New Defense Secretary (Maybe) Picked, Detroit Has Massive Blackout, Ukraine's New Government Forms: P.M. Links

• 

  Credit: ifmuth / photo on flickr

  It is possible that former Pentagon official Ashton Carter is President Barack Obama's pick to be the next secretary of defense, but it's also possible it's just a big Beltway game of telephone that will end up with some media outlet reporting that Elaine Schwartz, a dental hygienist from Akron, Ohio, will be joining the president's cabinet.

• A cable failure caused a massive power outage in Detroit, affecting even emergency responders and jails.
• A high school student in Georgia is starting a petition to try to kill off the federal school lunch guidelines after a cafeteria worker denied her honey mustard, which certainly must be some sort of United Nations violation.
• New York City has allocated $130 million to reopen Arkham Asylum increase health services for mentally troubled people in the criminal justice system.
• Ukraine's parliament has finally hammered out the formation of a new government.
• Cyber Monday sales were up, but not by as much as analysts predicted because sales are now things that are happening all the time, spreading out consumer spending.

Reason's annual Webathon is underway! Your (tax-deductible!) gift will help Reason magazine, Reason.com, and Reason TV bring the case for "Free Minds and Free Markets" to bigger and bigger audiences. For giving levels and associated swag, go here now.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

A cable failure caused a massive power outage in Detroit, affecting even emergency responders and jails.

They have Comcast?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

Exec. Orders by President.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Seriously Fist. Do you use some sort of High Frequency Trading program used to get your comment in first.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Five minutes past go-time and you show up complaining about firsts? Are you even trying?

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Refreshed at 3:30 local and there was already a comment loaded. Yes my curiosity is peaked.

[Fist of Etiquette]

We've gone through this a thousand times. Sometimes I just happen to show up to see that AM or PM Links has been posted, and then a casually peruse the links to see if anything is of interest, and then I thoughtfully craft a comment based on one of those links, and then I carefully spellcheck it, and then when I'm satisfied I preview the comment and check it again, and then if no corrections are needed I post it. Sometimes I find that no one has posted a comment before me. Simple as that.

[Marshall Gill]

You definitely deserve some kind of "tallest midget" award

[Los Doyers]

FIST IS AN ORIENTAL.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Come back to us. We miss you. All will be forgiven.

[Los Doyers]

I banished myself from that castle and burned the drawbridge on the way out.

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

And I'm sure for the thousandth time.

Cool story Bro.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Do you also have one of those "sands of time" things? Cause then your story would make sense.

[Fist of Etiquette]

So you people don't want to know how the magic happens then. Fine. Wallow in ignorance.

[Tonio]

Piqued, even?

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

That too.

[Juice]

must
scroll
down
before
posting

[Juice]

*piqued

sorry

[Los Doyers]

Power outages? HELLO IT'S RAINING HERE IN LA, THAT'S RIGHT, WATER FROM THE SKY. Stay tuned for massive car pileups on the 405 and overall confusion and destruction.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"...that's right Les, people are getting out of their cars and running down the 405 screaming incoherently. It's total mayhem!"

[flye]

You just made me realize I didn't watch that WKRP episode during the Thanksgiving weekend this year. Am I too late? No, no I am not.

[Mad Scientist]

There's a drought, and some inconsiderate jerk has turned his sprinklers up so high that there's water falling all over my neighborhood. I can think of no other explanation.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It didn't stop me from wearing shorts and flip flops.

[Overt]

Stay tuned for massive car pileups on the 405 and overall confusion and destruction.

You say that like the 405 isn't always a fucking parking lot. At 2am.

[Los Doyers]

Meh, it really isn't that bad off peak. Yeah, some spots get more congested than others, but that's because they're clogged with transplants and their out of state kookmobiles. It's all about knowing the traffic flow and patterns for each freeway.

[Sudden]

I actually had a pleasant 405 experience on Sunday followed by a pleasant round of 18 at Westchester.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Westchester? How classy.

I'd invite you to my course, but I'm not sure if my lifetime ban is still in effect.

[Sudden]

I did Moorpark CC the day before with my old college roommate who was in town. Westchester was day 2 with a couple of westside buddies.

Think I'm heading back out to VC next weekend for Tierra Rejada, weather permitting.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Sunny and fair this weekend. You're coming on Monday, right?

[Sudden]

I'll be there. I did respond to the email thread after all.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I'm not in that thread. I have more important things to do.

[Overt]

These are lies. 10 years in that goddamn parking lot. 10 years. I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming, "God damnit just connect out of Burbank, mom! I'm not picking you up at LAX ever again!"

Cars. Upon Cars. Upon Cars.

THE PAIN!

STOP! No woman-child has ever withstood that much!

[Sudden]

I used to take PCH down to LAX when appropriate. Now it's just a straight shot down the 110 to the 105.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

^^This

The $75 premium to land at any of the other LA basin airports is completely worth it (SNA, ONT, Long Beach, Burbank, even fucking Las Vegas).

[Overt]

The $75 premium to land at any of the other LA basin airports is completely worth it (SNA, ONT, Long Beach, Burbank, even fucking Las Vegas).

My company used to book entire flights going between Burbank and San Jose. Southwest tickets are not really expensive out of Burbank- often cheaper. The worst thing about Burbank is that you may need to do a connection to get in and out. But unless it adds 2 hours to your flight, it is still better than traveling through LAX. I'd rather sit around in a connecting airport than deal with the parking at LAX any day.

