and just have one regular season with no playoffs?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yes. Dynasty. And they may not be done.

[Reverend Mayhem]

Please, fucking NO.

[Ted S.]

Our long national nightmare is over.

[Lord Humungus]

^this^

[some guy]

In my book the nightmare ends with the first preseason NFL game. It's easy to ignore baseball after that.

[Zeb]

Baseball is the superior sport because fewer people clutter up H&R threads with Baseball talk.

Baseball may be boring as shit, but football is even worse. Oh, look, there are a bunch of big guys running into each other again, just like they did 5 minutes ago. Whoopee!

[Citizen Nothing]

Now, soccer, on the other hand...

[Zeb]

Soccer is even more boring yet, but it has one clever trick. You can't look away for a moment or you might miss the only exciting 20 seconds of the game.

[Restoras]

As much as I love baseball, ice hockey is clearly the superior sport.

[Zeb]

At least the H&R hockey digressions are relatively short.

[Stormy Dragon]

"Baseball is 15 minutes of nailbiting excitement jam packed into three hours"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Outside Bumgarner, there wasn't much great pitching - at least as has been the case in the past in the playoffs.

Strange playoffs with all the sweeps and even in the seven game series there were a few blow outs.

[Bee Tagger]

I think Herrera, Davis, and Holland certainly impressed. Especially Davis.

But yeah, who would have thought two mediocre offenses with mediocre starting pitching (once you get past bumgarner and maybe shields/ventura) would be the last two teams standing?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Crazy year.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"If the restrictions placed on me by the state of Maine are not lifted by Thursday morning," she told the Today Show, "I will go to court to fight for my freedom."

Maine really has nothing to lose in this. There are no negative consequences, and by the time this plays out the quarantine period will have passed.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Your Honor, the State would ask for a hearing date, say... 17 days from now."

[sarcasmic]

EXCLUSIVE - 'I watched in horror as vile dog meat trader butchered two frightened pets at my feet then boiled them alive': Horrifying defiance of dealers who murder man's best friend

We confront dog meat traders in Vietnam over slaughter of much loved pets
But he callously responds by murdering stolen family dogs at my feet
Stomach-churning cruelty shows how charity rescuing pets need our help
They are clubbed to death or boiled and turned into ?30 luxury dishes
Dog meat is prized for its ability to improve quality of men's sex lives

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....riend.html
Obama gives it five stars.

[CampingInYourPark]

"butchered two frightened pets at my feet then boiled them alive"

That cook has skillz

[Citizen Nothing]

I'm thinking theme restaurant, like Japanese Steakhouse or Mongolian Barbecue.
Got a pet that pissed you off? We'll grill it up in an entertaining way. An the salad bar is free!

[Tonio]

Butchered is different than slaughtered. It is possible to lop off extremities and for the animal to still be alive. Callous indifference to suffering duly noted.

[CampingInYourPark]

Fuck off

Put that in your notebook

[sarcasmic]

'If I want to have casual sex, I'll do it!' Emily Ratajkowski poses in a skimpy bikini after revealing she is open to a fling

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....fling.html
She looks fake to me, but sometimes that doesn't matter.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Keeping hope alive

[Rich]

Who?

[sarcasmic]

Her claim to fame is a music video. Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines. He's the guy who that Miley Cyrus creature was twerking on or something.

http://www.artistdirect.com/vi.....ion/150624

NOT SAFE FOR WORK! LOTS OF JIGGLING TITTIES!

[Drake]

Best part of Gone Girl was her topless.

[Atanarjuat]

Sorry for scaring off the fabled, yet elusive libertarian women, but... the greatest butterface ever born.

[sarcasmic]

Woman whose 'breasts were burned by hot coals at hookah pole-dancing bar' launches lawsuit

Katelyn Sobon 'was burned after a dancer knocked over a "feeble" table holding a hookah pipe, sending hot coals into her cleavage'
She 'suffered severe pain and humiliation as a result' and is now suing Trilogy Nightclub in Philadelphia and its owner for $50,000 in damages
But the club's manager said she has been back to the club since and is simply trying to make a quick buck

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ounge.html
John pron.

[Zeb]

So, why can you have a hookah bar or a cigar bar, but there are no cigarette bars?
I guess the wrong kind of people might find some pleasure there.

[Idle Hands]

There are plenty of bars that cater to smokers, it's just not a selling point because of how militant and fascist the anti-smoking people are.

[Zeb]

I'm more referring to the laws that allow certain kinds of smoking-oriented establishments but not others.

Are there any states left without a general indoor smoking ban for bars and restaurants?

[sarcasmic]

Many places carve out exceptions. For example a place that doesn't serve food isn't expected to have minors in there, so the law may allow smoking. Or some laws permit smoking after 9PM for the same reason. No children to protect.

[mauricegirodias]

FL. Some bars let you smoke here, some don't. There may be rules, but TIF (This Is Florida).

[Rhywun]

So, why can you have a hookah bar or a cigar bar, but there are no cigarette bars?

At least here in NYC, it's because cigars are smoked by well-connected Wall Streeters and politicians, and hookahs are smoked by a favored religious group.

[Slammer]

The new hookah bar around the corner from me in Bay Ridge has a belly dancer Friday and Saturday nights. I'ma have to check that out.

[Rhywun]

I live in BR too and there must be a dozen of them within 2 blocks of me - it's getting a little out of hand.

[Lord Humungus]

Secret Service Agents Pay a Visit to Anti-Obama Artist Sabo ? and the Entire Exchange Is Seemingly Captured on Video

During the brief exchange, the agents asked, Sabo questions like; "Did you send out the tweets about bringing back Lee Harvey Oswald as a zombie?" To which the artist responded, "How likely is that going to happen?"

