Darren Wilson on Why He Shot Michael Brown, FDA Finalizes Calorie-Count Rules, How Much Will ISIS War Cost?: A.M. Links

• 

  Reuters/Twitter

  In Darren Wilson's exceedingly terrible grand jury testimony, now released in full, the 6'4″, 213-pound police officer described 18-year-old Michael Brown as strong as Hulk Hogan, with the "intense aggressive face" of an angry "demon". Read Wilson's full testimony here.

• Sixty-one people were arrested in conjunction with protests around Ferguson, Missouri, last night after the jury failed to indict Officer Wilson. 
• Athletes react to the Ferguson decision. Members of Congress react to the Ferguson decision. Celebrities react to the Ferguson decision. (At least check out that last one for the Charlie Sheen tweet. #Losing) 
• Why it's impossible to indict a cop.
• Why eyewitness testimony is so often wrong.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized rules requiring calorie information be listed on chain-restaurant menus and menu boards and in vending machines. 
• Here's a breakdown of what the Pentagon plans to spend fighting ISIS. 

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

They should have announced on Black Friday. The deals people could have gotten…

[db]

PRICES SO LOW YOU’LL THINK YOU’RE LOOTING!

[Karl Hungus]

PRICES SO LOW YOU’LL THINK YOU’RE LOOTING!

I lol’d, and will probably giggle sporadically throughtout the day whenever I think about it.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Lol’ing as well here.

[Rhywun]

My god we are terrible.

LOL

[mauricegirodias]

Yeah, that’s a good one. I… just finished last graduate assignment and am drinking. But, that’s a good one that I will giggle to myself at length later before they throw me out of the bar.

[cavalier973]

I award you: One Internet.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

What did I miss?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Some court case or something….I dunno.

[Free Society]

Trayvon got shot again.

[Cdr Lytton]

All the President’s Sons.

[SERENITY NOW!]

I can’t believe you’d make light of this tragedy. Because it really is a tragedy. It is a terrible lost opportunity that’s being completely overlooked. And that is that this should be a teachable moment for young black men. Don’t do stupid shit.

[Citizen Nothing]

I can’t believe you’d make light of this tragedy.

So you’re new here?

[Rich]

Or Bill Cosby’s sock puppet.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Don’t touch Bill Cosby’s sock. You don’t know where it’s been.

[Citizen Nothing]

I just hope Cosby’s travails provide a teachable moment for elderly black rapists.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Keep the money flowing or grandma will flap her grabbers?

[trshmnster the terrible]

Gabbers *

[Slammer]

Don’t do stupid shit.

The commenters here or young black men?

[UnCivilServant]

Both.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

“Don’t do stupid shit.”

Asking that around here is rich.

[mr lizard]

You know who else made light of a tradgedy?…

[Rich]

Prometheus?

[Idle Hands]

That movie did suck.

[Ted S.]

These guys?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Menander?

[Old Man With Candy]

Jay Cutler?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Too soon!

*looks off in distance, wondering what might have been for the Bears*

[trshmnster the terrible]

Don McLean?

[Warren's Strapon]

Gilbert Gottfried?

[Zeb]

Don’t do stupid shit.

That is a lesson that is usually lost on young men of any color.

[hamilton]

Or Presidents of color. Or Secretaries of State of not-color.

[Tymowens]

That thing come by my house I kill it

[Agile Cyborg]

Angry demon dolls would’ve flown off the shelf. Hell, they still might even without people purchasing them.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Fist. Serious question.

If the Habs offered Price to the Pens would you take him?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Uh, MAF just made 300 wins, 3rd fastest time in the NHL. And they just signed him to, what, 3 years? So, in conclusion, yes, I would take Price.

[LynchPin1477]

I concur.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Here’s a breakdown of what the Pentagon plans to spend fighting ISIS.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FERGUSON?

[Bee Tagger]

Craig is the new Hagel.

[Doctor Whom]

At least now I have to see less of Kim Kardashian’s butt in my Facebook feed.

[UnCivilServant]

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FERGUSON?

It’s next year’s police catalog, Fist.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Oh, yeah.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

4) I was listening to a lecture on Rome the other day and the guy on the tape mentioned Emperor Marcus Aurelius as an example of a philosopher-king, like the kind of guy Plato thought should be in charge. Only, because Marcus A. never really took part in the actual nitty-gritty of politics, he was considered fairly competent but never really got much done, and was remembered mainly for debasing the Roman currency. Sound like anyone we know? It seems like intellectuals always yearn for a figure who will govern above the fray, but when we actually get such a person in charge they don’t have the skills to actually govern.

[db]

Nixon?

[Ted S.]

Damn your nimble fingers! 😉

[db]

*twirls pen, drops it*

[Ted S.]

Nixon?

[gaijin]

Emperor Marcus Aurelius as an example of a philosopher-king…It seems like intellectuals always yearn for a figure who will govern above the fray, but when we actually get such a person in charge they don’t have the skills to actually govern.

That’s when you get a general who becomes a slave. A slave who becomes a gladiator. A gladiator who defies an emperor.

[db]

I read that as “a gladiator who defiles and emperor” and wondered what movie you were watching.

[db]

And s/b an

[Doctor Whom]

One about Elagabalus?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

The Caligula Chronicles?

[Ted S.]

Malcom McDowell does not approve.

[gaijin]

Well there is this…”one of the most expensive of its genre”.

Private Gladiator Trilogy

Also, unlike most adult films based on mainstream films, it is not a parody, but rather a straightforward remake of Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator.

[Heroic Mulatto]

This second thrilling episode of the saga is also a faithful reconstruction of the amatory arts of Roman women, whether they were patricians with an itch to scratch, or unbridled plebeian women given to sodomy and gangbangs. The orgies in the lupanars and the parties held by Commodus and his henchmen bring to life a series of highly erotic and shocking sex scenes, with disturbing and sinful women, lovers of debauchery and proud of their arts.

This was pretty much the curriculum for my Classics minor.

[UnCivilServant]

It’s also the only reason ‘Classics’ survived as long as it did in education. Note how they disappear around the same time other smut becomes mainstream…

[Heroic Mulatto]

For whatever reason, since the early 2000s, Classics, as a major/minor, has made a slight comeback, actually. Just one example.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Shit, and I minored in Geography.

[LynchPin1477]

I read somewhere (I forget where, now) that the Romans were in fact fairly prudish, and that early Christians spread mostly made up stories of debauchery and intrigue among the upper class to appeal to the moral sensibilities of the lower classes.

[Free Society]

To an extent this is true. But there can be no doubt that debauchery was not only real, but a religious requirement for some portion of the population. Certain Emperors were even known to prostitute the wives of Senators to the city’s beggers and indigent masses.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Like the Victorians, a society can be both outwardly prudish and inwardly debauched.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

outwardly prudish and inwardly debauched

My favorite kind of date

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Damn squirrels.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*nervously pulls at collar*

I have no idea what you mean.

*wipes sweat from brow*

[BigT]

outwardly prudish and inwardly debauched.

Called a “whitened sepulcher” according to one contemporaneous teacher.

[Overt]

I read somewhere (I forget where, now) that the Romans were in fact fairly prudish

They wouldn’t have been considered prudish by modern standards at all. That said, a lot of the more salacious rumors that we have often heard (and btw, those have contemporary sources predating the Christians) were often rumors being circulated by rivals to debase them.

Nevertheless, it is pretty clear that the emperor following Augustus, Tiberius was a sick fuck and he messed up his successor Caligula pretty good. This started a pretty good precedent that showed its head several more times throughout history. Among the broader upper class population, marriage and succession rules made it easier for Roman men to engage in extramarital activities, so that happened a good amount as well.

[waffles]

Nixon?

[Warty]

He was a little hampered by constantly needing to fight Germans and Scythians, but he was the last Emperor who wasn’t a total monster. And at least his book was better than Obama’s.

Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, “I have been harmed.” Take away the complaint, “I have been harmed,” and the harm is taken away.

[The Last American Hero]

You magnificent bastard, I read your book!

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I remember the chapter, “I’m rubber, you’re glue.”

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Yeah, not sure MA is the example you want to use to push the PK agenda.

