A.M. Links: Ferguson Grand Jury Still Deliberating, Obama Says Americans Want 'New Car Smell' in 2016, Marion Barry Has Died

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  • Credit: Wikimedia Commons

    A grand jury is still deliberating whether or not to indict Ferguon police officer Darren Wilson over the death of Michael Brown.

  • Former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry has died at age 78.
  • In a interview broadcast on Sunday, President Barack Obama acknowledged that his administration had a few "dents" and that Americans wanted "a new car smell" in the 2016 presidential race. "They want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," the president said.
  • "Sixteen women have publicly stated that Bill Cosby, now 77, sexually assaulted them, with 12 saying he drugged them first and another saying he tried to drug her."
  • Two U.S. soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack in the Afghan capital Kabul.
  • Western negotiators attempting to broker a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear program have set a new deadline of July 2015 after talks failed to produce results by today.

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NEXT: Ayn Rand Quotes Are More Despicable Than Bill Cosby Rape Memes?

Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).

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  1. Just a thought not a sermon

    1) So U-Va's president unilaterally shut down the entire Greek system on campus until January after the allegations of a rape at a fraternity house in 2012 came to light in a recent Rolling Stone article. Of course if this incident really took place, the students involved should be punished (preferable in a court of law) and possibly the fraternity chapter shut down. But is shutting down the whole Greek system not an overreaction, for a single incident that took place two years ago? What have the other fraternities and other sororities done?
    And have you noticed how the Greek system on campuses has come increasingly under fire lately? Recent anti-Greek articles have appeared not just in RS, but also the NY Times and the Washington Post, almost as if there were a real campaign against them. I can't help but notice that fraternities, and to a lesser extent sororities, are the last organizations on most campuses to resist political correctness and the Women's studies and minority studies departments. Because they have national support and their own independent networks of alumni, fraternities and sororities are natural bastions of more traditional values on campus than more-easily coerced academic departments and student organizations that rely solely on university funding. Is all this just a coincidence in timing, or are progressives deliberately using the rape issue to try to shut down the entire Greek institution?

    1. John

      The Progs have decided the Greek system is male and racist and therefore must go. All of your logic and justice are besides the point to them.

      1. Restoras

        It's also elitist and unfair but mostly because the progtards are the ones that didn't get bids. Now that they are in charge...

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      Hello.

      /disoriented. Where's Fist? Oh, there he is.

    3. Notorious G.K.C.

      I read the article - that particular fraternity probably needs to go. Punishing other frats is of course ridiculous unless they tolerated similiar behavior themselves.

      It would be like shutting down all the African-American studies departments in the country in response to one of them (at UNC) being caught in academic dishonesty.

      1. robc

        I dont think AFAM at UNC is going to get shut down.

        1. Notorious G.K.C.

          Technically, I didn't predict it would be 🙂

    4. Rufus J. Firefly

      Plato's 'Republic' - the evil prog version.

      1. Notorious G.K.C.

        It was never very nice to begin with - unless (as some say) it was a satire on how *not* to run a government.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          That's my point. It's even worse in the prog version.

    5. Drake

      UVA is funny. I visited it with my kid last summer and was absolutely stunned by Jefferson's quad. Maybe the most beautiful piece of college landscape / architecture anywhere.

      Then they went on an absolute tear to convince me not to send my kid there. They could have stopped months ago.

    6. antisocial-ist

      Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests ?we did. [winks at Dean Wormer] But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick perverted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg: isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do what you you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

      1. Rufus J. Firefly

        Otter: 'Relax, I'm pre-law'
        Boon:'I thought you were pre-med?'
        Otter'Ahem, what's the difference?'

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Leave it to self-edit retard here to mess it up:

          Otter: 'Relax, I'm pre-law'
          Boon:'I thought you were pre-med?'
          Otter'What's the difference?'

      2. gaijin

        ^College!

        1. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

    7. Red Rocks Rockin

      So U-Va's president unilaterally shut down the entire Greek system on campus until January after the allegations of a rape at a fraternity house in 2012 came to light in a recent Rolling Stone article.

      Did anyone actually read the article? The verbal interactions described by the journalist sounded like a rejected script for a CW show.

      1. PBR Streetgang

        ^^This right here. Every single person in the article is a caricature. They all "speak" exactly the way SJW's think their opponents speak, but not the way any real person does.

    8. waffles

      The Greek system is designed to promote self-rule independent of the university governance. Of course the university feels antagonized by the display of independence.

    9. Totalitarians always try to destroy any aspect of civil society.

      On campus, this includes the Greek system.

      "Everything for the administration, nothing outside the administration, nothing against the administration."

    10. Speaking as a semi-retired frat rat, this is nothing new. Every few years, progs get their panties in a wad over the actions of ONE person but want to force some sort of collective blame on the Greek system. As if to say, "Oh! Y'all can govern yourselves? You obviously failed to act here." All the rules, guidelines, regulations, and seminars in the world will not stop a determined sociopath. Isolate the individual, submit them to the justice system, and move on. Stop being a sadistic necrophiliac with a penchant for bestiality and move on.

  2. A grand jury is still deliberating whether or not to indict Ferguon police officer Darren Wilson over the death of Michael Brown.

    I'm beginning to suspect they're stringing us along.

    1. robc

      loser.

    2. Restoras

      Decision to come after 6pm local time Wednesday?

    3. Notorious G.K.C.

      The grand jurors are deliberating how to get cheap flights to Tijuana for themselves and their families. Safer than Missouri for them.

    4. DJF

      I think they are waiting for a major winter storm to make public the decision.

    5. Brett L

      "Listen, if we come back not guilty right away, it'll look bad. There's book contracts for all of us if we deliberate for a week and then reluctantly decide to not indict."

  3. Former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry has died at age 78.

    Bitch, you won't have Marion to set up anymore.

    1. John

      I have a friend who is a long time participant and observer of DC politics. Back in the early 80s Barry was going to be Obama. The guy was actually everything the various idiots pretended Obama was; a no shit activist and an incredible speaker. People really thought he was going places on the national scene and might someday even be a VP candidate. His tenure as mayor, where he destroyed what was before a marginally functional DC government, ended that.

      Really Barry is just Obama if Obama had ever held exectutive office on his way up rather than just being a legislator who could not do any damage and vote "present" on any tough issue. Had Obama been mayor of Chicago or Governor of Illinois, his career would have followed the same path as Barry's minus the crack.

      1. robc

        minus the crack

        [citation needed]

        1. Zeb

          Obama prefers a little blow.

          1. I see what you did there...

      2. TheZenomeProject

        I know next to nothing about DC city politics, but I got the same sort of vibe this morning about Barry's political career when I tuned into (or more like ran into) an MSNBC morning show and listened to the commentary. I sort of get now why Team Blue's view on him was more "disappointment" and "sadness" than just simple tabloid gossip, and why the low-information types (I assume/generalize, of course) re-elected him post-scandal.

        1. Idle Hands

          Honestly Barry was a great black politician, he took care of the people in his district and gave a ton of blacks gov jobs that they were completely unqualified for he put a lot of people in the middle class, especially from his district.