Sabo did admit to sending the three tweets in question.

"I realize we have a f***head in the White House and the Constitution no longer means s**t, but as far as I'm concerned we still have the First Amendment, correct?" he said, sitting behind a desk featuring Obama's face painted on toilet seat covers.

The two agents agreed with him about the First Amendment, but cautioned him about "language that starts advocating violence," calling it a "grey area the First Amendment doesn't cover."

[Rich]

"Did you send out the tweets about bringing back Lee Harvey Oswald as a zombie?"

LOL

Yeah, that's a "grey area".

[Tonio]

Good move. Always answer hostile and nonsensical questions with other questions.

[Ted S.]

Nobody ever said things like this about BOOOOOOOOOOOSH.

[sarcasmic]

Amelia Earhart's plane 'HAS been found after 77 years': Piece of aluminum found on remote Pacific island could only be from her aircraft, say experts

An aluminum scrap is now believed to have likely been part of Amelia Earhart's plane when she tried to circumnavigate the equator in 1937
Researchers think the scrap was used as a fill-in for a navigational window when Earhart stopped in Miami
They found the scrap's elements were a fit with the patch, and also fit with a Lockheed Electra undergoing restoration

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

[sarcasmic]

Rap mogul Suge Knight faces up to 30 years behind bars after he and comedian Katt Williams are arrested for stealing a female photographer's camera

The 49-year-old rap mogul is still recovering after getting shot six times two months ago
Arrested for allegedly stealing the camera in an incident that left photographer with minor injuries'
Comedian Katt Williams has also been charged with felony robbery

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

[Ted S.]

What difference does it make whether the photographer was a man or a woman?

[Idle Hands]

Is Tim Cooke saying "I'm proud to be gay" code for "our sales are down and we need a fresh marketing angle"? Or is it just a declaration?

[Injun, as in from India]

Sales aren't down; look at the annual data under 'Financials':

https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL

[Merrill Hess]

Their growth is way down and they're no longer the market leaders.

[Injun, as in from India]

Sales are still up. Sales growth is slowing, and that's a derivative.

[Tonio]

Would you ask the same question of a CEO who declared his religious belief?

[Idle Hands]

yes.

[Idle Hands]

Everything these people do is a representation of their company, fair or not, it's probably safe to assume that this was calculated.

[Injun, as in from India]

It sounds like a Bloomberg correspondent accidentally spilled the beans, and so Tim came out and issued a statement.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Yeah - all I want from a CEO is company strategy, earnings and what they need to do to succeed. I don't care, nor do I want to know what they screw, worship, eat, drink, or such.

From my Swiss masters, all I want to know is if the Short Term Incentive Plan is going to pay, is headcount going to rise or fall and are we going to upgrade our IT.

[Merrill Hess]

Depends on the situation. The Chik-fil-A guy wearing his religion on his sleeve is OK cuz his business is growing like crazy and most of his customers don't give a shit about Jesus.

Some roofer in Alabama talking in a TV ad about how he thinks about how grateful he is for Jesus dying for him while he's nailing shingles, that I'd be suspicious of.

[Rich]

Total World Debt Tops $100 Trillion

Meh. We owe it to ourselves.

[Raven Nation]

Maybe Not

FTP:

It may, or may not, come as a surprise to you that there is complete infiltration & infestation, and therefore total control & corruption at the top tier of Earth's global society, citizenry & institutions, directing & controlling everything below, at the top tiers of governments, military & intelligence, industries & business, especially: oil {gasoline & all petroleum derived fuel products}, energy/electricity/power, gold, 'money' {continuous creation of debt ? fiat currency based on fractional reserve banking, capital markets, central banks? all aspects of banking, the various stock & commodities trading markets, etc.}, water, transportation, defense [contractors], news, entertainment {movies, television, video games}, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, crop & food production? and the list goes on;

Whereby certain leaders at the highest levels of all of these areas of our global society, of all of these institutions ? people who look or appear to be human, are not. Again, they are in fact ? Reptilian

[Rich]

Whoa.

[Ted S.]

So we owe the money to the lizard people?

[Raven Nation]

Yes, although the beings of the Andromeda Council are secretly fighting the lizard people to save humanity.

[some guy]

Why would they do that? (Sorry to poke holes in your cool story, bro.)

[Raven Nation]

Higher evolved species with refined benevolence gene?

[some guy]

So we owe the money to the lizard people?

Hah! Jokes on them.

[Medical Physics Guy]

If you owe the lizard people a thousand dollars, you have a problem. If you owe the lizard people 100 trillion dollars, the lizard people have a problem.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

At least Tim Cook didn't come out as a
proud reptile.

[Lord Humungus]

"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp_K8prLfso

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Without looking, Rowdy Roddy should have got the Oscar that year.

Who the fuck ever heard of Michael Douglas since then?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Would be interesting know how much is attributed to welfare entitlements/programs.

[Rasilio]

None.

If you include unfunded liabilities the US alone is WAY past $100 trillion and rapidly closing in on $200 trillion.

http://grandfather-economic-re.....-table.htm

If you leave out the unfunded liabilities the US is still looking at about $60 Trillion in total debt

[The Late P Brooks]

Sounds to me like Tim Cook thinks Apple needs a PR boost.

NEEDZ MOAR$ CULT STATUS

[Lord Humungus]

Ex-Fed's Greenspan: QE Failed, Rate Hike Not 'Trouble-Free'

The question of when officials should begin raising interest rates is "one of those questions I cannot answer," he continued, but added he was worried how the whole process would happen.

"I don't think it's possible for the Fed to end its easy-money policies in a trouble-free manner."