But the stoic Marcus-Aurelius did have some success on the military front. Moreover, he did leave behind Meditations that remains a pretty important tome today.

What did Obama do exactly?

[Ted S.]

He gave us hope and change.

[Shirley Knott]

fitty cents and the hope we can make it thru 8 years?

[waffles]

Dude played a lot of golf. Put Eisenhower to shame.

[waffles]

Never mind. Ike had 800 rounds in his tenure. But surprisingly Woodrow Wilson is the number one golfing-est president.

[trshmnster the terrible]

That doesn’t shock me at all. Unlike John, I don’t think Obama takes after Nixon. I think Obama is Wilson minus the competence. Wilson was an evil genius. Obama wants to be an evil genius, but ends up like a villain in a children’s story, woefully transparent and a bumbling idiot.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Swiper?

[PBR Streetgang]

This really made me laugh. Swiper. That guy just can’t hide his schemes.

[Overt]

But swiper stops when the others tell him. Imagine swiper taking Dora’s shit after being reminded that he is breaking the rules. That’s Obama.

[Old Man With Candy]

Gave us the Carter nostalgia.

[Agile Cyborg]

The only government formation where the top dog really has considerable impact as a individual is within a dictatorship. If the leader isn’t actually leading a dictatorship but still possesses dictatorial qualities he will govern though onerous legislative/executive order tactics- Nixon’s Drug War policies are a good example.

In reality the most beneficial form of governance that possesses the qualities required for optimal human liberty is one that is secular, multifaceted, open, transparent, flexible, and not at all reliant on a single leadership position.

[Zeb]

Yes. I’m always a bit puzzled to hear libertarians talking about leadership and ability go to govern as if they are things we would want in a president.

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[Zeb]

I appreciate your recent further commitment to absurdity. I need to work on giving less of a shit myself. It’s just not worth the frustration, I’ve decided.

[Agile Cyborg]

Zeb, he’s just fucking around with you. Relax, bro.

[Zeb]

No, I’m actually being genuine.

[Almanian!]

🙂 it’s all good

[Artifex]

.Only, because Marcus A. never really took part in the actual nitty-gritty of politics, he was considered fairly competent but never really got much done

You should think just a little harder about what makes good government. Getting things done is not a great metric. Pol Pot certainly “got things done”

In Marcus, we have an extremely honest and principled person uninterested in personal glory and handing out favors to cronies. His entire existence being dedicated to the stability of the empire and the well being of people in his care. Classic stoicism works well with a basic libertarianism. If anything, he was their Calvin Coolidge.

I imagine he is second tier to the progressive types because he didn’t try to violently restructure his society, or increase the power of the empire.

[BigT]

Marcus Aurelius raised taxes and installed tribute on most of the tribes he conquered. He didn’t need to get involved in all those border wars – he started most of them. He was a good, not great, emperor. But compared to his peers he was outstanding.

Augustus, by contrast, installed the most fair and reasonable tax structure and collection scheme of the Roman era. As an administrator he was truly a great emperor.

[The_Millenial]

You like Hadrian or Antoninus Pius?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized rules requiring calorie information be listed on chain-restaurant menus and menu boards and in vending machines.

You’re all fat. Deal with it.

[gaijin]

But only chain restaurants…where the fat people eat?

[Careless]

I can be plenty fat cooking at home, thank you.

[Rhywun]

But only chain restaurants…where the fat poor people eat?

FTFY.

[Zeb]

Not me. I’ll use the calorie listings to select the food with the most energy per dollar.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Efficiently fat FTW!

[Pope Jimbo]

I was on a development project years ago. Back then McD’s was publishing their caloric info and the deal was whoever could sock away the most calories at one sitting would get their lunch free.

We had a little twitchy guy who could out eat all us other big fat asses on a regular basis. One time he won the contest by adding another packet of ketchup to his burger.

We eventually banned him from the competition because he was a ringer.

[Rhywun]

Every skinny person I know can eat me – a little overweight – under the table. And they fight till they’re burger.

[Bee Tagger]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized rules requiring calorie information be listed on chain-restaurant menus and menu boards and in vending machines.

You have to buy the candy bar to find out what’s in it.

[WTF]

Where in the Constitution is the federal government given the power to require such things? Oh yeah, the FYTW clause.

[Doctor Whom]

Can you prove that movie popcorn has no effect whatsoever on interstate commerce? No? Then there you go.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

The Good and Proper Interstate Clause!

/Rep Hank Johnson

[trshmnster the terrible]

It’s a penaltax!

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[trshmnster the terrible]

No, that was a taxenalty

[Longtorso, Johnny]

New deception questions: Obamacare adviser warned of premium increases as Obama vowed savings
While President Obama campaigned on a promise that his universal health care plan would lower premiums, his controversial adviser and plan architect was privately warning the state of Wisconsin that Obamacare was poised to massively increase insurance costs for average residents, internal documents show.

Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist currently under fire for suggesting the Obama administration tried to deceive the public about the Affordable Care Act, was hired by former Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle in 2010 to conduct an analysis on how the federal health-care reform would impact the state.

Mr. Gruber’s study predicted about 90 percent of individuals without employer-sponsored or public insurance would see their premiums spike by an average of 41 percent. Once tax subsidies were factored in, about 60 percent of those in the individual market were projected to see their premiums go up 31 percent, according to his analysis….”

[John]

There is nothing that Gruber was saying that wasn’t obvious to anyone who paid attention to the law and thought about it. Really, it is not the American people who were stupid, they hated this law from the start. It is the various media people, who are all complete economic illiterates, who supported this bill that were stupid.

It was only a deception if you believed Obama and were not paying any attention.

[Ted S.]

They weren’t stupid; they were mendacious.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Both?

[wareagle]

sorry, John, but a fair number of Americans ARE stupid. They twice voted in this man, trumpeted health reform as the 8th wonder of the world, and continue defending the increasingly indefensible.

[John]

The majority of the Americans objected to this law. And the majority didn’t vote for Obama in 2012. They either voted for Romney or stayed home, which is something Libertarians are always telling people to do.

[BigT]

wareagle, Mericuns may be stupid, but let’s be fair. The law was passed so quickly and covertly that very few had a chance to read more than headlines about it. Hence Pelosi’s infamous quote. And the Obama campaigns were magnificent pieces of PR.

Unfortunately we will get more of this now that the pols see how well it worked.

[John]

Americans are not stupid. I fucking hate it when people on the right who should know better claim they are. Americans just have better things to do and don’t pay a lot of attention to politics. This allows the lying horses assses in the media to fool them. That is all that happened in 08 and 12. Have anything approaching a fair media and Obama never gets the nomination much less elected.

[The_Millenial]

Hey, they’d probably get screwed regardless, but I’d imagine paying more attention could only help them make better decisions about the candidates both parties are putting out there.

[creech]

You think the mainstream media will ever apologize to the tea party for getting the Obamacare narrative right? Nope, the TP will always be red-neck dolts, racists, and astro-turfed Koch puppets who probably couldn’t count to fifty, even with new Common Core math lessons.

[BigT]

John, I am sorry, but on economics most Americans are stupid (or maybe I should say ignorant). They don’t understand compound interest much less depreciation or the invisible hand concept. They are very poor at math. They can’t identify half the continents. We have all read enough comments on FB, Slate, the New Republic, NYT to have seen this firsthand.

[John]

BIgT

When it comes to EPL soccer, I am stupid. I couldn’t tell you the difference between Aston United and Queens Park City.

Is that the result of my being stupid or just not paying attention? It is the same thing with the public and economics. They are not stupid, they just don’t pay attention and rely on the media to tell them the truth. The problem is the media is medacious and ignorant.

[Careless]

I spent years calling him “Jon ‘Lying Weasel’ Gruber” and it turns out he was telling the truth the whole time. It just wasn’t being publicized.

[Free Society]

Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist currently under fire for suggesting the Obama administration tried to deceive the public about the Affordable Care Act, was hired by former Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle in 2010

Gruber has become quite wealthy from the leavings of government compulsion. Scum.

[Ted S.]

