A.M. Links: U.S. Airstrikes in Syria, U.N. Condemns U.S. Over Torture, Police Brutality, Immigration, Nintendo Files Patent for Game Boy Emulator

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  DECO

  The United States conducted new airstrikes in Syria against ISIS targets.

• Darren Wilson will receive no severance after resigning from the Ferguson Police Department, according to the city's mayor, James Knowles, who also promised the department would seek to hire more minorities.
• The United Nations condemned the United States for police brutality, its recent use of torture, and the detention of immigrants.
• Police and protesters clashed in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy demonstrations continue; at least 40 people were arrested.
• Missing Ohio State football player Kosta Karageorge was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• Nintendo has filed a patent for a GameBoy emulator app.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Darren Wilson will receive no severance after resigning from the Ferguson Police Department...

Clearing the way for packbay.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."

Frank Zappa.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

5) I know a lot of people on here are against mass transit due to the public subsidies required to keep most systems solvent, while cars are considered engines of freedom, but I will point out that practically every interaction I have ever had with law enforcement has been in a car. There have been periods when I have commuted and ridden mass transit multiple times daily, and I have never run into law enforcement in doing so. On the other hand, I have been pulled over many, many times while driving. While in my case these interactions never escalated beyond getting a ticket, any one of those times were potential occasions for a search of my car, questioning over my drinking habits, even evidence planting. Is there anybody else who thinks cars vs. mass transit is far from a clear-cut issue for libertarians?

[Injun, as in from India]

Are airlines considered mass transit? If yes, many of us have had our testicles examined by the TSA (Testicle Screening Agency).

[Just a thought not a sermon]

I suppose airlines could be considered mass transit, but you know that's not what I meant.

[Brett L]

Where do you ride the mass transit? Off the top of my head, Philly, NYC, and Oakland all have heavy police presence, and claim authority to open and inspect any belongings you bring beyond the turnstile.

[Just a thought not a sermon]

DC Metro. I do see Metro Transit Police from time to time but have never had occasion to interact with one.

[SugarFree]

I've had bags searched a number of times just visiting NYC. I only had my car searched once and I agreed to it because I knew they wouldn't find anything and I was tittering on the edge of be arrested anyway.

Also VIPR

[Ted S.]

I'm not opposed to mass transit; I'm opposed to the government running it.

[Injun, as in from India]

^THIS.

[John]

There is a guy named Oscar Grant out in San Fransisco who, if he were still alive, would disagree with your assessment of how safe from police confrontations mass transit is. Google the name if you don't know who he is.

Also, if you live in a big city, you will find transit cops are often bigger petty assholes than regular ones.

[Injun, as in from India]

^THIS TOO!

[Spoonman.]

In Philadelphia, SEPTA police are generally more trustworthy than Philadelphia police, though.

[Bardas Phocas]

Can you set the bar lower than the honesty of Philly police?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

New Orleans cops?

Other than that, I cannot think of any.

[antisocial-ist]

The absolute worse cops in Atlanta are MARTA and Hartsfield-Jackson.

[Medical Physics Guy]

I got a 70 dollar ticket for walking from a full to an empty car on the NYC 4 line. Just another day in NYPD revenue generation.

[Slammer]

"But you could have fallen! Wouldn't you rather pay 70$ than be dead??!!"

[sarcasmic]

Everything government does, from guarding the borders to mass transit, comes down to the use or threat of force. So for libertarians, the question is whether or not a function of government is to prevent or react to force (and/or fraud). For example courts give people a means of resolving disputes without resorting to violence, so that makes the an essential part of government, and justifies the taxes collected to pay for it.

Mass transit is not a response to force, nor does it prevent people from resorting to force.

As such, I fail to see it as a legitimate function of government, and I do not see the forcible collection of tax dollars to pay for it as justified.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Nicely put, sarcasmic.

[SIV]

Cops routinely stop interstate buses for a K-9 once-over with "consent" and "probable cause" searches for the carless-cattle.

[lap83]

It's true that you're less likely to run into the cops on public transit than in your car, but I've been assaulted and molested several times on the former..never the latter. I'll take private transportation any day.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Nintendo has filed a patent for a GameBoy emulator app.

I would play the shit out of Yoshi's Island and Pokemon Red.

[BardMetal]

Why not just download one of dozens of free emulators already out there?

[Lord Humungus]

China bans wordplay in attempt at pun control

From online discussions to adverts, Chinese culture is full of puns. But the country's print and broadcast watchdog has ruled that there is nothing funny about them.

It has banned wordplay on the grounds that it breaches the law on standard spoken and written Chinese, makes promoting cultural heritage harder and may mislead the public ? especially children.

The casual alteration of idioms risks nothing less than "cultural and linguistic chaos", it warns.

[Injun, as in from India]

Grass Mud Horse!

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Nice, we need one of our resident statists to come tell us how this is legit...mumble, mumble, social contract...democracy, mumble mumble.

[Slammer]

Narrowing your eyes at bad chinese puns, how does that work? They'd think you were making fun of them.

[Bardas Phocas]

Tow the fucking party lion!

[Zeb]

Well, the French do it. So it must be OK.

[Injun, as in from India]

Comrades, this is all common sense speech regulations.

Why do you need puns when you could use straight sentences? The former are weapons of mass ridicule and should be restricted.

Maybe there should be universal background checks too, so that no one gets offended by another person's use of puns.

[Slammer]

The Peoper's Committee for the Poricing of Ranguage

[antisocial-ist]

Sum Ting Wong?

[Jordan]

Pun control laws don't work. They ensure that only criminals will be armed with puns.

[Medical Physics Guy]

"Soon there will be no thoughtcrime because there will be no words in which to express it."

[db]

I wish I could speak Mandarin; the whole concept of the language seems ripe for excellent and ubiquitous punning.

[Injun, as in from India]

Darren Wilson will receive no severance after resigning

Really? Poor Officer Wilson.

I wonder if anyone in the private sector gets a severance for resigning, and how often they get one when they get fired.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Leave my company voluntarily, you can get severance....get sacked, nothing for you!

[Drake]

It's the other way around here. Get laid-off, collect pay based on a tenure formula. Quit and you get no parting gifts.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

I think if we RIF you, you get severance, but if you get the sack for poor performance or something worse, no soup for you.

[Drake]

I'm trying to remember anyone fired for poor performance (not including compliance violations or outrageous behavior). I can't think of one.

The dead-weights get stuck in meaningless jobs until the next round of lay-offs. Causes less fuss and fewer lawsuits I guess.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

We seem to heave shitbirds out for poor performance every once in a while. My Swiss masters cannot believe how easy it is to let someone go in the US, relatively speaking.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

If he followed procedures and was to be not at fault - regardless of all the wink, winking that went on with that lawyer - why lose his severance?

[R C Dean]

Because he resigned voluntarily, and severance is given in the real world only to people being shown the door?

[sarcasmic]

Is this the most ridiculous stunt ever? Tourists test their strength against jet engine blasts by clinging to fence between Caribbean airport and popular beach

Passersby in Saint Martin attempt to hold onto fence while jet accelerates
The airport has what is called one of the world's most dangerous runways
One tourist found this out first hand, as jet blast launched her into the air

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tra.....blast.html

[Brett L]

New and exciting method of auto-Darwination discovered!

