GOP Election Win Could Be Historic, UN Warns on Ebola Quarantines, ISIS Outfights U.S. Allies: P.M. Links

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  When the dust settles tomorrow, the Republican Party's margin of control over Congress could be its widest since 1929. Democrats' last ditch effort is to distance themselves from President Obama. Well, that or this viral campaign trail photobomb by Bill Clinton.

• Obama is having his first-ever one-on-one meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen today. They're talking about the U.S.'s long-term economic outlook.
• The Maine nurse who treated Ebola victims has settled with the state. She is allowed to travel freely, but has to closely monitor her health. She said that she was quarantined because of an "abundance of politics." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon today criticized "unnecessarily" strict quarantine guidelines in certain places. Even if you survive Ebola, you might have "post-Ebola syndrome."
• U.S. allies in Iraq are not having an easy time holding off ISIS.
• Ready your hashtags, because there's renewed fighting in #BENGHAZI.
• The crash of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft was deadly due to a safety device deploying too early. Sir Richard Branson says the show must go on.
• World Trade Center One is open for business.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Democrats' last ditch effort is to distance themselves from President Obama.

The Dems don't realize that two years of a GOP Congress could only be good for them in 2016.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Ebola has already won.

[John]

You mean like a Dem Congress in 06 was good for Republicans in 08?

Maybe I just am not capable of grasping real political genius. But I am not seeing how losing your ass in a major election is the path to power. If it is, maybe the Democrats should have just thrown every race. Imagine how bad that would have been for the GOP's prospects in 16.

[Andrew S.]

Simple, John.

Everything that goes wrong in the next two years is going to be blamed on the obstructionist Team Red Congress. Everything.

That and you can't underestimate how stupid members of Team Red will be between now and then.

[Bam!]

Everything that goes wrong in the next two years is going to be blamed on the obstructionist Team Red Congress. Everything.

So no different than the last 6 years?

[Cytotoxic]

I was just about to write this.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And while it doesn't work on the type of people who vote in midterms, it's proven somewhat effective on those who turn out for presidential elections.

[John]

I am pretty sure they were doing that anyway. The Republicans have owned the House since 2010 and the Democrats have blamed everything that has went wrong on them. That doesn't seem to be working very well anymore.

And again, if that is the answer, then why didn't the Democrats just throw the election in the first place instead of spending millions of dollars they could have saved for 2016?

[Zeb]

John, for one thing, you shouldn't take FoE that seriously, especially on a first comment.

To be serious about the question, I think it varies a lot depending on what was going on. In 2008 people were still really down on Bush and wanted "change". The same seems likely to happen with Obama.
I can't remember what happened in 1998.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

I can't remember what happened in 1998.

Audiences laughed to the Coen Brothers' The Big Lebowski. We tapped our toes to Chumbawumba's Tubthumping. Jame Brolin and Barbra Streisand finally tied the knot. Will and Jada welcomed their beautiful baby boy Jaden Smith. And America said goodbye to Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer.

[mauricegirodias]

+1 But I Get Up Again

[Brandon]

I drink a whiskey drink
I drink a vodka drink
and when I have to pee
I use the kitchen sink!

[Zeb]

I always think that The Big Lebowski should be older than that. But seriously, I don't remember anything from 1998.

[PapayaSF]

In 1998, the media did one of their 180 degree turns, because Clinton had been caught in sexual harassment and lying under oath. So, everyone was now told that neither were a big thing, and those mean old Republicans were taking advantage, and the economy seemed fine, and so the Democrats did OK in the midterms.

[Raven Nation]

So, everyone was now told that neither were a big thing

That might have been my "favorite" response: a man in a position of power over a woman was now engaged in a personal matter. Oh, and Monica Lewinsky was a tramp who seduced Clinton.

[PapayaSF]

Right, whereas previously, even a voluntary relationship between a boss and an underling was per se harassment, because of the power imbalance.

[JWatts]

No, you didn't learn it correctly.

JFK banging everyone, fine. Ted Kennedy with a dead girl friend at the bottom of the river, meh.

If the powerful male, is a Democrat, he's obviously a nice guy and we can just ignore the behavior. It's only an issue if he's not a prominent Leftie.

[Paul.]

The Dems don't realize that two years of a GOP Congress could only be good for them in 2016.

If only this were true in local politics. Comic Democratic failures got us socialism.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...because there's renewed fighting in #BENGHAZI.

#BanYouTubes

[Riven]

#whatdifference

[Paul.]

#huh?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The crash of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft was deadly due to a safety device deploying too early.

That's rain on your wedding day tragic.

[Tonio]

No, actually tragic since one pilot died and the other is badly injured. Also, the comment boards are already filling up with "commercial spaceflight is too dangerous" comments.

[Brandon]

Tragically ironic, is what I believe Fist was implying.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Like that plane that crashed earlier this week into the air safety building.

[Zeb]

I suppose I expected the "too dangerous" reaction, but that's sad (the tragic crash and the stupid reaction). It's not like anyone who isn't fully aware of the risks is taking them on. And they have a lot of room before they are demonstrably any less safe than government space flight. The fact that one of them survived says a lot in favor of the safety of commercial space flight. No one has come out alive from any failed space shuttles.

[croaker]

And every one I find I call a ball-less wonder who should go live in a cave.

[Brett L]

I volunteer to fly in the next one.

[Pro Libertate]

. . .with that Ebola nurse.

[Marshall Gill]

40 Mile high club?

[rts]

Uber Vancouver to get undercover government checks to enforce taxi regulations

Transportation Minister Todd Stone says plainclothes transit agents posing as potential customers will be deployed to ensure taxis and their drivers are operating by B.C.'s rules, which are enforced to ensure passenger safety.

I feel safer already!

[Cytotoxic]

It would be a shame if someone in the BC and Vancouver governments were to leak the identities of these undercover operatives for money.

[Tonio]

So they will deliberately make things worse for drivers and passengers by ordering rides then saying "government inspector, fooled you, no fare for you."

[John Titor]

I applied to a job with Uber Toronto a couple days ago. About three hours after the fact they sent me a very nicely worded rejection letter. Despite actually wanting to work for them I appreciated them getting back to me that fast.

[Raven Nation]

Did they give a reason for rejecting you? Just curious.

[John Titor]

Here's the email:

Hi *John Titor*,

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to consider you for employment. Your interest in our company means a lot! We've reviewed your application and unfortunately, it's not a match for what we're specifically looking for this time around.

We know it takes a lot to submit an application, so we want you to know how much we truly appreciate you doing so! We'll make sure to hang onto your resume as we're growing all the time and there may be a better match soon!

We wish you all the best, and hope you keep on Ubering!

Regards,
Uber Recruiting Team

[Raven Nation]

Huh, interesting. Thanks for sharing. I was under the impression they took anyone with the right kind of car and no moving violations. Clearly I was wrong.

[John Titor]

My mistake, I should have mentioned I was applying for an actual office position with them as a 'Communications Associate'. From what I can tell their driver application process is as you describe.

[Raven Nation]

Ah, sorry. I read way too much into the original post.

[T]

Probably his hanging out here. They figured he'd be rude to people.