Single-payer legal care. Becasue no lawyer does anything worth more than minimum wage.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Mr. Gruber’s study predicted about 90 percent of individuals without employer-sponsored or public insurance would see their premiums spike by an average of 41 percent

My anecdotal experience confirms this

[Lord Humungus]

Exploding poop topples China building

BEIJING – A cesspool filled with excrement has exploded in central China, injuring 15 people and knocking down a building, state-run media reported.

The blast was apparently sparked by a local man burning waste close to the cesspool, igniting methane gas which was emanating from the pit, the Xinhua news agency said late on Sunday.

The incident in Zhangjiajie city, in the central province of Hunan, caused a residential building to collapse and three of the injured had to be hospitalised, Xinhua said.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Pffft, STEVE SMITH’s outhouse does that weekly.

[Slammer]

Hory crap!

[Elspeth Flashman]

You mean, ahem, “hory clap.”

[Fist of Etiquette]

Athletes react to the Ferguson decision. Members of Congress react to the Ferguson decision. Celebrities react to the Ferguson decision.

God Bless Twitter.

[RBS]

I clicked on the athletes one. Lebron is a moron.

[Timon 19]

Sadly, yes. He used to resist the urge to reveal it, though, which betrayed at least some sort of intelligence. That all seemed to go out the window shortly before he skipped town for Souf Beach.

You can still see that he does have some sense, though. Prime example was his “letter” upon coming back.

[Longtorso, Johnny]

A Legacy of Liberalism
…In other words, we could compare hard evidence on “the legacy of slavery” with hard evidence on the legacy of liberals.

Despite the grand myth that black economic progress began or accelerated with the passage of the Civil Rights laws and “War on Poverty” programs of the 1960s, the cold fact is that the poverty rate among blacks fell from 87 percent in 1940 to 47 percent by 1960. This was before any of those programs began.

Over the next 20 years, the poverty rate among blacks fell another 18 percentage points, compared to the 40-point drop in the previous 20 years. This was the continuation of a previous economic trend, at a slower rate of progress, not the economic grand deliverance proclaimed by liberals and self-serving black “leaders.”…

…The murder rate among blacks in 1960 was one-half of what it became 20 years later, after a legacy of liberals’ law-enforcement policies. Public-housing projects in the first half of the 20th century were clean, safe places, where people slept outside on hot summer nights, when they were too poor to afford air conditioning. That was before admissions standards for public-housing projects were lowered or abandoned, in the euphoria of liberal non-judgmental notions. ….

[Mike M.]

Better be careful, or some of our cosmo dipshits might start throwing the race card at you.

[UnCivilServant]

It’s so worn that it’s unrecognizable.

[Doctor Whom]

There’s no such thing as the race card. I know this because people who have been caught playing the race card keep telling me so.

[Bryan C]

Because PEOPLE who have been CAUGHT playing the race card keep TELLING YOU SO?

[Zeb]

Yeah, there are lots of people here who just love Great Society war on poverty crap.

Hey, it’s going to snow tomorrow. Any clever and insightful comments about climate change you want to make?

[Dweebston]

Sowell? Sowhy didn’t you say so in the first place?

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[Zeb]

Al Roker.

[Lord Humungus]

Man marries tree? again

A Peruvian actor and environmentalist got married to a tree in Bogota on Sunday as a way to raise awareness about environmental issues facing the planet.

People gathered in Bogota’s national park on Sunday to watch Richard Torres tie the knothole with the tree, which he confirmed by planting a kiss on its trunk.

[gaijin]

So who wakes up with morning wood in that relationship?

[Bee Tagger]

“Leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep”

[ColonelEngineer]

….yes

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[DJF]

“”””It’s actually the third time he’s married a tree, after saying “I do” to a tree in Buenos Aires last November, and in Peru the previous June. “””

See. Let them marry one tree and the next thing they want is Polygamy

[Ted S.]

You can thank Jesse for posting this first many months ago.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Polyarbory?

[gaijin]

Its a horticulture, not a costume!

[Dweebston]

+1 Facebook like

[Pope Jimbo]

I’m assuming that this guy is one of those lumbersexuals I have been hearing about lately?

[Idle Hands]

“I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree.”

That had to be in the vows right?

[UnCivilServant]

Since the tree can’t say any vows, does that mean he’s been jilted three times?

[Slammer]

Rapist. I see no affirmative consent from the tree.

[Citizen Nothing]

You gotta get consent from the Lorax.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*narrows gaze*

[Elspeth Flashman]

Well, yeah, he speaks for the trees.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They already had the rings.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*applause*

[Mike M.]

“I love you Ticket Oak.”
“Uhhhhhhh, I love you too, Benjamin.”

[Rhywun]

*checks to see if he’s a punchface*

…

*yup*

[Lord Humungus]

Cops: Naked suspect assaults man, 84, at airport

A naked man fell through the ceiling of a women’s bathroom at Logan Airport on Saturday, then ran out of the restroom and viciously assaulted an elderly man while he was still in the buff and bleeding, before being arrested, state police said.

Cameron Shenk, 26, of Boston, was charged with attempted murder, mayhem, assault and battery on a person over 60, assault and battery on a police officer, lewd and lascivious conduct and malicious destruction to property.

[Brett L]

Bet that old guy wishes he had Allstate.

[gaijin]

^lol

[db]

I love those commercials.

[Free Society]

I see an insanity defense in his future.

[Fluffy]

Until I read the Cameron Shenk identification I was thinking, “Damn, would Deval Patrick just fucking leave town already?”

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I thought shriek had been outed.

[Rhywun]

There’s a Florida Man in Boston?

[Fist of Etiquette]

In Darren Wilson’s exceedingly terrible grand jury testimony, now released in full, the 6’4″, 213-pound police officer described 18-year-old Michael Brown as strong as Hulk Hogan…

So, steroid-ridden and shrunken to a shell of his former glory?

[SugarFree]

No, Brown has an exceedingly mannish daughter.

[Ted S.]

Are you descibing Brown or Wilson?

[RBS]

Good to see ENB buying into the narrative that Wilson’s height/weight (which really isn’t all that big) somehow means that Brown, no matter his size, was not a threat. Apparently only men over the age of 18 can be strong.

[Flaming Ballsack]

yea those nigras have superhuman strength and theyre all after white women too

[Zeb]

Well, their relative sizes is somewhat relevant to reasonable perception of a threat.

[RBS]

I don’t disagree, but Brown was something like 6’4, 290.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well that and the fact that someone who could, with out any hint of irony, employ the hilariously pants-shitting description of someone having the “‘intense aggressive face’ of an angry ‘demon’.” is incapable of making any reasonable perceptions of threats.

[RBS]

I know, I know.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Then why not list the stats on Mr. Brown?

[Zeb]

I would imagine that that was mentioned to the grand jury as well, but I don’t know for sure.

[Roger the Shrubber]

My comment was directed at ENB. I think she is pushing a narrative by listing Wilson’s stats but ignoring that Brown was significantly larger.

[Zeb]

Always calling him “teenager” is a little silly too. Not that it’s not accurate, but if you are going to mention his age, just give the age. There’s a big difference between 13 and 18.

[Lord Humungus]

Conventional Wisdom
Where the Democrats should convene in 2016

For Republicans, that would probably be somewhere in the Houston suburbs, or possibly San Diego, one of the few big U.S. cities where Republican mayors are not extinct. Or maybe Indian Wells, Calif., a gated citadel full of older white people fond of golf and low capital-gains taxes. The Libertarian party should hold its convention at the Boot Track Caf? in Loving County, Texas, the least populated place in the United States; the caf? is closed at the moment, but I am sure that they would open it up to give the Libertarian party a place where its members ? both of them ? can be lonely together.

The Democrats, if they had any remaining intellectual honesty, would hold their convention in Detroit.

[Doctor Whom]

It’s all the fault of capitalism (which somehow stops at 8 Mile Road). Tony told me so.

[Rhywun]

Ugh… his Ann Coulter impression grows more tiresome every time I see it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The Daily Derp:

“Benny Blanco @ItsBennyBlanco ? 35m 35 minutes ago
Every white kid in America has stolen something from a convenient store. only difference is they r still alive!!! #Ferguson”

[Bee Tagger]

A little too convenient, probably.