[sarcasmic]

Moment police officer 'stops a black man for walking through snowy Michigan with his hands in his pockets'

Brandon McKenzie, who is black, stopped for walking with hands in pockets
Police officer in Pontiac, Michigan, says 'nervous' residents called 911
McKenzie says it is snowing and his hands are cold, questions why he was singled out

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

[SugarFree]

Walking with your hands in your pockets when it is snowing is a known gang sign.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

In Canada it's a sign of weakness to keep your hands in your pockets or to wear gloves.

[UnCivilServant]

So there are a lot of Canadukistanis mising parts of fingers due to frostbite?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Frostbite? We eat frost.

[SugarFree]

It's Always Sunny In Seattle syndrome.

[Cdr Lytton]

Army too.

[BardMetal]

Lucky he's still alive. Good thing he wasn't some 12 year old with a toy..

[db]

Whenever I have to interact with a cop, I tell him what I am going to do before I do it, because most of them seem so twitchy that they would mistake an attempted handshake for an attack.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

HE WAS COMING RIGHT AT ME!

[sarcasmic]

White cops who killed two unarmed black teens SUE the city for racial discrimination over their 'harsh' treatment

The eight white officers, and one Hispanic, were among the Cleveland cops who killed Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in a hail of 137 bullets
The officers were placed on leave for three days and then put on a 45-day 'cooling-off' period before being allowed back on regular duty
They were then placed back on restrictive duty in a move their lawsuit says was politically motivated
Just this month, the family of Williams and Russel were awarded $3 million in a settlement with the city of Cleveland

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

[Brett L]

The sheer balls. I'd be okay with police unions if they'd take these idiots out back and beet them with hoses.

[sarcasmic]

Beet?

[Injun, as in from India]

The sheer balls. I'd be okay with police unions if they'd take these idiots out back and beet them with hoses.

Or hose them in the back with beets?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Ever get beeten with beets? It hurts. A lot.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

We beet the borscht out them!

/goon

[Crusty Juggler]

Shenanigans!

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

The United Nations condemned the United States for police brutality, its recent use of torture, and the detention of immigrants.

That last one seems...incongruous with the other two items on the list. Especially given how European nations treat immigrants.

[Injun, as in from India]

The United Nations is full of pompous idiots who couldn't tell their head from their a$$.

[UnCivilServant]

This is the UN, where the human rights commitee consists of North Korea, Iran and Sudan.

(not precisely those, but they have chaired it)

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I'd love for them to condemn the real failed and fucked states in the world.

The UN is so useless it may as well be an amusement park or some shit.

[Medical Physics Guy]

You mean ignore them so long as they don't move into fashionable neighborhoods?

[Lord Humungus]

The salty tears keep on coming:

Occidental students confront a reality of political campaigns: defeat

Other students were even more emotional. Early election night, Tieman started driving from one campaign office to another when Hagan was in the lead. She sang aloud as she drove, excited for the victory.

When it was clear Hagan was going to lose, Tieman began "gross-sobbing and ugly-crying."

"It felt like everything I had poured my heart and soul into ended up not meaning anything," she said.

The two professors teaching the course ? Peter Dreier and Regina Freer ? were concerned enough that they asked the religious counselor to visit the class. They said their students seemed to be coping well.

[This Machine Slips It In]

"It felt like everything I had poured my heart and soul into ended up not meaning anything," she said.

Ha! Yes! Welcome to adulthood! Taste the bitter reality of fate! Drink in the misery and realize that everything is nothing and all of your efforts will be eventually washed away by the inexorable march of time!

[db]

Tasty, Tasty tears of the true-believer.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

We need to bottle and lay down some of this vintage 2014 Tears d' Prog

[Slammer]

Fair Trade, sustainable, GMO free tears

[lap83]

Good year.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Missing Ohio State football player Kosta Karageorge was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Apparently concussion related.

[db]

Are you serious?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's what I read. He was frequently confused and he attributed that to frequent concussions and the last text he sent to his mother was just that.

But for some reason the article won't load for me right now.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

*sniff, sniff*

I smell lawsuit.

[db]

Damn.

[Bee Tagger]

Nintendo has filed a patent for a GameBoy emulator app.

Unfortunately, patent is the most modern reference in that sentence.

[DJF]

""""and the detention of immigrants"""

So if the US immediately deports them then its all right?

[UnCivilServant]

Mass burials would also be accepted by UN standards.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

-1 Srebencia

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"NEW YORK ? Watch out world, the Girl Scouts are going digital to sell you cookies.

"For the first time in nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts of the USA will allow its young go-getters to push their wares using a mobile app or personalized websites."

Harder to guilt you into buying through the Web.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....?tid=sm_fb

[Brett L]

Do you know how many girl scout cookies some people would be buying if they were fulfilled year-round by Amazon? GSA will become about the third largest company in America.

[UnCivilServant]

Keebler makes the cookies, and you can buy them year-round, for less than the girl scouts sell them for.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Shhh...you want to ruin the whole racket?

[Zeb]

They are made to the specs of GSA, so they aren't exactly the same, and other bakeries make and have made them. But The Keebler chocolate mint cookies are pretty damn close to Thin Mints.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Who needs guilt....GIMME MY #$%&ing; TREFOILS!!!!

[db]

Trefoils and milk|coffee
is an excellent snack.

The do-si-dos are frigging awesome as.well.

[Ted S.]

Who needs guilt? What sort of freak doesn't like Girl Scout cookies?

[wadair]

"For the first time in nearly 100 years, Girl Scouts of the USA will allow its young go-getters to push their wares using a mobile app or personalized websites."

Why did they wait 100 years to create a mobile app?

[Lord Humungus]

Breath test to detect pot is being developed at WSU

A team at Washington State University is working to develop a breath test that could quickly determine whether a driver is under the influence of marijuana.

Law enforcement officers already use preliminary breath tests in the field to estimate drivers' blood alcohol content. But no similar portable tool exists to test for marijuana impairment via a breath sample.

Stoned drivers have become an increasing concern since Washington voters legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2012. A quarter of blood samples taken from drivers in 2013, the first full year the initiative was in effect, came back positive for pot.

[Zeb]

Ugh. I guess you had to expect things like this. I'd bet a lot that there was no significant increase after legalization. Most people who smoke pot regularly don't seem to have any problem with driving (thought there are certainly exceptions).
Let's just hope that this doesn't lead to further erosion of 4th amendment rights under the secret DUI clause.

[Cdr Lytton]

Let's just hope that this doesn't lead to further erosion of 4th amendment rights under the secret DUI clause.

*laughs hysterically, wipes tear from eye*

[Fist of Etiquette]

The United Nations condemned the United States for police brutality, its recent use of torture, and the detention of immigrants.

Lumping everything together, guaranteeing that everyone in the US will ignore them.

[Bee Tagger]

who also promised the department would seek to hire more minorities.

problem solved. *wipes hands*

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

*hands washbasin back to lictor*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

After all, what is truth, if you know what I mean?

[This Machine Slips It In]

"I find no fault in this Eddie."

[Lord Humungus]

fight the power, bro.

Cross-dressing man pepper sprays officers who stop him for shoplifting, Huntsville police say

"The victims observed the offender (disguised as a woman) conceal multiple items inside the store and then exit without paying," the report stated. "When they confronted him outside, he pepper sprayed the loss prevention officers. Loss prevention was able to subdue him until police arrived.

[Brett L]

Listen, take your heteronormative sexism somewhere else, pig. That is clearly a person wishing to be identified as a woman. Maybe.

[Brett L]

Upon reading the article I wish to add:

Its just a
simple fact
when you want something
a-aand you don't want to pay for it.