[Steve G]

I read this as undergarment checks

[Brandon]

Come on, it's not Oklahoma.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, that or this viral campaign trail photobomb by Bill Clinton.

The check from Kindle is on the way.

[Pope Jimbo]

Well can you blame Willy?

He sees a young girl in a blue dress and his instincts take over.

[BigT]

Caption: "Hey honey, are you 14 yet?"

[Andrew S.]

Sir Richard Branson says the show must go on.

Maybe so, but I'm sure Congress will be passing a ban or a moratorium in the name of "safety" very soon.

[db]

To be lifted just as soon as Virgin Galactic hires on some politically favored consultants and begins buying equipment from the "right" companies.

[Brett L]

I think Branson is out in front on this.

[db]

You're right, there.

[Rich]

Obama is having his first-ever one-on-one meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen today. They're talking about the U.S.'s long-term economic outlook.

Paging SugarFree ....

Seriously, I can't imagine what such a conversation would be.

[Brett L]

"Listen, Janet, that's all good, but how is that going to help my legacy?"

"Mr. President, we're trying to avoid you replacing Nero as the person who cared least as his nation was destroyed."

"So?"

[CE]

Then why is she burning all the money?

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

"Uh-huh. Huh. So, Janet, do you golf?"

[Rich]

"Janet, has anyone ever pointed out that you're always 'Yellen'?"

"Oh, Mr. President, that's cute!"

[DesigNate]

"Damnit Janet!"

[Pro Libertate]

Do that, and private space will leave the U.S. The solar system is within our grasp, finally, so, naturally, government needs to step in and stop this nonsense.

[Bam!]

U.S. allies in Iraq are not having an easy time holding off ISIS.

Given the U.S.'s previous experience fighting in Iraq, why would this be surprising?

[Fist of Etiquette]

World Trade Center One is open for business.

Take that, terrorists (including that kid who climbed up to the top during construction).

[Pro Libertate]

I re-watched Escape from New York for the first time in a long while, and it was a little weird watching Snake land on one of the towers. But it was set in 1997, so all good from a prediction POV.

[C. Anacreon]

How long until the first movie where aliens/monsters/giant robots destroy this new symbol of American freedom?

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

That's the most important indicator of recognition in world culture. I would be thrilled if a building I owned or designed were destroyed by a kaiju or natural disaster in theaters.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

How about a kaiju called Krugmantis? It's Krugman's head on a gigantic praying mantis body? It destroys cities to promote economic activity.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

Dr. Serizawa: I have created the ultimate weapon to fight Krugmantis- austerity.

[John]

http://www.truthrevolt.org/com.....uoting-her

I posted this before but it is worth posting again. Lena Dunham threatening to sue Truth Revolt for libel because they posted excerpts of her own book. I guess she will be suing her publisher and herself as well.

[Andrew S.]

Ken at Popehat had a good take on it. http://www.popehat.com/2014/11.....e-you-met/

[John]

I said in the other thread, I think this might really torpedo her career.

[Andrew S.]

I doubt it. Her audience, mostly made up of Jezebel-type feminists, are going to eat this up. Especially since there's a Conservative blogger on the other side.

It doesn't matter that he was quoting her (except for one typo, which he corrected). To them, it's an attack on all women from an eeeevil conservative.

[John]

Her audience is made up of young women. And young women are generally really grossed out by incest and likely to have a hard time putting it out of their minds to watch her show.

There are not that many real Jezzies out there.

[Riven]

Thank your dear and fluffy lord for that.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Her audience is made up of young women. And young women are generally really grossed out by incest and likely to have a hard time putting it out of their minds to watch her show.

I suspect the audience for her show is irrelevant; it's one of the consistently-lowest rated shows on HBO and has remained on primarily due to her connections in the industry. Her relevance in the pop-culture sphere has been enabled for several years now thanks to those connections in the media complex who continue to push the line that her fame is due to talent rather than nepotism and the broken decadence of modern elites.

At the end of the day, she's a fundamentally broken, repulsive creature from a supremely fucked-up family who are only separated from the Honey-Boo-Boo clan by their social class.

[Michael]

At the end of the day, she's a fundamentally broken, repulsive creature from a supremely fucked-up family who are only separated from the Honey-Boo-Boo clan by their social class.

I am so stealing this.

[DesigNate]

It's not their social class that separates them, it's just geography.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

It's not their social class that separates them, it's just geography.

Probably a distinction without a difference in this case. The Shannons were/are seen as a total joke and their show was never portrayed as anything more than it was meant to be--a trainwreck for everyone else to take comfort in their stereotypes of southern people. Dunham and her family, on the other hand, are a staple of the NYC upper crust, and when Lena acts like a hipster Honey-Boo-Boo, the press labels it "empowering" rather than pathetic and sad. That's as much a function of social class as geography.

[Free Society]

And young women are generally really grossed out by incest

child molesting incest no less.

[lap83]

But was it INCEST incest? (aka what is her politics?)

Actually I agree with you that young women won't like this. Old feminist hags on the other hand..

[Hyperion]

I'm not really sure who wouldn't be grossed out by reading some of the excerpts from that book. She is one sick fucking cunt, that is all. Disgusting.

[grrizzly]

"Truth Revolt has admitted that the article originally and incorrectly said that she was 17, not 7, when one of the incidents described took place."

That's actually an important difference.

[Cytotoxic]

Thanks. Conservative 'truth tellers' do this way too often.

[Andrew S.]

It is, but unless she can prove the original error was based on malice rather than a mistake, it doesn't give her a case.

[John]

Doesn't matter. She is a public figure and would have to prove they intentionally did that, which is highly unlikely.

[Zeb]

It shouldn't matter to any suit. How are you going to prove it was "accidentally on purpose"? But it does make a huge difference in whether people will see her as a pathological pervert or a weird kid with a weird family doing kind of repulsive, but probably not too unusual things.

[Cytotoxic]

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2.....ederated=1

This brief story makes it sound like the NR writer outran her evidence....but it still sounds really weird. No Dunham that's not normal even an only child such as myself knows that. Shapiro can't be trusted but that doesn't mean he's wrong.

[John]

The book says what it says. She can't sue for quoting from her own book.

[Cytotoxic]

I read the quotes and with the typo in mind it does not sound like it was *necessarily* child molestation. It just icks me the fuck out.

[JWatts]

A quote from the article, (I don't know if it's accurate to the book):

"Dunham writes of casually masturbating while in bed next to her younger sister, of bribing her with "three pieces of candy if I could kiss her on the lips for five seconds . . . anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying." "

[Pope Jimbo]

She's in good company. Charles Barkley also claimed he was misquoted in his autobiography.

Of course he was just trash talking Manute Bol and other hacks in the NBA.

http://community.seattletimes......ug=1322835

[db]

I'm no Corbett fan, but I was surprised to see Wolf leading in the polls for the PA governor's race. Wolf's ads that I have seen have focused primarily on increasing taxes (on "gas companies"), claiming that Corbett reduced school spending by $1 billion, calling out Corbett for increasing fuel taxes, and lying about Wolf's intents to increase taxes further.