"We've never had any experience with anything like this, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you exactly how it's going to come out," he claimed, adding that markets often react to changes in central bank policy "unpredictably and not entirely rationally."

Giving advice to investors, he said that gold is a good place to put money these days given its value as a currency outside of the policies conducted by governments.

ZOMG - Gold Bug!

[PM]

Greenspan has a remarkable ability to sniff out shitty policy several years after the fact, and only if it doesn't involve anything he did himself as fed chairman.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests have escalated into a national security issue...

Just like global warming.

[Lord Humungus]

Alleged cat hoarders offered assistance in Schaghticoke

The town building inspector on Wednesday condemned the River Road residence in which 150 cats were found, and Rensselaer County offered housing and medical assistance to four people who lived there.

State Police cleared the scene as an investigation continues while the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society has rescued about 100 cats and located 11 dead felines.

The remaining cats are not being removed because they are packed into the small, single-family residence's walls, said Tina Murray, director of operations for the humane society.

[Ted S.]

Pronunced SCAT-i-coke, for those wondering. We've got a bunch of great old Dutch place names round these parts.

[Rhywun]

The real pronunciation would sound like you're choking on something.

[The Late P Brooks]

The court ruled Tuesday that Gough's legal woes were the result of conduct that "goes against the standards of accepted public behaviour" and could be "alarming and morally and otherwise offensive" to others.

"OFF WIV 'IS FOOKIN HEAD!"

[Slammer]

Uber and kittens.

Awwww. Nice.

[Lord Humungus]

Epi?

Seattle Police Release Photo of Man Accused of Stealing 'Hercules' Penis Pump

What kind of man would steal $400 worth of sex toys from the Castle Adult Megastore on Capitol Hill, including a "Heavenly Dolphin," a "Rabbit," several pairs of hosiery, some lube, and a "Hercules" penis pump?

According to Seattle Police, a man who looks like this.

[Slammer]

Maybe he's for fixing 'penis size inequality' in that commie shithole.

[An Innocent Man]

No worries: Dunphy is on the case!

[Ted S.]

No worries: Dunphy is on the case surveillance video!

Fixed it for you.

[SugarFree]

Not depraved enough looking.

[Elspeth Flashman]

The one link reads "sex toys" while the other reads "stockings, lube, and other personal items." So which is it?

[SugarFree]

Ask Epi. I don't know what goes on in his diseased mind.

[some guy]

Wait, so this isn't one of your works?

[SugarFree]

No writer can compete with reality.

[Injun, as in from India]

This one is priceless.

Audience laughs at NY Democrat Congressional Candidate's "War on Women" comment.

[Merrill Hess]

Haha. If I was the moderator I would have scolded the audience, "Please hold your laughter and mockery until she's finished her stupid question!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Notice how she got annoyed.

Where's Crowley when you need her to defend the honor of progressives!

[Idle Hands]

If you listen to CSPAN radio at you can listen to all the national debates. It is quite depressing how doomed we are. But whatever you do don't listen to the DC Mayorial debate the audience wouldn't let anyone who wasn't Murial Bowser speak they were chanting and shouting the entire time.

[John]

I wrote off what little hope I had for DC politics when they kicked Grey out. The city finally got a competent mayor who made things a bit better and they kicked him out of office because he had the temerity to hire a smart Korean Woman to fix the school system. Grey getting kicked out of office just showed the black community of Washington doesn't give a shit about their kids or anything ever changing. They just want a public school jobs program.

[some guy]

Indeed. Grey was a terrible leader and executive by most standards, but he was n angel compared to what DC has been dealing with for all of living memory. And they shunned him for it. If not for all the massive federal support DC would make Detroit look like a bastion of growth and optimism.

[Idle Hands]

He is talking about Fenty. Grey was a terrible and corrupt mayor. Fenty was also terrible but he was the best Mayor the city had in decades.

[some guy]

You're right. Fenty was the better one. I don't know if I got them mixed up on my own or if I can blame John. Screw it, I'll blame John.

[John]

Yes. Fenti. I don't keep score at home of the various crooks who run DC. But you know what I mean.

[some guy]

The moment you said "competent mayor" we knew who you meant because none of us is old enough to remember any others.

[Idle Hands]

Yeah the whole Michelle Rei thing really tore the masks off. It's was really disgusting what the unions did.

[some guy]

And after all of it, the electorate still sided with the union. The people of DC have shown themselves to be beyond redemption. They deserve everything they get.

[Idle Hands]

Also many blacks wanted the schools fixed, but you can't win in dc without union support, that is just a fact. Why do you think Murial Bowser is so popular, a huge selling point for many people is her relationship with Fenty.

[John]

I am sure a lot did. But they still ended up voting with the unions. Fenti won the white areas of DC but got crushed in the black neighborhoods.

Fenti was hardly a great mayor. But he at least was making one important thing better. And the city listened to the unions and kicked him out of office.

[Rhywun]

the city listened to the unions and kicked him out of office

The union voter and the free-shit voter are two different cohorts. That's the beauty of the Democratic machine that is running urban America into the ground.

[some guy]

But she's not really anything like Fenty. She worked with him, but won't try to institute any of the reforms that he tried. At this point maybe DC just wants to elect someone for once who won't immediately be mired in scandal?

I have to admit, though, that DC local elections are the most consistently entertaining to watch in the country. When you're only running against other Democrats and far-left independents the masks slip constantly, everyone is cutting underhanded deals and revelations of corruption are almost guaranteed. Sometimes I thing the Dems hate each other more than they hate the GOP.

[John]

Sometimes I thing the Dems hate each other more than they hate the GOP.

They absolutely do. They are leftists. That is how leftists roll. You have to remember they honestly think that their ideology is perfect. So when it fails, and it always does, it is because someone inside the cause let it down.