[Ted S.]

Don't you mean "sis"?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

This cis sis?

[Slammer]

NY Post: Tech_Savvy 'anarchists' run rings around cops

Tech-savvy anarchists ran rings around the NYPD during last week's Ferguson-related protests ? and cops are now on edge over what the renegades may be able to pull off after a ruling in the Eric Garner case.

"They wore me out," said one counterterror expert who monitored the protests. "Their ability to strategize on the fly is something we haven't dealt with before to this degree."
While the NYPD actively monitors Twitter, Facebook and other social media for intelligence, sources said the official chain of command keeps squadrons of cops from moving around as quickly as protesters.

A "technology gap" also favors the activists, many of whom have the newest electronic gear, sources said.

"A lot of these anarchists are from the Occupy Wall Street group. They are little rich kids, little techie brats,'' a source said.

"They get their money from Mommy and Daddy. And they travel from the West Coast to the East Coast and everywhere in between to disrupt events that involve corporate America, world summits, civil rights and especially those that involve law enforcement."The NYPD is "very concerned, more because of recent events," a law-enforcement source said.

Boo hoo

[tarran]

Sooo. The occupy shits are doing something useful for a change?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Other than crapping on the hoods of police cars?

[Medical Physics Guy]

This sounds awesome. Can anyone link me to an article describing what tech savvy stuff they did in more detail?

[Bam!]

It probably consists of nothing more than tweeting. The key point in the article isn't that the protesters were doing anything sophisticated, it was that they were decentralized, whereas the NYPD has a centralized decision making process with clear chain of command.

Bottom-up vs. top-down

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Setting up flash mobs, basically.

[Coeus]

For those of you who love policing language with the latest "racist" word of the week, I have good news:

Using the word "riot" is racist.

Go have fun with it, you crazy kids.

[Ted S.]

Racist.

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, I did notice that all the bandmembers of Quiet Riot were white....

[Rufus J. Firefly]

From comments:

"See, this whole Fergusen thing, along with all the other senseless deaths of black teens got me on a Socratic journey through the question of justice.

So I weighed seeing a hooded Klansman swinging from a rope, body burned, beaten and mutilated against my nauseating horror at seeing a black man in the same position.

I couldn't find any sympathy for the Klansman or any other fascist or racist. I don't know if I have a psychological issue, but I truly believe that authoritarian types that feel they need to rid society of people they deem unworthy should just be killed. I don't want to live among them, and I don't want them to have any control over the lives of the innocent.

I'm wrestling with this paradox?I have all my adult life."

Lord have mercy on the West.

[Ted S.]

Could she do any worse than the Poliitcal Class? 10-year-old to run for town council chief in Finnish Lapland town

Mili's vision for the town contains some measures which, should she make it into office, some of her more aged colleagues may find controversial. These include merging all the town's primary schools into Kemij?rvi central school. She also suggests that a sizeable chunk of schoolteaching could actually be done online instead.

"That way every other day we'd be at school, and every other day at home doing distance learning," she says.

[...]

Although Mili knows she may be considered on the young side for such a position of authority, she does believe that at least half of the municipality's cabinet should be experienced grown-ups. This would stop them carrying out any radical facelifts, she says. "If everyone was aged 10 to 15, the whole thing would go a bit loopy," she agrees.

The one thing I have to say is that anything that gives us less respect for the political class and elected office holders is probably a good thing.

[Lord Humungus]

Moped-rider injured in crash with pop-up toilet in Amsterdam
The toilet rose unexpectedly and tossed the man and moped in the air.

He was hurt after the toilet ? normally sunk into the ground ? popped-up unexpectedly throwing a moped into the air, reports the BBC.

The man was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries, after apparently being hit by the moped.

Witnesses said there was a loud bang at the time of the incident.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Hello, Dave Barry!

[SugarFree]

Even as tolerant and accepting of gay people as I am, I still cannot abide an adult male riding a moped.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Like riding a fat chick?

Fun til your friends see you?

TIWTANFL

[Libertarian]

If the Chinese can't come up with the perfect pun for this incident, I will be devastated.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

They might, but it will be censored in the press.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Dung Box Rise Wheels

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

NASA's deep space capable Orion rocket ready for first space flight

A spaceship built to carry humans is about to venture into deep space for the first time in more than four decades.

NASA's Orion space capsule is scheduled to blast off on its first test flight Thursday (Dec. 4). The unmanned mission, called Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), will send Orion zooming about 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) from Earth, before rocketing back to the planet at high speeds to test out the capsule's heat shield, avionics and a variety of other systems.

No human-spaceflight vehicle has traveled so far since 1972, when the last of NASA's Apollo moon missions came back to Earth. Indeed, in all that time, no craft designed to carry crews has made it beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO), just a few hundred miles from the planet. [Photos: NASA's Orion Space Capsule EFT-1 Test Flight]

If all goes according to plan, Orion will eventually fly farther than any Apollo capsule ever did, taking astronauts to near-Earth asteroids and ? by the mid-2030s ? the ultimate destination, Mars.

"I gotta tell you, this is special," Bob Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said about EFT-1 during a press briefing last month. "This is our first step on that journey to Mars."

[Brett L]

SLD, I wish this wasn't government funded, but I'm excited.

[DJF]

So its taken NASA 40 years to recreate an improved Apollo capsule?

[WTF]

We won't know whether it's actually improved until after they test it.

[UnCivilServant]

I keep thinking of the spaceship powered by nuclear explosions whenever they mention Orion.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Me too.

[BardMetal]

I remember old science documentaries claiming we would have a Mars base by 1999. Needless to say I'm not holding my breath on this 2030s deadline either.

Besides focusing on the moon, and trying to find away to make moon trips commercially viable seems like a better use of their time and resources then landing on Mars, planting some flag, and going back home.

[Zeb]

Yeah, see if people can do something useful on the moon first, then think about Mars.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

We had Moonbase Alpha established in 1999, before the moon was knocked out into space by the exploding nuke waste.

Have you been living under a rock?

[Drake]

Not a real Orion!

I want my nuclear bomb pusher rocket!

[BardMetal]

Then we might pollute one of the most hostile, lifeless, and radioactive places imaginable.

[UnCivilServant]

New Jersey?

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Fort Polk, LA?

[Slammer]

Congress?

[Cdr Lytton]

Plenty of life in Ft Polk: chiggers, ticks, spiders, snakes, red-cockaded woodpeckers.. Well maybe not the last.

[The DerpRider]

Our 'deep space' rocket is doing the equivalent of a transatlantic flight? Forward!

[Zeb]

Transatlantic flights don't generally go straight up.

[The DerpRider]

They're only 235,000 miles short of getting to the moon.

[Zeb]

Sure, it's not really impressive by itself, but testing the heat shields before going to the moon or something is probably a good plan.

[Brett L]

Why? There's no atmosphere on the moon to need a heatshield for? /pedant

[Zeb]

OK, before returning from the Moon.

[Not a Libertarian]

In the year 2014, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes.

[The DerpRider]

Did you say Wilma Deering?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBjC-I97o5c

[Lord Humungus]

Bosnian community in St. Louis outraged over fatal hammer attack in Bevo Mill neighborhood

Nukic was among at least 50 people, mostly, if not all Bosnians, who briefly blocked Gravois Avenue at Itaska Street on Sunday night to protest the killing. The intersection was near where Zemir Begic, a Bosnian man who moved to St. Louis this year, was attacked by at least three teens with hammers early Sunday.