Gas drilling has been a nearly unqualified boon to Pennsylvania, and Wolf's proposed gas extraction taxes guarantee that drillers will pay PA landowners less for leases, while simultaneously complaining about high gas (auto fuel) taxes. He is running a solidly nasty culture war campaign and apparently getting away with it.
As I said, Corbett is no great deal either but it is disturbing to be reminded in a year of such solid disappointment with progressive policies at the national level, that PA voters are so susceptible to this "middle class values" BS that Wolf has been peddling.

Fuck it, I'm writing in Ken Krawchuk (L) tomorrow anyway.

[DEG]

I only occasionally check the papers from Ye Olde Country, so my information is spotty, but my impression of Corbett is that he is incompetent. No privatization of the Liquor Commission (OK, OK, that's a tall order), property tax reform going nowhere.

Sandbagging the Sandusky investigation can't help him any.

[Fist of Etiquette]

U.S. allies in Iraq are not having an easy time holding off ISIS.

Then they weren't really your friends.

[Tonio]

Meh. Maybe they were, but just not up to the task. No, this isn't a call for more weapons and aid. Shit is just fucked up.

[Cytotoxic]

Not only are non-Kurdish US 'allies' not doing well against ISIS, they're getting reamed by Nusra in Syria. Better yet, Nusra took their weapons which aren't necessarily from America but probably from Qatar.

Have you ever seen these people fight? They fight like spastic retards, and not all the weapons and training in the world is going to help that. If it did the Iraqi army wouldn't have folded like a cheap suit.

[Lord at War]

Says the tactical genius Canadian chickenhawk who uses "we" when talking about American immigration policy.

[Hyperion]

Whatever you do, do not read the article in this link. I did, and I will forever regret it. But it's about one of our most esteemed heroines here at H&R. It almost made me sick, literally.

Lena Dunham Threatens To Sue Truth Revolt For Quoting Her

Sorry if this has been posted here multiple times. I missed it, fortunately.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Lou Reed is dead.

[Almanian!]

WHAT???!!!

WHY DID REASON NOT INFORM ME OF THIS????!!!!

[Tonio]

You mean one of our most reviled adversaries, surely.

[Zeb]

I'd say more one of the most ambivalized objects of our ambivalence. Maybe that's just me.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

ISIS advertising for skilled petroleum processing professionals.

As Defense Industry Daily's writer put it:

ISIS is advertising for skilled oil plant professionals. Competitive pay. Experience dodging Paveways a plus. Just try not to miss your metrics, we've heard bad things about the exit interview...

[John Titor]

Do I have to convert to Islam in order to work for them or do I just have to have a certain percentage of my pay kept as jizya?

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

The article does not deliver on the details but it probably wouldn't hurt to mention how awesome you think Mohammad was, etc.

[John Titor]

Mohammed, I know that guy, he's old next door neighbour. Cool guy, nice family.

[db]

Funny, this didn't show up in my daily email from The Ladders.

[paranoid android]

"They asked if I knew anything about theoretical physics. I was like, 'Man, I've got a theoretical *degree* in physics!'"

[LynchPin1477]

I posted this in another thread, but after clicking through some links in a Salon article mentioning Cathy Young, I found this (old) list of tweets that Marcotte considers to be harassment. Is it just me or do they seem, well, not that awful? I mean, they are mean, sure, but they mostly seem to revolve around her complaining that people can't afford birth control, and some of them make decent points (for Twitter), even if they do inject v itriol into it.

Are people really this thin-skinned?

She specifically highlights this one

@AmandaMarcotte should SPACKLE that thing up if she can't afford $7 a month. #OrSkipStarbucks

for being

Too prissy to use the word "cunt", but still so hateful he thinks it's appropriate to wish extremely disturbing violence on the organ he is afraid to name.

Does spackle have some meaning I don't know about? Does she actually think this is a serious suggestion or threat?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Maybe it's been spackled up for years and this hits a little too close to home?

[JEP]

I've spackled drywall. I guess you could spackle other things...

[Tonio]

Wouldn't surprise me if "dry wall" could also accurately describe, well, you get the idea.

[db]

I had a friend in college whose girlfriend used to joke that all she needed was three guys and some Spackle, and she'd be airtight.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Go on...

[paranoid android]

It strikes me as the female equivalent of telling a guy he should "turn his balls in" or some such. Insulting, yes, but very tame as these things go.

Then again, I play online video games, so my frame of reference for what constitutes an offensive insult is probably seriously out of wack.

[Juice]

http://rap.genius.com/A-tribe-.....te-1111326

I'm up in the gulley, that's when I am her Buddy
She told me pull her hair, I did, it drove her nutty
Filled up the hole like spackle or I mean putty
When we over joints like this we never cruddy

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

U.S. allies in Iraq...

Who? Do we have the slightest clue who those stalwarts may be?

[Cytotoxic]

Kurds and Yezidis. Some Sunni tribes.

[BigT]

Obama is having his first-ever one-on-one meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen today. They're talking about the U.S.'s long-term economic outlook.

Obama: Hey, Janet, how's that economy thing going?
Yellen: Well, it just needs more money.
Obama: So, you got printing presses, print some.
Yellen: Great idea! See you next year.

[Rich]

That seems about right. 8-(

[Cytotoxic]

If that were true though, Yellen would never have decreased let alone ended the QE. I think she and some others are actually getting nervous about what monetary ultra-dovishness can do.

[Rich]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Restoras]

They may be getting nervous, but it's too late to be nervous.

[Cytotoxic]

I'll take anything.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm sure his aides briefed her on the drill. Only tell the president what he wants to hear.

[Mike M.]

This. Even if they're actually kind of serious about the possibility of turning off the free money spigot to the Wall Street crooks, one day of the markets dropping four or five percent or so and I think that spigot will get turned right back on again in a heartbeat.

[Rich]

FLOTUS: No Matter Who's on the Ballot, Our Community Should Always Vote for Dem Ticket

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Drah Bones!

[jmomls]

What "community" is that, FLOTUS? NW DC and it's rich liberals? Am I missing a "dog whistle" here, people?

Hmmmm.

[John Titor]

World Trade Center One is open for business.

Only took four redesigns and years of blatant New York construction corruption.

[John]

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/197710/

Just another black man thrown under the Obama Bus.

[Atanarjuat]

Two black men: his son was fired 2 weeks later.

I'm dispassionately impressed by the spitefulness of such a move.

[John]

He didn't do anything but what he was told. Obama and the people around him are the most loathsome thin skinned pricks imaginable.

[Brandon]

Obama finally found a photo op he actually wasn't interested in.

[Cdr Lytton]

An investigation conducted shortly after Mr. Obama's visit revealed that Mr. Tate was carrying a C.D.C.-issued firearm, a violation of Secret Service protocols

Carry me to my fainting couch. SS protocols were violated. Oh, wait. I don't give a shit about special procedures for the Praetorian Guard. Ordinary man! Ordinary man! That goes for the whole lot of them, past and future. "Mr President" my ass.

[Andrew S.]

School cop breaks 15 year old, 90 lb girl's arm in two places for the crime of talking to her mom on a cell phone.

Police Department says it was justified since she "pulled away from him". Which I guess is their way of saying OBEY OR DIE.