[Lord Humungus]

Yeah... that's it!

Teen who filmed showering woman claims he was testing how waterproof his phone was

Zak Hardy said he had taken his mobile phone into the shower cubicle at the Riverside Swimming Pool in Exeter so he could stick it under the shower to run his so-called test.

The woman next to him who was showering saw a light coming from overhead from the phone and grabbed a towel before telling staff what had happened, according to the Plymouth Herald.

He fled for another changing cublcle but staff at the pool were waiting for him when he came out.

[Ted S.]

Ban people named Zak.

[The Late P Brooks]

This woman must be stopped.

Where's Lon Horiuchi when you need him?

[The Laconic]

When I need him is for the rest of his life.

Where I need him is in jail.

Unfortunately, where he actually is is somewhere other than jail.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Woman robbing Germany pharmacy distracts staff by spraying her breast milk at them

The Local reports that the woman walked into the pharmacy and attempted to purchase a breast pump.

After then handing over a ?200 note for her ?20 transaction, she lifted up her top and proceeded to squirt breast milk at the pharmacist.

Despite requests from staff and customers to cover up and, you know, stop squirting her breast milk at everyone, she continued to rummage through product displays and sprayed some more, before leaving on her merry way.

[Elspeth Flashman]

So they - lactating breasts -should be banned because they are weapons, right?

[SugarFree]

Can breastmilk carry Ebola?

[Tonio]

I would think that you, of all people would know that, Sug. My guess is yes, since the virus is present in sweat.

[Rich]

Was that a rhetorical question?

[Tonio]

Probably so...

[SugarFree]

Yes. I was just making a funny.

[John]

I am pretty sure it can. It is a bodily fluid.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Ve have vays of making you distracted.

[Injun, as in from India]

Weapon of mass lactation?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

It worked well:

Police officers are still looking for the culprit, who they describe as "robust" and as "speaking an unknown language".

The milk blinded the cashiers and erased their memories.

[Rich]

"robust"

Indeed.

[Elspeth Flashman]

It doesn't matter what a lady is saying when she's got her top off, in other words.

[Ted S.]

It's poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean,
As sweet as any harmony
She blinded me with breast milk

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Ted S. Dolby?

Nice!

[John]

True story. There used to be a strip club in Oklahoma City that employed a couple of strippers who specialized in lactation.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Sounds like something a regular would know.

[John]

Its why there are no female Libertarians.

[John]

Its also why Virginia Postrel hates us.

[Lord Humungus]

this is a rambling mess:

I'm not "that creepy guy from the Internet": How Gamergate gave the geek community a bad name

But today Felicia Day crosses the street if she sees two guys in "Call of Duty" shirts. Today Felicia Day knows there are "fans" of hers diligently working to track her down, violate her privacy, collect her address. Today if Felicia Day saw a weird, depressed, standoffish Arthur Chu at a reception ? she'd probably just walk briskly past me on the way to her car.

And that 23-year-old version of me, today, would storm out and head home, hating himself the whole way back. And today if he logged online he'd have a roar of voices from his fellow gamers feeding that resentment ? telling him to blame his problems on "elitist," "popular" voices in the hobby, on out-of-touch women who don't understand him, like Felicia Day and Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn.

They'd tell him to vent his feelings about the "corrupt elites" ruining everything, that his energy could be usefully applied in barraging advertisers with emails and flooding celebrities' Twitter accounts with probing questions. He'd get recruited into a pseudo-military outfit complete with "operations" and "targets."

And the world would become just a little bit worse.

[Dweebston]

"How self-aggrandizing personalities unaffiliated with a backlash against over-the-top feminist rhetoric will hijack the headline to promote themselves anyway."

Have I got that about right?

[SugarFree]

Hopefully this is the end of Felicia Day's overblown popularity.

[Stormy Dragon]

Felicia Day should spend her time on something important like more Zojja recording sessions.

Yeah we get it! You got your big TV show now and are too important to show up for our little game any more. But too bad, you're a main character!!

[Elspeth Flashman]

We can trust federal agencies to play by the rules, right?

Against the advice of a federal prosecutor, FBI agents turned off the Internet service at three luxury hotel villas in Las Vegas and then sent "repairmen" in to collect evidence for a sports-betting case, defense lawyers say.

The allegations are the latest in a trifecta of recent news reports claiming that federal agents inappropriately used the Web in its efforts to pursue criminals, the Associated Press notes.

http://www.abajournal.com/news.....get_eviden

[Lord Humungus]

Stewart, Colbert and Oliver for the win: Satire, millennials and fear of an extreme right-wing Senate

As we argue in our new book Is Satire Saving Our Nation?, satire doesn't tell you what to think, and elections don't tell us how ironic the nation feels.

We do know, though, that satire resonates with millennials and that it has been an ongoing and effective source of critique for GOP messaging. Satire has shown us that Republicans don't get millennials or women or citizens of color, and that GOP candidates disparage science, homosexuals, and 47% of the population. It's worth remembering that Stewart used his first Texas show to remind viewers that Ebola panic was more about fear than about reason and then he went on to interview Davis in a segment that underscored that this election is all about turnout. And that is the same message he was spreading four years ago on the National Mall. Will fear win? Or will sanity? So if millennials turn out this November, we'll be thanking satire for its productive use of cynicism and its reasonable use of irony.

[Idle Hands]

"Republicans don't get millennials or women or citizens of color, and that GOP candidates disparage science, homosexuals, and 47% of the population."

But this isn't fear mongering.

[RBS]

Don't question the narrative IH.

[PM]

Is there a difference between satire and self-parody?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Not one that anyone can actually see.

[The Late P Brooks]

The question of when officials should begin raising interest rates is "one of those questions I cannot answer," he continued, but added he was worried how the whole process would happen.