[db]

I have never stolen from a convenience store.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yes you have… Bunny Blanco says so!

[Juice]

I have also never stolen anything from a convenience store. I also never assaulted any convenience store clerks.

[WTF]

Benny Blanco from the Bronx.

[Ivoted4KODOS]

I still can’t believe that Luis Guzman would betray Pacino for Benny like that. smh

[Zeb]

OK. I’m pretty sure that many kids from all races steal shit from convenience stores. And very few subsequently get shot by the police, regardless of race.

[Rhywun]

Now is not the time for being reasonable, Zeb.

[Agile Cyborg]

The prosecutor didn’t go far enough according to Mr. Iron Fist Rudy Giuliani… he should have charged some of the witnesses with perjury. Man, this cretan is a true-blue, legalistic jack hammer.

[mr lizard]

He also spouted off about the Diallo case. He’s a team player all the way to hell

[Slammer]

Celebrities react to the Ferguson decision.

No.

[Bee Tagger]

At least without the hyperlink formatting this looks like just a factual statement about celebrities. And that kind of makes me laugh.

[Lord Humungus]

Monterey researchers take first-ever known video of mysterious black seadevil

A research team conducting a dive in Monterey Bay off the coast of California have captured first-ever video of a rarely-seen denizen of the deep called the black seadevil.

The creature was spotted this week in the dark, deep waters 1,900 feet below the surface by researchers with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

[Bee Tagger]

Their sole purpose is to attach themself to a female, living as a parasite.

the matriarchy! the female gaze! etc

[Flaming Ballsack]

justr like regular nigras amirite?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

You should probably take that rubbish elsewhere.

[SIV]

It’s pushing the exact same message as SugarFree but it’s probably not his sock.

[The Late P Brooks]

But how many suspected looters have been killed?

Bloodthirsty ghouls need something to cheer about.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Any Lilyhammer fans here?

Is it me or is the show overtly hostile to civil servants and the welfare state? I get the sense they push that view through the character Jan Johannsen.

If so, it’s a show that has pushed that envelope the furthest.

[Ted S.]

Further than Yes, Minister?

[SugarFree]

Veep doesn’t count because it is a documentary.

[RBS]

It’s one of my favorite shows right now, I haven’t started season 3 yet though. It is pretty hostile towards civil servants. I like how they let the civil servants make the mistakes/act like idiots rather than have the other characters really bring attention to it. Only in a place with completely incompetent government workers could a second rate mobster like Johnny thrive.

[Idle Hands]

Seeing how the gov. is gang, this makes a degree of sense. Do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to?

[UnCivilServant]

I would argue, but I spent my morning A: Arguing with the help desk who created two separate tickets for a 5 minute job a week ago and sent them to two separate, wrong groups, then attended a meeting that was promptly co-opted by a “crisis” that had nothing to do with me, but I wasn’t told that the agenda items I was there for were being pushed off the agenda because of it.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Do you giggle like Jan?

[UnCivilServant]

Who?

I’ve never heard of the show nor any characters on it, so references to it would be lost on me.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Go on Netflix. Sign up if you’re not part of it. Watch Lilyhammer. You’re welcome.

[SugarFree]

This is when you should fake a seizure.

[UnCivilServant]

And have to File an Accident Reporting System report, a mess of Worker’s Comp forms and deal with the State Insurance Fund even if no monies are paid out? No thank you sir.

[SugarFree]

Well, I guess the only course of action left is to leave a dead bird in their desks.

[Warty]

What about the new show about the thinly veiled Hilary character? That must be a biting satire, right? The networks wouldn’t stoop so low as to air a show that amounts to a serialized campaign ad.

[WTF]

But it’s not an “in kind” contribution, nosiree!

[Slammer]

Someone has been putting big red clown nose stickers on the subway station ads for that show.

[Brett L]

Why would anyone think Tia Leone was a standin for Hilary?

[Spoonman.]

There’s a season 3 now? Fuck yeah!

The bureaucracy on there is hilarious.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

The entire season is out. Already watched them all.

Even the chief of police is a moron in the show.

[RBS]

Haha, I love his “ehhhhh, let’s just let this one slide” attitude.

[Lord Humungus]

Watch A Hamster Eat A Tiny Thanksgiving Dinner

It’s as cute and cuddly as videos get: a bunny, a mouse and a hamster all eating tiny versions of classic Thanksgiving dishes. There’s pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and even a little turkey!

If you’re curious about cute little hamsters eating meat, don’t worry: the little guys are fine as long as it’s the right kind of meat, and turkey is on that list. Plus, hamsters are known for eating food far worse than baked turkey…

Morbo eat hamsters.

[Steve G]

Showed my wife and she was like, ‘Where TF is the hedgehog?’ She’s a fan of the series…

[Rich]

Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. disclosed Friday that another $1 billion was being added to his overseas contingency request for the current fiscal year, an indication that it, too, was to meet spending in the fight against the Islamic State.

“Overseas contingency request”, eh? Probably for Clapper’s escape submarine.

[SugarFree]

Note to commenters on the overnight threads: T-H-U-G is not the proper spelling of “nigger.”

[Jordan]

Did we get an infestation of racist trolls? We had a couple of morons bitching about TEH IMMIGRANTZ in the prostitution article, yesterday.

[Lord Humungus]

Taking the prostitution jobs that Americans won’t do?

[Jordan]

They were simultaneously telling us that libertarians don’t care about immigrants, and that immigrants need to go back to their own shitty countries and get a real job.

[Ted S.]

I’m glad I got off the computer early last night.

[SugarFree]

Yup. Some new faces, some old friends… and some people who do it all the time yet get a pass.

[SIV]

Who made you the diversity facilitator?

[SugarFree]

Aw, did the mean old cosmotarian deflate your dead nigger boner?

[SIV]

Petition for more comment moderation and trigger warnings.

[SugarFree]

I guess I did. Don’t worry, some brave cop will give you another one to get all hot and bothered over real soon.

[SIV]

Keep fighting for Social Justice, sister!

[SIV]

Keep fighting for Social Justice, sister!

[SugarFree]

Keep double posting, cop gaper.

[SugarFree]

Keep double posting, cop gaper.

[Idle Hands]

I thought it was shorthand for “jigga boo”?

[waffles]

I think it’s a shame that when police violence and brutality is brought into the spotlight it has to be with an unsympathetic victim and riotous looting. There are many sympathetic victims of police brutality that only get brief mentions. What could be a turning point against police militarization instead just hardens and solidifies both sides. The police see the riots and think they are at war. The protest, well I’m still not sure what exactly they are protesting.

[Warty]

Yes. This. It’s not like there’s any shortage of unambiguously bad police shootings. The one that just happened in Cleveland, for instance. Or the last one that happened in Cleveland, the one that was just settled for some paltry sum. Why pick one that was pretty clearly a good shoot?

[Dweebston]

The comments upthread (or maybe past threads, it all runs together) had what I think is a salient point about hustlers and panderers choosing the victims du jour, and as such needing divisive characters and questionable circumstances rather than clear-cut flashbang in the crib scenarios. One of these is at best a KONY 2012 movement that fizzles out with little opportunity for rents or graft, while the other incites mobs of violence and media prominence for several months.

[waffles]

But it accomplishes nothing but bring out the worst in people. Fuck man.

[Rhywun]

hustlers and panderers choosing the victims du jour, and as such needing divisive characters and questionable circumstances rather than clear-cut flashbang in the crib scenarios

Bingo. That is exactly what happens.

[Zeb]

I think they are protesting/rioting because that’s what everyone expected them to do. Don’t need a good reason at this point.

[WTF]

Porch Monkey is okay, though; we’re taking it back.

[Warty]

I remember the days when “Canadian” was the racist’s favorite coded way to say “nigger”. A more innocent time.

[Idle Hands]

When did we lose that innocence? was it before or after puberty?

[mr lizard]

Or for servers to describe difficult customers that never tip.

[Old Man With Candy]

Use Yiddish. Ah finster.

[Warty]

“Oy! The schmutzig schvartzes!”