[jesse.in.mb]

The last time I was asked to pick my parents up LAX, I told them I believed that my personal hell would consist of me circling the horseshoe for all eternity waiting for a flight that never came.

[Sudden]

Rookie move. Never circle the horseshoe. Sit with the livery drivers at the Burger King parking lot on Airport Blvd just north of Century and when you get the call that they have acquired their bags, then you drive to the terminal.

[Mad Scientist]

No, the way to do it is to pull into the parking garage just before the shortcut over to the other side of the horseshoe. It's shaded and you're only seconds away when you get the call. The first 30 minutes are free. If your passengers are going to take longer than 30 minutes you simply leave, make a single orbit, and pull back in.

[Los Doyers]

This plan has always worked well for me.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

LAX isn't that bad. I'm there at least once a week. You just have to know the shortcuts.

[Overt]

I had numerous people insist that LAX wasn't that bad if you followed some obscure "insider" rites obscura- especially LA Natives. My next question was, "compare it to Burbank."

One of two things would happen. 1) "You know, I never actually flew out of there." or 2) "Oh gawd yeah, 300 times better to fly out of Burbank".

Getting in and out of LAX is a pain, and then there is the sitting on shuttle and walking, followed by dealing with dingy old terminals designed far too long ago and straining to keep up with the latest TSA bullshit. Even when my company paid for car service to get to LAX for cross country stuff, I would still fight to fly out of Long Beach.

I loved my time in LA, but there is no getting over the absolute crap of dealing with 10 million people piled on top of one another trying to use public infrastructure long neglected by their benevolent overlords. When the solution is always "Well, just go there/use that/do this/etc at totally batshit insane times that make no sense to people trying to raise a family" it is just better to pull out and go.

(Hyperbole aside, some great stuff in LA. I hate because I am secretly sad I left.)

[CE]

Except the peak on the 405 is from 6 AM to 11 PM.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Cyber Monday sales were up, but not by as much as analysts predicted because sales are now things that are happening all the time, spreading out consumer spending.

That's what you get for not bottlenecking your commerce.

[rts]

Actual SJW spotted in the wild.

[Sudden]

Holy hell. The Progressive Left is delusionally schizophrenic. On the one hand, childhood obesity is the biggest problem facing the nation and needs the warm and loving guidance of Dear Leader's equal marriage partner while on the other hand fat acceptance is what matters and 9 years olds with early onset type 2 diabetes should learn to love all 4'7" 215 lbs themselves.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Notice that she's out of breath after carrying the sign from the roadside to her car.

[Los Doyers]

Why do u hate teh fattiez?

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

Hey man, look, fat chicks need lovin' too.

Just not from me.

[Riesen]

Maybe we can set her up with John

[trshmnster the terrible]

Not hate, it broke my irony meter.

[Marshall Gill]

The girl in that video is clearly insane. Perhaps not Mary levels of crazy but definitely mentally ill.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Are we entirely sure that's not Mary?

[Sudden]

I just assume everyone is Mary. Makes life that much more amusing.

[Mad Scientist]

This is typical SJW behavior. She's much more interested in the "LOOK AT ME" aspect than she is any actual wrong.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

But I don't want to look at her!

[Mad Scientist]

Neither does anyone else, thus her desperation.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Cis shitlord!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

It's just like Mutual of Omaha

[AlmightyJB]

Don't get too close Jim

[SERENITY NOW!]

Well she's certainly not on a diet.

[Bill Dalasio]

You know, she's guilty of trespassing, stealing and vandalism.

There's a looter I wouldn't mind seeing dealt with with a rifle.

Or at least a good swift kick in the ass.

[Troy muy grande boner]

That is a lot of ass to kick.

[trshmnster the terrible]

It's not so much kicking as inducing a sympathetic vibration that will start some local seismic activity.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

"A high school student in Georgia is starting a petition to try to kill off the federal school lunch guidelines after a cafeteria worker denied her honey mustard,"

You Americans.

[Sudden]

A cable failure caused a massive power outage in Detroit, affecting even emergency responders and jails

You Canadiens.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Detroit gets its power from Windsor?

[Sudden]

We've been leaving Detroit critically weakened for decades now in hopes that you would conquer it.

Get on that already. John Candy is no longer here to defend the motor city.

[jesse.in.mb]

I think Cytotoxic is waiting for us to conquer Canada. Maybe we can just move all the Canadians to Detroit, wall it off and take Canada for the maple syrup, hydro-electric power and vast plains of empty space.

[John Titor]

Come at me bro.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

When you post a link for Jesse called "Bear Cavalry", that's not what it's supposed to be.

[Ted S.]

We should send Agile Cyborg to conquer Canada.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He already claimed Mars.

[AlmightyJB]

Did he make it back from his trip Saturday?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I assume it's ongoing until I hear otherwise.

[Sudden]

So Canada is pretty much the heavy girl that you marry in order to acquire huge tracts of land?

[Agammamon]

They're empty for a reason - the temperature's too damn low.

[John Titor]

You'd think we'd fall for such trickery? After Fort Detroit's surrender in the War of 1812 Brock had a terrible vision of what Detroit was to come and proclaimed that no Canadian should claim ownership of it.

[jesse.in.mb]

If we offered it as a gift, would you be able to overcome your unassuming polite natures and say no?

It'd be terribly ungracious of you.

[John Titor]

Fine. We'll trade you. The whinier parts of Quebec (not the nice parts with the hydroelectric dams, Montreal, etc.) for Detroit.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No but a Trojan Caribou just may fool us.

[John Titor]

It's too late, we already politely WALK AMONG YOU.