This pisses me off. The Fed has successfully held rates down, but only by printing money to prop the bond market up with. Like it or not, they cannot do that forever. Despite what the talking heads on the teevee say, the market ultimately sets rates.

[Lord Humungus]

Hold the Phone
A White House electrician ran up a $1,550 bill on personal calls ? and taxpayers covered the costs.

Taxpayers covered the cost when a White House electrician ran up a $1,550 bill making personal calls to the Dominican Republic from his government phone, according to public records from the General Services Administration.

And that's just one example of "a 'chronic problem' of . . . employees using government cell phones for personal use, although most of the calls are local," an operations coordinator at the White House Service Center told a GSA agent, according to a June 4, 2014, report by the GSA's Office of Inspector General.

The coordinator, whose name was redacted, "stated that [he or she] was given the impression that [White House Service Center] managers are reluctant to deal with policy violations because they do not want disgruntled workers on the White House complex."

[Tonio]

And more importantly they don't want more-disgruntled ex employees spilling the beans.

[John]

I am not bothered by this. It is nice to see someone who actually works for a living getting in on the graft.

[Rich]

Nestle SA will enlist a thousand humanoid robots to help sell its coffee makers at electronics stores across Japan

The waist-high robot [is] capable of learning and expressing human emotions, and of serving as a companion

Of probable interest to some of the commentariat.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

"waist-high"

So... sex-bot?

[Whahappan?]

Flat head?

[Lord Humungus]

Udall Down 7 Points In Colorado Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Men Give Republican Big Lead

With strong support from men, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, the Republican challenger in the Colorado U.S. Senate race, leads U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, the Democratic incumbent, 46 - 39 percent among likely voters, with 7 percent for independent candidate Steve Shogan, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 7 percent are undecided.

This compares to a 46 - 41 percent likely voter lead for Gardner in an October 24 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

With Shogan out of the race, Gardner is up 49 - 41 percent.

[John]

Regardless of your partisan leanings, there is always something nice about an idiot son going down. If Moe Udall wasn't the son of a famous senator, he couldn't have been elected to a city council slot.

[Old Man With Candy]

I truly don't get the "pride" thing. If "gay" is something you're born with, then how is it a source of "pride"? It's not like it's an accomplishment or something bravely done by volition.

[SugarFree]

There is only pride or shame. Anything in between isn't a useful emotion.

[Dweebston]

Look, if being white is something to be ashamed of, surely being gay can be a source of pride.

[Merrill Hess]

"I'm proud to be an American...."

[Rich]

"... where at least I know I'm gay."

[Certified Public Asskicker]

"...and I won't forget, the men who fucked, who bought that cake for themselves..."

[Old Man With Candy]

But I can change whether or not I'm an American. I can't change my sexual orientation.

[Citizen Nothing]

I don't know. I pretty straight, but I think that if it got me the Apple CEO job, I'd probably consider sleeping with, say, Ewan McGregor, circa Moulin Rouge.
No gay.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

If you've already picked out who you'd fuck, you're already a little gay.

[Citizen Nothing]

Probably.
No gay.

[Drake]

I think Norm explained it best.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX_gUQeZcB8

[Idle Hands]

Well I'm not one to showboat or anything, but at the same time Homosexual suicide rates tend to be a little higher than the normal rate so I think it's more like showing that being gay doesn't define you and is not the end of the world.

[Idle Hands]

I think if you can reach anybody and help them find a reason to keep going and not lose themselves it tends to be a good thing. Which is what I think drives a lot of this stuff.

[Merrill Hess]

I guess somebody had to make up for Michael Sam flaming out.

[John]

I understand it. For nearly all of history being gay was considered scandalous. In the 70s gays fought that head on by claiming to be proud of being so.

[Idle Hands]

That's pretty much how I feel.

[Old Man With Candy]

I still don't get it. "Proud" seems inapt. "Unashamed" seems more to the point.

[John]

Proud is pithier. "I am not ashamed" just doesn't have the same ring. I agree with you that unashamed is better. Proud makes it sound like you define your entire existence by it. But Proud sounds better.

[Lord Humungus]

Many years ago when the world was still young I had a friend who came out of the closet. After that - his entire life seemed to be centered around his homosexuality. And straights - like me - were pure evil. So yeah - a militant gay.

[John]

Those types of people really do give gays a bad name. In fairness it is not just a gay problem. Some straights seem to want to define their lives by whatever perversion gets them off.

Our entire society is ridiculously sex crazed. Sex does not and should not define your entire existence. You can even see this in social conservatives. Many well meaning social conservatives look at being gay as some really difficult problem when it is no different than any other sin. We forgive and love people who commit all kinds of sins. People only think homosexuality is some huge hard problem because they have allowed themselves to believe all of life is somehow defined by sex. It is not.

[FUQ]

^^^ This

I don't care nor do I want to know about your sex life. Straight or gay. It's none of my business.

[Ken Shultz]

"I truly don't get the "pride" thing. If "gay" is something you're born with, then how is it a source of "pride"? It's not like it's an accomplishment or something bravely done by volition."

I was in school before people started coming out of the closet in a big way, and when I was growing up? I thought gay people were about as common as conjoined twins.

I mean, I knew they existed, but I never thought that in my lifetime, I'd ever see one for myself. When kids called each other "fag" back then, I never thought that would really offend anybody--because I didn't think any gay person would ever hear them say it.

There were just too few of them--or so I thought.

They're a minority that was expected to hide in plain sight for like freakin' ever. It was like at the end of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where to survive you're supposed to live for the rest of your life pretending you're some kind of alien.