          1. John

            Yes he did. And in doing so completely broke the DC government. He filled the DC government with a ton of unqualified people who were given employment for life and made it utterly disfunction even by big city government standards.

            1. Idle Hands

              yep.

          2. Kaptious Kristen

            They must have moved out of his ward after he helped them, because I saw an interview years ago when he was running for City Council and some poor asshole suffering from extreme cognitive dissonance was going on about how Barry was great for Ward 8 and helped them so much, while every business in the background was boarded up and there were tumbleweeds and trash blowing down the empty sidewalks.

            Empty suit is an understatement. The dude was corrupt as hell and not too bright.

            1. Idle Hands

              well many moved to maryland, but plenty stayed. the regulatory burden placed on business in the city is insane I would love to know how large the black market economy actually is in dc, I think even I would be amazed.

            2. Suthenboy

              "The dude was corrupt as hell and not too bright."

              I think someone pointed this out already. He coulda been Obama.

          3. Sounds like Harold Washington in Chicago.

      3. Mirth & Girth, anyone?

      4. Suthenboy

        Minus the crack? I am doubtful.

    2. PBR Streetgang

      Barry will still get 85% in the next DC mayoral election.

  4. Bee Tagger

    his administration had a few "dents" and that Americans wanted "a new car smell" in the 2016 presidential race.

    Were those dents caused by driving into or out of the ditch? That will determine who people vote for.

    1. gaijin

      When I think Hillary, New Car is not the smell that comes to mind.

      1. Drake

        Beat me to it. Not even a reliable and used. Limp or tow to the junk yard.

      2. PRX

        +1 '47 Trabant

      3. SugarFree

        Especially considering she is dipped once a week in Vagisil up to her nipples.

        Why they dip her up to her knees in Vagisil every week remains a medical mystery.

        1. Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)

          Why they dip her up to her knees in Vagisil every week remains a medical mystery

          They're dipping her head first.

        2. Oh, you.

      4. lap83

        An old clunky Volvo with 300,000 miles that everyone praises for how long it's lasted, but you want it to just die. But it won't. So you sell it to a hippie.

      5. Crusty Juggler

        What do you think Hillary smells like?

        My guess: a mixture of butterscotch pudding and pinot noir.

        1. SugarFree

          Foot powder and moral rot.

        2. gaijin

          per SF's comment...Vagisil...dust...and cat piss.

        3. She reeks of inevitability.

        4. Rufus J. Firefly

          Lavender and raccoon cum?

          1. Pope Jimbo

            Coon cum???

            RACIST!!!

        5. straffinrun

          Hillary, not sure. But Bill, teen spirit.

      6. Actually, it's been shown that "New Car Smell" is largely due to trace Formaldehyde from the manufacturing process. So, someone who has to be stored in jars of the stuff might leave it in their wake...

        1. BuSab Agent

          So McCain or Pelosi?

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      He's acting as if he had little to do with the election outcome. He - and his supporters and sycophants - seem to think it's a normal process that a President gets his ass kicked royally in a mid-term.

      1. Injun, as in from India

        ^THIS

    3. Obama as used car salesman seems like an apt metaphor.

      1. SugarFree

        Has he even had a job that respectable?

        1. Has he even had a job that respectable?

          FTFY

      2. Drake

        Remember that ditch he was going to get us out of?

        1. SugarFree

          You have to steer into the skid. And step on the gas. And vault the guardrail. And leave the passengers to burn alive when the gas tank goes.

          1. Drake

            It's a Mary Jo Kopechne recovery.

            1. Gray Ghost

              +1 Teddy Kennedy Memorial Triathlon.

    4. Zeb

      Heh. My first thought was "so, not Hillary, then".

  5. Jordan

    A couple of members of the Church of Carbontology - who also happen to be engineers at Google - get a dose of reality. Still lots of climate derp in the article, but at least they show some signs of awareness.

    Today's renewable energy technologies won't save us. So what will?

    At the start of RE<C, we had shared the attitude of many stalwart environmentalists: We felt that with steady improvements to today's renewable energy technologies, our society could stave off catastrophic climate change. We now know that to be a false hope?but that doesn't mean the planet is doomed.

    1. Jordan

      We decided to combine our energy innovation study's best-case scenario results with Hansen's climate model to see whether a 55 percent emission cut by 2050 would bring the world back below that 350-ppm threshold. Our calculations revealed otherwise. Even if every renewable energy technology advanced as quickly as imagined and they were all applied globally, atmospheric CO2 levels wouldn't just remain above 350 ppm; they would continue to rise exponentially due to continued fossil fuel use. So our best-case scenario, which was based on our most optimistic forecasts for renewable energy, would still result in severe climate change

      1. gaijin

        Yeah, but they are just engineers...not Climate Scientists like Bill Nye.

        1. Drake

          Don't engineers have to take physics and learn about scientific method? And somebody should let them know about a neat new energy source - the energy is released when the nucleus of heavy atoms is split into small atoms.

          1. Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)

            I'm not sure what an 'engineer at Google' has to do with actually being an engineer.

            1. Drake

              I assumed they were some type of computer or electrical engineers.

            2. Zeb

              There are such things as software engineers.

          2. Rufus J. Firefly

            Weren't the biggest 9/11 Truthers engineers?

            1. I suspect engineers know that fire can melt steel...

          3. waffles

            Fission isn't the answer either. In our current regulatory environment fission is too expensive to compete. Most of the policymakers dealing with fission aren't engineers or scientists. Their goal isn't to make fission reactors easy to build or ubiquitous. Their goal is to shutdown work immediately and deny licenses to prevent any whiff of error.

          4. Brett L

            Not only that, our experiments have to work at scale to be successful.

      2. db

        I don't think CO2 levels will rise exponentially. There are too many competing processes that are not well enough considered in climate models, such as capture of carbonates in seawater, foliage growth, etc. Look at the geological record. If theories about fossil fuel origins are right, around 200 million years ago, all the carbon we are burning now was present on the surface of the earth as biomass. It was recaptured by the earth via geological processes. We are merely liberating this potential biomass once more into the surface zone.

        1. Suthenboy

          Foilage growth you say?

          http://deforestation.geologist-1011.net

      3. It's farcical that Hansen's models are used by anybody at all. IIRC they are the least predictive (they run really, really, hot).

        1. Even Hanson isn't as bad.

          1. Roger the Shrubber

            I had some shitty service at a restaurant/bar. I dropped $5 in the jukebox, selected MMMBop 10x, walked out the door.

            1. waffles

              Can't the bartender override?

              1. Roger the Shrubber

                It was 15 years ago. I'm sure someone eventually pulled the plug.

          2. Aloysious

            Yes. Yes, they are that bad.

      4. Suthenboy

        Engineers my ass. Cultists beginning to have doubts is what they are. Anyone can calculate the light energy falling on a square meter on a summer day then factor in solar panel efficiency, the electricity generated by windmills, and the cost (energy expended measured in dollars) of that vs. energy from hydrocarbons and see that it is a losing game. We would end up using more energy but having less available for productive uses and throw all our money down a hole. The 'renewable energy' movement is a scam for throwing money at cronies.

        It is simple fucking math. If these guys were doing engineering when they thought 'renewables' were good then I am a fucking flying reindeer.