Police said Begic was in his vehicle about 1:15 a.m. in the 4200 block of Itaska when several juveniles approached and began damaging his car. Police said Begic got out to confront the juveniles, who began yelling at him and hitting him with hammers.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ooh, nice move, "teens," pissing off the Bosnians.

[Zeb]

""Teens""?

[mousefeathers]

I think that means they're looking at juveniles, whose names and faces will not be released to the public, even the Bosnian public.

"Relax, now folks. We have the perpetrators, we just can't tell you who they are."

[TwB]

That's just sad. I lived in STL for 7 years and I interacted w/ many Bosnians and I always found them to be decent, hard working people who also cooked some great food. Oh and the area around Bevo Mill is a fucking disgrace. That's close to the same area where a 70ish year old Vietnamese man was killed in broad daylight by a couple of teenagers a few years ago.

[Mike M.]

Don't expect this story to get any attention from the national so-called mainstream media, or from Reason for that matter. All the principals involved are of the wrong color.

[Lord Humungus]

Darth Vader is polling higher than all potential 2016 presidential candidates

Hillary Clinton currently has the highest net favorability of any 2016 White House contender. But to put her 19 percent favorable rating in context, she's tied with Boba Fett, the bounty hunter who froze Harrison Ford in carbonite.

None of the 2016 hopefuls is polling higher than Darth Vader. You'll recall that Vader chopped off his son's arm and blew up an entire planet, but evidently in the eyes of the American public these are minor sins compared to Benghazi, Bridgegate and Gov. Rick Perry's hipster glasses. These numbers suggest that if "Star Wars" were real and Darth Vader decided to enter the 2016 presidential race, he'd be the immediate front-runner.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

There's a man with vision. Strong on foreign policy, understands that projects like the Imperial Navy and Death Star create billions of jobs, and isn't afraid to be disarming when negotiating with certain leaders of the Rebel Alliance.

[Not a Libertarian]

Spoken as a man who knows

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

And when negotiations break down, he isn't above mind-choking a bitch!

Vader in '16!

[Raven Nation]

Clearly, we're going to need to see Lord Vader's birth certificate:

http://mashable.com/2014/10/26.....e-ukraine/

[UnCivilServant]

We also can't verify fourteen years of residency.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

He finds your lack of faith disturbing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

That girls face is priceless.

Ukraine funny!

[The Last American Hero]

Vote Obi Wan Kenobi - Our only hope!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vote-F.....0766181071

[BardMetal]

"Darren Wilson will receive no severance after resigning"

Meanwhile still nobody in the media seems to care about a cop murdering a 12 year old in Cleveland because the issue isn't polarizing enough.

[SERENITY NOW!]

Just proves John right.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"The United Nations condemned the United States for police brutality, its recent use of torture, and the detention of immigrants."

They also condemned the United States for being late with the aid checks again. "Our mistresses are nagging us to buy them gold-plated hot tubs," world leaders said in a joint statement.

[Lord Humungus]

Nuclear Attack From Aliens Eradicated Life On Mars, Physicist Claims

In his paper titled "Evidence of a Massive Thermonuclear Explosion on Mars in the Past, The Cydonian Hypothesis and Fermi's Paradox," Brandenburg concludes that the Earth's interstellar neighbourhood has forces or beings hostile to young, noisy, civilisations like the ones people has on Earth. It is with the same reason that aliens launched a nuclear attack against the ancient life on Mars, he said.

Brandenburg outlined apparent evidence that immense nuclear explosions happened on Mars twice, attacking two sites of the early life -- the Cydonians and the Utopians. He said these two sites were erased by nuclear bombs launched by highly advanced aliens.

cwaaaazy...

[BardMetal]

Well suppose thats one explanation for the Fermi paradox. Though I think a more likely scenario is that intelligent life just happens to be so extraordinarily rare, that for all practical purposes we're alone in the universe.

[SugarFree]

Or the universe is teeming with life, but they all read YouTube comments before contacting us and then decide not to bother.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

I find this .... plausible.

[WTF]

No, if they read YouTube comments they would have nuked us from orbit long ago, just to be sure.

[SugarFree]

I'm not suggesting they read Vox or Slate.

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Maybe it was Salon? And then they figured we posed no serious threat and would soon be reduced to flinging feces and hooting in the ruins of our cities.

[SugarFree]

You might be on to something...

[Zeb]

Or that interstellar travel is not really feasible. I think that the most likely thing is that there is lots of life out there, but for the most part it stays put. And even if some kinds of life do manage to travel long distances and colonize off of the home planet, it would be extremely difficult to maintain a civilization that goes beyond one planet or maybe a solar system.

[BardMetal]

How? It's not like after settling a new planet the people would resort back to stone age living. Even if they would have zero contact with their homeworld they would still grow, and advance, and colonize worlds of their own.

The right of colonization would grow exponentially as more and more worlds are colonized.

No I think it's far more likely that civilization is extraordinarily rare. There are a lot of little things, that we take for granted, that need to come together to get a species to stop flinging feces at each other, and eventually settle down and build cities.

[Zeb]

Well, I mean a unified civilization.

Time keeping would become a big problem if close to light speed or FTL is possible. It's not something that is usually addressed very well in science fiction.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't think that a Star Trek future is too likely. Stuff is too far apart and relativity makes coordination difficult. If colonizing other planets is practical, it probably happens very slowly. Sort of like the Dune universe before the Guild.

Maybe I'm too pessimistic about the possibilities, but I think that interstellar travel just not being practical for recognizable life is a real possibility that should be considered.

[Medical Physics Guy]

I think the Cylons on Mars called in the strike.

[This Machine Slips It In]

"We called it The Traveler. And it's arrival changed us forever..."

[Elspeth Flashman]

Is there life on Mars? /Bowie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Bill Kristol: Rand Paul 'totally overrated' as 2016 candidate

According to Kristol, Paul is "totally overrated" as a potential candidate, saying a major downfall stems from Paul's "more dove-ish" stance than President Barack Obama regarding foreign policy, noting that GOP voters are more hawkish in nature.

Kristol made the comments to ABC News' Martha Raddatz on "This Week" Sunday morning.

"I think Rand Paul is totally overrated as a 2016 possibility. The media loves him because he takes a couple of liberal views, publicizes them in an incoherent way."

"I predict Rand Paul will get fewer votes than his father got in 2012," said Kristol. "He's as dove-ish as President Obama on foreign policy, Republican voters aren't."

"And on law and order, yes, Republican voters, and I think most Americans and an awful amount of African-Americans, saying whatever injustice might happen in any individual case, and God knows there are cops that make mistakes and do things they shouldn't do, maybe not enough to get indicted," Kristol continued.

"Nonetheless there is no excuse for rioting, and there's no excuse for people apologizing for the destruction of property and the endangerment of life. Law and order isn't just a political slogan, it really is part of a decent society," Kristol added.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Nonetheless there is no excuse for rioting, and there's no excuse for people apologizing for the destruction of property and the endangerment of life."

Yeah, what was Rand Paul thinking, putting a pro-rioting plank in his platform?

[John]

"He's as dove-ish as President Obama on foreign policy, Republican voters aren't."

He is not even close to his father and even if he were is five times smarter than his father about how to express his views.

And while Republican voters are not doves, they are not interested in saving the world from itself either.

[BardMetal]

I wouldn't exactly consider Obama a dove either. Just because his drone attacks seem to serve no purpose doesn't make them any less hawkish, and violent.