[Marshall Gill]

What if we build a very large beaver

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

This intrigues me...

Is it meant to get Canada detroit, or make us keep it?

[Pro Libertate]

Why is it Canadian rather than Canadaian?

[Los Doyers]

Double cheque that spelling

[trshmnster the terrible]

That's some colourful language, eh?

[Fist of Etiquette]

TAKE OFF HOSERS.

[Overt]

It's the damndest thing. This weekend when shooting geese, I got a particularly fat canadian. I could have sworn it honked, "Ow, you hoser" as it plummeted to the earth.

[Ted S.]

I'd like to keep my hosers on, thank you very much.

[Pro Libertate]

I caught the Canadien reference. I was talking about something else that made me think of this.

Also, if canola oil means "Canada oil," and it's made from rape seed, does that mean that Canada is an Indian term meaning rape?

[John Titor]

According to those Heritage ads I had to watch as a kid, we stole it from the Indians, along with everything else.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Oh God those Heritage ads. What a waste of money and time.

[John Titor]

I don't know, it did teach me about Sam 'Shaft' Steele.

[John Titor]

Also, really love how they had to throw in an anachronistic anti-gun and 'stupid Americans' message into a Heritage ad.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I knew about Sam Steele when I was 14.

Dude kicked ass.

[Pro Libertate]

Stole it? Stole what? The name? The country? The oil? The rape?

[John Titor]

All rapes are now required to have Canadian content by the CRTC.

[AlmightyJB]

So basically all Canadian humor is not funny.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

SCTV and Kids in the Hall are not funny?

And what about all those great Canadian comedians from Norm McDonald to Myers to Short to Ackroyd to Carrey to Levy to Little to Candy to Rogan and everyone in between including Terrence and Phillip?

[Adans smith]

You need to pay your bill aye!

[CE]

Isn't Canada in chaos now that Richard III was shown to not be the paternal ancestor of the supposed Royal family?

http://www.bbc.com/news/scienc.....t-30281333

[Adans smith]

Don't even think about soy sause

[Ted S.]

What's wrong with a soy souse?

[Mike M.]

A cable failure caused a massive power outage in Detroit, affecting even emergency responders and jails.

I blame Bush, the TEA Party, and America's crumbling infrastructure.

[Doctor Whom]

I recently heard someone blame Detroit's water problems on hardcore conservatism. No, really.

[Andrew S.]

Well, the Republicans that have run that city for decades drove it straight into the ground. It's obviously their fault.

[Doctor Whom]

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if someone seriously argued that.

[Florida Man]

I got a damn pop up begging for money. That is why the website format went all crazy. They were adding a goddamn Pop-up. You use to be cool reason.

[Florida Man]

Also I donated every year since I started reading reason so get off my back. I'll do it when I do it!

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

You'll do it when we tell you to!

[Marshall Gill]

Those cruises don't pay for themselves!

[Overt]

As I mentioned in the Jacket's fund raising article, Amazon Smile will donate to Reason foundation for every purchase you make. I've put about $100 in Reason's greedy pockets over the past 5 months using that service.

Can't reason just do a drive to get everyone signed up on Smile, so that they are at least a little less desperate come EOY?

[Florida Man]

What? I'm doing this today.

[Lord at War]

Florida Man is donating 6 lbs of tongue this year.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Whoops. I bought a lot of shit from Amazon yesterday. Including a smoker oven for 55% off.

[Sudden]

I may have to come over and use your smoker oven some time.

I've been working on smoking brisket for the last month (done 3 since I got back from KC in mid Nov). Obviously, no smoker available on my rooftop, but I've been using a grilltop smoker box. It's come out ok, but definitely not getting the full smoke ring and intense flavor yet.

[trshmnster the terrible]

I've never had luck with the smoker box. I couldn't keep the temperature low enough to keep the meat edible, but high enough to actually smoke the meat. Perhaps there is a trick to it that I haven't tried yet.

[Sudden]

They say preheat the grill to 450 (temp at which wood burns) and then place the smoker box under the grate directly on the heating element. I tried it like that first time through with minimal effect.

Now, I just throw just enough lighter fluid on the chips to get initial ignition and then throw the smoker box under the grate as per instructions. It's getting better, but still not perfecting the technique.

[Overt]

If you have a weber kettle grill, you can get great results from the smokenator 1000. It is pretty unobtrusive- I never take it out of my grill and I still do 4 or 5 steaks on direct heat all the time. Since I do a lot of indirect grilling, I find it helpful since it can hold a smaller amount of coals for getting 1.5 hours of 350 degrees, or shields a larger amount of charcoal on the other side of the grill for longer roasts.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Brisket is an art form. You can spend years trying to get it right.

For simple smoke flavor (as opposed to smoke as a method of cooking), I use a smoke gun.

[Sudden]

I'm committed to using smoke as the cooking method. In my presently cramped circumstances, I have managed with my only teneble option for the time being. Once I finally flee this absurd metropolis as any sane man already would have, I will get a real competition smoker and then I will spend my years mastering the art. And probably getting really fucking fat.

[Overt]

I owned the previous version of that masterbuilt for about 6 years until a wind storm finally destroyed the control unit beyond repair. The biggest problem I had with it other than the grease trap being the only place grease didn't go was that my wife quickly learned how easy it was to smoke with. Set the temp and just walk away. Maybe add chips once or twice.

Now I use the charcoal smokenator in my weber and I can credibly insist that I cannot leave the house on football sunday to go to a local fair or grocery shopping because I need to watch the fire.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A high school student in Georgia is starting a petition to try to kill off the federal school lunch guidelines after a cafeteria worker denied her honey mustard...