[Stickler Meeseeks]

I don’t have an especially keen ear for dog whistles, so please explain.

[Warty]

Fuck off, Slappy.

[SugarFree]

Here’s one now. Pay attention, they are especially cute when they play dumb.

[Warty]

I remember one time, when I was a kid, attempting to rescue a baby bunny that one of our cats had gotten. I got the cat away and then saw that part of the bunny’s skull had been ripped off and its brain was exposed. It still managed to be a little cute, in an incredibly pitiful and pathetic way. So, yeah, I suppose you could call this guy “cute”.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Stop confusing scenes from Grant Morrison’s We3 with episodes from your childhood, you senile old coot!

[SugarFree]

Warty good kitty?

[Heroic Mulatto]

Home? Is Hit ‘n Run no more.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

I didn’t read last night’s comment threads, so please explain how using thug is code for racist.

[SugarFree]

You mean you didn’t read a thread you commented in? That’s adorable.

[Warty]

Oh, maybe this is Tulpa forgetting another one of his handles, not Slappy. Hilarious.

[SugarFree]

Oh, that would be rich. He was probably running so many last night that he lost track.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Honestly, I thought that was from later on this morning. And I didn’t really pay close attention to most of the comments.

Here’s a good question: Why do you keep dodging? Why is it racist to use the term thug?

[SugarFree]

[pats head]

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Wow, you really do know how to sink the level of discourse around here, don’t you.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Why is it racist to use the term thug?

Please don’t pretend that conversational implicature isn’t a thing.

It isn’t becoming of you.

[Warty]

I vote Tulpa. The whining about taking his sniveling as serious arguments is always the tell.

[SugarFree]

Warty, all you do is lower the tone around here.

[Old Man With Candy]

That is Warty’s greatest virtue.

[Warty]

Second greatest. My power glutes are my greatest virtue.

[Roger the Shrubber]

If you blather idiotically in measured tones, your imbecility is often mistaken for genius insight. I learned this from Rachel Maddow.

[lap83]

I prefer “African American Gentleman”

[Stickler Meeseeks]

You made the statement that using the term thug with regard to Brown is code for racism. Please explain this.

[Stickler Meeseeks]

Let me modify this. From the very few posts that I looked at from last night’s thread, thug was being used to describe Brown. Are we not supposed to call him a thug now because you deem it racist?

[UnCivilServant]

Was he a worshipper of Kali who strangled travellers with a cord?

If no, then he’s probably not a thug.

[The artist known Dunphy]

Justice!!!

Mostly good comments in h&r but reason article writers still looking for SOMETHING to blame/Wilson or prosecutors for and then this silly canard about it being impossible to indict police. False

It almost reminds me of feminists after the duke case blew up

“Well he has to be guilty of something plus its not a bad thing that some privileged white males got a taste of what is like to feel the boot of the justice system on their back”

They claim the Wilson grand jury case is unique because no indictment

Well it’s also unique because the use poo etc testified

That is something they almost never do in grand juries and its a strong indicator of innocence. The ramifications are immense for a guilty person – easy to slip.up or get railroaded because no defense attorney uhh to object to questions, looser evidence and testing’m poo ny rules, stuff can be used later against you during local or Fed trial and or civilly

[Jordan]

The Graham analysis essentially prohibits any second-guessing of the officer’s decision to use deadly force: no hindsight is permitted, and wide latitude is granted to the officer’s account of the situation, even if scientific evidence proves it to be mistaken. Such was the case of Berkeley, Missouri, police officers Robert Piekutowski and Keith Kierzkowski, who in 2000 fatally shot Earl Murray and Ronald Beasley out of fear that the victims’ car was rolling towards them. Forensic investigations established that the car had not in fact lurched towards the officers at the time of the shooting?but this was still not enough for the St. Louis County grand jury to indict the two cops of anything.

Not surprisingly then, legal experts find that “there is built-in leeway for police, and the very breadth of this leeway is why criminal charges against police are so rare,” says Walter Katz, a police oversight lawyer who served on the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review until it disbanded in July of this year. According to Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine Law School, recent Supreme Court decisions are not a path towards justice but rather a series of obstacles to holding police accountable for civil rights violations.

[tarran]

It arises out of a paradigm that society is comprised of seething savages that are held in check by fear and the threat of force.

Couple that with the peacable mistakenly assuming that all police are peacable and use force only as needed to keep the masses in line,and you get the bizarre deference to the state that characterizes these incidents.

The good news is that the days of , police wantonly gunning people down in their homes are numbered. Each incident convinces a larger number of people to recognize the danger police pose to civil society, than the number convinced that the police should be deferred to.

[The artist known Dunphy]

And of course you have stats that show t hat this ‘larger’ number of people has developed that have this viewpoint?

I’ve checked the stats the last few decades and they have been pretty flat

There was more dissatisfaction s action with police in the 70’s

Stats please!

Graham is s good common sense case . I live it every day

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[The artist known Dunphy]

Imnsho, that is both cynical and inaccurate but pretty clearly describes the mindset and Pov of the person who just plain doesn’t like cops

Graham simply established that the metric for uofs is whether the force was OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE based upon the facts and circumstances reasonably believed by the officer, not naval gazing about subjective shot and clearly I n line with t he fourth amendment

As a LEO I live sleep eat and breathe Graham

I’ve probably read it several dozen times

It’s a GREAT case

[WTF]

Jesus this fake dunphy is tiresome

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I just scroll past now…

[Citizen Nothing]

Wait. Now we got a fake dunphy?
Lord, oh Lord — haven’t we suffered enough?

[SugarFree]

Real? Fake? Who cares? The perfect imitation of an idiot is still little more than an idiot in presentation.

[Jordan]

In other words, you plainly admit that the courts defer to the judgement of police officers and hold them to lower standards than your average joe.

[tarran]

We are talking dunphy here. If I weren’t commenting on a cell phone in a doctor’s office, I’d post the link to that thread were he claimed cops had a legal power to brandish firearms, enter property and gun down the property owner at 1:30, and then ran away like a pussy when asked to explain why a private citizen could not do the same.

He’s like the Sir Robin of cops. He once refused to arrest someone! He nearly faced up to the vicious Chicken of Bristol! He courageously wet himself at the battle of Baden Hill & friended LEAP on Facebook!

[The artist known Dunphy]

THIS POST is stupid even for you

Graham is an excellent case and it ain’t going anywhere, sorry

Smooches

[WTF]

Hi. This is Wilford Brimley. Welcome to Retardation: A Celebration. Now, hopefully with this book, I’m gonna dispel a few myths, a few rumors. First off, the retarded don’t rule the night. They don’t rule it. Nobody does. And they don’t run in packs. And while they may not be as strong as apes, don’t lock eyes with ’em, don’t do it. Puts ’em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming “No, no, no” and all they hear is “Who wants cake?” Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[tarran]

Now that I am at a proper computer, here is the link to that glorious thread where Dunphy fled rather than to admit that to him cops should be allowed to engage in threatening behavior to innocent law-abiding people and then gun those people down if they react to the threat.

The best part was his claiming to be too scawed to cwick the scawy links (er winks) pointing to his previous comments.

And as you read his sophistry, evasions and point blank refusal to answer direct questions, remember that he thinks he should be the knight, and you guys should be the serfs feeding and watering his horse in gratitude for him letting you live.

[The artist known Dunphy]

No

I plainly admit that the courts recognize that when somebody has a legal duty (not towards any particular individual per case law in many cases but towards society) to detain arrest protect investigate etc in dynamic situations that the metric for deciding if t hey are acting in school v ordnance with the constitution is already explained in the bill of rights

It says searches and seizures must be reasonable

That’s the rule the CONSTITUTION demands for searches s nd seizures

It s p specifically distinguished that the proper metric is thus not th he 8th amendments substantial due process clause

The 8th thus does apply with, for example treatment of p prisoners

There was a rule established by the founders as to how govt agents should go about their seizures _ all uses of force are seizures_

Thus, cops need their force to comply with the fourth

So yea, it IS different for cops b e cause t h e fourth applies to GOVERNMENT

IT S A GREAT CASE

BOOYA GRAHAM

[Jordan]

Yeah, nothing you said contradicted what I wrote.