[tarran]

I'm just laughing at the notion of Obama being a dove.

Obama approaches war in precisely the same way LBJ does; ordering bombings and killings to maximize his domestic popularity the next day.

[John]

I think Obama is a dove. You have to remember Obama is a total narcissist and utterly incompetent at everything he does that doesn't involve lying to gullible white people. Obama is a dove. He is just so incompetent, this is what him trying to be a dove looks like. If he wanted war, we would probably have peace.

[tarran]

I think it depends on what your definition of a dove is.

To me a dove is someone who pushes peaceful or conciliatory policies and prefers negotiation to fighting.

Narcissists aren't conciliatory, and they don't like to negotiate in good faith.

I think Obama is as much a dove as he is a scholar of constitutional law; he talks the talk to fool the people who want him to walk the walk, but behind closed doors does whatever he wants like Eric Cartman on Jerry Springer.

A dove wouldn't have gone to Australia and insulted the prime minister to the face of the head of government. He wouldn't' have bombed Libya. he wouldn't have issues weird red line notices regarding Syria.

I do think Obama's foreign policy is ineffectual and thus has the outcomes one would expect from a state run by someone who was too dovish, but if you look at the strategery he engages in, it's the product of his complete incompetence and crippling personality disorder and not from any peaceful nature.

[John]

He is a "dove" in the sense that he doesn't really give a shit about American interests and won't lift a finger to further them regardless of whether doing that involves war.

Everything he does is about increasing his own political power in the US or acting out over some perceived slight. For example, he uses drones so liberally because he doesn't want the Republicans to be able to say he is soft on terror and he doesn't want the headaches of capturing and trying people. Drones are just the most expedient method to keep his political enemies at bay. That is the only reason he does it.

Obama pisses on our allies because he is a faculty lounge leftist who thinks US and its allies are exploiters and responsible for the various conflicts in the world. Obama is quite literally on the other side in the conflict between Islam and the West. He only takes the necessary steps to defend the country because not doing so would be untenable politically and no matter how much he may be on the other side, he is on his own side more.

[tarran]

He is a "dove" in the sense that he doesn't really give a shit about American interests and won't lift a finger to further them regardless of whether doing that involves war.

I submit to you that isn't dovishness. A dove is conciliatory. Obama isn't. A dove negotiates even when he doesn't need to. Obama doesn't negotiate other than to offer people the choice between his way and the highway.

If Obama has any doctrine, it is that of an anti-colonialist/anti-imperialist of the 1960-70's. But those guys weren't doves, they were merely calling for their enemies to be dovish while they were quite happy to slit throats.

[John]

Obama negotiates with any thug or enemy there is. He is a total dove when it comes to dealing with actual bad actors. The only people he refuses to negotiate with are other Americans or American allies.

Again, Obama is literally on the other side.

[Zeb]

I wouldn't call him a hawk, but I don't think dove is right either.

[Libertarian]

Wait. Obama is "dovish?" He keeps using that word, but.........

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Da heck?

What does Obama have to do to not be considered a 'dove' to neocons?

Invade, bomb, flatten and repeat?

Sheesh.

[Injun, as in from India]

The neocon warmongers won't let Rand be the GOP nominee. They will throw everything they have at him. That is the sad truth.

[SugarFree]

neocon warmongers? necromongers?

Is The Chronicles of Riddick the Demolition Man of the 21st century?

[UnCivilServant]

Everytime I see the word "Neocon", my mind sees the word "Necron". So where are the gauss flayers?

[Slammer]

+1 War Master

[John]

Paul may not win the nomination. But if he doesn't it won't be because of people like Kristol. Paul has a huge organization and is going to raise a ton of money.

No one listens to the GOP establishment. They got their nominees in 08 and 12 and lost. The only way they could stop Paul would be to strangle his candidacy in the womb by keeping him from raising money and building an organization. Since they have failed in that, Paul will get a fair shot with the actual voters, whom people like Kristol have virtually no influence over.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Agreed. Kristol and the neocons are still discredited in the eyes of many voters and Rand isn't going to fall into that trap of being defined by the media.

He's good at communicating his ideas in conservative friendly, pro-Constitution and rule of law terms.

[tarran]

Actually, John, the estalishment has other tools which were put in play in his father's failed 2008 run.

In order to prevent the appearance of disagreement, the establishment basically did everything they could to cut down the number of Paul sr delegates - including changing rules on the fly and refusing to seat one state delegation.

Granted, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the nominating process, but those measures did work in creating the illusion that Romney was annointed by the entire party.

[John]

Sure they did. But Paul didn't have enough delegates to win. None of that kept Paul from winning. It just kept him from making too big of a stink at the convention.

The Ron Paul supporters are just as wrong as Kristol. Kristol thinks every Republican voter is dying to go and rebuild the Middle East in our image. Paul supporters think that inside every Republican voter is an American hating Paleocon waiting to get out and go apologize to the world for all of the harm we have caused. Both of them are wrong. Republican voters don't want to rebuild the middle east but they still believe in American exceptionalism and are patriotic to the core and will not listen to Paul's blowback and its all our fault rhetoric. They just won't.

Ron Paul supporters always counter that he didn't mean it that way. What they don't understand is that it doesn't matter what he meant. It came across that way to about 75% of the GOP voters and that is all that mattered. Ron Paul didn't lose because of some evil conspiracy. He lost because he couldn't keep from running his mouth and saying things that pissed off the Republican voters.

[Ted S.]

Fuck the Beltway Republicans.

[The Late P Brooks]

"A lot of these anarchists are from the Occupy Wall Street group. They are little rich kids, little techie brats,'' a source said.

"They get their money from Mommy and Daddy. And they travel from the West Coast to the East Coast and everywhere in between to disrupt events that involve corporate America, world summits, civil rights and especially those that involve law enforcement."The NYPD is "very concerned, more because of recent events," a law-enforcement source said.

One more way wealth inequality is destroying America.

[Bill Dalasio]

To borrow a phrase from Henry Kissinger, can't they both lose?

[Lord Humungus]

against my better judgment
Many of you know I recently spent a week cruising the Caribbean with my mom. What most of you don't know is that we were traveling with a group of thinkers and writers and readers of National Review magazine.

"That in America, the friends of liberty are called 'conservatives' and the centralizing authoritarians are referred to as 'liberals' is one of the great semantic jokes of history. In almost every other part of the world, rightward-leaning political movements seek primarily to conserve the long established order, and in consequence compete not for meaningful ideological terrain but for stewardship and for stasis. Elections abroad tend to be narrow and meretricious affairs, in which minor reductions in the considerable power of the state take on great significance and 'philosophy' is seen as a dirty, even dangerous, word.

"In the United States, by happy contrast, conservatism is marked by its unorthodoxy and its radicalism. Conservatives are passionate and ambitious, and their concern is for neither the international norms nor the tribal precepts that have animated most of human history, but for the manifestation of eccentric ideas that have surfaced only recently ...

[Notorious G.K.C.]

While I certainly am inclined to interpret conservatism that way, I think there's another interpretation which also fits the historical facts.

Basically, this hypothesis of mine would see politics as a contest between conservatives and progressives (or whatever you call the lefties). Progressives devote their political energy to reforming the world. Conservatives may spend some time reforming the world, too, but they reserve a good portion of their political energy for protecting the world against its would-be reformers.

That definition does a better job of explaining the prog/conservative divide than a comparison of specific positions.

Progressivism keeps changing. The orthodoxy of yesterday becomes the shocking and unacceptable heresy of today.