    2. db

      Saying things like "the planet is doomed" is very life-ist. The *planet* will do just fine. And guess what, even most *life* will do just fine. And humans will be part of that because we are, in spite of all efforts to suppress this instinct, survivors and engineers that modify our surroundings in order to survive.

      1. Zeb

        Yeah, that is the worst hyperbole in all this, I think. For one thing, the planet has been much warmer is the past and life did very well. And humans are the species that originated in a tropical environment and has managed to live and survive in every part of the world that it is remotely possible to do so. I think we can deal with slightly warmer temperatures.

        1. BuSab Agent

          That's the thing I've never understood. Warmer temps would be a good thing; longer growing seasons, more arable land It's another ice age that would be the real threat. Course glaciers on Chicago and New York might not necessarily be all bad.

          1. antisocial-ist

            Glaciers may be the best thing to happen to Detroit since Henry Ford.

          2. Course glaciers on Chicago and New York might not necessarily be all bad.

            To get to New York City, they'd have to come through upstate again, and that would be a tad inconvenient.

            1. robc

              They could get to NYC from the south!

            2. BuSab Agent

              Yes, and just think of our poor Canadian friends.

          3. Zeb

            Too many people assume that all effects of global warming must be bad. I don't get it. As with just about everything, there are pros and cons.
            Generally warmer climate would cause problems for some people. If it happened quickly, it would probably be a painful transition in some ways. But there are certainly many good effects as well.

      2. waffles

        It's conservative. It presumes the environment on Earth must be kept to some status quo. It's some presumption that everyone agrees the planet before the industrial revolution was the best possible one.

        1. Not even that.

          The presumption really is that the perfect climate is the one that we had when the warmistas were kids.

          For most of them, that was the cooler spell we were going through in the '40s through the '70s.

          1. Suthenboy

            Then they are about to get their wish.

            1. Gray Ghost

              Hopefully, not more than that. Aren't we past the normal end of the interglacial?

              We really don't want to see The Ice come back. You thought Russia was an asshole to its neighbors before...

  6. . "They want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," the president said.

    Considering he had zero miles on him when we bought him in 2008, he's depreciated fast.

    1. PRX

      bad news for a beater like Hillary

  7. db

    Former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry has died at age 78.

    Bitch set him up?

  8. Western negotiators attempting to broker a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear arms program have set a new deadline of July 2015 after talks failed to produce results by today.

    I smell a red line.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      True story. Originally, it was supposed to be a 'blue line' but Obama worried that people wouldn't see it because of the ocean.

      /takes bow. Ducks.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    "They want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," the president said.

    This just in!

    Hillary '16 organization announces Earl Scheib as campaign manager.

  10. My Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of hagiographies of Marion Barry. I may need to stay away from social media until after the formal apotheosis ceremony.

    1. Kaptious Kristen

      No one on my FB feed has even mentioned Barry, and most of them are in the DC area. Weird.

      The news, however, has gone into full retard eulogy mode. The dude was scuzzy. What's with all the love?

  11. Bo Cara Esq.

    Native Americans Protest College Football Shirt
    http://www.wnem.com/story/27452525/sh.....f-big-game

    Native Americans Protest Satirical Andrew Jackson Play at College

    http://www.stanforddaily.com/2.....community/

    1. robc

      Damn Socons.

      1. antisocial-ist

        There was am outlaw country and western singer a few years ago.(Can't remember his name) Who had a song called "They Don't Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore" which was a satire song that lampooned the KKK. Unfortunately, the klan was pretty much the only people who got the satire.

        1. Restoras

          Outlaw Country! Woooohoooo!

        2. SugarFree

          Kinky Friedman "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore"

          1. antisocial-ist

            Thanks, on a similar note, lots of people still think David Allan Coe is a racist.

            1. db

              I knew a guy who was a David Allen Coe fan *because* he thought he was racist. I never listened to the guy because I assumed so. Are you saying Coe really isn't racist?

            2. Unreconstructed

              I don't know what Mr. Coe's thoughts are these days, but if you've ever heard the stuff he recorded immediately after his prison stint, I could hardly fault you for thinking the man *defined* racist.

        3. Zeb

          Kinky Friedman, I think.

          1. Drake

            My favorite Jewish cowboy!

          2. robc

            Kinky has run for Governor of Texas at least once.

            1. Had the best plan ever for controlling the border, too.

              Set up a fund for each governor (or whatever) of a Mexican border province.

              For every illegal who comes across from his province, a fixed amount is deducted from the fund.

              At the end of each year, the remainder is paid to the governor.

              1. Unreconstructed

                That was good - and Willie Nelson as head of the DPS? Loved it. The "De-Wussification" campaign idea was brilliant too. And his campaign slogan was perfect - "Why the hell not?"

    2. Restoras

      Grievance theater concern trolling.

    3. Notorious G.K.C.

      "Were this not an academic setting, I personally would have made the decision to go on with the show, but on a university campus our obligations are different. I don't think it's fair for us to alienate members of the community."

      Hmmm...this reinforces the stereotype that the real world has more viewpoint diversity than the academic world, contrary to the traditional academic self-image.

      While I shouldn't judge a play by its title, I would imagine that something called "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" wouldn't shy away from the unpleasant aspects of his record.

      1. Bo Cara Esq.

        The irony is the play is an attack on Jackson, likening him to Hitler, but the protestors still oppose it . Here's a money quote from one who apparently has never seen The Producers: "IRhiana Yazzie, a playwright who helped organize a protest of the Minneapolis production, said the musical "reinforces stereotypes" and left her feeling "assaulted."

        "The truth is that Andrew Jackson was not a rockstar and his campaign against tribal people ? known so briefly in American history textbooks as the 'Indian Removal Act' ? is not a farcical backdrop to some emotive, brooding celebrity," Yazzie wrote in an open letter. "Can you imagine a show wherein Hitler was portrayed as a justified, sexy rockstar?"

        1. "Can you imagine a show wherein Hitler was portrayed as a justified, sexy rockstar?"

          It's called Springtime for Hitler, baby.

      2. I thought it was about his duelling...

        1. And litigating - if couldn't shot you, he would sue you.

      3. Zeb

        And here I thought that the academic setting was supposed to be the place to try out controversial ideas and artistic expression. Silly me.

        1. Not these days. These days it's a far left echo chamber where you get shouted down and locked out if you leave lock-step.

          1. Zeb

            But they still like to pretend that that is what they are.

    4. WTF

      The university has also reached out to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The tribe is aware of the shirt, but said it will not allow the shirts to impede on the great relationship.

      So the actual Native Americans don't really mind the shirt, only the white SJW grievance-mongers do.

    5. Pope Jimbo

      Chippewa???!!!?

      Here in sunny Minnesoda we have been lectured that it is in fact the Ojibwe and not Chippewa.

      Not sure why the change, but it switched over sometime in my youth.

      1. straffinrun

        They all like the squaw piss, I mean Leinies.

  12. Government arts funding is the elephant in the room, but of course nobody mentions that the whole idea of government funding the arts is the problem.

    Synopsis: Circus company is reasonably successful, but there's lots of bitching that they don't get enough money from the taxpayers.

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      I hate the circus...and clowns.