[tarran]

See what I mean? He just shotguns text on the screen in the hopes that people will assume he is making a cogent point.

Which, BTW, is a sign of the desperation he is feeling. He knows that every day the Russian guns get a mile or so closer to Berlin, and waits in shaky anticipation for the day when he will wake up to hear the rumble of distant guns carried by the westward breeze.

The fat years are coming to an end.

[Fluffy]

whether the force was OBJECTIVELY REASONABLE based upon the facts and circumstances reasonably believed by the officer

I could live with that if we also judged civilian shootings of police based on the circumstances as reasonably perceived by the shooter.

Because right off the bat shooting any cop executing a no-knock raid would be per se reasonable.

[Agile Cyborg]

There is nothing cut-and-dried about this in terms of Wilson’s innocence. The prosecutor stated in his little speech that adjustments in just a few witness statements could have resulted in a different outcome.

The only reason Wilson was not indicted was simply because he was a cop and the witnesses sucked. It’s this simple.

[CampingInYourPark]

The prosecutor stated in his little speech that adjustments in just a few witness statements could have resulted in a different outcome.

wut?

[sarcasmic]

The reason Wilson was not indicted was because prosecutors are defense attorneys for the police.

[WTF]

Thanks for the commentary, Tulpa.

[sarcasmic]

What do you mean the cop had no defense attorney?

What do you think the prosecutor is?

[The artist known Dunphy]

The sad thing is I think you really believe this, still bitter that you were justly prosecuted

[WTF]

I bet you’re the kind of guy who would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I’ll be watching you.

[Zeb]

God, you’re an asshole. You really think he’s making up the stuff about the cop lying?

[sarcasmic]

Give him a few more comments and he may let you cross the bridge.

[waffles]

Thank goodness you showed up this morning Dunphy. I find your comment somewhat undecipherable. What is “the use poo etc testified”?

Sometimes you police just use language that goes beyond my limited comprehension skills.

[Ted S.]

The police are shit?

[Rhywun]

What is “the use poo etc testified”?

Something about bench-pressing Morgan Fairchild, I think.

[Jordan]

That whole Nation article is depressing, but has pretty much been covered by Reason already. I did find it hilarious that a progressive publication was able to write this part with a straight face:

Less mediagenic than police militarization and far more insidious is law enforcement’s daily harassment of citizens for petty offenses. The local government in Ferguson has been treating its residents and neighbors less like free people with rights than like revenue milk-cows to be exploited to the max. Citations and fines for petty offenses are profligately inflicted on residents, particularly black residents. According to a blockbuster report issued by St. Louis’s ArchCity Defenders advocacy group, over 20 percent of city revenue comes from municipal courts (making them the city’s second-largest source of revenue), which issued enough warrants last year to slap three warrants, $312 worth, on every household in the town.

That sounds like progtopia to me.

[tarran]

They didn’t intend for the poor to get fined! Just the unmutual Kulaks!

[Zeb]

In progtopia everyone just does what they are supposed to, so no one has to get arrested or fined. You just need to get the right set of laws first. Because laws are magic.

[robc]

Isfergusonburning.com

A friend of mine saw it was available last night and set it up.

[gaijin]

He’s got to get this photo on the site 😉

Seasons Greetings!

[Heroic Mulatto]

That’s an album cover.

[gaijin]

just like the pic at the top of the morning links I see.

/hangs head in shame

[BigT]

Stupid party still stupid…

Mitt Romney leads GOP field in New Hampshire by 19 points: poll
Former Massachusetts governor also has best chance against Hillary Clinton

[tarran]

Run, Mitt, run! Tilt against that windmill! As the Pirate Captain pointed out, when one has lost a bunch of times, by the sheer laws of math, he must win!

[John]

As wierd as it sounds, Romney has a much better chance to win in 2016 than he did in 12. A pretty significant majority of the country deeply regrets re-electing Romney and realize that the entire campaign against him was based on bullshit. Romney running again would be to your typical low information voter a do over of the 12 election that they would like to have.

The other thing is that what most bugs the big low information center about Obama is not that he is such a hard leftist. Remember, the low information center gets their information from the major media and the major media goes to great lengths to make Obama appear to be centrist. What bugs them about Obama is that he is such an bumbling incompetent.

I would love to think the country after 8 years of Obama would be ready for a no kidding right wing reformer. Sadly, they may only be ready for a technocrat centrist like Romney.

[tarran]

Rationally, I don’t think you are wrong. See Charlie Baker’s recent experience running for Ma governor.

And I think he would do a far better job than that blithering incompetent who fucked Bill Clinton.

Emotionally, though, I am tired of politicians trying to work out their daddy issues by seeking jobs that mandate people curtsy and bow when they enter the room.

[SugarFree]

And I think he would do a far better job than that blithering incompetent who fucked Bill Clinton. [citation needed]

[SugarFree]

For that last part, I mean.

[tarran]

For fucking Bill Clinton, she did produce offspring. He claimed he was the father.

I am taking them at their word…. I see your point. Trusting the word of a Clinton on anything is pretty foolhardy.

[tarran]

The Winter Olympics he project managed.

[John]

The thing the Republicans have to remember is that more than anything the country is sick of Obama because they want him out of their faces. After Watergate Gerald Ford almost won re-election by just being boring. All Ford did was shut the hell up for a while and the country damn near re-elected him in about the worst year to be a Republican ever.

So the Republicans do themselves no favors running a real bomb thrower or someone who appears to be one. The Republican candidate, whoever he is, needs to appear confident and calm and tell the country “I am going to fix this mess and stay the hell out of your hair for a few years”.

The biggest Republican victory in history was in 1920 after Wilson, the last true believer Prog President, and the theme was “Return to Normalcy”. The Republicans need to run on that. It will especially play well if the opponent is Hillary who everyone knows is all about drama and anything but normalcy.

[BigT]

Wilson, the last true believer Prog President,

FDR is seriously disrespected here, I see. And he got re-elected THREE times!

[John]

FDR was not a true believer Prog. FRD was an opportunist who did whatever he thought would work and get him re-elected.

It is a huge misconception to think of the New Deal as some kind of deliberately designed and executed Prog policy. It was not at all. It was an ad hoc collection of constantly changing policies. Indeed, one of the biggest reasons why FDR’s economic policies failed so miserably was because he kept changing them and the market never had the time to adjust to them. FDR, whatever you think of him, was not another Wilson.

[The_Millenial]

As Price Fishback has noted, the New Deal wasn’t even traditional Keynesian fiscal stimulus. FDR was basically just throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick.

[Juice]

A pretty significant majority of the country deeply regrets re-electing Romney[Obama]

Yes and no. If asked, “Do you regret that Obama was re-elected?” Many voters would say says. Ask those same voters if they would prefer Mitt Romney to take his place then they would yell “HELL NO!” at the top of their lungs.

[robc]

So, you can indict a ham sandwich, but not pig.

[The artist known Dunphy]

Golf clap

[sarcasmic]

That’s my line!

[Lord Humungus]

I hate Cook’s Illustrated: The soul-crushing wonkiness of the world’s worst cookbook

This is partly the result of cooking by committee. The dish that passes muster with everyone, like the book that wins a literary prize, is most often a compromise candidate. No one truly loves it to distraction. My biggest complaint with Cook’s Illustrated, after its prolixity, is that the dishes it teaches you to make are boring; I can’t get excited about pot roast, even if it is the ultimate pot roast. As Mary Beth observes, cooking ought to be expressive and personalized, catering to the idiosyncratic preferences of the people who’ll be eating the results. Isn’t that the point of home-cooked meals? Furthermore, diners are mutable. Some days you want your split pea soup to be rich in ham hocks and other times you’d rather go veggie.

[Warty]

Cook’s Illustrated is great. And you don’t have to follow their recipes, you can just use them as a guide and improvise the details. Also, no one wants veggie split pea soup. What an idiot.

[Lord Humungus]

That’s why I love Cook’s Illustrated = it takes the mystery out of cooking, presenting their recipes in a *cough* rather scientific way. That is they try to figure out _why_ a cookie recipe is better than another.