[Almanian!]

Jesus...

[Brett L]

Green Acres? Really?

[Andrew S.]

Palm Beach County has all sorts of weirdly named cities. Though my favorite is "Golf".

[Restoras]

Two things.

1. Fuck You, That's Why, and, 2. Nothing Else Will Happen.

[Anonymous Coward]

The resisted the Warrior Caste. She's lucky the Brave Public Hero(tm) didn't throw her to the ground, cuff her, then give her the Oscar Grant treatment.

[Rich]

According to Jeremy Galindo, his daughter's assault by officer Jared Nash was caught on the school's video surveillance system, but school officials are refusing to release the video.

Let me guess: "Ongoing investigation" or "Privacy issues".

Sue the officials, too, Mr Galindo.

[CE]

Maybe TMZ can buy it.

[Brian D]

Clearly the officer was fearful that his noble life was in danger.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

She could have been talking to a hitman who wasn't an undercover cop! Or a terrorist or something! The man's a hero, he only broke an arm, not her head like she so OBVIOUSLY deserved!

[Pope Jimbo]

"We initiated a police report, and they (police) ended up causing more harm than anyone."

Write that on your hand in ink so you remember what happens next time you think of calling the police.

[LynchPin1477]

"I want him fired," Jeremy Galindo, Daniella's father told me in a phone interview Sunday night.

At a minimum. I'd be calling for criminal charges.

[Andrew S.]

He's being realistic. The chances of criminal charges against the officer are about equivalent to the chances of Shreek making a comment that makes sense one day.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

No, the second one happens by accident sometimes. I'm thinking more like the odds of Tony speaking honestly.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Why conservative Christians would have hated Jesus

Jesus' empathy bomb explodes every time a former evangelical puts love ahead of what the "Bible says." It goes off every time Pope Francis puts inclusion ahead of dogma. It goes off every time a gay couple are welcomed into a church. Jesus' time bomb explodes whenever atheists follow Jesus better than most Christians.

Put it this way: Godless non-church-going Denmark mandates four weeks of maternity leave before childbirth and fourteen weeks afterward for mothers. Parents of newborn children are assisted with well-baby nurse-practitioner visits in their homes.

In the "pro-life" and allegedly "family friendly" American Bible belt, conservative political leaders slash programs designed to help women and children while creating a justifying mythology about handouts versus empowerment.

[John]

Yeah because a guy who refused to start a political movement and told people to worry about the next world rather than this one would have totally insisted on government mandated maternity leave.

Salon gets dumber every day. How hideous is it going to be before it finally goes tits up?

[Certified Public Asskicker]

The author apparently wrote a book called:

Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in God

This guy apparently has a major issue with words and their assigned definitions.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

Maybe Denmark should buy him a dictionary.

[JWatts]

"Maybe Denmark should buy him a dictionary."

There should be mandate requiring Denmark to buy him a dictionary and supply him with a language interpreter of his choice. /derp

[Zeb]

told people to worry about the next world rather than this one

That was so much his focus that everyone who wants to inject religion into politics should just shut up. Where do people get the idea that good Christians should be all political?

It seems to me that if Christianity were anything like what Jesus woudl have wanted, it wouldn't be one of the major world religions today.

[Trouser-Pod]

It seems to me that if Christianity were anything like what Jesus woudl have wanted, it wouldn't be one of the major world religions today it wouldn't have obtained it's current status through political means.

[Trouser-Pod]

FIFY

[Zeb]

It didn't need fixing. Name one religion that became dominant by other than political or violent means.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

if Christianity were anything like what Jesus woudl have wanted, it wouldn't be one of the major world religions today.

Either that or the world wouldn't look anything like what it does today.

I completely agree that the Christian fixation on politics as a vehicle for the Church has been incredibly damaging and not particularly justified by what Jesus and the Apostles actually taught.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Agreed. How small of a faith do these "christians" have that they believe that they have to hold a gun to the head of others to force them to act correctly?

The saddest thing is that many of these folks are in the "grace by faith" camp, meaning that the actions of a person has (almost) no bearing on their status in the "next life."

[jmomls]

*Yeah because a guy who refused to start a political movement and told people to worry about the next world rather than this one would have totally insisted on government mandated maternity leave*

Back then, you were just happy to have survived childbirth. Plus, I'm pretty sure women weren't even allowed to work, right? LOL

[db]

There is a big difference between creating fish and bread out.of thin air to feed the masses, and stealing it from people's pantries to redistribute to them.

[John]

He told people to give away their possessions not steal other people's shit and give it away.

It is just so fucking insulting and appalling. The whole article is one giant "I know more about what these people's bible says from reading a few Wikipedia articles than the people who spend their lives studying it do".

[LynchPin1477]

I'm pretty sure Jesus would have choice words for politicians on both sides, but if the modern progressive political class that talks endlessly about the need to help the poor/minorities/women/whatever but can't be bothered to lift a finger of support for the charities that do just that aren't the modern equivalent of the rich pharisee showing off in the temple, then I don't know what is.

Having said that, projecting modern political labels onto Jesus is an exercise in foolishness.

[John]

Since everyone is Jesus' eyes is a sinner in need of redemption, I would say foolish is too week of a word to describe doing that.

[C. Anacreon]

the modern progressive political class that talks endlessly about the need to help the poor/minorities/women/whatever but can't be bothered to lift a finger of support for the charities that do

Our local paper yesterday had an op-ed by this completely Marxist physician from Berkeley who always writes columns basically saying she is the only doctor who cares and isn't beholden to Big Pharma. Yesterday's rant was about a homeless lady with cancer who couldn't find a nice place to live on the $1000 a month disability check she gets (in addition, of course, to free medical care, food stamps, and many other things). Our hero had the idea that for just $3000 a month per, we could have all sick homeless people living in a nice apartment with daily nursing visits, and why aren't we doing this right now?

Question #1 for everyone: whenever they talk about how a certain income isn't enough to get housing, do they always assume that everyone must have an entire home entirely to themselves?? Jeez, I had roommates until I was in my mid-30s. The way to make housing affordable is to share spaces, and this is what most of us do. Except the noble homeless, of course.

Question #2: all I could think of reading this article about the poor homeless cancer lady was, well, perfect Berkeley doctor woman, why don't you invite her to stay in your home? Then she would have a nice place to live and have a doctor right nearby! Amazing she never offered, right?

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Question #1 for everyone: whenever they talk about how a certain income isn't enough to get housing, do they always assume that everyone must have an entire home entirely to themselves?

No. Mandatory communal housing was and is very big in socialism philosophy. The Soviets were always threatening to make it a reality for the masses but didn't have the funds and always had something else that took precedence. Even so, we got some absolutely appalling architecture and proof of concepts which were quietly abandoned. There was an article on the Guardian advocating that very thing -- only thing is, most normal people don't quite see the romance in living with complete strangers as kin in a one-bedroom apartment designed to Bulgarian Party specs.

all I could think of reading this article about the poor homeless cancer lady was, well, perfect Berkeley doctor woman, why don't you invite her to stay in your home?

Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think she is, some kind of Narodnik? It's not like she has to actually *act* on her moral convictions or anything!