Progs used to agree with FDR about the damaging effects of welfare and the dangers of public-sector unions. Now, progressives think anyone who criticizes welfare or public-sector unions is a racist teabagging fascist.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Progressives cheered on the Equal Rights Amendment and viciously denounced, as paranoid, anyone who said it would lead to gay marriage. Now gay marriage has become the latest Bright Shiny Thing they're pursuing, and the fate of human rights and decency depends on it.

The common element here is that the progs have a series of political crushes - bright new ideas which have to be translated into policy, brushing aside worried about side effects, and ignoring what progs said in the past about the same policy.

Conservatives, to the extent that they are conservative, oppose progressive initiatives. It's complicated because some people are conservative on only a few issues - eg, someone may start as a New Deal Democrat but oppose public-sector unions and affirmative action. Once the person starts spending any serious energy opposing the Progressives' latest Bright Shiny Thing, they will discover that they have become conservatives.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

We keep hearing the protests - "Hey, I'm not a conservative, I simply have reservations about this new crusade for boycotting Israel/pushing transgender rights/insulting video gamers for being male [or whatever the cause of the month may be]. I'm still totally for the minimum wage and subsidizing cowboy poetry!" But by opposing the progs on only a few key issues, they may well be putting themselves on the slippery slope to conservatism, as their erstwhile prog associates shun them and they start talking to actual conservatives - if they don't watch themselves, on day they'll say "Mom, Dad, guess what - I'm conservative!"

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Progs do love shiny things. You're right about that.

[lap83]

"Basically, this hypothesis of mine would see politics as a contest between conservatives and progressives (or whatever you call the lefties). Progressives devote their political energy to reforming the world. Conservatives may spend some time reforming the world, too, but they reserve a good portion of their political energy for protecting the world against its would-be reformers.

That definition does a better job of explaining the prog/conservative divide than a comparison of specific positions."

Yeah I agree. Thomas Sowell calls it the "constrained" vs "unconstrained" visions. The former sees humans as unchanging and selfish. The latter sees humans as perfectible.

[lap83]

It also helps to explain the division you see among libertarians.

[Coeus]

Young adult dystopias teach kids to submit to the free market, not challenge authority.

If you see yourself as a left-leaning progressive parent, you might want to exercise some of that oppressive parental control and limit your kids exposure to the "freedom" expressed in YA dystopian fiction

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And don't damp down their idealism by letting them read Animal Farm or the Gulag Archipelago, it will discourage them from working for Utopia!

[Jordan]

Nothing says "challenging authority" like looking to Top Men to restrict people's voluntary interactions! She probably thinks President Snow is the protagonist and Katniss Everdean is some Teathuglican wrecker.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

gadgetgirl02
01 September 2014 3:31pm
64
I haven't read the other two, but I disagree with the reading of The Hunger Games. The state IS the corporation in that one -- the vassal states pay tribute in natural resources and people, in return for absurdly inadequate compensation. Katniss has her survival skills from working under the table and not getting all her family's necessities from the company store. The state is the 1% exploiting the 99%. That the 1% now openly forms the government is the only distinction from now, where instead they have to at least dodge most of the conflict of interest laws.
Katniss threatens the status quo by winning the games (when not expected to) and bending the rules, showing the country that the elite's control is not as perfect as it appears.
It is a lot more like a call for unionisation than neo-liberalism.

Jesus, they really can't conceive of government (well, at least the right kind of government, a government run by people like themselves) doing anything bad.

No, when government and the state is evil and oppressive it's just acting like a corporation, the corporations we have now that run our lives!

[Lord Humungus]

It is a lot more like a call for unionisation than neo-liberalism.

I don't even...

[Zeb]

It's really weird. I can understand why someone might think corporations are bad. Some certainly are. But how does anyone figure that governments are not even worse? People seem to have some sort of block on seeing how government provides even more incentives to be dishonest and unpleasant than business does and has very few disincentives for that sort of thing.

[Spoonman.]

How do you "submit" to a free market? The free market exists even in Cuba and North Korea, there is just variation on how difficult it is to reach it.

[Lord Humungus]

Now matter how "they" try, there have always been markets and there always will be markets.

[Injun, as in from India]

Freedom is slavery. So yeah. Don't teach them anything about freedom because it is slavery.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

But really, at the crux of their hatred of these kinds of novels is a simple and unfocused hatred of individuality.

The very basic requirements of fiction (having a protagonist, having him/her face a challenge and then ultimately prevail while developing as a person) requires a focus on an individual and not the collective.

Simply put, proletariat fiction is awful because it tends to be unfocused and devolve into a anti-capitalist diatribe. And who wants to read that?

[Slammer]

The Hive feels threatened.

How does one live with oneself where every single thought is the exact opposite of reality? They're gone, trained to react to stimuli in certain ways. Utterly hopeless.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

If George Lucas had directed the new Star Wars trailer...

[UnCivilServant]

That was fast editing work.

[John]

Do not rebuild in Ferguson

From a kid who survived the Hough Riots in Cleveland nearly a half century ago, some unsolicited advice to the business owners in Ferguson, Missouri: Do not bother rebuilding. Your customers do not want you. They tore up your stores -- twice. And after one of them robbed a store. These are not protests. They are pogroms aimed at the middle class. Take the insurance money and run...

It is pretty ugly in Ferguson. Deliberately so. The chaos visited upon the town by those who are aching for a race war has damaged the target of liberalism in the 21st century: The middle class. Witness the targets of this vicious and violent protest

http://donsurber.blogspot.com/.....l?spref=tw

The use of the word "pogrom" is appropriate here. The American middle class is the new Jews. Lenin used to say antisemitism is socialism for the stupid. Here we see the same sort of self defeating insanity and mob violence that was once reserved for the Jews in Europe applied to the America middle class. How is the burning and looting of shops for the crime of not being poor and trying to better yourself any different than the mobs who used to burn ghettos in Imperial Russia?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I'm beginning to think you have a point about the left disarming people so that they can be more vulnerable to mobs.

[John]

If America were not so well armed, these riots would spread and terrorize everyone opposed to the Democrats. The police would step in and protect the wealthy and important and leave the middle class to mercy of the mob.

That is how socialist governments stay in power. They lie their way into power pretending to be centrists and just trying to help out the less fortunate. Once in power, their policies result in utter misery making them unpopular with anyone not in the party or on the government dole. To stay in power they subvert the electoral process and use the mob to terrorize their opponents.

Obama would if he could be an American Chavez. The only thing that prevents him from being that is our federal system and the fact that US is so well armed.

[TwB]

I really feel for the shop owners in Ferguson. They are trying to make a living and doing something that not many people in this country have the ability or will to do, which is own a small business. And after the chaos that has happened in Ferguson for the second time in 6 months, I can't blame the small business owners if they say fuck it, take the insurance money, and do something else with their lives.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But that would be racist to escape the riots and violence.

You need to stand there and take it like a real American.

[Coeus]

But that would be racist to escape the riots and violence.

You might as well just use the n-word here, racist.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I don't think they consciously cheer on the rioters as such, they simply see riots as a Deplorable But Understandable Response to Injustice. The way to deal with riots is to address the Underlying Injustice. Focusing on how to suppress the riots is Ignoring the Root Causes of the Blah Blah.

If the cops and National Guard had managed to stop the rioters before they burned or destroyed anything, that would have been a sign of Overreaction.