[Warty]

Their grilling and barbecue book is especially good. I use a paprika-based dry rub I got from there on all sorts of things.

[Idle Hands]

What a retard.

[sarcasmic]

I subscribed to that for a while. It thought it was a good magazine for people without any formal training in culinary arts. Each issue focused on some technique that could be used on a variety of different meals. Assuming the reader is someone who isn’t so dense as to view each recipe as an instruction manual for a specific meal, as opposed to a set of guidelines that can be used on most any meal.

[Zeb]

Assuming the reader is someone who isn’t so dense as to view each recipe as an instruction manual for a specific meal, as opposed to a set of guidelines that can be used on most any meal.

I’m always amazed at how many people are that dense, though.

[Juice]

If you want that, get some Alton Brown books. Or old Julia Child books.

[Too many cooks]

The saying goes, it’ll spoil the broth…

[LynchPin1477]

We subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for a while. Then I realized that how repetitive it was. Like Cosmo for the kitchen. I’ve learned that’s true of lots of magazines.

The equipment reviews can be helpful, though.

[sarcasmic]

I’ve learned that’s true of lots of magazines.

I have yet to find a magazine for which that wasn’t true.

[The Late P Brooks]

According to Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine Law School, recent Supreme Court decisions are not a path towards justice but rather a series of obstacles to holding police accountable for civil rights violations.

I find this man’s lack of faith disturbing.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

+1 Force Choke

[The artist known Dunphy]

That is a perfect Erwin quote

His viewpoint represents the progressive legal scholar in the vein of Larry tribe

He is all about a living CONSTITUTION and an activist judiciary

If you’d do some research you’d see that you would disagree with most . O f his legal analysis

He is a person who lives and breathes the idea that the constitution is just a tool for the judiciary vBulletin to usr to enact progressive policy. He’s the kind . O f guy that gets an erection for cases that find poo numbness and examinations to enact progressive policy via the SCOTUS

[WTF]

an erection for cases that find poo numbness and examinations

Idiot, imbecile, or moron?

[SugarFree]

There is a wisdom in those words that a small mind like yours will never possess, WTF.

[WTF]

Ah, I see; like a cat trying to understand calculus, dunphy/tulpa/rollo/slappy thinks in terms too arcane and complex for mere mortals to comprehend.

[SugarFree]

He’s like five moves ahead of us.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

He got a prostate check and it somehow damaged his brain?

[Drake]

President Obama can’t explain why a future President can’t take executive action on taxes.

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/watc…..-precedent

[Rich]

Beautiful. Pelosiesque.

[Juice]

I don’t see why that question is so “easy” as the headline claims. And it’s the truth. I’ll bet that’s something that a President Ron Paul might try, refusing to prosecute people for not paying federal taxes.

[Lord Humungus]

Aimee Mann: “I was under the impression that if I became well known, I would have to back up every line”
EXCLUSIVE: One of our great singer-songwriters shares the skills she learned from Dylan, the Beatles and Neil Young

uh… yeah…

[gaijin]

Nothing says art like having to explain what you meant!

[Too many cooks]

Well, maybe too many Cooks will spoil the broth, but they’ll fill our hearts with so much love!

[Cdr Lytton]

In the dark, I’d like to read her mind but I’m frightened of the things I might find.

[Rorschach Carlyle]

Well anyway… Michael Brown and the Ferguson Riots would be an awesome name for a band.

[SugarFree]

One day we will have our Perfect Negro. Bright, clean, articulate with not a whiff of criminal history or bad lighting in any of his Facebook pics. And he will be killed just the right way, with dozens of cameras running and no interest at all from the media or the “race hustlers.”

Oh, Perfect Negro… where are you? Until you show up, I’ll guess it will just have to be open season on all those negroes that just refuse to measure up.

[Idle Hands]

but will he have perfect creases in his khakis?

[SugarFree]

He will have to, otherwise he deserved to be shot.

[trshmnster the terrible]

No, he works too hard for that. The creases will show obvious effort, but he simply doesn’t have time between working 3 full time jobs and volunteering at the homeless shelter to properly crease his pants.

[RBS]

Yesterday I mentioned that Vox has pretty much ruined most of the SBNation blogs. Well, this is a good example of that.

[The Late P Brooks]

It’s not like there’s any shortage of unambiguously bad police shootings. The one that just happened in Cleveland, for instance.

Oh, come on, that kid was a thug-in-training. He was terrorizing the people in that park.

Good shoot.

[Lord Humungus]

this is a few days old… but butts

How Kim Kardashian’s butt could make your life better
With big butts now trending, will designers finally make clothes for athletes?

Why? Because big butts deserve attention. They’re the foundation of a strong body, a series of muscles responsible for explosive movements and protective posture that prevents injuries in the lower back and legs. (And they’re muscles that even Kim K has to stay active for; just look at her Instagram post below.) We said it before: Think of the butt as the tire of the human body?when it goes flat, things start to fall apart. And after decades of degrading and downplaying our assets to fit some standard of flat-butted beauty, the current onslaught of attention paid solely to the butt (as evidenced by the never-ending conversation surrounding Iggy, Taylor, J. Lo, Nicki, Beyonc?, and Kim) is allowing athletes some relief: If they’d struggled with body image resulting from having a strong butt before, that time is over.

[Warty]

Women: take notice!

[Idle Hands]

Quit mansplaining.

[Idle Hands]

people are beautiful whether they are fat, skinny or ugly.

[Steve G]

That’s just something ugly people say

[SugarFree]

Kim Kardashian is an athlete? Who knew that being Photoshopped was now a sport?

[Warty]

That said, no ass with obvious ass implants deserves to be called a good ass. Kim K needs to stop soaking up all the ass recognition that should be given to all the vastly better asses out there.

[John]

I think her ass is hideous. I love women’s asses. And I don’t think really thin women generally have good asses. But on what planet is having a giant ass that has been blown up with silicone attractive?

[RBS]

But on what planet is having a giant ass that has been blown up with silicone attractive?

I’m sure HM could point you in the right direction.

[Heroic Mulatto]

*points to Brazil*

[WTF]

*points to Sir Mix-a-Lot*

[Heroic Mulatto]

Not so fast. In the august words of Sir Mix-a-Lot (PBUH), “silicone parts are made for toys”.

[John]

An actual ass is not the same as one shot up with silicone. There is nothing wrong with a woman having an ass. But that doesn’t make Kardasian’s ass any less hideous.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I defer, almost always, to HM when it comes to DAT ASS.

[John]

Take a look yourself Swiss. Kardasian is just a skank. I wouldn’t fuck her with Warty’s dick.

[Idle Hands]

Via Redstate:

Taken as a whole, the original New York Times story paints a pretty damning picture of the White House’s national security policy setting. Mr. Hagel, so long as he was a loyal foot soldier for the President, was okay even if he was on the outside of the White House cool kidz team.

But the moment Hagel spoke up on ISIS, contradicting the White House, it was game over.

In other words, Chuck Hagel was not fired for incompetence. He was fired for telling the truth on ISIS ? calling it an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” thereby forcing Barack Obama to deal with a threat he very much would like to ignore.

It’s only made more interesting by the New York Times’s decision to complete delete that bit explaining the motivation for his firing.

[John]

It is uncanny how every single thing the left wing media says about Obama is the opposite from the truth. Obama is sold as being intellectually curious and willing to listen and understand all sides of an issue. In reality, he is one of the most incurious and narrowminded men ever to hold high office in this country. Only those facts and opinions that fit his narrative are allowed to be heard.

[SugarFree]

Look, someone had to get Freido’d out on ISIS Lake, and it sure wasn’t going to be Kerry.

[Idle Hands]

yeah I don’t really perceive ISIS as a threat, evil and murderous in Iraq sure. Direct threat to attack us on our soil? Probably not. However if I had a national security adviser who didn’t view them as a threat I would probably fire him, It’s his job to view everybody as a threat. A sign of a bad manager is somebody who can’t handle a difference of opinion or viewpoint.

[Almanian!]

“Idle Hands – you’re fired!” – The Donald

[Idle Hands]

To clear if that opinion or viewpoint is causing him to be insubordinate than of course you get rid of him.