[The Immaculate Trouser]

It really speaks to the appalling levels of ignorance and illiteracy among Christians and the secular alike that arguments of this sort aren't laughed out of the room instead of being published. Say what you will about people like Voltaire, Nietzsche, and even Ayn Rand, but at least they had some idea of what Christianity was and why they didn't like it. Most of what is presented these days as thoughtful critique of Christianity doesn't even grasp Christianity 101 or do justice to what might be a legitimately good argument against it. Any one of the "New Atheists" would have had their asses kicked by the most marginal of the Medieval scholiasts -- and for that matter, most of what passes for "Bible-believing Christianity" is nothing of the kind and would have been shredded to pieces by Voltaire and his ilk.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Any one of the "New Atheists" would have had their asses kicked by the most marginal of the Medieval scholiasts

I'm quote certain Daniel Dennett could wipe the floor with most of them, except he is the most humble and probably wouldn't debate on those terms.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Dennett is interesting and tends to avoid the idiotic hyperbole and juvenile argumentation of the other three. His philosophy of consciousness still doesn't really clinch it for me (but then I am a bit of a Platonist when it comes right down to it), and his writing always seemed to be of the type that says that philosophy isn't really about metaphysics at all, and all we need is a restructuring of the jargon to make that clear. Breaking the Spell was interesting but not persuasive unless one is already in the habit of letting contemporary trendiness in science persuade them over accounts by those living in those times; I guess for me it is in the same category as a very bright psychologist who thinks he can break down Julius Ceaser better than the people who lived back then and wrote about him.

I will agree that he seems to understand the fundamentals of debate much better than the others.

[Almanian!]

+1 miracle

[Bam!]

Parents of newborn children are assisted with well-baby nurse-practitioner visits in their homes.

Is that mandatory? God knows I don't want any government agent visiting my newborn.

[Suthenboy]

I think you get the gist of it then. This is literally the person who says "Im from the government and I am here to help."

Be afraid.

[John Titor]

I'm not a Christian, but wasn't there something about Render Unto Caesar in that Bible thing? Also, I seem to recall tax collectors being considered sinners, even if Jesus still loved them. And then there's that time where the Devil offers him political power and he flatout rejects it...

[John]

It is more than a little funny that the writers a Salon, who have made a living fantasizing about how fabulous it would be to accept the Devil's bargain of unlimited earthly power think they guy who rejected the deal is one of them.

[JEP]

Not to mention the only time Jesus got angry was when he walked into the temple and it was fully of "money-changers."

[Zeb]

Yeah, it seems like Christians really ought to be completely apolitical.

[Trials and Trippelations]

Yes. I recently ran across Christian anarchism, and I think I am a fan. I look forward to reading about it more over winter break.
Both conservatives and progs taking Jesus and putting their words into his mouth to affirm their own beliefs is pretty sick and offensive.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

Tolstoy is sort of interesting in that vein of thought, since we're on the topic of Christian socialism...

[trshmnster the terrible]

The Christian Libertarians facebook group is about 50/50 ancap to minarchist. There are many extraordinarily devout folks who are no-shit anarchists and could run circles around me in defense of their theology.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Progressives actually like the "render unto Caesar" part; it's the "render unto God" section they tend to ignore.

Ultimately, John's right--it's rather rich that people who are obsessed with this life but think the next is a joke think that a guy who had the exact opposite message is one of them.

[JEP]

For me, I'm always debating what was exactly meant by "render unto Caesar" because I interpret that "what is Caesar's" is everything that Caesar produces/creates, not everything he falsely lays claim to.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I've seen arguments that the whole "render unto Caesar" passage (Romans 13) needs to be taken in context of Romans 12, and also needs to be taken in the context of the overarching goals at hand.

I'm not equipped to explain those arguments in depth, but one of them boiled down to pragmatism. Jesus' primary purpose was to spread His message. Being labeled a tax cheat and a revolutionary would close so many minds to his message that it wasn't worth it.

Same applies these days. You'll quickly be labeled a radical or "wingnut" or "teahadi" or whatever if you focus on reducing government. For the purposes of spreading the Christian message, you've closed a bunch of doors when you give people reason to label you that way.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

Being labeled a tax cheat and a revolutionary would close so many minds to his message that it wasn't worth it.

It absolutely was pragmatism; Jesus knew that if he said "don't pay taxes," the Romans would have an excuse to arrest him, and if he said it was right to pay taxes, he'd alienate the people who hated Rome's imperialism. His response was a bit of a dodge, but it does go back to his ultimate message that what mattered was the kingdom of Heaven, not the kingdom of man, and that the righteousness of paying taxes was a false dilemma.

[BardMetal]

Do the people who write this crap even know what charity is? How do they not realize the difference between someone voluntarily helping, or paying to help someone, and those people being forced to under threat of violence, and force like the government does?

Pretty sure Jesus didn't run around threatening to imprison or murder people if they didn't pay up to his preferred charities.

[LynchPin1477]

I think it was american socialist that, when asked out of legitimate curiousity how much they supported charity, specifically said that he thought voluntary charity was a bad way to solve societal problems. I pressed them on it, never got a response.

Anyway, some of them understand charity just fine. They just don't believe in it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Jesus was all about force, that's why he flipped that table.

[paranoid android]

Pretty sure Jesus didn't run around threatening to imprison or murder people if they didn't pay up to his preferred charities.

Well, there is that whole *damnation* thing.

[Juice]

What about that verse in Acts that talked about garnishing wages?

[JEP]

I have several bones to pick with contemporary, Bible belt Christianity, but being a statist isn't the solution to any of those issues.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

In fairness, plenty of conservatives (like any other type of political person) are into politics first and Christianity second. There is plenty in Jesus' message that is neither conservative nor lassiez-faire nor libertarian, and if you are a Christian then your Christianity should be binding and normative in a way that your politics are not.

OTOH, Jesus was not a socialist. He just wasn't, and none of His acts were done in the context of government action.

[Stormy Dragon]

I think Jesus WAS a socialist, albeit more in the hippie commune sense.

[LynchPin1477]

IF you were inclined to affix a modern political philosophy to Jesus (and as I said above, that would be foolish, but IF you were so inclined), some variation on anarcho-communism/socialism probably comes closest.

[Stormy Dragon]

"We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting. By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more..."

[John Titor]

I'd vote for anyone who ran under the slogan "Help, help! I'm bein' repressed! Now we see the violence inherit in the system!" and meant it.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

It's hard to tell what He was in terms of politics/economics, since he didn't ever organize any economies or offer tips on how to do so. He also didn't really organize His Church before He departed, so while some things about His philosophy can be inferred from Luke's account of the early church's organization, it is not ironclad (which is why Christianity is so rich in thinking about what, exactly, a "godly" economics or society looks like). Ethically speaking Jesus' teachings on charity were not out of line with what someone like, say, Rabbi Hillel was teaching on the subject (do it a lot, especially if you have the means to do so), nor was he calling for a radical change in how society was organized to eliminate poverty (e.g. Matt 26:11).