      Put them together and Rufus is not pleased.

      /flashbacks.

      1. That's because in Quebec you only get Cirque du Soleil.

        1. Zeb

          Cirque du Soleil is the shit. I don't get the clown aversion that lots of people have, but I'd imagine that their clowns are less terrifying as well. It is a bunch of artsy-fartsy bullshit, but it's so well executed.

          1. Rufus J. Firefly

            I had to go deliver a package or two at Cirque HQ a few years back.

            It was a freak show.

            1. Zeb

              I find circus people fascinating. They are these amazing athletes who live and act like crazy circus people.

        2. Rufus J. Firefly

          I've had just about enough of your Quebec bashing.

          1. You bash Quebeckers all the time; why can't the rest of us? 😉

            1. I don't discriminate - I'll bash all canukistanis (and americans, and brits, and antipodians, and everyone outside the anglosphere too...)

            2. Rufus J. Firefly

              I bash Quebec's stupid and immature obsession with wanting to be like Scandinavia, its corruption and the idiot separatist (sometimes xenophobic) nationalists. Those two groups - the confiscatory welfare agents and separatists - can go fuck themselves.

              Other than that, it's no different than any place in NA. Except en francais.

              1. Kaptious Kristen

                And the cheese curd.

      2. Jerryskids

        The only thing more disgusting than circus clowns are circus peanuts.

        1. the clowns feed on them!

    2. Injun, as in from India

      Must read post on government funding of the arts:

      'Constitutional Slippage'?Arts Edition

  13. Bo Cara Esq.

    Two Cased Involving Free Speech and License Plates to be Considered at Upcoming SCOTUS Conference

    First involves NC approving 'Choose Life' plates while denying pro-choice plates

    http://www.scotusblog.com/case.....-carolina/

    Second involved TX denying Sons of the Confederacy plates

    http://www.scotusblog.com/case.....erans-inc/

    1. robc

      Designer plates are weird. The whole concept bothers me.

      1. Somebody doesn't like me ROBCSUX plates, I see.

        1. It's a violation of the trademark on the 9000 SUX.

          1. +1 I'd buy that for a dollar

      2. gaijin

        agreed. State run bumper sticker business is all they are.

    2. First involves NC approving 'Choose Life' plates

      Did they deny "Frankie says relax" plates?

      1. gaijin

        wnuwnacm?

      2. robc

        Ted S wins a thread.

        Which is amazing.

        1. You say this as though there were something wrong with my humor.

          1. Not this time, he didn't!

    3. Zeb

      Who thinks it's a good idea to put any controversial political issue on license plates?

      1. Bardas Phocas

        A controversial political issue on my car bumper!
        Perish the thought.
        I'll be resting on my fainting couch.

        1. Zeb

          I'm not personally offended by it or anything. Just seems like a bad road for the state to go down. I think the example illustrates it well.

          1. If they charge more for the plates....I can totally see the state stirring the shite.

  14. Old Man With Candy

    Hagel out?

  15. Notorious G.K.C.

    "7 Tips for Atheists at Thanksgiving Dinner

    "Should atheists come out to their religious family at the Thanksgiving dinner?...

    "1. Don't come out as an atheist during the Thanksgiving meal.

    "The blessing may seem like an appropriate occasion for you to drop the news, but family gatherings usually have enough potential friction....

    "6. Keep this Bible verse ready.

    "1 Corinthians 13:11 says, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became a man, I put away those childish things." You might get ready to share with your family what that verse means for you, but be circumspect about suggesting that they also put away their childish biblical stories."

    http://www.faithstreet.com/onf.....nner/35105

    1. lap83

      Or you could just join your new family harassing goats under the bridge

      1. Notorious G.K.C.

        Are you saying I don't already?

        1. lap83

          Heh actually I was talking about the subject of the article. I'm pretty sure you only harass the pro-choice goats.

          1. Notorious G.K.C.

            I thought you were calling me a troll - that's OK, trolls are just misunderstood.

            Come down by my bridge and join my family for Thanksgiving dinner!

            1. Notorious G.K.C.

              (That didn't come out all ominous, did it?)

              1. lap83

                The exclamation point choice makes it seem cheerful. An ellipsis would be ominous. All caps would be scary.

    2. gaijin

      "Should atheists come out to their religious family at the Thanksgiving dinner?...

      Only if you a the kind of self-centered douche who thinks every family gathering is just a stage for your life story's performance

      1. sarcasmic

        That would describe most of the anti-religionists who give faithless atheists like myself a bad name.

        1. Notorious G.K.C.

          "Pass the mashed potatoes, you fundamentalist knuckle-dragger!"

          "Certainly, you hell-bound heathen!"

          1. antisocial-ist

            So you have met my moms family.

      2. Fluffy

        Only if you a the kind of self-centered douche who thinks every family gathering is just a stage for your life story's performance

        OK, I just have to be a dick about this and say - what the hell else would a family gathering be for?

        "Let's get 20 people together and have all of them simultaneously defer to what they think everyone else's sensibilities are." Um, what?

        If every person present joins together in not regarding the family gathering as a stage for their life story's performance...what the hell are they doing there?

        1. robc

          I think its the dropping major things during a group gathering instead of doing it in a smaller setting and letting the news filter thru the family.

          1. Tonio

            It's actually easier to say those things once, and when one has a captive audience. Besides, I can only imagine the butt-hurt from you people if a cousin called you up to say she had gone atheist. IOW, you people are privileging religiousity (let's all say grace) over non-religiousity.

            How's that bitterness working out for you people?

            1. robc

              Who is this "you people"?

              One of my best friends is atheist (insert obvious joke here). Actually, probably about half my close friends.

              I think someone is analogizing and projecting.

              1. gaijin

                It's actually easier to say those things once, and when one has a captive audience

                as someone who is not religious, I can only say that when you decide to do things solely based on what is easiest for you, well, self-centered douche seems to fit. Because family is just a captive audience for your little show, right?

                1. Tonio

                  Happy Thanksgiving, Gaijin.

        2. Zeb

          I suppose if you want your family to know what you believe about that sort of thing, a family gathering is the time. Probably not while saying grace, though.

        3. John

          This is true, but as I say above, the tie goes to the home owners. If you don't like how they do things and can't control yourself and shut up, don't go there. It is really that simple. When in Rome as they say.

        4. If every person present joins together in not regarding the family gathering as a stage for their life story's performance...what the hell are they doing there?

          This is an alien concept to me. I go back to visit my family because, you know, we love each other and stuff, and enjoy being in each other's company.

      3. Tonio

        Uh, but family gatherings are stages for the stories of everyone's lives. Grandpa's medical problems, cousin Jena's new baby over there...

        But god forbid anyone should talk about a personal revelation that makes Eddie or Gajin pissy. Or more pissy than they already are.

        1. sarcasmic

          Polite people refrain from discussing religion and politics at family gatherings.

          1. BuSab Agent

            In my family you must avoid talk of religion and politics to avoid killings.

        2. Oh for crying out loud!

          Happy news (we're having a baby!) is perfectly appropriate for a group setting. News that is a calamity (I'm having a baby and it's due the day before my 16th birthday) should probably be saved for a different time so as not to cast a pall on the celebration.