For want of honey mustard, Michelle's war was lost. Or, lack of tangy condiments was the last straw.

[Sudden]

Honey mustard is a cardinal sin. Mustard should be spicy, not sweet. And paired with sauerkraut.

[Florida Man]

Mustard can be many things. Also stone crab claws should be involved.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Who says?

I like all types of mustard.

Except 'regular'. Too boring.

[Pro Libertate]

I had some German food in a pseudo-alpine village in Helen, Georgia last week. Yum!

[Sudden]

I was at Alpine Village in SoCal a few weeks back. Schnitzel and dunkelweizen make for a good working lunch.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

In Torrance?

Been many jahr, aber Jah, gut!

[Sudden]

Was my first time there. Had some work right down the street. The interior of the bar/restaurant has sort of a dingy 70's era YMCA feel, but the food was good.

[Pro Libertate]

Helen has all of that alpine architecture, along with several German restaurants. What we had was quite good, especially the desserts.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Helen also has lots of pine trees, which I doubt SoCal does.

[Pro Libertate]

It's almost in the mountains and, yes, has lots of trees. We hiked to a couple of waterfalls near there, and both hikes were very nice.

[CE]

Does Helen have large tracts of land?

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, quite large. How did you know?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

I think that place was built during the dingy 70's YMCA era, so winning?

[jesse.in.mb]

Honey mustard is a cardinal sin. Mustard should be spicy, not sweet. And paired with sauerkraut.

We may have to fight over this. While I love spicy mustards (I often use Philippe's as currency to buy favor from family members), honey mustard has it's place in society.

[Florida Man]

*oils self up to fight along side Jesse*

[jesse.in.mb]

Are you trying to help me or distract me? If we win will there be celebratory wrasslin'?

[Florida Man]

I assumed we would win, thus I pre-oiled for the celebration.

[jesse.in.mb]

It's like you know me...

All right, I'm ready to rumble.

[Florida Man]

*tightens grip on gator leash and fixes eyes upon the enemy*

[Ted S.]

Honey mustard has it is place in society?

Apostrophe abuse is really something we can fight over.

[cavalier973]

Apostrophe Abuse Mustard's is the only bran to bye, if your not won'ting to bee a looser.

[Overt]

Why not a little of both. Mustard with honey and horseradish gives a nice burn, with just the right tang to go with honey baked ham factory ham.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

The science behind this is settled. Mustard can come in many flavors, ketchup is not to be messed with.

[AlmightyJB]

I like spicy ketchup. Most BBQ sauces are just flavored ketchup. I have like 8 types of mustard in my fridge. I think the Honey Mustard has never been opened though. i thought I needed but I guess not.

[Juice]

Ketchup is to be discarded and subsequently avoided. It is an abominable condiment.

[lap83]

Yeah ketchup is not very good. It can only be improved. I think curry ketchup is pretty good.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Speaking of German food, Ketchup is a magic condiment.

[CE]

Adding anything to German food makes the German food taste better.

[Ted S.]

It goes with Wei?wurst.

The first time my dad went to the old country, he ordered his Wei?wurst with wine. The locals literally laughed at him.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Robbie Soave was onto something:

http://wapo.st/11NSa1j

http://bit.ly/1yfkCGd

But that loser at Jezebel with the Masters in Journalism knew better than him.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Anna Merlan is her name.

http://jezebel.com/is-the-uva-.....1665233387

Nice professional ethics she has.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Nice No professional ethics she has.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

That whole article is one big ad hominem.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Yes, principals over principles

[trshmnster the terrible]

Some moron related the story to the Holocaust, and Suave to a Holocaust denier.

One problem, fuckwad, I can go to Auschwitz. I can speak to survivors. I can look at documentation of the atrocities. If the SJWs come forward with 1 shred of court admissible evidence, we can talk. Until then, I'm not going forward with this willful suspension of disbelief.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Well that and the evidence for the existence of the Holocaust has actually had its day in an American courtroom, which is something that Jackie has yet to do.

[Michael]

HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ANNA'S MASTERS IN JOURNALISM FROM COLUMBIA.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

SHE DRIVES A DODGE STRATUS!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ha.

She has a masters but skipped the classes on objectivity.

[Heroic Mulatto]

You don't need objectivity when you can "advocate" instead. It's the best kept secret in academia.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Her response regarding Robby's "feelings" took the cake. Unbelievable how unself-aware they are.

[Trouser-Pod]

Well, there was this comment:

If I had a libertarian magazine, I'd be trying hard to avoid confirming the stereotype of libertarians as being strictly out of touch white men who mistake their own chin-stroking blatherings for insight.

The editors at Reason are apparently taking a different tack.

Yeah, not at all like SWJ/proggies having a website where their navel-gazing and sweeping indictments of people based on skin color and genitalia are considered "insight".

[PapayaSF]

Here I was composing my UVA comment below, and you were faster.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You snooz you looz, bra.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"This is what a professional journalistic correction looks like, in the unlikely event that any editors at Worth or writers at Reason ever need to issue one."

Is she accidentally complimenting Reason?

[GILMORE]

"simkhe 2 hours ago

It's true that we don't know if Jackie's story is true. But honestly, how would contacting any of the alleged rapists bring any more veracity to the story? Even if they did it, do you really think any of them would say so? They will deny that the crime ever happened. So to contact them would be merely a kind of symbolic due diligence; it would have no impact on the story. And as the men are not named in the story, there is no obligation to give them a chance to respond. "

Ladies and gentlemen, this person probably graduated from a college and thinks of themselves as 'above average'.