The problem with calling that socialist is that in the Christian tradition, giving is supposed to be of benefit primarily to the giver and done to reflect God's nature towards us, rather than as a form of justice to the socially aggrieved. IOW, we who are Christian give because it reflects God's desire to give to us without abandon regardless of the merits of the recipients -- whereas in socialism, redistribution to the poor is supposed to be done as an act of justice to those who were wronged by society or their starting position in some way.

[John Titor]

Once again, not a Christian (and projecting modern politics into the past), but Jesus tends to come off like a weird anarchist communalist of some kind. As in, there's an actual voluntary aspect to his ideals. You have to voluntarily accept his message, it's not something that can be forced. Which is the complete opposite of anything political.

[Raven Nation]

I've been a Christian since I was 15 & now early 50s. In that time, I've been a liberal, socialist, conservative, Christian Reconsructionist, conservative, libertarian, libertarian drifting toward anarchist.

And, in all those beliefs - at the time - I saw them as completely consistent with my Christian faith.

[lap83]

Progressive athiests memorize just enough of the Bible so they can remind Christians how hypocritical they are.

[lap83]

and by memorize, I mean invent

[MJGreen]

Think about it: people get paid to regurgitate this bullshit.

[Hyperion]

Like you can take anything these people say seriously. I mean this is the crowd who one moment denies that Jesus ever even existed as a real person and the next minute hold him up as the model of progressive behavior. Idiots.

[Raven Nation]

the next minute hold him up as the model of progressive behavior

I think it's more a case of holding Jesus up to use as a bludgeon against conservative Christians.

[OldMexican]

Jesus' time bomb explodes whenever atheists follow Jesus better than most Christians. Put it this way: Godless non-church-going Denmark mandates four weeks of maternity leave before childbirth and fourteen weeks afterward for mothers.

Because nothing says "Jesus-fucking-Christ!" better than free child care and maternity leave.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

The Maine nurse who treated Ebola victims has settled with the state. She is allowed to travel freely, but has to closely monitor her health. She said that she was quarantined because of an "abundance of politics." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon today criticized "unnecessarily" strict quarantine guidelines in certain places. Even if you survive Ebola, you might have "post-Ebola syndrome."

What in the hell is with all these statist POS who have decided that Ebola quarantines are *the* freedom issue of 2014? Did abortion get old or something? Thank Christ that all the possibly Ebola infected personnel out there have no apparent desire to start a profit-making business to cure Ebola in W Africa -- letting the infected wander the streets with impunity is a freedom issue pretty much on par with liberating Auschwitz, but having a straightforward regulatory regime and slightly less crushing taxes for businesses is a bridge too far. We are practical people, after all.

[John]

Because Ebola is coming from Africa and it is racist to think someone who has been to Africa might be a problem.

[Anonymous Coward]

The Best and the Brightest: Harvard Sponsors Anal Sex Workshop

Harvard University's annual Sex Week observance, which launched Sunday, includes a workshop called "What What in the Butt: Anal Sex 101? that aims to teach the Ivy League students how to have anal sex.

So-called sex experts from a local adult store will lead the Tuesday talk, which seeks to "dispel myths about anal sex and give you insight into why people do it and how to do it well," the Fall 2014 Harvard Sex Week agenda states.

"They will cover a wide variety of topics, including: anal anatomy and the potential for pleasure for all genders; how to talk about it with a partner; basic preparation and hygiene; lubes, anal toys, and safer sex; anal penetration for beginners, and much more," the agenda adds. "Learn the facts about this exciting yet often misunderstood form of pleasure, find out the common mistakes people make, and get all your questions answered."

Student organizers of Harvard Sex Week did not respond to emails over the weekend from The College Fix seeking comment about the appropriateness and academic value of the event. University officials could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Unless this was coming out of the Harvard endowment, I would be royally pissed about paying about a middle-class annual salary for some kid of mine to learn how to do buttsex, instead of hitting the books.

[John]

So you are telling me the students at Harvard are so stupid they can't even properly sodomize each other without their teachers showing them?

Can't say that surprises me.

[Zeb]

As I said this morning when someone posted this, there is so much anal porn these days which really doesn't realistically present the practical aspects of buttsex that maybe it is necessary. "oh, you mean most girls' assholes don't come pre-stretched and lubed up?"

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Does having butt sex with girls protect male students from spurious rape allegations?

[Riven]

Speak for yourself, sir!

[Coeus]

As I said this morning when someone posted this, there is so much anal porn these days which really doesn't realistically present the practical aspects of buttsex that maybe it is necessary. "oh, you mean most girls' assholes don't come pre-stretched and lubed up?"

It is absolutely astonishing how many sexually experienced friends I have who have complained about anal sex not working.

me: So how long did you spend prepping the area? Maybe buy a buttplug. Something halfway between the width of your dick and your thumb at the narrow part.

them: What the fuck would you need a buttplug for?

Further conversation always reveals that they just line it up and shove (or try to, most likely) it in. Not even a finger ahead of time.

I gotta agree with ZEB and say that this is a student safety issue. I don't really have a problem with them addressing it.

[Bam!]

That's what Harvard has always done: Teach you how to fuck others in the ass.

[Rich]

"get all your questions answered."

Do they have to be about anal sex?

[SIV]

No Mexicans and marijuana?

[grrizzly]

A separate workshop.

[Iucundus (ex Damned Fool)]

They're already getting median scores of A anyway. Better to hit the bed than the books.

[Restoras]

This was on Al Jazeera friday night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JRgXie2teo

Basically, the Israelies didn't like our spy ship listening in on their communications during the 1967 war, so they strafed and torpedoed it to sink it - until the ship was able to get off a distress call to the Sixth Fleet.

It's worth watching.

[Cytotoxic]

I would not trust anything from AJ but that was a bizarre incident that merits USG investigation.

[Restoras]

That was my thought initially - but I don't think it was produced by them, just aired by them. It's a very damaging and damning incident. Unfortunately I don't think any of the key political players involved in the cover-up are alive to go after.

[JWatts]

The bombing of the USS Liberty isn't exactly a secret. It was pretty much an international incident at the time.

"Liberty was shattered but defiant, her flag still flying. Israeli attacks killed 34 U.S. seamen and wounded 171 out of a crew of 297, the worst loss of U.S. naval personnel from hostile action since World War II.

Less than an hour after the attack, Israel told Washington its forces had committed a "tragic error." Later, Israel said it had mistaken Liberty for an ancient Egyptian horse transport.

U.S. Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, and Joint Chiefs of Staff head, Adm. Thomas Moorer, insisted the Israeli attack was deliberate.

So did three CIA reports. One asserted Israel's defense minister, Gen. Moshe Dayan, had ordered the attack. Reports that the savaging of Liberty was deliberate were hushed up by President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. The White House and Congress accepted Israel's explanation. Israel later paid a token reparation of US$6 million."

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Look, in the sixties we had a destroyer that wasn't attacked by North Vietnam but we thought it was so we bombed the shit out of North Vietnam. We did have an intelligence ship that was attacked by Israel and... they've been getting bombarded by vast amounts of military aid ever since. Because they're our FRIENDS.

Or something.

[jmomls]

Hey look another anti-semite just discovered the USS Liberty.

Next he'll be telling us all about the neat book a buddy just gave him about some Protocols.