They're always in danger of respect for their rights disappearing again if people in the future stopped feeling free to come out. They're only a visible minority if more of them consistently choose to make themselves visible.

[Ken Shultz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nFXIPdseQA

[Elspeth Flashman]

Oops:
Judge confuses not guilty plea with guilty plea.

The Los Angeles judge erred during the December 2006 voir dire in the sex-crime trial of Bryant Keith Williams, according to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The judge said Williams had pleaded guilty to the charges, though he intended to say Williams had pleaded not guilty.

http://abovethelaw.com/2014/10.....verturned/

[Rich]

Scientists build 'mini-stomachs' in lab

Still at a preliminary stage, the organoids are a long way from being ... a fully-fledged stomach.

Damn it!

[John]

Alan Grayson dumps his wife of 29 years and kids and leaves her to fend for herself on food stamps. He claims that he shouldn't have to pay support because her divorce from her first husband was never finalized and thus their marriage is bigamous. Somehow he managed to never notice this for 29 years I guess. Funny how really hard core Progs always seem to end up being total lowlifes in their private lives. It is just uncanny.

http://www.wftv.com/videos/new.....ic/vCy4kM/

[Elspeth Flashman]

That's low. And that's a sad defense, as well.

[Idle Hands]

It's okay when they do it John because they don't pretend to hold themselves to a double-standard by going to church and jockeying for votes among the socons.

[John]

That is right. His politics are correct so his personal values and behavior don't matter. Gee, I wonder why such an ideology would attract sociopaths looking to rationalize their behavior.

[Merrill Hess]

Uh, I'm pretty sure you have to pay child support regardless of your marital status.

[Tonio]

Or whether the child is actually yours.

[PM]

Well, to be fair, he was only applying the Republican health care plan to his family: die quickly.

[The Late P Brooks]

Next, Apple sues Samsung for hate crimes.

[The Late P Brooks]

And that is the same message he was spreading four years ago on the National Mall. Will fear win? Or will sanity? So if millennials turn out this November, we'll be thanking satire for its productive use of cynicism and its reasonable use of irony.

This might as well be written in Portuguese.

WTF?

[The Late P Brooks]

It seems somebody is holding his head just a leetle bit higher today, in honor of Mister Cook.

NTTAWWT

[Atanarjuat]

Apparently law school doesn't take up so much of your time you can't shit all over a comment thread several times a day.

[Ken Shultz]

"Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I'm proud to be gay.""

The last time I was in West Hollywood, I wouldn't say I was proud to be heterosexual, but I wasn't exactly ashamed either--and shouldn't that count for something?

[Lord Humungus]

burn the cisgender!

[John]

It counts for you being part of the patriarchy Ken. You are part of the problem Ken. That is all it counts for.

[Michael]

Apple CEO Tim Cook: "I'm proud to be gay."

Good for him, but I see this as symptomatic of the misdirection Apple is taking on his watch. Jobs deliberately shunned any action that might have been perceived as activism for good reason. Cook might think making this appeal is a prudent move now, but I can see the company becoming mired in it down the road.

[Ken Shultz]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to the term "fanboy", doesn't it?

A lot of people liked Apple because they wanted to be like Steve Jobs.

They loved the whole story about a hippie kid who changes the world from his and Woz's garage. Buying Apple's products was like being part of that story.

I hope Tim Cook's life story proves to be an inspiration to gay kids everywhere. But...Jobs was a non-denominational rock star. Everybody wants to be a rock star.

[Citizen Nothing]

Not everybody. I wanna be Bill Monroe.

[Lord Humungus]

White House in Denial: President Obama Is Costing Democrats Control of the Senate

White House officials are preemptively spinning a midterm defeat, and they're using their own fantasies to do it. They're starting to blame candidates for not supporting President Obama enough. As a top White House official told The Washington Post's Karen Tumulty, "He doesn't think they have any reason to run away from him. He thinks there is a strong message there."

This is pure delusion: Obama is the main reason Republicans are well-positioned to win control of the upper chamber next Tuesday. And Democrats' biggest strategic mistake in this election is that most candidates didn't run away far and fast enough. Given the president's rock-bottom approval numbers in the many Republican-friendly Senate states that Democrats needed to win?as well as the reality of a worsening political environment for the party as early as last winter?that distance was a downright necessity. But a host of Senate candidates failed to create it, and the party is likely to pay the price in Senate seats.

[John]

The irresistible force meets the immovable object. Things have gone wrong. Nothing is ever Obama's fault. But, nothing is ever the party's fault.

[Lord Humungus]

When "Bumpkins" Are Smarter Than Elites

"Not only is President Obama's popularity in free fall," Leibovich writes, "but whatever Everyman credibility he mustered during his 'Washington Outsider' candidacy in 2008 has long since been dissipated through the regal isolation of his office and the suspicion that he is aloof and presumably ill equipped"?unlike, say, Iowa's Ernst?"at castrating hogs."

After reading this sentence multiple times, examining its various clauses, and remaining baffled each time I reach the word "hogs," I can only assume that the reference to Obama's "Everyman credibility" is a coded phrase meaning "People actually thought he was Zeus." We're talking, after all, about the guy who told America that he was going to heal the planet and calm the seas. We're also talking about the guy who gave an un-ironic speech in front of a grandiose, faux-Greek temple. It was almost as if his earnest campaign set designers wanted to take the botched, miniature Stonehenge concert prop from the movie "Spinal Tap" and finally restore it and make it right, just like a true lord and savior would.

[Citizen Nothing]

The problem is a widespread, almost comical delusion about who the real provincial yokels are.

Yep.

[John]

I know Obama can't get a very big draw for his speeches in Boston anymore. But he can still draw in big college towns.

[Ted S.]