If you're not terrified, you should be

[Heroic Mulatto]

And you wonder about the mindset of those who sit on "revolutionary tribunals". One need not be a murderous psychopath as much as one of mediocre intelligence who zealously believes in the righteousness of one's cause.

[paranoid android]

And as the men are not named in the story, there is no obligation to give them a chance to respond. "

That'll surely be some consolation to all the members of Phi Kappa Psi who have essentially been accused to being part of a psychotic rape gang.

[Gray Ghost]

That'll surely be some consolation to all the members of Phi Kappa Psi who have essentially been accused to being part of a psychotic rape gang.

Related to that, does Phi Kappa Psi count as a public figure for libel purposes? I wouldn't think so, but I can see arguments pro/con. I'd love to see Rolling Stone on the hook for a mega-million verdict.

What an abysmal piece of 'journalism'. It's not like it'd be that hard to written a better story either. Anyone who's ever read Hunter Thompson's book on the Hell's Angels should be well aware of the difficulties with determining the validity of a group's reputation for rape, or lurid accounts of same.

[Gray Ghost]

"have written," Sigh.

Isn't contacting the other side, in a piece that makes very damaging accusations about same, Journalism 101? Even if all they're going to say is, "No comment?"

[trshmnster the terrible]

It's true that we don't know if Jackie's Officer Wilson's story is true. But honestly, how would contacting any of the alleged rapists witnesses bring any more veracity to the story? Even if they did it knew he was telling the truth, do you really think any of them would say so? They will deny that the crime assault ever happened. So to contact them would be merely a kind of symbolic due diligence; it would have no impact on the story.

This is why you always examine your principles before you spout off.

[Fist of Etiquette]

It is possible that former Pentagon official Ashton Carter is President Barack Obama's pick to be the next secretary of defense...

Is Ashton from Chicago? Because, if so, the story is probably true.

[Sudden]

He actually meant to nominate Shaun Carter.

[Mike M.]

Or Ashton Kutcher.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

What he really wanted was 'Demi Moore's ex-husband'.

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

The Duffel Blog already covered this.

[CE]

Why not Joe Carter? Too Candadien?

[Dr. Fronkensteen]

Wasn't he formerly Amy Carter? I believe she/he does have some experience with nuclear war policy.

[SIV]

Yoga Nerd MDStill-Celia
33 minutes ago

I wonder this too but also more to the point: how do I raise a son who is vocally and adamantly NOT a rapist, who will never stand idly by while rape culture persists, and who will fight to change the status quo. Watching those "bystander" PSAs from the other week makes me realize that simply NOT RAPING SOMEONE doesn't even go far enough.

[Mad Scientist]

Not raping is raping now? At least they're consistent.

[Marshall Gill]

The cognitive dissonance really is astounding. Statistically, rape and other violent crime have been declining for decades as our population ages. Rape has been going down but there is an epidemic of it? Not that facts matter to the people pushing this shit.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Having a penis is raping, so the only course of action is surgical.

[cavalier973]

Are you trying to start a circumcision war?

*narrows eyes*

[EdWuncler]

So sad.

[Pro Libertate]

What does this mean? No more sex? We'll start decanting kids in vats?

[Andrew S.]

It's a brave new world.

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

Along the lines of Andrew S's post, we'll still have sex, just not for procreation's sake. Everything will be a party, all the time. Soma for everyone!

[Gray Ghost]

Now all restaurants are Taco Bell...

[AlmightyJB]

That poor kid

[John Titor]

Arkham Asylum's the worst run mental healthcare faculty in fiction. Even the mental hospital in Terminator 2, with the blatant corruption and non-robot-proof doors doesn't compare.

Look at this shit. How did the Joker manage to smuggle in a tree-shaped rocket? How much of Gotham's tax dollars are going into a faculty where the inmates have more firepower than Hamas?

[Andrew S.]

Bruce Wayne pays them off to let it happen. That way Batman has something to do. What would Batman do if all of his enemies were safely locked up in Arkham all the time?

[John Titor]

I don't know, Justice League stuff?

[Agammamon]

Wonder woman manages to keep herself occupied.

[cavalier973]

Drat you!

[Heroic Mulatto]

Invite all the inmates to stay at his house? THIS IS CANON!

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I've learned that the voice of the Joker, and of many cartoon villains, is...Mark (Luke Skywalker) Hamill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb8fWUUXeKM

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

Blew my mind when I found out he voiced a character in Metalocalypse. The man has talent.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Hamill does Luke Skywalker *and* the Joker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeT0CCQ1yqo

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Patrick Warburton and Mark Hamill are two of the busiest voices in animation.

[Riven]

Hear, hear.

[Pro Libertate]

He's a great and very well-regarded voice talent.

I also remember him well from his days with the Wing Commander franchise, which I loved.

[John Titor]

Hamill's all over the voice acting scene. Man's got skills.

[AlmightyJB]

But do you remember Corvette Summer?

[Riven]

Even if he does sort of look like Jabba

[John Titor]

Doesn't stop him from getting Tara Strong on his lap.

[Riven]

Damn. Just...damn.

[CE]

It's not impossible. He used to bullseye womp rats in his T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters.

[cavalier973]

"We're heading for the target shaft now"

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!"

"She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?"