          It's not complicated.

          1. Restoras

            Well sure but that interferes with everyone's right to be a narcissistic douchebag and isn't that what libertarianism is all about??

            1. Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)

              Last time I was home, I told my conservative Mom that I was 'generally libertarian'.

              Had I told her I preferred to eat fetuses (fetii) for holiday meals, it would have went over just as well.

              I believe she thought that was pretty much what it meant anyway.

          2. I'm having a baby and it's due the day before my 16th birthday

            Well, now, missy, that's just bad timing, it won't do to have two birthdays in such proximity.

            /end deliberately missing the point.

        3. gaijin

          Who the f is eddie and why do you frequently seem to associate me with him?

          1. Zeb

            Eddie is Notorious GKC.

            1. gaijin

              ok. I do not understand the linkage Tony-O seems to want to make, but whatever.

              1. Zeb

                I'm not sure what that was about either.

        4. PRX

          why would an atheist give thanks?

          1. Zeb

            It's a question I've often asked myself. You could thank your host or your guests, I guess.

          2. Kaptious Kristen

            I give thanks (as in I'm "thankful for" - not TO anyone or any made-up deity) that my dad is still alive, I have a roof over my head and a job and a decent dog and a reasonably nice boyfriend. What's so weird about that?

            1. Zeb

              I've always thought that being thankful implies being thankful to someone or something. Maybe not. But if the thanks aren't directed at anything in particular, aren't you just saying that you are glad that life is reasonably decent?

              1. Kaptious Kristen

                What's the difference between "glad" and "thankful"? None, in my vocabulary.

                But if you want to go further, "thankful" implies that certain parts of my life a pretty good, and when those pretty good parts are sometimes beyond the realm of my control (like my dad being around), and they're still good, that's pretty neat.

            2. Tonio

              What KK said.

      4. straffinrun

        There are no atheists in a gravy bowl.

        1. BuSab Agent

          Only believers get cannibalized then?

          1. No, Athiests are served with Barbecue sauce

          2. straffinrun

            Their faith adds to the flavor. Their guilt provides the consistency.

      5. "Should atheists come out to their religious family at the Thanksgiving dinner?...

        Just don't bow your head and pray to the man in the sky. Just like if your in a room full of praying Muslims, you don't owe them the respect of praying to the great child molester in the sky.

    3. This Machine Slips It In

      Heh, reminds me of last week's "Ask Andrew W.K." (yes, the Reason interview led me there).

    4. John

      Maybe everyone, religious and non religious, should just shut the fuck up about such matters and try and get along? And perhaps the tie in who should shut the fuck up should go to the person whose home it is?

      That means if you are religious and at an atheist's home, live without grace for once in your life. And if you are atheists in a religious person's home, bow your head and shut the fuck up when they want to say grace or say something religious.

      1. gaijin

        ^this

      2. Zeb

        Yeah, that's really the way to go. I've got family who are evangelical Christian. We all know what the others believe and don't make a big deal of it and everyone has a good time being together.

        1. RBS

          That's how we do it too. I don't really understand why some people find this concept so difficult.

          1. That's what being a narcissistic douchebag is all about, RBS. Not getting that other people really don't care all that much about your nitwit ideas.

            "Just because its personal, doesn't mean its important."

    5. I've been an athiest - minus the occasional Charlton Heston movie - for over thirty years. As a kindness to my extended family I never talk about my lack of religious conviction.

      They pray... I wait - eyes open and unbowed - until they are done. And then we eat. And that is the end of my story.

      1. Jordan

        Aye. This. I don't understand why so many of my fellow atheists feel the need to be complete douchebags.

        1. It's probably a response to the order of magnitude greater level of douchbaggery dished out by theists keen on telling children that they'll be tortured for eternity because daddy doesn't send them to bible school.

          1. Tonio

            ^This.

        2. Zeb

          My guess is that most of them are more interested in fighting against the religion they grew up with than in actual beliefs. Which would also explain why they want to bring it up to their families on holidays.

          I grew up going to church (pretty low key New England mainline protestant). But I never hated it or anything. I just can't remember ever really believing any of the stuff they would tell you in church.

          1. Tonio

            Nope. Projection. Also, see above.

            1. Zeb

              Projection of what on whose part?

    6. PRX

      I'll attend and eat your food dammit, but don't expect me to be thankful.

      1. What if the food is really good, and the alcohol top notch?

    7. Pope Jimbo

      I think CraigsList has the solution for you:

      https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8382970368/h78273C51/

      1. Tonio

        That is brilliant.

  16. Bo Cara Esq.

    White Evangelicals Most Likely to Attribute Severe Weather to End Times over Climate Change

    "While 62 percent of total respondents ascribed the cause of recent natural disasters to climate change, 49 percent also thought biblical "end times" were the cause. For white evangelical Protestants, these numbers basically reversed ? 77 percent pointed to the apocalypse, and just 49 percent attributed extreme weather to climate change (the numbers add up to more than one-hundred because people could offer more than one cause)."

    http://thinkprogress.org/clima.....ngelicals/

    1. Restoras

      Since neither are based on science what's the difference?

    2. In other words, superstitious people interpret things they see through the paradigm of their superstitions.... Film at 11.

    3. robc

      As climate change is complete bunk, seems the odds are in their favor.

      I attribute it to historical misremembering. Like the people who claim they had to walk uphill both ways to school*.

      *WKU students excepted.

      1. SugarFree

        *WKU students excepted.

        [grins]

        1. robc

          Went to the WKU-Army football game two weekends ago.

          Had to walk uphill from car to stadium and from stadium to car.

          Of course, parking on College St caused that.

          1. SugarFree

            According to google, where I used to live on Center St. is now a parking garage.

            1. robc

              New hotel on Center is almost done. Only downtown hotel once complete. Its next to new Alumni Center.

      2. Tonio

        Now, now, robc, it really does change over time. Ice ages, and all that.

        1. robc

          Ice ages repeat, I would say the ice age and the interglacial period are part of the same climate.

          But, otherwise, yeah, your point stands.

          1. Tonio

            I was mostly trying to make a funny. I knew what you meant, that the anthropogenic and catastrophic parts were implied, but was riffing on some recent discussions here.

          2. Zeb

            We are still technically in an ice age (there are permanent continental ice sheets). And on geological timescales we just exist in a brief interglacial period. But I'd say it is reasonable to call changes on shorter timescales (maybe 100s of years) "climate change".

      3. My grandfather went to school with MC Escher. For grandpa, the walk really was uphill both ways.

        1. Curse You!

      4. I attribute it to historical misremembering. Like the people who claim they had to walk uphill both ways to school

        They built our school on Escher Lane. Only the fools walked uphill both ways, you could also get there by walking downhill both ways.

  17. SugarFree

    The very intelligent and accomplished ladies of Jezebel just happened to all marry bums. Because patriarchy or something.

    1. antisocial-ist

      All that education and no one ever told them that decent men don't want to live with shrieking shrews for the rest of their lives.

    2. Lady Bertrum

      I'd bet children are the common thread. My general observation is that men may or may not want children but if their spouse doesn't, they'll agree to go childless. Women on the other hand may insist on children and will compromise their professional ambitions to make that happen.