"Not only is President Obama's popularity in free fall," Leibovich writes, "but whatever Everyman credibility he mustered during his 'Washington Outsider' candidacy in 2008 has long since been dissipated

That dissipated with the bitter cling comments.

[John]

And a lot of other things. Obama is the least "American" President in history. He grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia and then went straight to academia. He has absolutely no understanding of the country at large.

[Lord Humungus]

This Is Your Brain on Drugs

High-THC marijuana is associated with paranoia and psychosis, according to a June article in The New England Journal of Medicine. "We have seen very, very significant increases in emergency room admissions associated with marijuana use that can't be accounted for solely on basis of changes in prevalence rates," said Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a co-author of the THC study. "It can only be explained by the fact that current marijuana has higher potency associated with much greater risk for adverse effects." Emergency room visits related to marijuana have nearly doubled, from 66,000 in 2004 to 129,000 in 2011, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Higher potency may also accelerate addiction. "You don't have to work so hard to get high," said Alan J. Budney, a researcher and professor at Dartmouth's medical school. "As you make it easier to get high, it makes a person more vulnerable to addiction." Among adults, the rate is one of 11; for teenagers, one of six.

[John]

Democratic Wisconsin candidate for governor Mary Burke so incompetent her own family fired her from the family bike business.

http://www.newstalk1130.com/on.....-12916069/

[Citizen Nothing]

There's a "training wheels" joke here somewhere.

[John]

Serious question, is there a single Democratic politician you would describe as worthy of respect because of their obvious intelligence and competence in running an organization even if it is towards bad ends?

It is hard to say that about any politician but you can say it about a few Republicans. I would say about Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, Mitt Romney, Scott Walker, Rand Paul and a few others. But other than Nanny Bloomberg, who love him or hate him made billions in the private sector, I can't think of a Democrat I would say that about. Ideology aside, they all seem to be genuinely stupid and incompetent, which I suppose might not be a bad thing. If they were competent they might make things ever worse.

[Citizen Nothing]

If they were competent they might make things ever worse.

Amen. Be careful what you wish for.

[sarcasmic]

they all seem to be genuinely stupid and incompetent

But, but, but they have good intentions, unlike those Teathuglicans who want to give tax cuts to teh rich!

[John]

We always joke about politicians being sociopaths and many of them on both sides no doubt are. But if you think about it being a vocal progressive politician gets you a pass for any personal behavior no matter how horrible that non progs don't get. If Greyson were anything but a far left politician, this kind of behavior would make him a pariah. Since he is a prog, however, it will be largely ignored.

This double standard I think really causes Progressivism to attract sociopaths more so than any other ideology. The entire ideology is nothing but a tailor made rationalization for doing horrible things.

[sarcasmic]

They get a pass on their personal behavior because they never claim to have any morals or principles. So they haven't violated anything that they claim to be wrong. Now if they voted to allow people to keep more of their own money, or to stop giving money to people who didn't earn it, then they would be skewered.

[Drake]

Bob Kerry, Jim Webb, Ed King, Daniel Patrick Moynihan - the only sane and mildly competent Democrats I can recall in my lifetime.

All long gone from public life.

[John]

Three retirees and one dead guy. Sam Nunn wasn't bad either and neither is David Boren. Hell, even McGovern was a genuinely smart and decent if misguided person

Yes, there once was such a thing as a sane Democrat. They have gone fully on evil insane.

[Drake]

Ed King is dead too. Very popular sitting Governor of Massachusetts primaried out of his job by an incompetent boob named Dukakis.

[Citizen Nothing]

I interviewed McGovern once. He was genuinely likable. And he freely admitted that starting his own business after his political career had been real epiphany to him as to the dangers of over-regulation.

[PM]

To be fair, a failed businessperson is probably still better qualified than most politicians to hold office.

[John]

Not necessarily. Government doesn't work like a business and never will nor should it. Governmment to be just has to live by the consent of the governed and treat people fairly and equally. Businesses don't have to do that. Businesses can treat people very unequally and do things like take risks with money and change plans without the consent of the shareholders and none of it matters as long as the bottom line remains the same. Governments can't do that.

Government is so different than anything else in society, that the only predictor at who is going to do okay once in power is their character, values and humility. An arrogant, immoral person pursuing a bad ideology will make for an awful government leader no matter how great of a business leader they might be.

[Libertarian]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10......html?_r=0

The fear in her eyes is palpable.

[Libertarian]

Mandi Puckett, an opponent of legalizing marijuana, displayed bags of hops at a meeting last month in Lake Oswego, Ore., to show how much more the state's measure would permit than the laws in Colorado and Washington

[sarcasmic]

To be fair, hops and cannabis are cousins.

[SugarFree]

Mandi Puckett, who made her living in the rehab industrial complex for the last 12 years being paid with federal Drug War blood money.

[SugarFree]

Anita Sarkeesian is so afraid of death threats, she goes on talk shows to up her visibility even more.

Wow. Such brave. So fearless self-promotion.

[Adam.]

If I never have to see an article with that sneering bitch-face again it will be too fucking soon. I swear I feel the hate flowing out of my computer monitor.

[John]

http://www.washingtonexaminer......le/2555366

Ethics complaint against Harry Reid mysteriously disappeared. People talk about the results of the Republicans taking over the Senate. One result is likely to be Reid choosing to retire when his term ends in 2016. If the Democrats no longer owns the Senate, they will no longer be able to stonewall ethics investigations against Reid. That is probably not going to be a good thing for Reid.

[PM]

I wouldn't be surprised if he stays around for 2016. I think he could literally eat babies on national TV and the powers that be in this state would find a way to make sure he's reelected. Reid has some powerful friends.