[AlmightyJB]

lol

[PapayaSF]

Good to see that the UVA gang-rape story is coming under increasing scrutiny. The discussion in various comment sections (e.g. The New Republic) is instructive. People (like me) raise questions, and are told it's "mansplaining" or "denying that campus rape exists." People want their symbolic stories, whether they are true or not.

The Rolling Stone writer is especially weaselly about "confirmation." She "confirmed" that "similar" things have happened. It's as if I claimed to have been mugged by four midgets wearing bow ties and carrying AK-47s, and they stole the medal I won for my bravery at the battle of Khe Sanh, and someone "confirmed" my story by noting that the Bay area has little people, bow ties, and Ak-47s, and that some people won medals at Khe Sanh.

[EdWuncler]

It's good that people are slowly starting to stand up to these SJW bullies. Oddly enough, I have a friend who is a feminist (a progressive one at that) who went on a rant about how much she hates Jezebel.

[PapayaSF]

Perhaps the tide is turning. I think the Brendan Eich defenestration turned off a lot of people, and Gamergate has done that for a lot more people.

[paranoid android]

"As I've already told you, the gang-rape scene that leads the story is the alarming account that Jackie ? a person whom I found to be credible ? told to me, told her friends, and importantly, what she told the UVA administration, which chose not to act on her allegations in any way ? i.e., the overarching point of the article. THAT is the story: the culture that greeted her and so many other UVA women I interviewed, who came forward with allegations, only to be met with indifference." - Sabria Rubin Erdeley

Does this sound to anyone like somebody who thinks that every word they wrote is the unvarnished truth?

[This Machine Can Handle a Rope]

Just because it's a lie doesn't make it untrue! It's the story that matters! Don't think, just feel!

[Winston]

I haven't read the article but that does reek of "sure the story may be false but the message is true"!

Also did she try to interview the accused rapists, the victim's friends and family or find other people who attended that party?

[paranoid android]

Erdeley claims she attempted to contact the accused but was unsuccessful. She was later asked if she knew the names of the accused at all and pointedly refused to give a yes-or-no answer.

She claims in the original article that she did talk to some of Jackie's friends.

[PapayaSF]

AFAIK she never tried to contact anyone who was at the party (or even confirm if there *was* a party on the weekend in question), and didn't try to confirm that any frat member had worked as a lifeguard with Jackie.

[paranoid android]

Well, here's what Erdely told Slate:

"I reached out to [the accused] in multiple ways," Erdely said in the Slate interview. "They were kind of hard to get in touch with because [the fraternity's] contact page was pretty outdated. But I wound up speaking . . . I wound up getting in touch with their local president, who sent me an e-mail, and then I talked with their sort of, their national guy, who's kind of their national crisis manager. They were both helpful in their own way, I guess."

Now, this would seem to indicate to me that Erdely does not and never had full names for the accused. If she did, she could just go to the frat house (the article indicates some of the attackers still attend UVA) and ask for them by name, could she not?

Neither the article or Erdely's follow-up interviews indicate proof of the existence of the party itself or any other party guests.

[paranoid android]

Later she says:

Erdely declined to say whether she knows the names of the alleged perpetrators, including "Drew."

"I can't answer that," she said. "This was a topic that made Jackie extremely uncomfortable."

So despite Erdely's evasiveness what she seems to be saying is that Jackie wouldn't identify the guys by name to Erdely.

[trshmnster the terrible]

We have no date, no physical evidence, no accused perpetrators, and a victim that has only spoken to the journalist. Yet somehow this is getting time in the news cycle? Evidence or GTFO!

[Winston]

And said journalist seems more interested in bringing attention to the Rape Epidemic than doing any actual investigating. Like you know corroborating Jackie's story and exposing her rapists.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Talk about propagating rape culture... they bitch about men promoting it through mere existence, but when they intentionally shield alleged rapists from prosecution, that's definitely not aiding and abetting rape at all!

[Winston]

Not to mention that Jackie refuses to identify Drew. I thought rape victims refusing to identify their attackers was a thing the feminists wanted to change?

[paranoid android]

That's another thing I find confusing. Jackie doesn't want to identify the guys (even to the journalist she's entrusting her story to under promises of anonymity) because she's afraid of them. Presumably this means she fears they will kill her or do something otherwise untoward if she puts their names in the media.

However, if the details of the story in the RS article comport with what actually happened, she's already put herself in the very danger she was trying to avoid, since anyone involved in the incident (in particular "Drew") would be able to immediately identify her from the information in the article, and would know that she could identify them to the police at any time. But rather than do the one thing that has the best odds of protecting herself--helping to put them in prison--she hushes up.

Am I interpreting the situation wrong, or does that just not make sense?

[CE]

Unless they committed similar crimes all the time, and aren't sure which victim she is.

The university did nothing because they apparently leave the choice up to the victim, and this particular victim chose not to go to the police and not to ask the university to proceed with any investigation.

[PapayaSF]

paranoid android: you have described yet another thing about this story that does not make sense, unless Jackie is (more or less) lying.

[BigT]

NOT RAPING SOMEONE doesn't even go far enough

So, we need to un-rape her? That sounds...interesting.

[The DerpRider]

Michigan says you turn 18 when you turn 18.

The court unanimously settled the unusual question Tuesday in the case of a young man convicted of murder. The fatal shooting occurred Jan. 28, 2007, just a few hours before Deandre Woolfolk's 18th birthday.

[Medical Physics Guy]

Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind

Now we know what Hawking does between his books...build Skynet.

[Pro Libertate]

He seems oddly anti-technology at times, though I suspect his quasi-cyborg status may give him unusual insights into the coming rise of the machines.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Stephen Hawking physicist comments on an area that has absolutely nothing to do with his area of expertise.