      1. Tonio

        But some men do wake up and realize they are married to a prog nutjob and that impregnating that woman is the stupidest and most expensive thing they can do. Easier to cut your losses and start over again than risk having kids raised by a loon.

    3. Red Rocks Rockin

      Over half of male grads expected their wives' careers to take a backseat to theirs, while just 7 percent of women thought they'd take the lead. Saddest of all: Most women went into business school expecting they'd have egalitarian partnerships where both careers were valued.

      Here's what these women (and the Jezbians) never realized until it was too late--that in a relationship where both people work, the likelihood that the marriage will eventually be guided by the career trajectory of just one person is very high. And when it happens, people tend to make one of two choices: 1) determine who is going to be in the most financially stable job, and allow that person's career to dominate, or 2) get divorced. And because men tend to be in more higher-paying jobs, and because women tend to take time off for kids because the men tend to be in more higher-paying jobs, then it stands to reason that marriages are going to follow the husband's career.

      1. Matrix

        PATRIARCHY!!!

        STOP TRYING TO MANSPLAIN THINGS TO ME!!!

        /femderp

    4. SERENITY NOW!

      I got to thinking yesterday that by naming their site Jezebel, they chose to name their site after someone who was eventually turned into dog shit.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    I read part of that Rolling Stone RAPE CULTURE article. The account of the "gang rape" in the beginning was written in the highly fictionalized style of a bodice-ripper novel. I couldn't take it seriously.

    Maybe I'm just too naive and credulous, but I find it impossible to believe that incident happened as described and was just swept under the rug.

    1. gaijin

      Womyn never lie about rape!

      Man freed after 19 years in prison as rape claim recanted

  19. The Late P Brooks

    Kinky Friedman.

    1. robc

      Your commenting style, without quotations, leads to interesting random comments.

      1. Roger the Shrubber

        Living by one's principles is not a Utilitarian endeavor.

  20. Alice Bowie

    R.I.P. Marion Barry !!!

  21. robc

    Speaking of College Street...have a lawyer meeting today for final approval of lease.

    grumble...grumble, insane process.

    1. Are you taking over an empty industrial property?

      1. robc

        No.

        Empty storefront retail-type property.

        Im going nano for now, will start working on packaging brewery in industrial space once this one is running.

        1. Gray Ghost

          Good luck. I'm looking forward to seeing your beer in the marketplace. Of course, I'm probably going to have to visit Kentucky to see it, but that's something I probably should do anyway.

          I love it when people are able to make their dreams real, and make money doing what they want to do.

  22. DEG

    Symantec researchers discover new malware, and suspect its source is a government.

    1. Drake

      Isn't software created by the government by definition malware?

      1. Jordan

        When it actually works.

      2. There's also government vaporware.

  23. robc

    Had a zombie story idea yesterday during church.

    Think "Left Behind", but at the rapture the souls leave the bodies, but the bodies continue living.

    I dont know if this has been done before.

    1. Tonio

      That would be taking zombie fiction in a new direction. The thing about Romero-Falci zombies (those of contemporary popular fiction) is that zombification is due to disease. This fiction is generally free of supernatural causes, claims and events.

      1. robc

        That would be taking zombie fiction in a new direction.

        That was the point. To twist the typical zombie story in a new direction.

        I was thinking of Fluffy's novels. He has already done a zombie twist one, but I liked his take on Jericho.

        1. SugarFree

          I wonder how long a zombie outbreak could last if it wasn't communicable.

          It is a good twist. And you could break open the whole Christian zombie market.

          1. Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)

            Jesus was a zombie?

            1. Yep, he was Zombie Zero.

              And that's the title of either the first or last book in your series.

              You're welcome.

              1. SugarFree

                Wouldn't Lazarus be Zombie Zero?

                And with all the blood and transformation talk, Jesus is more a vampire, I imagine.

                And surely a better book than this could be written from the idea.

                1. Pretty crappy vampire - giving blood, rather than taking. Hmmm...Reverse Vampire Jesus does have a ring, tho'

          2. Tonio

            Depends on how many zombies were created and how long it takes to kill them all (joke).

            In the original Night of the Living Dead the mechanism of zombification was "radiation from a passing comet." Which was pretty lame and unbelievable back then, but at least was an natural (though unbelievable) cause.

      2. Gray Ghost

        This fiction is generally free of supernatural causes, claims and events.

        And is usually better for doing so. (Cue my throwing "Cell" across the room with great force, once King sledgehammered in the supernatural plot element.)

    2. Notorious G.K.C.

      Dante's Inferno - the punishment of those treacherous to guests: "as soon as they are treacherous, their souls are sent straight to Hell while a demon inhabits their still living bodies..."

      http://quizlet.com/14425489/da.....ash-cards/

      1. Isn't that even worse for the people who aren't assholes who now have to deal with a demon?

      2. Andrew S.

        That explains Walder Frey.

    3. straffinrun

      ?1 stick of butter on the lawn.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    I endeavor to persevere.

  25. Is this really the greatest catch in NFL history?

    And not, I don't know, that other Giant who caught the ball on his helmet during the Super Bowl a few years ago?

    1. Rufus J. Firefly

      I don't know if it is, but it was pretty sick and has to rank among anyone's list of greatest catches.

      Eli Manning is very lucky he's been blessed with, generally, great receivers in his career because his numbers would suck more. Can't believe he has two rings let alone one.

    2. Fluffy

      It was worth watching that game just to hear Collinsworth and Michaels absolutely lose their shit about that catch.

      1. Restoras

        Collingsworth is horrible - can't stand to hear him utter any word. Not as bad as Gruden though.

    3. Roger the Shrubber

      That was an impressively athletic catch, but context is everything when judging greatness. I thought it was pretty much historical consensus that Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception was the greatest of all time. And there's no was that any catch by a receiver on a 3-8 team, in a losing effort, could beat that.

      1. Any catch that was illegal under the rules of the time, that the refs let stand because they didn't want to be murdered by a mob of drunk unemployable hillbillies, doesn't count as the greatest anything.

        Also, I met Franco Harris' kid at a football camp once. Weird fucker.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    I'm still thinking about it. But soon, probably.

  27. Viktor Tikhonov, the Soviet hockey coach who lost to Herb Brooks and the US Olympic team in 1980, dies aged 84

    Viktor Tikhonov, the Soviet Union Olympic hockey coach in the "Miracle on Ice" game who led teams to three gold medals, died overnight after a battle with illness at age 84, the KHL announced Monday.

    Tikhonov coached the Soviet Union men's hockey team at the Lake Placid 1980 Olympics, where it was shocked by the U.S. in the Miracle on Ice game. The Soviets won silver.

    Tikhonov, known as a hard-line coach, then led the Soviets to gold in 1984 and 1988 and the Unified Team to the 1992 gold.

    "The entire global hockey community has lost a great coach," Vladislav Tretiak, who played goalie for Tikhonov, told R-Sport, according to The Associated Press. "He devoted his entire life to hockey until the last second. Even when I was with him in hospital, we were discussing what needed to be done and how, in order to raise the Russian national team to the very highest level."