[The Immaculate Trouser]

I hear that the wreckage of the Liberty was later baked into that year's national supply of matzo bread.

More seriously, it is a weird incident but very far from establishing some sort of malevolent intent on the part of the Israeli state towards Americans or goyim or whatever other conspiracies anti-Semites like to concoct.

[MJGreen]

It was interesting watching the news this weekend report on the Virgin explosion (nice band name?). Most of the segment was dedicated to the head of a regulatory agency, explaining that this was new ground for them and they would investigate thoroughly to ensure nothing like this ever happened again. I think he even said new regulations are the key to progress.

All of this said next to Richard Branson. A guy investing millions in private space flight. As if he and his team don't give a shit and wouldn't bother finding and correcting the problem so it never happens again. Nope, it's all riding on this sub-FAA agency!

[LynchPin1477]

It will happen again. Maybe not this particular problem, but space planes will crash and people will die just like air planes, and cars, and everything else. And that is especially true when the tech is still being worked out.

And it's worth it. I hope that is the message Branson is putting out.

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I think a lot of people have forgotten how many test pilots died just trying to break the sound barrier, to say nothing of those who bit it just in normal test flights and training accidents in the 1940s and 50s. We got a little spoiled by the fact that our first trip to the Moon was an unqualified success and don't realize that these type of technological leaps are inherently dangerous.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well, if you don't count Apollo 1.

[MJGreen]

Exactly. I started wondering how I'd respond to the inevitable cries that the private sector is throwing away lives to get to space, and quickly remembered Apollo 1.

[Paul.]

The first reaction is to say nice things about regulation, and butter up your leaders.

[Stormy Dragon]

Elder half of "Click and Clack" dies from alzheimers:

Tom Magliozzi, one of NPR's 'Car Talk' brothers, dies at 77

[John]

Very sad.

[Pope Jimbo]

All right, who didn't give their fair share during pledge week?

His blood is on your hands.

[Zeb]

Oh, that is sad. I didn't realize he had Alzheimer's. Though not too surprising either. Maybe some of his self deprecating humor in the later years wasn't intentional. People who are good natured and funny can be pretty far gone with dementia before it is obvious to people who don't know them well.

[Stormy Dragon]

I was suprised why the show stopped doing new episodes with no real explanation two years ago. Looks like we know why now.

[Coeus]

The radio host died of complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to NPR. In a statement announcing his brother's death, Ray said: "Turns out he wasn't kidding. He really couldn't remember last week's puzzler."

[paranoid android]

Funeral services will be held at Putnam-Indadirt Mortuary.

But in all seriousness, that's a real shame. I'll always have a special place in my heart for Car Talk.

[Atanarjuat]

Nicely done.

[Warty]

Today in Whine: Oh no! Politics is mean!

I demand, and I wish that the rest of you who claim to be "we, the people" would join me in demanding, that political candidates spend much of the time before Election Day in civil debate, detailing how they would go about restoring comity to elections. Otherwise, I may give in to thinking that "politician" is also a four-letter word.

[John]

Whenever they are losing civility suddenly becomes important again.

[Warty]

I liked "the rest of you who claim to be 'we, the people'". If you don't share my incredibly banal opinion, you're not a real citizen.

[Pro Libertate]

Even Illinois Nazis are "we the people." Not understanding that is very much missing the point. It's also the reason the Constitution baked into our system quite a few anti-democratic features.

[MJGreen]

Good. Let the hate flow through you.

[Stormy Dragon]

Nothing says "comity" like demanding people only talk about what you think they should talk about.

[PapayaSF]

And "diversity," too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Otherwise, I may give in to thinking that "politician" is also a four-letter word.

If you haven't figured that out by now, then you're sort of like the asshole who watches movies for the special effects instead of the plot.

[Pope Jimbo]

They should also be clued into the fact that professional wrestling isn't "real" too.

[T]

Hey, plot is also a four-letter word, buddy. Bring on the CGI and explosions.

[John Titor]

"Otherwise, I may give in to thinking that "politician" is also a four-letter word."

This sounds like a wonderful idea actually. Get on it, whiner.

[Pro Libertate]

I wish they'd hate each other with the fury of the Big Bang and take steps to hurt one another.

[Paul.]

Election Day in civil debate, detailing how they would go about restoring comity to elections.

Kind of hard to do that when the first words out of the media's mouth is 'OMG RACIST!'

[Pro Libertate]

I have long wondered at what point the GOP will simply stop caring at all what these openly left-biased media outlets say about them. I mean, WTF, right? Damned either way, so might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

I also wonder when people will stop trusting the media altogether on politics. Certainly it makes no sense to do so now.

[JWatts]

"WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After registering slightly higher trust last year, Americans' confidence in the media's ability to report "the news fully, accurately, and fairly" has returned to its previous all-time low of 40%. Americans' trust in mass media has generally been edging downward from higher levels in the late 1990s and the early 2000s."

[mauricegirodias]

If you follow the GamerGaters, many are shocked at how they've been portrayed in the media. Many/most would lean progressive, but at this point, they're just like, oh well, after Gawker The New Yorker's next.

[Anonymous Coward]

FBI Lobbies to Change Rule 41 of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

The FBI is attempting to persuade an obscure regulatory body in Washington to change its rules of engagement in order to seize significant new powers to hack into and carry out surveillance of computers throughout the US and around the world.

Civil liberties groups warn that the proposed rule change amounts to a power grab by the agency that would ride roughshod over strict limits to searches and seizures laid out under the fourth amendment of the US constitution, as well as violate first amendment privacy rights. They have protested that the FBI is seeking to transform its cyber capabilities with minimal public debate and with no congressional oversight.

The regulatory body to which the Department of Justice has applied to make the rule change, the advisory committee on criminal rules, will meet for the first time on November 5 to discuss the issue. The panel will be addressed by a slew of technology experts and privacy advocates concerned about the possible ramifications were the proposals allowed to go into effect next year.

FBI wants to use malware to go fishing for evidence. Reason Bar Association, your thoughts?

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

The server squirrels are FBI agents?

[GILMORE]

"Even if you survive Ebola, you might have "post-Ebola syndrome.""

I'M A SUFFERINGS FROM THE PRE-EBOLA TENSIONS!!! STOP OTHERING ME!? WHY DO PEOPLE ALWAYS PURELL THEMSELVES WHEN I WALK BY!? YOUR PERSISTANT HANDWASHING IS VIROPHOBIC AND DEMEANING

[Free Society]

GOP Election Win Could Be Historic

Absent this time around is all the talk that the GOP doesn't pander enough to ethnic groups. How could they possibly be winning without a robust ethnicity-specific entitlement program? Impossibru!!!

[JWatts]

"How could they possibly be winning without a robust ethnicity-specific entitlement program? "

Racism, Gerrymandering and Voter Fraud! /derp

[GILMORE]

"there's renewed fighting in #BENGHAZI."

I honestly don't know what a 'hashtag' is actually for... other than to attempt to confine things to the twitterverse of "how incredibly stupid can we get in as few words as possible?"

But, i suppose it does force us to ask, "How has US 'engagement' with Libya been going since 2012... or, hell... forget Libya = how about the Middle East *writ large*?"