[Drake]

This should be a controversy. The President wants a sycophant political hack in charge of the nation’s defense.

[Warty]

Addiction

Skalmold

[Almanian!]

Nixon?

[Idle Hands]

Further proof that the new york times employs the most insular close-minded imbeciles on the planet.
Most Heavy Drinkers Are Not Alcoholics

Most people who drink to get drunk are not alcoholics, suggesting that more can be done to help heavy drinkers cut back, a new government report concludes.

The finding, from a government survey of 138,100 adults, counters the conventional wisdom that every “falling-down drunk” must be addicted to alcohol. Instead, the results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that nine out of 10 people who drink too much are not addicts, and can change their behavior with a little ? or perhaps a lot of ? prompting.

duh.

[sarcasmic]

The keep revising the definition of problem drinker down to the point where if you drink enough to enjoy it, then it is a problem. Puritans.

[RBS]

The Dean of Students at my undergrad considered all drinking to be an “alcohol violation” because ingesting alcohol “caused harm to oneself.”

[Cdr Lytton]

Brigham Young or Andrews?

[lap83]

Doesn’t that all depend on how you define alcoholic? *sees it’s a government report* Oh right, they don’t care what words mean.

[lap83]

and btw, one thing the government could do to curb alcohol abuse is by not subsidizing low-lifes. But that wouldn’t increase their reach, so it wouldn’t fly.

[Zeb]

Maybe they like getting drunk, then.

[Warty]

On what planet is that the conventional wisdom? Fucking prudes.

[Zeb]

Maybe if it’s before noon.

[Brett L]

15 drinks a week for men. Split a bottle of wine with your wife 2.5 glasses to 1.5 glasses — approximately same alcohol per unit weight in my case — six nights a week at dinner and you can both be considered “heavy drinkers”. This is such bullshit. Alcoholics used to be the people who had to drink a pint of liquor upon waking and then 8-15 drinks A DAY to keep the cravings a bay. The idea that splitting a bottle of wine six nights a week with a meal is remotely similar insults both the wine drinker and the alcoholic.

[Zeb]

It’s stupid to correlate a specific intake with alcoholism anyway. Addiction is a psychological phenomenon at least as much as a pharmacological one. And there seems to be a big genetic component to alcoholism. It’s not just something that magically happens when you cross a certain threshold.

[Idle Hands]

They need a line to draw in the sand so they know who to help.

[Zeb]

Because unsolicited “help” always works out so well.

[Idle Hands]

They know what’s good for us.

[Rhywun]

Is alcohol even phyically addictive at all? I know a little something about addiction and alcohol doesn’t even come close to it for me.

[Brett L]

Alcohol is one of two things I can think of whose withdrawal can literally cause you to die. Benzodiazapans being the other. People don’t die from opiate withdrawal. They just wish they would.

[Roger the Shrubber]

God, this article is horrible.

Underage drinkers and women who drink any amount while pregnant also are defined as “excessive drinkers.”

Surprisingly, about 29 percent of the population meets the definition for excessive drinking, but 90 percent of them do not meet the definition of alcoholism.

Why would it be surprising? When the threshold for excessive drinking is a single sip for a sizable portion of the population, you should expect to have a large portion of the population exceed the threshold. The resulting number of ‘excessive drinkers’ you obtain is not a measurement of the problem, but a reflection of the poor definition used to obtain them.

Studies show that simply raising the price of an alcoholic beverage by 10 percent reduces alcohol consumption by 7 percent, suggesting that higher taxes on alcohol could make a significant dent in excessive drinking. Zoning laws that reduce the number of establishments that serve alcohol in a given area can also curb excessive drinking.

So of course you use the artificially inflated count of ‘excessive drinkers’ to justify an increase in taxes and regulation to fix the ‘problem.’ What a novel and unique development. Why, because there a drunks in this world, must I pay more for my beer, wine, or liquor? (I know, I know. FYTW.)

[CatoTheElder]

The statute authorizes deadly force “in effecting an arrest or in preventing an escape from custody” if the officer “reasonably believes” it is necessary in order to “to effect the arrest and also reasonably believes that the person to be arrested has committed or attempted to commit a felony

Since it is well known that the typical American adult commits three felonies a day, cops can reasonably presume that all adults have committed a felony. Thus, the Missouri statute authorizes cops to use deadly force any time a person flees from him, even if he’s just trying to get out of the way.

[The Late P Brooks]

the results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that nine out of 10 people who drink too much are not addicts, and can change their behavior with a little ? or perhaps a lot of ? prompting.

Antabuse in the (proles’) water supply, then.

[The Late P Brooks]

Has the Official Version of Events now embraced the narrative in which Officer Wilson was investigating the convenience store robbery as the initial reason for contact with Brown, and not merely ticketing him for the heinous crime of jaywalking?

[John]

Who cares? Even if Wilson stopped him because he didn’t like him, that doesn’t make Brown’s behavior any smarter or the shooting any more or less objectionable. What matters is what was going on at the time of the shooting not what started the interaction that lead to it.

The fact that Brown robbed the convienence store is relevent becuase it makes it more believable that he went berserk and got into it with the cops not because him being a suspect somehow made it okay or not okay to shoot him.

[Warty]

It seems to me that both narratives could well be true: this was a justified shooting and an example of racist policing. The protesters seem to have decided to incoherently complain about the first when they mean to be complaining about the latter.

[John]

The problem is that even if the stop was wrong, this is not a good case to use as an example of why such practices are bad. I mean what is the argument here? That police shouldn’t stop black people because they might have just robbed a convience store and get into with the cops and get shot?

If there is a bigger lesson of this case, it is that anyone black or white whose idea of masculinity is to go around beating people up and daring the cops to shoot you is going to end up dead or in prison. Brown is dead for the same reason Trayvon Martin is dead. They both thought they were bad asses and ended up fucking with someone who had a gun.

Police harassing black people and people in general is a big problem. This is not the case to make the point, however.

[UnCivilServant]

The version I was aware of had Wilson ignorant of the robbery incident at the time of the shooting.

[SIV]

I think the grand jury testimony was that Wilson was aware of the robbery but didn’t consider Brown as a suspect until after confronting him about jaywalking.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

The prosecutor’s explanation last night was that Wilson stopped Brown entirely on the fact that he fit the description of the convienience store robber.

Which is 180 out from the narrative by the police at the time.

That part of this smells fishy to me.

[The Late P Brooks]

What matters is what was going on at the time of the shooting not what started the interaction that lead to it.

Same here, but I saw something this morning where the claim was made that Wilson was “investigating the convenience store theft”. Was this how it was presented to the grand jury?

[John]

If it was Wilson, committed perjury. He testified before the grand jury. Surely they asked him why he stopped Brown.

My guess is that Wilson didn’t lie and the media is just being sloppy and reprinting that lie. But that is just a guess.

[Idle Hands]

I knew it gay marriage is destroying the fabric of our society.

What the Phuc.
A Florida man named Phuc Kieu tried to sexually assault and rob a man on Sunday, the Gainesville Sun reported.
Kieu ? more formally Phuc X. Kieu ? was watching gay porn on a portable DVD player in his car when a second man walked by after withdrawing $220 from an ATM, according to local authorities.
Kieu, a 58-year-old Orlando resident, yanked the man inside his Honda Civic, straddled him and tried to pull off his clothes.

[Juice]

Oh come on. That is not his real name.

[Tatyanahamm]

Google pay 97$ per hour my last pay check was $8500 working 1o hours a week online. My younger brother friend has been averaging 12k for months now and he works about 22 hours a week. I cant believe how easy it was once I tried it out.
This is wha- I do…… ?????? http://www.jobsfish.com

[leaniefeneckgik]

my friend’s half-sister makes $74 /hr on the laptop . She has been fired for 8 months but last month her payment was $15926 just working on the laptop for a few hours. browse this site….

?????? http://www.payinsider.com

[leaniefeneckgik]

my friend’s half-sister makes $74 /hr on the laptop . She has been fired for 8 months but last month her payment was $15926 just working on the laptop for a few hours. browse this site….

?????? http://www.payinsider.com