Hmmm, I'm supposed to care, why?

[Pro Libertate]

True enough. Though at least he's a smart guy, unlike most people with that kind of profile.

[CE]

Because he's talking about the end of mankind.

[Agammamon]

A lot of these guys seem anti-tech - or at least tend to buy into the bioethic's 'human-dignity' bullshit as an excuse to stop progress.

[HeteroPatriarch]

It's really the wheelchair doing all the thinking? Hawking is just a passenger?

[The Laconic]

"It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said.

"Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

Well, only if you do it right.

Is "being superseded" a problem? Is he terrified that someday he might not be the smartest entity in the room?

[Agammamon]

His argument against AI also works as an argument for not having children.

[flye]

Fits with the story going around that Hawking wants to be cast as a James Bond villain, which would be awesome.

[Pro Libertate]

That would rule. Not as a character, but as himself. An evil cameo of evil.

[John Titor]

That practically writes itself.

[Agammamon]

he's working on a real-world 'Unbreakable' scenario right now.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

"Police in Ferguson, Mo., are investigating whether the angry tirade unleashed by Michael Brown's stepfather just moments after the grand jury's decision last week rose to the level of illegal incitement of violence.

"Following the decision, Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, climbed onto a platform surrounded by protesters to comfort his grieving wife. "Burn this bitch down!" Head then shouted repeatedly, in a video captured by the New York Times. Rioters later looted and burned down over a dozen Ferguson businesses and at least one police car."

(from National Review)

http://tinyurl.com/mdrat7q

[Andrew S.]

No, it isn't, under the Brandenberg test. Fails the first test (imminence). Also, go fuck yourself, Ferguson PD.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ferguson Police Chief: "Give me Head!"

[BigT]

So he told them to burn it down and within an hour or so the burning was out of control. How is that not imminent?

[JeremyR]

The head of an angry mob says "Burn this bitch down" over and over.

Angry mob then proceeds to burn dozens of places down.

But nope, it's all the police's fault...

[EdWuncler]

My family tried talking about the whole Ferguson inident at Thanksgiving but I stopped that shit in its tracks immedicately. I refuse to deal with derp during Thanksgiving.

And my goodness, why must we hold a guy who robbed a convenient store for some cigarillos as a diety? There are so many cases like the one in Cleveland that would have gathered much more sympathy.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Remember, do not talk about Ferguson!

They talked about it -

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....supper.jpg

[Heroic Mulatto]

It's hilarious because it's about the Dreyfus Affair.

[SERENITY NOW!]

Female Students Twerk for Internships in University-Sponsored Pageant

http://jezebel.com/female-stud.....1663648387

[Ted S.]

"Our bodies, our choices"

[Too many cooks]

Brady Hoke fired. Shocking.

[Andrew S.]

Please, please hire Schiano, Michigan. Please. I'd so, so, so love to see that.

[Pro Libertate]

I dunno, he was a fair college coach, wasn't he? I mean, doing anything at all with Rutgers is an accomplishment.

[Andrew S.]

Yeah, but after the train wreck he was in Tampa?

It's my favorite time of the college football season (I'm a Syracuse fan. It's not like I have anything useful to root for.): The time where we all start tracking random flights on FlightAware for coaching news (like the flight from Gainesville that just landed in Fort Collins, Colorado)

[Pro Libertate]

Plenty of college coaches have failed at the pro level. I'd consider him for a mid-tier position. Not UF, by the way, which should be attracting prime talent but may not since the AD has pissed off all of the obvious candidate, like Mullen and Stoops.

Why they didn't hire Strong last year is beyond me.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Because they had Muschamp?

[Pro Libertate]

Obviously, I think Muschamp should've been fired last year.

[Ted S.]

Will they go after Jim Harbaugh?

[Pro Libertate]

They'll try, but why would he leave the NFL? Plenty of teams would crave his services.

[Sudden]

Harbaugh's style (Jim's at least) seems more suited for dealing with unpaid college kids in need of discipline rather than grown men making more than you. College would be a better fit for him.

And the only two teams with interest in him NFL wise right now are Oakland and NYJ. Those are dumpster fires.

[Sevo]

Sudden|12.2.14 @ 5:31PM|#
"Harbaugh's style (Jim's at least) seems more suited for dealing with unpaid college kids in need of discipline rather than grown men making more than you. College would be a better fit for him."

Dunno. He's had two years to teach Kaep to read the play clock, and he still can't count to 40.

[Andrew S.]

Doubt it. Actually think John might be more likely than Jim.

They'll make all the big calls, but end up hiring somebody like Steve Addazio (Boston College coach).

[AlmightyJB]

"Brady Hoke fired"

I for one will miss him

[HeteroPatriarch]

OSU fan?

[AlmightyJB]

yup:)

[Andrew S.]

A judge has issued a 30-day temporary injunction ordering the city of Fort Lauderdale to stop enforcing the anti-homeless feeding law.

[Stormy Dragon]

Schadenfreude momment:

Jihadists in Syria write home to France: 'My iPod is broken. I want to come back'

"I've basically done nothing except hand out clothes and food," wrote one, who wants to return from Aleppo. "I also help clean weapons and transport dead bodies from the front. Winter's arrived here. It's begun to get really hard."

Another writes: "I'm fed up. They make me do the washing up."

One Frenchman whinged that he wanted to come home because he was missing the comforts of life in France.

"I'm fed up. My iPod doesn't work any more here. I have to come back."