Surely we can point to some example of 'positive relations' with....

Oh. yeah, i guess not. Thankfully, when Hilary comes back and is president, i'm sure she'll do a much better job than she did as Secretary of State. Uh huh.

[Coeus]

Remember that viral video with the little kids saying fuck and spouting off bs feminist statics?

I have a confession. I love the new FCKH8 video. The one that features little girls dressed as princesses dropping F-bombs, while they cite statistics about rape, misogyny and sexism. I have no problem with little girls talking about these issues or saying fuck while they do it, because seriously, fuck rape culture, fuck misogyny, fuck sexism in education and the workplace and fuck a society that values looks over substance. Fuck it in the neck, motherfucker. I think we should be more offended by sexual assault, inequality, rape culture and a society that values my fucking waist measurement more than my IQ, than we are about a bunch of pretty princesses saying the word fuck.

However, I do have a huge fucking problem with using these little girls to sell t-shirts ? a tactic also known as cause marketing. Cause marketing or consumer philanthropy refers to a type of marketing that involves a partnership between a for profit company and a nonprofit/several nonprofit entities or cause. Cause marketing campaigns generally pledge a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of a good or service to support a cause. Or in other words ? for profit corporations use our desire to change the world to sell us everything from t-shirts to frozen. Fuck that noise.

[Coeus]

How fucked up do you have to think the only problem with that video is capitalism?

[GILMORE]

OMG who are you the Rape Culture Ambassador?

[lap83]

Selling t-shirts is the only thing OK about that video.

[Hyperion]

I have a feeling that this person would be much worse off in a society that values her IQ over one that valued her waist measurement. I don't know which is more, but I'm sure they're both under 100.

[Coeus]

When she says "society" she means "that guy who I think is hot". Someone wanna tell me how these "body acceptance" feminists are any better than the "nice guy" meme they bitch about so much? Cause I ain't seeing it.

[Paul.]

No no, I hate these things a lot! Don't misconstrue me as someone who doesn't h8 the h8ers! I h8 the haters! Here, let me dedicate an entire paragraph explaining just how much I h8 the h8ers!

[Derpetologist]

I've always found it funny that progs think there arguments are more persuasive when they come from the mouths of children.

And we see once more how they see the word "fuck" as a magical amulet against counterargument.

[Paul.]

I've always found it funny that progs think there arguments are more persuasive when they come from the mouths of children.

They are.

[Derpetologist]

*their arguments

DAMN YOU, HOMOPHONES!

[Red Rocks Rockin]

I've always found it funny that progs think there arguments are more persuasive when they come from the mouths of children.

It's because they haven't emotionally matured past elementary school yet.

[Coeus]

900 classic internet games, playable in your browser.

Anyone remember Yar's revenge? Best thing on the atari.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I don't see Spy Hunter in there.

[SusanM]

I have MAME, which has Spy Hunter (http://www.mameworld.info/)and the biggest problem with it is that with a lot of classics they still require their original arcade cabinet controls.

[Paul.]

still require their original arcade cabinet controls.

The fat kid with a stack of quarters on the box while you wait?

[SusanM]

Thankfully that bit of authenticity is lacking. You'll need to supply that guy and also a dipshit to second-guess you while you're playing by yourself. And, of course, putting "ASS" in the high scores loses it's thrill when there's no one else to see it.

[Lord at War]

SusanM

I always went with the "SUX".

[Hyperion]

OMFG! I remember when I had my Atari 2600 and bought that game. My cousin came over one evening and we were playing that and me and my GF went to bed. But that fucker just kept playing that damn thing all night. That fucking sound it makes, it's permanently burned into my sub conscious. I threatened to get up and kill the fucker but my GF saved him by saying that I shouldn't kill him, because it's not nice, or something.

That being said. Military Madness. That's one of the coolest stategy games ever. I think that was Turbografx 16 though, so much later on. But there's a computer port of it and it's worth checking out.

[GILMORE]

I KEEP PUTTING QUARTERS IN MY PC AND NOTHING HAPPENS?

[PapayaSF]

Remember that UNC scandal about creating classes solely so that athletes could get good grades and still play? It's the fault of "white supremacist, heteropatriarchal capitalism."

[Derpetologist]

Good grief, that's the proggiest buzzword fest I've ever seen.

I hereby promote you to junior grade derpetologist (D-2)

[OldMexican]

Re: PapayaSF,

"I hereby promote you to junior grade derpetologist (D-2)"

You should take that title and run, before D changes his mind. I don't think you'll be honored that highly again in your life.

[Derpetologist]

*narrows gaze*

*begins cashiering OM*

http://youtu.be/reRbcczWWDY?t=2m22s

[PapayaSF]

I thank you for this award, and would like to thank my parents and everyone else who helped me reach this point.

And I hereby offer "Heteropatriarch" as a handle to whoever wants it.

[Coeus]

I am sorely tempted. Can I add "cis-scum" to it? Or would it spoil the flow?

[HeteroPatriarch]

Done. Slightly less gruesome than Cis Shitlord.

[Paul.]

The crash of Virgin Galactic's spacecraft was deadly due to a safety device deploying too early.

My colleagues and I began to note the number of catastrophic system failures we had over the years as a direct cause of failover and safety mechanisms failing or erroneously kicking off while nothing was actually wrong. Someone should do a study.

[Derpetologist]

ISIS thug accidentally gives pal an RPG facial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruC-eYs4Dqs

[SusanM]

I SAID "BUD LIGHT"!!

[Bam!]

Real life griefer.

[croaker]

This is what 14 centuries of banging your cousin gets you.

"INBREAD, the bread for inbreds."

[OldMexican]

Obama is having his first-ever one-on-one meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen today. They're talking about the U.S.'s long-term economic outlook.

"The economy has taken a likin' so let's keep on printin'!"

Pretty much that, I'd wager.

[Derpetologist]

I dream of Peter Schiff getting a chance to explain how an economy actually works to Yellen and Obama. I imagine it would look something like this:

http://platedlizard.blogspot.c.....beral.html

[Coeus]

It is scary how similar this guy's thinking is to the proggies and socons.

Clarissa Ward: ...that allows the people to choose what they want and allows people freedom.

Abu Rumaysah: So why can't I choose Sharia? When in Rome, overthrow Caesar and commit to Sharia.

Clarissa Ward: In your home, you can do whatever you want?

Abu Rumaysah: But what about in the public? Why can't I tell you to cover up? Am I free to say that?

Clarissa Ward: Because it would be outrageous. Of course, you're not...

Abu Rumaysah: So where's my freedom? Where's my freedom?

Clarissa Ward: You can say it to me, but you...

Abu Rumaysah: Okay. So cover up. Wear the hijab.

Clarissa Ward: That's absurd.

[Pro Libertate]

Freedom is. . .making other people do stuff.

[Paul.]

Abu Rumaysah: But what about in the public? Why can't I tell you to cover up? Am I free to say that?

You can. You're absolutely free to say that.

[Pro Libertate]

Why can't I chop your head off if you offend me? Am I free to do that?

[HeteroPatriarch]

We've found Tony's true identity.