    "His name will always be associated with the 'Krasnaya Mashina,' the 'Red Machine,' as we called the Soviet team," Boris Mikhailov, a star forward under Tikhonov, said, according to the KHL.

    1. John

      With most sports "miracles" there usually turns out to be a back story not obvious at the time. The players on the losing side have turned on the coach or a player is hurt and no one outside the locker room knew it or the winning team was cheating in some way (like the 51 miracle Giants who were stealing signs) or something.

      The 1980 US victory over the Soviets has never produced such a back story. The coach was good. The team was united and healthy. It really was a miracle.

      1. Rufus J. Firefly

        Easily one of the biggest 'goose bumps' event I witnessed. I was only a kid and I still understood the significance of that victory. In Canada, we knew how powerful the Soviets were since Canada had a hard enough time challenging them.

        For a bunch of no-name Yanks to pull it off like that was massive. A miracle indeed.

        I don't know if people realize what that team accomplished.

        For me, it was among the best sports moments.

      2. Restoras

        If it were a 7 game series the Soviets would have won 4-1.

        It was less a miracle and more of determined effort by a team that had nothing to lose against a team that didn't think they had to show up.

        Still, an iconic moment in sports.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Even in a one-off it was incredible.

          1. Restoras

            Oh it absolutely was. I was 15 at the time and absolutely lived and breathed hockey as much as a non-Canadian could. It was one of the most incredible sporting events I ever witnessed and it has to be the most iconic of the century.

      3. Definitely. And unlike a time period only 30 years removed where Tikhnov might have been declared unperson and banished from Soviet society, it seems the Soviets still trusted his leadership and coaching skills.

        He's undoubtedly remembered over there for the 3 golds and not the one fluke occurrence where they lost, which is nice.

        The players on the losing side have turned on the coach or a player is hurt and no one outside the locker room knew it or the winning team was cheating in some way (like the 51 miracle Giants who were stealing signs) or something.

        Or that bullshit in 1972 when the Soviets "won" the gold medal at basketball when they got three attempts to run their last play.

        1. John

          The refs being fixed is another one. It seems like there is always something. For example, take the famous game seven where Willis Reed came out of the locker room hurt and "inspired" the Knicks to beat the Lakers. What never gets mentioned is that there was another player playing hurt in that game, Jerry West. The reason the Knicks won had nothing to do with Reed. They won because Clyde Frazier torched West for like 34 points. West was too bull headed and proud to admit he was hurt and let someone else defend Frazier. Frazier just killed him.

      4. Gray Ghost

        The 1980 US victory over the Soviets has never produced such a back story.

        Though yanking Tretiak after the first period has to be one of the most inexplicable coaching decisions in any sport. But yeah, it was an absolutely unbelievable tournament for the U.S.A. To beat a team with that many all-time greats on it: Tretiak, Fetisov, Makarov, Krutov.

        I still don't know how they did it.

    2. Rufus J. Firefly

      Tikhonov was THE face of CCCP hockey. He and Tretziak. There were key figures in the Team Canada/Red Army showdowns of the 70's and 80s. Tretziak was a Habs fan.

      Not to mention the likes of Makarov, Krutov, Konstantinov, Fedorov, Larionov and a few others.

      As much I had pure Cold War hatred for them, they were outstanding hockey players and formidable squad. They were indeed a machine. They would circle around the three zones like a ballet.

      Contrast this with the 'crash and bang' style of the Canadians and you had some kind of rivalry.

      Those were the days.

      1. John

        And even though they were the face of the evil empire, they played a more pleasing brand of hockey.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          Ironic, eh?

          We had Henderson and Clarke. They had Kharlamov and Makarov.

          In fairness, Orr and Coffey could skate with the Russkies.

          1. John

            Even today, I would rather watch the Russians play hockey than the Canadians. I like skating and movement. Hockey is a beautiful game when played at that level. Sadly, the Canadian way seems to win. But I still like the Russian way better.

      2. Andrew S.

        I've wondered a lot what the WHA/NHL would've been like in that time period if the Soviet players had been playing over on this side of the Atlantic.

        1. Rufus J. Firefly

          It would have been like now.

          I reckon.

  28. Mitt Romney tops New Hampshire 2016 poll, Rand Paul and Chris Christie tie if Romney is removed from consideration

    Republican Rand Paul is showing early strength for a possible 2016 presidential bid in the first primary state, where a Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm New Hampshire Poll shows him running slightly ahead of more established names.

    When 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney is removed from the mix, the Kentucky senator and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie share the top spot, with each drawing 16 percent support from likely Republican primary voters. Romney, who has repeatedly said he has no plans to run for president a third time, leads the potential pack with 30 percent when included.

    While Paul may be considered controversial among Republicans in Washington because of his ties to the party's Tea Party wing, New Hampshire Republicans don't see him that way. His favorable rating is the best of the potential 2016 Republican field, with 65 percent of likely primary voters viewing him positively and just 19 percent negatively. That's on par with the state's Republican senator, Kelly Ayotte.

    1. Crusty Juggler

      Romney? New Hampshire sucks.

      1. Injun, as in from India

        Agree. Can't f***ing believe it.

        And seriously, Governor Bridge Gate Obama-hugging Fatso ties Rand Paul?

        Also, don't forget that Governor Flab did his best to NOT help Scott Walker in Wisconsin this past election.

    2. Kaptious Kristen

      WTF?

  29. AlgerHiss

    When you think of Marion Barry, think Coleman Young: Both setting today's standard for punks and thugs worldwide.

    1. Mike M.

      It's so fucking revolting watching all the usual suspects in the media talk about him like he was a great man just because he was good at getting jobs for his cronies.

      He was a standard-issue liberal hack pol who thought that the laws didn't apply to him, and got away with stuff that you or I would go to jail for if we tried.

      1. Zeb

        Meh. That's what happens when people die.

  30. Crusty Juggler

    There ain't no forgettin'.

  31. Matthew Shepard's mom: Bill Clinton got "bad advice" on DOMA, remains enthusiastic in supporting him and Obama despite the latter's "evolving" views on gay marriage

    "I personally think he just got some bad advice," Shepard told host Josh Zepps during a conversation about the upcoming documentary on her son. "I think in [Clinton's] heart, he wanted to do the right thing and he knew what the right thing was, but the political advice was not right."

    Since President Barack Obama's "evolving" attitude on same-sex marriage turned into full-fledged support in 2012, DOMA has been overturned and society's acceptance of gays is at an all-time high -- 8 out of 10 young Americans now support marriage equality.

    Shepard said she is "absolutely" impressed by the pace of change since her son's death 16 years ago, adding that electing Obama gave Americans "permission" to finally support the gay community.

    "We knew we weren't going to get very far with past leadership, but with President Obama, he's a leader who understands social injustice and has his people around him who understand it too," she said. "So it became just a matter of the right message and the timing, and it's just been incredible."

    Oh the delusions they'll willingly embrace.

    1. Tonio

      electing Obama gave Americans "permission" to finally support the gay community

      That poor woman.

      There is simply no good response you can give to that, given her circumstances. If others raise that argument, even quoting her, then pushback is appropriate.

  32. Vacation this week - using up those last days off.

    I'm starting on another book. And as a taker of the H-n-R oath, will remain slightly drunk most of the day.