If the shopkeepers started gunning down the arsonists breaking into their stores, this would be part of a Deplorable Cycle of Violence and Gun Culture - and when they read out a list of "victims of gun violence" at a later rally, they will include the dead arsonists' names.=

But it's not like the plan ahead to have rioters serve as their proxies to achieve Social Justice. It just works out that way.

[Bill Dalasio]

And the people of Furguson will pay the price for this moral vanity. Their town is now effectively a dead man walking. Those looking for root causes will stay safely in their cocoons.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Ferguson has been a dead man walking for 20 years.

The police and city government has been a parasite feeding off the dieing corpse for years.

[John]

I don't think they consciously cheer on the rioters as such,

Time magazine is going to give the rioters "Person of the Year". They certainly do cheer them on. And the hard core leftists who start these riots want them to be this way.

Did the people who stood by and watched the old pogroms cheer them on? Not really. Every excuse you give here applied to them. They didn't cheer on the pogroms. They saw them as a deplorable but understandable response to the problem of the Jews and the oppression and evil that the Jews caused for the Christian population.

It is the same thinking in both cases. The people whom you describe view the rioters as the oppressed and the people they are harming as having some collective responsibility or at the very least being unsympathetic.

[Libertarian]

Sorry, but I think the issue about the riots is that the cops seemed to just sit and watch the rioters, and/or protect the government buildings.

[John]

That is one issue. That, however, feeds into the political purpose of the riots. You can't terrorize using the mob if the cops step in. To use the mob, you need to cops to only protect people and things on your side allowing the mob to rampage against your opponents.

Cops only protecting government buildings and watching the mobs burn down and terrorize middle class residents is exactly what a pogrom looks like.

If left ever succeeded in banning guns, these riots would happen all over the country and anyone who had a gun and tried to defend themselves with it would quickly be arrested for violating the gun laws. Meanwhile the looters or "undocumented shoppers" would go unpunished as long as they shopped in the right places.

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, as I commented on this article over at Instapundit, Surber might as well be suggesting to the sun that it rise in the east. Put a fork in Furguson. That town is done. Of course, the town's demise will be blamed on "white flight", even as the black middle class leaves as well.

[John]

That is more than anything what happened to Detroit. What killed Detroit was the race riots of 1968. They burned all of the businesses down and anyone who could leave did.

[Colonel Slanders]

Coming from a Detroiter, ^^^^ This.

[John]

It drives me crazy when the media talks about "Detroit" like the entire greater metropolitan area doesn't exist and the whole place is like inner city Detroit. There is still tons of money in and around Detroit and plenty of productive people there. They just don't live in the city proper anymore. And they don't live there because of the riots not because of the city is the victim of global capitalism.

[Bill Dalasio]

I think the riots probably kicked off the process, but I'm not completely sure it was the cause solely. I think it creates a downward spiral. The riots start chasing the productive middle class out of the city. Even if the city's policy mix remains unchanged, it puts a heavier burden on the remaining productive middle class in the city, as fewer productive elements are supporting more people consuming that productivity. But, the policy mix doesn't remain unchanged. Those benefiting from largesse now make up a larger portion of the electorate. And the threat of mob violence extends their influence. The productive middle class finds itself with a much higher bill for dwindling advantages, encouraging still more members to leave.

[John]

Bill. Other cities eventually gentrified and retook their downtowns. Detroit never did. That is because of the riots there.

[Bill Dalasio]

John, other cities, including those that gentrified, had riots in 1968.

[BigT]

Bill has a point. Detroit has also suffered from progressive governments without a break for decades. Similar cities - Cleveland for example - had some prog and a few more conservative governments.

[Libertarian]

"The United States conducted new airstrikes in Syria against ISIS targets."

When I was coming of age, "Unrest in the Middle East" was the ubiquitous headline. Kids coming of age now are being conditioned to think that the dropping of bombs by the U.S. in foreign countries is a normal thing.

[UnCivilServant]

Looking back over the past hundred years, I'd say our record has more bomb dropping than not.

[The Late P Brooks]

the issue about the riots is that the cops seemed to just sit and watch the rioters, and/or protect the government buildings.

No kidding. They're a bunch of cowards.

And those "protesters" should have been burning police stations and government buildings, instead of attacking productive members of society.

[John]

And those "protesters" should have been burning police stations and government buildings, instead of attacking productive members of society.

If they had done that, the cops would have mowed them down by the score. It is not hard to deal with a riot if you are well armed, which the cops most certainly are. The arms only matter if you are willing to use them. So the only places that get protected are those places the cops are willing to shoot to kill to protect. They would shoot to kill to protect a courthouse or a police department in a heart beat. They would not however do anything to protect a business. And that of course is the point.

[Drake]

I never understood modern rioting. Is is just an excuse to steal from the shops in you neighborhood? Then, later on, complain about the lack of business in your neighborhood because racism.

But, yeah, going to another neighborhood and raising hell is a very good way to get killed by the residents and/or cops.

[John]

I think Surber hits the nail on the head. You can't understand it because it is irrational prejudice. The old pogroms did immeasurable damage to the communities where they occurred. The Jews were hard working members of the community who provided services like lending money that no one else would. Burning and looting the home of the town's Jewish money lenders was just as idiotic and self defeating in a 19th Century imperial Russian town as burning down the Food King and gas station is in Ferguson.

What is going on in Ferguson is nothing but tribal hatred and collective guilt. They burn down those stores because the middle class is the new Jews.

[lap83]

After the academics have worked it over it will be about racism and disenfranchisement, etc. But while it's happening it's just mob violence. There's a reason it happened in St. Louis, not Portland.

[Lord Humungus]

Last Friday evening I had nothing to do so I went to a "burlesque" show.

It's essentially old-school stripping but (with the local laws) no nudity - thongs and pasties. It was actually pretty fun, mostly thanks to the effort of the MC, who kept things moving, and the audience participation.

Takeaways: half the crowd seemed to personally know the strippers.

Thin does not necessarily mean fit - a few of the gals needed to do some squats (somewhere I hear Warty grunting).

So much glitter...

[John]

I was always under the impression "burlesque" was for the broads who wanted to be strippers but were too old or fat or had too many tattoos to actually be one. The Dani chick on American Pickers with all of the tattoos is a burlesque dancer. She is a late 30 something divorced mom with a ton of tattoos. She is not bad looking for a 30 something mom, if you can get over the tattoos. She is not however someone that you would want to pay $20 to see naked.

[Bam!]

I associate burlesque with Dita von Teese.

[SugarFree]

Dita is the one attractive girl they always put on the roller derby team to counter the plain observation that most of them are butch, fat or fat butchs.

[John]

Exactly. Talk about being queen for the day. As attractive as Von Teese is, I am not sure I could ever get over the gag reflex that comes with associating her with Marlyn Manson.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"half the crowd seemed to personally know the strippers"

So it's the equivalent of going to Tammy's violin recital?

[John]

Yes. It is nothing but a way for "nice girls" to do a little swinging. Instead of swapping partners, the couples have the women do a burlesque performance in front of the group.

[dodgybennettyre]

my buddy's sister-in-law makes $66 an hour on the computer . She has been fired for six months but last month her pay check was $15880 just working on the computer for a few hours. check it out.....

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

[Jordan]

Pro-tip: If you're trying to scam people, you might not want to choose a username that starts with "dodgy".

[Swiss Servator, Winter kommt!]

Truth in Advertising?