A third wrote fearfully: "They want to send me to the front, but I don't know how to fight."

Let me serenade you with the world's tiniest violin.

[Agammamon]

I read 'The War Nerd' and, though he's a huge leftist arsehole, he's got a good article about what to do with westerners wanting to 'join jihad' - give them a free plane ticket to the Middle east and let them find out what its really like (and probably die in the process).

[Gray Ghost]

The stories of the teenage gals that ran off to join ISIS (and were promptly made into child brides/entertainment) are sad though. Though some of them want to come back, by that time it's too late.

Unfortunately, stupidity sometimes is a capital crime.

I still think the War Nerd now, isn't the same War Nerd---cough, John Dolan, cough---who looked at things like the Kurdish conflict or the Modoc War and came away with pithy insights into human nature. Examples:

The really grim bit is that a lot of the same warriors who'd called Jack a wimp and shouted the loudest for killing Gen. Canby were the first to turn their coats and help hunt him down. That's what people are like, and you better remember it.

(Cont)

[Gray Ghost]

Stupid two link rule.

Or.

That's the simple logic of living as a tribe without a state: if you don't cut a deal with the occupiers, your neighbour will and you won't like the fine print. In fact, you'll BE the fine print.

So when you're an occupied tribe, habits like telling the truth and minding your own business are lethal. The advantage is always going to go to the bitchiest, most lying-tongued little slandering pig in the village, the jerk who doesn't have a qualm about sucking up to the Turkish (or Persian or Arab) junior officer in charge of the local garrison and, after telling him how smart and handsome he is for a few hours, passing a secret warning about what a threat to the public safety you and your family are. And if the Lieutenant happens to feel grateful to the informer, maybe he wouldn't mind giving him your cow and that nice pasture behind your house, once he's had you and all your kin rounded up and shot.

Over time, a system like this will do a wonderful sped-up evolutionary job of cleaning out any leftover decency from the local population. Are you the kind of hardworkin' dude who puts in a good day in the fields, comes home to the family and doesn't bother anybody? Well, you're dead meat for the first snitch to catch the lieutenant's ear.

Simple, concise observations of human nature, that no one at State seems to understand.

[Suthenboy]

That sounds pretty accurate. Lying your ass off and backstabbing are respected qualities in that part of the world.

I knew this and understood why, mostly, but I have never had it put that succinctly before.

[Invisible Finger]

You just know ISIS is googling French surrender jokes.

[LynchPin1477]

Tony showed up in the Oath Keepers thread. Even by his standards, it's bad.

[paranoid android]

"You know what, when tyranny comes, the people I'm staying the farthest away from are those who have publicly declared their intention to fight said tyranny." - Tony

Oh, man, that's just...wow.

Sadly, you should know by now that there's no getting the last word against Tony. He'll scamper off with his tail between his legs, but he'll be back some six, eight, maybe twelve hours after everyone else has forgotten the thread exists to keep slinging BS at people once he's assured himself no one will respond or challenge him on it.

[Heroic Mulatto]

It should also be noted that Tony never argues in good faith and is a virulent racist and anti-Semite.

[Winston]

He has also admitted to hating the poor. Progs want to eliminate it while libertarians will increase it is his justification I imagine.

[LynchPin1477]

That isn't even the most absurd thing he has said.

[JEP]

And you know that when the fighting's over, he's going to crawl out of his rat hole, immediately identify whose boot he needs to lick, and start advocating the same shit that allowed the tyranny to take root in the first place.

[Heroic Mulatto]

What makes you think he has any resources in his home to survive beyond the half a bottle of wine and partly-eaten supermarket-bought rotisserie chicken in his fridge?

[CE]

"You know what, when tyranny comes, the people I'm staying the farthest away from are those who have publicly declared their intention to fight said tyranny." - Tony

That actually makes sense, since Tony is typically on the side of the tyrant.

[Suthenboy]

It also makes sense that he is a coward who would never put himself in jeopardy for any principle or on anyone else's behalf. He is fine having others do it for him, but he is the guy who would sell you out or throw you to the crocodiles without hesitation if it meant his escape.

Truly a vile, vile person.

[Suthenboy]

I would like to apologize to pieces of shit everywhere.

I have grievously wronged you and I am most sincerely sorry for having done that. It was not justified. None of you have ever done anything to warrant me lumping Tony in with you.

[userve32]

That loooks like its gonna be good dude.

http://www.Anon-Rocks.tk

[chenoacorksduu]

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

[Pro Libertate]

Sounds like angels.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

A normal *Russian* person, maybe.

[Pro Libertate]

Absorb. He literally absorbs alcohol vapor from the air.

[Doghouse Riley Jr.]

Hey, Gerry, it's not really "absorbing" if you have to pee in a bottle on a plane.

[Sudden]

Anyone ever notice he looks like Gorg from Fraggle Rock?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Partially due to 'excess food waste'...

i.e. kids throwing away shitty food they don't want to eat.

[John Titor]

Well, on the bright side, maybe the hungry kids will learn some emergency skinning and cooking skills.

[Pro Libertate]

He's simply discarding the non-alcoholic liquids from his system.

[PapayaSF]

Apparently they are forced to take food they don't want. They can't simply refuse it.

[HeteroPatriarch]

Eventually they will be punished for wasting food.

[Sevo]

PapayaSF|12.2.14 @ 5:59PM|#
"Apparently they are forced to take food they don't want. They can't simply refuse it."

Wait 'till little Joey brings his 'service dog' who takes up residence under the table.