[John]

They can't elect him if he is in prison or has been censored by the Senate. Also, if he becomes a liability for the rest of the party, the Democratic Party will tell him to retire. If the Democrats lose the Senate, what purpose does Reid serve them anymore? They will defend him out of loyalty and because someone as well known as Reid getting run out for ethics looks bad. But at some point they will cut their losses and tell him to go.

[PM]

That's saying the ethics charges stick though. Reid is a team player with deep ties, so the party establishment has no reason to want rid of him unless there's a chance that he won't be reelected. What I'm saying is that here in NV, I honestly think he could get reelected - even with an ethics charge (let's face it, the odds of that actually landing him in jail if it even goes anywhere are slim to none). Not only are all of the population centers here deeply democratic, but doing dirty shit to get reelected wouldn't be unusual for Reid (or NV politicians in general).

[John]

Even if he can be re-elected if the ethics charges are investigated and reveal him to be a crook, they will get rid of him because he will serve as an embarrassment and drag on the party.

[John]

Also, the reason why he is able to get re-elected is because of his ability to engage in corruption. Being under real investigation limits his ability to do that. Also being in the minority limits his ability to pay off his union cronies. This makes his re-election much less certain than before.

[The Late P Brooks]

President Obama Is Costing Democrats Control of the Senate

More lies from the vast Right Wing Media noise machine.

[Palin's Buttplug.]

I am proud of being gay too!

[John]

Stop that. Shreek is retarded and depraved. Him being gay or straight has nothing to do with anything.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Bingo

[RUExperienced]

How to not be a cunt: http://www.ibtimes.com/ebola-t.....ca-1715669

[The Late P Brooks]

They loved the whole story about a hippie kid who changes the world from his and Woz's garage. Buying Apple's products was like being part of that story.

I don't know about that. I do know this: having struggled mightily to get through the simplest fucking tasks using msdos, the first time somebody showed me how a Mac handled those same jobs, I gathered up a ridiculous amount of money and went out and bought my first computer, a Mac Plus.

At the time, I couldn't have told you who Jobs or Wozniak were if you had started cutting my fingers off with tin snips.

[John]

^^THIS^^

The products were better and just as importantly they looked better. Apple became a brand and a way to show the world you knew better and excepted better than the typical idiot taking whatever microsoft and IBM gave them. It had nothing to do with Jobs and Woz' story. Hell Gates could tell the same story about changing the world out of his garage.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Apple became a boutique product, though, because it was a lot more expensive and a lot less inclusive when it came to peripherals and software.

IBM compatibles were available in slew of price ranges and had a lot of options in how things were set up and done.

It took Apple becoming more open and allowing before they became something that people not doing media presentations started using.

[John]

Yes. That is what people never mention about Jobs. He manage to lose out to Microsoft even though he had a better product. That wasn't because of some evil Microsoft plot. That was because Gates was smarter than Jobs and realized the money was in becoming the standard and to become the standard you had to be willing to be willing to license out and have your product work with as many other products as possible. Jobs didn't realize that and got greedy in the short term and tried to make a self contained system that generally only worked with itself.

Apple got bigger when it started to work better with windows products. But even today Apple I don't think makes that much money off of computers. It is more than anything a phone and tablet company. Without the IPhone and Ipad, I doubt Apple is still around today.

[Rhywun]

Thing is, after Jobs left, Apple tried Microsoft's licensing strategy and got so clobbered they brought Jobs back to set it right with their original "one ecosystem" strategy.

Without the IPhone and Ipad, I doubt Apple is still around today.

Nah, they'd be around but only with a niche product just like they were before the iPod. They wouldn't be swimming in billions of dollars, that's for sure.

[Ken Shultz]

I remember when Bill Gates sank a bunch of money into Apple just to keep them solvent.

He needed them around, at the time, to argue (to both the EU and the US) that Microsoft wasn't really a monopoly.

Nobody else would sink money into them, their products were so ridiculous.

...and then Steve got back to work.

[Rhywun]

I remember when Bill Gates sank a bunch of money into Apple just to keep them solvent.

That's a bit of a myth. Apple was not healthy but they were plenty solvent.

[Ken Shultz]

My first computer was an Apple IIe.

Steve Jobs was a master marketer. He marketed himself as part of the brand, and his whole backstory was part of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9UlVmWbThw

He made Apple into a lifestyle brand.

It was like Starbucks. It was like driving a Prius.

I mean, holy shit. Steve Jobs was the most successful rock star CEO ever.

What are you gonna tell me next, that Richard Branson's image didn't have anything to do with the success of Virgin Group either?

Nobody ever bought a Microsoft product because of the charisma of Bill Gates, I'll grant you that.

[mauricegirodias]

Yeah, they were trying to make Jeff Bezos of Amazon into the next Steve Jobs. Then the Fire Phone sold like 35k units and the company started losing money again. Now you don't really that much about Bezos.

[The Late P Brooks]

What are you gonna tell me next, that Richard Branson's image didn't have anything to do with the success of Virgin Group either?

There are plenty of people who have flown Virgin without having the faintest inkling of who Branson is.

[The Late P Brooks]

Apple became a boutique product, though, because it was a lot more expensive and a lot less inclusive when it came to peripherals and software.

Jobs was a control freak, and kept hardware in-house instead of focusing on the operating system.

Not long ago, one of the business shows brought John Fucking Sculley on to talk about Apple. I was so incredulous, I have no recollection at all of what they were talking about. Sculley very nearly destroyed Apple Computer. I'm surprised he can leave his house without being bombarded by flaming bags of dog shit.

[Adam.]

Michael Bay Benghazi movie?

LOL, wonder what kind of spin that'll get for Dear Leader?

[Ted S.]

Well, I do love a rainy night.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Eddie Rabbitt, it's been a while