[The Late P Brooks]

From Bloomberg Business Social Justice Week:

It's particularly unjust that the rich alone can use their wealth to buy global mobility, because their wealth is largely the result of where they come from.

-------------

Why should the rich get to take all that wealth with them when they move? Why should they be able to walk out of the country with resources that they have accumulated largely by dint of their history in the U.S.? We don't let them walk out with a share of the mineral wealth of public lands or a piece of the interstate system?yet just like the interstate system, their wealth is mostly a product of the efforts of other Americans back through time. Exiting the country with all that property should surely count as theft.

You didn't earn that.

[John]

And if you get rich, only you benefit from that. All of those goods or services or investment money you provided only benefited you and belong to the collective anyway.

[John]

And the link to another story at the bottom of that article is another classic,

"Cash is for Losers"

http://www.businessweek.com/ar.....lling-cash

Give up your cash, you racist tea bagging loser. How the fuck are we supposed to track you and make sure you don't make off with any of the nation's precious wealth if you try to hide it in cash?

[Sevo]

Breaking news! Lefty columnist lies to back an argument:

"And investment bank Lazard released a report that showed the price of clean energy sources like wind and solar power have fallen to levels on par with fossil fuels."
Well, no:
""Certain Alternative Energy generation technologies are cost competitive with conventional generation technologies under some scenarios," the report said."

And Exxon should give up research for new oil fields since oil will run out some day! More stupidity here:
http://www.sfgate.com/green/ar.....925239.php

[John]

"Under some scenarios", as in the scenario when the government massively intervenes to raise the price of fossil fuels and subsidize renewables.

There are just so many upsides to the shale boom and the emerging crash in oil prices. One of the better ones is that is makes these assholes proposals make even less economic sense than it did before.

[SERENITY NOW!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKOZgQy8qrw#t=99

[Raston Bot]

Watched Cowspiracy over the weekend which is basically a pro-vegan documentary taking the piss out of Greenpeace and Sierra Club. A little maddening at times but it had small-doc charm and stuck to its principles no matter who it upset.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV04zyfLyN4

I was inspired to try my hand at tofu afterward. Tofu requires massive amounts of spices to make palatable.

[John]

Cows are delicious and they are going to die at some point anyway. We are all going to take the long walk down the coral at some point. So, why not enjoy the benefits of it?

[Zeb]

I can understand why people would be distressed at how large scale meat production works. But people also have too rosy of a picture about how more "traditional" meat production happens. And I like having cheap(-ish) beef and pork to eat. How many of the same people would complain if only rich people could afford meat? Not the vegans, I guess.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Living on a farm with meat animals is far from idyllic. I grew up in that environment, and all the chicken- and rabbit-killing is a big part of why I don't eat warm-blooded critters anymore, at least insofar as I can help it. I've known several bulls and horses whom I would relish eating out of spite, but I always found rabbits, chickens, and particularly goats to be charming creatures.

Vegetarianism is culturally located almost entirely in progressivism, so my fellow meat-avoiders tend to fall in line with the dim impulse to ban everything that bothers them, as though threatening state violence against people comes at zero cost. I don't like CAFOs, but meat animals have been living in miserable circumstances for millennia, and you're not going to solve the problem by banning veal or sow crating or whatever else. People have always and will always eat meat.

The only long-term solutions to the problem of suffering are 1) somehow becoming a Buddha or 2) economic development. If you want people to be compassionate to animals, you should make them rich first.

[John]

Life sucks for a farm animal. But is life any better for a wild animal? I don't see how dying of starvation or disease or being eaten by a higher predator is any better than the slaughter house.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Depends on the domesticated animal. Wild hogs are better off than CAFO hogs, whereas some chickens may have it better than wild fowl. Course, meat animals have been bred by human beings for hundreds of years--you wouldn't find them running around in nature because they would never make it more than a few generations.

I'm all for shooting hugely destructive animals like wild hogs or deer, as there's no other reasonable solution to the problem right now. That they provide meat is a bonus.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Obligatory reference to the TWRA releasing white-tailed deer--a non-native species--into Tennessee a couple of generations ago to "promote hunting."

The deer do hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crop damage to farmers, but the state gets its licensing fees, which is the important thing.

[Raston Bot]

I agree cows are tasty.

It was just fun to watch a leftist call out Sierra Club and Greenpeace for their hypocrisy. The argument was if you're not vegan, then you're supporting CAFOs which produce waste and methane which destroy the environment orders of magnitude greater than CO2.

[Mike M.]

Moody's Cuts Japan's Rating in Blow to Abe Ahead of Election.

Moody's Investors Service cut Japan's credit rating, a setback to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a day before today's campaign start for an election that he wants to focus on the economy.

Moody's reduced the rating for the world's third-biggest economy one level to A1, the same as Bermuda, Israel, Oman and the Czech Republic, it said in a statement yesterday in Tokyo. The yen dropped to a seven-year low, then reversed the decline, while Japanese government bonds were little changed.

The ratings company cited uncertainty over whether Japan will achieve its deficit-reduction goals and succeed in boosting growth, two weeks after Abe postponed an increase in the nation's sales tax. The Bank of Japan is buying record amounts of JGBs issued by a government that's already burdened by the world's heaviest public debt load.

Let's hear it for Krugmanism/Bernankeism on steroids, woo-hoo!!

[Coeus]

Does anyone really care what the word "violence" actually means, anymore?

A disgusting and filthy fad known as FHRITP is making the rounds in North America, a type of abuse intended to objectify, humiliate and demean female television reporters.

In more than 20 years as a journalist. I like to think I'm practically unshockable and that I've seen every form of sexism there is.

When we go out to report on location, it's not uncommon to hear whoops and catcalls from men in passing cars as we stand outdoors for a live hit, or to tape an "on camera."

That is bad enough.

But the popularity of a recent online phenomenon ? one in which the perpetrator pushes beyond the bounds of decency and invades our workplace ? is something only the most diseased and misogynistic mind could come up with.

More than half a century after the first International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the last thing we should be talking about is the "F--- her right in the P---y" trend, but here we are.

[Coeus]

It's not funny. It's offensive, degrading and sick.

But every time we allow an act of violence to go unchecked we are enabling the abusers.

So for the first time in my life, I'm speaking out publicly about violence against women. I'd like all my colleagues to know about it and to keep their guard up. I'm just saddened that in 2014 we need to be having this conversation.

[Knarf Yenrab!]

So for the first time in my life, I'm speaking out publicly about violence against women.

If she adds men, children, and dogs to her list, she might be a libertarian.

[Coeus]

I know that was snark, but not even then. She's using the usual SJW canard of equating violence with "something she doesn't like".

Any libertarian caught doing that needs to be horsewhipped (now that's violence).

[Knarf Yenrab!]

It's rhetorical violence, see, so that's just another kind of violence. Like video-game or tv violence, or the violence of strong opinions that differ from my own.

It's anti-concepts all the way down with a particular breed of crackpot.

[GILMORE]

" the last thing we should be talking about is the "F--- her right in the P---y" trend, but here we are...."

...ginning up a story of victimization out of whole-cloth! PAYS THE BILLS

[sorayahiltoniku]

I started with my online business I earn $58 every 15 minutes. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don't check it out.
For information check this site. ????? http://www.jobsfish.com

[Knarf Yenrab!]

Darren Wilson will receive no severance after resigning from the Ferguson Police Department, according to the city's mayor, James Knowles, who also promised the department would seek to hire more minorities.

So they're going to hire more libertarians and anarcho-syndicalists? Fantastic idea.