    1. waffles

      There was an oath? Is that something from the Postrel days?

      1. Drink!

        1. Tonio

          Heh.

  33. Andrew S.

    Vox's guide to having all sorts of stupid arguments with your family on Thanksgiving

    Surprisingly no Obamacare section.

    1. Brett L

      1) Shut the fuck up and pretend you like each other.*

      *Unless someone is rooting for the Dallas Cowboys. Then give them merciless shit.

    2. Look, if you're retarded enough to read Vox and take Ezra Klein and his ilk seriously, you probably really do need talking points printed out and handy at the dinner table so you can needlessly start an argument.

      1. RBS

        How about discussing how Vox has destroyed SBNation?

        1. Andrew S.

          At least the individual team/school SBNation blogs, in general, stay away from politics. Vox hasn't had near the awful effect on SBNation that Gawker had on Deadspin.

          1. RBS

            The SJW stuff is starting to penetrate though. My biggest complaint is that the founders of the two blogs I used to read all the time (Shakin the Southland and Conquest Chronicles) were driven away by the new content policies. The quality of the writing on those blogs has taken a nose dive and they used to be two of the best.

    3. Injun, as in from India

      If you like your cordial Thanksgiving dinner conversation, you can keep it!

    4. Sevo

      "Surprisingly no Obamacare section."

      I believe last year's propaganda was all about how O-care was a big success.

    5. I'm always amazed when people think that memorizing a list of talking points is the way to win arguments. No, it's not, it's the opposite of arguing, and it's cynical and insulting to the people you're conversing with. Just shut the fuck up and eat your shitty overcooked turkey and pretend you don't hate everyone in the house.

    6. lap83

      I don't know if it's just a crazy coincidence, but most of the people who actually believe that someone's worldview can be turned upside down in a paragraph seem to be progressive. The rest of us realize that people have beliefs which seem dumb but aren't going to change just because we want them to.

  34. Little Randy goes to war: Rand drafting legislation taht will formally declare war on Islamic State

    In a draft of the resolution obtained by The Daily Beast, Paul states that "the organization referring to itself as the Islamic State has declared war on the United States and its allies" and that ISIS "presents a clear and present danger to United States diplomatic facilities in the region, including our embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, and consulate in Erbil, Iraq."

    The Obama administration has justified the bombing campaign against ISIS by claiming that it is enabled by the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan, passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq. Paul's resolution would terminate the latter and place an expiration date on the former, one year after the passing of his resolution.

    Perhaps most surprisingly, Paul's resolution will allow for limited use of boots on the ground "as necessary for the protection or rescue of members of the United States Armed Forces or United States citizens from imminent danger [posed by ISIS]? for limited operations against high value targets," and "as necessary for advisory and intelligence gathering operations."

    Pros: repeals AUMF and Iraq War resolution

    Cons: the boots on the ground thing

    1. robc

      If you are gonna declare war, you have to open it up to use of force in all possible ways.

      If we are gonna fight a war, fight a war. If Geneva hasnt banned it, we can use it.

      1. Drake

        I like the idea of a debate about declaring war. Enough with the half-assed use of force shit. Either fight or don't - let's decide.

      2. John

        I agree. The US gets into trouble when it tries to fight limited wars. The Powell Doctrine was created out of hard experience and makes sense. Either go to war with a goal and use whatever force available to accomplish it or don't go. Stop going to war with half assed goals or trying to fight war in some kind of humane limited way.

    2. Rand is doing it right, trying to get us out of this mushy middle "use of military force" BS.

      Imagine how different things would be if US forces were never deployed except to fight an actual declared war against a sovereign enemy.

  35. SERENITY NOW!

    whether or not

    redundant

    1. Zeb

      Language does sometimes have nuance beyond what you get if you just translate it to logical symbols.

  36. The Late P Brooks

    And seriously, Governor Bridge Gate Obama-hugging Fatso ties Rand Paul?

    The authoritarian wing of the Republican Party has plenty of life left in it.

  37. "Dog! What is good in life?"

    1. Brett L

      "To eat all the treats! To hear the lamentation of my owner as I disobey her!"

  38. Kaptious Kristen

    So what's the religion & politics etiquette if you're dining in a Christian's house but you're providing all of the food? Oh, and the Christian in question sings "Jesus loves me this I know" to your dog?

    (this is all just funnin' - my Christian neighbor and I get along just fine. I'm teaching her how to be a libertarian)

  39. Kaptious Kristen

    Mike Rowe continues to be awesome (and sexy)

    1. He has a patience I would like to have...

      1. Matrix

        It certainly does show that liberals, for all of their claims of tolerance, are quite an intolerant and hateful bunch.

    2. Matrix

      Everyone is a "Wa on X" with proglodytes, isn't it?

      Now, I'm not a Christian, but why is it compassionate and someone's Christian duty to support a party that basically spends all of its time pandering to those who hold completely opposing views to Christians? And I distinctly remember that Jesus charged his disciples to help the poor. He didn't tell them to give more money to the government, so that the government could help them. No, the mission was that of his followers. So giving more of your earnings to the government and sitting back, expecting that to be your contribution to the poor does not seem to really cut it.

      Again, I'm not a Christian. But then, most of those who say Christians should support government welfare are not Christians either.

    3. Antilles

      Mike Rowe continues to amaze and impress me with his wit, intelligence and rational common-sense. I'm still astonished that CNN hired him...

  40. Matrix

    Gluten-free numbskulls are hurting restaurants

    I don't know a worse food fad than the "gluten-free" craze. I know some people have a genuine need because of celiac's disease or other things that make gluten a problem, but the vast majority of folks on that diet are idiots who fell for that "gluten is evil" nonsense.

    1. Zeb

      Even though the gluten thing is bullshit, it probably is good for some people as it encourages them to eat less starch.

      1. Tonio

        There are people who have actual serious gluten issues, but yeah the fashionable camp-ons are obnoxious.

    2. Kaptious Kristen

      I lost a decent amount of weight and pooped normally when I was eating semi-paleo (which was beyond gluten free). The normal pooping was the best part.

      I still eat mostly protein and fruits/veg, but I can't resist the siren song of cookies and Outback's brown bread.

    3. Tonio

      Peanuts. Those are far worse because of the people who can't even be in the same space. Granted, the number of people who go anaphylactic just from smelling a peanut is ridiculously small, but it's all the people with legitimate but mild allergies and wannabes with "undiagnosed" allergies which mess things up for people.

    4. BuSab Agent

      I like the gluten-free numbskulls because the market is starting to cater to them which means that I (having a legitimate wheat problem) don't have to make EVERYTHING from scratch. I even found commercial made crackers that I can eat...that is unbelievably convenient.

  41. Tatyanahamm

    My best friend's mother-in-law makes $85 /hour on the internet . She has been out of work for 5 months but last month her pay was $16453 just working on the internet for a few hours.
    Visit this website ????? http://www.jobsfish.com

  42. The Late P Brooks

    the Christian in question sings "Jesus loves me this I know" to your dog?

    It's only a problem if she's trying to get the dog to sing along; I fucking hate that.

  43. JD

    The best worst president ever

    Stunning how the progressives can continue to delude themselves.

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